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Vol. 38 No. 27 Website: theaustinvillager.com Email: vil3202@aol.com Phone: 512-476-0082 Fax: 512-476-0179 November 19, 2010

WASHINGTON, D. C.– The Lyndon Baines JohnsonFoundation awarded theprestigious LBJ Liberty andJustice for All Award to a heroof the Civil Rights movementwho for decades has been asteadfast advocate for peace,freedom and justice. The in-augural recipient of the LBJAward is Congressman JohnLewis, the civil rights leaderwho repeatedly risked his lifeby challenging the injustice ofsegregation. The announce-ment was made Wednesday,November 17 and the actualaward was presented thatevening.

“In his lifelong quest forfreedom and basic humanrights for all, John Lewis em-bodies the beliefs that Presi-dent Johnson held dear—thatevery citizen should share inthe benefits of the privilegesand protections that lie at theheart of the Americandream,” said Larry Temple,Chairman of the LBJ Founda-tion.

Born the son of share-croppers outside of Troy, Ala-bama, Lewis attended segre-gated public schools and, asa boy, was inspired by the ra-dio broadcasts of the Rev.Martin Luther King Jr. He or-ganized sit-in demonstra-tions at segregated lunchcounters in Nashville andjoined the Freedom Rides,confronting segregation bysitting in bus seats reservedfor white patrons. At the ageof 23, Lewis was a keynotespeaker—alongside Rev.King—at the historic Marchon Washington.

On March 7, 1965,Lewis and 600 protestors at-tempted to march from Selmato Montgomery to supportvoting rights in Alabama.Alabama state troopersblocked them and viciouslybeat Lewis and his fellowmarchers, in a confrontationknown as “Bloody Sunday.”It was just one of dozens oftimes Lewis would be at-

tacked, or arrested, during theCivil Rights era.

A week after the march,Lewis and Dr. King watchedPresident Johnson notify Con-gress, in a live television ad-dress, that he was introduc-ing the Voting Rights Act toovercome the nation’s crip-pling legacy of bigotry andinjustice. “We shall over-come,” President Johnson de-clared.

“I was deeply moved,”Lewis recalled years later.“Lyndon Johnson was nopolitician that night. He wasa man who spoke from hisheart. His were the words ofa statesman and more.” Thespeech brought tears to theeyes of Dr. King, Lewis re-members. Less than fivemonths later, PresidentJohnson would sign the Vot-ing Rights Act into law.

“By honoring Con-gressman Lewis with thefirst-ever LBJ Liberty and Jus-tice for All Award, historycomes full circle,” ChairmanTemple said.

U.S. Senator Kay BaileyHutchison and AmbassadorRon Kirk, the U.S. Trade Rep-resentative, will serve as Hon-orary Chairs at a dinner cel-ebration in Washington tohonor Congressman Lewis.

The Lyndon BainesJohnson Foundation, a non-profit organization, supportsthe Lyndon Baines JohnsonPresidential Library & Mu-seum and the Lyndon B.Johnson School of Public Af-fairs at The University ofTexas in Austin. Started byPresident and Lady BirdJohnson, the Foundation ben-efits the Library by fundingwork of the archives, re-searchers, exhibits and pub-lic programs. The Foundationalso supports the LBJ Schoolby providing funds for stu-dent scholarships and facultyendowments, with the goal ofattracting the best and bright-est minds to prepare them forpublic-policy leadership po-sitions. For more information,please visit: www. lbjfoundation.org.

Congressman John Lewisreceived the LBJ Award

Congressman John Lewis

.

The Austin AlumniChapter of Kappa Alpha PsiFraternity, Inc. held an in-duction ceremony for its in-augural Kappa LeagueClass at the Carver Libraryon Saturday, November 13,2010. Under the motto:“ACHIEVERS . . . It’s WhoWe are . . . It’s What We Do!”the young men will partici-pate in activities designed todevelop their leadershipskills as they aspire to besuccessful in every field ofhuman endeavor. Each

Kappa Leaguer will also bepaired with a member of theAustin Alumni Chapter whowill serve as their mentor forthe duration of the program.

The following mem-bers of the Alpha Class of theAustin Kappa League partici-pated in the induction cer-emony: Javon Artis (Pfluger-ville HS), Mark Brewer Jr.(Kelly Lane MS), DonteDaniel (L.B.J. HS), LandonGodsey (Bowie HS), DariusPlummer (Leander HS), IdellMcCarther (Pflugerville HS),

Pictured are several members of the Alpha Class of Austin Alumni Chapter Kappa League alongwith (l to r) Austin Alumni members Pearly McQueen IV, Eric Godsey (Kappa League advisor), and ChrisMaclin.

Alex Matlox (Pflugerville HS),and Trent Spears Jr. (L.B.J. HS).

The Kappa LeagueCommittee consists of EricGodsey, Andrew Lofters,Andre Artis, Ron Bozeman,Mark Brewer, Kevin Overton-Hadnot, Pearly McQueen, IV,and Jeffrey Plummer. Addi-tional information on the Aus-tin Alumni Chapter may befound on the chapter’s Website – www. Austin AlumniNupes.com or e-mail thechapter at austin alumninupes@gmail.com

Austinite Alaric Robertson is currently serving inthe local District Office of U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett.Robertson is actively involved in his church and communityas a leader. He is a father, husband, minister, counselor andaccomplished musician. He was born and raised in CentralTexas where he graduated from Austin High School.Robertson has his bachelors in Business Administration, andis currently finishing his Master’s in Public Administrationwith a minor in urban planning at Texas State University inSan Marcos.

“Working here in the district office has allowed me toput my years of academic learning to practice. What I’velearned here will be a great help to me when dealing withthe private and public sector as I continue my journey intothe legislative arena.” University students interested in in-terning with Rep. Doggett should send a resume a coverletter by email to Lloyd.Doggett@mail.house.gov.

Alaric Robertson Serves in Officeof U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett

More than $132 millionfor Housing ImprovementsFor those Most Effected

(Jackson, MS) Missis-sippi State ConferenceNAACP (MS-NAACP) ispleased announce today anagreement with the U. S. De-partment of Housing and Ur-ban Development (HUD) andthe State of Mississippi todedicate $132.8 million inKatrina community develop-ment block grant (CDBG)funds to address unmet hous-ing needs on the MississippiGulf Coast. The funds will beused to:

· $98.2 million to ad-dress the identified unmethousing needs of 4,400 house-holds,

· Undertake an out-reach effort to assess uniden-tified needs in nine south Mis-sissippi counties, and

· Reserve at least anadditional $40 million to ad-dress the need identifiedthrough this outreach pro-cess.

The agreement comesnearly two years after MS-NAACP, Gulf Coast FairHousing Center, and numer-ous individual clients filed alawsuit challenging HUD’sapproval of requests from theState of Mississippi to waiveseveral requirements that theCDBG money be used to as-sist low- and moderate-in-come persons repair and re-build their homes after Hurri-cane Katrina. The State in-stead wanted to use themoney to expand the StatePort at Gulfport.

“Our focus always hasbeen to get Mississippi to fin-ish rebuilding and restoringmuch needed housing first,”said James Crowell, Biloxi, MSresident and President of theBiloxi Branch NAACP, “Withthis plan, Mississippi hascommitted to repair low-in-come households, regardless,without splitting hairs over ofwhether the damage wascaused by wind or flood. Wecan now make progress to-

ward repairing and rebuild-ing housing in low-incomeAfrican American neighbor-hoods as well, many ofwhich were neglected for thepast five years.”

“Though the storm didnot intentionally discrimi-nate, the damage did revealthe impact of decades-longdiscrimination against poor,African American peoplewho were already living insubstandard housing,” saidDerrick Johnson, State Presi-dent, Mississippi NAACP, “Iam glad that we had the re-sources to right this wrong.It is a matter of priorities andthis agreement provides asolution. The decision byHUD to settle this case is astep in the right direction. En-suring the full recovery for allvictims of Hurricane Katrinashould be a priority. OurGovernor and the previousadministration were con-cerned with diverting fundsfor their corporate friendsand wealthy individuals asopposed to working Missis-sippi families seeking to re-cover after the devastation ofthe storm,” added Johnson.

In 2008, Mississippistate officials, with the ap-proval of HUD, attempted touse Katrina community de-velopment block grantmoney to expand the Port inGulfport. Under the plan,nearly $600 million wouldhave been diverted from thehousing needs of Coast resi-dents to the commercial ex-pansion of the port. MS-NAACP with legal supportfrom the Mississippi Centerfor Justice, Lawyers’ Com-mittee for Civil Rights UnderLaw and the law firm ofMintz Levin Cohen FerrisGlovsky and Popeo, PC, chal-lenged HUD’s approval ofrequests from the state ofMississippi to waive severalrequirements that the CDBGmoney be used to assist lowand moderate-income per-sons repair and rebuild theirhomes after Katrina.

Mississippi NAACP Wins$132.8 Million Settlement for

Hurricane Katrina Victims

Howimportant

is your vote? If anyone has to be

convinced about the powerof the vote, you need onlywatch Dancing With TheStars. When the final cutcame Tuesday night,Crystal Palin was stillstanding and Brandy wascut. While everyoneknows that Brandy is abetter dancer, we alsoknow that the voting pub-lic decides the final out-come of the dancers.

One of the reasonsthat Palin is still standingis that the “Tea Party”movement pushed herover the edge. They devel-oped a website to instructtheir supporter on themanner of voting, the pro-cedure and the impor-tance of their vote.

All of the stars hadtheir fan base, but Palinwas relying on the popu-larity of her mother andthe Tea Party movement.As a result, she will be inthe finals next week andprobably will be the ulti-mate winner.

You may be wonder-ing what this has to dowith the larger picture.The only thing that itpoints out is that everyvote counts. We use toknow that, but seems tohave forgotten it.

