February 21st, 2013 edition

Chief George endorses Lewis Reed

‘Lewis Reed can help rebuild this city’

For The St.Louis

Lewis Reed for Mayor. In 1999 I became not just the first African-American appointed

St. Louis Fire Department, I became the first African-American

major city in the state of Missouri. This was an achievement earned after 32 years of distinguished service, not by special favors. I was chief for eight years,

See GEORGE, A7

Opening eyes to science

Washington University Chancellor Mark S.Wrighton,a chemist by training,informed and entertained youth with a chemistry demonstration at the grand opening of the university’s Institute for School Partnership MySci Resource Center on Monday.The center

Scholarship helping dreamerbecome nurse

April

By Sandra Jordan Of The St.Louis American

It’s

ing in a profession that becomes her vocational pursuit. That is the case for Alexandria Holmes, a Deaconess nursing scholar who attended Nerinx Hall High School in Webster Groves. “We were to choose three career professionals to follow for a day. I followed a nurse at Barnes in

Deaconess nursing scholar

registered nurse as soon as possible. “Right now I work on the cardiovascular floor at Barnes as a student nurse technician so I hope to continue my work there as an RN,” she said. “I have always had an interest in pediatric oncology. I love children and forming rela-

MSD study finds disparity

Recommends increasing goals for minority firms, workers

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

Astudy released Friday found that the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) had not been employing as many African-American subcontractors as they could have on construction contracts from 2007 to 2012.

The release of the disparity study marks the end of a long debate on whether or not MSD needs to increase its goals in hiring minority- and women-owned businesses, especially in light of the $4.7 billion in mandated improvements the district will be making over the next 23 years.

The disparity study, conducted by Mason Tillman, recommends that MSD increase its goal for hiring minority-owned businesses (MBE) to 30 percent on building construc-

New Direction Ministries and partners serve homeless men

By Bridjes O’Neil Of The St.Louis American

“Our

Photo by Wiley Price

Aldermanic President Lewis Reed has been endorsed for Mayor by former Fire Chief Sherman George.The election is March 5.

Photo by Wiley Price

Clive Davis outs himself as bi-sexual in memoir

In his new book The Sound Track of My Life, music mogul Clive Davis reveals that he’s bisexual, and has been in long-term relationships with men since 1985.

“For over 50 years, I never had sex with a male,” said Davis, who’s worked with artists such as Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, and most famously, the late Whitney Houston. Davis, who was twice married, said he did not even think about men in a romantic capacity until his fifties.

Bishop Long accused of scheming former New Birth members

Atlanta mega church pastor Bishop Eddie Long is facing a suit from former parishioners who say he encouraged them to invest in a company that was operating an alleged Ponzi scheme.

A dozen former members of New Birth

“It wasn’t repressed — I had very good sexual relationships with women,” the Grammy-winning producer told ABC’s Nightline. “Never for me …this very maligned and misunderstood subject of bisexuality came up.” Davis, who’s currently the chief creative officer for Sony Music Entertainment, said he was involved in a 13-year relationship with a doctor, and a 7-year relationship with another man. He did not name them so as to protect their privacy.

Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga., filed suit in DeKalb County court in late January. The suit says that Long’s assistant had been warned that businessman Ephren W. Taylor was running a $3 million capital deficit, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

After Long introduced the businessman as his “friend,” the former New Birth members lost more than $1 million investing with the self-described “social capitalist.” Long’s church has urged Taylor to repay investors with interest.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Taylor in 2012 with running a Ponzi scheme, and a civil case against him is pending.

SEC officials said he promised to use investments for charity and to help economically-challenged areas, but instead diverted the funds he received after speaking to churches, including

New Birth, to pay other investors and finance business and personal expenses.

Is Mary J. Blige broke?

First singer Mary J. Blige defaulted on $250,000 in loans earmarked for her charity, and then she was sued by Signature bank for defaulting on $2 million in personal loans followed by an identical suit from Bank of America after she defaulted on another $2 million personal loan.

Now comes news she is reportedly having trouble paying her rent.

According to The New York Post, The “No More Drama” singer’s reported money problems have gotten so bad, she was slapped with a notice on the door of her upper West Side apartment building after it was discovered that she “had a rent-paying problem” last November. The luxe building, the Ashley, boasts a basketball court, state-of-theart gym and bowling alley

“It was for not paying back rent,” a real estate source who has leased apartments at the building told the newspaper.

A three-bedroom apartment at the Extell Development site, similar to the one Blige was renting, rents for $9,000 to $12,000 monthly, depending

on the view and amenities. The source told the Post that the 42-year-old singer was there for a little more than a year before the note was plastered on the front door of the pad.

According to reports Mary’s finances are in a shambles because she’s being bled dry by a mountain of copyright lawsuits.

Kandi stands up for her man

“Real Housewives of Atlanta” co-star Kandi Burruss comes to the defense of her finance Todd Tucker against people calling him a gold-digger in the latest edition of Sister 2 Sister Magazine.

“I heard different people like Wendy Williams trying to say he was an opportunist,” Burruss told the magazine. “But I was trying to figure out, ‘What does she mean by that?’ Todd makes good money doing what he does, and he also has a lot of different business ventures going on outside of that. And he did not want to be on TV or anything. I think, for AJ, it was more about if people can’t figure out how you make your money, and then they always try to say, ‘Oh, you must not have any.’ But you can clearly see that Todd is working. He does well, so no need to question it.”

Sources: Global Grind, TMZ,

Terror in the ‘hood

their faces robbed the Auto Zone store at 26th and State Street, taking between $400 and $500 at gunpoint before escaping in a crème-colored Buick.

Well, it hasn’t been such “a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” to quote the late Mr. Rogers, at least not in East St. Louis. In fact, as of late, it has been more like Eddie Murphy’s old SNL skit Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood, in which it was always “a hell-of-a-day in the neighborhood.”

James Ingram

It all started back on January 22 when YouTube showed several women fighting in an East Boogie food stamp line as if they were on an episode of WWE Monday Night Raw One woman allegedly even wielded a pair of scissors. Unfortunately the video went viral, showcasing their ignorance (and ESL’s embarrassment) for the entire world to see.

The following Sunday, three masked gunmen staged an armed robbery of the IRA Grove Freewill Baptist Church, pointing a gun at the minister and forcing worshippers to the floor, demanding wallets, jewelry and cell phones. Three teens were arrested (and two charged) in connection with that case. Then, on the next evening, two black males wearing hoodies and bandanas over

Later that night, a 32-yearold woman was robbed, raped and beaten after walking a couple of blocks from the Emerson Park MetroLink station. The perpetrator was described as a black male in a hoodie.

The only good news in this hellacious week of lunacy and criminality is that no one was killed in any of the incidents.

Since that time ESL Mayor Alvin Parks, area ministers and city leaders met and strategized regarding a plan of action following the church robbery.

ESL Police Chief Michael Floore wants to get to the bottom of the food stamp brawl and has encouraged the women to make a report with the police department. Floore also believes that additional security measures (including metal detectors) are needed to enhance the safety of those utilizing the Department of Human Services offices.

None of that, however, speaks to the mentality of the brawlers, thugs, robbers and rapists involved in this spree of terror in East Boogie. Did I use the word terror? Yes, I did.

You see, the common misconception (in most mainstream media) is that these types of goings-on are to be expected in the ‘hood and that African Americans, in particular, should expect and be unaffected by the terror aspect of such travesties.

In fact, the only time you hear the word “terror” is, typically, in association with “unexpected” shootings

and tragedies in “lily-white” suburbs or enclaves (like the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings) or in the case of foreign militant groups who have been identified as “terrorist” because of their potential to threaten their people or America’s interests.

What about the terror of East St. Louis citizens who go to church seeking peace, but find themselves faced with the prospect of being robbed as they kneel to pray?

How about the terror in the mind and hearts of ESL women who must take MetroLink to work every day, but now fear that some armed degenerate might attempt to rape them as they simply attempt to walk home to their families?

Or what about the terrorized merchants who took the gamble of opening businesses in ESL, only to be robbed in such brazen fashion by gunwielding thugs who see them as easy prey?

And is it not terrorizing to go to a government office to seek public assistance, only to be sent fleeing for one’s life because of a beef between a few female hoodlums?

No, it’s not a beautiful day in East Boogie and until we can restore some modicum of self-respect and sense of outrage at the disintegration of our community, it’s going to continue to be a “hell-of-a-day in the neighborhood” for some time to come.

If you like my column, then you will love my radio show on WGNU-920am every Sunday from 4-5 pm. Please tune-in and call-in. I love to hear from my St. Louis American readers.

Email: jtingram_1960@ yahoo.com Twitter@ JamesTIngram.

105 years of Sisterhood & Service

SLPS vendors help with shoe drive

The Metropolitan Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. recently celebrated 105 years of Sisterhood & Service. Mary Nicholson (center front) was the chair person and Upsilon Phi Omega Chapter of Edwardsville, IL was the host Chapter. Pictured are representatives from each of the Metropolitan Chapters that make up the planning committee for the Founders’ Day Celebration Weekend.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

ARAMARK and Kwame Building Group recently provided 300 pairs of new athletic shoes to local youth in need from the St. Louis Public School District at the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club in St. Louis. ARAMARK/KWAME, a joint venture team providing facility management services to the district, donated volunteer time and financial support to Samaritan’s Feet, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes shoes for people in need.

Editorial /CommEntary

Reed sheds light on Slay admin.

The mayoral campaign for the March 5 municipal primary has been especially enlightening because, for the first time, threeterm incumbent Mayor Francis G. Slay has faced an opponent, aldermanic President Lewis Reed, who has intimate knowledge about city business as it is actually conducted. In recent campaigns, Slay has faced former alderman Irene J. Smith and former state Senator Maida Coleman. Smith was never close to the seat of real power in city government, and Coleman’s playmaking was all done in Jefferson City. Reed, on the other hand, has dealt closely with Slay on the city’s all-powerful Board of Estimate and Apportionment for five years. As many will tell you, Reed has not always been antagonistic to Slay. To the contrary, he knows Slay only as one knows a former ally and deal partner. The deals are all off now, and the gloves are off too. Reed is running hard for Mayor, and he knows and is sharing publicly facts about how Slay has handled city business that seldom see media daylight in St. Louis. As our political column this week reports in detail, Reed has studied and understands how Slay exploits some grey areas in how the city awards contracts to fatten his campaign coffers without quite breaking the law. Slay and his attorneys know that “honest service” fraud has been all but gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court, so “pay to play” corruption now requires evidence about as blatant as former state Rep. T.D. El-Amin actually physically grasping money he had extorted to perform a political service. Reed does not have video of Slay or a staffer asking for and accepting a direct bribe, and we are not going to see Slay or one of his appointees marched down City Hall steps by a federal investigator on the strength of the documents Reed released on Friday. But people like Irene J. Smith and others, who always knew something suspicious was going on in Room 200, now see in some detail how some of those shady deals were cut.

Aldermanic President Lewis Reed greets supporters after first announcing his campaign for Mayor at SqWires in his home 6th Ward.

Photo by Wiley Price

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Chris Dorner and Black America

I believe Christopher Dorner is a cold-blooded murderer. The young couple he is charged with killing as revenge on the LAPD had their whole lives ahead of them, and he took that. It’s just horrible.

And chances are, the officer whose life he took didn’t even know the particulars of Dorner’s situation; he was simply doing his job. I don’t know a single soul who doesn’t say that what Dorner allegedly did was absolutely, unequivocally wrong. He flipped.

The same goes with the nasty addendum that the Slay administration quietly added to an agreement that new city hires sign regarding pensions and benefits. Before Reed’s campaign brought this change to light, new hires in the city were being asked to sign a waiver that clearly limits their future bargaining rights for benefits. Slay’s denial that he knew about this change – particularly given that the new clause initially was targeted only at Slay’s newest enemies, union firefighters – is laughable and shown to be false by email threads that include senior Slay staffers. We do not deny that St. Louis city government – like city and state governments all over this country – faces a real crisis in pension commitments. Whatever Lewis Reed is telling his union supporters now, if he is elected Mayor he will face the same crisis and, we predict, he will not be able to honor all of the promises he is making on the campaign trail, as Slay himself has broken similar promises in the past.

The point is that Slay’s administration was caught trying to make a significant change in policy by rewriting an intake form, rather than honestly negotiating in the light of day – and that their target were new political enemies who are working against him in this campaign. Again, no one who has been paying attention for the past 11 years is surprised to see the Slay administration handle its business in this way. What is surprising, particularly given how compliant our local media (and in particular the daily paper) are with this mayor and his campaign, is to see their devious dealings plainly documented. Whether or not Lewis Reed beats Slay on March 5, we commend him for running a serious campaign that has put Slay on the defensive about issues of real importance to this city and how it is governed. Whoever our next Mayor may be, the public deserves this degree of informed scrutiny and transparency about how the people’s business is being conducted in Room 200.

Commentary

Obama is winning the argument

In his bid to be remembered as a transformational leader, President Obama is following the playbook of an ideological opposite, Margaret Thatcher. First you win the argument, she used to say, then you win the vote.

Obama is gradually winning the argument about what government can and should do. His State of the Union address was an announcement of that fact – and a warning to conservatives that to remain relevant, they will have to move beyond the premise that government is always the problem and never the solution.

Repairing the nation’s infrastructure is not a partisan issue; bridges rust at the same rate in Republican-held congressional districts as in Democratic ones. The benefits of universal preschool will accrue in red states as well as blue. Climate change is not deterred by the fact that a majority of the Republican caucus in the House doesn’t believe in it. There is no bipartisan compromise between “do something” and “do nothing.”

Obama’s re-election reflected the progress he has made in convincing Americans that “do something” is the only option. Thatcher came to power at a time when Britain was sinking. The ideological pendulum had

swung too far to the left, and the nominally socialist Labor Party, architect of the modern British welfare state, was out of ideas. Thatcher’s Conservative government roused the nation. She was an enormously polarizing figure, and much of what she did – fighting the unions, privatizing state industries and public housing –was met with bitter resistance. Today, Britain remains one of the wealthiest countries in the world and continues to play a major role in international affairs. London is arguably the world’s pre-eminent financial center. I doubt any of this would be the case if Thatcher had not won the argument. When Obama took office, the U.S. was in a similar funk. Ronald Reagan’s conservative ideas had been corrupted by his followers into a kind of antigovernment nihilism. Reagan wanted to shrink government; today’s Republican Party wants to destroy it. Obama assumed leadership of a country in which inequality was growing and economic mobility declining. It was a country whose primary and secondary schools lagged far behind international norms; whose airports, roads and bridges were showing their age; and, most important, whose path to continued prosperity, in the age of globalization and information technology, was not entirely clear.

To understand why Americans re-elected Obama in November and sent more Democrats to both houses of Congress, consider the Republican response delivered

by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., following the president’s address.

Never mind the unforgettable moment when Rubio stooped almost out of sight and reached for a bottle of water, all the while trying to look straight ahead at the camera like John Cleese in some Monty Python sketch. I felt genuinely sorry for him. Even more unfortunate, in the end, was the utter lack of ideas in Rubio’s speech.

“More government isn’t going to help you get ahead, it’s going to hold you back,” Rubio said. Yet he also said that he never would have been able to go to college without government-backed student loans. And he spoke touchingly of how Medicare paid for the care his father received in his final days and the care his mother needs now.

I expected him to try to reconcile this contradiction. Instead, he went back to portraying government as something to be tamed rather than something to be used. To a majority of Republican primary voters, this makes sense. To the electorate as a whole, it might have made sense 30 years ago –but not today.

Margaret Thatcher never won the hearts of her many opponents. But by winning her, argument she shaped a nation’s future. There’s an increasing chance that historians will say the same of Barack Obama.

Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@ washpost.com.

acquainted with a couple of mid-level law enforcement officials. They’re good people. But many officers I have encountered harassed me without reason and then went on with their lives, unaware and unconcerned with how it left me.

However, much of the contents of Dorner’s now infamous manifesto, labeled rhetoric by the LAPD, the press and the white general public, is all too familiar to Black America. We’ve known of the rancid, pervasive culture of racism and sexism Dorner wrote about the LAPD – inside law enforcement agencies across the country – for as long as any of us can remember. It’s just a fact of life.

I am not anti-police. I respect and appreciate the challenging task the dedicated men and women of law enforcement undertake each day in fighting crime. I’m

I’ve been stopped by police for no reason many times. And what I have been through is nothing compared to the verbal and physical assault that is routine. If you are a person of color in America –particularly, if you are male – instinctively, you grow into the comprehension. It’s like puberty: no one teaches you that some police are prone to bedevil you because of who or what you are; one day, you just wake up knowing that it happens. You come to learn the societal triggers. For instance, it was tough being a person of color in L.A. during the volatile days of the Rodney King riots. And the day O.J. Simpson was acquitted was an exacting time to be black in America, too. White folk were seething at the not guilty verdict, especially in L.A. So were some white law enforcement officers. Likewise, when Barack Obama was first elected President, in certain smug faces we intuitively knew not to celebrate too heartily.

And now, in Los Angeles

Letters to the editor

Clay on State of the Union

The President offered an energetic plan to ensure a thriving middle class, strengthen our economy with a balanced approach to deficit reduction, and reward hard work and responsibility with a fair chance for every American to succeed.

He also announced a muchneeded new effort to ensure the voting rights of every American on every election day ... an effort that I will enthusiastically support.

I also welcome President Obama’s decision to reduce American troop levels in Afghanistan by half and to speed the end of that long war. Finally, I applaud and strongly support the President’s efforts to enact common sense measures that a clear majority of Americans support to reduce gun violence.

Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay Washington, D.C.

Fund a few more sergeants

Police Chief Sam Dotson says the nine police districts should be redrawn and personnel reallocated to better serve the citizenry with no mention of reducing the number of police districts.

St. Louis had nine police districts when its population was about 900,000. To maintain nine districts with the current population of just over 300,000 residents is fiscal tomfoolery.

Each district has a captain and four lieutenants. Reducing districts to three would reduce the number of captains by six and lieutenants by 24. That would be a great savings to the city and could be accomplished without reducing police service. The police service of most concern to residents, and the only function that can’t be eliminated, is patrol, the cops that respond to 9-1-1 calls. That service is delivered by patrolmen and sergeants. The accepted span of supervisory control is about 10 officers, so the savings from reducing the command rank would be more than adequate to fund the addition of a few more sergeants.

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

during the fascinating days of the Christopher Dorner case, people of color old enough to know the signs, can feel a familiar, polarizing weight in the air.

Thus, when LAPD chief Charlie Beck announced that a $1 million reward – the largest in the city’s history – was put on Dorner’s head because law enforcement officials on his hit list exist in constant fear of harm at any given time, too many of us understand. When Beck says the idea of the unknowing is “scary,” we can relate. He says that Dorner’s targets simply don’t deserve to live in the shadow of this kind of terror. He’s right. Thus, those of us for whom the threat of systematic harassment is a way of life –women of all persuasions pulled over by police only to be asked for a date; the poor, the disabled and the homeless who are routinely treated like second class citizens – to Chief Beck and company, with anguished, conflicted emotion, we say, “Welcome to our world.” Steven Ivory has been a music and culture journalist for more than 25 years. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Essence, Vibe and The Source. His column appears weekly in Electronic Urban Report (EURweb.com).

Slaves don’t get paid

I am writing to respond to the op-ed piece by Percy Green. There are many points with which I take issue in Mr. Green’s analysis of the upcoming mayoral election. Chief among these is the childish name calling and racial innuendo that Mr. Green engages in. However, I will concentrate on political misstatements. I am not sure who these “progressives” are that he references. Congressman Clay won the August 2012 primary with a large number of votes from St. Louis city and county. Most of these voters do not look to Mr. Green for leadership. In fact, the small group that he is affiliated with did not win the election battles that they were involved in. I doubt seriously that they worked hard for Congressman Clay but neglected their own elections.

The “progressives” he is affiliated are better known for their misuse of the black community for their own purposes. I look to the local “progressives” and how they recently undermined the black leadership in ACORN and Local 2000 of SEIU. Mr. Green – look closely who you stand with before you reference Uncle Tom and being enslaved.

The most peculiar and bizarre part of his attitude about Congressman Clay and Mayor Slay is that these are the last two individuals who employed Mr. Green. None of the so called “progressives” ever gave him Mr. Green a job. I guess that makes sense, however, since slaves don’t get paid.

Rev. Ken McKoy St. Louis

Rigging the system

When House Republicans began their assault on the constitutional right to vote in 2006, the number of cases of voter impersonation stood at zero. Seven years and eight legislative sessions later, the number of voter impersonation cases remains at zero. Yet, as the Missouri Supreme Court has pointed out, voter impersonation at the polls is the only type of election fraud a photo voter ID requirement could prevent.

While voter impersonation is a myth, legally registered elderly, disabled, low-income and minority voters are real,

and they tend to vote for Democrats. And they also account for the bulk of the estimated 250,000 Missouri voters who don’t have a government-issued photo ID. The true goal of House Republicans isn’t to protect the integrity of Missouri elections but to rig the system in their favor by suppressing countless Democratic voters.

Jake Hummel, House Minority Leader St. Louis

Columnist Eugene

Guest Columnist Stephen Ivory

AKAs to hold Youth Town Hall Meeting

On Saturday, February

23, the St. Louis Metropolitan Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, which include Gamma Omega, Omicron Eta Omega, Omicron Theta Omega, and Beta Delta, will host a Youth Town Hall Meetingfrom 9 a.m. to noon at Harris-Stowe State University’s Clay Early Childhood Center 3026 Laclede Ave.

The meeting will feature a question and answer session with local family court judges. Chief Family Court Judge David Mason of St. Louis City, Chief Family Court Judge Ellen Levy-Siwak of St. Louis County and Judge Walter Brandon of St. Clair County, Illinois will take questions from area youth on juvenile crime topics. Local youth service agencies will be onhand offering volunteer opportunities and information on youth programs. This event is part of the sorority’s 40 Days of Peace event, a nationwide initiative from January 18-March 1 intendedto help reduce youth violence and promote a peaceful environment for the 40 Days after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and beyond.Only 22 cities were selected, and in the Midwest only St. Louis and Louisville, Kentucky.

This event is free and open to the public.For more information on 40 Days of Peace go to www.40daysofpeace.org.

Pattonville drill team 5th in nation

The varsity drill team from Pattonville High School won fifth-place in large varsity hip-hop division of the 2013 National Dance Team Championship,held Feb.2 and 3 in Orlando,Florida.They earned the trophy after competing in the category against 44 different teams from 19 states before an estimated 10,000 spectators in attendance with a broadcast on ESPN2 reaching more than 90 million homes. Members of the varsity team are:Taylor Bailey,Samantha Byrne,Mariah Freeman,Anise Glenn,Ciara Glenn,Paige Goss,Katie Greenwell,Alexis Lawoe, Toni Martorelli,Sabrina Mason,Natalie Miles,Clare Pond,Lindsey Purviance, Sierra Shockley,Danielle Siegel,Michaella Whaley and Haley Wojchiechowski. Katie Funderburk is coach of the varsity team.

To view Pattonville’s team performances,visit http://varsity.com/event/1698/ and search for “Pattonville.”

CityArchRiver2015 Project committee deadline

Great Rivers Greenway, in cooperation with the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation, invites residents in seven counties on both sides of the Mississippi River and the City of St. Louis to participate in the CityArchRiver 2015 Project Citizen Advisory Committee.

The CityArchRiver 2015 project will revitalize the Arch grounds and reconnect downtown St. Louis to the Mississippi River with the construction of a park over the recessed lanes of Interstate 70. New bike and pedestrian pathways will make the St. Louis riverfront and Arch grounds fully accessible for all people, including those with limited mobility, families with strollers and the elderly.

The 30-person committee will meet monthly to provide input on programs, activities, visitor experience, and the long-term preservation of the CityArchRiver 2015 project.

All eligible residents interested in the project are encouraged to apply by February 25 at www.GreatRiversGreenway.org. Applications can also be requested by calling (314) 436-7009.

Community college will play key role

By Myrtle E.B.Dorsey Chancellor, St.Louis Community College

Throughout their history, community colleges have served as the entry point to a better life – the American Dream – for countless individuals who sought affordable, convenient, comprehensive and cutting-edge educational opportunities.

As our economic struggles continue, community colleges are being asked to play an integral role in the country’s rebirth. But are we ready?

After serving as a member of the American Association of Community College’s 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, three things became evident: community colleges can help reclaim the American Dream, economic growth and a vibrant democracy require an educated population, and community colleges must reinvent themselves to meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s students.

Once a world leader in college completion rates, the United States now ranks 16th in the 25-34 age group. This country’s ability to compete globally hinges upon an educated workforce.

To move in that direction, STLCC has keenly examined how we do business and begun reshaping our future by focusing on student success, teaching and learning, and organizational culture. With limited resources, we face difficult choices in determining who we serve, how to ensure outcomes while figuring out how to meet future demands. I believe we have made significant strides in key areas, and with the outstanding faculty and staff at STLCC we will be successful.

Last fall, more than 4,000 STLCC students pledged to complete their college education by signing their names to the national Commit to Complete program.

