hello goodbye - Gary/Chicago Crusader

Transcription

CHiCAGO CRuSAdeR 03-19-2016.qxp_Sheriff 9/8/07 2007 3/17/16 2:29 AM Page 1
www.chicagocrusader.com
Blacks Must Control Their Own Community
•C•P•V•S•
Audited by
To The Unconquerable Host of Africans Who Are Laying Their Sacrifices Upon The Editorial Altar For Their Race
VOLUME LXXV NUMBER 48—SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2016
HELLO
PUBLISHED SINCE 1940
25 Cents and worth more
GOODBYE
Voters Send Loud Message as Alvarez Trounced by Foxx
By J. Coyden Palmer
DECISION 2016
The anger resonated from the South Side to
the northern suburbs Tuesday night as voters
sent Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez packing as political novice Kim Foxx
won the Democratic nomination for the office
after getting 58 percent of the vote to Alvarez’s
29.
The victory for Foxx, 43, was a no-brainer.
After months of protests demanding Alvarez’s
resignation for her handling of several highprofile police shootings, she became a symbol
of what was wrong with the justice system in
the county. With her victory, Foxx said it is
now time to move forward in fixing the broken criminal justice system.
“The work here is just beginning, and our
struggles here are very real,” Foxx told supporters during her victory rally in the River
North neighborhood. “…We need to rebuild
a broken criminal justice system in Cook
County, it is not a position to be taken lightly.
It is work that is going to take the cooperation
and collaboration of stakeholders in all areas.
Stratton rejoices while
Dunkin has no regrets
By Chinta Strausberg
With an endorsement from President
Barack Obama and the backing of organized labor, attorney Juliana Stratton on
Tuesday handily defeated six-term State
Rep. Ken Dunkin (5th), who with the help
of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, spent
more than $1.3 million to defend his seat.
Stratton’s victory was a blow to Rauner
who had backed Dunkin after he failed to
show up during a critical vote on the governor’s labor legislation.
Stratton was endorsed by organized labor
and a bevy of elected officials, including
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Secretary of State Jesse White, Alderman Pat Dowell (3rd), and Illinois House
Speaker Michael J. Madigan.
At her victory party at the Charles Hayes
Center, Stratton said, “It’s not easy to go
against an incumbent. They (volunteers)
could have taken a pass, but instead they decided to commit their full strength and expertise on my behalf.”
Community activist Camiella Williams
said, “I am proud of Juliana. I know she’s going to be good for the people. She helped me
with my social justice studies. She’s going to
be the voice of the young people.”
Stratton said that “residents see Rep.
Dunkin as someone who has turned his back
on them.”
Dunkin appeared upbeat when he was in(Continued on page 2)
Our young folks have shown up and demanded justice for all of us.”
Foxx based her campaign off of representing
those who felt they have no voice in society.
She said when growing up as a child in public
housing, she often felt as if she was not being
heard. She said her unique background will
bring a different perspective to the job.
But, it was not just young African-American
(Continued on page 3)
Win vindicates
Dorothy Brown
By Chinta Strausberg
INSIDE!
100th ANNIVERSARY
OF GREAT
MIGRATION
Veteran Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown Tuesday easily
won re-election, saying she’s glad that the
Cook County Democratic Party “dumped” her. She said the people picked her up
as she regained her (independent) voice.
Through it all, she said the entire rejection
has made her a “warrior.”
Brown ran against Jacob Meister and Alderman Michelle Harris (8th Ward) who
was endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party after a story ran about a FBI
agent taking Brown’s cell phone during an
investigation into a building she and her
husband sold in North Lawndale. The Party had initially endorsed Brown, but withdrew their support and instead backed
Harris.
NEWS
Alvarez’s defeat alone is reason to celebrate
By Erick Johnson
The cocktails were flowing inside the West Point Ballroom at
the Holiday Inn Chicago River
North Hotel. It was Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s victory party and the place was
pumping. Kool and the Gang’s
1980 song “Celebration” was
blaring as many revelers danced
and sang along. Then came the
booms from the bass heavy 1992
“Perculator” dance hit. Some 600
people waited for the biggest star
of the night to appear on stage.
fruitless attempts to remove her.
She lost Tuesday night in a rout,
with Foxx capturing 62 percent of
636,922 votes. Alvarez received
just 26 percent of the ballots that
were cast.
“The whole world is watching
Cook County right now,’” he
said. We want Cleveland to see
this. We want Ferguson, MO to
see this. We want Staten Island to
see this.”
The man was referring to cities
where police officers were not
charged for killing Blacks, sparking widespread anger and protests
DECISION 2016
They would wait for two hours
for Foxx, who like many Blacks
all over Chicago Tuesday night,
was watching as her life changed
while the career of a high-profile
controversial prosecutor was
coming to a dramatic end.
Then a Black man appeared on
stage and said something that set
off a thunderous roar that turned
the party that ushered in a new
era in Chicago. Cook County
State’s Attorney Anita is out and
this became the real reason to celebrate after many protests and
in neighborhoods. It was a reference to Chicago’s own high-profile case of Laquan McDonald, a
17-year-old who was killed after
being shot 16 times by officer Jason Van Dyke in October, 2014.
Foxx’s opponent and incumbent
Cook County State’s Attorney
Anita Alvarez for months defied
calls to resign after being accused
of mishandling a case that took
her 13 months to charge Van
Dyke. Anger, especially in the
Black community intensified as
she showed no remorse and re-
LARGE CROWDS PACK a ballroom at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North to celebrate Kim Foxx victory over Democratic incumbent Cook County State's Attorney Anita
Alvarez.
mained unapologetic for her de- in Tuesday’s primary, the same testors called for the resignation of
cisions that allowed police offi- Black man who made the speech Alvarez and Mayor Rahm Emancers who killed Black men to at Foxx’s victory party led a diverse uel. After McCarthy’s forced resigwalk free, while others police crowd of Black and white revelers nation, it was Alvarez’s turn, but
into shouting “Two down, one to she wouldn’t leave. She said no misneighborhoods with impunity.
A new report this week shows go.” It was a reference to former- takes were made in the Laquan
that during her eight years as Chicago Police Superintendent case. At a forum in Woodlawn, she
Chicago’s top prosecutor, Alvarez Garry McCarthy. He was fired in told a crowd that included grieving
cleared killer cops 68 times. It December after a Cook County families, that police have a right to
was another stain on Alvarez’s re- judge ordered the release of a po- use force when policing the street.
sume and another insult to griev- lice video that showed Laquan
For years, the Black community
ing families and Blacks who have McDonald’s shooting in Novem- was forced to endure Alvarez’s
ber.
suffered under her leadership.
leadership. When she lost badly
In addition to McCarthy, proSo when Alvarez was defeated
Stratton rejoices while Dunkin has no regrets
(Continued from page 1)
terviewed at Norman’s Bistro,
1001 E. 43rd St., his victory party
locale. Asked if he is going to run
again, Dunkin said, “You never
know what God’s steps are for you.
The people in the 5th District
spoke. They gave me about 7,000
votes and her twice that. I respect
that.”
Asked if the endorsement of
Stratton by Obama helped, Dunkin replied, “The president’s validation, confirmation always
helps.”
In retrospect, Dunkin stated that
he would do things the same. “I
would do it exactly the same way.”
And for those critics who labeled
him a traitor because he sided
with Rauner on a labor issue,
Dunkin shrugged that off saying,
“That’s campaign rhetoric at its
ATTORNEY JULIANNA STRATTON Tuesday addresses her supporters at the Charles Hayes
Center, 4859 S. Wabash, where she thanked her supporters including organized labor for her
success in defeating six-term Rep. Ken Dunkin (5th).
2
SATURDAY, March 19, 2016
worse.”
Despite the loss, Dunkin said he
will “keep living, keep serving.
My term ends January of 2017. I
will keep speaking truth to power”
and continue serving on his various committees.
When asked if he will go against
the people and side with the governor again, Dunkin said, “I am
going to do what is right for whoever needs it the most. I am not a
part of this party clique. I’m a part
of what’s right for the citizen who
we charge taxes. I am going to listen to them and listen to my gut
instinct of 13-plus years and serve
them. People over politics.”
Dunkin said he has no regrets
for siding with the govenor.
“I did not side with the governor. I sided with what I thought
was right for the people: to get the
monies released.
“Had we checkmated the governor, he would have just cuffed the
money until he decided. I made
decisions for 13-plus years. I will
continue to do what is right for
the people. That is the least I can
do. I don’t have any regrets. I am
not sorry. I beat an incumbent
(when he was first elected to office). This is life. Today, I’m down.
Tomorrow, I’m still in. You may
be down today, but that does not
Blacks Must control their own coMMunity
mean that I’m out.”
When asked if he thought the
governor would hire him, Dunkin
said he doesn’t have any expectations of being picked up by anyone “except God.”
John Keeler, a project manager
for the Inner City Youth for the
Deaf Foundation and a Dunkin
supporter, was upset that his candidate did not win saying Dunkin
ran a fair campaign. Keeler accused Madigan of “controlling the
Democrats in Springfield. He
wants puppets.
“The reason why Stratton is in
office is so they can control her;
tell her what to do; move her
around like a puppet on a string.
To me, Madigan is a pure gangster—running Springfield, and it
is time for him to be dethroned
off his throne.”
Stratton is the director for the
Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at
Chicago. Prior to this position,
she was executive director of the
Cook County Justice Advisory
Council for Children where she
worked on juvenile justice reform.
A former administrative law
judge, Stratton teaches a Negotiations Skills module for Loyola
University’s Executive MBA program.
NEWS
Voter turnout rises in the Black Community
KEY PRIMARY RESULTS
DEMOCRATIC
By Erick Johnson
Recent issues affecting the Black
community
increased turnout in
UNITED STATES PRESIDENT
Tuesday’s primary elections, where
Hillary Clinton
362,161
voters decided the outcome on sevBernie Sanders
307,121
eral hot races for local, state and federal offices.
UNITED STATES SENATE
The day included last minute
Tammy Duckworth
356,900
campaigning in the Black commuAndrea Zopp
191,586
nity, where candidates pulled out all
Napoleon Harris
73,696
the stops, hoping it would make a
difference in tight races.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 1st DIST.
Exit polls show voter turnout was
Bobby L. Rush
97,503
150 percent higher than 2014.
Howard B. Brookins, Jr. 25,802
While presidential elections historically generate higher voter turnout,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 2nd DIST.
there was concern that participation
Robin Kelly
33,344
would be lower in the Black comMarcus Lewis
9,394
munity than when Barack Obama ran
for president in 2008 and 2012.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 7th DIST.
At one precinct at the Chicago PubDanny K. Davis
99,144
lic Library branch in South Shore, one
Thomas Day
21,244
security guard said she was “very impressed” with this year’s turnout than
ST. REPRESENTATIVE, 5nd DIST.
the one in 2014.
Juliana Stratton
18,488
“I was very disappointed then, but it’s
Kenneth “Ken” Dunkin” 8,804
been a constant flow of people all day.”
Near a precinct at the Liberty BapST. R EPRESENTATIVE, 26th DIST.
tist Church in Bronzeville, campaign
Christian L. Mitchell
13,987
workers for several candidates held
Jhatayn “Jay” Travis
10,928
up political placards as drivers went
by on Martin Luther King Drive.
COOK CNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY
Many of the workers were from JuKim Foxx
397,699
liana Stratton’s campaign office.
Anita Alvarez
164,065
Throughout the South Side, her
Donna More
75,158
workers far outnumbered those of
her opponent, incumbent Ken
CLERK, COOK COUNTY CIRCUIT
Dunkin, State Representative for the
COURT.
Dorothy A. Brown
284,063 5th District.
In the end, voters overwhelmingly
Michelle A. Harris
175,841
picked
Stratton. Other winners inJacob Meister
119,484
clude Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton, Cook Coun-
CAMPAIGN WORKERS PROMOTE their candidates in front of Liberty Baptist Church in
Bronzeville during the primary election on Tuesday, March 15 (Photo by Erick Johnson)
ty State’s Attorney candidate Kim
Foxx and Clerk for Circuit Court of
Cook County Dor- othy Brown.
Veteran Congressmen Bobby Rush
and Danny K. Davis won their
races. Congresswoman Robin Kelly
was also reelected.
In one of the most expensive campaigns in Illinois history, challenger
Juliana Stratton defeated 14-year
veteran Ken Dunkin for State Representative for the 5th District.
All of the winners will face their
Republican opponent in the General Election on November 8. Clinton
will face billionaire Donald Trump,
whose rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) was cancelled
after thousands of protestors crashed
his event before he could speak.
In November, Dorothy Brown, who
routed challenger and Alderman
Michelle Harris for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, will now
face Republican challenger Diane S.
Shapiro. Stratton wins the position
outright since no Republican ran to
oppose her.
Andrea Zopp lost her bid for the
U.S. Senate after she was defeated by
Congresswoman and Iraqi War veteran Tammy Duckworth. In a rematch
of their 2014 race, challenger Jay
Travis lost in a tight race to State Representative Christian Mitchell in the
26 District.
For the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Barbara McGowan
was reelected to another 6-year term
along with Mariyana T. Spyropoulos
and Josina Morita.
The higher voter turnout may be
attributed to voter anger and controversial issues that have angered the
Black community in recent years.
The race between Foxx and Cook
County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez centered on the case involving
Chicago police officer who killed 17year old Laquan McDonald. After
watching the video, protests were
held throughout the city and Black
leaders organized numerous registration drives to boost voter turnout.
Voters Send Loud Message as Alvarez Trounced by Foxx
voters who turned out for Foxx;
many were enraged by Alvarez’s office handling of the Rekia Boyd and
Laquan McDonald cases. Foxx received a lot of votes in suburban
Cook County as well. She doubled
the total votes of Alvarez and had
five times the votes of third-place
finisher Donna More.
“The stakes in this race were very
high,” Foxx said. “I want to be clear
that in the midst of all the jubilance
that this race is not so much about
saying good-bye; it’s about turning
the page. Let us not get lost in the
gravity of the work that is ahead of
us.”
For her part, Alvarez said she has
ensured Foxx there will be a smooth
transition should Foxx defeat
Christopher Pfannkuche in the general election.
In front of a small group of supporters during her speech at the
Palmer House, Alvarez continued to
be in denial. She claimed she was a
good prosecutor, but not a good
politician. She made no mention of
her prosecutorial decisions to charge
Officer Jason Van Dyke with murwww.chicagocrusader.com
der 14 months after he killed McDonald or incorrectly charging Det.
Dante Servin in the Boyd case,
which led to a judge setting him
free.
Greeting and thanking voters
Wednesday morning at downtown’s
Millennium Station, Foxx said her
office will serve all communities.
She said combating Chicago’s illegal
gun trade will be one of her top priorities because it is where much of
the violence in the city stems from.