As we move into the2011 election season,there will be a lot of issueson the table in our localcommunity. We will havethe primary election inMarch and the City Coun-cil election in May. At thistime at least three peoplehave announced their in-tentions for re-election.On the County level,Sheriff Gregg Hamiltonhas announced his inten-tions and at City Hall,Councilmembers ChrisRiley and Laura Morrisonhave also announced thatthey will be candidates inthe next election.

Although there will bea lot of attention being paidto Washington and theState Capital next year, wemust not lose our focus onthe local community. Allpolitics are local. And it istime that we start payingattention to that. But, wemust do more than justpay attention. We mustalso get involved. There aremany things that are go-ing on in our communitythat needs our attention.And most of them will takepolitical action. The onlyway to be effective withpoliticians is to either bea big contributor or a vol-unteer in their campaign.You can be both. Don’t takeoff during the holiday sea-son. This is when all of thehard work will be done.

Page 2/THE VILLAGER/November 19, 2010

EDITORIALS/COMMENTARYEditorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

By Danny J. Bakewell, Sr.Chairman of the NNPA

DNC Abandons Black Voters and Losses the House

At the funeral of formerDemocratic National Com-mittee Chairman RonaldBrown, President Bill Clintonmade an announcement stun-ning to some but obvious tous. And, that was had it notbeen for the Black vote, hewould not have been electedpresident in l992 and re-elected in l996.

In the recent criticallyimportant mid-term elections,officials of the Democratic

National Committee either ig-nored this political fact orsimply took the Black vote forgranted. The results were adisaster for Democratic housemembers.

Why did the Demo-cratic National Committee failto mobilize and maximize theBlack vote in the mid-termelections? This is a salientquestion because it is, orshould be, obvious that in aclose election the turnout ofBlack voters will be the differ-ence between victory and de-feat.

One answer to this ques-tion is the fact that the Demo-cratic National Committeeinvests the bulk of its re-sources in reaching out to vot-ers it was unlikely to get anddidn’t get while largely ignor-ing the most loyal and tradi-tional base of the party, Blackvoters. It’s not as if anotherpath wasn’t suggested. I per-sonally, on behalf of the Na-

tional Newspaper PublishersAssociation (Black Press ofAmerica) and our more than200 Black publishers nation-ally, produced proposals foraggressively reaching theBlack voter nationally. How-ever, despite my discussionswith DNC Chairman TimKaine, he and his DNCtrusted minions turned theirbacks on us (the NNPA) andBlack voters.

The only support wecould count on was DNC Po-litical Director, Clyde Will-iams, who respected and un-derstood the value of theNNPA advertising cam-paign, White House SeniorAdvisor Valerie Jarrett andother advocates such as Con-gressional Black CaucusChair, Barbara Lee, SpeakerNancy Pelosi, DemocraticHouse Whip James Clyburn,Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. JesseJackson, and National UrbanLeague President Marc

Morial.However, the DNC staff

followed their own ways—alittle here, a little there, but notenough to make a significantdifference and far too late.

Teaching voters is acomplicated exercise in thisdigital age, with the need toreach people everywhere theyconsume media. As the say-ing goes, all politics is local.And the fact is, on thegrassroots level the peoplemost likely to vote are thosewho use and trust the mediathat responds to the needs oftheir community on an ongo-ing basis—the Black Press(NNPA).

Particularly for candi-dates at the state and locallevel, support of the commu-nity and its businesses senda tangible message to votersthat the candidate is willingto invest resources in the com-munities they hope to repre-sent. The candidate needs to

ask for our vote but in order tomake that point effectively, theoutreach must come early andoften, with backup resources.

Without question, Presi-dent Obama has the right vi-sion and the best plan to moveAmerica forward, but theDemocratic National Commit-tee must do better in helpinghim get his message out to thepeople, particularly Blackpeople, to ensure that we areinspired to vote. The DNCmust also value our vote. I be-lieve, in reality, the Demo-cratic “shellacking” couldhave been avoided. TheObama Administration, in avery short time, has had enor-mous successes—health carereform, the extension of unem-ployment benefits, andmore—that touch lives in asubstantial way. But whowould know a story thathasn’t been effectively com-municated.

Democrats can’t expect

to win if the message of formerPresident Bill Clinton doesn’tring clearly in their ears andbrain. They also can’t expectto win if they don’t or won’tgo into the Black communityand ask Black people for theirvote.

When you look at theelection, where Democratsadvertised, went into theBlack community, cam-paigned and asked for ourvote, we won. The two bestexamples of this fact are Cali-fornia and Massachusettshowever; there are a host ofother critical states wherecandidates did not advertise,go into the Black communityor ask the Black voters to comeout and vote, and they lost.Democrats can’t expect towin, if at the end of the daythe verdict for Black Voters isignoring them or taking themfor granted. The strategy of“too little, too late” is not aviable and winning strategy.

By George E. CurryNNPA Columnist

Obama Should Reject Bush Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

President Obamashould set the tone for his nexttwo years by insisting that theBush tax cuts remain in placetemporarily for 98 percent ofAmericans, but not the top 2percent who already enjoy adisproportionate share of thebenefits. All signs are point-ing to the President caving into obstinate Republicans inCongress who want to extendthe cuts, set to expire at theend of the year, for everyoneincluding the top 2 percent.

President Obama cam-paigned on a pledge to endthe Bush tax cuts for the top 2percent of taxpayers, definedas an individual earning atleast $200,000 a year andcouples earning a minimumof $250,000. But it appears heis on the brink of breaking

that promise. If neither Presi-dent Obama nor Republicansare willing to take such amodest step of extending thetax breaks only to those whoneed them the most, they arenot serious about wanting toreduce the deficit.

President Obama re-peatedly reminds us that heinherited a mess from GeorgeW. Bush. And he is correct. “Ifnot for the tax cuts enactedduring the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush that Con-gress did not pay for, the costof the wars in Iraq and Af-ghanistan that were initiatedduring that period, and theeffects of the worst economicslump since the Great Depres-sion (including the cost ofsteps necessary to combat it),we would not be facing thesehuge deficits in the nearterm,” observed the Center onBudget and Policy Priorities,a nonpartisan think tank inWashington, D.C.

In case no one has no-ticed, Bush has not lived inthe White House for the pasttwo years. And the personwho does live there moved inafter volunteering to clean upafter the Bush circus left town.This should begin with Presi-dent Obama stating that un-

like Republicans, he will notserve as a mouthpiece for bigbusiness and people with bigbucks.

“In 2010, when all ofthe Bush tax cuts are finallyphased in, a staggering 52.5percent of the benefits will goto the richest 5 percent of tax-payers,” noted Citizens forTax Justice. According to theTreasury Department, ex-tending the Bush tax cuts tothe top 2 percent of taxpayerswould cost $678 billion overthe next decade.

“In the long term, manyeconomists believe that in-vestments in education, infra-structure, alternative energyand other public goods arefar more beneficial to our eco-nomic growth than the partsof the Bush tax cuts for thewealthy,” Citizens for TaxJustice stated. “This shouldnot be surprising. Federaltaxes were higher for mostAmericans at the end of theClinton years, and theeconomy was performing farbetter than it is now. At veryleast, one can conclude thatthe Bush tax cuts did not re-sult in the economic prosper-ity that their supporters prom-ised would result.”

The federal deficit for

fiscal 2009 was $1.4 trillion.It represents nearly 10 percentof the Gross Domestic Prod-uct (GDP), the largest propor-tion of the economy sinceWorld War II. If nothing isdone to curb the deficit, it isexpected to remain near $1trillion a year for the next 10years. Mounting deficits re-quires borrowing moremoney from abroad and con-tinuing to pay interests onthose and other loans, leav-ing less money available toinvest in future programs.Some call it mortgaging thefuture.

Alan Greenspan, theformer Federal Reserve chair-man, and David Stockman,who was President Reagan’sbudget director, advocate let-ting all of the Bush tax cutsexpire on December 31. Ac-cording to the Organizationfor Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD),the total federal, state and lo-cal taxes in the U.S. areamong the lowest in the in-dustrialized world, with onlyTurkey and Mexico lower.

The Republican solu-tion to attacking the deficit, ifit can be called that, is to cutnon-security discretionaryprograms. A plan outlined by

incoming House SpeakerJohn Boehner would reducesuch spending by $101 billionor 21 percent. Exempt from thecuts would be spending fordefense, homeland security,military and veterans appro-priations. There is no way tocome close to making a seri-ous dent in the deficit with-out touching many programsconsidered untouchable. Ac-cording to the CongressionalBudget Office, Social Securityis projected to account for 21percent of the federal budget,Defense 16 percent, Medicare14 percent, Medicaid 10 per-cent, net interest 14 percentand other spending 22 per-cent.

Slashing budgets couldhave a devastating impact onmany programs, includingeducation. A 21 percent de-crease in K-12 education fund-ing, for example, would meana loss of more than $8.7 bil-lion. The Center on Budgetand Policy Priorities saidsuch a cut could mean reduc-ing housing programs by $6.9billion, children and familyservices by nearly $2.2 billionand the nutritional programfor at-risk pregnant women,infants and children (WIC) by$1.6 billion.

Federal aid to cities andstates would compound deepcuts already made at thatlevel. According to the Centeron Budget and Policy Priori-ties, 46 states have balancedtheir budgets during this fis-cal crisis by cutting funds toeducation, health and otherprograms for the needy.

Another GOP priority isto scuttle health care legisla-tion. Estimates from the Citi-zens for Tax Justice demon-strate that the Bush tax cutscost almost $2.5 trillion overthe decade they wer enacted(2001-2010). The Congres-sional Budget Office sayshealth care reform will costapproximately $1 trillion overthe next decade which meansthe Bush tax cuts cost two anda half times as much as healthcare.

