I Messenger

VOL X NO 18, JANUARY 15, 2021

I MESSENGER

TRUMP

IMPEACHED ... Again!

Citizens weigh in on vote, riot and aftermath

IMessenger An IMM LLC Publication MAILING ADDRESS 320 S. R.L. Thornton Freeway Suite 220 Dallas, TX 75203 WWW.TEXASMETRONEWS.COM 214-941-0110 Cheryl Smith PUBLISHER - EDITOR news@texasmetronews.com S. Curet GENERAL MANAGER stewartcuret@myimessenger.com Jessica Hayden STAFFWRITER Marva Sneed EDITORIAL ASSISTANT EDITORIAL TEAM Andrew Whigham III Anthony Council Ashley M. Moss Chelle Wilson Cierra Mayes Dareia Tolbert Dr. Felicia N. Shepherd Dorothy J. Gentry Eva Coleman Jirah Nicole Mickle Monique P. Stone L. Diane Evans Lajuana Barton Rebecca Aguilar Vincent Hall MARKETING TEAM Carlton McConnell Terry Allen PR DESIGN/LAYOUT FzanStudio

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Established 2011 CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that America can best lead the world away from racial and national antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person, the Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

January 15, 2021

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We were guinea pigs for the U.S.: it isn’t just Tuskegee THE LAST WORD BY DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX

People who don’t know Black history have probably heard more about the Tuskegee syphilis “experiment� in the last month than they have in their whole lives.

The chattering class has used the debacle of allowing hundreds of Black men live with untreated syphilis to monitor its effects to explain the resistance that many Black Americans have to accepting the COVID vaccination, thus imperiling the possibility of “herd� immunity.

It wasn’t just the men, enticed into the study with the promise of lifetime health care, who suffered. Dozens of wives were also infected because they didn’t know their partners had syphilis.

At least 19 children were born with syphilis because they were untreated. There was no known treatment for syphilis when the study, which was supposed to last just six months, began in 1934.

Penicillin was the widely accepted remedy in the late 1940s, but none of the men in the study were offered it. The study is referred to as the “Tuskegee� experiment, but it really needs to be called the United States Public Health

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Service experiment. Our government initiated and funded this abomination and used Tuskegee as its base for this putrid study.

This was not the first time, though, and it is not likely to be the last when Black bodies were experimented on for white comfort. During enslavement, “doctor� often purchased enslaved people to experiment on them.

After Reconstruction, when Black folks died from being overworked, often their relatives were

ring for the children they had not yet conceived.

That was their decision to make, not his.

Between 1929 and 1976, at least 7000 people were sterilized in North Carolina by judicial order.

Thousands more were sterilized by order of local judges. The state set aside $10 million in 2014 to pay some of the oppressive state policy victims, but many don’t qualify because they lack documentation. Those sterilized were treated as guinea pigs.

not told of their demise, but nearby medical schools used their bodies to teach medical students about anatomy.

It was legal in 32 states to sterilize Black women (and others considered “marginal� without their permission. In Alabama, in 1973, the Reif sisters, aged 12 and 14, were involuntarily sterilized in a federally-funded clinic.

An Essence magazine writer broke the story with the help of a whistleblower. The offending physician seemed to think the girls were mentally deficient and incapable of ca-

J. Marion Sims, known as the “father of gynecology,� perpetuated some of the more chilling experiments on Black women’s bodies. He performed sterilizations, unnecessary C-sections, and more on Black women and worked on them until he could perfect the technique to use on white women.

Sims performed many of the painful operations without anesthesia.

In other cases, Black women were given so much mind-numbing morphine that they besee LAST WORD, page 20

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INSIDE

Faithful Utterances

Quit Playin’

AODI Hosts Ribbon-Cutting

This week I had to relay some bad news to a childhood friend. After waiting another year, believing the best, the parole board said “no” to his release. I prayed and believed God that this time, he’d be released to go home to his family. In addition, this had been a difficult week with the funeral of my dear friend’s son and some other challenges.

Just three weeks before James Earl Ray assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, he delivered a speech that he could offer today. Dr. King stood erect at the podium of Grosse Pointe High School near Detroit. All of his speeches, sermons, and homilies wore titles.

On this day, the title was “The Other America!”

After a brief shutdown due to the pandemic, the Art of Digital Influence (AODI) is reopening its doors in a new location in downtown Dallas. AODI will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new building on January 16.

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January 15, 2021

MY TRUTH

by Cheryl Smith, Publisher

Person of the year Roland Martin

Believe his hype!

Texas Metro News’ Person of the Year is journalist, businessman and philanthropist Roland Sebastian Martin.

The Houston native is a graduate of Texas A&M University where he pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. An often requested speaker, he is the recipient of numerous awards, honorary degrees and recognitions for his works; including being named journalist of the year by the National Association of Black Journalists.

His works took him to several cities in Texas, as well as across the country and internationally.

In previous years, we recognized Rev. Yvette Blair-Lavallais, who took on sexual misconduct in the church and the silence surrounding it; and then there was Judge Tammy Kemp who courageously presided over the Amber GuyJanuary 15, 2021

Which brings me to my truth.

When I think about the past year and the influence that Mr. Martin has had on educating and informing the masses; I am proud to call his name.

I could cite his impressive numbers across social media platforms or wherever he gathers, but those impressive numbers are rapidly increasing.

Yes, he’s controversial and fearless, but he’s also well-prepared, well-researched, passionate and committed.

Sure, he can be entertaining and he has provided a platform for entertainers, activists, experts, educators, disenfranchised, empowered, elderly, youth, and more.

Mr. Martin comes down on the right side of history. He uses his digital platform Roland Martin Unfiltered to find and ask the right questions

ger murder trial and after the verdict and sentencing, in a display of compassion, embraced the convicted murderer.

We stand by our decisions because we believe in being on the right side of history and we’re not hypocrites!

When choosing our Person of the Year, we don’t look for people who are the flavor of the moment or the latest social media phenomenon.

We don’t choose someone who is trying to be a celebrity, instead we choose someone whose works, life or actions are worth being celebrated.

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and get the answers, empower the powerless, and right wrongs.

When the so-called mainstream media can’t find Black experts for their shows or stories, Martin can.

When so-called seekers/ speakers of truth couldn’t call a lie a lie, Martin did.

There’s no place where he has a problem entering. His faith is strong, as is his voice.

There are so few with the freedom to speak truth to power, regardless of how often you hear their voice or see their faces. Too many with power are silent and that’s okay, as long as there’s a Roland Martin among us.

The more he uses his voice to empower and uplift, the more Martin’s millions of lis-

Roland Martin (r) with guests on Roland Martin Unfiltered

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My Truth, from page 4...

teners and viewers donate and grow.

People are tuning in. Don’t believe me?

He’s on Youtube, Facebook, I Heart Radio and stay tuned because you will be hearing more about him in the future.

Roland Martin has receipts

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and in a world where we have so many dealing with the “impostor syndrome” because they are perpetrating a fraud; he is the real deal.

He’s done radio, television, print and digital. He’s an author, mentor, and the husband of the dynamic Rev. Jacquie Hood Martin.

That’s why when he walks into a room, he doesn’t need an introduction. His work is there for the world to see.

Rev. Al Sharpton said the hardest person to give a eulogy for is the person who has you hallucinating, because they haven’t done a thing.

No hallucinating here, none at all. Roland Martin works tirelessly and that work is worthy of recognition. It would be a glaring oversight to not acknowledge his contributions.

You can also support the only daily digital show of its kind and join the #BringThe-

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Funk Fan Club by using PayPal, Square or CashApp. Or log on to rolandsmartin.com for more info.

Read more about Roland Martin at https://texasmetronews.com/arts-entertainment/martin-makes-strideswith-digital-newscast/ or https://blackpressusa.com/ roland-martin-makes-strideswith-digital-newscast/ and you should understand why he is our Person of the Year.

January 15, 2021

God, are you listening?

FAITHFUL UTTERANCES

BY DR. FROSWA BOOKER-DREW

This week I had to relay some bad news to a childhood friend.

After waiting another year, believing the best, the parole board said “no” to his release.

I prayed and believed God that this time, he’d be released to go home to his family.

In addition, this had been a difficult week with the funeral of my dear friend’s son and some other challenges. It seemed like there were so many things happening backto-back that I had no control over both personally and professionally. As a person who has long believed in the power of prayer, for a moment, I began to doubt if God heard my prayer.

As I thought about similar experiences, I remember when my father was diagnosed with Cancer and I believed that God was going to heal him. I knew that my strong, 6’6 dad was going to beat the disease. After his diagnosis, he passed away three months later.