“I think we have to aggressively go
after people who are having guns
that are not supposed to,” Foxx said.
“We are going to partner more with
federal law enforcement while also
pushing for lawmakers in Springfield to look at the punishment for
people that have illegal guns and
people who participate in the trading of illegal guns.”
In other races of note, Congressman Bobby Rush (D-1st) easily
fended off his first realistic challenge
in years by defeating Chicago Alderman Howard Brookins (21st). The
two former political allies became
quite snippy with one another during the campaign, highlighted by
a 10-minute shouting match on
Harry C.Bobby
AlfordRush
Congressman
WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight” with
Carol Marin. But on election night,
Rush dominated Brookins getting
71 percent of the vote to Brookins
19. Patrick Brutus got nine percent.
For Rush, who was first elected to
Congress in 1993, the race was the
closest he has had since he was challenged by then-State Senator Barack
Obama. Much of the heated confrontations between Rush and
Brookins revolved around Brookins
trying to have Rush removed from
the ballot back in December.
Brookins challenged Rush’s petitions. While many were found to be
false, he still had enough to remain
on the ballot.
“This campaign started with them
saying, ‘We got him!’” said a jubilant Rush, taking a jab at his opponent. “Well, I’m here—look at me
now!”
Brookins barely won re-election to
office last year as an alderman. He
attacked Rush throughout the campaign claiming he had become a
“do-nothing congressman” in the
district. Brookins and Rush also had
several heated exchanges surrounding the Vivian Harsh Collection at
the Carter G. Woodson Library,
which is in need of dire repairs. The
library is located in Brookins’ ward,
and Rush’s district with both men
claiming the other should have gotten the dollars necessary to do the
repairs.
For the second time in a row,
Christian Mitchell defeated Jay
Travis for state representative in the
26th District. With 97 percent of
the votes counted, Mitchell held a
3,000 vote lead over Travis, who
was heavily backed by the Chicago
Teacher’s Union. Mitchell has been
a strong proponent for charter
schools. Two years ago, he defeated
Travis by only 600 votes. This time,
he believes the voters heard only
rhetoric from Travis and not a platform.
“My vision is an optimistic one,
and that’s what we need in Illinois,”
Mitchell said.
However, Travis said she was hurt
by technical issues at the polls for
the second time. She said two years
ago there were problems with the
voting machines in some precincts.
This time, she said the wrong ballots were being distributed. She has
reported the issue to the Illinois
State Board of Elections and to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
“I think voter suppression continues to be the problem in my races
against Mr. Mitchell,” Travis said.
“If it happens once then that’s one
thing but twice? We plan on investigating this matter until the very
end.”
3
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL
“HATER”ATION IN
AMERICA
America is in the midst of one of the most unusual, and possibly,
weirdest election cycles ever! It is, in fact, revolutionary. We have a
chance to elect the first woman, the first Jew, the first Latino, and
the first wild card, a trump, to the office of president of the United States. This mixture lends itself to exciting theater; but make
no mistake, there is a lot at stake!
An interesting side bar to this whole situation is the creation of
violently opposing political camps and the exhibition of extreme
bigotry largely generated by Donald Trump. He has said things
like “He’d like to punch (a protester) in the face,” and reminiscing
about a time when a “...guy like this (a protester) would be carried
out on a stretcher.” One of his supporters sucker-punched a protester who was leaving the rally, and Donald Trump is considering
paying the legal fees for that supporter. He praises people for
roughing up protesters, and says that violence is good for his campaign. This is downright scary. Recently, in Chicago, he had to
cancel a rally due to the large number of protesters, several skirmishes, and related security fears.
Trump supporters have shouted vulgar epithets at protesters
during rallies. Some have been heard to say things like “Go back
to Africa” and using the “N” word addressing Black protesters,
and others have shouted that protesters should be killed! Trump
rallies are, in fact, as close to a rowdy circus as one can get outside
of the actual thing with lions, tigers and bears. Basically, Donald
Trump is making visible the seething hatred, bigotry and outright
xenophobia that has been festering in America since the election
of President Barack Obama 8 years ago. Trump followers are actually proud of their actions. It has been shown that emotions have
a tendency to dull intelligence. In other words, the more feelings
generated by a situation, the less rational people tend to be. This
is truly what seems to be happening with the widespread support
given to Donald Trump, a clearly divisive element in America.
Actually, what we are witnessing is Republican chickens coming
home to roost. The Party is in disarray because of their antics during the past 8 years. They placed roadblocks against everything
that President Obama attempted to do, and their mean spirited
strategy has generated one of the most un-presidential, presidential candidates in recent history. Trump is a poster boy for misogyny, racism, religious bigotry, and violence. It has been said that he
is a pathological liar, and he has demonstrated an incredibly immature petulance during his campaign. He is a demagogue. An
adoring public is eating it up! More level-headed Republicans are
now placed in the ridiculous position of being saddled with a candidate that they really do not want. The office of president demands a certain type of diplomacy, which the Trumpster has
clearly shown to lack. In a nutshell, Trump spreads “hater”ation,
not cooperation. Because of this, some Republicans think that
Trump may be unelectable, which will guarantee a win for the
Democratic nominee. (Actually, the fate of America will depend
upon whether or not Trump supporters outnumber more evolved
American citizens. If they do, he may actually win! Hopefully, this
does not happen!)
Every situation has its positive and negative aspects, and the current political situation is no different. In this regard, the once
slumbering giant in the Black community is continuing to stir,
flexing its mighty muscles. The Black vote has made a difference
in the outcome of elections in several states, and no doubt the
more victories that result from this unified action, the more power the Black community will realize. Now, all that remains is that
the disparate elements in the Black community come to a consensus in order to craft a viable Black agenda. If this is done, it will
represent a turning point in the destiny of Black America. A luta
continua.
I suspect like many Black
Chicagoans I am still somewhat
dazed by the sudden death of
Henry English last weekend. If
ever there was a selfless individual
it was Henry. He also supported
dozens of causes with his time, intellect and his organization’s Black United Fund of Illinois,
dollars.
One of the many wonderful
things about Henry is that over
the years while he grew into his
BUFI executive role, he did not
change. He could be seen talking
with some of the guys down on
their luck near his office on 71st
Street, or seen rushing to a meeting with a Fortune 500 CEO or a
high ranking government official.
He never lost touch with the
community or what was important to it or what we needed. He
continually and successfully addressed those issues.
The big question in my mind is
how do we honor such a man. We
simply can’t let his legacy get
pushed aside. I know one way
would be to shore up BUFI and
start supporting it financially. At
the same time though I wonder if
it is insulting to support his cause
in death when so many didn’t
support it when Henry was alive
and running it.
Hopefully whomever leads an
4
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
How can we honor
Henry English?
Dear Editor:
initiative to honor Henry will
come up with some ideas soon. A
fighter, a champion and a friend
like Henry needs to be lifted continually.
Spencer Hicks
Who wants a
Rahm? Nobody
Dear Editor:
I am sure a lot of people remember the talk that Rahm Emanuel
wanted to be mayor of Chicago
so he could use it as a stepping
stone for a run at the U.S. presidency. That kind of talk cracks
me up today. Right now, Willie
Wilson’s chances of being the
POTUS are better than Rahm’s.
In case you haven’t noticed
Rahm, who was already unpopular with African Americans in
Chicago, is getting treated bad by
white people too.
The man who might be president, Bernie Sanders, went out of
his way to thank the mayor for
not endorsing him. Sanders obviously didn’t want the distraction
of someone who lied about the
timing of a video about a murder
being released, how much success
our students would have when 50
of their schools are closed permanently, as well as bumbling the
city budget every year of his term.
As if that wasn’t bad enough,
Hillary Clinton, whose husband
Bill, appointed Rahm as his chief
of staff, wants nothing to do with
him. When she campaigns in
Chicago, Rahm is nowhere in
sight. Maybe we should start calling him Toxic Rahm.
Illinois’ new governor, Bruce
Rauner, used to hang with Rahm.
It sure looks like that bromance is
over. The governor and the mayor talk to each other through the
media now-neither man is saying
anything pleasant about the other.
CHICAGO CRUSADER
(U.S.P.S. 596080)
Editor-Publisher
Dorothy R. Leavell
Advertising Director
J.L. Smith
6429 South King Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60637
773-752-2500
An independent newspaper serving the Southside
Westside and Northside, printing the news impartially
empowering what it believes to be right and appealling
what it believes to be wrong without regard to party
politics. Devoted to the Industrial, Educational, SocioPolitical and Educational advancement of Black people.
VOL. LXXV NO. 48 March 19, 2016
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COMMENTARY
Solving the Mystery of Us
Beyond the Rhetoric
By Harry C. Alford
All my life I have wondered
what was the breakdown on my
ethnicity. If you don’t know who
you are you are less than “whole.”
One night while my wife, Kay,
and I were watching television a
commercial for Ancestry.com came
on. After discussing the issue, we
decided that we were going to try
it. I teased her that I may find out
that my wife is white (she’s a “redbone”). Imagine the social scandal: “President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of
Commerce is married to a white
girl.”
We now have the results and
have shared them with our sons
Thomas and Harry III. Let’s start
with my ethnicity. I am 69%
African and 31% European.
Twenty-three percent of me is
Nigerian followed by Mali which
is 16%. The rest of the African lineage goes like this: Ivory Coast/Ghana -11%; Cameroon/ Congo
– 9%; Senegal – 9%; Southeastern
Africa and Benin/Togo are 1% and
less than 1%, respectively. I have
been all over Africa but the few
nations I have not been to are
Harry C.
C. Alford
Alford
Harry
Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo
Benin and Togo. They now will be
high on my travel targets. I have to
go and visit my people!
Now, how about the white side of
me? Great Britain leads the way
with 21%. Next is the Iberian
Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) at
5%. Finland/Northwest Russia is
at 3%. Ireland is at 2% and Greece
is less than 1%.
I was kidding Kay that we will
find out that she is white. That is
almost a reality! Forty-seven percent of my wife is white while 52%
is African and less than 1% is Native American. She missed being
predominantly white by three percentage points. Here is her breakdown: Benin/Togo 23%; Cameroon/ Congo – 11%; Ivory Coast/Ghana 10%; Southeastern Africa 3%; Senegal – 3%; Mali – 2%.
Now for the white side of Kay.
Great Britain - 22%; Ireland 20%; Europe West – 2%; Scandinavia – 1% while the Iberian
Peninsula and European Jewish are
less than 1% each. She has less
than 1% Native American, which
is the Western Hemisphere (the
Americas).
Kay isn’t the lightest one in her
family. Her baby brother has blue
eyes. She has one aunt with natural
blonde hair while another aunt has
red hair. They once went out with
their husbands back in the day and
were arrested for violating the Indiana Race Mixing law. The outrage was in the local papers and
started the demise of this law (early
1960’s).
The above is the result of the
greatest holocaust on earth –
African Slavery and the forced migration to the New World. Our
history is not joyous. The white
blood in us did not come from
love. It came from rape! The Iberian blood probably comes from
Portuguese and Spanish slave
ships. The females were often
raped during the voyage – the
slavers couldn’t wait until they arrived to the destinations. Ends
that mystery.
The majority of the Great
Britain and Ireland ethnicities
comes from slave ships and the enslavement for nearly 250 years in
the Southern United States. That
is a lot of raping. Some of the rape
started before the victims got on
the slave ship. We visited a slave
castle located on the coast of
Ghana. There was one room,
which had the title of “Rape
Room.” One must wonder – were
my relatives victims of this? I have
a set of actual slave bracelets,
which hang in our conference
room. These bracelets, according
to the seller, are from Mali. I have
16% of such blood in my body. I
wonder about the possibility that
one of my own ancestors wore
those bracelets and how ironic it
may be.
If you are wondering about the
Scandinavian, Finland and Russ-
ian portions of our bloodline, the
answer is simple. England was
once conquered by the Vikings.
Yes, the British had their turn at
being raped also. Our rapist carried the Scandinavian, Finland
and Russian ethnicity due to this
period of conquest. When the
Vikings took land to the east it became known as Russia as the
Vikings were from the land of
“Rus” which would later form Finland, Sweden and Norway.
I encourage all of you to do the
same. It is empowering to solve the
mystery of you. Why do you have
this kind of hair; your skin tone;
natural athleticism, etc.? I know
the next time I hear a Nigerian
joke I won’t be laughing. I will call
that the “Dozens.”
We (Blacks of the Western
Hemisphere who bear the slave
legacy) are the survivors and that
which does not kill us makes us
stronger. It is truly a miracle that
we made it through. A big reason
to be proud.
Mr. Alford is the President/CEO of
the National Black Chamber of
Commerce®. Website: www. nationalbcc.org Email: halford@nationalbcc.org .
Republicans Created ‘Frankentrump’ Monster
By George E. Curry
George Curry
Media Columnist
President Obama has seen this
horror movie before. His political opponents not only distorted his positions when he first
ran for president, but deliberately lied about his place of birth, asserting that because he - according to their fiction - was not a
U.S. citizen, he was not qualified
to be president.
Donald Trump, who actually
sent a private investigator to
Hawaii in an attempt to prove
that Obama was not born there,
is now the leading Republican
presidential contender. And now
that he is eliminating his competitors with the irresponsible language and Demolition Derbystyle tactics that he hurled at
Obama, party leaders are in a panic because it might cost them this
year’s election.
Meanwhile, Obama is wondering why anyone is surprised.
“How can you be shocked?” he
asked in a speech to the Democratic National Committee event in
Austin, Texas. “This is the guy, remember, who was sure that I was
born in Kenya - who just wouldn’t
let it go. And all this same Republican establishment, they weren’t
saying nothing. As long as it was
directed at me, they were fine with
it. They thought it was a hoot,
George E. Curry
wanted to get his endorsement. And
then now, suddenly, we’re shocked
that there’s gambling going on in
this establishment.”
He explained, “So they can’t be
surprised when somebody suddenly
looks and says, you know what, I
can do that even better. I can make
stuff up better than that. I can be
more outrageous than that. I can insult people even better than that. I
can be even more uncivil. I mean,
conservative outlets have been feeding their base constantly the notion
that everything is a disaster, that
everybody else is to blame, that
Obamacare is destroying the coun-
www.chicagocrusader.coM
try. And it doesn’t matter whether
it’s true or not. It’s not, we disagree
with this program, we think we can
do it better - it’s, oh, this is a crisis!
“So if you don’t care about the
facts, or the evidence, or civility, in
general in making your arguments,
you will end up with candidates
who will say just about anything
and do just about anything.”
Among those who didn’t “care
about the facts” at the time were
former Republican presidential
nominees John McCain, Mitt
Romney and Romney’s running
mate, House Speaker Paul Ryan.
