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

Vol. 41 No.16 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: vil3202@aol.com September 6, 2013

AUSTIN — Longhorn football legend RooseveltLeaks smashed through opposing defenders and broke thecolor barrier in 1973 to become the University of Texas’first black All-American.

At 2 p.m. Wednesday, August 28, 2013, in the 9th

floor conference room of the Stephen F. Austin Building at1700 N. Congress Avenue, the former team captain, MVPand NFL veteran retired from his second career — as theDirector of Veterans Land Board Appraisals at the TexasGeneral Land Office.

SHARING ANOTHER HONOR--Roosevelt Leaksand Rene Ramirez were honored to retire on thesame day. They both were honored to play for UT atdifferent times. During their playing days they bothwore the jersey nunber 46. T. L. Wyatt photo.

Texas FootballLegend Roosevelt

Leaks Retires

We Can SaveRosewood

Courts!While the Austin City

Council grapple with ways toprovide more affordablehousing in the city, we fear thatthere is a move to all of thiskind of housing from the EastAustin community.

I recently met with therepresentatives who are work-ing on a “Redevelopment planfor Rosewood Courts.” WhenI heard the word “redevelop-ment” I immediately re-sponded that that wordmeans that you are planningto tear the whole thing downand build something else. Theyimmediately denied that thiswas their plan, but admittedthat this could be one of therecommendations that couldcome out of the study. Thecourts could also be given themuch needed improvementsthat would bring it up to date.

I believe that improve-ments and renovation shouldbe the main goal of the study,not to demolish and start allover. We all know, if that hap-pened, Rosewood Courtswould no longer be affordable.

Over the past two de-cades, more than a quarter ofa million units of public hous-ing have been demolished orsold off across the UnitedStates. Many fear that theCity of Austin and the AustinHousing Authority arepartnering in planning to de-molish the courts.

Rosewood Courts isAmerica’s oldest Black Pub-lic Housing Project and wemust save it. We faced thissame issue several years agowhen the plan was to demol-ish the Booker T. WashingtonHousing community. Thecommunity worked with thelate Congressman J. J. Pickleand was able to save theproperty. It is a model as towhat can be done when thedesire is to renovate rather re-develop.

The Black AustinDemocrats are sponsoring aFree and Open to the Publicevent on Wednesday, Sep-tember 18 at the MillenniumYouth Entertainment Complexat 6:30 p.m. Their specialguest will be Edward G. Goetz,Director of the center for Ur-ban and Regional Affairs at theUniversity of Minnesota. Theyinvite the participation of ev-eryone who feels that Rose-wood Courts should be saved.

Texas FootballLegend Roosevelt

Leaks Retires

March on Washington 50th Anniversary(Photo courtesy of NNPA)

See STELLAR RETIREES, page 2

AmericaRemembers King’s

‘Dream’ in DC,Promises to

Continue His Vision

AmericaRemembers King’s

‘Dream’ in DC,Promises to

Continue His Vision

by Kenya VaughnSpecial to the NNPA from The St. Louis American

The task is notdone, the journey is notcomplete,” said MartinLuther King III.

He was standing inthe exact space his fatherstood 50 years before –where he delivered theiconic “I Have a Dream”speech.

“The visionpreached by my father ahalf-century ago wasthat his four little chil-dren would no longerlive in a nation wherethey would be judgedby the color of their skinbut by the content of

their character,” Kingsaid. “However, sadly,the tears of TrayvonMartin’s mother and fa-ther remind us that, fartoo frequently, the colorof one’s skin remains alicense to profile, to ar-rest and to even murderwith no regard for thecontent of one’s charac-ter.”

Tens of thousandsof people gathered onthe National Mall Satur-day to commemoratethe 50th anniversary ofDr. Martin Luther King

See LEWIS, page 2

WallaceJefferson,

FirstAfrican

AmericanTexas Chief

Justice,to Resign

Supreme Court ChiefJustice WallaceJefferson (AP)

Texas Lawbook re-ported late Monday thatWallace Jefferson, thetop judge on the state’shighest civil court, isstepping down, effec-tive Oct. 1. Jefferson, thefirst African AmericanChief Justice of theTexas Supreme Court,was appointed by Gov.Rick Perry in 2001 andbecame chief justicethree years later.

In the article, whichwas also published bythe Dallas MorningNews, Jefferson cited fi-nancial struggles as areason for leaving.Texas Supreme Court

Justices currently make$152,500 a year but a 12percent raise approvedby the Texas Legisla-ture will boost that to$170,000.

Jefferson, a Repub-lican, was consideredmore moderate thansome of his judicial col-leagues. His replace-ment will be announcedby Perry “quickly,” ac-cording to the article.

In November, theTexas Supreme Courtwill determine whethersame-sex couples, le-gally married in otherstates, can be granted adivorce in Texas.

UNVEILINGOF THEBLACK

CITIZENTASK

FORCECOLLECTION

Saturday,

September 7,from 5 to 7 p.m. atthe Travis County

Precinct OneRichard E. ScottBuilding, 4717Heflin Lane.

See Details on page 2

Display in ALC foyer chronicles highlight of 5 years. Photo by Shirley A. Hammond

LIFE PFEST DRAWSCROWD, SINGERS

Abundant LIFE Church Widens Netby Shirley A. Hammond - follow her at twitter.com@xtremeridewish1

See LIFE PFEST, page 7

America’s Unionhost labor day 2014election fundraiser.

See AFL-CIOPage 6

Austin residentscommemorate the50th anniversaryof the March onWashington, with

special communityinteractive fest.

See SURVIVORSPage 7

Travis CountyCommissioners adoptproclamation, making

September TCVRAwareness Month.

See MAPSPage 2

Page 2 ~ September 6, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

THE COMMUNIQUÉ

AAUL

Pauletta Valentine (l) receives retirement gifts fromAndrew Herrmann. Photo by T. L. Wyatt.

Congratulations!--Veterans Land Board Chief Ap-praiser, Mark McAnnally (l) makes presentation toRoosevelt Leakes upon his retirement. T. L. WyattPhoto.

“Most folks remember Roosevelt as a tremendousrunning back and a stoic pioneer whose success foreverchanged the complexion of Texas football,” said Texas LandCommissioner Jerry Patterson. “But he was also an equallygreat public servant and community-minded gentleman.We’re going to miss him around here.”

