Florida Courier, July 12, 2019

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JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

VOLUME 27 NO. 28

COMING SOON TO THE NATION’S CAPITAL Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune’s upcoming Statuary Hall placement tops a list a notable stories around Florida this week.

COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis formally asked Wednesday that the statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune replace the likeness of a Confederate general as a representative of Florida in the U.S. Capitol.

DeSantis sent a letter to the architect of the U.S. Capitol officially requesting that the Bethune statue be substituted for the one of General Edmund Kirby Smith in National Statuary Hall, a change Florida lawmakers approved last year.

Birthday recognition In a press release issued

Wednesday, the governor’s office noted his request was made on the 144th anniversary of Dr. Bethune’s birth.

“Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was an influential educator, leader and civil rights activist who became one of Florida’s and our nation’s most influential leaders,” DeSantis said in the release.

“Dr. McLeod Bethune’s statue will represent the best of who we are as Floridians to visitors from around the world in our nation’s capitol. Her legacy endures and will continue to inspire future generations.”

Dr. Bethune, who will become the first African American woman honored by a state in the national hall, founded what became Bethune-Cookman University in

Daytona Beach and later worked as an advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt.

Each state is allowed to have two representatives in the national hall. Florida’s other representative is John Gorrie, widely considered the father of air conditioning.

Replacing Reb general The Florida Legislature voted in 2016 to replace the Smith statue, in the midst of a nationwide backlash against Confederate symbols that followed the 2015 shooting deaths of nine African-American worshippers at a historic Black church in Charleston, S.C. Smith was born in St. Augustine, but had few ties to Florida as an adult. As commander of Con-

COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

This on-campus statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach will be joined by a new statue in Washington, D.C., in 2020. federate forces west of the Mississippi, Smith was considered the last general with a major field force to surrender. He has represented Florida in the National Statuary Hall since 1922.

First choice of three

Smith, lawmakers were unable to come up with a replacement during the 2017 session.

A committee from the Great Floridians Program within the state Division of Historic Resources advanced Dr. Bethune’s name See STATUE, Page A2

Despite agreeing to remove

2019 ESSENCE FESTIVAL OF CULTURE

500,000 attendees in New Orleans

Bruce A. Dixon dies Socialist commentator, activist succumbs See a related commentary about Bruce Dixon on Page A5.

ATLANTA – Black Agenda Report (BAR) managing editor Bruce A. Dixon, a lifelong and unapologetically Black community activist, died June 28 as a consequence of a multiple myeloma, a rare blood-borne cancer. He was 68.

Dixon was “a real soldier in the sense that he was willing and eager to take on any aspect of the liberation struggle and to explore all of the questions that face us, with the aim of creating the most efficient mechanisms for movement politics,” said BAR executive editor and co-founder Glen Ford.

‘Fearless’ writer

COURTESY OF ESSENCE COMMUNICATIONS INC.

New Edition was just one of the 100 performing artists across the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during the July 4th weekend for this year’s formally renamed Essence Festival Of Culture. The historic 25th anniversary celebration was one of the largest gatherings in the event’s history.

“Bruce Dixon was a fearless leftist commentator who wrote with an analytical rather than an emotional or politically partisan edge,” Florida Courier Publisher Charles W. Cherry II stated.

The Courier has consistently re-published Dixon’s BAR column since 2007.

“His love for Black people was evident in every column he wrote. His voice and analysis will be missed not only on the Florida Courier’s commentary pages, but as we head into the 2020 political year while wrestling with issues like reparations, third-party politics, and American foreign policy – especially regarding Africa – among other things.

“He wasn’t afraid to be called a socialist, of calling out phony ‘American See DIXON, Page A2

Courier photojournalist named finalist for national award

BY THE FLORIDA COURIER STAFF

Duane C. Fernandez Sr., a photojournalist for the Florida Courier, has been named a finalist for an award from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), an organization of African American journalists, students and media professionals.

Finalists for NABJ’s Salute to Excellence Awards were announced on MonDuane C. day. The winners will be Fernandez presented during its anSr. nual Convention & Career Fair in Miami on Aug. 10 at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa. Fernandez, a photographer for the

ALSO INSIDE

Courier and its sister paper, the Daytona Times, is one of the finalists in the Photojournalism: Multiple Images category.

‘Solidarity in Clearwater’ Fernandez’ photos were featured on a page in the Aug. 10-16, 2018 issue of the Florida Courier titled “Solidarity in Clearwater.’’ Other finalists in the category are from Newsday and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The page featured the Rev. Al Sharpton, the parents of Trayvon Martin, Attorney Ben Crump, as well as the Democratic candidates for Florida governor. They were all in Clearwater on Sunday, Aug. 5, for a rally that questioned the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

Sharpton and others spoke at the packed St. John Primitive Baptist Church

SNAPSHOTS

in Clearwater during the Rally for Justice.

They also were pressing for charges to be brought against Michael Drejka, the then47-year-old White man who shot Markeis McGlockton, 28, during a fight over a convenience store parking space on July 19, 2018.

From Sanford to S.C. Fernandez has made a career of capturing scenes of civil unrest as well as other major events throughout the country.

He was a 2016 finalist in the same category for a photo spread titled “Capturing Harmony and Hate in South Carolina.”

The page featured photos of a vigil for victims of the 2015 shooting at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston and a Ku Klux Klan rally in Columbia.

FLORIDA | A3

Principal removed after comments on Holocaust

See AWARD, Page A2

NATION | A6

Biden explains the late apology Epstein arrest likely has celebs squirming

GUEST COMMENTARY: CLARENCE V. MCKEE: DEMOCRATS BLIND IMMIGRATION, BLACKS, MIDDLE CLASS | A4 COMMENTARY: DR. BARBARA REYNOLDS: MLK LIES REMIND US THAT FBI IS NO FRIEND | A5

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JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

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Let me tell you about the political perpetrators In 2020, someone you know, or know of, will be running for a political office. Obviously, most candidates running for office will not experience Election Day success.

I think anyone seeking public office should be groomed, so to speak. Candidates should be knowledgeable about the important issues in whatever districts, cities, counties or states where their election attempts take place.

Base of knowledge They should know all applicable campaign laws and procedures. They should be able to recognize qualified political vendors and contractors. They should peruse campaign reports from previous candidates for the targeted office to determine the amount of money spent in the last couple of elections. They should identify who are, or were, the major campaign contributors.

Most of the time, aspiring candidates do none of the above.

LUCIUS GANTT THE GANTT REPORT

Candidates listen to their friends, their coworkers, their congregation members and sometimes their enemies prior to deciding to run for office.

‘I’ll win for you’ Once you announce your candidacy, every political perpetrator, every political charlatan and every political con man or crook will approach you and tell you that they can generate votes for you.

You might hear Black candidates say, “I have a White friend, so I’ll get the White vote,” or White candidates will say, “I support Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the local HBCU, so I’ll get the Black vote!”

Well, if you don’t know, cam-

paigns of today are highly scientific and technological. You have geo-demographic voter targeting and match merging of census data. You have digital media production and targeting and other new-age election techniques.

In politics, as in life, your “friends” will be close to you, the candidate, but your enemies will be closer!

Don’t believe them At every event a candidate attends, at the reception, at the rally, at the church, at the school, at the political forum and at every other place, someone will pop up out of the blue sky and tell a candidate, “Hire me and I’ll get you all of the votes in this town or in this area.” Don’t believe them.

Your campaign contributors will tell you, “I gave you money, so you should hire my cousin’s girlfriend that wants a job in politics. She’s good.” Don’t believe that, either.

History is the best political teacher. If you want to know if a

campaign worker can help you, take a rudimentary look at what politicians the person has helped in the past.

I’m no volunteer In a recent election cycle, a Black candidate called me and asked me to contribute to his campaign and to share my political resources and knowledge to assist in his victory.

I asked him how many Black political professionals he had hired. He told me all of his campaign money was to pay Whites, and all Blacks could only be volunteers on his campaign.

I wished him well in the election. But I also told him, “I only work on campaigns where if one worker gets paid, all workers get paid!”

How can you consider yourself a superior candidate on one hand and suggest that everybody that looks like you in your district or community is an inferior campaign asset?

DIXON

If you don’t know the trips and traps of running for political office, you better ask someone that knows how the political game is successfully played before you get embarrassed on Election Day! Don’t wait until the last month or the last day to try to put a winning political army together.

If you are considering running for office in 2020, you need to get started as soon as possible.

You need to have some money of your own to finance parts of your campaign.

And you’ll need solid political advisers with a history of political success!

Buy Gantt’s latest book, “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.

“Like” The Gantt Report page on Facebook. Contact Lucius at www.allworldconsultants. net.

year. Our director that year whose chief responsibility was fundraising was a guy fresh out of Harvard Law with no political experience, but a quick study and a great fundraiser,” Dixon’s bio states.

“We took him around to the people we’d organized in our previous 15 years, our union folks, our people in public housing, in neighborhood organizations and the like. His name was Barack Obama.

