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VOL 5 ISSUE 41

JUNE 10, 2016

REMEMBERING A LEGEND 1942-2016

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JUNE 10, 2016

VOL 5 ISSUE 41

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JUNE 10, 2016

CURLS CELEBRATES 14 YEARS IN BUSINESS “CIRQUE DU SOLEIL” STYLE Award-Winning Natural Hair Care Brand highlighted accomplishments and honored Beauty Industry Trailblazers

A host of esteemed guests and beauty enthusiasts were greeted by sensational stilt walkers and contortionists at the MADI Museum for an over-the-top cirque du soleilthemed party in celebration of pioneering natural hair care brand CURLS’ 14th year in business.

The festive event, hosted by popular Beauty Blogger, Eugenia Says, lauded CURLS’ historic past, meteoric growth and present success, and provided signature CURLS Blueberry Bliss cocktails, lite bites, CURLS models and deejayed music for the evening’s entertainment.

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Renee Cottrell Brown, Mahisha Dellinger and Eric Brown

In 2002, with $30,000 of her own savings, CURLS Founder & CEO, Mahisha Dellinger launched CURLS, a family of award-winWWW.MYIMESSENGER.COM

ning organic hair care products, out of her frustration with the lack of effective products for natural and curly hair, a market previously unanswered by the beauty industry.

Today, Ms. Dellinger’s astute business acumen and natural talent for delivering market driven products has made CURLS into a multi-million dollar brand that continues to experience tremendous growth.

“We are truly grateful to have pioneered the natural hair care industry and pride ourselves on continuously and consistently distinguishing the CURLS brand

JUNE 10, 2016

in this now oversaturated market,” says Dellinger. “CURLS will always use the finest organic ingredients and respond to the desires of our loyal customers.”

Event highlights included: Unveiling the company’s entire CURLS Blueberry Bliss Curl Collection, which is exclusively available at Target: Blueberry Bliss Reparative Hair Wash, Hair Mask, Leave In Conditioner, Blueberry Bliss Curl Control Paste, Curl Control Jelly, Twist N Shout Cream, and Blueberry Bliss Hair Growth Oil. Recognizing the company’s

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philanthropic program, CURLS Girls Rule the World, which is devoted to empowering women and girls of color by encouraging entrepreneurship and excellence using mentorship as the foundation.

Honoring Hair Care Industry Trailblazers and Dallas residents, Renee Cottrell-Brown and Eric Brown, who upon buildWWW.MYIMESSENGER.COM

ing the legacy of Renee’s late-father, Comer Cottrell, launched multi-million dollar international hair care products such as Just for Me to Ultra Sheen’s Ultra Care, which have revolutionized the market.

Eric and Renee are also known industry-wide for their professional innovation and philanthropic efforts toward the Black community.

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The Obamas pay tribute to Muhammad Ali “Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him, he’d tell you,” the statement said.

“He’d tell you he was the double greatest; that he’d “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder into jail.

But what made The Champ the greatest – what truly separated him from everyone else – is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing.

Like everyone else on the planet, Michelle and I mourn his passing. But we’re also grateful to God for how fortunate we are to have known him, if just for a while; for how fortunate we all are that The Greatest chose to grace our time.”

Ali, who was known just as much for his political activism as he was for his athletic prowess, had a lasting impression on the President from his time known as Cassius Clay to his dying day as the untouchable, Muhammad Ali. “In my private study, just off the Oval Office, I keep a pair of his gloves on display, just under that iconic photograph of him – the young champ, just 22 years old, roaring like a lion over a fallen Sonny Liston.

I was too young when it was taken to understand who he was – still Cassius Clay, already an

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Olympic Gold Medal winner, yet to set out on a spiritual journey that would lead him to his Muslim faith, exile him at the peak of his power, and set the stage for his return to greatness with a name as familiar to the downtrodden in the slums of Southeast Asia and the villages of

Africa as it was to cheering crowds in Madison Square Garden. ’I am America,’ he once declared.

‘I am the part you won’t recognize.

But get used to me – black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own. Get used to me.’”

In 1984, the Heavyweight legend was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome, and while it took him out of the ring, it didn’t stop him WWW.MYIMESSENGER.COM

from continuing to change the world.

“He wasn’t perfect, of course. For all his magic in the ring, he could be careless with his words, and full of contradictions as his faith evolved.

But his wonderful, infectious, even innocent spirit ultimately won him more fans than foes – maybe because in him, we hoped to see something of ourselves.

Later, as his physical powers ebbed, he became an even more powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world.

We saw a man who said he was so mean he’d make medicine sick reveal a soft spot, visiting children with illness and disability around the world, telling them they, too, could become the greatest.

We watched a hero light a torch, and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again; a battle against the disease that ravaged his body, but couldn’t take the spark from his eyes.

Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it.

Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family, and we pray that the greatest fighter of them all finally rests in peace.”

JUNE 10, 2016

Quit Playin’

by Vincent Hall

“What’s My Name?

“I am the greatest.

I said that before I even knew I was.”

- Muhammad Ali 1967 was turning to face spring and three impressionable boys were fully engaged.

Me, Michael Jackson and Prince were all around eight.

James Brown had the three of us dancing to a new smash hit; “Papa’s got a Brand New Bag.” Meanwhile a potent hurricane was predicted for Houston Texas.

