Roll ‘N’ Roll Pioneer Fats Domino is Dead at 89
Randy and Janet Jackson Visit their Childhood Home
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News Observer FREE!
Los Angeles
Volume 33 Number 1
Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Slain Vegas Police Officer's Mother Dies after Funeral
Celebrating 50 Years on the Federal Bench at 95
LAS VEGAS (AP) _ The mother of a Las Vegas police officer and U.S. Army veteran who was among the 58 people killed in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history died during the weekend, after his memorial service. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg (FYOU'-denberg) said Wednesday that Sheryl Stiles died Sunday at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, after family members said she collapsed Friday on an escalator at the South Point hotel in Las Vegas. She was 56 and lived in Louisville, Kentucky. The coroner says her cause of death will be determined by examinations and tests. Her brother, Lewis Stiles, told KVVU-TV Fox 5 that his sister had been in Las Vegas for memorials to Charleston Hartfield. He was killed in the Oct. 1 shooting at an open-air music concert on the Las Vegas Strip.
In this Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017, Judge Damon J. Keith is interviewed in his office in Detroit. Keith, marking 50 years as a federal judge, says he’s driven by two maxims: “Treat everyone with dignity” and “Equal justice under law.” The 95-year-old from Detroit said the second has been his calling since attending law school at Howard University, where professor and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall implored students to go out and enforce it. (AP Photo/Carlos Osori
By JEFF KAROUB Associated Press DETROIT (AP) _ Judge Damon J. Keith thinks back on his 50 years on the federal bench and remembers many tumultuous and significant times, including being sued by President Richard Nixon after ruling that wiretapping couldn’t be done without a court order. The 95-year-old from Detroit, the only African-American among six current federal judges who have served 50 or more years according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, still hears cases about four times a year at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. His approach _ in or out of the spotlight, on or off the bench _ is the same: Fight for the Constitution, not with each other. “Just treat everyone with dignity,’’ said Keith, who will be honored at a gala Saturday in Detroit for reaching the half-century mark. The phrase “Equal justice under law,’’ which is etched onto the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, drives Keith and reminds him of lessons Thurgood Marshall taught him as one of his professors at Howard University. Marshall became the first black Supreme Court justice in October 1967 _ the same month Keith, a prominent lawyer in his own right by then, was appointed to the federal bench. He recalled Marshall saying, “The white men wrote those four words. When you leave Howard, I want you to go out and practice law and see what you can do to enforce those four words.’’ “And that’s what I’ve tried to do,’’ Keith said last week
at Detroit’s historic federal court building, where he’s had an office since President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him to the federal district court 50 years ago. In 1970, Keith ordered a bus policy and new boundaries in the Pontiac, Michigan, school district to break up racial segregation. A year later, he made another groundbreaking decision, finding that Hamtramck, Michigan, illegally destroyed black neighborhoods in the name of urban renewal with the federal government’s help. The remedy was 200 housing units for blacks. The court case is still alive decades later due to disputes over property taxes and the slow pace of construction. The wiretapping ruling against Nixon and Attorney General John Mitchell also came in 1971. Keith said they couldn’t engage in the warrantless wiretapping of three people suspected of conspiring to destroy government property. The decision was affirmed by the appellate court, and the Nixon administration appealed and sued Keith personally. “That’s why I had to get a lawyer to represent me before the Supreme Court. And they affirmed me unanimously,’’ Keith said. Keith remembered the wiretapping case going smoothly at first. He invited the attorneys for the U.S. government and the defendants, who were part of a group of white supporters of civil rights seen as radical by some and called the White Panthers, to his office. The defendants’ lawyers had been held in contempt of court by a Chicago judge, and Keith assured them things would be different with him. “I served them coffee and doughnuts, we sat down, and
I said, `Now, in this court we’re going to treat you men with dignity. When you get up to speak, the court will hear you and we’ll have a rebuttal by the other side, I’ll make a ruling and we’ll move on,’’’ Keith recalled. Keith rose to chief judge in 1975. President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the appeals court two years later. As an appellate judge, he ruled against another president, George W. Bush, saying he couldn’t conduct secret deportation hearings of terrorism suspects. Keith’s 2002 opinion contained the line, “Democracies die behind closed doors.’’ A similar phrase is now the slogan of The Washington Post, which has credited Keith. Not all of Keith’s memories are about landmark cases. He recalled a case in which a defendant didn’t want to stand for a judge. Keith allowed the man to enter the courtroom after Keith was seated and then be escorted out before the judge adjourned. Keith is just as committed to equal rights now as he has always been, said Peter Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Detroit’s Wayne State University. Last year, as the lone dissenter on a three-judge panel in an Ohio voting lawsuit, Keith filled 11 pages with photographs of people slain in the civil rights movement and wrote: “I cannot forget _ indeed America cannot forget _ the pain, suffering, and sorrow of those who died for equal protection and for this precious right to vote.’’ “He’s not going quietly into that great goodnight,’’ Hammer said.
