July 9 2015

STL bids farewell to Tony Scott Staple local radio personality heads to KRNB in Dallas.

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Civil War lies

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Flag and dad

Anita Lyons Bond awarded honorary PhD by alma mater SLU

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

By James W. Loewen For The St. Louis American

See LIES, A7

COMPLIMENTARY

‘Fearless focus on social justice’

Textbooks, monuments about the Confederacy are wrong History is the polemics of the victor, William F. Buckley allegedly said.

Not so in the United States, at least not regarding the Civil War. As soon as Confederates laid down their arms, some picked up their pens and began to distort what they had done, and why. Their resulting mythology went national a generation later and persists — which is why a presidential candidate can suggest that slavery was somehow pron “The family, and the Confederates public believes that the war was mainly won with the fought over states’ pen (and the rights. noose) what The they could not Confederates won with the pen (and win on the battlefield: the the noose) what could not win cause of white they on the battlefield: supremacy.” the cause of white supremacy and the dominant – James understanding W. Loewen, of what the war Emeritus was all about. We Professor of are still digging Sociology at ourselves out the University from under the of Vermont misinformation that they spread, which has manifested in both our history books and our public monuments.

Take Kentucky. Kentucky’s legislature voted not to secede, and early in the war, Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston ventured through the western part of the state and found “no enthusiasm as we imagined and hoped but hostility … in Kentucky.” Eventually, 90,000 Kentuckians would fight for the United States, while 35,000 fought for the Confederate States. Nevertheless, according to historian Thomas Clark, the state now has 72 Confederate monuments and only two Union ones.

Neo-Confederates also won western Maryland. In 1913, the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) put a soldier on a pedestal at the Rockville courthouse.

Montgomery County never seceded, of course. While Maryland did send

Vol. 86 No. 14

Photo by Wiley Price

Alejandro Dailey, 2, enjoyed the view from the shoulders of his father, William Daily, with his baseball and his American flag during the Fair St. Louis parade in Forest Park on July 4.

Les Bond Jr. remembers when his mother and civil rights activist Anita Lyons Bond took him to a Jefferson Bank demonstration in 1963. He was just six years old. It wasn’t the first time the entire family – including his father, the late Leslie Bond Sr., MD – went to a protest together, but this one had him particularly worried.

As they watched a family friend and future congressman Bill Clay get hauled off by police for the civil disobedience action, Les thought, “Mom, come back!”

She did not get arrested that day, but Anita Lyons Bond came close enough for her children to understand her unwavering courage, he said.

“It was this visual optic of our mother as a revolutionary that we all saw as kids and admired in our mother,” said Les, who is now the CEO of Attucks Asset Management in Chicago. “It wasn’t as if she was just talking about social justice.

She was showing us what it took to See BOND, A6

Civilian review on Slay’s desk Mayor still accepting applications for police oversight post

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American

Patrick Brown, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, conferred with Alderman Tammika Hubbard during an April 15 aldermanic hearing on the Civilian Oversight Board bill.

n “I think it’s a very intimidating and non-encouraging process, and it starts with that application.”

On Monday, July 6, St. Louis city aldermen presented the mayor with 38 applications of individuals who want to serve on the city’s civilian oversight board.

By law, the Board of Aldermen had until July – Jamala Rogers 6 to give Mayor Francis Slay their recommendations for the seven-member board, which will review and investigate allegations of police misconduct and make broader policy recommendations regarding police See REVIEW, A6 Photo by Wiley Price

BUSINESS

Encouraging crosscultural mentorships

People tend to mentor someone just like themselves that’s why the Edward Jones program encourages more cross-cultural mentorships.

Page B1

SPORTS

Champs and chumps in NBA free agency The San Antonio Spurs ran laps around the other teams in free agency. It’s almost embarrassing.

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POLITICAL EYE

Last desperado standing in Ferguson Muni Court

Stephanie Karr was caught fixing tickets by the DOJ but is still prosecuting cases in Ferguson.

Page A12

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

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THE STUFF THAT HAS PEOPLE TALKING Bill Cosby admits to obtaining drugs for women, Jill Scott retracts support Bill Cosby has admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with, newly released documents show.

The documents, dating back to 2005, stem from a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand -- one of the dozens of women who have publicly accused the comedian of sexual assault. The records were made public Monday after The Associated Press went to court to compel their release.

In a sworn deposition, Cosby answered questions from Constand’s attorney, Dolores Troiani.

“When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?” Troiani asked.

“Yes,” Cosby replied.

Singer Jill Scott was one of the celebrities who had supported Cosby after the allegations started emerging.

The fellow Philadelphia native previously

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tweeted, “I’m respecting a man who has done more for the image of Brown people that almost anyone EVER. From Fat Albert to the Huxtables.”

But she changed course after learning about Cosby’s deposition.

“About Bill Cosby. Sadly his own testimony offers PROOF of terrible deeds, which is ALL I have ever required to believe the accusations,” Scott tweeted.

“I stood by a man I respected and loved. I was wrong. It HURTS!!! When you get it ALL right, holla.”

Cosby’s lawyers speak out, LAPD says criminal investigation open

Russell Wilson and Ciara choose to abstain from sex

Earlier this week Bill Cosby supporters were shocked after a 2005 deposition from a civil lawsuit that was settled out of court was unsealed.

Bill Cosby’s lawyer speaks out about the new revelations.

“The only reason Mr. Cosby settled was because it would have been embarrassing in those days to put all those women on the stand and his family had no clue,” an attorney for Bill Cosby told ABC News.

During the deposition several women admitted to willingly taking the drugs supplied by Bill Cosby

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on tour and I was looking at her in the mirror, sitting in her dressing room and God spoke to me and said, ‘I need you to lead her.’

“I told her, ‘What would you do if we took all that ‘extra stuff’ off the table, and just did it Jesus’ way?’” the quarterback continued, clarifying that yes, he was “talking about sex.”

Wilson also said the 29-year-old singer “completely agreed,” though Orlando he admitted that refraining from sex Scandrick wasn’t easy. “I ain’t gonna lie to y’all now -- I need you to pray for us,” he told the congregation. “I know y’all have seen her on the screen. If there’s a 10, she’s a 15.”

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson dropped some fairly unexpected news during a Q&A with San Diego pastor Miles McPherson on Sunday (July 5): It turns out that he and his girlfriend Ciara, who have been dating since late April, are practicing abstinence for religious reasons.

“I met this girl named Ciara who is the most beautiful woman in the world. She is the most kind person, the most engaging person, Russell everything I could ever Wilson want,” Wilson said. “And I’ll never forget she was

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Orlando calls Draya engagement ‘a poor decision’ Last month Basketball Wives star Draya Michele announced on social media that she and Dallas Cowboy Orlando Scandrick had gotten engaged.

Scandrick confirmed that it’s over between the two.

‘I have made the decision to call off the engagement and permanently end the relationship I had with Draya,” Scandrick told TMZ. “In hindsight, it was a poor decision to propose.”

Sources: CNN.com, The Associated Press, TMZ.com, ABC News, Billboard.com

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as a prelude to sex, while the woman who filed the lawsuit claims she did not give her consent.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck told the Associated Press his department would investigate any sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby — even past the statute of limitations. The department’s public information officer, Det. Meghan Aguilar confirms that the police have at least one open criminal investigation that may have multiple accusations. The LAPD would not offer any more details because the case is ongoing.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

Why Bree took down the Confederate flag Activist: ‘I broke the law, but laws can also be unjust’

By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Bree Newsome knew she would be arrested if she attempted to climb the flag pole at the South Carolina capitol to take down the Confederate battle flag. What she didn’t know was whether she would be hurt or even killed during the mission.

“The retaliation piece was much scarier to me than arrest,” Newsome, 30, told Democracy Now. “Being up on the flagpole, you never know who might walk by. You know, you could get shot.”

She was not, in fact, shot or attacked in the 10 minutes it took her to climb the pole and descend with the flag.

James Tyson, a white supporter, stood guard at the bottom.

“We knew that we needed to get her high enough above the ground before the guards would come out, that she wouldn’t be able to just be pulled right off,” Tyson told Democracy Now. After three minutes or so, when she was well out of reach, Tyson was joined by police.

Newsome – who learned how to climb two days before the action on June 27 – said adrenaline made the climb surprisingly easy, and the flag was easily removed.

“I was just relieved at how simple it was to just unhook it, because our intention was not to cause property damage,” she told Democracy Now. As she descended the

Bree Newsome climbed a flag pole at the South Carolina capitol on June 27 and took down the Confederate battle flag.

30-foot pole, a police officer began to scold her for breaking the law. She responded with scripture.

“I quoted from Isaiah: ‘What kind of fast have I chosen? Is it not to break the yoke of oppression?’” she told Democracy Now. “Yes, I broke the law, but laws can also be unjust. The law that protects that symbol of hate is an unjust law. The people who are elected in office who want to take it down are obligated by law to debate over whether or not they can take it down. I don’t think that symbol deserves the dignity of debate. It’s a flag of treason, and it’s a flag of hatred.”

Tyson said he was moved to act because the racist symbol was left flying even during the funeral for the nine African Americans murdered on June 17 by a young white

supremacist at Emanuel AME Church.

“I’m so sick of not only the fear and intimidation that white supremacy brings to our culture, but also just that they wouldn’t even take it down for the funeral,” Tyson told Democracy Now. “They wouldn’t even lower it to halfmast, you know?”

Newsome and Tyson both feared police aggression when she descended, but the police allowed Tyson to assist her as she reached the ground and both activists were arrested without incident.

“Fortunately, the police were very professional with me,” Newsome said. “But that was something else to consider, that there was some danger.”

Defying fear, she said, was at the core of the action.

“That flag also represents just fear. It’s racial

intimidation. It’s fear,” Newsome told Democracy Now. “These are the same things that they would fly when people were marching for integration. They would be flying that flag, because it’s a sign of intimidation, which is undergirded by violence, and has been undergirded by violence ever since the failure of Reconstruction. To have a black woman climb up there and take that down was a strong sign that we refuse to be ruled by this fear.”

Within about an hour, workers had raised a new Confederate flag at the capitol.

Newsome and Tyson were charged with defacing state property, with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The action went viral and was seen around the world. A bail fund quickly raised over $120,000. Ava DuVernay, director of the Oscarnominated film “Selma,” tweeted, “I hope I get the call to direct the motion picture about a black superhero I admire. Her name is @ BreeNewsome.”

Newsome said she was inspired by a biblical superhero, David, who told Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, and I come against you in the name of the Lord.”

Newsome echoed those words in her comments to police: “You come against me with hatred and oppression and violence. I come against you in the name of God.” In the moment, she said she felt the power of her biblical inspiration.

“That’s what that moment felt like, because I come from a historically completely disempowered place,” she said.

“I think that’s why it was so powerful to a lot of people, especially to black women, to see me up there holding that flag in that way.”

‘Grim Reaper’ rips Metro East politicians on everything from golden Bob Romanik, “The Grim oldies to country, sports and Reaper of Radio,” is a man after my own heart. He’s a rich talk.

But nothing seems to make radio vigilante who lives to his day more than lampooning rail against, what he describes and humiliating local as the “culture of corruption” politicians, with nicknames like in local politics, especially on the “IL side” of the Mississippi state Sen. James “Foghorn” Clayborne, “God” Sprague and River.

Judge John “Red on the noodle And when you tune into like a pecker on a poodle” KQQZ 1190 AM from 10-11 Baricevic. a.m. on Monday through Lately Romanik has gained Friday, you’re going to cringe, the attention of local media laugh, nod in appreciation or with his billboards in the perhaps even retch in Belleville community, disgust. But at the end which comically lambast of the day, you will be St. Clair County Board informed, entertained Chairman Mark Kern. and enlightened.

His current billboard From his intro tune pictures Kern in a bikini of “Bad to the Bone” with the caption “Mark

by George Thorogood, ‘Sweetcakes’ Kern should to the announcer’s James have been a stripper. He’s declaration that he is Ingram already stripped us of our “The craziest SOB” on tax dollars!” the airwaves, you get the Yet another billboard during distinct feeling that this isn’t the Christmas season pictured your daddy’s variety of radio.

Kern alongside an image of a That’s why people listen.

Sasquatch (described as Kern’s It’s because The Grim Reaper wife, Erin) and declared, “We is an equal opportunity really don’t care if you have a offender. Whether he’s talking happy holiday, because we’re about “plantation negro” rich idiots. We are really leadership in East St. Louis bottom feeders.” or the so-called white elite His good friend and “bottom feeders,” as he likes former ESL mayor Carl E. to refer to St. Clair County Officer, describes Romanik bigwigs, Romanik takes no as “immensely loyal” to his prisoners. friends and to causes he holds He’s an ex-East St. Louis dear. Who would serve a and Washington Park cop federal prison sentence for a who often refers to himself friend? Who quietly donates as “poor white trash” from money to food pantries, drives the Roosevelt Homes housing around with dog food in the projects of ESL and makes trunk for stray dogs or assists no apologies for refusing to the destitute without fanfare? snitch on his friends – which, I’m just glad that we happen in part, led to his serving a to be on the on the same team 20-month sentence in the U.S when it comes to many of the penitentiary in Leavenworth, same political issues. I’d hate Kansas. to be on one of his billboards.

Since that time, the former Email: jtingram_1960@ strip club mogul’s new toy is yahoo.com; Twitter@ his radio empire. He owns a JamesTIngram. number of stations that focus

Editorial / Commentary A4

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

Cosby, Quaaludes, pound cake and hypocrisy “A case study in the costs of hypocrisy.” That’s how Justin Wm. Moyer of the Washington Post described Bill Cosby’s damning deposition in a 2005 employee harassment suit being made public by a U.S. district judge. In this deposition, Cosby admits to giving Quaaludes to young women he “wanted to have sex with,” in the phrase used by the lawyer conducting the deposition. Though this suit was settled, Cosby denied wrongdoing and no criminal charges were filed, this admission under oath makes it all but impossible for anyone to continue to believe Cosby’s denial of all claims – made by more than 30 women – that he forced himself on them sexually after drugging them.

These are the “costs” to Cosby – starting with the shredding of his last vestige of plausible deniability for those who continued to believe the once-beloved comic and actor.

Worse costs may yet come.

In his memorandum, Judge Eduardo C. Robreno wrote that Cosby is “the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct.” A federal judge making the parenthetical note that Cosby’s conduct was “perhaps criminal” could be taken as an open invitation for prosecutors to take a fresh look at Cosby.

As for the “hypocrisy” that cost him here, his shameful admission in the deposition was made public by the judge precisely because Cosby had publicly called out others for their allegedly shameful behavior. Cosby lost the right to privacy, in this case, because he “donned the mantle of public moralist and mounted the proverbial electronic or print soap box to volunteer his views on, among other things, childrearing, family life, education and crime,” Robreno wrote. Among Cosby’s acts of public moralizing the judge cites was his notorious rant at a 2004 NAACP awards ceremony in Washington,

Bill Cosby D.C., just a year before the Quaaludes deposition.

This rant has become known – well enough for the judge to use the phrase – as Cosby’s “pound cake speech” because of an image he used when talking about policeinvolved shootings. “Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals,” Cosby said at the NAACP event in 2004. “These are people going around stealing Coca-Cola.

People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: ‘The cops shouldn’t have shot him.’ What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?”

This outrageous and insulting apology for the police killings of unarmed civilians earned Cosby many black enemies – and many conservative friends – long before August 9 of last year, but it’s particularly infuriating to read in light of the Ferguson movement. Cosby described the kind of black community uprising we saw in Ferguson that can lead to positive

change – “Then we all run out and are outraged: ‘The cops shouldn’t have shot him’” – only to dismiss it with the most ridiculous of rhetorical questions, as if shoplifting a pound cake (or, to update the image, some cigarillos) were an offense punishable by death.

In Cosby’s anecdote, as the judge must have remembered, he is the moral exemplar.

He doesn’t get shot by a cop because he doesn’t steal any pound cake, and he doesn’t steal any pound cake because – unlike so many black people nowadays, he claims – he was raised right. “Something called parenting said, ‘If you get caught with it, you’re going to embarrass your mother,’” Cosby said. Now Cosby has been “caught with it,” all right, but it’s not stolen pound cake – it’s a fistful of Quaaludes to put young women he “wanted to have sex with” asleep.

In addition to these horrendous acts, we also take strong exception to his various harsh, sweeping put-downs of young African Americans.

There are problems in our community, there needs to be change and we ourselves can do better, but Cosby fails to consider the structural and institutional problems in Black America today. These problems are complex and deeply rooted in generations of racial and socioeconomic oppression of African Americans. Given the complexity and entrenchment of these problems, Cosby’s condescending advice about personal responsibility – without an equal demand to reform our society – is counterproductive. Challenging the black community to improve is valid, but there is no justification for a successful black elder like Cosby to belittle and attack the less fortunate in our community.

His invective statements amount to a craven assault on the defenseless – a tactic widely recognized all too well.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Jim Crow and criminal justice

By Malik Ahmed For The St. Louis American The year 2015 marks the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta (Latin for “great charter”), the English document written by a group of rebellious English barons who rose up against the absolute rule and power of King John in 1215 England. This document guaranteed a list of basic rights to which these barons, the aristocracy and other “free people” would be protected against the dictatorial whims and arbitrary rule of the king.

The Magna Carta is considered to be the foundation of Western democracy enshrined in laws that guarantee civil liberties. It was used by the framers of the American Declaration of Independence and has served as the basis of the Bill of Rights that has governed our nation for 239 years. Our country is considered by many Americans to be the citadel of global democracy wherein just laws govern the affairs of citizens.

But those Americans of African descent and who are poor have experienced few just laws and have yet to experience real democratic rule. When it comes to the criminal justice system, this is most acute.

“What has changed since the collapse of Jim Crow has less to do with basic structure of our society than with the language we use to justify it,” Michelle Alexander writes in “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness.”

“It is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion and social contempt.”

Those who are black and brown are more likely to remain in the grasp of the criminal justice system for an indefinite period of time than be re-integrated into society.

The label of being a criminal or ex-convict is a more efficient means of serving the same purpose as the system of Jim Crow and a more effective means of obstructing and denying basic civil liberties to people of color.

In 1980 the criminal justice system warehoused some 500,000 inmates with over 40 percent being people of color.

Today that number has quadrupled.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2014 Guest Columnist over 2.2 million inmates were Malik in jail or prison Ahmed with another 4.5 million on probation, parole or court -supervised surveillance.

In total nearly 7 million Americans are trapped in the criminal justice system, and over 60 percent are people of color.

Although African Americans constitute only 13 percent of the American population, they are over represented in the criminal justice system by more than 40 percent. Nearly 1 in 12 black men ages 25 to 54 are in prison. Blacks are jailed nearly 12 times the rate of whites.

One of every three black males age 20-29 is under the control and supervision of the criminal justice system.

Those labeled felons are not accorded many democratic

rights. Once released from confinement, many find themselves just as confined on the outside as they were while in prison. Their criminal record impacts their ability to be successful when seeking employment, public assistance, decent housing, educational scholarships and licensures to conduct routine businesses.

Many are unable to get a bank loan.

Most significantly, they are barred from voting – the foundation of democracy and the guarantor of societal rights.

All of these inequities and barriers adversely impact their ability to maintain a relationship, raise a child, be good parents, become a spouse or even maintain good physical and mental health.

Their limited life choices confine many of them to broken homes in dilapidated neighborhoods. Many are forced to stay confined to the underground economy. Their restricted social environments and poor prospects for work are a major factor for them re-engaging in a lifestyle of crime, such as selling drugs, committing armed robberies and invading homes.

Many individuals in the African-American community and justice-loving people view the criminal justice system with jaded suspicion. And since there is a national conversation on racism, the police and injustice, we must extend this conversation to the criminal justice system, which has been brutal, broken, unjust and undemocratic toward its black, Latino and poor populations.

Malik Ahmed is the CEO of Better Family Life, Inc.

As I See It - A Forum for Community Issues

Ferguson: ending taxation by citation

By Eric Schmitt For The St. Louis American In 2013, the municipal courts in St. Louis City and County filled their piggy banks with more than $54,000,000 in fines and fees. The combined total of fines and fees collected by Missouri municipal courts in 2013 was more than $124 million. According to this figure, the St. Louis region accounted for nearly 44 percent of the fees.

Many municipalities are generating this revenue through a system of traffic ticket tricks and schemes designed to extract more and more from our citizens. Sadly these schemes are little more than ATMs for bloated big government budgets that have hit the poor especially hard.

I was honored to champion the effort to reform the municipal court system in our state in an effort to restore the trust between citizens and their government.

Current law allows Missouri municipalities to fund their government operations with up to 30 percent of the revenue collected from traffic tickets and fines. One of the big issues with the current law was municipalities made it a goal to reach the 30 percent limit, and in many cases, exceed it.

The citizens suffering the most from this misuse of the law are low-income Missourians. Bureaucrats have treated these economically disadvantaged citizens like

numbers on a balance sheet for more government spending, while the family hit with the fine might be facing a family budget crisis or even jail time if they don’t pay.

I sponsored Senate Bill 5 to fix this problem, and our bipartisan legislation was overwhelmingly passed by the Missouri General Assembly. Senate Bill 5 reduces the amount of revenue cities can raise from traffic tickets from 30 percent down to 20 percent, and 12.5 percent for St. Louis County municipalities. The municipal courts in St. Louis County are held to tougher standard because they are the worst abusers of the current law funding their bureaucracies Guest Columnist through what I call taxation by Eric citation.

Schmitt Senate Bill 5 also requires St. Louis County municipalities to meet certain minimum standards. These include having an annual balanced budget, auditing the city’s finances and, if the city has a police department, requiring it to be accredited.

The bill also requires municipal courts to maintain certain procedures, with the main goal being to eliminate debtors’ prisons and to give residents a sense of accountability from the courts.