This “pretty” poet/pugilist self-named Muhammad Ali publically rejected his government name, Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. Later, I learned that Clay was named for a powerful and prestigious abolitionist. His parents plotted to emblazon destiny on young Cassius’s conscience by naming him for greatness.

But Ali realized that he could not call himself “The Greatest” with a carefully se-

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Ali – The Greatest Round One

lected “slave name.”

1967 was a year of wonderment for me. The Vietnam War was televised and I was petrified that I might some day be drafted.

The War, though I studied it intimately and daily, was confusing as I had it proffered to me by Walter Cronkite. If all of Vietnam was a hazardous battleground, what was a “Demilitarized Zone?” So peace is possible, but the body bag business is booming? Nothing made much sense to me after JFK was killed three miles from my front door…Nothing!

I switched channels to find sportscaster Howard Cosell, a man whom I admired and trusted for one reason.

Cosell defended fully the rights of the former Cassius Marcellus Clay to be called whatever the hell he wanted.

Be leery of the “America the paradise” historians who will whitewash Ali and recast him as some sort of candy-assed, highly celebrated conformist, ready-made for a “Wheaties” box. Ali didn’t earn that coveted cereal-box cameo until 1999, after the Olympic torch.

Before Ali became an “acceptable Negro,” most White folks and a lot of Negroes hated him. To this crowd his first names were, uppity, loudmouth, troublemaking and a few other invectives, but they all agreed that his surname was Nigger.

From Clay to Ali, he grew up in an environment that was hostile, hurtful and humiliating to his race.

Save that Kumbaya ‘ish!

Black America’s eyes and

ears affixed on Houston, Texas.

More ears than eyes because televisions were a middle-class luxury.

Houston rocketed to fame by landing NASA. Ali’s outspoken arrogance would be tested at the “8th Wonder of the World; The Astrodome.”

The Astrodome was the first enclosed football arena and earned Houston a significant amount of tourism.

Muhammad Ali entered the

and a protective cup.

Throughout the contest I could see Ali constantly mouthing something to Terrell, but couldn’t make it out. Camera angles and close-ups were not nearly as refined then, but Ali allowed him to stay conscious long enough to finish this speech he was spitting. A few days later I learned that the whole while he brutalized Terrell, he was asking him “What’s my name? What’s my

ring intent on delivering a resounding ass-whipping to his opponent and his haters. He paced the ring keeping constant eye contact. He looked at sixfoot-six inch Ernie Terrell like he was a midget.

During the pre-fight hype, Terrell mocked the name change, currying favor with Whites and Black Christians who despised Ali, Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam. But watching, I thought Terrell had talked about Ali’s mama. In our community “The Dozens” will get you hurt quickly and seriously; with or without gloves

name boy?

Terrell finally had to say his name.

My middle daughter, Alison was named partially for Ali, because the name Ali means “Greatness” around the world.

Ali is “The Greatest” because he named it and claimed it. Ali made Black beautiful and us proud and was the progenitor of a movement. Ali whipped his non-believers and made them acquiesce.

Greatness requires bearing the sacrifices that come with your beliefs.

BTW…What’s your name?

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Muhammad Ali, the People's Champion

By George E. Curry George Curry Media Columnist I know it's extremely difficult, but if you can, ditch the memories of Muhammad Ali showing up uninvited at Sonny Liston's training camp, announcing that he was going bear hunting. Put aside his boasts of being the greatest of alllll-timmmme. Scratch the images of the "Ali Shuffle" and his patented ropea-dope.

cuffed lightning, thrown thunder into jail.' But what made The Champ the greatest - what truly separated him from everyone else - is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing," the president and First Lady Michelle Obama said in a statement.

man."

He was also the boldest - unafraid to take a

"Last week, I was taking a ride and thought, 'I'm driving a Rolls-Royce and I got another one in the garage that I hardly ever use that cost $40,000,'" Ali said. "I got a Scenicruiser Greyhound bus that sleeps fourteen and cost $120,000 and another bus that cost $42,000 - $162,000 just in mobile homes. My training camp cost $350,000 and I just spent $300,000 remodeling my house in Chicago. I got all that and a lot more.

Ali's greatest victories came outside the boxing ring. He was the greatest of all time as a boxer and, more important, as a humanitarian.

He consistently displayed unwavering courage and a willingness to be unpopular. In fact, it was his unpopularity with the establishment that made him popular with people all around the word.

"Well, I was driving down the street and I saw a little black man wrapped in an old coat standing on a corner with his wife and little boy, waiting for a bus to come along - and there I am in my Rolls-Royce. The little boy had holes in his shoes and I started thinkin' that if he was my little boy, I'd break into tears. And I started crying."

I had the pleasure of meeting Muhammad Ali twice, first in the late 1960s as a part of a conference of college newspaper editors in Washington, D.C. and in the late 1990s as a board member of the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME).

At that first meeting, I was struck by how physically imposing Ali was at 6'2 ½ inches and about 236 pounds. I pretended to be boxing with him - making sure he knew that I was just pretending - and my fist looked like a small pimple next to his face. Ali was extremely generous with his time and was playful as ever.

By the time of our second meeting, he had already been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects body movement. Though considerably slowed, he was still the star attraction, communicating with his eyes more than with his mouth.

Whether in his prime or just a shell of his old self, Ali was one of the world's most recognized and beloved public figures, a brash boxer whose punches and physical dexterity could back up the words that flowed from his mouth.

"Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period. If you just asked him, he'd tell you. He'd tell you he was the double greatest; that he'd 'hand-

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But he wasn't that kind of man. And he was sensitive to the type of lifestyle his high-profile career afforded him and the rest of Black America.

Ali didn't know it, but wherever he was going, the FBI was spying on him as part of its COINTELPRO campaign to undermine civil rights leaders and organizations. stand. He was widely criticized - and even by African Americans such as Jackie Robinson for joining the Nation of Islam shortly after his upset victory over Sonny Liston. He later left the NOI but remained an outspoken advocate for Blacks and the downtrodden.

In a interview with Playboy magazine, which is included as part of The Muhammad Ali Reader, edited by Gerald Early, Ali was asked: "What would the old Cassius Clay be doing today?"

In his typical direct manner, Ali replied, "If I was Cassius Clay today, I'd be just like Floyd Patterson. I'd probably have a white wife and I wouldn't represent black people in no way. Or I'd be like Charley Pride, the folk singer. Nothin' bad about him - he's a good fella and I met his black wife, but Charley stays out of controversy. It's not only him, because I could name Wilt Chamberlain and others who don't get involved in struggle or racial issues - it might jeopardize their position. I'd be that kind of

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According to Racial Matters: The FBI's Secret File on Black America, 1960-1972 by Kenneth O'Reilly, the agency overheard conversations between Ali and Dr. King as part of its wiretapping of King's phones and hotel rooms.

A footnote in the book stated, "FBI surveillance of Muhammad Ali sucked in everyone around him, from Howard Cosell to Angelo Dundee and even Johnny Carson. Whenever Ali appeared on the Tonight Show, an agent stayed up to watch and record the telecast."

Although his own government engaged in such cowardly acts, Muhammad Ali was a true patriot, standing up to his government when it was wrong - costing him more than three prime years of his life - and praising it when it was right.

As Ali liked to say, "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

JUNE 10, 2016

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Muhammad Ali's Toughest Fight: Parkinson's Disease

By Glenn Ellis George Curry Media Guest Columnist

Although you are aware Muhammad Ali had been living with Parkinson's disease since 1984, chances are there's a lot you still don't know about it. Let's correct that now.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive movement disorder, meaning that symptoms continue and worsen over time. Muhammad Ali was just one of the more than 1 million people in the U.S. who are living with the disease. The cause of Parkinson's is unknown, and there is presently no cure. For certain people, there are treatment options such as medication and surgery to manage its symptoms.

While Parkinson's itself isn't considered fatal, people can die from complications of the disease. Complications of the disease were the cause of Ali's death, not Parkinson's itself. He died of septic shock after spending five days at an Arizona hospital for what started out as respiratory problems and gradually worsened. We only know that Ali was hospitalized for a "respiratory infection." Sepsis is the body's reaction to fight infection that becomes essentially failed effort. The body's trying so hard to fight infection and basically just gives out. Septic shock is what happens as a complication of an infection where toxins can initiate a full-blown inflammatory response from the immune system.

The CDC reports that more than 1 million cases of sepsis are recorded in the United States each year, and between 28 and 50 percent of people who suffer from sepsis die.

Parkinson's involves the malfunction and death of vital nerve cells in the brain, called neurons. It is a very slowly progressive neurodegenerative condition affecting multiple circuits in the brain. The Mayo Clinic describes Parkinson's as, "a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in one hand. But while a tremor may be the most well-known sign of Parkinson's disease, the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement."

During the early stages, the person's face begins to show little, or no, expression, and the arms no longer swing when the person walks. As the disease progresses, tremors and shaking becomes more and more pronounced, and what speech remains is slurred or becomes very soft, almost mumbling. Parkinson's patients also experience non-motor symptoms, which studies have shown may be even more disabling. These symptoms may

include depression, anxiety, and sexual dysfunction.

The general consensus from the scientific and the medical community (and many of his fans and detractors) is that Ali's condition was the result of the continued pounding to his head during his career as a boxer. They believe that repeated hits to the head might contribute to Parkinson's.

Comparing the brain to a squishy ball, when it's hit extremely hard, the ball bounces against the skull. About three to 12 days later, massive inflammation follows and the brain is flooded with proteins that are associated with Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

Parkinson's results from a loss of brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine. After inflammation, these dopamine neurons are much more fragile, and more likely to become injured by other things, such as regular aging. But, the scientific evidence points to a genetic predisposition. According to several neurological experts familiar with Ali's symptoms and the course of his disease, they conclude that they were also consistent with a genetic form of Parkinson's.

His late trainer, Angelo Dundee, and daughter Rasheda indicate that Ali may have boxed with symptoms of Parkinson's. In some patients, events such head trauma or medications can "unmask" disease that's still in its earliest stage. So, in Ali's case, boxing may have contributed to his illness, but genetics was likely a bigger factor.

Like any other disease or medical condition, should we become affected, we must always remember that life can, and must, go on. Parkinson's disease is a progressive disorder, and although it is not considered to be a fatal disease, symptoms do worsen over time and make life difficult.

There are many medications available to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's, although none yet that actually reverse the effects of the disease. It is common for people with Parkinson's to take a variety of these medications in order to manage the symptoms of the disease. Life expectancy for people with Parkinson's who receive proper treatment is often about the same as for the general population. The average life expectancy of a Black man in America is 75.5 years, Muhammad Ali died six months' shy of his 75th birthday.

