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African-American News and Issues Newspaper

VOL. 21 ISSUE 51

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Promote your Black-owned Business in the largest circulated Black business Journal #TheHTownBK

Inquire today by Calling (713) 692-1178 There are still spots available 150,000 copies circulated throughout the city!

Dr. Thomas F. Freeman of Texas Southern University will be the Guest Speaker of the

SEE PG 4

Part 1: A New Era of Justice or Just Business as Usual?

North Houston Frontiers Club Celebrates 29 years of Helping Minority Youth

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Breakfast See Page 8

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

45th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration

presented by Houston Baptist Pastors and Ministers Fellowship under leadership of Rev. H. Stanley, President.

The event will be held January 16, 2017 at Antioch M.B.C. under the leadership of Rev. F.N. Williams Sr., Pastor located at 5902 Beall @ MansďŹ eld St. in Houston, Texas 77091.

The Memorial Service will begin at 11:00AM and the Mass Meeting will begin at 6:00PM. Special music by Gospel Recording Artist Bro. Chester D.T. Baldwin And other featured choirs from the community!!

Spread the word and keep the dream alive!!

For more information call 713-692-5333

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American News&Issues

Editorial & Opinion

Be Careful What You Wish For. Impeach Trump And You Get Pence

Author & Political Analyst

Put this in the category of be careful what you wish for. The instant that Trump won the White House, the chatter about impeaching him has been non-stop.

Roy Douglas Malonson Chairman Shirley Ann Malonson President/C.E.O. Chandra Jarmon

Production/Editor

LaToya Hamer

Production Asst.

Rebecca S. Jones

Contributing Writer

Mark Spivey

Contributing Writer

Chelsea Davis-Bibb

Contributing Writer

Darwin Campbell

Contributing Writer

Sandra Davis

Distribution

DeMarcus Hubert

Distribution

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by African-American News & Issues, Inc., 6130 Wheatley Street, Houston, Texas 77091, (713) 692-1892. Our office hours are Monday-Friday, 9am - 5pm. The entire contents of the paper are copyrighted by African-American News & Issues, Inc. All rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of the publisher. African-American News&Issues is not responsible for any claims made by advertisers.

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Letter to the Editor

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e welcome all original responses from our readers to content found in the African-American News&Issues.

Letters to the Publisher may be sent via e-mail to news@aframnews.com. Please keep all letters under 300 words. Be sure to include the author’s name, area of residence. All letters and articles may be verified before they are published. All letters are subjected to editing or being cut for spacing purposes. Thank you in advance for your submission.

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The reasons many legal scholars, ethics experts, and political analysts give boil down to this. He has business dealings with foreign governments, most notably Russia, his family management arrangement still presents business conflicts, his possible violation of the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits presidents from buying influence with federal officials or receiving special treatment, and influence peddling and gift taking from foreign governments. These are all sticky points that Trump hasn’t done much to address.

But even if he doesn’t, the move to impeach is a congressional call, and the chance of a GOP controlled House and Senate making that call is virtually nil at this point. However, Trump’s business entanglements could continue to run afoul of federal law about money, gifts and influence with foreign entities. This could plop Trump on the congressional hot seat. But it’s a seat that would be disastrous.

Because with Trump out you get Vice President Mike Pence. Trump is bumptious, obnoxious, and clownish. Pence is the prototypical ultra conservative in the gray flannel suit. He is business like, efficient, and knows how to run a political office. Trump will lean on him hard to do the behind the scenes, in the trenches work with Congress to get his initiatives through.

This will present no problem for Pence. He knows Congress, and the GOP establishment is comfortable with him. But Pence has his own agenda. It’s an agenda that’s been honed over time as an arch conservative Indiana governor and congressperson.

Civil liberties, civil rights, and education, and environmental groups know him too. They consistently gave him straight Fs on their report cards for elected officials. He got straight As on every conservative and ultra-conservative report card, including, unsurprisingly, the report card of the National Rifle Association.