“We signed up 133,000 new voters in four months and chased them out to the polls. Afterward, I took a job in the Elections Department of the Cook County Clerk’s office responsible for registrations and elections in the suburban half of Cook County, where my responsibilities included training deputy registrars and prospective candidates for local office.”

from A1 exceptionalism’ and militarism, of criticizing ‘Black Misleadership,’ – including the Congressional Black Caucus – and what he saw as weak-kneed, corporately-owned Democratic Party leadership that is in lockstep with Republicans, and that ignores America’s middle class.”

High school activist Born to working-class parents raised on the south side of Chicago, by 1967, Dixon was involved in the citywide organizing effort among Black high school students demanding the first Black history courses and opposing the war in Vietnam.

“In the fall and winter of 1967 we hooked up with young Marine and Army veterans just back from the war. We took them to nine or ten Black high schools… (in) Chicago where we conducted teach-ins at which they recounted stories of rapes, murders and war crimes they either took part in or witnessed but were powerless to stop.

“They told us we had a political and moral obligation to resist the war and the draft and not allow us to be used in the shameful way they had been used,” he wrote in a recent biography.

Hire a professional

Online commentary

COURTESY OF BLACK AGENDA REPORT

Bruce Dixon’s lifelong history of Black activism started as a Chicago high school student opposing the Vietnam War and continued through the Black Panther, Democratic, and Green political parties.

First Congressional District of Illinois.

Joined Black Panthers

Organized ‘project’ residents

In 1969, Dixon joined the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party conducting political education classes and as a patient advocate in the party’s free medical center.

Four years later, he campaigned and trained other campaign workers for Bobby Rush, the Illinois Panthers’ former deputy minister of defense, when Rush ran for Democratic ward committeeman. Rush is now the longtime congressman from the

In the 1970s, Dixon helped organize Chicago’s Cabrini-Green public housing project around issues affecting public education, police practices, jobs, the corrupt practices of the Chicago Housing Authority, and more. He was part of highly visible protests over the fact that Chicago residents could not register to vote except weekday business hours downtown in non-presidential election years.

“I was arrested a few times, but we embarrassed the city into al-

STATUE from A1 along with Everglades activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Publix grocery store founder George Washington Jenkins, Jr. Democrats’ demands to replace Smith intensified after a White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned deadly. A plan to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee helped spur the Charlottesville rally in 2017.

A 9-foot marble statue of Bethune is already under construction in Italy, funded through donations to the Mary McLeod Bethune Statuary Fund, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation set up through the Daytona Beach Community Foundation, Inc. and the university that bears her name.

The new work is expected to arrive at the nation’s capital in 2020.

Drug deaths down TALLAHASSEE – The number of drug-related deaths in Florida, including those caused by opioids, declined in the first six months of 2018, compared to the first half of 2017, according to an interim report released by the state Medical Examiners Commission.

There were 107,570 deaths in Florida during the first six months of 2018. Toxicology results determined that 5,922 cases involved drugs. The report contains the latest available data from the

lowing Chicago’s first off-site voter registration drives, and signing up about 60,000 new voters in time for the 1980 Illinois gubernatorial election,” he wrote in his bio.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, he worked with rank-and-file steelworkers to gain control of their union to prevent a shutdown at Chicago’s Pullman passenger rail car plant, then on political campaigns against Mayor Richard J. Daley’s political machine in Chicago, including the 1983 and 1987 mayoral campaigns of Harold Washington, the city’s first Black mayor.

In 1984, Dixon worked in the congressional campaign of Dan-

state and distinguishes between opioid-related deaths and opioid-caused deaths.

A drug is indicated as the cause of death “only when, after examining all (the) evidence, the autopsy, and toxicology results, the medical examiner determines the drug played a causal role in the death,” the report states.

“Opioid-related death” means the drug was found in the decedent but is not considered the cause of the death.

Fentanyl increase Both opioid-related deaths and opioid-caused deaths are down, the report shows. However, there was a dramatic 64 percent increase in fatalities linked to fentanyl, and occurrences of fentanyl increased by 54 percent.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that can be up to 100 times more potent than morphine. According to the medical examiners’ report, most of the fentanyl involved in the Florida deaths was illicitly produced.

Fentanyl caused 1,101 deaths in Florida during the first half of 2018 – more than any other drug – followed by cocaine, which caused 844 deaths, and benzodiazepines, which killed 559 people, according to the report.

Deputy arrested for planting drugs CRAWFORDVILLE – A former Jackson County (Marianna, in the Panhandle area) deputy accused of planting drugs on motorists was arrested Wednesday after being charged with

ny Davis, who now represents the Seventh Congressional District of Illinois, and the Jesse Jackson presidential campaign.

He also recruited and trained the first Local School Improvement Councils for five Chicago Public Schools in the Cabrini Green neighborhood from 1988 to 1991, where he gained a reputation for running successful voter registration drives and field operations.

Trained Barack Obama “In 1992, I was tapped to be one of three field organizers responsible for the summer and fall voter registration drive leading up to the general election that

racketeering, official misconduct, fabricating evidence, possession of a controlled substance and false imprisonment.

Zachary Wester, 26, was arrested on the felony charges in following an investigation that began last August, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Wednesday.

State investigators found that Wester “routinely pulled over citizens for alleged minor traffic infractions, planted drugs inside their vehicles and arrested them on fabricated drug charges,” according to a press release issued by FDLE.

Body camera off Wester “circumvented” the Jackson County sheriff’s body camera policy “and tailored his recordings to conceal his activity,” the release stated. “There is no question that Wester’s crimes were deliberate and that his actions put innocent people in jail,” FDLE Pensacola Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chris Williams said in the release.

Wester, who also charged with misdemeanor perjury, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia, was fired last year.

Prosecutors have dropped more than 100 cases that relied upon arrests and testimony by Wester, who spent two years working for the Jackson County law enforcement agency.

Jim Turner and Christine Sexton of the News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

Dixon left Chicago in 2000. In 2002, he worked on the congressional campaign of Rep. Cynthia McKinney, and afterward published a critical assessment of the effort online.

“The article attracted the attention of Glen Ford and we began collaborating with Margaret Kimberley to produce an online journal called the Black Commentator, and in 2006 we founded Black Agenda Report, a weekly journal of news, commentary and analysis from the Black left published each and every week,” he wrote.

In 2009, Dixon joined the Georgia Green Party, which he called “a journey of several years here in Georgia.” He also was a staff person in the 2016 presidential campaign of Jill Stein before leaving due leave because of illness.

His ultimate goal was to transform the Green Party into a duespaying membership organization, the model followed by successful opposition parties almost everywhere in the world except the U.S. Memorial services were held on July 6.

AWARD from A1 His work includes covering major stories, including the Trayvon Martin unrest and trial in Sanford, Muhammad Ali’s funeral, anniversaries of the Million Man March and the March on Washington.

Filmmaker, too Fernandez, who resides in Daytona Beach, has an associate of science degree in photography from Daytona State College and runs a non-profit organization, Hardnotts University, where the mission statement is “teaching kids to shoot with cameras, not guns.”

Last year, Fernandez produced a documentary titled “Lies Uncovered: The Truth about The Arthur G. Dozier Reform School for Boys.” The Mariana reform school operated from 1900 to 2011. Boys sent to the school were beaten, abused, raped,

tortured and murdered.

Fernandez became fascinated with the story after seeing a news account about it. His curiosity led to a documentary he wrote, directed and produced.

About the awards The NABJ’s Salute to Excellence Awards ceremony is the only event in the country that honors exemplary coverage of African/African-American people or issues exclusively.

The awards gala highlights the work of media organizations and individuals involved in print, broadcast and online journalism, marketing and communications. Award categories include college, digital, print, television, radio, photojournalism and public relations.

NABJ’s Convention & Career Fair is the largest of its kind in the nation with more than 4,000 participants expected this year in South Florida.

JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

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FLORIDA

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Lawmakers outraged Despite the efforts, “his leadership has become a major distraction for the school community,” and Latson was reassigned to a district position, officials said.

Since 1994, state law has mandated that public schools teach about the history of the Holocaust. The news about Latson’s comments sparked an outcry from Jewish lawmakers.

“We expect more from our educators than to cater to those who deny the truth that millions of Jewish people died in the Holocaust. Every new generation must learn from the horrors of the Holocaust, because that is the only way we can safeguard against it ever happening again,” state Rep. Richard Stark, a Weston Democrat who is chairman of the Florida Jewish Legislative Caucus, said in a press release.

Calls for firing Spanish River Community High School is located in a heavily Jewish community in Boca Raton.

Principal removed after doubts about Holocaust Comments led to outrage from Jewish community NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A Boca Raton high school principal who came under fire for questioning whether the Holocaust occurred has been removed from his position, ac-

Criminal charges still possible in shopping center explosion

BY LISA J. HURIASH SUN SENTINEL/TNS

PLANTATION – Investigators have not ruled out criminal charges in an explosion at a Plantation shopping center on July 6 that obliterated one building, damaged others and left 23 hurt, authorities said Monday.

“The scene is considered a criminal investigation until determined otherwise,” Fire Department spokesman Joel Gordon

cording to Palm Beach County school officials.

“It is out of an abundance of concern and respect for the students and staff of Spanish RivWilliam er Community Latson High School that school district administration has decided to re-

assign Principal William Latson effective immediately,” a statement from the school district, posted Monday on Twitter, said.

