March 22nd, 2018 Edition

Parkland, Florida and North County teens connect over school shooting

After the school massacre in Parkland, Florida, the surviving students began a viral movement on social media to pressure elected officials to pass stronger gun control legislation.

Kenidra Woods, a Riverview Gardens High School junior in North County, helped organize a school walkout to stand in solidarity with the students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 students and teachers were murdered in a school shooting on February 14. The St. Louis action made national news when the students

See TEENS, A6

the

Prop R on April 3 ballot for Riverview Gardens schools

Kenidra Woods, a junior at Riverview Gardens High School, was among about 200 students who walked out of school for gun violence awareness on February 27, in solidarity with the students in Parkland, Florida. The next day, Woods and about six of the action’s leaders met with their school’s principal, Darius Kirk and the district’s head of security, Warren Newton, to relay their demands.

“We asked about the outside doors,” Woods said. “When we get off the bus, the side door there is not locked. People can just walk in there. Most of the problems, they said it was a money issue. It’s not just one door. It’s multiple doors that need to be fixed.” The students asked about several other

n “When we get off the bus, the side door there is not locked. People can just walk in there. Most of the problems, they said it was a money issue. It’s not just one door. It’s multiple doors that need to be fixed.”

– Kenidra Woods, a junior at Riverview Gardens High School

security upgrades, including tinting the windows, fixing interior locks on doors and more cameras. In that meeting, Kirk and Newton talked to the students about Proposition R, which is a bond issue on the ballot in the

Tuesday, April 3 general municipal election.

If it passes with 57.14 percent in approval, the Riverview Gardens School District expects that it would generate $11.7 million. This would go towards upgrades for security, technology and a variety of maintenance needs in the district’s facilities, most of which are more than 50 years old.

The predominately African-American school district serves more than 5,700 preK-12 students in the surrounding areas of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Castle Point, Dellwood, Glasgow Village, Moline Acres, Riverview and portions of Ferguson, Jennings and unincorporated St. Louis County.

“The principal said that they had a choice between more security and more books in school,” Woods said. “And they had to pick books over school security. If this passes,

‘I always wanted to serve’

Dr. Garey Lynn Clifford Watkins is Lifetime Achiever in Health Care

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St.

a blood vessel – a leak somewhere in my brain,” Lee wrote in her memoir titled “Grandma Debbie: the Cradle of Life.” Dr. Watkins rushed her to St. Louis University Hospital and alerted her family that she had a

By Rebecca Rivas

The

Photo by Wiley Price

By Rebecca Rivas

Of The St. Louis American

HeALtH SALute

At Moline Elementary School in the Riverview Gardens School District, teacher Melissa Caldwell shows her 4th grade students Corey Dixon, Jamaria Greer, Jameka McMillan, Keeon Scott-Woods, Yariah Morris and Kevin Norfleet how to use

newspaper to read about current topics.

Kenidra Woods Kyrah Simon

Dr. Garey Lynn Clifford Watkins

Employees at Christian Care Home go back to work Monday March 19, following a 104-day strike regarding labor practices, wages, insurance provision and seniority.

Photo by Lenny Jones/SEIU Healt

Vivica revisits relationship with 50 Cent in new book, 50 is not amused

According to The New York Daily News, Vivica A. Fox claims she had no intention of discussing her 2003 relationship with 50 Cent in her upcoming self-help book “Every Day, I’m Hustling,” but felt compelled to since the “In Da Club” rapper has reportedly invented stories about her repeatedly.

“The 53-year-old ‘Empire’ star says the rapper wooed her and they had amazing chemistry although he was more focused on his career than on sex,” The New York Daily News said.

“Most of the time, I would be the one initiating sex, because I really enjoyed making love with him,” writes Fox, who also describes their sessions as PG-13 but “cherished and special.”

The New York Daily News also says Fox later found out that the rapper

had been ready to propose to her during a trip to Monaco, where the pair was taking part in the World Music Awards in 2003. Fitty had planned to rent out a theater in Monte Carlo, show a print of “Kill Bill, Vol. 1” — in which she starred — and then propose at the end with a 14-carat diamond ring. He nixed it when he felt Fox had hogged the spotlight by signing as the show’s host.

50 Cent responded to the news on social media.

“I’m waking up to this [expletive],” The rapper said via Instagram. “That was 14 years ago. Who does that? What the [expletive].” He also posted a video where he implies that Fox has mental problems for still reflecting on their relationship after so many years.

Songz surrenders to cops, claims innocence in response to assault allegations

Trey Songz turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department to face a felony domestic violence charge early Monday morning.

According to TMZ.com, The singer turned himself in, with his attorney, Shawn Holley, for the alleged incident involving a woman

he was out with in L.A. last month during NBA All-Star weekend. He was booked at 6 a.m. and released shortly after 8 a/m. He posted a $50,000 bond.

Songz is accused of brutally beating the victim at a Hollywood Hills party where she claims he was upset because she was talking to another man.

Around the same time as his surrender, Songz broke his silence about the incident by proclaiming his innocence via social media.

“For weeks my lawyers and management have asked me not to comment on this and I initially agreed,” Songz said via Twitter. “But this morning I feel that my fam, the women that raised me, my friends and fans – especially the youth – need to hear from me. I am being lied on and falsely accused for someone’s personal gain. I won’t be speaking to much more on this, but [I] would like to thank you all for the prayers and support.”

Joh’Vhonnie Jackson claims meeting with Janet did not go well

While visiting daytime show “The Talk” to promote her memoir “Bastard Child” Joseph Jackson’s daughter Joh’Vhonnie Jackson dished on the uncomfortable exchange that took place when she met her half-sister Janet at the prompting of eldest Jackson sibling Rebbie.

“I was so excited to meet Janet because I

really, really liked her ‘Rhythm Nation’ album. That was the jam,” Joh’Vhonnie said. “We were having good conversation until I said ‘Daddy.’ The reason she got upset was because he did not allow them to call him daddy. You really can’t determine what’s going to bother a person deeply and what they hang on to.”

Is Tamar refusing to co-sign new season of ‘Braxton Family Values?

TMZ.com is reporting that Tamar Braxton is furious with her family because she believes they’re ganging up on her estranged husband to vilify him on the new season of their reality show.

“She’s supposed to be promoting the return of ‘Braxton Family Values,’ but is refusing because she thinks Vincent Herbert is being portrayed in an unfair light in an effort by her mom and sisters to destroy him,” a source told the celebrity news and gossip site.

“We’re told show cameras have captured Tamar and Vince as they steer through their pending divorce, but Tamar feels the family’s using fake storylines to drum up ratings and frame Vince as a villain,” TMZ.com continued. “Tamar insists she’s not reconciling with Vince, but she wants to remain cordial for the sake of their son.”

Sources: TMZ.com, New York Daily News, Twitter.com, Instagram.com

Cookie Thornton, Meacham Park and collective experience

A conversation with sociologist Andrea Boyles

By Clark Randall For The St. Louis American

February 7, 2018 marked the 10-year anniversary of Meacham Park resident Charles “Cookie” Thornton entering Kirkwood City Hall and shooting seven people, ultimately killing six, including the mayor, Mike Swoboda. Thornton was shot and killed on the scene by responding police officers.

Meacham Park is an historically black community, hemmed in by I-44, situated in the midst of an affluent, white town – Kirkwood. The relationship between Kirkwood and Meacham Park is a story that spans over a century. In 2015, Andrea Boyles, sociologist, author, and St. Louis native, tackled the intricacies of their shared history in her book, Race, Place, and Suburban Policing: Too Close for Comfort Boyles tells a story of suburbanization, differential policing, and hypersegregation in St. Louis County. Formerly unincorporated, Meacham Park was annexed by Kirkwood in 1991. Boyles writes of the annexation, “It was official: Kirkwood was now the parent community and Meacham Park, it’s colony.” Annexation required consenting votes, and Cookie Thornton was reportedly instrumental in securing a majority in Meacham Park.

Shortly thereafter, Kirkwood and Desco Group, an area developer, began planning a shopping mall that would span two-thirds of Meacham Park’s original land. Thornton was reportedly made promises as a demolition construction worker. His jobs never manifested, and from there Boyles paints a nuanced picture of how a history of already strained relations worsened.

As the anniversary passed, The St. Louis American interviewed Boyles, now an associate professor of criminal justice at Lindenwood University –

Belleville, to speak about her work and the importance of telling the story of Meacham Park and Kirkwood. She began by reiterating the need to be cognizant and mindful of the families who suffered the loss of a loved one in Thornton’s shooting. From a place of sensitivity and empathy, then, discourse can hopefully continue to address the long history of racial division that plague both our region and nation.

The American: What made you choose to research and work in Kirkwood and Meacham Park?

Andrea Boyles: I desired to better understand black citizen/police conflict and had already been studying issues of race, policing, and inequity. And it just happened to be that events took place – the Charles “Cookie” Thornton shooting rampage and so forth – in Kirkwood. Being from St. Louis, I had an eye for what things looked like and meant at home. And from there, I wanted to explore the issues in a more personable and yet empirical way, again, because St. Louis is my home. I wanted to begin the conversation there and take what I would learn and expand it broadly.

The American: Did you find Kirkwood and Meacham Park to be emblematic of race and segregation nationwide or do they stand out as an outlier?

Andrea Boyles: They do no stand out as outliers. I think that they are a symptom of the broader society. What happened in Kirkwood is one of countless manifestations of underlying racial tension and structural inequity that exists nationwide. And that inequity has been institutionalized historically, but most people don’t see it that way.

So, I know we have a lot of surface conversations, but as a sociologist that’s where I make the break. I account for all of the dynamics at play: structurally, institutionally, systemically, and then taken together, what all those things have looked like historically. It’s in that space that I go and explain conditions as interdependent and not occurring in a vacuum, so to speak. I think we disadvantage ourselves when we look at events as isolated. They are all occurring as symptoms of a widespread, historic set of issues – one on top of the other.

police: they always have a voice. They represent the state. They represent local government. What gets missed is the ability to capture those voices that are oftentimes assumed, or missed, or captured just by statistics. Through ethnography, I provide a fuller picture of mostly disadvantaged black citizen experiences beyond just the numbers. I believe that numbers, in a way, can become comforting or comfortable. They are important, yes, but I think that it is necessary to hear the voices of the folks who are the least empowered and the most disadvantaged so we can see what those numbers mean and look like in everyday interaction. In doing so, we position ourselves to complete the picture.

The American: Chapter 4 covers in depth the tragic shootings with Cookie Thornton and before that with Kevin Johnson. What was your goal going into writing that chapter?

Andrea Boyles: To be clear, that chapter is not in any way meant to provide justification or credence to the actions of Kevin Johnson and Cookie Thornton. I do not legitimize what they did because I don’t believe in resorting to heinous actions like that. But I wanted to provide a picture of what transpired leading into those shootings.

The American: In your book you pay specific attention to the people of Meacham Park. What’s the importance of doing that when speaking about the region?

Andrea Boyles: Before I answer, I want to absolutely be respectful of these incidents I mentioned in my book. My heart goes out to the families that lost loved ones, and I’m aware of the fact that these families continue to hurt – on both ends of the spectrum.

Having said that, it’s not that every voice doesn’t matter, but I study populations that are marginalized. Much of my work is focused on populations that are silenced. I wanted to extend my academic platform to individuals who may otherwise not have space to speak safely. I wanted to account for Meacham Park’s lived experiences. What do their everyday interactions look like in that community as one attached to a predominantly white location of affluence.

With the elected officials and the

It’s a disservice, in the spirit of reforming or really transforming our culture, to the families and all those involved, to limit the conversation to one day – to limit the conversation to those minutes and moments during the actual event. If we are to address these underlining problems we have to know how they came about.

My goal was to ask all the necessary questions in an attempt to provide the folks in Kirkwood, the St. Louis region, and even those around the country an account for how people can seemingly go from championed individuals, like Cookie, to doing what he did. It was also about prevention. Uncovering answers and asking questions so that we would not have this occur again. We would have enough information to make evidence-based decisions politically and otherwise. Needless to say, as I was wrapping up the project and it was headed to print, we had Ferguson happen. These were all symptoms of

social ills taking place beneath the surface.

The American: You write, “By examining policing in the aftermath of tragedies, we are afforded greater insight into how the consequences of a few in a black community can easily become that of all, and have lifelong ramifications for additional black citizen police interactions.” Can you speak to that?

Andrea Boyles: What I’m speaking to is vicarious experiences. Vicarious experiences are often the kind black people are more likely to have. Which means, even for times they themselves did not have direct exchanges with law enforcement, they all could account for instances they’ve either heard about or saw. They then internalize or experience them as their own. It only takes a couple of incidents or really bad exchanges in the community for them to become consequential to a lot of people. What happens in this story is that there were signs of trouble brewing. It’s never about just one person who had a questionable encounter. It’s an entire history of it. These are stories of police exchanges with black citizens that are accounted for from generation to generation. They are accounted for across neighborhoods, from one town to the next, from one school to the next, and so on. These are stories that have real-life implications for black citizens often found on the receiving end of aggression. These are cumulative experiences. They appear to be one or two, but no, they are all collective.

It’s about all the exchanges that are happening in between the nationally profiled incidents. There’s an ongoing series of exchanges that more often than not do not receive coverage. Those stories are processed and internalized in the minds of black citizens, and they always have been. These have far-reaching consequences and – in this case, with Cookie – the consequences happened to be a lot of loss. So we want to do everything we can to have as much information as possible to avoid seeing these things continue to transpire.

This also means critically thinking and asking hard questions like how can we create a society where people do not feel institutionally cornered and like they have no options or way out?

Andrea Boyles is the author of Race, Place, and Suburban Policing: Too Close for Comfort and an associate professor of criminal justice at Lindenwood University – Belleville.

Photo by Kelly Moffitt / St. Louis Public Radio

Editorial /CommEntary

Vote yes on Prop R on April 3 to support Riverview Schools

Voters in the Riverview Gardens School District – which includes Bellefontaine Neighbors, Castle Point, Dellwood, Glasgow Village, Moline Acres, Riverview, and portions of Ferguson, Jennings and unincorporated St. Louis County – will have Proposition R on their ballots in the April 3 General Municipal Election. If they want to support their struggling but improving school district, and help provide badly needed improvements for their students, they should vote yes.

Prop R is a critical bond issue that allows the district to borrow $11.7 million for a host of needed infrastructural upgrades, as well as payment of outstanding lease obligations. The adjusted debt service levy of the school district, as the ballot language reads, is “estimated to remain unchanged from the current debt service levy of $1.6936 per one hundred dollars assessed valuation of real and personal property.” That is, this is a no-taxincrease bond issue.

Bond issues – which require a 4/7 majority to pass, much larger than a simple majority – can only be used to fund improvements such as repairs, renovations, construction, and the purchase of big-ticket items such as technology. Planned improvements would make students in the district safer, more comfortable, better prepared to be competitive, with support of more up-to-date and attractive infrastructure and physical facilities.

Riverview Gardens is a predominantly African-American public school district serving more than 5,700 students in Pre-K through the 12th grade. The district, now governed by a state-appointed Special Administrative Board, experienced 10 years (2007-2017) of being unaccredited, which led to millions of dollars lost in declining assessed property valuation. Riverview is largely residential, with most larger tax-paying businesses falling just outside its boundaries. A loss in assessed valuation severely limits the district’s ability to generate sufficient resources to keep up with its critical needs. That is why the district is putting this bond proposal before voters.

The proposed upgrades are necessary for safety and security, including new locks, alarms, cameras, and a modern phone system; heating and air conditioning to ensure classroom environments are conducive to learning; technology to support learning and to help students be more competitive; classrooms and other interior spaces; playgrounds; paving and rooftops; and restrooms. These bricks-andmortar improvements would support a district that is showing impressive signs of improving in the most critical area, the preparation of students. For the second year in a row, the district has earned provisional accreditation from the State Board of Education.

The district has already achieved improved student outcomes with less than adequate resources. This academic progress has been achieved despite aging heating and air conditioning systems that often require students and teachers to wear coats in some classrooms on frigid days, despite broken laptop keys and aging technology, and despite lacking the basic necessities found in other schools. Because of concern for the needs of its students, the district is asking the community for help in sustaining the forward momentum it has attained over the past three years. We strongly believe the district – and especially, its students – warrant public support.

Passage of Prop R would be an investment in the futures of Riverview Gardens students and an acknowledgement that the community believes in the district and its leadership and wants to be part of its continued success in the future. Excellent schools are essential for a prosperous, stable community and we believe neighborhood schools are the heart of every community and that – no matter where a student lives, no matter their household income – every student deserves the best education we can provide them in the most safe-and-sound, up-to-date, and attractive environment. We strongly urge a vote of YES ON PROPOSITION R IN THE RIVERVIEW GARDENS SCHOOL DISTRICT.

Commentary

100 years of economic decline and us

By Mike Jones

Of The St. Louis American

Over the next 12 months, St. Louis’ African-American community will participate in three elections that will play a major role in defining the contours of our future possibilities. In August, they will play a decisive role in who will be the next St. Louis County executive. They may again determine who controls the United States Senate as a function of their level of participation in the November election. And in March of next year, they will decide the makeup of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, the city’s executive fiscal body. Given the importance of these upcoming elections, I want to contextualize a question I’m regularly asked: “Why can’t black politicians get the on the same page,” or “Why can’t the black community come together?” The answer begins with an examination of the nottoo-immediate past. It’s impossible to understand the present condition of St. Louis’s African-American community without an understanding of the last 100 years of St. Louis. What has happened to us, is in large measure, a function of where it happened. So let’s take a look at where it happened. In 1900, the population of the United States was 76 million and St. Louis was the fourth-largest city with a population of 575,000. Fifty years later, the country had doubled in size to 150 million. St Louis growth didn’t match the country’s, but the population still increased by roughly 35 percent and the city’s population of 850,000 made St. Louis the 10th-largest city in the country. This is an important inflection point, because it’s the high water mark of St Louis as a major

city. It’s all downhill from there.

So what does the data tell us today? That 309 million people lived in the United States in 2010, about four times the 1900 total. In 2010 the City of St. Louis was ranked 61st in population, with 320,000 residents. Today, there are 250,000 fewer people living in St. Louis than were living here in 1904!

Lest you believe St. Louis County exists in some alternate universe where it enjoys some different historical narrative, let’s be clear: from 1950 through 2010 (that’s 60 years), the combined population of city and the county has been constant, between 1.3-1.4 million people. St. Louis County’s population has only gotten bigger because the City of St. Louis’ population got smaller. There are a lot ways that economists measure economic growth, but the best way for non-economists to think about growth is as a function of population. If more people are born and came here than died or left, you’re growing. Sustainable economic growth is a function of the demand created by expanding populations.

Parochial protestations notwithstanding, this is all one place. And it’s all one place where the population has remained stagnant, while the country’s population has doubled. This lack of real growth – a 100 years of economic decline, really – is the defining feature of St. Louis and the specter that haunts every policy debate.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Board Bill 66 puts police surveillance under public scrutiny

By Kendra Tatum For The St. Louis American

The Real Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) is a policecontrolled surveillance hub located in the city of St. Louis. This data center receives surveillance information from cell site simulators, photos from license plate readers, and street camera recordings. Reportedly created to fight crime, the RTIC raises serious civil liberties concerns.

Privacy Watch is a coalition of organizations that have joined forces supporting privacy rights at a time when technology is superseding legislation to regulate foreseeable unjust impacts. You can help by urging your alderperson to support Board Bill 66.

Privacy Watch aims to use Board Bill 66 to examine the cost of the technology to taxpayers, how individual privacy is being disregarded, and whether or not surveillance has a racially biased undertone. For example, there is a surveillance camera on Arsenal and South Grand pointed at MokaBees Café, where Black Lives Matter activists and other human rights protesters are known to meet and strategize. We should conclude that police are using the surveillance camera as an intimidation tactic.

As the system expands, so too does its capacity to watch individuals who are not even suspected of a crime as they come and leave their home. It is an invasion of privacy for the government to know when you go to a doctor’s appointment, political rally, or religious gathering. There is undeniable

potential abuse by the department and/or individual cops.

Consider also the local activist and protestor being consistently surveilled by a SLMPD officer. The officer pursued this activist after protests from 2016 to the Stockley verdict and beyond using tax dollars. There was an Internal Affairs Division (IAD) investigation; however, the officer has not been reprimanded. How would you feel about the safety of your family if the entity meant to protect you targeted you for standing up for your values and the dignity of your community?

We do not

know how much RTIC data is shared with the federal government, now in the hands of the Trump Administration.

Even before the current administration, we saw abuses of surveillance. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was created in large part to combat terrorism. However, documents released by its Office of Operations Coordination prove the department constantly gathered information on Black Lives Matter activists. This was done using the activists’ social media accounts even for events expected to be nonviolent and peaceful. The DHS provides surveillance to local government decision-makers. The DHS’ actions are an example of intimidation of an

Letters to the editor

Confusion in the midst of ignorance

Military commanders will tell you their battle plans are as good as their reality-based intelligence. The same is true for political strategies. All public policy strategies assume an economic environment, more often implied than expressed, that makes them viable. And economic viability is one of the elements that separates a plan from a fantasy. Any long-term public policy plans that ignore the long-term historical economic realities of its operating environment will not and cannot succeed.

