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Challenger Community News • thechallengernews.com• March 8, 2017
AREA BRIEFS
And It’s Not Even Summer Yet… Spring officially begins on March 20, but already there is concern about what summer will bring judging from the number of homicides that have occurred so far. On Monday in the middle of the day at a little after 1 o’clock in the afternoon on Genesee near Eller, three young men were wounded by an apparent drive by; one of them, a 24-year-old, is critical. The other two men ages 18 and 19 were listed in stable condition at ECMC. Leading up to Monday’s shooting violence were two fatal shootings over the weekend. Kennedy Gadley 32, was shot Sunday morning and a 24-year old man was shot near Mills and Peterson Streets. He was taken to ECMC where he later died.
“Keeping It Real: Reality Pedagogy & A Call for Social Justice” The Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching Committee of the Buffalo Public Schools, Cheektowaga Central School District, and Buffalo State College will present the 2017 Urban Forum Speaker Series entitled “Keeping it Real: Reality Pedagogy and A Call for Social Justice”. The Urban Forum will take place on Monday, March 13 at Bennett High School, 2885 Main Street. The Forum opens with a Continental Breakfast at 7:45 a.m. The professional development sessions begin at 8:15 a.m. and conclude at 12:30 p.m. The keynote speaker for the March13 event will be Dr. Christopher Emdin, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, and author of the New York Times BestSeller “For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…and the Rest of Y’all Too.” Superintendent of the Buffalo Public Schools, Dr. Kriner Cash, will provide opening remarks.
Get Ready to Spring forward: Daylight Savings Time Begins on Sunday! In the fall, you got an extra hour of sleep, and it was awesome. But on Sunday, you’ve got to give up that extra hour as it will be time to spring forward. That’s right, the time is approaching for us to change our clocks and rearrange to daylight savings time. We will spring forward at 2 a.m..on Sunday, March 12, 2017. That means you’ll lose one full hour of time and spend that first week perhaps groggy, disoriented and maybe even in a bad mood. In return, however, you will have three hours of extra daylight to do outdoor activities after work. It’s also a full moon.
Wisdom In Troubled Times
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t was, perhaps, the most powerful moment during the assembly program at the Math Science Technology Preparatory School last Tuesday. A small army of men, dressed in black, who had been standing along the auditorium walls, went down on one knee while Rev. Gene Copeland delivered an apology to the young men in the audience for any Black father, church or mosque not being there for them. He pledged that whatever it took, he and his 101 volunteer members of Project WITT would pool their resources to fill that void from that day forward. “This school has been written off by a lot of people,” Rev. Coplin said to the all male assembly of 9th thru 12th graders. “But you are our future ..we need you….if you you need money for a haircut, if you need someone with you because you need to go before a judge, these men are here for you.” Several pastors and community leaders were also scheduled to speak including Bishop Roderick Hennings who gave an historical apology of reconciliation; former Attica prison Chaplin Jeff Carter; Dr. James Lewis III, Director and Trauma Chaplin at ECMC Hospital and others. Project WITT, which stands for Wisdom in Troubled Times, was founded by Rev. Coplin. The veteran youth worker said that back in January God gave him the vision and “downloaded it on my spirit” how to transform an entire school. Rev. Coplin likened many of today’s youth to Niagara Falls, wild and unharnessed before someone with wisdom tapped into that energy; the result, a tremendous source of positive power that produced jobs and capital and is now one of the great wonders of the world. “Many of our inner city schools today are filled with this wild unbridled energy and it’s going to take men and women to transform it” and empower these young people to succeed, he said. The plan, he continued, is to train WITT volunteers to become school volunteers, mentors, positive father and
Black Inventions
WISDOM:Rev. Coplin counsels a young man (rear) as WITT volunteer addresses a group of young men. PHOTO BERTRAM SMITH
grandfather role models to male youth at Math Science Technology Prep. WITT will also work with the principal and his staff at the East Delavan Avenue school and assist when and where needed. Most importantly, WITT will motivate and train the leaders among the students themselves, and teach them so that to that they in turn can motivate and train others “until The entire school gets the message – that we are kings and queens!” he enthused. At the end of the program, the men from WITT mingled with the young men, shaking their hands and encouraging them further. Some 97 percent of the students at the school are African American. “We’re going to set a standard for inner city schools in Buffalo,” vowed Rev. Coplin. “Math Science Technology Preparatory School will be a model school. Our goal is to mentally intrinsically transform youth. When a child
has ownership and has people behind them it’s a game changer.” When he initially reached out for 101 volunteers, he said, the reaction was “very positive.” “That’s because WITT gives a solution to the problem that we know we are all dealing with. We’re tired of talking about the problem. It’s time for real men and Black men to take the leading roll. That’s why those boys were blown away at the assembly.” Prior to launching the project publically he presented the idea to the school’s principal Todd Miklas, who shared their vision Rev. Coplin said that the idea has also been well received in the community and around the city. The next assembly he said, will address the girls (Rev. Coplin is founder and director of Project Lee Ministries Inc . Learning & Earning Experiences)
2nd Annual Harriet Tubman Rally and March “United We Stand, Against the Building of the Wall” Friday, March 10, 4:30 p.m., E. Utica & Main Street Stand Tall against racism, sexism, xenophobia & homophobia! Rally for construction jobs, Eastside redevelopment, expanded neighborhood community centers programs and immigrants rights and the DACA program. All groups are encouraged to bring banners, horns, drums and signs to send a message that Buffalo is ONE CITY, ONE PEOPLE and ONE VOICE. In the event of inclement weather, the program will be moved to the Frank Merriweather, Jr. library @ 1327 Jefferson Avenue. Refreshments will be served after Rally.FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BE A GUEST SPEAKER CONTACT LEG. BETTY JEAN GRANT 716-602-5877 OR 716- 894-0914.
We have the following African American Trailblazers to thank for these useful inventions •Three-Signal Traffic Light After he saw a carriage crash in a Cleveland intersection, Garrett Morgan created a version of the modern three-way traffic signal in 1923. He was also the first Black man to own a car in his city. •Closed Circuit TV Marie Van Brit- t a n Brown created a de- vice in 1966 that would be the precursor to home surveillance as we know it. She connected a motorized security camera to a monitor, where one could view images from the camera. •Mailbox In 1891, Philip Downing invented the “street letter box,” which became the predecessor to the metal letter-drop mailboxes we use today. •Potato Chip George Crum is widely credited for coming up with the potato chip as we know it. While he was working as a chef at a resort, a disgruntled patron sent his french fry order back to the kitchen and complained that they were cut too thick. So Crum made a new batch, cut them as thin as possible and added a bit of salt. Thus, potato chips were born. * Laser Cataract Surgery Howard University alum Patricia Bath is responsible for creating the laserphaco probe, a device used for laser cataract surgery. With the help of the instrument, she was able to recover the sight of several individuals who had been blind for over 30 years. •The Blood Bank African American physician Charles Drew developed a way to process and preserve blood plasm, which lasts much longer than actual blood. His discovery was crucial to creating blood banks and assisting in the war effort during World War II. When he grew unhappy with the military’s request to segregate the blood and left his position.