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Vol. 38 No. 11
Website: theaustinvillager.com
Email: vil3202@aol.com
Former Congressman
J.C. Watt Joins Joint Center’s
Board of Governors
RAPPIN’
Tommy Wyatt
Now the
work begins!
Recently, an East Austin group formed to support
LBJ High School. The first issue that the group wanted to
take on is the appointment of
an African Principal for the
school that has the largest enrollment of African Americans. While, their concerns
may not have been in time to
insure that such a principal
be appointed for LBJ, they are
fortunate that the district has
named Sheila Henry as the
head of the school.
Already the new hire
has come under fire for some
activities that happened in her
former district, West Palm
Beach, Florida. And while the
issues were dealt with by the
district, some are saying that
she may not be a good fit for
LBJ.
The issues that Henry
was involved was not of an
academic nature, and does
not have anything to do with
her administrative skills. And
those are skills that are
needed to assure that LJB is a
success. The African American community looks upon
LBJ as a sense of pride for the
community and Black students.
The AISD board is
scheduled to make the appointment official on Monday, August 2 during the
board meeting. That is the
time that the community
group needs to be on hand to
express their support for the
new principal. They also need
to let her know that they are
ready to lend a helping hand
in whatever way she needs.
It would be critical to
meet with the new principal
before school begins to share
with her the kind of programs
that the group feel would be
helpful to the school. And it
would also be helpful to see
what plans the new principal
has for the school.
It is very important to get
ahead of the curve. It is always
more helpful to give advice
before problems occur and we
shift into a blame mode.
It would be helpful for
everyone who has an interest
in LBJ to show up at the meeting on Monday and also be
prepared to go back again and
again to see that their wishes
are known and adhered to.
We must also remember that
there are new members on the
board and they need to know
what some of the concerns are
for the community. This is the
first time in history that we
have had two African Americans on the AISD board. And
while Cheryl Bradley, our seasoned member of the board
has worked very hard on our
behalf, I am sure that she will
welcome our help. Let’s hope
that the two board members
can work together on the issues that concern our community and the district.
WASHINGTON – The
Joint Center for Political and
Economic Studies, one of the
nation’s leading research and
public policy institutions, today announced the election of
former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr. to its Board
of Governors.
Watts, who is the chairman of the J.C. Watts Companies in Washington, DC,
served in Congress from 1995
to 2002, and in 1998 was selected by his peers to serve as
chairman of the Republican
Conference, the fourth-ranking leadership position in the
majority party. While a member of the House he served on
the Armed Services, Transportation and Infrastructure,
and Banking Committees, as
well as the Select Committee
on Homeland Security. He coauthored the American Community Renewal and New
Markets Act, which President
Clinton signed into law in
2000, and was the author of
President Bush’s faith-based
initiative, the Community Solutions Act of 2001. He also
developed legislation with
Congressman John Lewis (DGA)
to
establish
a
Smithsonian Museum of African American History and
Culture.
“Over the past four decades the Joint Center has
done enormously important
work to make America a better place for all its citizens,
and today it continues to play
a critical role in the policy
making process,” said Mr.
Watts. “I value this opportunity to build on the Joint
Center‘s influence and increase its impact in empowering all Americans to achieve
their dreams.”
As head of J.C. Watts
Companies, Watts has built a
diverse business organization
that includes the nation’s first
African-American owned
J. C. Watts
John Deere dealerships; CLS
Group, a project management firm with construction
and engineering operations;
and Watts Partners, a public
affairs consulting company.
He currently advises several
major companies, including
John Deere, and serves on the
Board of Directors of
Dillard’s. He is a frequent
guest on national and international news shows and
writes a twice monthly column for more than a dozen
newspapers.
Watts co-founded the
Coalition for AIDS Relief in
Africa. He also created the
J.C. and Frankie Watts Foundation to focus on urban renewal and other charitable
initiatives.
“We are delighted that
J.C. Watts will be bringing his
insights and his passion for
public policy to the Joint
Center’s board,” said
Roderick D. Gillum, Esq.,
Chair of the Board of Governors. “He is a noted thought
leader on many of the issues
that are at the heart of the Joint
Center’s mission, and we
look forward to the perspectives and guidance he will
bring to our work.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
is one of the nation’s leading
research and public policy
institutions and the only one
whose work focuses primarily on issues of particular
concern to African Americans and other people of
color. To learn more, please
visit www.jointcenter.org.
Bay Seas is back
on the block
Bay Seas is back on the
block, but it is now on a new
block.
The last time that we
saw Bay Seas #7 Restaurant
they were locate on East 11th
Street in the Victory Grill. That
was one of their many location since they have been in
Austin. At one time they were
located on Airport Blvd.
Each time that the restaurant closes, the Roland
twins (Eddie and Freddie),
promises a return. They have
been able to garner a strong
following.
The newest restaurant
has a slightly new name. It is
now called Roland’s Soul
Kitchen and Bay Seas Restaurant and is located at 1311
Chestnut Street (at E. 14th
Street). They offer daily Soul
Food specials such as Pork
Chops, Chicken & Dumplings, Meatloaf, Liver & Onions, Oxtails and Baked
Chicken with a generous
portion of seasoned vegetables. They also offer a variety of sea food items. The
specials change daily.
The hours of operation
are Mon/Thur. 11 am to 9
p.m. and Fri/Sat 11am to
Midnight. They can be
reached by 499-8833.
Visit our web site at
theaustinvillager.com
Phone: 512-476-0082
Fax: 512-476-0179
July 30, 2010
Superintendent Carstarphen Names
New LBJ High School Principal
Formal Introduction to
LBJ Community Will Be Scheduled
—
Austin School Superintendent Meria Carstarphen announced today that she will
name Sheila Henry as principal of Lyndon Baines
Johnson High School, and
will ask the AISD Board of
Trustees to confirm the appointment at a Special Meeting on Monday, August 2.
Ms. Henry will officially assume the principal
ship of LBJ High School on
Wednesday, August 4. Dr.
Carstarphen said a formal
introduction of Ms. Henry to
the LBJ school community
will be scheduled as soon as
possible.
“School faculty, parents, and students will be eager to meet the new LBJ principal, and Sheila is anxious
to begin building this important relationship,” Dr.
Carstarphen said.
Ms. Henry has held administrative and teaching positions with the Palm Beach
County School District in
West Palm Beach, Florida,
since 1983, including 13 years
New LBJ Principal Sheila Henry
as a campus administrator. In
2007, she was named one of
six Turn-Around Principals for
Palm Beach County.
She earned a bachelor’s
degree from Florida Memorial
University, and a master’s degree in Special Education
from Nova Southeastern University. In 2006, she was selected to attend the National
Institute for Urban School
Leaders of the Harvard Uni-
versity Graduate School of
Education.
LBJ High School, located at 7309 Lazy Creek
Drive, is home to approximately 950 students. It was
established in 1974. Ms.