“Many of the lawmak-ers who argue that the healthcare reform legislation is ‘toocostly’ are the same lawmak-ers who supported the Bushtax cuts,” Citizens for TaxJustice observed. And nowthey favor extending those taxcuts to the wealthiest 2 per-cent of the population.

President Obamashould just say no to the Partyof No.

Harry C. AlfordNNPA Columnist

Mayor Landrieu’s Black Business Problem

Hurricane Katrinabrought significant devasta-tion to the City of New Or-leans. It more or less broke itdown and the rebuilding ofthis great city has been slow,deliberate but worth everysecond. From the “ashes” ofKatrina, has risen a new citymade stronger by the resil-ience of its citizens. One of thefinest set of examples is howthe Black entrepreneurs gath-ered themselves and resolvedto build their businesses backup. Most of them not onlysucceeded in repairing them-selves but have actually be-

come stronger.The playing field had

been leveled and those of tal-ent and strength rose to theoccasion. Unlike the politicallandscape of pre-Katrina, thecorruption factor had beenremoved. New Orleans had awell deserved reputation ofmoney bags, kick backs, andpay offs for contractual fa-vors. The regional office of theFBI had an enormous staffand stayed very busy withindictments, convictions, andmore, and more investiga-tions. The mayoral adminis-trations prior to Mayor RayNagin’s were notorious andmany of the participants ofthose administrations are stillin jail or are just finishingtheir terms of incarceration.

Mayor Nagin broughtan era of credibility and trans-parency to New Orleans pro-curement. So when Katrinacame and brought boatloadsof new procurement opportu-nities, the odds were that fair

procurement processeswould be in place. If a Blackentrepreneur had the bestproposal, proper financing,and bonding capacity, MayorNagin had no problem sign-ing a city contract – free fromgraft and malfeasance. Fiveyears after Katrina, New Or-leans has a strong BlackChamber of Commerce andBlack businesses performingsome sizeable contracts thatmake it a leader in the area ofBlack entrepreneurship. Thisis a very proud moment forNew Orleans. However,Mayor Nagin’s tenure waslimited to two terms and an-other mayor has come in.Mayor Mitch Landrieu seemsto be of another mindset to-ward Black business ownerswinning and managing keycity contracts. It is starting toappear that the changesmade under Mayor Naginand as a result of the rebuild-ing opportunities created byHurricane Katrina have made

the “Good Old Days” amemory that is trying to re-turn. Is Mayor Landrieu try-ing to undo what hard work,honesty, and transparencyhave made possible?

Two big examples ofthe progress are the sanita-tion contracts (waste pick upand disposal). It was highlycontroversial when the usualwinners of these contractscame in third and fourth place.The first and second winnerswere local Black entrepre-neurs who not only won thefinancing for the big projectsbut also got the bonding. Wehad to go to the East Coast tofind bonding companies tocover their performance butwe, the Greater New OrleansBlack Chamber of Commerce,got it done. It shook up a lot oftraditional players, but MayorNagin was living up to hispledge of fairness. Nowcomes Mayor Landrieu andhe wants to cancel those con-tracts and re-bid them. This

is immoral! They won the con-tracts, have performed, ac-cording to the scope, and arein total compliance.

In addition to trying tobreak up perfectly legal con-tracts, Mayor Landrieu wantsto return that “hot bed” of du-bious contracting – New Or-leans Airport Authority –back to the way it was beforeMayor Nagin’s administra-tions. He is shaking up theBoard and it appears thatsome of the old players arestarting to return. Theprogress that has been madeduring the last five years isunder attack and that is a veryterrible shame.

The good people of NewOrleans should rise upagainst this attempt to turnback the hands of time andjeopardize the free enterprisesystem that has come to frui-tion and all of the equal op-portunity that has set in. NewOrleans’ new era of transpar-ency and commerce is under

attack and the traps of corrup-tion are being laid in placeonce again. It is very impor-tant that this backlash thatMayor Landrieu seems to beallowing be repulsed. TheBlack business communitymust fight and dare not com-promise for malfeasance. Thecontracts that are now inplace were won fairly andthey should stay in place.Anything less will bring backthe scandals, FBI investiga-tions, and the sleazy reputa-tion that has finally been re-moved.

Mayor Landrieu seemsto have a big problem withthis progress. If he continuesfighting this atmosphere offair competition and freetrade, he will find his politi-cal future tainted with thestink and rot of the past.Hopefully, he will snap outof it. If not, we will certainlycooperate with our friendsand the FBI to prevent the re-turn of the old and corrupt.

New OrleansBattles BackBy Judge Greg Mathis

NNPA Columnist

It’s been five years sinceHurricanes Katrina andWilma stormed into New Or-

leans, destroying lives, fami-lies and entire communities.The city’s restoration hasbeen slow going: early on, re-turning homeowners want-ing to rebuild found them-selves bogged down in redtape. The last two years, how-ever, have brought about sig-nificant changes in the city’slandscape and once devas-tated neighborhoods arestarting to thrive. The twostorms left New Orleans with

more than 65,000 abandonedhomes and empty lots. Any-one living in an urban envi-ronment can tell you thatsuch blight will eventuallylead to both an increase incrime and a decrease in thequality of life for communityresidents. And, that’s exactlywhat was happening in NewOrleans, until local officialsand community groups be-gan to develop programs de-signed to do away with urban

blight. State and city officialsbegan using money allocatedfor the city’s recovery effortsto tear down unsafe build-ings. They also began to buyabandoned lots, using federaldollars from another pro-gram, selling them tohomeowners in the commu-nity. The lots are often con-verted into community gar-dens or used to build addi-tional homes. Thanks to theseefforts and others, the number

of blighted homes in New Or-leans has dropped 32 percentin the last two years. Thoughthe city still leads the nationin its percentage of aban-doned buildings and vacantlot, things are looking up.Residents are steadily mov-ing back to the city; as thepopulation grows, the num-ber of blighted homes willcontinue to decrease. By de-creasing blight, New Orleansis going against the current

national trend. As the GreatRecession drags on and morefamilies lose their jobs andthen their homes, many urbanareas are seeing an increasein abandoned properties. Ifthe housing and financialmarkets don’t rebound soon,the nation make have to lookto New Orleans – a city manydidn’t think deserved to berebuilt – as a model for reduc-ing blight and transformingcommunities.

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Sunday School 8:45 a.m. Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.

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(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)

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Imani Community ChurchDavis Elementray Auditorium 5214 West Duval Road

Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Worship Service 10:00 A.M.•Power Hour Bible Life Group 6:00 P.M.

Imani Complex & Office,11800 Mustang at Duval Austin, Texas 78727

Visit:imanichurch.comOffice: 512-343-9300

Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims

Ebenezer Baptist Church1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax: 512-478-1892

Radio Ministry (KIXI 970 AM 9:00 A.M.TV Ministry (ACTV. Ch 32) 9:00 A.M.Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875

Sunday ServicesWorship Service 8:00 A.M.Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Discipleship Training 10:00 A.M.Worship Service 11:00 A.M.

WednesdayMidweek Prayer Service 7:00 P.M. Child Development CenterAges 0-5 years (Daily) 512-478-6709

Rev. Marvin C. GriffinPastor

Rev. H. Ed CalahanPastor

November 19, 2010/The Villager/Page 3

St Annie A.M.E. Church1711 Newton StreetAustin, Texas 78704

Voice mail (512) 444-4509E-mail: saamechurch@peoplepc.com

Church School 9:30 A.M. SunMorning Worship 10:45 A.M. Sun

Bible Study 7:30 P.M. Sun.

Rev. Derwin D. Gipson, Pastor

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(512) 476-8201 Fax (512) 476-5693

Weekly ServicesSunday School 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Worship 11:00 a.m.Wed. Night Bible Fellowship 6:30 p.m.

Rev. Coby Shorter, IIIPastor

The Spencer & Ora Lee Nobles“Hope Center” (512) 476-6722

Websi te :www.rosewoodbaptistchurch.org

“Divine Enpowerment for Bold Ministries”

Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church 5900 Cameron Road Austin, Texas 78723-1843

(512) 451-0808 (512) 302-4575 Fax Web Site - www.themount.net

WORSHIP SERVICESSunday Worship - 7:45 a.m. & 11 a.m.Church School - 9:45 a.m.Bible Studies - Mon, 6:30 p.m. & Wed., 12 noonWednesday Night Worship - 7 p.m.

“Ministries For Mankind” Luke 4:18

A.W.. Anthony Mays, Senior Pastor

Rev. Lois Hayes, Pastor

Advancing the Ministry -Expanding the Church

David Chapel

Lone

The Great PhysicianThe Great PhysicianThe Great PhysicianThe Great PhysicianThe Great PhysicianThis column is by LadyLightJoshua Chapel CME

Church will present a FallFlea Market for Christmas,Saturday, December 4, 2010from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

This event will be per-fect for early Christmas shop-pers and will feature bakeditems, books, handcrafted

jewelry, sewn crafts,conmetics, home made chili,gumbo, turkey legs kettle corn,cotton candy and muchmore.Booth are still available.

The event will be heldat 1006 East Heager Lane inAustin. Call (512) 339-(pray)for further details.

Joshua Chapel CME holdsChristmas Flea Market

I just wanted to say why I am so grateful this Thanksgiv-ing holiday! As I reflect on the last few holidays and theone coming up I am in awe at how much my family hasbeen restored. Just five years ago we couldn’t even gathertogether in peace. Some were in jail, addicted, and bittertowards one another, but look what God has done! Wearen’t perfect, but we now gather in peace and enjoy thecompany of one of another. I just wanted to testify thisyear that God is not a man that He should lie, He is fullycapable of restoration and for that I am forever thankful!Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for sharing! The Lord is waiting to be kind to you.He rises to have compassion on you. The LORD is a Godof justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. May allexperience the same faithfulness of a loving God in theirhomes this season. The Lord is good to those whosehope is in him, to the one who seeks him. He will hear Hispeople when they call for help and will rescue them fromall their troubles. May the Lord’s face continue to shineupon you and your family and may you continue toreceive His grace and peace for many years to come!Love,The Great PhysicianIsaiah 30:18 Numbers 23:19 Lametations 3:25 Psalms34:17 Numbers 6:25

1,000 Turkeys help 1.000Families celebrate Thanksgiving

It just wouldn’t beThanksgiving without a tur-key, so Randalls Good Mar-kets is making sure thou-sands of central Texans areguaranteed the traditionalcenterpiece for their holidaymeal.

