I Messenger 5-6-22

IMESSENGER VOL XI NO 35 May 6, 2022

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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.

May 6, 2022

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Wear the masks, wash your hands and show love!

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INSIDE

QUIT PLAYIN’ I love Jim Schutze! I hate Harlan Crow’s ugly building.

So it was a no-brainer for me to post Jim Schutze’s latest, well-justified rant on my Facebook page. As someone who has pursued writing styles since the 7th grade, no one is more entertaining and substantive.

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THE LAST WORD

WHITE HOUSE

Graduations are an exciting time for most families. They will throng to auditoriums, gymnasiums, churches, or outdoor settings bearing flowers, balloons, and other goodies. They’ll likely go to lunch or dinner and share smiles and memories, congratulating the graduate on her achievement. Then what?

The White House Correspondents’ Association accomplished a rarity at its annual dinner and fundraiser this year: It both honored and dissed the Black Press of America. Pioneering journalists Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne, both of whom worked for the Black Press of America...

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May 6, 2022

MY TRUTH by Cheryl Smith Publisher

Talking about Gap Years I’ve often said, “My grandchildren are the greatest. If I had known how great they would be, I would’ve skipped the middle men!”

Recently I watched women taking little children to the daycare. I watched as they lovingly dropped off their charges and I silently said a prayer and gave thanks for them being in the lives of their grandchildren.

Then I had to pause because history has taught me that all is not as it appears. I recalled mentoring three young men and assuming that one was being raised by his grandmother only to find out that she was actually his great-grandmother who had stepped in and was filling in the gap.

Which brings me to my truth.

During this Mother’s Day celebration, I want to salute our grand and great grandmothers.

We know they have always been there, stepping up and into situations that were not their responsibility; but out of love they prevailed.

I never had the pleasure of knowing the love of my mother’s mother but we spent several summers in Florida with my father’s stepmother (his mom died when he was an infant) and we were loved and disciplined, nurtured and taught. And she did it not because she had to or was trying to “keep them out of the system.”

My parents were there to help even when my brother and I ran up her phone bill calling friends back in New Jersey.

Daddy paid the bill and told us we “knew better.” If we had been back in Jersey when that bill came out, Mother would have whipped our butts!

HELP FOR THOSE HELPFUL GRANDPARENTS According to AARP, more than 1 in 10 grandparents have a grandchild living May 6, 2022

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with them and the U.S. Census in 2020 found 2.7 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren, up from 2.4 million in the 2000 Census.

Now we know there were serious issues with the 2022 census and Ann Pebley of Rand Corp. and Laura Rudkin of UT cite numbers that are almost double with more than 4 million children living with grandparents. They also point out that, “African American children are more likely to live with their grandparents. Black grandmothers historically have played a more important role than white grandmothers have in childrearing and maintaining extended family stability.”

Clearly grandparents are giving new meaning to the term “gap year,” with some seeing a year turn into a decade or more.

Long ago State Senator Royce West (D-Dallas) realized the importance of grandparents taking care of their grandchildren and authored a bill to offer assistance that would be for eligible grandparents and in addition to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) grants for dependent children.

“These grandparents have become sec-

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ond-time parents, often while living on fixed incomes,” said Sen. West, almost 25 years ago. “I often get calls in my district office from grandparents asking me when will the State of Texas do something to help them with raising their grandchildren. These grandparents are committed to caring for their grandchildren and they are often called upon to step in to preserve the family.

“Senate Bill 1423 is a prevention and intervention bill that will preserve family ties.”

Sen. West should be commended for his visionary leadership.

Today, there is help from a number of agencies and they are to also be commended. There also needs to be more assistance from the government, on so many levels. Grandparents and Great Grands should not have to dip into their savings or be living near the poverty level to get support.

BACK TO THOSE GRAND AND GREAT GRANNIES! We must consider that these grannies and great grannies are keeping millions of children out of a seriously overtaxed and broken foster care system.

They are so special and we don’t say it enough.

Let’s face facts. After a certain age, keeping up with young charges is challenging. We shouldn’t make it harder for those who want to help.

Grands and Great Grands, you’re the greatest. Thanks for all you do.

I wish that we could do more for you because praise is not enough; although when you’re not getting anything else, a kind word is nice.

You are appreciated. For some children, you are all they have!

Happy Mother’s Day! myimessenger.com

Tax Day Choices OUR VOICES BY MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN

April 18 was Tax Day in the United States, and this year, the day was an especially sad reminder that the refundable, monthly expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) that ended in December 2021 was shortlived. The expanded CTC was a lifeline that benefited 90% of our nation’s children and lifted 3 million children above the federal poverty line in a single month by providing families much-needed cash to afford the basics.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted 90% of families with incomes below $35,000 spent it on food, utilities, housing, clothing or education. It was proof in real time that we know how to end child poverty and we can do it when we find the political will.

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But now we have also seen what happens when that will is not sustained: When Congress let the expanded CTC expire after six months without extending it, within just one month child poverty spiked by more than 40% and nearly 3.7 million children, including 662,000 Black children and 1.3 million Latino children, fell below the federal poverty line.

We will not stop fighting.

The Children’s Defense Fund is a co-chair of the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition, organizations working to create a permanent child allowance, or a guaranteed income, for children in the U.S. Many of the families who desperately needed the cushion the CTC provided were left right back in the same stressful position just as prices for basics like food and gas were rising sharply, and the ABC Coalition recently sent a letter to Congress demanding they prioritize tax breaks for

families and children rather than corporations that reads in part: “According to a recent report from Moody’s Analytics, inflation is costing the average U.S. family an additional $296 per month, an amount roughly equivalent to one monthly payment of the expanded CTC for a single child.

“This pandemic-fueled inflation is compounding a longer-term trend: the cost of raising children has been rising faster than inflation for decades. … Last year, the expanded CTC helped families deal with pandemic-related spikes in the costs of goods like gas and food and longer-term increases in expenses like child care. In 2021, a couple with two young children paid on average about $1,000 more for food and gas than before the pandemic. … Many of the families who used monthly CTC payments to cover their basic needs do not have the savings to cover the increased costs of living.

“We are concerned that even as families struggle, efforts to extend the CTC appear to have stalled in the Senate, while discussions about reviving and bolstering tax breaks for corporations have continued in earnest.

“When inflation hits, corporations can weather the storm and even turn record profits by raising prices beyond the rate of inflation, but families don’t have that luxury.”

Children and families deserve a permanent solution.

That’s also why the Children’s Defense Fund is calling on Congress to enact measures like the Babies over Billionaires Act introduced into

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Congress on April 14 by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and co-leads Reps. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and Susan Wild (DPa.) to hold billionaires who have been protected by tax loopholes for far too long accountable.

This Act would tax the unrealized capital gains of the top 0.01% of American taxpayers with over $100 million in assets — about 700 billionaires —and invest that money in programs that support families and children in the Departments of Health and Human Services and Education.

As Rep. Bowman said at the bill’s introduction: “Policy reflects our priorities, and for decades, the United States has chosen to invest in the personal wealth of billionaires while failing to invest in the tangible needs of our children and our communities.

Working-class people are taxed more than billionaires at times and often have their income more harshly scrutinized, all while struggling to keep up with the rising costs of basic needs like food and housing. … By auditing and taxing the 700 richest people in our country the wealthy will finally pay their fair share.”

Right now, Tax Day is still a reminder of our nation’s misguided priorities, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.

We must envision and realize an America where every child has enough. God did not make two classes of children and we do so at our peril.

Edelman is founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund.

May 6, 2022

Jim Schutze and I Listen!

QUIT PLAYIN’

BY VINCENT L. HALL

I love Jim Schutze! I hate Harlan Crow’s ugly building.

So it was a no-brainer for me to post Jim Schutze’s latest, well-justified rant on my Facebook page. As someone who has pursued writing styles since the 7th grade, no one is more entertaining and substantive. And generally, the best editorialists are one or the other. Jim is both and beyond.

He can paint a picture to posit you into his perspective.

Harlan Crow is, by any standard, a wealthy man and a Dallas legacy. But, in my humble opinion, he is also a throwback to the “old Dallas” patriarchy and empire. When it comes to greed, Dallas business tycoons are mostly assholes and elbows. You’ll figure that out before church lets out next Sunday.

Listen to the profundity and symmetry of Schutze’s thought process. He backs up his decision to write on a given topic, researches it, and then crams 100 pages into less than 500 words. It is no small feat. Jim Schutze and I listen!

“It’s really interesting to me to watch the Dallas city council and mayor operate in today’s weakened media environment. The general collapse of local media and aggressive local news coverage has allowed or encouraged the council to collapse into a kind of spineless puddle, which we must assume was always its natural state, absent any exMay 6, 2022

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ternal pressure to do better.