The checklist of Pence positions on the issues reads like a what’s what of the Heritage Foundation and ultra-conservative think tank positions. His stance on abortion and same sex marriage is well-known. He’s rabidly against both and every time he’s had the chance to vote on the issues or propose initiatives when he was Indiana governor such as defunding Planned Parenthood and forcing most of its clinics to close or signing the most abortion-restrictive regulation in the nation, banning abortion even in cases where the fetus has a “genetic abnormality to do away with both, he’s done it with gusto. His fondest wish in his words, “I long for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history.”

Pence waged a take no prisoners war on LGBT advocates by backing the nation’s harshest “religious freedom” law as governor and as a congressman trying to torpedo federal funding that would support treatment for people suffering from H.I.V. and AIDS. He flatly opposed expanding hate crime laws to include violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Pence would move fast to smash the firewall between religion To continue reading online visit Source: huffingtonpost.com

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

D R . M A RT I N LU T H E R K I N G , J R .

St re ng t h t o L ov e

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s the era of America’s first African American president draws to a close, our nation faces many new challenges.

Yet, our city is vibrant, our people are inspiring and we continue to work hard and value the

P O L . A D V. S Y LV E S T E R T U R N E R C A M P A I G N

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

TEXAS • JANUARY 9 - 15, 2017

essential humanity of every Houstonian.

In Houston, if we can dream it, we can do it.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

M AYO R S Y LV E S T E R T U R N E R

TEXAS • JANUARY 9 - 15, 2017

Editorial & Opinion

Understanding the Law:

My Spouse Passed Away With No Will Krystin Collins Attorney at Law

When a person passes without a Will, they often leave their family and friends in a state of confusion as to how to dispose of their personal property and real estate. This especially applies when a person’s spouse passes away without a Will. Not only is the living spouse grief stricken, they are also left to navigate the muddy waters of how to carry out their deceased spouses business and personal affairs.

Attempting to pay burial expenses and estate debts can be very costly

and frustrating when you are unable to access your spouse’s bank accounts. In addition, paying taxes on a home, refinancing a home, or selling a home can be very difficult if your name is either not on the deed or you have failed to remove your deceased spouse from the deed. These are common occurrences when a loved one passes, but the law provides for alternatives to probating a will that allow you to handle the affairs of a deceased loved one.

AFFIDAVIT OF HEIRSHIP An Affidavit of Heirship is generally used when someone dies without a Will and has left real estate. To have title to the property transferred to the Decedent’s heirs, the heirs can file an affidavit of heirship in the deed records of the county in which any piece of real estate owned by the Decedent is located.

An Affidavit of Heirship must

be done even in the event that you and your spouse have purchased real estate together. The property does not automatically pass to the living spouse. An affidavit of heirship must be done to transfer the deceased spouse’s interest in the real estate to the living spouse.

TRANSFER ON DEATH DEED An alternate way to transfer real property to someone else upon the death of the Decedent is to have the Decedent execute a Transfer on Death Deed. The deed allows the owner to keep the exact same rights to the property that they’ve always had while they are alive, but in the event of their death the property will automatically transfer to a designated beneficiary.

A transfer on death deed is ideal for married couples because this method of transferring property does not require court intervention.

SMALL ESTATE AFFIDAVIT A Small Estate Affidavit is similar to an Affidavit of Heirship, but this document is generally used to handle the Decedent’s financial affairs (banks and other financial institutions) and does not transfer title to real estate.

This document is filed with the probate clerk in the county where the Decedent passed or any county where the Decedent owns real estate. If your spouse has passed away without a Will, I always advise to seek legal counsel before taking any steps to manage their estate.

To continue reading online visit Source: AframNews.com

Attorney Krystin Collins is a native of the Acres Homes Community.

She is a graduate of Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law and has been a licensed attorney since 2009. Her primary practice areas are criminal defense, civil litigation, personal injury, estate planning, and divorce.

She may be contacted at 713-7750332 or krystin.collins@gmail.com.

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“Freedom is never given. It is won.” We cannot expect them to stop treating us as second class citizens until and unless we stop believing that we are second class citizens and until we stop behaving as second class citizens. - A Philip Randolph

The Real Meaning of Justice

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cross the ages, many wise men have uttered, spoken and written words about

Justice.

