The St. Louis American: August 11, 2016

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Mike in memorium Dozens gathered for four minutes of silence at 11:55 a.m. on August 9 to commemorate the four hours Michael Brown Jr.’s body would lay in the street of the Canfield Green Apartments two years ago. His family released doves in his honor.

Vol. 88 No. 18 COMPLIMENTARY

Four arrested after disrupting Muny Sing a ‘freedom song’ on anniversary of Mike Brown death

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Ferguson uprising commemorated on twoyear anniversary of Brown’s death Michael Brown’s grandmother Desuria Harris is overcome with grief as community commemorates the two-year anniversary of his death Tuesday evening in Canfield.

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American As she stood alongside the last wave of individuals to come through the Canfield Green Apartments Tuesday evening to pay their respects, Desuria Harris was understandably inconsolable.

“They just don’t know what they took from me,” Harris said as she sobbed. “They took part of my life. They took my grandson.”

The mother of Lezley McSpadden was there to mark two years since the earth shattered in Ferguson with the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. For most of the gathering, her body was buckled over with grief. The sounds of her moans were audible as the group prayed, sang and offered brief remarks.

“I never thought this would happen to my family,” Harris said. “He was my grandson. He was my friend.”

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Groundbreaking lawsuit targets ‘Extortionist’ cities near Ferguson Allege they violated the rights of poor people by locking them in squalid jail cells

Civil rights lawyers sued 13 St. Louis-area cities in federal court on Tuesday, alleging they violated the constitutional rights of poor people by locking them in squalid jail cells in connection with minor traffic infractions – a

practice that contributed to the tension that boiled over in Ferguson two years ago after a police officer shot an 18-year-old to death.

The lawsuit, filed on the two-year anniversary of the killing of Michael Brown, targets the city of St. Ann and 12 smaller municipalities – some with just a few hundred residents – that use St. Ann’s jail to hold municipal debtors under what the lawsuit calls “inhumane” conditions.

See MUNY, A6

Reed joins race for mayor Becomes second candidate to enter race after Krewson

See BROWN, A7

By Mariah Stewart, Huffington Post Ferguson Fellow, and Ryan Reilly, Senior Justice Reporter at HuffPost

Intermission had just ended at The Muny’s show of “Aida” on August 9, and the lights lowered.

Through the darkness, n “The play people throughout the audience began sing‘Aida’ is ing, “We who believe layered with freedom will not rest several racial in until it’s won.” undertones “We protested at which mirror The Muny because the problems it was necessary,” said rapper Tef Poe we currently and a leader of the face.” activist group Hands Up United. “The play – Tef Poe ‘Aida’ is layered with several racial undertones which mirror the problems we currently face. We mourn for the victims of all senseless acts of violence. This is not a matter of compassion; it is a matter of challenging systemic racism.”

Tef Poe was among about 40 activists who disrupted the Muny show on the anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s death.

Brown’s death helped bring attention to a rigged municipal courts system in St. Louis County that allowed municipalities to use their courts to pad city coffers rather than administer justice. An in-depth investigation by the Justice Department revealed a policing and court system in Ferguson that treated residents as “potential offenders See LAWSUIT, A7

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American President of the St. Louis Board of Alderman Lewis Reed officially announced his candidacy for mayor on August 9. In an announcement video, Reed highlights his diverse family life and why it’s important to have diverse opinions, compasLewis sion and respect for others Reed when addressing an issue.

“As mayor, I will promote policies that invest in our neighborhoods and our children, create safer communities, unify our much divided city, and creSee REED, A6

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

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this movie next April and it seems like and still have not been paid.

I’m not acting in some of these scenes CCAV are seeking the overdue and my blood is legit boiling - you’re balance plus interest and collection fees right. Bottom line is it’ll play great for totaling $3,724 and counting. the movie and fits this Hobbs character The case is set to go before a judge that’s embedded in my DNA extremely at the end of the month. well. The producer in me is happy about this part.”* Does R. Kelly have Many initially assumed Johnson a new teen boo? was referring to Tyrese, but the singer/ actor assured fans that Johnson was his Tamar According to several reports, R&B “brother.”

Braxton singer R. Kelly rumored to be getting TMZ claims Johnson is speaking serious with a teenage fan he met on of Vin Diesel – and that Diesel and tour. Over the past few weeks, the Johnson butted heads during the internet has been buzzing about Kelly’s production. The celebrity news and latest girlfriend Halle Calhoun – who is said to gossip site also says tensions are running be 19 years old. high on set for the final week of filming.

Multiple sources say Kelly, 49, met Calhoun – who was with her mother – on a tour stop in Tamar and Vince North Carolina. The two are said to have been sued by audio contractors inseparable ever since.

The Rock slams Vin Diesel on Instagram Earlier this week Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson used his Instagram account to unleash on one of his unnamed “Fast and Furious 8” co-stars. The post reads as follows: “This is my final week of shooting #FastAndFurious8. There’s no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one. An incredible hard working crew. UNIVERSAL has been great partners as well.

My female co-stars are always amazing and I love ‘em.

My male co-stars however are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken [expletive] to do anything about it anyway. When you watch

Did Russell Wilson demand Ciara to cut Kardashian ties?

According to reports Tamar Braxton and Vince Herbert were slapped with a lawsuit after failing to pay the contractor who installed the custom wiring at their home in Calabasas, Calif.

Crystal Clear Audio & Video claim they spent several days working at the Herbert estate back in December

Dwayne Johnson

Back in July there were rumors that Ciara and Kim Kardashian were no longer close friends. Ciara’s new husband Russell Wilson is said to have been at the root of the split.

Insiders told Life & Style that Russell Wilson asked Ciara to distance herself from Kim Kardashian and her family because of their bad reputation in pro-football circles, and their

propensity to “sleep with their friends’ men.”

While the rumors of dissolved friendship may or may not be true, Ciara no longer follows any of the Kardashians on social media.

OWN renews ‘Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s’ The Oprah Winfrey Network has announced the ordering of 13 additional episodes of the reality television hit “Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s,” which chronicles the dayto-day lives of the family soul food restaurant rooted in St. Louis.

A news release announcing the renewal said that “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” is the mostwatched docu-series in OWN history. The network also said the most recent season of the NAACP Image Award-winning show was Saturday night’s #1 original cable series among African-American women.

The good news comes just weeks after Sweetie Pie’s co-owner Robbie Montgomery filed a lawsuit against her son and co-owner Tim Norman for theft and copyright infringement.

There has been no word on whether the legal conflict will play out in the upcoming season of the show. * Spelling and grammar reflect original post.

Sources: Instagram, TMZ.com, The Jasmine Brand, OWN Network, Life & Style

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

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Activists serve community by feeding kids ‘When school is out, they don’t have that meal’

By Jenny Simeone and Carolina Hidalgo Of St. Louis Public Radio It’s one of the hottest days of summer and Rodney McGruder Brown is loading 32 paper lunch bags into a friend’s car in the Tower Grove area. Each bag contains one of the many turkey, bacon, lettuce and blue cheese sandwiches he spent the morning assembling. Water, juice boxes and zip-close bags full of fresh strawberries and grapes go in alongside the sandwiches.

On the other side of town, 17-yearold Mya Petty and a crew of children have set up a folding table at Hickey Park in the Baden neighborhood. They drape a checkered cloth over it and tape up a colorful sign advertising free food for kids who otherwise might not have much to eat during the summer.

“A lot of times kids in our country go to school to eat,” said Brown, 26, who works with children as a teaching assistant. “When school is out they don’t have that meal ... so we like to come into the community and fill that void.”

Petty and Brown rely on each other, as well as a rotating cast of volunteers, to help them get together the 25 to 30 lunches they hand out each day. Petty, who lives less than a block from the park, kicked off the summer initiative last month to serve anyone under the age of 16.

Each day, neighborhood children start to gather around noon to help set up. They also make sure to provide

constant feedback on the menu. And if they clean up after themselves and try new foods - like hummus and blue cheese - they occasionally get chicken wings and pizza.

Those who know Petty wouldn’t be surprised the teen is spending her summer making sure her youngest neighbors are well-fed. She became involved in community activism two years ago, after the shooting death of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson. And she is quick to cite her admiration for the Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast for Children Program in the late 1960s.

Activism, Petty explained, is rooted in supporting your community. “Just loving your community is activism,” she said.

Petty first passed out lunches last summer through a similar summer program run by Operation Help or

Photo by Carolina Hidalgo / St. Louis Public Radio

A group of STL Lunch regulars eat their turkey, bacon and cheese sandwiches at Hickey Park.

first week. After that, Petty pooled her resources to make sure lunches are available every Monday through Friday from noon to 1 p.m. Everything is made possible through online donations and in-person contributions.

“It’s been a community thing,” she

n “It doesn’t take a huge organization to come

in and make things change.”

– Rodney McGruder Brown

Hush, one of many advocacy groups that emerged after the Ferguson protests. But this year, she is running STL Lunch entirely on her own.

A food donation from the nearby Urban League jump-started the

said.

Earlier in the summer, Petty’s brother helped her put together peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at her house down the street. Now, Brown assembles the lunches in his home’s

spacious kitchen — often with the help of friends and roommates — and drives them over.

“That’s what STL Lunch is about,” Brown said. “It doesn’t take a huge organization to come in and make things change. It’s about everyone coming in and doing a little bit and making it work.”

The pair often gets asked who they’re working for. “I’m like, ‘It’s just us,’” Petty said. “They’re like, ‘No, who y’all working for?’ It’s just us.”

Some might question why a rising high school senior is spending her summer working to help kids who should have other options available, ​ since both the city and county run summer lunch programs.

But Hickey Park is at the southern end of a 2- by 4-mile gap in government-funded lunch program coverage. The area might seem small, but if you’re a hungry person under

18 without regular access to a car or public transit in the summer heat, four miles might as well be the other side of the world. Although there are several programs in surrounding areas, Petty noticed the need in her immediate community.

“I live here,” she said, standing in the grass while children squirted water at each other and squealed with delight. “I see the kids every day, I know the kids outside of the program.”

Others, she said, might see the children running around the park as bad or unruly. But they listen to her.

“All of them respect me,” she said. “They listen to me because I’m providing for them and I’m loving them and I sit down and I talk to them.

They will listen and love you if you listen and love them.”

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.org.

Editorial / Commentary ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

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Difficult work for change post-Ferguson continues The fatal police shooting on August 9, 2014 of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-yearold, led to local outrage and protests that spread nationwide.

These protests against police misconduct and criminal justice system practices have morphed into an historic social movement. This movement, Black Lives Matter, is driven by a new generation of activists in a digital age, who are determined to confront systemic racism, police brutality and the unwarranted protection of police officers who have acted outside the law.

Many police departments, prodded by a vigorous debate about the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans that included some government officials, have sought to institute major reforms in police practices, including greater accountability for police behavior. There has been a vastly different response in Missouri. Major sustainable police reform is necessary to keep police officers as well as the community safe.

Yet, the state legislature has been unwilling to enact even basic police reform. The recent highly contested GOP gubernatorial primary found all four of the candidates determined to see who could be more harsh if there were further eruptions in Ferguson or student protests at the University of MissouriColumbia. The university’s history of negligent to poor treatment of black students served as a further impetus for the student protests (including many athletes) that led to the resignation of the president of the entire system and the Mizzou chancellor. Subsequently, the football coach at Mizzou resigned.

This movement highlights a racial divide in a country that has not yet come to full acknowledgment of the intentional and pernicious racist treatment African Americans

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Family and community members gathered in Canfield Green Apartments on the evening of August 9 to honor Michael Brown Jr.’s life.

have experienced since they were brought to this country in bondage. The country began as a slave society and even today, despite some improvement, millions of African Americans languish on the margins of society. Black Lives Matter is a response to the practices that question the human worth of African Americans. There has been some remarkable progress, but the current presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump shows the hate, anger and resentment that still exists among millions of white Americans.

While it is certain that what happened in Ferguson is not unique in poorer communities across this country, it is uncertain how this region will respond. There has been some commendable work done by the Ferguson Commission in examining the specific causes around the disruptions and the conditions that led to them. The implementation of 189 recommendations is being fostered

by Forward Through Ferguson.

Several civic and business entities have been active already and there have been some significant improvements.

Also, it is encouraging that many activists and their supporters have turned some of their attention and energy to a more robust engagement in elective politics, where public policy is shaped.

Problems around racial equity are deeply entrenched and solutions will not happen overnight or by chance. As the difficult work for change continues, much of this work is painful, but vital and its success is important to an entire region that needs to see change. It is necessary to allow thousands of its people to have greater opportunity for productive, healthy lives. We have some guarded optimism, largely because it is in the self-interest of the majority population and its leadership to see the improved growth and competitiveness that can come from more inclusion of its fellow citizens.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

When the lights are shining on her

By Mike Jones Of The St. Louis American The Democrats and Republicans have had their nominating conventions, both parties have held their primaries and less than three months remain until the November 8 general election. If the election season were a horse race, then we have rounded the last turn and we’re starting down the home stretch.

It would be a fair critique to say that, at least since 1992 (with the presidency of Bill Clinton), the Democratic Party has been captive to the same corporate interests as the Republican Party.

Democrats have had different social policies, but if you’re a working-class family, for all intents and purposes, their economic policies are nearly indistinguishable.

Then along comes a political anomaly named Bernie Sanders who changes the context and direction of Democratic politics. Over the course of a little more than a year, Sanders went from nearly zero support to 40 percent of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention, garnering 12 million votes. He rejected special interest money and raised $227 million with over $134 million (59 percent) remarkably coming from small donors, averaging $27 per donation.

This feat of political organizing was on par with the historic 2008 Barak Obama campaign. The question is: How did a 72-yearold Democratic Socialist Jewish grandfather pull it off? Amazingly, he stood on principle. Now, if you’ve been in the game as long as I have, you’d say that couldn’t happen, but it did.

Sanders’ political views were formed while growing up in a post-WW2 workingclass Brooklyn family. His political philosophy took root as a student activist at the University of Chicago in early ‘60s. What separates Sanders from most ‘60s radicals that successfully transitioned into electoral politics is he made no fundamental change in his political philosophy or perspective.

It is this steadfastness that Sanders brought to the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary campaign.

He used this “revolutionary zeal” to storm the Bastille and return the Democratic Columnist Party to its Mike Jones New Deal and Great Society roots.

In the process, he forced Hillary Clinton to abandon the triangulated, corporate-centered politics and policies of her husband.

Anyone who spends 25 years in the national political arena with the objective of having a legitimate chance to become POTUS (like Hillary Clinton) must have ambition beyond the comprehension of the average person. Like Glen Campbell’s Rhinestone Cowboy, “There’s a load of compromising on the way to my horizon.” That compromising is a major part of Clinton’s trust issue.

Consider President Lyndon Baines Johnson. LBJ was the consummate political animal; his ambition and instinct for power were unmatched. His political cunning was only exceeded by his political ruthlessness. As Senate

Majority Leader, LBJ, a Texas Democrat, was an active and effective opponent of civil rights. But a twist of fate made Johnson the POTUS, and the Southern supporter of segregation became the greatest champion of civil rights in the history of the American presidency.

Let’s go back to the Rhinestone Cowboy. The very next line is: “But I’m gonna be where the lights are shining on me,” followed later in the lyric with “and I dream of the things I’ll do.” When he assumed the presidency after the assassination of JFK, Johnson revealed the real LBJ, a poor boy from hardscrabble West Texas who taught even poorer Native American children. That Lyndon Johnson hated poverty and what it did to people. When he got to where the lights were shinning on him, he declared a War on Poverty, created the Great Society and passed the most revolutionary civil rights legislation since the Civil War. Before she was Hillary Clinton, she was Hillary Rodham, a young striver who earned a law degree from Yale University. When she left Yale she could have gone anywhere, but instead of turning right to Wall Street, she turned left and went to the Children’s Defense Fund. In January 2017, with the lights shining on Hillary Clinton, maybe she’ll remember the dream of the things she could do. If that happens, we will owe a debt to an old ‘60s radical from Vermont who kept the faith.

Mike Jones, who has held senior policy positions in St. Louis city and county politics, is a member of the State Board of Education and the St. Louis American’s editorial board.

Commentary

Don’t go down with Trump’s ship To Republicans who hope to emerge from the Donald Trump fiasco with any shred of political viability or selfrespect, I offer some unsolicited advice: Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit.

I’m speaking to you, House Speaker Paul Ryan. And you, Sen. John McCain. And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – along with so many other elected Republicans and party stalwarts. You are not fools. You are well aware that the erstwhile Party of Lincoln has nominated for president a man wholly unfit to hold the office.

I realize that puts you in a tough spot politically. Breaking with the party’s standardbearer, chosen by voters in primaries and caucuses, would surely mean short-term pain.

For some of you it could be politically fatal. But sticking with Trump, as far as I can see, will almost surely be worse – for you, for the party, and potentially, heaven forbid, for the country you have sworn to serve.

You’re taking a position that is indefensible on both philosophical and real-world grounds: Begging Trump to pretend to be sane and competent until Election Day. “Anyone who is horrified

by Hillary [Clinton] should hope that Trump will take a deep breath and learn some new skills,” Newt Gingrich told The Washington Post on Wednesday. “He cannot win the presidency operating the way he is now.”

Republicans, your calls for Trump to tone it down have shifted into panic mode.

Apparently you thought it was a bad idea for him to attack a Gold Star mother who lost her Army captain son in Iraq, then clumsily contrive to keep the story alive for nearly a week.

You thought Trump’s pointed refusal to endorse Ryan and McCain in their primaries, even though both are supporting him, might not be the best way to foster party unity. You thought perhaps that while there are many things a candidate might say at a rally to win friends and influence people, “Get the baby out of here” is not one.

Your response is to hope Guest Columnist against hope that someone Eugene will convince Robinson Trump to feign rectitude for the next three months. But think of the implications of imploring him to look and sound “presidential.” You know full well how out of control and unbalanced he is, and you just wish he’d do a better job of conning voters into thinking he can be trusted with the nuclear codes. Shame on you, Republicans, for encouraging such a dangerous ruse.

Let me make a bold prediction: Within the next week or so, Trump will give a stilted, non-crazy, teleprompteraided speech. Supporters will rejoice that the campaign has finally turned a corner. And then, a few days later, some perceived slight will have

Letters to the Editor Congratulations, Kim! I am bursting with pride and admiration to see history being made again. Kim Gardner, the first African-American female to be elected circuit attorney in the city of St. Louis, marks 20 years since I was elected as the first female comptroller.

