August 13th, 2020 Edition

St. LouiS A

Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris for VP

Tishaura Jones: ‘As a Black woman, I feel seen’

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

Joe Biden’s selection of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris for his vice-presidential running mate is “unprecedented and wise,” said Rev. Traci D. Blackmon, an associate general minister for The United Church of Christ.

“It is unprecedented because the strongest, most-consistent voting bloc of the Democratic Party – Black women – have finally earned the right of representation on the party ticket,” Blackmon said. “This is novel, not because of a lack of qualified Black woman candi-

n “Black women have been the backbone of the Democratic party, and our unwavering support of this party feels valued.”

— St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones

dates, but rather because of a lack of political courage by Democrats to risk white fragility to embody the racial and gender inclusion the

Mike Brown

six years later

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

Of The St. Louis American

“Can’t Take it No More.”

The words on the back of the young woman’s T-shirt summarized the theme of the day. She had just passed a couple of policemen who were barricading the entrance to Canfield Drive, the street where Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson policeman six years ago.

Walking toward the memorial service for the slain youth in front of Canfield Green Apartments, attendees passed a bronze plaque on the sidewalk: “In Memory of Michael O.D. Brown, May 20, 1996-August 9, 2014.”

The woman, who asked that I refer to her as “Ashley,” pointed to the words on the front of her T-shirt: “Stop Murdering us,” it

See BROWN, A6

party espouses.”

Following months of speculation and debate over whether Biden should pick a Black woman for vice president, Harris was named Tuesday, August 11 as Biden’s choice. Biden reportedly had called Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), former Ambassador Susan Rice, and three other candidates to inform them on Tuesday morning that they were not his pick.

Blackmon’s response mirrored many other Black women leaders from St. Louis.

Republicans renew attacks on Kimberly Gardner

‘The governor attacks democracy itself,’ says

House Minority Floor Leader Crystal Quade

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Missouri Republicans have a lot of ideas about how to fight crime in the City of St. Louis, even if it means disregarding the overwhelming majority of city residents who voted to re-elect progressive St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner in the August 4 primary. Gardner is the first Black person elected as city prosecutor. Republicans believe they need to put more children in adult prisons. Gov. Mike Parson believes he needs to allow Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt — the man who is suing China for unleashing the novel coronavirus — to prosecute murders and other violent offenses, though Gardner didn’t ask for help. And state Sen. Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) believes that Parson should have the right to remove Gardner from office if he wishes and replace her with the prosecutor of his choice.

Not one of these white male Republicans –Parson, Schmitt or Onder – lives in the City of St. Louis or can vote for the city’s prosecutor. Onder unsuccessfully proposed his amendment to Senate Bill 1, which the Senate passed on Friday, August 7. The bill gets rid of the residency requirement for St. Louis police officers and lowers the age for adult certification for armed criminal action to 14, among other things.

“The governor may remove any circuit attorney from the office to which the circuit attorney was

See GARDNER, A7

Kimberly Gardner

Joe Biden celebrates with U.S. Senator Kamala Harris after selecting Harris Tuesday, August 11 for his vice-presidential running mate.

Photo by Wiley Price

Michael Brown, father of Michael O.D. Brown, prayed at a memorial in his son’s honor in Canfield Green Apartments on August 9, the sixth anniversary of his son’s killing by a Ferguson Police officer.

Celebs go in on

Kanye’s presidential run

R&B singer and Broadway star Stephanie Mills cracks Kanye West for his presidential run that may lure votes away from the Joe Biden and help Donald Trump win reelection –and “The Masked Singer” host Nick Cannon, for saying he would vote for him. In a video posted on Instagram, Mills said she knows West is struggling mentally, and she hopes and prays that he gets the help he needs. “If he’s trying to help our community by running for president, it’s not helping out our community,” Mills said. “He’s not qualified to be president, but neither is the person in the White House at this time. Kanye is a distraction.”

acting like little paid slaves.”

Even Kanye’s old friend John Legend had a word for Kanye when he tweeted “Anyway.... Anyone reckless and/or misinformed enough to fall for the okey doke probably wasn’t voting for Biden (or voting at all),” in response to a tweet by Vice News political reporter Cameron Joseph that said, “The GOP lawyer who helped @kanyewest get on the ballot in Wisconsin is actively working for @real DonaldTrump’s campaign.”

Actor LaKeith Stanfield says he is alright, despite worrisome posts

“Get Out” and “Atlanta”

But Cannon, she said, “Nick, you should know better.”

“For you to come out and support Kanye –what is that?” Mills chided. “Kanye is being paid to do what he’s doing. Are we to understand that you are being paid to be a distraction?” She said they are acting like two little boys in a sandbox with toys, who need to take their toys and go home and sit down.

“We have no time for you two to be out here

actor LaKeith Stanfield a series of posts that had fans thinking the 28-year old was going to hurt himself. Accord ing to Fox News, a since deleted Instagram video, Stanfield appears to pour alcohol into a pill bottle with a label for carvedilol, a beta blocker used to treat high blood pressure.

Newsweek reports the video was captioned, “I like to be by myself because I can hurt myself and no one tells me to stop or fakes like

they care.” Comedian Patton Oswalt contacted Twitter about the posts and urged anyone with direct contact with Stanfield to check on him.

Representatives for the “Knives Out” actor tweeted that the actor was okay. “Everyone! LaKeith is well. Thank you for the concern. We have spoken to him. The love you all have is appreciated.”

On Instagram, Stanfield posted, “I’m ok everyone! I appreciate everyone checking on me but I’m good. I’m not harming myself. Much love.”

Jurnee Smollett harassed in Hollywood since age 12

Jurnee Smollett reveals to The Hollywood Reporter that she’s been sexually harassed since she was 12 years old. “I don’t know that I can confidently say that I worked on one job prior to Lovecraft [Country], from the time I was 12 on – where I hadn’t been sexually harassed, whether it was by an AD, a co-star, director producer,” Smollett tells THR , also reported by Essence. She does go on to think of a few exceptions. However, as The Hollywood Reporter says, “the days of stomaching

such behavior are over, however, at least on Smollett’s watch. There’s a new guard now, she says, a group of powerful women — Shonda, Misha, Ava, Jurnee — who are like-minded in both their desire and their motivation for meaningful change. ‘And we’re no longer asking for a seat at the table.’”

Kandi Burruss felt guilty about using a birth surrogate

Real Housewives of Atlanta star and singer Kandi Burruss opens up about initially feeling guilty about using a surrogate for the birth of her 8 monthold daughter, Blaze. The child was born to Burris and her husband, Todd Tucker, in November 2019. “We were just trying to figure out like, okay, should we do this? How can you trust somebody with your most precious possession, your most precious gift ... somebody that you barely know?” Burruss made the comments in the Parents magazine podcast, We are Family and reported in People. “But now that it’s all said and done, I wouldn’t change a thing. It was the best decision that we could have made.” Burruss and Tucker also have a 4 year-old son and she has a 17 year-old daughter.

Sources: Black Enterprise, Essence, FoxNews, Instagram, NewsOne, Newsweek, People, The Blast, The Hollywood Reporter, Twitter

Jurnee Smollett Kanye West

Lakeith Stanfield

Steve Roberts, Angela Walton Mosley win state Senate primary races

State Rep. Steve Roberts (second from left) with supporters on election

Photo courtesy Steve Roberts

Parson demonstrates a callous disregard for

the

suffering of children

The governor’s inaccurate and reckless statement should concern every Missourian

By Phil Murray For The St. Louis American

Missouri National Education Association President Phil Murray responded to Governor Mike Parson’s statement that Missouri school children will be infected with COVID-19, and when they do, “they’re gonna get over it.”

Rochelle Walton Gray handed upset loss in St. Louis County Council

nominee in November.

Roberts by less than a thousand votes.

Political newcomer Angela Walton Mosley eked out a win for the Democratic nomination for the state’s 13th Senatorial District Democratic primary,

In other state House primaries where there was a contest, incumbent state Rep. Alan Gray beat Teona McGhawBoure in District 75, Marlon Anderson upset incumbent state Rep. Chris Carter in District

Joe Adams (District 86).

In all of these state Legislature races of interest, no candidate running in another primary garnered a significant number of primary votes to pose a threat to the Democratic

In the St. Louis County Council, the primary brought a surprising defeat for incumbent District 4 Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray, who was upset in her bid for reelection by Shalonda Webb. Webb received 12,376 votes, or 43.8%; Walton Gray received 9,598 votes, or 33.9%; and Mark Behlmann received 6,303 votes, or 22.3%. Webb is the wife of former state rep. Steve Webb, who resigned from office in 2013 after charges involving irregularities with campaign and political funds. Overall, the turnout in St. Louis County was 39.26 percent.

Governor Parson’s statement demonstrates a callous disregard for the suffering of children and the safety of the parents, grandparents, educators, and students that will be put at risk if schools are reopened with improper plans and protections.

When the governor says that children are, “gonna get over it” he forgets that some children won’t. He forgets that some children will be left with life-long health problems, and some children will lose their lives. He forgets the parents, grandparents, educators, and other children who will become sick and will suffer unnecessarily.

The governor’s inaccurate and reckless statement should concern every Missourian. Yes, reopening schools is vital to the health and well-being of our children and communities, but it must be done responsibly. That includes ensuring our educators are given the desperately needed resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Educators are constantly told to do more with less at a time when our schools need the necessary resources to protect students. Already this year communities have seen over $250 million in cuts to local schools all while the governor found $15 million to advertise Missouri as a tourist destination in the midst of a pandemic.

It is time for elected leaders to listen to frontline educators, parents, and students who are working to develop comprehensive plans to keep our students, educators, and families safe. Phil Murray is president of the Missouri National Education Association.

Guest Columnist

By Phil Murray

Editorial /CommEntary

America needs you, Kamala Harris

We highly commend Joe Biden’s choice of U.S. Senator Kamala Harris for his running mate in the historic, make-or-break general election of 2020. We commend his response to the call of so many organizers, activists and highly visible Black women (and men) within the Democratic Party to choose a Black woman to run with him. A man who entered history as the vice president of the United States’ first Black president now has set the path for another historical precedent – Harris could become the first woman vice president in the U.S. But that is only if we as Black women (and men) put everything in our power into getting out the vote, and that includes energizing Americans of all backgrounds, who must be made to understand that our very democracy is at stake on November 3. It would be fitting if this choice – which is both “unprecedented and wise,” in the words of our sister, Rev. Traci D. Blackmon – were to preserve our endangered democracy for future generations. Kamala Harris is emblematic of the America struggling to be born, which Donald Trump and his enablers are doing everything in their power to abort. We believe that, once it was projected that the U.S. was on pace to become a majority minority country in this century, a movement now symbolized by Trump went to work on strategies and policies that would slow and reverse that pace, and primary to those efforts is slowing or stopping the immigration of non-white people. Kamala Harris is the daughter of two non-white immigrants: her mother is East Indian and her Father is Jamaican. She is a member of the community of over 47 million immigrants who call America home. Our democracy requires that each and every one of them vote for their sister on November.

However, like her brother in history with a complex ethnic heritage, Barak Obama, Kamala Harris identifies as Black. She attended an historically black institution of higher learning, Howard University, and while there she pledged to a Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Like

Obama, she had other paths of self-identification open to her; like Obama, she found her power – her self – in identifying as Black. At this precise moment when the Black community is feeling renewed power and aspiration – backed by members of other ethnic groups in numbers and with purpose that we have not seen since the days of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King – Kamala Harris looks very much like a future America that is just being reborn from the ruins of the white supremacy staked out by Trump and his enablers.

She and Biden have a vicious fight ahead of them, and Biden was wise to choose a fierce fighter. We have witnessed her tightening her verbal grip around Attorney General William Barr during the Trump impeachment hearings. Like the veteran prosecutor she is, she gave him no room to escape. Kamala Harris doesn’t suffer fools in the judicial branch of the government or in the White House. After all she was the first Black attorney general for the state of California, the fifth largest economy in the world, so we already know she is a boss. She has the intelligence to know what is right, the courage to fight for it, and the toughness to win.

We know all too well what comes next for Kamala Harris. The vicious attacks on local Black women public officials (St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner and St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones) have not ceased, despite their resounding victories at the polls last week. We know all too well how opponents of President Obama were particularly crude and vile in their attempts to belittle and degrade Michelle Obama, his highly accomplished and dignified African-American wife, even outside of the elections and beyond the White House. Yes, we know all too well what comes next for Kamala Harris. And we are ready to support and defend her with all of our strength and power. Are you? Are you ready to support and defend her with all of your strength and power? She needs you. We need you. America needs you.

An immoral attempt to usurp the will of the voters

By Wesley Bell For The St. Louis American

Republican leadership in Jefferson City proposed an outrageous, anti-democratic amendment to allow the governor to remove St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner from office for nearly any reason. They have also introduced a bill that gives jurisdiction to the Attorney General’s Office to prosecute homicide cases from the city, even though the AG’s office has almost no prosecutorial experience and is not responsible to the voices that now twice have elected Circuit Attorney Gardner. This is an immoral attempt to usurp the will of the voters, and we cannot stay silent.

Republican leadership in Missouri is playing a dangerous political game to distract from the many ways the party has utterly failed the people of Missouri while holding a supermajority. I want to be clear: this move has nothing to do with actually trying to protect public safety in St. Louis.

Guest Columnist Wesley Bell

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues As I See It - A Forum for

Krewson admin. leaving community out of Cure Violence

By Jamala Rogers and John Chasnoff

For The St. Louis American

After years of working to bring Cure Violence to St. Louis and seeing that it is implemented properly, the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR) has resigned from the Cure Violence Community Advisory Steering Committee. This decision has become necessary to maintain the integrity of the program. We intend to continue to advocate for Cure Violence moving forward, expressing our concerns stemming from a fundamental disagreement with the City of St. Louis’ implementation process.

Solutions to community-based violence must come from that community if the results are going to be effective and long lasting. The Cure Violence model, if properly implemented, is rooted in that reality. The victims, former perpetrators, and other residents must become the leadership that addresses the problems. They have the primary vested interest in resolving issues and collectively creating a vision for their community. The approach that city leaders are taking totally ignores the agency of people and puts it in the hands of outsiders who have no skin in the game. Their approach disregards the need to develop a cohesive and viable community. CAPCR strongly believes in the investment of people and neighborhoods as the best way to reduce personal and community violence.

ers must have the experience and credibility to mediate crises involving the most at-risk people. Therefore, they must come from or have strong ties to the communities where they work, knowing that community and having its respect.

Cure Violence works to change a neighborhood’s tacit acquiescence to violence, both individually and collectively. It stays in its lane – not judging people or involving itself in political issues such as gun control or other anti-crime campaigns.

CAPCR urges city leaders and Cure Violence staff to keep these principles always in mind. If they are not dedicated to this vision and its practical application, they will lose focus, dilute the program, and fail to solve the crisis.

City leaders have just given us an example of their lack of commitment to Cure Violence’s public health approach to violence. CAPCR views the impending presence of 50 federal agents sent here by the Trump administration as a misguided solution to the pathology of crime and violence in St. Louis. We do not need more law enforcers rounding people up, jailing them, and throwing away the key.

To date, city leaders have too often failed to consult the Cure Violence Steering Committee, and recently overrode an important Steering Committee recommendation. This has not been a process that puts community input first. We must not ignore the importance of these process issues. We are concerned that they will result in implementation that is not in line with the carefully crafted Cure Violence model. Historically, Cure Violence sites have proven less successful when they lose that fidelity. We urge St. Louis to stay true to the following principles.

Violence is a public health issue, not a criminal justice issue. Recognizing that, Cure Violence staff does not work with police except to gather data. Their goal is to de-escalate and heal, not to punish.

Violence interrupters and outreach work-

We advocate a re-envisioning of public safety that does not rely on arrest, prosecution and incarceration. We actively support a grassroots strategy that takes into account the wishes and desires of the local residents and empowers them to effectively address crime and violence.

We see the Trump administration as pursuing a draconian, fascist agenda that seeks to further establish a totalitarian police state targeting people of color and communities mired in poverty.

This deployment of federal agents is simply a political ploy to burnish the law and order message of a morally and ethically bankrupt presidential candidate trying desperately to retain power. Trump is hoping to distract voters from the disastrous response to the coronavirus pandemic, his ignoring of rampant police brutality and resurgent domestic terrorism from right wing white supremacists.

It is extremely disheartening to see city officials once again advocating this misguided, discredited vision.