As an Achieving the Dream (ATD) institution, STLCC faculty and staff have developed and implemented a series of first-semester experiences for all first-time-in-college students, including a New Student Registration Workshop, expanded New Student Orientation, and a student success course.

Also through ATD, we implemented a First 4 Weeks Initiative to improve the rate of persistence from semester to semester. Faculty help strengthen rapport and boost their students’understanding of what it takes to be successful in that class as well as at STLCC.

Through grant opportunities and partnerships with K-12, other higher education institutions and business and industry, we have implemented new programs to train workers who are low income or underprepared for new career pathways, in healthcare and manufacturing for example, with multiple entry points based on prior learning and experience.

We offer accelerated training programs to prepare workers for the jobs of tomorrow in sustainability, cyber security, advanced manufacturing and health information technology.

St. Louis Community College is committed to preparing all of St. Louis for the economic, social and cultural challenges ahead. In a world of constant change, we must make shifts in our delivery of instruction and support services that transform programs and realign priorities for the 21st century student. Our commitment to these strategic priorities will continue to guide us as we deliver on our promise to expand minds and change lives.

Myrtle E.B. Dorsey

MSD

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tion contracts over $50,000 and to 17 percent on nonbuilding construction contracts over $50,000.

These numbers are higher than the interim goals that labor-union and construction leaders fought against last March, when MSD’s Board of Trustees voted to set the goals at 25 percent on building construction contracts and 15 percent for both women- and minority-owned businesses on non-building construction contracts.

The study also recommends higher goals for boots-on-theground workforce than the interim goals of 25 percent minority and 6.9 percent women for construction contracts more than $500,000. The study recommends a 30 percent goal for minorities and seven percent goal for women in construction contracts. For professional services, the workforce goal recommended is 18 percent minorities and 32 percent women, and the interim goals were a combined 30 percent goal for both women and minorities.

Many labor and construction organization leaders argued that St. Louis does not have the “capacity” to hire

NURSE

Continued from A1

more minorities. The disparity study dismisses that argument.

The study shows that in building construction, AfricanAmerican businesses are capable of carrying 28.5 percent of the load on contracts and Hispanics 1.21 percent. In nonbuilding construction, African Americans are available for 17.3 percent of contracts.

For professional services and goods and services contracts, the study did not find any disparity for minorities or women. Hence, spokesman Lance LeComb said MSD proposes to remove its interim goal of 30 percent combined goal for women and minorities for professional services contracts of $50,000 or more. If the district kept the goal in place, it could be challenged in court.

For women subcontractors, the study did not find any disparity in any category. For this reason, MSD proposes to not set any goals for women in any category.

In order to build up future capacity, MSD proposes to set goals for 40 percent apprentices and 30 percent local residents.

“The diversity goals recommended by the report may change how some firms do business with MSD,” MSD leaders said in a statement to the public. “And change will often times be perceived as a

scary prospect and create uncertainty.”

However, to not implement the report’s recommendations would violate the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution, according to the statement.

MSD will hold public meetings to discuss the study’s findings. The first will be at 9 a.m. Monday, February 25 in the multi-purpose room of the student center at St. Louis Community College –Florissant Valley, 3400 Pershall Road in Ferguson.

found a lack of disparity in professional services. If that is discontinued, it could easily launch them “back to the days when we had severe disparities in contracting opportunities,” she said.

The disparity study recommends that MSD increase its goal for MBEs to 30 percent on building construction contracts over $50K.

Engineers react

Many minority engineering firms were shocked to learn that the disparity study found no disparities among MWBEs in professional services or other business services.

“As engineers we are taught not to panic or assume when project conditions change or differ from what we expected,” said Nicole Adewale, cofounder and president of ABNAEngineering, Inc.

Adewale said the long-held supplier diversity programs are the very reason why the study

Yaphett ElAmin, executive director of MOKAN, said her phone has been ringing nonstop with those who could be affected by the lack of professional service goals.

“Many of these entities have participated in the inclusion programs for many years and feel the goals were the door openers for them,” said El-Amin, has been a constant advocate for minority businesses and workers in the discussion for higher MSD minority participation. MSD will have to ensure these opportunities continue to preserve equality, she said.

“You can see many of the recommendations exceeded their interim goals,” El-Amin said. “The study shows that the capacity is higher than the agency initially projected or tried to satisfy. We were excited about that.”

On Tuesday, MSD gave ElAmin all of its 2012 MSD con-

tracts, and she will be reviewing them to see whether or not the contractors met the interim goals.

“Alaw that’s put in place is only as good as its enforcement,” she said. “We still remain concerned about that.”

Opposition

Since spring 2011, MSD staff and trustees have been working with stakeholders –including the Associated General Contractors of St. Louis (AGC), NAACP, various engineering associations and minority contractors – to create new minority participation goals.

Yet, right before the trustees were set to vote on the goals in October 2011, AGC leaders expressed some last-minute concerns and urged board trustees to wait. At the Dec. 8, 2011 board meeting, trustees failed to pass new minority participation goals largely because labor and construction leaders threatened to sue MSD without a disparity study to back up the goals.

Hence, the board decided to commission a disparity study that would give their goals some legal teeth. In the meantime, they announced that they would implement interim goals.

On March 6, 2012, just two days before the trustees were

set to vote on the interim goals, the AGC held a discussion group and released a “St. Louis Construction Industry Study,” which showed that the workforce capacity for minorities was only about eight percent. Consequently, stakeholders ended up recommending comparably low interim goals to the board. Despite this, Vice Board Chair James H. Buford successfully urged the board to vote for higher interim goals in March 2012. Had Buford let the union and construction leaders prevail in their influence of capacity, the proposed workforce goals would have been 14.7 percent minorities and 6.9 percent women.

City policy

The results of MSD’s disparity study will affect policies in both St. Louis City and St. Louis County. In fact, the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen recently passed a bill, sponsored by Alderman Terry Kennedy, that allows the city to conduct a joint disparity study with the city, MSD and St. Louis County. The city is just waiting on St. Louis County to pass its legislation to move forward with the disparity study agreement.

The Deaconess Scholarship is collaboration between the Deaconess Foundation, the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis and the St. Louis American Foundation. It pro-

“Without it, I don’t know if I would be where I am now in school,” she added. “It has given me the opportunity to pursue my dream as a nurse.”

“I love children and forming relationships with patients.”

- Alexandria Holmes

vides financial support to selected students in nursing school with the overall goal of increasing the nursing pool in the St. Louis area.

Looking ahead five years from now, her sights are set on being an experienced nurse working with children.

“Hopefully 10 years from now I will have gone back to school for my Masters in nurs-

ing or maybe even as a nurse practitioner,” Holmes said. “I am always wanting to know more about nursing. I find that every day I work and go to school, the more I learn about the field of nursing. There is never enough you can know about nursing.”

The Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship will be awarded to 10-15 students

annually, with an average award of $6,000. Students must be permanent residents of the St. Louis metropolitan area and pursuing nursing (RN, BSN) at an accredited, nonprofit school. Awards are based on financial need, strength of character and academic potential. All correspondence will be communicated by email, so it is important to have a valid email address when you start the application.

To apply, students must complete two applications by April 15: the Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship and The

Scholarship Foundation Interest-Free Loan in Scholarship Central at www.sfstl.org.

Students selected to receive the Deaconess scholarship may also be given an opportunity to accept or decline an interestfree loan or other grants through Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. For additional information, call 314-725-7990 or email info@sfstl.org. For applications, select the link “Deaconess Foundation Nursing Scholarship” at https://stlouisgraduates.academicworks.com/.

MINISTRIES

Continued from A1

“We’re not just a four-wall kind of ministry,” he said. “Our goal is to get out into the community to reach those people in that dark place that most pastors and church leaders really don’t want to go to.” New Direction Ministries has established an ongoing partnership with the Rev. Larry Rice and the New Life Evangelistic Center at 14th and Locust Street, longtime advocates for the homeless. At New Life, the men undergo an intake process prior to being transported to New Direction Ministries in a bus provided by Rev. Rice. Men are housed overnight on cots with warm blankets at New Direction after a hot meal and spiritual fellowship from Pastor Tucker and others within his ministry.

This is where The American met Robert Monigan, an elderly man who has been living on the streets since his release from prison in 2009. At the time, he only had $10 in his pockets and lacked direction

GEORGE

Continued from A1 serving the city honorably for 40 years. The Fire Department changed my life, I was able to provide for my family and have a respectable profession. So as chief I stood on my principles to provide every member of the fire department an equal opportunity to improve their lives and protect our city. My battle with the Slay administration is well documented. Slay had a great opportunity to better the condition of race relations and bridge the gap between North and South City, but he failed. This failure is not by neglect, but by design.

on how to properly reenter society. His family rejected him and, he said, “I began living on the streets like everybody else.”

Deacon Roger Whitley has been with New Direction Ministries from the start and is all too familiar with how easily a person can fall on hard times. Once homeless and addicted to drugs, Whitley was led to Step into the Light Ministry for men suffering from substance abuse.

He said being part of New Direction Ministries is an empowering experience because it’s a constant reminder of where he came from.

“Because of God and Pastor Tommy Tucker, I have a ‘New Direction’with faith in action,” Whitley said.

Stepping into the Light Ministry has also partnered with New Direction Ministries, fulfilling Pastor Tucker’s goal to implement a substance abuse program.

For 25 years, Pastor Tucker and his wife owned and operated Tucker’s Department store in the same space that currently houses the shelter before leasing the property and re-

The Slay administration has a proven record of discriminatory policies. In my case he did not only deny me the opportunity to perform my job, he also denied many young black firemen the chance to improve their lives while helping to save many others. In order to move this city forward we need to establish trust and equality. Both virtues start at City Hall. On March 5 we have an historic opportunity to change the course of the City of St. Louis. We have been in an 11-year-long downward slide. This is why it’s important to support Lewis Reed for Mayor. We can’t afford to have anyone sitting on the sidelines. The differences between the two men are night and day. The Slay administration uses

locating to Dallas, TX. It was ministry work that prompted the couple’s return to St. Louis six years later.

Pastor Tucker said the pair

divisive tactics. Their policy on crime is to create North Side bogymen to blame all the city’s problems on. Slay never takes responsibility for anything, but jumps to take credit for the hard work of others.

Aldermanic President Lewis Reed has the powerful ability to unite different communities to focus on solutions. Slay fought tooth and nail to force me to promote from a promotional list that I knew was unfair and would not give me the best people for the positions being tested.

President Reed has been able to unite the black firefighters’group F.I.R.E. and Firefighters Local 73. They established a special committee to fix the problems that the Slay administration started. Slay’s actions against me

Paster Tommy Tucker of New Direction Ministries talks with Dwight Miner in his shelter at Grand and St.Louis avenues on the city’s North Side.

service it provides. Pastor Tucker would like to see increased support and compassion from the community.

“There are companies, corporations, churches, ministries, social organizations that could contribute a little and make a tremendous difference,” he said.

In a wish list, he requests clothing for men, women and children; metal bunk beds, cots and mattresses; blankets, sheets and pillowcases; food and personal hygiene products. They also need volunteers, the use of vans by churches and other ministries and gently used computers, with all donations being tax deductible.

are “drum majors for the disenfranchised, those individuals who are looked down upon and don’t have a voice.” He said they privately fund all

caused a negative economic impact in the black community that we won’t recover from for 20 years, unless a change is made. Our city has suffered enough. Slay is not a good man, and has done nothing to deserve another four years in office.

Ignore the naysayers and those African Americans who are paid off by money and favors to support Slay. Slay and his supporters are depending on us having a short memory. I don’t believe that you will forget what Slay has done and what he continues to do by ignoring the needs of the African-American community.

I believe that Lewis Reed can help rebuild this city. That is why I support Lewis Reed for Mayor, and you should too. Your vote on March 5 counts!

operational costs of the shelter that include building maintenance and utilities, which means New Direction Ministries is limited in the

On the upside, he recently secured a van which he hopes will increase the number of men who are brought to shelter. With additional funding, Pastor Tucker plans to rehab the upper levels of New Direction Ministries, expanding housing and space for other programs like literacy training and job readiness.. To be of service, contact Pastor Tommy and Denise Tucker at 314-680-5800 or email tuckerslimited@gmail.com.

Grass-roots effort forReed

Zaki Baruti and the Universal African Peoples Organization are organizing grass-roots groups to canvas for Lewis Reed in his campaign for Mayor. They ask volunteers to meet 9 a.m.Saturday, February 23 and Saturday March 2 at Mt. Zion M.B. Church, 1444 South Compton. Baruti said he has the participation of the Organization for Black Struggle, American Federation of Teachers, Local 420, F.I.R.E., Firefighters Local 73, St. Louis Black Cosmetologist Association, Fahamme Temples of Divine Understanding, Paying Attention To Our Youth, I.U.P.A.T. District 2 Painters Union and ACTION REUNION 2013. For more information, call Zaki Baruti at 314-4774629.

Photo by Wiley Price

"St.

Louis is moving forward because our Mayor is working with other leaders to improve every neighborhood in our City. Mayor Slay is achieving exciting things for St. Louis and I'm proud to support him."

—

Congressman Lacy Clay

Reed sends Slay Valentine’s Day message

On Valentine’s Day, President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed stood on St. Louis City Hall steps and accused Mayor Francis G. Slay of using “pay to play” politics with campaign donors and the city’s public works contracts.

He provided a stack of campaign finance reports and city Board of Public Service (BPS) contracts to back up his allegation that whenever a company wants a BPS contract, they need to plop some money into Slay’s campaign coffers.

The Board of Estimate and Apportionment – which includes Slay, Reed and Comptroller Darlene Green – has to approve most city contracts. In his six years as board president, Reed said he’s figured out how Slay has managed to get around the Board of E&A’s approval to benefit from contracts – through professional service agreements (PSAs).

A majority of the city’s planning, engineering, design, surveying and mapping services are procured through PSAs. Professional service agreements are approved by Board of Public Service President Richard Bradley and a five-member selection committee.

In 1997, when Slay was Board of Aldermen president, he sponsored a bill (ordinance 64103) that gave the president of the Board of Public Service significant power when it comes to the selection committee that approves the PSA agreements. Three of the five committee members are handpicked by the BPS president.

Bradley was appointed by Slay in June 2009.

The selection committee includes the BPS president or his designee, a BPS staffer, another BPS president pick from a list of current city employees, the head of the department under whose jurisdiction lies the proposed project, and one member of that department’s staff.

After the contract details are etched out, Bradley’s office sends the contract to the city counselor and

comptroller for approval, which is basically a formality.

When time is critical, Bradley has even more power. He has the authority to direct the selection committee to a short list of firms or to “sole-source” bids, according to BPS policy. This authority came into play with the tornado damage at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport in April 2011. Incidentally, about 84 percent of approved proposals of the tornado recovery dollars were spent with Slay contributors, according to city contracts.

Supplemental agreements, or contract extensions (change orders), also do not require a bid process. At the press conference, Reed highlighted several cases when a company donated to Slay’s campaign and within a week BPS approved a supplemental agreement for those companies.

Bradley has power. He has the power to name the selection committee’s vote majority, and his signature is required for the final decision about whether or not firms land a contract.

So for these firms, it sends a strong signal when Bradley emails them from his official BPS email address, which bears the city’s seal, asking them to support the mayor and donate.

On November 3, 2011, while he was still on the clock, Bradley sent out an email to these firms inviting them to participate in the second annual Mayor’s Cup Fundraising Golf Tournament at $500 a golfer and $1,000 a team. In bold letters, he said “PLEASE SAVE THE DATE, PARTICIPATE AND SUPPORT MAYOR SLAY!”

At the first annual tournament, most of the attendees were construction, engineering or design firms. After the email got leaked to the press, he apologized and said it was an accident.

In the stack of paper that Reed passed out at the Valentine’s Day press conference, he showed that in the past three years, Slay’s administration has awarded more than

$40 million in “no-bid contracts,” or change orders, that do not need approval from the Board of E&A. Eighty percent of these contracts went to Slay contributors.

Slay’s Chief of Staff Jeff Rainford responded angrily and with condescension. He accused Reed of not bothering to understand how city government works. “It was all made up,” Rainford said. Rainford said Comptroller Darlene Green must also sign off on any contract changes, and other offices must review it as well.

However, Green is not always known to be a scrutinizing barrier. Her role is to be the watchdog on these contracts. The EYE does applaud her for stepping up to the plate with S.M. Wilson on the O’Fallon Recreation Center. Before Bradley even got the chance to bring her Wilson’s change order requests, Green said ‘No.’ Basically Wilson was trying to charge the city more money for hiring an inclusive workforce, and Green wasn’t having it.

Right to Work tactic?

Perhaps Reed did not get the traction for his campaign he wanted on Valentine’s Day in convincing the press that Slay’s administration lacks transparency. So he decided to try again on President’s Day.

On the City Hall steps Monday, Reed stood with city employees as they protested a document that City Counselor Mike Garvin drafted

recently for all new hires regarding pensions and benefits.

JoAnn Williams, business representative for the Carpenters’ Union, said the document forces people who are trying to land a job with the city to sign a waiver that limits their future bargaining rights for benefits.

“Every new employee who signs this form is one that the union cannot effectively include in the group for whom they are negotiating,” she said.

Reed said the document revealed “the most draconian anti-employee policy in the history of the City of St. Louis.” The Carpenters’ Union represents about 1,000 city employees, and the union has endorsed Reed in the race for mayor.

Rainford said that the mayor did not know about the form, and it was something that Garvin and the Director of Personnel Richard Frank came up with on their own.

Rainford disagreed with Williams, saying, “There is no change whatsoever in anyone’s rights to be part of a collective bargaining.”

Slay met with union leaders who have endorsed him Monday, including the St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council and St. Louis Greater Labor Council, but Slay did not sit down with the Carpenters’ Union leaders. Rainford said Slay has retracted the form, and it is now being re-written.

“As an employee representative, I find it disingenuous at best for the mayor to state that no one in his office

was aware of this form until recently,” Williams said.

Williams held up a stack of emails starting in November 2012 between Garvin and Frank. Slay’s staff members were included on emails in February when Alderwoman Jennifer Florida raised concerns about the document.

When Garvin first drafted the document, he stated that the new form would only be provided to firefighters as a condition of employment. In a January 3 email, Frank wrote to Garvin, “I would be concerned about singling out a certain class of employees…”

Abram Pruitt Jr., chairman of F.I.R.E., said the document is a strong-arm move by the Slay administration because the firefighters’ pensions are being disputed in court. St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker shot down Slay’s earlier firefighter pension reform plan in September, ruling that cutting benefits for vested firefighters with more than 20 years on the department was illegal.

Rainford said Dierker also ruled that benefits can change for nonvested firefighters with less than 20 years on the department. However, despite this ruling and despite the fact that this is stated in the city ordinance, new firefighter recruits were being told something different, he said. So Garvin decided that a benefits acknowledgement form would help clear up any confusion about this.

The firefighters’ union has endorsed Reed. Pruitt said Reed’s plan for firefighters’ pensions offers the city savings as well as keeps the pensions intact. “We knew it was a give and take, but the current administration is just taking,” Pruitt said.

The press conference turned into a campaign rally for Reed with some leaders in the African-American community voicing their support, including former Fire Chief Sherman George, Alderman Samuel Moore and activist Percy Green II

At one moment, Slay’s campaign director Richard Callow shook hands with Lewis Reed – and Percy Green didn’t skip a beat. He started yelling that Callow had finally come over to Reed’s side. A circle formed around them, and everyone was yelling and laughing – even Callow. Alderman Antonio French said no where else would you find this much clowning in a race for mayor – only in St. Louis.

President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, who is running for Mayor on the March 5 ballot, with some of his “Sisters for Lewis” supporters. Photo by Erica M. Brooks

Obituaries

In Remembrance of James W. Brandon, Jr.

February 6, 1910— November 17, 1986

Dear Daddy, I love you and miss you very much STILL. I will always remember you for being the great provider and protector of our family. You taught me the importance of being strong, selfsufficient and independent, lessons of life that I now understand and apply to my daily existence. Wanda James William Brandon, Jr.,

second child of James Charles Brandon (preceded in death, September 1954) and Gertrude Cooney Brandon (preceded in death, November 1981) was born in Okolona, Mississippi. In the early 1920s his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri. He married Bobbie Lorene Givens (preceded in death, April 1966) of Helena, Arkansas, in St. Louis, Missouri in 1936. They had five children: William Wardell Brandon (died April 2006), Elizabeth Brandon Robinson, adopted daughter Lonzetta Smith Brandon (preceded in death, June 1964), Wanda Brandon and Naniece Gertrude Brandon (preceded in death July 1961). His siblings were Annie Mae Brandon Ballard Robinson (preceded in death, March 1979), Johnnie Newton Brandon (preceded in death,

June 1981), Hildred Brandon (died November 2000), Frank Adams (died July 2006) and Carl Adams (preceded in death, March 1934). As of November 1986, his grandchildren were Reginald and Clifford Brandon, Cheryl Brandon-Watkins and Karen P. Robinson (died January 2011), one great-grand daughter RaShonda Johnson. James loved and played baseball with the Negro leagues. He was well known for saying “I was born 40 years too soon, if I had been born later, I know I would have played in the major leagues.” James was admired for his smooth, laid back, no nonsense demeanor and sharp, clean cut dress style. He retired from the Federal Government Center in 1975. He was nicknamed “Lil’ Brother” by his family. James is interred at Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.

In loving Memory of Joseph Lamont Davis Jr.

Sunrise: Feb 27, 1991

Sunset: Jan 10, 2010

Lil Joe: You are truly missed by your loving family. We wanted to wish you a Happy 22nd Birthday. Gone but never forgotten. In our heart forever and loved always. Your Mom, Stephanie; Dad, Joseph Sr.; and your Sister, Shayla

In Memory of Helen Rudella Stamps Wilburn

Oct 10, 1928 – Aug 9, 1977

Mother, we miss you dearly. You have gone from sight but never from our hearts. Thinking of you always and forever.

Your Children: Harrison, Ronald, Sharon, Helen, Wanda, Edward, Debra, Roslyn,

William, Vashti

Rodrick Leon Sproiling

Rodrick Sproiling

Rodrick Leon Sproiling of St. Louis, MO, he was musician also known as Ricky McFunk. He died on January 30th He was born to Earnestine and Reuben Sproiling on October 4, 1952. He leaves behind his daughters Alona, Tamara, Cathy, Antoinette; two sons, Charles and Michael; one sister, Sandy and a very special friend, Karen.

Sergeant Major Lawrence M. Campbell Sr.

Dec 11, 1956 — Jan 30, 2013

In loving memory of my second son for his many accomplishments and service to the U.S. Army, his most precious legacy to his children and grandchildren. You will be truly missed by your family and friends. Love always, Mother

Attention St. Louis American Readers

As a service to the community, we list obituaries in the St. Louis American Newspaper, on a space-available basis and online at stlamerican.com. AT NO CHARGE. Please send all obituary notices to kdaniel @ stlamerican.com.

Youth makes Missouri All-State Choir

Fergusson-Florissant school board President Paul Morris (left) and Superintendent Art McCoy (right) congratulate McCluer North High School senior Willnard Anderson (center) on being named to the Missouri All-State Choir. He was one of 100 bass vocalists from the St. Louis Suburban Conference to audition for one of the four available spots. He received recognition as a member of the All-State Choir at the Missouri Music Educators Association conference Jan. 23-26.

Nixon releases $8.5M to higher education

American staff

Following the release of the state’s January 2013 general revenue report, Gov. Jay Nixon made available nearly $8.5 million for higher education institutions in Missouri for the current fiscal year, which runs through June. The funds were provided as a result of continued improvement in general revenue collections, which grew by 18.4 percent last month compared to the same period in 2012. The University of Missouri received nearly half of the funds, nearly

$4 million. Missouri State University received $793,429 and the University of Central Missouri received $526,110. The fourth-largest recipient and the largest among community college systems was St. Louis Community College with $440,354. Lincoln University received $174,387, and Harris-Stowe State University received $95,887. Nixon also made available $100,000 for the Missouri State Historical Society, housed at the University of Missouri, and $480,000 to fund three programs for foster care and children in need.

Joseph Davis Jr.

Lawrence Campbell Sr.

James Brandon Jr.

BUSINESS

Abe Adewale named Engineer of the Year

Recognized by local chapter of Missouri Society of Professional Engineers

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

Abe Adewale, co-founder and CEO of ABNAEngineering Inc., has spent most of his life ensuring the integrity of the foundations for bridges and transportation systems. Yet, Adewale is equally passionate about supporting programs that inspire and mentor young people – strengthening the integrity and foundation of the engineering profession.

“It’s important to not only spend time to improve engineer technology but to help create pathways for young people to get into the profession.”

– Abe Adewale

On Feb. 22, Adewale will be recognized as the Engineer of the Year at the St. Louis Chapter of the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers’Annual Awards Dinner.

“It’s certainly an honor for your peers in the engineering community to think so highly of you to recognize you as Engineer of the Year,” said Adewale, who has been a member of the society for 20 years. “It says you are doing everything to properly represent the profession. You are helping to solve problems in the community.”

