WWW.GARLANDJOURNAL.COM #LOGOUTFACEBOOK, TUESDAY DEC. 18, 2018 Facebook needs to do better. If the revelations over the past few weeks about Facebook hiring an opposition research firm and working with other deeply partisan strategy firms were not problematic enough, we learned just yesterday that Russian operatives used Facebook and the Facebook-owned Instagram to specifically target African Americans during the 2016 election. It’s time for Facebook to be held accountable. The NAACP is stepping up to take on this challenge, and we’re calling on all of our supporters to join us. We’re asking supporters to log out of Facebook and Instagram in protest today to let Facebook know that the data and privacy of its users of color matter!
MY TRUTH By Cheryl Smith Publisher
IF ONLY I KNEW
Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you could take everything you know by the age of let’s say 40, and go back in time and apply to the beginning of your life? Well that’s just not the way it is. We live and learn and keep it moving. It’s amazing how smart we thought we were until we get older and realize that we really were clueless and sometimes reckless. Well for those who “get it” we have to share the knowledge. We have to equip others and help them to realize some things we wish someone had told us. Which brings me to my truth. I was laying in a hospital bed. Alayna was 13 (going on 30), Annya was 7 (going on 20) and Ayanna was living life like it was golden at 4. My mother was holding my hand and talking about how she had gone through the same ordeal as I had, dealing with those abominable fibroid tumors. I asked her why she didn’t tell me. Gosh if I had known about them painful, uncomfortable and life threatening critters, I think I would have tried to beat them at their own game. See, when I went to Dr. Bill Glaze and was diagnosed with the tumors; I opted to participate in a study at UT Southwestern, to shrink the tumors. As part of the study, I couldn’t indulge in hormone-induced meats, dairy products or caffeine. Bulletin They aren’t good for you. I learned that although Mother had fibroids did not mean that I would have them. I was told you don’t inherit fibroid tumors, but if you have the same diet as others who have them, you are likely to also! If only I knew what I know now, I’d eat better, exercise more and avoid stress. One time I wrote a story about a young man who after the second attempt, was successful in committing suicide. His relatives said he kept telling them that he was going to kill himself, but they didn’t believe him; even after the first attempt. I don’t know what the young man was going through and I don’t know what goes through the mind of someone who takes another’s life. I feel they don’t value their lives or just can’t seem to get to the top of the mountain to see hope on the other side. If only I knew what I know now, when times were tough for me, I would get professional help, meditate and also probably take up yoga. Luckily for me, when in college I lived a very simple life. No credit cards or overindulging. It was amazing what I could whip up with a few dollars. My sorority sisters and friends loved my baked beans and tuna/mac salad! If only I knew what I know now, I probably would have invested the extra money I got from either work study or student loans. There were some things I didn’t need. I remember crying to my mother that I wanted a “perm” like the other girls at school. She said no. I begged. She finally said yes, and the woman who would eventually become my stepmother put the perm in my hair. If only I knew what I know now, I would have listened to my mother and went and read a book or something. The last thing I needed was those chemicals seeping into my body! When I bought my first home, I was so excited. The street reminded me of New Jersey streets, lined with trees. Andre, Alayna and Annya were happy too; while Ayanna was enjoying her first year on this earth. If only I knew what I know now, there are so many things I could have done, to pay the house off early, to See MY TRUTH, page 6
GARLAND JOURNAL
DECEMBER 19, 2018
Garland
JOURNAL
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Best Wishes for a safe, healthy and productive
2019 VOL XVIII ISSUE 10 DECEMBER 19, 2018
Michelle Obama visits Winspear Former First Lady surprises students at Inaugural Young Women’s Leadership Conference
Former First Lady Michelle Obama at Young Women's Leadership Conference
Former First Lady Michelle Obama stopped by the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House to welcome students and help kick off the first annual Young Women’s Leadership Conference: Leadership Lessons Learned through the Arts. The program, produced by the nonprofit AT&T Performing Arts Center, included 150 young women from nine North Texas high schools and organizations who - thanks to donors and underwriting - participated free of charge. Mrs. Obama spoke briefly to the full group. She also spent time with a small group of students during one of the conference’s breakout sessions, moderated by business executive Matrice Ellis-Kirk, Chair of the Center’s Board of Directors. The girls had all received a signed copy of Mrs.
Obama’s new memoir Becoming and are attending her engagement at the American Airlines Center that evening. Mrs. Obama previously visited the Winspear Opera House in March for “A Conversation with Former First Lady Michelle Obama” as part of #hearhere, the Center’s popular speaker series. “These young women have been studying Mrs. Obama’s book in advance of the conference but did not know she would show up here in person, so you can imagine the excitement,” said Debbie Storey, interim president and CEO of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. “This conference leverages the arts to build creativity, improve educational outcomes and develop strong leaders. Having Mrs. Obama share her lessons on leadership was really one of the high-
lights of the day!” The day-long program included a Women in Leadership Panel which featured Pat Smith, Founder & CEO of Pat Smith Enterprises; Matrice El-
lis-Kirk, Dallas Managing Director of RSR Partners and Chair of the Center’s Board of Directors; Denise Lee, See OBAMA, page 3
New president elected And then there were three... Congrats to Alice D. Walker, recently installed as third president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Omega Alpha Omega Chapter! Past presidents Patrice Withers-Stephens and Tuere Davis Williams have blazed a trail of success for this award-winning, three-year-old chapter that serves the greater Frisco area. We look forward to witnessing your leadership! Photo Credit: Eva D. Coleman
CALL 214-941-0110 -- REGISTER TODAY!