The Westside Gazette

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Lawmakers Consider Treating Prison Inmates Like Human Beings With Pell Grants For Education

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Hundreds With HIV Could Donate Or gans TTo o Organs Others W ith HIV With HIV:: Study

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Clean Power Plant Affects Black Quality Of Life PAGE 12

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper A Pr oud PPaper aper ffor or a Pr oud PPeople...Sinc eople...Sinc Proud Proud eople...Sincee 1971 VOL. 44 NO. 16 50¢ THURSDA THURSDAYY, MA MAYY 28 - WEDNESDA WEDNESDAYY, JUNE 33,, 2015

Cleveland police officer acquitted for firing 49 shots at two unarmed victims

A judge recently found a Cleveland police officer not guilty for fatally shooting two unarmed Black victims who fled from police by car. And community outrage over police brutality continues to rage on.

By Nicole Flatow A judge found Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo not guilty Saturday morning for the fatal shooting of two unarmed Black victims fleeing police in their car. Brelo was part of an unauthorized 59-car police chase in which 137 shots were

fired, leaving Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams dead.

Protests were immediate in the wake of Judge John O’Donnell’s public announcement.

Investigators found that 13 officers had fired shots in what started as a routine police drug patrol. But Brelo, who fired 49 of those shots, was the only one

charged because prosecutors said he stood on the hood of his car and opened fire even after other officers had stopped shooting. He faced charges of voluntary manslaughter.

In his ruling Saturday morning, O’Donnell reasoned that he couldn’t find beyond a reasonable doubt that the deaths of Russell and Williams were caused by Brelo’s gunshots, since some of the 12 other officers who fired gunshots could have contributed to their deaths. He also said the actions of all of the officers were justified by their reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm at the time, even though the officers later learned that neither Russell nor Williams had a gun in their car as they fled from officers.

“Brelo did not fire too quickly or at a person that was clearly unarmed or clearly unable to run him over,” O’Donnell said.

“He did not fire at someone walking or running away.”

But in the hours following his announcement, the outrage over O’Donnell’s legal distinctions was swift. U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) called the ruling a “stunning setback.” “To-

day we have been told — yet again — that our lives have no value,” she said in a statement.

“We are witnessing failure of legal technicalities in accounting four Black death,” Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson tweeted.

The 2012 incident occurred several years before national attention turned to police brutality after the death of Michael Brown. Since Brown’s death, at least two deaths involving the police in Cleveland have sparked particular outrage — that of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, and Tanisha Anderson, a mentally ill woman who police said “went limp” in their hands, while family members say they saw her thrown to the ground.

Speaking for almost an hour, O’Donnell attempted to urge nuance in the face of acknowledged community outrage over police brutality.

“Every week I pass a mound of stuffed animals left for a 12year-old that many people believe was murdered by the police,” O’Donnell said. He said “this animosity is fed” not just by “clickers” but by “honest people treated as criminals” and “unnecessarily brutal treatment of suspects.” He nonetheless rejected notions that his ruling should have bearing on this larger debate.

Traditional Memorial Day Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

John 15:13 (KJV)

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr. As a child growing up and celebrating my birthday (May 30), this holiday holds great reverence for me. May 30 was the traditional day observed in this country in honor of those members of the armed forces killed in war. Now it is officially observed on the last Monday in May. I was proud to celebrate my birthday along with the accomplishments of great heroes and sheroes who paid the ultimate sacrifice by giving their life that others might live theirs in freedom.

As I grew older and the date of paying homage to our veterans changed, I questioned why. Why would the date for celebrating heroic, gallant actions be changed for some political purpose? The soldiers had already given their lives for political pandering and here, the day that was set aside for them, had now been resolved to just another Monday contributing to a three day weekend, boosting our economy in the realm of leisure activities.

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Bounce house takes flight

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Suicide rate up among young Black children in U.S. But fewer white kids aged five to 11 are taking their own life, study shows

Who held the first Memorial Day celebration?

History books credit a Union officer with the idea of a holiday to remember the war dead. But the first people to honor those who died had far less power.

Bounce house takes flight (inset) bounce house after crash.

Sergeant DeAnna Greenlaw Public Information Officer Fort Lauderdale Police Officers were working a City sponsored Memorial Day family event in the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, located at 800 Seabreeze Boulevard in the City of Fort Lauderdale.

At approximately 12:30 p.m., officers working this event observed a waterspout off the shoreline and advised police dispatch. As dispatch was relaying the information to officers in the area, the water-spout came on shore and up-rooted two

HealthDay news image MONDAY, May 18, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Suicides among Black American children have increased in recent years, while fewer white children are killing themselves, a new analysis finds.

The odds of any children in the age group five to 11 taking their own life remain small. But young Black children are three times as likely to do so as whites, the researchers said.

“While overall suicide rates in children younger than 12 years in the United States remained steady from 1993 to 2012, there was a significant

increase in suicide rates among Black children and a significant decrease in suicide in white children,” said Jeffrey Bridge, of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

“Many factors affecting Black youth, including increased exposure to violence and traumatic stress, early onset of puberty, and lower likelihood to seek help for depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts may be contributing to the disparity, “ Bridge added. “But the specific impact of each of these risks is unclear.”

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Pleading Our Own Cause

This man is generally credited with creating the first Memorial Day, but the history of the real originators has almost been forgotten. (Photograph: Design Pics Inc/ REX_Shutterstock)

By Michael W. Twitty African Americans have fought and died for America from its earliest days, from frontier skirmishes to the French and Indian Wars to the fall of Crispus Attucks at the Boston Massacre, immortalized as “the first to die for American freedom.” And though most official histories of Memorial Day credit with its founding a white former Union Army major general, whose 1868 call for a Decoration Day was reputedly inspired by local celebrations begun as early as 1866, the

first people who used ritual to honor this country’s war dead were the formerly enslaved Black community of Charleston, S.C. in May 1865 – with a tribute to the fallen dead and to the gift of freedom.

The city of Charleston was, like many places in the South, physically devastated by the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy, which began in its harbor with the attack upon Fort Sumter in 1861.

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Apple just made this man a billionaire by buying his app Reported by Victor O. HotStop.com, a navigation service founded by Nigerian entrepreneur Chinedu Echeruo, has reportedly been acquired

by Apple Inc. for $1 billion as part of the tech giant’s efforts to improve its web and mobile mapping infrastructure.

The HotStop.com acquisition deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal blog, “All Things Digital.” It is, to an extent, seen as Apple’s response to an earlier acquisition of a similar service by rival tech company Google, which paid

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inflated bounce houses, which were located near the basketball courts in the park.

The waterspout caused the bounce houses to take flight, ejecting three young children out of one of the bounce houses and onto the sand. The other bounce house was unoccupied at the time of the incident. Both inflatables traveled westbound above the tree line, across four lanes of traffic on State Road A1A and landed in a nearby parking lot.

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ECHERUO slightly more than $1 billion to buy Israel-based mapping startup Waze.

(Cont'd on Page 2) MEMBER: National Newspaper Publishers Association ( NNPA), and Southeastern African-American Publishers Association (SAAPA) Florida Association of Black Owned Media (FABOM)

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The issue of school choice is about children, Jussie Smollett: An activist to the core not political parties

By Tamara E. Holmes

By Keisha Knight Pulliam I think every person that walks the face of the earth has a Calling and Passion that they are meant to maximize to make our world a better place. For me, my Passion and Calling comes through acting, but it also shows up through my nonprofit Kamp Kizzy.

Kamp Kizzy gives young people the opportunity to learn, share, explore and expand their horizons through workshops, candid discussions and the opportunity to meet and “pick” the brains of some of the top individuals in their given professions. Now that we have been doing Kamp Kizzy for nearly a decade now, there are some undeniable Truths that have been reinforced through this work.

The first Truth is that when children are exposed to careers, opportunities and people that inspire, they become more determined about pursuing their Life’s work. The second great Truth that has been cemented through this work is that education is the great equalizer for children who might come from underserved communities and cities and because the second Truth is so near and dear to my heart, I have joined forces with a great organization, American Federation for Children, and its mission is to make sure that all children have access to a quality education.

An unfortunate reality for far too many families in our great country is that they are limited in their ability to access the best education for their children. Oftentimes, these barriers are due to lack of financial resources or their zip code and/or address is in a part of town that relegates them to inferior edu-

cational opportunities.

Our country is founded and thrives on opportunity and the mere fact that so many of our children are not getting the educational opportunities that they so richly deserve is one of the reasons that I unabashedly lend my name and voice to the issue of school choice.

Disproportionately, children of color and lesser financial means are the ones who are subjected to poor schools that have been underperforming for decades and giving their families more quality options when it comes to their children’s education is one of the ways that we can proactively solve this mammoth of an issue.

Finally, I just want to explicitly and emphatically state that, for me, the issue of school choice is about children. It is not about political party, affiliation or any other motive that does not derive itself from doing what is best for our children. I will humbly ask that you, like

KNIGHT PULLMAN I, add your voice and support to American Federation for Children and the work that it continues to do for our children especially those who are lowincome and working-class and deserving the opportunity to access great schools.

For more information on American Federation for Children, please visit…. www.federationforchildren.org or www.championsforchoice.com

Jussie Smollett, currently starring as Jamal Lyon in the Fox music-industry primetime soap opera “Empire” When Jussie Smollett was growing up, there were two things over which his mother gave him and his siblings no choice: “We weren’t allowed to choose whether we loved each other,” he says. “We also had no choice whether we were activists or not.”

That dedication to activism is a trait that the 31-year-old actor continues to nurture, and one of the causes he is most passionate about is easing the grip of HIV/AIDS on the Black community.

“I think there is a certain level of complacency that we have as a generation as far as HIV/AIDS goes,” he says. “It almost feels like it’s the last generation’s issue, but it’s so not. It’s right here. We’ve got to keep fighting, we’ve got to keep talking about it. We’ve got to keep protecting ourselves and protecting each other.”

Smollett is riding high these days as one of the stars of Fox’s breakout television hit Empire.

Apple just made this man a billionaire by buying his app (Cont'd from FP) HotStop.com had often been compared to the Waze map application in terms of the services it offers.

Echeruo reportedly founded the site back in 2005 as a result of the difficulties he used to have navigating through New York City while he was working on Wall Street.

This led him to create the innovative mapping service which provides directions and assists people in finding nearby bus stops and subway stations.

HotStop.com has applications for iOS and Android mobile devices and covers over 300 cities across the world, including San Francisco, Toronto, London and Paris.

HotStop.com enables Apple to provide mass transit directions — an aspect that the com-

pany’s map application was not covering previously. The Cupertino, California-based company had in fact been relying on Google for map data since 2007.

Echeruo, who grew up in the eastern part of Nigeria, had worked as an analyst at several hedge funds and investment banks before starting HotStop.com. The Syracuse University and Harvard Business School graduate worked for a number of years in J.P. Morgan Chase’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Leveraged Finance groups. He also worked with AM Investment Partners, a $500 million bond arbitrage hedge fund.

Black Enterprise’s 2007 Small Business Innovator of the Year started another U.S.-based Internet company called Tripology.com in 2010, ac-

cording to BET Global News.

African Leadership Magazine reported that the company was sold to Rand McNally, a U.S.based travel and navigation information company.

Echeruo is now a partner and principal investing group chief at a West Africa-based investment bank, Constant Capital. His new mission is to help small businesses in Africa grow through his latest solutionbased project.

“There is no reason why every entrepreneur should have to reinvent the wheel every single time in all the countries in Africa,” Echeruo said in a 2012 TED Talk. “My idea is to essentially have one place where a budding entrepreneur can access a template for starting a business, and then customize it to suit their own situation; essentially, a business-in-a-box.”

His character, Jamal Lyon, is the middle son of hip-hop moguls Lucious and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. Smollett’s character, Jamal, has shed light on many of the challenges of being a Black gay man as he has struggled to overcome his father’s disapproval of his homosexuality. In March, Smollett announced to Ellen DeGeneres that he, like the character he plays, is openly gay.

Although it might seem that Smollett’s star has taken off in the last six months with Empire’s success, the actor is really a veteran in Hollywood terms.

In 1993 he landed a role in the miniseries Queen, starring Halle Berry. He and his five siblings starred together in the ABC television series On Our Own in 1994. His sister actress Jurnee Smollett-Bell has been an AIDS activist, too. Other films he’s appeared in include The Mighty Ducks and North.

are interested in what he has to say now. “Whether you’re talking to two people or 2 million people, you can change the world by being you,” he says.

“But if millions of people are listening, shouldn’t you speak on the subjects that make the world a little bit better?”

Art Imitating Life His work as an actor has been entertaining, but much of it has also served to educate and inspire. In 2012 he starred in the movie The Skinny, a film that peeks into the lives of five friends who reunite at New York Pride weekend. One of the storylines features a character getting tested for HIV and undergoing a regimen of postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) after having unprotected sex.

When the movie premiered, Smollett and other members of the cast participated in a public service announcement produced by the Black AIDS Institute and the film’s director, PatrikIan Polk, titled “The Skinny Is Greater Than AIDS.” Offscreen, Smollett has been working with the Black AIDS Institute since he was 15.

