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Citizen SOUTH END Week of April 1, 2020 | Vol. 53 | No. 8 | www.citizennewspapergroup.com
The Pullman Community Center was a vision of 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale. It has turned into a place where residents can come. Students receive athletic and academic training at the center. Photos courtesy of CNI/Pullman Community Center
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PULLMAN COMMUNITY CENTER PROVIDES ATHLETICS AND ACADEMICS The Pullman Community Center has become an important fixture in the year and a half since it opened. It began with a vision from 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale to build an indoor baseball facility, but the vision later mushroomed into the center it is today. PAGE 2
BUSINESS 5 Financial Tips for Teens PAGE 4
NEWS 7 Steps to Prepare for a Home Remodel PAGE 7
FOOD Simple, Plant-Powered Summer Meals PAGES 8
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EDUCATION MEASURES ASSIST LICENSEES AND EDUCATION PROVIDERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has announced several proactive measures to help professional licensees and education providers in light of the challenges confronting all Illinoisans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the limitation of in-person course availability and to further reduce contact between individuals, the department has issued a series of variances that provide relief from the provisions of certain administrative rules pertaining to license renewal terms and to continuing education requirements.
Any professional licenses issued by the department that have renewal dates between March 1, 2020 through and including July 31, 2020, are granted an automatic extension to renew to September 30, 2020. Additionally, all current licensees under the department’s jurisdiction whose license renewal deadlines fall within the period beginning March 1, 2020 through and including July 31, 2020, shall have up to, and including, September 30, 2020 to complete their continuing education coursework. The department is also allowing licensees to complete their continuing education coursework without requiring live attendance and permit for interactive webinar and online distance education courses in addition to currently permitted methods. These and all departmental licensees must continue to comply with all pertinent provisions of their respective licensing acts.
HEALTH DENTAL CARE HABITS OF AMERICANS REVEALED IN HONOR OF WORLD ORAL HEALTH DAY
Weave, one of the fastest-growing companies in tech, recently announced new research detailing the dental habits and preferences of Americans to help bring attention to World Oral Health Day. Weave commissioned an independent study of over 1,100 people to learn more about their dental care hygiene habits and their preferences for interacting with their dental care providers. The data show that most patients prefer more “modern” dental practices--those who send both appointment reminders and payment requests via text messages. Other key points from the study showed that 70% of patients would gladly leave an online review if their dentist sent them a link to do so and 53% of patients have gone over 3 years without getting their teeth checked. To learn more about Weave’s complete business toolbox, including solutions for dental care providers, please visit www.getweave.com.
LAW & POLITICS RAOUL: BERWYN MAN CHARGED WITH IMPERSONATING ILLINOIS SECRETARY OF STATE EMPLOYEE TO STEAL THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS
Attorney General Kwame Raoul recently announced that a Berwyn man was arrested and charged with posing as an employee of the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, offering government jobs and other favors for cash payments and ultimately defrauding four Cook County residents of at least $15,000.
Hugo Torres, 47, was arrested and charged with one count of theft by deception over $10,000, a Class 2 felony, punishable by three to seven years in prison, and one count of theft by deception over $500, a Class 3 felony, punishable by five to 10 years in prison. According to a press release, Torres was previously convicted in a similar scheme in which he posed as a supervisor for the Illinois Secretary of State and made phony promises of jobs with the Secretary of State’s office. Torres has never been an employee of or affiliated in any capacity with the Secretary of State’s office.
BY TIA CAROL JONES
The Pullman Community Center has become an important fixture in the year and a half since it opened. It began with a vision from 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale to build an indoor baseball facility, but the vision later mushroomed into the center it is today.
Located on 10355 S. Woodlawn, the Pullman Community Center boasts of three hardwood courts, three turf fields and four batting/pitching cages. Beale said while the goal was a sports facility, he made sure the educational component was there too. And that was important Beale added because when you look at the athletes, sometimes they struggle in school. Enter Silas Green and the 530 Scholars, a group with the mission to get students in the top five percent of their class and to get a 30 on the ACT through education programming. “We really didn’t realize how for tunate we were and what an amazing program it is. His passion, Silas, is that’s he’s been there everyday, is to be able to teach kids in our community,” said Kristin Curtis, general manager of the Pullman Community Center.