Adewale is the second African American to receive the award, said his wife, Nicole Adewale, co-founder and president of ABNA.

“It goes to recognize a change in the face of leadership – literally,” Nicole said. “It is important to recognize leaders from all backgrounds and that leadership doesn’t have one look.”

Abe Adewale likes to think of engineers as problem solvers, he said, and he prides myself on bringing people together to find solutions. Especially when it comes to the youth.

Abe Adewale,co-founder and CEO of ABNA Engineering Inc.,will

recognized as the Engineer of the Year at the St.Louis Chapter of the Missouri

Professional Engineers’Annual Awards Dinner on February

His eyes light up when he talks about ABNA’s internship opportunities for high school and college students because hands-on experience is crucial, he said.

“We are not training or growing as many engineers in this country as in others,” he said. “It’s important to not only spend time to improve engineer technology but to help cre-

ate pathways for young people to get into the profession so we don’t lose our standing on the world stage.”

Adewale is actively involved in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs, where young

See ADEWALE, A12

Ameren gives Diversity Excellence Awards

Three individuals and one team were honored by Ameren at the recent Seventh Annual Thomas R. Voss Diversity Excellence Awards Banquet. Individual winners are: Angela Gola, operations support rep., Belleville, Ill., Operating Center, Ameren Illinois; Marty Lyons, executive VPand CFO, Ameren; and Shirley Stennis, senior supervisor, municipal and public accounts, Business and Community Relations, Ameren Missouri. Ateam award was presented to the 50 Years in 5 Minutes computer-based training team, consisting of Kevin Hanley, construction draftsman, Energy Delivery Technical Services, Ameren Missouri, and Bill Hartman, senior recruiter, Ameren.

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

Williams

Cynthia Williams has been promoted to assistant dean for field education and community partnerships for the Brown School at Washington University. She will be responsible for all facets of the field education program, including developing agency and community partnerships. She also will monitor and maintain educational partnerships and field units suitable for student practica and will work to strengthen partnerships for applied learning experiences for students.

Otha Myles, MD, has been added to the Mercy Clinic, a multispecialty physician group. An infectious disease physician, he will open a new practice called Mercy Clinic Infectious Disease, 621 S. New Ballas Rd., Ste. 140A, on the Mercy Hospital campus. He most recently served as assistant professor of medicine at University of Maryland School of Medicine and infectious disease attending physician at University of Maryland Medical Systems.

Freddie Wills Jr. has been named assistant dean for strategic implementation for the Brown School at Washington University. He will lead the implementation of Brown’s strategic plan initiatives in Impact 2020. He will work closely with the dean on the Diversity Task Force, manage daily challenges in the dean’s office and serve as the point person for many external initiatives. Most recently he was director of diversity at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

TD4 recognized by minority suppliercouncil and SLDC

TD4 Electrical, LLC has been recognized as MBE of The Year by the St. Louis Minority Supplier Development Council and Spotlight Awardee by the St. Louis Development Corporation.

The seven year old company, owned by President/CEO Tommy L. Davis Jr., offers electrical, supplies, construction, maintenance and low voltage services for commercial, institutional and industrial facility owners, construction managers and general contractors.

TD4’s clients include Washington University, BJC Healthcare, Monsanto Corporation Metropolitan Sewer District, River City Casino by Pinnacle, America’s Center, St. Louis city and Hazelwood School District.

E’Little Media Group relocates to Central West End

E’Little Media Group, specialists in public relations, social media, marketing and advertising has opened its new office in the Central West End. at at 4814 Washington Ave.

The agency was founded in 2007 by Johnny Little, who formerly headed public relations efforts for the St. Louis Public Schools and worked as a television news producer for FOX 2 News and executive producer at KMOV-TV.

EPAinvites communities to apply forSmart Growth Assistance

Sharon Harvey Davis,VP and Chief Diversity Officer, Ameren,and Thomas R. Voss,chairman, president and CEO,Ameren, with the recipients of Thomas R.Voss Diversity Excellence Awards:Angela Gola,Shirley Stennis,Marty Lyons,Kevin Hanley,Jr.,and Bill Hartman.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting applications from communities interested in its Smart Growth Implementation Assistance program, which provides technical assistance to help communities grow in ways that improve the local economy, the environment, and people’s health. EPAwill be accepting applications from tribal, local, regional, and state governments and nonprofit organizations that have partnered with a governmental entity for their request for assistance until March 1. EPAis seeking applications in the categories of Community Resilience to Disasters and Climate Change, Redevelopment for Job Creation, Manufactured and Modular Homes in Sustainable Neighborhood Design, and Medical and Social Service Facilities Siting.

For more information, visit http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/sgia.htm.

State revenue up 18.4 percent for January, 9.5 percent forFiscal Year

The 2013 fiscal year-to-date net general revenue collections for the State of Missouri increased 9.5 percent compared to 2012, from $4.15 billion last year to $4.54 billion this year. Net general revenue collections for January 2013 increased by 18.4 percent compared to those for January 2012, from $658.5 million to $779.5 million.

Cynthia

Otha Myles

Freddie Wills Jr.

be

Society of

22.

Photo by Wiley Price

When retiring togetherdoesn’t make sense

By Jason Alderman

Back when people from my parents’generation were first planning their lives together, most married couples looked forward to working hard for a few decades, buying a house, raising a family and then retiring together while they still had enough money and energy to travel and pursue favorite hobbies.

Some couples do manage to pull this off and thrive; but for many others, any of a host of obstacles can block their ability to retire at the same time. For example:

ï Thanks to periods of unemployment, home-value decline or 401(k) account loss suffered during the Great

ADEWALE

Continued from B1

people design robots. He’s the chairman of the ACE Mentor Program at the Construction Careers Academy, which helps the city’s high school students learn about careers in architecture, engineering and construction. His leadership also extends to the Science Center and Rotary Club of St. Louis. When Adewale receives an

Recession, many couples simply don’t have enough money to retire together comfortably.

ïIf there’s a significant age difference, one spouse may not have accumulated enough Social Security credits to qualify for a benefit by the time the other is ready to retire.

ï Women often worry that the couple hasn’t saved enough since they’re statistically likely to survive their spouses – often for a decade or more.

ï One spouse must continue working to supply employerprovided medical coverage until both reach Medicare eligibility age (65 in most cases).

ï One spouse is just hitting his or her stride, career-wise, and isn’t ready to slow down. Among couples who have

award, he said his biggest hope is that it inspires a child somewhere to know that making a career as an engineer is possible. His own inspiration came from his father, who was a telecommunications engineer.

“Ironically, I was soaking a lot in, but didn’t know it,” said Adewale, who was born in Nigeria and moved to Washington, D.C. at 16. “They always pushed me towards medicine.”

He started his education path in physics, but he knew

PERSONAL FINANCE

managed to save enough to retire together, when it comes time to pull the trigger many realize they haven’t fully agreed on where or how to retire; or they discover that their wishes have diverged over the years. This can put tremendous strain on a marriage if you’re not willing to compromise and talk things through.

Long before you actually retire, ask yourselves:

ï Should we downsize to a smaller dwelling or even move to a retirement community?

ï Sell the house, buy a trailer and live like nomads for a

he didn’t want to teach or do research. After he received his bachelors in physics from Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, he went to speak with the engineering department at Georgia Tech University. And that was a conversation that changed his life’s course.

“I love bridges and anything transportation related,” he said, “And that’s how I got into civil engineering. But underneath I’ve always had the desire to be a business person.”

When he earned his civil engineering degree from Georgia Tech, he went to work for the Illinois Department of Transportation in Chicago. Shortly after, he was transferred to the Collinsville office and has been in the St. Louis area since. With IDOT, he started as a design engineer and then became a project manager for bridge construction projects. One of the bridges he’s most proud of is the Chain of Rocks Bridge, for which he was the project manager.

Yet, owning his own business lingered in the back of his mind. He went back to earn his MBAat Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, though he knew it would take more than a degree to succeed.

“I learned all of my business skills from my mother,” he said. “She held a variety of businesses and that gave me an intuition that it takes a lot more than book smarts to be a good businessman.”

In Nigeria, his mother was a general contractor who sewed uniforms for schools and furnished apartments for expatriates. She was also a distributor for Coca Cola, and she only had two years of college experience.

“Her ability to see around the corner, the hazards and the risks, and the ability to form relationships with people has become engrained in me,” he said. “Those things I didn’t learn from business school.”

First office in St.Louis

After 10 years with IDOT as a resident engineer for

few years?

ï Move to a warmer climate or to be nearer our grandchildren?

ï Move to a state with lower taxes or cost of living?

ï Start a small side business to keep money rolling in?

ï Are we finished supporting our children financially?

Even before asking those tough questions, you already should have begun estimating your retirement income needs. Social Security has a helpful online Retirement Estimator that can help (www.ssa.gov/estimator). After you’ve explored various retire-

ment scenarios, consider hiring a financial planner to help work out an investment and savings game plan, or to at least review the one you’ve devised. Along with the financial impact retirement will have on your marriage, keep in mind that this may be the first time that you’ve been together, day in and day out. Many people are so consumed by their jobs that they haven’t taken time to develop outside interests and hobbies. Well before retirement, you and your spouse should start exploring activities and networks of friends you can enjoy, both together and independently. Consider things like volunteer work, hobbies, athletic activities or even part-time employment if you miss the workplace interaction and need the money. And finally, if your plan is to have one spouse continue working for a while, try living on only that one salary for a few months before retiring as an experiment. This will give you an inkling of how well you’ll do financially and whether you might both need to keep working to amass more savings.

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

major roadway and bridge construction projects, Abe opened the first ABNAoffice in St. Louis with his wife Nicole in 1994.

ABNAhas worked on the Metropolitan Sewer District’s storm systems, the Interstate 64 construction, Cross County Metrolink extension, Interstate 55 reconstruction and IDOT for major interchanges and tollways. They were involved in the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport expansion for 12 years, which got them heavily invested in aviation.

With all of the talent and experience that they gained from working on Lambert, they wanted to seek out other

opportunities in aviation. They decided to shoot for projects in Chicago, seeing that they had Illinois contacts. The aviation contracts didn’t work out right away because they were seen as outsiders, he said. They established a Chicago office in 2003 and began working on transportation projects with IDOT. After a few years in Chicago, they established a strong rapport in the city and were able to secure contracts during phase two of the airport expansion.

Adewale is a leading voice in the engineering profession, both regionally and nationally. He is on the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional

Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors & Landscape Architects. He also serves on the Board of National Council of Engineering Examiners, and served on the board of directors for the Engineers Club of St. Louis. Adewale beams when he talks about Nicole’s leadership as company president, his team’s talent and his community that continues to support ABNA.

“It’s been a long time since we have been a mom and pop operation,” he said. “When Nicole or I receive awards, we are really only the face of the achievement. It’s all about what people here do.”

Photo by Wiley Price

Abe Adewale,co-founder and CEO of ABNA Engineering Inc.

DBE office impedes MBEs

Matchmaking, threats and favoritism hinder growth

By Adolphus Pruitt

For The St.Louis American

One of the most vital missions of any disadvantaged business program is increasing the capacity of minority and women business enterprises. But in the St. Louis Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Office, capacitybuilding has become unorthodox and borders on interference. Over the past year, the DBE office’s capacitybuilding methodology has centered on subjective matchmaking, threats of holding up project approvals that would result in costly delays and favoritism.

The DBE office has fostered an atmosphere in which both minority and majority contractors dare not disagree with the advice and counsel of the compliance officer for fear of reprisal. The most powerful link for minority subcontractors in landing a contract is a sign-off from the compliance officer, and the same applies to a developer or contractor wishing to proceed with a project.

In one instance, a minority company was the low bidder on a project, but when the company’s bid was submitted for approval to the DBE office,

the office withheld approval and suggested to the majority firm to find another minority company due to the fact that this particular minority company had too much work and it was the opinion of the DBE office that this company could not handle any more work. The company in questioned had no idea it was being subjected to the additional scrutiny.

In another instance, a minority general contractor was being considered for a considerable project and the DBE office objected, fearing

The city’s DBE office lacks any industry-standard assessment tools that analyze the condition of companies and assess their growth and capacity.

that the minority firm would grow too fast. This opinion was given in the absence of any empirical data or analysis of the company’s condition.

In some instances, when a minority subcontractor is failing on the job the DBE office has blocked the majority firm from switching minority subcontractors, despite the fact that both were certified and all parties agreed on the switch. In this instance, a minority subcontractor was facing failure and the DBE office would not allow for a saving grace. The DBE office lacks any industry-standard assessment

tools that analyze the condition of companies and assess their business model for growth and their existing capacity. They rely solely on the number of known projects a company is working on and previous experiences of interaction with the company in question.

Outside of being a certified minority- or women-owned enterprise (M/WBE) with Central Business Index clearance, there exist no other criteria that a company is obligated to meet under the Mayor’s Executive Order to secure sign-off for participation on a project and be counted towards the M/WBE goals.

Over the past 10 years, the DBE office has had $3.5 billion worth of opportunities to build the capacity of M/WBEs, utilizing the goals established by the Mayor’s Executive Order. According to the DBE office, they have never met the goal.

To be successful in the new economy, minority firms must build greater scale and capacity. Policies targeted to increase the growth and performance of the minority business sector are likely to have an impact on job creation, especially among African Americans and Hispanics –which will result in a profound impact on our regional economy. The city’s DBE office is failing its minority contractors and, thereby, preventing the region from growing along with them.

Pruitt is president of the St. Louis city branch of the NAACP.

Financial Focus

By Veronica Coleman

Investment mistakes to watch for

Adolphus Pruitt

Gateway Classic hosts Divas Brunch

The St, Louis Gateway Classic Sports Foundation will present the second annual Double D’s Divas Brunch 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sunday, February 24 at the Gateway Classic facility, 2012 Martin Luther King Dr.

The Double D’s Divas Brunch is hosted by St. Louis’ premier Jazz vocalist Denise Thimes along with Inspirational Speaker and Author Denise Williams.

“We are thrilled to be hosting the Double D’s Divas Brunch once again,” said Thimes. “Last year was wonderful, and we will strive to continue to uplift, inspire and pour back into the hearts of those attending.”

With a career that spans over two decades, Thimes incorporates ways of strengthening the community into her routine. Williams is an

SLPS students win creative challenge

Two St. Louis Public Schools high school

students have been honored by Walgreens for being leaders in the teen health community as part of the Walgreens Expressions Challenge-St. Louis. The challenge is held in Chicago and St. Louis, and has reached more than 500,000 teens to date.

The challenge motivates and engages teens ages 14 to 18 to voice their opinion on topics including: sexting, self-esteem, teen pregnancy, STD prevention, abstinence, and sexual responsibility and awareness. Entrants submitted their perspective in one of three categories: Creative Writing, Multimedia or Visual Arts.

Shantellius White, a junior at Carnahan High School of the Future, placed first in the Expressions Challenge, St. Louis-Creative Writing Contest. Jacob Lindsey, a senior at Cleveland NJROTC Academy, placed first in the Expressions Challenge, St. Louis-Visual Arts Contest

As first place winners, both White and Lindsey were honored with an awards reception at the Missouri History Museum, and will receive $2,000 each, along with $500 for their teachers and $500 for their schools.

White and Lindsey’s artwork will travel with

Jacob Lindsey and Shantellius White the Expressions Challenge Galley Tours, and will be displayed at partner schools for three to four weeks promoting peer-to-peer healthy choices. Lindsey’s Visual Arts submission will also be transferred into a poster that will be distributed to schools and organizations between Chicago and St. Louis.

Washington Univ. partners with Univ. of Ghana

International Scholars Academy signs agreement with first partner in Africa

By Mark S. Wrighton Washington University

Washington University

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton

was in Ghana recently to sign documents with officials from the University of Ghana, making the university the 28th partner — and the first in Africa — in the McDonnell International Scholars Academy. Also on the trip were James V. Wertsch, vice chancellor for international affairs, director of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy and a professor in Arts and Sciences, and Jean Allman, chair of the Department of History and a professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences. Allman has

Washington University Professor Jean Allman, University of Ghana Dean Naa Adamafio and WU Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The chancellor gave his hosts in Ghana copies of WU Professor William Wallace’s most recent book on Michelangelo.

items to people as they were stopped in traffic. Many of the women were attired in colorful clothing and were carrying their items to be sold on their head. In many cases, modern items were being carried in this traditional way.

One key objective in our travel to Ghana is to strengthen our partnership with the University of Ghana and to bring this university into our McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

With mutual interests in medicine, it was most interesting on our first day to learn about academic medicine in Ghana.

As with other sectors in Accra, academic medicine is on the move, with the medical school being redeveloped on the main campus of the University of Ghana, including the building of a new teaching hospital.

Construction is taking place everywhere one looks, and Accra appears to be very vibrant.

We arrived on campus with time to do a quick driving tour: It is very large with plenty of room for expansion, including for the move of the medical school to the main campus and for the construction of a new hospital.

Some facilities are old, and some even abandoned, but other facilities are new. Some construction projects appeared to have been stopped, including

what appeared to be a major athletic complex on campus. Unfortunately, it seems that the flow of funds for such projects is often interrupted and major construction can take a long time.

Our first meeting was with the vice chancellor of the University of Ghana: Professor Ernest Aryeetey. With its British academic influence, the vice chancellor is my counterpart (chief executive officer of the university). The chancellor of the University of Ghana is, in fact, the Honorable Kofi Annan, former U.N. secretary general. Vice Chancellor Aryeetey was very generous with his time, and we had a wideranging discussion of issues facing higher education in Ghana. He enthusiastically embraced us as an important partner.

The vice chancellor arranged a briefing with many of the key academic leaders of the university, and we found many potential areas of collaboration on education and research. One major thrust under way at the University of Ghana is to embrace more of a U.S.-style PhD program versus the British system of earning a PhD in three years after attaining a two-year master’s degree.

Professor Naa A. Adamafio, dean of International Programs, will be our principal point of contact, and she will be coming to St. Louis for a meeting in May. At the conclusion of the briefing, we formally signed the partnership agreement bringing the University of Ghana as the 28th partner into the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, our first partner in Africa. Mark S. Wrighton is chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis. This story was condensed from two letters to the university sent by the chancellor from Accra.

Honoring a living science legend

The Lincoln University Alumni Association will honor Dr. Willis E. Byrd 3 p.m.

Thursday, February 28 at Harris-Stowe State University’s Emerson Performance Center, 3101 Laclede Ave.

Byrd, a living Missouri legend in the sciences, will be awarded for his life-time achievement as a chemistry professor. He will address Harris-Stowe STEM students on the benefits of careers in STEM-related disciplines.

“America’s global competitiveness must improve!” say organizers.

“HSSU STEM students, who are a part of America’s shifting demographics, can become a part of the technological generation that can propel our nation forward into true global competitiveness.”

A reception will follow for all STEM students who attend. Visit www.lincolnu. edu/alumni for details or contact Mary Ann Dunlap (mdunlap421@aol.com, 314691-0657) or Money Lewis Guiden (guidenm@hssu.edu, 618-447-5482).

Deltas Celebrate 100th Anniversary

SCIENCE CORNER

Doctors have a very important job — to make people healthier. When their patients are sick, they will examine them and listen to them describe their symptoms (what is wrong).

Doctors give their patients advice about diet, exercise, and sleep. This job requires a lot of patience and hard work.

Is There A Doctor In the House?

Doctors must be good at problem solving. They need to be able to communicate with their patients and offer comfort. They must also be able to think quickly during an emergency. In addition to the courses they study, doctors need these abilities, too.

DoCTor AND rESEArChEr

May Edward Chinn

Dr. May Edward Chinn was the first African American woman to graduate from the Bellevue Medical School, hold an internship at harlem hospital, and ride with the harlem hospital ambulance crew on emergency calls.

Chinn was born on April 15, 1896, in Massachusetts. her mother was a live-in housekeeper for the Tiffanys (a family famous for their jewelry) and could afford to send Chinn to a boarding school in New Jersey. When Chinn required surgery on her jaw, she stayed with her mother and the Tiffanys. While there, she studied German, French, and music.

In 1917, she took the entrance exam for Columbia Teachers College and was able to enroll in the classes. During her senior year, Chinn worked in a lab and discovered her passion for science and medicine.

Doctors have a lot of training. It usually takes 11 years to become a doctor: 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school, and 3 years of working in a hospital. Doctors study biology, chemistry, physics, math, and English.

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

Do you drink soda? You may have read that drinking soda can be harmful to your health. Did you know the American Dental Association has discovered that soda can damage your tooth enamel (the protective covering of your teeth). In this experiment, you will observe the harmful effects of soda.

Materials Needed:

2 small bottles of a dark colored soda

2 small bottles of a light colored soda

1 small bottle of distilled water

5 plastic cups

5 tarnished pennies

Measuring cup

MATH CONNECTION

Discuss: What would you like about being a doctor? What would you dislike about being a doctor? how has a doctor helped you?

Want to Know More: read “I Want To Be A Doctor,” by Dan Liebman.

Learning Standard: I can read a nonfiction article to gain information about a career.

Questions: Soda can remove the tarnish from a penny. Do you think the dark colored soda or the light colored soda will remove the tarnish more quickly? Do you think they will work at the same rate?

Process:

q Measure one cup of soda in four of the plastic cups. Label the cup with the type of soda. Measure one cup of distilled water in the fifth cup and label the cup accordingly. w observe the cups each day. You may need to remove the penny to examine it more closely. Do the darker sodas or lighter sodas take the tarnish off the pennies faster? how does the soda color change as the tarnish is removed from the penny?

Think About It: If soda can remove tarnish from a penny, what do you think it does to your tooth enamel? What do you think soda does to your stomach?

Learning Standard: I can follow directions to complete an experiment. I can analyze results.

In this activity, you will measure your heart rate. Your heart rate is the number of times your heart beats in one minute. heart rate can be measured by placing your index and middle finger to the artery in your neck. Each time you feel a pulse, you will count 1 heart rate. To calculate your heart rate, you can count for a full minute. or you can count for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

resting heart rate is measured when your body is at complete rest. Calculate your

Measure Your Heart Rate

resting heart rate and write it here:

Now, jump to it! That’s right, jumping jacks for 1 full minute. Calculate your heart rate after activity and write the number here: _______________

What is the difference between your resting heart rate and your heart rate after you completed activity? ____________________

Wait 5 minutes after your jumping jacks and test your heart rate again. has it returned to the resting heart rate?

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, and multiply to calculate heart rate. I can analyze patterns in my heart rate.

In 1926, she graduated from Bellevue Medical School and worked at harlem hospital. Chinn often traveled to dangerous neighborhoods and helped people receive medical care. She enjoyed helping her patients. Chinn graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Public health in 1933.

Chinn became interested in the study of cancer and she researched ways to detect cancer. In 1944, she began work at the Strang Clinic (a cancer research facility), where she stayed for 29 years. She also worked with the Surgeon Generalof the United States and developed a society to encourage African Americans to study medicine. She did not retire from her private practice until she was 81 years old. Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn the important events in a person’s career.

health is a very popular topic in the newspaper. Look inside your newspaper and you will see articles about healthy eating and exercises or advances in medicine. You will also find advertisements for health clubs or weight loss centers.

Try your hand at these four health activities in the newspaper:

q Use the newspaper to find an informational article about a health topic. Summarize the article with a topic sentence, three supporting details, and a conclusion sentence.

w Locate an advertisement for a weight loss product or service. What techniques are used to persuade the reader to try the product or service?

e Keep a collection of newspaper articles that discuss a local health problem. Determine the most significant health problems for your community.

r Look in the classified ads to find job listings for the medical/health professions.

Learning Standards:

I can use the newspaper to evaluate information. I can summarize using a main idea and supporting details. I can identify persuasive techniques.

Chinn could not get hospital priveleges upon graduating with her medical degree, so she performed procedures on patients in her office. This led to her studying for a degree in Public Health.

Slay under pressure

Sometimes during the most recent presidential campaign, I had enough. Every day, 24-7, month after month, it was Obama vs. Romney. And if that wasn’t enough, there were other players inserting themselves and the political pundits calling their shots.

Just when I was near overdosing, Romney would do or say something that added another nail to his proverbial presidential coffin. By the end of the campaign, the public had real insight into Romney the candidate, the person, the businessman. And most voters didn’t like what they saw and said so on Election Day.

The Slay-Reed mayoral race is shaping up in a similar manner. Maybe there are not the titan budgets on both sides to wage ad battles, but the ground game is worth a ringside seat.

Most observers are saying they haven’t seen the incumbent campaign so hard since he first ran in 2001.

Mayor Francis G. Slay is definitely feeling the pressure from his opponent Lewis Reed. And he should.

In the game of politics, you will make enemies simply because you can’t please all of the people all of the time. But Slay and his administration have made unnecessary enemies because of their arrogance, vendettas and power-grabbing antics. Now those adversaries are rising

up and joining with others who suffered similar smackdowns. These aren’t always conscious, orchestrated alliances but the anger, disappointments and defiance are slowly being stitched into a latent force.

