December 26th, 2013 edition

Board moves to fire Art McCoy

Ferg-Flor says it has issued undisclosed charges against superintendent

By Dale Singer

The Ferguson-Florissant school board has issued a list of charges to Superintendent Art McCoy Jr., now on paid administrative leave, that could lead to his being fired for cause according to the terms of his contract. Details of the charges were not released.

The next step is for the board to schedule a hearing on the charges, which may or may not be open to the public, depending on whether McCoy and board members can reach mutual

The board voted 6-1 on Dec. 11 to issue the notice of charges to Superintendent Art McCoy Jr.

Elegant honorees

The Mathews-Dickey Girls’ Program’s 2013 honorees entertained the crowd at Sheer Elegance No. 25, held recently at the Chase Park Plaza, with choreography by The Best Talent Center’s Judy Best-Person. Honorees included Daysha CarverHill, Joye Forrest, Michelle Gaona, Delaney Haynes, Ayran Hudson, Robyn James-Robinson, Lea Jarrett, Jade Joiner, Cydnei McNeal, Taylor Moore-Johnson, Kandis Myton, Jahniece Person, Jamila Scales, Ranisha Shelton, Ranita Shelton, Rayna Sullivan, LaShae Thompson, Khylie Turner, Carissa Ward and Najawah Williams.

Rhodes Scholar, champion of the marginalized

Joshua Aiken leaves WUSTL to study refugees in England

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

Joshua Aiken, a senior at Washington University, grew up all over the country. His family moved from New Mexico to Tennessee, California, Texas, Iowa and Arizona.

“It made me really conscious of what identity meant in different places,” Aiken said. He often found himself being the only black student in his class – and he noticed how only some of his teachers were sensitive to this.

“For example, reading Huckleberry Finn,” he said, “Some teachers took into consideration how a person of color would take that experience.” (A main character in the novel is referred to throughout using the N-word.)

Others did not. Since high school, Aiken has been on a journey to study more inclusive policies

Joshua Aiken, a senior at Washington University, was one of 32 Americans chosen as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England. He plans to earn master’s degrees in U.S. history and refugee studies.

Chief Dotson asks feds to review Ball shooting

FBI investigating Cary Ball

Jr. case

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

n “I welcome it. I hope the FBI makes a very thorough investigation.”

– Toni Taylor, Cary Ball Jr.’s mother

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson did not tell the media last month when he asked the FBI to review the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s internal investigation of the police shooting of Cary Ball Jr. on April 24. But he did tell Ball’s family. Police Officers Jason Chambers and Timothy Boyce fired 28 bullets at Ball after he fled the scene of an accident following a high-speed chase, hitting him 21 times. They claim that Ball, who was armed, aimed his gun at them. The internal police investigation agreed with them and ruled the shooting justified.

civilian witness has claimed that Ball aimed a gun at the officers. Ball’s mother, Toni Taylor, said Chief Dotson expressed concern with those witness statements when he told the family he had asked the FBI to review the police investigation. “I really appreciate that,” Taylor told The

Fathers want answers

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St. Louis American

The Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis recently held a child support symposium at the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Millennium Student Center. The fathers in attendance wanted answers to their questions about paternity, child support payments, visitation and custody.

n “They know that if you’re locked up, you can’t pay your child support.”

– Nichole Foster

“Paternity is very important to us, gentleman,” said Raymond Bibb, a child support enforcement specialist with the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Family Support Division. “Be sure that child is yours before you sign any paperwork.”

Genetic testing is free in the state of Missouri and should be taken advantage of, Bibb said, referencing local rapper J-Kwon who was a victim of child support fraud. The men nodded their heads, murmuring agreement.

Bibb was the lone male on a panel of four that included Kristen Bogan, legal advisor at Fathers’ Support Center, and two child support enforcement specialists with the state Family Support Division, Nichole Foster and Heather Kley.

During an informal Q&A session, men (and one woman) made their way to the mic to address

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Wiley Price

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Is Kordell courting Towanda Braxton?

Witnesses claim Kordell Stewart and Towanda Braxton were looking very cozy together on a recent night out. According to reports Stewart and Braxton were spotted flirting and exchanging phone numbers at the Atlanta premier of “Grudge Match.” Kordell is recently divorced from “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Porsha Stewart and Towanda famously still lives under the same roof as her estranged husband but they are legally separated.

Steve Harvey’s ex jailed

Back in 2008 Steve Harvey’s ex-wife Mary Lee Harvey Steve to court claiming he’s abusing their son. She also claimed Steve does not allow their son to visit her per the court order. A gag order reportedly ended the publicity and her

public outcry surrounding the case.

Last week Mediatakeout posted court docs from the 2008 case - which landed Mary in the slammer for violating the gag order concerning her and Steve’s divorce. As a result of the story running, Mary was sent to jail for 30 days.

“I didn’t violate any court orders,” Mary told Fox 4 TV in Dallas. This is about ‘you’re not supposed to be talking to anybody about your divorce.’ That’s what they’re saying. I’m like, this is America. I’m just a mother who wants to have access to my son without interference. I’m tired of getting pulled down to McKinney courthouse every time I say ‘Boo.’ I’m not going to be silenced.”

Khloe cleans up in Lamar Odom divorce

She will also reportedly remain the beneficiary of a $10 million life insurance policy on Lamar.

Mathew Knowles custody drama continues Insiders told Radaronline.com that Mathew Knowles was slapped with sanctions and risked facing the contempt of court in order to avoid facing off with his ex, AlexSandra Wright, regarding his questionable child support history with Beyoncé’s four year old secret half-brother.

Despite having a prenup, Khloe Kardashian reportedly stands to rake in a tidy sum after divorcing Lamar Odom

According to reports Kardashian will receive $500k for every year they were married, at four years that equals $2 million. She also gets to keep her engagement ring, valued at $1 million, any gifts and the couples’ $4 million Tarzana mansion.

Knowles has reportedly been accused of being up to three months late in payments for his son with Wright. Knowles has denied that he is in arrears, claiming that he was never late on payments. But when court records revealed that he was, Knowles was said to have changed his story, insisting that it was a paperwork mix-up.

situation.

“I find it kind of odd that somebody that’s proven as somebody’s biological father has never ever seen their son,” Jonathan Wright told Radar Online. “And when they’re a wealthy individual, it’s odd that they would be a deadbeat dad. I just don’t understand it.”

Did Nene become a nuisance when Hollywood stopped calling?

Kenya Moore says Nene Leakes stopped being her friend after her acting gigs dried up.

In an interview with Wendy Williams, Moore says:

“Last season she had all of these jobs. She was this Hollywood actress and she had arrived and she had made it. And this season she doesn’t have any of that.”

“Last season she welcomed me and was like, ‘Oh, Kenya do your thing.’ And now, all of a sudden this is all she has…being a housewife.

The case was turned over to the State of California last year as part of Wright’s efforts to end the public battle once and for all, which insiders say is taking a toll on Knowles’ innocent son, who Knowles has never met.

Wright has been silent, but her brother, Jonathan Wright, spoke to Radar about the

SLPS names Communication Arts Teacher of the Year

Jenna Silver of Gateway Math, Science and Technology Middle School

American staff

St. Louis Public Schools has presented the 2013 Dr. Gerald Early Middle/High School Communication Arts Teacher of the Year Award to Jenna Silver, the communication arts department head at Gateway Math, Science and Technology

Middle School.

“Ms. Silver is truly an excellent teacher,” said Aisha Grace, principal at Gateway Middle School. “Deeply committed to her craft, Ms. Silver makes sure that all of her students succeed at the highest level. Last year, her students demonstrated more growth on standardized tests than any other teacher in the building. She is incredibly professional and always maintains the highest standards of integrity.”

An educator at Gateway Middle since 2010, Silver was promoted to the communication arts department head position in 2012. In this role, she has been instrumental in improving the school’s curriculum and ensuring that it is aligned with the Common Core standards. The 2013 Communication Arts

Teacher of the Year was honored with an awards reception and presented with a $1,000 award from the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation. In addition, she received a trophy, a plaque, and a $500 award for related education materials through the Parsons Blewett Memorial Fund.

To earn the Communication Arts Teacher of the Year Award, nominees must explain their teaching philosophy and approach to teaching; be recommended by an administrator and a professional colleague; and complete an interview process.

The award is named after noted essayist and American culture critic Gerald Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis.

Madiba: the courage to live

By Benjamin Ola Akande Guest Columnist

In the past days, as the world mourned the passing of Nelson Mandela – or Madiba, as he is affectionately referred to – Richard Stengel, who collaborated with Mandela on his autobiography, tells a story that I believe is relevant: Nelson and I were on a flight down to Natal Province in a prop plane. There were maybe four of us on the plane. As soon as we get on the plane, Mandela picks up a newspaper. You see, he adores newspapers. I guess he didn’t have them for so many years while in prison and so he revels in the touch of newspaper, and he reads every single story, cover to cover.

And so the plane takes off, and I am sitting across from Mandela and he is reading his newspaper, and we’re about halfway there and then Mandela points at the window. “Look,” he said. And I saw, to my horror, the propeller had stopped turning. Mandela said very, very calmly, “Richard, you might want to inform the pilot that the propeller isn’t working.” I said, Yes, Madiba.”

I walked to the front of the plane but the pilot was already aware of the situation and he said to me, “Go back and sit down. We’ve called the airport. They have the ambulances already out there and they’re going to coat the runway with foam.”

I went back to my seat and told Madiba what the pilot had told me, and in a very solemn

way, he listened, and said, “Yes” and then picked up his newspaper again and continued to read it. I was terrified, but the way I calmed myself down was by looking at Mandela. He was as calm as could be. The plane landed without any incident and he never changed his expression. When we had a brief moment alone, Madiba turned to me and said, “Man, I was scared up there.” It was such a revelation because I realized that courage is not being scared. Courage is being terrified and not showing it. So I was empowered by this experience. I became courageous by watching Madiba. That’s what Mandela did his entire life overcoming insurmountable challenges living in a state of unpredictability, functioning in a world of no assurances, a place full of fear and uncertainty.

I leave you with the words of Mandela: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man and woman is not one who does not feel afraid, but one who conquers that fear.” Please do not allow fear to dictate your actions. Don’t be distracted when the propeller stops working, or when things don’t work as they should. You have earned the right to remain strong, remain confident in the midst of uncertainty. May you find a way to rise above your fear, just like Madiba.

Edited from comments made at Webster University’s December Commencement.

Principal Aisha Grace, awardee Jenna Silver, namesake Gerald Early and SLPS chief of staff Alice Roach

Benjamin Ola Akande

Editorial /CommEntary

Realizing the true Christmas spirit Demand your privacy

Thank God for faiths that can help overcome addiction, loneliness or stress; for institutions that can help raise the children among us. Those were never meant to be easy, ephemeral tasks. And they may be religion’s true reward. As Jesus himself prayed to the Father before he died, “Not my will, but thine, be done.”

– Newsweek, Dec. 17, 1990

Christmas is celebrated widely by believers and nonbelievers alike because of the impact of the birth and teaching of Jesus Christ on humankind.

In the spirit of the anniversary of His birth, we have a special obligation to remember His mission to feed the hungry and heal the sick. He taught His followers

to serve others. Whether or not you are a Christian, the message of Jesus of love and compassion strikes a universal chord.

n “What the Lord requires of you is to do justice, love and mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

In this blessed land of material plenty, a deepening poignancy and irony centers on the plight of the growing numbers of homeless and hungry. Many conservative

Americans profess to be children of God but offer disdain and ridicule for the poor and powerless in our society. They see themselves as being in a battle against the secular, anti-religious views of the political left, while ignoring the Bible’s message of charity and love toward one’s fellow man. Of all the seasons, Christmas compels all of us to reach out to the less-fortunate with tangible help, not just pious expressions of sympathy. “What the Lord requires of you,” wrote the Prophet Micah, “is to do justice, love and mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The American’s annual Christmas message.

Issues

Bill Cosby and me

“Mr. Brown, we can do this!”

I remember those words most from the phone conversation I had with comedian/actor/philanthropist

Bill Cosby in 2005. At the time, I was a Post-Dispatch columnist who’d written about Cosby’s 2004 controversial comments during a 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education event. There, Cosby lit into “the lower economic people” – criticizing the way they dressed, cursed, loitered, committed crimes and their parents who, apparently, failed to raise them correctly.

I wrote that Cosby, as America’s “favorite dad,” legitimized the opinions of racists and bigots and validated their stereotypes of poor, black people. As a result of what I wrote, Cosby called me. We discussed the matter, his passions and perspective. I brought him to St. Louis that year. We had a packed house and, thankfully, were able to expand the dialogue. I was recently flown to Washington, D.C. to be interviewed about my experience with Cosby for a feature-length documentary. It was my first time back in D.C. since 2009, when my visit led to my termination at the PostDispatch. At the time, I had no idea that accepting an invitation to a conference (at my own expense, mind you) with international leaders working to build sustainable communities worldwide would be deemed a “violation of ethics.” But, that’s all water under the bridge. I can honestly say that my ill-timed departure put

me on the path to the Sweet Potato Project – a fulfilling effort to empower young, urban entrepreneurs who will lead a movement to establish sustainable, economically vibrant North St. Louis neighborhoods.

Much-needed perspective was my gift after spending about four hours interviewing with the documentary’s production crew. Renowned comedian, St. Louisan and health guru Dick Gregory was wrapping up his interview before I started my session.

I had interviewed Gregory around the same time I wrote about Cosby’s comments. Gregory had, in fact, introduced Cosby the night he made remarks that set off a national firestorm. He and Cosby have been friends for decades. It was Gregory who, during our May 2004 P-D interview, told me I had every right to disagree with his friend, Bill Cosby.

“There’s 10,000 compassionate ways he could have said what he said,” Gregory told me. “Of course there’s a problem facing black youth, but there’s a problem facing America. There are problems with education, there are problems with drugs, there’s problems with television violence. If blacks are on the lowest rung of the social and economic ladder, of course we’re going to suffer more.”

My disagreements aside, reflecting on my time with Cosby resurrected his unspoken challenge for me to write more, do more and be more actively involved in the battle to save young people from poverty, prison and early deaths. For more than 25 years, I had been writing about the challenges black people face. But I was just a “talker” when I needed to be more of a “doer.”

When the creator of Fat Albert and Little Bill, “I Spy’s” debonair detective Alexander

It seems our elected officials have no intention of reining in the National Security Agency’s mad-scientist quest to know everything about our communications and movements. If we want our privacy back, we’re going to have to fight for it.

Months after Edward Snowden spilled the beans, the NSA – whose mission is supposed to be foreign surveillance – is still compiling a comprehensive record of our domestic phone calls. Every time you dial, the government can find out who, what, when and where.

We hear a lot of patronizing talk from President Obama and other officials about how healthy it is that we’re finally having a debate about surveillance and privacy, about security and freedom. The subtext, however, is clear: Get over it.

On “Meet the Press,”

former NSA Director Michael Hayden offered a stunningly dismissive view of the Fourth Amendment: “We’re protected against unreasonable search and seizure, all right? It doesn’t say that all searches must be based upon reasonable suspicion. So now, unreasonable search and seizure depends upon the totality of circumstances in which you find yourself.”

Thanks to Snowden, we know that the NSA not only pressures phone and internet companies to hand over data, but also secretly taps into fiber optic communications lines and sucks up as much information, both domestic and foreign, as

it can swallow. And we learned earlier this month, courtesy of The Washington Post, that data concerning at least some Americans is ingested as the NSA collects some 5 billion cellphone location records per day.

Bills in the House and Senate to curb the NSA’s bulk collection of private phone data appear to have no chance of getting past the grandees of the intelligence committees, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., both of whom have vigorously defended the NSA’s practices.

As for Obama, he has worked to give the NSA surveillance more of a legal foundation than it had under the Bush administration – but not to curb it.

I will stipulate that the officials who conduct, approve and oversee the NSA’s spying are well-meaning patriots. In this I include the judges of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, who gave domestic snooping their blessing in eyes-only rulings that reinterpret our Constitution and laws in ways we are not permitted to comprehend.

But in the time since Snowden’s revelations, no one has effectively made the case that keeping a log of all our phone calls is really necessary. Officials have yet to provide convincing evidence that the program has discovered and prevented an act of terrorism in the United States.

The theory is supposed to be that only by assembling a big enough “haystack” of data can the elusive “needles” be found: patterns of calls, movements and connections that signal a potential terrorist strike. In reality, though, what seems to happen is that our intelligence agencies get some

Letters to the editor

Stand up for children

“Scotty” Scott and the beloved Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable said, “We can do this” it was like encouragement from a griot, a challenge from a respected grandparent, a gauntlet passed from an esteemed elder. It planted a seed of pro-action in me that, eight years later, bloomed into something.

Hours before boarding my flight to Washington, I spent the day at a local holiday event with some of the Sweet Potato Project youth as they sold cookies made from this year’s yield. Away from the daily hustle and bustle and fundraising efforts, I had a chance to reflect and appreciate the progress the North Area Community Development Corporation and I have had in less than two years.

More than 35 teens have been impacted by our program. Even those who have left, gone on to college or have been swallowed up by the distractions of dysfunctional low-income communities now know they have viable, legal options to make money in their own communities.

Next year, we’ll recruit 35 more kids. We will secure at least 10 more vacant lots to grow produce. And, through strategic institutional partnerships we will actually be able to create more food-based products and buy produce from residents. Unbelievably, we will begin the empowering process of engaging in economic activity in targeted disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Dick Gregory seemed ecstatic about our program’s possibilities. Cosby wasn’t there for the interviews. That’s too bad. I would have loved to have thanked him for the inspiration he gave me back in 2005. I would have shook his hand and said, “Mr. Cosby, you were absolutely right. We can do this.”

Our constituents do not share the view of the Post-Dispatch editorial on Missouri Education Commissioner Chris Nicastro. Her lack of transparency does not inspire confidence among supporters of public education. The Post asserts that she is bringing everyone to the table. Bringing everyone to the table means an open and inclusive discussion, not a backroom string of hidden emails which show an intent to promote the agenda of one school of thought.

Board Chair Peter Herschend’s patronizing dismissal of all who are concerned about this matter, likewise, does nothing to assure those of us that the state board is considering the best interest of the students; rather, they are considering their own best interests in defending the person they hired.

Members of the state board and Nicastro may say what they like. Actions speak louder than words, and their actions lead us to urge Governor Nixon to stand up for the children and families of the state of Missouri and consider whether those he has appointed and who are accountable to him are truly the ones who should be in charge of Missouri education at this critical time.

David L. Jackson Jr., president St. Louis Board of Education

House the homeless

During cold spells, volunteers of the Winter Outreach program patrol the streets of St. Louis and offer transportation to shelters for the homeless. But that outreach program can accommodate only about 100 people, and it is not a year-round provider. Winter Outreach volunteers are to be commended for their Christian deeds. But it is clearly sinful that thousands of people are denied shelter, while

tidbit of information through other means, perhaps a name or a phone number, and then sift through the NSA data for evidence of a plot. This scenario is actually a targeted search for which the spooks should have no trouble obtaining a warrant. Storing all that communications data in-house seems more a convenience than a necessity. It saves the trouble of acquiring specific chunks of data as needed from the phone companies.

As I read the Constitution, though, it’s supposed to be inconvenient for the government to invade our privacy.

A federal judge in Washington ruled last Monday that the government’s widespread collection of telephone records is likely unconstitutional, but stayed a preliminary injunction while the government appeals. Meanwhile, what can we do about it? For a start, we can demand to see all of the secret FISA court rulings that make domestic surveillance possible. When we learn what these documents say, privacy advocates can challenge them in open court. We should let our elected representatives know that while domestic surveillance is currently deemed “lawful,” it is a betrayal of our traditions and values. We can let our phone and internet companies know that we expect them to fight as hard as they can for privacy, not just in their legal arguments but also in using the most advanced encryption technology. It’s simple: Either we demand our privacy – loudly –or we kiss it goodbye.

church-goers give lip service to the birth of their savior and fail to heed the basic tenants of Christ’s teachings: clothe the naked, feed the hungry, house the homeless.

The collective sin of St. Louis politicians who perennially focus on running the New Life Evangelistic Center out-of-town is even more egregious. New Life is a beacon of light in the darkness of homelessness. It’s a light that Mayor Slay wants to extinguish. Yet churchesgoers remain unconcerned by government’s flagrant sin and the homeless men, women and children it effects.

