Challenger Community News April 5, 2017

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WITT PROGRAM BRINGS WISDOM TO GIRLS AT MATH SCIENCE PREP PG. 7

“Legends” Honored

VOICES

THE ARTS

INSIDE ROCHESTER

PG. 2

At The Albright: The Amazing Shantell Martin PG. 9

How Would MLK Respond to PG. 11 Trump’s America?

Omega Mentoring Scholarship Ball!

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PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID BUFFALO, N.Y. PERMIT NO. 164

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INSIDE ROCHESTER

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com•April 5, 2017

AROUND TOWN

Ambassador Susan Rice

Grace Byers

“Women Helping Girls”/AAUW

Ambassador Susan Rice, Empire Actress Grace Byers to be Featured at Women’s Conference

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omen Helping Girls, a program of the Greater Rochester Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), will feature former U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, and “Empire” actress Grace Byers at the group’s annual conference, Saturday, April 8, at the Kodak Center for Performing Arts, 200 West Ridge Road.

The day will begin with a conference for women and teens, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., which will include the following two panel discussions: “Anything Financial: For Women by Women,” from 12:30 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.; and “What Do Women Want – Love and Relationships,” from 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Byers, best known for her current role as Anika Calhoun on the FOX television hit series, “Empire,” will also give a keynote speech during the event.

The actress’ topic, “Grace Before Judgment” will focus on how women and girls can support and uplift each other, according to officials from the event.

In addition, following Byers’ presentation, conference participants will also have an opportunity for a Q & A session with the actress.

In conjunction with the conference, Women Helping Girls and AAUW will also host “An Evening with Susan Rice,” former U.S. Ambassador and National Security Advisor for President Barack Obama, beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, also at the Kodak Performing Arts Center.

Rice served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and as a member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet from January 2009, until assuming the role of National Security Advisor in July 2013.

She will give a keynote speech during the event, followed by a moderated conversation, and a Q & A with the audience.

Tickets can be purchased at AAUW for $25, and the general public is invited.

Tickets for the conference can also be purchased on site, at the Kodak Center for Performing Arts, and will be $25 for adults, and $10 for students.

Visit http://womenhelpinggirls.org/ for additional information regarding the event.

BAOBAB DOCUMENTARY FILM SERIES •FREE TO DANCE: GO FOR WHAT YOU KNOW: Friday, April 7th 7:00 PM, 738 University Ave. 585-563-2145 Through the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, a “dance explosion” made it America’s newest spectator sport. Any given season, an uncanny number of ballet and modern dance companies strutted their stuff on the stages (and even rooftops) of New York City the dance capital of the world. At the same time, cultural, social, and political upheaval gripped the nation. Choreographers and other artists reflected and forecasted society’s shifts. This documentary includes our very own, Garth Fagan’s, “Griot New York,” Bill T. Jones’ “D-Man in the Water,” Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s “Shelter,” and Blondell Cummings’ “Chicken Soup,” as well as performances by Cleo Parker Robinson’s Philadanco, the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Discussion will follow.

*City R-Centers to Host Free “Rollin’ With The Wheels” Sports Events for Individuals with Disabilities, April 8, 10 a.m. - Noon @ Carter Street Center, 500 Carter St. and May 13, 10 a.m. - Noon @ Adams Street Center, 85 Adams St.For more information about RAA visit www.rochesteraccessibleadventures.org. *April 21, 6:30 p.m. - The Black Cinema Series, presented by the Rochester Association of Black Journalists and the Little Theatre, will host a special screening of “Drop Squad,” a featurelength film which explores a variety of themes including the breadth and complexity of blackness.David C. Taylor, a first assistant director on the film, will be present for an audience talk-back. *Friends of School of the Arts invites the commuity to its spring fundraiser Class Acts! on Saturday, April 8 from 4 to 8 pm. This inside event will be at the Martin Luther King Jr. Building at Manhattan Square, 353 Court Tickets are $20 each, $35 per couple, or $40 for families of 3 or more. Tickets can be purchased in advance with a credit card, or with cash or check at the door.

“LEGENDARY TREASURES”: Pictured left to right: Dr. David Anderson, Constance Mitchell and Dr. Walter Cooper.

“Legends” Gala Is Huge Success!

The Rochester Association of Black Journalists held a special social fundraiser at the Rochester Academy of Medicine on Saturday night to honor three Rochesterians- Constance Mitchell, Dr. Walter Cooper, and Dr. David Anderson. The sold-out affair was outstanding and a complete success!

RABJ publicly kicked off its unique documentary and children’s book series project, “Rochester Legends,” at the fundraising event. Each of the three living Rochester African-American notables were featured in a video documentary profile. The trio will be the subjects of the first volume of a planned Rochester Legends series of illustrated children’s books, geared to third grade level, about outstanding people who have made invaluable contributions to the Rochester community.

That inaugural book is slated to be published in September for distribution to libraries and public, private and parochial elementary schools throughout Monroe and surrounding counties.

Mitchell, a civil rights activist, became the highest elected African American official in the nation when she won a seat on the Monroe County Supervisors (forerunner of the Monroe County Legislature) in 1961.

Cooper, a research scientist and educator, helped found the Urban League of Rochester and Action for a Better Community.

Anderson is a founding member of the Black Storytelling League of Rochester and Akwaaba: The Heritage Associates, an organization whose members share and reenact African American history. Legends indeed!

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Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

AREA BRIEFS Michael A. McDuffie to Receive Eye On History Award Chess Master Michael A. McDuffie will receive the Eye On History Award on Saturday, April 8 at the Merriweather Library at 3:00 p.m. Michael McDuffie is a Chess Master and Instructor. He meets regularly to teach students and adults the game of Chess at the Merriweather Library on Wednesdays from 5:30 - 7:45 p.m.

He is the Founder and Director of the Girls in Chess Rock and the enrichment Youth Girls Chess Program.

Mr. McDuffie has led area students to local and national chess tournaments. He will be the 21st recipient of this award.

The awards program is free and open to the public. The Eye On History Award is given to individuals who make history in our community. Call 847-6010 for more information.

“The need to build capacity and diversity into our teaching corps is immediate”

-Dr. Cash

Urban Teacher Academy Launched: Designed to Encourage High School Students to Pursue Teaching Profession

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resident Katherine Conway-Turner of SUNY Buffalo State and Superintendent Kriner Cash of Buffalo Public Schools on Monday announced plans for the new Urban Teacher Academy at McKinley High School.

The Urban Teacher Academy will accept its first cohort of students in fall 2017 at McKinley. Faculty members from Buffalo State and staff from the Buffalo Public Schools will develop the curricula for four college-level courses that will be taught as part of the academy. Academy students also will take part in activities at Buffalo State to help them prepare for college.

“The Persistence of Race in Trumpamerica”: A Discussion Niagara University’s Spring Discussion Series continues with “The Persistence of Race in Trumpamerica” on April 10 at 12:30 p.m. at Niagara University Gallagher Center, 5795 Lewiston Rd . The discussion will feature Dr. Valerie Johnson, Chair of the Political Science at DePaul University and former National Education Spokesperson for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. This event is free and open to the public. Fore more information call (716) 286-8700.

UMOJA to Host Annual “Blessed Gathering” UMOJA presents “A Blessed Gathering” on Friday, April 7 from 1-6 p.m. at the United Way, on Delaware Avenue. Sam Radford will moderate the lunch buffet with guest speakers: Karima Amin, Eva Doyle, Mary Douglas, Patricia Elliot, Dechantell Lloyd, Ellen Peoples, Jeannie Muhammad, Vonetta Rhodes, Carlenda Meadors, Betty Jean Grant, Antoinette Radford, Cariol Horne, and Barbara Miller Williams. To RSVP call 716-533-6283 or 716-578-3571. A Stop The Violence Coalition meeting will follow the gathering at 6 p.m.

COMMUNITY MEETING FOR THE PUBLIC ART PROJECT

April 11 will be the last opportunity for members of the community to come out and share their final input to suggest names of local and national leaders they would like to see included in the new public art project “The Freedom Wall” (working title). After three solid public meetings with the community there has been great progress as the project is moving forward at a steady and productive pace. All are encouraged to attend on April 11 from 6 - 8p.m. at Performing Arts 450 Masten Ave. To learn more about the project visit www.albrightknox.org Photo: Tom Loonan

Students who successfully complete the four-year Urban Teacher Academy at McKinley will be accepted into Buffalo State’s teacher education programs with 12 credit hours already completed toward a bachelor’s degree.

“Our history did not begin in chains...”

The Ishango Bone

Africans pioneered basic arithmetic 25,000 years ago.

The Ishango bone is a tool handle with notches carved “We look forward to collaborating with Buffalo Public Schools and McKinley High School on the into it found in the Ishango Urban Teacher Academy,” said Conway-Turner. “Encouraging our local high school students to region of Zaïre (now called pursue the profession of teaching has the potential to benefit not just the Buffalo Public Schools Congo) near Lake Edward.