Jamala Rogers and John Chasnoff are cochairs of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression.

If these leaders cared about public safety, they would have passed gun-control laws rather than making it easier for people to arm themselves to the hilt; they would have funneled money into providing better housing and schools and job training programs instead of giving the wealthy corporate tax breaks; and they would have improved our healthcare system and implemented strict quarantine rules instead of pretending COVID-19 was some sort of hoax.

There is a laundry list of actions state politicians can take to help people in St. Louis and across Missouri. Removing the twice-elected Black female prosecutor from St. Louis city is not one of them.

The reality is that certain legislative leaders care more

Letters to the editor

Safety first in reopening schools

The question of reopening schools across Missouri is one of when, not if. When that day comes, we must all agree that the health and safety of every student, teacher, and staff, as well as the community at large, are our top priority. We must, to the very best of our abilities, insure their health and safety, before they are asked to occupy those schools.

But not every elected official has the health and safety of Missourians as a priority. Ann Wagner has been silent on that vital metric. Along with the other Republicans in power, she only seems to care about opening the schools, with not a word on doing so safely, let alone taking any concrete action to insure a healthy and safe outcome.

We need a representative who understands the need for the resources that will be required across the state to insure public health and safety. We need our representatives to follow science and heed the advice of health professionals and doctors, rather than making political calculations at every turn.

So, when the schools reopen in Missouri, we need to be doing it safely. We need to make sure that schools have the resources, and proper funding, to keep students, teachers and staff safe, including (but, not limited to) PPE for teachers, staff, and students.

Mike Unruh

Ballwin

R.I.P. Mike Brown

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell has decided not to charge former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. For many, this news has unearthed painful memories and reopened still-unhealed wounds. In a moment during which many thousands of people are taking to the streets to demand we build a society in which Black lives matter, we are reminded yet again that all too often, in the eyes of our criminal legal system, they do not.

The organizations below first came together in 2015 following the tragic killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson Uprising that his death spurred. We have aligned around a vision for this region rooted in principles of justice, equity, and self-determination in which the longstanding oppressive systems of power are dismantled

about posturing than they do about the health and safety of the residents of Missouri and St. Louis. This is the same leadership, after all, that is currently trying to put more 14-year-old children into adult court. This is the same group that just spent years refusing free money from the federal government to expand Medicaid for the sole purpose of playing politics with health care.

These politicians care about political games, and right now they are using theater to attack a Black female politician and her constituents. We must call this what it is: an outrage. The Republicans in the legislature should remove these amendments and pass some useful laws instead. The results of the Democratic primary on August 4 show overwhelmingly what the people of St. Louis want. And in a democracy, it is the people’s voice that we must listen to.

Wesley Bell is prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County.

and replaced. We do the work of changing systems and shifting power because we know that the status quo does not and never will serve the interests of poor people and Black people in this region.

Audre Lorde taught us long ago that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” And yet, the pain remains.

Our hearts go out to the family of Michael Brown. We stand in solidarity with Lezley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., who have now six years without their beloved child. We hope that they will be enveloped by a community of love and support to face yet another moment of heartbreak and disappointment. We now recommit to the work of transforming our communities to honor the life and loss of Michael Brown and the homegrown movement that he inspired.

ArchCity Defenders Action St. Louis WEPOWER Metropolitan Congregations United Empower Missouri Deaconess Foundation Organization for Black Struggle Peace Economy Project GrassRoots Accountability Movement ACLU of Missouri United Congregations of Metro East Forward Through Ferguson

Missouri Jobs with Justice Not minimum wage for Edwards

Jimmie Edwards, St. Louis director of public safety, whose current salary is $200,000, shows an abysmal disregard for the working poor by saying. “Right now, during these protests and COVID, I think I’m probably making minimum wage,” said Edwards, who estimates he and his colleagues have worked 14- to 16-hour days in recent weeks. I got my calculator out and multiplied 16 (hours/day) times 7 (days/week) times 52 weeks (weeks/year) times $9.45 (current minimum wage in Missouri) and got $55,036.80. I think an apology from Jimmie Edwards is due to the working poor of St. Louis (or perhaps his salary should be reduced to $55,036.80).

Linda Caravelli Florissant

The new racism? Is refusal to wear a mask the new racism of the individual citizen? Is Republican quickness to open, slowness to pause or reverse course, and rush to return to in-person schooling the new

Guest Columnist Jamala Rogers

Guest Columnist John Chasnoff

Primary voters

St. Charles Municipal Court offering virtual court appearances

The St. Charles County Municipal Court, located at 399 Turner Blvd in St. Peters, is now offering a virtual court appearance option for defendants. The court handles traffic violations issued by the St. Charles County Police Department and Missouri Highway Patrol, as well as cases involving violations of county ordinances.

“We are providing this alternative to help limit in-person appearances and for defendants who have health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Municipal Court Judge Joel Brett. “However, defendants still have the option to appear in person.”

The court is mailing notices about the availability of virtual court to defendants who have pending cases. Defendants will need to apply for this appearance option by completing the Defendant Virtual Court Appearance Request Form at sccmo.

org/MunicipalCourt at least seven days prior to the in-person court date assigned.

Once approved, defendants will receive a Zoom meeting invitation email containing a link to attend the virtual court appearance. The virtual court appearance date issued is non-negotiable. If the defendant is unavailable for the assigned date, the defendant must appear on the in-person date.

To participate in virtual court, defendants must have a computer or mobile device with a camera and microphone, and internet access. If the defendant has technical difficulties on the virtual court appearance date assigned, they must contact the court at 636-949-1833 immediately.

For more information, call 636-949-1833 or visit munict@ sccmo.org.

A 14-year-old should not be tried as an adult

By Rev. Bella M. Winters For The St. Louis American

As an educator and as an activist with the Metropolitan Congregations United Juvenile Task Force, I have witnessed the atrocities in education and the community at large that do not favor the immaturity of children’s brain development at such a young age as 14. Moreover, children of color are disproportionally represented in our Department of Justice penal and social system due to systemic racism in sentencing. I was extremely disappointed to learn that Gov. Parson signed Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 600 (SB 600) into law. The fiscal note for this bill says this will cause a “potential increase in prison population of over 2,500 prisoners” by Fiscal Year 2038. At minimum this will cost $16 million per year, but the cost could rise to over half a billion if new prisons are built.

Now in Special Session, some are pushing for more “tough on crime” laws, even though we have decades of research to prove that such approaches do not work. The Justice Reinvestment Task Force in Missouri has laid out ways to reduce recidivism, repair harm, stop first-time offenses, and build trust by supporting communities heavily impacted by crime and incarceration. Please return to that path. It especially abhorrent to me that juveniles would ever be certified to stand trial or be incarcerated as adults. The outcomes of this in the past show us that this is a mistake.

n Missouri legislators must refrain from passing legislation that will exacerbate the already stark racial disparities in our justice system.

Children are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted in adult facilities than in juvenile facilities. Children are two times more likely to be beaten by staff in adult facilities than in juvenile facilities. Children incarcerated with adults are five times more likely to commit suicide than those who remain in the juvenile system. Missouri court data in 2017 showed that Black children were almost six times more likely to be certified as adults than white children. Missouri legislators must refrain from passing legislation that will exacerbate the already stark racial disparities in our justice system. Expanding juvenile certification will also harm public safety. Children prosecuted as adults – traumatized and denied the educational and rehabilitative services available in the juvenile system – have a 34% higher recidivism rate than those who remain in the juvenile system.

Senate Bill 1 must not be passed if it includes certification of children to be tried or sentenced as adults.

Testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary on Monday, August 10.

Photo by Wiley Price

Rev. Bella M. Winters

Walnut Park West residents walked into Nance Elementary School to vote in the primary election on Tuesday, August 4. The general election is November 3.

Feds send investigators to help with crime

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

The City of St. Louis is getting an infusion of federal law enforcement — 50 federal investigators from the Department of Homeland Security and $1 million from the Bureau of Justice — to help combat violent crime, as well as two special United States attorneys from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to support violent crime prosecution.

To the person elected to prosecute crime in the city, Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner, this is good news and bad news.

First, the good news.

“We welcome any partnership with the U.S. attorney

Brown

Continued from A1

read. The back, she explained, is self-explanatory: “It’s too many Black people dying in these streets. We’re fed up, and we can’t take it no more.” Ashley’s words were echoed by the speakers and some of the 150 or so attendees at the memorial. After all, Black people are still twice as likely to be killed by police than white people. Six years after then-Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson gunned down then-18-yearold Mike Brown, police have killed roughly 1,000 people per year since 2014. Some of the names we know: Freddie Gray (2015), Philando Castille (2016), Botham Jean (2018), Atatiana Jefferson (2019), and Breonna Taylor and George Floyd who were murdered by cops this year.

Gardner, Clay welcome help — and express concerns

that will strengthen our efforts to make the City of St. Louis safer and more just,” Gardner said in a statement. “This includes collaboration with my office to prosecute individual drivers of crime. In addition, we have identified violence interruption programs, trauma care, mental health services, job training, and education as places where additional resources would make a difference. Federal law enforcement working together to help the Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigate and clear the most serious crimes in this community like homicides, which largely remain unsolved, would benefit all in our community.”

Then the bad news. “I am, however, concerned

The loved ones of hundreds of other black people, whose names we may not know, who were killed by police demand an answer to the question: What’s changed since Mike Brown’s death?

According to Michael Hassle, 36, not much.

“When I think about it, I think there’s still no justice, nothing’s changed,” Hassle said. “We’re at war with one another. Hell, we’re at war with self.”

Hassle addressed the larger issue of gun violence. About 120 homicides have occurred in the City of St. Louis alone this year. Senseless, violent murders add just another layer of trauma to an already traumatized people. Now, 72 months after Brown’s death, the national epidemic of police brutality is accentuated by a worldwide pandemic – one that is also disproportionately taking Black lives.

“The Color of Coronavirus,”

about bringing more federal agents to the City of St. Louis given their recent behavior in Portland, Oregon, where officers stopped people without probable cause and interrupted peaceful protestors without warning,” Gardner said. “My office will hold law enforcement agencies accountable if they violate the rights of people who live in our community.”

n “Our children are being caught in the crossfire and murdered in senseless acts of gun violence.”

killed while he slept on June 29 in Kansas City. The operation was first launched on July 8 in Kansas City and is now underway in Chicago, Albuquerque, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee. It was expanded to St. Louis and Memphis on Thursday, August 6.

– U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen

U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay responded with the same mixture of encouragement and concern expressed by Gardner.

The federal intervention in St. Louis is part of Operation Legend, which is named in honor of four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and

“While I welcome additional funding from the Department of Justice to help St. Louis fight violent crime, federal law

enforcement officers must not infringe on the rights of non-violent citizens in my community as was seen repeatedly in Portland, Oregon,” Clay said in a statement. “Excessive force will not make St. Louis safer. Changing the culture of policing and restoring the trust of the community with local law enforcement will.”

St. Louis is currently experiencing a significant increase in violent crime, with homicides up over 34% and non-fatal shootings up over 13% compared to last year.

U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen said, “Our children are being caught in the crossfire and murdered in senseless acts of gun violence.”

FBI Special Agent in

a report released this month by APM Research Lab, revealed “continued wide disparities by race, most dramatically for Black and Indigenous

Americans.” By the numbers, the team of researchers and analysts noted that out of the 160,000 COVID-related deaths so far, 1 in every 1,250 were

Charge Richard Quinn also announced a reward of up to $25,000 would be made available for information leading to the identification and arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for the homicides of Kayden E. Johnson, two years of age at the time, and his mother Trina’ty A. Riley, 18, inside their home on April 30, 2019.

“I just need closure. My family needs peace. We just want justice,” said Taiesha Campbell, mother of Trina’ty and grandmother of Kayden.

“If you know anything, please contact the detectives.” The authorities encouraged those with information relevant to a violent crime to call Crime Stoppers at 866-371-8177.

the past. Passionate speeches were given by politicians and activists. The diverse crowd of attendees wiped tears away and hugged bereaved family members. Doves were released into the air. There were repetitious chants of “No justice, no peace!”

Although justice and police reform have been syrupy slow in the country, some attendees found hope despite the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic.

Elijah Foggy was only 13 when his mother brought him to the first protest demonstration after Brown was killed. Foggy, now 19, defined the solution to police rather basically.

Black Americans, compared to 1 in every 2,800 white Americans.

Jana M. Gamble, vice president of The Michael Brown Foundation, which orchestrated the vigil on August 9, spoke to the additional trauma that Black people, families, and communities face from police and COVID-19.

“We’re already going through so much with systemic racism,” Gamble said. “Then you pour COVID into this when you already don’t have the resources in a natural environment. It’s extremely taxing to you mentally, physically, spiritually. Our people are being failed, and we’re dying.”

This year’s memorial service was similar to those held in

“At the end of the day, we’re all family,” Foggy said. “We love each other. If anybody wants to be a part of this, part of the Black Lives Matter movement, all they have to do is say you’re sick and tired of black people dying.”

Hassle, who also spoke of family, asserted that the coronavirus had an upside. “It made families get back to family,” he said. “We’re now giving back to each other.”

For Ashley, the woman with the “Can’t Take it No More” T-shirt, neither the epidemic nor the pandemic is reason to give up the fight.

“Until we get justice, there will be no peace. We’re out here six years later to let y’all know that we still matter. And this pandemic won’t stop us. We out here.”

Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.

“Our people are being failed, and we’re dying,” said Jana M. Gamble, vice president of The Michael Brown Foundation.

Photo by Sylvester Brown Jr.

“This announcement couldn’t have come at a better time in our nation’s history,” said St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones. “We’re on the heels of making history in Missouri and, now, we’re looking at making national history with this announcement. As a Black woman, I feel seen. Black women have been the backbone of the Democratic party, and our unwavering support of this party feels valued. I look forward to helping both of them get elected in November!”

In 2017, Harris became the second African-American woman and the first South Asian-American U.S. senator in history. Her father immigrated to the U.S. from Jamaica to study economics and her mother immigrated from India. Harris has said it was her mother, a leading breast cancer researcher, who inspired her to fight for justice. Harris will also be the first graduate of an historically black colleges or university on a presidential ticket. She earned her undergraduate degree from Howard University. “For us

Gardner

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Continued from A1 elected or appointed for any crimes, misconduct, willful neglect of duty, corruption in office or incompetency,” Onder’s amendment stated.

“Immediately upon removal of the circuit attorney, the governor shall appoint and commission a successor to the removed officer. The successor shall possess the qualifications for the office as prescribed by law, and while acting as appointed successor shall perform the duties and receive the salary prescribed for the office by law.”

The amendment was ruled out of order, but the fact that it was even drafted is “appalling,” said St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura O. Jones. The amendment called into question Parson’s claim that authorizing Schmitt, who has fought hard against Gardner’s progressive reforms, to prosecute cases in St. Louis is not a political attack against Gardner. On August 10, Parson announced his proposal to unleash Schmitt on criminal cases in the city.

“Under the proposal, the circuit attorney still has full and fair opportunity to prosecute murders,” Parson said in a

at Howard University, it’s a signature moment,” Dr. Wayne Frederick, president of Howard, told MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Tuesday. “She has stood on the shoulders of many before her, and now she gets to clear a path for many who will come after her.”

At Howard, Harris served as a leader in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. “This is an exciting moment for all of the Divine Nine and black women everywhere,” said Glenda Glover, president of Tennessee State University and the international president of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. AKA is part of the National Pan-Hellenic Council of Black sororities and fraternities, affectionately known as “The Divine Nine.”

The New York Times called Harris’ AKA sisterhood her “secret weapon” during her presidential campaign, and on Tuesday Glover said that the Divine Nine would be coming out in full force to support her.

St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green said Biden made the right and historic choice in choosing Harris, “sparking a surefire groundswell of support” that can win back the White House. Harris earned a law degree from the University of

statement. “The proposal does not allow the attorney general to supervise or replace the circuit attorney.”

Parson said Schmitt will be able to prosecute cases only if 90 or more days have passed, the chief law enforcement officer makes the request of the attorney general, and Gardner has not yet filed charges. In a statement, Gardner said that she agrees with Parson that fighting violent crime, achieving justice for victims, and making our communities safer is a priority.

“However, it is clear that this legislation is not actually about addressing crime. Instead, it serves as a vehicle to interfere with the clear discretion of a democratically elected local prosecutor,” Gardner said. “This allows the governor and his cronies to make a mockery of judicial checks and balances and demolishes any notion of a free and independent judicial system.”