Henry succeeds LBJ principal
Patrick Patterson, who retired
in June.
The 2010-2011 school
year will begin in Austin ISD
on Monday, August 23.
Wall Street Reform: A Genuine
People’s Victory
minority-owned and women-
By Charlene Crowell
NNPA Financial Writer
(NNPA) - Last week’s
media hype on Ms. Shirley
Sherrod and the Department
of Agriculture obliterated
what should have been a triumphant moment for the nation: the President’s signing
of the historic Dodd-Frank bill
and the creation of a new bureau dedicated to consumer
protection. As with all major
legislation, a signing ceremony still occurred; but its
significance was dwarfed by
the tabloid effects of the
Sherrod incident.
It took more than a year
of federal deliberations to develop a bill that both the U.S.
Senate and the House of Representatives could agree to
support. From the outset, it
seemed that the deep pockets
of Wall Street bankers and
their army of lobbyists would
overwhelm a grassroots coalition of consumer groups,
civil rights organizations,
clergy, and unions in a modern day David and Goliath
saga.
According to the Center
for Responsive Politics, in
2009 alone, $465 million was
spent by the financial industry on lobbying Washington.
That expenditure translates
into $1.4 million a day and
includes 1,726 registered federal lobbyists paid to woo 100
U.S. Senators and 455 Members of Congress.
But in the end, little
David’s people won – the everyday people who know
what it means to be snookered
financially – and gained a
valuable governmental entity
to fight predatory lending’s
multiple forms.
Commenting on the new
law, President Obama said,
“The Wall Street reform bill
represents the strongest consumer financial protections in
history. You have a stake in it
if you’ve ever been treated
unfairly by a credit card company, misled by pages and
pages of fine print or ended
President Barack Obama
up paying fees and penalties
you’ve never heard of before.”
Speaking on behalf
of the Center for Responsible
Lending, President Mike
Calhoun said, “The current
economic meltdown has been
a nightmare for American
families and a recurrence
would be a disaster for our
nation. The recently passed
financial reform legislation
puts in place key reforms that
help create a brighter future,
one in which our financial
system flourishes. People will
get loans they can afford to
repay, and principles of fairness and value in financial
products will trump easy
money and self-enrichment.”
A few examples of
the news protections are:
Landmark consumer protection – An independent
agency will be authorized to
prevent the tricks and traps
related to mortgages, payday
loans and checking accounts.
Credit cards and mortgages
will offer terms in language
easily understood; predatory
lending will be prohibited;
and banks will not be able to
charge businesses hefty fees
for debit-card purchases,
among other consumer protections we expect the agency
to put into place.
Office of Minority and
Women Inclusion – This new
office will ensure equal employment opportunity and
racial, ethnic and gender diversity. It will also work to
increase the participation of
owned businesses in the programs and contracts of each
agency; and develop standards within each agency to
assess diversity policies and
practices in each federal financial agency, the 12 regional banks of the Federal
Reserve, and the Fed Board of
Governors. Mortgage reforms
– Kickbacks for steering consumers into high rate loans
when they qualify for lower
rates will be banned. The legislation explicitly prohibits
abusive loan fees and penalties for prepaying your loan
early. And for the first time for
all loans, lenders will no
longer make loans that borrowers cannot repay. Preventing taxpayer bailouts – Your
hard-earned money will not
be used to rescue companies
that engaged in risky practices. With this legislation,
one regulator will be in charge
of watching for emerging
threats to the nation’s entire
financial system. It also gives
government the authority to
step in and safely shut down
any failing financial firm.
Now would be an appropriate time to offer appreciation
to all of the federal legislators
who supported huge forward
stride. If you need to know
how your own legislators
voted on this bill, the respective roll call votes are available on the Internet.
Remember that it was a
vigilant coalition of concern
that refused to give up on reforming the myriad ills of
abusive lending. In the
months ahead, the focus will
shift to implementation of the
bill’s provisions. But for now,
we have a great example of
how ours really is a participatory democracy. This time,
the people won! Charlene
Crowell is the Center for Responsible Lending’s communications manager for state
policy and outreach. She can
be reached at: Charlene .cro
well @ responsible lend ing
.org
Page 2/THE VILLAGER/July 30, 2010
EDITORIALS/COMMENTARY
Full Employment is Needed Fast
By Gary L. Flowers
NNPA Columnist
(NNPA) - While most of
the media nation was transfixed by a diversionary-racist
smear campaign against
United States Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod on the
issue of perceived racial animus—an issue deserving full
attention on another day—
President signed legislation
to extend unemployment
benefits to the long-term un-
employed. By the president’s
signature, the jobless were
given a little relief to their lack
of financial resources in a
critically depressing economic period many refer to as
the Great Recession.
The legislation extended unemployment benefits for 99 weeks.
Prior to the extension
unemployed Americans who
receive federal benefits had
been waiting for 7 weeks without money while Republican
members of Congress held up
legislation because “extending benefits would hurt the
national debt unless cuts
could be made in other areas
of the federal budget (mostly
programs helping the poor
and the elderly).
Congressional filibusters (deliberate blockage of
legislation) were used by na-
tional Republicans for the
flimsiest of reasons in opposing benefit extension. Among
them, unemployment benefits:
Do not help economic
recovery; only the private sector can solve economic issues
affecting the poor; benefits reduce people’s desire to look
for work; and the fixing the
national debt is more important than feeding the poor.
However, the issue of
how to address unemployment benefits belies the thirtyyear war on the poor.
In 1980, President
Ronald Reagan, the actorturned politician, played the
role of a reverse Robin Hood
by stealing from the poor and
giving to the rich. Reagan’s
rationale was the economic
recovery “trickles down” to
the less fortunate. Most re-
cently, President George W.
Bush in his 8-year term of office cut taxes for the top 2 percent of Americans (who did
not need or ask for tax break)
while cutting programs for
the poor such as the
Children’s Health Insurance
Program (CHIP), not to mention allowing American companies tax breaks while exporting jobs to cheaper labor
markets.
The result of the war on
the poor is that most Americans are unemployed or underemployed. Officially, according to a recent Duke University study, national poverty has increased 5% in the
past four years.
Therefore, putting
America back to work is the
nation’s highest need. Yes,
president Obama and Congress have passed modest leg-
islation around health care
reform, financial reform, and
an extension of unemployment insurance, but job creation is paramount.Of the
most viable short-term possible legislative solutions has
been offered by Congressman
John Conyers (MI), Chairman
of the House Judiciary Committee.
The 21st Century Full
Employment and Training
Act” (House Resolution 5204)
seeks to create a full employment society by 2020. The legislation is modeled after full
employment legislation offered by Senator Hubert
Humphrey (MN) and Representative Augustus Hawkins
(CA) that was signed into law
by President Jimmy Carter in
1978.
