Valley's News Observer 2.11.21 4C

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News Observer The Valley’s

Volume 36 Number 13

Serving the San Fernando Valley for Over 36 Years

Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California

Abrams, BLM Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize There have been many controversies around the Peace Prize and a win by Abrams or the Black Lives Matter would likely extend the line of controversies. Past winners have included Martin Luther King, Jr. (1964), Nelson Mandela (1993), President Barack Obama (2009), Kofi Annan (2001) and Jimmy Carter (2002).

By Lauren Victoria Burke NNPA Newswire Contributor Both Stacey Abrams and the Black Lives Matter movement have been nominated to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The nominations represent an opportunity for either Abrams or Black Lives matter to win over even more support around the globe should they win. The Nobel Prizes have been given out since 1901 and were started by Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. Prizes are given out for distinguished work in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature.

There have been many controversies around the Peace Prize and a win by Abrams or the Black Lives Matter would likely extend the line of controversies. Past winners have included Martin Luther King, Jr. (1964), Nelson Mandela (1993), President Barack Obama (2009), Kofi Annan (2001) and Jimmy Carter (2002).

“Stacey Abrams political activist, voter registration & voting rights advocate has set a national standard for democracy. Her political activism has resulted in a nomination for a Nobel Prize. She deserves it & would become an even bigger voting rights, VR & democracy champion,” wrote the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. on twitter.

The news of the Abrams nomination arrived on the same day that Georgia Republicans launched a “Stop Stacey” group. The group was created to support current Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in his expected re-match against Democrat Stacey Abrams. The race will be in 2022.

The news of the Abrams nomination arrived on the same day that Georgia Republicans launched a “Stop Stacey” group. (Photo: “We are thrilled to have Stacey Abrams deliver the Democratic Response to the State of the Union. Her electrifying message reinvigorated our nation & continues to inspire millions in every part of the country.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, January 2019 / Office of the House Speaker / Wikimedia Commons)

The defeat of former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler to Rev. Raphael Warnock demonstrated the strength of the Black vote in Georgia. even before Abrams announced whether she’ll run again, a sign of deep concern among Republicans about the threat she poses next year to the first-term governor.

Abrams’ efforts were so noticeable and the turnaround from red to blue in Georgia so pronounced that Donald Trump brought her up during his effort to flip the election results in 2020 his favor in Georgia.

The recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced in October.

Black Investors Take Note:

Reddit Rebellion Rescues GameStop The band of amateur day traders that interact with each other on the Reddit page WallStreetBets, encouraged whoever was listening to buy shares of the flailing GameStop, AMC, Macy’s and Koss stocks. Big investors, often in the form of hedge funds, frequently bet against struggling public companies using a process referred to as “shorting,” which allows investors to bet on the degree of misfortune a stock may experience and earn billions of dollars in profits as a result.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent The story of 10-year-old Jaydyn Carr and his mother, Nina Carr, is just one example of the impact of Wall Street’s ongoing GameStop rally.

Their financial windfall came about as a result of a trading frenzy that was never witnessed before– and one that found even some of the most astute stock market experts struggling to explain.

A band of amateur day traders that interacts with one another on the Reddit page WallStreetBets, encouraged whoever was listening to buy shares of the flailing GameStop, AMC, Macy’s and Koss stocks. The goal: counter the influence of the big investors, often hedge funds, who bet against struggling public companies using a process referred to as “shorting.” Shorting a stock allows investors to bet on the degree of misfortune a stock may experience and earn billions of dollars in profits as a result.

In just one day, WallStreetBets’ actions (also known as the Reddit mob or the Reddit Army) resulted in hedge fund losses of over $14 billion. And, despite recent declines, GameStop shares continue to show gains of more than 1,584 percent. The stock now trades at about $150. A year ago, it was just $4.

AMC’s stock is up 200 percent and Koss is up by more than 400 percent. WallStreetBets actions have also incited jumps in BlackBerry, Macy’s and other stocks that were heavily shorted.

As a community, African Americans and other minorities have generally shown little interest in stock trading beyond mutual funds and 401Ks established by employers, but the exposure of how Wall Street works has intrigued many.

Jaydyn had been a GameStop customer when, in 2019, his mother decided to purchase ten shares of the

In just one day, WallStreetBets’ actions (also known as the Reddit mob or the Reddit Army) resulted in hedge fund losses of over $14 billion. And, despite recent declines, GameStop shares continue to show gains of more than 1,584 percent. The stock now trades at about $150. A year ago, it was just $4. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

company’s stock for a little over $6.

Nina Carr told the New York Times that her phone blew up during the recent trading frenzy, and she noticed the stock soaring to an eye-popping $351 per share. She consulted Jaydyn on what he wanted to do since she had purchased the stock for him.

“I was trying to explain to him that this was unusual,” the Times reported her saying. “I asked him, ‘Do you want to stay or sell?’”

Jaydyn decided to sell his shares, earning $3,200 — a return of more than 5,000 percent on an investment of about $60.

The development left the most seasoned puzzled. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen admitted that she needed to understand what occurred.

As WallStreetBets group of investors purchased stock, hedge fund short sellers, who were already committed to the loans they secured to obtain their shares, had to buy additional shares to cover their now losing bids, which only caused the stock prices to rise further. The trading term to explain what happened is called a short squeeze.

Continued on page A3

Free!

Thursday, February 11, 2021

San Quentin Prison Worst Outbreak

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California workplace safety regulators announced Thursday that a state prison rocked by one of the nation’s worst coronavirus outbreaks has been hit with by far its largest pandemic-related fine yet against an employer.

The $421,880 fine against San Quentin State Prison is several times higher than any others levied by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, commonly known as Cal/OSHA. Only a few others exceed $100,000, and most are several thousand dollars.

The announcement comes days after the state’s inspector general said corrections officials’ poorly planned attempts to protect inmates from the coronavirus at a Southern California prison “caused a public health disaster” at San Quentin, north of San Francisco. The outbreak sickened 75% of the inmate population, and led to the deaths of 28 inmates and a correctional officer there San Quentin employees were not given adequate training or equipment for working with infected inmates, Cal/OSHA said.

Staff members who were in contact with infected inmates were not given proper medical services, including testing, contact tracing and referrals to doctors, the regulators found.

It cited the prison for four willful-serious, five serious, one regulatory and four general category violations.

They include the prison’s failure to have an effective plan to control and keep people safe from diseases like the coronavirus that can be spread through small particle aerosols, dust or droplets that can carry through the air and are particularly dangerous in confined spaces.

The inspections that triggered the fines were in June and July, and the prison has since “made many improvements and already remedied several of the citations,” the corrections department said in a statement.

“We have worked with Cal-OSHA representatives throughout the pandemic to ensure regulations were met and concerns addressed expeditiously.”

That includes proper notifications and illness tracking, masking and other personal protective equipment requirements, training, and updated prevention programs and plans.

Cal/OSHA also announced fining Avenal State Prison $39,600, saying that inspections at both facilities came after reports of employee hospitalizations following outbreaks at the institutions.

The prison northwest of Bakersfield was cited for three serious violations for lacking proper plans to control viruses transmitted through the air and failing to enforce work practices designed to minimize employees’ exposure to the virus.

The department said it is reviewing the citations to make sure all prisons comply with workplace safety requirements. It noted the Avenal citation resulted from inspections in July and August, and said improvements have been made since then.

Lower fines were levied against two other prisons: $18,000 for California State Prison, Corcoran, and $16,360 against Wasco State Prison, both also in the San Joaquin Valley.

Most of the Cal/OSHA’s virus-related fines were against private businesses, including several medical and skilled nursing facilities.

But other public agencies cited include sheriff’s departments in Alameda, Los Angeles and Riverside counties and the Santa Rosa Police Department. Others include transit agencies in Los Angeles County and the city of Santa Clarita, along with the University of California, Los Angeles and University of California, Santa Cruz.

Killer Bus Driver Leaves Prison

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) – The driver of a private bus in Northern California that crashed in 2008 and killed 11 passengers headed to a casino has been released from prison after his sentence was reduced because of changes in state law.

After nearly 12 years in custody, Quinton Watts, 64, was released Wednesday from California State PrisonSolano in Vacaville. His supporters traveled to Vacaville to pick him up, including two of his three daughters who went in an Uber. But they had to meet him at a train station him 37 miles away in downtown Sacramento where prison staff had driven him, the Sacramento Bee reported Friday.

