75 CENTS
OMAHA STAR
THE
Celebrating 80 Years
Celebrate Women’s History Month.
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. 81 - No. 6 Omaha, Nebraska
Friday, March 22, 2019
The Origins of Women’s History Month Women’s History Month in the United States grew out of a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized by the school district of Sonoma, Calif., in 1978. Presentations were given at dozens of schools, hundreds of students participated in a “Real Woman” essay contest and a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa. A few years later, the idea had caught on within communities, school districts and organizations across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. The U.S. Congress followed suit the next year, passing a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March.
International Women’s Day International Women’s Day, a global celebration of the economic, political and social achievements of women, took place for the first time in the early 1900s. Many countries around the world celebrate the holiday with demonstrations, educational initiatives and customs such as presenting women with gifts and flowers. The United Nations has sponsored International Women’s Day since 1975. When adopting its resolution on the observance of International Women’s Day, the United Nations General Assembly cited the following reasons: “To recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security.”
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Love Receives Distinguished Citizens Award from West Point Society Preston Love Jr. will be presented the Distinguished Citizen Award by the West Point Society of Nebraska and Western Iowa on March 30 during its annual West Point Founders Day in Omaha at the offices of Kutak Rock. “We are honored to present Mr. Love with the Distinguished Citizen Award. His lifetime service at the local, state and national level reflects great credit upon him and exemplifies the West Point values of Duty, Honor, Country” said Vince Lindenmeyer, President of the West Point Society of Nebraska and Western Iowa. “His numerous contributions to society and the community make him particularly deserving of this award.” “I thank the West Point Society of Nebraska and Western Iowa for this award,” said Mr. Love. “I am honored to be recognized among those people whose service is in keeping with the values of Duty, Honor, Country, and I add Community. I wish to thank the Society for their sponsorship this year of a deserving high school student for the educational ‘Face-to-Face with Black History’ bus tour. I am also excited about a future collaboration with the West Point Society on providing leadership opportunities to youth of our community. Love’s achievements and contributions span decades and are wide ranging. He was Nebraska All-State in football, basketball and track and played football for the University of Nebraska and with the Lincoln Comets semi-pro football team. Mr. Love was a pioneer marketing executive for IBM. An historic microcomputer innovator, he established Atlanta’s first retail computer store in 1980. Mr. Love organized Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign in 1984 and also worked for the late Harold Washington’s 1983 election as mayor of Chicago.
Love is the originator and driving force behind the Black Votes Matter Initiative. This initiative is made up of numerous components, including voter registration, aggressive early vote promotion, voter education meetings and forums, rides to the polls and speaking events throughout the community. As an outgrowth of the Black Votes Matter Initiative, Love founded the annual “Face-to-Face with Black History” bus tour. Forty scholarships are awarded to African American high school students for an educational tour that includes Memphis, Birmingham, Tuskegee, Selma, Montgomery and Atlanta. A documentary of the first tour was released in October 2018. Preston is a playwright and has written and performed “Adam Clayton Powell,” a one-man performance. He is an award-winning newspaper columnist for the Omaha Star. Love is a national lecturer, most recently speaking at the Nashville film festival regarding urban voting, and the documentary film “One Vote,” and at the Jefferson Educational Society in Erie, Pa. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where he teaches African-American Experience in Politics. He authored “Economic Cataracts: A Chronicle of Efforts to Remove the Obstacles of Urban Community Engagement and Economic Inclusion” and “The Jackson Papers.” Love serves as a consultant with the Minnesota Humanities Center, a national education organization. His numerous national, state and local awards include the NAACP President’s Award in 2018 and a commendation for excellence from Nebraska Secretary of State for his Omaha Star Newspaper column. Love is the president of the men’s auxiliary in his church, Antioch Church of God In Christ.
Big Mama’s Kitchen & Catering to Host Community Fellowship Meal April 5 Patricia “Big Mama” Barron, founder and nationally acclaimed chef of North Omaha’s Big Mama’s Kitchen and Catering, passed away on April 5, 2018. Her family is going to honor the date of her passing with a community meal, open to the public. The public is asked to make a donation. Donations will benefit the Patricia “Big Mama” Barron Culinary Scholarship Fund, managed by the Metropolitan Community College Foundation. The commemorative dinner will be held at the restaurant, 3223 N. 45th St., Bldg. A, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The meal will feature several of her most famous dishes, including Big Mama’s Oven Fried Chicken, Smashed Potatoes and Gravy, and Skillet Cornbread. Big Mama had three passions in her decades-long career as a restaurateur. She loved for people to eat her food; she wanted to pass the torch to a new generation by encouraging more young people to pursue careers in culinary arts; and she wanted to give community people the opportunity for a “second chance” in their lives. She regularly employed ex-offenders and others who needed someone to believe in them and help them get back into society.