Like Romney, Slay missed opportunities to show his leadership. This has been happening so long, some feel there are no leadership qualities there. His divideand-conquer racial tactics have been devastating to the city, resulting in St. Louis receiving such ignoble titles as “Most Segregated City” and “Most Dangerous.” The Wall Street Journal recently

n Mayor Francis G. Slay is definitely feeling the pressure from his opponent Lewis Reed. And he should.

dubbed us as one of the 10 Worst Run Cities.

Since most comparable urban cities are struggling with the same issues, this is about leadership, vision and problem-solving. The current administration is anemic in all three.

When you look deeper at what initiatives the mayor started, most mirror his leadership in – or, more accurately, his hijacking – of local control of the police department. Since I’ve been working on this issue for decades, I know where the mayor has been on local

control. Slay was against it before he was for it; he vetoed a civilian review board bill in 2006.

Then he teamed up with billionaire Rex Sinquefield this past November to push Prop A, which has so many convoluted issues it’s impossible to implement smoothly now. Yet local control is one of the successes the mayor touts on the campaign trail.

The mayor’s latest example of lackluster leadership is his get tough on black “thugs” under the guise of stopping gun violence. He’s going straight to punishment and jail time even though he’s not done one iota around jobs, recreation and other services that are part of a youth violence-prevention package. Plus, just like we knew the code language Romney used during his campaign, black folks have decoded Slay’s contemptuous terms for us.

Aside from the policy and administrative issues, there are always the colorful and interesting sidebar happenings in a contentious campaign like this. Things like videotaped destruction of Reed’s political signs. Things like the Slay campaign seeing “Ladies for Lewis (Reed)” and then doing “Sisters for Slay.” And then there’s the shockumentary on “Slayvery” by RCX Productions, Bootlicker, which premiered February 20 at the Tivoli.

We have a couple of more weeks until the March 5 primary. There’s going to more debates, more campaign tricks and more work to do. The more desperate Slay becomes, the more his real character will be revealed.

Grandparents spend day with students

Lutheran school students in the St. Louis Metro Area recently celebrated National Lutheran Schools Week. At Unity Lutheran Christian in East St. Louis, Charlette Griffin spent a day with her grandson, Unity student Brian Bess. Unity also used the week to honor its top spellers. Eighth-grader Geria Watson and third-grader Kendrionna Brown were the last spellers standing at the school’s annual “National Lutheran Schools Week Spelling Bee.” Students from River Roads Lutheran in Baden celebrated the week with a special Prayer Breakfast at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Des Peres. The event, which began eight years ago, has become an annual tradition for the two schools. Unity, River Roads and St. Paul’s are members of the St. Louis-based Lutheran Elementary School Association.

County Library celebrates black history

American staff

The theme for the St. Louis County Library’s 2013 Black History Celebration is: A Community in Action. A schedule of highlighted events is listed below; a full schedule is available online at www.slcl. org/black-history-celebration. All events are free and open to the public.

Saturday, February 23, 1–3 p.m. Gift of Gospel Celebration. Lewis & Clark

Branch, 9909 Lewis–Clark Blvd. Come and enjoy a myriad of gospel artists including Gregg Haynes and others, who will leave you feeling encouraged and inspired. Refreshments will be served.

Wednesday, March 27, 7–9 p.m. “1968: When Reggae Hit the Town.” Thornhill Branch, 12863 Willowyck Dr. This presentation explores the pivotal year of 1968 in Jamaica, where a new music

was taking over: reggae. KDHX DJs Ital–K and Michael Kuelker will discuss reggae from the roots to the fruits, focusing on 1968 as a year of musical birth and cultural ferment.

Program sites are accessible. Upon two weeks’ notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Contact St. Louis County Library by phone 314994-3300, or visit www.slcl. org.

Jamala Rogers

Remembering Dorian Bell Amon

Lawyer, activist, publisher, writer passed January 24

By Ruth-Miriam Garnett

For The St. Louis American

My profound and beloved friend, Dorian Bell Amon, died January 24, 2013 following a resurgence of cancer. A quote from Alexander Pushkin, the African-descended Father of Russian Literature, prefaces Amon’s memorial website:

“The illusion which exalts us is dearer to us than ten thousand truths.” Amon and I were united in literary pursuits by Onegin Publishing. Onegin, Pushkin’s masterpiece, was to be the name for my own company, at some vague future date. Amon requested that I let

See DORIAN, B3

Mama Miriam

A documentary explores South Africa’s activist diva Makeba

By Owen Keith Woodard For The St. Louis American

For anyone born before 1970, Miriam Makeba was an international icon. She was the first black woman to popularize African music worldwide and the first black woman to have a #1 worldwide hit with her song, “Pata, Pata.” She was also the first black woman to appear on American television in a natural (not processed) hairdo. She brought African fashion to the world stage and influenced, even indirectly, many popular singers today such as Erykah Badu and Sade.

On July 16, 1963, Miriam Makeba became the first African woman to testify to the United Nations Special Committee about Apartheid. Before this, the world was not largely aware of the atrocities happening halfway across the world in South Africa, which mirrored the church bombings, lynchings and unrest that were commonplace in the United States. Miriam Makeba used her fame to bring attention to civil rights violations on a global scale.

A documentary about Miriam Makeba entitled Mama Africa will be screened 3 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at the Missouri History Museum as part of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival.

Clay honors Montford Point Marine

Nelse Taylor receives Congressional Medal for service in WWII

By U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay

For The St. Louis American

U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay recently awarded the Congressional Medal to his constituent, 90-year-old former Montford Point Marine Nelse Taylor, at the Missouri Veterans Home. Taylor was unable to travel to Washington, D.C. last year to receive the gold medal along with his surviving comrades, at the ceremony hosted by President Barack Obama. Today, we honor a brave veteran who fought two battles at the same time. Nelse Taylor is not only a proud Marine, he is also a Montford Point Marine.

And that means that while he was defending freedom against fascism in World War II, he and his brave comrades were also fighting a battle for equality and full citizenship for African Americans.

From 1942 – 1949, about 20,000 black marines passed through the segregated Montford Point recruit training center. They faced the worst kind of racism and hardship, even while they wore the uniform of this country.

Polaroid, Ford and Chrysler Motors to divest their business interests from South Africa. Her social activism gained her the respect of her contemporaries such as Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Marlon Brando, not to mention that she was married to civil rights firebrand

Stokely Carmichael. For her trouble, Miriam Makeba was exiled from her homeland for 30 years and was in constant fear of being assassinated by the South African

See MIRIAM, B3

Urban League leader was trusted advisor to three Presidents

By Marc Morial National Urban League

Most students of civil rights history know that 2013 marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

Her United Nations testimony focused the world’s attention on the crimes that Hendrik Verwoerd and the South African government were committing against Black South Africans which began a movement for companies such as Barclays Bank, Presenting sPonsors

and the 50th anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington.  But this year also marks the 50th anniversary of the signature newspaper column of the National Urban League. he column “To Be Equal” was started in 1963 as “the Voice of Black America” by one of the Civil Rights Movement’s most efective if lesser-known champions, former National Urban League President Whitney M. Young Jr.  At the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Whitney Young took the ight for equal opportunity from the pulpits

and street corners to the board rooms and corner oices of corporate America. Forging allies from Wall Street to the Oval Oice, Whitney Young’s battle for economic justice and inclusion laid the foundation for an upwardly mobile black middle class that is still rising today. While those of us in the Urban League family have always celebrated the unique role Whitney Young played in the movement, his story has rarely been told before a national audience – until

Of course when they hit the beaches on Iwo Jima, it didn’t matter what color they were. They were just brave Americans … fighting for their country.

The Montford Point Marines helped pave the way for future

See

U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay with former Montford Point Marine Nelse Taylor

MARINE, B6

Dorian Bell Amon with Irene J. Smith following a legal win in 2011.

Retrying the Dred Scott case

Old Courthouse

hosting historical reenactments

American staff

As the U.S. celebrates Black History Month, the Old Courthouse and the Gateway Arch are presenting a variety of programs and films chronicling the rich heritage of African Americans and honoring their many contributions to our nation.

As the site of the first two trials of the pivotal Dred Scott slavery case in 1847 and 1850, the Old Courthouse is nationally significant in African-American history. While the structure was the site of hundreds of suits for freedom, it was the Dred Scott case that helped plunge our country into Civil War. The case was first brought to trial in 1847, but was thrown out because of hearsay evidence. During a second trial in 1850, Dred Scott and his wife sued for, and were granted, their freedom. After many appeals, the case wasn’t finally decided until the Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property and had no right to sue.

During Black History Month, the Old Courthouse is hosting reenactments of this landmark case, giving members of the public the chance to act out scenes from Dred Scott’s 1850 trial. The reenactments are free and open to the public, and will take place at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday during February.

Black History Month Essay Contest

Due by February 28

“How would Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass or Dred Scott use today’s technology to further their cause?”

Each Saturday and Sunday during Black History Month, the Old Courthouse is hosting reenactments that give members of the public the

out scenes

American staff

The Old Courthouse’s Black History Month film series will wrap up Feb. 22-28, with a viewing of “Never Lose Sight of Freedom,” a film highlighting the civil rights battle in the South. The films will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day, and will begin every hour at half-past the hour.

At the Gateway Arch’s Museum of Westward Expansion, a special program called “Blacks in the West” will be presented at 1:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday during February. Covering a different topic each week, the program will chronicle the black experience in the American West and

tell the tales of the Westward Expansion from an AfricanAmerican perspective.

n While the Old Courthouse was the site of hundreds of suits for freedom, it was the Dred Scott case that helped plunge our country into Civil War.

The Museum of Westward Expansion’s special exhibits gallery is also hosting a film series during February that will wrap up Feb. 22-28 with a showing of “Dred Scott: Freedom on Trial,” a film chronicling the Dred Scott case.

The Old Courthouse and the Gateway Arch are part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, located on the riverfront in downtown St. Louis. The Old Courthouse is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. During the winter months, the Arch’s Museum of Westward Expansion is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Power from Our Guiding Lights

Ameren Missouri is focused on leveraging our employees’ unique talents and backgrounds to ensure our valued customers have the safe, reliable energy they need, and the information and resources to use that power efficiently.

We shine a light on diversity because we believe our differences can be our greatest strength.

Verizon Wireless is teaming up with 100 Black Men to honor the legacy of African Americans by sponsoring the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan of St. Louis, “Black Men Black History Month Essay Contest.”

The essay contest is open to high school seniors in the St. Louis area focusing on the topic of “How would Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglass or Dred Scott use today’s technology (smartphones, tablets, social media, etc.) to further their cause?”

“The goal of this Black History Month Essay Contest is to present our youth with a thought-provoking question that will force them to do research on our past and tie it in to modern day times by incorporating the topic of technology,” said Joseph Anderson, president, 100 Black

Men of Metropolitan St. Louis. The top three winners will receive money towards a scholarship on behalf of 100 Black Men (1st place, $1,500; 2nd place, $1,000; 3rd place, $500) and be awarded a 4G LTE Tablet from Verizon Wireless. Additionally, the teacher who gets the most students to submit essays to the contest will also receive a 4G LTE Tablet from Verizon Wireless. For more information and official rules, please visit http://100blackmenstl.com/ black-history-month-essaycontest-sponsored-by-verizonwireless-application/. Essays should be sent to: 100 Black Men / Black History Essay Contest, Attn:

chance to act

from Dred Scott’s 1850 trial.

Flo Valley gives love to Whitney

BHM at SLCC campus finale celebrates a departed diva

American staff

St. Louis Community College - Florissant Valley kicked off its month-long celebration of African American heritage Feb. 6 with the Angela-Kumasi Nankama Aswad Kambeng African Dance and Drumming team, a story of Elijah Lovejoy presented by Barnes Bradshaw from the Missouri History Museum, musical performances as well as free soul food and giveaways. Genesis Steele, African American Male Initiative interim director, gave the keynote address. Throughout the month there will be numerous

discussions, lectures, exhibits and presentations. For a complete schedule of events, visit: http://users.stlcc.edu/ departments/fv/AfricanAmeri canHeritageCelebration-2013calendar.pdf

African American History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild

n Cheryl Brown has performed with Anthony Hamilton, Theo Peoples, Walter Hawkins and the Clark Sisters

of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the

month of February as African American History Month. The grand finale will feature A Tribute to Whitney Houston by Cheryl Brown and Friends. The performance will take place from noon2:30 p.m. on Feb. 28 in the Terry M. Fischer Theatre. Cheryl Brown is one of St. Louis most sought-after vocalists. She began her performance career at the age of four and by 15, she made her first recording. She has performed here and internationally with such well-known names as Anthony Hamilton, Theo Peoples, Walter Hawkins and the Clark Sisters. Cheryl also appeared in the Patti LaBelle show at the St. Louis History Museum. For more information, call 314-513-4291. All events are free and open to the public. Special accommodations are available for persons with disabilities by calling 314513-4551.

Elderly & Disabled Notiication Program

Elderly and disabled customers are eligible for a special program aimed at preventing interruption of natural gas service during the winter. If you or a member of your household are age 65 or older, or are disabled, you are encouraged to register for this program.

Once registered and before a winter interruption becomes necessary, Laclede will:

• send two notices to the customer by mail; attempt to reach the customer by telephone, if possible; and make personal contact on the premises with the customer or any member of the family who is over the age of 15; and

• notify a party selected by the customer; such as a family member, social service agency or charitable organization, so that outside help can be provided.

Customers who register, and designate a third-party contact, have the peace of mind that Laclede will notify someone who can work on their behalf to avoid natural gas service interruption.

For further information on this program, to request a registration form and to hear about special payment arrangements, please call (314) 621-6960, or write to:

Laclede Gas Company

Customer Relations Dept.

Drawer 9 St. Louis, Missouri 63166

DORIAN

Continued from B1

him adopt “Onegin” for his own firm, after I informed him that “Pushkin,” his preferred name, was already a wellestablished translator. I was happy for him to take the load off. I would write more books of my own, let go of my illusion for his concretization and trust him with my dream. For that matter, I trusted this Howard University and Washington University Law Schooleducated ex-U.S. Marine with my life.

Editing Amon’s selfauthored manuscript, Spatial Deconcentration, in 2004, I was enthralled by the voice, knowledge base and detailed analysis. A reappraisal of the 1960’s Kerner Commission Report, the manuscript was expertly researched, extensively footnoted. Amon posited that the main intent of the Commission was to prevent further urban rebellions in inner cities.

MIRIAM

Continued from B1

government while living abroad. She also suffered a professional exile from the United States after her marriage to Carmichael. Her recording contracts and concerts were cancelled, and she was under constant surveillance from J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to the point that she had to flee to the African nation of Guinea with her husband.

Despite suffering staggering personal losses, Miriam Makeba continued to use her fame to champion human rights causes literally until her last breath on November 9, 2008, when she collapsed onstage performing a concert to benefit

What amazed me while reading this work were its superlative literary qualities. This was a difficult edit, with some sentences running four lines. However, it was exhaustively thorough, precise and unflinching.

The Commission’s strategy, as outlined in Amon’s exposition, was to disperse inner-city blacks, thus eradicating mass action and political power on the local level.

“In his HUD-sponsored study, (Anthony) Downs argued that the inner cities were hopelessly beyond repair and would be better cleared of services and residents and landbanked,” Amon wrote. “The middle class should then be allowed to repopulate these areas, giving them a breath of new life.”

Published as a pamphlet in 1979 during Amon’s organizing days in Washington, D.C., its attributed author was 22-yearold activist Yulanda Ward, Amon’s researcher, who was murdered there on November 2, 1980 at 2 a.m. by two welldressed white males. I am committed to Amon’s book, to

Roberto Saviano, a writer who stood up to the ruthless Camorra mafia.

To get a glimpse of the often untold story of one of the forgotten ones of the Civil Rights Movement, attend a screening of a documentary about Miriam Makeba entitled Mama Africa 3 p.m. Saturday, March 2 at the Missouri History

preserving this legacy for his children. During the last weeks of his life, Amon argued against the Northside Redevelopment project before the Missouri Supreme Court (decision still pending), after arguing brilliantly the previous year in the lower court. Amon’s stance came out of his work as a housing activist, his closely reading between the lines for nefarious intent in government documents obtained clandestinely by Ms. Ward. Amon’s work is critical for North St. Louis’ present. The dialogue in our community must involve historical precedent, self-determination and empowerment of current residents. His courage should be the blueprint for asking questions and demanding answers.

Ruth-Miriam Garnett is author of a novel, Laelia (Simon & Schuster 2004). Her most recent book is Concerning Violence, New & Selected Poems (Onegin 2010). A novel, Chloe’s Grief will be published in 2013. For other information, contact LataleWestley@aol.com

n Miriam Makeba was exiled from her homeland for 30 years and feared being assassinated by the South African government.

Museum as part of the Africa World Documentary Film Festival. A panel discussion, moderated by Nathan Grant, editor of The African American Review, will be conducted before the screening and the director Mika Kaurismaki will attend the screening to answer questions from the audience. For more information, visit http://www. africaworldfilmfestival.com/.

The grand finale will feature ‘A Tribute to Whitney Houston’ by Cheryl Brown and Friends on Feb. 28 in the Terry M. Fischer Theatre.

YOUNG

now. On February 18, America

PBS premiered a rare in-depth look at the extraordinary life of Whitney Young in an hour-long documentary, The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights Years in the making, the film, made possible by Emmy Awardwinning executive producer (and Whitney Young’s niece) Bonnie Boswell Hamilton, traces Young’s journey from his segregated childhood in 1920s rural Kentucky to his national prominence as President of the National Urban League from 1961-71. The film features rare archival footage and interviews with such luminaries as Vernon Jordan, Henry Louis Gates, Dorothy Height, John Hope Franklin and Ossie Davis. Though recognized as a major civil rights leader and one of the organizers of the 1963

March on Washington, Whitney Young’s strategy of engaging political and corporate leaders as partners in the struggle for economic justice was met with opposition by many whites and skepticism by more militant

n Whitney Young’s battle for economic justice and inclusion laid the foundation for an upwardly mobile black middle class that is still rising today.

blacks. Despite these challenges, Whitney Young turned the rhetoric of the civil rights movement into jobs and economic opportunity for African Americans.

In addition to sitting down

with corporate titans, he was a trusted advisor to three Presidents – Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Lyndon Johnson used Young’s “Domestic Marshall Plan” as the basis for his “War on Poverty.” And Richard Nixon delivered the eulogy at Young’s 1971 funeral.

Noted Princeton historian and Whitney Young biographer Nancy Weiss Malkiel once called, Young “the inside man of the black revolution.” In her 1989 book, Whitney M. Young Jr. and the Struggle for Civil Rights, Malkiel wrote that Young “spent most of his adult life in the white world, transcending barriers of race, wealth and social standing to advance the welfare of black Americans. His goal was to gain access for blacks to good jobs, education, housing, health care and social services. His tactics were reason, persuasion and negotiation.”

Marc Morial is President and CEO of the National Urban League.

Art Museum hosts Third Annual ‘If It Wasn’t for the Women’ Program

By Vanity Gee, 2012 – 2013 Romare Bearden Fellow

The Saint Louis Art Museum heralds the achievements of women of color in the arts. This year, the program highlights the careers of women who explore and celebrate community identities through art work. The panelists, Marilyn Robinson, EdD, Gina Martinez, and Anne Collins Smith, hail from various backgrounds, including museum administration, scholarship, and social work.

Marilyn Robinson is a self-taught artist and fine art photographer. After a very successful career in Human and Social Services, she retired in 2010 and is now a full time artist who manifests the human aspects of “Cultural Compositions™” into her art. Robinson’s photography and paintings illustrate her fascination with the incredible complexity and spiritual beauty of today’s cultures that have grown out of African ancestry, including New Orleans and Caribbean cultures.

Like Robinson, Regina Martinez is also trained in social work and photography. The art of Martinez connects with the potential of neighborliness, storytelling and skill sharing – ingredients for heightening agency at a grassroots level. Grounded in community arts development, Martinez is currently working with Rebuild Foundation as an organizer at the The Pink House in Pagedale. In partnership with local residents and other organizations, the Pink House is a center for initiatives and gatherings reflective of creative life in Pagedale.

Anne Collins Smith, trained in English, art history and visual arts administration, is a cultural curator and historian in the literary, visual, and performing arts. She is currently the curator of collections at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art where she has curates exhibitions highlighting cultural identities of race and gender. Smith has completed multiple fellowships, including the Saint Louis Art Museum Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Fellowship. Please join us in celebrating the artistic and professional contributions that Robinson, Martinez and Collins Smith have made to their communities. This annual program will be held on Saturday, March 2 at 10 am at the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis, 6128 Delmar Blvd. Refreshments will follow the program. The program is free and open to the public but space is limited. Please reserve your space by emailing bearden@slam.org or leave a voice mail at 314-655-5444.

African Americans and autism

Life Skills presents Black History Month program Feb. 28

American staff

Studies show that AfricanAmerican children with autism typically receive a diagnosis one to two years later than white children. The earlier a child is diagnosed with developmental delays, the more opportunities the child and family will have to receive the proper support. Early intervention is critical in the diagnosis and treatment of children with developmental delays and autism spectrum disorders.

During Black History Month, Life Skills will host an

Educational Panel Discussion to educate community members about the importance of “sooner equals better,” talk about the signs of autism and developmental delays, and discuss the resources available.

The event will be held 6 p.m. Thursday, February 28 at St.

n Studies show that African-American children with autism typically receive a diagnosis one to two years later than white children.

Louis Public Radio, 3651 Olive St. The panel discussion will be held in the community room on the first floor. Expert panelists including

a physician, a case worker, and a parent with a child with developmental disabilities. About 15 percent of children in the United States have a developmental disability, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Autism Spectrum Disorders have had the most rapid increase when compared with other developmental disabilities; about 1 in 88 children have been identified with an autism spectrum disorder.

Life Skills, a United Way agency, helps people with developmental disabilities – including autism – learn, live, work and participate in the community. Life Skills recently merged with TouchPoint Autism Services and now serves more than 4,200 individuals in 95 counties across Missouri. For more information, visit www.lifeskills-mo.org.

Continued from B1

Then-National Urban League President Whitney M. Young Jr. with President John F. Kennedy.

Marilyn Robinson Regina Martinez Anne Collins Smith

BLAck HiStory montH ActivitieS

Thurs., Feb. 21, 10 a.m., Panel Discussion- Race: The Power of an Illusion, STLCC Forest Park Campus Cafeteria, Multipurpose Room. For more information (314) 644-9284.

Thurs., Feb. 21, 11 a.m., Black in the Day: STL’s Place in History, STLCC Florissant Valley Campus Student Center Multipurpose Room. For more information, call (314) 5134639.

Thurs., Feb. 21, 12:30 p.m., Examining Health and Nutrition Perparedness with Quantarrius Wilson, STLCC Meramec Campus. For more information, call (314) 9847593.

Fri., Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents Lift Every Voice: Black History Month Celebration. The STL Symphony and vocalist Wintley Phipps come together for this soulful celebration full of spirit and song commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech, “I Have a Dream.” 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700.

Fri., Feb. 22, 7 p.m., The Singles Ministry of Central Baptist Church is sponsoring their Second Annual Black History Trivia Night, William Claiborne Educational Center, 2843 Washington Blvd. Bonita Cornute, of KTVI News, will serve as host for the event.

Sat., Feb. 23, 2 p.m., The New African Paradigm presents a “Black History Extravaganza” with Dr. Llaila Africa and Michael Imhotep , Pajoma Academy, 3935 Enright Ave., 63108. Please contact James Steward at (618) 977-8191 or Greg Harris at (314) 977-8191 for more information.

Sat., Feb. 23, Missouri History Museum presents Question Bridge: Black Males. An innovative transmedia art project that facilitates a dialogue between a critical mass of black men from diverse and contending backgrounds and creates a platform for them to represent and redefine black male identity in America. The exhibit will run through June 16. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www. mohistory.org.

Sat., Feb. 23, 1 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Gifts of Gospel Celebration Come and enjoy a myriad of gospel artists who will leave you feeling encouraged and inspired. Lewis & Clark Branch, 9909 Lewis-Clark Blvd., 63136. For more information, call 314-994-3300.

Sat., Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m., Kirkwood Baptist Church presents Festival of AfricanAmerican Spirituals Finale Concert, Also performing will be the Legend Singers Choral Ensemble and Community Gospel Choir. 211 N. Woodlawn Ave., 63122. For more information, call (314) 524-9086.

Sat., Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m., Julia Davis Library Branch hosts author Robert Moore, author of The President’s Men: Black United States Marshall in America. 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 3833021.

Sun., Feb. 24, 11:30 a.m., The annual Black History Month celebration at Christ Church Cathedral continues with fivetime Grammy winner Terence Blanchard as the guest at the annual Black History Month

potluck. Blanchard will pick up this theme of the stories of Black America and talk about his work on Champion, as well as Red Tails, Malcolm X, Jungle Fever and other films - tracing the stories of Emile Griffith, Malcolm X, the Tuskegee Airmen and Spike Lee. Christ Church Cathedral is located on 13th Street between Olive and Locust downtown, next to the newly renovated Central Library. For more information about this or any Cathedral event, contact Dean Kinman at mkinman@gmail. com or 314.348.6453.