He’s passionate about taking the stigma out of HIV. On Feb. 7, in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Smollett participated in a panel discussion about that stigma at an AIDS Healthcare Foundation event.

While he has always stressed the importance of giving back, he recognizes that thanks to his celebrity status, more people

Committed to the Cause As a Black AIDS Institute board member, Smollett has used his platform to speak out about the importance of getting tested for HIV and understanding ways to prevent it.

For example, in February, Smollett appeared at the Black AIDS Institute booth at the CIAA Basketball Tournament, the largest HBCU basketball tournament in the country, which takes place every year in Charlotte, N.C. Smollett is inspired by all the people who have taken part in the fight against HIV/AIDS from the beginning and is committed to doing his part to take up the torch. “We can’t allow this movement to die with the people who have died,” he says.

If we forget, we “disrespect their memory and their legacy,” he adds.

The bottom line for Smollett is that anyone can make a difference, but collectively we can do much more to eradicate the threat of HIV/AIDS. “It’s so important that we know that Black lives matter and Brown lives matter and LGBT lives matter,” he says. “They say one is a minority, but if minorities came together, we would become a strikingly unbelievable majority.”

SMOLLETT

May 28 - June 3, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 3

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Jay-Z and Beyonce are following a rich tradition

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA Columnist Hip-hop culture is about transformation. It is more than a global genre of music. Hip-hop is a transcendent cultural phenomena that speaks to the soul, mind, body and spirit of what it means to dare to change the world into a better place. Hip-hop is not just about acquiring funds or “stacking paper.” It is also about giving back. I have personally been a long term advocate for the unbridled intellectual genius and social consciousness of hip-hop.

So when I heard that recently Jay-Z and Beyoncé travelled together to Baltimore, Md. in the wake of the massive “Black Lives Matter” protests, I was not surprised. In fact, I give them both a big thumbs-up salute in gratitude for their leadership example.

The impact of the injustice of the horrific police killing of Freddie Gray was profound not only in Baltimore, but also across the nation.

They did not wait for a “cooling off” period before going to the scene of the protests. Jay and Bey also spent some quality time consoling Freddie Gray’s family. Giving back sometimes involves more than financial contributions. Taking sincere acts of solidarity and empathy with those who cry out for equal justice is also a meaningful expression of caring and lending one’s public brand to support the demand for justice.

One of the reasons why I believe that the combined creative talent of this gifted couple will continue to soar with career success is that they both believing in giving back. They give back substantively to their communities in New York, in Texas and throughout the world. From assisting global Red Cross efforts to helping the United Nations to provide safe clean drinking water to millions of people in Africa, Jay-Z and Beyonce continue their transformative philanthropic campaigns.

Of course whenever public icons such as Jay and Bey attempt to help make a difference for besieged and underserved communities, there will always be a cynical group of “player haters.”

But all of the negative responses to the goodwill actions of Jay and Bey will in no way be successful in tarnishing their righteous acts of helping others.

I well remember when the Godfather of hip-hop, Russell Simmons, was joined in New York City in 2001 by P. Diddy, Sister Souljah, Queen Latifah, Jay-Z, Will and Jada Smith, and many other hip-hop icons to establish the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) as a nonprofit advocacy organization. The artists decided that the theme of HSAN would be “Taking back responsibility” for the empowerment of families and communities in America and internationally.

Jay-Z and Beyonce have helped HSAN immeasurably over years to register millions of young people to vote and to encourage Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) programs in many cities and states. Again, it was not surprising to hear Jay-Z’s latest rap featuring lyrics about the unjust deaths of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. In classic Jay-Z style, he poetically said, “You know when I work, I ain’t your slave, right? You know I ain’t shucking and jiving and high-fiving, and you know this ain’t back in the days, right? Well I can’t tell how the way they killed Freddie Gray, right? Shot down Mike Brown how they did Tray, right?”

Beyonce also has a very long list of charities that she supports financially, including the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Oxfam, UNICEF, Global Poverty Project, and Keep a Child Alive.

Yet, probably one of the most private and telling acts that Jay-Z and Beyonce have done over the past year anonymously was the paying of thousands of dollars for the release from jail bails for the

Traditional Memorial Day (Cont'd from FP) ' Not this time.

Militaristic activities have caused such a divide in this country due to the selfish greed and snobbish disposition of the “upper crust” that the American Pie has almost lost its good taste.

On this Memorial Day let us reach back into time where outward respect was shown towards our soldiers and we as Americans were proud to celebrate the day for what it was and represented. Not just for a three day weekend to overindulge in whatever pain medicine one needs to escape the mundane drudgery of what our leaders are trying to make of our Great Country.

There was a time when being a soldier meant something respectable because that job required a belief in what your country stood for. Now there are questions surrounding the integrity of some of our leaders and our soldiers.

Therefore our country’s veracity is clad in darkness and we, its citizens, act as if we were some claques applauding our sinister demise by a buffoon group of racists.

Let us not hold our mighty warriors accountable for the shameless deeds that befall poisoned soldiers and the elected leaders of this country who stoop so low as to waddle in squalor for the sake of dirty money, preferential treatment and outright racism.

In addressing the purpose of Memorial Day, may we forever remember and cherish the true spirit of nationalism and respect that our deceased soldiers fought and now sleep in their graves for.

As long as the sun rises and sets, the oceans rush to the shores and the seasons follow each other, we will need the courage and fortitude of true soldiers who put the freedoms of others before their own and not just for the sake of money.

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

2 Timothy 2:4 (KJV) Word History: Why do soldiers fight? One answer is hidden in the word soldier itself. Its first recorded occurrence is found in a work composed around 1300, the word having come into Middle English (as soudier) from Old French soudoior and Anglo-Norman soudeour. The Old French word, first recorded in the 12th century, is derived from sol or soud, Old French forms of Modern French sou. There is no longer a French coin named sou, but the meaning of sou alerts us to the fact that money is involved. Indeed, Old French sol referred to a coin and also meant “pay,” and a soudoior was a man who fought for pay. This was a concept worth expressing in an era when many men were not paid for fighting but did it in service to a feudal superior. Thus soldier is parallel to the word mercenary, which goes back to Latin mercnnrius, derived from mercs, “pay,” and meaning “working for pay.” The word could also be used as a noun, one of whose senses was “a soldier of fortune.” From Free on line dictionary

hundreds of persons arrested in Ferguson and in Baltimore who were protesting police brutality.

In the 1960s, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, James Baldwin, Dick Gregory and many other performing artists and authors would pay the bail money to get hundreds civil rights workers out of jails during the many struggles for equality and justice. Thus, Jay-Z and Beyonce today are continuing that proud tradition of giving to support the causes of freedom, justice and equality.

Lawmakers consider treating prison inmates like human beings with Pell Grants for education

CHAVIS

Stay-cation, a review of things to do in South Florida See where your money goes to play

Wendy’s franchise mansion.

By Don Valentine Put the “Riverfront Cruise” down the New River on your Must-See list of things to do in Fort Lauderdale. It’s a testament to how great we have it in South Florida. The aquatic tour down Millionaire’s Row is a dynamic statement of what you can do with all the money you can ever spend.

The Riverfront is located on Brickell Avenue just south of Broward Boulevard. This used to be a vibrant split level night club, restaurant center. It has been dormant for five years as it goes through a condominium transition. A couple of businesses survived, including the Riverfront Cruises in the Las Olas Riverfront Plaza.

This 90-minute cruise is a witty dissertation of what the rich and famous have done with the “Venice of the America’s” playground. Calling it Millionaire’s Row is an understatement. If you only had one million dollars to buy a house in this ocean and riverfront abutment then you will be living in Davie.

If you have a membership to L.A. Fitness then you and I have helped the owner buy a $24 million mansion with the

New River for a backyard. The owner of the Sunglass Hut you see in every mall has a 22,000 square foot mansion. Ever get a burger from Wendy’s? That adorable red headed little girl thanks you. She bought a huge mansion on the river near the Atlantic. Last time I upsize.

Former Dolphins owner, Wayne Huizenga got tired of the neighbors’ complaints about where he parked his helicopter.

He bought the three mansions next to his 31,000 square foot mansion. He destroyed the mansions to make a helipad with parking lot. Now that’s how you talk to the Home owner’s association!

A number of the properties have been used in movies and T.V. In the movie Any Given Sunday, the mansion Al Pacino’s character lived in is located on the new river. They used one of the homes to film the scary scenes in the movie Cape Fear. Miami Vice creator Michael Mann used his mansion on the New River that has a 2,000 square foot master bedroom in several episodes.

Libations and light snacks are served on the tour. It’s a lot of fun. Try and share it with your out of town guests. They will enjoy our lush history on the cruise.

Children’s Services Council discusses 2015-2016 Budget LAUDERHILL, FL – Recently, the Children’s Services Council of Broward County (CSC) held its Council Meeting and Budget Retreat to review funding recommendations for programs that help prevent abuse and neglect, support mothers suffering from maternal depression, give disadvantaged youth summer employment & training opportunities and much more.

One of those programs is the CSC’s Supported Training & Employment Program (STEP), a year-round program offering job skills, independent living training and employment experience to prepare youth with developmental disabilities and/ or physical disabilities for postsecondary education, training and employment. Last year, the Council was able to provide 13 more jobs than originally planned, all while saving more than $1,500 budgeted.

The Council also discussed Abuse & Neglect Prevention through the Family Strengthening Program. Contracts with 20 Family Strengthening Programs that are set to expire this September currently provide highly effective services to families at-risk for child abuse and neglect due to multiple risk factors. Ninety-four percent of participants in FY 13-14, who successfully completed the program, did not receive a verified

abuse report within 12 months of completion.

“We look forward to continuing to provide the leadership, advocacy and resources necessary to ensure all children in Broward grow up to be responsible, productive adults and I thank the members of the Council for their diligent work in making sure every single dollar taxpayers contribute to these programs is spent wisely and effectively,” said Cindy Arenberg Seltzer, President/ CEO of the CSC. The new CSC’s budget will take effect October 1, 2015.

The CSC of Broward County is an independent taxing authority which was established by a public referendum on September 5, 2000, which, through Public Act, Chapter 2000-461 of the laws of Florida, authorized the Council to levy up to 0.5 mills of property taxes.

The role of the Council is to provide the leadership, advocacy and resources necessary to enhance children’s lives and empower them to become responsible, productive adults through collaborative planning and funding of a continuum of quality care.

Follow us on Twitter at @CSCBroward and on Facebook. For more information about the CSC of Broward County, please call (954) 3771000 or visit.

Reported by Liku Zelleke If all goes according to plan, prisoners might soon be eligible for Pell Grants to attend college while they are still in prison.

The U.S. Department of Education said it is about to announce a limited exemption on the federal ban that is currently in place.

The department is expected to issue a waiver under the experimental site program, which will allow the federal government to lift certain rules that govern aid programs with the intent of testing the waters before the ban—which has been in place since 1994—can be put up for reconsideration by Congress.

According to reports, President Barack Obama’s Administration supports the experiment, and it is expected to be put into action as early as this summer.

Although nothing definite can be said at the moment, one likely scenario would be for state and federal prison education programs from a few selected colleges to be made eligible for Pell Grants. Restrictions, like being eligible only if a prisoner has a certain number of years remaining before their release, could also be put in place.

What is for sure, though, is the controversy the limited experiment is going to provoke.

The thought of spending tax payers’ money on college education for convicted criminals is too tempting a target for conservative pundits and some lawmakers from both political parties to overlook.

Last year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo brought forward a proposal to use state funds to support and further education programs in prison.

He had to drop the idea after it was faced with fierce and instant opposition.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t stalwart proponents of the idea, especially with the current plan of action. One supporter is Steve Steurer, the executive director of the Correctional Education Association, who said, “Our association will support the reauthorization of Pell Grants for inmates. It’s a no-brainer.”

Steurer is among those who believe prisoners can be rehabilitated into educated and productive people who can “go back as workers and parents.”

Given there are far more Black men in prison than any other ethnic group, this could be a major shift in the way these men are able to provide for their families upon release.

Suicide rate up among young Black children in U.S. (Cont'd from FP) Hanging/suffocation, the leading suicide method, accounted for more than threequarters of the total suicide deaths. Guns were used in nearly 20 percent of cases, the study found.

Bridge and his colleagues published their findings in the May 18 online edition of JAMA Pediatrics.

To explore trends in youth suicide, the investigators reviewed 20 years of information from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention databases.

The team found that roughly 33 boys and girls between ages five and 11 died by suicide every year on average. That translated into a stable rate of a little more than one child suicide a year for every 1 million American children.

But when broken down along racial lines, the nation’s suicide portrait looked far more complicated.

For example, while the suicide rate among young white children fell from 1.14 per onemillion in 1993 to 0.77 per one million by 2012, the same figure rose among young Black children from 1.36 per million to 2.54 per million.

The trend appears to be driven largely by boys, who make up 84 percent of youth suicides overall. The suicide rate among Black boys nearly doubled — jumping from 1.78 to 3.47 per million — during the study period, while among white boys it dropped from 1.96 to 1.31 per million.

Bridge said future research will need to continue to track the trends, with the hope of better understanding the underlying factors at work.

Meanwhile, “parents and health care providers need to be aware that children under the age of 12 can and sometimes do think about suicide,” he stressed.

