Mc digital daily 12 14 16

So many black businesses,

Community Conversations:

so little clout

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Volume 80 – Number 14

City of Detroit launches Municipal ID Program

December 14-20, 2016

michiganchronicle.com

This is not what democracy looks like

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and a coalition of civic, community and business leaders introduced the new Detroit ID, a Municipal Identification Card that will help thousands of Detroiters gain access to important city services, interact with the Detroit Police Department, financial institutions and cultural organizations, as well as shopping and dining discounts across Detroit.

The Detroit ID will be available to all city residents ages 14 or older, regardless of immigration or housing status, criminal record or gender identification. The Municipal ID does not replace a driver’s license or state ID, but will be recognized by many city departments and agencies as a valid form of identification.

“The Detroit ID card is about one thing — removing the barriers that people of all ages and backgrounds face, whether it’s access to city services, a job, the ability to open a bank account or enroll their child in school,” said Mayor Duggan.

“As Detroit continues to grow, we are committed to making it a city where every resident has the same opportunity to participate in its comeback.”

Earlier this year, Councilmember Raquel Castaneda-Lopez led the effort to pass the ordinance that created the Municipal ID Program, in an effort to help residents who struggle to obtain a government issued ID. The Detroit ID card, however, does more than just provide a form of identification.

It also opens doors of opportunity.

“I think it’s important to emphasize that the Detroit ID is not about immigration. It’s about building inclusive democracies and removing barriers in our community,” said Castaneda-Lopez.

See DETROIT

ID page A-4

WHAT’S INSIDE

Detroit Branch NAACP President Wendell Anthony – Monica Morgan photos

Michigan House pushes to disenfranchise more of its own voters

By Keith A. Owens Senior Editor

For all those who still believe we should give the Age of Trump a chance, please start paying attention. Because while you’re busy trying to be magnanimous and fair-minded, the Trump machine is busy stomping and kicking democracy into the dirt.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: This is not the time for us to seek the high road. This is the time to take whatever road that leads away from Trump’s America toward sanity. And all sane people need to work together to neutralize Trump and any Trump-related effects that are already being injected into the American mainstream like a virus.

On Wednesday night, the Michigan

Sometimes a natural progression, sometimes a bad move

See page D-1

$1.00

Supporters of the voter ID bills (HB 6066-6068) disingenuously continue to claim that stricter laws are needed to protect against voter fraud, which has been proven to be both a lie and a deception.

Detroit Branch NAACP President Wendell Anthony perhaps said it best during a Thursday afternoon press conference held to publicly criticize this legislation and to also encourage active protest. The NAACP and other organizations are currently

planning a protest for Tuesday in Lansing.

“According to the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, the right to vote is not to be denied or abridged on the basis of race, color, or previous legislature servitude. Why then are legislators seeking to abridge as well as to make subservient certain citizens within our nation?

“The issue of voter fraud has been debunked, defused, and the very idea simply dissed by the facts of the matter. It does not exist. At the level to which Republican legislators around our nation would have the public to believe.

“They are designed to reduce the votes of young people, seniors, rural and urban citizens and people of color.

See VOTERS page A-4

Entrepreneurs of Color Fund provides $2.75 million to nearly 30 minority-owned small businesses Michigan Chronicle Reports

Going Solo

House of Representatives voted for stricter voter ID laws designed to disenfranchise as many non-white and non-Democrat Michigan residents as quicklA and thoroughly as they can. They also voted to muzzle union protest by imposing massive fees designed to scare any and all protesters away from ever daring to challenge an unjust employer.

Detroit’s Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOC) announced that it has awarded nearly 30 minority-owned small businesses with $2.75 million in critical capital since it began making loans one year ago. Created by the Detroit Development Fund (DDF), JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), this $7 million program is supporting Detroit-based neighborhood businesses owned by entrepreneurs of color and businesses that primarily hire people of color.

“One of the most important things we can do to keep Detroit’s recovery headed in the right direction is come together to support the work being done by our minority, small business owners,” said Mayor Mike Duggan. “With the support of DDF, JPMorgan Chase and WKKF, our entrepreneurs have much greater access to the resources and tools they need to succeed and grow in neighborhoods across our city.”

The EOC Fund, which is facilitated by DDF, a Michigan 501(c)3 Community Development Finan-

cial Institution (CDFI), provides financing to Detroit small businesses that lack access to traditional forms of credit and capital. Funding for the EOC Fund is provided by a $3.5 million grant from JPMorgan Chase, as part of their $100 million commitment to Detroit’s economic recovery, and a $3.5 million investment from the Kellogg Foundation as part of its larger roughly $25 million annual investment in the city and commitment to promoting equity.

“With help from JPMorgan Chase and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, we are providing minority small business owners with the capital they need to thrive,” said Ray Waters, president, DDF. “We are proud to work with entrepreneurs from downtown to our residential neighborhoods that need assistance in order to grow their companies and are pleased to now offer these services to Detroit residents."

“Small business owners like the ones benefiting from the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund are critical to Detroit’s comeback,” said Jamie Dimon, chairperson and CEO, JPMorgan Chase. “The lessons learned from this fund

are not only paying off in Detroit but have allowed us to develop similar programs for minority-owned, small businesses in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.”

More than two-thirds of the loans are supporting neighborhood businesses, creating approximately 79 jobs. Forty-five percent of the loans are supporting minority women-owned businesses.

“Seeing capital flowing to so many small businesses owned by people of color and the communities they serve in Detroit is a key leverage point for equitable, local economic development,” said La June Montgomery Tabron, WKKF’s president and CEO. “That’s why we developed and initiated this fund, in order to change the wealth trajectory of these communities now and for generations to come.”

Three examples of loan recipients include Benkari Mechanical, Rowe Trucking and Detroit Vegan Soul.

“As a female, minority, small business owner, accessing capital can be challenging,” said Adrienne Bennett, owner of Benkari

Mechanical, LLC. “Because of this program, the Detroit Development Fund, JPMorgan Chase, and WKKF we were able to secure our largest contract to date, the domestic plumbing systems for Building C on the Little Caesars Arena, which demonstrated our ability to successfully compete with larger contractors.”

“As a small business owner, this money made it possible for me to keep running my business because sometimes it takes 30 to 60 days to get paid from some of the contractors that we work for,” said Rhonda Rowe, owner of Rowe Trucking. “I am grateful to the whole team at the Detroit Development Fund for working with me.”

“This loan has helped us expand to a second location to better serve our customers,” said Kirsten Ussery, owner of Detroit Vegan Soul. “We're grateful to the Detroit Development Fund for helping us to grow our business.”

There are 50,000 minority-owned small businesses in Detroit, making it the fourth largest city for minority entre-

See SMALL

BUSINESS page A-4

news

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page A-2

W.K. Kellogg Foundation and broad coalition announce National Healing Day With racial divisiveness rising in America’s urban, rural and suburban communities, today the W.K. Kellogg Foundation together with more than 130 organizations committed to the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation enterprise, called for a National Day of Healing on Jan. 17, 2017. On that day, activities by community, civic, government and corporate leaders will spur efforts to heal the wounds created by racial, ethnic and religious bias and build an equitable and just society so that all children can thrive.

Flint to receive funding for new water pipes Flint, will receive at least $100 million to begin funding the needed work of replacing lead service lines that deliver drinking water throughout the city, with the Senate’s passage today of the Water Resources Development Act. However, the bill also included a rider that rolls back environmental protections in California’s Bay-Delta estuary.

The following is a statement by Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council: “Federal funding to help begin fixing the pipes at the heart of the Flint water crisis is shamefully overdue. This is a start, but far more is needed to fix Flint and ensure safe drinking water to communities across America.

“We should not have to trade delinquent Congressional action in Michigan for the erosion of endangered species protection and a threat to fishing jobs in California, but that is the result of the partisan games at play in this bill.

“In spite of the poison pill rider gutting federal protections in California, we will redouble our efforts to protect the

Bay-Delta. We are grateful to the leadership of Senator Boxer, Senator Cantwell, and all of the other members who opposed this rider to stand up for fishing jobs and a healthy environment.

“Despite the active resistance of Republican leadership to providing Flint with needed resources, the continued efforts from Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, and Flint Congressman Dan Kildee — along with recent leadership by Representative Fred Upton — will finally bring needed funding more than two years after the water crisis emerged.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit them at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

House approves legislation to ban unregulated child custody transfers State Rep. Mike McCready’s legislation to prohibit the practice of informal child custody transfers was approved Thursday by the Michigan House of Representatives.

Unregulated child custody transfers are a practice where parents seek a new home for their child without the safeguards and oversight of the courts or the child welfare system. In some

cases, parents are using online forums to offer to “rehome” children with strangers.

“This legislation is about doing what’s best for the safety of Michigan children,” said Rep. McCready, R-Bloomfield Hills. “Custody transfers that are arranged online without any oversight put vulnerable children in dangerous and potentially abusive situations.

Rep. Lawrence elected as secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14) recently released a statement on her election as Secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 115th Congress: “As a member of Congress, it has been a humbling and amazing experience serving the constituents of Michigan’s 14th District. Now, as a part of leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus, this allows me to be a voice for African Americans not only for the 14th District, but for the needs and concerns of African American’s nation-wide.

“Tackling the issues facing the African-American community is no small task, but I am hon-

It’s common sense that this practice should be banned so we can hold the people involved accountable and ensure the proper precautions are being used to protect Michigan children.”

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Ms. Tabron said the National Day of Healing is a response to the broad call for healing following the contentious rhetoric, hate crimes, vivid expressions of racism and stories of children crying with fear and anxiety. Calls for healing have come from both President Obama and President-elect Trump, as well as 32 states.

“We envision that government, private sector and non-profit entities will join this call for healing to kick off a year,” said Ms. Tabron. “Let us remind ourselves that we are not a nation of demolition workers trying to destroy institutions, but rather a community of creative construction workers seeking to build bridges and commonality that will ensure a more perfect union and oneness within our country.”

A National Day of Healing will kick-off a year-long effort to bring healing to different parts of this country, in follow-up to this week’s TRHT Summit, where 570 representatives from committed organizations and communities gathered in Carlsbad, California, to discuss implementation of TRHT in communities, organizations and by individuals. Under-

TRHT will focus on transformation in America - the nation was conceived in the constitution and built on a belief in racial hierarchy, a collective national consciousness that has dominated the educational, economic, social and legal discourse for centuries. TRHT will provide a collective commitment and longterm determination to embrace a new narrative for the nation, a belief in our common humanity.

Former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, honorary co-chair of TRHT, reiterated his support for TRHT and the National Day of Healing. In remarks at the summit, Gov. Winter said the healing day and TRHT efforts are “important from the standpoint of renewing in each of us the determination to see that the progress that we have made in terms of race relations and racial justice and racial healing is not permitted to slip backward...that will happen unless we take the responsibility to seeing to it that it does not happen. We have a huge job to do...”

In a video presentation at the summit, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, also an honorary TRHT cochair, said “I respect and am enthusiastic about the effort because as a nation we need a healing. I am a great believer of integration. People don’t talk about it anymore or talk that way anymore.

When I talk about integration, it’s not just the legal stuff, as important as that has been over the decades, (but) living integrated lives. I think it was King (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) who said, ‘We fear each other because we don’t know each other.’ Knowing each other means understanding each other.”

In the coming weeks, WKKF and TRHT collaborating organizations will offer recommendations on how communities might consider creating local activities and events for the National Day of Healing.

House Bills 5626, 5628 and 5629, sponsored

by Rep. McCready, Rep. Hank Vaupel and Rep. Tom Hooker now head to the Senate for consideration.

Publication No.: USPS 344-820

ored to join my colleagues in the fight for fairness and equality. We will continue to be a voice for the voiceless and uphold our role as the conscience of Congress.”

“As a nation, we must come to terms with the deep divides in our communities,” said WKKF President and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron. “Our nation is crying out for healing, which can only come with a shared understanding of our collective past and a sustained effort to dismantle the structures, policies, practices and systems that divide us, and perpetuate conscious and unconscious bias.”

scoring the widespread reach and influence of TRHT, the community, corporate and non-profit partners have a collective network of more than 289 million Americans.

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news

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page A-3

House passes $170 million Flint aid package championed

by Congressman Dan Kildee Michigan Chronicle reports

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed $170 million in federal aid directed at helping Flint recover from the city’s ongoing water crisis. Congress­ man Dan Kildee [MI-05], who for over a year has advocated for congressional action for Flint, applauded the action on two House bills related to Flint that now move to the U.S. Senate.

“Getting aid for my hometown of Flint, which continues to recover from the ongoing water crisis, has been my top priority in Congress, and I am happy to see this aid package move forward,” Congressman Kildee said. “Flint families have waited far too long for their govern­ ment to act, but I am pleased that over a hundred million dollars in real federal aid for Flint is a big step closer to becom­ ing reality.”

The House passed both a water re­ sources bill, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, which included authorizing language regarding Flint aid, by a vote of 360-61, and the Continuing Resolution, the end-of-year government spending bill that included the appropriations money for Flint, by a vote of 326-96.

Congressman Kildee urged swift ac­ tion on both bills in the U.S. Senate to get the two bills to the president’s desk and signed into law. Both Michigan U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters support the bills passed by the House.

“I applaud the House for passing our bipartisan agreement to provide long-awaited assistance for families in Flint and other communities affected by lead. It’s absolutely critical that the Senate do the same and pass both the Water Resources Development Act and the government funding bill. That is the only way we can guarantee that families affected by this terrible crisis get the as­ sistance they need. The people of Flint have waited far too long for their water system to be fixed so they can have con­ fidence that their water is safe,” Senator Stabenow said.

“I am pleased that the House has passed legislation with critical provi­ sions to help the residents of Flint, who have waited entirely too long for assis­ tance in the wake of this water crisis.

It is critical that the Senate act swiftly to pass not just the year end spending bill, but also the water infrastructure bill which is the only way to get Flint the support it needs on its road to recovery,” Senator Peters said.

The aid, which is a result of weeks of bipartisan negotiations between Con­ gressman Kildee, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (WI-01) and others, includes: • $100 million for the Safe Water Drink­ ing Act State Revolving Loan Fund, which Flint could use to replace lead ser­ vice lines and other water infrastructure improvement needs.

• $50 million for expanded health care, including the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, Healthy Start Pro­ gram and money to create a lead expo­ sure registry.

• $20 million in loans available through the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), which would be available to Flint and other communities for water infrastructure improvement projects to address lead and other water contamination issues.

About Congressman Kildee’s Advoca­ cy for Flint: Congressman Kildee has been a tire­ less advocate for Flint families and has led the fight in Congress to bring feder­ al funding to the city in the wake of the water crisis. Since learning of the water crisis, Congressman Kildee has never stopped working with his colleagues in Congress – both Democrats and Repub­ licans – and the Obama Administration to make sure that Flint receives the re­ sources it needs to recover.

Bringing Attention to the Crisis Since September 2015, when the world learned of Flint’s man-made lead in water crisis, Congressman Kildee vo­ cally fought for resources for the city.

He immediately spoke out, calling on Governor Rick Snyder, President Barack Obama and House Speaker Paul Ryan (WI-01) to bring attention to the crisis and urge them to bring resources to Flint.

New 28-unit affordable housing building in the heart of Midtown Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan helped cut the ribbon on a recently restored apartment building in Midtown that had sat vacant for more than 20 years. The Treymore will now provide 28 units of affordable housing reserved for Detroit­ ers making 50 percent to 60 percent of the area’s average median income.

The Treymore is a four-story, 30,000 square foot apartment building that was erected in the early 1900s. The build­ ing’s future was grim until Paradise Valley Investment Group purchased and redeveloped it. Having recently un­ dergone a $7 million renovation, The Treymore now offers low-to-moderate income families and citizens of De­ troit 28 beautiful one and two bedroom apartments, representing a significant investment in a vital neighborhood ex­ ploding with possibility.

The City of Detroit contributed $3.5M in HOME program funds to the project.

“These are the kinds of projects the City of Detroit is happy to support be­ cause they are example of how as De­ troit comes back, there is room and opportunity for everyone,” said Mayor Duggan.

The Michigan State Housing De­ velopment Authority brought another $3 million in affordable housing tax credits, and Cinnaire stepped in to fi­ nance and syndicate those credits. PVI brought in several hundred thousand more in private equity and brownfield tax credits, and all this together en­ abled a mixture of affordable units for households at or below 50 percent and 60 percent of area median income.

“Restoring this building has been life-changing,” said PVI President and CEO Robin Scovill. “Its condition when we started, juxtaposed with the fin­ ished product, is shocking. That we’ve created beautiful homes for people that need them, and are now celebrating that achievement with Mayor Duggan, is a testament to amazing partnerships, perseverance, and the spirit of possibil­ ity that makes this city so great” Under KMG Prestige’s management, the newly renovated Treymore Apart­ ments are already more than two thirds leased, and boast enviable natural light and views that overlook Midtown, downtown and an adjacent pocket park with a Civil War era house. All units are fitted with contemporary amenities and include three ADA apartments.

The original building did not meet current code standards and required a complete overhaul. The renovation of 28 loft style apartments — some two-story — was a full, gut rehab with brand new everything inside, includ­ ing windows, energy efficient HVAC and lighting. Exterior improvements include a new roof, new parking lot across the street, significant brick re­ placement, outdoor lighting, landscap­ ing, fencing (including a new fence for

Mayor Mike Duggan with one of the families who will be moving into the Treymore. the neighboring park, owned by the Archdiocese of Detroit), green space, and sidewalk & alley improvements.

The project’s architect, Merz & As­ sociates, incorporated the Treymore’s original historic features, restoring the tiled front entry with cast iron and oak railings, scroll work entry canopy, and a four foot high parapet cornice. A new stair and elevator were added to the rear of the building, creating a second­ ary entry with ADA access to all levels and all units.

The Treymore’s location is rich with culture and walkability. Restaurants and retail shops are plentiful with inti­ mate proximity to transit options. A few blocks north of the new Red Wings sta­ dium, the Treymore is a stone’s throw from the finest cultural assets in the Midwest including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the African American Museum, the Michigan Science Center, and De­ troit’s Main Library.

Downtown is a half-mile to the south, Eastern Market barely a mile to the southeast, and dedicated bike routes are plentiful. Cass Avenue, only 100 feet away, connects directly to Wayne State University campus with all its offerings and benefits. And finally, one block to the east is Woodward Av­ enue, the north-south artery of the city and the routes for the Thanksgiving Day parade, the Veterans Day parade and the new light rail.

