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INSIDE

RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’Tommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy Wyatt

Vol. 41 No.40 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: vil3202@aol.com February 21, 2014

Myra A. McDaniel (1932-2010) practiced lawin Austin for more than 30 years and was Texas’first African American secretary of state. She be-gan her legal career at the Office of the AttorneyGeneral of Texas, and served as Secretary of Statefrom 1984 to 1987. She served on a multitude ofcivic and community boards, at St. Edward’s Uni-versity, Seton Hospital, the Episcopal Seminary ofthe Southwest, and elsewhere, supported manyphilanthropic organizations, such as Austin LyricOpera and SafePlace. She felt that community sup-port was a requirement for those who were able.Her modest approach to life afforded her the abil-ity to share the riches she enjoyed with others.

See AUSTIN’S STRONG BLACK HISTORYROOTS SERIES: Part II, page 7

Myra A. McDaniel

Bios of AdmirableRumination

Bios of AdmirableRumination

The Altino Brothers toPerform at

GRAMMY® AwardWinners Conference

in Dallas

The Altino Brothers toPerform at

GRAMMY® AwardWinners Conference

in Dallas

Nerva Altino Robenson AltinoClassically trained

New York City basedpianist, the AltinoBrothers, will be teach-ing a Master Class andperforming during theGRAMMY® award win-ning Gospel music leg-end Dorinda ClarkCole’s First RegionalDFW Singers and Musi-cians Arts Conference.The festivities will takeplace at the Park InnRadisson on 1241 Mock-ingbird Lane Dallas, TX75247 on February 21 -22, 2014.

The Altino Brothers

have already begun per-forming during theearly part of the 2014awards season. Theyperformed onGRAMMY® award win-ner Bobby Jones’ televi-sion broadcast and at atribute to GRAMMY®

award winner and mu-sical legend TwinkieClark during StellarAwards week in Nash-ville, TN. The AltinoBrothers also had mul-tiple performances dur-

See6 HOURS PER DAY,

page 3

CapitalCommunicationsand the CapitalCity Argus toSponsor 52ndAnnual BlackHistory Month

Gala

AUSTIN - CapitalCommunications andthe Capital City Arguswill sponsor its 52ndAnnual Black HistoryMonth Gala on Monday,February 24. This year’sevent will be held at theElks Home located atNortheast Drive atHighway 290E, begin-ning at 6:30 p.m. with areception for candidateson the ballot for the pri-mary elections sched-uled for March 4th. Fol-lowing the reception, atribute to Black Historyin music and poetry, fol-lowed by a panel dis-cussion discussing thefuture of African Ameri-cans in the Austin area.The panel will consist ofall descendants offormer Texas slaves, in-cluding Villager pub-

See storied athleteJohn Harvey andlegendary figurephotoed with him

on next page. See HONOREES, page 2

GRAMMYNomineeRaheem

DeVaughnto Headline

HT Gala

®

GRAMMYNomineeRaheem

DeVaughnto Headline

HT Gala

(AUSTIN, TX) —Grammy-Award nomi-nee, rhythm and blues,and neo-soul performerRaheem DeVaughn willheadline Huston-Tillotson University’sEleventh AnnualPresident’s MankindAssisting StudentsKindle EducationalDreams (MASKED)Gala. The black-tie affairis scheduled for Satur-day, March 1, 2014, atthe Hyatt Regency Aus-tin, 208 Barton SpringsRoad, at 6 p.m. Long-term Texas SenatorRoyce West is serving at

See Dr. AKINS, page 2

Supporting BlackBusinesses By Shirley A. Franklin

Titi Ladette found out that Midtown Live wasa great venue for a book signing event. The authorof “The Pink Elephant in the Middle of the Getto,”(intentionally misspelled) went Mike Cash alongwith his wife and they discussed some ideal timesto schedule her event where she could take ad-vantage of maximum traffic at the sports cafe. Oneof her friends previously had her book launchevent there, and that friend reported to Ladette thatshe had a good outcome with her book signingthere. “I had a team of people,” reported Ladette.She mentioned that she had a specialist whohandled decorations, someone that organized theevent, and another person who handled sales. As

PINKABULOUS - The #ThinkPink Team :(leftto right) Paulette Monroe (event organization/per-sonal assistant), Diane Spence (event planner/de-cor design) TiTi Ladette (Author/Spoken Word Art-ist), Kenya Cunningham (Sales) pose at MidtownLive Sports Cafe. Photographer Patricia Williams

See STRENGTHENING OUR COMMUNITY, page 7

Bishop McKenziecommemorates

the life of Dr. King.See AUSTIN

Page 3

COA faces horrificlawsuite in ethnicprofiling fatality.See JACKSON

Page 6

Shark Tank seeksAustin for supreme

entrepreneurs.See CHAMBER

Page 7

TEXANS,IT’S TIME

TO

VOTE!Early voting started

Tuesday (Feb. 18) for theMarch 4 Primary Elec-tions. Some may be a littleconfused, because we justhad an election for the Run-off Races from November.Well that one is over andwe are back on schedule.

For the purpose ofour endorsements, we areonly making endorse-ments in the DemocraticParty Primary only. Hereare our choices for the con-tested races: U. S. Senator -No endorsement., District35, U. S. Rep. - LloydDoggett., Governor -Wendy R. Davis., Com-missioner of Agriculture -Richard “Kinky” Fried-man., Railroad Commis-sion - Steven Brown.,County Judge - AndyBrown., County Court atLaw 3 - John Lipscombe.,County Treasurer -Delores Ortega Carter.,Precinct 2, County Com-missioner - Brigid Shea.,Precinct 4, County Com-missioner - Margaret J.Gomez., Precinct 1, Jus-tice of the Peace - YvonneWilliams., Precinct 5, Jus-tice of the Peace - HerbEvans., Vote FOR all Ref-erendums.

It goes withoutsaying that this is one of themost important electionsthat we have had for al-most 20 years. Stakes arehigher than ever for theDemocratic Party. Whilethe Republican Party isforming a circle and firingat each other, this opensthe door for us to elect amore balanced Texas Gov-ernment. It is time to putan end to the one partygovernment that has con-trolled Texas for two de-cades. It takes all of us toprovide balance. Voteearly, or on March 4 for thecandidate of your choice.

Page 2 ~ February 21, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

THE COMMUNIQUÉ

lisher TommyWyatt, Argus PublisherCharles Miles, FormerMayor Pro-Tem CharlesUrdy and others. Thepanel will look forwardduring this year as wecelebrate the 50th anni-versary of the signing ofthe Civil Rights Act of1964 and approach the150th anniversary of theend of slavery in Texas. This year’s honoreesare the elected officialsin the Austin areas, in-cluding Williamson(Taylor), Caldwell(Lockhart), Travis (Aus-tin and Manor), Bastrop(Elgin and Bastrop) andHays (Kyle) Counties The event is free andopen to the public.Food and entertainmentwill be provided. Thoseattending may contrib-ute to the Argus Schol-arship Fund for AfricanAmerican descendantveterans of the Koreanand Vietnam Wars.

