Houston Style Magazine vol 30 No 18

May 2 – May 8, 2019

Houston’s Premiere Weekly Publication

Volume 30 | Number 18

Complimentary

Jesse Jackson

GOP, Not Russia, the Greater Threat to Free Elections

John Singleton

Groundbreaking Director Dead at Age 51

Leela James Talks Crossing Genres and Her New EP ‘Are You Ready’ Words by Keandra Scott and Photography Courtesy of Leela James Follow Us #TeamStyleMag

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Over 3,000 Make Change Happen in Houston

3rd TSU Gala

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Police Brutality in Florida

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Managing Editor Jo-Carolyn Goode editorial@stylemagazine.com Social Media Editor/Videographer Reginald Dominique reggiedominique@me.com

NATIONAL WRITERS

Jesse Jackson jjackson@rainbowpush.org Roland Martin www.rolandmartin.com Judge Greg Mathis www.askjudgemathis.com

The Fight to Save ‘Ebony’ and ‘Jet’ Archives

PHOTOGRAPHERS Vicky Pink vhpink@gmail.com

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William Ealy Williamealy1906@gmail.com Semetra Samuel semetra@artistikrebelcreative.com Mike Munoz artrepreneur91@gmail.com Robert Franklin editorial@stylemagazine.com

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

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COMMENTARY

GOP, Not Russia, the Greater Threat to Free Jesse Jackson, Political Writer Elections By Jesse Jackson ByNational Lawyers Committee President Kristen Clarke noted, voter turnout rates were depressed across the state.

We all have heard about WikiLeaks and Russian interference in the 2016 election. The report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has once more put that on the front pages. Too often lost in the furor, however, is the far more damaging TrikiLeaks -- the tricks and laws used to suppress the vote by partisans, largely Republicans here at home.

closed polling booths in African-American neighbors leading to long delays, purged voters from the rolls, perfected partisan gerrymandering and more. In some cases, as in North Carolina, their discriminatory intent was so public that the laws were overturned in federal court, but in most places, the new barriers were in place in 2016.

After the Supreme Court’s rightwing gang of five gutted key sections of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v.

Holder, Republican-controlled states immediately ramped up efforts to create obstacles for voting, particularly for people of color. They mandated specific forms of state ID, made it harder for students to vote, eliminated same-day registration, reduced early voting days,

Did it make a difference? Voting rights expert Ari Berman says, “absolutely.”

Overall 14 states had new restrictions in place, passed since the Shelby decision. Look at Wisconsin. Trump won by 22,000 votes. In Wisconsin, 300,000 African-American voters didn’t have the newly required strict photo ID. Black voter turnout in Milwaukee declined by 51,000 votes from 2012, while as

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In Texas, state lawmakers are also moving to add criminal penalties for people who improperly fill out voter registration forms, an effort to intimidate nonprofit groups that work to register people to vote. In Arizona, Republicans are making it harder to cast an early ballot. In Tennessee, GOP lawmakers are pushing legislation to fine voter registration groups that submit incomplete forms, even by mistake, up to $10,000. Tequila Johnson, co-founder of the Equity Alliance that focuses on registering people of color, called them out:”We have never seen a bill like this on the floor, until we dared to register 86,000 black and brown people to vote.

“This screams racism.”

Some states, happily, are moving to make voting easier and more accessible. Florida citizens passed an historic referendum restoring the right to vote for felons who have paid their debt to society. (Now, Republicans in the legislature are trying to undermine that initiative). Automatic Voting Registration laws have passed in several states.

More states are providing longer times for early voting, adding voting booths to reduce long lines and more. Cases to rollback partisan gerrymandering have been successful in federal courts -- and now are headed to the Supreme Court.

The Brennan Centerreports that bills that expand voting rights have seen some movement in 35 states, while those restricting rights have moved in 10 states.

Joe Biden Targets Trump, Touts Union Ties in First Campaign Rally CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire

Former Vice President Joe Biden

oe Biden began his first rally as a 2020 presidential candidate arguing that President Donald Trump had abandoned voters in white, working-class America -- and that reconnecting with those voters is Democrats’ path to victory.

The former vice president told the crowd he decided to hold his first campaign rally in western Pennsylvania because, for the Democratic Party, it is among the “places where lately we’ve had a little bit of a struggle.” “If I’m going to be able to beat Donald Trump in 2020, it’s going to happen here,” he told the crowd.

Now we’re headed into 2020. Republican bastions like Texas, Tennessee and Arizona witnessed surges of Democratic support in 2018. Not surprisingly, they are launching new efforts to suppress the vote. In Texas, the secretary of state announced a plan to purge 95,000 people from the voter rolls because they weren’t citizens. Independent research then demonstrated that in Harris County, which includes Houston, 60 percent of the 30,000 people on the list had received citizenship long ago. Some of the supposed research was 25 years old.

Once more citizens had to go to court to try to stop the suppression.

Much, much more attention should be paid to this battle. Happily, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives has made voting rights a priority. Rep. Elijah Cummings (DMD.), chair of the House Oversight Committee, has launched an investigation of voter suppression in Georgia in 2018, where the victor, Brian Kemp, oversaw the election as secretary state.

And, as Cummings detailed, 1.4 million people were purged from the voting rolls from 2012 to 2016, 53,000 -- 80 percent of them people of color -- had their registrations put on hold; 214 polling places were shuttered, contributing to lines of more than four hours in heavily black precincts.

The 76-year-old Biden launched his campaign last week with a much more direct focus on Trump than other Democratic presidential contenders. On Monday, he said -- in a twist on former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign theme -- that Americans must “choose hope over fear, unity over division and, maybe most importantly, truth over lies.” “Donald Trump is the only president who has decided not to represent the whole country. The President has his base,” Biden said.

Trump rode a wave of white voters in

swing states -- particularly Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin -- fleeing Biden’s party. Biden’s campaign is based on the premise that he’s the candidate best able to connect with voters in those areas -- and his rhetoric on Monday was a direct appeal to them.

“I make no apologies: I am a union man,” he told the largely white crowd at a Teamsters union hall.