Through the redevelopment of the Treymore Apartments, Paradise Valley

Investment Group and their team of strategic partners have created homes for people and families, transformed blight into vibrancy, and created endur­ ing value for the City of Detroit.

Scovill, a Los Angeles based inves­ tor who has been developing in Detroit since 2007, brings a refreshing outsid­ er’s enthusiasm.

“Darwin Heard’s faith in us and the city’s early financial involvement gave this project legs. Then Bob Zinser came on board with expertise and an impres­ sive track record in development, and elevated it to a new financial stratum,” Scovill said. “Without MSHDA’s and Cinnaire’s unwavering commitment, Merz & Associates’ design genius, and Rhode Construction’s mastery, the Treymore would have never come to life so vibrantly. I’m proud of our excellent team and what we’ve accomplished, and am excited about what we will do together in the future.”

“Cinnaire is thrilled to join PVI, the City of Detroit and MSHDA in bringing this much-needed affordable housing to Detroit,” said Mark McDaniel, Cin­ naire president and CEO. “We have been committed to the re­ vitalization of Detroit for over 20 years and this investment represents another step in achieving our goal of creating vi­ brant, sustainable communities in the City. The revitalization of The Treymore will bring new life to this neighborhood and continue to spur economic devel­ opment throughout Midtown.”

Pushing for Federal Aid Congressman Kildee has worked with the Obama Administration to already bring hundreds of millions in federal dollars to Flint.

In January 2016, at Congressman Kildee’s request, President Obama de­ clared the water crisis in Flint a state of emergency. Immediately following, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supplied bottled water and water filters with replacement car­ tridges for Flint families.

Later that same month, the U.S. En­ vironmental Protection Agency (EPA) allocated $80 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to Michigan to help Flint.

To read this article in its entirety visit www.michiganchronicle.com

Mayor Mike Duggan amd Robin Scovill cut the ribbon for the Treymore Apartments. Rep. Coleman Young Jr., second from left, was also on hand for the celebration.

news

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Voters

From page A-1

“President Obama has even indicated that experts have found only 31 cases out of 1 billion votes between 2000 and 2014 that were determined to be cases of voter fraud.

voters who aren’t white?

And why so fearful of dissent? For that matter, why so fearful of a recount?

And why does this all have to be rush-rushed during a lame duck session just before [Merry?]

Christmas?

Kind of brings back memories of when Gov. Rick Snyder rushed and shoved his beloved emergency manager legislation through a lame duck session of the legislature not quite a month after the voters of Michigan had made it plain at the polls on Election Day 2012 in November that they did not want emergency management.

“Members of the Republican-led legislature in the Michigan House have presented no evidence of voter fraud, impersonation or insinuation by individuals who have voted illegally.”

That same night, the House passed two anti-union bills that will make it much more difficult for unions and workers to protest, but will [of course] make it simple for employers to hire workers to replace/displace striking employees. According to the Detroit Free Press, one of those bills would massively increase fines against picketers up to $1,000 per person per day of a picket/protest, and $10,000 per day for any organization or union involved in the protest. Currently, the law states that mass picketing can be a misdemeanor punishable by a sentence of up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine.

It’s hard to come to

any other conclusion except that Republicans are feeling especially emboldened with Trump’s election to continue their quest to create a Michigan – and an America – where protest is a crime, subservience is mandatory, and the concept of a one-person-one-vote democracy becomes the stuff of fiction. Some might argue, with good reason, that

we’ve already landed on the front porch of that rather disturbing future.

Or, more accurately, that future has already landed on us.

“It appears that there are some lawmakers in the state of Michigan who have … totally ignored why we have a democracy in the first place.

The recent move in last

Detroit Council President Brenda Jones sponsors annual holiday celebration Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones is sponsoring her annual Holiday Celebration. This year’s holiday party will be held Friday, Dec. 16, from 5 to 8 pm at Eastern Market’s Shed 5.

This free event will offer food, fun and entertainment for Detroiters of all ages, featuring a live performance by the Leslie Nelson Band. President Jones sponsors the celebration as a way to thank Detroiters for their support and volunteerism throughout the year.

President Jones began

Page A-4

the tradition of celebrating the winter holiday in 2005, during her first term on council. “The holiday season is a time when we should come together to give thanks, break bread and recommit to the values that make us Detroiters,” Jones reflects. “However, many have been plagued by chronic unemployability and other problems, so the least I can do is to bring some joy during this time of year.”

Joining President Jones in this year’s celebration are many

partners, including the Detroit Salt Company, Cutters Bar and Grill, Rub Pub BBQ, Byblos’ Banquets, MooTown Ice Cream and the Eastern Market Corporation.

By Lauren Victoria Burke (NNPA Newswire Contributor)

“On the Republican side, their coalition is shrinking,” he added. “When people say they want their country back, we should understand that they are serious.”

With black and brown political power on the rise due to shifting demographics in America, the so-called “Trump effect” isn’t going away anytime soon.

On Dec. 6, at the Rainbow PUSH Conference, Belcher made a presentation on the importance of the expanding electorate, the Obama campaign and the tactical failures of the Clinton campaign. He first reminded everyone of the winning landscape Barack Obama created.

“In 2008, we expanded the electorate by 11 percent...when you’ve done that, it’s a really big deal,” said Belcher.

“Barack Obama is not president without that expanded electorate."

Belcher continued as he backed up his arguments using PowerPoint slides.

“This was not a sea change election, we’re not doing better with white voters, including women overall,” he said. “If you had talked about this a year ago, people were saying [Hillary Clinton] doesn’t need to completely get the Obama coalition, because certainly she’s going to do better with white women, right? Well, she didn't do better with white women.”

He noted that, in 2016, minorities made up a larger piece of the electorate, but in 2008 Barack Obama ran up the score among moderates and liberals.

Part of the problem for Hillary Clinton

Anthony pointed out that what is happening in Michigan is, in fact, part

The obvious question is why are Republicans so afraid of American voters?

Particularly American

Detroit ID The Detroit ID will allow eligible residents to interact with important city services including the Detroit Police Department, Health Department, Water and Sewerage Department, and the Detroit Land Bank Authority. It will also be recognized as a valid form of ID at several institutions including DTE Energy, One Detroit Credit Union, Detroit Public Schools Community District, Advantage Health, and the Detroit Medical Center.

During the recent Rainbow PUSH Coalition Conference in the nation’s capital, top Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher told a room full of activists, journalists and community leaders the most recent election was a game of inches.

The prominent pollster is also the author of the new book, “A Black Man in the White House: Barack Obama and the Triggering of America's Racial-Aversion Crisis.” The book explores the questions around the historic run of the first black president of the United States, as well as the “problem of the color line” in America.

“The constant move to create an issue of voter fraud where none exists eliminates the right to vote when our constitution insists that every individual is entitled to exercise his or her franchise.”

of a much larger – and seemingly coordinated – suppression effort to turn back the clock by any and all means necessary.

In Wisconsin, efforts are under way to end early voting and voter mobilization programs such as Taking Your Souls to the Polls. In New Hampshire, thanks to Gov. Chris Sununu, there is a push to end same-day registration. Other so-called “red” states such as Texas have similar initiatives under way.

Since that time, courtesy of the Flint lead-poisoned water disaster and the disaster of the Detroit Public Schools, the shortfalls of emergency management have been laid bare for all to see.

In case you hadn’t already guessed, this is not what democracy looks like.

The celebration will give away 50 turkey meals, donated by UAWFord National Joint Programs Center. Attendees are also urged to bring toys for children or toiletries that President Jones will share with those in need. To register for the celebration, please call the Jones’ office at 313.224.1245.

Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher delivers blunt talk on 2016 election results

Belcher not only served on the presidential campaign teams for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, he also worked with the Democratic National Committee. For some reason, Hillary Clinton’s team did not use Belcher this year in a race where the get out to vote efforts of the black community would play a key role in a Democratic victory.

night’s legislative session with the passage of the Bill 6066, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Lyons of Alto, is but another attempt to diminish, disrespect and belittle the very essence of who we are as a nation,” said Anthony.

For those who may have already forgotten, the majority of Michigan voters voted in November to repeal Public Act 4 by referendum, only to have it replaced in December by a near-identical PA 436 that was made repeal-proof so that the voters could never again raise their voices in meaningful dissent. At least not when it came to emergency management.

Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher speaks during the recent Rainbow PUSH Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. — Lauren Victoria Burke/ NNPA photo

in 2016 was that moderates and liberals were more likely to vote for a third party candidate while, in the end, Republicans stuck together and “got in line” as others were casting protest votes. The result was a surprise victory for New York real estate developer Donald Trump.

Belcher also said that “race trumps gender” in America and that it always has. For that reason, Trump did much better with white women voters than anyone had predicted. So many polls and pundits ended up being incorrect in 2016 that the pollster/pundit class has been thrown into a state of self-study over the 2016 election results. Yet, Belcher has been talking about many of these issues for years.

Barack Obama was the first person of color to hold the office of the presidency and he only won 38 percent of the white vote with the vast majority of that group breaking the other way. The bottom line: White voters, for the first time in American history, did not decide who would be president of the United States.

"When you think every vote doesn’t matter — it absolutely does. Every vote matters,” said Belcher. “Barack Obama wasn’t winning states like Ohio and North Carolina by three or four points, he was barely winning by the tiniest of margins."

Lauren Victoria Burke is a writer and political analyst. She is a frequent contributor to BlackPressUSA.com and the NNPA Newswire, the news service of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. She can be reached by email at LBurke007@gmail.com and on Twitter at @LVBurke.

In addition, more than 100 local businesses and cultural institutions have agreed to provide discounts and perks to cardholders. Among the partners are AMC Theaters, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Detroit Historical Museum, Buddy’s Pizza and the YMCA and many more. A complete list is available on the city’s website at www.DetroitMi.gov.

The City of Detroit will use software that is in line with federal and banking industry procedures to ensure the safety of the program. Additionally, intake specialists complete a rigorous 40-hour training process on how to authenticate documents, understand privacy issues and review an application effectively.

How to get a Detroit ID Below is the process for Detroit residents to obtain their Detroit ID: 1. Schedule an appointment: Residents can go to www.Detroitmi.gov or call 1-800-408-1599 to schedule an appointment in advance. While walk-ins will be accepted, the process will go much faster if you schedule an appointment.

2. Gather Documentation: Documentation that establishes the applicant's identity and residency is required and is subject to verification. Examples include utility bills, social service agencies or house of worship letters, tax assessments, and school records. Examples of valid proof of identity also include U.S. or foreign passports, U.S. or foreign driver’s licenses, U.S. or foreign military ID card, HMIS ID or record of services, ID cards from educational Institutional. The applicant’s documents will be returned immediately after completing the application process.

3. Visit an Intake Center: The city has opened two intake centers — Patton Park Recreational Center (2301 Woodmere) and the Samaritan Center (5555 Conner). Both intake centers will be open Mondays and Wednesdays from 1 to 7 pm and Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm.

In addition to the two stationary

From page A-1 intake centers at the Samaritan Center and Patton Park Recreational Center, the Municipal ID Program will host four pop-up locations throughout the city during the first quarter of 2017. Dates and locations for these events will be announced in January.

4. Cost: For residents over 18, but under 62 years of age, the initial purchase of the card will cost $25 with a $10 biannual renewal fee. For those over 62 years of age and between the ages of 14 and 18 the initial purchase of the card will cost $10.

5. Receiving your Detroit ID: The ID card may be mailed to the cardholder within two weeks or it can be picked up at one of the intake centers.

The Detroit ID card will display the cardholder’s identification number, photo, address, date of birth, height and eye color. The cardholder will have the option of displaying if they choose to be an organ donor.

In addition to the verification procedures, the Detroit ID card has a number of features to protect it from counterfeiting. The security measures built into the card include (1) embedded micro text, (2) multiline guilloche security background pattern, (3) rainbow printing, (4) 22 digit unique serial number, (5) security holograms, (6) invisible UV ink security printing, (7) embedded city seal, (8) embedded cardholder photograph, (9) embedded cardholder signature, and (10) QR code with data contained on Detroit ID card.

The city is committed to maintaining the privacy of Detroit ID card holders and has engaged SF Global as the city’s vendor to administer the Detroit ID Program. SF Global is an experienced municipal ID card vendor that has administered programs in Oakland, California, Richmond, Califormia, and New Haven, C,onnecticut.

Small business From page A-1 preneurship. The EOC Fund is designed to increase economic opportunity by providing these businesses with greater access to capital and business assistance, allowing them to grow, hire locally and further contribute to the city’s economic recovery. According to the JPMorgan Chase Institute, spending at Detroit small businesses has grown significantly, from down over 4 percent in early 2014 to up 4 percent in mid-2016.

news

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page A-5

The high price of imprisonment

A growing list of costs are being passed on to inmates and their families

By Eric Easter

inmate families pro bono ahs has been working on the issue for more than 12 years, cites a North Dakota proposal as a prime example. “Securus, in response to an RFP, proposed charging as little as $0.04 per minute without a commission, so they could presumable make a profit at that low a rate. But the rate they proposed, after commissions, was more than three times that rate at $0.13 a minute.”

Urban News Service

As incarceration rates continue to grow around the United States, the enormous costs of some prison services are increasingly being paid by those who can least afford it –- the families of inmates.

In 2001, when the DC Department of Corrections closed its notorious prison facility in Lorton, Virginia in 2001, Ulandis Forte, in prison for murder, was relocated to facilities far away from home, and family. His grandmother, Martha Wright, nearly blind and unable to travel, made frequent calls to prisons out of state –-in New Mexico, then Arizona, then Kentucky — only to find herself deeply in hardship and debt due to exorbitant fees charged by the private companies contracted to provide prison phone services.

Forte and Wright are only the most well known among thousands of families struggling to stay in contact with incarcerated relatives. Their fight lies at the heart of more than a decade of work by lawyers and activists -–in courts and before the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) – to find relief.

Yet fifteen years later, with only some successes to claim, the fight continues, stalled repeatedly by bureaucracy and the power of corporate lobbyists.

But even as that phone battle looks for resolution, the companies providing those phones are finding new and creative ways to make an array of new services “essential” to prison management. And nearly all come at a cost to inmates and their families.

PROGRESS, PUSHBACK AND KICKBACKS The evidence is clear -- inmates who stay in regular contact with families and friends fare much better in prison, adjust to life better upon release and have a dramatically better chance of staying out of prison. Phone calls are intended to solve a critical problem when

visitation becomes both a financial and logistical burden.

According to the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the families of inmates are among America’s poorest, with nearly two-thirds falling under or near the poverty line and unable to meet basic food and housing needs. More than 53% of American inmates are housed from 100-500 miles from where their families resides with over 16,000 inmates, about 2%, as far away as 1000 miles (source: Prison Policy Initiative).

Steven Matthews, the former chief information officer for the Illinois Department of Corrections explained the dilemma, “In Illinois, you have most prisoners being held downstate.

For a family from Chicago, a visit in –person can mean the cost of a rental car, gas, food, maybe loss of work. Then when you get there, a lockdown or any number of things can happen.

So add to that the cost of lodging, food and another day lost.

By the end of that, it can be upwards of $600 or more for a visit. And that’s in the same state.

Compared to that, a phone call is sometimes the only option.”

Yet, that “cheaper” alternative has become its own costly barrier. For some families, they can mean hundreds, or thousands of dollars in fees in addition to more than $13,000 on average in already existing debt from court costs and other ex-

penses related to incarceration.

The phone services are not provided by traditional telecom companies such AT&T, Sprint or other providers. At the center of the issue are handful of private contractors, led by industry leaders Securus and Global TelLink (GTL), who provide both equipment and calls centers through which the calls are routed and monitored for security reasons. In court cases, representatives of the industry say those security challenges are among the reasons calls come at such a high cost.

After many long years of effort, in 2015, part of the battle against high rates appeared to be won, when the FCC announced new rate caps that lowered rates to a range of $0.12 to $0.31 per minute, a sliding scale based on the size of a facility. Prior to that ruling, a family could be charged an average $1.21 per minute in some facilities, and as high as $40 per minute in some extreme cases.

Inmates themselves make on average, $4.73 per day. At the rate before the proposed caps, a full day’s wages was equivalent to about 3-4 minutes of a phone call.

But any sense of long term relief was short-lived. Attorneys representing the major providers of phone services, went on the attack, arguing in courts that the FCC lacked jurisdiction over calls made intra-state.

The argument was sufficient enough for a federal judge to stay the action and effectively put most new reforms on hold.

While a new ruling is pending, some fees have been held to an “interim cap”, which may or may not remain.

Still, prices can vary wildly depending on where an inmate is housed, from as low as $0.45 for a 15-minute call in West Virginia to $5.65 for the same call just one state over the border in Maryland.

What was an obvious victory for the private phone companies was also cheered by an unexpected ally of the high price phone call game –- the prisons themselves.

Through a complicated system of “commissions”, a practice the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice openly describes as “kickbacks”, Securus, GTL and their smaller competitors win contracts, in part, based on the level of commissions they pay to prison administrations and sheriff’s offices on a per call basis.

In some proposals, those commissions can run as high as 60% or more. Often, the difference between the charge for a phone call, absent of commissions, and the charge including commissions can be dramatic.

Lee Petro, the Washington DC attorney who represented Martha Wright and other

For their part, prisons claim the commissions are deposited in “inmate services” funds that, in turn are used to fund such programs as distance learning and rehabilitation programs.

But according to Aleks Kajstura, legal director of the Prison Policy Initiative, which studied FOIA requests of expenditures, found that “… the great bulk of money raised by phone commissions have gone to salaries and administration, not to inmate programming.”

“The prison industry also claims that their bottom lines would be hurt irreparably at greatly reduced rates. Yet in states such as New York, where lower mandatory caps have been implemented, all evidence shows that lowering rates results in a higher volume of calls, and higher revenue that before the rate cuts. Basically, the lower the cost, the more people make phone calls,” said Kajstura.

Meanwhile, the families and inmates at the heart of the issue, wait in limbo as the FCC and advocates figure out their next best move against a powerful foe. Yet, one day after the election of Donald J. Trump, prison industry stocks went up significantly in the speculation that the new Administration would wipe away important gains made on the issue by the FCC. According to Petro, “What’s most alarming about all these costs is not just that they are high, but they represent what is essentially a growing transfer of the cost of prisons from the government to the families of inmates. People need to know this.”

