pvilca to host hall of honor banquet in austin · editorial, commentary or letter to the editor fax...

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RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ RAPPIN’ Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Tommy Wyatt Vol. 37 No. 7 Website: theaustinvillager.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 512-476-0082 Fax: 512-476-0179 July 17, 2009 Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Austin, Texas Permit No. 01949 This paper can be recycled Austin will host the 30th Annual Prairie View Coaches Association (PVILCA) Hall of Honor & Hall of Fame Banquet July 18th at 1:30 p.m. Radisson Hotel 6000 Middle Fiskville Rd. The (PVIL) served as the governing body for the ex- tracurricular activities in the arts, literature, athletics and music for Texas Negro high schools from the 1920’s through 1967. The OVIL be- gan to merge with the UIL at the start of the 1967-68 school years. This event has so de- veloped in the last six years that those who were affiliated with the schools during the time mentioned look forward to banquets occurence. It is a time to remember. This is Austin’s second time to host in the last four years. The highlight of the ceremonies is the banquetfellowship where those who were outstanding contributors in different sports categories are pre- sented wto the audiences and inducted with an award. From the Austin Comunity the following per- sons will recieve awards. Name -High School/ Place-Sports/Profession Richard Black, L C Anderson-Austin;(Football), Leroy Bookman,Sr ., L C Anderson-Austin;(Football), George Richard Thomas, L C Anderson- Austin;(Football), Tommy PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin Wyatt , P L Dunbar Lubbock;(Football), Albert Walker , L C Anderson- Austin;(Football), Alvin Moore, L C Anderson- Austin;(Football), Nick Overton, Abilene-Dallas- Austin;(Coach), George E. Hardin; (Media) Recieving the “Life Time Achievement Award “for service to the PCILCA are Thomas “Jack” Bellinger- Roland C. Hayes- Ed Roby (all working out of Austin) The day should start early so one can see the col- lection of memorabilia housed in the city on the East side educational core. Open for touring purposes will be the (1) PVILCA pictorial Col- lection, 1009 E. 11th (Marvin C. Griffin Office Building) sec- ond floor. (2) Historical Maker-Desegregation of Texas Public Schools- In front of the George Washinton Carver Museum, Angelina Street.(3) The L C Anderson Trophy and Memorabilia Room-Doris Miller Audito- rium-Rosewood Ave. All of these are in 1.5 miles of each other and park- ing is free. George E. Hardin Leroy Bookman, Sr. Richard Black Alvin Moore Nick Overton Albert Walker Ed Roby Thomas “Jack” Bellinger Roland Hayes T. L. “Tommy” Wyatt Washington, DC –U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) has se- cured another $350,000 for the Huston-Tillotson Uni- versity in the Labor, Health, and Education Ap- propriations Bill. These federal funds are in addi- tion to previous successes of the Congressman for Huston-Tillotson. “Huston-Tillotson is giving its students the tools they need to succeed in the 21 st century. This institution is preparing them for the high-paying, high-tech jobs that will power our economy today and in the future,” said Congressman Doggett, a senior Member of the House Ways & Means Committee and the House Budget Committee. “As a long-time supporter and neighbor of Huston- Tillotson, I am pleased that these federal funds will assist Huston- Tillotson to continue making great strides in math and science.” University President Dr. Larry Earvin welcomed the news of federal fund- ing. “These funds will en- able the University to out- fit its laboratories in chemistry, biology and physical science to meet contemporary standards. Funds will also be used to extend the University’s outreach programs in sci- Rep. Doggett Secures $350,000 for Huston-Tillotson University Science Center ence and mathematics for pre-college students. To- gether these two dimen- sions of the science initia- tive will have a meaning- ful impact on the numbers of students pursing sci- ence education.” These funds will help develop the Math and Sci- ence Center operated by Huston Tillotson Univer- sity, including the signifi- cant renovations of the Dickey-Lawless Science Building, retrofitting chemistry, biology, and physics laboratories, and replacement of student work stations to foster classroom interaction. The program serves as a best practice model that ad- dresses the decline in sci- entists and mathemati- cians, particularly in growing minority popula- tions. The Center encour- ages both undergraduate students and creates a pipeline for middle and high school students to pursue college training in these fields. Congressman Lloyd Doggett with HT President Dr. Larry Earvin President Obama has selected Dr. Regina Ben- jamin, as the next U. S. Surgeon General. Benjamin, an Ala- bama family physician and Morehouse School of Medicine graduate, was honored by Black Women’s Roundtable during their “Celebration of Our Sisters of the Gulf Coast Wellness Journey,” for her unyielding deter- mination to provide a ru- ral health clinic for low-in- come residents of Bayou La Batre, Alabama. The clinic was destroyed when the GulfCoast town was dev- astated by Hurricane Katrina. It was rebuilt and burned down the day be- fore re-opening. “Healthcare is one of our highest priorities. Dr. Benjamin clearly has the educational and profes- sional credentials to serve as America’s chief health educato; and her personal testament speaks vol- umes,” said Melanie L. Campbell, executive direc- tor and CEO of NCBCP and convener BWR. “Given the enormous health disparities con- fronting African American women, the appointment of Regina Benjamin as Sur- geon General is just what the doctor ordered,” says Felicia M. Davis , presi- dent, Just Environment Dr. Regina Benjamin for Surgeon General and member of BWR. “Un- der her leadership our na- tion will move to close enormous gaps in care for low income and rural com- munities. Dr. Benjamin’s work after Katrina distin- guished her as a physician dedicated to healing whole communities. Presi- dent Obama has indeed se- lected the most qualified person for the job,” Davis adds. Alabama NCBCP co- ordinator and BWR mem- ber, LaTosha Brown adds, “As a native of the gulf coast, I have served with Dr. Bemjamin on the Gulf Coast Fund’s board for the past few years and I can attest that she has tire- lessly worked towards im- proving the healthcare system in America. Surgeon General nininee Dr. Regina Benjamin By Roland Hayes Special to The Villager There is statement that is commonly thrown around referring to how African Americans miss out on important informa- tion. One common concept is “The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book.” The reference is that we do not read. We can go a bit further to say that we also do not write. A Harvard Financial Educator is being credited to putting out a paper tell- ing the broader community how to continue to keep African Americans their slaves without any effort on the part of the majority community. The sad thing about the piece is that the essence of it is true. And truth hurts. It is pointed that the current methods of con- tainment that is being used is self imposed. The community is kept in bondage because of Igno- rance, Greed, and Selfish- ness. And ignorance is the primary weapon. We tend to get our information word and mouth, radio and tele- vision shows that are used to dumb us down. African Americans are the target market for anyone who wants to make a profit, provided that they are not Black. We boast of our success through con- sumer products such as cars, clothes and jewelry, rather than our financial stability. Most of us are just one pay check away from being homeless. But the biggest short- coming of all is that we do not accept responsibility for the less fortunate in our community. W.E.B. Dubois believed that we should educate our talented tenth and they would be respon- sible for the upbringing of the ninety percent of our population. Most of us, how- ever, did not read the part about our responsibility. The talented tenth just took their money and ran. There is more to this piece, but the bottom line is, If our community is to improve, it is up to us. If we are to reduce unem- ployment in our commu- nity, we must make a spe- cial effort to see that those who are unemployed get a job. And those who are fail- ing in our education sys- tem, must be given a hand up. We can start with the situation at Pearce Middle School . If we fix that prob- lem we would be surprised at what would follow for our community. They are still our slaves! Interscholastic League

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Page 1: PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin · Editorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’Tommy Wyat tTommy Wyat tTommy Wyat tTommy Wyat tTommy Wyat t

Vol. 37 No. 7 Website: theaustinvillager.com Email: [email protected] Phone: 512-476-0082 Fax: 512-476-0179 July 17, 2009

Presorted StandardU.S. Postage Paid

Austin, TexasPermit No. 01949

This paper canbe recycled

Austin will host the30th Annual Prairie View

Coaches Association(PVILCA) Hall of Honor &Hall of Fame Banquet July18th at 1:30 p.m. RadissonHotel 6000 Middle FiskvilleRd.

The (PVIL) served asthe governing body for the ex-tracurricular activities in thearts, literature, athletics andmusic for Texas Negro highschools from the 1920’sthrough 1967. The OVIL be-gan to merge with the UIL atthe start of the 1967-68 schoolyears.

This event has so de-veloped in the last six yearsthat those who were affiliatedwith the schools during thetime mentioned look forwardto banquets occurence. It is atime to remember. This isAustin’s second time to hostin the last four years. Thehighlight of the ceremonies isthe banquetfellowship wherethose who were outstandingcontributors in differentsports categories are pre-sented wto the audiences andinducted with an award.

From the AustinComunity the following per-sons will recieve awards.

Name -High School/Place-Sports/Profession

Richard Black, L CAnderson-Austin;(Football),Leroy Bookman,Sr., L CAnderson-Austin;(Football),George Richard Thomas, LC Anderson-Austin;(Football), Tommy

PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin

Wyatt, P L DunbarLubbock;(Football), AlbertWalker, L C Anderson-Austin;(Football), AlvinMoore, L C Anderson-Austin;(Football), NickOverton, Abilene-Dallas-Austin;(Coach), George E.Hardin; (Media)

Recieving the “LifeTime Achievement Award“for service to the PCILCA areThomas “Jack” Bellinger-Roland C. Hayes- Ed Roby(all working out of Austin)

The day should start

early so one can see the col-lection of memorabiliahoused in the city on the Eastside educational core. Openfor touring purposes will bethe (1) PVILCA pictorial Col-lection, 1009 E. 11th (MarvinC. Griffin Office Building) sec-ond floor. (2) HistoricalMaker-Desegregation ofTexas Public Schools- In frontof the George WashintonCarver Museum, AngelinaStreet.(3) The L C AndersonTrophy and MemorabiliaRoom-Doris Miller Audito-

rium-Rosewood Ave.All of these are in 1.5

miles of each other and park-ing is free.

George E. HardinLeroy Bookman, Sr.

Richard BlackAlvin MooreNick Overton Albert Walker

Ed Roby Thomas “Jack” Bellinger

Roland Hayes T. L. “Tommy” Wyatt

Washington, DC –U.S.Congressman LloydDoggett (D-TX) has se-cured another $350,000 forthe Huston-Tillotson Uni-vers i ty in the Labor ,Health, and Education Ap-propriations Bill. Thesefederal funds are in addi-tion to previous successesof the Congressman forHuston-Tillotson.

