Issuu

CHALLENGER

SERVING BUFFALO, ROCHESTER, NIAGARA FALLS AND SURROUNDING AREAS

March 2, 2016 • FREE

William Y. Cooper

REVERBERATION OF LIFE AND ART February 21, 1934- February 26, 2016

INSIDE ROCHESTER

LOCAL

HONORS

2016 Roses For Outstanding Women Awardees PG. 16

Update on 413 Sherman

Buffalo Welcomes The Morehouse

College Glee Club

PG. 7

PG. 9

PG. 3

NANBPWC Hosts Speak Out for Rochester PG. 2

INSIDE ROCHESTER

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Historic Women’s Organization Hosts Speak-out for Millennials and Members of Generation X Rochester   — An AfricanAmerican women’s organization with roots in Rochester for over 50 years recently hosted a discussion event targeting Millennials and baby boomers. The event, titled ‘Generational Speak-Out Forum’, was hosted by the Rochester Genesee Valley Club of the National Association for Negro and Professional Black Women Clubs (NANBPWC on Feb. 28th at the Arnett Library.  The forum was targeted at bringing Rochester residents between the ages of 18 and 54 together to discuss issues relevant to the Rochester community— age groups whom Rochester Genesee Valley Club President Martha Hope, says have very contrasting perspectives on society.   Managing those age groups in a community setting is a task the Rochester Genesee Valley Club believes is worth discussing.   “On a personal level, I’d like to know how we got to where we are now,” Hope said of the differences in

Rochester Genesee Valley Club of the National Association for Negro and Professional Black Women Clubs.

community from her childhood to now. “We don’t listen to each other.”   Pre-organized topics for the event included strategies to curb violence in Rochester, the shift in the meaning of community and traditional family values, how to reach Generation Y and what drives Millennials and baby boomers into volunteerism.   “Millennials and members of Generation X are a key driving force in decision-making in today’s society,” Leah Shaw, a Rochester-area freelance writer who has collaborated with the  NANBPWC to create the forum. “Those

between the ages of 18 and 54 hold a lot of power as parents, voters, homeowners, and members of the current middle class workforce, etc.”   Shaw will be using feedback from the event to continue the discussions in upcoming workshops with the organization.  The Rochester Genesee Valley Club was co-founded in 1958 by Midge Thomas, widow of the late Dr. Freddie Thomas. The club provides professional development and support to African-American women and their communities.   Call (585) 690-3081 or lshaw08690@gmail.com.  for more information.

Around *The City of Rochester Sponsors Free Admission to “Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair” March 5 and April 2 @ Rochester Museum of Science. * A Talk by Cheetah Girls author Deborah Gregory, Saturday, April 2 @ 2 pm: Inspiring Beauty Gala.@ 8 pm; Rochester Museum of Science. *FAFSA Fest 2016: Help for students who plan to attend college, Wed., March 9 from 5 to 8 p.m., Phillis Wheatley Branch Library, 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way; and Thurs. March 24 from 3 to 6 p.m. at MCC Damon City Campus, 228. E. Main St. For info, visit www.cityofrochester.gov/FAFSAFest, www. RochesterCAN.org or call 271-5790. *Black Male Achievement Conference, Saturday, March 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 pm., REOC Campus, 161 Chestnut St. Tickets $15 general. Part of City of Rochester Black Heritage Committee celebration. *Youth Junior Gala, Friday, March 11, 6 – 8:30 p.m., Edgerton R Center, Stardust Ballroom, 41 Backus Street, FREE; Pre-registration required at any R-Center. Part of City of Rochester Black Heritage Committee celebration.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH BROWN & ALLEN Every Sunday, at 8 a.m. on Fox Sports AM1280

◆ A radio show that ignites energetic and intense discussions while mixing the best in music, sports, news and social rhetoric, to inform, educate and entertain! ◆ Line up of well-known local and national guests, correspondents and experts ◆ Talented hosts and on-air personalities

NATE BROWN JR.

Community advocate, 30+ years experience educating students and adults

YOU CAN BANK WITHOUT BARRIERS

You’re always welcome at ESL. Cash checks, pay bills and build credit with clear terms and no surprise fees or commitments. Stop in branch, call 336.1000 or visit esl.org today.

ESL00118 Consumer Prosperity ad 5.105”w x 5.5”h Challenger

(The dynamic duo of BROWN & ALLEN has been on the air for the past ten years and while they donʼt always see eye to eye, they can definitely agree to disagree at times, which makes the show one of the most popular on the air waves!)

JOSEPH HILL

National commentator

GEORGE RADNEY

Sports guru

You never know what you might get!

ESL is an equal opportunity lender. Membership subject to eligibility. ESL is a registered service mark of ESL Federal Credit Union.

00116_5105x55_Psprty_Ad_F.indd 1

KEVIN ALLEN

Entrepreneur with a savvy business sense and owner of businesses across the country

1/19/16 3:34 PM

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

AREA BRIEFS

Fighting Blight: Update on 413 Sherman Street Owner of 413 Sherman Street Responds to Council Resolution

$1.8 Million to Revive Wiley Stadium The Johnnie B. Wiley stadium will get a long overdue upgrade with the designation of $1.8 million in state money for improvements. The upgrades will include repairing the cracked and peeling tower facades; a new scoreboard, lights, public address system, press box, dugouts, bleachers and bullpens; historic markers; new timing system for track and field; second floor bathrooms and and an elevator in the area that houses the Omega Mentoring Program. Mayor Brown sought the money from the state Dormitory Authority. He said the upgrades will make Wiley Stadium” one of the finest youth sports facilities in the entire region.”

Free Legal Advice The Free Legal Advice Clinic is free of charge and open to the public. Lawyers will be on hand to discuss issues and give advice on ANY issues you have questions about. Hosted by WNY Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNY COSH) and PUSH Buffalo. Our Lady of Hope Church corner of Lafayette and Grant. Thursday 3-10-16 / 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Any questions call Marshall at WNY COSH @ (716) 833-5416

Book Signing

Gwen Collier, branch manager of the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Public Library, is hosting a community wide book signing for her debut book, “The Bipolar Church: Restoring Spiritual Balance by Loving Each Other” on Saturday, March 5 from 5-7 p.m. at Zawadi Books located at 2460 Main Street. The book will be on sale for $10 (cash only).

Humber Street Family Donations Update The Buffalo Common Council has released the following statement: Any and all future financial donations and contributions for the Humber Street family fire victims should b delivered or mailed to: Demetrius T. Johnson Fund of First Niagara Bank c/o First Centennial Baptist Church, 299 High St. Bflo, 14202

Free Introduction to Grant Writing Seminar We Are Women Warriors and Legislator Betty Jean Grant will present a “Free Introduction To Grant Writing Seminar” Wednesday, March 2 from 5:30 – 7:30pm at the Frank E. Merriweather Library, 1324 Jefferson Ave. In addition, there will be information about the 2016 Erie County Primetime Grant Application for qualified agencies interested in providing Summer Primetime Programming to at risk youth ages 5-20 residing in Erie County.716-894-0914, or 704-491-5745

Muhammed Kabir, owner of 413 Sherman Street,has sent an email response to the Buffalo Common Council in regards to the Council Resolution titled Property Owner Requested to Appear. The resolution, submitted by Council President Darius Pridgen, “requests the appearance of the owner to appear before the Common Council’s Community Development Committee to explain what his intentions are for the property.” 413 Sherman Street currently has an extensive list of violations which include: exterior painting needed, roof covering, loose chimney, missing mortar, damaged gutter system, roof drainage, window and door disrepair, masonry walls and eaves have deteriorated, structural components have not been maintained, the front staircase is in disrepair and there are missing handrails, trash and debris. Mr. Kabir, a resident of Brooklyn, New York, responsed by email to Council Staff, as well as the original resolution filed by Council

Paul Robeson

President Pridgen calling on him to attend the Common Council’s Community Development Committee meting to explain his intentions with the troubled property. He said he bought the building for a “humanitarian cultural center” and to “try to help build the city.” He said he has been in business since 1994 and has built “all over

New York City,” but that city officials in Buffalo, city inspectors and the Water Board did not treat him “right.” The resolution cited the property having housing court dates as far back as 2013. Council President Pridgen said he personally talked to the owner who promised repairs would be made, but to date has not complied.