This week the entire council except for one member engaged in a gag-worthy display of groveling that I just can’t imagine happening back when they had to worry about the coverage.

Paul Ridley alone voted against a measure that will wipe out 80 homes immediately and another 170 soon after, allowing a billionaire land baron to expand his quirky kingdom at the expense of affordable housing.

Instead, they fell over themselves to kiss the ring of the big guy, uber-right-wing land bar-

of Harlania was invincible.”

Harlania? Ooooweee, when I grow up, I want to write just like that!

For those who don’t know the history, Harlan Crow owns the Anatole Hotel and has financed two failed campaigns, namely, the Dallas Convention Center and the Omni downtown. In addition, he paid good money to finagle the citizens of this city into voting against their best interests. But in true Dallas electoral fashion, the White vote was split, and the Black vote sunk his ship.

My dad was a lifelong gambler, and the one thing he

pian” compound just obscures the landscape.

There is no impressive art or horticulture, just a hideous, towering stack of bricks interrupted by a few columns and windows. The sit-com family we know as “The Munsters” lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. If the City of Dallas was doing its job, that’s where this gaudy gargantuan of a building would be.

But yawl’s Mayor and all but one city council member allowed “Hungry Hungry Harlan” to lord over the city staff and the families in that area more significantly. Dallas

Credit: https://oldparkland.com/brick-and-mortar/

on Harlan Crow, who is building a personal fiefdom around the old Parkland Hospital on Maple Avenue.

City staff had urged the council not to approve Crow’s request to crater residential zoning that had been in place for decades, wiping out 80 dwellings. The city’s plan commission agreed with staff and recommended denial.

But everything changed when the issue got to the council. All of a sudden, Crow was a hero and the Kingdom

taught me is that you can beat a rich player back, but you can never beat him. You can win his money, but the “house man” will win it all back if you play long enough.

That was Jim’s lament. If you drive by the once beautiful corner of Oak Lawn and Maple, you are blinded by the drab, brick monstrosity with no warmth or aesthetic qualities. It looks like a four-millionsquare-foot tract home. It was once the old Parkland Hospital, and now the “Neo-Trum-

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needs housing and not an exaggerated replica of “Massa’s” colonial-style mansion!

You may not have guessed it by now, but I love me some Jim Schutze, and I hate Harlan Crow’s ugly building. Crow proves that Dallas accommodates the rights of the rich (read “The Accommodation”) and ignores the rights of its regulars.

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

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Senator West teams up with Whirlpool Corp. to provide refrigerators to Dallas community organizations addressing food inequality

State Senator Royce West and the Whirlpool Corp. are collaborating to bring “Feel Good Fridges’’ to Dallas, in partnership with local community organizations. Through donations of refurbished “community fridges” by Whirlpool Corp., the organizations chosen to receive the donated refrigerators will be able to continue their food pantry, nutrition education and food giveaway programs.

The collaboration has been joined by the North Texas Food Bank, who has agreed to help stock the refrigerators with additional nutritious food items, adding to the healthy meal options now provided by the local organizations.

The program launched in Southwest Michigan in 2021 with Whirlpool Corp. placing fridges in areas near its Benton Harbor (MI) headquarters.

Next was Atlanta, and now Dallas. Future community fridges myimessenger.com

will be placed in other major urban centers in the U.S., including Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

“The pandemic has given us all a glimpse into what it’s like when life’s necessities are not within reach. Now, imagine what it’s like for those who are not sure where their next meal will come from,” said Senator West. “I commend the Whirlpool Corp. for its initiative to address hunger and food insecurity across the country and for bringing this program to Dallas. I would hope that others will follow their lead.”

Whirlpool Corp. has teamed up with Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, and its network of food banks to attack food insecurity in underserved communities across the country.

“Food inequality is a serious issue in the U.S., and that’s why we’re excited that this program

continues to grow and expand into additional cities across the country,” said Whirlpool Corp. Product Marketing Manager Gerrod Moore. “We’ve already placed 70 fridges across the country and plan to place 200 more before the end of the year.”

In addition to these refurbished refrigerators placed from Whirlpool Corp.’s second channel sales program, Maytag brand is also placing fridges in Boys and Girls Clubs.

The Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center is one of the first recipients of several Whirlpool Corp. refrigerators, which the Center will use to serve families in Oak Cliff and surrounding neighborhoods through food giveaways, catered meals and healthy living programming for children.

Community fridges are planned for multiple locations in the state of Texas and locally, in cooperation with organiza-

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tions that have programs designed to close the hunger gap.

Local programs include: • Soul For Christ Ministry, Inc. • Faith Formula Human Services of FWBC • The Chocolate Mint Foundation • Empowering the Masses • Carver Heights Baptist Church • The Metropolitan Dream Center • Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center “We appreciate Whirlpool and Senator West for inviting us to be a part of the Dallas launch.

The two refrigerators we have received from Whirlpool will be utilized for our current Center Table food-distribution and meal programs, grilling and cooking programs with our kids, and for our families, neighbors and seniors,” said Trina Terrell-Andrews, CEO of the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center.

May 6, 2022

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Wear the masks, wash your hands and show love!

May 6, 2022

WNBA’s Brittney Griner declared “wrongfully detained” in Russia Brittney Griner

By Dorothy J. Gentry Sports Editor

Three days before the start of the 26th WNBA season, significant updates have arrived concerning Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner. The 31-year-old, nine-year WNBA veteran has been detained over two months in Russia reportedly over drug charges.

On Tuesday it was reported that the U.S. government now considers Griner to be “wrongfully detained by the Russian government” per a source to ESPN’s T.J. Quinn.

The new designation of her status could mean a different strategy in negotiating and securing her release.

Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, in a statement to ESPN this morning, said: May 6, 2022

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“Brittney has been detained for 75 days and our expectation is that the White House do whatever is necessary to bring her home.”

Griner now being designated as wrongfully detained means that the U.S. government won’t wait on the Russian legal system and will seek to negotiate Griner’s return.

A source close to Griner also confirmed that Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has

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agreed to work on her case, per Quinn. Richardson has worked privately for years as an international hostage negotiator, Griner, a Houston native who played collegiately at Baylor University in Waco, has been detained in Russia since mid-February after customs officials said they found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.

At that time, Russian Federal Customs Service alleged it searched luggage believed to myimessenger.com

belong to Griner and found vape cartridges that contained oil derived from cannabis -- a crime that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Griner was not mentioned by name at that point, but the customs service identified the detained person as a player for the U.S. women’s team but did not specify the date of her arrest. The customs service released video of an individual that appears to be the 6-foot-9 Griner going through airport security.

Griner competes as part of Team USA Women’s Basketball and won gold medals in the 2016 and 2021 Olympics.

Like most WNBA players, she plays basketball overseas in the offseason, most recently Russia.

WNBA Honors Griner The WNBA on Tuesday also released plans to ”acknowledge the importance” of Griner to the league as its 26th season tips off Friday.

During the 2022 season Griner’s initials and jersey number (#42) will be featured along the sideline of all 12 WNBA courts.

“As we begin the 2022 season, we are keeping Brittney at the forefront of what we do through the game of basketball and in the community,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “We myimessenger.com

Brittney Griner

League will honor star during the season continue to work on bringing Brittney home and are appreciative of the support the community has shown BG and her family during this extraordinarily challenging time.”

The league also announced today that the Mercury have been granted both roster and salary cap relief so that it can

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carry a replacement player until Griner, who will be paid her full salary, returns home and is ready to get back on the court.

The Mercury, who drafted Griner #1 overall in the 2013 draft, have also outlined several philanthropic initiatives recognizing Griner and modeled after her contributions to the Phoenix community.

These will take place across the league during tip-off weekend into the 2022 season.

Every WNBA market will support “BG’s Heart and Sole Shoe Drive”, which is in partnership with the Phoenix Rescue Mission. Griner founded the initiative in 2016 to support the homeless population.

“It’s a tough situation. Regardless of basketball, just as a person,” said Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale.

“She’s an amazing person.

She’s a family member of the WNBA and everybody likes her. She is nice to everyone.

“Plus with Phoenix, she just came off a great season and to not have her right away is tough. We are all praying for her, the world is praying for her and her safe return. Hopefully that happens really soon.”

Said Marina Mabrey, Wings guard: “We all miss her. It’s so unfortunate. We wish her safety and that we get her back as soon as possible.

“The game misses her. The world misses her.”

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What Happens After Graduation?