“It feels like a big family,” she said “because of the relationships we’ve built, with people like Silas, or HERO, that’s [the] football program that we have there, we have that common mis sion of keeping the kids off the street.” HERO is a flag football program that operates at the Pullman Commu nity Center. Students in the program are also connected to Green and the 530 Scholars program. That partner ship was instrumental in getting all of the seniors a full athletic scholarship. Continued from page 1
“I have to credit partner organiza tions we’ve met and the relationships that we’ve built with them,” Curtis said, adding it doesn’t feel like just a business relationship. “We all have this common goal of having fun,” she said and helping people and giving kids a standard of excellence.
“It’s just wonderful that the kids can come in there, they see someone like Silas Green, who’s strong academically, you see Alderman Beale is in there, as the president of our organization and the visionary behind it, and Judge Bates who’s the chairman of our board,” Curtis said. “So, these kids see politicians, they see judges, they see athletes, positive African American males. These kids are walking around and they’re seeing what they can be as well.”
Curtis said making sure the community is involved in programs at the center was always important. The center has a director of community programs to make sure the programs are a form of outreach to residents.
“We don’t get any city, state or feder al funding for operations. So, in order to pay those bills, we have to charge people, but we want to be sensitive, we want the community to be able to come in here and use it,” Curtis said. “We started Feel Good Fridays, we have open-play volleyball for $5, we have line dancing for $5. People can watch basketball on two courts, volley ball on another, and you’ve got the line dancing and the music.”
Beale said he is proud of Pullman Community Center.
“I think we really are proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish and the direction we’re going [in] is phenomenal,” Beale said. He added they now have national attention, with a partnership with the AAU. That’s because “we’re doing something different and we’re doing something special,” he said. All of this falls into the renaissance Pullman has experienced in the last few years, with the opening of Walmart, renovation of the Pullman Historic District and the opening of the Pullman Community Center. Beale said it all comes from a holistic standpoint.
“We want to create jobs and oppor tunities,” Beale said, adding he thinks the industrial businesses they’re bring ing in are adding opportunities that put people to work and that all brings crime down in the ward.
Creating jobs, opportunities, creat ing a place for people to go and shop where they don’t have to go outside the community, “all these things go handin-hand,” Beale said.
“We’re also addressing the housing stock, we’re rehabbing homes, we’re putting people back in those homes. So, we’re giving them a job, we’re giving them a place to live and we’re giving them a place to shop. What was missing? A place to go and play,” he said.
Beale said the vision blossomed into something more than he ever could have imagined and Curtis said it is something she is proud of. It’s a safe, clean place for the community, she said.
“I’m grateful, I’m personally so proud. I have wonderful childhood memories from this area. We have something to be proud of,” Curtis said. “I love the development that they’re doing over there. Between Alderman Beale and the Chicago Neighborhood Initiative, they’re doing some amazing things over there.”
For more information about Pull man Community Center, visit www. pccindoorsports.com.
Black Press of America Celebrates 193 Years of Freedom-Fighting Journalism
BY STACY M. BROWN NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
From Freedom’s Journal to The North Star to John Abbott’s Chicago Defender, African American-owned newspapers have sparked fires for truth and equality that have burned with the passion for fighting for freedom throughout history.
Monday, March 16, 2020 marked the 193rd anniversary of the Black Press of America, whose global impact remains undeniable. It all began with Freedom’s Journal, the first African American newspaper, that was guided by the fearless publishers, John B. Russwurm and Samuel E. Cornish.
On March 16, 1827, Russwurm and Cornish announced the publication’s inaugural issue with a frontpage that contained these words:
“We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” The 4-page edition included stories about the struggle to end the horrors of slavery, lynching, and social injustice. It also informed the African American community of international news of particular interest, like events in Haiti and Sierra Leone. The newspaper featured biographies of African American men and women, schools, jobs, and housing opportunities.
“As we deal with some of the most challenging times in modern history, it is important that we understand the significance of the Black Press in reporting on and recording our history,” said National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Chair, and publisher of the Houston Forward Times, Karen Carter Richards. The NNPA is the national trade association representing America’s Black Press.