Letters to the Editor Very hurtful and very personal We are writing to express deep concerns about the recent series of suspicious fires at predominantly AfricanAmerican churches in the aftermath of the tragic mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. We very much appreciate the Justice Department’s continuing work with state and local law enforcement officials to investigate these suspicious fires. Should investigation reveal bias motivation, we urge the department to vigorously prosecute the perpetrators, under the federal Church Arson Prevention Act or any other relevant statutes.

Like the spate of church arsons in the mid-1990s that resulted in the establishment of the National Church Arson Task Force in June 1996, the recent series of suspicious fires resonate so meaningfully because there is a historical context for these attacks. They remind us of Night Riders, cross burnings, and Ku Klux Klan terror that was centered on black churches.

Churches, synagogues and mosques are places of refuge, sanctified spaces that serve as safe havens from the troubles of the outside world. Vandalism or arson at a house of worship desecrates a place that is designed to provide a link between people and their most spiritual aspirations. Because these structures are created to provide a bridge between a religious community and its concept of God, the impact of damage and destruction of the building is very hurtful and very personal.

Christopher Wolf, Civil Rights chair Deborah Lauter, director of Civil Rights Anti-Defamation League

We must take strength It is bitter consolation to those of us who were on the receiving end of illegal police tactics, wholesale curtailment of civil rights and the vile slander that went with it to see all of this confirmed in the

Municipal courts would be prohibited from placing someone in jail because he or she could not pay for a broken taillight or expired tags. Courts will also be required to offer alternative payment plans and community service options to accommodate individuals who cannot pay their entire fine all at once.

Senate Bill 5 also includes a provision that would prohibit an additional charge to be levied for a person’s failure to appear for a minor traffic violation. The court can still require the person to answer for the initial violation, but could no longer stack another charge and another fine onto the original violation.

The reforms to our municipal courts in Senate Bill 5 will go a long way in improving the fairness and accountability of our courts. Just like lowering the amount of a city’s budget that can come from traffic tickets and requiring cities to meet minimum standards, reform to our municipal courts represents one step out of many that our region must take to fully heal.

I strongly urge Governor Nixon to sign Senate Bill 5. Our communities will be stronger with this legislation, and residents will know their governments exist to serve them, not the other way around.

State Sen. Eric Schmitt is a Republican from Glendale.

All letters are edited for length and style.

Department of Justice report.

It comes in the aftermath of the massacre in Charleston, as black churches are being torched across the country and hooded Klansmen are rallying to defend a racist flag on the steps of the same capitol building that held a service for slain State Senator the Rev. Clementa Pinckney.

We must take strength from the brave responses of the people of Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland and beyond, by staying in the streets, and in the words of the great Bayard Rustin, continuing to “tuck our bodies in places so the wheels don’t turn.

The dispatch of Department of Justice teams to Ferguson did little to halt the obvious and frequent breaches of civil and human rights. The police willfully and repeatedly ignored DoJ demands they adhere to basic uniform requirements, let alone the Constitution.

Previous DoJ reports have slammed the intricate systems

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of oppression in place in St Louis government and the so-called “justice” system.

Many local groups who have been fighting for justice over years continue to force reform of the courts and councils who were exposed as money-making ventures preying on their most vulnerable citizens, and I hope some concrete and positive change will come from this report as well.

More importantly, the courage, tenacity and endurance of the communities who refused to be intimidated by snipers atop tanks and chemical warfare lit the fuse of a national movement against police brutality and systemic racism. We are witnessing a historic new era in the civil rights movement and a clear challenge being posed to this nation on its much vaunted – and utterly failed – promise of freedom and equality for all.

Rev. Osagyefo Sekou Via email

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A5

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015

Blind to Latin America

By Esther J. Cepeda Washington Post

Mural for an Olympian

Photo by Wiley Price

The student-based organization Raw Canvas created a mural of Olympic champion Jessie Owens on a building at St. Louis Avenue and N. 14th Street. Pictured are artist William Burton Jr., Urban League Director of Community Organizing Robert Lee, Raw Canvas’ Darryl Reece, 5th Ward Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard, Raw Canvas’ Arieona Burse and artist Robert Ketchens. For more information, visit http:// rawcanvas314.wix.com/rawcanvas.

Road closures at I-270 in Florissant New Florissant Road and New Halls Ferry Road in Florissant will be temporarily closed at I-270 for approximately one month beginning the week of July 6. The Missouri Department of Transportation will make repairs to the I-270 bridges that span each of the two roads. The closures are anticipated to last for about one month, during which time there will be no access to or from eastbound I-270 at either location.

I-270 will remain open during the project, but significant traffic delays are expected. For more information, visit http://www. modot.org/stlouis/major_projects/I270BridgeRenovation.htm.

Kingshighway Bridge closed The Kingshighway bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks between Southwest/ Vandeventer and Shaw Boulevard is scheduled closed after the morning rush hour on July 6.

The 75-year-old bridge, which carries more than 40,000 vehicles every day, will be demolished and reconstructed over a twoyear period. The total cost of the project is $21 million in design, land acquisition and construction, which is funded by the Federal Highway Administration and Union Pacific Railroad. The new bridge will be 90 feet wide instead of the current 66 feet, allowing for three wider lanes of traffic in each direction and wider sidewalks.

Drivers should look for detour signs for the following routes: Southbound Kingshighway to use eastbound Shaw to Vandeventer; Northbound Kingshighway to use Vandeventer to westbound McRee. Cyclists should continue to use Macklind and Tower Grove Avenues.

Here’s a shocking news story you probably haven’t heard about: American soldiers and contractors based in Colombia are alleged to have sexually assaulted dozens of young girls between 2003 and 2007, with some of the attacks being taped and sold as pornography.

These accusations were included in an 800-page report released in February by the Colombian government and the rebel group FARC, detailing their 50-year-long conflict, which they are negotiating to end. The allegations appear to have been first reported in English by Colombia Reports, a news outlet based in Medellin in late March.

According to Colombia Reports, Renan Vega of the National Pedagogic University in Bogota, one of the historians who researched the document, said “there exists abundant information about the sexual violence, in absolute impunity thanks to the bilateral agreements and the diplomatic immunity of United States officials.”

Colombia Reports continues: “The historian cited one 2004 case in the central Colombian town of Melgar where 53 underage girls were sexually abused by nearby stationed military contractors ‘who moreover filmed [the abuse] and sold the films as pornographic material.’ According to Colombia’s leading newspaper, El Tiempo, the victims of the sexual abuse practices were forced to flee the region after their families received death threats.”

These shocking and infuriating accusations did not reach me through any of the three major national newspapers I read in-depth daily, or the five or so news sites I check in with every day. I heard about this February report for the first time listening to a podcast of NPR’s “On the Media.” The topic: blind spots and underreported stories.

Esther J. According to Chris Allbritton, a reporter at The Daily Beast who began Cepeda covering the story in April, the accusations against U.S. staff didn’t get attention until the week leading up to Easter, when Colombia largely shuts down for the religious holiday, which hampered U.S. reporter inquiries.

Allbritton also noted what every Hispanic in the United States has bemoaned time again: “The U.S. English-language media has traditionally had a kind of blind spot when it comes to Latin America.”

It’s true. Though Latin America’s countries are economic partners, as well as the ancestral home of the largest minority in this country, the region usually gets short shrift from U.S. news media.

Even when our presidents travel south of the border to engage in meetings about security, immigration, drug and human trafficking –issues that are important to Americans – the coverage is often scant or one-note.

President Obama attended the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City recently, during which governmental transparency, the expansion of broadband Internet infrastructure and goals for climate-resilient energy development were on the agenda. But the event that made headlines was Obama’s handshake with Cuba’s Raul Castro.

Allbritton closed his remarks on the lack of reporting on the Colombia rapes by acknowledging that the story is finally starting to get some traction in the U.S, which has supported the Colombian state in its fight against drug trafficking and leftist rebel groups like the FARC and ELN. Stars and Stripes, the independent newspaper of the U.S. military community, got Christopher Grey, a spokesman with Army Criminal Investigation Command, to promise, “U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command will, after coordinating with Colombian authorities, initiate an investigation into any credible allegations of sexual assault or criminal acts committed by U.S. soldiers while in that country.”

We must insist on continuing coverage of this story from our media. In a globalized society, Latin America cannot continue to be a blind spot for Americans. Our interests in the region demand more attention.

Esther Cepeda’s email address is estherjcepeda@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter, @estherjcepeda.

A6

BOND

Continued from A1 achieve social justice and the courage you had to have to be out there on the frontlines pushing for civil rights.”

On May 16, Anita Lyons Bond, 84, received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Saint Louis University, where she was the first AfricanAmerican student to graduate with honors.

When university trustee Martha Uhlhorn presented her with the doctorate, she recognized Anita’s “extraordinary determination, her exemplary character, her exceptional commitment to education, her concern for others, her fearless focus on social justice, and her desire to provide equal access to education for all students.”

Among her many roles of public service, Anita served on the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in the 1960s, and on the committee that wrote the desegregation plan for the St. Louis Public Schools in the 1980s. As a member of the Missouri Citizens Advisory Committee, she was a delegate to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. She is also a nationally known teacher in techniques of speech correction for the culturally disadvantaged.

“Anita Lyons Bond is a St.

REVIEW Continued from A1

practices.

According to the civilian oversight bill, which Slay signed into law on May 6,

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015 Louis treasure and a civil rights icon who fulfilled her dream of being a force for change,” said SLU President Fred Pestello.

“As a distinguished alumna of our university, she is truly an inspiration for SLU graduates everywhere.”

After graduating from Sumner High School with honors at 15, Anita enrolled at SLU in 1946. The university officially integrated in 1944.

Despite integration, Anita still faced many hurdles while gaining her education, as she said in a 2014 SLU student interview. “(African-American students) were not allowed to take gym,” Anita said.

“When we got ready to get our teacher’s certificates, the State of Missouri requires physical education.”

The state told her she couldn’t be certified because she didn’t complete the necessary physical education credits. That was just one example of the constant pushback black students faced, she said.

“It shows you how far segregation goes,” she said.

In 1950, Anita earned her Bachelor of Science degree and became the first female African American at SLU admitted into two honor societies: Pi Lambda Theta and the national Jesuit honor society Gamma Phi Epsilon — now known as Alpha Sigma Nu. Her daughter Candace Bond McKeever said the younger

generations often don’t realize the sacrifices and oppression that their parents went through.

“I proudly stand on the shoulders of my parents,” she said. “She opened so many doors for so many of us of this generation – she and my father.

I’m so proud that they honored her and recognized how much that she did on behalf of others.”

McKeever has always admired her mother’s adventurous spirit. While earning her master’s degree from Washington University,

Anita studied in Norway and Mexico.

And McKeever has always tried to follow in her parents’ footsteps of serving the community. Her father was a well-known and highly respected surgeon and activist.

“Together it’s amazing how much work they did for the citizens of the city of St. Louis,” she said, “and how much they were able to impact health care, education and legislation for the state of Missouri.”

She also described her

parents as an undeniable team.

“They were side by side,” she said. “One was not in front of the other. They talk about the woman behind the man, but that was not the case in my family. It was an absolute partnership.”

In 1965, Anita challenged the Missouri Board of Education’s elections. Her lawsuit, contending civil rights violations, went to the state Supreme Court and ultimately resulted in changes in election procedures. Later that year, the Urban League of Metropolitan

the mayor has the power to select the seven members of the civilian oversight board.

However, he must choose them from a list of the Board of Aldermen’s recommendations.

The aldermen have authority to confirm or reject the mayor’s nominations. A public hearing

on the nominations is required to allow for public input.

The mayor’s spokeswoman Maggie Crane said prior to the July 6 deadline, the mayor’s office received 27 applications directly and gave them to the aldermen for consideration. The aldermen added an additional

11 names to the list and gave them back to the mayor.

The application form for board appointees – which is almost identical to the one Governor Jay Nixon uses for appointees on the state level – is nine pages long and asks applicants to disclose a variety of personal information, including if they have ever filed for bankruptcy or if they are behind on child support payments.

It also has “the box” – which the mayor banned in October for city job applicants – that asks them to disclose whether they have ever been convicted of a felony. The application further asks, “Have you ever, as an adult, been charged with any crime or arrested for any crime for which you were not convicted, excluding traffic offenses where the fine imposed was less than $100?”

Jamala Rogers, a founder of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR), said the questions contradict the mayor’s efforts in the fall to “ban the box,” which was meant to remove employment barriers for people convicted of crimes.

“How is this encouraging people to participate in the democratic process?” said Rogers, a longtime advocate for civilian review. “Filling out nine pages, and then the

questions are intrusive. I think it’s a very intimidating and non-encouraging process, and it starts with that application.”

Crane said having been arrested or even having a minor or expunged conviction will not disqualify a candidate from consideration.

“In fact, it may add to an applicant’s qualifications by bringing a different experience and perspective to the board,” she said.

Rogers said the application process has been anything but fluid, and the mayor’s office failed to communicate their process to CAPCR, who helped to draft the civilian oversight bill. When the group initially heard that there would not be a formal application for board candidates, Rogers said the activist group created their own application to help the aldermen and mayor make their decisions.

The group received 21 applications, which they rated and then gave to the aldermen.

However, on CACPR’s June 5 deadline for their applications, the mayor presented his own application form. Rogers said they have been telling all of those who applied through CAPCR that they also need to fill out the mayor’s application, but she is not sure how many people wanted to “jump through another hoop.”

The mayor is still accepting

On May 16, Anita Lyons Bond received an honorary doctorate of humanities from Saint Louis University from SLU President Fred Pestello and Joseph Conran, chair of the university Board of Trustees. “As a distinguished alumna of our university,” Pestello said, “she is truly an inspiration for SLU graduates everywhere.”

Photo by Saint Louis University

St. Louis honored her with the Argus Distinguished Public Service Award for her service to the city as a leader in education and the community.

Anita established the Citizens Education Task Force, an organization funded through the Danforth Foundation that functioned as an independent critical body of the Board of Education.

In 1974, Anita became president of the St. Louis Board of Education. She served the board in various roles and was instrumental in the Board of Education and the Higher Educational Council establishing HarrisStowe as a state college, rather than a secondary school.

In 1981, federal Judge James Meredith appointed her to serve on the committee that wrote the St. Louis public school desegregation plan. She also served on the boards of the YMCA, NAACP, Urban League, United Negro College Fund and others. The NAACP named her one of the “Most Outstanding St. Louisans.”

Still, Anita urges everyone to build on her legacy and continue to work for more equality.

“Start where you are,” Anita said. “Work where you are. If you see discrimination, if you see someone hurting, ask them what’s bothering them.”

Follow this reporter on Twitter @rebeccarivas.

Applying for Civilian Oversight Board To access the Civilian Oversight Board application form, visit https:// www.stlouis-mo. gov/government/ departments/mayor/ initiatives/civilianoversight-boardapplication-process.cfm.

Or contact Patrick Brown, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, at brownpa@stlouis-mo. gov.

applications, Crane said, and he intends to return a list of nominations to the Board of Aldermen by August 5, which was outlined in the timeline when the ordinance became law.

To access the application form, visit https://www. stlouis-mo.gov/government/ departments/mayor/initiatives/ civilian-oversight-boardapplication-process.cfm Or contact Patrick Brown, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff, at brownpa@stlouis-mo.gov.

Follow this reporter on Twitter @rebeccarivas.

A7

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015

LIES

n Publishers mystify secession because they don’t want to offend Southern school districts and thereby lose sales.

Continued from A1 24,000 men to the Confederate armed forces, it sent 63,000 to the U.S. Army and Navy.

Nevertheless, the UDC’s monument tells visitors to take the other side: “To our heroes of Montgomery Co. Maryland / That we through life may not forget to love the Thin Gray Line.”

In fact, the Thin Grey Line came through Montgomery and adjoining Frederick counties at least three times, en route to Antietam, Gettysburg and Washington. Lee’s army expected to find recruits and help with food, clothing and information. They didn’t.

Maryland residents greeted Union soldiers as liberators when they came through on the way to Antietam. Recognizing the residents of Frederick as hostile, Confederate cavalry leader Jubal Early demanded and got $300,000 from them lest he burn their town, a sum equal to at least $5,000,000 today.

Today, however, Frederick boasts what it calls the “Maryland Confederate Memorial,” and the manager of the Frederick cemetery — filled with Union and Confederate dead — told me in an interview, “Very little is done on the Union side” around Memorial Day. “It’s mostly Confederate.”

In addition to winning the battle for public monuments, neo-Confederates also managed to rename the war, calling it “the War Between the States.” Never mind that while it was going on, no one called it that. Even “Jeopardy!” accepts it.

Perhaps most perniciously, neo-Confederates now claim that the South seceded for states’ rights.

When each state left the Union, its leaders made clear that they were seceding because they were for slavery and against states’ rights.

In its “Declaration Of The Causes Which Impel The State Of Texas To Secede From The Federal Union,” for example, the secession convention of Texas listed the states that had offended them: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa. These states had in fact exercised states’ rights by passing laws that interfered with the federal government’s attempts to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act. Some also no longer let slaveowners “transit” through their states with their slaves.

“States’ rights” were what Texas was seceding against.

Texas also made clear what it was seceding for – white supremacy: “We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial or tolerable.”

Despite such statements, neo-Confederates put up monuments that flatly lied about the Confederate cause.

For example, South Carolina’s monument at Gettysburg, dedicated in 1965, claims to explain why the state seceded: “Abiding faith in the sacredness of states’ rights provided their creed here.”

This tells us nothing about 1863, when abiding opposition to states’ rights as claimed by free states provided South Carolinians’ creed. In 1965, however, its leaders did support states’ rights. Indeed, they were desperately trying to keep the federal government from enforcing school desegregation and civil rights. The one constant was that the leaders of South Carolina in 1860 and 1965 were acting on behalf of white supremacy.

So thoroughly did this mythology take hold that our textbooks still stand history on its head and say secession was for, rather than against, states’ rights. Publishers mystify secession because they don’t want to offend Southern school districts and thereby lose sales.

Consider this passage from

The U.S. Army has three bases named after generals in an army that tried to destroy the United States: Confederate Generals A.P. Hill (left), Braxton Bragg (center) and Henry L. Benning.

“The American Journey,” perhaps the best-selling U.S. history textbook: “Lincoln and the Republicans had promised not to disturb slavery where it already existed.

Nevertheless, many people in the South mistrusted the party, fearing that the Republican government would not protect Southern rights and liberties.

On December 20, 1860, the South’s long-standing threat to leave the Union became a reality when South Carolina held a special convention and voted to secede.”

Teachers and students infer from that passage that slavery was not the reason for secession. Instead, the reason is completely vague: [white] Southerners feared for their “rights and liberties.”

On the next page, however, the textbook becomes more precise: [White] Southerners claimed that since “the national government” had been derelict “by refusing to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and by denying the Southern states equal rights in the territories — the states were justified in leaving the Union.”

The textbook offers no evidence to support this claim.

It cannot. No Southern state made any such charge against the federal government in any secession document I have ever seen.

Presidents Buchanan and before him, Pierce, were part of the pro-Southern wing of the Democratic Party. For 10 years, the federal government had vigorously enforced the Fugitive Slave Act. Buchanan had supported pro-slavery

the Confederate flag unsuitable forces in Kansas even after his for display on government own minion, the Mississippi grounds. slave owner Robert Walker, Now the dean of the ruled that they had won only National Cathedral in by fraud. The seven states that Washington, D.C., has seceded before February 1861 noted that the had no quarrel cathedral needs to with “the national n The Pentagon de-Confederatize government.” needs to Teaching or de-Confederatize its stained glass windows. That implying that the would be a start Confederate states the U.S. Army. for D.C., which seceded for states’ No more Fort also needs to rights is not A.P. Hill. No remove its statue accurate history. more Fort of Albert Pike, It is white, Bragg or Fort Confederate ConfederateBenning, named general and leader apologist history. of the Arkansas It bends — even for Confederate Ku Klux Klan, breaks — the generals. from Judiciary facts of what Square. happened.

The Pentagon Like other U.S. also needs to history textbooks, de-Confederatize the U.S. “The American Journey” needs Army. No more Fort A.P. to be de-Confederatized. So Hill. No more Fort Bragg, does the history test we give named for a general who to immigrants who want to was not only Confederate become U.S. citizens. but also incompetent. No Item 74 of the test asks, more Fort Benning, named “Name one problem that led to for a Confederate general the Civil War.” It then gives three acceptable answers: “slavery, economic reasons, and states’ rights.” If by “economic reasons” it means issues about tariffs and taxes, which most people infer, then two of its three “correct answers” are wrong!

No other question on this 100-item test has more than one “right” answer. The reason is not because the history is unclear, but because neoConfederates still wielded considerable influence in our culture and our Congress until quite recently, when a mass of politicians rushed to declare

who, after he had helped get his home state of Georgia to secede, addressed the Virginia legislature.

“What was the reason that induced Georgia to take the step of secession? This reason may be summed up in one single proposition. It was a conviction … that a separation from the North was the only thing that could prevent the abolition of her slavery,” General Henry L. Benning said.

“If things are allowed to go on as they are, it is certain that slavery is to be abolished. By the time the North shall have attained the power, the black race will be in a large majority, and then we will have black governors, black legislatures, black juries, black everything. … The consequence will be that our men will be all exterminated or expelled to wander as vagabonds over a hostile earth, and as for our women, their fate will be too horrible to contemplate even in fancy.”

With our monuments

lying about secession, our textbooks obfuscating what the Confederacy was about, and our Army honoring its generals, no wonder so many Americans supported the Confederacy until last week.

We can literally see the impact Confederate symbols and thinking had on Dylann Roof, but other examples abound. In his mugshot, Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, wore a neo-Confederate T-shirt showing Abraham Lincoln and the words, “Sic semper tyrannis!” When white students in Appleton, Wis., a recovering sundown town that for decades had been “all white” on purpose, had issues with MexicanAmerican students in 1999, they responded by wearing and waving Confederate flags, which they already had at home, at the ready.