THE LAST WORD BY DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX

Graduations are an exciting time for most families. They will throng to auditoriums, gymnasiums, churches, or outdoor settings bearing flowers, balloons, and other goodies.

They’ll likely go to lunch or dinner and share smiles and memories, congratulating the graduate on her achievement. Then what?

About four million people will receive degrees, from associate to doctorate.

Too many of them, though, will walk from the graduation stage to a debt trap.

Those who have student loans must start paying them six months after graduation or if their enrollment status falls below half-time.

Though student loan repayment was suspended (not forgiven) during COVID, payments must resume by September 1.

Borrowers must repay whether they are employed or not. Although loan servicers will sometimes adjust loan terms with modified repayment plans.

Twenty-seven million Americans have student loan debt, totaling more than $1.7 billion. One in four Black women carries such an obligation, the highest proportion of any myimessenger.com

population subgroup.

Black women owe more than others. And college-educated Black women earn less than other college-educated people, with Black women with a bachelor’s degree earning just $60,000 a year, compared to $75,000 for Black men, $67,000 for white women, and $91,000 for white men.

The Education Trust, a Washington, DC-based think tank, produced a report, How Black Women Experience Student Debt, attributes the heavy debt burden Black women carry to unequal pay, the wealth gap, and flawed public policy.

When we look at the debt through the lens of recent college graduates, it is essential to note that Black women’s unemployment rates may make loan repayment difficult.

If repayment is difficult, failure to pay will adversely affect a credit score, limiting the ability to rent an apartment or purchase a home. In some cases, a low credit score may even limit employment possibilities.

If you can’t work, you can’t repay your student loans, but if you can’t repay your student loans, you can’t work. While this situation is challenging for everyone, it is much worse for Black women.

Twelve years after leaving college, Black women owe 13 percent more on

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their loans than when they graduated, while white men have paid back 44 percent of their loans.

Black women end up owing more because interest piles up when they haven’t made their loan payments on time, and the unpaid interest adds to the already high debt.

And because education is so highly valued among many Black women, a disproportionate number of black women who earn doctorates earn them from costly for-profit colleges, offer little financial aid, and often have few student support services.

Some Black women graduate with six-figure debt to earn a doctorate that may only result in low-paid adjunct faculty employment when they compete against others with more traditional credentials.

President Biden promised to alleviate student debt, but he hasn’t done it yet. Postponing the repayment date only delays the inevitable.

Repayments resume just two months before the midterm elections. Has the President considered the fact that his failure to act may impact the composition of Congress in 2022?

On the other hand, loan forgiveness might encourage some younger people to get out and vote because they’ve seen a return on their 2020 vote.

The wealth gap has always been with us, and public policy sometimes makes the gap even wider than it needs to be. Why can’t students have the same low-interest loans as banks?

Why can’t students have the same loan forgiveness as some businesses during COVID? Why do we encourage students to pursue higher education, then penalize them with high costs of attendance and expensive loans?

Community colleges and state universities are lowcost, not no cost. Yet the students who are enrolled in college are not only investing in themselves but in the future of our country.

If we value an educated workforce, we must rethink how we both fund higher education and pay for it.

By necessity, COVID has provided us with different options. When students and parents push back on high costs and the crushing burden of student loans, higher education leaders will be forced to offer other alternatives.

Meanwhile, Black women, passionate believers in the power of higher education, pay a very high price to pursue their passion.

Something to consider as we celebrate graduations.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an author, economist, and social commentator.

May 6, 2022

Paul Quinn Announces 150th Anniversary Commencement Speaker, Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley WHAT: Paul Quinn College, the creator of the Urban Work College model and one of the most celebrated colleges in the country, announces Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley, Senior Pastor of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church as speaker for its 150th anniversary commencement celebrations.

During commencement, Alfred Street Baptist Church will make a first-of-its kind surprise announcement for the graduating class, which will impact students’ lives for years to come. Ninety students will graduate from Paul Quinn this year.

“I have known Dr. Wesley since our days together at Duke where we were fraternity brothers and friends. I am so excited to have him serve as our Commencement speaker. He is one of the leading voices in America and his church, Alfred Street, is one of the best models in the country for social activism from an African-American perspective, " said Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College. "The surprise that he will be announcing Saturday May 6, 2022

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Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley

Dr. Mike Sorrell

will once again prove all of this to be true.”

Reverend Dr. Howard-John Wesley is the exciting, gifted, and anointed senior pastor of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) in Alexandria, Virginia. A courageous, dynamic, and visionary leader, he is the eighth pastor in the church’s 217-year history.

Dr. Wesley is regarded as one of the most prolific and prophetic voices of justice and grace in our generation.

His preaching became a favorite of former President and Mrs. Barack Obama who worshipped with their family at Alfred Street Baptist Church on several Easter Sundays.

An empathetic pastor who is not afraid to take on so-

cial and political issues, Dr. Wesley led community protest marches against the New York grand jury’s 2014 decision not to indict an NYPD officer whose chokehold led to the death of Eric Garner. His sermon, “When the Verdict Hurts,” was acknowledged in Time magazine’s July 29, 2013 cover story, “After Trayvon” as one of the best sermons preached in the United States following the “not guilty” verdict in the State of Florida v.

George Zimmerman, who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Three of Dr. Wesley’s sermons, “When the Verdict Hurts,” “A Rizpah Response” (and with the black hoody he donned while preaching this

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sermon), and “Tell Your Own Story,” have been archived in the faith-based collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Under Dr. Wesley’s extraordinary leadership, the Alfred Street Baptist Church has grown from 2,800 members to 10,000 members, 60,000 plus monthly online viewers and 80 active ministries with an emphasis on children’s ministries and missions. *Must show proof of vaccination for entry; please arrive by 7:30 a.m. to ensure campus roads are accessible for media trucks. Security will direct you where to go upon arrival.

LIVE STREAM: https ://www.youtube. com/c/paulquinnofficial Paul Quinn College is a private, faith-based, four-year, liberal arts-inspired college that was founded on April 4, 1872, by a group of African Methodist Episcopal Church preachers in Austin, Texas.

The school’s original purpose was to educate freed slaves and their offspring. Today, we proudly educate students of all races and socio-econom-

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WHO: Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, senior pastor, Alfred Street Baptist Church Dr. Michael J. Sorrell, president, Paul Quinn College WHEN: Saturday, May 7, at 8:00 a.m. CT WHERE: Paul Quinn Campus, Richard Allen Chapel Lawn, 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd, Dallas, TX 75241

Alfred Street Baptist Church to Surprise Graduating Students During Commencement That Will Make Lasting Impact for Students’ Future ic classes under the banner of our institutional ethos, WE over Me. Our mission is to provide a quality, faith-based education that addresses the academic, social, and Christian development of students.

Under President Sorrell’s leadership, Paul Quinn has become one of the most innovative and respected small colleges in the nation and now serves as a model for urban higher education. For-

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tune magazine recognized President Sorrell’s work and the College’s transformation by naming him one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. President Sorrell is also a three-time award winner of HBCU Male President of the Year by HBCU Digest, was selected as 2018-2019 President of the Year by Education Dive and named by Time magazine as one of the “31 People Changing the South.”

May 6, 2022

Superb Women April 2022

Our Superb Women!

Cheryl Smith

By Cheryl Smith Texas Metro News

Advisors LLC, Vice President and Managing Executive at a Northern Trust Bank, and Vice President for JP Morgan Chase (formerly Texas Commerce Bank). After graduating from Adrian C. Wilcox High School, Belinda received a BS degree in Biology and Chemistry from Texas Southern University, where she was Senior Class President. She also took continuing education courses in accounting at Houston Community College. A Diamond Life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Belinda is a servant leader who leads with grace.

DEBRA NIXON BOWLES Debra Nixon Bowles is one of the best advocates that any community can have. She uses her voice and resources to help make this world a better place.

2021 was the "Year of the Woman," especially the Black Woman! For 10 months we dedicated this space to uplifting Black women and spreading a message that we need to show love and empower people with love instead of destroying them with hate and disrespect. We celebrate Black Women and call them SUPERB! AND WE ARE KEEPING THE CELEBRATION GOING IN 2022!

BELINDA GRIFFIN Belinda Griffin has “A Mind for Business, A Heart for Service.”

She has served as president of The Links, Inc., Dallas Chapter; board treasurer for the North Central Texas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association; and board member of The Family Place. She has been Director of Finance and Administration for the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, a consultant with Griffin Marks May 6, 2022

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Debra Nixon Bowles is the Founder and President of A Woman Called Moses Coalition and Outreach. She hails from Houston, TX but for decades she has been uplifting, inspiring and supportive of families in the D/FW area.

