“Addressing
News&Issues
Current & Historical Realities Affecting Our Community”
THE LIE IS OVER
By: Roy Douglas Malonson
A er months of pretending he knew little to nothing about “Project 2025,” President Donald Trump has now made his intentions crystal clear. is week, he openly con rmed he is meeting with Russ Vought, former O ce of Management and Budget Director and one of the chief architects of the controversial conservative playbook. e two men are strategizing on where to slash federal spending while the government remains paralyzed by shutdown.
What Trump once brushed o as a distant plan is now front and center in his administration’s agenda. In his own words on Truth Social, Trump bragged about the meeting, writing: “I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, Lie on pg. 3
JOHNNY P. MOUTON, JR.
OCT 10, 1943 - SEPT 25, 2025
By: Family
John Percy Mouton, Jr. was born on October 10, 1943, in Houston, Texas to John Percy Mouton, Sr. and Wilda Page Mouton. He was baptized at an early age and attended St. Monica Catholic Church. He attended public school in the Aldine School District and graduated from Carver High School in 1962. Before graduating from high school, he ran track. He also loved to dance, tell jokes and he loved fast cars. John had an entrepreneur personality, amboyant, adventurous, smart, charming, good looking, fun, loving, caring and down-to-earth guy. He loved vintage muscle cars and trucks.
On July 18, 2002, he was united in holy matrimony to Jacqueline Lawson. John was a devoted husband and leaves to cherish his memories his wife, Jacqueline; four sons, Michael (Andrena), Terrence (Tasiana), Reggie and Jesse. One daughter, Shalonda; one brother, Steve Mouton (Joyce); one sister, Jacqueline Reynolds (Marcus). He also leaves grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends.
John is preceded in death by his parents, John and Wilda Mouton; his son, Craig Mouton; brother, James E. Mouton; and his sisters, Cheryl and Sandra Mouton.
A Revival of God Consciousness
EDITORIAL
YOUNG BLACK MALES IN CRISIS
e family unit is the foundation of every society. Homeownership is the foundation of the American Dream. By and large, the Black community is failing young Black males, because of the breakdown of family units and vanity-oriented lifestyles. Life is about self-discipline and self-sacri ces. Hence, too many young Black males are growing-up undisciplined. More importantly, fewer young Black men are dating and marrying; even though similar circumstances exist in the White community, but the socio-economic impacts are vastly di erent. Sadly, too many young Black males are turning inward and becoming “lovers of themselves” based upon maximizing the pleasure principle. Self-discipline is the key to a productive life. On the other hand, too many young Black women are turning to eating as a source of pleasure. Choosing taste over nutrition, especially with fast food and overeating habits, which can lead to health issues like obesity. erefore, men relating to themselves on an intra basis rather than to women, and women relating to food has become a disastrous relationship problem in the Black community Hence, ungodly disrupted lifestyles in the Black community have
become too prevalent, diminishing quality of family life and future socio-economic opportunities. What an ungodly disgraceful shame! Additionally, education and technical skill training are the keys to occupational success. For example, there is a stark di erence between educational degrees earned by Black women and educational degrees earned by Black men: associate degrees Black women (68%) and Black men (32%). Bachelor’s degrees Black women (66%) and Black men (34%). Master’s degrees Black women (71%) and Black men (29%). Doctorate (PhD) degrees Black women (65%) and Black men (35%). On the one hand, modern America de nes marriage as a socio-economic equal status union. While, on the other hand, God has eternally de ned marriage as a spiritual union between a man and a woman (Genesis 2: 1-25). Same-sex-marriage is not in ( e Book of Life), because God is not a backdoor God. God has only one door, and it is righteous. erefore, will someone please tell MAGACult Trump Followers: “set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity, and let me not eat of their dainties.” (Psalm 141: 3-4). e brother of Jesus, James wrote that the tongue is dangerous. King David wisely asked God to help him keep his mouth shut. is is why listening is a Godly quality when individuals know who to listen to. Even Jesus Christ kept silent before his false
I’M
We Must Understand
Roy Douglas Malonson, Publisher
A BLACK MAN — AND THE MEDIA MADE ME AFRAID OF MY OWN PEOPLE
It’s not easy to say out loud — but it’s real. I’m a Black man, and for years, I was afraid of my own people. Not because of what I knew — but because of what I was taught to believe.