Community Outreach Efforts Result In A Large Turnout At Public Meeting On The Northland Corridor Redevelopment And Workforce Training Center Mayor Byron W. Brown’s vision of bringing the City of Buffalo’s economic development renaissance to the East Side attracted 150 residents to an informational meeting held at the Delavan Grider Community Center on February 24th. The development team headed up by Buffalo Urban Development Corporation (BUDC) held its second public meeting on the Northland Corridor Redevelopment and WNY Workforce Training Center, where Mayor Brown and City of Buffalo planners met with residents to discuss the development plan for the multi-million dollar East Side Initiative. BUDC acquired multiple former industrial and commercial properties with the intent of bringing them back to life through a combination of public and private-sector investments. On Mayor Brown’s recommendation, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has committed $44 million for the creation of the Western New York Workforce Training Center on Northland Avenue. This center is a significant part of the Northland Corridor Redevelopment project and will provide Continued Page 14

Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Houston, has turned out another book. Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary, which explores the career and politics of the actor, singer, athlete, linguist, author, public intellectual and human rights activist who rose to prominence in a time when segregation was legal in the United States, and Black people were being lynched by racist mobs, especially in the South. In the book Dr. Horne recounts how, at the White House, Robeson ‘got in Harry Truman’s face and wagged his finger and castigated and denounced the U.S. president for his lethargy in prosecuting lynchers’ of Black soldiers ‘at the same time that the Truman administration was vigorously prosecuting Nazi war criminals at Nuremburg.’ Born on April 9, 1898 in Princeton, New Jersey, Paul Robeson was the youngest of five children. His father was a runaway slave who went on to graduate from Lincoln University. In 1915, Paul Robeson won a four-year academic scholarship to Rutgers University. He went on to attend Coloumbia Law School. During the 1940s, Robeson continued to perform and to speak out against racism, in support of labor, and for peace. He was a champion of working people and organized labor worldwide. In 1950, the U.S. revoked Robeson’s passport, leading to an eight-year battle to reContinued Page 14

LOCAL + NATIONAL + WORLD

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Remembering Norman McConney: Policy Expert was a Champion for Minority Students

HE SPEAKS…Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas created quite a stir last week when he spoke for the first time in a decade during oral arguments, CNN reports. Thomas reportedly directed his questions to government attorney Ilana H. Eisenstein in the caseVoisine v. United States. His questions concerned whether a previous domestic-assault convictionbased on reckless conduct could block plaintiffs from having a firearm. According to the New York Times, Thomas last asked a question in court Feb. 22, 2006, in a death penalty case. He has reportedly offered numerous reasons for why he rarely speaks.

The Last Buffalo Soldier Tomie L. Gaines Dies at the Age of 93 The last living Buffalo Soldier passed away last weekend at the age of 93, in Greenville, South Carolina. Tomie L. Gaines served from March 1943 to December 1945 with the 27th Calvary, an all-Black unit, according to the Daily Kos. Gaines is survived by his wife of 51 years, Clara. The Buffalo Soldiers included two regiments of all-Black cavalries, the 9th and 10th cavalries, which were formed after Congress passed legislation in 1866 that allowed African-Americans to enlist in the country’s regular peacetime military.History.com states that many of the men in these regiments, commanded primarily by white officers, were among the approximately 180,000 AfricanAmericans who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The four infantry units — the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st regiments — were reorganized in 1868 as the 24th and 25th infantry. Black soldiers enlisted for five years and received $13.00 according to the American West website.

orman McConney Jr., longtime chief of staff for AssemblymanArthur O. Eve, who used his connection to the legislative power broker from Buffalo to advance educational opportunities for minority students across the state, died on New Year’s Day atMemorial Hospital of congestive heart failure. He was 69. “He and Arthur Eve did more good things for the people of the state of New York than any other political team I know,” said H. Carl McCall, chair of the State University of New York Board of Trustees and a former state comptroller. When McCall was elected to the state Senate in 1975, he was told to seek out McConney “in order to find out how Albany works.” The devil is in the details in public policy and McConney knew how to parse budgets and the arcane language of bills better than almost anyone in Albany, McCall said. “Norman’s power came from his font of great knowledge and information. He understood the way things worked and how to get things done quietly behind the scenes,” said McCall, who spoke at McConney’s funeral. “Norman had the most incisive political mind of anybody I met in Albany,” said David Langdon, counselor for the former Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, who met McConney soon after he came to work in the Legislature in 1974. “He used his incredible political skills to advance the causes of the disadvantaged. He also made me laugh harder than anybody else.” When Eve became Fink’s deputy speaker in 1979, McConney helped push through major initiatives, including the creation of the SUNYwide Educational Opportunities Program, or EOP, which has assisted more than 5,500 graduates at the University at Albany, with a 78 percent graduation rate, since 1968. McConney himself was an EOP student and 1971 UAlbany graduate “He was a

passionate advocate for theprogram,” said Maritza Martinez, director of EOP at UAlbany. There are currently 750 EOP students at UAlbany and a $1 million budget, with average aid of $2,000 for tuition and $600 for books for each freshman from a disadvantaged background. There are more than 5,000 applicants for 200 UAlbany EOP slots each year. “He fought for this program, even after he retired,” said Martinez, who often sought out McConney’s wise counsel. McConney also was a driving force behind the creation of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, which became theNew York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators in 1985. The group gave McConney its Man of the Year award. McConney also developed the People’s Budget, which shed a light on social justice investment. He was the architect of the state Science & Technology Entry Program, which encouraged minority students to pursuecareers in science. “He was a warrior-angel for African-Americans in New York state,” said L. Lloyd Stewart, an Albany historian who met McConney in 1969 doing community action work. “He brought the plight of the poor and minorities to light and helped them achieve their dreams.” “Norman was a great thinker and strategist, the perfect combination for my husband,” said Constance Eve, wife of the retired Buffalo legislator. “They worked side by side for more than 25 years and were an unstoppable force. My husband could not have accomplished all he did without Norman. They improved lives of the poor across generations.” McConney is survived by his wife, Cathleen, two children and two grandchildren. He was buried in Albany’s Graceland Cemetery.

DO YOU REMEMBER…

Norm McConney

Former US Attorney General Speaks Out About The Criminalization of Marijuana The war on drugs has been a war on Black people, with clear racial disparities in how whites and people of color are treated in the criminal justice system. Part of the problem has been the criminalization of marijuana, which has been used to arrest and jail a multitude of young Black and Latino men, even as white entrepreneurs are poised to make a killing in states that have legalized the substance. Now, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says it is ridiculous that marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance like heroin — reserved for the most dangerous and highly abusive drugs which have no medical use. Of course, he is no longer in charge of the Justice Department and was in a position to do something about it, but better late than never. “I certainly think it ought to be rescheduled,” Holder told PBS’ Frontline. “You know, we treat marijuana in the same way that we treat heroin now, and that clearly is not appropriate. So at a minimum, I think Congress needs to do that... .”

support our advertisers

Humboldt Parkway before the construction of the Kensington Expressway?

ROCCBuffalo.org (716) 883-0529

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

HEALTH MATTERS

The Danger of Drinking Diet Soda

CITIZEN OF THE MONTH: Legislator Grant (center right) presents award to Myra Robinson-Moses.

Legislator Grant Presents Myra Robinson-Moses With Citizen of the Month Award At the regular session of the Erie County Legislature held in “Old County Hall” on Thursday, February 18, 2016, Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant (D-Buffalo) presented Myra Robinson-Moses with the Erie County Legislature’s Citizen of the Month Award for February 2016. The Erie County Legislature’s Citizen of the Month Award was created by former Chairperson of the Legislature, Betty Jean Grant, in 2012 to recognize outstanding members of the community and among this distinguished group is Myra Robinson-Moses. Myra Robinson-Moses is the President of the Roebling Ave. Block Club, and is also a member of We Are Women Warriors, Women Against Violence Everywhere, New York Against Gun Violence, Citizen Action of WNY, Stop The Violence Coalition, National Action Network and the Buffalo Peace Makers. Myra also is also a board member of Buff City Hoops, South Masten Block Club Coalition and Erie/WNY Block Club Coalition as well as the financial secretary for the NY Statewide Senior Action Council. Myra Robinson-Moses also serves on the Contract Compliance Review Committee and is a member of the Erie County Charter Revision Commission.

Senator Kennedy Announces New Community Office Hours Senator Tim Kennedy last week announced that his office will begin hosting satellite locations across Buffalo’s East Side in order to better connect residents with the resources and help they need. Kennedy’s Community Office Program will give residents an opportunity to sit down with the Senator’s staff and discuss state issues they may need assistance with, including but not limited to: housing, disability, Medicaid, HEAP and employment. Below is the March schedule for Kennedy’s new Community Office Program: Tuesday, March 15 12 – 4PM Delavan Grider Community Center 877 E. Delavan Ave. Thursday, March 3 & Thursday, March 17 1 – 5 PM. Merriweather, Jr. Library 1324 Jefferson Ave. Wednesday, March 9 & Wednesday, March 23 12 – 4 PM Edward Saunders Community Center 2777 Bailey Ave. Further dates will be scheduled throughout the spring and summer. Call 716-8262683 for more information.