This city certainly will benefit from another hard-working professional who is wellqualified. Congratulations, Kim! Comptroller Darlene Green St. Louis

Deeply grateful Thank you again for publicizing the recent “Remain Loyal to Jehovah!” regional conventions in The St. Louis American. I am pleased to inform you that there were nearly 6,000 people in attendance each day over both weekends. I remain deeply grateful to you.

Charles R. Brown Via email

Secure your guns You may have seen me in the movie “Ray.” I played Ray Charles’ arranger and producer in the early part of his career.

I am not writing this letter to promote my film successes, but want to put a face on to my proposal.

In 1995 I started a project called The Town Criers. The aim was to stop our citizens from firing guns to celebrate the incoming New Year.

My idea was surprisingly successful. Other cities around the country embraced the Town Crier idea that could save lives and untold property damage.

The Town Crier is back with a more dire mission: gun control. I own a gun and have for years, but my gun is secured in a way only I can access it.

When you apply for a driver’s license, you are required to show a valid ID and pass a series of tests. Why is it we can purchase a deadly weapon

Trump once again tilting at windmills and baying at the moon.

Republican officials and party leaders, you got into politics because you believed in certain principles. I may disagree with many of your views on policy but I do not question your sincerity. I firmly doubt, however, that Trump knows what the word sincerity means.

You believe in conservative values; he manifestly does not share them. You believe in sound, prudent fiscal management; he runs his real estate empire like a pirate, trailing bankruptcies in his wake. You believe, generally, in a strong defense posture; he is open to handing Crimea and perhaps the Baltics to Vladimir Putin.

You know that he believes in no coherent policy agenda beyond his own self-proclaimed greatness. You see how unhinged he becomes when anyone challenges him. You know what a grave risk it would be to have a man like that in the Oval Office.

You may be making the calculation that tepidly supporting the party’s nominee will leave you best situated to help revive and reform the GOP after Trump is soundly defeated by Clinton. But even if he loses, Republicans, Trump will leave a lasting stain. If you tell us such a man should be president, why should the nation ever believe anything else you say?

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

All letters are edited for length and style.

we are not be required to go through specialized training?

As a former law enforcement officer, we had to go through hours of training, and yet some of us still made mistakes in our judgment. When I hear of a child being killed by a family gun, I say more noise has to be made about securing guns.

Roland Bob Ferguson

Completely false statement In a column in The St. Louis American, Dr. Jane Garbutt makes the completely false statement that “in New York, a 1-year-old died after drinking e-liquid.” No man, woman, or even a child has ever died as a result of drinking e-liquid. In the New York case the doctor

The largest weekly newspaper in Missouri 70,000 copies - CAC Audited 100% Independently owned & operated Continuously published, without interruption since 1928

cites, the child accidently drank industrial strength liquid nicotine used in commercial applications, not the highly diluted e-liquid that is available to consumers. In that case, the parent was attempting to manufacture e-liquid outside of a lab environment and left an opened bottle of concentrated nicotine within a toddler’s reach, and the child tragically died as a result of ingestion. For years responsible vape shop owners have selfregulated e-liquids by using child resistance caps on their products. And, on July 26, federal law went into effect that requires all consumable e-liquids to use these caps in all 50 states. This common sense law is agreeable to both consumers and manufactures.

A.J. Moll, executive director Missouri Smoke Free

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A5

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Must we always hold our noses?

By Jamala Rogers For The St. Louis American

Hope for wounded veterans Major Brands and the Veterans Center at the University of Missouri St. Louis teamed up to raise funds for Camp Hope. Camp Hope is a retreat located in Farmington that offers combat-wounded veterans the opportunity to participate in outdoor adventures with dignity. All wounded veterans are welcome to attend with all expenses covered, including travel.

SLPS Back to School Festival on August 13 Saint Louis Public Schools and the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis will co-present the annual Saint Louis Public Schools Back to School and Community Empowerment Festival on Saturday, August 13, 2016, from 9 a.m. to noon at Chaifetz Arena on the campus of Saint Louis University. It is free for all city residents.

This year’s festival will feature a main stage on the arena floor, where student performances and academic showcases will be highlighted. Free school supplies will be given to students while supplies last. A free lunch will also be served.

SLPS officials will be on hand to assist with transportation, enrollment and other school-related questions and concerns. More than 50 vendors and exhibitors will offer important school-related information for parents and students.

Free parking will be available in the SLU garage on Compton and Olive. For more information on the festival, call 314-615-3610 or visit www.slps.org/festival. Classes for Saint Louis Public Schools begin Wednesday, August 17.

U. City Schools offer free meals to all students The University City Board of Education approved the implementation of a universal meal program in the district, with funding from the USDA, beginning with the 2016-17 school year. Universal meal programs are gaining popularity across the country; advocates say the program reduces bullying, removes the social stigma attached to the free and reduced lunch program, and increases the health and well-being of students.

The district’s social workers also coordinate a food backpack program in elementary schools during the school year. Students with identified need are sent home with a backpack full of healthy food items and snacks to help provide healthy meals over the weekend.

The presumptive Democratic nominee has picked her running mate. Hillary Clinton played it safe and selected from the stale/pale/male pool of candidates and came out with Tim Kaine.

The Dems went into their Philly convention with plenty of chaos and drama.

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was forced to resign after WikiLeaks released thousands of emails detailing how the DNC worked to torpedo the campaign of presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. Talk about full transparency of dirty tricks!

And what about the highly touted so-called progressive platform of the Democrats? It came out in the midst of all hell breaking loose in America. Police in Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights had killed two unarmed black men. Two black, armed men had killed three Baton Rouge police and six Dallas officers respectively. As the temperature has heated up, so have tensions between the police and black communities.

Police violence in this country continues to spiral out of control.

What did the platform say about black bodies falling in streets across the country at the hands of police? What did the Dems say about the unapologetic racist and violent culture of police departments around the nation? Nothing. Nada.

Maybe the Dems were hoping, with the illogical, Muslim-hatin’, Mexican-trashin’, racist views spewed at the Republication National Convention, that the Democrats would come across looking like logical, inclusive, forward-thinking beings.

Jamala Lest we forget it was President Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill that Rogers unleashed 100,000 new cops on working-class communities of color.

The bill provided nearly $10 billion in funding for prisons, which accelerated the growth of the prison-industrial complex. The bill also expanded the death penalty. We have this Democratic president to thank, not only for mandatory life sentences, but also for doing nothing about the racial disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine.

So here we are, approaching another U.S. presidential election, having the cyclical discussion about voting for the lesser of two evils. Every time the discussion comes around, I remind folks that that we don’t have to settle for being battered back and forth between the two parties OR within the one party.

We could do something quite radical by creating an alternative. How about an independent political party or a labor party? We had the “Rent is Too Damn High Party.”

(Its founder Jimmie McMillan endorsed Trump earlier this year, so I’m obviously not just talking about an independent party without sanity.) What about a Black Lives Matter Party or anti-gentrification Right to the City Party?

This is a time where the public has unprecedented documentation that both parties fight to represent the One Percenters, even though the majorities of both parties’ constituencies are working-class people. We get daily sucker punches of their double-teaming us – no affordable housing, stagnant wages, failing school systems, etc.

In November, your presidential choices are two One Percenters. Or you have Jill Stein with the Green Party. (Many still blame the 2000 Green Party presidential campaign of Ralph Nader for losing Florida and New Hampshire to George W. Bush, with disastrous consequences.) And then there’s Gary Johnson, Republican-turned Libertarian, on the ballot.

Alice Walker once said, “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Our first priority is acknowledging that collective power Sista Walker referenced. Once we embrace that reality, it will open our minds to new possibilities that can lead us to political empowerment and economic emancipation.

Political power is more than voting, although the vote is a mighty tool in the hands of an informed and engaged voter. Let’s stop holding our noses and talking about voting for the lesser of two evils. We have the power. We are the power.

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MUNY Continued from A1 Ferguson activists climbed a staircase and dropped a large banner that stated, “The Muny says Black Lives Matter.” The action was a “sequel” to their Requiem for Mike Brown in fall 2014, where they disrupted the St. Louis Symphony singing “Justice for Mike Brown.”

Unlike the symphony, the audience did not clap while the demonstrators left. They booed and shouted things like, “Get a job,” and “All lives matter.”

Many were anxious to get on with the show, which ironically had a strong underlying theme of slavery and the oppression of a group of people.

The protestors sang for about 10 minutes and then voluntarily walked out of the audience area.

“The song really speaks to where we are two years into the struggle,” said Elizabeth Vega, leader of an activist group called the Artivists. “We are two years in; we’ve become a little more seasoned. We’ve become a little more weary. Over 700 people have been killed by police this year.”

As they were leaving, St. Louis city police and theater security arrested three women and one man. The four individ-

REED Continued from A1 ate a transparent and inclusive government,” Reed said.

Reed is in his third term as aldermanic president, and he previously served two terms as aldermen of the 6th Ward, where he still lives. He is the second candidate to enter the race, after Alderwoman Lyda Krewson of the 28th Ward, who declared her candidacy in June.

Some in the community did not appreciate Reed’s decision to announce his candidacy on the anniversary date of Michael Brown Jr.’s death and not men-

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

uals were released at 5 a.m. on August 10.

At about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, The Muny posted a message to Facebook stating that the performance was interrupted for 23 minutes.

“There were no injuries and no property damage,” the statement read. “St. Louis City Police responded and the performance of AIDA continued after the demonstration moved out of the theatre.”

Several protestors responded that the statement was false because the women arrested were injured. A video shot by activist Tony Rice shows a police officer sitting on top of one woman, making her face grind harshly into the pavement.

The Eden Theological Seminary graduate, who does homeless outreach four nights a week, will be seeking medical attention. The St. Louis American’s video also show another young woman screaming in pain during her arrest.

On Tuesday, people throughout the world held a moment of silence from 11:55 a.m. to 12 p.m. to reflect on Brown’s death.

“Two days before he passed, he said ‘the world is going to know my name,’” Michael Brown Sr. told the crowd at the site where his son’s life was taken. Dozens gathered

tion the significance of the day.

Brittany Packnett, executive director for Teach For America – St. Louis and previously a member of the president’s advisory board on police reform, wrote on Twitter, “It is extremely problematic for STL politicians to announce their candidacy today of all days.

Today ain’t about you.”

When asked if he meant to tie in the Black Lives Matter movement by announcing on the anniversary day, Reed said, “No. This is the date that we chose to be a good date to announce.”

He didn’t want to “get lost in the shuffle” of the presidential election, he said.

When asked if he was

for four minutes of silence – to commemorate the four hours his son’s body would lay in the street of the Canfield Green Apartments two years ago.

In a brief ceremony, the family released doves in his honor and encouraged the protest community and supporters of the movement that spawned from Ferguson.

The world of people who have come to know his son’s death as the flashpoint for the conversation about the broken relationship between police and the black community – many of whom protested relentlessly for nearly a year – all paused in remembrance.

Hands Up United collaborated with the Artivists to plan the Muny action. It was an attempt to “expand the range of the conversation,” Vega said. Like the demographics at the symphony, the audience at the Muny is largely white. At the action, the group passed out a faux playbill that stated, “Meet us at the Muny, and then join us in the revolution.” In the playbill, Act One was “School to Prison Pipeline,” and the description talked about how students of color in St. Louis are consistently punished more harshly than their white counterparts for the same offenses. Act Two was “Poverty and the Neglect of the Inner City and North County,”

aware that some young black activists were offended by his announcement, he said, “I’d like to know what young black activists. The only place I’m getting this from is (Alderwoman of the 15th Ward) Megan Ellyia Green.”

He said that Mike Brown Sr. and his foundation were not offended by his announcement. He was only getting the criticism from Mayor Francis Slay’s office and, “people who are unconnected to the real issue.”

“I’m kind of offended that some want to take a hugely tragic event, and they want to cheapen it by bringing it into a political arena,” Reed said.

However, the criticism actu-

and so on.

The synopsis read, “People think that the movement is solely centered on police brutality. Mike Brown’s death was the spark that ignited a movement focused on all the intersections were oppression, racism and poverty impact real people of color.”

After the protestors left, the show resumed – but first two of the actors addressed the crowd to acknowledge the action.

Black actor Ken Page asked the crowd that, “we open our minds, our hearts and our spirits, most importantly, to understand what’s important, to whom it’s important and why it’s important.”

Page also said that, “We all know that black lives matter, but that doesn’t mean that other lives don’t matter.”

At this, the crowd cheered, as if he validated their earlier “All lives matter” chanting. The chant is often associated with people against the movement.

Tef Poe felt Page’s statement missed the mark. When protestors say that “Black Lives Matter,” they are not saying other lives don’t matter.

He said, “By saying Black Lives Matter, we are actually uplifting the fact that all lives did not matter prior to August 9th 2014.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter @rebeccarivas.

ally went beyond a petty fight between Green, the mayor’s office and Reed. On Tuesday, many around the country were focused on recognizing an ongoing social movement – which began in the St. Louis area – to address systematic racism and its myriad manifestations.

Elizabeth Vega, leader of the activist group the Artivists, said, “Here and there lies the disconnect. You have a whole populous that is introspective, mournful and committed continuing to create change and we have politicians who are obviously oblivious to that. Shame on him.”

In his announcement video, Reed highlighted his role in

Photo by Tony Rice

About 40 activists disrupted the Muny show of “Aida” on the anniversary of Michael Brown Jr.’s death. Activists climbed a staircase and dropped a large banner that stated, “The Muny says Black Lives Matter.” Four were arrested.

spearheading development in Lafayette Square and on Washington Avenue as alderman of the 6th Ward, creation of Bike St. Louis, creating funding sources for youth programs, and bringing the NextDoor platform to the city.

Reed also expressed his concern for the families who, like his own, have felt the stinging pain of gun violence. His vision is one of a city where everyone in all of our neighborhoods feels safe, he said.

This is Reed’s fifth citywide election. He ran against Slay in 2013, where the sitting mayor’s campaign had raised $3.4 million compared to Reed’s $626,000. Slay also had the support of statewide and city-

wide officials, Reed said.

“Even with that, we pulled it to a tight race,” Reed said.

Slay received about 24,000 votes and Reed 19,500 in that race. Since then, Reed said he’s done much work to broaden his support, including getting involved in other elections. He said his focus on diversity is also a strength.

“We shouldn’t have a city where you roll out diversity because you need it at a specific time,” he said. “In my administration, it will be part of the culture of city hall and it’s based on how we lead.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter @rebeccarivas.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

BROWN Continued from A1 Before the end of the ceremony – which included the lighting of candles and a balloon release – Harris’ body gave way to the bereavement and she had to be carried away.

“Oh God, they took my Mike Mike,” Harris repeated while she was still able to speak. “They took my Mike Mike.”

Michael Brown was on his way to Harris’ residence on that fateful day two years ago when his path crossed with former Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.

“We’re here for your grandma,” Angel Davies said. She then led the group of female attendees into a “sister-circle” in the efforts of “transferring energy.” She said in doing so, Harris doesn’t have bear the burden of her grief alone.

“We’re here for you too Michael. You did not die in vain,” Davies said. “Officers, how dare you think that you’re

LAWSUIT Continued from A1 and sources of revenue” rather than constituents to be protected, resulting in a recent agreement to reform the city’s policing practices.

Nearby municipalities have engaged in the very same unconstitutional practices, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, represents a broad challenge to the fractured municipal court system in St. Louis County and has the potential to help bring about widespread changes in a region where municipalities have treated their courts as cash generators.

ArchCity Defenders, a civil rights organization in St. Louis that has aggressively challenged the region’s municipal courts, and Arnold & Porter, a Washington-based law firm, filed the suit on behalf of 13 people they say have been “terrorized” by the municipalities.

The municipalities operated a “modern day police state and debtors’ prison scheme that has no place in American society today,” the suit says.

“I’ve never encountered anything like this,” said Robert Weiner, a partner at Arnold & Porter. His remark echoed a comment by the head of the Police Executive Research Forum, who said the “dysfunctional” system in St. Louis County was unlike anything he’d seen.

The suit, which also named the cities of Edmundson, Normandy, Cool Valley, Velda City, Beverly Hills, Pagedale, Calverton Park, St. John, Bel-Ridge, Wellston, Velda Village Hills, and Bellefontaine Neighbors, alleges: The lawsuit accuses the municipalities of operating “de facto debtors prisons” used “as a tool to cow poor people into financing municipal government.” The system places poor defendants into a “Kafkaesque web of indignities and incarceration that plunge the victim ever deeper into poverty,” the suit says.

Inmates incarcerated by St. Ann, the suit alleges, are held under horrific conditions that include overcrowded cells, “reused” blankets, “disgusting and unsanitary” mattresses, and “unhealthy and nearly inedible” food. Inmates were not allowed to shower until they had been held at the jail for a week, the lawsuit says, and trash piles in cells gave off a “very pungent odor.”

One legally blind plaintiff alleges officers refused to allow her to keep her glasses.

Another says she was denied her medications, and that guards called her “crazy” and an “African child.” Yet another says she was held in a cell with a schizophrenic inmate announcing she wanted to kill someone.

Blake Strode, a St. Louis native who attended Harvard Law, interned at the Justice Department and now works for ArchCity Defenders, said there has been a misconception in recent months that the problems in St. Louis County municipal courts have been addressed. In reality, he said,

going to snatch the breath out of our black bodies and think we’re going to sit here and take it?”

The tragic turn of events that lead to the unarmed teen’s death sparked an international movement.

“We can’t forget where this thing started from,” David Whitt said as he stood in front of the memorial built at the site where Brown’s life came to an end – and where his body would lay out for several hours after that. “This thing affected a family. This right here is what brought the community together. We started standing out here together – and then we stood in the streets together.”

The world soon took notice of their relentless protest out of a demand for justice in response to Brown’s death.

Their chain reaction of unrest added new fervor to the conversation regarding the broken relationship between law enforcement and the black community – and the deaths that have come as a result of the dysfunction.

Two years later, the masses

it has been “business as usual” for many cities in the region.

“This is really a widespread, structural problem in the region, and so we thought we needed a more widespread, systematic attack on that practice,” Strode said in an interview. “Our goal is not to bankrupt every city in St. Louis County, but our clients have suffered serious constitutional violations, and they’re owed something for that. So our priority is to make the case for our clients, to push for the policy changes, and to make sure that they are compensated for the losses they’ve suffered.”