Turn on the TV, scroll through your phone, or watch the evening news — and what do you see? Black faces linked to crime, chaos, and con ict. Headlines that scream violence but never show brilliance. Stories that highlight our worst moments while ignoring our best ones. A er a while, those images don’t just shape how others see us — they start shaping how we see ourselves.
at’s what the system wants. Fear keeps us divided. It stops us from trusting each other, supporting each other, and building together. e truth is, the majority of our people are hardworking, creative,
spiritual, and powerful beyond measure. But those stories rarely make the headlines — because unity isn’t pro table, and empowerment doesn’t sell. e media has spent decades turning our pain into entertainment and our neighborhoods into headlines. But here’s what they won’t show you: the young Black teachers changing lives, the fathers mentoring kids a er work, the women leading businesses and movements, the communities feeding their own. at’s the real story — and it’s happening every single day.
e fear we feel isn’t ours — it’s inherited. It’s programmed. And it’s time to unlearn it. e moment we stop letting the media de ne who we are, we start reclaiming our power. I’m not afraid anymore. I see through the lens now — and what I see are kings and queens, builders and believers, survivors and dreamers. We are not the problem. We are the promise.
Bobby Mills, Ph.D.
Lie Cont.
and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can’t believe the Radical Le Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. ey are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
For critics who long warned that Trump was biding his time before embracing Project 2025, this is the proof they feared. e plan itself is not some minor policy suggestion—it is a sweeping, nearly 900page document outlining
consolidate power in the presidency. Civil rights protections, public education, housing, healthcare, and even environmental safeguards are all in the crosshairs. And now, with a government shutdown giving him the cover to act, Trump appears eager to treat federal agencies as pawns in a political game.
e implications for Black America cannot be overstated. Programs that serve as lifelines—Head Start, Title I education funding, housing and transit grants, health access for low-income communities—are at
being gutted under the guise of “cutting Democrat agencies.” If history has taught us anything, it is that when America catches a cold, Black America catches pneumonia. A sweeping slash to public programs will not fall evenly; it will hit hardest in the neighborhoods where resources are already scarce.
Observers are already raising alarm bells. Legal experts say Trump’s talk of ring federal workers during a shutdown may violate existing law, and unions are preparing lawsuits. But even as the courts deliberate, damage could be done. When an administration
charged with enforcing civil rights, monitoring discrimination, or funding historically Black schools and neighborhoods?
Trump’s defenders argue that the cuts are about e ciency and reducing waste. But the language of Project 2025 makes clear its deeper ambition: a radical reshaping of government that erases protections for marginalized communities and tilts power away from the people who rely on
public services the most. Critics warn that this is not just about dollars and cents—it is about whose voices matter in America’s democracy.
For African Americans, the warning lights are ashing. e same playbook that Trump once dismissed is now the roadmap he is embracing. e same government programs that have provided pathways to stability and progress are now labeled as “political scams.” And the same communities
that have always borne the brunt of economic experiments are the ones once again staring down the consequences. e question is not whether Trump is serious about Project 2025. He has shown us that he is. e real question is whether Black America—and the nation as a whole—will recognize what is at stake before it’s too late.
begins labeling agencies as scams and plots their elimination, what does that mean for institutions page document outlining how to dismantle federal programs, strip agencies of independence, and risk of
THROUGH THE LENS OF TIME: BLACK HISTORY IS 24/7/365
1817 1822
1840 1856 1833 1848 1820
1817. e American Colonization Society is established to transport freeborn Black people and Black people freed from slavery to Africa.
1820. e Missouri Compromise provides for Missouri to be admitted to the Union as a slave state. Slavery will not be allowed in Maine and in the western territories north of Missouri’s southern border.
1822. Denmark Vesey, who was freed from slavery, plans the largest slave revolt in U.S. history, in Charleston, South Carolina. e rebellion is betrayed before the plan can be carried out.
1833. e American Anti-Slavery Society, the main activist arm of the abolitionist movement, is founded under the leadership of William Lloyd Garrison.
HOUSTON
1840. e Liberty Party holds its rst national convention in Albany, New York. In opposition to fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, members believe in political action.
1848. e Free-Soil Party, a minor but in uential political party, nominates former U.S. president Martin Van Buren to head its ticket.
