VOL. 62, No. 34
www.tsdmemphis.com
August 22 - 28, 2013
75 Cents
‘Actions speak’ for Tina L. Birchett kajanaku@tri-statedefender.com
by Karanja A. Ajanaku
Dr. Lemoyne Robinson (left) is on point as the panel of educators, including Dr. Ernest L. Gibson III and Interim Supt. Dorsey Hopson (right) field questions. Tomeka Hart was the moderator. (Photo: Karanja A. Ajanaku)
Focus: African-American males
Talent Dividend panel doles out achievement gap ‘reality’ Kajanaku@tri-statedefender.com.
by Karanja A. Ajanaku Three “leading local educators”– including Interim Shelby County Schools Supt. Dorsey Hopson – on Tuesday helped participants and supporters of the Memphis Talent Dividend:
- INSIDE • Breaking into retail: The Candle Bakery. See Business, page 5. • At Ford Road, ‘No Excuses’ powers academic gains. See Education, page 12.
College Attainment Initiative with a starting point for dealing with the higher education achievement gap among African-American males. Hopson shared the spotlight with Dr. Lemoyne Robinson, who oversees several area charter schools as chancellor of Influence One Foundation, and Dr. Ernest L. Gib-
son III, a Rhodes College assistant professor of English. The session unfolded at the Leadership Memphis Gallery downtown, with the moderating duties in the hands of Tomeka Hart, Teach for America’s vice president for SEE MALES ON PAGE 12
The man black history erased CNN
• Chef Coolio? It could happen. See Entertainment, page 7.
MEMPHIS WEEKEND
FRIDAY
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H- 9 1o - L - 6 9o I so . T-St orms
H- 8 9o - L - 7 0o P a r tl y C l ou dy
H- 9 0o - L - 7 2o S unn y
REGIONAL TEMPS LITTLE ROCK NASHVILLE JACKSON, MS
Friday H-92 L-71 H-88 L-68 H-92 L-70
Saturday H-90 L-71 H-88 L-68 H-90 L-70
Sunday H-90 L-71 H-88 L-69 H-88 L-69
Kevin Woods
New District 4 School Board race ordered
by LZ Granderson Coolio
SEE BIRCHETT ON PAGE 2
Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum Jr.
ʻIntoleranceʼ claims chief organizer of 1963 March on Washington
On August 13, 1963, in a last ditch effort to derail the pending March on Washington, Strom Thurmond took the Senate floor and hurled a series of vicious, personal attacks against the man organizing the largest protest in U.S. history. Thurmond called him a Communist and a draft dodger. He brought up a previous arrest and accused him of being immoral and a pervert. The man Thurmond was attacking was not Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In fact Thurmond used King’s own words – secretly recorded by J. Edgar Hoover – in his attacks against the march’s deputy director. “I hope Bayard don’t take a drink before the march,” Clarence Jones, King’s lawyer and close friend, said in the recording. “Yes,” King replied. “And grab one little brother. ‘Cause he will grab one when he has a drink.” “Bayard” would be Bayard Rustin, the most important leader of the civil rights movement you probably have never heard of. Rustin was imprisoned for challenging racial segregation in the South before the phrase “Freedom Rider” was ever said. He taught a 25-
A memorial service on Saturday (Aug. 24) will celebrate the life of Grace Magazine publisher and Sisterhood Showcase founder Tina Louise Birchett. Ms. Birchett passed away on Sunday (Aug. 18) after a valiant battle with cancer. She was 53. The memorial service is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, 70 N. Bellevue Blvd., where she was a member. The numbing Tina L. news of Ms. Birchett Birchett’s passing spread quickly through the wide network of people touched by her directly and indirectly. She was the CEO and publisher of Birchett & Associates, comprised of the Sisterhood Outreach Summit & Showcase and GRACE® Magazine. “Some 16 years ago, Tina Birchett became one of 30 founding pioneers who contributed to the birth of the Memphis Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO),” said Elaine Sanford, founding president of NAWBO. “She was gritty, tenacious and a nononsense woman who enjoyed being called an entrepreneur,” said Sanford, founder of HER Faith Ministries, Inc. and Young-Sanford Marketing and Media Services. “Tina was fearless and always pushed past mediocrity to climb beyond so many of the issues that women entrepreneurs face in the busi-
At the 1963 March on Washington, actor and activist Ossie Davis introduced Bayard Rustin (left) “as the man who organized this whole thing.” Rustin, the March deputy director, is pictured here with Cleveland Robinson, chairman of the Administrative Committee. (Photo: Orlando Fernandez/Library of Congress)
• Why we’re still marching? See Opinion page 4 • ‘We Were There: The March on Washington.’ See Entertainment page 9.
year-old King the true meaning of nonviolent civil disobedience while the great dreamer was still being flanked by armed bodyguards. And before addressing the crowd of 250,000 that gathered at the National Mall nearly five decades ago, famed
actor and activist Ossie Davis introduced him “as the man who organized this whole thing.” No, the reason why you probably have not heard of Bayard Rustin has nothing to do with the significance of his contributions to the March on Washington or the civil rights movement in general. His absence is epitomized by the sentiment woven between the lines of that joke between Jones and Rustin’s protege. You see, the organizer of the great march, the man who held a SEE RUSTIN ON PAGE 2
A new election has been ordered in the School Board District 4 race, upholding a challenge to the Aug. 2, 2012 contest by longtime School board Commissioner Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum Jr. Kevin Woods was declared the winner in the race by virtue of a 106-vote margin of victory. Whalum challenged the results. Whalum based his challenge on the assertion that the Election Commission erroneously assigned voters who lived in District 4 to other district races and also assigned voters to District 4 who did not live in the district. Chancellor Kenny Armstrong ruled that no fraud had been committed, but said fraud was not a necessary element to invalidate the election. “The combination of illegal votes cast that cannot be assigned and legal votes excluded creates clear uncertainty about the election outcome in the District 4 race if the election had been conducted properly,” Armstrong concluded. Although the mistakes were “honest” and “not intentional,” Armstrong opined, “they cannot be simply ignored. …” Without a new election, there always would be “legitimate questions” about the winner, Armstrong said in his ruling. The bottom line? The Court was left with “no alternative except to order a new election in the race.”