By imprisoning those who can’t afford to pay fines, the municipalities have violated rights of due process and equal protection guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit also alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment because the municipalities issued warrants without probable cause, as well as violations for the Sixth Amendment due to failure to provide for effective assistance of counsel.

ArchCity Defenders recently reached a settlement of nearly $5 million with the city of Jennings in a similar lawsuit filed on behalf of an estimated 2,000 people who were jailed over unpaid debt. Jennings also agreed to significant changes, including an end to the cash bail system. A lawsuit against Ferguson is still pending.

A plaintiff in the new classaction case, Donya Pierce, was previously part of a lawsuit against the tiny city of Velda City, which agreed to end its fixed cash bail system in 2015. An organization called Equal Justice Under Law has filed lawsuits against debtors’ prison practices in several other states and had success in stopping unconstitutional bail practices.

Several municipalities named in the lawsuit have imprisoned the lead plaintiff, Quinton Thomas, a 28-year-old factory worker, in connection with minor driving-related offenses like running a stop sign, lacking proof of insurance, and improper vehicle registration. Thomas was issued hundreds of dollars in fines in Normandy, a city neighboring Ferguson that shares many of the same issues with using its municipal court to generate revenue. More than 40 percent of Normandy’s revenue came from fines and fees.

Thomas was fined more than $600 from a traffic stop in Normandy. He said he tried to explain to a judge that he could neither afford to pay the full amount, nor the minimum payment of $100 the city was demanding. When he asked if he could pay $50 toward the fine, the judge said no, he said.

“They told me if I couldn’t do $100, they were going to put a warrant out for me,” Thomas said in an interview.

When Thomas was pulled over in 2013, he was arrested on that outstanding warrant from Normandy, as well as on warrants from other cities.

Officers took him to jail in St. Ann, where Thomas said everything ― the mattresses, the walls, the floors ― were so dirty he didn’t want to touch anything.

came out to honor Michael Brown’s memory and the movement his death spawned.

On the days leading up to the two-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, Michael Brown Sr. and Chosen For Change Foundation held the second annual Michael Brown Jr. Foundation Memorial

Weekend. Programming kicked off with Youth Speak Truth: Responding to radicalized violence in America. Held Friday at Greater St. Marks Church, the event brought together the siblings and family members of people who have been killed by police or community violence to talk about their experience.

The event was part of the Truth

Telling Project, which has held “hearings” in Ferguson and about 30 locations around the country – including Minnesota, D.C. and New York.

Bright and early on Saturday, Brown’s family and activists followed Michael Brown Sr. on a “Justice Walk” that saw them go from the site of his tragic death to St. Peter’s Cemetery – where Michel Brown is buried.

“This is why we are here, to show Mike some love, you know, just trying to move forward,” Michael Brown Sr. said after the march concluded, according to St. Louis Public Radio. “I appreciate y’all listening and encouraging the family, we really need y’all.”

A short while later, Michael Brown’s mother, Lezley McSpadden and her Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons and Daughters Foundation, made its way to Canfield. She was joined by fellow “mothers of the movement” – including the mothers of Sean Bell, Eric Garner,

“It was just nasty,” he said.

Meals, the lawsuit alleges, consisted of a “bologna sandwich (with greenish meat and hard bread), apple sauce, and black coffee.”

Thomas said he once had to sit in jail for several days just to wait for a direct deposit into his bank account that would allow him to pay the court. He said he lost two jobs because of the time he spent behind bars.

He said he was seldom allowed to appear before a judge after being arrested.

“I lost my job and they impounded my vehicle,” Thomas said. “I couldn’t go to work. I couldn’t get a job because a lot of jobs be so far out and you need a car.”

Thomas is employed again, but said he fears being pulled over and thrown into a cage every time he gets inside his car. He’s currently paying the city of St. John, which claims Thomas owes more than $500 on what started out as a ticket for less than $100.

His offense? A parking violation.

“I got it down to like $300, but it was all the way up to $560 all for a parking ticket,” he said.

Black drivers in St. Ann were nearly 10 percent more likely than whites to get arrested in traffic stops, a disparity similar to the other cities named in the lawsuit.

Nicole Hudson, who worked with the Ferguson Commission, said the lawsuit has the potential to force change rather than wait for those in power to move at their own speed.

“Having a lawsuit like this that is swinging for the fences in this way is going to move the needle on what change looks like and what the universe looks like for everybody,” Hudson said.

Bradley Jiles, 24, said he was strip-searched and forced to sit in a restraint chair for 24 hours while in the Hillsdale jail. Jiles has been jailed more than 10 times in five years for municipal ordinance violations.

Meredith Walker, a 47-yearold mother of two, has been jailed at least 10 times and said she paid more than $15,000 in fees over five years – even though she said she hasn’t been ticketed for a moving violation in more than 15 years. Walker even changed her appearance, according to the lawsuit,

“because she discovered that she was stopped by the Defendant Municipalities’ police officers more often when she had dreadlocks in her hair and appeared more masculine.”

Ronald Tucker, 51, was pulled over in 2014 because his car was smoking. The officer ran his name, discovered old traffic warrants from Cool Valley, and took him into custody.

Cool Valley covers less than 0.5 square mile, with a population of just over 1,000 people.

A few years back, it disbanded its 10-person police department in part because it ate up more than half of the city’s entire budget.

Tucker, who said he skipped court dates on the old case after he lost his job and feared a judge would lock him up, was incarcerated in Cool Valley for three days in what he called a “dog cage.” Left unsupervised in a holding cell without a

bathroom, he sometimes got desperate.

“I was in a cage with no restroom and had two more females in the cell with me and I had to use the restroom real bad,” Tucker said. “I urinated on the floor. I mean, I wasn’t going to do it on myself. I’m a grown man.”

Tucker said he spent several hours locked to a bench before he was booked, which he said was one of the worst experiences of his life. Later, when he suffered an asthma attack, he said jail attendants refused to allow his girlfriend to bring him an inhaler.

While bail is supposed to be set by a judge who evaluates an individual’s circumstances, there was no judicial involvement in Tucker’s incarceration. Tucker said police officers tried to negotiate with him.

“They said if someone come up with $150 or $175,

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

People gathered on West Florissant Avenue on Tuesday night in Ferguson.

Sandra Bland and Tamir Rice.

In an especially emotional moment, the mothers stood at the spot where Michael Brown was gunned down, holding a banner that read “We Will Rise.”

The mothers left Canfield to share their stories as part of a panel at Christ the King United Church of Christ.

On Tuesday at the exact moment of Michael Brown’s death, hundreds gathered in Canfield for a four-minute moment of silence – to symbolize the four hours his body remained in the street.

Doves were released.

Family members and the protest community made brief statements before the crowd dispersed until another wave came back for the evening.

“We have to stand out here with one voice – not just for Mike Brown, but for all of the young men and women that have been killed by the police,” Whitt said.

“They want us to forget, but we ain’t gonna let it go without a fight. Let’s remind the world why we stood up.”

we’ll let you go,” Tucker told HuffPost. Tucker said he couldn’t reach anyone for money because he only was allowed one five-minute phone call per day.

Tucker spent three days at Cool Valley before being transferred to the St. Louis County Justice Center, where he finally received an inhaler and was bonded out for almost $400. But Tucker’s time served was never applied to his outstanding fines, and a warrant for him remained outstanding in Cool Valley.

“I wouldn’t want to see anybody else be treated like me and those females when we were in that cage,” Tucker said. “I don’t have a problem with the law. They have a right to pull us over and make sure we’re right. But if you going to lock me up, lock me up for something major – not just a ticket.”

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

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Public defender appoints Nixon to criminal case Missouri’s top public defender has appointed Gov. Jay Nixon (seen here in Ferguson in October 2014) to serve as the attorney for an indigent criminal defendant in Cole County in a public protest over their caseloads.

Claims governor has not adequately funded legal advocates for poor

By Rachel Lippmann and Elle Moxley Of St. Louis Public Radio For years, the public defender system in Missouri has fought to alleviate a growing caseload it says leaves them unable to fairly represent clients.

Now, the man blamed for the crisis is being asked to help alleviate the crunch by heading into the courtroom.

Citing his authority under Missouri law, Michael Barrett, director of the Missouri State Public Defender system, has ordered Gov. Jay Nixon to represent a criminal defendant in Cole County.

“It is my sincere belief that it is wrong to reassign an obligation placed on the state by the 6th and 14th Amendments to private attorneys who have in no way contributed to the current crisis,” Barrett wrote in a letter to Nixon.

“Given the extraordinary circumstances that compel me to entertain any and all avenues for relief, it strikes me that I should begin with the one attorney in the state who not only created the problem, but is in a unique position to address it.”

The dispute is rooted in a vetoed 2009 bill that would have set caseload standards

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

for public defenders, allowing them to turn away defendants charged with lower-level crimes. At the time, Barrett said, Nixon promised to work with the legislature to solve the problem — but never followed through.

“Instead, you have

repeatedly cut funding for an indigent defense system that continues to rank 49th in the U.S., with a budget that the consumer price index indicates has less value now than it did in 2009,” Barrett wrote in a letter to the Democratic governor.

At an appearance in Warrensburg on August 4, Nixon defended his record on funding indigent defense.

“I’ve always supported legal representation for indigent criminal defendants,”

Nixon said. “That’s proven by the fact that we have been significantly supportive of the public defender system in the state. As I’ve been governor, we’ve increased their budget 15.1 percent at the same time that we have had to lower the head count of the state by 5,100 employees.”

Christopher Dunn, the chief of staff to the chairman of the House Budget Committee, said most of that 15 percent increase appears to be mostly due to required cost-of-living adjustments to salaries, not for new employees.

State Sen. Kurt Schaefer, a Columbia Republican who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general, has long supported additional funding for public defender offices to stave off a crisis.

“It will get to a point when the constitutional violations to defendants will be clear enough they will start letting criminal defendants go,” Schaefer said.

“That’s terrible for public safety. It’s terrible for the rule of law and carrying out justice.”

The public defenders in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis, Gasconade, Lincoln, Osage and Jefferson counties did not return phone calls seeking comment on Barrett’s letter or their case loads. Tara Crane, the lead public defender in St. Charles and Warren counties, referred questions back to Barrett.

The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis

(BAMSTL) said it agrees with a statement from the Missouri Bar Association.

“While we do not have a position on the public defender’s office assigning a case to the governor, we do have a long history of supporting proper funding for Missouri’s justice system – including public defenders and prosecutors – because the people of Missouri deserve access to fair justice,” the Missouri Bar statement read.

“We always support and believe in equal access to justice for all people,” BAMSTL spokeswoman Amanda Lindley said.

Peter Joy, the director of the criminal law clinic at Washington University School of Law, called Barrett’s appointment of Nixon a “modest step.”

“There needs to be a recognition that the U.S. Constitution is supposed to mean something, even for poor people, and the governor just doesn’t seem to grasp that,” Joy said. “This governor has ignored the needs of poor defendants in this state, and it’s shameful. Perhaps if he represents some, he’ll maybe have a better appreciation of the needs of the citizens of the state.”

Reprinted with permission from news.stlpublicradio.com.

Elle Moxley of KCUR contributed reporting from Warrensburg, Mo. Follow Rachel Lippmann on Twitter: @rlippmann.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

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range for the city’s other precincts.

“In Ward 5, Precinct 4, it is “normal” for about one-quarter of all voters to cast their ballots absentee when a Hubbard is involved in a race, but in the 2016 Democratic Presidential primary election less than two percent of that precinct’s voters cast absentee ballots,” he states.

In that letter, Roland asked the election authority to review the validity of the ballot applications in the 5th Ward. He asked the board to appoint one or more teams described in Missouri law to go into the 5th Ward and to deliver and witness the signing of the voter’s application – along with the actually voting and return of the ballots.

Bruce Franks Jr. calls for a re-vote in state rep. race against Penny Hubbard Bruce Franks, Jr. is calling for a re-vote in the race for state representative of the 78th District, alleging that his opponent, incumbent Penny Hubbard, won by abusing the voter-absentee process.

“It’s not speculation,” said Franks, who owns an insurance agency and is a Ferguson activist. “If I lost a race, I’m okay with that.”

The St. Louis City Board of Election Commissioners did not respond to the St. Louis American’s request for comment.

Even before the election, Franks and Rasheen Aldridge, committeeman candidate in the 5th Ward, hired attorney David Roland to investigate the irregularities in the massive number of absentee ballots cast in the Hubbard family’s races. Aldridge lost to Rodney Hubbard Sr. by 52 votes in the 5th Ward committeeman race.

“I took a look at it, and I was stunned at what I found,” said Roland, who reviewed elections results going back to 2008. “In a normal precinct, you have between two and 10 percent that ask for an absentee ballot.

In precincts where a Hubbard was on the ballot, routinely you would see 20 percent.

Sometimes you would find up to 60 percent (citing Tammika Hubbard’s 2013 election for 5th Ward alderwoman.)”

Roland said that on election day, Franks actually beat Penny 1,992 to 1,776 votes, according to unofficial election results.

But on the absentee ballots, Penny dominated with 414 to Franks’ 114 votes. All together Franks lost by 84 votes.

In July, Roland filed a Sunshine request to look into the absentee ballot applications.

From the limited information he was given, he said several people did not seem to qualify for absentee ballots. And though he would love to see all Missouri residents be able to vote by mail, as done in some places, that’s not how Missouri operates right now.

“Until we have a system like that, it’s not fair for one candidate to have a heavy thumb on the scale when it can flip the election for certain candidate,” he said. “Everyone has to play

by the same rules.”

When Franks first announced his campaign, he said many people told him, “Watch out for the absentees.”

“If everyone knows, why has no one stood up to it,” Franks said. “We often talk about silence in our neighborhoods and silence in our police department, but we haven’t talked about this political silence that’s gone on with these absentees.”

The window to file a petition and have the court order a special election is narrow. Names for the November election must be in by Sept. 27. Roland said they would like to wait for the official results to be posted, but the election authority may wait as long as possible to do that.

When they file the election contest, the court immediately sets a hearing within five days, Roland said. And he believes they have enough evidence to prove that a re-vote in both Franks’ and Aldridge’s races are necessary. Megan Betts, who was a candidate for 5th Ward committeewoman against Penny Hubbard, was originally going to file a petition as well, but her margins of loss were not as narrow as with Franks’ and Aldridge’s races. She no longer plans to file a petition.

The numbers Franks and Aldridge tried to reach out to the election authority with their concerns before people went to the polls on August 2. In a July 12 letter to the city election commissioners, Roland states that there are only five circumstances under which most citizens are allowed to cast absentee ballots in an election – including absence on election day, incapacity, religious beliefs, employment at an election authority, incarceration, and safety concerns.

And he cites a case, Barks v. Turnbeau, where the court found, “lacking indication of one of the five statutory grounds, the official must discount the ballot as illegally and improperly cast.”

He said after reviewing the percentage of absentee ballots cast, he believes some precincts

The response Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Bruce Franks Jr. (right) talks to supporters at his election night watch party on Cherokee Street. Franks lost by 84 votes to incumbent Penny Hubbard in the race for state representative of the 78th District.

are in “massive violation” of the state statute. He gave a few examples.

In August 2008, Rodney Hubbard Jr. was running against Robin Wright-Jones to represent State Senate District 5. In this particular race, absentee ballots made up between two and ten percent of the total ballots cast in most of the various precincts comprising that State Senate District. But in Ward 5, Precinct 2, more than half of the ballots cast were absentee ballots and more than 94 percent of those absentee ballots in the precinct were cast in favor of Hubbard, Roland wrote.

In that Democratic primary election, Wright-Jones beat Hubbard in ballots cast at the polls by about 52 percent to 48 percent, but because Hubbard won an astonishing 65 percent of the absentee ballots, WrightJones’ final margin of victory was narrowed to less than one percentage point of the total vote.

Roland showed numbers in several of Penny’s races where the absentees for her race were far higher than being cast in citywide – including in August 2010 against James Morris for the Democratic nomination to represent the 58th State House District and in August 2012 against Ruth Ehresman

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and Samuel Cummings for the Democratic nomination to represent the 78th State House District.

In December 2011, Tammika Hubbard was running against Tonya Finley and Rose Green to represent the 5th Ward on the Board of Aldermen.

“In that election the percentage of absentee ballots cast in the 5th Ward was absolutely astronomical,” Roland wrote.

Three precincts saw absentee ballots make up far more than half of all votes cast.

Then again in Tammika’s March 2013 aldermanic race, again the percentage of absentee ballots cast across the 5th Ward was “incredibly high.” The statistics show that Hubbard’s opponent, Michelle Medina, won nearly 52 percent of votes cast at the polls. But Tammika won the election on the strength of the extraordinary percentage of absentee ballots being cast in her favor, he said.

“Simply stated, in light of the very low percentage of voters elsewhere in the city using the absentee ballot system, it seems unthinkable that so many voters in these precincts could meet the statutory qualifications for casting an absentee ballot,” he said. “Even more concerning is the fact that in these same precincts where absentee ballots factor so prominently whenever

a Hubbard is up for election, the percentage of absentee ballots being cast tends to plummet whenever a Hubbard is not up for election.”

For example, in the past few years Ward 5, Precinct 3 has repeatedly seen in elections involving a Hubbard roughly half of all the precinct’s votes being cast via absentee ballot, but in the Democratic Presidential primary election held in March 2016, the percentage of absentee ballots cast dropped to about 11 percent, which is within the normal

On July 15, the commissioners’ lawyers, David Sweeney and Celeste Dodson, responded that Roland’s requests go, “far beyond anything required of the board.”

“In fact, your demands would intrude on individual voters’ rights and could amount to acts of voter suppression by the board,” the letter stated.

They also stated that Roland had not alleged any “definite violations of the law.”

“Statistics and percentages do not make a case for wrongdoing or fraud,” they stated.

“To go to every house and question a voter’s application and seek proof of incapacity or being out of St. Louis on election day would surely be intimidation, and, as stated earlier, amount to allegations against the board of voter suppression.”

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

A10

Child-pedestrian incidents increase with start of school year Safety Tips to Prevent Injury, Death The start of the school year is the most dangerous time on neighborhood streets and in school zones for child-pedestrians and bus riders. As schools welcome students back to the classroom, experts at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt are offering safety tips for children and their parents to help prevent child-pedestrian injuries, which often increase as routines change from summer to school year.