HONOREES INCLUDE ELECTEDOFFICIALS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The Argus BHM gala will include a special trib-ute to John Harvey, here with legendary UT foot-ball coach Darell Royal. Harvey will be recognizedas the “best athlete in the history of AISD.”

Dr. Akins to receive HT’sTower of Light Award

the Honorary Chairof the scholarship galain support of educationand Huston-TillotsonUniversity.

DeVaughn’slatest release “A PlaceCalled Loveland,” onhis own label, summa-rizes his creativity ex-pression and inner re-flection of his style.Popular hits such as“You, “Guess WhoLoves You More,” andhis biggest hit“Women,” that wasnominated for a 2008Grammy Award in theBest Male R&B VocalPerformance categorypropelled his career.His 2010 the “Love andWar MasterPeace” al-bum was also nomi-nated for a Grammy forBest R&B Album of theYear. He brings his pi-ano and guitar talents tothe Gala in addition tothis vocal and perfor-mance talents.

DeVaughnjoins a long list ofGrammy nominated art-ists such as ReginaBella, Najee, Will Down-ing, and Johnny Gillwho have performed upclose and personal at

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

HT’s signature event.The musical entertain-ment for the eveningalso features HT formergraduates who nowcomprise the groupSoulKitchan, back bypopular demand.SoulKitchan’s musicalselections take listenersdown memory lanewith their selection ofhits from the 1970s tothe 1990s. As students,the SoulKitchan musi-cians launched thecomeback of the HT jazzensemble. Now the HTJazz Elite, under the di-rection of Dr. JavierStuppard, will also per-form. The Parade of

Masks competition andsilent auction are alsofeatured.

Pioneer and long-standing beloved Aus-tin citizen Dr. W.Charles Akins will re-ceive the University’sTower of Light Award.A1954 graduate ofH u s t o n - T i l l o t s o n ,Akins was raised in seg-regated Austin as theson of sharecroppers.He was the first AfricanAmerican teacher atAustin’s desegregatedJohnston High School,served as assistant prin-cipal at his alma materold Anderson HighSchool, and was the firstprincipal of WestAustin’s new L.C.Anderson High School.Akins broke many colorbarriers during his dis-tinguished career as aneducator, mentor, andcoach before retiring atage 80. Akins HighSchool is named in hishonor. Other Tower ofLight Award recipientsare: Philip and DonnaBerber, A Glimmer ofHope Foundation; TheHonorable RonnieMcDonald; and BrianPeierls, Peierls Founda-tion.

Guests may pur-chase their admission tothe Gala for $125 andsponsors may secureseating at one of thesponsorship levels byvisiting www.htu.eduor calling 512.505.3073.A mask is required.

Dr. W. Charles Akins

Theta Phi SigmaChristian Sorority, Inc. islooking for new membersin the Austin area. Areyou a Christian womanthat wants to be a part ofa sisterhood based on bib-lical principles? Want toimprove your spiritualwalk & strengthen yourrelationship with God?Do you want to be in-volved in a positive,Godly atmosphere withother women that’s livinglife & want to make a im-pact? Then TPS may befor you! Come to our in-terest meeting SaturdayFebruary 22 12:00pm atthe Carver Library. Welook forward to meetingyou! For more info, youcan email us attps.cnu@gmail.com.

2014 PROFILES OF PROMINENCE INDUCTEESTO BE FETED BY AUSTIN CHAPTER –

NATIONAL WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT, INC.The Austin Metroplex Chapter of National Women of Achievement, Inc.

will induct 13 honorees for the Thirteenth Biennial African- American Women’s Pro-files of Prominence 2014 ceremony (formerly known as the Hall of Fame). This year’sprogram, which culminates with the organization’s 25th anniversary celebration, willbe held on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at the AT&T Conference Center, 1900 Univer-sity Avenue, Austin, TX, at 6 p.m. with a reception afterward. The Honorary Chairfor this year’s program is Dr. Gregory J. Vincent, Vice President for the Division ofDiversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin.

Hawaiian FallsPflugerville tohire more than

250 workersPFLUGERVILLE, Texas

(February 14, 2014) -Hawaiian Falls isholding Job Fairs

beginning March 6 tohire more than 250

seasonal workers for thenew Hawaiian FallsAdventure Park &

Water Park:• 4:30 pm – 8:30 pm,Thursday, March 6 -Hendrickson High

School, 2905 FM 685,Pflugerville

• 10 am – 3 pm,Saturday, March 15 -

First Baptist Church, 306S. 10th Street,

Pflugerville• 4:30 pm – 8:30 pm,

Thursday, March 20 -Pflugerville High

School, 1301 PecanStreet W., Pflugerville

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/February 21, 2014 ~ Page 3

CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN

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

Sunday Services Worship 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

Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875

Dr. Ricky Freeman, Pastor

True Hope Apostolic ChurchThe Apostle Gerald E. Loveless, Senior Pastorwww.thcm.org

8863 Anderson Mill Rd.Austin, TX 78653

512-744-5851 Cell

512-547-HOPE Church

512-767-4979Assistant, Elder Walker

St. Peter’s United Methodist Church 4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723

Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281Christian Web Site-

stpetersaustintx.ning.comstpetersaustintx@att.net

THE PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH US

Sunday School 8:45 a.m. Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 p.m.

and Praise /Bible Study 6:30 p.m.(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland

Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)

Rev. Jack C. Gause Pastor

Agape Baptist ChurchIn “The Centre” Bldg. F-15 7801 N. Lamar Blvd. (SE Corner of N Lamar and 183)

AGAPE is a chuch for all people. “Where Jesus Christ is Magnified and the love Heexhibited is Exemplified.” Come, receive God’s unconditional lovefor you.

For there is no greater love!

Church ServicesSunday School 9:30 AMSunday Worship 11:00 AM

Mid-Week Service Thursday: Praise,Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PMCall 454-1547 for Transporation

Website www.agapebcaustintx.orgRev. H. Ed Calahan

Pastor

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: 512-343-9300Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims

Damon LuckettSales Consultant

Charles Maund Toyota8400 Research Blvd.

P.O. Box 1608Austin, TX 78758

(512) 458-2222damon_luckett@

charlesmaundtoyota.com

7801 N. Lamar Blvd,Suite D 102,

Austin, Texas 78752

Worship: Sunday--10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Tuesday Bible Studies--7:30pm - 9:00 pmFriday Prayers--7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

The Church of Pentecost, USA Inc,Austin offers a wide variety of opportuni-ties for children, youth, adults, and olderadults to be involved in worship, spiritualgrowth, education, community outreach,and making a tangible difference to thosein need in our community. You too, canmake a positive difference in our commu-nity through your prayers, your presence,your gifts, your service, and your witness.Tel: 512 302-1270

Leading People to Experience God’s Love, Know Jesus Christ & Grow in His Image

The Church of Pentecost

Olive Branch Fellowship of Austin / All Faith Chapel4110 Guadalupe St Bldg #639 Austin, TX 78751

Sunday MorningWorship @ 11: am

Romans 5:1 Therefore,having beenjustified by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

This life, therefore, is not righteous-ness, but growth in righteousness; not health,but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest,but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be,but we are growing toward it. The process isnot yet finished, but it is going on. This is notthe end, but it is the road. All does not yetgleam in glory, but all is being purified.