Through her nonprofit organization, she helps battered women and their children. Her passion for this cause is driven by her own personal experiences with domestic abuse in her childhood and as an adult. As a business leader, mother, and survivor, Debra understands the spoken and unspoken needs, experiences, and aspirations of many women who find themselves stressed and navigating the unpredictable violent behaviors of their partners. Debra gives hope to those in despair and she works tirelessly to secure resources and call attention to the ills of domestic abuse.

Effie Booker-Dennison is the Executive Vice President and Director of Community Development at Texas Capital Bank where she was also Senior Vice President Community Development and Corporate Responsibility.

She has also served as Senior Vice President at VRM Mortgage Services; Senior Director - REO Operations at CoreLogic; North Texas Region Director for Fannie Mae and Senior Vice President at Wells Fargo. A member of The LINKS Inc., she is a past recipient of the Texas Women’s Foundation Maura Award; Southern Methodist University Women’s Symposium Profiles in Leadership Award; and Texas Executive Women, Women on The Move Award. She currently serves on the boards of Texas Women’s Foundation, Parkland Foundation and VNA/ Meals on Wheels. She is a member of the Executive Women of Dallas, Genesis Women’s Shelter Domestic Violence Alliance Board, The Dallas Summit and The Charter 100.

BERNARDETTE LOGAN HARVEY BerNardette Logan Harvey understands the importance of land ownership and she shares her passion as she helps families obtain generational wealth through homeownership

EFFIE BOOKER-DENNISON Effie Booker-Dennison is a committed leader, servant and example of the epitome of womanhood; who leads with grace and love.

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BerNardette Harvey has over 20 years experience in housing, ranging from apartment leasing and property management to real estate broker, which includes residential and commercial sales. She’s held the title of “Top Realtor of the Year” with her past Real Estate Company, prior to forming BMarie Realty. She has also previously worked as a 911 operator and as a flight attendant at Southwest Airlines and American Eagle Air. A graduate of Bishop Lynch High School/Booker T. Washington High School, she graduated from Tyler Junior College and studied at Texas Woman’s University.

ANDREA HOWARD Andrea Howard is highly skilled and focused. She has amassed an impressive portfolio with impeccable credentials.

Association Real Estate Brokers, Inc. (NAREB). Dr. Sharon is a joy to be around because she is genuine and sisterly.

RAVEN GRAVES People describe Raven Graves as “brilliant” and she is focused on being the best educator by focusing on developing her students.

Andrea Howard is a Senior Physician Liaison at Baylor Medical Center at McKinney (Baylor Scott & White Health).

She has also worked at Novartis, Depomed, Eisai, Eli Lilly and Mars Promotional Services. She is graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. Advertising and Southern Methodist University - Cox School of Business with an MBA in Marketing. Andrea is often described as dedicated, independent, intelligent, and invaluable.

A graduate of David W. Carter High School, she is also described as a consummate professional who is widely respected.

DR. SHARON MIDDLEBROOKS Dr. Sharon Middlebrooks is a born leader who loves being of service. She’s a consummate professional and focuses on taking care of business.

Currently the president of the Dallas Branch of the NAACP, Dr. Sharon Middlebrooks was awarded the Doctor of Divinity for outstanding contributions to the community and world, from Grace International Seminary for Women. She’s also 1st Vice President of the Dallas Association of Realists (DAR), focused on democracy in housing. The broker/owner of Middlebrooks Realty LLC and Concept Development Corporation, she has worked as a realtor for KY II Realtors. She has also served as president of Women’s Council of Dallas Association of Realtors (DAREB) and Women’s Council of National myimessenger.com

Jailyn Thornton Smiley is the director of Community Engagement at CK Family Services. A former Family Recruitment Director, she has also worked for Covenant Kids. Jailynn is committed to our children. A wife and mother, many may remember Jailynn from her days on Soul 73 KKDA-AM. She’s a Dallas native who attended W.A. Blair Elementary School, Maynard Holbrook Jackson Vanguard School, Oliver Wendell Holmes Honor Academy, and graduated from The Skyline High School!

She then went on to the University of North Texas where she was initiated into the Amazing Zeta Eta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

DR. DELVA KING Dr. Delva Cotton King excels in business and community service.

When you find a teacher like Raven Graves, who is passionate about and genuinely interested in educating students, you should celebrate and applaud her because she cares. She received her Bachelors Degree in Mathematics from North Carolina A&T State University where she was involved in several on campus organizations. She was an assistant teacher instructor in Greensboro, NC and she is committed to her students and her responsibility to “spread knowledge for the betterment” of the community. Raven is pursuing a Masters Degree in Cyber Security at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Interested in children, education, health, human rights and social services, Raven has been a mathematics tutor. Raven said she takes to heart the African proverb “Each One, Teach One,” and says it is her responsibly to teach as many children/students as she can.

JAILYNN THORNTON SMILEY Jailynn Thornton Smiley cares. That says it all. She is compassionate, loving, supportive and genuine.

Always a lady, what wonderful attributes!

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Delva J. King, Ph.D. is the owner of The King Group and KG Concessions. Hailing from Houston, TX where she graduated from Jack Yates High School. Dr. Delva King graduated from Texas Southern University, the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University.

She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and The Links Inc. A recipient of the Connie L. Davis Volunteer of the Year award, Dr. Delva has an impressive portfolio in community service and business, with her agency receiving numerous awards. She established Ethnic May 6, 2022

Focus Research, a consumer marketing research firm and she also has partnerships with Pappas Restaurant and TGI Fridays at DFW International Airport. Dr. Delva is a trailblazer.

president and CEO of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, where she worked to champion gender equity with women in the food ecosystem.

QUEEN CORA Talk about talent, beauty, brains and personality; you’re talking about Queen Cora!

CAROLYN L. BAILEY Carolyn L. Bailey has lived a life of service and recently celebrated 50 years as a member of her beloved sorority.

Innovation of the Year” Award Winner, “Woman of Distinction” Award from the Pontiac Club, and National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. Also a member of Links, Inc., she loves listening to jazz music, the arts, dancing, reading and going to the beach.

A Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Carolyn was initiated Spring 1972 into the Amazing Zeta Eta Chapter at the University of North Texas (Denton) where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

She also received a Masters of Education from Texas A&M Commerce. A retired educator, she is a member of Friendship-West Baptist Church and she has spent decades as a community servant, volunteering for numerous organizations and causes, including Dallas Women Council; State Fair for North Texas Food Bank; and walking to raise funds for March of Dimes and Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer organization. A Cum Laude graduate of Lincoln High School, Port Arthur, TX, she was an Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc Debutante and was inducted into the African American Educators Hall of Fame. A wife, mother and grandmother, she loves shopping, reading and traveling.

DR. SHARON L. BLACKMAN Dr. Sharon L. Blackman is committed to working with other women and youth, including the Women’s Leadership Summit, Church vestry, and providing educational guidance.

Dr. Sharon L. Blackman is a Golden Life Member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and recently celebrated her 50th Deltaversary; initiated Spring 1972 at Theta Rho Chapter at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

She has a Doctorate of Education, a Master of Education and Bachelor of Science. Now a retired Higher Education Administrator, she is a member of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. Dr. Sharon has held several leadership positions in organizations. Honors include Paul A. Eisner Excellence in Leadership Honoree Dallas County Community College District “Learning Technology May 6, 2022

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HATTIE HILL A much sought after award-winning speaker and businesswoman, Hattie Hill is inspiring, exciting, invigorating and motivating.

Hattie Hill serves as the president and CEO of the T.D. Jakes Foundation, where she’s leading the fund toward a $100 million fundraising goal and improving disadvantaged communities by providing economic growth globally through science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). She received a Bachelors Degree in education and a Masters Degree in Psychology from Arkansas State University. Hattie is a masterful speaker and author of multiple books written to give women practical advice and encouragement to gain control over their personal and professional lives.

Her board service includes Texas Women’s Foundation, National Restaurant Association, VisitDallas, Dallas Regional Chamber and the tech startup, ShareMaster.

Prior to founding Hattie Hill Enterprises, Inc., Hattie was

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Queen Cora is an author, producer, business owner, philanthropist and international drummer. She graduated valedictorian of her class at Kashmere High in Houston, TX and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Music Performance at Howard University.

Queen Cora designed her own 60 degree “Cosmic Electroacoustic” drum set and also released her first edition of The Queen Cora Magazine. She has performed in two Super Bowls and Queen Cora has travelled the world with some of the biggest names in music. The multi-talented businesswoman is the Founder and CEO of the VIVO Club, Inc., a U.S. based media and music company, and Building Simple, Inc., a U.S. based cutting edge-construction company. Her talents landed her as the house drummer for BET’s annual Black Girls Rock Awards TV Show and she currently serves on the Texas Southern University School of Communications Advisory Committee.