Under the proposed legislation a trust fund would be
established with two separate funds: one for job creation, and the other for job
training. Job creation money
would be modeled on the
Community Development
Block Grant formula and be
administered by local elected
officials.
The second account
would be based on the
Workforce Investment Act
and resemble the Jobs Corps.
After all, local elected officials
who are members of the National Black Caucus of State
Elected Officials, National
Association of Black County
Officials, National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials,
and the National Conference
of Black Mayors are best
suited to know where job
funds should be allocated.
Full employment is needed
fast.
When Will Hillary Make Her Move?
Harry C. Alford
NNPA Columnist
(NNPA) - Common
logic is that Hillary Clinton,
US Secretary of State and
former First Lady, will once
again run for the presidency
in 2016. After all, that would
follow current President
Barack Obama assuming he
will win another term in 2012.
In 2012 Secretary Clinton will
be 65 years old. That is significantly younger than the 69
she will be in 2016. Furthermore if President Obama fails
in his re-election she would
be facing a tough incumbent
in 2016 and the chances of
losing become far greater than
succeeding someone of your
own party.
Make no mistake Secretary Clinton is a terribly competitive politician with ambition that exceeds the skies.
Once decided she will relentlessly pursue the Presidency
and her ever politically astute
husband, former President
Bill Clinton, will be right at
her side along with an army
of veterans from his former
administration. Many of
these veterans now work for
the Obama administration
but I am sure that many are
growing wary of the very
negative and nonproductive
atmosphere right now. Given
the signal many will be more
than happy to jump ship. In
fact, some may be laying acts
of sabotage to push along this
possibility.
President Obama is losing his base. The very strong
independent segment of support is evaporating with each
gaffe. The economy is not improving and may even dip
once again. This alone will
lose much of the independent
block he enjoyed in election
2008. Hispanic voters are
now less than excited about
this presidency as nothing
constructive in terms of their
direct issues is happening.
This group has always been
bi-partisan and has no problem going to the right if it appears that it is in their best
interests. Then there is the
Black segment of voters who
still unwaveringly support
President Obama solely
based on the 50 percent of
Black blood in his body.
Ninety-six percent of Black
voters still support President
Obama even though they are
getting very little for that support. One percent of the Stimulus Bill; remaining high incarcerations of young Blacks versus other groups; Black farmers are once again bamboozled; largesse programs
that will bust our debt and
continue to increase the defi-
cit to the detriment of lower
income citizens and on and
on. Times have not improved
for Blacks and sooner or later
that support bubble is going
to burst and the President’s
unwavering Black loyalty
will start to wither away.
If independents, Hispanics
and Blacks start to leave the
Obama camp the Democratic
Party will become toast. This
fall the House and Senate are
up for grabs and who would
have thought it. You more
than likely will see some new
Black congressional members
who will be Republicans and
this will send a strong message. At the last Republican
National Convention there
were about 32 Black delegates.
This season there were 37
Black candidates running for
Congress. RNC Chairman
Michael Steele has made that
significant turnaround and
offers an alternative to frustrated Blacks, i.e. capitalism.
The Clinton Administration
was strong on outreach to
Black Americans. There were
key people who were always
engaged in our communities.
The Obama Administration
is anything but Black. Yes the
first Black President is basically doing a white thing at
the White House – so odd.
Recently, the debacle on Civil
Rights Activist Shirley
Sherrod who was disgraced
for no reason and pummeled
by the Obama Administration
with false charges was an indication of the naiveté this
administration has when it
comes to blackness. It was
awful the way they bludgeoned this fine Black woman
from Georgia based on the lies
of a right wing zealot. Don’t
they consider the source on
these matters? The Obama
Administration seems to run
from race as opposed to taking a leadership role.
Bill and Hillary are certainly analyzing all of this.
Their blind ambition sooner
or later is going to kick in and
they are going to seize the
moment to the detriment of
Obama’s tenure. There is no
feud like a family feud and it
is starting to form. Hillary
was on her way in 2008 until
this young cocky mulatto from
Illinois upset the stage. She
still burns from that setback
and will be ever relentless the
next time she jumps in and
she is going to jump in.
When will that be? Here is my
guess: Hillary will announce
her resignation from Secretary of State in spring of 2011.
She will announce her candidacy by June 2011 and will
begin assembling an awesome army of supporters and
donors to the detriment of the
Obama camp. She will attempt to hurt Obama’s
chances and hurt them real
bad. Then she will pick up the
democratic pieces and charge
on. An opportunist will certainly seize a great opportunity.
A Waiting Game
By Nicole C. Lee
NNPA Columnist
(NNPA) - Agricultural
issues don’t frequently take
up much space on a national
level. While rural and farming news make headlines every once and a while, most of
our country’s population has
migrated to urban areas over
the last fifty years. This shift
is not unique and in my work
in Haiti, in particular, I have
been struck by the similarities
of internal migration and job
movement. Despite people’s
best efforts to create sustainable futures for themselves
Jim Clingman
NNPA Columnist
(NNPA) - Do you remember the column I wrote
during inauguration week? It
was titled, The Morning After, which alluded to the state
of this country, especially
Black people, after the dust
had settled, the hoopla had
died down, and the euphoria
had dissipated. Now that we
can take a real honest look at
ourselves, do we like what we
see? Politically speaking, I am
not surprised by the shenanigans of the so-called “far
right” and “far left” wings;
and their families, small farming rarely reaches beyond
subsistence.
Haiti has been highly
centralized for centuries, with
most commerce, trade, education and jobs being located in
the capital city of Port-auPrince. This has meant that
for the majority of Haitians,
who live outside of Port-auPrince, access to capital and
resources remains extremely
limited. The promises of these
resource-rich urban centers
have frequently become the
space for overt government
neglect and highly-concentrated poverty. In addition, a
lack of support for rural
infrastructural development
means that those who do stay
in the countryside are lucky
to get much of their product
to market.
The United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) federal farm credit
and benefit programs have
repeatedly been cited as racially discriminatory.
Though initially made
to create financial opportunity and incentive, the loan
program frequently re-enforced a double standard
against Black farmers. Finding such disconnect between
stated goals and implementation is nothing new in the
work I do.
This kind of active dismissal of those most affected
calls back to earlier attacks
against Haitian food self-sufficiency, including the Haitian Creole pig eradication.
Before the early 1980’s
Haiti’s Creole pigs were an
important part of the rural
economy. In 1982 international governments and organizations declared all Haitian pigs killed in an attempt
to stop the spread of Asian
Swine Flu with a commitment
but it is a bit disconcerting to
see some of the so-called
progressives and centrists
getting their shots in as well.
It simply begs the question:
Have we really come as far
as we say we have? And,
brothers and sisters, that answer is a resounding “NO!”
On the economic side of the
coin, Black folks are still fighting for survival, now along
with many others in this
country, for employment, inclusion, and business support. We are still being
“dissed” by the banks when
it comes to loans, interest
rates, and credit card fees. Our
bailout, long overdue, has yet
to come and probably never
will come.
