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By Stacy M. Brown nces d racism to discu away wi ply bre isodic ordin the purp have bee pitalized s no evid LAY athin DOW of ouof .their . The n cau have ortedofficials If we ssion, thoutLOS g t ANGELES (AP) – Health A people without the knowledge NNPA Newswire Contributor o g r fail the s sed b y also our cau u FRO NLO ure t refuse toedidentified tatassociated y her more cases of botulism Washington, v DC, August 23, 2018 — The National e Su se of dwith past history, origin and culture is like a o do , wec’ ation ansothree M T AD p r APP eme eath “an me so.” black ll cotar heroin d 2 in Los Angeles County.

Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) announces H . nt C u LOO tree without roots. – Marcus Garvey STO E rt’s r atom LOG Thein-county Department of Public Health olast the launch of a global news feature series on the history, K ul RE F O month warned that injection drug users are at greatest ing contemporary realities and implicationsO of the transatlantic R

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Obs Remembrance oferSlave Trade ver Inte ract ive

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Each year, on Aug. 23, the United Nations hosts an International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition to remind the world of the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade. (Photo: UNESCO)

slave trade, according to NNPA President and CEO, Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. The night of Aug. 22 to Aug. 23, 1791, in Santo Domingo – today Haiti and the Dominican Republic – saw the beginning of the uprising that would play a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade.

The slave rebellion in the area weakened the Caribbean colonial system, sparking an uprising that led to abolishing slavery and giving the island its independence.

It also marked the beginning of the destruction of the slavery system, the slave trade and colonialism.

Each year, on Aug. 23, the United Nations hosts an International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition to remind the world of the tragedy of the transatlantic slave trade.

U.N. officials said it provides an opportunity to think about the historic causes, the methods, and the consequences of slave trade.

Experts said it’s important to never forget.

And, with the approaching 500th anniversary of the risk from heroin contaminated with the bacteria that can date Africans were first forced into slavery in America, cause death. many like Felicia M. Davis, the director of the HBCU Three cases of botulism were found in June and Green Fund, which invests in sustainable campus solutions officials said Wednesday that three more have now been for historically black colleges and universities, said she identified. believes African enslavement demands reexamination.

The illness LOScan be mistaken for a drug overdose and cersymptoms A G “The fact that slavery was underway for a century in i includes s G s r a uing Nincluding Bloo c J ELE drooping eyelids, blurred band one aby trouble dlig eintroduction South America before in North America is thbreathing. s vision h S : t w e Film and s h t TO was ile re that acontaminated evie Bami te pr (AP) _ Adrugs look the same not widely taught understood,” Davis said.

Bakernor Rcommonly Officials warn w p s R r p egna ondi ison s Cali “cooking,” or Tues that ake sfieldhistorical fact Bmissing “It is a powerful from our ystemAnd as drugs donnot contain ng tobacteria. fo t d .

Fres rsfield a S y a no S Nat i r a n after rnia corr a understanding of slavery, its magnitude and global impact. iv fi h heating, the heroin will not kill the bacteria.

B g Bas tate M e Na C C a h k ketb o en’s med ersfie oogle t betw she sa ectio askBotulism alla He Knowledge that slavery was underway for Coacentury ed fo ogle can ld. between ee who ysshare n o filed users says spread ch ad r t i a a dis n inmat she lost ffi o provides deep insight into how enslaved Africans adapted,” nal I less s she to or We needles. e crim h will wasn nstitu trenu ld offi FREE! she the Csaid. inati s when s e ’t po ous p tion onseq Reap cials h o a n s n i Faruebeyond the horrific “seasoning” description that s o laws e n othe nces i uit r pos ble and Tehach sition at she was others have provided, clearly generations had been born s a Env i t he’d pi. S he C pregn Whe tion iron into slavery long before introduction inJustNorth men America, wh h w h a a n a lifo es nt ith ve il s Facinice Issu tal Davis argued. “lost e runnin he was a lower to eithe ays she rnia Co and Res g Kern es iden w rrec s r g h ts Co. e s a t a v s ake l Dep er bab to sto en m lary. eave told tha a Continued on page A2 y p o r t n d m a t u tion or ac h t Opinion Sta did nent of C e to a p fight be s pregn cept : Poli l t a a w o o to 2 rbucks ce R n c r t e t e r C , e imm n eco e har Blac CEO in Fa ging IC mmen ediat ctions a tal rupt n inmat Coogle kM tal C E Ag d en AApolog u e n ely c rash ents f rres izes omm d Commre.” The s and la ell ted ent o unit Califo ter y n th e law Rehab rnia S h e more prominently. Principle number one: Stop Cooking LOS ANGELES (AP) – The LossuiAngeles t. ilita-City Say riff You s n Urg He“Global Was gblood warming will the Planet and states plainly that, Council has approved a $1.9 million settlement in Kill g Any Not Inm e togreenhouse gases ates onof accelerate unless we can slow the release stemming from the fatal police shooting of a homeless “Meethe t CE atmosphere. To protect vulnerable Americans, into black man on Skid Row. O& Founbe found for human activities that cause alternatives must A federal jury in May found two LAPD officers d global warming.” er of liable for damages in the 2015 shooting death of Charly “ Relevated am If we started there and these principles, there “Africa” Keunang.

Num page ber Take would have been a focus Aon and communities. s On City News Service reports Tuesday’s approval came Quie workers t Pla e from We were adamant that “no groupceshould have to shoulder on a 10-1 vote - with Councilman Joe Buscaino, a former the burden alone of transition from a fossil fuel-based police officer, casting the lone dissenting vote. economy to a renewableBeenergy-based economy. We had in The settlement resolves all fees, costs and claims and yon $10 ce Giv mind training and economic for miners and es closes any future litigation over Keunang’s death.

Hist 0,000 t development o o Sch rically other displaced workers. ools Prosecutors in 2016 opted against charging the Blac k While caring about the needs of local communities officers with a crime. The district attorney said the down to the individual, it is important to recognized that, shooting was justified because Keunang had reached for “Global Problems Need Global Solutions” and as one of the an officer’s gun. largest contributors the US should be out front. The Paris Protests erupted around the city after a bystander’s Agreement was a major accomplishment. After decades of video of the shooting was posted online. negotiations finally the whole world was on one accord when it came to the urgent need to collectively work to reduce emissions and adapt to changes that are inevitable.

Resilience emerged as a priority given the magnitude of change underway.

We were headed in the right direction. How could we know that the fact that progress was made under America’s first Black president, Barack Obama, would usher in a LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) – Southern California period that is best described as retrograde? authorities say two men were selling more than frozen Truth and science are under attack and our most treats from an ice cream truck. effective weapon is education. There is little that we can do Long Beach Police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt tells to move those that know better but still make poor choices the Press-Telegram detectives found narcotics in the truck and head into the darkness. It is up to us to educate and while conducting an investigation during the weekend. embrace those that do not know better. We know better The drugs included methamphetamine and and it is up to us to do better. marijuana. A revolver was found as well.

The men were booked into jail on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance for sale. One of the men also could face charges involving the weapon.

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EPA Roll-Backs Hurt People of Color

By Felicia M. Davis Director of the HBCU Green Fund and on the boards of Green 2.0 and The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

President Trump visiting West Virginia to announce a major rollback in regulations limiting coal fired power plant emissions feels like being lost in a dark coal mine, reaching a fork in the tunnel with one direction pitch black and a bright light at the end of the other. The choice seems so obvious and yet the President of the United States of America intentionally heads Felicia M. Davis, di- into the darkness. rector of the HBCU At the turn of the Green Fund and on millennium we knew for a the boards of Green fact that the planet is warming 2.0 and The Nation- and that greenhouse gases al Coalition on Black like carbon dioxide accelerate Civic Participation. warming. We were aware of the human contribution and that limiting carbon emissions is the best way for humans to try to avoid catastrophic upheaval.