According to Safe Kids Worldwide, cars hit more children at the start of the school year than any other time of the year. Further, more children are hit by cars near schools than any other location.

Unintentional pedestrian injuries are the fifth leading cause of injury-related death in the United States for children ages 5 to 19, with teenagers at the greatest risk. Teens have a death rate twice that of younger children and account for half of all child-pedestrian deaths.

Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt recommends these safety tips adopted from Safe Kids Worldwide to prevent child-pedestrian injury and death:

Bus safety: • While waiting for the bus to arrive, children should stand several steps back from the curb. If a parent cannot accompany the child to the bus stop, the appro-

In this file photo, Jakayah Scott is greeted on the first day of school at Hodgen College Bound Academy Elementary School by St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams.

Photo by Wiley Price

priate place to stand should be discussed in advance.

• Teach children to wait for the bus to come to a complete stop before attempting to board or exit.

• If children need to cross the street after exiting the bus, teach them to make eye contact with the bus driver before crossing, and always look left, right and left again.

Pedestrian safety: • Again, teach children at an early age to look left, right and left again before crossing the street, and continue looking until they safely cross.

• Walk on sidewalks or paths when available and cross at street corners, using traf-

fic signals and crosswalks. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic and as far to the left as possible.

• Every child is different, but developmentally, most are unable to judge the speed and distance of oncoming cars until age 10 and therefore should be accompanied by an adult.

• Encourage children to be alert for cars that are turning or backing up.

• Teach children not to run or dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.

• Children should put away phones, headphones and devices when crossing the street.

For more safety tips visit http://www. childrenshospital.vanderbilt.org/services. php?mid=10435

College is possible Join the UMSL Bridge Program!

For 30 years the University of Missouri–St. Louis Bridge Program has served St. Louisarea students by bulldozing barriers to college entry and paving the way for the leaders of tomorrow. The program was founded in 1986 and remains the university’s flagship precollegiate program. It provides comprehensive, year-round, college-access services to local high school students who represent more than 100 public and private schools.

“Bridge works relentlessly in its efforts to ensure that all students are equipped with the skills necessary to attend college,” says Dr. Natissia Small, Assistant Dean of Students and director of the Bridge Program and multicultural student support services at UMSL. The main program components are two academies for ninth through 12th-grade students. The UMSL Express Scripts Bridge Program Saturday Academy will select 700 students to participate this year and runs for four hours the first two Saturdays of the month from October to March.

It provides intensive instruc-

tion in math, science, intensive writing, career and professional development, and college entrance exam preparation.

Students will experience professional development opportunities through oncampus career fairs, professional speaker series, panel discussions and leadership development. The program also emphasizes engaged parents.

The Saturday Academy, for example, incorporates workshops for parents on many topics, including effective communication, financial literacy, scholarship researching, and navigating the college admissions process, “We have been successful at removing barriers and stumbling blocks for students and parents who are seeking access to higher education,” says Small. “We will continue to remain committed to providing comprehensive college access services for every student who desires a college education.”

Applications are now available for the 2016-2017 Saturday Academy. Please visit www.umsl.edu/precollegiate for additional information.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

NEWSPAPER IN

EDUCATION

Planting the Seeds for Success!

The weekly Healthy Families series is presented by the Missouri Foundation for Health to encourage your family to work (and play) together to improve your health.

Celebrate Success!

([HUFLVH *RDOV

On Week One of the Healthy hy Families series, your familyy was encouraged to create a set of Summer Nutrition Goals and put it on your refrigerator. How did you do? What are some positive changes you made

Your family was also encouraged to create summer exercise goals. What are ways that your family kept active during the last eleven weeks?

Of the exercise

A11

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to your family’s eating habits?

Create a list of five things that you learned about smart, healthy summer eating and keep these new habits going!

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

challenges chal you tried, tried pick p the ones you enjoyed most and plan to keep these activities as part of your new, healthier lifestyle. Create a weekly calendar c that includes different activities each day — always a h having a goal of at least 20-30 m minutes of exercise each day.

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

Sit down with your family to create a plan to kickoff a successful new school year! Some ideas to consider:

>

Aim for about 10 hours off sleep per night.

>

Have a designated, organized nized study/homework area.

>

Limit screen time (video games, computer and TV viewing) on school nights.

>

Eat a healthy breakfast every morning.

>

Talk It Out!

Communication is important, mportant, and honesty leads to open communication.

Sharing information, problems and advice with your family members can help you all understand and learn from each

other. Create Crea an atmosphere where everyone in your family eve feels fe comfortable sharing their concerns without judgement or joking. j Schedule a regular Family S Meeting Time when everyone can M openly talk about their problems op and each member of the family can share ideas and advice. sh

Learning Standards: HPE H 2, NH 1

6&,(1&( ENGLISH

Spend time reading together as a family, every night. fa

> Finish homework immediately after you get home from school (while you still remember your classroom instruction). in > Have a “Backpack Rack,” a special place that you put your backpack every night — so that you’re ready for school in the morning. >

Let your parents/teacher know if you are having trouble understanding lessons.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

A12

Michael Brown, Ferguson, and health

Photo by Wiley Price

Maurice Ohuonu and Marcel Washington of the City Building Division’s lead detox section complete lead remediation of the exterior windows of a home located on Delor in St. Louis.

Work in progress St. Louis strives toward lead safe homes

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American Since it is known that a child’s health and development is negatively affected by exposure to lead and lead-based objects in their environment, health officials say parents need to advocate for their children and get them tested for exposure and their home tested inside and outside for the presence of lead. Especially where pregnant women and children age 6 and younger reside or spend time The City of St. n The City Louis has an ongoing of St. Louis lead remediation program, paid for in part has an federal HUD grants ongoing lead by and by the City. The remediation City reports it spends program, more than $3 million annually to remediate paid for in lead. In 2003, Mayor part by fedFrancis Slay launched eral HUD Lead Safe St. Louis grants and (leadsafestlouis.com), to connect families to by the City. testing and to remeThe City diation services to reports it reduce and eliminate spends more children’s exposure to lead and its harmful than $3 million annually health effects.

Roy and Leola to remediate Smith learned about lead. the city’s lead inspection program while taking landlord-training classes. A subsequent inspection resulted in remediation of several areas in their home, including windows, doorways and the back porch. Roy Smith said lead was everywhere.

“The city had a program to get rid of the lead by putting new windows in,” Roy Smith said.

“They don’t mess with stained windows, but what they did, they painted the outside,” of the stained windows, Leola

Smith added.

Lead-based paint inside the house in a doorway was painted over to contain it.

Chipped paint is a particular hazard for young children who put everything in their mouth.

“The lead – it peels off and little kids will pick it up. They said it’s sweet, so that’s how they think it’s candy – and they eat it,” Roy Smith said.

They want to make sure their home is safe for their grandchildren.

Each day as workers remediated the lead,

the Smiths could not enter the home. Areas with lead were covered while workers remediated, and the spaces were cleaned up as they completed each area the Smiths could spend the night inside the home.

“As long as we are outside, they can be inside the house,” said Kerry Humphrey, who was the lead program manager in St. Louis’ Building Division before retiring recently.

The workers are trained in lead remediation.

See LEAD, A13

Two years ago this week, the shooting death of Michael Brown astounded a nation, and forever changed the way that we talk about race and health in America.

The Ferguson Commission’s report, which was released last September, suggested that health disparities were a key factor in the unrest that began after Brown’s death. The report suggests that preparing public school teachers with basic mental health skills, establishing more trauma support, and expanding Medicaid in Missouri – among other things – would help eliminate some of the issues that were plaguing Ferguson and the St. Louis region.

The Commission’s findings, grounded in an inclusive, community-wide process, identified the social and economic factors that shaped the circumstances of Michael Brown’s death and the events that followed. Racism, lack of economic opportunity, discrimination, and poor access to basic goods and services – healthy food, transportation, schools, affordable housing, and safe neighborhoods – all contributed. The Ferguson neighborhood where Michael Brown lived and died reflected these chalRobert lenges, as do numerous Hughes neighborhoods across the St. Louis region and the country.

The social and economic factors documented in the Ferguson Commission’s report have also resulted in stark differences in the health of black and white Americans. Extensive research over the past several decades shows that blacks receive poorer care in our health care system and have a disproportionately difficult time getting access to care in the first place. As a result of social and economic factors, blacks get sick sooner, have more severe symptoms when they do get sick, and die at younger ages. For all of the appropriate recent attention given to the increase in middle-aged whites’ mortality rates, there was little attention to the fact that, even with that increase, black mortality rates remain 40 percent higher than white mortality rates. And Missouri’s mortality rates for both blacks and whites are higher than the national average.

Black-white health differences are evident in the quality of care received within the health care system; in access to preventive and specialty care; and in life opportunities, exposures, and stresses that influence underlying health status. Racism and discrimination are two stress factors shown to have negative impacts on health, causing an increase in depression, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and mortality. And black people who experience frequent racism are more susceptible to heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and stroke.

Michael Brown’s death came after Trayvon Martin’s, and the events following Brown’s death were communicated widely and in real time via social media. These circumstances resulted in widespread recognition of a pattern of violence, affecting us all, which has been reinforced over the past two years by one tragedy after another. The factors underlying this pattern of violence also lead to worse health outcomes for blacks. The commemoration of Michael Brown’s death serves as a reminder to us – in St. Louis and across the country – that we have significant work to do to make fundamental progress on these issues if we want to succeed in becoming healthier and more economically equitable in the future. All of us deserve the opportunity to lead healthy lives in healthy communities.

Dr. Robert Hughes is president and CEO of Missouri Foundation for Health, a resource for the region that works with communities and nonprofits to generate and accelerate positive changes in health. To learn more about the Foundation and to read more from Dr. Hughes, please visit mffh.org/news.

Photo by Wiley Price

The ceiling of the back porch of the home of Roy and Leola Smith was completely covered to remove the lead hazard.

Missouri Foundation for Health is a resource for the region, working with communities and nonprofits to generate and accelerate positive changes in health. As a catalyst for change, the Foundation improves the health of Missourians through partnership, experience, knowledge and funding.

Your Health Matters is provided in partnership with

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

A13

Free education and meals in University City public schools University City’s public school students returned for the 2016-2017 school year on August 8 with a new benefit – free lunch. Board members of the School District of University City recently voted to implement a universal meal program. Universal meal programs are gaining popularity across the country; advocates say the program reduces bullying, removes the social stigma attached to the free and reduced lunch program, and increases the health and well-being of students.

“We know that our students need to be healthy to learn; when they are not eating, they are not healthy and that is a true barrier to learning and performance,” said Superintendent Sharonica Hardin-Bartley. “We’re working to remove that barrier.”

Research has shown that when children are hungry, they are less likely to do well in the classroom, perform as well on standardized tests or graduate from high school.

According to Children’s HealthWatch, food insecurity can damage a child’s health and brain development long before they enter a classroom.

By kindergarten, food-insecure children often are cognitively, emotionally and physically behind their peers who are not hungry.

Launched as part of the federal government’s Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, districts that qualify under the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) are able to offer free meals to all students

in the District.

“Moving to the universal meal program is a positive move for the District in so many ways,” said Matt Buck, director of food and dining services. “We reduce paperwork and the inefficiencies of collecting lunch money and managing student accounts allowing us to focus on what’s important – providing a high-quality meal with excellent service to students and staff.”

The District will continue its participation in the summer food program sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture. During summer school, students receive free breakfast and lunch. In addition, any student living near summer school locations in

the District are encouraged to visit the building for breakfast and lunch at no cost.

District social workers also coordinate a food backpack program in elementary schools during the school year. Students with identified need are sent home with a backpack full of healthy food items and snacks to help provide healthy meals over the weekend.

“Children aren’t hungry just Monday-through Friday; some of our children and families need support just to make it through the weekend. We’re doing whatever it takes to help our students be healthy mentally and physically so they can do their very best in the classroom,” Superintendent Hardin said.

Health Briefs

Community Convening Grants for regions beyond St. Louis area The Missouri Foundation for Health is seeking Request for Applications (RFA) from organizations outside of St. Louis City and County to apply for planning grants to assist communities in identifying and addressing health issues in their areas.

The MFH hopes the twoyear grants will stimulate health-focused discussions in a limited number of communities, with the goal of mobilizing the necessary stakeholders, experts, and resources

to form coalitions that will address health issues from a local policy perspective.

Local policy includes laws, ordinances, and rules impacting conditions that influence the health of people and their communities.

Between three and five communities will be chosen to identify and plan potential interventions for pressing health-related issues in their community through coalition building, community dialog, and advocating local health

policy change. Addressing the conditions that negatively affect a community’s overall health requires the development of policies at all three levels of government.

The deadline to apply is September 12, 2016, at 4 p.m.

(CT).

For more information, visit http://bit.ly/2awwnln or https://mffh.org/news/opportunities/community-convening-grants/

Delta Dental awards $1 million for statewide dental sealant initiative Program will begin in early 2017 Delta Dental of Missouri plans to invest $1 million over the next five years to help fund a new Missouri Dental Sealant Program administered by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS).

DHSS says tooth decay is one of the most common chronic diseases among children. An estimated 51 million hours of school time is lost every year due to tooth related problems. At particular risk are children in families with no dental insurance, of low income or live in rural areas.

Dental sealants play a key

role in cavity prevention and Missouri currently does not have a statewide, school-based sealant program in place.

Funding from Delta Dental will enhance an existing DHSS program in schools that provides dental screenings, fluoride varnishes, educational materials and oral health care supplies.

“We will use existing infrastructure to seamlessly add the much needed school-based dental sealants service to the mix of what is offered to qualifying students statewide,” said Dr. John Dane Missouri State dental director.

The dental sealant program will begin in early 2017, with plans to reach 15,000 highneed children at as many as 268 public schools throughout the state.

“We essentially put our money where our mouth is in an effort to positively influence the dental health of Missouri children,” stated Robert Butler, DDS, Chairman of the Board for Delta Dental of Missouri.

“We look forward to following the success of this initiative.”

LEAD

Lead Law

Continued from A12 “They are all licensed by the state of Missouri – they are all licensed lead abatement workers,” Humphrey said. He added the in-house team does interim control – painting windows and doors, light patching in drywall.

Full lead abatement is done by outside contractors.

Roy Smith added, “It was an excellent program – plus, it was free.”

“And what happened too,” Leola Smith said, “we only qualified for so much and they went back and got the difference from somewhere else. We didn’t even have to do anything.”

For St. Louis residents, call the Citizens’ Service Bureau at 314-622-4800 to schedule an appointment for the free lead inspection. If lead is discovered, the City will send property owners an application for financial assistance through its Lead Safe program.

The day we spoke to Humphrey, he and his team were soon on the move to another location with a pressing lead problem.

“We just got a call, we got a high priority child,” Humphrey said. “Luckily, it’s only one door that we got to go paint – but the kid is a

Missouri Foundation for Health is a resource for the region, working with communities and nonprofits to generate and accelerate positive changes in health. As a catalyst for change, the Foundation improves the health of Missourians through partnership, experience, knowledge and funding.

• Landlords and sellers must disclose known information about lead-based paint and lead hazards.

• Buyers have up to 10 days to check for lead hazards.

Source: St. Louis County Dept. of Public Health/Environmental Services

45 lead level.

“That’s high.”

Chelation is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for children with blood lead levels of 45 or higher micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. It is deemed an effective treatment for heavy metal poisoning. In the chelation process, a synthetic solution is injected into the bloodstream to bind with the lead or heavy metals/minerals to remove it from the body. Both are eliminated through the kidneys.

For more information on qualifying for lead remediation services in the City of St. Louis, call the Building Division at 641-8255 or 6418327.

Your Health Matters is provided in partnership with

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

A14

Official Court-Approved Legal Notice

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Settlements with 2.0-Liter VW/Audi TDI Car Owners/Lessees, the Environmental Protection Agency, the California Air Resources Board, California Attorney General, and Federal Trade Commission

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Includes these 2.0-Liter diesel cars: VW Beetle 2013-2015

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Business

B1

AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Building ‘a new paradigm in early childhood education’

People On The Move Celisia Harris was named vice chair of the Young Professional Board for the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery.

She is Business Developing manager for Dr. Pepper Snapple Group.

Celisia The Saint Louis Harris Crisis Nursery is an independent, not-forprofit agency providing short-term, safe havens to 7,500 children a year, birth through age 12, whose families are faced with an emergency or crisis.

Rance Thomas received four awards for outstanding, distinguished and lifetime service from North County Incorporated, the St. Louis Area Regional Council for Scouting, the Hazelwood Rance School District and Thomas the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of the Alton Area. He is cofounder and president of North Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice and professor emeritus of Sociology and Criminal Justice.

Photo by Patti Gabriel

Phyllis Robinson, a teacher at the I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Early Learning Center, engages with two of its young students.

The center employs a “creative curriculum – you learn through play,” said development associate Michelle Landers-Ochsner.

The Flance Early Learning Center celebrates two years on the near North Side

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American

Rodricka Jackson, a teacher at the I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Early Learning Center, holds one of the center’s 69 current students. The center enrolls students aged six weeks to six years.

The I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Early Learning Center celebrated its second year of providing early childhood education on the near North Side in June, but its leadership and staff are looking ahead, rather than behind.

“It’s going to go right over there,” Michelle Landers-Ochsner, a development associate at the Flance Center, said while pointing west from the front door of the center, located at 1908 O’Fallon St. “It” is the new $1.7 billion Western Headquarters for the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, which will be built within walking distance of the Flance Center. The City of St. Louis is scheduled to hand over the 100-acre site to the federal government next year, with an estimated three years of 1,350 construction jobs needed to build it. Then, sometime in 2021, it will open with some 3,150 people working at NGA West, a half-mile from the Flance Center.

See FLANCE, B6 Photo by Patti Gabriel

McDonald’s owners partner with community college Offer tuition assistance to employees with nine months of service American staff St. Louis Community College has forged a formal education partnership with McDonald’s of St. Louis and the Metro East to help food service employees further their education.

Area McDonald’s employees may take on-campus and online courses at the same cost as in-district students ($106/credit hour); receive a $500 book scholarship; and work with an academic advisor trained specifically to assist them.

Eligible employees must have worked at McDonald’s for at least nine months for 20 hours per week.

The partnership is part of McDonald’s

n In this program, crew members will receive $700 per year in tuition assistance and managers will receive $1,050 a year. Certified swing managers, department managers and general managers will receive $5,250 a year.