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December 14-20, 2016

KIND celebrates people uniting the nation through heart The KIND Foundation — a 501c3 started by KIND Healthy Snacks — recently announced the winners of its philanthropic program, KIND People, and launched a storytelling series to reveal the transformative power of kindness. Through the program, the foundation is awarding $1.1MM to seven people who are championing inclusivity and serving as beacons of empathy in communities nationwide.

Local winner Monica Lewis-Patrick, nationally renowned for her strong sense of justice and belief in her own ability to enact change, has united a community in the fight for water rights.

It all started after she learned that the City of Detroit had cut off the water of an apartment building occupied by mothers and senior citizens. She cofounded We the People of Detroit, a grassroots organization that gives low-income families access to clean water; provides education on water issues; conducts research to raise awareness; and mobilizes people to take action.

Community Conversations: We’re more alike than we are different

By Roz Edward Managing Editor

Monica Lewis-Patrick Lewis-Patrick is one of seven winners nationwide and will receive a $100,000 award to enhance her humanitarian operations. Unlike other programs, each KIND People awardee is given full discretion on how to deploy the funds, meaning Lewis-Patrick can use some or all for personal needs or interests.

“These remarkable human beings capture the spirit we need to elevate and the values that make America great, including kindness, respect and the conviction that we can make a positive difference in each other’s lives,” says Daniel Lubetzky, Founder & CEO of KIND and president of the KIND Foundation. “Most notably, these KIND People show us how to take steps toward understanding those who seem different, but deep down share our humanity.”

Since the program’s kickoff in January 2016, nearly 5,000 stories of unsung heroes were submitted. Dana Rosenberg, director of the KIND Foundation, says, “The response to the program reaffirmed our belief that good work is being done every day, and the extraordinary people leading this work deserve recognition and support. By showcasing their stories, we hope to encourage people everywhere to discover the kindness inside of themselves and take action in their own lives.”

Six KIND People winners will receive a $100,000 prize, and one grand prize winner, Doniece Sandoval, will receive a $500,000 prize. Sandoval’s organization, Lava Mae, stemmed from an idea that many thought was impossible — turning retired transportation buses into showers and toilets on wheels.

Over the coming weeks, KIND and the KIND Foundation — in partnership with SoulPancake, TakePart, and GOOD — will spotlight the winners through inspiring videos and profiles that will unpack their kindness. To learn more, visit kinded.com/kindpeople.

Civic leaders participating in a recent Kresge Foundation initiative on community development and urban revitalization from four major urban hubs — Detroit, Memphis, Houston and Baltimore — appear to hail from cities that are worlds apart. But as the refreshingly frank city-to-city panel discussion delved deeper into the specifics of life in the big city, the similarities in the struggle to protect residents and businesses against displacement and disenfranchisement in distressed communities became starkly striking. The event took place at Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art. Keith Owens, senior editor of the Michigan Chronicle, took part in the ongoing, multi-city discussion. Originally from Denver, Owens came to Detroit more than two decades ago by way of Chicago, Los Angeles and Florida. He talked about Detroit’s special set of circumstances on its path to revitalization and the perils of becoming a “hot city.”

“Detroit has always been unique in a number of ways for a number of reasons. But on the shorthand, once a city becomes targeted as the place to go, or a ‘hot city,’ then it’s not that hot for black folks, generally, because that’s not who [planners and developers] are trying to appeal to. … You start to build infrastructure for the people you want to come,” explained Owens, who drew a comparison between Detroit and his hometown of Denver, characterizing Denver as the anti-Detroit, due to black flight to the suburbs and it’s largely white and relatively affluent population.

“Detroit is more than 80 percent black with a poverty rate of more than 30 percent. In a perverse way, Detroit has to get in front of this problem because you cannot urban-remove 80 percent of the population. You have to deal with the fact that there are this many of us here, and we’re not going to Royal Oak and we’re not going to Traverse City.”

Community Lift Program President Eric Robertson, of Memphis, characterizes the population fluctuation in Memphis as “white flight on steroids.”

“Detroit is probably some 120 some odd square miles. Memphis is 324 square miles. You can put two Detroits or all five burroughs of New York in Memphis.

And it grew that way for one reason — white flight — as people would leave the city would annex. They go out further, and the city would annex,” explained Robinson. “And much of that is rooted in this history being what many may call the capital of the Delta, slave trade,

Jim Crow laws and all of those things at play. It is the story of how housing was used to keep African Americans and people of color in distressed communities. The sad story is that where there was a mix of high income, middle income and low income African Americans they made all of those people move, tore that housing down and built public housing,” said Robertson. “They scattered people about intentionally and that was done to signal that the white power structure had control. They said, ‘We can decide where you live,’ and today that has significant implications in terms of the number of census tracts where the poverty level for children in the city of Memphis is above 47 percent … and 68 percent of all Memphians lived in a distressed community. So we have hollowed out our core. But like Detroit, we are seeing a renaissance and there is a real conversation around who

is benefiting from the renaissance.”

The ramifications of displacement and redevelopment are not by any means unique to Detroit. Although these political and economic decisions may have been of a greater magnitude in a city with a large black and blue collar population, Baltimore has experienced an almost incomparable transformation.

Alec MacGellis, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of “The Third Rail,” contends that mobility may be the great equalizer for residents in cities like Detroit. “Transportation enabled the white flight that has long been the defining dynamic of inequality in metropolitan Baltimore … But the big debate happening in Baltimore which you are going to see more and

See CONVERSATIONS page B-2

Cody High first-place winner of Let’s Play Detroit Challenge In partnership with Mcdonald’s® and Good Sports®

Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Let’s Play™ initiative, along with Detroit-area McDonald’s® and Good Sports®, is pleased to announce Cody High School as the first-place winner of the Let’s Play™ Detroit Challenge.

As the first-place winner, Cody received a $20,000 donation of brand-new sports equipment during a Dec. 2 unveiling ceremony at the school.

As part of the Let’s Play Detroit Challenge, Detroit public high schools were invited to submit a “For the Love of the Game” themed video, highlighting the importance of sports at their school for the chance to win a donation of brand new sports equipment. Finalist videos were posted to the Let’s Play Facebook page for public voting in late October. In the video submissions, students demonstrated spirit and cre-

Parker, principal, Medicine and Community Health (MCH) Academy at Cody. “On behalf of the students and staff at Cody, please accept our heartfelt gratitude for the school's athletic donations bestowed upon our students. Community partners are an important part of the success of our youth, and the support of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, McDonald’s and Good Sports is greatly appreciated.”

ativity in how they showcased the different sports available at each school.

“This donation will surely

help support our athletic program, especially during a time when funds aren't so easily available. This will boost stu-

dents motivation, team/school spirit as well as keep stakeholders focused on what matters most, students,” said Michelle

Cody High School’s video received the greatest number of votes to earn first place. Second-place winner, Western International, received a $15,000 sports equipment donation and Osborn High School, Detroit International Academy for Women and Frederick Douglass Academy for Young Men each received a $5,000 sports equip-

See CHALLENGE page B-2

community

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page B-2

Focus on: Norma G’s

By Daphne Hughes One of the major benefits of living in the Shorepointe Village at Grayhaven community is the easy access to shopping and dining. Located in Detroit‘s thriving East Jefferson corridor, residents are just minutes away from a variety of stores, boutiques, coffee shops, and more. The eight-mile corridor between downtown Detroit and Grosse Pointe Park is one of the fastest growing areas in the city for small businesses.

Next year, the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood in the corridor will welcome its first sit-down, fine dining restaurant in more than 20 years. Norma G’s is being constructed in a former bank building and is expected to open in late spring. The restaurant will feature authentic Caribbean cuisine.

“Norma was my mom’s name,” explained the restaurant’s owner, chef Lester Gouvia, who was born in Trinidad. “I always tell people she took very simple things and she just made great meals out of it and she fed her family.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. But, you have to put some love into it, and you have to just add some flavor, and you can produce some good food.”

Focus on

Shorepointe Village at Grayhaven

By Daphne Hughes For residents of the Shorepointe Village at Grayhaven neighborhood in Detroit, every day is a vacation. That’s because this east side community is situated on the Detroit River and all of the 41 homes have waterfront views. Some residents have a direct sightline to Canada, while others can glimpse downtown Detroit and Belle Isle, along with wetlands and wildlife.

“There are all kinds of wildlife around us when the canal freezes over,” said Michelle Segue, a Shorepointe resident and City Living Detroit real estate agent for the area. “Even the deer come over from Belle Isle. You might look out your window one day and there’s a herd of deer standing out in the middle of the canal. Little red foxes run along the canal. You can see them in the winter. We even have mink. We have everything from muskrats and raccoons to possums.”

It was Shorepointe’s natural beauty that drew Dr. Reginald Eadie to the community after searching all over the city for a new home. “Every day when I wake up in the morning, I’m looking at the Detroit River,” said Dr. Eadie. “To me, it just doesn’t get

any better than that. It gives you the home away from home feeling every single day. In fact, people who come over to my home say that all of the time, like ‘Wow, I feel like I’m on vacation. I can’t believe I’m in the city of Detroit.’ “ Each home in Shorepointe Village is custom built, and currently there are 10 lots left. The houses average 3,200 to 4,000 square feet and each property has its own 30’ to 45’ boat dock.

“People who like boating, kayaking and canoeing, literally can walk out of their back door — and I’m not exaggerating — and walk 20 yards and they’re on the water,” explained Dr. Eadie. “So, anyone who enjoys that and enjoys the city life with an aquatic feeling, that’s the place to go.”

Another major attraction of Shorepointe is its proximity to downtown Detroit and other communities with bustling shopping and dining districts. “We’re 10 minutes from downtown,” said Segue, “so for people who work downtown or use downtown, it’s 10 to 12 minutes door-to-door. There are also a lot of businesses popping up in the Jefferson and Chalmers area. And, for shopping, you have the Pointes, St Clair Shores, Harper Woods has Eastland —

nothing is too far away.”

In addition to being minutes away from everything that’s happening in downtown Detroit, Dr. Eadie says the location is ideal because you can get anywhere quickly. “I’m just minutes away from the Lodge (freeway), minutes away from I-94, and minutes away from I-75,” he said. “It’s very accessible.”

Established in 1998, Shorepointe Village is without a doubt one of the city’s hidden gem neighborhoods.

Many prospective homebuyers are surprised to learn of the gated, waterfront community.

“I happened to be on a friend’s sailboat and he pointed the area out to me, because for some reason — like many other Detroiters or Michiganders — I had no idea that it existed,” Dr. Eadie said. “I was on a quest to move back to the city to be a part of the city’s revitalization. Being a native Detroiter, I just felt like it was the perfect time for me to live my belief and my expectation of myself and that is I’m a true Detroiter.”

“The thing that makes this community really strong is . . . for the most part, these folks have been diehard Detroiters,” said Segue. “And it’s been a really stable neighborhood. I would say 50 percent or more of people who live there now, lived there originally. They’re Detroiters, they’re committed, and they’re just great people.”

When all the available lots are purchased, Shorepointe will become a 51-home subdivision — making it an intimate and tightknit neighborhood.

“It’s a very small community,” said Dr. Eadie. “All of the neighbors know each other. I’m sort of new to the neighborhood. And, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”

Gouvia has been operating a popular food truck in the metro Detroit area with the same name — Norma G’s — for the past two years. He also has a catering service and has participated in restaurant pop-up events. The growth of his company has gotten a boost thanks to programs that assist small businesses in the city.

“I’d looked at some other places (for the restaurant), but being part of the Motor City Match program and also being one of the finalists in the Hatch Detroit contest . . . I got to meet a lot of different people and one of the groups that I met was actually a group out of the Jefferson-Chalmers area, the Jefferson East Business Association,” Gouvia said.

Gouvia, who moved to the Detroit area 20 years ago, is excited to use his culinary skills as a way of participating in the city’s resurgence. “I just thought that doing something in the city was going to be worthwhile, because I saw the transformation that was going to take place,” he said. “I want a lot of different people to come to me and to my place and really experience just a different atmosphere and different food. But it has to be eclectic. I don’t think you can be exclusive. I think you have to be open to a lot of different people.

And really, that’s what the city should be about.”

For more information on Shorepointe Village at Grayhaven, visit: shorepointevillage. com.

Challenge ment donation for placing third, fourth and fifth in the voting, respectively.

In Cody High School’s video submission, athletic director Antonio Baker said, “We emphasize athletics as an avenue to help some of our young people improve themselves academically as well as athletically. These young people understand that success always depends upon their efforts. Sports are more than just winning championships. It’s about our student athletes learning life skills through athletics so once they leave the Cody campus, they have an opportunity to be successful because team work makes the dream work, and our students understand that those dreams can come true through athletics.”

“On behalf of my fellow McDonald’s operators, we are proud to join Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Good Sports in awarding sports equipment to Detroit youth,” said Jon Campbell, Detroit-area McDonald’s restaurant owner. “We have long championed education of youth and recognize the important role athletics serves in their development.”

“Our Office of Athletics truly would like to thank the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, McDonald’s and Good Sports for offering this contest and donation of $50,000 to our schools,” said Alvin Ward, Deputy Executive Director, Detroit Community School District Office

From page B-1 of Health and Athletics. “These donated dollars will allow the schools to assist their teams and programs with making purchases above and beyond just replacement of uniforms and equipment. They will be able to purchase items of need that were just in their dreams a couple of months ago.”

Let’s Play is an initiative led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to provide kids and families with the tools, places and inspiration to make active play a daily priority.

By 2017, Let’s Play will provide nearly 10 million kids more opportunities to play through grants for new or improved playgrounds and/ or sports equipment.

“We’re thrilled at the opportunity to partner with two outstanding organizations – McDonalds and Good Sports – to make a big difference for kids in the Detroit community,” said Vicki Draughn, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Dr Pepper Snapple Group. “This grant will give these high school students the equipment and gear they need to get in the game and get active.”

“The donation is greatly appreciated at a time when everyone is expected to do more with less. This donation will go a long way in funding our needs,” said Terrence Butler, Athletic Coordinator, Western High School.

Western High School’s video submission showcased the many

sports offered, including baseball, basketball, football, softball, soccer, swim, tennis, track and volleyball. Students spoke about the value of athletics, including how it builds character, helps one stay healthy, exercises the body and mind, and is a way to represent the community.

“This donation is very important to the Osborn Community and Osborn High School,” said Lonell Williams, Athletic Director, Osborn High School. “It will help our students’ self-esteem along with letting them compete to their highest level of competitive athletic competition.”

“Our partnership with Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Let’s Play has enabled Good Sports to provide even more equipment to deserving youth across the country,” said Melissa Harper, CEO of Good Sports. “Together, in partnership with McDonald’s, we are thrilled to support Detroit public high schools by providing the tools and resources they need to keep children active, healthy, and happy.”

“This donation of sports equipment will give students the opportunity to get involved in active play while in school and will help get more kids on the court and playing field,” added Campbell. “As a former Michigan State University football player, I know firsthand that success in school and in life can be attributed to both academics and athletics.”

Conversations mobility,” he explains.

“What they’re doing in Baltimore now is giving people [in poorer] communities housing vouchers, but you have to move to better areas, mostly the suburbs, to use them. The question is, is it better to move people out to deconcentrate poverty, so that mother and child are not terrified and dealing with bad schools and crime?

Deconcentration definitely helps.”

Angela Blanchard, president and CEO of Neighborhood Centers Inc., surprised audience members with a Texas-sized tale of community redevelopment in Houston.

“If you visited Houston 15 or 20 years ago, and thought the view wasn’t all that great from the airport to the freeway, you didn’t come back. But, Houston is a city that grew by 10,000 people a month for years, and we grew into a city that’s become the most diverse city in the United States. … We saw an influx of people from all over the world … and Houston became affordable. We built tons of affordable

From page B-1

housing,” said Blanchard.

“The geography of poverty is different in Houston … people migrate to Houston from all over the world. We have to remind folks that not every Mexican is an immigrant … the city is 627 square miles ... and I never have cared how many poor people we have, I just want to know and make sure there is a path forward for all of them.”

Owens summed it up that Detroit is the front line for all things urban in the state of Michigan.

“If we don’t make adjustments in terms of employment and affordable housing, we could wipe out an entire population. We are going to have to reset the bar and make this renaissance work for all Detroiters,” he notes.

The Kresge Foundation is a $3.6 billion private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America's cities through grantmaking and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and community development in Detroit.

community

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page B-3

Pretty Brown Girl Foundation brings joy to Flint girls

Jazzy Holiday Tea raises record amount for Ronald McDonald House of Detroit A fashion show featuring women business leaders and dynamic volunteers was a highlight at the 9th annual Jazzy Holiday Tea, which raised more than $20,000 for the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit on Dec. 3 at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham.

finalist in 2013.

Event Chair and House Board Member Charlene Mitchell-Rodgers, of West Bloomfield, worked closely with the Ronald McDonald House staff, vendors, sponsors and the Townsend Hotel to make it a first-class event.

The holiday tea drew more than 80 guests who bonded with the guest emcees Fox 2 news anchor Charlie Langton and Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Denise Langford Morris as they told how the staff and volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit care for families of children who are hospitalized.

“The tea was magnificent. The mood of the guests was so positive and upbeat, people had fun,” said Mitchell-Rodgers. “We raised money and we raised another level of awareness about the House through our emcees and among guests, who posted pictures and positive comments on social media.”

Mike and Mike (violinist Michael Saxon and keyboard player Michael Evans) performed mellow jazz music.

Sketch artist Darrell Swift drew caricatures of guests. A silent auction featured jewelry, home décor items and children’s gift baskets, donated by local merchants. HLT Flower Shop, formerly Wesley Berry Flowers, donated flower arrangements.

Stephanie Oram, owner of Accessories by Stephanie in West Bloomfield, showed fashions by Joseph Ribkoff, paired with unique necklaces, bracelets and designer purses.

Langton and Judge Langford Morris described the fashions with great humor and also conducted a live auction of a cashmere poncho with a mink collar donated by Arthur Bricker of Bricker-Tunis Furs, which brought $500.

“The holiday tea is important to our expansion campaign to raise $3 million through the end of this year,” said Jennifer Litomisky, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit.

