October 25th, 2012 Edition

See story video at www.stlamerican.com

CORTEX dodges city inclusion law

First Source Jobs Policy requires job outreach to poor, unemployed

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Job creation is a buzz word in an election year. But in the African-American community which suffers from double-digit unemployment rates, it’s a perennial issue – and one that’s consistently ignored.

St. Louis City has a law on the books that requires companies who receive tax incentives to provide “permanent employment opportunities for the unemployed” and “economically disadvantaged.” But few people know about the 1987 “First

By Rebecca S.Rivas

Wiley inducted into Hall

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of The St.Louis American

Many Americans are familiar with the iconic photograph of the AME bishops laying their hands on then Senator Barack Obama and praying for him during his 2008 presidential campaign, said U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.

“But too many Americans don’t know that that was Wiley, capturing an important moment in American history,” Senator McCaskill said. This photograph is one of many that

“That’s the most amazing thing to see him with kids, capturing them at their best, always at their best.”

– Alice Roach, St.Louis Public Schools

times, came with Price’s photograph attached. “It captured not just the sentiment of the faith leaders,” Rogers said, “but there was also a senti-

hang on the wallof the Missouri Photojournalist Hall of Fame, where St. Louis American’s veteran photojournalist Wiley Price was inducted on Oct. 18. Activist Jamala Rogers recalls emails that were going out during Obama’s campaign, asking for prayers. Those emails, that went around the world many See WILEY, A8

Jason Kander

for Sec. of State faces

Voter ID proponent

By Chris King Of The St.Louis

American

St. Louis American: Tell our readers why they should care about the office of Missouri Secretary of State.

Jason Kander: The Secretary of State is the guardian of our democracy. It is the responsibility of the Secretary of State to approach the job in a way that leaves politics at the door and protects every voter in the state. I’m the only candidate in the race who has a record of being able to put politics aside.

American: Talk about your opponent’s connection to Voter ID legislation.

Jason Kander: I have been opposed to the Voter ID proposals in Missouri because they are extremely unfair, and that includes my opponent’s proposal. There are states that have a requirement to show a photo ID that doesn’t disenfranchise eligible voters. The Missouri proposals would disenfranchise eligible voters.

American: How?

Jason Kander: Aclassic example of playing politics with elections and causing real consequences is my opponent’s proposal, which would end absentee voting by mail. My opponent, Shane Schoeller, claims this was designed to stop voter fraud, yet admitted there are no cases of voter fraud on record that it would have stopped. It would keep many elderly people, and many people in urban and rural areas, from voting. This is personal to me, since I voted absentee by mail while I was serving in Afghanistan.

American: How did you serve in Afghanistan? Jason Kander: I was an intelligence officer investigating corruption in Afghani government.

Wiley Price,photojournalist of The American,was inducted into the Missouri Photojournalist Hall of Fame on October 18. He is pictured with past inductee Cliff Schiappa,retired Midwest photo editor for the Associated Press,and Missouri Press Association Executive Director Doug Crews.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Photo by Wiley Price

Stanton Lawrence

Of The St.Louis American

Fatal shooting at

Pastor Creflo Dollar’s church

According to WXIA-TV, police have confirmed that a shooting happened at Pastor Creflo Dollar’s World Changers Church International in an Atlanta suburb Wednesday morning.

Investigators told the news station that a person entered the chapel on the church’s campus and started shooting.

Fulton County Fire officials confirmed to the NBC affiliate that one person was killed. The victim was a 48-year-old church staff member, possibly a member of the production crew; the person’s name has not yet been released.

Investigators say the victim was on stage and leading a prayer when he was shot at point-blank range.

The suspect is described as a black man in his 30s, wearing a suit and tie. He fled the scene after the shooting and at press time was still at large.

Katt and Faizon’s killer comedian beef continues

Faizon Love called into the Power 99 Rise and Grind morning show to further explain what led Katt Williams to pull a gun Love and last week. He says it’s because Williams owes him $50,000.

Love called into TMZ Live Friday saying Williams pulled a gun on him at a parking lot outside Supperclub in Hollywood.

Williams was arrested that night for a possible gun violation, but was later released from custody. No charges have been filed.

When TMZ approached Williams for his side of the story, and he said:

“You telling me Faizon the actor said on TMZ That I have did what? You saying he’s a snitch. You saying he’s a bold face rat? You say that he went and told you street business…”

Love fired back at Williams through his twitter account.

“[Expletive] I’m from Emerald Hills, I never ran and I never will. The next time you pull a gun you better shoot to kill. I know I will,” Love tweeted. “Who needs to call the police

when stupid is waving a gun and 30 people are watching? Where’s the report [expletive] boy. Ain’t nobody call the police on that [expletive] crack loving, woman beating punk [expletive]. This is emerald all day.” When he called into Power 99 Rise and Grind, Love says the $50K debt stems from Love leaving their joint comedy tour because of William’s erratic behavior – which Love insists was caused by Williams having a hard time following Love on stage and aggravated by Williams’ crack use. Love says Williams continued to use his name to advertise the show – even after he’d left the tour – and that’s why Williams owes him the money.

Usher

not in harmony with ‘The Voice’?

About a month ago it was announced that Usher would be taking over mentor duties for Cee Lo Green on singing competition show “The Voice.”

According to urban entertainment and gossip blog “Straight from the A,” there has been trouble in paradise with the new trio of judges.

“[Usher’s] personality just isn’t vibing with the other judges,” an insider told the site. “I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just that

“superstar” mentality of his, but he came on the set and immediately took over. He acts like he runs things and as far as I know, he’s just a temporary cast member.”

Flavor Flav fighting to stay together with fiancée

Rapper and reality TV star Flavor Flav plans to plead not guilty to felony assault and misdemeanor domestic battery charges and wants to work it out with his fiancée.

According to police reports obtained by TMZ Flav was arrested last week after he was accused of pushing his fiancée to the ground and ripping out her earring before chasing her 17 year old son through the house with two knives during an argument over Flav’s infidelity.

Flav’s attorney reportedly confirmed after a hearing yesterday his client would be pleading not guilty and explained, “They’ve been together a long time, and they want to work this out. We want what’s best for the family.”

Flavor Flav is facing up to six years in prison if convicted of the assault charge and six months in jail on the domestic battery charge.

Rally for Obama

Sunday, Oct 28 at

Veteran’s Memorial Park in North County

By Patricia Bynes For The St. Louis American

Four years ago this time last year, you couldn’t go anywhere in St. Louis without knowing there was a presidential election taking place. Excitement, volunteerism, and energy were in the air. Neighbors were coming together to work on a common cause, to work towards electing Barack Obama to be the President of the United States. People of all ages who never were involved in politics before were engaged and active. For many, including myself, this was the first time they were following politics closely, knocking doors, making calls, donating money, hosting Obama house parties, etc. For others, many of whom also got engaged, this was the first time they were registering to vote or voting at all.

I worked the polls on November as a volunteer polling place captain from 5:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. I remember meeting an AfricanAmerican man who at 71 years old told me this was the first time in his life he was voting. While it saddened me to know that for 53 years he refused to exercise his right to vote, a right that many people literally shed blood, sweat, and tears to obtain, I was ecstatic that he was finally exercising his voice in this country. He shared with me the reason he was voting was because Barack Obama was running to be President. As a Democratic Committeewoman I feel I have a responsibility to organize, educate voters, connect them to the resources they need, help elected officials connect to voters, and remain active in the community. As a delegate who was elected to represent the 1st Congressional District of Missouri

and attended the Democratic National Convention, I feel a sense of responsibility to share that experience and education with the district. I heard my community. We still have his back.

I remember my President insist that we must organize our communities. We cannot wait on someone or an organization to do it for us. We deserve to feel the excitement and sense of community like we did four years ago. Many of us worked very hard to get him elected and are working hard to get him re-elected. While the escalating racial tension, partisan bickering, big unlimited amounts of money, naysayers, and negative ads are huge hurdles to overcome, we are doing it.

In 2008 Obama lost Missouri by only 3,903 votes. I won’t accept a defeatist attitude for my community. That is why they elected me. I hope you will come out, get energized, and not accept a defeatist attitude for your community either. This isn’t just about our President, our Democratic politics in Missouri. This is also about us, our communities, and our futures.

Join me Sunday Oct 28 from 3-5 p.m. at Veteran’s Memorial Park, 2577 Redman Road (between Highway 367 and Old Ferry road) at the Leo Wilson Shelter, for a family-friendly grassroots community rally for the President and Missouri.

CBTU vows to turn out the vote

The St. Louis Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Ernest and De Verne Calloway Awards Banquet were held on Saturday, October 13 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in downtown St. Louis. Speakers included Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay, Secretary of State candidate Jason Kander, Governor Jay Nixon’s representative Damion Trasada and state Representative Karla May. Over 250 guests were in attendance. Congressman Clay stated, “This election is about you, your families and your future, and we need to turn out in massive numbers for President Obama and the Democratic Party State Ticket.” CBTU Chapter President Lew Moye stated, “We can win Missouri for President Obama with a massive turnout from the African American Communities. Pictured: Lew Moye and Jason Kander.

Charlene Jones is HSSU Educator of the Year

Will be recognized at Emerson Excellence in Teaching Awards

American staff

Charlene Jones, assistant dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and assistant professor of political science at Harris-Stowe State University, is the university’s 2012 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Educator of the Year. HSSU faculty and students voted in favor of Jones receiving the honor.

She has served as an assistant professor at Harris-Stowe for four years. In this role, Jones teaches American Government, State and Local Politics and Urban Politics. Additionally, Jones has taught at several other higher education institutions including St. Louis Community College at Forest

Park, Tougaloo College, Saint Louis University and Lindenwood University.

During her tenure at HSSU, Jones has provided leadership and/or co-chaired several committees for the College of Arts & Sciences including the university’s Constitution Day celebration, which attracted more than 100 students. She also spearheads the College of Arts & Sciences newsletter, oversees the Student Academic Grievance Procedure and serves on the Assessment Committee.

In 2010, Jones served as consultant/ campaign manager for the St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) District successfully passing a $155 million bond issue. Funds were used by the district to construct computer and science labs, remove lead paint and open early childhood classrooms throughout the district.

Prior to joining HSSU, Jones, as the assistant superintendent for SLPS, passed 22 additional tax levy and bond issues for St. Louis Public Schools resulting in more than $500 million to St. Louis city schools. Jones is a

Louis American Foundation

of

Year award winner and has previously received the St. Louis Sentinel’s Top Educator of the Year Award. She is currently a member of the St. Louis Black Leadership Roundtable. Jones received her doctoral degree in Public Policy Analysis and Administration from Saint Louis University, her master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Colorado and her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Rockford College. Jones will be honored along with more than 100 teachers from across Missouri, at the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Awards reception at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton in November.

Charlene Jones, assistant dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and assistant professor of political science at HSSU

President Barack Obama

EdITORIAL /COMMENTARy

The American endorses ...

Despite relentless opposition from day one of his administration and the midterm loss of a Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, President Barack Obama has achieved some substantial successes. He deserves, and the country needs to have him for, another term to build on his legacy in policy and constructive change. Voters have the opportunity to elect him to his second term on Tuesday, Nov. 6. We strongly urge our community to mobilize itself and vote in large numbers and help this great man continue his work fulfilling the nation’s potential to achieve community good.

We should not dismiss his first term, which was marked by dramatic accomplishments never or seldom achieved before. Obama drove his party through unyielding opposition to pass the first meaningful health care reform in this country since the institution of Medicare and Medicaid. Protection for coverage of prior conditions and stipulating that health insurers invest a significant proportion of revenues into actual delivery of health care are two of the most progressive policy changes any modern president can claim. Obama also showed competence and daring as Commander in Chief in directing U.S. special forces through a very risky maneuver to eliminate our nation’s first-ranked enemy, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Obama’s leadership also is responsible for salvaging U.S. manufacturing in what was once a signature American industry, automobiles. Moreover, he did all of these remarkable things while being crushed by an economy that was imploded by the policies of his predecessor. The debt and economic misery inherited from George W. Bush, a two-term president, kept public confidence in Obama’s own presidency at low levels that would have paralyzed most other heads of state.

We have not mentioned the man’s race or heritage in this account of his accomplishments, because in many ways it is beside the point. In fact he is one of us, and that makes us even more proud of him and his remarkable family. Whether this communal pride in Obama or your respect for his leadership motivates you to vote on Nov. 6 and make sure that your friends and family members vote, it is essential that you do so – particularly considering the alternative, an opponent with nothing to offer but a return to the past with policies that have failed and led the nation to the brink of economic disaster.

While Missouri does not seem to be in play for an Obama victory, he has many paths to electoral success given his appeal to the country’s youth, Hispanic voters and women, many of whom are offended by the views on rape espoused by Romney’s pick for vice president and Romney’s own condescending views on working women and single mothers. Our vote in Missouri may not contribute to electoral college success for Obama, we do want to help deliver a sizable winning margin to his national vote total to send a message to Congress. His reelection is urgently needed so he can continue the progress he has begun to restore the country’s economic health and the pursuit of social justice and equality. We strongly and with great pride and a sense of appreciation for the change he has led – which benefits the “47 percent” that his opponent, Mitt Romney, berates and speaks about in a disrespectful and contemptuous way – endorse BARACK OBAMA FOR U.S. PRESIdENT

U.S. Claire McCaskill has proven to be a consummate politician as a Democrat in a “red state,” steering a moderate course that attempts to forge a viable consensus while remaining responsive – often privately – to leaders in her party. Though we would not have made every decision McCaskill made on issues of concern, we always have understood why she made them and appreciate her need to get elected in a state with determined, hostile Republican opposition that has spent millions to defeat her. Her opponent, Todd Akin, has his base in the most reactionary backwaters of a benighted Republican Party, as the world learned when he expressed the astonishing opinion that victims of “legitimate rape” had secret powers to void a pregnancy created by a rapist without undergoing an abortion. We may be horrified by Akin’s ignorance, but we must respect the power of his evangelical base, which shares or willfully overlooks his backward thinking, and they can be expected to vote for Akin in large numbers. We think McCaskill deserves another term in the U.S. Senate for her steady leadership in trying times and her support of President Obama on issues of critical concern, such as health care reform. Moreover, preventing a profoundly ignorant man like Todd Akin from being elected to the U.S. Senate places McCaskill’s campaign in a special category of importance that verges on crisis. Our community must vote for her in large numbers – every ballot an African American in Missouri marks for Obama must be marked for her as well. We strongly endorse CLAIRE MCCASKILL FOR U.S. SENATE.

U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay faces only nominal opposition on Nov. 6 after a crushing primary victory over a misguided and overmatched Russ Carnahan, but don’t forget he is on the ballot if you live in the 1st Congressional District. We strongly endorse WM. LACy CLAy FOR U.S. CONGRESS

The Missouri Secretary of State is the state’s chief election official, which makes it necessarily an office of special interest to African Americans, who fought and died for the franchise and who wield more political leverage, overall, than we do economic power. The 21st Century Republican Party, fighting a losing battle with demographics in a country that gets younger and more brown, has realized that disenfranchisement of minorities and very young and very old voters is critical to the

electoral success of their statewide and national candidates. Moreover, in Missouri, Republicans have seized upon confusing ballot initiatives as a way to pursue policy changes they fail to push through the Legislature where constituents can hold officials accountable.

For these reasons, Secretary of State is a very key office for a Democrat to hold in Missouri. Missouri Democrats have a very good candidate in former state Rep. Jason Kander. He has led the effort to properly fund a disparity study to guide the state in fairly awarding contacts to minority- and women-owned businesses, and enjoys strong support from his former colleagues in the Legislature, including Tishaura O. Jones, Chris Carter and Steve Webb. Most importantly, he faces a Republican opponent who has been soaked with funding by billionaire Rex Sinquefield and is literally touring the state now to push a Voter ID proposal designed by Republicans to disenfranchise the demographic groups that largely vote Democratic, including African Americans. African Americans must help elect Kander if we want free and fair elections in Missouri and a fair and proper use of the ballot amendment process. We endorse JASON KANdER FOR SECRETARy OF STATE.

Governor Jay Nixon is not one of us, as his actions have repeatedly shown. Indeed, he hardly is even a Democrat, as he runs to the right on many issues and does next to nothing to lead and strengthen the state Democratic Party. However, he has shown support for some of our important concerns that would not come from his Republican opponent, who makes “birther”-like public comments about Obama. Nixon has been willing to do some important and progressive things that align with our values and concerns. He vetoed several pieces of legislation that were anathema to our community and appointed the second African American in Missouri history (Judge George Draper) to the state’s Supreme Court. Nixon would be an almost classic Republican governor in many states, but in Missouri he is our best choice for governor in 2012. We endorse JAy NIXON FOR GOVERNOR

Susan Montee was a competent and fair State Auditor, which left her with one of the most extensive bases of knowledge of Missouri state government, especially about its weaknesses. She could do a great amount of good as Lieutenant Governor in reorienting a potentially productive office – that has become a political shop – so that it actually advocates for seniors and veterans, as charged. She also would bring Democratic leadership to the Missouri Senate, where a Republican super-majority currently holds the business of the people virtually hostage. Even with a good Republican opponent, Montee would be a strong candidate for this office. But her opponent, Republican incumbent Peter Kinder, has become a very bad candidate. He has used his office to demonize President Obama’s health care reform program, doing no good whatsoever for the state of Missouri and its citizens – doing nothing but burnishing his image with the right wing of his own party, where he faced a tough and dangerous primary opponent. Kinder courted the black vote in St. Louis in 2008, going so far as to countenance “Obama/Kinder” signs, but he has insulted the President and attacked his policies without purpose ever since he took office. Voters need to send him home, and African-American support of Susan Montee is needed to make that happen. We strongly endorse SUSAN MONTEE FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Chris Koster took office as Missouri Attorney General with the reputation of being merely a political opportunist, so it has been a welcome surprise to see him staff a competent office and do excellent work on behalf of the people who elected him. Koster lost his AfricanAmerican chief of staff Robert Kenney to a better opportunity early in his term and he has been notably distant from the black community since, but overall he has been a competent elected official in a key statewide office. As we have occasion to say over and over in judging the statewide campaigns in 2012, Koster would merit reelection even if the Republican Party had nominated a competent centrist opponent. But in fact, Koster faces an opponent whom Todd Akin unseated as the most willfully ignorant and dangerous Republican operating on a statewide stage in Missouri. Ed Martin served as chief of staff for the woeful Matt Blunt administration, where he repeatedly embarrassed the Governor’s Office with outrageous emails targeting a staffer and spewing horrific opinions about Mexican workers in Missouri. Martin next ran an inept, hateful Swift Boat-style ad campaign against Barack Obama in 2008 and has had little to say against Koster other than branding him as “Obama’s lawyer.” (If only that were true; in fact, Koster has sat on the fence on divisive issues when Republican state attorneys general have targeted the President or his policies.) Ed Martin serving as Missouri Attorney General is exactly as horrific a thought as a President Romney, Senator Akin, Secretary of State Schoeller or reelected Lieutenant Governor Kinder. But Martin has riled up the activist base of his party, and though Koster has not done the corresponding work to engage his entire base, he deserves our support against this offensive opponent. We endorse CHRIS KOSTER FOR ATTORNEy GENERAL

Tishaura O. Jones faces only nominal opposition on Nov. 6 after a remarkable primary victory in a challenging four-way race, but this is her first general election for citywide office and city voters should let her know how welcome she is. We strongly endorse TISHAURA O. JONES FOR ST. LOUIS TREASURER

School lunches and ‘the welfare of children’

Every parent’s dream is that big things happen for their kids. It’s every parent’s nightmare to come on hard times and struggle to give their kids even the basics, like lunch money for school. Even in our highestperforming public schools, with the most committed and talented teachers, a child distracted by an empty stomach will never learn at his or her full potential.

Last week was National School Lunch Week, and I’m proud that we live in a country that ensures our young students are properly fed and struggling parents can sleep with a little more peace at night. When President Harry Truman signed into law the federal school lunch program more than 65 years ago, he knew that Missouri families, regardless of their race or where they live, sometimes find themselves stretched thin.