Socially, although
many pretend to be in a state
of mutual respect and broth-
erly love, we are still at odds
with one another due to inequity, suspicion, and fear. One
hundred and forty-five years
after Black people were socalled “freed” disparities
continue to exist, institutionalized by various entities, and
many are still advocating for
“race dialogues” between
whites and Blacks. You
would think that Black folks
just arrived here rather than
being in this country since it
started. We know the situation that exists in the areas of
education and criminal justice. So what ties it all together, this web of discontent
and despair? It seems to me,
based on what is taking place
among the so-called leaders
of our society, along with the
big-wig movers and shakers,
it all boils down to a scarcity
that stronger pigs would be
made available. The pigs that
replaced Haiti’s Creole pig
population scarcely survived.
President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide remarked in 2000 “…
the repopulation program
was a complete failure…The
Haitian peasantry has not recovered to this day.”
With our globalized
markets, it comes as no surprise that free-trade style
agreements have hurt Black
farmers in the U.S. and farmers throughout Haiti. Farmers
in the U.S. have a harder time
finding work as corporations
grow and expand a model in
which paying the lowest
wages possible to their employees is encouraged. And
even before the Earthquake,
local and regional food markets in Haiti were flooded
with U.S. products. So called
“Miami Rice” from the U.S.
poured into Haiti during the
1980’s through the forced
opening of their economy decimating a once self-sufficient
rice industry. These subsidized goods come cheaper
than those made in-country
and in turn decrease local
production, capacity and jobs.
As I noted above, the link between Black farmers in the
U.S. and farmers in Haiti is
undeniable. One of the most
striking examples of this connection is the current withheld funding from the U.S.
Government. Wrapped deep
within the War Funding
Supplemental, and currently
stuck in the Senate, is funding that would increase the
quality of life and productivity for Black farmers both in
the U.S. and abroad. Black
farmers are waiting for outstanding settlement money
which will compensate thousands of farmers in over $1
billion in debt relief and pay-
ment.
rather than abundance
mindset. Too many folks are
out simply to get theirs and to
get as much of yours as they
can. The poor are competing
for crumbs and, with their
zero sum mindset, are afraid
that if you get a dollar or a job
it takes a dollar or a job away
from them.
Where it all end? Will
this country change before it
collapses under the weight of
its own greed, injustice, intolerance, and hate? I don’t
know if we will make it or not,
but by the looks of things I do
know we have a long way to
go, and we better get busy
turning this battleship
around. Our representatives,
those we elect to help us, are
bilking us. They have the best
of everything but would deny
us even a smidgen of relief.
They have the best healthcare,
but have to debate and decide
if we should have it. They
have the best retirement plans
but ponder cutting our Social
Security, a system in which
they do not even participate.
They go into office in many
cases, just as broke as we are
but come out as millionaires
by working the political system to enrich themselves
rather than looking out for our
interests. How is it that we, the
electorate keep returning these
same characters to office even
after they have done absolutely nothing for “the
people”? Corruption, excess,
self-indulgence, and greed
rule the day, much akin to
some of the great empires we
read about in years past. Evil
acts are being perpetrated
against good people, such as
Shirley Sherrod, the U.S. Department of Agriculture employee who was summarily
fired for what amounted to
helping a white farmer. Isn’t
it strange that no one has been
fired for the years of discrimination against Black farmers,
which has resulted in a $2
billion punitive award (who
knows when it will be paid)?
Sherrod gets fired for a positive comment, and for decades
other USDA employees keep
their jobs while blatantly discriminating against Black
farmers. What a country,
huh? We are, as they say, “In
a pickle.” We are in the belly
of the beast. And we had better get busy making appropriate changes before the
vaunted “United” States of
America goes down the proverbial tube.
Introspection
Early in his presidency,
Obama promised working to
“give farmers and their families who were denied access
to USDA loans and
programs…the chance to rebuild their lives and their
businesses.” The passage of
the bill will bring outstanding justice to those who lost
their land when loan applications were “slow-pedaled”
or actively denied.
The Emergency Supplemental Grant for Haiti will
fund some of the most pressing needs in Haiti today including economic support for
reconstruction. Investment
and commitment to growing
the capacity of local food markets, as well as the creation
and maintenance of secondary and tertiary roads
throughout Haiti, will secure
a stronger, more vibrant,
people-centered future.
Hill Family reunion set for
August 20 - 22, 2010
Mrs. Artie Mae HillJohnson, a native of Austin
Texas and now residing in
San Francisco, California,
will be returning to host the
2010 Hill Family Reunion
from August 20th through
August 22nd.
Mrs. Hill-Johnson is in
her 90’s and wants this to be
a grand occasion. Ms. HillJohnson contents that all sets
of Hills are somehow related
as they should all just come
together and share their stories, she wants to see everyone.
The reunion will start
on Friday, August 20th with a
banquet at Rosewood Recreation Center from 7pm til
11pm. On Saturday starting
at 10am there will be a balloon release and dedication
ceremony at the fire station at
Webberville road and 12
streets.
Afterward starting at 12
noon there will be a bar b que
at the Rosewood Recreation
Center. The reunion will conclude Sunday morning at
11am with a worship service
at the Ebenezer Baptist
Church.
For further information
please contact Rev. Ed Hill at
(512) 928-2338
Memorial Service for Gov. Dolph Briscoe to be
Held Aug. 1 at Texas State Capitol
A memorial service
for the late Texas Gov. Dolph
Briscoe Jr. will be held Aug. 1,
at 1 p.m. in the Texas Senate
Chamber at the Texas State
Capitol in Austin. The memorial service is open to the public.
President George W.
Bush, Gov. William Clements
and Gov. Mark White will
compose the memorial committee.
Sen. John Montford
will give the words of welcome and Gov. Rick Perry,
Gov. Mark White and Jess
Hay will give the remem-
brances. The Rev. Michael
Marsh of St. Philips Episcopal Church, Uvalde, will give
the homily. Dr. Don Carleton,
Gov. Briscoe’s historian and
executive director of the
Dolph Briscoe Center for
American History, will also
make remarks. The University
of Texas Trombone Choir will
provide a musical tribute.
Public parking is available at the Capitol Visitors
Parking Garage, east of the
Capitol at 12th Street and
Trinity. Vehicles can enter the
garage from either 12th Street
or 13th Street.
July 30, 2010/The Villager/Page 3
Meal on Wheels and More
institutes waiting list for
meal-delivery program
Growth in need for senior services
in 2010 outpacing resources
economy and a decrease in
contributions. Unfortunately,
we are unable to take on every person who needs our
help right now, as an increase
in client numbers leads to an
increase in expenses associated with our holistic case
management model and meal
production.” Aging populations in Travis County and
the economy have caused
more elderly and disabled individuals to need help accessing meals. Last year, we provided 1 million meals to the
community. Currently, we deliver to 2,500 individuals each
day. All clients are evaluated
by case managers upon intake and periodically during
their time on our services. We
will continue to prioritize
case management to ensure
services for those in most critical need. For more information about how you can help,
please
visit
www.mealsonwheelsandmore.org.