School officials said Latson made a “grave error in judgment in the verbiage” he used in April 2018 when responding to a mother’s inquiry about Holocaust education at the high school.

“I can’t say the Holocaust is a factual, historical event because I am not in a position to do so as

a school district employee,” Latson wrote.

Counseled, visited museum Latson’s statement was “offensive” and “is not supported by either the school district administration or the school board,” county school officials wrote in Monday’s statement.

After school officials learned of the exchange, Latson was “counseled about the choices he made” in response to the parent’s email messages, according to the statement released Monday.

“He also spent several days at the United States Holocaust Museum to increase his personal knowledge,” school officials wrote.

Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, and state Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, called for Latson’s immediate termination.

“Imagine if Principal Latson had said in an email to an African-American parent that he could not and would not state that slavery is a factual, historical event. He would have been gone – one hundred percent justifiably – by the end of the day,” the legislators, who are Jewish, said in a joint press release.

Fine and Book also demanded a “full and complete investigation into how such anti-Semitic conduct could have been tolerated and covered up by the school district’s bureaucracy for more than a year.”

They also pointed to a new state law that requires Florida public education institutions treat discrimination against Jewish people in the same manner as racial discrimination.

said Monday morning. “We are not focusing on any single cause at this time.”

Fire officials have said a gas leak appears to be to blame, but they have not settled on the cause. The investigation could take weeks, they said.

Child among injured Representatives from the Florida fire marshal’s office were conducting “a thorough investigation,” the city’s police department said Monday.

The powerful blast leveled a defunct pizza shop, Pizzafire.

Among the injured was a child who had been at the nearby LA Fitness, Gordon said. Patrons said many children played in the child care room while their parents exercised.

As of July 7, most had been released from the hospital.

Conference to empower minority business owners SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

The 27th Annual Minority Enterprise Development Corporation (MED Corp) Conference is July 24-26 in Tampa.

Themed “Connecting Business with Opportunity: Growing to the Next Level,’’ the conference will feature three days of business sessions, networking, and direct access to decision makers.

The conference also will host a minority business awards lunFarad cheon and matchmakAli er for attendees. It will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton, 4500 West Cypress St., Tampa.

This year’s luncheon keynote speaker is Farad Ali, vice president of Network Delivery Services for the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

What is MED Corp?

MED Corp is a partnership of public, private and nonprofit agencies

MIKE STOCKER/SUN SENTINEL/TNS

Workers are shown at the scene of an explosion in Plantation near an L.A. Fitness on July 6. There were reports of multiple injuries on the scene.

representing primarily Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Initially, Minority Enterprise Development Corporation of Tampa Bay was formed solely to insure the continuation of Minority Enterprise Development Week in the Tampa Bay community.

However, since inception, the organization has grown to focus on the growth and development of minority businesses year-round.

National and local MED Weeks are the country’s largest federally sponsored event by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Highlighting contributions In its 27th year, this conference has been instrumental to local entrepreneurs who are in different stages of their journeys.

“We have a clear purpose of enhancing business growth with this joint public-private sector event,” said Machelle Maner, board president.

“We take pride in highlighting the significant contributions made by minority-owned businesses in Tampa Bay and surrounding areas.”

The conference also focuses on empowering minority business leaders to be key stakeholders in diversifying the economy and helping to continuously strengthen businesses in and around the state.

Registration is required and more information can be found at www. flmedc.org.

Senior bishop to speak at FAMU’s summer commencement SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

Newly elevated African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Senior Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson Jr., will address Florida A&M University (FAMU) graduates as the Summer Commencement speaker on Aug. 2.

The commencement ceremony for graduates from all schools and colleges will be held at 6 p.m. in the Alfred Lawson Jr. Multipurpose Center and Teaching GymSenior Bishop Adam nasium, 1800 Wahnish Way, Tallahassee.

Richardson More than 300 undergrad, graduate and law degrees will be conferred during the ceremony.

FAMU grad Richardson said he is excited about speaking since this year has a special significance in his relationship with the university.

“This is my 50th year out of FAMU. It’s quite an honor,” said Richardson. “I look forward to sharing whatever insights and wis-

dom I have gained over these five decades.”

This will be Richardson’s third return as a speaker at FAMU. He plans to savor it.

“I don’t expect to have another one,” he said. “I am really grateful for this one.”

Head drum major Richardson, who studied philosophy and religion and was the head drum major in the FAMU Marching “100,” was named senior bishop during the AME Church’s Annual Council of Bishops and General Board Meeting Worship Service on June 26 in Birmingham, Alabama.

The senior bishop is the active bishop with the longest tenure of service in the AME Church and is first in order of precedence among the Council of Bishops.

The former pastor of Tallahassee’s Bethel AME Church, Richardson obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from FAMU in 1969.

He earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Sacred Theology degrees at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Global reach Before being elected as the 115th AME Bishop in 1996, for 18 years, Richardson served as pastor of Bethel AME, which is located near the FAMU campus.

As a bishop, Richardson’s ministry has had global reach.

He served churches in West Africa, including Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo and Benin, South Africa, Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Florida and the Bahamas.

The AME Church has more than two million members in 40 countries across five continents.

EDITORIAL

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JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

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Dems blind to immigration, Blacks, middle class Listening to last month’s presidential debates, one would think that Democrats only care about protecting illegal immigrants – giving them free health care and other benefits, as well as decriminalizing illegal entry across our borders.

Americans are not a priority of most of the 2020 presidential hopefuls. They just have to pay for the billions of dollars in “freebie” benefits Democrats want to give to illegal immigrants.

Hypocrites all As to illegal immigrants, the biggest losers in this Democrat agenda are Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) and naturalized American citizens.

According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) May 2019 Report “Lawful Permanent Resident Population in the United States: January 2015,” LPRs, also known as “green card” holders, are immigrants who have been granted lawful permanent residence in the U.S., but have not yet become citizens. They are eligible to apply for naturalization after meeting residency and other requirements, including a five-year wait for naturalization.

The DHS’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Naturalization Fact Sheet, updated May 5, 2017, states that during the last decade, USCIS “welcomed more than 7.4 million

CLARENCE V. MCKEE, ESQ. GUEST COMMENTARY

naturalized citizens into the fabric of our nation…” The process is lengthy and can also be expensive when various application and other costs, including attorney’s fees, are included.

With that background, it’s disheartening to watch LPRs and naturalized citizens, who have obeyed the laws and patiently waited for years for their legal status, being slapped in the face by Democratic presidential hopefuls. Democrats are telling legal immigrants that they were fools for obeying the law.

The new Democratic agenda would have no southern border, meaning the U.S. would become a “territory” – one with no rules of entry with a “Y’all come” sign where the border once was.

Food for thought There is one thing that White and Black “open borders” Democrats forget. Illegal immigrants to whom they would give drivers’ licenses and other forms of identification so they can eventually vote – will vote for people who look and sound like them.

Yes, U.S. prisons ARE ‘concentration camps’ Most Americans are loathe to condemn their own country.

Even when they do, they refuse to acknowledge its vast history of criminality and prefer to behave as if the latest outrage is an outlier event.

The disgraceful treatment meted out to asylum-seekers at the southern border must be condemned unequivocally. Congresswoman Alexandria OcasioCortez and other House members performed their due diligence when they witnessed the horrible conditions first hand.

But Ocasio-Cortez is also the source of confusion on the subject. Her assessment that these facilities can be called “concentration camps” created consternation and debate. That reaction isn’t surprising, considering that Americans are in a permanent state of denial about their nation.

MARGARET KIMBERLEY BLACK AGENDA REPORT

Can’t connect history Those very loaded words are commonly associated with Nazi Germany, the country we are told was the ultimate embodiment of evil. It is difficult for most people to connect the country they think of as being good and virtuous with Adolph Hitler’s atrocities.

There were already thousands of concentration camps in the United States before Donald Trump began his reign of terror over asylum seekers. These concentration camps are usually referred to as “prisons.”

More than two million people

Does Putin have ‘hacker’s remorse’ about Trump?

Most commentators hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a disruptive genius for cyberattacking the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Putin made clear that he did so to get Donald Trump elected, presumably to do his bidding.

But I warned that Putin was in for a rude awakening. Case in point is my column from April 12, 2017: Trump was bound to disappoint Putin – just as he was bound to disappoint the poor fools who thought he really would, or even could, get Mexico to pay for that wall. Which suggests that Putin is not nearly as smart as he’s reputed to be.

And the more Trump disappoints him, the more Putin will

ANTHONY L. HALL, ESQ. FLORIDA COURIER COLUMNIST

have to explain himself to all of the Russians he had drinking champagne toasts to Trump’s election. Not least because he had them convinced that Trump was his puppet who he could manipulate to lift crippling economic sanctions in short order.

I cannot overstate this looming day of reckoning for their relationship. And nothing will characterize it quite like Putin un-

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: RACIAL PROFILING AND 911 CALLS

They’d better think about how long they will survive in public office when their districts or cities become majority Hispanic-Latino with significant illegal immigrant constituencies. They most likely would not survive a primary.

Why vote for a White or Black liberal progressive when they can get the real thing? One of their own! Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhab Abdullahi Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., may be just the beginning!

