75 CENTS
OMAHA STAR
THE
Celebrating 80 Years
1938 2018
Dedicated to the Service of the People that NO Good Cause Shall Lack a Champion and that Evil Shall Not Go Unopposed
Nebraska’s Only Black Owned Newspaper Vol. 80 - No. 23 Omaha, Nebraska
Friday, November 16, 2018
Have a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
75 cents
Funny, Yet Serious, to the Core: The Amber Ruffin Story By Leo Adam Biga NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” gives more than lip service to diversity thanks to Omaha native Amber Ruffin, a writer-performer on the New Yorkbased show. She’s a singular presence for her strong Afro-centric takes on social issues. She became the first black female writer in U.S. late night network television when she joined the staff in 2014. It marked her national debut. But she’s no newcomer. She comes from a deep improv background that started here and took her to comedy capitals. In the recurring “Late Night” segments “What You Say” and “Amber’s One-Minute of Fury” she calls out newsmakers for everything from their stupid attire to their ugly rhetoric to their heinous acts. Her subversive bits play like funny truth sessions by a righteous sister reporting from the trenches of Being Black in America. “That’s my goal,” Ruffin said. “You’ll never be wrong when you say police should stop murdering children in the street. That (hate) being a lot of my subject matter just gives me tremendous confidence because it’s never been more right and it’s never been more important.” The writer-actress headlines the
Sunday, Nov. 25 Inclusive Communities (IC) FriendsGiving at Slowdown. Her high-energy performances sometimes find her flitting across stage as cameras try tracking her. While she can be serious when making a point, her default personality is sweet, silly, manic. She was voted Class Clown at Omaha Benson High School. It seems this dynamo hasn’t fallen far from the tree. “You think I’m a happy person, whoowhee, my parents are really happy,” said Amber, whose mother was voted Class Clown at her high school in Savannah, Georgia. As a kid, Amber used humor to deflect the hurtful things classmates said about her then-homely looks. Nobody thinks the vivacious Ruffin is homely anymore. “Humor WAS my way to survive. When kids make fun of you, it’s nice to give them something else to laugh at.” That experience still informs her. “My day to day humor stems from a need to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable and happy, which stems from getting made fun of so badly. It’s assumed people use comedy to put up walls, but I think in many cases the opposite is true. I can say exactly how I feel no matter how uncomfortable it makes you – if there’s a joke attached.” Her folks, Theresa and James Ruffin,
are both from the South. They met at Offutt Air Force Base while serving in the military. They later ran their own business, T and J Daycare Centers. Amber’s the youngest of their five children. She’ll be with family over the holiday when she comes home for the IC event. It’s her second year in a row doing it. IC Executive Director Maggie Wood said Ruffin’s humor is appreciated by the organization. “We know how heavy this work can be and the levity of laughter makes us a little more resilient to confront prejudice, bigotry and discrimination.” Instead of a stand-up set or a speech, Ruffin will engage in conversation with the IC team on stage in response to some loosely scripted questions. “Our donors, volunteers and supporters all know we need to face this work head on. That’s exactly what Amber does in her commentary. We’re so excited to have her back,” Wood said. Growing up, Ruffin acutely felt Omaha’s lack of diversity. “I remember just wanting there to be more me, and there wasn’t. I still don’t have a lot of me. I’ve seen how important it is to have a place where you feel like you can belong and I’m also quite jealous of it because I’ve never had just a place like that where
#Election2018 – Kemp Urges Abrams to Quit; Abrams Refuses to Back Down By Itoro N. Umontuen Monday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp said it’s “long overdue” for Democrat Stacey Abrams to concede. Kemp, formerly Georgia’s Secretary of State, crowned himself the winner of the contentious governor’s race and stepped down from the office last Thursday. “Stacey Abrams and her radical backers have moved from desperation to delusion,” said Ryan Mahoney, Kemp’s communications director, in a statement. “On Saturday, military, overseas, and provisional ballots were reported throughout Georgia. The counts are in line with publicly available tracking reports. This is not breaking news and does not change the math. Stacey Abrams lost and her concession is long overdue.” Sunday, the Abrams campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging absentee ballots were not counted. Furthermore, the purpose of the lawsuit is to make election officials accept rejected provisional ballots that have incomplete or missing information if they can verify voter information through additional means. The Kemp campaign said there are 21,190 provisional ballots still outstanding and if all of those ballots were for Abrams, it would not be enough to trigger a run-off election. Coincidentally, that number is in line with estimates given by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. Meanwhile, the Abrams campaign believes there are a total of 33,507 ballots that were not counted (26,846 provisional ballots, 1,303 early votes, 2,674 vote-by-mail (absentee) ballots and 2,684 military and overseas ballots). “Almost a week after Election Day, we find ourselves in the not unfamiliar place of having to fight for the representation and rights of Georgia voters who were not seen or heard in this election – an election overseen by Georgia governor candidate and recent Secretary of State Brian Kemp,” said Abrams campaign manager Lauren Groh-Wargo. “So here’s what we know: Georgia voters were confronted at the voting booth by widespread irregularities, which were reported by multiple media outlets. Insufficient machines, long lines, confused poll workers, conflicting and arbitrary guidance that varied widely by county – none of it designed to make
Be a hero – Nov. 28. See In the Village for details.