Former U.S. Congressman and University of NebraskaCoach Tom Osborne congratulated Leaks for his long andsuccessful career and wish him well in a special video.

At just 5 feet 11 inches tall, the Brenham native was afullback at Texas from 1972 to 1974. He was selected FirstTeam All-American twice — leading the Horns to two con-ference titles — and finished third in the Heisman Trophyvoting in 1973. He set the Southwest Conference recordfor rushing in 1973 as well, earning conference MVP hon-ors. During his short career with the Longhorns, Leaks pow-ered his way for 2,923 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Despite injuring his knee during his senior year at Texas,Leaks was recruited in 1974 by the Baltimore Colts. Heplayed a total of nine punishing years in the NFL with theColts and the Buffalo Bills before retiring from his first ca-reer. He was considered one of the best blocking backs inthe NFL.

Leaks started with the General Land Office in 1987.During his 25 years with the state, he showed as much te-nacity serving Texas veterans as he did on the gridiron. Healso founded the Roosevelt Leaks Celebrity Golf Tourna-ment, which benefits children in east Austin. He was inductedinto the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Joining Leakes in retirement was Dwayne Gannon,B.J. Harrington, Rene Ramirez, and Pauletta Valentine.Leakes and Ramirez both played for U. T. And while theyplayed at different times, they both wore the same numberjersey (46).

After retirement, Leaks doesn’t plan to quit working,but will soon return to appraising properties in the privatesector.

Leaks Apart of Steller General Land Office Retiree Classcontinued from page 1

Jr.’s 1963 March on Washington, listening aspolitical and civil rights leaders reflected on thelegacy of racial progress over the last half-centuryand urged Americans to press forward in pursuitof King’s dream of equality.

The event was presented by the Rev. AlSharpton’s National Action Network, MartinLuther King III and the NAACP, featured a rosterof more than 25 speakers, including King,Sharpton, Attorney General Eric Holder, NewarkMayor Cory Booker and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

Some commemorated. Others challenged thenew generation to pick up where the march leftoff.

“Today we face continuing challenges,”Sharpton said in his keynote address. He expressedhis outrage regarding the court ruling on votingrights and by the efforts of state legislatures aroundthe country to erect new voting restrictions, suchas voter identification laws. “Our vote was soakedin the blood of martyrs, and you can’t take it fromus,” Sharpton said.

It was a sentiment echoed throughout thecourse of the mornings remarks.

“I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma,Alabama, for that right to vote,” Lewis said. “I amnot going to stand by and let the Supreme Courttake the right to vote away from us.”

Holder, the first African-American attorneygeneral, credited the work of civil rights activistsof the past 50 years with President Obama’s elec-tion and his own ascension to the top of the JusticeDepartment.

“Those who marched on Washington in 1963had taken a long and difficult road,” he said. “Aswe gather today, 50 years later, their march is nowour march, and it must go on.”

After the speakers, attendees marched fromthe Lincoln Memorial to The Martin Luther KingJr. Memorial before dispersing.

Saturday’s event was a prelude to the officialanniversary activities of the 1963 March on Wash-ington – which will occur on Wednesday and fea-ture remarks from President Barack Obama.

“Our generation can never repay what theydid for us when they fought for our freedom andequality – those who marched here 50 years ago,”said Booker. “But it is our moral obligation to payit forward. “There is still work to do.”

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga

LEWIS: “I gave a littleblood on that bridge in

Selma, Alabama, for thatright to vote” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

UNVEILING OFTHE BLACK

CITIZEN TASKFORCE

COLLECTIONSaturday, September 7, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Travis County Precinct One Richard E. Scott Building, 4717 Heflin Lane.

Join the John L.Warfield Center for Af-rican and African-American Studies andthe Austin History Cen-ter for the unveiling ofthe Black Citizens TaskForce Collection(BCTF), which docu-ments the contributionsof the influentialgrassroots political or-ganization. From the1970s to the 1990s, theBCTF was at the centerof some of the key racialand social justicestruggles in Austin andTravis County.

The unveiling willfeature an exhibit of po-litical posters and pho-tos from the collection,which was donated tothe Austin History Cen-ter in 2004 by formerBCTF President Dor-othy Turner a year be-fore her death. The col-lection, including doz-ens of letters to electedofficials, news releasesand political papersfrom the organization’s30-year history, cap-tures a significant chap-ter in local and stateblack history and the

struggle for black equal-ity.

Founded in theearly 1970s by a diversegroup of blackAustinites, includingDr. John Warfield, theformer director of theCenter for African andAfrican-American Stud-ies at UT; Dr. CharlesUrdy, former AustinCity Council member;Larry Jackson; CharlesMiles and Velma Rob-erts, the BCTF is cred-ited with the hiring andpromotion of the firstAfrican-American ad-

ministrators in variouslocal governments. Re-lying on direct-actiontactics, the group alsosucceeded in creatingjob training and devel-opment programs in theblack community, mo-bilizing against racialprofiling and police vio-lence against people ofcolor and organizing toend financial supportfor the apartheid regimein South Africa. TheBCTF also providedsupport for student ac-tivism at UT and otherarea colleges.

TRAVIS COUNTY VOTER REGISTRAR

LAUNCHES UNREGISTERED VOTER MAPS

Austin, TX –TravisCounty Voter RegistrarBruce Elfant announcesan exciting new tool thatwill allow citizens to

view precinct mapsdisplaying the addresseswhere there may be un-registered or suspended

voters. Citizens cango to http://

www.traviscountytax.org/goVotersJurisdictionInfo.doto view, print, or down-load the map files.

Large maps can alsobe purchased by calling(512) 854-9473.

“While many officesprovide different typesof voter registration data,

we have not found anyother website that

provides this levelof detail about potentialunregistered voters. Themaps not only give us avisual indication of

where there arelarge pockets of regis-tered voters, they alsoprovide an address listthat can be used by our

volunteers to walkthe neighborhoods.”

Today’s an-nouncement comes onthe same day thatTravis County Com-missioners adopted aProclamation makingSeptember TravisCounty Voter Registra-tion Awareness Month.The Travis CountyVoter Registrar’s Of-fice has partnered withthe Capital Area FoodBank and TravisCounty VolunteerDeputy Registrars toprovidevoter registra-tion services at allCapital Area FoodBank locations.