Randalls is again do-nating 1,000 frozen turkeys tothe Capital Area Food Bank(CAFB) to be distributed tocentral Texas families and in-dividuals.

The frozen turkeys weredelivered to CAFB, Tuesday,November 16, 2010. Theywere delivered by Randalls18-wheeler and placed in a160,000 cu. ft.. freezer.

The mission of theCapital Area Food Bank of

Texas is to nourish hungrypeople and lead the commu-nity ending hunger. Since1982, CAFB in collaborationwith more than 350 partneragencies has been helpingCentral Texans in need pro-viding healthy food, nutri-tional program assistanceand education, so they canmake better choices at meal-time. Over the last 12 months,CAFB distributed more than25 million pounds of food andgrocery products and served300,000 Central Texans in its21 county service territory.

For more informationon the CAFB of Texas and itsprograms, visitwww.austinfoodbank.org orcall 512/282-2111.

We can stretchyour

advertisingbudget. Just call

us at 512.476.0082 More than 13,000 mealswill be served to Austin residentson November 23

To celebrate theseason, H-E-B will host the21st annual Austin Feast ofSharing dinner, an H-E-Bholiday tradition for commu-nity residents to enjoy a deli-cious, free meal and festiveentertainment.

Hundreds of H-E-B andcommunity volunteers inAustin will work together toprepare and serve more than13,000 meals to the commu-nity. All together, 3,625 lbs ofsliced turkey breast; 3,200 lbs.of mashed potatoes; 3,200 lbs

Church news?, If so,send to vil3202 @aol.com

or call 476-0082

H-E-B HOSTS 21stANNUAL

FEAST OF SHARINGDINNER IN AUSTIN

of vegetable medley; 170 gal-lons of turkey gravy; 1,050pies; 13,000 dinner rolls;soft drinks and milk will beserved from 4-8 p.m at thePalmer Events Center 900Barton Springs Roa Austin,TX 78704

Feast of Sharingis part of H-E-B’s commit-ment to support the commu-nities it serves. It gives thecompany an opportunity toserve a nutritious meal,share a spirit of camarade-rie during the holiday sea-son, and express thanksand appreciation to thecommunity.

Check us out on our websitewww.the austinvillager.com

Page 4/THE VILLAGER/November 19, 2010

Managing campaigns for corporationsaround the clock, around the world.

Youth of Today, Hope of Tomorrow

Alonzo BlackHendrickson High School

Marshay HatcherPflugerville Middle School

Tori Smith, Lockhart Junior High School

Lexus WrenKIPP: Austin Collegate

Olivia SmithLockhart H.S.

Alon RodgersKelly Lane Middle School

Toni NelsonKIPP: Austin Collegiate

Jaquarry WilsonLBJ High School

Rickey HayesManor New Tech HS

GO CARDINALS! Wehad a double win last week,both boys and girls basketball

team won. So this week wehave early release on Wednes-day and the 10th gradershave reading benchmarkingon friday.

On November 23rd wehave a teachers vs. studentsvolleyball game. If you wouldlike to watch our KAC Cardi-nals play, the next game ison Thursday November 18th@ 5 pm. Also next week wehave Wednesday-Friday offfor Thanksgiving. Also youcan still donate cans.

A double win last week

This year I will be at-tending the 21st Annual HEBFeast Of Sharing as an volun-teer. It’s my second year go-ing to this event as an volun-teer. I will be going with TTA(Top Teens Of America). Last

HEB Feast of Sharingyear was my first time doingthis, so my job was that i hadto help clean up trash and re-cycle soda cans.I really enjoydoing this event , it makes mefeel that I’m giving back to mycommunity and that’s al-ways a good thing. It makesyou feel good that you arehelping someone less fortu-nate, and these people reallyappreciate it. There are a lotof meals that are given topeople in need.HEB Feast ofSharing will be on November23rd. I hope more peoplewould come out to supportthis cause, because it’s a re-warding experience.

LBJ High School endedup playing Cedar Park HighSchool on Thursday night.The Game ended up beingheld in Cedar Park. The Jag-uars played a good game inmy opinion. Supposedly, as

LBJ vs. CEDAR PARKstated by a handful of play-ers, many Cedar Park playerswere much bigger and tallerthan the LBJ players. The gameseemed to go by very slow, butit was filled with tension. TheFinal Score was 70-20 withCedar Park having the bettergame. This game marked theend of the football season. Al-though this game wasn’t awin, the Jags played outstand-ing games and had a spec-tacular season. Many weredisappointed but I excludedmyself from the bunch. I’m soproud of them. They made itto the playoffs, which is actu-ally pretty good in my eyes.GO JAGS!

Last Monday, we tooka Science test and that was

all. On Tuesday, we hadmath test, went to the com-puter lab again f ree-handed drew SouthAmerica, and that was all.

On Wednesday,nothing happened. Thurs-day, was Veteran’s Day, sothe choir group sang acouple of songs and had atest for Language Arts.

On Friday, I had 2quizzes for Social Studiesand Science. That’s all, seeyou next week

Last week about 80PISD students showed up atthe east entrance of the TexasState Capitol on Nov. 9 tolearn about leadership, allfrom other leaders. The stu-dents present representedeach of PISD’s 3 high schools.The students were part of theTeen Leadership ExperienceProgram, a second-year pro-gram designed specifically forjuniors in the district.

The program’s intent isto encourage leadership inleaders of the student body.Students on the trip werenominated by their teachersfor the leadership ability orleadership potential theyshow. After being nominatedstudents had the opportunityto apply for the program ifthey were interested.

The trip began with thehand-picked 11th gradershearing a speech on commu-nications in politics and gov-ernment from our State Rep-resentative, Mark Strama.Next the students were givena tour of the House of Repre-sentative and the Senate toconclud the group’s time inthe capitol. They then took awalk downtown to ChaseTower for lunch before re-turning to their respectiveschools.

Teen Leadership Experience

Will PurcellManor New Tech High

What does Veteran’sDay mean to me? It means tome a day that we celebrate

What Veteran’s Day means to meand appreciate the sacrifice/hard effort that prior and cur-rent soldiers put in the war theyendured. I’m proud to say thatmy school had a rally lastweek about the importance ofVeteran’s day. Yes, there wasa lot of talking and patrioticsinging, but it all has a pur-pose. I hope other high schoolstudents, like myself appreci-ate veterans day like I do. Ihonestly think all schoolsshould spend a portion of theirtime talking about veteransday to their student body.

Whats Happening at LJHS

Thanksgiving is com-ing everyone! That meansthat people are already get-ting prepared, you know buy-ing the turkeys and hams andbooking flights. Thanksgiv-ing is mainly about givingthanks and sharing time withour loved ones. To others,Thanksgiving is all about eat-ing food. Thanksgiving isalso kind of like having fam-ily reunions since most of thefamily comes to somebody’shouse to celebrate.

I like having the familycome to my house everyThanksgiving because wehave a lot of fun. A lot of fami-lies like Thanksgiving beingcelebrated because of thecloseness and harmony it canbring. Take for instance, thedescendants of the Pilgrimsand Native Americansknown for America’s mostfamous Thanksgiving cel-ebration.

Here’s the history onThanksgiving: The Pilgrimsleft Plymouth, England, on

September 6, 1620, headed for“The New World”. Arrivingin Massachusetts in late No-vember, the Pilgrims soughta suitable landing place. OnDecember 11, just before dis-embarking at Plymouth Rock,they signed the “MayflowerCompact” - America’s firstdocument of civil governmentand the first to introduce self-government.

After a prayer service,the Pilgrims began buildinghasty shelters. However, un-prepared for the starvationand sickness of a harsh NewEngland winter, nearly halfdied before spring. Assistedby helpful Indians, they en-joyed a huge harvest the fol-lowing summer.

The grateful Pilgrimsthen declared a three-dayfeast, starting on December13, 1621, to thank God andto celebrate with their Indianfriends. While this was notthe first Thanksgiving inAmerica, it was America’sfirst Thanksgiving Festival.

I would have to saythat Thanksgiving is my sec-ond favorite holiday of theyear. I’m sure that a lot ofpeople love to celebrateThanksgiving with their fam-ily and the family that theydon’t normally see often. SoThanksgiving is a wonderfulholiday and should be cel-ebrated every year.

Happy Thanksgivingeverybody.

Thanksgiving is coming

The ZAP (ZEROSAREN’T PERMITTED) pro-gram is back at PflugervilleMiddle School. Last year , Zaptargeted students who hadserious problems with turn-ing in major assignments,thisyear it is designed to take careof ONLY MISSING WORK.Assignments that do not fallinto the “missing work” cat-egory should be resolved by

the student and teacher. Zapis not used as punishment butto simply focus on havingwork turned in. Students who do not turnin work will be ZAPPED byhis/her teacher. In order toavoid the after school tutorialsession on FRIDAY studentsmust get the work turned into the 7th grade assistant prin-cipal : Mr.Ham, if not stu-dents will have to stay until5pm after school to get workdone and turned in. I think that this system willhelp a lot of student stay ontop of their grades to makesure that they aren’t failing orhaving to stay and finishwork on a Friday. I am confi-dent that the program willensure success for all stu-dents who have trouble alongthe way each day.