Black Students in the New Jim Crow Era
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor After decades of desegregation efforts, federal civil rights laws, and other attempts to close the achievement gap, a high quality education remains an elusive goal for most Black children. In an effort to engage Black parents around reaching that elusive goal, educators and community stakeholders tackled lead-
ership, educational equity and policy in urban schools, during a recent panel discussion. Led by moderator Linda Tillman, professor emeritus of education leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the panel discussed the challenges faced by African American teachers and leaders, as they work to educate Black children and young adults in urban communities. “We are here to revisit old discussions and bring fresh ideas,” Tillman said. “Jim Crow has affected Blacks in so many ways. Black education is a right [that’s] not solely based on White norms.” Panelist Terri Watson, a City College of New York (CCNY) educator and co-creator of the CCNY-based “Growing Our Own Doctor’s Project,” said that there’s not only a need for better education, but that there’s also a need for safer communities for Black students. “We have to focus on creating space where kids are informed and active, that’s important,” Watson said. “We have to let the kids know that the world is waiting for them, they’re up next and we have to change their mindset that the world views them as disposable.” Rodney Hopson, a professor and associate dean of education psychology at George Mason University, Sonya Douglass Horsford, an associate professor of education leadership at the Teachers College at Columbia University, and M. Christopher Brown II, the president of Kentucky State University also participated in the panel that took place during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference. Both Brown and Horsford, longtime friends, said the majority of public schools are now non-White. The proliferation of charter and alternative schools has also chipped away at the effectiveness of public schools. The federal government has played such a major role in shaping education policy and schools now mostly prepare African
Americans for prison, not college, Brown said. “The school’s structure that’s used is that they teach our kids how to stand in a straight line, to raise their hands when they have to go to the bathroom…you do that in prison, so that’s the training they’re getting,” Brown said. He then quoted what he said was a prophetic statement made by W.E.B. Du Bois 57 years ago. “[African American] teachers will become rarer and in many cases will disappear,” Brown said quoting Du Bois, noting that the prediction has come to pass. Brown continued, quoting Du Bois: “[African American] children will be instructed in public schools and taught under unpleasant if not discouraging circumstances. Even more largely than today, they will fall out of school, cease to enter high school, and fewer and fewer will go to college.” Horsford, like the other panelists, said no one should be surprised, because, after all, resegregation has occurred and education is the “new civil rights in the new Jim Crow.” “We shouldn’t operate from the assumption that our schools are broken,” she said. “They are doing exactly what they were designed to do, which is to sift and sort children into different categories for economic reasons.” Horsford added that African Americans must tap the potential, possibilities and gifts of the young people who truly hold the answers to society’s pressing problems. Even educators have suffered and are poorly valued in a system guided by high-stakes testing and performance-based accountability, Horsford said. “We have to engage in parallel efforts…we need to reimagine schools and school systems that support everyone,” said Horsford. “We also have to make sure that, in the meantime, we are preparing students to not only survive, but also thrive in an era of extreme inequality.