“It is important to ask children directly about suicide if there is a concern about a child,” Bridge said. “For example: ‘Are you having thoughts about killing yourself?’ The research has shown that asking children directly about suicide will not trigger subsequent suicidal thinking or behavior. It does not hurt to ask.”

Sarah Feuerbacher, director of the Southern Methodist University Center for Family Counseling in Plano, Tex., seconded the notion that “it is always a good idea to ask.”

Feuerbacher said, “Starting the conversation with someone you think may be depressed or even considering suicide helps in many ways.” This may help a child feel less alone and less isolated, while offering the opportunity to trust and confide in other people and/or alternative options, she suggested.

In the case of older kids, Feuerbacher added, “most teens that get help for their depression go on to enjoy life and feel better about themselves, their relationships, and their environments in which they live.”

Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, N.Y., stressed that, despite some concerning trends, suicide among young children remains exceedingly uncommon.

“Although suicide is indeed a major public health concern for adolescents, it is very rare — literally ‘one in a million’ — for children ages 11 and under,” Adesman said.

Page 4 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • May 28 - June 3, 2015

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Community Digest

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Program

Elder Abuse, neglect and exploitation program training, Friday, May 29, 2015 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., at 5300 Hiatus Rd., Sunrise, Fla. Seating is limited, call (954) 745-9567 to RSVP.

Conference

Judah Worship Word Ministries, International, Special Ministry to Men Conference 2015, Friday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 8:15a.m., 4441 W. Sunrise Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Bishop Jerome Henry of Jacksonville, Fla., guest speaker.

The community is welcomed, Dr. W.L. Mitchell, senior pastor.

For more info call (954) 7912999.

Celebration

The Conversation of Housing

Cong. Alcee Hastings Attention: Residents and Participants of any of the HUD Housing Programs, Public Housing, Join current & former residents with Congressman Alcee Hastings, Saturday, May 30, 2015 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Topics for Discussion: · Pros and cons of Section 8 Vouchers · Resident Rights, · Responsibilities, and roles · Budget cuts and impromptu topics RVSP at (786) 519-0544 (space is limited) Sponsored by - Saving Our Homes and Taking Back Our Communities Tour -

Conference

Celebration

After years of hard work and dedication, it’s time to take a permanent vacation, join us in celebrating retirement of Gracie Miller, Pamela Williams, Major Samuel Love, Dr. Louis Sanders and Deborah Davis, Saturday, June 6, 2015 at 12:30 p.m., at Embassy Suites 1100 S.E. 17 St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. There is fee, includes meal and gift.

Breakfast

Mount Hermon A.M.E. Church Sons of Allen Men's Ministry Father and Son Breakfast, Saturday, June 13, 2015 at 9 a.m., at the Mount Hermon Family Life Center, 404 N.W. Seventh Terr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Keynote speaker is Rev. Kenneth F. Irby of Historic Bethel A.M.E. Church St. Petersburg, Fl. For more info and tickets contact Roma Roberts call (954) 854-4778 or romarober@bellsouth.net

IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE IN THE

WESTSIDE GAZETTE CALL (954) 525-1489 St. John UMC cordially invites you to attend the Pastor Appreciation Worship Service and Celebration for Rev. Dr. Simon Osunlana on Sunday, May 31, 2015 at 10 a.m., at St. John United Methodist Church, located at 1520 N.W. Fifth St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Refreshments will be served.

2015 AMAC Annual Airport Business Diversity Conference, Friday June 12 thru Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa. A mustattend event for Airport Professionals, Corporations and small businesses. For more info go www.amac-org.com

TO HAVE YOUR COMMUNITY EVENTS POSTED CALL -- (954) 525-1489 OR FAX -- (954) 525-1861 FOR MORE INFO

Summer Reading Program

The Summer Reading Program will be at held Tyrone Bryant Library, 2230 N.W. 21 Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Participation earns raffle chances at Amazon and Publix gift cards, raffle entries can be earned by reading or listening to audio books whenever you want. For additional info call (945) 357-8210. · Saturday, June 6, from 2 to 3 p.m. - Summer Reading Program Kick-Off – refreshments · Tuesday, June 9, from 10:30 to 12 – Book Talk with Krystal Jordon – Escape the Ordinary: The Art of Activation · Saturday, June 13, from 11 to 12 – Adult Financial Heroes: Rebuilding Credit Register online @ www.broward.org/Library/ read or come in to register.

EDUCATION MATTERS Every Child Deserves a Chance to Succeed.

Preneed Family Counselor

Alicia Rooks and I am a new author

Nixon

Alicia Rooks is a new home-grown author, the name of her book is “MARRIAGE, It’s Not Physical...IT’s SPIRITUAL!!!

(HOLY). Alicia is a member of Hope Outreach Love Center, Inc. where her pastors are Frank A. II & Elect Lady Jacqueline D. Lloyd. She has a book Reveal/Rekindle, Part I seminar (signing) on May 30, 2015 at 5 p.m., at Hope Outreach Love Center, Inc. 3271 W. Broward Blvd. Fort Lauderdale, Fla 33312.

There will be a panel discussion with pastors Frank Elect Lady Jacqueline Lloyd, Keith and Lady Chiquita Butler from Logos Baptist church of Miami, FL, Bro. Lawrence and Evangelist Tiffany Baker (HOLC), and much more.

We ask everyone to bring an open heart/mind, willing spirit, and tissues for this will be a “God” orchestrated occasion. The event is Free!!!

Isn’t it time to have the Conversation? Although it can be difficult, it’s never too early to discuss the future. Be prepared and help ease the burden on your family. Get peace of mind, knowing things will be taken care of the way you want them.

Celebrate a life well lived, with the significance of preserving memories that transcend generations, with dignity and honor.

For that comprehensive conversation, call Michael Nixon, preneed family counselor (954) 937-1362.

Fundraiser

Dillard Class of '71 Members and supporters: We Need Your Help… Our annual scholarship Fundraiser is scheduled for July 25. An Elegant Affair “Living Life like Its Golden” at Tropical Acres Restaurant 2500 Griffin Rd., Hollywood, Fla. Tickets will be available for pickup on Wednesday, May 20 from 6-8 p.m., and Thursday, May 21 from 6-8 p.m., at the Black Firemen’s Hall, 1612 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. We appreciate your support.

SUPPORT THE BLACK PRESS, IS THE VOICE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY. FOR CALL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TODAY! (954) 525-1489

Family Fest

P.O.P.S., Inc. & Riverwalk Fort Lauderdale presents, The Third Annual Rock Da Park Summer Family Fest, Saturday, June 6, 2015 from 2 to 6 p.m., at Esplande Park, 400 S.W. Second St., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Directly across from the Museum of Discovery adn Science). Alcohol Free Zone.

Follow us on Twitter: @POPSFtL. To donate visit www.popsinc.org

CITY WIDE CLASS OF 1973 60TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

“MADE IN 1955” “AGED TO PERFECTION” FRIDAY, JUNE 26 TO SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2015

DEERFIELD BEACH EMBASSY SUITES 950 S. OCEAN WAY DEERFIELD BEACH, FL 33441 HOTEL RESERVATIONS LINK: embassysuites.hilton.com/en/es/groups/personalized/D/ DEEFLES-CCB-20150626/index.jhtml or call (954) 426-0478 FRIDAY, JUNE 26 MEET & GREET - 7 PM TICKETS - $40 SATURDAY, JUNE 27 “GAYLA” 7 PM to 11 PM TICKETS - $60 COLORS: PURPLE & SILVER OR GRAY (ATTIRE: SEMI-FORMAL) T-SHIRTS S-XL: $10, 2X: $12, 3X-4X: $14, 5X: $18, 6X: $20 SIZES ARE NEEDED ASAP!!!!!

PLEASE CONTACT NETTIE WILLIAMS (954) 881-3412

OR ALEX BONNER (954) 235-4339

TO ORDER T-SHIRTS & TO PURCHASE TICKETS HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!!

STAYCONNECTED -- www.thewestsidegazette.com LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

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May 28 - June 3, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 5

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Child Watch

Overmedicating children in foster care

By Marian Wright Edelman, NNPA Columnist On any given day, nearly one in four children in foster care is taking at least one psychotropic medication – more than four times the rate for all children. Nearly half of children living in residential treatment centers or group homes take psychotropic medications. Children in foster care are more likely to be prescribed multiple psychotropic medications at very high doses, although research shows higher doses can result in serious side effects.

Viewers of the ABC News program 20/20 may remember Ke’onte Cook from a few years ago, a 10-year-old who had already spent four years in foster care being treated with a dozen different medications for conditions including seizures, bipolar disorder, and ADHD. Ke’onte had never been diagnosed with the conditions some of the medications were meant to treat. Under his adoptive parents’ care, he stopped taking all the medications and started relying on therapy, and with that new treatment plan, he was transformed. Why are some children in foster care being overmedicated, and what steps do we need to take to do something about it?

Psychotropic medications act on the brain and central nervous system to cause changes in mood, behavior, or perception. They can be effective treatments for certain serious mental health conditions but there is a growing concern that too many children in foster care are overmedicated – in some cases as a form of behavior control.

Children who come into foster care often have been exposed to multiple traumatic events, including the removal from their families, and may be at higher risk for mental health problems and emotional disorders. Too often multiple medications may be used without other kinds of effective treatments that might better address the underlying trauma children are experiencing. There’s evidence some children in foster care are subjected to powerful medications at very young ages and/or in combinations and amounts that are unsafe for children of any age. Many psychotropic medications are not approved for use in children at all.

Often children in foster care are prescribed drugs without any

Blacks least likely to get business were turned down for loan from banks owners larger loans and 14 percent for

Ron Busby urges personal relationship with banker.

By Freddie Allen, Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – Black-owned businesses face tougher challenges than other groups when seeking bank loans, according to a new study by the Gallup polling company commissioned by Wells Fargo.

Nearly half (47 percent) of Black-owned businesses operate in the South and the study found that 77 percent of Black business owners use personal cash to finance their businesses.

African-American business owners were less likely to borrow money for business reasons than Asian and Hispanic business owners.

“Twenty-two percent of African American business owners say they felt that discrimination from a financial institution based on their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation had impacted their chances to obtain credit for their business,” stated the report. “Among those who indicated they needed credit, African American owners, in particular, say they were not able to get all the credit they needed.”

According to the report, 13 percent of Black business owners obtained the credit they needed, compared to 20 percent for Hispanic owners, 24 percent of Asian owners and 23 percent of owners in general.

The report also found that the larger the loan request, the higher the rejection rate. Overall, 27 percent of applications for larger loans were turned down and only 7 percent for smaller ones.

The highest rejection rate – 38 percent – was among Black business owners seeking a loan of at least $250,000; 17 percent of Blacks seeking a loan less than $50,000 were rejected. By comparison, 33 percent of Asian

smaller ones. For Latino business owners, the rejection rate was 26 percent for large loans, and 15 percent for smaller ones.

Once banks declined a loan to Black business owners, they needed they were more likely to apply for credit again than other small business owners.

In a statement, Lisa Stevens, the head of Small Business for Wells Fargo, said that serving diverse communities has long been a focus area and priority.

“For this reason, we commissioned the Gallup study, which gave us new insight into the perceptions and experiences of diverse business owners working with banks, and how we can improve as a company and as an industry,” said Stevens.

In an interview, Ron Busby, president of the U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., said there is some good news amid the bad.

“If we’re being successful with the limited amount of resources that we have today, our future looks wonderful,” said Busby. “I think for Black businesses to be successful, they need to go in proactively. They need to have established relationships with their bankers early on before there’s an opportunity.”

Busby continued: “When they’re first thinking about starting a business, they need to start a relationship with their banker.”

In an effort to address some of the challenges affecting minority business owners related to the lending industry, Wells Fargo committed to a fourpoint plan that includes more education and credit coaching for borrowers and $75 million in grants and investments in micro-lending programs aimed at diverse business communities.

“We know that in order to address the range of financial needs within all of our communities, we need to support and work with the eco-system of organizations that serve small businesses,” said Jon Campbell, executive vice president, government and community relations for Wells Fargo, said in a statement. “Through this increased investment and connections with community lending organizations, we are making meaningful strides toward increasing access to capital for small businesses, as well as helping more business owners get the coaching and educational resources they need to succeed financially longterm.”

psychotherapy because resources aren’t available. They may not receive a proper initial diagnosis or any of the ongoing monitoring or extra services that should accompany the use of such powerful drugs – all essential considering the serious side effects from some that can include nightmares, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, and even death.

The 20/20 special included the heartbreaking story of Gabriel Myers, a Florida seven-year-old who hung himself in his foster family’s bathroom. A state investigation concluded the use of psychotropic drugs was a contributing factor in his death. His foster father said the doctor who prescribed the many drugs Gabriel was taking – some so strong that even the pharmacy filling them raised red flags – would spend no more than five minutes with the little boy before sending him out the door with another prescription.

We must do better. Last year, JooYeun Chang, associate commissioner of the Children’s Bureau in the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACF), testified before Congress that despite important steps taken by the Administration and Congress to promote the monitoring and management of psychotropic medications and the development of trauma-informed practices, too many child welfare agencies lack the proper non-pharmacological treatments to address the mental health needs of children in foster care.