Zeros Aren’t Permitted

Tayla TerryLBJ High School

Last week on Fridaythe KAC lady cardinalsplayed against Regentshigh school and we won! Socongratulations lady cardi-

nals and lets get ready forThursday ‘s game. Also twoweeks ago on Friday theboy’s basketball teamplayed against VeritasAcademy and won. So goodjob to the boys.

Last week on FridayKAC students did not haveschool due to parent studentconferences. Coming up thisweek at Kipp: Austin Colle-giate is the continuation ofour can food drive competi-tion amongst all of thegrades to help give food tothe less fortunate. So untilnext time stay in school andgoodbye.

KAC Lady Cardinals are winners

I am reporting to youabout academic success! LBJHigh School had over 400 stu-dents to recieve Honor Rollcertificates for this six weeks!

Our Principal, Mrs. Henryread every students name aswe came up to recieve ourHonor Roll Certiciate andgifts. This was a proud mo-ment for me and my family be-cause I was an Honor Roll re-cipient.

The students and par-ents were also honored withbreakfast after this joyousevent! It pays off to spend timereading, asking questionsand participating in academ-ics. In my opinion,learning isfun and will lead to a pros-perous future.

Kids and adults, Stayoff drugs and stay in school.

Honor Roll at LBJ

Advertise in the VILLAGER!Call 476-0082 for info. or go to

www.theaustinvillager.com

Save Money.

By Adrian JacksonPflugerville Middle School

You may think thatnothing happens at KellyLane but sports. Actuallythat’s not true. Between ma-jor sports activities studentsdo things like join StudentCouncil, the student govern-ment of Kelly Lane. Students’ideas, concerns, and interestsmake sure our voices areheard on campus. It is a stu-dent-run group. Or if you arelooking for a fun way to meetnew friends and challengeold ones join the Chess Clubbefore and after school.Knowing how to play is notnecessary! Another way tomeet friends is the Skateboard

Club. Learn new techniques,practice old ones, and join thecompetition.

Science Olympiad is agroup of the smartest kids atKelly Lane Middle School.Science Olympians are se-lected after completing a sci-ence exam. The Knights usu-ally compete well in engi-neering and science, and goon to state competition.Membership in the NationalJunior Honor Society is byinvitation only. Academics,leadership, and citizenshipare considered. Invitationsof membership are sent to8th graders who have a 94or better average for their 7thgrade year. To apply youhave to submit a resume, let-ters of recommendation, andan essay.

Next week is a shortweek as we celebrate Thanks-giving. The Youth Brigade al-ways does community serviceon that holiday. Usually I amout of town but my family iscoming to Austin this year.

The Student Government ofKelly Lane

The Villager Youth Brigade,the voice of Austin youth

since 1986!

Football season is overand the Panthers are readyfor basketball. Tryouts wereheld Friday, Nov.12.

Seventh grade boys and girlstryouts are in the morningbefore school. Eighth gradeboys and girls tryouts are inthe afternoon. You must at-tend tryouts in order to havea spot on the team.

Students are excited toshow their talents on thecourt. The coaches have beenworking really hard to get thestudents focused and moti-vated. With hard work andlots of practice, we hope tohave a great season. Go Pan-thers!!

Getting ready for basketball

November 19, 2010/The Villager/Page 5

Texas Lottery

“Stompin’ at the Savoy”

Oh what a night it will beat the 3rd Biennial gala ball, cel-ebrating the 50th Anniversary ofthe Austin Chapter of the Links,Incorporated, with anotherHarlem Nights event.

It will be “Stompin’at the Savoy” on December 18,2010 at the Renaissance Austin

Hotel, Austin, Texas, beginningat 7:00 p.m.

It will also be anevening of celebration, music,and entertainment from theHarlem Renaissance Era to raisefunds to establish a library at theTexas Empowerment Academyand to support other service

programs sponsored by AustinChapter, Links Incorporated.

The Renaissance(1920s – 1930s) was a period of pas-sionate and political expression ofAfrican American art, poetry, litera-ture and music. Contact CherylMorgan at 512-241-0787 for ticketsand more information.

Members of the Austin Chapter, Links, Inc. attending the 2008 Harlem Nights Event.

Tuskegee Airmen, Airwomen Get TheirPlace in the Sun

By Chris Levister Specialto the NNPA fromBlackvoicenews.com

UCR Celebration Com-memorates 70th Anniversary ofFamous Squadron’s Formation.

Twenty-two year oldCharles McGee was driving tosing at a church musical in southChicago on Sunday afternoon,December 7, 1941 when he heardthe news of the attack on PearlHarbor.

“It was my birthday. Wewent on with the show, but Iknew that one way or anotherwe were going to be involved inthe war.”

Former Tuskegee Airman,Retired Col. Charles McGeejoined more than a dozen fellowAirmen and Airwomen at Uni-versity of California (UC)Riverside’s Orbach Science Li-brary. The recent event washosted by the university’sTuskegee Airmen Archive.Sevendecades later 90-year-old retiredCol. Charles McGee still shutterswhen he talks about the day thatchanged his life and the lives ofthe nearly 1,000 men who cameto be known as the TuskegeeAirmen. “I had a draft card anda feeling my number might be

called but I never gave anythought to training as an avia-tion cadet. I don’t recall even see-ing an airplane when I wasyoung,” he said.

McGee, who holds therecord for the highest three-wartotal of fighter combat missionsof any pilot in U.S. history, wasthe featured speaker at the sixthannual Tuskegee Airmen cel-ebration at the Tuskegee AirmenArchive established in 2005.

Despite the repulsive be-havior displayed toward theAirmen, their combat record isone that remains unsurpassed,”Chancellor Timothy White saidin his welcoming remarks. “Thisarchive documents the lives ofthe Tuskegee Airmen before andafter their service to help studentslearn their history and to ensurethat we shall never return to thedark days of ignorance thesemen and women surpassed,” hesaid.

”People are now begin-ning to come to grips with ourhistory,” McGee said. “Our his-tory is what it is. It’s never goingto change.”The Tuskegee Air-men were recruited into anArmy Air Corps program thattrained Blacks to fly and main-

.Former Tuskegee Airman, Retired Col. Charles McGee (second row red jacket) joined morethan a dozen fellow Airmen and Airwomen at UC Riverside’s Orbach Science Library. The recentevent was hosted by the university’s Tuskegee Airmen Archive

tain combat aircraft. PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt had over-ruled his top generals and or-dered that such a program becreated. But even after they wereadmitted, many commanderscontinued to believe theTuskegee Airmen didn’t havethe smarts, courage and patrio-tism to do what was being askedof them.Nearly 1,000 fighter pi-lots trained as a segregated unitat an air base in Tuskegee, Ala-bama. Not allowed to practice orfight with their White counter-parts, the Tuskegee Airmen dis-tinguished themselves from therest by painting the tails of theirairplanes red, which led to thembecoming known as the “RedTails”.

Hundreds saw combatthroughout Europe, the Mediter-ranean, and North Africa, escort-ing bomber aircraft on missionsand protecting them from theenemy. Dozens died in the fight-ing; others were held as prison-ers of war.

Airwoman and first Blacknurse in the Regular ArmyNurse Corps. “Though Hitlerwas defeated, prejudice wasnot... Today America is trying toright that wrong.”

17.4 percent of Texas house-holds were at risk of hunger be-tween 2007 and 2009, up 1.1 per-cent from the prior three-year pe-riod, according to a U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture (USDA) reportreleased today. Nationally, 14.7%of households were deemed “foodinsecure” in 2009 – essentially un-changed from 2008 and the high-est number on record.

“This is a wake-up call forTexas,” said JC Dwyer, State PolicyDirector for the Texas Food BankNetwork. “While hunger remainshigh nationwide, Texas is gettingeven hungrier. Texas is now thesecond hungriest state in the na-tion. Now is not the time to backaway from our investments in nu-

trition and hunger relief.”Due of the timing of the sur-

vey the new data reflects 2009, inthe middle of the recession. Sincehunger typically lags behind un-employment, that number todayis almost undoubtedly worse.

While the number of hun-gry Texans grows, Congress isdebating passage of a child nutri-tion bill (S.3307) that would in-crease the quality of school meals.While deficit-neutral, the bill isfunded in part by a cut to futurefood stamps benefits. The WhiteHouse claims it will find a way toreplace the cuts following passageof the bill.

“This is a good child nutri-tion bill, and clearly needed now,”

said Dwyer. “But we have to en-sure we don’t end up giving chil-dren their dinner for lunch. Theseprograms help many of the samefamilies. If the need is growing,why cut one program to fund theother?”

Congress hopes to pass thechild nutrition bill in the next threeweeks before adjourning for theyear. New House leadership in2011 may make passage of the billmore difficult, according to advo-cates.

The Texas Food Bank Net-work provides a unified voiceamong nineteen food banks serv-ing every Texas county in supportof their common mission to endhunger in Texas.

USDA: 17.4 Percent of Texas Households Face HungerFood Banks Call for Passage of Child Nutrition Bill, Replacement of Food

Stamps Cuts

Page 6/THE VILLAGER/November 19, 2010

By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

President Barack Obama

The African Diaspors SectionBy Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Veterans’ Day ParadeOn November 11, 2010

a Veterans’ Day Parade washeld in the heart of downtownAustin. On this day currentmilitary personnel, veteransand their families along withthe state, federal, and localofficials, and the general pub-lic, all made their way to Con-gress Avenue to be a part ofthe parade. At the parade,veterans and current servicemembers were involved in theparade, while the publicwaved their flags. Moreover,the veterans who attendedthe parade proudly dis-played their American flagsand their uniforms.