Across the country, removing slavery from its central role in prompting the Civil War marginalizes African Americans and makes us all stupid. De-Confederatizing the United States won’t end white supremacy, but it will be a momentous step in that direction.

James W. Loewen, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Vermont, is the author of “Lies My Teacher Told Me” and “The Confederate and NeoConfederate Reader.”

Reprinted with permission of the author.

A8

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

Chief George speaks to youth at Griot

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Former St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George spoke to children and youth at the Griot Museum of Black History in North St. Louis on July 2.

Museum of Black History presents former fire chief near his wax likeness

By Taylor Bailey For The St. Louis American On Thursday, July 2 retired St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George gave an inspiring message to kids at the Griot Museum of Black History in North St. Louis.

Children ranging in ages from 6 to 17 were amazed when Missouri’s first AfricanAmerican fire chief came in the room. He stood next to his wax sculpture, part of the Griot’s permanent collection, and the kids shouted in disbelief at the resemblance.

George gave a message about his upbringing and how he learned to take opportunities when given.

“There are three things you can’t get back,” George said: “time, words and opportunity.”

George briefly explained the different jobs he held prior to becoming a firefighter, which

n “It was a long ride, a great career and difficult, but I knew it would be difficult.”

– former Fire Chief Sherman George included delivering telegraphs, working at Holiday Inn and Boeing, and combat duty in Vietnam.

During his message he also spoke of taking responsibility for actions.

“There are no excuses,”

George said. “If something happens and you are responsible for it, be accountable and figure out how you can make it better.”

He quoted his mother: “Work harder and do better.”

He also described some of his firefighting career.

He served 32 years as a firefighter and eight as fire chief. He retired when Mayor Francis Slay ordered him demoted during a conflict over testing and promotions in the department.

“It was a long ride, a great career and difficult, but I knew it would be difficult,” George said.

The kids at the museum enjoyed Chief George’s words and learned lessons from him.

“I learned that I have a lot of opportunities in life and I should take them,” one of the young girls said. “I also know that I need to be confident in everything I choose I do.”

Taylor Bailey is a summer intern from Mizzou.

Join the National Convening for Black Lives

By Montague Simmons For The St. Louis American

This nation is facing a crisis that it refuses to address.

State-sponsored violence is responsible for the deaths of Michael Brown Jr., Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd, Freddie Gray, John Crawford, Tamir Rice and many more. Every 28 hours an unarmed black person is murdered under suspicious circumstances by the police.

These shootings are rarely investigated and even less likely to lead to charges against the officers.

Communities in Baltimore, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. have joined Ferguson in declaring that enough is enough! We demand that officers be held to the same level of accountability that we hold everyday citizens.

The sworn duty of the police is to protect and serve our communities, not to inflict terror. Yet after nearly a year of protests, neither state nor federal governments have made any transformative changes to police practices.

Ferguson sparked a national movement for black lives.

Now it’s up to all of us to see it through. In order to win, we must stand in solidarity with each other because statesponsored violence continues to threaten black communities across the country every day.

And even though we participate in multiracial coalitions, we must recognize the value of creating and maintaining all-

black spaces. It’s crucial that black people at the center of this movement come together and push it forward.

This is why the Organization for Black Struggle has joined with other national grassroots organizations to host the National Convening for Black Lives. On July 24-26, over a thousand black freedom fighters from across the nation will gather in Cleveland, Ohio to map the next chapter in the struggle for black liberation.

The convening will be a space to develop a collective mission and coordinate across the nation.

It is clear that we cannot depend on the federal Guest Columnist government to Montague act decisively Simmons and implement sweeping national reforms.

Rather, we have to come together and organize our own response to this national crisis.

We’ve done it in the past with the Colored National Conventions of the 1800s, the Black Power Conference of the 1960s and the Gary National Black Political Convention in 1972. Each of these conventions made it clear that resistance and direct action are required when government fails to take care of the needs and rights of black people.

As we approach the one year commemoration of the

killing of Mike Brown Jr., we are reminded of how much more work must be done. As we watch churches go up in flames in the South, we are reminded that there is no place for us to seek refuge. As we mourn the lives of those lost in the Charleston massacre, we are reminded of why we must fight.

This movement cannot stop.

Our movement will not stop.

We must create the change that we want to see. But we need you to join us.

Stand with us as we renew our commitment to justice.

Stand with us as we transform policing in this country and assert our right to live free from fear. Every day our children, our parents, and our grandparents get harassed, humiliated, abused and killed by police. With each violent killing, the urgency of this movement hits closer to home.

Every injustice demands that we rise up and answer the call.

If we want this to stop, then we must build power in and for black communities. We encourage all black people to take part in this historic moment. Help us create a future that is safe for all black families. Join us in Cleveland!

For Mike Brown and Rekia Boyd, for Eric Garner and Walter Scott, for little Tamir Rice and Aiyana Jones – join us in Cleveland.

For more information, visit http://movementforblacklives. org.

Farrakhan coming to St. Louis Minister Louis Farrakhan, who is touring the country in preparation for the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March, will make a stop in St. Louis on Friday, July 17 at New Sunny Mount Missionary

Baptist Church, 4700 West Florissant Ave. Twenty years ago, St. Louis was a key city in organizing to take men to the Million Man March by sending 40 buses, four chartered planes and a host of private flights to Washington, D.C. on October 16, 1995.

Farrakhan will tell his audience the importance of this gathering on the Mall in

Washington. D.C. The theme of this anniversary celebration is “Justice or Else” on 10-1015 (October 10, 2015). He is calling all to join him once again.

Pastor Donald Hunter will welcome Farrakhan to his church, with doors at 6 p.m. and the event at 7 p.m. The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information, call 314-361-4555.

www.stlamerican.com www.stlamerican.com www.stlamerican.com www.stlamerican.com www.stlamerican.com www.stlamerican.com www.stlamerican.com

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

White supremacy and protecting white women

A protestor reminded the public that racism persists in St. Louis during a demonstration on November 16.

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

St. Louis AntiRacist Collective responds to Charleston massacre

By Anti-Racist Collective Our society is infected with a disease: white supremacy.

The horrific Charleston is a tragedy rooted in that national affliction, which denies racial oppression and takes for granted centuries of unearned privilege forcefully made off of the backs of black people. This hateful act did not happen in a vacuum. It happened within the context of hundreds of years of lynchings, mass deaths and violence towards black people.

For too long, white society has approached racist violence with apathy and/or political subterfuge. Many moments over the past year have been a wake-up call for white people to stand up and no longer be silent. There are things we must do in this moment. First, we must name this tragedy for what it is: an incident of white supremacist terrorism, and yet also an act that is not isolated or separate from our daily lives.

White supremacy is not just the extremists, but something infused into media, criminal justice, education and countless other mainstream institutions.

It is the guiding principle under which our society operates, ensuring the comfort and privileges that white people have enjoyed since the foundation of this country.

We must center black liberation in our work, and call on other white people to end their silence and raise their voices against the continued legacy of violence that our community perpetuates against communities of color. We must

pair our voices with action.

All of this is as urgent as it is timely. Let us not forget how far we still have to go, as the scars that white supremacy has left since slavery’s abolition are clearer than ever. We send our deepest condolences to the victims of the Charleston massacre, their families, the Emanuel AME Church and the community of Charleston.

As a collective that is largely made up of white women, we feel it is important to make note of the killer’s reported motives.

Before taking the lives of nine people, Dylann Roof reportedly proclaimed, “You rape our women and you’re taking over our country, and you have to go.” We reject this racist violence done in our name. We will not let the “protection” of white women be used as an excuse for white supremacist violence against black people.

This weaponization of white femininity can be traced from the early days of colonization: white women forcefully took Indigenous children from their mothers in an attempt at

erasure; plantation masters used protection of their wives and daughters to justify monstrous abuse of slaves; Emmett Till was murdered for looking “flirtatiously” in the direction of a group of white women.

These patterns continue today in the centering of white women, their emotions and their issues in today’s mainstream feminist movement, the broader social justice movement and even in everyday discussions about racial inequity. We recognize that six out of the nine victims in Charleston were black women – an identity routinely victimized by white supremacy.

And yet, the struggles facing black women today are often erased from our national narrative.

Collectively, we must struggle to dismantle the systems of oppression entrenched in our everyday lives. The time is now. We can no longer wait. To our fellow white people, let us get to work.

White privilege and language immersion

By Susan Herzberg For The St. Louis American “White privilege.” This is a term that I didn’t even know existed until this year, yet it’s something I’ve known my whole life.

I grew up in a prosperous suburb of Chicago and attended a public school where almost everybody looked like me, other than a few children of Indian doctors. My parents belonged to a country club and tried to sponsor our Jewish neighbors, but they were never accepted. There were no families of color at all at “the club.”

This is the world that I come from, and this is the world that I reject.

When I first moved to St. Louis, a real estate broker kept steering us toward Webster Groves, and I kept insisting on looking in University City. Yes, she said, but this neighborhood isn’t as “good.”

“Why not?” I thought.

The houses in U City were beautiful, people seemed nice.

What makes it not as “good”?

Was her definition of “good” more white people? I bought in U City.

Eventually, I sold my home to move to South City. I loved my new neighborhood in Tower Grove East, and we had a baby. When she got older, we sent her to New City preschool, but again, I did not feel comfortable.

Sure, all the parents were

really nice and, yes, there were some families of color, but those families, again, were the families of doctors and lawyers. The same world I had left way back in suburban Chicago where everyone is the same. I wanted something different for my daughter: true diversity.

So I went to a meeting about a new school, St. Louis Language Immersion Schools (SLLIS), which was being proposed by founder Rhonda Broussard.

Rhonda is an AfricanAmerican woman who Guest Columnist had come to St. Louis as Susan a student at Herberg Washington University, and she had a dream.

It was a brilliant idea: bring students of all backgrounds together in a public charter school and educate them in an immersion language, using the innovative inquiry-based teaching curriculum of the International Baccalaureate program. It was an unbelievable opportunity, unrivalled in a free public school in the country, with the goal being “from Head Start to Harvard.”

We signed right up. Now, four years later, my daughter can speak, read and write

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fluently in Spanish. She has scored in the 99th percentile in both English reading and Math, and she has friends from many different backgrounds.

So, for us, the school has been a great success.

Now, the school’s Board of Trustees has announced that it is time for new leadership at SLLIS and Rhonda will no longer be president. We have not recovered from the shock.

This has been a new lesson for my daughter as we raise our voices in protest.

At the board meeting, the consulting firm hired to handle the transition was introduced: two old white guys. And now my prejudice is showing. I have had it with old white guys and the assumption that they are somehow inherently more suited to run things.

I want something different.

I want our transformative, inspirational leader back – and I am not going to shut up about it. I am going to show up, speak up and not let the board forget what we want, because Rhonda’s dream is a fantastic part of the success that St. Louis has the opportunity to be.

If you see her, tell her she is an amazing person for bringing this school to life.

Send your children and get involved. You will not regret it – and you know I’ll be there, front and center, speaking my mind.

Susan Herzberg is a SLLIS parent and volunteer.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

Year of challenges and changes Although the first half of the year is a celebration of freedom for many, symbolizing a new beginning, renewal and change, a lot of others see a slow undoing of human rights.

It has been a very difficult and disappointing year for some African Americans, who are yet struggling to break the bonds of mass misery. Many of the revolutionary beliefs for which civil rights and the women’s movement leaders fought are still at issue today.

And prejudice and racial hatred remain facts that we must recognize. Many states have various bands of hate groups, and the murder of the Charleston Nine is a reminder of the danger that hate poses.

One symbol of controversy is the Confederate battle flag that flies on the capitol grounds in Columbia, South Carolina.

The flag is a source of pride for many in the South and a remembrance of its soldiers killed 150 years ago, but others see it as a symbol of oppression

and of a dark chapter when 11 Obama called the U.S. Supreme rebelling Confederate states Court’s decision affirming the fought to keep blacks enslaved. constitutional right of sameThe issue has taken sex marriage a “victory for center stage after nine black America” that had “made our worshippers were shot to union a little more perfect.” But death during Bible study at the president’s opinion did not the Emanuel AME Church in delight everyone.

Charleston. Mother Emanuel is It was a long-pursued victory the oldest AME church in the for the gay rights movement, South. but the Rev. Bill President Obama Owens, president and sang “Amazing Grace” founder of the Coalition at the funeral for South of African-American Carolina state Sen. Pastors, directly Clementa Pinckney, the criticized President pastor who was killed Barack Obama on this along with the eight issue. others in the church “If they rule for shooting. same-sex marriage, President Obama has then we’re going to do Bernie scored some very import the same thing we did Hayes victories recently. The for the Civil Rights U.S. Supreme Court Movement,” Owens upheld a key part of said. “We will not obey the Affordable Care Act that an unjust law.” provides health insurance Locally, we are passing subsidies to all qualifying through great transformations, Americans, supporting his most such as the establishment prized domestic achievement. of a Civilian Oversight On another issue, President Board for the City of St.

Louis. It was introduced by Alderman Terry Kennedy and sponsored by Alderman Antonio French, and creates a civilian board to receive and review complaints about the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.

We are still besieged with the reminders of Ferguson, with police harassment and illegal stops and arrests in some municipalities, as well as voter apathy and so much more.

The year is only half over, and I am interested, curious, fearful and nevertheless optimistic and encouraged to see what the rest of 2015 will bring.

Please watch the Bernie Hayes TV program Saturday night at 10 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. on KNLC-TV Ch. 24. I can be reached by fax at (314) 8373369 or e-mail at: berhay@ swbell.net.

Moonwalking the minimum wage

I kept thinking, “Why are we fighting over chump change?” able to get what they need.

Ah, moonwalking.

The U.S. is at a place in Michael Jackson’s famous time when income inequality dance step is mesmerizing to could only get worse if we watch – especially when the worked for free.

King of Pop does it. It’s the According to Mother perception that you’re moving forward, when you’re actually Jones, the top tier of the 1 percenters is averaging going backwards. Missouri’s $27 million per household minimum wage is like this, in annual income – $27 except it’s not entertaining million. And we’re fighting in one bit.

Missouri for $15 an hour?

The state’s minimum It was disappointing to see wage is set to increase by a the Board of Aldermen not paltry 15 cents on January take a serious stand on BB83 1. It will go from $7.50 to $7.65. That’s an annual salary that would raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2020. There of $15,912.00 before taxes. are constituents in every ward This is no increase; it’s just who would benefit from such keeping low-wage workers an increase. from going backwards I challenge the quicker. Moonwalking! people who I hear In 2006, Jobs asking why should with Justice led the fast food workers get minimum wage fight $15 an hour when and made sure an they are a secretary or automatic cost of living maintenance worker raise was included. and don’t make that.

Even still, it’s not a You should be. Fight livable wage. Many for it. workers are piecing We are focusing together two or three Jamala on the wrong salary. low-wage jobs to Rogers Don’t think about make ends meet. the yearly salary of Between employer wage theft and prices of other $31,000 a worker would make at $15 an hour. Think about commodities going up, you the $27 million per year of a 1 can never get ahead. percenter.

As I sat in the Kennedy We need to get serious Hearing Room waiting my about a living wage in turn to testify on behalf of Missouri, and there are many the $15 minimum wage solid reasons why our families bill, Board Bill 83 (BB83), are so deserving. We won’t the testimonies were heartbreaking. I kept thinking, get it if we think it’s okay “Why are we all here and why for employers to pay poverty wages so that taxpayers have are we fighting over chump to pick up the tab on food change?” stamps, Medicaid and other There were low-wage government benefits for these workers and their supporters companies’ employees. testifying for the righteous Many of us worked with need to make $15 per hour.

Jobs with Justice to collect There were also small thousands of signatures to put business owners coming to the initiative on the ballot. the podium who felt that Yet, here we go again, 10 BB83 would negatively years later. impact their bottom line, Let’s stop moonwalking maybe even force them to lay over the working class. Let’s off workers or, worse, close their doors. Both workers and go for that $27 million of the ruling class. small businesses should be

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

Confederate America and Nazi Germany

By Mike Jones Of The St. Louis American The prophet Jeremiah’s writes, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”

The sentiment in this scripture is reflected in the public musings about what will be America’s ultimate Guest Columnist response to the terrorist violence Mike at Emanuel Jones AME Church.

Will this be the beginning of changing the hearts and minds of America regarding the structural nature of white privilege?

Well, we have the answer, and we didn’t have to wait long.

A CNN poll this past week showed that 57 percent of white Americans see the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of Southern heritage, while only 33 percent see it as a symbol of racism. Even among college-educated whites, 51 percent agree with the Southern heritage position.

This poll reflects what I’ve always anecdotally believed: that about one-third of white America has historically been committed to racial justice, while the rest is somewhere between indifferent and hostile on the issue.

How would white Americans react if 57 percent of Germans said the Swastika was a symbol of their German heritage, not racism and genocide? Would white Americans believe that the Jewish people should be understanding and accepting of that view of German history? I think not.

In fact, Germany would still be an international pariah if it took the position on its Nazi past that America takes on its Confederate past.

Let’s be clear: There is no moral difference between the Antebellum South (or the Jim Crow South) and Nazi Germany.

Why do so many white Americans think black Americans should have their history treated with such ignorance and accept it being treated that way? And why do so many black Americans acquiesce?

Commentaries about the June 17 massacre at Mother Emanuel have mainly focused on the forgiveness of the

n Germany would still be an international pariah if it took the position on its Nazi past that America takes on its Confederate past. victims’ families or the soaring eloquence of the president’s eulogy. Comparatively little has been said about where the killer fits in the American narrative of racial violence. If the majority of white Americans cannot understand the inherent violence in a symbol of racial oppression like the Confederate flag, what’s the rational basis for anyone black believing white America will address the deeply rooted infrastructure of white supremacy?

The real issue for black America is how should we think about the data revealed

in the poll and how should we consciously understand our relationship with America, given the contradictions between white America’s historical memory versus America’s historical reality.

Black America needs an intellectually rigorous analysis of our place in America grounded in historical reality that could include hopeful aspirations, but must be utterly dismissive of the naïve, optimistic sentimentality that passes for much black thought today (this would be our balm, in the prophet’s terms).

During most of the 20th century, there was active discussion within the black community about the historical context of the black experience in America. Consider the debates between DuBois and Washington, or the differences personified by Martin and Malcolm. Black artists, thinkers and writers challenged themselves and us to understand and articulate what it meant to be black in America.

We have now produced several deseg generations who, because of their personal success, believe race is a secondary or subordinate issue in the America reality of the 21st century. The inability or unwillingness of many current black thought leaders to make race central to understanding the American experience is a critical factor in explaining why we have so much racism with so few avowed racists.

Shakespeare has some great advice on this point: “to thine own self be true,/ And it must follow, as the night the day,/ Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Mikes Jones is a member of the St. Louis American’s editorial board.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015 The DOJ report on the Ferguson Police Department revealed city prosecutor Stephanie Karr fixing a red-light camera ticket for a Ferguson judge, a speeding ticket for the relative of a Ferguson cop and a parking ticket at the request of the Ferguson mayor. She still prosecutes cases in Ferguson Municipal Court, on contract for her Clayton law firm Curtis, Heinz, Garret and O’Keefe.

Last desperado standing in Ferguson Municipal Court The EYE wonders if Stephanie Karr is starting to feel like the last member standing of a gang that has been decimated by law enforcement, when the law starts closing in on her at last. For some of Karr’s actions as city prosecutor in Ferguson look pretty suspect in the Department of Justice’s scathing report on Ferguson’s cops and courts, but unlike many other city officials singled out by name in that report – now former Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson, Municipal Court Judge Ronald Brockmeyer, City Manager John Shaw and Court Clerk Mary Ann Twitty – Karr still works for the taxpayers of Ferguson.

But, now, the Huffington Post has come for her.

Mariah Stewart, a reporter HuffPost shares with The American, dropped in recently on Ferguson Municipal Court, now presided over by an interim hire, Judge Donald McCullin, a venerable jurist nearing retirement age. He took the seat previously warmed by Brockmeyer, who was busted by the DOJ for colluding with Jackson and Shaw to raise money for the city through the police and courts. Brockmeyer

also “owed tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes even as he was jailing people who couldn’t afford Ferguson’s stiff fines,” as HuffPost noted.

But Karr still struts around the Ferguson muni court as prosecutor, and she was in fine form this evening, facing three defendants charged with noise ordinance violations and failure to comply at a Ferguson protest in August. “Did the protestors use the term ‘[Expletive] the police’?” Karr asked Ferguson Police Officer Sean Gibbons, the witness against the defendants. Judge McCullin sustained the objection raised by counsel John Ammann of SLU Law Legal Clinics (good for him), “finding that Karr’s question was improper,” HuffPost reported.

The DOJ found much else about Karr’s conduct in Ferguson that was improper, as HuffPost reminded us.

The DOJ reported that Karr and her assistants “officially prosecute all actions before the court,” but that most cases are in fact resolved “without trial or a prosecutor’s involvement.” It notes that in 2013, Karr – who also worked as a prosecuting attorney in Hazelwood – had a red-light camera ticket dismissed there

American Staff Illustration

for Judge Brockmeyer, her Ferguson crony. Also in 2013, Karr had a prosecutor from another municipality dismiss a speeding ticket for the relative of a Ferguson Police Department patrol supervisor.

Pulling a hat trick of petty municipal improprieties, Karr also had a parking ticket dismissed for someone at the request of Ferguson Mayor James Knowles in 2013.

The DOJ report also revealed Karr, or an assistant under her supervision, engaging in the routine, suspect, bullying legal behavior that has made St. Louis County municipal courts a national disgrace.