Early detection is the key to reducing complications that can shorten your life from Parkinson's or any other condition. Another good reason for regular checkups with your doctor.

Remember, I'm not a doctor. I just sound like one.

DISCLAIMER: The information included in this column is for educational purposes only. It is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The reader should always consult his or her healthcare provider to determine the appropriateness of the information for their own situation or if they have any questions regarding a medical condition or treatment plan.)

Glenn Ellis, is a regular media contributor on Health Equity and Medical Ethics. He is the author of Which Doctor?, and Information is the Best Medicine.

Listen to him every Saturday at 9 a.m. (EST) on www.900amwurd.com, and Sundays at 8:30 a.m. (EST) onwww.wdasfm.com. For more good health information, visit:

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JUNE 10, 2016

Ali's stance on Vietnam War emboldened MLK to oppose conflict

By George E. Curry Editor-in-Chief EmergeNewsOnline.com

and changed his name from Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. to Muhammad Ali, was immediately stripped of his heavyweight championship title.

WASHINGTON - Muhammad Ali's decision to risk going to jail by opposing the Vietnam War provided Dr. Martin Luther King with the strength to come out against the war publicly for the first time, according to the board chairman of King's old organization.

He was convicted of draft evasion on June 20, 1967, sentenced to five years in prison, fined $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. He remained free while his case worked its way through the appeals process. On June 28, 1971, a unanimous Supreme Court overturned his conviction, granting him conscious objector status.

Ali's standoff with the federal government captured the attention of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the preeminent civil rights leader of that period.

Rev. Bernard Lafayette Bernard Lafayette, a longtime Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) field organizer and current board chairman, said in an interview with EmergeNewsOnline.com: "He was the reason Martin Luther King had the courage to come out and take a stand against the war, even though Martin Luther King's own board was not in favor of it."

He added, "I don't remember any exact quotes, but Muhammad Ali is the one that pushed Martin Luther King to take a stand."

Ali, who was a global icon in and out of the boxing ring, died June 3 in a hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he had been admitted with respiratory problems. He was 74 years old. A private funeral service will be held Thursday in his hometown of Louisville, Ky. followed by a public memorial on Friday.

On April 28, 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War, Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army, citing religious reasons. He said, "I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong." Ali, who had converted to Islam three years earlier

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Like Ali, he took a stand against the Vietnam War, a position that was opposed by many of his fellow civil rights warriors, including NAACP Executive Director Roy Wilkins and National Urban League President Whitney Young, Jr. On April 30, 1967 - just two days after Ali refused to take a step forward to be inducted into the Army - King gave a major address against the war at Riverside Church in New York City.

"I speak out against this war, not in anger, but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and, above all, with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as the moral example of the world," King said. "I speak out against this war because I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love. I am disappointed with our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. We are presently moving down a dead-end road that can lead to national disaster. America has strayed to the far country of racism and militarism."

While then-president Lyndon B. Johnson objected to King's opposition to the war, the nation's first African American president praised Ali for his unpopular stand.

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In a statement, President and Mrs. Obama said, "Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it. We are all better for it."

They explained, "He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn't. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled, and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground. And his victory helped us get used to the America we recognize today."

LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers great, said Black professional athletes owe Ali a special debt of gratitude.

"The reason why he's the GOAT is not because of what he did in the ring, which was unbelievable," James said, referring to the acronym that stands for greatest of all time.

"It's what he did outside of the ring, what he believed in, what he stood for, along with Jim Brown and Oscar Robertson, Lew Alcindor obviously, who became Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] - Bill Russell, Jackie Robinson. Those guys stood for something. He's part of the reason why African-Americans today can do what we do in the sports world. We're free. They allow us to have access to anything we want. It's because of what they stood for, and Muhammad Ali was definitely the pioneer for that."

The former heavyweight champion occupied a special place in Black America. Like Joe Lewis had instilled mass pride in an earlier generation, he did the same for the succeeding generation.

The Louisville, Ky. native won a gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and turned pro later that year. On Feb. 25, 1964, Ali scored an upset knockout over Sonny Liston in the sixth round, becoming heavyweight champion. In addition to predicting the round his opponent would fall, Ali provided the most colorful quotes of any boxer before or afterward.

"The Louisville Lip," as he was sometimes known, was famous for saying, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee - his hands can't hit

JUNE 10, 2016

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what his eyes can't see."

with Parkinson disease.

In case you didn't get the point, he said, "I done something new for this fight. I wrestled with an alligator. I tussled with a whale.

I handcuffed lightening. I thrown thunder in jail. Only last week I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick. I'm, so mean I make medicine sick."

"Later, as his physical powers ebbed, he became an even more powerful force for peace and reconciliation around the world," Obama said of Ali. "We saw a man who said he was so mean he'd make medicine sick reveal a soft

He also said, "I'm not the greatest. I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round. I'm the boldest, the most superior, most scientific, most skillfullest fighter in the ring today."

"It's like a part of me just passed w/him," George Foreman Tweeted. "It's hard for me to think about being n a world without Muhammad Ali being alive."

Bernard Lafayette, the SCLC board chairman, gave two personal examples of Ali's typical interaction with people he did not know.