David Remnick, editor of the
New Yorker, described Trump as
an “American Demagogue” and
said he is “the beneficiary of a long
process of Republican intellectual
decadence.”
He wrote, “Paul Ryan denounces Trump but not the Tea
Party rhetoric that propelled his
own political ascent. John McCain holds Trump in contempt,
but selected as his running mate
Sarah Palin, the Know-Nothing of
Wasilla, one of Trump’s most vivid
forerunners and supporters. Mitt
Romney last week righteously
slammed Trump as a ‘phony’ and a
misogynist, and yet in 2012 he
embraced Trump’s endorsement
and praised his ‘extraordinary’ understanding of economics.”
Trump outmaneuvered the Republican competition with outright racist appeals that would have
derailed any other candidate.
Blacks Must control their owcoMMunity
The Republican front-runner has
become a favorite of White supremacists, largely by insulting
women, “the blacks,” Muslims, the
physically disabled while delivering
one simple-minded message, according to Ted Koppel: “ ‘We’re
gonna be the best, we’re gonna be
the greatest, I’m gonna negotiate
the best deals you’ve ever seen.’”
Koppel explained, “There is no
substance in any of that, and nobody among his followers seems to
care about that.”
As Sam Stein and Dana Liebelson
reported in The Huffington Post,
“Racial slurs, nasty rhetoric and violence at Trump rallies have become commonplace against protesters, bystanders, and reporters.
Assaults are committed not only by
rowdy Trump fans, but by the staff
he employs to keep the events safe.
But rather than denounce these incidents, Trump is making them
part of his brand, and uses them to
rev up crowds.
“‘There may be somebody with
tomatoes in the audience,’ Trump
warned people at a rally in Iowa last
month. “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato,
knock the crap out of them, would
you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock
the hell - I promise you, I will pay
for the legal fees.”
“Trump has even threatened to
personally get in on the action. ‘I’d
like to punch him in the face, I’ll
tell ya,’ he said of a protester on
Feb. 22.”
Trump has become the Republican Party’s Frankenstein monster.
In the horror movie, Victor
Frankenstein creates a creature
from the body parts of the deceased. He discovers his experiment has gone awry and expects
the creature to die, but he doesn’t.
Once the creature is rejected by society, he extracts revenge by killing
everyone Frankenstein loves.
There is no doubt that the person
who has been referred to as
“Frankentrump” is killing the Republican Party.
Historian Nina Turner said on
CNN, “It is ironic to me that some
of the same Republicans right now,
some of them who are calling out
Mr. Trump, did not call him out
when he pushed the birther movement on our African American
President Barack Obama. They
were nowhere to be found, they
thought it was cute. Now that it’s
plaguing their house, it’s not so
cute anymore.”
George E. Curry, former editorin-chief of Emerge: Black America’s Newsmagazine, is editor-inchief of EmergeNewsOnline.com,
an African American-oriented
news website and monthly digital
magazine. A popular keynote
speaker, Curry can be reached
through his Web site, georgecurry.com You can also follow him
at www.twitter.com/currygeorge,
George E. Curry Fan Page on
Facebook, and Periscope.
5
COMMENTARY
DR. KAMBON AND AFRICAN CENTERED PSYCHOLOGY
Dr. Conrad Worrill, Director/Professor, Carruthers Center for
Inner City Studies (CCICS), located at 700 East Oakwood Blvd,
Chicago, Illinois, 60653, 773268-7500, Fax: 773-268-3835.
E-mail: c-worrill@neiu.edu, Website: www.neiu.edu/ccics, Twitter:
@CCICS_Chicago.
Dr. Conrad Worrill
As I have repeated in these columns on numerous occasions, the
African centered consciousness and
the African Centered Movement is
critical to the liberation of African
people worldwide. The rise of
African centered consciousness in
our movement, for the liberation of
African people in America, can be
partially attributed to the research,
teaching, and writing of the African
centered scholars over the last forty
years.
In this connection, Dr. Kobi Kambon’s book, The African Personality
in America: An African Centered
Framework, adds to this growing
body of African centered scholarship
that is providing African people,
throughout the world, with the intellectual weaponry needed to continue the fight against white supremacy and European domination.
Dr. Kambon is a retired professor
of psychology, and former Chairman of the Psychology Department,
at Florida A&M University. The
Department of Psychology he led is
known for developing the only
African centered training program
in an American college or university.
In developing this stream of
African centered scholarship, Dr.
Kambon acknowledges two of his
very special mentors, the late great
Dr. Bobby Wright and the late
great Dr. Jacob H. Carruthers. Dr.
Kambon explains that “I encountered these two brilliant and dedicated African/Master Warriors early
enough in my development that
they could exert a powerful nationalist influence on my thinking.”
This profound book has three fundamental themes that have been
conceptionalized by Dr. Kambon
in an African centered context.
The first theme he asserts is “that
there is indeed an African reality
system that is not only indigenous
to Africans in America, but that
most of us are almost totally unaware of it and how it determines
our very lives.”
Dr. Kambon’s second theme is related to the model presented in this
book that “asserts that the average
African in America operates/functions in a mentally disordered state,
on a daily basis, engendered by
white supremacy domination over
our African cultural reality here in
America.” The final theme he addresses is “that in order for we
Africans to escape and heal ourselves from this virtually unbelievable predicament of pervasive mental
disorder, we must rebuild our African
cultural infrastructure throughout the
diasporian African community.
Dr. Kambon “sounds the alarm to
awaken the African world from its
virtually stuporous state of Cultural
Misorientation, but also proposed
how we might, or rather must, begin the awakening and recovery
process.”
In other words, he explains we
must reverse this mentacidal process. The concept of “Menta- cide”
developed by Dr. Bobby Wright is
“the deliberate and systematic destruction of a person’s or group’s
mind.”
There is no question that at this
stage in history we are in battle to
reclaim the African mind, spirit,
and culture so that our rightful
place in the world can be restored.
I would suggest that all students
and teachers in the growing African
Centered Education Movement,
particularly those in the field of psychology, read this book immediately. It is the kind of book that should
be read in study groups that allow
for serious discussion and exchange
of the many concepts and ideas presented by Dr. Kambon.
Dr. Kambon states that the overall
thrust of his book is to attempt “to
address the argument that in order
to restore African Self-Consciousness as a viable force within the
African psyche, we have to revitalize
the deeply rooted African collective
consciousness / unconsciousness /
spirituality through reconstruct traditional African cultural infrastructure.”
Continuing on this point, he further explains that “Because African
self-consciousness was almost completely erased or wiped out by
the Maafa (African holocaust of
Eurasian enslavement-colonialism)
we, the contemporary African
world community; we must
CONDESCENDING OR CLUELESS? CLINTON AND SANDERS ON RACE
By Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist
Senator Bernie Sanders doesn’t get
race! He gets economics, he gets
Wall Street, he gets trade, and he
gets distribution. He just doesn’t get
race. Perhaps one of his lowest moments in this campaign happened
about a month ago (February 13) in
Minneapolis. A woman asked him
to directly address “Black people
and reparations.” He replied by
pulling some lines from his stump
speech, talking about wealth inequality, child poverty and investing
in poor countries. From the audience, someone hollered, “say Black,”
and Saunders, in a fit of pique, declared that he’d said “Black” fifty
times, “Alright,” he said, “that makes
it fifty-one.” How churlish!
His crass response to an honest
concern made it clear that Sanders
thinks that race matters are less important than economic issues. He’d
hit a home run if he ever decided to
acknowledge the ways the two are
intertwined. Our capitalist economic system was buttressed by the
use of people as property and it still
is. Profits in the prison industrial
complex are determined by the
number of people our paramilitary
police forces can incarcerate for
crimes major or petty. Some of the
companies that incarcerate use African American male population to
project their capacity and profits
years into the future. Race is a social
6
construction designed to maximize
the potential for capitalistic exploitation of a subset of the population.
Even as all working people are exploited (and Bernie gets that), African American workers and the unemployed are all the more exploited.
The reality of Black joblessness facilitates the exploitation of working
class whites that fear that African
Americans (or immigrants) will
“take” their jobs.
Senator Sanders gets joblessness,
homelessness and hopelessness, but
he is nearly clueless when it comes to
race. He belongs to the rising tide
school, the same one both President
Obama and Secretary Clinton belong to. If economic conditions improve, they think, then Black folks
will be better off, too. Better off, I say,
but still behind, and with a huge income and wealth gap. And if the
economic system changes, as democratic socialist Sanders would advocate, African Americans would be
better off. Would that deal with the
gap? You can’t deal with economics
without dealing with race if you
hope to address the concerns of
African American people. Senator
Sanders’ testy show of impatience
when a woman asked him to speak
to race in Minneapolis labeled him
as clueless.
While Sanders is clueless, Secretary
Hillary Rodham Clinton comes
off as smugly condescending. She
knows race matters, she knows Black
folks, and we are her friends. Begin-
Dr. Julianne Malveaux
ning with her association with Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman, and moving
through her more than three decades
in public life, she has been an advocate for children, for civil rights and
for women’s rights. But then there is
that prison thing. She regrets, she says,
her 1994 support of the Omnibus
Crime Bill that fast tracked so many
African Americans to long-term incarceration. She backs away from incendiary language when she described people as “predators.” But she
presents with a tone of entitlement.
She expects the Black vote, and she
counted on that vote to get her
through Michigan. It didn’t happen.
Secretary Clinton enjoys the support of most African Americans over
50; the young’uns aren’t bound by
tradition. They don’t owe Hillary,
and they want her to work for their
vote. Working and condescending
isn’t the same thing. Those who are
under 30 or 40 don’t want to hear
what you did “back in the day.”
They want to know what you are doing now. They don’t want pandering
or “Hispandering” (a great term
lobbed at Clinton by Univision anchor and debate moderator Maria
Elena Salinas). They want a candidate they can trust.
African Americans need to wake up
and smell the coffee, though. We
should not expect any candidate to
feel our pain or to “get” race.
Afropandering (after much resistance, you decide that maybe the
#Black Lives Matter activists have a
point) can be expected from both
“friends of long standing” (Hillary’s
term) and friends of scant acquaintance. Vermont Black folks don’t
have much to say about Senator
Sanders, positive or negative. That
ought to say something.
More than twenty years ago, author
Kenneth O’Reilly wrote Nixon’s Piano: Presidents and Racial Politics
from Washington to Clinton. Too
often, according to O’Reilly, presidents sacrificed civil rights for white
votes. Thus, President John F.
Kennedy, revered for his civil rights
stance (because of a telephone call to
Coretta Scott King when Dr. King
was incarcerated) may really have
been a “civil rights minimalist.” Presi-
dent Lyndon Johnson’s championship of civil rights was swallowed
by the huge cost of the Vietnam
War. The cover of the book shows
then-Vice President Spiro Agnew
sitting at a piano at the annual Gridiron Club event, cracking racial
jokes at Nixon’s behest. And President Clinton, the man Nobel Prize
winning author Toni Morrison described as “the first Black president”
was only “Black” because he played
to the stereotypes – playing the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show,
talking about his undies in public
(boxers or briefs – none of your business). While he had great “Black”
affinity, he threw Black folks under
the bus with welfare deform and the
crime bill.
Bottom line – neither Bernie
Sanders nor Hillary Clinton is going
to get it right on race, and we should
not expect it. Heck, President
Barack Obama didn’t get it right,
and he could have. Now we are
stuck between a know-it-all who is
condescending on race, and a myopic Vermonter who is clueless.
And then there are these gaggles of
Republicans who are positively and
pathetically out of touch. Which do
we prefer?
Julianne Malveaux is an author
and economist based in Washington, DC. Her latest book, Are We
Better Off? Race, Obama and
Public Policy can be purchased at
www.juliannemalveaux.com
BUSINESS
had quite a few ads on television too!!
I don’t recall seeing that many for
Duckworth! Some folks gave her
their sympathy vote, cause she be a
war casualty herself, but haven’t given
a whole lot of help to the veterans.
the veterans. Oh well, I guess she decided that she might need the Black
By Ima Gontellit
EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is
published as political satire, street gossip and humor, and therefore should
not be considered as fact but rather as
matter of opinion. None of the items
therein are collected by the news gathering staff of the Crusader Newspaper
Group. Items forwarded to The
Chatterbox are kept confidential unless
otherwise requested by the author in
writing. For submissions please forward to: news@ChicagoCrusader.com. Original photography and artwork are permitted. Thank you for
reading!
THE ELECTION IS OVAH!!
The primary election is ovah and
Ima is GLAD!!! There were some
surprises and some sadness, but
overall the VOTERS spoke loud
and clear!! Let Ima analyze the
whole situation:
GREAT TURNOUT!!
Chicago’s voters were energized
this year and they came out in big
numbers. They was MAD!! I hope
dey stay mad for a LONG,
LONG TIME!! It kinda reminds
me of way back when ED HANRAHAN was booted out of the
States Attorney’s office.
STATES ATTORNEY’S
OFFICE
Speaking of the States Attorney’s
office. KIM FOXX kicked BUTT!!
Anita Alvarez is probably still trying to get the voters’ feet out of her
behind!! Alvarez was so arrogant
CASUALTIES OF THE WAR
Ima was sorry that Jay Travis was
not able to put Christian Mitchell
on the same boat that Will Burns
is floating around on. It seems as
though Jay wasn’t a favorite of the
new boss Toni Preckwinkle, it
must have something to do with
Kim Foxx
and never repented for her sins of
withholding the Laquan video
and not putting police officers on
trial for their killing of our Black
people. So GOOD RIDDANCE!!!
UNITED STATES SENATOR
Ima was hoping that Andrea
Zopp would pull out the Senatorial seat, but it was not to be.
Now I know a lot of the votes
that Tammy Duckworth got was
the other people, and it showed us
all that she didn’t need the Black
vote to win and so not coming to
the southside or westside and any
other side where Black folks lived really wasn’t necessary. As a matter of
fact I didn’t even see a sign with her
name on it!! Her chief supporter
was Senator Dick Durbin, who by
the way don’t come around us much
either. I wonder how much time he
has left on his six year term? Mmmmmmmmm Andrea Zopp did the
best she could, but I guess all that
she invested in the Offender didn’t
pay off, especially when they did her
up on the front page and had her
running for the wrong office. She
money, it don’t matter if it is good
money or not!! But anywho it did
not work and he left owing some
money for various and sundry services ‘cause some friends spoke up
for him and so either he done run
out of money or he done put away
some for his early retirement!!
Whatever, him GONE!!! And another good riddance to him!!
Tammy Duckworth
vote in the General Election’ cause
low and behold there she was in her
wheelchair at the 95th Street L station Wednesday morning. In that
election she will come up against
someone also with a disability, Mark
Kirk, who has been suffering the last
few years from a debilitating stroke.