“Archways to Opportunity” workforce education program. In this program, crew members will receive $700 per year in tuition assistance and managers will receive $1,050 a year. Certified

swing managers, department managers and general managers will receive $5,250 a year.

Since the average cost of a community college class is about $350, McDonald’s will cover the cost of two classes a year for eligible crew and three classes a year for eligible managers.

Previously, employees returning to work seasonally, such as students working each summer, were not eligible for tuition assistance because their three-month employment did not roll into the next calendar year. Now, returning employees who work a collective nine months in a McDonald’s restaurant have an opportunity to receive tuition assistance for college or high See McDONALD’S, B2

Toni Jordan joined the board of St. Patrick Center. She is Women’s Support coordinator at Let’s Start, a support process for women transitioning from prison life to society.

The mission of St. Toni Patrick Center is Jordan to help individuals and families move from homelessness to independence in dignified, cost-effective and permanent ways.

Patrick Walker received the 2016 Symbol of Hope Award, presented

by St. Francis Community Services to “an individual from humble beginnings who has created large and Patrick positive impact in Walker the community.”

He is an associate professor of nonprofit administration at Lindenwood University and chairs the university’s recently formed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Mavis T. Thompson received a Merit Award from the National Bar Association. She is license collector for the City of St. Louis and past president of the National Bar Association, Mavis T. the nation’s Thompson oldest and largest national network of predominantly African-American attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 65,000 lawyers, judges, law professors and law students.

Wil Franklin graduated from the UCLA/ Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program, designed to enhance the management and leadership skills of executives from community health Wil centers. He is chief Franklin operating officer for Betty Jean Kerr People’s Health Centers, a federally qualified health center.

On the move? Congratulations! Send your good professional news and a color headshot to cking@stlamerican. com

B2

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Personal Finance

10 tips for becoming a knowledgeable renter

By Nathaniel Sillin

injured at your home.

On the hunt for a new apartment? A move can be an exciting opportunity to explore a new area or meet new people. However, competitive rental markets can make it difficult to find a desirable place on a budget.

Keep these ten tips in mind to manage the process like a pro. They’ll help you stand out from the crowd, get a good deal, enjoy the neighborhood and manage your rights and responsibilities as a renter.

8. Make Your Own Repairs. Prior to signing the lease, ask if you can take on some of the maintenance responsibilities in exchange for reduced rent. You could offer to handle and pay for basic upkeep, such as replacing lights or smoke detectors, and making minor repairs.

9. Pay Attention to Bills.

Evaluate which bills you’ll pay in addition to the rent, such as gas, heat, water, electricity, trash, Wi-Fi or parking. A more expensive apartment that includes these can save you money overall.

1. Talk to Other Tenants.

Speak with current or past renters to get a sense for the building and landlord. Ask about the neighborhood, noise, timeliness with repairs and any other pressing questions.

Consider looking for online reviews of the landlord as well, and research the neighborhood.

2. Upgrade Your Application. Go beyond the basic application requirements and include pictures, references, credit reports and a short bio about yourself and whoever else may be moving in. Try to catch the landlord’s eye and show that you’ll take care of the property. You can order a free credit report from each bureau (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) once every 12 months at AnnualCreditReport.com.

3. Understand Your Lease. The lease may list the rent amount, terms of the security deposit, guest polices and other crucial details. Read it carefully and

10. Talk to Your Landlord. Hiding financial trouble helps no one. Talk to your landlord and ask for an extension if you can’t make rent. Good tenants can be hard to come by, and your landlord will likely prefer open communication and a late check to being left in the dark.

Prior to signing the lease, ask if you can take on some of the maintenance responsibilities in exchange for reduced rent. You could offer to handle basic upkeep, such as replacing lights or smoke detectors. ask questions if you don’t understand something. State laws regarding rent control or other regulations can impact your situation as well. If you can afford one, you could hire a lawyer to review and explain the lease.

4. Negotiate the Terms.

You can’t always negotiate lower rent (it’s worth trying),

but there may be flexibility when it comes to the security deposit, parking spaces, administrative fees, or the lease’s length.

5. Learn Your Rights.

Protect yourself by learning about your rights as a renter.

They can vary by state, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

McDONALD’S continued from page B1 school. This allows seasonal employees to qualify for tuition assistance, including students who work the summer during high school.

To receive college tuition assistance, employees must submit a request and upon approval, they receive a check for tuition funds made out

Visit us at www.stlamerican.com

(HUD) has a directory with links to tenants’ rights websites for each state.

6. Do a Walkthrough.

Walk through the apartment with the landlord, look for damages and document anything you find. You’ll thank yourself later when you move out and ask for your full security deposit back.

7. Consider Renters Insurance. Renters insurance costs about $15 to $30 a month for a policy that covers $50,000 worth of losses. It reimburses you if your belongings are stolen, damaged or destroyed by a covered cause, such as a fire.

The insurance also helps pay for legal fees if, for instance, someone sues after getting

n McDonald’s will cover the cost of two classes a year for eligible crew and three classes a year for eligible managers.

to their school. This allows them to register for classes and receive funds from McDonald’s before their tuition bills are due.

Since April 2015, McDonald’s has provided approximately $5.4 million in

tuition assistance for eligible employees to obtain their high school and college degrees.

“Archways to Opportunity strengthens talent, enhances opportunities for crew, and brings improvements to our restaurants,” said Colleen

Bottom Line: Being an informed renter is especially important in a competitive rental market. Take simple steps to improve your rental and money management skills and you’ll benefit for years to come.

Nathaniel Sillin directs Visa’s financial education programs. To follow Practical Money Skills on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ PracticalMoney.

Schoendienst, an area McDonald’s owner. “Thanks to our partnership with St. Louis Community College, we look forward to helping people and improving our customer experience.”

Nearly 90 percent of McDonald’s 160 St. Louis restaurants are independently owned and operated by local businessmen and women.

For information, visit www. mcdonaldsSTL.com or follow us them Twitter at @McDSTL.

n “I was built this way for a reason, so I’m going to use it.”

– Simone Biles

Sports

INSIDE

St. Louis continues to embarrass itself when it comes to the L.A. Rams ~ See ‘Sports Eye’ page B4 ~ B3

AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Gold for ‘Final Five’

Surge are champs again

Gymnastics’ most diverse team gives USA back-to-back Olympics victories

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American “Simone Biles needs to score a 7.591 for USA to bring home the gold,” the announcer said as she prepared to take the floor exercise for Team USA’s final performance in the team finals Tuesday night in Rio. “Can she pull it off?”

His sarcasm summed up Team USA’s dominance as the women’s gymnastics team captured their third team gold.

They came into the finals from a qualifying round that saw them nearly ten full points ahead of their nearest competitor.

And in order for Biles to lose the gold medal for her team, she would have had to fall – and land out of bounds – on just about every single flip of her action packed routine. n They “She’s probably came into going to double that,” the finals the announcer said.

Biles did that, and from a then some, with her qualifying performance that round that another announcer saw them described as “one of the nearly ten most difficult pieces of gymnastics I’ve ever full points seen.” ahead of Biles delivered the their nearest type of routine that is competitor. typically associated with a heartwarming, backfrom-the-brink-of-defeat to team victory as the 19-year-old earned her first Olympic gold medal. It was the only piece of hardware missing from her four-year run of supreme domination in women’s gymnastics.

The crowd erupted after her first tumbling passage. And she never gave them a reason to calm down.

Biles15.8 score illustrated that even the judges – who were extremely conservative and unforgiving with their scoring – had been blown away by her performance.

Though Biles has been the talk of gymnastics, and the Olympics in general, all five of her teammates gave the performance of their lives.

Just before Biles took to the mat, her teammate Aly Raisman, floor exercise reigning Olympic champion, compelled the crowd to chant “Aly” and “USA” following her breathtaking performance. “We had a lot of pressure coming in but I think we handled it pretty well,” said Raisman. “I’m See GOLD, B5

Title is team’s second in three years

By Earl Austin Jr. Of the St. Louis American

Simone Biles is also expected to be the first gymnast of any color – male or female – to win five gold medals in a single Olympic Games when the gymnastics competition resumes with the individual and all-round finals.

The St. Louis Surge are once again the national champions of the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League.

The Surge (13-2) were dominant in winning all three of its games by double digits at last weekn The end’s WBCBL St. Louis National Surge (13-2) Tournament in San Antonio, were TX. In the dominant championship in winning game, the Surge all three of defeated the Flyers Elite its games 69-55 to win its by double second champidigits at last onship in three weekend’s years.

“To win a WBCBL second chamNational pionship means Tournament a lot to our in San organization Antonio, TX. and to the women’s side of basketball in St. Louis,” said head coach Tony Condra. “It means a lot for the young ladies growing up to have champions in their own back yard.”

In defeating the Flyers in the championship game, the Surge earned a measure of revenge after dropping a 91-76 decision to their rivals in the Midwest Regional finals two weeks ago at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Surge had one of its worst shooting games of the season.

“It was a great loss because shooting 20 of 63 showed a lack of focus,” Condra said. “It made everyone refocus on what we set out to accomplish.”

See SURGE, B5

In The Clutch With Ishmael H. Sistrunk

Olympic boxing is back n Now in 2016, the Olympic committee has righted its wrongs for Rio. The bulky headgear is gone and scoring has been reverted to the traditional system. The effect has been a fight fan’s dream.

Headgear is gone and scoring now uses the traditional system For decades, Olympic 1980s when cracks began to boxing has been the Taylor appear in its armor.

Griffin of pugilism. The senior While the 1980s-era sibling of Los Angeles Clippers Olympics produced some great superstar Blake Griffin looks a talent such as Ray Mercer, lot like his baby brothPernell Whitaker and er, but his game just Roy Jones Jr., rule isn’t in the same stratochanges made during sphere. That’s why the decade helped Taylor has spent his make the sport nearly playing career in the unbearable to watch.

D-League and overseas In 1984, headgear was while Blake has earned introduced. Headgear the big bucks, fame and made it difficult for fans acclaim in the NBA. to see the fighters faces Yes, Olympic boxing is Ishmael H. and difficult for the just like that. fighters to land clean Sistrunk Many people don’t punches in the ring. realize that boxing was Headgear in boxing is introduced to the modern-day akin to requiring swimmers Olympics right here in St. to wear life vests. For local, Louis at the III Olympiad in regional or even national com1904. Since then, 1912 was petitions, headgear might be the only year in which boxing acceptable. For the Olympics was not present in the Olympic however, they always seemed Games, due to a prohibition on woefully out of place. the sport in Sweden. Olympic After Jones Jr. was blatantly boxing was always a sport of cheated out of Olympic gold in pride and prestige until the 1988, (Let’s all feign surprise

Bantamweight Shakur Stevenson is expected to be a medal contender for Team USA in the Rio Olympics. at corruption in the sport of boxing.) the sport’s scoring system was changed from the common 10-point must system used in professional boxing, to a strange punch-counting sys-

tem that Albert Einstein could not have figured out.

The punch-counting system was the worst thing to happen to the sport. Professional fighters skillfully box, set up power

shots and attempt to put their opponents to sleep. However, amateur boxing was relegated to a fencing match minus the swords. Fighters typically picked and pecked their way

through boring bouts by simply trying to land more pillow-soft punches than their opponent.

The prestige of Olympic gold began to wane. Over time, both the American public and American fighters lost interest.

For the first time in Olympic history, the United States failed to medal for any weight class in men’s boxing in 2012.

Now in 2016, the Olympic committee has righted its wrongs for Rio. The bulky See CLUTCH, B5

B4

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Sports Eye With Alvin A. Reid

St. Louis continues to embarrass itself when it comes to L.A. Rams First, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Post-Dispatch writes a column saying that all St. Louis should shun the Los Angeles Rams. Funny, I didn’t know there was a sizeable portion of Amish folks around here.

Second, a portion of Orlando Pace’s Hall of Fame acceptance speech was erroneously left out of the YouTube video, including a two-sentence shout out to St. Louis fans. Immediately came the cries that the NFL did it on purpose.

Third, D’Marco Farr announced that he was leaving 101 ESPN and returning permanently to L.A., for personal reasons Alvin including some family Reid members’ health. We later learned the former Rams defensive lineman will join the Los Angeles Rams radio broadcast as in-game sideline reporter. He’s also expected to make guest appearances on Los Angeles sports radio station ESPNLA 710.

Naturally, some folks took to respective social media and comment sections to rip him.

Once, twice, three times a loser.

In one of the whiniest, short-sighted columns you’ll read this year, Ortiz spouted the region’s embarrassing company line on the Rams’ relocation, ignoring the fact that St. Louis spirited the franchise from St. Louis and openly welcomed support from L.A. in 1995.

“The Rams belong to Los Angeles now,” he wrote.

“Kroenke and his NFL cronies all but flipped the middle finger on St. Louis as they sprinted toward the gold in sunny Southern California.

Paying attention to the Rams while they go through training camp is only going to add to the pain. It’s time to stop stalking the ex’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.”

There are enough sour grapes there to make enough wine to fill a Rio Olympics swimming pool, and the revisionist history is so thick you can spread it on a cracker.

While I’m taking issue with this column, I think Ortiz is a needed addition to the Post A. sports section.

About half of Pace’s speech was left out of the YouTube video, but his entire speech was always posted at nfl.com.

“To the St. Louis Rams fans, I’m so proud to say we brought that city a championship.

Thank you for the support that you gave us during that run. No one could ever take that away from you,” Pace said.

Pace’s speech lasted a little over 16 minutes. According to NFL senior vice president of communications Brian McCarthy, Pace’s speech stopped at the 8:01 mark on YouTube. His remarks on St. Louis were near the end.

If you believe the conspiracy buffs, the NFL knew what Pace was planning to say and cut the video much earlier than needed to cover its tracks. Amazing.

Farr’s departure was

St. Louis continues to embarrass itself when it comes to the L.A. Rams. Fans whining about Orlando Pace’s speech being edited by the NFL is just one more example in which St. Louis fans have lacked class. announced Thursday and it was later learned he had taken

the broadcasting job with the Rams. He probably wanted to be off the air in St. Louis before it became public knowledge so he could escape unwarranted criticism – which was certainly going to come.

Mary Curtis had this comment for the Post, “What did you expect. Farr snubbed his nose at St. Louis. Yet another dig to the St. Louis area

by Kroenke. Look for Steve Savard to leave also.”

Maurice Scott, Charlie “Tuna” Edwards and I were on Frank Cusumano’s “Press Box” show recently and stated that we have no problem with following the Rams’ exploits in L.A. We don’t wish them ill will. The texts that flooded in were in total disagreement.

Keep it classy, St. Louis.

Black QBs did well in 2015 With Robert Griffin III being named the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, the total number of black QBs under center on

Sunday, Sept. 11 – barring injury – will stand at six.

Joining RG III are Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills; Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks; Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings; Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers; and Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Helped by Newton’s 15-1 regular season mark in 2015, the five starters (not counting RGIII) were an impressive 50-30.

By the way, Michael Vick, subbing for the injured Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, started three games last year and went 2-1. He wants to play one more season and is hinting he would like to join the Dallas Cowboys to back-up oft-injured Tony Romo.

Former Missouri star Blaine Gabbert is the favorite to start over Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco and Geno Smith will be second-string to New York Jets starter Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Dusty, Martinez doing great Dusty Baker, Washington Nationals manager, had guided his team to a 66-45 record as of Monday – second only to the Chicago Cubs in the Majors.

The Nats held a 7.5 game lead over the Miami Marlins and are poised for a postseason run.

L.A. Dodgers first-year manager Dave Roberts has seen more of his players go on the disabled list than any manager has during a season in the history of baseball. This includes ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who could be finished for the season with a back injury.

Yet, the Dodgers were 63-49 on Tuesday and just a game behind the NL West leading San Francisco Giants.

Two black managers, two winning teams headed to the playoffs.

Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is #aareid1

B5

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Y Lie holds off Starz for River City title

By Earl Austin Jr. Of the St. Louis American The championship game of the River City Pro-Am Summer Basketball League came down to the top two teams in the St. Louis Starz and Y Lie. The second-seeded Y Lie team built up a huge first half lead, then held off a furious Starz rally in the second half to take a 81-79 victory for the championship on Monday night at Cardinal Ritter.

It was Y Lie’s second consecutive appearance in the championship game of a local summer Pro-Am League. Y Lie was defeated by 200 Proof in last year’s Mo Betta Pro-Am championship game last year.

“It felt great to make it back to the championship game and win this year,” said former Lafayette High and UMSL standout Aareon Smith. “We felt like we should have won

GOLD Continued from B3 at a loss for words.”

In her second Olympics, Raisman will return Thursday to compete in the all-round against Biles, who is heavily favored to win.

With Biles, reigning Olympic all-round champion Gabby Douglas and 16-yearold Lauren Hernandez, the 2016 Olympic champion team is also the most diverse in the history of Team USA gymnastics.

Douglas became the first African-American woman to win all-round gold at the 2012 Games in London – where she and Raisman became the first women

River City Pro-Am Summer League Championship Box Score Y Lie (81) Aareon Smith 22, Scott Suggs 18, DeSean Cooper 12, Gerald Weatherspoon 10, Chantel Stanciel 9, Drake Reed 6, Javier Duren 4 St. Louis Starz (79) James Washington 24, Kenny Williams 20, Lance Harris 17, Corey Hill 11, Terry Evans 7

last year, so get all the way back and win it this year means a lot. We worked very hard during the summer, so it’s nice to win something like the River City Pro-Am League. There is so much talent in the league.”

It was indeed a different story this summer for Y Lie as they survived a pair of close encounters to win the championship. On Sunday, they edged Big Time 68-66 in the semifi-

n Gabby Douglas became the first African-American woman to win all-round gold at the 2012 Games in London.

gymnasts to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games.

Though she posted the third best time overall in the qualifying rounds, Douglas was edged out because of the rule that only allows two individuals per team to advance to the all-round finals.

Biles is also expected to be the first gymnast of any color – male or female – to win five gold medals in a single Olympic Games when the gymnastics competition

nals on a pair of Scott Suggs free throws with five seconds left in the game.

The championship game looked like it was going to be a blowout as Y Lie led by as many as 24 points and built a 55-39 halftime lead on the strength of 10 3-pointers. Smith made five of those 3-pointers and scored all 22 of his teamhigh points in the first half.