Some of the veterans

who attended the event wereMike James, and Charles.Mike James served in the 101stAirborne for approximatelynine years. Moreover, he wasvery proud of defending hisnation against Rogue nation.Another participant of theevent was Charles. Heserved in both the KoreanWar and the Vietnam War.Charles joined the army be-cause it was a “way out” oftrouble. Moreover, he men-tioned, “The army is a goodway for young people nowa-days to get a job”. He statedthat the American army hasbeen involved in wars thatbring people out of oppres-sion, just like World War II.However, he mentioned thatin the past years, “The electedofficials have sent young sol-diers to wars that focused onthe national interest, ratherthan, the liberation of na-tions.”

Over the years, soldiersof every ethnicity and racehave sacrificed their lives de-spite the merits of the war orconflict. Although someelected presidents have triedto play politics by involvingthe United States in a conflict,our soldiers take the ordersand bravely fight the war. Onthe other hand, some Ameri-

can presidents have used themight of the American armyto liberate and free peoplefrom oppression, such as,World War I, World War II,Korean War, Balkan War, the

Operation Restore Democ-racy in Haiti, and the inva-sion of Afghanistan after theterrorist used that nation as alaunching pad for the 9/11assault.

All photos courtesy of Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

CHANGING NIGERIA BY WAYOF CENTRAL TEXAS

Ayo Abimbola

Ayo Abimbola withGeneral James F. Amos

On November 10, 2010,Ayo Abimbola who is run-ning for a Nigerian House ofRepresentative seat made astop in Austin Texas to meetwith local Nigerians and todistribute fliers in local Afri-can stores to let people knowthey can get involved in hiscampaign. Although he livesin the United States, he regu-larly goes back to Nigeria.Moreover, Mr. Ayo Abimboladecided to start a new politi-cal party and to run for office.He strongly believes that hecan change Nigeria into aprosperous nation.

Mr. Abimbola, who isrunning for a Nigerian House

seat, believes that he can helphis native land move to an ageof economic prosperity andpolitical stability. Mr.Abimbola chooses to run forthe Remo, Ikenne, andSagamu Federal DistrictHouse seat located in OgunState Nigeria in order, to givehis constituents a “better Ni-geria”. In other words, Mr.Abimbola wants to breakaway from the old manners ofdoing politics by fightingagainst corruption and en-titlements. Furthermore, ifelected Mr. Abimbola seeks topursue a “people’s agenda.”

If elected, Mr. Abimbolawould seek an agenda thatwould empower his constitu-

ents and the rest of Nigeria.For instance, if elected hewould pursue some of thesefollowing legislations: Estab-lish education for Youth Em-powerment and social devel-opments; plan a“ R e m o T e c h n o l o g yWorkforce”; Install the cre-ation of social security sti-pend funds for the elderly andhandicapped citizens; spon-sor foreign medical missionfor health care delivery inRemo; adhere to the establish-ment of an overseas enter-prise, or “Sister Cities” forvarious Remo Townships.Moreover, these are only a fewitems that he would seek toadvocate if he is elected.

Stock photo fropmwww.ayoabimbola.com

By Tsoke Adjavon

The Austin City Council

Starting November 15th

through November 18th, thecity Council will meet to holdboth a “Special Called Meet-ing” and a “Regularly CalledMeeting”. The citizens livingand working in Austinshould be involved in theprocess because theCouncil’s vote affects every-one in Central Texas. Peopleare welcome to give their in-put during the time set foritems of public hearing. Also,the public is welcome to showtheir support or their dis-agreement before the councilmembers vote on various is-sues. Moreover, the first twocity council meetings will bethe special called sessions.

On November 15, 2010the Austin city council willgo into a special called ses-sion to canvass the result ofthe November 2, 2010 Special

Municipal Elections whichinclude the passage of the 90million bond package. Ac-cording to the city council, thisbond package would allowthem to build new roads thatwould alleviate traffic. Also,the bond package will createmore bike lanes in the city.Moreover, the city councilmentioned that it would in-crease the city’s debt. Then onNovember 17, 2010 the citycouncil will convene for thesecond special called meetingto deal with the “AustinDowntown Plan.”

On November 18, 2010the city council will hold theregular called session to voteon items that covers variousaspects of the city’s govern-ment such as energy, trans-portation, and regulatory af-fairs, police, and parks andrecreation. The items that thecity would vote on, whichwould affect the AfricanAmerican community includethe authorized negotiationsand the execution of amend-ments to increase the fundingof two contracts for HIV coremedical and support servicesunder the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Part A grantprogram: AIDS SERVICES OFAUSTIN, INC. in an amount

not to exceed $87,045, for atotal 12-month contractamount not to exceed$1,050,619 for the periodMarch 1, 2010, through Feb-ruary 28, 2011, and a revisedtwo-year total contractamount not to exceed$1,972,761; and PROJECTTRANSITIONS, INC., in anamount not to exceed $29,015,for a total 12-month contractamount not to exceed $99,015for the period March 1, 2010,through February 28, 2011;and a revised total two-yearcontract amount not to exceed$199,015. Moreover this fund-ing would help the non-profitorganizations to educatepeople about HIV, which hastaken a massive toll on theAfrican American commu-nity. Also, item 59, approvesa resolution declaring the Cityof Austin’s support and par-ticipation in a multi-pronged,comprehensive hate crimesinitiative to foster a safe andwelcoming community bybuilding public infrastruc-ture, awareness, and sensitiv-ity related to hate crime.”Moreover, the passage of thislaw would improve the pub-lic safety of Austin’s minor-ity population, including Af-rican Americans.

By Zenitha PrinceSpecial to the NNPA

from theAFRO-American

Newspapers (DC)

CBC Says NewlyElected Black

RepublicansWill Be Welcomed

Visit our sponsorsand advertisers@

Election Day victoriesfor two Black Republicansraise a rare question in theU.S. House of Representativesin the 112th Congress: Howwill two African-Americanmembers of the Grand OldParty interact with the Con-gressional Black Caucus?

Fourteen Black Repub-licans ran for Congress in theNov. 2 mid-term elections but,after all the votes werecounted, only Tim Scott, aSouth Carolina businessman,and Allen West, a Florida-based Army veteran of the Iraq

War, will take seats. They arethe first African-AmericanRepublicans to be elected toCongress since 1995.

In an e-mailed state-ment to the AFRO CBC Chair-woman Barbara Lee, D-Calif.,said unequivocally, “Shouldeither of the two AfricanAmerican Republicans re-cently elected to the House ofRepresentatives requestmembership in the Congres-sional Black Caucus they willbe welcomed.”

The decision reflectedthe sentiments of an over-whelming majority ofAFRO.com poll voters, whosaid the men should be admit-ted.

So far, West has said hewants to be part of the CBC,while Scott is still undecidedand is leaning toward notparticipating.

“It’s really hearteningto see this type of diversitydemonstrated in African-

American representation,”NAACP Washington BureauChief Hilary Shelton said.“[Republican Party Chair-man] Michael Steele deservescredit for seeing more AfricanAmericans seeking office un-der the Republican banner.”

He added, “They couldbe a real asset to the strategyof passing legislation in theHouse and in advancing theCBC [Congressional BlackCaucus] agenda ... It’s verydifficult to get things throughwithout the cooperation ofDemocrats and Republi-cans.”

Not everyone is as sureabout the Republicanfreshmen’s value to the CBC,which was created in 1969 asa Capitol Hill advocate for thenation’s African Americans.While membership is open toall African-American law-makers, its members havebeen overwhelmingly Demo-crats, with only Republicans

Melvin Evans, of the VirginIslands, and Gary Franks, ofConnecticut, ever becomingCBC members. Though in-vited, J.C. Watts, a Black Re-publican who representedOklahoma from 1995 to 2003,declined membership. Sen.Edward Brooke, a Massachu-setts Republican who servedin the Senate from 1967through 1979, was not pub-licly invited and refused tojoin a CBC boycott of Presi-dent Richard Nixon’s State ofthe Union address in 1971 al-though he criticized theNixon administration’s ap-proach to the Black commu-nity and civil rights.

“The name of the groupis not the Congressional BlackDemocratic Caucus, it’s theBlack Caucus. [And] if theygo back to their foundingprinciples then these two menshould be welcomed withopen arms,” said Black Re-publican political strategistRaynard Jackson. But, he pre-dicted, even though West andScott have been invited, “thisgroup will make a hostile en-vironment for another Black[Republican] based on themnot being compatible in their

philosophical leaning.”Echoing statements by

Chairwoman Lee in an Oct. 22article in The Economist,Maryland CongresswomanDonna Edwards told theAFRO, “If they’re aligned withthe interests of workingpeople, particularly African-Americans, who struggle andthey want to work with us toadvance those interests,” theywould be a good addition tothe caucus. But, she added,“what I know of them andtheir agendas, it is difficult forme to see how that wouldwork [though] it might makefor some interesting discus-sions.”

Backed by the nationaltea party and elected to officeby mostly White voters, Scottand West have decidedly con-servative agendas, includinglimited government, loweredtaxes, and cuts in governmentspending. Jackson said that,even among GOP ranks, themen are considered to be far,far right of center, makingthem almost incompatiblewith the mostly liberal mem-bers of the CBC.

“These boys are crazy;they’re tea party people,” Jack-

son told the AFRO. “I’ve hadWhite people calling me upsaying these guys are ex-tremely conservative and sofar out of the mainstream. Canyou see them talking withMaxine Waters? I’d like to bea fly on the wall.”? But, headded, “If I were them, I’d joinjust to push the issue.”

West, in a Politico inter-view, indicated his interest injoining the CBC. “That hasbeen a monolithic voice in thebody politic for far too long.There is a growing conserva-tive Black voice in this coun-try,” that needs to be heard,West told the publication.