This year, for the second time, in President Obama’s budget proposal ACF and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

(CMS) have jointly proposed a demonstration to promote trauma-informed psychosocial interventions to meet the complex needs of children who have experienced maltreatment and other trauma and to address the over-use of psychotropic medications for children in foster care.

The Administration seeks to reduce the over-reliance on EDELMAN drugs and increase the use of appropriate screening, assessment, and interventions. ACF is asking Congress for $250 million over five years to create the necessary infrastructure to do this, including creating a special workforce to recruit families who can care for children receiving alternative treatments; better training in trauma-informed practice for child welfare professionals; better coordination between child welfare and Medicaid agencies in case planning and case management; and better data collection and information sharing by child welfare agencies, Medicaid, and behavioral health services.

The budget request also includes an additional $500 million for CMS to provide incentives to states that demonstrate improvements to reduce inappropriate drug prescribing practices and overutilization of psychotropic medications, increase access to evidence-based and trauma-informed therapeutic interventions, promote child and adolescent wellbeing, and improve outcomes for children in the child welfare system.

These common sense and necessary steps build on best practices already in place in some states. May is National Foster Care Month and now is the right time to ensure children in foster care get the treatment and care they truly need.

BCPS High School students participate in first Rally to the Tally for New Floridians Recently, approximately 300 foreign-born ninth and 10th grade students from 23 Broward County high schools took part in the first Rally to the Tally for New Floridians. This four-day field trip allowed students to visit the state capital as well as visit the University of Central Florida, University of Florida and Florida State University, from May 26 – 29, 2015.

The “Rally to the Tally for New Floridians,” was organized in collaboration with the Close Up Foundation and funded by Title III, Part A, Enhanced Opportunities for Recently Arrived Immigrant Children and Youth Grant. Students learned about state and federal government, tour the capitol, met state agency officials and prepared a Youth Legislative Agenda to present their committee proposals at the capitol to members of the House and Senate. Activities will foster confidence for active citizenship and raise awareness of the American cultural values placed on education and community involvement.

Participating students represent countries in the Caribbean; Central, North and South Americas; and Europe. Their high schools included, Blanche Ely High School, Boyd An-

Students from South Broward High participating in Rally to the Tally for New Floridians.

School, Hallandale High School, Hollywood Hills High School, McArthur High School, Miramar High School, Northeast High School, Piper High School, Plantation High School, South Broward High School, South Plantation High School,

Stranahan High School, Taravella High School, Western High School and Whiddon Rogers Education Center.

Follow the journey on social media using #browardrallytothetally.

Who held the first Memorial Day celebration?

troops were present at the commemoration – including some of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (who were later memorialized in the movie Glory). That the Gullah people performed a march and parade in a circle was no accident: movement in a circle – the Ring Shout – was the most sacred rite brought by the enslaved to North America.

In a mixture of African and American custom, the Gullah put to rest the Union soldiers, who in part, lost their lives to ensure the freedom of those who later marched for them. Black people and white marched together, and the site was dedicated as a memorial burial ground. As the children sang “The Star Spangled Banner”, the men and women wept and prayed as they expressed gratitude that the long nightmare of slavery was over.

Three years later, just days before Major General John A Logan declared that 30 May 1868 should be a “Decoration Day” to commemorate the war dead, many of the people who participated in the 1865 ceremony returned to decorate the graves of those that they’d interred. America takes time each year to celebrate the sacrifices of our war dead; this year, we should take a moment to also honor those who, despite facing hardships of their own, chose to commemorate the lives that had been lost partly in the service of securing their freedom from enslavement.

(Cont'd from FP) But Charleston was more than just the place where the war of brother against brother began: it was also the entry point for a quarter of all enslaved Africans in the colonial period, accounting for more than any other port.

As the international slave trade faced its inevitable abolition, traders delivered more than 90,000 humans into enslavement through the port between 1803 and the (official) end of the American slave trade in 1808. Charleston was a center for the trading of enslaved people across the Deep South and the exit point for the valuable crops of rice, indigo, and Sea Island cotton produced completely by enslaved labor – crops which made millions for the South’s wealthiest and most concentrated planter elite.

The enslaved Africans who formed the majority of the local population were some of the most unassimilated Blacks in North America at that time.

They were the Gullah people, descendants of those sold into slavery from the rice-growing regions of West Africa and the Kongo-Angola region of Central Africa. The plantations of the low country and the seedy streets of antebellum Charleston were horrific places for the Gullah people: malaria, yellow fever, cholera, malnutrition,

derson High School, Coconut Creek High School, Coral Glades High School, Coral Springs High School, Cypress Bay High School, Deerfield Beach High School, Everglades High School, Flanagan High School, Fort Lauderdale High

physical violence, sexual exploitation and the constant threat of separation from the family abounded in the lives of the enslaved.

Tropical diseases forced plantations into isolation and the Gullah developed their own language, a unique syncretic religion blending African and Christian elements, a food culture that birthed Low country food ways as we know them, and they preserved names, stories, traditions and customs from across the African continent. One of the most important rituals that they preserved and passed on was the honoring of the ancestral dead and giving proper due to those transitioning out of this world.

When the Civil War came, the response of the Gullah people was to use their knowledge to further the cause of freedom: from the heroic acts of Robert Smalls to the enthusiasm of the Port Royal Experiment to the call for 40 Acres and a Mule, it was these uniquely cultured and empowered people who perhaps most enthusiastically embraced both resistance to the planter regime while yearning for the American dream. And, on May 1, 1865, they performed an act of gratitude to the country that had first enslaved and finally freed them, firmly based both in their African and American heritage that became part

of what we now celebrate as Memorial Day. As the war ended, behind the Italianate grandstand at Charleston’s Washington Race course – which, in the pre-war years had been the playground of the rice and cotton planter elite – there was a mass grave holding over 200 Union soldiers, because the track served an outdoor prison during the last year of the war and many prisoners died of disease and exposure. At the war’s end, after the city was surrendered to African American troops and largely abandoned by whites, the Gullah people were ready to begin facing a new reality of emancipation – but first they chose to pay homage to those who had died.

In the West African tradition from which Charleston’s Gullah people came, honorable warriors deserved sacred burial, and the dead were seen as part of a cycle of souls entering and leaving the world. To disrespect those dead was to ensure a negative energy in the future, so 28 Gullah men dug up the 200 men in that mass grave behind the grandstand and gave them proper burial – horrific work under the best of circumstances.

On May 1, “in cooperation with white missionaries and teachers”, 3,000 Black children bearing roses led women bearing wreaths and men, marching together in a circle to honor the newly-buried war dead. Black

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Page 6 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • May 28 - June 3, 2015

Opinion

The Westside Gazette, under the Management of BI-ADs, Inc., reserves the right to publish Views and Opinions by Contributing Writers may not necessarily reflect those of the Staff and Management of The Westside Gazette Newspaper and are solely the product of the responsible individual(s) who submit comments published in this newspaper.

War on drugs? Or war on the Black community?

By Barry Stephenson The other day, I watched a news conference on television. Various local leaders, law enforcement, and the big cheeses from the 17th Judicial Circuit Court all assembled together to discuss the latest plague in our neighborhood, FLAKKA! THEY HAVE DECLARED “WAR ON FLAKKA”! Apparently they learned nothing from the last “war on drugs”. They talked about how “Flakka” is the “WORST” drug ever. I’m not sure if I’m buying that claim. flakka is just the latest choice of idiots. I think drugs like Heroin, LSD, PCP and Angel Dust were much worse. Thousands

upon thousands of drug dependent junkies overdosed on Heroin and died daily back in the 60’s and 70’s.

When I lived in Southern California back in the early ‘80’s, liquid PCP was the trend. This stuff was so potent, all it took was a couple of pulls and BING, BANG, BLAM, it’s off to the moon. Because SHERM gave them the illusion of being weightless, it had guys jumping from their balconies. Some mothers threw their babies from rooftops and jumped themselves just to see if they could fly!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating drug usage, but I don’t believe scare tactics will work.

Why not concentrate on raising the self-esteem of young folks. Because EXPERIENCE is the best teacher, I don’t see how someone can teach their child about flakka other than tell their kid what someone tells them. I’m sorry, but law enforcement isn’t a trustworthy source for anything. Has anyone checked to see if any of the people in the news were mentally ill?

Were they bipolar? That would be a major contributing factor if they were.

Because flakka is synthetic and highly addictive, it requires a lab. I have serious doubts if it’s manufactured in urban neighborhoods, but it’s darn sure sold there.

Is the Governor’s new Commission on Health credible and honest?

By Roger Caldwell As the dysfunctional Florida Legislature prepares for its special session, the Republicans are praising Governor Scott. Many of the Senate Republicans, who were calling our governor derogatory names has changed their characterization of him. They are now addressing the governor as the leader of the party, and he can make a major difference in the stalemate.

“He is the leader of our party, and has a big role to play. It is no secret the

relationship between the governor and Senate was a bit rocky during the session, but it’s time to turn the page,” says Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Flemming Island. I hope this means that the two parties are talking to each other, and the governor is not taking sides with the Speaker of the House, and the House of Representatives.

At the present time, there is a major billion-dollar fight on health care spending in Florida, and the Senate wants to expand Medicaid into the state. The governor and the House are against expanding Medicaid, even

‘Stupid’ infrastructure neglect

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Columnist When Amtrak Northeast Regional MALVEAUX Train #188 derailed on May 12, 2015, federal budget observers wondered if the underfunding of our nation’s fraying infrastructure was at least partly responsible for the deaths of eight people and the injuries to more than 200. Despite these questions, House Republicans voted to reduce President Obama’s request for Amtrak funding from $2.45 billion to $1.14 billion. The Republican proposal not only reduces the current level of funding for Amtrak, which is $1.4 billion, it also delays or eliminates needed capital for improvements.

Legislators who represent areas served by the Northeast corridor trains running from Washington D.C. to Boston, including New York’s Charles Schumer (D) and Philadelphia’s Chaka Fattah (D), have voiced objection to the parsimonious plan to underfund Amtrak. Still, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), as characteristically myopic as the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, lost his cool when a reporter asked about funding for Amtrak.

When Ginger Gibson, a political reporter for the International Business Times, queried Boehner about Democratic criticisms of Amtrak funding, he called her question “stupid.”

He then embarked on a partisan rant that ignored the fact that eight people died because of the derailment. What does money have to do with it? Everything.

If budgets allowed for more than one engineer on a train, then Brandon Bostian, the engineer who claims to not remember why the train sped up, might have had some backup.

Further, with more funding, would the positive train control safety system (which slows speeding trains) have been functioning properly?

Investigations have not yet revealed why Train #188 derailed. It was going 106 miles per hour when it should have been going 50, but how did it speed up so rapidly, and why? Why are there not enough precautions to prevent this kind of accident? What will be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future?

Trains aren’t the only parts of our infrastructure that need attention.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR GUIDELINES The Westside Gazette welcomes your letters. Letters must be signed with name clearly legible along with a phone number and complete address. No unsigned or anonymous letters will be considered for publication. The Westside Gazette reserves the right to edit letters. The letters should be 500 words or less.

though the residents of the state are paying taxes to the federal government for the program. Our lawmakers in the House and our governor is letting one million Floridians suffer, instead of extra federal money CALDWELL going directly to local health care providers, hospitals, physicians, and helping the overall state economy.

Last week, Governor Scott announced a new commission to investigate the flow of taxpayer dollars spent by hospitals and the health care industry in the state. When our political leaders are criticized for doing very little, they put together a commission to study the problem. The head of Scott’s commission is Carlos Beruff, a homebuilder and campaign donor, who gave $80,000 to Scott’s re-election campaign.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Politicizing donations to Clinton Foundation

By George E. Curry, NNPA Columnist Like the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy that primarily funds education, world health and CURRY population projects, the Clinton Foundation was established to address such issues as climate change, global health, economic development, health and wellness and problems involving women and girls.

In a crass effort to derail Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign bid, major Republican figures and Fox News, their partner-in-crime, are peddling the idea that there is something inherently wrong with supporting private efforts to improve the world.

As Media Matters observes, they are “falsely equating donations to the Clinton Foundation with contributions to a Democratic political campaign.”

The media watchdog group observes, “The foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-forprofit organization, which means it is ‘absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.’”

Media Matters wrote, “Paul Waldman, an American Prospect senior writer and former Media Matters senior fellow, criticized Politico reporter Dylan Byers for drawing a misleading ‘parallel between donating to a candidate’s campaign and donating to a charitable foundation run by an ex-president.’

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

The bee at my mailbox

By Bill Fletcher, Jr., NNPA Columnist There is a bee that hovers by my mailbox. I have never had this experience. When I approach the mailbox, it flies in out of nowhere and hovers by the box. It does not attack me but makes sure that I know of its presence.

When I walk away, the bee either flies off or remains in place hovering. It is one of the most unusual experiences I have ever had. It is as if the bee is trying to communicate something to me.