In 2014, the last year of Michael Brown Jr.’s short life, Ferguson prosecuted a case on Karr’s watch that started when black parents allowed their small children playing in a park

“to urinate in the bushes next to their parked car,” according to the DOJ report. An officer stopped them and checked the father for warrants, driven by Jackson to produce as many arrests and citations as possible to keep the revenue flowing.

When the mother asked if the officer needed to detain the father in front of the children, the DOJ reported, the officer told the father, “You’re going to jail because your wife keeps running her mouth.” The mother then began recording the incident on her cell phone.

The officer became irate, declaring, “You don’t videotape me!” As the officer drove away with the father in custody for “parental neglect,” the mother drove after them, continuing to videotape. The officer then pulled over and arrested her for traffic violations. When

the father asked the officer to show mercy, he said, “No more mercy, since she wanted to videotape. Nobody videotapes me.” The officer took the phone. After posting bond, the couple found that the video had been deleted.

Karr isn’t responsible for the actions of this officer, but she can be faulted for continuing to rely upon him as a witness, knowing what she knew. The officer had previously been “found untruthful” during an official Ferguson Police Department investigation, according to the DOJ. Yet the “prosecuting attorney” – Karr or an assistant under her supervision – “presented his testimony without informing [the father arrested in front of his children] of that fact,” according to the DOJ report.

“According to his own police department, the officer was a liar,” HuffPost noted.

“But the defendants were never told.” What is Karr not telling defendants in Ferguson Municipal Court that they ought to know now?

Karr did not respond to multiple requests from Huffington Post before they ran their article. A request for comment from The American also was ignored.

In a sense, Karr must feel like the last member of a gang holed up in the Ferguson hideout after the other desperadoes have been picked off, but in fact she is anything but alone in her work.

She is a principal of Curtis, Heinz, Garret and O’Keefe, the Clayton law firm that represents more municipalities than any other law firm in the St. Louis area. Some call the firm the “Robert McCulloch for the smaller municipalities,” and in fact the firm’s office is a stone’s throw from the county prosecutor’s office.

“Attorneys at the firm serve as city attorney or village attorney for over 20 municipalities in the area. Our attorneys have also served as special counsel to many other municipalities,” according to the firm’s site. “Additionally, several of our attorneys serve as prosecutors in municipal court for the cities we represent.” No conflict of interest?

Bob stays Speaking of Bob McCulloch, he also gets to keep his job for now.

Judge Joseph Walsh dismissed an action filed by four North County activists asking the judge to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the way McCulloch handled the Darren Wilson grand jury proceedings. In a 10-page opinion accompanying the order, St. Louis Public Radio reported, Walsh wrote that the activists had failed to prove that McCulloch “willfully or fraudulently violated or

neglected his official duty, or knowingly or willfully failed or refused to perform any official act or duty to execute or enforce the criminal laws of the state.”

An attorney for the activists, Jerryl Christmas, said he will appeal the ruling.

Knowles still could go Ferguson Mayor James Knowles still has his parttime job as well, though an activist group that fell just short in a signature-gathering effort to force a recall has filed suit, claiming they had valid signatures rejected for illegitimate and spurious reasons. The nation’s most notorious part-time councilman at large – that’s all a mayor is in Ferguson – may yet face a recall vote if this suit succeeds.

Mountain Dew in prison Out of his job and into the clink, however, goes Sylvester Caldwell, who was sentenced to 33 months in prison for extortion while serving as mayor of Pine Lawn.

In addition to the prison sentence, he was ordered to pay $5,500 restitution, which seems to be feds’ estimate of the value of all the free chips and soda pop the then-mayor pinched from the convenience store whose owners he extorted.

“The owner of the store also allowed him to take goods from the store out of fear that his business could suffer economic harm if he refused,” the feds noted.

The EYE understands Caldwell’s favorite flavor is Mountain Dew, as he used the Dew as coded language when requesting cash payments from a towing company he also extorted. “For example, he commanded the tow company owner to place ‘green Mountain Dew in a cup,’ which was code for directing that the cash be placed in a disposable cup,” the feds noted.

Caldwell’s case is a reminder that it’s not the smartest criminals who get caught.

There is a more lucrative way to cash in from a towing vendor. Just ask the City of St. Louis. But, as we all know, the federal investigation of the city towing scam pulled up short before putting any top cops behind bars. A former major metropolitan police chief used to visit his towing vendor buddies every month for “coffee” while his buddies were running a retitle-and-flip scam with cars they towed. Yet he remains a free man with a city pension driving a pearl-colored, late-model BMW to the opera, while little fish Caldwell gets the next 33 months in prison to remember that sweet Mountain Dew.

Business

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JULY 9 – 15, 2015

People On The Move Tony Scott is leaving St. Louis to anchor the afternoon drive slot for KRNB Smooth R&B 105.1 FM in Dallas, Texas.

He will depart from Radio One St. Louis’ Old School 95.5 FM, where he Tony worked as a weekend Scott personality for nine months. Previously, Scott spent 25 years at Clear Channel Radio’s Majic brand in St. Louis.

Misty Copeland was promoted to female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, the first African American to hold that position in the company’s 75-year history. Copeland Misty joined the company Copeland in April 2001 and was appointed a soloist in August 2007. “If I don’t rise to principal, people will feel I have failed them,” she wrote in her 2014 memoir, “Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina.”

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

On June 12, Malik Yoba addressed employees of Edward Jones who were involved with the Inclusion/Diversity Mentoring program headed by Emily Pitts, principal of inclusion and diversity at the firm.

Encouraging cross-cultural mentorships Program at Edward Jones ‘puts you with someone who is not like you’

By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American If everyone adopted mentorship as a lifestyle, the world would be a different place, said actor Malik Yoba, who spoke on June 12 at the culminating event of Edward Jones’ crosscultural mentoring program.

“My life would not be where it is without the people that have fed into me,” Yoba said, “and even more importantly the people whose lives I’ve fed into.”

For the seventh year, the firm’s St. Louis office – which is also the company’s national headquarters – offered a cross-cultural mentoring program. Here, any employee can make a one-

n “The program encourages more cross-cultural mentorships, because people tend to mentor someone just like themselves.”

– Emily Pitts

year commitment to serve as a mentor or mentee to someone within the firm. The program is voluntary, but every year anywhere from 400 to 600 employees participate.

“The impetus for the program is to encourage

more cross-cultural mentorships, because people tend to mentor or be mentored by someone just like themselves,” said Emily Pitts, principal of inclusion and diversity for the firm.

Arica Harris, project leader in the operations department, said Pitts makes a good point.

Sometimes it takes more of a formal approach to urge people towards mentorships that put them outside of their comfort zones, she said.

And often these are the just the relationships that employees need to push their careers forward, she said.

“It’s a great launching pad,” she said. “And it puts you with someone who is not like you.”

See ED JONES, B2

Deaconess grants $500K for children

‘We are improving the community’s infrastructure to care for youth’ American staff Deaconess Foundation granted more than a half-million dollars to 30 projects in the St. Louis area that improve systems and encourage policies that enhance child well-being.

“It is our hope that through our financial support we are n “We believe improving the community’s that it is infrastructure to care only through for children and youth, collaborative and also advancing and cooperative child well being as a engagement that civic priority,” said Reverend Starsky we can produce Wilson, president positive health and CEO of the changes in the foundation.

“We believe that lives of children.” it is only through collaborative – Rev. Starsky and cooperative Wilson engagement that we can produce positive health changes in the lives of children.”

The grants were led by the foundation’s commitment to provide another $100,000 commitment to Ready by 21, a nationally recognized collective approach to meeting the

Photo by Wiley Price

The Deaconess Foundation granted more than a half-million dollars to 30 projects in the St. Louis area that improve systems and encourage policies that enhance child well-being. needs of youth from cradle to career.

Other grantees included: Beyond Housing; City Garden Montessori School, Community Council of St. Charles County; Community Organizing and Family Issues; East Side Aligned / Ready by 21 – STL; Epworth Children & Family Services; Family Resource

Center; Greater East St. Louis Early Learning Partnership; Interfaith Legal Services for Immigrants; and Latinos En Axion STL. Also receiving Deaconess grants: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri; Let’s Start; See CHILDREN, B6

Abe A. Adewale was reelected to serve the second year of a three-year term as member of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri, Adewale is Abe A. principal of ABNA Adewale Engineering in St. Louis. The council is a state association of over 100 engineering companies, representing over 8,500 employees.

Nicole ColbertBotchway was appointed associate circuit judge for the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit, which covers the City of St. Louis,

by Gov. Jay Nixon.

She is currently an Nicole administrative hearing Colbertcommissioner for the Botchway State of Missouri.

Previously, she was an assistant attorney general for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. She also was an assistant circuit attorney for the St. Louis City Circuit Attorney’s Office.

Troy Nash has been appointed as a member of the Board of Directors for The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

He is currently the vice president, principal director of public sector Troy consulting with Nash Newmark Grubb Zimmer in Kansas City, Missouri. Nash is considered an expert in real estate and economic development partnerships with urban, suburban and rural communities.

Yashica McKinney is celebrating the completion of her entrepreneurship studies at Grace Hill Women’s Business Center. She is the owner of J.J Sing Catering. She has been featured on Fox Yashica 2 News twice for her McKinney desserts and healthy meal options and featured on Tony Scott Live Show to display her “Desserts In A Jar.”

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

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015

Personal Finance

Building a back-to-school budget

By Nathaniel Sillin Back-to-school spending isn’t just about clothes and markers anymore.

In 2014, Forbes reported that Accenture estimated (http://newsroom.accenture. com/images/20020/Graphic. pdf) that nearly half of respondents reported they would spend $500 or more on back-to-school expenses, including not only clothes and desk supplies, but electronics as well.

Yet there’s one more aspect of back-to-school spending that’s growing and can add hundreds – and sometimes thousands – to a family’s overall K-12 education budget.

Since the 2008 economic crisis, many public school systems have tried to make up for funding shortfalls by adding first-time or expanded fees for sports, extracurricular activities and specialized academics.

This means that back-toschool budgeting, even for families with kids in public school, now requires a more holistic, year-round approach to all back-to-school expenses.

Given their potential dollar amounts, parents should examine school fees first.

Public education has never been completely free of charge beyond local taxes – parents

have traditionally paid extra money to support their kids’ participation in sports, music or other extracurricular activities. However, many school systems are adding fees for a broader range of offerings including afterschool activities, top-level courses, lab-based instruction and even Advanced Placement (AP) classes. So before you start spending money on clothes and supplies that can be bought off-season, on sale or possibly used, get a handle on how applicable instruction and activity fees might affect your budget. (http:// www.practicalmoneyskills. com/ budgeting/). Parents in financial need may qualify for public aid or grants to cover such fees; if not, choices will need to be made.

Consider turning back-toschool shopping into a money lesson. Most kids like to have certain kinds of clothes, shoes or supplies. Those “wants” can be turned into a discussion about spending priorities, value, choice and comparison shopping. Using the Back to School Budget (http://practicalmoneyskills. com/calculators/calculate/ backToSchoolBudget. php?calcCategory=family) calculator with your kids can help them learn how create a budget before shopping for

transportation budget)

equipment with other parents

• Packing lunches at home

• Checking retail memberships for any back-toschool savings they offer

• Working with school administrators to raise outside donations or grant funding to cover parents’ out-of-pocket costs • Organizing school supplies in one place to avoid purchasing duplicates • Renting equipment, supplies or instruments used until a child’s interests are established • Scouting garage sales, thrift shops and online marketplaces for used, required-edition textbooks, instruments, electronics, sports equipment, clothes and other supplies you’d otherwise buy new; online resources shouldn’t charge shipping or return fees essentials. As kids get older, the discussion can expand to cover bigger-ticket purchases like smartphones, computers and fees for special courses and activities they want to pursue. Some of these issues might evolve into a discussion about earning money through chores or a part-time job.

Once priorities are decided, every expense should be tracked, including

a child’s round trip school transportation, meals, tutoring fees or immunization and healthcare expenses not covered by insurance. And once that budget is set, it means a constant search for smart ways to cut. Some ideas may include: • Car pooling (track your costs to make sure you’re not adding significantly to your overall

• Reviewing school and classroom supply lists before buying essentials • Bulk- and group-buying supplies and services with other parents to get volume prices • Consolidating back-to-school shopping during tax-free days (if your state offers them) • Swapping used supplies and

• Watching for print and online coupons or special discount offers through your school • Listening to your kids – they might spot moneysaving ideas faster than you can One final secret budget item – rewards. Saving money on back-to-school expenses can help parents meet a number of financial goals, but kids’ academic or activity success deserves recognition. Consider setting aside a little of those savings for a reward they can enjoy.

Bottom line: When setting your back-to-school budget this year, think beyond the supplies. Consider every possible fee and expense associated with your child’s school year and plan accordingly.

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

STL muni court cancels warrants issued for failure to pay

By Rachel Lippmann Of St. Louis Public Radio Defendants in St. Louis municipal court who face the risk of being arrested because they didn’t pay a fine or fee are getting a second chance.

July 31 deadline to get new court date to avoid arrest warrant

The city announced July 1 it is cancelling a total of 56,000 warrants that had been issued to 29,000 people individuals

who failed to pay. Those 29,000 people will get a letter offering them a new court date and a chance to explain why

they did not pay the initial for your arrest can cause fines and court costs. understandable stress and “This is the most ethical complications in seeking a job, and fair thing to do,” said housing, or other resources, Mayor Francis Slay in a which in turn, increases the statement. “We want people difficulties someone might to fulfill their obligations to have fulfilling their payment the law, but when a person’s obligations to the court in the only remaining first place,” Slay said n Warrants commitment is to in a statement. make a payment The change is part could still on their case, of a rule issued by be issued if doing so shouldn’t the Missouri Supreme people skip create an undue Court in December their new stress or burden.” that also requires Also starting municipal courts to court date or July 1, defendants allow individuals to ignore the who fail to pay in set up payment plans warning letter. or do community future cases will get the warning service to settle their letter asking them to come to fines and fees. Prior to this court. Warrants could be issued rule, if an individual showed if people skip their new court up to court but then didn’t pay date or ignore the letter. This the assessed fine, a warrant gives defendants 30 days and could be issued for his/her another court date to become arrest. compliant with their payment Follow Rachel Lippmann on obligations without the burden Twitter: @rlippmann. of an arrest warrant.

Reprinted with permission “Having a warrant out from news.stlpublicradio.org.

ED JONES Continued from B1

Harris started at Edward Jones two years ago and decided to join the program as a mentee, even though she holds a leadership position at the company. Her mentor was David Reifschneider, general partner of branch office administration, talent acquisition and performance.

“Since I was new to the firm, he helped me to identify people I should meet,” Harris said. “He helped me understand more about the culture of the

firm, to listen to what is said and what isn’t said.”

Harris learned that Reifschneider was a family man and previously a financial advisor. He always made sure she walked away from their conversations with something helpful, with some readings or some good tips on her project, she said.

Harris really appreciates that the company tries to make sure “everyone is on the same page in terms of what’s important.”

With more than 11,000 offices spread across all 50 states, the firm has more branch offices than any other brokerage firm in the country.

Dealing with STL Muni Court The St. Louis City Municipal Court is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday at 1520 Market St. (enter off of 16th Street). Defendants have until Friday, July 31 to get a new court date to avoid a warrant for their arrest.

An individual may choose to pay off his/her assessed fine any day at the court, or instead, he/she can receive a new court date to arrange payment. No money is required to schedule a new court date.

If a defendant cannot pay his/her fines in full, the court will give the individual additional time to pay or be put on a payment plan. St. Louis City municipal judges take into account a violator’s ability to pay and also may assign community service in lieu of assessed fines.

The company also pays attention to diversity and inclusion, she said. “That’s important if we are going to continue to grow,” she said.

“We are going to need to look like our clients. From an employee perspective, I think the firm is doing a great job at making sure we have an inclusive environment.”

As far as numbers go, the firm has a ways to go before they reflect the nation’s minority and female population. In 2013, six percent of Edward Jones’ advisors were people of color and about 18 percent were women. The firm’s Inclusion and Diversity Office told the St. Louis American that since 2013, their minority financial advisors have increased by 24 percent and by 17 percent for women.

Despite this, Pitts said Edward Jones has been recognized in the industry for their inclusion efforts. “And we are always looking for diverse talent to help contribute to our firm’s success,” she said.

As far as the mentor program, Pitts said they wanted to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to learn from the experience and knowledge of leaders at all levels.

She said, “The reality is we all stand on the shoulders of others, and it is a great way to pay it forward.”

n “The Spurs proved again that they’re the best organization in the NBA.” – Charles Barkley, after the Spurs signed top free agent LaMarcus Aldridge

Sports

INSIDE

SAM can be the next Moon ~ See ‘SportsEye’ page B4 ~

B3

JULY 9 – 15, 2015

Prep athletes of the year

Inside Sports With Earl Austin Jr.

‘High Profile’ summer hoops

Top area performers for 2014-15 in their respective sports

Mullen Tournament will be elite high school and junior college showcase

By Earl Austin Jr. Of The St. Louis American

It was a tremendous year of high school athletics in the St. Louis metropolitan area. We highlighted many of the top events from the past school year a couple of weeks ago in our annual Prep Year in Review.

This week, it is time to highlight some of the top athletes of the year in their respective sports.

Here is a look at the 2014-15 St. Louis American Prep Athletes of the Year by their sports.

Football (Offense): John Moten (John Burroughs). The senior running back rushed for 2,589 yards and scored 37 touchdowns to lead the Bombers to a 13-2 finish and a runner-up in the Class 3 Show Me Bowl.

Moten also led the Bombers to a second-place finish in the Class 3 state track and field meet. He is headed to Northwestern.

Football (Defense): Terry Beckner Jr. (East St. Louis).

The 6’5” 298-pound defensive end was rated among the top prospects in the country throughout his senior year.

Beckner was a force on defense with 74 solo tackles and three quarterback sacks. Beckner signed with the University of MIssouri over several of the nation’s top programs.

Soccer: Hassan Abdallah (Soldan). The senior striker from Kenya led the Tigers to a history-making 2014 campaign.

The Tigers advanced to the Final Four and the Class 2 state championship game, thus becoming the first school from the Public High League to accomplish this feat. Abdallah scored 22 goals to lead Soldan in scoring.

Girls Soccer: Charrisse Williams (Westminster). An excellent senior forward, Williams scored 16 goals and had 19 assists for an impressive total of 51 points. Williams helped the Wildcats to a 17-4 record and a share of the

McCluer North standout girls hurdler Jasmine Barge is the St. Louis American Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year after leading the Stars to their second consecutive state championship.

Metro League title. An excellent basketball player as well, she is headed to Lindenwood University on a basketball scholarship.

Softball: Anna Chisolm (Parkway North). One of the top players in the area, Chisolm finished her stellar career with

several of the school’s offensive records. As a senior, she batted

The St. Louis area will be the host to some high-level summer basketball this weekend.

National basketball talent evaluator Jerry Mullen will be bringing his high-powered showcase event to Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

The event will begin on Friday, July 10 and end on Sunday afternoon. It is a combination high school and junior college showcase with players coming from around the country.

The Mullen High Profile Tournament is a high school event that will bring together Earl summer basketball clubs from 13 Austin Jr. different states in the 15U, 16U and 17U divisions. The teams are coming from Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa and Colorado.

Local teams scheduled to compete this weekend are the St. Louis Eagles (15U, 16U), Southwest Illinois Jets (15U, 16U, 17U), Missouri Impact (16U, 17U), St. Louis n The Mullen Arch Ryvals (17U), Showcase Machine Elite (17U), event usually Southwest Illinois attracts between Titans (16U), St. Louis Wolves (16U), St. 400 and 500 Louis Blazers (16U) coaches from and St. Louis WITTSaround the Eagles (14U).

In conjunction country to St. Louis during this with the high school tournament, Mullen July evaluation will also bring close period. to 200 of the nation’s top junior college players to town for two big showcase events.

The JC Showcase will be held on Friday at Pattonville High. The Top 100 JC Camp will be held on Friday and Saturday at Lindenwood.

Several players from the St. Louis metro area will be participating in the showcase events.

Competing in the Top 100 Camp at Lindenwood will be Arlando Cook (Madison Prep) of Connor State (OK) College and 6’1”

See PREP, B4

See INSIDE, B5

In The Clutch

Champs and chumps in NBA free agency During the NBA’s free Antonio Spurs ran laps around agency moratorium, the the other teams in free agency. big dogs were wined, dined It’s almost embarrassing. The and promised the world in Spurs took care of business at recruitment of their services. home and made kepts its homeMeanwhile, coachgrown talent in tow by es and GMs are still reaching agreements busy trying to woo the with Tim Duncan, remaining second- and Kawhi Leonard and third-tier free agents to Danny Green. The shore up their rosters. team also nabbed arguIt’s the game within the ably the best player game. After the smoke available in LaMarcus clears, expect lots of Aldridge, beating out toasting and boasting the Los Angeles Lakers, from the winners in Ishmael H. New York Knicks, free agency and plenHouston Rockets and Sistrunk ty of wound licking others. Adding a perenand PR spin from the losers. nial All-Star like Aldridge to Though the game is far from a team just one year removed over, it’s not hard to separate from an NBA championship the champs versus the chumps with no significant losses to in this year’s offseason. the roster is huge. That signing alone would’ve put them atop Champs the list of winners. However, Gregg Popovich and the they also added former All-Star San Antonio Spurs: The San David West to the mix.

LaMarcus Aldridge (right) and Tim Duncan could bring back memories of the ‘Twin Towers’ when Duncan and David Robinson roamed the paint together in San Antonio. More importantly, they hope to bring another title to town.

West is currently getting the side eye from the player’s union after he opted out of a

$12.6 million contract with the Indiana Pacers to sign for the veteran’s minimum ($1.5m)

with the Spurs in order to chase a championship. He’s not alone though. Duncan is also catch-

n The San Antonio Spurs ran laps around the other teams in free agency. It’s almost embarrassing.

ing shade from the union as the future Hall of Famer is expected to earn around $5 million after taking a massive pay cut to help acquire talent for another title run. Between the two, there are lots of millions left on the table, but they both value championships over cheddar and it’s nobody’s business but their own.