Scott, on the other hand,told Politico he is less willingto join, pointing to his experi-ence in the South CarolinaLegislative Black Caucus andthe dissonance between himand Black Democrats.

www.TheAustinVillager.com

November 19, 2010/The Villager/Page 7

JANITORIAL WORKERSNEEDED

ISS Facility Services, Inc. has open-ings for supervisory, floor men, andgeneral cleaners for part-time eveningemployment. Apply at ISS Facility Ser-vices, Inc. Austin, M-F, between 4-6pm, 8101 Cameron Road # 304. ISSFacility Services, Inc. is an Equal op-portunity Employer (EOE) and pro-motes a Diverse Workforce.

EMPLOYMENT/BIDS/PROPOSALS /PUBLIC INFORMATION/ FOR SALE /

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soliciting Minority, Small LocallyOwned & Women-Owned BusinessEnterprise participation for the fol-lowing City of Austin Project: S-307 Solids Handling and CentrifugeFacility; Bid Date & Time: 11/30/2010, 10:00AM CT. Please Call(713) 429-6500 for more informa-tion.

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AUSTIN COMMUNITYCOLLEGE DISTRICT (ACC) issoliciting bids from qualified ven-dors to provide Armored Car Ser-vices.

Invitation for Bids No. 990-11007VJ

Completed bids must besubmitted to the Purchasing De-partment by no later than Friday,December 10, 2010, at 2:00 P.M.Central Time. Bid packages are avail-able on the ACC Purchasing websiteat http://www.austincc.edu/pur-chase/.

In addition, the bid documentis available in the ACC PurchasingOffice [(512) 223-1044] betweenthe hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,Monday through Friday. ACC Of-fices will be closed for the Thanks-giving Holiday, November 25-26,2010. Staff will not be available dur-ing this time.

Bids, when submitted, mustbe properly identified, sealed, andreturned to the ACC PurchasingOffice, ACC Service Center, 9101Tuscany Way, Austin, Texas 78754,by the deadline for submission. Elec-tronically transmitted responses willnot be accepted. Late bids will beretained unopened.

ACC reserves the right toaccept or reject any or all bids, inwhole or in part, to waive informali-ties or technicalities, to clarify am-biguities, and to award items orgroups of items as may be in thebest interest of ACC.

Christine Richardsonwas a basketball standout atVirginia State University.Tina Watkins was a track andfield star at Huguenot HighSchool in Richmond, VA.Now as adults, they’ve usedthat competitive spirit toknock down barriers andclimb to the top in a maledominated profession.Richardson and Watkins re-cently became the first womento rise through the ranks andbecome battalion chiefs withthe Richmond Department ofFire and Emergency Services.Both Battalion ChiefsWatkins and Richardson ranthe full gauntlet; recruit,firefighter, lieutenant, cap-tain, to battalion chief.

This is a major break-through for the RichmondVA. Fire and Emergency Ser-vices Department which hasa 152 year history, making itone of the oldest fire depart-ments in the nation. “An-other hallmark is achievedtoday,” said RichmondMayor Dwight C. Jones.These trailblazers are oldfriends. They first met as

From Sports Stars to Fire Battalion Chiefs — TwoWomen Make History as Richmond, VA. Firefighters

By Fred JeterSpecialto the NNPA from the Richmond

Free Press

counselors in Virginia’s Juve-nile Justice Department. ChiefWatkins joined RichmondFire in 1988 and ChiefRichardson in 2000.

Nationwide, only twopercent of firefighters are fe-male. “Yes, people are sur-prised when they hear I’m afirefighter,” said ChiefRichardson. “The first re-sponse is usually ‘I can’t be-lieve you drive that big truck.”Chief Watkins encouragesyoung women to consider fol-lowing in her footsteps. “Alot of women still feel like theycan’t do the job,” said ChiefWatkins. “That isn’t so. Youdon’t have to be a man or actlike a man. You can come inhere, carry yourself as awoman, be respected as awoman, and become part of ateam.”

Chief Watkins grew upin Richmond’s Byrd Parkneighborhood, playing sportsyear-round, with three ath-letic brothers. At Huguenot,she excelled on the Falcons’track and field squad andwas named team MVP in hersenior year.

Chief Richardson,standing 5 foot 11, was a first-team All-State basketball

player at Oxon Hill HighSchool in Maryland.Richardson attended VirginiaState University on a basket-ball scholarship. “You don’thave to be athletic to be afirefighter, but a certain men-tal fortitude and competitiveedge does help you progressthrough the ranks,” said ChiefRichardson. Being flabby isnot an option for Richmond’sfirefighters. Chief Watkinsremains fit bowling and play-ing golf. Chief Richardsonlifts weights, rides a bicycleand trains on an ellipticalmachine.

During the same cer-emony honoring ChiefsWatkins and Richardson,Robert S. Baumgardner Jr.,John Harkness, ClarenceLewis III and Orlando Morriswere promoted to the rank ofbattalion chief from captain.“The promotion of six cap-tains at the same time is un-precedented for our Depart-ment,” said Fire Chief RobertCreecy. “Honoring this groupas they assume their respon-sibility in this mission-criticalrole is a historic and veryproud time for our organiza-tion.”

There is one other fe-male battalion chief withRichmond Fire, Tracy Tho-mas who joined the depart-ment from outside and did notgo through the fire academy.

New city Fire Department Battalion Chief Tina Watkins (l)and Christine Richardson chat at their historic promotions. Photoby Jerome Reid for Richmond Free Press

Today, car2go N.A.LLC celebrates its one-yearanniversary in Austin, Texas.Daimler started its first NorthAmerican car2go pilot projectin partnership with the Cityof Austin on November 17,2009. The program opened tothe public in May 2010 andhas reached close to 15,000registered members. In orderto keep up with the growingdemand, car2go N. A. LLC isplanning to expand its oper-ating area and increase itscurrent fleet by 50 percent toa total of 300 vehicles. Thecompany will also introducethe world’s first carsharingproduction model named thesmart “car2go edition”.

“300,000 miles driven,100,000 rentals and close to15,000 registered membersclearly shows the success ofthe program and how theAustin community hasadopted this unique con-cept since its launch a yearago. The numbers have ex-ceeded our expectations andhave encouraged otherNorth American cities tolook at Austin as a modelwhen it comes to finding al-ternative solutions in reduc-ing congestion and emis-sions .” said Nicholas Cole,president and CEO ofcar2go N.A. LLC.

Over the next couple

car2go Austin Celebrates FirstAnniversary In Austin

of months, car2go N.A. LLCwill be assessing the mobil-ity patterns of the program forexpansion of the car2go Aus-tin operating area. Theplanned expansion of the ex-isting Austin operating areawill roll out in Spring 2011.

Early next year, thesmart fortwo vehicles used inthe car2go program will bereplaced by the world’s firstvehicle specifically designedand manufactured forcarsharing. The smart“car2go edition” was un-veiled at the Paris MotorShow this past October. Thesmart “car2go edition” hasmany features that make itparticularly well-suited forcarsharing. For instance, thisvehicle features new hard-ware that will make the rentalprocedure even more conve-nient, simple and secure. Ad-ditionally, the wheel rims andits seats are more robust thanthose of the car2go predeces-sor and the radio and navi-gation system have been up-graded as requested bycar2go’s members.

“The new technologyplatform will allow for con-tinuous development of fea-tures that will further en-hance our members’ experi-ence,” Cole said. car2go N.A.LLC plans to replace the cur-rent network with the new

smart “car2go edition” ve-hicles in the course of spring2011 and increase the num-ber of vehicles from 200 to atotal of 300.

About 80 percent of thenew car2go vehicles in Aus-tin will be equipped with an-other innovative feature: A100 Watt solar roof which isfully integrated in the on-board electronics and servesto supply power to thetelematics and continuallycharges the car’s battery. Thisallows fuel consumption tobe reduced. In addition, if thevehicle is parked in the sun,solar energy is used to powerthe ventilation system, whichreduces the interior tempera-ture. This not only adds to thecomfort when a customer getsinto the car in hot temperatureconditions, but also reducesthe burden on the environ-ment, because the air-condi-tioning system needs to ex-pend considerably less energyto cool the car down, thusreducing fuel consumption.

Because of the as-tounding success and thehigh level of participation inAustin, car2go N.A., LLC isset to undergo significantexpansion in NorthAmerica in 2011. NorthAmerican car2go operationswill continue to be head-quartered in Austin, Texas.

LBJ High School wasrecently honored for thefourth consecutive year forthe large number of studentswho apply to Texas collegesand universities. TheApplyTexas Submission Rateaward was announced at lastweek’s State of EducationEvent, sponsored by theGreater Austin Chamber ofCommerce.

This award goes to thecampus with the greatest per-centage of its Class of 2010 se-niors submitting the TexasCommon Application. TheTexas Common Applicationis a uniform college applica-tion.

At LBJ High School ,more than 92 percent of itsClass of 2010 submitted anApplyTexas form. LBJ alsoreceived this award from theChamber in 2007, 2008 and2009.

LBJ HighSchool Receives

Honor forNumber ofCollege

Applications

The Kealing MiddleSchool Wind Ensemble, un-der the direction of MarkGurgel, Sara Robinson, andJack Wilds, has been selectedto perform at the 64th AnnualMidwest Clinic, an Interna-tional Band and OrchestraConference, which will beheld December 15–18, in Chi-cago, Illinois.

The Midwest Confer-ence exists for educationalpurposes exclusively. Its mis-sion is to:

· raise the standards ofmusic education;

· develop new teaching

Kealing Wind Ensemble Selected to Perform atAnnual Band Conference

techniques;· disseminate to school

music teachers, directors, su-pervisors, and others inter-ested in music education in-formation to assist in theirprofessional work;

· examine, analyze, andappraise literature dealingwith music;

· hold clinics, lectures,and demonstrations for thebetterment of music educa-tion; and, in general,

· assist teachers andothers interested in musiceducation in pursuing theirprofession.

