Belatedly enshrined
Jo Jo White enters Basketball Hall of Fame – finally.
St. Louis American Page B3
The
CAC Audited SEPTEMBER 10 – 16, 2015
stlamerican.com
Vol. 86 No. 23 COMPLIMENTARY
‘It’s up to the will of the people’ Will the Ferguson Commission lead to positive change in the region? By Mariah Stewart Ferguson Fellow In the summer of 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders to investigate and help prevent the spread of race riots. At the end of seven months of work, the Kerner Commission, as it came to be known, reached one basic conclusion: “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal.” Nearly 50 years later, we have more riots – and more commissions.
n “It’s up to the will of the people.” – Rev. Starsky Wilson
After unrest embroiled the small town of Ferguson, Missouri in the wake of the death of Michael Brown Jr., an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot
See FERGUSON, A7
Photo by Wiley Price
Ferguson Commission co-chairs Rich McClure and Rev. Starsky Wilson finalized the commission’s signature calls to action at a public meeting on August 7. Its final report is expected on Monday, September 14.
Hot time in Carr Square
Pray for Ray
Alyssa Shanks, 1, took a break from the heat in her mother’s lap during the Carr Square Downtown Neighborhood’s 50th reunion on Sunday, September 6.
Grandma asks STL to pray for boy with brain tumor on his birthday By Chris King Of The St. Louis American Yvonne Rhodes has a simple request for St. Louis. She wants everyone to pray for her grandbaby on his birthday: “I ask you, the believers of the city, to celebrate Ray’s birthday on September 23 by praying for him.” Her grandson, Ray Lathon, age 5, has a brain tumor. It was diagnosed on June 15. At that time, the family was told the condition was incurable and the boy was given a prognosis of six months to a year of life remaining. Ray He finished his medical treatment Lathon on August 17. “Now it’s time for God to put the icing on the cake,” Rhodes said, expressing her belief in the power of prayer and faith. Though a small boy, Ray has always been a man of faith, his grandmother said. “At his baptism at Tribe of Judah Christian Church, Bishop Alonzo Johnson raised him up See RAY, A6 Photo by Wiley Price
DeAun Blumberg, the new principal of Fairview Elementary School, spoke with students on September 9. The school, in the Jennings School District, will receive this year’s Monsanto School of Excellence Award at the 2015 Salute to Excellence in Education Gala on September 25.
School helps heal community Fairview Elementary is 2015 Monsanto School of Excellence By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Fairview Primary School in the Jennings School District is just a couple of miles away from West Florissant Avenue and Canfield Drive – the area known as Ferguson Ground Zero. After the initial unrest following Michael Brown Jr.’s death, third-grade teacher Chantel Neal gathered her students together and read them a
2015
book called “Smoky Night” by Eve Bunting. It’s a picture book that tells a story of the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots following the police beating of Rodney King and the exoneration of the officers. “The pictures mirrored that of the pictures they saw on the news and if they were present,” said Neal. “It also shows how the community heals, and that it’s going to be okay.” See SCHOOL, A6 Photo by Wiley Price