--- Martin Luther

Kenneth Hill, Pastor

DOUBLE

GROCERY“R”

450l East Martin Luther King Blvd.

*We cash ALL Tax Refund*Checks *Check Out

1179 San Bernard Street,Austin, TX 78702, 512-478-7023

Sunday Morning Bible Study, 9:00 A.M.Sunday Morning Worship, 10:15 A.M.

Visit our website @ www.obcaus.org

Globalizing the Gospel

A Ministry That Ministers

Edward M. Fleming,Sr. Pastor

OLIVET BAPTISTCHURCH

The bills don’t stop whenyou’re sick or hurt and

have no income statefarm.com

INSURANCE THAT IS!

Richard Glasco, Agent11824 Jollyville Rd

Suite 300Austin, TX 78759-2300

(512) 250-5533

Ask me about DisabilityIncome Insurance the

State Farm Way.

HEALTH?HOW’S YOUR

Call for details on coverage, cost, restrictions and renewability

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

*Home Office: Bloomington, Illinois

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

spears.law@aol.com

Felix Bamirin, Pastor

GRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCHExperience Grace For Life

(By Parmer Lane Baptist Church building, behind Wells Fargo)

Call: 682.472.9073 l Email: gracewayaustin@aol.com lVisit: www.gracewaycca.org

JOIN US This SUNDAY / THURSDAY@ 12424 Scofield Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78758

SUNDAYS 10:30 A.M., THURSDAYS 7:30 P.M.

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

Wes SpearsAttorney Personal Injury,

Criminal andFamily Law

512-696-2222512-687-3499

401 Congress AvenueAustin, Texas, 78701

Suite 1540

*Austin and Kileen | *Principal Office

30 Years Experience

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

We Want YOU!Advertise With The

VILLAGER

Bishop VashtiMurphy McKenzieSpeaks In AustinBy Naomi Richard

AUSTIN, TX -Bishop Vashti MurphyMcKenzie spoke inhonor of The Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.at the Austin Presbyte-rian Theological Semi-nary. The Seminaryheld it’s annual BlackHistory Service and thisyear commemoratingthe life and witness ofDr. King.

Bishop McKenzieserves as the 117th

elected and consecratedBishop of the African

Methodist Episcopal(AME) Church. Her his-toric election in the year2000 represents the firsttime in the over 200-year history of the AMEChurch, a woman hadobtained the level ofEpiscopal office.

Currently, she ishonored to serve as thepresiding prelate of the10th Episcopal District,which is the entire stateof Texas. BishopMcKenzie also serves asthe Chairwoman of the

Board of Trustees ofPaul Quinn College.

In his introductionof Bishop McKenzie,Seminary PresidentTheodore J. Wardlawhad this to say, “In theshort time I’ve spent

with her, she has reallyimpressed me. She is aforce of nature.”

The audience wasalso favored with Ne-gro Spirituals from theHuston-Tillotson Con-cert Choir.

ing GRAMMY®

week in California.On presenting and

performing at the con-ference, Nerva Altinosays, “I’m looking for-ward to meeting and in-teracting with othermusicians. Since I’venever been to Dallas yet,and I’ve always wantedto visit - I’m that muchmore excited about at-tending and presentingat the DFW SMAC con-ference.”

The Altino Brothersare first generationAmericans from Haiti.Their father came toAmerica on a bananaboat in search of a bet-ter life for them for theywere living an ex-tremely impoverishedlife. Mr. Altino was atsea for 60 days until hereached land. Once he

ALTINOSSTILL

PRACTICE6 HOURSPER DAY

CONTINUED FROMPAGE 1

got established, he sentfor the rest of his familyto join him in New York.

The Altino Broth-ers, Nerva andRobenson, have beenplaying the piano sincethey were in elementaryschool, and still practicethe piano a minimum of6 hours per day. They es-tablished the AltinoBrothers Chorale andorchestra in 2002 that iscomprised of up to 100singers and musiciansthat are available fortouring and perfor-mance opportunities.Smaller ensembles ofthe Altino Brothers Cho-rale are available for

concerts as well.The Altino Brothers

Master Class will betaught in Dallas, TX onthe morning of 2/22/14,and they will be pre-sented as featured per-formers that evening.

Robenson Altinostates, “come to thisweekend’s DFW SingersMusicians and Arts Con-ference and you will bea well-rounded musi-cian by the weekend.”

Plan to attend theSingers and MusiciansArts Conference andhear the highly ac-claimed New York CityBased virtuoso AltinoBrothers at work!

February 21, 1965: Malcolm X, themilitant leader who promoted BlackNationalism, was shot to death bythree Black Muslims.

ON THIS DAYIN HISTORY

YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today

Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry

Page 4 ~ February 21, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

Dezhia GorrerLBJ High SchoolJaylon Knighten

Del Valle High School

Trenton LearyHornsby Bend Elem.

Watchdogs

On Friday the Soccerteam had their first PepRally to recognize them oftheir undefeated record so

Let’s Play Ball Strive To Success

As I attend LBJ HighSchool I have learned that thepast couple of years the testscores at LBJ have been low.The staff has been trying tobridge the students with manydifferent nice rewards. Someof the awards include having abarbeque at the end of theyear, having a pizza party, etc.

The test scores really couldcome back good, but the stu-dents aren’t that focused asthey should be. Althougheveryone’s test scores countit seems the focus is really onthe freshman and sopho-mores.

As a freshman or sopho-more you are normally alwaysthe “future of the school” be-cause you’re starting a newyear off and your test scoresare the main ones that matter.The most pressure is on thetwo lower classes to keep a“good” name for the schoolso new students will continueto come and the school canremain open. With that beingsaid, let’s all be preparedand do well during testingtime. Until next time...GOJAGS!

Wesley DickersonCedar Ridge H.S.

Student Council

V-Day Golf Tournament

Kiara MyersVista Ridge High School

I have written a lot aboutmy extracurricular activities re-cently and my final one that Iam apart of is student council.Most schools including el-ementary schools have someform of student council. Al-though high school studentcouncil is an entirely differentanimal. In high school studentcouncil you are required to geta certain number of points forevery grading period. Pointsare received by attendingschool events and assistingwith activities in the communityof the school. This system isonly specific to Cedar Ridge I

am not aware of how it appliesto other schools.

Student council is agood way to get involved withschool activities and also toknow more about how thingsare done in the school. If Iwas not in student council Iwould not know about half thethings that go on in my highschool. The signs that justmagically appear on the wallsare from student councilmembers who take the timeto run around the school andslap signs everywhere soyou won’t forget when thenext school dance is. Alsostudent council membersplay key roles in things likedrug awareness week, andcollege week just to nametwo.

