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wo A pr c e P a frica followi ), the n iation f envi esents a rrest of n Am ng st ati or honoronmen nother o two Bla a e t rican emenon’s prem the men t foll i er C r the li t for Afr minous ck men owin er in a publ ommiss fe and w ican Am signal at a P P h ilade g towa ic unres ion foun ork of D ericans of the inhiladelp lyears BAKER . h rds b t in o d ra c L i r r S cism . King a ess than easingl a Starb ecom ur c b efore on Calif FIE nd 5 and ing a omm two y dan ucks orni h 0 u p g w b i s e natio nitie o e fre y e r ed w convict a n wh s, we lice brut ears afte eks after ous ion i r the ality t we ere a still h even Vicente in days, perso have a at th Kern e t n B ng w rooyou 1993 hough enavi tent is jud2.loWhen t of see this logo scan 1. Get the app by scanning or download it was convic the stat d not t of theirged by t ay to go he whole picture with this QR code with your from Google Play the he co over c injur false. M tion on e S lo o haracter cong a i tablet or smart phone. or The App Store or smartphone. f the tablet ation “The Sryour a a n nnou es recan ny doct ro d o t n e insig provi tarbuckir skin. d c fi rst-d ed Tu . Ker rs eg n e ure ht rega des dan s situw o uld b ree mu sday tha C impl of our rding t gerous r d e o e n “ ra tp di drefus icit bia nation he failchar degree mfficult, if nd tha s t e o s g to b eriou not e, he take urde unc ism onscious elieve thsly. We Bena would r. Even im u if B b n w v a e ti id Bus of— e are bias—t t our ton, l a court es will r immedia can h o f e Ker iness P t e w r e s n u and acay and pokesw order to main o t fieldn Coun ionee polic into ou does m naware n o R New ty S r Aw NA o i a r e rder ehabilit man for release h k s . actio e its s Ob uper ard W Sta ACP P ation i i t s h n p e “ r serv ior C s r inne W Cali m ovid . Be Blac and e k the bucks reside “ er p ourt f I r; Ju e n ’ k d v a w n n ow hot ould e seen , Thor vides o requ men (NA failur situat t and o) . (Carin dge G nto if t it h be co ire si in P ion ACP e of C E h gto loria O andc x po hilad wo ) our prov Bena within a appen i n said.

Der nP l e h u d —De i i l n c d n i r ff a p rich J Cann f sw vid atio es d ick few ug or hia as an e offi ett/ on o n to ang John Detr ay to sc Pre rrick er w hter, Co es was b days,” little a thenwaiting d arres cers to Bak oit? side take erou son s a h she s n Joh t a s t o ers-f o s b a u o l w y y t emer t wo Or lw e s n stand e be order hem nt a nso imp s insig ays t genc rk. Thlo Verdu itting h aid gin nd C n, N coffe licit Step fired at explain ould be ht r hat t t h d a is g e y o l g t l e o, ct ow e, b hon o t EO bias egar he r m AAC Clar en time Saheed Vshot at b ack, defe ors that oom. Sh couple la in Dela i seri ding P ous a s for s ind stat underthe s “Every s k y n b a ous an w ss y a that dead nd rea uch o e that out o se said the girl e died a ter brou n ly. expl tereotyp day peo he w police o as shot a d shot ell, a me homeow c v l b had t y e g ain w f the the g a i r o es an ple o t d z f ffi as t2 are p orce nt n ealle n ea hit h out a w h hous irl m13, hy 1 aiof by t ary uCalifornia for a ast glad the culpcers in S 0 times d by poally-ill mer just o . GNumber A fSeptember emb f cNewspapers olor e Volume133 45 Observer Southern Thursday, 2018 d s e a e t 4-ye dGroup e e r y e o i t c a h o n h h o E a u r a i n l e n th rit re e gun. j a a n ar-ol edded find t t. serve ose w f SCA T AP e cas sponcrament d hit 8 ice office n in Brotside the uries fro nsic pat d Benav ve been ad on d Br hem ho f e a “ a n o A h t P e i m s r r i N s o d d , e i o s g s m ll to s way of St b k elv nnan es br truck irl’s i l o proYO QR . arbu le for b based on es, main. Or wh i n being ogist Walkf others. es at th whil s by me o often cks t reaki ly in y m But n juries w sodom conclud efly lost t e me h PHOUR TA CODE er w H t e d e h i n h o B a e e a i e ed t t e g a z . w s d s l c r r h h a e e t a s c e i i R i r e u d c o e c B y n no o l is k ty a NE. miss else ca of LET WIT ne m to cars. mption sault w al record y all late caused b , and se hat th train comm so dangcism an sues are ed h n we H vera O y W r s i h d i s d i i e re se th s bu took an en e R SM SEA ue to ng on i tting m rous w biases iscusse s on a wa are an d other the gir at indic canted, xual assa l d m d i o t l R f A h l r a p i l a s l e a c n i n ult a let ted wa d nj RT t e the licit b GO CH O y o r p cons ias anesources t just gomake simassing e sible some sai uries ma s first ho there wing they N OR OGLE P d , eque y p h ” acc a s nces d racism to discu away wi ply bre isodic ordin the purp have bee pitalized s no evid LAY DOW of ou . If w ssion thou athin orted n cau . The g

By Earl Heath t o g t , r fail e refu y the s s educ our FRO NLO ure t tate cause of ed by he also Uncasville, Connecticut o do se to, we ation ansoSupr r d M T AD e a t APP ’ll co eme h “an me d 2. L For the past several years the Mohegan Sun Casinoso.”

H n C E t o i O STO BOLIVAR, Ohio (AP) – Authorities in eastern nurt’s atom LOG OK F has played host to the Ring ceremony where basketball rulin RE Ohio say a grocery store employee has been charged with O g O R greats receive their rings. This year’s induction class to

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Los Angeles

Wel c Dee per ome Con tent to O Grocery Worker .

P b Mohegan SunictHost Hall of Famers ures se Charged with r v Mov e Eating Profits LaDeli e. A r In w s uit A ds T t D e iscr r alk. lleg a i m c es Preg Live i t n a i Sho ve O nant tion b ffic ppi y Pri THI theft for helping herself to deli ham for years.

S the Basketball Hall of Fame was led by a cast of guards felonyTuscarawas (TUS’-kuh-rah-wuhs) County Sheriff’s 3. Sto beat. Grant Hill, Maurice Cheeks, Steve Deputy Brian Hale tells The Columbus Dispatch that that’s hard CANand Ray Allen all had a common theme, Nash, S Jason an eight-year employee of regional grocery chain Giant MAKidd OGlengthy RTPallLhad “longevity.” They careers.

Eagle was charged Friday with stealing food estimated by O HON WIT the store to be $9,200.

Grant Hill spent 19Eyears league, retiring at LOworth . inHthe YOU S cerstore’s The loss prevention manager received a tip age 40 after winning two national titles at Duke and an A is su NGE R TA BlooGrace J ing thad baemployee that an been LESeating three to five slices of dligHeonbecomes b Olympic gold medal. the first Duke player to es: B y h h t L whil daye sover Film and (A ) ET ham w nearly Rev Bam e res tate eight as pr every iew the i first Duke player enshrinedOR enter the hall.B.”I might be _ AAuthorities say she priso Pyears. aker p e o g C T n also sometimes ate salami.

B n n ake u sfieIldwon’t be the last,” d a s e i n y n r s but I can promise you said Hill.

Hill is s t stem aliforn day g to .S Fre field

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sno arah iaavailable Other details her in B including a figname aweren’t Stat Native co ft Bas Hill. the son of former All-Pro NFL great Calvin ketb e Men’s Named immediately. aske Coogle akersfiel Coogle ht betw er she say rrection all C Hea o d d filed 70 emiles d. ach s sh Ray Allen was a first round pick of the Minnesota offi e fostore some r le sisaysinshBolivar, tionThe a dis n inm(112.65 e to or We al In asouth ates e lost he ss stof T-Wolves and was traded to Milwaukee where he began c r w kilometers) Cleveland. l i w FRE w d r m E! s enu titu asn the C ill Reap inati hen s offi onseq his career on la he anot ’t possib tion in ous posi cials sh uence wsui T h s l t e e i e er po o h a In 1996 and averaged 13 ppg. and was named Allw n n a t sitio d she’d chapi. at the as pre Env W ir o g n h C Rookie 2nd team. Allen went on to make 2,973 threeS Just nm n w e h w h a a n e h a lifo e sa nt ith ve ile sh Facinice Issu ntal es3 pointers “ point shots and three times he led the league Res g Kerin lost running e was s a lower to either ys she w rnia Cor and iden n Co . h ts e rec s a t a v s ake l Dep er bab to sto en m lary. made. eave told tha a y p o r t n d m a t ue or ac hs t e fi OpinionAllenStwas a two-time NBA champion who also spenttion d cept id nont of Co to a pla ght betw pregna arbu Poli cHeat. cks n time :withtothe Celtics and c e Re r t e t e r C , e 2 BlSupersonics, imm n al ectio har co n in CEO Co in Fa ging IC mmen ck M got rupt(AP) ediat VALLEY, ns a tCalif.

