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My Truth By Cheryl Smith Publisher
Dealing with Financial Literacy I have tried to do a better job of telling people how much I appreciate them. When you can tell them how much they are “tap dancing on” your last nerve, you ought to also be able to share some love. It was overwhelming for me to hear about the recent passing of Karen Watts Cross. We’ve known each other for the past decade and we’ve shared some special moments. We were also always complementing one another.
They Stole
Hearts
Former Bank Robbers Deliver Powerful Message
By Stacy M. Brown A surprising guilty plea by WNBA superstar Brittney Griner in Russia has only fueled speculation that President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin may be on the verge of securing a deal to free the Phoenix Mercury player along with several other Americans. “This was never about guilt or innocence,” insisted Helen Galanos, a District resident and self-described No. 1 Washington Mystics fan. “Brittney is and remains a political prisoner, a pawn for the Russian government and it is really up to President Biden to decide just how much her freedom is worth,” Galanos, a lawyer, said. Others echo her sentiment. “Putin loved Trump
and pretty much did whatever he wanted to and Trump would never go against him,” said Avery Hudnell, a civilian government employee in D.C.
Couples need to talk about money – no matter what age Money Talk By Rodney A. Brooks
NNPA Newswire Contributor
By Washington Informer Staff
From striking down Roe v. Wade and weakening environmental protections and threatening to strike Times v. Sullivan, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas has a lot to say lately. In the week after the Supreme Court took away a constitutional right for the first time in history, Thomas, 74, is emerging as a central character for the conservative members of the Supreme Court. After President Donald Trump appointed three conservative judges to fill the vacancies that Democrats were unable to convert on, Thomas now has plenty of conservative company. After three decades on the Supreme Court and often being in the minority when opinions were released, suddenly Thomas’ influence is large.
The 6-3 court represents the first time in decades that conservatives have control of the court which now has no moderate members to tip the scale one way or the other on close votes. As the decisions of the year are released, an expansion of gun rights in New York was part of the key decisions. On June 30, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson joined the court after a noon swearing-in ceremony, taking the place of Asso-
Nearly 800,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be impeached in the wake of the court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The progressive advocacy group MoveOn is the sponsor of the petition, which has about 786,000 signatures, The Hill reported. The petition said Thomas should be forced off of the high court because of his concurring opinion to the case that overturned Roe in which he said the right to contraceptive access and same-sex marriages cases should also be reviewed. Plus, the petition said Thomas’ wife Ginni’s actions in urging state legislators to reject the 2020 election results and contact with Trump administration officials — as well
See AS TRUMP COURT, page 6
See NEARLY 800K SIGN, page 6
See COUPLES NEED TO TALK, page 6
FoxandRob at recent First United Bank Juneteenth celebration
By Eva D. Coleman
Lifestyle & Culture Editor
See MY TRUTH, page 6
Brittney Griner’s Freedom T ied to ‘Merchant of Death’
VOLUME X
In any successful marriage or relationship household duties are shared. Each person does what they are best suited for, which means one person usually handles finances and pays the bills. But couples will certainly run into trouble if one partner completely absolves themselves from finances. Even if one partner pays the bills, it is critically important that both be involved in the couple’s finances. Money is the top cause of stress in a marriage Lack of and one of top reasons communication for divorce. That includes can devastate people of all your finances income levels. Black couples especially need to talk about money. We have onetenth of the wealth of white households, and the pandemic has hurt our finances even more than White Americans. But many couples avoid discussions of finance altogether, putting additional stress on both the relationship and their finances. • Forty percent of couples that live together don’t know what the other makes, according to the Fidelity 2021 Couples and Money Study. • Forty-four percent of couples say they argue about money, at least occasionally. • A second report from UBS says only 20 percent of couples in the U.S. make financial decisions together. So, why are these trends so troubling? Financial planners talk about clients they have had for years, but never met the wife. In One financial planner told me about a husband who was incapacitated, and the wife needed emergency access to the couples fund. The problem was her name was not on the investment accounts. He couldn’t even discuss the account with her. It’s not just with older couples. Millennials are even more secretive about their finances than Boomers or Gen Xers. There’s the newlywed couple: She had no idea that he had thousands of dollars in student loan debt until after they were married. She felt that he had not been honest about bringing that much debt into the marriage, and he was offended that he accused her of hiding out debt. According to the Fidelity study, couples who talked about finances say money is not the biggest challenge in their relationship and they rated their household finances as good or very good. Still, that’s not to say that all the couple’s finances need to be mixed together in one joint bank account. In fact, personal finance guru Suze Orman says: “I would never, ever have just one joint account.” She recommends having a joint bank account to pay joint expenses, if It works for you, but says a couple should have separate accounts as well. Here’s some advice when it comes to couples and communications: 1. Do a budget. Make sure both partners buy in. One partner should not feel they are sacrificing things that are important. 2. Have an open discussion of fi-