She predicted the campaign would

reach its goal and also announced that Crain’s Detroit Business recently named the House a finalist for its Best Managed Nonprofits 2016. The Ronald McDonald House of Detroit was also a

For families who stay at the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit, a $10 daily fee is charged for a guest room and use of common areas including a kitchen, laundry room, gathering space, playroom and serenity garden. No family is turned away due to a lack of funds.

Picture a little girl with a smile big enough to get lost in and eyes that shine bright like diamonds. Imagine a girl whose heart is filled with hope that she will one day change the world.

Smart and perhaps a little feisty, she has more potential than President Obama has one-liners. This girl lives in the Flint, Michigan community and has big dreams; however all seems to be overshadowed among the water crisis, especially during this time of the year.

When the world first learned of the Flint water crisis, people all over the country, took action by collecting and donating water. Unfortunately, the crisis is still not over and it is very important not to overlook the children of Flint.

Now that the holidays are upon us, the Pretty Brown Girl Foundation, a Detroit based non-profit organization, would like to touch the hearts of the girls in Flint. “With all that has happened this year, our prayer is to bring a little more hope and lots of smiles to the faces of the girls in Flint,” said Sheri Crawley, Pretty Brown Girl Foundation executive director and founder.

Founded in 2010, Pretty Brown Girl’s motto is “Empower a girl, empower the world.” Through their mission, Pretty Brown Girl is committed to addressing adverse issues that girls of color face.

The foundation launched a Crowdrise fundraiser to raise $50,000 to provide 1,000 girls in the Flint community schools and housing developments an opportunity to attend the Pretty Brown Girl Christmas Doll Drive and receive her own signature Pretty Brown Girl doll.

The historic Berston Field House in Flint has opened their doors to serve the girls in the Flint community schools for this special day.

The members of Pretty Brown Girl in Detroit are working to help fundraise for this worthy cause. Through a partnership with Michigan Women’s Foundation, UPS has agreed to deliver the Pretty Brown Girl dolls to the girls in Flint.

In addition, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Zeta Beta Omega Chapter of Flint, Black Nurses Rock, Detroit Chapter and 9-year-old Mari Copeny, “Little Miss Flint,” have partnered with the Pretty Brown Girl Foundation for the event.

Sponsors and volunteers are still needed. Please visit www.prettybrowngirl.com for more information.

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JOHN H. SENGSTACKE Chairman-Emeritus 1912-1997

December 14-20, 2016

Page B-4

LONGWORTH M. QUINN Publisher-Emeritus 1909-1989

A message from the City Clerk

By Janice Winfrey The Nov. 8 presidential election has been one that has taken many twists and turns. First and foremost, I would like to assure all Detroit voters that your ballots were properly counted on Election Day. After Election Day, a statewide recount was requested by one of the presidential candidates. The recount revealed a number of issues which plague election administrators throughout the state of Michigan.

One of the primary findings is that our recount laws must be reevaluated to guarantee that all precincts, regardless of human error, can be recounted. All clerks who have been asked about this recount have agreed that recount laws in the state of Michigan must change.

Janice Winfrey

Michigan is one of four states in the country that has restrictions on what can be recounted – Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma are the other three. When a precinct cannot be recounted, it is unfair to the petitioner, the public and the voters. The petitioner does not obtain the satisfaction of addressing their reason for requesting the recount. The voter is left with an unknown and suspicious mind. Finally, the election administrator is left explaining what exactly happened to cause this issue.

A second issue that has been revealed is that human error is caused by some poll workers who are responsible for working Election Day, which occurs twice a year. While Michigan election law requires that poll workers attend training once every two years, Detroit poll workers are trained extensively for each scheduled election.

The national average age of an Election Day poll worker is around of 68.

Our seniors and others who work the polls on Election Day do a fine job, but when it comes to recording information properly either on the transfer case seal certificate, in the back of the pollbook or making sure that all ballots have been properly inserted into the transfer case, oftentimes mistakes are made. These mistakes are not problematic if the election is certified and no recount is filed.

However, if a recount is filed these mistakes are magnified, and as we have witnessed, create a firestorm of issues for local and county clerks.

Before the implementation of the optical scan, provisional ballots, electronic pollbooks and photo ID, poll workers had only two basic functions to verify whether a citizen was registered and to issue them a ballot.

Today, election workers are challenged with technology and other functions that require a more complex process. Realizing this, we initiated the

“Democracy in the D” program. Whereby the Department of Elections reached out to more than 100 local businesses and community based organizations requesting that they allow/encourage their staff to work as poll workers on Election Day. Only one company rose to the occasion, providing us with over 150 staff that the department was able to train and assign to work Election Day. It should be noted that our voting machines are obsolete. Unlike voting machines used in past eras, today’s systems were not built to last for decades.

In part, this is due to the pace of technological change. No one expects a laptop to last for 10 years and you should not expect that of our voting machines either. While it is impossible to say how long any particular machine will last, experts agree that for those purchased since 2000, the expected life span for the core components of voting machines is between 10 to 15 years, and for most systems it is probably closer to 10 years. In Michigan, our voting equipment must be certified at both the federal and state levels. That along with substantial federal funding makes it nearly impossible for local clerks to purchase equipment arbitrarily. The biggest risk in using outdated equipment is increased failures and crashes, which can lead to long lines, frustrated voters.

Knowing this, the department prepared for all technological issues that might occur on Election Day. One hundred (refurbished) M100 tabulators were ordered from the vendor, 700 new memory cards were procured, and additional Election Day technicians and call center specialists, whose sole responsibility was to receive and respond to calls associated with our voting machines, were employed.

Next year will offer a greater opportunity to obtain new equipment. The State Bureau of Elections was on schedule to approve and help to fund the purchase of new voting equipment for the each jurisdiction through the county earlier this year until it was discovered that the equipment for vendors did not meet some federal and state requirements.

As such, voting equipment is currently going through its final stages of review to ensure that all federal and state requirements are met. The Department of Elections has included in its 2016/17 budget the necessary funding to procure equipment.

Although the findings are troubling, it also provides hope for the future.

Technology has changed dramatically in the last decade, offering the possibility of machines that are more reliable, more usable, and less expensive. Several recent innovations — often driven by election officials who have worked with vendors, academics and voters — could point the way to more affordable and flexible 21st century machines. While such advances may help us in future years, they will not resolve today’s crisis. There is no escaping the immediate need to plan, set aside sufficient funds and implement new machines.

Here are black Republicans that Trump should be talking to about cabinet positions

By Raynard Jackson

ocrats and ignores us.

(NNPA Newswire Columnist)

Why hasn’t Trump called black Republicans like Bob Brown, the highest-ranking black in the Nixon administration? He is a walking history book on blacks in the Republican Party. Why has he not called Fred McClure who served in consecutive presidential administrations advising President Ronald Reagan and President George H. W. Bush on legislative affairs as a senior member of the White House staff? Oh, and what about Connie Newman? Newman served as U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, assistant administrator for Africa for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), just to name a few.

President-elect Donald Trump owes the black community absolutely nothing. Blacks gave Trump just 8 percent of their vote and Hillary Clinton won 88 percent; Clinton's share of black voters was considerably lower than Obama’s 93 percent in 2008 and 96 percent in 2012.

Trump won the election and “to the victor belong the spoils,” but if he’s serious about making things better for blacks, he’s going to need the expertise and wealth of experience of black Republicans during his Raynard Jackson transition to the White House and in his administration.

I find it extremely offensive that Trump would meet with liberal Democrat Bob Johnson, founder of BET, and call Al Sharpton, a known race hustler.

Black Republicans have been calling me constantly with this complaint, but most are too afraid to go on the record with their criticism.

Well, I am not seeking favor or goodies from the incoming Trump administration and even if I were, I still wouldn’t remain silent on this issue. Let me put it this way: How would Trump feel if his employees stayed at a Marriott Hotel when a Trump property was literally next door? Well, this is how black Republicans feel every time one of our leaders engages with liberal black Dem-

The bigger tragedy is most of the Republicans in leadership have no idea who these people are. These are folks with serious relationships and credibility within the black community and have great standing and stature within the white community, as well. As of this moment, Trump only named one black to his cabinet. Former neurosurgeon and presidential candidate Ben Carson has been chosen to lead lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Putting Carson at HUD is like asking me to perform brain surgery on your kid. What does Carson know about housing policy? Absolutely nothing.

So, to President-elect Donald J. Trump, please feel free to call me so we can discuss the issue of putting “real” black Republicans in “real” positions of power within your administration. Mr. Trump, what do “you” have to lose?

This is why the judge in the Bill Cosby sexual assault trial must recuse himself immediately

By Kia Soto (NNPA Newswire Guest Columnist)

Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who is presiding over Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial, has a glaring conflict of interest that has received very little, if any, mainstream media coverage. If justice is going to be served in this case, Judge O’Neill needs to step down immediately.

In 2002, Judge Steven T. O’Neill was appointed to the Montgomery County, Pa., bench and swore on a Bible, held by his wife, Deborah V. O’Neill, to uphold the United States and Pennsylvania constituKia Soto tions.

Deborah O’Neill has an extensive background in sexual assault research and has even acknowledged her husband and thanked him for his contributions to her research and work.

Mrs. O’Neill holds a doctoral degree in social work and works closely with victims of sexual assault and acquaintance rape. In 2012, as a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, she wrote a 183-page dissertation on acquaintance rape: “Responding to College Campus Acquaintance Rape: Contextual Issues and the Challenge of Inter-Organizational Collaboration.” She spent countless weeks and hours interviewing rape victims and did a study of her findings.

When she received her doctoral degree she wrote, “To Steve, I share this achievement with you. You are my best friend and the love of my life. Thank you for being gentle with my insecurities and robust with encouragement. I could not have done this without you.”

Mrs. O'Neill is a counselor at the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), a counseling center for the University of Pennsylvania and she’s also the coordinator of the Sexual Trauma Treatment Outreach and Prevention (STTOP) at the same university. She is listed as a possible affiliate at the Sexual Trauma And Recovery Inc. (S.T.A.R.), a private practice that “…provides support, education and advocacy to empower all individuals and families affected by sexual trauma.”

She is obviously very passionate and active in her field.

Mrs. O’Neill should be able to pursue

her own career path independently of her husband, but judges and attorneys know that both real and perceived conflict of interests in the courtroom must be avoided at all cost.

According to Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct Canon 2 section B, “Judges should not allow their family, social, or other relationships to influence their judicial conduct or judgment.

They should not lend the prestige of their office to advance the private interests of others; nor should they convey or knowingly permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence the judge. Judges should not testify voluntarily as a character witness.”

Can a judge rise above the personal and professional influence of a spouse in a matter like this? Of course one can, but with one of the highest profile cases in decades, it is incumbent on Judge O’Neill to abide by not only the letter, but also by the spirit of the Pennsylvania code of Judicial Conduct.

On the surface, Mrs. O’Neill’s work would not appear to be a problem. However, due to Judge O’Neill’s support of his wife’s career passion and doctoral research about acquaintance rape and sexual trauma, one can legitimately question his impartiality.

It’s unconfirmed if Mrs. O’Neill’s associations, contact or connections with rape organizations and or rape support groups are influencing the judge’s decisions, nor has it been determined, if any of her cases were assigned from Montgomery County Courts or by her husband, but it is a possibility. That alone seems like a huge conflict of interest, not just for Cosby’s case, but any sexual assault case Judge O’Neill may preside over.

Judges are subject to certain ethical standards and have a duty to be impartial. The one and only person whose avowed primary duty is to uphold justice and treat Cosby fairly is failing to meet his ethical and legal obligations. Thus, Judge O’Neill should recuse himself to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in the Commonwealth v. William Henry Cosby, Jr. case.

Kia Soto is a freelance writer, blogger and social activist. She is the founder of TattleTailzz.com a celebrity entertainment website. Her extensive social media knowledge, public relations experience and networking have taught her to contribute what you can no matter the reach.

Jen Vickers, an activist for justice, freelance writer, mother and wife, also contributed to this columns.

If Trump is serious about fighting terrorism, he should try registering white nationalists first

By Bill Fletcher, Jr. (NNPA Newswire Columnist)

I have been trying to figure out how there can be any discussion of registering Muslims due to alleged national security concerns, when it is documented that the major source of terrorism in the United States since 9/11 has been white supremacists groups. The Southern Poverty Law Center has been a major source of information documenting myriad right-wing terrorist attacks, Bill Fletcher, Jr. though little mainstream attention has gone to this phenomenon. Just recently, several right-wingers in Oregon were acquitted of an armed occupation of federal property. This was not civil disobedience or standard protest, but an armed action.

In the late 1960s, early 1970s, there were many black activists who worried that, in the face of some alleged crisis proclaimed by the U.S. government, African Americans would be placed into concentration camps. The mainstream political establishment declared that we were paranoid.

While it was true, they would say, that Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans had been imprisoned in 1942 as an alleged security threat during World War II, we were subjected

to repeated arguments that this would never happen again; what happened to the Japanese had been an aberration.

The fact that Native Americans had been locked up on reservations was conveniently ignored.

Fast forward to the 2016 presidential elections. Republican candidates, including, but not limited to, now President-elect Donald Trump, began making suggestions regarding the registering and possible interning of Muslims in the U.S. The rationale: alleged national security concerns.

This threat of registration, if not detention, has not disappeared. Despite the fact that white supremacists are the main source of terrorism in the U.S., there has been no call to register white nationalists, let alone any other white people. Using the Trump rationale, there should be a massive registering of white nationalists since history demonstrates their propensity for violence.

Yet any time the issue of right-wing/ white supremacist terrorism is raised, it is brushed under the rug and the act or acts of violence are pinned on an allegedly disturbed white person, who committed the horrible act, solely due to some sort of inexplicable compulsion.

If there is a registry of Muslims, then all people of conscience should sign up as an act of protest. We should ensure that the registry is debunked and that any discussion of terrorism in the U.S. begins with a current and historical examination of the main danger of terrorism we face, terrorism perpetrated by the homegrown right-wing.

community

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page B-5

2017 open enrollment: What you need to know

By Rick Notter BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN

Open enrollment for 2017 began on Tuesday, Nov. 1. This means anyone interested in enrolling, adjusting or switching their individual health care plan can do so until Jan. 31, 2017. There are a lot of options available to health care consumers during open enrollment season, so it’s important to know what needs to be done, how to do it and when.

view the costs associated with each option and the level of care required.

■O ptions available: Research health insurance providers in your area to determine which best suits your needs as well as the needs of anyone else who will be on the plan.

■Q uality provided: Reach out to friends, family or neighbors to learn more about the quality of care that is provided under specific plans. Oftentimes loved ones are a great resource for recommendations.

■A ccess: Whether you’re looking for an insurance carrier that provides digital tools or telemedicine, access to care can vary. Consider your needs before making a final decision.

coverage until the next open enrollment period.

However, those who qualify for a special enrollment period are provided with an additional opportunity to make changes in coverage. Special enrollment periods are granted in the event of the following qualifying life events: • Loss a job • Birth of a child

• Loss of coverage through a family member

care options and open enrollment, visit MIBluesPerpsectives.com.

• Change in residency • Death of a plan member

Share your news story with us!

Rick Notter is the director of Individual Business Marketing and Distribution at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

For more information about available health

Send to: newsdesk@michronicle.com

• Change in eligibility

Know the Dates The months of November, December and January are often consumed by holiday activities. Be sure to set aside time to focus on open enrollment, so everyone can enjoy the season with peace of mind.

Key dates to keep in mind:

The open enrollment period can serve individuals in different ways, so it’s important to be familiar with the services available. During this time, consumers have the following options: • Review current coverage • Sign up for health coverage • Change or switch health plans • Adjust benefit elections • Enroll in enroll in other ancillary benefits, such as dental, vision or accident plans • Add or remove individuals from a coverage plan Know the Plans Before enrolling for health coverage or making changes to a current insurance plan, be sure to do research beforehand. It can also be beneficial to sit down with family members on the plan and discuss specific needs for each individual. Consider factors such as: ■A ssociated costs: Copayments, deductibles and coinsurance costs all vary between health care plans. Re-

November 1, 2016: Open Enrollment started — first day to enroll, re-enroll, or change a 2017 insurance plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Coverage can start as soon as January 1, 2017.

December 15, 2016: Enrollment deadline for guaranteed coverage on Jan. 1, 2017. Waiting until after this date could delay coverage until Feb. 1 or later.

January 1, 2017: 2017 coverage starts for those who enroll or change plans by December 15.

January 31, 2017: Last day to enroll in or change a 2017 health plan. After this date, you can enroll or change plans only if you qualify for a special enrollment period.

Open enrollment for employer-provided benefits is decided by the company and can happen at any time. Be sure to contact the human resources or employee benefits department for specific dates.

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3-DAY GIFT PRICES IN EFFECT 12/13-12/15/2016. MERCHANDISE WILL BE ON SALE AT THESE AND OTHER SALE PRICES NOW THROUGH 1/2/17, EXCEPT AS NOTED. HOW MACY’S MONEY WORKS: For any single transaction of $50 or more you make in store 12/9-12/15 or online 12/9-12/14/2016, we’ll give you a $10 (spend $50-74.99), $15 (spend $75-99.99), $20 (spend $100-149.99), $30 (spend $150199.99) or $40 (spend $200 or more) Macy’s Money Reward Card at the register. EXCLUDES THE FOLLOWING PURCHASES: Apple Products, tech watches/jewelry/accessories, gift cards, services & fees, sales tax, macybed, all phone & live chat orders, lease depts, restaurants, international orders, online backorders, e-gifting. USE YOUR MACY’S MONEY REWARD CARD from 12/16-12/24/16. May not be: redeemed for cash, used to purchase Macy’s gift cards or applied as payment or credit to your credit card account. If a purchase used to accumulate Macy’s Money is returned, your return may result in a reduction of the value of your Macy’s Money Reward Card and/or a reduction of your total refund amount.

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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page B-6

2016 Annual Sankofa Black Business Awards Gala

PHOTOS BY MARCUS PATTON AND ERIC HOBSON

BUSINESS

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December 14-20, 2016

Detroit Regional Workforce Fund prepares Detroiters for skilled trades

By Karen Tyler-Ruiz Executive Director, Detroit Regional Workforce Fund

It was widely reported recently that the City of Detroit levied a half-million dollars in fines on contractors who are not hiring the requisite number of Detroit workers on one of the city’s major construction projects. The contractors understand their obligation to hire Detroiters, but they maintain that they simply cannot find enough skilledtrades workers to fill the many open positions.