AUSTIN – In response
to an unprecedented rise in
the community’s need for services, Meals on Wheels and
More recently instituted a
waiting list for our home-delivered meal program, which
provides a daily, hot meal to
eligible homebound elderly
and disabled individuals.
Currently, there are about 140
individuals on the list. Typically, our client base grows by
about six percent each year.
In the past two years, the annual growth has been closer
to 10 percent. Budget constraints brought on by the
economic decline have forced
us to limit the number of
people we can currently
serve. “We don’t want people,
who need life-sustaining help
like food assistance, to have
to wait for services,” said Dan
Pruett, CEO & President of
Meals on Wheels and More.
“But like so many nonprofits,
we have been affected by the
August 9 - 11th
At 7:00 P.M.
St. James Baptist Church
3417 E. MLK Jr. Blvd.
Austin, TX 7872
(512) 928-2753
Sojourner’s Truth
Should Shirley Sherrod return to the Agriculture Department?
In brief, she was fired on Monday, June 19th by the U.S. Agriculture
Secretary in response to racist attacks to present Ms. Sherrod as a racist.
The NAACP supported his decision. As of July 22nd, Ms. Sherrod had
not responded to the Secretary’s offer of a new position, despite a call
from President Obama urging her to do so.
This event has nothing to do with America’s fear about talking about race. It is about using racist tactics to upend the Obama
Administration and people of color. Ms. Shirley Sherrod should say
no, The Secretary of Agriculture should resign (or be asked to resign), and the NAACP should hang its head.
This rush for judgment was clearly orchestrated by the Tea
Partyers and their kin. At its core is racial hatred, fear of losing a
place of dominance in political and economic power. Even the Joe
Six Packs and Rush Limbaughs who will never be president want
to be able to identify with the leader of the free world.
But they don’t look like him and, thus, cannot identify with
the man. People of conviction and courage should urge stricter standards for the media. News reporters (acting on credible information,
reporting fully) must be distinguished from commentators (whose
credentials/qualifications/biases should be presented front and
center with every edition), and entertainers (whose guffaws and
raucous behavior merit loud colors, party hats, maybe even alcohol
to put their remarks in a proper context). Be assured, these folks
don’t want to have a thoughtful dialogue on race. They want to
continue their devilment and gameplaying.
Editor’s Note: Sojourner’s Truth is a new series which will
appear periodically in The Villager. The writer is Austin bred and
will use Sojourner as her pen name. Her commentary is intended to
inform our readers about current events far and wide, to encourage
discussion and commentary from other area residents – persons
living in East Austin and neighboring villages. It is also intended to
motivate African Americans to be engaged in the range of issues
that affect us – from school performance to housing and neighborhood development, even economic empowerment, and health care.
And of course, we have a stake in the state and mid-term congressional elections as the campaigning continues. This is only the start.
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Agape Baptist Church
In “The Centre” Bldg. F-15 7801 N. Lamar Blvd. (SE Corner of N Lamar and 183)
AGAPE is a chuch for all people. “Where Jesus Christ is Magnified and the love He exhibited is
Exemplified.” Come, receive God’s unconditional lovefor you. For there is no greater love!
David Chapel
Church Services
Sunday
School
9:30 AM
Sunday Worship
11:00 AM
Mid-Week Service
Thursday: Praise, Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PM
Call 454-1547 for Transporation
Website www.agapebcaustintx.org
Rev. H. Ed Calahan
Pastor
St. Peter’s United Methodist Church
4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723
Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281
Christian Web Sitestpetersaustintx.ning.com
stpetersaustintx@att.net
THE PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.
COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH US
Rev. Jack C. Gause
Pastor
Sunday School
8:45 a.m.
Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.
Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 p.m.
and Praise /Bible Study 6:30 p.m.
(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland
Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)
Ebenezer Baptist Church
1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax: 512-478-1892
Radio Ministry (KIXI 970 AM
TV Ministry (ACTV. Ch 32)
Bus Ministry
9:00 A.M.
9:00 A.M.
Call 512-478-1875
8:00 A.M.
9:00 A.M.
10:00 A.M.
11:00 A.M.
Wednesday
Rev. Marvin C. Griffin
Pastor
Sunday Services
Sunday School
10:00 A.M.
Worship Service
11:00 A.M.
WEDNESDAY Bible Study
6:30 P.M.
SATURDAY New
Midweek Prayer Service
7:00 P.M.
Child Development Center
Ages 0-5 years
(Daily) 512-478-6709
Imani Community Church
Davis Elementray Auditorium
Rev. Lois Hayes, Pastor
5214 West Duval Road
Sunday School
Worship Service
•Power Hour Bible Life Group
9:00 A.M.
10:00 A.M.
6:00 P.M.
Imani Complex & Office,
11800 Mustang at Duval
Austin, Texas 78727
Visit:imanichurch.com
Office: 512-343-9300
Member Assimilation 10:00 A.M.
Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims
AFRICAN ASSEMBLIES of GOD
CHURCH
A growing church ministering to African American and
other nationals
Come worship with us
Sunday Services
Worship Service
Sunday School
Discipleship Training
Worship Service
JOSHUA CHAPEL CHRISTIAN METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
1006 Yeager Lane, Suite 102-A
Austin, Texas
Sunday Worship
Wednesday Prayer Meeting
11:30 A.M.
6:45 P.M.
Rosewood Avenue Missionary Baptist Church
1820 Rosewood Avenue, Austin, Texas 78702
(512) 476-8201 Fax (512) 476-5693
“Divine Enpowerment for Bold Ministries”
Weekly Services
Sunday School 9:30 a.m.
Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m.
Wed. Night Bible Fellowship 6:30 p.m.
Place of Worship
The Church of Glad Tidings 2700 Northland Dr. Austin, TX 78756
For more information, contact Pastor Jonah Ghartey
512-873-8103 www.allnationschurch@yahoo.com
St Annie A.M.E. Church
1711 Newton Street
Austin, Texas 78704
Voice mail (512) 444-4509
E-mail: saamechurch@peoplepc.com
Advancing the Ministry Expanding the Church
Church School
9:30 A.M. Sun
Morning Worship 10:45 A.M. Sun
Bible Study 7:30 P.M. Sun.
Rev. Derwin D. Gipson, Pastor
Rev. Coby Shorter, III
Pastor
The Spencer & Ora Lee Nobles
“Hope Center” (512) 476-6722
We b s i t e :
w w w.rosewoodbaptistchurch.org
Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church
5900 Cameron Road
Austin, Texas 78723-1843
(512) 451-0808 (512) 302-4575 Fax
Web Site - www.themount.net
WORSHIP SERVICES
Sunday Worship - 7:45 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Church School - 9:45 a.m.