MORENO – aAuthorities m d ”When Iafirst told not to tal CI Ewas polo the league A tes a ogle fesay en AAinto u n e rash gents r d l e g y ll . i ” r C coma weekend 26 people fell ill during wedding in nSouthern rest ze shoot so many three’s because ed its was settling,” said Allen. men ommun The Ca d later California. t l on th ity R iforn ”So I had to work on my midrange game and I attacked the ia e law ehsays The Riverside County Fire Department a guests basket quite a bit.”

She sunincorporated uit. bilitawere sickened Saturday night in an Say riff You s He n Cheeks was with the 76er’s Uand Wa gblooalong- side “Dr. rg played area near Moreno Valley, east of Los Angeles. Some had Kill ing Any s Not d Inm o J” –Julius Erving and Moses Malone, they won e to ates ntogether nausea and vomiting.

Meet “ the NBA title in 1983.

CEO The Fire Department says five people taken to Foun was a bit ahead of his time. He was a Charlie& Scott the hospital had major symptoms, nine people were der o f set the stage as the first African native New Yorker who moderately ill and a dozen were considered to have “ Ra m a minor problems.

American to receive an athletic to the University Num pscholarship ge T A Q ber On akes A hazardous materials team was sent to the scene but uiet e fro of North Carolina.

Plac m e no hazardous materials were found and the cause of the He was signed by the Virginia squires of the ABA and illnesses remains under investigation. was named Rookie of the Year after averaging 27 point per B nce game. He spent time as$1ae0y0oBoston Celtic helping win a title Giv Hist ,000 t es o or in1976 He had a greatScoutside hoo ically B jump shot ls lack Katie Smith was the Gatorade Nation Player of the Year in high School. She was the female player to have her number retired at Ohio State University. She finished her career averaging 20 points nearly 6rpg and 4 apg.

In 2006 she became the only player to win a title in the ABL and WNBA helping the Detroit Shock defeat the Sacramento Monarchs.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – Police say a man “It’s just unbelievable.You almost immediately start to who was fatally shot by officers in California pointed a reflect on all the people that helped make this happen” said weapon that turned out to be a pellet gun designed to Smith. “This was not something I thought about doing or look like a semi-automatic handgun. happening. You literally did it because you love the game.”

The shooting occurred Thursday in Sacramento She is the all-time leading scorer in women’s basketball during a SWAT team search following a report of a have scored over 700 points in ABL and WNBA. She was masked man pointing a gun at numerous people. named head coach of the New York liberty in October A police statement says the man fled when patrol 2017. officers arrived, ignored commands and went over a fence.

Tina Thompson had a heck of a career in the WNBA. Police say SWAT officers spotted the man hiding She was the first player drafted in 1996 and won four titles under a stairwell behind a house and ordered him to with the Houston Comets. “Of all the thing you think drop the gun, but he pointed it at officers, who fired. about during your career. I wanted to be an Olympian and Police say the pellet gun was a replica of a Sig Sauer hopefully an All-Star. I wanted to win a championship.

P225 9 mm handgun.

Those are the goals I felt I could reach. To be inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame is something I never thought about.” The Morningside high and USC star in now is head coach at the University of Virginia.

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Miss America 2019 Another Black Girl Rocks

“I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school and there was only five percent minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin,” Franklin said. “But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was.”

Miss New York Nia Franklin reacts after being named Miss America 2019, as she is crowned by last year’s winner Cara Mund, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Atlantic City, N.J. (AP courtesy photo)

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor The genius, intelligence, beauty and spirit of Black women, which continues to transform the world, shined brightly again Sunday as Nia Franklin became the first Miss America in the post-swimsuit era.

“It took a lot of perseverance to get here,” Franklin, the freshly crowned beauty queen, said after her win. “I

want to thank my beautiful family, my mom and my dad, who is a survivor of cancer.”

An opera singer, Franklin is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and earned her master’s degree in music composition from UNC School of the Arts, according to her biography as reported by CNN. She moved to New York after being accepted at the

Kenan Fellow program at Lincoln Center Education in Manhattan.

During the competition, Franklin described how music helped her find her identity.

“I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school and there was only five percent minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin,” Franklin said.

“But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was.”

Her win set Twitter and all of social media ablaze.

“Congratulations to our new Miss America,” famed radio and television personality Donnie Simpson said.

“Nia Franklin represented New York and won the crown last night. She’s obviously very smart, very talented and absolutely stunning. I’m so proud.”

Another popular radio show host, Michael Lyle, Jr., also couldn’t contain his joy for Franklin.

“Huge congratulations. Well-deserved and another reason why Black Girls Rock,” Lyle said.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association – the trade organization that represents 220 African Americanowned newspapers across the country – said Franklin’s win is just another statement on the outstanding achievements of Black women today.

“The NNPA Congratulates 2018 Miss America, Nia Continued on page A4

Sacramento Man Fatally Shot had a Pellet Gun

Trump Tweets, 2 Players Kneel for Anthem

DENVER (AP) – Off the field, President Donald Trump took his digs at the NFL, linking low TV ratings for the season opener to players who refuse to stand for the national anthem.

On the field, it was hard to tell what all the fuss was about: Two players kneeled while the “The Star-Spangled Banner” played, another two raised their fist, another two stayed in the locker room. One fan at the Browns game was spotted wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey.

Other than that, there were no signs of players doing anything out of the ordinary on the NFL’s opening Sunday for a pregame ritual that has taken on new meaning since Kaepernick first kneeled during the anthem two years ago to protest police brutality and social injustice.

Fraud Convict Stage 4 Cancer 9 Yrs in Prison SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) _ A convict was sentenced to nine years in federal prison despite testimony that he has only 18 months to live.

The Spokesman-Review reports 65-year-old Vassily “Tony” A. Thompson, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Friday after having previously been found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Thompson said in court Friday that he’s been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer and doesn’t have much time left.

Defense attorney David Partovi asked U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Rice to allow Thompson to serve his sentence at home as he waits to die. But Rice sentenced Thompson to serve out his time in federal prison, noting that he will be afforded medical care.

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Thursday, September 13, 2018

World & Nation

Many historically Black institutions across the nation are taking the reins when it comes to increasing voter awareness and registration among their student body.

HBCU Millennials Energized to Vote!

By Lauren Poteat NNPA Newswire Washington Correspondent During the contentious 2016 presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, voter turnout still proved to be at an all-time low among students who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

In a report released by Tufts University, 2016 voter turnout plummeted by more than 10 points at HBCUs — from 50.5 percent to 39.9 percent.

Only two-years after the election of the very controversial and confrontational President Trump, Kamau Marshall, Director of African American Media and Deputy National Press Secretary,Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC),says that HBCU students are more active and energized to get their vote out and let their voices be heardthan ever.Energizing this voting block will make a difference to the outcome of severalvery important contests this November.

“With the Fall semester kicking off, there is a lot of momentum surrounding this very political climate,” Marshall said. “With November elections right around the corner, HBCU students are playing an active and important role when it comes to voting and voter registration.”

Believing in hope and the possibility of change, many historically Black institutions across the nation are taking the reins when it comes to increasing voter awareness and registration among their student body. For example, Howard University, located in the heart of the nation’s capital, registered over 1,200 new voters during the month of August.

“The more you get involved, the more your voice matters,” Amos Jackson III, president of the Howard Student Government Association (SGA) said. “That’s why it’s was so important for us to heavily promote voter registration. During our August Freshmen move-in day, we were able to register hundreds of new voters.”

