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OMAHA STAR
THE
Celebrating 80 Years
1938 2018
Let’s pray for our teachers as they return to their classrooms.
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. 16 Omaha, Nebraska
Friday, August 10, 2018
‘Imagine Our Youth’ Keynote Speaker Announced
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Big Mama’s Kitchen to be Featured on ‘Eat Across Nebraska’
Omaha Home for Boys is excited to announce that J.R. Martinez will be LINCOLN – Food in Nebraska is as the featured keynote speaker at its annual Imagine Our Youth Fundraising varied as the landscape and as diverse as Celebration taking place at the Omaha Marriott Downtown at the Capitol the taste buds of those who live here. District on Sept. 6. “Eat Across Nebraska” takes you on a Martinez is an actor, author, motivational speaker and retired U.S. Army restaurant adventure exploring the unique soldier who sustained devastating injuries and severe burns during his tour places, people and history that makes the of duty in Iraq in 2003. After a grueling recovery, Martinez began his acting beef state rich with history and family career on the Emmy Award winning daytime drama All My Children starring stories. as injured veteran Brot Monroe and is the season 13 champion of Dancing This fun, fast-paced hour-long special with the Stars. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Full of premieres at 11:30 a.m. CT Aug. 19 on Heart. Martinez will bring his message of resilience, perseverance and hope NET, Nebraska’s PBS & NPR Stations. It repeats at 11 p.m. CT Aug. 19, 8:30 p.m. to the 2018 Imagine Our Youth Fundraising Celebration. CT Aug. 22, 11:30 p.m. CT Aug. 24 and The celebration will feature a VIP reception with the opportunity to meet 4:30 p.m. CT Aug. 25. and interact with Martinez as well as live and silent auctions, social hour, Viewers will get a taste of food with dinner and a program. influences from around the globe, enjoy Proceeds from the event will support the more than 300 at-risk youth, beloved recipes passed from generationyoung adults and families served by Omaha Home for Boys annually. to-generation and dabble in the state’s For more information regarding sponsorship opportunities, individual “foodie culture.” tickets or tables, please visit www.OmahaHomeForBoys.org or phone 402.457.7014. Sponsors of the event include Quantum Financial Partners LLC, Warren Distribution, and KMTV 3 News As the 2018-2019 academic year Now. approaches, transportation officials are preparing to transport more than 18,000 About the Omaha students to and from school. Parents and guardians of OPS students have received Home for Boys The Omaha Home letters confirming their transportation for Boys changes and bus stops, as well as pick up and drop saves the lives of at-risk off times. OPS Student Transportation youth by equipping has also held weekly meetings with their partners at Student Transportation and empowering these of America (STA) to initiate further young men and women communication regarding guidelines and with the skills needed code of conduct for drivers and students. to lead independent, Below is a brief outline of those efforts: productive lives. • Phone System - Parents are encouraged J.R. Martinez Through residential to phone the Transportation Hotline for care, transitional living and independent living programs, the Home guides any questions at 531-299-0140. youth in transitioning from a state of crisis to those of safety and growth. • Staffing - The Transportation Department in collaboration with Human www.OmahaHomeForBoys.org.
NET visits restaurants from one end of the state to the other. From pizza and burgers to soul food and sushi, “Eat Across Nebraska” explores how what we eat is changing and how it’s staying just the same. Restaurants visited include: • Glur’s Tavern in Columbus • Mac’s Drive-In in McCook • Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge in Paxton • Emporium in Scottsbluff • Big Mama’s Kitchen in Omaha • Round the Bend in South Bend • Blue Sushi Sake Grill in Omaha and Lincoln • The Oven in Lincoln Big Mama - the late Patricia Barron • The Flippin Sweet in Kearney
OPS Student Transportation Prepares for Successful Start to New School Year Resources has actively recruited drivers throughout the summer. • Routing changes - Additional changes are now incorporated for routing efficiency to include: • Consolidation of middle and high school routes in close proximity (such as Bryan High/Bryan Middle and Benson High/Monroe Middle)
• Increasing maximum road time to 1 hour and 20 minutes. • STA and OPS are hosting preliminary bus route dry runs a week before school starts giving drivers the opportunity to become familiar with routes and address any potential issues or concerns. “We’ve been working actively throughout the summer to ensure our readiness for the start of the school year,” said Trevis Sallis, Director of Student Transportation. “We’ve made numerous improvements to our processes these past two years and we are committed to transporting our students to school on-time, safely from the very first day of school and throughout the school year.” Questions regarding student transportation? Visit ops.org.