For the last 40 years, St. Louis’s white business and political leadership has produced an unbroken chain of failure based on flawed strategies that ignore reality. They believe, or at least claim, that St. Louis is a great city –one big project or governmental reform away from reclaiming lost glory. Whether naive or delusional, they have been wrong, and their failure has been largely at the expense of the African-American community. And, for the record, there are no great cities of 320,000 people; 320,000 people is a neighborhood in Chicago.

An effective AfricanAmerican political strategy depends upon an accurate historical understanding of the St. Louis environment. But it also requires something else: a better understanding of who we are as a people, and how did we become the people we are today.

To be continued.

Mike Jones is a former senior staffer in St. Louis city and county government and current member of the Missouri State Board of Education and The St. Louis American editorial board. In 2016, he was awarded Best Serious Columnist for all of the state’s large weeklies by the Missouri Press Association.

The article written by Alderman John CollinsMuhammad about blacks and Democrats represents mass confusion in the midst of profound ignorance. The Democrats attacked for hostility to the advancement of civil rights in past years are the same Democrats possessing the identical ideology and prejudices of the Republicans now influencing the Republican agenda or repealing our rights. Those anti-civil rights Democratic congressman referred to by Collins-Muhammad have switched political parties and now represent the same ideology and are elected from the same Southern districts that fought against our rights. During this period they were known as Dixiecrats. Now they are known as conservative Republicans. It seems to be total irresponsibility or profound ignorance to indict Northern liberal Democrats who joined with liberal Northern Republicans to pass the great civil rights laws of the 1960s and 1970s. The Democrats referred to by Collins-Muhammad are now the 100-plus Republican scoundrels representing the same districts in the nine Southern states that opposed every measure of decency proposed to provide equality for minorities.

Bill Clay, Maryland

Where is ‘A Call to Oneness’ now?

In 2007, St. Louis city hit 137 homicides for the year, then in 2008, while we were well on the way to eclipsing that number, it seemed that the leaders at that time woke up and decided enough was enough. This was 10 years ago, and although I was preparing for a move out of state for

exercise of First Amendment rights.

Additionally, Black Lives Matter activists have even been monitored in Washington, D.C. during an April 29 protest via live updates and Google Maps images. They were monitored, although a FBI joint intelligence bulletin shared with DHS officials referred to the protest as a “First Amendmentprotected event.”

Sadly, there is a very long history of federal agencies viewing black movements and organizations as a threat to national security – for example, the Black Panthers being targeted by the FBI. We need to guarantee that data gathered in St. Louis is neither tainted nor shared for the wrong purposes. To provide necessary civil liberties protections, Privacy Watch proposed Board Bill 66 mandating aldermanic oversight of surveillance. It requires a cost-benefit analysis and consideration of disparate impact on minority communities. It would also require policies on access and use of collected data before the use of surveillance is approved and continually monitored on an annual basis to safeguard against misuse. The policy includes who has access to data, how long data is stored, and release of data to the public. The community is also given a voice during public hearings.

Visit the Privacy Watch STL Facebook page to stay up to date with the bill and other activities. And contact your alderperson and insist that they support Board Bill 66. Kendra Tatum is an organizer for the Organization for Black Struggle.

career development, I was still at peace. I had the distinct feeling that St. Louis was turning a corner regarding the violence because of “A Call to Oneness.”

The initiative was led by black men (mostly clergy and religious leaders) with the goal of encouraging black men to take accountability for the community. I was inspired, I was motivated, and now, after returning to St. Louis after all these years, I am frustrated. Why?

Because in December 2017, the annual homicide count rose to 203, the most the city has seen in a single year since 1995. Nearly all of that number – 165 – were black males. What happened? Where is “A Call to Oneness” now? Where is that leadership from the clergy? What happened to getting into the neighborhoods and not leaving?

We need answers and solutions for the crime crisis that is wreaking havoc in our neighborhoods. The energy that came from “A Call to Oneness” needs to be recreated with a diverse group of people who truly reflect the members of our neighborhoods, people who are committed to innovative and bold strategies that empower everyone.

We need to give every solution a good look. It is the time to be courageous, not just safe. If leadership is not courageous and trailblazing, it is not leadership – it is maintenance. Our communities deserve more than maintaining the status quo. I call on Rev. Dr. F. James Clark, Jacque Land, Terry Wilson, Minister Donald Muhammad, Councilwoman Hazel Erby, DeMarco Davidson, Rev. Dinah Tatman, state Rep. Bruce Franks, and everyone else who is committed to rebuilding the energy of “A Call to Oneness” and not allowing ourselves to stop until we have achieved the

Ted Gatlin Jr

St. Louis

Columnist Mike Jones

Ferg-Flor middle school honored nationally

Cross Keys Middle School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District was recognized as a Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Distinguished School for providing broad access to transformative learning opportunities for students through PLTW Gateway. It is one of just 110 middle schools nationwide to receive this honor. Vince Bertram, president and CEO of PLTW, said the school ensures that “students have the knowledge and skills to be career-ready and successful on any career path they choose.” In the photo are members of an allgirls robotics team at the school, known as the “Gear Girls:” Jasmyn Ray, 8th grade; Aviana Carter, 7th grade; and Aaliyah Buford, 8th grade.

Educator Recruitment

Fair at ESL on March 24

The East St. Louis, Illinois School District 189 will hold an Educator Recruitment Fair at East St. Louis Sr. High School, 4901 State St., at 9 a.m. Saturday March 24. Available teaching positions include: elementary school teachers certified to teach Pre-K through fourth grade; middle school and high school teachers of English, math, science and social sciences; special education teachers; bilingual teachers; fine arts teachers including music, art and foreign languages; and pre-K teachers with special education endorsements. Additional certified positions include: social workers, librarians, nurses, administrators, psychologists, speech therapists and substitute teachers. Candidates should bring a copy of their resume. Teachers must bring a copy of their teaching license or proof of eligibility for licensure. Candidates are encouraged to register in advance at www.estl189.com.

Scholarships for students with incarcerated parents

Ava’s Grace provides scholarships for students who have experienced parental incarceration. Students who live anywhere in Missouri or in the Illinois counties that comprise the St. Louis metropolitan area are eligible to apply. Several scholarships will be awarded including Summit’s Peak – the Ava’s Grace Scholarship for African American males. For questions regarding this application, contact The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis at (314) 725-7990 or info@sfstl.org.

Fake women’s health centers target black women

By Jessica Estes For The St. Louis American

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments on the first reproductive rights case of the Trump era and since Neil Gorsuch took the bench. It has the ability to set the path for women’s rights for decades to come.

The case centers around the lies and deception of fake women’s health centers, and the importance of women having honest and accurate information about their reproductive health care options. These fake clinics have a well-documented history of intentionally misleading women, particularly black women, and deceiving them. I know, because I experienced their deception firsthand.

At 16 years old, I was concerned I may be pregnant. My aunt suggested I go to Birthright, a clinic that offered free pregnancy tests and other services. After providing a urine sample, I was taken to a small room without my aunt. Soon an older white woman came in and sat her chair directly across from mine. She promptly began to lecture me. I cannot recall everything that was said, but I will never forget the way it made me feel – full of shame and judgment.

I was afraid, and I was alone. I wanted more than anything to simply know the results of my test and leave, but the power dynamics at play said otherwise, with her being an older white woman and me, a young black teenage girl. I was trapped. I felt powerless. I was at an incredibly vulnerable moment in my life, looking for someone to help. I thought I could trust them. Eventually, she told me my pregnancy test was negative.

Fourteen years later, I learned that Birthright was not a healthcare clinic and it is highly likely that there were no actual healthcare professionals on staff. Like many other women and girls before me, I had been deceived and manipulated to believe the lie.

Fake health care clinics, commonly referred to as “crisis pregnancy centers,” take advantage of women during a vulnerable moment in their life by utilizing tactics such as misleading websites and deceptive advertising. The staff are trained to deflect when women ask pertinent and essential questions about their reproductive healthcare options. These fake clinics supply incomplete, inaccurate and/or false medical information to women with a time-sensitive medical need.

Fake women’s health centers are

strategically located in close proximity to real healthcare clinics. Black women and other women of color are often the target population. Both of these strategies are clearly exhibited locally. Drive down Forest Park Parkway on any day of the week and you will see a Thrive Bus (another fake clinic) just across the street from Planned Parenthood. This fake clinic is plastered with large pictures of black women, attempting to draw us in. A few streets over on Lindell, Thrive and Birthright have individual offices. Again, you will find large pictures of black women on the entry doors to Thrive. This marketing approach clearly communicates that fake women’s health centers subscribe to stereotypes about women of color, while simultaneously benefiting from the reality that women of color are disproportionately negatively impacted by our faulty healthcare system.

Lies, manipulation, and deceit have no place in healthcare. A government that not only allows these clinics to continue to prey on women, but also funds the lie, betrays the people it is beholden to serve. The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) seeks to overturn the Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care and Transparency Act otherwise known as the Reproductive FACT Act. This act is a straightforward California Law ensures that any entity that claims to provide medical care and information is held to a high standard of professionalism and honesty. It ensures that women like me receive accurate information about their full range of options related to pregnancy and family planning, and requires facilities to disclose whether there is a licensed medical professional providing or supervising the facility.

NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri and organizations across the country are fighting back by launching a campaign to EndTheLies. Especially in Missouri where the legislature preempted the FACT Act during the abortion special session in 2017, and where the state funds these fake clinics to the tune of $6.5 million instead of expanding Medicaid for pregnant women, the time to act is now. Every woman deserves access to full and honest information about healthcare options. Join me in making sure my story doesn’t become another woman’s reality of lies and deceit. Jessica Estes is a statewide organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri.

Jessica Estes

Continued from A1

were barred from returning to class. Mike Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer less than five miles from Riverview Gardens High School in 2014.

Kyrah Simon, a junior at Stoneman Douglas, was not in the same building where the shooting happened, but one of her close friends was killed. Parkland, Florida is considered one of the “safest” cities in the country, and Simon tweeted that she wanted to talk with teens who experienced gun violence more regularly than she had. The St. Louis American watched the two connect on Twitter and offered to be a platform for their exchange. In a three-way call on March 6, The American sat back and let the young women interview each other for about an hour and a half, with our line on mute. Both students now plan on participating in the March for Our Lives on March 24 in Washington D.C. The

PROP R

Continued from A1 there was a possibility that we could have all that.”

The day after the walkout, Superintendent Scott Spurgeon said he also spoke with the students about their concerns.

“Some of those things are built into the Prop R funds,” he said.

For instance, the proposition would allow all the schools to get cameras in the entrances, so that the front desk receptionists can see who is at the door before people are buzzed in.

As far as Kirk’s remark about schoolbooks, Spurgeon said that providing the safest environment and best education is a “fine balance.” Both are priorities, he said.

“We oftentimes have to pull

discussion has been edited for length, and a longer version is at www.stlamerican.com.

Kenidra Woods: How do you feel going to school? You all are so strong for going back to school.

Kyrah Simon: It’s weird. People are trying to make it go back to normal. We don’t go back in the building where it happened. I think they are going to wreck it and make it into a memorial. They relocated the classes that were in there. They are trying to get us back into doing school work.

Kenidra: Wow, you all are so strong. I can’t even express that enough. I was happy that you and me connected because I just feel like some Parkland students weren’t getting their voices heard. I feel like us as black students, and I don’t even want it to be about race, we face gun violence a lot. It’s more prevalent in our community. It’s like, what about us? I know Parkland is primarily a white school.

from other areas to make sure those areas are met,” he said.

“I think we have done a good job over the last four years. But now we really, really need some resources to improve our buildings.”

The heating and cooling system is a main example of that, Spurgeon said. In some of Woods’ classes, she wears a winter coat and other classes she is boiling hot.

“It’s always nothing in between,” she said. If Prop R passes, all schools will receive upgrades to their heating and air conditioning systems, a $2.34 million cost. The next biggest expense is $1.63 million in technology. The new funds would upgrade the district’s wireless network, which is the technology backbone for all the schools. Classrooms throughout the nation have gone from black-

Kyrah: It is.

Kenidra: It’s a lot of students’ voices that aren’t being heard. I wish the people with a larger platform could kinda like help.

Kyrah: When you think of certain cities that you attribute with gun violence, you hear that someone got shot, like Chicago, you’re not surprised. I think that’s so terrible. Same thing with school shootings. I feel like if it wasn’t in my city, it wouldn’t have hit me as hard because we are so used to hearing “17 dead” or “20 dead.”

n “By staying united, we are able to make a big difference. So with the vision, we should ask students all over the nation too so we can make a change.”

Kenidra: Just recently, we had an active shooter around our school, and we had to get on lockdown. We had to get away from the windows because they didn’t know where the shooter was. I’m so thankful to God for the fast response. Even though I didn’t go through what you all had to go through, oh my God. Just watching the news, reading articles, I feel like I’m living it myself.

– Kyrah Simon

Kenidra: Exactly. So you’re saying you were surprised?

Kyrah: Our city was supposed to be the safest city in Florida. It is so crazy. I have a friend who was killed and friends who are in the hospital.

boards to smart boards, and Prop R would allow the district to go in this direction as well.

About $1.4 million would go towards paving surfaces and roof repair.

About $936,000 would go to security needs, such as replacing the doors, better lighting and replacing fire alarm systems. The rest of the funds will go towards things like playground enhancements and renovating the high school band room.

And about $3.3 million will be used to pay off 2009 leasehold bonds, which is much like paying off a second mortgage on a home, district leaders said.

Spurgeon emphasizes that the bond issue is not a tax levy, which increases property taxes. The sale of bonds

Kyrah: They are trying to just blame it on people who are mentally ill. And I feel like that’s a copout to keep from addressing the fact that the guns are the real issue. Now when they do background checks, if you’ve been institutionalized then you can’t access guns. Not everyone who has a mental illness takes the initiative to get help.

by the district is a long-term obligation that is paid by a debt service tax levy for about 20 years, much like a home mortgage, he said.

The district is currently at a critical turning point.

In December 2016, the district earned its provisional accreditation status, ending a decade of being unaccredited as well as the district’s obligation to pay for students tuition and transportation at other accredited schools.

The district is now in its fourth consecutive year of making academic gains, Spurgeon said.

Unaccredited from 2007 to 2017, the district is still governed by a state-appointed Special Administrative Board. Spurgeon and Kirk both came in 2013, and prior to their arrival, the district had earned only 40 out of 140 points on

Kenidra: Overall, do you feel like students are getting support?

Kyrah: The first day back we had a bunch of social workers and therapy dogs. There have been opportunities to get grief counseling. They’ve been trying really hard to cater to everyone. This small bakery made 30,000 cupcakes and set it to our school. Teachers are trying to ease us back in. We’ve been playing like Uno.

Kenidra: People died. You should get all the support you all can get and that’s so important. People do care. People like me, I really care. I just want to make sure everybody’s voice is being heard. Everyone survived for a reason. It’s a chance to change the world and make a difference.

Kyrah: Exactly, by staying united, we are able to make a big difference. So with the vision, we should ask students all over the nation too so we can make a change.

Kenidra: Exactly, that’s

the state’s annual performance report (APR). A district needs at least 70 points to be considered for provisional accreditation and 98 for full accreditation.

Also in 2013, nearly 1,400 students signed up to attend other districts through the state’s transfer law. As part of that, Riverview had to pay for those students’ tuitions – and some transportation costs – to attend other accredited schools, costing more than $20 million over several years.

Despite the exodus of students and revenue, the district still jumped 23 points on the APR following the 2013-2014 school year. “Just 6.5 points shy of the 70 points we needed to be considered provisionally accredited,” Spurgeon said.

why I continue to say, it’s so important that everyone is heard. I feel the way our voices will be heard is if we vote. I want to feel more inclusive. I don’t want to take away the spotlight from the Parkland students in no way. It’s just like, I do want to feel as important too. At the same time, I wanted to go to D.C., but I can’t make it because I have a show the next day. The shooter messed with the wrong school, and they are speaking up and I’m so proud of them. But me personally, I would like to feel more inclusive.

Kyrah: Yea, make it more like a national-scale thing where everyone can have a piece of it.

Kenidra Woods published a book “Heart of Hope” and has a blog that focuses on spreading awareness about self-harm and suicide. http:// cheetahmvmt.blogspot.com/ For more information about the march in St. Louis, visit https://www.facebook. com/MarchforOurLivesSTL.

The 2014-2015 school year started off with Michael Brown Jr. being shot and killed in the Canfield Green Apartments, which is within the district’s geographic footprint. Despite the unrest and emotional uproar in the community, the district had earned 111 out of 140 points – enough to be considered fully accredited.

“The students, parents and teachers of Riverview Gardens are worth investing in, and that’s why I support Prop R on the April ballot,” said state Sen. Gina Walsh, who represents the district. “Good schools build great communities, and Prop R will help Riverview Gardens provide a quality education for every student without raising taxes. Often times our future is defined by the decisions we make today, and I know that Prop R is the right decision for our schools and this community.”

CHRISTIAN

Continued from A1

unfair labor practice and grievance settlements within 10 days.

“This was never an economic strike,” SEIU shop steward Brenda Davis said. “It was a ULP strike – Unfair Labor Practice strike.” Davis, a certified nursing assistant, said about 48 replacement workers who crossed the picket lines during the strike would be leaving. Another outcome for the union is increased unity among employees, increased knowledge about labor contract language, and increased interest in representation, she said.

“I think they are more educated in what a union is all about. We had just five stewards through the facility ... and I believe we’re going to double that,” Davis said.

“And not just going with some stewards that just say, ‘Okay, I’m just going to be a steward just to have a position,’ but to actually fight for people to make sure that these practices won’t continue in our facility.”

WATKINS

Continued from A1 brain aneurysm and might not make it.

“He even rode with me in the ambulance to the other hospital,” she wrote.

Dr. Watkins saved Lee’s life that day, as he has for many others in his more than 40 years as an ophthalmologist.

On Friday, April 27, Dr. Watkins will receive the Lifetime Achiever in Health Care Award at the 18th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon at the Frontenac Hilton. Net proceeds from the event support the St. Louis American Foundation, which fostered more than $750,000 in community grants and scholarships for area youth in 2017.

“I’m beginning to turn over a new page,” said Dr. Watkins, who is moving towards retirement. “My job now is to keep this vision going. I want to help others to proceed on. Now is the time for the younger folks to come and keep it going, especially those in the Afro-American community.”

Born in Cairo, Illinois, Dr. Watkins was raised by two educator parents who both attended historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). His father graduated from Tuskegee University and his mother, from Lane College. Salaries for black educators were meager back then, he said, so his parents worked hard to be able to afford to send him off to Meharry Medical College – also a HBCU – in Nashville in 1971.

Nearing graduation, he met a black ophthalmologist – the first he had ever seen.

“I liked the way he carried himself and the outcome of his patients,” Dr. Watkins said. “They were so happy. When I finished medical school, there was not an opportunity

Strikers received support from community allies, faith leaders and elected officials, as they braved the cold and remained reinvigorated during their fight for a fair contract.

“From day one of their strike, I was impressed with how the workers were on the picket line not just for themselves, but for the whole community,” state Rep. Bruce Franks said. “When they stood up for themselves on the job, they were demanding that they be treated with dignity and respect – and that all workers be afforded that same dignity and respect, whatever the color of their skin.”

The American has reached out to members of Christian Care Home’s management on multiple occasions, who refused to comment on the work dispute.

The strike began on December 1, and workers filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against Christian Care Home for making unilateral changes to staffing, hours and schedules, failing to provide relevant information in a timely manner, and otherwise restricting workers in the exercise of their rights.

The union reported that management further

for anyone to become an ophthalmologist that looked like me, other than this doctor.”

Dr. Watkins asked the man where could he go to learn how to be an ophthalmologist, and he told him about Homer G. Phillips Hospital.

“I applied and, lo and behold, I was accepted,” Dr. Watkins said. “That was one of the best days of my life, besides marrying my wife and my children being born.

I always wanted to serve, and I wanted to use all the talents that I was given by God to serve. This seemed like the best avenue for me at the time.”

At Homer G. Phillips, Dr. Watkins completed his general rotating internship in 1972 and ophthalmology residency in 1975.

“Homer G. Phillips was fantastic because I was surrounded by people who looked like me and who were experts in their fields,” Dr. Watkins said. “They carried themselves so professionally. I learned so much. I just passed my boards just like that.”

In 1972, Dr. Watkins joined the U.S. Army Reserve during the Vietnam War as a second lieutenant in the Medical Corps, serving at the 25th Combat Support Hospital.