The bone tool was originally but any school district with a diverse student body.” thought to have been over “The need to build capacity and diversity into our teaching corps is immediate,” said Cash. “I am 8,000 years old, but a more delighted that we now have a way to infuse cultural relevance in teaching by ‘growing our own’ sensitive recent dating has teachers from our talented and diverse student population. Our students will begin their college given dates of 25,000 years classes while still in high school, the district will have a widely diverse talent pool of teachers, and old. On the tool are 3 rows of future BPS students will benefit from having teachers who mirror their background and culture. notches. Row 1 shows three In addition, I know that students in the Urban Teacher Academy will add rich cultural context to notches carved next to six, four carved next to eight, ten Buffalo State’s teacher education classrooms.” carved next to two fives and SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher said, “This is a solution to two major issues impacting New finally a seven. The 3 and 6, York State—the teacher shortage in many of our urban schools, and college readiness of the stu- 4 and 8, and 10 and 5, repredents within those schools. We still see too many students go to college unprepared, if they attend sent the process of doubling. at all. The partnership announced today will prepare our students for college and inspire them Row 2 shows eleven notches toward a teaching career so that they then inspire more future teachers. This complements our carved next to twentyone notches, and nineteen TeachNY efforts to lift the teaching profession, and I look forward to seeing the results.” notches carved next to nine School districts across the country are struggling to recruit culturally, linguistically, and ethni- notches. This represents 10 + cally diverse teachers. To develop a more diverse pool of teachers, the Buffalo Public Schools has 1, 20 + 1, 20 - 1 and 10 - 1. developed a comprehensive Career and Technical Education “grow your own” program, designed Finally, Row 3 shows eleven as an opportunity for students who imagine themselves as great teachers. Urban Teacher Academy notches, thirteen notches, graduates who earn a bachelor’s degree in education from Buffalo State will be encouraged to seventeen notches and nineteen notches. 11, 13, 17 and apply for positions within the district.

19 are the prime numbers Kathy Wood, associate dean of the School of Education at Buffalo State and project coordinator between 10 and 20. for the Urban Teacher Academy, added, “We are pleased and grateful that McKinley High School has agreed to host the program. The academy provides a sustainable, purpose-driven program to Africans cultivated crops 12,000 provide students with teachers that better reflect the diversity of the BPS student body.” years ago, the first known advances in agriculture. Professor Theresa Harris-Tigg, a member of the Buffalo Public Schools Board of Education, vice president Fred Wendorf discovered that of student achievement for the board, and an assistant professor of English Education at Buffalo people in Egypt’s Western State, said, “As a college professor in English Education, former ELA classroom teacher, and cur- Desert cultivated crops of rent Board of Education member, Superintendent Cash and I have had many discussions regard- barley, capers, chick-peas, ing teacher preparation and diversity in teacher hiring. Dr. Kathy Wood and I have had similar dates, legumes, lentils and conversations and opportunities to work together in future teacher clubs sponsored by Buffalo wheat. Their ancient tools State. Thus, when Dr. Wood contacted me in early Fall 2016 to see if we could get this initiative were also recovered. There moving, it was easy to talk with Dr. Cash about it. The green light was given to bring both enti- were grindstones, milling ties together for further exploration regarding an Urban Teacher Academy. Dr. Cash assigned Dr. stones, cutting blades, hide Will Keresztes as the district point person and many collaborative meetings between Buffalo State scrapers, engraving burins, Continued Page 13 and mortars and pestles.

Dr. Cash

Dr. Conway-Turner

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NATIONAL + WORLD

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com•April 5, 2017

SOLD! TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER!

Trump Eases Rules in Harriet Tubman Home Loses Bid for Rare Photo Somalia Protecting Civilians in Strikes The rare photo of a younger Harriet Tubman has been sold

“Out of the mouths of babes...”

An image of a White toddler clutching a black baby doll has gone viral, along with the story behind it.

Brandi Benner had told her two-year-old daughter that she could pick out a new toy as a reward for potty training, and when they went to Target to do so, the little girl picked out the doll in the picture.

“While we were checking out, the cashier asked Sophia if she was going to a birthday party. We both gave her a blank stare. She then pointed to the doll and asked Sophia if she picked her out for a friend. Sophia continued to stare blankly and I let the cashier know that she was a prize for Sophia being fully potty trained. The woman gave me a puzzled look and turned to Sophia and asked, ‘Are you sure this is the doll you want, honey?’ Sophia finally found her voice and said, ‘Yes, please!’” Banner wrote on Facebook.

But the cashier apparently tried to get little Sophia to pick a different doll. “She doesn’t look like you. We have lots of other dolls that look more like you,” the woman said.

But Sophia insisted on keeping her prize, saying, “Yes, she does. She’s a doctor like I’m a doctor. And I’m a pretty girl and she’s a pretty girl. See her pretty hair? And see her stethoscope?”

Banner wrote that the experience left her both proud of her daughter and shocked by the Target employee.

“This experience just confirmed my belief that we aren’t born with the idea that color matters,” she said. “Skin comes in different colors just like hair and eyes and every shade is beautiful.”

The expression “Out of the mouths of babes” is a shortening and revision of expressions in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In Psalms 8:2, God ordains strength out of the mouth of babes and sucklings; in Matthew 21:16, praise comes from this source. Later generations changed strength and praise to wisdom.

Black immigrants are much more likely to be deported due to a criminal conviction than nationals from other regions of the world.

Deportation of African and Other Black Immigrants Is Quietly Increasing And No One Is Taking Note

By David Love

Although often not covered in the media, the African immigrant community is facing mass deportations in the era of Donald Trump. While the immigration debate in the U.S. is often framed in terms of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America on the one hand and the infamous Muslim travel ban on the other, the issue is more complicated. As the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency conducts its sweeps on immigrant communities, African people are among those who are being detained and deported. While deportations were in no short supply under the Obama administration, these deportations are expected to soar under Trump, whose immigration ban on six Muslim nations includes three African nations — Libya, Somalia and Sudan. Trump also is clamping down on refugees and asylum seekers.

According to data from the Department of Homeland Security, in 2015, ICE deported 1,293 African immigrants. Since the 2016 election, the ICE raids on Black immigrant communities have intensified. For example, in January, 86 men and women were deported to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, after being detained and imprisoned, as Africanews.com reported. In November, 108 immigrants were deported to Ghana and 20 people also were deported to Liberia, while 53 others were processed for deportation. Earlier this month, ICE deported 130 people to Senegal, six times the number recorded by the agency in its 2016 report.

There are 2.5 million African immigrants in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. When including the Caribbean, Latin America and other regions, there are as many as five million Black immigrants in America. People from Africa experienced the fastest growth rate of the immigrant groups coming to the U.S., 41 percent between 2000 and 2013.

In its “State of Black Immigrants 2016” report, co-authored with the New York University School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) found that Black immigrants are much more likely to be deported due to a criminal conviction than nationals from other regions of the world. More than one out of five noncitizens facing deportation on criminal grounds is Black. Tia Oso, national organizer for BAJI whose organization works on advocacy, education and direct action on issues impacting Black immigrants and AfricanAmericans, said there is not nearly enough coverage of what is happening regarding the deportations.

The biggest issue with the executive order as far as Black immigrants are concerned, Oso noted, is that fully one-third of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers are African. “So, to have a ban on refugee resettlement here — a ban on Somalia, Libya and Sudan — is 100 percent to reduce the number of immigrants from these countries, who are Black Africans, from coming to the U.S.” she said. “We have families who are being split up, family members being stuck in limbo in the refugee camps. These people have already been approved, already vetContinued Page 13

at auction for $161,000 and the highest bidder wasn’t Tubman’s Auburn, N.Y., national historic site.After launching the #BringHarrietHome campaign earlier this month, the Harriet Tubman Home lost the Swann Galleries auction for the photo and the album in which it was contained on March 30. The image was taken at an Auburn photography studio between 1866 and 1868 when Tubman was in her 40s. The 44-page portfolio also included images of other abolitionists, including John Willis Menard, the first Black man elected to Congress.

The New York City company anYoung Harriet Tubman nounced the artifact was purchased by Manhattan-based dealer Lion Heart Autographs for $130,000 and a $31,000 buyer’s premium, according to the Associated Press. The expected sale price was $20,000-$30,000, which is in the range the Harriet Tubman home was prepared to pay out. The organization had raised $28,000 on the Women You Should Know campaign website, $3,000 more than its goal.The Harriet Tubman Home stated that donors have the option not to have their transaction processed or contribute their funds to help with the site’s docent training and the restoration of the brick home Tubman resided in for more than three decades until her death in 1913.

Washington – President Trump has relaxed some of the rules for preventing civilian casualties when the American military carries out counter terrorism strikes in Somalia, laying the groundwork for an escalating campaign against militants in the Horn of Africa. The decision gives commanders of the United States Africa Command greater latitude to carry out offensive airstrikes and raids by ground troops against Al-Qaeda-linked group Shabab. That sets the stage for intensified combat there, while increasing the risk that American forces could kill civilians.

PRAY FOR PEACE.