It’s not always easy to make healthy choices. Labels are deceiving, and the mainstream media constantly feeds us things that are misleading at best and outright lies at worst. One thing you have heard for more than 30 years is that diet soda is much healthier for you than those sugarfilled sodas. No sugar and fewer calories must be better, right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! There are tons of research studies showing that drinking diet soda won’t help you lose weight. Not only that, but those chemicals that make up diet soda lead to all kinds of other health problems. What kind of problems are we talking about? Things like kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, just to name a few. Although skipping all that sugar and the calories might sound like a good idea, it doesn’t work in practice. The artificial sweeteners in diet sodas are confusing to your body. Your body naturally knows how to manage its caloric intake. It’s only when we start adding processed foods and things like aspartame that our bodies no longer know what to do. One very large study recently took a look at diet sodas and cardiovascular problems such as stroke and heart attacks in otherwise healthy, postmenopausal women. The University of Iowa conducted this study and it was presented in Washington, D.C. at the American College of Cardiology’s 63rd Annual Session. This study involved more than 60,000 women, and it found that women who drank two or more diet sodas each day were 30 percent more likely to have some type of cardiovascular event and 50 percent more likely to die from some type of related disease. This is a very large study, and these numbers are no joke. This study adds to an ever-growing list that finds that there is a definite relationship between human health and diet drinks. Of course, scientists are loath to say outright that diet drinks cause serious health problems; they will only say that there appears to be a link. This is because correlation does not always mean causation. There could be some other substance or non-diet related reason why the women in this study developed heart problems, but once you begin to stack up the research, it becomes more and more obvious that the one thing all the subjects in all the test studies have in common is drinking diet soda. Aspartame has been linked in other studies to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as well as leukemia in men. This study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Another study out of Arizona State University found that aspartame causes brain damage because it leaves behind methanol in the blood. The U.S. National Library of Medicine found that long-term consumption of aspartame leads to an imbalance of pro-oxidant and antioxidants in the brain. Last, but certainly not least, the Washington University Medical School found that there was a strong link between brain tumors and the consumption of aspartame. (Source: Natural Health News & Discoveries)

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

FAITH & FAMILY

Musical to Feature Ella Robinson and the New Beginnings Choral, Ensemble, the WNY Chapter Mass Choir and More The Women’s Auxiliary to the Great Lakes Baptist Association will present Mrs. Ella Robinson and the New Beginnings Choral Ensemble, the WNY Chapter Mass Choir and the Mass Youth and Young Adults Choir in a musical at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 18th at the Greater Hope Baptist Church located at 8 Verplank street in Buffalo where the rev. James Blackburn is Pastor.

Calvary Baptist Church Leadership Institute The Thirteenth Annual Calvary Baptist Church Leadership Institute will be held on March 15-17 from 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. The theme is : “Whatever God‘s People Do, They Do Well”. (Scriptures: Psalm 33:8-9; Matthews 28:19-20). There is no fee and all are welcome to attend the following Nashville certified classes: Ministering to Your Pastor, Spiritual Formation, Baptist Covenant,Synoptic Gospels, and Survey of Galatians. Registration is open to the public, but seats are limited. A light meal will be provided .For further information contact Dean L. Conrad or Mrs. Watkins at Calvary Baptist

WORSHIP THIS WEEK!

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

First Shiloh to Host Historic Choir March 10

Buffalo Welcomes The Morehouse College Glee Club

rom the moment they take the stage, the Morehouse College Glee Club captivates the audience with precision harmonies and exciting rhythms. Their disciplined rehearsals are evident in the intensity and focus of their performance. On Thursday, March 10 at 7:00 PM, the First Shiloh Youth Foundation presents the Morehouse College Glee Club and Quartet in an evening of cultural and spiritual songs at the church, located at 15 Pine Street in Buffalo. Donation is $20. The Morehouse College Glee Club was founded in 1911, and its reputation for world-class student talent has stood the test of time. The Glee Club members serve as ambassadors for the nation’s premiere Historically Black College for males, which has produced world leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, Maynard Jackson, first African American Mayor of Atlanta, and acclaimed film maker Spike Lee. The group has performed at the Olympics, the White House and on European, Asian and African tours. The concert will be dedicated to the late Clemmon “Clem” H. Hodges, (19251997) a Morehouse College graduate, veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at First Shiloh Baptist Church, and

The Women’s Day Committee of St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church, 917 Garden Avenue in Niagara Falls, will host its 2016 “The Big Hat Brunch” on Saturday, March 5 at 11 a.m. sharp at the Four Points by Sheraton Niagara Falls, 114 Buffalo Avenue. Dine, dance, praise and enjoy a mini auction, vendors, door prizes and more. For tickets contact Nicole at (716)998-6984 or the church at (716) 285-6432. Rev. Dion S. Greer, Sr., M.Div., is Pastor. Donation is $25 per person.

Buffalo community leader. As First Shiloh celebrates its Centennial Church Anniversary, many activities, including the Morehouse College Glee Club concert, will take on a historic note, remembering outstanding church leaders. The concert is a fundraiser, but also an opportunity to introduce Buffalo youth to the Morehouse men, who are successful young people whom the Buffalo youth can emulate. In its quest to improve the lives of urban youth in Buffalo, the First Shiloh Youth Foundation, with major funding from the First Shiloh Housing Corporation and Time Warner Cable, is also providing a “Music, Math and More” interactive workshop for select students at Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, Buffalo Elementary Science and Technology School and Westminster Charter School. These students will compare what they hear in musical performance to rhythms, fractions, sound waves and more in a creative “STEAM” Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Music workshop designed to stimu-

late interest in science, engineering and math through attraction to music. Says Youth Foundation chair, Tanya Staples, “We are delighted to provide this very special opportunity to the Buffalo community. The Morehouse College Glee Club represents the successful AfricanAmerican future leaders who can encourage and inspire our Buffalo youth. ” The event will be held at the First Shiloh Baptist Church, which has also been designated as the southernmost starting point for the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor. Shiloh Senior Pastor Jonathan R. Staples noted, “This concert will delight music lovers of Buffalo, and at the same time celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of First Shiloh Baptist Church by preserving African American culture through song. The showmanship, quality, and musicianship of an ensemble of this caliber only comes to Buffalo every few years.” Seating is 1st come, 1st served, doors open at 6:30 PM. Tickets on sale at Doris Records. No tickets will be sold at the door.

FAITH & FAMILY

Prayers for the Family Devastated by Fire Pastor Jacquelyn Ross Brown and the Diaconate Ministry of New Covenant United Church of Christ in collaboration with Rev. Alan Core of First Centennial Baptist Church held a prayer service for The family of Tempest Thomas and her children Treasure Brighton, Demetrius Thomas Johnson, Demarius Johnson, and the two males who passed Demetrius Johnson, Sr. and an upstairs tenant. The Prayer Service was held at New Covenant UCC, 459 Clinton St., last week.

as a family

We are facing dementia

Dementia affects the whole family. But you are not alone. If you or your loved ones are facing Alzheimer’s or other dementia, contact the Alzheimer’s Association Western New York Chapter today for answers, for services, for support.

1.800.272.3900 | alz.org/WNY

Entertainment/Lifestyles BUFFALO GRAMMY WINNER!

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

ON STAGE *Ujima Presents El Hajj Malik by N. R. Davidson; Directed by Lorna C. Hill February 19 - March 6, Performances:Alleyway’s Main Street Cabaret, 672 Main Street,Feb. 19 through March 6. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 6 p.m. $25 general • $20 seniors • $15 students;Ujima Company, Inc.,515 Main St., Buffalo, New York, 14203-1712 Tickets: ujimacoinc.org Box Office No.: 716-2810092 Administration, Subscriptions and Group sales. Sales: 716-281-0093 - or -ujimacoinc@me.com

From Stellar Award Nominee to coveted Grammy Award Winner, Buffalo’s own Kevin Camp continues to make tremendous strides in the music industry! He is the producer of Isreal & New Breed’s COVERD ALIVE IN ASIA, which won Best Gospel Album during the 58th annual Grammy Awards. Kevin’s wife, Amber (they’re both pictured above), also a Buffalo native, played strings on the album. COVERED: ALIVE IN ASIA was recorded live all over Asia during early October 2014 in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea during a tour. The project was released July, 2015, and debuted as No. 1 on Top Gospel Album charts within the week ending July 30, 2015. Kevin Camp, “Child of God,” Musician, Producer,Arranger, is CEO of Campground Entertainment. Congratulations!