“Huston-Tillotson isgiving its students thetools they need to succeedin the 21st century. Thisinstitution is preparingthem for the high-paying,high-tech jobs that willpower our economy todayand in the future,” saidCongressman Doggett, asenior Member of theHouse Ways & MeansCommittee and the HouseBudget Committee. “As along-time supporter andneighbor of Huston-Tillotson, I am pleasedthat these federal fundswil l assis t Huston-Til lotson to continuemaking great strides inmath and science.”

University PresidentDr. Larry Earvin welcomedthe news of federal fund-ing. “These funds will en-able the University to out-f i t i ts laboratories inchemistry, biology andphysical science to meetcontemporary standards.Funds will also be used toextend the University’soutreach programs in sci-

Rep. Doggett Secures $350,000 forHuston-Tillotson University Science Center

ence and mathematics forpre-college students. To-gether these two dimen-sions of the science initia-tive will have a meaning-ful impact on the numbersof students pursing sci-ence education.”

These funds will helpdevelop the Math and Sci-ence Center operated byHuston Tillotson Univer-sity, including the signifi-cant renovations of theDickey-Lawless ScienceBui lding, re trof i t t ingchemistry, biology, and

physics laboratories, andreplacement of studentwork stations to fosterclassroom interaction. Theprogram serves as a bestpractice model that ad-dresses the decline in sci-entists and mathemati-c ians , part icular ly ingrowing minority popula-tions. The Center encour-ages both undergraduatestudents and creates apipeline for middle andhigh school students topursue college training inthese fields.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett with HT President Dr. Larry Earvin

President Obama hasselected Dr. Regina Ben-jamin, as the next U. S.Surgeon General.

Benjamin, an Ala-bama family physic ianand Morehouse School ofMedicine graduate, washonored by BlackWomen’s Roundtableduring their “Celebrationof Our Sisters of the GulfCoast Wellness Journey,”for her unyielding deter-mination to provide a ru-ral health clinic for low-in-come residents of Bayou LaBatre, Alabama. The clinicwas destroyed when theGulfCoast town was dev-astated by Hurr icaneKatrina. It was rebuilt andburned down the day be-fore re-opening.

“Healthcare is one ofour highest priorities. Dr.Benjamin clearly has theeducational and profes-sional credentials to serveas America’s chief healtheducato; and her personaltestament speaks vol -umes,” said Melanie L.Campbell, executive direc-tor and CEO of NCBCPand convener BWR.

“Given the enormousheal th dispari t ies con-fronting African Americanwomen, the appointmentof Regina Benjamin as Sur-geon General is just whatthe doctor ordered,” saysFelicia M. Davis, presi-dent, Just Environment

Dr. Regina Benjaminfor Surgeon General

and member of BWR. “Un-der her leadership our na-tion will move to closeenormous gaps in care forlow income and rural com-munities. Dr. Benjamin’swork after Katrina distin-guished her as a physiciandedicated to heal ingwhole communities. Presi-dent Obama has indeed se-lected the most qualifiedperson for the job,” Davisadds.

Alabama NCBCP co-ordinator and BWR mem-ber, LaTosha Brown adds,“As a native of the gulfcoast, I have served withDr. Bemjamin on the GulfCoast Fund’s board for thepast few years and I canattest that she has tire-lessly worked towards im-proving the healthcaresystem in America.

Surgeon General ninineeDr. Regina Benjamin

By Roland HayesSpecial to The Villager

There is statementthat is commonly thrownaround referring to howAfrican Americans missout on important informa-tion. One common conceptis “The best way to hidesomething from Blackpeople is to put it in abook.” The reference isthat we do not read. We cango a bit further to say thatwe also do not write.

A Harvard FinancialEducator is being creditedto putting out a paper tell-ing the broader communityhow to continue to keepAfrican Americans theirslaves without any effort onthe part of the majoritycommunity. The sad thingabout the piece is that theessence of it is true. Andtruth hurts.

It is pointed that thecurrent methods of con-tainment that is beingused is self imposed. Thecommunity is kept inbondage because of Igno-rance, Greed, and Selfish-ness. And ignorance is theprimary weapon. We tendto get our information wordand mouth, radio and tele-vision shows that are usedto dumb us down.

African Americansare the target market foranyone who wants to makea profit, provided that theyare not Black. We boast ofour success through con-sumer products such ascars, clothes and jewelry,rather than our financialstability. Most of us are justone pay check away frombeing homeless.

But the biggest short-coming of all is that we donot accept responsibility forthe less fortunate in ourcommunity. W.E.B. Duboisbelieved that we shouldeducate our talented tenthand they would be respon-sible for the upbringing ofthe ninety percent of ourpopulation. Most of us, how-ever, did not read the partabout our responsibility.The talented tenth justtook their money and ran.

There is more to thispiece, but the bottom lineis, If our community is toimprove, it is up to us. Ifwe are to reduce unem-ployment in our commu-nity, we must make a spe-cial effort to see that thosewho are unemployed get ajob. And those who are fail-ing in our education sys-tem, must be given a handup. We can start with thesituation at Pearce MiddleSchool . If we fix that prob-lem we would be surprisedat what would follow for ourcommunity.

They arestill ourslaves!

Interscholastic League

Page 2: PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin · Editorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

EDITORIALS/COMMENTARYEditorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to [email protected] Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

Page 2/THE VILLAGER/July 17, 2009

By. Julianne MalveauxNNPA Columnist

A few days afterMichael Jackson died, USMagazine profiled his physi-cian, Dr. Conrad Murray.Since I’m not a regular readerof US, I didn’t get “the word”until a friend shared that theydescribed Dr. Murray as agraduate of “little known”Meharry School of Medicine.The US description says moreabout them than it does aboutMeharry. Scratch a Black phy-sician, or any Black personover age 40, and they knowthat Meharry is a key pro-ducer of African-Americanphysicians, that it is led by astellar doctor, administratorand academician, Dr. WayneRiley, and that it is the back-bone of African-Americanmedical life. I was shockedand appalled that Meharrycould be so easily dismissed,as “little known”. Then,again, as an HBCU President,I’m not so shocked and ap-palled. While HBCUs are avital part of our nation’s aca-demic life, there are many whowould like to “kick us to thecurb” and constrain us to thesidelines. Many of those aresome of us. There is a debategoing on right now aboutwhich of the 105 will surviveanother decade. The debate issparked by the colleges – Bar-ber Scotia in North Carolina,Morris Brown College inGeorgia, and a few others –that have bitten the dust in the

Respecting BlackColleges

last few years. The fact thatPaul Quinn College, in Dal-las, was denied reaffirmationdoesn’t help matters any. Onthe Paul Quinn subject,though, President MichaelSorrell has does great work inthe two years he has been atthe college, turning around asituation that was spiralingdownward. He has appealedthe Southern Association ofColleges and Schools (SACS)decision, and with the sup-port of the UNCF family, hehas a chance of prevailing.Here’s the real deal – HBCUsare likely to have small en-dowments and major chal-lenges. And yet the UNCF col-leges represent just 1.4 percentof the 4-year degree grantinginstitutions in our nation, andwe produce 5.8 percent of theAfrican-Americans with BAdegrees. Even among African-Americans, there is a debateabout whether HBCUs areneeded. In the wake of thePaul Quinn reaffirmation de-cision, there was discussionthat only a few “elite” blackcolleges should survive. In-deed, a group of African-American economists, ontheir listserve, listedSpellman, Morehouse,Hampton, Howard, andTuskegee as the only neces-sary survivors, throwing acidin the faces of all of those otherphenomenal colleges withoutstanding graduates thatintend to stay in for the count.Why? Because we provide es-sential services to our stu-dents, some of whom can goanywhere but choose HBCUs,and some who will only findrefuge in places prepared toameliorate the damage doneby deficient inner city K-12programs that don’t teach ourstudents. At Bennett, and at

many HBCUs, our summerpreparatory programs go along way in preparing incom-ing first year students to flextheir academic muscles. Still,when White scholars writeabout HBCUs, it is clear thatthey don’t get it. A HeritageFoundation study suggestedinvesting in Black collegesmight produce poor returnsbecause of low graduationrates. What the Heritage Foun-dation did not measure is theimproved access to employ-ment and earnings some stu-dents get because they at-tended just one or two yearsat an HBCU. Further, thereseems to be implicit bias in theconclusions reached by Heri-tage. Far more encouraging isa recent study by African-American economists BillSpriggs, Greg Price andOmari Swinton. They findthat HBCU graduates haveboth monetary and nonmon-etary rewards from their atten-dance at HBCUs, includingan increased confidence thathelps them navigate the labormarket. This finding alonemakes a strong argument forrespecting HBCUs. PresidentObama has said that hewants to increase the numberof college graduates in ournation so that we might com-pete more effectively in theglobal market. The LuminaFoundation has said that by2025, three-fifths of all Ameri-cans should have either asso-ciates or college degrees.These goals can’t be reachedwithout the full participationof our nation’s historicallyblack colleges and universi-ties. Our contributions oughtto be respected, not ridiculed.Julianne Malveaux is Presi-dent of Bennett College forWomen in Greensboro, N.C.