It took much time and work to get the Clean Power Plan in place that eliminating it is just short of insane.

The president’s announcement sent me back to our 2002 report “Air of Injustice: African Americans & Power Plant Pollution.” The collaboration brought Dr. Joseph Lowery and Dr. Yvonne Scruggs-Lefwich of the Georgia Coalition

for the Peoples’ Agenda and Black Leadership Forum, respectively, together with Martha Keating and Angela Ledford Anderson formerly with the Clean Air Task Force and Clear the Air to mobilize and educate the African American community about the impact of power plant pollution on air quality, climate change and public health.

We reported that coal-fired power plants are the largest industrial emitters of a list of pollutants with negative health impacts such as increased asthma, lung disease, premature deaths and even increases in infectious disease.

Long before Hurricane Katrina we tried to sound the alarm connecting poverty, race, geography and even insurance status to climate impacts. Scientists tried to explain that while we can’t point to any single weather event as evidence of climate change, by the time the pattern is proven it will be too late. We’re like slowly boiling frogs unable to grasp the upheaval that climate change is already causing.

We did a poor job of explaining what a global degree Celsius actually means, our hockey stick graphs and bathtub analogies only worked for people who understand climate science. People can’t seem to connect floods, drought, fires, hurricanes and extreme weather to climate change. We should have stressed the fact that there are only ten global degrees of difference between today’s climate and the ice age. We need to break things down in terms everyday people can appreciate. Perhaps we should remind Americans about the days of the Dust Bowl or the water wars between ranchers and farmers featured in western movies.

Looking back the 10 Principles of Just Climate Policy developed by the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (a diverse group of 28 US environmental justice, religious, policy and advocacy groups) included in the Air of Injustice appendix should have been featured a Tr ayha

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The recipient of the 2015 National Medal of Freedom, and a 2016 People Magazine honoree as being among the 25 Women Changing the World, Johnson enjoyed a brilliant 33-year career at NASA and her life story finally was told on the big screen in “Hidden Figures,” the awardwinning movie that starred Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe.

In an earlier interview, she told NNPA Newswire that she missed working.

“I’d go back now,” she said.

After leaving her teaching job in 1953, Johnson began working for NASA and was able to calculate the trajectory for numerous space missions, including for the space flight of Alan Shephard, the first American in space and the trajectory for the famed 1968 Apollo 11 flight to the Moon.

“I’d do them over if I had to. I’d do anything for anyone,” she said.

At an early age, Johnson developed enviable math skills so much so that even NASA officials wrote a story about her titled, “The girl who loved to count.”

“I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed … anything that could be counted, I did,” Johnson said.

“I entered college, I was 15. I was going to be a math teacher because that was it. You could be a math teacher or a nurse but I was told I would make a good research mathematician and they had me take all of the courses in the catalogue,” she said.

When Astronaut John Glenn went to the moon, JohnContinued on page A3

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“Hidden Figures” Katherine Johnson Celebrates 100

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor Katherine Johnson, who hand-crunched the numbers for America’s first manned space flight – a feat that finally got its Big Screen acknowledgement just two years ago, turned 100 on Sunday, August 26, 2018. “[On Sunday], we celebrate Alpha Kappa Alpha’s own, Katherine Johnson. She’s credited with crunching the numbers by hand that allowed NASA to launch the first U.S. astronauts into space,” leaders of the Alpha Kappa Alpha said in a statement.

“We are women of many first. First and finest.”

Many others paid tribute via statements and social media.

“If you haven’t seen the movie about what she and other brilliant Black women at NASA accomplished, be sure to watch the fabulous movie, ‘Hidden Figure,’ in her honor,” said comic book writer Grace Randolph.

“I stand on your shoulders,” said Dr. Camille Alleyne.

“You blazed the trail which I and so many have had the privilege to walk on … Katherine, you are my hero. I love, honor and salute you,” Alleyne said.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), also paid homage to Johnson.

“Katherine Johnson’s historic contributions to the evolution of applied mathematics and aerospace science epitomizes her genius to overcome the scientific challenges of her generation,” Chavis said.

“Today, African American women in particular should be inspired by the example of Katherine Johnson in STEM career fields,” Chavis said.

“The NNPA salutes Johnson’s transformative legacy that is no longer hidden.”

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Selling Drugs from Ice Cream Truck

Man Pleads Not Guilty to Dine & Dash Dating PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Los Angeles County prosecutors have filed extortion, grand theft and other charges against a man accused of being the “Dine-andDash Dater.”

Authorities say 45-year-old Paul Guadalupe Gonzales used dating apps to meet women, took them to dinner at restaurants and then left without paying any part of the bill.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Fern says eight women ended up paying themselves and in two cases restaurants picked up the check. The complaint says the women were defrauded of a total of $950.

Gonzales pleaded not guilty to a dozen counts at his arraignment Monday.

If convicted, he faces up to 13 years in prison.

Bishop Won’t Retire in $2.3M Home

Former NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson is seen after President Barack Obama presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (Photo: NASA/Bill Ingalls, Wikimedia Commons)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – The bishop for the Catholic Diocese of San Jose says he won’t live in a $2.3 million home the diocese bought for his retirement and that the house will be put up for sale.

Bishop Patrick J. McGrath tells the San Jose Mercury News he plans instead to live in a rectory at one of the diocese’s parishes.

McGrath’s decision comes after the purchase of the 3,300-square-foot home (306 square-meter) raised concerns among some of the diocese’s 640,000 Catholics, given the church’s mission of charity and serving the poor.

It also appeared at odds with McGrath’s previously expressed concerns about housing inequality in Northern California.

The bishop says any profit from the home sale will be donated to a housing charity.

A2

World & Nation THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Slave Trade

The NNPA will conduct a unique, education poll about the awareness and impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act among African American parents, educators, and opinion leaders. (Pixabay.com)

Every Student Succeeds

By Freddie Allen NNPA Newswire Contributor The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) announced plans to conduct a groundbreaking survey that will gauge the awareness and impact of President Barack Obama’s education law—the Every Student Succeeds Act—in the Black community.

The NNPA is a trade group that represents more than 200 Black-owned media companies and newspapers in the United States, that reach an estimated 20 million readers in print and online, combined, every week.

President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) on December 10, 2015, replacing the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act. ESSA encourages a personalized educational environment; supports programs that enhance parental engagement in schools; and improves guidelines about targeted resources for historically, underserved schools.

In late 2016, the NNPA received a three-year grant from the Gates Foundation to develop a multi-media public awareness campaign focused on ESSA, improving educational outcomes for Black students and increasing parental engagement.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, thanked the Gates Foundation for collaborating with the Black Press to help raise public awareness about the Every Student Succeeds Act. Dr. Chavis described the ESSA awareness research as a “proactive move.”

“Rather than let people outside of our community tell us what’s going on inside our community, this is an opportunity for the [Black Press]—the people who work and serve and live and thrive in the community—to do our own research.”

Dr. Chavis said that the data will help the NNPA and other community stakeholders gain insight into how to be more effective in raising public awareness around ESSA. “This study will also give a stronger voice to parents, educators and caregivers in the Black community,” Dr. Chavis said.

The NNPA has a track record of success for measuring the pulse of the Black community. The trade group partnered with Howard University in Washington, D.C. for a national poll of Black voters ahead of the 2016 midterms and for a 2017 poll on sickle cell disease (SCD) in the Black community; the SCD poll was supported by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.

During a press conference about the results of the NNPA/Pfizer SCD poll, Michael Goettler, the global president of Pfizer’s Rare Disease unit, said that the survey analysis provided a basis for Pfizer to seek more detailed assistance for SCD sufferers, who are disproportionately Black.