Not all of his lines were original, but that did not seem to matter.

For example, he often said, "I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and got into bed before the room was dark."

In 1966, Lafayette had been organizing the Chicago Freedom Movement, which marked the expansion of SCLC's activities from the South to northern cities. He was preparing to board a flight to Atlanta when he spotted Ali.

A variation of that quote is widely attributed to Negro League baseball great Josh Gibson describing Cool Papa Bell. But Ali could get away with claiming it.

"If a Black man, a Mexican and a Puerto Rican are sitting in the back of a car, who's driving?" he asked. "Give up? The po-lice."

After being banned from boxing, Ali returned to the ring against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta on Oct. 26, 1970. Ali knocked him out in the third round.

Many of Ali's fights had catchy titles, most of them supplied by him. His 1971 fight against Joe Frazier was billed as the "Fight of the Century." He defeated George Foreman in the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), knocking out Foreman in the eighth round. After splitting two bouts with Joe Frazier, Ali defeated him in 14 rounds in the "Thrilla in Manila."

Ali retired in 1981 with a 56-5 record and the only person to hold the heavyweight championship three times. In 1984, he was diagnosed

On Twitter, Rev. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, said Ali "was and always will be the greatest." Sharpton said, "We should all strive to embody the virtues he possessed."

Even Ali's former opponents had nothing but praise for him.

And there was this: "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am."

He would also get away with some politically incorrect jokes.

he was the greatest boxer in history may be debated for generations. But none has had a greater impact on American culture and social justice."

spot, visiting children with illness and disability around the world, telling them they, too, could become the greatest. We watched a hero light a torch, and fight his greatest fight of all on the world stage once again; a battle against the disease that ravaged his body, but couldn't take the spark from his eyes."

Jesse L. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, said of Ali, "He sacrificed the heart of his career and money and glory for his religious beliefs about a war he thought unnecessary and unjust...He was a champion in the ring, but, more than that, a hero beyond the ring. When champions win, people carry them off the field on their shoulders. When heroes win, people ride on their shoulders. We rode on Muhammad Ali's shoulders."

Another civil rights leader, Marc H. Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, said: "I believe Muhammad Ali was the greatest athlete of the 20th century. Whether

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"I was a complete stranger," Lafayette recalled. "I recognized him and started talking to him. He said, 'Where are you sitting?" I told him coach. He said, 'Give me your boarding pass.' He took my boarding pass and got me a first-class seat next to him."

Lafayette said Ali spent most of the flight talking to his wife on the telephone.

"When we got off, everybody went wild when they saw him. I just pretended to be his bodyguard so people wouldn't bother him."

The following year, Lafayette and a friend decided to drop by Ali's residence in Chicago unannounced.

"Paul Brooks and I just rang the door bell," Lafayette recounted. "A guy came out and we said, 'We're here to see the champion.' He went back and told him we were there to see him. He told us to come on in. We went into his bedroom and Ali was shaving. He finished shaving and talked to us about an hour and a half. Ali loved to talk."

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JUNE 10, 2016

Go Sweetly Muhammad Ali

With the passing of the larger than life sports personality, Muhammad Ali, the world has lost more than a great boxing champion.

We have lost a remarkable human-being whose life was laced with courage, dignity and grace.

While his athletic talents had long since passed, his face was recognized on every continent in the world, from the largest cities to the smallest villages.

He was more than a citizen of a single country. He was, in fact, a citizen of the world.

The meaning and dimensions of his life have helped to shape the very mosaic of the 21st century.

His inner light illuminated the hearts, the minds, and the souls of men, women and children the world over.

He lived a transformational life with vision at its core.

Muhammad Ali once said that a per-

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son who views the world at 50-years of age the same as they did at 20-years of age has wasted 30 years of life. He was a wise and purposeful man, a son of the South,

By Congresswoman who rose to the pinnacle o f Eddie Bernice a sport that brought him fame andJohnson wealth. Despite his success it appeared that he was in pursuit of something else, something far more valuable than money, fame, regular mention in the headlines of newspapers or a gallery of friends.

He often said that those who are not “courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.�

The risks that he took inside and out of the boxing ring were numerous, from refusing to enter the draft for the Vietnam War which caused him to be stripped of his title and banned from boxing while in his prime, to exposing

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his body to more than 20,000 punches from his opponents throughout his historic career.

During the course of his life, Muhammad Ali struggled with the direction of his nation, and some of its citizens struggled with him.

Yet, as time passed and his compassion for others and his battle for social and economic justice emerged, he became a national and international hero.

We may never see the likes of Muhammad Ali again.

Yet we must never forget all that he stood for, and the manner in which he engaged us and the world. I am grateful that he chose to live and work amongst us as he did.

We are a better people, a better nation, and a better world because of the life and influence of Muhammad Ali. *Congresswoman Johnson represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas

JUNE 10, 2016

Ali and Dallas My Day

By Dr. J. Ester Davis

Muhammad Ali created and lived the “Audacity of Hope” decades before Barack Obama published his thoughts on reclaiming the American dream, making it a number one New York Times bestseller.

He channeled his thoughts into sweeping poetry.

I Messenger advisory member for the Miss Black America and Miss Black USA Pageants. The 1974 pageant was historic because we had pageant queens in from Colorado, California and Florida.