A Biden ally was even more blunt about his appeal. Minutes before the former vice president took the stage, International Association of Firefighters president Harold Schaitberger -- whose union endorsed Biden earlier Monday -- told the crowd that Democrats “can’t have a nominee that’s too far left.” He warned of candidates with “high-minded ideals, maybe honorable ideals, but little chance of winning. And there’s no question that the candidate who can win -- the candidate who will be our next president -- is Joe Biden.” And he took a shot at the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, saying that Democrats need a 2020 candidate who “connects with those workers who don’t believe the last Democratic nominee listened to them or cared about them.” Biden didn’t get into the specifics of policy in his first rally as a

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presidential candidate, but he did lay out the beginnings of a platform for his campaign.

Among the policies Biden touted: a “public option” that would allow anyone to buy into Medicare; a $15-an-hour minimum wage; eliminating capital gains tax loopholes; and increasing funding for medical research and post-secondary job training.

Biden also repeatedly said he would undo Trump’s tax cuts, complaining that the benefits had accumulated with wealthy Americans and corporations.

“Did you feel it? Did you get anything from it?” he asked the crowd while bashing Trump’s tax cuts, eliciting a round of “no” responses. “Of course not! Look, guys, this is not good.” Biden argued that the nation’s premise of the middle class was being undercut by a “one-way street” greedy companies with executives who pump money into salary increases and stock buy-backs rather than worker pay.

“We have to rethink how we define what constitutes a successful economy. It’s not enough for the stock market to rise. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s just not enough.

Workers feel powerless, too often humiliated,” Biden said. “We’re tearing America apart instead of lifting it up.” Read the full story online at stylemagazine.com.

Destined to Succeed Whatever your child wants to be is within reach when you are involved.

Your engagement in their education will prepare them for the future.

To learn more about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and how you can advocate for your children, visit us at www.nnpa.org/essa Sign-up for our ESSA alerts at www.nnpa.org/essa

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

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LOCAL & STATE BRIEFS

2019 Houston Pride Grand Marshals Make Diversity History

Cynthia Cooper-Dyke Returns to TSU as Head Women’s Basketball Coach

OutSmartMagazine.com his year’s slate of Houston’s 2019 Pride Grand Marshals is historic in a number of ways. Although Houston is the nation’s most diverse city, previous Pride marshals have been overwhelmingly white for much of the parade’s 40-year history. That will change dramatically with the upcoming June celebration. Three of this year’s titles went to LGBTQ African-American Houstonians. Shannon Baldwin has been named Female-Identifying Grand Marshal, Harrison Guy is the Male-Identifying Grand Marshal, and Mike Webb is the Non Gender-Binary Grand Marshal. Baldwin is the third black woman to be chosen as a female marshal, while Harrison is the first black man to win the male marshal title. Webb is the first non gender-binary marshal to be elected. Harris County’s Precinct 1 constable, Alan Rosen is the second law-enforcement official to be chosen as an ally marshal.

StyleMagazine.com Newswire exas Southern University welcomed back an old face. Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has just been named the head coach for the women’s basketball team. Cooper-Dyke was the coach during the 2012-2013 season where she led the tigers to a 20-12 record. The announcement was made Tuesday and Cooper-Dyke said she couldn’t be happier about returning to Houston. The 56-yearold has 12 years of coaching experience in the NCAA Division I. Her coaching career started with the Lady Panthers of Prairie View A&M University where she coached for five seasons. She also has history with, the University of Southern California, where she coached for four seasons. Plus, she coached two seasons at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. “I’m thrilled to return to Houston and to Texas Southern, and to my Houston family,” Cooper-Dyke said. “I’m thrilled to lead the Lady Tigers and can’t wait to get started.”

Texas Settles Lawsuit, Agrees to $450K Payment After Latino Group Accuses State of Intimidating Voters

Texas Push to Decriminalize Pot Falters Despite GOP Support

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CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire exas agreed to end an initiative that a Latino civil rights group said intimidated voters based on a false narrative of voter fraud, a settlement released Friday showed. The settlement said the state would back down from an advisory announced earlier this year and inform county-level officials “to take no further action on any data files” the Texas secretary of state’s office sent claiming thousands of non-citizens were on electoral rolls. Additionally, the state agreed to pay the plaintiffs $450,000 for legal fees and other costs, according to the settlement document.The lawsuit from the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens with a coalition of civil rights groups and other platiffs sought to block the state

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Click2Houston.com exas’ tough stance on marijuana as the drg becomes increasingly legal elsewhere in the U.S. has grounded a bipartisan push in the state to decriminalize minor offenses - a change the Texas GOP platform has come around to endorsing, but not Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. It all but ensures that Texas will remain in the company of more than a dozen states where possessing any amount of pot can result in a criminal record. A Democrat leading the decriminalization effort said political realities in the Texas Capitol forced him to weaken his bill ahead of a key House vote.

The chamber passed the measure on a 9843 vote on Monday, drawing support from both sides of the aisle. The revised measure would reduce penalties for those with an ounce or less of marijuana to a Class C misdemeanor - eliminating arrests, but still making possession a crime.

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Teen Died Of Brain Tumor After School Fight, Report Says

Patch.com 13-year-old girl, who died several days after a vicious attack by two girls while she walked home from school, died of a brain tumor, according to the coroner’s report. Kashala Francis died three days after she was attacked and beaten on April 18. She was rushed to Texas Children’s Hospital after she complained of a severe headache and fell unconscious on April 21. According to the medical examiner’s report, Francis died due to complications of intracranial neoplasm, a brain tumor that’s can occur in teens and young adults. Officials didn’t say if the fight contributed to her death. Doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital discovered the brain tumor discovered shortly after she arrived at the hospital on April 21. She died without ever waking up on April 24.

The Houston Police Department is investigating. So far, charges have not been filed.

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Thomas Johnson

Ex-Texas A&M Football Player Gets Life in Prison for Murder

FoxSanAntonio.com former Texas A&M football player was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the slaying of a Dallas jogger who was hacked to death with a machete in 2015. A Dallas County jury had found Thomas Johnson guilty of murder Tuesday for the seemingly random killing of David Stevens. The former wide receiver pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors and police said he previously confessed to killing Stevens. His defense called no witnesses before the jury returned a verdict. Johnson was accused of waiting on a trail in East Dallas and attacking the 53-year-old mechanical engineer as he ran by. Johnson’s sentencing followed years of legal dispute over whether the high school football star was mentally competent to be tried. In 2016, a judge ruled he was not fit to stand trial and had him committed to a psychiatric hospital.