If the bee is trying to communicate something it may be that there is a crisis facing bees. There has been a 40 percent loss of honeybees as hives collapse. There are many theories as to why this is happening, and none of

The Waco biker riot and the lexicon of racism

By Lee A. Daniels, NNPA Columnist Question: When men (and a few women) belonging to gangs known to law enforcement agencies for criminal behavior explode in a rampage – DANIELS using guns, knives, clubs, and chains in trying to kill each other, and police officers, too, that leaves nine dead, nearly 200 injured and hundreds arrested, is that a “riot?”

Answer: Apparently not if the overwhelming majority of the gang members are white?

America’s present-day “racial divide,” has never been more strikingly displayed than in the refusal of much of the mainstream and conservative media to describe the May 17 biker riot in Waco, Texas as a riot.

The riot, which occurred at a popular restaurant amid dozens of innocent bystanders and, according to police, involved members of five different gangs, was one of the most extraordinary outbursts of mass criminal violence in recent memory. Further, almost immediately after Waco police arrested the bikers, rumors swirled that other members of the gangs were heading toward the city to both continue the battle against their rivals and carry out death threats made against Waco police officials.

Yet, scanning the newspapers, the universe of online publications, and the network and cable television news programs, you’d have scarcely come across any description of what occurred in Waco as a “riot.” Nor would you have likely found any reference to the bikers, clad in their distinctively grungy biker garb, as “thugs” – or, as one newspaper reader put it: “murdering thuggish rioters.”

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

The Gantt Report When coattails become halter tops

By Lucius Gantt There are more than a few elected officials that slid into public office on the coattails of President Barack OGANTT bama.

The extraordinarily high turnout of Black voters that voted for the President in his first and second elections benefited almost every Black or Democratic candidate that ran in a predominately Black city or political district.

Now, if recent elections are any indication, the President’s coattails have become more like a halter top!

White candidates started this transformation a couple of years ago when some members of the President’s own Party treated the President like he had political Ebola!

They didn’t want President Obama to appear with them, they didn’t want the President to speak for them and they distanced themselves as far from President Barack Obama as they possibly could.

However, what they could take from President Obama in “secret”, they took!

They asked for financial help from the Democratic National Committee, which President Obama controls, at least figuratively. They asked for social media assistance to try to mimic the President’s mastery of social media campaign tactics and they got it.

And, they asked for and got the names and contact information of every Black voter that contributed money or clicked on an internet link to support the President.

With everything candidates got from President Obama, so-called liberals and moderates seeking elected office were advised by high paid political consultants to be as conservative as possible because Black voters, Hispanic voters and women voters would vote for non-Republicans regardless of what their platform or proposed political programs were.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

To Be Equal

B.B. King:Why I sing the Beyond the Rhetoric How the Army addressed Blues

By Marc H. Morial, racial tensions NNPA Columnist

By Harry C. Alford, NNPA Columnist I remember sitting through a lecture in a sociology class during ALFORD my senior year at the University of Wisconsin. The professor was boring and I had a newspaper. I looked at the front page and noticed a list of dates. They were birth dates for the new Army draft lottery.

Most exemptions from the draft were gone and President Richard M. Nixon implemented the draft lottery based on birth dates. There it was, my birth date – Feb. 14 – listed as the fourth number to go. Those with the first 100 birth dates were going to get drafted into the Army and I was near the top of the list. My first thoughts: “My future is toast. I am going to go to Vietnam and catch a bullet or grenade. If I survive, I am not going to live on a college salary but a drafted private in poverty.”

Procter & Gamble had already made me a job offer. My fear was that my draft status was going to kill the employment opportunity, if not me. However, my corporate recruiter told me not to worry. In fact, he said that what I presented to them was an opportunity. I could go into the Army and come out an officer. That would give me a “triple.” I would be college degreed plus a competitive athlete via football as well as a military officer.

“The blues has lost its king, and America has lost a legend…B.B. MORIAL may be gone, but that thrill will be with us forever.” – President Barack Obama on the Passing of B.B. King.

As a young boy in 1920s Mississippi, Riley B. King – who would one day come to be known as legendary blues icon B.B. King – was introduced to the electric guitar at Rev. Archie Fair’s church. The introduction soon turned into infatuation, with King deciding he would learn to play a guitar.

As soon as King got old enough, he ordered a guitar playbook from a Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail catalog.

The first tune he learned to play was “You Are My Sunshine.” Fortunately for us, it would not be the last tune he would coax from his yielding guitar strings.

King was born in 1925 on a cotton plantation in the Mississippi Delta.

The future King of the Blues, the son of sharecroppers and the great-grandson of a slave, worked the fields, first as a picker at the age of 7 and then a mule driver. He aspired to be a gospel singer like his mentor, Rev. Archie, but fate had other plans. In a 1993 interview, King admitted to leaving Mississippi in the early 1940s because of the racial violence, lynchings and hangings that were becoming all too commonplace.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

them are good. It very likely has something to do with a combination of climate change along with devastation brought about by pesticides. In either case, the loss of these bees will have profound implications for agriculture since humans rely on bees to pollinate.

President Obama has announced that he wishes for the federal government to take some steps to address this crisis. As important as is this announcement, we should recognize the loss of bees as evidence of the larger environmental catastrophe we are experiencing. While climate change denial seems to be declining, it is being replaced not by climate change activism, but something more akin to climate change fatalism, i.e., the belief that there is nothing that we can do, that this situation is out of our hands.

The 40 percent loss of bees is a national ‘canary in the coal mine’ moment. It is telling us that there is a

much larger danger facing planet Earth. We have time to get out of the ‘coal mine,’ but it will necessitate dramatic global, national, state, local and personal action. For everyday people, this can mean stepped up pressure on FLETCHER elected officials to demand steps taken, including regulations that are focused on protecting the environment and attempting to reverse the environmental crisis.

It may be my imagination that the bee at my mailbox is trying to communicate something.

But every day when I see that bee, I am keenly aware that the time may arrive when its disappearance signifies more than the loss of one bee, but actually something transpiring on a scale that only a few years ago I would have found unimaginable.

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AF amily T hat Prays T ogether, Stays T ogether Family That Together, Together

Church Directory

Worship T his and Every Sunday at the Church of Your Choice This

Bethel Missionary Baptist Church 2211 N.W. 7th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33061 Church: (954) 583-9368 Email: bethelmbchurchfl@att.net

Reverend Jimmy L. English PASTOR

May 28 - June 3, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 7

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church 1161 NW 29th Terr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33311 (954) 581-0455 ● Fax: (954) 581-4350 www.mtzionmissionarybapt.com

Dr. James B. Darling, Jr., Pastor/Teacher WORSHIP SERVICES Sunday Worship Service .............................................................................. 8:00 & 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School ............................................................................................................... 10:00 a.m.

Communion Service (1st Sunday) ......................................................................... 11:00 a.m.

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting ........................................................................... 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study ................................................................................... 7:00 p.m.

Saturday (2nd & 4th) Christian Growth & Orientation .................................. 8:30 a.m.

But be doers of the Word - James 1:22 nkjv - “A Safe Haven, and you can get to Heaven from here”

St. Ruth Missionary Baptist Church 145 NW 5th Ave., Dania Beach, FL 33004 (954) 922-2529

WORSHIP SERVICES Sunday Worship ............................................................. 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.

Sunday School ........................................................................... 9:30 a.m.

Wednesday (Prayer Service & Bible Study) ............................... 7:30 a.m.

Saturday (Women Bible Study) ............................................................ 8 a.m.

"Baptized Believers working together to do the will of God"

Faith United Church of Christ 6201 NW 57 Street Tamarac, FL 33319 954-721-1232 uccfaith@bellsouth.net faithbroward.org "Historically the First Church in the City of Tamarac!”

Rev. Dr. Ileana Bosenbark, Senior Pastor WEEKLY SERVICES & EVENTS SUNDAY Worship Service (Communion 1st & 3rd Sunday) ........................................................... 10 a.m.

F.A.I.T.H. Academy for Children (Spiritual Formation) K-12 ................................ 10 a.m.

TUESDAY F.A.I.T.H. Academy for Adults (Spiritual Formation) - Office Complex ...... 10:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY Worship & Arts Ministry Rehearsals (Open Auditions) - Sanctuary .............................. 7 p.m.

First Baptist Church Piney Grove, Inc. 4699 West Oakland Park Blvd.

Lauderdale Lakes, FL 33313 Office: (954) 735-1500 Fax: (954) 735-1939 fbcpg@bellsouth.net

WORSHIP SERVICES Wednesday (NOON DAY PRAYER) ............................................. 12 -1 p.m.

Wednesday (PRAYER MEETING & BIBLE STUDY) .................... 645 p.m.

Sunday Worship Service ................................................................. 10 a.m.

Fifth Sunday Worhip Service ............................................................ 8 a.m.

Obituaries ELIJAH BELL'S Funeral Services CAMPELL Funeral services for the late Pearl Campbell.

CARROLL Funeral services for the late Phyllis Carroll.

GORDON Funeral services for the late Eli L. Gordon.

Rev. Dr. Derrick J. Hughes, Pastor SUNDAY SERVICES Worship Services .......................................................... 7:30 & 10:45 a.m.

Children's Church ........................................................ 7:30 & 10:45 a.m.

Communion (First Sunday) ......................................... 7:30 & 10:45 a.m.

New Members' Class .................................................................... 9:30 a.m.

Church School .............................................................................. 9:30 a.m.

Baptist Training Union (BTU) .................................................... 1:00 p.m.

Wednesday (Bible Study) ...................................... 11:15 a.m.. & 7:00 p.m.

Harris Chapel United Methodist Church Rev. Juana Jordan, M.Div E-MAIL:juana.jordan@flumc.org 2351 N.W. 26th Street Oakland Park, Florida 33311 Church Telephone: (954) 731-0520 Church Fax: (954) 731-6290

SERVICES Sunday Worship ................................................. 7:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Sunday School .............................................................................. 9:00 a.m.

Wednesday (Bible Study) ........................................... 11a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Mount Calvary Baptist Church

800 N.W. 8th Avenue Pompano Beach, Florida 33060 Church Telephone: (954) 943-2422 Church Fax: (954) 943-2186 E-mail Address: Mtcalvarypompano@bellsouth.net

Reverend Anthony Burrell, Pastor SCHEDULE OF SERVICES SUNDAY

New Member Orientation ........................... 9:30 a.m.

Sunday School ................................................ 9:30 a.m.

Worship Service ........................................ 11:00 a.m.

WEDNESDAY Prayer Meeting ............................................... 6:00 p.m.

Bible Study ..................................................... 7:00 p.m.

"Doing God's Business God's Way, With a Spirit of Excellence"

New Birth Baptist Church The Cathedral of Faith International Bishop Victor T. Curry, M.Min., D.Div. Senior Pastor/Teacher 2300 N.W. 135th Street Miami, Florida 33167

ORDER OF SERVICES Sunday Worship ........................................................ 7:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Sunday School ....................................................................................................... 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday (Bible Study) ......................................................................................... 6:45 p.m.

Wednesday (Bible Study) ............................................................................... 10:45 a.m.

1-800-254-NBBC * (305) 685-3700 (o) *(305) 685-0705 (f) www.newbirthbaptistmiami.org

New Mount Olive Baptist Church 400 N.W. 9th Ave., Ft. Lauderdale 33311 (954) 463-5126 ● Fax: (954) 525-9454 CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Monday - Friday 8:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Dr. Marcus D. Davidson, Senior Pastor WORSHIP SERVICES & BIBLE STUDY Sunday .................................................... 7:15 a.m. 9:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School ............................................................................ 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday Noonday Service .................................. 12:00-12:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting ............................................ 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study ................................................... 7:00 p.m.

Where the kingdom of God is increased through Fellowship.

Leadership, Ownership and Worship F.L.O.W. To Greatness!

A FAMIL Y THA T AMILY THAT PRA YS PRAY TOGETHER ST AYS STA TOGETHER

JOHNSON Funeral services for the late Yolanda C. Johnson.

MEDINA Funeral services for the late Ildefonso Arroyo-Medina.

SCOTT Funeral services for the late Phyllis Louise Scottl.

James C. Boyd Funeral Home FARRELL Funeral services for the late Clifford Farrell, Jr. 69 were held May 22 at New Mount Olive Baptist Church with Dr. Marcus D. Davidson officiating. Interment: South Florida National Cemetery, Lake Worth, Fla. JONES Funeral services for the late Edward Donald Jones - 71 were held May 23 at James C. Boyd’s Memorial Chapel with Min. Floyd Jones officiating.

SMITH Funeral services for the late Keeling Irving Smith - 71 were held May 23 at James C. Boyd’s Memorial Chapel with Rev. Harold G. Smith officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

VILLAR Funeral services for the late Marcel Andres Villar – 31.

WATKINS Funeral services for the late Dorothy Lee DexterWatkins – 66 were held May 23 at Full Gospel Church with Pastor Wayne Parks officiating.

McWhite's Funeral Home CRUSE Funeral services for the late Apostle Vera Cruse 68 were held May 23 at Light-

house Worship Center COGIC. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

MCLEAN Funeral services for the late Ernestine McLean - 59 were held May 22 at New Birth House of Prayer For All People with Bishop Elvis Thomas officiating. Interment: Forest lawn Memorial Gardens.