I want to invite her to come to the
Crusader cause dey don’t take no
prisoners. Neither one of them
could stand up under their spotlight!!
KEN DUNCAN DUNKED!!
It looked like a great gettogether
with Ken Duncan, Maze Jackson
and the Offender. It might have
included Bob Starks too!! Ima ain’t
too sure!! Ima thought maybe the
Puzzle Newspaper may have gotten some of that money that the
Republicans gave Ken to sell out
his community. Some folks like
Jay Travis
the tall girls club that includes 3rd
Ward Alderman Pat Dowell. Girls,
remember there is another day!!!
LET’S HEAR IT FOR
DOROTHY BROWN
God don’t like Ugly!!! And the
proof is in the pudding for
Michelle Harris, who didn’t succeed in changing her office from
City Hall to the Daley Center. She
let someone talk her into deep six-
Dorothy Brown
ing Dorothy Brown, but how was
she to know that all hell was going
to break lose for her sponsor Mayor Rahm Emanuel. That poor
chile couldn’t come out of city hall
to help anybody. Oh well Rahm if
you don’t take the protestors up on
their advice for you to resign, you
had better thought about your
move when your three years are up
as Mayor. Ima can hardly wait!!!
HILLARY IS ON A ROLL
I betcha Hillary done took notice
of the behind whipping most folks
are waiting to give Rahm, cause
you didn’t see her making no trip
to City Hall to kiss the ring of the
Little Emperor. Her race was a bit
tighter than most of us expected,
especially when “Pie in the Sky”
Sanders made it very clear that he
didn’t want Rahm’s endorsement.
A word to the wise Hillary, watch
your step ‘cause you gonna need all
of the rest you can get when it
comes time to whup Crazy
Trump. So if you can put Bernie
to the side in the next two months
you might have a month to gear
up for the nut case.
Alvarez’s defeat alone is reason to celebrate
on Tuesday, her ouster was widely
celebrated in Chicago. It was the
end of an era where the justice
system had scarred and disillusioned many Blacks. Overall, the
story on Tuesday became more
about her defeat than Foxx’s victory. The celebrations continue
throughout the city because Alvarez is finally gone. Her ouster
came at the hands of a smart, ambitious Black woman, who outfoxed Alvarez during this campaigned season.
A big change was needed to restore trust and help Chicago heal.
When Alvarez was ousted, voters
from all over expressed their pain
and celebrated because some degree of justice had been served
while hope grew for the future of
many in Chicago and cities across
the country. Alvarez’s ouster is also a warning to Emanuel, who in
KIM FOXX HELD many press conference to criticize Cook
County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's handling of the
Laquan McDonald case. File photo
the past, has taken the Black community for granted and ignored
their concerns. Now, the tables
have turned.
Foxx is not yet Chicago’s top
prosecutor. To get the job she
must defeat in the General Election on November 8 Republican
challenger Christopher E.K. Pfannkuche, a 31-year Cook County
Prosecutor. With support from
Cook County Board President
Toni Preckwinkle, Foxx is riding a
wave of momentum that includes
endorsements from nearly every
Black and mainstream media outlet. She is on her way to becoming
the first Black Cook County
State’s Attorney. But for many, all
that matters is that Alvarez is
gone.
Foxx’s victory was bigger than an
ordinary election win. When
Foxx appeared onstage at 9:37
p.m., a thunderous roar erupted.
A new era was unfolding with a
product of the Cabrini-Green
Projects being at the center of it
all. Alvarez’s defeat by a Black
woman with humble beginnings
made Foxx’s victory even sweeter.
At her victory party, former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was
there. So was Foxx’s husband and
daughter, who cried as she heard
the crowds shout Foxx’s name.
Foxx hugged her daughter and
spoke.
“The work here is just the beginning and our struggles here
are very real. The need to rebuild
a broken justice system should
not be taken likely. There’s a gulf
between law enforcement and
our community that must be
bridged.
“The work we have to do will
take an all hands on deck approach. And I’m humble to serve
you. It’s about truth and justice
to all.”
Hello Kim Foxx. Goodbye Anita Alvarez.
7
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
HOP INTO EASTER AT THE
SHOPS AT ROOSEVELT COLLECTION: Celebrate Easter at The
Shops at Roosevelt Collection on Saturday, March 19! From 10 a.m. to 2
p.m., kids and families can meet and
have a digital photo taken with the
Easter Bunny and gather several spring
goodies throughout The Shops at
Roosevelt Collection, too. Easter Egg
Hunt on The Rooftop- It’s not Easter
without a candy-filled basket! Kids can
hunt around The Rooftop at Roosevelt Collection to find as many candy-filled eggs as they can! Multiple Egg
Hunt start times will allow all children
to participate-including those with
special needs. Times: 10 a.m. - Hourlong Egg Hunt for Children with Special Needs; 11 a.m. - Egg Hunt for
Toddlers; and 11:30 a.m. - Egg Hunt
for Children Ages 5 & Up. Arts &
Crafts Tent-Children of all ages can
get their faces painted and then color
and decorate Easter-themed pictures
to bring home! Store-to-Store Candy
Hop - Children of all ages can hop
store-to-store to gather candy from
participating Shops at Roosevelt Collection and fill their Easter basket with
delicious goodies (while supplies last).
And throughout the day, parents can
enter to win a $100 gift card to The
Shops at Roosevelt Collection store of
their choice! Parking is available on the
Plaza and in the Roosevelt Collection
garage. Garage parking is free for the
first 90 minutes with purchase and
store validation and can be accessed
from the Plaza, Roosevelt Road and
Wells Street. For additional information, visit Shops.RooseveltCollection. com or call 847-926-4300.
CREATE YOUR OWN ACTIVIST TEE SHIRT AT THE
CPL: The Chicago Public Library is
Celebrating Diversity during Women’s
History Month in March. During the
month, the Library offers a wide range
of programs about past and present issues focusing on women and girls in
society. The public is invited to visit
the Library for a host of programs, including lectures, documentary film
screenings, teen events, workshops
and more. For teenagers!! Do you
have something to say? Have an issue
you want to draw attention to? In the
Create Your Own Activist Shirt class
you can make t-shirts about issues
you care about. Learn the principles
of effective design through hands on
practice. Look at art-historical and
current examples of protest art, propaganda and top-notch gig posters.
The class will be held on Saturday,
March 19 at 1 p.m. at the West Pullman Branch, 830 W. 119th Street.
Registration is required: please call
312-747-1425 with your t-shirt size
to register. For more information
about Women’s History Month activities, the Library’s 2016 Women’s
History Month Calendar of Events is
available at http://www.chipublib.org/WomensHistory.
8
CREATING A NEW PROMISE:
Join the Great Migration Centennial
Commission and the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission in the year long, citywide celebration of the Great Migration
Centennial (1916-2016). The largest
and single most important movement of people to ever occur in
North America, 7 million African
Americans left the rural south for the
urban north between 1916 and 1970
where they transformed the landscape and the culture. Chicago was
one of the beneficiaries of that rich
heritage as over 500,000 came to the
city seeking a new promise and
emerged by the mid-20th century as
a powerful force in the city’s political,
economic, and cultural life. On Saturday, March 26, Modern Black
Art is Explored. Everyone is welcome to participate. Visit the 2016
Great Migration Centennial Celebration Facebook page, send email to
greatmigrationcentennial@gmail.co
m, or call 773-536-9775 for more information.
SPRING BREAK CAMP AT
THE SHEDD: Spring break is almost here, and the Shedd Aquarium
is celebrating with extended hours
until 6 p.m. ONGOING NOW
through April 10! Make the most out
of your trip to Shedd with their express entry tips to get out of the line
and into the aquarium. Plus, enjoy
the season with overnights, camps for
the kids and more! A new year means
fun new activities at Shedd (plus
some old favorites too)! It’s time to explore! Get up close and personal with
Shedd’s animals; visit behind-thescenes work areas and travel to local
natural areas during Spring Break
Camp. Want to spend the night at
Shedd? Join Asleep with the Fishes
Overnight for an evening adventure
under the ocean. The weather isn’t the
only thing changing! Visit Shedd’s
Amphibians special exhibit to see the
changing life cycles of 40 species of
frogs, salamanders and more. The
Shedd Aquarium is located at 1200 S.
Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL
60605. For more information, call
312-939-2438.
UNITED FLIGHT 232: This
play, adapted and directed by Vanessa
Stalling from the book Flight 232 by
Laurence Gonzales, is a “A Haunting
True Story of Compassion and Grace.”
It is ONGOING through May 1 at
The Chopin Theatre, upstairs, 1543
W. Division Street, Chicago. United
Flight 232 was commissioned and developed by The House Theatre of
Chicago and the Chicago Performance Lab through the Theatre and
Performance Studies Program at the
University of Chicago. Performances
are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m.
and Sundays at 7 p.m. Tickets: $15
for Previews, $30 and $35 for Regular Run. United Flight 232 is recom-
FOR THEIR CONTINUOUS work in creating fair business opportunities and business development training and technical assistance, the African American Contractors Association
(AACA) was honored by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
(MWRD) Board of Commissioners. The MWRD Board of Commissioners presented a resolution to Omar Shareef, president and founder of the AACA, and saluted him on his organization’s
23rd Annual Membership Awards held on March 9 at the South Shore Cultural Center.
Pictured, left to right, Commissioner Frank Avila, African American Contractors Association
President Omar Shareef and MWRD Vice President Barbara McGowan.
mended for adults and teens. “I love claimed book, Flight 232: A Story of Dis- looking for Choreographers in all genyou, hurry home. I love you.” On July aster and Survival, this brand new play, res of dance to work with the Mayfair
19, 1989, a DC-10 headed for United Flight 232, is a reflection on how Performing Company. They are also
O’Hare with 296 aboard is paralyzed to comprehend tragedy and celebrate looking for Choreographers who
mid-air. For 44 minutes, the aircraft human ingenuity in the face of over- have their own dance following and
descended towards an emergency whelming challenges. To learn more may wish to rent studio space. If you
landing and crashed at Sioux City about Laurence Gonzales’ book, visit are interested please send your reGateway airport. To the astonishment his website at laurencegonzales.com/- sume and highlights of your work to
Mayfair Academy, 8701 S. Bennett,
of all who witnessed the event, 184 of 232.html
Chicago, IL, 60617. For more infor296 passengers and crew survived.
MAYFAIR ACADEMY IS LOOK- mation, send email to MayfairDrawing on the interviews and research conducted by Evanston author ING FOR CHOREOGRAPHERS: dance@att.net, or call 773-768Laurence Gonzales for his critically ac- Mayfair Academy is CURRENTLY 8701. Ask for Peggy Sutton.
INSURANCE CENTER
– March 19, 2016 –
CRUSADER NEWSPAPER GROUP GREAT MIGRATION CENTENNIAL EDITION
9
was a
T
By Erick Johnson
here were over six hundred Black families
applying for 53 apartment units in Chicago in
1917. In two years, more than 100 storefront
churches would dot the South Side. By 1930 the
number would climb to 338. During that time
Chicago’s Black population would explode as
thousands arrived by train almost on a daily basis. In Chicago and other growing metropolises,
a Black middle class was established and the
largest migration of Blacks in American history
swept the nation.
FBI, bans could not stop effort to create
helped transform major cities in the Midwest,
Northeast, and West. It’s also a period that gave
birth to Bronzeville as a Black Metropolis, where
thriving businesses, prominent writers and
artists flourished during the Harlem Renaissance.
The force behind this movement was the
Black Press. And behind the Black Press was the
FBI and city officials who aimed to keep Blacks
in their place.
Most Blacks who migrated from the South
were poor Black men who temporarily left behind families while risking their lives for a future
some 6 million Blacks, who for the longest time,
yearned for prosperity and freedom.
They came from the South, a region whose
economy was still struggling from the devastation caused by the Civil War and slavery. For
thousands of Black families, job opportunities
were few. The American dream remained distant and many could not read or write because
of the lack of schools in segregated neighborhoods.
When several Black newspapers landed in the
hands of many Black southerners, eyes widened
and hopes grew. Headlines and stories that detailed the lives newly planted Black migrants
triggered seismic migration and established the
Black Press as a significant institution, one that
would come under heavy scrutiny as it fiercely
advocated the civil rights of Blacks across the
country.
The Black Press was around long before the
BLACK MEN WERE the first Harry
to migC. Alfo
before their families joined them
North and West.
Harry
C. Alford
TWO BLACK WORKERS fold
hides
at Chicago Union's Stockyards.
Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum.
Today, many Blacks in the Midwest and
Northeast have parents and grandparents who
migrated from the South. Because of direct train
routes, Blacks in Chicago are more likely to have
parents or relatives from Mississippi. The correlation exists also for other northern states that
were accessible by direct routes that served their
southern states.
Many left the South during the Great Migration, two periods in American history where the
Black population dramatically shifted north and
that was uncertain. Their wives and children
would stay behind until the men could secure
better paying jobs that would support their families.
With little money and the long journey, many
did survive the trip. Others were not allowed to
board the vehicles by racist train managers.
Blacks who did make the trip experienced a side
of America that was once off limits to them.
Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and
other major cities captured the imagination of
MINISTERS Harry
FROMC.SMALL
Alford storefront
churches like this one (circa 1950) brought spiritual fervor to Blacks working in the stockyards during the Great
Migration. Courtesy of the Chicago
History Museum.
10
MARCH 19, 2016
CRUSADER NEWSPAPER GROUP GREAT MI
triumph of the Black Press
e largest migration in American History
and secure better paying jobs
Harrygrate
C. Alford
in Chicago and other cities in the
Great Migration, beginning with Freedom’s
Journal in 1827. However, historians argue that
the Great Migration was a major chapter in history that helped define the Black Press.
In Chicago, many Black men secured jobs as
Pullman Porters, which historians say established the city’s Black middle class. Before the
mass migration 67 Blacks worked in Chicago’s
Union Stockyards, where they slaughtered and
processed meat and cattle. After the first migration, the number hovered around 3,000. Most
Black Pullman Porters and Stockyard workers
were earning higher wages than the jobs they left
in the South. On the South Side, the editor of
the now defunct Chicago Bee, James Gentry,
first coined the named “Bronzeville” because of
the newly arrived Blacks from the South. The
Chicago Crusader, which originated in the Ida
B. Wells housing projects in 1940, published
stories that advocated more job opportunities
and housing as more Black migrants arrived.
Other Black newspapers such as the Chicago
Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, Philadelphia
Tribune and New York Amsterdam News
printed inspiring stories that sparked a migration explosion that began in 1916. Because of
the Great Depression, the movement would
cool before thousands more would move North
between the 1950s and 1970s. One hundred
years later, historians and residents today are
marking the milestone with celebrations and
seminars to educate a young generation whose
parents and grandparents likely migrated from
the South.