Leaving Blacks behind If forsaking legal immigrants, taking away private health insurance from millions, and throwing thousands of insurance company employees out of jobs were not bad enough, Democrats are sacrificing the interests of their most loyal constituency – Black Americans – at the altar of socialist giveaways to illegal immigrants.

Illegal immigration drives down wages in the low-skilled labor market and hurts Blacks and others who are disproportionately concentrated in that sector.

What’s truly sad is the silence of most Black civil rights and political leaders on the negative impact of illegal immigration on their own communities, including Black Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Cory Booker, DN.J., and Kamila Harris, D-Calif.

DAVE GRANLUND, POLITICALCARTOONS.COM

They don’t care Both advocate the socialistdemocratic line of open borders and free healthcare for illegals without regard to the needs of Black lower and middle-income Americans.

By trying to get “race-card” brownie points and feigning sensitivity to racial issues by attacking Joe Biden, they are demonstrating that they don’t care about and have no awareness of the negative impact of their policies on all Americans.

As I wrote in January, in its report, “Blueprint for a Better Deal for Black America” Project 21 – an organization of Black conservative leaders – observes that

CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

Clarence V. McKee is a government, political and media relations consultant and president of McKee Communications, Inc., as well as a Newsmax.com contributor. This article originally appeared on Newsmax.com.

are locked up for serious crimes, but more often for more minor cases that should be adjudicated otherwise. There are people serving life sentences for nonviolent offenses under the notorious “three strikes” sentencing laws. A Black woman in Alabama was recently indicted after she was the victim of a shooting which caused her to miscarry.

long before in describing the world’s worst prison state. Unfortunately, even liberals succumb to the urge to defend their country. The use of nonsensical expressions such as, “This is not who we are,” are created by wishful thinking and are an effort to disappear a very ugly history.

fully about this country, even if tender sensibilities are hurt in the process. The rampant injustices in this country must be called out, and there is no better place to start than with the prison state.

All-American history

The real truth

The country that began with the attempt to exterminate the indigenous population and continued with the enslavement of millions of people was obviously the site of many concentration camps. Native Americans were held in them before being sent far from their homes. Slave markets and plantations were concentration camps, as were the chain gangs which followed. The internment of Japanese Americans fits the same description.

That sordid history culminates in the mass incarceration state which disproportionately impacts Black people. The group represented by a mere 13 percent of the total population comprises half of those caught behind bars.

It is important to speak truth-

Anti-Black racism is so firmly entrenched in the system and in the national psyche that it continues to be unaddressed even by those who claim non-racist credentials. Every other group in need of redress may become the topic of national discourse; the elephant in the room is unnoticed.

If concerned people want to call the migrant detention centers “concentration camps” they should do so. They shouldn’t forget that this institution is as American as apple pie.

That kind of draconian sentencing and punishment for its own sake is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime that is full of concentration camps. Juveniles are tried as adults, pregnant women given birth in shackles, and prisoners work for a pittance or are even charged for their incarceration.

Private corporations run prisons and turn a profit. Other companies make money by selling products made by prisoners. Call centers are staffed by inmates and everything from clothing to furniture ought to be labeled “Made in Prison.”

The term “concentration camp” could have been used

leashing the same leakers of secrets and peddlers of fake news to humiliate Trump and undermine his presidency who he unleashed to undermine Hillary and help elect Trump (i.e., the political execution of the proverb – live by the sword, die by the sword).

Sure enough From Reuters on June 13, 2019: “President Vladimir Putin said relations between Moscow and Washington were getting worse and worse, noting in an interview published on Thursday that the current U.S. administration had imposed dozens of sanctions on Russia.

“U.S.-Russia ties remain strained by everything from Syria to Ukraine as well as allegations of Russian interference in U.S. politics, which Moscow denies…”

Of course, Putin is frustrated because he has nothing to show for all his puppetry. I duly mocked his frustrations in this

column dated July 31, 2017: Yet the media are making much ado about Trump and Putin holding another Helsinki-style summit in Osaka tomorrow. No doubt they’re relishing the prospect of Putin inducing Trump to humiliate himself even more.

But I shall resist any temptation to pile on with another commentary…because its seems all they do in their “secret meetings” is stroke each other’s ego. …No matter what they arrange behind closed doors, things invariably fall apart as soon as Trump faces political reality in Washington….and [I]t won’t be long before the bromance between Trump and Putin has its day of reckoning. Whatever the nature of their He-man courtship, that fateful day will come when Putin makes military incursions in Eastern Europe or the Baltic States, forcing NATO to react; when Putin realizes that his puppet strings are no match for congressional and judicial powers,

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

taxpayer-funded programs are “being reduced or unavailable to Black Americans in too many communities due to illegal residents taking advantage of them.”

They haven’t seen anything yet! If these presidential “wannabees” policies come to pass, America as we know it will no longer exist.

Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Sales Manager

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which place checks and balances on presidential powers…

(Putin) is betting he can get Trump to use those powers to ease the sanctions that are crippling Russia’s economy and cramping the lifestyles of Russian oligarchs who help him misappropriate and launder tens of billions. (Reports are that Russians are already showing signs of buyer’s remorse.)

Robert Mueller’s forthcoming testimony on July 17 will only compound Putin’s frustrations.

It will give the legislative and judicial branches just cause to tie into even more knots the strings Putin thought he had on Trump’s executive powers.

Here’s to buyer’s (or is that hacker’s?) remorse.

Anthony L. Hall is a native of The Bahamas with an international law practice in Washington, D.C. Read his columns and daily weblog at www.theipinionsjournal.com.

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-352-4455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877-352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

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The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

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Bruce Dixon: A giant walks on A giant has joined the ancestors. Black Agenda Report editor, lifelong organizer, and deep thinker Bruce Dixon made his transition on June 28, surrounded by his family in Atlanta.

I always hesitate to use a phrase like “joined the ancestors” – a phrase derived from African traditions – for fear of sounding like some White person who imagines they’re Black, but I think Bruce would be OK with it here.

He often helped me navigate cross-cultural terrain. Once I called to ask him whether “Black” was, as I imagined, a uniquely American construction. He told me it couldn’t be more American, and that James Brown had sealed the deal in 1968 when he recorded, “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”

‘Brown, not Black’ The term has been used in other contexts and countries, usually with a small “b,” but without reference to Black America’s distinct cultural heritage. I told Bruce I’d used the term “Black” in conversation with some of my East African friends and one had responded, “We’re not Black; we’re brown,” to which Bruce laughed and said, “What do they know?” He had a terrific sense of irony.

I had been writing for the Black Agenda Report for six or seven years by that time because its editors appreciate the time I’ve been willing to put into studying and writing about conflict in the African Great Lakes Region, most of all the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its eastern neighbors Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Bruce had asked me to write something about fearless Rwandan political prisoner Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza and I soon found a lot more common ground with him and the other Black Agenda Report editors and contributors he introduced me to. I can’t quantify how much I’ve learned from them, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.

Chicago-grown Bruce grew up in one of Chicago’s working-class neighborhoods and spent most of his life there. He joined the Black Panthers in the 1960s alongside Fred Hampton and organized in the city’s housing projects. He once told me about a time when he was still a kid and had more than

ANN GARRISON BLACK AGENDA REPORT

“It’s going to be quite difficult continuing without Brother Bruce.

We’ll try because he didn’t let multiple myeloma slow him down until it stopped him cold. Up until the Wednesday before last he was determined to be here today, until the doctor told him to go into the hospital the next day and he never emerged. But Bruce will never leave Black Agenda Report. He is a permanent fixture. We must consider what Bruce would have said and how Bruce would have moved this project forward every time we come upon a problem, an idea, or an opportunity.”

– Glenn Ford one job just to keep it together.

As a nighttime security guard, he would chew and swallow coffee beans to stay awake.

Despite numerous electoral successes, Bruce told me that the organizational success he took greatest pride in was recruiting and training the first Local School Improvement Councils

MLK lies reminds us that FBI is no friend In 1970, only two years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his widow Coretta Scott King received the horrific news that haters had shot into her husband’s crypt in Atlanta, using it for target practice.

Though grieved by the news, she conceded it was an omen that even in his grave the assassination of Dr. King would continue by fabrications and vile assaults on her husband’s character.

Braced for backlash To her, the words, “you can kill the dream, but not the dreamer,” were not just a catchy mantra. She used them to brace her for the backlash she feared would come. The recent trove of salacious and ill-reported old rumors being brandied about by Pulitzer Prize winner David Garrow falls seamlessly into that anticipated outcome.

Mrs. King, who died in 2006, had often shared with me her distrust of Garrow because of his close ties to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an agency that has historically schemed to nullify Black leaders. According to former FBI agent Donald Wilson, agents cheered in the Atlanta bureau upon news of his death.

Newest scandal The controversial information was obtained from FBI bugging of hotel visits as Dr. King traveled across the country. The newest scandalous claims, according to an FBI agent, place Dr. King in a hotel room when a minister friend of his, now deceased, raped a woman, and King “looked on, laughed and offered advice,”

DR. BARBARA REYNOLDS TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE

and that he also fathered a child with a mistress.

The information Garrow reportedly uncovered was recently reported in Standpoint, a conservative British magazine, along with an article labeling King a “sexual predator” and “the Harvey Weinstein of the civil rights movement.”