The bill does nothing to actually address the underlying issues that are driving violent crime, Gardner said.

“In fact, my office has an overall felony conviction rate of 97%,” Gardner said.

“Unprosecuted crimes in our community come down to two variables – lack of evidence

California, Hastings and began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. In 2003, Harris became the district attorney of the City and County of San Francisco. In this position, Harris started a program to provide first-time drug offenders second chances with the opportunity to earn a high school degree and find a job.

After completing two terms as D.A., Harris was elected as the first African American and first woman to serve as California’s attorney general.

“There are definitely valid grievances raised concerning her record as a prosecutor that warrant an acknowledgement and not an excuse,” Blackmon said. “And, yet, her voice on the Senate Judiciary Committee proved her willingness and ability to interrupt the status quo in the interest of racial, gender, and economic equity.”

n “This allows the governor and his cronies to make a mockery of judicial checks and balances and demolishes any notion of a free and independent judicial system.”

– St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner

and lack of community trust with law enforcement. Solving crime will take all of us working together, not divisive political maneuvers such as this that are designed to usurp the will of the people.”

Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, the Democratic nominee for governor, said Biden’s selection of Harris is historic and affirming for Black women, women of color, and “every woman who takes on the tough fights.”

“Our Democratic tickets, nationally and here in Missouri, reflect the diversity of our people and offer fresh ideas for overcoming our most pressing challenges,” Galloway said. “Together, we’re going to rebuild our broken economy in a way that leaves no one behind.”

“It signals Parson’s true intention,” Smith said.

“Governor Parson has taken a page from President Trump’s playbook, dog-whistling about cities where Democrats lead.”

Missouri Democratic Party Acting Chair Clem Smith said that the governor’s move is a “shameful and obvious attack” on Gardner, the first Black woman elected to the position. Gun violence is rising across the state, but Parson is only expanding Schmitt’s power over one specific jurisdiction, Smith said.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade said, “When Gov. Mike Parson initially called this special legislative session, it was clear his purpose was not to address violent crime but to change the subject from his disastrous leadership during the COVID19 pandemic. Today, the session took a more sinister turn as the governor seeks to carry out a political vendetta against the only elected African-American woman prosecutor in Missouri.”

Gardner won the August 4 primary with more than 60 percent of the vote. The day after her re-election, Parson announced that the City of St. Louis is getting an infusion of federal law enforcement —

50 federal investigators from the Department of Homeland Security and $1 million from the Bureau of Justice — to “help combat violent crime,” as well as two special United States attorneys from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to support violent crime prosecution.

Schmitt attended the announcement in St. Louis. Gardner did not.

“By now trying to strip her of the prosecutorial discretion and authority enjoyed by every other prosecutor in the state, the governor attacks democracy itself,” Quade said. “Lawmakers must not become co-conspirators in the governor’s politically motivated abuse of power.”

Photo courtesy of Biden/Harris campaign

Kamala Harris at the 2018 Pride Parade in San Francisco.

Saint Louis Public Schools and Urban League Help Families Prepare for New School Year with Back to School Relief Effort

Children heading back to school--either virtually or in person-- are getting extra support thanks to the Saint Louis Public Schools/Urban League Back to School Emergency Relief effort. Each week during the month of August families with school-aged children will receive books, pencils, notebooks, binders and other needed items in addition to emergency food supplies, cleaning and sanitization items, fresh produce and dairy items, masks, gloves and toiletries. SLPS has partnered with the Urban League for 15 years to ensure students have everything needed to start the school year off on the right foot. Responding to the hardships created by COVID-19, the district and the Urban League combined emergency relief efforts with the school supplies distribution this year.

“I applaud Dr. Kelvin Adams and the team at the Saint Louis Public Schools for anticipating and responding to what is an even greater need for support during this pandemic,” said Michael P. McMillan, President and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, Inc.

“This pandemic has created a great deal of anxiety and uncertainty but the district is doing a superb job in meeting the needs of our children whether in person through the learning centers, or virtually.”

The Urban League and the school district also partner to provide additional support services to students and families through the Community School Partnership (CSP). CSP’s mission is provide additional support and mentoring to students having difficulty in the classroom and their families. Partnership mentors will support students as they head back to school in

both a virtual environment and in-person learning at the Saint Louis Public Schools Learning Centers. LaChrisa Crenshaw, MSW, Director of School Partnerships, said staff serve as a bridge between school staff and families to support use of technology and troubleshoot problems in the virtual environment. The Community School Partnership began at Grace Hill as a pilot program with SLPS and is now serving seven schools in the district. Grace Hill and The Urban League merged in July 2020 with all Grace Hill programming now offered under the Urban League brand.

Spectrum presented the Urban League with a $10,000 check to support the Back to School relief effort and supplied 500 Safe and Healthy Home Kits to families through its Spectrum Housing Assist program, one of Charter Communications, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: CHTR) national philanthropic initiatives. The Safe & Healthy Home Kits feature easy-to-install and use products to help make homes safer and healthier. Spectrum worked closely with its national nonprofit partner, Rebuilding Together, to ensure the kit contents align with the Eight Principles of a Healthy Home endorsed by the U.S. Surgeon General and developed by the National Center for Healthy Housing. Kits include: First Aid Kit, LED Night Light, Smoke Alarm, Carbon Monoxide Tester, Cleaning Solution, Clear Silicone Caulk, Weatherstrip, DampRid®, Emergency Radio, and a Home Safety Checklist. Paul Berra, Spectrum Director of Governmental Affairs, State Representative Wiley Price,IV , State Senator Karla May, and St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, helped distribute kits to families.

Schnucks goes Black with Local Grab and Go program

American staff

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Schnuck Markets, Inc. is now extending its partnerships with locally owned restaurants to offer grab-and-go meals from six Black-owned businesses. Customers will now find offerings from Royally Baked, The Fattened Caf Patty’s Cheesecakes Bold Spoon Creamery, Cathy’s Kitchen and Ms. Piggies’ Smokehouse at select Schnucks locations. Specialty Deli Category Manager Andy DeCou and others at Schnucks sought out local restaurant owners who were interested in partnering with Schnucks to reach more customers. “At Schnucks, we’re committed to supporting our neighboring restaurants at a time when many are struggling because of pandemic restrictions on space and occupancy,” DeCou said.

Bold Spoon Creamery founder and owner Rachel Burns said this new partnership is an exceptional opportunity for her small business.

“As a St. Louis native, I’ve been coming to Schnucks my entire life. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to partner with Schnucks, a local business that shares our mission of supporting other local businesses,” Burns said.

“We use local ingredients in all of our ice cream so this partnership not only helps us, but many other local businesses just like ours as well.” Burns also noted that like Schnucks, Bold Spoon Creamery is a family-owned business that she operates along with her husband, Corey

Wilkinson, son, Harrison Burns and brother, Brad Burns.” Schnucks initially announced the program with partners Revel Kitchen, Crispy Edge Seoul Taco Nudo House STL, Crushed Red and Hot Box Cookies

“As a part of the St. Louis business community for more than 80 years, we feel we have an obligation to help those local restaurant entrepreneurs

Return to racially restrictive housing covenants?

The recent revocation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) represents the sanctioned return of segregated housing, according to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB),

issued the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule requiring HUD grant recipients (states and localities) to examine fair housing

policies on the basis of race. The rule further required that the states and localities address any measurable bias. The intent of the rule was to take a proactive role in enforcing

Looming evictions will deepen economic crisis

By Marc H. Morial National Urban League

“The issue of inability to pay, poverty, and unemployment – that existed pre-COVID-19,” said attorney Raphael Ramos of Wisconsin’s Eviction Defense Project. “The difference between now and then is that the pandemic has shifted the line of poverty. There are more people at risk than before.”

In his Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted, Matthew Desmond quotes a woman he calls Arleen describing the profound exhaustion of trying to keep a roof over her children’s

imposed by the CARES Act in March has expired. The estimates on the number of Americans on the brink of eviction range from 10 million to 28 million. With the nation foundering in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and poised to plunge even further, more than 12.5 million renters were unable to make their most recent

See EVICTIONS, A10

Photo courtesy of Cathy’s Kitchen

Cathy Jenkins of Cathy’s Kitchen in Ferguson, one of the Black-owned restaurants now partnering with Schnucks in its Local Grab and Go program.

Melanie Anderson Moore Marc H. Morial

Photo courtesy of Schnucks

Virtual Fireside Chat with Jim McKelvey

The focus of will be ‘Building an Equitable Society, One Crazy Idea at a Time’

American staff

Midwest BankCentre will host a Virtual Fireside Chat with Jim McKelvey at 10 a.m. Tuesday, August 25.

Orvin Kimbrough, chairman and CEO of Midwest BankCentre, will moderate. They will discuss McKelvey’s new book “The Innovation Stack.” The focus of the conversation will be “Building an Equitable Society, One Crazy Idea at a Time.”

“Building an innovation stack all begins by choosing to solve a problem that nobody has solved before,” McKelvey said. “Squaring up, righting a wrong, or solving an unsolved problem forces you to be creative even if you don’t want to be.”

McKelvey is a serial entrepreneur, inventor, philanthro-

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the struggle to close the racial wealth gap, and it thwarts the growth of Black homeownership,” Williams stated.

For decades, local governments had racial covenants that prevented Black Americans from buying properties in certain neighborhoods. These racially discriminatory efforts were augmented by redlining

pist, artist, and author. He is the cofounder of Square, served as the chairman of its board until 2010, and still serves on the Board of Directors. In 2011, his iconic card reader design was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art. McKelvey founded Invisibly, an ambitious project to rewire the economics of online content, in 2016. He is a deputy chair of the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Each registrant will receive a free copy of “The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time.”

The event, which is brought to you by The St. Louis American, has limited spots. Register early to guarantee your spot at https://tinyurl. com/McKelvey-Kimbrough.

of Black neighborhoods by various federal agencies and lenders.

St. Louis was home to a landmark 1948 case overturning racial covenants, Shelley v. Kraemer, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it violates the 14th Amendment when state courts enforce them.

“In spite of these obvious attempts to roll back the clock,” Williams stated, “NAREB will continue to serve as the champions of the communities we serve as well as the conscience

Future

of the real estate and mortgage lending industries.”

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tives and operational support for Sr. VP of Global Talent & Inclusion.

“She has worked tirelessly on behalf of the organization as a board member, bringing new ideas and resources to our

organization,” Sara Lahman, Annie Malone CEO, said of Moore. “I look forward to working beside her as we continue to grow and equip Annie Malone to better respond to the needs of the community.”

Moore is from St. Louis, Missouri, and received her BS in Marketing Education from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and MS in Human Resource Management & Development from Webster University.

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and their staffs who have been greatly impacted by the pandemic,” said Schnucks President and COO Dave Peacock.

Evictions

Continued from A9 rent payment. Almost twice as many fear they won’t be able to pay next month’s rent. About 56% of those renters are Black or Latino. More than 3 out of every 10 Black renters is behind on rent, and 46% of Black renters have no confidence they can make their next rent payment. Even before the pandemic, nine of the 10 highest-evicting large U.S. cities had populations that were at least 30 percent Black. Among the eviction cases filed since the pandemic began, nearly twothirds were in communities with above-average populations of color. With evictions clustered in lower-income Black neighborhoods, entire communities already struggling with

She is the co-president and co-founder of Society of Multicultural Professionals in Human Resources – St. Louis Chapter, served on the Leadership Team for Africans/African Americans in Monsanto, and is a member of the Steering Committee and Leadership 100 of the Regional Business Council Young Professionals Network and a graduate of Cohort 12 of the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative She was recognized in

“Schnucks hopes that by supporting local restaurants that our customers will continue to support local businesses too.”

Schnucks’ support of restaurants extends beyond the grab-and-go meals that are now available to customers. The company has also purchased in-store catering from more

massive job loss and business closures are disrupted by a churn of people moving in and out that severs close-knit social networks.

With supplemental unemployment insurance payments expiring and Congress nowhere near a deal to extend them, the nation is facing an unprecedented wave of eviction that will drive the nation even further into economic crisis and despair.

Eviction doesn’t just mean the loss of a home. It means the loss of self-esteem, peace of mind, community and support systems, and physical and mental health.

Safe, affordable housing has always been at the heart of the National Urban League’s mission. As economic first responders, Urban League affiliates around the country are keeping people in their homes with emergency rental

February 2016 by the St. Louis American Foundation as a Young Leader and in November 2016 as a Distinguished Honoree for the 2016 Power100 List by Delux Magazine. The board will also welcome new members in July for a three-year term: Tom Pollihan, Stephen Harmon, Pamela Boyd, Dr. Stacy Myton, Mitchell Washington, and Christopher Jones.

than 75 local restaurants to serve to Schnucks staff at no cost to them.

Schnucks plans to add several more restaurants in the coming weeks. For an updated list, visit https://tinyurl.com/ Schnucks-grab-go.

assistance, intervention and counseling. We are seeing the devastating economic effects of the pandemic first-hand.

Last October, before anyone ever heard of the novel coronavirus, the National Urban League issued an urgent call to presidential candidates to address the affordable housing crisis. The following month, we sent them a letter. It wasn’t until late November, on the sixth night of debates, that the candidates finally were asked a question about the housing crisis. Evictions are not just a result of poverty; they are a cause of poverty. It can result in job loss and make it hard to find a new job. It can make it almost impossible to secure decent housing. It leaves scars that can last a lifetime.

I recently joined U.S. Senator Kamala Harris, House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, to announce the introduction of the Housing Emergencies Lifeline Program (HELP) Act, which will provide funding so those at risk of eviction can access legal representation and any evictions will do limited damage to renters’ credit. The bill would allocate $10 billion in Emergency Solutions Grants, which provide funding to states and localities for homelessness prevention and outreach and legal representation for those on the verge of being evicted. The HELP Act can do more than save people’s homes. It can save entire communities. It can stop a cycle of poverty and hopelessness. For people like Arleen, it can even save their souls.

Marc H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

Jim McKelvey

Tommie Pollard, Normandy High School Class of 2020, received the Friends of Normandy School District Steven N. Cousins Scholarship. Pollard, the class of 2020 valedictorian, plans to attend the University of Central Missouri to study nursing.

nurse wins Normandy Scholarship

ESOP wants grand jury review for all deaths in police custody

Just before midnight on December 22, 2012, St. Louis City Officer Steven Pinkerton saw an African-American man at the QuikTrip parking lot, at 3410 South Kingshighway Blvd., and thought he was a robbery suspect, according to Pinkerton’s statement in the police report.

The man, 39-year-old Kerwin Harris, did not commit the robbery, police learned later, but he ran when Pinkerton pointed his gun at him and told him to raise his hands. Pinkerton, who is white, tackled Harris and used a chokehold until Harris went limp because he feared for his life, Pinkerton stated in the police report, though chokeholds were banned by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD). Two other white officers, also stating they feared for their lives, tased Harris six times in order to “get him to comply” and then handcuffed him, according to the police report. Harris was pronounced dead at 12:38 a.m. on December 23, 2012. Sgt. Keith Barrett of the

SLMPD, asked for comment, said, “There is an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Internal Affairs Division; however, we do not have any details to provide.”

The details of this case were included in a report release on Tuesday, August 11 by the Ethical Society of Police (ESOP) — though Pinkerton was not named. The 60-page report outlines the alleged practice of systemic racism within the police department and makes suggestions for reforms.

“The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 caused America to grapple with police reform and what that looks like in various communities,” the report states. “In St. Louis city and county, structural and blatant acts of racism and corruption have had unparalleled harm on civilian and uniformed minorities.”

On June 15, Pinkerton made a social media post about George Floyd and neck restraints, and he was placed on paid desk duty, according to ESOP’s report, though again Pinkerton was not directly

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

named. Barrett said the investigation into the post is ongoing.

The American requested a comment from Pinkerton through the St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA), and his comment will be added if received.

It took until this moment, in the midst of a national movement for racial justice, for Pinkerton’s social media posts to have even the potential of repercussions — eight years after he used a chokehold in an arrest that ended with a man dying.

Pinkerton has been reported multiple times for posting demeaning, racist comments about the Black community, the report states. In a Facebook post, Pinkerton once wrote, “Black people are pathetic. You don’t want to be treated equally, you want favored treatment. And you wonder why there is so much animus toward you?”