Student council is a greatclub to join at any school. It isgood for all students to be ac-tive in their schools and to beable to see how importantthings get done. Student coun-cil can be a great way to meetnew people and feel accom-plished about doing some-thing good for the school.

On February 13th, theVista Ridge Girls’ Golf teamtraveled to Ft. Hood, Texasfor a Valentine’s Day tour-nament. We met up at 6a.m. on Thursday and tooka bumpy bus ride to ClearCreek Golf Course. Unfor-tunately when we arrivedthere was a frost delay. Itnormally takes 4- 5 hours for

a round of golf and I knewthe delay would make iteven longer. We f inal lyteed-off at 9:30 in groups offour. The girls I was playingwith were actually prettygood and I believe that theymade me play better. Wehad a great time getting toknow each other and I en-joyed using my brand newclubs that I got for Christ-mas.

Although my scorewas not unusually low, Icould definitely tell a differ-ence in the way I wasswinging and the f l ightpath of my ball. This wasthe first tournament of theNew Year and I’m actuallyoptimistic to say that I’mlook ing fo rward to im-provement with a bettermindset and new gear!

This week at Del Vallewas good I'm so happy thatthis week I finish drivingschool and I get my license.I'm just happy all the wayaround. I only have one moreyear left of high school. Thenthat's when I get a taste of thereal world.

Imani DempsDel Valle High School

I’m Happy

This may be Black His-tory Month but atHendrickson we again gowithout any activitiesplanned. But HHS does of-fer a unique class that showsa sense of multiculturalawareness. Through a part-nership with the University ofTexas and the US Depart-ment of Defense,Hendrickson is one of just afew schools in Texas to offerArabic as a foreign language.

Our Principal, DevinPadavil, was honored by theTexas Association of Sec-ondary School Principals asSecond Vice President.Padavil is currently pursuinga doctorate at Texas A&M

Alon RodgersHendrickson H.S.

University, and earned amaster's degree in educa-tional administration from TheUniversity of Texas at Austinand a Bachelor of Science ineducation from Illinois State.

The Hawk varsity base-ball season got underwaywith a 15-6 blowout ofConnally to start the seasonand then tied Leander 8-8.They will be in the CentexHardball Tournament in CedarPark this weekend. The var-sity softball team is at theWaco Midway Tournamentthis weekend.

The varsity basketballseason ended with a 15-17overall record and 5-7 in dis-trict. The spring tennis sea-son is half over with the HawkInvitational March 21. Boysvarsity soccer has had a dif-ficult season and are 1-4 butthe girls varsity team is do-ing better and are 4-1 on theyear.

It's Teen Dating Vio-lence Awareness Week atHendrickson. Students cansign a pledge to generateawareness.

Congrats Principal Padavil

Deciding Where to Go

Jaquarry WilsonLBJ High School

As the acceptance let-ters pour in, the decision asto which college one attendsbecomes more difficult. Onemay think that one particularschool right for them at onemoment in time, and thenchange his/her opinion inseconds. The choice is al-ready hard to make, andwhen you include others’opinion’s about where youshould go, it gets harder.Since freshman year wehave always been told that

we should go to college andnever look back, which is theonly option, my only option.Some say you should baseyour choice on your major,while others argue that youshould make a decision thatis in your favour financially.Truth is, it’s necessary tobase your decision off of aconglomeration of all thethings college has to offer.This is because it’s possibleto go to a college you chosesolely based off of a school’sacademic reputation, andhate every other part of col-lege life. While I haven’t com-pletely made a decision,partially due to the fact thatI’m still applying to colleges,I know that I will make the bestone possible. I don’t want togo to a school and be regret-ful, no one does. I’m goingto continue trying the best Ican to decide where I wantto go.

My Valentines Day

Erika LipscombManor Elementary

My class valentinesparty was really,really fun! We

watched the Lion King but nexttime I want to bring the Wizardof Oz. We had a lot of food atthe party.

There was 4 differenttypes of cookies, sandwiches,hot Funyuns, hot fries, juices,soda, crackers and cheeseand pepperoni and plus more.Then, we passed out our val-entines day cards. I passedout Fun Dip Valentines cards,everybody loved those. I hada really great time at the party.Oh and I also enjoyed thecandy!

This week there wasnothing eventful in school soI decided to write aboutValentine’s Day. A few of myfriends and I have had a tra-dition for years; when a spe-

cial holiday comes aroundwe always buy gifts for eachother. This year my friendsIllianna and Cynthia gaveme way too much candyand I gave each one ofthem a stuffed animal andsome heart shaped lolli-pops. When my brotherand I got home from schoolour dad had baked a cakedfor us and put sweet heartcandy all over it. I thoughtit so sweet of him and that itwas the best Valentinespresent ever.

Until next week keepyour heads up and neverstop smiling, De’ja’

Valentine’s Day

De’Ja HillLamar Middle School

far this season. I am play-ing on the baseball team atDel Valle and we had ascrimmage game on Sat-urday against Travis HighSchool. We killed themabout 26-0. I didn’t have anyhits but did get walked onbase.

In my Pre AP WorldGeography class we arereading this book call TheKite Runner which will countas a major grade this se-mester. The Kite Runner isabout this boy growing upin the Afghanistan in the1970’s during a time of war.

Hey I’m back. Man myschool is awesome. Myfriend and I joined the watch-dogs. The watchdogs are likesafety patrol. My week atschool was amazing; we hada Valentine party on Friday.We at cookies, pizza anddrank juice. This followingweek is going to be evenbetter.

Happy BlackHistory Month

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/February 21, 2014 ~ Page 5

YOUTH BRIGADE

Zachariah WashingtonCedars Academy

Lift Every Voice

Jasmyn PattersonReagan High School

A Trip to UT

Latrice LipscombManor High School

On Saturday the 15th,the Manor A.C.E Drumlinewent to the All Star weekendUT boys basketball game. Itwas such a very fun experi-

ence. The reason why wewent was because we wereinvited to perform at half time.It was so much fun being onthe court pumping up thecrowd. After we got doneperforming the crowd wentwild for us. I also got achance to talk and take pic-tures with the UT cheerlead-ers and one of the UT danc-ers.

I love the fact that wewere actually invited to an AllStar game. Things like thatmake me proud to be apartof the Drumline. We are go-ing places,making history.

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong, nick-named “Satchmo”, “Pops”,and later “Ambassador Satch”was born on August 4, 1901in New Orleans, Louisiana ina section so poor it was nick-named “The Battlefield”.Armstrong had a difficultchildhood. His father was afactory worker and aban-doned the family soon afterLouis’s birth; his mother, whooften turned to prostitution,frequently left him with hismaternal grandmother.

Armstrong was obli-

gated to leave school in thefifth grade to begin working.A Jewish family, theKarnofskys gave youngArmstrong a job collectingjunk and delivering coal.They also encouraged him tosing and often invited him intotheir home for meals. Mean-while, Armstrong’s reputationas a musician continued togrow. In 1918 he replacedOliver in Kid Ory’s band, thenthe most popular band in NewOrleans.