Dressed in sweatpants, a beanie and surgical mask with gray goatee hairs showing through the side, Watts didn’t look like his daughter, Daisha Watts, had remembered from 12 years ago.

She was seven years old when she last saw him in person. But when she walked into Sacramento Valley Station, she recognized him immediately.

“I remembered his face,” she said.

Colusa County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Thompson took nine years off Watts’ 26-year prison term during a Jan. 25 hearing, ruling that he was properly sentenced at the time but that subsequent legal changes to sentencing enhancements made him eligible to have his sentence shortened.

Watts was driving the bus with 40 passengers from the Sacramento area to a casino near Colusa on Oct. 5, 2008, when the bus veered off the road.

Passengers said Watts seemed to be asleep or unconscious, and prosecutors alleged that he was sleep deprived and hadn’t properly cared for his insulindependent diabetes before the crash.

To this day, many people still remember the California Highway Patrol’s early claim that Watts might have been drunk at the time of the crash. He was not drunk.

“That was a terrible accident,” Quinton Watts said at the train station Wednesday. “It should have never happened. I lost my family member as well as they lost theirs.”

“It happened,” he added. “It was a terrible thing. And I just pray that somehow, someway they can forgive me for even being involved in that.”

An investigation by the newspaper found that a physician assistant had erroneously cleared Watts to drive despite his history of having a seizure disorder.

It said Watts’ attorney did not put on much of a defense, presenting just one witness; that the prosecution featured statements that Watts made while he was medicated at a hospital hours after the crash; and questioned whether Watts, who is Black, was unfairly convicted by a jury with no Black jurors.

John Poyner, the former Colusa County district attorney who prosecuted Watts, told the paper he didn’t know about the seizure disorder and said Watts had paid the price and should be released from prison for a crash he didn’t cause on purpose.

On the ride back to Stockton, Daisha Watts pointed out landmarks to her father. Where she used to go hang out after school. A lake they can go swimming in.

He was trying to take it all in and tinkered with his new phone. It wouldn’t work, he thought. He’d never seen one quite like it _ when he was arrested, flip phones with T9 text messages were still top-of-the-line.

A few minutes after arriving at his family’s home in Stockton, Watts stepped out the front door, ambled down a short path and put his hands on the bark of a tree. He wrapped his arms around its trunk. Then he exhaled.

“Something as simple as this means so much to a prisoner,” he said.

World & Nation

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THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Biden, Harris Have Experiences Needed to Heal Country’s Wounds Bishop Barber Says in Inaugural Prayer Service Nationally, more than 140 million poor and low-income people live in the United States, or 43% of the country’s population, and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, with organizing committees in 45 states, is building a moral fusion movement to address the five interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism and a distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism.

Our demands are reflected in our Jubilee Platform.

We also have listed 14 policy priorities for the first 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration and the new Congress.

Both the new president and vice president have the personal experiences with the breaches in America that will help them heal the country’s wounds, Bishop William J. Barber II said in the sermon he delivered as part of the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service.

“The breach is when we say ‘one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’ with our lips while we see the rich and the poor living in two very different Americas.

And every now and then, a nation needs breach repairers to take us forward,” Bishop Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, said during the recorded sermon.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris invited Bishop Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and minister of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to deliver the homily during the interfaith service hosted by the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. President Biden knew the breach of economic struggle in his childhood and the breach of a broken heart, while Vice President Harris has known the political and social breach of racism, which tried to place a breach between her intelligence and the school she could attend, Bishop Barber said.

Bishop Barber, who also is a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, noted prophet Isaiah’s conviction that “We don’t have to put up with things as they are. We can contradict the breach with every prayer, every policy, every sermon from every pulpit, and every call to the people.”

“No, America has never yet been all that she has hoped to be. But right here, right now, a Third Reconstruction is possible if we choose,” he said.

The Poor People’s Campaign is a movement of people who also know the nation’s breaches with state activists and leaders who organize around an agenda that includes a living wage, health care for all, union rights, paid sick leave, housing and just COVID relief.

When then-candidate Joe Biden joined the Moral Monday Mass Assembly on the voting power of poor and low-income people in September front of over 1 million viewers, he vowed that, “ending poverty will not just be an aspiration, it will be a theory of change — to build a new economy that includes everyone, where we reward hard work, we care for the most vulnerable among us, we release the potential of all our children, and protect the planet.”

In December, more than 30 leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign, including poor and low-income people, economists, public health officials, clergy, organizational partners representing millions across the country, met online with members of the Biden-Harris domestic policy team.

The Poor People’s Campaign also released 14 policy priorities for the first 50 to 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration, including the establishment of a permanent president council to advocate for its agenda.

In his sermon, Bishop Barber said the nation cannot accept that 140 million Americans were poor or lowincome even before the pandemic.

“We must address the five interconnecting injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, war economy, and the false distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism,” he said.

“These are breaches that must be addressed, and, according to the text, repairing the breaches will bring revival,” Bishop Barber said. “If we the people, with God’s help, repair the breach, revival and renewal will come.

Weeping and mourning may endure in this night of our discontent, but joy will come in the morning.”

In his sermon, Bishop Barber said the nation cannot accept that 140 million Americans were poor or lowincome even before the pandemic.

Why Black America Could Care Less About Emanuel Jackson’s Fate Jackson turned himself into the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, admitting his role in the Jan. 6 Trump-inspired insurrection that resulted in the death of a Capitol Police officer, disrupted an act of Congress, and much destruction.

Unlike the more than 100 people arrested, Jackson is one of the few held without bail. A trial may not come for at least another year.

“That Emanuel Jackson didn’t understand he’d be immediately reprimanded and not coddled like his white counterparts long before he decided to become an insurrectionist is to his embarrassment,” Tweeted JoNell Kennedy (@NoAverageJoJo). (Photo: Screenshot / FBI)

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Emanuel Jackson is realizing – perhaps a bit too late – that the grass is never greener on the other side.

In other words, according to dozens of African American social media users, Jackson is getting a lesson on how different American Justice is for Black people – even if you are a supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Jackson turned himself into the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, admitting his role in the Jan. 6 Trump-inspired insurrection that resulted in the death of a Capitol Police officer, disrupted an act of Congress, and much destruction.

Unlike the more than 100 people arrested, Jackson is one of the few held without bail. A trial may not come for at least another year.

“It’s his fault,” Twitter user Lola (@Defenses009) wrote. “This was white people’s business, and he decided to attend knowing the dangers it poses to black folk.”

Offered Tia H (@tiaa345): “He was here for the racist version of America. Well, I hope they show him what the justice system is like for folks like him on that side.”

Many others tweeted similar sentiments, while Instagram was flooded with comments expressing why Black America could care less about Jackson’s jailing, and his fate.

Authorities claim that Jackson was one of the first to enter the U.S. Capitol during the riot.

At one point, video taken during the insurrection

shows him repeatedly hitting a police officer as law enforcement tried to prevent the mob from breaking into the building.

Jackson allegedly admitted to being the individual captured on video carrying a military-style backpack while wearing a black sweatshirt and blue mask.

The footage purportedly shows Jackson striking out at police with a metal baseball bat.

Authorities have arrested and charged at least 134 people involved in the insurrection that immediately followed a Trump rally near the U.S. Capitol.

More than 200 case files have been opened in connection with the Capitol siege.

During the rally, Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani encouraged thousands of supporters to “stop the steal” about Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

The former president and many close to him at the rally suggested violence.

The Black Press learned from Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) Trump telephoned Senate members while the violent attack was occurring.

She said the former president urged them to overturn President Joe Biden’s election victory.

“The senators themselves were victims,” Congresswoman Plaskett remarked.

“They received phone calls from Donald Trump in the middle of the riot, not asking about their well-being, but if they would continue to obstruct the election.”

Michael Sherwin, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said officials are looking at “significant felony cases” that include sedition and conspiracy.

While Jackson apparently will linger in jail until trial, bail was granted to most insurrection suspects. Several were released without having to post bail.

Eric Munchel, who was photographed carrying zipties into the Senate Chambers, was released to home confinement despite federal agents finding a cache of highpowered weapons, tactical vests, and more plastic restraints at his Nashville, Tenn., house.