“I enjoyed the camaraderie

challenged strikers’ resolve with additional actions, which resulted in workers’ having to file additional ULP charges that Christian Care Home threatened recent hires with termination for joining the strike and denied accrued and earned benefits to striking employees.

In late February, the St.

of the military,” he said.

He stayed on as a reservist for 8 years, even after he started his private practice in 1976. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant colonel in 1980, but that was actually only the beginning of his time with the military.

“As the years went by, I looked up and I had become like a spokesperson in ophthalmology to the Department of Defense,” Dr. Watkins said. “And then I looked up again, it was 30 years.”

Dr. Watkins began serving as the chief medical officer at the St. Louis Military Entrance Processing Station in 1980, where he served for more than three decades. During his tenure, Dr. Watkins performed and supervised more than 340,000 physical examinations for entrance into all branches of the military. The U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command selected Dr. Watkins as its “subject matter expert” for all ophthalmological concerns and the master trainer for newly assigned chief medical officers and fee basis providers. Dr. Watkins trained hundreds of military inter-service recruiters on medical standards.

Dr. Watkins has long been a strong advocate for getting

Louis regional office of the National Labor Relations Board announced it had found merit to multiple unfair labor practices grievances the strikers had filed.

Lenny Jones, director of SEIU Healthcare Missouri, said it was always a matter of timing and perseverance.

“Management seemed to be

more African Americans into his field, which he talks about in a book he co-authored, “Breaking the Color Line in Medicine: African Americans in Ophthalmology.” He is working with Washington University, where he also trained, to continue an endowment that his mentor, Dr. Howard Venable, established for African-American students in ophthalmology.

Dr. Watkins donated much of his professional equipment to the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and he’s passionate about making sure the AfricanAmerican community is aware of the society’s many services.

Dr. Watkins was surprised to learn he had been selected to receive the Lifetime Achiever Award because he and his

betting on workers giving up before Christian Care had to face any real consequences for their unfair labor practices. But the strikers kept standing strong – and that meant Christian Care had to either settle a fair contract or go to trial.”

Tuesday, March 13, a little over two weeks after the NLRB finding in favor of the workers,

wife, Karen Morris Watkins, are “usually in the background trying to support.”

Karen, who he calls “my star,” is a retired teacher and administrator from the Ladue School District, and she also served as an office administrator at his private practice. Karen and Garey were “high school sweethearts” at Lincoln Senior High School in East St. Louis. They celebrated 50 years of marriage in December.

“My proudest accomplishment is getting my wife to marry me,” Dr. Watkins said. “And then to have two wonderful children, and then from there the grandchildren.”

His son, Garey Watkins II, works in aviation safety at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport. His daughter, Dr.

Brown Sr. receives the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s Irwin Keller award for lifetime achievement during the Boys & Girls High School State Basketball Championships in Springfield, Mo. Saturday, March 17.

are

management agreed to the new contract, which workers voted overwhelmingly to ratify the following day.

“I am inspired by the workers’ bravery and persistence,” state Rep. Cora Faith Walker said. “They won this victory for themselves and for residents, by standing strong and not backing down.”

Lynette M. Watkins, recently became the first female African-American chief medical officer at Baptist Health System in San Antonio, Texas.

“I was put here for a purpose, and I was happy I was able to help folks,” he said. “But other than that, when it’s all said and done, my legacy comes from God giving me this wonderful woman and these wonderful babies.” Tickets for the 18th Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon on Friday, April 27 at the Frontenac Hilton are $750 per table for VIP/Corporate seating and $50 each/$500 table for Individual seating. To order tickets, call 314-533-8000 or visit www.stlamerican.com.

Photo by Wiley Price

Travis

Pictured

(L-R) Marlowe Brown, Travis Brown III, Travis Brown Jr., Travis Brown Sr., Renee Brown and Melissa Brown.

included residents,

‘It’s still not right’

Mice infestation at Clinton-Peabody points to structural issues that keep residents suffering

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American

The Board of Directors of the St. Louis Housing Authority will get its monthly update on how the mice infestation at the ClintonPeabody housing units are being addressed during its regular meeting on Thursday, March 22.

Advocates are hoping that residents will let the board know that – contrary to stated improvements in mice and other vermin infestations that put babies, children and adults at the housing project at risk – changes are not happening fast enough. In some cases, change is not happening at all. Even where housing units are immaculate, mice are leaving droppings on the floors, bathrooms and kitchen counters. Mice travel along pipes and infrastructure located in areas not accessible by residents and gain entry through gaping holes along pipes into apartments. Some call it the mice interstate

n “Plugging the holes in the property trash dumpsters – that’s really where it all begins. The little mice are looking for food.”

– state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed

highway.

Between the ongoing stench of plumbing issues, less-than-secure windows and doors, and the ongoing mice field day, residents want action to improve these living conditions.

“For months, I’ve been complaining to the office about sewage problems that’s been going on,” said resident Tracey Boyd. “I’ve been at Peabody for four years. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve been having problems and nothing has been solved.”

The Housing Authority told The American they started receiving reports of mice infestation last summer when a nearby building was demolished. With an older housing complex in serious need of updates and structural improvements nearby, the scattering mice had easy access to new homes, breeding grounds, and food sources.

“Of the 165 units that the health department inspected, they identified 95 as having housekeeping conditions that would be conducive to mice,” said Cheryl Lovell, executive director of the St. Louis Housing Authority (SLHA). “They got there some other way, but to get rid of them does involve some level of resident cooperation ... as it relates to housekeeping issues.”

Lovell said SLHA offered educational class on how to make homes less hospitable for mice and other vermin. She said only five residents showed up.

By Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D.

Of The St. Louis American

Motivation is defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something. Coaches motivate athletes. Preachers motivate congregations. Doctors motivate their patients. But I often ask myself:

“How successful am I in motivation?” At times throughout my career, it has seemed like no one was listening to me at all. My choice of Family Medicine as a career was based upon my desire for continuity of care, enriching relationships with my patients, and the opportunity to provide preventive medicine counseling. Satisfaction for me is not defined by how many patients are on my roster or how many awards I have received. My inner fulfillment occurs when my patients are maintaining healthy lifestyles and making healthier choices. And if I have assisted the patient in preventing unwanted complications like chronic kidney disease (CKD), I am overjoyed.

n In chronic kidney disease, the kidneys are damaged and do not function properly, causing a buildup of unwanted substances. The damage may start out mild and then progress.

If I were to quiz the general population on the risks of uncontrolled hypertension or diabetes, I guarantee you that most people would easily identify strokes or heart attacks. Not getting enough blood flow to the brain or heart have been hammered into the psyche of most people. However, our educational campaigns need to again ramp up and include more robust learning materials about chronic kidney disease and its relationship with high blood pressure and diabetes.

In 2017, approximately 30 million people had chronic kidney disease. However, only 42 percent of those with CKD were aware that they had it. CKD is present in about one in five patients with high blood pressure.

Gym that serves kids on the spectrum opens in St. Ann March 24

A We Rock the Spectrum location will open its doors in St. Ann at 10513 St. Charles Rock Rd. on Saturday, March 24 to provide sensory-safe play for kids with autism, special needs, and neurotypical development. Each gym features 10 pieces of therapeutic equipment. This equipment is designed specifically to work with many of the sensory processing issues that children on the spectrum face, while providing all children with the sensory-diet necessary for improved learning and neurological development.

Celeste Brown is the new owner of We Rock the Spectrum – North County STL. Her life changed forever three years ago when she met an amazing little boy named Chance.

n “My goal is to provide a much-needed resource for children and their families; a place where children with disabilities and neurotypical children can play and learn together in a truly integrated environment.”

– Celeste Brown

After fostering for two years, she adopted him, and in April 2016 he was diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In a search for different types of social and play outlets, they visited We Rock the Spectrum – Fenton, became a regular, and decided to share this gym with her community.

“My goal is to provide a much-needed resource for children and their families; a place where children with disabilities and neurotypical children can play and learn together in a truly integrated environment,” Brown said.

For more information, visit the We Rock the Spectrum – North County STL Facebook page or go to werockthespectrumkidsgym. com.

See KIDNEYS, A9

Bernadette Nelson speaks at a meeting convened by Generate Health STL for the Clinton Peabody community on March 2 that

local and state elected representatives and the St. Louis Department of Health.

Denise HooksAnderson, MD

Celeste Brown, owner of We Rock the Spectrum – North County STL, and Chance

Photo by Wiley Price

MICE

Continued from A8

Advocates take issue with pointing to the tenants as the source of mice and roach infestation. They point out that health department inspection numbers on March 2 show out of the 358 units in 31 buildings at Clinton-Peabody, only 14.2 percent of units had housekeeping issues, down from 27.7 percent of those inspected in December 2017.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri said it was contacted by numerous families living in Clinton-Peabody to seek remedies for problems –and has documentation of residents’ complaints starting long before last summer.

“What we’re seeing is documentation of residents complaining of mice problems going back at least three years,” said Sarah Turner, co-managing attorney in the Housing Law program at Legal Services. “Management was informed about access points, like holes around pipes, back in 2016, and this year it was still not being corrected when the health department began its inspection in late 2017.”

McCormack Baron Salazar is the property management firm contracted to manage Clinton Peabody.

Just last week, the Housing Authority selected ND Consulting Group – which includes Tim Person and Associates, Grice Group Architects and Capital Consultants – to conduct a physical-needs assessment of the 358-unit complex at Clinton-Peabody. The feasibility study will include a market assessment of the area, capital expenditure planning, construction cost estimates, and project capital funds for the proposed redevelopment strategies.

“For probably the past decade, the funding available for capital improvements for public housing has been

steadily declining,” Lovell said. “In the 2019 budget that the president submitted, the fund is completely zeroed out.”

Lovell said the group’s work gets underway next week and is expected to take about 90 days.

Generate Health STL convened a meeting for the Clinton Peabody community on March 2 that included residents, local and state elected representatives and the St. Louis Department of Health. “The ultimate goal is to ensure that the voices of the residents are heard and to continue to be heard,” said Lora Gulley, director of Strategic Initiatives at Generate Health STL, “to continue keeping the lines of communication open with what is the status of the

inspections and the treatment that is performed by the Housing Authority.”

Noticeably absent at the meeting was a representative of the St. Louis Housing Authority. Lovell said they were not invited. Lovell said a flyer brought into their office by a resident about a half-hour before the Clinton-Peabody meeting specifically said “residents only.”

Gulley said the Housing Authority was not invited because residents requested to hear from their elected representatives and the health department at the meeting. Additionally, some residents “report it not being safe to openly share concerns with Management and the Housing

Authority.” She said previous cancellations of three tenants association meetings prompted elected officials to call an emergency community meeting to hear concerns of their constituents.

At the meeting, Gulley said Generate Health learned there were some continual structural concerns that the residents had with existing inspections, “so inspections should also be including examinations and assessment of utility closets, which the residents don’t have access to.”

Under a mediation agreement signed in January between the health department and the housing authority, SLHA agreed to specific ways to address the ongoing rodent infestation.

“We’ve clearly stepped up the exterminators’ visits to visit the units that the health department identified with mice – they were doing it twice a week for three months, and currently, they are doing it weekly because the number of complaints have dropped considerably,” Lovell said.

“We have sealed a lot of access points. These buildings have crawl spaces, which have access doors ... which were kind of open and allowed for stuff to enter. Those have all been sealed.”

And they are improving and repairing doors. Lovell said the most likely place for rodents to enter is around the doors.

“We’ve plugged lots and lots of holes in the units that have access points to mice,” she said. “We have provided seals on entry doors, on all the entry doors except the doors that need to be replaced.”

Those in attendance at the community meeting heard from state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, state Rep. Bruce Franks, and St. Louis Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia on actions they are taking to help correct problems at the housing project.

Nasheed said her office responded to 16 direct calls from Clinton-Peabody residents, and they spoke to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to address the concerns and the St. Louis Housing Authority to address the concerns.

“We had another 13 calls for St. Louis City Department of Health to inspect the units,” Nasheed said. “Plugging the holes in the property trash dumpsters – that’s really where it all begins. The little mice are looking for food. If you have holes in dumpsters, they will continually go there to feed themselves. We ask that they plug those holes, clean the storm drains.” Franks said, “I personally take that as one of my fights, holding the public housing authority accountable, holding the property management accountable, whatever way we need to hold them accountable.”

Ingrassia has been working to help residents replace mattresses, clothes and other items that were destroyed by mice through a GoFundMe page and foundation support. She has also been helping residents get on budget billing with utility companies.

“Because of the smells, people have their window open, and the electric and gas bills have been higher,” Ingrassia said.

Residents have continually complained about foul odors emanating from inaccessible areas of the building, causing and exacerbating health issues, and making the units unlivable, along with unsealed doors and windows, and those that don’t open or close properly. Problems at one apartment forced Bernadette Nelson to move to another unit – that has its own structural and overwhelming odor problems.

“Thanksgiving morning, I was taken out of my house by ambulance to a hospital, and nobody still came to see what was going on in my apartment,” Nelson said at the community meeting.

“I have to wear a face mask; I am unable to live in that apartment. From Thanksgiving up until this day right now, I have lost 35 pounds, I can’t eat, can’t sleep. I eat like a little kid. I am ready to flip out about any little simple thing that makes me mad. But I walk away and take a deep breath. But it’s still not right. It’s not right at all.”

For more information on how to help control mice infestation, visit the CDC at http://bit.ly/2iYq8OU or visit the EPA at http://bit. ly/2DAHwC2.

The City of St. Louis Citizens Service Bureau fields public housing and other concerns. Reach them by calling 314-622-4800.

exploreMOhealth.org brings the data to address disparities

By Bob Hughes and Herb Kuhn For The St. Louis American

Community health interventions are quite complex. Beyond the difficulty of rolling out a plan to improve the health of a community, how do we know that we’re focusing on the right issues?

Using data analytics that were unthinkable only a few decades ago, we can pinpoint specific health outcomes and the underlying causes that lead to them in ways we’ve never been able to before. But this power isn’t worth much without data detailed enough to give us accurate, useful findings.

This is why Missouri Hospital Association Health Institute and Missouri Foundation for Health joined together to combine their two unique datasets into one tool that anyone can access –

KIDNEYS

Continued from A8

Sixteen percent of women and 13 percent of men are estimated to have CKD. As in most other disease states as well, non-Hispanic blacks have a greater percentage of CKD as compared to non-Hispanic whites, 18 percent vs. 13 percent. Lack of symptoms at presentation is one of the reasons hypertension is well-

exploreMOhealth.org. The platform combines both county- and ZIP-code level data, offering researchers, stakeholders, and community members greater insight than either organization’s dataset could give individually.

The site was created in collaboration with the University of Missouri CARES team, who are experts in mapping and data visualization. exploreMOhealth.org doesn’t just help visitors pinpoint specific issues in great detail, it also can reveal potential connections to social determinants of health that might have created the crisis to begin with. For example, is there a connection between heightened rates of cancer and unemployment in certain areas?

The county-level data, commissioned by Missouri Foundation for Health,

established as a silent killer. CKD is no different. Most patients typically find out about their abnormal kidney function through incidental blood work, such as a urine test or basic metabolic panel. Normally the kidneys filter blood in your body about every 30 minutes, and this process eliminates wastes and toxins. But in CKD, the kidneys are damaged and do not function properly, causing a buildup of unwanted substances. The damage may start out mild and then progress to end-

provide one of the largest collection of statelevel survey information in the country. The main data elements involve Missouri residents’ health-related risk behaviors (like smoking), chronic health conditions (like diabetes), and the use of preventive services (like primary care visits). Hospitals, public health agencies, community health planners, and researchers benefit greatly from the insight this robust dataset provides. However, sometimes even a county is too large a geographic area to strategically target efficient health improvements where they’re needed most. With the MHA Health Institute’s ZIP-code

level data, we are able to delve even deeper, into health disparities that often exist within the same county. For example, in certain counties life expectancies can differ by 10 years or more within a few short miles.

“We know that health and the factors that support health are not evenly — or randomly — distributed throughout a region. Even areas a small distance apart can differ significantly in terms of outcomes,” explained Jason Q. Purnell, associate professor at Washington University and lead on the For the Sake of All project. “That is why having access to ZIP-code level data is so important for community

How to prevent chronic kidney disease

• Keep blood pressure below 130/80.

• If you are overweight, lose weight.

• Avoid medications that are toxic to the kidney.

• Control blood sugars.

• If you smoke, stop smoking.

• Get tested for it if you are at risk.

• Exercise regularly.

stage renal disease and early cardiovascular disease, if not

managed appropriately. Per the Centers for Disease Control

health promotion and action to address equity.”

Through exploreMOhealth. org, for the first time community health stakeholders and the public can cross reference the county- and ZIPcode level data. Simply put, they’re great on their own but even better together. There is great value in targeting health interventions by combining two strong datasets. After all, extensive efforts and resources are required to improve community health. Targeting these limited resources to the areas of greatest need allows for the greatest impact. By addressing the challenges of these high-risk populations, we’re more likely to “move the needle” and see statistical improvement across a larger area.

“This is as close to the fabled unicorn of datasets that a local public health agency could access,” said

and Prevention, every 24 hours more than 300 people begin dialysis treatment for kidney failure. Other health issues such as anemia, electrolyte abnormalities, and depression are all consequences of CKD.

In addition to hypertension, diabetes and lupus, medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen and certain antibiotics can also damage the kidneys and must be monitored carefully.

There are several steps you can take to help prevent CKD: keep blood pressure below 130/80; if you are overweight,

Kelley K. Vollmer, director of Jefferson County Health Department, who had been seeking new data to bolster an application. Her point was clear — where before “boots on the ground” were used to estimate disparities, she now can access powerful data to demonstrate a community’s public health challenges. Moving a state, region, or even county toward health can be daunting; targeting a community is less so. When stakeholders work collaboratively, with the best available tools, resources go further.

Visit exploreMOhealth.org to explore this wealth of data for yourself.

Bob Hughes is president and CEO of Missouri Foundation for Health. Herb Kuhn is president and CEO of the Missouri Hospital Association.

lose weight; avoid medications that are toxic to the kidney; control blood sugars; if you smoke, stop smoking; get tested for CKD if you are at risk; exercise regularly In honor of National Kidney Month, I encourage everyone to speak to their healthcare providers about this important subject. Protect your kidneys. You only have two! Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D., is assistant professor at SLUCare Family Medicine. Email yourhealthmatters@ stlamerican.com.

Bob Hughes Herb Kuhn

Photo by Wiley Price

Jeanine Arrighi, bureau chief for Health Environmental Health Services for the City of St. Louis Department of Health, talks about inspection results at Clinton-Peabody housing.

NEWSPAPER IN EDUCATION

Nutrition Challenge:

PRESENT:

Healthy Kids Kids

Healthcare Careers

EatingMyJournal W���A��� E���n��

A good healthy habit to start is to eat only when you’re hungry. While this might sound obvious, very few of us actually do it. Keep an Eating

Journal for a week to see when and why you ate. Was it because you were bored? Did you eat when you were sad or upset? Or maybe you ate just because it’s what you

always do. (Perhaps you usually eat a snack when you sit down to watch a movie.)

Now try to make it a habit to wait until your stomach tells you that you’re hungry before you eat. You’ll eat a lot less junk food… and you’ll be healthier!

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 2, HPE 5, NH 1, NH 5

Charlotte Chance, DNP, MS, RN, AE-C

elevator, or maybe you can walk to a nearby store instead of riding in a car.

Counting Steps

Animal Safety

Walking is one of the best ways to stay active. Throughout the day you can look for ways to increase the amount of steps you take. You can walk around the living room while watching TV. You can take the stairs instead of an

Some studies show that kids that take about 12,000 steps per day are healthier. Consider purchasing a pedometer.

This small, inexpensive device clips onto your waistband and measures how many steps you take a day. Challenge yourself to increase the amount of walking you do. Try adding in more and more walking each and every day.

Learning Standards: HPE 1, HPE 4, NH 1

Where do you work? I am a clinical assistant professor and certified asthma educator for Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Where did you go to school? I graduated from East St. Louis Senior High School. I then earned an AAS from State Community College, a BSN from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, an MS and a DNP from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. What does a certified asthma educator do?

As an asthma educator, I am in our nursemanaged clinic two days a week, seeing patients and providing self-management education. The majority of my patients are children with a diagnosis of asthma. I also do home visits to assess, identify, and educate families on asthma triggers.

dog, it’s always a good idea to ask the dog’s owner if it’s ok to pet the dog.

P.B. Banana Stacks

While animals can be cute and furry, we should all be careful anytime we are around any kind of animal (especially if it isn’t your own pet). A dog you see while walking down the street might seem friendly, but if it doesn’t know you it could be afraid and jump up on you, or bite. When you see someone walking a

And finally, if you see an unleashed dog (or any kind of wild animal) wandering around, do not approach the animal or attempt to pick it up. Wild animals are scared of you and may lash out at you in fear.

Learning Standards: HPE 5, NH 5

Ingredients: 2 Large Bananas 1/3 Cp. Peanut Butter

Dried Fruit, Nuts and other toppings

Directions:

right away.