“My teammates found me

in good spots and from there, it’s just repetition,” Smith said.

“I worked hard in the summer and I got up a lot of shots, so whenever I get good looks, I am confident that I am going to knock them down.”

In the second half, the No. 1 seed Starz slowly reeled in Y Lie behind the trio of James Washington, Kenny Williams and Lance Harris. The battled all the way back to having a chance to tie or win the game at the end of regulation. The Starz went for the win as Harris’ last-second 3-pointer bounced off the rim, giving Y Lie the championship.

Smith led Y Lie with 22 points, followed by former Washington High star Scott Suggs with 18 points. DeSean Cooper scored 12 points while Gerald Weatherspoon added 10 points. All four players are playing professional basketball overseas.

Washington, a former

Information from CNN contributed to this report.

After Roy Jones Jr. was blatantly cheated out of Olympic gold in 1988, the sport’s scoring system was changed from the common 10-point must system used in professional boxing, to a strange punch-counting system.

Continued from B3 Despite the loss in the regional finals, the Surge were awarded an at-large bid to the national tournament. They made the most of it by winning their three games by an average margin of 14 points.

In the quarterfinals, the Surge defeated the Conyers Rockets 112-100 in a real shootout. St. Louis put five players in double figures, led

by Rebecca Harris with 18 points. Brittany Wilson scored 13 points, followed by Michala Johnson with 12 and Tori Waldner and Cassie Rochel with 10 each. Jaleesa Butler and Denisha Womack also chipped in with nine points.

There was more balanced scoring in the semifinals as the Surge defeated the Charlotte Invasion 77-62. Former Miller Career Academy Shanity James and Johnson led the way with 14 points. Wilson scored 11 points while Harris and

Vargas (flyweight), Shakur Stevenson (bantamweight) and Gary Russell (light welterweight).

Womack added 10 points each.

The championship game was more of a defensive battle and the Surge shut down the Flyers Elite 69-55. Harris

Williams scored 20 points and Harris chipped in with 17 points.

Simone Biles earned her first Olympic gold medal.

It was the only piece of hardware missing from her fouryear run of supreme domination in women’s gymnastics.

Continued from B3

SURGE

Vashon High and Middle Tennessee State standout, led the Starz with 24 points.

resumes with the individual and all-round finals.

After their team win, the young women revealed the name they selected for the team – which also includes Madison Kocian.

“We called ourselves the ‘final five’ because there will only be four girls next time and because of Martha (coach Karolyi) finishing after this,” Hernandez said.

Along with the team gold, Karolyi will probably leave the Olympic stage with a blaze of glory like no other coach in women’s gymnastics thanks to the “Final Five” – and the record-breaking potential of Biles.

CLUTCH headgear is gone and scoring has been reverted to the traditional system. The effect has been a fight fan’s dream.

Olympic boxing is exciting once again. Watching Carlos Balderas (USA) defeat Daisuke Narimatsu (JPN) was a treat. While Balderas won a 3-0 unanimous decision, it was an interesting fight where both fighters put forth a solid mixture of craft and crush as they went toe-to-toe and blow-forblow for all three rounds.

While the American men only sent six fighters to Rio this year, there’s a good chance that Team USA will expand upon its 111 Olympic boxing medals (Cuba is second on the all-time list with 67). Team USA got off to a 4-0 start before Charles Conwell lost to Vikas Krishan Yadav (IND) in the middleweight Round of 16. Along with Balderas, Team USA still has plenty of chances to medal with Nico Hernandez (light flyweight), Antonio

Y Lie celebrated their River City Pro-Am championship after defeating the St. Louis Starz.

Pros down for the count in Year 1

Amir Khan’s camps that they would compete for their home countries, but both ultimately decided against it. Every other well-known fighter followed suit. It may have had something to do with the IBF vowing to strip its champions of their titles if they chose to compete in the Olympics. The reasoning had something to do with “unsportsmanlike behavior.” Apparently the IBF was afraid that some of its paper champions might not be able to compete with the best amateurs in the world.

The result is that just three pro fighters competed in Rio and all have been eliminated.

Hassan N’Dam (CMR) and Carmine Tommasone (ITA) were both bounced out of the first round of the tournament.

Amnat Ruenroeng’s (THA) Olympic dreams were put down for the count in the second round. I have a feeling though that more pros will try their luck in 2020.

Rio also marks the first year that professional fighters are

eligible to box in the Olympic Games. Considering that pros compete in basketball, tennis, track and field, gymnastics and other sports, it was only a mat-

ter of time before the big boys of boxing got the green light to compete.

There were rumblings out of Manny Pacquiao’s and

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

closed out a stellar season as the team’s leading scorer with a game-high 21 points.

“It was a great weekend,” Condra said. “The keys to suc-

cess in winning the national title were trusting each other, pre-game preparation, giving 110 percent and staying within the game plan.”

With is second championship in three years safely tucked away, the Surge cemented their reputation as the dominant franchise in the

WBCBL. In the last three years, the Surge have compiled record of 40-5 while winning two national championships and one national runner-up finish.

B6

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

FLANCE continued from page B1 As center director Mark E. Cross said, people tend to look for child care – otherwise known as early childhood education – near where they live or where they work. So the future of the Flance Center, and countless other businesses on the near North Side, will soon be much brighter and busier.

At present, enrollment at the center is less than half-way to its capacity of 154 students, with 69 children regularly attending the center, ages six weeks to six years. Their families are a mix of marketrate customers (about 17 percent) and the rest families with some subsidy through Early Head Start, Head Start or the Department of Social Services. The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis is the center’s Head Start grantor, with 34 students enrolled; the center’s Early Head Start partner is Youth in Need, with 24 students enrolled.

The Flance Center, managed

by Flance Management, is a project of Urban Strategies and St. Louis-based urban redeveloper McCormack Baron Salazar. It was envisioned as much more than a place for harried parents to park their small children while they earn a living. Its vision is “to create a new paradigm in early childhood education that will serve as a model for creating a systemic change for children and families.”

The mixed-income model is integral to the ambition to create “systemic change.” The Flance Center is committed to serving “a racially, culturally, developmentally and socio-economically diverse population of children” while providing “supportive services to families,” according to its mission statement.

The center’s staff – it has 31 on-site employees, with 24 of them being teachers – has help in pursuing its ambitious, progressive mission. The

Photo by Patti Gabriel

Katie Allen, a teacher at the I. Jerome and Rosemary Flance Early Learning Center, reads to some of the center’s young students. “Early literacy and language development is intimately to our mission,” said center director Mark Cross.

LUME Institute has been a guiding presence from the beginning. LUME, which evolved from the University City Children’s Center, offers “systemic and comprehensive approaches to early childhood education that engage, impact and transform communities,” according to its mission statement.

“They do a lot of work teaching, coaching, consulting and mentoring our teachers,” Cross said of LUME, which is directed by Steve Zwolak.

LUME provides what LandersOchsner described as a “creative curriculum – you learn through play.”

The educators at the center also are learning through the LUME institute.

Current teachers receive

n The Flance Center’s vision is “to create a new paradigm in early childhood education that will serve as a model for creating a systemic change for children and families.”

training to meet certification requirements, and people interested in becoming certified early education teachers receive training. “Teachers and prospective teachers come for training from the neighborhood and from all over the city and county of St. Louis,” said Sandra Moore, president of Urban Strategies.

Since opening, she said, 469 childcare practitioners have received some type of early childhood training at Flance.

Ready Readers, a St. Louisbased nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring preschool-age children from low-income communities to love books, also is working at the center. On a tour of the center, a group of children being read to aloud by a teacher or volunteer is a common sight. “Early literacy and language development is intimately tied to our mission,” Cross said.

The center is developing

a partnership with COCA to provide more arts-based education. “I’m a big believer in the arts,” Cross said. “It’s a fun and engaging and hits a variety of cognitive domains – academic, emotional, psychological.”

Also, a Healthy Eating Program was launched in May, funded in part by the BarnesJewish Hospital Foundation. It includes gardening and healthy cooking classes for the students and their families. Programs will occur at least once a month through the end of 2016. It will include food grown directly from the center’s own garden, with the help of Urban Harvest, once the food has been harvested (likely this fall).

“Our kids and families begin to understand how you grow

food and where food comes from,” Cross said. “It doesn’t just come in plastic wrap.”

So far, everything is developing as planned, according to Moore.

“The first two cohorts of children leaving the center have entered St. Louis Public Schools cognitively and socially on level, meaning they display appropriate levels of social, emotional, physical, cognitive and math skills that, combined, make a child ‘kindergarten-ready,’” she said.

The center is located in an area where more than 51 percent of the households are low- or moderate-income.

That is why the center is committed to have 100 of its maximum 154 children from low-income families, particularly those living in public and HUD-assisted housing or subsidized rental housing.

The median household income in the 63106 zip code, where the center is located, was $10,491 according to the 2010 census. The first five years of a child’s life represent the pivotal juncture of how poverty shapes the development of young minds, said Moore.

“Using this facility to lay a foundation at the early stage, we can apply effective early childhood education that can change the trajectory,” she said. “That has to be what this is all about.”

In the meantime, the center is not waiting for NGA West to bring new faces and business to the near North Side, but actively recruiting new families from those who already live or work nearby.

“We’re pushing for more market-rate families,” Cross said. “We’re pursuing families that live downtown and people who work downtown. We hope to be up to 100 students by the end of the year.”

For more information, call 314-881-0881, email flance@ flancecenter.org or visit www. flancecenter.org.

Check out the latest Edition of

PARTYLINE Page C10

C1 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

A cut above

Blissful ‘Aida’

Craig Blac’s 16th Annual Community Cuts for Kids will take place on Saturday, August 13 at The Lessie Bates Davis Family Development Center in East St. Louis and on Sunday, August 14 at the O’Fallon Park Rec Complex.

Michelle Williams’ star power helps Muny season end on high note

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American She became a household name as a member of the Beyoncé-led girl group Destiny’s Child. But with her performance in the title role of The Muny’s 98th season finale of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida,” Michelle Williams proves to be a star in her own right.

The role of Aida is a familiar one for Williams. She made her Broadway debut in the role when she replaced Toni Braxton back in 2003.

For Monday’s opening night, Williams was met with a rousing applause as she made her final bow.

She and the ensemble were worthy of the ovation.

‘Aida’ is a story of forbidden love that manages to grow behind enemy lines between an enslaved Nubian princess and her Egyptian captor.

Their unbreakable bond shifts the atmosphere and rewrites the destiny of the lovers and their warring native lands.

For the music of “Aida,” John’s rock/pop ballad formula that made him an international star pays off in attracting a universal audience – which explains the musical’s phenomenal Tonywinning run on Broadway.

Craig ‘Blac’ back to school haircut event returns to region for 16th year

The Muny picks up where Broadway left off. Enlisting Williams to resume the role was the icing on the cake for the solid production.

She lived up to the hype in the title role – which she peppers the show with her signature soulful, gospel inspired breathy soprano – but the success of The Muny’s adaptation of “Aida” is a team effort.

Co-star Zak Resnick’s Radames gelled especially well with Williams’ Aida – and the two shared a vocal chemistry that matched the energy of their connected stage presence.

Broadway veteran and St. Louis native Ken Page was a crowd favorite with his brief, but impactful performance of Nubian king Amonarso.

Meanwhile, Wonza Johnson delivered the type of

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American Over the years Craig Shields, once known to St. Louis hip-hop radio listeners as Craig Blac, has repeatedly referred to the Community Cuts for Kids program he created as “his baby.”

If the annual back-to-school event that provides free haircuts, hairstyles, school supplies and back-to-school screenings were actually a child, it would now be able to drive.

“The way it’s grown over the years has been a blessing,” Shields said. “It’s going to be a good year this year.”

The 16th Annual Community Cuts for Kids returns to the St. Louis region this weekend (August 13-14) with locations at the O’Fallon Park Rec Plex (Sunday, August 14) and The Lessie Bates Davis Family Development Center in East St. Louis (Saturday, August 13).

See CUTS, C4

See AIDA, C4

Redmond’s milestone Poet Laureate of ESL will be celebrated for 40 years of service

By Ram Sun-Kenyatta For The St. Louis American

Eugene Redmond

Audiences will have a chance to meet, greet and hear East St. Louis Poet Laureate Eugene B. Redmond relive four decades of poetry and publishing next Wednesday in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Elijah P. Lovejoy Library.

The gathering is an opportunity to commemorate the 40th Anniversary since Redmond was appointed Poet Laureate of East St. Louis.

The free public event will be hosted by Darlene Roy, a poet, retired social services administrator and president of the Eugene B.

Redmond Writers Club, now in its 30th year.

On that poetic day in August 1976, dancers/ drummers from Katherine Dunham’s Performing Arts Training Center electrified a Lincoln Park audience. Mayors from surrounding cities and the president pro-tem of the Illinois State Senate mingled with a throng of locals, nationals and globals. Redmond’s friend and fellow poet Quincy Troupe, a St. Louis native based in New York, was there to help honor EBR as ESL’s first poet laureate.

Appointed by Dr. William Mason, then-mayor of the city, Redmond’s was among the earliest See REDMOND, C4

• Only Online • Blues at The Arch begins on Friday The National Blues Museum and CityArchRiver Foundation are teaming up to bring a free concert series to a newly renovated section of the Gateway Arch grounds. Blues at the Arch is a three week series that kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday, August 12, in Luther Ely Smith Square, between the Arch and the Old Courthouse.

www.stlamerican.com

If ruins could talk Pulitzer’s ‘4562 Enright Avenue’ explores North City’s landscape of dilapidation

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American Witnessing the bones of the to-bedemolished home on 4562 Enright stand as an independent, reimagined structure inside the walls of The Pulitzer Arts Foundation was a transformative experience. The exhibition of the same name by German architecture collective raumlaborberlin opened July 29 as part of three new installations currently running at the museum – and its presence will provide new insight into urban decay.

Passers-by might drive through certain neighborhoods in north and west city and liken the deteriorating dwellings to a woman with striking beauty that is offset by missing teeth. But for the present and former residents of these blighted areas that were once thriving communities, the presentation will forge a new connection with the power of visual arts.

See RUINS, C4

Calendar

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016 games, and juggling. 1627 Washington Ave., 63103.

For more information, call (314) 333-7008 or visit www. riseupfestival.org.

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

Sat., Aug. 20, 4 p.m., Paint it Like You Mean It presents Her Natural Beauty Paint Party. 3351 N. Highway 67, 63033. For more information, visit www. paintitlikeyoumeanit.com.

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

concerts Fr., Aug. 12, 5 p.m., National Blues Museum presents Blues at the Arch feat. Phi & Vashti Jackson. Each concert will include great local food and drink vendors including Sugarfire Smoke House, Taze Mediterranean Street Food and more. Luther Ely Smith Square, at the corner of 4th and Market St. For more information, visit www. nationalbluesmuseum.org/ event.

Wed., Aug. 17, 7 p.m., Merry Jane presents Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa: The High Road Tour. Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, 14141 Riverport Dr., 63043. For more information, visit www.thehollywoodcasino amphiteatre.com.

Fri., Aug. 26, Lumiere welcomes Betty Wright, Lumiere Live Theatre. Visit www.ticketmaster.com for tickets.

Sat., Aug. 27, 7 p.m. An Evening with Chaka Khan and El DeBarge, a benefit concert for Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club, The Fox Theatre. For more information, visit www.metrotix.com.

local gigs Sat., Aug. 13, 9 p.m., J.A.M. Consulting Co. presents Murphy Lee & Friends Live Show. Mandarin House Banquet Hall, 8004 Olive Blvd., 63130. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Tues., Aug. 30, 6 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents Twilight Tuesdays: The Melvin Turnage Band.

5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Sat., Aug. 20, 4 p.m., Paint it Like You Mean It presents Her Natural Beauty Paint Party. 3351 N. Highway 67, 63033. For more information, visit www. paintitlikeyoumeanit.com.

special events Aug. 12 – 13, Louis Armstrong Festival of St. Louis. The festival will feature St. Louis’ finest musicians of our times, recreating the style and feel of Louis Armstrong’s All-Stars. Appearing will be Randy Holmes-Trumpet, Brett Stamps-Trombone, Scott Alberici-Clarinet, Mary Ann Schulte-Piano, Kevin Gianino-Drums, Bob Lowe-Bass & some surprise guests. Ozark Theatre, 103 E. Lockwood Ave., 63119. For more information, call (314) 962-7000 or visit www. www.

YesLouis.com.

Sat., Aug. 13, 1 p.m., 3rd Annual St. Louis African American Artifacts Festival and Bazaar. The festival will cultivate awareness and appreciation of the significant contributions made by people of African descent through artifacts, art, music, dance, and literature with diverse people throughout the Saint Louis region. Crown Square Plaza, 14th & Saint Louis Ave., 63106. For more information, call (314) 243-1021.

Sat. Aug. 13 – Sun., Aug 14, Craig Blac’s 16th Annual Community Cuts for Kids, Saturday August 13th 10a – 2p, The Lessie Bates Davis Family Development Center 1045 State Street, East St. Louis, IL. Sunday August 14th 2p – 6p, The O’Fallon Park Rec Complex (YMCA), 4343 West Florissant, St. Louis, Mo. To Pre-Register Your Kids & Beat the Line.. (HAIR MUST BE WASHED) Log on www. thecraigshieldsfoundation. org , email craigblac@gmail.com or call 314 – 514 – 5762.

Sun., Aug. 14, 9 a.m., As You Ago Events presents its 6th Annual Show Off Auto Show. Roll in with your classic car, truck or motorcycle

An Evening with Chaka Khan and El DeBarge, a benefit concert for MathewsDickey Boys and Girls Club. For more information, see CONCERTS.

Featured Event Sat., Aug. 13, 1 p.m., 3rd Annual St. Louis African American Artifacts Festival and Bazaar. Crown Square Plaza, 14th & Saint Louis Ave., 63106. For more information, call (314) 243-1021.

for the all vehicle classic car show. There will also be a school supply giveaway, food trucks, a blood drive, and much more. Bridgeton Machinist Hall, 12365 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63044.

For more information, call (636) 492-1750 or visit www. asyougoevents.com.

Thur., Aug. 18, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis City Treasure’s Office of Financial Empowerment 1st Anniversary Celebration.

Meet our team, our bank partners and learn how we’re helping St. Louis residents make better decisions about their finances. City Hall, 1200 Market St., 63103.