Bible Studies - Mon, 6:30 p.m. & Wed., 12 noon
Wednesday Night Worship - 7 p.m .
“Ministries For Mankind” Luke 4:18
A.W.. Anthony Mays, Senior Pastor
Page 4/THE VILLAGER/July 30, 2010
The 3rd Court of Appeals
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
There is both a democrat and a republican candidate running for the 3rd Court
of Appeals. Currently, the 3rd
Court of Appeals located in
Central TX is equally divided
among republican judges
and democratic judges. However if a republican candidate
wins the race it will tilt the
balance toward the republicans. On the other hand, if a
democrat wins then the court
will still be balanced because
a Democrat judge is retiring.
Moreover, Kurt Kuhn is the
Kurt Kuhn
while removing others based
on necessity. For instance, the
Police Department will probably not be reduced; however,
Library Services may be cut.
Also the Austin Housing
Board of Directors will meet
on July 29, 2010 after the regular council meeting. AHBD
whose mission is to facilitate
the financing and construction of rental and owner occupied decent, safe and sanitary affordable accessible
housing for low and moderate-income residents of Austin will be passing three resolutions. The first thing the
Austin Housing Finance Corporation will do is to approve
the May 27th board meeting.
Then AHBD will seek to approve “a resolution appoint-
By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Liberia’s Independence
Day Celebration
Melissa Goodwin
Williamson. Moreover, the
3rd Court of Appeals is an
intermediate appellate jurisdiction of both civil and criminal cases which are appealed from the lower courts
of the twenty-four counties of
Texas. Due to its location in
Austin, the 3rd Court of Appeals also hears many cases
involving State Agencies, Officials, or Administrative
Law. As a result, the decisions coming from the 3rd
Court of Appeals affect the
entire state. Moreover, the
candidates running for this
office have different judicial
pasts.
The Austin City Council By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
The Austin City Council, during the next meeting
at the City Hall on July 29,
2010 will discuss the adoption of a city budget for the
2011 fiscal year. Unlike other
cities throughout the country,
the Austin city’s budget is in
good condition. Moreover, the
city has put more money into
the coffers which is coming
from its share of sale taxes.
Consequently, the city will
not be making drastic cuts,
but will be making some type
of concession, in order to balance its budget. During this
time, the Council will try to
balance the budget by cutting
certain services while maintaining other services. Furthermore, the Council will
vote to keep certain items
Life Loctk
democrat running for the 3rd
Court of Appeals and the republican candidate is Melissa
Goodwin.
Currently, Melissa
Goodwin is a lawyer working
for Brown McCarrol and also
works as an Adjunct Professor of the Appellate Advocacy
at the University of Texas
School of Law. Kurt has been
an Assistant Solicitor General
for the State of Texas representing the State in both civil
and criminal matters. On the
other hand, Melissa Goodwin
the republican candidate has
served as the Justice of Peace
of Precinct 3 and then served
has a judge for the 427th District Court of Travis County.
The 3rd Court of Appeals is
one of the most prominent
courts in the state of Texas
that covers twenty-four counties, such as, Bastrop, Bell,
Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell,
Coke, Comal, Concho, Fayette,
Hays, Irion, Lampassas, Lee,
Llano, McCollum, Millams,
Mills, Runnels, San Saba,
Schleicher, Sterling, Tom
Green,
Travis,
and
The African Diaspors Section
ing officers to the AHBD and
directors to the Board of Directors of the AHFC subsidiaries Arbors at Creekside
Non-Profit Corporation, the
Austin Inner-City Redevelopment Corporation, the Villas
on Sixth Non-Profit Corporation, the AHFC Village on
Little Texas Non-Profit Corporation, all with terms to expire on July 28, 2013”. Also,
it will rescind prior approval
to negotiate and execute a
loan to KAPLAN ACQUISITIONS, L.L.C., or its affiliate,
under the Rental Housing
Development Assistance
program in an amount not to
exceed $1,170,737 in General
Obligation Bond funding
designated for a proposed
multi-family development at
501 East Oltorf Street.” Moreover, these items seek to keep
Austin’s housing market affordable for the people who
have low and moderate income. Also, the Pflugerville
City Council, located north of
Austin will meet on July 27,
2010 to discuss and vote on
several items. One of the ordinances that the city of
Pflugerville will be voting
will be to an ordinance regarding the usage of alarms
in resident homes. Moreover,
the ordinance will be amending Chapter 97.99 of the city
code to provide a penalty for
a false alarm at $200.00 fine.
Also the Pflugerville City
Council will discuss and consider a resolution specifying
a proposed fiscal year 2011
tax rate and scheduling the
dates for public hearings, if
necessary. Moreover, the public is invited to speak on how
an increase of tax rate will
affect their “pocket books”.
On July 26, 2010 the nation of Liberia will be marking the day in which it became
a republic. Moreover, Liberia
was founded by freed slaves
who believed that they would
have a better chance for prosperity then continuing to live
in the United States. The
newly independent nation
named its capital city
Monrovia after the American
President James Monroe.
Moreover, President James
Monroe was a firm supporter
of the new country. From its
creation to the late 1970’s,
Liberia was a model state for
Africans who sought self-governance.
However, from the early
1980’s to the early 2000’s,
Liberia was marred in political instability which led to a
gruesome and long civil war.
During the civil war, Liberia’s
natural resources contributed
to the demise of its people because it was used to fuel the
civil war. Moreover, to better
understand Liberia we must
look at her history.
In 1822, some freed black
American slaves began to
settle in Liberia. Moreover,
thousands of freed American
slaves were encouraged to
settle in Liberia. The white
American politicians preferred the migration of freed
blacks rather than give them
an equal share of the “American Dream”. Consequently,
Henry Clay and President
James Monroe helped these
freed blacks to establish
Liberia. On July 26, 1847,
these freed blacks declared
the formation of Liberia. After the formation of Liberia,
the freed American blacks
dominated over the indigenous Africans.
Moreover, the domination of freed American blacks
created the marginalization of
the indigenous population,
which latter caused a frustration among these two groups.
The economic inequality caused the indigenous Africans to have anger towards
the descendant of the freed
black Americans which
would eventually lead to political instabilities. Moreover,
the political instabilities led
to the 1980’s military coup of
President Tolbert. From 19891999 Liberia plunged into a
bloody and gruesome civil
war. The civil war was fueled
by “blood diamonds” in
which both sides used the
natural resources to purchase
arms. Furthermore, this civil
war saw massive usage of
children as soldiers. Also, the
civil war caused Liberians to
be scattered throughout the
world including the United
States.
Thousands of Liberians
have settled in the US, including making Central Texas
their new home. These new
immigrants have enriched
Central Texas through their
hard work and established
small businesses. For instance, some have found
work in various sectors of the
Austin’s economy, while others have opened up hair salons in Central Texas. They
have chosen to settle in Central Texas because of the
booming economy, in which
they are searching for a piece
of the “American Dream.”