“I found that those actions are dangerous to our system of government and our democracy and our Constitution,” Magistrate Chip Frensley stated during Munchel’s court appearance. “But the consequences of those actions is for another day.”

Jacob Chansley, charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct, refused to eat food provided by the jail and demanded a strictly organic diet.

A judge granted his request.

“That Emanuel Jackson didn’t understand he’d be immediately reprimanded and not coddled like his white counterparts long before he decided to become an insurrectionist is to his embarrassment,” Tweeted JoNell Kennedy (@NoAverageJoJo).

“How did he not know this? All I can give him is the shoulder shrug – he was warned.”

Dr. Ben Chavis Named Among 100 Most Influential Blacks Today

The CORE 100 was unveiled in a series of communications that led to the full presentation in the CORE 100 Special Issue Magazine on Feb. 1, 2021.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., was named to the inaugural CORE Multimedia Group’s 100 Most Influential Blacks Today.

The CORE 100 honorees, which include changemakers like Stacey Abrams, Attorney Ben Crump, NBA superstar LeBron James, and Oprah Winfrey, mark and remind the world of the beauty, boldness, and brilliance of Black Excellence at a time when the cultural, economic, and political landscape in the United States has grown increasingly more hostile towards Blackness.

“I am grateful for the recognition from the respected CORE Magazine,” remarked Dr. Chavis, who in addition to his tireless work for the NNPA, hosts a weekly national talk show on PBS and PBS World called “The Chavis Chronicles.”

“On behalf of the NNPA, representing the Black Press of America, and on behalf of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV, I accept with rededication the global struggle for freedom, justice,

and equality,” Chavis concluded.

The CORE 100 was unveiled in a series of communications that led to the full presentation in the CORE 100 Special Issue Magazine on Feb. 1, 2021.

The addition of the CORE 100 Most Influential Blacks Today to the CORE brand supports the vision of former professional baseball player, coach, and executive; and magazine founder, Bo Porter, to address the void of Black-owned, historical and culturally diverse publications.

“CORE Magazine blazes a trail with uplifting articles and a showcasing of unsung heroes often not found in mainstream media outlets,” the magazine noted in a news release.

CORE – Champion of Real Excellence – debuted on Oct. 1, 2020.

Each quarterly issue contains distinct and recurring feature stories like “Ball2Business,” former athletes who successfully transitioned to the business sector; and “ME2me, professionals providing inspiration by sharing their lessons learned to their “younger selves.”

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Thursday, February 11, 2021

Features

THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER A3

Reddit Rebellion Rescues GameStop Stock

Continued from page A1

But before the squeeze by the amateur traders, hedge fund giants routinely executed short sales.

A short sale is when someone borrows a share of a stock at a certain. The borrower has a limited number of days to either pay for the stock or return the shares to the lender. But they have already received an amount equal to the lender’s sell price from whoever purchased the stock from them. Now, if the stock’s price falls (which is what the borrower is counting on), the borrower can then buy the stock at the lower price and keep the difference.

In other words, as explained by CNBC, if you short a $7 stock and it slides in price, and you buy it at $2, your profit is $5.

“However, if the price goes up, at some point, you still will need to finish the transaction – that is, you’d have to buy that stock to repay the brokerage. So, if that $7 stock

rises, and you have to buy it at $10 to cover your short position, you’ve lost $3.”

The GameStop situation has opened eyes – including those of many Black investors.

“What this means for the African American investor is that it shows the power of unity and a united front,” Christon’ The Truth’ Jones, the 14-year-old African American wunderkind investor from Baltimore.

“Showing that it is possible to take back the power from the institutional investors, like the big banks and hedge funds. Because for years, the Wall Street investors have bet against the struggling GameStop, which has been a failing business ever since gamers began buying directly from the consoles,” Christon added.

“With the big Institutional investors on Wall Street betting against GameStop they were sure the game retailer

would fail, and they would receive big payouts from betting against the retailer. All in all, it represents our ability to come together as a people and use our numbers, resources, and intellect to our advantage to break down the systems that have been put in place to oppress us.”

Film producer Jimmy Philémond-Montout of PHILEMOND LTD said the Reddit investors democratized Wall Street and Hedge Funds’ opaque world.

“What it means is that more African American investors will appear, thanks to the slew of information that is readily available online, not just the run-of-the-mill, textbook information but the gritty and dirty,” PhilémondMontout offered.

“We see this in many different avenues, and to me, that is the beauty of online message boards and the internet in general. Thorvald McGregor or Lawrence Lewis are

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent St. Augustine, Florida, the country’s oldest city, has always been a contradiction.

Today, the city along the northeast coast of Florida is recognized for its breathtaking Spanish colonial architecture and the tranquil beaches that sit off the Atlantic Ocean.

A Spanish settler founded it, and many believe it was home to the first Black Americans in the late 1500s.

Some of the oldest written records list the first birth of a Black child in St. Augustine in 1606.

Two hundred-plus years later, in 1812, a Black militia rescued the city from foreign invasion.

Despite the rich African American history, St. Augustine remained one of the hottest beds of white supremacy and white privilege.

It was while in St. Augustine that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., urged President Lyndon B. Johnson to send federal troops to protect peaceful protestors, and to restore order.

The Ku Klux Klan had staged violent nighttime rides, including severely burning Robert Hayling, a Black dentist, and civil rights leader, during one of their infamous rallies.

The homes of Black families were torched, their cars firebombed by white supremacists. Police used dogs, hot sticks, and Billy clubs to attack peaceful Black protestors.

“All semblance of law and order has broken down in St. Augustine,” Dr. King declared in January 1964.

The declaration came shortly after the St. Augustine Four’s release from prison.

In July 1963, JoeAnn Anderson Ulmer, Samuel White, Audrey Nell Edwards, and Willie Carl Singleton started a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in St. Augustine.

The group, along with several other teenagers, were arrested and taken to jail.

Prosecutors offered each plea deals in which they would only be released if they agreed to not participate in

any more demonstrations.

They were also pressured to say that movement organizer, Dr. Hayling, was guilty of contributing to minors’ delinquency.

The St. Augustine Four were the only individuals to reject the plea deal. The four were sent to reform school and remained incarcerated until they were ordered released about six months later by Gov. Cecil Farris Bryant.

Edwards Hamilton got the attention of Dr. King and baseball superstar Jackie Robinson.

They flew Hamilton and Anderson to Connecticut to honor them for their heroic stand for freedom, justice, and equality.

Robinson and his wife, Rachel, took the two young ladies on a tour of New York’s Empire State Building and the World’s Fair in Queens.

In a 2011 interview with the Southern Oral History Program under contract to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History & Culture and the Library of Congress, Hamilton and Anderson recalled their part in the civil rights struggle.

They also recalled the day Deputy Everett Haney arrested them.

“You know what? If we kill these two n-----s and say they tried to escape … nothing would be said,” Anderson recalled the deputy saying.

Later, at reform school, Anderson noted the anguish they experienced. “We saw our mothers’ pain when they came up to that school [for a weekend visit] and seen our bloody knees. We had to scrub floors on our knees. We had to wax floors on our knees … until you see your face in them,” Anderson recalled.

In the 2011 interview, Anderson again set the record straight about Dr. Hayling, who later died in 2015 at 86.

“He was our advisor, youth advisor, and he just motivated us to want to go and make a difference in St. Augustine,” Anderson stated.

She also reminisced about her motivation to fight for

civil rights.

“I didn’t too much care about my mom having to come and buy my school supplies at Woolworth’s because at that time, there was no Wal- Marts and it was just a downtown area with Woolworth’s and McCrory’s [dime store],” Anderson uttered in the 2011 interview.

“And they would buy our school supplies there, and there was a lunch counter over there and, uh, she would go in, come out, from walking through the park. Had to pass the fountain in the park because, it, uh, had ‘white only’ on it and, uh, she would go over there and buy my sup, school supplies, and she would also buy, you know, the accessories that you needed, you know, for school.

“But she couldn’t go over and get a drink of water. I had a problem with that, and I said to myself, ‘You know, there’s something wrong with this picture.’“ The St. Augustine Four joined a group of teens who gathered at St. Paul’s church near Hamilton’s home.