By Stacy Brown The Washington Informer/NNPA Member Fats Domino, the rock pioneer who inspired Elvis Presley, the Beatles and countless other superstars, died Wednesday at his home in Harvey, Louisiana. He was 89. Mark Bone, chief investigator for the Jefferson Parish coroner’s office, told NPR that Domino died of natural causes. Born Antoine Domino, the “Architect of Rock ‘n’ Roll” enjoyed a career spanning five decades that included more than 25 gold singles and 65 million records sold. His massive vault of hits includes “Blueberry Hill,” “I’m Walking,” “Ain’t That a Shame” and “I’m Walking to New Orleans. His unique playing style and unmistakable voice helped Domino to produce the first rock ‘n’ roll record to ever sell more than 1 million copies with the 1949 hit “The Fat Man,” a song he both produced and co-wrote. Billy Diamond, his road manager, referred to him as “Fats”
because the name was a symbol of importance, according to Domino’s website. In 1986, Domino received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and was later inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. On November 5, 1998, at the White House, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from then President Bill Clinton. By their own admission, Domino’s influence played heavily in the careers of Presley and the Beatles. Domino reportedly was held in such high esteem that Presley refused to answer to his popular moniker, “The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” when Domino was present. As in a 2004 interview with AXS, Domino recounted the first time he met Presley. “I was playing at the Flamingo Hotel [in Las Vegas] and I went to his room and played for him. He used to call me ‘Mr. Blueberry Hill,’” Domino said. “I remember him telling me, ‘You know, Fats, I’m opening up tomorrow but when I first came here
I flopped.’ I guess the first time he didn’t do good at all, but after he got back there it was all good because I was working there too, and every night it was sold out.” In 1969, Presley returned to live performances after joining the military and when a reporter referred to him as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll” during a press conference, Presley pointed to Domino, who was in the room, noting that Domino was “one of my influences from way back.” Domino’s influence on the Beatles was noted when Paul McCartney wrote “Blue Monday,” a 1958 hit in which he credited the New Orleans native. Domino was married to Rosemary Hall for 60 years and the two had eight children. “Fats Domino, another gift from New Orleans,” Rev. Jesse Jackson tweeted in tribute to Domino. “An entertainer and caring man, he gave us many thrills on the ride to freedom.”
Panelist Terri Watson, an educator at CCNY, said that there’s a need for safer communities for Black students. (The City College of New York)
Sheryl Stiles died in Los Charleston Hartfield was Vegas after attending her killed while attending the son’s memorials. open air music concert.
Top Earning Dead Celebrity with $75 Million is Michael Jackson NEW YORK (AP) _ Michael Jackson died eight years ago, but he's still generating millions of dollars. Jackson is atop the Forbes list of top-earning dead celebrities for the fifth straight year, with $75 million. Forbes says Jackson's earnings are boosted by a new greatest hits album, a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show and a stake in the EMI music publishing catalog. Two other singers join Jackson in the top five. Elvis Presley comes in fourth with $35 million and Bob Marley ranks fifth with $23 million. Golf legend Arnold Palmer is the second-highest earner. He brought in $40 million in part through sales of Arizona lemonade and ice tea beverage made in his name. Palmer is followed by Charles Schulz. The creator of the “Peanuts'' franchise made $38 million.
Toxin Found in Lobsters from Anacapa, Santa Cruz Islands
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ California authorities say unhealthy levels of the naturally occurring toxin domoic acid have been found in spiny lobsters caught near Anacapa Island and the east end of Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday that an immediate commercial spiny lobster fishery closure has been put in place. The closure encompasses all state waters around both islands. The Department of Public Health says people should not eat internal organs of the lobsters and should discard water or broth used in cooking whole lobsters. Symptoms of domoic acid poisoning include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache and dizziness. Severe cases may include trouble breathing, confusion, cardiovascular instability, seizures, excessive bronchial secretions, permanent loss of short-term memory, coma or death.
Fats Domino Dead at 89
Fats Domino dead at 89.