Why did you choose this career? I chose nursing because of my need to have a positive impact on the lives of each person I come in contact with on a daily basis.

What is your favorite part of the job you have? My favorite part of the job is when patients progress to an improved health status. Seeing children and families experience decreased episodes of asthma attacks, and become more independent with asthma treatment, provides me with great joy!

Learning Standards: HPE6, NH3

“Questions or comments? Contact Cathy Sewell csewell@stlamerican.com or 314-289-5422

Spring classes at the Saint Louis Zoo

Whether you want to learn more about turtles, penguins, apes, or big cats, the Zoo has a class for you! Our programs are designed to help individuals of all ages and abilities learn through experience, involvement and discovery. Programs include live animals, guided tours, and exciting activities and experiences for the whole family. Programs available for homeschoolers and scouts too!

For program listings and registration information, visit www.stlzoo.org/education or call (314) 646-4544, option #6.

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT

Ward’s 5th Grade Class Glasgow Elementary Glasgow Elementary School 5th grade teacher Michale

the

Sakyra Robinson, Tameia Weaver and Johnathan Thompson do math problems

examples from the NIE page in the newspaper. Photo by Wiley Price/St. Louis American Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and

SCIENCE CORNER

How We Observe Weather Changes!

Forecasting the weather is a detailed science. Meteorologists consult maps, satellites, radar, etc. Have you ever wondered how weather was forecasted before these modern inventions? Many people observed animal behavior and nature for clues about the weather. Although many did not realize it, there are scientific reasons for these occurrences.

One of the observations is that fish will bite more before a storm. Why? As a storm moves into the area, the barometric pressure releases gas bubbles that cling to the decay at the bottom of streams and rivers. As this matter moves up to the surface, so do the fish so that they will be close to their food source.

change in the wind direction causes leaves to flip over. Silver maple leaves turn over more easily than other leaves, due to their broad shape.

One last observation is that a ring around the moon means that rain will come soon. Why?

Another observation is that silver maple leaves will turn over before a storm. Why?

This ring is caused when the light of the moon shines through ice crystals in the high level clouds. These crystals are found in clouds that occur in advance of a low-pressure system in the form of rain of snow.

To Learn More About Ways to Forecast the Weather, Visit the Following Websites: http://kids.discovery.com/tell-me/curiosity-corner/weather http://theweatherchannelkids.com/weather-center/ https://www.brainpop.com/science/weather

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction information to gain background information.

Winds blow from southeast to southwest before the arrival of a cold front. As the front approaches, the wind switches directions, becoming north to northwest. This

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

A common sight on a spring morning is fog. What is fog and how is it formed? In this experiment, you will observe how fog is formed.

Materials Needed: • Black Paper

• Gallon Jar • Colored Warm Water

• Gallon Size Bag of Ice

• Matches (only used by an adult!)

Process:

q Tape the black paper on the back of the jar, so you can’t see through the jar.

Create

Fog

In A Jar!

w Fill one third of the jar with colored warm water.

MATH CONNECTION

Bryan Busby

How do you respond when someone asks you what job you want to have when you grow up? For Bryan Busby, the answer was easy. Since third grade, he knew he wanted to be a weather forecaster. In high school, Busby broadcast weather reports for two radio stations based in Cleveland. At age 17, he worked for KTVI Channel 2 in St. Louis as an intern. After eight weeks at the station, he became a weekend weathercaster as he earned his meteorology degree from St. Louis University. In 1985, he joined Kansas City’s KMBC 9 News.

Busby earned a patent for his display system titled “Instant Weather Network.” His programs “Guaranteed Weather,” “EarthStation,” “Weather To Go,” and “Bryan Goes to School” have earned awards and recognition for KMBC News. Busby was appointed to the National Chapter of the American Meteorological Society’s Board of Broadcast Meteorologists. In 1997, he was considered for a weathercaster position at “Good Morning America” and was one of only 10 weathercasters to be featured on The Weather Channel’s “America’s Forecasters” series.

In addition to his career, Busby is a solo timpanist for the Independence Messiah Festival Orchestra and is a guest conductor of the Kansas City Youth Symphony. Busby’s awards include: Emmy Award, Ten Outstanding Young Missourians, Kansas City Media Professionals Hall of Fame, and Black Achievers Award.

Learning Standards: I can read a biography to learn about an individual who has made a contribution in the fields of science, technology, and math.

r After a few seconds, drop the match into the jar and cover the top of the jar with the bag of ice.

Scaventer Hunt

TornadoSeasonStarts LessThanTwoWeeks AfterSnowstorm

e Have an adult light the match and hold it over the jar opening.

t Record your observations. What do you see happening inside the jar?

Reflect: Why does the cloud form? The warm water heats the layer of air (the atmosphere). Some of the water evaporates into the air forming water vapor. The warm air containing water vapor rises, and then cools from contact with the ice. When the water molecules cool, they slow down and stick together and condensation occurs.

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

Create a weather bar graph

For the next month, you will create a weather bar graph. Create a graph labeling the columns as sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy. Each day, at the same time, record the weather. If it is sunny, you will color a square for sunny. At the end of the month, use your data to create a bar graph. Estimation and Temperature

On Monday, observe the weather forecast for the week. Write the predicted high and low temperature for each day. Throughout the week, record the actual high and low temperature. Calculate the difference between the forecasted temperature and the actual temperature.

Calculations List temperatures in the weather information from lowest to highest.

medians, averages of an area. Find the difference between selected cities lows and highs. Make a line graph of temperatures. Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius.

Scavenger hunts are a fun way to get acquainted with your newspaper. You can learn about the sections of the newspaper and learn where to find information.

While looking for items in your scavenger hunt, you will probably find articles and pictures you’d like to explore later. That’s ok, too! Use the newspaper to complete this scavenger hunt.

Put a check mark √ in the box for each item you find:

An article of clothing you wear in the spring

An activity you complete outdoors in the spring

A type of flower or plant that grows in the spring

A picture of a type of weather related item: cloud, umbrella, etc.

A spring holiday

An ad for a vacation

An ad featuring the sun or sunshine

Weather Words

Find as many weather words as you can and clip them from the newspaper. Illustrate or draw a picture for each word you have cut out.

Hot, Hot, Hot:

DID YOU KNOW?

Learning Standards: I can add, subtract, multiply and divide to solve a problem. I can create graphs that represent data.

Some people live where it is warm all year long. They live in a warm climate. Cut out four pictures of clothes you would wear in this warm place. Now, cut out four pictures of clothes you would not wear in this warm place. Paste them on your paper. Write a sentence about why you would or would not like to live in a warm climate.

Learning Standards: I can use the newspaper to locate information.

Michale

Ward in

Riverview Gardens School District watches students Aaron Coleman, Jamaun Pruitt, Myshon Stowers,

Josh Hawley: coastal elitist and ticking Missouri time bomb

Attorney General Josh Hawley kicked off his U.S. Senate race against U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill last week, railing against “coastal elites” who look down on heartland states like Missouri as “flyover country.” It was a curious statement by the Stanford University and Yale Law School graduate who took a year to lecture at the ultra-prestigious St. Paul’s prep school in London (est. 1509) before completing law school and hightailing it to Washington, D.C. for clerkships with a federal judge and then U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Later, Hawley practiced law for white-shoe D.C. law firm Hogan Lovells and a right-wing D.C. interest group.

In other words, upon leaving Missouri for high school, he stayed on the coasts for 15 years, returning only to lay the groundwork for his attorney general campaign. McCaskill, meanwhile, spent her childhood in rural Missouri towns like Houston and Lebanon before living in Columbia, attending Mizzou for her undergraduate and law degrees, and subsequently living in Kansas City and St. Louis for the next four decades while serving capably in state, local, and federal government.

bring their respective offices to new depths of venality and lawlessness. Indeed, the only thing they seemed to care about draining was their genitalia, courtesy of a lowbrow cast of porn stars, hairdressers, and Playboy bunnies. It was certainly a novel way for these two crony capitalists to appeal to a mass-market, putatively populist audience in between their billionaire-friendly policy moves.

And, in fact, the most interesting aspect of Hawley’s kickoff was how it revealed, in real time, the two ticking time bombs for his campaign.

So please remind the EYE, who’s the coastal elitist again?

Hawley, Greitens, Trump

Hawley’s Orwellian up-isdown, down-is-up rhetoric, of course, should be familiar to us by now. That’s because we’ve spent the last 15 months living under the reigns of Governor Eric Greitens and President Donald Trump, two self-styled populist reformers who pledged to drain the swamp only to

The first time bomb, of course, was Greitens. Humiliating headlines about the scandal-scarred governor marred Hawley’s coming-out party. The week opened with news that all of the Republican statewide elected officials except the governor had been invited to a roundtable with the president on economic issues. The governor, who had fancied himself Trump’s BFF after several trips to the White House and two late 2017 Trump visits to Missouri, was less than happy to hear that he’d been voted off the reality show president’s island. He reportedly contacted the White House and asked that the other statewides be uninvited – which they promptly were. Greitens was the kindergartner who, after being ordered to go to time-out, knocks down the whole tower of blocks so that no one else can play, either.

During the 72 hours leading up to and immediately after Hawley’s big rollout, the Missouri press was mostly focused on the behind-thescenes drama surrounding Greitens and, then, the fact that despite appearing at both public and private events – both official and campaign – in Missouri, Trump successfully avoided his party’s governor. When you’re too radioactive

for a president who’s under intensifying investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller and is fighting a barrage of stories about his sixfigure hush money payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels, well, that’s no mean feat.

Billionaires’ boys

It’s not just the fact that Greitens is besieged from all sides as he faces investigations from St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, a specially appointed House committee, the FBI, and of course, Hawley himself. It’s that so many of the issues being investigated are uncomfortable ones for Hawley.

For instance, as he explored a campaign for governor, Greitens had an affair with his hairdresser, who alleges that she was bound, blinded, blackmailed, and later, beaten by the governor when she explained that she had had sex with her then-husband. Hawley appears to land on the other end of the spectrum when it comes to sexual experimentation; he recently attributed the rise of sex trafficking to the sexual revolution by which women

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley walked with U.S. President Donald Trump after Trump’s arrival in St. Louis on March 14. Trump visited St. Louis for a roundtable meeting with Boeing officials and to attend a fundraising dinner for Hawley, who is running for U.S. Senate.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UP

became able to legally use birth control and exercise other basic rights. Constant talk about the governor’s sexual proclivities helps remind people of Hawley’s gaffe.

Greitens is taking heat for accepting millions of dollars into legal defense funds from undisclosed sources, which one expert says has “unbelievable” potential for corruption, and also for failing to disclose lists he had used that appear to have been owned by a nonprofit agency he once led, and subsequently lying about it to the Missouri Ethics Commission, which would be grounds for impeachment.

Now, Hawley faces his own ethics complaint for accepting previously unreported in-kind contribution of legal assistance from a D.C. law firm. Interestingly, two of the same Missouri billionaires who heavily supported Greitens were also major Hawley backers: businessmen Stan Herzog and David Humphreys

The last eerie similarity between troubles plaguing the two men emerged when Hawley came under fire for his amateur-hour investigation of Greitens and his staff’s use of the Confide app, which causes text messages to disappear once read, to allegedly conduct public business in violation of Sunshine Laws. Hawley allowed the governor to avoid answering questions by asserting “executive privilege,” a term which does not exist in state law or in practice. In

defending the inquiry, one of Hawley’s top deputies stressed that his office did their best to cooperate with the governor instead of making any unpleasant demands. “This was a voluntary encounter,” said the deputy AG – using, coincidentally, precisely the same logic that the governor’s attorneys have used to defend Greitens’ odious behavior with his paramour.

The voters respond

Last month, when a young Democratic state House candidate won a shocking special election in a Jefferson County district that Trump carried by nearly 30 points, Republican legislators began to get nervous about Greitens’ impact on legislative races.

Last week, their fears were confirmed when a Remington Research (R) poll of the 2018 Jefferson County state Senate contest showed a little-known Democratic candidate up six points on the incumbent – and Greitens’ approval ratings 16 points underwater, 19 points behind Trump’s.

The second time bomb, of course, is Trump. His moronic comment at Hawley’s fundraiser about intentionally lying to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is but one example of why independents are fleeing the Republican Party nationally.

From Alabama to Pennsylvania and most places in between, Democrats are outperforming

their GOP opponents in special elections, while Republican candidates appear to suffer from a Trump-induced enthusiasm gap. The threats facing Trump, primarily from Mueller’s investigation into Russia connections and potential White House obstruction of justice, are grave and have caused Trump to fire top aides faster than Robespierre executed his enemies during his Reign of Terror. If Mueller finds a smoking gun and Trump is being tried for impeachment in November, Hawley is probably toast. Of course, the difference between Trump and Greitens’ current popularity in Missouri accounts for Hawley’s willingness to embrace the former while he distances himself from the latter. Hawley’s top strategist, Brad Todd, acknowledged this implicitly when he opined, “The election is going to be a whole lot more about what happens on the floor of the Senate than in the basement of the Greitens’ house.” Such a glib dismissal, coming from a top national Republican strategist, is devastating. Hawley is powerless to do anything about the time bomb in the White House. We’ll see if he tries to dispose of the one in Jefferson City. One thing’s for sure: If there’s one candidate in America with the strategic savvy to exploit an opponent’s weaknesses, it’s Claire McCaskill. And if Hawley’s first week as a candidate is any indication, he’s in for a rough ride – one much more like the bumpy backroads McCaskill traversed between Houston (Mo.) and Lebanon (Mo.) than the smooth Acela Express he took from New Haven, Connecticut (home to Yale Law) and Washington, D.C.

Another factor, mostly independent of Hawley and his problems, will be the size of voter turnout in Missouri’s black community. McCaskill would be wise to invest more time and resources in the Democratic Party’s most loyal voters beyond the hapless politicos who are clearly not in touch with the new generation of black activists and their progressive allies.

‘Be sympathetic – this is low-income housing’

ESL moms team up to challenge housing authority fees

The Rev.

Wilson spoke at the Parents United for Change meeting on March 14, where parents discussed survey findings that showed many East St. Louis families

By Kae M. Petrin

For St. Louis Public Radio

Low-income families who live in public housing in East St. Louis are burdened by hidden fees that keep them trapped in debt, according to a survey conducted by the Stepping Out of Poverty campaign.

To help families escape the escalating debts, a group of East St. Louis parents is fighting the housing authority fees they say prevent families from moving and keep people impoverished. Parents United for Change have met with the East St. Louis Housing Authority to negotiate new policies that would limit the fees. The parents have asked the housing authority to lower late rent fees from $50 to $5; to eliminate maintenance fees for washer-dryer access, freezers and window air units; and to

pay fees.

n “What we find now is a set of fines, fees, structured indebtedness that holds families back from wellbeing.”

– Rev. Starksy Wilson

eliminate a $25 yard clean-up fee.

Lettie Hicks, a member of Parents United for Change, said that when she spent several months in a medically induced coma and had a friend pay her rent, the landlord overcharged her, charged late fees, and never reimbursed the extra fees. Despite the extra fees, residents have trouble

getting their landlords to complete maintenance tasks, said Yolanda Wooten, who lives in the Roosevelt Homes public housing complex. Wooten said she’s asked the housing authority to fix her furnace for months but no work has been done.

Wooten and Hicks are among several Parents United for Change members who have met housing authority officials to push for policy changes.

The utility charges are “minimal and reasonable,” said East St. Louis Housing Authority Executive Director Mildred Motley. But the housing authority is considering decreasing the late fees.

Motley said the housing authority charges those fines in Gompers, John Robinson, John

See HOUSING, B6

Coalition pushes for more affordable housing funds

‘We

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

A coalition of 27 organizations sent letters to St. Louis city leaders on March 6, asking that some of the new Proposition 1 sales tax revenue go towards the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

n The Affordable Housing Trust Fund would receive $7 million every year, if city leaders support the coalition’s request.

“It is both a sound fiscal investment and an effective means to improve the lives of people in greatest need,” stated the newlyformed Affordable Housing Trust Fund Coalition, which includes Forward Through Ferguson, Habitat for Humanity and several others. The letters went out to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Comptroller Darlene Green and Mayor Lyda Krewson, urging their support in dedicating 50 percent of new “use tax” revenues generated by Prop 1 to the trust fund – about $2 million annually. In April 2017, voters approved Prop 1 to raise sales

Ron

Gwendolyn

Gregory

Doris Agwu joined the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis, a not-for-profit, ecumenical housing ministry working in partnership with individuals and communities of all faiths to improve housing conditions and provide safe, decent and affordable housing in St. Louis city and county. She is vendor management/project analyst, US Bank.

Darryl Cherry was honored as an Unsung Hero of East St. Louis by the Office of the Mayor of East Saint Louis for enhancing the quality of life in his hometown and beyond. He is retention coordinator for the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Student Opportunities for Academic Results (SOAR)

Jacqueline BuckHorton

Gwendolyn Goosby Mizell

Darryl Cherry

Doris Agwu

Ron A. Austin

Gregory Rose

Starsky

in public housing struggle to

Photo by Kae Petrin / St. Louis Public Radio

Photo by Tyson Pruitt

Debt collectors hijack the justice system

By Jennifer Turner Of The ACLU

Denise Zencka, a mother of three in Indiana, had to file for bankruptcy because she couldn’t afford to repay her bills for treatment for thyroid cancer. And because she was unable to work, she had to stay with her parents in Florida while she recovered. She didn’t know that during that time, at the request of a debt collector seeking to collect outstanding medical bills, a small claims court judge had issued three warrants for her arrest. When she returned to Indiana, she was arrested by local sheriff’s deputies for the private debt she owed. Once at the jail, and being too sick to climb the stairs to the women’s section, she was

‘It’s easier to settle when the debtor is under arrest’

held in a men’s mental health unit. Its glass walls allowed the male prisoners to watch everything she did, including using the toilet.

As in Zencka’s case, and in thousands of other similar cases around the country, courts are issuing arrest warrants and serving as taxpayerfunded tools of the multi-billion-dollar debt collection industry.

n Private debt collectors are using the courts to get debtors arrested and to terrorize them into paying, even when a debt is in dispute.

Debtors’ prisons were abolished by Congress in 1833. They are often thought to be a relic of the Dickensian past. In reality, private debt collectors are using the courts to get debtors arrested and to terrorize them into paying, even when a debt is in dispute or when the debtor has no ability to pay. Tens of thousands of arrest warrants are issued annually

COALITION

continued from page B1

and it snowballs from there.

for people who fail to appear in court to deal with unpaid civil debt judgments. In investigating this issue for the new ACLU report, “A Pound of Flesh,” we examined more than 1,000 cases in 26 states, in which civil court judges issued arrest warrants for debtors. The debtors were often unaware that they had been sued. In many cases, they had not received notice to show up in court.

Each year, collectors flood small-claims and other state courts with millions of suits seeking repayment. Many courts churn through collection suits with almost no scrutiny. Over 95 percent of debt collection suits end in favor of the collector, usually because alleged debtors do not or cannot mount a defense.

Jennifer Turner

Arrest warrants were issued in cases involving every kind of consumer debt or loan, including debts as small as $28. People have been arrested for debts arising from medical fees, federal and private student loans, car payments, unpaid rent, daycare fees, smallbusiness loans, credit card bills, foreclosure deficiencies, highinterest payday loans, and gym fees, to name just a few types.

The process starts when a debt collector files a lawsuit,

Then, with a judgment in hand, creditors can ask courts to require the person to show up in court for “judgment debtor examinations,” at which they are required to answer questions about their finances and assets. If the debtor does not appear for the exam, debt collectors can ask the judge to issue a civil warrant for the debtor’s arrest.

Our investigation found that many people missed their court dates because of work, childcare responsibilities, lack

of transportation, physical disability, illness, or because they didn’t receive notification of the court date. We found two cases in which elderly women missed hearings because they were terminally ill. They died shortly after warrants were issued for their arrest. The threat of arrest is an incredibly powerful tactic for collectors.

As one lawyer in Texas, who has sought arrests of student loan borrowers, has noted, “It’s easier to settle when the debtor is under arrest.”

Once arrested, a debtor may languish in jail for days until he can arrange to pay bail. Judges sometimes set bail at the exact amount of the judgment. And the bail money often is turned over to the debt collector or creditor as payment against the judgment.

Even when people aren’t arrested, warrants can cause long-lasting harm because they may be entered into background check databases, with serious consequences for future employment, housing

applications, education opportunities, and access to security clearances. Predatory debt collection companies are profiting from Americans who are trapped in debt and on the financial edge as a result of the loss of a job, illness, the death of a family member, or a divorce. The impact of abusive collection practices is particularly harmful to black and Latino communities, which face longstanding racial and ethnic gaps in poverty and wealth. There is scant protection from collection abuses under federal and state laws. And even when there are laws in place, abuses remain largely unchecked because regulators rarely intervene to stop them. Unless that changes, the most vulnerable debtors will continue to be victimized by predatory collectors and courts that serve them.