As the news reverberated in London, Keith Magee, a senior scholar at the University College London expressed his outrage.

“This is part of the right wing’s offensive to dismantle and destroy everything revered by people of color. As President Trump visited London, certain people couldn’t bear to see a Black man being more respected than Trump, so there was a move to destroy Dr. King’s image.”

Meanwhile several right-wing news outlets are blowing up the fabricated scandal, in one instance calling for the dismantling of Dr. King’s statue on the mall in the nation’s capital.

EDITORIAL

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VISUAL VIEWPOINT: SUMMER FORECAST 2019

for five Chicago public schools in the rough Cabrini Green neighborhood in the 1988-1991 period. He said the TV series “Good Times” rightly depicted a family struggling to do the best they could in the Cabrini Green housing projects.

Bruce went to college for only one year, but then educated himself and became widely known as one of the best organizers and deepest thinkers on the left. A year ago, after the Left Forum, he wrote “What Would an Authentic DAVID FITZSIMMONS, THE ARIZONA STAR, TUCSON, AZ 21st Century US Left Look Like?,” which began with the realistic assessment he shares with other BAR writers: “Let’s face it, the “Who knows how many votes It’s often said that a politician, U.S. left is a long way right now we really got?” with reference to thinker, writer, or artist was a from contending for power.” widespread election fraud evi- master of their craft but thoughtdenced by Wikileaks’ release of less or even mean in their perCritical thinker the Democratic National Com- sonal relations. Nothing could be That was far from enough to mittee and John Podesta emails further from the truth with Bruce make him give up. Instead, it and multiple election irregular- Dixon.

He was kind, compassionate, made him think about why and ities. However, that didn’t stop him. Bruce knew more about loyal, and humble despite his what could be done.

An authentic left, he conclud- voting rights, elections, effective many achievements. During the ed, must be independent of the campaigning, and much-need- last year of his life, we often disRepublican and Democratic Par- ed electoral reforms than anyone cussed his concerns for his famties, independent of corporate I’ve ever met. ily, including both his biologiI once asked him whether the cal children and those of his secand church philanthropy, unconditionally opposed to empire Greens might be better off put- ond wife. One of his last personand White supremacy, and class- ting their energy and resources al struggles was to save one of his conscious in its opposition to into, for one, creating communi- stepsons from being deported to capitalism. He also wrote that it ty gardens in major cities all over Jamaica where the health care he must give birth to a revolutionary the country. He responded that needs will not be available. working class party and create most of the community gardens “economic and social organiza- he knew of had been shut down ‘Permanent fixture’ tions which prefigure the world by those with wealth and power.

Glen Ford gave a tribute to There is indeed no sign left of Bruce at a forum at last week: we want to build.”

In 1983, Bruce went all-in to Los Angeles’s famous South Cen“It’s going to be quite diffielect Chicago’s first Black mayor, tral Farm, the largest urban farm cult continuing without BrothHarold Washington, who served and perhaps the greatest com- er Bruce. We’ll try because he from the time of his election till munity organizing success in the didn’t let multiple myeloma slow his death shortly after his re- U.S. from 1994 till 2006, when it him down until it stopped him election in 1987. He organized was bulldozed by a real estate de- cold. Up until the Wednesday beand advised many Chicago cam- veloper. fore last he was determined to be paigns that repeatedly beat the here today, until the doctor told infamous Richard Daley ma- What’s next for Greens? him to go into the hospital the chine. He later spent years workBruce gave far more thought next day and he never emerged. ing for the Chicago Department than I ever have to what it would “But Bruce will never leave of Elections. take to make the Green Party vi- Black Agenda Report. He is a able, and he invariably won me permanent fixture. We must conWalked away from Dems over to his thinking. The party, sider what Bruce would have After all that, however, he came he said, should be supported by said and how Bruce would have to describe himself as a former dues so that it could hire staff, moved this project forward every Democrat in denial. Every time rent space, and sustain effort. time we come upon a problem, He also thought that instead of an idea, or an opportunity.” he and fellow organizers made electoral advances, he said, the focusing solely on electoral polAnn Garrison is an indepenDemocratic Party changed the itics, Greens should build the party into wraparound commu- dent journalist based in the rules to undermine them.

In 2006, after moving to Atlan- nities that serve the same social San Francisco Bay Area. In ta, he joined the Georgia Green needs that churches do for ma- 2014, she received the Victoire Party. Bruce and I were both ac- ny Americans. At the 2016 Green Ingabire Umuhoza Democrative Greens, despite the party’s Party Convention in Houston, he cy and Peace Prize for her refailures to get to the five percent explained that during a Geor- porting on conflict in the Afrithreshold in a presidential race gia prison strike, the Atlanta par- can Great Lakes region. Conthat would make it an official na- ty had needed space and more tact her at ann@anngarrison. tional party qualifying for gener- phone lines to field all the calls com. Click on this commentary al matching funds. it was getting from prisoners and at www.flcourier.com to write After the 2016 election he said, their families. your own response.

recording from the Willard Hotel that others, including Mrs. King, have said they did not hear Martin’s voice on in.

“The added summary was four layers removed from the actual recording. This supposedly new information comes from an anonymous source in a single paragraph in an FBI report. You have to ask how could anyone conclude King looked at a rape from an audio recording in a room where he was not present.”

Coretta listened

In my Coretta King memoir, “My Life, My Love, My Legacy,” she talked about this material mailed to her home on Nov. 2, 1964 that her sources later confirmed were dispatched by the FBI. “I set up our reel-to-reel recorder and listened. I have read scores of reports talking about the scurrilous activities of my husband but once again, there was nothing at all incriminating on the tape. It was a social event with people laughing and telling dirty jokes. But I did not hear Martin’s voice on it, and there was nothing about sex or anything else resembling the lies J. Edgar and the FBI were spreading.”

Although she and other aides dismissed the tape, she could not dismiss the poorly-typed letter in the package, suggesting the information to be released to the press was so damaging King should commit suicide. It read: “King we’ve found you out… You are done for there is only one way MLK wasn’t there out.. You have thirty-four days beClayborne Carson is King’s bifore you are exposed and publicly ography and oversees the Dr. King records headquartered at Stan- defamed.” ford University. He says he has seen the same information Gar- ‘Didn’t take the bait’ What should be made clear is row, has but reached a different the letter was sent 34 days before conclusion.

“None of this is new. Garrow Martin was to receive the Nobel is talking about a recently added Peace Prize, but was not opened summary of a transcript of a 1964 until the couple returned from

“I set up our reel-to-reel recorder and listened.

I have read scores of reports talking about the scurrilous activities of my husband but once again, there was nothing at all incriminating on the tape. It was a social event with people laughing and telling dirty jokes. But I did not hear Martin’s voice on it, and there was nothing about sex or anything else resembling the lies J. Edgar and the FBI were spreading.”

– Coretta King the Nobel ceremonies in Norway.

Mrs. King said that Hoover hated Dr. King and was outraged that King was receiving the honor he felt he deserved.

“Our source told us Hoover had ordered the doctored tape to be sent to me in the hopes I would divorce Martin, which would bring him down. Despite all the rumors, Martin and I did not take the bait.”

Black leadership targeted Believing the FBI is a friend of Black people would require amnesia. The agency has historically worked to nullify and destroy Black leaders, author Anthony Summers says in his Hoover biography entitled “Official and Confidential.”

The long list includes orchestrating the jailing and deportation of the fiery Jamaican leader Marcus Garvey; bugging and blackballing the great singer Paul Robeson; the ruthless assault on the Black Panthers and the welldocumented COINTELPRO; the FBI program waged in the 1960s to prevent the rise of a “Black Messiah,” generally thought to be Dr. King.

‘No perfect men’ Over the years, Mrs. King has defended her husband’s reputation attesting he was faithful to his marriage. Others, however, such as Carson, a historian, do not put King in a category of perfection.

“There are no perfect men, but it is still wrong to use undocumented, tainted evidence to smear a man when history shows that many men with documented sordid private lives, still remain heroes.”

While the scandal is brewing, the words of Mrs. King are worth remembering: They may kill the dreamer, but Dr. King’s dream of diversity and justice will outlive his enemies.

Dr. Barbara Reynolds is a former editorial writer and columnist for USA TODAY. She has also written for The Washington Post, Essence Magazine, Playboy Magazine, and the Trice Edney News Wire, and is the author of seven books, including “Coretta Scott King: My Life, My Love, My Legacy,” published in paperback in 2018. Click on this commentary at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

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kel said.

In this way, prosecutors’ request for more evidence poses a threat to any of Epstein’s associates who also engaged in sex with minors.

It also raises the stakes for those who attended his parties and might have inferred that something was wrong with the fact that so many grown men were surrounded by girls who appeared to be teenagers.

Plenty of celebs To be sure, Epstein’s contact list includes many prominent people, both men and women, who are fixtures in the celebrity party scene.

The black book contains more than 1,000 names, ranging from close friends like Wexner to peripheral contacts from the worlds of politics, business, the media and European high society.

The U.K.’s Prince Andrew and members of the Trump family make appearances. There’s even an entry for the main number to the White House.

The names include well-known performers, including Ralph Fiennes, Alec Baldwin, David Blaine, Jimmy Buffett and Courtney Love; media figures including Charlie Rose, Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, industrialist David Koch and the late Salomon Brothers Chief Executive Officer John Gutfreund and his wife, Susan.

More victims?

STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGES/TNS

A protest group called “Hot Mess” hold up signs of Jeffrey Epstein and President Donald Trump in front of the Federal courthouse on July 8 in New York City.

If you flew on Epstein’s jet, the feds want to talk to you

BY GREG FARRELL BLOOMBERG NEWS/TNS

NEW YORK – After Jeffrey Epstein’s latest arrest on sex trafficking charges, some famous people may be squirming.

His notorious little black book and private-jet manifests contained a long list of boldface names, including Victoria’s Secret founder Leslie Wexner and former President Bill Clinton.

U.S. prosecutors on Monday encouraged anyone with information about Epstein’s conduct

to come forward, not just potential victims.

Seeking socialites, etc.

To the socialites, celebrities and politicians who attended lavish parties at Epstein’s homes in Manhattan or Palm Beach in the early 2000s — or hitched rides on his private jet nicknamed the “Lolita Express” by the tabloids — the request carried a clear message: Come talk to us before we seek you out.

“You would much rather be visiting the Department of Justice and engaging a conversation

about what you saw rather than making the DOJ find you,” said Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor now at DickinsonWright.

“There’s a much greater potential for influencing the parameters of an interview and the scope of cooperation by going in voluntarily than becoming a compulsory guest” of the government, he said.

Long contact list Considering the dozens of alleged victims and hundreds of names on Epstein’s contact list,

the Epstein affair could be far from over. Some of the alleged victims have claimed they were farmed out to other men.

Although the alleged crimes date back to 2002, new information continues to arise. Epstein’s little black book was published

by Gawker in 2015, years after he pleaded guilty in Florida for soliciting an underage prostitute.

On Saturday the FBI, using a crowbar on one of the most expensive properties in Manhattan, executed a search warrant on Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.

Agents gathered photographs of underage girls in suggestive poses, according to prosecutors.

Parties, men, teens The call to action by prosecutors and the discovery that Epstein, a registered sex offender, possessed explicit photos could lead to additional charges, Fren-

Frenkel said the case could develop much like the college admissions scandal, in which a number of wealthy parents have been charged with paying bribes to get their children into top-tier colleges. More than a dozen have pleaded guilty.

“Once the key witnesses flip, including the victims, the potential is there for other participants to be implicated directly,” he said. “That could be a veiled message in the U.S. attorney’s invitation to decide early whether to hunker down or come forward and get credit or acknowledgment for cooperation to avoid indictment.”

Call the FBI On Monday, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman pleaded for people to come forward with any information about Epstein’s conduct, asking them to call 800-CALL-FBI. While some of Epstein’s alleged victims have accused him of providing them to other men for sexual services, the named men have categorically denied such conduct.

Biden explains delay in apologizing for his segregationist comments

BY JENNIFER EPSTEIN BLOOMBERG NEWS/TNS

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden said he waited more than two weeks to apologize for comments about segregationist senators because he hadn’t had a chance to do so, even though the delay kept the controversy alive and might have cost him in some polls.

The former vice president addressed the issue directly on Saturday because it was “the first opportunity I had to do it in a fulsome way,” he told reporters Sunday, explaining that he wanted to speak in South Carolina — where Blacks account for 60% of the Democratic primary electorate — and in front of “an audience that in fact would be the most likely to have been offended by what was said.”

“If any comments I made were taken in a way that people took offense from them, then I am truly sorry for that. That was not my intention,” Biden said Sunday, echoing his remarks to a predominantly African-American crowd in Sumter a day earlier when he said he was “sorry for the pain and misconception I may have caused.”

Black voters account for about a fifth of the Democratic vote, and the South Carolina primary in February is the first next year with a predominantly Black electorate. A strong showing there often has foreshadowed enduring strength nationally with African

Americans. The winner in South Carolina has gone on to win the Democratic nomination in four out of the past five contests.

Rivals criticize The controversy erupted in mid-June after Biden recalled his Senate interactions with two prominent advocates of segregation, triggering criticism from two Black rivals for the presidency, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.

“He says he’s sorry, I’m going to take him at his word,” Harris, a California Senator, told reporters Sunday in Hartsville, South Carolina. “But again, that doesn’t address the issue of busing in America.”

“We cannot rewrite history about what segregationists were doing at that time on a number of issues,” she added.

Asked about Harris’s comments, Biden instead pointed to differences he has with her on other issues, such as health care.

“I don’t want to do away with Obamacare and start all over and trash it,” he said.

Obama ties Harris also offered implicit criticism of Biden’s reliance on his ties to former President Barack Obama, which he cited Saturday as a reason his record on race shouldn’t be questioned.

“When it comes time to pull the level and for people to actually vote in this presidential election, they’re going to make their decisions based not just on

AL DIAZ/MIAMI HERALD/TNS

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the second night of the first Democratic presidential debate on June 27 at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. who we’re associated with, but they’re going to make their decisions based on the work we’ve done and, most importantly, our plans for the future of America,” she said.

Biden laughed when asked if he was too reliant on Obama’s reputation in selling himself to voters. “I say let’s talk about the future instead of talking about the past. That’s what I say,” he said.

On Sunday afternoon, Biden appeared at a town hall in Charleston hosted by state Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who made the event’s only reference to the Harris-Biden split as he and voters in the audience asked about education, gun control and care for veterans.

Kimpson, who is holding town halls with many Democratic candidates, warned voters not to “fall prey to anyone’s attempt to

manufacture a fight to drive media attention or to save a failing campaign.”

“I do not find it useful to relitigate issues from 1950 or 50 years ago or 25 years ago,” Kimpson said. “We’ve spent far too much time talking about the past” and candidate should be talking about the future.

Speaking a moment later, Biden said: “I find it really refreshing to talk about the future.”

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The Contraband Camp in Corinth was a unique undertaking that helped newly emancipated African Americans in 1862.

A day in There’s plenty of culture and history to soak up during a quick visit to the Mississippi city.

Corinth

BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIEL SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

S

ummertime calls for car travel. We’re on the road to visit friends and relatives, attend family reunions or just tour the country. You’ll find that veering off-thebeaten-track in the South can be interesting and rewarding.

As with all the Confederate states, African American history and culture are forever intertwined.

Those of you heading to Mississippi are likely to enjoy a stopover in Corinth, if only for a day.

Biscuits and chocolate gravy 8 a.m.: Wake up your taste buds after grabbing a stool at the counter in Abe’s Grill (abesgrill.com). Other customers crowd around the walls, waiting for their take-out meals. Many of them have asked Abe to include his chocolate gravy with their order.

Witness the hustle and bustle of a “downhome” breakfasts are coming to life. At the grill, Abe’s son, Ryan, is hurriedly filling the hungry clients’ requests.

Notice as the eggs, bacon (floppy or crisp), sausage, and fried bologna sizzle before your very eyes, and the alluring smell of coffee assails your nose. Abe’s wife, Terri, is constantly rushing in, carrying hot batches of her homemade biscuits. While Abe handles the orders and the money.

The Whitfield family has made this diner a Corinth institution for over 40 years.

Contraband Camp 10 a.m.: Discover what put Corinth on the map. Tour the Corinth Civil War Interpretative Center (nps.gov/shil/ learn/history/culture/Corinth.htm).

It’s one of the National Park Service newest centers.

Upon entering, look for the charming sculpture of the little African American girl reading under the tutelage of a Black Union soldier.

Then go to the theater to view an intriguing video that depicts the Battle of Corinth. Afterward, explore the 15,000 -foot modern facility that features informative displays and interactive exhibits.

Find the displays that feature the Contraband Camp, and be sure to listen to the dramatized audio reports from the Union soldiers who were there. (You can actually visit the camp later.)

Don’t miss the magnificent outdoor fountain that’s dedicated to the first 100 years of the United States. For instance, 13 small waterfalls represent the 13 original colonies. The entire monument is clearly labeled so that visitors can understand the concept.

Top: Abe’s Grill is a popular spot for fried bologna, homemade biscuits and chocolate gravy.

History lesson 11 a.m. You’ll never forget your visit to the Corinth Contraband Camp (nps.gov/shil/planyourvisit/contrabandcamp.htm). It was a unique undertaking that helped newly emancipated African American people in 1862.

They were considered to be the contrabands of war, and were under the protection of the Union Army. With the assistance of the American Missionary Association, the purpose of the camp was to protect and show them how to function as free men, women and children.

The camp became a village for approximately 6,000 former slaves. They built their homes, a church, a school and a hospital. They established trades, farmed and provided services, like laundry, to the troops for pay.

See CORINTH, Page B2

Above left: Borroum’s Drug Store and Soda Fountain has retained its retro charm.

Above right: Breakfast is being prepared at Abe’s Grill, a diner in Corinth for over 40 years.

This old delivery truck is one of the artifacts at the Corinth Coca Cola Museum.

ENTERTAINMENT & FINEST

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FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR West Palm Beach: Lil Wayne will be at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre with blink-182 on July 25, July 26 at Tampa’s MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre and July 29 at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville.

Miami Gardens:Join Councilman David Williams Jr. and area pastors for Miracle in the Gardens on July 13, 9 a.m. to noon. Focus on gardening and healthy eating. Location: 18330 NW 12thh Ave.

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Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex. Sign up at the complex.

Orlando: Khalid performs at Amway Center on Aug. 16 and Aug. 17 at Miami’s AmericanAirlinesArena.

Fort Lauderdale: Iyanla Vanzant’s Acts of Faith Remix Tour stops at the Broward Center on Aug. 1 and Jacksonville’s Florida Theatre on Aug. 2.

Details: iyanlavanzantlive.com

PENTATONIX

The a cappella quintet will be at Jacksonville’s Daily Place on Aug, 24.

Jacksonville: Gospel star Kirk Franklin will be at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville on July 15.

St. Petersburg: The BB King Blues Band will perform at Jannus Live on July 12-13.

Jacksonville: Mary J. Blige will be at Daily’s Place on July 14.

Orlando: Catch Beres Hammond on Aug. 24 at Hard Rock Live Orlando and Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center on Aug. 25.

West Palm Beach: Mary J. Blige and Nas will perform at the Coral Sky Amphitheater on July 11 and MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater in Tampa on July 13.

Miami Gardens: Join Mayor Oliver Gilbert for a free handsonly CPR course from 10 a.m. to noon on July 26 at the

JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

LIONEL RICHIE

The singer performs July 27 at Fort Lauderdale’s Hard Rock Live and July 28 at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.

APOSTLE WILLETT MITCHELL Plantation: Judah Worship Word Ministries will host a pastoral appreciation service for Apostle Willett L. Mitchell on July 21 at 8:15 a.m. More info: 954791-2999

Coconut Creek: Catch Kool & the Gang on Aug. 15 at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek.

Disney star died from seizure caused by epilepsy NEW YORK DAILY NEWS/TNS

The family of late Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce confirmed the actor died from a seizure that stemmed from epilepsy. Boyce died Saturday at age 20.

“Cameron’s tragic passing was due to a seizure as a result of an ongoing medical condition, and that condition was

epilepsy,” a rep for the family said in a new statement to E! News on Tuesday.

“We are still trying to navigate our way through this extremely heart wrenching time, and continue to ask for privaCameron cy so that the family, and Boyce all who knew and loved him can grieve his loss and make arrangements for his funeral — which in and of itself, is agonizing.”

The actor starred on the Disney Channel show “Jessie” and on the network’s “Descendants” made-for-TV movie series.

finest

FLORIDA’S Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier.com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published.

If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

PHOTO BY ELEANOR HENDRICKS MCDANIELS

The sculptures on the grounds of the Corinth Contraband Camp depict the daily life of the former enslaved people who resided there.

CORINTH from B1 They earned almost $5,000 from their enterprises. Adults and children voraciously learned to read and write.

The camp was closed at the end of 1863 when the federal forces had to leave Corinth and move to Memphis. The Blacks followed, and were housed there in the usual refugee housing.

The National Park Service has retained a portion of the camp.

You can walk along the concrete trail that passes bronze statues that represents the former inhabitants going about their daily lives.

Lunch at Borroum’s 12:30 p.m. It’s lunchtime at Borroum’s Drug Store and Soda Fountain. (Yes, they really do fill prescriptions.)

Borroum’s is the oldest drugstore in the state. Its fame also includes the legendary slugburger, which is a tasty concoction held over from the days of the Great Depression.

They say in order to stretch out the highly priced ground beef, cooks would add cheaper meats, flour, oats and more to it.

Borroum’s sold the sandwiches for a “slug” (a.k.a. a nickel) – thus the name. If you order one, top it with the traditional condiments: mustard, pickles and onions.

To get really retro, find a seat at the soda fountain counter.

More Black history 2 p.m. Swing by the Black History Museum of Corinth, located in the former Webb House.

At one time, it was the residence of an African American couple, William and Adrienne Webb. In 2003, Dr. Walter D. Webb, a descendent of Mr. and Mrs. Webb, approved the transformation of the home into a museum. Its mission is to honor and preserve the heritage of the Black citizens who lived in Corinth and the surrounding communities.

Exhibits and artifacts are displayed to reveal the experiences of the historic African American persons who lived in Corinth and the surrounding communities.

Time for a Coke 3 p.m. Time for a cooling break at a really “cool” spot. Go to the Corinth Coca Cola Museum (corinthcoke.com/museum)

that’s part of the Corinth Bottling Works. It has been owned and operated by the Williams family for over 100 years.

Belly up to the counter in the small soda shop for an ice-cold Coke. Then discover the world’s favorite beverage’s impact on American culture in the small museum.

You’ll see examples of Coca Cola memorabilia from posters and advertisements to old-fashioned coke machines and a classic delivery truck.

Motorcycles and more 4 p.m. You will find the Motorcycle Museum at Lake Hill Motors (lakehillmotors. com). The collection of internationally produced motorcycles of the past fills the rear of the building. You see historic bikes that were manufactured in unexpected places, lie New Orleans and Czechoslovakia.

One of the oldest vehicles is a British bicycle that was made in 1911; the motor runs on acetylene gas. If the owner, Dwayne McLemore, is available, he’ll be happy to guide you through the displays, and share many interesting antidotes

Soul food with a twist 6:30 p.m. Dine on updated southern cuisine at smith (smithcorinth.com) they use the lowercase for their name. The trendy restaurant is housed in a renovated building in the downtown business district.

It has become one of Corinth’s most popular casual eateries. The chef has turned soul food staples into exciting new culinary versions.

Expect the unexpected when you order fried green tomatoes topped with crab. Look for generous chunks of lobster in mac and cheese. Shrimp and grits taste even better with mushrooms and smoked bacon. And Corinth’s signature foodstuff, the slug, can be found on the appetizer menu in the form of “bites.”

It’s been a busy day in Corinth, but you have to admit, it was interesting, memorable, enlightening and fun.

For more information, go online to visitcorinth.net.

Eleanor Hendricks McDaniel is a seasoned travel journalist based in Florida whose travels have taken her throughout the United States, Europe and other countries. Follow her on Twitter: @ellethewriter, Instagram: @ eleanor1004, Facebook: Eleanor.hendricks.mcdaniel and her website: flybynighttraveler. com.

JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

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PERSONAL FINANCE

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Some tips on dealing with college bills From appealing the financial aid to applying for tax credit, there are ways to cut costs.

BY ERIN ARVEDLUND PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS

With the cost of college rising each year, we did the math to see if it’s possible for students to pay their own way through school.

In Pennsylvania, the worst state for affordability, students have to work 120 hours a week to cover in-state tuition and housing, according to price data from College Tuition Compare and labor/wage data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Granted, price data aren’t perfect: a recent University of Pennsylvania study found that many colleges’ net price calculators don’t correlate with the true cost of a university degree.

That said, how can you negotiate your kid’s college bill down and pay what you can afford?

Appeal award letter First, you can appeal your kid’s financial aid award letter.

“For some families, a change in financial status may have occurred since the submission of your Free Application for Federal Student Aid form and may not reflect your current income,” notes Fred Amrein, founder of PayForED.com, a Newtown Square consulting and software firm that helps parents and students maximize financial aid and minimize college costs. He’s even put together a sample “Financial Aid Appeal letter” as a guide.

Second, here’s a list of tuition bill items to review before you pay: Room size: Prices can vary depending on room selection with a single room being the most expensive.

Meal plan: College freshmen may not have a choice in the meal plan. If you think the meal plan is too much, ask if it can be downsized.

Health insurance: This is a fee

ERICA SCHROEDER/DREAMSTIME/TNS

Shocked by college bills? There may be ways to cut the expense. sometimes listed on the bill that can usually be waived with proof of your child’s health insurance.

Payment plans: Check with the bursar for payment options, specifically tuition installment plans. Is there a fee to set up the installment payment plan? First payment’s usually due in August.

Federal loans: Tuition bills indicate what federal loans you are eligible for, so student and parent must understand the type of loans they will be accepting.

Savings and tax credits If you have money in your 529 college savings plan, remember qualified expenses include tuition, fees, room, board, books, computers, and supplies directly related to courses.

Often overlooked? The American Opportunity Credit. This is a tax credit per student that can add up to $2,500 per year, and is only available for the first four years of college. However, some-

times tax years and school years don’t match, so check with an accountant.

IRS tax transcripts When filling out financial aid applications, students and families need two years of tax information to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.

The IRS Data Retrieval Tool is available to use with the 2019-20 FAFSA Form. This tool is the fastest, most accurate way to input tax return information.

Students and parents can use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to access returns from within the FAFSA.

Getting past returns Don’t have a copy of your past tax returns? Here are some options: Access the tax software you used to prepare and file returns.

You may be able to download and print a copy.

Contact the tax preparer or provider who filed your return.

Download a tax transcript at Get Transcript Online. Or use Get Transcript by Mail. The IRS will mail a transcript to the address on a return within five to 10 days. (Visit https://www.irs.gov/ individuals/get-transcript.)

Call the IRS’s automated line at 800-908-9946 to order a transcript.

Funding financial shortfalls After reviewing the bill, you may fall short on how to pay the rest of the tuition. Most families finance the cost of college education with: Parent PLUS loans Private student loans Home equity or personal loans Too much work or don’t have the time? Get help from a college financial expert who is a fi-

duciary — that’s someone legally bound to do the right thing for his or her client, and not just sell a product.

Robert Falcon with College Funding Solutions in Concordville has built a business around estimating your expected financial contribution and net cost of college before your student applies, so you can eliminate schools that put your student’s future and your retirement in financial jeopardy.

“Unfortunately, there are some college financial advisers out there who see the complexity of college funding as an opportunity to put a commission in their pockets by selling you an insurance product or an annuity,” he warns.

Falcon instead focuses on minimizing income in the years prior to paying for college, and targeting schools “where you can obtain significant aid and eliminate the need for suffocating debt.”

Beware of people pretending to be from Social Security

BY NICOLE TIGGEMANN TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Social Security is committed to protecting your personal information. We urge you to always be cautious and to avoid providing sensitive information such as your Social Security number (SSN) or bank account information to unknown people over the phone or internet.

If you receive a call and aren’t expecting one, you must be extra careful.

You can always get the caller’s information, hang up, and — if you do need more clarification — contact the official phone number of the business or agency that the caller claims to represent. Never reveal personal data to a stranger who called you.

RALF MAASSEN/DREAMSTIME/TNS

“Gen Z adults are enamored with major technology and social media brands but also enjoy shopping in-person,” a study shows.

Study: Generation Z still prefers shopping in stores

BY ELLIE SILVERMAN PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER/TNS

The youngest adult consumers still prefer shopping in stores over using their laptops, Instagram feeds or Amazon’s Alexa, according to a recent Morning Consult study.

“Gen Z is on track to be the largest, most ethnically diverse, best-educated, and most financially powerful generation ever,” the report states. “In the coming years, their distinctive habits will play an outsized role in shaping American culture and commerce.”

This younger generation, which the report defined as Americans born between 1997 and 2012, began spending money when two-day delivery was common, “driving high expectations about convenience,” according to the report, based on a May survey of about 3,000 U.S. adults, including about 1,000 adults ages 18-to-21.

Brands used most Still, 55% of Gen Z women said they preferred going into stores. That number is lower for Gen Z men, at 40 percent, and is 53% for all other adults.

Two-thirds of the younger generation shoppers go shopping for fun at least once a month.

“Gen Z adults are enamored with major technology and social media brands but also enjoy shop-

ping in-person,” the report concludes.

Gen Z shoppers are aware of the technology brands they are buying from.

Google, Google Search, YouTube, Gmail and Instagram are the top five brands Gen Z survey respondents said they are most likely to use daily. The next five are Google Chrome, Snapchat, Netflix, Apple iMessage and Apple iPhone.

Their major concerns The top three most critical threats Gen Z sees as facing the U.S are: Terrorism, climate change, and racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination.

The top three political issues to Gen Z are: Health care, civil rights, and the price of education.

“This filters into how they view politics, interact with brands, and approach personal life decisions,” the report says.

Thirty-seven percent of Gen Z adults identify as Democrats compared to 14% identifying as Republican.

Almost two-thirds had an “unfavorable view” of President Trump.

Almost 40% of Gen Z adults who say they are liberal boycotted a brand in the last year for political reasons, according to the report.

Reviews important When they do shop online, 41% of Gen Z adults said consumer reviews and ratings are important when deciding to make a purchase. That’s even higher for Gen Z women. Half said these reviews are “very important,” the report states.

Few Gen Z adults use credit cards to pay for groceries or gas, compared to about a quarter of all other adults.

Almost half, 47 percent, of this younger generation opts to use a debit card as their primary payment method and 30% use cash.

Phone call scam There’s a scam going around right now. You might receive a call from someone claiming to be from Social Security or another agency. Calls can even display 1-800-772-1213, Social Security’s national customer service number, as the incoming number on your caller ID. In some cases, the caller states that Social Security does not have all of your personal information, such as your SSN, on file. Other callers claim Social Security needs additional information so the agency can increase your benefit payment, or that Social Security will terminate your benefits if they do not confirm your information.

This appears to be a widespread issue, as reports have come from people across the country. These calls are not from Social Security.

Scheme details vary Callers sometimes state that your SSN is at risk of being deactivated or deleted. The caller then asks you to call a phone number to resolve the issue.

People should be aware that the scheme’s details may vary; however, you should avoid engaging with the caller or calling the number provided, as the caller might attempt to acquire personal information.

Social Security employees occasionally contact people by telephone for customer-service purposes. In only a very few special situations, such as when you have business pending with us, will a Social Security employee request that the person confirm personal information over the phone.

Report fraud Social Security employees will never threaten you or promise a Social Security benefit approval or increase in exchange for information.

In those cases, the call is fraudulent, and you should just hang up.

If you receive these calls, report the information to the Office of the Inspector General at 1-800-269-0271 or online at oig.ssa.gov/report.

You can also share our new “SSA Phone Scam Alert” video at http://bit.ly/2VKJ8SG

Nicole Tiggemann is a Social Security spokesperson.

FOOD

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JULY 12 – JULY 18, 2019

S

FAMILY FEATURES

Invite your friends and neighbors over, spread out some comfy seating and dim the lights. Whether it’s a kids’ birthday party, an adult gathering or nearly anything in-between, hosting a movie night in the comfort of your own home – or on a projector in the yard – can be the perfect escape. Of course, tasty snacks only add to the fun.

Light and airy popcorn is a movie watching staple, and one you can feel good about eating. At only 30 calories per cup, whole-grain, freshly popped popcorn is naturally low in fat and calories, nonGMO, gluten-free, contains no artificial additives or preservatives and is sugar-free.

Enjoyed a handful at a time or as part of creative, flavorful snack recipes – like Popcorn Pepperoni Pizza Dippers, Sweet and Salty Popcorn Party Mix, Maple Bacon Popcorn Mix and Truffle Popcorn – popcorn offers plenty of versatility to fit nearly any theme. Find more recipes perfect for serving at your next movie night at popcorn.org.

SWEET AND SALTY POPCORN PARTY MIX Yield: 14 cups 10 cups popped popcorn 2 cups miniature pretzel twists 1 cup pecans 1 cup peanuts 2 cups rice, wheat or corn cereal squares 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup corn syrup 1/2 teaspoon baking soda Heat oven to 300 F. In large bowl, combine popcorn, pretzels, pecans, peanuts and cereal squares; set aside.

In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir mixture until it begins to boil. Boil 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Note: Mixture will foam.

Pour syrup over popcorn mixture and stir until evenly coated. Pour mixture onto large, rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan. Bake 30 minutes, stirring twice during baking.

Stir mixture several times as it cools.

Store in airtight container.

POPCORN PEPPERONI PIZZA DIPPERS Yield: 16 squares Nonstick cooking spray 2 eggs 1/2 cup tomato and basil reducedfat cooking cream 1tablespoon grated parmesan cheese 1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper 10 cups popped popcorn 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced pepperoni, coarsely chopped marinara sauce, for dipping Heat oven to 350 F. Spray 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In large bowl, whisk eggs, cooking cream, parmesan cheese and black pepper. Stir in popcorn, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.

Spread mixture in prepared pan, patting down with spatula or spoon.

Sunday Dinner It’s so much more than a meal. It’s love.

Find new dishes to gather around at publix.com/sundaydinner.

Bake about 15 minutes until set and lightly browned. Let sit 5 minutes.

Cut into 16 bars. Serve warm with marinara sauce.

MAPLE BACON POPCORN MIX Yield: 2 quarts 6 slices thick-cut bacon 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 8 cups popped popcorn 2/3 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped 2/3 cup dried cranberries

2 tablespoons butter or margarine 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon maple extract Heat oven to 400 F. Line jellyroll pan with foil. Place wire rack in pan.

Arrange bacon in single layer on rack.

Bake 15 minutes until ends of bacon start to curl.

Remove and reserve 2 tablespoons bacon drippings. Brush bacon with 2 tablespoons maple syrup; bake

TRUFFLE POPCORN Yield: 10 cups 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons, white truffle oil, divided 1/2 cup popcorn kernels 1 tablespoon butter 3 tablespoons shredded parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoon sea salt freshly ground black pepper In large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid, combine olive oil and 1 tablespoon truffle oil. Add about three popcorn kernels.

Heat over medium-high heat until one kernel pops. Add remaining popcorn kernels; cover.

Once corn begins to pop, shake pot constantly over heat.

When popping slows, remove pot from heat and transfer popcorn to large serving bowl.

Melt butter and mix in remaining truffle oil. Pour mixture over popcorn; toss.

Sprinkle parmesan cheese, salt and pepper over popcorn; toss to distribute evenly.

Serve immediately or store in airtight container.

15 minutes until browned. Cool then coarsely chop bacon.

In large bowl, combine popcorn, pecans and cranberries.

Combine butter, black pepper, maple extract, remaining maple syrup and reserved bacon drippings. Cook over low heat until butter is melted.

Drizzle over popcorn mixture and mix thoroughly.

Spread popcorn mixture in jellyroll or roasting pan.

Bake 5 minutes. Toss in bacon pieces. Serve warm.