“I said, ‘I’m going to go down there and see what they’re doing.’ But all they were doing was gathering. Then Mr. Clyde Jenkins, Dr. Hayling, Ms. Lucille Plummer, and Ms. Fannie Wood started bringing us supplies to make picket signs.

“So, we made our little picket signs, and we would go downtown every day [until we were arrested at the Woolworth counter].”

A recent report noted how unkind the years had been to the four civil rights heroes. Willie Carl Singleton, who died at 41, and Samuel White, who died at 58, never spoke about their experiences.

JoeAnn Anderson Ulmer occasionally participated in remembrances of the movement with Audrey Nell Edwards Hamilton, but she moved out of St. Augustine to raise her family in Jacksonville, where she thought the racism would be less severe. She died in June at 73.

Edwards Hamilton still resides in Florida. She’s 73.

credited with being the first registered African American securities salesmen in 1949.

“Harvey Thomas, Forrest Tomlinson, and George King were the first three African-American brokers to be hired by Merrill Lynch in 1965. Travers Bell and Willie Daniels established Daniels & Bell, Inc. in 1971, making it the first African American firm on the New York Stock Exchange.

“Now, thanks to Robinhood, Etoro, and TD, among others, everyone can be an investor. We have to read and learn to understand how it works fully, the good and the bad stuff, but we have access to the market. I think wild times are ahead in general, and that the Afro-descendant community has to take part in this.”

The St. Augustine Four is a Vital Part of Black History

In July 1963, JoeAnn Anderson Ulmer, Samuel White, Audrey Nell Edwards, and Willie Carl Singleton started a sit-in protest at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in St. Augustine.

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Entertainment

A4

THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Yawn, is it Monday Yet? The Weeknd Bores at Halftime Review:

By MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) – His name is The Weeknd but his Super Bowl performance felt like a dreary Monday morning.

The pop star headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, running through his many hits like an Olympic relay track team aiming for the gold. But he wasn't victorious Sunday night – no silver or bronze medals will be handed out here.

The Weeknd kicked off his 14-minute set in his signature red blazer and sunglasses, directing his robotic ensemble and singing “Call Out My Name.” His nasally, semi-Michael Jackson-esque vocals shined _ especially during “The Hills” and “Earned It” _ but the performance felt like it was designed for a typical awards show in the vein of the Billboard Awards or MTV VMAs _ not the Super Bowl stage.

Maybe he had restrictions – either creatively, or COVID-ly? Who knows, but overall his performance felt limited and inadequate. Special guests should have been a non-negotiable.

The Weeknd finally came to life – 10 minutes to the performance – when he and dozens of his dancers hit the field to perform the explosive hit “Blinding Lights,” giving off flash mob vibes.

He was finally center stage, where he needed to

be all night. But it was too late to save the show _most of the singing was done on the sidelines, as if it was an afterthought. Maybe because it was.

Who did impress the world at the Super Bowl? Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church.

The odd couple proved why they are multiple Grammy-nominated stars in their own right, blending their vocals beautifully to create a memorable, enjoyable rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” on Sunday.

Church kicked off the performance, strumming his guitar and giving all the feels with his raspy vocals. Sullivan later joined in, her voice also raspy but heavy and rich, belting the lyrics like a veteran singer. They both gained new fans Sunday night.

They finished the song singing together – Church letting Sullivan stand front and center with her beaming vocals and him right behind her, melding in epically like a perfect teammate.

Before that performance, Grammy-winning guitar slayer H.E.R. proved her rock star status with her rendition of “America the Beautiful.” Her vocals were soft and strong, as she strummed her guitar like a true star.

Sullivan, Church and H.E.R. performed in Tampa at the Raymond James Stadium before Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the Kansas City Chiefs.

By KRISTIN M. HALL AP Entertainment Writer NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A new museum two decades in the making is telling the interconnected story of Black musical genres through the lens of American history.

The National Museum of African American Music, which opened with a virtual ribbon-cutting on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is seated in the heart of Nashville's musical tourism district, alongside honky-tonks and the famed Ryman Auditorium and blocks from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Even as Nashville has long celebrated its role in the history of music, the new museum fills a gap by telling an important and often overlooked story about the roots of American popular music, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B and hip-hop.

“When we think of the history of African American music and the important part it has played in our country, it was long overdue to honor it in this type of way,” said gospel great CeCe Winans, who serves as a national chair for the museum.

The idea for the museum came from two Nashville business and civic leaders, Francis Guess and T.B. Boyd, back in 1998, who wanted a museum dedicated to Black arts and culture. And while there are museums around the country that focus on certain aspects of Black music, this museum bills itself as the first of its kind to be all encompassing.

“Most music museums deal with a label, a genre or an artist,” said H. Beecher Hicks III, the museum's president and CEO. “So it's one thing to say that I'm a hip hop fan or

I'm a blues fan, but why? What was going on in our country and our lived experience and our political environment that made that music so moving, so inspirational, such the soundtrack for that part of our lives?”

The museum tells a chronological story of Black music starting in the 1600s through present day and framed around major cultural movements including the music and instruments brought by African slaves, the emergence of blues through the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement.

When Winans recently took a tour of the museum, she saw her own family of gospel singers, The Winans, represented in the museum's exhibit on spiritual music alongside the artists that influenced her own musical career.

“You never start out doing what you're doing to be a part of history or even be a part of a museum,” said the 12-time Grammy-winning singer.

She noted that the museum put gospel music in context with how it inspired social change, especially during the civil rights era.

“When you look at all the different movements that have happened down through the years, and Martin Luther King Jr., it was always with the church behind them,” said Winans. “It was the gospel music that inspired us to love one another, to build bridges.”

New Museum Traces History of Black Music Across Genres including 25 stations that allow visitors to virtually explore the music.

Visitors can learn choreographed dance moves with a virtual instructor, sing “Oh Happy Day” with a choir led by gospel legend Bobby Jones and make their own hip-hop beats. Visitors can take home their recordings to share via a personal RFID wristband.

There will be a changing exhibit gallery, with the first topic to be the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an a cappella group originally formed in 1871 to raise money for Fisk University. The group sang slave spirituals at their concerts.

The tradition continues today.

After a year of racial reckoning through the movement of Black Lives Matter, Hicks said the timing couldn't be more perfect to highlight the contributions of Black music to our shared American experience. “(It) is not an accident that we are able to finish and get the museum open in this moment, in this moment where we need to be reminded, perhaps more than others or more than in the recent past that we are brothers and we share more together than we do our differences,” said Hicks.

The museum has 1,600 artifacts in their collection, including clothes and a Grammy Award belonging to Ella Fitzgerald, a guitar owned by B.B. King and a trumpet played by Louis Armstrong. To make the best use out of the space, the exhibits are layered with interactive features,

Amanda Gorman, the 22-year-old poet who stirred America at the inauguration of President Joe Biden last month, again commanded the spotlight on one of the country’s biggest stages, the Super Bowl. (Courtesy photo)

Amanda Gorman Brings Poetry to the Super Bowl

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) – Amanda Gorman, the 22-yearold poet who stirred America at the inauguration of President Joe Biden last month, again commanded the spotlight on one of the country's biggest stages, the Super Bowl.

Gorman read an original poem Sunday during the pregame festivities in Tampa, Florida. The poem, titled “Chorus of the Captains,” was a tribute to three people for their contributions during the pandemic: educator Trimaine Davis, nurse manager Suzie Dorner and Marine veteran James Martin.

Gorman didn't perform on the field but appeared in a taped video message that combined Gorman's reading with images of Davis, Dorner and Martin. Recited Gorman: “Let us walk with these warriors, Charge on with these champions, And carry forth the call of our captains.

We celebrate them by acting, With courage and compassion, By doing what is right and just.

For while we honor them today, It is they who every day honor us.”

That Gorman brought poetry to the Super Bowl was an almost unthinkable collision of grace and glitz. But if

the Super Bowl, an annual rite of excess, was an unlikely platform for a poet, it showed just how much Gorman has seized the nation's spotlight since the inauguration.

Gorman, previously the country's first National Youth Poet Laureate, was the youngest person to ever recite a poem at the U.S. presidential inauguration. Her reading of “The Hill We Climb” at the Capitol immediately became a sensation. An illustrated book of her poem quickly zoomed to the top of bestseller lists. Shortly after the inauguration, she signed with IMG Models, an agency that represents supermodels, tennis star Naomi Osaka and playwright Jeremy O. Harris. This week, she covers Time Magazine, in an interview conducted by Michelle Obama.