Jennifer Turner is a human rights researcher for the ACLU’s Human Rights Program.

“Vacancy and crime reduction are two of the mayor’s main priorities, and this directly relates to those priorities,” said Gary Newcomer, community development specialist for the Community Builders Network of Metro St. Louis. “We hope the mayor will be a champion for us.”

Newcomer, who is the point person for the coalition, said he has not heard any response directly from any of the elected officials. However, he knows coalition members have started setting up meetings with them.

revitalization, public safety cameras and planning for MetroLink expansion. When the sales tax goes up, the local use tax – a business tax – automatically increases as well. It’s estimated to generate almost $4 million annually. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund would receive $7 million every year, if city leaders support the coalition’s request. These funds help to prevent homelessness, increase property values, build wealth in areas without easy access to capital, the coalition argues.

The mayor’s spokesman told The St. Louis American in an email, “Next fiscal year’s budget is being crafted right now. It’s too early to say with any specificity what it will look like when it is completed. That said, Mayor Krewson is in favor of dedicating as much money as possible to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.”

n “In the city, it’s becoming more and more evident that we are in crisis in terms of affordable housing, vacancy and crime.”

– Gary Newcomer, Affordable Housing Trust Fund Coalition

Tom Shepard, chief of staff for President of the Board of Aldermen Lewis Reed, said, “This will definitely be part of our conversations once the budget process starts. We take affordable housing very seriously, and we know that it can address some of the various underlying issues that plague our city.”

The comptroller supports “fully funding” the trust fund, Green’s spokesman stated in an email.

In January, the Affordable Housing Commission awarded $4.26 million in grants from the trust fund for “subsidy-housing assistance.” These programs range from homeless shelters and rent/utility subsidies to financial literacy and new construction of affordable homes. In total, the commission awarded $4.47 million for fiscal year 2018 for these programs.

For every dollar the trust fund awards to home construction and major rehab, it is matched by $17

in private and public funds, “demonstrating that these activities attract local and outside investment,” the coalition stated. Loans to developers and homeowners are typically repayable, meaning the fund is partially replenished over time.

The trust fund was created after city voters approved in 2002 a proposition to allocate the local use tax revenue to affordable housing, public health, public safety and neighborhood preservation.

The Board of Aldermen established that at least $5 million would go towards for affordable housing, $5 million to public health and $3 million for building demolition. The remaining amount could be used as the aldermen see fit.

In fact, since 2013, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has received about $10 million of the use tax revenue every year, while the Affordable Housing Trust Fund has received between $4 and $4.5 million every year since 2011.

“As the use tax has grown, money that should have gone into the AHTF has been diverted to other programs and services,” the coalition stated.

“This loss is compounded by a recent decline in federal contributions.”

According to HUD data, close to 30 percent of the African-American households in the city are extremely housing-cost burdened, said Glenn Burleigh, community engagement specialist for the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council – which is part of the coalition.

“That means over 50 percent of their monthly income is going simply towards paying for housing,” he said.

The federal government stipulates that no more than 30 percent of Americans’ monthly income should go towards housing costs – in North St. Louis, over 60 percent of households are paying above that line, Burleigh said.

“In the city, it’s becoming more and more evident that we are in crisis in terms of affordable housing, vacancy and crime,” Newcomer said. “Looking at the state and federal level, we don’t expect funding to start flowing. We’ve seen the Affordable Housing Trust Fund work. We’ve seen how it’s impacted families, health and wealth. It’s something that works; and it’s something we already have.”

Photo by Dusty Good

“To me, I’ll always be the skinny, 5-foot-6 eighth-grader on the YMCA court, trying to get grown men to choose me for pickup games. And that’s what drives me.”

– Oklahoma guard Trae Young after announcing that he will leave OU for the NBA

Sports

PreP BasketBall noteBook

Title repeats

St. Louis teams score victories in prep state championships

The theme of last weekend’s Missouri Class 4 and 5 state basketball championships in Springfield was simple; repeat. The boys of Webster Groves and girls of Incarnate Word Academy and Kirkwood came to the Final Four on a mission to defend their state championships from last season and that is exactly what happened.

Webster Groves had the hardest job of the three, but the Statesmen came through to defeat Chaminade 101-90 for the Class 5 state championship in an All-St. Louis final. Incarnate Word was dominant in defeating Carl Junction 69-35 to win the Class 4 girls state championship. Not only was it a repeat for the Red Knights, it was also five state titles in six years and nine overall for the top girls’ basketball dynasty in the state of Missouri.

Kirkwood won its second successive state title with an impressive 67-50 victory over Springfield Kickapoo in the Class 5 state championship game. With the victory, the Pioneers were able to gain some revenge on a Kickapoo team that defeated them for the state championship in 2016.

For the Statesmen, it was their third state championship in the past 10 years and fourth overall. They had five players score in double figures, led by five-star point guard Courtney Ramey, who had 27 points, six rebounds and six assists against Chaminade. Saint Louis U. bound forward Carte’are Gordon had 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Junior guard Ray Adams had 17points, including five 3-pointers while senior R.J. Wright and junior Amorey Womack had 16 points each. Gordon scored a career-high 40 points the Statesmen’s 81-61 victory over Liberty in the semifinals. Chaminade’s Jericole Hellems closed out his stellar career with a couple of big performances in the Final Four. The North Carolina State signee had 32 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the finals against Webster Groves. He also had 31 points and 11 rebounds in the Red Devils’ 80-77 victory over Rock Bridge.

In the ClutCh

Crouching Tiger

Woods’ comeback is for real as he’s named favorite to win the Masters

From 1997 to 2008, Tiger Woods was on top of the world. After becoming the youngest golfer to win the Masters at age 21, Woods rocketed to superstardom. His meteoric rise was notable not only due of his young age, but also because of his melanin. Before Woods took over the world of golf, black and minority golfers were not welcome at courses and country clubs around the nation. Some had strict policies against allowing black golfers to attain memberships, such as Shoal Creek Country Club in Birmingham. Other golf courses chose to finesse the laws against discrimination by making tournaments invitation-only, putting in strict dress codes to deter black golfers and making the price of entry so high that many minorities simply could not afford to golf. However, Woods was so

dominant in his early career that it created a surge of interest in golf. Racist rules were thrown out. Golf’s popularity surged. New courses popped up all around the country.

People of all races proudly proclaimed, “I am Tiger Woods” (often just before teeing off into the actual woods).

Tiger mania was in full effect.

After dominating for over a decade, Woods’ fell from grace just as quickly as he’d risen to become a household name. In November 2009, Woods crashed his SUV into a tree and a fire hydrant in Florida. His personal life unraveled in amidst allegations of affairs, drug and alcohol usage and seemingly weekly disheveled mugshots blasted across news channels and social media. His wife left him. His body betrayed him. His skills disappeared. In a very short span,

Woods went from the man everybody wanted to be to just another washed up athlete who couldn’t stay out of trouble.

After Woods fell from grace, so did the sport’s popu-

larity. Many of the fair weather fairway fans changed the channel. Many of the new golf courses from the

to

Earl Austin Jr.

See CLUTCH, B5

90s boom struggled

attract visitors. The PGA tried to build marketing

campaigns around new young and talented stars like Rory McIlroy and Sergio García and Jordan Speith. However, the buzz and popularity just wasn’t the same.

The game of golf fell into a disappointing routine. Woods would have surgery. He’d take time off to recover and train.

See PREP, B5

With Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Webster Groves celebrates after winning the 2018 Missouri Class 5 boys basketball state championship by defeating Chaminade 101-90 at JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo. Sat. Mar. 17, 2018. It was the second straight state title for Webster.

With Earl Austin Jr.

Tiger Woods is attempting to win his first major championship in nearly a decade. He’s been pegged as the odd-on favorite to win the Masters in April.

Photo by Wiley Price

SportS EyE

With Alvin A. Reid

Mizzou says goodbye to Porter Jr., hopefully hello to a brighter future

When you make bold predictions in columns that come true, you sound smart.

When you’re wrong, you sound foolish.

I’m a little of both when it comes to the Michael Porter Jr. saga at Missouri.

I wrote in early January, “I’m still confident Missouri will march into the NCAA Tournament – and coach Cuonzo Martin’s team won’t need Michael Porter Jr., to accomplish the feat.”

Got that, right. I followed with, “Porter will be physically able to play by season’s end following November back surgery, will suit up for a handful of SEC games and go full blast in the SEC Tournament.”

he ended the season 10 for 30. He averaged 10 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. I feel it was more than not being in game shape. Is his back, right? Time will tell. Porter Jr. will still be a NBA lottery pick, but get ready for an up-and-down ride between now and the NBA draft in late June.

Martin remakes Mizzou

The Tigers closed the season at 20-13 and reached the NCAA Tournament. The gallant second half comeback against Florida State doesn’t excuse the disastrous first half that left them down 22 points.

Got that wrong. He played in nary a conference game and was far from “full blast” in the two games he played to close the season –both of them Missouri losses.

I’ll let you, the reader, judge me on this one; “(Michael Porter Jr.) should not come back if he is not 100 percent.”

It’s subjective. I think I’m closer to right than wrong. Regardless of high school stardom, none of us know how great Porter Jr. would have been in the collegiate ranks because we never saw him play uninjured.

He was far from great in respective losses to Georgia in the SEC Tournament and Florida State in the NCAA Tournament. He was far from 100 percent and I think NBA scouts are left with unanswered questions about his back injury.

He was 1-1 from the field in his cameo appearance against Iowa State before surgery and

But Martin got the sinking ship left by Kim Anderson back afloat and headed in the right direction. He did it without Porter Jr. and he did it amidst a player defection and very short bench. If Jontay Porter returns to Mizzou next season, the Tigers should plan a return to the NCAA Tournament in 2019. If he joins his brother in the NBA Draft, the Tigers might have a difficult time getting back in “The Dance.” Martin has doubters and detractors. His recruiting class will be heavily scrutinized. He’ll hear from the haters early and often if the Tigers get off to a slow start next year. For now, Martin should take a bow before getting back to work. Missouri basketball means something again. It meant nothing at this time last year.

Rambling on

Let’s get back to predictions.

In the second week of December after LoyolaChicago beat Florida, I wrote,

“Loyola’s surge is great news for the Missouri Valley Conference, the Arch Madness Tournament and for the host city of St. Louis …, the MVC would be gleeful if thousands of Loyola fans spent a few days here for the tournament in March.”

The Ramblers rolled through the MVC Tournament with a large contingent of fans in attendance for their three-game run. That run is far from through.

After topping Miami and Tennessee on last-second shots, Loyola is alive, well and will be favored to beat upstart Nevada in a Sweet 16 game.

When former SLU assistant coach Porter Moser took over Loyola-Chicago 2011, they were at rock bottom. When Loyola joined in 2013, replacing Creighton, it was far from winning its title.

Porter made it happen in short time.

His “grassroots rebuild,” is only six years old – and it’s successful.

“We knew we were having to win and win the (MVC) conference and then get to the conference tournament, and it’s been this mentality of you win, enjoy the moment,” Moser said following Saturday’s upset

of the favored Volunteers.

“I’m letting them enjoy it because it’s a mature, close group. And I want them to enjoy it. Then the next day, we all say put it in the bank, next one up.”

I like the Ramblers over Nevada – and then a showdown with Kentucky in an Elite Eight game that will be one of the most-watched NCAA Tournament games in years.

Bracket brilliance

Not! Mine is a total mess. Missouri in the Sweet 16? Virginia in the championship game? North Carolina in the Final Four? Cincinnati in the Elite Eight? No one saw Maryland-Baltimore topping Virginia, but that doesn’t excuse the rest of my mess.

I listed 15 black coaches last week in the NCAA Tournament and there were actually 16. The guy I left out must have read the column because he decided to be the lone black coach in the Sweet 16.

My most sincere apology to Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton

His Seminoles trailed favored Xavier, the West Region No. 1 seed, throughout Sunday’s game but rallied to take a 75-70 win. Hamilton has been at

Florida State’s helm since 2002 and compiled an impressive 324-207 record. He’s seen his share of basketball and he called the rash of stunning upsets during the NCAA Tournament’s opening rounds “a revolution.”

“What happens is you start categorizing people by the reputation that their players get going into college. But in reality, kids are playing basketball all over the country and teams are getting better. Just because maybe they might not be in one particular conference or maybe they’re not considered to be one of the more traditional rich schools, people are playing basketball.”

As for reaching the Sweet 16, Hamilton said, “we were much better than Xavier in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the game. Sometimes when the games are close, that’s all that’s important.”

Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, is a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and can also be heard on Frank Cusumano’s “The Press Box.” His Twitter handle is @aareid1.

Alvin A. Reid

Michael Porter Jr. was far from great in respective losses to Georgia in the SEC Tournament and Florida State in the NCAA Tournament.

from The eAST Side

With Maurice Scott Jr.

Belleville West wins state championship

The Belleville West Maroons’ magical season concluded with a steal and layup by former CBC guard Lawrence Brazille III, in overtime to seal a 60-56 victory over Chicago Whitney Young for the IHSA Class 4A state championship.

Not since the great Bennie “Boss” Lewis’ three-peat performances at East St. Louis Lincoln in 1987, 88 and 89 has a school from the “618” area code had such a dominating year. The Maroons finished 32-2 and winners of 15 in a row, with the last loss coming on January 20 against Missouri 2018 runner-up Chaminade in the championship game of the Belleville East Tournament.

It was the first state championship in the history of the

Belleville West basketball program and first for the powerful Southwestern Conference since 1965 when the Collinsville Kahoks won the state title.

In addition, it showed upstate and the Chicagoland area that we play hoops downstate as well. Believe it or not, downstate teams south of Springfield don’t get any credit for playing football or basketball until Bob Shannon started kicking the rear of Chicago area teams back in the late 70’s until his retirement in the 90’s with his great East St. Louis teams. And now, Darren Sunkett is doing it on the regular at East Side.

Belleville West Maroons star E.J. Liddell guided this team all season as he elevated his game to the point where he was named the Gatorade

Player of the Year in the state of Illinois.

Liddell’s supporting cast included Belleville East transfer and Wright State recruit senior Malachi Smith, senior Curtis Williams, and a strong nucleus of underclassmen in former CBC Cadets Keith Randolph Jr. and Lawrence Brazille III. All of them played major roles night in, night out for the state champions. On championship night last Saturday, Liddell, who plays AAU basketball for Bradley Beale Elite, had a impressive double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. It was nothing short of another spectacular night for one of the top 50

Maurice Scott

underclassmen in the country. However, on this night, it was the play of big strong two sport star (football) Keith Randolph Jr. and the sleek, crafty Lawrence Brazille III that made the difference in the Maroons victory over Whitney Young. Whitney Young was led by one of the best players in the State in guard Javon Freeman. He is the nephew of former Illinois great Marcus Liberty. Hats off to Southwestern Conference rival Belleville West.

It truly was a magical year for the Belleville West Maroons.

at the Valspar Championship helped NBC Sports achieve the highest rating of any non-major PGA event since 2015.

The Masters will be the true litmus test to let us know if Woods is back for real. The expectations were fairly low for Woods in the past five tournaments. Despite the ratings boom, many people were slow to get back on board the hype train too soon in fears of it stalling, crashing and burning like it had done many times before.

Woods’ only pressure has been to prove to himself that he still is Tiger Woods. Now that he’s put together several good performances, now the next generation will be gunning for the exiled king. The cameras will zoom in on every stroke and the peanut gallery will evaluate every swing.

“I want him 100 percent,” 11th ranked Jason Day told Golf.com. “I want to be the one to beat him.”

Scott’s Notes

• Let’s be clear about something.

Some people on the “other side”of the tracks” Cahokia High School to be clear, has been doing a lot of talking lately about student athletes wanting to play football at East Side. If you look at the programs, do you blame them???

Make sure before you go doing a bunch of “talking” to check your own baggage at the door......

By the way. Anyone heard from former Director of Athletics Earl McDowell Jr. lately?

Despite all the legal and personal drama that followed Woods over the past several years, I’ll be rooting for him to make a good showing at the Masters. After all, Spring is here. The cold weather will soon be replaced with warmth. I will inevitably make my way to a driving range or golf

• Hats off to former longtime Cahokia assistant and current Flyers’ head basketball Coach Mark Chambers and his staff on the school’s first Regional championship in 5-years and a Sectional finals appearance.

• Congrats to the Flyers girls basketball team and their Regional championship along with their Sectional finals appearance as well. Congrats to Antonio Mattox and his staff!

• Flyers senior to be Terrence Hargrove Jr. will team up with E.J. Liddell and Vashon phenom Mario McKinney this summer for the prestigious EYBL Bradley Beal Elite team.

Wynn McKendree University – Wrestling

There would be increased interest upon his return, but he would ultimately look like any ol’ average Joe on the course. Interest would wane. Another injury would occur. Repeat cycle. Now, after another set of surgeries, Woods has made another comeback attempt. This time, however, it seems like the Woods of old is back. In Woods’ past three tournaments since he returned in

PREP

Continued from B3 Kirkwood’s girls used a balanced attack in their victory over Kickapoo in the championship game. Senior guard Jaidah Stewart led the way with 22 points, seven rebounds and five 3-pointers. Senior guard Jayla Everett had 15 points and seven assists, senior guard Makayla Wallace had 14 points, five assists and five steals and sophomore forward Natalie Bruns had 12 points and six blocks. Everett and Stewart combined for 30 points in the Pioneers’ 51-29 victory over Liberty in the state semifinals. Incarnate Word ran away and hid from Carl Junction in the Class 4 finals as senior guard Nakalya Jackson-Morris scored 18 points and senior guard Sonya Morris added 17 points. The semifinal game was a different story as the Red Knights survived a 49-47 thriller against Kearney in overtime. Jackson-Morris scored on a three-point play in the overtime period for the game-winner. Jackson-Morris finished with 12 points while center Rickie Woltman scored a game-high 14 points for IWA.

The Jennings High boys were making their first Final Four appearance since the

late January, he has finished in twelfth, tied for second and fifth. His impressive finishes have led to oddsmakers pegging woods as the favorite to win the Masters in April. Making Woods the favorite isn’t just wishful thinking. Tournament by tournament, round by round, Woods’ game has seen remarkable improvement. Furthermore, in 18 professional appearances at Augusta National, Woods has four victories and another seven top-10 finishes.

“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. But you’re seeing improvement each week,”

2000 season and the Warriors came away with a third-place finish. After a narrow 61-57 loss to Raytown South in the semifinals, the Warriors came back to defeat Sikeston 79-74 in overtime to take home the third place trophy. Standout senior guard Kyle Younge, Jr. scored a game-

Woods’ caddie Joe LaCava told ESPN. “I know you hear that from him, too. But it just seems like he’s getting better and better with his swing and trusting it more, which I think is huge.’’

The ratings for Woods’ comeback have also been huge. According to USA Today Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational received a 136 percent ratings increase over last year’s tournament. The tournament also reported a 683 percent increase in streaming traffic on NBC and the Golf Channel. Woods’ second-place finish

high 31 points to lead the Warriors while fellow guard Terran Jackson had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Senior forward Jordan Brown had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

A pair of girls’ teams in St. Joseph’s Academy and Miller Career Academy were

PreP AThLeTe of The Week

Jaidah Stewart

Kirkwood – Girls Basketball

The senior guard enjoyed an excellent weekend in leading the Pioneers to the Class 5 state championship last weekend in Springfield.

The 5’9” Stewart had 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five 3-pointers in the Pioneers’ 67-50 victory over Kickapoo in the state championship game. She

also had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a 51-29 victory over Liberty in the state semifinals. For the season, Stewart averaged 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 steals while shooting 46 percent from the field. She finished her stellar career with 2,037 points. She has signed with the University of Minnesota.

Such comments would have never happened in Woods’ prime. A prime Woods instilled the same fear and respect as a prime Michael Jordan or Mike Tyson. Woods didn’t even need to look at players to make them shiver in their shoes. He may have lost that aura of invincibility, but a win in Augusta, would help to cement his legacy.

A victory at one of the Majors will return Woods from a TMZ, tabloid celebrity back into one of the most feared and respected athletes in sports.

Instead of proving that he can play, Woods now has to prove that he can win. There’s no doubt that the man reportedly worth $750 million wants to prove that his swing is still cash.

also participants in the Final Four last weekend. St. Joseph’s finished in third place in Class 5 and Career Academy took home a fourth-place trophy in the Class 4 state tournament.

The senior standout from Champaign, Illinois was the national runner-up at 140 pounds at the NCAA Division II Championships. Wynn pinned all of his opponents at the NCAA’s before being edged 4-2 by Chris Eddins of Pitt-Johnstown in the national championship

Continued from B3 match. Wynn finished the season with a 31-1 record. Wynn finished his career as the first four-time All-American in McKendree’s history. He finished first, seventh and second twice during his outstanding career in which he compiled a record of 149-33.