Sun., Feb. 24, 3 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Looking for Leroy: A Lecture on Black Masculinity. Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Duke University, addresses the intersection of race and gender in this lecture on black masculinity. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 7464599 or visit www.mohistory.

org.

Tues., Feb. 26, 11 a.m., Slavery in America: An interdisciplinary Journey, STLCC Florissant Valley Campus Student Center. For more information call (314) 513-4132.

Tues., Feb. 26, 11:30, Captivity Narratives, STLCC Wildwood Campus Multipurpose Room. For more information, call (636) 4222244.

Tues., Feb. 26, 7 p.m., St. Louis Jazz Orchestra: A Night of Count Basie. Under the direction of bassist/educator Jim Widner, the orchestra brings together some of the finest jazz artists in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 5164949.

Wed., Feb. 27, 11:30 a.m., Missouri History Museum presents A Trio of Dreamers. Through written and spoken word, music, and art, students at Hazelwood East High School pay tribute to three African American leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Langston Hughes, and Rollo Dilworth. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 7464599 or visit www.mohistory. org.

Wed., Feb. 27, 12 noon, Open Mic, STLCC Florissant Valley Campus Student Center. For more information, call (314) 513-4763.

Wed., Feb. 27, 12 noon, The St. Louis Black Repertory Company presents “The Day the Waters Came,” STLCC Meramec Campus. For more information, call (314) 9847593.

Thurs., Feb. 28, 11 a.m., A Tribute To Whitney Houston starring Cheryl Brown and Friends, STLCC Florissant Valley’s Terry M. Fischer Theatre. For more information, call (314) 513-4294.

Thurs., Feb. 28, 9:45 a.m., Kreative Pandemonium, William J. Harrison Education Center Multipurpose Room 100. For more information, call (314) 763-6017.

Thurs., Feb. 28, 11 a.m., Bro2Bro, STLCC Forest Park Campus Cafeteria East. For more information, call (314) 644-9284

Thurs., Feb. 28, 12 noon, King Omowale and the Majestic Lions Presented by Mahkeedah Arts, STLCC Meramec Campus, Student Center Cafeteria. For more information, call (314) 9847593.

Thur., Feb. 28, 3 p.m., St. Louis County Library Rock Road Branch presents Travel to New Orleans. Join us for an afternoon of discussing the music, food and spirituality in New Orleans as it relates to Black History. Registration required. 10267 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63074. For more information, call (314) 9943300.

Thur., Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Maplewood Public Library presents Black Aviators in History. Mr. Harold Moss, President of the St. Louis Gateway Eagles, will speak about the history of black aviators, 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., 63143. For more information, call (314) 781-2174.

Through Feb. 28, Verizon Wireless is teaming up with 100 Black Men to honor the legacy of African-Americans by sponsoring the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan of St. Louis, “Black Men Black History Month Essay Contest.” The essay contest is open to High School Seniors in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area focusing on the topic of “How would Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas or Dred Scott use today’s technology (smartphones, tablets, social media, etc.) to further their cause?” Essays are due to the 100 Black Men office by February 28. Voting will take place March 4-8. Winners will be announced on March 11 at www.100BlackMenSTL.com and at a winners’ reception on March 16 at the 100 Black Men headquarters on Delmar Blvd. The top three winners will receive money towards a scholarship on behalf of 100 Black Men (1st place: $1,500; 2nd place: $1,000; 3rd place: $500) and be awarded a 4G LTE Tablet from Verizon Wireless. Additionally, the teacher who gets the most students to submit essays to the contest will also receive a 4G LTE Tablet from Verizon Wireless.

The annual Black History Month celebration at Christ Church Cathedral continues with five-time Grammy winner Terence Blanchard as the guest at their annual Black History Month potluck.

By Melanie Adams

Talking about black men

Redefining black male identity in America

“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.”

W.E.B. Dubois

There are dozens of statistics society uses to try to define African American men. The number in prison, the number on drugs, the number with children outside of marriage, the number who drop out of school, the number who are employed and the list goes on with hardly a positive number in the mix. Unfortunately, these negative images of African American men become the norm and their true voices are unable to be heard, until now.

On Saturday, February 23, the Missouri History Museum debuts a new traveling exhibit, Question Bridge: Black Males This exhibit is an innovative transmedia art project that facilitates dialogue between a critical mass of black men from diverse and contending backgrounds and creates a platform for them to represent and redefine black male identity in America. This exhibit gives voice and face to the impersonal statistics and helps to provide a more complete view of African American males. It allows

them to talk about their dreams, their fears, and their futures unspoiled by society’s filter.

Developed as an art installation, this exhibit reflects the Museum’s mission to engage the community and provide opportunities for dialogue. As with past exhibits such as Race: Are We So Different and America I Am: The African American Imprint the Museum partnered with the Anti-Defamation League to host discussion groups for exhibit visitors. These rap sessions serve as opportunities for Museum visitors to discuss the reactions and feelings around their experience in the exhibit with trained facilitators. The sessions are free and will take place in the exhibit. Because issues of race and identity have a strong influence on young people, the Museum developed a school program to complement the gallery experience. Over the course of two hours, school groups will explore the exhibit and then participate in a dialogue experience similar to the rap sessions above. They will also have a hands-on experience involving the creation of identity maps of local African Americans.

Question Bridge: Black Males serves as a great opportunity for the St. Louis community to come together

and have discussions around stereotypes associated not only with race, but also gender and class. The exhibit’s topic may be African American males, but I think everyone can relate its universal message of giving voice to those who have been silenced.

The Museum has a robust schedule of community and school programs scheduled for the run of the exhibit. Below is a schedule of programs along with brief descriptions. For more information, please check out the museum’s website at www.mohistory.org

Question Bridge: Black Males

Saturday, Feb 23rd –June 30th • Free

Question Bridge: Black Males was produced by Songha and Company; Co-Produced by farWord Inc.; Underwritten by Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement and Tribeca Film Institute; Supported by Bay Area Video Coalition, Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Story Lab, UPM and DualStar Digital.

Black Men Joking

Featuring W. Kamu Bell

Saturday, Feb 23rd • 7pm, Free Lee Auditorium

The star of FX’s original comedy Totally Biased, W. Kamau Bell and St. Louis native Arvin Mitchell explore race and masculinity through humor.

Looking for Leroy: A Lecture on Black Masculinity

Sunday, February 24 3pm, Free Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, addresses the intersection of race and gender in this lecture on black masculinity.

Question Bridge: Black Males School Program Grades 6th – 12th Two Hours • FREE

To sign up for school programs, please call 314-3619017 or go to www.mohistory.

MARINE

Continued from B1

generations of African Americans by proving themselves in training and in battle. They broke the color line and changed the Marine Corps forever. Today, we honor Nelse Taylor with the same medal that many of his colleagues received at the U.S. capitol. The Congressional Gold Medal is one of our nation’s highest honors. It is awarded to Sgt. Taylor for serving his country with valor during World War II, and for his historic role in helping to integrate the U.S. military and American society. I am privileged to be able to pay this long-overdue tribute to a

courageous soldier. The requirements for the awarding of Congressional Gold Medals are established by statute. The bill honoring the Montford Point Marines received unanimous approval in the U.S. House and Senate and was signed into law by President Obama on November 23, 2011. Upon the signing of the legislation, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James F. Amos, said of the Montford Point Marines, “Their story is one of triumph over adversity. Their legacy of courage and perseverance is an inspiration to all marines.”

And Sgt. Taylor, your brave service is also an inspiration to all of us here today. Congratulations, thank you. And may god bless you and your family.

CBTU honors Sims, Harmon, coalition

The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) celebrated its 35th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Awards Banquet on January 21 at the CWA Local 6300 Union Hall. Awards were presented to Ethel Sims, President of UAW Local 110 Retiree Chapter, and Bradley Harmon, Coordinator for St. Louis Labor 2012 and President of CWA Local 6355, for their contribution to the struggle for social justice,

labor and human rights in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Also honored was “Cap the Rate! Raise the Wage Coalition,” a coalition of organizations, clergy and individuals who work to raise the Missouri minimum wage and cap the rate on lending in Missouri.

January 21, 2013 marked the 28th observation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday as a national holiday.

now more than ever

When people come together for something they believe in, they can change the world. That’s the power of connections. At AT&T, we’re proud to celebrate this legacy and to help connect people with their dreams. We’re pleased to support Black History Month, and we’re proud to connect people with their world. Always.

Ethel Sims Bradley Harmon

WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY, INC.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

We honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and pay tribute to the accomplishments of African-American leaders past and present.

World Wide Technology, Inc. understands that a critical component of our success is our ability to leverage diversity and our core values—that is the strength of our people and why we celebrate Black History Month year round.

‘Meeting in the Ladies Room’

Monthly outlet for real talk lends to healing

By Kenya Vaughn

Of The St. Louis American

“I really just wanted to do something that would bring women together – specifically AfricanAmerican women,” said Janee Hardy a.k.a. Hot 104.1 personality Janee in The Midday. After years of watching –and being perplexed – by the complications and challenges between women, she’s made

Why does a player settle down?

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

After being captain of the field for nearly two decades, a guy I know announced that he was “ready to settle down and start looking for the one” via social media.

My first thought was, “It’s about doggone time.” I mean, honestly, I was torn between calling him the Ray Lewis or the Shaquille O’Neal of the … well, let’s just say casual dating scene. But once I decided he was Shaq – mainly because there was no real scandal during his tenure and he’s hanging up his player hat with no grand eclipse – I found this statement especially striking. It sounded completely opposite to how we as women decide that we are going to dive into our relationship agendas. I reached out to pick his brain about his tweet/status and see what his plan of attack was. Just like the short statement suggested – he’s going about it in a way that I thought would be of interest to single black females. You see, he hasn’t been kicked

getting to the heart of the matter her personal crusade. And last November she took action with her monthly series “Meeting in the Ladies Room.”

“It was just something that I’ve

of her career and life’s journey are shown through director Mika Kaurismaki’s Mama Africa The documentary will serve as a focal point for the 6th Annual Africa World Documentary Film Festival next weekend at the Missouri History Museum.

What started as a modest initiative from E. Desmond Lee endowed professor Niyi Coker has grown into a truly global phenomenon. Fortysix films submitted by filmmakers representing countries from Australia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Mali, Egypt, France, Spain, The United Kingdom, Namibia, The United States and everywhere in between.

Variations of the festival will travel around the world – from Kansas to Cameroon – and spread the unique and varied experiences of the myriad of those with roots in the Diaspora.

“Through the art of documentary filmmaking, the Africa World Documentary Film Festival is committed to the promotion of knowledge, life and culture of the people of Africa worldwide,” Coker said.

Avante Morgan, a sixth grade student at Walbridge Elementary School, with representatives from St. Louis Public Schools and America SCORES.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Mama Africa, directed by Mika Kaurismaki, will screen at the Missouri History Museum as part of

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black history activities

Thur., Feb. 21, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Rhythms and Folklore of Africa, Oak Bend Branch, 842 S. Holmes Ave., 63122. For more information, call (314) 994-3300.

Fri., Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents Lift Every Voice: Black History Month Celebration. The STL Symphony and vocalist Wintley Phipps come together for this soulful celebration full of spirit and song commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic speech, “I Have a Dream.” 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700.

Fri., Feb. 22, 7 p.m., The Singles Ministry of Central Baptist Church is sponsoring theirSecond Annual Black History Trivia Night, William Claiborne Educational Center, 2843 Washington Blvd. Bonita Cornute, of KTVI News, will serve as host for the event.

Fri., Feb. 22, 7 a.m., National Pan-Hellenic Council of St. Louis presents The Ole Skool Groove 2013. Proceeds to benefit the NPHC-STL Scholarship Fund. The Kappa Kastle, 500 N. Vandeventer Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 600-6651 or email stlpan@yahoo.com.

Feb. 22 – 24, St. Charles Convention Center presents 26th Working Women’s Survival Show, One Convention Center Plaza, 63303. For more information, call (314) 576-6279 or visit www.wwssonline.com.

Sat., Feb. 23, 1 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Gifts of Gospel Celebration. Come and enjoy a myriad of gospel artists who will leave you feeling encour-

aged and inspired. Lewis & Clark Branch, 9909 LewisClark Blvd., 63136. For more information, call 314-9943300.

Sat., Feb. 23, 2 p.m., The New African Paradigm presents a “Black History Extravaganza” with Dr. Llaila Africa and Michael Imhotep , Pajoma Academy, 3935 Enright Ave., 63108. Please contact James Steward at (618) 977-8191 or Greg Harris at (314) 977-8191 for more information.

Sat., Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m., Julia Davis Library Branch hosts author Robert Moore, author of The President’s Men: Black United States Marshall in America. 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 383-3021.

Thur., Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Maplewood Public Library presents Black Aviators in History. Mr. Harold Moss, President of the St. Louis Gateway Eagles, will speak about the history of black aviators, 7550 Lohmeyer Ave., 63143. For more information, call (314) 781-2174.

Thur., Feb. 28, 3 p.m., St. Louis County Library Rock Road Branch presents Travel to New Orleans. Join us for an afternoon of discussing the music, food and spirituality in New Orleansas it relates to Black History. Registration required. 10267 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63074. For more information, call (314) 9943300.

Through Feb. 28, Verizon Wireless is teaming up with 100 Black Men to honor the legacy of African-Americans by sponsoring the 100 Black Men of Metropolitan of St. Louis, “Black Men Black History Month Essay Contest.” The essay contest is open to High School Seniors in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area focusing on the topic of “How would Harriet Tubman, Fredrick Douglas orDred Scott use today’s technology

CALENDAR

(smartphones, tablets, social media, etc.) to furthertheir cause?” Essays are due to the 100 Black Men office by February 28. Voting will take place March 4-8. Winners will be announced on March 11 at www.100BlackMenSTL.com and at a winners’reception on March 16 at the 100 Black Men headquarters on Delmar Blvd. The top three winners will receive money towards a scholarship on behalf of 100 Black Men (1st place: $1,500; 2nd place: $1,000; 3rd place: $500) and be awarded a 4G LTE Tablet from Verizon Wireless. Additionally, the teacher who gets the most students to submit essays to the contest will also receive a 4G LTE Tablet from Verizon Wireless. For more information and official rules, please visit http://100blackmenstl.com/blac k-history-month-essay-contestsponsored-by-verizon-wirelessapplication/

Fri., Mar. 1, 1 p.m., Saint Louis University Bridge Lecture: Joint Black/Women’s History Months Lecture. The talk “Defining Blackness and Inferiority: An examination of Nineteenth-Century American Gynecology” will broaden the current understandings of the role enslaved and poor Irishimmigrant women as medical subjects played in groundbreaking medical surgeries. Dr.

Dierdre Cooper Owens will present her research. Dubourg Hall, 221 N. Grand Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 977-3892.

concerts

Fri., Feb. 22, 9 p.m., Trinidad James, The Old Rock House. For more information, call (314) 534-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com

Sat., Feb. 23, 6 p.m., Chaifetz Arena presents St. Louis Blues Festival. Performers include Mel Waiters, TK Soul, Bobby Womack, Denise LaSalle, Shirley Brown, Bobby Bland and Charles Wilson. One S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 977-5000.

Sat., Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m., Kirkwood Baptist Church presents Festival of AfricanAmerican Spirituals Finale Concert, Also performing will be the Legend Singers Choral Ensemble and Community Gospel Choir. 211 N. Woodlawn Ave., 63122. For more information, call (314) 524-9086.

Sun., Feb. 24, 7 p.m., The St. Louis Black Repertory presents Whitney Houston Tribute Concert. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, 63108. For more information, call (314) 534-3807.

Entertainment presents A 70’s Extravaganza with DJ Cool Breeze and Joseph Lee. Door prizes for first 50 admissions! Food, cash prizes for best Male/Female 1970’s costumes! Boppin, Hula Hoop and Twist Contest. Youth & Family Center, 818 Cass Ave., 63107. For more information, call (773) 571-1716 or (773) 5711315.

Thur., Mar. 7, 6 p.m., Jazz Underthe Stars – Fly Me to the Moon. a night of incredible jazz music under a dome of stars in the James S. McDonnell Planetarium. Enjoy hometown brews & food from local restaurants while listening to performances by the Eric Slaughter Trio with special guests, Willie Akins & Jesse Gannon. James S. McDonnell Planetarium, 5100 Clayton Rd., 63110. For more information, call (314) 2894424.

Tues., Feb. 26, 7 p.m., St. Louis Jazz Orchestra: A Night of Count Basie. Under the direction of bassist/educator Jim Widner, the orchestra brings together some of the finest jazz artists in the St. Louis Metropolitan area. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 5164949.

Tues., Mar. 5, 7:30 p.m., Marvin Gaye Jazz Tribute “I RememberMarvin” feat. The Larry Brown Group Opening Performance by East St. Louis Senior High School Jazz Band, The Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, email larrybrownworldwide@yahoo.com.

special events

Thurs., Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m. Emerson presents The St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute to Young Leaders Networking Awards Reception, Starlight Room, Chase Park Plaza. For more information, call (314) 5338000 or visit www.stlamerican.com

Feb. 22 and Feb. 23, Alonzo King LINES Ballet returns to the Edison Ovations Series, Edison Theatre, Washington University, Tickets are available at the Edison Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information, call (314) 935-6543, email edison@wustl.edu or visit edison.wustl.edu.

Sat., Feb. 23, 5 p.m., Missouri Legislative Black Caucus hosts Town Hall Forums: State of Black Missouri. Topics include education, jobs, and crime in our communities. Omega Center, 3900 Goodfellow, 63120. For more information, call (573) 751-6800.

Sat., Feb. 23, 6 p.m., Fathers’ Support Center hosts Hats Off to Fathers Trivia Night. The Edge of Webster, 359 Marshall Ave., 63119. For more information, call (314) 333-4170.

Feb., 23, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Willie Akins/Montez Coleman CD Release Party, Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington. For more information, call (314) 534-1111.

Sun., Feb. 24, 1:30 p.m. Community Women Against Hardship (CWAH), Inc.’s annual Jazz Celebration featuring Johnny O’Neal from New York, Jeffrey Andersonbass, Marty Morrison - drums, Freddie Washington - saxophone with vocalist Anita Jackson. The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington. For more information, call CWAH at (314) 289-7523 or visit www.cwah.org.

Sat., Mar. 2, 8 p.m., L&N

Thur., Mar. 7, 6 p.m., USO of Missouri hosts 9th Annual Armed Forces Salute Dinner. Join us as we honor local military for their amazing service and dedication. Honorees will be selected by their peers for their extraordinary bravery, loyalty, and heroism. Hyatt Regency St. Louis at the Arch, 315 Chestnut St., 63102. For more information, call (314) 429-2938 or visit www. 9tharmedforcessalute.eventbrit e.com.

Sat., Mar. 9, 6:30 p.m., The St. Louis Peregrine Society hosts 5th Annual Trivia Night. Proceeds benefit service programs for area cancer patients. Electrical Workers Hall, 5850 Elizabeth, 63139. For more information, call (314) 781-6775 or visit www.peregrinesoc.org.

Sat., Mar. 9, 1 p.m. The Best Talent Showcase EverVL Production presents Who’s Who in Entertainment Talent Showcase, Tandy Community Center, 4206 W. Kennerly. Dancers, Singers, Cheerleaders & Rappers may inquire Contact Mrs. Veronica Logan (314) 537-0239. Registration Deadline Saturday February 16.

Mar. 16 – Mar. 17, “Fantasy in Fabric,” Thimble & Thread Quilt Guild of GreaterSt. Louis’Quilt Expo 2013, Over 300 quilts by guild members will be on display, including quilts by internationally-known Ricky Tims, Greensfelder Recreation Center in Queeny Park at 550Weidman Road between Manchester and Clayton roads, in Ballwin, Mo. 63011. For more information: email hmttstl@gmail.com, visit thimbleandthreadstl.org or like us on Facebook at ThimbleThreadQuiltExpo.

Sensational Sundays, 6:30 p.m. (6 p.m. doors) Jazz @ Eventide, featuring Black and White Trio. Sip N Savor, 286 DeBaliviere, 1/2 block north of the Forest park Metro link. For more information, call (314)361-2116.

Steppin & Boppin, 6 p.m. Wednesdays, Legacy Café, 5249 Delmar. Lessons available.

Jazz on Broadway presents Tim Cunningham. Fridays only in February, March, and April at 8 p.m. 554 E. Broadway, Alton, IL, 62002. For more information, call (618) 465-5299.

Wednesdays, 6 p.m. Lexus Len’s Happy Hour, Live Band featuring: Cheryl Brown, Jeremiah Allen, Jeff Taylor& Gerald Warren, 2 for 1 Drinks, Free Food, No Cover Charge, Mature Atmosphere, The Loft, 3112 Olive.

comedy

Sat., Feb. 23, 7 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Black Men Joking. The star of FX’s original comedy Totally Biased, W. Kamau Bell, and St. Louis native Arvin Mitchell explore race and masculinity through humor. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

The Old Rock House welcomesTrinidad James.See CONCERTS for more information.

Mar. 9, 9 p.m., Mike Epps Live with special guest Doug E. Fresh, Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

Sat., May 11, 8 p.m., Queen of Comedy Sommore, alongside veteran comedians

Bruce Bruce, D.L. Hughley, Tony Rock and Arnez J. star in “The Royal Comedy Tour,” Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

literary

Sat., Feb. 23, 2:30 p.m., Julia Davis Library Branch hosts author Robert Moore, author of The President’s Men: Black United States Marshall in America. 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 383-3021.

Sat., Feb. 23, 3 p.m., Afroworld hosts a Meet and Greet with authorJohn E. Fortson, author of According to God’s World. 7276 Natural Bridge Rd., 63121. For more information, call (314) 3895194 or visit www.afroworld.com.

Wed., Feb. 27, 7 p.m., St. Louis Public Library hosts author Carol Daniel, author of All I Ever Wanted: Relationships, Marriage, Family. Carol is co-host of the award-winning lifestyle television show on KMOV-TV, “Great Day St. Louis”. St. Louis Public Library, 1301 Olive Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 2412288 or visit www.slpl.org.

Thur., Mar. 7, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts authors Jim Lynch, author of Truth Like the Sun & Alex George, author of AGood American 321 N. Tenth St., 63101. For more information, call (314) 436-3049.

Mar. 19 – Mar. 21, Books Are Fun, New books are discounted 40 to 70 percent for readers of all ages. Choose from hardcovers and paperbacks including many popular titles from the New York Times Best Seller Lists, cookbooks, children’s books, musical selections, photo albums, games and puzzles. All proceeds go toward improving patient care. Christian Hospital Lobby, 11133 Dunn Rd.

Sat., Feb. 23, Missouri

History Museum presents Question Bridge: Black Males. An innovative transmedia art project that facilitates a dialogue between a critical mass of black men from diverse and contending backgrounds and creates a platform for them to represent and redefine black male identity in America. The exhibit will run through June 16. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Sat., Mar. 2, 8 p.m., BTB Productions and VONA’s Angels presents Gina Gala: A Celebration of Women in the Arts. Everything that is beautiful, unique, powerful, funny, andhonest about womenis going to be on display. Join us for an allwomen performer’s night ofmusic, on site painters, bellydancers, and the VMonologues. Jefferson Warehouse, 2501 Jefferson Ave., 63118. For more information, call (314) 498-8479 or visit www.ginagala.vpweb.com

theatre

Feb. 21-Feb. 23, 8 p.m. The HSSU Players present Mogadishu Lost, Harris Stowe State University, Emerson Performance Center. For more information, call (314) 340-3667.

Feb. 22 – 23, 8 p.m., Edison Theatre Ovations! presents Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, call (314) 935-1500

Wed., Feb. 27, 11:30 a.m., Missouri History Museum presents ATrio of Dreamers. Through written and spoken word, music, and art, students at Hazelwood East High School pay tribute to three African American leaders: Dr. Martin Luther King, Langston Hughes, and Rollo Dilworth. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Mar. 1 – 2, 8 p.m., Edison Theatre Ovations! presents Jane Comfort & Dancers: Beauty. Dance theater works that push the intersection of movement and language to a new form of theater, Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, call (314) 935-6543.

Sat., Mar. 2, 7:30 p.m., The PulitzerFoundation forthe Arts presents APerformance by Artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji. Ogunji, will perform her work, “Atortoise walks

majestically on window ledges.” The performance explores her parents’relationship, which began in St. Louis in the 1960s. Aconversation with the artist will follow. 3716 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call 9314) 754-1850.

Through Mar. 9, The St. Louis Black Repertory Company presents The Mountaintop. August 3, 1968, Memphis, The Lorraine Motel, Room 306. Where Martin Luther King Jr. spends his last day on earth. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square, 63108. For more information, call (314) 534-3807.

lectures

Fri., Feb. 22, 6 p.m., From Newtown to OurTown: Gun Violence and the Youth, A Community Forum and Call to Action! Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, 3200 Washington Blvd., St. Louis 63103. Call (314) 533-8763 or visit www.washtabmbc.org

Fri., Feb. 22, 4:30 p.m., The New African Paradigm presents a Meet and Greet with Michael Imhotep and Dr. Llaila Africa at AfroWorld 7276 Natural Bridge Road, 63121.