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/September 6, 2013 ~ 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

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

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

GRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Experience Grace For LifeThursday Bible Study

@ 7:30 pm inApartment Club House20404 Poppy Hills Tr,

Round Rock TX 78664

Felix Bamirin, Pastor

www.gracewaycca.org(682) 472-9073

gracewayaustin@aol.com

Sunday Worship @ 10:30 amin Clay Madsen RecreationCenter, Multipurpose Room,(Arts & Crafts Rm for Children

Service @11:00 am)1600 Gattis School Road,Round Rock, TX 78664

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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

206 W Main St Ste 108Round Rock, TX 78664-5874

512-368-5770 (Office)512-335-1963(Fax)

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Insurance Agent

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

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State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

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Our Ancient Afri-can Ancestors by-passed anything relatedto “Faith/Belief” inGod’s existence andproceeded to establishSpiritual Evidence/Proof of God’s manifes-tations. Their reasons: toaddress the Base/Foundational questionfor “How Shall I Live?”

and to understand dif-ferences between ani-mals, humans, and Di-vine Beings. They con-sidered themselves asDivine Beings who werea “work in progress”–with components oftheir Selfhood in vari-ous stages of develop-ment. Their strivings forself-cultivation were

done with a sense ofself-efficacy (knowingtheir skills were amatch for the chal-lenges, even thosenever seen nor heard ofbefore). They said thebest way to “Know”something is to do thehard research to achievethe absence of all doubtfor or against some-thing.

For them to Knowrequired visualizingwith the Right Brain;separating Reality foranalysis via the LeftBrain; and unifying Re-ality by means of theirRight and Left Brains.Their brilliant Step I ap-proach is to: “KnowThyself” because to dis-cover what is naturalwithin oneself and whatunderlies what is natu-ral about oneself is torealize the same ap-plies throughout theCosmos. Step II is doingthe tedious work to dis-cover requirements forstepping into and livingup to the ultimate unre-alized Reality whereWisdom resides. StepIII, as a result of therebyfunctioning out of theCircle of Wholism, isrelying upon Spiritual/Secular Knowing to in-fer other aspects of theLaws of Nature andtheir application todaily living.

Ways AfricanSages, the top HighestSelf achievers, estab-lished proof included:all of their Revelationsof Cosmic Creationwere in agreement +African Priest-Astrono-

mers (using astro-math-ematics) confirmedthose Revelations + Cir-cumstantial Truthsproved their Mathemat-ics to be right + obser-vations of Nature’sLaws of Correspon-dence led to WorkableMa’at Practices. Fromall of these aspects they“Knew” that althoughGod is unknowable,God’s existence isKnowable by God’smanifestations in Na-ture.

From resultant ac-cumulated SpiritualEvidences/Proof estab-lishing God (a BigMind) as being the Intel-ligence behind all thelaws of Nature (Amen,Maat, p28), AfricanSages inferred the origi-nal form of the SpiritualElements–Uncondi-tional Love, Truth, Re-ality, and the Natural–emanated out of theCosmic Mind as the Sub-stance of God, like thesap flows throughout atree. This “Knowing” iswhat the Ancient Afri-can Bible says one is tolook for when on thepursuit of “Right Liv-

ing.” Everything“Right” must containthese four Spiritual Ele-ments and accept noth-ing which contradictsthem or by-passesthem. When one“Knows” something,the something happen-ing out of it is Certainty.

Such Certainty im-parts Self and MethodConfidence in progress-ing towards ones High-est Self. It prevents be-ing side-tracked by at-tractive distractions anddefensiveness about/unaffected by contrary

opinions. “Knowing”God exists spurred An-cient Africans to workharder to achieve theCertainty of their ulti-mate destiny of return-ing to God in the samepurified state in whicheach human was origi-nally formed. Reflectingon all that is throughoutthe Cosmic Metaphysi-cal and Material realmsmade it clear that thereare only a few Principlesand Laws of Nature andthey are simply re-peated over and over indifferent forms.

To Know God Special to the NNPA from Black Voice News

YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today

Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry

Page 4 ~ September 6, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

Senior year is finally hereand I am truly ecstatic. I’ve fi-nally made it to the final year inmy secondary education. It’sbeen a long time since I’ve beento LBJ. After immediately leav-ing the school after the end ofmy freshman year and going toDel Valle, I learned more and

Jaquarry WilsonDel Valle High School

The BeginningI’ve grown along the way. I amexcited to see what else is tocome this year. I’m currentlythinking about the colleges anduniversities that I should go to.There are so many so I want toapply to every possible institu-tion possible. I’m only going todo that to see how many I getaccepted to because, ofcourse, it’s nothing short of im-possible for me to attend morethan one. I, along with other se-niors at LBJ, am continuing totake classes through ACC whilestill in high school. It saves youmoney and it really catches theeye of a lot of schools. Hope-fully by the end of the schoolyear I’ll have plenty of collegecredit to take with me when Igo.

"Are you smarter than this fifth grader?"

Tuesday August 27th wasmy fifth-first day at PioneerCrossing Elementary School, inManor Independent School Dis-trict. Pioneer Crossing openedin 2008, when I was in the firstgrade and the same year Presi-dent Obama was first elected.For the past five years, while I'vebeen going to school, the Presi-dent of the United States ofAmerica was an African-Ameri-

Sarah RobertsonPioneer Crossing Elem.

can.This year I am in the fifth

grade. It will be an excitingschool year because we havea new principal and new teach-ers. I will be involved in the Giftedand Talented program onceagain and continue learninghow to play the violin.

On the first day of school,my teacher told us what we willbe doing and what we will belearning.

My fifth-first day was great,I like my teacher and class-mates and I met some newpeople. Now that I'm one of theoldest children in the school, Iplan on leading by example.My 5th grade year is going to begreat!

Are you Smarter than thisfifth grader?

Q: When was the first yearPublic schools were officiallyintegrated? A: C U next time 4the answer.

Hi everyone! It is nice tobe back and writing in the Vil-lager Newspaper! For most

Deria GoodDaily Middle School

kids, August 26 was their first dayand others were earlier.