It has been defined by many of the greatest minds to ever live, but justice has one simple outcome and one simple result.

According to the dictionary, justice is the quality of being just; righteousness, equitable, and or using moral rightness. It means to act or treat justly or fairly. It calls for the administering of deserved punishments or rewards without prejudice on a fair basis.

We MUST Understand that the most important thing is that one simple outcome and one result comes down to how honest we are about the way we treat one another and how we look at one another.

Frederick Douglass once said. “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.”

Ask yourself how safe, confident and secure can we be when we know ugly injustice lurks just outside our doors and driveways.

In Harris County, past records and reviews demonstrate how lacking in the definition things are in the county.

Harris County is the largest County in Texas. It incarcerates more Blacks and Browns than any other place in the state and rivals statistics in other states with large Black and Brown populations.

Justice has not been as blind as we thought – as a matter

of fact over the past 40 years, justice in Harris County has had 20/20 vision for the color Black.

Harris County would do well to reexamine its definition of justice and listen to the words of William Penn who said. “Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.”

We MUST Understand that something is wrong in Harris County with targeting African Americans and Hispanics with shoddy drug law enforcement policies and practices.

While Blacks make us about 19-percent of Harris County residents, they made up almost 50-percent of those arrested for felony drug possession between October 2011 and September 2012, and they comprised 65.8-percent of those being incarcerated by Harris County in state prisons or jails for felony drug possession, the study revealed.

Current racial and ethnic stereotyping and enforcement policies that paint Black and Hispanics as criminals and communities as magnates for drug sales and use contributes to the lack of trust and damages the image of law enforcement in those communities.

According to a 2013 report by the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, drug enforcement law in Harris County has been considered as an effective crime control strategy with predominantly Black drug users targeted with increasingly levels of enforcement, uncon-

We MUST Understand

By Roy Douglas Malonson, Chairman

nected to crime or drug use rates.

This has caused a vicious cycle of arrest, incarceration, conviction, release and re-arrests has created a

permanent underclass of thousands of Houston area residents with multiple felony convictions. Many are not criminals, but citizens with addiction problems.

The study also said that Harris County fails to identify those needing treatment or provide adequate services leaving jails at capacity because many cannot afford bails or bonding.

It was Joseph E. Stiglitz who said. “Rather than justice for all, we are evolving into a system of justice for those who can afford it...”

About 75 percent currently in jail or awaiting trial and are in jail because they cannot afford to post bail.

We MUST Understand and tell our elected officials that Enough is Enough!!! We must demand better.

It was Benjamin Franklin who said. “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

Read More We MUST Understand columns online @ AframNews.com!

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“JUST US” FROM PAGE 1

HOUSTON - As Democrats take the reigns of power in Harris County, many politicians have lofty goals and are making promises they claim will bring real change and a new era in criminal justice.

The real issue at hand is will it be a new era of justice or still “just us”?

For the African-American community, the question is whether the swear-ins and new faces will make a difference or will it leave many voters be “swearing” behind more broken and empty promises citizens will have to haul off to the curb to be collected and taken to the political landfill.

When it comes to Harris County, Richard Pryor’s all-too-real joke in the early 1970s is true and cannot be ignored – even with the entrance of an all new crew in Houston and Harris County Justice in 2017.

Houston now has a Black Mayor, a Gay and Lesbian District Attorney, a Hispanic Sheriff, a Hispanic Police Chief, a Hispanic Fire Chief, a Hispanic School Superintendent and a new Black County Commissioner.

Despite that, people of color and their interactions with the system, the justice and police policies might not change much.

Kim Ogg – New DA Carrying the torch and leading the call for change, Ogg has promised to be the front line agent of coming changes in criminal justice.

But…she did say this during her inauguration speech. “Our first oath is to the practice of law.”

In a later interview, Ogg stated her goal to be to rebuild trust in Black and Brown communities by being open and transparent with the community.

“A new era of criminal justice has begun…,” she said. “Our transparency theme is more than just words… Our prosecutorial discretion will be applied to all races and people in Harris County equally.”