“ Lance Diamond Way” The former Elmwood Lounge, at the corner of Elmwood avenue and West Utica Street, is where Lance Diamond got his start. Soon that location will be named in his honor – Lance Diamond Way. The resolution was approved unanimously in the Common Council Feb. 16.

*Deniece Williams performing live in Buffalo. Diaab Entertainment presents Deniece Williams March 19,Buffalo State Performing Arts Center 8:00 pm. Ticket price: Reserved Seating VIP $65, $45 $40,Tickets available at the Rockwell Hall Box Office Hours Monday –Friday 9:00 -5:00pm-Friday 9:00 am-5:00 pmWebsite: www.buffalostatepac.org Email: @ rhpac@ Buffalostate.edubuffalostate. edu Phone: 716-878-3005 or Doris Records at 716 -8832410. *John Witherspooon, Helium Comedy Club, Thursday, March 3 @ 8 p.m.; Fri. March 4 & Saturday march 5 for two shows nightly @ 7:30 & 10 p.m.

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS!

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

William Y. Cooper 1934-2016:

Entertainment/Lifestyles

Reverberation Of Life And Art

Visitation hours for Mr. Cooper will be held Wednesday, March 2 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 to 7 p.m. at Thomas T. Edwards Funeral Home, 995 Genesee Street. There will also be a community open house on Thursday, March 3 from 4 to 7 p.m. in Mr. Cooper’s studio at Buffalo Arts Studio, 2495 Main Street.

rominent and prolific Buffalo visual artist William Y. Cooper -- painter, printmaker, muralist and art educator extraordinaire -- made his transition to a perpetually sunlit art studio on Friday, February 26, 2016 following a long illness. He was 82. Born February 21, 1934 in Birmingham, Alabama, Mr. Cooper began drawing at age four – on barter with his grandmother to study his numbers and letters. He majored in art for two years at Alabama State College before being drafted into the army, where he spent 18 months in Germany, writing and illustrating training brochures for the U.S. Army Command in Europe. After discharge he returned to school on the G.I. Bill, coming to Buffalo where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University at Buffalo. Mr. Cooper taught art in the Buffalo Public School system for 12 years, always maintaining a studio where he could paint in the evenings and on weekends. For many years, he also owned and operated Bora Sanaa, an African art import business, traveling to and from West Africa in the summer to purchase merchandise. Self-defining as an “Afrocentric artist,” he maintained that his affiliation with Africa and study of African art and history was a major influence in rendering his own art. After leaving the public school system, he remained involved in art eduWilliam “Bill” Cooper cation as a regular instructor in the Education Department at Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and teaching young children out of his studio. After closing his shop in 1995 for health reasons, he became an anchor of Buffalo Arts Studio and one of its best beloved resident artists. Mr. Cooper held his first one-man exhibit in 1969 at the African American Cultural Center, and through the years exhibited regularly throughout Buffalo and New York State, as well as in Alabama, Georgia, Washington, D.C. and Ghana. Like the artist himself, his intricate canvases are booming with movement and light, at once brilliant and brooding with color and intricate, meditative form. His work has been widely commissioned and the impetus for public art and community education projects. Among the many sites of Cooper’s work in Buffalo, his mural graces the walls of the history Colored Artist Cooper’s creation for the Colored Musician’s Musicians Club Museum in the Michigan Street Club Museum. African American Heritage Corridor. He was also a writer who published a young adult novel, 77 Jackson Street Rear, in 2010, and the children’s book Nakai and the Red Shoes in 2007, both illustrated by his son Joel Cooper. William Y. Cooper leaves behind his loving wife Glendora Johnson-Cooper, Aunt Clarisse Burch, sons Yancy Cooper (Rochelle), Joel Cooper (Kendra) and Juan King; daughter Sharelle Hennigan; grandchildren Erik (Chancel), J.C. (deceased), Jaxon and Christina; and great grandson Taylor. Visitation hours for Mr. Cooper will be held Wednesday, March 2, 2016 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 to 7 p.m. at Thomas T. Edwards Funeral Home, 995 Genesee Street, Buffalo NY 14211. There will also be a community open house on Thursday, March 3, 2016 from 4 to 7 p.m. in Mr. Cooper’s studio at Buffalo Arts Studio, 2495 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214.

Former public school 77 at 429 Plymouth Avenue and 378 Normal Ave. will soon be the new headquarters for Ujima Theatre. Also to be housed at the location will be PUSH Buffalo and Peace of the City as part of a planned $14 million redevelopment project spearheaded by PUSH, Rep Brian Higgins announced on Monday. It will also feature affordable-housing units for senior citizens on the second and third floors.

Vanessa Williams Heads Back to TV

Vanessa Williams is headed back to television.The actress has been tapped to star in VH1 scripted drama “Satan’s Sisters,” based on the 2011 book penned by former “The View” co-host Star Jones.Williams will star as Maxine, the creator and host of The Lunch Hour, the show within the show. The character is described as formidable, powerful and decisive, a person who fears being put out to pasture.

CAR ACCIDENT?

Lee Daniels Taps Queen Latifah to lead Spinoff of “Empire” Lee Daniels has chosen Queen Latifah to lead his long-rumored spinoff of “Empire.” The series, known tentatively as “The Untitled Lee Daniels Project,” will follow three women played by newcomers Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady – all with hopes of making it big. The drama will showcase the allure and heartache of the cut-throat music scene, while also exploring cultural themes from a new perspective.

SLIP & FALL? DON’T WAIT, CALL 8! CONVENIENTLY

888-8888

Located At

451 GRIDER STREET

Attormey Advertising

New Headquarters for Ujima Theatre

INJURED?

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

PS #305 Senior Receives Acceptance to Julliard Hard work paid off for McKinley Senior Nikali Thomas. Thomas has recently received notification of admittance to The Juilliard School in NYC to study vocal music. Admitted to the Voice Department’s Bachelor of Music Program, his talents are not limited to singing. He also plays piano and trumpet. But, his gift for singing is what most impressed the Admissions Department at Juilliard.

TEACHING ARTISTS ROCK: A FIRST FRIDAY AFFAIR The Gallery@BCAT, the art gallery within the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT) will hold a public exhibit opening of TEACHING ARTISTS ROCK: A FIRST FRIDAY AFFAIR on March 4, from 6:30-8:30 P.M. The exhibit will showcase the many diverse teaching artists who have worked with high school students at BCAT’s after school arts program since 2013. The exhibit includes works from Gerald Mead, Larry Griffis, Mike Mulley, J. Timothy Raymond, Kevin Kline, Kyle Butler, Hiram Cray (pictured above) , and Emily Joy Sullivan. The Gallery@BCAT hours are, Monday – Thursday 10am-6pm and Friday from 10am-5pm and is located at 1221 Main Street, Buffalo next door to the Buffalo Art Space Gallery.TEACHING ARTISTS ROCK will run through March 18, 2016.

After Juilliard, Nikali plans on attending Seminary to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a Catholic priest. But for now, he is happy to focus on his future studies in vocal music. Nikali has been singing as since he was young, but it was not until his freshman year that he focused on his vocals. Over the past four years, he has met with his voice coach, Mr. Jim Dieotte, a retired teacher from St. Joe’s and a Juilliard graduate himself. On and off, Nikali attended the two-hour lessons three times a week. He has also practiced a minimum of four hours on his own. Mrs. Johnson, Choral teacher at McKinley, was also a positive influence. According to Nikali, “she’s always been on my side guiding my way” over the past four years, “and she en-

GENERATIONS

Judge Ogden Speaks at PS #97 Students of Mrs. Dickey’s Home & Careers classes at Harvey Austin PS #97 had the opportunity to hear the Honorable Judge Jeannette Ogden speak. Judge Ogden spoke about various careers and the importance of staying in school and making good choices. Students were invited to visit Judge Ogden at the court house and tour her chambers and get a real life experience of what it is like to be a judge. Students are extremely excited and are aready looking forward to this experience!

couraged me to keep playing the piano and practice my singing.” Family also played a pivotal role. Sydnie Perkins, his cousin, was with Nikali every step along the way, “She’s my vocalist, I’m her pianist” he said. She always encouraged me to keep playing.” There were times he would get discouraged. “I would say, “this is too hard, this is not for me”, but Sydnie would tell me, “Nick, whatever does not kill you will make you stronger.” Ms. Perkins only had to say one word and Nikali was instantly refocused. Perkins would simply say to him, “Magis,” which in Latin translates to “For the Greater Glory of God.”