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

Limit on money laundering

I am pleased to see Governor Nixon bringing together legislators of both parties to work on the important issue of campaign finance and ethics reform. However, as those conversations move forward, I believe it’s important to recognize that legislation like Senate Bill 576 does not come close to what Missouri needs. Campaign finance limits are ineffective without a limit on political money laundering. This bill does nothing to discourage the targets of Missouri Ethics Commission investigations from lying to get out of trouble – something that is, amazingly, currently legal in our state. Placing $50 per item limits on lobbyist gifts is a loophole through which legislators could still have lobbyists take them to a $50 breakfast, $50 lunch and $50 dinner every day. And preventing teachers from being involved in the political process is both wrong and unconstitutional.

Secretary of State Jason Kander, Jefferson City

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

As I See It - A Forum for Community

Guest Columnist Sylvester Brown, Jr.

Columnist Eugene Robinson

MLK kick-off

January 11

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission of Missouri will host its 28th annual kick-off program, “Focusing on Family Financial Freedom.” This year’s distinguished honorees are individuals or organizations whose work centers on assisting families with becoming more financially stable through various outlets.

The 2014 honorees include: James Buford, president emeritus, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis (Distinguished Drum Major Award); Bob Fox, philanthropist, Founder of Casa de Salud and CEO of NewSpace Inc. (Distinguished Humanitarian Award); James Clark, vice president of community outreach, Better Family Life (Distinguished Public Service Award); St. Louis Equal Housing & Community Reinvestment Alliance (Distinguished Organization Award) and the William L. Clay Sr. Scholarship Fund (Distinguished Community Service Award).

Keynote speaker Roland S. Martin, journalist and nationally syndicated columnist, will be honored with the Distinguished Chairman’s Award.

There will be performances by the St. Louis Children’s Choir, Theresa L. Payne and The Best Dance and Talent Center. Danita Mumphard and band will entertain those attending the post-reception, immediately following the program.

The kickoff, which is free and open to the public, will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, January 11 in Harris-Stowe’s main auditorium.

Color her world

Filing open for SSD board

Candidates who wish to apply for open seats on the Special School District Board of Education may pick up an information packet and application form at the SSD Central Administrative Offices, 12110 Clayton Road in Town and Country. Applications will be distributed to interested candidates during regular business hours, 8 a.m. through noon, when district offices reopen on January 2. Filing of applications closes at 5 p.m. on Jan. 21.

There are three seats up for election, each for a three-year term: Subdistrict 1 – Hazelwood and Jennings school districts; Subdistrict 2 – Affton, Bayless, Hancock Place and Mehlville school districts; and Subdistrict 7 – Ladue and Rockwood school districts. Board terms begin in April 2014.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, must have resided in Missouri for at least one year, be at least 24 years old, be a registered voter of the district, and be a resident of the subdistrict in which the application is filed.

With the passage of Proposition S in 1998, SSD Board of Education members are elected by the district’s Governing Council. The Governing Council is comprised of one Board of Education member from each of the 22 school districts in St. Louis County. For more information, call the Superintendent’s Office at 314.989.8281.

Struggle for dignity in juvenile court schools

By Monique W. Morris For The St. Louis American

African-American girls continue to be disproportionately over-represented among girls in confinement and court-ordered residential placements. They are also significantly over-represented among girls who experience exclusionary discipline, such as out-of-school suspensions, expulsions and other punishment. Studies have shown that black female disengagement from school partially results from racial injustices as well as their status as girls, forming disciplinary patterns that reflect horrendously misinformed and stereotypical perceptions. Black girls may be criminalized for qualities long associated with their survival. For example, being “loud” or “defiant” are infractions potentially leading to subjective reprimanding or exclusionary discipline. But historically, these characteristics can exemplify their responses to the effects of racism, sexism and classism.

Notwithstanding their status as “juvenile delinquents” with significant histories of victimization, the girls I have studied tended to find a potentially redemptive quality in education. Though most of the girls in my study did not consider their juvenile court school to be a model learning environment, they generally agreed these schools occupy an important space along a learning continuum that has underserved them.

While our ultimate goal is to prevent more girls from being educated in correctional facilities, these schools should be included in the conversation about equity. Not only because are they structurally inferior and failing to interrupt student pathways to dropout or push-out, but because there is a moral and legal obligation to improve the quality of education for all youth - even those who are in trouble with the law.

We must continue to explore ways for access to quality education in these facilities more equitable, while improving the rigor of the curricula, such that it is trauma-informed and culturally competent. We must also examine ways to facilitate a seamless reentry of these girls back into their district schools and home communities.

Thurgood Marshall wrote in Procunier v. Martinez (1974), “When the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does not lose his human quality; his mind does not become closed to ideas; his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and open interchange of opinions; his yearning for self-respect does not end; nor is his quest for self-realization concluded.”

Current trends in the administration and function of the juvenile court school may exacerbate many pre-existing conflicts between black girls and teachers and/ or the structure of learning environments. The limitations and challenges of these conditions may nullify the opportunities for improved associations between black girls, school, and academic performance - antithetical to the stated educational goal of the juvenile court school.

If we can improve the accountability and performance of these schools alongside their district counterparts, we will inevitably move toward a more comprehensive approach to reducing the impact of policies and practices that criminalize and push girls out of school. We will, in essence, begin the process of maintaining her human quality - an essential component of her successful rehabilitation and re-engagement as a productive member of our communities.

Monique W. Morris is the co-founder of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute and author of “Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century” (The New Press, January 2014).

Monique W. Morris

Ariana Hunter, 6, puts the finishing touches on her drawing during the recent Kwanzaa Festival sponsored by Better Family Life.

Photo by Wiley Price

Continued from A1

and practices around the world.

“I have always wanted to give voice to marginalized communities, whether they have been communities of color or LGBT communities,” Aiken said. “I have had the experience of being able to live openly and freely and to be who I am. Knowing that so many people can’t do that motivates me.”

On November 23, Aiken was one of 32 Americans chosen as a Rhodes Scholar. Considered among the world’s most prestigious academic awards, Rhodes Scholarships provide all expenses for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford in England. He and the other winners were selected from 857 applicants, and the scholarship equates to about $50,000 per year.

explore his passion for both domestic civil liberties and international human rights, he said. This year, Aiken has served as Humanity in Action American fellow, and in 2012 he was a U.S.-U.K. Fulbright Commission Summer Institute participant and a U.S. House of Representatives legislative intern.

n “I have always wanted to give voice to marginalized communities.”

– Joshua Aiken

“Josh is such an extraordinary gift to our community, and the Rhodes Scholarship is fitting recognition of his unlimited potential to be a force of positive change in our world,” said Joy Zalis Kiefer, associate dean of Arts & Sciences and director of undergraduate research at WUSTL.

Aiken has been highly involved in various diversity initiatives on campus as the undergraduate representative to the WUSTL Board of Trustees. He also serves as co-chair of the Mosaic Project, a new program devoted to strengthening inclusion on campus.

At Oxford, Aiken plans to earn two master’s degrees – one in U.S. history and another in refugee and forced migration studies, studying the experience of refugees and asylum seekers. Currently Aiken, 21, is majoring in American culture studies and political science, with a minor in psychology. His undergraduate career has allowed him to

McCOY

Continued from A1

agreement on that point. No date for the hearing has been set.

The board voted 6-1 on Dec. 11 to issue the notice of charges to McCoy, with member Paul Schroeder voting against the measure. Schroeder

However, his interest in inclusion on a global scale solidified after he spent last summer working at a refugee camp in Berlin with a human rights program. Most of the people he met were coming from the Middle East and Africa, “where they have very different backgrounds from the people they were living with,” he said.

was also the only dissenting vote on Nov. 6 when the board voted to place McCoy on leave. Board members have declined to be specific about why they took the action. But in response to questions, board President Paul Morris has said the move was not related to McCoy’s active embrace of student transfers from Normandy and Riverview Gardens. He has also said no

“My interest is really in working with persecuted individuals in whatever identity they may have been persecuted for,” he said.

On campus, Aiken performs with WU-SLam, Washington University’s award-winning spoken-word poetry team. He is also a member of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program, which provides a four-year scholarship to students who have demonstrated both exceptional academic and leadership skills, and is part of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service Civic Scholars Program. Both of the programs had a profound impact on him, he said.

wrongdoing with a student was involved and race was not an issue.

McCoy and 78 percent of the FergusonFlorissant student body are black; no members of the school

Aiken feels the Rhodes Scholarship is a reflection of his supportive network at the university, especially the Ervin Scholars program.

“I am definitely a compilation of all the influential people I’ve met,” he said. “I am a people-oriented person, and the honor speaks to the people who I’ve benefitted spending time with.”

It’s also a reflection of his loving family. Although his parents currently live in Eugene, Oregon, his two brothers also attended WUSTL. He said he was fortunate enough to have them in St. Louis for his entire college career.

n Board President Paul Morris said after the hearing into the charges is held, the board will determine whether to fire McCoy for cause.

Santa at Afro World

board are black.

In a letter posted on the district’s website last Thursday morning, Morris said the notice of charges resulted from “an independent, third-party investigation.” A district spokeswoman said the investigation was conducted by attorney Douglas Copeland, whose practice has included work for local school districts.

Morris said after the hearing into the charges is held, the board will determine whether to fire McCoy for cause; if that occurs, it will not be responsible for his salary and benefits.

McCoy declined to comment on the latest development.

When McCoy’s paid leave was first revealed, the district statement said that the action was due to “differences in focus and philosophy.” Morris said the move was not an indication of wrongdoing on McCoy’s part.

With the latest development, Jana Shortt, spokeswoman for

“They are not only my best friends but the two people who I look up to the most in the world,” he said.

Growing up, he said, his parents urged them to explore – and they had plenty of opportunities to encounter new things with his family constantly moving. Currently his father, Ron, is University of Oregon’s defensive line coach. Prior to that, he coached six years with the Arizona Cardinals professional football team, and previously he coached in the college ranks at Iowa, San Diego State, Vanderbilt and New Mexico.

“My parents were always so invested in giving us

the district, said the statement about wrongdoing has been misunderstood. She said Thursday that it did not mean the board thought McCoy had done nothing wrong; it simply meant that “there is no indication of wrongdoing when someone is placed on paid administrative leave.”

With the issuance of a notice of charges, that situation may have changed, she said, though she could not be specific.

“People can draw their own conclusions,” Shortt said. “What the board says today is that by a vote of 6-1 they have decided to issue that notice of charges, to give reasons to terminate his contract for cause.”

McCoy’s contract spells out under what circumstances such action can be taken. They include: neglect of duties and responsibilities; poor performance, incompetence, or inefficiency in the line of duty; failure to comply with policies and/or rules and regulations of the board; failure to comply with directives of the board; failure to abide by state law; immoral conduct; material breach of the contract; or “any other good cause as defined by Missouri law.”

Under his contract, which

opportunities to learn,” Joshua said. “A lot of that came through with my dad’s role as a coach. One thing that makes me proud of my dad as a coach is that he has always believed in student athletes. He cared about them as students and people first.”

Joshua graduated from Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, where he twice was named “Student of the Year.” He leaves for Oxford in September and hopes to return in time to spend a year working on a U.S. political campaign in 2016. Then he plans to attend law school.

was renewed in April of this year to run through June 30, 2016, McCoy is paid $217,644 a year. Shortt said the board will not reveal how many charges were in the list sent to McCoy or how many items in that section of his contract are involved.

Asked why the public was informed of the charges Thursday, when they were voted on last week, she replied via email: “The district’s first priority remains the education of our children, so careful consideration was paid by the board to making sure that any distractions were minimized during this final exam period. Therefore, the board released this news after most students were finished with end-ofsemester testing.”

She said Copeland was chosen to conduct the investigation that led to the charges because of his familiarity with school law and superintendent contracts. He was paid $8,325 for 33.3 hours of work.

Edited for length and reprinted with permission from The Beacon and St. Louis Public Radio.

Jordan Buchanon, 4, Destiney Buchanon, 5, and Cloe Harris, 5, visited with Santa Claus on Saturday afternoon at Afro World.

Photo by Wiley Price

FATHERS

Continued from A1

the panel. One man said he has consistently paid his child support in the past, but is currently unemployed and owes $1,900 in arrears. With an upcoming court date next month, he asked if the panelists could offer any solutions that might help him avoid jail time.

If a parent has failed to make child support payments for six months within a 12-month period or owes $5,000 in arrears, Kley said, then that person would be eligible for a prosecuting attorney referral.

However, the final decision is left up to the judge’s discretion, and the odds are in favor of the judge opting for “a man paying something as opposed to nothing,” Foster said.

“They know that if you’re locked up, you can’t pay your child support,” Foster said.

Audience member Kenneth Goins, a former family law attorney and child support enforcement specialist, interjected to offer legal counsel on the subject.

Unemployed fathers should either consider filing a motion to modify their child support payments for a lower amount or request to make in-kind payments, Goins said. Most people are unaware of this alternative form of payment, which is a credit for purchase of goods or services rendered by the parent instead of direct child support payments.

“If you go over there and

FEDS

Continued from A1

American. “I welcome it. I hope the FBI makes a very thorough investigation. Those witnesses know what they seen, and they never seen him point a gun.”

Dotson’s approach to the FBI regarding the Ball shooting was reported last week in the Post-Dispatch

“As chief, it’s my responsibility to make sure the investigation was thorough, though I have no reason to believe it was not thorough,” Dotson told The American “Also, I wanted to make sure the community’s confidence in the police department is reinforced.”

The FBI, which is very stingy with comments on ongoing investigations, did not return a request for comment.

The FBI, a federal agency,

you cut her grass for a month, she could give you anywhere from a $25 to $100 credit,” Goins gave as an example. Damon McKinney is a relatively new father. His daughter is only one year old, but he has already come to a sobering conclusion.

“It seems like the mother has all the power,” McKinney said during his second turn at

does not include reviewing the work of local police departments as part of its mandate. However, it does investigate civil rights violations. Though Dotson said he did not ask the FBI to review the case for a possible violation of Ball’s civil rights, he agreed there is a “possibility they could claim there was a civil rights violation” after investigating the case.

The fact that the police chief instigated a federal investigation that could possibly lead to federal charges being brought against police officers who had been absolved by his own department left the St. Louis Police Officers Association in a rage.

“To punt this case to the FBI undermines the credibility of every investigation our homicide detectives conduct, whether

the mic.

As she did throughout the entire event, state Rep. Karla May of Missouri’s 84th House district stood from her table in the audience and directly addressed him.

“The laws in the state of Missouri are favorable to the custodial parent,” May said. “Since I’ve been elected, we’re trying to make

it’s a justified police shooting or the brutal murder of one of our neighbors,” association business manager Jeff Roorda said in a lengthy statement.

“I don’t fault him for speaking up for his members,” Dotson said of Roorda’s heated statement. “But I have to be police chief for the police department and for the community, and I have to make sure the community has a high level of confidence in our work.”

some modifications and adjustments to those laws to make it fair and balanced.”

May is still working to pass House Bill SB224, which was vetoed by Governor Jay Nixon. The bill would have allowed men who have paid off their child support debts to petition the courts to have their felony conviction for non-support

Freeman Bosley Jr., who is representing the Ball family in a civil suit, commended Dotson.

“The chief, like everybody else, senses there are some unanswered questions here,” Bosley said. “I am sure he is concerned about the number of shots fired, the discrepancies in witness testimony, the fact that no civilian witness saw Cary aim a gun at the police officers.”

On April 24, Ball was

expunged from their criminal records for employment purposes.

May was given an opportunity to make closing remarks. May has a 15-year-old son and said she mentors “a lot of young African-American males.”

Raymond Bibb, child support enforcement specialist with the Missouri Department of Social Services’ Family Support Division, answers questions from Damon McKinney during a child support symposium at the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Millennium Student Center. At right is Kristen Bogan, legal advisor at the Fathers’ Support Center.

“What you need to do is start to mentor those males,” May said to the men. “Let them know that they don’t want this in their lives. It’s important to be two people living in a house raising a child together, because the baby-mama, baby-daddy syndrome is drama.”

driving home from work when a police car turned on its lights behind him at Washington Avenue and 18th Street. Rather than pull over, Ball led police on a high-speed chase. He crashed his car on the 1000 block of North 9th Street, grabbed his automatic handgun and started running east on Carr Street. He was shot and killed on Carr Street between 8th and 9th streets.

An ex-felon with prior robbery convictions carrying

Deadline: January 2, 2014

Contact Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis at www. fatherssupportcenter.org.

a stolen Glock, Ball had completed course work for a certificate from St. Louis Community College and been honored as an Emerging Scholar when he was killed. The Ball family’s multimillion-dollar suit alleging excessive force and wrongful death has a trial date set for August 18, 2014. It will not be difficult for his mother to remember that date. Taylor said, “It’s Cary’s birthday.”

January 2, 2014

Photo by Wiley Price

STL mourns Mandela

Centennial Christian Church, CBTU organize memorial

American staff

On Thursday, December 12, a Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela was held at Centennial Christian Church, 4950 Fountain Ave.

The Memorial Service was sponsored by the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Centennial Christian Church, Organization for Black Struggle, St. Louis Clergy Coalition, St. Louis City NAACP, Universal African Peoples Organization, Interfaith Partnership and the American Federation of Government Employees Union (AFGE).

Participants included Rev. Derrick Perkins, pastor of Centennial Christian Church; Lew Moye of CBTU, Jamala Rogers of OBS; Zaki Baruti of UAPO; Reverends C. Jessel Strong, Earl Nance Jr. and E.G. Shields Sr. of St. Louis Clergy Coalition; Adolphus Pruitt of the NAACP; Khatib Waheed of STL Free South Africa; Rev. David Mehl of Interfaith Partnership and Steve Hollis of AFGE. More than 200 citizens came out and participated in the service, despite the cold weather conditions.

Nelson Mandela’s life, legacy and values were celebrated through scriptures, speeches, dance and song. The speakers included Moye, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green, St. Louis License

Collector Mavis Thompson, Rev. Ronald Bobo Sr. of West Side Missionary Baptist Church, Rabbi Randy Fleisher of Central Reform Congregation, Minister Akbar Muhammad of Nation of Islam, Imam Muhamed Hasic of Islamic Community, Father Art Cavitt of St Charles Lwanga Center, Daja Drake of McKinley High School and Rev. Derrick Perkins. The speakers focused on how the life, legacy and values of Nelson Mandela affected their lives, work and thoughts. Some reflected on meeting President Mandela and visits to South Africa.

Speaker after speaker challenged the audience and youth to stand up for justice, equality and freedom to make the world a better place in the tradition of Nelson Mandela.

Music was performed by Centennial Christian Church Mass Choir and clarinetist Ralleigh Grandberry III. African Dance was performed by Tamrah Clark and Erika Lambert of the Lighthouse Dancers.

Dooley presented a proclamation declaring December 5, 2013, Nelson Mandela Day in St. Louis County.

Eunice

Marie Manley

Sunrise: September 23, 1953

Sunset: December 27, 2009

The Lord saw you getting tired and a cure as not to be, so He put his arms around you and whispered, “Come and be with me.” With tearful eyes, we watched you suffer, and saw you fade away. Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, a beautiful smile at rest. God broke our hearts to prove, He only takes the best. It’s lonesome here without you; we miss you so much each day. Our lives aren’t the same since you went away. When days are sad and lonely, and everything goes wrong, we seem to hear you whisper, “Cheer up and carry on.” Each time we see your pictures, you seem to smile and say, “Don’t cry; I’m in God’s keeping. We’ll meet again someday.”

Douglas

LaJuan Alberty

Douglas LaJuan Alberty was born January 16, 1945 in St. Louis, MO to Thelma Rodgers and Charles Hollis. He was the oldest of four children. Sadly, his father and daughter, Donnetta Galvin, preceded him in death.

Douglas converted to the religion of Al-Islam at an early age. He received his formal education from the St. Louis Public School System. He later received his GED. Douglas worked for Hudson refrigeration and later for

Marcella’s Cab Company, where he made many friends. He was always dedicated and ambitious in his work. He touched many lives, never complaining and always fighting for the rights of others. He was a very strong fighter and “can’t” was a word never used in his vocabulary. He was united in holy matrimony to his lifelong partner, Yvonne Parkins, on September 4, 2009. They shared many happy memories that she will forever cherish.