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220 Houston Firefighters Receive Official Layoff Notices

Patch.com he city has followed through on its promise in the wake of Proposition B, and sent layoff notices to 220 Houston firefighters. Their final day on the job will be June 30. In his letter to those laid off, Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena said the move was made because of a sizable budget shortfall, and not as a result of individual performance issues.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who has been critical of Prop B, made good on the threat of layoffs, sending notices to 27 firefighter cadets and 47 municipal employees on April 4. Their last day on the job is June 7. The threats have been punctuated by the public back and forth between Turner and Houston Professional Firefighters Association President Marty Lancton in recent months. On March 27, Turner proposed a five-year plan of implementing Prop B, which would put firefighters and police officers on an rank by rank pay parity scale.

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Alamo Statues Part of New Sculpture Trail in Downtown San Antonio

MySanAntonio.com he Alamo has added six bronze figures on its state-owned grounds as part of an “Alamo Sculpture Trail,” a series of 14 statues linking the Texas shrine to the Briscoe Western Art Museum. The statues were installed earlier this week in the Alamo’s Cavalry Courtyard. Two of them — renderings of Alamo commander William Barret Travis and José Antonio Navarro, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence — were among the 17 statues once featured in the “Texas Walk” at SeaWorld San Antonio, and donated in 2001 to the city of San Antonio. Those two figures were more recently among 16 displayed in the Convention Center. New statues placed at the Alamo for the sculpture trail depict Alamo defenders James Bowie and David Crockett; John W. Smith, an Alamo courier and early San Antonio mayor, on horseback; and Susannah Dickinson.

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Crump, NAACP, NNPA to Demonstrate after Police Brutality Incident in Florida

BlackPressUSA.com By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia a 15-year-old African American student and repeatedly slamming the child’s head against concrete pavement.

The weekend rally – a peaceful demonstration – will include the teen’s attorney, famed civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry and Broward County NAACP leaders.

“We cannot become desensitized to the brutality visited upon our young black men and women,” said Chavis, who’s also a civil rights activist who worked under Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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he Broward County Chapter of the NAACP will lead a march and rally to demand the termination and criminal prosecution of two Florida sheriff deputies who were caught on video punching

“In addition to reporting news, the NNPA, a trade association representing the 215 African American newspapers and media companies around the country, is also a voice for civil rights,” Chavis said.

Further, as the trusted source for news and information in the African American community, the NNPA should be at the

forefront in informing its readers about all that affects them, Henry said.

ing him in the head, while another deputy helped restrain and handcuff him.

“It’s important for us to remember where we came from and this is galvanizing and communicating on a level where we are all involved and this is such an important issue,” said Henry.

“We need to realize that this concerns us, and we should not wait for the white media to tell us about our community and when something happens, they should be coming to us for that information,” he said.

Rolle, one of two teens who were arrested, reportedly suffered a broken nose in the encounter.

Delucca “Lucca” Rolle, a student at J.P. Taravella High School, was accused of aggravated assault against an officer, but the charge made “no sense,” prosecutors said.

A cell phone video captured Broward County Sheriff’s deputies pepper-spraying, tackling and punching a group of teens last week outside a McDonald’s near the school.

The video shows deputies take Rolle down, with one deputy banging Rolle’s forehead into the pavement and punch-

Deputy Christopher Krickovich and Sgt. Greg LaCerra were both suspended by the Sheriff’s office after the video was released, though, originally, they were placed on restricted assignment. =The Broward State Attorney’s Office said it has begun investigating the deputies’ actions and prosecutors decided not to file charges against Rolle.

Rolle’s family also has hired Crump, who said he wants the deputies involved to face criminal charges.

Crump noted that the two arrested teens are black, while all three deputies seen in the cellphone video are white.

“Rolle was a teen beaten by deputies after he picked up a cellphone that fell out of the pocket of a black boy who was being arrested,” Crump said.

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

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BUSINESS AND NATIONAL BRIEFS

GM Just Got a $300 Million Windfall From Its $500 Million Investment in Lyft

George Lucas and Mellody Hobson Fight to Save ‘Ebony’ and ‘Jet’ Magazines’ Historic Archives

CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire n 2016, General Motors put down $500 million on Lyft. That paid off with a $300 million gain last quarter. Lyft’s IPO in March helped GM offset slumping vehicle sales last quarter. Car sales were particularly weak in China, GM’s biggest market. The number of vehicles GM sold in China plunged 20% compared to a year earlier because of a slowdown in the Chinese economy and a drop in industrywide sales. Sales in the United States fell 7% in the quarter. Overall revenue fell 3% last quarter. That dragged the company’s operating profit from autos $500 million lower. But the lift from the revaluation of GM’s Lyft stock and its stake in European automaker Peugeot SA helped GM report a net profit increase. GM said it still expects to hit its profit and cash flow targets for the full year. GM’s stock fell nearly 3% on the report.

BlackEnterprise.com usiness titan Mellody Hobson and her husband, Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas, filed a court motion seeking control of the Ebony and Jet archives just weeks after the magazines’ former owner, Johnson Publishing Co. (JPC), filed for bankruptcy.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the power couple is seeking to take control of the magazines’ archives, which contain thousands of historic photos and recordings of African American people, culture, and events. JPC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this month, putting the magazines’ collection of iconic footage, chronicling more than 70 years of African American life, in jeopardy. The archives include original photos of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his funeral, Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou. civil rights movement.

Chicago Doctor Plans to Fix Shortage of Black Blood Donors

Morehouse College to Admit Transgender Men Starting in 2020

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ChicagoTribune.com frican American blood donors are underrepresented in Cook County and a pediatric hematologist has a plan to turn that around. Fewer than 7% of all American Red Cross blood donations came from black donors last year, though African Americans made up 24% of the county’s population. But Dr. A. Kyle Mack is working with the Red Cross and Lurie Children’s Hospital to launch an initiative in which black donors can have blue tags attached to their blood donations, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The move could allow their blood to be given to patients with sickle cell at Lurie.

The project is similar to an effort taking place in Philadelphia. Mack shares his message at churches on the South Side and at community group events, inviting people to visit blood drives.

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MySanAntonio.com he country’s only all-male historically black college will begin admitting transgender men next year, marking a major shift for the school at a time when higher education institutions around the nation are adopting more welcoming policies toward LGBT students.