However, how much of the rhetoric can be believed?

Should the Black community be concerned with that kind of double talk and the “political ballet” Ogg must dance between the legislature, the law and the definition of trust and justice in the Black community?

Harris County still has a record and that record is a concurrent and continuous history of failing on promises to be equal and fair on justice as a 2013 report on Harris County justice reminds us.

The 2013 Study In that study, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition study revealed damning key points about the problems in Harris County regarding TX- 4

Cover Story

how its crime control efforts target Black and Brown communities.

This report addresses the negative impact of the Harris County criminal justice system on black and brown communities.

According to the executive summary section of the 2013 report, both communities are targeted based upon false racial and ethnic stereotypes.

The data and analysis from the report painted a picture of Harris County that reveals some disturbing truths.

First, Harris County’s criminal justice system is committed to policies that racially target Blacks and Hispanics. Secondly, these policies could not be justified by public safety goals; and proved to be detrimental to public safety.

Harris County focused much of its crime control resources on prosecuting drug crimes, particularly drug possession.

Felon drug possession has been the number one felony charge in the county for each of the past 20 years.

This harms and reinforces negative stereotypes of minorities and negative attitudes toward police in these two communities.

System Stereotypes Blacks In that report, Blacks made up about 19 percent of Harris County residents, they made up almost 50 percent of those arrested for felony drug possession between October 2011 and September 2012, and comprised 65.8 percent of those being incarcerated by Harris County in state prisons or jails for felony drug possession.

Harris County’s criminal justice policies damage the Black and Hispanic communities that law enforcement is sworn to serve and protect.

The over enforcement of drug laws in the Black community also reaffirms the stereotype that Blacks are more likely to be criminals.

In the case of drug laws, targeted enforcement is criminalizing Blacks who use illicit drugs, while most Whites using illicit drugs have no contact with the criminal justice system.

The summary goes on to say targeted enforcement also undermines public safety in Black communities because the community feels targeted by police for unfair treatment and that contributed to a lack of trust in law enforcement.

The Issue is Trust Again, Ogg has noted that she will follow the law on the issue stating, “As long as it is the law I will follow it,” she said. “We will look to legislators to take a look at drugs laws and penalties that are imposed under Texas

Texas • J•anuary - 15, 2017 Texas August912-18, 2013

“You go down there looking for justice; that’s what you find: just us.” - Comedian Richard Pryor law. My office will use the discretion that the legislature gives us to handle marijuana cases differently.”

Ogg has also extended her promises to improve ethics in the office and to crusade to change the current culture of drug arrests, convictions and harsh penalties Blacks and Browns suffer at the hands of the current system’s penalties that have been all too common for Blacks and Brown caught or facing prosecution for illegal substances.

She also promises to route misdemeanor cases around jail.

“I never felt that marijuana users belong in the same cells are murderers,” she said.

“It’s just not fair and does not make sense and I think our country is against that. That was a very important in this election.”

A PBS Frontline Story in 2009 alluded to the fact that Richard Pryor had a point.

Many Black Americans have been severely impacted and affected by life altering and changing run-ins and encounters with the justice system System Profit is a Problem Court costs and other fees people must pay can be impossibly high for working class people and can skyrocket while in jail or “free”. Much of the issues faced are economic because people with criminal records are often unemployed and unable to find work because of their felony status. Also, not paying the fees can qualify as a violation of parole and result in more fines or jail time.

Pleas Ruin Lives A plea in a felony conviction could not only mean jail or as much as 10 years of probation, hefty fines, exorbitant bail amounts, and an indelible mark on a criminal record, but also disqualify an individual for government assistance such as food stamps and access to public housing or being able to continue live in public housings.

Million Dollar Question What if the Republican-held government in Austin is hell-bent on staying the course and continue supporting harsh punishments, judg-

ments and penalties for these offenses. What then?

I.O.U. Answer “I will focus on the reforms we promised and that’s what we intend to deliver and that’s where our focus and resources will be,” Ogg said. “My door will be open to every community in Houston. I will do my best to be the best.”