My first day of school wasgood. I have to admit, I was su-per nervous about whichclasses I had, but by the end ofthe day I wasn't worried at all.This year I'm going to enjoyJournalism and Dazzlers. I'mgoing to enjoy these two activi-ties because they are my twofavorite hobbies, dancing andwriting.

This year a lot of thingschanged; the teachers, therules and the lunches. Overallthe week was good I hope thisweek is better.

A Fresh and Exciting Start

My name is Alon Rodgersand I attend to HendricksonHigh School. I'm in 11th gradeand play varsity basketball I'm 6ft 1 and I will be writing this yearabout my school.

Mr. Devin Padival said"Terry Sheneman was a fixtureat HHS for the past 8 years, Dr.Sheneman finished his final dayon Friday. He is going on to joinour former Superintendent inFort Bend ISD as a Coordinatorof College and Career Servicesfor the entire district. Althoughwe are sad to lose him, we'rehappy for the great opportunityhe has to make an impact withthe 11 high schools in FBISD."

When Terry Shenemanjoined Hendrickson, we didn'thave anything in the way of Col-lege and Career services. Heturned a somewhat unusedteacher workroom in a place forstudents to learn more about thecolleges that might help themreach their goals. He provideda place where students couldget help finishing their college

applications. He also provideda setting where parents andstudents alike could weigh thepros and cons of collegechoice. Many students, includ-ing our past valedictorian, creditDr. Shenem with helping themget to the college of theirchoice." My brother AlonzoBlack worked in the Collegeand Career Center during hissenior year. The new CollegeCareer Counselor KaraTappendorf is also our ACC rep-resentative.

The Hawk varsity footballteam is a team to look out forwith the number one runningback in Texas and 4 other d1commits, this year should be avery interesting year with newtalents coming up and steppingin to help the seniors. Theyshould take state with out adoubt. Outstanding playerswere running backs Tazh Maloyand Lane Griggs. SamajePerine the senior running backwho has committed to Okla-homa was not even needed forthe first three touches andLatrell Martin, a Houston-boundwide receiver, was on the side-lines because of a preseasoninjury.

Hendrickson, which inthe past was not known for de-fense limited Rouse a statesemifinalist last year to fewerthan 200 yards of offense. Theoutstanding defensive play wasled by seniors Trai Mosley andAlex Blair. Next week the Hawksget a real challenge fromLeander.

Alon RodgersHendrickson Highschool

College and Career Services

My 1st Week of School

The first week of schoolhas been amazing for me. I trulyenjoy school! I have a 1st pe-riod teacher named Ms.

SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy

Turbow and my 2nd periodteacher is named Ms. Lubbe.They are both fun and reallygood teachers. School is aplace where you learn, have funand meet new friends.

On the first day, I was ner-vous but I grew more comfort-able. I recognized a lot of facesfrom last year and reunited withsome of my old classmates. Iknow 4th grade will be great. Tothose of you who have juststarted school for the first time,trust me; you will grow to love itlike me! Have a great schoolyear!

The first week of schoolwas nice. It was nice to see allof my friends again and to meetall of my teachers. I like everysingle one of my classes even

The First Week of Schoolmy dance class. The scheduleof classes is really different com-pared to last year. Last yeareach class was 50 minutes andnow it’s 47 minutes. 5th periodis the longest period which is64 minutes and lunch is just 30minutes. We haven’t been learn-ing lots of things on the firstweek because we have beengoing over rules the whole time.

Out of all the classes Ithink the class that I’m going tolike the most is dance classwhich is 5th period. We get outof school at 3:56pm, just oneminute more than last year. Nowthat I know what I’m going to bedoing in school and how thingsare going to plan out. I’m offi-cially ready for school.

Tierra GoodDailey Middle School

Wesley DickersonCedar Ridge High School

A Little Fish in A Small Pond

Hello my name is WesleyDickerson I will be filling you inon the latest information aboutCedar Ridge High School inRound Rock from my own per-spective. Today was my firstweek of high school and I amreally a little fish in a small pond.Being a freshman you have tolearn and adapt to your sur-roundings very quickly becausetraffic waits for no one. In myschool we must learn how to getto our destinations as quickly aspossible, because of the size ofthe school. Cedar Ridge is of-ten compared to a small col-lege campus by parents andmany other people who are notthere on a daily basis. So inother words I go to a hugeschool. There are probablyabout three to four different

ways to get to each class andits crucial to know them all.

Being a freshman every-thing is new to me as well asmy classmates. So we are wan-dering around the school mostof the passing period. We do thisuntil we discover the trick tonavigating the school. Theschool is set up to where thehalls are in alphabetical orderfrom front to back as it goes A-Dhall, this is a big help whenyou’re a small fish in a big pond.

Everyone knocks beinga freshman and I get that a little,you’re the youngest there, youdon’t know the things that theupperclassmen know andyou’re most likely smaller thaneveryone not in your grade. Al-though all of these things aren’tvery good I think that being afreshman is a great and key partof high school. Your slate isclean and you have an entirenew “world” to explore. As afreshman you can try all sorts ofnew and cool things that peakyour interest that weren’t offeredat your middle school. Being afreshman you can be open totry what you feel like doing be-cause your options have ex-panded immensely. This is avery unique experience that caneither make high school theworst or the best four years ofyou life.

Before attendingReagan High School I heardseveral bad things about it,which made me not want toattend. Having been told thatthere were incidents of chil-dren stabbing one anotherand other assault cases reallydid not help my decision at all. Iattempted to transfer to a differ-ent high school but was deniedbecause they were over-crowded, so I had no choice butto attend my home school,

which is Reagan High.After being at Reagan

High for the first week and get-ting to learn more about theschool. I think that some of thethings I have heard may not betrue as far as the school wasconcerned but more about thepeople attending Reagan at thetime these things happened.

Since school has begunI have been able to meet notonly with the person in chargeof something called the X-YZone, which is a program thatwill help young men stay fo-cused on the important things.I was also introduced to the bas-ketball coach, Mr. Davis, whohas let me know what I can doto get on the school basketballteam.

So before making up yourmind about something, some-where, or someone give it achance.