1856. In the ongoing contest between proslavery and antislavery forces in Kansas, a mob sacks the town of Lawrence, a “hotbed of abolitionism.”
AUSTIN
TEXAS TAKEAWAY
Over 3,000 attendees packed Houston’s Discovery Green Park for what became the Southern Smoke Foundation’s most successful singleday fundraiser to date. The event, held Saturday, raised $1.7 million to directly support the foundation’s mission of offering emergency assistance and free mental health services to individuals in the hospitality industry.
WACO
Cultura Mia, a local Mexican restaurant, may have closed its brick-and-mortar location, but the authentic flavors that made it a favorite are still serving the Waco community—now from a food truck.
DALLAS
First, the Texans packed up and left Dallas — twice, in fact. Now, the Mavericks and Stars are eyeing a future beyond the American Airlines Center, and potential new homes are popping up all along the tollway.
Though Texas is often recognized for its iconic city skylines, the state’s diverse landscapes—from the Hill Country to the Panhandle—enhance the charm of its many small towns. WalletHub, a personal finance company, recently released its 2025 list of Best Small Cities in America, with two Central Texas towns ranking in the 90th percentile or higher.
SAN ANTONIO
The newest Babe’s Old Fashioned Food restaurant has been a few years in the making, and this week, the popular burger and chicken chain is finally opening the doors to its brand-new location.
Lena Horne was an acclaimed American singer, actress, and civil rights activist who broke racial barriers in Hollywood during the mid-20th century. Despite being one of the rst Black women to sign a long-term contract with a major studio, she o en faced frustrating limitations, as her musical numbers were frequently designed to be easily removed by theaters for segregated audiences. Horne used her platform to ght for racial equality, suing discriminatory establishments and participating in civil rights events, including the 1963 March on Washington.
LENA HORNE
IT’S HELL TO BE POOR THE GRINDING WHEELS OF GENTRIFICATION IN LOCAL
By: Travis McGee
Being poor is a nancial condition that most has experienced. It has always been more poor people than rich people, however the rich get richer and the poor is just trying to survive. Everything is going up, but wages. e cost of living is always high when you are poor. ings like in ation, mortgages, rent, insurances, automobiles(notes), interest rates, groceries, taxes, medication, and anything else I didn’t mention is all too damn high.
When you are poor you always have to put needs before wants as a survival technique. People should never have to choose between food in their refrigerator, a roof over their heads, or which utility should not be paid until the next check. It’s easier sometimes not to pay certain bills just to buy time, you know robbing Peter to pay Paul however “I’ll pay that later” put us in more debt and by the time you pay that one you have a disconnection notice on another one. Being insured or not being insured shouldn’t depend on accessibility to a ordable home /
to a ordable home / health insurance or health care. Now days some health insurance
deductions from your check are equivalent to a house note and homeowners’ insurance is more than your property taxes.
We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, but yet and still the working class stay in survival mode. Yes, the working class are poor too. Living check to check has become the norm and watching the weather with our ngers crossed has become our daily routine, because we know we are just one pay check, tax bill, ood, or hurricane from being a part of the most vulnerable population” e homeless” whom are also poor.
Raising a family and owning a home was the American Dream, but being able to a ord it all is the true de nition of a nightmare. Who would ever thought groceries would have to be nanced? People are basically living to work and working to live. e cost of living is politics and politics should never come before “We the People”. Pay attention to who all is getting paid while, we not paying attention.
A great man by the name of Marvin Zindler once said its Hell
Zindler once said its Hell to be poor and he wasn’t lying one bit…
HOUSTON
By: Fred Smith
In Houston, the engines of so-called progress are roaring through the city’s historic Black neighborhoods — paving over culture, memory, and legacy in the name of “revitalization.” What’s being called growth is, for many residents, nothing less than cultural erasure.
scraped away for minimalist walls. Houston’s Black population in these neighborhoods continues to shrink as wealthier, o en white newcomers ood in, drawn by what’s being marketed as “authentic culture” — the very culture being erased. is is not just a housing crisis. It’s a historical one. Every demolished home represents generations of struggle and triumph. Every displaced family weakens the roots of a community that helped shape Houston’s identity. And every policy that ignores this reality adds fuel to the machine.