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HEALTH MATTERS

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

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H-Q Tours Trip to National Museum Coming Saturday: The People’s Food Movement of African American History in DC Free Public Event Will Define Come and go with us to Washington DC to visit the National Museum of African American History on Monday July 10th through Wednesday July 12 . Cost is $225 for double occupancy. The Bus will leave Monday July 10 at 7am sharp from LaSalle Park & Ride Lot on Main Street and returns Wednesday July 12 around 9pm . The first deposit was due on April 1 of $50 (non-refundable) and the final deposit is due June 30th . For further details, contact Darryl Daniels 716-310-8693 .

DID YOU KNOW...

African American women in the US have a 41% higher death rate from breast cancer than white women.

African American women are more likely than white women to be diagnosed with breast cancer before age 40 and are more likely to be diagnosed with larger tumors.

“Good Food” and Educate the Community About Innovative and Sustainable Food Policies BUFFALO – Shouldn’t good food access match the needs of the people? This Saturday, organizations from across Buffalo are working together to host the People’s Food Movement, a free, public event to ensure that community needs drive food access and policy.

Among food policy advocates, “good food” is generally recognized as being nutritious, grown sustainably, and produced with fair labor. Organizers of the People’s Food Movement insist that good food should also be equitably distributed.

The People’s Food Movement will take place on Saturday, April 8, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Delavan Grider Community Center, 877 East Delavan Ave. in Buffalo.

At the start of the event, a light meal will be provided

by the Buffalo Public Schools’ Child Nutrition Services, showcasing their Farm to School menu items. This will be followed by an interactive education and advocacy session.Families in attendance will also be invited to create art and share their stories related to issues accessing good food in Buffalo.

Event co-hosts: African Heritage Food Coop; Crossroads Collective; Food Policy Council of Buffalo & Erie County; Grassroots Gardens WNY; Massachusetts Avenue Project; UB Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab Event sponsors: AARP, Inc.; Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.; Delavan Grider Community Center; Field & Fork Network; Food for All; Mobile Safety Net Team; Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group; Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York; Western New York Environmental Alliance Find this event online: • Pre-register at http:// bit.ly/2o8vWCW • On Facebook at http:// bit.ly/2o8J5vN • More information at http://bit.ly/2nbcK87

Tao Te Ching -43The gentlest thing in the world Overcomes the hardest thing in the world.

That which has no substance Enters where there is no space.

This shows the value of nonaction Teaching without words, Performing without actions: That is the Master’s way.

eat to live

African Heritage Food Co-op to Sponsor Farmers Market and Black Business Bazaar The African Heritage Food Co-Op will present a Farmers Market and Black Business Bazaar on Saturday, April 15 from 3-6 p.m. at the Edward Saunders community Center, 2777 Bailey Avenue is a group or community members pooling money together to take advantage of wholesale pricing. This allows us to stretch our dollars while keeping our money within the community.

Our Mission: To combat unemployment, price gouging and food deserts while bringing quality produce to Buffalo’s East Side at affordable prices.

Each month we purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and because we buy in large quantity we are able to give each contributor much more than they would get as individual shoppers.

Produce pick-ups take place at convenient co-op locations in the community. Delivery is also available for $5 if pre-arranged.

For more information call 716-573-1844.

WALKING TO WELLNESS

The nonprofit Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and its community partners announced its 2017 Walking to Wellness campaign , including an ambitious goal to reach 50 MILLION steps rolled by local participants this year.

•Reflective Walks at Delaware Park: Held now through November on the first Sunday of the month, 10:45 am to 11:30 am. Walks are one-to-two miles and begin and end at the Hoyt Lake, Marcy Casino area. Routes will alternate through Delaware Park based on the season. Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Art & Architecture, History & Nature.

•National Walk at Lunch Day: Wednesday, April 26 •Downtown Walks: First four Wednesdays of May, May 3 – 24.

May continue in October •BNMC Walks: Wednesdays from May 31 – August 30, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus •Superhero Race & Wellness Walk: Friday, June 2, St. George’s Church. Race starts at 7:00 pm •TBC Park Walks: Every Saturday in June •County Park Walks: September Persons interested in walking can join any of the Wellness Institute’s walks to have their steps counted toward the 2017 Walking to Wellness goal total. For event listings and further details, visit CreatingHealthyCommunities.org to view our calendar of events. Community organizations and area employers who wish to be a part of this countywide Walking to Wellness and Health Improvement Initiative may contact Phil Haberstro or Sarah Martin at 716-851-4052 or BeActive@City-Buffalo.org.

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FAITH & FAMILY

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com • April 5 2017

WNY Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Events Will Honor Apostle Hazel Tucker, Zion Missionary Baptist Church Announces To Host Its First District Good Friday Service “A Great Woman of God” Prayer/Fasting Gathering Dates for April The sons and daughters of the Prayer Room Pastor Rosetta Swain and Enter in Ministries along with Dr. “Repositioning the Body of Christ”

Zion Missionary Baptist Church will once again be hosting the “Repositioning the Body of Christ Through Prayer and Fasting” Monday morning altar prayer for the month of April.

Please add these dates to your calendar of events and join us every Monday @ 6 am:

Monday April 10 Monday April 17 Monday April 24 For more information contact the church office at 886-1362.

Rev C.M. Jenkins II is Host Pastor.

CHURCH ORGANIST

A Church is seeking an Organist for employment. For more information please contact Neal at 716-284-7614

worship this week!

James A. Lewis, WNY District Overseer and the Full Gospel Fellowship Churches invite the community to jointhem for a joint Good Friday Worship Service.at 6 p.m. Friday, April 14, at True Bethel Baptist Church located at 907 E. Ferry Street.

The dynamic speakers for this service include : The First Word delivered by Min. Michael Johnson from First Holy Temple, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

Second Word delivered by Min. Michelle Spight from Worship Without Walls, “Today you will be with me in paradise." Third delivered by Min. Jason Whitaker from Enter in Ministries, "Behold your son: behold your mother."

Fourth Word delivered by Min. Deker Milton from True Bethel Niagara Falls, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Fifth Word delivered by Pastor Rhonda Henderson from Worship Without Walls, "I thirst." Sixth Word delivered by Min. Samuel Harris from Greater Hope Baptist Church, "It is finished." Seventh Word delivered by Min. Julius Grooms from Ebenezer Baptist Church "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

Please come out a worship with us and “BE BLESSED.”

presents two community events in honor of a great Woman of God, Apostle Hazel Tucker, a community leader who served the City of Buffalo for over 67 years. Apostle Tucker, who was located on the same corner of 150 E Ferry St. for over 60 years, passed away last week. The tributes, “Preserving The Legacy” are going to be in her honor, sponsored by The Wealthy Place and Dr. Marie M. Dove, a Apostle Hazel Tucker native daughter of Buffalo who now resides in Orlando, FL. All proceeds will go to the family to restore PrayerRoom Storehouse Missions .

There will be two events.

Preserving the Legacy for Apostle Hazel T. Tucker will be held April 5-7 at the George K. Authur Community Center at 7p.m. nightly. Dr. Dove will be the guest speaker.

The second event, “100 Women in Red” banquet will be presented by The Wealthy Place. Twelve women from the City of Buffalo will be honored for their outstanding community work to the city over the years. The banquet will be held Saturday April 8 at 1:30 pm at Salvatores Garden Hotel, 6615 Transit Road. Each women will be honored for their consistent efforts.

Tickets are 45.00.

FAITH & FAMILY

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

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The “Queens” at Math Science Prep Receive “Wisdom In Troubled Times”

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ev. Eugene Coplin wrapped up Women’s History Mouth last Thursday by taking his visionary “Wisdom In Troubled Times” (WITT) program to the girls at Math Science Technology Preparatory School (MST); making good on a promise earlier in the month after successfully introducing the presentation to MST’s young men.

Accompanied by at least 60 female volunteers from the community, Rev. Coplin opened the program at the 666 East Delavan Avenue school like he did several weeks prior, by reminding the young ladies that “there are a lot of people who don’t believe in you,” but declaring that he, along with the impressive array of women who joined him, “believe in you and want to help you believe in yourself.” Referring to the girls frequently as “Queens,” he explained to them that the purpose of WITT was to make MST a model and to “change and transform” them into the kings and queens they are. That is why, he continued, that most of the speakers and many of the volunteers were dressed in purple. The color purple, he explained, stands for royalty. “You are royal, you are our future and we want you to go away with that message.”

The hour-long auditorium program offered a lifetime of supportive and encouraging messages. And inside a school Rev. Coplin said he’d been warned could not hold assemblies because of the disruptive nature of the pupils, the girls, like the boys who gathered there weeks before them, gave their guests their undivided attention and upmost respect.

The speakers shared their amazing stories – many overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to lead successful lives. They offered assistance to the girls from internships, free beauty sessions, assistance with senior fees, prom dresses and more.

Sheila Brown, author and CEO of WUFO 1080AM & 100.7FM , who told of her rise from a commissioned sales person at WUFO to becoming the first African American female radio station owner in the city’s history, assured them, “you don’t know what God has in store for you!”