Beginning in 1919Armstrong spent his sum-mers playing on river boatswith a band led by FateMarable. It was on theriverboats that Armstronglearned his music readingskills and eventually had hisfirst encounters with otherjazz legends including BixBeinderbecke and JackTeagarden.

Louis Armstrong be-came a household name asan accomplished musician.

With February beingthe month of black history, Iwould just like to personallyshow appreciation to all themany courageous leaderswho risked their lives for abetter and equal future. OnFriday, February 28, 2014the John H. Reagan ECHSchoir will be hosting a blackhistory program. “I believethat the event will show re-spect, and bring knowl-edge to the African Ameri-can culture” states TeresaO’mahonny. Like Ms.O’mahonny, I believe thisprogram will be a great way

to inst i l l our minds andhearts with the great historyof our people. I am excitedand elated to share a rolewithin this event. However Idon’t believe African Ameri-can history should just berecognized in the month ofFebruary.

Black history shouldbe something that we cel-ebrate on a daily basis.When we go sit at the frontof the bus, or our local lunchcounter, we should remem-ber those fought the emo-tional and physical battle ofsegregation and oppres-sion. We should foreverimplant their beliefs anddreams in our hearts andlearn to let everyday be acelebration of our black his-tory and our American his-tory. “Bringing the gifts thatmy ancestors gave, I amthe dream and the hope ofthe slave. I rise I rise I rise.”Maya Angelo

Black History Bowl

These pas t fewweeks I have been study-ing very hard for the blackhistory bowl that was thisSaturday. There were fourteams that competed, ofZeta, Austin Youth Coun-

Jory HendersonAnderson High School

ci l , NAACP, Jack & J i l lTeams teen one and two.There were two roundsthat were 20 minutes long,a round for 3rd and 4thplace that lasted 20 min-utes, and finally the cham-pionship round that lastedfor 30 minutes!

All the teams workedvery hard but only oneteam could win. That teamwas Jack & Jill team onewith captain RebeccaRichards, Jory Henderson,and Katherine Johnson. 1stplace won $300 for eachmember, and 2nd $200, 3rd$100, 4th $75. Everyonewent home a winner!

Valentines day partlycame about because of aman named St. Valentinusgetting thrown in jail for mar-rying Christians. And when hewrote his farewell letter to his

SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy

Valentine’s Daydaughters he signed it Loveyour Valentine. So it starteda tradition to send love notesand show love for others. OnValentines Day I had greatday! We had a Valentinesdance at my school in thecafeteria. It was decoratedwith streamers, hearts andflowers everywhere.

My friends and Idanced and sang to thesongs our coach played. Weall had so much fun. We atenachos & candy after thedance. Later my mom and Iwent to the movies to see theLego Movie. I really liked it!Valentines day was a goodday full of love and fun!

Deria GoodDaily Middle School

Dazzler Performances

This week is going tobe a cool week for Dazzlers.The Dazzlers are performingat a Black history monthevent and a Dazzler Showoff!

Black History Month isa very special month for cel-ebrating famous and suc-cessful African Americans.

It’s a time for thanking themfor all they have done tochange the world into a bet-ter place, as well as makinghistory in a lot of civil rightsmovements. This event willtake place on February 19thfrom 6:30p.m-8:00p.m in theD.M.S cafeteria. Please sup-port your Dazzlers when weperform also. We would ap-preciate it!

Dazzler show-offs is aperformance that we’re hav-ing this Saturday at 5:00p.m.The showoffs will be free foranyone to see. This willshowcase how hard we haveworked for competition thatwill be the next Saturday onMarch 2nd. You are welcometo come and see us. Thankyou and have a good week!

Sarah RobertsonPioneer Crossing Elem.

UIL Competition

Last week our schooldistrict held their annual UILcompetition.

There are different ar-eas you can be involved:Spelling, Vocabulary, His-tory, Music Theory, ReadyWriting, and Mathematicsto name a few. This year Idid the Ready Writing. Inthis competition, we hadto pick one topic on which

to write. I selected “Onceupon on Time” topic. It tookme about one hour to writeit all, I felt good because ofthe experience I’ve gainedthrough the Youth Brigadein writing. The composi-tion is judged on interest(60%), organization (30%)and correctness of style(10%). It was a lot of funbecause I was ab le tomeet students from otherschools. They had snackfor al l the kids and youcould bring money for ex-tra snacks. In order to be apart of this UIL competi-t ion you had to have AAcademic standing. Thiswas my second year andI was a lot more comfort-able this year.

Academic competi-tions are a really fun way toexperience different thingsand learn new things.

I am finally trying out fortrack. I do nothing but fieldevents. I wanna throw thedisc and shot put. I am soproud of myself, because I’mfinnaly trying something new.I will be doing this sport nextyear because I love afriendly competition.

Track SeasonJada Demps

Dailey Middle School

www.TheAustinVillager.com

@TheVillagerATX

TheVillagerAndBlackRegistryCompany

Black History Quiz

Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School

Yes it is still Black HistoryMonth. It is getting harder to tellwhat is Black History or what isnot. If you are not the first to beallowed to have a position oropportunity is it a historical event.All history deals with the past.Let's see if you can answer thesequestions:

Who was the first Presi-dent of the Continential con-gress? Who was the firstelected Black Austinite officialin 20th century? Who was firstAustinite chosen to FootballHall of Fame? Who is EricBishop? Who first Black box-ing Heavyweight of the Worldin 20th Century? Who wasU.T.'s first Black Heisman Tro-phy winner?

Here are the answers. Yousee if you can put them in theproper order.

1) Earl Campbell, 2)Wilhemina Delco, 3) Jamie Foxx,4) John Hanson 5) JackJohnson and 6) Richard "Night-Train" Lane.

OMEGAPSI PHITALENT

HUNT2014

The EPSILONIOTA chapter of theOMEGA PSI PHI FRA-TERNITY, INC., willhost our Annual Tal-ent Hunt at 6:30 p.m.on the campus ofHuston-Tillotson Uni-versity.

There will be cashprizes for first, secondand third place win-ners.

If you know of anytalented youth in highschool, please havethem contact GeneWills @ 512.922.6718

The CAT In The HAT

The classicchildren’s book per-formed live will take youon a wild ride of physicalcomedy. Bring everyoneage 3 and older!

THE CAT IN THEHAT is based on thebook by Dr. Seuss and

adapted by KatieMitchell. This play wasoriginally produced at theNational Theatre of GreatBritain.

In partnership withArt on 5th, original art-work by Theodor SeussGeisel (Dr. Seuss), willbe on display at ZACHTheatre for the durationof the show.

The fun premiers onFeb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. andthen runs through May 3on Saturdays at 11 a.m.and 2 p.m. Added perfor-mances: Sundays, Mar.2 at 4:30 p.m., and Mar.23 and Mar. 30 at 2:30p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Our 15th annual Heritage Festival, scheduledon Saturday, February 22nd, will again be heldon the beautiful grounds of Huston Tillotson Uni-versity, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM. HT is located at900 East Chicon Street in central east Austin.