As the executivedirector of the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, I know it doesn’t need to be that way. Since 2014, the Workforce Fund, a public-private collaborative of foundations, state and corporate partners, has invested in Detroit workers to increase their numbers in the construction industry and, in the process, improve the Detroit economy.

Keith A. Owens photo

So many black businesses,

Karen Tyler-Ruiz The Detroit Regional Workforce Fund is the financial arm of a pre-apprenticeship program called Access for All. It has been cited as a national model by the North American Building Trades Union. Right now, Access for All is recruiting Detroiters who are interested in moving into a well-paying career in the skilled trades. We are offering post-secondary pre-apprenticeship training for carpenters, electricians, iron workers, cement masons and other construction trades, all leading to both employment and successful entry into apprenticeship programs.

Access for All has a proven record of success. In the past two years, nearly 100 Detroiters have graduated from its programs and found employment and entered into apprenticeships in the burgeoning construction industry. With an increase in the number of public and private partners and investors, Access for All anticipates graduating many more workers moving forward.

Some potential applicants hesitate because of real or perceived barriers to success, but one of the strengths of Access for All is that we includes a support system that can help mitigate the effect of barriers that may include past incarceration or less than stellar English and mathematics skills.

The Detroit Regional Workforce Fund and Access for All may not be the entire answer to the shortage of skilled trade workers in Detroit, but we are a key part of the answer. We are eager to work with even more funders, contractors, labor/management and workers to improve people’s lives while building a stronger Detroit.

Access for All is currently recruiting for its next class to begin on Feb. 6, 2017. Find out more at http://accessforalldetroit.com.

To learn more about the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, visit http://www. detroitregionalworkforcefund.org.

so little clout

In a majority black city, Detroit black business still lags

changed that much. The gaps haven’t changed that much,” said Foster.

“I don’t have an answer for that,” she said. “It’s crazy.”

So with that in mind, here’s one set of statistics that deserves some attention, from page 41 of the report:

By Keith A. Owens

“Minorities in Detroit already account for 89% of the city’s population; however, the firms they own account for only 15% of private company revenues.

African American-owned businesses account for 94% of the city’s MBEs (minority-owned business enterprises) yet few of these companies grow enough to hire even one employee. Only one in 30 African-American companies in the city has at least one employee compared to one in three white-owned businesses.”

Yes, it is. But that hasn’t stopped DFC from working toward some form of resolution to the problem, a problem that Foster readily admits is attracting the concerned efforts of not only DFC but a number of other organizations as well. What’s needed, however, is for there to be more cooperation and coordination between agencies.

Senior Editor

Someone who doesn’t know any better might be inclined to assume that in a city where the population is more than 80 percent black, and where there are more than 40,000 black-owned businesses — more per capita than just about any other major city in the country — that the business climate for black folks in Detroit must be simply tremendous. As a matter of fact, the assumption might be that Detroit must be the Promised Land for black business.

That assumption would be wrong.

This is not to discount the success stories, or to disregard the progress that has been made and continues to be made, but a quick look at some statistics reveals that something just isn’t right. And at Detroit Future City, compiling and then analyzing data and statistics are one of the things they tend to do quite well. Inside their comprehensive report, “Detroit Future City: 2012 Detroit Strategic Framework Plan,” there are some rather alarming statistics. Granted, the book is four years old, but according to Detroit Future City Director Anika Goss Foster, not much has really changed data-wise during the past four years, at least not so much to change the fact that most of what was alarming in 2012 remains just as alarming today.

“At the end of the day the data hasn’t

And here’s another one: Seventy percent of Detroit jobs are held by commuters, whereas only 30 percent of Detroit jobs are held by Detroiters.

And 61 percent of employed Detroiters work outside the city, whereas only 39 percent of employed Detroiters work within the city.

Foster adds that another significant barrier for African-American small business is that many of them simply cannot get qualified for bank loans or for any other meaningful investment to help them expand, or at least to upgrade, as compared to white businesses. She concedes that a number of them are not “loan ready” and are in need of a helping hand to get them to the next step, but she still admits she is at a loss to explain how it is that in a city with this many black people, a fair number of whom are in positions of power and influence when compared to other cities, that there is such a huge disparity between white and black business clout.

“One of the things we really want to do is focus on the system and working with the existing organizations that are already providing technical assistance and already making grants so that we’re not duplicating services,” she said.

That’s for starters, but the overall approach as described by Foster is much bigger than that.

“What I think is part of the challenge is we don’t have a connected system that supports black-owned businesses. What I mean by that is there are all of these small business support programs, right? All of them are exceptional programs, but they operate independently. They all do their own thing.

None of them are really connected to each other.

“We haven’t gotten to the point where all of these programs are trying to achieve the same thing in terms of increasing the financial capacity and the business capability of these African-American small businesses to actually grow and sustain. And that, in my opinion, that’s really part of the weak link in small business development.

“One of the things we want to be able to do is work with all these partners on

See BLACK BUSINESSES Page C-2

Fifth Third Bank CEO visits Piquette Square veterans housing

By Alisha Dixon Last week, Fifth Third Bancorp president and CEO Greg D. Carmichael visited Southwest Solution’s’ Piquette Square veterans housing project as part of the bank’s $30 billion community investment commitment.

Carmichael, said, “Fifth Third is deeply committed to both investing significant resources into the community as well as engaging community members and leaders.

Our objective is to ensure that we meaningfully impact the communities we serve. We appreciate and value the collaboration with organizations who met with us to enable the expansion of our original commitment in ways that will best improve lives.”

Piquette Square, owned and managed by Southwest Solutions, is a 150-unit apartment complex in Detroit’s Midtown that houses and cares for previously homeless veterans. At Piquette Square, veterans receive comprehensive support services to help develop self-sufficiency and reintegration into the community.

Southwest Solutions, founded in 1970 as a mental health agency

See FITH THIRD Page C-2

L to R John Van Camp (President and CEO of Southwest Solutions), Byna Elliot (Vice President, Community Development of Fifth Third Bank), Greg Carmichael (President and CEO of Fifth Third Bank)

business

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page C-2

Detroiters gain greater access to high-tech jobs thanks to $2M grant Michigan Chronicle reports

For Detroit residents, getting access to IT careers is about to become easier thanks to a four-year, $2 million grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

The grant will support “TechHire,” a four-year initiative providing IT training to hundreds of Detroiters while developing a local talent pipeline for employers.

Fifth Third

by Monsignor Clement Kern of Most Holy Trinity in Detroit, offers counseling services, financial literacy classes, workforce development and entrepreneurial training. They are also the largest multi-family developer in Southwest Detroit. Southwest Solutions “maintains a commitment to replacing blight and abandonment with residential and commercial assets, strategically developed to anchor and spur neighborhood revitalization.”

John Van Camp, president and CEO of Southwest Solutions, has been with the organization since 1974 and in his current position for almost eight years.

Van Camp has been passionate about helping the mentally ill and homeless and this kind of commitment to the community, he said, is the reason he enjoys his work at Southwest Solutions.

“You begin to see that most problems in society are so complex that they’re beyond the reach of any one agency or government program,” he said. “But you can become a player in the community by partnering with others to address them. In the end, you learn that a healthy community is a far more enduring safety net.”

During the visit, Piquette Square resident Marcus Cobb spoke about his experience with homelessness and alcoholism and how Piquette Square and Southwest Solutions saved his life.

Black businesses the commercial corridors. Commercial corridors should be the base for the system.”

Commercial corridors are defined as areas such as the well-known Avenue of Fashion on Livernois where a number of small businesses are anchored – and help anchor the surrounding community.

“At Detroit Future City we don’t have all of the answers, but one thing we do know is that these commercial corridors are the anchors of these neighborhoods.

And if we focus on them, they can actually provide a base of support and opportunity for neighborhood businesses and, in particular, African-American

“This investment comes at a time when Detroit is experiencing significant growth as an IT hub,” said Jeff Donofrio, director of Workforce Development for Mayor Mike Duggan. “Detroit’s TechHire program will help train residents to connect with these well-paying jobs, and we are very grateful to the Wilson Foundation for their support.”

From page C-1 “When I found out about Piquette Square, I was living on the street struggling with drinking. I applied and didn’t expect to hear anything, but I did and this place has changed my life,” Cobb said. “Every vet’s story here is different.

Some are so closed off and plagued with PTSD that they won’t talk and I used to be that way, but the services I receive through the VA and Southwest Solutions have made it easier to talk about and live my life.”

The grant will be combined with federal and private workforce funding to provide a variety of IT trainings and apprenticeships designed to help Detroiters at multiple skill levels enter into IT careers. The initiative will be overseen by the mayor’s Workforce Development Fifth Third is unlike traditional Board and the region’s IT employers. banks, Carmichael said about the bank’s “Jobs of all types are coming to Decommitment to the community. troit in large numbers and we want to “I met with CEOs from other major banks last week and it was very clear how different we are. We [banks] get a lot of criticism from the media, but Fifth Third has always operated in a way that that criticism is unfair. We realize we exist because of our customers, all of our customers, from our corporate customers to our personal banking customers. One of our commitments has always been social responsibility. Where we have branches, we want to be a resource for those communities,” Carmichael said.

“My visit here today has showed me that our efforts have not been in vain.

I’m proud of our partnership with Southwest Solutions. It motivates me and makes me proud to be able to see and meet the people that our commitment has helped.”

Thomas says her work is a crucial part of college preparation. Her financial initiatives are designed to educate parents and students on the college debt crisis and provide options for paying for college with scholarships and other programs aside from securing loans. According to Thomas, “The Black Friday Scholarship Bootcamp is our signatory event, and it represents the kick-off of scholarship season. Many scholarships are due between Nov. 1 and the end of the year and we want to help Michigan students compete and learn the most efficient ways to win.” Thomas created this annual event during the busiest scholarship essay month to give students an additional edge and practi-

“This is truly a game-changer for many metro Detroit jobseekers who have wanted an IT career but have been unable to get their foot inside the door,” said Jose Reyes, interim president and CEO of DESC. “The structure of the

“DTE Energy’s strategic relationship with Grand Circus supports our aspirations of being the best-operated energy company in North America,” said Dayan Douse, IT manager at Grand Circus partner DTE Energy. “Leveraging this tech community of developers, learners and entrepreneurs allows us to have the right people in the right place in order to position the company for long-term success.”

The initial tier of training is a 10week “Accelerator,” designed to give trainees key math and reading skills, as well as the technical training and soft skills they will need to move on to the more advanced tiers. When all three tiers are complete, careers in database or network administration, computer programming and software development await. The first Accelerator of 24 students is currently under way, and further cohorts will begin in January 2017.

“VisionIT has worked with Grand Circus for some time now, and the TechHire initiative shows great promise in developing future IT professionals” said David Segura, CEO of VisionIT. “We have exciting opportunities ahead in areas such as A.I., in-vehicle infotainment and secure collaboration technologies, and developing a talent pool to meet this need is very important.”

Detroiters interested in the TechHire initiative should visit detroitatwork. com/TechHire to register

Black unemployment rate falls to 8.1 percent in November

By Freddie Allen

From page C-1

The black unemployment rate improved from 8.6 percent in October to businesses. … I really think that by fo- 8.1 percent in November, according to cusing on the corridors where these the latest jobs report from the Labor Debusinesses are gives us an opportunity partment. to increase the opportunity. To increase The white unemployment rate ticked businesses in commercial corridors, down from 4.2 percent in October to 4.1 and to be able to focus on those busi- percent in November, likely because nesses to be able to increase their own white workers dropped out of the labor individual business capacity. And I truly market. The labor force participation rate believe that will help us begin to close for white workers, which is the share of that inequity gap that we see right now workers either employed or looking for between African-American businesses jobs, continued a three-month slide and and other businesses.” was 62.7 percent in November.

“Now we’re creating a system where these African-American businesses should be and where they already are, which is in the neighborhoods. That’s how we can actually build that base.”

This year’s Black Friday offered a little bit of a twist for Detroit area high school and college students. Instead of standing in long lines for sales at retail stores, many students opted to stand in lines to register for the Black Friday Scholarship Bootcamp held at Detroit’s Focus: HOPE to learn how to win scholarships to pay for college tuition.

Thomas has built a reputation for her college readiness and financial literacy classes and continues to encourage students in Detroit and area suburbs to relentlessly apply for local and national scholarships

make sure that longtime Detroit residents have access to those opportunities,” said Mayor Duggan. “This grant from the Wilson Foundation will help us to make sure that we are preparing a wide range of Detroiters for careers in the IT sector.”

TechHire is a White House initiative to expand local tech sectors by building talent pipelines in communities across the country. Detroit was designated a TechHire city by the White House in 2015, and the new grant allows the expansion of the initiative to serve many more of the metro Detroiters who want to access IT careers, as well as Detroit area employers like DTE looking to hire qualified talent in the tech field.

(NNPA Newswire Managing Editor)

Detroit area students put scholarships at the top of their Christmas list at ‘Black Friday’ Scholarship Bootcamp

The Black Friday Scholarship Bootcamp is the brainchild of Gwen Thomas, executive director of Fresh Perspectives, a Detroit-based non-profit and author of “The Parents Smart Guide to Sending Your Kids to College without Going Broke.” Over 250 people were in attendance from across the region to seeking tips and strategies from Thomas.

United States Congresswoman, Brenda Lawrence, also addressed the audience, stressing the importance of higher education and students being able to meet the workforce needs of employers in the Michigan community.

The TechHire initiative will be managed by City of Detroit workforce agency Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC), working in an employer-driven partnership with Southwest Solutions, Focus: HOPE, and Detroit IT training leader Grand Circus.

TechHire program provides tiers of training that can be accessed by new high school graduates, those with post-secondary degrees and others.”

Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate for black workers edged up slightly from 61.8 percent in October to 61.9 percent in November and the employment-population ratio, or the share of blacks that have jobs compared to the total population, also took steps in the right direction, increasing from 56.5 percent in October to 56.9 percent in November.

Black men over 20 years old showed the most gains among the adult worker groups in November, but they were also in the biggest hole. The unemployment rate for black men improved from 8.7 percent in October to 7.7 percent in November. The share of black men who held jobs also increased from 61.7 percent to 62.3 percent. The unemployment rate for black men was still higher than the jobless rate for white men, white women and black women.

Last month, the jobless rate for white men fell below 4 percent to 3.9 percent, but the labor force participation rate also ticked down from 71.9 percent in October to 71.7 percent in November.

Employment prospects for black women over 20 years old showed small gains in November. The labor force participation rate for black women increased from 62.3 percent to 62.6 percent and the employment-population ratio also increased from 57.9 percent to 58.2 percent. The jobless rate for black women was 7.1 percent in November, unchanged since October.

The unemployment rate for white Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence and Fresh Perspectives Executive Di- women over 20 years old also decreased from 3.8 percent in October to 3.7 perrector Gwen Thomas

cent in November and the share of White cal writing tips outside of her book to women that held jobs slipped from 55.3 clinch the deal to win awards. percent in October and 55.2 percent in In her book, Thomas outlines the pro- November. cess that she used to help her son win $500,000 in scholarships that paid for tuition at Johns Hopkins Grad School and Morehouse College, and travel to 30 countries abroad to be globally competitive. Fresh Perspectives has helped other students win 4 million in scholarships. Mark Maybury of Exam Experts also addressed students about ACT/SAT preparation for college admission.

The Labor Department reported that the national unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent in November, and the economy added 178,000 jobs in November.

“In November, 1.9 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up by 215,000 from a year earlier,” the Labor Department report said.

“These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”

The Black Friday Scholarship Bootcamp was made possible by a grant from Comerica Bank and donations from JMA Logistics, Detroit Salt Company, Culinary Studios, Michigan Black Bar Owners Association, Prestige AutomoIn a post on EPI.org, the website for tive, Gwen Thomas PR and Exam Exthe Economic Policy Institute Elise perts.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said that the numbers from the latest jobs report show that our economy continues to move forward from the worst economic crisis in a generation. This photo was taken during a forum on criminal justice reform in Northwest Washington, D.C. in July 2015. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA) Gould, senior economist for EPI, wrote that the national unemployment rate declined, “largely because of a drop in labor force participation.”

Gould also noted that even though wage growth is now faster than it was in the first five-plus years of the recovery, when it averaged two percent, “It doesn’t reflect full employment wage growth, or even the wage growth we experienced before the Great Recession hit — by no means a full employment economy.”

In 2016, the economy has added about 180,000 jobs per month. Last year, the monthly average was 229,000 jobs.

In a statement about the report, the Republican National Committee (RNC) noted that the manufacturing sector lost 4,000 jobs in November.

“The 4,000 manufacturing jobs that disappeared last month come on top of the over 300,000 that have been lost under President Obama, more proof that President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to stand up for the American worker is the commitment our country needs right now,” said RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day, in the statement. “This election showed that millions of Americans don’t trust Democrats to create good jobs and opportunity, and President-elect Trump’s determination to save 1,000 jobs in Indiana is just a preview of his agenda of prosperity for all.

Day continued: “Even before taking office, President-elect Trump has proven that protecting and creating jobs will be among his highest priorities as president, and Americans who have spent years struggling under President Obama can look forward to a brighter future for themselves and their families.”

The Carrier jobs that President-elect Trump took credit for saving come with strings attached. Reuters reported that, “Indiana state officials have agreed to give United Technologies Corp $7 million worth of tax breaks to encourage the company to keep at least 1,069 jobs at its Carrier unit in Indianapolis.”

Carrier still plans to send about 1,300 jobs to Mexico.

UAW-FORD’s

Section C-3

December 14-20, 2016

The pride is back: Special event honors champions at Cass and King UAW-Ford serves up big slice of community pride during historic luncheon This is a great event for the District, the schools and the city,” Ward said. “And Jimmy Settles has been a savior for this District. I can’t think of one sole person who has done more for our students.”

Ward also is a big fan of the two head football coaches— Thomas Wilcher of Cass Tech and Tyrone Spencer of Martin Luther King—whose tireless work gave their supporters cause to celebrate all season. During the event, Coach Wilcher demonstrated that the bond between a dedicated high school coach and his players never ends by inviting former Cass Tech player Thomas Gordon to share his journey, which has included graduating from the University of Michigan, becoming a husband and father, and playing professional football.

Ambry Thomas, King, Senior DB/WR (University of Michigan commit): “I learned that my team never quits, even after we loss to Cass those two times. All through the playoffs our team fought hard and what I learned about myself is that I can be a team leader and impact other kids’ lives.”