“There are a lot of issues up for debate, including higher education costs, gun reform and scholarship budgets, that directly affect millennials,” Jackson continued. “So, when people say that their vote doesn’t count, that’s definitely not true. Your vote matters.”

Howard provides both new and returning students valuable information, including handouts on absentee ballots and voter choices. Howard students are also encouraged to sign up for a service known as “TurboVote,” an app that sends notifications about upcoming elections, an initiative whose success comes as no surprise to Marshall.

“HBCU students are ready to support whoever has their best interest at heart,” Marshall said. “As an HBCU alum—history shows that HBCU students have always been engaged when it comes to the political process. The

(Photo Credit: ©Jenny Wallace / The American Prospect) difference is always with likable candidates.”

In states like Florida and Georgia, HBCU participation is at an all-time high, as students and other citizens eagerly await the hopeful election of productive new governors.

In the state of Florida, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democratic, hopes to become the state’s first Black governor in his campaign against Republican Rep. Rob DeSantis.

The race will be one of the most closely watched contests this November, since DeSantis has tied himself to President Donald Trump and defeated other more establishment Republicans.

However, Gillum, a firm believer in Medicare for all, has the backing of progressives like Bernie Sanders and the Black community, who were largely responsible for his upset win during the state’s Democratic primary.

In the state of Georgia, an Atlanta JournalConstitution/Channel 2 Action News pollshowed that Democrat Stacey Abrams, who is African American, and Republican Brian Kemp are deadlocked in their race at 45 percent each. Contests like those in Florida and Georgia are ammunition to Michelle Obama’s “When We All Vote,” campaign, which recently announced a series of upcoming “When We All Vote” rallies, targeting students at three HBCUs: Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman.

“There is no time more important than now to be civically engaged and to exercise our right to vote,” Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman said in a statement.

“Spelman students have been registering their classmates to vote since August—signing up more than one third of our first-year class as soon as they stepped on campus. We are excited about the energy and advocacy ‘When We All Vote’ will bring to the Atlanta University Center.”

Though off-year elections are often seen as less important than those held during Presidential election cycles, Marshall insists that voting during this time November is just as important, particularly for Black millennials.

“Voting impacts people’s everyday lives, including the cost of healthcare, investments in job-creation and community issues like gun violence prevention,” Marshall said. “It’s critical to vote now—in particular—because it’s clear that Republican-controlled Washington is not on the side of regular people, and we need a check and balance.”

“It’s not just the president that can impact issues you care about, it’s also Congress,” Marshall continued. “No one can take anything for granted and we need everyone to turn out on November 6th.”

a task force that will provide a recommendation on the interment, memorialization and ceremonial funeral details of the historical remains.

“The cemetery was found because of Reginald Moore’s advocacy and dedication to the history of convict lease labor in the area,” said Bogard. “I can’t stress enough the importance of our task force. It is important that it comprises diverse community stakeholders, and I believe we’ve accomplished this purpose. “We are very pleased to continue to have the historical expertise of Mr. Moore from the Convict Leasing and Labor Project. He has been a long-time advocate of memorialization and education concerning this dark period of the state’s history. We believe that no one can speak ‘for the bones’ of these individuals with more passion and accuracy than Mr. Moore.”

The goal of the task force will be to ensure that the remains of the people discovered on the school district’s property are memorialized with the utmost dignity and in a manner that honors their historical significance. The task force will also provide a recommendation for future educational efforts to preserve a dark chapter of the region’s history.

The creation of the task force was recommended by the Texas Historical Commission and emulates a successful strategy implemented by the city of Waco after an unmarked historical cemetery was discovered during a construction project in the west Texas town. The Texas Historical Commission has requested the task force make a decision on DNA testing of the remains, officials said. The Continued on page A4

Horrific Convict-Leasing System Exposes Dark Truths about American History

By Jeffrey L. Boney NNPA Contributing Writer Slavery was an extremely barbaric and traumatic legalized institution that negatively impacted the lives of many people of African descent, while making countless Southern White slave and plantation owners extraordinarily wealthy as a result of this system of forced labor.

The recent discovery of the graves of 95 bodies, the majority of who are believed to be former slaves who were a part of the state of Texas’ controversial and inhumane convict-leasing system, serves as a dark reminder about the ill-treatment people of African descent have experienced in this country.

Several months after Fort Bend ISD broke ground on an exciting new technical center, one of the construction workers noticed something in the dirt. Upon further inspection, it was one of the bodies of the former convictleasing system workers. This could have been unearthed some time before, but no one chose to listen to the man who had been shining the light on the possibility that these bodies were there all along – Reginald Moore.\ Moore, who serves as the caretaker of the Imperial Farm Cemetery in Fort Bend County, had constantly reached out to elected officials, state employees, community leaders and the school district to warn them that the bodies could be buried near the land they were seeking to build on.

Initially, no one listened and his warnings fell on deaf ears.

“I reached out to everyone I could,” Moore tells the Forward Times. “I contacted the Texas Department of Corrections, the state of Texas, elected officials, the school district, but it was as if no one cared or wanted to believe the bodies were even there.”

Moore had always believed the bodies of those former convict-leasing system workers were there, especially because of his experience as a caretaker at historical cemeteries and his work as a correctional officer in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from 1985 to 1988.

Moore has extensive knowledge about the convict leasing system, in that he worked in the Beauford H. Jester I and III Units, which is a prison farm located in unincorporated Fort Bend County. The Jester I Farm was the first one built by the state at this site and was known as the Old Harlem Farm. While working at that site, Moore became interested in the history of the prison system and became a major researcher on the subject matter.

After leaving the prison, Moore has continued to serve as a community activist and has sought to highlight and bring awareness to the abuses suffered by prison inmates who were forced to become a part of the Sugar Land convict-leasing system.

Much of the City of Sugar Land’s evolution came as a result of the wealth generated by one family who significantly benefited from forced labor through the convict-leasing system.

Back in 1878, the State of Texas sanctioned the contract to lease prison inmates to private firm of Ed H. Cunningham and L.A. Ellis (Cunningham and Ellis).

Cunningham invested more than $1 million into the purchase of property where the firm developed a sugar mill and a sugar refinery. The town of Sugar Land eventually formed around it and after Cunningham’s plantation changed hands and became the home of the Imperial Sugar Company, the leasing of convicts continued.

In 1883, the land and the convict leasing system reverted to state control.

In 1909, the state of Texas opened the Imperial State Prison Farm on land that had previously belonged to Imperial Sugar. This was one of the first prison farms that the State of Texas owned. Back in 1930, that prison farm was renamed the Central State Prison Farm and the Texas state legislature approved funding to expand construction for additional units. Over the years, the land was transferred and/or sold to other interested parties to aid in Sugar Land’s rapid development, such as the land sold to Fort Bend ISD where the 95 bodies were recently found.

Moore believes that a memorial for the group should be established as a form of restitution, but also wants the State of Texas to issue a formal apology for this horrific legalized institution.

“I believe the state of Texas owes these individuals a formal apology for their decision to legalize such a horrible and inhumane system,” said Moore. “Yes, I believe these people deserve a memorial, but there is so much more to it than that. I have a duty to be an advocate for them and to speak from the grave for these people. I believe there are more bodies out there and I want there to be more sensitivity and concern for the bodies that haven’t been found yet. This system was wrong and there must be accountability.”

Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard appointed

A Texas-Sized Tragedy

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Thursday, September 13, 2018

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A3

Entertainment

Miss Aretha Franklin: A Five-Star Queen of Soul

By Rev. Amos Brown Letter to the Editor I have known the Rev. Jasper Williams for a long time and respect him as an individual. I wonder, however, if he understood the meaning of “eulogy” in the wake of the unfortunate sermon he delivered at Miss Aretha Franklin’s funeral in Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple last week.

I attended the funeral for eight hours, and I joined Miss Franklin’s family in condemning Rev. Williams’ decision to use a critical moment in history to espouse personal political views rather than to righteously honor The Queen of Soul’s life and legacy.

In his supposed eulogy, the Rev. Williams repeated the false narrative that black women are incapable of raising boys into men. He then echoed President Trump in suggesting black-on-black crime in cities like Chicago is the main issue – neglecting to address systemic injustices inflicted on African American communities.

The Rev. Williams doesn’t just need to study history.