Dawnna Dukes Boyd Vance

Page 6 ~ February 21, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDThe Case of Larry Eugene Jackson, Jr.

by Tsoke (Chuch) AdjavonSince the death ofLarry Eugene Jackson,Jr, there has been somenegotiation between thelawyer that the familyhas retained and the cityof Austin. So, on Febru-ary 13, 2014, the AustinCity Council was sup-posed to take a vote re-garding compensatingthe family of Larry Eu-gene Jackson, Jr. How-ever, the Austin CityCouncil decided topush back the vote, un-til the grand jury makesa decision in the LarryEugene Jackson, Jr. Onthe other hand, officerKleinert who fatallyshot and killed Larry isgetting a retirementcheck from the city ofAustin.

Larry EugeneJackson, Jr. crossedpaths with OfficerKleinert after he triedto enter to the Bench-mark Bank while the of-ficer was investigating arobbery that had al-ready occurred. De-spite the fact, Larry wasnot involved in the rob-bery; the tellers atBenchmark bank pro-

Celebrating BlackHistory Month

On February 15, Diaspora Votes organized anevent to celebrate Black History by holding an eventthat was meant to deal on various issues that affectthe African American community living in CentralTexas. At this event, there were several issues thatwere evoked, including the Affordable Care Act, thecriminal justice and its effect on minorities. In addi-tion, Black History was celebrated through poetry.For instance, Ceci Francis wrote and read the poemcalled "Brown Skin America." According to CeciFrancis, "Brown Skin America” was meant to honorthe people of color who have shaped and moldedAmerica.

Some of the themes evoked at the event weredetailed information of the Affordable Care Act, whichwas recently passed by the United States Congress.Moreover, Sarah D. Linares well informed the attend-ees regarding the Affordable Care Act. Then ChantalEldridge who is currently a criminal defense attor-ney running for the next open criminal court Judgeseat, spoke about the criminal justice and its effecton minorities, including African Americans. Chantalmentioned that "minorities are over represented inthe criminal justice system." In addition, she empha-sized the need of "electing progressive judges whocan make a difference when it comes to sentencingdefendants." In addition, Judge Lipscombe who isrunning for re-election also reaffirmed the need ofelecting "progressive" judges.

The Celebration of the African American historyevent was meant to highlight issues that the AfricanAmerican community faces in Central Texas. More-over, this event was sponsored by Judge Cliff Brown,Chantal Eldridge; Dolores Ortega Carter the currentTravis County Treasurer who is running for re-elec-tion; Ramey Ko, who is also running for Travis CountyTreasurer; Heather Busby of the NARAL Pro ChoiceTexas.

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

From left to right: Denise Tinnon, ChantalEldridge, Sarah Linares, and Malaika. Photo byTsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

filed Larry by callinghim suspicious. As aresult, Officer Kleinertapproached Larry toquestion him. Accord-ing to Officer Kleinert,Larry ran and he pur-sued him. Instead ofcalling for back up, Of-ficer Kleinert decided to

drop his previous in-vestigation, in order, topursue Larry eventhough he never com-mitted a crime. Afterstopping a civilian whodrove him under theShoal Creek Drive, hecaught up with Larryand that is where he fa-

tally shot Larry in theback of the neck.

Despite the arrivalof Chief Acevedo in2007, the Austin PoliceDepartment’s culture ofprofiling and shootingAfrican Americans hasnot changed. Even dur-ing Chief Acevedo’s ten-ure, African Americancitizens in Austin havecontinued to be tar-geted and killed by theAPD. In other words,before and after the ar-rival of Chief Acevedothe APD continues tomurder African Ameri-cans living in the so-called Democratic oasisof Austin.

However, theDemocratic Party inTravis has kept silentregarding the shootingof yet another AfricanAmerican in Austin.Moreover, the silence ofthe local DemocraticParty and its club aretroubling due to the factthat African Americanstend to support theDemocratic Party at agreater and larger sharethan other ethnicgroups.

Larry Eugene Jackson, Jr. and family in anundated photo.

In the race for theUnited States Senate,there are numerousDemocrats running inthe race. One of theother candidates run-ning for the Texas U.SSenate is MichaelFjetland. MichaelFjetland spent his earlierstages of life in Iowaand then moved toTexas. Michael Fjetlandis also a successfulbusiness owner.

Michael Fjetland isrunning on several is-sues that affect Texansand the rest of America.According to MichaelFjetland, "the Agendafor American Greatness

FjetlandforUnitedStatesSenate

“..I am the only candidate with the globalexperience needed to make Texas and AmericaNo. 1 again. I have negotiated in over 50countries selling American-made productsoverseas. I know how to create jobs -- competein the world and make Texas and AmericaNo. 1 in our global economy...,”-Michael Fjetland

basically consists of fo-cusing on the issues andsolutions that we havebeen ignoring far too

long now. We werenumber one for so long,we forgot how we gotthere, and it wasn't from

sitting on our backsideswatching the rest of theworld progress towardsthe future. But that'swhat we have been do-ing lately and we needto get moving or the restof the world will passus by."

Michael Fjetland ischampion with issuesthat are very popularamong Democrats. Forinstance, MichaelFjetland "favors raisingthe minimum wage to15$ an hour; passingimmigration reform;establishing equal payfor equal work; legaliz-ing marijuana, taxing,and using the funds foreducation; encourag-ing the production anduse of American greenenergy; closing taxloopholes abused bymillionaires and bil-lionaires." Moreover,the issues that MichaelFjetland stands for is"red meat" to the Demo-cratic Party base inwhich he needs a mas-sive turnout. Further-more, Michael Fjetlandwill be facing otherDemocrats.

by Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon

AUSTIN TRAILBLAZERS AWARDSTickets are still available for the Black Austin

Democrats Austin Trailblazers brunch (Feb. 22) from11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Westin at The Domain.

The honorary chair for this exciting event isTexas Rep. Dawnna Dukes, and the Host Commit-

Mayor Pro TemSheryl Cole

tee is 100 Black Women of Austin. The guest speakerfor this event is veteran Democratic political strate-gist and news commentator Donna Brazile. For moreinformation visit http://www.austintrailblazers.com/

Austin ISD TrusteeCheryl Bradley

Attorney/lobbyistMachree Garrett

Gibson

Statesman eolumnistAlberta Phillips

Bledsoe

AustinLeadersRally to

Grown-UpSpellingBee to

SupportLiteracyCoalition

The Literacy Coali-tion of Central Texas isproud to present its 11thAnnual Great Grown-upSpelling Bee for Lit-eracy on April 29th atZACH Theatre. LocalAustin businesses in-cluding Silicon Labs,Akin Gump StraussHauer Feld, H-E-B,Alamo Drafthouse, andKirkus Reviews sendteams of costumedspellers to take thestage during the Lit-eracy Coalition’s an-nual fundraiser. Teammembers take turns at

the mic to spell theirway to win the title of“Best Spellers in Austin”and compete for the“Best Costume” award.