George E. CurryNNPA Columnist

Stimulus SpendingProceeding as Planned

What RepublicanHouse Leader John Boehneris doing is a doggone shame.The Ohio congressman hasreleased a video starring a job-sniffing bloodhound namedEllie Mae hot on the trail ofstimulus money. Narrated inthe down home voice of Rep.Lynn Westmoreland of Geor-gia, it begins: “Where are thejobs? We put the dogs on themoney trail to find out.” Themoney trail takes Ellie Mae toAIG headquarters in NewYork City where large bo-nuses were paid to failing ex-ecutives, to Wisconsin whererepairs are being made to abridge that carries only 260cars a year and to one NorthCarolina city that hired oneperson with stimulus moneyand the worker’s job is to ob-tain more stimulus funds forthe city. “I’m John Boehner,”the video continues. “This isEllie Mae. She hasn’t foundany jobs yet, and neither havethe American people.” IfBoehner had wanted to findany jobs, he could havelooked at what’s going on inhis own state. According to aJune 15 press release by theOhio Department of Trans-portation, hundreds of con-struction-related jobs werecreated and retained by theawarding of $36.9 million innew contracts. The releasenoted, “Combined with thecontracts awarded so far us-ing funds from the AmericanRecovery and ReinvestmentAct, ODOT has awardedmore than $83.9 million incontracts for work on 52projects – a combination of in-terstate, local roadway andbridge modernizationprojects.” According to up-dated figures, the total has

exceeded $126 million for 58projects in Ohio. The Web sitefactcheck.org has concluded,“Nationally, the payout ofstimulus funds by the federalgovernment is hewingroughly to the schedule pre-dicted by the CongressionalBudget Office around the timethe bill passed, some econo-mists say. CBO had said thatabout a quarter of the totalmoney would be spent by theend of 2009, and about 75percent by the end of the fol-lowing year.” That’s the sameconclusion reached by theCenter on Budget and Poli-cies Priorities, a non-partisanthink tank in Washington.“The law – officially theAmerican Recovery and Re-investment Act – is workingas intended and, without it,the economy and the job pros-pects for many Americanswould be worse. The $787 bil-lion in new spending and taxcuts was supposed to slow theeconomy’s downward spiraland then help it recover overtime from what will be thenation’s deepest recession indecades, if not since the GreatDepression of the 1930s.”According to the center,“Some critics of the economicrecovery law (or ‘stimulus’bill) that President Obamaand Congress enacted earlythis year aremischaracterizing how it wassupposed to work and whatit was supposed to do.” TheCenter for Budget and PolicyPriorities issued a paper titled,“Correcting Five MythsAbout the Stimulus Bill” byJames R. Horney, NicholasJohnson and Lawrence J.Haas. 1) The recent rise inunemployment does notmean the law is not working.“No mainstream economistbelieved the law would imme-diately revive the economyand cause unemployment tobegin falling,” the reportstated. 2) The administrationand Congress expected thestimulus money to be spentgradually over the next twoto three years, and what’sbeen spent to date is stimu-lating the economy and help-ing millions of Americans.“CBO estimated that one

quarter of the recovery-lawspending would occur in fis-cal 2009, and has said that thefunds already expended havehelped strengthen theeconomy.” 3) The nationfaces a very serious long-termbudget problem, but the re-covery law will exacerbatethat problem only a very smallamount. “Although the recov-ery law significantly in-creases short-run deficits, thefiscal effects of the bill over thelong haul are tiny,” the reportsaid. “The Center on Budgetand Policy Priorities calcu-lated that the recovery lawwould add just 3 percent tothe budget shortfall through2050…CBO projects that thelaw will increase the numberof people with jobs by 2.5 mil-lion next year. In addition,millions of others will benefitfrom the higher incomes pro-duced in an economy that isless weak than it otherwisewould have been.” 4) The lawwas specifically designed tohelp states close their budgetgaps. “The recovery law isgiving states roughly $140billion over the next two yearsin Medicaid and educationfunding, reducing the $350billion shortfall by thatamount, helping states avoidsome of the largest programcuts they were contemplating,and reducing the negativeimpact of their budget-bal-ancing steps on theeconomy,” the report stated.5) States are properly usingstimulus funds for short-termprojects. “In the recovery law,Congress required that statesput their additional federalfunds to work as quickly aspossible, which in manycases means investing in ex-isting projects and programsrather than mounting newinitiatives,” the report said.“That helps to achieve thegoals of both stimulating de-mand for goods and servicesand of saving or creating asmany jobs as possible, asquickly as possible.” WhenJohn Boehner releases hisvideo featuring a dog or oth-erwise misrepresents the goaland accomplishments of thestimulus plan, he is barkingup the wrong tree.

As summer kicks intohigh gear, many Americanslook forward to a break fromthe daily grind. Whether it’sa vacation to a faraway beachor a “staycation” closer tohome, summertime with fam-ily and friends often includesfun in the sun and eating sea-sonal treats. However, whilerelaxing is a great way to im-prove your overall wellness,it’s not an excuse to take a va-cation from living a healthylifestyle. Fortunately, thereare many simple things youcan do to unwind and havefun while staying healthy. Besure to drink plenty of waterif you are going to be outsidein the heat and sun to avoiddehydration. And whilemany typical vacation foodssuch as ice cream and Frenchfries may be tempting, if yousuffer from diabetes or highcholesterol, you have to re-member your body’s meta-bolic and cardiovascular sys-tems aren’t taking a vacation.So, it’s important to maintaingood diet habits throughoutyour trip. More and more res-taurants are offering sugar-free, low-sodium and low-calorie options, making iteasier to find a suitable alter-native to fatty or sugary foods.Never be afraid to ask yourserver about the menu! Some-times that “healthy” saladhas more fat and caloriesthan a cheeseburger. Keeping

up your exercise routine onvacation doesn’t have tomean logging hours coopedup in the gym. Many vacationspots offer beautiful scenery,so why not enjoy it while on ajog or run rather than fromyour chair? Swimming is alsogreat for your cardiovascularhealth. It also can improvemuscle tone and keep youcool when temperatures rise.And whether you are at homeor away, try taking a breakfrom your car and picking upa bicycle for the week or week-end. You’ll not only get greatexercise, but you can elimi-nate the stress sometimes as-sociated with driving. Youcan also take steps to ensurea healthy vacation before youeven leave home. Take inven-tory of your medications andcheck to make sure you haveenough to last throughoutyour vacation. If you don’t,contact your doctor or phar-macy. You may be able to getan extra refill if you explainthat your medicine will runout when you are traveling.This is especially importantif you are managing chronicdiseases, so make sure youhave all the medicine youneed before you leave homeso you can remain healthythroughout your trip. As weget older, we often have to dealwith multiple medicines anddoctors, and that can becomevery confusing. If you are asenior, keep a list of both your

medicines and doctors andgive a copy of the list to a fam-ily member. If you are vaca-tioning with seniors, offer togo over the list with them be-fore the trip to make sure theyhave everything they need toremain healthy during theirtime away from home. Youmight be thinking, “vacationis supposed to be fun, why doI need to worry about allthis?” You’re right: vacationis supposed to be fun, butthings won’t be enjoyable ifyou experience complica-tions with your chronic dis-eases because you stoppedtaking your medicines andregulating your diet to stayhealthy year round. Unfortu-nately that means not takinga vacation from the prescrip-tions you need, but this is aneasy step that can keep youon the beach or by the poolrather than in the clinic orhospital. But we recognizethat medicines help no one ifpatients can’t afford them.That’s why America’s phar-maceutical and biotechnol-ogy companies sponsor thePartnership for PrescriptionAssistance (PPA). Since itslaunch in April 2005, PPAhas helped connect morethan 5.7 million patients inneed to programs that pro-vide either free or nearly freemedicines. For more informa-tion, patients can call 1-888-4PPA-NOW or visitwww.pparx.org.

Healthy VacationingBy. Larry LucasNNPA Columnist

By Marian Wright EdelmanNNPA Columnist

Let’s Stop Playingthe Lottery with Our

Children’s Health

As Congress drafts leg-islation to reform America’shealth care system, our Sena-tors and Representatives mustconsider the impact of theunjust lottery of geography onchildren like Carlos Sanchez(not his real name). For fiveyears, Carlos, 15, received pe-diatric care at the UpperCardozo Health Center, oneof the 39 sites that are a partof Unity Health Care, Inc., inthe District of Columbia.Carlos was enrolled in Med-icaid, but when his familycould no longer afford the costof housing in D.C., they movedjust across the state boundaryline into Maryland whererents are more affordable. Thefamily’s income remained thesame, but moving just a fewmiles away to a different ju-risdiction made a world ofdifference in Carlos’s healthcoverage. He lost his Medic-aid insurance, and althoughhe qualified for Maryland’sChildren’s Health InsuranceProgram (CHIP), he had a six-month waiting period beforehe could get coverage. Withthis change, health serviceshad to be paid out-of-pocketsince his parents couldn’t af-ford private insurance. WhenCarlos injured his knee, theylearned how vulnerable thechange in his insurance sta-tus had left him. The familycouldn’t afford an MRI, visits

to an orthopedist or physicaltherapy—expenses Medicaidwould have covered in theDistrict of Columbia. Carlos’sstory is not unique. The livesand health of millions of chil-dren depends on where theylive. Unfortunately and un-justly, one-third of ournation’s children are enrolledin 50 different state Medicaidand Children’s Health Insur-ance Program (CHIP) sys-tems, each with different rulesregarding eligibility, enroll-ment and recertification.Children’s ability to survive,thrive and develop must notdepend on the lottery of geog-raphy or birth. In 29 states,Medicaid covers all childrenof any age in families at orabove 133 percent of the Fed-eral Poverty Level; and 12states cover children above200 percent. There are 33states where children are eli-gible for different benefitsbased on their ages — so a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old inthe same family could qualifyfor different programs, oneproviding comprehensivechild appropriate benefitsand the other (CHIP) provid-ing some or none since CHIPis a block grant.

Under pediatricianDanielle Dooley’s care, theUpper Cardozo Health Cen-ter provided Carlos a medicalhome with continuity of care,checkups and screenings forvision and hearing. Whenproviding medical home ser-vices, physicians coordinatecare, track school perfor-mance, examine a child’s so-cial situation, look for indica-tions of neglect or abuse andmake referrals to specialistswhen required. A medical

home is crucial during achild’s first 18 months whenthey receive a series of immu-nizations. Developmentalmilestones including speechdelay or impaired vision canbe monitored. Immediate in-tervention with therapy canmake an enormous differencein a child’s progress. Familieswithout coverage often feelexcluded from health provid-ers and are less likely to seekcare. For more children to re-ceive quality care and not beexcluded from coverage, Con-gress must eliminate the ram-pant disparities in health careamong states and among chil-dren by establishing a na-tional eligibility floor for chil-dren in families at or below300 percent of the FederalPoverty Level ($66,150 for afamily of four) so that chil-dren in every state will havethe same chance to surviveand thrive. If we do not payattention children could endup worse off and victims ofillusory health reform. Wehave the money to accomplishthis. Our leaders must mus-ter the political will, but onlyyou¯ citizens raising yourvoice and using your votescan make it happen. If youbelieve a child is a child andeach child’s life is of equalvalue, tell your Senators, Con-gressman and PresidentObama today to act to providea level playing field for allchildren in every state. Emailyour Members of Congresstoday to let them know thataffordable, comprehensivehealth coverage for every-one—especially children—isimportant to you at:www.childrensdefense.org/healthaction.