Minister Whitehead She concluded by leading the girls in a series of positive affirmations.

“Everyday that you wake up look in the mirror and tell yourself, ‘I have purpose, I am a leader, I am a champion, I am the best of the best,” she said in part.

Starr Ango, the co-owner of Shiek Bundles – a hair enterprise , was a teenage mother at 17 and lived a life of drugs and alcohol before she found a way out. Today she is a successful businesswoman. Her partner, 16-year-old entrepreneur Zandra Azariah Cunningham, who she described as one whose life was “the complete opposite” of hers, offered to come back and teach sessions on how to start a business. “Age is no longer a barrier for living your dream,” said Zandra. “You

Strong Community Schools’ News

Special Delivery! If you live in the City of Buffalo, you should have received our Strong

Community Schools “poster” in the mail. It outlines the Community School efforts, locations and the many ways you can get involved! We hope you enjoyed reading it and encourage you to look to it often.

April “Saturday Academy” Programs.

Every month, on at least TWO Saturday mornings, all 13 Strong Community Schools offer FREE academic, cultural, social and wellness programs through the “Saturday Academy.” Programs are open to EVERYONE. Upcoming programs at a Community School near you are as follows: • Futures Academy: April 22 (9AM-Noon) • Police Athletic League-Lacrosse Sports, Computers for Children, Health and Wellness table with UB/Liberty Partnerships, Motivational Seminar for students provided by the Buffalo Police Department, Roundtable Discussion and Saturday Academy Q&A for parents.

• Hamlin Park: April 22 (9AM-Noon) Saturday Academy Activities at Hamlin Park include, Gardening, Engineering for Kids, Youth Cooking Class • with Celebrity Chef Bobby, Painting Class with Paint the Town, Animal Adventures, Sports Camp with Willie Hutch Jones, Hip Hop Dance with La’Movement Fitness, Adult Line Dancing, and Adult Self Defense classes.

QUEENS: Pictured in top photo, the community mentor volunteers who came out to support Rev. Copliln and the girls at MST. Above, some of the love that was shared after the program.

guys can do whatever you want.” Concluded Starr “We are going to teach you how to feed your families…We care about you. I truly care because I was there!”

And there was a powerful message from Minister Whitehead representing DIVAS For Christ, a faith-based female mentoring ministry. She fired up the girls with her testimony of growing up in the “hood.” After a life of drugs, crime and anger “I got tired and said, ‘Lord what is it that I can do?’” The blessing, she said is that when she saw good, she was able to do better. “You got to do it for you!” she said. “MST you’ve got purpose…you have vision…you have a mission.”

Christina Bishop, the owner of High Klass Hair, another successful young entrepreneur who has made her mark in the hair and beauty business, cautioned the girls about taking shortcuts in life.

She offered “MST Day” at the 68 Allen St. location ” for students who submitted a short essay on what makes them “high class.”

Nashira McKeller, a teacher at McKinley High School, graphic designer and owner of Mashira Design, admitted she “hated school,” as a youngster, but advised the girls to be humble and respectful of their teachers. Such humility, she said, is why she is where she is today. She offered Continued Page 12

BPS Parent Centers Offer Adult and Community Education.

At Bennett, East, Lafayette, and South Park high schools, the BPS Parent Centers and Adult Education Department provide Buffalo Public School parents and parents of BPS homeschooled students with FREE workshops. Upcoming workshops are as follows:

• Bennett H.S. – What is Special Education • South Park H.S. – Understanding and and Where Do You Start, April 24th Supporting Grade Level Expectations (5:30PM-7:30PM) (Parents of students in grades K-3) AND Understanding and Supporting Subject Area • Lafayette H.S. – What I Need to Know about Expectations (Parents of students in grades Choosing Quality Child Care, April 25th 9-12), April 18 (6PM-8PM) (6PM-7PM) • East H.S. - My Child with a Disability Has Been • South Park H.S. – Understanding the College Suspended - Now What?, April 19 (5:30PMApplication Process, April 25 (6PM-8PM) 7:30PM) East High School: April 22 (9AM-Noon) • Bennett H.S. – How-To Be Your Personal • South Park H.S. – Kindergarten Readiness, Community Health Fair, featuring Health Screenings, Best (Career Readiness), every Wednesday, April 25 (5PM-7PM) Therapy Dogs, a STEPS Challenge, and HealthCare beginning April 19th (5:30PM-7:30PM) • Bennett H.S. – At the Stop to Good Health vendors. Additional activities include FAFSA • East H.S. – Did you File Your Free FAFSA, Series, April 26th (5:30PM-6:30PM) Application Assistance, Minecraft Club, Music April 22nd (10AM-Noon) Business & Audio Productions, African Drumming, • South Park H.S. - Transition to Adulthood: • Bennett H.S. – Formal Dance Instruction, Swimming (pictured above), Basketball, Door Prizes, Intro to Community Based Resources, every Monday and Wednesday, beginning Giveaways, and much more!

April 27 (6PM-8PM) April 24th (5:30PM-7PM) Bennett High School: April 22 (9AM-Noon) Learn more about the above workshops, and the other Parent Center/Adult Education programs at Easter Celebration with an Egg Hunt, Cookie BPSCommunitySchools.org, (716) 816-3170, and parentcenter@buffaloschools.org.

Decorating, Arts & Crafts, Financial Wellness, Drill, Get news and updates on Facebook at BPS Community Schools and BPSParentCenters.

Dance and Step.

Learn about the Saturday Academy programs taking place at all 13 Community Schools by calling (716) 816-3170 or visiting BPSCommunitySchools.org.

Follow us on Twitter @Buffalo_Schools DON’T FORGET TO READ NEXT MONTH’S BUFFALO CHALLENGER FOR MORE COMMUNITY SCHOOL NEWS!

Strong Community Schools: Engage. Enroll. Achieve.

8

ENTERTAINMENT

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com•April 5, 2017

Inner City Poetry Buddy Guy at UB’s Center for the Arts ON STAGE The Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo presents Buddy Marathon Guy with special guest Tom Hambridge on Friday, April 21, “Laugh Out Seneca Casino Onstage 2017 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $49.50.

"GOODNE$$" presents her At age 80, Buddy Guy is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in- 5th Annual "TWO DAY INLoud” At The Lineup for April May and June ductee, a major influence on NER CITY POETRY MARAat Seneca Niagara rock titans like Jimi Hendrix, GROOVE This Showing THON" in Honor of National Resort & Casino / Bears Den Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Poetry Month April 22 and Showroom...All Tickets can Vaughan, a pioneer of ChicaWeekend!

23 at the Frank E. Merriweathbe purchased at 8 Clans or Comedian Thea Vidale performs at The Groove Lounge on April 8th for the “Laugh Out Loud Comedy Series.”

Also on the show are a list of very talented comedians: Joe The Boss from Philadelphia, Gary Wallace from Niagara Falls, and J.J. Billingsley from Denver. Comedian Darnell Davis is host. Tickets are $25 and currently available at The Groove Lounge, Doris Records, or online at www. eventbrite.com. Doors open at 8p.m. Show starts at 9p.m.

See you there!

the Players Club Store inside Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, online at ticketmaster. com, at any Ticketmaster location or by phone 1-800745-3000.

The Purple Experience (a Prince Tribute), April 14 &15 at 8pm, Tickets start @ $45 Kiss The Sky ( a Jimi Hendrix Tribute) May 12 at 8pm Tickets start @ $25

go’s fabled West Side sound, and a living link to the city’s halcyon days of electric blues.

Buddy Guy has received 7 GRAMMY Awards, a 2015 Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award, 34 Blues Music Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard Magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, a Kennedy Center Honor, and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #23 in its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

The Temptations & The Four Tops May 12 at 8pm Tickets start @$45 Robben Ford May 13 at 8pm Tickets start @ $35 Average White Band May 20 at 8pm Tickets start @ $45 Jody Watley feat.

Shalamar Reloaded May 26 at 8pm Tickets start @ $45 Bell Biv Devoe w/ Guy, Envouge & SWV May 27at 8pm Tickets start @$45 Divas starring Frank Marino June 9 and 10 at 8pm Tickets start @ $55 Gladys Knight June 10th at 8pm Tickets start @$45

er Jr. Library, 1324 Jefferson Avenue The Saturday, April 22 from 2 – 5 p.m. is for adults only.

Kedra Walker is hostess.

On Sunday, April 23 from 1-4 p.m. author Janate “Solar” Ingram will host a Kid Friendly/Family Oriented poetry reading.

Both events are free and open to the public. More details coming soon!

“On the wings of imagination the mind knows no destination.”