“As we celebrate 193 years of being the Voice of Black America, we have made the decision to reschedule Black Press Week due to the unprecedented impact of the Coronavirus. Since the beginning, whether it has been our publishers, editors, journalists, photographers and many others, the Black Press has made the sacrifices and endured the struggles they had to go through in order to publish,” said Richards.
“Even though Freedom’s Journal existed for only two years, its impact on the Black Press has lasted 193 years — and counting,” said Mississippi Link publisher Jackie Hampton, who also serves as secretary of the NNPA. 116th Anniversary of the Negro Press, by artist Charles Henry Alston, 1907-1977
“I give Freedom’s Journal credit for the establishment of more than 200 African-American-owned newspapers across the nation. The papers not only cover regional, national and international news, but they are still telling the stories that Freedom’s Journal advocated,” Hampton observed. “Those stories include political rights for all Americans, the right to vote for all Americans and the telling of positive stories regarding the accomplishments of African Americans which mainstream newspapers often will not cover.”
Observing Freedom’s Journal’s anniversary traditionally occurs during the NNPA’s Black Press Week, held annually in Washington, DC. This year’s festivities are postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think the founders and editors of Freedom’s Journal would be very proud of the NNPA for deciding to postpone Black Press Week,” Hampton observed. “Because putting the health and safety of attendees first, regardless of how much we value the significance of Black Press, demonstrates our leadership is in good hands. If we don’t make good decisions for ourselves, then who will?”
“The postponement of Black Press Week activities coincides with the national response to the coronavirus, which is the right thing to do,” added Sonny Messiah Jiles, the publisher of the Houston Defender Network and former chair of the NNPA.
“Yet the significance and importance of the Black Press during these times are more relevant than ever before,” Jiles added.
“The virus presents health issues of access to testing, economic issues of job security and family/business income, and sustainability issues of how long this pandemic last. The challenges our country faces today reaffirms the importance of the Black Press of America and of Black Press Week.”
The anniversary of the Black Press is a reminder of the contributions that remain indelibly associated with its fearlessness, determination, and success.
Those contributions include the works of Frederick Douglass,
www.citizennewspapergroup.com WEB DuBois, Ida B. Wells, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, and former NNPA Chairman Dr. Carlton Goodlett.
Douglass, who helped slaves escape to the North while working with the Underground Railroad, established the abolitionist paper, The North Star, in Rochester, New York. He developed it into the most influential black antislavery newspaper published during the Antebellum era.
The North Star denounced slavery and fought for the emancipation of women and other oppressed groups with a motto of, “Right is of no Sex – Truth is of no Color; God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”
“In Africa, you had the atrocity of European nations colonizing sovereign states and turning them into satellite copies of their own nations,” said Rosetta Perry, a civil rights activist and publisher of the Tennessee Tribune.
“That’s one of the reasons why French is spoken so widely on the continent, as well as African nations still using the English monetary system. Black newspapers covered these stories as best they could from afar, but still lacked the resources to send correspondents over to these nations, they often depended on the reports of foreign correspondents from other publications,” she said.
Today, where possible, the Black Press continues to reach across the ocean to forge coalitions with the growing number of websites and special publications that cover Africa daily from on the continent, Perry noted. The evolution of the Black Press, the oldest Black business in America,
had proprietors take on issues of chattel slavery in the 19th century, Jim Crow segregation and lynching, the great northern migration, the Civil Rights Movement, the transformation from the printing press to the digital age and computerized communication.
With the Plessy vs. Ferguson Supreme Court ruling that said no Black man has any rights that a White man must honor, there came a flood of Black publications to advocate for Black rights and to protest the wrongs done to Blacks.
Today, the Black Press continues to tackle domestic and global issues, including the new novel coronavirus pandemic and its effects on all citizens – particularly African Americans.
“This is an important story about the history of the Black Press of America that has consistently been the freedom fighting voice of African people in America and throughout the world for 193 years without waiver or distortion of the truth,” stated NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
“Today, in 2020, amidst the global pandemic of the coronavirus, the Black Press remains the vital source of news and information for 47 million African Americans,” he added. Chavis continued: “On this momentous anniversary, the NNPA salutes all of the African American-owned newspapers and media companies that are affiliated with the NNPA’s expanding network of over 230 media properties and channels.
“May God continue to bless the Black Press of America.”