See CLUTCH, B5

B4

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015

SportsEye With Alvin Reid

Sam can be the next Moon

It’s ‘put up or shut up’ time for first openly gay NFL draftee playing in CFL Michael Sam’s first shot team is 20-27 and has failed to to play in a regular season make the playoffs; the Rams professional football game ranked 31st in attendance out should have been in the of 32 teams; Forbes ranks the National Football League – not Rams as the NFL franchise the Canadian Football League. with the lowest value at $930 The 2013 SEC co-defensive million. player of the year didn’t enter The Rams have a staunch the 2014 NFL Combine as the defensive line that helped lead biggest, strongest or the NFL in sacks, so fastest defensive line maybe the question is, prospect. All he did “Why did the Rams was turn in the best draft Sam if it was season by a defensive known he would be end in the nation. cut regardless of his That alone should preseason statistics?” have gotten him The Dallas Cowboys, selected much higher a team that was in the 2014 NFL Draft. desperate for a pass Alvin The St. Louis Rams rusher, added Sam to Reid picked him in the last its practice squad in round as the 249th September. However, he of 256 total players drafted. never got a chance to play in a After a preseason that saw him regular season game before he register three sacks, 10 solo was released in late October. tackles and one assisted tackle, The Cowboys never the Rams released him. developed a decent pass rush SB Nation’s Cyd from its defensive Zeigler reported line during the n Five CFL last November 2014 season, championships finishing 28th that 90 percent of later, Warren players with Sam’s out of 32 teams preseason statistics with 1.8 sacks per Moon finally – regardless game. Its defense got a shot at of when they finished 24th, but the NFL and he the Cowboys had happened in games became a first- no use for Michael – were on a NFL roster.

Sam. ballot Hall of Rams head After the Famer. coach Jeff Fisher Cowboys called it “a football released Sam, his decision.” The preseason statistics overwhelming mysteriously majority of St. Louis media vanished from NFL.com, SB members accepted that Nation also reported. nonsense like it actually made So the NFL didn’t give sense. him a chance to show what he Fisher and the Rams front could do in a real game. Now office’s “football decisions” the CFL is giving him that have helped the team opportunity, but it is up to him accomplish very little since his to make it work. arrival three seasons ago. The Warren Moon led the

Michael Sam at a recent practice with the Montreal Alouettes.

Washington Huskies to the 1978 Rose Bowl title. He had the arm strength, the build and the intelligence to win in the NFL at quarterback. It was somehow determined by NFL

experts that he was not talented enough to play in the NFL. Five CFL championships later, Moon finally got a shot at the NFL and he became a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Did I

PREP

Continued from B3 .585 with eight home runs, 39 runs batted in, 15 doubles, four triples and 19 stolen bases. She had a career batting average of .591.

Cross Country: Dorrian Gordon (O’Fallon). The senior standout enjoyed a big season in earning All-State honors in Illinois. Gordon won the Southwetern Conference championship and followed up with a Class 3 sectional championship. He finished in 14th place at the Illinois Class 3A state championships.

He is headed to Saint Louis University.

Boys Basketball: Jayson Tatum (Chaminade). The 6’9” All-American enjoyed a stellar junior campaign in leading the Red Devils to a third-place finish in the Class 5 state tournament. Tatum averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds a game to lead the Red Devils in both catetories. He was ranked the No. 1 player in the USA in the Class of 2016 for much of the season. He is currently playing for the USA 19U team at the World Championships in Greece.

Girls Basketball: Napheesa Collier (Incarnate Word). The senior 6’2” superstar concluded

mention Moon is black?

Did I mention that Sam came out last year before the NFL draft, telling the world that he is gay?

Former NFL head coach

her career by leading the Red Knights to their third consecutive Class 4 state championships. Collier averaged 26.7 points, 13 rebounds and 4.1 blocks in leading IWA to a 29-2 record.

Collier earned a spot in the McDonald’s All-American game. She is headed to the University of Connecticut.

Wrestling: Romelle Pearson (Maplewood). The junior standout compiled an impressive 45-1 record and won the Class 2 state championship at 120 pounds.

Pearson defeated defending state champion Kaleb Popplewell of Maysville in an overtime thriller in the state championship match.

In two seasons, Pearson has advanced to the state championship match, having finished second as a sophomore in 2014.

Girls Volleyball: Leketor Member-Meneh (Lutheran South). An outstanding junior athlete, Member-Meneh led the Crusaders to a 20-95 record. A 5’8” outside hitter, she averaged nearly seven kills per set to lead the St. Louis area. She is also a standout on South’s basketball team.

Boys Volleyball: Cameron Hibbler (Westminster). The senior outside hitter emerged as the top player in the metro

Tony Dungy said he would not have drafted Sam because he would be a distraction.

He caught a whole lot of flak – some of it from the same people who let the Rams’ and Cowboys’ decisions to release Sam go unchallenged.

TMZ Sports reported last week that one of Sam’s Montreal Alouettes teammates said anonymously that Sam is “not my favorite teammate right now.”

Another player without the guts to put his name with his words said, “He needs to leave his personal life off the field and just play football like he really wants it. Hopefully he can turn it around and commit to the game, because he really does have potential.”

Sam brought this on himself by leaving the team for two weeks for undisclosed personal reasons. Naturally, the world assumes he left for some type of homosexual relationship drama. That sells better than it being a family matter, doesn’t it?

The Alouettes are 1-1 following a surprise 29-17 win over the defending CFL champion Calgary Stampeders on July 3.

Sam has yet to play a down this season, but should see his first action on Friday, July 10 when Montreal plays at Winnipeg.

It’s not the NFL, but it’s put-up-or-shut-up time for Michael Sam. He can begin to prove he could be another Warren Moon – or he could let the Rams, Cowboys and all the haters have the last laugh.

He has the opportunity. He has to make the most of it.

area in 2014. A 6’4” athlete, Hibbler led Westminster Christian to the Class 3 state championship as he led the St. Louis metro area in kills.

Baseball: Mike Million (CBC). An excellent senior catcher, Million batted .326 and drove in 19 runs to help the Cadets to the Class 5 state championship. Million was also a standout receiver on the Cadets’ Class 6 statechampionship football team.

Boys Track: Ja’Mari Ward (Cahokia). One of the top jumpers in the country, Ward led the Comanches to their fifth consecutive state championship by winning the long jump and triple jump while setting state records in the process. Ward was also a fixture on the Comanches sprint relay teams that dominated the field at the state meet.

Girls Track: Jasmine Barge (McCluer North). The star hurdler led the Stars to their second consecutive state championship. Barge won the 110-meter high hurdles and 300-meter intermedate hurdles at the state meet to complete an undefeated season in both events. She also was a silver medalist in the 200-meter dash. She finished her career as one of the top hurdles in the history of the Show-Me State.

B5

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015

INSIDE Continued from B3

guard De’Ante McMurray (Alton) of SWIC. Playing in Friday’s JC Showcase are 5’11” guard Rashad Lindsey (McCluer North) of Moberly, 6’6” Ranell Crossland (Hazelwood Central) of John A. Logan and 6’7” Devonta Halfacra (Maplewood) of Lewis & Clark.

The Mullen Showcase event usually attracts between 400 and 500 coaches from around the country to St. Louis during this July evaluation period.

For a complete schedule of games and tournament brackets, you can visit the event’s website at www.Mullensports.net.

Tatum wins gold

Southwest Illinois Titans 16U Basketball The Southwest Illinois Titans 16U boys basketball team has one of the top squads in the Midwest region.

They Titans are based out of the metro east and have many of the top players in Southwestern Illinois in the Class of 2017. During the spring AAU season, the Titans won the Coach T Classic and the Reebok March Mayhem Tournament (competing up in the 17U Division). They also finished third at the Adidas May Classic in Indianapolis and second place at the Eddie Ford Hoopfest in Louisville. This weekend, the Titans will be competing in the Mullen’s High Profile Tournament at Lindenwood University in St. Charles.

They will also be playing in the NY2LA Summer Jam in Milwaukee in July. The team members are (back row, left to right) Anthony Smith, coach; Charles Colson, Sr., coach, Dalton Fox (Belleville West), Edwin Brown (Althoff), Jordan Parks (Belleville West), Marvin Bateman (Althoff), Tyler Dancy (Belleville West), C.J. Coldon (Althoff), Thomas Bell (Cahokia), Mark Smith (Edwardsville), Davion Fox, head coach, Davanon Fox, head coach; Willie Manuel, coach. (Front row, Tyreke Jones, (Belleville West), Devin Manuel (Cahokia), Arthur Carter (East St. Louis), Davion Nash (SLUH). Not pictured, Fred Dancy, coach, Reyondous Estes (East St. Louis).

CLUTCH Continued from B3

DeAndre Jordan: Jordan was the other marquee name in free agency and had plenty of things to consider. Jordan played a major role in the return to relevancy of the Los Angeles Clippers. He could’ve chosen to stay in L.A. and played on a championship contender for years to come.

Jordan wasn’t happy being the third wheel behind Blake Griffin and Chris Paul.

Jordan was rarely involved in the offense and was mostly left getting his own buckets by way of rebounds or finding open lanes for alley oops.

He plead with the coaching staff to be included more in the offense but was always an afterthought. When Griffin went down with a staph infection, Jordan showed what he could do when showcased on both ends of the court.

Jordan averaged 16 points and 17.2 rebounds per game in February.

After striking out on premier free agents for years, Mark Cuban finally hit the jackpot by reeling in a big fish. He told Jordan he could be the man in Dallas as Dirk Nowitzki is prepared to pass the torch to a younger player. Jordan will have help as the Mavs also added Wesley Matthews from the Portland Trail Blazers. Too bad Monte Ellis left for the Indiana

Pacers. Dallas is still a top point guard away from being a true contender, but if healthy they should make the playoffs.

David Lee: Lee was overlooked all season long in Golden State. After an injury early in the season, Lee got his spot taken by Draymond Green and rode pine for most of the year until he helped jump start his team in the NBA Finals after Andrew Bogut got benched for starring in too many Timofey Mosgov posters. Lee proved to the doubters that he can still play, earned

a championship ring, then got shipped back to the East where he can shine. No, Lee will certainly not be in the mix for a championship as a Celtic, however, he should be able to start, put up solid numbers, return to the playoffs and get a nice, fat paycheck in next season’s free agent market when the team salary caps jump quite a bit.

Chumps Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks: Let’s face it, the Knicks and Lakers could combine rosters and still possibly miss the playoffs

Chaminade College Prep All-American Jayson Tatum helped lead Team USA to a gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championships in Greece.

Tatum averaged 13.7 points as Team USA finished with a 7-0 record. He scored 13 points in USA’s 79-71 overtime victory over Croatia in the gold-medal game. Tatum also earned his third gold medal as a member of USA Basketball.

Alfred Williams to coach HSSU Harris-Stowe State University has tabbed Alfred Williams as its new men’s basketball coach.

in the West. The rosters are very similar, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and a bunch of random guys. LeBron James might be able to win with a bunch of average Joe’s, but neither Bryant nor Anthony can at this point in their respective careers. To make matters worse, their bodies are starting to break down and both contracts will be an albatross for their respective organizations. The teams struck out with almost every free agent they pursued. Aldridge? Nope.

Former Madison Prep basketball standout Arlando Cook will be one of the top players featured at the Jerry Mullen Top 100 Junior College Showcase at Lindenwood University this weekend.

Williams, 31, comes to HarrisStowe from Xavier University (LA) where he was an assistant coach from 2009-2015. Williams was also a standout player at Xavier. Congratulations to Alfred Williams.

Jordan? Nope. Greg Monroe?

He didn’t just say no, he chose the Milwaukee Bucks instead!

Nothing more needs to be said.

Both will struggle to win 30 games even if their stars remain healthy.

Portland Trail Blazers: The Blazers won 51 games and earned a #5 seed in the tough Western Conference. They did the right thing and ponied up a max contract to Damian Lillard. However, Lillard will be on the only starter to

return as they dealt Nicholas Batum then watched Aldridge, Matthews and Robin Lopez depart via free agency. Things are going to be bad in Portland this season.

Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo (for $10M?) and George Karl? Let me know how that works out for you.

Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @ IshmaelSistrunk

B6

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015

‘Major’ support for County NAACP Elson Williams, Community Affairs Liaison for Major Brands, visited with John Gaskin lll, chairman of the 2015 Freedom Fund Leadership Dinner for the St. Louis County Branch of the NAACP (and national NAACP board member) at the dinner’s VIP Reception, which Major Brands sponsored. “With community support, the St Louis County NAACP will work on municipal court reform, economic empowerment, ensuring health equity, and ensuring that children have quality, reliable and equal neighborhood schools,” Williams said. “The work of the St Louis County NAACP is so critical in these times to move the region forward.”

CHILDREN Continued from B1

Mathews-Dickey Boys’ & Girls’ Club; Metropolitan Congregations United for St. Louis; Missouri Budget Project; Missouri Children’s Leadership Council; Missouri GSA Network; Missouri Health Care for All; Missouri Jobs with Justice; National Conference for Community and Justice of Metropolitan St. Louis; Nine Network; Shut It

Down!; St. Louis Graduates; St. Louis Torchbearers 2; Teen Pregnancy and Prevention Partnership; The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis; Vision for Children at Risk; and Wyman Center.

The foundation’s announcement came at its daylong “Children at the Center” event at the Jackie JoynerKersee Foundation in East St. Louis on June 20. Hundreds of families attended the festival alongside community leaders, such as Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Mayor Jackson-Hicks of

East. Louis. The free festival included food, games, music, face painting with podcasting, film and break dance workshops for teens.

Deaconess, a ministry of the United Church of Christ established in 1889, has invested more than $74 million to improve the health of the St. Louis community since 1998.

For more information about Deaconess Foundation or its funding opportunities, visit www.deaconess.org.

Check out this week’s

PARTYLINE See Page C6

C1 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

STL bids farewell to Tony Scott

Beloved radio personality Tony Scott is leaving St. Louis to take the afternoon drive slot at Smooth R&B 105.7 KRNB in Dallas. The station streams live at http://krnb.com/listen/.

Staple radio personality heads to KRNB in Dallas

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American As a longtime fan of Tony Scott, it was bittersweet to learn that he had landed a fulltime position after being in limbo for the past couple of years.

While overjoyed that he would once again grace the airwaves during the afternoon drive slot all week long, it stung to know that it would not be here in St. Louis. n “I remember Scott had spent the past eight the first time I months getting back in the heard you in swing of things St. Louis. I was as a weekend personality for still in my teens Radio One St. – and now I’m Louis. He will now be heard in a grandmother. his home state of Texas on the urban You will truly be adult contemporary missed.” station Smooth R&B 105.7 KRNB – Otha Thomas in Dallas.

Until 2013, Scott was the exception to the “here today, gone later today” atmosphere of radio for St. Louis listeners.

As a leading personality for the nowdefunct Majic brand – which was recently re-launched as 100.3 The Beat – he actually became a staple as the corporate climate bled into the radio industry and seemed to transition towards syndication as opposed to local connection.

When he was let go as host of his morning See SCOTT, C4

Urban lineup provided old-school party for Fair STL

kool and the Gang

Toni! Tony!

Tone!

By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American Though Kool and the Gang would get the distinction of headliner, Morris Day and The Time proved timeless with their impeccably orchestrated set at Fair St. Louis for the 4th of July.

Fair St. Louis devoted its final night to the urban element of the city with an old-school lineup of hip-hop, R&B and pop.

It was definitely an old-school party as the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s babies could relate most to the lineup that included The Dirty Muggs, MC Lyte, Toni!

Tony! Tone!, The Time, and Kool and the Gang.

But nearly all of the tens of thousands sprawled across Art Hill in Forest Park on Saturday evening managed to find a groove.

Extremely popular local cover band The Dirty

Muggs opened the Budweiser performance stage.

As usual, the group delivered a solid, if familiar, performance.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, pioneering female rapper MC Lyte gave a set that felt especially improvised. Recognized as one of the first woman solo performers to gain critical and commercial success in hip-hop, Lyte chose to highlight more of her new material than the classics.

“Keep On Keepin’ On,” “Georgie Porgie,” See CONCERT, C4

The TIme Photos by lawrence Bryant

Fundisha turns 20

Grass-roots African arts troupe celebrates anniversary July 12 at History Museum

By Mama Lisa Gage For The St. Louis American

Mama Lisa of Fundisha Enterprises at the 2015 Annie Malone parade.

Oh, my, has it been 20 years already? What a grand journey it has been.

Armed with three young children aged 5, 4 and 2 years old, I took up the challenge of trying to raise them alone. Being a divorced, single mother not only changed my life, but it helped me to develop a better relationship with my community.

Like all moms, I needed help with finding local activities geared towards enriching my kids. Yet, my desire was to have them immersed in black arts.

By the mid-1990s, I had already danced with five dance companies. I gained my first professional experiences with the Black Rep under director Ron Himes and choreographer Terri Brown. My feet danced on to the beats of Cambooley (with Oswald Moses of Trinidad), Afi Ama Folk Performing Company, Unity Art Ensemble, and the McCree Theater dancers of Detroit.

I stretched my skills to include drumming and song and became inspired to delve deeper by getting trained in costume-making and design.

I began to travel throughout the year to attend African dance conferences. These dance feasts always included people from around the world sharing their cultural and oral traditions in dress, See FUNDISHA, C4

• Only Online •

George Clinton and Parliament bring the funk to Ballpark Village The District Rhythms summer concert series at FOX Sports Midwest Live will return this Sunday (July 12) with the legendary George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic.

www.stlamerican.com

Calendar

C2

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015 1050 Smith Ave., 63135.

For more information, call (314) 399-7470 or visit www. africandiasporacouncil.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

Fri., July 18, 5 p.m., Integrity Resolutions, Inc. presents 2nd Annual Sipping for a Cause Wine Tasting Fundraiser.

Do you like wine? So do we! So what better reason to sip than to help your community? This event will be a night packed full of music and fun, and wine of course, all to benefit the communities we serve right here in the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area.

Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar Blvd., 63112.

For more information, call (314) 594-7538 or visit www. eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annualsipping-for-a-cause-winetasting-fundraiser-the-whiteparty-tickets.

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

concerts Thur., July 9, 7 p.m., 100.3 The Beat presents Summer Block Party feat. Jill Scott, Common, and special guest DJ Jazzy Jeff. Peabody Opera House, 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 499-7600 or visit www.peabodyoperahouse.com.

Sun., July 12, 6 p.m., Ballpark Village and Old School 95.5 present District Rhythms Summer Concert Series feat. George Clinton and ParliamentFunkadelic. Ballpark Village, 601 Clark Ave., 63102. For more information, call (314) 345-9481 or visit www. stlballparkvillage.com.

Tues., July 14, 7 p.m., Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre presents the Boys of Zummer Tour feat.

Fall Out Boy, Wiz Khalifa, Hoodie Allen, and DJ Drama.

14141 Riverport Dr., 63043.

For more information, call (314) 298-9944 or visit www. ticketmaster.com.

Sun., July 19, 6 p.m. (5 p.m. doors) Community Women Against Hardship’s Summer Jazz Concert featuring Marquis Hill, winner of the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition performing a Tribute to Freddie Hubbard.

Accompanying him are local talented musicians : Jerome “Scrooge” Harris on drums, Matt Villanger, piano, Jeffrey Anderson, bass and Chad Evans, Saxophone. Jazz at the Bistro, 3536 Washington Blvd.

For more information, visit www.cwah.org. All proceeds benefit CWAH’s Programs and Services.

Thur., July 23, 7 p.m., Peabody Opera House presents Fifth Harmony.

After seeing them perform individually, Simon Cowell decided that individual contestants Dinah Jane Hansen, Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke,

Normani Kordei, and Camila Cabello were too special to let go, so the five young women became Fifth Harmony. With their show-stopping vocals, undeniable charisma, and genuine sisterly bond, the “fearsome fivesome” endeared themselves to viewers across the country. Peabody Opera House, 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 499-7600 or visit www.peabodyoperahouse.com.

local gigs Sat., July 11, 8 p.m., The Essential Soul Janet Jackson Tribute Concert. Let us take you through a high energy, musical journey while performing many of Janet Jackson’s most favorable and popular releases over the span of her career. Great food, drinks, and a cast of experienced, talented musicians and vocalists. Voce, 212 S. Tucker Blvd., 63102.

For more information, visit www.eventbrite.com.

Fri., July 17, 5 p.m., Grand Center presents Music at the Intersection. The festival kicks off with a “happy hour” blues and jazz concert in Strauss Park (3534 Washington Ave., 63103) complete with local beer tents, street art, food and drink specials, and so much more. Grand Center, 3526 Washington Ave., 63103.

For more information, call (314) 289-1500 or visit www. grandcenter.org.

special events Thur., July 9, 5 p.m., Dot Foods Recruiting and Networking Event. Dot Foods, the nation’s largest food industry redistributor, is hiring for careers in sales and business development and 2016 internships. Come out and learn more about the company and available

Standing Room Only presents DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown a.k.a Erykah Badu.

See SPECIAL EVENTS for details.

career opportunities. Sheraton Clayton, 7730 Bonhomme Ave., 63105. For more information, call (636) 5374002. To register, visit www. dotfoods.com/stlcareers.

Fri., July 10, 5 p.m., ALIVE magazine presents St. Louis Summer Fest. This is fun in the sun block party and bazaar brings together 40+ local makers, live music, street performers, Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy and more.

MX District on Washington Ave., 63101. For more information, call (314) 2222994 or visit www.alivemag. com.

Sat., July 11, 3 p.m., Diamonds Elite Cheer Squad presents Diamonds Elite Showcase: Mardi Gras in July. Come out to support a good cause and a guaranteed good time of dance performances, door prizes, swag bags, Cajun themed concessions and more.