Jerry Tucker, King, Sophomore WR: “This event has been great for all the students and all the coaches and staff just to be appreciated for all the work we have done.”

Richard Miller, King, Sophomore LB: The luncheon was really nice. I like the recognition they gave us. And it also was nice all the lectures they gave us about how we should handle life and make good decisions.”

Like Coach Wilcher, Coach Spencer also helped the audience understand that winning games is far from the primary objective of coaches who are dedicated to the young men they guide. He explained how this came into play for the King players that dedicated the 2016 season to their late coach Dale Harvel.

By Scott Talley Special to the Michigan Chronicle It is not an everyday occurrence in our community for young men to be recognized publicly in a positive way.

However, Friday, Dec. 9 was no ordinary day for roughly a couple hundred community members that gathered at UAWFord’s National Programs Center in downtown Detroit.

The occasion was a Champions Luncheon honoring the recently crowned state championship football teams at Cass Tech and Martin Luther King high schools. But football was just a small slice of an enormously, enriching event served up by UAW-Ford on this truly special Friday.

“You guys made the whole city of Detroit proud,” said UAW vice president Jimmy Settles in his opening remarks, which kicked off the program. “You represent what is best about the city of Detroit and we just wanted to show our appreciation.”

In a down-home way, Settles addressed his words directly to the players and shared with the young men that he was a big sports fan and a proud native Detroiter. Settles said more than what the scoreboards showed, it was the way both teams displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season while representing schools committed to academic excellence that made the state championship victories truly complete.

Settles’ sentiment was shared by all the dedicated community members that played a role in making the event possible, including Cass Tech principal Lisa Phillips.

“When I mentioned this event to a couple of people, I said we want to come together as one and stop the rivalry,” Phillips said. “Every young man in this room has a chance for something big. What we’re really talking about is saving the lives of African American males, and for us to show unity right here, I’m so proud. All of these young men have a chance to go to college; they just have to stay the path.”

Sitting near Phillips was Alvin Ward, deputy executive director of Health and Athletics for the Detroit Public Schools Community District. During the school year Ward is constantly on the go, supporting the efforts of the many athletic events across the Public School League. But on this Friday, he had a brief moment to slow down and reflect on the significance of the occasion and the commitment of special PSL supporters.

“When Jimmy Settles and Lisa Phillips and Angelique (Peterson-Mayberry, UAW-Ford Department director of Community Relations) put there heads together there is no telling what you’re going to get, and it’s all going to be good.

“It wasn’t even about winning a state championship,” Spencer said. “We just wanted to honor our coach through our effort, how we played, and how we behaved.”

Spencer’s remarks and the wisdom in them, made the audience understand why King principal Dr. Deborah Jenkins compared him to King coaching legends Jim Reynolds, Harvel, and even President Barack Obama. And while President Obama was not at the Champions Luncheon, the event was not short of VIPs, which included University of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh, Michigan State University head football coach Mark Dantonio, Kevin Legel of Ford Motor Company, former Detroit Lions safety Ron Rice, Tim Walton of the NFL Players Association (Former Player Chapters), and more.

In reality, everyone in attendance was a very important person through a commitment to Detroit youth including Cass Tech’s Team Mom, Rosalind Curry Everson, who has continued to serve the team even after her son (Marcus) graduated in June 2016.

“I started off doing the laundry, and started off with Coach, and then went from there and I was all over the school. Anything that they needed done around Cass Tech I was there to do it,” said Curry, who has found a way to continue her service to the team and school despite having lupus, and she also lost her own mom in 2016.

Curry added: “It wasn’t just about my son, it was about everybody’s sons. It’s all about the boys and what they need. If I have food in my car and they’re hungry, I share it with them. And I’m just so elated that I was invited to be a part of the Cass Tech-King luncheon.”

The primary recipients of the special luncheon and all that made it possible are the young men on the Cass and King football teams. The “Best of Young Detroit” asked players at the luncheon about their journey this season and their impressions of the Champions Luncheon. Below is just a tiny sampling of their thoughts, and in all instances, it was clear that the 2016 season and the Luncheon will have a lasting impact: Jamison Brown, Cass Tech, Junior LB: “The thing I learned about my team is that we work hard, we never give up, and we persevere through tough times. Two games during the state playoffs during the regional and state semifinal we were down but we didn’t give up and we came back and prevailed and won.”

Nicholas Daniels, Cass Tech, Sophomore WR: “This is my first year playing with Cass, but one thing I can say I learned for sure is that we always work hard no matter the ups and downs, the downs and ups. And one I thing I can say I learned about myself is that I know I always have the support around me to get the job done.”

Photos by Rogers William Foster

UAW-Ford’s Best of Young Detroit

December 14-20, 2016

Page C-4

Catherine Martinez’ 13-year Chess Club journey has been lucky for everyone involved, especially Detroit youth players and parents and very professional, probably the most professional person I have ever dealt with.”

Fite said Martinez’ support of the Chess Club and Detroit youth does not end at the tournament registration table.

“She has taken money out of her pocket to pay for registration for kids, designed shirts for us, done marketing for us, and she is always promoting our program on social media,” said Fite, of his volunteer Detroit City Chess Club board member. “We got Focus: HOPE as a venue for our Thinkers Tournaments because of her outreach online.”

sharing the many accomplishments of youth connected to the Detroit City Chess Club, including a groundbreaking victory in the “Under 14” category at the KCF AllGirls National Championship registered by a team from University Prep Science & Math last April. Martinez said chess’ unique ability to break down barriers is empowering to youth.

“A child in elementary school may play a high school student at a tournament,” she said. “In chess, age, race, and social class does not matter. The children just play the game.”

To learn more about the Detroit City Chess Club, please visit detroitchess.com.

Happy to serve: Children participating in Thinkers Chess Tournaments, such as the one held Dec. 3 at Focus: Hope, have come to expect a warm greeting and smile from Detroit City Chess Club volunteer board member Catherine Martinez.

By Scott Talley Special to the Michigan Chronicle When others said it was not possible, the Detroit City Chess Club believed our city could host quality youth chess tournaments on an ongoing basis. That belief gave birth to a series of tournaments presented by Young Detroit Thinkers, the nonprofit arm of the Detroit City Chess Club.

The Thinkers Chess Tournament series is now in its seventh year, but this would not have been possible without the special contributions of unsung heroes and that is why people like Catherine Martinez are so valuable to our community.

“Catherine Martinez is one of the faces of the Detroit Thinkers,” said Kevin Fite, founder of the Detroit City Chess Club.

“She has done the registration at our Thinkers Tournaments for the past seven years and greets everyone with a smile. She is just very dedicated, very warm to all of our

Martinez first began supporting the Chess Club when her son Elijah was seven years old and taking part in the open chess sessions that the Detroit City Chess Club puts on Friday evenings at the Detroit Institute of Arts. That was 13 years ago, but Martinez’ support of the Club remains just as strong today.

“I love chess, I love Coach Fite’s vision and the results chess gives the kids in Detroit,” said Martinez, who does cyber security work at DTE Energy.

When listing the benefits of chess to Detroit youth, Martinez cites critical thinking, but she said there is also a strong social responsibility element to the Detroit City Chess Club.

“We’re very community and family centered—this is a chess family,” said Martinez, whose 14-year-old daughter Lauren is a part of that family, as well as a relatively new member of the Cass Tech chess team.

Martinez added: “We do community service and we have children mentoring each other, we’re very concerned about building the character of the child.”

Martinez takes tremendous pride in

Recognizing excellence: Thomas Wilcher, a finalist for a prestigious national coaching award, spoke about PSL pride during a Dec. 9 Champions Luncheon honoring the Cass Tech and King football teams.

Cass Tech’s Thomas Wilcher is finalist for national coaching award Cass Tech head football coach Thomas Wilcher, who led the Technicians to a 14-0 season and the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 title, is one of six national finalists for the U.S. Army AllAmerican Bowl Coach of the Year Award.

The award “honors the nation’s top high school football coach for exceptional coaching abilities and leadership skills, and acknowledges the coach’s role as a positive influence to young Americans on and off the field.”

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl Coach of the Year will be recognized during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Awards Show on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas.

Former King standout plays key role for surging Pitt Panthers One of the biggest giant slayers in college football this season was the University of Pittsburgh coached by former Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi.

The Panthers boasted victories over highly regarded Penn State and Clemson en route to going 8-4 during the regular season.

Following are some of the top performers during recent basketball games involving Detroit PSL teams: BOYS Kelly Broadus, Frederick Douglass, scored 23 points in a 60-57 victory against Public Safety Academy on Dec. 6. The game was a season opener for both teams.

Carlos Walker and Jarnard Smith, Frederick Douglass, each scored 18 points against Public Safety Academy.

Anthony Taylor and Brandon Green, Mumford, each scored 18 points in a 64-32 victory against Ecorse on Dec. 6.

Charles Noel, Mumford, scored 10 points against Ecorse.

Isaiah Cunningham, Cody, registered 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 64-13 victory against Cesar Chavez Academy on Dec. 9.

Charles Burnett, Cody, had 16 points and six assists against Cesar Chavez Academy.

GIRLS Vantane Garrett, CMA, scored 19 points to go along with four steals and three assists in a 43-13 victory against Delta Prep Academy on Dec. 8.

Jamiya Owens, CMA, grabbed 10 rebounds against Delta Prep.

Jamila Gortham, Denby, scored 13 points in a 44-33 victory against Henry Ford on Dec. 8.

Kendal Taylor, Denby, scored 11 points against Henry Ford.

Asjah Hayes, Denby, scored 10 points against Henry Ford.

A major contributor for Pittsburgh was former King standout Avonte Maddox, a starting cornerback for the Panthers. Maddox, who was featured in UAW Ford’s Michigan Chronicle Scholar Athletes publication in 2014, is now a junior at Pittsburgh. Despite missing a quarter of the season due to injuries, Maddox made 42 tackles, including eight tackles for loss in 2016. His highlights also included 2.5 sacks and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown on the final play of the game against Marshall.

The Panthers will return to action on Dec. 28 for a matchup against Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl at New York’s Yankee Stadium.

Your Feedback Matters The “Best of Young Detroit” welcomes feedback from our community. Please submit story suggestions and other comments to Scott Talley at stalleyassociates@gmail.com or 313-590-3686.

business

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page C-5

Toyota Manufacturing executive to pen foreword for DRIVEN VII Multicultural project celebrates achievements in the automotive industry Real Times Media proudly announces that Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., President Wilbert W. James, Jr., will pen one of two forewords for DRIVEN VII: A Tribute to Multicultural in the Automotive Industry. James, the seventh president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc., leads Toyota’s largest automotive manufacturing plant worldwide, which produces the Camry, America’s best-selling car; the Avalon; and the only U.S.-produced Lexus, the ES 350. Additionally, James champions key quality initiatives for Toyota’s 14 North American

manufacturing plants.

and we look forward to working with him to honor multicultural achievements throughout the auto industry,” said Real Times Media CEO Hiram Jackson.

James’ career with Toyota began in 1987. He has since served in senior leadership positions at three of Toyota’s U.S. plants, including TMMK, a $6 billion operation. Before his appointment to his current position, James served as senior vice president for manufacturing and quality at Toyota’s Princeton, Indiana facility.

“It’s an honor to have Will James pen the foreword for DRIVEN VII. His story of achievement is a remarkable one. He began his extraordinary career supervising a small team of employees and today leads an operation of more than 8,000 people. James is a top professional in the automotive industry and is held in high esteem

A native of Norfolk, Virginia, James earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Old Dominion University in 1978. In 2013, He received an honorary doctorate of engineering from the University of Kentucky in recognition of his life’s work, and his leadership with Toyota. In 2015, James also received an honorary degree from the University of Pikeville.

Wilbert W. James, Jr. by his peers and colleagues.

Real Times Media is honored that he has decided to participate in the DRIVEN VII project,

For the past six years, the DRIVEN Experience has highlighted the accomplishments of minority vendors, suppliers, dealers, and executives who

are the driving force behind the automotive industry. DRIVEN 2017 promises to be an evening of celebration and distinction showcasing trailblazers and emerging leaders.

As always, the DRIVEN Experience will be commemorated with a high-quality, stylized publication highlighting the extraordinary contributions of the multicultural community in the automotive industry. Driven VII is much more than an industry guide; it is a resource intended to inspire future generations of automotive industry influencers. The much-anticipated DRIVEN event will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017, during press week of the North American International Auto Show, drawing industry executives from around the world.

2017 tax filing season begins Jan. 23 for nation’s taxpayers The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the nation’s tax season will begin Monday, Jan. 23, 2017 and reminded taxpayers claiming certain tax credits to expect a longer wait for refunds.

The IRS will begin accepting electronic tax returns that day, with more than 153 million individual tax returns are expected to be filed in 2017. The IRS again expects more than four out of five tax returns will be prepared electronically using tax return preparation software.

Many software companies and tax professionals will be accepting tax returns before Jan. 23 and then will submit the returns when IRS systems open. The IRS will begin processing paper tax returns at the same time. There is no advantage to filing tax returns on paper in early January instead of waiting for the IRS to begin accepting e-filed returns.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that a new law requires the IRS to hold refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit until Feb. 15. In addition, the IRS wants taxpayers to be aware it will take several days

for these refunds to be released and processed through financial institutions. Factoring in weekends and the President’s Day holiday, the IRS cautions that many affected taxpayers may not have actual access to their refunds until the week of Feb. 27.

“For this tax season, it’s more important than ever for taxpayers to plan ahead,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said. “People should make sure they have their year-end tax statements in hand, and we encourage people to file as they normally would, including those claiming the credits affected by the refund delay. Even with these significant changes, IRS em-

ployees and the entire tax community will be working hard to make this a smooth filing season for taxpayers.”

The IRS also reminds taxpayers that they should keep copies of their prior-year tax returns for at least three years. Taxpayers who are changing tax software products this filing season will need their adjusted gross income from their 2015 tax return in order to file electronically. The Electronic Filing Pin is no longer an option.

The filing deadline to submit 2016 tax returns is Tuesday, April 18, 2017, rather than the traditional April 15 date. In 2017, April 15 falls on a Saturday, and this would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday, April 17. However, Emancipation Day — a legal holiday in the District of Columbia — will be observed on that Monday, which pushes the nation’s filing deadline to Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

Under the tax law, legal holidays in the District of Columbia affect the filing deadline across the nation.

Taxpayers can visit IRS.Gov/GetReady for more tips on preparing to file their 2016 tax return.

Real Times Media Presents

a tribute to multicultural achievement in the automotive industry’s VOLUME SEVEN

Come network with the automotive industry’s top executives • Awards Ceremony Youth Symposium • LIVE Entertainment

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2017 • 6PM GARDEN THEATER 3929 Woodward Avenue | Detroit, MI Foreword Writer

Foreword Writer

President - Toyota Motor Manufacturing

President & CEO - Shiloh Industries

Wilbert W. James, Jr.

Ramzi Hermiz

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THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016

Page C-6

Wells Fargo Awarded for their Work in Minority Communities

By Sarafina Wright

in selecting from a strong pool of applicants.”

The Washington Informer

The awards are designed to recognize MBA member companies that have developed innovative ways to foster diversity and inclusion in the industry.

Ballard Spahr and SunTrust Mortgage won awards for Organizational Diversity and Inclusion and The PrivateBank, Trust Company and Wells Fargo took home awards for Market Outreach Strategies.

After weeks of bad press, Wells Fargo received an award acknowledging their efforts to diversify homeownership.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) presented Wells Fargo Home Lending with their inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Award on Thursday, Nov. 17 during its third annual Summit on Diversity and Inclusion at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.

“From enacting sound public policy to promoting positive workplace practices, MBA strives to set the right tone for the industry,” Lopez said. “As the leading voice for real estate finance, we want to take this opportunity to celebrate our member companies for their work and dedication in supporting a key industry initiative — diversity and inclusion, as it pertains to hiring, lending and outreach.”

Franklin Codel, the executive vice president of Wells Fargo’s Home Mortgage division said that sustainable homeownership stands near and dear to his heart.

“The last couple of weeks hasn't been good for Wells Fargo, we have to acknowledge that” Codel said. “It means a lot to be recognized in this way. We do it because it’s the right thing to do for our community and customers.”

“All of you know that homeownership is very important to individuals, communities and the country,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind that homeownership is still the way to build wealth for families.”

Codel claimed that Wells Fargo Home Lending success comes from going into communities and dispelling myths about what it takes to own a home.

“The myths that are out there are very, very real,” he said. “Very often we find that the belief is that you have to have perfect credit, a 20 percent down payment and a much higher income.”

Because of prevailing myths, there are entire populations across the country specifically in majority minority neighborhoods where homeownership doesn't exist.

“If the family experience is not grounded in homeownership, then people from that family will need assistance,” Codel said.

According to the MBA, Wells Fargo Home Lending has developed and sustained broad comprehensive strategies over the past several years to make

Wells Fargo Home Lending won the Diversity and Inclusion Award at a recent summit hosted by the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, D.C. sustainable homeownership possible for low-to-moderate and minority customers.

Since 2012, Wells Fargo provided nearly $302 million in down payment assistance and program support through LIFT programs, educating thousands of potential homeowners and revitalizing communities, while helping to create homeowners.

also partnered with the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) on a 10-year, $125 billion commitment to lend to Hispanic households for the purpose of buying a home, and a $10 million pledge by the Wells Fargo Foundation in support of financial education and counseling

for Hispanic homebuyers.

“These awards recognize the importance of embracing a diverse and inclusive real estate finance industry,” Rodrigo Lopez, the chairman of the MBA said. “We received an overwhelming amount of submissions to our inaugural awards, and faced a difficult challenge

Codel claimed that along with giving $125 billion to the Hispanic community, Wells Fargo Home Lending will add lending commitments in other minority communities.

Codel continued: “It’s not about lowering the bar for homeownership, but raising people up.”

The Washington Informer is a member publication of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Learn more about becoming a member at www. nnpa.org.

In May, the company launched yourFirst Mortgage, a new, low down payment home loan program that reduces the complexity and barriers of payment options.

Also this year, Wells Fargo Home Lending received USDA recognition as a “Champion of Rural Housing.”