VOICES 11

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Thank You, Dr. Brown!

ast Friday, the State Education Department released the official accountability status for schools across the State. This is the system that labels our schools as Good Standing, Focus or Priority. It is based on a number of determinants related to student progress (and by extension school and District progress), measured over two consecutive years. This latest accountability update is based on the period, 2013-14 and 2014-15 and will take effect in the 2016-17 school year. The news was good for Buffalo Schools. In fact, the news was very good for Buffalo Schools. The District was notified that the accountability status had changed for a number of schools. And that the change was extremely positive. The list of schools in Good Standing has grown from 15 to 20 and while the Focus schools still number 15, there are now 20 Priority schools, Barbara Seals down from 26. Another outcome of the Nevergold change in status is that ten schools which had been placed in Receivership with the Superintendent are now out of Receivership, while five new ones have taken their place. A chart with all the schools and their designations can be found on the District’s webpage, www.buffaloschools.org. While I have an issue with the accountability system and its application in determining the status of schools in our District, I will reserve that for a more in-depth article on high stakes tests and Receivership. For now I think it’s appropriate to recognize the concerted efforts of many people, who have worked, within the confines of this system to meet its requisites, and should be acknowledged and thanked for their diligence. I believe it’s been a team effort, inclusive of students, parents, teachers, administrators, support staff, community partners and Central Office staff. The news of the improved accountability status comes on the heels of a significant increase in the District’s graduation rate for 2015. A few months ago the State certified our graduation rate as 61%. At the time community leaders and the media hailed this accomplishment. But to be fair, this increase continues a positive upward trajectory in graduations that began in the 2013-14 school year when we saw a 58% rate up from 49% the year before. While the significance of this increase was not overlooked by some of us, the State, main stream media and other community “stakeholders” were less than enthused. Why? Quite frankly, they did not want to have any success attributed to our previous Superintendent, Dr. Pamela Brown. The academic progress that the District is experiencing at this time did not happen over-night. We can look back to Dr. Brown for providing the leadership that led to these outcomes. Dr. Brown would be the first to give credit to her staff, the students, parents and community stakeholders who support our schools. Yet, the foundation for these academic improvements was set two to three years ago and was supported by organized, sustained and committed planning and implementation of strategies to improve learning and achievement. We can look to petty politics and a punitive mindset that deprived Dr. Brown’s administration of being recognized for the positive momentum she created. Since some (fill in the blank) were so quick to attribute blame for the District’s poor performance to Dr. Brown’s tenure, it is only right that her supporters commend her for the progress made as a result of her Superintendency. It may be too little and too late, but I ask community members to join me in recognizing the accomplishments of Dr. Brown during her tenure in Buffalo. We are seeing the positive results of her work each and every day. Dr. Brown, thank you for your professionalism; for your competency; for your knowledge; for your grace and dignity under fire; for your perseverance and for your contributions to the Buffalo School District and our children.

“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

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize: It’s Not About Paladino or Mascia

t appears that no sooner had the Black school board members finally decided to end the promotion of Carl Paladino’s name, the scene changed to Joseph A. Mascia, and the white media in its promotion of “Nigger.” If this wasn’t such a sad state of affairs, it’s enough to make you laugh. But first, let’s back up a moment. What had Paladino been doing for the past couple of years and months that provoked Black school board members to put such effort in talking and writing about him continuously, month after month, until just recently? What was he doing when he would refer to our respectable females on the school board as sistas, which soon began to sound much like a racial slur? What was he doing when he would use the words ignorance, and unqualified when referring to Blacks. Paladino was using a common strategy used in the military, politics and criminal enterprise called distraction or diversionary tactics. Diversion is a strategy of trickery. Its aim is to distract one’s attention from something other than what they are concentrating on to something else. In my book, “Spirit and Soul Odyssey of a Black Man in America” I mention using diversionary tactics on several occasions as a police officer. Two of the most important involved the defense of Captain Floyd Edwards as the first Black police precinct commander; the other was preventing members of the Police Benevolent Association from wreaking my appointment to the New York State Parole Board. But back to our subject matter. Being a school board member means more than deciding on who the next superintendent will be, or which schools children will attend, or which schools teachers will be assigned, or getting a family member or friend a job in the school system, or out of town conferences or seminars with the taxpayers footing the bill, or supplementing their retirement pension. Within such a network, the best of politics takes place which involves who gets what from whom for their people or for whatever reason. Education has always been an issue in America for Blacks, and will always be as long as America remains a capitalist country where progress means individuals competing against individuals, ethnic groups against ethnic groups, one team against another; money against money; the educated against the non-educated; the slick against the non-slick , and one race against another. Public education is structured by and for white superiority, not Black equality. This is America; love it, like it or hate it; it’s here to stay and Blacks must take off the blinders in their quest for survival in a world of capitalism, competition and White supremacy. With this in mind, we must realize that a plan of action conducive to Black survival is not necessarily the plan of our adversaries. To them we are their competition. Having said this, the conduct of Paladino and Mascia may be painful for some, but its fair game. The school board has been an interesting battle ground. Over the years Blacks have been a majority on the board composed of Black women, that delicate species of our race that is special. But, over the years we have not gained as a race and very little as individual board members, that is unless they count the few benefits previously mentioned. But the most productive example of distraction occurred years ago when former Mayor Anthony Masiello and former Erie County Executive Joel Giambra stacked the school board with their supporters (Black and white board members), assuring Ciminelli, (a brother Italian), the billion dollar school construction project. Up to this point I knew next to nothing about Ciminelli, but after he was awarded the school construction contract, his name became prominent throughout Buffalo. But the diversion in this strategy had to do with the personalities of both Masiella and Giambra, both projected

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

• • • •

likeable personas. In the background seldom mentioned is Phil Rumore, president of the teachers union, he flatters female members of the board by taking them to dinner making them feel important and special. Certainly, this is a different kind of diversion, but it’s diversion just the same and serves the same purpose with Rumore falling in the category with Masiello and Giambra. What is most interesting about the above is that regardless to whether it’s Paladino, Masiello, Ciminelli, Giambra, or Rumore they are all in the game of school board politics with a plan that far exceeds themselves as individual beneficiaries and far exceeds anything a Black majority or minority on the school board has proposed, thought of, or accomplished. The children are suffering. TED

Masiello and Giambra in getting the bilKIRKLAND lion dollar contract for Ciminelli, were in fact creating jobs with Italians being the greatest beneficiaries in construction, which has been controlled by Italians as long as I can remember. But we must not forget the Italian Governor Andrew Cuomo, who handles Buffalo billions, plus some. So there’s Cuomo, Paladino, Masiello, Ciminelli, Giambra, Rumore, Mascia, and their newest member Mary Ellen Elia, the new state Education Commissioner. She appears to have come in under the radar, with very little scrutiny and no criticism. And there is none from this corner, but It appears that she may have come in while Black school board members’ attention was focused on Paladino, and it appears that Commissioner King is still not noticed as being missing. However Paladino has not fallen into oblivion; his name is being associated with running for Governor, again, and supporting Donald Trump for president. With all that free advertisement given him by Black school board members, one may ask was this his plan? Italians and Jews have come a long way in Buffalo since I was a child in the 1940’s when Italians and Jews would come through our community with horse drawn wagons selling their wares. Neither group then was considered White. But someplace between my childhood and during my adult life, Jews became White, but I have not seen any evidence that Italians had become White. A few weeks ago I had breakfast in Mattie’s Restaurant with former Buffalo Common Council President, George K. Arthur, who spent some 37 years in the Buffalo Common Council. Here we sat, two octogenarian men who have been involved in the politics played in Buffalo most of their working lives. So I just had to ask the question, if for no other reason than to make sure that my brain was still on target. “George when you were a young councilman, did you ever think that the Italians would someday control New York State politically?” “No way. But it was Mayor Frank Sedita who paved the way. What a man, what a man!” said George. I say in closing that I have yet to see or hear of a plan of action coming from our sisters to save our children from the prison system as reported by former New York State Regents member Adelaide Sanford. Instead, I hear much about saving teachers, many of whom don’t even like our children. It appears to me that Blacks must first love their people before they can keep their eyes on the prize.

Published every Wednesday News Deadline: Friday 5 p.m. Ad Deadline: Friday 5 p.m. Classified Deadline: Thursday 5 p.m.