Austin Police ChiefArt Acevedo receivesspecial distinction asthe Honorary Chair forthe Bee, and veteranevent emcee SenatorKirk Watson returns tothe stage along with ahost of other celebrityoff icials. KeriBellacosa, formerly ofFOX 7’s Good Day Aus-tin, emceed last yearand returns as the offi-cial Pronouncer for2014. Also featured isKUT Morning Edition’sanchor Jennifer Stayton,who served asPronouncer for the past5 years and takes onthe Timekeeper role thisyear. Fil l ing out thejudges panel we arehonored to have MayorPro-Tem Sheryl Cole,Susie Ellwood, pub-l isher of the AustinAmerican-Statesman,and Dave Steakley, Pro-ducing Artistic Directorat ZACH Theatre.

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/February 21, 2014 ~ Page 7

CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION

City of AustinPurchasing Office

The City of Austin Purchasing Office invitesyou to view current bid solicitations at https://www.c i . au s t i n . t x . u s / f i nanceon l ine /vendor_connection/solicitation/solicitations.cfm.Vendors are encouraged to register on-line in theCity’s Vendor Self Service System. Once yourcompany is registered, you will receive notifica-tions about new bid opportunities. For addi-tional information regarding current bid opportu-nities or Vendor Registration, please call the Pur-chasing Office at 512-974-2500.

For information on the City of Austin’s Mi-nority Owned and Women-Owned ProcurementProgram and the certification process, pleasecontact the Small & Minority Business ResourcesDepartment at 512-974-7600 or visit their websiteat http://www.austintexas.gov/smbr.

Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.

6th Floor, Austin, TX 78752Job Line (512 223-5621hhtp://www./austincc.ed

EEOC/AA/M/F/D/V

New Jobs for the Week of 02/14/2013Faculty, Computer Science

Rio Grande CampusHours as assigned: Must maintain

an established schedule. Somepositions may also include

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Full-Time Faculty Salary ScaleJob# 1402006

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FOR SALEFOR RENT

BIDSMISCELLANEOUS

Austin native Don Baylor (b. 1949) starred inboth baseball and football at Austin High School.He was offered a scholarship to play football atthe University of Texas by Longhorns coach DarrellRoyal, which would have made him the first Afri-can American football player at UT. He opted in-stead to pursue a baseball career, enrolling at BlinnJunior College in Brenham, Texas. Baylor wasdrafted in 1967 by the Baltimore Orioles, and aftersix seasons was traded to the California Angels.He also played with the New York Yankees, theBoston Red Sox, the Minnesota Twins, and theOakland As during his 21 seasons in baseball. In1985 he won the Roberto Clemente Award, givento the player who “best exemplifies the game ofbaseball sportsmanship, community involvement,and the individual’s contribution to his team,” asvoted on by baseball fans and members of themedia. After retiring as player, Baylor became acoach. He enjoyed tremendous success as the man-ager of the expansion team the Colorado Rockies,for which he was awarded National League Man-ager of the Year in 1995. Baylor is currently thebatting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hobart Gaines (1918-1989) is very importantin the field of education. Born in the East Texastown of Waskom, Gaines received a bachelor’sdegree from Bishop College, now in Dallas, wherehe served as president of his graduating class. Heearned his master’s degree in administration andsupervision from Prairie View A&M College in1952 and began working for Austin IndependentSchool District in 1959. He was a principal at L. C.Anderson High School, and was also the first Afri-can American Association Superintendent. Gaines,who had a 36-year career in education—23 yearswith Austin ISD—acted as a mediator for the dis-trict to help black and white teachers and studentsintegrate. He was married in 1943 to Venolia ElaineBoard, also a teacher with Austin ISD.

Virgie Carrington DeWitty (1913-1980), mu-sic teacher and choir director, was born inWetumka, Oklahoma, the daughter of William andViolet Carrington. The family moved to Austinwhen Virgie was a small child and joined EbenezerBaptist Church. Because of a strong musical influ-ence and encouragement at home and at church,DeWitty started playing the piano by ear at home.From 1938 to 1940 she directed the radio program“The Bright and Early Choir” for the Texas Qual-ity Network. She composed more than 100 gospelsongs, spirituals, and anthems. One of her mostfamous pieces was “Magnify the Lord.” She taughtmusic at Anderson High School in Austin and com-posed the school song. In 1933 she married ArthurB. DeWitty.

Austin’s Strong Black History Roots Series: Part II CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Austin’s Strong Black History Roots Series: Part II CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

We want YOU!Advertise With The

VILLAGER

she revealed, allmembers of her teamwere African American,and they helped her tohold a successful event.“They did business withme and I did businesswith them. It was a chainof black businesses do-ing business with blackbusinesses,” the authorsaid.

She said that giventhe controversial natureof her book, the numberof people who showedup and supported herevent blew her mind.She said that manypeople bought the bookand stayed at the venue,and that often they gotinto quiet corners toread. She said theyplanned to add a poetryevent later in the booksigning and at that seg-ment of her eventpeople got a delicioussampling of poetry. “Iintroduced my new po-

STRENGTHENINGOUR

COMMUNITYCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

etry,” she said. Afterthat, she had the releaseparty. “The room didtransform,” she said.The release party was aseparate event held atthe same venue; and itincluded dancing, eat-ing from the buffet, herwardrobe change andupgraded decorations.The time span of hervenue was from3:00pm-11:00pm, andshe said the price shepaid was very afford-able. “It was so profes-sionally handled. Theowners were very ac-commodating,” the na-tive Austinite reported.

Ladette shared thatsince she is from St.John neighborhood, sheenjoyed having herevent in that commu-nity. “It was in the samezip code that I wasraised in,” she said ofMidtown Live. “Mid-town had everything Ineeded,” she added.Midtown Live SportsCafé is at 7408 CameronRoad, #3.

She said she hasanother event sched-uled in Killeen’s blackowned Poetic SweetSpot in April, which isNational Poetry Month.She plans to include herpoem, “I am abuse,”which she described asa very deep, real poem.

She mentioned thatshe is deliberate aboutdoing business with Af-rican American busi-nesses. She explainedher position on this mat-ter. “For one thing, itstrengthens the blackcommunity, it buildsrelationships. In asense, it helpsstrengthen the bonds inthe black community.”She said this gives ahands-up; providing atwo way advantage toboth ends of the deal,with the buyer andseller gaining some-thing. “It helps us toraise our professionalstandards. We basically

come from the samestruggles.” She said op-portunities like this canbreak the image ofblack-owned busi-nesses as being substan-dard in quality.

She added thatpeople who attendedhave been telling herthat Midtown Livehandled the largecrowd smoothly andprofessionally. As sheexplained it, “The staffworked really hard.”Ladette said peoplecame in spurts and theemployees handledeach group that flowedin with the same excel-lence that they handledthe first to arrive.

Summing up herpositive experienceswith supporting Afri-can-American busi-nesses, she stated,“We’re strengtheningour community by us-ing each other, by con-tracting with each otherbusinesswise.”

Other venues toconsider include TheMillennium Youth En-tertainment Complex,Carver Museum & Cul-tural Center and theGreater Austin BlackChamber of Commerce.