Jennings Senior High School, 8850 Cozens, 63136. For more information, call (314) 4782257 or visit www.facebook. com/KHDiamonds.

Sat., July 11, 8 p.m. doors, Standing Room Only presents DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown a.k.a Erykah Badu live at the Lux Theatre, 2619 Washington Ave. July 11 – 12, Fundisha Turns 20! Dance Workshops and Performance. CEO and artistic director of Fundisha

Enterprises, Mama Lisa celebrates 20 years of the company’s arts-education service to St. Louis showcasing the music, songs, and dances of Africa, the Caribbean, and African American cultures.

5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112.

For more information, call (314) 746-4599 or visit www. mohistory.org.

July 11 – 12, Slide the City 2015. Embrace your inner child and get ready for the slide of your life! Slide the City is bringing the biggest water party of the summer to St. Louis. Grab your swimsuit and speed down this one of a kind 1000ft slip and slide. There will be music, dancing, food, drinks, and even some swag for sale so you can soak up the sun in style. 2000 Market St., 63103. For more information, visit www.slidethecity.com/ events/st-louis.

Sun., July 12, 2 p.m., National Society of Black Engineers St. Louis Gateway – Professional Chapter presents the Annual Scholars Reception. The reception is an important networking event for students, NSBE members, companies and the public. Whitaker Hall, Washington University, 1 Brookings Dr., 63130. For more information, call (314) 513-4408 or visit www. eventbrite.com.

Fri., July 17, 5:30 p.m., Emerson Free Family Night at the Magic House. This

special night allows a family (no more than two adults and four of their own children) to enjoy more than 100 hands-on exhibits at The Magic House at no charge. Reservations are not required. 516 S. Kirkwood Rd., 63122. For more information, call (314) 822-8900 or visit www.magichouse.org.

Sat., July 18, 9 a.m., Ferguson 1000 Jobs and SLATE host a Hiring Event.

This event is for the entire St. Louis region. Business attire required. Participants can register on the Missouri jobs website (jobs.mo.gov) or at SLATE (1520 Market St., 63103) or at American Job Center (26 N. Oaks Plaza, 63121). There will also be event prep sessions on July 13 at 10 a.m. and July 15 at 5 p.m. at the Community Center.

Ferguson Community Center, 1050 Smith Ave., 63135.

For more information, call (314) 521-4661 or visit www. ferguson1000jobs.com.

Sat., July 18, 5 p.m., African Diaspora Council Annual Anniversary Dinner honoring Nelson Mandela’s Life & Legacy. The focus of this event is to honor the works of our great Legend Nelson Mandela. A man of compassion, courage and served his community. He focused on the betterment of civilization. He desired to improve the lifestyle of all he helped. He loved his country and people unto death.

Ferguson Community Center,

Wed., July 22, 6 p.m., Macy’s presents Jammin’ Rock n’ Roar at Jammin’ at the Zoo. The Young Zoo Friends invite you to a 21-and-up celebration at the Saint Louis Zoo to enjoy music, beer and wine at Jammin’ at the Zoo. This event features a variety of wine and beer for purchase. St. Louis Zoo, 1 Government Dr., 63110.

For more information, call (314) 781-0900 or visit www. stlzoo.org.

July 27 – Aug. 1, The Robert L. Reed Tap Heritage Institute presents The 24th Annual St. Louis Tap Festival. This weeklong event aims to educate, promote, and celebrate the art form of tap dance. We bring the world’s best tap dancers to teach classes, perform, and to inspire kids in the St. Louis area and throughout the world.

The festival offers master workshops, performances, salsa night, tap jams, dances, a panel discussion, and culminates in the annual All That Tap XXIV Concert on August 1, at 7 pm at Edison Theatre (6445 Forsyth Blvd., 63130). Registration is open and space still available for classes and workshops, which encompass all levels from beginner to advanced.

Sheraton Clayton Plaza Hotel, 7730 Bonhomme Ave., 63105.

For more information, call (314) 531-8277 or visit www. tapheritage.org.

Tues., July 28, 7:30 p.m., The Peabody Opera House presents An Evening with Harry Connick, Jr. His meteoric rise in the world of music was only a prelude to a multi-faceted career. This pianist, vocalist, composer,

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15, 2015 band leader, actor, and philanthropist has received awards and recognition for his live and recorded musical performances, and for his achievements on screens large and small as well as the Broadway stage. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 499-7600 or visit www. peabodyoperahouse.com.

comedy Fri., July 31, 8 p.m., The Peabody Opera House presents The Wendy Williams Sit Down Tour: Too Real for Standup. 1400 Market St., 63103. For more information, call (314) 499-7600 or visit www.peabodyoperahouse.com.

Fri., July 31, 9 p.m., Tew Silly Entertainment presents Foolish Friday 2. Hosted

by Tew Jennings with Dj BiggSexy providing the music.

Featuring the comedic styles of Reggie Edwards and Precious J with headliner comedian J. Jenkins. City Bistro, 2718 Gravois Ave., 63118. For more information, call (314) 329-5839 or visit www. tewjennings.com.

literary Fri., July 17, 7 p.m., Left Bank Books hosts author Cynthia Levinson, author of Watch Out for Flying Kids!: How Two Circuses, Two Countries, and Nine Kids Confront Conflict and Build Community. Levinson takes readers inside the world of social circus—a movement that brings kids from different worlds together, facilitating social justice through circus arts. Through more than 100 hours of interviews, Levinson follows the child-stars of two professional social circuses: Circus Harmony in St. Louis, whose participants are innercity and suburban kids, and Circus Galilee in Israel, whose participants are Jewish and Arab children. The event will also feature a performance by

members of Circus Harmony.

399 N. Euclid Ave., 63108. For more information, call (314) 367-6731 or visit www.leftbank.com.

Ballpark Village and Old School 95.5 present District Rhythms Summer Concert Series feat. George Clinton and ParliamentFunkadelic.

For more information, see CONCERTS.

Sat., Aug. 15, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library hosts Senator Claire McCaskill, author of Plenty Ladylike: A Memoir. Individual Ticket $35 (admits one and includes one copy of the book) or Package Ticket - $45 (admits two and includes one copy of the book). Tickets go on sale July 1. Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 63131. For more information, call (314) 994-3300 or visit www.slcl.org.

theatre Sat., July 11, 8 p.m., Kranzberg Arts Center presents Life, Loss & Laughter: A Musical Homecoming w/ Dominic Windsor. 501 N. Grand Blvd., 63103. For more information, call (314) 533-0367 or visit www.kranzbergartscenter.com.

Through July 12, The Muny presents Holiday Inn. Happy holidays - all of them! Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn comes to joyous and extravagant life on the Muny stage. A Muny premiere, this will be only the second production in the world of this new musical based upon the beloved 1942 film. With thrilling dance numbers and lively comedy, this wonderful new show features Irving Berlin classics like Easter Parade, Steppin’ Out With My Baby, Shakin’ The Blues Away, Be Careful, It’s My Heart, and more. 1 Theatre Dr., 63112.

For more information, call (314) 361-1900 or visit www. muny.org.

July 13 – 19, The Muny presents The Buddy Holly Story. The story of beloved American rock ‘n’ roll icon Buddy Holly explodes onto the stage. Buddy Holly created the sounds and styles that made American rock ‘n’ roll, and this fantastic show features songs you’ve loved for decades:

That’ll Be The Day, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Peggy Sue, and Johnny B. Goode! Another Muny premiere, this show is an all-American summer night’s energy boost. 1 Theatre Dr., 63112. For more information, call (314) 361-1900 or visit www.muny.org.

arts July 10 – Aug. 2, Urban Wanderers Faces of Survival.

Featuring artwork inspired by hopeful recovery stories of Stray Rescue’s abandoned and abused companion animals.

Paintings, photographs, sculptures and more will be displayed and available for auction. All proceeds benefit Stray Rescue of St. Louis.

There will be an opening reception on July 10, at 5 p.m. Come meet the artists on Friday July 24 at 5:30 p.m.

The Tail End, closing day and celebration will take place Sunday, Aug. 2, at 11 a.m.

Gallery 400, 400 Washington Ave., 63102. For more information, call (314) 7716121. To bid on exhibit pieces, visit www.blacktie-Missouri. com/auctions.

Sat., July 18, 11 a.m., St. Louis ArtWorks Annual

Summer Sale. Handmade prints, found object poetry sculpture, greeting cards, bike art, birdhouses, small-scale sculptures, dream catchers, and much more, all made by St. Louis ArtWorks Apprentices.

Old North Studio, 2707 N. 14th St., 63106. For more information, call (314) 2894180 or visit www.stlartworks. org.

lectures/ workshops Thur., July 23, 9 a.m., JCI Symposium on Social Equality. This empowering and free symposium will focus on the search for human dignity in the 21st century.

We will unite local, regional, national and international leaders and experts and provide constructive conversation on how we can sustain social equality for all people. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, UMSL, 1 University Blvd., 63121. For more information, call (636) 4493100 or visit www.jci.cc/ ourevents.

Sun., July 26, 1 p.m., Missouri History Museum presents That’s the Way It

C3 Was: Stories of Struggle, Survival and Self-Respect in Twentieth-Century Black St. Louis. Segregation was a way of life in St. Louis, aptly called “the most southern city in the North.” Collected

by Vida “Sister” Goldman Prince, these 13 oral histories describe the daily struggle that pervasive racism demanded but also share the tradition of self-respect that the African American community of St. Louis sought to build on its own terms. 5700 Lindell Blvd., 63112. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.

Mon., July 27, 10 a.m., St. Louis OASIS presents The Life and Legacy of Annie Malone. A chemist and entrepreneur, Annie Turnbo Malone became a millionaire by successfully developing and marketing hair products for black women in St. Louis.

She used her wealth to promote the advancement of African Americans and gave most of her money to charity. 50 Gay Ave., 63105. For more information, call (314) 8624859 or visit www.oasisnet. org/STL.

health July 17, Community Women Against Hardship 10th Annual Golf Tournament, Forest Park Golf Course. For more information, call Ron Bradley (314) 629-2681 or Carolyn Barnes (314) 3037985 Sat., July 18, 10 a.m., NBC’s The Biggest Loser open casting call. Teams of two (spouses, siblings, parent/adult child, best friends, co-workers) who have at least 80 lbs. to lose are encouraged to apply for the new season. Our open call in St. Louis will be held Saturday, July 18th. We would River City Casino & Hotel, 777 River City Casino Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63125.

Sat., July 25, 11 a.m., Trinity Mt. Carmel Health Fair. The Health Unit will be hosting our bi-yearly health fair, which

will have vendors catering to children and adults. The vendors will provide screenings and demonstrations. We will raffle gift cards and gift baskets. You must be present and complete our bingo vendor form to participate in the raffle. Resource Center, 11015 Old Halls Ferry Rd., 63136.

For more information, call (314) 202-9008 or visit www. trinitymt.org.

Sun., July 26, 1 p.m., The YMCA of Greater St. Louis and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Epsilon Lambda Chapter host a Farmer’s Market. Bringing fresh and healthy choices right to your neighborhood.

Come over for top-notch food, better prices, and a great social atmosphere. O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex YMCA, 4343 West Florissant Ave., 63115. For more information, call (314) 932-1423 or visit www.ymcastlouis.org.

spiritual July 23 – 25, 5th Annual Women of Destiny Conference: Removing the Mask. Thursday at 7 p.m. – worship service with guest speaker, First Lady Wooden; Friday at 7 p.m. – panel discussion “Under the Surface: Time to Exfoliate”; Saturday at 11 a.m. – Luncheon at the Courses at Forest Park with guest speaker, First Lady Hankerson (6141 Lagoon Dr., 63112). All Creation Northview Holiness Family Church, 1442 Hudson Rd., 63135. For more information, call (314) 4415776 or visit www.acnhfc.com.

Sat., Aug 1, 10 a.m., Myrtle Hilliard Davis 2nd Annual Gospel Brunch featuring Happy Guitar, June Mason, Fair Fax, Sherice Taylor and Cool Valley Singers. Norwood Hills Country Club, One Norwood Hills Country Club Drive, St. Louis, MO 63121.

For more information regarding the event, please contact Mary Payne at 314-367-5820 ext.

2310 or email her at mpayne@ mhdchc.org.

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

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SCOTT Continued from C1 show in 2013, his competition was Tom Joyner and Rickey Smiley. Listeners were devastated – and expressed such through several social media channels.

His departure from Radio One St. Louis was much more amicable. Scott was able to sign off to fans on Wednesday and thank them for listening to him over the years. It was still a sinking feeling to know that after nearly 30 years he would no longer be a local option for those who grew up with him on the air.

Hundreds chimed in on Facebook.

“I remember the first time I heard you in St. Louis,” Otha Thomas said. “I was still in my teens – and now I’m a grandmother. You will truly be missed.”

Scott came in as the straight man replacement for Kevin Woodson on the Majic 108 Morning Show as part of “The Breakfast Crew” in the late 1980s. He and funny man Marc Clark instantly clicked, and

the connection could be felt through the airwaves.

After several years together, Clark moved to Baltimore. But the show went on for Scott.

Scott became more than just a personality to St. Louis listeners – made evident by the “Uncle Tony” term of endearment bestowed on him during the last half of his 27 years on the air here.

“I grew up with Tony Scott.

He is like family,” Marlo Smith said. “I will miss him coming over our airwaves, but I know all good things must come to an end.”

He proved himself multifaceted too. His gift stretched beyond setting up the bit. He had a knack for tuning in to those who listened to him.

“This is a major loss for this city,” said Rahman Warner Sr. “Growing up, Tony Scott is St Louis. If you grew up listening to Majic, you can’t help but agree. Ever that conduit to what was going on in the city, region, nation and globe. I know he will do well in Dallas.”

People would often hit him with an imitation of his own, “Yeah, man …” catchphrase when they ran into him in public or when he hosted

remotes and special events.

The points he made about particular topics would linger in the conversations of listeners long after he signed off.

At his best, he would bring the most compelling barbershop and salon conversations to the airwaves. He would share his own experiences – particularly his blended family dynamic – as a springboard for relatable conversation.

“Tony was a DJ extraordinaire here in St. Louis who had the Midas touch for playing good music and presenting thought-provoking conversational topics that engaged the listener,” Ronald Brunson said.

Scott’s departure from St. Louis radio delivers the same sting as when the patriarch of a beloved family accepts an outof-town promotion. Everyone knows it’s what’s best, even though it doesn’t feel like it.

“Blessings on your new endeavor,” said Patricia Brown.

“May your voice, humor and wisdom continue to guide you as you share your gift with others.”

Listen to Tony Scott’s new station in Dallas online at http://krnb.com/listen/.

Mama Lisa Gage at the 2015 Annie Malone parade. Her company, Fundisha Enterprises, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a free show at the Missouri History Museum 2 p.m. Sunday, July 12.

FUNDISHA Continued from C1 language, foods and folklore.

I was on fire as I gallivanted to Los Angeles, New Orleans, Boulder, Colo., New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Denver, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Orlando, Fla., Oakland, Calif. and East St. Louis, Ill. in search of my roots.

Rooting myself deeper helped to propel me to an epiphany: Why send my kids to other programs for arts enrichment? I can do it myself!

And I did.

In 1995, I founded Fundisha Enterprises, a cultural arts education company. I decided to focus on Pan-African legacies that were kept alive not only in Africa, but in the Caribbean and in the Americas as well. The company has since provided music, song, dance, folklore and craft arts instruction to thousands of kids in the St. Louis metro area.

In the early years, I catered to single moms. Having three kids under the age of six meant that no one wanted to babysit for me. So, I empowered myself by hosting other

Photo by Lawrence Bryant

Morris Day and the Time

CONCERT Continued from C1 “I Rock The Party” and her featured verse on Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down” were about it as far as the familiar music goes.

Though more attention to her staples would have certainly been appreciated, she didn’t lose the crowd with her new material, freestyle segment or the part of the show where she stepped behind the DJ booth to spin a few hip-hop and R&B classics.

1990s R&B band Toni!

Tony! Tone! followed MC Lyte. They completely succumbed to the sound woes that MC Lyte was able to work around. They kicked the show off with their debut hit “Little Walter” and had the crowd’s full attention. But malfunctioning microphones and muted instruments took a toll on the band’s energy.

The audience would follow suit as Toni! Tony! Tone! stumbled through “It Never Rains in Southern California,” “Whatever You Want” and “Feels Good.”

Following the technical

difficulties of Toni! Tony!

Tone!, The Time would take the liberty of an extended sound check. The decision paid off in major way in their effort to steal the show from the previous acts – as well as show closer Kool and the Gang.

The crowd cheered on the antics of front man Morris Day’s famously flashy and

n “When you’re cool from the inside out, you don’t sweat – you condensate,” Morris Day said as he proceeded to soak through his burgundy suit.

equally arrogant persona before the band got right into “Get It Up.” They carried on with “Cool,” “Oak Tree” and “Fishnet.”

“When you’re cool from the inside out, you don’t sweat – you condensate,” Morris Day said as he proceeded to soak through his burgundy

suit, made extra flashy with rhinestone accents on the sleeve and along the seam of his pants.

The band was a well-oiled machine as they gave the audience the best of early ‘80s R&B through their collection of mainstream crossover hits that culminated with a “Jungle Love” encore.

Kool and the Gang did a decent job closing the show – even though The Time proved too tough of an act to follow.

In all fairness, The Time had the advantage of an original lead singer with a presence that refused to be denied.

Kool and the Gang had a bevy of hits from two generations working in their favor – and they called upon nearly all of them as an aid to recapture the audience’s attention after their slow jam “Joanna” left a window for distraction.

Fortunately, their massive hit “Celebration” makes it impossible to do anything else.

From the moment the horn section intro kicked in for the number – which fittingly served as the finale – the band was able to leave the crowd on the most jovial of notes as they closed out the holiday weekend.

families of children, which gave those moms a chance to grocery shop or take nap without the worry of rushing to pick up their kids from weekend classes.

Nearly 30 students spent

n Rooting myself deeper helped to propel me to an epiphany: Why send my kids to other programs for arts enrichment? I can do it myself! And I did. four-hour sessions with me, and I even fed them lunch. We grew together to enjoy one another in Mama Lisa’s little village. The lessons began to spread to places outside of the home-studio and spilled into schools, churches, colleges and museums.

Our performances and workshops helped to fund field trips, supplies and costumes. Today, several of my students can literally attest to having 20 years of African cultural training at Fundisha

Enterprises. Wow!

Fundisha anniversary events Fundisha will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a free show at the Missouri History Museum on Sunday, July 12 at 2 p.m.

Fundisha will perform a folktale, “Buseji the Sacred Mask Tree.” Mama Lisa will spin a tale of where masks come from as the stage comes alive with music, song, and dance. Many of the performers and musicians are former company members and supporters, including folk arts master Kasa Panzu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Fundisha will present a free African dance class for children at the Missouri History Museum on Saturday, July 11 at 10:30 a.m., teaching dances from the show.

Mama Lisa will also partner with Carol Swartout Klein, author of “Painting for Peace in Ferguson,” by leading a free dance workshop at the museum on Tuesday, July 28 at 11 a.m.

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ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 – 15 , 2015

Celebrations Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Isiah Franklin who turned 12 on July 6.

He attends Summer Day Camp at the Youth and Family Center. His mother, Spurgette Simpson along with the staff, board and peers at YFC wish him a very Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday to Roland C. Cousins, III. He will celebrate his 1st birthday on July 9th.

Reunions All reunion announcements can be viewed online!

Beaumont High School Class of 1965 will celebrate their 50th Class Reunion on September 26, 2015 at the Royale Orleans, 2801 Telegraph. Dinner dance with open bar is $65/person. For additional information contact Geraldine Carter-Reid at 314868-8284 or bluejackets65@ gmail.com.

Happy Birthday to Ashley on July 5!

We thank God for you and hope the Lord blesses you with many, many more birthdays!

From your family, The Browns

Beaumont High School class of 1975 is in the planning process for its 40th year reunion! Reunion dates: August 14-16, 2015, contact: Gale (314) 838-8493 or Cynthia (314) 869-4049.

Surprise support

FREE OF CHARGE

Students and staff at Holman Middle School in Pattonville School District surprised one of their staff members on the last day of school with a donation for nearly $1,700 to support an orphanage she founded and operates in her native Uganda. Annah Emuge founded the Atai Orphanage Fund, a nonprofit organization that provides food, clothing, education, permanent housing and health services to orphans in Teso District of Northern Uganda, where she grew up. Emuge, second from right, accepts a check from, from left, teacher Lisa Zangriles, Holman Principal Teisha Ashford and teacher April Rainwater.

Reunion on Facebook for more details. Deadline to register is June 30, 2015.

Berkeley High School Class of 1990 25th Reunion, July 24-26, 2015. Contact Alisa at 314-614-4972, sonshyne2n1@ yahoo.com or Shonte’ at 314341-7734, harmonyoung@ aol.com. Please look on our Facebook: Berkeley Sr. High Alumni Class of the 90’s.

Kinloch High will host a Kinloch Reunion Dinner Dance on July 24, 2015 at the Catering to You banquet center, Florissant Mo. For more information, please contact Arlene Owens Davis at 314-792-0659, Lester Wilson at 314-863-2180, Reuben Melton at 314-239-5202, Mc McKinnies at 314-5240126 or Darryl Henderson at hendodh@sbcglobal.net.

Gateway High School class of 1995 will host its 20th class reunion July 24-26, 2015.

Individual registration is $55 ($90 for couples). Visit Gateway Class of 1995/20yr

Northwest High School Class of 1973 has planned a 60th Birthday Bash for September 5, 2015 at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. If you have not received an email

with the details, please email northwesths1973@gmail. com or contact Cornelia Clark Stephens 314-580-1114.