“We’ve held events in marketplaces such as Baltimore, Los Angeles, where we go out in communities and share with them how they can own a home,” Codel said. “Over 12,000 people have taken advantage of our down payment assistance program, and they all say I had no idea I could own a home.”

Wells Fargo Home Lending

Rediscover Detroit Sponsored by

An awareness and education campaign that takes potential homebuyers on an exploration of Detroit’s hidden gem neighborhoods.

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| Mortgage Assistance | Financial Literacy | Home Improvement | Mobile Banking

For more information go to www.michiganchronicle.com/RediscoverDetroit

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December 14-20, 2016

michiganchronicle.com

Reflections

By Steve Holsey

Another star in the family?

The beautiful and talented Vanessa Williams made history as the first black Miss America, had a major setback, then made an amazing comeback and became a major star as a singer, recording artist (eight Top 10 hits, 11 Grammy nominations) and actress.

She is also an accomplished dancer and plays piano.

Now her lovely daughter, Jillian Hervey (who loves big hair!) is making inroads as a singer, actress and dancer. In addition, she has been a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics and a representaJillian Hervey tive for Pantene hair products. She has also done fashion shoots and appeared in Vogue magazine.

Philippé Wynne

By Steve Holsey If ever a situation called for careful consideration, it is when a lead singer has to decide whether or not to leave a successful group. It is almost always a complex situation, and continued or increased success is not always a guarantee.

Some groups disband because of the lead singer’s decision.

One of the inherent considerations is that when a lead singer decides to go the solo route, it can have an adverse — and in some cases devastating — effect on the remaining members of the group, seriously affecting their income and status.

CHARLIE WILSON has announced that his “In It To Win It” tour will kick off on Feb. 8, 2017. That is also the title of his new album, also due in February.

The tour, as you may know, that hits Joe Louis Arena on Feb. 17, includes Johnny Gill and Fantasia.

“As usual, folks should come prepared for a party,” said Wilson.

But, on the other hand, to stay for that reason seems unfair to the potentially departing lead vocalist.

Charlie Wilson, in addition to being a strong talent, has remained popular since the Gap Band days (roughly 19791990) on through his highly successful solo career.

To illustrate the point, Smokey Robinson L.T.D. went into free fall when Jeffrey Osborne decided to go his separate way. And Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes took a major dive in popularity as Teddy Pendergrass was soaring to solo superstardom.

Wilson, 63, also Charlie Wilson manages to attract and maintain the interest of younger people in addition to his more mature fans by collaborating with younger artists, such as R. Kelly, Robin Thicke and Snoop Dogg.

James “J.T.” Taylor

BACK IN early 1984, Rockwell, one of the eight children of Berry Gordy, had a huge hit (No. 1 R&B and Pop) with the novelty song “Somebody’s Watching Me.” Unfortunately, he was not able to sustain and eventually lost interest in the business.

RIHANNA has publicly expressed displeasure with some people attempting to fabricate a “feud” between her and Beyoncé. She said bluntly, “We don’t need to be putting black women against each other.

We deserve to be celebrated.”

When certain singers reintroduce themselves as solo acts, success is virtually — no, make that literally — guaranteed.

When Smokey Robinson exited the Miracles, everyone knew he couldn’t miss, especially since he sang all Gladys Knight the leads, and wrote and produced the overwhelming majority of their many hit recordings.

When Motown changed the name of the Supremes to “Diana Ross and the Supremes,” it was evident what was going to happen down the road. Would it be two years? Three?

Lionel Richie, lead singer, writer and producer for the Commodores, surely would have left the group eventually, but friction from within made him decide to leave sooner.

The problem was jealousy and resentment.

But now, 32 years later, a somewhat heftier Rockwell (real name: Kennedy Gordy), 52, is planRockwell ning a comeback.

“I have unfinished business in the recording industry,” he said, noting that this time around, no novelty songs.

Speaking of comebacks, it’s great that Cameo is back on the scene, but their chances of big success are greatly lessened by the fact that lead singer Larry Blackmon is not part of the new effort. Cameo has a very long string of hits, including “Word Up,” “She’s Strange,” “Shake Your Pants” and my favorite, “I Just Want To Be.”

During group interviews, for example, most of the questions were addressed to Richie. To remedy the situation, he decided to start arriving later so that the other guys would get more of a chance to talk. But instead of being grateful, they took that to mean he was showing up late so as to make a grand “star” entrance. So Richie’s attitude became “I’m outta here.” The Commodores only had two Top 10 hits after his departure.

Chaka Khan quickly shot into the stratosphere after leaving Rufus, scoring hit after hit and ranking among the foremost female vocalists in R&B history. The band recorded without Chaka Khan, but the public and the industry were not interested.

Beyoncé

As fantastic as Destiny’s Child was as a unit, Beyoncé was too big of a talent to be able to reach anywhere near her full potential as an artist in a group. She has since become the ultimate live performer. Her concerts are extravaganzas and she fully deserves to be called the hardest-working woman in show business. Beyoncé shows everybody how it’s done.

Gladys Knight & the Pips had been together since they were kids, and the group showed up on the national

See GOING SOLO Page D-2

And while on the subject of Beyoncé, she is not one for staying down. “Whenever I feel bad,” she said, “I use that feel- Rihanna ing to motivate me to work harder. I only allow myself one day to feel sorry for myself.”

Eddie Robinson, gospel singer, songwriter, musician, is one of the most talented people to come from Detroit, but we haven’t heard anything from him recently.

Has anybody out there seen Eddie lately?

Eddie Robinson

Robinson got a big financial boost in 2004 when Desti-

See Reflections Page D-2

Chaka Khan

Sometimes a natural progression, sometimes a bad move

Jillian Hervey’s father is artist manager Ramon Hervey who was married to Vanessa Williams from 1987 to 1997.

Wilson told his story, including life-altering drug issues of the past, in his 2015 autobiography, “I Am Charlie Wilson.”

Teddy Pendergrass

Lionel Richie

Jeffrey Osborne

entertainment

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016 Page D-2

MOTOR CITY ENTERTAINMENT

CALENDAR

ANDIAMO Celebrity Showroom, the O’Jays, Dec. 29-30; Dave Koz, Jonathan Butler, Kenny Lattimore, Valerie Simpson; Rachelle Ferrell, Dec. 11; the Temptations, Jan. 27-28; the Whispers, Feb. 12. Tickets sold at Ticketmaster locations, the Andiamo box office and by calling 586.268.3200.

RALPHE ARMSTRONG and ID featuring Larry Coryell, Music Hall Center, Dec. 23. Tickets sold at the Music Hall box office and Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

BOBBY BROWN, Alise King, Masonic Temple, Jan. 21. Tickets sold at the Masonic Temple box office and Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

Jan. 23. Tickets sold at Ticketmaster locations.

To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

Johnny Gill

Faith Evans

LAVELL CRAWFORD, Masonic Temple, Dec. 29. Tickets sold at the Masonic Temple box office and Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

office and Ticketmaster locations.

SNOOP DOGG, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Warren G, others, Masonic Temple, Dec. 21. Tickets sold at the Masonic Temple box

DRAMATICS with Willie Ford, Enchantment, Lenny Williams, Blue Magic, Bloodstone, Masonic Temple, Dec. 30. Tickets sold at the Masonic Temple box office and Ticketmaster locations.

FAITH EVANS, Ginuwine, Sound Board at MotorCity Casino,

Going Solo

From page D-1

charts for the first time in 1961 (“Every Beat of My Heart”). It was nearly three decades from that first chart entry until the last one in 1988.

No one expected the group to break up, but it was something all four members were okay with.

Maybe they felt that they had done everything they possibly could as a unit.

Gladys Knight’s solo success was a certainty.

The Pips, by the way, never wanted to sing lead.

They said their job was to “enhance Gladys’ voice.”

One of the worst solo attempts was that of Philippé Wynne. He was fantastic with the Spinners and was a master performer, but, like David Ruffin before him, let his ego get out of control.

Wynne wanted the group’s named changed to “Philippé Wynne and the Spinners” or “the Spinners featuring Philippé Wynne,” but there was no chance of that happening.

Wynne had no hits on his own.

David Ruffin wanted the Temptations’ name to be changed to “David Ruffin and the Temptations,” in the tradition of “Diana Ross and the Supremes” and “Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.” The group shot that idea down and mashed it into the ground. Shortly thereafter, Ruffin was fired.

So his was a “forced” move as opposed to just a “bad” move. However, it is very likely that he would have left in due time anyway.

Ruffin only had sporadic success as a solo artist, landing major R&B/pop hits with “Walk Away From Love” and “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me).”

James “J.T.” Taylor was with Kool & the Gang from 1979 to 1988, at which time he made an amicable departure from

Diana Ross the group after having sung lead on so many of the band’s biggest hits.

He had limited success as a solo attraction, but had a No. 2 R&B hit with “All I Want Is Forever,” a duet with Regina Belle.

In 1996, Taylor reunited with Kool & the Gang for one album, “State of Affairs.”

G.C. Cameron has a highly unusual history in terms of being in groups and working solo. He sang lead on the Spinners’ biggest Motown hit, “It’s a Shame,” but then chose to go it alone, with very limited success.

Eventually, he returned to the Spinners, but left again when an opportunity came up to join the Temptations. Four years later he was out on his own again, with minimal success.

The Spinners resented Cameron’s second departure because they were kind enough to let him back in. Also, he owed the group money that he reportedly never paid back.

One of the strangest and short-lived solo careers was that of Dorothy Morrison.

(The name doesn’t ring a bell, right?”) She sang lead on “Oh Happy Day,” the very traditional gospel song by the Edwin Hawkins Singers that, for whatever reason, soared to highest levels on the R&B and Pop charts in 1969.

Morrison’s solo album,

ny’s Child had a major hit with “Girl.”

The song utilized the music from a song Robinson wrote that had been a Top 20 hit for the Dramatics in 1978 titled “Ocean of Thoughts and Dreams.”

Robinson’s “Reflections of the Man Inside,” made in the ’70s, is among the greatest gospel albums of all time.

Phil Collins says a problem artists face today is that when people ask for an autograph, it might not be because they are a fan but, instead, because they want an autograph to sell on eBay or wherever.

Bruno Mars (real name: Peter Hernandez) has interesting parentage. His father is part Puerto Rican and part Jewish, and his mother is from the Philippines.

BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW…that the Spinners met at Ferndale High School.

MEMORIES:

MAZE FEATURING FRANKIE BEVERLY, Sound Board at MotorCity Casino, Jan. 27.

Tickets sold at Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

NEW YEAR’S EVE with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra featuring “The Music of Prince,” Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, Dec. 31. For more information and/or tickets, call 313.576.5111.

GREGORY PORTER, Music Hall Center, Jan. 29. Tickets sold at the Music Hall box office and Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

PICKS 693 210 720 365 812 107 336 218 150 094 968 843 4081 8971 418 14 24 41 59 66 17

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LOOKS

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CHRIS TUCKER, Fox Theatre, Jan. 21.

Tickets sold at Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

“Brand New Day,” was a commercial failure, and she was easily replaced in the Edwin Hawkins Singers.

But on the other hand, her move was understandable because in a choir the size of the Hawkins Singers, she certainly wasn’t going to make much money.

“Something About

CHARLIE WILSON, Fantasia, Johnny Gill, Solero, Joe Louis Arena, Feb. 17. Tickets sold at Ticketmaster locations.

To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

DIGITAL DAILY WWW.MICHIGANCHRONICLE.COM

There is no way that Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds and Antonio “L.A.” Reid could have stayed with the Deele, the group best remembered for “Two Occasions” and “Body Talk.” A whole world awaited them as immensely successful producers, songwriters, record company executives, and in Babyface’s case, as an artist.

Among other artists who left popular groups and had varying degrees of success are Ann Nesby (Sounds of Blackness), El DeBarge (DeBarge), Dawn Robinson (En Vogue), Justin Timberlake (NSYNC), Tony Thompson (Hi-Five), Eugene Record (the Chi-Lites, he returned to the group), Sisqó (Dru Hill, he too returned), Michael Cooper (Con Funk Shun), Jody Watley (Shalamar), Curtis Mayfield (the Impressions), Eddie Kendricks (the Temptations), Bonnie Pointer (the Pointer Sisters), Angie Stone (the Sequence), Jackie Wilson (Billy Ward & His Dominoes) and Bernadette Cooper (Klymaxx).

Reflections

“MARRIED But Single Too,” starring Bill Bellamy, Lisa Raye and Wendy Raquel Robinson, Music Hall Center, Feb. 16-19. Tickets sold at the Music Hall box office and Ticketmaster locations. To charge by phone, call 1.800.745.3000.

37

WEEK’S BEST LOTTERY

From page D-1 You” (the Four Tops), “Snap Shot” (Slave), “Forever Came Today” (Diana Ross & the Supremes), “The First, the Last, My Everything” (Barry White), “I Only Meant to Wet My Feet” (the Whispers), “1-2-3” (Len Barry), “I Turned You On” (the Isley Brothers), “I’ll Keep Holding On” (the Marvelettes), “But It’s Alright” (J.J. Jackson), “I’ll Try Something New” (the Miracles), “ BLESSINGS to Shirley Haney, Mario Morrow, Cornel Clark, Misha Hervey, Delores Wyatt, Marcus Amick, Maxine Stevenson, Kevin John, James Munger and Larry Buford.

At Your Finger Tips!

WORDS OF THE WEEK, from Giancarlo Esposito: “Follow your heart and you’ll never go wrong.”

Let the music play!

Steve Holsey can be reached at svh517@aol.com and PO Box 02843, Detroit, MI 48202.

Follow Us On

facebook.com/michiganchronicle

@michronicle

entertainment

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

December 14-20, 2016 Page D-3

Nominees announced for 48th Annual NAACP Image Awards The nominees for the “48th NAACP Image Awards” were announced today with ABC and HBO leading the nominations in the television categories with 23 nominations and 14 nominations, respectively. In the recording category, Columbia Records leads with 16 nominations, followed by RCA Records with 10 nominations and Atlantic Records with 4 nominations. Walt Disney Studios leads with 9 nominations, followed

by Focus Features with 7 nominations, while A24 and Fox Searchlight Pictures both received 6 nominations in the motion picture categories.

Beyoncé leads the pack with 7 nominations, followed by her sister Solange Knowles with 5 nominations. Additionally, Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar received 4 nominations, while Donald Glover and Nate Parker both received nominations for 3 awards.

The NAACP Image Awards celebrates the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film and also honors individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. Winners will be announced during the two-hour star-studded event hosted by Anthony Anderson, which will broadcast LIVE on TV ONE on Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 9pm/8c as a two-hour special. A 90-minute pre-show will air live from the red carpet at 7:30pm/6:30c.

“The NAACP is delighted to have a great collaboration with TV One and we look forward to working with them again to create a memorable evening of entertainment cel-

ebrating the hard work, perseverance, and achievements of those in our community,” stated Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors.

“The Image Awards is the premier showcase for art and advocacy reflecting the depth and diversity of the African-American experience. It is an American prism through which we see a breadth of culture and color reflected in film, television, music and literature in ways that reveal our shared humanity. At a moment when America is so divided, the Image Awards represents an hour that brings us together,” stated Cornell William Brooks, President and CEO, NAACP. The “48th NAACP Image Awards” production team will be returning including Executive Producers Reginald Hudlin and Phil Gurin, Director Tony McCuin, Co-Executive Producers Kimmie H. Kim and Byron Phillips, and Talent Producer Robin Reinhardt.

Solange Knowles

Chance the Rapper

• LeBron James to Receive NAACP Jackie Robinson Sports Award • Beyoncé Leads with 7 Nominations; • Followed by Solange Knowles with 5 Nominations; • Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar Received 4 Nominations; • Donald Glover and Nate Parker both Received 3 Nominations For all information and latest news, please visit the official NAACP Image Awards website at www.naacpimageawards.net.

Donald Glover

Beyoncé

Nate Parker

Bounce TV’s news magazine show ‘Ed Gordon’ returns with all-new episodes PRNewswire - Bounce TV's primetime news magazine show Ed Gordon returns for an allnew episode on Tues. Dec. 13 at 10:00 p.m. ET. Award-winning journalist Ed Gordon serves as executive producer and host of the new Bounce TV original series, sitting down for revealing interviews with top headline makers, entertainers and pop cultural figures. Ed Gordon also includes investigative pieces, celebrity profiles, current event segments and human-interest feature stories. Bounce TV (@ BounceTV) is the fastest-growing African-American (AA) network on television and airs on the broadcast signals of local television stations and corresponding cable carriage.

Award-winning journalist Ed Gordon serves as executive

producer and host of the new Bounce TV original series, sitting down for revealing interviews with top headline makers, entertainers and pop cultural figures. Ed Gordon also includes investigative pieces, celebrity profiles, current event segments and human-interest feature stories.

Black Caucus members Maxine Waters (D-CA), G.K Butterfield (D-NC), former RNC chairman Michael Steele and others.

“Social Change … or Social Stardom?” (First of Two Parts)

Stories featured in the upcoming “Ed Gordon:” “Goodbye Trump”

Obama,

Hello

With uncertainty and fear growing, how will Black America fare in the age of President Donald Trump and will it suffer "Post Obama Blues?" A look at what the last eight years of having a black president has meant to African Americans, the impact the new president may

Ed Gordon have and what's in store for the future of blacks in politics. Interviews include Congressional

Are we seeing the next generation of protesters leading a contemporary form of activism, or are they just acting like it to become famous on social media? Gordon explores if these new black protesters are the real deal or pretenders as he gathers several new-school and old-school activists to talk about what activism means in 2016. Gordon's guests for this interesting discussion include: Tommie Smith, 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist, Attorney Ben Crump, author and daughter of Malcolm X Ilyasah Shabazz, and Johnetta Elzie, a Ferguson

protester. “'Tis The Season” A fun look at Christmas music and why we love it. Will Downing, Kenny Latimore, Dave Koz and Shanice perform several beloved Christmas songs.

“Iconic Ebony” Gordon explores what Ebony has meant to Black America over the years and what the future may holds for the publication. The segment takes an historic look at the iconic magazine and celebrities discuss its importance.

Bounce TV is the fastest-growing African American network on television and airs on the broadcast signals of local television stations and corresponding cable carriage.