Page 3: PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin · Editorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

Visit the church of your choice on Sunday

JOSHUA CHAPEL CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

1006 Yeager Lane, Suite 102-A Austin, Texas

Sunday ServicesSunday School 10:00 A.M.Worship Service 11:00 A.M.

WEDNESDAY Bible Study 6:30 P.M.SATURDAY New

Member Assimilation 10:00 A.M.

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 He exhibited isExemplified.” 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 ServiceThursday: Praise, Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PM

Call 454-1547 for TransporationWebsite www.agapebcaustintx.org

Jesus is Coming AgainThe church fellowship where everybody can be somebody!

Maranatha Faith Center4930 South Congress Avenue, C-302 512-750-4628 512-804-2537

Sunday School 9:00-10:00 A.M.Morning Service 10:00 A.M. -12Noon

Floyd Fontenot, Sr., Founder Floyd Fontenot, Jr., Pastor

St. Peter’s United Methodist Church4509Springdale Road 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281

We invite you to come and worship with us

Sunday ServicesWorship 8:30 A.M.Sunday School 9:45 A.MWorship Service 11:00 A.M.

WednesdayEvening Bible Study 6:00 P.M.

Rev. Jack C. Gause 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 Study 6:30 P.M.Imani Complex, 1st and 4th Wednesday

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

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

Sunday Services

Wednesday Service 7:00 - 8:00 P.M.

July 17, 2009/The Villager/Page 3

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

Voice mail (512) 444-4509E-mail: [email protected]

Sunday School 9:30 A.M.Morning services 10:45 A.M.

Rev. Derwin D. Gipson, Pastor

Aligned with Mattersof Eternity

AFRICAN ASSEMBLIES of GODCHURCH

A growing church ministering to African American andother nationals

Come worship with us

Sunday Worship 11:30 A.M.Wednesday Prayer Meeting 6:45 P.M.

Place of WorshipThe Church of Glad Tidings 2700 Northland Dr. Austin, TX 78756

For more information, contact Pastor Jonah Ghartey512-873-8103 [email protected]

David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church2211 East MLK Blvd. Office: 512-472-9748 Fax: 512-472-5399

Sunday ServicesDiscipleship Training 8:15 A.M.Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Worship 10:00 A.M.

Rev. Joseph C. Parker Jr.Pastor

Nursery services available

DOUBLE “R” GROCERYWe cash ALL Tax Refund

ChecksCheck Out

THE AIRPORT FLEE MARKETSaturdays and Sundays

450l East Martin luther King Blvd.

1149 Airport Blvd.

Serving Austin since 1970Let us Fill your next Perscription!

SAVE TIMEAsk your doctor to call

your prescription in to usand we’ll have it ready for you

when you get here!

2115 E. MLK Blvd.512-476-7338

Austin, Texas 78702www.PHRX.Net

Open Mon-Fri 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sat 9 a.m. - Noon

HOSPITAL PHARMACY

Rosewood Avenue Missionary Baptist Church1820 Rosewood Avenue, Austin, Texas 78702

(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

Special to the NNPAfrom the St. Louis American

(NNPA) - MichaelJackson’s elaborate, gold-plated casket currently sitsin a Forest Lawn crypt be-longing to Motown founderBerry Gordy because his fi-nal resting place is yet to bedetermined, according to theNew York Post. Discussionsare reportedly being held bya divided Jackson familyabout where to buryMichael.

Brother Jermaine andfather Joseph reportedlywant Michael to be buriedat the Neverland Ranch,where a prospective mu-seum could generate futureincome, despite a likelylengthy process to trans-form the property into aGraceland-like tourist at-traction.

Mother Katherine andthe other siblings, however,are said to seek a more re-spectful burial ground, inkeeping with Michael’s de-sire never to return toNeverland after he believedsheriff’s deputies hadtainted the property whenthey sought evidence in thechild-molestation caseagainst him.

Family Divided on Final RestingPlace for Michael

‘ ’Katherine doesn’twant him at Neverland,’’ asource told PEOPLE Maga-zine. ‘’She thinks it’s a placeof horrible memories. Shesays Michael wouldn’t wantto be there. Part of the fam-ily disagrees with her. ButKatherine definitely wantsto keep Michael’s wishesthat he not rest atNeverland.’’

Due to strict land-usecodes, securing local gov-ernment permission to buryhim on private property canbe a challenging and adrawn-out process takingup to a month (althoughsprinkling cremated re-

mains requires only theproperty owner’s consent.)

So, for now, MichaelJackson remains in theGordy crypt, which is de-scribed as a sparse, emptymausoleum highlighted bya G monogram and locatedon the same property as thegraves for such Hollywoodicons Lucille Ball, BetteDavis, Gene Autry andSandra Dee, as well asJames Bond producer CubbyBroccoli, comic FreddiePrinze and Liberace.

Information fromPeople.com and The NewYork Post contributed to thisreport

Michael Jackson

The public is cor-dially invited to fellowshipwith the Mount Olive Bap-tist Church in their AnnualMission Service to be heldon Friday, July 17, 2009 at7:00 p.m.

Theme: “The SpiritFilled Life: Having the Mindof Christ” I Corinthians2:12-16 Guest: Rev. MelvinManor St.Paul BaptistChurch Austin, Texas

Location: MountOlive Baptist Church 1800East 11th Street Austin,Texas Rev.Richard E. Carter,Pastor

Check us out onour websiteand look for

updateswww.theaustinvillager.com

Mount Olive tohold Annual

Mission Service

AUSTIN, Texas — AUniversity of Texas at AustinSchool of Social Work re-searcher has received a$680,000 National Institute ofMental Health award tostudy the feasibility of atelehealth problem-solvingtreatment (PST) forhomebound older individu-als suffering from depression.

The short-term struc-tured PST focuses on teach-ing and strengthening prob-lem-solving coping skills forolder adults in the Austinarea.

“An easy access to low-cost videoconferencing toolsis providing health providersthe potential to meet theneeds of this underservedpopulation,” said Dr.Namkee Choi, a gerontologistwho specializes in late lifedepression research. “Withthe current and projectedshortage in mental healthworkforce to meet the needsof an increasing number ofhomebound older adults, weneed to test the feasibility andcost-effectiveness of depres-sion treatment viavideoconferencing.”

Choi found that 17.3percent of 762 homeboundolder adults who werescreened for depression bythe case managers of theMeals on Wheels and Moreprogram in Austin had clini-cally significant depressivesymptoms and 8.4 percent ofthem had probable major de-pressive disorder.

“These rates are signifi-cantly higher than thoseamong older adults in gen-eral,” Choi said. “However,only a few depressedhomebound older adults re-ported that they received anypsychotherapy.”

Social isolation im-posed by chronic illness andfunctional limitations makeshomebound individualsmore vulnerable to depressionthan their mobility-unim-paired peers, Choi said. Theirhomebound state is a barrierto their receiving appropriatedepression treatment.

The study will comparethree groups of participants50 years old and over total-

Helping Homebound Older Adults with Moderate toSevere Depression Subject of New UT School of

Social Work Studying 100 for the next twoyears: those participating intelehealth PST (tele-PST),those participating in tradi-tional in-person PST andthose who will receive tele-phone support and monitor-ing. Tele-PST will be con-ducted through video callsinitiated by the project’s twotherapists.

“The approach is likelyto allow the therapist and theclient most of the benefits ofin-person sessions,” saidChoi. Both tele-PST and in-person PST will be providedby two licensed master’s-levelsocial workers, Mary LynnMarinucci and LeslieSirrianni.

Choi’s collaborators forthe project include geriatricdepression researchers fromCornell Weil Medical School,Dartmouth Medical School,Baylor Medical School andthe University of Pennsylva-nia Medical School. Dr.Martita Lopez of the Depart-ment of Psychology also is aconsultant.

The Austin communitypartners for the project are theMeals on Wheels and More,Family Eldercare, Helpingthe Aging, Needy and Dis-abled, the Capital AreaAgency on Aging and the St.David’s Community HealthFoundation.

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Page 4/THE VILLAGER/July 17, 2009

MYECMYECMYECMYECMYEC

youth brigade

The Dance Umbrella of Austin is preparing for their upcoming Summer Camp thatwill be held July 27 - August 7. This year’s program will be held at the St. James EpiscopalChurch, 1941 Webberville Road from 11:00 am to 4:00 p.m. daily.

This year’s program is entitled African Arts: Dance & Drum Camp with COYABADance Theatre. The students will experience the spirit of West Africa, learn traditional WestAfrican Dance & Drumming and perform with Washington, DC-based Coyaba Dance The-atre at Akins High School on August 7 & 8. Drums and costumes are provided. Space islimited. For information and registration call (512) 450-0456.

African Arts: Dance & Drum Camp with CoyabaDance Theatre

CNN’s SoledadO’Brien’s 4-hour Documen-tary on July 22 & 23, and aSpecial Co-Produced withESSENCE

CNN’s acclaimed Blackin America continues this Julywith extraordinary and grip-ping stories of successful com-munity leaders who are im-proving the lives of African-Americans. As the networkcontinues to invest in ambi-tious documentary program-ming, anchor and special cor-respondent Soledad O’Briencriss-crossed the U.S., and in-cluded reporting from Ghanaand South Africa, as she un-covered the people and pro-grams at the forefront ofchange – people inspiringvolunteerism, programs thatare improving access to qual-ity healthcare and education,and leaders working to ad-dress financial disparitiesand develop strong families.

Today’s Pioneers will de-but on July 22; Tomorrow’sLeaders will debut on July 23.Both two-hour documentarieswill air at 8p.m. and 11p.m.ET and PT. Black in America 2was filmed in high definitionand will be available on VODon many cable systemsshortly after the premiere.

Nearly 16 million view-ers saw the 2008 series whichincluded three documentariesand a televised special co-produced with Essence maga-zine. Almost 15 millionunique users visitedCNN.com’s Black in Americareport.

“We continue to receivesuch extraordinary feedbackto Black in America. It’s clearthat viewers want serious andsubstantive news – and CNNis one of the few places on tele-vision still committed to de-livering in-depth documenta-ries to them,” said Jon Klein,president CNN/U.S.

For the documentaries,O’Brien reported from Brook-lyn, where humanitarianMalaak Compton-Rock hascreated “Journey forChange,” an innovative pro-

Black in America 2 Explores Innovative Solutions toChallenges Facing Black Americans

Soledad O’Brien

gram aimed at expanding thehorizons, and improving theconfidence of economicallydisadvantaged teens.O’Brien and Compton-Rocktraveled to South Africa withover two dozen teens for twoweeks of transformative vol-unteer service in shantytowns and AIDS orphan-ages.