Dr. Chavis said that the success of the Black voter poll and the SCD poll not only opened doors for other research opportunities, but that it also showed that Black folks trust and rely on the Black Press.

During a 2017 interview with the NNPA Newswire,

John King, the former U.S. Secretary of Education and current president and CEO of the Education Trust, a national nonprofit organization focused on closing opportunity and achievement gaps, said that the Black Press has a hugely important role in mobilizing Black parents around education and ESSA. “It’s partly about telling the story about [exposing academic and opportunity gaps], but it’s also about changing the narrative,” King said. “Sometimes, we focus only on what isn’t going well, but there’s also a powerful story to tell about what is going well.”

Dr. Chavis said that the ESSA survey and the data that is collected should play significant roles in crafting those powerful stories.

The ESSA survey will be conducted online and target pre-selected markets in California including: Los Angeles and the surrounding regions (Orange County, Ventura County, San Bernardino County, and Riverside County); San Francisco; Oakland; San Jose; Sacramento; Stockton; Modesto; San Diego; Fresno; Visalia and Bakersfield.

NNPA member publications in California will help to promote and distribute the survey and the results will be shared broadly across the nation.

Dr. Reggie Weaver, the former president of the National Education Association (NEA), said that, all too often, parents are not engaged in the education of their children.

“Any way that information about ESSA can be coupled with getting parents to act on the things that are in the law is absolutely critical,” Weaver said. “What the NNPA is doing to educate and inform parents of their rights is important.”

Weaver said that parents can’t sit back and be spectators in the education of their children; they have to be active participants. That means getting involved in school board meetings, working with teachers and school administrators, and participating in surveys like the NNPA’s education poll.

Dr. Chavis said that the results from the NNPA’s education poll will not only be used to develop successful models for future public awareness campaigns, but the national exposure would also help to enhance the visibility and value of Black newspapers in California.

“This is a historic moment for the NNPA and we are encouraged that so many of our members will be able to participate,” Dr. Chavis said. “We are eagerly waiting for the study to commence and to get the results.”

Dr. Chavis continued: “This is just the beginning.

The NNPA will continue to seek out culturally-relevant research opportunities in our on-going effort to improve the quality of life in the Black community.”

Learn more about the NNPA’s ESSA awareness poll at nnpa.org/essa.

Freddie Allen is the former Editor-in-Chief of the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com. You can follow Freddie on Twitter @freddieallenjr.

Continued from page A1 “It deepens the understanding of how vast majorities could be oppressed in such an extreme manner for such a long period of time. It is also a testament to the strength and drive among people of African descent to live free,” she said.

The history of the United States has often been described as the history of oppression and resistance to that oppression, said David B. Allison, the editor of the book, “Controversial Monuments and Memorials: A Guide for Community Leaders.”

Slavery and the resulting touchstones stemming from slavery throughout the history of the United States run as a consistent thread that illuminates the soul and essence of America, said Allison, a historian with a master’s degree in U.S. History from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis.’

“From the compromises and moral equivocation in the founding documents during the Revolutionary Era – statements like ‘All men are created equal’ were written by a man who kept Black men and women as decidedly unequal as slaves – to the Civil War and Civil Rights Movement, the tragedy and terror of slavery are fundamental to the history of the United States,” Allison said.

Today, the fallout from the events of Aug. 2017 in Charlottesville – brought about by a white supremacist rally and touched off the debate around the potential removal of a statute to a leader of the Confederacy – continue to weigh down the collective psyche of this nation, Allison continued.

“Moreover, the rise in police profiling and brutality of Black men and the resulting rates of incarceration for African Americans highlight the ongoing oppression that was initially born in the crucible of slavery,” he said.

Allison added that it’s “absolutely essential to understand and remember that 2019 is the 500th anniversary of slavery in the United States so that we can understand both how our country became how it is now and how we might envision a more just future for all citizens.”

Each year the UN invites people all over the world, including educators, students, and artists, to organize events that center on the theme of the international day of remembrance.

Theatre companies, cultural organizations, musicians, and artists take part on this day by expressing their resistance against slavery through performances that involve music, dance, and drama.

Educators promote the day by informing people about the historical events associated with slave trade, the consequences of slave trade, and to promote tolerance and human rights.

Many organizations, including youth associations, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations, actively take part in the event to educate society about the negative consequences of slave trade.

Here in America, many organizations, activists and scholars are focused on 2019 as the anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to be enslaved in Jamestown and 160 years since the last slave ship arrived, Davis said.

Also, there’s a growing list of apologies for slavery from colleges and universities, local governments and corporations.

Efforts are underway by the HBCU Green Fund to organize a national convening under the theme “Sankofa Remix” with three tracks: past, present and future.

The goal is to examine history from an African American perspective, explore current impacts including backlash from the election of the first Black president, and crafting a vision that extends at least 100 years into the future that features presentations from artists, activists,

technology, scholars and other creative energy.

“It is encouraging to know that Black Press USA is focused on this topic. It is our hope that plans are underway to cover activities throughout the entire year,” Davis said, noting that 2019 also marks the 100th anniversary of the Red Summer Race Riots.

“The UN Decade of African Descent 2015-2024 should also be highlighted as the Black Press USA leads this important examination of history,” she said.

“Interestingly, the first and last slave ships to arrive in the U.S. both arrived in August. The HBCU Green Fund is working to put together a calendar of dates and observances.

“We would love to work with Black Press USA to promote a year-long observance that helps to reinvigorate and support the important role that the Black press plays in the liberation of Black people across the globe.

“We would be honored to have Black Press USA as a Sankofa Remix partner organization and look forward to collaboration opportunities,” Davis said.

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Services for McCain

Former President Obama Set to Speak Continued from page A1 public to pay respects. On Saturday, a procession will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and arrive for a funeral at Washington National Cathedral. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are expected to speak at the service.

A private funeral is planned for Sunday afternoon at the Naval Academy Chapel followed by a private burial at the academy cemetery. As he wished, McCain will be buried next to a Naval Academy classmate and lifelong friend, Chuck Larson.

President Donald Trump was not expected to attend any of the services. McCain had long feuded with Trump, and two White House officials said McCain’s family had asked, before the senator’s death, that Trump not attend services. Vice President Mike Pence is likely to attend, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private discussions.

Trump noted the senator’s death in a tweet Saturday: “My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!” First lady Melania Trump tweeted thanks to McCain for his service to the country.

Bush and Obama had been McCain’s political opponents, too, blocking his White House ambitions in 2000 and 2008, respectively. “These were bitter contests, both of them,” Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” and “to ask them to speak at your funeral, and for them to be honored at the opportunity, that tells you all you need to know.”

One of McCain’s long-serving Senate colleagues, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sunday, “The nation mourns the loss of a great American patriot,

a statesman who put his country first and enriched this institution through many years of service.”

With McCain set to be honored in Arizona’s Capitol, GOP Gov. Doug Ducey said in a tweet, “This is a rare and distinct occurrence for a truly special man.”

Ducey did not plan to announce his selection of a Senate successor to McCain until after McCain’s burial.

Under state law, the governor’s appointee to serve until the next general election, in 2020, must come from the same political party.

Tributes poured in from around the globe. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in English that McCain “was a true American hero. He devoted his entire life to his country.” Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said McCain’s support for the Jewish state “never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom.” And Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, called McCain “a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country.”

McCain was the son and grandson of admirals and followed them to the U.S. Naval Academy. A pilot, he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years. He went on to win a seat in the House and in 1986, the Senate, where he served for the rest of his life.

“He had a joy about politics and a love for his country that was unmatched,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told CNN’s “State of the Union.” ″And while he never made it to the presidency, in the Senate, he was the leader that would see a hot spot in the world and just say, we need to go there and stand up for that democracy.”