Gorman’s Super Bowl appearance had been planned before the inauguration. She seemed to grasp the unlikeliness of her pre-game reading, the first in Super Bowl history. And with potentially 100 million viewers on the CBS telecast, it made for one very well-attended poetry recital.

“Poetry at the Super Bowl is a feat for art and our country, because it means we're thinking imaginatively about human connection even when we feel siloed,” Gorman said Sunday on Twitter. “I'll honor three heroes who exemplify the best of this effort. Here's to them, to poetry and to a Super Bowl like no other.”

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Sports

THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER A5

Bucs Get Super Win Over Chiefs

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer The more things change the more they stay the same. Patrick Mahomes is the up and coming quarterback who has wooed the NFL. He and his Kansas City teammates claimed last year’s Super Bowl title in his second full year as a starter.

This year they took on a 43-year old Tom Brady who played in his tenth Super Bowl game and Tampa Bay a team they beat during the regular season 27-24.

Sunday however was the time to play for all the marbles as the ageless one appeared in control from early on as they rolled to a 31-9 win. That makes Brady the oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

He completed 21 of 29 passes for 209 yards and three scores.

The win gave Brady his seventh SB win, more than any player and any team in league history.

After a Chiefs first quarter field goal the ageless one drove his team 75 yards in eight plays connecting with Rob Gronkowski for an eight-yard touchdown.

In the second quarter it was Brady again leading a short 38yard drive hitting Gronk on a 17-yard TD pass.

It was the fifth Super Bowl TD catch the 31-year-old Gronk and the 14th post-season touchdown for the pair, an NFL record.

Seven time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady. (Photo Credit: Ben Liebenberg/NFL)

“You never know who’s going to get the ball who’s going to

make plays in the game,” said Gronk. “We have so much talent on this team.”

Gronk finished the day with 6 catches for 67 yards. He had 45 catches for 623 yards and 7 touchdowns during the season.

It was Lenard Fournette (89 yards) and Ronald Jones II of USC (61 yards) who led the ground attack and help control time of possession 31:23 to 28:37.

A Bucs drive was extended during a field goal attempt as the Chiefs were called for off-side on 4th and 5.

It was a theme during the day as six Kansas City penalties resulted in a Bucs first downs. A pass interference call against the Chiefs was part of a 5 play 75-yard drive.

Jaydon Mickens of Dorsey High returned the kick-offs for 75 yards giving him a 25-yard average per return.

Brady hit Antonio Brown on a one-yard pass that gave the home team a 21-6 lead at half.

“It’s great to see big time players make big time plays,” said Brady. “I just love the way they’ve added (Gronk and Brown) to the team.”

It was a well executed game plan put together by Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. They put so much pressure on Mahomes he never got in a rhythm. He was pressured a record 29 times. He surpassed Buffalos Jim Kelly’s 25 in Super Bowl

XXVI. He was chased so much according to NextGen Stats he was calculated as running for 497 yards ‘behind’ the line of scrimmage.

Last year’s Super Bowl MVP completed just 26 of 49 passes for 270 yards with two interceptions, giving him a 52.3- passer rating. It was the first time he has suffered a double- digit loss as pro.

Devin White led the defense with 12 tackles 8 solo and he had an interception at the goal line. He appeared to be the only player to slow down the Chiefs Greg Kelce.

“I think he (Bowles) got tired of hearing hoe unstoppable they were,” said Bucs head coach Bruce Arians. “I thought he came up with a fantastic plan, just keep them in front of us and tackle.”

Before this season the Bucs had the worst won-lost record of the four Major League sports team. But this post season they became the first NFL team to score 30 points in all four post season games.At the age of 68 Arians became the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.

“It feels amazing, it’s tremendous,” Gronk told WEEI radio.

“It’s just an unbelievable story. The first team to go to a Super Bowl in its hometown. It’s so surreal.”

got a long way to go.”

2/5/21 (11-9) Boston Celtics vs (17-6) Los Angeles Clippers Coming off a six-game road trip the (17-6) Los Angeles Clippers are looking to defend their home court from the, (11-9) Boston Celtics who would be without the Jaylen Brown, Romeo Langford and most importantly Marcus Smart. The Clippers would be playing this game without the services of the league’s leader in 3P% (.478, min 7.0 attempts) and fifth in three-pointers made (75) Paul George who suffered an injury to his foot against the Cavaliers.

The Clippers lead the NBA in most games shooting at least 50% from beyond the arc (6) and are 12-0 when they make at least 16 three-pointers. They also currently have the secondbest record in the league and lead the NBA in 3P% (.423) and FT% (.849), second in offensive rating (117.3) and plus/minus differential (7.9) and tied for fourth in FG% (.482). Additionally, Paul George (24.4) and Kawhi Leonard (26.2) are the fourthhighest scoring duo in the NBA this season.

However, Paul George would miss this game against the team with the 4th best record in the Eastern conference. The Clippers would maintain their ball movement, and example of that came when Kawhi penetrated then kicked the ball out to Luke Kennard behind the arc, he then kicked the ball to Reggie Jackson, who had an open shot but kicked it to Nic Batum who was open for a better shot and knocks down a three pointer to give them a 13-point lead 53-40 with 4:15 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter of the game. This play is a microcosm of their unselfish play all season long. The Clippers are in fact, are 16-2 this season when building a lead of at least 10 points so far this season.

However, after hitting 7 threes in the first half, the Celtics hit 8 threes in the 3rd quarter. When asked about what happened in that quarter the team’s newest father Nic Batum said, “The energy switched up... The 3rd quarter is usually our quarter.”

The Clippers would battle back and to regain the 108106 lead, on a Kawhi Leonard turnaround jumper. Yet the Celtics would hit five straight free throws to regain the lead. Lou Williams would then hit a corner three to hit give the Clippers the lead but could not hold onto the after Kawhi missed a couple tough jumpers. “Sometimes other teams just play better than you and in that stretch I thought that’s what they did,” Lou Williams said. “That was definitely a confidence-builder,” Walker said. “We started off slow, but we stuck together throughout the whole game. Energy was great, communication was great, our togetherness was on a whole other level.”

in the early starts. This would be another game without Patrick Beverley (knee) and MVP candidate Paul George (foot).

Understanding that the Clippers historically struggle in these early starts, I asked Head Coach Ty Lue about this and his response was, “We’ve been winning these games!” Which they have this season, though that whooping the Mavericks put on them early in the season is hard to put out our minds.

The Sacramento Kings came to town riding a 3 game winning streak, and a 6-1 record since the Clippers beat them a few short weeks ago. Luke Kennard would get another start for the injured Paul George in this game and the Clippers would turn to Terance Mann to run the point for the missing veteran point guard.

The Clippers came out and won the first quarter by shooting 50% from the 3 point line. However, the Kings had the advantage in rebounds and assist also protecting the ball the best, recording just 1 turnover in that initial quarter.

Today Ivica Zubac has his 5th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds, yet the Clippers couldn’t overcome their second least assist output of the season with 16 assists on 41 made shots. Their previous low mark was 13 on 26 made shots; some of you can likely recall that game. This led to their first consecutive losses all season.

The Clippers finished their third game with under 10 3 point shots made and their second game of shooting less than 30% from behind the Arc (8-28=28.6%). Kawhi responded by saying, “Some of the shots went in and out. Our pace was pretty low the majority of the game, but just give credit to Sac (Sacramento) they came in ready,” when I asked him about this specific stat.

Although the Clippers lost this game, Clippers Head Coach Ty Lue showed that he is loose and knows how to be a good sport, by busting my chops for the question I asked pre-game, by opening his post-game press conference “Cam just jinxed us that’s what he wanted to do, huh?” This is another indicator that Ty has created an atmosphere where the players can relax and be themselves on the court and not take things too seriously.

The Clippers’ record for the season shows that this is a favorable change for them this season.

Kindly share your thoughts on what has stood out to you a quarter of the way through the season, you’ve noticed about the Clippers team thus far, by reaching out to me on Twitter @ whatsgoodnsport or forward any suggestions on what topics or angles you’d like to see discussed to info@whatsgoodinsports. com.

