Della Reese Dies at 86
Serena Williams Gets Married
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News Observer Bakersfield
Volume 44 Number 12
Celebrating Our 40th Anniversary 1977- 2017
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Jesse Jackson’s Parkinson’s Diagnosis Friends, Medical Community Weigh-In on Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Parkinson’s Diagnosis By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Parkinson’s disease diagnosis caught many by surprise, but those who know him said they’re confident that he’ll overcome the life-threatening challenge before him. “He’s in the rumble of his life, but he’s rumbled some big foes before,” said Vincent Hughes, a Democratic state senator from Pennsylvania who campaigned for Jackson in 1984 and again in 1988. Hughes said that Jackson’s campaigns were birthed in the Black empowerment movement that followed the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. “I’m one of those African Americans, who took office and was a part of that issue of ‘protest to power’ and Rev. Jackson was, in many respects, our leader and he still is.” More than anyone else, Jackson opened the door for the election of Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States, said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). Chavis was one of Jackson’s contemporaries during the Civil Rights Movement. “Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., is a living, global civil rights icon. As a colleague in the Civil Rights Movement dating back to the 1960s and under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have personally witnessed the selfless sacrifice and dedication of Rev. Jackson.” Chavis continued: “For all who have cried out for freedom justice and equality, the news of his Parkinson’s disease should only serve to re-dedicate a movement now for healthcare equality for all, not only as a civil right, but as a human right.” On Friday, November 17, Jackson, 76, issued a statement informing the world of his illness. In the statement, Jackson recalled his foray into activism, being arrested on July 17, 1960 with seven other college students who advocated for the right to use a public library in his hometown of Greenville, S.C. He said that he remembers the arrest as if it happened yesterday and it was a day that forever changed his life. “From that experience, I lost my fear of being jailed for a righteous cause. I went on to meet Dr. King and dedicate my heart and soul to the fight for justice, equality, and equal access,” said Jackson, whose multiracial National Rainbow Coalition grew out of his work in the 1984 presidential campaign. He said he resisted interrupting his work to visit a doctor, but his daily physical struggles intensified and he could no longer ignore his symptoms. “After a battery of tests, my physicians identified the issue as Parkinson’s disease, a disease that bested my father,” Jackson said. Rev. Al Sharpton issued a statement saying that he spent time with Jackson and his family in New York, as Jackson made the announcement of his illness. “As I watched him, I was reminded of the greatness of this man,” Sharpton said. “Reverend Jackson has changed the nation and served in ways in which he never got credit.” Maynard Eaton, a journalist and national director of com-
Civil rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr., recently announced that he has Parkinson’s disease. This photo was taken during the recent 2017 Rainbow PUSH Coalition Global Automotive Summit. (Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA)
munications for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, called Jackson a legendary and fearless civil rights champion. He said the disease may slow Jackson, but won’t stop him. “Activism and civil rights are in his blood. As a journalist, Jesse Jackson has been a treat and joy to cover and write about,” said Eaton. “He has been a civil rights darling and media maverick…Jesse Jackson is a quintessential and preeminent civil rights activist of our time.” Even though Parkinson’s disease is a chronic neurological condition, it is very treatable, said Dr. Nabila Dahodwala, an associate professor of neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “A diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease does not necessarily mean that you must make drastic changes, but every individual is different in how they are affected, how they respond to treatment and how they choose to spend their time,” Dahodwala said. Ihtsham ul Haq, an expert in neurology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, said he believes Jackson will do well. “Though each patient’s journey with Parkinson’s disease is a little bit different, thankfully for many the symptoms are often well-managed with medication, said Haq. “The hallmark of the disease is the slow loss of dopamine in the brain, which unlocks our movement.” Haq continued: “As patients begin to produce less of it they
show the slowness, stiffness, and tremor that typify the disease. Replacing dopamine usually substantially alleviates these problems.” Leslie A. Chambers, the president and CEO of the American Parkinson Disease Association, said making appropriate lifestyle changes and focusing on physical therapy will go a very long way to helping Jackson live the best life possible, in spite of the disease. “Since its a lifelong chronic illness, the American Parkinson Disease Association encourages people with Parkinson’s to seek out a top notch medical and healthcare team, which includes a movement disorders specialist physician and allied healthcare providers and protect and defend their overall health status with a nutritious diet, physical therapy and safe, effective daily exercise programs, as well as emotional and social support from family, and professional care partners-givers,” Chambers said, adding that the association extends heartfelt wishes to Jackson. Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the NNPA and the publisher of the Crusader Newspaper Group said that even though Jackson is in for the fight of his life, she warned that Parkinson’s disease had met its match. “This is a major blow, but it’s not the death knell,” said Leavell. “We will keep working and encourage Jesse with all he’s done for us and continues to do.”