President Truman also understood that ensuring kids were properly fed at school was about more than just a meal. He knew that a welleducated nation was about national security. Kids who learn science, reading and math guarantee that we can stay

competitive in an increasingly global economy.

President Truman believed, as I do, that it’s only right for the federal government to have a role in ensuring that all students are properly fed and prepared to learn. That has never been a controversial notion, and it’s why nearly 650,000 young people in Missouri utilized the federal school meal programs last year.

That’s nearly 50 percent of Missouri’s students. In some schools, four in every five children are eligible for free or reduced school lunches.

Many of these students come from families with parents who work two and three jobs. Their parents struggle just as much with accepting this help as they struggle with having to miss a soccer game to pick up another shift at work. This economy has not been easy, but Americans have always come together to ensure our kids are the ones who suffer the least.

This shouldn’t be a difficult or partisan issue, and historically it hasn’t been, except for a small handful of extreme politicians. In 2004, for example, only five members of the House of Representatives, out of 435, voted against the legislation to continue federal support for school meals. One of them was my opponent Todd Akin.

Letters to the editor

The joys of early voting

I love early voting. I wish they wouldn’t call it absentee voting because the word implies that early voting is only for people who can’t make it on election day..

What I like about early voting is that I can take my time voting in my own home. I can sit there with my laptop and do research online while I’m voting. I already know who I’m voting for president, but when it comes to the ballot issues I need time to think those through. There are also lesser candidates like judges and school board members running who I don’t know it allows me the time to make a good choice.

When I vote at the polls I feel like I need to hurry up and get done so that the people in line aren’t waiting on me. I also have to skip the elections where I have no idea who these people are. Voting at home actually helps those who vote at the polls because I’m one less person in line to hold up everyone else.

And if you are in an area where there are long slow lines, voting at home might allow someone else a chance to vote at the polls because that’s just one less person standing in line. It is also good for the county clerk’s office because they can start counting the early votes at the beginning of election day and will have less ballots to count after the polls close. That gets the results out there sooner so we can all know who won.

So I encourage everyone out there - if you never voted early - try it. Once you try it you’ll be amazed like I was.

Marc Perkel Gilroy,

CA

Vote yES on Prop B

With less than three weeks until Election Day, Proposition B is building momentum and gaining support.

We need you to help your neighbors, friends and family understand how important their yes vote for Prop B is for our kids’ future and the future of our state. By increasing the tax to $.90 per pack on cigarettes (a 73 cent

This election for US Senate in Missouri comes down to priorities for the federal government.

Todd Akin has explicitly said that he believes the federal government should have no role in education – none. He said that the Department of Education should be abolished and he compared federal student loans to a “stage three cancer of socialism.” I wholeheartedly disagree. Unlike Todd Akin, I believe it’s fundamentally wrong to deprive students of every single chance we can give them to succeed. As President Truman said, “Nothing is more important in our national life than the welfare of our children, and proper nourishment comes first in attaining this welfare.” I know struggling families who have simply fallen on hard times want just that: for their kids to have a shot at success. Every parent in America who puts their son or daughter on the school bus prays that they come home just a little more engaged in their studies, curious about the world around them, and dreaming of something big in life. That’s the dream I’ll keep fighting to protect, for Missouri’s parents and their children, as hard as I know how.

McCaskill faces Akin for U.S. Senate on the Nov. 6 ballot.

All letters are edited for

increase) and increasing the tax on other tobacco products, the proposed ballot initiative will generate at least $283 million in new revenue for education and health services for Missourians. Prop B includes important safeguards to ensure that revenue is spent as voters intend, including regular public audits and ballot language that ensures that this money will add to existing funding. Prop B also establishes the Health and Education Trust Fund so that revenue goes directly to education and tobacco prevention/cessation.

At 17 cents a pack, Missouri’s cigarette tax is dead last among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. That’s embarrassing. And foolish. A state that can’t afford to adequately fund schools and services is subsidizing an expensive habit with the nation’s lowest tobacco tax.

Amy Blouin Missouri Budget Project

Christianity in action

Mitt Romney says he’ll dump Obama Care (the Affordable Care Act) his first day as president. Christians take heed! Remember the Parable of the Good Samaritan. ObamaCare is Christianity in action. Aren’t those shrill voices from the far right calling for a Christian America? If those folks and their supporters are true to their Christina faith, they’ll follow the teachings of Christ, embrace the ACA and fervently call for its enhancement.

And they certainly won’t vote for Mitt Romney!

Michael K. Broughton Green Park

Help in getting the word out

Thank you for the note in the Business Briefs section about the Black Alumni Council of Washington University’s “Entrepreneurship in Challenging Economic Time” forum. It was an excellent event and very well attended.

We appreciate your help in getting the word out. Thank you for the mention and for being such a valuable asset to the St. Louis community.

Craig Fowler St. Louis

Guest Columnist Sen. Claire McCaskill

Poetry contest forESL students

The Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club and the ESL(IL) Community College Center will sponsor a poetry contest for local high school students. The contest will launch the celebration of SIUE Professor Emeritus Eugene B. Redmond’s 75th birthday, which is Dec. 1. Professor Redmond, a native of ESL, has been the city’s poet laureate since 1976.

Submission deadline is Thursday, Oct. 31. Students may enter as many as THREE original, previously unpublished poems. Poems MUST be “kwansabas” and MUSTbe about a native of the ESL, living or dead.

The kwansaba, a 49-word poetic form invented by EBR in 1995, consists of seven lines of seven words each, with each word containing between one and seven letters. Exceptions to the seven-letter rule are proper nouns and some foreign terms. The poems may be submitted electronically to Treasure.Redmond@swic.edu. They can also be sent to the following address: Treasure Shields Redmond 601 J. R. Thompson Blvd., Office 1021B, East St. Louis, IL62201. Mailed entries should have no names on the poems themselves; contestants’names should be written on a cover sheet along with titles.

Winners will be chosen by judges from the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club. The winners will take home Barnes and Noble gift cards ($75, $50, $25 for the top three winners) and their work will be featured at a public event and reading to be held at the East St. Louis Higher Education Center campus Learning Center on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at noon. The reading will also feature master poets Michael Castro, Shirley Leflore and K. Curtis Lyle.

For more information about the kwansaba, Eugene B. Redmond’s work or the Writers Club, you may email Treasure Shields Redmond at Treasure.Redmond@swic.edu or call her at 618-874-8708. To reach the Writers Club: 618 650-3991; email: eredmon@siue.edu; website: http://www.EugeneBRedmond.com/.

Gumbo fete for Mama Lisa

Guess who turned 50? Mama Lisa enjoyed an awesome showing of love from friends and family on September 29 at the Omega Center.A mass of well-wishers gathered to enjoy a unique Afrikarib Kulture Explosion including a live performing birthday card from local and international performing artists.A serenade by drummer Weedie Braimah paid homage to the ancestors,while a dance jubilee by Grupo Atlantico added Columbian flair.Tasty foods by Nezzie’s Caribbean Cuisine,Tam Tam African Cuisine and Keith’s Catering delighted palates as Buddy the Hobo clown entertained children and Nonstop Reggae grooved with the adults.Guests seated in villages and adorned in African attire mingled at the marketplace among merchants showcasing more motherland wares by Afrocentric Fashions and Shamboki of Kenya.Mama Lisa thanked all in attendance who have inspired her to surely give 50 more years of commitment and dedication to culture in St.Louis.

Youth and Family Center host open house Nov. 1

On Thurs., November 1 at 10 a.m., community leaders, corporate executives and elected officials will meet at The Youth and Family Center for an Open House event to dedicate its new home at the former Cochran Community Center.

Located at 818 Cass Avenue in the Downtown Columbus Square Neighborhood, just north of the Edward Jones Dome, the facility was constructed by the Federal Housing Authority in the 80’s and operated by the City Recreation Department to support the Cochran Public Housing High Rise Developments. The center’s boxing program played host to a number of well known St. Louis natives such as Michael and Leon Spinks, both former Heavyweight Champions.

Over the years the community underwent transition. In the 2000s, the high rise buildings began to give way to new, modern and mixed-income housing developments while the center was left idling into disrepair. In 2011, the Youth and Family Center acquired the facility from the Saint Louis City Development Corporation and began a restoration project. For more information, contact Sameta Carpenter at 314-231-1147 or www.theyfc.org.

Understanding the ballot issues

By State Sen.Shalonn “Kiki”Curls Guest Columnist

On Nov. 6, voters in Missouri will be asked to consider an amendment to the Missouri Constitution and three propositions in addition to selecting candidates for state and local offices. As a Missouri State Senator, I am offering this information explaining the ballot issues in plain English. I am not encouraging you to vote for or against any of these proposals, but I strongly encourage you to cast your ballot.

Constitutional Amendment NO. 3: A“yes” vote will amend the Missouri Constitution to change the current nonpartisan selection of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges to a process that gives the governor increased authority to appoint a majority of the commission that selects these court nominees. This measure also allows the governor to appoint all lawyers to the commission by removing the requirement that the governor’s appointees be non-lawyers. A “no” vote will not change the current constitutional provisions for the nonpartisan selection of Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges.

Proposition A: A“yes” vote will amend Missouri law to allow any city not within a county (the City of St. Louis) the option of establishing a municipal police force by transferring certain obligations and control of the city’s police force from the board of police commissioners currently appointed by the governor to the city. This amendment also establishes certain procedures and requirements for governing such a municipal police force including residency, rank, salary, benefits, insurance, and pension. The amendment further prohibits retaliation against any employee of such municipal police force who reports conduct believed to be illegal to a superior, government agency, or the press. A“no” vote will not change the current Missouri law regarding St. Louis City’s police force.

Proposition B: A“yes” vote will amend Missouri law to create the Health and Education Trust Fund with proceeds from a tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products. The amount of the tax is $0.0365 per cigarette and 25 percent of the manufacturer’s invoice price for roll-your-own tobacco and 15 percent for other tobacco products. The fund proceeds will be used to reduce and prevent tobacco use and for elementary, secondary, college and university public school funding. A“no” vote will not change the current Missouri law regarding taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products or the escrow account and bonding requirements for certain tobacco product manufacturers.

Proposition E: A“yes” vote will amend Missouri law to deny individuals, families, and small businesses the ability to access affordable health care plans through a state-based health benefit exchange unless authorized by statute, initiative or referendum or through an exchange operated by the federal government as required by the federal health care act. A“no” vote will not change the current Missouri law regarding access to affordable health care plans through a state-based health benefit exchange.

State Sen. Shalonn ‘Kiki’Curls

CORTEX

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Source Jobs Policy” ordinance (60275) because it’s been waived on every TIF application since 2002, according to a NAACPstudy.

The Ballpark Village project is the only recent largescale development that has attempted to replicate the ordinance – creating an office devoted to providing job opportunities for low-income and minority residents.

Project leaders of the $650million mixed-used retail and entertainment district adopted a provision to establish a “recruitment and training program for city residents,” which is stated in the project’s agreement for state stimulus funding. To make sure they achieve their job creation goals, Ballpark project leaders also established a committee with community and construction leaders and an employment outreach office, run by the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE).

In August, another largescale project, CORTEX, applied for $158 million in tax increment financing (TIF) from the city’s TIF Commission. CORTEX, a $2.2 billion research-park development in the Central West End, did not recognize the city’s ordinance to provide employment opportunities in its TIF application.

The commission will hold a

KANDER

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When I came home and was elected as state representative, I realized there is plenty of anti-corruption work to do in Jefferson City. That is why I have fought so hard to reform campaign ethics. Our broken campaign finance laws are the true fraud in Missouri elections.

public hearing for CORTEX’s TIF application on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 8 a.m. at the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), 1520 Market, Suite 2000.

6,000 entry-level jobs

On Monday, CORTEX leaders held an informational meeting for neighborhood residents, describing the $2.2 billion, 30-year project. Dennis Lower, president and CEO of CORTEX, told residents that in a mature research park, 40 percent of the jobs are taken by high-school graduates that also have two-year degrees in community college. The next 40 percent are people with bachelor degrees, and the remaining 20 percent have masters and PhDs, he said.

However, according to CORTEX’s August TIF application, Lower estimates that the research park will create 15,730 permanent jobs throughout the 30–year development timeline. Of these, 350 will be restaurant positions, 1,450 retail/service jobs, and 350 hospitality jobs – all paying between $22,000 and $32,000 a year. The vast majority are 13,500 jobs that will be office or research related, with salaries of about $65,000.

The city’s jobs ordinance requires companies who receive city benefits to hire “entry level” applicants from a “first source” list – and that list is held by SLATE. If 40 percent of the jobs are

American: Our readers have a history of helping beat Rex Sinquefield’s candidates at the polls. Talk about the sense in which your opponent is Sinquefield’s candidate.

Jason Kander: Shane Schoeller has struggled to fundraise successfully in this campaign, and Sinquefield’s has struggled at times with ballot proposals he has sponsored, which must go through the Secretary of State. So they have teamed up. Rex

entry-level jobs, that means 6,000 jobs would fall under the ordinance. If following the ordinance, CORTEX would have to report to SLATE regarding these jobs.

Michael Holmes, executive director of SLATE who is charged with overseeing the First Source ordinance, did not return The American’s phone calls or email regarding the ordinance. Rodney Crim, executive director of SLDC, also did not return The American’s email or phone calls.

Tom Shepard, chief of staff for Board of Alderman President Lewis Reed, said, “We think that some kind of outreach program and recruitment should be a fairly reasonable thing for someone to agree to do.”

Sinquefield is now bankrolling that campaign.

American: Why would it be troubling for Sinquefield to help elect a Secretary of State?

Jason Kander: When I’m Secretary of State, I will treat everyone fairly, and that includes Mr. Sinquefield, since that’s a requirement of the job that I take seriously. But any time one of the biggest customers of an elect-

Dennis Lower, the president and CEO of CORTEX,speaks to a standingroom-only crowd at Monday night's public forum held at CORTEX headquaters in the Central West End.

Shepard said the aldermen can work on a case-by-case basis with these projects to set up appropriate job outreach programs.

Former St. Louis City Comptroller Virvus Jones said the TIF Commission and Board of Aldermen can negotiate with developers and require them to do anything they want them to do, as it relates to jobs and minority participation.

“An ordinance that requires developers to have to hire city residents when public funds are being used is a fair way to make sure that the wealth –which the city helps developers create – is distributed in an equitable way,” Jones said.

St. Louis’law also requires SLATE to report to the Board of Aldermen annually on the

ed office bankrolls a candidate for that office, voters should pay very close attention. My campaign has a broad base of 2,000 contributors, with the biggest contributor responsible for only 3 percent of my campaign funds. That’s a stark difference from Shane Schoeller and Rex Sinquefield.

American: Tell us about your African-American support.

Jason Kander: My for-

progress of how many people were employed among companies that receive tax incentives and are abiding by the law.

Since its 2002 beginning, CORTEX has created 950 jobs. However, Lower said he could not report how many minorities, women or local residents received these jobs because they are private entities.

Alderman Joe Roddy, of Ward 17 where CORTEX is located, said, “I don’t know if that information is even collectible.”

Shepard said the reporting aspect of the law is important.

“We definitely need the reporting, and we need the measurements of how that’s working,” Shepard said. “If nothing else, to establish more

mer colleagues Tishaura O. Jones and Chris Carter are close friends and have been very helpful. Steve Webb, chairman of the Black Caucus, was one of my first endorsements. I am proud to have County Executive Charlie A. Dooley’s endorsement. In Kansas City, one of my very close friends, from a long time before he ran for mayor, is Mayor Sly James. I was the first elected official anywhere to endorse Sly. On

appropriate goals for other projects.”

Permanent jobs

When community members asked about minority and small-business participation on the project, Lower said, “We commit and pledge that we will work with the city agencies and the institutions and work together to create a viable sustained long-term policy for permanent jobs as well as the construction jobs and boots on the ground and enterprises.”

However, when The American followed up about that statement, Lower did not believe that he had said “permanent jobs.”

“We will do everything we can to try to advance the discussion that began a couple years ago to providing as much access to permanent jobs,” he said. “It’s far beyond what CORTEX can do on its own.” When asked if he would be interested in establishing an employment and recruitment outreach program, such as the one at Ballpark Village, he said, “We’d be interested in looking at lots of different things. We can’t do it all but we can be part of the solution.”

Right now, he said he is focused on establishing workforce participation goals on the construction side. He would not release information about those boots on the ground goals to TheAmerican

the policy side, I have been one of the leaders in Jefferson City trying to make sure we fund a disparity study. We need to preserve some very important programs that support minority- and womenowned businesses.

Jason Kander the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State is on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Photo by Wiley Price

WILEY

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For 30 years, Price has been capturing important moments in St. Louis history as they happened, through deep trust from the community and its leaders he and his newspaper have earned.

“He’s more than a professional; he’s Wiley Price,” said retired Fire Chief Sherman George. “He’s an individual who’s involved in this community, and he wants to protect that community in the way that he understands it.”

When the highway death of Alderman Greg Carter shocked the community this year and his colleagues at the Board of Aldermen were scrambling for a photograph to print with his honorific Proclamation from the city, aldermanic President Lewis Reed knew which photograph they needed.

In its obituary coverage, The St. Louis American ran a photo of Alderman Carter visiting with his nephew Chris Carter, listening and smiling wisely. That is the image Reed needed – and hurriedly acquired – for his Proclamation.

“He’s capturedAfrican Americansin a positive light throughout our community,” Reed said. “And that has played a significant role, not only for all of us today, but also for all the kids and everyone who’s coming up now that will have that legacy to be able to look back on throughWiley Price’swork.”

LAWRENCE

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Price started as a freelance photojournalist in 1979, shooting for the St. Louis PostDispatch, The Kansas City Star, Ebony magazine and other publications. He worked school district.”

Board Vice President

for the Suburban Journals of St. Louis for five years, and for more than 25 years has been with The American “I see The American as a team effort, and there probably is no individual team member who is better known or more valued and esteemed than Wiley Price,” said Donald M. Suggs, publisher and executive editor of The American “Working at a communitybased newspaper, he’s had to be skillful and adept in many areas. He’s a community treasure as well as a treasure to The American. He’s an indispensable part of The American now and will be in addressing the challenges and opportunities of our future.”

Price has received more than 80 awards for photojournalism from state and national newspaper associations.

“I haven’t counted, but I’d be willing to bet that Wiley Price has the largest byline count of any working photojournalist in the state of Missouri,” said Mayor Francis G. Slay. “Wiley said that his professional vocation is to document the African-American community in St. Louis. He certainly has done that, but his camera has also captured the wonderful diversity of our city, in the foreground and the background of those shots.”

The community he serves

Former Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. held up a photo of himself as a young politician –one he hasn’t seen in 30 years, he said.

“This picture here sums up the beginning,” Bosley said. “I’m 27. I have braces on my teeth, and I’ve just announced that I’m running for a citywide office against a guy who is the chairman of the Democratic

William Humphrey said Lawrence will continue to lead the school district through June 30, 2013. Last month, the Missouri State Board of Education voted to strip Normandy of its

Party. He’s 68 years old, and he’s held the office for 12 years. He has $180,000 and I might have $10,000. People like Wiley Price and The American still giving me a chance – that’s the significance of this photo.”

When most media outlets skip over events in the African-American community, Price arrives and always gets the shot, Bosley said.

Activist Percy Green II said that at every protest or important action, Price has been on the scene capturing expressions – some of horror and some of triumph.

“These are the types of things that are important when the observer looks at that picture and can feel what that person is feeling by way of that photo,” Green said.

Jamala Rogers has one of Price’s photos on her desk from the annual New Year’s Eve homicide vigil, where a little boy is holding a candle as the names of that year’s homicide victims are read out loud.

“There was a certain expression of that child – one of sorrow but also one of hope – and then the candle burning

accreditation, only two years after merging the failed Wellston School District with a troubled Normandy School District. On Jan. 1, 2013, Normandy will lose its provisionally accredited status,

and illuminating his face,” Rogers said. “It’s just a really powerful image. When I wake up in the morning, because children are my passion, that particular photograph brings it all home to me.