Leaders of Morehouse College in Atlanta told The Associated Press that its board of trustees approved the policy on Saturday. Transgender men will be allowed to enroll in the school for the first time in 2020. Students who identify as women but were born male cannot enroll, however, and anyone who transitions from male to female will not be automatically eligible to receive a degree from the institution.

Morehouse officials hailed the move as an important step toward a more inclusive campus while affirming its mission to educate and develop men.

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Legal Protections That New Business Owne rs Should Have

tnj.com here are numerous entrepreneurs and business owners whom are lauded as visionaries, futurists, and industry leaders. Books are written about them, they become household names, and numerous other businesses attempt to mimic their success. But other new businesses quickly flame out and are shuttered within a few short years. What sets these two groups of business owners apart? What explains the wildly different trajectories that businesses take? As a business owner, one is expected to have knowledge of all legal requirements needed to create and grow their business. New business owners need to be especially cognizant of what particular legal protections they need to take in order to protect the various components that constitute the “business”—this can include intellectual property protections, human resources protections, and insurance protections.

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Suspicions Grow As Baltimore Mayor’s Leave Drags On

BlackAmericaWeb.com iewers of Baltimore newscasts are getting used to seeing images of embattled Mayor Catherine Pugh‘s lawyer pulling up to her three-story house and vanishing inside. He later insists that her health is too fragile for her to think clearly enough to make decisions about the future. But after a month on paid leave from her $185,000 job as the city’s No. 1 official, her lawyer’s cryptic comments about the mayor’s open-ended retreat inside her home in the city are straining the credulity of some Baltimore taxpayers. The scandal isn’t going away, leaving her politically vulnerable and deeply isolated. While the first-term Democratic mayor still has some supporters with a wait-and-see attitude, numerous citizens who had been willing to give Pugh the benefit of the doubt now perceive her indefinite leave with suspicion.

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ESPN Will No Longer Regularly Print Its Magazine After September’s ‘Body’ Issue

CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire iting rapid evolution in consumer habits, ESPN said Tuesday it will cease publishing its magazine -- for the most part -- in September and instead publish the content online only.

The last regular printing will be the “Body” issue, ESPN said in a statement.

“Our journalists will continue to create the same exceptional content,” the statement said. “The only change here is that we are moving away from printing it on paper and sending it in the mail.” The sports media giant said many of its users already consume its print journalism online.

The “Body” issue and others might be released “in special, differentiated print formats” in the future, ESPN said. “Consumer habits are evolving rapidly, and this requires ESPN to evolve as well,” it said.

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Bipartisan Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Establish a National Latino Museum

NBCnews.com group of bipartisan legislators reintroduced a bill Wednesday to create a national Latino museum in the nation’s capital. The National Museum of the American Latino Act would revive the process started by previous legislation to secure a location near the Smithsonian’s other iconic museums while fundraising efforts continue. Other Smithsonian museums include the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of the American Indian. Among the members of Congress who attended a press conference to press for the legislation were Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Reps. José Serrano, D-N.Y., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Joaquín Castro, D-Texas, and Will Hurd, R-Texas.

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LOCAL

More Than 3,000 Will Gather to Make Change Happen in Houston During 18th Annual Comcast Cares Day StyleMagazine.com Newswire

date, more than 1 million Comcast Cares Day volunteers have contributed over 6 million service hours to improve local communities at more than 10,000 projects. This year, the Company expects more than 100,000 volunteers from Comcast, NBCUniversal, and for the first time Sky, to participate in projects across the country and around the world.

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n May 4, 2019, more than 3,000 local Comcast NBCUniversal employees and their families, friends and community partners will “make change happen” as they volunteer to improve AAMA, BARC, Boys and Girls Clubs of Richmond, Camp Hope, Covenant House, Houston Food Bank and Legacy Community Health as part of the 18th annual Comcast Cares Day.

ployees, their friends and families, and our community partners, both on this day and throughout the year. We are thankful for the participants and volunteers who continue to work to make a positive difference.”

“I value our partnership with Comcast and the company’s year-round commitment to the community,” said City of Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Comcast Cares Day shows how an organization can make a difference. Houston is a wonderful place to live because Comcast employees make change happen as they participate in the nation’s largest single-day volunteer event.”

This year, we’ll come together and roll up our sleeves to revitalize community centers and shelters, assemble care packages for families in need, and take care of our veteran population. We are working to address the real needs of individuals in our shared communities, by enThe Comcast NBCUniversal FounComcast Cares Day is more than gaging with our non-profit partners. dation will also provide grants to just a day – it is an illustration of the “As we celebrate our 18th an- local partner organizations on behalf spirit of volunteerism that our emnual Comcast Cares Day, we are of volunteers who contribute their ployees bring to life each and every day. From using technology to cre- thrilled to partner with several of time on Comcast Cares Day. The ate positive change, such as teaching our non-profit organizations to give grants will help Comcast’s partners digital literacy skills, to mentoring back to our local community here continue their mission of serving the youth, to stocking food banks, to in Houston, said Ralph Martinez, community throughout the year. To beautifying parks, Comcast NBCU- Senior Vice President, Comcast’s date, the Comcast NBCUniversal niversal employees volunteer during Houston Region. “It is incredible Foundation has awarded nearly $25 this celebration and throughout the to see how we can drive meaningfulT:5” million in grants to local nonprofit year to make a lasting impact. To change by bringing together our em- organizations.

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

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FEATURE

Leela James Talks Crossing Genres and Her New EP ‘Are You Ready’

By Keandra Scott, Style Feature Writer

Ke’Ke: So, how did the connection with the Truth Band come about?

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lincher: Soul singer Leela James brought her Cali-rooted charm in the form of great weather to Houston in an exclusive in-person interview at The Raven Tower.

Who says you can’t switch from R&B to rock and produce a kick-rear (insert what you want) sound? Since the beginning of time, African-Americans have always branched out on an experimental voyage to express joy and pain from negro spirituals to the deep pits from whence soul music was birthed in the 1950s. Former R&B Divas: Los Angeles songstress Leela James alongside The Truth Band takes a fiery stab at a 6-track EP entitled, ‘Are You Ready’. The album comes as a follow up to ‘Did It For Love’ and it vibes, greatly. James’ single “That Woman” delivers an embodiment of what ‘Are You Ready’ is all about; it’s fearless as she belts out an ode to self-respect; she demands it. Baby Etta first performed “That Woman” in DC at the inaugural Black Girls Rock! Festival as she took the stage with names like hip-hop femcee Rapsody, Elle Varner, Jazmine Sullivan and more.