We respectfully submit that the opinions expressed on the editorial pages of this newspaper are not necessairly those of Challenger Community News Corporation or its advertisers.

Advertising /News/ Information/Inquiries a d ve r t i s i n g @ t h e c h a l l e n g e r n ew s . c o m or a l n i s a 3 3 @ ya h o o . c o m

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

LEGAL NOTICE Supplemental Summons

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Racism, Labor Pains and Buffalo’s Booming Construction Industry By Charlotte Keith Investigative Post - Part 2 Conclusion The Opposite Problem There’s a stack of applications a foot high on the table in front of Spencer Gaskin. He’s the founder of the OutSource Center, a construction training program on Fillmore Avenue on Buffalo’s East Side. The center offers five weeks of basic construction training and five weeks of math classes, resumé writing and personal development. Applications keep piling up, even though the center isn’t currently offering any classes because of a lack of funding. “I’m getting people in the community a job – that spreads like wildfire,” Gaskin said, adding that 70 percent of the center’s some 400 graduates have successfully found jobs in construction since the center’s founding nine years ago. While the unions say they have a shortage of qualified minority candidates, many community groups offering construction training find themselves in the opposite position, with more applicants than they have space for. “If we ever got proper funding, we wouldn’t be able to handle the number of students coming in,” Gaskin said. Washington, the PUSH Buffalo organizer, agrees. “We don’t have a problem finding people; we have a problem finding work,” he said. The OutSource Center’s students have worked on Rocco Termini’s renovations of the Hotel Lafayette and recently partnered with PUSH Buffalo to provide workers for Sam Savarino’s redevelopment of 500 Seneca Street near Larkinville. Only nine of the center’s graduates have become union apprentices, however, of around 50 Gaskin estimates have applied. Many of the others work for non-union contractors, which pay less and offer fewer benefits.

N O VA TO S T. J U D E

It’s a similar story at other community groups offering construction training. It Takes A Village, in Amherst, offers classes in life skills and job readiness as well as construction basics. But Executive Director Beverly Newkirk said only a handful of her graduates have become union apprentices, although more are in the process of applying.

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 the 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 your name known and cause you to be invoked. Say three Our Fathers, three Hail Mary’s and Gloria’s. Publication must be promised. St. Jude pray for us and all who involve your aid. Amen. This Novena has never been know to fail. I have had my request granted. Publication promised.

“Their apprentice training has been very limited as far as allowing our people in,” she said.

Disconnect, lack of trust The unions have the opportunities – and a need for more workers. Community groups know where to find minority applicants who could benefit from those opportunities. But bridging the divide between the two sides has proven surprisingly difficult. Union leaders tend to say: “They never call us.” Community leaders are equally likely to say: “They never call us.” “They need to come to us, because we’ve tried to go to them,” said Brown, the president of the building trades council. “They all have my phone number and none of them have ever called me, so I would say they’re pretty much full of baloney.” “These unions are not reaching out,” counters Gaskin of the OutSource Center. “They want to keep the status quo.” On both sides, there are complaints about a lack of communication – and plenty of

Meanwhile, the amount of work has increased so fast that several unions have had to bring in several hundred workers from outside the region to keep up with the demand. “People are bringing in people from out of town because we can’t find anybody in town,” Brown said, adding that workers need to be trained to a high level, which

“I think it’s a damn shame,” Gaskin said of the disconnect between his organization and the building trades. “All these young folks needing opportunity and the system is failing them.”

“But on our part, we have to be prepared to make sure people are ready to go into the unions. You know, they can’t be on drugs, and this has to be something they want.”

Erie County than statewide and nationally.

takes time. Others say the bringing in out of town workers means the Buffalo Billion money isn’t going where it’s needed. “When it comes to state-subsidized projects, that money came here to solve the issue of poverty,” Washington said. “So, without a social focus, that money is really just subsidizing development.” Assemblywoman PeoplesStokes said the insular nature of the unions is another major obstacle to increasing diversity. They are still dominated by tight knit social and familial networks, she said, which can make it hard for outsiders to break in. “And so,” she said, “if they’re really serious, then they should give people of color, men and women, the same opportunities that they give their nephews, their nieces and their sons.”

JOBS

Buffalo Employment and Training Center 77 Goodell St., Buffalo 856-5627 Fax 7856-5670

Spencer Gaskin speaks at last Fall’s protest rally at Solar City.

exasperation, with accusations of incompetence, on the one hand, and prejudice, on the other. McNally, of the plumbers’ union, said: “We’re looking to put people to work. Should we be calling people or should they be calling us?” Washington, the PUSH organizer, said the unions exaggerate the difficulty of finding qualified minority applicants. “What they aren’t always willing to admit is that plenty of people can do these jobs in Buffalo, there’s just a reluctance to let them in,” he said. Schuler, the LPCiminelli vice president, said part of the reason for the disconnect is that while contractors, developers and unions all have a stake in increasing diversity in the construction workforce, “there is no one leading the charge every day whose sole focus is to ad-

dress the issue.” Goals Provide Incentive Workforce diversity goals on publicly funded construction projects provide unions an incentive to diversity their ranks. The Building Trades Council came under fire after Investigative Post reported last fall that the diversity goal for the workers building the SolarCity factory at Riverbend had been lowered from the 25 percent originally proposed by the city to 15 percent, after union leaders said the higher number was unachievable. The change was made, Brown said, because of the size of the job. “If it’s a bigger job, the goal can’t be as high,” he said. “There’s just not enough of a workforce to do that.” That’s exactly the problem, critics say. A recent report from the Partnership for the Public Good found that racial disparities in employment are worse in

ATTORNEYS Terrence D. McKelvey Attorney at Law 181 Franklin St. Suite 101 (716) 847-2606

AUTO Ben’s Downtown Tire 50 Sycamore (cor. Elm) (716) 856-1066 or 894-1483

Colston Enterprises 716 E. Ferry (Near Fillmore) (716) 894-3910

CELL PHONES Ansar Cellular Communications & Fragrance Store 1371 Fillmore @ E. Utica (716) 884-2373

DOG TRAINING

Dogman’s K -9 Obedience Training 1963 Fillmore Avenue (716) 807-8163

ELECTRICIAN Empire Electric (716) 634-0330

FLORISTS Maureen’s Flower Market 441 Ellicott St. * 852-4600

HAIR SUPPLY Main Hair & Beauty Supply 3067 Main St. (716) 862-4247

TAILORS Ann Rhod’s Tailoring 3185 Bailey Ave. (716) 838-5633

For More Info: advertising@thechallengernews.com 881-1051

Classified

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

LEGAL NOTICE

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT OF THE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY STATE OF NEW YORK COUNOF ERIE TY OF ERIE Plaintiff designates BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., ERIE as the place of trial situs of Plaintiff(s), the real property SUPPLEMENAgainst TAL SUMMONS Mortgaged Index No.: 806360/14 Premises: 17 CAMP STREET MARQUITA JONES AS BUFFALO, NY 14204 Section: ADMINISTRATRIX OF THE 111.33 Block: 4 Lot: 39.12 INESTATE OF LINDA A. JONES, DEX NO. 810575/2015 FEDET AL., ERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE Defendant(s). ASSOCIATION ("FANNIE Pursuant to a Judgment of Fore- MAE"), A CORPORATION ORclosure and Sale, duly entered GANIZED AND EXISTING UNin the Erie County Clerk’s Of- DER THE LAWS OF THE UNITfice on 1/12/2016, I, the under- ED STATES OF AMERICA, signed Referee will sell at public Plaintiff, vs. EMMANUEL J. auction at First Floor Alcove of CURRY, AS HEIR AND DISErie County Hall, 92 Franklin St., TRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE Buffalo, NY on 3/22/2016 at 1:00 OF ERNIE V. CURRY; ERNIE PM, premises known as 231 J. CURRY, AS HEIR AND DISGarfield Ave, Angola, NY 14006, TRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE and described as follows: OF ERNIE V. CURRY; MARKEL ALL that certain plot, piece or CURRY, AS HEIR AND DISparcel of land, with the build- TRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE ings and improvements thereon OF ERNIE V. CURRY; MARerected, situate, lying and being TIN CURRY, SR., AS HEIR in the Town of Evans, County AND DISTRIBUTEE OF THE of Erie, and State of New York, ESTATE OF ERNIE V. CURRY, and designated on the tax maps any and all persons unknown to of the Erie County Treasurer as plaintiff, claiming, or who may Section 250.09, Block 2 and Lot claim to have an interest in, or 9. general or specific lien upon The approximate amount of the real property described in the current Judgment lien is this action; such unknown per$82,040.91 plus interest and sons being herein generally costs. The premises will be described and intended to be sold subject to provisions of included in the following desigthe aforesaid Judgment of nation, namely: the wife, widow, Foreclosure and Sale; Index husband, widower, heirs at law, #806360/14. next of kin, descendants, execIf the sale is set aside for any utors, administrators, devisees, reason, the Purchaser at the legatees, creditors, trustees, sale shall be entitled only to a committees, lienors, and asreturn of the deposit paid. The signees of such deceased, any Purchaser shall have no further and all persons deriving interest recourse against the Mortgagor, in or lien upon, or title to said the Mortgagee or the Mortgag- real property by, through or unees attorney. der them, or either of them, and Timothy R. LoVallo, Esq., their respective wives, widows, Referee. husbands, widowers, heirs at Leopold & Associates, PLLC, 80 law, next of kin, descendants, Business Park Drive, Suite 110, executors, administrators, deviArmonk, NY 10504 sees, legatees, creditors, trustDated: 2/2/2016 GMH ees, committees, lienors and assigns, all of whom and whose ROOMS names, except as stated, are unknown to plaintiff; BUFFALO REVITALROOMS FOR RENT: NEIGHBORHOOD IZATION CORPORATION; Delavan-Humboldt area, CITIBANK (SOUTH DAKOTA) Bailey-Delavan. $325- NA; HOUSEHOLD FINANCE $480. Everything included. CORPORATION III; MICHAEL WEINER, COMMISSIONER OF (716)818-3410. THE ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES; VELOCITY INVESTMENTS LLC D/B/A FIRST USA BANK; UNIFUND CCR PARTNERS advertising@thechalASSIGNEE OF FIRST USA lengernews.com BANK; CACV OF COLORADO LLC; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, "JOHN DOE #1" through "JOHN DOE #12," the last twelve names being fictitious and unknown to plaintiff, the persons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, persons or corporations, if any, having or claim-