ROYCE BROOKS Leading with authority, wisdom, and grace — that’s Royce Brooks.

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As executive director for almost four years, Royce Brooks recently presided over Annie’s List’s most successful election cycle ever. Prior to joining Annie’s List, Royce, a Fort Worth native, served as Chief Equity Officer for the City of Atlanta; Director of Policy for Sylvester Turner for Mayor (Houston); and Statewide Policy Director for Wendy Davis for Governor (Texas).

She also enjoyed stints with the U.S. Senate, the Joint Center for Political And Economic Studies, and Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Royce received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Rice University and a Doctor of Law degree from Harvard Law School. Royce was also a board member for Leadership Austin.

HATTIE WAYNE Full of energy, confidence and spirit, Hattie Wayne is about taking care of business.

of Law from the SMU Dedman School of Law, Keshia is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and she is licensed to practice law in Texas and California.

REGINA TAYLOR The talented Regina Annette Taylor continues to represent Dallas and the best it has to offer as a stellar actress who has never forgotten her roots.

herself as “a bowl of gumbo, a flat-footed country girl.”

A native of Dallas with Louisiana roots, she is a graduate of Skyline High School and comes from a tradition of gospel-rooted singing. Sharnette attended Robert L. Thornton Elementary, Boude Storey Middle School, and Skyline High School where she was in the horticulture cluster. Next she was off to Cedar Valley College and then to Larry’s Barber College, before becoming a hairstylist.

The licensed barber instructor also attended Renee’s Cosmetology Center and studied theological studies at Grace Seminary College.

TIMBERLY LEWIS Timberly Lewis is a licensed professional counselor who is skilled in nonprofit organizations, relationship and mental health counseling

The president of Hattie Wayne PR & Advertising, Hattie Wayne received her Bachelor’s degree from Grambling State University and Master of Fine Arts from Southern. Methodist University. Described as committed to meeting the needs of her clients, a joy to work with and result driven, Hattie’s family has a story worth sharing. Seven generations and almost 100 relatives have attended Grambling State University and almost as many have gone to Southern University. Thanks to the efforts of Hattie and family members, they are listed in the Guiness Book of World Records! A strong advocate of Hattie is known as a consummate professional who was a joy to work with and produced quality work.

KESHIA BARNES She’s a great legal mind with a commitment to community service and leading as an example.

Keshia Barnes is an Associate Attorney at DeHay & Elliston L.L.P. where she concentrates on premises liability and product liability defense. She has also worked as an associate attorney at The Washington Firm, U.S. Small Business Administration and Kirkendall Dwyer L.L.P. A graduate of Southern Methodist University with a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and a Doctor myimessenger.com

Regina Annette Taylor is West Dallas’ finest. An American actress, playwright and producer, the Pinkston High School graduate who also graduated from SMU has won several awards including a Golden Globe Award and two NAACP Image Awards. She served as the Denzel Washington Endowed Chair in Theater at Fordham University and soon she will return to Dallas when the new Fine Arts Department at Pinkston High School will be named in her honor. Today she will portray Marian Shields Robinson, the mother of former First Lady Michelle Obama, in the new Showtime limited series, The First Lady. Talk about gracious, humble and classy; she’s all that and more!

SHARNETTE HYTER Sharnette Hyter is a singer-songwriter, author and actress.

Southern Soul music artist Sharnette Hyter describes

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A participant in the Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists Urban Journalism Workshop, Timberly Lewis was an honor student who received a BA Degree in Psychology from the University of North Texas and a MEd in Counselor Education with an emphasis in Higher Education from The University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to working as a professional counselor at Dallas College and Psychological Evaluator at the Private Practice of William July Ph.D.; Timberly has enjoyed stints at Collin College, Stepping Stone Learning Center, UT Austin and Austin ISD. May 6, 2022

SHANNON POWELL HART Shannon Powell Hart is a go-getter. Talented, creative and focused, she is a star!

University. Natalie is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority. She graduated from Dwight D. Eisenhower Senior High School DANIESHA FRAZIER She’s beautiful, bright and full of life. Daniesha is a professional voice artist and communications pro.

A wife and mother, Shannon Powell Hart enjoyed stints as Communications Lead at Infosys Knowledge Institute, SPH Media, Texas Ale Project, WFAA-TV, KXAN-TV, Junior League of Austin and WAVY-TV. Shannon received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Radio, Television, and Digital Communication from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and MBA in Marketing from LSU Shreveport. She also attended Hendrix College. Shannon is a longtime journalist and member of the National Association of Black Journalists. A community servant, Shannon cares and gives of herself, her time and her resources. a longtime journalist and member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

NATALIE BROWN Natalie Brown cares about making this world a better place. An entrepreneur and philanthropist, she continues to lift as she climbs!

Daniesha Frazier hails from Oklahoma City, OK, where she graduated from Northeast High School in OKC. She also studied Broadcast journalism at University of Central Oklahoma and Langston University. Daniesha also studied at Rose State College and Francis Tuttle Vocational Technical School. She is the executive director at D-D Eb Productions where cost effective marketing, event planning and promotions is her specialty. A proud mother, Daniesha is a motivational speaker, national talent scout, writer and graphic designer.

KAMRON BARTON MCGEE Kamron Barton McGee is one proud Rattler and Cowboy homegirl who makes Dallas proud wherever she goes and whatever she does.

cheerleaders. A member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Kamron also studied at Amberton University, where she received a Masters of Arts Degree in School Counseling.

She’s a proud health conscious mother, community servant and born leader!

YEHARAWERK GASHAW Hailing from Ethiopia, Yeharerwerk Gashaw is our international Superb Woman!

Yeharerwerk Gashaw is a model, actress, ambassador, activist, humanitarian, philanthropist and all-around beautiful sister. Yeharerwerk was the first Black Model to be showcased by Christian Dior and Guerlain in Paris in the 80s and she also was a spokesmodel for Proline Hair Products. She is the first Black woman selected to chair an executive committee in the World Cup (1994) to protect the interest of Africans in the game. Yeharerwerk worked tirelessly to better relations between African people and the world; and especially Black people in America. She appeared in the television series, “Dallas” and also in the stage play, “Backstreet,” about an African woman and her African American drug addicted music producer. She has lent her name to numerous efforts to raise money to help Black people around the world and she is passionate about education.

CHEF TIFFANY DERRY Good cooking and more is what you get from Tiffany Derry.

Natalie Brown is a licensed agent of New York Life Insurance Company where she offers a variety of products that can help you meet a number of insurance and financial needs. Formerly an affiliate sales manager at Kaan Royal Limousine and Quality Control Coach at RideCentric, General Manager and customer experience coordinator for ETE’s & Associates Inc., she received her Bachelor of Applied Science from Sam Houston State May 6, 2022

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A graduate of David W. Carter High School, Kamron went on to study journalism at Florida A&M University and is celebrating her 20th Rattlerversary as a member of the Class of 2002. A native Dallasite, Kamron is a graduate of David W. Carter High School where she was a member of the National Honor Society and captain of the

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Tiffany Derry is co-founder of T2D Concepts, the Texasmyimessenger.com

based purpose-driven hospitality group behind Roots Chicken Shak, Roots Southern Table and ‘Chef Tiffany spice and apparel lines. Denied from her first cooking job at the age of 15 because of her race and gender, Tiffany, who hails from Beaumont, TX, has rose through the culinary ranks to run her own restaurant concepts, appear on national television, and cook for President Obama at the White House. Tiffany makes regular appearances as a judge and contestant on television shows including Chopped, Chopped Kids, Top Chef, The Great American Recipe, Beat Bobby Flay, Tournament of Champions, The Great American Soul Food Cook-off, Bar Rescue, Top Chef Junior and Top Chef Amateurs.

JOYCE ELAINE DANIELS Everyone has known forever that Joyce Elaine Daniels is special and outstanding so you shouldn’t be surprised that she is also superb!

Cynthia Williams is the founding executive director of Women Empowering Women for the Next Generation Ministries. She describes herself as an “example of a teen mom who beat the odds.” Cynthia graduated from college (twice) and received multiple degrees and she devotes much of her time to providing services and resources to help a person in their personal growth, to become self-sufficient in every area of their life.” Cynthia is the author of “This is Crazy!” In this riveting story, she tells of her experience losing her only child, almost 15 years ago on August 2, 2007.

BERNADETTE NUTALL Talk about a beautiful mind and beautiful spirit, that’s Bernadette Wright Nutall, who also cares about youth and education. worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cincinnati Enquirer and National Basketball Association’s Communications Department, before returning home to work at NBC5.