“IF” Only “IF” “If we build a trustworthy system, we will earn the people’s trust,” Ogg said.

Will all that talk be good enough and fair enough to rescue and save hundreds, maybe thousands of Black and Brown citizens from facing a lifetime of difficulty over a short walk through the Harris County Justice System.

“If” – The great two-letter word with a wide and broad and convoluted meaning.

Pryor’s point was and is a valid one - that it is still a fact now well proven by the 2013 study that it is alive and well today.

The experience people of color routinely encounter with the police is vastly different from that of the average white person.

Will things change or do we have a case of new players playing the same game?

In Harris County, DA Kim Ogg, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and a dozen new Democratic judges and several new local state leaders promise a rethinking of the strategies for dealing with bail reforms and drug laws and penalties and rehabilitation and re-integration of formerly incarcerated.

The officials are all sworn in… but where does it go from here?

Ask yourself about the promises and then contemplate whether the definition of justice and fairness in Harris County changes and whether the fates of thousands from the Black community who pass through the system daily changed over the next few years….or

was Richard Pryor right about By: Darwin Campbell

Texas • January 9 - 15, 2017

College Connection

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January 14 10:00am – 2:00pm Alief Community Park 11903 Bellaire Blvd Houston, TX 77072

EDITION DATE: January 9 - 15, 2017 (Vol. 21 Issue 51) EDITION DATE: January 16 - 22, 2017 (Vol. 21 Issue 52) Texas • January 9 - 15, 2017

PUBLIC NOTICE

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MONDAY SUNDAY Public Notice N Houston Frontiers Black Heritage Society Houston Community College Dr. MartinInformation Luther King Jr. Contact & TWU & AFL-CIO Request for Proposals (RFP) Memorial Breakfast 2017 Annual “MLK, Jr. Name:Marilyn Vega Cisco Network Equipment GRB Convention Ctr Service Day Phone: 713.718.7410 Project No. 17-37 1001 Avenida De Las America Houston Food Bank Fax: Sealed proposals will be received in Houston, TX 77010 535 Portwall St Email: marilyn.vega@hccs.edu Procurement Operations (3100 Main at 8am Houston, TX 77029Address forBeginnning Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Tearsheet/Copies: For more info contact: From 1:00pm - 4:00pm Texas 77002) until 12:00PM (local 3100 Main Street 713.331.0440 time) on Wednesday, February 1, For more info contact: Houston, Texas 77002 2017. for more service day events visit MONDAY www.blackheritagesociety.org Documents can be obtained at: Black Heritage AD COST www.hccs.edu/procurement.

Society/HSBHC SUNDAY 1st Annual “MLK, Jr. Black Heritage Society run ofadHouston” for 1 week Annual “MLK, Jr. Feed Cost toTaste 501 Crawford St - Lot C the Hungry” Service Day $129.60 SUNDAY Houston, TX 77002 St. John’s Methodist Black Heritage Society Corner of Texas & Emmanuel Church TWU/AFL-CIO COST for 2 weeks: From 12pm - 5:30pm 2019 Crawford StTOTAL NET Opening MLK,Jr. Mixer For more info contact: Houston, TX 77002 $259.20 & Reception www.blackheritagesociety.org From 10:30am - 1:00pm CWA Bldg For more info contact: MONDAY 1730 Jefferson St. www.blackheritagesociety.org 23rd Annual MLK Houston, TX 77002 SUNDAY Grande Parade From 6:00pm - 9:00pm MLK Grande Midtown Houston For more info contact: Parade Please sign for approval and fax back to 713-692-1183 Parade Originates On San www.blackheritagesociety.org 16th Annual MLK Jacinto St & Elgin St by 12 NOON Wednesday the week before Monday Battle of the Bands Beginning at 10:00am This should be Competition mlkgrandeparade.org your Event!

W.W. Thorne Stadium TUESDAY email us TODAY! 1865 Aldine Bender Rd Society For The O#112784news@aframnews.com Houston, TX 77032 Performing Arts 4 weeks in advance!