– Lonnie Harrell

CALLING ALL POETS! Join The Challenger Community News in Celebrating NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

Poetry EDITION

BY PARTICIPATING IN OUR INAUGURAL SPECIAL

SEND YOUR NAME, CONTACT INFO AND TYPED POEM TO: The Challenger Community News Poetry Edition • PO Box 474 • Buffalo, NY 14209 or email challengerentry@gmail.com OPEN CREATIVITY – NO PARTICULAR SUBJECT - 1ENTRY PER PERSON

Dedicated to poet, historian, singer/songwriter Lonnie Harrell

9

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

Black Theater: The Making Of A Movement “Black Theater: The Making of A Movement” will be screened Friday, April 14th at 7 p.m. at the Baobab Cultural Center, 738 University Ave. in Rochester. Call 585-563-2145 for more info. This film documents the birth of a new theatre out of the Civil Rights activism of the 1950s, '60s and '70s. It is a veritable video encyclopedia of the leading figures, institutions and events of a movement that transformed the American stage.

Photo Connie Tsang

At The Albright Knox: The Amazing Shantell Martin Exhibit on view until June 25. On Friday April 7 the artist will be In Conversation at the Albright Knox with Public Art Curator Aaron Ott during M&T’s First Friday Event.

H

er mantra is “draw on everything” and that is exactly what artist Shantell Martin does.

Her solo show “Someday We Can,” a large scale wall drawing and plethora of found objects, toys and artifacts on view until June 25 at Buffalo’s Albright Knox Gallery , is a definite must see. Featured on Shantell’s signature black ink on white surfaces is the power of her initial unbroken line that she calls the “DNA.” All of her work is one line that continually connects many worlds.

The renowned young artist has been drawing since she was a little girl growing up in the Thamesmead estate public housing complex in London. Since she wasn’t allowed to draw on the walls, she would take a pen and draw characters underneath her bed and inside the curtains in her bedroom. It was then that she first developed the stick figures that show up in her work today.

“There are two types of stick men, those who push and pull and hold the work together,” says Martin. “And then there are the stick men who play around and are lazy. It’s a reminder that you have to work and you have to have fun,” she noted in an interview with Vogue Magazine a few years ago.

Shantell crafts a raw delightful narrative leaving behind a whimsical large scale masterpiece of lines, characters and new language that provokes fresh, spirited endless, conversation all while wrapping you in a meditative rhythmic flow that is music to your eyes.

She recently collaborated with hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar for Music Meets Art for American Express Music project where both artists combined doing what they love to create- one magical layered expression of art. (You can see the clip on youtube).

This current exhibition is not limited to the walls of the Albright. This will be the first time an artist, working with the Albright –Knox public art initiative, installs work simultaneously at the museum and in the community. Supported by a grant from University at Buffalo’s Creative Arts Initiative, the artist will work with the public art team, UB students and East Side community representatives to identify the final wall location for a permanent mural.

On Friday April 7 from 7:30-8:30 the artist Shantell Martin will be in conversation with Albright-Knox public art curator Aaron Ott during M&T’s First Friday event. Admission to First Friday is free and the hours are from 10am – 10pm. All encouraged to attend. Go to albrightknox. org for more information. - LH

ContinentalNow.com

Sunday, April 9, 2017

On Five Dollar Family Funday, the second Sunday of every month, museum admission for the entire family is just $5.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery 716.882.8700 albrightknox.org

326 Kenmore Ave. 833-5016

Classes start May 8th

10

GENERATIONS

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com•April 5, 2017

YWCA School Break Day Camp Calling All kids age 5-12! the YWCA school break day camp for April begins Monday April 10 thru Monday April 17.

The day camp hours are 7am – 6pm Location is YWCA/ House Commons 1005 Grant Street. Camp includes Breakfast Lunch and Snack. Daily rate is available upon request.

EASTER FAMILY FEST! A Big Easter Family Fest, will be held April 15 from 12noon – 5p.m. at 279 Perry Street.

Fun for all Ages!There will be egg coloring, face painting Easter egg Hunt, free hotdogs and candy and a chance to win stuffed animals and other great prizes. Stop by to see the Police K-9 Unit, the Perry Tenant Council and the local fire department.

KIDABALOO! OPEN MIC: Pictured left to right: Lisa Daniels, Legislator Betty Jean Grant, Goodne$$, Ras Mutata, Legendary and Meka Matteos.

City-Wide Open Mic Showcases Young Talent The 10th edition of the Goodne$$ Citywide Youth Open Mic was an entertaining experience in both the spoken word and vocal arts.

Hosted by Goodne$$, it showcased her featured artists including poet Legendary, a popular free style performer. Despite being diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age three, he made clear that what he may not be able to do physically he makes up for at the mic. Javanna Chambers, 15, recited an original poem she wrote about life from a teenager’s perspective.

Two beautiful and talented young vocalists, Lisa Daniels and Joy Meka Matteos also performed. Both sang original creations. Lisa, age 22, sang “Free,” a tune written by her mother.

Seventeen-year-old Joy also performed an original piece she and her mom composed titled “On Time.”

The event was well attended and Goodne$$, a poet and self-published author, was the mc. She also delivered one of her most recent poems “Black Girl Madness.”

The event’s DJ was Ras Mutata, co-host of Access To-A-Free-Ka on WUFO Radio.

The City-Wide Open Mic is produced to “promote creativity and promote literacy,” said Goodne$$.

“I ‘d rather them (our youth) pick up a book or a mic rather than a weapon!”

Held at the Juneteenth headquarters on Genesee Street, this year’s Youth Open Mic was dedicated to poet/singer and song writer Lonnie Harrell, who was described by Goodne$$ as “a gentle poet…an awesome poet!”

Looking for safe, fun & affordable child care during school vacations?

This Saturday April 8th round up the kids and head to the annual KIDABALOO happening at the Hamburg Fairgrounds Events Center 5820 South Park Ave in Hamburg. There are two three-hour session of nonstop fun to pick from: 10am-1pm and 2-5pm. Bring your camera to grab a free picture with the Easter Bunny, super heroes, princesses, cartoon & storybook characters! Enjoy the inflatable slides, bounce houses, obstacle course, kids game show with Quizmaster Denis George, magic and puppet show with Mike Randall, games, crafts and more! Advance tickets are just $8 each or you can purchase a 4-pack for only $25. Ticket prices include All Activities! Go to WBLK.com for tickets.

Giant Easter Egg Hunt,

Free picture with the Easter Bunny,

Princesses, Super Heroes,

Cartoon and Story Book Characters,

Bounce Houses, Games, Crafts Live Shows and More!

*A qualified staff member will lead children in arts & crafts projects, various physical activities, and homework help *Children will have the opportunity to make new friends and build a connection with their community

Try the Delavan Grider Community Center!

877 East Delavan Ave Buffalo, NY 14215 (716) 896-7021

WBLK.com

Lorena M. James

Lorena M. James: A Rising Star!

Lorena M James is confronted with a major decision; she has reached an educational crossroad.

Lorena has earned two significant scholarship awards.

Her focus on school work and social development has produced an honorary profile.

Early preparation is displaying benefits and she beams with satisfaction for her accomplishments.

Lorena’s assent was planned and nurtured. Her early curiosity was stimulated by book reading, regular trips to the library, the park, and various other points of interest. The school selection process was intense.

Ultimately Olmsted, which is an excellent educational model, was selected. And then in her fourth grade a more intensified search and lots of prayers, Lorena was enrolled into Nichols Academy.

Fast forward. Today it has been good and hard work with scholarship awards from several fine colleges, but The University of Buffalo and Davidson College of NC raised the bar. They offered their most prestigious awards; Respectively the Presidential Scholarship Award and the Belk Scholarship Award.

And now Lorena has to decide which opportunity to choose. Of course, Lorena’s, very proud mother, Cathy M. Cummings, told Lorena, “The choice is yours.”

Hard work is never finished but sometimes it is fun. The big decision at the time of this writing is still being considered. Lorena’s decision will surely produce a Brighter star!

VOICES

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

Vaccines, Autism and The Black Community: We Need to Talk…

Dear Editor: I have just finished watching Vaxxed The Movie online and it is the most frightening documentary, non-fiction, or fiction film I have seen in 50 years. It is about Autism. We have to show this movie for a discussion in our community. There is a monster hiding in America and it is not under our beds or in our dreams and the Centers For Disease Control and all the pharmaceuticals know it. This issue has been a back burner in our minds for a very long time.

In the last four years that I have been working in the public school system of Buffalo I have been questioning the hard evidence and asking myself why are we suddenly having an upsurge of Autism in the African American community and why does it seem to be impacting so many of our children that are male? This movie is hard evidence that we have been deceived by the CDC. I watched the congressional hearings that sought to resolve this issue of, "Do vaccines cause Autism and is the MMR one of the primaries in causing that illness?"

After the hearings, like so many other issues, nothing else has happened. This film made me remember that President Obama sanctioned the fact that there was link between Autism and vaccinations in a public video announcement during his presidential term. I remembered feeling outraged about how nonchalantly he spoke. Yet I failed to follow through on what I thought and because I said nothing and did nothing, even within my own family, I may have an autistic grandson.

This movie gives an answer to Autism based on scientific documentation done by the CDC that was not allowed to be part of public discourse. It showcases parents who have known that they were being lied to, because prior to their young child having this vaccine they were normal children who never returned to normalcy after that vaccine. In fact, the CDC has known for a long time that the age the vaccine is given is wrong, because a child under three years old body is not able to handle the dosage of a three in one vaccine. Remember our children use to get these shots at different times. There was no research into what the outcomes of combing these shots would be other than the fact that the pharmaceuticals would profit greatly. There is linked evidence that giving these shots to children at 3 years old would be better.