MILLER Funeral services for the late S t e v e n George Miller - 45 were held May 23 at Gateway Church with Rev. Dr. Preston Williams II officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

REID Funeral services for the late Marc Eric Reid - 50 were held May 23 at Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Williams Memorial CME “PRAYER IS THE ANSWER” 644-646 NW 13th Terrace Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 (954) 462-5711(Ministry Office Line) (954) 462-8222(Pastor’s Direct Line) Email: wm_cme@bellsouth.net (Church} pastorCal50@yahoo.com (Pastor)

Rev. Cal Hopkins.

M.Div) Senior Pastor/Teacher

The WITNESS of “The WILL” Sunday Worship Experiences ................................................................ 7:45 and 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School ................................................................................................................. 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday Night Triumph {Prayer, Praise and Power} Prayer Meeting ................................................................................................................ 7:00 p.m.

Bible Study ........................................................................................................................ 7:30 p.m.

We STRIVE to PROVIDE Ministries that matter TODAY to Whole Body of Christ, not only the Believers, but also for those stranded on the “Jericho Road”!

“Celebrating over 85 Years of FAITH and FAVOR! Come to the WILL ... We’ll show You the WAY: Jesus the Christ!”

KIDS TALK ABOUT GOD

What is the relationship between a fountain and the words of a good person?

By Carey Kinsolving and friends What is the Relationship Between a Fountain and the Words of a Good Person?

Proverbs 10:11 says, “Like a fountain of water, the words of a good person give life.”

“I think this Proverb means that you are always walking with a big pot of water over your head,” says Tori, 8. “Jesus is going to pour that big pot on your head when you are ready. That special water is called living water.”

I can guarantee that Tori’s interpretation won’t be found in any Bible commentary, but it does provide food for thought or, in this case, water for a bath.

The word “baptize” comes from the idea of immersing one thing into another so that the two are identified with each other.

Anyone who drinks of the living water (believes in Jesus as savior) is placed immediately into union with Christ. This dry baptism is called “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

If the words of the good person contain the living water of the gospel, Tori’s water pots contain symbolic application. However, Hanah, 6, offers another interpretation: “Whenever somebody wants to ride my bike, I can say OK.” Try looking at requests as opportunities instead of intrusions.

Be grateful that someone thought enough of you to ask for something.

“Whenever my mama and daddy say kind words to me, I feel happy,” says Kelsey, 6.

Like yeast that makes dough rise, parents’ encouraging words leaven their children’s lives to develop character assets that lead to success. Just a few words at the right time can make the difference between success and failure. Like little flowers, children yearn to bask in the sunshine of life-giving words from loving parents.

“If someone is always nice YOUNG to you, and they always tell Funeral ser- you the truth, then you can vices for the trust them,” says Morgan, 8. late Freddye “It is like water, very cold water, and you know it will be Lee Young – good to drink. But if someone 70 were held doesn’t tell the truth, then you May 23 at can’t trust him.

McWhite’s Funeral Home Chapel (Read full story on with Min. Sherard Parker officiatwww.thewestsidegazette.com) ing. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

Roy Mizell & Kurtz Funeral Home

SCOTT Funeral services for the late Evangelist Margaret Carolyn Clarke Scott 63 were held May 23 at New Birth House of Prayer For All People with Pastor Leon Davis officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

HOLMES Funeral services for the late Betty Joyce Holmes - 69 were held May 24 at Mt. Olivet Seventhday Adventist Church with Pastor Lucious Hall officiating. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

WILLIAMS Funeral services for the late Henry Williams – 67 were held May 22 at McWhite’s Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Dr. Preston Williams, II officiating.. Interment: Sunset Memorial Gardens.

STAPLES Funeral services for the late David Lee Staples - 61 were held May 23 at Roy Mizell & Kurtz Worship Center with Bishop Dawsey, Jr. officiating.

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Page 8 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • May 28 - June 3, 2015

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FUNdraising Good Times Blackonomics Time to throw some political punches

By James Clingman, NNPA Columnist

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If you care about our dollars, you should care about our Businesses. Call and have your Ad placed on this Page (954) 525-1489 or E-mail wgaztte@thewestsidegazette.com

For the past 50 years, most of our conversations and efforts have been centered on politics. Reminiscent of the Reconstruction Era, when Blacks occupied political office for the first time, many of our politicians are just figureheads, toothless tigers, and lackeys for the establishment. Many of them are simply “employed” and are only concerned about keeping their “jobs.” Many Black politicians actually work harder on behalf of others than they do for their own brothers and sisters. We must change our conversation from politics to economics.

Before you political hacks get angry, let me say that we must continue to be involved in politics. We must run for office and we must leverage our votes, by all means. But we cannot afford to stop there. We saw what happened in 2008 and 2012; both times Black folks were told to “go out and vote.” We were told we must vote in even greater numbers in 2012 than we did in 2008. We did it, and we still cannot even get a hearing on reparations. A few years ago, P Diddy told the young people to, “Vote or die.” They voted and yet, when it comes to economic empowerment, they, and we, are nearly dead. Like I said in a previous article, where is the “Start a business or die” campaign, the “Pool our money or die” campaign?

Black people must realize that while our relatives fought and died for voting rights, those folks didn’t die so we could spend the majority of our time “playing” politics. They wanted us to take our participation to the

next level. Similarly, Black folks, your relatives and mine, also lost their lives because they chose to go into business.

Where is the rallying cry today CLINGMAN for entrepreneurship?

Black politicians who do absolutely nothing for Black folks, come out every couple of years to tell us how good they have been and what they support on our behalf. What a load of fertilizer that is. Even stranger is the fact that Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives do the same things.

We may duck the “right” cross, but we still get hit by the “left” hook. In other words, we have nothing coming from either political party, and they have proven that to us time and time again.

Since our vaunted voting “power” is so important to the two major political parties, we should be using it in ways that support the most important political principle: Quid pro quo.

We should be leveraging our votes; otherwise, why participate at all? It really doesn’t matter what color the politician is. What matters most is what Black folks are getting from the system, and Black folks are getting the shaft from most of our politicians. You know it, I know it, and they know it. It’s bad enough that the leadership in the two major parties really doesn’t care about us.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Waiting for a windfall

By Pearl and Mel Shaw You’ve written the perfect proposal. You submitted it on time. Perhaps you carefully reviewed the guidelines and found that your organization is a perfect match for what the foundation is seeking to achieve through its grantmaking. Or maybe a program officer reached out and personally asked your organization to submit.

Maybe your nonprofit or university has received consistent funding over the years, and you have submitted your annual request – on time, of course. But you haven’t heard a word.

You should have heard by now. The proposal guidelines gave a date for when funding decisions would be announced.

That date is now in the past.

Days have passed. Weeks. A month. Ninety days. What do you do?

You could send a follow up email, or place a call inquiring on the status of your proposal.

That’s a straight-forward and appropriate action. Let’s say you do, and you learn “the board meeting has been pushed back” or “we haven’t made a decision yet.” Now what do you do?

Here’s our suggestion: keep fundraising. Act as if you still have to meet your fundraising goal, even if you feel your proposal is a “sure thing” or a “slam dunk.”

For each gift or grant you are pursuing, have a “Plan B” and a “Plan C.” Here’s what we mean: if your nonprofit has submitted a grant to a foundation for $50,000 make sure you submit other proposals to other

Pearla and Mel Shaw foundations or individuals in amounts that are equal to or greater than $50,000. And, don’t count each gift as if it would be received – use a 3:1 or 5:1 ratio of submitted proposals to funded proposals. Colloquially we call this “hedging your bets.” In fundraising terms we refer to this as “making sure you meet goal.” Aggressively work on alternative prospects who could give gifts or make grants equal to or greater than the gift or grant you are “waiting on.” Don’t put all your eggs in that one basket.

There is no way that every proposal you submit will result in a grant. Even if you’ve been given all the signals that “things are moving ahead.” Count only those gifts you can take to the bank.

While you can’t count money you don’t have, you can make sure you are ready to implement your proposal when the funds are received. Have you identified the personnel you need? Do you have an evaluation process in place? Has your team created a detailed project work plan to guide their activities and ensure that project goals are met on time?

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

May 28 - June 3, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 9

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Hundreds with HIV could donate organs to others with HIV: Study

By Robert Preidt HealthDay Nearly 400 HIV-positive potential organ donors in the United States could donate organs each year to HIV-positive people waiting for transplants, a new study estimates.

“The findings are significant because there are not enough organ donors in the United

States to meet the needs of all of the patients who might benefit from life-saving organ transplants,” senior author Dr. Emily Blumberg, a professor in the infectious diseases division at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, said in a university news release.

“Some of the patients waiting for organs are infected with

HIV but never make it to transplant because they either die while waiting or become too sick to be transplanted. HIV patients who undergo transplantation generally do well, so it is important to continue to look for ways to improve access to transplantation for them,” she explained.

Also, increasing the number of HIV-positive organs avail-

able to HIV-positive patients could help reduce wait times for everyone on transplant waiting lists, Blumberg added.

Currently, about 123,000 people are waiting for organ transplants in the United States.

Fewer than 12,000 people received organ transplants between January and May 2014, according to the news release.

The study was published on-

A call to curb expansion of charter schools in Black communities

By Freddie Allen, Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – Parents, students and advocates for strong neighborhood schools continue to pressure civic leaders to end the expansion of charter and contract schools in Black and Latino communities across the nation.

Jitu Brown, the national director of Journey for Justice Alliance (JJA), a coalition of community, youth and parentled grassroots organizations in 21 cities, said that the fight for public education – which suffers with the expansion of charter and contract schools –is a human and a civil rights issue.

As voices from the community were increasingly drowned out by philanthropic groups seeking wholesale educational reform, the state take-over of

schools, corporate charters and appointed school boards have become the status quo, Brown said.

According to Education Week, a magazine published

by Editorial Projects in Education (EPE), a nonprofit that produces K-12 educational content in print and online, more than 60 percent of philanthropic donations funneled into education young people in the United States went to charter and contract schools in 2010.

Less than 25 percent of funding went to those programs about 15 years ago.

“What would actually be revolutionary, brand new, and fresh is if community wisdom was listened to and [corporations] worked with the people who are directly impacted by the institutions that they have to live with everyday,” said Brown.

Brown described two separate and unequal sets of expectations, one for white and middle class children and another, lower set of expectations for Black and Latino children that often influence education policy. Those disparities will continue until society finds the courage to confront them.

“We want what our friends in other communities have, said Brown. “They don’t have contract schools, they don’t have charter schools in middle class white communities they have

New resource available for Broward County residents with hearing loss at no cost State nonprofit brings innovative amplified phone technology to Florida to help millions with hearing loss TALLAHASSEE, FL – For residents of Broward County who are among the three million Floridians with hearing loss, help has arrived. Recently, Florida Telecommunications Relay, Inc. (FTRI), the non-profit distributor of amplified telephones for people with hearing loss and speech challenges, is offering an innovative new amplified telephone at no cost to local residents with hearing loss.

Amplified phones serve as lifelines for people with hearing loss, keeping them connected and engaged to loved ones.

FTRI is making the XLC3.4, developed by Clarity, available to residents for free. It is an easy-to-use cordless phone with talking Caller ID that boosts incoming sounds up to 50 decibels. The XLC3.4 is designed to meet varying degrees of hearing loss—from moderate to severe.

To obtain the phone, permanent Florida residents who are certified as having a hearing loss must complete an applic-

ation found at www.ftri.org or call 1-800-222-3448. FTRI has more than 30 regional distribution centers throughout the state, including centers that serve Broward County. Residents can locate the closest center by visiting “Hearing loss is a serious issue that too often goes overlooked—our state has among the largest populations of people with hearing loss in the U.S, and these are the people we are here to help,” said James Forstall, FTRI’s executive director.

“The XLC3.4 dramatically improves phone conversations— one of the first and most common challenges for those with hearing loss. It is an easy-to-use, life-changing phone that we are proud to offer to Broward County residents.”

The XLC3.4 features the digital amplification found in hearing aids to increase sound up to 50 decibels. The phone also amplifies outgoing speech up to 15 decibels so everyone on the call hears and understands

Cleveland police officer acquitted for firing 49 shots at two unarmed victims (Cont'd from FP) “If the evidence did not show beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly caused their deaths … then I will not sacrifice him to a public frustrated,” O’Donnell said.

The chaotic 2012 car chase was considered a departmentwide malfunction and prompted an investigation by the Department of Justice into the city police department’s use of excessive force and the “the adequacy of CPD’s training, supervision, and accountability mechanisms.” In spite of a police policy that no more than two vehicles be involved in a chase, more than 59 vehicles joined the pursuit “without the sector supervisor’s knowledge or permission,” according to a state investigation of the incident.

The chase began after a car pulled over for a turn signal violation drove away, and was later identified by several other officers driving at a high speed.

Due to faltering communication, and the misimpression that the individuals were armed and fired a shot, the incident

escalated until one-third of the police department had joined the chase.

Brelo was the only officer who faced criminal charges. But Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said he was encountering resistance from potential police witnesses known as the “blue wall of silence.” He said 16 police officers declined to meet with him prior to the trial to review their testimony. In court filings, he compared their refusal to cooperate to actions of an “organized crime syndicate” and asked the court to consider them hostile witnesses.