Beginning at 4:00pm Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson: SUNDAY mlkgrandeparade.org The Cosmic Perspective Black Heritage Society SUNDAY Jones Hall MLK, Jr. Children’s Black Heritage Society 615 Louisiana St, Parade & Community TWU/AFL-CIO Church Houston, TX 77002 Festival Service Beginnning at 8PM MacGregor Park He Heard My Cry For more info contact: 2019 Crawford St Christian Fellowship 713.227.4772 Houston, TX 77002 Church From 9:00am - 5:00pm Date 1333 Judiway St For more info contact: Houston, TX 77018 WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY www.blackheritagesociety.org From 9am - 10am New Hope B.C. SATURDAY Bethany B.C. Winter Revival MLK Grande 7304 Homestead Rd 4827 Creekmont Dr. Parade Houston, TX 77018 Houston, TX 77091 11th Annual MLK From 6pm - 9pm Beginnning at 7pm Youth Parade For more info contact: For more info contact: Midtown Houston www.blackheritagesociety.org d713.498.5987 Parade Originates On San • 01/17 - Reverend MONDAY Jacinto St & Elgin St Jacque Denkins Black Heritage Society Beginning at 12:00 PM (Pastor Blessed Hope 39th Annual “Original” mlkgrandeparade.org Baptist Church) MLK, Jr. SUNDAY • 01/18 - Reverend Birthday Parade First Baptist Donald Dixon ( Minute Maid Park FBC Praise Dancers Pastor Greater New 501 Crawford St 844 Fortune St Hope Baptist Church) Houston, TX 77002 Houston, TX 77088 Starts at Hamilton & Tex- • 01/19 - Moderator C. Beginnning at 11:30am L. Wallace (Pastor asFrom 10am - 12:30pm For more info contact: Mother Zion Baptist For more info contact: (832)892-5078 Church) www.blackheritagesociety.org

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Community MLK BREAKFAST FRIM PAGE 1

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

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thday ir B y p p Ha in Luther Mart ,Jr. King

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- Martin Luther King, Jr. HOUSTON - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led our country from legal segregation and racial isolation toward civil rights and economic opportunity for all.

While ministering to his church, Dr. King traveled from city to city leading those already engaged in the struggle for civil rights and mobilizing people from all walks of life. He was a compelling model of engaged citizenship and a catalyst to civic participation for millions.

The North Houston Frontiers Club, Inc. honors that legacy of Dr. King with the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarship Breakfast on Monday, January 16th at 8:15 a.m.

The effort has resulted in the awarding of over $1,000,000 in scholarships over the past twenty-eight years.

This year the celebration award is the TwentyNinth Anniversary that the North Houston Frontiers Club has hosted its annual memorial scholarship breakfast.

This year, the historic event will take place at the George R Brown Convention Center, with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner serving as event keynote speaker.

During the breakfast, the prestigious Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major Award will also be presented to Houston Entertainment attorney Ricky Anderson.

Honorary co-chairs will be Sonny and Jodie Lee Jiles, Houston Defenders Media Group.

RICKY ENDERSON,ESQ. Anderson is a 1979 graduate of Benton Harbor High School. He attended Prairie View A&M University and received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration Degree in 1983.

In 1992, he earned his Juris Doctor Degree at the Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was also admitted to the State Bar of Texas, in 1992.

He has been the Managing Partner of the Law Firm of Anderson & Smith P.C. since 1992. He also became an Adjunct Professor at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1998, where he lectures on Entertainment Law, Music Industry Contracts and Trial Preparation. In 2014, he was inducted into the BESLA Entertainment Attorneys’ Hall of Fame.

Some of his other awards and accomplishments include • National Bar Association’s Entertainment Attorney of the Year 2006–2007 • National Bar Association’s Presidential Award 2008, 2012 & 2014 • National Bar Association’s Alternate Chair: Entertainment, Sports & Arts Law Section 2008–2010

TEXAS • JANUARY 9 - 15, 2017

• • • •

National Bar Association’s Chair: Entertainment, Sports & Arts, Law Section 2010–Present Grammy Governors: 2007–2010 Texas Chapter Board of Governors: 2011–Present Advisor to Grammy Governors & Texas Chapter Board of Governors: 2010–2011 Music, Film, Television, Radio and Literary areas of practice

NORTH HOUSTONFORNTIERS CLUB, INC. The North Houston Frontiers Club, Inc. (NHFC) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) service organization, dedicated to providing educational and charitable assistance to minority students in the greater Houston area.

THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Since its inception in 1986, the North Houston Frontiers Club Scholarship Program has awarded over one million dollars to deserving college bound minority high school seniors in the Houston area.

The success of the scholarship is due to the generous contributions and participation of corporate sponsors, organizations, individuals, school counselors and members of the North Houston Frontiers Club.

Beginning in 2014, the Club changed its scholarship award program from a four-year award program over four years to a single award for one year.

The awards will be divided into two categories to serve the greatest number of students in the HoustonHarris County area and to reflect the growing need to assist the growing number of students that may not attend a four-year school directly from high school.

The single award for four-year schools will be $1000.00 and the single award for two-year schools will be $500.00.

The NHFC said that needs are great in the community to provide educational opportunities for young and gifted individuals to reach the levels of success Dr. King dreamed of them achieving in this country.

The organization is seeking individuals and organizations to join us as a sponsor to help further the goals and educational ideals of Dr. King.

Sponsorship packages are available that provide information about the organization, the breakfast, and opportunities to support the program.

To get your ticket for the breakfast and make a reservation today go to: http://nhfrontiers.com/ or call 713-331-0440.

Texas • January 9 - 15, 2017

Community T:9.75”

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day The First National Holiday Honoring an African American On this day, we too embody the Real Possibilities of making the world a better place for us all. At AARP,® we are committed to uplifting and empowering future generations.

Visit aarp.org/blackcommunity

Real Possibilities is a trademark of AARP®

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Politics

TEXAS • JANUARY 9 - 15, 2017

Famed African-American Attorney is Positive Example for Women, Community Service & Success

Public Hearing

NOTICE Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas

(METRO)

Public Hearing for State Performance Audit The State Performance Audit of METRO’s fiscal years 2012 through 2015 will be presented at a public hearing to be held on January 18, 2017, at noon in the METRO Boardroom on the 2nd floor at 1900 Main in Houston, Texas.

The performance audit reports, and the response from METRO’s management to the audit, will be available for public review at METRO headquarters (1900 Main Street, 14th floor) beginning January 4, 2017 by contacting the Board Office at 713-739-4834. Also, you are urged to visit METRO’s website, www.

RideMETRO.org, to view the document and make comments.

RideMETRO.org • 713.635.4000 TX - 10

“The Woman’s Party is made up of women of all races, creeds and nationalities who are united on the one program of working to raise the status of women” - Alice Paul, American Lawyer and Social Reformer, 1855-1977 HOUSTON - From being passionate about legal issues, justice, voting or current events affecting the African-American community, Vivian R. King is a true “Matriarch Warrior”.

That drive and spirit has landed here in the center of a movement to change justice in Harris County – after years of unbalanced system where justice was not as blind as it should be.

King is to the new Chief of Staff of the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

“Thank you DA Kim Ogg for inviting me to be your Chief of Staff,” she said in a statement to Ogg on her Facebook Page. “I am honored to serve and I will work hard to promote your vision for Harris County.”

This marks the beginning of a new era of operations with new District Attorney Kim Ogg that promises to bring changes not seen in the county and the DA’s office in 40 years.

Great Example and Strong Woman The seasoned defense attorney and famed television and Internet celebrity brings a mountain of experience to the Harris County Courthouse that will help make the DA’s office be the best it can be.

“I’m going back because I believe in Kim’s vision,” King said. “She’s assembling a great team of lawyers who will be professional and good stewards of the taxpayers’ money.”

The Chief of Staff will handle day-to-day operations of the HCDAO and report directly to Ogg. King will also oversee budgets, operations and other day-to-day running of the office and supervise the attorneys who handle more than

100,000 criminal cases filed a year.