Soldan High Class of 1964 will be celebrating its 51st reunion on August 28-30, 2015 at the Airport Marriott Hotel.

For more information, please contact; John Bennett at 314503-3541, George Gholston at 314- 831-1801 or DeOnne Hudson at deonne1024@ comcast.net.

Soldan High School Class of 75, 40th Reunion Celebration, September 11-13, 2015, Contact: Terese ColeMarshall, (314) 640 9611 or AnnieSue Preston (314) 606 5618, Email: Soldanclass75@ gmail.com.

Sumner Class of ‘76, 40th Class Reunion Announcement, Meeting Dates and Location: Thursdays, June 25, July 23 and August 20, 2015, 6-8:30 p.m., as needed at the St. Louis County Library Natural Bridge Branch (Small Meeting Room), 7606 Natural Bridge Rd., StL 63121. For questions or to leave current contact info, please contact B. Louis at 314.385.9843 or email: sumnerclassof76@yahoo.com.

Vashon Class of 1970, 45th Reunion, July 24-26, 2015, Renaissance Hotel - St Louis Airport, Send $75 payment now: Vashon Class of 1970, P. O. Box 300519, St. Louis, MO 63130. Contact: Rose Mary Wilson 314-327-9521 or Wayne Mason 314-401-6416.

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

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

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

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

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

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Celebrity Swag Snap of the Week Hot 104.1 FM’s A Plus with rap star Future at Harry’s just before he ripped it on stage as part of Liquid Assets three-day six year anniversary festivities.

Video Model Ana Montana and the ladies of HG kicked their weekend off @ at the special all white edition of Fetish Fridays @ HG

100.3 The Beat’s BJ the DJ with hip-hop legend MC Lyte Saturday @ Fair St. Louis @ Forest Park’s Art Hill

Stars, stripes and Sigmas. My first move was to kick it with the fellas of Phi Beta Sigma for their Stars and Stripes party at The Airport Friday night. It was a good look for the brothers in blue and white, if I do say so myself. Now with that being said, I have a serious question. Is there a sub branch within the local chapter that attempts to set themselves apart by wearing pink blazers? I saw at least four men in pink jackets, ranging from linen to a suede-like material, and another man in an entire pink and white outfit. That’s way too many for it to be a coincidence, if you ask me. Who am I kidding? One man in a pink blazer is too many for me. Fashion faux paus aside, I was glad I rolled through and had just missed my hands-down favorite sigma in town: Radio One’s Boogie D. Oh, well, I still had a good time and ran into plenty of other esteemed guests, like Yolanda Lankford of the Kwame Foundation and fellow frat Jerryl Christmas. There were other Greeks who stopped through to show love, too – especially the SG Rhos.

Birthdays for Brad and Liquid Assets. Now I expected STL native NBA star Bradley Beal to have the block hot for his birthday celebration Friday night at The Marquee, but can somebody tell me what went down that had the full attention of STLMPD’s districts one, two, three and four? Cop cars and wagons, as well as pockets of young people were scattered near 18th and Locust. Anyway, Brad had it cracking once again as the first night of Phil’s Liquid Assets Six Year Anniversary Weekend. So much so that folk barely had enough elbow room to issue a toast.

Paige and Alecia in the DJ booth at The Day Party STL Sunday @ The Olive Bar

Cash Money legend Juvenile showed Phil Assets and local rapper A-Game some love Sunday @ Harry’s for Liquid Assets 6th year Anniversary celebration

Alphas stuff the Goat. The biggest shock for me Friday night, though, was how the Alphas had the Rustic Goat packed all the way down and a line that stretched to the gas station on Jefferson and Dr. King Drive. I’m going to go ahead and declare that Friday night was the most packed I’ve ever seen that club. ever.in.life. And yet they still found a way to stroll – even though my love handles were quietly resting in someone’s oversized bag.

NBA’s Washington Wizard’s superstar John Wall and William Hump of Eyekon were in the building for homegrown NBA star Brad Beal’s birthday bash Friday @ The Marquee

LA, Keegan and Nya were just a few of the pretty faces in the place Sunday @ Chase Park Plaza for the 4 Play Day Party Experience

Soulful 4th at Fair St. Louis. For the first time in ages, I made my way to Fair St. Louis on the 4th of July and I’m really glad I did. The whole day’s lineup was just for “us” and I got my life from start to finish. American flag leggings were clearly the designated holiday outfit uniform – proving that you can represent your country and still be ratchet. I mean, what’s more American than patriotism and exposed panty lines? Absolutely nothing! But on with the show … MC Lyte’s set was cute enough. I live for the fact that she doesn’t do vocal backing tracks, but I would have preferred to hear more of her hits than whatever that new stuff she was doing. I wasn’t worried about it, because I knew Toni! Tony! Tone! was going to give me my life next. Erroneous. Before I read them for dear life, I have to come to their defense about one thing. Why do y’all keep coming to see them and getting all enraged and bothered because Raphael Saddiq isn’t on stage? He hasn’t been a part of the group for 15 years, i.e., the whole entire millennium. The Saddiq ship has sailed, people. That being said, the sound system either did them dirty – or did them a favor, because they sounded as bad as the bass player looked in his pajama pants. And the Dollar Tree Saddiq in that American Flag wool scarf had me feeling like I was going through the change by just looking at him.

But enough about the bad, let’s get on with the glorious set that Morris Day and the Time delivered for all of Art Hill to see. He came out looking like a pimp laugh personified in that burgundy suit with bedazzles, and he never let me down once as they performed all of my preferred hits. Tell your aunties that when they get up on the stage, they can’t rub their bosoms across the guitar strings. And to the women who “had it going on” in the ‘80s who felt compelled to relive their glory days, next time don’t drop it like it’s hot if you can’t get back up. The Time also hipped me to my absolute favorite performance of the night – which came from the interpreter for the hearing-impaired. Baby, she was not to be played with.

Her body rolls and slow winds told a thousand words! Kool and the Gang – or should I say Lukewarm and the Crew – were just all right compared to Morris and the signing lady, but they pulled off a solid set and sounded close enough to the original lineup for me to get into it – especially for “Celebration.”

Phil wins again with Future. Liquid Assets continued their anniversary celebration with their second win of the week by way of a Future live show at Harry’s Saturday night. It was so packed on that patio that I got up to go out for some fresh air, but then realized that I was already outside. Future didn’t show up until 2 a.m. But when he got there, I was shocked by how strong of a show he gave the folks. It was like a real concert – which rarely happens at the club. I must say that I was also shocked how the people just pretended like he didn’t have on Celie’s hat from the Juke Joint scene of “The Color Purple.” Yes, the one the woman hadn’t seen since her mama’s funeral. I had to stop myself from walking over to him and singing, “Sista, you been on my mind…” But y’all gave him a pass, so I did too.

Martez and Harriet spent some quality time at the Fair St. Louis concert Saturday night @ Art Hill Photos by Lawrence Bryant & John Scott

Day party double win. Never was it more apparent that there is enough day party action for most everybody than this past Sunday. I made my way to the Olive Bar and to The Chase Park Plaza and wasn’t mad at either party. I can’t even declare a winner between the two because they were both all the way live.

Big hair, bandals (those awful sandal boots y’all love) and body dresses with cut outs in all the wrong places were the outfits of the day, but I had such a good time at both spots that I didn’t even mind. I really got a cackle at the thought of being a fly on the wall at the facial expressions when Chase residents had to suffer through Rihanna’s “BBHMM” blasting through their walls though.

Erica C and Alnita Smiley closed out their 4th of July weekend Sunday @ The Day Party STL @ The Olive Bar

Michael Gerdine Jr. and Dr. Michael Gerdine Sr. celebrated their 25th anniversary of Elite Detailing Friday at Culture Shift 2 @ Barnett on Washington

Erica and Chrissy lounged at Culture Shift 2 Friday @ Barnett on Washington

Career Center

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

•

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN D1

JULY 9 - 15, 2015

$29 $22.50/week

$19.50/week

DRIVERS: School Bus. CDL-Preferred.

No Experience?

We will train.

Good Pay & Benefits.

130 LaFayette Ave., St. Louis, MO

(314)241-1278 Email your ads to

EXPERIENCED AUTO BODY TECHNICIAN needed.

Pay based upon experience.

Please call Gene at

314-662-6119.

www.stlamerican.com

RNS & CNAS needed for home health agency.

Please call

vmedina@

314-428-6643

stlamerican.com

for appt.

GENERAL MANAGER The Community Land Trust General Manager of the 24:1 Cinema is responsible for operations at a new cinema opening in Pagedale.

The preferred experience and qualifications are: Associates Degree in Business or related field Prior supervisory/management experience Prior cinema experience preferred Exceptional customer service skills Good written and oral communication skills Computer literate Able to work a flexible schedule including: evenings, weekends and holidays.

A valid Class E driver’s license and insaurance Ability to lift 75 lbs.

Applicants from the Pagedale surrounding communities are encouraged to apply. Please submit your resume, cover letter and salary requirements to HR@BeyondHousing.org The Community Land Trust 24:1 Cinema is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

“JANITORIAL”

RNs and LPNs

Possible Full, Part-Time positions, background check.Steady work history for 3-5 years, forklift or equipment operating experience preferred. MUST apply in person at 314 N. Jefferson at Olive. Monday - Friday 9A to 5P. Two forms of I.D.

In-Home Agency hiring RNs and LPNs for Home Visits.

Must have Home Health Exp.

PART-TIME

City of Kirkwood

BUILDING MANAGER WANTED Pilgrim Church is seeking to hire a part-time building manager to oversee custodial staff, maintenance/repair, and use of the building, Some evening/weekend work. Contact pilgrim826@sbcglobal.net or 314-367-8173 for more information.

Pilgrim is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

www.stlamerican.com

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SPECIALIST Thompson Coburn LLP is seeking a full-time Accounts Payable Specialist with at least 2 years of experience or an Associate’s Degree with minimal experience. Must have excellent computer skills with proficiency in Outlook and Excel. The person selected for this position must be able to work in a fast-paced environment.

For more details and to complete our online application, visit

314-361-3373 EOE

POLICE OFFICER Uniformed patrol work involving traffic, crime control & investigation of criminal activity.

Driver's license, excellent physical & mental condition & age 21 by hire date. Meet training req’d. for 1st Class MO county or currently enrolled in academy which graduates by 9/15/15. Start 49,902.00/yr; call 314/984-6975 for an application by 7/20/15. EOE

CAREERS Annie Malone has the following available: Maintenance Housekeeping Case Manager Crisis Care Workers (Evenings & Nights) LPN Receptionist Please submit resumes and/or applications to lhutch@anniemalone.com, 314-531-0125 FAX, walkins between the hours 9a.m-4p.m.

Must be submitted before July 17, 2015.

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www.thompsoncoburncareers.com Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V

ADMIN ASSISTANT For Appointment coordination,Event and meeting planning,Make travel arrangements,Pick up dry cleaning, Banking. send your resume to: risce78@live.com call after resume sent 314-669-7447

NOW HIRING: Eagle Bank and Trust is currently seeking candidates Teller and Customer Service Representatives throughout the St. Louis area.

Flexible hours, competitive benefits, and a great team environment welcome the perfect candidate. Call 635-461-3500 or visit www.EagleBankAndTrust.com to apply.

Equal Opportunity Employer. Member FDIC.

PROGRAM ASSISTANT (20 hrs/wek) Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry.

See job description and apply online: WWW.JFCSAPPLY.COM Requires cover letter/resume.

Jewish Family & Children’s Service – St. Louis EOE M/F/D/V City of Kirkwood

WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM WORKER Experience in excavating & repairing water main breaks; replacing & repairing water valves & fire hydrants. Will operate heavy equipment.

Class “B” CDL req’d. O.T. req’d. Start: $17.88/hr w/benefits. Complete application at: www.kirkwoodmo.org or call 314/984-6975.

EOE

CITY OF BRENTWOOD

PARKS AND RECREATION Multiple part time positions available. Must be 18 yrs old and hold a HS Diploma or GED. Job Fair to be held August 3, 2015.

Visit www.brentwoodmo.org/jobs For more information and to apply online.

EOE/AA

POLICE OFFICER Normandy Police Department accepting applications for full time police officer positions. Must have Class A license or within 60 days of graduation from police academy.

Salary $41,340 plus benefits. Visit cityofnormandy.gov for downloadable application. Deadline for submission July 27th.

Need a quote?

Send your ad text to

vmedina@stlamerican.com

FIREFIGHTER/ PARAMEDIC The City of Kirkwood, MO seeks applicants for Firefighter/Paramedic. Require National Registry or Paramedic license & driver’s license; ACLS, PALS, PHTLS. St. Louis County Fire Academy Firefighter I & II, Hazmat Awareness & Hazmat Operations, preferred but not required. Salary: $53,852.00 with academy, $45,774.20 until academy certified. Excellent benefits. Call 314/984-6975

by July 20, 2015 for application. EOE

BIDS & PUBLIC NOTICES NOTICE TO MINORITY, WOMEN, DISADVANTAGE & SERVICE DISABLED VETERAN ENTERPRISES: WE ARE LOOKING FOR MBE, WBE, DBE & SDVE Subcontractors and Suppliers to bid on upcoming projects. Please contact GBH Builders for upcoming projects.

GBH Builders is an EEOE. Phone: (573) 893-3633 / Fax: (573) 893-5847

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NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed bids for the 2015 CRS Cape Seal Program, St. Louis County Project No. CR-1652, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on July 15, 2015.

Plans and specifications will be available on June 29, 2015 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 961-3800.

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY Email ad text to vmedina@stlamerican.com

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS ADVERTISEMENT FOR BID #2015-2016 Notice is hereby given that The Biome School will receive sealed proposals at The Biome, 4471 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63108 until 2:00 p.m. CDT, Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at which time all bids for a Food Service Management contract for The Biome charter school will be opened. A walk-through of the facilities is scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. The Biome reserves the right to reject any and all bids, offers or proposals submitted, or to advertise for new bids. The Biome is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any firm because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap or national origin. For more information, or to receive an emailed copy of the RFP, please contact Steve Cross at The Biome at 314-531-9916 or scross@ylc-stl.org.

Sealed bids for 2015 CRS Infrastructure Improvement Area B, St. Louis County Project No. CR-1580, will be received at the Office of the Director of Procurement for the County of St. Louis, County Government Center Administration Building, 41 South Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Clayton, Missouri 63105, until 2:00 p.m. on July 15, 2015.

Plans and specifications will be available on June 29, 2015 from the St. Louis County Web Site (www.stlouisco.com), or by contacting County Blue Reprographics, Inc., 1449 Strassner Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63144, (314) 9613800.

An optional pre-bid meeting will be held on July 8, 2015 at 11:00am. The meeting place shall be at the intersection of N. Bunker Hill Drive and S. Bunker Hill Drive, just beyond the entrance to the project site.

Find a New Career on Page C7.

E-BID

for St. Louis Community College on Bid No. B0003430 for the purchase of a Digital Radiographic System will be received until 3:00 P.M. (local time) on July 21, 2015 at the Dept. of Purchasing, 300 So. Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63102, and immediately thereafter opened and read. Bid documents can be accessed on our website at www.stlcc.edu/purchasing or call (314) 539-5225.

EOE/AA Employer.

The Habitat Company as a private property management firm for the St. Louis Housing Authority seeks proposals from qualified firms to provide services for Unarmed Security Services at Seven (7) Sites. For additional information or a copy of the bid document (#2015-300), please contact bidsandproposals@habitat.com.

Bids are due no later than July 28, 2015 by 2pm CST.

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Notice is hereby given that The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (District) will receive sealed bids for City of St. Louis Demolition FY2015 Package 2 under Letting No. 11138; 11139; 11828; 11786-013.2.2, at this office, 2350 Market Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63103, until 02:00 PM on Tuesday, August 11, 2015, at a place designated.

Bids will be received only from companies that are pre-qualified by the District’s Engineering Department for: DEMOLITION – City of St. Louis Class I license required Plans and Specifications are available for free electronic download. Please go to MSD’s website and look for a link to “ELECTRONIC PLANROOM.” Plans and Specifications are also available for viewing or purchase at Cross Rhodes Reprographics located at 1710 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis MO 63110. All bidders must obtain a set of plans and specifications in order to submit a bid in the name of the entity submitting the bid.

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

CITY OF ST. LOUIS LAMBERT - ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT® Solicitation for Bids (SFB) for Electronics Retail Concession Sealed Bids Wanted Bid documents may be obtained at Lambert St. Louis International Airport® - Airport Properties Division, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., or by calling (314) 426-8033. This SFB may also be obtained by visiting our website at www.flystl.com (Click on “Business Opportunities”).

Robert Salarano Airport Properties Division Manager

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES ST. LOUIS, COUNTY

www.stlamerican.com

BE OUR FRIEND ON

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN D2

Bids & Notices ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

•

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

JULY 9 - 15, 2015

REQUEST FOR QUOTATIONS SPECIAL ELECTION

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY, INC. (CAASTLC) LOW INCOME WEATHERIZAION PROGRAM (LIWAP)

Sealed requests for qualifications will be received by Forest Park Forever, Inc., David Lenczycki, P.E. Project Engineer, located at 5595 Grand Drive in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63112 until July 10, 2015, at 4 PM for the Forest Park Connectivity Study located within the City of St. Louis, MO as described in Request for Qualifications (RFQ) including other related RFQ requirements. Requests for Qualifications are available by “pdf” format at no cost at www.forestparkforever.org/bids or made available for paper copies at Forest Park Forever during office hours.

CAASTLC is accepting sealed bids to provide labor and materials for Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and mechanical services for its residential weatherization program. LIWAP (made available though CAASTLC) is federally funded and controlled by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Missouri Department of Economic Development (MDED).

This weatherization grant is funded through the DOE and is subject to all of its provisions. Bid packages will be available to be picked up at CAASTLC starting Monday, 7/13/2015, at 9:00 a.m.

This project is funded by Forest Park Forever in partnership with the City of St. Louis and administered under each agencies oversight which requires each consultant to comply with the City of St. Louis rules and regulations to participate in this scope of professional services.

CAASTLC will have a Pre-Bid Conference, Friday, 7/17/2015, at 9:00 a.m. for questions, etc.

This is an equal opportunity event. Women and Minority in Business are encouraged to participate.

Bids must be sealed, marked “LIWAP – MDED Sealed Bid” and delivered to CAASTLC, Inc., 2709 Woodson Road, St. Louis, MO 63114, no later than 5:00 p.m., Monday, 07/27/2015.

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR LEGAL SERVICES RELATED TO ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY BY THE ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Bids will be opened and read publicly at 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, 07/28/2015 at CAASTLC’s office.

MWBE PreBid Meeting Notice

LETTING #8584

The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on

RECONSTRUCTION OF T1 VEHICLE SERVICE ROAD, REPLACEMENT OF EXISTING WATERLINE FROM CONCOURSE C TO D, REHABILITATION OF GATE C10 TRENCH DRAIN AND REHABILITATION OF JUNCTION CHAMBERS

Lynkirk Study Area I/I Reduction Contract Letting No. 11651-015.1 This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:

Fred M. Luth & Sons, Inc. 4516 McRee Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 314/771-3892 The meeting will take place at

10:30 a.m.

July 16, 2015 SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303

Sealed proposals will be received by the Board of Public Service in Room 208 City Hall, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, Mo. Until 1:45 PM, CT, on August 4, 2015, then publicly opened and read. Plans and Specifications may be examined on the Board of Public Service website http://www.stl-bps.org/planroom.aspx (BPS On Line Plan Room) and may be purchased directly through the BPS website from INDOX Services at cost plus shipping. No refunds will be made.

MWBE PreBid Meeting Notice The SITE Improvement Association is hosting a Prebid meeting for Qualified and Certified MWBE contractors to discuss working on

Pickwick-Bernadine-Bimini Sanitary Relief Contract Letting No. 11698-015.1

All bidders must regard Federal Executive Order 11246, “Notice of Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity”, the “Equal Opportunity Clause” and the “Standard Federal Equal Employment Specifications” set forth within and referenced at www.stl-bps.org (Announcements).

DEMOLITION HEARING

ATTENTION:

Notice is hereby given that the City of Pagedale, Mo. Is calling a public hearing Monday, July 28, 2015 in the Pagedale City Hall Auditorium, 1420 Ferguson Avenue at 6:00pm. to obtain written and/or oral comments regarding pending demolition of the following list of buildings or structures located at: 1354 Belrue 1433 Leroy 1543 Bradford 1439 Leroy 1611 Bradford 1444 Leroy 1540 Engelholm 6711 Page 1343 Ferguson 1331 Pennsylvania 1805 Ferguson 6601 Raymond 1203 Gregan 6741 Robbins 1209 Iona 6904 Robbins 6512 Joseph 6705 Roberts 6562 Joseph 1559 Salerno 6531 Julian 7111 St. Charles Rock Road 1356 Kingsland 6530 Whitney 1401 Leroy 1316 Woodruff 1407 Leroy 1318 Woodruff 1415 Leroy 1323 Woodruff 1423 Leroy 1331 Woodruff 1427 Leroy 6747 Wynhill 1428 Leroy 1237 Sutter 1429 Leroy 1475 70th Street

MBE/WBE Contractors and non-minority contractors

Send your ad text to

Proposals are due no later than 4:00 P.M. Central Daylight Saving Time on Monday, July 20, 2015.

Bidders shall comply with all applicable City, State and Federal laws (including MBE/WBE policies). Mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, at 10:00 AM in the Training Room at the Airport Office Building, 11495 Navaid Rd., Bridgeton, MO 63044.

Visit us on the web @ www.stlamerican.com

Need a quote?

ST. LOUIS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 1520 MARKET STREET, SUITE 2000 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63103 (314) 657-3700 (PHONE) (314) 613-7011 (FAX)

At Lambert-St. Louis International Airport

For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

By order of the Building Commissioner, the above listed structures are scheduled to be demolished and removed upon appropriate finding of facts, said buildings or structures will go out for bids to be demolished and removed.