The child was there because of tragedy, but that flame was a flame of hope.”

Price has been an asset to chronicling the history of not just the protest movement but also the lives and hopes and aspirations of the community, Rogers said.

In 2000, he received the Missouri Governor’s Humanities Award for his book of photography, Lift Every Voice and Sing, a historical essay that chronicles the lives of 100 St. Louis African Americans in the 20th century.

The NAACPnamed Price among the “100 Most Inspiring St. Louisans” in 2009, and in 2011 he was honored for his iconic photographs documenting St. Louis’Forest Park during the previous 25 years.

His start at The American Price’s father, Wiley Price Jr., was a well-known radio

which it has held since the 1990s.

Lawrence is currently in his fifth year as superintendent, and his contract was scheduled to expire on June 30, 2015. During his time, Lawrence has led the district through “several major developments,” the board stated in a press release. Lawrence arrived during a mid-year budget reduction that resulted in layoffs. The $1 million reduction made the district lose 40 employees in the middle of the school year.

As a result, the district was forced to reorganize, and all non-teaching employees reapplied for their positions. The district then hired new school and central office administrators.

Lawrence has also helped to establish external partnerships, including Beyond Housing’s 24:1 Initiative Community Plan. In 2010, 24 mayors came together to form “24:1,” through the leadership of

disc jockey in town, the first African American in St. Louis to venture in this field. When his son was a freelancer, he walked into The American’s office unannounced and tried to speak with then editor Bennie Rodgers. The receptionist turned him away.

“But just as I was getting in my car, she came out and said, ‘Mr. Rodgers would like to see you,’” Price said. “I walked in his office and the first thing he said was, ‘Oh, my God, you look just like your father.’I knew I had an in.”

Fred Sweets, who grew up in the Sweets family that published The American and eventually served as photo editor for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press, remembers working at the Post-Dispatch when Price was working as a freelancer.

“I remember him being an aggressive, go-getter style photographer, who loved spot news,” Sweets said. When Sweets moved onto the Associated Press, he started running a program called Diverse Vision, where APphotographers would pair up with the “best and brightest”

Lawrence and Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing. The name stands for 24 communities committed to one vision for the Normandy School District. When

Under Stanton Lawrence’s leadership, the district initiated a Reach Out to Dropouts Program, which won national recognition, to reclaim students who had dropped out of school or who were at risk of dropping out.

Lawrence arrived, Krehmeyer and Lawrence brainstormed the idea of bringing the district’s 24 communities together to ensure success for Normandy students through a holistic approach.

upcoming photographers. Wiley was a standout in the program, he said.

Photojournalist in the community

“The Black Press has had its share of really good photographers, but they usually go onto the mainstream media and magazines,” Sweets said. “We’ve been lucky to have Wiley stay here and deliver the kind of coverage he has for The St. Louis American for so long.”

His commitment to staying in the community has earned him recognition and trust. He is the face of The American said Kevin Jones, longtime chief operating officer for The American “I see Wiley being out in the community equally as important as the photos he takes for us,” said Jones, who has worked with Price for 20 years. “When people see Wiley, they see TheSt. Louis American.” Although many in the community appreciate him, some of his biggest fans are children. He has been a longtime mentor of students in the community.

“Wiley is known everywhere and he can be doing anything, but he’ll go into a school and work with kids,” said Alice Roach, chief of staff for the St. Louis Public Schools. “That’s the most amazing thing to see him with kids, capturing them at their best, always at their best.” Many photojournalists come in and out of the St. Louis Public Schools, she said. “But when Wiley comes in,” Roach said, “we direct him to the good stuff because we know he’s going to do it well.”

Beyond Housing secured a five-year grant to provide staffing for a community plan that pushes development in education, community health and wellness, real estate, community engagement and research.

Under Lawrence’s leadership, the district also initiated a Reach Out to Dropouts Program, which won national recognition, to reclaim students who had dropped out of school or who were at risk of dropping out. In addition, the district established the Teacher Excellence Task Force, which generated reports and recommendations to aggressively improve the capacity of classroom teachers to perform at high levels.

Lawrence plans to pursue other career opportunities, likely in his native Texas, where he and his wife, Leola, just became grandparents.

Lawrence told The American that he has to put his family first.

“We understand Dr. Lawrence’s interest in being responsive to the needs of his family, and recent developments related to our classification probably make this a natural transition point to consider new leadership,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said the school board will establish a calendar and timeline to begin a formal search process for Lawrence’s replacement.

“Our procedure will be a transparent one that will engage the community throughout the process,” he said.

Through his letter, Lawrence shared that he is “totally indebted to the Board of Directors for allowing me the opportunity to serve.I am also genuinely appreciative of the great students, outstanding staff as well as the community, elected officials and others for the support they provided me during my time here.”

Lawrence grew up in a seaport, oil refinery town called Port Arthur, Texas. He said it’s no coincidence that he has spent his career working in impoverished urban areas, similar to the one he grew up in. His doctorate research focused on high-performing, high-poverty schools.

In 2010, Lawrence received the Stellar Performer in Education award from the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2010 Salute to Excellence in Education.

Photo by Maurice Meredith

Wiley Price,photojournalist ofThe American,celebrated his induction into the Missouri Photojournalist Hall of Fame on October 18 with his colleagues from the newsroom and sales staff.Price joined the staff in 1982.

Local control on ballot November 6

Prop A gives voters a chance to turn police department over to mayor

By Jo Mannies

Of The Beacon

After 151 years of state control of the St. Louis police department, advocates of local control have finally got a statewide measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that asks voters to allow St. Louis City Hall to take over.

But the final pitch for Proposition A will be targeted: no TV ads, but some radio spots and ads placed in regional newspapers around the state; and lots of reliance on the support of several dozen groups and more than 300 elected officials, business people and civic leaders around the state.

“We are really running a grassroots campaign,’’ said Brooke Foster, deputy campaign director for A Safer Missouri.

So are the opponents, which include the NAACP and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Jamala Rogers, spokesperson for “Citizens Against Prop A,” said at a recent news conference that the proposition’s wording may allow city officials to bar access to records in alleged cases of police misconduct.

The St. Louis County Republican Central Committee also has come out against Proposition A, contending that its passage could give too

much power to Democrats who overwhelmingly control St. Louis city government. The proposition carries national as well as historic and political significance. St. Louis and Kansas City are currently the only cities in the country with their police forces controlled by the state. And for decades, most city police officers preferred to

keep it that way. A thawing came in 2011, when the Board of Police Commissioners and the chief police group reached a collective-bargaining agreement.

Last Wednesday, the St. Louis Police Officers Association announced that it now holds a “neutral position’’ on the proposition. The group’s executive committee had met to resolve some dissent within its leadership. Association president David Bonenberger had created a stir a week before when he sent out a letter opposing Prop A, contending that it could lead to City Hall efforts to harm police pensions.

In last Wednesday’s statement, Bonenberger and the association indicated that such concerns had been resolved and that all involved now shared “a unified message.”

The association’s board described Prop A as “compromise that transfers day-to-day operation of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department over to the city but retains state control over critical issues like health insurance, survivor benefits, residency and, most importantly, pension benefits.”

Said Bonenberger, on behalf of the association: “We reached a compromise that represents the best interest of the commissioned, civilian and retired members of the department, that protects their benefits, guarantees them collective bargaining rights and fully funded a $2.5 million increase to the salary matrix.”

Under Prop A, the fiveperson board that now runs the St. Louis police department would be dissolved. Four of those members are appointed by the governor under a setup in place in 1861. The fifth member is the mayor of St. Louis.

The initial impetus for state control came from the state split during the Civil War. Confederate-aligned state leaders in Jefferson City feared that St. Louis’ police force, then the state’s largest, was going to side with Union forces.

St. Louis mayors have unsuccessfully sought for at least 40 years to regain control, arguing that state oversight has led to needless – and expensive – duplication in operations, while leaving city officials with little oversight over how the department was run. Until legislative term limits actually kicked in a decade ago, veteran members of the Missouri General Assembly long wielded clout over police pay and promotions.

Foster with Safer Missouri echoed the stance of St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay that state control was “antiquated’’ and unfair. Slay and his allies predict that the city could save $4 million in duplicative expenses by taking over control of the Police Department. Edited slightly and reprinted with permission from stlbeacon.org.

Under Prop A, the five-person board that now runs the St. Louis police department would be dissolved.

Tuskegee experiments and experiences

Tuskegee was the name of a tribal town of the Creek Indians. It was also the name of at least two Indian tribes, one living in central Alabama and the other in Tennessee.

In the early part of the past century, Tuskegee, Alabama was a city where whites passed laws that segregated, divested and disfranchised African Americans, laws that were enforced with violence and terror. Nevertheless the city produced and established a momentous measure of pioneering achievement in American history and a defining role in the growth of the country.

Like the Tuskegee Experiment, where between 1932 and 1972 the U.S. Public Health Service conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part uneducated sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. They were told that they were being treated for “bad blood.”

By the end of the experiment, 28 of the men had died directly of syphilis, 100 were dead of related complications, 40 of their wives had been infected, and 19 of their children had been born with congenital syphilis. The Tuskegee Experiment shows the impact of government propaganda and lies. Its impact lingers on society in general, and its influence on African American culture both in years past and

today creating doubt as to who can be trusted.

Despite the discovery of penicillin in the 1940s and the Civil Rights Movement that engulfed the Tuskegee area, and in the face of debates over questions of morality of this research raised in the 1950s, the study continued until 1972.

Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African-American history.

It is where in 1881 Dr. Booker T. Washington, one of the foremost African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded what is now Tuskegee University.

As a young man in 1872, Booker T. left home and walked 500 miles to Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute in Virginia. Along the way he took odd jobs to support himself. He convinced administrators to let him attend the school and took a job as a janitor to help pay his tuition.

In 1896 Dr. Washington invited Dr. George Washington Carver to head its Agriculture Department. Carver taught there for 47 years

Dr. Carver developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton, and became legendary for researching and experimenting with new uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans, pecans and other crops.

Carver headed Tuskegee’s agriculture department, and conducted most of his research at Tuskegee from 1896 until his death in 1943.

He once said, “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong, because someday in

your life you will have been all of these.”

Tuskegee is where nearly 1,000 Black military aviators were trained at a remote compound near the city of Tuskegee, and at Tuskegee Institute. As a result of this “Tuskegee Experiment,” 450 Black fighter pilots were trained under the command of Col. Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

Their squadrons flew more than 15,000 raids on 1,500 missions and shot down 112 German aircrafts. Together, they earned one Legion of Merit, one Silver Star, several Distinguished Unit Citations, 96 Distinguished Flying Crosses, many Purple Heart medals, 14 Bronze Stars and 744 Air Medals. They fought for a country that classified them as second-class citizens, or at times, denied they were citizens. They fought to prepare a new generation to live in a diverse, free world.

In 2007, as a group they received a Congressional Gold Medal for their service during World War II. Like many allblack units, their excellence was not officially recognized until years later.

“Since new developments are the products of a creative mind,” Dr. Carver wrote, “we must therefore stimulate and encourage that type of mind in every way possible.”

Please listen the Bernie Hayes radio program Monday through Friday at 7am and 4 pm on WGNU-920 AM or www.wgnu920am.com. Watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday Night at 10pm and Friday Morning at 9 am and Sunday Evenings at 5:30 pm on KNLC-TV Ch. 24. I can be reached by fax at (314) 8373369 or e-mail at: berhay@ swbell.net

Attorney General Chris Koster has spent his life protecting the people of Missouri.

FiGhtinG MediCAid FrAud

Chris Koster prosecuted those who defrauded our state’s Medicaid System, recovering more than $200 million for Missouri taxpayers.

ProteCtinG ConsuMers

He was the first Attorney General in the country to go after big mortgage companies for forging documents in the nation’s housings scandal.

KeePinG us sAFe

Attorney General Koster created the Attorney General’s Task Force on Domestic Violence, which led to the first comprehensive improvements in domestic violence laws in thirty years.

Bernie Hayes

Pensive President

President Barack Obama reads briefing material while meeting with advisors inside his cabin at Camp David, Sunday, Oct. 21.

Deseg enrollment extended

Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation extends program for five years

American staff

The Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation (VICC) unanimously approved a five-year extension period to continue to enroll new students into the program when its Board of Directors met in special session at 11:30 a.m. Friday, October 19.

District participation by continuing to accept new students during this extension remains optional at each individual district’s discretion. Currently enrolled students are able to continue in the program through graduation even if their chosen district decides not to enroll new students during the extension period.

Clergy host benefit concert for United Way

9 area church choirs perform Nov. 2 at West Side M.B. church

American staff

The St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition is calling all people to make a financial pledge today to support the United Way of Greater St. Louis’ effort to help people. “Our community needs an outpouring of leadership,” says Rev. C. Jessel Strong, president of the Clergy Coalition and long-time

leadership giver. “Donating to United Way is a purposeful and effective way of displaying leadership. In this time of uncertainty, you can know for sure that your gift - of any amount - will help people in need.”

The Clergy Coalition is hosting a benefit concert for United Way’s African American - Charmaine Chapman Leadership Society on Friday, November 2 at 7 p.m. The concert will be held at West Side Missionary Baptist Church, where concert co-chair Rev. Ronald Bobo presides.

The concert will include choir performances from the Greater Mt. Carmel

M.B. Church, Fresh Start Bible Church, Life Center International COGIC, Missouri A.M.E. Conference, Mt. Beulah M.B. Church, Mt. Zion M.B. Church, New Beginnings M.B. Church, New Northside M.B. Church and West Side M.B. Church.

In addition to raising money for United Way’s African American Leadership Society, which was founded in 1994 by Donald M. Suggs, publisher of The St. Louis American the concert honors Charmaine Chapman, who was the first woman and first African American to head the local United Way, from 1994 until her untimely death in 2001.

Rev. Sammie Jones, pastor

of Mt. Zion and co-chair of the concert, remembers Charmaine Chapman as “a person with incredible compassion and vision; a blessing to our community, especially the most vulnerable.”

The concert will be held at West Side Missionary Baptist Church’s north county location, 2677 Dunn Rd. in Hazelwood. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free. Attendees are strongly encouraged to make a donation to United Way.

To learn more about the benefit concert, United Way and its leadership societies, or the Clergy Coalition, call 314-539-4128 or e-mail evan. krauss@stl.unitedway.org.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the landmark desegregation case which changed the face of education in the St. Louis metro area and created the nation’s largest school choice program.

The St. Louis Student Transfer Program was established to increase racial integration in metropolitan area public schools under a Settlement Agreement reached in the area-wide St. Louis desegregation case, filed in 1972, and approved by the Federal Court in 1983.

The program allows AfricanAmerican students residing in the City of St. Louis to attend participating school districts in St. Louis County, provided certain eligibility requirements regarding residency and behavior records are met. The program also allows nonAfrican-American students who live in participating

suburban school districts to transfer into St. Louis Magnet Schools in the city. In June, 2007, the VICC Board unanimously approved a five-year extension to the 1999 Settlement Agreement, which continued the new enrollment period through the 2013-2014 school year. This second fiveyear extension allows new enrollments through the 20182019 school year.

Actual enrollment of city students in the VICC program for the 2012-2013 school year is 5,130 students, as of September 26. City families are highly interested in the program, with more than 4,000 applications received for only 517 new spaces made available by the districts in 2012-2013. Currently 86 suburban students are enrolled in the city magnet schools. More applications continue to be received from county families than spaces available in the popular magnets.

“Tens of thousands of students both in the city and the county have benefitted from participation in the program,” said VICC CEO David Glaser.

“Students who transfer from the city achieve higher test scores, better attendance and higher graduation rates when compared with students who remain in the city. ” Other benefits for transferring students, he notes are slightly more difficult to quantify, but include exposure to a new environment, new challenges and new opportunities.

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Power, money and ballot initiatives

The upcoming ballot propositions are all about concentrating power in the hands of a few and seeing how to extort more money from citizens with no accountability.

As I’ve been going around town speaking against Prop A, voters who have been paying attention are righteously outraged. And the 350,000 registered voters who signed the Cap the Rate and Increase the Wage petitions and who saw the ballot initiative held hostage by corporate kidnappers are still simmering. There are four propositions and one constitutional amendment on the November 6 ballot. Propositions A, B, E, R and Amendment A should all be seen as power plays that don’t benefit the majority of the citizens.

You’ve heard me slam Prop A as the backroom deal by billionaire Rex Sinquefield and Mayor Slay with the St. Louis Police Officers Association(SLPOA). The three completely hijacked a democratic process that was facilitated for several years by the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression to make sure all the stakeholders were included and engaged.

Citizens Against Prop

A include groups like the NAACP, Jobs with Justice, ACLU, Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality, The Ethical Society of Police and a host of faith, labor, student and community leaders.

Even SLPOA President David Bronenberger has come out in public opposition to Prop A. Insiders say that many rank and file members felt like the SLPOA’s business manager

n Don’t be herded into the lowinformation voter corral.

Jeff Roorda shoved the ballot initiative down their throats and now they are rebelling. Prop B creates the Health and Education Trust Fund. Although I have issues with how the monies will be dispersed, I have been convinced by community activists that I respect to support Prop B. Missouri has one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the country – it’s 17 cents – and this measure would add much needed revenue to the Missouri budget. Citizens will have to be vigilant about making sure the monies go where they are supposed to go. Prop E is a smack down of an important feature of

the Affordable Health Care Act, aka Obamacare: the health insurance exchanges. The Republican-led General Assembly put this on the ballot as part of the GOP’s national strategy to prohibit the creation of these exchanges and undermine the effectiveness of the federal health care program. Voters need to smack Prop E down.

Prop R is a city charter amendment to reduce the City’s Board of Alderpeople from 28 members to 14. There is no explanation as to how this will be done and by whom, only that it would be done some time after the next Census. Oh, and if you want to know more about the “Board of Aldermen Amendment Ordinance.”

Amendment 3 is a constitutional amendment that would give the governor all the power to appoint the Appellate Judicial Commission, the group responsible for nominating judges to the appeals court and the Missouri Supreme Court. The current law requires three civilians along with three gubernatorial appointees to the commission. This is an invitation to political chicanery as we watch judgeships go to the highest bidders and bow to the governor.

Don’t be herded into the low-information voter corral. Get informed about the candidates, the judges and the issues so you can be an empowered voter.

Jamala Rogers

Missouri Republicans go to the dogs

The Village Voice – long before the newspaper was purchased by apolitical, selfinterested hucksters from Phoenix, who subsequently ditched their publishing empire but kept the online sleaze ads site that had propped it up – once covered a host of unsavory candidates for a local election with the memorable headline “There aught to be a leash law.”

The EYE might borrow that headline for the Republican ticket in the Nov. 6 general election in Missouri, except Missouri Republicans’ most unsavory candidate has now made a new bad name for comparing a human being to an animal. At a fundraiser on Saturday, the best Missouri Republicans had to offer for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin, said of his opponent, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, “She goes to Washington, D.C., and it’s a little bit like, uh, you know, one of those dogs, you know, ‘Fetch!’”

This is man describing a woman who is a sitting U.S. Senator as a dog. Perhaps Akin – purportedly a moral conservative Christian – should reflect upon the proper name for a female dog. It starts with a “B” and rhymes with “rich.” Yes. That is what Akin called a female U.S. Senator. Akin continued to say that McCaskill goes to D.C. “and gets all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies, and she brings all of this

stuff and dumps it on us in Missouri.” Yes, he did – he said a woman who serves as a U.S. Senator is a dog who takes a dump on her constituents. Yes, Todd Akin did say that.

The EYE struggles to comprehend how even one woman would cast a single vote for Akin. This is the same, strange man who said that it is his sincere scientific belief that woman who are the victims of “legitimate rape” have internal biological systems that will “shut that whole thing down” – that is, avert the pregnancy –without undergoing the medical process of abortion, which Akin and his ilk want to criminalize in any and all forms.