Douglas departed this life on November 10, 2013, with his wife by his side. He leaves to cherish his memory: his mother, Thelma Rogers; his wife, Yvonne Alberty; mother-in-law, Hyacinth Kerr and father-inlaw, Exford Parkins; sister, Shelia Taylor; two brothers, Lawrence (Clarice) and Ricky (Pam) Britt; 12 children, Angie Jackson, Valerie Lane (Richard), Deondre, Juan, Juana, Cutoria Gavin, Vena

Banks, LaJuan

a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and special friends, Zora, Pat and Sam

Crosby, Tiearra, Kiearra, Airriyonna and Alexis Smith; three step-children, Shane, Kafian and Kemone Clarke; 23 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren; special mention to Beverly Whylie, his caregiver who helped him and his family on this journey;

Moore, who will miss him dearly.

In Loving Memory Mattie (Lawrence) Potter

August 5, 1926–December 22, 2012

The joy and love you gave us will never die. Forever missed. Forever loved. Your children, Mary, Monroe, Clinton, Wanda, Reginald, Beverly Mattie Potter

Douglas Alberty

Eunice M. Manley

Lew Moye of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists with St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley at the Memorial Service for Nelson Mandela

Photo by Erica M. Brooks

It’s prison for Christmas for Slay official

Santa Claus is not trundling a bag with the $472,722.26 that Slay administration fraudster Joseph Vacca was ordered to pay the city in restitution for bilking city taxpayers out of a cool half-million during the Mayor Francis G. Slay years. But Santa, in the form of United States District Judge Carol E. Jackson, did sentence the crook to three years in prison just before the holidays.

Vacca, former deputy commissioner of the St. Louis Parks Division, confessed to conspiring to defraud the city of approximately one-half million dollars by submitting false invoices purportedly for materials and services supplied to the Parks Division.

Vacca’s partner in crime, Thomas Stritzel, who confessed to similar charges, must have looked at the calendar and made better calculations as to when he would come up on the docket. Or perhaps Stritzel is more into spending Christmas with his family than Vacca. At any rate, Stritzel asked for and was granted a continuance and is scheduled for sentencing January 27, 2014. According to court documents at the time of their guilty pleas, from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2012, Vacca and Stritzel embezzled funds from the city based upon the submission of sham and false invoices which included false charges of approximately $472,722. They used the funds for their own personal

use, including lease payments on personal vehicles, fuel costs, the payment of personal credit card charges “and other personal living expenses unrelated to the legitimate operations of the St. Louis Parks Division,” states the press release from the U.S. attorney.

Those “other personal expenses” included bullets purchased from a tree supply business. The EYE would like to remind investigators that bullets do not grow on trees. However, we are told that the vendors were innocent dupes in the Vacca and Stritzel caper and will not be charged with any crime. These innocent dupes include the tree supply vendor that sold the Parks Division bullets and employs a blood relative of one of the fraudsters.

Some of these vendors should consider grabbing a cup of coffee with former Police Chief Joe Mokwa at the nearest tow lot and toasting their extremely, and slightly suspicious, good fortune with the feds. Ho, ho, ho – Merry Christmas!

Earth to Otis

The local fixers on the minority inclusion hustle had their email burning up last week after The American’s report on the TIF Commission grilling CORTEX over its minority inclusion piece. CORTEX president and CEO

Fox 2 graphic for Slay administration fraudsters Joseph Vacca, who was sentenced to three years in prison just before the holidays, and Thomas Stritzel, who will join his partner in crime in the big house after sentencing on January 27, 2014.

Dennis Lower – it seems clear – needs help finding the grownups’ table on this issue. An SOS on his behalf was being sent out last week.

The EYE is surprised that Lower has put his foot into his mouth a second time on this issue, with the development of a $2.2 billion research park in city at stake. But the amazing thing is that Lower has direct rapport with Otis Williams, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corporation, yet Williams has failed to deliver the inclusion message to Lower clearly and unmistakably.

One wonders how committed Williams’ bosses in the Slay administration really are to minority inclusion at CORTEX and in the city generally, now that Slay does not have to campaign against an AfricanAmerican opponent for a few years.

The EYE applauds TIF Commissioner Christina Bennett for raising the inclusion issue at the commission hearing. The TIF Commission has had a reputation for being a gutless pass-through, though Bennett

for the urban environment, and St. Louis in particular, than Nixon does. He can be relied to pop up in St. Louis and pop off against Nixon any time the Jefferson County Democrat attempts to sell out his own urban base – which is not infrequently.

As The Beacon and the St. Louis Public Radio reported, Nixon had one defender at Monday’s news conference at a Salvation Army residential center for veterans, which was built with the aid of state lowincome tax credits.

19th Ward Alderwoman Marlene Davis said she objected to airing such a dispute with the governor in public. She said that Nixon had been merely trying to get the Boeing package passed and that his proposed delay in the tax credits would do no harm. “I’m tired of this, what I saw today,” Davis said angrily.

Crack clemency

seems not to have gotten that memo. The community should go support her at the next public hearing 8 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5 in the board room of the St. Louis Development Corporation, 1520 Market Street, Suite 2000.

Kinder hits Nixon on urban issue

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder has joined forces with state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed and members of the Legislative Black Caucus, which she chairs, to attack Gov. Jay Nixon for his willingness to barter low-income housing tax credits with Republicans in the Legislature to get their approval of the massive Boeing tax incentives to land the 777x plant.

Kinder is a Missouri Republican who has to win nasty primary battles (that are often won and lost before filing, in his party), and as such his political bread and butter is pandering to his right-wing base. But Kinder does seem to have more affection and respect

Speaking of maintaining the urban base, President Barack Obama took the bold and commendable step of granting clemency to 21individuals, including eight commutations and 13 pardons, of inmates who were serving time in prison under severe sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses.

All of the inmates whose sentences were commuted had served at least 15 years in prison. Six were serving life terms. Neither inmate would have been committed to those long terms under the new sentencing guidelines set by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2011, which was passed to in part to address the 100-1 sentencing disparity between (black) crack and (white) powder cocaine offenses.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, African Americans make up approximately 13 percent of illegal drug users in the nation. White Americans make up about 60 Percent of illegal drug users in the country. However, African Americans make up 84.7 percent of crack cocaine

Natural Gas Safety Tips

convictions, while white Americans only make up less than 2 percent.

“The Fair Sentencing Act signed into in 2011 sought to address the vast disparities in sentencing that has disproportionately harmed racial and ethnic minority citizens,” said Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington Bureau, a St. Louis native. “It is our hope that the administration and the Congress will continue to work to correct these disparities in our criminal justice system.”

Register online to vote for real

The world is lousy nowadays with online opportunities to vote on just about anything and everything. But people in Missouri now have an online opportunity to register to vote for real, as in an actual election.

Secretary of State Jason Kander has unveiled a new online tool that allows Missourians to fill out a voter registration form online through his office’s website at www. sos.mo.gov/votemissouri.

“I am committed to ensuring that all eligible Missourians have the opportunity to cast a ballot, and since you can’t vote unless you’re registered, we decided to do what we could to simplify the process and make it more convenient for voters,” Kander said. “Now, Missourians will have the opportunity to fill out their registration form in one step from their homes, instead of multiple steps at different locations.”

Fifteen other states, including Indiana and Kansas, use online tools to make it more convenient for voters to register, according to Kander, ranging from online registration to filling out forms online, as is now possible in Missouri. An additional five states, including Georgia and West Virginia, are developing similar online tools.

Call before you dig

Don’t accidentally break a gas line or other underground service while digging in your yard. Before you dig, call 811 (the naional one-call system)or 1-800-DIG-RITE in Missouri to have underground faciliies located. This is a free service. If you damage a gas line and a leak occurs, call 911 and noify Laclede Gas at (314) 342-0800 to report the damage.

Let us follow your nose

If you detect the odor of natural gas, which resembles roten eggs, let us track it down.

Don’t turn on or of any electrical appliances, including light switches or cell phones.

Warn others, leave the building immediately and call us from another locaion. If your pilot or burner lame is substanially higher than normal, this may be an indicaion of excessive pressure, and you should call Laclede Gas.

Check your furnace and lue

Make sure your heaing equipment and other natural gas-powered appliances are clean and in good working order, including having the appropriate connectors. Properly adjusted pilots and burners as well as clean ilters, chimneys, vents and lues pay of in both safety and savings. Obstrucions can cause injury or death due to exposure to carbon monoxide (CO). If you ind something you can’t handle, call Laclede Gas or a heaing contractor of your choice.

Watch your hot water seing

A child’s skin burns more easily than an adult’s. If you turn up the thermostat on

your water heater for any reason, remember to turn it down when you’re inished to avoid accidental scalding.

Let gas pipes be gas pipes Gas pipes shouldn’t be used as clotheslines, free-form closets or grounds for electrical appliances. Also, if a gas appliance is disconnected, be sure the gas pipe is capped. If your gas meter is located inside, Laclede Gas must be given access to perform periodic safety inspecions.

Appliances and meters need space

Do not store lammable materials close to gas appliances. Obstrucions such as snow, ice and other debris let next to gas meter sets and gas appliance vents can create hazardous situaions.

Guard against carbon monoxide

Properly working gas appliances are very safe. Your irst line of defense against carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is to have your furnace inspected annually, either by Laclede

Delta celebrates Founders Day

National president to speak January 25

American staff

The St. Louis Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will hold their Founders Day Luncheon 11 a.m. Saturday, January 25, 2014, at the St. Louis Renaissance Grand Hotel, 800 Washington Ave. Doors will open at 10:30 a.m.

This year’s theme is “Addressing and Embracing a New Century of Sisterhood, Scholarship and Service.” Kim Banks is the current chapter president of the St. Louis Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn E. Boyd, Delta’s 22nd national president

The luncheon’s keynote address will be given by Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn E. Boyd, Delta’s 22nd national president. Dr. Boyd graduated summa cum laude from Alabama State University with a BS degree in mathematics and a double minor in physics and music. Dr. Boyd also earned a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University, and Master of Divinity and Doctorate in Ministry degrees from Howard

University. She serves as executive assistant to the chief of staff at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and enjoys a private life as a gifted singer, skilled orator and ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In her term as Delta’s 22nd national president, she championed a number of high-level projects that included a $1.6 million grant to establish Project SEE (Science in Everyday Experiences) to promote math and science for middle-school African-American girls. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is a 100-year-old non-profit public service organization based on Christian principles that boasts a membership of more than 300,000 college-educated women in the United States and abroad.

The ticket price for this event is $50 per person. You may also reserve a table of 10 for $500. For more information, please contact Founders Day Chairperson Quintella Ivory at (314) 341-9997 or via email at quintellaivory@ hotmail.com.

2013 in ESL

As my tenth year as a St. Louis American columnist rapidly comes to a close, I reflect on all of the newsworthy as well as downright embarrassing events which transpired in 2013 on the “IL side” of the Mississippi. But one thing that hasn’t changed, in the past decade, is the continued political culture of corruption, arrogance, hypocrisy and sheer stupidity which permeates Illinois “politricks.”

The year 2013 started off with East St. Louis

City Councilwoman Latoya Greenwood getting caught up in a holiday shopping scandal at a Fairview Heights Best Buy store, which escalated as the result of (of all things) she and her male companion, Hickey Thompson, being asked to show their receipts upon exiting the store, which is a common practice.

According to police and witnesses, Councilwoman Latoya “Cuss-‘em-out” Greenwood (the daughter of ESL School Board President Lonzo Greenwood) reportedly

became angry and began yelling obscenities at a Best Buy employee, while her companion Hickey “Slap-‘emout” Thompson reportedly “pimp-slapped” the same employee. So much for minding one’s public image. Political cronyism remained the order of the day as East Boogie police officer Ricky “I’ll have another round” Perry ended his controversial career as an ESL cop following accusations that he responded to a call while intoxicated. Rather than fight these latest allegations against him, Perry resigned –only to be recycled as an ESL Park District Officer.

various firearms.

James Ingram

Then there was the blockbuster story of the year, with St. County Circuit Judge

Joseph Christ dropping dead from a cocaine-induced heart attack at the hunting lodge of his friend Circuit Judge Michael Cook, who was eventually arrested himself while wearing a “Bad is My Middle Name” T-shirt at a Belleville drug house after allegedly purchasing heroin from confessed drug dealer Sean McGilvery. McGilvery later confessed that he sold heroin to Cook on an almost daily basis – and actually had a case dismissed against him by Cook. Now that’s taking quid pro quo to a whole different level.

That lead to Cook pleading guilty to heroin possession and being a drug user in possession of a firearm; make that 45

But all things weren’t completely bad, with the City of ESL repaying over $21 million in bonds which were issued 20 years ago to save the city from bankruptcy and ushering in 2014 without oversight from the FAA (Financial Advisory Authority), the state-appointed agency which has overseen ESL’s spending since 1990.

I use the word completely because I find it hard to believe that without oversight and with reduced revenue from the Casino Queen, a 42 percent poverty rate, $17 million available and $44 million in liabilities (meaning almost $28 million in debt) that ESL officials will be able to balance their budget, while not reverting to nepotism and cronyism. It’s a tall order,

Lane

Raniesha Young, a seventh grader at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School, jumps rope with her class during a recent visit by the St. Louis Rams and the NFL’s Play 60 program. The school was awarded a $10,000 NFL PLAY 60 grant for health and wellness programming or equipment.

Photo by Wiley Price

especially for career politicians and their cronies.

And U.S. Attorney Stephen “Marshall Dillon” Wigginton continued to turn up the heat on criminals with random stings, busts and shakedowns of drug dealers, drug distributors and assorted crooks in the “Wild, Wild, East.”

So that gives us some hope that there is some room for optimism in 2014 that at least some public servants are actually doing their jobs and attempting to root out some aspects of political corruption.

Let’s hope so. And let us also pray for a 2014 full of hope, opportunity and a jail cell for every political crook who remains on the loose.

Happy holidays.

Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com; Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

Home for the holidays

Family moves in thanks to Habitat for Humanity

By Bridjes O’Neil

The St. Louis American

n “Like most of our homeowners, she showed up at the closing table full of enthusiasm and energy.”

– Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis CEO Kimberly McKinney

Nicole R. and her three young children have much to be thankful for this holiday season. Recently, she closed on a loan for the family’s first home after successfully completing Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis’ Homeownership Program. Nicole (Habitat for Humanity asked that we not use her last name) said she “claimed” her house long ago and that being a homeowner was always in the plan. She described a feeling of accomplishment when the keys were finally placed in her hands.

“Oh, my God I made it!” she exclaimed. “It was a long

process, and actually getting the keys was proof that I made it to the end.”

Avis McHugh, director of family services at Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis, said

there’s a widespread public misconception that Habitat for Humanity simply “gives” homes away to families. That is not the case, McHugh said. Through partnerships with

several local banks, Habitat for Humanity builds and sells homes to low-to-moderate income individuals and families. Most

PeoPle on the Move

Rosalind Reese

Rosalind Reese has been named program manager for the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative by the St. Louis Regional Chamber. In her eight years with the initiative, she has held positions of project assistant and project coordinator. Her new position will involve managing the Initiative Fellows Program (the flagship program), Gateway Connections (an orientation for people of color new to the St. Louis region) and the Initiative Fellows alumni activities.

James H. Buford was elected to a two-year appointment as vice chair of the St. Louis Zoological Park Subdistrict Commission, the St. Louis Zoo’s governing authority. He replaces Jay G. Henges, who remains a member of the commission. F. Holmes Lamoreux was elected chairman, and Jerald L. Kent is the new treasurer. Buford stepped down this year as longtime president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Former United Way of Greater St. Louis President and CEO Gary Dollar

United Way names HQ after Gary Dollar

$2.1M Gary Dollar Fund pays off mortgage on building

To honor the legacy of caring created by United Way of Greater St. Louis’ former President and CEO Gary Dollar, United Way’s executive board announced last week it is naming its downtown headquarters the Gary C. Dollar building. The support of dozens of individual and corporate donors to the Gary Dollar Fund made this possible.

Lamell McMorris has been named vice chairman of the NAACP’s Executive Search Committee to select a new president and CEO following the resignation of Ben Jealous. He is founder and CEO of Perennial Strategy Group, a Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm. He has served as a senior advisor to both Rev. Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King III and is a member of the board of the Executive Committee of the National Action Network led by Rev. Al Sharpton.

Vanessa Foster Cooksey has joined Wells Fargo Advisors as senior vice president of community affairs. Reporting to the head of philanthropy for Wells Fargo’s Government and Community Relations Group, Cooksey plans and directs the St. Louis-based firm’s nationwide strategy for charitable giving, volunteerism and community and civic involvement. In 2012, the firm and its employees donated $12.5 million to non-profits across the country and volunteered 133,000 hours.

Business Briefs

RBC Young Professionals reach Imagination Library goal

The Young Professionals Network of the Regional Business Council reached the funding needed to provide all 100 preschoolers at the Kingdom House Early Childhood Center with appropriately-aged books every month from birth to age five. The Imagination Library for Kingdom House, in collaboration with the United Way of Greater St. Louis, reached its goal through a gift of $10,000 from UMB Bank to the United Way and Imagination Library.

Monsanto one of ‘Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality’

The Human Rights Campaign has named Monsanto Company one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.” The St. Louis-based company earned a score of 100 percent on the HRC’s annual Corporate Equality Index, which measures how large private businesses treat their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered employees, consumers and investors. Monsanto is the only Fortune 1000 company headquartered in St. Louis to receive the perfect score.

n “Naming the building in honor of Gary strengthens and commemorates his many achievements in our community.”

– Jim Weddle

“One of St. Louis’ greatest treasures is our United Way,” said Jim Weddle, partner at Edward Jones and board chair of United Way, at a reception to unveil the building name.

“Naming the building in honor of Gary strengthens and commemorates his many achievements in our community and positions United Way for the future.”

The Gary Dollar Fund totaled $2.1 million, which will allow United Way to pay off the mortgage of its headquarters.

“Today we honor the past and look toward the future,” said Orvin Kimbrough, United Way of Greater St. Louis president

and CEO. “United Way has a strong past, helping millions of local people since our inception. Through the generous support of our board and our community, we are positioned to help millions more people live their best lives. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible.” Gary Dollar’s career spanned 28 years with United Way of Greater St. Louis. He was president and CEO for 12 years.

KAI finishes $21.2M construction job for MSD

KAI Design & Build, partnering as a subconsultant with global construction management consultant CH2M HILL, served as construction manager on the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s $21.2 million Lemay Wastewater Treatment Plant disinfection facility, which included construction of a cutting-edge ultraviolet (UV) wastewater disinfection system utilizing 3,600 individual UV bulbs and with a treatment capacity of 240 million gallons of effluent per day. The project required approximately 6,500 cubic yards of concrete, an estimated 10,400 wire terminations and 560 tons of reinforcement.

Of

See HABITAT, B2

James H. Buford

Lamell McMorris

Vanessa Foster Cooksey

Nicole R. with her children Trinity, Randall and Alayja at their new Habitat for Humanity home in South St. Louis.

Photo by Wiley Price

Why was your credit card transaction denied?

By Jason Alderman

We’ve all had these

moments: You’re at a romantic restaurant and the evening went great. But just as you and your date are readying to leave, an embarrassed waiter appears and whispers, “I’m afraid your card has been denied.” So much for romance. The same thing can happen at the grocery store, when shopping online or worst of all, when you’re traveling and don’t have a back-up means of payment. Why do credit card transactions get denied and what can you do to prevent it?

Banks and other credit card issuers have developed complex algorithms that track credit card behavior and highlight unusual usage patterns commonly associated

with card theft or fraud.

“Unusual activities” that jump out to card issuers include:

• When you ordinarily use your card only rarely, but suddenly make several charges in one day.

• Making multiple purchases at the same store (or website) within a few minutes of each other.

• An unusually large purchase – say for a major appliance, furniture or jewelry. Alert your card issuer before making large purchases.

• One small purchase quickly followed by larger ones. Thieves will test the waters to see if a small purchase is denied; if it’s not, they’ll quickly run up major charges.