The sophomore standout from Oakland, California became the first national champion in the history of the Lindenwood University women’s wrestling program. Hill was the 155-pound national champion at the recent WCWA Nationals in Oklahoma City. She won all Niauni Hill

Lindenwood-Belleville – Women’s Wrestling

five of her matches to improve her record to 34-0. Hill won her first three matches by technical fall. In the semifinals, Hill defeated Evonne Evlen of Menlo College. In the championship, Hill rallied from an early deficit to defeat Tatum Sparks of the University of Providence 7-5.

Tigers Woods receives his first green jacket from Nick Faldo after the 1997 Masters in Augusta

DeShields and Roosevelt homes because the tenants do not pay electric and water bills. The fines “offset the costs of utility charges due to the usage of major appliances,” Motley wrote in an email.

Motley wrote that the late fees used to be lower, but were increased “due to the high volume of residents that don’t pay their rent timely.”

Residents say the fees and fines take up significant portions of their limited incomes.

Delbra Myles, 53, has lived in the same apartment at Roosevelt Homes for more than 20 years. On top of her monthly $177 in rent, she said she also pays $8 a month for washer-dryer access and $20 for air conditioning units in the summer. She knows that if she paid it would cost her an extra $50.

But Myles said she and her son need air conditioning units to control their asthma, so those charges aren’t optional for her.

“How am I supposed to get ahead when I’m supposed to pay all of this all the time?” she said. “It’s not a once-ayear thing. Every month, I got to pay the extra money just to use something I need.”

Myles said that if the housing authority addressed other maintenance concerns, she wouldn’t mind the fines. She waited two years for a repair to a rotten bathroom floor; her kitchen sink has been

unusable since a pipe burst over the winter, and her water looks brown, she said. The housing authority fines are among the charges that keep families from saving money, sending their kids to better schools and gaining economic mobility, said the Rev. Starksy Wilson, president of Deaconess Foundation, which advocates for racial equity.

Money

Smart

Essay submissions are due 5 p.m. Friday, March 23 for the Money Smart Kid Essay Contest for sixth through eighth grade students in the St. Louis area, hosted by the Greater St. Louis Financial Education Collaborative, in partnership with United Way of Greater St. Louis. Three winners will be selected to receive scholarships, with a grand prize of $2,000. The second place winner will receive $1,000 and a third place finalist will receive $500. Students must demonstrate their knowledge of good

n “How am I supposed to get ahead when I’m supposed to pay all of this all the time? Every month, I got to pay the extra money just to use something I need.”

– Delbra Myles

“What we find now is a set of fines, fees, structured indebtedness that holds families back from wellbeing,”

Kid

Wilson said. “It’s not just about money, it’s not just about fees, it’s not just about fines. It’s about the children that they hold back.”

The parents’ efforts are part of a larger initiative, the Stepping Out of Poverty Campaign for low-income families of color seeking policy changes that could reduce poverty and debt. Chicagobased POWER-PAC Illinois,

Essay Contest deadline is March 23

money management skills by submitting an essay up to 300 words that describes the potentially devastating effects of a natural disaster (flood, fire, hurricane, etc.) on a family’s financial situation, including tips on preparing for unexpected financial crisis.

To enter the contest, students must be in sixth through eighth grades in a school in one of the following counties: Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair in Illinois; Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis,

Warren and Washington and the City of St. Louis in Missouri.

The full application and contest guidelines can be downloaded at www. moneysmartstlouis.org. Applications and essays can be submitted via email to

a branch of Community Organizing and Family Issues, supports the initiative by training its members and coordinating its publicity. The campaign surveyed 304 people in Illinois, including 48 from East St. Louis, and found that many low-income families reported they struggled to deal with monthly payments and longstanding debts.

The majority of respondents in the state said they couldn’t pay off their debt or even make the required payments. Almost half said the debt prevented them from making changes in their lives. Many said that looking at the combined costs of their monthly payments, they felt frustrated, overwhelmed, sad. In East St. Louis, 90 percent of respondents said they had no savings. More than 70 percent reported having at least one debt. (A little over 61 percent of statewide respondents, or someone in their household, held paying jobs.)

To Hicks, who plans to continue negotiating with the housing authority, such policy changes are small steps that could give families a chance to save money and support their children’s futures.

“The only thing I’m trying to do is say, ‘Be sympathetic.’ This is low-income housing. We do stay in poverty areas,” she said. “Only thing I’m saying — just lower [the fees]. That’s all I wanna see.” Follow Kae on Twitter: @ kmaepetrin.

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

moneysmart@umsl.edu; faxed to 314-516-5354, Attn: Money Smart Kid Contest; or mailed to Money Smart Kid Contest, Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Education, 607 Tower, 1 University Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63121.

Delbra Myles said she pays $25 fines when other people leave trash in her yard. Myles said she cleans trash out of her yard every day, but if someone else leaves garbage, she’s charged $25.

Photo by Kae Petrin / St. Louis Public Radio

‘It’s all God’s doing’

performs during the blind auditions of NBC’s ‘The Voice’ on Monday, March 12.

Local singer Tish Haynes

Keys a standout on new season of ‘The Voice’

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

St. Louis native Tish Haynes Keys made a bold move by singing Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” during her blind audition for NBC’s “The Voice” kicked its new season off two weeks ago. Soon after she made it to the line “you got me where you want me – I ain’t nothin’ but your fool,” the quartet of a-list music stars who serve as the show’s coaches should have been singing that famous lyric to her. By the second line of the song, Kelly Clarkson was a link in Keys’ chain. And Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine was also clearly affected – even though both hesitated to buzz her through. A full minute went by before either of them budged.

n “When I opened my eyes, Adam [Levine] was looking at me,” Keys said. “I had to quickly collect myself to keep singing.”

“When I got to the middle part of the first verse, I was like, “Okay, nobody has turned around yet, but I’m really gonna sing,’” Keys said. “I want to give a reason for everybody to be mad at them for not turning around.”

In that moment, she was catapulted from local singer to a favorite contestant on the top-rated vocal talent competition. She admitted that singing to the back of those chairs was nerve wrecking, but she closed her eyes and committed herself to delivering the performance of a lifetime. “When I opened my eyes, Adam [Levine] was looking at me,” Keys said. “I had to quickly collect myself to keep singing.” Clarkson buzzed almost immediately after Levine. Her performance was so powerful that the other celebrity coaches, who push the buzzer to vie for a singer to join their team, felt compelled to explain why they didn’t – and make it clear that Keys was a force to be reckoned with among the other contestants. “I’m sitting here with almost a full team, so I have to be strategic,” country star Blake Shelton said. Clarkson interrupted him. “I’m sitting here with almost a See VOICE, C4

‘The

Journey’ back home

The Baylor Project to perform from Grammy nominated album at The Bistro

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

Though he currently lives on the East Coast, Marcus Baylor was visiting home in St. Louis when he got “the news.” His wife Jean had already been back home for a day when she learned that their group, The Baylor Project, earned two Grammy nominations for the album “The Journey.”

It was the Tuesday after Thanksgiving when the announcements for the 60th Annual Grammy Award Nominations were made. Jean tried unsuccessfully to reach him and share that they were up for “Best Jazz Vocal Album” and that the song “Laugh and Move On” earned them a “Best Traditional R&B Performance” Grammy nod as well. It was early, so she figured he must have still been asleep. When she got through a few minutes later, he already knew.

“All he could say was ‘Aw, man,” Jean said laughing. “I was like, ‘Babe, how did you know?’ He said, ‘People have been texting me all morning.’” Six months later he still can’t exactly find the words to express the joy he felt for getting the Grammy nod – and getting the news in his native St. Louis. “It’s still amazing to think about,” Marcus said. “It felt so great to hear it in the place where it all began.”

Next week, The Baylor Project will headline a four-night run at Jazz at The Bistro. It was in that very same spot – though it was called Just Jazz back then – that as a young and hungry McCluer High School musician he learned about the limitless possibilities within the genre. “It’s always been a dream to come home with our own band,” Marcus said.

The former Yellowjackets drummer brought other musicians who have gone on to make a name for themselves nationally back to the venue to do special shows, but never had his own run as a featured artist. He can cross that item off his bucket list, and with the added joy of knowing he’s doing so with the distinction of a Grammy nomination.

“I can just see myself riding down Grand and having so many memories,” Marcus said. “I’ll be seeing my classmates from McCluer and my Faith Miracle Temple [the church founded by his father] folks and with family and friends. It’s going to be an amazing time and we get to do it for four nights.”

Marcus said that the run will be an extended album release party of sorts for “The Journey,” since they weren’t able include St. Louis on the

dates for the release tour of the record last year. They can’t wait to share the music – and the intention behind it – on the Bistro stage. Like with most of his ideas, Marcus came up with the idea of The Baylor Project in his favor-

The real Wakanda

13th Annual African Film Festival showcases continent’s rich diversity

By Diane Toroian Keaggy Of Washington University

The 2018 African Film Festival at Washington University in St. Louis will not feature any movies about Wakanda, the fictional setting of the blockbuster “Black Panther.”

But it will showcase Nigeria, Senegal and the Congo.

“Film is a great way to discover different cultures, and I love that many people have left ‘Black Panther’ curious about Africa,” said festival founder Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo, assistant dean in Arts & Sciences and senior lecturer in African and African-American studies. “The African Film Festival is a great place to learn more about the continent’s rich diversity and speak directly to some of Africa’s finest filmmakers.”

Set for March 23-25, the 13th annual African

Film Festival will showcase seven films and feature French journalist and activist Rokhaya Diallo (no relation to Toliver-Diallo), who will

discuss her film, “From Paris to Ferguson: Guilty of Being Black.”

Toliver-Diallo discusses this year’s lineup, the state of African cinema and what Wakanda gets right about the continent.

DTK: Is there an overarching theme to this year’s festival?

WTD: Though the films focus on African filmmakers, many of these films explore the idea of global blackness, a concept that is really on the minds of our students. You especially see that in “From Paris to Ferguson,” which ties movements against African immigrants in France to the experiences we have witnessed here.

DTK: Many leaders in Africa were distressed by the president’s description of the continent. How does the film festival counter that narrative?

WTD: Of course, there are so many different nations and cultures and experiences in Africa. It would be impossible to capture every aspect

ite thinking space. “I know when he takes a long shower, I’m in trouble,” Jean said. He explained

Photo by Tyler Golden/NBC

St. Louis singer Tish Haynes Keys

*Filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo (pictured) will present her film, “From Paris to Ferguson: Guilty of Being Black” at 7 p.m. March 25.

The Baylor Project will headline a fournight run at Jazz at The Bistro from March 28-31, where they will perform selections from their Grammy Award nominated album ‘The Journey.’

How to place a calendar listing

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

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

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

concerts

Sat., Mar. 24, 8 p.m., Spring Bling Throw Back Reunion Party featuring rap legend Kool Mo Dee. The high school with the biggest alumni turnout will win a free party. The Ambassador, 9800 Halls Ferry Rd. To purchase tickets, go to www.paypal.me/2josent

Mar. 28 – Mar. 31, Jazz St. Louis welcomes Grammy Award nominated The Baylor Project, Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www.jazzstl.org.

Sun., Apr. 1, 6 p.m., 95.5

R&B Old School presents After 7: Back by Popular Demand. The Ambassador, 9800 New Halls Ferry, 63136. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Fri., Apr. 6, 7 p.m., St. Louis Blues Festival. With Calvin Richardson, Lattimore, Bobby Rush, Willie Clayton, and more. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Sat., April 7, 8 p.m., The Cabaret Project of St. Louis presents Broadway veteran Norm Lewis. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

local gigs

Fri., Mar. 23, 9:30 p.m., Dark Room presents The Tonina Quartet. The Grandel, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63103. For more information, call (314) 533-0367.

Sun., Mar. 25, 5 p.m., A Night of Wonder: The Music of Stevie Wonder. Featuring Justin Hoskin and The Movie. BB’s Jazz, Blues and Soups, 700 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Mar. 31, 7 p.m., Family Affair: STL to the H-Town The Show. Performance by Westend and Domino Effect. Delmar Hall, 6133 Delmar Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit ww.eventbrite.com.

Sun., Apr. 1, 6 p.m., The Easter Show feat. Wendell B with special guest Lamont Hadley. Gandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, call (314) 496-7751.

special events

Thur., Mar. 22, 5 p.m., University City Chamber of Commerce presents Taste of U City. One ticket, one location, 40+ restaurants from across U City. Mandarin House Banquet Center, 8004 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www.ucitychamber. com.

Fri., Mar. 23, Peabody Opera House presents Bubble Guppies Live: Ready to Rock.. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. peabodyoperahouse.com.

Sat., Mar. 24, 10 a.m., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Phi Nu Zeta Graduate Chapter presents L.I.T. (Ladies Initiating Transitions) Summit. Scholarships, speakers, workshops, and more. Maryland Heights Community Center, 2300 McKelvey Rd., 63043. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Mar. 24, 9 a.m., ‘Hare in the Air’ Egg Hunt. Hunts will be divided by age groups between 2 and 8. Additional activities will be balloon artists, a petting zoo, costumed characters and more. Logan University, 1851 Schoettler Rd., 63017.

Kenya Vaughn recommends

The Cabaret Project of St. Louis presents Broadway veteran Norm Lewis. For more information, see CONCERTS.

For more information, visit www.logan.edu/EggHunt.

Sat., Mar. 24, 9 a.m., Community Easter Egg Hunt. Bring your little ones out to enjoy refreshments, crafts, a fun egg hunt with three age divisions, and to meet the Easter Bunny. Parkway United Church of Christ, 2841 N Ballas Rd., 63131. For more information, visit www.parkwayucc.org.

Sat., Mar. 24, 11 a.m., Rev. Dr. Roger Richardson and the members of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church Annual Easter Egg Hunt

This fun-filled event will take place Saturday, 13820 Old Jamestown Road, Black Jack, MO 63033. For additional information please call 314741-4222.

Sat., Mar. 24, 12 p.m., From Boys to Men: Male Empowerment Brunch. An opportunity for men to empower and unite. West End Center, 724 Union Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Mar. 24, 1 p.m., STLSpinBox presents the 2018 STL Phenomenal Woman Luncheon & Awards. An afternoon of sisterhood, networking, shopping, and more. Artist Art,

2643 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Mar. 25, 12 p.m., Harmon United Methodist Church presents Egg Hunt 2018. Norman Myers Park, 8700 Midland Blvd., 63114. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thur., Mar. 29, 6 p.m., Radio One St. Louis 2018 Phenomenal Woman Awards. Missouri Athletic Club, 405 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Mar. 31, 7 p.m., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Nu Chi Chapter of East St. Louis presents Mardi Gras 2018: All Black the Masquerade Edition. Main Street Brewing Banquet Center, 6435 West Main St., Belleville, IL 62226. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Fri., Apr. 6, 7 p.m., St. Louis Blues Festival. With Calvin Richardson, Lattimore, Bobby Rush, Willie Clayton, and more. Chaifetz Arena, 1 S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Sat., Apr. 7, 6:30 p.m., The Saint Louis Crisis Nursery

presents the Razzle Dazzle Ball: A Garden of Hope Westport Sheraton Lakeside Chalet, 191 W Port Plaza Dr., 63146. For more information, visit www.crisisnurserykids. org/events.

Fri., Apr. 13, 5 p.m., National Blues Museum Honors: Kim Massie & Jim McClaren. Performances by Marsha Evans & The Coalition. 615 Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org.

Apr. 13 – 15, Washington University presents ThurtenE Carnival. Enjoy a weekend filled with rides, games, student booths, food, and more. 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www.thurtene.org.

Sat., Apr. 14, 8 a.m., MakeA-Wish Foundation invites you to their Walk for Wishes. Help raise money to grant wishes for children with critical illnesses, and enjoy bounce houses, music and more. Forest Park- Upper Muny Lot, 63021. For more information, visit www. walkforwishesstl.com.

Sat., Apr. 14, 8:30 a.m., A Run for Hope. A 5K race/1 mile walk to generates funds to support Annie’s Hope. Health screenings, child ID cards, and more. Route 66 State Park, 97 N. Outer Rd., 63025. For more information, visit www.register.chronotrack. com/r/37196.

Sat., Apr. 14, 9 a.m., St. Louis Alumnae, St. Louis Metropolitan, and Alpha Omega Chapters of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., present Community Forum IMPACT Day. JC Penney Building, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121.

Sat., Apr. 14, 6 p.m., Dignity Period Spring Gala. The mission is to keep adolescent Ethiopian girls in school by ensuring that they have access to quality menstrual hygiene products. Marriott St. Louis West, 660 Maryville Centre Dr., 63141. For more information visit www. dignityperiod.org.

Sun., Apr. 15, 5 p.m., Made Moguls 4th Annual Black Tie Charity Dinner. Highlighting individuals and organizations that are helping to uplift and empower the community. Holiday Inn-Downtown, 811 N 9th St., 63101. For more information, visit www.

mmblacktiedinner.com.

Fri., Apr. 6, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books host author Junot Diaz, author of Islandborn Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd., 63117. For more information, visit www. left-bank.com.

Tues., Apr. 10, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books host author Natalie Hopkinson, author of A Mouth Is Always Muzzled: Six Dissidents, Five Continents, and the Art of Resistance. 399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108

Mar. 22 – 24, The Laugh Lounge hosts Turae. 11208 W. Florissant Ave., 63033 Mar. 22 – 25, Helium Comedy Club presents Aries Spears. 1151 St. Louis Galleria St., 63117. For more information, visit www. heliumcomedy.com.

Sun., Mar. 25, 7 p.m., Hang 10 Productions presents Too Live for TV. Featuring Tew Jennings, Nathan Orton, Jaylee Thomas, and Eric Rivers. Mystic Grille, 11836 W. Florissant Ave., 63033. For more information, visit www. hang10productions.com.

Fri., Apr. 13, Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour, Scottrade Center. For more information, visit livenation.com.

Thurs., May 3, The Lit AF Tour starring Martin Lawrence and featuring Rickey Smiley, JB Smoove, DeRay Davis and Benji Brown. Chaifetz Arena. For more information, visit www. ticketmaster.com.

theatre

Fri., Mar. 30, 7:30 p.m., Kissed by Judas. The modernday tale of seven individuals seeking soul reconciliation. The Sun Theater, 3625 Grandel Sq., 63108. For more information, visit www. kissedbyjudas.org.

Through April 1, The Fox Theatre presents The Color Purple, 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com or call (314) 534-1111.

Fri., Apr. 13- Apr. 29,

The Black Rep closes its 41st season with the world premiere of Nikkole Salter’s Torn Asunder. Washington University’s Edison Theater. For more information, call (314) 534-3807 or visit www. theblackrep.org.

art

Fri., Mar. 23, 7 p.m., The Luminary presents Lot 49. A unique artist-centric auction featuring one-of-a-kind works by over 50 artists in a variety of mediums. 2701 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. theluminaryarts.com.

Mar. 23 – 25, 2018 Queeny Park Art Fair. View works from up to 130 juried artists from over 20 states. Greensfelder Recreation Center, 550 Weidman Rd., 63011. For more information, visit www.artfairatqueenypark. com.

Sat., Mar. 31, 5:30 p.m., Creativity & Identity: An American Muslim Art Exhibition. Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.cairmo.org/art.

Through Apr. 21, Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries presents School Focus: Cardinal Ritter College Prep Student Exhibit. Featuring drawings, paintings, and ceramics by the students. 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.thesheldon.org/ upcomingexhibits.

lectures and workshops

Thur., Mar. 22, 5 p.m., Incarnate Word Foundation presents An Evening with Julian Castro – Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Brown School, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Tues., Mar. 27, 3 p.m., Ferguson 1000 presents MDMC Hosts: Black Tech Summit. Featuring a collection of creatives who use digital/social media marketing platforms and technology. Union Station, 1820 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Kenya Vaughn recommends

Thur., Mar. 29, 6 p.m., Superheroes and Villains. Discover how in popular culture these characters often relate to ancient narratives. Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www.camstl.org/calendar.

Thur., Mar. 29, 7 p.m., Deconstructing the Trope of the Angry Black Woman. Professor Kim Norwood will discuss her article “Aggressive Encounters & White Fragility: Deconstructing the Trope of the Angry Black Woman.” Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Fri., Mar. 30, 7 a.m., Olin Africa Business Club presents the 1st Annual African Business Forum. The theme will be “Overanalyzed and Underrepresented”. Knight Hall, Washington University, Snow Way, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thur., Apr. 5, 6 p.m., Money Smart – Wills, Beneficiary Deeds and Estate Planning. Topics include starting the estate planning process, avoiding probate, and more. Habitat for Humanity, 3763 Forest Park Ave., 63108. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Thur., Apr. 5, 7 p.m., Financial Series with Prudential: Roadmap to

Retirement. Topics include longevity risks, rollover IRA’s, long term healthcare costs, and more. Kirkwood Public Library, 140 E. Jefferson Ave., 63122. For more information, visit www. kirkwoodpubliclibrary.org.