Sat., Feb. 23, 9 a.m., ADay of Empowerment in which leaders in business, health, and spirituality will share their testimonies and words of encouragement with the community. Normandy United Methodist Church, 8000 Natural Bridge Rd., St. Louis, MO 63121.

Sun., Feb. 24, 3 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Looking forLeroy:

ALecture on Black Masculinity. Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Duke University, addresses the intersection of race and gender in this lecture on black masculinity. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Mon., Feb. 25, 6 p.m., EverAppropriate Etiquette Institute presents Perfectly Polished Makeup Workshop. Master a polished, professional looks by day and transform them to sassy evening looks under the instruction of Makeup Artist FeliceSkye. Bring your make-up bag!1100 North Sarah, 63113. For more information, call (314) 7449383 or visit www.ever-appropriate.com/lifestyleseries.html.

Mon., Feb. 25, 6 p.m., Proposal Budgeting Workshop. Asound, wellorganized budget can help convince prospective funders that your project is worthy of their financial investment, St. Louis Community College, Meramec Campus, 11333 Big Bend Blvd., 63122. For more information, call (314) 984-7777.

Tues., Feb. 26, 1 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Making Homelessness History: Innovations that work in St.

Louis. St. Louis City Continuum of Care to End Homelessness agencies discuss innovative ways to address homelessness in St. Louis at this public summit. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, call (314) 7464599 or visit www.mohistory.org.

Tues., Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m., St. Louis Community College presents Social Media Marketing forNot-for-Profit Organizations. This course will provide opportunities to explore the growth of social media and how it can impact the business of a nonprofit and its donor support. Registration required. STLCC Meramec Campus, 11333 Big Bend Blvd., 63122. For more information or to register, call (314) 984-7777.

Wed., Feb. 27, 1 p.m., 2013

Job & Business Fair. The employers who attend will be recruiting for upper-management as well as entry level. All job seekers are welcome and encouraged to attend. Job seekers should register by sending their resume to Vianey Beltran at vbeltran@hccstl.com. Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel and Suites, 400 S. 14th St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 231-5007.

Wed., Feb. 27, 6 p.m. The GreaterSt. Louis Association of Black Journalist will present the City of St. Louis Mayoral Candidate Town Hall Meeting, Mildred Basitian Theatre located on the campus of St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, 5600 Oakland Ave.

Thurs., Feb. 28, 6 p.m.,Life Skills Presents Discussion for African-American Parents and Educators, experts will offer Autism information and provide useful tools and resources, St. Louis Public Radio, Grand Center, 3651 Olive St. St. Louis, MO 63108. For more information, visit www.lifeskills-mo.org

Mar. 1 – Mar. 3, The Black Pages presents2013 Empowerment Conference, This dynamic three day event will host 20 Empowering

Seminars that will provide a wealth of information regarding issues immediately affecting our community. Cardinal Ritter College Prep, 701 N. Spring Ave. St. Louis, MO 63108. For more information please call Nikki Smith at 314531-7300 ext. 201. Or visit the Transformational Agenda Magazine website at www.thetransformationalagenda.org or the St. Louis Black Pages at www.stlouisblackpagesblog.wordpress.com

Sun., Feb. 24, 11 a.m., Central Baprtist Church ‘s Health Ministry will sponsor a spring Charles Drew Blood Drive, Donors must be at least 17years of age , bring a form of ID, drink plenty of water day of donation, wear comfortable clothing , eat breakfast, include iron in diet, bring a

Fri., Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., The Worship CenterChristian Church hosts 2nd Annual Sweetheart Dinner. Come celebrate an

evening with dinner and entertainment of all things lovely and divine. Featuring comedian DeAndre Whitner and Live entertainment from Striving Five. RSVPonly. 11339 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044. For more information, call (314) 2618700 or visit www.worshipcenterstl.com. Sat., Feb. 23, 1 p.m., St. Louis County Library presents Gifts of Gospel Celebration. Come and enjoy a myriad of gospel artists who will leave you feeling encouraged and inspired. Lewis & Clark Branch, 9909 LewisClark Blvd., 63136. For more information, call 314-9943300.

Continued from C1

experience, Avante will perform his original poem for invited guests at the Stock Exchange before enjoying a reception on the Trading Floor. In addition, he will tour the city.

America SCORES-St. Louis inspires urban youth to lead healthy lives, be engaged students, and have the confidence and character to make a difference in the world. SLPS has five schools proudly partnered with America SCORESSt. Louis which offers innovative afterschool and summer programming that combines soccer, poetry, and service-learning every day for over 24 weeks each year. For more info regarding America SCORES-St. Louis, call (314) 533-0302.

1990s R&B group Dru Hill were an audience favorite after delivering a high impact performance as part of the New Jack Valentine’s Day Jam lineup Friday night at Chaifetz Arena. They had the crowd grooving in their seats with uptempo hits like “How Deep Is Your Love For Me” and “Sleeping in My Bed (Remix).” The Baltimore natives also had the crowd ready to romance with their catalogue of slow jams including “Tell Me” and “Beauty.”

SINGLE

Continued from C1

in the heart and knocked upside the head by love and co-created a happily ever after with an unaware – and usually unwilling – participant.

He is totally single. I asked for his thoughts, and he was gracious enough to share.

“Women go about it all wrong. Y’all fall in love, decide that a man is for you and try to rationalize him into the man of your dreams –regardless of if the facts tell you otherwise,” he said.

“Y’all go into just about every serious relationship completely subjectively, when you need more objectivity when it comes to your husband than any other area in your life. But y’all are too in your feelings to even see that this man isn’t worth your time.”

All right then, Dr. Phil!

He then goes on to use that players’ proverb involving a woman of the night and a housewife, saying that he’s not even looking at his most faithful of “regulars” as he thinks about his future spouse. He says he found what he was looking for out of them, and it was an “okay, I will” and absolutely not “I do.”

“But that’s not fair, because EVERY woman is

almost ALWAYS looking for a husband,” I said. “There are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part it’s the whole reason why we date.”

I told him I’m willing to bet that 95 percent of those women he used for casual encounters were hoping that it was going to pan out to something more.

“Women see you and they see an intellectually stimulating college-educated man with a good job,” I continued. “I’m not judging, but I know you use your credentials as an extremely eligible black man for a ‘bait and switch’ to get women in the bed.”

“Yes, I market myself as an ‘eligible BACHELOR,” he said – asking me to type it in all caps. “But I’ve never advertised as a potential husband the whole time I’ve been dating – because at the time I wasn’t looking to be anybody’s husband.”

Then he proceeded to blow my mind.

“Well, you dated these women, knowing full well that they wanted something more,” I said. “And more than one of them you made your girlfriend.”

“Yes, but if they had looked at it the same way they do EVERYTHING else I wouldn’t have stood a chance,” he said.

“I was NEVER looking for a wife. Just think about it.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

You wouldn’t go work in a position that is underpaying you, overworking you and beneath your qualifications just because you like a particular brand or product, right?”

Aha moment … to the max!

“Okay, this has gone in a totally different direction than I had expected,” I said.

“I’m grateful for it – all of it – but I wanted to talk about what a man is looking for in a woman when he makes the conscious decision to settle down.”

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I know enough from my boys and the women they chose (or let choose them) that it depends on the man,” he said. “There’s no formula. I would suggest to any woman to work on being their best –whatever that means to them – and do it FOR THEM.”

“Well, what are you looking for?” I ask.

“None of the things I thought I was when I first started dating – which, oddly enough, are the standards women seem to hold themselves to their whole life,” he said.

“I’m looking for someone that I won’t get bored with – and someone that I know will hold me down, share my vision and support me as I propel into my destiny. That’s it.”

invite

MEETING

Continued from C1

preselected subject or issue and just talk it out.

The first issue up for discussion was the question that motivated her to start the event in the first place: “Why can’t black women get along?”

“It was a reward for me – especially the first one –because I had a meeting where many of the women did not know each other,” Hardy said.

“I honestly thought maybe I would get 10 people – and I thought I was going to know all of the people. The fact that I got close to 30 on the first one let me know that this was a discussion that needed to happen because women needed this outlet to deal with the issues we face daily.”

They laughed. They listened. They shared. They offered insight.

Women discussed issues –including personal and family situations– that it took them years to open up about outside of “the meeting.”

One woman who attended the second Meeting in the Ladies Room was married. She confessed that sometimes she can’t really talk to her husband and she doesn’t feel

comfortable talking to people she calls her friends.

“It was a comfort and a relief for her to come,” Hardy said. “And even she wasn’t able to understand why she was able to be so open with a group of women she didn’t know and tell us stuff that she couldn’t tell her so-called friends or her husband.”

With just a handful of “meetings,” Hardy is already seeing her vision being fulfilled.

“They get a sense of comfort and sisterhood, and they were able to take what they learned from other women and apply to a situation that they have been dealing with,” Hardy said.

“It’s really an outlet for women to come and share without feeling judged – and let go of some of the insecurities or express the insecurities so we can all come together and figure out how you can get over them.”

Next Wednesday, Meeting in the Ladies Room returns with a special edition for Black History Month. Each woman is asked to bring a photo, a quote or a story from a woman who inspires her.

The next Meeting in ihe Ladies Room will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. For location and details e-mail mitlroom@gmail.com

a result of her involvement in the documentary indictment of the apartheid system in South Africa.

Continued from C1

“We celebrate and congratulate the extraordinary group of talented filmmakers who have employed their craft and skills in the exploration of African subjects. Some of the major subjects covered in these documentary films are culture, socioeconomic, environment, history, gender, legal, music and performing arts, religion, politics, sport as well as human rights issues.”

This year, the festival kicks off where it all began – St. Louis. The Missouri History Museum will serve as host as they present nearly a dozen films – most notably Mama Africa

Makeba remains an icon in her native South Africa and her entire home continent five years after her death. Sadly, her outspoken views and battle against apartheid had to be fought from beyond the border because of her 30-year banishment.

Mama Africa displays Makeba’s loves, her life and her fight for the freedom of her people and a right to return home. The film creates a colorful and insightful portrait of a woman brave enough to sacrifice popularity and personal safety for the sake of lending her voice to a political movement.

For more than half a century Makeba bravely shared her message of freedom, equality, justice and peace as her native South Africa practiced overt and brutal form of racial segregation that rivaled the slavery and Jim Crow segregation tactics of the United States.

After being introduced to the world, she found herself without a homeland in 1959 as

Fellow singer and social justice/civil rights activist Harry Belafonte catapulted Makeba onto the world’s stage in the early 1960s. And she went on to shine her own light on injustices against people of color – particular her own experiences with Apartheid. She found herself in the sights of the FBI following her marriage to Black Panther leader and black activist Stokely Carmichael in 1968. She decided to live and settle in Guinea, West Africa where she continued to fight the minority white apartheid regime in her native land.

Mama Africa is a beautifully woven collection of archives and post scripts that showcases her unyielding passion for music, freedom and equality – both in her native South Africa and around the world –and illustrates her continuing legacy. Audiences will be introduced to her unique artistic style and how she used her gift for music as a catalyst to do her part to change the world.

Mama Africa will screen as part of the festival on Saturday, March 2 at 4:30 p.m. A Q&A with the film’s director, Mika Kaurismaki, and Miriam Makeba’s grandson Nelson Lumumba Lee will take place immediately following the screening at 6 p.m. The 6th Annual Africa World Documentary Film Festival will take place on Friday, March 1 – Sun. March 3 at the Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd in Forest Park. For more information and a full schedule of this year’s documentary selections, visit http://www. africaworldfilmfestival.com/ or www.mohistory.org

Martin Luther King Jr.

“I

— LeBron James

PREP BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

With Earl Austin,Jr.

Big schools take centerstage

Class 4 and 5 District tournaments involving area teams

As the small schools conclude their district tournaments this week, the big schools in Missouri will take center stage as they begin their postseason play next Monday. Here is a listing of next week’s Class 4 and 5 District tournaments involving area teams.

Class 5 District 1 (at Oakville) Top seeds: Jackson, Oakville, Championship, Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.); Girls Championship, Friday, March 1, 5 p.m. Top Seeds: Jackson, Oakville District 2 (at Ladue) Top Seeds: Ladue, Chaminade, Riverview GardensChampionship, Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.; Girls Championship, Thursday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. Top Seeds: St. Joseph’s, Nerinx Hall, Ladue District 3 (at Marquette) Top Seeds: Summit, Eureka, Marquette –Championship, Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.; Girls Championship, Saturday, March 2, noon. Top Seeds: Parkway South, Marquette, Eureka District 4 (at Parkway Central) Top Seeds: CBC, DeSmet, Pattonville – Championship, Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.; Girls Championship, Friday, March 1, 5:30 p.m. Top Seeds: Parkway North, Parkway Central District 5 (at Vianney) Top Seeds: Vianney, Webster Groves, Kirkwood – Championship, Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.; Girls Championship, Saturday, March 2, 2 p.m. Top Seeds: Webster Groves, Cor Jesu, Ursuline

RAMS ROUNDUP

With Palmer L Alexander III

Rams get busy

Team has made many off-season moves with many more on the way

The Rams have three of the top 50 picks in the draft.

The St. Louis Rams football offseason has been very busy. There has been hirings, firings and near hires; and I haven’t even mentioned the talk about a possible site for a new football stadium. The Rams signed free agent wide receiver Titus Young and before I could even press send on my cell phone, after texting the new Rams wideout, he was cut. And the question continues to mount towards general manager Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher about bringing in some talent to help the offense along. I liked that the Rams brought Titus Young in and I’m glad they cut him. It wasn’t a secret about Young and his baggage, so they felt him out and it didn’t work. Better now than in September. Speaking about now, Jeff Fisher finally got his man in Tim Walton to be the defensive coordinator. And I know some people will wonder who is Tim Walton and what does he bring to the table. And how will he do in his first job as a defensive coordinator? That question obviously will get answered once the season starts, but once you look at some of the achievements accomplished by the Rams defense with an inexperienced defensive coordinator; one can only fathom how much better this team can play. Or to take it a step further, does this hiring of Tim Walton affect who the Rams draft or possibly target in free agency? There will be a number of quality safeties and cornerbacks available in

Bronerbombs

In the ring, Adrien Broner is akin to a classic cherry red Porsche 911. The fighter known as “The Problem” is agile, sleek, lightning-quick, powerful and exciting. Straight out of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. school of fighting styles, his shoulder roll defense is stout, his counter-punching acumen is strong and he has the uncanny ability to finish fights standing over his fallen opponents. Broner did not fail to impress last weekend with an stunning 5th round KO of Gavin Rees on HBO. However, while his Floyd-esque technique is nearly flawless, his “Money May” wannabe persona is holding the young boxing star back.

While Broner is definitely not the first fighter to rap on his way into the boxing ring, he’s probably the

While Broner is definitely not the first fighter to rap on his way into the boxing ring, he’s probably the worst.

Lightweight wins by KO, loses with mouth worst. Roy Jones Jr. performed a song off his rap album on the way to the ring back in 2001. While nobody will confuse Jones with Shawn Carter, his lyrics were catchy, audible and generally about boxing. Others have entered the ring accompanied by rap stars as well, so it was no surprise that Broner chose to rap during his ring walk of the Rees. What was surprising is how terrible and embarrassing the performance was. “Young n*ggas, but we live though!” [Inaudible mushmouth rapping followed by...] “Ohio!”

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Earl Austin,Jr.

Palmer L. Alexander

In the ring, Adrien Broner was all business. Outside the ropes,he resembled a bombing comedian who couldn’t decipher the crowd’s cringes.

Metro Catholic Conference standouts Jordan Barnett of CBC (#33) and Jayson Tatum of Chaminade (#22) will lead their respective teams into next week’s Class 5 district tournament action.CBC is the No.1 seed in District 4 at Parkway Central while Chaminade is the No.2 seed at District 2 at Ladue.

Photo by Wiley Price

Two state champs at 138 lbs.

Wilkes of Whitfield wins in MO, Spraggins of Belleville West wins in IL

By Earl Austin Jr.

Of The St.Louis American Senior wrestling standouts

Chris Wilkes of Whitfield and Mech Spraggins of Belleville West shared a lot of things in common over the weekend.

Both young men were wrestling in their last state competition of their respective careers and both were wrestling in the 138-pound weight division. Wilkes and

Spraggins also concluded their stellar careers as individual state champions. Wilkes became a two-time state champion as he won the Missouri Class 1 state title at 138 pounds at the State Championships in Columbia.

Spraggins won the Illinois Class 3Astate championship to win his first state title at the IHSAState Championships in Bloomington. Wilkes defeated Logan

Mudd of Blair Oaks 72 to finish the season with a 52-2 record.

He also defeated Larison Walker of West Platte, Troy Kyser of Knob Noster and Tyler Mann of Lathrop en route to his second consecutive state title. Wilkes’efforts also helped Whitfield’s team win the Class 1 state championship as well.

For the Spraggins, the state championship was the happy end of a long quest that took four years. In his three previous state-meet appearances, Spraggins was the runner-up twice and fourth-place finisher last year.

Spraggins fulfilled his championship dream by defeating Juwon Edmond of

BOXING

Continued from C5

moment for boxing fans. The crowd looked stunned as Broner and his buddies screamed and danced

Hinsdale Central 7-2 in the championship match. He also defeated Matt Sears of Chicago Marist, Sal Annoreno of Bartlett and Cullen Cummings of Downers Grove North.

Spraggins finished his senior year with a 49-1 record.

Another area state champion was CBC’s Tim Gant, who won the Class 4 state championship at 220 pounds. Gant defeated Micah Foote of Springfield Kickapoo to finish the season at 51-5.

Several other athletes brought home medals from last week’s state championships.

Jarrett Franklin of Francis Howell finished second in Class 4 at 182 pounds. Franklin was the state champi-

down the walkway.

In the ring, Broner was all business. Outside the ropes, he resembled a bombing comedian who couldn’t decipher the crowd’s cringes and continued with the same awful jokes despite the lack of anything that remotely resembled laughter. In the post-fight interview, the top-rated lightweight in the world reverted to his awful Mayweather impersonation and lowered the bar from his lousy ring entrance. After he began the interview with the tired act of having someone brush his hair, the 26-0 fighter had a lame, corny, wiseacre response for every question Max Kellerman gave him.

When Kellerman commented that the champ was hit often in the early rounds, Broner replied, “That’s a tough steak, but I ate it.” Kellerman looked confused. The crowd was all crickets.

Undaunted, Floyd 2.0 continued, “I had to see how much

on at 171 pounds last season. He finished the year with a 482 record.

Marlon Hampton of Webster Groves finished second in Class 3 at 285 pounds. John Williams of McCluer SouthBerkeley finished second in Class 2 at 132 pounds. It was Williams’second consecutive year as a state finalist. Christian Bledsoe of John Burroughs finished second in Class 2 at 182 pounds.

Another area state champion was CBC’s Tim Gant, who won the Class 4 state championship at 220 pounds.

Other Class 4 medalists include Lamar Welch of Ritenour (fifth at 160), Josh Wheeler of McCluer North (fifth at 170), Khial Jamison of Hazelwood Central (sixth at 160), Jeffrey Brock of Hazelwood East (fourth at 182), Travon Butler of McCluer North (third at

gas was in that Toyota he’s pushing.” After every question, the fighter gave another forced, precanned, comedystarved answer until Mad Max realized he was wasting his

In the post-fight interview, the top-rated lightweight in the world reverted to his awful Mayweather impersonation and lowered the bar from his lousy ring entrance.

time and ended the interview. I get it. Broner understands the business of boxing, but it’s a shame to see some young, black fighters feel the need to act ignorant to sell tickets. He’s watched Mayweather turn into a filthy rich, boxing superstar on the laurels of his mouth as much as his skills inside the ring. While Mayweather’s per-

sona is somewhat artificial, at least he got advice from the professional heels in the WWE before morphing from “Pretty Boy” to “Money” and does an excellent job at being the bad guy.

Other boxing legends such as Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Mike Tyson, “Sugar” Ray Leonard and “The Greatest” Muhammad Ali all captivated fans with their personalities. What separates the great mouths of boxing from Broner is that all of them knew when to turn on the character and when to be genuine. Broner’s personality comes off as fake, calculated and tiresome. It’s as if he’s a poorly done parody of today’s spoiled athletes. It’s a shame. His skills are real. His talent is limitless, but if if Adrien Broner wants to be taken seriously as a champion, he needs to mature ASAP– or hire some better comedy writers. I hear Katt Williams may be available.

220), Lance Bush of Hazelwood East (fifth at 220) and Randall Young of McCluer North (sixth at 285). In Class 3, Antonio Escobar of Ladue finished fifth at 106, Lamont Wilson of Webster Groves finished sixth at 113 and Di’ontay Hatch of McCluer finished sixth at 220. In Class 2, Damien Bell of McCluer SouthBerkeley finished sixth at 285. Other medalists from the Illinois state championships included David Franklin of Cahokia, who finished second at 160 in Class 2; Dameon Adams of Cahokia (third at 113), Leslie Williams of Cahokia (third at 120), Tremont Davis of Belleville West (fifth at 220) and Michael Harris of Althoff (fourth at 132) in Class 1.

Chris Wilkes Mech Spraggins

Nine McCluer North students sign

Nine McCluer North student-athletes signed letters of intent to play college-level sports on National Signing Day on Feb.6:Jordan Harold,football,Northwest Missouri State University;Myles McIntyre,football,Northwest Missouri State University;Brandon Minor,football,Southern Illinois University-Carbondale;Kyrton Kilgore,football, Missouri Valley College;Aramis Jones,football:Ellsworth Community College;Corrine Keller,tennis,Webster University;Chelsea Foster,tennis,Webster University;Aaron Mallet,track,Iowa State University;Colleen Raftery, volleyball,Florissant Valley Community College

Continued from C5

District 6 (at Francis Howell) Top Seeds: Troy, Timberland – Championship, Friday, March 1, 7 p.m.; Girls Championship, Friday, March 1, 5:30 p.m. Top Seeds: Troy, Fort Zumwalt West.

District 7 (at Howell Central) Top Seeds: Fort Zumwalt North, Fort Zumwalt South – Championship, Friday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.; Girls

RAMS

free agency. The list in this group includes names Charles Woodson, Laron Landry, and William Moore. The draft offers up guys like Kenny Vaccaro (Texas), TJ McDonald (USC), and Tyrann Mathieu aka The Honey Badger (LSU) plus several other notables.

Look, I’m not insisting that the Rams will just go nuts and just pick up every cornerback or safety. It’s just a thought since the new defensive coor-

Championship, Friday, March 1, 5:30 p.m. Top Seeds: Fort Zumwalt South, Francis Howell North

District 8 (at Hazelwood East) Top Seeds: Hazelwood Central, McCluer, McCluer North – Championship, Saturday, March 2, noon.; Girls Championship, Saturday, March 2, 2 p.m. Top Seeds: Hazelwood Central, Hazelwood East

Class 4

District 3 (at De Soto) Top Seeds: Hillsboro, Lutheran

dinator has such a strong background working in the secondary. But, he’s the coordinator so you have to think of the whole defense. What about at outside linebacker? Alec Olgetree (Georgia) jumped up from a couple of recent mock drafts to as high as the possible seventh pick in the draft. However, that may not happen since he’s been recently arrested for a DUI. The offensive line for the Rams had some rough times, but for the most part battled hard and shown a lot of toughness. The Rams were short-

South – Championship, Saturday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.); Girls Championship, Saturday, March 2, 6 p.m. Top Seeds: Lutheran South, De Soto

District 4 (St. Mary’s) Top Seeds: Gateway, St. Mary’s, Bayless – Championship, Thursday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.; Girls Championship, Thursday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m. Top Seeds, Notre Dame, DuBourg

District 5 (at Soldan) Top Seeds: Miller Career Academy, Soldan – Championship, Friday, March 1, 5:30 p.m.; Girls Championship, Friday,

handed most of the time, but managed to put some great games together. Scott Wells was hurt, Rodger Saffold was injured, and rookie Rokevious Watkins missed the entire season, but guys like Wayne Hunter, Barry Richardson, and Rob Turner, played with pride, passion, and commitment.

If the Rams do draft a player in either the first or second round it could be Jonathan Cooper, Menelik Watson, or Barrett Jones.

Don’t be surprised if the list changes after the NFL Combine this week.

Prep Athletes of the Week

Anthony Virdure

Mech Spraggins

March 1, 7 p.m. Top Seeds: Incarnate Word, Miller Career Academy District 6 (at Clayton) Top Seeds: Normandy, Clayton –Championship, Thursday, Feb. 28, 8 p.m.; Girls Championship, Thursday, Feb. 28, 6 p.m. Top Seeds: MICDS, Westminster District 7 (at St. Dominic) Top Seeds: Duchense, St. Charles – Championship, Friday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.; Girls Championship, Friday, March 1, 5:30 p.m. Top Seeds: St. Charles, St. Charles West

to win the state championship and finish his senior year at 49-1. On his way to the state finals, Spraggins defeated Matt Sears of Chicago Marist 8-3, Sal Annovreno of Bartlett 5-3 and Cullen Cummings of Downers Grove North 8-4. Spraggins was a four-time state medalist. He was a state runner-up as a freshman and sophomore and a fourthplace finisher as a junior last season.