On Wednesday, March 9, the Black Metropolis National Heritage Area Commission planning committee kicked off a year-long celebration to mark the 100th Anniversary of The
Great Migration.
As part of an exhibit at the DuSable Museum
of African American History, visitors can revisit
the Great Migration with a video showing the
journey of thousands of Blacks from the South.
It will also be a centennial celebration that will
renew hope for the Black Press, an institution
that has struggled for relevance in recent years in
an industry that’s losing advertising dollars to
news websites.
White newspapers during the Great Migration
did not print stories about Blacks or their
progress. The newspaper that has been widely
DURING THE GREAT Migration,
Pullman Porters earned better
HarryBlack
C. Alford
wages and helped create a solid Black Middle Class. Photo Courtesy of
the Chicago History Museum.
credited for sparking the Great Migration is the
Chicago Defender, a newspaper that was started with just 25 cents by Robert Sengstacke
Abbott in 1905. Because of racism, Abbott, a
native of Savannah, Georgia, was unable to
establish a law practice in Chicago and Gary,
Ind. After he founded the paper in the kitchen
of his landlord’s apartment, Abbott wrote
scathing editorials against racism and ran stories
that highlighted the success of Black migrants in
Chicago. He urged readers to leave the South
and posted job listings, train schedules, and photos of the best schools, parks and housing in the
city, in comparison to the deplorable conditions
in the South.
Because of its coverage, the Defender gained a
heavy readership. According to various news reports, the paper was read aloud during church
services, in barbershops, homes and on the
streets. With stories on Black culture, weddings
and lifestyles, the Defender became a must
Harry
C. Alford averaged 500,000 readers
THE PITTSBURGH COURIER'S
circulation
weekly during the Great Migration.
EAT MIGRATION CENTENNIAL EDITION
MARCH 19, 2016
11
The Great Migration was a triumph of the Black Press
FBI, bans could not stop effort to create largest migration in American History
read for Blacks. The paper’s readership went from 10,000 in 1916
to 230,000 per week. During that
time, as many as four readers reportedly shared a copy of the Defender.
Some white newsstands refused to
carry the paper. In Mississippi, one
county banned the Defender, declaring it “German propaganda.” In
Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1920, the
city sued to get an injunction to
prohibit the circulation of the Defender. Eighteen Black leaders including two ministers were named
defendants in the lawsuit. In addition, the FBI began spying on the
Defender six months before World
War I, according to the Black Press
Research Collective, a group of
scholars who posted the report in
March 2013. The report said the
government kept a “vigilant watch”
over the Defender and several Black
newspapers, which were feared of
having ties to the Communist Party.
The Atlanta Independent, a defunct newspaper that ran from
1903 to 1928, was also prohibited
from being circulated.
Despite the challenges, the De-
12
THE CHICAGO BEE first coined the
neighborhood
"Bronzeville" in reference to
Harry
C. Alford
the skin color of the newly arrived Blacks during the Great Migration.
fender still flourished. A shrewd
businessman, Abbott by 1920, employed 563 newsboys to sell his
paper on the street. In Southern
states, Black Pullman Porters from
Chicago smuggled the paper on the
trains and dropped them off to a
pickup person. Many did so while
risking their jobs and lives. They
were also carried in churches, barbershops and Black businesses. In
the early twentieth century, the De-
fender was the best selling Black
newspaper in the country.
Another banned Black newspaper,
the Pittsburgh Courier (now the
New Pittsburgh Courier), used
the Black Pullman Porters to carry
out its “Stop and Drop” campaign,
where a bundle of papers were
dropped before they were sold.
The Courier’s readership also skyrocketed. With papers in fourteen
major cities, the Courier’s weekly
circulation peaked at 500,000, according to news reports.
Today, the Black Press is faced
with new challenges and opportunities. With race relations back in
the nation’s spotlight, the Black
Press is poised to bounce back after
years of declining readership. There
is also fading job opportunities in
the North that is fueling what many
are calling a reversed migration.
Many Blacks whose parents and
grandparents moved to the North
are heading back south. According
to the U.S. Census, between 2000
and 2010, an estimated 1,336,097
Blacks moved to Southern cities
alone, according to the Brookings
Institute, which based the study on
recent U.S. Census data.
In 2011, Atlanta overtook Chicago as the city with the second largest
Black population. Chicago is number three while New York maintains
the top spot.
CRUSADER NEWSPAPER GROUP GREAT MIGRATION CENTENNIAL EDITION
March 19, 2016
ENTERTAINMENT
By Elaine Hegwood Bowen
By Raymond Ward
MILES AHEAD: In celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the
birthday of jazz great, Miles Davis, Columbia/Legacy Records will
commemorate this globally renowned music innovator with the release of a very special album project.
MILES AHEAD: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be
available on April 1. A cinematic exploration of the life and music of
Miles Davis, MILES AHEAD explores the breath and depth of Miles
Davis’ musical innovations, combining 11 highlights from the legendary trumpeter/composer/bandleader’s Prestige and Columbia
Records catalogs with original new compositions written and performed by Grammy Award-winning jazz/hip-hop artist Robert
Glasper. Select new tracks on the soundtrack album include guest
appearances by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, rapper Pharoahe
Monch and more. Both the CD and LP packages for MILES
AHEAD: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack feature revelatory
Don Cheadle
new liner notes penned by Don Cheadle. “We culled the library for
every style Miles touches...looking for cues to bridge key moments,
bring others into focus. The stuff a good score is supposed to do.
Miles made it easier. His
music is multi-faceted and
score friendly,” wrote Cheadle in his notes.
For new and future fans,
MILES AHEAD: Original
Motion Picture Soundtrack
provides an ideal introduction to the music of Miles
Davis. For seasoned aficionados of the influential
20th century musical pioneer, the album and film
provide fresh perspectives
and new insights into
Miles’ transformative musical and cultural genius.
MILES AHEAD: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack features 11 essential
tracks spanning 1956 to
Herbie Hancock
1981, select dialogue from
the film starring Don Cheadle, and five original compositions written, co-written, produced or performed exclusively for MILES
AHEAD by Robert Glasper. These include “What’s Wrong with
That” with guest performers Glasper, Herbie Hancock, Wayne
Shorter, Gary Clark, Jr., Esperanza Spalding and Antonio
Sanchez, and “Gone 2015” featuring guest verses from rapper
Pharoahe Monch.
Local theater brings Mary Poppins
and the great Kahil El’Zabar
Mary Poppins at NightBlue
Performing Arts Company
NightBlue Performing Arts
Company is pleased to present
the Chicago Non-Equity premiere of Disney and Cameron
Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, a
musical based on the stories of
P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney
Film, with original music and
lyrics by the Academy Awardwinning team of Richard M.
Sherman and Robert B. Sherman,
book by Julian Fellowes, new
songs and additional music and
lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and co-created by
Cameron Mackintosh. Mary Poppins will run through March 27
at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont
Ave.
This intimate new production
of Mary Poppins is directed by
NightBlue’s Jeff-nominated Artistic Director David E. Walters
(Spamalot), joined by critically
acclaimed music director Austin
Cook (Million Dollar Quarter,
Sondheim on Sondheim) and by
five-time Jeff Award-winning
choreographer Kevin Bellie.
Tickets are available at online or
by calling (773) 327-5252. For additional information, visit www.nightbluetheater.com.
Mary Poppins is the story of the
Banks family who live in a big
house in London on Cherry
Lane. Things are not going well
for the family. The children, Jane
and Michael, are out of control
and are in need of a new nanny.
They have their own ideas about
what sort of caretaker they should
have, while their parents – in particular Mr. Banks – are insistent
on someone strict for the job.
When a mysterious young woman
named Mary Poppins appears at
their doorstep, the family finds
that she’s the answer to their
Jeffrey Mumford
prayers, but in the most peculiar
way. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and
Michael aren’t the only ones she
has a profound effect upon. Even
grown-ups can learn a lesson or
two from the nanny who advises
that “anything can happen if you
let it!”
Director David E. Walters says:
“Many folks think of the magic
and magnificence of Mary Poppins on the big stage. At NightBlue, we are excited to tell you an
intimate story of a family that
discovers what is most important
in life with the aid of a determined nanny. Oh, and don’t worry, we’ll sprinkle plenty of fairydust over this tale. Appropriate
for any age, our Mary Poppins
will help families want to make
time for dinner together!”
Mai Dang Lao at Sideshow
Theater
Sideshow Theater’s Mai Dang
Lao is the world premiere of
David Jacobi’s chilling new drama, which is directed by artistic
associate Marti Lyons. It plays
through April 10 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen The-
ater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave.
Tickets are currently available
online, by calling (773) 8713000 or in person at the Victory
Gardens Box Office.
Mai Dang Lao features Sideshow company members Matt
Fletcher and Andrew Goetten,
with LaNisa Renee Frederick,
Tyler Meredith, Jim Poole and
Sarah Price.
There’s a correct order to
everything when you work in
the fast food industry. That’s
why Sophie’s such a problem for
her bosses: her attitude and
aloofness threaten the food
chain. But when a phone call
from the local police warns of a
crime committed in the restaurant, Sophie’s coworkers are given permission to restore proper
balance and set things in their
place. A mordant and terrifying
world premiere based on true
events, Mai Dang Lao examines
the ways we all get trapped, and
what we’re capable of doing
when someone lets us.
Fulcrum Point celebrates African-American artists with Proclamation! The Black Composer Speaks at Promontory, in
one performance only, Friday,
April 29.
Featuring world premieres
from Kahil El’Zabar and Jeffrey
Mumford, a minimalist take on
Funk, abstract expressionism,
and improvisation. Tickets are
currently on sale.
13
BUSINESS
Is Congress representing the people or payday lenders?
By Charlene Crowell
Sometimes you just have to
wonder what Members of Congress are thinking about.
Consider the example of a bill
known as H.R. 4018. First filed
last November with only five cosponsors. By mid-December the
co-sponsor list grew to 24 representing districts in seven states.
Most notably, 10 Florida Representatives signed on as co-sponsors-sponsors that are both Democratic and Republican, Black,
Latino and Anglo.
And who would object to a bill
with the title, the “Consumer
Protection and Choice Act”?
What’s not to like?
A lot.
The bill is designed to severely
limit the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) ability to rein in predatory lending
like car-title, payday and highcost installment loans. For consumers, the only ‘choice’ is to allow unsuspecting borrowers to
select loans from any number of
debt trap products.
If passed, the bill would both
sanction triple-digit interest rates
and the excessive rollover loans
Payday, car-title or high-cost installment loans affect millions of
consumers each year. People who
needed only a few hundred dollars
become trapped in costly and
lengthy predatory loans that worsen – not improve financial dilemmas.
Whether by regulation or legislation, it is time to break this cycle
of debt that harms all borrowers
and disproportionately affects
communities of color.
A broad coalition of concern
comprised of more than 250 state
and local advocate and national organizations including the NAACP,
made an unprecedented appeal to
Members of Congress.
“This harmful bill would limit the
CFPB’s ability to protect all consumers against high-cost payday,
car title, and installment loans,”
wrote the coalition.”
When it comes to predatory
lending, maybe it’s time to remind some members of whom
they represent.
that convert short-term loans into
long-term debt traps. It would also undermine stronger state laws
that brought consumer victories
to a diverse set of states including
Arizona, Ohio, North Carolina,
Virginia and others. Since the late
2015 Capitol Hill introduction,
advocates in multiple states already find themselves fighting ef-
forts to weaken enacted state protections.
It is clear the payday industry is
pushing hard to undermine key
consumer protections. Americans
for Financial Reform, a nonprofit
consumer advocacy organization
determined that since 2013, payday lenders have spent $13 million on campaign donations and
lobbying.
The good news is that consumer advocates in many states
are helping to fuel a barrage of
media coverage. In California,
Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania and other locales, news articles, commentary and editorials
are singing of chorus of ills
against H.R. 4018.
This elevated attention has led
to calls for Florida’s Rep. Debbie
Wasserman Schultz to resign her
post as chair of the Democratic
National Committee. Rep. Alcee
Hastings, co-chair of the Florida
delegation, an original bill sponsor and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, used a guest
blog in the Huffington Post to
defend the measure both he and
Ms. Wasserman Schultz support.
“I acknowledge that some people have been harmed by small
northern Illinois, 30 construction
companies and six social service
agencies.
CONSTRUCT is intended to
address the construction industry’s overall need to increase the
pool of qualified minority candidates for construction jobs in Illinois. Through the program, participants receive career guidance,
life skills training, and practical education about the construction industry, as well as increased knowledge of requirements for entering
construction-related fields successfully. Students also have access to
special sessions to hear from and
meet company representatives.
There is the opportunity to job
shadow, and to attend career awareness fair to learn about a range of
potential job opportunities in the
industry.
“As our industry continues to
evolve, partnerships like CONSTRUCT will make a real difference in developing a pipeline of talent and cultivating the next generation of our energy workforce,”
said Melvin D. Williams, president
of Nicor Gas. “We look forward to
our continued participation in
CONSTRUCT, and working with
our partners to help fuel the workforce of the future.”
“CONSTRUCT produces skilled, diverse graduates ready to enter
the workforce. Peoples Gas is excited to join our peer utilities and partners to expand the program and create new opportunities in the
PICTURED IS MELVIN WILLIAMS, president, Nicor Gas; Elba Aranda Suh, executive director, National Latino Education Institute; Loretta Rosenmayer, Founder and CEO, Intren; Anne
Pramaggiore, president and CEO, ComEd; Charles Matthews, president, Peoples Gas.
them have been offered employ- communities we serve,” said Charles pany, NPL Construction, Osmose
ment. The success and continued MattUtilities Services, PMI Energy Solugrowth of this program is due in hews, president of Peoples Gas.
tions, LLC, Primera Engineers,
great measure to the construction
Participating companies include Trice Construction Company, The
industry companies that are look- are Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas, Al- Will Group, The BarTech Group,
ing for good people to join their dridge Electric, Inc., Asplundh, David Mason & Associates, d’Escogrowing industry.
Burling Builders, Inc., Cathodic to, Inc., HBK Engineering, Kairos
Partnering with Intren and the Protection Management, Inc., F.J. Consulting, Millhouse Engineering
labor unions, ComEd launched Paschen, S.N.Nielsen, Groundhog & Construction, The Roderick
the CONSTRUCT in 2013. It Utility Construction, Inc., Henkels Group, USIC, V3 Companies, as
began with 10 companies and & McCoy, Inc., Intren, Lindblad well as labor organizations - IBEW
three social service agencies and Construction Company of Joliet, Locals 9, 15, 19, 134, 196 - provide
now it has grown to include the Meade, MJ Electric, MZI Group, the support.
three major utility companies in Nash Brothers Construction Com-
Charlene Crowell
lenders,” wrote Rep. Hastings.