He needs to read, and re-reread, first the story of Jesus’ death on the cross. Apparently Joseph’s father was not at the cross when the Christian savior died on the cross. There were only women and John’s beloved disciple whom Jesus said, “Son behold thy mother; mother behold my Son.” From that moment on John became a surrogate to Jesus family, and that family produced James, who became the leader of church at Jerusalem. Moreover, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Jesse Lewis Jackson and yours truly, did not have a constant father image present. But these iconic men still achieved.

In the next instance William Golding’s Lord of the Flies – a book about young civilized British schoolchildren who survive a plane crash on an uninhabited island. The children gradually devolve into a devastatingly low level of humanity as they attempt to form a new society on the island, and that scenario does much to explain what is going on in the more violent areas of Chicago. After the first and second world wars, resources were scarce and African Americans migrated in droves to cities like Chicago for work, particularly in the defense industry during WWII. After the second war ended and factories closed, families in African America communities were left jobless in areas that lacked quality education, adequate housing, and so forth.

Like the British schoolboys, they were left stranded on an

The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin. (AP courtesy photo) island without human necessities and a culture of violence emerged.

Last Friday in her eulogy Miss Aretha Franklin should have been recognized, not only for her voice, but for her not giving up on our marginalized communities.

If I had delivered the eulogy, I would have called her a Five-Star Queen of Soul, and then explained why. Her eulogy would have told her story, about how her passion for education along with her father, the late Rev. C.L. Franklin, who also had a “million dollar voice.” Aretha was a high school dropout, but she was a strong supporter of education, regularly assisting organizations like the United Negro College Fund. So she was an enlightened woman who had respect for education. That’s the first star in the “Five –Star Queen of Soul.” Queen of Soul “Yes, That’s the compelling music of her soul was Thought the

She was also an encourager. She lived to encourage others, and to help others. From the time she sang at her father’s church, she also alongside her father fed people in need. She never stopped helping people at the church through donations and other support, becoming an inspiration to the community. NBA legend Isaiah Thomas said he got to know Aretha Franklin when he was a bad boy in the league.

“I got here to Detroit, Aretha sat me down, her and Mayor Coleman Young, and they kept asking me what are you going to do? What are you going to say about Detroit?”

Thomas said in his more accurate form of eulogy to the Queen. “And they taught me about Detroit. And they gave me the courage to speak about race, and class and gender while I was a champion.”

Till the very end, whether it was the Flint water crisis

or students in need, Aretha was there to support. Perhaps these good deeds to some degree de-emphasize the majesty of her musical craft.

A third star for this five-star Queen of Souls is not just in the distinction in her voice and her command over it, but how eclectic she was in her artistry and the music she performed. She influenced Elvis Presley in terms of his musical style. She knew how to sing Ave Maria. And the person behind that universal voice spoke universal truths, seeing America not as a melting pot of boiling stew, but more as a health salad bowl of people and ideas. That’s what she was about in her music. That’s what she brought. She not only included all musical styles but also races, creeds, religions. She was a world citizen.

Fourth Star: She was an incredible soul sister. Amid avid support for marginalized populations, she tried to prop up fellow African Americans, provide them with hope. She raised nearly a quarter million dollars to get Angela Davis, falsely accused of being a communist, out of jail. Decades after her father helped plan the March on Washington of 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered portions of his I have a Dream speech, Franklin was in Washington to perform “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” at the inauguration of the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama.

Fifth star: She was an endurer. In spite of challenges, Aretha Franklin served others to the very end. Months before pancreatic cancer ravaged her body, she went to New York for Elton John’s fundraiser to support the cause for fighting AIDs. To the bitter end, she was serving, she was enduring. And that’s just who she was.

Though the storms keep on raging in my life And sometimes it’s hard to tell my night from day Still that hope that lies within is reassured As I keep my eyes upon the distant shore; I know He’ll lead me safely to that Blessed place He has prepared But if the storms don’t cease And if the wind keeps on blowing, (in my life) My soul has been anchored in the Lord And it keeps me steadfast and unmovable Despite the tide But if the storms don’t cease But in case the wind keeps on blowing, (in my life) My soul has been anchored in the Lord My soul has been anchored in the Lord My soul’s been anchored My soul’s been anchored My soul’s been anchored Amos C. Brown is an African American pastor and civil rights activist. He is the president of the San Francisco branch of the NAACP, and has been the pastor of the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco since 1976.

Recording Could Prove Bill Cosby Innocent Cicely Tyson Among Film Academy Honorees

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Actress Cicely Tyson, composer Lalo Schifrin and publicist Martin Levy will be getting honorary Oscar statuettes this fall at the film academy's Governors Awards, while producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the honorees Wednesday after a Tuesday night vote by its board of governors.

“Choosing the honorees for its awards each year is the happiest of all the Board of Governors' work,” academy president John Bailey said in a statement. “And this year, its selection of five iconic artists was made with universal acclaim by the Academy’s 54 spirited governors.”

The Oscar statuette is intended to “honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.” None of the honorees have been awarded an Oscar before.

Schifrin, 86, is a six-time nominee, who has Cosby is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004. (Pool Photo)

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor A source whom can only be identified as a ‘neutral’ Montgomery County Court official, claims a tape played in court that helped convict Bill Cosby was either doctored or partly erased and the original recording contained information that would exonerate the comedian.

“No one in the media, no one on the defense really, have either asked me or pressed me or, to my knowledge, anyone else about the tape,” said the individual, who has requested anonymity because identification could lead to employment loss and other sanctions.

The recording in question aired during Cosby’s trial in April before a jury found him guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for providing Benadryl tablets to former Temple University employee Andrea Constand and then engaging in foreplay where he touched her under her pants and she touched his penis.

“What did you give my daughter? I know my daughter ….,” Gianna Constand, Andrea’s mother, said in a decadesold conversation with Cosby.

However, a source said what’s been omitted from the tape could prove Cosby’s innocence.

“What’s not on the tape are two things. It was not what’s been reported that this is some angry person,” the source said.

“She said, ‘Look Bill, I know my daughter and something is wrong with my daughter. Bill, I have to tell you something, what did you give my daughter?’”

While that might sound consistent to the recording played inside the Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania, the source said here’s where the change or omission occurred.

“Mr. Cosby said to her, asked her point blank, ‘Are you accusing me of date rape?’ Mr. Cosby was incredulous because he knew and Gianna knew that he and Andrea’s relationship was consensual,” the source said.

Gianna Constand continued, according to the source: “She said no, she wasn’t accusing him of date rape, but then you get to see her real motivation which was money because she said to him, ‘Bill, things are tough, I don’t know how I’m going to make it’ — and this is a married woman saying this so Mr. Cosby — just goes on to apologize for having the relationship with her daughter and she told him that his apology was enough and that she didn’t want anything else.”

When Cosby overheard a noise on the phone, he asked Constand whether he was being recorded and she denied she was recording saying that the sound was her pet parrot.

Testimony revealed that even while Constand surreptitiously recorded Cosby, she had already first searched for a civil lawyer and then called police.

“They ran out of money and this was a way of them

getting money and Gianna Constand hated Blacks,” said Robert Russell, a former friend of the Constand family whose potential bombshell testimony was not allowed by Judge Steven T. O’Neill.

Russell said he was prepared to testify that Andrea Constand, at her mother’s direction, plotted to extort Cosby, who eventually settled a civil suit with Constand for $3.4 million.

Throughout the trial, those not in the courtroom were provided the mainstream media’s version of the tape, which many neutral observers said included so much bias that they believed the media worked in concert with prosecutors to convict Cosby and decimate his legacy.

For instance, it was widely reported in headlines and leads that “Cosby admits to being a dirty old man.”

However, the tape clearly reveals Cosby saying, “I don’t want you to think that I’m a dirty old man.”

“That’s a huge difference,” said Jonathan Burwell, a Philadelphia resident.

Another gentlemen at the Panera Bread on 12th and Arch Street agreed.

“I’m not sure what to make of the reporting by [mainstream media] but I do know something was amiss.

It just sounded pro-prosecution from the beginning and, as it turned out, they were intent on destroying Cosby and his legacy and it’s another shot at Black people in this era of Donald Trump,” said Archie Crenshaw of Delaware County.

Famed forensic psychiatrist Carole Lieberman, who has years of experience in hundreds of civil and criminal trials, said it’s appalling to discover – after Cosby’s conviction – that Gianna Constand may have doctored or left out parts of the recording that could have changed the face of the trial.