In the 70s we had these pageants in every major American city with large audiences, major contributors, celebrities, advertisers and supporters. After Muhammad Ali died last week, Saundra Lohr, Miss Black Dallas 1974, posted a memoir on Facebook and we talked. After

Muhammad Ali was the perfect Drum Major for James Brown’s “I’m Black and I’m Proud.” In the book, “Having Our Say” by Sarah and Elizabeth Delany, the sisters confronted the days of Jim Crow, rising to professional prominence, middle class status, during the Harlem heyday. I think they would say Muhammad Ali carried their message to world class status, just beautifully.

The greatest athlete of all times and the world’s greatest self-ordained ambassador for racial respect came to Dallas several times. Most people remember his-ever present voice on the black radio shows and visiting college campuses.

I met Ali the first time in 1974. I was the director for the Miss Black Dallas Pageant and at the time,

ally asked this lady attendant about Ali. She immediately lighted up and said “I talked to him on the phone once. . . when I was 13 years old.”

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Of course, I had to hear the rest of the story. She was a student at Oliver W. Holmes, recuperating from a broken leg and listening to the “Tom Joyner Show.” on the radio.

She said that every day she called in to the “Tom Joyner Show.” Well, this particular day Tom Joyner’s guest was Muhammad Ali. Tom Joyner allowed her to talk to Muhammad Ali. She still had every word recorded in her memory bank. And the excitement in her voice was as though it happened yesterday.

This story is significant and is the root cause of Muhammad Ali’s greatest. He could walk and talk with kings and queens, politicians and filmmakers, adversaries and haters, promoters and Indian Chiefs, CEOs and COOs and still not lose the common touch with everyday people. The other significant story I heard from my community survey was “I think I admired him more after his fighting career.”

catching up, I started looking for the stack of souvenir books I had somewhere.

Going about my day this week, I started talking to people, both young and old, about Muhammad Ali. At the service station, I casuWWW.MYIMESSENGER.COM

B p m r A B n w m “ t n B A b

This accounting of Muhammad Ali centered around his openness to display his illness. His courage and bravery in and out of the ‘center ring’ will live forever in the hearts of his World Fan Club. He was indeed. . . the greatest. www.esterday.com

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Spiritually Speaking

by James A. Washington

Some days just trying to be a Christian can accelerate that feeling of just treading water. I get it. Add to that whatever situation you’re in or circumstances that you’re going through and the overwhelming feeling can be summed up with “what’s the point?” One of my habitual sayings, which you’ve heard before is Mr. Temptation meet Ms. Test.

Being a Christian, as we all know, does not guarantee a life void of trial and tribulation. The small but important point I’m making is a factoid that I believe and brings more inner peace to me than I can explain; God is always in your life. No matter the situation, He will never abandon you regardless of how lonely life gets or appears to be. I liken it to pushing a huge rock uphill.

On many a day that rock becomes a boulder and that hill transforms into a very steep and treacherous mountain.

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Real Christian. Real Times. Real Life.

At these times, one must recognize that were it not for God’s presence in your life, that rock would trample you and the hill would turn to quicksand.

It’s all in your attitude.

I admit it’s easy to get down even though you are a believer. But because you’re a believer, it should also be impossible to stay down. I went to two different churches recently where members were allowed to give testimony and request prayer. One was very large and high tech and those who spoke, spoke of their real life journeys to Christ by concluding that “Jesus is more than a story.” Each testimony of Christ’s reality in changing a life forced me to rethink my own situation and conclude, I have no right to be down. Heaven, I’m blessed. In the other much smaller and more intimate church, member after member told stories of specific trials and tests and the need for prayer; from family situations in which a six month old died prematurely and

a seven year old from cancer, to a person so allergic to life that the smell of perfume would cause excruciating pain and a life of seclusion. I have no right to be down.

Heaven I’m blessed. I pass these stories along because in all instances the people involved found a way to cope, to live, to survive.

Remember every testimony was relayed in church as an acknowledgement of the power and love of the Lord through whom all blessings flow. Every story was an entreaty for prayer and a profession of faith. Real Christians…real life…the real world. I just thought I’d take this opportunity to again let you know that my real world, no matter how

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messed up it can be and has been, is never as bad as it could be without the love of the Lord in my heart, the faith of Jesus Christ in spirit and the invitation to the Holy Spirit to ride shotgun with me wherever I go. I don’t have room to insert Psalm 23 here but read it today. Look around your valley of death and fear no evil. Bathe in the grace of God. As the kids say, ‘you better recognize.’

Recognize and be blessed.

This I ask for you in Jesus’ name.

May God bless and keep you always.

James

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ASK ALMA:

by Alma Gill NNPA News Wire Columnist Dear Alma, My friend of over 15 years recently made the decision it was time for her and her mother to live together again. After her father died, her mom never could really handle remaining in the childhood home and all the responsibilities that go along with it, so they decided it would be best for financial and health reasons if they sold the house and moved in together.

A little over a year ago, she and her mom purchased a beautiful home and as far as she is concerned, all is well. But if you asked me, I’d have to disagree.

The problem is, now her mother goes everywhere with us. When we go on a girls’ getaway weekend, to a friend’s weddings or to a

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My Friend invites her mom everywhere we go

baby shower and even to the club. She even went with us to go see Charlie Wilson!

Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends’ mother, but I don’t want to party with her or always have her around.

I’ve become hesitant when making plans with my friend as she always assumes our plans include her mother.