Heather Taylor, president of ESOP and a city homicide detective, was the scene super-

visor for Harris’ case.

“I had questions about it then,” she said. “And I have them now.”

The officers were never charged or disciplined, according to ESOP’s report, and Pinkerton is still employed at the department, police said.

“Like so many other cases, this case is incredibly tragic, leaving families to pick up the pieces after officers have killed their loved ones under the ‘color of law,’” the report states. “In this case, the officers were allowed to violate policy and hide behind being in fear of their lives while killing an unarmed man.”

ESOP’s report calls for all current and prior cases where death has occurred during a use-of-force incident to be reviewed by a grand jury. These cases should be coinvestigated with the Civilian Oversight Board and the Circuit Attorney’s Office, it states.

‘Not just one thing’

ESOP was founded in 1972 by African-American police officers to fight racism in SLMPD and the community. The authors and contributors of the ESOP report are current officers, former law enforcement officers and civilians with the city’s police department.

A major contributing factor to police long-standing issues with racism and inequities stems from the police department never fully being incorporated into the Civil Service system, the report states.

The St. Louis Fire Department has parity in pay with the police department, it states, but the firefighters are still bound by Civil Service rules like other city workers — though their disciplinary

process is tailored to their line of work. However, even after the city gained local control of the police department in 2013, police officers didn’t come under those Civil Service rules, and they need to, it states.

“By allowing SLMPD to function as a half city department and half independent organization with rules that conflict with Article XVIII of the Charter, the city has created a system that allows individual decisions to rule instead of consistent rules similar to other city employees,” the report states. “This has also hindered community support, harmed the retention of African-American officers, impeded the promotion of African-American officers, has allowed unfair discipline, emboldened employee corruption, lowered morale among employees, and resulted in numerous civil lawsuits.”

And then, there is the issue of the St. Louis Police Officers Association and its collective bargaining agreement with the city. That agreement expired in June, and Director of Personnel Richard Frank has not renewed it. That’s a good thing, ESOP argues.

“The SLPOA has become more emboldened with protecting corrupt, violent, bigoted, and sometimes racist officers,” it states. “Officers of all races not held accountable for their actions have cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The actions of these officers will have a financial strain on taxpayers in the City of St. Louis for decades to come.”

In 2016, SLMPD and the City of St. Louis settled $4.7 million in lawsuits dating as far back as 2011, ESOP’s report states, and those numbers increased as more lawsuits were discreetly settled. In 2017, there were numerous reports of

excessive force by city officers during the Jason Stockley protests.

“After disturbing examples of outright police brutality and corruption were exposed, the St. Louis City Counselor’s Office increased its budget by 110% to cover lawsuit payouts in 2018,” it states. “The budget was $2 million before the Jason Stockley protests and increased to nearly $4 million.”

Nearly 350 SLMPD officers were named in a class-action lawsuit for an unlawful “kettling” technique, excessive use of force, and illegal arrests from 2017, it states. “The classaction lawsuit has yet to be settled and will likely surpass the $4 million budget,” according to the report. The report lists 25 recommendations, which include creating a trauma-informed form that will let families know what their rights are when their loved one is killed by law enforcement. The form should include a summary of the incident, the medical examiner’s findings and the police report. It also states that the Department of Personnel must mandate the hiring of social workers to assist divisions with juvenile disturbances, domestic violence calls, unhoused/homeless services, and mental health calls. They also recommend stronger protection for whistleblowers in the department, more sustainable community outreach efforts, a standardized matrix for hiring and disciplining employees, among many other things.

“It’s a lot of systemic racism,” Taylor said. “There are a lot of old and antiquated ways that are the problem. It’s not just one thing.”

Political EYE is a political column by The St. Louis American political board.

A protestor stated her case during Jason Stockley verdict protests in September 2017, when there were numerous reports of excessive force by St. Louis Police officers.

By Kristian Blackmon and Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson

For The St. Louis American

In the wake of cascading public health emergencies –first the arrival of the COVID19 pandemic, then the murder of George Floyd and the violent police response to mostly non-violent protests for Black Lives – communities across the country are reexamining their relationships with policing and mass incarceration. Across the country, the arrival of COVID19 has led to a reduction in confinement and incarceration, including of children, demonstrating that most jurisdictions have been over-confining and over-jailing. Taking the opportunity to make these reductions permanent, by decreasing reliance on confinement, is a must. Communities are daring to believe that the once unimaginable – where communities define public safety without policing, where fewer people are incarcerated and jails close, and where public budgets are reallocated for the benefit of children and families – is indeed attainable.

We in Missouri, and particularly St. Louis, know that feeling all too well. Just weeks ago, the world witnessed the victory of a two-and-a-half-year campaign to close St. Louis’ Medium Security Institution when local lawmakers passed legislation to that end. That victory is just a glimpse of what is possible as we transform the approach to confinement and incarceration.

We also know that feeling is fragile and can be fleeting. Just 10 days later, by order of the governor of Missouri, state lawmakers convened to review a set of policies that, in part, further over-criminalize and over-incarcerate the most vulnerable among us: children. In particular the legislation under review, Senate Bill 1, proposes to mandate adult certification hearings for children as young as 14 years old for offenses involving firearms.

While there is no evidence that transferring children to the adult system will effectively address gun violence, we do know that when there is an option to certify children as adults, Black children are disproportionately tried as adults.

Unfortunately, this is unsurprising. We have learned through Metropolitan Congregations United’s Break the Pipeline campaign that even in the juvenile system, Black and Brown children are more often referred to confinement in juvenile detention centers rather than restorative alternatives.

Missouri’s Juvenile and Family Division reported that, in 2017, 74% of Black children in Missouri who went through the juvenile certification process were certified to be tried as adults, compared to 26% of white children. Children incarcerated with adults are five times more likely to be assaulted and nine times more likely to die by suicide than those who remain in the juvenile system. Contact with the adult criminal justice system is harmful for all children.

SB 1 undermines the spirit of the landmark bipartisan Raise the Age reform Missouri passed in 2018 to keep most children under 18 years old out of the harmful and destructive adult incarceration system. When the law takes effect in January 2021, no longer will all 17-year-olds charged with crimes be automatically charged as adults. There is widespread consensus that the adult system is more harmful for children and unequipped to meet their needs. The juvenile system is better designed to provide children, even those with serious offenses, with education, therapy and intensive restorative programming that is mostly absent from the adult system. Instead of jumping to incarcerate more children, even before Raise the Age is implemented, Missouri should look to see how Raise the Age, increased use of diversions and

other alternatives to arrest have been effective in other states. In states where Raise the Age has been implemented, decreases in the number of arrests have been the rule, as adolescents formerly seen as adults soon come to be seen as the children they are.

This was most recently illustrated in New York, where Raise the Age led to a significant drop in arrests of 16-year-olds after implementation. After Raise the Age was implemented in October 2018, the next 12 months saw an average of 174 felony arrests of 16-year-olds per month, while for the year 2017, the average had been 244 per month.

Overall, since 2009 – the year before the first of nine Raise the Age laws went into effect – arrests of children under 18 have dropped 60% nationally.

The implementation of Raise the Age in Missouri on January 1, 2021 can have a broader impact if we learn the lessons before us and prevent the irreparable harms of SB 1. At a time when the nation is grappling with the trauma and realities of an unjust and inequitable justice system, the response to addressing community pain and suffering must be rooted in liberating policies that provide better outcomes for Missouri’s children.

Kristian Blackmon is a St. Louis organizer with Campaign for Youth Justice and an activist for the fight of Black liberation. Campaign for Youth Justice is a national initiative focused entirely on ending the practice of prosecuting, sentencing, and incarcerating youth under the age of 18 in the adult criminal justice system. Follow her at @iamkrisblackmon on IG and @krisisblackstar on Twitter.

Rev. Dr. Starsky D. Wilson is president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation and board chair for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Deaconess Foundation and the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being pursues child well-being through public policy and racial equity. Follow him at @ revdrstarsky and @deaconessfound.

‘It’s been hard, but I’m trying’

ESL grad copes with loss while moving onto technical college

By Carrie Zhang For The St. Louis American

Diamond Akins is a recent graduate of East Saint Louis Senior High School. Like her classmates and others in the Class of 2020, the pandemic meant losing prom and graduation, events that are typical high school senior trademarks.

“It didn’t go how we planned it to go,” Akins said. “Graduation was all we talked about, so I was upset about it. But my teachers are being a great support and help throughout the whole situation.”

Even though Akins was disappointed, she still focused her time on school. Academics and maintaining a strong GPA have always been important throughout high school for her. Even when she returned to school in December with a case of senioritis, like many of her classmates, she stated that “I realized that in order to graduate, I got to keep my academics up.” Akins maintained a 3.5+ GPA all four years of high school.

Akin’s school district shifted to e-learning, and throughout the pandemic, Akins was in contact with her teachers who checked on her regularly. East Saint Louis Senior High School also sent out Chromebooks to students who needed any.

At school, Akins was involved in a dual credit program called AVID. AVID teaches students how to write essays, stay organized, and identify which colleges to attend. Akins was also involved in programs that took students to visit colleges, tutored them throughout the summer to gain credit, and offered SAT and ACT prep.

Her favorite subject in school was math. “I was drawn to the subject because I felt like it was the easiest subject to pick up on,” she said. “I’ve always liked math, since elementary.”

In the fall, Akins will be attending Ranken Technical College for two years and majoring in Information Technology. She hopes to find a job as a cyber technician. When asked why she wanted to pursue cyber technology, she stated, “I felt like everyone was

doing all the common majors, so I wanted to try something different. Plus, I like being on

n “When I had lost my mom, I felt like my life had changed completely because I didn’t know what to do. I had to grow up fast.”

– Diamond Akins

computers, so I wanted to do something about it.”

Akins stated that she did want to attend college, but wasn’t able to after she lost her mother in October. “When I had lost my mom, I felt like my life had changed completely because I didn’t know what to do,” Akins said. “I had to grow up fast.”

After October, Akins home life changed entirely. She had

to learn how to pay for meals and take care of her family, especially her little brother. She stated, “I have to take care of my little brother and make sure he’s staying on the right track.” Growing up in East St. Louis has also impacted Akins because she lost her brother due to gun violence. “Growing up in this city, seeing this every day, it makes you feel like you have to move to a different city to be in a better place, because in your own city, people are killing people for no reason or they just feel like they have to prove a point to somebody,” Akins said. Akins also commented, “It’s been hard, but I’m trying.”

As Akins departs from her high school, she wanted to share advice with her classmates and the rest of the student body. She advises them to gain relationships with their teachers and peers. She added, “Whatever you want to do, stick to it. Don’t give up, no matter how tough the times get.”

Columnist Kristian Blackmon

Columnist

Dr. Starsky D. Wilson

Diamond Akins, a recent graduate of East Saint Louis Senior High School, will be attending Ranken Technical College for two years and majoring in Information Technology. She hopes to find a job as a cyber technician.

Sports

sports eye

A Missouri mother tough enough to take on Power 5 football – and win

It took a Missouri mom to slow the madness that is devouring major college football.

The Big Ten Conference listened to medical professionals, its university leaders and this mom who worries for her son.

The Pac-12 Conference did the same.

There will be no Big Ten fall football, with hopes of playing in the spring.

When Debbie Rucker, the mother of Indiana freshman offensive lineman Brady Feeney and CBC graduate, shared their story on Facebook, suddenly important people began listening.

Feeney contracted COVID-19 and Rucker told the world he is “very sick,” and “dealing with possible heart issues.”

student-athletes to participate in fall sports.”

“While I know our decision today will be disappointing in many ways for our thousands of student-athletes and their families, I am heartened and inspired by their resilience, their insightful and discerning thoughts, and their participation through our conversations to this point.”

Earlier this week, the MidAmerican and Mountain West Conferences announced there would be no fall football. HBCU conferences, the SWAC and MEAC, made the same decision two weeks ago. Overall, 53 of the 130 programs in college football have cancelled their seasons.

The post said that a family friend is a physician with the St. Louis Cardinals and that our state is a cause for worry.

“The whole point of my Facebook post is because in Missouri, where we live, the state is not taking this as seriously as they should,” Rucker said Monday.

“With everything Brady is going through and has been struggling through, it has been infuriating to me that people are not taking this seriously and not wearing masks.”

Feeney moved to Bloomington after summer workouts were approved by the university and athletic department.

There could be long-term effects for people who contracted the virus. It’s a fact that helped the Big Ten and Pac-12 make the right decision. As of Tuesday night, the SEC, ACC and Big 12 had not come to their respective senses.

Hopefully, they will. But don’t hold your breath. Most of these schools are in the South or Texas – and of course one is in Missouri. When it comes to COVID, ignorance is bliss.

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren told Big Ten Network, “We just believed collectively there’s too much uncertainty at this point in time in our country to encourage our

Congratulations to a trio of Class of 2021 high school football prospects from the St. Louis metro area who have made their commitments to Division I programs.

Standout wide receiver

Chevalier Brenson of CBC has given a verbal commitment to the University of Illinois.

The 6’3” 195-pound Brenson caught 44 passes for 675 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior for the Cadets. His commitment to Illinois continues the strong recruiting in the St. Louis area by Illini head coach Lovie Smith.

Keontez Lewis, a standout wide receiver from East St. Louis is headed West as he gave UCLA a verbal commitment. The 6’1” 170-pound Lewis caught 39 passes for 826 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Flyers, who won the Illinois Class 6A state championship last season.

A young man headed the

The real fear

As much as college football fears COVID19, there is another factor looming over its landscape.

Players are seizing the power.

Last Sunday, several bigname players posted a statement that they want to play this fall. The president and other chimed in that they should play and praised them

These folks didn’t read the fine print.

“We all want to play football this season,’’ the post begins. Then: “Establish universal mandated health & safety procedures and protocols to protect college-athletes against COVID-19 among all conferences throughout the NCAA.” Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, teammate running back Darien Rencher, Stanford defensive end Dylan Boles and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields were among the 12 players that agreed to post the statement.

The “let them play” backers are thrilled. But athletic programs across America are more interested in the other demands and the fact these players also brought up the dirty words of “players association.”

The statement also said:

• “Give players the opportunity to opt out and respect their decision.’’

• “Guarantee eligibility

whether a player chooses to play the season or not.’’

• “Use our voices to establish open communication & trust between players and officials: Ultimately create a college football players association.”

• “Representative of the players of all Power 5 conferences.”

Last month, Pac-12 and Big Ten athletes announced they were binding together as a “union” to seek proper representation and see to it that their respective thought and wishes are heard.

A Sports Illustrated report said the University of Central Florida Knights forced a delay of fall camp after a player-led movement demanded that issues including COVID-19 safety, scholarship security, “hazard pay” and athletes receiving 20 percent of American Athletic Conference revenues be addressed.

One thing is for sure. Major college football will never be the same again.

Settle or be sorry

I have no idea what attorney Bob Blitz and his legal eagles are billing the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Authority Complex and the city and county of St. Louis, but the latest development in the civil lawsuit against owner Stan Kroenke and the Los Angeles Rams guarantees they will be owed millions of dollars.

Never mind the trial, which is scheduled for fall of 2021, Blitz and company want to collect depositions from more than 40 people. If a judge grants this wish, imagine the hours it would take to interview all these folks. Also, hear that cash register going berserk.

Included on the deposition request list are Rams COO Kevin Demoff and Eric Grubman, a former executive vice president of the NFL.

According to the court document, (Kroenke, Demoff, Goodell and Grubman) “were involved in the highest levels

InsIde sports

With Earl Austin Jr.

of discussions, planning, and decision-making related to the Rams 2016 relocation to Los Angeles. Furthermore, the relevant timeframe spans several years and numerous actions taken by NFL and its member team owners.”

Jones is included because he was a driving force in convincing other owners to vote for relocation. San Diego Chargers owner Dean Spanos is on the list because he had filed a relocation plan that the NFL rejected. Former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is also included because he reportedly opposed the move. This is the same Richardson that was pressured to sell his team amid charges of racism and sexual harassment. Won’t he make a great witness.

Kroenke and the Rams wanted to settle this lawsuit privately. The U.S. Supreme Court didn’t want to bother with that request, but a settlement could still be reached.

My advice is to settle, and settle fast. The lawyers in St. Louis want this to drag on for

Local prep stars pick colleges

HBCU route is defensive end Terrance Fuller of Lutheran North has given a commitment to Texas Southern University. The 6’3” 215-pound Fuller had 54 tackles and six quarterback sacks in helping the Crusaders cruise to the Missouri Class 2 state championship last season.