Unfortunately, victims of rape do in fact get pregnant in many cases, and many elected officials like Claire McCaskill think that rape victims who were impregnated by their rapists should have the personal prerogative under the law for a safe, legal means to abort that pregnancy.

As for “legitimate rape” – surely one of the strangest terms to become campaign fodder, ever – Akin is on the same page as Paul Ryan, the best that Republicans nationally could come up with for a Vice President candidate. Unlike elected officials like Senator McCaskill and President Barack Obama, who think that “no” means “no” and any rape is an actual rape, Akin and Ryan would differentiate “legitimate rape,” when a stranger brutally rapes a stranger, from other instances

of non-consensual sex. Again, the EYE is baffled to understand how any woman would want for Paul Ryan to be one choked pretzel away from the U.S. Presidency.

Worse than Ed Martin?

The EYE went into this election thinking Ed Martin would be the most awful Missouri Republican on the ballot. Martin was the chief of staff for Gov. Matt Blunt who hounded and slandered a staffer in a scandalous internal email campaign that greased his skids on the way out of public service – where Martin thankfully has remained ever since, despite running, albeit at times very briefly, for every office in sight, short of (had to go there) Dog Catcher.

Dumping Martin from public service, by the way, should be credited to Tony Messenger, back in the good old days when he was hounding Republicans in Jefferson City for a Springfield newspaper. Now heading the Editorial page at the Post-Dispatch, Messenger has degenerated to signing off on trash like an editorial smear campaign campaign against Bob Archibald, president of the Missouri History Museum, whose real sins are not kissing the proper behinds

downtown and bringing too many of “those people” into the museum and onto the museum park grounds. We miss the real (or former) Tony Messenger and now realize the toxicity of the Post’s grouchy middleaged white male conservative Democrat editorial culture (i.e., Kevin Horrigan) is much more powerful than the good intentions of a few good white men, like Messenger and talented business reporter Tim Logan Martin – whose current electoral campaign as a candidate is against incumbent Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster – hasn’t gotten any better, though some of his fellow Republicans (like Akin the dog spotter) have gotten worse. But let’s not forget how bad Martin is. While serving the Governor, he suggested the way to find undocumented workers was to stop on the road whenever you saw a worker who looked Mexican. The EYE wonders how a single Mexican American would vote Republican. For those African Americans who would not mind seeing Hispanic workers pushed out of the way, shame on y’all – immigration contributes to economic growth, which means more jobs. Also, black folks should know what Ed Martin was doing this time in 2008. He

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill greets campaign supporters, young and not as young. This week her Republican opponent, Todd Akin, compared McCaskill – a woman serving as a U.S. Senator – to a dog told to fetch. McCaskill is on the Nov. 6 ballot in Missouri.

had not wormed his way onto a ballot as candidate, but he was running a Swift Boat-style attack ad campaign against Obama that tried to tar him by association with a domestic terrorist whom Obama knew distantly in Chicago many years ago. We saw how well that worked for operative Martin. Let’s hope candidate Martin fares no better in 2012. The EYE has not always been a cheerleader for Chris Koster, often known as “Flipper” in this space for flipping from the Republican Party to the Democrats to run for AG.

(Koster also flipped from antichoice, along with the likes of Akin and Martin, to the pro-choice ranks of Obama and McCaskill.) But Ed Martin makes Chris Koster – who is himself a consummate political animal – look like the epitome of the competent, apolitical civil servant.

Rex’s candidate

Martin has been upstaged for offensiveness by Akin. As for worst danger to the public good, he now has a serious challenge from Shane Schoeller, the best Missouri Republicans could offer for Secretary of State. He faces the Democrat candidate

Jason Kander, a former state representative who has been endorsed by former colleagues Tishaura O. Jones, Chris Carter and Steve Webb, not to mention County Executive Charlie O. Dooley and Kander’s close friend Kansas City Mayor Sly James As Kander points out in our 1A news story, “Shane Schoeller has struggled to fundraise successfully in this campaign, and Rex Sinquefield has struggled at times with ballot proposals he has sponsored, which must go through the Secretary of State. So they have teamed up. Rex Sinquefield is now bankrolling that campaign.” If you don’t know, the Secretary of State approves ballot petitions and their crucial ballot language. Sinquefield is the billionaire financier who funds candidates and ballot initiatives that attack public education and the state’s income tax code, which he would replace with a regressive heavy sales tax that would put much more burden for funding government services on the middle class and working poor. In Schoeller, Sinquefield is funding the poster boy for Voter ID reform, which pretends to target forms of voter fraud that do not exist in this state while actually trying to pry off the voter rolls several demographics that have an established pattern of largely supporting Democrats: very young voters, very old voters, disabled voters, and very black voters. Mind you, these are all also very eligible voters, but they all – for various reasons – are less likely than a middleaged healthy white person (the core Republican voter) to have a state-issued ID. Schoeller and Sinquefield don’t want them – many of whom are us – to vote, and that is why any aware, thinking black person, college student, disabled person or very elderly eligible voter should vote against Schoeller and Sinquefield – and for Jason Kander for Secretary of State – while they are still in fact eligible to cast a vote in Missouri.

SCIENCE CORNER

A Creative Problem Solver.

have you seen any animated movies recently? Did you know that mathematics is used in the process of creating animated films? Math is also used in art to create symmetry and balance; in music to create patterns and rhythms. Math is all around, and mathematicians have chosen to study math and make it their career.

Mathematicians must have good problem solving skills and analysis. Many mathematicians work for the federal government in U.S. Department of Defense and National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). They teach in universities and can work in teams with engineers, scientists, and other professionals. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT

What Is A Mathematician?

mathematicians is increasing and the average pay for a mathematician is $90,000 per year.

Did you know that mathematicians are important contributors to national security?

Winston Churchill credits British mathematician Alan Turing with helping to end World War ii Turing helped to solve the Enigma code which allowed America and Great Britain to learn Germany’s secrets. Math saved the day!

Extension:

Create a list of all the ways you encounter math in one day. Compare your list with your classmates.

Learning Standards: i can read nonfiction information about careers and identify skills needed to perform the career.

Before the days of digital and analog clocks, many people used the sun to tell time. in this experiment, you will create a sundial which uses common materials and the sun to create a “clock.”

Materials Needed: A stick, rocks, one cup of Playdough, and a watch.

q Find a sunny spot to create your sundial.

w Place the Playdough on the ground to anchor the stick upright.

e Each hour, place a rock where the sun shadow falls around your stick. You will have a rock for 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., etc. it may take a few days to complete the placement of rocks.

MATH CONNECTION

What can you accomplish in one minute? Partner up and take turns timing each other. in one minute, i can complete:

jumping

______ pushups ______ squat thrusts ______ toe touches

r Use your sundial to tell the time. if the sun’s shadow is between the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. rock, it is 7:30 a.m.

Think about it: how difficult was it to use the sundial to tell time? how accurate was your sundial?

Fun Fact: Clocks come in many shapes and sizes and are built with various materials. in London, England, you can find a clock with a tower 316 feet tall and a bell whose chime marks the hour. The bell is called Big Ben.

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

if you kept the same pace, how many jumping jacks would you complete in 5 minutes? how many pushups would you complete in 10 minutes?

Learning Standards: i can add, subtract, multiply, and divide to solve problems.

FirST AFriCAN-AMEriCAN MAThEMATiCiAN

Benjamin Banneker

Benjamin Banneker was born in Maryland in 1731. Although his father was a slave, he was born free.

Banneker’s grandmother taught him to read and write and he attended school. he was an excellent problem solver and enjoyed learning mathematics.

Banneker used his reading ability to teach himself about the sciences. At age 24, he built his own clock from wood. he used his pocketknife to carve the various parts. Banneker’s clock was very well made and it brought him praise for his intelligence and ability. Some say his was the first clock made in America.

Banneker also taught himself about astronomy. Using this knowledge, he published “Benjamin Banneker’s Almanac” from 1792-1797, predicting weather and seasonal changes and also included tips on planting crops and medical remedies.

When President George Washington decided to move the U.S. Capital from Philadelphia to an area on the border of Maryland and Virginia, Banneker was asked to assist in surveying the “Federal Territory.” The developer, Pierre L’Enfant from France abruptly resigned from the project and left with the plans. Banneker reproduced the plans from memory. What he drew was the basis for the layout of streets, buildings and monuments that exist to this day in Washington D.C. in 1980, the U.S. Postal Service issued a postage stamp in his honor. it is because of Banneker’s skills in problem solving and recognizing patterns that he is credited with being the first African American mathematician, as well as a great scientist and inventor.

Think about it: Why is Benjamin Banneker an important part of history? in your opinion, what is his greatest achievement? Why?

Interested in learning more? Check out “The Life of Benjamin Banneker: The First African American Man of Science,” by Silvio Bedini.

Learning Standards: i can read nonfiction biographies to learn about important people who contributed to math and science.

MAP CORNER

Use the newspaper to practice your skills.

q Use the newspaper to find three times (ex: 8 p.m.) Write the time in analog, as you would see it on a clock with an hour and minute hands. Write the time as you would see it on a digital clock.

w Find a city mentioned in a newspaper article.

Calculate the distance from your school to this city. how many miles would you travel to reach this city?

if you were to ride in a bus that traveled 60 miles per hour, how

many hours would it take to reach your destination?

Learning Standards: i can use the newspaper to find information.

OBITUARIES

Mance Veneer Vaughner

Mance Vaughner departed this life on November 29, 2011 at his home in Creve Coeur, MO. He had battled congestive heart failure for three years. He was born to the late Lewis and Frances Vaughner on August 13, 1933 in Kansas City, MO. He was the eldest of two children. Mance attended Kansas City Public Schools. He continued his education at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO, receiving a degree in 1954. After receiving an honorary discharge from the U.S. Army, he enrolled in the Homer G. Phillips School

for Medical Record Library Science.

After graduating, Mance began his career in St. Louis as a Registered Health Information Management Administrator in the medical records field. He was well respected in the health care field while serving in a health information administrative capacity at various health care facilities. These facilities include Lutheran Hospital, Yeatman/Union-Sarah Health Center, Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Center and the Veteran’s Administration Hospitals in St. Louis and Seattle, WA. Other facilities include Booth Memorial Hospital, Homer G. Phillips Ambulatory Centers and Regional Hospital. For many years, Mance worked for the Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers. At the time of his death, he continued to serve as a consultant to the

clinic. Mance was a member of St. Paul A.M.E. Church and was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Mance was a stranger to no one. He was always well dresses and an avid fan of jazz.

Mr. Vaughner is survived by his brother, Lewis Vaughner of San Diego, CA, several nieces and numerous cherished friends.

Dr. Savannah Young

Dr. Savannah Miller Young passed away on October 22 at St. Mary’s hospital following a massive stroke. The wake will be held Friday, Oct. 26 at St. Philips Luthern Church from 4-7 pm, and the funeral will be at the same location on Saturday at noon.

Frencella K.

Hudson Bonner

In Loving Memory 6 Sept 1920 – 28 Oct 2011

God saw you were getting tired and a cure was not to be, so He put His loving arms around you and whispered “Come to Me”. With tearful hearts we watched you fade away. Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands put to rest. God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best.

Sadly missed by your son and daughter-in-law, Armose and Evelyn Zudammon; The Hudson Family and friends

Antonio D. Duff

Antonio Duff was born to Carman Weber and Darnell Duff on February 14, 1988 in St. Louis, MO. Antonio was the eldest of Carman’s two handsome boys.

He attended Normandy High School in St. Louis and later moved to Lee Summit, MO with his family, where he graduated from Lee Summit High. Antonio was driven and ambitious, continuing his educational aspirations at ITT Technical College, where he earned a diploma in Computer Science Technology in October 2010. Though computer science is what he studied, his real passion was music. Antonio was a skilled lyricist, creating songs with contagious beats and melodic flows that had anyone who would listen bobbing their heads. To further cultivate his creative outlet, Antonio was a self-taught tattoo artist and barber, honing his skills providing tattoos and haircuts to family and friends. Antonio was baptized at age 14.

“My Tonio” as his mother affectionately called him, had an infectious smile—he could make you laugh so hard. He was definitely someone that you couldn’t stay angry with. He was outspoken, dependable, and dispensed

invaluable advice to others as he was wise beyond his years. He was devoted to his mother, his brother, his girlfriend and his stepson. Antonio was loyal, caring and full of life. He was the one person you could rely on—always there to assist when needed.

Antonio is survived by: his devoted mother, Carman Weber; his father, Darnell Duff; his best friend and brother, Dwayne Jiles (DJ); and a host of half brothers and sisters; an aunt, Chanese; two uncles, Antonio and Larry Weber; maternal grandmother, Mildred Weber; and a plethora of loving cousins and friends. He leaves a very special friend, Marie Wright (Tiny) and Mayon.

Opal G. Hudson Simms

In Loving Memory

13 July 1936 – 2 Nov 2010

It has been two years since you passed away. You are not gone Opal, because you are still very much alive in our hearts. We miss you very much.

The Hudson and Simms Families and friends

Ethel W. Fort

In memory of my mother, Ethel W. Fort. Your love will always be in my heart.

Happy Birthday (Oct. 27) Love, Gary

The chill on climate change

Not a word has been said in the presidential debates about what may be the most urgent and consequential issue in the world: climate change.

President Obama understands and accepts the scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is trapping heat in the atmosphere, with potentially catastrophic long-term effects. Mitt Romney’s view, as on many issues, is impossible to pin down, but when he was governor of Massachusetts, climate change activists considered him enlightened and effective.

Yet neither has mentioned the subject in the debates. Instead, they have argued over who is more eager to extract ever-larger quantities of oil, natural gas and coal.

“We have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years,” Obama said in last Tuesday’s debate. “Natural gas production is the highest it’s been in decades. We have seen increases in coal production and coal employment.”

Romney scoffed that Obama “has not been Mr. Oil, or Mr. Gas, or Mr. Coal,” and promised that he, if elected, would be all three. “I’ll do it by more drilling, more permits and licenses,” he said, adding later that this means “bringing in a pipeline of oil from Canada, taking advantage of the oil and coal we have here.”

If this is a contest to see who can pretend to be more ignorant of the environmental freight train that’s barreling down the tracks toward us, Romney wins narrowly.

Obama does acknowledge that his administration has invested in alternative energy technologies, such as wind and solar, that do not emit carbon dioxide and thus do not contribute to atmospheric warming. But he never really says why.

Romney, on the other hand, claims to pledge heart and soul to an idea that he, as a successful businessman, must know is ridiculous:

“North American energy independence.” At current production levels, relying solely on good old “North American” oil would leave us more than 30 percent short of what we now consume, and no amount of drilling and despoiling could close that gap. Moreover, the price of oil is a global price – a barrel costs the same whether it’s extracted in North Dakota or the North Sea.

Natural gas is harder to transport over long distances, which means the price is more local. But we’re already moving faster than prudence would advise -- through the technology of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” -- to pump huge quantities of natural gas, and the price is already quite low.

As for coal, Romney was once more of an environmentalist than Obama; as the president noted, Romney once stood in front of the Salem Harbor coal-fired plant in Massachusetts and said, “I will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people, and that plant -- that plant kills people.” Now, however, Romney says he is ardently pro-coal and claims that Obama isn’t. But Obama has long been a champion of so-called “clean coal” technology, which many environmentalists believe is an oxymoron. From the point of view of limiting carbon emissions, burning more coal is the worst thing you could do.

A presidential campaign offers an opportunity to educate and engage the American people in the decisions that climate change will force us to make. Unfortunately, Obama and Romney have chosen to see this more as an opportunity to pretend that the light at the end of the tunnel is not an approaching train.

Mance Vaughner

Francella Bonner

Antonio D. Duff

Opal Simms

Columnist Eugene Robinson

BUSINESS

Activists call for foreclosure moratorium

North City resident fights lender, pushes for mediation

By Rebecca S.Rivas Of the St.Louis American

On Friday, Angelia Williams was evicted from her home on Penrose Street, despite the 30 protesters standing in the way to keep the St. Louis City Sheriff deputies from throwing her out. Williams’supporters chanted, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out” and held signs with phrases including, “Arrest banks, not people.”

SCORE ASSISTS SMALL BUSINESSES

Free seminar Saturday, October 27

By Bridjes O’Neil

Of The St.Louis American

“SCORE has an enormous number of free resources available to your readers,” said Bob Boles, district director of SCORE St. Louis. “We have an incredible mission: education, counseling and outreach.”

“Having your own business is a difficult job.”

– Gary O’Grady, SCORE St.Louis Counselor

SCORE St. Louis hosted its annual awards and networking luncheon on Oct. 4 at the Sunset 44 Bistro & Banquet Center in Kirkwood. Keynote speaker Ron Ameln, owner and president of St. Louis Small Business Inc. and publisher of St. Louis Small Business Monthly, addressed about 70 attendees.

“I truly believe that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of entrepreneurs in St. Louis ready and poised to be the next Express Scripts or Build-A-Bear,” Ameln said. “Owning a business is like being an airplane pilot or surgeon, it takes years of experience. SCORE plays a role in help-

See SCORE, B2

The group of “home defenders” said they held off the eviction previously through protests on September 21 and Oct 16. For more than a year, Williams had been trying to work with Wells Fargo to obtain a loan modification while she was still

employed, she said.

“They were not listening then, and they’re not listening now,” she said. “Everyone knows that this is wrong and fraudulent, but they’re still letting it go on. Too many people had to lose their homes because of this. They are throwing me out like I’m a renter – like I haven’t been paid outrageous rates and payments all these years.” Williams was two years behind in her mort-

Managing diversity at Ameren

Steve Parks builds workforce by respecting all cultures

By Bridjes O’Neil For The St.Louis American

Steve Parks began his career at Ameren as an engineer, yet the positions that seem most suited for him centered around diversity.

As manager of diversity at Ameren, Parks oversees a staff of diversity specialists in the corporate diversity department.

He is responsible for community outreach efforts, recruitment initiatives within the company and diversity training. He follows in the footsteps of Sharon Harvey Davis, vice president and chief diversity officer at Ameren, who was promoted after serving as Ameren’s first manager of diversity.

PEOPLEON THE MOVE

Tony Crawford, a houseperson at Drury Inn Convention Center, was recognized as one of Thirteen Hospitality Super Heroes in the St. Louis region by the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. The CVC’s Hospitality Hero Recognition Program honors front line workers “who best exemplify the region’s ongoing commitment to great service.” Nominations were solicited from management of hospitality industry companies and judged by a panel of customer service experts.

Dr. Susan Colbert-Threats has been named among the Best Doctors in America20112012. She practices at her Esse Health Office in Richmond Heights. Approximately five percent of doctors practicing in the United States are selected as a Best Doctor. Best Doctors was founded in 1989 by two Harvard Medical School physicians as a means to identify the most respected doctors and provide access to dependable, high-quality medical information and care

George Herbert WalkerIII has joined the Beyond Housing Board of Directors. Walker served as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 2003 to 2006 and is a life trustee of Webster University, where the School of Business and Technology now bears his name. He and his wife Carol gave one of the “most significant planned gifts” in the history of the United Way of Greater St. Louis. Beyond Housing is a local community development organization.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

stlamerican.com named finalist forEPPYAward

“She’s able to accomplish amazing things with what seems like little effort,” Parks said of his colleague. “She’s extremely visionary and always has new ideas about how things can be done better.”

“I have learned as much or more from Steve as he has learned from me,” Davis said of Parks, whom she’s known for nine years. “He is well recognized in the St. Louis community for his sincerity, dedication and strong belief in giving back.”

Parks is an African-American who is a

member of two Hispanic organizations: the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan St. Louis and the St. Louis Hispanic Leadership Group.

“They really reached out and pulled me in rather than have me look like an outsider,” he said. He wanted to learn about a culture different from his own and better

See EVICTION, B6 See PARKS, B2

Editor & Publisher has announced that stlamerican.com has been selected as a 2012 EPPYAward finalist. TheAmerican's website is among six finalists in the Best Weekly or NonDaily Newspaper Website category. Now in its 17th year, this international contest honors the best media-affiliated websites across 30 diverse categories. Aprestigious panel of 68 judges judged the contest this year Each EPPYentry is judged on its own merits within a particular category. Finalists must receive a score in the top one third of the average score across all categories within their division.