Other Liberians have slowly
begun to plot their return to
their native land due to the
new found peace in Liberia.
Furthermore, Americans are also investing in
Liberia. For example, the
former owner of Black Entertainment TV (BET) has constructed a five star hotel in the
heart of downtown Monrovia.
Al Jarreau Critically Ill In France
Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American
Jazz singer Al Jarreau
(NNPA) - Jazz singer Al
Jarreau was still in critical
condition at a hospital in
France July 23, with breathing
problems after collapsing on
stage the night before, according to Eurweb.com.
The 70-year-old artist
collapsed during a concert in
Barcelonnette in the southeast
of France, and was suffering
from respiratory problems,
according to multiple reports.
He was rushed to the intensive care unit of a clinic in the
southern Alpine town of Gap.
“He is still conscious but
slightly drowsy because of
the medication and the
breathing apparatus,” said
Maurice Marchetti, deputy
head of the hospital at Gap.
He described Jarreau’s condition as “worrisome.”
The Milwaukee-born
singer’s lengthy career has
encompassed many musical
styles. He has won Grammy
Awards in the genres of jazz,
pop, and rhythm and blues
and released more than 20
albums between 1975 and
2009.
Visit us at www.TheAustinVillager.com
Meet the lender
July 30, 2010/The Villager/Page 5
Black Church Group Criticizes California
NAACP on Marijuana Support
By Pharoh Martin NNPA
NationalCorrespondent
WASHINGTON
(NNPA) Some Black
church leaders are calling for
the head of the California
NAACP to step down over
her group’s support for the
legalization of marijuana in
her state as well as over alleged ties to the marijuana
lobby.
Rev. Anthony Evans,
president of National Black
Church Initiative, and Bishop
Ron Allen, president and
chief executive officer of the
International Faith Based
Coalition took issue with an
editorial California NAACP
president Alice Huffman
wrote in a popular online
newspaper, The Huffington
Post, outlining reasons why
her organization supports
California Proposition 19 - the
Regulate, Control and Tax
Cannabis Act 2010 - a measure that would make California the first state to legalize marijuana.
“The use of marijuana
for medicinal purposes is legal and we support that because we advocate health but
those are prescribed by a physician and are prescribed for
certain conditions,” Evans
said. “ But when the NAACP
just says legalize marijuana
we believe that it sends out
the wrong message given that
over the last 30 years we have
lost over 200,000 people to
drug-related crimes in the African-American community.
How can the church be in the
business of promoting illegal
drugs? It just doesn’t fit into
the proper role of the faith
community or an organization that came out of the Black
church.
”The reverend is calling
on all of their member
churches to publicly denounce the NAACP for supporting this legislation and he
is also asking them to withdraw all monetary contributions and support for using
Black churches for their meetings until Jealous repudiates
Huffman and the California
NAACP.
Evans said that his
34,000 Black church-backed
group no longer believes that
the nation’s oldest civil rights
organization represents the
best interests of the Black family. “How can they say they
are for Black people when
they are legalizing drugs that
has killed tens of thousands
of African-Americans?”
Evans asked. “It makes no
sense. ”
State conferences can
independently take position
on issues on which there is
no national policy, so she and
the California State Conference were within their right
to do this. ”The focus for the
California State conference is
not decriminalization of Marijuana,” said Benjamin Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP.
“The emphasis is getting a
handle on out of control and
racially disparate enforcement strategies. And it’s a
problem across the country.
For example, in New York
City, Black children, are 20
percent less likely to have
drugs in their pockets when
the cops stop them, but
they’re 500 percent more
likely to be stopped.”He said.
“This is a very serious issue
that deserves more digging
into beyond the controversy
or salaciousness.
”The
National
[NAACP] just passed a resolution to study the issue more
deeply because there is a high
level of concern by Black leaders who are engaged with the
crisis of the mass over
criminalization of our young
people and about misguided
enforcement strategies. And
so we’ll need to study this
nationally to see where we
should go,” Jealous said.
Huffman’s stance is centered
on the decriminalization of a
drug that unfairly penalizes
African-Americans at a
higher rate than other races.
In her article, published in
The Huffington Post on July
6th, Huffman wrote that Rev.
Martin Luther King was
“roundly criticized by friend
and foe alike for speaking out
on an issue considered outside the purview of civil
rights’ leaders” for taking a
radical stance against the
Vietnam war in 1967.”
The California NAACP
does not believe maintaining
the illusion we’re winning
the ‘war on drugs’ is worth
sacrificing another generation of our young men and
women,” she wrote. “Enough
is enough. We want change
we can believe in; that’s why
we’re supporting Prop. 19.
Instead of wasting
money on marijuana law enforcement, Prop. 19 will generate tax revenues we can use
to improve the education and
employment outcomes of our
youth. Our youth want and
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deserve a future. Let’s invest
in people, not prisons. It is
time to end the failed war on
drugs by decriminalizing and
regulating marijuana to save
our communities.”
Huffman cited Drug
Policy Alliance report that
supports the legalization of
marijuana because AfricanAmericans disparately represent 22 percent of California’s
marijuana arrests, a percentage that is more than three
times the state’s Black population.
“We believe whatever
potential harms may be associated with using marijuana
are more than outweighed by
the immediate harms that derive from being caught up in
the criminal justice system,”
Huffman reasoned in her article.
While the California
branch of the NAACP publicly
supports Proposition 19 the
NAACP national chapter has
not issued any public statements
denouncing their state affiliate’s
position. In Evans’ eyes, their silence means that they support
Huffman’s position.
“We have not heard that
the National is denouncing
them in any way,” Evans said.
“What we have concluded is
that the national wouldn’t allow
their affiliates to do whatever
they wanted because if they did
they would have chaos.”
He also implied that
Huffman has receive money
from pro-marijuana groups
which has influenced her
decisions.Huffman denies receiving any money from promarijuana groups, according
to the Los Angeles Times. Despite Evans and Allen’s unsubstantiated
claims,
Huffman does have a wellreported history of allegations involving entanglings
with her organization’s civil
rights agenda with the business agenda of her successful political consulting firm
A.C. Public Affairs, Inc.
For years, mainstream
California newspapers have reported on suspected corruption
of Huffman as the head of the
California NAACP. For example, the Los Angeles Times
reported in 2006 that Huffman
received $100,000 in consultation payments from tobacco giant Philip Morris. The California NAACP, at the same time,
opposed a California measure to
raise taxes on cigarette companies.