Since the combined shot has been given world wide there has been an international explosion in Autism. The number here in America is staggering. In the congressional hearings a congressman remarked that Autism is not like some childhood illness that a child dies from in 20 or 30 years. Autistic children live well into old age, so we will be responsible for their care a long time.

I work with Autistic teens at City Honors that are blessed to be high performers, but for the majority that is not the case.

Some of these cases I got to see up close this summer and in schools that I worked in before City Honors. We need to show this film and have a panel discussion following that showing that includes parents and experts.

I hope you all will agree. We serve on powerful ministries within our churches and our communities. We owe this film and its discussion to our children and families in Buffalo. We have many young women who have infants in our church and are of age for having children in the future. We must be at the front of providing life quality information to our people.

dear editor

Peace, Love, and Blessings, Akua

“We wish to plead our own cause.

Too long have others spoken for us.”

- John Russwurm, Freedom’s Journal.

1827 America’s 1st Black Newspaper

Jefferson Avenue Business Association Applauds The Mayor’s Plan for Jefferson Dear Editor: The Eastside of Buffalo is the area with the highest number of vacant lots, abandoned properties and all –too-many “struggling” businesses.

Mayor Brown has directed future help/attention to this community. He announced in his state of the City address, his plan to bring much needed help and business assistance to Jefferson Avenue. For the residents as well as the businesses that are in and around the Mayor’s declared “target” area, this promise of “revitalization” is well received.

As president of the Jefferson Avenue Business Association, the Mayor’s proposed idea to reinvigorate what was once the Eastside of Buffalo’s most culturally-rich business district, Jefferson Avenue, is very exciting. As Masten District Councilman, Councilman Brown successfully initiated a commercial program along Jefferson Avenue.

While in his first year as Mayor, he established a minority business assistance center in the Apollo Media Center which enabled a significant number of businesses on Jefferson Avenue to improve their businesses. Now, in this third term as Mayor of the City of Buffalo, I am hopeful for the promise as evident by his history to “deliver” minority business assistance.

The Jefferson Avenue Business Association stands prepared to work with the Mayor and or his appointed team to successfully roll out his plans for Jefferson Avenue, local businesses and area residents alike.

D. S. Dihaan President Jefferson Busines Association

do the right thing....

Challenger Community News P.O. BOX 474 Buffalo, NY 14209 advertising@thechallengernews.com

P: 716 881.1051 F: 716 881.1053

11

How would MLK Respond to Trump’s America?

O

by David A. Love

n the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination (April 4, , this is as appropriate a time as any to ask how the slain civil rights leader would react to President Donald J. Trump.

There’s reason to believe Dr. King would respond to Trump the way he responded to the racists, the white supremacists, the Jim Crow segregationists and the bigoted bullies of his day. And he dealt with many of them, from small-time sheriffs and petty local officials to governors and Washington politicians.

Trump is the ideological heir of the Jim Crow official who stood in front of the schoolhouse door, his supporters the descendants of the thugs and hooligans who bashed in the heads of civil rights workers at the segregated lunch counter — or in the streets, using the authority of a police badge, gun and a billy club to terrorize nonviolent protesters.

These days, not unlike the days of the civil rights movement, are filled with great turmoil, uncertainty and danger for people of color, the poor and the vulnerable. The Trump White House, which came to power with the slogan “Make America Great Again,” has utilized what Dr. King called the drum major instinct, “a need that some people have to feel that they are first, and to feel that their white skin ordained them to be first.”

Full-fledged Nazis and white nationalists are running the show from the West Wing, developing policies designed to humiliate and oppress disadvantaged populations and erase the civil rights legacy of the past five decades. Trump is benefiting from the racism and xenophobia plaguing the land and feeding an environment allowing hate crimes to flourish at the same time. And Dr. King would be speaking out against that.

Dr. King had much to say about unjust laws in Letter From Birmingham Jail. He spoke about the moral duty to disobey an unjust law, which a “majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself.” An unjust law such as the Jim Crow segregation statutes “distorts the soul and damages the personality,” he wrote, and “gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.”

Trump’s America is replete with unjust laws, with executive orders that target Muslims because of their religion and undocumented immigrants because of their status and Latino ethnicity, all for the sake of white supremacy. Surely King would react vehemently against ICE raids, the rounding up of people like fugitive slaves, deporting them and separating them from their children.

America, King said, “is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” The Trump administration — with its love for tyrants and human rights abusers and a plan to increase funding for the military and for police by decimating social services — has done nothing to disprove King’s statement. Rev. King and his followers withstood police dogs unleashed by two-legged police dogs, as Malcolm X would have said. He would understand too well Trump’s “law and order” regime — which gives deference to police, encourages law enforcement to racially profile black communities, and brands protesters and the press as the enemy.

Let us not forget that King also cared about economics. He spoke of the need for America to “undergo a radical revolution of values” and “rapidly begin … the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” When he was gunned down in Memphis, Martin Luther King was fighting for the rights of striking sanitation workers and was organizing the Poor People’s Campaign to demand economic justice and human rights to the poor across all racial lines.

What would King make of the Trump cabinet, a mostly white male group, predominantly millionaires and billionaires, with a combined net worth greater than a third of Americans combined, and policies designed to benefit those wealthy cabinet members and their friends? This is the wealthiest cabinet in history, and the worst, King would conclude, with nominees and appointees selected based not for knowledge of their agencies but on their propensity to dismantle them.

Whether the gutting of women’s rights, labor rights, environmental protection, civil rights, voting rights, public education, LGBTQ rights or what have you, the government is not only turning its back on its responsibilities; the government is dismantling itself under Trump. And this would concern King, who pushed the federal government to take a more active role in improving lives and upholding justice.

Trump’s America would look very familiar to Dr. King, a nation that has failed to live up to the lofty rhetoric found in its Constitution. And African-Americans still have that blank check that came back marked “insufficient funds.” Then and now, King would see a country crying out for justice. Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove.

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are not necessairly those of Challenger Community News Corporation or its advertisers.

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Phone: 716-881-1051 Fax: 716-881-1053

12 SHARP EDGEZ BARBER INSTITUTE GRAND OPENING

The first minority owned and operated vocational barber school in Rochester, NY has now become the first minority owned and operated vocational barber school in Buffalo, NY. With the opening of their second educational service center in Western New York, Sharp Edgez Barber Institute is now able to offer Buffalo, an urban style barber education with contemporary styling. Their Grand opening is Monday April 10 from 10am – 3:30pm at 2844 Delaware .

Their educational style is attractive to prospective barbers because they offer a real world type of barber training in a real barbershop setting. “ “We run our clinic like a regular barber shop so students get a real feel for the industry before they set out on their own” says founder Ahmon Byran . “We also offer reduced price hair cutting services to the community in our modern clinic. It works out well because all haircuts are performed by students under the supervision of a licensed instructor.”

The school offers a 4 1/2 month full-time professional barber course and also for those who work during the day, a 7 1/2 month evening course is available. Either option puts future barber professionals of Buffalo on a fast track to better economic growth. Graduates of Sharp Edgez are able to take the state board exam. After passing, they are able to open their own business or legally work in a barbershop. Enrollment for the barbering program runs consecutively so interested students should call or visit the website at www.sharpedgez.com for more information on the next upcoming class. Sharp Edgez is licensed through the NYS Department of Education and nationally accredited. There is federal financial aid available for those who qualify and most do.

Their motto is, “We are committed to serving our community and will continue to empower our community, one cut at a time.” As a gift to the community the institute will be offering free men's haircutting services, face shaves and facial massages for the entire week of the grand opening .

WITT BRINGS WISDOM continued from page 7

specially designed T-Shirts with the slogan “Only Queens” to students who submitted essays describing what they got out of the day’s program.

Alanda Gethers wrapped it up with a profound talk/sermon about FEAR, which she defined as “False Evidence Appearing Real.” Sharing her painful past, she recalled finding herself at age 22 with only a 6th grade education and pregnant with her first child. ‘I didn’t know I was a queen…I didn’t know how to love me…(so) I found it in every other gutter” she said. Today she is a successful Life Enrichment Coach. This day, she told the girls, “Is about you…what are you going to do? Can you take this title of Queen and wear it even if afraid?” That, she said, is the test.

Near the end of the program the volunteers went into the audience and embraced the students in a heartfelt show of love and respect.

Rev. Coplin urged the girls to show the teachers and administrators “that you are divas, queens, royalty!”

-WITTThe WITT Program plans to train adult volunteers to mentor and serve as positive role models to the girls and boys at MST. Most importantly WITT will motivate and train leaders among the students themselves, and teach them so that they in turn can motivate and train others “until the entire school gets the message – that they are kings and queens!” stated Rev. Coplin.