Black Press Mourns a New York Beacon Rags to Riches Story Made Publisher Walter “Ball” Smith Jr. a Light for Many
Walter “Ball” Smith, publisher and savvy business entrepreneur, died suddenly in Miami (courtesy photo)
From Crusader Staff Report Crusader Newspaper Group/NNPA Member The Black Press lost one of its most devoted freedom warriors, last week. Walter “Ball” Smith, the publisher of “New York’s Beacon” and the “Philadelphia Observer” died on Friday, November 10. He was 83. “The Black Press has lost a true giant in Black America,” said Dorothy R. Leavell, Chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and publisher of the Chicago and Gary Crusader newspapers. “Walter Smith made a difference in so many lives of Black readers and Black publishers in the Northeast, and America, in general.” As CEO of the Smith Haj Group, Smith published New York’s premier weekly, New York’s Beacon and the Philadelphia Observer. Like Black newspapers across the country,
both publications catered to a loyal Black readership that made Smith a prominent figure in the Black community. For 26 years, he led the Beacon, an edgy publication that shared America’s largest Black media market with several Black newspapers that included the venerable “New York Amsterdam News.” NNPA members, colleagues, friends and family are mourning the loss of a publisher who never forgot his humble beginnings. Walter Smith, Jr. was the seventh of 10 children born to Walter Smith Sr. and his wife Belle. He was raised in Badlin, N.C. where his father, a prominent civic leader, worked for ALCOA, an aluminum company. When he was 18, Smith was drafted into the U.S. Army where he served in Korea. Upon his return, Smith completed a degree in business from the University of North Carolina. He landed a job in New York as a founding employee with ADP (Automatic Data Processing), a newly created company known for processing employee payrolls for companies across the country. Today, the ADP has $10 billion in revenue and serves 570,000 clients. During a 2013 interview with the “Stanly News & Press” in Albemarle, N.C., Smith said he had been working for ADP for less than a year, making $75 per week, sometimes $100 with overtime, when he suddenly noticed something about his pay. “I looked at my paycheck one week, and $15 a week was coming out for stock options. I said, ‘I can’t afford this,” Smith told the newspaper. His boss replied, “It’s stock. I’m giving you an option to buy stock,” Smith remembered. “He said, ‘You keep that and pretty soon it will be worth some money.’” Smith’s boss was right. On paper Smith learned he was $2 million richer, later, when he was trying to buy a house on New York’s Long Island in 1964. “I’m struggling to get to work and back and was a millionaire and didn’t know it,” Smith said. “It was just a real Cinderella story.” It was the beginning of an auspicious career that took Smith from being an ordinary American to a successful businessman, who purchased a small Black newspaper and built a powerful Black media empire, becoming a beloved community institution in Black neighborhoods in two of America’s largest cities, New York and Philadelphia.
In 1980, Smith met Bill Underwood, who was operating the “Big Red,” a numerology tip selling sheet that sold 100,000 copies per day. He later renamed it “Big Red News” and the advertisers started coming. “Big Red News” became one of the largest ABC audited Black weeklies in the country. In 1981, Smith purchased the paper to gain full control of the operation. In 1983, the paper changed its name to “The New York Beacon.” “You have to say something to the readers,” he said at the time. “The New York Beacon” gives the news to readers in New York City’s five boroughs-Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. In 2006, Smith acquired “The Philadelphia Observer.” To have a stronger voice in the region, Smith founded the Northeast Publishers Association, which united New York’s Black newspapers in their fight to boost advertising revenue in their publications. Smith was also one of the regional directors for the NNPA. “One thing that we can rest assured of, is the news that we gather and the news that we present is just as relevant today as it was in the 80s,” Smith said in the Beacon. Over the years, Smith received many awards and proclamations for doing what he loved best. “The NNPA mourns profoundly the passing of beloved publisher Walter Smith,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA. “At a time that we are celebrating the 190th year of the Black Press, we pause to salute the outstanding contributions of Walter Smith to the Black Press. We will keep Miatta Smith and the Smith Family in our sincere prayers, as we express our condolences.” In his spare time, Smith lived the American dream and enjoyed hobbies synonymous with people of wealth and affluence. An avid golfer, Smith enjoyed swimming, fishing, yachting, traveling and spending time with his wife, Miatta, their children and grandchildren. Smith maintained homes in New York, Atlanta, Miami and North Carolina. The Crusader Newspaper Group is a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Learn more about becoming a member at www.nnpa.org.