• Exceeding daily spending

Personal Finance

limits. Some cards limit how much you can charge per day, even if you have sufficient remaining credit.

• Making large purchases outside your geographic area.

• Multiple out-of-town purchases in short succession.

(Always tell your card issuer when you’ll be traveling.)

• International purchases, whether online or while traveling. In fact, some card issuers automatically decline international transactions because of the high potential for fraud, so learn your issuer’s policy before attempting one.

Other common triggers for credit card denials include:

• Outdated or incorrect

personal information – for example, when you’re asked to enter your zip code at a gas station. Always alert your card issuer whenever you move.

• Also, make sure you don’t mistype your credit card number, expiration date, security code, address or other identifying information.

• Expired card. Always check the card’s expiration date. You should receive a replacement card several weeks beforehand. It’s often mailed in a plain envelope, so be careful what you toss. If the new card doesn’t arrive, contact the issuer to ensure it hasn’t been stolen.

• You’ve reached your

Gwen Crimm receives Inclusion Champion Award

Council of Construction Consumers honors placement coordinator

American staff

Gwen Crimm, placement coordinator for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of St. Louis’ Construction Careers Center, received an Inclusion Champion Award last week from the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers at its Best Practices and Diversity Awards breakfast event.

Crimm has served as placement coordinator for the Construction Careers Center charter high school since 2005, assisting graduates in

finding employment or continuing their education following graduation.

Of the 430 graduates from the school since 2005, 384 (89 percent) are employed, continuing their education or have joined the military.

“Gwen has been a wonderful advocate for our students, developing relationships with the various apprenticeship programs and coordinators, contractors,

colleges and construction owners,” said Leonard Toenjes, president, AGC of St. Louis.

“She has gained the respect of our stakeholders and has implemented innovative mentoring programs such as the Architecture, Construction and Engineers Career Coaching Program and the Ameren UE initiative. She also has coordinated summer internships, job shadowing

credit limit. For the sake of your credit score, try to keep your overall and individual card credit utilization ratios (credit available divided by amount used) as low as possible – ideally below 50, or even 30, percent.

• A temporary hold has been placed on your card –say for a rental car or hotel reservation – that puts you over your credit limit. Always ask whether a hold will be placed, how much and for how long, and factor that into your remaining balance calculations.

• You miss a monthly payment. Card issuers may let this slide once or twice, depending on your history with them, but eventually if you don’t make at least the minimum payment due, your card will probably be frozen.

HABITAT

Continued from B1

• The primary cardholder made changes on the account and forgot to tell other authorized users – for example, reporting his or her card stolen, lowering credit limits or removing you from the account. On last thought: If your card is denied, don’t shoot the messenger – he’s only following instructions. Rather, call the card issuer and find out what happened. Embarrassment aside, it’s nice to know that someone is trying to ensure your card isn’t being used fraudulently.

Jason Alderman directs Visa’s financial education programs. To Follow Jason Alderman on Twitter: www. twitter.com/ PracticalMoney.

applicants are first-generation homeowners.

“They are making monthly mortgage payments,” McHugh said.

“They actually go to a title company and close on their house, just like us.”

n “She has gained the respect of our stakeholders and has implemented innovative mentoring programs.”

– Leonard Toenjes,

days and worked with PRIDE on a preapprenticeship program to prepare students to work on the I-64 Highway project.”

Prior to joining the Construction Careers Center, Crimm worked for a faith-based entity as an advocate for underserved populations.

“Her network of contacts is a tremendous asset to the school, our students and their families,” Toenjes said. “She is committed, dedicated and willing to put forth the effort to make a difference for our students and for the St. Louis construction industry.”

Founded in 2001, the Construction Careers Center is a charter high school for students in grades 9-12, providing a foundation in academics, broad exposure to the construction industry and relevant vocation education preparation. The school’s curriculum is specifically designed by the construction industry to prepare students for entry into direct employment, a construction apprenticeshiptraining program, a community college or a four-year degree institution.

Visit www.construction careerscenter.org.

Habitat for Humanity partners with Saint Louis University’s Law Clinic, which helps applicants with sales contracts and other closing legal documents.

“Unless you have gone to law school, a lot of those documents are foreign,” McHugh said.

Nicole was a renter who once lived in substandard housing and was forced to move on several occasions due to negligent actions by her previous landlords.

“I feel like my children deserve better than that,” Nicole said.

Being a homeowner, she said, is an investment in her family’s future and not someone else’s property. Her children are overjoyed to have a permanent place to call home.

“They’re like, ‘This is my room,’” she said of her children.

Her first attempt at becoming a homeowner stalled when she failed to meet program guidelines. She had minor delinquent accounts on her credit report, and her gross income was less than the required amount for a family of four, which is $22,550. A co-worker who was also going through the program persuaded her to give it another try.

She persevered through three phases of the application process that included a home visit; volunteering 350 hours to help build her own home; attending classes and workshops on topics like finance, budgeting, and parenting; and a homeownership clinic.

Home visits, McHugh said, are opportunities for Habitat for Humanity’s Family Selection Committee to meet applicants in person

and get to know them on a personal level. McHugh conducted Nicole’s home visit. Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis CEO Kimberly McKinney has also met Nicole and spoke fondly of her.

“Like most of our homeowners, she showed up at the closing table full of enthusiasm and energy,” McKinney said. Although gratifying in the end, Nicole said, the application process was a bit “overwhelming,” considering her mound of other responsibilities. Besides taking care of her three children, she works full-time as a teacher’s assistant at Lemay Child and Family Center. She also studies full-time at St. Louis Community College-Forest Park where she majors in early childhood education. Applicants can choose where they want to live. Habitat for Humanity has built homes throughout St. Louis city and county. Neighborhoods include: Mark Twain, JeffVanderLou, Walnut Park, Old North St. Louis, The Ville, College Hill, Hamilton Heights, Forest Park Southeast, Hillsdale, Florissant, Wellston and Meacham Park. Habitat for Humanity also sells foreclosed homes that the organization has rehabbed.

Nicole chose to build her four-bedroom home in South St. Louis’ Carondelet neighborhood, Habitat for Humanity’s latest site. She also helped with the construction of homes for other first-time homebuyers.

“I help put up the roof, the walls, the siding of my house,” she said. “Sometimes I just sit back shed a few tears and say, ‘God has blessed me with this.’”

For more information about Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis’ Homeownership Program, visit www.habitatstl.org or call 314-371-0400.

Gwen Crimm

on Gwen Crimm

n “It was a great honor to break the record.”

– St. Louis Rams’ defensive end Robert Quinn, after breaking the franchise’s single-season record for quarterback sacks last Sunday with 18

PreP BasketBall NoteBook

With Earl Austin Jr.

Coaches vs. Cancer

Shootout at Scottrade features 8 games on Jan. 9

The American Cancer Society will present its Fifth Annual Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout, which will be held on Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Scottrade Center.

The eight-game event will feature 16 top boys and girls teams from Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Colorado and Indiana. Here is the schedule for the event:

Duchesne vs. Alton Marquette, 9:30 a.m.

– Duchesne is one of the top teams in Class 4 with five starters back from last year’s 22-5 team, led by 6’7” seniors Drew Moore and Ryan Tune. Alton Marquette is led by high-scoring guard Deion Lavender, who recently scored 53 points in a game against St. Mary’s. Washington vs. Wentzville Holt, 11 a.m. – Washington High is led by 6’6” senior guard Ronnie Suggs, who has committed to Missouri. Holt is led by 6’3” senior guard Robbie Bone.

Columbia Rock Bridge vs. Columbus North (IN) girls, 12:30 p.m. – Rock Bridge is the two-time defending Class 5 state champions in Missouri. They feature several Division I recruits, led by 6’0” junior Sophie Cunningham. Columbus North is one of the top teams in the state of Indiana, led by Notre Dame commit Ali Patberg.

Cahokia vs. Columbia Hickman, 2 p.m. –Cahokia is led by its senior duo of 6’6” Darius Austin (UMKC) and C.J. Rivers (Drake). Hickman features one of the Show-Me State’s top backcourts in 6’3” junior Jimmy Whitt and 6’3” senior Chris Clark.

Alton vs. Quincy (Ill), 3:30 p.m. – Alton has emerged as one of the area’s top teams with its 7-0 start. The Redbirds feature senior guards Mike Williams-Bey and De’Ante McMurray. Quincy has a rich tradition in basketball. The Blue Devils are led by 6’4” senior Connor Mellon.

Incarnate Word vs. Regis Jesuit (CO), girls, 5 p.m. – A battle between two of the nation’s top girls’ programs. Incarnate Word junior Napheesa Collier has been dominating while averaging 25 points a game. Regis

N

Abrams of Illinois

features six players who have committed to Division I schools.

Fort Zumwalt North vs. Belleville Althoff, 6:30 p.m. – Fort Zumwalt North features the brother act of senior Chaz Glotta and junior Zach Glotta. Althoff has an excellent group of youngsters led by freshman guard Jordan

he

With Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Kobe needs a

Lakers should give achy Bryant a break

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Last season as a then24-year-old Derrick Rose rehabbed his hobbled knee, the basketball world clamored for his prompt return. The former NBA MVP was cleared for duty by doctors with several months remaining in the season but chose to sit out and play it safe. Kobe Bryant should take a page from Rose’s notebook. Not because it worked out so well for Rose, who shares a membership with Bryant in the sideline suit fraternity, but because it didn’t. Before Rose’s injury, he was an uber-athletic guard

With Palmer Alexander

Rams sack Bucs

Goodwin and sophomore forward Brendon Gooch.

CBC vs. Louisville Ballard, 8 p.m. –CBC has emerged as one of the top teams in Missouri behind 6’7” senior Jordan Barnett,

See PREP, B5

n The Lakers need to find Kobe Bryant’s heir apparent, pronto.

whose prime athletic years were still ahead of him. He sat with hopes of protecting his NBA career. Bryant is a 35-year-old with 18 years of NBA wear and tear on his body. Following his recent knee injury, he needs to sit out the rest of the season in hopes of protecting his career as a human who can walk upright without assistance. I’m not calling for Bryant’s retirement. Knowing the supreme sacrifice and dedication professional athletes give to their sports, they

deserve to go out in whatever way they see fit. Some choose to go out on the mountaintop, a la John Elway and Ray Lewis. Others choose to hang around on scholarship with just the occasional flash of yesteryear’s brilliance. With the exception of boxing, where hanging around too long can cause obvious and unforgettable reminders of the bitter end, great players’ lackluster career finishes are largely forgotten a few years after they retire. Don’t believe me? When you first think about the careers of Michael Jordan or Wayne Gretzky, you immediately picture them in their respective Bulls or Kings jerseys. The images of Jordan in Wizards’ blue or Gretzky in Quinn

On Fan Appreciation Day at the Edwards Jones Dome last weekend, the St. Louis Rams gave the St. Louis faithful something to cheer about with a 23-13 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Robert Quinn gave fans plenty to cheer about by terrorizing Buccaneers quarterback Mike Glennon, who was sacked a total of seven times and three of those sacks came from #94. Quinn is making a case for Defensive Player of the Year. It’s a very strong case. A handsdown case. No person in the NFL can block him. Not since Kevin Carter has a Rams defensive player amassed more than 17 sacks in a season. Quinn will get a chance to add to that sack total in the final game of the season against the Seattle Seahawks. Also contributing to the sack parade was James Laurinaitis, TJ McDonald, Chris Long and Alec Ogletree. Ogletree he is having an outstanding season as a rookie. Ogletree hit everything in a Bucs jersey that moved, forcing two fumbles while leading the Rams defense with eight tackles. The game was a little closer than the score would indicate. The Rams were poised to put the game away early in the first half. For the second week in a row, the Rams’ resurgent defense held the opponent’s offense to under 20 points.

n We saw glimpses of how good they can be when they put it all together.

Zac Stacy topped 100 yards again, and now he is within 42 yards of going over 1,000 yards for the season. Stedman Bailey scored his first NFL touchdown on a double reverse in the second quarter. Bailey is getting more touches with Tavon Austin out with an ankle injury. Bailey also made three very nice catches on difficult throws from Kellen Clemens. I hope the Rams continue to rest Austin; he will be needed 2014. Clemens turned in another efficient game, completing 16 of 20 passes with his only blemish being that red zone fumble. He has done a fine job for the Rams with Sam Bradford out. It’s not pretty, nor textbook, but it works for Clemens. Like it

See RAMS, B4

Palmer L. Alexander

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

Earl Austin Jr.

The pride and determination that made Kobe Bryant great may also make for a painful finish to his stellar career as he tries too hard, too long.

Tracy

goes around the outstretched arms of Missouri’s Johnathan Williams III during irst-half action at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on December 21, 2103. Illinois won the Annual Braggin’ Rights Game 65-64.

Reflections on 2013 and projections

As we wind down 2013, the year in sports was memorable, on and off the field.

or not he has played far better than anyone of us could’ve imagined.

The Rams have been more than just entertaining. We saw glimpses of how good they can be when they put it all together. If the Rams can win on the road against the

n Zac Stacy topped 100 yards again.

Seattle Seahawks, the momentum could keep this apathetic fan base energized all the way through to free agency and the draft. Congrats to North Tech winning the

Lutheran SC tournament in exciting

Christmas and have a safe holiday.

For more Rams Roundup, tune into www.stlamerican/ youtubevideo.

Locally, it started with the Cardinals. They go into the season without their closer in Jason Motte. Starting pitcher Chris Carpenter and shortstop Rafael Furcal are lost for the year. And this all happened before spring training started. Yet the Redbirds found themselves going to game six of the World Series. Off the field, it was here we go again when it comes to players getting caught using performance-enhancing drugs. Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun dodged a bullet the previous season via a technicality. But 2013 was the year that caught up to him, as he was eventually suspended for the final 50-plus games. Braun was not alone as several players went on ice for a bit. Alex Rodriguez got suspended for more than 200 games for lying and obstructing an investigation, an issue that is still being argued before an arbitrator. When it comes to projections, with off-season moves the Cardinals are better now than they were last season when they went to the World Series. Obviously injury will be a factor in their success. If they stay away from it they can win and win big in 2014. As for the league, it is the final year for commissioner Bud Selig, perhaps one of the greatest commissioners in the world of sports when you look at the growth of the sport and money that has been made over the years by both players and owners. Who will fill those shoes will be interesting. I have my thoughts, but I do not want to jinx it for Joe Torre

Mike Claiborne

As for the NFL, the Rams are starting to look like a pro football team. Coach Jeff Fisher and GM Les Snead have the Rams moving in the right direction. It will not be long before all the big mouths on the team who make the dumb mistakes weekly will be replaced by those who will help put the Rams in the postseason.

The NFL off the field has issues, to say the least, from racist rants by its players to a terrible outof-court settlement where the players agreed to take only $756 million for concussion-related issues. The players’ leadership has been disappointing, if not embarrassing, for years. Their latest gaffe will be more costly than they would ever imagine.

When it comes to projections, the NFL is broken and they do not want

to fix it. When it comes to the St. Louis Blues, it was a great run with new ownership that includes David Steward of World Wide Technology, one of the few if not only major investors in an NHL team that is African-American. Steward is on the right team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup sooner than you think. The Blues have had some of the worst ownership groups in the history of St. Louis sports, including the previous one headed up by Dave Checketts. Now this organization is headed in the right direction and deserves your support. If you have never taken in a game in person, then now is the time. This is a winning team with speed and skill that is exciting to watch. How about the University of Missouri and what they have done this year? Mizzou has a nationally ranked basketball team led by Frank Haith who is getting it done. It will not be long before Haith will get the local players who are good enough to play at Mizzou. Haith has proven to be an outstanding coach and his people skills far exceeds those of others who once patrolled the sidelines for the Tigers. I am on board with the direction of the program and Frank Haith. As for the Tiger football program, what more can be said about what Gary Pinkel and his staff this year? The Auburn game was one that just got away. When you look at the leaps and strides Mizzou has made, one can only wonder if they will be able to build on this year’s success and become a real power in the SEC. I like the start. St. Louis University and Jim Crewes had a magical year, and it was no fluke. The Billikens had good players who were coachable and knew their roles. Crewes had been there as a coach before, and it showed. Not a bad place to be these days if you are looking to play. If only the Bills would improve the non-conference schedule at home, all would be better. Incarnate Word Academy: nationally ranked with the best player in the country in Napheesa Collier. Enough said on that matter. It was a great year in sports, and the potential for 2014 is more than bright. It’s a good time to be a sports fan in St. Louis – and an even better reason to be a fan of The St. Louis American, as some fun things are on the horizon. I promise I will continue to have fun with this space and talk about things that may not get the attention or honesty they deserve.

fashion. Merry

The St. Louis Rams Robert Quinn celebrates one of his three sacks on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Edwards Jones Dome. Quinn set the Rams all-time single-season sack rercord with 18 on the season.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Girls tennis conference champions

CLUTCH

Continued from B3 a blue note almost seem like hazy, drunken dream that you recall bits and pieces of in the morning, but can’t quite put it all together into a coherent thought.

Back to Bryant. It’s highly unlikely the “Black Mamba” will ever return as his completely and consistently dominating self. As mentally strong as he is, his body simply will not allow it. If he continues to push his body to the limit, it will continue to break down. If he takes his foot off the pedal and relaxes his legendary work ethic for the sake of health, his game will suffer and reflect the change. The Lakers need to find Bryant’s heir apparent, pronto. Whether it’s via trade or draft,

the team needs to find a star whose light shines brighter than the best player of his generation.

Right now, in Bryant’s mind he still needs to come back to lead his team to the Promised Land. The Lakers’ mediocrity was likely the driving force behind his recent return. If the Lakers had a young, certified co-star in place, Bryant would have probably taken his time with rehab to ensure he’d be healthy enough to make a difference in the playoffs. Instead, the Lakers are lingering around .500 and Captain Kobe wants to right the ship – wrong answer.

It’s actually a good thing that Bryant recently signed a two-year extension in Los Angeles. If you recall, a few years ago he stated that he would likely play out his current contract, which ends after the 2013-14 season, and

retire. Even though it comes at a steep price for the team, it will be good to see Bryant retire in the same jersey he adorned on his road to greatness.

Let’s just hope the Lakers make a bold move soon in order to take the pressure off its star player. I’d much rather see Kobe transition to play old-head basketball (jumpers, fade aways and post game) as a second fiddle for the next few seasons than see him kill himself trying to blow by defenders and carry the team on his shoulders, alpha dogstyle. Think about it: When your AARP-eligible, eggnogloving Aunt Mae shows that she knows how to properly twerk like the youngsters, it’s just not the same.

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope Bryant and the Lakers realize his best days are behind him and save him from some painful embarrassment by

Prep Athletes of the Week

Josh Robinson

St. Mary’s – Boys Basketball

The 6’3” senior guard led the Dragons to three victories last week with his outstanding scoring exploits.

Robinson had 32 points, five rebounds and two steals to lead St. Mary’s past Cleveland 77-40. He added 33 points and four rebounds in a 57-51 victory over Priory. Robinson also had 32 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists in a 69-59 over Alton Marquette at the Midwest Showdown Shootout.

Through six games, Robinson is averaging 33.8 points, which leads the St. Louis metropolitan area. He is shooting 53 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line.

Robinson has signed with Austin Peay State University. St. Mary’s will play SLUH in the first round of the MICDS Holiday Tournament this afternoon at 2 p.m.

Khalia Miller

North Tech – Girls Basketball

The 5’6” senior guard led the Golden Eagles to the championship of the Fort Zumwalt North Tournament last week.

Miller made two free throws with less than a second left to give North Tech a 57-55 victory over Lutheran (St. Charles) in the championship game. She finished the game with 21 points.

In the first round, Miller had 22 points, three assists and three steals in Tech’s 61-44 victory over McCluer. She added 20 points, five rebounds and two steals in 46-38 victory over Orchard Farm in the semifinals.

As a junior, Miller averaged 15 points a game to lead North Tech to a third-place finish in the Class 3 state tournament. She is also one of the top 3-point shooters in the St. Louis area.

making the transition into a sidekick. Of course, there’s about as much a chance of that happening as Santa delivering a shiny new Aston Martin in my driveway for Christmas. Bryant is proud and stubborn.