O’Donnell acknowledged that Brelo violated his training and put other officers at risk when he stood on the hood of a car without any cover and continued firing. But he nonetheless maintained the action was justified.

“I reject the claim that 12 seconds after the shooting began it was patently clear from the perspective of a reasonable officer in Brelo’s position that the threat had been stopped,” he said.

clearly, and it features a loud and clear speakerphone for hands-free conversations. The Talking Caller ID announces the incoming caller so users don’t miss calls. And the illuminated Talking Dial Pad announces the number as users dial. Plus, the large, easy to read buttons help people with vision loss ensure they can operate the phone easily.

The XLC3.4 was awarded for Ease-Of-Use by the Arthritis Foundation as the ergonomic design of the phone and its buttons make it easy to operate for those with dexterity issues or arthritis.

Finally, the XLC3.4 features ClarityLogic™ customer support service for easy setup and customization of the phone, should users have any technical questions or need support.

“FTRI is an important resource that more Floridians need to be aware of,” said Carsten Trads, president of Clarity.

“FTRI brings attention to hearing loss, an issue that is only growing every day. We are proud to partner with FTRI to make the XLC3.4 available at no cost to residents who need amplified phones.”

Like FTRI on Facebook and join the #KeepFloridaConnected campaign.

world-class neighborhood schools.”

Daniel del Pielago of Empower DC agreed.

As the education organizer for Empower DC, a grassroots group that supports low- and moderate-income District residents living in the nation’s capital, said that when communities work together, and when they’re given the chance to put together solutions that work, they find success that doesn’t require corporate intervention.

That success is embodied by the community school model championed by groups such as the Alliance.

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)

Emily Blumberg, M.D., professor, Infectious Diseases Division, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa. line May 14 in the American Journal of Transplantation.

In November 2013, a law called the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE Act) lifted the ban on organ donations from one HIV-positive person to another. It remains illegal to transplant organs from HIVpositive people to patients without HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. No known organ transplants from HIV-positive donors to HIV-positive recipients have taken place since the HOPE Act took effect, according to the researchers.

“The National Institutes of Health are writing guidelines to oversee implementation of the HOPE Act, so we expect to see the first transplants occur sometime thereafter,” study lead author Aaron Richterman,

Get your funk on! Morris Day and The Time & Cameo are coming to The Amp Pompano Beach Amphitheatre and Magic 102.7 to host awesome 80’s party Pompano Beach Arts is getting its 80’s groove on with two of the legendary leaders of funk, Cameo and Morris Day and The Time. Prince’s costar in Purple Rain, Morris Day will be spreading the Jungle Love, while Cameo will have you getting down to Word Up! Both artists and their vast repertoires of R&B, techno and funk laden rhythms have laid the soundtrack for a generation and have influenced countless artists today. DJ Holiday from Magic 102.7 will kick off the night of retro fun with an Awesome 80’s pre-party starting before the concert. For details and tickets ($45-$75) visit www.pompanobeacharts.org.

CAMEO

Bounce house takes flight (Cont'd from FP) Members from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue immediately ran to render aid to the injured children.

Members of the God Squad were instrumental in calming down the distraught family members of the injured children.

All three children were transported to Broward Health Medical Center. Two were treated for minor fractures and released.

The third is listed in stable condition and will be held overnight for observation.

The identity of those injured will not be released.

No vehicles or other pedestrians were struck by the bounce houses.

No other injuries were reported.

a fourth-year medical student at the Perelman School of Medicine, said in the news release.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its intentions to allow gay and bisexual men who have abstained from sex for one year to donate blood in the United States. Implementing the “oneyear deferral” clause would reverse a three-decades-old ban on donations from this group that traces back to the start of the AIDS epidemic.

The FDA said it was changing its policy based on data from other countries that show allowing such donations would not increase the risk of HIVtainted blood entering America’s blood supply. The agency said it would collect public comments on the proposal for 60 days before issuing final rules.

MORRIS DAY and THE TIME “We are so excited to have this double bill at The Amp,” said Alyona Ushe, president & CEO of Pompano Beach Arts.

“So dust off your dancing shoes, because nobody will be sitting down during this show.”

About Morris Day and the Time In high school, Day was in a band with Prince that was managed by Day’s mother.

While Prince embarked on a solo career, he decided to start a side band (The Time) that would be more R&B focused. In search of a lead singer, Prince tapped his old friend, Day, for that role. Together, the two went on to star in the classic film Purple Rain, where Day played

Prince’s antagonist yet was given ample opportunity to showcase both his musical and comedic talents.

His exaggerated playboy persona and strutting bravado became part of Day’s onstage presence. A list of hits emerged from this creative era, and Day’s influence over today’s artists is witnessed on a regular basis.

From his Grammy Award show performance with Rihanna to his mash up with Haim on Jimmy Kimmel, from Bruno Mars’ homage in Uptown Funk to Hozier and Haim’s cover of Jungle Love at Coachella, Morris Day and The Time’s impact on music still resonates.

About Cameo Cameo topped the R&B charts for more than a decade, having sold more than 18 million albums; and is one of the most popular funk/ soul bands of its era. Line-ups change, styles evolve, and record labels merge, but Cameo has maintained its core funkiness for nearly four decades.

Cameo’s creator and producer Larry Blackmon remains at the helm and has carved out his place in the archives of urban music history. Blackmon was one of the first to create theme-based videos such as She’s Strange and Attack Me With Your Love; which used the acting genius of Laurence Fishburne, Debbie Morgan, and Ann Magnusum appearing in the clip.

Blackmon has also produced projects for several outstanding and chart topping artists including: Bobby Brown, Chaka Kahn, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and 8 Ball & MJG, just to name a few. Many artists have paid respect to Blackmon through the replication of Cameo’s unique funk-filled sounds. A multitude of recording artists and filmmakers have recreated and/or used original recorded versions of their favorite Cameo music and songs in projects/films being played today. These artists include TuPac, Boys II Men, Will Smith, 8-Ball & MJG, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, KORN, and more.

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Page 10 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • May 28 - June 3, 2015

Ask Alma My daughter wants mom to walk her down aisle

By Alma Gill, NNPA Columnist

Dear Alma, I was married to my wife for 11 years.

During that time we had three children, one daughter and two sons. In my opinion, our relationship deteriorated so my wife and I divorced because I had an affair. I have since married that woman and we have two children together, two sons. We are very happy and she’s always had a close relationship with my older children. But understandably, not my wife. My oldest, a daughter, is getting married this year. As her father, I am paying for her wedding and very excited to walk her down the aisle. That is until recently when I received an email from her saying she asked her mom to walk her down the aisle. I am very disappointed and am considering not attending. I would like your advice on the matter.

Anonymous Hmmm, well, first and foremost, it’s her wedding and she has the final word on who should walk her down this aisle. With that being said, my wonder is, did her mother ask her or make her feel guilty into going in that direction? On one hand, you mentioned the affair, upon which I’m sure no one has forgotten, especially since you’re happily married to the other woman. On the other hand, walking her down the aisle – should not be used as a repercussion tool or a “remember you hurt my mama” moment.

My advice is to have a conversation with your daughter. It would be ideal if your first wife (not the second) could be present, but if not, so be it. Tell your daughter you want more than anything to walk her down the aisle. Remind her that being your only daughter is what makes it even more special to you. On that note, look to her mother for support. I wouldn’t take this issue directly

The Black Athlete The transformation of Steph Curry

By Omar Tyree, NNPA Columnist I’ve lived in Charlotte, N.C. with my family now for the past 15 years and owned season tickets to the Bobcats games for the first three seasons of the new basketball franchise. In a small, communal city like Charlotte, we all know the sons and daughters of the professional athletes in basketball as well as from the Carolina Panthers football team. A decade ago, I missed a chance to see young Stephen Curry play in person at his father Dell Curry’s Bojangles High School Basketball Tournament, featuring nationally ranked teams, because Steph’s local Charlotte Christian team was not ranked high enough to make it into the national draw at his dad’s tournament.

At the time, Curry was an average-sized point guard at 6’ with a slim, lightweight frame and average projections. Curry couldn’t even get a scholarship offer to his mom and dad’s alma mater, Virginia Tech. He signed with the local Davidson University Wildcats in 2006. That’s when Steph’s exciting transformation began.

Understanding the Curry pedigree, Davidson Head Coach Bob McKillop moved Steph off the ball and allowed him to use more of his long-range shooting as an undersized two-guard at 6’1". With a green light as a freshman, Curry helped Davidson to a 29-5 record, winning the Division 1 Southern Conference with a 21.5-point average a game and the conference MVP Award, while breaking a national three-point shot record for a freshman. He came in second in freshman scoring in the nation that year behind Kevin Durant at Texas. Curry then dropped 30 on a fourth-seated Maryland team in an 82-70 loss in the opening round of the NCAA tournament – a game that I got to watch on national TV – and a new star was born.

In his sophomore year, Steph Curry grew two more inches to his current height of 6’3" with all eyes on him at a little-regarded Mid-Major college.

LEGAL NOTICES PUBLICATION OF BID SOLICITATIONS Broward County Board of County Commissioners is soliciting bids for a variety of goods and services, construction and architectural/engineering services. Interested bidders are requested to view and download the notifications of bid documents via the Broward County Purchasing website at: www.broward.org/ purchasing.

May 7, 14, 21, 28, 2015

Curry stepped up his scoring average to 25.5 points a TYREE game for a 266 Davidson record, going 20-0 in the Southern Conference, where every Davidson game was sold-out with fans eager to see the scoring phenom.

Curry did not disappoint, leading his Wildcats team to another NCAA tournament, where he dropped 40 on Gonzaga, hitting eight out of 10 on his three's in an 82-76 win. His team went on to beat the mighty Georgetown Hoyas and Roy Hibbert in a 74-70 comeback win after trailing by 17 points.

Rolling forward, Davidson demolished a third-seated Wisconsin team 73-56 behind 33 points from Curry, with the sensational sophomore breaking more scoring and 3-point records along the way.

By the Elite Eight game against Kansas his sophomore year, the whole world was watching Curry as his Davidson Wildcats pushed the Jayhawks to the wall in a nailbiting, 59-57 loss, where Curry dropped another 25.

After winning a half-dozen collegiate awards and recognitions, Curry returned his junior year as a solidified collegiate star with NBA conversations on whether he could still play the point guard position at the professional level. So Curry slid back over to his initial position at the point to prepare himself for the NBA. Failing to reach the NCAA tournament in his junior year, Curry averaged 28.6 points a game with a pair of 44-point games and ended his college career after an 80-68 loss to Saint Mary’s Gaels and Patty Mills in the 2009 NIT Tournament. Curry hit another 26 in final college game.

Snatched up by the Golden State Warriors in the seventh round of the 2009 NBA draft, we all knew that Steph Curry could shoot, but few of us saw him as a budding superstar.

He looked more like a designated scorer, who still needed to bulk up. Curry could barely guard anyone in the league, outside of stealing a few loose balls in transition and such.

Nevertheless, his ability to shoot solidified him as an up and coming NBA star, even getting invitations to play on the USA World Cup teams, winning gold medals in 2010 and again in 2014.

After struggling through a few early NBA seasons with ankle injuries, team chemistry issues, an All-Star snub, and a fired inspirational coach, who guided the Warriors to two consecutive playoff runs, Curry set the league on fire this year with the best team record, his first 3-point shooting title at the NBA All-Star weekend, and the grand daddy of them all, the MVP Award of the entire NBA. Not only that, Curry’s young Warriors team, with their baby face new coach, Steve Kerr, are in the running to win the NBA title this year.

to her mom, because it’s not her wedding. Both parents should be willing to walk in the words of the wise and recognize, this isn’t about the past, it’s about the future. Your daughter’s future and what will make her happy.

It looks like you and your new family have moved on, but

that’s not the case for all involved. The breakup of a marriage is difficult and divorce with children is traumatic. Evidently, parts of hearts in your first home, haven’t completely healed. Take this left hook on the chin and deal with it. Don’t give up so easily. Once you’ve shared your feelings, all of your feelings, al-

low your daughter to make her choice.

Yes you should attend the wedding, regardless if you’re in the wedding party. Whatever she decides is what you should abide by. You all will have to live with the decision, just as you did when you divorced. If things don’t go your

way, between you and me, pick up your feelings and put them back in your pocket. Prepare to wear your most stylish tux and the biggest smile you can muster. Just as you were mature enough to make a lifelong, difficult decision, based on what was best for you at the time… she will, too.

Alma

May 28 - June 3, 2015 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • Page 11

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Human smuggling industry finds huge success in social media marketing Reported by Nigel Boys Social media has made it easy for hundreds of migrants to be smuggled into European countries without a trace, according to Abdul Aziz, a smuggler from the Libyan port of Zuwara.

The boat-runner, who is among hundreds of people smugglers advertising their services on Facebook, brags that his web of influence not only stretches across the Mediterranean and the Middle East, but also into sub-Sahara Africa.