Midwest United girls bring home championship

Congratulations to the Midwest United 3SSB girls’ basketball team on winning the championship at the OhioBasketball.com Bearcat Classic in Indianapolis. Midwest United defeated the St. Louis Eagles 51-50 in a very exciting championship game that featured two St. Louis area grassroots teams. The members of the team include: Makayia Brooks (Springfield Central), Ja’Mise Bailey (Webster Groves), Taleah Dilworth (Incarnate

Word), J’Leesa Jordan (Hazelwood Central), Mallory Rounshausen (Cor Jesu), Kennedi Watkins (Marquette), Madison Weydert (Fort Zumwalt West), Aliyah Williams (Parkway North). A couple of the players on the Midwest United team have already committed to Division I schools. Kennedi Watkins is a 5’11” forward who gave a commitment to Ohio Valley Conference champion SEMO. Makayia Brooks is a 5’9” shooting guard who has committed to the University of Memphis.

Impact basketball transfers

Earl Austin Jr.

of a pair of impact transfers. Keshon Gilbert, an All-State point guard from Las Vegas, has transferred to Vashon for his senior year. Braxton Stacker, a standout guard from Belleville East, has transferred to Class 3 state champion Cardinal Ritter College Prep for his upcoming junior season. Gilbert is a smooth 6’3” point guard who is originally from St. Louis, but moved to Las Vegas for his first three years of high school at Durango High. He has already committed to UNLV, where he will return to after playing his senior year back home in St. Louis.

Two of the area’s top high school basketball programs got better with the addition

Stacker is a 6’4” guard who was one of the top young players in the metro east area. As a sophomore at Belleville East, Stacker averaged 14

points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 48 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3-point range.

Get well

Ray’Sean Taylor

We would like to wish a speedy recovery to former Collinsville High basketball standout Ray’Sean Taylor, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during summer workouts at Southern Illinois UniversityEdwardsville. The 6’1” Taylor was preparing for his freshman season at SIUE after a stellar career with the Kahoks. He will be out of action indefinitely.

As a junior, Taylor averaged 23.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.5 steals in leading the Kahoks to a 31-3 record and a IHSA regional championship. He was an AllState performer and a member

more than a year. The case could also be dismissed by a judge at some point, leaving nothing but a lot of bills to pay for St. Louis and the County. By the way, I don’t think the NFL and Jones are sweating this. They have good lawyers too. And they can easily foot the bills.

COVID Cardinals

A double-header between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers was postponed today (August 13), which means the Redbirds have gone two weeks without playing a game.

How does 55 games in 45 days sound? That’s what the Cardinals will have to do to complete a 60-game schedule. Maybe it’s doable, with an average of a double header a week from now until the season ends. Regardless, St. Louis should be forced to play a full schedule or forfeit the games missed.

Commissioner Robert Manfred certainly drew the ire of many teams when he suggested on Monday that the Cardinals might not have to play all scheduled games – and still make the playoffs.

“I think whether you get all the way to 60 or not, that’s difficult at this point,” Manfred told the Post-Dispatch.

“I think that they are going to play. I think it’s possible for them to play enough games to be credible, to be a credible competitor this season.” The Cardinals’ berth in the postseason, if 60 games aren’t completed, would be based on winning percentage. Total BS, commissioner. The other National League teams won’t stand for this.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Cardinals had not received worse COVID news. However, if another positive confirmation occurs and the weekend series against the Chicago White Sox is postponed, St. Louis season is in deep trouble. Very deep.

Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on 97.1 Talk.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

of the 2020 St. Louis American “Fab Five” All-Star Team.

Nothing But Facts

If you have a hankering for some local sports banter, a good show to check out is “Nothing But Facts” with co-hosts Chris Brooks and John Albert. Brooks is a former football standout at Hazelwood East who played collegiately at the University of Nebraska and in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts. John Albert, a.k.a. “John John” is an excellent girls’ basketball coach at Vashon High, who has been around the area sports scene for many years. They have a very entertaining show full of lively banter and good local sports talk from the youth level all the way up the collegiate and pro ranks. You can check them out on Facebook page of Mo Betta Sports.

With Alvin A. Reid

Alvin A. Reid

The latest development in the civil lawsuit against owner Stan Kroenke and the Los Angeles Rams guarantees Kroenke will have to pay millions of dollars.

“TakingCareofYou”

to the scene with a gunshot wound to the face. The Missouri Foundation for Health is partnering with the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research to fund $1.95 million in grants to study gun violence in Missouri.

Funding a data-driven approach to gun violence

Missouri Foundation for Health helps provide $1.95M in research grants

In partnership with Missouri Foundation for Health, the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research will distribute $1.95 million in grants to study gun violence in Missouri. This funding will provide support for four research projects that will produce gun policy research on a range of topics, including officer-involved shootings, intimate partner gun violence, and the effectiveness of gun-free zones.

Funded projects include:

• An analysis of the role of firearm access, use, and ownership in intimate partner homicide and intimate partner homicide-suicide in Missouri and Oregon.

• An exploration of whether gun-free zones in St. Louis reduce or increase gun violence.

• A study of the community-level impact of the killing of Michael Brown by Ferguson police on birth and pregnancy outcomes, particularly among Black mothers.

• A study that will expand and improve

data on nonfatal gun crime incidents in Missouri.

These four projects were selected by the collaborative’s nonpartisan Research Advisory Committee, which received 32 letters of interest proposing Missouri-relevant research, 11 of which were invited to submit full proposals. These Missouri-specific projects were funded as a part of the collaborative’s second round of grantmaking, which included $7.5 million in total research

See VIOLENCE, A15

Crime and COVID

A pandemic crime spike has been met with destructive policy changes

By Kenya Brumfield-Young For The St. Louis American

n What should be reconsidered is placing long-term destructive policies in place versus identifying long-term preventative strategies.

As the United States entered the COVID19 pandemic, some cities such as St. Louis and Kansas City already struggled with increased violence in under-resourced communities. The ensuing shutdown forced many out of work, and the few community resources –such as boys and girls clubs, community centers, churches, and other agencies designed to help underserved populations – were forced to close. Something else happened during the pandemic; there was a shift in crime patterns. According to a report from the National Commission on COVID19 and Criminal Justice, property crimes such as residential burglaries dropped during shelter-in-place orders. More people were at home, and there were fewer opportunities for people to break into empty houses. The same could not be said of commercial burglaries. Research shows that commercial burglaries may have spiked as high at 200% in some areas. The report further tells us something that we already know. Between the end of May and the end of June, homicide rates increased significantly, as much as 35% in some cities. Aggravated assaults committed with guns also rose in over 17 cities. As we are very aware of how the numbers impact St. Louis city and county, it is important to see that we are not alone in the current uptick of violence during the pandemic.

In response to this national health emergency of which community violence is part, Missouri enacted and proposed reactive and long-term penalties that broadened crimi-

See

A15

Spanky, COVID-19 and plight of Missouri’s disabled

‘It made me stronger, wiser and made me have to do stuff on my own’

By Sylvester Brown Jr.

Of The St. Louis American

Mark Adrian Richardson, known by his friends as “Spanky,” has enjoyed an uncomplicated life. Spanky, 52, has an infectious sense of humor and a zest for life. He’s the same height as actor Kevin Hart, 5’ 4”, and is quite the showman at local karaoke joints. Spanky loves his one-bedroom dwelling in the Park Place, senior Community Apartments in the Central West End. Because of its location, he can easily get to the library, the grocery store, the movies, or to nearby Forest Park. None of these activities seems spectacular until you consider that Spanky is among the almost 50 million Americans grappling with disabilities. He doesn’t know the technical term

n “The main challenge is that they often don’t have the mental or physical capacities to follow CDC requirements.”

– Dr. Kendra Holmes

for his malady, but he’s had more than 53 operations since childbirth to correct his webbed fingers and toes and other internal, cranial and physical complications. Whatever condition he has, Spanky See SPANKY, A15

“I figure, ‘Hey, I’m happy with me, so you ought to be happy about me, too,’” said Mark Adrian “Spanky” Richardson.

Two people were shot on Saturday, July 25 at Clarence and Lexington avenues. A man was fatally shot in the head and pronounced dead at the scene. A woman ran away but returned

Kenya BrumfieldYoung

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Sylvester Brown Jr.

“TakingCareofYou”

Violence

Continued from A14

funding, bringing the collaborative’s total investment to date in gun violence research to over $17 million. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017 Missouri had the fifth-highest rate of firearm deaths per capita in the United States.

“The state of Missouri has one of the nation’s high-

Spanky

Continued from A14

has learned to navigate the challenges. Growing up in Walnut Park and attending special-needs classes in public schools, he got used to being the butt of cruel childhood jokes. He said his mother, his godfather Jackie Rivers and his Uncle Marvin looked out for him. Spanky attributes his love of song and dance to his late uncle. He still remembers and lives by the advice Marvin gave him when he was young: “You have to please yourself first. No one else is gonna please you.”

Although Spanky may fit the profile of a disabled person, he wishes people would see him beyond his limitations.

“It’s hard because everybody looks at me as if there’s something wrong, and I hate that,” he said. “I get all kinds of comments from strangers about my hands and the way I look, but I figure, ‘Hey, I’m happy with me, so you ought to be happy about me, too.’”

After leaving his mother’s house some 20 years ago, Spanky got a janitorial job at a place in downtown St. Louis. He painfully recalled his supervisor firing him after saying his disabilities hampered his job performance. That was 10 about years ago. Today, Spanky survives off monthly disability checks and frugal living. Yet, after so many painful operations and other setbacks, he said he has found happiness in a simple life.

All that changed when the coronavirus pandemic struck the country. Suddenly, leaving the house, getting proper healthcare, or hanging with friends became problematic. For someone who thrives around people, Spanky said the long weeks of isolation were torture.

“I couldn’t do nothing I liked to do,” he said. “The only thing I could do was go to the grocery store or stay home and eat.”

Spanky doesn’t suffer alone. As deadly and devastating as the virus is among all Americans, it has a greater impact on people with disabilities. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities are more likely to die than their nondisabled peers from pneumonia or other respiratory

Crime

est rates of gun violence,” said collaborative Director Andrew Morral. “The projects we are funding this year address important questions about, for instance, the wider community effects of some officer-involved shootings, and the incidence and risk factors associated with intimate partner homicides. These projects will examine the unique challenges that the state faces and identify policy solutions that will contribute to a safer Missouri in the future.” The National Collaborative

n According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017 Missouri had the fifth-highest rate of firearm deaths per capita in the United States.

on Gun Violence Research funds was seeded with a $20 million gift from Arnold Ventures and has been supported by contributions from Wells Fargo, Missouri Foundation for Health, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and the Harry

Frank Guggenheim Foundation. “This research represents our commitment to taking a data-driven approach to this difficult issue,” said Jessi LaRose, senior initiative strategist at Missouri Foundation for Health. “We’re pleased

to see a wide range of topics included in these four proposals, examining some of the many ways that gun violence leaves lasting scars in different communities and populations across our state. This research will not only help inform our work in the years ahead, it will also help strengthen the field for other groups working to address this epidemic.”

The collaborative has set rules to ensure transparency and replicability in the research it funds, which will apply to all four Missouri-focused projects.

All funded projects are required to post detailed analytic plans on OSF.org—a research transparency website—describing their hypotheses, measures, and procedures in advance of conducting the research. This ensures that departures from the original analytic plan will be detected. Projects are also required to share their data and statistical analysis code on the same website, so others can review their findings. For more information, visit www.ncgvr.org.

diseases that are frequent complications of COVID-19. Disabled individuals comprise 29.1% of Missouri’s population compared to 25.6% of the total U.S. population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The definition of “disabled” is vast and wide but includes intellectual or physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, brain or spinal cord injuries and a host of other impairments. The CDC, however, lists some shared difficulties among the disabled such as walking, climbing stairs, concentrating, remembering, making decisions, doing errands or shopping alone, dressing or bathing and visiting hospitals or doctor’s offices.

Spanky receives aid from a caregiver but he hasn’t seen her in weeks. He said she had to quarantine herself due to a close relative of hers contract-

Continued from A14 nal definitions and extended sentencing minimums. In some cases, sentencing minimums were extended up to five times the original minimum. Another recommended response is increasing offenses for which juveniles must go directly before a judge who will decide whether to try the juvenile as an adult or remand them into juvenile court jurisdiction. According to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), waivers to adult court do not deter juvenile crime. Additional data indicate that juveniles who are waived into the adult system endure high rates of emotional and physical abuse, and are often exploited by other correctional residents and staff often creating longterm mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court made it abundantly clear that there was a fundamental difference between juveniles under the age of 18 and adults beyond merely knowing right from wrong. The court discussed the implications of the differences in maturity and cognitive differences between juveniles and adults, one of them being the lack of risk analysis performed by juveniles. More often, juveniles are impulsive, and the level of analysis starts and ends at

ing the virus. His situation is not unique. Thousands of disabled and elderly people are going without healthcare due to the virus. Some patients fear catching the virus from caregivers and refuse service. Work stoppages and budget shortfalls have added to the decrease in caregivers.

Last month, Politico highlighted a survey of more than 1,000 home health agencies in all 50 states. The survey found that “more than half had laid off staff — and 96% reported that at least some patients refuse services during the pandemic.”

It’s a precarious time for disabled and elderly people who reside in long-term care facilities. In June, the New York Times reported that more than one-third of COVID19-related deaths nationwide were linked to long-term care facilities. At the same time, the Missouri Department of

whether they are going to get caught. Seldom do they weigh the totality of circumstances, such as being tried as an adult and how long of a prison sentence they might get. Making it easier for them to get a longer sentence faster is not going to change the way that juveniles process information. These long-term and in some cases permanent measures criminalize some of the temporary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and can produce irreparable harms. The current recommendations continue to destabilize under-resourced communities. Policies such as these compound the negative community impacts currently experienced by marginalized and vulnerable communities caused by previously enacted mass incarceration

Health and Senior Services (DHSS) reported that 222 Missouri long-term care facilities reported at least one case among staff or residents. More than 300 residents of nursing and assisted-living homes in St. Louis County alone died of the disease, and more than 1,400 others have been infected.

A recent bout with diarrhea and a slight fever convinced Spanky that he, too, had been infected. He had no idea where to go for testing until a friend took him to one of Affinia Healthcare’s testing sites. Dr. Kendra Holmes, senior vice president and chief operating officer with Affinia, said the company has placed special emphasis on providing services in the city and county for the disabled and other underserved populations because of their unique challenges.

“Transportation is a huge issue,” Holmes said. “That’s why we wanted to do mobile

policies.

Prisons and jails have become the dumping grounds for our problems. The revolving door carceral policies often return people to under-resourced communities where additional barriers exist to finding housing and employment, mental and physical health care, at minimum, after being warehoused in environments where retribution instead of rehabilitation is the fundamental practice.

The reconstruction of current policies and addition of new criminal laws to address the pandemic is a furtherance of criminalizing poverty in the face of a pandemic. The lower-income communities where people face housing, food, and utility instability will be the most impacted by these policy

testing so we can go where they are. The main challenge is that they often don’t have the mental or physical capacities to follow CDC requirements. They may not be able to wear a mask or social distance or wash their hands appropriately. That’s why that population is so vulnerable and why we need to make them a priority.”

In April, the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded almost $1 billion in grants to help meet the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. Still, advocates for the elderly and disabled are hoping for more funds in Congress’ next rescue package.

For now, Spanky is just anxious to get back to normal life. He said the Affinia rep who called to give him his test results made him extremely nervous.

“When she asked, ‘How I was doing?’ I thought, ‘Oh,

changes. Communities will be further destabilized as traditional and non-traditional family units will be consistently interrupted.

Continuing to deconstruct the traditional and non-traditional family units in communities that already bear the effect of community trauma and must depend on their strength and resourcefulness is counterproductive. That is not to say that a lack of accountability should exist.

Reducing criminal victimization is to address the fundamental issues within a community. Reconsider implementing destructive strategies versus identifying long-term preventative strategies that can help support the community through COVID-19 and become fundamental parts of the community.

Spanky has been back to his favorite karaoke spot, even though distancing and sanitation restrictions are heavily enforced. The center he attends daily for camaraderie and shopping trips has reopened after being shut down for weeks. Oddly, Spanky said the COVID-19 scare has helped him in many ways.