Thur., Aug. 18, 6 p.m., United Career Fairs St. Louis Job Fair. Our career fairs focus specifically on Sales, Business Development, Marketing, Customer Service, and Retail & Sales Management jobs. Doubletree

Hotel Westport, 1973 Craigshire Rd., 63146. For more information or to register, visit www.unitedcareerfairs. com/event-calendar.

Fri., Aug. 19, 11:30 a.m., The Salvation Army presents the 2016 Doing the Most Good Awards Luncheon with keynote speaker Chef Jeff Henderson. Honoring those who have individuals who have made a difference in improving the quality of life throughout the region.

The Chase Park Plaza, 212 Kingshighway Blvd., 63108.

For more information, call (314) 646-3000 or visit www. stlsalvationarmy.org.

Aug. 19 – 27, St. Lou Fringe Festival. 2016 will see the premiere of microtheater (short performances for an audience of no more than 13 patrons in an intimate, immersive setting), spin rooms (post show talk backs and workshops),

and an incubator program (a specialized collaborative showcase setting with more support for emergent artists).

Over half of the Festival performances will focus on stories of individuals underrepresented in the mainstream performing arts based on ethnicity, gender identity, language, dialect, age, physical ability, BMI, or other barrier. Past favorite programs like Fringe Family and the Artica sculpture garden will again enliven Strauss Park. Grand Center, 3526 Washington Blvd., 63103.

For more information, call (314) 643-7853 or visit www. stlfringe.com.

Sat., Aug. 20, 2 p.m., 2016 Rise Up Festival – Celebrating Revitalization.

A wide variety of musical performances will take place at the festival, including The Original Wailers (Reggae), Platinum Rock Legends (Rock), Roland Johnson and Soul Endeavor (Blues), and Dr. Zhivegas (Dance Music). Local restaurateurs will be providing a generous sampling of food and Urban Chestnut Brewing Company will provide the microbrew. Other attractions at the festival include a Kids Carnival and Circus Area including face painting,

Sat., Aug, 27, 7:30 a.m., Great Things Incorporated Foundation presents the Hitting the Greens to Feed the Hungry Charity Golf Tournament. All proceeds benefit our organization’s efforts to provide hot meals to those in need. Eagle Springs Golf Course, 2575 Redman Rd., 63136. For more information, call (314) 534-3227 or visit www. greatthingsinc.org.

Sat., Aug. 27, 10 a.m., Better Family Life presents PeaceFest 2016 – Back to the Basics: Family, Faith & Neighborhood. The family and community celebration includes a children’s play zone, live music and entertainment on the main stage, competitive sports, dancing, vending services for skin, hair products, handcrafted jewelry, clothing accessories, food, and much more. While PeaceFest is about family, the theme for this year is to stop the gun violence occurring in the city of St. Louis. Forest Park Central Fields, 63110.

For more information, call (314) 367-3440 or (314) 3818200.

Aug. 27 – 28, International Institute presents the Festival of Nations. Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave., 63110.

For more information, call (314) 773-9090 or visit www. festivalofnationsstl.org.

Sat., Sept 3, 8 a.m., Sixth Annual Race For Refuge.

This popular event generates funding for the St. Louis organization, The Covering House, which provides refuge and restoration to girls who have experienced sexual exploitation or sexual trafficking. There will be a 10K/5K and a Run/Walk.

Tower Grove Park, 4256 Magnolia Ave., 63110. For

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016 Online Banking at this free workshop, which will answer all your questions about the advantages and disadvantages of online banking and so much more. Thomas Dunn Learning Center, 3113 Gasconade St., 63113. For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

more information, call (314) 962-3450 or visit www. raceforrefuge.org.

Wed., Sept. 7, 5 p.m., FOCUS St. Louis 40/20 Anniversary Party. We’re turning 20 and celebrating 40 years of Leadership St. Louis.

We’re inviting alumni from all our programs and friends from across the St. Louis region to join us to celebrate. This is an opportunity to connect with FOCUS alumni from all eight leadership programs. Each ticket purchased helps support our ongoing effort to connect and educate leaders to create a thriving region. The Biergarten at Anheuser-Busch, 1200 Lynch St., 63118. For more information, call (314) 6574027 or visit www.focus-stl. org/Anniversary.

literary Sat., Aug. 21, 1 p.m., The Story of Tweed Webb: The Most Prominent Black Baseball Historian in America. Negro League baseball historian Phil S. Dixon looks at the life and extraordinary accomplishments of St. Louisan Normal “Tweed” Webb. Dixon will sign copies of his book, Wilber “Bullet” Rogan and the Kansas City Monarchs, following the program.

Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

comedy Aug. 12 – Aug. 13, Helium Comedy Club St. Louis welcomes NeNe Leakes, Helium Comedy Club, 151 St. Louis Galleria St., St. Louis, MO 63117. For more information, call (314) 7271260 or visit http://st-louis. heliumcomedy.com Sept. 23 – Sept. 25, Aug. 13, Helium Comedy Club St. Louis welcomes Adele Givens, Helium Comedy Club, 151 St. Louis Galleria St., St. Louis, MO 63117.

For more information, call (314) 727-1260 or visit http:// st-louis.heliumcomedy.com

theatre Through Aug. 14, The Muny presents Aida. Set in ancient Egypt, this timeless saga of forbidden love between the Nubian princess Aida and her Egyptian captor has been re-envisioned for this enchanting production.

Expect to be captured yourself

by Elton John’s soaring

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Thur., Aug. 25, 8:30 a.m., Saint Louis University School of Law presents an Entrepreneurship and Small Business Workshop.

Youth and Family Center, 818 Cass St., 63106. For more information or to register, call (314) 977-2778 or visit www. eventbrite.com.

health National Blues Museum presents Blues at the Arch feat. Phi & Vashti Jackson.

For more information, see CONCERTS.

melodies including “Written in the Stars,” “The Gods Love Nubia” and “Elaborate Lives.”

1 Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, call (314) 3611900 or visit www.muny.org.

Through Aug. 21, Stages St. Louis presents The Drowsy Chaperone. It all begins when a die-hard musical theatre fan decides to play his favorite cast album in his small brownstone apartment – a 1928 smash hit musical called “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The show magically bursts to life before him as audiences are instantly transported to an earlier time and place and immersed in the glamorous and hilarious tale of a celebrity bride and her uproarious wedding day. Robert G. Reim Theatre, 111 S. Geyer Rd., 63122. For more information, call (314) 821-2407 or visit www.stagesstlouis.org.

Sat., Sept. 10, 2 p.m., Prince of Peace Church presents the National Gospel Musical Play – It Must be Love ‘Cause Hate Don’t Hurt this Bad. Christian Comedian Reggie “The Bishop of Comedy” Reg stars in the play with an incredible cast that brings you into the life of a family who finds adversity knocking at their lives. As everything is turned upside down and inside out they come to realization that true love is the answer.

9350 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more information, call (314) 258-0480 or visit www.princeofpeacechurchstl. com.

lectures and workshops Sat., Aug. 13, 2 p.m., Prince of Peace Church presents A Conversation with My Brothers with Malcom Jamal Warner. 9350 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more information, call (314) 258-0480 or visit www. princeofpeacechurchstl.com.

Tues., Aug. 16, 5 p.m., Grace Hill Women’s Business Center presents Small Business Legal Clinic. Grace Hill Water Tower Hub, 2125 Bissell St., 63109. For more information or to RSVP, call (314) 584-6700 or visit www. gracehillwbc.org.

Thur., Aug. 18, 10 a.m., U.S. Small Business Administration presents Encore Entrepreneur. St. Louis County Library, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information or to RSVP, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Aug. 19 – 20, National Black Business Empowerment Convention. We will be launching our St. Louis Chapter. All business owners and professionals are welcome.

Crowne Plaza Downtown, 200 N. 4th St., 63102. For more information, email nationalbbec@gmail.com.

Sat., Aug. 20, 1 p.m., African American History & Genealogy Series: One Journey Back to the Motherland with John Wright. For our August program, join Dr. John A. Wright, author and retired school administrator, for a presentation about his discovery of a previously unknown relative who was able to trace the family history back to Africa. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www. mohistory.org.

Sat., Aug. 20, 2 p.m., EETechnologies presents Online Banking Seniors Educational Workshop.

Conquer all your fears of

Sat., Aug. 13, 10 a.m., Sickle Cell Association presents the 2016 Sickle Cell Educational Symposium.

Washington University Occupational Therapy, 4444 Forest Park Ave., 63108.

For more information, call (314) 833-6751 or visit www. sicklecellassociation.org.

Mon., Aug. 15, 10 a.m., St. Louis County Library presents Understanding Hearing Loss. Registration is required. Rock Road Branch, 10267 St. Charles Rock Rd., 63074. For more information or to register, visit www.slcl. org.

Thur., Aug. 18, 10 a.m., Dole Get Up and Grow! Together Healthy Living Tour & Challenge. Save A Lot, 1631 S. Jefferson Ave., 63104. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Sat., Aug. 20, 1 p.m., The Red Pump Project presents Cupcakes and Condoms.

This free event brings women and girls together to foster healthy intimate relationships and promote positive choices to aid in the prevention of HIV and STIs. Yeyo Arts, 2907 S. Jefferson Ave., 63118.

For more information, visit www.cupcakescondomsSTL. eventbrite.com.

Mondays, 6:30 p.m., Yoga

& Chill. A beginner-friendly, all levels (75 minute) class that spends time working through fundamental yoga postures and shapes while exploring alignment, breathing, relaxation techniques, and a good time.

Modern Healer Studio, 1908 Cherokee St., 63118. For more information, visit www. eventbrite.com.

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7:30 p.m., Get Sexy Movement Boot Camp. Station styled boot camp with 1 minute at each station for three rounds. North County Recreation Center, 2577 Redman Rd., 63136.For more information, call (314) 898-8898.

spiritual Fri., Aug. 12, 7 p.m., 2016 Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour. Hosted by syndicated radio personality Lonnie Hunter, you’ll experience renowned gospel artists Karen Clark Sheard, Charles Jenkins, Canton Jones, Jonathan McReynolds, and Doug Williams (of the Williams Brothers). Friendly Temple MB Church, 5515 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., 63112.

For more information, call (314) 367-9700 or visit www. eventbrite.com.

Aug. 19 – 20, Memorial Tabernacle Christian Life Center presents Empowered to Emerge with Supernatural Power 2016. There will be workshops for leadership development, music, young adults, and more. Guest speakers include Timothy Alden, pastor of City of Praise Christian Church, and Min. SShemetris Vital, radio host.

1350 S. Lafayette St., 63031.

For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Aug. 26 – 27, Eagle Eye Ministries Fire Conference 2016. Featuring Dr. Venice L. McCoy, host and speaker.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 10000 Natural Bridge Rd., 63134. For more information or to register, call (866) 9466796 or visit www.eagleeyeministries.com.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

C4 to me with her child that had won a computer from me and they had graduated from college using that computer,” Continued from C1 Shields said. “When she got the computer, she was only When the event started, 11 years old.” Access to the Shields was a St. Louis seemingly daily advancements transplant and top-rated in technology was something hip-hop radio personality. the young woman didn’t have Community Cuts for Kids the luxury of taking for granted. was created to fulfill his “Understand this: She got employer’s requirement of the computer when she was an event that illustrated the 11 years old,” Shields said. station’s commitment to “With all of the laptops, tablets, community service. The radio notebooks and all of that, she station is now defunct , and used this desktop computer Shields moved back home to all that time –and all the way Washington, D.C. But the through middle school, high event keeps bringing him back school and college – because to St. Louis. that was all she could afford.”

“St. Louis is my foundation.

The young lady and her It started in St. Louis,” Shields mother made a point to come to said. “I get the support of the Community Cuts just to express city of St. Louis [and East St. their gratitude to him and make Louis].” him aware of his direct role He ultimately wants in her educational success.

Community “That kind of Cuts for Kids stuff right there n “Once a year I to be a national is why I keep call on people to initiative. doing this,” Shields says Shields said. be a part of it – the St. Louis will “People think barbers, the stylists always be on it’s about the his list of cities, and the community haircuts, but it’s because it was so much more.” partners – and they the original According show up for me every to Shields, location and because the time.” an estimated region has his 500 young back when it’s – Craig Blac people received time to help complimentary the youth being hairstyles at served by his last year’s event.

Community Cuts “I’m trying for Kids. About to build it in 2,000 attended D.C. right now, and it’s a slow overall to take advantage of the build,” Shields said. “But the screenings, activities and the relationships in St. Louis are school supplies – which Shields just golden. Once a year I call admits they run out of every on people to be a part of it – year. the barbers, the stylists and the “If I had it my way, I would community partners – and they have the nicest back packs,” show up for me every time. I he said, “and enough school ask and they give. I can’t give supplies for every kid that that up – I would be a fool to walked through that door.” give that up.”

Craig Blac’s 16th Annual For him and the team of Community Cuts for Kids will individuals and institutions take place on Saturday, August who assist – Goldfarb School 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at of Nursing, McDonald’s, The Lessie Bates Davis Family Church’s, new partner The Development Center, 1045 St. Louis Unbanked Task State Street, East St. Louis.

Force, event volunteers and and on Sunday, August 14 barbers and stylists (and local from 2-6 p.m. at the O’Fallon restaurant the Rib Shack that Park Rec Complex (YMCA), feeds the barbers, stylists and 4343 West Florissant, St. volunteers for free) – it’s about Louis. Hair must be washed! helping out these kids and the To pre-register, visit www. inner-city youth who really thecraigshieldsfoundation.org, need it. e-mail craigblac@gmail.com or “A couple of years back, call (314) 514 –5762.

I had a young lady come up

CUTS

Raumlaborberlin’s 4562 Enright is currently on display at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation through October 15.

RUINS Continued from C1 “We were trying to bring the everyday into the gallery, and most of what is directly outside is beyond the line,” said exhibition curator Kristin Fleischmann Brewer. “At different moments, visitors are forced to confront this home’s history, its present state and its speculative future.”

As the brick foundation and exterior await full demolition at the home’s original location, a full-scale, two-story reconstruction of the home, with the original wood beams, windows and hardwood floors, stands just inside the Pulitzer.

Unlike the condemned signs that warn of the danger of stepping foot into abandoned homes, guests are encouraged to walk through the exhibition and re-inhabit the space.

“The idea was to explore what happens when the house is falling apart,” said Jan Liesegang, one of the four architects for the project. “And how much of the soul is left in the house still there.”

According to Liesegang, the process came with imagining the past, present and the future of the home, which was originally built in 1890. The layout of the front room is an illustration of the home’s history, sparsely furnished with items from or inspired by the time period in which it was built.

“We made up this character, who in the center part is trying to explore the history of the house and trying to reconstruct it from what is left,” Liesegang said. “The last part is the future, like a working studio space of the imaginary inhabitant.”

A white pod made from

AIDA Continued from C1 performance usually reserved for breakout stars with his portrayal of the enslaved Nubian Mereb. Williams graciously gave him the liberty to flex his own vocal prowess on their duet “How I Know You,” and Johnson rises above and beyond the challenge. In addition to his strong vocals, Johnson’s knack for comedic timing made him the most enjoyable to watch among the

REDMOND Continued from C1 known poet laureateships conferred by an American municipality.

At the time, Redmond was a professor of English and poetin-residence in Ethnic and Pan African Studies at California State University-Sacramento, a position he held for nearly 15 years. Later that fall (1976) Doubleday Publishing Co. released his pioneering and influential book, “Drumvoices: The Mission of Afro-American Poetry (A Critical History),” which was nine years in the making. That same year, he received CSUS-Sacramento’s Annual Outstanding Faculty Research Award.

For his efforts as a teacher and author or editor of dozens

paper products, including old copies of The St. Louis American, sits on the second story as part of the futuristic experience.

4562 Enright Avenue represents countless derelict properties that were once the proud realization of the American Dream. It could be 1044 Gimblin Street, the duplex that was my first family home.

Too many fond memories to recite come to mind when thinking of our footprint in the Baden neighborhood. Now all that remains is one of four flattened lots that extend nearly to the end of the street.

Baden, like many North City neighborhoods, suffered a mass exodus for the greener pastures of North County in an effort to escape the violence and crime of the crack epidemic. We were among the last families standing when we returned to the home during my sophomore year of high school.

A burned out home to our left and three boarded up houses where my childhood friends once lived was my view as I peered out the windows.

Our family quickly drifted back to Spanish Lake after my senior year. A disgruntled

tenant set fire to our home, with many of my belongings and cherished keepsakes still inside the upstairs apartment. The loss was a double dose of trauma.

The beautiful neighborhood I explored as a youngster was reduced to a dangerous drug infested war zone – and our home literally went up in flames.

Being inside 4562 Enright Avenue at the Pulitzer offers a measure of closure for those who had to make peace with being the last generation to call such places home.

It was a fascinating experience for Liesegang, one of the four architects from raumlaberlin, as he was forced to confront the anomaly of St. Louis when his collective was commissioned by the Pulitzer to create their first U.S.-based exhibition.

As a native of Berlin, he knows the experience of living in a divided city, but there was plenty that was unique to our region.

“St. Louis was the first time we worked in a shrinking city,” Liesegang said, referring to the population. As the group acclimated themselves with the St. Louis metropolitan

area, they were fascinated by the stark contrast in its neighborhoods.

“You feel like on one side of it, the city is falling apart,” Liesegang said. “Then, on the very next end, you see these really fantastic housing estates.”

The raumlaborberlin group was struck by the racial divide, but they feel like there is plenty of room for healing and unity – especially after working with the residents who live near 4562 Enright Avenue and including their narratives as part of exhibition.

“We focused on the idea of hope,” Liesegang said. “We aren’t providing solutions, but we want to provide something that will motivate people to try again. We have the hope that it’s possible. We know it’s possible. We lived in this divided city for 30 years, and then suddenly the wall was gone.”

Raumlaborberlin’s 4562 Enright is currently on display at The Pulitzer Arts Foundation through October 15. For museum hours and additional information, visit www. pulitzerarts.org.

supporting cast.

Director Matt Lenz created a wonderful cohesion for The Muny’s “Aida.” And enough can’t be said for the technical staff that makes miracles happen every week of the company’s summer run with respect to delivering the type of production value could hold its own against any full season musical theatre company.

Though one can only be amazed by the standard of excellence the Muny manages to deliver in spite of the relentless pace of its season, there were a couple of minor shortcomings in the production

of “Aida.”