O’Brien also had an ex-tensive interview with mediamogul Tyler Perry – and arare tour of his sprawlingfilm studios in Atlanta, GA.Perry rose from poverty tomulti-million dollar success,and as the owner of a majormotion picture studio, hetalks with O’Brien about theimportance of control andcreative vision.

“Soledad will inspireviewers with the stories of aheroic oncologist who con-tinues her research in Detroitand Ghana – despite thedoctor’s fears about her ownrecent biopsy, and a princi-pal from Hartford, CT, whofounded a year-round mag-net high school that sends allof its graduates to college.These stories are not just in-spirational, they offer ap-proaches to pressing issuesthat viewers are facing andcan adapt to their lives,” saidMark Nelson, vice presidentand senior executive pro-ducer, CNN Productions.

Black in America 2:Today’s Pioneers – Wednes-day, July 22, 8 p.m. & 11 p.m.(two hours) ET/PT

For the debut evening

of CNN’s Black in America 2,O’Brien profiles communityorganizers across the countrywho are creating progress ata local level. From an innova-tive Chicago health clinic thatuses barbers to encourage Af-rican-American men to seekthe medical care they need; toactor/director/playwrightTyler Perry, whose life’s jour-ney has led him fromhomelessness to becoming apowerful filmmaker and tele-vision producer; to thefounder of the “Black Mar-riage Day” project who workswith couples in 300 cities tohelp develop strong, healthyfamilies. This evening pro-files people working in wayslarge and small to make a dif-ference.

Black in America 2:Tomorrow’s Leaders – Thurs-day, July 23, 8 p.m. & 11 p.m.(two hours) ET/PT

The second documen-tary in the two-night seriesfocuses on people who are de-veloping African-Americanleaders for tomorrow. JohnRice’s “Management Leader-ship for Tomorrow” mentorstalented African-Americanprofessionals to help themrise to positions of power andsuccess in America’s compa-nies. Compton-Rock’s “Jour-ney for Change” program of-fers teens the opportunity tosee the world and developself-confidence, and princi-pal Steve Perry’s Capital Pre-paratory Magnet School pre-pares African-American stu-dents for college.

CNN & Essence: Re-claiming the Dream – Satur-day, August 1 & Sunday,August 2, 8 p.m. (two hours)ET/PT

Moderated byO’Brien , and featuringCNN Contributor RolandMartin, this dynamic forumwill include debate and dia-logue from Essence Editor-in-Chief Angela Burt-Murray;NAACP President & CEOBen Jealous; actor/radiotalk show host/authorSteve Harvey; humanitar-ian & founder of the AngelRock Project MalaakCompton-Rock; actor/au-thor/philanthropist HollyRobinson Peete; TV person-ality Judge Penny BrownReynolds; actor and AIDSactivist Sheryl Lee Ralph;principal of CapitalPrepatory Magnet SchoolSteve Perry, Ed.D.; andfounder and executive direc-tor of the Black AIDS Insti-tute Phill Wilson, exploringcreative approaches to com-munity solutions aroundthe country. The two-hourReclaiming the Dream is a co-production with Essencemagazine that will be filmedat the Essence Music Festi-val in New Orleans on July4 and will premiere on CNNon August 1.

By. Hazel Trice EdneyNNPA Editor-in-Chief

(NNPA) - In a grand cen-tennial meeting that drewthousands to New York City– the founding place of theNAACP - this week, Presidentand CEO Benjamin Todd Jeal-ous proclaimed that the nextmove of the civil rights orga-nization against new “layersof racism” will be tostrengthen its inner ranks bybecoming a majority throughcoalitions.

“We will change. Notfor the sake of change itself,but for the sake of growth,”Jealous said in prepared re-marks to be rendered at theconvention Monday evening.“We must be able to marchforth as a majority and thatmeans we have to be aboutorganizing coalitions, maxi-mizing our power to buildbridges of understanding andmobilizing our entire rainbowof champions for socialchange.”

Jealous was specificabout his strategic vision.

“We will invest in re-search to ensure that what isobvious to us cannot be ques-tioned by any. We will trainand retrain with a focus onorganizing even better andsmarter than we are already.We will forge newcoalitions...big, broad, effectivestrange-bedfellow coalitions.We will build campaigns thatcapture the imaginations ofgenerations. We will embracetechnology,” he said. “But wecan’t do this work alone. Sotoday, we issue a new call for

At 100th Year Conference: NAACP ChiefIssues ‘New Call for a New Century’

a new century.’’That call comes in what

is historically among the mostexciting years for African-Americans. Jealous reflectedon the election of PresidentBarack Obama as the nation’sfirst Black president, but alsounderscored how his electionspotlights the vestiges of rac-ism that still prevail.

“January 20, 2009, wasa day when hopes were ful-filled, when dreams came true,when ancestors sacrificeswere remembered with tearsof joy, in short, it was a daywhen the dream of this coun-try seemed within reach ofevery family,” said Jealous,36, historically the youngestpresident to lead the civilrights organization. “Andthen January 21st came, likeevery day thereafter, and fami-lies woke up to a new morn-ing and were facing the samequestions: Why can’t Dad finda job? Why does Mom have towork so many jobs just to makeends meet? Why is my family’sdream being foreclosed on?Why are our schools an em-barrassment to everythingthis country stands for? Whyare so many of our children...and mothers... and fathersdying of AIDS?”

He continued, “To-night, in this city and so manyothers across this land, toomany families, in too manyneighborhoods will concludeit’s just too dangerous to sleepanywhere but on thefloor...under the window silland out of the way of randomgunfire. We woke up on Janu-ary 21st to the fact that we

have one Black man in theWhite House, but we haveone million in prison,” hesaid. “And so...we can’t waitfor someday, somehow - weneed real change right here,right now.”

President Obama wasalso scheduled to speak to thegathering on July 16, settingat tone of great anticipationfor the organization’s annualSpingarn Awards Dinner.Veteran Civil Rights Leader;NAACP Chairman JulianBond will be the Spingarn re-cipient this year.

It was February 12,1909, the 100 year after thebirthday of Abraham Lin-coln, that a racially diversecoalition met in an apart-ment in lower Manhattan “toissue an historic call to ac-tion,” Jealous recounted thefounding of the NAACP.

That historic call to ac-tion read in part: ‘’Hence wecall upon all the believers indemocracy to join in a na-tional conference for the dis-cussion of present evils, thevoicing of protests and the re-newal of the struggle for civiland political liberty.’’

He described, “Theywere Black and White, Chris-tian and Jew, men andwomen. They shared a com-mitment to fulfilling the prom-ise of equality that was guar-anteed by the EmancipationProclamation, the 13thamendment, 14th amend-ment and the 15th amend-ment of the Constitution. Afew months later, a few hun-dred more - many of them

See NAACP page 7

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July 17, 2009/THE VILLAGER/page 5

The African Diaspors SectionBy Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Austin Urban Market

Diaspora View on PresidentObama Visit to Ghana

This week, the Diasporawill be focused on the Presi-dent of the United States,Barack Obama’s travel toGhana, West Africa. Presi-dent Obama’s two day stopin Ghana has made the ma-jority of the African Commu-nity living in Central Texasvery proud. During the entireweekend, Africans living inCentral Texas turned theireyes back on their continent.Consequently, the Diasporawill take the time to explainthe importance of bridging thegap between the African con-tinent and the United States.

Just recently, PresidentObama of the United Statestraveled to Ghana West Af-rica. However, this trip toGhana was talked about inthe mainstream media. If thePresident travels to foreigncountries, then why was thistrip so much publicized? Whydidn’t President Obama visitKenya, the birth place of hisfather; or South Africa whichis one of the most developedcountries in Africa; or evenNigeria which is the mostpopulous nation in Africa?Amongst all those options, thePresident of the US choseGhana, a country located inWest Africa. However to un-derstand how Ghana waschosen one must look at theirbustling economy and de-mocracy. To better under-

stand the choice of Ghanaone can look at its history.

In 1482, the Portugueselanded on Ghana’s coast andbegan to build in outpost fortrade. Ghana became a placewhere slaves, gold and ivorywere traded. In 1874, Ghanabecame a British colony. In1957, Ghana was the firstcountry in Africa to gets itsindependence. From 1957 to1980, Ghana was marred bymilitary overthrows in whichthe military had coup d’etats.Then from 1980 to 1992,Ghana experienced politicalstability. Finally from 1992 tothe present, Ghana now en-ters the age of a stable democ-racy. During this period, freeelections were held in whichpower was transferred fromone president to another. Thepeaceful transition makesGhana an attractive place forforeign investment and thusspurs economic growth.

During the 1990’s allthe sectors of Ghana’seconomy experiencedgrowth. This economicgrowth substantially cut thepoverty rate of Ghana. From2001 to 2005, Ghana’seconomy grew to 5% and inbetween 2005 to 2006 theeconomy grew to 6%. In 2015,the Ghanaian economy is ex-pected to grow 6% to 8 %. Justrecently oil and gas wasfound on Ghana’s offshore.

This oil discovery has alreadybrought in new foreign invest-ments. While Ghana’seconomy is booming, itsneighboring countries such asTogo and the Ivory Coast’seconomy have both grownsmaller due to conflict andpolitical instability. As a re-sult, economic growth is di-rectly related to political sta-bility.

Therefore, PresidentObama’s presence in Ghanais to show other African coun-tries like Kenya, Nigeria, IvoryCoast and Togo that eco-nomic development is directlytied to political stability. More-over, we should (Africansand the African Diaspora liv-ing in Central Texas andaround the world) all be proudthat President Obama usedGhana as a showcase ofwhat a true democracy andtransition of power shouldlook like. In other words,democracy will help to fos-ter economic growth thatwill in term lift countries outof poverty and also reduceits debt. Hopefully electionsare to be held in the IvoryCoast on (November 29,2009) and in Togo during(2010) will be free and fairelections in which a peace-ful transition will occur.Thus, its people will nolonger suffer from economicand political injustices.