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Thursday, August 30, 2018

THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER A3

News

Voter Suppression Scheme Snuffed out in GA years,” added Butler, who also serves on the Board of Elections in Morgan County, Georgia.

Nse Ufot, executive director of the New Georgia Project, a nonpartisan civic engagement group, said county election officials could have moved polls to local churches and other sites that are ADA compliant.

“This is a blatant attempt at voter suppression,” she said. “Voter suppression in Georgia is a lot more sophisticated, I think, than people realize.”

Coleman described Randolph County, the sixth smallest in the state, as very poor and struggling with a declining population and economic base.

He said there have been discussions about the cost of polling sites because there were few voters there. For example, he said, one precinct had about 100 people.

But Coleman said the timing of proposing closures could have been better.

“It was probably ill-timed. We certainly went through the primary and the runoff from the primary and why we would need to do it before November in the teeth of this kind of heightened political environment, I think, is what the problem was,” he said.

“It needs to be given more thought away from elections.”

There have been lawsuits in the past over the county’s noncompliance with the ADA, Coleman said. The county used a $200,000 grant to upgrade some buildings, including the courthouse. Coleman said he suspects there are some buildings, including some of the firehouses that have been used for polling sites, that are not in full compliance.

Coleman couldn’t say what steps the county will take to comply with the ADA, but he said, “I think they will now.”

Meanwhile, Clarke and others celebrated the victory and vowed to remain vigilant on such issues.

“The defeat of this proposal shows the power of resistance and the impact that we can have by leveraging our voices against injustice,” Clarke said.

“We have seen these voter suppression schemes before – they have been pervasive throughout the 2018 midterm cycle… Now we move on to fighting other counties in Georgia that are entertaining similar tactics.”

The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has won a huge voting rights victory in Georgia (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor The efforts of a prominent Washington, D.C. organization has resulted in a major voting rights victory for individuals of color in a small – but significant – Georgia town.

District-based Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law led others including the ACLU of Georgia and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in successfully getting election officials in Randolph County, Georgia, to keep open polling sites in the mostly Black precincts.

Officials in the town had voted to close the sites ahead of the midterm elections and as African-American female gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams counts as the favorite to win her race to become the state’s first Black female governor.

“We won,” said Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Our community partners beat back a voter suppression scheme that was being undertaken by officials in Randolph County. Remarkably, officials were trying to shutter 7 of 9 polling sites in this poor, majority Black community,” Clarke said.

The scheme undoubtedly was hatched to silence Black voters in the small rural, low-income community where many residents lack access to public transportation, she added.

“The burden would have been felt heaviest by Black voters, who are three times more likely than white voters to lack access to a vehicle. We pushed back against this textbook example of voter suppression and we prevailed,” Clarke said.

The effort has galvanized national civil rights and voting rights groups aiming to block attempts to suppress minority voter turnout in Georgia and in other states ahead of critical midterm elections, according to USA Today.

The Congressional Black Caucus urged county election officials to drop the plan, saying it would violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act to close the polling sites so close to an election.

“We are d e e p l y

concerned that the bedrock tenets of democracy would be under attack should this proposal be adopted and implemented,” the caucus wrote in a letter.

The two members of the Randolph County Board of Elections and Registration voted unanimously not to make changes. The board, which has one vacancy, held two hearings on the proposal.

Tommy Coleman, an attorney for the county in southwest Georgia, said he doesn’t think the board members meant harm by considering the proposal but that it might have been ill-timed.

“It gives you the appearance that you’re trying to do something to alter the vote in November. I don’t think that’s the case. I’m certain it isn’t,” he told USA Today.

“The people who do this in rural Georgia – these two people – are just volunteers.”

The issue garnered national attention in part because of the historic nomination of Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who could make history if she wins in November.

Abrams and Republican Secretary of State Brian

Kemp, who is also running for governor, both called for officials to drop the plan.

The proposal was offered earlier this year after the county hired a consultant when the election superintendent quit three weeks before the May primary, Coleman said.

The consultant, Mike Malone, recommended closing the polling sites because they didn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. But, Coleman said, the proposal “doesn’t seem to be backed up with any real data.”

Critics of the proposal argue the sites were used for elections earlier in the year and in the years since the county was called out in 2016 for not complying with the ADA. “Why all of a sudden do you want it to be ADA compliant when you haven’t complied in all of this time?” said Helen Butler, executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda.

“What is the rush if it wasn’t a rush in all these

The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has won a huge voting rights victory in Georgia (Photo: iStockphoto/NNPA)

“Hidden Figures” Katherine Johnson Celebrates 100 Johnson’s computations have influenced every major space program from Mercury through the Shuttle program. Johnson was hired as a research mathematician at the Langley Research Center with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA, after they opened hiring to African-Americans and women. Johnson exhibited exceptional technical leadership and is known especially for her calculations of the 1961 trajectory for Alan Shepard’s flight (first American in space), the 1962 verification of the first flight calculation made by an electronic computer for John Glenn’s orbit (first American to orbit the earth), and the 1969 Apollo 11 trajectory to the moon. In her later NASA career, Johnson worked on the Space Shuttle program and the Earth Resources Satellite and encouraged students to pursue careers in science and technology fields.

Continued from page A1 son said her “Hidden Figures” crew acted as the computer for the mission. She said calculating everything involved in the flight became like a geometry problem.

“I felt most proud of the success of the Apollo mission.

We had to determine so much. Where you were, where the moon would be and how fast the astronauts were going,” Johnson said.

“We were really concerned but the astronaut had to do it just as we laid it out. I was looking at the television and hoping that were right,” she said.

Born in 1918 in West Virginia, Johnson was a research mathematician, who by her own admission, was simply fascinated by numbers, according to her biography posted

by NASA. By the age of 10, Johnson was a high school freshman – an amazing feat in an era when school for AfricanAmericans normally stopped at eighth grade.

Her father was determined that Johnson would have a chance to meet her potential. “He drove the family 120 miles to Institute, West Virginia, where I could continue my education through high school,” she said.

An achiever at the highest level, Johnson graduated from high school at 14 and from college at 18. By 1953,

the growing demands of early space research meant there were openings for African American computers at Langley Research Center’s Guidance and Navigation Department – and Johnson found the perfect place to put her extraordinary mathematical skills to work.

Glenn requested that she personally recheck the calculations made by the new electronic computers before his flight aboard Friendship 7 – the mission on which he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

She continued to work at NASA until 1986.

Her calculations proved as critical to the success of the Apollo Moon landing program and the start of the Space Shuttle program, as they did to those first steps on the country’s journey into space, according to NASA. Still, Johnson said the book, the Academy Award nominated movie and her celebrated work with NASA aren’t her greatest accomplishments.

“Just staying alive is the greatest accomplishment,” she said.

In a statement, NASA also praised Johnson.

“Today, retired NASA Langley mathematician Katherine Johnson makes her 100th trip around the sun as she celebrates her birthday.”

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2018187104 The following person is doing business as: MOMO BROS at 13240 5th St, Chino, Ca. 91710 Mailing Address: County: LA County Full name of registrant: MOMO BROS LLC, 13240 5th St, Chino, Ca. 91710 CA The business is conducted by: Limited Liability Company SIGNED: TENZING N PHUNSUR, President The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: N/A FILED: July 30, 2018 DEAN C LOGAN Los Angeles County Clerk By: Maxine Carrasco, Deputy The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Busienss name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or Common Law (see section 14411 ET Seq., Business and Professions Code).