“To be honest, I always suspected that there was something off with his accuser and her story. The defense obviously did not do a good enough job for Cosby despite the hundreds of thousands they were paid,” Lieberman said.

“They should have sent this tape to a forensic analyst who would have been able to tell that it was doctored. This is done on a routine basis in cases where tapes are involved,” she said.

Lieberman said even though Cosby is set to be sentenced on Sept. 25, it’s still not too late to right the wrong.

“First, the court should order that the tape be analyzed.

If it is doctored, then a mistrial should be declared and his conviction should be thrown out,” Lieberman said.

“The prosecutors should be reprimanded and the defense attorneys should return the fees Cosby paid them.

Otherwise, they should be sued for malpractice. If his conviction isn’t thrown out, he can appeal on the basis of ineffective representation by counsel,” she said.

composed original scores for over 100 films including “Cool Hand Luke” and “Dirty Harry.”

Tyson, 93, was Oscar-nominated only once for the 1972 film “Sounder.” The prolific stage and screen actress has appeared in films like “The Help” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.”

Levy will be the first publicist to receive an honorary Oscar. His work on the campaign for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” led to a four-decade partnership with Steven Spielberg, including on films like “Schindler's List,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.”

Also Spielberg-adjacent are Kennedy and Marshall, this year's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award recipients, who together have received best picture nominations for films like “The Sixth Sense,” “Munich” and “Seabiscuit.” Kennedy, who will be the first woman to collect the Thalberg award, was also nominated for “E.T.,” “War Horse” and “Lincoln.”

The 10th annual Governors Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 18.

John Legend Now EGOT Winner

By MARK KENNEDY AP News NEW YORK (AP) — NBC’s live version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” won an Emmy Award on Sunday and that made three men extra happy — it meant star John Legend, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice joined the elite squad of EGOT winners.

The musical’s win for best live variety special united Legend, Lloyd Webber and Rice with Emmys to go along

John Legend, winner of the award for outstanding variety special for “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” poses in the press room during Night 2 of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards at The Microsoft Theater on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

with their Tonys, Grammys and Oscars — the four biggest prizes in show business.

Lloyd Webber and Rice have already won Tonys (“Evita” and “Sunset Boulevard”), Grammys (“Cats,” “Evita”) and an Oscar for “You Must Love Me” from “Evita.” Legend has won 10 Grammys and in 2015 he scored an Oscar for his song “Glory” from the movie “Selma.” Last year, he won a Tony for Best Revival of a Play as a co-producer of “Jitney.” Legend, who played Jesus in the concert version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” but won his Emmy as a co-producer of the show, is also gunning for an acting Emmy later this month.

Legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen, posted of photo of all three men cradling their Emmys with the caption: “EGOT GOATS” — a reference to the term “greatest of all time.”

Two other songwriters were also one Emmy away from the EGOT on Sunday — Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, whose song “In the Market for a Miracle” appeared in “A Christmas Story Live!” They previously won an Oscar for “La La Land,” and a Tony and a Grammy for “Dear Evan Hansen.” But their bid for EGOT status was derailed when the Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics went to “Saturday Night Live” and their song “Come Back Barack” when Chance the Rapper was hosting.

The special trio of Legend, Lloyd Webber and Rice — officially the 13th, 14th and 15th members of the EGOT club — join an elite group of winners that includes Robert Lopez, Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Rita Moreno, Mike Nichols and Whoopi Goldberg. (Lopez, the “The Book of Mormon” and “Frozen” songwriter, who was 38 when he got EGOT status, is still the youngest to win all four awards. Legend is 39.)

Lloyd Webber told The Associated Press that he never considered achieving an EGOT because he’s rarely dealt with television, but wanted to credit his old friend and prolific co-producer Craig Zadan, who died this summer, with shepherding the project. “This has always been his and I’m so grateful that he put so much of his energies into a rather wonderful show,” he said.

The latest award caps a special year for Lloyd Webber, who turned 70 this year and whose autobiography, “Unmasked,” came out in the spring along with a massive, four-CD collection of his songs performed by the likes of Barbra Streisand, Lana Del Rey and Madonna. He was the subject of a Grammy Awards tribute, and winter Olympic fans would have noticed Lloyd Webber soundtracks for several skaters.

“Jesus Christ Superstar Live In Concert” beat out the telecasts of the Grammys, the Oscars and the Golden Globe, as well as the benefit show “Night of Too Many Stars” on HBO.

A4

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

News

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Convict Leasing System Exposes Some Dark Truths Continued from page A2 task force will meet for six months with meetings held on the first and third Wednesday of each month for the first two months and then one Wednesday a month thereafter.

The first meeting was held on September 5th at Sugar Land City Hall.

The organizations invited to participate as a part of the task force include: Reginald Moore, of the Texas Slave Descendants Society (a group now called the Convict Leasing and Labor Project); City of Sugar Land; Fort Bend Independent School District; the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation; the Fort Bend Historical Commission; the Texas Historical Commission; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; the Houston Area Urban League; the Fort Bend Church; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Embassy Church; Rice University Professor Caleb McDaniel; Slavery by Another Name author Douglas Blackmon; and members of the Sugar Land community. Sugar Land officials are also working on a detailed agreement with Fort Bend ISD for the future relocation of the bodies to the city’s Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery, located at 6440 Easton Ave. The city will fund costs associated with layout, design and location, as well as maintenance of the city’s cemetery.

While a funding source has not yet been identified, the city will also work with community groups to explore funding opportunities for future park development that will include walking paths, interpretive historical information and parking, surrounding the city-owned Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery. The city will continue its coordination with the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation, a group established by the city to preserve and document the community’s rich history – including the Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery on the city’s property, according to Sugar Land officials. The Fort Bend Independent School District will be responsible for the continued exhumation on their property; submitting a petition to the court for removal and reburial; funding costs associated with storage, new burial vessels, transportation, interment and security; and procurement and placement of temporary markers for each grave.

Slavery and forced labor have been a major part of the foundation of the United States since its inception, but when that system was interrupted as a result of President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it hit Southern White slave owners and plantation owners extremely hard in their pocket books.

The impact of this one legislative action was extremely significant for Southern White slave and plantation owners who immediately found themselves having to continue their business operations without the ability to forcefully and legally use the labor of Black slaves.

Because they could no longer rely on legalized slavery to force Black slaves to help them continue building their flourishing business enterprises, those same Southern White slave and plantation owners worked with their state governments to come up with creative new ways to use the law to their advantage.

In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified and included verbiage that attempted to officially abolish slavery in the U.S., stating: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party By Jeffrey L. Boney NNPA Contributing Writer Slavery was an extremely barbaric and traumatic legalized institution that negatively impacted the lives of many people of African descent, while making countless

Southern White slave and plantation owners extraordinarily wealthy as a result of this system of forced labor.

The recent discovery of the graves of 95 bodies, the majority of who are believed to be former slaves who were a part of the state of Texas’ controversial and inhumane convict-leasing system, serves as a dark reminder about the ill-treatment people of African descent have experienced in this country.

Several months after Fort Bend ISD broke ground on an exciting new technical center, one of the construction workers noticed something in the dirt. Upon further inspection, it was one of the bodies of the former convictleasing system workers. This could have been unearthed some time before, but no one chose to listen to the man who had been shining the light on the possibility that these bodies were there all along – Reginald Moore.\ Moore, who serves as the caretaker of the Imperial Farm Cemetery in Fort Bend County, had constantly reached out to elected officials, state employees, community leaders and the school district to warn them that the bodies could be buried near the land they were seeking to build on.

Initially, no one listened and his warnings fell on deaf ears.

“I reached out to everyone I could,” Moore tells the Forward Times. “I contacted the Texas Department of Corrections, the state of Texas, elected officials, the school district, but it was as if no one cared or wanted to believe the bodies were even there.”

Moore had always believed the bodies of those former convict-leasing system workers were there, especially because of his experience as a caretaker at historical cemeteries and his work as a correctional officer in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from 1985 to 1988.

Moore has extensive knowledge about the convict leasing system, in that he worked in the Beauford H. Jester I and III Units, which is a prison farm located in unincorporated Fort Bend County. The Jester I Farm was the first one built by the state at this site and was known as the Old Harlem Farm. While working at that site, Moore became interested in the history of the prison system and became a major researcher on the subject matter.