Travis Democratic Party andthe African American Vote

Last month, we lookedat the Republican Outreachtoward getting new voters,especially that of AfricanAmericans. For this month, Iinterviewed Andy Brownfrom the Travis DemocraticParty. As the 2010 midtermelection approaches, theTravis Democratic Party isgearing up to get new voters;engage those who hardlyvote; and to increase their out-reach to the African Americancommunity living in CentralTexas. Furthermore, the TDPis gearing up for the midtermelection of the governor andsenator who will be repre-senting all of Texas, espe-

cially Central Texans.The Travis Democratic

Party’s mission is to getdemocrat candidates seekingto hold public office to beelected in Travis Countywhich includes areas of Aus-tin, Pfluggerville, Westlake,Manor and all of the sur-rounding municipalities,which would in term help thecandidate on a statewidelevel. In order to get their can-didates elected the TDP hasseveral outreach strategiessuch as sending mail to resi-dents, calling voters, and alsoblock-walking in neighbor-hoods throughout CentralTexas, especially East andSouth Austin. For several rea-sons all of these strategies arecrucial for winning an elec-tion and are used to registernew voters; to remind regis-tered voters who don’t vote

regularly to vote; regular voteto go to the voting booth, es-pecially during the midterm.

Consequently, theTravis Democrat Party hassought to increase the partici-pation of African Americansliving in Travis County for theelection cycles. As the num-bers of registered voters in-crease, so does the opportu-nity to win a local, statewide,and national election. In 2004,the TDP was able to mobilize14,500 African Americans tovote. In 2008, the TDP got anincrease of 17,034 voters. Forthe 2010 midterm elections,the TDP is seeking to mobilize20,000 African Americans tovote. Moreover, Andy Brownbelieves that if every eligibledemocrat votes in 2010, thenthe Democratic party will re-take the governor and senateoffices.

Sustainable Food Center

Harvest Time Farm Stand’s Larry & Gail Smith of Canyon Lake (right), selling to customersat the Triangle Market. -Suzanne Santos, Austin Farmers’ Market Director, Sustainable Food Center

Over the past thirtyyears, Sustainable Food Cen-ter (SFC) has been operatingin Central Texas. The SFC cre-ated three programs whichwere: “Grow Local, Farm Di-rect and the Happy Kitchen”.In 2001, the Sustainable FoodCenter merged with the Aus-tin Garden Community(AGC) to become one entity.This merging allowed the SFCand the AGC to strengthenprograms, integrate talentsand to consolidate adminis-trations. In 2003, the SFC wasapproached by local farmersto see if a market could beopened in Austin, Texas. Af-ter a feasibility study wasconducted the SFC was ableto launch the Austin Farmers’Market.

After receiving a posi-tive result from the feasibilitystudy and with the help of thecommunity, the SFC realizedthat a farmers’ market in Aus-tin could be achieved. Duringthis process, the SFC receivedhelp from government entitiesand private citizens. Privatecitizens were able to donatethrough fundraising whilethe city of Austin helped by

By Tsoke (Chuch)Adjavon - Villager Columnist

waiving some parking andstreet closure fees. Also, theState of Texas also helpedthrough the Texas Depart-ment of Agricultural grants.As a result, the SFC was ableto help with the creation of afarmers’ market in CentralTexas.

For the past seven years,the farmers’ market has beenoperating on Saturdays andWednesdays. There is also aNeighborhood market in EastAustin. On Saturdays, thefarmers’ market is located indowntown Austin between4th and Guadalupe Street.The market is open between8am and the 12 noon. OnWednesdays, the marketopens up at the Triangle,which is located between46th and Lamar Street withhours of operation between4pm and 8pm. Lastly, the EastAustin Neighborhood farm-ers’ market is operated onlyduring summer.

Moreover, the farmers’market uniqueness comesfrom its vendors and its atmo-sphere. The SFC requires thatits vendors grow their prod-uct or make their product fromwithin a 150 miles radiusfrom Austin, with the excep-tion of some seafood vendors

and buffalo meat vendors.Since there are a variety ofvendors, the shoppers canpurchase various productssuch as peaches,carrots,honey, melons, greens, cowcheese, feral hog, duck, rab-bit, pheasant, and turkey.Currently, the SFC is no longeraccepting new vendors’ ap-plications because SFC wantsto better support the localfarmers who are alreadypresent. However, the SFCwill accept new vendors un-der certain conditions estab-lished by the SFC board.

Finally, the farmer’s market isbeneficial in terms of eco-nomic, social, and health topeople living in CentralTexas. First of all, the farmers’market made 1.2 millionswhile the surrounding mer-chants like bookstores, coffee-houses, and restaurantsmade 400,000 dollars in rev-enue. Secondly, the farmers’market allows an entire fam-ily to shop together and alsoallows for people to socializewhile shopping. In terms ofhealth, the shoppers are buy-ing fresh organic fruits andvegetables which don’t haveany types of artificial orchemicals added to them.

Chairman Andy Brown with Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) and Luci Baines Johnson,President Johnson’s daughter, on election night 2008 at the Driskill Hotel in Austin celebratingPresident Obama’s victory.

TAVION LACY WINS $5,000 HT SCHOLARSHIP(AUSTIN, Texas) —

Tavion Lacy from Dallas,Texas, impressed the judgeswith his dance moves duringthe Huston-TillotsonUniversity’s Enrollment Festto pickup a $5,000 scholar-ship for the Fall 2009 semes-ter. Lacy and a dozen othernew students participated ina weekend of activities as part

of the University’s Male Ini-tiative on Learning and Excel-lence (MILE). The program isdesigned to engage first-yearmale students in innovativeeducational experiences an-chored in academic achieve-ments and college success.

The Enrollment Festfeatured performances by lo-cal artists and Huston-Tillotson graduates such asJudy Arnold, George Powell,and Deric Lewis. The eventallowed potential students toshowcase their singing, danc-ing, or musical talents, tourthe campus, talk to facultyabout majors, visit with ad-mission counselors, and ap-ply for the start of the fall se-mester.

To learn more aboutHuston-Tillotson Universityor to enroll for the upcomingterm, contact EnrollmentManagement at 512.505.3028or visit www.htu.edu.Classes start Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Tavion Lacy

Page 6: PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin · Editorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

Page 6/THE VILLAGER/July 17, 2009

A C CA C CA C CA C CA C C

FFFFFor infor infor infor infor informaormaormaormaormation calltion calltion calltion calltion callGary WGary WGary WGary WGary Wararararardian adian adian adian adian at (512) 350-1272t (512) 350-1272t (512) 350-1272t (512) 350-1272t (512) 350-1272

Top Ladies of Distinction,Inc. meet in Cleveland, Ohio

Left to Right: Christina Moten-Johnson, Ellison Jennings, Ladaziye Martin, Advisor WandaJohnson, Chereigne’ Smith, Kevin Jamal Brown.

Members of Capital CityChapter TLOD and TopTeens of America (TTA) re-cently attended Syn-Lod inCleveland, Ohio. Syn-Lod isthe national meeting of TLODthat is held every two years.This years’ meeting was sig-nificant in that this is the 45th

Anniversary year of TLOD.Ladies attending were ShirleyGordon, Delois Hall, LoisHunt, Wanda Johnson,Catherine Petit, Roye Reevesand Marjorie Rhone. Teens at-tending were Jamal Brown,Ellison Jennings, ChristinaMoten-Johnson, LadaziyeMartin and Chereigne’ Smith.Lords attending were AlHunt and Lester Rhone.

Christina Moten-Johnson was a member onthe first place team of TheBlack History Bowl andLadaziye Martin was on thethird place Black HistoryBowl Team. Jamal Brownand Chereigne’ Smith repre-sented Capital City Chapteras Mr. and Miss Top Teen.Ellison Jennings partici-pated in the Performing ArtsCompetition. All Teensserved as delegates and ac-tively participated in themeetings and serviceprojects.

Recognition was givento Capital City Chapter forNAACP Membership in theform of a plaque, Shirley Gor-

don received her twenty-fiveyear membership pin (SilverElite Pin), and Orvis Austinreceived a plaque as a pastNational Area Director. Avery special trophy was pre-sented to our 9th Past Na-tional President, Vivien CoeRichard for her efforts in ini-tiating the TTA LeadershipAcademy under her presi-dency. The purpose of theacademy is to develop andpromote leadership withinthe youth in our organizationas well as the community. Thepast two academies have beenat Rice University. The officialname of the academy is nowThe Vivien Coe Richard Lead-ership Academy.

OLD ANDERSON (OLCAAA)REUNION GOLF WINNERS

Omni Hotel

The OLCAAA 2009 Re-union Golf Tournament win-ners were Floyd Chambersand Freddie Starks who shota 64 to beat the team of VictorWallace and Gregorio Green,who also shot 64. Wallace andGreen were defending cham-pions from 2006 and 2003.

Five teams shot 65 tocomplete the Champion-shipFlight. First Flight winnerswere Cliff Sneed and CharlesDavenport who shot 69 to beatsecond place winners WillieJohnson and Lavon Perrinalso with 69. Larry Britton

and Tony Lawrence also shot69 to finish third in the flight.

Second Flight win-ners were brothers, LawrenceByrd and Jesse Byrd with a 73and brothers Olice Arnoldand Reginald Arnold alsoshooting 73 for second place.Third flight winners wereHershall Shelley and ErnestGoode with a 78 and secondplace with 79 were JamesGuyton and Gene Payne.Long drive plaque winnerswere Judge Sandra Fitzpatrick(Women) and Lavon Perrin(Men). Closest to the pin

plaque winners were ElenaWarren (Women) and GenePayne (Men).

Fifty-eight golfersenjoyed the most competitivereunion tournament everheld for OLCAAA. Everyplayer received a souvenircap with the yellow jacketemblem and winning teamsreceived plaques and $ 100gift certificates while secondplace teams received $ 60 giftcertificates. GeneralMarshall hosted the tourna-ment and Ken Eppright wasTournament Director.

(L to r) General Marshall presents awards to Tournament winners Floyd Chambers and Freddie Starks

Emila Returnsto East Austin to

open CasaColumbiaAdrienne Isom

Some of you may re-member Don Emila’s Restau-rant which was located onEast 7th Street over four yearsago. If you never made itthere you missed a greatmeal. Now you have thatchance to taste fine cuisineagain at “Casa ColumbiaRestaurant”, Emila’s newVillager Columnist

BLACK REGISTRYIs Now Available at

our office orparticapating businesslocations throughout

the Greater AustinArea. Call

(512) 476-0082 to

($2 per book.)

restaurant reopened on East7th Street.