This statement expires on July 30, 2023 LOS ANGELES BAY NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Aug 9, 16, 23, 30, 2018 FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT FILE NO: 2018191651 The following person is doing business as: SWEET SPOT SONGS PUBLISHING / VOICE WITH FELICE / JOESOROCKS / THE NEURONERDS / YOUSOROCK at 12439 Magnolia Blvd #130 Valley Village, Ca. 91607 Mailing Address: County: LA County Full name of registrant: SWEET SPOT SOUNDS, INC, 12439 Magnolia Blvd #130 Valley Village, Ca. 91607 The business is conducted by: Corporation SIGNED: FELICE L. MARTIN, President The date registrant started to transact business under the fictitious business name or names listed above: Aug 2018 FILED: Aug 2, 2018 DEAN C LOGAN Los Angeles County Clerk By: Estrellieta Policarpio, Deputy The filing of this statement does not of itself authorize the use in this state of a Fictitious Business name in violation of the rights of another under Federal, State, or Common Law (see section 14411 ET Seq., Business and Professions Code).

This statement expires on Aug 2, 2023 LOS ANGELES BAY NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Aug 16, 23, 30, Sept 6, 2018 SUMMONS (Parentage-Custody and Support) CITACION (Paternidad-Custodia y Manutencion) NOTICE TO RESPONSENT: AVISO AL DEMANDADO (Numbre) RICK STARBIRD LAUB You are being sued. Read th information below and on the next page. Lo han demandado. Lea la informacion a continuacion y en la pagina siguiente.

PETITIONER’S NAME: EL NOMBRE DEL DEMANDANTE: ANAELSA MENDOZA CASE NUMBER (Numero del caso) 17LBPT00304 You have 30 CALENDAR DAYS after this Summons and Petitions are served on you to file a Response

PUBLIC NOTICE

(form FL-220 or FL-270) at the court and a copy served on the petitioner.

A letter, or phone call, or court appearance will not protect you.

If you do not file your Response on time, the court may make orders affecting your right to custody of your children. You may be ordered to pay child support and attorney fees and costs.

For legal advice, contact a lawyer immediately. Get help fimding a lawyer at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center (www.courts.ca.gov/ selfhelp), at the California Legal Services website (www.lawhelpca.

Org), or by contacting your local bar association NOTICE: the restraining order on page 2 remains in effect against each parent until the petition is dismissed, a judgement is entered, or the court makes further orders. This order is enforceable anywhere in California by any law enforcement officer who has received or seen a copy of it.

FEE WAIVER: If you cannot pay the filing fee, ask the clerk for a fee waiver form. The court may order you to pay back all or part of the fees and costs that the court waived for you or the other party. Tiene 30 dias de calendario despues de habir recibido la entrega legal de esta Ciracion y Peticion para presentar una Respuesta (formulario FL-220 o FL-270) ante la corte y efectuar la entrega legal de una copia al demandante.

Una carta o llamada telefonica o una audiencia de la corte no basta para protegerlo.

Si no oresebta su Respuesta a tiempo, la corte puede dar ordenes que afecten la custodia de sus hijos.

La corte tambien le puede ordenar que pague manutencion de los hijos, y honorarios y costos legales.

Para asesoramiento legal, pongase en contacto de inmediato con un abogado, Puede obtener informacion para encontrar un abogado en el Centri de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (www.sucorte.ca.gov), en el sitio web de los Servicios Legales de Califonia (www.lawhelpca.org), o poniendose en contacto con el colegio de abogasos de su condado.

AVISO: La orden de proteccion que aparecen en la pagina 2 continuara en vigencia en cuanto a cada parte hasta que se emita un fallo final, se despida la peticio9n o la corte de otras ordenes. Cualquier agencia del orden publico que haya recibido o visto una copia de estas orden puede hacerla acatar en cualquier lugar de California.

EXENCION DE CUOTAS: Si no puede pagar la cuota de presentacion, pida al secretario un formulario de exencion de cuotas. La corte puedeordenar que usted pague, ya sea en parte o por completo, las cuotas y costos de la corte previamente exentos a peticion de usted o del la otra parte.

The name and address of the Court is (El nombre y direccion de la corte son:) Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles SOUTH DISTRICT, 275 Magnolia Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802 The name, address, and telephone number of petitioner’s attorney, or petitioner without an attorney, are (El nombre, la direccion y el numero de telefono del abogado del demandante, o del demandante si no tiene abogado, son:) ANAELSA MENDOZA, 745 Newport Ave 34, Long Beach, CA 90804 Telephone: (323) 603-8481 Date (Fecha); Nov 28, 2017 (SEAL) SHERRI R. CARTER Clerk (Acturio), M Pettis, Deputy LOS ANGELES BAY NEWS OBSERVER (E) PUB: Aug 16, 23, 30, Sept 6, 2018

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Thursday, August 30, 2018

Entertainment Jay Z, Beyoncé Scholarships to ‘Exceptional’ Students

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor Popular music’s most powerful couple continue to make power moves.

Hip-hop superstar Jay Z and his wife, Beyoncé, have announced a new scholarship program that will award 10 scholarships worth $100,000 each to “exceptional” high school seniors who demonstrate financial needs.

The award will serve as a dedicated university-based fund for each selected student throughout the duration of the student’s enrollment, according to a news release.

“This back to school season, students in the On The Run II Tour markets, who are preparing for college, will be chosen by Boys and Girls Club of America,” according to a joint press release from Beyoncé’s “BeyGOOD Initiative” and Jay Z’s “The Shawn Carter Foundation.”

“Qualified students must demonstrate academic excellence and show financial needs that would make it hard for them to enter college or university for the academic year 2018-2019,” the release noted.

The markets will include Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Arlington, Texas; New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Clara, and Seattle.

The power couple have had a long history of helping students with The Shawn Carter Foundation spearheading college tours to historically black colleges and universities and providing scholarships to college bound students throughout the country.

Through her BeyGOOD initiative, Beyoncé created the Formation Scholars Award, a merit program to help female students start or further their college education, and this year they announced the Homecoming Scholars Award, a second merit program, opened to qualified students, regardless of gender, to enter or continue their studies at one of eight HBCUs. In May, Jordan Davis decided to apply for the BeyGood scholarship but said doubted he would receive the award. About a month later though, he got the news.

The Plano native was one of the eight finalists who had won the inaugural scholarship sponsored by Beyoncé and Google.

“I was so ecstatic,” Davis told the Houston Chronicle.

“It was a dream come true. It almost felt like Beyoncé had

chosen me.”

Homecoming Scholars was inspired by Beyoncé’s performance at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Beyoncé, the first black woman in the festival’s 19-year history to be its headline performer, referenced HBCUs throughout her performance that incorporated a 100-piece all-black marching band and song selection.

“The show, with its homage to excellence in education, was a celebration of the homecoming weekend experience, the highest display of college pride,” according to a news release.

“The energy-filled production put the spotlight on art and culture, mixing the ancient and the modern, which resonated masterfully through the marching band, performance art, choir, and dance. It was the impetus to mark her second scholarship program.”

As a part of the scholarship application, students were required to submit a 1,000-word essay about “one African or African-American thought leader in their field who has inspired them to achieve their goals.”

Davis wrote about David Satcher who served as U.S. Surgeon General in both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. Satcher, who was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1993-1998 before being appointed as surgeon general by Clinton, is an “inspiring” figure to look up to, Davis said.

Davis, 20, is a senior healthcare administration major at Texas Southern.

He said the scholarship will make it possible for him to pursue a career in healthcare administration. One day, he hopes to work for a home health agency, clinic or hospital as an administrator who helps underserved communities.

“I always cared about helping the community and contributing,” he said. “I like to work with people.”

In addition to maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher, he volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and is a member of TSU Honors College Enrichment, the Urban Gardening program, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and is also a counselor for Young Life Christian Fellowship.

Davis said he is grateful because the scholarship relieved him of a heavy financial burden, especially because he plans to pursue a master’s degree in organizational leadership and development.