There’s a lot more to the Houston-based powerhouse vocalist since gracing Houston Style Magazine in 2017. From her private married life and being a proud mother of two, her musical journey is ‘consistently evolving’.

It was windy, sunny with clear skies as we sat down with Leela to discuss her Ke’Ke: How has Houston embraced you?

Leela James: Houston has totally embraced me, it has definitely become my new home, my second home. I was born and raised in South Central L.A. and

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

I’ve been here now for several years. I travel back and forth to L.A. still, but, I own property in Houston and I’m raising my family here-I have children. Shout out to Majic 102.1, Hey Terri, ha-ha. It’s lots of love here in Houston. I’ve done several shows at the Arena Theatre as well as the House of Blues and they’ve been sold out a few times. I’ve definitely acclimated myself here, so, I feel like I’ve been blessed to have two homes, my birthplace in South Central and then Houston. My family originated out of Texas, so when we did come back, it was like going back to their roots.

Ke’Ke: Since the feature in 2017 with Houston Style Magazine, what do you feel has changed since then?

Leela James: Well, obviously, I’m older, ha-ha (insert: still looking the same). We got a hurricane under our belt, let’s see. For me, my musical journey is constantly evolving, and I think where I am in 2019 verses 2017 is just more of an attitude I’ve always had, “I’mma do me.” I’ve been a little bit reserved, at the same time, as much as I’m not allowing myself to be boxed, I was still treading the waters as safely as possible and now I’m just like, you know it was so much going on. It is what it is, let the chips fall where they may. Gloves off, and that’s what you heard in “That Woman.” I might not have recorded “That Woman” a couple of years ago, but, in light of everything that has been happening, the ‘Me Too’ movement and just the current affairs of society with women, it’s just a lot. You feel fed up, sometimes. I’m a mother and a woman but sometimes you get to that point, enough is enough if you will. It’s like, I got something to say, and it ain’t gonna to be pretty.

Leela James:Well, the connection with Truth Band came about through one of my producers, Rex, he connected us and thought it would be a great opportunity and idea for us to collaborate because I would like to think (humbly stated) we’re are all talented artists and musicians. The whole idea was to try to do something a little to the left of what I haven’t done or what people may have expected for me to do. I wanted it to be a little bit more on the art side of music and not really say, well, we got to stick to a certain format or genre. When you’re an artist that loves all kind of music like myself, you just make music and sometimes it takes on a life of it’s on. You don’t always just go into the studio and be like today I’m going to make a song like this or a certain way; you just let it flow. You go in there and let your inner spirit speak for you and sometimes, that’s where your best music and songs come out. That’s what The Truth Band and I did, we collaborated.

Those guys are so extremely talented, it took us just a couple of days; the music came so easy. It was an easy process, a one take type vibe with Cali weed poppin’, ha-ha.

and I listen to a-lot of hip-hop. There are artists that like Nipsey Hussle, I don’t think the world knew of him prior to his passing. In his passing, he is like ‘the great’ now, but, if you came up in L.A., you were already privy to how dope he was. It’s like, welcome, thank ya’ll, ya’ll finally got here. It goes back to what I was saying, just because you’re not hearing cats on the radio like every 2 seconds, don’t think they are not out there. Unfortunately, it seems like it takes something like death for people to pay attention, it’s like, dang, this person is not even here to receive all these flowers being given. It’s definitely important to love on people while you can still give them their flowers. It’s a cold world. Can you imagine what Nip might be feeling if he knew? Everybody is embracing him. The Marathon is all over the world now, and we all have a part to do to continue what he started.

It’s dope stuff out there. If you take artists like myself, I tend to listen to everything. I just embrace good music and I embrace the vibe and the mood.

Ke’Ke: Since you’ve been in the industry for a while, what do you think about the state of R&B and soul?

Leela James: You have so many musicians, artists and people that are making music, I’ve always said you may not hear them on the radio. Now, we are living in a time where I don’t think people really listen to the radio as much anymore, it’s like their streaming everything, online and their on Youtube.

There are so many avenues for people to be heard that there are just artists coming from out of every nook and cranny making music and I think it’s a good thing. There’s just not just one or two artists out there, there are several artists. I think in the past prior to all these avenues now, people are not just like, I’m just going to go balls out and do me and start releasing music. You felt really restricted if you are not played on the radio and that nobody would hear you in the past. Whereas now, there are so many routes to take, and now you’re like, dang, who is this person and that person?

Ke’Ke: Are there artists you might low key listen to?

Leela James: You know what’s funny, I listen to a little bit of everything, but, people are always for whatever reason surprised or taken back that I listen to a lot of trap music. I’m like, yeah I do. I’m not saying everything in the trap is good and the messages are good. Sometimes, I’m just bobbing, and then again, I’m still from South Central

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It could be a country song. There are just artists that may be bound to certain regions. I’m sure there are local legends here, in Houston, a lot of the world may not know.

Ke’Ke: What you think about Lil’ Nas X? Leela James: (As she sings “Country Road”) Ha-ha, that kind of stuff is fun though. The melody is catchy, yeah. I love it thought, because at the end of the day, as black people, we’ve been making music since day one. We started all of this.

Leela James has a tour kicking off at the start of Summer 2019 and you don’t want to miss out on the forthcoming dates.

Be sure to follow @leelajames on Facebook on Twitter, @leelajamesoffical on Instagram Website: www.leelajames.com Stream Link: smarturl.it/ThatWomanLeelaJames

FASHION

Prom Dress Drive By Macy’s Photography by Vicky Pink

T

he best part of the senior year of high school has to be prom. Picking out the perfect prom dress is one of the most important decisions. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in partnership with Spring ISD and Macy’s hosted the annual Prom Dress Dri ve and Distribution benefiting Spring ISD students. Kristyn Page, Macy’s VP of Diversity & Inclusion, welcomed all the girls and assisted them in finding their gown. Spring ISD Superintendent Dr. Rodney Watson was also in attendance.

www.stylemagazine.com

May 2 – May 8, 2019

11

EAT WITH STYLE Fuel Your Morning with Protein-Packed Recipes

By Family Features

night Oats are made with Shamrock Farms Chocolate Milk and are a source of protein, calcium and vitamin D. Plus, they can be made in advance, allowing you to grab a healthy, ready-made breakfast to take on the go. Adding milk to your diet helps serve as a source of energy while building and repairing muscles.