Those traits that made him great will also make for a painful finish to his stellar career. Yes, he’s earned that right to go out how he wants. Hopefully the Lakers will do the right thing and help him go

PREP

Continued from B3 who has signed with Texas. Sophomore guards Jordan Barnes and Christian Willis have also shined. Ballard has one of the nation’s top guards in 6’1” guard Quentin Snider, who has signed with Louisville. Senior forward Kelan Martin has signed with Butler.

Tickets are now available for the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at www. scottradecenter.com.

Tourney glut

The glut of holiday basketball tournaments will begin today throughout the metro area. Some of the top boys tournaments in town include ones at Meramec, MICDS, Collinsville, Chaminade, Mater Dei, ColumbiaFreeburg, Normandy and St. Dominic. Some of the top girls tournaments are at Visitation, Mascoutah, Duchesne and St. Dominic.

(You can follow Earl’s daily basketball reports on his website, www.earlaustinjr. com and on twitter @ earlaustinjr.)

out in a manner he deserves.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+.

The Pattonville High School girls tennis team was named Suburban North Conference Champions. Senior Paige Bateman and junior Chrissy Gross were named Second Team All Conference. Additional members of the championship team are Jain Bushra, Christine Gardner, Juana Gordillo, Selamawit Mulugeta, Emily Nessing, Ambria Powell, Paige Schlueter and Jas Stephenson. They were coached by Jeff Grass and assistant coach Emily McDaniel. Members of Pattonville’s conference champion tennis team include, from left, Jas Stephenson, Chrissy Gross, Ambria Powell and Paige Bateman.

YWCA honors women leaders

Gwendolyn Packnett, Sharon Harvey Davis, Gail Taylor among awardees

American staff

Gwendolyn D. Packnett, Sharon Harvey Davis and Gail Taylor were honored as Leaders of Distinction by YWCA Metro St. Louis at its recent Leader Lunch, St. Louis’ premier event honoring women for their achievements in the workplace and community, held at the Millennium Hotel.

Packnett is assistant vice chancellor for University of Missouri-St. Louis, Davis is vice president and chief diversity officer for Ameren, and Taylor is brand manager, shopper marketing for Energizer Holdings, Inc.

YWCA CEO Adrian Bracy – the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2013 Non-Profit Executive of the Year – briefly spoke of the work being done by the YWCA on behalf of women, girls, and families before a video presentation highlighting the honorees.

In that video, Packnett spoke of the challenges facing higher education and how her institution is meeting those challenges. Before becoming assistant vice chancellor she was the first director of the nationally recognized Multicultural Relations/ Academic Affairs department at UMSL. The department was focused on the admission, retention and graduation of multicultural and international students.

Packnett attended William Jewell College and received her master’s degree in social work from Washington University. Packnett obtained her Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from UMSL. She was chosen as one of 50 college faculty members to participate in the American Council on Education Fellows program. Davis recalled being a child and overhearing her parents discuss her father’s

impending trip down South to join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s march in Selma. She noted how his belief in fighting injustice helped shape her groundbreaking work for diversity. Davis was born in St. Louis and graduated from Washington University with a degree in political science. She received her master’s degree in international business from St. Louis University, and graduated from Cornell

University’s Diversity Management Certification Program. Davis also serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Missouri Leadership Foundation and as the vicechairman for the National Coalition of Community and

Justice.

Taylor also spoke of her father’s role in shaping her successful career in business as she strives to treat people fairly and as individuals.

Taylor is currently one of 60 people selected to participate

in the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative Fellows Program and was honored by the St. Louis American Foundation as one of the recipients of the 2010 Salute to Excellence in Business award. Taylor serves on the Board of Directors for the Professional Organization of Women, Inc. and has been on the board for the YWCA and a cabinet member of the Charmaine Chapman Society, the African-American

Leadership Giving Initiative at the United Way of Greater St. Louis. All three honorees noted the importance of giving back to the community. Other 2013 Leader Lunch honorees included Marilyn Bush, Theresa Carrington, Jane Eckert, Lisa Nichols, Nicole Ringenberg, Suzanne Sitherwood and Future Leader Elaine Mahon.

n Davis recalled how her father’s belief in fighting injustice helped shape her groundbreaking work for diversity.

YWCA Board Chairwoman Margaret “Peg” Mooney, honoree Gwendolyn Packnett, YWCA

CEO Adrian E. Bracy and Leader Lunch Chair Molly Cline

Kem adds soul to the season

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

more than one per month – that featured black casts, told black stories and catered to black audiences.

If you count the films that wouldn’t necessarily fall under the urban film umbrella, but starred black actors – like Halle Berry in “The Call,” Idris Elba in “Pacific Rim,” Jamie Foxx in “White House Down,” “Denzel Washington in “2 Guns” and Morgan Freeman and Angela Bassett in “Olympus Has Fallen” – the number creeps to 20. But sticking with the urban film market, for the

Year of the black movie

2013 was a banner year for

African-American films

Major black films in 2013 “42” “12 Years a Slave” “After Earth” “Baggage Claim” “Best Man Holiday”

“Black Nativity” “The Butler” “Fruitvale Station”

“A Haunted House”

“The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete”

“Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain”

“Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom” Tyler Perry presents:

“A Madea Christmas,”

“The Peeples,” “Temptation”

By Shanell Gordon For The

n I said to myself, “That’s not going Dutch … that’s me subsidizing your steak dinner.”

sake of the point, 15 such films made their way to theaters over the course of the year, raking in of more than a half-billion in ticket sales (according to boxofficemojo.com). We saw black actors, black producers, black directors and black screenwriters bring our stories to the mainstream, with plenty of the films

receiving major studio support.

n Fifteen films – just the thought of it is astonishing. Is this a record? It sure feels like it.

But what was most captivating about the black film phenomenon was the diversity of blackness that made its way to mainstream movie audiences in 2013. The history of the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (“42”), the butler who served seven presidents (“The Butler”) and the film adaptation of the autobiography of a man illegally sold into slavery (“12 Years A Slave”) were mixed in with romantic comedies, holiday stories, gritty dramas and even a horror spoof.

And while the world of black movie lovers are seemingly split down the middle between love and hate for Tyler Perry, he had an undeniable presence with his films “Temptation,” “The Peeples”

See MOVIES, C4

Jam starring Kem, with special guests

Evans and After 7, will hit the Chaifetz Arena on Friday, December 27.

Tracy Kennedy, an acclaimed celebrity makeup artist, made his Sheer Elegance debut.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

How to place a calendar listing

1. Email your listing to calendar@stlamerican. com OR

2. Visit the calendar section on stlamerican.com and place your listing

Calendar listings are free of charge, are edited for space and run on a space-available basis.

holiday haps

Fri., Dec. 27, The Holiday Jam starring Kem, Faith Evans and After 7, Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com

Friday, Dec. 27, 8 p.m. AKA Gamma Omega Chapter End of the Year Jam, Machinists Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Proceeds benefit scholarship. For tickets, call Traci at 314973-9801.

Sun., Dec. 29, 12 p.m., St. Louis Art Museum presents Family Sundays: Winter Celebration – Christmas. Event includes art activities from, a scavenger hunt through the galleries, and a special performance in The Farrell Auditorium. One Fine Arts Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 6555444 or visit www.slam.org.

Through Dec. 29, The Fox Theater presents ELF the Musical. This modern day Christmas classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner ELF. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., Dec. 29, 4 p.m., Saint Louis Art Museum Kwanzaa Celebration, Saint Louis Art Museum. For more information, call (314) 7210071 or visit Saturday Dec 29 at the Saint Louis Art Museum activities noon to 4pm, show 2:00-3:30 PM

Through Dec., 30, The Butterfly House presents Winter Jewels A Holiday Celebration. Surround yourself with the magic of the season. Faust Park, 15193 Olive Blvd., 63017. For more information, call (636) 530-0076 or visit www. butterflyhouse.org.

Tues., Dec. 31, 10:30 a.m., The Magic House presents Noontime New Year’s

Eve. New Year’s revelers of all ages (even those with a bedtime!) are invited to ring in the new year a little bit early. Visitors will participate in a variety of traditional New Year’s Eve festivities including a countdown to noon with the dropping of a sparkly New Year’s Eve ball. Visitors will also be invited to make wish wands and noisemakers. 516 N. Kirkwood Rd., 63122. For more information, call (314) 822-8900.

Tues., Dec 31, 6:30 p.m. 3rd Annual New Year’s Eve Friends and Family, Three Course Dinner, three hour premium open bar, discounted rooms with purchase, Crowne Plaza Hotel St. Louis Airport, 11228 Lone Eagle Dr. For more information, call (314) 2916700.

Tues., Dec. 31, 7 p.m., New Year’s Eve Party at the New Moon Room. Get an out-ofthis-world start to the New Year. The space-aged party will include light and fun fare, a DJ and a complimentary champagne toast to ring in 2014. Moonrise Hotel, 6177 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, call (314) 726-2222.

Tues., Dec. 31, 7 p.m., The Blackout: New Year’s Eve Edition feat. Spinderella. Lola, 500 N. 14th St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 621-7277.

Tues., Dec. 31, 7 p.m., Ramada Plaza St. Louis Convention hosts New Year’s Eve 2013-14 with Anthony Gomes. Anthony Gomes #1 Blues musician on Billboard will be bringing in the New Year at the Ramada Plaza Ball Room. Special Guest, St. Louis favorite will be the Wrath of Khan. All packages include party favors, food stations and midnight toast. 811 N. Ninth St., 63101. For more information, visit www. hotwinternights.net.

Calendar

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., The Deco Fortress presents New Year’s Eve Speakeasy Ball This year’s theme: “The Great Gatsby.” Live music starts at 9 p.m. from one of the Hottest Jazz BANDS in town! Open Bars, hors d’oeuvres, Dance contest, Costume contest, CASH Prizes. 3624 S. Broadway, 63118. For more information, call (314) 5391142.

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., Southern Missionary Baptist Church hosts New Year’s Eve Service. Please invite your family & friends to join us as we bring in the New Year. Our guest speaker will be Pastor Andrew Latchinson, Pastor of Christ Tabernacle Christian Assembly. 8171 Wesley Ave., 63140. For more information, call (314) 5213951.

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch hosts The Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party. Featuring an incredible line-up of live music including Dr Zhivegas, Smash Band and The Dave Glover Band. An open bar, food stations, party favors, Champagne toast and balloon drop at midnight will help you ring in 2014. 315 Chestnut St., 63102. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., The Deco Fortress presents New Year’s Eve Speakeasy Ball This year’s theme: “The Great Gatsby.” Live music starts at 9 p.m. from one of the Hottest Jazz BANDS in town! Open Bars, hors d’oeuvres, Dance contest, Costume contest, CASH Prizes. 3624 S.

Broadway, 63118. For more information, call (314) 5391142.

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., The Deco Fortress presents New Year’s Eve Speakeasy Ball This year’s theme: “The Great Gatsby.” Live music starts at 9 p.m. from one of the Hottest Jazz BANDS in town! Open Bars, hors d’oeuvres, Dance contest, Costume contest, CASH Prizes. 3624 S. Broadway, 63118. For more information, call (314) 5391142.

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch hosts The Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party. Featuring an incredible line-up of live music including Dr Zhivegas, Smash Band and The Dave Glover Band. An open bar, food stations, party favors, Champagne toast and balloon drop at midnight will help you ring in 2014. 315 Chestnut St., 63102. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Tues., Dec. 31, 8 p.m., DJ Kut hosts The Biggest Party of the Year: NYE with special guests Glenn Jones, Changing Faces, and Lenny Williams. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 869-9090.

Through Jan. 4, Missouri Botanical Gardens presents Garden Glow. Visitors will have the opportunity to stroll through the Garden at night surrounded by a spectacle of unique light installations for the Garden’s first-ever winter light display. 4344 Shaw Blvd., 63110. For more

The Blackout: New Year’s Eve Edition feat. Spinderella. See HOLIDAY HAPS for more information.

information, visit www.mobot. org/glow.

concerts

Fri., Dec. 27 – Sat., Dec. 28, Jazz St. Louis welcomes Good 4 The Soul, Jazz at The Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., Magic 100.3 presents Charlie Wilson. The event will be held at the Fox Theater. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Jan. 3, 7:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents New Orleans New Year with The Funky Butt Brass Band. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Wed., Jan. 8, 7:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents The Bad Plus. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Fri., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m., Jazz at the Bistro hosts Jahmal Nichols CD release party. 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., Magic 100.3 presents Charlie Wilson. The event will be held at the Fox Theater. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

Friday, Feb. 14, 8 p.m., Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly with Anthony Hamilton and Joe, Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Sat. Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m., The Fox Theater presents The Fresh Beat Band - Live in Concert. Children’s TV show with original pop songs produced for Nick Jr. The Fresh Beats are Shout, Twist, Marina, and Kiki, described as four best friends in a band who go to music school together and love to sing and dance. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www. fabulousfox.com.

Fri., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Jazz at Lincoln Center Quartet. Featuring veteran JALC Orchestra musicians Vincent Gardner on trombone, Walter Blanding on tenor sax, Kenny Rampton on trumpet, and Herlin Riley on drums, this is sure to be one of the best swinging shows of the season. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. metrotix.com.

local gigs

Dec., 27 – 28 & 31, Beale on Broadway presents Eric “Guitar” Davis. 701 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, call (314) 6217880.

Tues., Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., Jeffrey Hardin New Year’s Eve Concert 2013 feat. Tim Cunningham. With a gospel, jazz and R & B flavor, you are certain to find yourself grooving with the soulful sounds of his blend of provocative music, as you drift into an evening of elegance and musical distinction. Forest Park Golf Courses, 6141 Lagoon Dr., 63112. For more information, call (314) 5187062.

special events

Wed., Jan. 1, 10 a.m., Kiener Plaza hosts Commitment Day St. Louis. Make a commitment to join us for a New Year’s Day fun run in downtown St Louis. Begin 2014 with a commitment to a healthy way of life as you enjoy scenic views of the city with family and friends. 600 Market St.,

63101. For more information, call (636) 527-9700 or visit www.commitmentday.com.

Fri., Jan. 3, 7 p.m., Scottrade Center hosts The Harlem Globetrotters. 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. harlemglobetrotters.com.

Sat., Jan. 4, 11 a.m., The America’s Center hosts The Wedding Show. The largest wedding planning event in St. Louis showcasing over 225 wedding booths, with experts to assist brides in every area of planning their wedding. 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, visit www. stlbrideandgroom.com.

Through Jan. 5, Missouri Botanical Garden presents Gardenland Express Flower and Train Show: Gathering for the Feast. 4344 Shaw Blvd., 63110. For more information, call (314) 5775100 or visit www.mobot.org.

Sat., Jan. 11, 6:30 p.m., The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. State Celebration Commission of Missouri will host its 28th annual kickoff Nationally syndicated columnist and journalism Roland Martin will serve as the keynote speaker for the event, which is themed, “Focusing on Family Financial Freedom,” Harris-Stowe State University’s Main Auditorium. For more information, visit www.hssu.edu.

Tues., Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m., Jewish Community Center: Staenberg Family Complex hosts Community Martin Luther King Event. Featuring Vida “Sister” Prince, author of That’s the Way it Was: Stories of Struggle, Survival and Self-Respect in Twentieth Century Black St. Louis, and T.K. Thorne, author of Last Chance for Justice: How Relentless Investigators Uncovered New Evidence Convicting the Birmingham Church Bombers. For more information, visit http://www. brownpapertickets.com/ event/532376.

Thurs., Jan. 16, 10:30 a.m., The Peabody Opera House presents Sesame Street Live. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. sesamestreetlive.com.

Fri., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m., The Scottrade Center presents WWE Live. 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.scottradecenter.com.

Sat., Jan. 18, 8 p.m., The Big Muddy Dance Company presents Happy 250th

St. Louis: A Celebration through Dance. 6445 Forsyth Blvd. # 203, 63105. For more information, visit www. thebigmuddydanceco.org.

Sat. Jan. 19, 10 a.m., The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts presents History of a Culture: The Real Hip Hop. Celebrate the history of hip-hop with a day of break dancing & street art. Watch Mr. Freeze, from the legendary Rock Steady Crew & creator of the Ultimate B-boy Championship, emcee a break dancing battle with cash prizes for 1st & 2nd place. 3716 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. pulitzerarts.org.

Sun., Jan. 19, 6 p.m., Grand Renaissance Hotel hosts St. Louis Baseball Writers Dinner. Celebrate the amazing season that defined the 2013 World Series Cardinals as one of the all-time great clubs. Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 World Champion Cardinals by welcoming many of the star players from that legendary roster like Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Mike Shannon, Tim McCarver, Bob Uecker, Ray Sadecki, Ernie Broglio, Dick Groat and more. 800 Washington Ave., St Louis, MO 63150. For more information, visit www. lockerdome.com.

Mon., Jan. 20, 10 a.m., Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center hosts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Observance 2014. This event will feature engaging speakers, as well as talented musicians and performers. A program for children ages 5 to 11, hosted by the University’s College of Education, also will run concurrently in the lobby. 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, visit www. touhill.org.

Mon., Jan. 20, 6 p.m., Sidney Street Café presents 10 Years, 10 Chefs Anniversary Dinner. Ten of Sidney Street’s chef friends from near and far will join Kevin Nashan and his team in the kitchen for a very special dinner to mark this milestone; you won’t want to miss it. 2000 Sidney St., 63104. For more information, visit www.sidneystreetcafe. com.

Fri., Jan. 24, 11 a.m., The Hilton Ball Park Hotel hosts 2014 Missouri Lawyer Awards. Join us for networking, lunch and honoring lawyers, judges and law firms for their outstanding accomplishments throughout

the year. Nearly 250 members of the legal community join us to recognize the year’s winningest trial and appellate lawyers, law firm innovators and more, capped off with a tribute to Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Lawyer of the Year. 1 S. Broadway, 63102.

Thurs., Jan. 16, 10:30 a.m., The Peabody Opera House presents Sesame Street Live. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. sesamestreetlive.com.

Fri., Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m., The Scottrade Center presents WWE Live. 1401 Clark Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.scottradecenter.com.

Sat., Jan. 18, 10 a.m., Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis presents Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis 5K Resolution Run Fundraiser Event. Start your New Year off right, and keep to your New Year’s Resolution to be fit and healthy. Proceeds support programs that teach our kids healthy lifestyles. 7620 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, visit www.Onestoprace.com.

comedy

Tues., Dec. 31, 9:30 p.m., Just Us Social Club presents New Year’s Eve Comedy Show hosted by Willie Lynch Jr., featuring comedians Jovan Bibbs, K-Dubb and Ms. Tiffani. Free hors d’oeuvres, free party favors and free toast at midnight to ring in the New Year. The show will be held at Blackmon’s Plaza 127 Collinsville Ave., East St. Louis, IL. 62234. For more information, contact Del Hawkins at (314) 922-2104.

Magic 100.3 presents Charlie Wilson. See CONCERTS for details.

Sat., Jan. 4, 8 p.m., The Stratford Bar & Grill/ Ballroom presents Jimmy “JJ” Walker. 800 South Highway Dr. Fenton, 63026. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

Fri., Jan. 10, 8 p.m., Comedy in the Lou presents Marty DeRosa & BassAmp and DanO. Marty DeRosa began doing stand-up comedy in 2006 and has quickly set himself apart from his comedy peers with an amazing flair for crowd work and an uncanny knowledge of professional wrestling. 2706 Olive St., 63103. For more information, visit www.firebirdstl.com.

theatre

Fri., Jan. 3, 8 p.m., The Fox Theater presents West Side Story. 527 N Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit metrotix.com.

Jan 8 – Jan. 26, The Black Rep presents The Meeting, Harris-Stowe State University Emerson Performance Center. For more information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.org.

arts

Through January 5, Missouri History Museum presents The 1968 Exhibit An ambitious, state-of-the-art, multimedia exhibit that looks at how the experiences of the year fueled a persistent, if often contradictory, sense of identity for the people who were there. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Wed., Dec. 25, 12 p.m., Kranzberg Arts Center presents Stephanie Liner: Momentos of a Doomed Construct. Stephanie Liner creates large orbs and beautifully upholstered egg shaped sculptures with windows that allow the viewer to peer inside the structure to discover a beautiful girl trapped inside. 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.art-stl.com.