Photo: Eva D. Coleman
I will miss her but I take solace in knowing we shared our appreciation for one another. Which brings me to my truth. I have so much love and respect for Rodney A. Brooks! When the opportunity to share his words with the I Messenger Media family became available, I seized it and beginning today, you can read Rodney’s words right here! I met his wife, Dr. Sheila, in 1989 and she welcomed me into the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Communicators in a big way. She’s smart, stylish, loyal, passionate and supportive. Enough about her, tho. Through her I met Rodney, and I immediately had mad respect because he is also smart, stylish, loyal, passionate and supportive. I respected his work because he was good, darned good, in an area that wasn’t considered sexy and headline grabbing unless you had a lot of it — money! The author of the bestseller, “Fixing the Racial Wealth Gap: Racism & Discrimination Put Us Here. But This is How We Can Save Future Generations”, Rodney is the former deputy managing editor and personal finance and retirement columnist for USA Today. Rodney realizes that financial literacy is an area where many are not as knowledgeable as they should be and he is not blaming them. There’s a reason and he breaks down the causes. And while there are banks and other financial institutions that tout their financial literacy programs, there’s still a huge divide that was especially evident as we dealt with the pandemic and saw multi-million dollar corporations receiving stimulus checks while small businesses with less than 50 employees sought other relief or for some, shut their doors. A huge shoutout to those that were able to pivot and weather the challenges, and there were many. There were also others, who
THURSDAY JULY 21, 2022
Two former bank robbers, affectionately known as “FoxandRob” walked into First United Bank in downtown Dallas dressed in all white on June 17, 2022 and delivered the most powerful speech on what it means to be free. If you don’t know their “love story,” which
includes over two decades of incarceration to clemency, check out the Amazon Original, multi-award winning “Time” documentary. They plan to release an expansive book with more details in 2023. The New Orleans based couple, Sibil Fox and Robert Richardson were first introduced to attendees waiting in See THEY STOLE HEARTS, page 7
Brittney Griner Photo: Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons
“With Biden, there’s no love affair between him and Putin, so it’s back to the two nations hating each other and its policies,” Hudnell said. “Part of Putin’s game is holding someone like Brittney Griner hostage because it brings him attention to the world stage and he also knows he’s holding the cards because this See BRITTNEY GRINER, page 6
National Uterine Fibroid Awareness Month Takes Stigma Away from Discussing Fibroids By Sylvia Dunnavant Hines Dallas County and City of Dallas officials have acknowledged the impact of fibroid tumors by proclaiming July as Uterine Fibroid Awareness Month. That designation is supported by similar national proclamations as well as Texas House Bill 1966 that was presented by State Representative Senfronia Thompson. “As I have worked with organizations, medical experts, business leaders, other non-profits, patients, and community leaders we were able to collectively work with the former Dean
Lorraine Birabil
Dr. Suzanne Slonim
Photo: L.Birabil
Photo: HLEX
of Women Legislators in Texas, State Rep. Thompson,” said former State Rep. Loraine Birabil. “She helped us to bring concerns about uterine fibroids to light. With her assistance we were able to get Texas to be the tenth state to acknowledge July as Uterine Fibroid Awareness Month.
“Rep.Thompson also got another bill passed to help bridge the information gap around uterine fibroids. All too often the information is just not available for women, so that they know they have options.” Although an untreated uterine fibroid can be painful and noticeable, some women continue
to suffer in silence due to fear of an unsatisfactory solution. This month there will be several activities and opportunities to share information about a condition that has resulted in the inability to give birth. In Fort Worth, there will be a Self-Care Health Fair and Feminine Hygiene Supply Drive, July 30, from 10:00am until 2:00pm at the Forest Hill, Civic and Convention Center, 6901 Wichita St. in Forest Hill. “Many women don’t know that fibroids are common and some of See NATIONAL UTERINE FIBROID, page 6
As Trump Court Flexes Power, Clarence Nearly 800K Sign Thomas Emerges as Spokesperson Petition to Impeach SCOTUS’ Thomas By Lauren Victoria Burke
Clarence Thomas