Austin, TX – TheGreater Austin BlackChamber of Commerce’sBlack Technology Coun-cil Committee (BTC) ishosting a private castingevent for “Shark Tank,”the Emmy-nominated,business-themed showthat searches for entrepre-neurs with the best busi-nesses and products thatAmerica has to offer. Theevent is on March 5 at theGreater Austin BlackChamber, 912 E. 11thStreet, 2 to 6 p.m.

“We are honored topartner with the Shark

Tank casting team andbring this opportunityto Austin’s growingbusiness community,”said Greater AustinBlack Chamber Presi-dent and CEO, NatalieM. Cofield. “This is atestament that the pro-ducers of the Shark Tankshow embrace and en-gage diverse entrepre-neurs among featuredbusinesses.”

Attendees are en-couraged to register forplanning purposes;however, registration isnot required.

Greater Austin BlackChamber Hosts Private

“Shark Tank” Casting Event

The BTC was founded in 2009 and is co-chaired by Michael McLennan and DeeCopeland Patience. Its mission is to accelerateengagement and entrepreneurship, identify andshare best practices across the industry, and en-courage inclusivity and representation amongBlack technology professionals.

Construction HUB ForumHosted by the University of Texas at Austin

Project Management and Construction ServicesWednesday, March 5, 2014 2–5 PM

Inviting all Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs), non-HUB businesses,general contractors, and local agencies to the Construction HUB Forum at theCommons Learning Center, 10100 Burnet Road, Bldg 137, J. J. Pickle ResearchCampus, Austin.

Information on how to do construction-related business with PMCS, and anopportunity to network, visit exhibits sponsored by local trade organizations, stateagencies, UT System, and general contractors.

• Registration begins at 2:00 p.m.• Brief presentation about working with PMCS and upcoming projects• PMCS staff and exhibitors will be available for networking and answering

questions

For more information, contact Muriel Kruse, HUB Staff Associate, at(512) 475-6856 or visit the website at

www.utexas.edu/pmcs

Page 8 ~ February 21, 2014/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESS

The Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex

Invites you to the

Grand Re-Opening

Black History Celebration of

Youth, Families, Adults and Community Unity

When: February 22, 2014

Where: The Millennium, 1156 Hargrave St., Austin, Texas 78702

Ceremony begins: 2:00pm

Limited Complimentary Bowling and Skating Passes:

1:30pm – 2:00pm

Friday Night Jets BowlingLeague Set to Turn 48

Friday Night Jets BowlingLeague Set to Turn 48

On May 23, 2014,the Friday Night JetsBowling League(FNJBL) is scheduled tocomplete 48 years ofbowling in Austin.FNJBL is a Mixed (men/women) League sanc-tioned by the U. S. Bowl-ing Congress throughthe local Bowling Asso-ciation, consisting of

MAPLE LANE MARAUDERS - Pictured from left to right are Jet Leaguemembers Paul & Ellen Bailey, Ella (Martin) Pease and Ethel (Alexander) Dilworth

twelve 5-person teamsbowling at HighlandLanes on Burnet Road.

The Jets Leaguewas organized and be-gan bowling in Septem-ber, 1966 at CapitolBowling Lanes (nowDart Bowling Lanes)and was the only all“Black” league in theAustin area. Jets con-sisted of six 4-personteams. League membersincluded the followingpersons: Anthony &

Georgia Thompson,M.M. Pease & Ella(Martin) Pease, ClarenceScales, Alton Walker,Fred Morris, Ethel(Alexander) Dilworth,Tim Pierce, EuniceNorwood, Paul & EllenBailey, Robert & loneWatts, Mable Steen,James & Ella Sneed,Ervin Franklin, James

Overton, Dorothy Th-ompson, Robert &Theresa Duke, DorisMcKinley, GladysBrown, Charles Watson,Myrtle Daniels, EdwardJones, MerrilynMangrum and RobertBailey. League Officerswere: President- RobertWatts, Vice-President-Tim Pierce and Secre-tary- Paul Bailey. Dur-ing the early years of theLeague, it served as arecruiting source for

many “Black” personswho were interested inleague bowling and as-sisted in the promotionof bowling opportuni-ties for “Black” personsin the Austin area. Eventhough most of theoriginal members beganwith no bowling experi-ence, many of them haveparticipated in Local,

State and National Tour-naments. Ellen Bailey isa 2-time City WomenChampion (1979/1981).

During its’ 48 yearsof existence, the Leaguehas become very com-petitive and diverse,and bowlers enjoy thefun and competitive ef-fort exhibited by all.

Paul and EllenBailey are originalmembers who continueto bowl in the League.Paul served as the League Secretary for the

first 24 years. He retiredand returned to Austinfrom Mississippi in2010, where he had beenemployed for 18 yearsand is currently servinghis 2nd year as LeagueManager. Ellen alsoserved as League Secre-tary for 20 years.

Other originalmembers who continueas league bowlers in theAustin area are EllaPease and EthelDilworth. Ethel re-turned to league bowl-ing in 2013-14 after a 3year layoff due to kneesurgery.

Doris McKinley,Gladys Brown, loneWatts and Mable Steenare other original mem-bers who reside in theAustin area but nolonger participate inleague bowling.

The Original L C Anderson Alumni Assoc.Austin Chapter (OLCAAAAC) annually celebratesBlack History Month, with a soul food dinner anda guest speaker at their Feb. meeting. This year’sspeaker was Mr. Roland Hayes – Director of Afri-can American Cultural Cen., Professor of Historyat Austin Community College (ACC) Ridgeviewcampus.

OLCAAAAC’SANNUAL BHMCELEBRATION

OLCAAAAC’SANNUAL BHMCELEBRATION

Pictured at the meeting (L to R) President,Albert J. Walker; Mr. Roland Hayes; Presenter,Eugenia Gaines; Vice President, LaVerne Bell andProgram Chair, Mary Davis.

(BLACK PR WIRE)– 6.2 million AfricanAmerican adults in theUnited States have signsof kidney disease –equal to the populationof Tennessee.

African Americansexperience the highestrates of kidney failure –rates approximately 3.4times greater thanwhites. Two majorcauses of kidney failureare diabetes and highblood pressure. In fact,80 percent of new casesof kidney failure amongAfrican Americans aredue to one of these con-ditions.

In recognition ofNational KidneyMonth, the NationalKidney Disease Educa-tion Program (NKDEP),along with the Ameri-can DiabetesAssociation’s Live Em-powered initiative andChi Eta Phi Sorority,Inc., a national nursingsorority, will host thethird annual KidneySundays event onMarch 2.

(BPRW) “Kidney Sundays”Reaches African AmericanFaith Communities During

National Kidney Month

- National Kidney DiseaseEducation Program HostsThird Annual Nationwide

Event -

The United States Isn't The OnlyCountry To Celebrate Black

History Month.

Canada and the United Kingdom alsohave annual Black History Month

celebrations. Like the United States',Canada's falls in February. But the

U.K.'s occurs in October.