“This scholarship took off the pressure to get loans or

Beyoncé performing on The O2 in London. Photo by idrewuk (originally posted to Flickr as Hello hubbie!) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

additional funds,” Davis said.

“A master’s degree is not cheap and this makes the gap smaller.”

Jay Z and Beyoncé’s OTRII Tour reportedly has grossed more than $150 million.

“And, they’re giving back in a large way,” superfan Nolan Crenshaw said.

Online Petition to Overturn Cosby Verdicts

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor Bill Cosby isn’t giving up his fight to clear his name and, while the comedian awaits his September 24 sentencing on aggravated indecent assault charges, supporters have launched an online petition seeking 1,000 signatures to help spur an investigation into Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Judge Steven O’Neill.

The petitioners cite the sixth amendment which states, in part, that an individuals has a right to be confronted with the witnesses against him and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

“We wanted to organize and galvanize people because many of us who followed the trial or actually attended the trial, like I did, were very troubled with how everything went down,” said Nicole Lawrence, who started the petition.

Lawrence seeks 1,000 signatures and, to date, she’s already gathered more than one-third of that total.

“It seemed as though Mr. Cosby didn’t have a chance in hell with this prosecution and judge along with mainstream media who purposely did not check the backgrounds of [Cosby’s accusers],” Lawrence said, echoing the sentiment previously expressed by Cosby’s wife, Camille, who in 2015 cautioned the media to do just that.

Lawrence has taken up the call and she’s started a group called “The Bill Cosby is Innocent” campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in an effort she hopes will expose what really happened at trial.

In April, a jury found Cosby guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault for a 2004 or 2003 incident between he and former Temple University employee Andrea Constand.

On the witness stand and in police statements, Constand flip-flopped repeatedly as to the type of relationship she had with the now 81-year-old comedian, who faces 10 years in prison for each of the three counts.

At one point, Constand told an investigator that she had never been alone with C--charged, then why is it that he never attempted to have sexual intercourse.

“He’s going to jail because she put her hands on his penis and he put his hands in her pants,” said Alice Durkin, a courtroom observer. “He’s going to jail for foreplay. This is unreal and yet America has turned their backs on this man who had consensual foreplay and is going to prison because the prosecutor and the judge are caught up in this #MeToo stuff and, I believe, because Andrea Constand is

white,” Durkin said.

Louisiana attorney Gavin Richard of the Law Office of Gavin M. Richard, LLC, which had no role in the case, has sent a letter to the state disciplinary board to protest Cosby’s verdicts and what he believes is misconduct on the part of both Steele and O’Neill.

He also lashed out at mainstream media.

“I was greatly disturbed by the coverage by mainstream media which clearly pushed for a guilty verdict,” Richard said.

“Media should be impartial, as should our judicial proceedings. I felt that the media had a prejudicial effect on the trial. The judge allowed several witnesses to testify whose accusations were beyond 30 years,” he said of O’Neill’s decision to allow five other women to testify against Cosby.

Those women, whose stories had long been either discredited or had never been alleged before law enforcement or a courtroom, testified about incidents they claimed occurred as far back as 1981.

During Cosby’s first trial, which ended in a mistrial, O’Neill only allowed one other accuser to testify.

Inexplicably, he reversed himself for the second trial which resulted in guilty verdicts.

“Mr. Cosby was neither charged nor convicted in regards to those [other women claims],” Richard said.

The attorney also found problems with Steele’s campaign for district attorney in which he vowed to get Cosby if elected.

Richard also said O’Neill permitted outbursts that tainted the jury.

“The judge allowed outbursts on the witness stand in front of the jury that was prejudicial, and on top of that, it’s my understanding that there were special interrogatories that were to be given during deliberations that the judge did not give,” Richard said.

O’Neill also allowed a juror to remain in the box after he was overheard saying, “We can all go home, Cosby’s guilty,” even before the trial began.

The judge also failed to sanction two assistant district attorneys who publicly made racial remarks toward Cosby and his team.

“So, it was highly-prejudicial and our legal system, which says innocent until proven guilty, seems to be in jeopardy,” Richard said. “Cosby was guilty until proven guilty. There were too many sixth amendment violations.”

Fans Mourn Aretha at Gospel-Infused Viewing

Mourners file past the casket. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, Pool)

By JEFF KAROUB DETROIT (AP) — The regal presence Aretha Franklin exuded in life was captured at her viewing on Tuesday, with the late Queen of Soul in a gold-plated casket dressed completely in red, including high-heeled pumps, proving, as one person put it, that she was a “diva to the end.”

As Franklin’s powerful vocals from classic gospel performances were piped through the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer looked as if she was preparing for one more performance. She wore red lipstick, and her hair was cut short. Her dress — with its ornamental elements and sheer netting fabric — was reminiscent of an outfit she would wear onstage and “something she would have selected for herself,” her niece, Sabrina Owens, told The Associated Press.

Mourners poured into the museum to pay their final respects to Franklin, who died Aug. 16 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. The two-day viewing was part of a week of commemorations for the legend, who will be laid to rest on Friday.

Mourners pour into Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History to pay their final respects to Aretha Franklin. (Aug. 28)

The Wright Museum is a cultural landmark in Detroit , where Franklin grew up and spent most of her life.

Museum board member Kelly Major Green said the goal was to create a dignified and respectful environment akin to a church, the place where Franklin got her start.

“What we wanted to do is be reflective of the Queen,” Green said. “It’s beautiful. She’s beautiful.”

Green said Franklin’s attire and pose communicated both power and comfort, as she did in life. The shoes, in particular, show “The Queen of Soul is diva to the end,” Green said.

Fans strolled by the casket, some in tears; one woman blew a kiss to Franklin, who was surrounded by massive arrangements of roses of different hues.

Tammy Gibson, 49, of Chicago said she arrived about 5:30 a.m. She came alone but made fast friends with others who sang and reminisced.

Growing up, Gibson said she heard Franklin’s music “playing all the time” by her parents, who “told me to go to bed — it’s an adult party.”

Outside the museum, she said: “I know people are sad, but it’s just celebrating — people dancing and singing her music.” Indeed, a group of women were singing her hit “Freeway of Love.”

Franklin had been a constant in Gibson’s life.

“I saw the gold-plated casket — it dawned on me: She’s gone, but her legacy and her music will live on forever.”

Owens said she began planning for this week’s festivities earlier this year.

“After all she gave to the world, I felt we needed to give her an appropriate send-off that would match her legacy,” she said. “She loved the city of Detroit and the city of Detroit loved her.”

The roses that surround the casket, Owens said, reflected her love for the flower and her propensity to send arrangements “in grand fashion.”

Franklin was dressed in red symbolic of her membership in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The service organization of predominantly black women planned a private ceremony Tuesday night in the museum in honor of Franklin.

The setting for the viewings could not be more fitting, according to Paula Marie Seniors, an associate professor of Africana studies at Virginia Tech.

“I think it’s incredibly significant — she is being honored almost like a queen at one of the most important black museums in the United States,” said Seniors.

The Queen of Soul, Seniors said, was “a singer of the universe.” Yet she added that Franklin also was “so unapologetically black — she was so proud of being a black

The regal presence Aretha Franklin exuded in life was captured at her viewing on Tuesday, with the late Queen of Soul in a gold-plated casket dressed completely in red, including high-heeled pumps, proving, as one person put it, that she was a “diva to the end.”

woman.”

Owens said the museum has held services for many dignitaries, most famously Rosa Parks: “It was important that Aretha take her place next to them and lie in state there.”

For all the formality, however, Owens said the viewings are intended to be welcoming and accessible for her legions of fans.

“She respected them — she understood that if it were not for them, she wouldn’t be who she is,” she said.

She had strong loyalty to her family and fans to her last days.

“What you see with her is what you get,” Owens said.

“She was a fighter — she fought this disease hard, all the way to the end.”

Owens stressed that the viewing and other events could not happen without a group she calls “Aretha’s angels.” Franklin never spoke about her wishes, Owens said, but she hopes the services are what “she would have wanted and that she would have been proud of.”

Thursday, August 30, 2018

THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER A5

Features The Los Angeles Rams Welcome the Houston Texans

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) rushes the passer against Los Angeles Rams offensive tackle Darrell Williams (63) during the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo: Brett Coomer/ Houston Chronicle Staff photographer)

By Cameron Buford Whatsgoodinsports.com On the last Saturday in August the Rams welcomed the Houston Texans into the Los Angeles Coliseum for each team’s third game of the pre-season. Normally the third game of pre-season is considered the “dress rehearsal” for the regular season however, teams in different positions may have varying strategies. Either way, teams still use this

extra game to further evaluate the players to build their depth.

Just as with their previous pre-season games, the Rams has chosen not to start many of their key players on offense for this game. On the other sideline, the Texans brass decided to let their young starters some work as they

welcome back Deshaun Watson back from the knee injury he suffered last season. Though each of these teams made the playoffs last season, the Rams are expected to have a much better season.

Watson threw a deep pass that was intercepted by the Rams inside their own 20 yards line. Rams backup quarterback Sean Mannion proceeded to give the ball right

back to the Texans, which lead to their first touchdown of the game. Veteran Cornerback Sam Shield intercepted a pass from Texans backup Quarterback Brandon Weeden, which led to the Rams initial touchdown of the game.

After Sean Mannion went 4/10 in the first quarter, he turned his play around in the second quarter by leading the team on a couple longs drive giving the Rams a 7-point lead, with 1:54 to go in the second half. The Texans proceeded to drive the ball down the field and tied the game with 30 seconds remaining in the half.

John Kelly use the third quarter as his chance to shine, he was given the ball 7 times on the last drive of the quarter.

He closed out the drive with a tough 15-yard touchdown run. Kelly’s touchdown run gave the Rams the lead, going into the fourth quarter.

Down by seven points, journeyman QB Joe Webb led the Texans on a scoring drive in the 4th quarter that brought the Texans within a two-point conversion of taking a late lead in the ballgame. As their two-point conversion fell futile, it saved everyone involved from a dreaded Pre-Season Overtime game. As each team still has one pre-season game to play, before the real season begins.

Keeping their team healthy as “they get ready for that September 10th date” is their major priority says, Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, as he explains their decision to rest their key offensive players during preseason. “It’s an imperfect deal, but this is the decision we felt like we wanted to make.” “The reason we felt like this was best, is because of the continuity, that they do have on offense.”

If it wasn’t clear before I will make it clear now, Sean McVay and the Rams brass have earned the benefit of the doubt from me. However, though these games don’t count they do matter and I wouldn’t be comfortable with my key contributors on offense not getting any game reps prior to the regular season. Only, because I would rather my player get some game action before live games and teams begin gunning for said key players.

Certainly, McVay and his staff have more coaching experience that I have lived on this earth, though I am adamant I think they should’ve gotten their playmakers some game time action before the season begins. Or maybe, they are just using this game versus the former Los Angeles, Oakland, and future Las Vegas Raiders as their final PreSeason game? Raider fans? What are your thoughts on the Pre-Season preparation of the Rams and what do you expect from them during this upcoming season? Let me know What’s Good, by sharing your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below at www.whatsgoodinsports. com.

Black Prisoners Join National Prison Strike

By Barrington M. Salmon Contributing Writer, Black Press USA Prisoners in at least 17 states across the country went on strike this week to declare that the way they’re being treated by guards and prison officials is no longer acceptable.

The strike, which began on August 21 is scheduled to end on Sept 9. The dates are symbolic, marking the death of author and activist George Jackson by prison guards at Soledad Prison in California, and the Attica Prison rebellion. It’s still unclear exactly how many inmates are involved but prison reform advocates say this is the largest protest of its kind in history.

Dr. Heather Ann Thompson, who has written extensively on the history of policing, mass incarceration and the current criminal justice system, said the public should expect more protests from inmates who are chafing under the abuse, brutality and callous disregard exhibited by many guards.

“I’m not sure what will happen but I expect more protests. I will not be surprised if there are more eruptions,” said Dr. Thompson, a History professor at the University of Michigan and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, ‘Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy.’ “In a broader sense, they will continue to happen. This has been normalized but it’s so abnormal.”

“I think we have as a country has been involved for so long in the War on Drugs and the War on Crime that we have forgotten that it’s not normal. We have a whole generation of children for whom it’s normal to be pulled over, be arrested and shuttled into the system. We have been in a catastrophic prison crisis for decades now. And conditions have gotten even worse. South Carolina was a wake-up call for people.”

She was referring to violence that erupted at Lee County Correctional Institution which left seven inmates dead.

“There is so much overcrowding that prison officials chose to put rival gangs in the same dorms. Guys were sending me videos of what was happening,” Dr. Thompson recalled. “Guys were stabbed to death and the guards were absent for 7 hours. The only way we know is because they recorded it on their cell phones.”

Representatives of the striking prisoners said inmates in institutions across 17 states are taking part by refusing to work anywhere in prisons buildings, kitchens, laundries and on prison grounds. Palestinian inmates abroad have expressed solidarity and about 300 prisoners in Nova Scotia, Canada joined the strike. According to published reports, more than 150 organizations, including BYP 100 and the NYC Jericho Movement, have expressed solidarity with the strike, and solidarity rallies outside prisons have been planned in at least 10 cities.

“I think we have as a country has been involved for so long in the War on Drugs and the War on Crime that we have forgotten that it’s not normal. We have a whole generation of children for whom it’s normal to be pulled over, be arrested and shuttled into the system. We have been in a catastrophic prison crisis for decades now. And conditions have gotten even worse. South Carolina was a wake-up call for people.” (Photo: iStockPhoto/NNPA) The 19 days of peaceful protest was largely organized by the prisoners themselves, said a spokesman for Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS).

“Fundamentally, it’s a human rights issue,” stated a JLS statement released before the march. “Prisoners understand they are being treated as animals. Prisons in America are a warzone. Every day prisoners are harmed due to conditions of confinement. For some of us, it’s as if we are already dead, so what do we have to lose?”

The strike is organized by an abolitionist coalition that includes the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), the Fire Inside Collective, Millions for Prisoners and the Free Alabama Movement. JLS activists began preparing the action in April after the debacle in South Carolina.

“We want to note that although there aren’t widespread reports of actions coming out of prisons, people need to understand that the tactics being used in this strike are not always visible,” said Jared Ware during an August 22 press conference call. “Prisoners are boycotting commissaries, they are engaging in hunger strikes which can take days for the state to acknowledge, and they will be engaging in sitins and work strikes which are not always reported to the outside. As we saw in 2016, Departments of Corrections are not reliable sources of information for these actions and will deny them and seek to repress those who are engaged in them.”

“We have spoken with family members who have suggested that cell phone lines may be being jammed at multiple prisons in South Carolina, and New Mexico had a statewide lockdown yesterday. The departments of corrections in this country are working overtime to try and prevent strike action and to try and prevent word from get ting out about actions that are taking place.”

Mr. Ware, a freelance journalist who was asked to be part of team that coordinated with the press, said inmates organized nationally and carefully crafted the demands, strategically whittling them down from 35 to 10. The decision to strike, he said, was prompted by the violence in South Carolina, an understanding of how the state contribute to the violence and the changes necessary to prevent a repetition of the violence.

“This is a human rights campaign and each of these demands should be understood through a human rights lens,” inmate representatives said.