Wed., Jan. 1, 11 a.m. (runs through Jan. 6), Washington University: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art presents Rashid Johnson: Message to Our Folks. Steeped in individual experience while invoking shared cultural references, Johnson’s work also calls upon black American creative and intellectual figures, extending the legacy of these cultural icons. Using photography, painting, sculpture, and video, he also challenges entrenched ways of thinking about the black experience in America and, by extension, seminal issues of race in today’s society. 1 Brookings Dr., #Cb 1214, 63130. For more information, visit www.artstl.com.

Fri., Jan. 10, Craft Alliance host fif-TEA: 14th Biennial Teapot Exhibition. The exhibition will mark the start of a year of celebrations for CA’s 50th Anniversary season. This invitational exhibition will feature over 50 artists who create innovative teapots made of clay, metal, glass, wood, and fiber. 6640 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www.craftalliance.org.

lectures

Tues., Jan. 7, 1 p.m., FleishmanHillard hosts a Student Forum. Recent grads and college students seeking careers in integrated communications are invited. You’ll meet professionals from all backgrounds and disciplines – branding, public relations, social and digital media, marketing, advertising, print design, video, research, planning – and learn how we work together to deliver impact. Refreshments and informal networking will conclude the afternoon. 200 Little Broadway St., 63125.

Fri., Dec. 27, 12 p.m., St. Luke’s Hospital hosts Sitter Skills Class. This program was developed for beginning baby-sitters, girls and boys,

age 11 and older to help make their baby-sitting experience a success. The class will cover: basic information needed before you start baby-sitting, safety information, firstaid and child development. Each baby-sitter receives a participation certificate, and book and bag. A light snack is provided. Class is taught by St. Luke’s health educators. 222 S. Woods Mill Rd., 63017. For more information, visit www.stlukes-stl.com.

Sat., Jan. 11, 5:45 p.m., Hilton at the Ball Park Hotel presents An evening with the Cardinals. New Hall of Fame inductee Tony LaRussa, current Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, Hall of Fame player, coach and manager Red Schoendienst and former pitching coach Dave Duncan will be featured in an engaging evening of discussion and reminiscing about the Cardinals and Major League baseball. All proceeds help children with cancer and their families. 1 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www. thenccs.org.

health

Wed., Jan. 1, 10 a.m., The Forest Park New Year’s Day 5 Mile, Winter Park Series. Visitor’s Center, 5595 Grand Dr., 63112. Entry fee $20, $30 on 12/31. $10 RaceDay-Entry entry fee for ages 19 and under (no t-shirt). For more information, visit www. onestoprace.com.

Thurs., Jan. 2, 6 p.m., Cancer Support Community of Greater St. Louis presents Lung Cancer Networking Group. Group begins with Q & A provided by an oncology nurse, followed by group sharing and support. The group provides a nurturing environment to learn about and discuss coping skills, disease management, and quality of life during and after treatment. 1058 Old Des Peres Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www. lungcancerconnectioninc.org. Tues., Jan. 14, 7:30 p.m., The Healing Center hosts 21-Day Detox Groupget your health on track for 2014. New Years is a wonderful time to reflect on our health goals for the coming year. The program will help you release bad habits and develop a healthier lifestyle. 734 De Mun Ave., 63105. For more information, visit http://events.r20. constantcontact.com/.

ELEGANCE

Continued from C1

Washington kicked the event off by announcing that the 2013 event raised $140,000.

The star-studded event was headlined by international model Jennie Runk, actress Anna Maria Horsford and “Project Runway” alumni Michael Drummond, Qristyl Frazier, Laura Kathleen and A.J. Thouvenot.

Also making his event debut was Tracy Kennedy, an acclaimed celebrity makeup artist and fashion stylist for such artists as Rihanna, Kerry Washington, Idris Elba, Boris Kojoe and Fantasia.

Brown Shoe’s Carlos Santana line, Paulie Gibson, Lee J, Savvi Formalwear and Trixxi rounded out the stylish showcase.

A little slice of Italy was served up in entertaining tributes to the Teatro alla Scala opera house by professional opera singer Clayton Mathews and Kelly Griffin, the tarantella dance by the Modern American Dance Company, and Monza Formula One motor speedway by The Best Talent Center. It was the young women who took center stage, starting with the Girls’ Program honorees, dubbed the Silver Starlets. The young women also performed a finale dance choreographed by The Best Talent Center’s Judy BestPerson and returned for an encore with 20 LaScala Dream Girls, ages 6 to 11.

Honorees included Daysha Carver-Hill, 14; Joye Forrest, 18; Michelle Gaona, 15; Delaney Haynes, 17; Ayran Hudson, 14; Robyn JamesRobinson, 17; Lea Jarrett, 18; Jade Joiner, 15; Cydnei McNeal, 14; Taylor Moore-

SINGLE

Continued from C1

He is fresh out of a relationship, but because of his “starting over” financial situation, they still live together because he can’t afford to live alone.

I knew this could get quite complicated, but he assured me that boundaries are clear and the living arrangement is strictly business. Second date comes and goes without a hitch.

But the third date got fishy.

Instead of meeting at the location of our date, he offers to park his car at my house while I drive.

“No need in both of us using all of that gas,” he said – but failed to offer me any gas money.

I let it go. We went to a concert, and he asked if I wanted anything from the concession stand since he was going to get a beer. I asked for nachos and a Sprite.

“It was almost $20, but don’t worry about it,” he said, in a

opera singers

Honors choristers

Johnson, 15; Kandis Myton, 16; Jahniece Person, 17; Jamila Scales, 17; Ranisha Shelton, 17; Ranita Shelton, 17; Rayna Sullivan, 16; LaShae Thompson, 17; Khylie Turner, 13; Carissa Ward, 16 and Najawah Williams, 14. Accompanying the honorees were celebrity escorts with media and business luminaries such as the club’s President, CEO & Co-Founder Martin Luther Mathews; Ameren Chairman, President & CEO Tom Voss; St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley; and St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green. The Sheer Elegance

passive-aggressive type of way.

“Well, since I covered the gas on our last date, we’re even.”

The fourth date was the nail in the coffin. He asked me to dinner. He ordered an appetizer, a steak dinner and a beer. I ordered a children’s meal with a hamburger.

“You want to go Dutch … yes, let’s go Dutch,” he proclaimed before waiting on my response. I was irritated – because he asked me out – but I moved forward with the process of asking the server for two separate checks.

“We don’t have to go through all of that,” he said. “Let’s just split it down the middle – I pay half and you pay half.”

I said to myself, “That’s not going Dutch … that’s me subsidizing your steak dinner,” but I went ahead and complied.

As we parted ways, he said, “I can’t wait to see you again.”

For me, this was the last time I planned to see his face outside of his office.

He called and texted for days. I knew I had to tell him before I saw him in a

Award was presented to three community leaders for their outstanding achievements: Paul Cerame Auto Group President Bob Cerame, KMOX “Overnight in America” Host Jon Grayson and community volunteer Margie Wilkerson. Proceeds support the Girls’ Program which develops the athletic, educational and cultural potential of thousands of members through meaningful activities as an alternative to teen idleness. For more information, contact Barbara A. Washington at 314-382-5952 ext. 234 or Bill Fronczak at 314-382-5952 ext. 228.

professional capacity that his interpretation of “going Dutch” put a bad taste in my mouth that there was no coming back from.

He confessed that even though he asked me to dinner, he didn’t expect me to pick such a high-end option.

I told him, “Any place with hamburger kid’s meals is not high-end.” I also pointed out that he took it upon himself to order the most expensive item on the menu when he knew he couldn’t afford it – and that was a borderline scam move.

We agreed to disagree. There was no fifth date, and things are strained but cordial when I make my visits to his employer.

What I don’t get is why he would keep insisting we go out when he knew it wasn’t in his budget to do so.

I commend him for wanting to start over and move ahead into a career that he feels is more on purpose. But my thing is: Why not wait until you have the provisions to court before you get on the prowl? Or at least explain your financial situation on the front end?

– As told to Kenya Vaughn.

Members of the Pattonville High School choir have earned spots on three different St. Louis Suburban honor choirs. Front row: Anna Pirrie, Taylor Mayers, Chandler Montgomery, Margaret Decker, Jasmine Webber and Jacob Painter. Middle row: Joseph Johnson, Anise Glenn, Amber Hall, Elena Murawski, Osaruese Osa-Edoh and Marissa Dickman. Back row, Kalen Riley, Lesley Walker, Tyler Balk, Kaitlin Gant and Hailey Porter. They are directed by teacher Melynda Lamb.

MOVIES

Continued from C1

and “Madea’s Christmas.”

However, he would be but a post script among the impressive roster of black movies in the mix for this year. Fifteen films – just the thought of it is astonishing. Is this a record? It sure feels like it. Now “12 Years a Slave” leads SAG and Golden Globe nominations with Lee “The Butler” in a second place with the SAG nods – and Oscar buzz is already surrounding those films, as well as Elba for his performance in the title

role of “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

Kenya’s picks

“Fruitvale Station” – Ryan Coogler nailed his first attempt at a feature film as he told the true story of Oscar Gant, the young man gunned down by an Oakland Public Transit cop. Michael B. Jordan’s performance as Gant will be remembered as his breakout role. He nails the angst and conflict of a young man met with constant obstacles as he attempts to get his life on track for himself and his family – and pays the ultimate price.

“12 Years a Slave” – British director Steve

McQueen recreated in film the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free man who was abducted and illegally sold into slavery. Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, Michael Fassbender as treacherous slave owner Edwin Epps and Lupita Nyong’o as Patsey, the forbidden object of Epps’ affections, offer standout performances.

“The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” – In probably the least familiar of the roster of black films in 2013, “Soul Food” director George Tilman Jr. gets gritty with this ‘hood tale that tween actor Skylan Brooks gracefully carries on his shoulders.

Continued from C1

“If they love the music, that’s what we try to represent on stage when you come to the shows,” Kem said. “On our worst day, we sound exactly like the record.”

Thanks in part to his stunning live performances –and a dramatic leap of faith – Kem has enjoyed a storied career in Adult Contemporary Urban Music. He has sold millions of records over the course of his four studio albums, received two Grammy nominations and built a cult-like following among those who have an affinity for grown folks’ music. The Nashville-born, Detroitraised singer/songwriter has enjoyed a route to music that is as unlikely as it is inspiring. A full decade before Beyoncé made headlines for releasing an album without any promotion or record label support two weeks ago, Kem did so by necessity. The decision would forever change his destiny.

He was rejected by major record labels, so he decided to do what they wouldn’t –provide financial backing for the release of his debut album Kemistry In addition to writing and producing the album, Kem maxed out his American Express card to finance distribution of the album.

“What we did with the Kemistry CD was we put the music in the hands of the people,” Kem said. “And they loved it.”

He sold 15,000 copies on his Kemistry Records label. After the independent buzz, Universal Motown took notice.

He was signed to the label, which re-released Kemistry in 2002, released Kem Album II in May 2005 and in August 2010 released Intimacy, which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums list and certified Gold in March 2012. Kemistry, Kem Album II and Intimacy have each been certified RIAA Gold records.

“If you get the people on your side, the record labels and the radio stations will follow,” Kem said. “Connect with those who will put your music in the hands of the people – that’s

everything.”

He has enjoyed a kind of staying power that is becoming more and more of a rarity among urban music’s proverbial revolving door.

“I think why people gravitate to what we do is because it’s true and it’s real,” Kem said.

“There’s no gimmick. You can’t deny a great song – and I try to create, record and perform good music.”

His most recent release is last year’s What Christmas Means, which earned critical acclaim and two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Song.

In the spirit of the Holiday Jam, a few of his What Christmas Means album selections will be presented on the Chaifetz Arena stage this weekend – and allow for the joy of season to linger.

The Holiday Jam starring Kem with special guests Faith Evans and After 7 will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 27. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. com, Ticketmaster outlets and the Chaifetz Arena box office. For more information, visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 800-745-3000.

Professional

Clayton Mathews and Kelly Griffin performed a romantic rendition of “Laci darem la mano (“There I’ll give you my hand”) from “Don Giovanni,” accompanied by the Opera Theater of St. Louis’ Nancy Mayo. Photo by Maurice Meredith

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town

St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission

MuuuaaaHHH, Happy New Year!

St. Louis knows how to ring in a new year – with parties of all sizes. Check out this list of New Year’s Eve festivities that will be fun for everyone!

First Night Grand Center

One of the biggest New Year’s Eve celebrations in St. Louis is First Night in Grand Center.

This family-friendly, alcohol free event draws nearly 15,000 people who enjoy an evening of singing, dancing and art.

It all begins at 6 p.m. with 60 performances at more than 12 venues, two free fantastic firework displays and free outdoor shows throughout the evening. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children in advance and $12 for adults and $6 for children at the door. Here is a video of the 2012 First Night.

Noontime New Year’s Eve at the Magic House Ring in the New Year a little bit early with a Noontime New Year celebration at the Magic House. On December 31 from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm, New Year’s revelers of all ages are invited to join the festivities. Dance to music, make wish wands and noise makers, march in a noisy parade through the museum and participate in a special countdown to noon!

Rock N Roll New Year’s Eve at Lemp Grand Hall New Year’s Eve at the Lemp Mansion is an evening of food, drinks and entertainment. The celebration in the Grand Hall is from 8:00 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. It includes a prime rib dinner, open bar, midnight toast and a balloon drop. $75 per person

Hyatt Ultimate NYE Party

The Hyatt Regency at The Arch invites everyone to the Ultimate New Year’s Eve Party. The

celebration includes music from local favorites the Dave Glover Band, Groovethang, Joe Dirt and the Dirty Boys and Plastic. There’s also open bar, buffet dinner, balloon drop and champagne toast at midnight. Prices start at $399 per couple including a one-night stay at the hotel.

New Year’s Eve at Three Sixty Ring in 2013 at Three Sixty with an over the top New Year celebration complete with a DJ and an extravagant laser show. With sweeping views of the city and a bevy of exciting cocktails Three Sixty is the ultimate destination for the biggest party of the year.

New Year’s Eve at Westport Plaza

Enjoy the New Year at Westport Plaza with a spectacular Fireworks Display at 6pm and complimentary carriage rides from 6:309:30pm. The best location to watch the fireworks is from our outdoor village. Show lasts approximately 10 minutes. Carriage rides begin in front of the St. Louis Bread Co. And the party doesn’t have to end there! There’s many of restaurants and bars to continue your evening and special room rates at our two Sheraton Hotels.

Irish NYE at McGurk’s Celebrate New Year’s at one of the top Irish pub. McGurk’s in Soulard is hosting a bash with live music from The Darrells on the main stage and a DJ spinning tunes in the outdoor heated pavilion. Dinner options include a special four-course meal or regular menu items.

Gateway Arch Riverboats New Year’s Eve Cruise Ring in 2014 with this 3½-hour

cruise, which includes dinner featuring filet mignon and jumbo shrimp; open bar; live DJ; and a champagne toast for when the clock strikes midnight. New Year’s kiss not included. ($85/person; Must be 21 or older.

St. Louis Symphony Holiday Concert: BMO Private Bank NYE Celebration What will the St. Louis Symphony be playing at its annual New Year’s Eve concert? You’ll have to go to find out. The program for the evening is always a secret, but conductor David Robertson promises a memorable evening at Powell Hall. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 to $120.

New Year’s Eve at the New Moon Room Get an out-of-this-world start to the New Year by celebrating at the Moonrise Hotel’s new Moon Room. The space-aged party will include light and fun fare, a DJ and a complimentary champagne toast to ring in 2014. Small plates start at $8. No cover charge.

2013 Jive Wail New Year’s Eve Celebration With a variety of offerings the Jive and Wail ensures you and your friends will celebrate 2013 closing with a Blast and ringing in 2014 with a Bang! From an open bar offering to VIP areas with food and drink packages and in between the Jive has something just right for your New Year’s Eve Party. The best piano players in the country will be jamming all night with percussion to provide the best and beyond compare, live entertainment celebration.

The Treasures and Traditions of Kwanzaa Celebration at the Art Museum

The Saint Louis Art Museum will conclude its December Winter Celebrations with its annual celebration of Kwanzaa. For more than a decade, the Art Museum has collaborated with the St. Louis Metropolitan Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., to offer one of St. Louis’ largest Kwanzaa celebrations. Visitors of all ages are invited to learn about African American history and culture through a full afternoon of free activities at the Art Museum. Uniting family, community and culture, Kwanzaa is a holiday celebrated by millions of people around the world.

In 1966, the educator Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in celebration of African heritage. Kwanzaa means “irst” in the African language Swahili, as in “irst fruits” –the fruits of the harvest and of the hard work of African American and African-descended communities. The seven-day celebration, December 26 - January 1, observes Nguzo Saba, the seven guiding principles for strengthening family, community, and cultural values.

Join the Art Museum on Sunday, December 29 from noon—4:00 p.m for an afternoon of art making inspired by the Museum’s art collection and traditional Kwanzaa colors, as well asa scavenger hunt highlighting works of art by African and African American artists in the galleries. Each clue relates an object in the Museum’s collection to one of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa -- Umoja (Unity); Kujichagulia (Self Determination); Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility); Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics); Nia (Purpose); Kuumba (Creativity); and Imani (Faith).

A special auditorium performance featuring African drumming, storytelling and dance will take center stage in the Art Museum’s newly renovated Farrell Auditorium at 2:00 pm. Come out to see the electrifying performances of Anneliese Hubbard with LIVETY: Indigenous Dance and the African drumming and dance ensemble Kumasi Kambeng. Same day and reserved auditorium performance tickets are free, but seating is limited. For free-ticket information, call 314.655.5444. Family Programs are sponsored by Wells Fargo Advisors. For more program information, visit www.slam.org.

SAVE THE DATE:

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunrise Freedom Celebration

Where Do We Go From Here?

Saturday, January 18

Saint Louis Art Museum, The Farrell Auditorium 8:30 am – 10:00 am

Keynote address by Wayne Harvey, Attorney & Counselor at Law Visual art, music, and dance by Tony Artz Theatrical excerpt by Young Artists for Peace and Justice Interfaith gospel and spiritual music by Just Friends New Sunny Mount Missionary Baptist Church Chancel Choir

First Night Grand Center

~ Celebrations ~ Birthdays

the best time for meetings.

Beaumont High Class of 1968 is invited to plan and organize the June 2014 46th Class Reunion Family Picnic, Jan. 25, 2014 3- 5 p.m. at Cookies n Popcorn Factory 8149 Delmar. For more information email bhsco1968@att.net or call 869-8312.

Beaumont High Class of 1964 has started planning for its 50 year class reunion. We are currently looking for participants to help with the planning. Please provide your contact information to: beaumont64alumni@gmail. com.Send your ideas as well as

Beaumont High Class of 1969 reunion planning committee meeting is set for Sat, Jan. 25, 2014 from noon—3 pm at the Vagabond House, 4315 Westminister Pl. Contact info: LaDonne at 314 277-5095 or beaumontclassof1969@yahoo. com.

Beaumont High Class of 1984 is looking for participants to begin planning its 30 year class reunion. Please provide your contact information to: beaumont_1984@yahoo.com.

Sumner High Class Of 1974 has started planning its 40th class reunion. Meetings are held each third Saturday of the month from 2-4 pm at New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, 4055 Edmundson Rd. 63134. Please contact Marsha D. Roberts-Moore at sumnerclassof1974@ yahoo.com, 314-367-3159 or Joyce Bush-Cruesoe at cruesoe2195@att.net, 314-4841552.

Sumner High Class of 1964

Mrs. Darlean A. Bobo, First Lady of the West Side

Missionary Baptist Church, was recently celebrated at a 60th Birthday Brunch in her honor. Lady Bobo is happily married to Pastor Ronald L. Bobo Sr. She is the proud mother of three sons (all preachers of the Gospel) and the beloved “Grammy” of six beautiful grandchildren.

My spouse, Oli Versus, will turn 35 on Christmas Day, December 25. He is my better half, and I just wanted to let him know I appreciate him and hope we enjoy many more years together.

Felicia M. Gully is celebrating a “Me Time Birthday Blitz” with family and friends. The years just flew by and before I knew it, I turned 45 years young on December 23.

Happy 4th Birthday to our daughter and granddaughter, Trinidy S. Booker on December 23! We love you and are so proud of you!