Find more tips and recipes to help enhance your nutrition at shamrockfarms.net.

A

s you prepare to take on the day, one of the most beneficial ways to energize yourself each morning is by fueling your body with the proper nutrients, including protein.

shakes, which are low in carbs and sugar, are made with fresh milk and have 30 grams of high-quality protein to help build muscle without a chalky after-taste.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team High-Performance Dietitian Allen Tran works with top athletes and recognizes the key role protein plays in their diets.

Developed by Tran, these breakfast recipes can provide the nutrition necessary for journeying through your day with energy and verve. Protein Waffles include Rockin’ Protein Builder for an easy boost of protein. The 12-ounce

If you’re looking to make healthier choices or live an active lifestyle and are short on time, a premade recipe may allow for additional productivity. Recipes that can be made in advance – like the night before – may aid your goal to consume necessary nutrients without putting a rush on your morning routine.

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

Chocolate Cherry and Banana Over-

Chocolate Cherry and\ Banana Overnight Oats Yield: 2 jars

1/2 cup frozen dark sweet cherries 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1 container (12 ounces) Shamrock Farms Chocolate Milk 1 ripe banana, sliced 1 pinch salt In two mason jars, add 1/4 cup frozen cherries in each. In microwave, thaw 30 seconds.

Divide rolled oats, milk, banana and salt between jars. Cover with lids and shake until combined.

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Store in refrigerator overnight or at least several hours.

Serve cold or warm in microwave.

Protein Waffles

Yield: 8-10 waffles

2 cups pancake mix 2 large eggs 1 container (12 ounces) Vanilla or Chocolate Rockin’ Protein Builder 1/4 cup canola oil 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon Heat waffle iron.

Place pancake mix in bowl. In separate bowl, whisk eggs, protein shake and oil. Stir into pancake mix until just combined.

Bake in waffle iron according to manufacturer’s directions until golden brown.

Tip: To freeze for later consumption, cool waffles on wire racks. Freeze between layers of waxed paper in re-sealable plastic freezer bag. In toaster oven or microwave, heat waffles until heated through.

ENTERTAINMENT

How ‘Boyz n the Hood’ Defined John Singleton’s Legacy Anaylsis by Brian Lowry, CNN/StyleMagazine.com Newswire

J

ohn Singleton was just 23 years old when he wrote and directed “Boyz n the Hood,” becoming the first African American -- and the youngest person ever -- to receive an Oscar nomination for best director.

In addition to films like “Baby Boy” and “Poetic Justice,” Singleton directed broadly skewed mass entertainment, including the first sequel to “The Fast and the Furious” and the “Shaft” remake, starring Samuel L. Jackson.

The groundbreaking nature of that film, a deeply personal look at growing up in South Central L.A., is by itself an enduring legacy. Yet Singleton’s career highlights not only the significance of that movie, but the progress since and the work that Hollywood has left to do.

Few projects, however, can rival the mix of cultural influence, commercial success and artistic merit that “Boyz n the Hood” combined, a story that Singleton said he had “lived” before making it.

Like many who achieve early success, Singleton -- who died Monday, at the age of 51 -- is destined to be most closely identified with his debut accomplishment. Despite directing movies in different genres through the 1990s and 2000s, he eventually expressed frustration with the studio system, saying in a 2017 interview, “I could have done more movies.”

Singleton made that comment in discussing why he had funneled his efforts into television, a medium that -- in its recent hunger for content -- has become more conducive to showcasing diverse

John SIngleton.JPG

voices and the kind of intimate storytelling that “Boyz in the Hood” represented.

Notably, Singleton’s latest project, the FX series “Snowfall,” deals with many of the same themes that “Boyz” explored nearly three decades ago, chronicling the onset of the crack cocaine epidemic. The format has allowed that story to unfold gradually from multiple perspectives, without the pressures that have prompted the major studios to focus their resources on theatrical blockbusters.

The movie dealt with a young man, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., sent to live with his tough, protective father (Laurence Fishburne), delving into the tragic impact of drugs, gangs and violence on the youth, his friends (Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut) and their community.

The pioneering aspect of “Boyz n the Hood” extended beyond the nuanced view of African-American life that it portrayed. Marking the film’s 25th anniversary, Chestnut observed that the movie “made Hollywood take notice that there’s some real talent out there that is just untapped.”

Much of the movie’s cast went on to major success, including recent Oscar winner Regina King, Angela Bassett and Nia Long. Even so, prodding Hollywood to represent people of color with opportunities on screen and behind the camera has remained a continuing struggle.

In the outpouring of tributes to Singleton, many cited the debt that’s owed to the film, and the director’s influential legacy. Notably, after Singleton’s Oscar breakthrough 18 years passed before another African-American filmmaker, Lee Daniels (“Precious”), was nominated as best director, followed by Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”), Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) and Spike Lee (“BlackKklansman”).

“Boyz” was heralded as a sign of progress -- and the movie has served as a source of inspiration to young filmmakers. Yet Singleton’s signature film also stands as a symbol of an ongoing process in making Hollywood more open to diverse stories, and the structural challenges even such talent has to overcome.

The best music, dance, theater and more.

AND, ALWAYS FREE. www.stylemagazine.com

May 2 – May 8, 2019

13

HEALTH

Houston Health Department Launches Campaign to Build Awareness About PrEP and Treatment as Prevention StyleMagazine.com Newswire

Mayor Sylvester Turner

The Project PrIDE campaign is the city’s first-ever health campaign directly reaching out to African American and Hispanic members of the LGBTQ community. The empowering campaign features 21 ambassadors, real-people with real stories, who provide a positive look into their personal journeys and commitment to living healthier and longer lives.