All 50 states, and morethan 30 countries, will berepresented at the MidwestConference. In addition totheir performance andspending time at the confer-ence, students will also at-tend performances by thePresident’s Own MarineBand, The Chicago Sym-phony, and the musicalWicked.

The wind ensemblewill perform a send-off con-cert on Sunday, December 12at 7:30 p.m. at the Bates Re-cital Hall on the campus ofThe University of Texas.

Special to the NNPAfrom the AFRO-AmericanNewspapers (DC)

Author ToniMorrison, celebrated forher novels “Beloved” and“Song of Solomon,” wasinducted into the elite Le-gion of Honor Society onNov. 3 at the Paris Minis-try in France.

According to the Asso-ciated Press, France’s Min-ister of Culture FredericMitterrand pinned the 79-year-old writer with a redand gold medal, officiallymarking her as an officerin the prestigious society.

“I want to tell youthat you incarnate what’smost beaut i ful aboutAmerica… (that) whichgives a Black child, bornduring segregation into amodest family in a me-dium-sized Ohio city anexcept ional dest iny,”Mitter- rand told Morrison,according to the AP. “Youwere the f i rs t womanwriter to tell the painfulhistory of Afro-Ameri-cans.” He then proceededto read an excerpt from theFrench translat ion ofMorrison’s novel “Jazz.”Morrison took the podiumfol lowing Mit terrand’sintro- duction. “I’ve al-ways fe l t welcomed inFrance and especially inParis, and it’s important tome, the rece ipt of th ismedal , the Legion ofHonor , because now Iknow in addition to being

Toni Morrison Receives French Legionof Honor Award

welcomed, I am prized,”Morrison said at the cer-emony, according to theAP.

Morrison, born ChloeAnthony Wofford in 1931,is a graduate of HowardUniversity, according toA&E’s Biography.com. Sherose to prominence follow-ing the publication of hernovels “Sula” and “Songof Solo- mon,” both re-leased in the ‘70s. But her1987 novel “Beloved” wasconsidered to be her mas-terpiece, receiving severalliterary awards including

the 1988 Pulitzer Prize. In1998, “Beloved” was pro-duced as a film starringOprah Winfrey and DannyGlover.

The Legion of HonorAward was created in 1802 byNapoleon Bonaparte, 19th cen-tury military and politicalleader of France, who grantedthe award to civilians and sol-diers for notable deeds, accord-ing to Blackvoices.com. OtherAfrican American recipients ofthe award include jazz artistMiles Davis, producer QuincyJones, and singer ShirleyBassey.

Toni Morrison

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Call 476-0082 for info. or go to

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CROCKETT TOPSCENTRAL TEXASLIST OF COLLEGE

APPLICATIONS

The Greater Austin Cham-ber of Commerce recently an-nounced that Crockett HighSchool had the largest numberof students applying for collegeadmissions through the “ApplyTexas” university submissionprocess. Crockett was also theninth highest in the state, interms of the number of studentsapplying for college admissions,with 332 students having com-pleted applications through Oc-tober 1 of this year.

“We are seeing a tremen-dous payoff, by promoting a col-lege-bound culture here atCrockett High School,” said Prin-cipal Craig Shapiro. “Our stu-dents are not only enthusedabout being here at Crockett, butthey are eagerly looking forwardto graduation and continuingtheir education in two- and four-year colleges and universities.That bodes well for the future ofAustin.”

Among the higher educa-tion and career opportunitiesavailable at Crockett are a dual-credit program, career and tech-nology education offerings, andthe AustinCorps, a civic educa-tion and public service intern-ship program with the City ofAustin.

Page 8/THE VILLAGER/November 19, 2010

National News

Minorities Do Not BecomeProfessors

Special to the NNPA from the Precinct Reporter Group

University faculty andacademic administratorsmust consider the differingneeds of underrepresentedminority graduate students toattract them into academiccareers, according to a recentreport sponsored by the Cali-fornia Community CollegeCollaborative (C4) at the Uni-versity of California (UC), Riv-erside.

The report by Audrey J.Jaeger, an associate professorat North Carolina State Uni-versity, and Karen J. Haley, anassistant professor at North-ern Illinois University, isbased on interviews with 45graduate students and 16 fac-ulty and administrators at UCRiverside from 2008 to 2010.

The researchers foundadministrators were not fullyaware of the considerablechallenges faced byunderrepresented minoritygraduate students. The ad-ministrators saw all graduatestudents as similar to them-selves: locked into a careerpath that would lead to jobsat research universities or asa researcher in government orindustry. Almost no one sawthe students as candidates forfaculty jobs at state collegesor community colleges, careerpaths of actual interest tograduate students.

The report – Under-rep-resented Minority GraduateStudents at the University ofCalifornia, Riverside: Pro-spective Faculty? — con-cludes that to address thedearth of underrepresentedminority faculty, administra-tors need to be aware of theneeds and desires ofunderrepresented minoritygraduate students and pro-vide support systems to ad-dress their needs. The reportalso states that the students

lack mentors and advocatesto help them reach their goals.

While scholarly re-search has heavily focused onthe diversity of student bod-ies at colleges and universi-ties, little attention has beengiven to the makeup of pro-fessors. The report, and a fol-low up investigation under-way that focuses onunderrepresented minorityfaculty at community collegesin California, aims to addresswhy there is a dearth ofunderrepresented minorityprofessors.

The report notes thatunderrepresented minoritiesmake up about one-third ofthe U.S. population and col-lege enrollment. However, in2005 only 17 percent ofnation’s full-time professorsbelonged to anunderrepresented minoritygroup.

The report focused onUC Riverside because of itshighly diverse undergradu-ate student body and becauseC4, a community collegepolicy and research center, islocated at UC Riverside, saidElizabeth Cox, assistant di-rector at C4.

Cox, John Levin, direc-tor of the collaborative andinterim dean of the UC River-side Graduate School of Edu-cation, and several graduatestudents assisted in prepar-ing the report.

The report highlightsfive findings:

(1) Positions outside aresearch university appearedto offer graduate students abetter work-personal life bal-ance, which was shown to bemore important than the per-ceived benefits of a facultycareer.

(2) Students committedto a faculty career expressed

an unwillingness to recreatethe status quo. In other words,students did not want to betold what to research. Instead,they wanted to undertake re-search “that mattered,” suchas work that would connectto their families and commu-nity.

3) Race is an authenticinfluence forunderrepresented minoritydomestic graduate studentsselecting a faculty career. De-cisions were based on theneeds of family and commu-nity.

(4) International gradu-ate students seek career flex-ibility as well as social pur-pose. Similar tounderrepresented minoritydomestic graduate students,international students wereconnected to their culturalvalues and were interested inhelping other people throughthe knowledge they acquiredreceiving their doctoral de-gree.

(5) Faculty and aca-demic administrators’ per-spectives shape and limit thepotential possibilities of ca-reer choices for graduate stu-dents.

The report also offersfour recommendations:(1) Provide graduate studentsopportunities to gain knowl-edge of, and experience with,various career paths.(2) Create a culture that seesfamily and community aspart of a faculty career, not adistraction from it.(3) Support and recognizegraduate students who seekto integrate the needs of theircareer and community.(4) Develop intentional con-nections and conversationsbetween academic adminis-trators and diverse groups ofgraduate students.

District Attorney ClearsNAACP of Wrongdoing

Special to the NNPA from the Milwaukee Community Journal

The Milwaukee CountyDistrict Attorney’s office an-nounced it has cleared theMilwaukee Branch NAACPof any criminal wrongdoing.

The District Attorney’sinvestigation was the result ofaccusations made by a smallgroup of members and officeseekers. They reportedly ac-cused the Milwaukeebranch’s leadership of thiev-ery, malfeasance, and of liter-ally operating a criminal en-terprise from the offices of thelocal branch.

A press statement by theMilwaukee branch said theDistrict Attorney (DA) foundno evidence of the aforemen-tioned allegations. The DA’sfindings mirror findings of anearlier investigation by theNAACP’s national office thatalso found no wrongdoing bythe local branch.

Nevertheless, the allega-tions—many of which wereunsubstantiated—have takentheir toll on the local branchesoperations.

The Milwaukee branchhas experienced a decrease incontributions totaling$200,000, as a result of whatlocal NAACP officials called

a “smear campaign.”Despite the allegations

and investigations, branchPresident Jerry AnnHamilton said the Milwaukeebranch never stopped work-ing toward accomplishing theNAACP’s duel mission of en-suring equal opportunitiesand eliminating racial ha-tred.

“We are hopeful, butnot entirely confident, thiswill bring an end to this bit-ter, relentless, and at timesvery personal smear cam-paign,” Hamilton said in apress statement.

First elected branchpresident in 1998, Hamilton,along with members of herfamily involved in the orga-nization, have been at thecenter of the ongoing contro-versy that has cast a cloudover the organization. She isstepping down at the end ofher current term after branchelections are held November20.

Wendell Harris, Mil-waukee NAACP first vicepresident and one of two can-didates to replace Hamilton,said the local branch is fortu-nate to have the unwavering

support of dedicated volun-teers.

“We have been able toachieve civil rights victoriesin an atmosphere wheremany organizations wouldnot have been able to keeptheir doors open,” Harrissaid. “We persevered. This isa testament to the strength,character, and loyalty of ourvolunteers.”

Harris noted thebranch’s recent success inhelping to defeat the MPS take-over plan, assisting with the2010 Census, and in reopen-ing the investigation of the barowner who burned a statueof President Barack Obamainside her establishment.

“The mission of theNAACP must continue unin-terrupted,” Hamilton said.“Despite the smear cam-paign, the current administra-tion pledges to work dili-gently with the next adminis-tration, whomever it may be,to ensure a smooth transitionso as not to cause a disrup-tion of NAACP activities.

“The NAACP is largerthan any petty squabble bydisgruntled members,”Hamilton said.

Milwaukee Branch President Jerry Ann Hamilton