I was hurt because I thought God abandoned me, that God didn’t hear my pleading to heal him. Surely, God heard my daughter who at the time was four years old praying over her grandfather for his healing!

God reminded me that my prayer was heard and that my father was healed. He was not healed on this side, but he was no longer suffering.

As much as I loved my father, so did God and that my father belonged to God. I realized in January 15, 2021

that moment that I was blessed for the time I had, and that God granted me the gift of my father.

God heard my friend’s prayer who is incarcerated, too. My friend experienced what many of us do—when God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we want them answered, we shut down and our emotions overload us.

We become angry, frustrated, and even feel betrayed. We tally all the things we’ve done or find

me. This also happens in our relationship with God. Life happens to all of us.

There are real consequences for our actions and sometimes we suffer because of the actions of others. Refer to Matthew 5:45.

Bad things happen to good people, too. Ultimately, we cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can control the way we respond to the events of our life. Just as God has given us free will to

ourselves feeling punished for the things we have not done.

Our relationship with God is so similar at times with what we experience as parents.

As a parent, I may tell my child an answer she does not like. She is angry and yet, she doesn’t realize that there are things I see that she is unaware of. It doesn’t make the situation better even if I were to explain it, and I allow my answer to stand. I still love her and nothing changes—at least for

make decisions, we can choose to see God’s grace and mercy.

In some instances, we can even acknowledge the role we may have played.

For my friend who is incarcerated, he recognizes how his decisions also impacted the lives of those who care for him. There are consequences because of our decisions (or the decisions of others) and sometimes, what we are experiencing are the results. It doesn’t mean that

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God loves us any less or leaves us.

There are times when we do not know what we’ve done. Job had done nothing wrong and yet, he lost everything. Refer to (Job 13: 15) Despite all the losses that he experienced in his health, finances, and family, Job made a decision to choose God even when he didn’t comprehend what was happening. He chose to trust God and to continue doing what he knew what was right.

He didn’t give up.

I’m being challenged as many of us are…we have the choice to see God use these experiences as opportunities for transformation or we can choose to remain angry, hurt, and resentful.

The latter doesn’t serve us well and it robs us from living the abundant life we are promised. Life wasn’t promised to be easy or free from pain and loss. You are entitled to feel the way you want to but at some point, you must stand on the promises of God and believe: (Deuteronomy 31:6) God is with you even when it feels like God is not answering, listening, or moving the way we want. Focus on what God has done and develop an attitude of gratitude. There is power in your praise!

Dr. Froswa’ Booker-Drew is the Founder and CEO of Soulstice Consultancy, specializing as a Partnership Broker and Leadership Expert for companies and organizations to thrive with measurable and meaningful impact. She also is the VP of Community Affairs and Strategic Alliances for the State Fair of Texas.

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Dr. King- “The Other America” QUIT PLAYIN’ VINCENT L. HALL Just three weeks before James Earl Ray assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, he delivered a speech that he could offer today. Dr. King stood erect at the podium of Grosse Pointe High School near Detroit. All of his speeches, sermons, and homilies wore titles. On this day, the title was “The Other America!”

Here is what Dr. King said: “There are two Americas.

One America is beautiful for situation. In this America, millions of people have the milk of prosperity and the honey of equality flowing before them.

This America is the habitat of millions of people who have food and material necessities for their bodies, culture, and education for their minds, freedom, and human dignity for their spirits. In this America, children grow up in the sunlight of opportunity.

However, there is another America. This other America has a daily ugliness about it that transforms the buoyancy of hope into the fatigue of despair.

In this other America, thousands and thousands of people, men, in particular, walk the streets in search for jobs that do not exist. In this Other America, thousands of young people are deprived of an opportunity to get an adequate education.”

In 2021, too many people live in King’s “Other America.”

The Other America of today is reeling from a health pandemic that ravages the poor and unmyimessenger.com

Dr. King Memorial

insured. In this Other America, the lack of insurance and access to affordable health care kills thousands daily. Poverty is both a pre-existing condition and a stated cause of death.

As if the loss of life was not enough, a moribund U.S. economy came with the disease.

Black communities, who have historically faced unemployment at thrice the rate of others, are left looking for jobs (as King bemoaned) that do not exist.

The Other America suffered a brutal race pandemic before COVID-19 showed up. The eight-minute video of George Floyd’s execution by the Minneapolis police went viral and shocked the entire world. However, it was business as usual in the Other America.

That video, like the ones capturing the demise of Philando Castille, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, and Eric Garner, came as no surprise to the Other Americans.

Atatiana Jefferson, Sandra

Bland, Botham Jean, and 12 year-olds Tamir Rice and Santos Rodriguez never had a videotape to go viral. Still, their names are on the Top 100 “Best known” list of unarmed minorities killed by trigger-happy police. In the Other America, police abuse and unintended homicides are a daily staple.

In the Other America, any one or group of protesters brazen enough to scale the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. would be executed, post-haste.

In the Other America, you cannot break into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, prop your feet up on the desk and post the picture on Twitter.

Martin King asked me to remind you that Miriam Carey died in a hail of bullets when she got confused near the White House. In this Other America, she died at the gate with a one-year-old infant in her back seat. And by the way, in the Other America, there ain’t nobody standing in line to adopt Black and Brown babies,

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adolescents or teens.

In “America the Beautiful,” the stock market is high, profits are higher, and the tax rate is low enough to fire your accountant. However, in this Other America, tens of millions are unemployed, near eviction, and hungry. The only thing they have in excess in the Other America is homelessness, mental health issues, and a lack of healthy food choices.

On March 14, 1968, Dr. King rushed past more than 200 “conservative picketers” to deliver this message. He addressed a group of citizens concerned about fair housing and education. Fair housing and education are still issues in the Other America, 53 years later.

There are Two Americas, but the Other America has little milk or honey to speak of. This Other America is a national disgrace!

Vincent L. Hall is an author, activist, and award-winning columnist.

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TRUMP

IMPEACHED ... Again!

Citizens weigh in on vote, riot and aftermath

By Texas Metro News Team When the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday afternoon to impeach President Donald J. Trump on charges he incited last week’s storming of the Capitol that left five people dead, some local residents applauded the decision.

One religious leader lauded House members for their difficult vote saying, he was “glad Congress decided to have some moral courage.”

Rev. Dr. Frederick D.

Haynes, III, Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church said the move to hold the president accountable was a necessary one.

“When Jan. 6 happened we (Blacks) were not surprised,” he said. “We know how White supremacy can be downright violent. We are asking for this country to come to terms with history that feeds the present so we will stop with the naive notion that ‘This is who we are’.”

On the contrary, to not have held President Trump responsible for last week’s

Rev. Dr. Frederick Haynes

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insurrection at the Capitol would have threatened U.S. democracy, Rev. Haynes said.

“I think it would have set a dangerous precedent going forward if someone in the highest office of the land, who has already been the most corrupt president in the history of this country, as far as I’m concerned, was able to stoke a sedition and to have there be no consequences.”

Deborah Peoples, chairwoman of the Tarrant County Democratic Party and a candidate for Fort Worth mayor, said the assault on the Capitol was so unbelievable and brutal that House representatives had no choice but to act.

“No one should have lost their lives and the trauma that those individuals suffered will be felt for years to come,” she said.

Members of the House of Representatives, including 10 Republicans and all Democrats, voted 232 to 197 in favor of a resolution citing President Trump for “high crimes and misdemeanors”

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Deborah Peoples

associated with his role in the insurrection.

Last Wednesday, hundreds of rioters, some armed, forced their way into the Capitol building, which was closed to the public, overtaking a woefully undermanned Capitol Police force in one of the worst breaches of security in US history.

The rioters broke windows, defaced furniture and office name plates of Congress members. Many of the protestors forced their way onto the House floor where debate had begun regarding the Electoral College confirmation of the November 2020 presidential election. see TRUMP on page 12

January 15, 2021

Trump,

from page 11...

Prior to their breaking into the Capitol, protestors gathered and listened to President Trump during a rally elsewhere across the District of Columbia.

The president told the protestors to “fight like hell” and to march to the Capitol in protest of the November Presidential election. The President has repeatedly said the election included illegal votes and had been unfairly “stolen” from him.

DeSoto City Councilwoman Kaye Brown-Patrick said it was at President Trump’s urgence of the protestors to “fight like hell” that incited the insurrection.

“It was a blatant display of attack on the rule of order,” she said, adding that the C o m m a n d e r - i n - C h i e f ’s language, verbiage and refusal to denounce the actions of the rioters that created a hostile environment among the insurgents.