EPPYAward winners will be announced live on editorandpublisher.com, Oct. 30, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. EST.

Earlier this year, stlamerican.com won first place awards for Best Website from Missouri Press Association and National Newspaper Publishers' Association.

Community College recognized for Top Workforce Development

St. Louis Community College’s Workforce Solutions Group has been named one of the 2012 Top Workforce Development Providers by Training Industry Inc.

Criteria for selection included capability to deliver vocational training for those entering the workforce; commitment to the corporate training market; industry visibility, innovation and impact; number and strength of clients; and geographic reach.

Training Industry Inc. reviews companies and community colleges that provide customized corporate training services and conducts an annual assessment to determine suppliers’experience and capabilities.

Executive Diversity Councils: Best Practices From Kellogg, Comcast

Two companies from very different industries offer in-depth case studies on how they implemented successful executive diversity councils in the new web seminar Executive Diversity Councils: Best Practices From Kellogg Company, Comcast Corporation, available at http://www.diversityinc.rsvp1.com/s10f2a9oqeie. See story video at www.stlamerican.com

Dr.Susan ColbertThreats

Tony Crawford

Homeowner Angelia Williams speaks with activist Molly Gott,who protested sheriff deputies on Friday from evicting Williams from her home of 20 years.Protesters said Williams’situation could have been prevented by automatic foreclosure mediation, which would require the bank to sit down with the homeowner and an independent mediator before foreclosing.

Photo by Wiley Price

George Herbert Walker III

Steve Parks,manager of diversity at Ameren; Konnie Kurrle,benefits analyst,Human Resources;Michelle Spearman,compliance specialist,Human Resources;and Doug Mech, pension and savings consultant,Human Resources.

By Jason Alderman

Over the next few weeks, millions of Americans will receive their 2013 open enrollment materials. Although it’s tempting to simply check “same as last year,” that can be a costly mistake – especially if your employer is offering different benefit plans next year or your family or income situation has changed. Plus, an important feature of health care flexible spending accounts, which many people use to reduce their tax bite, is changing next year (more on that below).

Here’s what to look for when reviewing your benefit options: Many benefit plans – especially medical – change coverage details from year to year.

SCORE

Continued from B1

ing business owners get better experience.”

SCORE St. Louis is one of 364 chapters associated with SCORE, the largest national nonprofit volunteer organization for small businesses; there are approximately 13,000 volunteers. In 2011, SCORE helped U.S. citizens create 67,098 new jobs.

SCORE St. Louis served over 2,000 clients and is the largest SCORE chapter in Missouri with six counseling locations throughout the metro area, St. Charles and Kirkwood, according to the 2011-12 annual report.

SCORE volunteers have expertise in such areas as: business finance & accounting, strategy and planning, sales, marketing and technology.

Gary O’Grady, SCORE St. Louis Counselor, owned an ice-cream and yogurt store for six years before selling his business. He hopes to help people avoid common mistakes he made when he first

Money-saving open enrollment tips

If you’re offered more than one plan, compare features side by side (including plans offered by your spouse’s employer) to ensure you’re choosing the best alternative. Common changes include: Dropping or replacing unpopular or overly expensive plans. Increased monthly premiums for employee and/or dependent coverage. Increased deductible and/or copayment amounts for doctor visits, prescription drugs, hospitalization, dental or vision benefits, etc. Revised drug formularies. Doctors and hospitals sometimes withdraw from a plan’s preferred provider network. Raising maximum yearly out-of-pocket expense limits. If offered by your employer,

started out. He advises his mentees about business curves.

“Having your own business is a difficult job,” O’Grady said. “In the retail business, you work seven days a week and about 10 hours a day. Plus, you have to consider the impact it has on your family.”

Jan Cerny, founder and Human Resources Consultant of Leadership Journeys, made her debut as a SCORE volunteer at the luncheon. She worked in the human resources field for more than 20 years before she decided to open her own business this past summer.

“I was on a journey of exploration to live my best life ever after leaving the corporate world,” Cerny said. Through Leadership Journeys, she provides leadership coaching, team building and organization effectiveness. She met a SCORE volunteer at a St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA) networking breakfast at Saint Louis University’s John Cook School of Business in March who piqued her interest in the organization. She credits SCORE with guiding her on how-to write a business

PERSONAL FINANCE

health care and dependent care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) can significantly offset the financial impact of medical and dependent care by letting you pay for eligible out-ofpocket expenses on a pre-tax basis; that is, before federal, state and Social Security taxes are deducted from your paycheck. This reduces your taxable income and therefore, your taxes.

You can use a health care FSAto pay for IRS-allowed medical expenses not covered by your medical, dental or vision plans. Check IRS Publication 502 at www.irs.gov for allowable expenses. Dependent care

plan and manage her finances.

“All the volunteers came to SCORE to give back,” Boles said. “They need help out there and that’s what we’re going to give them.”

Since 1964, SCORE St. Louis has offered low-cost educational workshops and seminars, one-on-one confidential counseling and ongoing mentoring for existing and aspirant small business owners and entrepreneurs. Yet, a small portion of the AfricanAmerican business community remains unaware of this resource. Women and minorities represent 21 percent of SCORE St. Louis volunteers.

As district director, Boles strives to increase the organization’s engagement by networking with leaders within the African-American business community.

Three years ago, Boles began consulting with Evelyn Preston, founder and president of the African-American Chamber of Commerce. The African-American business community is growing, she said; however, it has its challenges.

“Education is a good thing, and there’s a need for these

FSAs let you use pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible expenses related to care for your child, spouse, parent or other dependent incapable of selfcare.

Here’s how FSAs work: Say you earn $42,000 a year. If you contribute $1,000 to a health care FSAand $3,000 for dependent care, your taxable income would be reduced to $38,000. Your resulting net income, after taxes, would be roughly $1,600 more than if you had paid for those expenses on an after-tax basis.

Keep in mind these FSA restrictions:

Important: Effective January 1, 2013, employee

services,” Preston said.

If you are interested in volunteering or receiving services, contact Bob Boles at (636)227-9912 or eduincreadnwrite@aol.com. SCORE St. Louis invites you to attend an upcoming seminar: Salesmanship – Initiating and Maintaining Contact with Your Customer on Saturday October 27, 2012 from 9:15 to 11:45 a.m., at the SCORE Kirkwood Office. R.S.V.P. by calling 314539-6600 x 260 or email_score@stlscore.org.

PARKS

Continued from B1 understand how business and politics play a role within the entire community.

“We have African-American board members so I think that really spoke to him saying, ‘We welcome all,’” said Emily Davis, assistant director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (HCC). “He’s really given us a contact within Ameren we know we can count on.”

“People in the Hispanic

contributions to health care FSAs are now limited to $2,500 a year; however, if your spouse has FSAs at work, you still may contribute up to $2,500 to each account. The dependent care FSA limit remains unchanged at $5,000.

Health care and dependent care account contributions are not interchangeable.

Estimate planned expenses carefully because you must forfeit unused account balances. Some employers offer a grace period of up to 2 ? months after the end of the plan year to incur expenses, but that’s not mandatory, so review your enrollment materials.

Outside of open enrollment, you can only make mid-year FSAchanges after a major life

Chamber know him well,” said Karlos Ramirez, executive director of the HCC. “I think it also helps with race relations between African-American communities and Hispanic communities. Not that they’re bad, but by having someone like Steve involved, it really opens the doors for a continued relationship.”

This collaborative effort between Ameren, the HCC and the St. Louis Hispanic Leadership Group have aided in diversity recruitment.

“We have an annual Diversity Day here,” Parks said of Ameren’s first diversity initiative implemented by Davis in 2004. “It helps me to reach out to other cultures and bring them in to share some of their culture.”

Last April, the Diversity Awareness Partnership (DAP) Board of Directors recognized his leadership potential and commitment to diversity by electing him to serve as DAP board president. The DAPpromotes diversity in the St. Louis region around issues of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

“The strategy is to move St. Louis forward along the continuum of understanding diversity and inclusion,” he said.

“Through the DAP, working with professionals from other

or family status change, such as marriage, divorce, death of a spouse or dependent, birth or adoption of a child, or a dependent passing the eligibility age. If one of those situations occurs mid-year, re-jigger your FSAs accordingly for maximum savings. You must re-enroll in FSAs each year – amounts don’t carry over from year to year. Also remember that if you marry, divorce, or gain or lose dependents, it could impact the type – and cost – of your coverage options.

Jason Alderman directs Visa’s financial education programs.

companies and people who are committed to changing our community around diversity and inclusion has really enhanced our ability to bring [diversity] training into our company.”

He also serves on the board of Cultural Leadership, an organization that educates high school students to recognize and resolve issues of privilege and injustice through the lens of the African-American and Jewish experiences. In 2010, he participated in the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative Fellows Program. The program assists companies in building successful diversity and inclusion programs through training, convening and consulting.

“[It] was designed to create opportunities for companies to educate people of color in their companies who they feel have potential to contribute more to the workplace,” he said. “I saw it as one of the greatest learning opportunities I have had.”

“Steve is able to inspire and motivate people so that they want to get on board with diversity and not feel like it is another item on their ‘to do’ list,” Davis said. “Steve is thoughtful, analytical and a big picture thinker. This is invaluable in contributing to the success of our diversity initiatives and efforts.”

“That guy is flat-out unbelievable.That’s the best QB we’ve played this year.”

– New York Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora,after facing Redskins rookie Robert Griffin III for the first time

Sports

PREP FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Earl Austin Jr.

High school playoffs kick off this weekend

on both sides of the river. The first round of Missouri district playoffs will be held this weekend in all six classes. There will be second-round action taking place next Wednesday in Classes 1-5. Here is the schedule of this week’s first-round games featuring metro-area teams.

Class 6 District 1 Northwest at Lafayette, Friday,

7 p.m.

Oakville at Marquette, Friday, 7 p.m.

Mehlville at Eureka, Friday, 7 p.m. Lindbergh at Parkway South, Friday, 7 p.m.

District 2 Francis Howell North at CBC, Friday, 7 p.m. SLUH at Ritenour, Friday, 7 p.m. Hazelwood West at Hazelwood Central, Sat. 1:30 p.m.

Pattonville at DeSmet, Friday, 7 p.m.

District 3 Francis Howell Central at Francis Howell, Friday, 7 p.m. Fort Zumwalt West at Jefferson City, Friday, 7 p.m.

Timberland at Columbia Hickman, Friday, 7 p.m. Troy at Rock Bridge, Friday, 7 p.m.

Big game Giants shatter Redbirds repeat dreams

The latest iteration of the Cardiac Cardinals have finally flatlined. The ballclub that captivated St. Louis for the past two seasons with its keen flair for drama fell by the wayside after the team’s bats were silenced down the stretch versus the San Francisco Giants as they lost the NLCS by a 4-3 series margin. The collapse was nearly a carbon copy of the 1996 club. Back then, in Tony LaRussa’s first season as skipper, the team jumped out to an identical 3-1 lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS before being outscored by an embarrassing 32-1 margin over the finals three games. The defeat

H.

Pack shreds Rams

Giants continued to embarrass Cardinals batters at the plate, fans waited patiently for the crew to flip the late-inning switch it had relied on time and time again during the past two postseasons. We shrugged off the obvious and thought we’ll get ‘em next inning. That may have been the team’s mindset too. Players got caught up in their own ability to come back when it counted. They played lazy and lax in the beginning of games, fully expecting to rally down the stretch. As they say, if you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned. The Cardinals did.

Class 5

District 1

Poplar Bluff at Vianney, Thursday, 6 p.m.

Seckman at Fox, Thursday, 7 p.m.

PB/Vianney winner at Jackson, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.

Seckman/Fox winner at Summit, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.

District 2 McCluer North at Hazelwood

The Green Bay Packers and the throng of cheesehead fans cheered loudly as Aaron Rodgers had his way with the Rams secondary last Sunday in their 30-20 victory over the Rams. Rookies Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson just flat out got singed by the Packers wide receivers. And for the second consecutive game, defensive end Chris Long had problems staying onsides. Long picked up two more off-sides penalties which are inexcusable, especially from a cornerstone player. On one of the penalties, Rodgers completed a 52-yard strike to Jordy Nelson. It also helped that Janoris Jenkins stopped playing because he saw the flag. Safety Craig Dahl was his usual self, dropping another interception late in the contest. On the next play Rodgers served the Rams the death blow with that 39-yard touchdown pass to Randall Cobb.

You have third and

Mind you, the Rams’defense have went two straight games without forcing a turnover. That would have definitely swung the momentum in favor of the Rams, because it was 20-13 at the time. Dahl has to catch that ball. Then again, had he caught it, scratch that. Who am I trying to kid? I’m talking about Craig Dahl.

On offense, the Rams moved the ball well in the first half, but had no touchdowns to show for it. Sam Bradford threw an awful interception in the second half, under throwing Chris Givens who was open going towards the sideline.

For the most, part the offensive line gave Bradford time to throw the ball, but his receivers have to make plays. Brandon Gibson couldn’t hold onto a pass on fourth and 2 in the red zone and as the Rams tried to make a surge late in the game. I saw the Rams receivers revert back to some old ways from years prior.

You have third and 10, and you run a route five yards shy of the first down maker. The Rams go for it on fourth down and the Rams

B5

With

Photo by Wiley Price

Ishmael

Sistrunk

Earl Austin Jr.

Kyle Lohse walks off the mound Monday night after being knocked out in the third inning of the National League Championship Series against San Francisco.

With Earl Austin Jr.

Devon wins IBFtitle INSIDE

Beats Bailey in Brooklyn by unanimous decision

St. Louisan Devon Alexander won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title with a unanimous decision over Randall Bailey on Friday night in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Alexander won a comfortable decision to improve his record to 24-1. He fought a cautious fight to combat Bailey’s punching power and easily outboxed and outpointed the 38-year old veteran.

Alexander’s speed and youth was too much for Bailey to keep up with.

Alexander’s speed and youth was too much for Bailey to keep up with. It was Alexander’s third world title as a professional.

The final total on the three scoring cards had Alexander winning 117-109, 116-110 and 115-111. It was Alexander’s second fight as a welterweight.

“He was young and he was fast. He moved a lot,” Bailey said. “He moved a lot faster than I thought. I couldn’t get set and fight my fight.”

The venue of Saturday night’s championship fight was the brand new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was part of a show with three other world championship bouts. It was the first world championship card held in Brooklyn since 1931. Alexander and Bailey were originally scheduled to fight on Sept. 8, but the bout was postponed when Bailey suffered a back injury in a sparring session.

on Friday night in Brooklyn,N.Y.to win

CLUTCH

Continued from B3

The patched up arms in the rotation fell apart. The promising young players showed their youth and inexperience. Pete Kozma lost his Tom Emanski fielding video. Of course, the real reason the Cardinals will be watching the World Series at home with the rest of us is the offensive breakdown. But even that is no surprise. All year the team was on a roller coaster ride, playing feast or famine on offense. The hunger of the Giants was apparent as it seemed like the defending champs whiffed on every pitch that Barry Zito, Ryan Vogelsong and Matt Cain threw at them. In the end, the Giants pitched ate the Cardinals lunch and cemented their status as the comeback kids of 2012.

While the disappointment is heavy, it doesn’t seem that Cardinal Nation will take this loss as hard as 1996. Maybe expectations were lowered after losing a Hall-of-Fame bound coach and the best player in baseball during the same off-season. Maybe it’s the understanding that the team’s two aces were mere mortals this season: Adam Wainwright coming off Tommy John surgery and Chris Carpenter, who had a rib removed to combat nerve issues. Maybe it’s the first-year coach, the influx of young players, the revolving DLor the fact that we’re coming off a World Championship. Regardless, the future seems bright and another World Series seems within reach.

Both Wainwright and Carpenter are expected to return at full-strength next season and have a shot to return to their dominant form. Kozma showed potential as an offen-

sive force and with the end of the LaRussa-Ozzie Smith cold war, maybe the Wizard can help the youngster on defense. Shelby Miller and Trevor Rosenthal look to be the arms of the future. Jason Motte looks like a closer again. Mike Matheny also showed himself to be a very capable manager. He wasn’t as good for the local news cycles as LaRussa, but did an admirable job and will get better with experience. On paper, the Cardinals seem to be set up nicely for the future. I’m sure that’s little consolation for the players who blew what should have been an insurmountable lead. Hopefully the stinging pain of such an ugly defeat will resonate with the players. They’ve proven over the past two years they have the ability to come back in any given situation. This one is no different. The Redbirds will be relevant for years to come.

Devon Alexander (right) beat Randall Bailey (left) by unanimous decision (117-109,116-110 and 115-111)

the International Boxing Federation welterweight title.

Prep Athletes of the Week

Continued from B3

receiver runs a route three yards in front of the first down marker. That shouldn’t happen.

Continued from B3

N., Thur., 7:30 p.m. Parkway West at Holt, Thur., 7 p.m. Parkway North at Fort Zumwalt East, Friday, 7 p.m.

FZS/FZN winner at Parkway C., Oct. 31, 7 p.m

PW/Holt winner vs. PN/FZE winner, Oct. 31, 7 pm

Class 4

District 1 Festus at Cape Central, Thur., 7 p.m. De Soto at Hillsboro, Thur., 7 p.m.

District 2 Roosevelt at Lutheran South, Thur., 7 p.m.

Windsor at St. Mary’s, Thur., 7 p.m.

Affton vs. Vashon at Gateway Tech, Thur., 7 p.m.

LS/Roos winner vs Career Academy, Oct 31, 7 p.m.

SM/Wind winner vs. Vash/Aff winner, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.

District 3 Pacific at Sullivan, Thur., 7 p.m. Westminster vs Ladue at

Is there anyone telling these guys that sure fire way to convert a first down is to actually go past the first down marker? It doesn’t get easier for the Rams. They travel to merry old New England to face Tom

Parkway West, Thur., 7 p.m. Borgia at St. Clair, Thur., 7 Union vs. Priory at Parkway North, Thur., 7 p.m.

District 4 MICDS at St. Charles West, Friday, 7 p.m. Normandy vs. U. City at Clayton, Friday, 6 p.m. Jennings at Clayton, Thur., 7 p.m. St. Charles at Gateway Tech, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

District 6 Warrenton at St. Dominic, Friday, 7 p.m.

Class 3

District 2

Confluence at John Burroughs, Friday, 3 p.m.

Brady and the New England Patriots. The Rams have a nasty schedule following the bye week. So we’ll about to really find out what Jeff Fisher and these guys are about. Look they’re 3-4, and no

St. James at Kennedy, Friday, 7 p.m.

DuBourg vs. Soldan at Sumner, Thur., 6 p.m. Owensville at Cardinal Ritter, Friday, 7 p.m.

District 5 Sumner at Duchesne, Friday, 7 p.m. Winfield at Orchard Farm, Friday, 7 p.m.

Wright City at ChristianO’Fallon, Friday, 7 p.m.

Trinity at MS-Berkeley, Friday, 7 p.m.

Class 2

District 2 Cleveland at Maplewood, Friday, 7 p.m.

Lutheran North at Herculaneum, Friday, 7 p.m.

person including me would’ve thought that they’d be near .500. So progress is being made. The fans want more, and without a doubt those players in the Rams locker room feel the same.

Principia at Brentwood, Friday, 7 p.m.

Northwest vs. Carnahan at Sumner, Friday, 6:30 p.m.

Illinois State Playoffs FirstRound Games

Class 8

O’Fallon at Homewood Floosmoor, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Class 7 Belleville West at East St. Louis, Sat., 1 p.m. Pekin at Edwardsville, Sat. 2 p.m.

Class 5 Matoon at Jerseyville, Sat., 2 p.m.

Highland at Springfield Griffin, Friday, 7 p.m.

Class 4 Waterloo at AltonMarquette, Friday, 7 p.m. Mater Dei at Olney East Richland, Friday, 7 p.m.