What can I do? How can I

me out. I think this situation is on overload, because it gives them both an opportunity to reconnect at a different phase of life. Two grown up women forming an adult-to-adult friendship as appose to the usual “I’m the mother, you’re the child” relationship. Be that as it may, I don’t anticipate it will last forever. Her father has died,

Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends’ mother, but I don’t want to party with her or always have her around. I’ve become hesitant when making plans with my friend as she always assumes our plans include her mother. explain to her, her mother is not “always” invited?

Signed, Three’s a crowd Dear Three’s a crowd, Heavens to Hezekiah, girl, say it ain’t so! When ya’ll hanging out, her mama can’t go! From what I’ve read, here’s my take: when it comes to her mama, that’s not really your choice or decision to make.

both are grieving and serving as the rock each one needs at this time. Sooner or later her mother will settle into a more independent space.

Does your friend have family in the area, any siblings?

Maybe you could encourage her to make plans for her mom to visit extended family for the weekend, alone.

Maybe she can spend time with a sister, cousin or childhood friend in a neighboring city.

It sounds like her mom was used to having someone around, probably her deceased husband, and now she needs her daughter to fill that void. Your friend, obviously operating to be the best daughter she can, is ready, willing and able to do what’s necessary to make her mother happy.

There’s nothing wrong with that. I can say for sure, your friend will never regret it.

Any time we take or commitments we make, devoted to our parents at any age, is priceless.

You miss your BFF, Sweetpea and I totally understand.

But she’s the one experiencing this life change, you should cut her a break. Try to understand how her life has been rearranged. As much at this irritates you right now, the best part about it is – it ain’t your mama, LOL. Don’t make her pick, don’t make her choose. When it comes to her mama, you’re sure to lose. It’s not your place to dismantle this threesome, pull up a chair and rest in it.

I’m sure your friend has enough room in her heart and space on her plate for the both of you.

WWW.IMESSENGER.COM Stay with me now and hear

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Community Calendar The Meat by The Case Meat Market will be opening soon, starting June 6th through June 11th they are taking Pre-Orders. Email info@mcbcmeatmarket.com or call A.T. @ 817-482-6221. The Meat Market is located @ 2550 W. Redbird Lane Suite 500, Dallas TX, 75237

June 10 The African American Museum in Dallas Continues the Experiment: Southwest Black Arts Show The 6th annual Southwest Black Arts Show (SWBAS) moves forward to present a quality experience for artists, collectors, galleries, educators, art professionals, anyone interested in black fine arts.

Art Show Reception June 10, 2016 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm Art Show Hours June 11, 2016 10:00 am to 7:00 pm Art Show Hours June 12, 2016 11:00 am to 6:00 pm The African American Museum in Dallas located inside of Fair Park at 3536 Grand Avenue is the host. **** MESHELLE, ‘The Indie-Mom of Comedy” will be in concert this weekend. Innovative, independent with individuality are but a few words to best describe this funny wife and mother who’s appeared on BET’s “Comic View”, “Martin Lawrence Presents: 1st Amendment Stand Up” and Nickelodeon’s “Search for the Funniest Mom in America 3.”

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Friday and Saturday, June 10 and 11, 2016 @ 9pm Clarence Muse Cafe Theatre

Dallas Police Department 2016 SOUTH CENTRAL DIVISION Safety & Health Fair 10:00 A.M.-2:00 P.M. 1999 E. Camp Wisdom Rd

****** Check out the show Dreamgirls at Dee&Charles Wyly Theater Friday at 8PM- Dallas Texas. Ticket prices ranges from $53.00-$65.00, you can purchase your tickets online. **** “Friday chill out” painting workshop is open for beginners learning to paint, couples looking for a special date or girls not out! art supplies are provided. Sign up and show up! use coupon code “VD1227” when you sign up online at ardorstudio.com

June 11 The Kemp Leadership Academy will welcome nationally known para-athlete Devon Berry to Fort Worth for the organization’s signature event, “The Will to Win.” Berry, featured recently on ESPN’s E:60, will deliver a message of resilience and community. The program is free to the public and begins at 9 a.m. at the Center of Excellence for Energy Technology’s Fusion Room on the Tarrant County College South Campus, 5301 Campus Drive.

begins with a family festival during the day from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m. and then at 5 p.m. there’s the Gospel Explosion Concert featuring Rickey Smiley, Melvin Williams of the Williams Brothers, Charles Jenkins, Jonathan McReynolds, Cym Hughes, and Certrell Russell. It’s a celebration and you’re invited so make sure you don’t miss this awesome Festival and Anniversary Celebration! Admission to the festival is FREE, but you will need a ticket to get into the concert. ***** AARP’s Life Reimagined presents “Reimagine You,” a one-day immersive experience at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, where participants will gain inspiration and guidance as they navigate various crossroads, and discover their opportunities and possibilities in life. Featuring speaker and media powerhouse Arianna Huffington, along with notables Angela Davis, J.R. Martinez and Dani Shapiro.

**** I love the 90s tour will be Saturday @ 7:00p.m. at the Verizon Theater at Grand Prairie.

Door open at 6:00pm. The tour will feature Salt-N-Pepa, Coolio, All-4-One, Color Me Badd, Kind N Play, Rob Base, and Young MC. Friendship-West Baptist Church 40th Church Anniversary & Festival. celebration

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June 14 “A Community Cooks” event at Paul Quinn College. A Community Cooks (“ACC”) is an annual event to raise funds for the College’s WE Over Me Farm. ACC takes place at 6pm, in the Grand Lounge of the Cottrell Student Union Building on the campus of the College.