After leaving the prison, Moore has continued to serve as a community activist and has sought to highlight and bring awareness to the abuses suffered by prison inmates who were forced to become a part of the Sugar Land convict-leasing system.

Much of the City of Sugar Land’s evolution came as a result of the wealth generated by one family who significantly benefited from forced labor through the convict-leasing system.

Back in 1878, the State of Texas sanctioned the contract to lease prison inmates to private firm of Ed H. Cunningham and L.A. Ellis (Cunningham and Ellis).

Cunningham invested more than $1 million into the purchase of property where the firm developed a sugar mill and a sugar refinery. The town of Sugar Land eventually formed around it and after Cunningham’s plantation changed hands and became the home of the Imperial Sugar Company, the leasing of convicts continued.

In 1883, the land and the convict leasing system reverted to state control.

In 1909, the state of Texas opened the Imperial State Prison Farm on land that had previously belonged to Imperial Sugar. This was one of the first prison farms that the State of Texas owned. Back in 1930, that prison farm was renamed the Central State Prison Farm and the Texas state legislature approved funding to expand construction for additional units. Over the years, the land was transferred and/or sold to other interested parties to aid in Sugar Land’s

rapid development, such as the land sold to Fort Bend ISD where the 95 bodies were recently found.

Moore believes that a memorial for the group should be established as a form of restitution, but also wants the State of Texas to issue a formal apology for this horrific legalized institution.

“I believe the state of Texas owes these individuals a formal apology for their decision to legalize such a horrible and inhumane system,” said Moore. “Yes, I believe these people deserve a memorial, but there is so much more to it than that. I have a duty to be an advocate for them and to speak from the grave for these people. I believe there are more bodies out there and I want there to be more sensitivity and concern for the bodies that haven’t been found yet. This system was wrong and there must be accountability.”

Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard appointed a task force that will provide a recommendation on the interment, memorialization and ceremonial funeral details of the historical remains.

“The cemetery was found because of Reginald Moore’s advocacy and dedication to the history of convict lease labor in the area,” said Bogard. “I can’t stress enough the importance of our task force. It is important that it comprises diverse community stakeholders, and I believe we’ve accomplished this purpose. “We are very pleased to continue to have the historical expertise of Mr. Moore from the Convict Leasing and Labor Project. He has been a long-time advocate of memorialization and education concerning this dark period of the state’s history. We believe that no one can speak ‘for the bones’ of these individuals with more passion and accuracy than Mr. Moore.”

The goal of the task force will be to ensure that the remains of the people discovered on the school district’s property are memorialized with the utmost dignity and in a manner that honors their historical significance. The task force will also provide a recommendation for future educational efforts to preserve a dark chapter of the region’s history.

The creation of the task force was recommended by the Texas Historical Commission and emulates a successful strategy implemented by the city of Waco after an unmarked historical cemetery was discovered during a construction project in the west Texas town. The Texas Historical Commission has requested the task force make a decision on DNA testing of the remains, officials said. The task force will meet for six months with meetings held on the first and third Wednesday of each month for the first two months and then one Wednesday a month thereafter.

The first meeting was held on September 5th at Sugar Land City Hall.

The organizations invited to participate as a part of the task force include: Reginald Moore, of the Texas Slave Descendants Society (a group now called the Convict Leasing and Labor Project); City of Sugar Land; Fort Bend Independent School District; the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation; the Fort Bend Historical Commission; the Texas Historical Commission; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; the Houston Area Urban League; the Fort Bend Church; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; Embassy Church; Rice University Professor Caleb McDaniel; Slavery by Another Name author Douglas Blackmon; and members of the Sugar Land community. Sugar Land officials are also working on a detailed agreement with Fort Bend ISD for the future relocation of the bodies to the city’s Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery, located at 6440 Easton Ave. The city will fund costs associated with layout, design and location, as well as maintenance of the city’s cemetery.

While a funding source has not yet been identified, the city will also work with community groups to explore funding opportunities for future park development that will include walking paths, interpretive historical information and parking, surrounding the city-owned Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery. The city will continue its coordination with the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation, a group established by the city to preserve and document the community’s rich history – including the Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery on the city’s property, according to Sugar Land officials. The Fort Bend Independent School District will be responsible for the continued exhumation on their property; submitting a petition to the court for removal and reburial; funding costs associated with storage, new burial vessels, transportation, interment and security; and procurement and placement of temporary markers for each grave.

Slavery and forced labor have been a major part of the foundation of the United States since its inception, but when that system was interrupted as a result of President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it hit Southern White slave owners and plantation owners extremely hard in their pocket books.

The impact of this one legislative action was extremely significant for Southern White slave and plantation owners who immediately found themselves having to continue their business operations without the ability to forcefully and legally use the labor of Black slaves.

Because they could no longer rely on legalized slavery to force Black slaves to help them continue building their flourishing business enterprises, those same Southern White slave and plantation owners worked with their state governments to come up with creative new ways to use the law to their advantage.

In 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified and included verbiage that attempted to officially abolish slavery in the U.S., stating: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Former slave and plantation owners, as well as politicians from Southern states soon realized that the protections from legalized slavery in the Thirteenth Amendment did not apply to Blacks who had been convicted of crimes and sentenced to prison. As a result, they collaborated together and developed legal systems within the state whereby an individual, typically a Black male, would be convicted of minor crimes, such as vagrancy or walking alongside railroad tracks, and then given felonies and sentenced to forced labor. Those convicted individuals would then be leased out from the state government to Southern White business owners, and forced to provide labor, in the same way that Southern White slave and plantation owners enjoyed during the days of slavery. This practice, known as ‘convict leasing’, became a burgeoning business model that caused demand to exceed supply and allowed Southern states and Southern White business owners to economically prosper.

Because Texas was the last state in the U.S. to officially end slavery after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, they were the first to adopt this model of a convictleasing system.

Over a four year period, up to a thousand Texas convicts were leased to private contractors to quarry granite for the Texas state capital building in Austin. Time will tell if there are more bodies to be unearthed and discovered, with stories that need to be told.

Lawmakers Shift from Mass Incarceration

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ The recently completed California legislative session continued a yearslong effort to lower criminal sentences, ease restrictions on suspects, and keep juveniles out of adult prisons despite objections that the moves could harm public safety.

From a nation-leading reform measure that eliminates cash bail to restrictions on trying juveniles, a major goal of Democratic lawmakers this year was to limit mass incarceration that supporters say often disproportionately affects women, youth and minorities.

“All these bills are coming to you because it's time for us to rectify a system that's been proven to not work, to not rehabilitate adults, and that's been completely discriminatory” to minorities, said Sen. Ricardo Lara, a Los Angeles-area Democrat.

Lara successfully argued for a bill prohibiting 14- and 15-year-olds from being sent to adult prisons even for crimes like murder, arson and robbery.

The California District Attorneys Association is urging Brown to veto the bill. It could set dangerous killers free at 25 with little opportunity to keep even the most threatening locked up, the group argues.

Prosecuting people younger than 16 in adult court should be rare, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said, but judges should have that discretion in the most serious cases.

Schubert and other DAs came to Sacramento last week to urge Brown to reject the bill and to highlight the case of Daniel Marsh, who was 15 in 2013 when he murdered and mutilated an elderly couple in Davis.

“This was not a crime of passion or juvenile impulse. It was a well-planned and executed random act of violence,” said Mary Northup, the daughter of one of Marsh's victims.

“This is the exception that proves (the bill) SB1391 would unleash a violent criminal on our society.”

Brown, a former state attorney general, hasn't indicated how he will act.

Lawmakers also vastly expanded the number of criminal suspects who can be diverted to mental health treatment programs and have their charges dismissed, but weeks later bowed to critics with a revised bill excluding those charged with murder, rape and other sex crimes.

Other bills sent to Brown include restricting the state's felony murder rule that holds accomplices to the same standard as the person who carried out the killing. Critics say the rule has been disproportionately used against poor and minority offenders as well as youths and women who are more likely to be accomplices.

“It goes too far. It at this point is nothing short of shocking and an affront to public safety,” said Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys. The felony murder bill “will result in the release of murderers, absolutely no question about it,” she said, as judges and juries try to sort out who pulled the trigger.

Brown already signed a bill that in October 2019 will end cash bail for suspects awaiting trial. Suspects will instead be held or freed based on the likelihood they'll return to court and the degree of danger they pose to the public.