“It made me stronger, wiser and made me have to do stuff on my own,” he said. “Yes, I have to watch what I do, watch the people I’m around and basically keep myself up. But it also helped me realize I can do it and I can’t give up.”

Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.

What should be considered is placing long-term strategic policies in place identifying long-term preventative strategies. The Cure Violence initiative is a great start and can achieve great success, and the community needs more. It is vital to operate several community-based programs that help meet the fundamental needs of marginalized communities, empower people to continue to engage in community programs, and provide more positive outlets for community youths. As a society, we cannot incarcerate our way through this, and we should stop trying. Kenya Brumfield-Young, MLS, MSCJ, is a professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Saint Louis University. oh, here it comes. I’m coming home, Elizabeth,” Spanky laughed, doing his best Fred Sanford impersonation. “Then she said, ‘It’s OK, you’re negative. It’s cool.’”

Spanky performing at his favorite karaoke spot.

Photo by Sylvester Brown Jr.

Analyst, Census Taker

Student, Census Taker

Musician, Census Taker

Writer, Census Taker

Retiree, Census Taker Baker, Census Taker

Mvstermind speaks his truth in three parts

‘Step into that, step into that power, step into who you are’

By Ashley Jones For The St. Louis American

Muhammad “Mvstermind” Austin has opened up for Travis Scott, Chance the Rapper, Lupe Fiasco, G-Eazy and more. He has been labeled as a Tidal Rising Artist and one of NPR’s 20 Artists to Watch in the entire world. He attributes his success to hard work, consistency and the love from St. Louis.

“We were able to take that same love that was birthed local and it took us global,” Mvstermind said.

Mvstermind has three new EPs coming out in early fall. “Be,” “Great” and “Fool” are three parts that also translate into “be grateful.” The project originally began as a 23-song LP that wrote itself out of his heart and soul. With advice from management, he decided to break it up for scalability.

“This album birthed a new sturdier version of myself who no longer hides behind my humble, a version of myself who doesn’t let the power turn me into a coward,” Mvstermind said.

The split album acts as a reminder to tap into the power of being great and recognizing the consequences that come from it. Mvstermind said he used to be a quiet and shy fellow, but his success brought him out of his shell.

“When you are great, when you are destined to make something happen, the only thing that is holding you back is just you,” Mvstermind said. “So, step into that, step into that power, step into who you are. Just don’t step on the ones you love.”

This album divided in three reflects growth and acceptance through self-reflection. It will help listeners who are forced to go inside during COVID-19 to look inside themselves and get prepared to “step back out there and claim everything that is theirs,” Mvstermind said.

Austin was Mvstermind even before he realized that music would be his path. He grew up in all parts of St. Louis. At 6 years old, Mvstermind was on the bus early for St. Louis’ School Desegregation School Program. He got into music at age 12.

“Once we moved to the North Side, that’s

Mvstermind has three new EPs coming out in early fall. “Be,” “Great” and “Fool” are three parts that also translate into “be grateful.”

when I began to truly find my passion for creating music as a producer,” Mvstermind said.

“I’ve been addicted to being able to transform what is in my mind and my expressions into

something that other people can enjoy. It puts my mood into a tangible form.”

Mvstermind began producing his own music four years ago when he released his debut solo EP, “Cusp.” Before that he was solely a producer. His first project was streamed over MTV, Fuse and BET alongside one of his inspirational artists, Jay-Z.

“Seeing people express themselves and heal their own trauma via music as they wrote, it allowed me to muster up the courage and the confidence to begin to tell my story vocally,” Mvstermind said.

Mvstermind’s father was a percussionist and reggae band manager. His mother is a fashion designer. His manager is his sister, and he is the only male sibling out of five children. He and

‘I am a protestor who has become a pastor’

Rev. Michelle Higgins is first Black woman to lead Saint John’s Church (the Beloved Community)

By Ramona Curtis Of The St. Louis American

In a time of radical change sweeping the country, Saint John’s Church (the Beloved Community) welcomed a new era by naming Rev. Michelle Higgins as the first Black woman to permanently lead the North St. Louis church. Higgins was preceded in this role by Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, who served as Saint John’s pastor for 10 years and is currently president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation.

“The Beloved Community is a congregation of diverse, radical people committed in faith to fairness and lifting the voices, spirits and the lives of the marginalized,” Wilson said. “Pastor Higgins loves all God’s people and is respected nationally among people of faith committed to

Ferguson in a time of George Floyd

Page B12

Uplifting Black-owned businesses

Protest leader Ohun Ashe pushes culture for social change

By Ashley Jones For The

St. Louis American

Economic disparities for Black-owned businesses is an issue that protest leader, organizer and entrepreneur Ohun Ashe has addressed with her website, For the Culture STL (Fortheculture. com). The site highlights Black-owned businesses, events and services in the St. Louis region.

n “Supporting Black business isn’t just supporting that business. It’s supporting the community of Blackness.”

– Ohun Ashe

“The reason that Black businesses have been a passion of mine is because historically we deserve to have our businesses uplifted,” Ashe said. “We deserve to have our community supported. We deserve economic sustainability just like every other race in this country.” Fortheculture. com has multiple features. There is an apparel page to buy For the Culture clothing. There is an events page with a calendar, and there is a donation button to contribute to For the Culture STL and the Black-owned businesses it promotes. The main feature is a directory that lists businesses under categories such as food, health, art, apparel, education, legal services, beauty, media outlets, and event planning.

“Now the climate is going to culturally shift and culturally change to uplift Black businesses to invest into the community to do things from a genuine space,” Ashe said. “It’s a way that we push real change in this country.”

Ashe created the website on April 1, 2018 after she helped organize protests regarding the notguilty bench verdict for former St. Louis Police Officer Jason Stockley. As leaders found their purposes changing from the front lines of the movement, they looked to other avenues for social change.

“I found myself in this weird position of: What is my role outside of protests to help uplift the community? And one of the things that I have always been super genuine and super passionate about was uplifting Black businesses, letting folks in the community know what events that were going on that were tailored to the Black community.” Born and raised in St. Louis, Ashe grew up in North County. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with degrees in video

Photo by Erica Lewis Ohun Ashe

See Ohun, B2

See Mvstermind, B2

Photo by Wiley Price

Michelle Higgins,

John’s Church (the Beloved Community),

pastor on Juneteenth.

social justice. She is the right leader for this call.” Higgins, 38, was the worship arts director for seven years at South City Church, which is pastored by her father, Rev. Mike Higgins. She holds a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary and has been a church choir director and vocalist for more than 20 years. Higgins is also part of a three-member podcast called Truths Talk that focuses on theological perspectives. She is a single mother to two children – Moses, 9, and Matilda, 7 – and lives in St. Louis.

“I really center the meaning and the beauty of God’s creativity in spaces where people are mostly concentrated in learning about God and knowing about God,” she said.

The lifelong activist has been deeply involved in the fight for social justice. She is a director and founding member of Faith for Justice, a Christian advocacy group dedicated to continuing the Biblical story of activism. She is co-founder of Action St. Louis, launched the St. Louis office for the Bail Project, served on the campaign to Close the Workhouse and is a member of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL).

“I am certainly a daughter of the church,” she said, “but I am also a protestor who has become a pastor. And the awareness I have as a double

label is acute. It means I am unable to pastor a church that is not welcoming.”

Saint John’s Church, which was established in 1855 by German immigrants, is a multi-racial congregation of about 150 members. Affiliated with United Church of Christ (UCC), Saint John’s has served as a hub of activism on many issues, including voter mobilization, Medicaid expansion, youth violence prevention, public school accreditation and raising the minimum wage.

“The church is already doing everything that I have been doing on the streets,” she said.

“They have been building in the sanctuary. So, I want to make it clear that what I am bringing to Saint John’s will not be new to them.”

Higgins pointed to Saint John’s participation in a 10-demand call to action presented to the City of St. Louis on June 19 by a coalition of activist organizations as one of the ways the church will continue its mission.

“On top of our stance of welcoming queer people, on top of embracing the 10 demands stated on Juneteenth, we are working to shift the material conditions of Black people in St. Louis,” Higgins said. “We believe that demanding that the City of St. Louis make reparations to the North Side and to black people is something that the city can do and the faith community can support.”

Higgins also plans to move Saint John’s into being more inclusive of the disabled community. Higgins said that the

166-year-old church building is protected from ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance even though the building steps are a barrier to access

“We must change the entries of our buildings,” she said. “We have failed, and that will change. We will become antiableist in name and in function as soon as we can.”

She said the activism spirit first stirred in her as a young girl who saw “queer bigotry” first-hand.

“I was 7 or 8 when the HIV/ AIDS criminalization started occurring,” she said. “Because I grew up in the church, I was surrounded by queer Black people who loved the Lord and loved the church but also lived in a ‘don’t ask don’t tell situation.’ Having the church say nothing, do nothing – I don’t think the fire has ever been put out of me.”

Higgins said she has had to face the question of whether her embrace of the LGBTQ community is “Biblical.”

“To me, it’s really a problem of exalting our personal views over universal truths,” she said. “Because the universal truth is that if you are alive, if you are breathing, if you are human, God has called you the crown of all things in existence. And with that crown comes responsibility, stewardship. God calls us to protect everything that God has made.”

Saint John’s Church (the Beloved Community) is located at 4136 N. Grand Blvd. Visit http://sjuccstl.org/.

production and journalism. Ashe then obtained her master’s degree in multimedia studies with an emphasis in film and video production from Lindenwood University.

“I just wanted to tell people’s stories,” Ashe said. “That has always been something that was super important to me is learning the story of others and trying to get each other connected through that.”

Ever since the police killing of Michael Brown in 2014, Ashe has been active with the Black Lives Matter movement. She says she was much quieter when starting out, but was active in videography. News outlets such as Real STL News used her video content for protest coverage.

“I would use my camera just to show the world what was going on because what we were saying in the news versus what was actually happening were two different things,” Ashe said. “I thought it was important to just show the world the truth.”

The Stockley verdict protests were the starting point for Ashe as an organizer and protest leader. She said she has been more vocal in recent protests that erupted after the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

She is a member of the protest group Expect Us. The group has shut down highways and painted the streets while making their list of demands known titled “Our 5 Point Plan for Our Future STL.”

“I tell people all the time, ‘Just follow your passion’ and video production has been my passion,” Ashe said, “and that’s what follows me out into Ferguson, which pushed me into the activism work, which pushed me into For the Culture and uplifting Black-owned businesses.”

Fortheculturestl.com has a new interactive feature that will map out the Black-owned businesses in any area by Zip code or businesses category.

“Supporting Black business isn’t just supporting that business,” Ashe said. “It’s supporting the community of Blackness, allowing folks to sustain themselves, to sustain

Mvstermind

Continued from B1

his wife now have a child of their own, which gave him a new level of determination.

“I always felt like I was operating on 110% like there’s no higher level that I could be more dedicated,” Mvstermind said, “and having a family –it’s a whole different shift, because now your priorities shift from trying to get a goal for tomorrow to actually legacy building. My love for them and what I see for them and what they bring for me, they are the remedy.”

Mvstermind wants his legacy to be known for platform build-

“Now the climate is going to culturally shift and culturally change to uplift Black businesses to invest into the community to do things from a genuine space.”

– Ohun Ashe

their family, to take care of themselves and their communities.”

In the future, Ashe would like to see For the Culture STL expanded to other cities.

“I would love to see a For the

ing to allow people to tap into their potential.

“I’m trying to make sure that when you have a dream, passion and purpose we have a platform to help assist you and help guide you with that,” Mvstermind said.

His artistic reach went global last year when Dr. Scholl’s shoe company collaborated with the artist to sell his shoes globally. He had manifested it on a written list to create a shoe by 2021, and it came true in 2019. The bottom sole says “Finesse” and “Bless.”

“We’re now at the last 50 pairs of the shoes that will ever be created in existence, and I have them in my personal arsenal now,” Mvstermind said.

“We’re going to end up doing a really cool campaign

Culture Chicago,” she said, “For the Culture Houston, For the Culture New York. The options are limitless.” For more information, visit fortheculturestl.com.

with some limited-edition, signed, exclusive shoes that’s going to be worth $100 million one day! The value of those shoes is already something special.”

Although Mvstermind is a conscious rapper, he is not a huge fan of that label. He believes the title prevents certain artists from collaborating because they are in two separate genre categories.

“I’m just speaking my truth, speaking my experiences, I’m speaking who I am and it’s just from my perspective,” Mvstermind said. “I like to think that I make what I like and I make who I am and I speak my truth and I talk my talk.”

Photo by Cornelius Dotson

Riverview Gardens High valedictorian is a future diplomat

Jayden Keys will attend Morehouse College as part of Naval ROTC Program

By Carrie Zhang Of The St. Louis American

Jayden Keys, a recent graduate of Riverview Gardens High School and valedictorian of the Class of 2020, was one of many to suffer from the pandemic. For Keys, his largest obstacle was isolation, which took a toll on his mental health.

“I hate being stagnant. I hate being in one place too long,” said Keys. “I got into a place where I felt like I was alone. I was in the house with my family all day but I can’t express myself around them just like how I can express myself around my friends.”

Learning from home also proved to be a challenge because Keys is a visual learner. He, online with other students, could not find the right learning environment. He stated that he was unable to focus.

Keys decided to take steps to battle these obstacles. Because he still worked regularly during the pandemic, he was able to speak with his co-workers who advised him to set up a daily schedule. Keys followed a pattern each day. “It was just to keep some sort of structure in my life,” he said. Keys also adapted to the pandemic by reaching out to his friends through technology

and later reached out to outside resources to better his mental health.

At the same time, Keys stated that the pandemic was an eye opener about the nature of people. “Inherently, it just showed me that a lot of people are more selfish than they seem to realize,” he said. “You see how many cases arose from here, and despite multiple warnings and multiple state-

ments from public officials and health officials, people just refused to listen to them.”

Keys also commented that the Riverview Gardens High School administration helped him and his fellow students adjust by following consistent lesson plans, distributing Chromebooks and laptops for AP and pre-AP students, and sending iPads for homework assignments.

n “Something that really intrigues me is politics and looking at how foreign and domestic politics affect the smallest things.”

– Jayden Keys

Because not all students had access to laptops and Wi-Fi, teachers and administration connected with students and families through social media.

“They really did their best to accommodate to what was going on. Every step of the way, they sent out some information to keep the students and the families informed about what was going on,” said Keys. In school, Keys was involved in multiple academic programs. He was the co-president of the National Honors Society, the vice president of Student Council, and the cadet

See KEYS, B7

Jayden Keys

STL County recommends schools operate ‘as virtual as possible’ this fall

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St. Louis American

Back to school for the 20202021 school year will be online in some form for many students in the St. Louis area, due to sustained community spread of COVID-19.

St. Louis County Executive

Dr. Sam Page recommended that schools operate as virtual as possible this fall, due to the continued spike in the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced some school districts, including St. Louis Public Schools, Hazelwood, Parkway and Kirkwood, to announce they were doing total online student learning at least for the first semester of the next school year, which starts in August for most students.

Page’s news conference on July 30 followed discussions with health and school leaders, community officials and area school superintendents, who requested and received a formal recommendation from the Department of Public Health.

Page read parts of the letter sent to school leaders signed by the County’s Acting Director of Public Health Spring Schmidt. It said the county is experiencing sustained increase of COVID-19 cases due to community transmission.

“This trend has been rising for several weeks, and epidemiologists point to signs that the level of transmission is continuing to increase and will remain high for several more weeks,” Page read. “While we put measures in place in our community to control the

Goal is ‘to protect students, staff, and families’

Wilson uses The St. Louis American’s e-edition for virtual science activities with mother and teacher Rhonda

virus and prevent more serious negative health outcomes, it is likely it will take some time for those measures to have an impact on the spread. “Given the fact that most

St. Louis County schools are preparing to open in a few weeks, it is unlikely that the spread of the virus will be sufficiently controlled in order for nearly 300,000 children

and 25,000 teachers, and thousands of other staff to be able to attend school full-time without a significant risk of outbreaks. Therefore, it is the formal recommendation of the

Department of Public Health that all schools start the semester in as virtual of an environment as is possible to protect students, staff, and families.” Page said while the recom-

n “It is unlikely that the spread of the virus will be sufficiently controlled for nearly 300,000 children and 25,000 teachers, and thousands of other staff to be able to attend school fulltime.”