Lastly, be sure to subscribe to our weekly “Voice of the Fans Podcast” which is available for you on most podcasting platforms; Apple and Google Podcasts including Spotify, TuneIn, and, iHeart Radio to name a few. On our Podcast, we have passionate banter about various NFL storylines, while addressing the multitude of NBA topic.

Courtside with Clippers – Week 5

By Cameron Buford whatsgoodinsports.com 2/2/21 (16-5) Los Angeles Clippers vs (13-9) Brooklyn Nets In the fifth game of their East Coast road trip, of which they were 3-1 before heading to Barclay’s Center to face the vaunted Brooklyn Nets. Yet the Clippers would be missing their defensiveminded point guard Patrick Beverley, who is still dealing with soreness in his knee. Like many NBA insiders, I believe this to be a potential NBA Finals matchup.

The Clippers came into this matchup with the NBA’s best record and endured one loss in their most recent eleven games.

They also came in boasting the league’s leading 3-point percentage 41.7%. Their new addition Nic Batum continues to play an important role on this team with his defense and timely buckets.

This would be the Nets’ 10th game since acquiring, former leagues James Harden. They are looking to bounce back from a shameful defensive performance, when they gave up 48 points, to the Washington Wizards, in the fourth quarter of their Sunday loss.

The Clippers made nine of their first eleven shots to jump out to an early 12-point lead. They maintained a double-digit margin through the 3:30 minutes mark in the half, until the Nets closed the half on a 12-2 spurt to narrow the lead to 58-57 at the break.

Though the Clippers held a lead midway through the fourth, the Nets would soon show off their explosiveness. Durant hit a 3-pointer the Irving, who finished with a game-high 39 points, would hit one of his own and then made a basket and another 3.

Harden would then join the mix by hitting a three-pointer of his own to finish the spurt and hand the Clippers the second loss of their road trip.

In this game, Kawhi Leonard became the second player in franchise history and record at least 33 points, five assists, four steals, and two blocks. The first player to do so was Bob McAdoo vs. Phoenix nearly 46 years ago. Paul George chipped in 26 points for the Clippers who finished 15 for 36 from deep. Which was right at their season average of 41.7%. When asked about the game Paul George said, “It was a fun matchup… Look forward to doing it again.” Which they will meet again later in the month at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Kyrie’s excitement for hoop fans showed in his post-game press conference when he said, “It was great competition for the top players in the world, some of the top players in the world to go against each other on TV.”

Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George sets up to make a move against Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant at The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo Credit: Los Angeles Clippers)

2/3/21 (16-6) Los Angeles Clippers vs (11-9) Cleveland Cavaliers The Clippers would bounce back in this game against the Cavaliers as Paul George would attempt to make up for lost time in the game. George became the only player in franchise history to have multiple games with at least 8 three-pointers made.

Modestly speaking George said, “I had some good looks, and I just told myself that if I got the same open shots, I would knock them down.” George is the only player in franchise history to achieve the feat twice.

Collin Sexton scored 27 and Darius Garland 23 for the Cavaliers, who played well in spurts but couldn’t stop the Clippers’ 3-point barrage. “Paul George had more 3s than our team,” Garland said. “I don’t think we’re going to win many games shooting just 2s.”

In this game, Ibaka became one of 28 players in NBA history with at least 1,700 blocked shots, in addition to becoming one of 20 players in NBA history with at least 1,700 blocked shots and 10,000 points. Fellow frontcourt big man Ivica Zubac also pulled down his career-high with 16 rebounds, to earn his fourth double-double off the bench this season which is tied for the most in the NBA. This is also the Clippers sixth game this season that they have shot at least 50% from beyond the arc which is the most such games in the NBA this season. Additionally, this was the sixth game in Clippers franchise history and the second game this season that the Clippers have made at least 20 three-pointers. The Clippers are 12-0 when they make at least 16 three-pointers.

Against the Cavaliers, the Clippers achieved their 17th win of the season, while finishing their 6 game road trip with a 4-2 record. Yet Head Coach Ty Lue to say, “We’re getting better.

We’ve got some things we’ve still got to get better at. We’ve still

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer Jaydon Mickens woke up on Monday morning February 8 a Super Bowl Champion. He has reached a goal that all pro football players want. The Dorsey High grad has played the game in front of some 100 million viewer’s worldwide.

He returned the opening kick-off 23 yards to set the tone of the game. In all he had three kick-off returns for 75-yards on the day giving him a 25-yard average in helping underdog Tampa Bay to a 31-9 win over the favored Kansas City.

“It (special teams) is the most important and scariest roll on the field to some people,” Mickens said at a video conference. “On some kicks that ball is up higher than the stadium rafters and that ball has to be caught. You can change the dynamics of the game

with a good run back, and if the kicker is trying to kick it away from you he could shank it, I love it.”

It’s the way he got to the game that showed what type of person he is. He has a drive and a perseverance.

When he landed with the Bucs he found a whole new culture.

“This organization has savvy mind set of getting good people, not just great players but good people. I might be throwing with Griff (Ryan Griffin), I might be throwing with Blaine (Blaine Gabbert), I might be throwing with Tom. I threw with Tom all camp long he wants me to be game ready.”

Brady would stop an entire drill to come show Jaydon a better way to run a route. He would come over a show him how to get an edge.

“Everyone helps everyone else out, it truly a family

2/7/21 (11-11) Sacramento Kings vs (17-7) Los Angeles Clippers This is another early game for the Los Angeles Clippers, which they historically haven’t played great in of seasons past.

Though coming into the game this season they have a 3-1 record

Mickens had Winding Road to Super Bowl

Lakers Go Overtime Back to Back

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer It’s been a grind at home as Los Angeles took on OKC at Staples and came away with a 119-112 overtime win. They now have the second best league record 19-6 (at press time)behind Utah 19-5.

Each team that comes in town plays their best basketball trying to knock off the Champs. It the second straight overtime game for The Lake Show. Lebron James had his 97th career triple-

Los Angeles, Ca - February 8: Dennis Schroder #17 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on February 8, 2021 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Credit: Adam Pantozzi)

double with 28-point ,14 boards and 12 assists. It was part of his 500th career double-double. Montrezl Harrell filling in for Anthony Davis resting a sore Achilles had 21 and 8 rebounds.

Harrell logged in 30 minutes.

The Lakers took on Detroit in the second game of a fivegame homestand there is something about the lowly Pistons. They give the Lakers trouble having beat them a week ago in the Motor City they came to Staples and took the World Champs in to double overtime even as Blake Griffin looked on from the bench.

Anthony Davis returned after a night off and poured in 30 and 5 rebounds. Lebron added 33 points 11 assists and 5 rebounds. The hustling Dennis Schroder had 22 and 8 dimes as seven Lakers hit double digits in scoring as they came away with a 135-129 double OT win.

The Lakers came away with a 114-93 win over Denver. It was a total team effort as seven players scored in double figures.

After a slow start they outscored the 68-35 In the second half.

This after coach Frank Vogel laid in the team at halftime.

“We weren’t playing hard enough,” said Vogel.

The Lakers then took on the Detroit Pistons.

The team returned to Staples after the longest road trip of the season-ten day, seven games finishing up 5-2.

LeBron led all scorers with 27 on his way to the 96th career triple-double finishing with 10 assists and 10 boards. He also made his 12,682nd career field goal putting him in third place All-Time passing Wilt Chamberlin.

“The association with a legend like Wilt Chamberlin that does something for me,” said James. “I’m someone who grew up reading about the game, studying the game. Wilt obviously was a big staple of that. It’s very humbling.

Dennis ‘The Menace’ Schroder dropped in 21 points has been a main stay on defense. His hustle stood out. On one play he raced after a loose ball dived on the floor while the ball got away from him, he got to his feet and dived on the floor a second time in the same sequence.

“He’ s’ making big plays for us” said Anthony Davis. He hustles he is picking up his man 94 feet. He’s everywhere his hands are on the ball.” The defense limited a season low 17 points in the third quarter.

atmosphere.” The former Washington Huskie was an undrafted free agent who caught the eye of former Trojan Jack Del Rio. He was signed by the Raiders in 2016. In 2017-2018 He played in Jacksonville before landing with the Bucs in 2019. He was released then picked up again by the Bucs. He is a wide receiver but when injuries happened, that led him to became the main kick returner.