Until next time,Zyon

Reagan High

Zyon HillReagan High School

This is my first year in highschool. So far I am loving it. It’s

so easy to find all my classes . Ilike a couple of my teachers,some of them are boring andget on my nerves, but I know Idon't go to school to like any-one but for me to listen to you Ihave to like you. I also like highschool because I'm on the colorguard team . I hate when I don’tparticipate in things because Ifeel like I'm letting my teamdown. Well that's all I have tosay, so see you later everyoneand have a nice day.

First Year in High School

Lanette DempsDel Valle High School

Hello, My name is Kiara

Kiara MyersVista Ridge High School

Myers and I am in the eleventhgrade at Vista Ridge HighSchool. I am highly committedto my school as a member ofVarsity Golf, Spanish Honor So-ciety, and National Honor Soci-ety.

I’m excited to be writingfor the Youth Brigade and willbe giving you weekly coveragefrom Vista Ridge. I hope thateveryone’s school year hasstarted off well, and I look for-ward to sharing updates in myschool community with you andmy other fellow writers.

Vista Ridge Coverage

Erika LipscombManor Elementary

First Day of School

My first day of schoolwas exciting! My teacher is a stu-dent teacher and she is really nice.

I saw some of my friends from lastyear and made new ones. My friendZoe goes to my school now, we seeeach other at the end of the day, itwas a good first day of school.

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/September 6, 2013 ~ Page 5

YOUTH BRIGADE

This was the first weekback at school. It was fun andway better then I thought it wouldbe. I am now in the 11th grade.The school has way better rulesand I think I'm starting to like the

Imani DempsDel Valle High School

We’re Backschool, but it seems like all theold teachers are gone. It's not alot of teachers from my fresh-man year here anymore, whichis kind of sad because theycan't see how you havechanged over the years.

Because I know myfreshman year, I was a littlebad or not really bad but aproblem chi ld. But I havechanged and became a bet-ter person. I have also startedto like school. I use to not likeschool, but now that I'm get-ting older I feel school is im-portant and school will ben-efit you in so many ways.

Kissing Bug

Genesis StiggersElgin Elementary

Kissing bugs are small in-sects that feed on blood. If theywhere to feed on our blood itwould be at night while we sleepbiting around the face and com-monly the mouth. Luckily it onlybites humans and pets in self-de-fense.

There are only two majorspecies of kissing bugs in theU.S., the west and the east. Kiss-ing bugs enjoy wood rats so if youlive near fields or forests inspect

for wood rats and also remem-ber to close doors and windowsbecause in adult stage kissingbugs can fly.

One of the worst kissingbugs breed is Triatoma , Tri-atomic spreads a nasty diseasescalled Chagus. So far it has in-fected 20 million people, 50,000have died from it. Chagus causeshigh fever, rashes, and generalfatigue. Chagus also causes lackof energy, and inability to work.Unfortunately, Chagus mighthave a cure so you should getmedical help right away, but bewarned, it has side effects on eld-erly patients.

Kissing bugs are harmfulcreatures that can endanger you,the best way to avoid kissing bugsare to spray often and close win-dows and doors and just in case,make sure you wash your faceevery morning.

Thanks for reading andwatch out for kissing bugs.

De’Ja HillLamar Middle School

The First Week of School

I do not know if peoplethink about how crazy schoolcan be when you first start anew school year. I know Ithought since I had been toLamar Middle School lastschool year, I would not haveany problems at all. Startinga new school year can becrazy, fun, and frustrating allat the same time.

Because I am a return-ing student I was able toshow students around whowere new to Lamar, whetherit was because they were juststarting the sixth grade ortransferring from anothermiddle school. One of the funthings was getting to see oldfriends and also making newones. I also enjoyed meetingmy new teachers and my firstweek in my dance class.

One of the frustratingthings was the school bus pick-ing us up late to and fromschool every day this week.Since school has just started, Iknow the drivers have to getused to the traffic again, I justhope it does not take too long.

Until my next article staysafe,

De’ja’

My First Day in Third Grade

On my first day ofschool I felt excited and ner-vous because, I would meetnew friends and a newteacher. When I walked intothe classroom my teachershook my hand and said“Good morning Montrae.” I

Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary

smiled and said” Good morn-ing Mrs. Hurd.” I met Jenna,Ava, and Parker all newfriends. I like my new teacherand my new classmates. Weplayed games and got toknow each other by sitting ina circle passing a ball aroundand saying our names anddescribing ourselves. Aftergetting to know each otherwe went to our desk andplayed bingo and then aword search. We read abook together at the end ofthe day. The bell rang andMrs. Hurd said “Time to go”and shook our hands andsaid “Goodbye. I had a goodtime my first day in thirdgrade it wasn’t as bad as Ithought it would be.

My First Day at School

Aaron WilliamsCanyon Vista M.S.

I was overly excited on thefirst day of school!! I wanted tosee my buddies from last year

and see the new faces this year.I was also a little scared be-cause this year is my first yearin junior high without my olderbrother, Adriean Been, whogoes to Westwood High School.

This year I get to play onthe school football team and Iam so excited about that. Thepractice for our football team isearly I have to be at practice at6a.m. every morning. Lordknows that time is early but hey,like my mama always says “nopain; no gain.”

I can’t wait to share an-other article with you all, untilnext time.

Aaron

First Week of High School

Jaylon KnightenDel Valle High School

My first week atDelValle High went by fast.We are already learning newthings. My experience wasvery different from MiddleSchool, by different I mean

there are alot of people andno room. The best part is allfreshmans are separatedfrom the other grades. Wehave our own cafeteria .

Football season hasbegun for the Cardinals wehad our first game this pastweek against Seguin. Alldivison did not do too well.Freshman A team loss 32-18,B team 24-0 and our Varsityteam barely loss 35-34. Un-fortunately I will be out for theseason with a broken shoul-der bone that occured dur-ing our scrimmage gameagainst Travis. I was reallylooking forward to playingthis year but there is alwaynext year.

My First Week of School

My first day of schoolturned out great! We workedon Math,Writing,and wentover the rules for the class-room. My first week of schoolwas short but awesome.Pflugerville ISD started on

Trenton LearyHighland Park Elementary

Tuesday August 27,2013,when all other schoolsstarted that Monday.

I will be playing footballagain this year and this is oneof my favorite sports. On Sat-urday August 31,2013 we hada scrimmage, where weplayed against our Seniors.

We lost against the se-niors but it was okay, we keptour heads up. This was justa practice game. Capital CityBearcats first football gamewill be Saturday September7,2013 at McCallum HighSchool.

Until next time be blessand stay healthy.

Latrice LipscombManor High School

Back - To - School

Hello,my name isLatrice Lipscomb and I am aSophmore in high school.

I'm really excited for this yearfor various reasons,butmostly because I'm involvedin more this year. I'm a Var-sity cheerleader this year,which is really fun.

We've cheered at ourfirst game on Friday,Aug. 30that a game against Waco. Wewon with a score of 40 to 0!I'm also apart of the A.C.E.drumline and we have beenworking hard for upcomingperformances. This year isstarting off as a great year! Ihope everyone had a goodfirst day of school.

New School Year

Averill ToppsUT Elementary

On Monday 16, 2013, Istarted my first day at Pease El-ementary School. On the first dayI was excited and kind of nervous.I went in to my homeroom teacherwho teaches math and science.I sat down and waited for instruc-

tions. Our teacher called outnames of the kids then we orga-nized our things.Then weswitched classrooms into read-ing and language arts. We got tohave 15 minutes of reading thenwe got to play Icebreaker. Nextwe went to lunch and ate pizzaand fruit.

Later we went to recessand I went to play Basketballwhich is my favorite sport of alltime! Then I went back to theclassroom and got our home-work assignments. Next we wentto music for special areas. Thenschool was over and after school,I went to Pease Enrichment Pro-gram (PEP). This is going to be afun school year!

Go Pease Bobcats!

Jada DempsDailey Middle School

Last Year of Middle SchoolI’m an 8th grader and

this is my last year of middleschool. I’m kind of sad, be-cause me and my friends willsplit up. But I will make thislast year worth it. I’m doinggood so far. The Rules aremuch stricter than last year.But I can deal with them. Be-cause every where you gothere will be rules.

Camari StiggersElgin Middle School

NASA

The National Aeronau-tics and Space Administration(NASA) is the agency of theUnited States government thatis responsible for the nation’scivilian space program andfor aeronautics and aero-space research.

34 th President of theUnited States, Dwight D.

Eisenhower established NASAin 1958 encouraging peace-ful applications in space sci-ence. The National Aeronau-t ics and Space Act waspassed on July 29, 1958. Thenew agency became opera-tional on October 1, 1958.

Since that time, mostU.S. space exploration effortshave been led by NASA, in-cluding the Apollo moon-land-ing missions, Skylab spacestation and later in the SpaceShuttle. Currently, NASA issupport ing Internat ionalSpace Station and most re-cent ly announced a newSpace Launch System that itsaid would take the agency’sastronauts farther into spacethan ever before and lay thecornerstone for future humanspace exploration efforts bythe U.S.

Freshman at HSANA

Hi! My name is JarianGalloway and I am a fresh-man at Harmony Science

Academy-North Austin. I willbe writing and informing thecommunity about the thingsgoing on at my school! I’mvery excited to write for youall this school year.

School’s been in ses-sion for almost two weeksand it’s been kind of toughgetting adjusted to the newschedules. The summer feel-ing is starting to wear off andthe rhythm of the school yearis setting in. This year isgetting off on the right foot —along with the tons of home-work!

Jarian GallowayHarmony Science Academy

Jory HendersonAnderson High School

Back At It

Monday was the firstday of my sophomore yearat Anderson High School.This was the first year that Ican remember in a long timethat most of my class matesand friends looked happy tobe at school. A lot of people

seemed to have this positiveenergy about them as if theywere excited to be back.

I think the reason forthis, is because we are nolonger freshman and that wehave moved up a rank level.I just hope this excited tolearn mentality sticks aroundthroughout the whole schoolyear!

Khakis, Khakis, Khakis

We live in a day and timewhere we no longer get tochoose what we where toschool. I remember the excite-ment of shopping for schoolclothes, choosing the right type

of cool jeans that would turnheads when I walked down thehallway on that first day or eventhe cool shirt that was unique tomy style.

I attend Cedars Interna-tional Academy and for the lastsix years the attire with thesame Khakis, Khakis, Khakiuniform same swag everyday.My friends feel the same waythat I do. We all agree that weshould wear what we want towear. But the parents thinksomething way different fromwhat us students think. Theyonly are concerned that we geta good education. So I guessthings will not be changing any-time soon!

Zacharian WashingtonCedars Academy

Hello. My name isDamon Luckett II and I am inthe 8 grade and I go to Barton

Damon Luckett IIBarton Middle School

Middle School. I will inform youon things that are going on inmy school, and things that hap-pen in my community. I will alsoinclude articles about my lifeand culture events.

B.M.S. Coverage

Page 6 ~ September 6, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDNew Texas Laws

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

As we began themonth of September,there will be new lawsthat Texans will have toabide by. Some of thenew laws vary fromtransportation, school,healthcare, voter IDrules and gun laws. Inregard to gun laws, thelegislature passed a lawsuch as SB 299 Inadvert-ent display which pro-tects against charges ofunlawful carrying forthe inadvertent or acci-dental display of ahandgun by a Con-cealed Handgun Lic-ensee (CHL); and SB864 CHL InstructionTime reduces the mini-mum number of re-quired classroom byText-Enhance"trainingfor original and renewalCHLs from 10-15 hoursto 4-6 hours. This was along overdue revisionas the original 10-15

hours were set beforethe course material waswritten. The revisiongives more than ad-equate time to cover allthe required materialwith CHL applicants.

In regards to trans-portation, the Legisla-ture has passed severallaws. For instance, theLegislature passed alaw that would increasethe penalty and fines fora driver leaving thescene of an accidentwhere there is an injuryor death. The penaltyfor leaving the scene in-cludes from two totwenty years in prisonand a fine of up to$10,000 dollars. More-over, this increase inpenalty is due to the in-crease of amount ofdrivers who flee thescene of an accident. InTravis County,Gabriella Nestande who

hit and ran only got 10years of probation dueto the fact that the legis-lature had not yetpassed a harsher billwhich would increasethe prison time for a “hitand run”. Furthermorethe legislature extendedthe ban of cellphone us-age to include all schoolproperty usage.

Finally, the State ofTexas proceeded withthe voter ID that waspassed by the Legisla-ture. After the UnitedStates Supreme Court,“gutted” the pre-clear-ance aspect of the voterrights passed in 1965,the Texas Attorney Gen-eral office decided thatthe State of Texas voterID law could take effectin the upcoming elec-tions throughout theState of Texas.

Moreover, the voterID calls for Texans toshow some type of gov-ernment issued docu-mentation prior to vot-ing. Republicans be-lieve that the voter IDcan stop voter fraud;however, the so calledvoter fraud from usingsome else identity ispractically non-exist-ing.

On the other hand,Democrats believe thatthis law would have anegative effect on theelderly and minorityvoters.

Gov. Rick Perry, surrounded by Republican lawmakers, signs House Bill 2 into law onJuly 18, 2013. Photo by Marjorie Kamys Cotera

HOUSE BILL 2by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

After the Republican controlled Texas Legislature passed House Bill2, it is time to find ways to implement the bill. As a result, the Texas De-partment of Health and Human Services (TDHHS), which oversees this billheld a public meeting in order to get the public input regarding this bill.So, the TDHHS held two days of public hearings which were on August 28and 29. During these two days, both the pro-abortion and anti-abortionactivists came out to the hearings in order to testify on their positions con-cerning abortion. For example, Suzanne who is against HB 2 mentionedthat, “Since the legislature has passed this bill, I have become politicallyactive. In addition, since the bill passed I have been trying to give advice toothers on the many different ways to get an abortion.”

At the hearing, there were about 100 people either voicing their sup-port of HB2 or voicing their opposition to HB2. For instance, Ora Houstona prominent activist attended the meeting to represent the countless peoplein her community who could not be there to voice their opposition of thebill. Moreover, HB2 has divided Texans between Republicans and Demo-crats. It has shown to Democrats, the importance of trying to turn the Stateof Texas “blue” or into a Democratic state. As a result, some Democratshave become more active in local and state politics due to this new law.

HB2 which was recently passed holds some restrictions on abortion.For instance, the House Bill reduces the numbers of months that a womancan have an abortion from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. In addition, the bill re-quires doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, which onlyallow abortions in surgical centers. As a result, numerous small clinics thatprovide abortions throughout the State of the Texas will have to close dueto the fact that they don t have surgical centers. Consequently the HB2 willmake it hard for women who seek an abortion to get one.

AFL-CIOHeld

Labor Day

Fish Fry

On August 31 theAustin branch ofAFL-CIO held a La-bor Day Fish Fry inthe heart of down-town Austin. More-over, the event was avery friendly event, inwhich, the entire fam-ily could attend. Forinstance, one of theparticipants men-tioned that, "I and myfamily always lookforward to this event,because it is an op-portunity to meetcommunity leaderswhile having a goodtime with our chil-dren." Not only didthe Fish Fry serve asa fundraiser event,but also it was an op-portunity for candi-dates to meet, greet,and mingle with themembers of AFL-CIO.

The event was at-tended by everyone,including the laborcommunity leaders;local elected officials;and those running forlocal office. For in-stance, the campaign

groups of SarahEckhardt, RichardJung, Rico Reyes,Celia Israel, GarryBrown, and RameyKo were all present atthe AFL-CIO fish fry,busy talking to themembers of labor andalso other individualswho came to supportthe event. In addi-tion, other candidateswho are waiting todeclare a potentialrun were also present,such as ChantalEldrige who is antici-pating the next openseat on the CriminalCourt was also thereshowing her supportto the labor move-ment. Moreover, theLabor group is a veryimportant part of theDemocratic Party

movement.Furthermore, the

Fish Fry event servedas a fundraiser for theAFL-CIO who is alsogearing up for the up-coming 2014 generalelection. Since theevent was well at-tended, then AFL-CIO was able to raisea lot of funds. More-over, AFL-CIO wouldprobably use themoney to supportcandidates that sup-port the causes of thelabor movement. As aresult, the 2013 gen-eral election will becrucial because Tex-ans and everyone elsewill be voting tochoose the next presi-dent, senator, andcongress person torepresent them.

by Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon

Ora Houston Ron Davis

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/September 6, 2013 ~ Page 7

CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION

The City of Austin Purchasing Officeinvites you to view current bid solicitationsat http://-www.ci.austin.tx.us/purcase/vs/p2.htm. Vendors are encouraged to registeron-line in the City’s Vendor Self ServiceSystem. Once your company is registered,you will receive notifications about new bidopportunities. For additional informationregarding current bid opportunities or Ven-dor Registration, please call the Purchas-ing Office at 512-974-2500. For informa-tion on the City of Austin’s Minority-Ownedand Women-Owned Procurement Programand the certification process, please contactthe Small & Minority Business ResourcesDepartment at 512-974-7600 or visit theirwebsite at http://www.-ci.austin.tx.us/smbr.

City of AustinPurchasing Office

EMPLOYMENT/ PROPOSALSPUBLIC INFORMATION

FOR SALE /FOR RENT/BIDSMISCELLANEOUS

AUSTIN COMMUNITYCOLLEGE

Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.

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

EEOC/AA/M/F/D/V

IRS IS HIRINGFull-Time Seasonal Bilingual ContactRepresentatives (Spanish/ English)

ALL APPLICANTS MUST:* Be a U.S. Citizen

* Meet minimum experienceand/or education requirements

* Pass required assessments* Must be fluent in speaking,

reading and writingSpanish/ English.

For more information and to apply onlinego to www.jobs.irs.com/USAJOBS

and type “Austin” in the where box.

* Health/ LifeInsurance may

be offered* Paid Leave/

Holidays/Training* Public

TransportationSubsidy

* Retirement512-477-5627austin.recruitment@irs.gov

The IRS is an equal opportunity employer

I am an experienced private,personal driver (Also experiencedin executive personal protecton)seeks a personal driver’s positionwith an “ Individual, Family orCompany (No Limo companies).”Former personal driver / protectionspecialist for one of Austin’s mostprominent businessmen: Mr.Lowell H. Leberman Jr.. I am seek-ing to relocate back to Austin fromDallas. I have excellent referencesboth personal, business and lawenforcement.