– St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page

mendation is not a mandate, the

Department of Public Health may take additional action in the future if schools or school buildings experience significant COVID-19 outbreaks.

He said he understands the frustrations of students, parents, teachers and school leaders, families and residents and he urges parents to select the all-virtual learning option, if possible, for their children. Unfortunately, the lack of universal adherence to community safety precautions will not allow schools to operate safely right now during this COVID19 pandemic.

“Despite the thoughtful and protective planning that many have worked on these past months, the current level of community transmission poses the largest risk to the safety of our schools,” Page said. “Many of the new behaviors around mask wearing, social distancing, and avoiding crowds are

See SCHOOLS, B9

Caelin

Stovall.

Photo by Kaya Wilson

An eye for technology

A blind grandfather made Ellis Twiggs want to study science to learn solutions

By Carrie Zhang For The St. Louis American

Ellis Twiggs, a recent graduate of University City High School and its NAF Academy, plans on attending Western Missouri University in the fall majoring in computer science. He has a partial scholarship to attend. After obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree, Twiggs wants to join the United States Secret Service.

Twiggs has always been an eager student. He grew up in Illinois and was always reading and learning, which was not considered the typical norm in his school. Twiggs stated that “I grew up with people who didn’t like how different I was and bullied me because I was different.” He added that he did not blend in with people of color either.

Later on, Twiggs moved to Missouri to live with his father, where he attended a private school that had a majority of Caucasian people.

“I didn’t really have anybody there that I could talk to that was the same color as me that understood what I was going through,” said Twiggs. With the transition to a new school, Twiggs had to work hard to catch up with his peers. “After a while, I got there,” said Twiggs.

At U. City, Twiggs pursued his interested in technology, which was sparked by his grandfather, a blind man. Twiggs stated, “He used to always tell me how he wants to see me and how old I have grown. I always wanted to make a solution for that.” He added that he wants to pursue technology to make real solutions for the world.

In high school, Twiggs was an active member of NAF Academy, where he worked with three different companies

Ellis Twiggs, a recent graduate of University City High School, plans to attend Western Missouri University in the fall majoring in computer science and hopes one day to work for the United States Secret Service.

n “Don’t let social media nor the news nor what happens around you define what kind of person you are.”

– Ellis Twiggs

— MasterCard, KPMG, and Worldwide Technology — as a paid intern. At those companies, Twiggs would present his ideas and solutions to a problem. His team made an app and won the Best Use of Innovation Award. Twiggs also recently interned with Ayinde Wayne in the school’s technology department for two class periods each day. He fixed Chromebooks, Smartboards, printers, and the Wi-Fi. With his transition to a new

school and a new city, Twiggs also became a resident of St. Louis, a city plagued with deep-rooted issues of segregation and gun violence. Twiggs stated, “You realize that there are people who don’t like you because of your skin color or are afraid of you because of how you look on the outside.”

Twiggs went on to comment on the George Floyd murder and protests. His father, a sergeant for public safety, informed him that in the Police Academy, officers are taught how to use their knee to pin someone down; it goes on the back and nowhere near the neck.

“When he explained to me how they train the police, I realized more that the officer did it on purpose,” said Twiggs. “This has happened multiple times, but the government officials aren’t listening.”

WGU Missouri provides high-speed internet to students in need

Lack of broadband internet has been a barrier for many in the St. Louis region for some time, and COVID-19 is only compounding the issue. People who have been laid off or furloughed due to the pandemic are finding it hard to return to school and prepare for new career opportunities, particularly if they have been forced to eliminate WiFi from their monthly expenses. In turn, those who do not have access to affordable, high-speed internet and want to further their education from the safety of their homes are left behind.

To help address this issue and increase access to education for adults across the region, online university WGU Missouri has announced a new scholarship program that will provide high-speed internet access, as well as devices, to current and prospective students who are in need. The Online Access Scholarship will cover internet installation and monthly access costs as long as students remain active and in good standing. The scholarship will also provide recipients with a refurbished laptop, complete with a webcam. This opportunity is available for high-need students who might not otherwise be able to get online to complete their education.

“WGU Missouri’s mission is to provide working adults across the state with access to high-quality and affordable higher education opportunities, and advocating for reliable, high-speed internet access for all is a key part of this mission,” said Dr. Angie Besendorfer, Chancellor of WGU Missouri. “We are thrilled to be able to provide this scholarship opportunity to so many worthy individuals. Making sure students have high-speed internet and reliable devices will not only provide them with access to high-quality education from the safety of the their homes but will also set them up for success in the long run as they work to further the skills needed to advance their careers and improve their lives.”

“It sucks that you even have to fear for your life when you are pulled over,” Twiggs added. He went on to explain the dangers of looting. “It’s hurting our community,” he said. Instead, Twiggs suggest that people try to boycott

companies so those in power understand that there needs to be change, that George Floyd wasn’t the exception.

Twiggs explained the dangers of the news and how specific groups, particularly African Americans, are por-

Beyond the Online Access Scholarship, WGU Missouri provides scholarships to many students to make its flat-rate tuition of about $3,500 per six-month term even more affordable. To learn more visit wgu.edu/access or call (385) 428-3125.

trayed negatively in the media. He concluded with advice he would give to other students: “Don’t let social media nor the news nor what happens around you define what kind of person you are.”

Going ‘Beyond the Badge’ at U. City High

Black police leader looking to partner with other school districts

By Grant Sneed

For The St. Louis American

I am a federal officer with the U.S. Courts and a board member of the St. Louis Metropolitan Chapter of NOBLE (National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives).

During a NOBLE chapter meeting one of our officers mentioned that she was an adult before she had a positive encounter with a police officer. In hearing her experience and knowing there were countless individuals with similar experiences, I wanted to establish rapport between local youth and police. I proposed an event for high school athletes and police officers. The goal of the interaction was to create a safe place for meaningful dialogue and fellowship. I wanted to help both groups see each other “beyond the badge” as opposed to the traditional civilian vs. law enforcement approach.

I specifically chose football as the sport to target because it is a source of commonality between the two groups. Additionally, I considered the group would be all-male, which is the group that statistically has the most lethal encounters with law enforcement. I also knew that each participant would be either a current or former football player and/or devoted to sport in some form.

I partnered with my immediate supervisor Charo Prude and Chief Larry Hampton of the University City Police Department to help coordinate the event. I requested participation from several area schools; however, University City High School was the only school that was willing and available to participate. Head Coach Jason Wells ensured his players were prepared for the

conversation. I met with them during one of their practices, and they generated a list of questions for the officers. I also elicited the support from community agencies, the local government and prominent community leaders.

On Friday, July 24, more than 20 University City High School football players arrived to the high school eager to participate. They were pre-screened by St. Charles Titans Youth Football League President John McCaleb to ensure everyone wore a mask, did not display any COVID-19 symptoms and their temperatures were recorded. They were greeted by myself and Officer Charo Prude. Followed by the welcome, Pastor John W. Sykes of Grace Community Bible Church led the group in

a prayer.

The first speaker was St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. He opened by reminiscing on his successes as a former football rival to the school. He talked about his personal experience and journey to his current position. He spoke candidly about the current climate surrounding community-police relations and the importance for their participation in conversation and understanding the other side. He spoke about the need for diversity in law enforcement, corrections and the courts and encouraged them to pursue careers in the same. He invited them to participate in the police simulator training and other programs offered through St. Louis County that would provide perspectives on

Officer Rolandis Woodland of the University City Police Department; Grant Sneed, a federal officer with the U.S. Courts; University City High School football head coach Jason Wells; and U. City students Issac ArmourDozier and Cameron Johnson.

es. Specifically, their love for shoes/sneakers, their passion for football, their love for family and their experiences being profiled and/or discriminated against.

The conservation expanded beyond the predetermined questions and at times consisted of jokes and banter between what the officers experienced and what the players perceived from various law enforcement shows. What was scheduled to be an hour was extended to 90 minutes at the request of the participants. At the conclusion, the players and officers were fist bumping and elbowing each other, adhering to coronavirus protocols.

During the debrief, several players expressed an interest in continuing the conversation with the officers. Chief Hampton vowed to schedule ride-alongs with the officers upon conclusion of the COVID-19 protocols. I also committed to connecting them with Attorney Wesley Bell and registering them for the police simulator.

local government, law enforcement and promote higher education.

Current NFL Hall of Famer and former St. Louis Ram star Pastor Aeneas Williams addressed the players by talking openly about his upbringing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He talked about the struggle of living in an area where brutality and lawlessness was glorified. He spoke about the benefits of staying away from trouble and troublemakers. The players were captivated as he told a story of the weak being led by the strong, the strong being led by the smart and the smart being ruled by the wise. He encouraged the players to fall into the wise category as strength could be easily overpowered or shortlived. He evoked emotion from

the audience when he spoke about the associates he lost growing up due to senseless violence. He also elicited hope as he concluded by reassuring the participants that they had unleashed potential and opportunities to cultivate their decisions skills to be successful adults.

Chief Hampton then introduced the four University City officers who participated in the breakout sessions. All of the participating officers, Chief Hampton included. were former collegiate football players. The officers spoke with the two groups about their upbringing, personal experiences, professional experiences and opinions surrounding police work. The players found that they shared more commonalities than differenc-

Future events include a law enforcement day for the participating officers and additional officers to attend a University City High School home football game and a barb-que cookout after the game. Building principal, Michael Peoples also vowed to host similar events and committed to making Beyond the Badge an annual football pre-season event. My goal is to partner with additional high schools and police departments. A lot of good has come from the conversations. The players walked away with the impression, “not all cops are bad.” In particular, one student said, “I know now that I can have a conversation with a cop. I don’t have to run or be afraid.”

Schools

Continued from B5

not yet universal.” He said even businesses and organizations who have adhered to safety precautions have had outbreaks, due to the nature of the coronavirus.

“The department will continue to partner with all school leaders to monitor changes in the data and community adherence to social distancing. We will remain focused on our desire to see students in schools receiving education and we will share all available data to make sure those decisions are put together in the future.”

The pandemic has upended what is normal and Page said the sooner precautions are universally adopted, the sooner we can see the downward trend in coronavirus cases.

“Until masks are universal in our region and everyone adheres to social distancing, this virus will continue to spread. It doesn’t know jurisdictional boundaries; it doesn’t know county boundaries; it

Keys

Continued from B4

commandant of the Naval Junior ROTC. Keys was also active in the color guard.

However, most of his time was dedicated to the ROTC program, which revolved heav-

County buys hotspots, tablets for schools

St. Louis County

Executive Dr. Sam Page announced August 2 that the county will be purchasing 12,500 mobile hotspots and 2,500 tablet computers using $4 million in CARES Act funding. A mobile hotspot allows users to wirelessly connect their devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to the Internet.

However, a school

doesn’t know city boundaries,” Page said. “And we must come together, to push back together as one before we can even begin to have a conversation about a return to normal.

“These numbers would not be escalating if everyone were adhering to our public health guidelines. So please, wear a mask, and follow our social distancing policies. That’s the best chance to get our kids in the best education environment

ily around community service. Keys stated that wherever he could volunteer and help people, he would be there. To combine his love for English and government, Keys plans to become a military liaison after college, which is essentially a diplomat. He will be attending Morehouse College and following the

district survey in March by the St. Louis County Library found that more than 10,000 households in St. Louis County do not have Internet service or a device to connect to the Internet. A recent report showed that 36% of Missouri students lack home Internet and that Black students are less likely than their white peers to have adequate internet access.

“This year – the year of COVID-19 – internet access is

this fall.”

With Page at his announcement was Paul Seigler, executive director of EducationPlus, which represents 54 area school districts and charter schools. Seigler said teachers and schools are disappointed that they can’t safely welcome students back to school right now.

“For the last 16 weeks, we have worked as a group of educational leaders to deter-

Naval ROTC Program there.

“Something that really intrigues me is politics and looking at how foreign and domestic politics affect the smallest things from entire countries to even the smallest communities to an individual,” said Keys.

As a departing senior, Keys shared a message for the rest

a basic school supply,” Page said. “But it’s a school supply that just isn’t accessible to thousands of our residents.”

The county is providing additional support by offering online professional tutoring to every student in a St. Louis County school. Provided by tutor.com, the online tutoring will be available 12 hours a day every day of the week.

Page said the county is working with the St. Louis

mine what best practices we have to bring students and teachers back in a safe manner. Through that work, we had identified many processes around cleaning, and distancing and educational components we thought would allow us to bring back kids this fall,” Seigler said. “We are left disappointed that we are not going to be able to bring kids back right now.”

For school districts that

of his classmates and the students at Riverview Gardens.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said. “Eventually, everything works out no matter what happens, and no matter how low you get the only place you can go from that place is up.”

Emerson delivers hands-on STEM kits

Emerson delivered thousands of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activity kits to elementary and middle schools in the Ferguson-Florissant and Jennings school districts in north St. Louis county, near the company’s world headquarters.

Students and families in those districts will be able to pick up their own STEM activity kits from their schools as they prepare for a school year that incorporates more learning outside the classroom than ever before. The STEM kits are meant to provide students with hands-on learning experiences despite the challenges of

remote learning due to COVID19.

Each kit includes step-bystep tutorials, packaged with all of the supplies needed to conduct a series of three different STEM-related experiments.

From studying pressure to sound waves, elementary students will have the opportunity

County Library and school districts to provide the hotspots and tablets to every family in need.

“I am committed to doing what it takes to make sure that no child goes without the tools they need to be successful in virtual school this fall,” Page said.

“If more hotspots or tablets are needed, we’ll invest what we have to in order to meet our goal.

have announced hybrid models of alternating days of in school and at-home learning when the next school year begins, Page said the county supports them with any information or data they need for their decisions

for a hybrid model but expects those schools should have an all-virtual plan ready to go and continue to evaluate as it gets closer to the start of school.

Another concern Page talked about is providing resources for families who depend on schools for support services, like seeing a nurse, community health services or seeing a social worker.

“That’s where a lot of kids get their breakfast and lunch, so we have to make sure that those other needs in addition to education are also being followed and we are doing everything we can to help those families and those kids too,” Page said. New public health guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic go into effect tomorrow. Find out more at STLcorona.com.

to conduct STEM studies using cups, string, paper, pingpong balls and spools. Middle school students will have an added challenge as they conduct structural integrity and energy studies using gumdrops, toothpicks, spoons, popsicle sticks, rubber bands and more.

An advocate for the community

Dakota

By Carrie Zhang For The St. Louis American

Dakota Warren is a recent graduate from the Jennings School District, where she was heavily involved in multiple academic clubs.

The first club she joined was BETA Club, which is a national service organization that competes with other schools and raises money. When asked why she later joined her other clubs, Warren said, “It all began with BETA Club. It was like a tiny family where we spent a lot of time together. We really enjoy the time we spent together and the things we did for our community.”

n

Warren takes her service game from Jennings High to UMSL

In her long list of extracurriculars, Warren is an advocate for the community too and has even met with Mayor Lyda Krewson to urge for more job opportunities in the St. Louis community.

Warren did share that when her school attends competitions for some of her clubs, she encounters bias because her school is located in a “bad neighborhood.”

“When we go to competitions, we’re amongst the only all-Black competing teams so sometimes when we go, we get a little side eye or small comment.”

Warren added that she enjoyed seeing the impact they had on their community. After BETA Club she became more open to meeting new people and trying new things. She later became the president of the club.

– Dakota Warren

Warren traveled to Guatemala for a service-learning project with some of her peers to build a school and a playground. She also interned at UMSL as a paid researcher and at Washington University as a DNA and Forensic Science Researcher. She is a NAF Academy Health Science Scholar, and her appreciation for STEM has carried over into more extracurricular activities. In 2019, Warren attended the ABRCMS Conference in Anaheim, California, which is centered around STEM and the potential influence it has on the younger generation.

She stated, “Our school is predominately Black. When we go to competitions, we’re amongst the only all-Black competing teams so sometimes when we go, we get a little side eye or small comment.”

Warren also added that when their students encounter these issues, their teachers tell them to ignore it and to not comment because that will only make them feel more satisfied.

Warren’s desire for academic excellence was still present even during the pandemic. Initially, she struggled with staying at home and conducting all her meetings online. Though Warren was disappointed by the end of her senior year, she said, “I felt like it was more of accepting certain things and trying to work out different ways to have the same things we originally planned to do.”