A member of the Gamma Beta Phi honor society and graduate of the University North Texas, Kristi was a Dupont Fellow and received a Masters Degree from Columbia University. She is the proud mother of son, Lucca.

T. SCHNELL BLANTON T. Schnell Blanton is multi-talented and dimensional.

She’s a businesswoman, an entrepreneur and a philanthropist.

The Director of the Hamilton Park United Methodist Church Learning Center, Joyce Elaine Daniels received a B.S Degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Grambling State University. A life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, she is a charter member of the North Dallas Suburban Alumnae Chapter. A servant leader, Joyce has received multiple certifications in training and continuing education in Early Childhood Education Administration.

Joyce was recently named the Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Psi Chapter of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority.

CYNTHIA WILLIAMS Cynthia Williams is a survivor, a leader and an author.

Hailing from Killeen, TX, Bernadette Nutall is a graduate of Sam Houston State University with a B.A. in Business Administration, and the co-founder and executive director of Circle of Support, Inc. -an organization that provides families in under-served areas of Dallas with high quality summer learning. A former Dallas Independent School District Board Trustee, Bernadette is a wife and mother and community activist/servant. She attended the Certificate of Competence Training Program in instructional leadership at the University of North Texas in Denton and she also attended several sessions of the Summer Changes Everything National Conference at Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning.

Bernadette is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. KRISTI NELSON The vibrant and dynamic Kristi Nelson is the author of “The Chamique Holdsclaw Story,” and a product of Dallas’ Talented & Gifted Magnet High School.

An award-winning journalist and anchor at NBC5KXAS-TV, Kristi Nelson is a long time member of the National Association of Black Journalists and recipient of several awards. One award was won for a multi-part documentary, “Kristi’s Gift,” that chronicled her donation of a kidney to her mother. She interned at The Dallas Weekly and The Dallas Morning News and she also

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T. Schnell Blanton has enjoyed stints as a senior corporate trainer at Nielsen, president and CEO of Imperial Beverage Group, Instructor at the University of Oklahoma, Sr. Instructional Designer at Transmerica, Training Program manager for Sprint Telecom and Senior Trainer at Paymentech. She is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management where she served as President of Alpha Omega Literary Social Organization.

Schnell is licensed in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion by the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.

She has also served on the advisory board of Women with Heart for the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association and Arlington Hall Conservancy.

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May 6, 2022

Together 22 Pastor and Ministry Leaders Gather

Area ministry leaders gathered in preparation for Together 22, the largest evangelistic training in Dallas in 50 years and scheduled for June 24-25, Pictured are members of New Mount Zion Baptist Church, top row - Rod Armstrong, Pastor Tommy Brown, Ebony Small and Evelyn Clark with the visionary of Together 22, Nick Hall; and bottom row- Marcellus Duke, Ruth C. Brown and LaShon Easter. Pastor Brown hosted the gathering of about 100 pastors and ministry leaders, earlier this week. Future gatherings prior to the June 24-25 training event will be held on May 17 at Chenal Event Venue in Little Rock, AR; a virtual event on May 18; and May 26 at 11am in the Cotton Bowl Stadium.

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May 6, 2022

White House Correspondents Association Honors and then Disses Black Press at Dinner

White House Correspondents Dinner

By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Correspondent

The White House Correspondents’ Association accomplished a rarity at its annual dinner and fundraiser this year: It both honored and dissed the Black Press of America.

Pioneering journalists Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne, both of whom worked for the Black Press of America with the Chicago Defender and other publications, posthumously became the first recipients of the WHCA’s Dunnigan-Payne Prize.

The two African American women once served as members of the White House press corps.

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the WHCA failed to acknowledge National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., who inexplicably was seated in the back of the room out of the view of most attendees including family members of the honorees and President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

The 82-year-old NNPA is the trade association of the more than 230 African American-owned newspapers and media companies that comprise the Black Press of America, including the Chicago Defender.

When WHCA Executive Director Steven Thomma emailed association members in December, he pro-

vided specific instructions for media outlets to secure seats and tables.

The NNPA immediately complied with the request, and wired Thomma the funds to cover a table that seats ten individuals.

However, weeks later, Thomma informed the NNPA it would only receive two seats, placed in the rear of the ballroom.

Thomma has not responded to numerous emails and telephone calls.

WHCA President Steven Portnoy and Board Member April Ryan did reach out to Chavis in an attempt to explain the snub.

Presented at the dinner by CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King, the Dunnigan-Payne

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Prize for Lifetime Career Achievement will be awarded on an occasional basis at the discretion of the WHCA board to recognize meritorious service throughout an individual’s career as a White House correspondent.

“This association of White House reporters has never given its due to these two pioneering WHCA members who paved the way for so many,” Portnoy stated. “We are proud to see to it that Alice Dunnigan and Ethel Payne will be forever remembered for their service to the profession and to the American public.”

Dunnigan was the first African American female reporter to be credentialed myimessenger.com

NNPA President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (center); with Fat Joe (left) and Martha Stewart (right) at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner/Stacy Brown

at the White House in 1947.

She was joined on the beat

by Ms. Payne a few years later.

Both women distinguished themselves during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, regularly pressing him at his press conferences – when no other reporters would – about his administration’s support for civil rights for Black Americans.

According to a release from the WHCA, Eisenhower insisted that he eschewed racial discrimination, and that his administration was aiming to do what was “decent and just.”

But in the summer of 1954, in response to a question about whether Black Americans could count on his support for a ban on segregation in interstate travel, Eisenhower sternly told Ms. Payne that he would not act “to support any particmyimessenger.com

ular or special group of any kind.”

The moment – which occurred just two months after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling – sparked the headline in the Washington Evening Star: “President Annoyed by Query On Travel Race Ban Support.”

WHCA historians said Dunnigan repeatedly asked Eisenhower about segregated schools on military bases in the south, as well as the president’s overall support of civil rights legislation.

He eventually stopped calling on the two women at his press conferences.

As one of the first 10 reporters to be recognized by President John F. Kennedy at his first press conference in 1961, Dunnigan asked about Black sharecroppers who were being evicted from their land in Tennessee sim-

ply for registering to vote.

Jet Magazine reported it was the first time Ms. Dunnigan had been called on in two years.

“In the face of the racism and sexism of the era, these two women fearlessly brought the concerns of their readers directly to the most powerful man in the world,” Portnoy said.

“It is our honor to lift up their legacies.”

In keeping with tradition, celebrities galore showed up for the gala.

Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, Martha Stewart, and Fat Joe were among the A-listers, while Trevor Noah hosted the soiree.

President Joe Biden also amused the nearly 3,000 in attendance.

“I’m really excited to be here tonight with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than I

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have,” Biden joked.

He then turned the microphone over to Noah with another quip: “Trevor, the really good news is, now you get to roast the president of the United States,” Biden remarked.

“And unlike in Moscow, you won’t go to jail.”

Noah hit back immediately.

“Ever since you’ve come into office, things are really looking up,” the late night host told Biden. “You know, gas is up, rent is up, food is up. Everything.”

Noah ended the evening with a more serious tone.

“Ask yourself this question: If Russian journalists who are losing their freedom for daring to report on what their own government is doing,” he said. “If they had what you have, would they be using it in the same way that you do?”

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May 6, 2022

PINKSTON PRIDE

Honorees and dignitaries cut ribbon on Dallas ISD's NEW L. G. Pinkston High School - The pride of West Dallas!

Photos: Terry Allen

Honoree Raymond Castillo

Charles Fisher (former Pinkston Principal) and Mrs. Shirley Fisher

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Honoree Regina Taylor

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100 Black Women

National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. Dallas Metropolitan Chapter presents Annie Malone Economic Empowerment Award to I Messenger Media, LLC CEO Cheryl Smith at fabulous affair at Soiree Coffee Bar

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May 6, 2022

Call issued to Support Black Businesses Buy Black!

By Cheryl Smith Texas Metro News

When Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, of Friendship-West Baptist Church, announced 100 Days Dr. Frederick D.Haynes III of Buying Black in acknowledging the 100th Commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre, we joined the movement. December 31, 2021 marked 100 days of featuring Black Businesses. and we decided that the struggle continues and we must also. So enjoy reading about more Black-owned businesses and please support.

THE CALDWELL CREATIVE

The Caldwell Creative is a marketing and design company located in the Dallas metroplex.

Caldwell Creative is the #1 solution for small business branding, marketing, graphic design & printing! For 15 years, they have been taking small businesses to the next level with innovative, creative, and affordable graphic design and marketing solutions.Owner Idora Caldwell’s desire is to give you the best her company has to offer.