Emila Hurtado came tothe U. S. from Columbia in1985. Since her arrival shebecame an entrepreneurbringing the taste ofColumbian Afro centric, andtraditional South Americanclassical dishes to 1411 East7th, the East Side of Austin.Casa Columbia is about a mileeast of IH-35.

Emila follows in the tra-dition of preparing recipesthat transcend from Africa.These include traditionalplantain, beef, rice and otherrecipes. Usually in the Carib-bean and South American ar-eas you will also find porkdishes which have a Latin fla-vor, and recipes made withyucca, a plant which is simi-lar to the white potato. Emilahas made sure to includethese dishes in her menu.

Since Emila’s tran-scending into the restaurantbusiness in Austin, she hasundergone a few personalgrowth experiences. After lo-cating on 7th years back, herbusiness picked up and sheentered into a business ar-rangement which took heruptown, to a move across fromTown Lake. Her business wasbusy, and the change alsocalled for her to americanizesome recipes. As time passedEmila found she was more athome back on 7th Street whereshe could keep the dishesmore traditional, and hustleand bustle at a moderatespeed.

Taking on a new part-

ner Emila has plunged backinto full business, bring herfollowing of a good crowd ofpatrons.

You can look for-ward to enjoying: BandesaPaisa, Abormjad,Empandadas, on special oc-casions live music, an atmo-sphere you can kick back andrelax in, or hold special busi-ness lunches.

The 2009The 2009The 2009The 2009The 2009

Don Emila’s in front of her restaurant on 1411 East 7th reserve your copy.

Page 7: PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin · Editorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

EMPLOYMENT/BIDS/PROPOSALS/PUBLIC/

INFORMATION/FOR SALE/FOR RENT/MISC

JANITORIAL WORKERSNEEDED

ISS Facility Services, Inc. has open-ings for supervisory, floor men, andgeneral cleaners for part-timeevening employment. Apply at ISSFacility Services, Inc. Austin, M-F,between 4-6 pm, 8101 CameronRoad # 304. ISS Facility Services,Inc. is an Equal opportunity Em-ployer (EOE) and promotes a Di-verse Workforce.

Employment

July 17, 2009/THE VILLAGER/Page 7

Apply at HR5930 Middle Fiskville Rd.

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

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Austin Community Col-lege District is requesting qualifi-cations from firms for the purposeof selecting qualified business enti-ties for service providers for the de-velopment of Campus MasterPlans.

Request for Qualifications No. 906-090039RS

All proposals must be sub-mitted to the Purchasing Depart-ment by no later than 2:00 p.m.,CDT on Aug. 6, 2009.

The Request for Qualifica-tions is available in the ACC Pur-chasing Office [(512) 223-1044]between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and4:00 p.m., Monday through Fridayor on the ACC Purchasing websiteat http://www.austincc.edu/pur-chase/advertisedbids.php All re-sponses must be sealed and re-turned to the ACC Purchasing Of-fice, ACC Service Center, 9101Tuscany Way, Austin,

Texas 78754, by the date andtime indicated above. Electroni-cally transmitted responses willNOT be accepted unless other-wise stated in the documents. Latesubmittals will be returned un-opened.

The ACC Board of Trusteesreserves the right to reject any and/or all responses and waive all for-malities in the solicitation process.

Notice To CreditorsOn June 11, 2009 Let-

ters Testamentary for the Estate ofMyrna Anita Kerr, Deceased, wereissued in Cause No. C-1-PB-09-000617, pending in the ProbateCourt No. 1 of Travis County,Texas, to the estate’s IndependentExecutor without bond, Stan Kerr.All persons having claims againstthe estate which is currently beingadministered are required to presentthem within the time and in themanner required by law. Claimsshould be addressed to Stan Kerr,residing in Travis County at 1401Springdale, Austin, Texas 78721.Dated July 11, 2009.

New Jobs for the Weekof 07/13/09

Student Services DeanEastview CampusMonday - Friday, 8:00 a.m.

- 5:00; hours include evenings andweekends.

Commensurate upon experi-ence.

Job #0907003Clerk, Records and Informa-

tionService Centers Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m.

- 5:00 p.m. $2,256-$2,820/MonthlyJob #0907006Specialist, Support - Virtual

College of TexasPinnacle Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m.

- 5:00 p.m.$2,611-$3,264/MonthlyJob #09070

Notice toSubcontractorsSouthwest Corporation is

soliciting bids from all qualified sub-contractors and suppliers includingMWBE/HUB’s for the followingCity of Austin project: (IFB 6100CLM C059) Austin ConvectionCenter Waller Creek Terrace RoomReconfiguration. Fax quotes to(512)836-1557 no later than4:00PM, July 22, 2009. Plans avail-able from City of Austin, Area PlanRooms and for review at SouthwestCorporation offices. Contact Lori at(512)836-1552 for more informa-tion.

Texas Congregations Unitedfor Empowerment, Inc. (TCUE), anon-profit organization comprisedof a collective of primarily AfricanAmerican churches in Central Texas,in mutually beneficial business part-nerships with financial institutionsand businesses, is hiring a part-timeExecutive Director. This staff per-son will identify, recruit and con-tractually engage new churches, aswell as new business partners andnew alliances with financial institu-tions offering unified TCUE pro-grams and services. The successfulcandidate must be self-initiated,implement the mission of obtainingthe new contracts, be accountableto the TCUE Board of Directors byembracing TCUE’s vision, mission,goals, objectives, programmaticemphases, marketing and imple-ment the administrative detailsthereof. A college degree or itsequivalent and proven experience inclosing new business is required.Compensation is based upon a ne-gotiable nominal base salary plusprimarily commission tied to newbusiness. Resumes should be mailedto The Texas Congregations Unitedfor Empowerment, Inc., P.O. BOX684932, Austin, TX 78769-4932.

PUBLIC NOTICEDISADVANTAGED

BUSINESS ENTERPRISESDATED: MAY 13, 2009

Capital Metro herebyannounces its Fiscal Year 2010goal of twenty-two percent (22%)for Disadvantaged BusinessEnterprises (DBE) participation infederally funded contracts.

A description of how thisgoal was established is availablefor public inspection Mondaythrough Friday from 9 AM to 4PM at the Capital Metro offices,323 Congress Avenue, Austin,Texas for forty-five (45) daysfollowing this notice.

Capital Metro will acceptinformational comments for aperiod of thirty (30) daysfollowing the date of this notice.

Address comments to:Capital Metro, DBE

Officer, 323 Congress Avenue,Austin, Texas 78701

leaders of the Blackchurch - joined with them atour first convention, wherethey vowed to take the cam-paign back to the field.”

That field now consistsof about a half million mem-bers across the nation andmillions more who benefitfrom the NAACP’s battles.

Despite those evils thatremain, Jealous cited severalbattles that are close to beingwon.

“Before we meet again,we will deliver the firstwoman of color to a seat onthe Supreme Court. We willpass major reforms in stateslike California and NorthCarolina. We will outlaw ra-cial profiling everywhere.And in Savannah, Georgia,where our local volunteersand national staff have deliv-ered more than 65,000 signa-tures calling for the DA to re-open the case, the tide is turn-ing every day - we will saveTroy Davis’ life and get thereal killer off the streets.”

The death penalty caseof Troy Davis –involving a listof witnesses who have re-canted their original testimo-nies against him – has beenhard-fought by the NAACPunder Jealous’ tenure. It ap-pears to be making headwayas the U. S. Supreme Courtrecently put off until Septem-ber a decision on whether togrant Davis a new trial.

Still, thousands moreBlack males imprisonedacross the U. S. have cases ofquestionable justice. Jealoushas cited institutional racismwithin the criminal justicesystem as the next layer ofracism that has come after“presumed inferiority”.

He explained, “Theysaid we just weren’t goodenough to be the quarterback,the coach or the CEO. Butover the past 40 years, we’veblown that fallacy out of thewater - Oprah, GeneralPowell, Tony Dungy and

Mike Tomlin, Tiger Woods,Ken Chennault, BarackObama, Dorothy Height, andVenus and Serena Williams.

“But racism is like anonion - once you peel backone layer, there’s anotherlayer underneath. Peel backthe layer of presumed inferi-ority and you find that todaythe primary justification forracism is presumed criminal-ity,” he said. “The fact of thematter is that this layer is bothmore permeable and morevolatile. If I see you as infe-rior, I will probably never getpast it, but I might be inclinedto treat you in a way that ispaternalistic and even giveyou a job in my house. If I seeyou as a criminal, onceyou’ve been vetted, it’s nolonger a concern, but untilthat point you are a threat, youain’t coming in and there’snothing I won’t do to protectmy family from you. And so,the places of familiarity be-come this fear, becomes anoverwhelming and ubiqui-tous justification for racism.”

Because of the new lay-ers that are increasingly ob-scure, yet just as damaging toAmerica’s progress, theNAACP is also clarifying itsfocus, Jealous said. He en-couraged the audience tobroaden its vision as well.

“Dream big and workwith us to get smart oncrime...to end racial profiling,

and the draconian drug lawsand unequal sentencing.Dream big. Help us ensureequal access to the green jobsand new technologies of thedigital age. Dream big. Standwith us for the confirmationof Sonia Sotomayor. Dreambig and work with us to passthe Employee for Choice Act.Dream big, and insist with usthat the schools in our neigh-borhoods and the teacherswho serve our children arethe best in the world. Dreambig, and expel the army ofpredatory lenders who haveinvaded our communities.Dream big, and be a betterparent, a better father, a betterstudent, a better citizen.”

He concluded with amessage if hope: “We arewinning...And when we win- and we always win in theend - we win really, reallybig.”

At theAt theAt theAt theAt the V V V V Villaillaillaillaillagggggererererer, w, w, w, w, we cane cane cane cane can

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At 100th Year Conference: NAACP ChiefIssues ‘New Call for a New Century’from page 4

NAACP National President Ben Jealous

Special to the NNPA fromthe Seattle MediumOLYMPIA (NNPA) –

Washington State AttorneyGeneral Rob McKenna re-cently praised the FederalTrade Commission for tack-ling a Tacoma company thatpreyed on financiallystrapped consumers.

He urged consumers totake advantage of low-costcredit counseling services, butto beware of scammers.

“When you’re drown-ing in debt, you’re desperate,”

Consumers Warned About Debt-Relief Scams

McKenna said. “But if you’renot careful, your chosen res-cuer may toss you an anvilinstead of a life preserver.”

He continued, “There’sno one-size-fits-all solution tosolve your financialproblems...If you need help,find a legitimate credit coun-selor who will develop a per-sonalized money-manage-ment plan.”