ing an interest in or lien upon the premises, described in the complaint, Defendants. To the above named Defendants YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance on the Plaintiff's Attorney within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York) in the event the United States of America is made a party defendant, the time to answer for the said United States of America shall not expire until (60) days after service of the Summons; and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $87,843.00 and interest, recorded on March 12, 1999, at Liber 12830 Page 5741, of the Public Records of ERIE County, New York, covering premises known as 17 CAMP STREET BUFFALO, NY 14204. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. ERIE County is designated as the place of trial because the real property affected by this action is located in said county. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to the mortgage company will not stop the foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. Dated: January 29, 2016 RAS BORISKIN, LLC Attorney for Plaintiff BY: DANIEL GREENBAUM, ESQ. 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 106 Westbury, NY 11590 (516) 2807675

EM P LOY M EN T Assistant Professor The English Department at Buffalo State, State University of New York, seeks candidates for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure-track). For a full job description and to apply: https://jobs.buffalostate.edu.

B S Is D P

Buffalo State is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and committed to respect for diversity and individual differences.

Information Technology Positions The Information Technology Exchange Center (ITEC) at SUNY Buffalo State invites applicants for a Programmer/Analyst (Middleware) and a Lead Programmer/Analyst (Networking) position. The essential duties and required and preferred qualifications can be found on ITEC’s Assistant Professor home page at www.itec.suny.edu. Apply online at https://jobs.buffalostate.edu. The English Department at Buffalo State, State The deadline for applications is March 16, 2016. University of New York, seeks candidates for the position of Assistant Professor (tenure-track).

Required Qualifications: • PhD in Composition or related field; • Expertise in Writing Center pedagogy as documented by doctoral dissertation or scholarly publications; • Experience asBuffalo a writing tutor; action/equal opportunity employer State iscenter an affirmative and committed to respect diversitylevel; and individual differences. • Experience teaching writing at theforcollege • Experience working with diverse student populations; • Potential for excellence in teaching, scholarly research and publication; • Commitment to the mission, vision and values of Buffalo State College. Lecturer (ESL tutor) Preferred Qualifications: The Writing Program at Buffalo State, State University of New York, seeks • Experience managing a writing center; candidates for the position Lecturer (ESL tutor). • Experience training tutorialofstaff; • Graduate or professional experience in TESOL. For a fullcoursework job description and to apply: https://jobs.buffalostate.edu. Qualified applicants may apply online at https://jobs.buffalostate.edu.

Buffalo State is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer Buffalo State is to anrespect affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and committed for diversity and individual differences. and committed to respect for diversity and individual differences.

LEGAL NOTICE

LEGAL NOTICE Bids

Bids

NFTA Procurement Invitation to Bid

4566 HI-RAILABLE CREW CAB MAINTENANCE VEHICLES 4556 - CARPET CLEANING AT BNIA Download Bids from www. nfta.com

INVITATION TO BID The NFTA is soliciting bids for Project No. 12BA1601, BNIA – Airside Pavement Maintenance 2016, Bid No. E-525 on March 29, 2016. www.nftaengineering.com

SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS

Bu Si

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Tyree (Ty) Brown - A Great Athlete

NEW YORK STATE LOTTERY NUMBERS

3-WAY WIN 4

MON 2/22

MID- 5041 EVE- 5161

MID -2591 EVE-6240

WED 2/24 THURS 2/25 FRI 2/26 SAT 2/27

TUES 2/23

MID-988 MID-225 MID-504 MID-006 MID-616 EVE- 584 EVE-465 EVE-571 EVE-292 EVE-465 MID - 3607 EVE - 9602

MID-0111 EVE-8296

MID-028 MID-924 EVE-202 EVE-650

MID -2723 EVE- 7914

MID-5653 EVE- 8596

MID-0931 EVE-2434

TAKE 5

2-3-18-20-34 17-20-21-37-39 1-28-34-35-39 2-5-9-16-39 1-10-15-23-27 10-23-30-32-37 16-20-22-24-25

LOTTO

SUN 2/21

HOT TIPS

4018

022

1-12-15-24-35-41 #42

064

648

Zakiyyah’s Rundown (ZR) 986-568-853-568-312-468-014-065-768-981-852-679-254756-801-645-580-234-532-791-065-990-456-435-468-015076-974-240-198-513-546-809-507-433-354-760-919-512891-558-001-064-247-091-547-910-107-432-304-567-729

Billy Bye Bye Sez: 865-790-895-333-1954

1447-5780-9966-6888 “With Sgt. Hyder’s Hits You Can’t Miss”

March Vibes

874-254-594890-347-123

“Its In The Stars”

Aquarius -496-235-165-579 Pisces - 056-362-237-694 Cancer - 482-372-895-718 Aries - 561-236-164-469 Taurus -258-231-026-695 Gemini-495-257-694-508 Leo-345-213-157-201 Virgo 385-291-431-170 Libra -247-723-179-501 Scorpio - 453-253-571-597 Sagittarius - 389-701-234-924 Capricorn:893-275-342-506

quick money $$$$ THE NUMBER BOOK 189-809-444 886-980-422 322-522-355 800-592-390 394-833-924 127-909-418 927-313-466 124-550-525 583-269-508 Grandma’s Picks 302-176-743-435-165-270-

4-Way February Hot Tips

5767-8866-5252-7788-2018-1871-1303 Best MARCH Triple -666 Special Doubles - 662-788-919-322

WEEK DAY HITS! mon 606-tues 721-wed 592thurs 384-fri 295-sat 621

999

1-2-8-17-25-43 #37

203 942

Challenger Hits

Evening 650- Pisces, Capricorn (BX) 202- Hot Tips, Special Doubles, Luckie Duckie (STR) 465- ZR (BX) 571- Scorpio (STR), ZR & Leo (BX) 465- ZR (BX)

202 335 -2015-4444 134-431-143

648*123*104

980-422-809

981-989-970-990-080800-515-996 390-196-102-581-752319-408-378-352-126

189-444-886-514

322-522-412-432-421423

3-0-5 2-1-6 0-0-0 7-8-7 7-1-0 6-0-1 3-6-9 2-7-8 6-3-7 0-7-2 9-9-1 4-5-2 1-2-9 9-3-3 5-8-7 5-7-4 6-7-3 3-5-6 0-6-8 1-0-7

continued

needed training for East Side residents to support new industries in advanced manufacturing and renewable energy. At Mayor Brown’s annual State of the City Address earlier this month, he pledged to provide an additional $4 million to this project. Some construction is expected to begin this summer. The training center is targeted for a portion of the former Niagara Machine and Tool Works building, a circa 1911 structure, located at 683 Northland Avenue. The center will occupy slightly less than half of the 235,000 square-foot building. Targeting advanced manufacturing, representatives from Empire State Development are currently negotiating with Erie Community College, SUNY Buffalo State and Alfred State College to help run the center’s training programs.