Wednesdays, 7 p.m., Through Apr. 25, The Missouri Bar Association invites you to the Spring 2018 Mini Law School for the Public. Six-week series covering various legal topics. St. Louis County Council Campus, 41 S. Central, 63105. For more information, call (866) 366-0270 or visit www. missourilawyershelp.org/minilaw-school.

Sundays, Through Dec. 30, 2 p.m., Center for Divine Love Church presents Finally Understand Race in America. A portrayal of the African-American experience. Discussion will follow. 3617 Wyoming St., 63116. For more information, visit www. facebook.com.

health

Sat., Mar. 24, 3 p.m., Healing America Tour. Join Dr. T. Colin Campbell, the “science father” of plantbased health, and Nelson Campbell, the founder of PlantPure. JC Penney Conference Center, UMSL, 1 University Dr., 63121. For more information, visit www.

in Healthcare. With keynote speaker Louis W. Sullivan, MD. Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com

Thur., Apr. 12, 12 p.m., Think Well: Healthcare Out Loud. The event will focus on cutting-edge ideas in health, wellness and medicine. Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, visit www. tedxgatewayarch.org.

Sat., Apr. 21, 10 a.m., Alzheimer’s Association Caregiver Support Group, Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church Campus Friendly Village, 5545 Wells Ave., 63112. For more information, call 314-4395799.

spiritual

healingamericatogether.com.

Tues., Mar. 27, 2 p.m., Seniors Home Care invites you to Family Caregiver Training. Topics include monitoring and handling medications, home safety, handling caregiver stress, and more. 504 Marshall Ave., 63119. For more information, visit www. seniorshomecare.com/howwe-can-help.

Sat., Mar. 31, 10 a.m., Rich Girls, Real Women, Inc. presents Rich Talk Session: The Sex Talk. This session for boys and girls in grades 6 – 12 will discuss abstinence, STDs, sexual abuse, and more. Center of Social Empowerment, 33 S. Florissant Rd., 63135. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Thur., Apr. 5, 5 p.m., Toward Healing and Health – Advancing Equity

Fri., Mar. 23, 6 p.m., ChosenLife Youth Ministry presents Spring Bling 2018. Performances by Mark Ant, Oliver Saint, Tarcea Renee, and more. Memorial Tabernacle Christian Life Center, 1350 S. Lafayette, 63031. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ chosenlifeyouth.

Mar. 23 – 24, All Nations Christian Church invites you to their Renew, Rebuild, Restart Leadership Conference. 10047 Jeffrey Dr., 63137. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sun., Mar. 25, 3:30 p.m., James Lee Ward Sr., District of Eastern Missouri First Jurisdiction invites you to the Pastoral Installation of Pastor Keith Strickland. Children of Light Tabernacle C.O.G.I.C., 3332 Edmundson Rd., 63114. For more information, call (314) 4799602.

Sun., Mar. 25, 5 p.m., Highly Pha’vord presents The Big

Musical Major Day. With guest Sent By God, The Bible Tones, Ruby & Da’ Girlz, and many more. Greater Rising Star missionary Baptist Church, 1819 Prairie Ave., 63113. For more information, call (314) 532-6368.

Fri., Mar. 30, 7 p.m., New Life Worship and Arts presents The Encounter 3. Come see and hear the sights and sounds of the many people Jesus encountered on His way to the cross. 689 Scott Trou Rd., O’Fallon, IL 62254. For more information, visit www.nlicic.ccbchurch. com.

Sat., Mar. 31, 2 p.m., Straight Out the Cannon presents When Singers Meet Gospel Concert. Songs of praise and inspirational speakers. East St. Louis Sr. High School, 4901 State St., East St. Louis, IL 62205. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

film

Mar. 23 – Mar. 25, Washington University’s 13th annual African Film Festival, Brown Hall, Room 100, Washington University. For more information, visit https://africanfilm.wustl.edu/.

Thur., Mar. 29, 4 p.m., John Gardner Open House and Free Screening of “Sunlight Man”. The film chronicles Gardner’s life from the viewpoint of his son, Joel. Olin Library, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, visit www.library.wustl.edu/ event.

Thur., Mar. 29, 7 p.m., Pipe Dreams: The School to Prison Pipeline in St. Louis Screening. A look at how implicit bias contributes to the pipeline, and a way forward. Landmark Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com

Spring Bling Throw Back Reunion Party featuring Kool Mo Dee at The Ambassador. See CONCERTS for details.

in a single festival. So, over time, we have tried to create a balance by showcasing life in the city, life in rural areas, comedies about relationships, dramas about politics. Many of our movies explore universal human emotions. But we also bring to light unique challenges that different cultures or countries are grappling with today. Take, for instance, the movie “Félicité,” which has won many awards for its stars and director. It tells the very universal story of a woman’s love for her son, but some of the hurdles she must overcome are particular to Congolese society. “Samedi Cinema,”

BAYLOR

Continued from C1

the idea. Jean, an acclaimed vocalist and former member of the 90s soul duo Zhane, would sing lead. He would play drums and together they would make a jazz album.

Jean went with it, reluctantly. “I was our first hater,” Jean said. Looking back, she is thrilled that she stayed on board.

Though released as a jazz album on the independent Be A Light Records, “The Journey” incorporates R&B, soul, a bit of the blues as well. There are particularly heavy gospel influences since both Marcus and Jean are “pastor’s kids.” They both hope that the music will encourage jazz music’s original audience to gravitate back towards the art form by dispelling myths and boundaries.

“We’ve gotten so tied into these labels, R&B, Rock, Jazz,” Jean said. “They are all rooted in the fields of America, from the sweat of black bod-

a short from Senegal, really speaks to why we have this festival in the first place. It’s all about the love of film in Senegal, where there are many great emerging artists but too few places to see films. And “L’Orage Africain” parallels “Black Panther” –and reality – in that it tells the story of a resource-rich African nation threatened by exploitive corporations. Ultimately though, all of the movies share one characteristic – they are all made by talented writers, directors and actors.

DTK: As someone who is both an expert in African film and a frequent visitor to Africa, what did you think of “Black Panther”?

WTD: I loved it. The movie

captures how the media has created this false perception of Africa as rural and poor and needy. It also offers an intriguing alternative to the concepts of wealth and power. But what I really liked is how the characters represented different cultures. And the music was terrific. If you’ve been coming to our film festival, you probably were familiar with the sounds of “Black Panther.”

Washington University’s 13th Annual African Film Festival will take place from March 23-March 25 in room 100 of Brown Hall. All films are free and open to the public. For more information and a full schedule of activities, visit https://africanfilm.wustl.edu.

ies. There is a definitive thread between all these genres – it’s all rooted in black music.”

They are thrilled that the outcome for the record was a well-received love offering to the genre.

VOICE

Continued from C1

full team – and I don’t give a damn,” Clarkson said. “No one sings like that – except for, like Aretha Franklin, y’all. I was sitting her like, ‘What in the world?’ I’m hot. My body just jumped temperatures. I’m just saying that if you are on my team, I will let you fly.”

the universe” that she wanted to bless others with her gift on a grander scale. It seemed that “The Voice” audition was an answered prayer. But as they waited for their turn, she began to have second thoughts.

The 38-year-old married mother who works for The United Way and sings at her home church of Shalom Church (City of Peace) thought she might not fit the typical mold for America’s next big music sensation. “I thought, ‘I can keep doing my shows in St.

The format of the show pairs singers to perform duets and the coach picks between the two to narrow down the teams. Levine picked Tish’s competitor Rayshun LaMarr when the two sang Rufus’s “Sweet Thing.”

“I love you both equally and for you both to not be in this competition would be a crime,” Levine said.

Coaches can steal singers from other teams during the early rounds. Clarkson stepped right in and scooped Tish up. She’ll live to sing another week on “The Voice.”

“‘The Journey’ was exactly that,” Jean. “It was a process and a joyous experience of discovery creating the album. You are trying to figure it out. It was really a journey creating ‘The Journey’ and we wanted it to be a reflection of who we are, where we’ve come from and where we are trying to go.”

Clarkson went so far as to tell Keys that if she didn’t’ make it on “The Voice,” Keys could join Clarkson on tour. “Get it in writing,” Shelton said. The exchange was a wonderful way for Keys to introduce herself to the world by way of the show.

Jazz St. Louis will present The Baylor Project from March 28-March 31 at Jazz at The Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave. For more information, visit www.jazzstl.org or call (314) 571-6000.

“It was so much affirmation … and confirmation,” Keys said on the Friday after the first show aired. “When you don’t believe in yourself and you have doubts about things you are doing as an artist, and you have confirmation from this caliber of stars in the industry that you are trying to make it in – it just felt amazing. I could have just passed out.”

That moment almost never happened, because she came dangerously close to letting doubt get the better of her. When “The Voice” held auditions in St. Louis last summer, Keys had talked herself out of going through with it after waiting around with her accompaniment, Mark Harris.

Last year while sitting at her desk at work, Keys “put it in

n “Singing on that stage, I’ve been the most calm, serene and peaceful than I’ve ever been in my life.”

- Tish Haynes Keys

Louis. I get love and support here,’” Keys said. “I told Mark that we should just leave. He was like, ‘Tish, we are here. Let’s go ahead and do it.’”

She ended up making the cut and heading to Los Angeles to perform before Shelton, Clarkson, Levine and Alicia Keys (no relation to Tish Haynes Keys).

Seeking to diversify her musical style, she went with Levine as her coach and debuted as a member of his team on Monday, March 19.

“If you pray about it and ask for guidance and if it’s something that you really want to do – and it falls within God’s will for your life, He will prepare the way for you,” Tish Haynes Keys said. “All he asks from you is that leap of faith.” She’s grateful to God, her husband, Tobias Keys and their children, her family and friends – and hopes to do the city proud.

“Singing on that stage, I’ve been the most calm, serene and peaceful than I’ve ever been in my life,” Tish Haynes Keys said. “I’ve been more nervous doing Twilight Tuesdays, a show at BBs or a show at the Old Rock House than I am on a show watched by millions of people. That’s how I know this is all God’s doing.” NBC’s “The Voice” airs Monday nights at 7 p.m. CST. For More information, visit www.nbc.com/the-voice.

Jean and Marcus Baylor

Photo by Tyler Golden/NBC

Tish Hayne’s Keys with fellow “The Voice” competitor Rayshun LaMarr. The two sang Rufus’s “Sweet Thing” as a duet on the show.

Thank You for attending the 5th Annual Pastor’s Breakfast hosted by the St. Louis Regional Unbanked Task Force. We reached our goal of forging partnerships with our financial and faith based partners in order to bring financial stability to St. Louis families. Start helping families by sharing a UNIFIED MESSAGE of FAMILY FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT on Sunday, April 15, 2018.

Missouri Historical Society to host Pulitzer Prize winner

Eugene Robinson visits St. Louis April 10

By Shakia Gullette

For The St. Louis American

Even half a century later, 1968 is remembered as one of the nation’s most turbulent years. From the Civil Rights Movement to the Vietnam War, America was experiencing dramatic change. The country watched as athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in support of black power at the Mexico City Olympics and made headlines around the world. Both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. The country was splitting into two societies, separate and unequal, and erasing that division became the nation’s biggest priority.

On April 10 the Missouri Historical Society will welcome Eugene Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and a columnist for the Washington Post. He will lead a discussion commemorating the lives and legacies of King, Kennedy, and today’s Civil Rights Movement.

On April 4, 1968, the world lost a leader and a major proponent for peace when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee, as he was standing on the second floor of the Lorraine Motel. In the wake of his assassination more than 50,000 St. Louisans marched in a peaceful, eight-mile procession from the grounds of the Gateway Arch to Forest Park to honor his life. Robert F. Kennedy was campaigning in Indiana when he heard about King’s death. He urged America to come together in the name of peace and not to allow divisive rhetoric to tarnish everything that King fought and gave his life for.

“What we need in the United States,” Kennedy said, “is not division; what we need in the

On April 10 the Missouri Historical Society will welcome Eugene Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and a columnist for the Washington Post. He will lead a discussion commemorating the lives and legacies of King, Kennedy, and today’s Civil Rights Movement.

United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness; but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”

Just two short months after the murder of King, the nation was mourning the loss of yet another icon – Robert F. Kennedy.

As part of the closing week activities for #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis, Eugene Robinson will lead the discussion “A Shattered Nation: A 50-Year Retrospective of the Assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.” This engaging talk will give a historical overview of the significance of the events that took place during 1968, look at how far we have come

as a nation, and consider how much work there is left to do in pursuit of equal rights.

Please join us for an intimate breakfast reception with Robinson on Tuesday, April 10, from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. at the Missouri History Museum. Tickets for the reception are $100 per person and include reserved seats for the lecture, which will begin at 9 a.m. General admission for the lecture is $10. Reservations are required. Save your spot at mohistory.org/a-shatterednation or by calling (314) 361-9017. Visit mohistory. org or watch this space for forthcoming information about other closing week events for #1 in Civil Rights, including a book signing, a celebration of the arts, and a performance by the musicians of Freedom Arts & Education Center. Eugene Robinson writes a twice-a-week column on politics and culture, contributes to the PostPartisan blog, and hosts a weekly online chat with readers. In a three-decade career at the Post, Robinson has been a city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in Buenos Aires and London, foreign editor, and assistant managing editor in charge of the paper’s Style section. He started writing a column for the Op-Ed page in 2005. In 2009 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for “his eloquent columns on the 2008 presidential campaign that focus on the election of the first African American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture.”

Robinson is the author of “Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America” (2010), “Last Dance in Havana” (2004), and “Coal to Cream: A Black Man’s Journey Beyond Color to an Affirmation of Race” (1999). He lives with his wife and two sons in Arlington, Virginia. Biographical information courtesy of the Washington Post

Shakia Gullette is manager of Local History Initiatives at the Missouri Historical Society.

June 29, 1939 – March 8, 2018

Mikki Brewster, advocate for public health and education, passes at 78

American staff

Mary Cordelia (Mikki) Brewster, MSW, a longtime passionate advocate for public health and education in St. Louis, passed away on March 8 and services were held for her Friday, March 16 at Trinity Christian Fellowship Church, 2906 Magnolia Ave.

First trained as a nurse, she also served St. Louis through a wide variety of positions with the St. Louis Public Schools, City of St. Louis, the Missouri Foundation for Health, Washington University, the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities, the St. Louis Job Corps, and the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging.

“Mikki was a dear friend and trusted mentor to many, including me,” said Jason Q. Purnell, a professor at the Brown School and lead researcher on For the Sake of All, the benchmark study of race-based health disparities in St. Louis.

“She was also a leader who made a point to be as involved as she could in promoting health and well-being for the St. Louis community. From the Brown School at Washington University to the Missouri Foundation for Health and beyond, she was a wise, warm, and consistent presence. She will be sorely missed.”

“Mikki was a founding board member of Missouri Foundation for Health, as well as a board chair for several years, so we owe Mikki a great deal of gratitude for assisting in laying the groundwork for us to improve the health and wellbeing of those most in need,” said MFH President and CEO Bob Hughes.

“Even after her board term ended, Mikki demonstrated her long-term commitment to the health of our region by staying connected to the foundation’s efforts and serving as an advisor for our early equity work. We will definitely miss her support, advice, and wisdom.”

She was born and raised in the Mill Creek neighborhood of St. Louis. She received her earliest schooling at an all-girls school run by the Oblate Sisters of Providence. She enrolled in the Board of Education LPN Program, where she received certification through the practical nursing program. She worked as a licensed practical nurse in area hospitals, including Firmin Desloge Hospital and Jewish Hospital. Through her experiences as a nurse, she developed an interest in social work. After 12 years in nursing, she resumed her education, graduating from Webster University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She then attended the Brown School at Washington University on a public health fellowship and graduated in 1971 with a concentration in health. The Brown School later recognized her with a Distinguished Alumni Award. Following graduation,

she took a position as commissioner of Community Services for the City of St. Louis, where she worked with displaced individuals and families. She later took a position at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, serving as director of United Special Services and providing academic support to students from St. Louis city schools, then later worked for the district itself.

Brewster’s Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority sister Joan Hubbard met her when they both worked at SLPS, Hubbard in facilities management

n “She was also a leader who made a point to be as involved as she could in promoting health and well-being for the St. Louis community.”

– Jason Q. Purnell, Brown School

and Brewster in materials management. Hubbard said she will miss their friendship.

“I will also miss her commitment to community improvement, activism, making the world a better place – her dedication to that concept,” Hubbard told The American “She was ‘real good people,’ always had something to say about anybody, and once you made her friendship, she was dedicated to you.”

After retiring from the public schools as executive director of Materials Management in 1999, she was named as one of the founding board members of the Missouri Foundation for Health

in 2000 by then-Attorney General Jay Nixon. By 2002, she was serving as chairperson of the board. In her seven years with the foundation, she helped to facilitate the distribution of millions of dollars to improve the quality of life for Missourians in 84 counties and the City of St. Louis. She was an integral part of the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities and co-chaired its Disparities Elimination Advisory Committee. As chair of the Community Advisory Committee for the Master of Public Health Program at the Brown School at Washington University, she was instrumental in the creation and implementation of this degree program. She served on steering committees for the American Cancer Society, the Missouri Training and Employment Council, the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Fontbonne College and St. Louis Community College.

“She was a powerful, thoughtful leader and an exceptional role model,” said Consuelo H. Wilkins, MD, executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, who knew Brewster when she was associated with the Washington University School of Medicine. “It was truly an honor to know Mikki, to learn from her and to be nurtured by her.” Mikki Brewster was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Harold Brewster, her parents, Martha and Felix Blair and an aunt and uncle, Ethel and Paul Martin. Left to cherish her memories are stepdaughter Paula Brewster, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Donations can be made in Mikki Brewster’s memory to the Komen Foundation.

Mikki Brewster

Celebrations

George Edward Logan among St. Louis Media Hall of Fame inductees

George Edward Logan, known to radio listeners in the 1950s and 1960s as “Rocking Mr. G,” was posthumously inducted to The St. Louis Media Hall of Fame. He was one of 22 enshrined during a special gala presented by the St. Louis Media History Foundation on Saturday, March 17 at The St. Louis Center Hotel.

Mr. Logan was a graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. It was at SIUC that he met his future wife Georgia Lee McComb. The couple married and had three daughters (Sandra Logan McClung, Dr. Beverly Logan Morrison and Deborah Logan Johnson).

He began his career in Mounds, Illinois by announcing local high school basketball games. After a short stint as a school administrator in Mounds, Mr. Logan and his family moved to St. Louis. The relocation set him on the path to become one of the region’s most popular disc jockey of his day as a featured voice on KXLW and later KATZ. While at KATZ, Mr. Logan was named radio’s favorite disc jockey for two

Reunions

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont Class of 1968 will celebrate its 50-year reunion June 8-10,2018. Yes, Class ‘68 will begin Milestone celebration 6th month on 8th day. Our 2018 meetings in preparation will be held at STL County library located 7606 Natural Bridge at 1:00 p.m.. Dates are (Saturdays) February 17, March 17, April 21, May 19 and June 2. For more information call (314) 869-8312 or email bhsco1968@att.net. Pass the

word and lets celebrate!

Beaumont Class of 1973 will celebrate its 45th reunion, Aug-10-12, 2018! Banquet is Aug. 10 at Orlando’s, 2050 Dorsett Village Plaza, picnic at January Wabash Park. $100 per person includes entire weekend. Deadline is June 15! To register, contact Dr. Liz Franklin at mychoice2succeed@yahoo. com or (636)293-9553. Also, checkout BHS Class of 73 Facebook page.

Homer G. Phillips and St. Louis Municipal School of Nursing is planning an all class reunion in June 2018. Please send your name, address and telephone number to: Homer G. Phillips Nurses Alumni, Inc., P.O. Box 8033 St. Louis, Missouri 63156. McKinley Class of 1978

will celebrate its 40-year reunion July 27-29, 2018 at the Embassy Suites-Airport. For more information please contact Barbara Lindsey, Barbara_Lindsey@icloud.com or Marvin Woods, mwoods@ projectcontrolsgroup.com , (314) 647-0707.

Northwest High Class of 1978 is planning its 40-year reunion for next year. If you have any questions please contact Sly at (314) 397-0311 or email us at northwestbluedevils@78gmail. com. Check us out on Facebook Northwest High School-Class of 1978.

Northwest Class of 1979 is planning on cruising for our 40th class reunion and would love for you to join us. Date to sail is July 20, 2019. Contact Duane Daniels at 314-568-2057 or Howard Day at 414-698-4261 for further

consecutive years. During his tenure as a radio personality, Mr. Logan was very active in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1957, he traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas to cover the desegregation of Central High School – historically known as The Little Rock Nine.

Mr. Logan was admired most for the way he conducted his gospel and spiritual show entitled “Lest We Forget.” During the program, which aired on Sundays, he read inspirational poems that he often wrote himself. “When he played gospel and read those poems, I tell you the whole town stood still,” late local radio legend Lou “Fatha” Thimes once said of Logan.