The Houston Health Department (HHD) hosted the event to introduce

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

the 21 ambassadors and highlight some of the campaign’s beautifully executed, authentic and inspirational creative, personal stories and PSAs. Among the public figures scheduled to speak were Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, HHD Director Stephen L. Williams, Assistant Director of the HHD Disease and Control and Prevention Division Marlene McNeese and a representative of Houston METRO. The event’s entertainment itinerary included the celebrity DJ B-HEN, known as “Hollywood’s

Champion of the New Sound.” As one of the nation’s most sought-after celebrity DJs, B-Hen has made his mark as a recurring DJ on ABC’s Good Morning America, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the Cannes and Sundance Film Festivals and New York Fashion Week.

In recent years, the city of Houston has been ranked 11th nationwide and first in Texas in the rate of newly diagnosed HIV cases. In fact, a steadily rising num-

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ber of HIV cases among the LGBTQ community’s African-American and Hispanic populations has become one of the top health crises not only in the Houston area, but specifically throughout the southern United States. PrEP is a prescribed antiretroviral drug that helps to prevent HIV for those most vulnerable to HIV transmission. TasP involves using HIV medicine and antiretroviral therapy (ART), to decrease the risk of HIV transmission for those living with HIV.

SPORTS

Sense of Urgency Rockets face a must win situation after going down 2-0 to the Warriors

By Brian Barefield, Style Sports Editor

went down in Game 5 with less than a minute left with a strained hamstring against the Golden State Warriors. They led the series 3 -2 before losing Games 6 and 7 as the Warriors went on to win their third NBA Finals in four years.

E

very Houston Rockets fan had to be thinking, “Not Again,” as they watched their superstar guard James Harden laying on the floor of the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. It had to remind them of how close they came to advancing to the Western Conference Finals last year before Chris Paul

Harden went down in the first quarter after Warriors forward Draymond Green hit him in the face going for a loose ball. The 2018-19 NBA regular season scoring champion would rise to his feet and head to the locker room and would not return to the floor until the middle of the second quarter. Harden suffered a laceration over his left eye and a small contusion in the right eye.

to start the game and the Warriors took advantage by scoring 14 points off of them.

“Obviously we see we got to be better on the glass, take better care of the ball.

That’s something we did well most of the season and we haven’t done well in the first two games,” said Chris Paul when asked about some of the small things the Rockets need to tighten up on headed into Game 3.

“I can barely see,” said a squinting Harden who had 29 points on 9-of-19 shooting, “It’s pretty blurry right now.

Hopefully, it gets better day by day.”

The Rockets were defeated 115 - 109 by the Golden State Warriors and head back to Houston down 2 - 0 to the reigning NBA Champs.

After a terrible start in Game 1 due to poor shooting from beyond the threepoint line as Houston shot 7.1% in the first quarter, The Rockets looked lethargic at the beginning of Game 2 as they seemed to have a problem controlling the ball. They committed nine turnovers

Fans at Oracle Arena had concerned looks on their faces when guard Steph Curry left the court holding his left hand and grimacing in pain in the first quarter.

Curry was diagnosed with a dislocated left middle finger but returned to score 20 points in the game, but 3-for-13 from beyond the arc.

“It hurts, but it’ll be alright. I didn’t break anything. I am fortunate, and

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some higher powers were looking out for me on that one, but I just got to deal with pain and hopefully before Saturday (Game 3).”

Kevin Durant led the Warriors with 29 points, but it was the play of the deadly “Hampton Five” starters Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala that caused the Rockets trouble all night. Green bullied his way to 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Iguodala finished with a season-high 16 points the glass that propelled them to victory.

“I love how we stayed poised through it all. We only was able to do that because what we went through in the first series. Glad that we was able to finish it out at home. We know these guys even more dangerous at their crib,” said Durant who played a game high 44 minutes.

Guard Austin Rivers who returned to the lineup after missing Game 1 with a stomach virus gave the Rockets second unit a big lift with 14 points and filling in nicely as Harden was in the locker room with the eye injury.

Game 3 is Saturday in Houston, Texas. Tip-off is at 7:30 at the Toyota Center.

May 2 – May 8, 2019

15

BOOK

“Becoming a Veterinarian” by Boris Kachka

c.2019, Simon & Schuster $18.00 / $25.00 Canada 176 pages

By Terri Schlichenmeyer, Book Reviewer

All your life, you’ve had animals around. You love puppies and kittens, horses and llamas. But are you ready for the good and the bad of working with them? Find out by reading “Becoming a Veterinarian.”

Who wouldn’t want to cuddle puppies and kittens for work? Who could resist watching the birth of a calf or a litter of piglets? Not you, so you’ve been considering becoming a veterinarian but first, forget those sugary images.

Says Boris Kachka, being a vet means “years of training, high debt, relatively low pay, [and] frequent euthanasia…”

It also means long hours and, though you might think you’ll spend all your time with animals, there are people involved, too.

T

he minute the doctor walked into the room, you felt a sense of relief.

Soon, the pain will be gone and you might finally get some rest.

You could even have a name for the illness causing all these problems. Soon, your ailing pet will feel better, life will return to normal and in “Becoming a Veterinarian” by Boris Kachka, you’ll see what goes into the making of an animal doctor.

Fast Girls Twerk; Smart Girls TWEAK!: Assessment & Evaluation—The Keys to Driving Academic Performance

By Nicole Lynne Gray, Style Feature Writer

T

o be clear: parents spend millions of dollars annually to help their students achieve academic success. As the academic year comes to a close and we prepare our students to finish the year confident in their current abilities and excited for new learning adventures in the coming year, I offer this tip to help parents ensure that their students receive the greatest value of the lessons learned this year. When many think of the keys to academic success, they are drawn to those soft skills as an organization, time management, note-taking, study skills, and exam preparation. In fact, having promoted academic success through tutoring and mentoring for better than 20 years, I have touted those skills as keys to ensuring top academic performance. But, as I have come to experience, assessment and evaluation are truly the keys to revving academic performance and ensuring academic success. Just as the racecar driver fine-tunes their engine to ensure optimal performance in the big race, so should you or your student, fine-tune the methods used to drive academic success.

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

To find out what real veterinarians think of their jobs, Kachka visited with vets from around the country. The first thing he learned is that today’s “typical” veterinarian is a woman who graduated with the same amount of debt as a “human doctor”, but she’ll make a fraction of an M.D.’s salary. She may be a general veterinarian who cares for all sizes and types of animals, or she could specialize in any number of ways.

Her workplace might be in a traditional clinic with rotating on-call status, or she may work at a large-city ER or a site within a retail store. She might also be an entrepreneur with her own office; a mobile clinic; or a battered, well-stocked pickup truck.