“Yet such cases are far more common in areas that lack the tough
standards present in Florida.”
It is simply inaccurate to characterize Florida’s laws governing
payday loans as ‘tough’. According
to the Center for Responsible
Lending, the costs of payday loans
in Florida reach upwards of 300 percent. Sunshine State data show that
on average, Florida payday loan borrowers are stuck in eight loans a year,
generally one right after another.
These consumers are caught in a
debt trap that largely resembles other states with weak or ineffective
laws.
“If the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), moves forward with implementing the current rules they have proposed, it
would put 70 percent of the industry out of business,” continued Rep.
Hastings.
That too is untrue. Once CFPB’s
rule is finalized, consumers will still
have access to small dollar loans –
but in a changed marketplace. The
worst lenders will face their own
choice: change their practices or exit
the market. CFPB should be applauded for giving lenders a chance
to change.
Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for
Responsible Lending. She can be
reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.
ComEd’s CONSTRUCT to increase job opportunities for Minority Candidates
Nearly Eighty Percent of
CONSTRUCT grads offered
employment and now even
more companies sign on to
expand job opportunities
Economic power engines –
ComEd, Nicor Gas, Peoples Gas
have joined forces with 30 construction industry companies and
six social service agencies to help
increase job opportunities for minorities in local neighborhoods
throughout Illinois. The CONSTRUCT partners recently held a
special ceremony to announce the
2016 class of 64 participants who
will go through the 11-week jobtraining program that provides information and guidance needed
to compete for entry-level jobs in
construction-related fields.
“ComEd is committed to driving economic development in
Illinois by creating jobs and offering training opportunities in our
communities,” said Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of
ComEd. “Construct is designed
to help ComEd develop its workforce of the future by drawing
from the diverse talent in the
neighborhoods we serve. This
first-of-its-kind program brings
utilities, labor, and community
organizations together in an effort
to expand and diversify the construction trades.”
To date, 150 students have participated in the CONSTRUCT
program and nearly 80 percent of
14
SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING
A Moment to Super Size Your Thinking
year the organization raises thousands of dollars to distribute to
college students across the country. During the service, Rev.
Evans gave words of wisdom to
the recipients by reminding them
to trust in the Lord. He jokingly
said, “You can’t trust in your legs,
because they might give out on
you. This morning I started to
brush my teeth and they all fell
out on the right side of my
mouth.” In other words, do not
ever put your confidence in this
body or in people during this life.
If so, failures will come and disappointments are inevitable.
Seasons change, the economy
change and people change. The
only thing constant is change.
One of my favorite songs “Everything Must Change” reminds us
that nothing stays the same. Too
often, we trust in things that are
transitional. Therefore we must
remind ourselves that change will
come and it will come in many
different forms, shapes and sizes.
Who would have thought that
By Effie Rolfe
The Most Dependable hand is
at the end of your own wrist—
and sometimes it will let you
down. Too often we put our trust
in people, jobs, careers, as well as
various other things. However, in
this life you will eventually find
that the most dependable hand
in at the end of your own wrist
and sometimes, it will let you
down. You cannot depend on
anyone but yourself and primarily God. The scripture clearly reminds us to “Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there
is no help for you there.” (Psalm
146:3)
God is your source. He is your
heavenly WiFi—the source from
which all of your blessings flow.
When you lack connection to
His power source—you are limited.
I recall attending service at the
historic Fellowship Baptist
Church for the Rev. Dr. Clay
Evans Scholarship Fund. Each
Effie Rolfe
change would bring us to where
we are right now? Change can
build and change can destroy
what has been built.
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3:1
NIV)
I hope that the message Rev.
Clay Evans shared echoes change.
Nothing or no one in this life can
give you a 100 percent guarantee.
Remember you can’t even trust
your own hand. I can recall countless times when I changed my
mind within a split second of being certain that I was going to do
the very opposite of what I declared moments earlier. The bottom line—if you change, others
are bound to do the same…it’s
called life.
“Trust in the Lord with all of
your heart and lean not to your
own understanding.” (Proverbs
3:5) Jesus never fails. I’m reminded of a hymn that Rev. Evans’ sister, Dr. Lou Della Evans Reid and
the Traditional Choir sang. “My
Hope is built on nothing less than
Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare
not trust the sweetest frame, but
wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On
Christ the solid rock I stand, all other
ground is sinking sand; all other
ground is sinking sand.” When you
trust in your own strength, failure is
sure to come quickly and often. God
knows what’s best regarding everything concerning your life. Your future is God’s history. He knows
what is best. As you trust Him
with your life, you will find that
there is no life without Christ.
It’s your choice—who do you
trust…?
© Effie Rolfe is an Author of “Supersize Your Thinking,” Media Personality and Motivational Speaker.
You can contact her on twitter.com/effiedrolfe Listen to her show daily
on urbanpraiseradio.org (2015
Stellar Award Winner for Best Internet Radio Station)
The Crusader Gospel Corner
Frank and Pam (Morris) Walton
invite singles and married couples
to Black Marriage Weekend,
which is an annual celebration
and is a national initiative to solidify the importance of marriage
in the Black community. The
Black Marriage Chicago Weekend Celebration, Friday, April
1st, 2nd & 3rd, begins with Date
Night on Friday, April 1st with
Guest Speaker, Dr. Gloria Jackson Bacon, including Jazz &
Seafood at the Lake Shore Café,
4900 South Lake Shore Drive.
Saturday, April 2nd will be a Day
For Us, along with workshops,
seminars, and luncheon including panelists and fun, games, entertainment and comedians. The
2016 Black Marriage Weekend
ends on Sunday, April 3rd at The
Dr. Gloria Jackson Bacon
Historic Quinn Chapel A.M.E.
Church, 24th & Wabash with
marriage renewal ceremony and
the Black Marriage Pledge.
The Black Marriage celebration
occurs yearly across the country
and marriage activists are involved to highlight the benefits of
marriage, pay tribute to successful
marriages, and to promote marriage in the Black Community.
The leadership of Wedded Bliss
Foundation created the Black
Marriage Day national initiative
to stimulate cultural change in
the Black community to reconsider the benefits of marriage.
Critics ask, “Why a special day
for Blacks? Why not just celebrate
all marriages during National
Marriage Week?” The answer is
simple the Black community has
the lowest marriage rates and the
highest divorce rates. According
to United States Census stats 72.5
percent of African American children are born to unwed mothers.
Black Marriage Day is a specific
effort needed to help celebrate
marriage, reduce out of wedlock
childbirths and divorces.
We are very proud of married
couples in our community who
represent the religious & business
community. There will be special
salutes and recognitions during
the Black Marriage Weekend.
Studies reveal that children perform better in two parent homes;
marriage increases income, improves health and reflects positively on society. In communities
where marriages are successful
there is higher property value,
schools are better and crime is
lower. The opposite is true of
community’s void of married
couples.
Archbishop to celebrate Holy Week and Easter
We support marriages and hope
you will join us in this unique opportunity to celebrate Black Marriages in the Chicago area and
vicinity. For more information
contact (773) 819-0266; email:
blackmarriagechicago@gmail.com
or visit www.blackmarriagechicago.com.
***
You’re invited to Lively Stone
Apostolic Church of God, 622
W. 120th Street in Chicago for
the 10th Annual Family and
Friends Day. There will be powerful preaching, anointed singing
and great fellowship among family and friends in service lifting up
Jesus. Join District Elder George
Shaw and Lady Mary Rolfe-Shaw
along with special guest speaker
Elder Nathaniel George of the
Apostolic Church of God at 12
noon and District Elder David S.
Blair, Sr. of Victorious Living
Church in South Holland at 4
p.m. on Sunday, March 20. Dinner will be served at 2 p.m. and all
are invited to attend.
Archbishop Blase J. Cupich will
observe Holy Week and the Paschal
Triduum with liturgical celebrations
at Holy Name Cathedral and
around the Archdiocese. He will
celebrate Easter Sunday Mass, commemorating the Resurrection of the
Lord, on March 27, at 11 a.m., at
St. Ailbe Parish, 9015 South Harper
Avenue in Chicago.
Holy Week is the last week of
Lent, immediately preceding Easter
Sunday. Observed by Catholics as a
time to commemorate the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, various special liturgies are
celebrated during the Paschal Triduum, the three days before Easter.
Archbishop Cupich will begin
Holy Week as the main celebrant of
Palm Sunday Mass with parishioners of Holy Name Cathedral,
State and Superior Streets in Chicago, on Sunday, March 20, at 11
a.m.
On Tuesday, March 22, Archbishop Cupich will be the main celebrant and homilist at the annual
Chrism Mass beginning at 2 p.m.,
at Holy Name Cathedral, State and
Superior Streets in Chicago. During
this Mass, the oil of catechumens,
the oil of the sick and the oil of
chrism for use in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago will
be blessed. These oils will be accepted by representatives of each parish
in the Archdiocese and used for
adult catechumens and infants, for
Archbishop Blase J. Cupich
Anointing of the Sick, for Baptism,
for Confirmation, for the Ordination of priests and for the consecration of altars.
On the evening of Holy Thursday,
March 24, the Catholic Church celebrates the Mass of The Lord’s Supper, which includes the ritual washing of feet that recalls Jesus washing
the feet of his apostles, followed by
Eucharistic processions with evening adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that continues throughout the
night. Archbishop Cupich will be
the main celebrant at this Mass, at
Holy Name Cathedral, State and
Superior Streets in Chicago, beginning at 5:15 p.m.
Good Friday, March 25, marks the
day Catholics remember Christ’s suffering and death with special Sta(Continued on page 17)
15
NEWS
Chicago native nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court
President Barack Obama nominated a prominent, high- achieving
Chicago native to the Supreme
Court on Wednesday, March 16. The
nomination set up a showdown with
Republicans who have vowed to prevent the commander in chief from
exercising his duty with just eight
months left in the White House.
In a Rose Garden ceremony at the
White House, President Obama announced his intent to nominate
Merrick Garland to the Supreme
Court of the United States. Legal
scholars say Garland, the Chief
Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the D.C. Circuit Court, has
more federal judicial experience than
any other Supreme Court nominee
Merrick Garland
in history. Born in Chicago, Garland
graduated as valedictorian at Niles
West High School in Skokie.
Obama praised his nominee as a
man of high principles and character.
“To find someone with such a long
career of public service, marked by
complex and sensitive issues; to find
someone who just about everyone
not only respects, but genuinely likethat is rare. And it speaks to who
Merrick Garland is – not just as a
lawyer, but as a man.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Garland would replace Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last
month while on a trip in Texas.
Legal scholars also said Obama’s
nominee would be difficult for Republicans to reject because of qualifications and moderate views on issues.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted his reaction to
Garland’s nomination.
“Merrick Garland is an outstanding choice for SCOTUS. A protector of civil rights and individual liberties. He MUST get a vote.#Doyourjob!”
The Black Women’s Roundtable/National Coalition issued a statement that says, “We support President Obama’s nomination. We
strongly urged the U.S. Senate to
live up to its constitutional responsibility and grant Judge Garland a fair
committee hearing and an up or
down vote in the full Senate.
Jesse L. Jackson Sr., founder of the
Rainbow PUSH Coalition, said in a
statement, “We hope and fully expect Republicans in the United
States Senate will rise above obstructionist politics, do their duty, obey
the U.S. Constitution they swore to
uphold and give President Barack
Obama’s sterling Supreme Court
nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, a
fair hearing and then an up or down
vote.”
Congresswoman Robin Kelly said
in a statement, “ President Obama’s
choice of Chicago native Judge
Merrick Garland as his nominee to
the U.S. Supreme Court gives Congress the opportunity to fill this crucial vacancy with a jurist of unparalleled experience and legal acumen.
Garland has proven himself to be
one of the best appellate judges in
the country and his track record as a
consensus builder has earned him
bipartisan praise throughout his career.”
Garland was confirmed to the
D.C. Circuit Court 76-23, with
FROM CHICAGO TO the Supreme Court, Merrick's nomination sets up a shown between
President Barack Obama and Republicans, who aim to block the appointment of Merrick
Garland to the nation's highest court
majority support from both Repub- who ran a small business out of the ed cases involving public corruplicans and Democrats. He has family home. His grandparents im- tion, drug trafficking and fraud.
served for 19 years on that court – migrated to the United States to esHe later was selected as the
often considered the most impor- cape persecution and find a better Deputy Assistant Attorney General
tant appellate court in the nation. life. He won scholarships to attend for the Criminal Division at the DeFor over 3 years, he has been the Harvard University – where he partment of Justice, and then as
Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit, graduated summa cum laude – and Principal Associate Deputy Attorcontinuing to distinguish himself as Harvard Law School, paying his ney General. In these roles, he overone of the most impressive judges in way by taking a summer job as a saw some of the most important
the country. He has cultivated a rep- shoe store stock clerk, selling his federal criminal cases brought by
utation as a brilliant, meticulous comic book collection and counsel- the Department.
judge with a knack for building ing undergraduates.
In the wake of the Oklahoma City
consensus, playing it straight, and
Garland began his career as a clerk Bombing in April 1995, he traveled
deciding every case based on what for legendary Second Circuit Judge to Oklahoma to oversee the case,
the law requires.
Henry Friendly and then Supreme and in the ensuing months coordiChief Justice John Roberts, Gar- Court Justice William Brennan. In nated every aspect of the governland’s colleague on the D.C. Cir- just four years, Chief Judge Garland ment’s response – working with fedcuit, once said that “anytime Judge became a partner at a prominent eral agents, rescue workers, local
Garland disagrees, you know you’re law firm, with a practice focused on officials, and others to bring the perin a difficult area.” In 2010, as the litigation and pro bono representa- petrators to justice. He also kept in
Senate was beginning the process of tion of disadvantaged Americans.
close touch with victims and their
confirming a successor to Justice
Throughout his career, Chief families throughout the case, and
John Paul Stevens, Senator Orrin Judge Garland has demonstrated a for several years afterwards as well.
Hatch said he saw Garland as “a commitment to putting his country Later, former Oklahoma Governor
consensus nominee” for the Sup- first. In 1989, shortly after becom- Frank Keating, a Republican, wrote
reme Court, adding “I have no ing a partner in private practice, that, during his work on the Okladoubts that Garland would get a lot Garland accepted a significant pay homa City bombing case, Chief
of [Senate] votes. And I will do my cut to became a federal prosecutor Judge Garland “distinguished himbest to help him get them.”
for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for self in a situation where he had to
Garland was born and raised in D.C. under the Administration of lead a highly complicated investigaIllinois, by a mother who served as a President George H.W. Bush, tion and make quick decisions durcommunity volunteer and a father where he investigated and prosecut- ing critical times.”