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Wednesday November 22, 2017
Couple Detained After Hibiscus Mistaken for Pot
Editors Note Updates with couple describing how they were detained, wife saying she ‘was not treated’ like a human being, husband saying he was ‘ignored’ when he tried to explain. SARVER, Pa. (AP) _ A couple who say they were handcuffed for hours in a police patrol car after their hibiscus plants were confused for marijuana are suing the police and an insurance company. Edward and Audrey Cramer say in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that a Nationwide Insurance Co. agent investigating a fallen tree at their Buffalo Township home sent photos of their flowering plant to police. The lawsuit alleges that Buffalo Township police officers with assault rifles went to their home on Oct. 7 to investigate. Audrey Cramer, 66, said she was partially dressed when she went to the door and police would not let her put on pants before she was handcuffed. “I was not treated as though I was a human being,” she said. “I was just something they were going to push aside.” Edward Cramer, 69, said he returned home a half-hour later to find his wife in the back of a police cruiser and officers pointing guns at him. He also was placed in the cruiser despite trying to convince the officers the plants were hibiscus, not marijuana. “They actually ignored me,” he said. “They wouldn’t even listen. I said, `I can show you pictures on the internet.”’ The Cramers eventually were released without charges. They are seeking monetary and compensatory damages and court costs. Nationwide Insurance declined to comment on Friday, citing the litigation. Township police also declined to comment.
Trump Says He Should Have Left UCLA Players in Chinese Jail
WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Donald Trump says he should have left three UCLA basketball players accused of shoplifting in China in jail. Trump’s tweet Sunday comes after the father of player LiAngelo Ball minimized Trump’s involvement in winning the players’ release in comments to ESPN. “Who?” LaVar Ball told ESPN on Friday, when asked about Trump’s involvement in the matter. “What was he over there for? Don’t tell me nothing. Everybody wants to make it seem like he helped me out.” Trump has said he raised the players’ detention with Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) during the leaders’ recent meeting in Beijing. The players returned to the U.S. last week. They have been indefinitely suspended from the team. Says Trump: “Now that the three basketball players are out of China and saved from years in jail, LaVar Ball, the father of LiAngelo, is unaccepting of what I did for his son and that shoplifting is no big deal. I should have left them in jail!” The younger Ball, along with fellow freshmen Jalen Hill and Cody Riley, aren’t with the rest of the No. 23 Bruins, who are in Kansas City to play in the Hall of Fame Classic on Monday and Tuesday. The trio isn’t allowed to suit up, be on the bench for home games or travel with the team. The players were arrested and questioned about stealing from high-end stores next to the team’s hotel in Hangzhou, where the Bruins stayed before leaving for Shanghai to play Georgia Tech. UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said last week that the players stole from three stores. “As long as my boy’s back here, I’m fine,” LaVar Ball told ESPN. “I’m happy with how things were handled. A lot of people like to say a lot of things that they thought happened over there. Like I told him, `They try to make a big deal out of nothing sometimes.’ “I’m from LA. I’ve seen a lot worse things happen than a guy taking some glasses. My son has built up enough character that one bad decision doesn’t define him. Now if you can go back and say when he was 12 years old he was shoplifting and stealing cars and going wild, then that’s a different thing,” he said. “Everybody gets stuck on the negativity of some things and they get stuck on them too long. That’s not me. I handle what’s going on and then we go from there.”
California Unemployment Rate Dips SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ California’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in October, down from 5.1 percent in September and 5.3 percent in October 2016. The state Employment Development Department said Friday that employers added 31,700 nonfarm payroll jobs last month. Six of 11 industry sectors added most of those jobs, led by leisure and hospitality.
Happy Thanksgiving