At Your Fingertips DIGITAL DAILY WWW.MICHIGANCHRONICLE.COM

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ADVERTISEMENT REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS/PROPOSALS FOR THE MUNICIPAL PARKING DEPARTMENT PARKING FEASIBILITY STUDY, PLAN AND STRATEGY FOR COMMERCIAL NEIGHBORHOODS (DBA #04-0016/CPO #2897127/SPO #2902299) Written responses are requested from interested respondents (“Respondents”) to this request for qualifications and proposals. The purpose of this request is to procure Parking Consulting Services for a Feasibility Study, Plan and Strategy (herein referred to a “Feasibility Study”) focused on Commercial Neighborhoods within the City of Detroit as more fully described in this Request for Qualification/Proposals (RFQ/P).

The DBA will receive the responses, as herein set forth, in the offices of the Detroit Building Authority, Tyrone Clifton, 1301 Third Street, Suite 328, Detroit, Michigan 48226. Responses shall be endorsed “Qualifications for MPD: Parking Feasibility Study, Plan and Strategy for Commercial Neighborhoods” and submitted not later than 3:00 P.M., Detroit time, on Wednesday, December 21, 2016, and will subsequently be evaluated to select a candidate for a professional services agreement. A processing fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), cashier’s check or money order, payable to the Detroit Building Authority must be paid prior to the submission of qualifications.

A mandatory pre-submittal meeting and site tour will take place at the Municipal Parking Department, 1600 West Lafayette Boulevard, beginning at 1:30 P.M., Detroit time, on Wednesday, December 14, 2016.

The Respondent may only submit one response to this Request for Qualifications/ Proposals. Participation in more than one submittal team will result in rejection of all responses by that Respondent.

Respondents submitting qualifications may be required to make an oral presentation(s) to designated City representatives. The issuing office, if required, will schedule such oral presentation(s). The Respondent must pay any travel costs incurred for such presentations.

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Copies of this Request for Qualifications/Proposals may be downloaded from the Detroit Building Authority website (http://www.detroitmi.gov/How-Do-I/Do-Business-with-theCity/Building-Authority-Advertisements) or obtained from the offices of the Detroit Building Authority.

1-800-292-0679

No response to this Request for Qualifications/Proposal may be withdrawn for at least 120 days after the actual opening of the qualifications/proposals. The DBA reserves the right to waive any irregularity in any qualifications/proposals, and to reject any or all qualifications/proposals, should it be deemed in its best interest. If additional information is needed regarding this RFQ/P, please contact Tyrone Clifton of the DBA at (313) 224-0174.

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HELP WANTED

PHARMACIST Detroit, Michigan: Responsibilities include: Prepare medications; Measure, count out, label, and record amounts and dosages of medicine; Review prescriptions to assure accuracy, to ascertain the needed ingredients, and to evaluate their suitability; Provide information and advice regarding drug interactions, side effects, dosage and proper medication storage; Assess the identity, strength and purity of medications; Maintain records, such as pharmacy files, patient profiles, charge system files, inventories, control records for radioactive nuclei, and registries of poisons, narcotics, and controlled drugs; Compound and dispense medications as prescribed by doctors, dentists or other authorized medical practitioners, by calculating, weighing, measuring, and mixing ingredients, or oversee these activities; Plan, implement, and maintain procedures for mixing, packaging, and labeling pharmaceuticals, according to policy and legal requirements, to ensure quality, security, and proper disposal; Advise customers on the selection of medication brands, medical equipment and health-care supplies; Provide specialized services to help patients manage conditions such as diabetes, asthma, smoking cessation, or high blood pressure, and collaborate with other health care professionals to plan, monitor, review, and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of drugs and drug regimens, providing advice on drug applications and characteristics; Supervise Pharmacy Technicians. Requirements include: Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy; 2 months training as a Pharmacist; 12 months employment experience as a Pharmacist; and Must have a valid and current Michigan Pharmacist License.

If possible please include that applicants who are interested in sending their resumes, it has to be sent through “MAIL ONLY” and the contact person is “Mahmoud Rifai”

WWW.MICHIGANCHRONICLE.COM

Production Digital Sculptor

LIBRARY ASSISTANT III AT OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

MIKE DUGGAN MAYOR, CITY OF DETROIT

Page D-4

Perform a variety of complex, non-standardized technical or para-professional activities of considerable difficulty in one or more functional areas of the Library. Minimum Qualifications: High School graduation or equivalent combination of education and/or experience.

Four years progressively responsible library experience, including ability to instruct and direct lower level non-exempt employees and student assistants in work methods and procedures. Requires working one day on the weekend and may include evening hours. Refer to online posting for additional qualifications and requirements. Salary is $42,021 annually.

First consideration will be given to those who apply by December 22, 2016.

Must apply on line to: https://jobs.oakland.edu

Warren, MI, General Motors. Deliver production qlty vehicle interior &exterior Class A surfaces according to Global Design &Global Vehicle Dvlpmt Plan specs for major current &next generation intnl high volume production &/or concept show car programs using Alias AutoStudio. Interpret desg sketches, drawings, &clay models to dvlp, desg, &build shaded photorealistic digital sculptures/models of car, SUV, truck, &sports car interior systems, trim, &garnish components. Achieve DFM, safety, cost, VR Room, &ease of assy reqmts based on engrg data using Alias CAD soft. Deliver production qlty Class A surfaces for vehicle interior systems such as A/B/C/D pillar trim, headliners, overhead consoles, header/quarter panel/door trim. Ensure vehicle surfaces with perfect highlights, precise surface smoothing, &accurate representation of appearance, color, &materials. Ensure all Class-­A surfaces &CAD designs meet crash safety reqmts, such as head impact criteria &201U testing data in compliance with FMVSS minimum radii reqmts. Ensure all Class-­A surfaces &CAD designs meet assy criteria, such as tolerance stack ups, assy sequence, &part split lines.

Bachelor, Industrial or Transportation Design. 12 mos exp as Lead Digital Sculptor in job offered or related. Mail resume to Alicia Scott-­Wears, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, Mail Code 482-­C32-­D44, Detroit, MI 48265, Ref#910.

Senior Safety and Field Investigation Engineer

Seeking

MAJOR GIFT OFFICER – SECS AT OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

Warren, MI, General Motors. Lead engrg team &assure timely investigations of potential safety issues affecting the whole vehicle, propulsion systems, &any of its sub-systems, leading a multifunctional team to dvlp a detailed understanding of complex issues to support Executive Committee resulting in field action, PAL or Learning Advisory. Dvlp product investigations based on GM’s Global Safety Field Investigation process &workflow using the GSV-Core.

Consolidate the issue condition presented on SUFS &create a work team integrating area experts as required for the issue investigated. Identify the existence of litigation &/or liabilities related to the potential safety issue under investigation.

Master, Mechanical Engineering. 6 mos exp as Engr in job offered or related. Mail resume to Alicia Scott-Wears, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-D44, Detroit, MI 48265, Ref#5780.

Development Services

Conduct major gift fundraising activities for Oakland University but with primary responsibility for the School of Engineering and Computer Science. Manages the fundraising process for an assigned portfolio of prospects and donors and conducts activities leading to gifts of $25,000 and above.

Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience. A minimum of five years progressively responsible experience in development and fundraising, preferably with several years of experience in a collegiate/ university setting. Demonstrated success in obtaining gifts of $25,000 and above. This is a full-time position requiring some evening and weekend hours, salary commensurate with education and experience. Refer to online posting for additional qualifications and requirements. First consideration will be given to those who apply by December 20, 2016.

Must apply on line to: https://jobs.oakland.edu Seeking

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR AT OAKLAND UNIVERSITY School of Medicine

Manage the day-to-day functions within the Center for Excellence in Medical Education that services over 1,400 faculty positions.

Manage and coordinate faculty development activities which include coordinating speakers, advertising programs, overseeing and coordinating registrations, developing and writing online modules, and coordinating website updates. Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree and two years’ experience in faculty development program implementation or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience. Two years project management experience, preferably in an educational setting, experience in managing multiple projects, prioritizing work and meeting deadlines. Willing to travel to various Beaumont locations. This is a full time, administrative professional position.

Salary commensurate with education and experience. Refer to online posting for additional qualifications and requirements.

First consideration will be given to those who apply by December 21, 2016.

Must apply on line to: https://jobs.oakland.edu Seeking

ASSOCIATE HEAD MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH UNIVERSITY Athletics Administration

Responsibilities will include, but not be limited to recruiting, scouting, player development, scheduling, conditioning, academic monitoring, camps and the daily operation of the program and supervision of all other assistant coaches. Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor’s Degree in related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Master’s degree preferred. Successful experience as a head coach or assistant basketball coach for a minimum of 5 years; minimum of 5 years of Division I college basketball coaching experience. This is a full time, individual contract position, with evening and weekend hours required.

Salary commensurate with experience. See online posting for additional position requirements. First consideration will be given to those who apply by December 16, 2106.

Must apply on line to: https://jobs.oakland.edu

Senior Design Release Engineer

Warren, MI, General Motors. Define, dvlp &release location strategies &tolerances of fixtures &parts based on fit &function of vehicle body in white &door panels &related exterior trim systems, using UG NX, &define datum coordination data using 3DCS, to ensure dimensional integrity of checking fixtures &assy fixtures. Perform Geometric Dimensioning &Tolerancing &advanced datum coordination of steel sheet metal cmpts in checking fixtures on cmpt mfg &vehicle assy lines, for horizontal &vertically held parts &verify part spring back, during high volume cmpt manufacture &vehicle assy. Balance, define &approve part tolerance values based on statistical data provided by 3DCS (Dimensional Control System) soft predicting the possible variation in all systems of the vehicle. Transform desg language into dimensional technical specs applying product desg enablers into manufacturable products.

Bachelor, Mechanical or Mechatronics Engrg.

12 mos exp as Senior Engineer, Senior Product Engineer or related, balancing, defining &approving vehicle BIW/door panels &related exterior trim systems part tolerance values based on statistical data provided by 3DCS soft, &transforming desg language into dimensional technical specs applying product desg enablers into manufacturable products.

Mail resume to Alicia Scott-­Wears, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-­ C32-­D44, Detroit, MI 48265, Ref#18203.

WWW.MICHIGANCHRONICLE.COM Engineering Group Manager Warren, MI. General Motors. Lead team of 20 engineers, determine &assure design layouts &geometry, package, dvlp &launch execution of RWD/AWD mid-size/full size trucks &SUVs, &commercial van steel &hydroformed frames &underbody structures, aluminum cross members, &suspension systems such as Hotchkiss (leaf spring) &independent rear suspension systems, &double wishbone &McPherson strut front suspension systems for BOF programs. Ensure adherence U.S. FMVSS 208/210/214/216a/301 for frontal, side &rear impact, &U.S. NCAP safety &crash standards, &IIHS recommendations. Dvlp IIHS Shallow Offset energy absorption &vehicle deflection strategies to achieve IIHS “GOOD” rating. Dvlp strategies, set vehicle reqmts, work with partner technologies such as active suspension controls, evaluating desgs, analysis, dvlpmt, validation &implementation.

Bachelor, Mechanical Engrg or Product Design Engrg. 12 mos exp as Engineer, engineering, packaging, &assuring design layouts &geometry of RWD psgr vehicle steel &hydroformed underbody frames or structures, aluminum cross members, independent rear suspension systems &double wishbone front suspension sys, ensuring adherence to FMVSS 208/210/214/216a/301 &NCAP safety &crash standards, &IIHS recommendations. Mail resume to Alicia Scott-Wears, GM Global Mobility, 300 Renaissance Center, MC:482-C32-D44, Detroit, MI 48265, Ref#1335.

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praise connection

December 14-20, 2016

THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

The Power of Prayer When life is not going the way I think it should, I ask Dorma, what have you done? Did you make every phone call? Answer every letter? Did you finish what you started?

When I don't measure up, I get busy.

Self-examination through the Power Of Prayer is our next chance to try again. A definition of power is the ability to take action. A major step in using prayer is action. Doing more today than yesterday. Planning, preparation, prayer, faith all have their place, but mean nothing without us doing our part.

We serve a God of action. He said whatsoever

a man doeth will prosper.

I don't get or do everything right, but having the chance to dream, pray and try again is a blessing all by itself. I say this not because of a new year, but every day is a new opportunity to learn as individuals and a community that the absolute best cure, antidote, remedy, for not achieving what we really want is massive, targeted, forcused action.

When I focus on what I am doing and why, I don't have time to think about what I don't have, what I need or how I was hurt.

Action moves me to the next plan God has for me.

prayer and action. Nothing in the Bible, life or our heritage was gained by standing still.

Page D-5

James Thomas Edmund Dorma McGruder 313.282.3382, dormajm@ sbcglobal.net

Services for James Thomas Edmond were held on Saturday, Nov. 12, at United Missionary Baptist Church with Rev. David Stanley officiating. Mr. Edmond passed away on Nov. 7, 2016.

James Thomas Edmond was born on Sept. 19, 1927 to Holman and Magnolia Mackey-Edmond in Laurens County, Dudley, Georgia, the tenth of twelve children.

96

th

In 1951, he and Nancy Lillian Stanley were married and moved to Detroit. They were blessed with two daughters.

Mr. Edmond had been a heavy equipment operator since 1958.

He worked for Nagle Paving Company and became self-employed in 1990. He enjoyed singing, gardening, traveling and cooking.

Cherishing the memory of James Thomas Edmond are his daughter, Barbara; his son, Hershel Knight; and many other relatives and friends.

Even if you only take a half step forward, Always keep moving forward in

Swanson Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

Interment took place at Gethsemane Cemetery.

Mary Ann Perkins 1919-2015

Bank of America volunteers holiday help at Salvation Army More than two dozen Bank of America volunteers packed more than 7,000 holiday food boxes in support of The Salvation Army’s annual Bountiful Boxes program which provides the boxes to needy individuals and families in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.

The boxes come in four culturally diverse options for the recipients and include a $10 gift card to supplement the non-perishable boxes with fresh food. Families of six or more will receive a $20 gift card.

This is the fourth year Bank of America has volunteered for the Bountiful Boxes packing day and is the program’s title sponsor. Last month, Bank of America presented The Salvation Army with a $50,000 check for program during its Day of Giving.

“When people have consistent access to food and resources to help make ends meet, they are stronger and healthier and can focus on achieving financial stability,” says Matt Elliott, Michigan Market president, Bank of America. “Our volunteer efforts at the Salvation Army are part of Bank of America’s broader commitment to drive sustainable growth in the metro Detroit community.” This year Bank of America has invested $30 million in local nonprofits that support job training and access to basic human needs.

The Salvation Army has been distributing holiday season food boxes throughout its 129-year history and relies on contingent volunteers, such as those from Bank of America, to pack and ready the thousands of meals for distribution.

“We are grateful to Bank of America for supporting our efforts to provide the makings of a holiday meal to families in need across the area so they can gather together for a special

Christmas Sunday service Russell Street Missionary Baptist Church, located at 8700 Chrysler Service Dr., Detroit, serving the North End of Detroit community for over 100 years, will be having a Christmas program on Sunday, Dec. 25, at 9 a.m. Christmas Sunday service will begin at 10:30 a.m. Rev. Dr. Dee Dee Coleman, will be preaching.

celebration,” said Major Russell Sjögren, Salvation Army general secretary and metro Detroit area commander. “The diverse ingredients of these Bountiful Boxes help families share important holiday traditions.”

Services for Mary Ann Perkins took place on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Greater Community Missionary Baptist Church with Pastor Michael E. Seay officiating.

Mrs. Perkins passed away on Nov. 24, 2016.

Mary Ann Washington was born on Dec. 15, 1960 in Marks, Mississippi to Eddie George and Laura Ann Washington. In 1966, she moved to Detroit. After high school graduation, she continued her education at Lewis College of Business.

On Nov. 17, 1979, she married Robert C. Perkins, Sr. and they were blessed with a son, Robert C. Perkins, Jr. Mrs. Perkins worked in a variety of corporate positions. In 2004, she joined the Wayne County Clerk’s Office as executive assistant to Wayne County Clerk Cathy M. Garrett. She was subsequently appointed to chief of staff for the Wayne County Clerk.

Cherishing the memory of Mary Ann Perkins are her son, Robert C. Perkins, Jr.; grandson, Robert C. Perkins III; brothers, Booker, James Thomas, James Curtis, Roosevelt, Richard and David; sisters, Laura, Shirley and Bessie; and many other relatives and friends.

Swanson Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

Edgar L. Griffey On Tuesday, Nov. 22, services for Edgar L. Griffey took place at New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church with Dr. Craig Ester officiating. Mr. Griffey passed away on Nov. 14, 2016.

Edgar L. Griffey was born on April 26, 1944 in Williamsburg, Kentucky to Donald and Naomi Griffey, the younger of two sons. After high school, he attended Arkansas A M & N College in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, majoring in Industrial Education. It was there that he met and married Vivian Marie Hollinshed, on May 28, 1966.

Later, he moved the family to Detroit and taught Industrial Education at Dondero High School in Royal Oak. He continued his education at Eastern Michigan University, earning a master’s degree in education. He subsequently taught at Redford High School, in Detroit. In the early 1980s, he was recruited by General Motors and then returned to the Detroit Public Schools, teaching and curriculum development at Breithaupt Vocational Center.

He eventually moved up the ladder to become a department head at Southwestern High School, assistant principal at Cass Technical High School, principal at Golightly Educational elementary and middle schools and Noble elementary and middle schools.

Mr. Griffey enjoyed playing golf, fishing, hunting, watching sports and spending time with friends. After retirement, he and Vivian built a home in Villa Rica, Georgia.

Edgar L. Griffey’s memory is being cherished by his wife, Vivian Marie; three children, Cedric, Nichelle Finch and Candace Marie; and many other relatives and friends.

Swanson Funeral Home handled the arrangements.

Interment took place at Mt. Hope Memorial Gardens.

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Are you celebrating an anniversary or special occasion?

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Page D-6 • THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE • December 14-20, 2016

Now Accepting Nominations Submission Deadline January 27, 2017

The Michigan Chronicle is now accepting nominations for the 2017 Women of Excellence MICHIGAN CHRONICLE

awards. For the past ten years, the Michigan Chronicle has recognized local African American women who continue to break the mold and affect change in their professions and community.

These women are visionaries in their given fields and inspire those around them to go beyond the norm and strive for the exceptional. They are champions of our economic empowerment and diversity, the backbone of our religious and educational organizations, and driving forces in politics and community service. These women will join the exclusive society of 450 professionals who have previously received this distinction.

Submit your nominations today. www.michiganchronicle.com

#WOE17