Teachers union plan walkout at schools on April 1
CPS Attorneys say act
would violate state law
Chicago Crusader staff report
Leaders for the Chicago Teachers Union will ask its members to
walk off their jobs Friday, April 1
for a one-day demonstration, Vice
President Jesse Sharkey said on
Monday.
The announcement came as the
CTU pushes for public education
funding and contract negotiations. Sharkey called the one-day
walkout an act of civil disobedience designed to marshal support
for new taxes and revenue for
public education. As contract negotiations with the Chicago Public Schools drag on, CTU leaders
hope the walkout will push for16
ward its demands and end a labor
disagreement that’s now 9 months
old. Since July, CTU members
have been working without a contract.
“We will not go to work on April
1. We will close the schools on
April 1,” Sharkey said. “What we
would hope is that the public joins
us and that we see this as a one-day
action to fight for school funding.”
The union’s House Delegates
plans a special meeting next week
to approve the one-day walkout.
“We’re saying that we’re arguing
for picket lines going up at schools
on April 1, and that school would
not be in session that day,” Sharkey
said in news reports.
CPS attorneys say the CTU has
no legal justification to strike because of a state law that forbids the
Karen Lewis
organization to strike during the final “fact finding” phase of contract
negotiations,
Under state law, CTU cannot
strike until the completion of a final phase of contract negotiations
known as “fact-finding,” which
won’t be completed until May.
Union leaders disagree. Sharkey
says the issue is not about what’s legal. He says a walkout is a “moral
necessity” to call attention to a crisis in CPS.
CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner
said in a statement:
“With respect to legal action,
CPS continues to look at our options. There is no question that a
one-day strike before fact-finding
concludes is not only illegal, but also not in the best interest of our
children.”
The CTU had threatened to
strike after Claypool announced
the District would stop paying the
bulk of union members’ pension
contributions. He later reversed
his decision.
CTU, distributed bulletins to
members last weekend. They described the walkout as a “fight of
epic proportions with labor and
community allies to shut down
the city and state to demand the
revenue our communities deserve
for vital services and schools.”
Union leaders blame Mayor
Rahm Emanuel and Governor
Bruce Rauner as enemies who have
stifled contract talks throughout
the negotiations.
Nearly 400,000 students would
be affected by the walkout. Most
of the students are minorities.
NEWS
Win vindicates Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown
Despite the controversy, Brown
won 461,192, or 48% of the vote.
Harris received 31 percent or
296,226 votes. Meister received
212,287, or 22% of the vote.
In conceding, Harris said, “I think
it was a good race, a good learning
lesson, an opportunity to get to know
the County and the residents and to
go from one end of the world to the
other end in Cook County. I think it
was the most marvelous process I’ve
been a part of.
Tio Hardiman, who was running
against Brown but pulled out for the
sake of unity, said “What this victory
tonight really signals is a defeat of the
machine in Illinois. I was actually
wrong for even thinking about trying
to run against her. She is a friend of
mine.”
U.S. Representative Danny K.
Davis (D-7th) was excited about
Brown’s victory. “She had the deck
stacked against her, odds-uncertainly
against her- but the people know
when you are doing a good job and
she deserved to win.”
Pastor Ira Acree, from Greater St.
John Bible Church, was equally excited. “We beat the machine tonight.
We beat the Democratic Party. It is a
phenomenal night, a big night for
our community. With so much going on and people are stressed, people
need a victory.”
The first Black Clerk of the Circuit
Court, Brown, who has been in office for 16-years, ran on the banner of
being “Unbought and Unbossed”
from political machines and handlers.
When she first ran for City Treasurer in 1999 against Miriam Santos,
a 12-year incumbent, Brown said a
high-level ally of Mayor Richard J.
Daley told her she would win the
race if she agreed to be a figurehead
and allow someone to run that office.
Brown refused. In her first run for
office, she nearly won. She received
49 percent to Santos’ 51 percent, but
she said it taught her to be her own
person.
At her victory party held at the National Association of Letter Carriers
Union Hall, 3850 S. Wabash, she
thanked her supporters, especially
those who prayed for her.
Brown, who was endorsed by the
Chicago Crusader said, “When the
Cook County Party dumped me,
what they did for me, in the words of
Hillary Clinton, they gave me my
voice back.
“Because they made me dig way
down inside and find the Dorothy
Brown that the Lord gave me a long
time ago to simply help people.” The
crowd began chanting “Dorothy,
Dorothy.”
“They gave me voice to connect
with people I never connected with
before.They gave me the voice to be
strong, to be confident, to be a warrior. They renewed my faith in God.
“People had an opportunity to connect with me to find out more who I
am and what I have done in this office. There is no other elected official
I know around the country who has
the kind of credentials I have, an at-
Kahil El’Zabar
ano soloist. Commissioned by
Fulcrum Point with support from
the National Endowment for the
Arts (NEA) and New Music USA,
“becoming…” is an abstract expression of Mumford’s personal
experience with the majesty and
beauty of light, clouds, and atmosphere from childhood memories. Photographic projections
will complement the music to enhance the accessibility of the presentation.
“‘Proclamation! The Black Composer Speaks’ demonstrates our
ongoing commitment to champi-
torney, CPA, MBA with a technology minor. I am a professional first
then an elected official second. It’s
about service. I have a heart to serve
people, and I’ll continue to do that.”
Praising her employees for being
hard workers, Brown said, “They
help me to communicate the phenomenon technology that we have
in our office. It is not dinosaur technology, and we do not have any
mimeograph machine. I’ve heard it
all.”
Asked about the one employee
who is under federal investigation,
Brown said, “My office has always
been accountable. We select employees by computer. I am sorry
about that particular situation. He’s
a good man, a great employee. I am
very disappointed that occurred.”
Despite losing up to 700 people
over the years due to budget cuts,
Brown said, “we continue to get the
job down.” She vowed to be “a hope
for our children and our children’s
children.
“All you have to do is to hold on
and hold out and after you’ve done
all you can, you just stand.” “It’s
about service,” Brown said. “I am
going to simply serve people.”
Archbishop to celebrate Holy Week and Easter
Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Chicago’s leader in New Art
Music led by Stephen Burns,
proudly presents “Proclamation!
The Black Composer Speaks,” a
dynamic concert program showcasing the broad spectrum of new
art music from the African-American perspective at the Promontory
Chicago, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave.,
on April 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Based on the award-winning
treatise of the same name by symphonic jazz composer David Baker, the double bill incorporates
music by three generations of
African-American composers. A
highlight of the evening is the
World Premiere of a dramatic, improvisatory set in the Association
for the Advancement of Creative
Musicians (AACM) tradition by
the internationally acclaimed percussionist Kahil El’Zabar and his
quartet featuring Robert Baabe Irving III (Miles Davis’ music director/pianist), Dennis Winslett, and
Harrison Bankhead alongside
members of Fulcrum Point. The
program also includes Alvin Singleton’s striking “In Our Own House”
and Jessie Montgomery’s funky
“Voodoo Dolz” for string quartet.
The cornerstone of the program
is the world premiere of composer
Jeffrey Mumford’s concerto for solo piano and ensemble, “becoming…,” with Winston Choi as pi-
DOROTHY BROWN and Congressman Danny Davis, (7th
District),who was also re-elected, give the victory sign.
oning diversity in new art music,”
says Fulcrum Point Artistic Director Stephen Burns. “Throughout
our 18-year history we have performed music by Fela Kuti, Duke
Ellington, Tania León, Hannibal
Lokumbe, Anthony Davis, and
Lester Bowie in addition to masters and iconoclasts like John
Cage, John Corigliano, Frank
Zappa, Zhou Long, Paul Moravec, and Param Vir. Thank you
for your spirit of adventure.”
Tickets are $35/25/15 and are
available at promontorychicago.com or by calling 312-801-2100.
tions of the Cross devotions, includ- that include a solemn blessing of the
ing outdoor processions of the liv- Easter water with the chanting of
ing stations and veneration of the the Litany of Saints, baptism of new
cross. The annual Pilsen Neighbor- members, the blessing and lighting
hood Via Crucis, or living Stations of the Easter Candle from within a
of the Cross, begin at 8:30 a.m., at darkened church and the celebraProvidence of God Parish, 717 West tion in the late evening hours of the
18th Street in Chicago. Participants Easter Vigil Mass. Archbishop Cuprocess along 18th Street to Harri- pich will be the main celebrant durson Park, 18th Street and Wood ing the Easter Vigil Mass with the
Street in Chicago, and complete the Rite of Christian Initiation of
journey at St. Adalbert Parish, 1650 Adults (RCIA) at Holy Name
West 17th Street in Chicago, at ap- Cathedral, State and Superior
proximately 12 p.m.
Streets in Chicago, beginning at 8
That evening, Archbishop Cupich p.m. Catechumens from Holy
will be the main celebrant at the Name Cathedral Parish will become
solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion full members of the Catholic
on Good Friday at 5:15 p.m., at Church during the celebration by
Holy Name Cathedral, State and receiving the sacraments of BapSuperior Streets in Chicago.
tism, Eucharist and Confirmation,
On Holy Saturday, March 26, as part of the RCIA process. On this
Archbishop Cupich will bless Easter night, approximately 450 adults
baskets, at 1:15 p.m., at Holy Name will be baptized and fully initiated
Cathedral, State and Superior into the Catholic Church, and
Streets in Chicago. The blessing of about 350 more will be received inEaster Baskets has been a Catholic to the full Communion of the
tradition for centuries, especially Catholic Church by being conamong families of Eastern Euro- firmed and receiving the Eucharist
pean origin. The ritual has since during Easter Vigil services
been adopted by people of all ethnic throughout the Archdiocese.
backgrounds. Baskets usually conEaster Sunday marks the closing
tain boiled eggs, meats, bread and of Holy Week. Archbishop Cupich
other food and sweet items that will will be the main celebrant of the
be consumed on Easter Sunday fol- Mass celebrating Christ’s Resurreclowing Mass.
tion at St. Ailbe Parish, 9015 South
Holy Saturday also marks an Harper Avenue in Chicago, beginevening of liturgical celebrations ning at 11 a.m.
17
ComEd’s CONSTRUCT
CONSTRUCT is run in
parallel at six sites across the
Chicagoland area by ASPIRA
of Illinois, Austin Peoples Action Center, Chicago Urban
League, National Latino Education Institute, Quad County
Urban League and YWCA of
Metropolitan Chicago. These
agencies will help identify and
train the program participants
using various common eligibility and completion requirements, and are committed to
working with each participant
to provide job counseling and
placement services.
For more information on
CONSTRUCT, visit ComEd.com/CONSTRUCT.
Marek Fortineaux, CONSTRUCT Graduate, current
Meter Reader at ComEd
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
It has been a long, long thousands of people who
time since this mayor has would cheer wildly if he dehad any successes he can cided he didn’t want to
point to. A lot of his critics serve out the rest of his
have labeled him as believ- term. He is a very ineffecing he is always the tive mayor right now.
smartest guy in the room.
So what do you do when
Now it looks like that room nobody wants you? Hopeneeds to be a phone booth fully Rahm will figure it
if Rahm is going to be the out soon and hopefully it
smartest.
won’t be continuing as
The chanting has died mayor.
down but I am positive
there are thousands and
Jerry Anderson
DR. KAMBON AND AFRICAN
complete the arduous task
of rebuilding and preserving
African Nationhood.”
I remember that Malcolm X
was asked repeatedly by reporters and people in audiences where he spoke on why
he, talked about and, made
reference to Africa so much.
Malcolm always replied in
this manner— “Because you
left your mind in Africa.”
This appropriate response
by Malcolm X is the underlying spirit and direction of The
African Personality in America: An African Centered
Framework by Dr. Kobi
Kambon.
In the Spring 1975 issue of
the Black Books Bulletin, Dr.
Anderson Thompson wrote
an insightful article entitled,
“Developing an African Historiography.”
Dr. Thompson wrote that,
“The interpretation, writing,
and teaching of history from
an African frame of reference,
prepares the African masses
to face the challenges of the
21st century.”
Dr. Kobi Kambon’s book
continues to fit into the
category of preparing us to
face the challenges of the
21st century. Read it carefully and digest its contents. It is a must!
HELP WANTED
Position: Part time Children’s Pastor
Qualifications:
– born again Christian who feels a call by God into ministry
– Love for children and families
– Strong organizational and leadership skills
– Ability to build and lead volunteer team
Responsibilities:
– Oversee programming and ministry for children ages 5 – 12 years of age, including Sunday
mornings, Wednesday nights, summer programs, special events, and etc…
– Choose and prepare curriculum for each program.
– Create environments, activities, and programs that will facilitate learning and encourage
spiritual growth.
– Recruit, train, schedule and lead teams of volunteers.
– Provide and care for children and families within the church including hospital visits and
follow-up.
– Maintain a strategy for reaching and assimilating new children and families.
Our church Greater St. John bible Church is an urban setting, and we anticipate giving the intern the opportunity to become a seminary student. He or she will work between 12 to 15 hrs
weekly at $10 per hour.
For consideration please send your resume to: info@gsjbchurch.org
3/9, 3/26, 4/2
18
C
D
CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK
ILLINOIS
COUNTY
BANK
A
I
A
N
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK
COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
COUNTY
DEPARTMENT - CHANCERY DIVISION
WELLS
FARGO
BANK,
NA
P l a i n t i f f ,
v
.
ALEXANDER THOMAS, UNKNOWN
OWNERS
AND
NONRECORD
C L A I M A N T S
D e f e n d a n t s
15
CH
012072
523 W. ENGLEWOOD
AVENUE
CHICAGO,
IL
60621
NOTICE OF SALE PUBLIC NOTICE IS
HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to a
Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered
in the above cause on January 7, 2016, an
agent for The Judicial Sales Corporation,
will at 10:30 AM on May 2, 2016, at The
Judicial Sales Corporation, One South
Wacker Drive - 24th Floor, CHICAGO, IL,
60606, sell at public auction to the highest
bidder, as set forth below, the following
described real estate: Commonly known as
523 W. ENGLEWOOD AVENUE,
CHICAGO, IL 60621 Property Index No.