you can be as you as you want to be.” Theresa Ruffin said dealing with Omaha’s lack of diversity “was challenging to say the least.” When she worked at Peter Kiewit Corp. for a year, she said, “I was the only black person in the building.” Though Amber didn’t have any immediate show business role models, she gravitated to performing. She played piano at Omaha Trinity Hope Foursquare Church. She also developed an early love of theater. “I just love musicals,” she said. She got the bug playing Princess Winnifred in a Benson High production of Once Upon a Mattress. “I just spent so much time watching theater and doing a lot of theater that everything I love is theater-based.” Going out on a limb is a Ruffin trait. “We are a little adventurous,” Amber said. “My mom graduated high school at 16. Every summer she went to New York to find out what the world was about. My oldest sister lived in Panama. Another sister lived in Namibia. It’s just in our bones to see what’s out there.” Her sisters are also published writers. The movie The Wiz made a big impression on Amber. “Many people believe The Wiz has the best music of any musical. I am one of those people. It was also rare to see a show with an all-black cast that has
Black Votes Matter By Preston Love Jr. UNO Adjunct Professor Prestonlovejr.com Black Lives, Black Poverty and Black Votes Matter 2018 Election: North Omaha Voted Like Crazy!
Photo by Itoro N. Umontuen Stacey Abrams
voting easy or simple for millions of eligible Georgia voters.” Kemp faced numerous charges of attempted voter suppression during the campaign and demands from Democrats that he step aside as Georgia’s chief elections official, which he dismissed. Also on Monday, Democratic Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Brian Schatz of Hawaii released a joint letter asking the Justice Department’s civil rights division to investigate claims of voter suppression in the race. “The Department of Justice still has the authority and the obligation to enforce the Voting Rights Act and protect the right to vote,” the senators said in a statement. “In the case of Georgia’s election, the DOJ should ensure that all votes are counted and that voters have a meaningful opportunity to ensure their absentee and provisional ballots are counted; and conduct a thorough investigation into the potential voting rights abuses that have been reported before, during, and after the election.” In October, the Associated Press concluded 53,000 voter registrations were on hold due to Georgia’s exact-match law and the aforementioned letter focuses on the controversial law. No media outlet has been able to call this election as of 7:00 p.m. Monday evening. (This article originally appeared in the Atlanta Voice.)
nothing to do with being black. Often times, black people have to talk about their experience with being black to be valued. But these people didn’t. It was just a story of joy.” She’s contributed to the work of a new stage version of The Wiz that premiered in June at the 11,000-seat Muny amphitheater in St. Louis. “I rewrote the words with the original writer (William F. Brown) who is 91 in April. I have written a few musicals and my love of The Wiz is no secret. We’re See Ruffin continued on page 7
After years of low voting numbers in post 2008 (Obama era), North Omaha voters are fully awake and taking care of business after years of pounding the streets, forums, town halls, voter registration and education efforts, our first North Omaha Political Convention, finally a commitment of staff and money by the Nebraska Democratic Party, new fresh activism by up and coming political leadership like Precious McKesson, Barry Thomas, Kimara Snipes, NOISE and many others, added to the long term work of Black Votes Matter and even the presidency of Donald Trump, North Omaha has gotten the point, that our vote is critical for our own survival and interest. We saw some glimmer of light in 2017, when North Omaha voted well during the Mayoral race. But in this past election we took care of business. We need to understand that once again North Omaha is a voting force that has to be reckoned with. Congratulations North Omaha, celebrate your community victory. Let’s review the numbers: 1. We broke records for voting during a mid-term election. 2018, we voted at 40%. In the 2014 midterm we voted slightly under 30%. 2. Over 14,000 North Omahans voted November 6. Compare that to these facts. In 2014, during the mid-term there were 9,300 North Omaha voters, in the 2017, Mayoral election we had 8,500 North Omaha voters, in 2016, a Presidential year, we had 11,700 voters. Congratulations for North Omaha’s role in passing Nebraska Medicaid Expansion. This vote will have a massive positive impact on
health care for the poor in North Omaha. We had additional victories. Spencer Danner and Michael Hughes both ran excellent races, and both made history. Danner as the top African American votegetter in Nebraska history (in a statewide race) and Hughes for his great and historical race to be the first Black Sheriff in Douglas County. Celebrate them. They are just beginning. Additionally, the Black Votes Matter (BVM) slate endorsed many candidates judged to be good for North Omaha. North Omaha helped them get elected!! Even while not victorious, I commend Mina Davis (state senate), Jane Raybould (US Senate), and Bob Krist (Governor) for respecting and running in North Omaha. Kara Eastman ran a great race and nearly won the CD2 seat, in spite of the gerrymandered congressional district. North Omaha did its job, but could not overcome the Sarpy county vote. Congratulations to winners: Marque Snow (OPS), Kimara Snipes (OPS), Shavonna Holman (OPS), Jane Skinner (Auditor), Diane Battiato (Register of Deeds), Debra Neary (State Bd. of Education), Barbara Weitz and Elizabeth O’Connor (Regents), Fred Conley (NRD) and Eric Williams (OPPD). Shout out too many for their hard word in making this a significant election for North Omaha. Heartland Workers Center (HWC), Nebraska Democratic Party North Omaha office and the Kara Eastman North Omaha office conducted intense door knocking and phone banking. BVM hosted a Concert for Change. 101.3 aired a weekly election segment on the morning show. Several candidate forums were conducted by Black Men United, BVM, the League of Women Voters, NOISE and the NDP Black Caucus. Our North Omaha clergy provided leadership and messaging within the community. On Election Day, Ms McKesson organized a successful street corner visibility effort throughout North Omaha; BVM provided scores of rides to the polls and fielded a vast amount of voter questions and issues. North Omaha celebrate your victories!!
It’s the most wonderful time Make a Joyful of the year - Christmas in Noise – Dec. 2. the Village is Dec. 1. See In the Village for details.