Love, Mom, Dad and your whole family

Angela M. Dent — December 22

Clarence Lumpkins Sr. — December 23

Barbara (Bobbie) Lovett-Brown — December 24

Mykalah Sims (11) — December 26

Lavon Jones (12) — December 26

Eric and Alasia White-Strickland — December 28

Reunion Committee is looking for classmates we have lost contact with. Please call or email any changes to your name, address, telephone number, and/or email to Patricia Wells Sheltonat (314) 839-2214 or patricia.shelton@ att.net or Carol Strawbridge at (314) 524-8504 or strawu@ AOL.com.

Sumner High Class of 1969 has started planning its 45th class reunion. Please email shsclassof69@yahoo.com for more information or call Leonard at 314-413-3104 or Meredith at 314-306-2349.

Sumner High Class of 1979 is looking for classmates to participate in activities

leading up to its 35th Class Reunion, June 20-22, 2014 in Lake Ozarks, MO. Please forward contact information to sumner1979@ymail.com or call Sara at 314-482-1558. Various activities are planned.

Sumner High Class of 1984 are planning their 30 year reunion for August 22-24, 2014. For more information please contact Priscilla (Ms. Prissy) at 314-556-3944, or Robin Allen at 314-369-9549.

U-City High Class of 1984 will host a Pre-New Year’s Eve Fundraiser Party on Friday, Dec. 27 at The In Spot Dessert Bar & Lounge at 5854 Delmar. Doors open at 7pm. Cost is $10.

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth, graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned. Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 4242 Lindell Ave St. Louis, MO 63108 FREE OF CHARGE

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability. We prefer that notices be emailed to us! However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 4242 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us. Our email address is: reunions@ stlamerican.com

Trinidy S. Booker

Darlean A. Bobo Oli Versus

Felicia M. Gully

Pope calls to end economic inequality

Francis speaks of ‘widening gap’ between rich and poor

By Marc H. Morial National Urban League

Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is manmade and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” – Nelson Mandela

Throughout history, the eradication of poverty has been a professed goal of most progressive-minded political and religious leaders. Voices ranging from Jesus, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and Nelson Mandela have asserted in their own way the right of every man, woman and child to have the basics of food, shelter, clothing, health care and a decent education. With his efforts through the Affordable Care Act to extend health insurance to millions of previously uncovered Americans, as well as his calls for universal pre-school and a raise in the minimum wage, President Obama has also focused on efforts to end income inequality.

But, as we survive another holiday season, dominated by rampant consumerism, we are faced with a worldwide epidemic of poverty. According to the Global Issues website,

“Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. The poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.” Here in America, nearly 50 million people live in poverty. This includes almost one in four children. In a world of plenty and a nation as rich as ours, there is no excuse for this. But the demands of the compassionate and the cries of the poor continue to be drowned out by the industrialized world’s fixation with materialism and the rising clamor and clout of the rich and powerful for more, often at the expense of the less fortunate. While there is no reason to believe these conditions will substantially change anytime soon, we

are encouraged that another prominent voice has been added to the calls for change –Pope Francis.

Since his election as the new pope on March 13, Pope Francis has placed a renewed emphasis on the Catholic Church’s responsibility to assist the poor. The new pope recently spoke passionately about the “widening gap between those who have more and those who must be content with the crumbs.”

He added, “Some people continue to defend trickledown theories which assume economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those

Since his election as the new pope on March 13, Pope Francis has placed a renewed emphasis on the Catholic Church’s responsibility to assist the poor.

wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”

Many of those excluded are found waiting in America. They wait while some in Congress would cut $8 billion from food stamps, or cut off benefits for more than a million long-term unemployed citizens. They wait while the president’s proposal and the economic wisdom of a raise in the minimum wage continue to languish on Capitol Hill. They wait while working jobs for wages too low to support the basic needs of their families. They wait while some in Congress continue to resist transportation and infrastructure funding and the good-paying jobs that would result.

I ask that you remember the true reason for the holiday season. We must not forget the millions who continue to suffer, who remain unemployed and who have yet to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. As Madiba urged us, in this season of giving, “Let your greatness blossom.”

Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

The bible is a reminder that being judgmental is really akin to slapping yourself in the face. “Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same manner you judge others, you will be judged and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1-2. For the most part people just cannot help themselves when it comes to judging others. The very nature of man down through the ages is to judge. This human condition causes all of us great problems and inflicts great harm. It worried Paul so much he talked about it like this: “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be. I fear that there may be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.” 2 Corinthians 12:20. These are two traits of the human personality that come from the need to judge and they entice so many of us into situations likely to destroy what should be our eternal peace. We live in a world where one is judged by looks, background, money, educational achievement and individual power and influence. As Christians we should aspire to an eternity void of all this. The common

denominator in heaven is a fundamental belief in Jesus, who taught to judge not lest you be judged. The struggle, our struggle is to actually walk in the shoes of another human being, to consider his or her circumstances, to recognize the cruelties of life and be our brother’s keeper. When all is said and done, it’s pretty easy to understand that if God can forgive, then who are we to be better than God? Easy to understand, sometimes impossible to do.

There are no perfect people, pastors, churches, children, spouses, fathers or mothers. You might want to make an effort towards an attitude adjustment. We are all dirty rags needing a good spiritual bath.

“For if you forgive them when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15.

So the next time you’re at the point of raising your nose, take a moment and look up. That would probably be an excellent time to remember to acknowledge God for his grace in forgiving you. You cannot judge and forgive and at the same time. Only God can do that, and Jesus took care of that for Him.

James A. Washington

Fricks commit $5M to WUSTL Business School

Robert and Barbara Frick have made

a $5 million commitment to support Washington University in St. Louis Olin Business School’s new building expansion, a $90 million project for two connected buildings – Knight and Bauer halls – that will add 175,000 square feet and span five levels. The buildings are to be dedicated May 2.

In recognition of the gift, the multilevel, multifunctional meeting space that connects the buildings will be named the Robert and Barbara Frick Forum.

Mahendra R. Gupta, dean of Olin Business School and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management, said:

“The Robert and Barbara Frick Forum and the new buildings will transform the school and provide much-needed space to expand business engagement with professors and students in the classroom, in research and consulting projects, and in current and future research centers.”

Accompanying the gift are two challenges that further enhance the impact of the Fricks’ commitment. The $4 million Bob and Barbara Frick Olin Facilities Challenge seeks to maximize support for the Olin Business School’s new Knight and Bauer buildings by matching dollar-for-dollar gifts between $10,000 and $1.5 million. Another $1 million will be used for the Frick San Francisco Challenge to increase annual fund gifts from alumni, parents, and friends in their home community, the San Francisco Bay area, and to encourage younger alumni to make major commitments.

The Fricks’ most recent commitment is preceded by a number of important gifts, including the establishment of the Robert and Barbara Frick Professorship in Business, held by Todd R. Zenger, PhD, a specialist in organization and strategy; and named annual scholarships for Olin students. In addition, the Fricks are life patrons of the university’s William Greenleaf Eliot Society.

Bob Frick credits his many personal and professional successes in life in part to great teachers and mentors at his alma mater. The St. Louis native received a full scholarship and graduated in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Another full-tuition scholarship allowed him to earn his master’s in business administration two years later. While at WUSTL, he joined the Reserve Officers’ Training

Corps (ROTC) and Beta Theta Pi fraternity. His career began at Bank of America (BOA) in 1963, developing new business opportunities for the bank at the dawn of Northern California’s

technology boom. He quickly rose through the leadership ranks, becoming the company’s youngest vice president.

Several years later, he left BOA to pursue a new challenge as vice president of finance and

as a director of Measurex Corp., but he realized his heart was in banking. He rejoined BOA in 1976 as managing director of its international merchant-banking subsidiary. In 1984, Frick was named vice chairman of the board

of directors of BankAmerica Corp., heading its World Banking Division. Four years later, he took early retirement to pursue new interests.

Together, Bob and Barbara Frick launched a foray into real estate development with a strong community support component. As partners in K.E.S. Management Co., they created quality apartment communities for low- to moderate-income residents in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. They also provided extensive services for the residents, including Head Start, tutoring and job-preparation programs. Barbara Frick, a former teacher at the high school and college levels, was responsible for the rehabilitation and management of more than 1,000 rental units.

This work was recognized by the city and county of Sacramento by awarding K.E.S. the 1989 Human Rights Fair Housing Outstanding Contribution in the area of fair housing, and the Sacramento Human Rights Commission Community Service Planning Award in 1995. In 1996, they were awarded the Child Abuse Prevention Council’s Founders Award.

These days, Bob Frick devotes his time to working with young Silicon Valley companies and serving on the boards of several corporations.

STLCC joins M-List

The Manufacturing Institute has named St. Louis Community College the newest member of the M-List. STLCC is acknowledged for its outstanding precision machining, production and logistics programs.

The M-List recognizes high schools, community colleges and universities that are teaching manufacturing students to industry standards. Specifically, these institutions offer students the opportunity to earn National Association of Manufacturers-endorsed manufacturing skills certifications as a standard part of their manufacturing education programs.

STLCC offers manufacturingrelated degree programs in computer integrated manufacturing, computer aided design, mechanical engineering technology (accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), electrical/electronic engineering technology (ABET accredited) and precision machining technology. The college also provides training for industry and supports K-12 activities related to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Level I NIMS (National Institute for Metalworking Skills) machining credentials offer our program a pathway to very sound machining practices,” said Tim Poelker, a machining instructor at STLCC.

“I believe tailoring our curriculum around NIMS credentials will lead to successful careers for our students.”

The Manufacturing Institute (www. themanufacturinginstitute.org) is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. As a non-partisan organization, the institute is committed to delivering leadingedge information and services to the nation’s manufacturers. The institute is the authority on the attraction, qualification and development of world-class manufacturing talent.

Christmas comes early for students at Hamilton Elementary School in St. Louis thanks to the nonprofit KidSmart and volunteers from Monsanto. The two groups teamed together to outfit every student at the school with a new backpack filled with school supplies. The event was made possible by an employee fundraising efforts and KidSmart’s mission to ensure that children and their classrooms have the basic tools for learning.

Photo by Ray Marklin

Monsanto outfits students with backpacks

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

Rap star and philanthropist Nelly celebrated another successful Black and White Ball with his daughter Chanelle and Tony T-Luv Davis. For year 8 The Black and White Ball moved to the swanky

Black and white Ballin’. So Nelly took his show to the Four Seasons on Sunday and I must say that I had more fun than I have had in a while. I think the new location gave the 8th Annual Black and White Ball a renewed energy – and restored its swag to its original glory. The Four Seasons was a perfect fit. There weren’t as many celebs as usual – as a matter of fact, outside of En Vogue 2.0 (who were pretty regular at best with their concert finale) and the man of the hour, I don’t know of any other national celebs/personalities in the building. But truth be told they weren’t missed, because the STL stars held it down. Majic 100.3’s Tammie Holland, The P-D’s Kevin Johnson, The St. Lunatics, Mz Janee (in the Midday), Jasmine Huda, Seviin Li, Abe from Star Power, Tony T-Luv Davis and his lovely wife Gabby, and Andre and Melanie Stith were just a handful of the who’s who in the house as Nelly celebrated the who’s who of the city while giving props to the annual recipients of his scholarship program. Nelly kept it more casual than usual when he arrived on the red carpet with a simple black dress shirt, dress pants and skinny tie. And for those who have absolutely no clue, Ashanti was not with him. And for those who do have a clue: neither was Tae Heckard However, when he lifted his hand out of his pocket to pose, things got formal really quickly with that five figure (bare minimum) blinged out time piece he was rocking. He went from “I guess” to best-dressed in an instant.

Bells (and busts) of the ball. And since I’m on the subject of attire, I might as well mention my Black and White Ball fashion triumphs for 2013. It seemed to me that most of the style winners had opted for white. St. Louis Post-Dispatch Fashion Editor Debra Bass was giving life more abundantly in her white three-quarter length, form-fitting gown that had a hint of pink and black blocked in as well. And I had pegged Makeda Crane as my overall best dressed – who was truly a vision in white with her white layered gown that was giving me the best of early 1980s formalwear. And did I mention that her hair and face were beat and snatched for dear life? She almost had it sewed up – that was until Deerra Nikole came in and shut everybody down with a black gown made for her by her late brother Shawn (founder of Eyekon Clothing) and had everybody overdosing on glamour. Abe from Starpower, Vincent Flewellen and Niddy were giving me all the male style I needed. As far as the fashion messes, who was that young man with the top hat, white gloves (and matching shoes) walking around using an umbrella like a cane? At first I thought it was a joke and that he was one of the performers who were paid to blend in and entertain the folks. And as much as I hate to say so, because she has been on my best dressed list just about every time I’ve seen her at the Ball, but I don’t know what Seviin Lee’s white gown was going through. It was so uncharacteristic of her that I failed to truly focus on the other ladies who didn’t quite get it right.

2013 nightlife highs

Since we’re still knee deep in the Christmas spirit, I might as well kick off my yearly roundup of the nightlife and entertainment scene with a few of my favorite things. Be sure to check out next week’s second installment that will include the foolishness! Here we go.

Best party Although this was a tight race, I’m going to have to go ahead and give it to Nelly and his Real Husbands of Hollywood Party at Home. The Black and White Ball was also among my faves, but I’ve already spent too much time on it. But back to the Husbands set –which had Kevin Hart in the building as well as….well…everybody. I can’t think of five people who weren’t at that party. And they weren’t just standing around, folks were getting it all the way in on the dance floor and ______ (insert new slang for turned up) all night long. A close second goes to GLOW, who had the patio of the Atomic Cowboy feeling like an island getaway with all the beautiful people and that excellent vibe. Net Work Inc.’s White and Denim bash at Harry’s deserves a mention as well.

Best after party Do I even have to say it again? Salute 2013! Now I know I’m being accused of not playing fair for the folks who weren’t at America’s Center on the second Friday in September. But everybody who was in the building and saw for themselves how MC Lyte and DJ Kut toreitup.com, knows that I’m just calling it like I see it. I do want to give some honorable mentions to the 2 Chainz and J. Cole after parties at Harry’s deserve honorable mentions.

Best concert Quite honestly, I had all but reserved this space for King Bey, but Justin Timberlake is the rightful owner after her maile- in Mrs. Carter Show. He gave me all that I was looking for and more as he turned out the Scottrade and filled my heart with joy. Second place goes to Brandy and how she worked that half full Lumiere Theatre like it was a sold out performance at Madison Square Garden. My third place goes to the all local Café Soul anniversary show that starred the Dirty Muggs, but featured some of the best and brightest local acts in town. The King of the Mics (LL Cool J in particular) Tour deserves a mention as well and so does DMX –who looked and sounded great, when I was expecting all kinds of crazy when he showed up at The Coliseum. Best comedy show Although I know I’m going to get a few side eyes, but Sinbad earned the honors from me for 2013. I don’t know if it was because I was expecting him to be utterly regular, or if it was because I knew he was giving us all types of fresh material – at a time where the folks seem to be repeating jokes for a living. Both of Corey Holcomb’s shows take the second and third spot – especially his Ambassador show where Jessie Taylor tore the roof off the sucka as the opening act. Jovan Bibbs’ birthday edition of Class Klownz was also of note, as was the edition of Arvin Mitchell’s funny first Sundays.

The Meyers women gave more than one generation of glamour Sunday night @ Nelly’s 8th Annual Black and White Ball

Talia and Ann turned heads @ Nelly’s 8th Annual Black and White Ball

The Four Seasons Eric and Angela Rhone were just a few of the STL stars who shined on

The stunning Safura accompanied

Charee and Vincent enjoyed seeing former cash money rapper Mannie Fresh

Event organizer Leslie Christian Wilson and and Shukuru Bilal of Shukuru Couture were in the building for Natural Night Out Friday @ The Regional Arts Commission

Derek Hibbler was in good hands with the beautiful Sidney and Janice Sunday night @ Nelly’s Black and White Ball @ The Four Seasons

Mannie Fresh helped Murphy Lee celebrate the big 3-5 by blazing the tables for his birthday bash Saturday night @ The Rustic Goat

Melanie and Dre were among the most dapper couples @ Nelly’s 8th Annual Black and White Ball Sunday night @ The Four Seasons

It couple Jay and Jeanie Johnson checked out the DJ Skills of rapper Mannie Fresh and showed birthday love to Murphy Lee Saturday night @ The Rustic Goat

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

Year in Review 2013 • 2

January

–

February

– The

January

1 – Tishaura O. Jones is sworn in as the first woman and first black woman to serve as Treasurer for the City of St. Louis.

10 – American spotlights new KMOVTV anchor Sharon Reed who came to St. Louis from Ch. 19 in Cleveland. It remains one of the most popular stories on stlamerican.com all year.

19 – American freelance photographer Lois Ingrum debuts The Doll Project: Public Displays of Healing, at the Missouri History Museum.

20 – President Barack Obama is sworn in for his second term in a small, private ceremony at the White House.

21 – Twenty-six University City juniors and seniors along with several staff members attend the second public inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. The trip gains local and national attention.

27 – Nightclub fire in Brazil, blamed on pyrotechnics from a band playing onstage, kills at least 233.

29 – Hadiya Pendelton, 15, is shot and killed in Chicago one week after performing at President Obama’s second inauguration about a mile from the Obama family’s Kenwood home. First Lady Michelle Obama attends Hadiya’s funeral.

29 – St. Louis native and natural hair blogger Nikki Walton, aka Curly Nikki, releases her debut book Better Than Good Hair: The Curly Girl Guide to Healthy,

Gorgeous Natural Hair, written with Ernessa T. Carter.

February

1 – The cast of Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s accepts the Outstanding Reality Television Program award at the 44th Annual NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles.

A suicide bomber strikes outside the U.S. Embassy in Ankara Turkey, killing the driver, Turkish guard and injuring a journalist

4 – The U.S. Postal Service honors civil rights icon Rosa Parks with a Forever stamp.

7 – The Blizzard of 2013, known as Winter Storm Nemo, hits the U.S. northeast and Canada, bringing intense snowfall, hurricane-like winds and flooding, killing at least 18.

10 – Gospel hip-hop artist Lacrae wins “Best Gospel Album” with Gravity at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. St. Louis native Courtney “J.R.” Peebles co-produced four songs from Gravity and produced one song on his own.

11 – Pope Benedict XVI announces he will resign at the end of the month, the first pope to resign since 1415.

12 – President Barack Obama gives his first State of the Union address in his second term in office, proposing to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America.

North Korea detonates a third nuclear bomb

15 – The Chelyabinsk meteor comes into the Earth’s atmosphere and explodes in Russia, injuring more than 1,000, including 200 children

22 – St. Louis chapter of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers names Abe Adewale, co-founder and CEO of ABNA Engineering Inc., Engineer of the Year. He is the second African American to receive the award.

27 – The NAACP and thousands of activists from across the country rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court to urge the Supreme Court to protect voting rights for all citizens and uphold Section 5.

March

5 – St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay wins an unprecedented fourth term, defeating Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed in the Democratic mayoral primary, 54 percent to 44 percent.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dies from cancer

7 – Normandy Board of Education names Tyrone J. McNichols as the district’s new superintendent.

10 – Saint Louis University Billikens defeat LaSalle 74-53 to win the Atlantic 10 Conference title at the Chaifetz Arena, the Billikens’ first conference championship since 1957.

13 – Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio, age 76, becomes Pope Francis, succeeding Benedict XVI. He is the first pope from Latin America.

February 12th – President Barack Obama gives his first State of the Union address in his second term in office.

14 – The St. Louis American newspaper celebrates its 85th anniversary. The American is the only local AfricanAmerican newspaper continuously published since 1928 and the longest continuously published weekly newspaper in the St. Louis area.

The Funeral Boss debuts on the Discovery Fit & Health channel featuring William C. Harris, owner of Harris Funeral Home in North St. Louis County, and his family.

22 – President Barack Obama helps negotiate reconciliation between Israel and Turkey during a visit to Israel.

26 – Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity pledges at Washington University offend a group of African-American students when one of the pledges read rap lyrics with the N-word in front of them, as part of a scavenger hunt. The racial incident gains national attention.

April

4 – American freelance photographer Lawrence Bryant hosts his first photography exhibit “LB Photography Arty Party: Where Fashion, Concert and Concept Photography Collide” at The Four Seasons.