Class 2 Althoff at Chester, Sat., 6 p.m.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers passes around the leaping James Laurinaitis during fourth-quarter action at the Edward Jones Dome.Green Bay won the game 30-20.

Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

EVICTION

Continued from B1

gage payments to Wells Fargo bank because she lost her job.

According to a Fox News report, Wells Fargo released a statement saying, “Wells Fargo worked with Ms. Williams for more than a year to attempt to find an option that would allow her to stay in the home. Despite providing some additional time, we did have to move forward with the eviction.”

Williams said she could not get through to the bank on the numerous times she tried to contact them.

The activists, led by Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), said Williams’situation could have been prevented by automatic foreclosure mediation, which would require the bank to sit down with the homeowner and an independent mediator before foreclosing.

The home defenders are asking for moratoriums on foreclosures in both the City and County until automatic mediation has gone into effect.

“The banks wrecked our economy,” said Molly Gott, spokeswoman for MORE. “We don’t think it’s fair that Wells Fargo, who is under suit for mortgage fraud by the New York attorney general, is able to continue kicking people out of their homes. Angelia is trying to pay for her house.”

The St. Louis County Council approved a law in August that requires banks to participate in formal mediation before foreclosing on county residents’properties. Yet it’s currently held up in court after a commercial bank filed a class-action lawsuit against the county government on Sept. 18. After the group’s first protest, St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay said he would hold a press conference at Williams’home in support of foreclosure mediation legislation, Gott said. However, Slay recently cancelled the event.

Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed did not return Williams’phone calls, Gott said.

“Lewis Reed has expressed interest in foreclosure mediation, but has done nothing to move it forward,” Gott said.

Tom Shepard, Reed’s chief of staff, said Reed sponsored and filed Board Bill 160 (Foreclosure Mediation Bill) in September in order to ensure that a mediation process occurs in a potential foreclosure.

“In an attempt at uniformi-

Williams’supporters chanted, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out”and held signs with phrases including, “Arrest banks, not people.”

ty across the region, we have attempted to wait until similar legislation in St. Louis County reaches a final version after its court case,” Shepard said. “We believe banks should consider the pending legislation and stall any foreclosure proceedings until the court has reached a decision on the legislation.”

Gott said state Sen. Jamilah Nasheed drove by while the eviction was occurring, but did not get out of her car.

However, Nasheed said she was involved in trying to save Williams’home before MORE got involved.

“I talked to Wells Fargo, and I asked them if they could

try to refinance,” Nasheed said. “They said they were going to hold off and send more information.”

Nasheed said she filed a foreclosure bill in the state Legislature this year (HB 1611) that would allow homeowners to participate in dispute resolution or convert to “judicial foreclosure.”

“I’ve been on the front line and how it is impacting my constituents,” Nasheed said. “I will continue to fight that fight. Hopefully, MORE will come to Jeff City to help

me fight.” Although Williams was evicted, she believes the house is still hers. Because the mortgage was an FHAloan, Wells Fargo said the house is now owned by the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fox reports. For now, the house is empty, Williams’belongings are in a neighbor’s garage, and padlocks have been put on the front door.

Movers put Angelia Williams’property onto the sidewalk after sheriff deputies evicted her from her home on Friday. Throughout bouts of rain,30 protesters stood in front of her house to keep it from happening.

Photo by Dan Cohn

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

When our publisher and executive editor Donald M. Suggs asked me to write a story about my visit to Ghana and Togo this month, I wasn’t sure what to say. Though I was a travel editor in New York before moving home to work with Dr. Suggs and can crank out travel editorial in my sleep, I don’t visit West Africa as a traveler. I visit as an in-law. A good visiting in-law, in my view,

does what he is offered or told to do, so I spend a lot of time in stuffy suburban living rooms and dusty village compounds, visiting with elders and paying respect for the deceased and ill. After ten years of regular visits I now have my own friends in Ghana and Togo outside of my wife’s family, but when I run off with them, we do utterly local everyday things like backyard barbecues and pool swims.

By Danie Rae Style Broker

When

boss, literally. Owning his own streetwear boutique, DNA, Nathaniel Brown III is making major moves on the fashion scene, not only in St. Louis, but throughout the Midwest region. He’s creating his own rules by introducing some of the freshest streetwear brands to the St. Louis market. And being born and raised in downtown St. Louis, he and his #TeamDNA dudes are setting out to make St. Louis known for more than gold teeth and dreads. He’s setting the style bar high and by sharing his passion for staying fresh, through his boutique, he is bringing some of the freshest brands to our city! His style is simplistic, but he always makes a statement by setting the trends for his hometown. Also ladies, not only is he easy on the eyes, he also has the drive, motivation and SWAGGER to keep you on your toes, but that’s only if your hair is clean! He is striving to pave the way for St. Louis to have our own unique style flow. And he’s doing a pretty good job.

PEEP the FILE and learn about the kid!

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I saw James Earl Jones do this in 1988 on Broadway and I absolutely loved it,” said director and drama educator Nancy Crouse.

“I told my students, ‘I think you’ve seen one of the best plays in American literature – and one of the best performances in American theatre.”

From that moment nearly 25 years ago when she took a group of her drama students on a journey to the ultimate theatrical experience, August Wilson’s “Fences” has been on her wish list to direct. And the Hawthorne Players’ unique way of soliciting directors

See PLAY, C4

Name: Nathaniel Brown III or just “Nate”

Occupation: Owner, DNA Boutique (streetwear, sneakers, accessories)

1308A Washington Ave., STL, MO 63103

Age: 26

Birthplace: St. Louis

Danie Rae: What influences your everyday style?

Nate: My biggest daily influences would be the internet, regional styles from different parts of the country like New York, Miami, and LA, and Japanese street style. These Japanese kids don’t settle for anything less than perfection.

Danie Rae: Favorite fashion magazines and blogs?

Nate: Hype Beast, High Snobiety, Upscale Hype, GQ, Esquire.

Danie Rae: Who do you consider a style icon?

Nate: Of course Kanye, then maybe Pharrell Jay Z, and Wale

Danie Rae: What about Lil’ Wayne for the younger dudes?

Nate: NO! Lil’ Wayne shops at Hot Topic! (LAUGHED OUT LOUD)

Danie Rae: What’s your favorite season to dress for and why?

RZA prepares for Kung Fu blockbuster with directorial debut

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American

“I definitely had a lot of pressure on me, and I have to admit that I was nervous,” said rapper-turnedactor-turned-director RZA. “But my nervousness was overshadowed by my focus. And my pressure was overshadowed by my determination and belief.”

As he readies for the theatrical release for the biggest project in his film career with an epic 19th century Kung Fu action film, RZA even sounds like an Asian master.

RZA not only leads a star-studded character ensemble that includes Lucy Liu and Russell Crowe, but he also co-wrote (with Eli Roth) and makes his directorial debut in The Man with the Iron Fists

“I wouldn’t say I’m the star of the show – I’m surrounded by a great cast. I will say that I have more screen time than usual,” RZA said.

As “The Blacksmith,” RZA just might be among the most unlikely face of Kung Fu films. But as he spoke of the making of the film and the technical tricks of the trade that he promises will light up the screen,

&

See FIST, C4

See STYLE, C4

Family and friends of Karley M. King celebrate a milestone birthday at her

suburbs of Accra, Ghana. Photo by Samuel Asamoah

“The Man with the Iron Fists,” the directorial debut of The RZA, opens in theatres nationwide

The Hawthorne Players presentation of August Wilson’s “Fences,” directed by Nancy Crouse, will run from Nov. 2–11 at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre (Parker Rd.

Waterford Drive).

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

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

Thur., Oct. 25, Chaifetz Arena presents Wiz Khalifa One S. Compton Ave., 63103. For more information, call (314) 977-5000.

Fri., Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m., Transfiguration Church presents AJazz Night Out feat. Denise Thimes, Tony Simmons, and more. Polish Community Center, 1413 N. 20th St., 63106. For more information, call (314) 6217845.

Oct. 26 – 28, St. Louis Symphony presents The Wizard of Oz. Explore the Land of Oz with the help of Dorothy, the munchkins, and the members of the STL Symphony. Enjoy this classic on the big screen as the orchestra performs the memorable soundtrack. Plus, put on your ruby red slippers and enter our costume contest! 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700.

Oct. 26 – 27, Jazz St. Louis presents Legacy Jazz Quintet Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call314289-4030 or visit www.jazzstl.org.

Tues., Oct. 30, 7 p.m., The RealtorHousing Assistance Fund presents Concert fora Cause. Fundraiser for the homeless featuring dynamic performers Kim Massie and Javier Mendoza. The Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 533-9900.

Oct. 31 – Nov. 3, Jazz St. Louis presents Terell Stafford: This Side of Strayhorn. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call314289-4030 or visit www.jazzstl.org.

Fri., Nov. 2, 7 p.m., The

Wildey Theatre hosts Erin Bode. Walk the red carpet and spend the night listening to great music. All proceeds of this concert will go toward the Scholarship Fund to help support local students in the Edwardsville Community Unit School District 7. 252 North Main St., Edwardsville, IL., 62025. For more information, call (855) 464-3223.

Fri., Nov. 2, 8 p.m., The Ambassador presents 70s Throwback Party. 9800 New Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 456-4826 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Sun., Nov. 4, 3 p.m., St. Louis Symphony presents Hip Hop Symphony. Learn about musical form in this innovative program pairing hip-hop choreography by COCA’s Redd Williams with classical favorites performed by the STLSymphony. When the dancers take the stage, you’ll see the visual and physical representation of what you’re hearing! 718 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1700.

Wed., Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m., Jazz St. Louis presents Webster Groves High School and Western Illinois University Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call314289-4030 or visit www.jazzstl.org.

Thur., Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Mildred Thimes Foundation Benefit Concert feat. Denise Thimes. Musical tribute to Nancy Wilson to benefit pancreatic cancer research. The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 533-9900 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Fri., Nov. 9, 8 p.m., The Fox Theatre presents Mary Mary Go Get it Tour. Special guests Isaac Carree and Jessica Reedy. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information,

CALENDAR

call (314) 534-1678 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Nov. 9 – 10, Jazz St. Louis presents Jim Manley. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Ave., 63103. For more information, call314-289-4030 or visit www.jazzstl.org

Sat., Nov. 10, 6 p.m., All That Jazz Goes Blues. Benefiting Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis! Festivities include cocktails, a silent and brief live auction, dinner, dancing and entertainment by Keith Robinson’s All Stars. Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch, 315 Chestnut, 63107. For more information, call (314) 335-8014.

Thur., Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m., Fox Concerts & AEG Live present R. Kelly Single Ladies Tour. Fox Theatre, 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1678 or visit www.metrotix.com.

local gigs

Through October30, Wednesdays – Saturdays, The Griot Museum of Black History presents “Songs From the Soul”: African American Icons of Music History. 2505 St. Louis Ave., 63106. For more information, call (314) 241-7057 or visit www.thegriotmuseum.com.

special events

Thur., Oct. 25, 6:30 p.m., Gateway to the Stars: Ghosts of the Arch Grounds. Rangerled walk explores the various “incarnations” of buildings, people, and boats that once inhabited the area. For more information, call 9314) 6551750 ext. 472 or visit www.nps.gov/jeff.

Fri., Oct. 26, 6 p.m., Brentwood Parks & Recreation and Mid-County YMCA present SPOOKtacular. Indoor and outdoor activities, and a cos-

tume contest to keep little goblins busy having fun! Memorial Park, 8600 Strassner Dr., 63144. For more information, call (314) 963-8689.

Fri., Oct. 26, 7 p.m., Fashion in the City Kickoff Party. A red carpet event. Meet the Models, Designers, Doctors and Media. LOLA’s, 500 N. 14th St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 6217277.

Sat., Oct. 27, 9 a.m., St. Louis Zoo hosts Boo at the Zoo Spooky Saturday. Mummies and daddies are invited to bring their little ghouls and goblins for safe and free trick-or-treating, entertainment, games and costume parade along the Pumpkin. One Government Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 781-0900.

Sat., Oct. 27, 11 a.m., Sisters of Hope, Inc. hosts 2nd Annual Bold Confident Women & Girls Expo: Confidence & Natural Beauty. Events include programs in business leadership, dance, and communication enhancement. Missouri History Museum, Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park. For more information, call (314) 372-5452 or visit www.sistersofhope.org

Sat., Oct. 27, 1 p.m., St. Phillip’s Lutheran Church Community Involvement Committee present Annual Card Party Fundraiser. Tickets can be purchased for $7 and games include raffles and card games. 2424 Malone Dr., 63113. For more information, call (314) 283-9306 or (314) 531-6318.

Sat., Oct. 27, 1 p.m., Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis presents Free Family Day Halloween Event. Enjoy the exhibitions and take part in fun-filled activities, including art projects, artist-led workshops, and more. Every child wearing a costume will be entered in a raffle to win a special prize. 3450 Washington Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 535-4660.

The Black Rep Presents ANNE & EMMETT, a moving, memorable meeting of Anne Frank and Emmett Till in a magical place called Memory. See THEATRE for details.

Sat., Oct. 27, 8 p.m., 13

Black Katz presents Monsters Ball. Paragon Theater, 1911 Locust St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 4774249 or visit www.13blackkatz.com.

Sun., Oct. 28, 12 p.m., Susan G. Komen forthe Cure hosts Spare Nothing forthe Cure. Family-friendly bowling event benefits breast cancer research and local breast health programs. Flaming Bowl (1117 Washington Ave., 63101) or Brunswick Zone Chesterfield (176 Four Seasons Shopping Center, 63017). For more information, call (314) 5693900 or visit www.komenstlouis.org.

Sun., Oct. 28, 7 p.m., Fashion in the City Masquerade Runway Show: An Enchanted Affair. Emerging designers will showcase their 2013 spring collections. Also, “Doctors on the Runway” where local physicians walk the runway to benefit Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital Foundation. City Museum Vault Floor, 701 N. 15th St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 231-2489.

Wed., Oct. 31, 6 p.m., Prince of Peace Church hosts Safe Trick orTreating: Tis So Sweet. Make your way to this festival for games, a bonfire, 3 on 3 basketball, trunk R treat, and much more. 9350 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more information, call (314) 6692419 or visit www.princeofpeacembc-stl.org.

Thur., Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m., Fox Theatre presents So You Think You Can Dance Live Tour. Starring Season 9 Finalists Audrey, Tiffany, Will, and more. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1678.

Sat., Nov. 3 – 4, 10 a.m., Midwest Natural Hair, Health & Beauty Expo. Events include workshops for proper hair care, business development, holistic health care, and more. Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 319 Fountain Parkway, Fairview Heights, IL., 62208. For more information, call (618) 580-8407.

Sat., Nov. 3, 11 a.m., Delta Dental Health Theatre presents The Great Candy Exchange. Unopened, packaged candy can be traded in for chances to win prizes, including an Xbox 360 Kinect. We will also be collecting canned goods for Operation Food Search. The event will also feature interactive games, face painting, and more. All candy received will be sent to the troops. 727 N. First St., 63102. For more information, call (314) 241-7391.

Sat., Nov. 3, 12 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Community Action Fair. Through enlightening demonstrations, lectures, special guests, and presentations, learn about organizations that work on issues of food justice. Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park. For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www.mohistory.org..

Sat., Nov. 3, 5:30 p.m., The Green Center presents 5th Annual Fire Festival. Featuring fire dancers, jugglers, storytelling, food, s’mores and more. 8025 Blackberry Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 725-8314 ext. 102.

Fri., Nov. 2, 8 p.m., The Ambassador presents 70s Throwback Party. 9800 New Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 456-4826 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Sat., Nov. 3, 5:30 p.m., The Green Center presents 5th Annual Fire Festival. Featuring fire dancers, jugglers, storytelling, food, s’mores and more. 8025 Blackberry Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 725-8314 ext. 102.

Sat., Nov. 3, 6 p.m., 5th Annual Night forthe Town Gala and After-Party. Dinner, music, a live auction and a silent auction. After you wine and dine at the Gala, let loose and dance the night away at the Night for the Town AfterParty. The Moto Museum, 3441 Olive St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 446-1805.

Sat., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Bubbling Brown Sugar presents Miss Fannie’s Ball 2012. The Ambassador, 9800 New Halls Ferry Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 8699090 or visit www.metrotix.com.

Thur., Nov. 8, 6 p.m., St. Vincent’s Home forChildren hosts 1st Annual Wine Tasting. Come enjoy fine wines, wonderful hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment, as well as a live and silent auctions. Proceeds benefit St. Vincent’s. Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 Headquarters, 2913 Chouteau, 63103. For more information, call (314 (261)-6011.

Sat., Nov. 10, 6:30 a.m., THF Realty presents The Gateway Cupcake 5k Run & Walk. Pit speedy runners against speedy eaters in a battle between foot and mouth. Participants can

deduct up to 5 minutes per Cupcake at 5 Cupcake Stations along the racecourse for a maximum of 25 minutes off of their finishing time. Central Field Forest Park, 5595 Grand Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 862-1188.

Sat., Nov. 10, 6 p.m., MHT Benefit Dinner& Dance feat. Fabulous Motown Revue. Moolah Shrine, 12545 Fee Fee Rd., 63146. For more information, call (314) 241-9165.

Sat., Nov. 10, 2 p.m., Cote Brilliante Presbyterian Church Presents The Fourth Annual Taste Of Jazz Scholarship Benefit Concert featuring jazz group First Call with special guest Felica Ezell, Courtney Loveless, Levance Madden,and Bwayne Smotherson,Kappa Community Center, 500 N. Vandeventer, St.louis MO. 63108. For More Information Call 1-314-381-2770.

Thur., Nov. 15, 11 a.m., World Wide Technology, Inc. presents The St. Louis American Foundation’s 13th Annual Salute to Excellence in Business. Awards & Networking Luncheon. The Ritz-Carlton St. Louis, 100 Ritz Carlton Dr., 63105. For more information, call (314) 533-8000 ext. 305 or visit www.stlamerican.com

Wed., Oct. 31, 7 p.m., Left Bank Boods Downtown hosts authors Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan, authors of The Silenced Majority. Avivid record of the events, conflicts, and social movements in our society today. Since it’s Halloween, come dressed as your favorite revolutionary (or oppressor), and anyone in costume will receive a discount on the books. 321 N. Tenth St., 63101. For more information, call (314) 436-3049.

Tues., Nov. 6, 6 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Jazz and Poetry in the Galleries. Throughout the museum, jazz musicians and poets will be performing live. Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park. For more information, call (314) 746-4599.

Sat., Nov. 17, 7 p.m., Central Library Grand Reopening Gala. Central Library will celebrate its grand reopening in its centennial year with a black-tie dinner and gala. 1301 Olive St., 63103. For more information, call 9314) 5390359.

theatre

Oct. 25 – Oct. 28, UMSL Theatre Department presents “In The Blood” by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Susan-Lori Parks, Jacqueline Thompson, visiting assistant professor of theater at UMSL, will direct the production, which is described as a modern-day reinterpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter.” For more information, visit www.touhill.org or call (314) 516-4949.

Oct. 26 – Nov. 4, The Black Rep Presents ANNE & EMMETT, ANNE & EMMETTtells of the moving, memorable meeting of Anne Frank and Emmett Till in a magical place called Memory. Frank recounts her experience in the Holocaust, and Till his tragic tale of racial hatred and violence in the American South. Grandel Theatre, 3610 Grandel Square. For ticket information, call The Black Rep Box Office (314) 5343810 or online at metrotix.com.

Oct. 27 – 28, COCAFamily Theatre Series presents ImaginOcean. One-of-a-kind live black-light puppet show in which three singing and dancing fish discover that the greatest treasure of all is their very own friendship.Jam-packed with songs from R&B to Big Band. 524 Trinity Ave., 63130. For more information, call (314) 725-6555 or visit www.cocastl.org

Through Oct. 28, The Fox Theatre presents Les Miserables. An epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. 527 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 534-1678.

Through October28, Unity Theatre Ensemble presents A Raisin in the Sun. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Ivory Theatre, 7622 Michigan Ave., 63111. For more information, call (314) 389-5194 or visit www.utensemble.org.