“Pressure bursts pipes,” she said.

After bursting their way into the Capitol, rioters took over some empty Congressional offices.

One rioter took selfies of himself with his foot on the office desk of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Social media images captured the rioter saying he had taken mail off the House Speaker’s desk.

In the end, one Capitol police officer lay dead after he was trumpled, dragged and beaten during the melee. Two officers committed suicide in the days after the insurgence as images of the security breach were broadcast around the world.

A California woman who January 15, 2021

was dressed in military gear died after she was shot by a Capitol police officer when she and other rioters banged against a doorway that officers had blockaded.

Texas State Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, also blamed the President for the violent protests.

“Last week’s planned insurrection against the United States is the culmination of irrational, violent rhetoric from an increasingly desperate man,” said Rose who was recently elected first vice-chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus.

Wednesday’s vote is the first time in history that a president has been impeached twice.

On Dec. 18, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump on two charges, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, in relation to a telephone call he had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Janis McHenry

Janis McHenry, President, TRI-CITIES Unit, NAACP, welcomed the second impeachment.

“I’m happy to see him impeached again. However, our democracy is still threatened if the Senate does not proceed to convict him. Donald Trump and his

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supporters will not go away.

We can’t afford to hold our breath for another four years.”

All North Texas Congressional Democrats voted in favor of the resolution to impeach the President. All Republican representatives voted against it.

Congressman Marc Veasey

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, who had earlier expressed frustration over last week’s riot, said he never thought he would have had the”unprecedented role of voting to impeach a sitting president two different times.”

However, he said, the president’s behavior called for swift action to immediately remove Donald Trump from the nation’s highest office.

“Last week, Donald Trump instigated a violent insurrection against America while my colleagues and I convened to do our Constitutional duty of certifying the states’ results of the Electoral College for the next president of the United States,” he said. “His incitement of a violent mob of his supporters resulted in multiple deaths, put countless lives at risk and led to the desecration of the hallowed halls of our United States Capitol building.

He called President Trump “an absolute threat to our democracy.”

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“That is why I joined a bipartisan group of my colleagues to hold this president accountable for his dangerous actions by impeaching him today,” he said in a written statement.

“History will look back on this moment to see who stood with democracy and who did not. I implore Republicans in the Senate to put partisanship aside and vote on this article of impeachment immediately.

The future of ‘We the people’ and our democracy cannot wait another second.”

The U.S. Senate now will consider the single charge against President Trump and will schedule a trial, although it was unclear Wednesday when that trial would be held.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he does not expect to hold a trial before the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden on Jan. 19.

Texas Democrats called for Texas’s Congressional leadership to set aside party

Gilberto Hinojosa

politics and, regardless of whether the president is sitting, should hold a trial.

“Now, (U.S. Sens.) John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, Ted Cruz, R-Houston, and the United States Senate must review the evidence and act according to the Constitution. see TRUMP on page 13

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Trump,

from page 12...

Partisanship must be pushed aside and our elected officials must put the rule of law above all else,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party.

“Trump is a clear and present danger to our country, and the Senate should conduct this impeachment trial expeditiously and remove him from office immediately.

June Jenkins, president of the Collin County NAACP, agreed.

“I think it’s important to ensure that he can’t run again.

If charges aren’t brought against him, he will try to run again. I think he’s a danger to our country. When it comes to our Constitution, what he did last week was a violation. He did not protect the people of this country. His words were intentional and incited the riots that occurred afterwards.

It was domestic terrorism.

If it were (former President) Barack Obama, it would not have taken seven days to get to this day.”

Some community residents said Wednesday’s impeachment could offer a restoral of hope in government and begin a nationwide renewal among citizens, “The impeachment of President Trump was necessary for America to start the healing process and unify as a country,” said Shaunte Allen, the Place 5, City Council Member in Glenn Heights.

“Five people are dead and hundreds injured from the horrific riot he incited on last Wednesday. My prayers are with those families,:” she said.

“I am hopeful that the Senate will prosecute and indict myimessenger.com

June Jenkins

Deyana Wilson

him for the crimes he has committed. It has been four years too long.”

Deyana Wilson, 20, and co-founder of the Hurstbased Coalition for Equity Development, said she is encouraged by Wednesday’s Congressional vote impeaching President Trump.

“After helplessly watching

President Trump get elected into office four years ago and watching the country slip backwards instead of forward in regards to racism, I, and many of my peers, were determined to make our voices be heard by protesting and successfully voting him out,” said Wilson, a student at the University of North Texas

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who majors in jazz studies.

“To have him voted out and impeached gives me hope,” Wilson said, adding llathat she did not vote for Trump.

“Although we have a long way to go to heal our country this is a really big step. It sets an example that no one is above the law, not even the president, just as our Founding Fathers wanted it to be. Hopefully, he pays for his crimes against his own supporters and the damage he has done on American democracy.” said Wilson, who is involved in the BLM work and cast her first vote for U.S. President in 2020.

Texas Metro News Staff Writers Ashley Moss, Marva Sneed, Jirah Mickle, Eva Coleman and Valerie Fields Hill contributed to this report.

January 15, 2021

All in the Family A COVID-19 survival story from baby to adults

Orlander and Aneesha Jackson with their teenage daughters

By Eva D. Coleman Lifestyle and Culture Editor The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on millions of households around the globe. Although there are many suggestions to protect against it, some things are unavoidable.

“We were going to work, and we were taking all the precautions that you could January 15, 2021

possibly think of to take; and, in doing the right thing, you know, it just, it happened,” educator Aneesha Jackson, 37, said.

The coronavirus entered her and her husband Orlander’s household like a fast-moving train, yet played out in slow motion.

“We went three days or so without even knowing we had contracted it,” she said. “And

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while he was still moving, we went to go and be seen, and that’s when we found out.”

Orlander, 39, is a locomotive engineer, home periodically and then back on track.

During a brief visit home, he showed signs of what they believed to be a common cold.

“It was like a day and a half; he did have a dry cough, and he was like, ‘Aww, it’s just a

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slight cough, you know, or cold,’” Aneesha said. “He thought it was a cold, something that he normally goes through every year; and so, that’s what he thought. But inside, it was the virus.”

Aneesha says her symptoms started one evening with a headache, followed by fatigue. Later, her 14-yearold daughter came home tired and had a fever. After myimessenger.com

giving NyQuil that night, she gathered her daughter and remaining children, a 13-year-old daughter and seven-month-old son, and went to get tested the next morning.

Working out of town, Orlander is used to receiving playful phone calls from his family. While resting in Arkansas, he received one from Texas that was no laughing matter.

“I was laying down and she called me, because she’ll play sometimes, they call themselves playing pranks. She was like, ‘You need to go and get tested. We’re all positive,’” Orlander said. “I said, ‘Stop playing.’ So I kept staying there for a while. She said, ‘Nah, I’m serious.’ Now, the whole time I’m saying this to her, I’m sick. I’m laying there sick. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I better go and get tested.’”

Orlander went to get tested in Arkansas, however the reality of delayed results caused him to hit the road. Although the drop in oxygen level common with COVID-19 impacted his respiratory function, he pushed through.

“I was knocking at death’s door and didn’t even know it,” he said. “So, I put the A/C on high so that I could breathe and I just drove straight to the ER here in Frisco.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, normal pulse oximeter readings that measure blood oxygen levels usually range from 95 to 100 percent, with values under 90 percent considered to be low. Not only did Orlander test positive for COVID-19, his condition was deteriorating fast with a blood oxygen level of 83. He was also diagnosed with Hypoxia and Pneumonia.

“His condition was really bad but he wasn’t sharing that with me,” Aneesha said. myimessenger.com

Orlander Jackson with seven-month-old son

“I guess he was just trying to be strong. And so, I don’t even know how he managed to drive five hours, all the way to Texas, and he did.”

With a wife and two out of three children having tested positive for COVID-19, even in grave condition, Orlander was determined to get to his family. His doctor stopped that desire in its tracks.

“He said, ‘Mr. Jackson, let me tell you something, I’m going to level with you.’ This is a white doctor,” Orlander said. He added that the doctor frankly said, “‘COVID is worse in Black and brown people than it is in white folks.’ He said, ‘I’m just gonna be honest with you; It’s way worse off in y’all than it is in us.’ He said, ‘If I let you go home tonight, you will not make it through the morning.’”

With the doctor’s candidness, Orlander stayed put, allowing the regimen of oxygen, antibiotics, steroids and I-V that started in the emergency room to continue after hospital admission in an effort to save his life.

“I lost smell, taste, motor skills a little bit, peripheral,”

Orlander said. “It affected my neurological system. It affected so many things in me because I was worse off than most people.”

After a day-and-a-half in the hospital, Orlander was released to go home.

So many have not been as lucky. Orlander feels that he now knows when, where and from whom he contracted COVID-19; and a simple task that could have possibly prevented it.

“Mind you, I’m a locomotive engineer, so we swap trains in Longview, TX, and there was a caucasian crew that was on the train when I swapped with them,” he said.

“I didn’t have my mask on… because when I get on the train, I’m sanitizing, wiping down, I’m doing all that. But I should have just went on and had my mask on before when I was sanitizing, but I didn’t.”

He quickly sensed an issue with being unmasked in what he already felt was unhealthy, recycled air.

“So, when I got up there, I’m like, ‘Something’s not right about this air.’ It’s just, the atmosphere wasn’t right with the air and the breath-

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ing. I said, ‘Unh uh, something’s not right.’ And shortly after that, I was sick.”

Orlander recalled early symptoms, saying “I had like an instant hot-cold and I just started sweating profusely just out of nowhere. I just started sweating and I didn’t understand what my body was going through.”

Yet and still, he tried to rationalize his lack of understanding as being common and brought coronavirus right through his family’s door.

Of the Jackson’s three children, the only negative test belonged to their 13-year-old daughter. Another level of weariness was the infection of their seven-month-old son.

“You hear people say, ‘Oh the kids will be fine.’ Or, they’re not affected by this virus and that is not true,” Aneesha said. “They are; and people were actually shocked when I told them, ‘Yes, my seven-month-old tested positive.’”

“That really hurt me,” Orlander said. “I broke down at that time because, I was like, ‘How could I be so careless to come home in that short period of time that I did, and not only give it to my entire family, but my seven-month-old had it too?’”

As a recent news report about parents losing their five-year-old daughter due to COVID-19 had Aneesha overcome with emotion, she reflected on her family’s experience.

“The uncomfortable thing is that my daughters, and my husband; we were able to receive medicine. They didn’t give my baby anything,” she said. “I guess they feel that it’ll just go through their system or they won’t totally be see FAMILY on page 16

January 15, 2021

Family,

from page 15... affected by it.”

The loss of Lastassija White and Quincy Drone’s daughter Tagan, a kindergartener from Amarillo, TX who died less than 24 hours after being diagnosed with COVID-19, proved that theory wrong.

“I just could not handle the pain. I couldn’t even imagine the pain that those parents felt and they were reaching out for help,” Aneesha shared through tears. “So, because I went through and my baby survived, I want other babies to survive as well if they have to experience something like this.”

Although initially there were scary thoughts and doubts, with an added boost, the youngest of the Jackson’s crew of five pulled through.

“In my mind, I was thinking, well, ‘All of us, our immune system is strong enough that we should survive it,’” Orlander said. “And I was thinking, ‘Man, seven months old...his immune system is not strong enough.’

Little did I know, he got a strong little immune system.”

Aneesha quickly added, “And because we gave him those Vitamin D drops!”

“You need to take this seriously...first of all. This is real.

It is not fake,” Aneesha said.

“It is a virus that I’ve never experienced or had in my life.”

She shared advice to “keep your social groups small, wear your mask...wear your mask. It needs to be over your mouth and your nose. I don’t care what type of mask it is, it is there to protect you and it actually works. Another thing is for African Americans, brown skin individuals, get your Vitamin D levels up.”

January 15, 2021

Aneesha and Orlander Jackson with seven-month-old son

Aneesha shared that she learned of the nation’s leading disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci’s concern regarding the correlation of COVID-19 effects with people of color who often have a deficiency of Vitamin D. She knew of the deficiency risks long before COVID-19 and credits having an African American pediatrician and their foresight in intervention for their seven-month-old’s symptoms that only consisted of mild congestion and a little bit of sneezing.

“She told us to put Vitamin D drops into his formula, and we started that at two months,” Aneesha said. “And so, his Vitamin D level was high; and he was able to get through it like never before.”

The Jacksons shared that friends, church members and neighbors stepped in to assist with groceries and care, leaving items at their doorstep. One neighbor left what Aneesha describes as “just what I needed” in regards to Zarbee’s Mucus and Cough

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for their infant son, “Because I did not feel comfortable with us taking medication and he had nothing to take.”

Having COVID-19 and being the caregiver to everyone else in the home who was diagnosed weighed heavily on Aneesha.

“While I’m healing, I had to make sure that everybody was okay. And so, it was a lot.

I don’t want to go through this again. It was definitely a lot but I wanted to share our story because, for African Americans, brown skin ethnicity groups, we have to take this very seriously and know that it is a virus that is causing more critical symptoms and deaths as well,” she said.

With fluid guidelines on the number of days it takes for a person to get “back to normal,” or return to work, there were wide variations between Orlander and Aneesha.

“The 14-day thing, that don’t work,” Orlander said.

“Mine went on about 20 days.”

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Regarding the reduction of quarantine to 10 days, Aneesha added, “That is not enough. We’re still recovering. Although I’m able to go to work now and everything, we’re still recovering. I got tested three times...I was positive on the 10th. I went back on the 19th (to get tested); I was still positive.”

After receiving a positive COVID-19 diagnosis and later testing negative, the Jacksons had a major concern of which they feel is shared, yet there is little to no information.

“Because we were in our home and it was so many of us that had it, we were like, ‘Okay, how do we get it out of our home?’ There is nothing out there saying, ‘Okay! This is how you get it (out).’”

They shared tips of what they did to sanitize their contaminated spaces.

“One of the things that we did was we made sure we washed our sheets every two days; because you’re sweating, you’re sweating the virus myimessenger.com

out. You have to wash it because again, the virus is highly contagious so we try to get rid of it,” Aneesha said.

“Then, when we got to a place where we had a little bit more strength, we lysoled and microband our rooms.

Then, we let our windows up for about an hour in our house; and then let our windows back down and lysoled and microband again. And that’s when we started seeing relief in our environment.”

Orlander added the utilization of an air purifier attached to their home’s heating and air conditioning system.

“One thing she left out that most people don’t have in their home that we do, we have a UV light hooked into our central heat and air vac system that cleans the air, kills viruses and all that type of stuff. It’s called a HALO. So that, on top of sanitizing; and I have a handheld UV light as well that kills viruses and stuff like that too,” he said.

Ridding the coronavirus from their bodies and home has not removed the mindset of some who treat the Jacksons as if they’re still contagious. They report people staying away from and acting strange with them at work.

“It’s because people are not educated about the virus,” Aneesha said.

They continue to stand tall and share their story, having no COVID shame.

“It’s a virus that affected the world, not just our community, it ain’t just Black and brown. It’s touched every ethnicity, everybody, every walk of life. It’s touched us all,” Orlander said. “It didn’t care if you’re rich, poor, it didn’t care. It touched everybody.

Politicians, it didn’t care. It’s killing everybody. So for people to be ashamed of… what are you ashamed of? This is myimessenger.com

a virus that got out into the world and has wreaked havoc upon us. So now we’re trying to bounce back from this. To be honest, why would you be ashamed of something that you didn’t do or cause?”

“For me, It is definitely emotionally draining along with the physical. But, emotionally because when they tell you you have it, first of all, I was in shock,” Aneesha said. “And then for you to tell me that my kids have it; I sat there a good 10 minutes. They had to come back in there and say, ‘Are you ready to go?’ I said ‘Just give me a few more minutes. Just give me a few more minutes because I have to try to figure out what I am going to do with this information.’ Not only that, but stay strong for my kids.”

“Then, on top of that, you have to backtrack and answer all these questions, ‘Who were you around?’ That was a lot,” she added. “Then you have to call anybody that you came in contact with in the last week. It was so hard calling the individuals that I called to tell them. I wasn’t even showing any symptoms, but I had to call them anyway.

And, I think that’s why people...they don’t want to have to go through that shame or the heartache of telling others, ‘Hey, you need to go get tested.’ And although it was hurtful and I cried. I was on the phone crying because there are people that are dear to me and I did not want them to feel like I was careless or did not care about them, or to feel that I would put them in harm’s way.”

The calls Aneesha made were met with unexpected responses.

“Every person that I called said, ‘I appreciate you. Thank you for doing this and I know it took a lot. You didn’t know,

and I know you wouldn’t put me in harm’s way.’ So that meant a lot to me,” she said.

“As I called them heartbroken, they encouraged me.”