“Veterinarians,” says Kachka, “are as varied as the animals they rescue…”

Assessment & evaluation: Although the terms are thought of interchangeably, assessment and evaluation serve distinct purposes when tweaking the methods used to achieve academic success. An assessment involves asking what methods worked or didn’t work. Evaluation involves asking why methods worked or didn’t and how your methods can be improved. So it boils down to what versus why and how.

So, say you studied for an exam and got a grade lower than you aspired, what do you do to ensure greater success on the next one? TWEAK! You make a todo list daily but end up carrying over half of the items you listed, how do you accomplish all of the tasks on your to-do lists? TWEAK! You sit down to study for an exam but your notes don’t make much sense, how do you make sure your notes are useful at exam time? TWEAK! You get the picture…

Now, let’s TWEAKT- take a moment to write down your methods W -what worked…what didn’t?

E - evaluate why/how a method worked or didn’t A - ask yourself what you can do to improve K - keep fine tuning your methods

Beware, though, that this book may reveal that you don’t have what it takes. Indeed, author Boris Kachka gives readers plenty of chances to talk themselves out of taking a path that’s long and arduous but rewarding, and he does it through interviews gotten during hours of surgery, field calls, and clinic appointments. These case studies read like quick-paced fiction (although very un-Herriot-like), and appear to be well-representative of the field, although Kachka is sometimes unforgiving of his subjects’ habits.

Each of those above situations has benefits and flexibility, but there are downsides: aside from fierce competition for college acceptance, one study showed that veterinarians suffered exceedingly high rates of burnout, suicide, and depression.

So is becoming a veterinarian worth all that? Most of Kachka’s subjects thought so, but they also mentioned cautions… until you achieve optimal performance EXAMPLE You studied for a history exam all week anticipating an A but made a B-.

What now? You guessed it-- time to TWEAKTake a moment to write down your methods: In doing so, you note that you studied your notes from the beginning of the six weeks to the end dedicating one day to each week’s lesson.

What worked? What didn’t? Here, you note that you got all of the questions correct from the material you learned in weeks 4-6; most of the ones tested from weeks 2 and 3, and none of the ones tested from week 1.

Evaluate why/how a method worked or didn’t. You note that your instructor tested over material learned at the beginning of the six weeks and although you remembered the concepts covered, you couldn’t remember all of the details you were tested over. It didn’t help that you revisited the material a week before the exam.

Ask yourself what you can do to improve. Keeping in mind what went wrong and why you decide that studying older material closer to the exam date would help you to recall the details for the exam from your short term memory. \

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Still, this books’ true-life tales should thrill the right student-to-be – whether she’s 16, and heading to college for the first time; or he’s 40, and craving a career change. For the pet lover, “Becoming a Veterinarian” is an enjoyable read but for a future vet, its honesty may offer a sense of relief.

Share this story online at stylemagazine.com.

Keep fine tuning your methods until you achieve optimal performance. After making the improvement of flipping the study of materials from weeks 1-6 to weeks 6-1, you were able to raise your grade to a B+. Great! You notice improvement but have still fallen short of your desired A. You should now revisit your methods and focus on other aspects of your method to improve, ie. spreading out the study of a week’s lessons over two days as opposed to one.

You should periodically TWEAK your soft skills throughout the year to achieve optimal academic performance…because, after all, what good is taking notes, for example, if they do not help you achieve your desired academic performance.

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

17

2019

NOSH: HOUSTON CULINARY SHOWCASE 2019 GEORGE R. BROWN CONVENTION CENTER

BLACK RESTAURANT WEEK NOSH Photography by Vicky Pink

H

ouston is the culinary capitol of the South and Houston Black Restaurant Week showcases our best culinary delights. During the week, Houston’s premiere Black chefs, caterers and bartenders were spotlighted at Nosh: Houston Culinary Showcase 2019. Attendees were invited to dive into the African diaspora and tantalize their taste buds with flavors of African, African-American, and Caribbean cuisine. Some in attendance were Mayor Sylvester Turner, Warren Luckett, Falayn Ferrell, Derek Robinson, Wayne Luckett, and KG Smooth.

2019

AFRICAN AMERICAN MAYORS CONFERENCE 2019 HILTON AMERICAS

AFRICAN AMERICAN MAYORS CONFERENCE Photography by Vicky Pink

F

or the first time Houston hosted the annual African American Mayors Association Conference that brings together African American mayors from across the nation to discuss topics that will be beneficial to their citizens. Mayor Sylvester Turner served as the 2019 conference chairman. He helped shaped common public policies that impact the vitality and sustainability of small and large cities. AAMA provides its member mayors and business council members with the leadership, management tools, and the forum to share best practices related to municipal management. Valerie Jarrett, former President Barack Obama’s advisor, was a special guest. Walmart awarded $5,000 to the Bread of Life. Some in attendance were AAMA’s Board of Trustees President, Mayor Oliver Gilbert; Carlecia D. Wright; Cindy Clifford; James Nash; Stella Nash; Francis Page Jr.; Argentina James; and Rebecca Briscoe.

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

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2019

RISE BOHEME

RISE Photography by Amir Pink

P

reparation is key today to be successful tomorrow. Houston’s young professionals and influencers gathered to be able to “RISE” together. The event co-hosted by Jonathan Martin was a mix and mingle affair for entrepreneurs to exchange contact info and ideas. Some in attendance were Ashley Small, Ashley Turner, LaTorria Lemon, Joshua Dada, and Christopher Senegal.

2019

3RD MAROON & GRAY AFFAIR MARRIOTT MARQUIS

3RD MAROON & GRAY AFFAIR

I

Photography by Vicky Pink

n an effort to prepare today’s students to be tomorrow’s leaders, Texas Southern University hosted their 3rd annual Maroon & Gray Affair to raise funds for scholarships. They exceed their goal and raised over $1 million for scholarships. In addition, several students and supports of TSU were recognized. Lashawn Hamb and Orlando Sutton Jr. were honored as outstanding students. SWV, Kid Carpi, and Billy Sorrels provided entertainment. Some in attendance were TSU President Dr. Austin Lane and the First Lady of TSU Loren Lane, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, Congressman Al Green, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Melinda Spaulding,

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May 2 – May 8, 2019

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