Through October28, Washington University Performing Arts Department presents Cabaret. Edison Theatre, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63105. For more information, call (314) 935-6543 or visit www.metrotix.com.

arts

Through October27, In the Still Epiphany, Approximately 50 works of art from Emily

and Joseph Pulitzer Jr.’s Collection, Opening reception

5 p.m. April 5, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts (in Grand Center) 3716 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108.

Fri., Nov. 2, 6 p.m., 88.1

KDHX presents Art Attack!

Single elimination tournament pitting 32 local artists head-tohead. Audience response to each painting will be measured, with the piece receiving the most applause progressing to the next round and the losing piece being auctioned to the highest bidder. Plush St. Louis, 3224 Locust St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 664-3955 ext. 312.

lectures

Through October25, Scarborough’s Tax Affair. IRS approved sponsor of continuing education for Registered Tax Return Prepares and Enrolled Agents. Parkway Hotel, 4550 Forest Park Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 6211402 or visit www.taxhitlady.com/seminarsandclasses.

Sun., Nov. 4, 12 p.m., St. Joseph’s Academy Open House. 2307 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 394-4300 or visit www.stjosephacademy.org.

Sun., Nov. 4, 11:30 a.m., Saint Louis University High Open House. 4970 Oakland Ave., 63110. For more information, call (314) 531-0330 or visit www.sluh.org

SIUE Foundation presents Nikki Giovanni. See LECTURES AND WORKSHOPS for more information.

Thurs., Nov. 8, 6 p.m., The Missouri History Museum and the Gephardt Institute forPublic Service present The Criminal Brand: America’s Invisible Class, Missouri History Museum, Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park.

Mon., Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m., SIUE Foundation presents Nikki Giovanni. Meridian Ballroom, Morris University Center, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. For more information, call (618) 650-5774 or visit www.artsandissues.com.

Sat., Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m., New City School Open House 5209 Waterman Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 361-6411 or visit www.newcityschool.org

Sat., Nov. 10, 9:00 a.m., Rossman School Open House. 12660 Conway Rd., 63141. For more information, call (314) 434-5877 or visit www.rossmanschool.org..

Sat., Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m., New City School Open House

5209 Waterman Blvd., 63108. For more information, call (314) 361-6411 or visit www.newcityschool.org.

health

Sat., Oct. 27, 9 a.m., The American CancerSociety hosts Making Strides Against Breast CancerWalk. Celebrate people who have battled breast cancer, raise awareness about ways to help prevent breast cancer, and raise money to find cures and support programs and services for those facing the disease. Forest Park Upper Muny Parking Lot, Macklind Dr. and Union Dr., 63110. For more information, call (314) 286-8159.

Sun., Oct. 28, 8:30 a.m., National Lung Cancer Partnership Free to Breathe 5K Walk. Creve Coeur Park Tremayne Shelter, 2143 Creve Coeur Mill Rd., 63146. For more information, visit www.freetobreathe.org/StLouis

Sun., Oct. 28, 12 p.m., Susan G. Komen forthe Cure hosts Spare Nothing forthe Cure. Family-friendly bowling event benefits breast cancer research and local breast health programs. Flaming Bowl (1117 Washington Ave., 63101) or Brunswick Zone Chesterfield (176 Four Seasons Shopping Center, 63017). For more information, call (314) 5693900 or visit www.komenstlouis.org.

Sat., Nov. 3, 6 p.m., Mound City Medical Forum Scholarship Banquet and Awards Ceremony. The Ballpark Hilton, 1 S. Broadway, 63102. For more information, contact moundcitymedicalforum@yahoo.com.

Wed., Nov. 7, 6:30 p.m., Support Group for Caregivers/Partners of Young Women with Breast Cancer. The topic of discussion will be the challenges of caregiving. 7425 Forsyth Ave., 63105. For more information, call (314) 747-7156.

Fri., Nov. 9, 6 p.m., Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and the St. Louis Cardinals host Going to Bat forSeizures Benefit for the Epilepsy Foundation. Champion’s Club at Busch Stadium, 700 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, call (314) 7814949.

Oct. 25-Oct. 26, Fellowship of International Christian Word of Faith Ministries presents theirCentral Regional Conference, Grow 2 Go Christian Center, 870 Pershall Rd. For more information, call (800) 727-1374 or visit www.ficwfm.org.

Oct. 26 & 28, 7 p.m. & 4 p.m. (respectively), St. Louis Gospel Choral Union, Inc. hosts Sing and Bless His Name. Christ’s Southern Mission Baptist Church, 5630 Page Blvd., 63044. For more information, call (314) 2989723.

Sat., Oct. 27, 4 p.m., Healing & Mending Ministry invites you to “Not Me” Youth Expo. Join us for music, a stage play, and prizes. Bring awareness to teen depression, date rape, suicide, and more.Proceeds from event will support Women and Teen Programs to end violence against families. Resurrection Life Christian Center, 1651 Redman Rd., 63138. For more information, call (314) 255-6181.

Sun., Oct. 28, 10 a.m., True Light Missionary Baptist Church 103rd Year Anniversary Celebration 2838 James “Cool Papa” Bell Avenue. For more info, please call (314) 531-1801. Nov. 5 – 13, Church of God in Christ 105th Holy Convocation. The America’s Center, 701 Convention Plaza, 63101. For more information, visit www.cogic.org.

STYLE

Continued from C1

Nate: Fall!! People get fly in the fall. If you are ever unsure if your dude is certified fresh, check for his wardrobe in the fall

Danie Rae: Top 5 MUST HAVES for your wardrobe?

Nate: 1. Audemars Piguet Watch

2. YSL Cologne

3. Nudie Jeans

4. DNA “St. Louis” Snapback

5. Burt Bees Chapstick

Danie Rae: Boxers, Briefs, or Commando?

Nate: BRIEFS ONLY.

“Ladies never date a man that wears only boxers! Trust Me!”

Danie Rae: Style Pet Peeve:

TRAVEL

from C1

But on this most recent visit, it occurred to me, I did participate in two local celebrations. While both were private functions, they were large group celebrations that really had the flavors of Lome and Accra, the capital cities of Togo and Ghana.

In Lome we were invited to a large dinner party in a local restaurant to celebrate a young man’s successful defense of his Master’s thesis in finance.

The restaurateur, Rosita, is one of my spouse’s oldest and closest friends, and her husband Guy (rhymes with “we”) is an immigrant from the Congo. Guy is friends with his home country’s president, and the young scholar we were celebrating is a nephew of Congo’s president. The dinner guests were the top elite of Congo, celebrating in fine style in Togo’s coastal capital, Lome, which has outlived its reputation as “the African Riviera” but still has an international, oceanic atmosphere.

But most of the guests from the Congo planned to change clothes and do more serious disco dancing in their hotels by the beach later that night. The dinner party was more about dining and wining.

Tilapia is the rage in Togo and Ghana these days, but our Congolese guests

Male and Female? Nate: MALE: Too many accessories and TRUE RELIGION JEANS. I hate when dudes wear too tight shirts, and bedazzled jeans.

FEMALE: NO DUST

BUNNIES! I hate girls in cheap leggings, fake eyelashes, and dirty hair!

Danie Rae: What would you NEVER be caught dead in?

Nate: ED HARDY and True Religion Jeans.

Danie Rae: Favorite stores… besides DNA?

Nate: Barney’s, Bloomingdale’s, Mr. Porter’s.

Danie Rae: Last, but not least, who are your favorite designers/brands?

Nate: Nudie, BAPE, because it was a catalyst for the modern streetwear brand, PRPS, Black Scale, Comme de

requested a delicious redfish from the Congo nicknamed El Capitan, which Rosita prepared in a light soup. They also requested a French sandwich that Americans know best through Vietnamese restaurants, where it is served as a Special Sandwich. It’s a medley of rich pork lunchmeats on a French bread roll with spicy mayo and fresh vegetables.

I happened to partner up with another of the Congo president’s nephews who was the family wine expert. Bombo has been cultivating an iron ore concession in South Africa so has been practicing his English, which is very good. In Togo people speak African languages and French, and I can’t understand a word of it. So I bonded with Bombo because he was speaking my languages – English words and French wine.

In Ghana we celebrated a milestone birthday for my wife. Her elder sister Mary Magdalene (M.M.) spared no extravagance. In her handsome suburban compound she staged a live highlife band, playing some of the most spirited, good-time music on the face of the Earth.

Buoyant Band has a rock solid musical core with layers of percussion, a monster bassist, an electric guitarist playing in the palm wine fingering style, keyboards and horns, all fronted by a line of dancers and singers going fullthrottle in voice and step.

M.M. arranged a local

Garçon, Rag and Bone, NSF

Danie Rae: Any last words of style wisdom for the reader?

Nate: Don’t be dusty! Don’t settle! And STAY FRESH down to your deodorant!

Danie Rae: Laugh. Out. Loud!

Think you have style??? E-mail daretobedanierae@ gmail.com or follow Danie Rae, Style Broker on twitter @Danie_Rae to send your swaggiest of swagged looks to possibly be the next STYLE FILE feature.

Hear more about Nate’s passion for fashion. Check the website www.stlamerican.com for additional audio from the interview!

caterer for the event, with a few family contributions of favorite foods, and the foodline had a wide assortment of meats, gravies, starches, fruits and salads. We were in the mood for banku, a corn staple made in large balls that you tear into smaller balls that you then use as fingerbowls to serve yourself gravy. In Africa I never walk away from a fish soup or gravy if that’s an option, but there also was a meat stew that was savory and a little wild. Africans always cook with organ meats in the mix, so their gravies, soups and stews always have a wider range of flavors than many Americans are accustomed to. They also always serve two hot sauce options, one called fresh (with mostly raw ingredients) and shito, a dark paste with dried fish and roasted hot peppers.

My wife’s birthday party ended with a blazeout on the dance floor, which was M.M.’s concrete driveway. Buoyant Band and its dancers burned through a series of long, closing numbers, and one of our nieces pulled her beautiful young friends out of their chairs to join us middle-aged folks who had been dancing in small groups all afternoon. The mix of traditional steps from the Buoyant Band frontline and feel-good, affectionate moving about by our friends and family felt like West Africa at its best and most distinctive.

FIST

Continued from C1

he sounded like a seasoned professional.

“This is living a childhood dream for me, and I didn’t foresee this – but I definitely prepared for it though,” RZA said. “We don’t want negative dreams coming true, but if there is a positive dream with positive energy, don’t let anyone stop you from bringing it to life.”

He took those words to heart and asserted himself to study under director Quentin Tarantino and actor Russell Crowe – masters of film in their own right. The end result would be a professional moment RZA couldn’t have ever imagined as he feasted on Kung-Fu movies as a child and later as a star of the acclaimed rap dynasty The Wu Tang Clan.

A trusted advisor, Tarantino confidently lent his name to The Man with the Iron Fist. And Crowe – who RZA shared screen time with in American Gangster and The Next Three Days – agreed to co-star.

RZA was beaming with excitement as he anticipated the film’s release.

“On Nov. 2, be prepared for pure entertainment,” RZA said. “I strive to do the world a good service by the film, but

PLAY

Continued from C1

meant that Crouse’s opportunity will come next weekend at the Florissant Civic Center as a part of their 67th season.

The theatre troupe asks directors to submit a work that they would like to helm when they submit their request to be a part of the upcoming season. And for 2012 Crouse’s number was called in.

She is optimistic that the impact that Crouse and her students had a generation ago will be repeated when “Fences” returns to the theatre in St. Louis next week starring Archie Coleman, Ethan H. Jones, Kimberly Kidd, Steven Maurice, Darren Wilson, Gabriel Phifer, Alanna Fenner and Breché DaValt.

“We have a marvelous script and a fabulous cast,” Crouse said. “I enjoy every rehearsal. I’ve done a lot of plays and I

the main thing is I want for them to walk out entertained. It has some action in it and it has some blood in it. At the same time I know I’ll get the fans from Wu Tang, and I definitely put a spoonful of sugar in there for them too.’”

The process of becoming “The Blacksmith” was a process years in the making.

“As an actor I’m able to draw upon different personalities of my own self over my life or draw upon characters that I’ve seen,” RZA said.

“So somebody like The Blacksmith, I’m thinking like, ‘How was Clint Eastwood in his earlier movies?’ when he [expletive] had no name and nothing to say and was a stranger. I studied some things he did. I studied some of the Chinese actors and some of the things they did in their movies,

don’t say that about very many productions.”

Wilson’s Pulitzer Prizewinning play tells the story of Troy Maxon, a man with the talent to be a baseball star but the times serve as his enemy as he is relegated to the Negro Leagues. By the time baseball is integrated, Maxon’s best days as an athlete are far behind him. When the audience is introduced to him in 1957 Pittsburgh, he bears the scars of his resentment and imposes them on his family while at the same time trying to be a decent husband, father and provider.

“Everything he does in the face of all of the things he had to struggle against, we find him almost noble, even though he’s terribly flawed and at times we don’t like him,” Crouse said.

“The people that watch this show will find bits of their family within these circumstances and know what the struggle was. The Maxons are a part of our history that we must not forget.”

The moment coupled with the messenger makes for an

and at the same time I said, ‘Yo, I am a black dude, so I’ve got to make sure that energy is felt.’”

Becoming a director was a bit more complicated.

“It was nerve-wracking, it was tedious, but I studied for years for the chance to do this – I prepared,” RZA said. “I’m an official director now and I feel like I can make movies like I make albums. I got the magic.”

Again, he prepared for this.

“The biggest lesson I learned in this whole process is that you must prepare yourself,” RZA said.

“The Man with the Iron Fists” opens in theatres nationwide on Friday, November 2. The film is Rated R with a running time of 96 minutes.

unforgettable stage experience.

“August Wilson has the ability to tell a good story that is gripping,” Crouse said. “It is not a plot-based show, it is a character-based show. I think the characters pull us in.” The conflicts and layers also appear throughout the Maxon household – most vividly through Troy’s wife Rose and younger son Cory.

“‘Fences’ is so powerfully written and powerfully acted, you go out talking and you go out thinking, but that’s the kind of theater that I like,” Crouse said.

“In ‘Fences’ you also see a lot of resilience,” Crouse said. “Through the characters we see if the path we start on doesn’t give us what we want, we have to start another.”

The Hawthorne Players presentation of Fences will run from Nov. 2 – Nov. 11 at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre (Parker Rd. & Waterford Drive). For more information, call (314) 524-5201 or visit www.hawthorneplayers.com.

Continued

Wrestler Bautista and The RZA in a scene from the film “The Man With Iron Fists.”

By Melanie Adams

The power of community partnerships

The Black Rep will present Facing the Shadow at the Missouri History Museum

November 1–11. Set just before the Civil War, this play looks at the Free Women of Color Literary society of Baltimore, who face a potentially life-altering decision: whether or not to help a female slave escape to freedom.

In last week’s edition of The St. Louis American, there was a story about the History Museum’s project to put a Center for Community Stories on Delmar Ave. This new center was to serve as a space for the community to gather, share and record stories, and participate in programs that helped break down the racial barriers of the region. After much consideration, we decided not to build the new center. The programs we had intended to host there would be presented at the museum building on Lindell Boulevard.

I have repeatedly said in this column that I think I have the best job in the world. I work with creative and passionate staff members, students, volunteers, and interns. I am intellectually challenged on a daily basis by learning about St. Louis’s rich history through our exhibits and publications. And my favorite part of my job is helping the Museum make connections with individuals and community organizations to provide over 700 quality programs each year. In the face of a severe economic downturn, it made sense for the Museum to continue our commitment to the community and develop programs, not in a building off site, but in the original building dedicated to Thomas Jefferson. Over the past six years, the Museum has developed a variety of new programs that reflect our mission. One of the first programs developed was collaboration with the local PBS station, KETC Channel Nine, to become a partner in the nationwide Community Cinema program. This program works with local venues to allow the showing of an Independent Lens documentary a month before its televised viewing. In addition to providing early access to the film, the program also offers educational materials as well as visits from film directors and producers. Over the past six years the Museum’s Community Cinema program has grown to be the largest in the country with an average of over 200 people attending each screening. Past documentaries topics include Black History Month, the Little Rock Nine, Masculinity and Hip Hop, and the African women leaders. Another program that the Museum is proud to sponsor is the African American Genealogy series. The program came to us through its president, Charles Brown. He was looking for a location for his monthly meeting and thought the Museum would make a good partner. We thought so too and have enjoyed working with this energetic and exciting group. They bring in local and national genealogy experts to speak about the challenges of doing African American family research. This monthly program is an example of how the Museum likes to partner with organizations and provide quality programs free of charge to the community. The final partnership I will mention is with the Black Rep. The Museum has worked with

this outstanding theater company on an irregular basis for years. When we began putting together the Performing Arts Series (called Missouri History Museum Presents), we knew it was important to have a diverse theater schedule and believed the Black Rep would make a great addition to the lineup. This year the Black Rep will be doing a play entitled Facing the Shadows which looks at the Underground Railroad in Maryland. This play goes well with both the Museum’s Civil War exhibit and the performing arts series’ theme of 2012-2013, Women. Not only is the Black Rep working with Missouri History Museum Presents but also as part of our Theater in the Museum series. When the Museum began planning the Civil War exhibit, we thought it was important to make sure we had theater that reflected the different stories of the war. Not having a an African American actor on the staff, we reached out to the Black Rep company. They worked with us to not only write a play, Resurrection 150, about African American Civil War soldiers, but the Black Rep actors stage it each weekend at the Museum. This fall Resurrection 150 continues with the stories of African American women in the Civil War, written by Linda Kennedy. There are numerous other programs the Museum has developed and implemented since our decision not to create a new space on Delmar. In the end, it is not about a building, but about strengthening community, developing new partnerships, and creating a safe space for community dialogues, all of which we do in our current location.

Delmar: The Racial and Economic Divide

Thursday, October 25th 7pm FREE

Join us for a discussion of the BBC video short The Delmar Divide

Facing the Shadow

The Black Rep

November 1st – 11th

(Thurs-Sat at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm)

Set just before the Civil War, this play looks at the Free Women of Color Literary society of Baltimore, who face a potentially life-altering decision: whether or not to help a female slave escape to freedom.

See www.mohistory.org for ticket prices

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town

Muwahaaa! It’s Boo in the Lou Time

St. Louis is tricked out with plenty of treats for boys and ghouls of all ages this season. From haunted houses to costume contests, from trick-or-treating to festive parties, here’s your guide to the best places to get a scare in St. Louis.

Not-So-Haunted House, The Magic House, October 26-28

Kids of all ages are invited to dress in their Halloween costumes and have a ghoulish good time trick-or-treating and getting autographs from more than 15 storybook characters from The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland and more.

Boo at the zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, Through October 30

This non-scary, kid-friendly Halloween experience is filled with laughs and adventurers. Enjoy spooktacular fun for families including Animal Encounters at the Emerson Children’s Zoo, Fireside Stories and a pirate tour through Sea Lion Sound, Big Cat Country and the Herpetarium.

Halloween Celebration, Grant’s Farm, October 25-27

Grant’s Farm offers a safe and festive way for families to celebrate fall traditions and Halloween with moonlight tram rides through the dark Deer Park, Halloween-themed animal and Mad Science shows, a DJ spinning spooky hits in the Bauernhof Courtyard and non-scary classic Halloween characters.

Haunted Hayloft, Purina Farms, October 26-28

Enjoy some not-so-scary Halloween entertainment just for kids at the Purina farms Haunted Hayloft. Kids can go trick-or-treating, enjoy magic shows, face painting, storytelling, participate in a costume contest, experience high-flying canine performances and take a look at adoptable dogs.