BLACK HISTORY PAUL ROBESON

LUCKIE DUCKIE

03/11/2015 Evening 03/11/2015 Midday 03/10/2015 Evening 03/10/2015 Midday 03/09/2015 Evening 03/09/2015 Midday 03/08/2015 Evening 03/08/2015 Midday 03/07/2015 Evening 03/07/2015 Midday 03/06/2015 Evening 03/06/2015 Midday 03/05/2015 Evening 03/05/2015 Midday 03/04/2015 Evening 03/04/2015 Midday 03/03/2015 Evening 03/03/2015 Midday 03/02/2015 Evening 03/02/2015 Midday

SPORTS TRIVIA QUESTIONS 1.Where did Wilt Chamberlain score his 100 points at? 2.How many feet is a basketball court? 3.What is Floyd Mayweather’s record? 4.How high is a basketball hoop? 5.How many times did Tiger Woods win the PGA?

NORTHLAND CORRIDOR MEETING

Midday 924- Sagittarius, Quick $ (STR) ZR (BX) 028- # Book (BX) 225- Special Doubles, Quick $, Luckie Duckie (BX)

3-Way Winning Numbers Last Year

Tyree (Ty) Brown is in his senior year at South Park High School. As the quarter back of the South Park Sparks, who won the Class A State Championship, he scored 4 touchdowns in the championship game last year. He threw 30 touchdowns for which he ran 22 of the COACH touchdowns. CAL His honors include State Player of the Year, Buffalo News Player of the Year and WNY Player of the Year. Ty’s suitors include Central Connecticut, Bowling Green, and St. Lawrence. Ty has a 2.9 GPA and is a great athlete.

2015

continued secure it and to travel again. During those years, Robeson studied Chinese, met with Albert Einstein to discuss the prospects for world peace, published his autobiography, Here I Stand, and sang at Carnegie Hall. Two major labor-related events took place during this time. In 1952 and 1953, he held two concerts at Peace Arch Park on the U.S.-Canadian border, singing to 30-40,000 people in both countries. In 1957, he made a transatlantic radiophone broadcast from New York to coal miners in Wales. In 1960, Robeson made his last concert tour to New Zealand and Australia. In ill health, Paul Robeson retired from public life in 1963. He died on January 23, 1976, at age 77, in Philadelphia.

University of Rochester Seventh Annual Diversity Conference The University of Rochester presents its Seventh Annual Diversity Conference #URDiversity: What Do You Stand For? on Friday, April 8, 2016 at the Strong Auditorium | River Campus. This year’s conference urges our community to examine how each individual’s academic, personal and professional passions further diversity and inclusion within the greater societal context. The keynote speaker, Alicia Garza—social activist and co-creator of the viral Twitter hashtag and movement, #BlackLivesMatter—will discuss current national social movements and organizational strategies to connect individuals and organizations across the country fighting against the plague of social injustice.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Wednesday March 2

Democrats Endorse John Flynn for Erie DA

Khametic Ascendants: 9-10 a.m. & 12:30 a.m. (after midnight), Channel 20.

Erie County Democrats endorsed former Tonawanda Town Justice John Flynn as their candidate for District Attorney. Flynn previously an assistant district attorney and Tonawanda town council member, said he will provide the strong leadership the prosecutors office needs.

The Durham Central City Baby Café: every Wed. and Thurs. 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. 200 E. Eagle. Dinner free! Line Dance Fitness For Seniors: Hustle For Health at the Gloria J Parks Community Center 3242 Main St 11am - 12pm Free Introduction to Grant Writing Seminar & Summer Primetime Programming Funding Information Session: Hosted by We Are Women Warriors 5:30 – 7:30pm at the Frank E. Merriweather Library, 716894-0914, or The Grant Lady at 704.491.5745 . Saturday March 5 Booksigning @ Zawadi Books: Gwen Collier author of “The Bipolar Church,” 5-7 p.m.; 903-6740. Sunday March 6 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Debutante Leadership Development Program Information Session Merriweather Library, 2-4 p.m.

“There is no question that over the past eight years the reputation of the District Attorney’s Office has suffered, in the public view and within law enforcement,” said Flynn, a naval reservist now in private law practice. “The perception, and I believe the reality, is that politics rather than Jurisprudence has too often dictated policy. We have to change both the perception and reality and I believe I have the experience and vision to make that happen. “I am honored to have the support of the Erie County Democratic Committee, and I look forward to earning the support of the people I hope to serve.” “Erie Count needs a strong District Attorney who will keep our families and neighborhoods safe and enforce the law fairly and across the board,” said Democratic Chairman Jeremy J. Zellner.” Flynn currently practices law with Steve Boyd Attorneys and is a commander in the United States Naval Reserves. While on active duty he was attached to the Judge Advocate General’s Corp as Officer-in Charge of legal counsel for more that 5,000 naval personnel and staff, and earned several commendations and achievement medals in the capacity. Flynn earned his law degree from University at Buffalo School of Law and currently teaches legal courses in the political science department at Buffalo State College. Linton Kelly (retired BPD) also Endorses John Flynn for Erie DA.

OPEN HOUSE

This Saturday! March 5, 10 am - 2 pm

Tours, refreshments, activities, and student and teacher presentations

Grades 9 -12 College Prep • Tuition free • Easy to get to – safe neighborhood • College prep – 90% + of our graduates accepted into college • Small class sizes • Caring, involved staff – including academic and college counselors • Say Y.E.S. Scholarships • 25 clubs plus Section VI sports • Advanced Placement and college credit courses

888 Delaware Avenue (near Bryant) • Buﬀalo, New York 14209 • (716) 362-3188 email: info@oraclecharterschool.org • website: www.oraclecharterschool.org ORA879 open house challenger mar 2016.indd 1

1/28/16 8:36 AM

Challenger Community News • March 2, 2016

Licensed Check Cashing Western New York Check Services Ada Deans

Brenda E. Hicks-Russell

Brenda McDuffie

Carrone Crump

Government - State - County - Payroll - Insurance Settlement Checks - Tax Refund Checks Maximum fee 2.01%

Nexis Card Direct Deposit

Licensed by the Superintendent of Banks Pursuant to Article 9-A of the Banking Law

Cecelia Henderson

Constance Robinson

Dawn Tiggs

Edna White

675 Fillmore Ave - 1 Block South of Broadway Give us a call - 893-4193 Open 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday - Saturday

WE ALSO SELL Eve Shippens

Lori Singletary

Rosetta Swain

Grace Turner

Margo Warr

Ina Ferguson

Patrina Muhmad

2016 Roses For Outstanding Women Awardees

Katie Harrod

Rev. Ann Paris

BRAND NEW

MATTRESSES Twin Set Full Set Queen Set King Set

119 149 99 $ 179 99 $ 299 99 $

he 6th Annual Roses for Outstanding Women’s Awards Program will be held on Saturday, March 5 from 2 - 6 p.m. at the Central Library auditorium in Downtown Buffalo. There are 28 women who will be honored. Rev. James Lewis will MC the program . The honorees will receive a red rose, certificates of achievement and a surprise gift. This year’s honorees are: Ina J. Ferguson, Rev. Janice Fisher, Patricia A. Elliott, Joan Sutton, Dawn Triggs, Sonia BanksWilliams, Rosetta B. Swain, Patrina Muhammad, Edna F. White, Grace Turner, Audra Gist, Eve Shippens, Veronica Hemphill-Nichols, Margo Warr, Brenda Hicks-Russell, Ada L. Deans, Rev. Anne Paris, Katie Nichols Harrod, Geneder Wilson, Cecelia Henderson, Constance Robinson, Lori Singletary, Tamika Collins-Murphy, Sydney Brown, Laura Williams, Brenda McDuffie, Norvella Pendergrass, and Katrinna Martin. The program will be dedicated to Viola Hill, Emma Callahan, and the Late Ora B. Felts. Rev. James Lewis will be the program moderator. “Roses are known for their great beauty and they have a special place in our lives,” stated Roses program founder Eva M. Doyle. “All of the women to be honored are like these special flowers. They stand out in our community and touch so many lives.” Admission is free and open to the public. . For more information call 847-6010.

FURNITURE

LOWEST PRICES ANYWHERE!

1 ST quality mattresses & box springs

Sonia Banks-Williams

NEW & USED

Delivery available

Bedroom Sets Bunk Beds Recliners Kitchen Sets Microwaves Mini Fridges and more!