Orlander is grateful for his family and shared that he’s “Ready to just get back to life, get back to working and provide for the family, and just being the father that the kids know me to be.” He spoke glowingly as he glanced at his “superwoman” by his side.

“For me to be as sick as I got and my wife, with her being sick, not only trying to make sure she gets her health together and caring for our son, then our eldest child and then trying to take care of me.

I was the sickest out of all of them,” he said. “But for her to just be running around and

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she’s sick herself, that’s… I can’t even put words on that, but I’m blessed.”

While COVID-19 has devastated many families, it’s definitely brought the Jacksons even closer.

“We experienced support and strength in this family.

And, with that support and strength, love just permeated throughout this entire house,” Aneesha said. “And, after this experience, all of our views I’m pretty sure are much better and the appreciation, because sometimes, you don’t realize what you have until it’s tested or almost gone. And so, I made up in my mind that I’m not going to be stressed out anymore over anything. I’m going to enjoy my life and enjoy my family.”

January 15, 2021

January 15, 2021

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January 15, 2021

Last Word, from page 2...

came addicted. Sims is credited with inventing the specula, a tool routinely used in most gynecological exams. Actually, he used a spoon, then improved on it, for the examinations. Sims had quite the career, serving for a time as President of the American Medical Association. There was a statue of him in New York’s Central Park and tributes to him all over the country. Blessedly the Central Park statue was taken down in 2018, after several protests. Why was it there in the first place?

In her book, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black American from Colonial Times To The Present (Doubleday, 2006), Harriet Washington details the many ways Black bodies were guinea pigs for white experiments.

That’s not all. The Institute of Medicine has documented that black folk with broken bones are less likely to get pain medication than whites.

And the very recent COVID death of African American physician Dr. Susan Moore, who was denied pain medication and was described as “intimidating” by the medical staff, illustrates how the medical establishment treats too many Black people.

Having said all that, I’ll still be standing in lines soon as my number is called for the COVID vaccination. I prefer the Pfizer vaccination from the research I’ve done, but I’ll take the Moderna if available.

Why? I’m over 60, diabetic, and thus at high risk for getting COVID. I want to travel again, get on a plane, and see my mama and my friends. I don’t know about eating out – my culinary skills have improved. But I know that my limited exposure to the world has gotten on my last nerve.

We were their guinea pigs, and the medical establishment has been negligent toward Black people. By now, though, enough white people have had the vaccination that by some wicked irony, they are my guinea pigs. Get the vaccination if you can, medical racism not withstanding. Black folks are twice as likely to die from COVID as white people. Protect yourself!

Ed Bell Construction Company An Equal Opportunity Employer January 4, 2021 Ed Bell Construction is a Dallas based heavy highway contractor doing business in the North Texas market since 1963. With clients such as TxDOT, Dallas County Public Works, and the Cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Richardson and Mansfield (plus many others), we have a strong backlog of work in the highway market locally.

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Neal Johnson WITH LOVE FROM MARVA

BY MARVA J. SNEED

On “From Marva with Love,” we showcased Neal Johnson, the owner of NOW Property Investments LLC., who invests in rental properties, fixing and flipping and providing alternative ways for homeowners to sell their homes. Neal said he found his love for real estate fresh out of college. That hobby turned into a passion, and now his overall goal is to serve the community by showing people there is more than one way to sell your home and you don’t have to do it alone.

MS: Welcome to the show, Mr. Johnson. Share with us what you do.

NJ: Exactly yes, thank you, so when they go to sell their homes, they might go to a realtor and they say ‘hey, I’m interested in selling my home.’

The realtor might come out to the house and say, ‘okay. I think I can sell your home at a certain price, but you’re going to have to do x amount of repairs to your house just for you to be able to sell it at this price or I’m not going to take it.’ So that’s where we come in. We come in.

We’ll say, ‘we will purchase the house as-is no repairs needed and will get you the price that you need.’

MS: So for some of us who don’t understand, what does that mean when you say ‘as-is?’

NJ: Yeah, most of the time it’s only worth less because it myimessenger.com

Neal Johnson

needs a lot of repairs. Most of the homes that we purchased are homes that usually need repairs. Homes that need help, like $50,000 worth of work or sometimes they just need to get out of their homes just simply because they inherited the home and they can’t afford the taxes on it. Or they’re relocating and they just want to sell it real quick and they know if they go with the realtor it might take them up to 30 days with financing or sometimes up to like six or seven months just because with the market and everything

you just never really know. So what I say is when we come to the homeowner’s home, we can assess if this house can be on the market or not. If it’s able to be on the market we’ll go in the house and we will tell the homeowner, ‘Hey, you don’t need much work.’ And we’ll just refer them to a realtor so they can get that market valuepriced. But even if they tell us, ‘hey Neal, I understand I can get the market value price, but look, I need to sell my house fast here and I understand that the realtor just not going to get it done in the time that I need,’

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then that’s where we come in.

There was so much in the interview with Mr. Johnson.

To hear the full interview go to BlogTalkRadio.com Link: htt p : / / b i t. l y / 2 LQ S x 8 1 a n d on Facebook.com@ TexasMetroNews to see the video. To Contact Mr. Johnson, visit his website Now Property Investments: www. nowpropertyinvest.com. Tune in to “from Marva with Love” on Fridays from 11 am-1 pm.

“From Marva with Love” BlogTalkRadio.com/Cheryl’s World Texas Metro News email: marvasneed@ myimessenger.com

January 15, 2021

Tues 11:30 am - 1 pm

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Dallas COVID-19 Resources

MO’ BETTAH WINGS

COVID-19 Call the hotline The bestHotline way to 24-7 protect yourself and others is to 214-670-INFO (4636) to get information regarding: stay at home.

•Current COVID-19 Regulations & Testing Locations •Employment Assistance •Federal Relief Payment Information •Volunteer/Assistance Opportunities •Rental/Mortgage, and Eviction Assistance •Small Business Assistance •Social Services (food pantry, childcare assistance, senior assistance, unsheltered resident assistance and mental health resources) •Utility Payment Assistance

Slow the spread of COVID-19 The best way to protect yourself and others is to stay at home.

Safer at home

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11am-10pm Monday-Saturday 12-8 Sunday

Wash with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitizer.

Keep your mouth and nose covered while out in public.

Visit dallascityhall.com/COVID19 for a list of resources and up-to-date information about COVID-19.

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January 15, 2021

214-421-5387

Two Podners Bar-B-Que & Seafood 1441 Robert B Cullum Blvd.

Dallas, Texas 75210 January 15, 2021

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“We are open for carryout. We care about our customers and our community and we thank you for your business during this difficult time.�

Hours of business: Monday-Thursday 11:30 am-9:00 pm.

Friday 11:30 am-10:00 pm.

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We run specials Monday-Thursday

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January 15, 2021

EAT ZONE Best Food in Town The Hidden Secret of OakCliff 2 Burgers for $5 2 Pc Grilled/Fried Ăžsh

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Open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-8p.

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During this pandemic we are still open for call-in and pick up orders. We have specials Tuesdays $5 burger baskets with fries and Wednesdays $5 chicken strip baskets with fries. Our menu is filled with so many delicious items. We have Bar-B-Q plates, Crab boils and so much more. We would love to serve you.

6090 Bonnie View Rd Dallas, TX 75241 Hours of services may differ

Phone: (214) 372-6321

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Dr. Amerson adapts to Temporary Business Closure Dr. Linda Amerson, Board Certified Trichologist, has adapted to the temporary closure of LA's Hair and Scalp Clinic. We continue to offer our award-winning products to consumers. Our exclusive products are manufactured by a facility in Garland, TX. Premium quality natural ingredients are used to assist with dry, oily, itchy, flaky, inflammed scalps, as well as hair breakage, hair thinning and regrowth.

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January 15, 2021

January 15, 2021

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January 15, 2021

Briefs

Congrats to Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.® Omega Alpha Omega Chapter 2021-2022 Executive Committee!

The first meeting of President Alana J. Miller’s reIgnite the Flame of Sisterhood administration took place virtually on Saturday, January 9, 2021. Omega Alpha Omega serves the North Texas cities of Denton, Frisco, Little Elm, Prosper and The Colony. Alpha Kappa Alpha celebrates 113th anniversary on January 15.

January 15, 2021

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We’re open and ready to serve you!

You can enjoy the inauguration and still be safe!

Elaine’s

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(214) 565-1008 2717 Martin L. King Jr Blvd, Dallas, TX 75215

Wear the masks, wash your hands and show love! myimessenger.com

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January 15, 2021

INVASION WHAT’S ON MILES MIND

MILES JAYE Wednesday, January 6, 2021, America was invaded! In broad daylight, a faction known to vigorously support President Donald Trump’s assertions that the 2020 election was rigged, and that he and they were robbed of a fair election, occupied the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. They did so at the President’s prodding, and at his bidding.