When in Jacksonville he stayed in his car. Realizing things could change quickly rationalized the move. “People don’t understand this is a temporary job we only get paid six months out of the year. I tried to save every penny I could. If I could save 30 or 40 thousand dollars. I’m only 26 years old It would be good instead of getting caught in a lease.”

With a little stability in signing with the Bucs his life he has put together a dog business, breading French Bulldogs. He also has real estate investments happening. “I’m thinking about life after this game.

Former USC running back Ronald Jones also got his run in the game. He finished with 12 carries for 61 yards. The Fort Stewart, Georgia native was stopped on a key fourth and goal during the first half. He shared the running duties along with Lenard Fournette who ran for 89 yards on 16 carries including a 27-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

This past season Jones rushed for 978 yards on 192 carries (5.1 avg.) and 7 touchdowns.

Drafted in the 2nd round in 2018 he and Fournette both helped the Bucs lead the Chiefs in time of possession 31:23

Former Dorsey standout is now a Super Bowl a Super Bowl champion. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Bucs)

minutes to 28:37 as they combined for 150 yards on the ground.

They helped set-up play action passes. On one series in the second period Jones ran for seven yards, then eight on consecutive plays.

Brady next faked to Jones hit Mike Evans on a 31 yards pass.

Jones finished his college career with 3,619 rushing yards good enough for fifth place all time on the Trojan list.

The both of them did their part to help the team and become world champions. It appears that’s what Mickens had in mind: “This whole journey and getting to the Super Bowl this is what it’s supposed to be.”

Sarah Thomas Leads the Way Sarah Thomas, right, was the NFL’s first full-time female the first female to officiate a Super Bowl game.

(Courtesy Photo)

By Earl Heath Contributing Sports Writer Sarah Thomas, the NFL’s only female official, and became the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl when she worked Sundays Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game in Tampa.

The 47-year old Thomas has been in the NFL since 2015, “It’s just so meaningful,” Thomas said. “I never set out to be the first in any of this, but knowing the impact

that I’m having on not just my daughter but young girls everywhere, women everywhere, It’s just remarkable, and I’m truly honored and humbled to be a part of this year’s Super Bowl crew.”

Thomas was joined by two other women as pioneers Lori Locust is an assistant defensive line coach and Maral Javadifar is an assistant strength and conditioning coach on the staff of the Bucs head coach Bruce Arians.

A6

Celebrating Black History THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Black History in Science: Remembering Dr. George Carruthers

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent He built his first telescope at the age of 10, and by age 25, George Carruthers earned a Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering.

Upon graduating from the University of Illinois, Dr. Carruthers started work at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

His telescope and image converter identified molecular hydrogen in space, and his ultraviolet spectrograph was used by the Apollo 16 crew in their flight to the moon.

“In March 1610, Galileo Galilei reported the first use of a telescope to view mountains and maria on the moon,” Dr. Carruthers wrote in 1972. Many reported that his project collaborator, Thornton Page, a White man, acknowledged Carruthers’ brilliance and allowed him to lead on the project.

After all, just three years earlier, Dr. Carruthers was awarded a patent for his groundbreaking “Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths.”

Following that, the scientist’s UV telescope and image converter provided the first proof of molecular hydrogen in interstellar space.

His invention was used on Apr. 21, 1972, during the first lunar walk of the Apollo 16 mission.

It marked the first-time scientists examined the Earth’s atmosphere for concentrations of pollutants and see UV images of more than 550 stars, nebulae, and galaxies.

Dr. Carruthers earned NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his work on the project.

“On Apr. 21, 1972, the Apollo 16 commander positioned a somewhat more complex optical instrument at the Earth from the moon and obtained several remarkable photographs showing atmospheric rather than surface features,” Dr. Carruthers wrote.

One of the first and few Black scientists of his time, Dr. Carruthers died on Dec. 26, 2020, in Washington. He was 81.

Born Oct. 1, 1939, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr.

Dr. Carruthers receives the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from U.S. President Barack Obama on Feb. 1, 2013. / Department of the Navy’s Information Technology Magazine

Carruthers had three siblings. His father, George Sr., was a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Air Corps. and

reportedly encouraged his son’s interest in science.

According to his biography, the elder Carruthers died

when Dr. Carruthers was just 12. After his death, the family moved to Chicago, where Dr. Carruthers’ mother, Sophia, went to work for the U.S. Postal Service.

But Dr. Carruthers continued pursuing his interest in science.

“As one of only a handful of African-Americans competing in Chicago’s high school science fairs, he won three awards, including first prize for a telescope that he designed and built,” his biographers wrote.

In 1957, Carruthers graduated from Chicago’s Englewood High School and entered the engineering program at the University of Illinois’ Champaign-Urbana campus.

While an undergraduate, Carruthers focused on aerospace engineering and astronomy.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1961, Carruthers remained at the University of Illinois, where he earned a master’s in nuclear engineering in 1962.

In 1964, he earned a Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering.

In a 1992 interview with the American Institute of Physics, Dr. Carruthers was asked whether it takes anything different to get an African American student interested in science instead of a White child.

“One of the things that most people agree on is just giving them lectures is not really very effective. In other words, if you say that you are going to give a lecture on space science, that is too much like what they already get in school, so it is not going to make a lasting impression on them or necessarily attract them to the field,” Dr. Carruthers stated.

“So, what we have been trying to do is give them hands-on activities, use videos and demonstrations that get across information in a way that’s more like entertainment, because certainly students are interested in seeing science fiction movies on television, they like to see ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Battlestar Galactica.’ So, what we’re trying to do is cast real science in a way that’s as attractive to them as science fiction is.”

Black History Month at MLB & Clubs Major League Baseball, its Clubs, and media entities (MLB Network and MLB.com) will observe Black History Month 2021 in a variety of ways, across our sport and alumni participants of the Diversity Fellowship Program.

YOUTH OUTREACH & BASEBALL DEVELOPMENT • Youth Voices – MLB will launch a campaign to invite aspiring writers who are participants of the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) and MLB Youth Academy programs to share perspectives for MLB.com on a wide range of potential topics including individuals and moments from throughout the history of baseball as well as more contemporary topics of today’s game.

• Drive-Thru Events at Black Churches – The Baseball & Softball Development team at the Commissioner’s Office will host three special drive-thru PLAY BALL events at Black Churches in Charleston (SC), Oklahoma City (OK) and Richmond (VA), during which families and children will receive bat & ball sets that they can safely enjoy at home and various parts of their neighborhoods, such as parks and playgrounds. The socially distanced occasions at Black Churches is part of an ongoing effort of a community event series throughout the country to further bridge tangible connections between baseball and the Black community.

• Andre Dawson Classic – The annual collegiate baseball tournament launched by MLB in 2008 to highlight HBCUs and their baseball programs again will be hosted in New Orleans February 19th-21st. Seven HBCUs – including University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Alabama A&M University, Alcorn State University, Prairie View A&M University, Alabama State University, Jackson State University and Grambling State University – will play in the round-robin tournament with the University of New Orleans at the NOLA MLB Youth Academy and UNO Maestri Field.

• RBI Institute – The biennial RBI Institute will be hosted virtually from February 23rd through 27th. The Institute is a training conference for coaches and league administrators within RBI affiliations from throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Curaçao, Nicaragua, United Kingdom, Panama, Mexico and Belize. The RBI Institute covers topics such as league operations, players’ health on and off the field (i.e., Pitch Smart, anti-bullying and drug-free lifestyles), educational programs, best practices, coaches training, league finances, equipment procurement and more.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT & VIRTUAL DISCUSSIONS • Unfiltered Series Continues – DEI will continue its cultural conversation forum, “The Unfiltered Series,” with a poignant conversation related to Black Representation on the Field, which has confirmed participation from Michele Meyer-Shipp (MLB Chief People & Culture Officer), Bianca Smith (Boston Red Sox Player Development Coach), Lewis Brinson (Miami Marlins outfielder) Dave Roberts (Los Angeles Dodgers Manager), and Bo Porter.

• Virtual Tour of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum – In partnership with The Paley Center, all employees throughout MLB (including the Commissioner’s Office, MLB Network, and all 30 Clubs), will have the opportunity to participate in a virtual tour of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum led by Ray Doswell, Vice

President of the Curatorial Services at the Museum.