St. Louis Development Corporation (“SLDC”) hereby requests qualifications for legal services to assist SLDC with negotiation and acquisition of property by one or more of its constituent agencies, including, but not limited to, the use of condemnation. For a copy of the RFQ, please visit our website at www.stlouis-mo.gov/sldc by selecting the RFP/RFQ link for a complete copy of the RFQ, or contact:

This meeting is being held on behalf of the following SITE contractor members:

Fred M. Luth & Sons, Inc. 4516 McRee Avenue St. Louis, MO 63110 314/771-3892 The meeting will take place at

Insituform Technologies USA, LLC , 17988 Edison Ave. Chesterfield, MO 63005, is seeking subcontractor quotes for The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District BCMM Public I/I Reduction (2016) Contract E, Letting No. 11923-015.1, Bidding July 30, 2015 at 2:00pm. Potential subcontracting opportunities available for consideration on these projects include: Lab testing services, Closed-circuit television inspection & cleaning of existing sewer lines, Protection and site restoration, Concrete & asphalt restoration, Manhole location, Manhole cover remove & replacement, Cementitious manhole rehabilitation, CIPP lateral connection repair and/or Point repairs.

All in accordance with project specifications. IMPORTANT: QUOTE LINE ITEMS ON A TURNKEY BASIS AND INCLUDE PERMITS, TRAFFIC CONTROL, SEWER BY-PASSING, ETC, IF REQUIRED. All MWBE and non- minority contractors should contact Greg Patton or Mark Reeves in writing (certified letter, return receipt requested) to discuss bid opportunities.

In lieu of a certified letter, contact can be made by e-mail to gpatton@insituform.com and mwreeves@insituform.com. Acknowledge in your quote your company will meet the workforce per trade minority requirements per the project specifications. A pre-bid conference for the bid will be held at Insituform Technologies USA, LLC’s Training Center , 580 Goddard Avenue, Chesterfield, MO 63005 on Monday, July 20, 2015 at 9:00 AM.. Quotes must be completed and submitted to Kenny Pipitone at kpipitone@insituform.com by 11:00 AM, Tuesday, July 28, 2015, along with a copy of your current MWBE Certification. Please complete EPA form attached with your quote. All quotations will be evaluated for overall compliance with the project specifications, scheduling availability and pricing. Subcontractors should review and meet the Work Force Utilization requirements of the project.

10:00 a.m.

July 16, 2015 SITE Improvement Association 2071 Exchange Drive, St. Charles, MO 63303 For questions regarding this prebid meeting, Contact the SITE Improvement Association office at 314/966-2950.

INVITATION TO BID: Sealed bids for University of Missouri-Columbia, Project 3150861, Lafferre Hall 1935/44 Renovations & Repair, Package 3, Structure and Shall will be received by the Curators of the University of Missouri, Owner, at Campus Facilities, Planning, Design & Construction, Room L100 (Front Reception Desk), General Services Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, until 1:30 pm, C.T., Wednesday, July 22, 2015 and then immediately opened and bidder names publicly read aloud.

Drawings, specifications, and other related contract information may be obtained at https://www.procoretech.com/105196/ project/documents/. Electronic bid sets are available at no cost and may be printed as desired by the plan holders. Questions should be directed to the office of Planning, Design & Construction at (573) 882-0455.

INVITATION FOR BIDS 2013 PORT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM Federal Project No. EMW-2013-PU-00439 PORT DISTRICT VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM EXPANSION

Sealed bids will be received by the City of St. Louis Port Authority until 3:00 PM, July 24, 2015, at 1520 Market Street, Suite 2000, St. Louis, MO 63103 at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened. Bid Documents will be available for review at same address on or after July 1.

Bid documents are also available online at https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/sldc/. Select “SLDC Documents” from the menu on the left. Contractors must take affirmative action to ensure employees and applicants for employment are not discriminated against because of race, marital status, color, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, familial status, disability, national origin, or ancestry. Contractors must demonstrate maximum utilization of certified minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises. A pre-bid meeting Sealed bids for the FY2015 Residential Resurfacing Project will be received is scheduled for July 14, 2015 at the above address. Interested parties should by the City of Clayton Finance Department, 10 N. Bemiston Avenue, e-mail Rob Orr at OrrR@stlouis-mo.gov to receive communications about Clayton, MO 63105-3397, until 2:00 P.M. CDT, on Friday, July 17, 2015 this project. The project generally consists of the provision and installation The bids will then be publicly opened and read aloud at 2:05 PM in of an expansion to the City of St. Louis Port Authority’s video surveillance Conference Room A/B, 1st floor, 10 N. Bemiston Avenue, Clayton, MO system.

63105-3397.

The Scope of Work consists of variable depth removal of the existing asphalt surface in order to correct the crown in the roadway, followed by replacement with a new 2” asphalt overlay. Replacement of underlying concrete slabs may be necessary in isolated locations as conditions require.

It is anticipated that slab replacement will be needed in the Clayton Gardens Neighborhood on Topton Way, Brighton Way, University Drive, and Kingsbury Boulevard. Existing curb ramps will be replaced in order to bring them into ADA compliance. Traffic control and other incidental items shall be included as shown in the specifications.

Bid packages will be available Monday, July 6, 2015 from the Clayton City Hall Front Counter, 10 N. Bemiston Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105-3397 upon payment of a non-refundable fee of $15 per set, or they can be downloaded for free by registering at www.claytonmo.gov/vendors .

A prebid meeting will be held on Monday, July 13, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. in Conference Room A/B, 1st floor, Clayton City Hall, 10 N. Bemiston Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105-3397. Attendance is mandatory to be considered for this project.

Not less than the prevailing hourly rate of wages shall be paid to all workers performing under this Contract in this area according to the rates determined by the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations of the State of Missouri.

A bid security in the amount of five percent (5%) of the bid amount must accompany each bid in accordance with the Instructions to Bidders.

The City reserves the right to accept or reject any bid and to waive any irregularities in the best interest of the City.

vmedina@stlamerican.com INVITATION TO BIDS

Questions regarding the scope of work should be directed to TarltoN through the project website at https://www.procoretech.com/105196/project/rfi/list. Questions regarding commercial conditions should be directed to Cameron Denison at (314) 633-3335 or CLDenison@TarltonCorp.com. To request access to Procore Project Website, please send an email with your name, company, and email address to CLDenison@TarltonCorp.com.

A Prebid meeting will be held at 10:00 am, C.T., Friday, July 10, 2015 in the General Services Building, Room 194A, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, followed by an optional walk-through at the site. Additional walk-throughs of the project may be scheduled by contacting Brad Grimes, Tarlton Corporation, BJGrimes@TarltonCorp.com or (314) 633-3372.

A MBE/WBE participation goal of 10% MBE + 5% WBE has been established for this contract. The Owner reserves the right to waive informalities in bids and to reject any and all bids.

Individuals with special needs as addressed by the Americans with Disabilities Act may contact (573) 882-1133

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SEALED BIDS for Roof, Facade & Drainage Repairs, Various, DNR Missouri Geology Survey, 111 Fairgrounds Rd; Rolla, MO, ProjectNo. W1401-01 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 7/30/15. For specific project information and ordering plans, plans, go to http:// www.oa.mo.gov/ fmdc/dc/list.htm.

SEALED BIDS for Autumn Hill State School, Roof Replacement, Union, Missouri, Project No. E1406-01 will be received

by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 7/30/2015. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to http:// www.oa.mo. gov/fmdc/dc/list. htm.

SEALED BIDS for Warrenton Armory Building Repairs, Missouri National Guard, Warrenton, MO, Project No. T1423-08 will be received

by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 7/30/2015. For specific project information and ordering plans, go to http:// www.oa.mo. gov/fmdc/dc/list. htm.

SEALED BIDS for New Fulton State Hospital, Guhleman and Hearnes Boiler Plant, Fulton, Missouri, ProjectNo. M1411-05 will be received by FMDC, State of MO, UNTIL 1:30 PM, 7/30/2015.

For specific project information and ordering plans, go to http:// www.oa.mo. gov/fmdc/dc/ list.htm

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

Real Estate & Rentals ST. LOUIS AMERICAN

APTS. & HOUSES South City!

All-electric 1 bedroom, FOR RENT Looking for a few great tenants to live in a God fearing environment.

Sec. 8 welcome with open arms.

314-629-5051 LARGE ROOMS FOR RENT Centrally located newly remodeled shared house $135/wk + Dep, w/d, cable, internet, all utils. included.

FEMALE ENVIRONMENT

314-741-1951 leave a message.

all kitchen appliances, cold a/c, hardwood floors, off street parking! only $375

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636-405-0559

HOUSES & APTS

Holly Hills!

1-4 bdrms North City 2-3 bdrms South City City Sect 8 OK

Newly updated 2 bedroom, central air, basement, fenced, appliances, pets, washer/dryer, flexible lease! $525

620 Chain of Rocks Dr. 63137 Lg 1 & 2 BR $495-$595 + Dep,C/A, C/H, Wall to wall Carpet, Blinds, Stove, Refrigerator, Off Street Parking & Cable included

314-868-1811 or 314-369-8467 Delmar!

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Nice Furnished Studio Apt. Full bath & kitch, appls, all utils incl.

Single Occupancy Only Delmar & Union Area $550/mo

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314-772-4563

50 GRAND APTS NORTH CITY

Redone 3 bedroom, all kitchen appliances, hardwood floors, pets allowed, w/d hookups, easy move in! only $600

FOR RENT 85XX Church Rd. Newly Decorated 5 Rms. Duplex C/Air & Heat Range & Fridge W/D Hookup $590 / M0.

FOR RENT

APARTMENTS North City!

Updated 2 bedroom, FOR RENT central air, fenced yard, 5203 Northland Ave hardwood floors, all 2 BR & 3 BR appliances, lawn care Stove & Fridge included! only $400 rs-stl.com Section 8 ONLY AGP7K 314-283-3839 314-309-2043 FOR RENT Total Rehab 1-3 bedroom homes & apts. C/A, w/d hookups & private yards.

Section 8 Welcomed

HOUSE FOR RENT 2BR in the Northwood For information call

314-534-3863

314-727-0548

FURNISHED

Section 8!

ROOMS FOR RENT

Remodeled 5 bed house, full basement, fenced yard, kitchen appliances, pets allowed, plenty of storage! $800

5255 ST. LOUIS AVE APT. 1st fl,1 br, hw fls., stove, fridge, w/d, c/a, $450/mo Ask Fred Fletcher

North City cable, security bars, shared bathroom and kitchen, washer & dryer $100/wk. Call

314-460-0626

314-952-1614

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Tower Grove!

FOR RENT

FOR RENT

East St. Louis Housing Authority 1401 E. Broadway, East St. Louis, IL 62201 Has Immediate Openings for One, Two, Three, Four & Five Bedroom Apartments Some utilities are included at various locations.

For more information,

Spacious 3-4 bedroom, all appliances, central air, beautiful hardwood floors, nice deck, recent updates! $625

rs-stl.com AGP7P 314-309-2043

•

THE

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN D3

JULY 9 - 15, 2015 CWE Near Loop, bus, and L-Rail SUPER NICE 1br, 3rd fl $500 1br, 1st fl $625

314-805-1406 North City!

Large 3-4 bedroom, central air, basement, newer carpet, fenced yard, all appliances, w/d hookups! only $575

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Baden!

APT FOR RENT

Newly remodeled Only $250 deposit!

5231 Lotus 2nd fl All-electric 2 bed house, Spacious 2BR apt, new central air, pets ok, off hardwood fls through out, street parking, short some utils incl. term lease! only $450

HOUSE FOR RENT

South City!

3-4 BR stove fridge, microwave, basement, carpet,hwd floors & fenced yd, no pets (service animals OK) Non-smoking Environment Sec 8 OK

First Floor! 2 bedrooms, walk-out basement, hardwood floors, lawn care included, part utilities paid! $495

rs-stl.com AGP7L 314-309-2043

$600/mo+Dep. Negotiable Sec 8 welcome

ROOMS FOR RENT

APARTMENTS FOR RENT

314-484-3147 314-717-9966

314-389-1804 314-346-1302

rs-stl.com AGP7R 314-309-2043

APT. FOR RENT

GORGEOUS ROOMS

314-724-2054

2BR, 1BA, Good heating and completely re-decoratcooling. Fully ed, new carpet. furnished & Cable

ATTENTION!

PRIVATE BATH & KITCHEN FURNISHED KITCHENETTES FOR RENT

$149/wk & up!

314-575-2665

(Nothing Like Your Own)

Recently Renovated 3.5 BR 2 BA Full kitchen,Good public transportation Delmar & Union Area $800/mo

314-532-9891

South City!

Big 4 bedroom, central air, full basement, hardwood floors, all kitchen appliances, off street parking! $725

Potential Free Rent 1220 Warren Senior over age 55 & eligible handicapped individual1 bedroom apt. Income base.

Electric included call

314-436-0733

for rent in the U-City Area Central Air & Cable $125/wk & up *Shared Bathroom & Kitchen*

314-575-2665 (Nothing Like Your Own)

FOR SALE

Visit www.stlamerican.com

130 St. Eugene,

1 BR Apt Fully furnished electric provided Nice Neighborhood Delmar & Union Area $600/mo

rs-stl.com AGP7M 314-309-2043

314-540-3092

Just reduced $108,900

Great location, great price, great home 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch, attached garage

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Karel Woods Realty

314-374-4388

BE OUR FRIEND ON

www.stlamerican.com

Please Contact Our Occupancy Department

Summer is Fun with us!!

Move-In Special

McCormack House Sr. Living Apartments

Heat included - 24 Hour Desk Attendant Fully Equipped Kitchens - Walk-in Showers Beautiful! A must see for those 62 yrs or older!!

www.mccormackhouseatwestminsterapts.com

(618) 646-7100 - Ext. 332.

866-347-8650

Call TODAY…. MOVE SOON !!!

314-532-9891 Winter Garden Apts.

2BR Available TODAY for qualified applicant 62+ and/or disabled Sec. 8 housing avail, income restrictions apply. ADA. Pet friendly, gated, near Metro Link 5708 Kingsbury Place St. Louis, MO 63112

314-925-9406

Rolling Hills Apts.

1Br @ $405/mo 2Br @ $505/mo Extensive Renovations, Stove, Refrigerator, AC, gas & elec., App Fee $25; 1sm pet allowed, nearby schools, shops, businesses & parks; laundry facility, park-like setting; credit friendly, rent credit special Call

(314) 869-5033

TTY 800-735-2966 Equal Housing Opportunity

Professionally Managed by NHPMN Management, LLC

for further details.

8869 Maya Lane, St. Louis MO 63136

OWN YOUR HOME

SAN REMO APARTMENTS Move-In Special!

1BR $475 2BR $575

848 N. Kingshighway St. Louis, MO 63108

314-454-9305 Mon-Fri 8:30am-5:00pm Saturdays 10:00am -2:00pm

MARK TWAIN Park Place Apts A Senior Community HOTEL Now Accepting Apps!

62+ Sec 8 housing (Downtown) avail, income restr.

Centrally Located & apply 1-bdrm apts, A/C, Connected to Metro on-site laundry and Buses, Short Term Free gas/water/trash Weekly Rentals4399 Forest Park Blvd No credit check St. Louis, MO 63108 $110.50 and up per 314-925-9405 week (utilities and Housekeeping svcs TTY 800-735-2966 included) Other terms Equal Housing Opportunity and conditions may Professionally Managed by apply.

NHPMN Management, LLC Winter discounts avail.

314-421-2980

In North County FOR ONLY $499 PER MONTH

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE:

Houses are MOVE-IN READY

Advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal to advertise any preference, imitation, or discrimination because of race,color, religion, sex, handicap, familial\status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination “We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law.

All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis.”

636-532-5487

Brick House, 2 & 3 Bedrooms With Finished Basements CALL FOR DETAILS With Credit Score Of 620 & $3000 Down

www.stlamerican.com

Call Vida at 314-289-5406 to place your rental/real estate ad today!

SERVICE DIRECTORY 314-289-5406 MEDICARE & MEDICAID ACCEPTED Dental

Hearing Aids

Dentures, Partials, Crowns, Root Canals & Other Dental Services

Man & His Truck Light Hauling & Yard Work, Moving & Gutter Cleaning REASONABLE

314-583-6971

As low as $150/Pair

$1000/year

Summer Clean-up

Co-pay

Glasses As low as $15/Pair Co-pay

Call 1-800-733-1912 to see if you qualify.

Do you have medicare and medicaid?

If so, then you can qualify for $1,000 of preventiative and comprehensive dental benefits every year at no cost to you. Including oral examinations, cleanings, x-rays, fillings, root canals, and full or partial dentures. Must have both medicare and medicaid aslo known as Mo. Healthnet.

Also offering Life Insurance Plans.

For more info call Mike:

314-285-2198

Religion

ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • JULY 9 - 15, 2015

AME church celebrates mortgage burning

Christ Our Redeemer AME Church marks 25th anniversary

Christ Our Redeemer AME Church trustee Reginald Joseph prepared to snuff out the flames as the church burned its mortgage during its 25th anniversary celebration on Sunday, June 7. Shown are church pastor Rev. Roger Richardson (center) and Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, presiding prelate of the 5th Episcopal District. In the background is retired Presiding Elder C. Jessel Strong.

By Sandra Jordan Of The St. Louis American Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church culminated its 25th anniversary celebration on Sunday, June 7 with an afternoon mortgage burning service. Worshippers and clergy from area congregations and community guests joined members of the Black Jack, Missouri church, located at 13820 Old Jamestown Rd., in recognizing the accomplishment.

President Elder Edmund E. Lowe Sr. of the St. LouisCape Girardeau District of the Missouri Conference, was the church’s founding pastor and served there for 21 years. Rev. Millard Hayes was the first assistant minister. The current pastor is Rev. Roger Richardson.

Lowe was the guest speaker at the morning service and led the prayer at the mortgageburning worship service. Rev. Karen Anderson, pastor of Ward Chapel AME Church; Rev. Spencer L. Booker, pastor of St. Paul AME Church; and Rev. Willie Marshall, pastor of St. James AME Church, provided scriptural lessons. Rev. Clinton Stancil, pastor of Wayman AME Church, gave the invitation.

Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, presiding prelate of the 5th Episcopal District, was the guest speaker for the occasion. While the physical structure is paid in-full, Kirkland gave a spiritual reminder that three “ships” would allow them to keep their church: leadership, citizenship

Photo by Cardell Jordan

n From the Bible, he recommended Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary doing good, for at the proper time we will reap at harvest if we do not give up.”

and worship.

From the Bible, he recommended Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary doing good, for at the proper time we will reap at harvest if we do not give up.”

Myrtle Hilliard Davis to host gospel brunch The Board of Directors of Myrtle Hilliard Davis

Comprehensive Health Centers, Inc. announced their 2nd Annual “Gospel Brunch Fundraiser.” The purpose of the Gospel Brunch is to support their ongoing mission to reduce healthcare affordability challenges for the 9,000-plus uninsured and underinsured patients who we serve annually.

“Myrtle Hilliard Davis Comprehensive Health Center’s ability to provide quality care for those in need is due to the support of individuals who

believe in our mission and by those who attend our fundraising events,” the board said in a statement.

Last year’s Gospel Brunch was very successful and attracted approximately 400 individuals.

This year, the Gospel Brunch will feature a variety of performers, including Happy Guitar, June Mason, Fair Fax, Sherice Taylor and Cool Valley Singers. The event will also have an extensive brunch menu which will include French toast, hickory smoked bacon, sausage links, scrambled eggs, fried chicken wings, country biscuits and sausage gravy, salad with various dressings, seasonal fruit and more.

The event will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, August 1 at Norwood Hills Country Club.

Ticket prices are $50 for an individual ticket and $500 for a table of ten seats. Donations are also accepted to help pay for low-income families who may want to attend the event.

For more information, please contact Mary Payne at 314-3675820 ext. 2310 or email her at mpayne@mhdchc.org.

D4

The Message

Which church?

At times, it is ironic to me that so many different churches profess the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, was crucified, died and was buried to arise again on the third day and sits at the right hand of His Father in heaven.

From Catholic to Pentecostal, from Baptist to Presbyterian, from Episcopalian to Methodist, from Church of God in Christ to Lutheran, from Evangelical to just being saved, each denomination wants to set itself apart from the others based upon its doctrine being more in line with God than any of its Christian cousins.

Throughout history, so-called Christians have persecuted other so-called Christians in the name of being more in tune with God’s Word than that denomination being persecuted. The more I read the Bible, the more confusing this becomes, and the more ridiculous.

On my own faith walk, one of the things that got in my way was the decision about which church to actually join. I was introduced to rural Baptist traditions by my grandmother, only to be baptized Catholic as a young boy and subsequently not follow any particular religion most of my adult life.

Even now I sometimes question which church I should attend, only to have the Lord backslap me with the fundamental question, “How does where you go to church have anything to do with my Son’s ministry?”

Columnist Do you really believe God is paying attention to the marquee of the church James Washington you attend? Do you really believe that where you go to church on Sunday carries more weight with God than what you do on the other six days of the week?

Those who believe their religion or theology is better than someone else’s surely have missed the entire point of the life and times of Jesus Christ. We are talking about someone who rather angrily turned over tables in the Temple because He was insulted by the goings on there, something to do with not using his Father’s house for prayer, but rather as a den for robbers.

Everything Jesus stood for seems to translate into acts of faith, acts of worship, acts of love and kindness and forgiveness, acts of mercy. These acts don’t confirm for one moment that one person’s religion is better or more meaningful than the religion practiced in the church up the street or around the corner.

Your religion and your theology will be forever secondary to the will of God. I didn’t say this. Jesus did.

There is no better place to follow the simple edict “practice what you preach” than in church. Which church is actually quite irrelevant, as I see it.