After several years on air, Mr. Logan transitioned from radio to become assistant director for HDC’S Head Start Program. He also worked as a program coordinator with PROJECT EARN for senior citizens at the Jewish Employment and Vocational Service Center.

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, 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 2315 Pine St. St. Louis, MO 63103

information. Please don’t miss the boat!

Soldan Class of 1978 is planning their 40th class reunion. The dates are June 1, 2 and 3. For more information: call (314) 413-9088.

Sumner Alumni Association hosts its 15th Annual Membership Round-Up Sunday, February 25, 2018, 1-4 pm at Sumner High School with Theme “Showcase Your Talent”. Contact B. Louis at (314) 385-9843 or email: sumneralumniassn@yahoo. com or to Showcase Your Talent (provide contact info and your talent). J. House, Chairperson (314) 420-3442.

Sumner High School Class of 1973 will have its 45th year class reunion the weekend of June 7-June 9, 2018. More info to follow

outlining the details. If you did not receive a newsletter in January, please contact Marsha Joseph-Williams (314-6068701) or Dorris SimmonsMcGhaw(314-541-2462) or you can inbox Sid S. Shurn or Dorris on Facebook.

University City Class of 1978 will hold its 40th reunion May 25-27, 2018. For more information please email ucityhs1978@gmail.com

Vashon Classes of 1974, 1975 and 1976 present: Three Classes Under One Roof! Saturday, April 7, 2018, 7 p.m. until 12 a.m. at the Polish Heritage Center, 1413 North 20th St., St. Louis, MO 63106. For tickets or additional information, call: Jordan Perry ‘74 (314) 724-4563, Elvis Hopson ‘75 (314) 660-1784 or Anthony Arnold ‘76 (314) 677-5667.

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, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 63103

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

Swag Snap of the Week

High school spirit and old school hip-hop. That’s right, dust your class shirts off and get ready to kick it with an old-school hip hop pro for the All Class Spring Bling Throw Back Reunion Party featuring Kool Mo Dee that goes down at the Ambassador Saturday night (March 24). The party starts at 8 p.m. and word on the street is that it’s gonna be “off the chain” (old slang for old school party). Oh, and the alumni with the biggest school turnout gets a free party. Am I the only one who feels like Normandy should be ineligible? I’m sorry, but they rep so hard and roll so deep among the old school that no one else ever has a chance! Any party targeted from the late 1970s – early 1990s, and The Vikings have it on lock. I wonder who would win a school spirit challenge between them and the late 40s to early 80s of the Sumner Bulldogs? I can’t call it. If you think your alma mater has a chance to dethrone the kings of school spirit crunk, stop through and prove me wrong. To purchase tickets, go to www.paypal.me/2josent

Late of Emergency. Thank the Lawd that the Chaifetz Arena now has free Wi-Fi. Otherwise I would not be able to report to you live from the State of Emergency V: The Final Chapter. Okay, maybe I’m not still there, but the concert took tardiness to a new level. It was a good show, but it lost major points when it barely started before 10 p.m., even though 7 p.m. was printed on the ticket. Once the show got rolling, it rolled – but it stayed on pause for more than a minute! LA4$$ can use plenty of fine tuning as far as his stage presence, but it’s clear from the audience’s reaction to him that he is a star. And he’s such a little cutie too. The Migos found the rest of their show they seemed to have forgotten when they came to Chaifetz towards the end of last year for The Resolution. Boosie closed things out. He did this thing, but came out looking straight outta St. Olaf with a Rose Nylund (yes, of “The Golden Girls”) pastel wind suit. I’m not saying he’s any less of a savage, but that shuffleboard realness was an unexpected style choice to say the least. The show started when it felt like it, but I’ll give it to S.L.I.M. for keeping the folks until it was over.

A Lyfe well performed. I must say that except for when he called the ladies to come up front for the sake of his energy and got bothered when the club owners shut that down, Lyfe Jennings was on his best behavior when he came to the Ambassador Friday night. Lyfe, if you want to have the ladies up front for your show, pay for them to upgrade to VIP before the people who like to sit down and relax buy up all the booths. Okay, let me get on with the good news. He put on a solid show that was a decent length and started at a decent hour. Shout out to Quita of Pangs Play Events for pulling this off on your first show! Okay, on to the performance. There were a few wayward high notes in my opinion, but his nasally vibrato vocals have never really been my cup of tea. The girls got life (get it), so let me stop now before I get accused of hating. I have a feeling that the couple I saw come in at 10:30 only to find out that the show was over must have been at the State of Emergency and the boyfriend just knew that showing up after ten would put them right on time. If y’all could have seen that epic eye roll/side-eye combo that girlfriend gave when she saw Lyfe giving his goodbyes – listen – that car ride home probably ended their relationship.

Sensational Sommore saves festival of recycled jokes. Maybe because I had such an appreciation for how smoothly things ran as far as the rotation of the show, I can say that I really did enjoy myself at the latest Festival of Laughs Saturday night at Chaifetz Arena. Yes, Tommy Davidson did the exact same – word for word – bit as last year. Bruce Bruce and Tony Rock had more old than new, but what I liked, I really liked. And more than anything, it was Sommore. She gets an MVP for always keeping it fresh no matter how wilted the rest of the acts are. When she said that “Black Panther” brought in $240M and only $200 in concessions (I really don’t have to waste the space on why, do I?) I was on life support. And doesn’t she stay killing it with the shoe game? Earthquake had me dying when he said that his mama had 10 kids, but made half of them pretend to be cousins so she could hook a man. George Wallace had me hollering, mainly because he was the only new face on the tour, but partly because I loved his classic comedy delivery style. I was disappointed in Tony, because y’all know I ride for him. But not as let down as I was by my seats. I don’t know what I need to do to get back in a decent section to review shows. If had decided to jump down to get a decent view of the stage, you would be reading my obituary right now.

A pro does the legends. Because I was at the Comedy show cackling my heart out at Sommore and her esteemed joke recyclers, I caught the tail end of Will Robinson’s tribute to some of his favorite R&B legends Saturday at The Gallery by Troy. I came in just as he was slaying “Purple Rain.” I hate I missed the rest, but guests were quick to offer me their rave reviews.

Pardon me Luv. Lucha was all the way lit for the latest installment of Hey Luv Saturday night. I said “excuse me” so many times that I didn’t feel like making causal conversation. You know a party is crackin’ when you only have room to dance if you hold your arms in the air.

A Noble Night of Soul Searching. I also caught the last sip of the monthly third Sunday set, A Night of Soul Searching, at the new Aromas (formerly known as Rustic Goat/Patois). I’m sorry I missed everybody else, but Gene Noble – and the sickening group of musicians that backed him on the fly – gave me everything I needed. He sang all the notes and does all the runs, but it still worked. Especially his

on Daniel Caesar’s “Get You.” I always thought I would love that song with some more stank and soul on it. Turns out I was right!

take

Rebeka, Dationa and Lady Ashley dropped in to catch the storytellers take a stab at the theme “You Had One Job” Tuesday @ UrbArts

Louisiana trap music veteran Boosie and rising STL rap star LA4$$ @ State of Emergency Wednesday night @ Chaifetz Arena

Sundays were made for soul music & soul food, so Val and Thad stopped by Aromas to see what was cooking & who was singing

The band RootMod held it down with new music and old school covers @Last Call on The Landing Sunday

Will Robinson thanked his Mother Deborah for her support following his performance Saturday night @ The Gallery by Troy

DaVyne Truth was in MOOD as Mistro Freeyo celebrated his Born Day and Slo Down slid thru on the low for 314Day Wednesday night

Candace and Kathy knew with out a doubt that HEY LUV @ Lucha would be lit Saturday night

Featured R&B vocalists BJ Mood Swing and JL each had their time to shine @ A Night of Soul Searching Sunday @ Aromas

Jana and Lat ’Anna after a dance off during HEY LUV Saturday @ Lucha

Quita of Pangs Play Events was excited and nervous all at the same time as she hosted her first concert. The show featured national recording artist Lyfe Jennings, at The Ambassador Friday and went off without a hitch.

Photos by V. Lang

Ieasha and David represented for St. Patrick’s Day while checking out SomethinBlue Saturday @ The Gallery by Troy

Coordinator for Ascend STL, Inc. is responsible for identifying and recruiting new property owners in High Opportunity Areas for the Mobility Connection program and to connect families with vouchers to property owners. Must be skilled in written and verbal communications, able to interact with Housing Authority staff, landlords, and participants, and must be a self-starter who enjoys operating independently. This position and the Mobility Connection program are funded for a specified period; the continuation of employment shall be contingent upon the continued availability of funds for this position and/or program. Fringe benefits include employer paid health and dental insurance for the employee and 8% of the employee’s bi-weekly salary contributed to an IRA under a Simplified Employee Pension Plan. Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, Business and/ or Public Administration or related field or 3 plus years of previous experience working with clients or tenants with Housing Choice Vouchers. Salary $40,000 - $45,000 Annually. Apply or send resume to: St. Louis Housing Authority, HR Division, 3520 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63106 by 5pm April 6, 2018 or via email to athomas@slha.org. A Drug Free Work Place/EOE.

FIREFIGHTER/ PARAMEDIC

Maryland Heights Fire Protection District is accepting applications for the position of Firefighter/ Paramedic. Qualification and requirement packets may be picked up from District Headquarters at 2600 Schuetz Road Maryland Heights, MO 63043 beginning March 19, 2018 through April 2, 2018 between 09:00am and 3:00pm Monday-Thursday. Completed packets must be turned in no later than 03:00pm on April 2, 2018. Maryland Heights Fire Protection District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

MECHANICS

Mehlville Fire Protection District is accepting applications for the position of Fire Master Mechanic Starting $60,000 - $72,000 Required/Preferred: Heavy Equipment Technology; ASE T1through T8 Heavy Equipment

$100,000 Annual Pay and Benefit Package Benefits include health/dental/vision insurance, pension, tuition reimbursement, 12 days PTO/year, 8 paid holidays, 1-5 weeks vacation with seniority, life & disability, uniform allowance, generous wellness benefits Applications accepted March 15 – April 27, 2018, weekdays between 8am and 4:30pm at Headquarters, 11020 Mueller Rd. 63123. Pick up application packet at Headquarters or download at www.mehlvillefire.com. Equal Opportunity Employer.

Administrative Support Specialist (CDA)

Primary

STUDENT ACCOUNTS COORDINATOR

Webster University has a position available for a Student Accounts Coordinator. Please visit our website at https://webster. peopleadmin.com/ for a complete job description. No phone calls please. We are proud to be an equal opportunity affirmative action employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN

We are looking for an experienced maintenance technician to join our facilities team at the YWCA Metro St. Louis. The ideal candidate will have experience with the following: Previous work experience with repair/ replace or install plumbing, electrical, construction and HVAC systems; ability to asses system problems and make necessary repairs; perform inspections, monitor and open/close buildings as assigned; be available for the 24/7 on call emergency rotation; assure all YWCA premises are safe secure and clean; knowledge of electrical, mechanical and various HVAC systems; ability work with hand and power tools; Must be able to lift up to 70lbs; High School Diploma or equivalent required; Technical or vocational school in HVAC Qualified candidates please submit application and resume at: www.ywcastlouis.org

ST. LOUIS LIVING WAGE ORDINANCE

LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT BULLETIN

NOTICE OF ST. LOUIS LIVING WAGE RATES EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2018

In accordance with Ordinance No. 65597, the St. Louis Living Wage Ordinance (“Ordinance”) and the Regulations associated therewith, the City Compliance Official for the City of St. Louis has determined that the

1)

is $12.99 per hour (130% of the federal poverty level income guide line for a family of three); and

2) Where health benefits as defined in the Ordinance are not provided to the employee, the living wage rate is $17.40 per hour (130% of the federal poverty level income guide line for a family of three, plus fringe benefit rates as de fined in the Ordinance).

3) Wages required under Chapter 6.20 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis: $4.41 per hour. These rates are based upon federal poverty level income guidelines as defined in the Ordinance and these rates are effective as of APRIL 1, 2018. These rates will be further adjusted periodically when the federal poverty level income guideline is adjusted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or pursuant to Chapter 6.20 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis. The Ordinance applies to employers who are covered by the Ordinance as defined in the Ordinance, where the contract or grant is entered into or renewed after the effective date of the Ordinance, which is November 3, 2002. A copy of the Ordinance may be viewed online at www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/city-laws/ordinances/ordinance.cfm?ord=65597 or obtained from:

City Compliance Official c/o St. Louis Airport Authority St. Louis, Missouri (314) 426-8111

SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY ACCEPTING SEALED BIDS

Notice to contractors, Special School District is accepting bids for Nurse Clinic Renovations. For details, please visit the website at www.ssdmo.org/rfps.html

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: LAGOON MOWING, SAMPLING & ANALYSIS 2018. BOONE CONSULTING was used for this service. Any inquiries should be sent to gjamison@stlmsd.com.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: Testing of Force Main. The District is proposing single source procurement for this with PURE TECHNOLOGIES. Any inquiries should be sent to ltreat@stlmsd.com.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement

Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is proposing to procure: Testing of Force Main Inspection - Bullet. The District is proposing single source procurement for this with ACE PIPE CLEANING. Any inquiries should be sent to ltreat@stlmsd.com.

Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). ). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 20, 2018, at 10:00 AM in the Training Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044. All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www. stl-bps.org (Announcements).

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Heartland Regional Investment Fund, LLC (“HRIF”) is a registered Community Development Entity (“CDE”) and is staffed by the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (the “Partnership”). HRIF solicits proposals from qualified consultants to provide access to New Markets Tax Credit (“NMTC”) software, to ensure HRIF remains compliant with all NMTC regulations, and to administer HRIF’s active sub-CDEs.

To be considered, proposals must be received no later than 3:00 PM on Thursday, April 12, 2018. Proposals may be sent to 7733 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 2200, St. Louis, MO 63105, Attn: Howl Bean II, or by e-mail to hbean@stlpartnership. com. DBE, MBE, and WBE firms are encouraged to bid.

The Request for Proposals may be obtained from the Partnership’s web site at www.stlpartnership.com. HRIF reserves the right to reject any or all proposals and to waive informalities therein. Questions should be directed to Howl Bean II at (314) 615-7663 or hbean@stlpartnership.com.

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership Equal Opportunity Employer

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Collinsville Great Streets Project

East-West Gateway has issued 4 RFPs seeking submittals from consultants to provide planning services for the Collinsville, IL Great Streets project. The planning work will include: an economic assessment, an environmental infrastructure analysis, a transportation analysis, and urban design. Submittals are due no later than 1:00 p.m. on April 9, 2018. Submittal details and specifications can be obtained at www.ewgateway.org or by calling 314-421-4220 ext. 263.

PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC HOUSING WAIT LIST OPENING

Arlington Grove will accept pre-applications online at www.slha.org for 2 & 3 bedroom units beginning March 20, 2018 at 8:00 A.M. closing March 21, 2018 at 12:00 A.M. Applicants with disabilities that need assistance in completing an online application or who do not have access to a computer can be accommodated at 5547 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., St. Louis, MO 63112 or SLHA Corporate Office located at 3520 page from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on March 20-21, 2018.

SEEKING BIDS

Great Rivers Greenway is seeking bids for a 48 foot trench drain in Trojan Park. Check https://greatriversgreenway.org/ jobs-bids/ and submit by April 2, 2018.

INVITATION FOR EQUIPMENT BIDS

East-West Gateway Council of Governments is seeking bids for GPS units, portable gateway repeater devices, crisis response throw phones, automated license plate reader cameras and PAN disrupters. Bids are due March 28, 2018. Funding provided by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. MBEs / WBEs are encouraged to submit bids. Find details at www.ewgateway.org or by calling 314-421-4220 ext. 208.

METROPOLITAN

For details, please visit the website at www.ssdmo.org/rfps.html

Troop CService Center, Park Hills, Missouri, Project No. R1601-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 3/22/2018. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

will

State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 3/22/2018. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to: http://oa.mo. gov/ facilities

Specifications and bid forms may be obtained from the Manager’s office at the above address, or by calling (314) 539-5015.

An Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS

Public Notice of Single Source Procurement Notice is hereby given that

Advertised

&

July 3, 1924 – February 19, 2018

Rev. William Collins Jr. passes at 93

Longtime senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church

By Ben Holden For The St. Louis American

The Reverend Dr. William Collins Jr., beloved, respected, and admired pastor emeritus of The Antioch Baptist Church in St. Louis, died on Monday, February 19, 2018 at the age of 93. He was senior pastor of the historic Antioch Baptist Church in St. Louis for 44 years, from 1961 through 2005. Antioch Baptist Church, incorporated in 1884, is one of the oldest Protestant churches in the Ville neighborhood of North St. Louis.

Throughout his ministry, Rev. Collins was considered the dean of black preachers in the city of St. Louis and served as a mentor and role model to many preachers in the area by opening his pulpit to them and offering them advice and words of wisdom based upon his substantial ministerial experience.

Dr. Collins held a Doctor of Philosophy degree from St. Louis University, a Master of Education from the University of Rochester, a Master of Divinity from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Science from St. Louis University. He also proudly served in the United States Army during World War II, achieving the rank of sergeant. After the war, he returned to his native Missouri and participated in sitins to protest segregation in the

St. Louis area as a leader of the Congress of Racial Equality, also known as CORE. In his youth, Collins earned high academic honors and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He was very involved in his community, serving as president of the Board of Trustees of St. Louis Community College, board member of Eden Theological Seminary, board member of the Danforth Foundation, member of the Municipal Nurses Advisory Board, supporter of the Black Nurses Association, board member of the Annie Malone Children’s Home, and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

His denomination service included both the National Baptist Church and the American Baptist Church, where he served as a general board member and was actively involved in the Black Caucus as well as the International Ministries Task Force.

He also taught at St. Louis University and Eden Theological Seminary.

Dr. Collins spent the early years of his retirement in St. Louis. He then moved to Kissimmee, Florida and later to Idaho Falls, Idaho. He was a man of great faith who served the Lord in all he did.

Dr. Collins loved his family and the St. Louis baseball Cardinals, following the team closely even after he moved to Idaho in 2012. One of his fondest memories was returning to St. Louis in 2014 for his 90th birthday celebration and being honored to throw a celebratory first pitch at the Cardinals baseball game.

William Collins Jr. was born July 3, 1924 to Rosetta and

Pastor to be installed at Children of Light Tabernacle COGIC

The public is invited to join the James Lee Ward Sr. District of Eastern Missouri First Jurisdiction for the pastoral Installation of Pastor Keith Strickland at Children of Light Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, 3332 Edmundson Rd. at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, March 25. Auxiliary Bishop Melvin J. Smith is officiant. Phone Pastor Strickland at 314-479-9602 for more information.

William Collins Sr. in St. Louis.

He is product of the St. Louis Public Schools, graduating from Divoll Elementary and Vashon High school.

His loving and devoted wife of 65 years, Margaret Elizabeth Collins, preceded him in death just four months ago. Dr. Collins leaves to cherish his memory

three children – Sylvia (Jon), Deirdre (Jerald) and William, III (Nicole); his brother Charles (Zelma); six grandchildren – Jon (Bonita), Margaret, Mark, Jerald, Quincy and Randal (Sabine); and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and other extended family members.

The Message

Faith and death

When you add the specter of death to faith, then as Christians we know the two are inextricably linked. Death holds a peculiar place in all this. Fundamental in this regard is that one must die spiritually and be reborn in the reality that Jesus overcame death, died on the cross and rose again in order for us to access eternal life as it was designed by the Father.

Faith requires an understanding and then behavior that is consistent with that understanding. Physical life and death are but a part of a process, one element of spiritual eternity. To some believers this can be confusing enough. To the non-believer, it can be an impossible barrier to overcome. For those who claim faith in the reality of Christ, facts are based on faith and not necessarily sight. That’s why the events and happenings in the real world can be distorted by the events and happenings in the faith-based existence of Christians. Death is one of those distortions. To the believer, death is life on many different levels. It is neither the beginning nor the end of anything but the continuation of an existence that has always been there.

Faith demands action from us. If you have faith that when you turn on a light switch electricity will power the bulb and illuminate a room, then your expectation and actions (rooted in faith) are different from someone who has no faith in electricity. If you have faith in God, then your view of death will be totally different from someone who doesn’t. It doesn’t make our anticipation of death any easier because real physical death is still an unknown adventure.

I’m at an age where I’m as likely to hear about someone younger than me who has passed as I am someone older. Older relatives don’t have as much time as they once did to be in my life. It has given me pause to ponder my own mortality in the face of my faith that should embrace my own immortality.

Faith is tested every day. Once established within you, then you operate by a different set of facts. Through faith, we actually believe all things are possible because God is certainly capable of doing anything. That includes overcoming death. Death then is a step closer to God. In many cultures in the world, death is cause for a celebration and that is as it should be for all Christians.

“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” Revelation2:10-11.

Columnist

James Washington

William Collins