20-16-325-010-0000. The real estate is
improved with a residence. Sale terms:
25% down of the highest bid by certified
funds at the close of the sale payable to
The Judicial Sales Corporation. No third
party checks will be accepted. The
balance, including the Judicial sale fee for
Abandoned
Residential
Property
Municipality Relief Fund, which is
calculated on residential real estate at the
rate of $1 for each $1,000 or fraction
thereof of the amount paid by the purchaser
not to exceed $300, in certified funds/or
wire transfer, is due within twenty-four (24)
hours. No fee shall be paid by the
mortgagee acquiring the residential real
estate pursuant to its credit bid at the sale
or by any mortgagee, judgment creditor, or
other lienor acquiring the residential real
estate whose rights in and to the
residential real estate arose prior to the
sale. The subject property is subject to
general real estate taxes, special
assessments, or special taxes levied
against said real estate and is offered for
sale without any representation as to
quality or quantity of title and without
recourse to Plaintiff and in \"AS IS\"
condition. The sale is further subject to
confirmation by the court. Upon payment in
full of the amount bid, the purchaser will
receive a Certificate of Sale that will entitle
the purchaser to a deed to the real estate
after confirmation of the sale. The property
will NOT be open for inspection and
plaintiff makes no representation as to the
condition of the property. Prospective
bidders are admonished to check the court
file to verify all information. If this property
is a condominium unit, the purchaser of the
unit at the foreclosure sale, other than a
mortgagee, shall pay the assessments and
the legal fees required by The
Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS
605/9(g)(1) and (g)(4). If this property is a
condominium unit which is part of a
common interest community, the purchaser
of the unit at the foreclosure sale other
than a mortgagee shall pay the
assessments
required
by
The
605/18.5(g-1). IF YOU ARE THE
MORTGAGOR (HOMEOWNER), YOU
HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN
POSSESSION FOR 30 DAYS AFTER
ENTRY
OF
AN
ORDER
OF
POSSESSION,
IN
ACCORDANCE
WITH SECTION 15-1701(C) OF THE
ILLINOIS MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE
LAW. You will need a photo identification
issued by a government agency (driver's
license, passport, etc.) in order to gain
entry into our building and the foreclosure
sale room in Cook County and the same
identification for sales held at other county
venues where The Judicial Sales
Corporation conducts foreclosure sales.
For information, examine the court file or
contact Plaintiff's attorney: CODILIS &
ASSOCIATES, P.C., 15W030 NORTH
FRONTAGE ROAD, SUITE 100, BURR
RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please
refer to file number 14-15-13005. THE
JUDICIAL SALES CORPORATION One
South Wacker Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago,
IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can
also visit The Judicial Sales Corporation
at www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of
pending sales. CODILIS & ASSOCIATES,
P.C. 15W030 NORTH FRONTAGE
ROAD, SUITE 100 BURR RIDGE, IL
60527
(630)
794-5300
E-Mail:
pleadings@il.cslegal.com Attorney File
No. 14-15-13005 Attorney ARDC No.
00468002 Attorney Code. 21762 Case
Number: 15 CH 012072 TJSC#: 36-435
NOTE: Pursuant to the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act, you are advised
that Plaintiff's attorney is deemed to be a
debt collector attempting to collect a debt
and any information obtained will be used
for
that
purpose.
I687297
Corporation, One South
highest
b
NATIONAL
IN
ITS
BUT SOLELY
TRUSTEE
FOR
C
D
HOUSES FOR SALE
,
v
.
DARRICK L. CARRUTH, UNITED
STATES
OF
AMERICA
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT, PORTFOLIO
RECOVERY ASSOCIATES, LLC
D e f e n d a n t s
15
CH
001614
8441 S. EUCLID AVENUE CHICAGO, IL
6
0
6
1
7
will at 10:30 AM on April 25, 2016, at The
8441 S. EUCLID AVENUE, CHICAGO, IL
60617 Property Index No. 20-36-315-014.
The real estate is improved with a
residence. Sale terms: 25% down of the
highest bid by certified funds at the close
of the sale payable to The Judicial Sales
Corporation. No third party checks will be
accepted. The balance, including the
Judicial sale fee for Abandoned
Residential Property Municipality Relief
Fund, which is calculated on residential
real estate at the rate of $1 for each $1,000
or fraction thereof of the amount paid by the
purchaser not to exceed $300, in certified
funds/or wire transfer, is due within
twenty-four (24) hours. No fee shall be
paid by the mortgagee acquiring the
residential real estate pursuant to its credit
bid at the sale or by any mortgagee,
judgment creditor, or other lienor
acquiring the residential real estate whose
rights in and to the residential real estate
arose prior to the sale. The subject
property is subject to general real estate
taxes, special assessments, or special
taxes levied against said real estate and is
offered for sale without any representation
as to quality or quantity of title and without
after confirmation of the sale. Where a sale
of real estate is made to satisfy a lien prior
to that of the United States, the United
States shall have one year from the date of
sale within which to redeem, except that
with respect to a lien arising under the
internal revenue laws the period shall be
120 days or the period allowable for
redemption under State law, whichever is
longer, and in any case in which, under the
provisions of section 505 of the Housing
Act of 1950, as amended (12 U.S.C.
1701k), and subsection (d) of section 3720
of title 38 of the United States Code, the
right to redeem does not arise, there shall
be no right of redemption. The property will
NOT be open for inspection and plaintiff
makes no representation as to the
assessments
required
by
The
ENTRY
OF
AN
ORDER
OF
POSSESSION,
IN
ACCORDANCE
RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please
IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can
60527
(630)
794-5300
E-Mail:
Number: 15 CH 001614 TJSC#: 36-1350
for
that
purpose.
I687718
COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
COUNTY
U.S.
BANK
TRUST
NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION,
NOT
IN
ITS
INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY
AS
OWNER
TRUSTEE
FOR
NEWLANDS ASSET HOLDING TRUST
P l a i n t i f f ,
v
.
D
L. CARRUTH,
ust control
Blacks MUNITED
S
OF
AMERICA
D
AND
U
DEVELOPMENT, PORTFOLIO
R
ASSOCIATES,
LLC
D e f e n d a n t s
1
CH
001614
8
0
6
1
7
N
to a
J
W
OWNER
TRUST
NOT
their own coMMunity
COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
COUNTY
FEDERAL HOME LOAN MORTGAGE
C O R P O R A T I O N
P l a i n t i f f ,
v
.
JERMAINE M. MCGEE SR. A/K/A
JERMAINE M. MCGEE, WELLS FARGO
BANK, N.A., UNKNOWN OWNERS AND
NONRECORD
CLAIMANTS
D e f e n d a n t s
15
CH
006666
7535 S. PEORIA STREET CHICAGO, IL
6
0
6
2
0
in the above cause on November 16, 2015,
an agent for The Judicial Sales
Corporation, will at 10:30 AM on April 21,
2016, at The Judicial Sales Corporation,
One South Wacker Drive - 24th Floor,
CHICAGO, IL, 60606, sell at public
auction to the highest bidder, as set forth
below, the following described real
estate:Commonly known as 7535 S.
PEORIA STREET, CHICAGO, IL 60620
Property Index No. 20-29-406-012-0000.
The real estate is improved with a
residence. Sale terms: 25% down of the
assessments
required
by
The
ENTRY
OF
AN
ORDER
OF
POSSESSION,
IN
ACCORDANCE
RIDGE, IL 60527, (630) 794-9876 Please
IL 60606-4650 (312) 236-SALE You can
60527
(630)
794-5300
E-Mail:
Number: 15 CH 006666 TJSC#: 36-3175
for
that
purpose.
I687651
THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK
ILLINOIS
COUNTY
MORTGAGE
MAE''), A
AND
THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
P l a i n t i f f ,
v
.
UNKNOWN HEIRS AT LAW AND
LEGATEES OF ARTHUR W. JONES
A/K/A ARTHUR WILBUR JONES,
GWENDOLYN JONES, AS HEIR OF
ARTHUR W. JONES A/K/A ARTHUR
WILBUR JONES, GWENDOLYN JONES
AND
ARTHUR
W.
JONES
PROPERTIES TRUST DATED MARCH
21, 2011, OLUMIJI JONES, AS HEIR OF
ARTHUR W. JONES A/K/A ARTHUR
WILBUR
JONES,
WILLIAM
P.
BUTCHER,
AS
SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE
OF ARTHUR W. JONES
A/K/A
ARTHUR WILBUR JONES, UNKNOWN
OWNERS
AND
NON-RECORD
C L A I M A N T S
D e f e n d a n t s
15
CH
04513
6417-6419 S. MORGAN STREET
Chicago,
IL
60621
will at 10:30 AM on April 27, 2016, at The
6417-6419 S. MORGAN STREET,
Chicago, IL 60621 Property Index No.
20-20-212-006-0000 VOL. 429. The real
estate is improved with a multi-family
residence. The judgment amount was
$75,314.22. Sale terms: 25% down of the
assessments
required
by
The
ENTRY
OF
AN
ORDER
OF
POSSESSION,
IN
ACCORDANCE
For information, contact Plaintiff's attorney:
JOHNSON,
BLUMBERG
&
ASSOCIATES, LLC, 230 W. Monroe
Street, Suite #1125, Chicago, IL 60606,
(312) 541-9710 Please refer to file number
15-1718. THE JUDICIAL
SALES
CORPORATION One South Wacker
Drive, 24th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606-4650
(312) 236-SALE You can also visit The
Judicial
Sales
Corporation
at
www.tjsc.com for a 7 day status report of
pending sales. JOHNSON, BLUMBERG
& ASSOCIATES, LLC 230 W. Monroe
Street, Suite #1125 Chicago, IL 60606
(312)
541-9710
E-Mail:
ilpleadings@johnsonbl u m b e r g . c o m
Attorney File No. 15-1718 Attorney Code.
40342 Case Number: 15 CH 04513
TJSC#: 36-1422 NOTE: Pursuant to the
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you
are advised that Plaintiff's attorney is
deemed to be a debt collector attempting to
collect a debt and any information obtained
will be used for that purpose.
I686871
A
C
COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
COUNTY
FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE
ASSOCIATION (''FANNIE MAE''), A
CORPORATION ORGANIZED AND
EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE
STATES OF AMERICA,
P l a i n t i f f www.chicagocrusader.com
,
v
.
U
HEIRS AT LAW AND
L
ARTHUR W. JONES
A
ARTHUR WILBUR JONES,
G
JONES, AS HEIR OF
A
W. JONES A/K/A ARTHUR
W
ARTHUR
W.
JONES
P
OF
A
W. JONES A/K/A ARTHUR
W
JONES,
WILLIAM
P.
B
AS
SPECIAL
R
ESTATE
O
ARTHUR W. JONES
A/K/A
A
UNKNOWN
O
AND
NON-RECORD
C
I M A N T S
D e f e n d a n t s
1
CH
04513
EDUCATION
Whitney Young student Jordan Williams hits jackpot with DDA 2016
By Elaine Hegwood Bowen
Walt Disney World Resort concluded its ninth annual Disney
Dreamers Academy (DDA) with
Steve Harvey and ESSENCE Magazine, and a Whitney Young High
School student found that persistence paid off, after she was selected
upon her third try.
Jordan Williams was happy to be
able to attend the Academy, which is
a four-day, once-in-a-lifetime educational and mentoring program for a
select group of high school students.
The students – identified as “Dreamers”– are selected from thousands of
applicants nationwide and are now
among only 900 students to hold the
honor. Mentors, along with Harvey,
included Dr. Steve Perry, Princeton
Parker, film producer Will Packer,
actress Tamera Mowry-Housley and
Bledsoe Technologies’ 17-year-old
CEO, Jaylen Bledsoe.
“Applying taught me that persistence and consistency are key. I
wanted to be a part of something
great, something bigger than myself.
I wanted to meet adults who were
successful and could tell me how to
be successful,” Jordan told the Crusader. “The people who usually tell
me what to do and when to do it
quite frankly are not as successful as
I want to be. Why take the word of a
sheep when you are a cub striving to
be a lion? I needed to meet other
cubs and lions, so I could see first
hand what I would be like when I
grew up.”
These are pretty profound sentiments from a 16-year-old, but Jordan knew what she needed, and the
Academy provided a glimpse of
MICKEY MOUSE IS JOINED by: (Behind, Center: L-R) ESSENCE Editor-At-Large Mikki Taylor, ESSENCE Communications President
Michelle Ebanks, Steve Harvey, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Vice President of Deluxe Resorts and Disney Dreamers Academy Executive
Champion Tracey D. Powell, and the Disney Dreamers Academy Class of 2016. (Gregg Newton, photographer)
what the aspiring physician can an- Champaign,” Jordan added. She’s cuff). Finally, because pig’s skin is graduation ceremony on Sunday
ticipate.
taking a sociology class at the Uni- similar to human skin, I learned morning, which is so inspirational
The program featured an exclusive versity of Illinois at Chicago now how to sew up a cut on a pig’s foot.” that many in the audience are often
weekend of dreaming big, discover- and over the summer, she will take a
Jordan’s mother went with her to moved to tears. Jordan added: “The
ing possibilities and preparing for three-week pre-collegiate sociology Disney World, and once things got shining moment for me during
the future. Along with a parent or course at Stanford University. And if rolling, she was just as excited for graduation would have to be the
guardian, each teen received an all- that’s not enough, next school year her daughter. “I didn’t know what to ring exchange. It reminded me of a
expense-paid trip to Walt Disney Jordan will take an Advanced Place- expect when Jordan was chosen to real high school graduation, but I
World Resort, where they learned
important networking skills, participated in hands-on career workshops and created fun memories to
cherish for a lifetime.
“I’m planning on going premed
and majoring in sociology or psychology with a minor in public
health at Syracuse, Stanford, or the
University of Illinois at Urbana-
KNEELING SECOND FROM left, Jordan Williams, is photographed with her team members
in front of display during Disney Dreamers Academy 2016.
ment course in psychology. Then
she hopes to rest a bit before going
to medical school at Johns Hopkins
in Baltimore.
One of Jordan’s workshops was
the Deep Dive, where students experience real-life career models.
“During the Deep Dive, I experienced the world of pharmacy as
well as the practice of medicine. In
pharmacy, I learned how to fill a
prescription, as well as information
about diabetes and how to make
Chapstick,” she said. “With the
doctor, I learned how to take someJORDAN WILLIAMS, LEFT, takes a fellow student’s blood pres- one’s vitals, and how to use a sphygsure reading, as part of Williams’ Deep Dive experience.
momanometer (blood pressure
attend DDA. The Academy far exceeded anything I could have ever
imagined,” Phaylecia Williams said.
“From day one, we were off and running. The academy provided an experience not only for the students,
but for the parents as well. The parent sessions were one of a kind, and
Lisa Nichols reminded us that as parents we are so focused on supporting
our dreamers that we forget to focus
on ourselves. I would really like to
thank Steve Harvey, Essence Magazine, and Walt Disney World for giving both my daughter and I this
amazing experience.”
The students participated in a
completed DDA 2016 in only
three days. I learned many social
and economic skills, and the event
was an amazingly, bittersweet moment.”
For high school students who
want to apply for next year’s Disney
Dreamers Academy, the Crusader
will post the application period
when it becomes available later this
year. There is no “special” type of
student that’s chosen. It all depends
on the application essay. “They are
not looking for whatever you think
they are looking for,” Jordan said.
“They are looking for your purest
form of you. Tell your life like it is.”
19
20

hello goodbye - Gary/Chicago Crusader

Transcription

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