Today we witnessed an assault on our government and on our nation-- from enemies within. We witnessed what I call a White Riot. I listened carefully as broadcasters struggled to find appropriate and fitting terminology to describe the mob. What do we call White rioters? I waited to hear terms typically used to describe rioters, like thugs and hoodlums, but these were White folks, so instead I heard, protesters, and even knuckleheads. Knuckleheads? That they were violently attacking the government and destroying government property makes them enemies of the state, domestic terrorists, not knuckleheads.

In case there is a further loss for words regarding today’s events, here are a few words to describe what we encountered. Invasion, insurrection, uprising, rebellion, revolt, revolution, insurgence, sedition, subversion, civil disorder, January 15, 2021

civil unrest, anarchy. Today’s action was nothing less than an attempted coup. The participants in the activities of the day-- whether violent or non-violent, are traitors to our nation.

I once wrote a song entitled “Mad to Sad.” It was a simple depiction of a complex cycle of emotions experienced by African Americans faced with cycles of brutality and atrocities against Black communities.

“I go from mad to sad, sad to mad.” Today, for the first several hours of the invasion I was glad. I was happy for the world to see a White riot, a White mob tearing up the place. I was glad because there was no way to mistake the thugs for anything but White folks.

I was glad right up until the time I noticed how casually defiant they were. My mood began to change. They rioted like they owned the place. I think I was jealous. MSNBC’s Joy Reid said, “White people are not afraid of the cops.” “They had

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come to claim what was rightfully theirs.” I couldn’t have said it any better, however, had that been a Black Lives Matters crowd, the ground would have been red with blood. In spite of destruction of government property, vandalism, breaking and entering, terroristic threats, I didn’t hear of a single arrest. The worst part is, I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it.

“I APOLOGIZE” “Some folks would rather have houses and land, some folks choose silver or gold.

These things they treasure and forget about their souls. I decided to make Jesus my choice.

The road and the going gets tough and the hills are hard to climb. I started out a long time ago, and there’s no doubt in my mind. I’ve decided to make Jesus my choice.”

I apologize to my younger brothers in music for not being a stronger, bolder steward of the artform. I, along with my

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contemporaries, let you down.

When we saw you selling your souls for the proverbial bag, we didn’t warn you of what was to come-- we stood back and watched. I suspect some even envied and coveted your massive successes. I must admit to admiring what came off as a level of business acumen that my colleagues and I never enjoyed. Your graduating class went from fly rims and beating cases, to Bentley’s to million-dollar Bugatti’s. It was hard not to ask, what were we doing wrong?

Sadly, when I watched and witnessed, one by one, your lives decayed and destroyed by extremes, excesses and depths, Godlessness that you foolishly claimed as proof of your success, I felt a sense of guilt and a level of responsibility that any big brother would and should feel when he fails to have his little brother’s back. I should have told you that while music is beausee INVASION, page 33

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Invasion,

from page 32... tiful, the business of music is the devil’s playground. I should have told you when they encouraged you to make your music dirty and violent that they were turning your music into crack.

You were next in line in a campaign of destroying our youth and our communities. There’s a reason they chose hustlers. Who better to hustle crack to their new audience? They were confident the kids would do their best to emulate you. They were right and they rewarded you generously, famously, with mansions and jets the likes of which we had never seen.

The moral of the story is, there is no moral to the story… just wisdom. The lyrics at the top of the page say it all. And remember this, we are all replaceable, we all run on a timeline, and to the devil you are expendable. So ask yourself, what do you want to have left of your soul when the music stops playing?

Make your music with love and light and it will live on forever. Trust that lil’ brothers and sisters, the world needs you, and please accept my apologies.

“GEORGIA?” Georgia? Is that really you? Did you just elect not one, but two Democrats to the U.S. Senate? Seriously, did you just elect Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Baptist preacher, and Jon Ossoff, a Jewish journalist, to the Senate? Just when I thought all was lost and was looking to retire overseas to escape American politics, you score two for the home team!

God really does work in mysterious ways, doesn’t He? The connections to John Lewis, and Martin Luther King, Jr’s Ebenezer Baptist Church for starters, are stunning. I can’t wait to dig deeper into the story, but for now suffice is to say, I’m so happy, so proud, and so encouraged by what you accomplished.

Thank you! Ali said it best… “You shook up the world!”

That’s what’s on my mind!

Website: www.milesjaye.net Podcast: https://bit.ly/2zkhSRv Email: milesjaye360@gmail.com

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January 15, 2021

BIG MAMA SAID,

“Beware of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, they are just false prophets!”

THE BLACK CARD BY TERRY ALLEN

Matthew 7:15 states, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

When Lucille “Big Mama” Allen stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the “big room” with her hands on her hips, she was teaching us how to discern between who was good for us and who was bad for us.

She loved being right! But her rightness was also a great lesson to our families as she taught us how to discern the good from the bad when we interacted with people.

She would state that a wolf in sheep’s clothing will be darn good at hiding their real intentions. In my professional daily interactions, I have always dealt with many individuals who continuously wanted to advance their own agenda and had no issues hiding real intentions.

That is what I learned was a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Just recently the rampage at the Capitol building revealed the symbolic and actual wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The “Leader” intentionally blurred the lines, manipulated the emotions of the weak and deceived an already misinformed population to incite what can be easily perceived as an insurrection.

Big Mama would say the real enemy will stop at noth-

ing to gain ground and will have his team quote God to win. Many times the wolf disguised in sheep’s clothing knows God’s Word better than we do.

1. They love themselves and power 2. They use emotional manipulation to persuade masses and 3. They refuse to respond to conventional wisdom & course corrections Big Mama said, “You have to maintain focus on a man who has the fruit of the spirit in his heart.” She meant a true leader will reveal himself in his words and his works.

So today I honor a true leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., A true civil rights legend, Dr. King fought for justice through peaceful protest—and delivered some of

the 20th century’s most iconic speeches.

Martin Luther King, Jr., is a civil rights legend.

Who would imagine a King?

King led the movement to end segregation and counter prejudice in the United States through the means of peaceful protest. King was social Justice before it was a coined Phrase. Dr. King’s dream of people working and living together side by side in peace and harmony was his strategy. I leave you with a tribute to MLK and a question from his main message: “What are you doing for others?”

Email me at terryallenpr@ gmail.com

Terry Allen is a multi-media journalist and board member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

AODI hosts Ribbon-Cutting for New Downtown Dallas Location After a brief shutdown due to the pandemic, the Art of Digital Influence (AODI) is reopening its doors in a new location in downtown Dallas. AODI will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new building on January 16.

The family-friendly event will feature a park-and-see outdoor ceremony, gift and grocery giveaways, a lowrider car show, and a socially-distanced building tour and toast.

For the past two years, AODI has served as an incubator for creatives seeking to develop and expand their social media and branding reach. The company provides members access to coworking January 15, 2021

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space, a photography studio, and inhouse media space, as well as workshops and other career development resources.

“We are excited for this opportunity to reintroduce our services to the community as we set the groundwork for creatives to grow and sustain their businesses in the new year with a new mindset and new strategies,” said AODI founder Mahiri Takai. “We want you to not only come see the space and our vision at AODI, but also see how it can elevate your vision.”

The AODI Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony will take place Saturday, January 16, from 4 to 6 pm. AODI is located at 404 Exposition Avenue in downtown Dallas. The

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Mahiri Takai

event is free and open to the public. For more info or to RSVP, visit aodinow.com myimessenger.com

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Virtual and liVe Community Calendar

Human Trafficking Awareness Month

MLK and Labor Host Dallas AFL-CIO Online Event on Facebook. Lewis Fulbright Moderator. Contact: genelantz19@gmail.com

Now-Jan 31

January 16

Things Missing/Missed Host Justin Locklear, Melissa Flower & Philip Hays. Online event. Tickets: www.undermain.com.

January 14 National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Celebration. A Virtual Panel Discussion. The Importance of an African American Museum in Fort Worth, 12-1:30 pm. RSVP: www.cowboyofcolor.org.

Mahogany The Artist at The Attaché Cigar, 4099 Camp Wisdom Rd. #101. 8 pm. $8 Open Seating at the door $50 VIP. Funk It Up w/ Joseph Veazie at The Rustic, 3656 Howell St. Dallas. 7-8:30 pm. http://www. therustic.com/ Don Diego Live at The Attaché Cigar, 4099 Camp Wisdom Rd. #101. 7-10 pm. No Cover Info: www.theattacheclub.com/ North Texas Food Bank Mobil Pantry Free Food - Comida Gratis at Casa View Christian Church, 2230 Barnes Bridge Rd. 9 am-12 pm.