For more information go to http://www.ccmd1.com

I SPEAK FOXYE

I SPEAK FOXYE has been established for more than three years. She provides a safe place to talk about a variety of experiences, from sexual assault, interpersonal May 6, 2022

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violence, and mental abuse. All events are coordinated by founder Foxye Brown Jackson for adults and youth to explore tools like art, socializing and a variety of wellness programs. For more information go to https://ispeakfoxye.com/

CHEF AMBER

Chef Amber is the owner of Foodie2Go. Hailing from Chicago IL Chef Amber is a graduate of Kenwood Academy and she studied culinary arts at El Centro College (now Dallas College). Her corn and cheese chowder is something special! She says, “ From fine dining to our weekly food truck round-up, there is something here for the foodie in all of us!” Give her a call at 469-268-8593.

She also has special sauces and you can take advantage of her meal prep orders. www.foodie2go.net.

NTHEKNOW ADVERTISING AGENCY

Advertising, Internet Marketing Service and event planning, you can get it all with NThe Know because Teresa Nelson will help you start, build and grow your business with her excellent communication and organizational skills. She can also help you with everything from affordable health insurance, travel and networking, to jobs, entertainment and professional growth and development. She’s grounded with more than 25 years as an entrepreneur. Reach her at www.ntheknow.com.

NATURAL CHANGE BAND

Tony Blaine (keyboardist and lead vocalist), Byron Fuller (drummer), Paul Rogers (saxophonist) and Robb Abbs (guitarist) are Natural Change. Heading toward their 20th anniversary, this band is absolutely wonderful. In addition to being excellent musicians, they know how to read an audience and anytime they are playing it’s a treat. If you seriously want a

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great band and you’re willing to pay without asking for a discount, tell them we told you to call Tony Blaine @ 469-628-4341 and Paul Rogers @ 214629-3588 or email them at naturalchangeband@ naturalchangeband.com

CATFISH SMITH

Catfish Smith is not like other catfish restaurants that have the word “catfish” in their name but they serve SWAI or some other no-name seafood. They will tell you straight up, they don’t play with their food! When you order catfish, you will get catfish! Located at 4620 Botham Jean Blvd. in Sunny South Dallas, they have been around for decades and you need to try their special blend tartar sauce! You can call ahead for your order at (214) 428-4407.

RONNIE’S CATFISH AND MORE

Ronnie’s Catfish and More has a new location in Mesquite, Texas. If you love catfish, wings and a variety of deserts, then go visit this location. Owner Veronica Navarro, is excited to serve you the best catfish. Always keeping in mind some of the most important ways to have customers come back are customer service, quality food and satisfaction; Ronnie’s provides it all. For more information, follow them on Facebook at Ronnie’s Catfish and More Mesquite or call 972-685-3313.

Photo credit: Veronica Navarro

MILA JAE CREATIONS

Meet owner, Jamila Parker, who has been painting for years and enjoys developing one-ofa-kind art pieces. She began to discover herself as an artist by generating pieces that bring you happiness. For more information go to http://www. milajaecreations.com Photo credit: Jamila Parker myimessenger.com

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May 6, 2022

May 6, 2022

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Happy Birthday CHill!

Fort Worth StarTelegram Dallas Cowboys Beat Writer Clarence Hill celebrated his birthday at Ella B's in Arlington myimessenger.com

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May 6, 2022

FAREWELL Stephen Stephen Wright has left the building, He’s supported and built so many #Media careers in #Dallas #FortWorth along the way. We’ll deeply miss our Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists past president, board member and dear #Friend as he makes his mark as an assistant news director in #Memphis. Thanks to all #DFWABJ #NABJ family who came out to the #Celebration to wish him well. 4Thirteen Kitchen and Sports Lounge was phenomenal with delicious food and entertainment by the legendary #DonDiego & Band!

- Eva Coleman

May 6, 2022

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May 6, 2022

Luvenia Sanchez celebrates 50th Birthday

May 6, 2022

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Salute to the Champions - South Dallas Style

By Andrew Whigham, III It was a great day for a parade on Saturday, April 23, 2022 in “Sunny South Dallas” celebrating the James Madison Boys State Basketball Champions for 2021-2022.

Starting on Holmes St. and traveling east on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr to the steps of The Great James Madison High School, the parade featured bands from Dade Middle, Kimball High, South Oak Cliff High and the James Madison High School Bands.”

The Corvette Club was well represented as they provided transportation for the Dallas ISD dignitaries, state and local representatives and the honorees — the Boys Basketball Championship Team, who was showered with T-shirts and other trinkets commem-

orating this special occasion that these young created.

Once the parade reached its destination at the school, a large crowd was cheering with anticipation and the program, which was hosted by Marion Willard, principal of Madison began with her introducing the rostrum guests that included: Dr. Michael Hinojosa - Superintendent of Dallas Independent School District (DISD); State Senator Royce West; County Commissioner John Wiley Price; Dr. Pam Lear, Chief of Staff - DISD; Tiffany Huitt, Chief of Schools – DISD; DISD Trustee Maxey Johnson - District 5; DISD Trustee Joyce Foreman - District 6; DISD Trustee Justin Henry - District 9; and Dr. Deardra Hayes-Whigham – Executive Director of Secondary Schools (Carter, Kimball, Lincoln and Madison).

DISD Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa at The James Madison Boys Basketball State Champions 2021-2022 Parade Saturday, April 23, 2022.

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The James Madison Boys Basketball State Champions 2021-2022 Hosted by Principal Marion Willard and her Staff on the steps of The James Madison High School. Proclamation from Senator West.

Dr. Hinojosa encouraged the State Champions “to be proud of where you come from and that you are a part of a Great Legacy from The Great James Madison.”

Several Proclamations were given to the State Champion Coach Damien Mobley and his players. There were several Madison Alumni present at the event. Allen Madison, a proud graduate of James Madison class of 1963 provided the team and the crowd with the history and many accomplishments of the school.

This year’s team brought home their fifth State UIL Championship in the School's History. Back in March, James Madison won the 3A

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state title game against San Antonio Cole 53-51 in the Alamo Dome in San Antonio.

Many schools in the DFW area brought home the Gold this school year. Starting with DeSoto High School Girls' Varsity Basketball Team, Duncanville High School Boys’ Varsity Basketball Team, Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy Boys' Varsity Basketball Team and the South Oak Cliff Varsity Football Team.

It's been a great year for several Dallas area High School Teams. However, on this day: The light of Sunny South Dallas shined brightly on “The Great James Madison High School Trojans 2021 – 2022 UIL State Champions!”

May 6, 2022

Metro Community Calendar powered by RECURRING: The African American Genealogical Interest Group meets the 3rd Saturday each month, 2 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., through May, in the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1st floor West Room, 1515 Young St.

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1862: Slave crewman Robert Smalls commandeers a Confederate ship and sails to freedom in Charleston harbor.

1878: Inventor J.R. Winters patents fire escape ladder.

1929: Improvisational jazz singer Betty Carter is born.

1960: President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act.

MAY

5 1988: Eugene A. Marino was installed as Archbishop of Atlanta, GA. - the first Black Catholic Archbishop in the U.S.

MAYFEST 2022

High School Students of TX-30:

1946: Baseball great Reggie Jackson is born.

19 1925: Malcolm X born. He was a Black Nationalist and civil rights leader, orator.

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

Reception: For more information on the guidelines of the Congressional Art Competition, All 2022 participants will be honored and the Reception: you can website at Institute sponsors a national art 2022 winner willvisit be my announced during a Each year, the Congressional will beMorton honored and the EBJohnson.house.gov. competition that celebratesAll participants reception at the H. Meyerson students the winnerSymphony at 10:00AM on a Institute sponsors atalented national art from across2022 will be Center announced during country. I am delighted to invite Saturday, May 7, 2022. competition that you celebrates reception at the Morton H. Meyerson to submit your original work If you have any questions,atplease contacton Yasmine talented students from across 10:00AM Grand Prize: for this year’s the competition to my Symphony Center Wicker in Congresswoman Johnson’s District country. I am delighted to Office inviteby 5:00PM on Saturday, May 7,by2022.

The winner, selected an art advisory District Office at (214) 922-8885.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022. council, will have their art displayed in you to submit your original work the United States Capitol for one year.

for this year’s competition to my District Office by 5:00PM on Dallas CASA needs more Black volunteers to May 4, 2022.

Wednesday,

*** Dallas CASA will honor WFAA-TV anchor and Wednesday’s Child host Cynthia Izaguirre with the 2022 Caroline Rose Hunt Cherish the Children Award at noon at the Omni Dallas Hotel. The luncheon will also feature Dallas CASA Board Chair and Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall.