American staff

The St. Louis Public School District recognizes that Visual Arts is not a secondary subject.It is an important teaching tool that motivates, educates, and inspires students to move beyond what was read in a book and to find what is in their mind.

Because the contributions of the visual art teachers are invaluable, the St. Louis Public School District has awarded the third annual Visual Art Teacher of the Year Awards to two teachers who have made notable contributions in their field.

The Elementary Visual Arts Teacher of the Year Award was presented to Ms. Anne Constantinescu-Brad from Ames Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School. Art is holistic and living and fluid. The creative process twists and flows, enriches, and includes. My students are learning to take advantage of what they know, infusing this knowledge with imagination, and creatively manifesting it though visual art,” said Ms. Constantinescu-Brad.

An educator with the district since 2001, Ms. Constantinescu-Brad was nominated by Ms. JaVeeta Parks-Prince, principal at Ames VPA, for “creating and delivering instructional content, teaching problem-solving skills; teaching etiquette and professionalism, and highlighting character education con-

SLPS honors Visual Arts Teachers of the Year

cepts via the arts.”

The High School Visual Arts Teacher of the Year has been presented to Mr. Jason Criveau from Clyde C. Miller Career Academy. An educator with the district since 1998, Mr. Criveau acknowledges that technology, specifically computer arts creation and processing, has placed a “proliferation of visual imagery” in our society that has caused the role of visual arts in education to evolve.

He was nominated by Mr. Stephen Warmack, principal at Clyde C. Miller Career Academy, who stated, “Mr. Criveau has always provided

classes that attempt to push student horizons as far as he can and even has volunteered time after school for a number of years to conduct student clubs revolving around chess, animation, art, and other forms.”

As the 2012 SLPS Visual Arts Teachers of the Year, both

Constantinescu-Brad and Criveau were honored with an awards reception at the Saint Louis Art Museum and presented with a $1,000 award from the St. Louis Public Schools Foundation.In addition, they were presented with a trophy, a plaque, and a $500 award for classroom supplies and/or professional development through the Parsons Blewett Memorial Fund.

Bridge to STEM-Life Science Program

Individuals looking for a new career path in the life sciences are invited to register for St. Louis Community College’s Bridge to STEMLife Science program.

The one-semester, 16-week program begins March 18.

Classes will be taught in the state-of-the-art classrooms and laboratories at the BioResearch & Development Growth Park, 1005 N. Warson Road, across from the Monsanto World Headquarters.

In addition to science, math and computer courses and

hands-on lab experience, individuals will receive career readiness training, gain jobseeking skills and assistance, and opportunities to network with biotechnology industry professionals.

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will earn a Life Science Lab Assistant Certificate of Specialization from STLCC. Graduates are prepared for entry-level positions in a life science laboratory or entry into STLCC’s biotechnology associate degree program. Participants must have a high school diploma or GED, and must be available to take classes 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. daily, Monday-Friday. Tuition and books are free to those who qualify.

To register for the Bridge to STEM-Life Science program, call 314-513-4961 and leave detailed contact information. Include the correct spelling of your first and last names, your current telephone number and an email address. The coordinator of the program will call you to provide more information.

Anne Constantinescu-Brad (left) from AmesVisual and Performing Arts Elementary School is ElementaryVisual ArtsTeacher of theYear and Jason Criveau from Clyde C.Miller Career Academy is High School Visual ArtsTeacher of theYear for the St.Louis Public School District.

Edward and Latasha Gray married on

December 12, 2012 at Morning Star Baptist Church. After three years of dating, Edward wanted to extend the bond of friendship to include the vows of marriage. Latasha is a 2011 recipient of the St. Louis American Foundation’s Excellence in Education Award. The couple will honeymoon on a European cruise this summer.

Reunions

Jennings High School Class of 1973, Planning is in progress for the 40th reunion to be held next summer. For more information see the Facebook Group: Jennings High School Class of 72 73

~ CELEBRATIONS ~ Birthdays

Noble Joshua Lee Areion Jones

Brown

Jamilah Nadia Brown was born on February 26, 2011. She’s the daughter of proud parents Kelvin Brown and Marnetta Bevills, and a blessing to her grandparents Joseph and Phillis Brown. Jamilah has a host of aunts, uncles and cousin whom adore her. Happy 2nd Birthday, and we love you!

Noble Joshua Lee celebrates his 2nd birthday on February 25. Happy Birthday to you my son! We are so proud of you! With love from: God, Daddy, and the Lee family and friends.

Happy 5th Birthday to Areion Jones, who will celebrate his big day on February 22! May you have whatever you heart desires.

Jerrell Bradley — February 24

Jack Townsend — February 20

Cheryl Patrick — February 25

Sophia McCray — February 24

and 74, and the Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group /jenningsclassof73/. Email: jenningsclassof1973@yahoo.c om to update your contact information to ensure you will receive all reunion updates.

Jennings Class of 1983 alumni, we are in the process of planning our 30th class reunion. We are looking for the Warriors ‘83. Facebook: Jennings High School Class of 1983, 30th Reunion. For more information contact Yolonda FountainHenderson (La La) at 314-868-2761 or Carmen Ford Keaton at 314-363-5172. Riverview Gardens High

School Class of 1993 20-year class reunion, Saturday, July 27, 2013 at Joe Buck’s downtown. Please go to http://rghs93.classquest.com to add your contact info.

St. Nicholas Grade School Reunion May 3-5, 2013. Alumni/Associates Contact 314-353-2027 or vwharp@yahoo.com.

SumnerHigh School Class of 1963 is seeking all classmates for its 50th Class Reunion June 14 - 16, 2013 at Sheraton Westport Chalet, 900 Westport Plaza. You may contact any of the following classmates: Jacqueline Vanderford @

Announcing the birth of Darla Marie Chatman, born on February 6, 2013, at 6:05 am to Diane and Darryl Chatman of University City. Darla was 8 lbs, 3 oz, and 20 inches long. She was born at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis. Darla is also welcomed by her big brother, Emmanuel Martin Chatman. Just arrived!

314.265.9541 email: jvanderford63@att.net, John Abram @ 314.276.0741 email: AbramJD50@aol.com, Camillia Banks email: camibanks@gmail.com, or Terri Cobb @ 314.868.0233.

Vashon High School, Class of 1978 will be celebrating its 35th year reunion July 19-21, 2013. Please contact Zaro McPherson (314) 285-3350, or Vareda Madison at (314) 3815250 or geddyupgang@yahoo.com. Please leave name and number.

West Side M. B. Church youth during the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s, a special reunion is

being planned “just for you”. The reunion will be heldApril 26- April 28, 2013. We are currently in the process of updating our contact information. Please call Jacqueline (Perry) Williams at 314-368-3128: email jw611@sbcglobal.net or e-mail Barbara (Wiley) Spears at bjwspears@yahoo.comwith your current name, address, phone contact, and e-mail address. Also indicate if you are interested in participating in this great event! If you have the contact information for others that may have moved away from West Side or out of the St. Louis area, please provide us with that as well.

FREE OF CHARGE

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

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

Jamilah Nadia

New Northside M.B. to install new pastor

Reverend Rodrick K. Burton formally welcomed at

March 3 services

American staff

On Sunday, December 9, 2012, Rev. Rodrick K. Burton, the residing Interim Pastor of New Northside M.B. Church, received, over 77 percent of the congregation’s vote to serve as their new Pastor.

New Northside Missionary Baptist Church is in the midst of preparations for what promises to be a new era of spiritual renewal under the direction of a dynamic teacher, young, inspirational, and thoughtprovoking leader whom many have already deemed as “a new spiritual teacher.”

Installation services for the new pastor, Reverend Rodrick K. Burton, will be held at the New Northside Missionary Baptist Church, 8645 Goodfellow Blvd. on March 3 at 3 p.m. “Join us as we welcome our new leader and his family to serve God’s people!” congregational leaders urge.

Reverend Burton joined the New Northside M.B. Church in April of 2010,

n This 40-somethingyear-old biblically astute young leader has already increased membership under his leadership.

Reverend Rodrick K. Burton joined New Northside M.B. Church in April 2010, under the leadership of the late Pastor Emeritus, Bishop W.J. Ellis Jr. He was the first AfricanAmerican student to write a book while attending Covenant Seminary.

this capacity for over 15 months.

Since Pastor Burton’s first electrifying sermon, New Northside M.B. Church congregation has relished in the powerful messages from this 40-something-year-old biblically astute young leader, who has already increased membership under his leadership.

A choice to live

“Honor thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.”(Ephesians 6:2-3) In the Old Testament if anyone was found guilty of cursing or striking their father or mother that person would receive the death penalty. Today, especially in our society this is taken lightly, but God wanted his people to know the importance he placed on one having respect for his parents.

Welcoming this dynamic leader to the New Northside Missionary Baptist Church is guest speaker Rev. Dr. Carlton R. Caldwell, Pastor of Galilee M.B. Church and Moderator for the Berean District –one of the most influential leaders within the St. Louis African-American religious community, as well as other local leaders throughout the community and surrounding areas.

Mrs. Carlotta Burton, wife of Pastor Burton and daughter of the late Ruth and Deacon George L. Cheers, is proud to be serving in the capacity of the First Lady. The couple has 15 year old twins, Zoe and Zarek, whom both serve in the music ministry at the church and surrounding community.

Reverend Burton was born in St. Louis. He is the oldest son to Laura B. Burton and the late Dr. Charles Wesley Burton. Rev. Burton has one brother. Rev. Burton received his Master’s in Educational Ministry from the Covenant Theological Seminary, West St. Louis County. During his tenure at Covenant he developed a curriculum, Ethics and the Black Church.

He is also the author of The Moral State of Black America, which was revised in 2008 Rev. Burton has the distinction of being the first African-American student to write a book while attending Covenant Seminary.

The kickoff celebration begins on Sunday, March 3 during 9 a.m., morning worship services.

under the leadership of the late Pastor Emeritus, Bishop W.J. Ellis Jr. He was directed by the Bishop to join the pulpit ministers and had a long relationship with the Bishop, who married Burton and his wife of almost 16 years, Carlotta, in 1997. In August of 2011, Reverend Burton was appointed to be the interim Pastor at New Northside M.B. Church and served in

“Join us as we celebrate Lady Carlotta Cheers-Burton as she begins her journey to serve as the First Lady of New Northside,” congregational leaders urge. “Join us at our New Northside Conference Center, Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m. For more information on that event, contact, Min. Carol Russell at 314-602-6825.

For more information on the church, contact Rev. Rodrick K. Burton at 314246-1207 or 314-381-5730 or Bro. Edward Mahan at 314-368-1362.

I recently responded to a call for police service at a residence where a mother had been physically attacked by her grown son. The mother who was trembling with fear told me that her son had picked her up and with a great amount of force dropped her to the floor. The son who is in his late twenties did not appear to be remorseful for his actions at all. When I was growing up, I was taught to render respect not only to my parents, but to all elders. This is something that I still practice to this day. In fact, I remember a time when the young men in the neighborhood would not use profane language if an elderly person was in hearing distance. Today, I hear young

people using vulgar language everywhere, sometimes in the presence of their own parents. Back in the day, if a child male, or female done bodily harm to one of their parents there would surely be repercussions from the other siblings. I grew up in the late sixties and early seventies. Many of us who grew up during that time period came from homes where there was no father present; but there were men in the neighborhood that felt obligated to be a positive role model not only for their own children but for all the kids in the neighborhood. If any of us young men in the neighborhood were observed to be involved in disorderly behavior, these men without hesitation would intervene and provide corrective instruction. The parents back then did not approach other adults and forbid them to correct their children. Of course I know that this is a different day and time, but when the men in the neighborhood were allowed to stand up and be men you would not see young people in the neighborhood flagging down cars and selling drugs or sex in front of their parents’ home. The little kids could play outside in a safe

The American is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your column (no more than 400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@stlamerican. com and attach a photo of yourself as a jpeg ile. Please be patient; we will run columns in the order received.

Everett James

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

It was a night for good times and giving back Wednesday night which featured laughter and lovely music thanks to comedian Special K and sultry songstress Chrisette MicheleattheLumiereTheater.Theeventwasco-presented by Jokes and Jazz along with DELUX Magazine. Proceeds benefited Terran Rome’s Fight For Sight initiative –which is raising funds for surgery to restore his vision. Also pictured are Mark Jackson and Carrie Griffin.

No Young Leaders tonight. As much as we hated to do it, we thought it would be in the best interest of everyone – especially for safety’s sake – that we adhere to the weather folks and hold off on The 3rd Annual Salute To Young Leaders. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and ask that you stay tuned for our make-up date!

Mixing it up with Laudie. On Wednesday, I made my way to the Office to see some of my favorite folks and get an earful of “Doors Open,” the new mixtape by Laudie on the Track. Seeing Alice Prince and Guccio would have made it worth it, but Laudie had some heat on that thang (yes, I said thang) – even if I don’t agree in the least with their little promotional tag line. But creative differences aside, I was indeed easy listening trap music and I heard some celeb features that would blow y’all’s mind – including Ricky Rozay

Laughs and tracks. Terran Rome is my boy – and will always have my support – but there were a few little logistical things I took issue with at Jazz and Jokes show Wednesday night at the Lumiere Theater starring Special K, Darius Bradford and Chrisette Michele. I still have an Amber Alert out for that Fashion Show segment, but I think the most disappointing part of the show was the headliner Chrisette Michelle. She sounded great – don’t get me wrong. But I will say this, just because she doesn’t wear tracks on her head anymore doesn’t mean she won’t sing to them! I was hoping for a romantic, smoothed out band. Her part should have been called “scats to tracks.” Plus I needed to have heard at least three more songs to be completely fulfilled. And to make matters worse, the drink waiter was blowing the all vibes by yelling out “cocktails” in the middle of Chrisette’s Billie Holliday-ish breakdowns. Everybody else seemed pretty satisfied though.

New Jack Jam hits and misses. Before I do anything else, I want to say what a good look it was up in the Chaifetz Arena to have almost every seat except the nosebleeds locked down. And while there were some underwhelming and “girl, what?” moments, I still enjoyed the entire experience for the kick-ball-change down memory lane that took me back to the 90’s with a quickness. Because of the way the schedule went down, I have to start with the “girl, what?” performance of the night. Al B. Sure, you are the weakest link. What were you going through? His performance was so regular that it made Alicia Keys’ NBA All-Star Half Time show look like Beyonce’s Super Bowl Half Time show! Yes, it was that underdone. He’s never been the strongest singer, but I knew when he hit that first “ohhhhohhhh” I was like “noooooo.” And every point I gave him for effort, I had to snatch back for stuff like not knowing his own lyrics and never quite finding any proper notes. His little son was cute and had a voice on him though. And when he got to singing secret garden, I was about ready to spray him with pesticide. He tried though – and was a good sport as he worked the crowd.

Dru Hill came out and picked up the slack at hello. They came out bouncing, popping and locking baby. And Sisqo worked the stage like a Kirk Franklin’s blonde worldly twin, while Nokio was serving up a mushy minister of music with his blazer and tightly choreographed shoulder shakes. Jazz came out and sat down on the side of the stage when the lower impact element of the show popped off. He might be out of shape, but he can still blow like nobody’s business. I think they were my favorite of the night. Kenny Howell was almost dramatically chopped off the stage when he introduced SWV as “SUV.” And they kicked things off with a yawn, but SWV still sounded cute enough I guess. And while that middle school “step-touch” talent show choreography gave me the blues, their voices were intact – which came in handy when the sound man accidently hit the off button on one of their tracks. I did catch life from “If Only You Knew” and “Weak” though.

New Jack Jam Pt. 2: Bands to make us dance. Toni, Tony, Tone were the first of the performers with a full on live band – but I must admit I didn’t catch life from them at all. I think it was the Dollar Tree Raphael Saddiq that lost me. He looked like him – and kind of sounded similar to him (on a bad day) but it wasn’t enough for me to really get into. And plus, they didn’t sing my jams. How are you going to do even a snippet of a show and not do “Lay Your Head On My Pillow?” Guy closed out the show and while the sound folks could not seem to get it together once the bands were introduced, the audience was thrilled. I was expecting more from Aaron Hall, but Damien Hall and his relentless hips had my heart as he picked up every slack that Aaron’s weathered voice left hanging. That man gyrated for 30 minutes straight! Teddy Riley actually could have done the show via satellite. I wasn’t disappointed with any of it though until Aaron Hall removed his wife beater without any kind of warning. Yuck! Was that “Thug Life” across the middle of his shape? I couldn’t tell, because the tattoo melted into the groove of one of his stomach wrinkles. And why did he just exit the stage like that? Damien was left to hunch the people on out the door, but folks didn’t seem to mind and enjoyed the whole musical blast to the past.

Brown sugar delight. I must say that I truly enjoyed myself when I stopped by the latest edition of Brown Sugar Saturday night at Lola. It was like a grown people’s house party – with slow dancing and everything! I

R&B Group Dru Hill enjoyed some downtime backstage with Tonya Spencer, Kevin Johnson and Vincent Flewellen following their high energy performance Friday night @ The Chafitez Arena

Lewis Reed with Old School R&B group Toni Tony Tone after the Board of Alderman President and St. Louis city mayoral candidate made them honorary St. Louisians Friday night @ Chaifetz Arena

Lil Al B, R&B singer Al B Sure and Chino were first to the stage Friday night as part of the New Jack Valentine’s Jam @ Chaifetz Arena

Sierra and Rocquelle enjoy the sights of LA nights Saturday @ The Coliseum

The Loft was on lean Friday night thanks to Big Tah and Craig Thomas bringing in Basketball Wives LA star Bambi n Bambi from the hit show “Basketball Wives LA”

Christina and Cedric kicked their weekend off Friday night @ EXO

Comedian Special K with longtime friend Darryl Oliver, who stopped through to see him perform with Chrisette Michelle for @ Lumiere Theater Wednesday night

Lerla and Brian celebrate Valentine’s Day early thanks to the Fight for Sight fundraiser concert/ comedy show Wednesday night @ Lumiere Theater

Brittany and Daronne out for a night on the town Friday night @ EXO

Aaron brings his lovely wife Kawana to enjoy love, laughter and music Wednesday night @ Lumiere Theater

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

By Denise Hooks Anderson,M.D. Medical Accuracy Editor

Afew years ago I had the unique opportunity to do some mission work in Zambia, a small landlocked country in Southern Africa. Although I was curious about the country’s natural resources and beauties, such as the Victoria Falls, I was equally intrigued about the status of its healthcare. Prior to my trip, I did a little research and found some pretty staggering statistics. There were approximately one million people living with AIDS. The life expectancy at birth was approximately late 40’s. Maternal mortality was high at 650/100,000. The physician/patient ratio was quite poor at .12 physicians/1000 people. And as expected, malaria was a common infectious disease.

Once I arrived and had a chance to travel across the capital city of Lusaka and its surrounding villages, the reality of those statistics became more than just numbers. I was overwhelmed with the poverty, the untreated conditions of hypertension, and the inadequate efforts of the public health system in regards to HIVprevention and treatment. There were people in the country that still believed that sleeping with a virgin

Third world status

would cure HIV. While there, I was even instructed by my translator, a local medical student, that I should not disclose to a patient that I suspected that they were HIV positive, even though they presented with obvious tuberculosis and appeared severely emaciated.

So even though those above findings were concerning, they were unfortunately expected. However, in this well respected democracy called the United States and in the great state of Missouri, we should not expect the recent findings from the North St. Louis Health Care Access Study Task Force. Should a society as technologically advanced as ours have health outcomes that resemble those of a third world nation? What type of community would do that to its own citizens?

Denise Hooks Anderson,M.D.

Alderman December 2008. The task force looked at several socioeconomic factors such as education level, household income, vacant lots, unemployment rates and crimes against property. In every category but one, zip codes 63106 and 63107 ranked in the top five zip codes of concern. The economic indicators correlated with negative health and public health outcomes in regards to infant mortality, sexually transmitted diseases, mortality and morbidity rates, environmental conditions, and lead toxicity.

the clinics were over-crowded and under staffed. The participants in the focus group felt like it was a luxury to have a primary care provider and that poor people were relegated to the clinics.

Community and healthcare regional leaders were contributors to this task force that studied zip codes 63106, 63107, 63112, 63113, 63115, 63120, and 63147. These zip codes were all considered “North St. Louis.” The findings of the study were submitted to the Board of

During my Zambian mission trip, I recall men, women, and children standing in line for hours to get a chance to see the “American doctors.” Many of those patients had never even seen a Zambian doctor. The people of the villages were often cared for by health workers who had little training but were the only available source of care. And for some of those people, they had to walk quite a distance just to see them. Unfortunately for the people of North St. Louis, access to care is also a problem. The task force held many focus groups and the results were heart-breaking. Many individuals felt like the only care they could receive was via the emergency rooms or clinics and they felt like the care they did receive was sub-optimal. Many felt like they were treated differently than those individuals who were insured privately with commercial plans. One individual shared that they felt like

With that in mind, the task force also noted that the north side had one of the highest rates of Medicaid, out-of wedlock pregnancies and mothers participating in the Women Infants and Children program. Focus group participants felt like part of the problem in the north side was the large number of liquor stores and the lack of quality grocery stores. “They (whites) have communities and we have neighborhoods, which makes it where the (whites) have resources and we don’t have resources.” (North St. Louis HCASTF, 52)

After reading and re-reading the results of the task force, I asked myself about the most logical next steps. How do we impact these social determinants of health? I am convinced that change only occurs when change is demanded. Our legislators, city planners, and city business leaders have to be reminded that North St. Louis is as important as other areas of our metropolis. And as community members we must engage with the local hospitals and clinics to ensure they are performing well and meeting the needs of the people. Each citizen has his own individual role to play in lifting North St. Louis from third world status.

Yours in Service, Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D. Assistant Professor SLUCare Family Medicine yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com

YourHealth Matters

Abi-monthly special supplement of the St. Louis American February 21, 2013

YourHealth Matters provides up-to-date information, from an African-American perspective, about one of the most important subjects in evryone’s life – their personal health.

Donald M. Suggs, President and Publisher

Kevin Jones, Senior Vice President, COO

Dina M. Suggs, Senior Vice President

Chris King, Editorial Director

Denise Hooks Anderson, M.D., Medical Accuracy Editor

Sandra Jordan, Health Reporter

Debbie Chase, Director of Health Strategy & Outreach

Onye Ijei, Barb Sills, Pamela Simmons, Sales

Michael Terhaar, Art/Production Manager

Angelita Jackson, Cover Design

Wiley Price, Photojournalist

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

Warning signs of a heart attack

By Sandra Jordan

Of The St.Louis American

Can you recognize symptoms of a heart attack?

Would you know what to do?

Amyocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when a section of the heart muscle dies or gets damaged because of reduced blood supply. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries that supply blood to the heart (the coronary arteries). CAD is the main cause of heart attack.

Symptoms of a heart attack include:

ï Chest pain, pressure ordiscomfort

ï Pain ordiscomfort in one orboth arms, neck orshoulder, jaw orback

ï Shortness of breath

ï Sweating

ï Feeling weak, light-headed orfaint

ï Nausea orvomiting

Heart attack symptoms can start off slowly and may be subtle. Some people experience nausea or stomach pain.

When you recognize the signs, what’s next?

Call 9-1-1 immediately, even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack. Minutes matter and quick action can

save lives, and if it’s you, perhaps your own.

Just as people are different, not all of these signs happen with every heart attack. And sometimes the symptoms go away and return.

And whatever you do, do not drive yourself or allow someone else to drive himself to the hospital.

The American Heart Association reminds us that emergency medical services (EMS) staff can begin live-saving treatment and medications when they arrive. There are clot-busting drugs can stop some heart attacks and strokes in progress, reducing damage, potential dis-

ability and saving lives. In order to be effective, these drugs must be given relatively quickly after heart attack or stroke symptoms first appear.

Additionally, paramedics also trained to revive someone whose heart has stopped. Patients with chest pain who arrive by ambulance usually receive faster treatment at hospitals.

For more information, visit www.heart.org or see a video on symptoms of a heart attack by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at http://tinyurl.com/video-heart.

HEALTH BRIEFS

ConnectCare Auxiliary seeks nominations forHumanitarian Awards

The Saint Louis ConnectCare Auxiliary will honor three individuals/organizations with Humanitarian Awards that have made a significant positive impact in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Nominations are in three categories: Reducing Street Violence, Promoting Teen Excellence and Service in HealthCare.

Applications must include name, professional title and company (if

applicable), address, city, state, zip, email and phone number. Attach a 250 word or less resume of achievements that qualifies the nominee for a humanitarian award. Nominees must be at least 21 years old. Submit the nomination to: Saint Louis ConnectCare Auxiliary, Attn: Humanitarian Awards, 5535 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112.

Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock and Michael McMillan, St. Louis City

License Collector, are the honorary co-chairmen of the event.

Awardees will be honored at a Jazz/Blues & Brunch Concert on April 27 at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet, 191 Westport Plaza.

Nominations close on Friday, March 1, 2013 at 5 p.m. For more information, call (314) 879-6494.

High supplemental calcium intake may increase risk of CVD death in men

Newswise —Ahigh intake of supplemental calcium appears to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) death in men but not in women in a study of more 388,000 participants between the ages of 50 and 71 years, according to a report published recently by JAMA Internal Medicine

Calcium supplements have become widely used, especially among the elderly population, because of its proposed bone health benefits. However, beyond calcium’s established role in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, its health effect on nonskeletal outcomes, including cardiovascular health, remains largely unknown and has become “increasingly contentious,” the authors wrote.

Qian Xiao, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md., and colleagues examined whether the intake of dietary and supplemental calcium was associated with mortality from total CVD, heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases. The study participants were 388,229 men and women ages 50 to 71 years from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study in six states and two metropolitan areas from 1995 through 1996.

“In this large, prospective study we found that supplemental but not dietary calcium intake was associated with an increased CVD mortality in men but not in women,” the authors conclude.

During an average 12 years of follow-up, 7,904 CVD deaths in men and 3,874 CVD deaths in women were identified and supplements containing calcium were used by 51 percent of

men and 70 percent of women. Compared with non-supplement users, men with an intake of supplemental calcium of more than 1,000 mg/day had an increased risk of total CVD death more specifically with heart disease, but not significantly with cerebrovascular disease death.

For women, supplemental calcium intake was not associated with CVD death, heart disease death or cerebrovascular disease death. Dietary calcium intake also was not associated with CVD death in men or women.

“Whether there is a sex difference in the cardiovascular effect of calcium supplement warrants further investigation. Given the extensive use of calcium sup-

plement in the population, it is of great importance to assess the effect of supplemental calcium use beyond bone health,” the authors conclude.

“Meanwhile, a safe alternative to calcium supplements is to consume calcium-rich foods, such as low-fat dairy foods, beans and green leafy vegetables, which contain not only calcium but also a cocktail of essential minerals and vitamins,” Larsson said.

“These non-dairy food sources of calcium have the added health benefits and have recently been reported to improve glycemic control in persons with diabetes. The paradigm ‘the more the better’is invalid for calcium supplementation.”

Simple, daily steps can reduce heart disease risk

Newswise —February is American Heart Month, a perfect time to remind people that small steps can reduce their risk of heart disease, the No. 1 killer of men and women. Mayo Clinic cardiologists offer several simple tips to reduce the risk.

“When I tell people that almost 80 percent of heart disease is preventable, they are surprised,” says Mayo cardiologist Martha Grogan, M.D., medical editor-in-chief of Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life! “Better yet, there are daily things we all can do that can make a big difference in our effort to keep our hearts healthy.”

For example, Grogan encourages people to move 10 extra minutes each day. Asedentary lifestyle may increase your risk of heart attack almost as much as smoking does, recent studies show. Each day, make an effort to get up from your desk to go talk to a colleague instead of sending an email, or walk around the house as you are talking on the phone, she recommended.

“Moving even 10 minutes a day for someone who’s been sedentary may reduce the risk for heart disease by 50 percent,” Grogan said.

Americans too often cheat themselves of sleep and their hearts can pay the price, said Virend Somers, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist and sleep expert. Chronic sleep deprivation can increase the risk of obesity, high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes and depression.

“Sleep is a necessity, like food and water. It’s not a luxury,” he said.

Changes can make a difference, added Mayo cardiologist Randal Thomas, M.D. For example, a 53year-old male smoker with high blood pressure has a 20 percent chance of having a heart attack over the next 10 years. If he stops smoking, his risk drops to 10 percent; if he takes high blood pressure medicine, it falls to 5 percent.

“There’s a saying that heart disease is what nature gives you for breaking its rules. But you have a second chance,” Thomas said.

“Healthy lifestyle habits can help you reduce a majority of your risks for heart attack.”

Nutrients associated with certain sleep patterns

Newswise — “You are what you eat,” the saying goes, but is what you eat playing a role in how much you sleep? Sleep, like nutrition and physical activity, is a critical determinant of health and wellbeing. With the increasing prevalence of obesity and its consequences, sleep researchers have begun to explore the factors that predispose individuals to weight gain and ultimately obesity. Now, a new study from thePerelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvaniashows for the first time that certain nutrients may play an underlying role in short and long sleep duration and that people who report eating a large variety of foods – an indicator of an overall healthy diet – had the healthiest sleep patterns. The new research is published in the journal Appetite

“ In general, we know that those who report between 7 - 8 hours of sleep each night are most likely to experience better overall health and well being, so we simply asked the question “Are there differences in the diet of those who report shorter sleep, longer sleep, or standard sleep patterns?” said Michael A. Grandner, PhD, instructor in Psychiatry and member of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at Penn.

People who report eating a large variety of foods – an indicator of an overall healthy diet –had the healthiest sleep patterns.

To answer this question, the research team analyzed data from the 2007-2008 CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), which includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The sample for the survey is selected to represent the U.S. population of all ages and demographics.

Researchers used the survey question regarding how much sleep each participant reported getting each night and details of participants’full day’s dietary intake. This included everything from the occasional glass of water to complete, detailed records of every part of each meal. The research team analyzed whether participants who were grouped according to how much sleep they got differed from the 7-8 hour “standard” group on any nutrients and total caloric intake. They also looked at these associations after controlling for overall diet, demographics, socioeconomics, physical activity, obesity, and other factors that could have explained this relationship.

The authors found that total caloric intake varied across groups. Short sleepers consumed the most calories, followed by normal sleepers, followed by very short sleepers, followed by long sleepers. Food variety was highest in normal sleepers, and lowest in very short sleepers. Differences across groups were found for many types of nutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals.

They found that very short sleep was associated with less intake of tap water, lycopene (found in red- and orange-colored foods), and total carbohydrates, short sleep was associated with less vitamin C, tap water, selenium (found in nuts, meat and shellfish), and more lutein/zeaxanthin (found in green, leafy vegetables), and long sleep was associated with less intake of theobromine (found in chocolate and tea), dodecanoic acid (a saturated fat) choline (found in eggs and fatty meats), total carbohydrates, and more alcohol.

“Overall, people who sleep 7 - 8 hours each night differ in terms of their diet, compared to people who sleep less or more. We also found that short and long sleep are associated with lower food variety,” said Dr. Grandner. “What we still don’t know is if people altered their diets, would they be able to change their overall sleep pattern? This will be an important area to explore going forward as we know that short sleep duration is associated with weight gain and obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Likewise, we know that people who sleep too long also experience negative health consequences.”

Loving in sickness and in health

Caregiver role reversal as new cancer battle begins in a young marriage

FromThe Empowerment Network

“I’ll be there for him like he was there for me,” said breast cancer survivor, Sha Fields, about supporting her husband, Cliff Fields, as he battles prostate cancer.

In March, Cliff will have prostate cancer surgery and it will be Sha’s turn to be there for him during his recovery period and whatever else it entails.

It was only seven years ago when Cliff was the rock of encouragement for Sha, during her battle with stage three breast cancer. He managed the household – cooking, cleaning and caring for children as he helped Sha keep the faith as she recovered from a double mastectomy, chemotherapy treatments and bouts with depression.

“God and Cliff never left my side,” Sha said. “I know the challenges he’ll face and I’ll be there for him like he was there for me.”

Cliff, 48, is scheduled for prostate cancer surgery on March 20. He was diagnosed in December 2012 following a biopsy after experiencing pain and discomfort in his body.

Knowing what his wife went through has hit home with Cliff as to what they may encounter on the road ahead.

“I said, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to go through this?’” he said.

Sha, 42, has already started taking care of her husband. She makes sure he exercises, eats properly and most importantly, that they pray together.

“It means a lot that she has my back,” Cliff said.

It was Sha that encouraged her husband to take a prostate cancer test when the couple attended prostate cancer support and advocacy group The Empowerment Network’s Blue Tie Gala last fall. Cliff took a prostate blood test, which turned out positive.

Cliff attended the organization’s support group meeting in January.

“I was impressed with all the men sharing their stories about how they are dealing with prostate cancer,” Cliff said. “They had a lot of information. The ‘brothers’there told me what to expect after surgery and that they will be there for me. They let me know that I won’t be by myself through this.”

As a breast cancer survivor, Sha knows that they’ll need each other now more than ever as they embark on a new journey.

“My breast cancer journey prepared me mentally for the challenges that my husband now faces,” Sha said.

Cliff added, “She ensures that I do what I’m supposed to do,” Cliff added. “She’s very supportive already. That’s the reason I love my wife so much.”

For more information, contact theempowermentnetwork.net. For breast cancer support services, contact breakfastclub-stl.org.

Fields family photos

Cliff and Sha Fields are looking forward to calmer seas they take turns as cancer patient and caregiver.

Changing yourlife to save yourlife

Portions reprinted with permission from Christian Hospital’s Christian Cares Quarterly

When Raymond Black suffered a heart attack, he got more than a new stent. Thanks to a positive attitude, hard work and a dedicated heart care team, he got a new lease on life, too.

“They say you never want to wake up with a crowd of people looking down at you, but that’s what happened to me.” Black said.

After suffering a severe heart attack four years ago at age 51, Raymond Black was stabilized and had a stent procedure performed at Christian Hospital. But his recovery was touch-and-go and he remained unconscious for two days.

“When I opened my eyes, I was surrounded by family and members of my church. Nurse told me my condition was so bad she didn’t even think I was going to be there when her next shift started.

“I died three times, apparently,” he quietly added.

Aaron Dimmitt, MD a cardiologist with Christian Hospital’s The Heart Care Group, helps his patients make smart diet and exercise choices.

“Unfortunately, often we’ll end up seeing a patient, like Mr. Black, after something has happened – a heart attack, heart failure or some other acute event,” said Dimmitt. “And sometimes you’re asking people to unlearn 40 years of behavior. Helping people get healthier is highly individual – there’s no magic pill that compensates for genetic predisposition to a condition, for instance. But our basic physiology; how our bodies work –that is shared among all of us.”

While heart patients may have much in common, Dimmitt doesn’t adopt a “one sixe fits all’approach to their treatment.

“My patients sometimes want me to provide a simple list of what they should eat and what exercise they should do,” Dimmitt said. “And we do give guidance, but what we really want is for people to understand how food and exercise affect their health. That way, they’ll be able to make decisions and changes that are right for them and they can maintain for the rest of their lives.”

And for Raymond, that was the biggest challenge. “I was always a big eater,” he laughed. “But I was a big guy – more than 265 pounds for years. I used to eat a slab of ribs and a porterhouse steak every Saturday for my supper. I told Dr. Dimmitt I didn’t think I could change. But he told me I could do it. Just take it one day at a time, he said. Give it time.”

Black’s recovery started at the Christian Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation Facility, where he began a measured pro-

After suffering a severe heart attack four years ago at age 51,Raymond Black was stabilized and had a stent procedure performed at Christian Hospital.But his recovery was touch-and-go and he remained unconscious for two days.

gram of exercise and lifestyle counseling three times a week. To address his eating problems, he was paired with a specialist who made all the difference.

“Those folks were great. I started going there, working out. They put me in touch with a dietitian and that really started turning my life around. I was in there three months, walking and lifting weights,” Black said. “I also got to talk with other people who shared their experiences and support – a lot of them had gone through even more serious episodes than I did. I got to where I looked forward to seeing them almost as much as the workouts.”

And it shows. Nearly four years and 70 pounds later, Raymond’s trim, 6’3” frame makes him look more like an athlete of 50 than a heart attack survivor of 55.

“Now I eat mostly fish, vegetables

and fruit, and exercise almost every day in my neighborhood,” Raymond said. “The key was to get used to eating and exercising in ways that I could sustain into by 60s and 70s.”

“When someone’s looking up at you from a hospital bed having just had a heart attack, they’re almost always passionate about changing whatever habits and behavior got them there,” Dimmitt said. “But once they get out and start feeling pretty good, everyday life interferes and the urgency sometimes fades.”

And although his road to recovery wasn’t perfectly smooth, the journey paid unexpected dividends.

“After all the hard work, I went back to Dr. Dimmitt and told him that he was right about all of this,” Black said. “I’m probably in better shape now than I was when I was 18 years old.

“That’s been one of the more inspir-

ing things about all of this,” Black added. “Now many of my family and friends are all out walking and eating right and that feels good. The problems that made me change my life have inspired them too. And it amazes me that your mind is so powerful that you can change your life so completely – you just need to start.”

His cardiologist agreed.

“Whether you’re recovering from a cardiac event or just trying to improve your health, no one fails at this if they make the effort, even if it’s slow progress,” Dimmitt said. “And nothing makes me happier than when a patient tells me, ‘Doc, it wasn’t easy, but I can really see and feel the difference in my life. I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.

“That means that I’ve done my job.”

Chicken with roasted vegetables HEALTHY RECIPE

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 -6oz chicken breasts (skinless, boneless)

1 -Red pepper

1 -Green pepper

1 -yellow onion

1 -quart cherry tomatoes

4Textra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°

Cut the red peppers, green peppers and onions into thin slices.

Toss into a bowl with the cherry tomatoes. Pour 2 of the tbsp of olive oil into the bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat the vegetables evenly.

Put vegetables into an oven-safe pan; bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350°.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper (optional)

While vegetables are roasting, heat remaining 2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet on medium high heat.

Add chicken to the skillet, cooking on both sides (approx. 8 minutes each, cooked through to 165°)

Remove chicken from the skillet and let rest for 10 minutes.

Spoon roasted vegetables on top of chicken breasts and serve.

Nutrition Information: (per serving)

Calories: 285

Total Fats: 21g (Saturated Fat: 2.4g; Monounsaturated Fat: 10.9g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 2 0g)

Cholesterol: 36 mg

Carbohydrate: 10 g

Sugar, Total: 4g

Dietary Fiber: 3g

Protein: 15mg

Potassium: 481mg

Calcium: 29mg

Sodium: 43mg

Food Outreach continues to be the only nonprofit organization in the greater St. Louis area that focuses on providing critical nutritional support to individuals with a lifethreatening illness.Through a combination of prepared meals, groceries and nutrition counseling, the organization is able to enhance the quality of life of low income men, women and children living with cancer or HIV/AIDS.The on-staff chef and on-staff registered dietitian work together to develop menusthat are tailored to the specific nutrition needs of Food Outreach clients.Food Outreach is on pace to provide 410,000+ nutritious meals to 1,500 clients residing in 137 Missouri and Illinois zip codes in 2009.For more information, call 314-652-3663 or visit www.foodoutreach.org

Sexual Health

St. Louis County Health Department offers free, confidential testing, counseling and treatment at the North Central Community Health Center, 4000 Jennings Station Road, St. Louis, MO 63121. For more information, call 314679-7800.

St. Louis Metropolitan HIV/AIDS Program offers confidential or anonymous testing at St. Louis ConnectCare, Suite 203 at 5535 Delmar, St. Louis, Mo. 63112. For more information, call (314) 879-6468.

Respiratory Health

Free lung function screening - Christian Hospital Breathing Center at Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. For more information, call 314-953-6040.

Prescription Cost Help

St. Louis ConnectCare Retail Pharmacy – Offers a $4 generic prescription program. Hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri., no weekends or holidays. Located at 5535 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis, Call 314-879-6208.

Schnucks Pharmacies – now offers cer-

HEALTH RESOURCES

tain prescription prenatal vitamins for free and offers no-cost generic prescription antibiotics at select locations.

Wal-Mart Pharmacies – offer select prescriptions for $4 or less for a 30-day supply or $10 for a 90-day supply. View the complete list at www.walmart.com/pharmacy.

Prostate Cancer

The CancerCenterof The Empowerment Network at 6000 W. Florissant in St. Louis provides information on prostate and other types of cancer, and services and support. For more information, call 314-385-0998.

Nutrition

Food Outreach provides food, meals and nutritional education/ counseling to eligible persons living with HIV/AIDS or cancer in St. Louis. For more information, call 314-652-3663 or visit www.foodoutreach.org.

Angel Food Ministries operates in hundreds of churches nationwide and offers heat and serve meals, canned and fresh food boxes at a reduced cost. Find the nearest locations by zip code at www.angelfoodministries.com.

Medical

St. Louis ConnectCare offers walk-in services Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and most holidays. For more information, call 314-879-6300.

Salam Free Saturday Clinic, 10 a.m. –2 p.m. at the Isom Community Center at Lane Tabernacle CME Church, 916 N. Newstead, St. Louis, Mo. for those who are uninsured. For more information, call 314-533-0534.

Information

Missouri 2-1-1 offers referral and information on a wide range of social service and helpful resources. Call 2-1-1.

Health Partnerships

The CenterforCommunity Health and Partnerships: Building Bridges for Healthy Communities works to develop and support beneficial community-academic partnerships to address the health needs of the St. Louis. For more information, email publichealth@wustl.edu; phone 314-747-9212 or visit publichealth.wustl.edu.

Dental

Free Dental Hygiene Clinic - No charge

dental exams, x-rays, cleanings and other dental services for children and adults. Patients needing more extensive dental work (fillings, crowns, etc.) will be referred to local dentists. For information, call 314-768-7899.

Diabetes

SSM St. Mary’s Health Center provides free, Diabetes Support Group sessions the second Tuesday of every month from 6 – 7 p.m. Located in Room 1 on the second floor, 6420 Clayton Rd. in St. Louis. To register, call toll free 866-SSM-DOCS (866776-3627).

Behavioral

Christian Hospital offers free and confidential psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations at the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. For more information, call 314-839-3171.

Christian Hospital Key Program offers support and education to patients with chronic mental illness to prevent increased severity of symptoms and to reduce the need for inpatient re-hospitalization. Call confidentially to 314839-3171 or 1-800-447-4301.

Thurs. Feb. 21, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., Children’s Dental Health Fair, John C. Murphy Health Center at 6121 North Hanley Road in Berkeley, Mo. by the St. Louis County Dept. of Health. The health fair will include oral hygiene regimens for infants and children, the benefits of dental sealants and fluoride varnish, nutrition information, safe sleep practices for babies, and information about shaken baby syndrome. For adults - blood pressure screenings, smoking cessation, and women’s health information. For more information, call 314-6150500.

Thurs. Feb. 21 – Mar. 28, 1:00 – 3:30 p.m., Living AHealthy Life, Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. Community Room. Six-session self-management course is for those with such chronic conditions as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema or others to increase confidence in managing your own health. $10 fee includes book and relaxation CD. To register, call 314-747-WELL(9355).

Sat. Feb. 23, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m., SSM Heart Institute HerHeart Every Beat Counts education and screening day at Orlando Gardens Banquet Center, 8352 Watson Rd., Webster Groves, Mo. Blood pressure, body fat, cholesterol and glucose screenings will be offered from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. There is a $10 fee for the fasting cholesterol and glucose screening and appointments are required. To register and schedule call 1-866-SSM-DOCS (1-866-776-3627) or visit ssmhealth.com/heart.

Fri. Mar. 1 and Sat. March 2, Give Kids ASmile free dental clinic, Saint Louis University CenterforAdvanced Dental Education by appointment only. Children who are Medicaid-eligible, qualify for a school lunch program or who need assistance due to other circumstances are welcome. Call by Feb. 15 to register at 636-397-6453.

YOURHEALTH MATTERS

CALENDAR

Mar. 2, 6 p.m., 23rd annual Orchid AAFAirby the Asthma and Allergy Foundation at the Four Seasons Hotel. For more information, call 314-645-2422 or email jdunsmore@aafastl.org.

Tues., Mar. 5, 7pm; National Week of Prayerforthe Healing of AIDS Forum and Panel Discussion, St. John’s United Church of Christ, 4138 N. Grand St. Louis, MO 63107.

Sat. Mar. 9, 6 p.m., Lupus Foundation of America Purple Ball, Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel Crystal Ballroom, 800 Washington Ave. For more information, call 314-644-2222 or visit lfaheartland.org.

Tues. Mar. 12, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m., “The Eldercare Journey,” Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. How to protect yourself, your family, and your finances. Call 314-747-WELL(9355) or 1-877-747-WELL(9355) to register.

Sat. Mar. 16, Noon – 3 p.m. Colon CancerAwareness luncheon, True Light Baptist Church, 2838 James Cool Papa Bell in St. Louis. Board certified physicians from St. Louis ConnectCare will talk about colon cancer and how to prevent it. The public is welcome to this free event. RSVPto Rosetta Keeton at 314-879-6231.

Wed. Mar. 20, 9 a.m. – 10 a.m., The Importance of a Colon Screening, Jamestown Mall Food Court, Daniel Herleth, MD will provide information on diet and lifestyle changes that could help prevent colon cancer. Call 314-747WELL(9355) to register.

Tues. Mar. 26, 7 a.m. – 3 p.m., Free Diabetes Screening, Christian Hospital Diabetes Institute, 11155 Dunn Rd. Physicians Office Bldg. 1, #101 N. Screening takes about 10 minutes.

Tues. Mar. 26, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m., Free

Diabetes Screening, Northwest HealthCare, 1225 Graham Rd. Screening takes about 10 minutes.

Fri. Apr. 27, 10 a.m., St. Louis ConnectCare Auxiliary benefit Jazz/Blues Brunch & Concert, Sheraton Westport Hotel Lakeside Chalet, 191 Westport Plaza, featuring Ed Nicholson’s Jazz & Blues All Starts, Wendy Gordon, Bob Ellison, Exclusively Yours. Auxiliary will present Helping Hand Humanitarian Awards to three awardees. Tickets - $50 per person. For information, call 314-879-6494.

Sundays, 10 a.m. – Alcoholics Anonymous Group 109 meets in the 11th floor conference room at Christian Hospital, 11133 Dunn Road at I270/Hwy. 367. This is an open meeting for alcoholics, drug addicts and their family and friends.

Mondays, 7 p.m. – “Tobacco Free for Life” support group – free weekly meetings at St. Peters Mo. City Hall. Supported by SSM Cancer Care; RSVP initial participation to 636-947-5304.

Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. – Alcohol and Drug Information Meeting, Christian Hospital Professional Office Building 2, suite 401.For information, call 314-839-3171.

Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. –STEPS Schizophrenia Support Group This nationally recognized program provides education and support for those with schizophrenia. Group is facilitated by an experienced STEPS nurse. For more information, call 314-839-3171.

First Thursdays, 10 a.m. – Family Support Group by NAMI St. Louis, The Alliance on Mental Illness at the Grace Hill Murphy-O’Fallon Health Center, 1717 Biddle St. No registration needed; no cost. For more information, call 314-962-4670.

Free psychiatric and chemical dependency evaluations are confidential at the Christian Hospital Center for Mental Health. Call 314-839-3171.

HEALTH Q & A

Obesity approaching cigarette smoking as leading avoidable cause of premature deaths worldwide

Newswise — Areport published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Medicine that obesity is becoming as big a hazard worldwide, comparable to cigarette smoking. The epidemic of obesity in the United States as well as globally, contributes to avoidable and premature deaths from cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes. Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., of Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine noted that obesity is the leading avoidable cause of the current epidemic of type 2 diabetes in the U.S., which is also increasing worldwide. During the last several decades, Hennekens noted there has been a systematic underestimation of the hazards of obesity. Hennekens published these findings with co-author Felicita Andreotti, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine at Catholic University in Rome, Italy.

“I am deeply concerned that the United States is the fattest society in the

world and likely to be the fattest in the history of the world,” said Hennekens.

“Unfortunately, most people prefer prescription of pills to proscription of harmful lifestyles. I am, however, optimistic that weight loss of 5 percent or more combined with a brisk walk for 20 or more minutes daily will significantly reduce cardiovascular and total deaths.”

Hennekens emphasized the importance of therapeutic lifestyle changes beginning in childhood. As this current generation of American children and adolescents reach middle age, morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease will increase. This generation of

adolescents are more obese and less physically active than their parents and already have higher rates of type 2 diabetes. It is likely that the current generation of children and adolescents in the U.S. will be the first since 1960 to have higher mortality rates than their parents due mainly to cardiovascular disease, including coronary heart disease and stroke. In addition, obesity is a major risk factor for several cancers, especially colorectal, but also breast and prostate.

Hennekens said in the U.S. today, 40 percent of adults age 40 and over have metabolic syndrome, a constellation of obesity, lipid abnormalities, hypertension

and insulin resistance, a precursor of diabetes. These individuals have a 10-year risk of a first coronary event of 16 to 18 percent and require aggressive management to lower their high risks of premature death and disability.

According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, approximately twothirds of adults age 20 or older are overweight or obese with body mass indexes (BMI) greater than 25, and nearly onethird have BMI’s greater than 30. Less than one-third of them are at a healthy weight with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. In 1995, the economic cost of overweight and obesity in the U.S. alone was estimated to be $117 billion.

Hennekens warned, “The export of our diet and lifestyle, which increases rates of obesity, together with tobacco, to developing countries will result in cardiovascular disease emerging as the leading killer in the world.”