The national NAACP
supported the measure. Similar
allegations were reported in
other instances involving the
California NAACP endorsing
measures that Huffman’s special interest clients such as
AT&T and the pharmaceutical
industry have pushed. “
The campaign payments
to Huffman’s political company,
A.C. Public Affairs, come only a
year after the firm was paid
$330,000 in consulting fees by
the pharmaceutical industry. In
2005, the state NAACP sided
with the drug companies’ position on two ballot measures,” the
Los Angeles Times wrote in
2006. In 2008, The Sacramento
Bee reported that Huffman and
the NAACP together received
more than $100,000 dollars from
a coalition of Indian tribes while
at the same time endorsing ballot measures that those same
tribes backed. The marijuana issue in California is just the latest
split between Black church leaders like Evans and the nation’s
foremost Black civil rights leaders and organizations. The reverend is planning on challenging the NAACP on a number of
hot button issues such as same
sex marriage, which the
NAACP supports but so do
some other prominent leaders
such as Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev.
Jesse Jackson and organiziations
like the National Urban League.
He said, “We’re taking a critical
look at all of the civil rights organizations in making sure that
they are standing to protect the
Black family and the Black community, and most of these organizations are not.”
Women in Jazz
Texas lottery
Meca expo
Page 6/THE VILLAGER/July 30, 2010
Villager Sportsville
Kids learn and have fun in summer tennis program
By George Hardin
SportsBeat
The joyous laughter of
children mingled with words
of encouragement from Sarah
Pernell last week as she introduced a group of children to
the sport of tennis at Dottie
Jordan Recreation Center,
2803 Loyola Lane. “That was
awesome,” Pernell shouted,
as she tossed balls to kids
who knocked them back as
they were learning the basics
of the game. “Good job,” she
said. “There you go! That’s
what I want. Hit it to me.
Come on; give me a good one
over the net. Next person up.”
Pernell is president of
the Central Texas Tennis Association (CTTA), which provides tennis instruction to
Austin area children during
the summer at a number of
parks and recreation centers.
She about six other people
founded the organization
about 14 years ago, she said.
“We partner with the Parks
and Recreation Department,”
she said. “Our sister company is called East Side Tennis.” East Side Tennis, she
said, is an organization of
men who mainly live in East
Austin. “We’re all together
but the East Side Tennis program was here before CTTA.”
Among names she mentioned
as participants in the East
Side group were James Givens, Michael Dunn and Kelly
Evans.
“This year’s program
began in June,” Pernell said.
“We do two six-week programs of tennis and fitness,
with an educational component—math, science, reading.
The first session we had
about 13 sites. The second we
had about 10. The sessions
run from 8 a.m. until noon
and the afternoon sessions
from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
and free lunches are provided at some of the sites.”
She said there are about 1,200
children in the program this
summer. “We’re a little bit
lacking behind what we had
last year, with 1,382. We had
to turn away kids because we
didn’t have the manpower or
finances to handle all of them,
which is something that
don’t ever want to do,” she
said. Kids in the program
range from age 4 to 18.
CTTA is
also affiliated with the National Junior Tennis League
(NJTL), which was founded
in 1989 by Arthur Ashe,
Charlie Pasarell, Gene Scott
and Sheridan Snyder “to develop the character of young
people through tennis and
education.”
Among the extra activities the program offers is a
trip to Dallas “for what is
called ‘Kids Day,’ Pernell
said. “It used to be called the
NJTL Regional Rally. It’s part
of the Arthur Ashe program.”
As part of the reading program, Pernell said, “If
they read 15 books within six
Sarah Pernell helps kids get started with tennis at Dottie Jordan Recreation Center. Trying their hand are Ravin Guyton, 8,
center, a pupil at Barbara Jordan Elementary School, and Ronasia Hardeman, 11, who attends Winn Elementary School. Photo by
George E. Hardin
weeks they get a $25 gift card
for school supplies. We do a
math and science program
because a lot of our kids
struggle in those areas. We
have a lady named Cindy
Brettschneider who used to
teach at UT and is a former CSI
person for the Austin Police
Department. And she funds a
lot of our programs, just she
and her husband.” Pernell
said the tennis program pays
special attention to kids who
are diabetic and overweight.
“We’re trying to get more kids
to come out and participate—
especially blacks and Hispanics because that’s where most
of the obesity is.”
Pernell said some of
the students who have taken
part in the CTTA have earned
tennis scholarships at Division I universities.
“We run a tournament
every August, which is our
only fund-raiser,” she said.
“It’s a sanctioned tournament, which is through the
United States Tennis Association.” The tournament will be
Aug. 20 at South Austin Tennis and Pharr Tennis Center.
Pernell said the program isFarrah
hamperedGray
by the lack
of people. “We need volunteers to teach tennis; we need
tutors, mentors, coaches,” she
said.
Harsh criticism undeserved as Serena undergoes surgery
Some columnists and
pundits jumped on Serena
Williams seemingly with a
ruthless vengeance when she
took time off from competition
for surgery on an injured foot.
Williams, ranked World No.
1 female in singles and
doubles, cut her right foot on
a piece of glass at a restaurant
shortly after losing an exhibition match against Kim
Clijisters in Brussels. Williams, 28, was roundly criticized as having an ulterior
motive and reneging on plans
to enter the World Team Tennis competition in Glens Falls,
N. Y., when she disclosed the
surgery plans.
Her decision drew an
unwarranted barrage of verbal brickbats by several com-
Serena Williams
Black Women
mentators. One said, among
other things: “I find it odd that
Serena played an exhibition
after the injury and then decided she needed surgery.
This wasn’t a sprain or a pull
where you need to test the stability of a joint or anything.
This was glass in your foot
‘supposedly.’ It’s one of those
things where you can play or
you can’t—there’s no gray
area. Maybe Serena is quietly
boycotting the U.S. Open because of last year’s incident
with a line judge.”
Another writer said:
“I’m among the last observers
to question someone’s injury.
I’m generally inclined to believe athletes are more hurt
than they let on. And I’d never
be one to assume that Serena
has faked a number of injuries over the years, for the purpose of avoiding fines or suspensions as she skips out on
the lesser events. But for crying out loud, you can’t just
say, ‘I’m having surgery’ and
then order the quiche. Maybe
Serena can try to pull a fast
one, but there’s no excuse for
the information provided by
the WTA, announcing that
Serena had withdrawn from
the Istanbul, Cincinnati and
Montreal tournaments this
summer ‘as a result of a necessary procedure on her right
foot….’ Serena undoubtedly
gets offended when people
question her sincerity, as it
regards her approach to the
tour in general, and yet she
gives us every reason to ques-
tion her latest injury. I’m
guessing we’ll be left without
a single additional detail until the U.S. Open, when she
saunters in for her first interview. Such is the life of royalty, without rules or obligations.”
Non-emergency surgery is usually done at a time
most convenient for the patient. Williams seems to have
followed that principle.
It is usually reckless to
assume to know why other
people take certain actions.
And in the absence of knowledge the charitable and compassionate thing to do is to
give the other person the benefit of the doubt. Those harsh
critics of Serena Williams
have not done so in this case.
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