The dance sequences – particularly the opening and closing routines – could have used a bit more synchronization.

But the biggest hiccup lies in the presentation of Egyptian princess Amneris. Much of the character’s presence seems mix-matched for the overall theme of “Aida.” It could have been a part of the original Broadway show’s format, but inserting a character seemingly inspired by a Texas prom queen (big blond hair and all) as a pharaoh’s daughter, just didn’t fit. Taylor Louderman’s

performance – which includes commendable vocals and authentic performance – is actually an asset. But the hair, costume and overall persona of the character as it is interpreted subtracts from the authentic experience the show otherwise provides.

The Muny’s 98th season closes with Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida, which runs August 8- August 14, #1 Theatre Drive, in Forest Park. For tickets, a full schedule and additional information, visit www.muny. org or call (314) 361-1900.

of books and journals, including 48 years of shepherding the writings of Henry Dumas (1934-1968) into publication, Redmond has won a Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses (1976), a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, the Sterling Brown Award from the African American Literature and Culture Society (AACLS) of the American Literature Association (ALA), two American Book Awards (1993/2012) and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from SIUE (2008), his alma mater. He retired from SIUE in 2007 as an Emeritus Professor of English.

The poet, a 1957 graduate of ESL Lincoln Senior High School, has taught at Oberlin College (Ohio), Webster University (STL), Southern University (Baton Rouge), the University of Wisconsin

(Madison), the University of Missouri (St. Louis) and Wayne State University in Detroit. He has lectured or read poetry at Leiden University in the Netherlands, Howard University, the Universities of Lagos and Ibadan in Nigeria, the University of the West Indies, the University of Paris II Sorbonne Nouvelle, the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta and the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

In 1986, after he returned home to ESL, a group of local writers, scholars and artists established the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club in his honor.

For two decades, beginning in the early 1990’s, the ESL-based Club copublished a literary-cultural journal,“Drumvoices Revue,” with SIUE. Former Club trustees include late poets Margaret Walker Alexander (1915-1998),

Maya Angelou (1928-2014), Amiri Baraka (1934-2014), Gwendolyn Brooks (19172000), Raymond R. Patterson (1929-2001) and ESL native daughter Barbara Ann Teer (1937-2008). Current trustees are Troupe, Avery Brooks, Haki R. Madhubuti, Walter Mosley, Jerry Ward, Jr. and Dr. Lena Weathers.

Dr. Eugene B. Redmond will be honored or his 40 years of service as Poet Laureate at 1 pm. On Wednesday, August 17 in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Elijah P. Lovejoy Library, 30 Hairpin Drive, Edwardsville, IL 62026.

The program will be held in the EBR Learning Center on the library’s second floor.

For more information call (618) 650-3991, write c/o EBR Writers Club at P.O. Box 6165, East St. Louis, IL 62201 or email eredmon@siue.edu.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 – 17, 2016

Celebrations Wedding Announcement

Anniversaries

Kenneth and Sheri Whittaker are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Shivon Tannan of St. Louis, to Anthony Bowers of Chicago, Illinois.

Shivon, a Referral Services Manager with Cook County Health and Hospital Systems will marry Anthony, a Manager of Drayage Solutions with Hub Group in St. Louis on September 4, 2016.

Mr. and Mrs. Gino and Benella Green will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on August 11. Marriage works if you work it!

Giving all the glory to God!

Reunions All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Cardinal Ritter College Prep Class of 1987 is hosting an “Old School Hip Hop” party September 24, 2016 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Omega Center, 3900 Goodfellow Ave., St. Louis, 63120. Tickets: $20 at door, $15 in advance. Call April Brown at 314-446-5500 for more information.

Jerome “J.R.” and Yvonne “Molly” Redding celebrated their 11th wedding anniversary on August 6 with a weekend getaway.

Jerome is a probation/parole officer for the State of Missouri and Molly is a faculty member at Harris-Stowe State University and ITT Technical Institute. Lord, you still amaze us!

East St. Louis Lincoln High Classes of 1966 will celebrate its 50-year reunion August 19 - 21, 2016 at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Fairview Hts., Ill. The cost is $100 for classmates and $50 for guests.

A late fee of $25 pp will be assessed after May 31. Please contact John Cunningham for details and reservations at: 618-692-6610.

East St. Louis Class of 1971 will celebrate its 45-year reunion Sept. 2-4, 2016 at the Casino Queen. For more information, please contact Opal at 314-952-4729, Sandra at 314-249-7295 or Glenda at 618-781-4888 or email timac48@aol.com.

Hadley Technical High

Birthday We would like to wish my son, Tyrek Graham, a wonderful 18th birthday on August 5. He is a senior at North County Technical High School and plans to attend Ranken Technical College in the Fall 2017.

School Class of 1961 will celebrate its 55th class reunion, September 16-18, 2016 at the Renaissance Airport Hotel. For more information, contact Ralph Johnson 477-2042, Shirley Woods 361-5351, or Jeffery Raybon 382-1875. Send updated contact information to celiajteach@gmail. com. Our Annual Picnic on Sunday, September 4th at John L. Brown Park, 4300 Calvert Ave 63134 (off Woodson Rd.).

Harrison School All Class Reunion Saturday September 10, 2016, 6:30 pm-10:30 pm at Ambruster Great Hall (6633 Clayton Rd. Tickets are $60 per person.

For more info contact; Judy

Darris at 314-443-6741, Yolanda Beck at 314-3468103 or Làshell Tolliver at 314-420-3566.

Ritenour High School Class of 1976 is having its 40th reunion on October 1, 2016.

For more information please see our Facebook page, Ritenour Class of 1976 or email ekbyers58@gmail.com.

Soldan is having its 11th AllClass Alumni Picnic August 13, 2016 at Tiemeyer Park, 3311 Ashby Rd., St. Ann, MO 63074 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. The picnic is free. Bring your own basket or grill.

T-Shirts will be sold for $15.

For more information call 314-413-9088.

FREE OF CHARGE Do you have a celebration you’re proud of? If so we would like to share your good news with our readers.

Whether it’s a birth, wedding, engagement announcement, anniversary, retirement or birthday, send your photos and a brief announcement (50 words or less) to us and we may include it in our paper and website – AT NO COST – as space is available. Photos will not be returned.

Send your announcements to: kdaniel@stlamerican. com or mail to: St. Louis American Celebrations c/o Kate Daniel 2315 Pine St. St. Louis, MO 63103

Sumner Class of 1966 has scheduled its 50-year reunion for August 26-28 at the St. Louis Embassy Suites Hotel located off Lindbergh Blvd.

For complete information, please contact Ida Harris at ezmaxx2@sbcglobal.net or Ella Scott at Els12188@ sbcglobal.net.

Vashon Class of 1967 is planning its 50-year reunion and is need of contact information for all interested alumni. Please contact JoAnn Alvoid at alvoidjoe8@gmail. com; Sarah (Taylor) Robinson at srobinson647@hotmail. com; or Sonya (Walker) Smith at 314.381.8221, with your address, email and phone number.

Reunion notices are free of charge and based on space availability.

We prefer that notices be emailed to us!

However, notices may also be sent by mail to: Kate Daniel, 2315 Pine St., St. Louis, MO 63103 Deadline is 10 a.m. on Friday. If you’d like your class to be featured in a reunion profile, email or mail photos to us.

Our email address is:

reunions@ stlamerican.com

Religion

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

Eden Seminary partners with Webster U business school $1M gift from George and Carol Walker launches Walker Leadership Institute American staff Eden Theological Seminary has launched the Walker Leadership Institute designed to equip religious and business leaders with tools to face a changing world.

Webster University’s George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology is serving as Eden’s partner for the Walker Leadership Institute, which brings together top business, faith-based and leadership educators to offer a variety of certificate courses, executive-level classes and educational programs, including a Master of Arts in Community Leadership.

George H. and Carol B. Walker donated $1 million to fund the launch of the Walker Leadership Institute. George Walker is a former chair of the board and a life trustee of Webster University, and Carol Walker is a member of the board of trustees and an alumna of Eden. The Walkers said they realized the courses Carol took while attending Eden could have tremendous real-world application for business leaders.

“We know the Walker Leadership Institute will serve as a vital resource for both faith-based and business leaders to grow, learn and be more successful,” said George Walker.

The Walker Leadership Institute’s master’s degree

David Greenhaw, Steve Lawler and Beth Stroble discuss the new Walker Leadership Institute on the grounds of Eden Theological Seminary.

program in community leadership is designed to prepare women and men to serve the community through non-profit work. It consists of 36 hours of theological and business credits along with a course capstone project. The institute also will offer certificate courses designed for leaders of religious organizations who are lacking business skills, religious and theology courses in MBA programs, as well as business and leadership courses in a Master of Divinity program.

“For too long, we have witnessed the erosion of civility in both public and business life,” said David Greenhaw, president of Eden Theological Seminary. “The religious and moral compass can serve as a reforming force for both faith and

business leaders. The purpose of the Walker Leadership Institute is to strengthen their capacity to contribute to the common good.”

The institute also plans to bring together church leaders from around the country with regular seminars and convening sessions designed to help them balance the call to serve a greater good with the sound business principles necessary for success.

Many faith-based organizations find themselves under tremendous financial pressure to maintain aging, often oversized facilities, which takes time and energy away from their missionbased work.

“The complexities of modern life call for a new type of education, and the faith communities that have thrived have found ways to

attend to the business aspects of their congregation,” said Greenhaw. “New times call for new leadership, and the Walker Leadership Institute is going to equip our faith and business leaders of today with the tools they need to respond to the challenges of the present age.”

Steve Lawler, a priest, professor and psychologist serving as rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Ferguson, will serve as the founding director of the Walker Leadership Institute. Lawler has an MBA from the prestigious Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Yale Divinity School. He has taught courses on leadership, sustainability, organization development and more at Washington University since 2004, and he has also run a successful consulting firm providing business counsel for clients like Ryobi, Ingersoll Rand, The Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and BJC HealthCare, among others.

Eden Theological Seminary and Webster University have a long-established, multidimensional partnership and have worked collaboratively since the 1960s. Webster University President Beth Stroble said the Walker Leadership Institute fills a valuable need for today’s students.

“We are pleased to serve as Eden’s partner in the launch of the Walker Leadership Institute,” said Stroble. “We are always looking for innovative ways to provide our students with new opportunities, and this strategic partnership is poised to offer an array of world-class programs to meet the needs of both religious and business leaders.”

For more information, visit www.eden.edu.

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The Message

Evil is ever present There are those who constantly tell me that we live in a world in which Satan has some juice. Some even say the devil rules the physical realm in which we live. He is purportedly large and in charge.

How does one function in a world supposedly ruled by the devil? If you have difficulty in focusing on the devil, then substitute the word “evil.” You might find it easier to come to grips with living in a world governed by evil and fraught with temptation.

Now what is your challenge, as a believer, when it comes to how you choose to live? I would point to Jesus’ temptations in the desert when Satan promised Christ all that this world possesses.

This offer, I’m sure would make a lesser man or woman salivate at the prospect of riches, power and dominion over all that he or she sees. Christ’s response was to renounce the offer and the one doing the offering, after which the angels came and attended to Him. And remember when John wrote to believers in Ephesus, where he explains that they should not love the world or anything in it. If you fall prey to lust and pride, you are obligated to recognize these as worldly and not godly things.

Columnist We live in a world today that is a James temporary trip to the eternal existence Washington of tomorrow. The devil runs this place and that’s okay because we’re just passing through. It’s like coming upon an accident on the highway. Everything can be viewed through your windshield without you getting hurt.

The Bible is a roadmap that can guide you through treacherous terrain, as long as we acknowledge an ever-present evil along the way. Be confident that the mapmaker knew what He was doing when He made this map. Rely on its accuracy, and you’ll be fine.

Temptation is everywhere, and as long as we don’t fully succumb to it, peace is still ours to enjoy. We simply cannot love the world more than we love God; can’t happen. We can neither be led by our passions nor our addictions. Our faith in God must be at least as relentless as the devil’s assault on our senses.

The destination is the only reason to make this trip in the first place. Pack well. Bring all those things you’ll need. A little faith can’t hurt. I’m told love is a musthave, and please do not forget the map, because without it you’ll surely get lost.

Remember three things; 1) your destination; 2) this ain’t Oz, you ain’t Dorothy; and 3) the devil ain’t playing. Until you get serious, you won’t know how really short this trip is.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 11 - 17, 2016

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Swag Snap of the week The Muny’s Kwofe Coleman with singer/actress Michelle Williams following the opening night performance of their presentation of “Aida” Monday night. Best known as a member of Destiny’s Child, Williams reprised her Broadway role as the title character in The Muny’s production (which runs through Sunday, Aug. 14).

The Walls wedding party was in full effect as they celebrated Saturday in VIP @ Mood

Terrance, Mo Spoon and hip hop legend Too Short backstage before Too Short shut the stage down Friday @ The Marquee

RIP Michael Brown. My soul wouldn’t set right if I didn’t take a moment to honor the memory of Michael Brown and the uprising that started in the wake of his death. The unrest in Ferguson transitioned into a movement that is still relevant today. Shout out to the folks on the frontline who refused to be moved – and my condolences to the family as they mark two years since his life was tragically cut short.

The ladies of Delta Sigma Theta posed with their first place trophy after winning the sororities category @ The Alphas’ 34th Midwest Marchdown Saturday @ The Pageant

The men of Kappa Alpha Psi celebrated being crowned best in show for the fraternities @ The Alphas’ 34th Annual Midwest Marchdown Saturday @ The Pageant

Too Short was too late. Now…back to your regularly scheduled disgraceful programming. I probably sound like a broken record when I gripe about the late starts as the late rap stars get a second wind by way of the club concerts, but Too Short lowered the “tardy to the party” bar with his 2:02 a.m. performance at the Marquee Friday night. That time of morning is actually the best hour for his filthy lyrics. Even still, folks who were stopping through should have been given some sort of advanced notice that it would be a graveyard shift show. I got there at midnight – which means I had to break out the solitaire and Candy Crush throwbacks. I perched in an empty VIP booth and wasn’t the least bit bothered as time eased by. Then I felt a rumbling of the table when they announced Too Short was in the building. I didn’t know what was happening. I looked down towards my left and saw that a poor thing had curled and gone to sleep – and was knocked out the whole time I was sitting there. She was clearly a fan from way back, but her sleep pattern has clearly changed since she was in her prime of club hopping.

Actually, in all of my ratchetness I don’t remember us keeping zombie hours like the millennial savages, but it’s what it is.

Anyway, let’s get on with the show. It was exactly what you think it was – him saying the b-word all night long and a level of vulgarity that I don’t know how I accepted when he was in style. I will give Short this: he gave a full 30-minute medley. And that was plenty for me. Short brought out a nice chunk of reformed hoodrats who decided they wanted to hear the music from their glory days. If you saw a sleepy faced co-worker on Saturday or your church seat neighbor was more groggy than usual, I’d put money on her being at the show. Listen, I’m not naming names, but there were some women of a certain age who’d be the last you’d expect to be turning up in the building. I knew they were out of their element when they kept using “off the chain.”

Curves on the catwalk. Last week Qristyl Frazier re-introduced herself to the St. Louis fashion scene with her Live Your Curves weekend. I made my way to the Saturday runway show at The Lux. I think there was still a bit of confusion about the status of the venue and that is why folks weren’t spilling out the door, but it was still a good look. And Qristyl had every shape and size I’ve ever seen with her 35 or so models that traipsed the catwalk in her designs. Full Figured Fashion Week founder Gwen DeVoe hosted the event, and Qristyl said the show was just the beginning of what she’ll be offering the city now that she’s back home full time.

Ashlei Howard, Lillian Scott and Angela Blackmon made their way to Mood Saturday night

Marching down with the Alphas. I made my way to the 34th Annual Midwest Marchdown presented by the Alpha Eta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Saturday at The Pageant. I was in my feelings about there being no AKAs this year, but I got over it. I was still able to see how the college kids get their step on the 2K16.

So every generation has a new thing when it comes to stepping. Apparently, the millennials like to do skits – which is not new. But they flip the script by using pre-recorded dialogue when they act it out –and stay out of sync during the “re-enblactment” so that it looks like a throwback Kung Fu movie. I guess… It was a cute show, though it went a little long for my taste. And I must flip my crochet Marley hair in honor of the Alphas – and not just for the show and the scholarships. When they channeled their inner AKA and Delta, I got every bit of life I would have received had the ladies done it themselves and quietly a bit more. Those simulated prissy hair whips were absolutely everything. I also want to shout out the Kappas for stomping the stage down so tough that I thought they might secretly be Alphas in disguise. I also, for the first time in my whole entire life, saw more than four Iota Phi Thetas in the same place at the same time.

Alesha and Deion did their thing Saturday night @ Mood

Melissa, Brianna, and Jamie came out to support the Deltas @ The Alphas 34th Annual Midwest Marchdown Saturday @ The Pageant

Brad and Diya hung back @ Hiro for Southern Hospitality STL

A Suddenly jumpin’ Southern Hospitality. After seeing the Alphas stomp the stage down, I made my way to Hiro for the Southern Hospitality set. I was all prepared to say that it was a cute little set, but kind of light on the crowd side.

Then, as I was made my way to the exit, a party bus sized crew came through and turned it all the way out. I got the shocking delight of my life when I ran into Ronnie and Tiffany Notch – one of my favorite couples. I literally can’t remember the last time I saw them in the club. I also ran into Meaghan O with some of the promotions crew from Radio One St. Louis. It’s always a joy to see them out. The personalities get most of the shine from the masses, but the folks behind the scenes over there deserve a nod for staying on their grind.

Brittney and Erica danced to the best of the Dirty South @ Hiro Saturday for Southern Hospitality STL

www.stlamerican.com

Dinner and a day party. When I heard there would be a day party at Fleur de Lilies, I was like “why don’t they have it someplace with a patio?” My bad. When I got there I realized that the spot has not one, but two patio spaces – one upstairs and one on the ground floor. It was a cute mix of the movers and shakers from the crowd formerly known as the Young, Black and Fabulous. I managed to get my last taste of their glorious bread pudding before I honker down and get saluteshape -ready (October 1 is right around the corner and will be here before my body knows it.)

Full figured fashion pioneer Gwen DeVoe, Symone and Dorris stunned at the Live Your Curves Runway Show presented by Qristyl Frazier Designs Saturday @ The Lux Photos by Lawrence Bryant & John Scott