Prison Abolitionist Dr. Kim Wilson said several factors, including racism and the desire to maximize profits from cheap labor, drive the multi-billion-dollar prison industrial complex.

“Exploitation of prison labor is at heart of this strike,” said Dr. Wilson, a California resident and mother of two sons who are serving life sentences at Vaughn Correctional Facility in Delaware. “Some people are making zero. I don’t want people to get the idea that this it’s an at-will job. It isn’t a system where people have choice to work. And nearer to the release date, you are expected and required to work.”

“At the largest wildfire in Mendocino County,

thousands of inmates are fighting the fires. The reason is to save property. Prison officials try to sell the idea of this being rehabilitative but that’s not true.”

Dr. Wilson cited examples nationally of other work inmates are forced to do. In Angola Prison in Louisiana – often characterized as perhaps the most brutal prison in the United States – inmates train and breed thoroughbreds and others pick cotton on The Farm. Inmates elsewhere work on pepper and strawberry farms, she said.

“You also have prisoners building furniture for schools and universities, sewing Little League team uniforms and making military equipment, like helmets. This is not a small operation,” said Dr. Wilson.

The prison system, she contends, must be dismantled but until then, prison officials and the larger society must confront and address societal issues that cause black and brown people to end up behind bars.

“As a prison abolitionist, I see prisons as part and parcel of problem,” she said. “I don’t know how they (the guards) sleep at night. Those individual people are part of a larger system. I’m more concerned with the system as a whole. We want an end to the physical places we call prisons and conditions that make it possible in our society.

But we can’t do this without addressing underlying issues such as capitalism, gender violence, ableism all of which are deeply implicated in the broader prison system.”

Dr. Thompson agreed.

“What cannot be understated or ignored is the fact that this is created and driven by racism,” she said. “Seven point five million Americans are in the system. Most would not be here if they were the children of white lawyers, doctors and politicians. People turn a deaf ear to reform because white folks often don’t see Black children as children, and think that black people can absorb more trauma than they can.”

“Authorities cannot lock up 2.5 million people and have the trauma we have and it go on indefinitely. The incarcerated will continue to protest and people will continue to seek release,” she said.

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THE VALLEY’S NEWS OBSERVER

Thursday, August 30, 2018

McCain Leaves Mixed Legacy Among Some Black Californians

By Manny Otiko California Black Media The news is currently filled with stories about the life of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona.) McCain was involved with several major events of the last 50 years, such as the Vietnam War, where he was a POW, and his 2008 presidential campaign, which he lost to the first black president, Barack Obama. However, some Facebook posts by black people are questioning the adulation being heaped on McCain. One read “Name one thing John McCain did for black people?” Another post said, “Just trying to figure out what was his major contribution to the black community?”

While McCain had a mixed record on racial issues such as not initially supporting the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, supporters and news reports have been sharing a rare moment during a campaign event when McCain defended then-candidate Obama from a racist voter at a Minnesota town hall who had heard “he was an Arab.”

McCain grabbed the microphone from her and said.

“No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what the campaign’s all about. He’s not an Arab.”

McCain and former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) were also among the first legislators to call for an official pardon for former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, who was arrested for dating white women. (Trump eventually pardoned him.) And McCain later admitted that he was wrong on the MLK vote.

During his political career, McCain developed a reputation as a maverick, because he did not always follow party-line votes. According to the National Journal, McCain’s voting record was 60 percent conservative and 40 percent liberal.

However, McCain’s maverick streak saved health care

stalled the summer of 2017 because McCain voted with the Democrats. According to CNN, McCain voted against the Republicans’ repeal effort because he didn’t think the process was following the correct procedures. (McCain also collaborated with the Democrats to improve veteran’s healthcare.)

McCain’s decision means millions of Californians still get to keep their health care through Covered California (California’s version of Obamacare.) According to Dr. Angelo Williams, deputy director of the California Black Health Network, in 2014 Covered California enrolled about 1.4 million people.

Williams said McCain deserves some credit for going against his party to save Obamacare.

“African Americans suffer disproportionately from high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, a dyad of diseases where prevention matters. High blood pressure can be a precursor to heart disease, one of the top killers of Black women. John McCain’s vote may have saved a Black woman’s life. That matters to Black people,” said Williams in an op-ed.

for millions of Americans. President Donald Trump made it his mission to repeal Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Health Care Act also known as Obamacare.

However, the Republicans latest attempt to overturn it

Fire Agency Investigates Employees after Overdoses LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) _ A Southern California fire department is investigating potential misconduct by employees after four people were treated for possible drug overdoses at an out-of-town party.

Long Beach fire Capt. Jack Crabtree tells the PressTelegram the department has been made aware of a “situation” regarding some employees in Santa Barbara last weekend.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office says

deputies responded early Sunday to a report of a man and a woman not breathing at a residence rented for a postwedding celebration.

The office says the two had symptoms of an opiate drug overdose and while deputies were there another man and woman displayed symptoms. Paramedics administered an antidote and all were hospitalized.

The office says all four were from Long Beach and are believed to have snorted a white powder.

Dulan’s

Hank Hendrix, state commander of the National Association of Black Veterans, said many veterans were also appreciative of McCain’s vote on Obamacare.

He said that since so many rules have been changed in the veterans’ benefits system, a lot of military families have had to rely on Obamacare to pick up the slack when it comes to healthcare.

Hendrix added that while veterans can receive health care through the Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals, this doesn’t apply to their families unless you’ve served for 20 years.

“The families are not covered,” he said. “This puts veterans in a precarious position.”

“We certainly recognize what he (McCain) did to prevent the repeal of Obamacare,” said Hendrix.

Hendrix said that McCain will be among those recognized at a ceremony to honor the death of black sailor Seaman Lakiba Nicole Palmer, who was killed on the USS Cole during a 2000 terrorist attack. The event will be held on the U.S.S. Midway (in San Diego) in October.

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Los Angeles County Receives Multiple Awards CDC/HACoLA’s Efforts to Improve the Lives of County Residents and Revitalize Local Communities Puts the Agency Center Stage The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) recently honored the Community Development Commission/Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (CDC/HACoLA) with three 2018 Awards of Merit. The winning projects included: • Promoting Healthy Communities for Seniors, a program offered in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health designed to help seniors lead healthy lifestyles to better age in place; • South County Homeless Initiative Program, which gives preference to homeless families when a public housing unit becomes available in the CDC/ HACoLA’s South Scattered Sites development; and • Rowland Heights Community Center, opened in June 2015, following extensive community involvement, the 19,000 square-foot Center was designed to house multi-purpose rooms, exercise rooms, activity and meeting rooms, offices, new tennis courts, a new basketball court, onsite parking, and other related on and offsite facilities. The Center achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver rating for its extensive energy

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efficiency efforts making the Center an environmentally responsible addition to the community.

Of the three entries, the Promoting Healthy Communities for Seniors Program was selected to compete for NAHRO’s Awards of Excellence, and ultimately brought home a win to Los Angeles County. The Program will be honored, along with other Award of Excellence winners, at NAHRO’s National Conference and Exhibition in Atlanta, GA on October 25-27, 2018.

“These agencies have put a lot of thought, creativity, and hard work into helping residents improve their lives and into revitalizing their local communities,” said NAHRO President Carl S. Richie, Jr., “I am proud to celebrate their achievements.”

The NAHRO Awards of Merit Program was created 19 years ago to recognize agencies who found innovative ways of making a difference in their communities and in the lives of the people they serve by creating affordable housing, revitalizing their neighborhoods, and developing initiatives such as job readiness programs, public-private partnerships, disaster prevention projects, and more.

“Our industry is continuously innovating to address changing local needs and to create new opportunities in their communities,” said NAHRO Chief Executive Officer Adrianne Todman, “Congratulations to this year’s top innovators!”

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