She will bring much needed corporate banking and extensive legal experience to the HCDAO. Her hiring of King marks a return to the DA’s office where King served as an ADA from 1993 -1995.

Education and Experience King graduated cum laude from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1992 and was licensed by the State Bar of Texas in November 1992. She is a Board Certified in Criminal Law. Attorney King was an Assistant District Attorney in Houston, Harris County, Texas from 1992 to 1995.

She established a private practice in Houston in March of 1995, where she has represented citizens accused of crimes in both state and federal courts.

Her main areas of expertise in her law practice included cases involving aggravated assault, all criminal cases, assault, BWI, domestic violence, drug cases, drugs crimes, DWI, medicare fraud, mortgage fraud, murder, prostitution, sexual assaults, state & federal cases, theft and unlawful carrying/weapon.

She is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; the Texas Criminal Defense lawyers Association; the Harris County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association; the Houston Lawyers Association, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Undergraduate Education: and graduated from the University of Houston, with a Business Administration, Accounting degree in 1980.

King is also well qualified, having experience serving as an adjunct professor at TSU law school, teaching law students trial and appellate skills when asked from 1998 to 2005.

To continue reading visit us online @ aframnews.com Photo & Story By: Darwin Campbell

Texas • January 9 - 15, 2017

Community

African

American News&Issues

11

Houston 2016 Murder Rate Holds Steady Turner Praises City, Community, Police for Cooperation, Crime Fighting & Prevention Efforts

HOUSTON - Holding the murder rate steady in Houston could be attributed to many factors, but Mayor Sylvester Turner praised the cooperative efforts of the city, community and police in the fight against crime.

“There is a still a lot of work to do on decreasing all violent crimes, but getting a handle on murders is a good start,” Turner said. “I commend officers, commanders and support staff at HPD for this effort and hope we can work to maintain our goal of keeping our growing city as safe as we can.”

Houston ended 2016 with 302 homicides, according to a preliminary tally conducted by city officials. While the city would like numbers lower, it does represent a far lower number than what had been predicted for the city, based on trends recorded earlier in 2016. The rate is just one under the 303 murders recorded in 2015.

Turner also commended the work of local hip hop artists, ministers, Houston Texans players and other community leaders who also stepped up to help lower the temperature in Houston neighborhoods where tensions were running high.

According to the FBI’s annual Crime in the United States reports, experts continue to point out that told most people, whether Black or White, are murdered by people in their own racial group – a fact that has and that held true for decades.

For example, a statistical snapshot from 1980 through 2008 shows that 84 percent of White victims were killed by Whites and 93 percent of Black victims were killed by Blacks.

In June, the Houston murder rate was running five percent ahead of 2015. Even by September there had been another increase and it looked as if the city would end the year with 10 percent more murders than it had the year before. However, the joint efforts made a difference and the rate appeared to slow and peak.

City Council members also acted by dedicating portions of their district budgets toward police overtime and the City’s Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones provided additional funding for public safety needs.

The increased focus on the problem included strategy sessions with HPD’s command staff and weekly updates to the mayor also made a difference, according to the mayor.

“We responded with an aggressive plan that involved an extra $2 million for overtime, the deployment of 175 officers from desk jobs to beat patrols, more park rangers and a new patrol division dedicated to the Central Business District,” said Turner said. “It is always hard to determine the specific reasons murders and other crimes increase. Some say it is something we really have no control over. That may be true, but there are early indications the overtime and increased focus have helped, and for that, I am pleased.”

The mayor noted that even if the final tally rises a little, Houston is still faring better than other cities like Chicago, which experienced 762 murders in 2016, the most in 19 years.

The murder count is considered unofficial at this time, because HPD is waiting on the Harris County Medical Examiner to provide rulings on some deaths that occurred during the last week of the year.

Darwin Campbell, African-American News&Issues

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS A BLINDING EDGE PICTURES/BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTION AN M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN FILM “SPLIT” JAMES MCAVOY ANYA TAYLOR-JOY BETTY BUCKLEY PRODUCED EXECUTIVE

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