ALONZO MOURNING SHOWS SUPPORT FOR OPERATION UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO COMBAT CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING TRADE IN MIAMI — Miami Heat great Alonzo Mourning attended the Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) event at the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables to support the charity’s work to combat child sexual trafficking and trade in the U.S. and Latin America. Showing support for the program, run by former Homeland Security officer Tim Ballard, was Utah Attorney General Jose Reyes, who is an advocate of the international Megan’s Law and supports the Justice For Victims of Human Trafficking Act which recently passed the House and the Senate. Also in attendance at the gala fundraising dinner was a father of a victim of the trafficking trade, a four-year old boy taken from church in their native Haiti last year. The organization rescued over 50 children during simultaneous raids last year in Colombia and plans to set up a branch in Florida with involvement by pro golfer James Field, Jr. To learn more visit https://ourrescue.org/. OUR is the subject of an upcoming film and series The Abolitionists from Schindler’s List producer Gerald Molen.

“If people can’t get here to Libya, I have legal and illegal ways to get them into the county,” Aziz boasts in an interview on Skype with the BBC, claiming to have agents in ‘almost every Arab state.’”

“With the beginning of the new season we have a range of journeys on offer,” states one of Aziz’s Facebook posts. “Turkey – Libya – Italy, $3,800, Algeria – Libya – Italy, $2,500, Sudan – Libya – Italy, $2,500 … The boats are all wood … If you have questions, contact me on Viber or WhatsApp.” With glowing testimonies from supposed migrants who have used their services, along with a special offer of “Kids go free,” the smugglers’ pages advertise fake documents and safe passages by land, air or sea, complete with photos of luxury cruise liners and new passports.

While over 35,000 migrants are reported to have reached Italy since the beginning of 2015, another approximately 1,800 are thought to have drowned in their journey towards a new life. Smugglers’ boats leaving Libya are believed to have been responsible for over 220,000 migrants crossing the Mediterranean last year.

Some of the migrants are lucky to be rescued at sea by the Italian coastguard or navy, but others’ dreams end in a watery demise.

“Until 2012, we didn’t use social media at all,” Aziz told the BBC, adding that now around 10 to 20 people contact him daily through his Facebook page. “Now, it accounts for between 30 percent and 40 percent of my business.”

Smugglers advertise themselves and their services proudly online without the slightest fear of being brought to justice for their crimes since the collapse of the Libyan state. “What authorities? There aren’t any authorities. There isn’t even a regime. There’s nothing,” Aziz said, laughing at the suggestion that his Facebook page might lead to his arrest by authorities.

Calling the industry the “biggest travel company in the world,” Italian journalist Giampaolo Musumeci, who has written a book about North Africa’s smuggling gangs, said the smugglers’ social media presence is “part of the marketing operation.” He claims that smuggling operations have been ongoing for at least 30 years, with African migrants sailing from Zuwara.

Even though new European Union proposals to distribute migrants across member states aim at reducing people smuggling in Europe, Musumeci be-

lieves that as long as migrants want to find a new life, people smugglers will continue to thrive. He adds that European politicians’ unwillingness to meet the demand for asylum is one of the main reasons for smugglers’ success.

“They’re thinking about how to get into Europe 24 hours a day … They communicate. They stay in touch. They change routes,” said Musumeci about

the smugglers. “One of these guys told me, ‘We study Europe, we study the laws, and the more you close the borders the more money we’re going to make'.”

YOU HAVE READ THE REST, NOW READ THE BEST -THE WESTSIDE GAZETTE, A PROUD PAPER FOR A PROUD PEOPLE

FAMU Broward Alumni – Milton L. Jones, Jr. and Mary Shaw Smith receives National Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award FAMU National Alumni Association recognized its Largest Class of 24 outstanding distinguished alumni honorees which included two of Broward’s finest, Milton L. Jones, Jr., and Mary Shaw Smith.

This year the awards ceremony was held for the first time away from the University at the National Convention in Houston, Texas at the Doubletree by Hilton Greenway Plaza.

AKA Chapters partner for Playground Mobilization-Service Impact Day

Jones and Shaw Smith

Chi Psi Omega and Kappa Kappa Omega Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Chi Psi Omega and Kappa Kappa Omega Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated partnered, Saturday, May 16, 2015, for Playground Mobilization; under the umbrella of Target IV: Environmental Ownership and one of six Service Impact Days set aside by the sorority‘s international program committee. The event took place at Broward College North Campus Early Childhood Laboratory for 70 toddlers, successfully completing Phase I of a three-year project for playground renewal.

More than 60 participated; garnering more than 200 volunteer hours to complete Phase

I, aesthetics. Preparation included Broward College staff painting walls, delivering plants and palettes of moisture controlled soil. Playground Mobilization participants made two butterfly gardens and prepared two raised beds for vegetable gardens.

Chi Psi Omega participants included: Veronica Phillips, president; Luwando WrightHines, Barbara J. Thomas, chairman; Avis Proctor, Venetta McCullough, Joyce Toran, Emma H. Kurtz, Malikh Franklin-Williams, Paula Edwards, Cheriane Zephy, Joel R. McCray, Miriam Cato, Josetta B. Patterson, Alana DaSent, Ju-

line Blanfort and Gracia Curlee-Gordon.

Kappa Kappa Omega participants included: LaNetta Henry, president; Kara Bailey, Bernice Bailey, chairman; Rendolyn Amaker, Abbie Bryan, Karen Stokes, Paula Bailey-Gilchrist, Andrea Black, Laconia Martin, Andrea Knowles, Connie Phillips, Davette Wright, Susan McCray, Shamilia Thomas and Vetia Josephs.

Target I, ASCEND, included Camille Hines, Brandon DaSent, Natasha Pascoe, Alexander Pascoe, Alexandra Pascoe, Alexis Roberson and Mianna Bidon. Broward College North Campus staff included Michele

Cabrera, Director Early Childhood Laboratory and Jennifer Amador. Community volunteers included Kirstie Clinton, Melissa Chong, LaChavious Clark, Heidi Richardson, Leandrea Shaw, Raya T. McCray, Rigo Amador, Wright Thomas, Jr., Deante Mansfield, Amira Green, David Hines, Cosey Proctor III, and Melissa Chaz.

Certificates were presented to partners Home Depot-Oakland Park Store and Nu Turf for donations and support.

Evaluations evidenced the success of the chapters collaborating for Phase I.

The awards highlight the professional and personal achievements of FAMU Alumni while serving as a reminder that FAMU Rattlers are striking from the top in a variety of roles.

Milton L. Jones, Jr. earned a BS degree in Political Science.

Following his graduation, he earned his Florida State General Contractor License, Florida State Real Estate Salesman’s License, Florida State Real Estate Broker’s License and Florida State Mortgage License.

He is a member on the Board of Governors of Nova southeastern University, Planning and Zoning Board of the City of Fort Lauderdale, Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and Investment Chairman Emeritus of FAMU Foundation.

Mary Smith earned a BS degree in Nursing. Following her graduation, she earned a Mast-

er’s Degree in Administration and Supervision from FAU. She is presently the Recording Secretary of the National Alumni Association also serving on the following Committees: Budget and Finance, Membership, Scholarship and Media/Technology. She also serves as President of the FAMU Broward Alumni Chapter which has raised over $100,000 for scholarship assistance to deserving Broward students to attend FAMU. In 2014, the Chapter initiated its first Endowment in honor of LTC Pearl Ferguson one of its Philanthropists.

“We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of FAMU’s alumni,” said FAMU NAA President Tommy Mitchell, Sr. “We appreciate everything they do to represent our brand positively through their work and at home through their support and service to their alma mater.”

EXPAND YOUR REACH!

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June 12-16, 2015 A MUST-ATTEND EVENT FOR AIRPORT PROFESSIONALS, CORPORATIONS AND SMALL BUSINESSES! The Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) invites you to join us at the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa for the 2015 Airport Business Diversity Conference, “Business Beyond the Beach: Elevating Global Opportunity”.

Register Now: www.sunny.org/amac South Florida, attend conference activities and special events including: • Project LIFT FLL (High School & College Student progam) • Pre-Conference Workshop - Airport Concessions: Is it the Opportunity for You? • Bill Walker Memorial Golf Tournament • Opening Reception featuring Marc Morial, President, National Urban League • Celebrating Women in Aviation Breakfast Contact us to learn more! Email: AMAC2015FLL@broward.org | Phone: 954-357-6400

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Page 12 • www.thewestsidegazette.com • May 28 - June 3, 2015

Broward County's Oldest and Largest African American Owned and Operated Newspaper

Pompano’s rising starlet Clean power plant affects Black quality of life POMPANO BEACH, FL Jada McNeal is on the move!

This nine-year-old with an electrifying smile, great grades, talent and personality, is on her way to proving that dreams can come true.

McNeal will be representing her home town of Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Park Elementary School at the Applause Rising Talent Showcase (ARTS) this summer in Orlando. Jada will sing and play the piano, walk the fashion runway, and audition for a commercial. She

Class of 2015 Congratulations

To our Grandson Blaine Gerald Allen, Jr. Blaine graduated from Georgia Perimeter College located in Decatur, Ga. On May 8, 2015 with an Associate’s De-gree in Criminal Justice and a week later he received his high school diploma from Dekalb Early College Academy located in Stone Mountain Ga. on May 15.

Blaine will be attending Georgia State University in the fall, majoring in Criminal Justice. Blaine is 18 years old. He is the son of the proud pa-rents Blaine Gerald Allen, Sr and Charlene LesterAllen. We are so very proud of you Blaine. “To God Be The Glory.”

Love, Granddad & Grandma Lester

By Jazelle Hunt, NNPA Columnist

MCNEAL was selected after competing against hundreds of children.

Jada began performing as a small child by participating in church events at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Pompano Beach, Fla. Finding a love for the stage, Jada also began performing at school and in community events.

By winning a spot in this extraordinary event, she will have the opportunity to showcase her talents in front of some of the entertainment industry’s leading agents, managers, and casting directors including; Disney, Tyler Perry Productions, Cover Girl, Elite, Cosmo, Wilhelmina, and many more.

If you would like to join TEAM JADA to provide financial and/or fan support, contact her parents, Reva and Dennis McNeal by email at beastinheels@gmail.com.

If you want to schedule an interview with Jada, contact: Ms. Novice Johnson at (954) 882-8866 or Reva McNeal at (954) 826-7687.

Congratulations to Jada from the Westside Gazette Family

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NNPA) – When Cheeraz Gormon received an invitation to lobby in Washington on behalf of President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan with environmental legal advocacy nonprofit, Earthjustice, she was bewildered.

“You couldn’t have told me even last month that I would be on Capitol Hill actually talking about the Clean Power Plan. I was like, ‘Wait, I don’t deal with climate change or any of that,’ I don’t have any expertise in it,” said Gormon, an international spoken-word artist, activist, documentarian, and

award-winning advertising copywriter.

She felt if anyone could use an advertising makeover, it was environmentalists. Gormon always thought of them as people who chained themselves to redwood trees.

“But it was always an infamily conversation. Why there’s no trees in our neighborhood, why we have to live near all these factories that [are closed], the different smells, what they’re spraying in the air, saying they’re spraying for mosquitoes. After I accepted the invitation, I went back and connected the dots,” Gormon said.

In her hometown of St. Louis, where half the population is Black, the Meramec coal-power-

Marcus Lewis, May 28 Bobby R. Henry, Sr., May 30

We love you both, your family.

ed electricity plant that sits on the Mississippi River pumped an average of 20,000 tons of sulfur dioxide into the air per year between 2007 and 2010, according to an NAACP report.

This byproduct con-tributes to acid rain, as well as chronic heart and respiratory diseases such as COPD, asthma, and emphysema.

The power company has not installed a sulfur dioxide monitor at this plant, but has spent $600 million on purifying “scrubbers” at its St. Charles County facility, west of St. Louis near the airport, where the population is 88 percent white.

In Missouri, 83 percent of the electricity comes from burning coal, which higher than the national figure of 50 percent.

These coal power plants are the nation’s and the world’s chief source of air pollution. The Clean Power Plan – a component of the latest update to the Clean Air Act, which began in the 1950s – requires states to reduce their coal power plants’ emissions by 30 percent of 2005 levels, over the next five years.

Neighborhoods that border power plants and refineries are known as “fenceline communities,” and are almost always low-income, of color, or both.

The NAACP report grades and ranks the nation’s coal-

fired power plants based on how harmful they are to communities of color. Among the top 12 most hazardous plants, Black people accounted for 76 percent of the surrounding populations. Another study by the University of Minnesota found that people of color are exposed to 38 percent higher levels of nitrogen dioxide – a gas that irritates and weakens airways and aggravates existing heart and respiratory issues – than whites. For families living in fenceline communities, such as Port Arthur, Texas, Dearborn, Mich., and Pennsylvania, Pa., cancers, heart, and lung conditions strike across generations.

Satoria Briggs, activist and member of the Hip Hop Caucus, knows that from first-hand experience.

“Moving into the Southeast side of Chicago…there’s things I can’t do because of my activityinduced asthma. But it’s activity-induced – it shouldn’t just be there. When there’s piles of petcoke sitting around my neighborhood, that’s directly affecting me,” Briggs explained.

“BP has a huge refinery where they have petcoke piles. The cancer rate is higher in this area. You’re being affected. And because you’re not going to say anything much, they’ll throw you this and that.”

(Read full story on www.thewestsidegazette.com)