A trilogy of terror-filled haunted houses make up St. Louis’-own Scarefest sites. Acclaimed as the best haunted houses in the U.S., the Scarefest locations include: Scarefest: Darkness Scarefest: Creepyworld Haunted Attraction

Fright Fest Presented by SNICKERS, Six Flags St. Louis, October 5-28

Fright Fest, Six Flags St. Louis annual Halloween Bash, is fun for all ages. They’ll have electrifying street entertainment, haunted hayrides and thrilling haunted houses. Plus, experience your favorite rides in the dark Lemp Mansion Halloween Bash, October 27

The Lemp Mansion hosts a spooky evening full of music, costumes, food and drinks. Along with a live band there will be food all night, costume contest and a four hour open bar so you can sip on some witch’s brew while dancing the night away. Reservations are required.

Halloween Bash, Central West End, October 27

The Central West End’s annual Halloween Bash is fun for all ages. During the day there’s trick-or-treating and other fun activities for kids. At night the adult’s can enjoy music, food, drinks and an incredible costume contest.

4th Annual Great Pumpkin Carve & Glow, Moonrise Hotel, October 27

Exercise your pumpkin carving skills at the 4th Annual Great Pumpkin Carve and Glow. The Moonrise Hotel and Eclipse Restaurant invite people of all ages to the free pumpkin carving festivities in the Delmar Loop. Pumpkins, basic carving tools and decorating materials will be provided

Scarefest: The Haunting of Lemp Brewery

Reunions

All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont High Alumni Class of 1983 Bluejackets come on lets go, 30th class reunion in 2013. If you would like to be on the committee to meetto startfund raisers, and

~ CELEBRATIONS ~

October birthdays

It’s been that type of year, and some deci-

sions we just had to live with. But choosing to live with you… I never regret! Happy

Birthday Mrs. Wendy Anderson on October 25!

Happy 4th Birthday Eddie L. Barnes Jr. on October 26!

Love, NaNa & PaPa (Linda & William)

Alberta Squires will celebrate her 96th birthday on October 29. Grandma, you are a blessing!With love from your grandchildren, Lynn, Jody, Troy and Chris and the rest of the LaMarque-Squires family

Happy 10th Birthday to our little angel

Jayla Green on October 31! Continue to use thegifts God has bestowed upon your life with your award winning smile.We celebrateand love you dearly.

Grammie & PoppieStaton and Mommy

Happy 1st Birthday to Jeremiah Chase Jones on October 28! Love, Mom (Sharon) and Dad (Chase)

To my first born, my 2013 high school graduate, Happy 18th Birthday Tristian Fields on October 27! Love, your mom, brother and sister

give great ideasin making this 30th reunion a success, then we need you!Please contact Tammy Flowers at 314-3247615, Pat Ricks Wiley at 314583-2954 or email bhs83alumni@ymail.com.

Normandy Class of 1984 Alumni: We would like to start planning our 30th Class Reunion and we need your input. Email: Keith Spears or Darlene Holland with questionsat normandy1984@sbcglobal.net

O’Fallon Tech Class of 1968 if interested in a reunion in 2013,email contact info to

OfallonTech68@gmail.com.

Roosevelt Class of 1983 committee is in the process of planning their 30th High School Reunion. We are looking for ‘83 Rough Riders to call us with their contact info: Rhonda Jones-Jackson (312) 554-5330, Bettye Clark-Potter (314) 484-2032, Deneen LottBaker (314) 772-2655, Carmen Williams (314) 546-1260, Randy Smith revrtaylor@gmail.com, email info to: roosevelt-class-of1983@hotmail.com.

SumnerClass of 1976 annual celebration will be Friday,

October 19, 2012 at the Machinist Hall 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. in conjunction with Sumner’s Homecoming Dance.

Donation $15/Advance included light Hors d’Oeuvres.For more info, contact B. Louis at 314.385.9843 or email:sumnerclassof76@yahoo.com. Mail donation to:Sumner Class of 76, P. O. Box 69241, St. Louis, MO63169-0241 by Oct. 12, 2012 with selfaddressed stamped envelope for ticket(s).

The SumnerAlumni Association presents a Maroon and White Homecoming Week Oct. 16 -

Alumni Hoop-Fest Basketball Game(s) at Soldan Thur. (Donation/time TBA).

Alumni Dance Fri., 8 pm – 1 am at the Machinist Hall; $12 Advance/$15 Door (Vendors welcome $50/request appl.). Parade Sat. 10 am (Cars, floats, SUV’s, Marching Bands, etc. are welcome; request Parade Appl.). Tailgate Party atnoon at Sumner High. Sumner’s Homecoming Football Game 1:30 pm at Sumner’s Tuskegee Airmen Field, Sumner vs. Soldan. For

Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers. Whether it’s a birth,graduation, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website –AT NO COST – as space is available Photos will not be returned.

Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 4242 Lindell Ave St.

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

Wendy Anderson

Eddie L.Barnes Jr.

Jeremiah Chase Jones Tristian Fields

Jayla Green

Religion

The birth of tolerance

New media make free speech more precious – and dangerous

By Vicangelo Bulluck

For the St. Louis American

Havoc continues throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa ignited by the debasing stereotypes and grotesque portrayals depicted in the film, Innocence of Islam. Not since the release of Birth of a Nation has a film become so inflammatory. In 1915 the NAACP led peaceful protests denouncing the film that was causing riots and lynchings across our nation.

On Sunday, September 16, 2012 Josh Lederman of the Associate Press reported that What started with protesters scaling the embassy wall in Cairo on Tuesday over an amateurish video deriding Islam’s holiest figure has mushroomed into a maelstrom of disquiet throughout the Muslim world. In Libya, U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed when protesters stormed the consulate in Benghazi. AntiU.S. protests in 20 countries led the Pentagon to dispatch elite Marine antiterrorism teams to Libya and Yemen and to position two Navy warships off Libya’s coast.

Bloggers and Sunday morning news commentators debate and argue about whether the filmmakers should be held

accountable for the eruption of violence caused by the film. After all they have the right to free speech. While we defend free speech there is a responsibility that comes with that right. In 1915 the NAACP sought injunctions against the distribution of The Birth of a Nation calling it a threat to public safety. So today the NAACP cannot remain silent. We must condemn this hateful destructive piece of propaganda. The tragic loss of life reminds us not only of the volatility of closely held thoughts and beliefs but also about the power of film to influence and ignite

them. History has shown us repeatedly that media – and most powerfully – visual media, has a direct effect on culture and human behavior.

When Birth of Nation portrayed the KKK as heroes defending white virtue, it increased the membership of the KKK and perpetuated negative stereotypes of African American that would last generations. Lamentably, some of these stereotypes still resonate today. Thus, the NAACP’s continuing endeavors to affect the portrayals of minorities in film and television have never been more critical, given that media giants now beam powerful

images throughout the world, shaping our beliefs, opinions and decisions.

What the people of the Middle East, North Africa and around the world need to understand is that most Americans are insulted by this film and that minorities in America continue to advocate for fair representation in the media.

So, we urge the people and the leaders of the Muslim world to protest in peace and join us in a constructive dialogue about the power of the media in shaping the world in which we all aspire to live – a world of inclusion, understanding and tolerance.

Those living under repressive regimes must understand that freedom of speech is one of our democracy’s founding principals. Conversely, we as a free people must understand the power of that speech and that we have the right and the responsibility to condemn those who would abuse it.

So, we urge those in the entertainment and communication industries to reflect on the power of the images that are created in our mass media on a daily basis.

Images that were once carried in film canisters and driven over roads from theater to theater are now transported on the worldwide web by the click of a button. In this age of new media, let’s hope the messaging we have been seeing online through Facebook and YouTube from concerned Americans of every race, religion and gender will be viewed and heard by the rest of the world so that they know that we as a nation advocate and appeal for The Birth of Tolerance.

InspIratIonal Message

The magnificent obsession

What is an obsession? And is it necessarily bad? It depends on whom you ask. From a clinical or psychological point of view, they would tell us an obsession is a compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea.

If we wanted Webster’s two cents, he would tell us an obsession is an unwanted feeling or emotion accompanied by symptoms of anxiety.

But to the average person on the street an obsession is someone who is simply crazy.

Is it possible to be obsessed and in your right mind? Can an obsession really have God’s blessing? Can it be God’s will for your life that you are obsessed?

I would suggest only if your obsession is magnificent.

God planted the seed because the need was so magnificent. This is what gave birth to the obsession; Nehemiah was magnificently obsessed.

The question now becomes: are you just obsessed or are you magnificently obsessed?

How you answer the question will determine if your obsession is indeed from God. An obsession from God is bigger than you. It has a bigger purpose, a lasting purpose, an effectual purpose.

How many of us today can say we have a lasting purpose, an effectual purpose, a purpose from God?

It is with this in mind that God gives Nehemiah the charge to leave the comforts of Persia and return to the ruins of Jerusalem in order to repair the torn down walls.

The walls gave the city its protection, its strength, its pride and without the walls the city isn’t the same. It’s St. Louis without the Arch; it’s Chicago without Wrigley Field; it’s Harlem without the Apollo.

Jerusalem is not complete without the walls. No walls, No Israel.

Nehemiah’s fellow countrymen were not concerned about the conditions in their native land because their obsession wasn’t big enough, but Nehemiah was magnificently obsessed to rebuild the wall and improve the conditions in Jerusalem. Most people live their entire lives never to find their obsession, never to find their purpose. The question now becomes do you have a magnificent obsession? If not, I dare you to reach for one.

In this world, you have to give in order to get. You may ask, “What do I have to give?” You better give God praise for what you do have and he in turn will make it MAGNIFICENT!

The American is accepting Inspirational Messages from the community. Send your column (no more than 400 words) as a Word document and pasted text to cking@stlamerican.

Anthony Jackson

Vicangelo Bulluck is executive director of NAACPHollywood.

Celebrity Swagger Snap of the Week

It was equal parts hip-hop history and royalty as DJ Kut teamed up with Arrested Development to simultaneously celebrate his birthday and the group’s 20 year anniversary. Anyone in the building at 2720 Saturday night knows that the concert was one for the record books! The group stopped by the Foxy 95.5 studios to show Kut some love the earlier in the day.

Natural nation. I must say that my weekend got started in the best possible way as I stopped by Needles Natural Hair Celebration Friday night at the Blank Space. There were kinks, fros, coils, locks and curls all up and through the building getting D-O-W-N to the sound of Needles’ classic 45

(yes as in that little record) collection. Let me tell you, we were two bucket hats and three pair of bell bottoms away from re-enblacting the opening scene painting from “Good Times.” I even saw a handful of general pops (i.e. white folks) in the building rocking dreads and jamming to the beat. When the black to the basics are in the building, hugging the wall is not an option. They gets (yes, I said gets) down by any means necessary and all but force you to do the same – in a good way, of course. Tree was selling his hand-made jewelry while busting a move at the same time and my girl, the crochet queen, was giving the folks some Rastafarian caps and creative hair shawls for sale. I must say that I really got life from this event and word on the curb is – due to popular demand – that Needles will be bringing it back next month. I can’t wait!

The best of Arrested Development. Who would have thought that a concert at 2720 could clock just about every “urban” show I’ve seen for 2012 – from the Chaifetz, to the Fox and the Scottrade? Well it took Arrested Development to come back from beyond the grave in celebration of their 20 years in music, but so far they have the crown. They came through in collaboration with Rock House and DJ Kut’s b-day party, so I should have known that it was going to be a good time…but I had no idea! Speech, a lady who looks like my mail carrier, another lady who looks like the woman who does my niece’s hair and a few other anonymous folks make up the newest incarnation of the band. But don’t get it twisted, these stranger dangers came in the place and they toe (yes, I said toe) it up. It’s one thing to put on a show, but Arrested Development gave the folks a one of a kind, interactive experience. It was what I imagine Woodstock would be with a mix of hippies, hip-hop heads and ordinary people all vibing to nearly the same groove. I did not know that Arrested Development had such a strong presence in the elderly community. I saw more than a handful of folks of a certain age pumping their fist and carrying on. And the one man who was the spitting image of Homicide Hunter Lt. Joe Kenda (for those of you who aren’t addicted to Investigation Discovery, imagine Mr. Roper from “Three’s Company” with a “First 48” attitude) was almost cuffed as my new sugar daddy because of the way he worked his hips! I know Debra Bass won’t agree with me by the way her neighbor’s unsophisticated footwork kept giving her ankles the blues, but I dare say the crowd entertained me as much as the headliners. The show was indeed one of the highlights of my year in these streets, and a “you really had to be there” moment. From the second they kicked off until they shut it down with “Everyday People,” I was all the way up in the show – and mocked the dancer girl’s African dance combo all the way back to my car.

Reunited Soul. The 2nd Annual Lucas Schoolhouse Reunion show was on deck for the latest installment of Café Soul Saturday night at the Coliseum. And even though I knew I couldn’t soak in the whole evening because of my desire to see Arrested Development, all wouldn’t have been well with my soul if I didn’t at least show my face and see what they had cracking. When I came through Justin Hoskins was lending his perfect pitch to a Luther classic. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that man off key in all the five or so years he’s been on the local scene! And that band was serving to the seventh power! Dr. Alvin, those bass riffs had me looking like Rudy from the Cosby cartoon as I quietly played air guitar alongside you back towards the wall. But the whole band was gettingitin.org. Then Silky Sol decided to show the folks why she’s the undisputed queen of doing the most with a NSFCS (Not Safe for Café Soul) rendition of Jill Scott’s “The Way.” I knew when she announced that she was refusing to perform without a bottled water that she was planning one for the record books. She was on ten as she talked about grown folks business, turning 50 and other things with an accompanying bump and grind - thanks to a few strategically choreographed hikes of her Wilona Woods-inspired dress. But the crowd didn’t seem to mind Silky “being Silky” and I still had a ball. The only downside of the night is that I missed Tiffany Elle and Theresa Payne bless the stage. Can y’all do a repeat for me next month?

One time for the Wine(ry). Now normally I don’t do the bus trips and carrying on because of a bad childhood experience. But when I found out that the B.Free/NightSociety Winery tour finale was less than an hour away I decided to take my chances. I’m so glad I did I can’t even tell you. Last Sunday was the kind of kicking experience that the ______(insert new slang for grown and sexy) crowd dreams about. It was the perfect way to say farewell to the summer party season. The only thing better than a classy wine tasting tour is meeting up at a big tent to sit under and enjoy the breeze, conversation and cocktails with some of St. Louis’ most beautiful people. Now I would be lying if I didn’t say a few of y’all didn’t get a bit soulful after a few sips and made for an interesting ride back, but I had an absolute blast and would strongly consider taking the folks up on at least another trip next season. I tip my sew-in to Night Society, Teddy B. Free, Richard and the rest of the folks involved.

Frank McComb is coming. Even though it’s a week away, I feel like it’s my appointed duty to let y’all know that one of the most underrated soul singers since Donny Hathaway will be coming to the Lou for a special performance next Saturday at Plush. As a matter of fact, vocally Frank McComb is a dead ringer for Hathaway, who was a St. Louis homeboy (RIP) and I can’t wait to check him out live for the first time!

Halloween hotspots. By now y’all should know how it goes….check us out online (at stlamerican.com) for a whole gang of when and wheres with respect to get your boo-gie on (was that as lame as it sounded? Of course it was.). The Black Katz, Saints and Sinners, Eye Candy, Dana Dane at

Coliseum are just a few of the places to be and people to see as the girls get half-dressed and call it a costume. Hit us up to see what’s hot.

the

Ed and Tina enjoying the soulful sounds at Cafe Soul Saturday night at the Coliseum

TJ, Jennifer and Jr.Dot getting their party on at the Coliseum for Cafe Soul

Speech of Arrested Development and his wife

Yolanda hang out with mentee George Richardson @ 2720 Saturday night Photo by Rob Ruger of Ethno Nightlife

Tendai, Silky Soul and Angela Brown were all smiles thanks to another successful Café Soul Saturday night @ The Coliseum

Hollywood and DJ Cuddy of the Lou Gotti Boyz keeping the Crowd Hype Friday night @ The Loft

Andrew, Andre, Stephon and Dr. Quinn about to tear up the set as the Cafe Soul band Saturday night @ The Coliseum

Rae Marie and Cayla kept it cute while they maintained order for Xpressions to Art photo booth Friday night @ The Loft

Kim and Mel enjoyed a chill afternoon Sunday @ The Winery Day Trip

Richard was surrounded by love thanks to Siera, Toni and Trica Sunday @ The Winery Day Trip

Terrance and D. Hibb on the Scene Saturday night @ Soho

Waka Flocka with super fan Brittany during a special meet and greet Monday @ Vintage Vinyl before his performance at the Pageant

Carletta, Shadzilla and Treanna kick it with DJ Needles and the naturalistas Friday night @ The Blank Space

Photos by Lawrence Bryant

By Charlene Crowell Center for Responsible Lending

An old adage advises “that the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

When it comes to consumer debt, that advice is also a truism.

After years of mortgage borrowers complaining about servicingor the lack thereof - it appears that problems student loan borrowers face are remarkably similar.

Private student loan problems mirrormortgages ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

Servicing issues spur complaints

debt. Private student loans account for more than $150 billion of outstanding debt. Moreover, more than 850,000 of these loans are in default and even more are delinquent.

Some 65 percent of complaints alleged problems with servicers regarding fees, billing, fraud and credit reporting.

With student loan debt topping the trilliondollar mark, another looming credit crisis could emerge just as the housing market is showing signs of recovery.

According to the Survey of Consumer Finance, today one in four American households are headed by someone under the age of 35 with student loan

Like the many troubled homeowners who did not understand the terms of their mortgages, student loan borrowers are now having the same difficulty. Servicers, often hired by lenders, often do not share or know the terms of repayment, available options for refinance, or even the total amount owed.

Recently, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report on the nearly 2,900 private student loan complaints it received since March of this year. Some 65 percent of complaints alleged problems with servicers regarding fees, billing, fraud

Private student loans account for more than $150 billion of outstanding debt.Moreover,more than 850,000 of these loans are in default and even more are delinquent.

and credit reporting. Another 30 percent of borrowers filing complaints with CFPB were concerned with limited repayment options, debt collection practices and problems related to loans in default.

“Student loan borrower sto-

ries of detours and dead-ends with their servicers bear an uncanny resemblance to problematic practices uncovered in the mortgage servicing business,” said Rohit Chopra, CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman.

The vast majority of the student loan complaints received by CFPB were about private loans. Unfortunately, private loans typically do not have the consumer protections built into federal student loans, such as lower interest and fixed rates, income-based repayment plans, military deferments or discharges upon death.

Instead, the typical private student loan servicer actually works for the lender and may not have an incentive to provide a high level of customer service to borrowers.

In the face of financial hardship, unemployment or underemployment, these student loan borrowers often discover few or no options that can be adapted for their circumstances. In some cases, servicers encouraged borrowers to pay whatever they could - but failed to inform them their loan status would still be on a path towards default.

With fewer options for refinance or forbearance, some

private student loan borrowers are also claiming they were never advised of the difference between a federal and private loan either at the time the loan was first originated or later during repayment. If the original loan was sold or if the servicer changed, many servicers were unable to answer basic questions as to who actually owns the unpaid loan. Depending upon loan terms, it may not be possible to negotiate alternative repayment. Other complaints filed with CFPB expressed concerns with servicer errors or misinformation. For example, some servicers may take two to four days to process paymentseven if the payment was submitted online. As a result, borrowers end up paying interest on a higher outstanding principal in the process. Others complained about faulty recordkeeping, lost paperwork and errors that though promised to be quickly corrected were not. Still more complaints charged that even after getting transferred to multiple departments, no one was responsive or empowered to provide a clear answer. If there is a moral to these unfortunate consumer experiences, it could be summed up with CFPB’s slogan, “Know Before You Owe”. Before any debt is incurred, take the time and necessary persistence to fully learn obligations and responsibilities. Any business or its representative that is unwilling or reluctant to explain their products are probably not a good choice for the consumer.

For consumers now considering a private student loan, invest some time to identify and pursue other forms of financial aid such as grants, scholarships, federal student loans, or work-study programs. Need-based grants often offered by state and federal initiatives can help defray college costs without incurring debt. Other programs are available to promote the growth of minorities in specific career paths.

“Know Before You Owe” is good advice. Knowing more about financing a college education is even better.

Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending.