Florida Courier, July 5, 2019

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PRESORTED STANDARD MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID DAYTONA BEACH, FL PERMIT #189

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Frederick Douglass: What to the slave is the Fourth of July? See Page A5

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JULY 5 – JULY 11, 2019

VOLUME 27 NO. 27

ALCEE UNPLUGGED An unexpected emergency room ordeal reminds a thoughtful Congressman Alcee Hastings that pancreatic cancer won’t stop him from waging battles for people who can’t fight for themselves. BY DAPHNE TAYLOR A FLORIDA COURIER EXCLUSIVE

Earlier in the year when I heard about Congressman Alcee Hastings facing pancreatic cancer, I was extremely concerned. I wondered if he would survive it. I know he’s always been a fierce fighter his entire life. But two years ago, as a co-worker faced the same illness, I happened to glimpse a television special on the disease. It was devastating.

Low long-term survival Very sadly, few too many people just don’t survive pancreatic cancer, unlike other cancers, for years at a time. I was heartbroken, because while I prayed and prayed for my friend, she didn’t survive it. So when the news of

DAPHNE TAYLOR FLORIDA COURIER EXCLUSIVE

CONCLUSION the congressman hit the media, my heart sank. My faith knows, without a doubt, that with God all things are possible! But still, the news gave me a moment of reflection over the life of this political giant. As mentioned in the first installment of this series, he helped launch me into my role as host of a live call-in talk show which became quite popular in South Florida, “The Voice of the Peo-

ple” on WRBD-AM in Fort Lauderdale. Because he was a giant even then in the 1980s, as my first guest on the show, we broke all kinds of barriers and got all sorts of buzz and media coverage such that it skyrocketed my career to a whole new level. So I had lots to reflect upon.

What about him? With this news of a serious health condition, is he reflective of the fullness and totality of a life well-lived? Though he paused to take inventory of where this news has brought him in life, it seems the resilient Alcee Hastings is nonetheless ready to plow right through this latest challenge. A clue? He didn’t resign from Congress.

PHOTO BY ALAN LUBY FOR THE FLORIDA COURIER

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings shared a hearty laugh as he received the Father of the Year Award from Palm Beach County’s Pleasant City Family Reunion Committee, Inc., last month. “Now that I have begun treatment, I feel hopeful about survival and about my ability to continue serving my constituents of Florida’s 20th Congressional District and the nation,” he indicated in a press statement announcing the illness. In other words, this will not

stop him from serving the people. “Should it become clear that this cancer, which has invaded my body, cannot be defeated I will tell you so,” he stated. But until then, he’s still here doing what See ALCEE, Page A2

Restitution or poll tax?

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON / 2019

Still in shock

State sued over Amendment 4 BY DARA KAM NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

COURTESY OF WIMBLEDON.COM

Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff reacts after her first-round Ladies’ Singles victory over her professional tennis idol and fellow Florida resident Venus Williams. Gauff, the youngest player – at 15 years and 122 days old – to make it through the Wimbledon qualifying tournament and into the main draw since the Open Era began in 1968, lives with her family in Delray Beach. Williams lives in Palm Beach Gardens.

TALLAHASSEE – Civil rights groups are hoping a federal judge will strike down a new Florida law that they say does not properly carry out a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felons who have completed their sentences. Lawyers representing voting-rights and civil-rights groups, as well as more than a dozen Floridians who’ve been convicted of felonies, filed three lawsuits in federal court Friday, immediately after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law an omnibus elections measure (SB 7066) that included the implementation of Amendment 4. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a fourth lawsuit on Monday. Under the new law, Floridians convicted of felonies will have to pay financial obligations related to their crimes before they are eligible to have voting rights restored. The legal challenges, combined into one case by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, allege the legislation unconstitutionally “creates two classes of citizens,” depending on their ability to pay financial obligations that many don’t even know about.

Jim Crow throwback The law, which went into effect Monday, is a throwback to Jim Crow-era policies aimed at preventing Black FloSee LAW, Page A2

Trump drops census citizenship question FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

The Trump administration said Tuesday it will start printing the 2020 U.S. Census without a question asking every household about the citizenship status of residents. The decision came less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court said the administration

ALSO INSIDE

needed to come up with a better explanation for why it wanted the question, which experts said would discourage immigrant communities from taking part in the census, a move that could help Republicans politically.

“The Census Bureau has started the process of printing the decennial questionnaires without the question,” Ross said. “My focus, and that of the bureau and the entire department is to conduct a complete and accurate census.”

Asked about delay

Serious impact

Reacting to the court ruling, President Donald Trump said last week he had asked his lawyers if they could delay the census, “no matter how long” until more information could be given to the Supreme Court. However, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said that while he “strongly” disagreed with the court’s ruling, the U.S. Census Bureau will move forward with the 2020 Census without a citizenship question.

The possibility of a citizenship question had worried Florida Democrats, who said it would likely lead to an undercount of the state’s population, which is home to roughly 250,000 undocumented immigrants and has a dense population of immigrants. An undercount would have affected distribution of political power and federal funds during the next decade. Concern about an under-

count was brushed off by some Florida Republicans, who argued the country should know how many citizens it has.

SNAPSHOTS BOOKS | B1

‘The Accident of Color’ review

Nothing to say Also in the middle of the debate was one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ top attorneys, Deputy General Counsel James Uthmeier, who refused to answer questions in a congressional interview about the “key role” he played in adding the citizenship question while working in the Trump administration. DeSantis’ office said it had nothing to do with that decision. It also never said whether the governor supported the proposed citizenship question.

FLORIDA: OUSTED BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF WILL SEEK SEAT AGAIN | A3 COMMENTARY: GLEN FORD: WE ARE LATE TO THE REPARATIONS DEBATE | A4

FLORIDA | A3

State seeks solutions for algae woes NATION | A6

Pharmacists going ‘above and beyond’


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