California Bail Agents Association lobbyist David Quintana said he's confident that voters will support overturning the measure on the 2020 ballot.

“All these criminal justice bills that have passed in the last couple of years are really having a cumulative effect on how the public perceives their safety,” Quintana said.

Yet California voters have generally been supportive

Democratic Assemblywoman Shirley Weber of San Diego introduced the legislation shortly after Sacramento police shot and killed an unarmed black man, 22-year-old Stephon Clark, while searching for someone breaking into vehicles. The killing unleashed angry protests in the capital city.

A coalition including the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, ACLU of California, Anti Police-Terror Project, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice and Youth Justice Coalition L.A. criticized lawmakers for not doing more.

“Every day that goes by without changing the standard for when police can use deadly force, is a day that another person will be unjustly killed in California,” they said.

In this photo taken Aug. 30, 2018, Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, talks with Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Weber’s measure, AB931, limiting police use of deadly force failed to pass out of a Senate committee. (AP Photo/ Rich Pedroncelli) The Associated Press

In this photo taken Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, Los Angeles area Democratic state Sens. Ricardo Lara and Holly Mitchell hug after the Senate passed their bill that prohibits youths 14 and 15 from being sentenced as adults, in Sacramento, Calif. The bill, SB1391 was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown. Rich Pedroncelli AP Photo of reform efforts, easing criminal penalties for drug and property crimes in 2014 and allowing earlier parole for inmates in a 2016 ballot measure. They'll weigh in again in 2020 on an initiative that seeks to roll back portions of those two earlier measures.

Republican Assemblywomen Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore said lawmakers are favoring criminals over victims as she argued against a bill that would have restricted enhanced sentences for most convicts.

“We have passed quite enough soft-on-crime, procriminal bills this year alone,” she said. “Stop race-baiting and talk about the real issue, and maybe for once here someone can talk about the victims.”

Research shows that criminal justice laws indeed disproportionately affect minority populations, said University of California, Irvine, criminologist Keramet Reiter, while several researchers also have found little link between any increase in crime rates and the easing of laws.

State justice officials reported in July that violent crime in California increased 1.5 percent last year compared with 2016 while property crime dropped 2 percent over the same year.

In a rare loss, legislators facing a barrage of law enforcement opposition shelved for the year a scaled-back bill that would have toughened the standard for when police can use deadly force.

Miss America Continued from page A1

Franklin. The genius, intelligence, beauty and spirit of Black women impact and transform the world,” Chavis tweeted.

Franklin, who plans to advocate for the arts during her tenure as Miss America, told reporters that she was also happy that the swimsuit competition – which had been part of the overall contest throughout its 92-year history – had been discontinued.

“I’m happy I didn’t have to wear a swimsuit,” she said.

“I’m more than just that.”

Thursday, September 13, 2018

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER A5

Sports

Meet Your Rams Linebackers

Cory Littleton (AP News courtesy photo)

By Cameron Buford Whatsgoodinsports.com As the Los Angeles Rams prepare for another competitive season. Their newly acquired collection of a new talent including an All-Pro Cornerback, an All-Pro Defensive Tackle and Superbowl winning Cornerback has been well documented. By teaming this newly acquired talent with the recently signed, reigning Defensive Player of the Year, the Rams are fully loaded and ready to, not only, defend their NFC West Title from last year, they are looking to take a major step in their growth this season.

Multiple players will benefit from the presence of these new additions to the Rams and the immediate beneficiaries would be their young linebacking corp...

Former Alabama Crimson Tide Safety Mark Barron is expected to lead this linebacking corp. in the coming season. Washington Husky Cory Littleton along with Georgia Bulldog Ramik Wilson, Eastern Washington Eagles Samson Ebukam along with Baylor Bear and Bryce Hager is expected to be part of that rotation as well. Each

of these guys brings some experience and versatility to the table and each of them should be ecstatic with the wealth of talent that has been brought in to complement the Rams defense.

Defensive Coordinator Wade Philips mentioned he is “concerned” with regards to Mark Barron’s health and availability for their opening game. Sean supported this concern by stating they are “taking things day by day” with Mark. McVay went on to say that “with some of the workouts and the things he’s taken part in; he’s not feeling as good as we’d like; really most importantly not as good as Mark would like to feel.”

Having proved to be an adequate replacing for the former linebacker, veteran, Alec Olgetree, and the Marc Barron, Cory Littleton will get a chance to the play caller of the defense this season. Ogletree’s trade in the offseason opened an opportunity for the undrafted free agent. Time will tell if Littleton can handle the play-calling duties while continuing to make plays.

The Rams found another competitor in undrafted free

Serena Williams’ Treatment Resonates Among Black Women

Serena Williams hugs Naomi Osaka, of Japan, after Osaka defeated Williams in the women’s final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

By DEEPTI HAJELA AP News NEW YORK (AP) — When Serena Williams told the umpire at the U.S. Open final that he owed her an apology, that he had stolen something from her, and then she got penalized for her words, Breea Willingham could relate to her frustration and anger.

Willingham isn’t a tennis star, but she is a black woman. She and others like her say Williams’ experience resonates with them because they are often forced to watch their tone and words in the workplace in ways that men and other women are not.

And if they’re not careful, they say, they risk being branded “Angry Black Woman.”

“So much of what she experiences we experience in the workplace, too,” said Willingham, a professor of criminal justice at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. “As black women ... we’re expected to stay in our lane, that lane that has been created for us.

Any time we step out of that lane, then we become a problem.”

The stereotype of the “Angry Black Woman” is alive and well, said Felicia Martin, 36, a federal employee

who lives in Brooklyn. She recalls once seeing a white female co-worker cursing and throwing things and not facing repercussions, while she’s been told to calm down for expressing her own upset in a normal tone of voice.

“If I’m upset about something, I should get to express that to you,” Martin said.

During Saturday’s championship loss to Naomi Osaka, Williams got a warning from the chair umpire for violating a rarely enforced rule against receiving coaching from the sidelines. An indignant Williams emphatically defended herself, denying she had cheated. A short time later, she smashed her racket in frustration and was docked a point. She protested that and demanded an apology from the umpire, who penalized her a game.

Many people, black women among them, echoed Williams’ contention that she was punished while men on the tennis circuit have gotten away with even harsher language.

“A lot of things started going through my head in

FILE- In this Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, file photo, Serena Williams, right, talks with referee Brian Earley during the women’s final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament against Naomi Osaka, of Japan, in New York. Some black women say Serena Williams’ experience at the U.S. Open final resonates with them.

They say they are often forced to watch their tone and words in the workplace in ways that men and other women are not. Otherwise, they say, they risk being branded an “Angry Black Woman.” (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)

that particular situation. You know, first and foremost, what was going to be said about her the next day? The typical angry black woman, you know ... when she really was just standing up for herself and she was standing up for women’s rights,” said former tennis champion Zina Garrison, who is black. “A woman, period, is always, when we speak up for ourselves, then you have the situation where people are saying, you know, they’re too outspoken. They’re acting like a man, all of that.

But then a black woman on top of that, the angry black woman, who does she think she is?”

Martin and others pointed to a cartoon by an Australian artist as the clearest example of the stereotype facing black women. Mark Knight of Melbourne’s Herald Sun depicted Williams as an irate, hulking, big-mouthed black woman jumping up and down on a broken racket. The umpire was shown telling a blond, slender woman — meant to be Osaka, who is actually Japanese and Haitian — “Can you just let her win?”

“I was deeply offended. This is not a joke,” said Vanessa K. De Luca, former editor in chief of Essence magazine, who wrote a column about the U.S. Open furor.

The cartoonist “completely missed the point of why she was upset,” De Luca told The Associated Press.

“It was about her integrity, and anybody who doesn’t get that is perpetuating the erasure that so many black women feel when they are trying to speak up for themselves. It’s like our opinions don’t matter.”

Some black women say they have to worry perpetually about how they’re coming across to make sure they’re not dismissed as angry or emotional.

“It’s exhausting,” said Denise Daniels, 44, of the Bronx, who works in professional development for educators. “It does diminish from the work satisfaction that other people get to enjoy because it is an additional cost.”

Willingham thinks that was part of Williams’ experience on Saturday as well, but that it was also about a career’s worth of frustrations that she has had to endure, such as when the French Open banned the type of catsuit she wore.