5 – Former President Bill Clinton and St. Louisan and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey arrive in St. Louis to take part in the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative University at Washington University.

11 – Washington University professor and author Gerald Early is inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The honor is reserved for St. Louisans whose life and

1st

cast of Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s accepts the Outstanding Reality Television Program award at the 44th Annual NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles.

1st

Tishaura O. Jones is sworn in as the first woman and first black woman to serve as Treasurer for the City of St. Louis.

work have had a national impact.

12 – A 17-member delegation of North County political, educational and civic leaders meet with White House officials from the Office of Neighborhood Revitalization in Washington, D.C. to discuss Beyond Housing’s 24:1 initiative.

15 – Two bombs strike near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killing three people, including an eight-year-old boy, while maiming and injuring more than 170 participants and spectators. Authorities name Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother, Dzhokhar, 19, as suspects.

Ricin-laced letters sent to President Obama, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker and a local judge are intercepted in the mail.

24 – A building housing multiple factories in Bangladesh collapses, killing at least 1,127people.

Cary Ball Jr. is fatally shot 21 times by police. His family later files a wrongful death lawsuit against the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the individual officers and the Board of Police Commissioners.

May

4 – Embattled, longtime Saint Louis University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., announces his retirement.

4 – Orb wins the 139th Kentucky Derby.

8 – Local fast-food workers go on strike, joining a national push to unionize fastfood workers and increase the minimum wage. Currently, the minimum wage in Missouri is $7.35.

14 – Today marks the 40th anniversary of Green vs. McDonnell Douglas. The landmark case was the culmination of

Year

venerable activist Percy Green II’s racial discrimination fight against McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Corporation).

15 – United Way of Greater St. Louis announces that Orvin Kimbrough will succeed Gary Dollar as president and CEO. Dollar retires after nearly 29 years of service to the organization and 12 years as president and CEO.

20 – Category 4 tornado hits Moore, New Castle and Oklahoma City in Oklahoma, killing at least 24

30 – The Missouri legislative session adjourns without passing Medicaid Expansion that would have extended health coverage to thousands of low income, uninsured Missourians.

31 – An EF-3 tornado carved a 22-mile path from Weldon Spring Heights and Harvester in St. Charles County to Earth City, Bridgeton and Ferguson in St. Louis County. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport gets a record 1.74 inches of rain.

June

2 – Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan attends a reception for the United African People’s Organization at Better Family Life, Inc.

4 – A United Nations human rights team reports that Syria is suspected of using sarin, a nerve gas, and had used chemical weapons on multiple occasions.

5 – In the rumored $20 million partnership between Jay Z and Samsung, the electronics company pre-purchases 1 million copies of Jay Z’s upcoming “Magna Carter Holy Grail” album to give to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users for free. The album was delivered via a special “Magna Carta” app.

April 15th – Two bombs strike near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killing three people, including an eight-year-old boy, while maiming and injuring more than 170 participants and spectators. Authorities

8 – Tennis greats Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal win the French Open

9 – African Americans dominate the Tony Awards, with Cicely Tyson, Courtney B. Vance, Patina Miller and Billy Porter taking home Tony gold in four of the six performance categories.

10 – Seventeen people in the St. Louis area are injured in gun violence during seven different incidents all in one night. That Friday, children and adults join a national movement and hold a candlelight vigil on the steps of City Hall rallying for more rigorous gun-control laws.

11 – The Missouri Supreme Court upholds a 1993 state law that gives students living in unaccredited school districts the option to transfer to neighboring districts and requires the failing district to pay for their tuition and transportation costs. Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts are unaccredited.

Today marks ten years since nine-year-old Christian Ferguson disappeared.

13 – The 44th annual Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrated Berry Gordy for his contributions to music.

14 – Federal prosecutors charge former CIA employee Edward Snowden with theft of government property under the Espionage Act, for allegedly stealing and leaking classified and secret documents about government intelligence operations to several news organizations

15 – Terence Blanchard’s debut opera “Champion,” about black gay boxer Emile Griffith, makes its world premiere at Opera Theatre St. Louis.

16 – The108th National Baptist Congress of Christian Education holds its annual conference in St. Louis.

17 – The City of Alton announces that

April 11th – Washington University professor and author Gerald Early is inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The honor is reserved for St. Louisans whose life and work have had a national impact.

a “larger-than-life” bronzed sculpture of jazz great Miles Davis will be built in their downtown entertainment district. Davis was born in Alton in 1926 and moved to East St. Louis as an infant.

19 – Chef, author and television personality Paula Deen watches her empire crumble after it is revealed that she admitted using the N-word during a deposition in a lawsuit.

21 – Alderwoman Marlene Davis proposes to introduce legislation to add sagging pants to existing bans on indecent or lewd acts.

26 – Two rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court become victories for gay rights. The court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, 5-4, effectively extending benefits to same-sex couples. By not hearing an appeal on a California case, it leaved in place a lower court decision to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of Odin Lloyd.

30 – More than a million people take to the streets in Egypt on the first anniversary of President Mohammed Morsi’s inauguration, calling for him to step down.

JULY

2 – The American Association for State and Local History names the Missouri History Museum as the recipient of an Award of Merit, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.

4 – Egypt’s military deposes President Mohammad Morsi and suspends its constitution as protests, attacks, arrests and killings continue

13 – George Zimmerman, the admitted killer of Trayvon Martin, is found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The jury was composed of five white women, no blacks and one minority.

At a nonviolent toy exchange initiative put together by Rev. Rodney T. Francis, about 250 new nonviolent toys are distributed in exchange for roughly 90 violent toys and video games.

Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge, gives birth to a baby boy named George Alexander Louis, His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

30 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announces new peace talks to begin between Israel and Palestinians.

Thanks to our team members for helping to make a difference –

one by one, one on one

As we prepare to begin a new year, we all share the hope for safe, healthy, and vibrant neighborhoods where our children can grow and prosper. Wells Fargo Advisors believes that education is the key to unlocking those hopes and the means to making them a reality.

We are proud that what began as a handshake three years ago has grown into a signature partnership between the St. Louis Public Schools and Wells Fargo Advisors.

Through working with district administrators, principals, and teachers, Wells Fargo Advisors team members have volunteered more than 8,000 hours of their time this year to share their talents with children in three of our city’s public schools.

Our team members’ passion for wanting to make a difference in our community is creating a solid foundation for helping urban students to grow, to become self-reliant and productive contributors, and to serve as role models for others in their neighborhoods. It’s hard to imagine a better investment than that.

31– Tuskegee Airmen hold their 42nd Annual National Convention in St. Louis.

Missouri Black Expo announces move to Chaifetz Arena after 22 years at America’s Center.

AUGUST

1 – The enrollment deadline passes for the 2,600 students who opted to transfer out of Riverview and Normandy school districts.

Russia grants a one-year asylum to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, angering President Obama, who cancels a summit with President Vladimir Putin that would have taken place in September.

5 – Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos buys The Washington Post and other newspapers for $250 million.

12 – The rodeo clown who wore a President Obama mask at the Missouri State Fair over the weekend has been permanently banned from the fair.

14 – Israel and Palestine officially begin peace talks in Jerusalem.

15 – Two St. Louis City Workhouse jail guards accused of forcing inmates to fight each other plead guilty to charges of burglary, assault and obstruction of government operations.

17 – The Universal African Peoples Organization hosts its annual program commemorating the life and legacy of Marcus “Mosiah” Garvey.

20 – St. Louis-based World Wide Technology Inc. is ranked No. 1 on Black Enterprise’s 41st Annual list of largest black businesses.

21– Private Bradley Manning is sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking more than 700,000 files containing classified U.S. military activities to WikiLeaks

24 – St. Louis passengers board buses headed to Washington, D.C to participate in the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington.

28 – President Obama commemorates the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial.

The St. Louis Equal Housing and Community Reinvestment Alliance reports a lack of minorities in senior management and board positions at area banks.

30 – The City of St. Louis takes control of its police department for the first time since the Civil War.

July 13th – George

September 17th - Rico

Paul is found guilty of murdering longtime St. Louis American circulation manager Paul Reiter.

4 – Forest Park makes the top 10 list of Great Public Spaces for 2013, according to the American Planning Association.

7 – The Missouri side of the Poplar Street Bridge is renamed as the “Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge.”

SEPTEMBER

1 – President Obama announces he will seek Congressional approval for military action against Syria in response to the chemical attack last month that killed 1,429, many civilians.

5 – Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority hosts a community forum on domestic violence at the Missouri History Museum.

6 – Poet and author Maya Angelou is announced as the recipient of the Literarian Award, an honorary National Book Award for contributions to the literary community. It’s the first major literary prize for the 85-year-old Angelou.

7 – St. Louis designer Joni Marie Ross showcases designs for the fall season at New York Fashion Week.

8 – Tennis great Serena Williams wins her fifth U.S Open.

13 – The St. Louis American Foundation hosts the 2013 Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Gala.

15 – U.S. and Russia agree that Syria must provide an inventory of chemical weapons and production facilities within a week and must turn over or destroy all of its chemical weapons by 2014.

16 – Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research

in Black Culture, speaks at the Missouri History Museum.

17 - Rico Paul is found guilty of murdering longtime St. Louis American circulation manager Paul Reiter

20 – Phillip B. Williams, a graduate student at Washington University, is one of five young poets awarded a $15,000 scholarship from the Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine.

21 – Radical militants take over the Westgate luxury mall in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 70 and wounding 175.

26 – St. Louis native Erinn Westbrook joins the cast of the hit FOX network show “Glee” in the season five premiere as main mean girl “Bree.”

OCTOBER

1 – Web site dysfunction causes an abysmal roll out on healthcare.gov for persons applying for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

The U.S. government shuts down business for 16 days except essential services as Congress fails to agree on appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014, mainly due to a standoff over the Affordable Care Act.

3 – At least 94 African migrants on their way to Europe are killed and 250 are missing after their boat capsizes in the Mediterranean near Sicily.

10 – The Metropolitan Sewer District Board of Trustees approves an historic agreement to ensure job opportunities for local residents.

14 – Metro Transit is no longer accepting pennies as payment on its Metro bus vehicles.

15 – The Black Rep announces its residency at Harris-Stowe State University’s Emerson performance center for its 36th season.

16 – The House and Senate approve a bill to fund the government until January 15, 2014, ending the government shutdown.

17 – The St. Louis Board of Aldermen give final approval to developer Paul McKee Jr.’s NorthSide redevelopment plan, including $390 million in tax increment financing for the project.

18 – Michael V. Drake, MD delivers the 18th annual Homer G. Phillips Public Health lecture.

19 – Funeral Services held for the late Mother Geneva Gentry

Webster University Black Students Association presents the first Shirley Bradley LeFlore Scholarship.

21 – VH1’s “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story” attracts 4.5 million viewers, the highest-rated original movie in the

Zimmerman, the admitted killer of Trayvon Martin, is found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The jury was composed of five white women, no blacks and one minority.

network’s history.

28 – Dr. Conrad Murray is freed from jail after serving two years for his role in Michael Jackson’s death.

NOVEMBER

1 – More than 230,000 St. Louis city and county residents see a decrease in their food stamp allotment – among 47 million people nationwide.

Director Steve McQueen’s film “Twelve Years a Slave” opens in theatres nationwide.

Michelle Alexander discusses her book “New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration on the Age of Obama” at the Missouri History Museum.

Nichole N. Bridges joins the Saint Louis Art Museum as associate curator for African art and the associate curator in charge overseeing the Museum’s Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas.

2 – St. Louis artist John E. Rozelle offers paintings and his collages in a two-day art sale to benefit North St. Louis Arts Council.

8 – The Church of God in Christ

Year in Review 2013 • 7

evangelists lead a short march to the Justice Center followed by a brief ceremony on the stairs of the Justice Center as part of its national Convocation being held in St. Louis.

Typhoon Haiyan hits the Philippines, killing more than 4,000 with more than 1,600 missing and affecting 4.28 million people in at least 270 towns.

9 – The 7th Annual Distinguished Gents concert at Harris- Stowe celebrates the late David Peaston

14 – The St. Louis American Foundation, Regional Chamber and Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis present the 2013 Salute to Excellence in Business Awards & Networking Luncheon.

The 22nd Annual St. Louis International Film Festival showcased features and shorts that share the black experience in America and beyond.

15 – St. Louis ConnectCare closes its doors after 15 years. It was safety net health facility for specialty and urgent care services for the indigent and poor in St. Louis.

17 – At least 60 tornadoes strike in the Midwest, causing eight deaths.

20 – Singer/actor Chris Brown is back in court after entering into rehab.

20 – President Obama awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Ernie Banks, Bayard Rustin, Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian, Oprah Winfrey, and others.

21 – The U.S. Senate implements its “nuclear option,” voting to end the minority party’s right to filibuster executive and judicial branch nominees.

22 – The University of Missouri Board of Curators votes unanimously to merge The St. Louis Beacon and St. Louis Public Radio.

23 – The Nelson Mandela biopic “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” screens at the Tivoli Theatre.

DECEMBER

1 – A metro train derails in the Bronx, NY killing four and injuring more than 60.

2 – Third grader Jesse Dixon is honored by Riverview Fire Protection District for preventing a house fire and saving his uncle’s life.

3 – KMOV-TV Channel 4 names Maurice Drummond as its new sports director.

5 – Nelson Mandela dies at age 95. The former South African president and leader of the African National Congress lead a peaceful dissolution of the apartheid minority rule in his nation after he was released from prison after 27 years.

6 – The U.S. Labor Department reports unemployment has dropped to a five-year low.

12 – North Korea leader Kim Jong Un orders the execution of his uncle by marriage and second in command, Jang Song Thaek, as a traitor.

13 – Beyoncé releases a self-titled “visual album” exclusively on iTunes at midnight. The album would sell 80,000 copies in three hours and go on to shatter iTunes sales records with nearly a million sold in its first five days of release.

A gunman opens fire at Araphoe High School in Centennial, Colorado (eight miles from Colombine), injuring two students, one critically. The gunman is found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

14 – Beyoncé performs to a sold-out crowd at Scottrade Center.

18 – The St. Louis Minority Business Council and Regional Chamber approve a Memorandum of Agreement to work together more formally to expand opportunities for minority-owned businesses in the region.

December 14th – Beyoncé performs to a sold-out crowd at Scottrade Center.

2013 Year in Review Obituaries

January

19 - Stan Musial, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, dies of natural causes. “Stan the Man” spent 22 seasons playing with the St. Louis Cardinals and appeared in the All-Star game 24 times. He was 92.

28 – Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, founder and frontman of the funk group The Ohio Players, passes away at the age of 69 following a battle with cancer.

31 – Archie Griffin, president and chief executive officer of Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Centers, passes away following an illness. He was 65.

February

civic leader Dr. R. Jerome Williams Sr. passes away following a heart attack. The internist retired after 50 years of private practice in the African-American community. He was 87.

21 – St. Louis surgeon Dr. Leslie Bond Sr. passes away. His medical career lasted nearly a half century, including a private practice, in public health and as an assistant in clinical surgery at Washington University School of Medicine.

April

5 – Iconic Chicago’s SunTimes film critic Roger Ebert dies at age 70, after just announcing that his cancer had returned.

29 – Marvin Junior, the longtime lead singer extraordinaire of the Dells, passes away at the age of 77 from kidney failure and a weak heart in his Harvey, IL home.

June

3 – David “Deacon” Jones, a pro football defenseman who enjoyed a long career with the Los Angeles Rams (and later the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers) and was credited with creating the word sack for how he knocked down quarterbacks, dies at 74.

18 – Domonique Harden, a.k.a. Stage, is killed in a head-on crash in Brooklyn, Ill. “Stage” was a promotional model and Eye Candy alum. She was 28.

19 – Lee Thompson Young, best known for his role as the title character on Disney Channel’s The Famous Jett Jackson and on TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles, dies of an apparent suicide in Los Angeles. He was 29.

September

6 – Bessie “Becky” (Mitchell) Price dies at 86. She was married to St. Louis’ first African-American radio personality, Wiley Price Sr., who departed this life prior. Their son Wiley Price III is photojournalist at The St. Louis American

19 – Pelagie Green Wren dies at 71. Wren was a renowned dance instructor and became the first African-American chorus member of the Muny Opera House in 1962.

4 – Donald Byrd, one of the leading jazz trumpeters of the 1950s and early 1960s, who became both successful and controversial in the 1970s by blending jazz, funk and rhythm and blues into a pop hybrid that defied categorization, dies on Feb. 4 in Dover, Del. He was 80.

6 – Cardiss Collins, the first African-American woman to represent Illinois in Congress, dies at age 81 of complications from pneumonia at a hospital in Alexandria, Va.

14 – South African model Reeva Steenkamp dies after a shooting at the Pretoria home of her boyfriend, Olympian Oscar Pistorius. She was 29.

8 – Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the UK, dies of a stroke. She was 87.

16 - Broadcaster Pat Summerall, who covered 16 Super Bowls over an impressive career in sports broadcasting, dies in a Dallas hospital.

27 – Former Motown vocalist Richard Street, a member of the Temptations for 25 years, dies at a hospital in Las Vegas after a short illness. He was 70.

March

5 – Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president who served his country by reducing poverty levels and encouraging college education during his four terms, dies of an unspecified cancer. He was 58.

9 – Retired boxer Tony Martin was killed in an altercation with a visitor at one of his rental properties in Philadelphia. 16

May

19 - James Joseph Gandolfini Jr., best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO series The Sopranos, dies suddenly after suffering a heart attack while he was in Italy. He was 51.

October

1 – Tom Clancy, a celebrated author of crime fiction and military thrillers, dies in a hospital in Baltimore. He was 66.

11 – “Master Chef” runner up Joshua Marks is found dead in a Chicago alley. He reportedly suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Marks was 26.

28 – Author Fredrick McKissack dies at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield from kidney failure. He was 73. With his wife Patricia, he wrote more than 100 books. They explored slavery, Jim Crow, the civil rights era they knew firsthand and the lives of AfricanAmerican martyrs, scholars, inventors and celebrities.

23 – Blues legend Bobby Blue Bland passed away due to one of several health issues he had faced over the years. He was 83.

July

1 – Jim Kelly, who parlayed his martial arts skills into a successful but brief career in action movies, dies at age 67 of cancer.

1 – Chris Kelly, half of the rap duo Kris Kross, dies of an apparent drug-related incident. The duo’s greatest success came with the release of 1992’s “Jump,” a single which spent eight weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was 34.

3 – Cedric Brooks, famous reggae musician known for his work with The Skatalites, dies of cardiac arrest. He was 70.

9 – Malcolm Shabazz, activist, blogger and the grandson of civil rights leader Malcolm X, was beaten to death in Mexico City. He was 28.

2 – William H. Gray III, president and CEO of the United Negro College Fund from 1991 to 2004 and majority whip in Congress from 1989 to 1991, dies. He was 71.

18 – Local and national gospel legend Mother Geneva Gentry passes away at the age of 101. She worked with the likes of modern gospel icon Thomas Dorsey – with whom she would co-found what would become the National Gospel Choir Convention – and the O’Neal Twins

20 – Clifford “Scotty” Williams, member of the St. Louis-based Montclairs that recorded sweet, soulful ballads, passes away.

November

13 – Cory Monteith, best known for starring as singing football player Finn Hudson on the hit Fox series Glee, is found dead in his hotel room in Vancouver, Canada from a lethal combination of heroin and alcohol. He was 31.

August

5 – Jazz music icon George Duke died at the age of 67. A multifaceted musician in jazz, funk, R&B and fusion, he produced and composed for Miles Davis and collaborated with Frank Zappa.

20 – Self-proclaimed psychic and author Sylvia Browne dies. Her biggest blunder was during one of many appearances on The Montel Williams Show when 11-year-old Sean Hornbeck was still missing. Browne told his parents the boy was dead. Four years later, he was found alive. She was 77.

30 – Paul Walker, star of the Fast & Furious movie series, dies from injuries sustained in a car accident. Walker was 40.

December

5 - Nelson Mandela, former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, dies following prolonged troubles from a recurring lung infection. He was 95.

Stan Musial

Dr. Leslie Bond

Becky Price

Cardiss Collins

Margaret Thatcher

Bobby Blue Bland

Dr. R. Jerome Williams Paul Walker