EDUCATION • Black History Month Challenge, Powered by EVERFI – To be made available to middle and high school students across MLB and Club-related youth programs, this new EVERFI program will be a nationwide digital learning initiative for students featuring topics that are curated to highlight the exceptional spirit of the Black community, embodied in the continued fight for equity, and to spark critical conversations around social justice.

The challenge will be a four-part course with an optional essay component where teens can compete to win $20,000 in scholarships.

DONATIONS • Henry Louis Aaron Fund – Major League Baseball joined the MLBPA in making a joint $1 million donation to match that of the Atlanta Braves in establishing “The Henry Louis Aaron Fund,” which will live inside the Atlanta Braves Foundation. The goal of the fund will be to provide resources to drive equity by creating access and opportunities in the areas of sports, business, education and social & racial equality.

MLB.COM, MLB NETWORK & SOCIAL MEDIA • MLB.com – MLB.com will showcase Black stars of today and yesterday, with a special effort to highlight Negro Leagues era players on mlb.com/negroleagues.

• MLB Network – MLB Network will pay tribute to a different Black Hall of Famer each week in February, including Hank Aaron (February 1-5), Bob

Gibson (February 8-12), Lou Brock (February 15-19) and Joe Morgan (February 22-26). MLB player vignettes, historical perspective from Bob Costas and Brian Kenny, as well as analyst breakdowns, will be featured throughout MLB Network’s studio programming. Conversations with playing contemporaries of the four Hall of Famers will be included as well as vignettes on current MLB stars who play a similar game, including Aaron Judge (Aaron), Jack Flaherty (Gibson), Kyle Lewis (Brock) and Mookie Betts (Morgan). Remembrances of special moments made by other notable Black players like Ken Griffey Jr., Ozzie Smith and Dwight Gooden will be featured throughout February. Later this month, MLB Network will air MLB Tonight: A Conversation With The Players Alliance, hosted

by Harold Reynolds and featuring guests Tim Anderson, Amir Garrett, David Price, CC Sabathia and Cole Tucker.

• Social Media – MLB Social will publish content daily that aims to celebrate and educate on the profound impact Black players, coaches, executives and personnel have had on the evolution and growth of the game. MLB will highlight Negro Leagues and Major League stars of the past, while also looking forward, elevating the voice of current Black leaders throughout the sport. There will be Instagram Live takeovers, longer-form video content and unique art – all meant to celebrate Black excellence and its impact on Major League Baseball.

CLUB ACTIVITIES • Clubs throughout MLB will support Black History Month, with examples featured in the separate document.

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent It seemed only fitting that immediately after presenting the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award to San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Publisher Dr. John Warren, legendary singer Miki. Howard performed her classic, “Always There.”

Dr. Warren, who accepted his prestigious award virtually while battling an illness, has remained a steady hand among the more than 230 African American publishers and media company owners who are members of the Black Press of America.

On Friday, Jan. 29, the NNPA saluted the dedicated publisher and community leader for his decades-long hard and inspiring work.

“I am deeply humbled with this award and what it represents coming from those I have grown to love and respect over these decades,” Dr. Warren wrote in a statement accepting the honor.

“I see the Black Press as a sacred trust, and I am glad to be both a part of its 194-year history and future now being made.”

Dr. Warren’s freedom fighting path began early, as many who know him expressed their admiration for the zeal he has always On Friday, Jan. 29, the NNPA saluted the community demonstrated when advocating for freedom, justice, and equality.

In 1979, Dr. Warren served as a delegate to the Democratic leader and dedicated publisher of the San Diego National Convention in Memphis, Tenn., where he met his wife, Voice and Viewpoint, Rev. Dr. John Warren, for his Gerri. decades-long hard inspiring work.

For five years, the couple lived in Washington, D.C. while Dr. Warren pursued and completed his law degree.

The two returned to San Diego in 1985 and, two years later, took over the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint.

The newspaper set standards in San Diego and around the country with its reporting and poignant editorials.

The Voice & Viewpoint has routinely earned journalism and innovation awards and has set standards in telling stories from the perspective of African Americans.

With Dr. and Mrs. Warren guiding the popular publication, the Voice & Viewpoint has grown as the city’s largest African American newspaper.

Its news features have highlighted people and events in the most comprehensive manner, while its editorial and opinion section is viewed among the most intriguing.

The newspaper, which can be found in all 89 San Diego zip codes, appears on more than 350 newsstands across the city.

Gerri Warren died in 2009, and Dr. Warren and his family have continued the mission of printing and speaking truth to power.

“Each year, a distinguished publisher is honored who has served decades to keep the Black Press of America alive,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., said during the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The presentation occurred during the NNPA Midwinter

Training Conference on Friday, Jan. 29.

“It is indeed our pleasure to present Dr. John Warren, Publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint, with the 2021 NNPA Lifetime Achievement Award, for his contributions in leadership and a lifetime of outstanding service to the community,” NNPA Chair and Houston Forward Times Publisher Karen Carter Richards announced.

In tribute to Dr. Warren, Dr. Chavis concluded, “Tonight, we are pleased to give the award to Rev. Dr. John Warren. He has done an outstanding job as the distinguished publisher of the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint. We thank you for your leadership, and we recognize your contribution to the Black Press’s sustainability.

“You are always on the frontlines speaking truth to power and publishing truth to power. On behalf of the NNPA, we are so honored to take this time to honor you for your decades of service, your decades of commitment and for opening the door and being a trailblazer for other publishes to follow. You represent the best of the NNPA.” The award contained the inscription: “For outstanding and meritorious lifetime contributions to the Black Press of America, with the highest standards of professional journalism, and the consistent voice of being a transformational freedom fighter, and NNPA publisher.”

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Major League Baseball, its Clubs, and media entities (MLB Network and MLB.com) will observe Black History Month 2021 in a variety of ways, across our sport, with the following goals in mind: • To meaningfully engage and support African American people, institutions, and communities across the Nation • To celebrate and recognize the rich history of African Americans in baseball; and • To showcase the voices of African American youth, professional players & coaches, historians, and others connected to the sport.

These efforts are among many ongoing initiatives and partnerships maintained year-round with our communities, our fans, and our MLB players, coaches and professionals DIVERSE BUSINESS • MLB.com Visibility for Black-owned Businesses – MLB will provide complimentary bannerad space on MLB.com for black-owned businesses who are part of the MLB Diverse Business Partners program – an initiative providing a pathway for MLB and Clubs to invest in diverse-owned businesses. Since 1998, MLB and Clubs have invested and spent nearly $2 billion with diverse-owned businesses.

• PSAs & Ad Placement on MLB Network – MLB Network will air public service announcements for community-based nonprofits focused on social justice and/or are committed to issues for the Black community.

Additionally, billboards supporting Black-owned businesses will appear on-air.

• Google Coaches Workshop Series – MLB’s office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) will provide Blackowned businesses access to a Google Coaches workshop series throughout the month, with topics specified to amplifying, building and improving business practices amid the pandemic.

RECRUITMENT • Virtual Recruitment Workshops & Panels with HBCUs – MLB’s DEI team will link with several Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) to offer students a variety of growth and networking opportunities through the League’s “Step Up to The Plate” virtual program, with topics ranging from “Personal Branding” (Resume & LinkedIn building), technology and sales.

• SABR Conference Scholarships – For the fifth consecutive year, MLB will sponsor a diverse group of qualifying students who are interested in a baseball operations career to receive a scholarship to attend the annual SABR Analytics Conference, which will be virtually held March 11-14. The Conference is a four-day event on the impact of analytics on the game of baseball. Students also will have an opportunity to participate in skill development sessions and networking opportunities with current MLB and Club employees. Throughout February, students can apply with their resumes and a personal essays at https://boards.greenhouse.io/mlbevents/jobs/2595206.

MLB has provided 75 scholarships through 2020, with 25 of the attendees receiving career opportunities with MLB Clubs and the Commissioner’s Office, including present

In partnership with The Paley Center, all employees throughout MLB (including the Commissioner’s Office, MLB Network, and all 30 Clubs), will have the opportunity to participate in a virtual tour of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum led by Ray Doswell, Vice President of the Curatorial Services at the Museum.

(Photo: Bed and Breakfast Inns of Missouri / bblm.org)

2021 NNPA Lifetime Achievement Award