The Jennings School District maintained a network for students to correspond with teachers and peers. Having their own email accounts prior to the pandemic was also helpful. The school also sent out Chromebooks so students could complete all

their work.

a

During quarantine, Warren taught herself how to play the guitar and started drawing and reading more.

Despite Warren’s flexibility in quarantine, she stated that she was frustrated she could not go to work.

“The pandemic, depending on where you work, could benefit or hurt you,” she said.

“Some people had jobs that payed them a certain amount of money, which is what

mine did, but others didn’t get anything at all, which puts them in a tough spot when it came time to pay certain bills.”

Warren had previously worked at Goodwill which reopened on May 18 but only accepted 50% of their staff back. Warren was not one of the staff members to return so she got a job at Schnucks. She added, “I do it to fill in that little gap for certain bills that I have to help pay.”

When fall approaches,

Warren will be attending the University of Missouri St. Louis with a major in psychology and plans to become a psychiatrist. She stated that “I always found it fascinating what people were thinking or why they did things a certain way.” Originally, she wanted to be a criminal profiler but later wanted to focus more on the psychiatry aspect.

Warren added that she’s grateful she was a student at Jennings because the school

offered her many opportunities and connections to teachers who she hopes to maintain connect with in the future. She also concluded with advice she would give to younger students, saying, ”Do not take those four years for granted, and even though you’re ready to leave, you start to realize that all those years, you had some great times you can lean back on and that you’re going to miss when you’re gone.”

Dakota Warren, a recent graduate from the Jennings School District, will be attending the University of Missouri St. Louis with

major in psychology and plans to become a psychiatrist.

COGIC celebrates Bishop Blake’s 80th birthday

An

appreciate

from a fellow COGIC bishop in California

By Bishop George Dallas McKinney

American

St. Louis

For The

The year was 1959, and I was led by the Lord to move from Toledo, Ohio to San Diego, California. This was a fairly big move, as I was a young father and recent graduate of Oberlin University in Ohio. With the support of my first wife, Jean, the move was successful, and the rest is history. When I arrived in San Diego, I became a member of Jackson Memorial Church of God in Christ, pastored by Bishop J.A. Blake, the father of the current presiding bishop and chief apostle of the Church of God in Christ, Charles Edward Blake Sr. I served at Jackson Memorial for three years as the assistant pastor. I have had the pleasure of being a close observer of the life of Bishop Blake. He served as the assistant pastor at Jackson Memorial after I started my church in 1962. In 1969, he then relocated to Los Angeles and we were both consecrated as bishops in 1985, along with 12 other men. Since I can recall, Bishop Blake has

always been a man of integrity, determination, distinction, dedication and philanthropic service.

Upon his arrival at West Angeles, Bishop Blake went diligently to work to create a ministry that would have a lasting and significant impact on, not only members, but the community at large. Outreach programs concentrating on the needs of the community were developed, and soon the West Angeles congregation outgrew their first church facility.

Bishop Blake has always been a man of tremendous vision.

He envisioned, in an old furniture store on Crenshaw Boulevard, a lovely sanctuary and multi-purpose center that would soon serve as the hub for the revitalization of the Crenshaw Corridor near 36th Street and Exposition Boulevard.

An explosion of growth occurred at the new West Angeles facility where, before long, there were a total of five thriving worship services on Sunday morning, an impactful community development corporation, a Christian day school, an extensive, professional counseling service that became

a fixture of the community, and various other ministries and services. Bishop Blake would often say that the church must be a part of the community; otherwise, there is no need for the church. Under his God-driven leadership, West Angeles has certainly accomplished this over the years. In 2001, God blessed West Angeles to march into a newly constructed Cathedral. The

beautiful, 5,000-seat auditorium and the land on which it sits is valued at more than $70 million. Through the Community Development Corporation and the church, there is more than $150 million dollars of property controlled by West Angeles in the Crenshaw Corridor. Astoundingly, all of the property is used to supplement the vast community services of West Angeles through more

Presiding Bishop Charles Edward Blake Sr. preached at the Church of God in Christ’s Holy Convocation in St. Louis is 2016, long before the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health precautions required to address it. On August 5, Bishop Blake celebrated his 80th birthday.

Photo by Wiley Price

than 80 active ministries.

Far beyond the Crenshaw Corridor and birthed from an urgency to respond to the HIV/ AIDS crisis, specifically in Africa, Bishop Blake founded the Pan African Children’s Fund, contributing to 400 orphan care programs in more than 24 sub-Saharan African nations. These programs impacted the lives of more than 230,000 vulnerable children negatively affected by the life-changing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

and multiple classrooms and numerous water wells. In addition, Save Africa’s Children helped to established 30 income-generating projects, so that what was initially provided would be self-sustaining and contribute to the revival of African communities.

For Bishop Blake’s commitment to the advancement of the Kingdom, God has blessed this son of North Little Rock, Arkansas with vision and knowledge that has made a lasting and deep impression on millions around the world. I am personally privileged to be one of them. He often says that he sees us in the future and we look much better than we do right now. The same is true of Bishop Blake; the hand of God on his life is surely evident.

n He often says that he sees us in the future and we look much better than we do right now. The same is true of Bishop Blake.

Through the leadership and vision of Bishop Blake, Save Africa’s Children provided grants for basic human needs, more than 60 educational schools, the construction of 12 schools

Bishop George Dallas McKinney is a native of Jonesboro, Arkansas and has resided in San Diego, California since 1959. He is the founding pastor of the St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ, the prelate of the Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Southern California, and has served as a member of the General Board for the Church of God in Christ since 2000. He is the author of nine books, is married to Barbara Warren McKinney, a retired judge, and is the father of six sons.

Columnist Bishop George Dallas McKinney

St. LouiS american Career Center

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Supreme Court of Missouri’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness (“CREF”) is seeking an independent contractor to serve as an Executive Director. CREF is responsible for promoting racial and ethnic fairness in the Missouri judicial and legal systems. The Executive Director will coordinate, plan, implement, and lead the successful completion of activities in accordance with the charge of CREF. The Executive Director also will exercise considerable judgment and discretion in the development of policies, programs, and materials. Eligible persons will have considerable knowledge regarding judicial and legal practices, community involvement, and experience managing projects to successful completion. The work of the Executive Director will be guided by the charge of CREF in conjunction with its tri-chairs. The Executive Director will dedicate necessary time to serve the needs of CREF. Successful performance will be evaluated through personal consultations, observation, and results obtained. Interested parties shall submit a proposal including a statement of work and documentation relating to applicable education, experience and skills to email: crefdirector@courts.mo.gov

Proposals received by August 31, 2020 will receive preference but proposals may be considered until contract is awarded. Additional information on this opportunity may be found at: https://www.courts.mo.gov/ page.jsp?id=120233

The Supreme Court of Missouri is an Equal Opportunity Employer, which extends to the selection and treatment of independent contractors and any other persons or organizations doing business with the Court.

MISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY CURRENT JOB OPENINGS

The Missouri Historical Society actively seeks to hire for the following positions:

• Managing Director of Education and Visitor Engagement: https://mohistory. aaimtrack.com/jobs/468956.html

• Resource Protection Officer, part-time (nights): https://mohistory.aaimtrack.com/ jobs/466674.html

Follow the links for position details and to apply.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

FIREFIGHTER/ PARAMEDIC

Maryland Heights Fire Protection District is accepting applications for the position of Firefighter/ Paramedic. Qualifications and requirement packets may be found on the District Website, www.mhfire.org, or be picked up from the Temporary District Headquarters at 11911 Adie Road, Maryland Heights, MO. 63043 beginning August 12, 2020 through August 28, 2020 between 09:00am and 3:00pm Monday-Thursday.

Completed packets must be returned to the Temporary District Headquarters Building, 11911 Adie Road, no later than 3:00pm on August 28, 2020.

Maryland Heights Fire District is an Equal Opportunity Employer

PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR

The City of Richmond Heights is accepting applications for our Parks and Recreation Director. To apply go to https://richmondheights. applicantpro.com/jobs/1459352.html Applications will be accepted from July 16, 2020 through August 10, 2020.

PHOTO BOOTH PROGRAM II RFP 2020

research, administration, technology, security and more.

The Saint Louis Zoo seeks bids from qualified vendors for the Photo Booth Program II. Bid documents are available on the Saint Louis Zoo website: stlzoo.org/vendor

BID PROPOSAL

Great Rivers Greenway is requesting proposals for PreConstruction and Construction Management Services for the Brickline Greenway. Go to www.greatriversgreenway. org/jobs-bids/ and submit by August 27 , 2020.

call 679-5440. hr@gasastl.org.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Long-Term Lease of Riverfront Mooring Rights

Located at the Foot of E Grand Ave. St. Louis, MO 63147

The City of St. Louis Port Authority will receive Sealed Proposals to Lease on 9/3/2020. For more Info. Visit https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/ government/departments/ sldc/procurement/index.cfm

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

The Industrial Development Authority of the County of St. Louis, Missouri (the “IDA”) solicits proposals from qualified firms to serve as a financial advisor for the IDA’s operations. A copy of the complete RFQ is available at https:// stlpartnership.com/rfp-rfq/. DBE, MBE, and WBE consultants are encouraged to bid, and a five percent bid preference may be available to certified MBE firms. To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3PM CST on Thursday, September 3, 2020.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

-

Senior

- 47981 This

Responsible

Health Behavior Research (AHBR) Master’s Degree and Certificate Programs. This position is responsible for marketing the program and recruitment efforts, cultivating and responding to inquiries from prospective applicants, processing program applications and delivering decisions regarding acceptance, processing matriculation materials, orienting new scholars, ensuring timely registration of courses, and overseeing completion of program expectations for graduation by scholars. This position is also responsible for cultivating relationships and communicating with instructors, processing contracts, collecting syllabi, providing registration lists, and facilitating course evaluations as well as being responsible for cultivating relationships and communicating with mentors, processing agreement forms, and monitoring the achievement of course competencies. This position will work collaboratively with other AHBR personnel and university administrators and represent AHBR to internal and external stakeholders. This position solves problems and handles requests related to the AHBR academic programs and has the ability to function independently and manage multiple tasks with a high level of organizational skill. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: Minimum of the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in business, organizational management, or comparable field with three years of related experience required.

Manager, Research Compliance - Office of Vice Chancellor for Research – 47902

This position is responsible for managing the administrative support and compliance activities of the research COI programs (Individual and Institutional) for the University. This person understands the research and regulatory environment; interprets regulations and policies to resolve complex research and regulatory issues; develops, implements, and maintains processes based on changes in regulations, policies, and national best practices. The Manager also develops

encouraged to include MBE/WBE firms in their contracting and purchasing plans.

To view this invitation: https://app.buildingconnected.com/projects/ 5f172a7a532a64004e08b195/info

Tarlton is an equal opportunity employer.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Paric Corporation is seeking proposals for the following project: Old Coke Warehouse – Specialty Pharmacy for the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.

This is an approximately 16,000 sf existing warehouse being renovated to include a Shipping/ Receiving Room, Processing Room and Offices.

The project includes but is not limited to selective demolition, concrete, misc. steel, carpentry, casework, insulation, doors/frames/hardware, aluminum storefront, drywall, acoustical ceilings, painting, flooring, fire protection, plumbing, HVAC and electrical work.

This project has a diversity participation goals of 10% MBE, 10% combined WBE, DBE, Veteran Owned Business and 3% SDVE.

Bids for this project are due on August 20th, at 12:00 p.m. For any questions or would like to find out more detailed information on this opportunity, please contact Evan Chiles at 816-878-6003 or emchiles@paric. com.

All bids should be delivered to Paric via e-mail (bids@paric.com) or fax (816-878-6249).

PARIC CORPORATION IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

METROPOLITAN ST. LOUIS

SEWER DISTRICT

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Requests for Quotes, Bids and Proposals are posted online for public download. Please navigate to www.msdprojectclear.org > Doing Business With Us > View Non-Capital Bids (commodities and services) or >Visit Planroom (capital construction bids) Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

BIDS

The City of Crestwood is seeking bids for the Whitecliff Park Quarry Enhancement project. This project is being assisted by the use of federal funds administered by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MODNR). This is an equal opportunity bidding event and MBE/WBE firms are encouraged to respond. All applicable MODNR and federal regulations shall be in full force and effect. Please call (314)729-4861 or (314)729-4722 for more information. Qualified contractors may obtain a project manual at www. cityofcrestwood.org. The bids are due by August 27, 2020 at 3:00 pm. The bids will to be received by the Office of the City Clerk of the City of Crestwood at the Crestwood Government Center One Detjen Drive, Crestwood, MO 63126. Bids may also be emailed to Jim Gillam at jgillam@cityofcrestwood.org. www.cityofcrestwood.org.

PUBLIC NOTICE REQUEST FOR BIDS

IMPACT Strategies, as the selected General Contractor, is requesting Subcontractor bids for the Cornerstone - Lafayette Square Development - Bid Package #3 - Structural Steel, Masonry and Elevators project in St. Louis, MO. This is a taxable project.

This project consists of complete ground-up construction of a new, 5-story multifamily apartment development, including parking garage.

This Bid Package #3 requires subcontractor proposals for Structural Steel, Masonry and Elevators only.

IMPACT is offering (2) Pre-Bid Meeting Opportunities for Subcontractors:

IMPACT Strategies will host a VIRTUAL pre-bid meeting for this project on August 20, 2020 at 3:30 PM. All interested contractors are encouraged to attend. Please contact Emily Yost for Zoom Meeting log-in/call-in instructions. eyost@buildwithimpact.com, (618)394-8400.

IMPACT will host a jobsite pre-bid meeting on August 26, 2020 at 3:30 PM at the project location, 2200 LaSalle St., St. Louis, MO 63103. Interested contractors are encouraged to attend.

The Cornerstone Lafayette Square Multi-Family project will comply with the Diversity Goals as governed by Ordinance 70767 of the City of St. Louis. Ordinance 70767 outlines Enterprise (contract spend) requirements and also Workforce Participation goals as follows:

Enterprise (Contract Spend)

African American - 21%

Women - 11%

Hispanic - 2%

Asian/American Indian - .5%

Workforce Participation Goals

Minorities - 25%

City Residents - 23% Apprentices - 20%

Women - 7%

Successful contractors will be required to participate in the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) program for documenting compliance with the Workforce and Prevailing wage Ordinances.

All proposals submitted on this project should include materials and equipment that are “bought in America” wherever feasible. Please note on your proposal if you are not able to comply with this request.

Project bid documents, as well as samples of IMPACT Strategies’ Subcontract documents and insurance requirements can be viewed at IMPACT Strategies, Southern Illinois Builders Association, The Asian American Chamber of Commerce, The Congress of Racial EqualityNorth Central Region, Cross Rhodes Print & Technologies, Employment Connection, The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, MO-KAN Plan Room and Mcgraw Hill Dodge. For a direct download link for the bid documents, please contact Emily Yost, eyost@buildwithimpact.com, (618)394-8400.

Proposals are due to IMPACT Strategies, Inc. by 2:00 PM on September 10, 2020. Proposals should be emailed to Emily Yost. eyost@buildwithimpact.com.

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Responses for St. Louis Community College on IFB-B0003990 for a Document Shredding Contract will be received until 3:00 P.M. (local time) on Monday, August 24, 2020 at the Dept. of Purchasing, 3221 McKelvey Road; Bridgeton, MO 63044, and immediately thereafter opened and read. Bid documents can be accessed on our website at www.stlcc.edu/purchasing.

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Responses for St. Louis Community College on RFP-B0003982 for a Human Capital Management Platform will be received until 3:00 P.M. (local time) on Tuesday, September 15, 2020 at the Dept. of Purchasing, 3221 McKelvey Road; Bridgeton, MO 63044, and immediately thereafter opened and read. Bid documents can be accessed on our website at www.stlcc.edu/purchasing.

Ferguson in a time of George Floyd

The words on a bronze plaque on the sidewalk along Canfield Drive said it all: “In Memory of Michael O.D. Brown, May 20, 1996-August 9, 2014.” The faithful returned to the place where Mike Brown fell six years after a Ferguson policeman killed him and the community rose up in protest and rebellion. Though a new county prosecutor had just announced that, like Bob McCulloch and President Obama’s DOJ, he does not see grounds for charging Mike Brown’s killer with murder, the movement sparked by his death is stronger than ever. As Elijah Foggy — who was only 13 when his mother brought him to the first protest after Brown was killed — said, “If anybody wants to be a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, all they have to do is say you’re sick and tired of black people dying.”

by Wiley Price

Photos