“I felt it for her. I felt she was fed up, she was tired of this,” Willingham said. “How much is she supposed to take, really? How much are any of us supposed to keep taking?”

Los Angeles Rams linebacker Samson Ebukam (50) rushes a lineman during NFL football rookie minicamp at the team’s practice facility in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Friday, May 12, 2017.

(Michael Owen Baker / Associated Press) agent and former Georgia Bulldog Ramik Wilson. This fourth-round draft pick and 4-year veteran for Tampa, Fla. is looking to capitalize on his opportunity to make plays on this defense. His 17 starts with the Kansas City Chief ’s, over the past 3 years, has provided him valuable experience which he will no doubt rely on when he gets on the field this season.

Son of former University of Texas All American, Philadelphia Eagles, and Denver Bronco Bryce Hager was an All-State Running Back and linebacker in the state of Texas himself. He was a major contributor on special teams last season and filled in nicely when given the opportunity.

Having played in every game in his 4-year career, Hager is working towards expanding his role in this coming season.

Lastly, Samson Ebukam is also a contributing member of this linebacking corp.. In his third season, this fourthround draft pick out of Eastern Washington alum has earned a role on this ferocious defense. This Portland, OR., native blew the Rams with his pre-draft workout, running a sub 4.5 in the forty-yard dash and jumping nearly 11’ in the broad in addition to his 39” vertical. Ebukam’s explosiveness at the linebacker position adds more versatility to the Rams linebacking group.

When asked, how much fun is he having fitting in these new pieces; How much if his game plan is he adjusting to fit the new players they have? Wade answered this question by stating “Most of the (defensive) game plan is adjusting to the players we have. So, we try to utilize what they do well, we got some guys that do a lot of things well; so, it gives us a lot of versatility. Being really sound is key in the first game against a team with a new coach.”

This group of linebackers has a chance to reap the benefits of playing with a scary defensive line in front of them as well as having a pair of lockdown corners playing next to them. That stout defensive line will, often times, command double teams and will surely open clear lanes to the ballcarrier or quarterback for whoever is on the field at linebacker. It will be fun to see who it is that steps up to claims playing time at the linebacking spot on this team.

In their first game of the season, it appeared the Rams needed one half of football, to get back into playing shape, on offensive and defensive. The linebacking group tallied 15 tackles and an interception on Monday night against the Oakland Raiders QB David Carr. The Rams defense did hold the Raiders to under 100 yards rushing and was able to get 3 interceptions in their first win of the 2018 season, proving that Rams fans have a lot to be excited about this upcoming season.

As it appears the Rams have pushed all their chips into the middle of the table by adding the multitude of talent they have this off-season. I have been graciously provided access to see how they efficient they are in practice and how their Head Coach does a great job of setting the tone and providing a winning environment. After I thorough reviewed of their schedule, I see three possible losses on their schedule; barring any major injuries of course. Please let me know your thoughts and predictions about the Rams upcoming season, by commenting in the comment section at www.whatsgoodinsports.com.

Robertson Lands Walter Camp Award

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer Arizona State University’s Merlin Robertson was named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week.

The of Serra high (Gardena). grad had nine tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and one pass breakup. The linebacker stepped up the most when the game counted, recording seven of his nine tackles and all of his sacks in

the second half.

The 6-foot-3 and 240 pound outside linebacker helped lead the Sun Devils (2-0) to 16-13 win over Michigan State, the 15th ranked Spartans, in a PAC12- Big Ten showdown.

While at Serra Robertson Robertson was a consensus four-star prospect ranked as the No. 129 overall prospect in the 2018 class by 247 Sports and the eighth-best outside

Merlin Robertson (ASU Sundevlis.com courtesy photo)

Kyler Murray (Getty Images photo)

linebacker in the country.

Robertson is the third ASU player to win the award on either side of the field, joining former quarterback Andrew Walter (11/7/04) and former wide receiver Jaelen Strong (10/514).

On the offensive side Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray nabbed the award Offensive Player of the Week-accounting

for five touchdowns (3passing and 2 rushing). The 5-11 190 pound Junior from Allen Texas completed 19 of 33 passes for 306 yards and rushed for 69 more in a 49-21 win over UCLA. Murray is the seventh Sooner to earn the Walter Camp player of the Week Honors and the third QB to be honored. (Sam Bradford 9/9/07 and Baker Mayfield 11/5/17)

Local

A6

LOS ANGELES NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, September 13, 2018

California Aims to Phase Out Fossil Fuels by 2045

By JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ California has set a goal of phasing out electricity produced by fossil fuels by 2045 under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown, who has positioned California as a global leader in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,

approved the measure as he prepares to host a summit in San Francisco of climate change leaders from around the world starting Wednesday.

The renewable energy measure would require California's utilities to generate 60 percent of their energy from wind, solar and other specific renewable sources by 2030. That's 10 percent higher than the current mandate.

LA Rail Grade Separation Project Completed

The goal would then be to use only carbon-free sources to generate electricity by 2045. It's merely a goal, with no mandate or penalty for falling short. ``It's not going to be easy and will not be immediate, but it must be done,'' Brown said. ``California is committed to doing whatever is necessary to meet the existential threat of climate change.''

Phasing out fossil fuels would be a massive change in the energy grid. Utilities rely on natural gas plants to meet demand when renewables fall short, particularly in the early evening when the sun sets and people turn on their air conditioners as they get home from work.

Utilities are already dealing with an abundance of solar energy during peak times, which must be offloaded to other states when there's not enough demand locally for the power.

Renewable energy experts have looked to batteries that can store solar energy generated in the afternoon as one solution, but the technology is not ready for widescale deployment. Another potential solution is pumped storage, in which water is pumped uphill in the afternoon using solar energy and then released through hydroelectric generators after the sun sets.

Brown has often faced criticism that he's too cozy with the oil industry, including from environmental groups that plan to protest at the San Francisco summit. They're pushing him to create a moratorium on new oil wells in the state.

Orleans SAN GABRIEL, Calif. (AP) _ Southern California officials have marked completion of another big project aimed at separating freight and passenger trains from street traffic.

The four-year $293.7 million San Gabriel Trench project east of Los Angeles was dedicated Monday by the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority.

It involved lowering the railroad 30 feet (9.1 meters) for 1.4 miles (2.25 kilometers), building four new bridges for street traffic and two railroad bridges. Trains began

using the trench last year.

Proponents say it improves safety and eliminates crossing delays for thousands of motorists, reduces pollution from idling vehicles, improves rail reliability and eliminates horn blasts and crossing bells.

The original Alameda Corridor project completed in 2002 is a 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of railroad from the Los Angeles-Long Beach ports, including 10 miles (16 kilometers) below grade.

Autopsy Performed on Rapper Mac Miller, More Tests Needed LOS ANGELES (AP) – An autopsy has been completed but the cause of death is not yet clear for hip-hop star Mac Miller, who was found dead in his Los Angeles home last week.

Los Angeles County coroner's spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said Monday that investigators have performed the autopsy and released the body to the family, but a cause will not be announced until the results of toxicology tests that can take weeks or months.

Miller's rhymes often dealt with his depression and drug use, and his fans and collaborators included some of hip-hop's biggest names.

Paramedics found him unresponsive and declared him dead on Friday.

Ariana Grande, who was in a two-year relationship with Miller until earlier this year, posted a black-andwhite photo of him with no caption on her Instagram page Saturday.

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California ranked sixth among states in crude oil production in May, the latest data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The state ranks 15th in natural gas production. California's production of crude oil has fallen steadily since the mid-1980s.

Critics say the renewable energy goal is not realistic and worry individuals and businesses will face higher energy prices.

The measure was written by state Sen. Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat who is running for U.S. Senate against fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. ``Today we're setting a marker that will be remembered by future generations,'' de Leon said.

California has met its goal to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels, an accomplishment that relied heavily on building cleaner power plans.

But electricity accounts for only 16 percent of California's emissions. Further reducing carbon discharges will require a significant reduction in vehicle emissions, which have inched up recently.

After signing the bill Monday, Brown also signed an executive order directing the state to achieve ``carbon neutrality'' by no later than 2045. After that, he says the state should emit net negative greenhouse gas emissions.

The order directs several state agencies to set targets for artificially removing carbon dioxide from the air through a process known as ``sequestration.''

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