Finsbury Presents: From Words to Action: 2021 Approaches to Achieving DEI. Host Color Comm: Women of Color in Communications. 11:15 am-12 pm. CST. Reg: Eventbrite.com.

January 15 D.O.B 1929 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc Founders Day 2021 AKA REACTIVATION DAY! Host Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. DFW Metroplex Chapters. Pre-Reg: bit.ly/3lrC9ak 6:30-8 pm. Via Zoom.

2021 Civil Rights Pioneers Awards Program Honoring the Legacy of Dr. King Hosted by National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. The Warehouse, 1125 E. Berry St. Ft. Worth.

7 pm. Tickets: NMWH.org.

Jazz at The Muse - An Evening with Andrea Wallace. Host TBAAL at Clarence Muse Café, 1309 Canton St. 9 pm. Tickets: Ticketmaster.com.

Grand Prairie and North Texas Food Bank. Food Distribution at 1000 Lone Star Pkwy, Grand Prairie 8 am-12 pm.

Find Food tool on www.ntfb.org Glow Forest at Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson Blvd.

10 am-6 pm. Exhibits Free. 1-8-2-5-21. occc.dallasculture.org.

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Inauguration Party Pack Pick up. Hosted by Tarrant County Democratic Party, 3130 Plumwood St, Fort Worth. 11 am-3 pm.

Tickets: secure.actblue.com/donate/partypackpickup.

DFW Certified “Funny” Comedy Show Starring Comedian Renny, at Hyena’s Comedy Nightclub Dallas, 5321 E. Mockingbird Ln. #220. 7-8:30 pm. Tickets: Eventbrite.com.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc Founders Day Zeta Phi Beta Sorority DFW Virtual Founders’ Day Program.

Hosted by Dr. Moe Anderson Author & Speaker. Online event.

12-2 pm. Info: http://www.zphib1920.org.

The Monologue Project Performance & Workshop with Stacy Rose. Host, Bishop Arts Theatre. TMP is a free online resource for high school and college students. For more info: 214-948-0716. Register: https://bit.ly/34rHJnW. 12 pm.

DFW Metroplex Jazz Presents: National Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Virtual Live Music Event, featuring The David Whiteman Band at The Warehouse, 1125 E Berry St. Ft. Worth. 7 pm. Tickets JimAustinOnline.com.

National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. MLK, JR. DAY OF SERVICE Canned Food and Blanket drop off, Family Fun Day at The Ranch, 3534 E. Berry St. Ft. Worth 10 am-2 pm, RSVP: NMWHM.org.

OneAccord Hosted by BA6E.org Online Event us02web.zoom. us. 1-3 pm CST. Reg: www.oneaccord.eventbrite.com. Community panelists will discuss Black advancement in North Texas.

4th Annual MLK Teach-In host Friendship-West Baptist Church. Online with Facebook.com/Friendship-West. 11 am12:30 pm. www.friendshipwest.org.

MLK Weekend Staycay “2021” All Black Affair at Aloft Hotel Dallas Love Field, 2333 W. Mockingbird Ln. 3 pm-2 am. RSVP/ Pre-sale Tickets: mlkweekend2021.eventbrite.com.

Harriet Tubman and Maryland’s Underground Railroad - Live stream Tour. Hosted

by Texas History & Culture, History & Culture Travels. Tickets: Eventbrite.com. 2-3:30 pm.

FREE COVID-19 Testing at Paul Quinn College 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd. 10 am-4 pm. and food boxes will be given out for free as well. First come first serve until gone.

January 17

Live At Club Odyssey AVAIL HOLLYWOOD! Hosted by Dr. Dee 7439 S. Westmoreland, Dallas. Info tickets and table reservations contact 817-989-0060. www.universe.com/soul-dynasty-sunday-tickets.

Ubuntu Market Host Pan African Connection, 4466 S. Marsalis Ave. 12-5 pm. Shop Small Bus. Info: Panafric@airmail.net.

DFW Metroplex Jazz Presents: An Evening of Jazz Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., feat. Donyale Renee at The Warehouse, 1125 E. Berry St. Ft. Worth. 7 pm. Tickets: JimAustinOnline.com.

In The Middle with Ashley Moss.

“Talking about topics that Matter” Join in on Facebook/@TexasMetroNews and BlogTalkRadio. com at 11 am-1 pm. CST. Mondays.

Join the conversation call 646-2000459.

January 18 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Day Valder Beebe Show interviews Dr. Arnot former Chief Medical Correspondent for NBC & CBS News Topic: Traveling during pandemic. Tune in at KKVIDFW.COM FM 89.9. 12 pm.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum YouTube: A Tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Featuring the “I Have A Dream Speech” video presentation. 3-4 pm. Tickets: Eventbrite.com.

MLK Day Brunch with Free Live entertainment at The Rustic, 3656 Howell St. 10 am-3 pm.

2021 MLK Youth Summit hosted by Dallas Youth Commission.

Online: dallasyouthcommission.com. 6 pm.

Must reg. here: https://www.dallasyouthcommission.com/.../2021-mlk-youth...

2021 MLK Day Celebration hosted by MetroSports Fieldhouse at Optimist Club of Arlington, 310 E. 3rd St., Arlington. 10 am12 pm. Register at: www.metrosportsfieldhouse.com/mlkdaycelebration 4th Annual MLK Celebration! Hosted by ONE Church. Online with Facebook Live/ONE Church. 10-11:30 pm. Info: www.discoveronechurch.org.

MLK Day of Service hosted by Northwest YMCA at 6200 Sand Springs Rd. Ft. Worth. 1-5 pm. RSVP to jbruda@ymcafw.org.

MLK Day Camp 2021 hosted by Best After School and Summer Camp at 1980 Nantucket Dr, Richardson. 7:30 am-6 pm. Reg. https://www.RichardsonsBestAfterSchoolProgram.com/

Virtual 38th Annual Four-time Emmy Winning Black Music & The Civil Rights Movement Concert. Host The Black Academy of Arts and Letters. 7:30 pm. Tickets: Box Office10 am-5 pm. at 214-743-2440.

Andrew’s World with host Andrew Whigham III on BlogTalkRadio.com 8 am.-10 am. CST. Sundays Tune in for thought-provoking, enlightening, informative, and entertaining news and commentary.

Join the call 646-200-0459. on

DFW News & Tings with Jirah Nicole. From 11 am-1 pm. CST Tuesday’s on Facebook Live/@TexasMetroNews and BlogTalkRadio. com. Call in and join the conversation at 646-200-0459.

Doc Shep Speaks Show! A fresh perspective, but still entertaining!

Welcome to The Doc Shep Speaks Show!!!. Tuesdays at 11 am. CST Live on Facebook/@TexasMetroNews, @ fnsconsulting, and YouTube Live @ docshepspeaks.

I Was Just Thinking with Norma Adams-Wade “History Class is in Session” Join in on Facebook/@ TexasMetroNews and BlogTalkRadio.com at 11 am -1 pm. CST. Wednesdays. Join the conversation call 646-200-0459.

From Marva with Love with Marva Sneed from11 am -1 pm. CST, Fridays on Facebook Live/@TexasMetroNews, and BlogTalkRadio.com. Call in and join the conversation at 646-2000459.

BLACK LIVES MATTER

The Impact of Slavery on Rev. King’s ‘Dream’ 2021 Martin Luther King, Jr, Symposium. Keynote speaker Annette Gordon-Reed. It’s Virtual. Reg: http://bit. ly/2LHU00f. 6-7:30 pm.

MLK Day Space Explorer Camp host Denton Children’s Museum at 5800 N I-35, Denton. 8 am CST. Sign up: http://bit. ly/3sdvAN6.

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January 15, 2021

Vaccine mega-site opens in Fair Park

By ASHLEY MOSS Texas Metro News On the first day the site was open the location stayed open past its standard hours and managed to vaccinate around 1600 people in the joint effort between the City of Dallas and Dallas County.

The entities hope to repeat those numbers if not exceed them each day for the rest of the week, but for a site that was reportedly organized with high risk communities in mind — namely Black and Latino populations, the current outreach and communication strategies don’t seem to be working.

Critics say there’s still a great deal of confusion around just about everything related to the process that makes it hard for residents to take advantage of what’s available, including registration, how to get an appointment, on-site logistics, and the follow-up process for the second dose of the vaccine.