(For more information contact Rev. Coplin at (716) 906-0375 or email Project-Lee@hotmail.com

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com • April 5 2017

Celebration of Life Held for Lonnie B. Harrell

MINORITY CONTRACTORS WANTED

Minority contractors are being sought to be included in the compiling of a list of African American men and women (W/ MBE) skilled contractors. If you are skilled and experienced in: roofing, carpentry, dry wall finishing, plumbing and or electriA Celebration of the life for cal work, contact Ellen Shareef at (716)852-3418, Monday thru “community father” Lonnie Friday or (716) 827-3556.

B. Harrell (January 19, 1943 – March 22, 2017) was held on March 28 at St. Luke AME Zion Church on East Ferry Street.

JOBS

Lonnie B. Harrell was born in Cheraw, Mississippi, a small rural area seven miles south of Columbia, Mississippi. His mother and father, Edwina and Robert Harrell, had only two children, Lonnie and his sister, Queenie (Ezell) Johnson, now deceased.

It was Edwina’s dream was for her children to attend college.

Though both Lonnie and his sister graduated from high school, money was limited, ensured his sister go instead and become the first to receive a college degree.

Lonnie taught himself to type as he loved writing songs, poetry and short stories. He moved to Buffalo in 1965 and one year later, in 1966, married Willie D. Johnson, his school sweetheart from Mississippi. They were married for 50 years and raised three beautiful daughters, Chalisa, Lavonda and Shaquita.

Through the years Lonnie never gave up on the hope of continuing his education and fulfilling his mother’s precious wish for him. At the age of 55, after his children finished college, Lonnie started taking courses at the University at Buffalo. In 1999, one of his greatest dreams became a reality; he graduated Cum Laude with ribbons, gold embossed certificates, awards and memberships in the Golden Key Honor Society and Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society and a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies and African America Studies.. He also attended an awards dinner with speaker, Wolf Blitzer, who passed out awards for outstanding academic achievements to honor students. Lonnie was one of those students. This was one of his proudest accomplishments.

He was an artist and a creator in every sense of the word. The depths of his imagination and passion produced songs, poetry and short stories. He was an accomplished jewelry designer and entrepreneur, owning a one-of-a-kind jewelry shop in downtown Buffalo known as the Allen street Connection, where he sold his unique African jewelry designs. He has been published in anthologies and authored a self-published book of poems titles Messages From Within.

Lonnie was also deeply spiritual and an active member of his church, St. Luke AME Zion. In service to his faith and love of God, he offered his gift of singing to the Gospel Messengers Choir and the Male Chorus.

Lonnie once said, that his dreams are endless and that he never would limit himself. His philosophy was to always instill in others to never let anyone steal your dreams, for they do come true and to never lose faith in God and yourself.

Regardless of our vocation in life, when the appointed time comes, we must go.

Those left behind to cherish the precious memories of Lonnie include his devoted wife Willie Dean; three loving daughters Chalisa, Shaquita, and Lavonda (Eric); two precious grandsons Eric and Evan, and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives, friends and an entire community that loved him dearly.

“Knowing when to stop, you can avoid any danger.” -Tao Te Ching

Buffalo Employment and Training Center / BETC 716-856-5627

www.workforcebuffalo.org The BETC is here to help with your job searching needs.

We have free services to all jobseekers looking to find better paying work, an exciting new career, or wanting to upgrade skills to become more marketable. in today’s marketplace.

Orientation Times: Monday – Thursday, 10 am or 2 pm.

PUBLIC HEARING/ COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE CITY OF BUFFALO 2017/18 ANNUAL ACTION PLAN Tuesday April 18th, 2017 6:00 PM Meals on Wheels 100 James E Casey Dr., Buffalo, NY 14206

Mayor Byron W. Brown invites Buffalo residents to participate in a public hearing to discuss the city’s anticipated 2017/18 allocations for the following federal programs: Community Development Block Grant; HOME Investment Partnerships; Emergency Solutions Grant; and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS. City staff will be present to describe program goals, review the planning and adoption process, and accept citizen comments regarding the use of this funding to address housing and community development needs. During this hearing there will be a working session to discuss how these funds can be best utilized throughout the City of Buffalo.

Written comments to both the Annual Action Plan are encouraged, and will be included in the city’s submission to HUD. Comments must be postmarked by Monday May 19th, 2017 at either 920 City Hall, Buffalo NY 14202; or rhall@city-buffalo. com.

For more information regarding this public notice, or to request special accommodations for the public hearing, please call 8515449.

AUDIENCIA PÚBLICA/ MESA REDONDA COMUNITARIA CIUDAD DE BUFFALO 2017/18 PLAN DE ACCIÓN ANNUAL 18 de abril de 2017, 6:00 PM Meals on Wheels 100 James E Casey Dr., Buffalo, NY 14206

El alcalde Byron W. Brown invita a los residentes de Buffalo a participar en una audiencia pública para discutir las asignaciones 2017/18 anticipadas de la ciudad para los siguientes programas federales: Subvención de Desarrollo Comunitario; INICIO Asociaciones de inversión; Donación de Soluciones de Emergencia; Y Oportunidades de Vivienda para Personas con SIDA. El personal de la Ciudad estará presente para describir las metas del programa, revisar el proceso de planificación y adopción y aceptar los comentarios de los ciudadanos sobre el uso de este financiamiento para atender las necesidades de vivienda y desarrollo comunitario. Durante esta audiencia habrá una sesión de trabajo para discutir cómo estos fondos pueden ser mejor utilizados en toda la Ciudad de Buffalo.

Los comentarios escritos al Plan de Acción Anual son alentados, y serán incluidos en la presentación de la ciudad a HUD. Los comentarios deben ser sellados por correo antes del Martes 19 de mayo de 2017 en el 920 City Hall, Buffalo NY 14202; o rhall@city-buffalo.com.

Para obtener más información sobre este aviso público, o para solicitar alojamientos especiales para la audiencia pública, llame al 851-5449.

Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

For All The Good News About Buffalo Poverty is Still a Very Real Issue Buffalo Poverty Research Workshop Will Take Place April 7

F

or all the good news about Buffalo, its problems of concentrated poverty remain startling, with over half of children in the city living below the poverty line and homelessness rising, rather than falling. Participants at this year’s Poverty Research Workshop will hear from scholars and activists who study and fight poverty in a wide variety of contexts, ranging from policing reform to getting banks to fight poverty.

The Workshop offers everyone concerned with Buffalo’s poverty the chance to hear about new and ongoing research, promising strategies, and opportunities for collaboration. The workshop is designed for local scholars, social service agencies, advocates, government leaders and staff, among others, and it is free and open to the public.

Now in its eighth year, the Workshop has grown to attract over 150 attendees. One its innovative features is that participants are encouraged to do advocacy on poverty issues while still at the event – by emailing or calling elected representatives about the solutions being discussed.

The Workshop takes place Friday, April 7, from 9:00am – 12:30pm (registration & coffee from 8:30am), at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Advance registration is available on the website of the Homeless Alliance of WNY, wnyhomeless.org.

IMMIGRANTS continued from page 4 ted and assigned to be resettled in the U.S.” Oso said these policies are designed to reduce to the number of Black and brown people.

Not all immigrants are treated equally or being targeted by immigration agents. For example, there are approximately 50,000 undocumented Irish immigrants in the U.S., as CNN reported, yet they are not facing the threat of police raids and deportations. “If this was about immigration, then the undocumented Irish and European folks would be a part of the roundups,” Oso said.

“The people being deported are from Mexico, Central America, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. So, this is about keeping America white, not making America great.”

She also said that “the roots of the anti-immigration movement are directly rooted to white nationalism and the white citizens councils, and are related to maintaining the white power structure in narrowly defining who is American and is free to live in the country.”

The BAJI report emphasized that “Black people are far more likely than any other population to be arrested, convicted and imprisoned in the U.S. criminal enforcement system — the system upon which immigration enforcement increasingly relies.” , in particular, are exposed to more risks when they are stopped by law enforcement for minor offenses, and when they are arrested the local police share fingerprint data with immigration authorities.

“When the police decide to take on the duties of federal immigration enforcement, they often use these stops to question people about their immigration status and to turn immigrants over to ICE,” the report added. Immigrants also are susceptible to guilty pleas that could result in removal proceedings, with a criminal conviction resulting in possible detention and deportation.

Another issue that the public is not paying attention to, Oso noted, is the increase in the number of ICE and border patrol agents in the Trump budget. These law enforcement agents cooperate and are used in jurisdictional task forces. In April 2015, an unarmed Black man named Terrence Kellum, 20, was shot to death in his Detroit home by a Black ICE agent who was a member of a multi-agency fugitive task force operation called the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team (DFAT). As ThinkProgress reported, officers were attempting to serve an armed robbery warrant at the Kellum household when the shooting took place.

“African-American folks would say this has nothing to do with us, we are not immigrants,” Oso said. “[But] Increased surveillance can be weaponized and used against Black people.”