June 15 African Chamber Luncheon “ Doing Business with DFW International Airport” from 11:15-1:00 PM at the DFW International Airport New Headquarters Building.

June 16 L.G. Pinkston Class of 69 Alumni Nonprofit First Annual Fundraiser Event and Dinner on Thursday, June 16, 2016 at the El Centro College West Campus meeting room from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. that will benefit the high school students of L.G. Pinkston in West Dallas. The evening includes an elegant dinner, music, and a silent auction. The event will support L.G. Pinkston Class of 1969 Alumni Nonprofit scholarships and senior programs.

Dinner Tickets $50.00 Call us today to RSVP at 972997-5228 Guest Speaker- Attorney Bobbie Edmonds, Recipient of the Legacy of Women Award

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Community Calendar Balch Springs Chamber of Commerce June Network Luncheon Guest Speaker: Brisa Castillo, Acuity Systems, Inc. Break the Rules, Close More Sales!

Thursday, June 16, 2016 11:30AM-1PM 12400 Elam Road, Balch Springs TX 75180 ********* Garland Summer Musicals Presents Fiddler on the Roof Garland Summer Musicals will open its 2016 season with Fiddler on the Roof, June 1719 and June 24-26. Set in the small village of Anatevka, the story centers on a poor dairyman who must protect his daughters in the face of changing social influences.

Performances will be held in the Brownlee Auditorium of the Granville Arts Center, 300 N. Fifth St. Purchase tickets at 972-205-2790 or visit GarlandArtsBoxOffice.com.

June 18 The Community of Joppa cordially invited to join us in celebrating the Buffalo Soldier Sesquicentennial 150 years. Come and be a Part of the celebration at the 2016 Buffalo Soldiers Juneteenth Weekend Festival June 18th, 2016 at 8339 Corban Dale in Dallas, TX (Joppa). 28th Texas Black Invitational Rodeo at the State Fair Coliseum in Fair Park, at 7p.m ***** Perfect Effort Leadership Conference We Can Do IT Positive Connection for Women from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM CDT

Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Dallas -DFW Airport N. 4441 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, TX 75063 ******

at 11:30 am. Go to the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce website to register.

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The African American Museum presents its 28h Texas Black Invitational Rodeo Saturday @ 7:00pm. It will be held at the state fair coliseum Fair Park. Standard seating price is $10 and Box Seating ticket price is $35. For more information contact Khaliq Bryant @ (214)- 565-9026 ext 305 or email him @kbyrant@ aamdallas.org. ********* Martin Lawrence’s Doin Time Tour will be in Dallas at the Verizon theatre in Grand Prairie, @ 8:00p.m. Go online to order tickets. **** BCL of Texas NeighborWorks Homeownership Center 4th Annual Home Buyer Fair!

A FREE, one-stop shop to help first-time home buyers become confident, educated, and prepared consumers.

9am - 1pm Friendship-West Baptist Church, 2020 W. Wheatland RSVP: http://www.homebuyerfair.com/ For more information, visit www.bcloftexas.org or call (214) 688-7456 ******* The Dallas of Black Chamber of Commerce will be hosting an event called “Marketing using Social Media.” You will be able to learn about creating sales funnels, advertising and promoting via social media. This will be held Saturday at 10:00 am and will end

City Men Cook is scheduled for Sunday, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. CST, at Gilley’s Dallas, at 1135 S. Lamar St.,

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Talley Dunn Gallery will be having a silent auction called “The Big Bang.” It will take place Saturday, from 6:00PM9:00PM. Viewers will have the opportunity to preview the artwork before the auction during regular gallery hours.

July 4 The City of Duncanville invites you to bring your family and friends to its annual Independence Day Celebration.

The day will begin with a parade sponsored by the Duncanville Lions Club, and will close with a host of evening festivities in Armstrong Park.

Attendees will be able to enjoy LIVE music, delicious food from local vendors, bounce houses for the kids, and the return of Duncanville’s traditional Fourth of July Fireworks Extravaganza!

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Admission is FREE and open to the public, though wristbands will be required for entry into the evening festivities ***** One of Dallas Heritage Village’s most beloved annual events, Old Fashioned Fourth, will offer free admission this year in honor of the Village’s 50th Anniversary.

On Monday, July 4, from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m., families, decked out in red, white, and blue, will celebrate Independence Day throughout 13 acres of Dallas Heritage Village, 1515 S. Harwood Street, with picnicking and a parade as well as fun games and activities. *****

July 9 Cheryl Smith’s Don’t Believe the HYPE Celebrity Bowlathon 2016 USA Bowl 10920 Composite Drive Call 214-941-0110 or log on to www.dontbelievethehype.org for team registration and sponsorship opportunities

July 13 The Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the “Entrepreneur’s Toolkit Brown Bag Lunch Series.

This will focus on four key areas for healthy business growth- marketing, finances,human resources, and technology. Through this series of quick yet information packet sessions, new and experienced entrepreneurs will gain the skills they need to lead their business. It will be wedneday at 11:30 AM- 1:30 PM. Go online to register.

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