But change is not unstoppable. Across Houston, residents are organizing — creating community land trusts, demanding a ordable housing, and holding city leaders accountable. ey’re ghting to preserve what remains before the skyline replaces the soul.
e grinding wheels of gentri cation may be loud, but the voices of resistance are growing louder. For Houston’s Black neighborhoods, the ght is not about nostalgia — it’s about justice. It’s about protecting the spaces that made history and ensuring the next generation inherits more than empty lots and memories.
Communities like ird Ward, Fi h Ward, Independence Heights, and Sunnyside once stood as symbols of Black resilience and entrepreneurship. Families built homes there a er being denied access to other parts of the city. Churches, barber shops, and small businesses gave those areas their heartbeat. But now, the sound of bulldozers drowns out that rhythm. Rents have surged. Property taxes have climbed. And longtime homeowners — many of them seniors — are receiving o ers they can’t refuse or a ord to match. What was once home is being rebranded as “up-andcoming,” while the people who made it vibrant are pushed further away. e faces are changing, but the story is familiar — a story of pro t over people. Developers call it revitalization, but it o en means replacement. Co ee shops rise where corner stores once stood. Condos replace community centers. Murals painted with pride are AA
accusers. America, no doubt about it, sometimes silence is golden.
America’s socioeconomic system has created at least three generations of dysfunctional young Black males, which in turn, breeds family disintegration, neighborhood violence, and above all, unwanted individuals residing in unwanted neighborhoods. Undesirable land uses breeds chaos and intraracialized violence. Marginalization, population concentration, ghettoization, and segregation of unwanted land and unwanted people is a monumental disorganization problem in American society. Issues of right and wrong in morally disorganized environments become absolutely confused. As a result, an excessive number of individuals may attempt to justify improper actions as acceptable, which can lead to confusion. Right is right. Wrong is wrong. What is considered incorrect remains so, without ambiguity or moral exception. Issues of right and wrong are de ned by God. e news can only inform; but God can transform, because “ e earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Psalm 24: 1).
ROXANNE ORSAK TO SUCCEED CRAIG BOYAN AS PRESIDENT OF H-E-B BUSINESS
By: Fred Smith
H-E-B has announced the promotion of Chief Operating O cer Roxanne Orsak to President, e ective January 2026. She will succeed Craig Boyan, who will remain on the company’s board of directors and take on a senior advisor role before retiring at the end of 2026.
Orsak joined H-E-B in 1988 as a store management trainee and has since held a variety of leadership roles across store operations, merchandising, procurement, format design, and more. She was appointed COO in 2022 and will become the rst woman to serve as president in the company’s 120year history.
is the clear and natural choice to become H-EB’s next President,” said Howard Butt III, H-E-B CEO. “Her deep knowledge of our business comes from nearly four decades of leadership across many areas of the company. Roxanne leads with integrity, lives our values, and truly appreciates the contributions of every Partner [employee].”
Orsak’s promotion marks a signi cant milestone not only for H-E-B but also for the broader retail industry, as she becomes the rst woman to hold the
role of president at the Texas-based grocer. Her journey from a store
“Roxanne
management trainee to the company’s top executive leadership is a testament to H-EB’s commitment to developing talent from within and fostering long-term career growth. Her diverse experience across nearly every major function of the business gives her a unique, holistic perspective that is expected to shape H-EB’s future strategy and continued expansion. Under her leadership as Chief Operating O cer, H-E-B has strengthened its operational excellence, streamlined
innovation while preserving the company’s customer- rst focus and strong community values. As she steps into her new role, Orsak is expected to continue advancing H-E-B’s strategic priorities, including growth in new markets, sustainability e orts, and the enhancement of both employee and customer experiences.
Craig Boyan, who has served as president since 2010, will work closely with Orsak during the transition period to ensure continuity and
supply chain initiatives, and expanded its digital and in-store shopping experiences. Orsak has been instrumental in driving
a smooth handover. His ongoing role as a senior advisor and board member will help preserve institutional knowledge and provide ongoing support during this pivotal change.
H-E-B’s leadership team, board, and more than 145,000 Partners across the company have expressed strong support for Orsak’s appointment, viewing it as a natural progression for a respected and seasoned leader who deeply understands H-EB’s mission and values.