Few People Know Black Women Face Such a Large Pay Gap PALO ALTO, Calif. /PRNewswire/ – Tuesday was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, which marks how far Black women had to work into 2018 to catch up with what white men earned in 2017 alone. On average, Black women are paid 38 percent less than white men and 21 percent less than white women. To raise awareness of the pay gap and its negative effect on Black women and families, LeanIn.Org is launching #38PercentCounts, the second of three public awareness efforts this year rooted in the idea that equal pay matters. New research conducted by LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey in partnership with the National Urban League shows that there remains a striking lack of awareness around the pay gap Black women face. One in three Americans is not aware of the pay gap between Black women and white men, and half of Americans are not aware of the gap between Black women and white women. “The pay gap facing Black women is an urgent problem,” said Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org. “It has huge financial implications for millions of families. And it signals something deeply wrong in our economy. We need to address the gender and racial inequalities that give rise to this imbalance – and create workplaces where everyone’s labor is valued, everyone is treated with respect, and everyone has an equal shot at success.” For Black women, being paid less is just the tip of the iceberg. Compared
to white women, Asian women and Latinas, Black women receive less support from managers and are promoted more slowly. These unique challenges faced by Black women – and women of color more broadly – are examined in LeanIn.Org & McKinsey & Company’s annual Women in the Workplace study. “Black women deal with double discrimination every day – they face biases for being women and biases for being people of color. One place where we see that double effect is in the 38 percent pay gap,” said Rachel Thomas, president of LeanIn.Org. “That translates to more than $800,000 lost over the course of a career with staggering real-world implications. We’re grateful to our partners and the Lean In community for working to raise awareness of the pay gap Black women face.” LeanIn.Org, SurveyMonkey, and the National Urban League’s recent survey findings also show that even when people know there’s a pay gap, it’s bigger than they realize. Forty percent of people who are aware of the pay gap Black women face underestimate its size. Moreover, the data show significant differences in how Black women see the workplace compared to everyone else. About half of white men think obstacles to advancement for Black women are gone but only 14 percent of Black women agree. Moreover, nearly 70 percent of people who are not Black think that racism, sexism or both are uncommon in
their company – yet 64 percent of Black women say they’ve experienced discrimination at work. “The lack of awareness about the pay gap at their own workplace, particularly among hiring managers –two-thirds of whom say there is none– is an insight we hope drives organizations to take action,” said Sarah Cho, Director of Research at SurveyMonkey. “Conducting a pay equity study is a powerful way to bring this topic into clear terms, but we also hope these data spark curiosity within companies to measure perceptions about inclusion, so they can build broader programs and policies to help drive meaningful change that lasts.” “Our plan is that bringing awareness to this injustice will lead to concrete action,” said Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League. “Not only would fair pay for Black women drastically narrow the racial economic gap, but it would go a long way toward stabilizing our national economy. Because Black women disproportionately are heads of households, fair pay would create a ripple effect that could lift entire communities.” LeanIn.Org is releasing a video of Black women and their families – many from Lean In Circles community – explaining what earning less means for them. When asked what 38 percent more would mean in their lives, one woman says she could retire comfortably, another says it would go toward her son’s education, and
a family explains they could use the lost income to buy a house – or “two houses, actually,” says their son. Their sentiments are supported by a large body of research that underscores the benefits of closing the pay gap for Black women. Lower earnings for them means less money for their families, especially since more than 80% of Black mothers are primary breadwinners for their households. If Black women were paid fairly, they would earn on average almost $870,000 more over the course of their career. At leanin.org/38percentcounts visitors will be able to show their support for #38PercentCounts, watch the campaign videos, and see the Black women’s pay gap “by the numbers.” In addition, business leaders and managers will learn what they can do to close the pay gap in their companies, and women will learn expert tips and tricks for negotiating more effectively. With the help of large-scale distribution and advertising partners – including Facebook, Instagram, PayPal, and SoFi – #38PercentCounts is also reaching millions of people online. KEY FINDINGS • Too many people don’t know that Black women are paid less. More than 30 percent of Americans are not aware that, on average, Black women are paid less than white men. • Even when people know there’s a pay gap, it’s bigger than they realize.
On average, Black women are paid 38% less than white men, which amounts to almost $870,000 lost over the course of a typical career. 40% of people who are aware of this gap underestimate its size. • People are overly optimistic about the state of Black women. About half of white men think obstacles to advancement for Black women are gone, but only 14% of Black women agree. Moreover, nearly 70% of people who are not Black think that racism, sexism or both are uncommon in their company – yet 64% of Black women say they’ve experienced discrimination at work. • Almost everyone agrees that earning less is a huge problem. 85% of Americans think it would be a major problem or crisis if they earned 40% less money. Yet compared to white men, Black women face this pay gap every day. • When people know there’s a pay gap, they think it’s unfair. When presented with information that Black women on average are paid 38% less than white men, 72% of Americans think it’s not fair. • The pay gap between Black and white women is even less understood. On average, Black women are paid 21% less than white women. Yet 50% of Americans – as well as 45% of hiring managers – think Black women and white women are paid equally. And 77% of working Americans think no gap exists between Black and white women in their own organizations.
“Black Skies” August 24.
Back to School Issue – August 24.
The Forum returns August 31.
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See In the Village for details.