LEGAL NOTICES ACTION FOR DIVORCE STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT : COUNTY OF ERIE Gilberto Ramos Plaintiff SUMMONS WITH against

NOTICE AND COMPLAINT Jenny Virola Index No:SF2017900678 Defendant ACTION FOR DIVORCE To the above named Defendant: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED AND REQUIRED TO RESPOND to the claim for the relief sought by the Plaintiff by either serving a written Demand for a Complaint or a written Notice of Appearance on the Plaintiff’s Attorney, at the address stated below.

If this Summons and Notice is served upon you within the State of New York by personal service you must respond within 20 days after service, not counting the day of service. If this Summons and Notice is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York you must respond within 30 days after the service is completed, as provided by law.

TAKE NOTICE THAT: (A)The nature of this action is to procure a Judgment divorcing the parties and dissolving the marriage between the parties, pursuant to DRL 170 on the grounds of Abandonment. ( B)The relief sought is a Judgment of absolute divorce in favor of the Plaintiff dissolving forever the bonds of matrimony between the parties.

The nature of ancillary relief demanded is equitable distribution of parties assets.

If you fail to respond Judgment will be taken against you, by default, for the relief demanded in this Notice.

This action is brought in the County of Erie because of: Plaintiff’s residence Dated: March ____, 2017________ ____________________ FRANK S. FALZONE, ESQ. Attorney for Plaintiff 215 Hampshire Street Buffalo, New York 14213 (716) 881-2653

EM P LOY M EN T CHURCH ORGANIST

continued from page 3

and Buffalo Public Schools staff persons ensued. I am excited to see this work come to fruition and McKinley High School, under the leadership of Mrs. Crystal Barton, is a great place to begin this academy. Dr. Katherine ConwayTurner and Dr. Kriner Cash will enhance teacher preparation and assistance in providing a more diverse candidate pool of teaching professionals in our region.”

Crystal Barton, principal of McKinley High School, said, “A program of study such

as this is a jewel in Buffalo Public School’s crowning opportunities of new and innovative programs of learning.

How many times have we heard young children say, I want to be a teacher when I grow up? By establishing the Urban Teacher Academy, in collaboration with Buffalo State, Buffalo Public Schools is creating another pathway of learning, which will allow our students to realize their childhood hopes and dreams of growing up and becoming teachers—in our school community no less.”

LEGAL NOTICE BIDS COUNTY OF ERIE ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS 2016 Roof & Fire Damage Repairs Project Board of Elections, 3rd floor 134 West Eagle Street Project No. JK-16-06 Separate sealed bids for: General Construction work for the above project will be received by the County’s Commissioner of Public Works in Suite 1400 of the Rath County Office Building, 95 Franklin Street, Buffalo, New York 14202 until 10:30 AM local time on Thursday April 20, 2017 at which time they will be opened and read aloud.

MBE/WBE requirements may apply to this project Additional information must be found at: www.erie.gov/dpw/

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NOVENA TO ST. JUDE

O Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need, to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg to whom God has given such great power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present and urgent petition. In return, I promise to make our name known, and cause you to be invoked.

Say three our Fathers, three Hail Marys and Glorias. Publication must be promised. St. Jude pray for us and all who invoke your aid. Amen. This Novena has never been known to fail. I have had my request granted. Publication promised. B.C.

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Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com • April 5 2017

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Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• April 5, 2017

CALENDAR COMMUNITYEVENTS CALENDAR

THURSDAY APRIL 6 Please Join Us for a Community Meeting: Learn about the proposed new Apartments and Commercial Development located at the former historic site of the Buffalo Forge Manufacturing Plant.

5:30 p.m., Michigan Street Baptist Church 511 Michigan Ave.

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Proposals Wanted for the Installation of Public Art

FRIDAY APRIL 7 Princess Ball Father Daughter Dance This Weekend

Continuing to honor the strong bond between fathers and daughters, Studio J will be presenting its 2nd annual father daughter dance Princess Ball Saturday April 8th 5-8pm at the Metropolitan Entertainment Complex, 1670 Main St. For more info, call (716) 83-DANCE, e-mail: studiojbuffalo@ gmail.com or visit the website at www.studiojbuffalo.com

WEDNESDAY APRIL 5 Hustle for Health Seniors line dance fitness class Gloria J Parks Center 3242 Main St,. 11am - 12pm 716 832 1010. FREE. The Durham Central City Baby Café . Info and support for pregnant and breastfeeding moms 5:30 – 7:30 pm 200 Eagle St. 8856348.

THURSDAY APRIL 6 Community Meeting to Discuss New Apartment/Commercial Development at the former Buffalo Forge Manufacturing Plant: 5:30 p.m., Michigan Street Baptist Church, 511 Michigan Ave.

UMOJA Presents “A Blessed Gathering”: Mix Mingle and Lunch buffet, 1-6 p.m., United Way, 542 Delaware Avenue ; RSVP 5336283 or 578-3571.

SATURDAY APRIL 8 The People’s Food Movement: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Delavan Grider Community Center, 877 East Delavan Ave. The Fruitbelt Coalition’s Spring Fling Garden Expo and Easter Egg Hunt: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 145 Goodell Street, 1– 3 p.m. For info (716)893-6428.

GYC Ministries : Gang Summit Basketball and Open Gym, Ages 14 & Up, 7- 9:30 pm C.R.U.C.I.A.L. 230 Moselle Street.

The City of Buffalo, in partnership with the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC), wishes to commission public art at 577 Northland Avenue bordered by Fillmore Avenue and the Beltline railroad tracks. The art will be designed to accompany the Northland Corridor Redevelopment Project. Open Houses will be held on Monday, May 8th at 4:00 PM and Saturday, May 13th at 10:00 AM at the proposed location (577 Northland Avenue). Deadline for submissions is July 7, 2017 at 4:00 PM. For more information regarding the Northland Redevelopment Project go to http://www.buffalourbandevelopment.com/northland-corridor-redevelopment-project.

TUESDAY APRIL 11

Call for work is available on www.city-buffalo.com (Look

MONDAY APRIL 10 “The Persistence of Race in Trumpamerica,” A Discussion of Race, Inequality, and Racial and Social Justice: 12:30 p.m., Niagara University Gallagher Center, Niagara University. Free and open to the public. (716) 286-8700.

FOXIE BROWN LINE DANCE CLASSES: Every Thursday 10:30 am – 11:30am, Schiller Senior Center, 2057 Genesee St 444-2046 for more info.

LAST COMMUNITY MEETING FOR “FREEDOM WALL” (working title) ART PROJECT: April 11 6pm - 8pm at Performing Arts 450 Masten Ave. For more info visit www.albrightknox.org

The Durham Central City Baby Café . Info and support for pregnant and breastfeeding moms 5:30 – 7:30 pm 200 Eagle St. 8856348.

See you At The Events!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 12

for “Formal Bids and RFP’s” in the left column under “Other Resources…”) or the BUDC Main Webpage (www.buffalourbandevelopment.com) Northland Corridor Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/northlandcorridor/). All inquiries can be made to Emerson Barr at ebarr@city-buffalo.com or by telephone at 716-851-5027.

Hustle for Health Seniors line dance fitness class Gloria J Parks Center 3242 Main St,. 11am - 12pm 716 832 1010. FREE

You are invited to join an open conversation about a new public art project.

Friday, April 7, 2017 7:30–8:30 pm

See you At The Events!

Shantell Martin in Conversation with Curator of Public Art Aaron Ott

Tuesday, April 11, 2017 6–8 pm Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, PS 192 450 Masten Avenue Buffalo, NY 14209

FREE as part of

M&T FIRST FRIDAYS @ THE GALLERY

Michigan Street AfricanAmerican Heritage Corridor Open Buffalo Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

Photograph by Connie Tsang.

Albright-Knox Art Gallery 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222 716.882.8700 albrightknox.org

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Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com • April 5 2017

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Omega Mentoring Program Presents 2017 Queens & Gents at Annual Scholarship Ball On Saturday March 25 the scene was set for an elegant night themed “Beauty and the Beast” for The Omega Mentoring Program’s Annual Scholarship Ball held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Buffalo. The program began with a presentation of the twenty-seven Queens & Gents elegantly dressed and sparkling with pride, who also gave unforgettable performances throughout the evening, capping the night off with a dynamic and energetic step show.

The Omega Mentoring Program is an organization of committed volunteers and mentors who inspire and motivate at-risk youth toward college through one-on-one mentoring. Mentors nourish a sense of pride, self-confidence and competence in their mentees, which leads to greater success in family, social, academic and business situations. They expose the mentees to higher education career and vocational training through partnerships and collaborations with other community organizations and non-profits. The mentors also provide leadership formulated to deal with the myriad of problems faced by youth like the barriers of racism, sexism and ageism, with an emphasis on self-love, self-knowledge, self-development and spiritual development.

With a core board of directors that include Cedric Holloway, Craig Hannah, Cassandra Wright and Chaka Felder-McEntire and a long list of very qualified advisors, the program will empower them to be more equipped to become productive members of society and the leaders of a better tomorrow. For more info about the program or to become a sponsor go to omegamentoring.com Congratulations to all the 2017 Omega Queens and Gents!

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