Mollie Belt, who serves as Publisher for the Dallas Examiner, an African American Newspaper in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, said she tried using the form Dallas County provided twice to sign-up for the vaccine but when she didn’t hear anything back de-

January 15, 2021

In their first meeting of 2021, the Black COVID-19 Task Force for the city of Dallas, under the leadership of Dallas City Councilman Casey Thomas, met Tuesday to gauge the response to the initial vaccine distribution.

Their verdict? Things aren’t working.

A vaccine mega-site opened Monday at Fair Park, located just east of Downtown Dallas. Due to limited quantities of the vaccine, doses are currently reserved for people over the age of 75, followed by others who fit into Phase 1B designation.

Dallas City Councilman Casey Thomas, II

cided to take matters into her own hands.

“I registered on the Dallas County website twice and the second time I did receive a written confirmation, but they never told me where to go,” she said. “I went on my own to Fair Park (to get the vaccine).”

Because of the challenges she had when inquiring about the vaccine, Belt said she reached out to Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price for assistance.

He told her to immediately get over to the “mega-site.”

Expressing displeasure and citing several obstacles that citizens face, including the digital divide an transportation, Price said he monitored day one at the Fair Park location and said in order to accommodate the “targeted demographic,” he believes, “this process needs to be “first come, first serve.”

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“This process as it is presently configured and operating at this moment is inhumane,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

“If Black Lives Matter, if Brown Lives Matter, if the lives of the poor and working poor matter, this system needs to be fixed.

I call on Judge Jenkins, the Health and Human Services Director, and my colleagues on the court to fix this now.”

Even without a confirmed appointment, but heeding the commissioner’s advice, Belt, who is 77, a diabetic and with numerous other health issues said she breezed right through the entrance once she arrived.

“There’s a large area where they are giving out the vaccine (at Fair Park), but it was only half full and the lines were moving very fast,” she added.

“They collected a form from me (when I arrived) but they never asked me for my drivers license or any identification.”

Belt received her first dose of the Moderna vaccine and before leaving was given an appointment reminder for her second, required immunization next month. She got the help she needed but noted Tuesday that the Black communities might not be getting the message.

There were very few of us,” she said. “I could count the Af-

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rican Americans (I saw in line) on 10 fingers.”

Rocky Vaz, Director of Emergency Management for the City of Dallas, said after a rough start, the effort was headed in the right direction.

“Based on the number of people in the database and the limited vaccine that we have, we are doing what we can,” he added. “But we are reaching out to the minority community, including going into the database to see who is getting notifications to get vaccinated.”

Vaz said ultimately, the plan is to administer to as many as 2,000 people a day at the Fair Park site.

“Yesterday was a mad rush but today we made process improvements to make the process more orderly,” he said in a meeting with the Task Force Tuesday afternoon. “By 1 p.m. we did 600 vaccinations and by 5 o’clock we expect to do many more.”

According to Thomas, the task force meets again in two weeks for updates and to address any other concerns related to the coronavirus. He also urged citizens to get tested.

Registration is still required for the vaccine. Sign up at: https://www.dallascounty. org/covid-19/covid-19-vaccination.php myimessenger.com

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January 15, 2021

Briefs

NABJ Issues Security Advisory for Journalists in Wake of Capitol Insurrection Dear Members and Supporters, As you know, these are dangerous times for our country and our profession, especially with the most recent violent physical attacks during the Capitol insurrection.

As journalists continue to be targets of extremists, it is reasonable to assume there may be more attacks in the days ahead. Given the chaos in Washington, D.C., state leaders are now reassessing their security protocols and

we urge media owners to do the same by taking immediate steps to provide heightened security and implement protocols to protect our members inside and outside of the newsroom.

For those who are already doing so through strategic actions, we applaud them. On behalf of our members, NABJ is asking all news managers to assess protocols and be

Dorothy Tucker

proactive in providing extra security or assigning teams of reporters rather than sending them out alone.

To our members, do not

Fighting for Social Justice

PVAMU took part in the nationwide fight for social justice. Students, faculty, and staff designed and painted “Black Lives Matter” on University Drive, the main road to the university and the main thoroughfare in the City of January 15, 2021

Prairie View.

Several faculty members, administrators, and alumni also used opinionated editorials, television and cable news programs, and online publications to share their research, knowledge, and resources

I MESSENGER

on social injustice to help change the world for the better. You can read, view, and listen to some of their contributions to the national discussion here. https://www.pvamu. edu/…/pvamu-in-thenews-faculty-administ…/

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hesitate to let your managers know of any occurrences or suspicious behavior, as well as potential threats.

We are also reminding our members to be cautious on daily assignments, to keep their media credentials with them, to be aware of their surroundings at all times, and, if they suspect danger, err on the side of caution and leave.

But at all times keep those cellphone cameras rolling.

Dorothy Tucker NABJ President

Former Mayor speaks about riot “I am appalled and incensed at the chaos and lawlessness of the rotes that invaded the grounds and breached the Capitol Building of the United States Ronald E. Jones of America.

As a responsible citizen and former mayor of Garland, TX, I love our country, honor our system of governance, respect our political leaders and hold them accountable for their actions. I expect exemplary leadership from our national office holders and want the president of the United States to be the paragon of such leadership.

Those involved in the assault on the Capitol which jeopardized the safety of elected officials and staff must be held accountable.

RONALD E. JONES Pastor Emeritus, New Hope Baptist Church Former Three Term Mayor of Garland

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Chef Ariane Daguin

THAT CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

BY VALDER BEEBE

The Valder Beebe Show, starting 2021 with an interview with famous South of France Chef, Ariane Daguin the founder, owner and CEO of D’Artagnan, the renowned gourmet food purveyor. Famous for providing humanely-raised meats, from game and foie gras to organic chicken and prepared charcuterie, the name D’Artagnan is synonymous with top-quality food produced with care. Devoted advocates for natural, sustainable and humane production, Ariane and D’Artagnan have been at the forefront of the organic movement in America, pioneering organic, free-range chicken (years before the FDA allowed the word “organic” on the label), and humanely-raised veal.

Chef Ariane Daguin story can be read in her French-language memoir D’Artagnan à New York which was published by Grasset in 2010, and tells how she created her business in the United States. Chef Ariane is a first times guest on the Valder Beebe Show , spiking ratings with her appearance. She has been a guest on Martha Stewart’s show, and No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. Ariane hosted episodes of the Food Network’s My Country, My Kitchen, in which she traveled to her native Gascony to examine the food culture there. Her father was a famous French ChefAndré Daguin who owned, cooked, and ran the kitchen at Hôtel de France in Auch. myimessenger.com

VBS: Chef Ariane, January is hailed as Nation Soup Month.

I invited you into the Valder Beebe Show studios to inspire my audience. You believe, to make a dish of soup on a Sunday, it will last all week. Get us started.

CAD: Starting with natural and organic vegetables that are healthy and time saving, because you can peel and leave the skin in the soup. The ideas of cooking a big batch of delicious soup on Sunday, then try to transform it all of the rest of the week, this is time and money saving. After you eat the soup on Sunday, Monday, you can just use the broth, add alphabet pasta the next day and you have transformed into a different soup. Or you can take whatever meat and vegetables that are left over kind of puree by hand (with a fork) add a little cheese for another dish. Or take whatever vegetables are left over, add a vinaigrette and serve them as a Potiphar.

VBS: What are some of the favorite soups in your home

Chef Ariane Daguin

land, the South of France?

CAD: A soup with duck and cabbage is the breakfast of champions. This is would the peasant would eat before going to the fields in the morn-

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ing. A very robust soup with lots of cabbage, duck, smoked back, lots of garlic.

VBS: These robust soups, where does my audience get recipes, and…

Ariane Daguin complete interview......SoundCloud.com/valderbeebeshow: Broadcasting to a national & global audience: ValdeBeebeShow.com ; YouTube.com/valderbeebeshow; KKVI FM Radio, KRER FM, Emory, TX, Streaming TV, Social Media, Print Publications I MESSENGER: Texas Metro News, and Garland Journal News..

January 15, 2021

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FEBRUARY 8, 2019

I Messenger

Do you know this man?

POLICE have not apprehended “Pookie” the serial rapist.

We know he has attacked members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and there is a $5,000 reward offered by Crime Stoppers.

HE IS A SERIAL RAPIST

He targeted members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. but this is more than about a sorority. We’re talking about a community.

Come on PEOPLE! Don’t you CARE? Will it matter when it is your sister, mother, aunt or grandmother or maybe YOU?

877-373-8477 January 15, 2021

I MESSENGER

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