Mutual ConsolidatedSavings in Tacoma was suedby the FTC for allegedly us-ing robo-calls to aggressively

target consumers then charg-ing fees of $690 to $899 whileproviding little help. The FTCfroze the assets of thecompany’s owners.

“Mutual ConsolidatedSavings has been the sourceof numerous consumer com-plaints,” McKenna said. “TheFederal Trade Commission’smove to shut down its Tacomacall center means that fewerconsumers will be misled bythe company’s promises tobail them out of debt.”

Spotting a Debt RepairScam:

• The company prom-ises to repair a bad credit re-port.

• The organizationwants you to pay before anyservices are provided.

• You aren’t informed ofthe legal rights and actionsyou can take yourself – forfree.

• The repairer suggestsyou shouldn’t contact a creditbureau directly.

• The company sug-gests that you try to invent a‘’new’’ credit report by apply-ing for an Employer Identifi-cation Number to use insteadof your Social Security Num-ber.

• The company quicklyrecommends bankruptcy.

Finding LegitimateHelp:

• The U.S. Departmentof Justice’s U.S. Trustee Pro-gram provides a list of govern-ment-approved credit coun-seling agencies online athttp://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/index.htm

• The National Founda-tion for Consumer Counselingprovides a list of member agen-cies at www.nfcc.org or call 1-800-388-2227 for 24-hour au-tomated office listings.

• Be aware that just be-cause an organization says itis “nonprofit” doesn’t guar-antee that its services are freeor affordable.

• Think carefully beforesending money to a creditcounseling organization thatdoesn’t have an office in yourcommunity.

• Shop around. Com-pare a couple of services andget a feel for how they oper-ate. The credit counselorshould spend at least 20 to 30minutes with you in order toget a complete picture of yourfinances.

• Ask a lot of questionsand get the answers in writ-ing

Special to the NNPAfrom GIN

(GIN) - Niger ianwriter EC Osondu has wonthe 2009 Caine Prize forAfrican Writ ing for hiss tory “Wait ing”, aboutdisplaced people.

The prize – named af-ter Sir Michael Caine - isawarded annually for ashort story by an Africanwriter published in En-glish. The winner receives$16 ,000 and a month’sscholarship at GeorgetownUniversity in WashingtonDC as a Writer-in-Resi-dence.

Judge Nana YaaMensah descr ibed MrOsondu’s story as ‘’a tourde force describing, from achild’s point of view, thedislocating experience ofbeing a displaced person.’’

Osondu was born inNigeria and worked in ad-vertising before moving toNew York to study creativewriting at Syracuse Univer-sity. He currently teachesliterature at ProvidenceCollege, Rhode Island.

NigerianProfessorCaptures

MajorWriting Prize

NOW AVAILABLE

Classified Directory of AfricanAmerican Owned and Operated inAustin and the Surrounding area.$2.00 each. Call 476-0082

Page 8: PVILCA to host Hall of Honor Banquet in Austin · Editorial, Commentary or Letter to the Editor Fax to 512.476.0179 Email to vil3202@aol.com Mail to 1223-A Rosewood Avenue, 78702

Villager SportsvilleVillager SportsvilleVillager SportsvilleVillager SportsvilleVillager Sportsville

By George HardinBy George HardinBy George HardinBy George HardinBy George HardinSportsBeatSportsBeatSportsBeatSportsBeatSportsBeat

Page 8/The Villager/July 17, 2009

Tennis student helps keep her granddad’s dream alive

Kenya Simmons, 6, wasbeing taught to play tennis byher grandfather, ClarenceFair, but he died three monthsago. Kenya then said to hermother, Paula Simmons,“Well, what am I going to do?Paw Paw taught me but I’mnot good enough. I still needhelp.” Simmons said she toldher daughter, “ ‘Well, I tellyou what I’m going to do,babe. I’m going to put you ina camp this summer.’ “

As a result, Kenyawas in a group of kids of allages playing tennis Thurs-day, June 9, at Austin TennisCenter, 7800 Johnny MorrisRoad. The day’s events in-cluded a tournament con-ducted by the National Jun-ior Tennis and Learning(NJTL) network and the Cen-tral Texas Tennis Association(CTTA). The NJTL wasfounded in 1969 by ArthurAshe, Charlie Passarell, andSheridan Snyder and offerstennis programs across thenation to more than 200,000

TENNIS SESSION—Sarah Pernell gives instructions to students in the Central Texas TennisAssociation program at Austin Tennis Center. She has been heading the organization about 12 years.Photo by George E. Hardin

participants from 6 to 18. TheCTTA was founded by SarahPernell about 12 years agoand she has been presidentfrom the start.

Paula Simmons saidher daughter’s participationin tennis honors the memoryof Clarence Fair. “It’s a greatway for her to keep his dreamalive. He was such a great fa-ther and grandfather. Hetaught me and I played, butnot competitively. She took aliking to it, whereas I chosedrill team, dance,cheerleading over it. It’s agreat sport. It’s a great way forkids to be healthy What I re-ally like with Mrs. Pernell aswell as Retha [Floyd] is they’revery encouraging for the kids.Retha Floyd is my baby’scoach. She’s a gifted playerherself but she’s also very en-couraging and they needthat, especially when they’relittle. It’s OK if you don’t getthe ball over but at least youmake contact with the ball,that’s what they’re saying.”

Simmons said the pro-gram enables her daughter“to develop her own skillsdoing something she likesand also she can learn goodsportsmanship. She knows inour family we don’t quit.Whatever you start God willgive you what you need to fin-ish.”

Retha Floyd said shehas been working with thekids in the program aboutnine years. On Thursday she

was teaching those 7 and un-der. “I love children,” shesaid. “They’re so eager andthey love tennis and so theylearn real quickly. It’s fun forthem.”

Speaking of her ownbackground, Floyd said, “Ienjoy tennis. Tennis is for life.It’s a fun experience and goodexercise.” She said she beganplaying at age 16 and begancompetitively seven yearsago. “Sometimes I bring homemedals. Not all the time but Ilook forward to doing it.”

Pernell said, “Today isthe end of our first sessionwith a tournament and pic-nic. We go for six weeks andwe have a break and then wego for the second six weeks.”She said, “We give out tro-phies, medals and certificates.They all are going to get T-shirts and other goodies.” Thesecond session began Mon-day, July 13. Pernell said, “Wehave over 1,500 kids partici-pating.”

Pernell began interestedin tennis when her youngestson, Tommie, began playingat age 7. In helping him alongshe became a competitiveplayer herself and eventuallyher whole family began play-ing the game. Tommie gradu-ated from Bowie High Schooland earned a tennis scholar-ship at Southern University,a Division I school. He nowhelps with the tennis programand he has moved into the topranks of players in Texas.

TAKING A SWING—Retha Floyd, right, offers tips to Kenya Simmons as she hits the ballduring tennis practice as an unidentified student observes. The session is part of a program spon-sored by the Central Texas Tennis Association. Photo by George E. Hardin

Sports camp helps kids with basic football skillsCoaches shouted

“Hard work pays off” andparticipants in the Texas Pre-mier Football Camp repeatedthe phrase as they were putthrough their paces at St.Michael’s Catholic AcademyFriday, July 10. The two-day,non-contact camp with B. J.Johnson, Sloan Thomas andMichael Huff as hosts, is heldas a benefit for the Boys &Girls Clubs of the AustinArea. Techniques are taughtto help participants improvetheir playing skills.

Thomas said, “Wedo a football camp every year.This is the third annual TexasPremier Football Camp. Wedo it for youth from 7 to 18years old. A lot of us playedpro as well and we bring inabout 10 professional guysthroughout the day. We helpthem work on fundamentalskills, leadership and disci-pline in things on and off the

field. That’s our way of giv-ing back to the communitythat did so much for us. We’vegot about 150 kids out heretoday. You do all kinds ofdrills. We try to give these kidsan experience they don’t getin the average camp.”

Among the benefitskids get, Thomas said, “is dis-cipline; you notice from thechants they do to followingthe leader we do everythingthat is possible to make thesekids understand what it is tobe a leader and also to be greatindividuals on and off thefield.”

Thomas played fouryears at the University ofTexas and played briefly inthe NFL for Tampa Bay Buc-caneers, the Houston Texansand the New York Jets. Thehe returned to UT and fin-ished his degree in commu-nications. He now is associ-ate director of developmentfor athletics at the Universityof Texas at San Antonio.

Cory Redding playedat UT from 1999 to 2002 andis now with the SeattleSeahawks. He said, “This isfootball 101. It teaches themabout staying low, quick feet,listening to your coach, justinstilling some of these smallthings that can help them goa long way in their lives.”

Kwame Cavil, whosehometown is Waco, played atUT and then with the BuffaloBills, Cleveland Browns andin the Canadian FootballLeague. He said he is tryingto “help these kids get someof the core values out of life:discipline, self-esteem, team-work, things that you needwill help you obtain success.We just wanted to implementthat into a camp along withfootball.”

Besides the coachingstaff and former college andpro football players, volun-teers were much in evidenceat the event. Among thosehelping was Adrienne James,

who works for the Boy Scoutsin Dallas. She said she met B.J. Johnson as he wasmentoring scouts in Dallasand he told her son about thefootball camp. As a volunteer,she said, “I came out here tohelp out because I like kids.”

Damon Luckettbrought a busload of kidsfrom the Boys & Girls Club on

Thompson and Brenda Jonesof Houston brought her son,Darius Harper, to the camp.Darius, she said, is an 11th

grader and plays high schoolfootball. She said she believedhe would learn about “team-work and working hard toachieve his goal.”

The football campwas held in connection with

the Cole Pittman Golf Tour-nament July 11 at FalconheadGolf Club. The tournament isnamed in memory of ColePittman who a sophomore atUT and had played defensetwo seasons in 23 games.Pittman was killed in a caraccident in 2001 when he wasreturning to UT from hishome in Shreveport, La.

By George HardinBy George HardinBy George HardinBy George HardinBy George HardinSportsBeatSportsBeatSportsBeatSportsBeatSportsBeat

Aug 13, 2009 Dallas at Oakland, 10:00 pm

CAMP DRILL—Damon Luckett tells Breon Jones to lift his knees high during a drill at theTexas Premier Football Camp. Kids from 7 to 18 years of age took part in the event at St. Michael’sCatholic Academy. Photo by George E. Hardin