Find out more at www. dallascasa. org.

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Reception:

Each year, the Congressional All participants will be honored and the Institute sponsors a national art 2022 winner will be announced during a competition that celebrates reception at the Morton H. Meyerson 1825students Market Suite 440, Dallas,onTX talented fromCenter across the Boulevard, Symphony Center at 10:00AM country. I am delighted to invite Saturday, May440, 7, 2022.

1825 Market Center Boulevard, Suite Dallas, TX you to submit your original work Grand Prize: for this year’s competition to my District Office by 5:00PM on The winner, selected by an art advisory Wednesday, May 4, 2022. council, will have their art displayed in the United States Capitol for one year.

High School Students of TX-30:

serve our community’s Black children living in foster care. On line information sessions will be held today and Friday May 20 and Thursday, May 26. To register, visit www. dallascasa.org.

1954: U.S. Supreme court rules against segregated schools unconstitutional in Brown vs.

Board of Education.

CONGRESSWOMAN CONGRESSWOMAN EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

Each the Congressional High School Students ofyear, TX-30:

1931: Baseball great “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays is born.

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THE HAT CHAT LADIES ALL WHITE Yatch Brunch Party Sam’s Dock - Pier 121 Celebrating Ladies The TRUE Definition of EMPOWERMENT! CONGRESSWOMAN 12pm to 3pm EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON 121 Marina1825816 E. State Highway 121, ste Market Center Boulevard, Suite 440, Dallas, TX 105, Lewisville, TX, 75057 https://www.eventbrite.com/.../the-hat2022 CONGRESSIONAL ART COMPETITION chat-ladies...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Mayfest, and there’s free admission to pa2022 CONGRESSIONAL ARTART COMPETITION 2022 CONGRESSIONAL COMPETITION trons for Mayfest 2022 Guidelines: 2401 University Dr, Fort Worth, TX

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Just HEAL Bro Tour Featuring Jay Barnett, Lamman Rucker, Dr. Rukudzo Sithole, Lawrence Adjah, DeMario Davis and Joel Tudman Moody Performance Hall, 2520 Flora St. RSVP JustHeal.co

13 1950: Winner of 25 Grammy Awards Stevie Wonder is born.

8 Grand Prize: The winner, selected by an art advisory Guidelines:

more information on the guidelinesin of council,For will have their art displayed

Tap Takeover with Four Corners Brewery -The Village Dallas Sample beers from local breweries. Stop by the beer garden outside of Over Under for FREE samples from Four Corners Brewery, Paletas for purchase, and live music from 6-9pm!

The World According to Andrew on BlogTalkRadio.com 8 am.-10 am. CST. Sundays Tune in for thought-provoking, enlightening, informative, and entertaining news and commentary. Join the call 646200-0459 on Andrew’s World.

After Hours in the Garden

2022 Congressional ArtPorters Competition, 1932: Brotherhood of theSleeping Carfor the United States Capitol oneat year. you can visit my website founded by A. Phillip EBJohnson.house.gov.

Randolph.

Guidelines:

Mother’s Day

ForIf more information onplease the guidelines of you have any questions, contact Yasmine the 2022Wicker Congressional Art Competition, in Congresswoman Johnson’s District at (214) 922-8885. you can Office visit my website at EBJohnson.house.gov.

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If you have any questions, please contact Yasmine 1964: Trumpeter Louis “Satchmo” ArmWicker in Congresswoman Johnson’s strong’s Hello Dolly! tops atBillboard chart.

District Office (214) 922-8885.

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.

10 1943: Famed dancer, choreographer Judith Jamison is born.

11 1967: May 10th - 11th - riots broke out on Jackson State College campus. 7 Blacks killed and 2 wounded.

Fort Worth Botanic Garden Enjoy the beauty of the Garden after hours!

Unwind after a long week, bring your friends, bring a date! Relax with an adult beverage, delicious bites, and the jazz stylings of the Danny Stone Trio, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Members receive early access at 6:00 p.m. at Leonard Courtyard and The Fuller Garden (just behind the Garden Center), Must be at least 21 years old

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1952: Boxer “ Marvelous” Marvin Hagler is born.

Green Funeral

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.

1961: Ku Klux Klan members attacked Freedom Riders in Birmingham, AL while local police watched.

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1963: Arthur Ashe became the first Black to be named to Davis Cup tennis team. He was 19 years old.

May 6, 2022

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Lifestyle Metro Calendar powered by MAY

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Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 5 Downtown Dville!

Denton’s MHMR LOSS Department is hosting a Music and Art Fest at Red’s Yard, 410 N. Bell Ave., Denton from 12 pm – 4 pm in efforts to provide outreach to local suicide survivors.

The Dallas Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc presents Extraordinary WOMEN IN THE ARTS at 2pm at the

PIZZAFEST 2022

Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak Street in Dallas

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Dallas.org or call the Pre-K Enrollment Hotline at 214-932-7735

Mother’s Day Luncheon, 11am-1pm at Dallas Rec Centers

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*** SOUL INSPIRATION LINE DANCE -

Dance with Myra every Friday at 11:30 am on YouTube - “Myra Line Dance Session”

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Paul Quinn College Commencement Ceremonies Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is providing free transportation to polling locations today. Riders can use promo code VOTE 22 at checkout for a complimentary Adult Local Day Pass in the DART GoPass app

GET OUT AND VOTE! *** A Magnificent Mom’s Day Experience at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center MLK Mural and Stage Area, 2922 MLK Blvd., presented by the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and LIRA Group, 10am

*** Virtual Fellowship in celebration of Greenville Ave. Church of Christ’s 36th Adolescent and Ladies Symposium 9am-12:30 pm. Register on line at GACOC.org

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Texas Women’s Foundation Hosts #BestSelf 2022

DBCC 37th Annual Quest For Success 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM CST On The Levee 2525 N Stemmons Frwy Dallas, TX 75207

13th Annual Meal for the Minds, honoring Mental Health Awareness Month, featuring a conversation with Dak Prescott. The emcee is NBC5 Anchor Laura Harris at the Hilton Anatole, at 11:30 am.

Get more info at www.metrocareservices. org/dak

21 The 4th Annual Denton Freedom Charity Golf Tournament is being hosted at Wildhorse Golf Club at Robson Ranch, 9400 Ed Robson Blvd A, Denton to help raise awareness for homelessness and hunger and freedom from addiction.

26 Bottled Blonde in Deep Ellum 505 N. Good Latimer Expwy www.pizzafestdallas.com

6 Dallas Senior Program Division

8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm UNT Coliseum

*** UNT DALLAS COMMENCEMENT Ceremonies

PRE-K POP UP DRIVE THRU Pre-K Registration Saturdays in May 10am-2pm. Visit PreK-

Sponsored by Mudhook, Black & Bitter Coffee and Books and First Fridays at Main Station at 100 S. Main Street, Duncanville

UNT DENTON Commencement

for Tween and Teen Girls at Paul Quinn College Self-awareness, self-confidence, self-care and self-wellness highlighted.

Keynote speakers : ● Tori Dixon, Licensed Professional Counselor, Graceful Journey Counseling ● Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC), Award-winning, multicultural, multidisciplinary nonprofit arts institution ● Stefanie Tovar, Bhakti yoga instructor based in Dallas ● Tisha Crear, Chef and founder of Recipe Oak Cliff WHERE: Paul Quinn College, 3837 Simpson Stuart Rd, Dallas

ROYAL ROUNDZ II

Kingdom Boxing presents Shurretta “Chiccm” Metcalf, Charles “The Future” Hatley and Ray “Valentino” Ximenez Jr at the Factory, 2713 Canton St. more at kingdomboxing.pro

Elusive Ladies celebrate 44th DELTAversary -- #BADST JUNE 4 ‘Live Out Proud’ at the Dallas Pride Music Festival & Alan Ross Texas Freedom Parade in Fair Park June 4-5.

Dallas Pride readies for its return to Fair Park June 4-5 to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its allies with a weekend of events with the theme of “Live Out Proud.”

Tickets are on sale now at dallaspride.org for the Dallas Pride Music Festival

Send your calendar items to:

editor@texasmetronews.com at least 2-4 weeks before your event

12 -14 UT Arlington Commencement ceremonies www.uta.edu *** Dallas College Graduation Curtis Culwell Center 4999 Naaman Forest Blvd.

Garland, TX

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May 6, 2022

May 6, 2022

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www.grandpasecret.com

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May 6, 2022

ARRESTED

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?

Crimestoppers 877-373-8477 May 6, 2022

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