Love is the son of the late jazz great Preston Love Sr. and his wife, Betty. He is married to Martha, his spiritual leader and his best supporter. About the Distinguished Citizen Award The Distinguished Citizen Award is the highest award bestowed by the West Point Society of Nebraska and Western Iowa. Presented periodically, the award has traditionally been presented to individuals who are nongraduates and groups unaffiliated with West Point. The selected recipient’s service and accomplishments must exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in West Point’s motto – Duty, Honor, Country. About the West Point Society of Nebraska and Western Iowa The West Point Society of Nebraska and Western Iowa is a non-profit corporation dedicated to furthering the principles of the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Society identifies and encourages outstanding young men and women to apply for admission to West Point, furthers public understanding of West Point and provides an organization wherein graduates and former cadets may associate and foster the ideals of West Point. About Founders Day and West Point Founders Day is the annual celebration of the founding of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York on March 16, 1802, the date on which President Thomas Jefferson signed the enabling legislation. West Point is a fouryear, co-educational, federal college located 50 miles north of New York City. It was established as America’s first college of engineering and
Preston Love Jr.
continues today as the world’s premier leader-development institution, consistently ranked among top colleges in the country. Its mission remains constant—to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the nation as an officer in the U. S. Army. Notable graduates include: Mike Krzyzewski (head coach of the Duke Blue Devils basketball team), H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Frank Borman and Buzz Aldrin (astronauts), Benjamin O. Davis Jr. (commander of the famed “Tuskegee Airmen” Red Tails, 332nd Fighter Group), Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, Leslie Groves (director of the Manhattan Project), John J. Pershing, George Goethals (builder of the Panama Canal), Oliver Howard (a founder of Howard University and Commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau), and Ulysses S. Grant. For further information, go to www. westpoint.edu.
MCC Campuses Drop-off Locations for Flood Donation Items
Various Metropolitan Community College campuses will become donation drop-off locations to assist flood victims. Containers will be placed at the below locations. • South Omaha Campus, Connector Building commons area, 2909 Edward Babe Gomez Ave. • Elkhorn Valley Campus front entrance, 829 N. 204th St. • Sarpy Center commons area, 9110 Giles Rd., La Vista • Fort Omaha Campus, Buildings 10 and 23 front entrances, 30th and Fort streets Items will be picked up and donated to the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army on March 29. Suggested items for donation include: shampoo, soap, toothpaste, diapers and wipes, paper towels, trash bags and other cleaning supplies.
DEA Warns of Alarming Increase of Scam Calls Big Mama with her kitchen staff and family.
Big Mama’s Kitchen & Catering continues to thrive, despite the loss of its founder. The restaurant is now scheduled to relocate to the new Highlander Community complex, on North 30th Street, in September. The Highlander is anchored by The Accelerator, a 65,000-squarefoot building that currently houses Creighton University, Metropolitan Community College - North Express, Hardy Coffee Co., Seventy Five North offices, and The Venue. Reservations are required for the “Pay It Forward” meal. Guests can reserve a seat on-line at https://www. eventbrite.com/e/big-mamas-1st-
Annual Health Fair – March 30. See In the Village for details.
annual-community-fellowship-daytickets-58831189672. Supporters unable to attend the dinner can submit a donation to Big Mama’s scholarship fund on-line at: https://www.mccneb.edu/CommunityBusiness/Foundation/FoundationScholarships/Available-Scholarships/ Culinary-Arts-and-Horticulture/ThePatricia-Big-Mama-Barron-CulinaryScholarshi.aspx. For more information, call Big Mama’s Kitchen & Catering at 402455-6262 or visit Web site www. bigmamaskitchen.com, where links to the reservations and donations sites are available.
The Drug Enforcement Administration urges its DEA-registered practitioners and members of the public to be cautious of telephone calls from criminals posing as DEA or other law enforcement personnel threatening arrest and prosecution for supposed violations of federal drug laws or involvement in drug-trafficking activities. DEA continues to receive reports from practitioners and the general public, alike, indicating that they have received calls threatening legal action if an exorbitant fine is not paid immediately over the phone. The callers typically identify themselves as DEA personnel and instruct their victims to pay the “fine” via wire transfer to avoid arrest, prosecution and imprisonment. The reported scam tactics are
continually changing, but often share many of the following characteristics: Callers use fake names and badge numbers or, alternatively, names of wellknown DEA senior officials. • The tone of calls is urgent and aggressive; callers refuse to speak or leave a message with anyone other than the person for whom they are calling. • Callers threaten arrest, prosecution and imprisonment, and in the case of medical practitioners, revocation of their DEA numbers. • Callers demand thousands of dollars via wire transfer or, in some instances, in the form of untraceable gift cards taken over the phone. • Callers falsify the number on caller ID to appear as a legitimate DEA phone See Scam continued on page 2
It’s so nice to see all the people of the community, coming together, getting together.
It’s a Jazzy kinda Thursday – April 4.
Native Omahans Days, July 29 – August 5, 2019
See In the Village for details.