Mr. Gibbs1.800.660.0157

Personal Driver

Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Design Builder, isactively soliciting proposals from subcontractors for the con-struction of The ABIA Terminal East infill Project, CIP IDNo. 5415.065.

Proposal Package 2B consists of Waterproof-ing, Masonry, Interior Metal Panels, Exterior MetalPanels, Roofing, Fireproofing, Landscape and FlightInformation Display System.

The Proposal Package is available by contacting ouroffice, mentioned below. Proposal selection will be on abest value basis.

We will accept proposals at our office,8326 Cross Park Drive, Austin, TX 78754on Thursday October 3, 2013 at 2:00 PM.A Pre-Proposal Conference will be held at the

Planning and Engineering Building at 2716 Spirit ofTexas Drive, Austin, Texas 78719 at 10:00AM inRoom 174 on Thursday September 12, 2013 followedby a site visit.

All City of Austin Certified Disadvantaged BusinessEnterprises are encouraged to submit proposals. Theproject’s DBE Goal = 8.65%. Hensel Phelps ConstructionCo. is available at (512) 834-9848 or fax (512) 834-9844.

Our company is an E.E.O. Employer. We encourageand actively solicit proposals from Disadvantaged BusinessEnterprises for all projects.

New Jobs for the Week of 9/01/2013

District Police,Patrol Officer

Highland BusinessCenter

Monday-Friday,8:00 a.m.-5:00p.m.

$3,333-$4,166/Monthly

Job# 1308034Director, Virtual

College of TexasLocation is as assigned

Monday-Friday,8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

$4,051-$5,064/Monthly

Job# 1308038

LIFE PFEST DRAWS CROWD, SINGERSAbundant LIFE Church Widens Net

by Shirley A. Hammond - follow her at twitter.com@xtremeridewish1

Mixing it up and thinking out of the box helpsWells Branch’s Abundant LIFE Church (ALC) cast awide net and draw in disciples for Christ. In all kindsof ways, they keep expanding their ministry and arenow about to more greatly enlarge their territory.ALC is located at 2113 W. Wells Branch Pkwy Ste.4000. On Saturday, August 31 they held their LIFEPfest in celebration of five years of life-impactingministry. Amped up dance routines, laughable mo-ments, a multi-day revival and more were featured.Vendors sold their wares, people supported themand enjoyed the food, and many signed the colorfulanniversary banner. The Pfest brought in Christianlaugh masters, such as MizT. It also drew in mem-bership, community members, fun-seekers, as wellas a fresh slate of talented singers who want to makeit big in the gospel music circuit. This year’s compo-nent, “Austin Area’s Best competition, gave contes-

tants a shot at gospel kingdom stardom.Children at the Pfest enjoyed a castle-shaped

bounce house, carnival-themed attractions such asa bean bag toss, face painting, and more. Despitethe 104 degree weather, they spent as much timeoutside as inside.

MizT, the comedienne who wrote a booktitled “Celibacy: What Was I Thinking,” diddouble-duty by selling her books after she gavethe audience a few stitches in their sides.

Vendors sold wares such as books, jewelry,and other favorites. Visitors to the Pfest enjoyedthe food and drinks, danced through some rigor-ous workout routines, listened in on the competi-tion, and added their well wishes and benedictionson the colorful anniversary poster.

The number five was everywhere. It dangledfrom the ceiling in large fonts on butcher paper

(or other other material), it was featured promi-nently on the sign-in banner, graced a wall displayand a huge pictographic in the foyer. Five peoplewho stood before judges and an audience willadvance to the next level with a chance at a cashprize, trophy, studio time, a website and a featureon AustinGospel.com.

After several showcased their voices, judgesselected talents to press further to the semi-finalson Saturday November 23 and the finale on Sun-day November 24.

Regarding the expansion to the Taylor, Texasmarket; Abundant LIFE Church is announcing thatthey will have a second location in that city, butone church. On Saturday, September 7 they willhave a LIFE Pfest in Taylor, featuring amped-upfun in the Lord at Murphy Park. For more infor-mation, visit http://www.getyolife.org/

Keishal Walker and her husband share theirstory. Photo by Shirley A. Hammond

by Shirley A. Hammond - follow her at twitter.com@xtremeridewish1

March on Washington AnniversaryKatrina Survivors Share Stories, Hopes, Successes, Next Steps

Anniversary EventsAt first blush it looked like a late lunchtime

meeting of common female friends. It was anythingbut common, and the people gathered were like-wise anything but...As Claudia Conner with BIGAustin states, the interactive gathering on Tues-day August 27 at Hillside Farmacy fell under theumbrella of the national event where the country

commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Marchon Washington. By paralleling the assemblage ofpeople affected by Hurricane Katrina with thelarger event; the organizer was able to maximizethe pull on memories, evoke thoughts, and incitesome ideas and plans for forging ahead.

Amongst the group were evacuees of HurriSee

KATRINASURVIVORS,

page 8

Dave Chappelle DitchesHartford Show HalfwayThroughSpecial to the NNPA from the St. Louis American

Dave Chappelle

Comedian DaveChappelle angered fansin Hartford, Conn., onThursday night when hecut short a performanceand sat silently on astool for nearly a halfhour before walking offstage amid boos.

NBC Connecticutreported that Chappelle,who was headlining theFunny or Die OddballComedy & CuriosityTour, was on stage at theComcast Theatre in Hart-ford for just a few min-utes, when he suddenlystopped his routine andsaid the audience wasmaking too much noise,one witness said.

For the next 25 min-

utes, he sat on a stool,read from a book, toldthe crowd he was stillgetting paid and theneventually walked offthe stage, a witness said.

Needless to say,some fans want a re-fund.

“He didn’t do any-thing. He just stoodthere. … He wantedquiet. He wanted every-one to be quiet while heperformed,” one audi-ence member said.

Others tweeted,defending Chappelleand blamed the crowdfor being unruly.

According to Hart-ford Police, extra pa-trols were called in as a

precaution and for po-tential crowd control.

There’s no officialword on whyChappelle walked offthe stage. The 15-cityFunny or Die festival isChappelle’s first majorstand-up tour since heabruptly stopped pro-duction of his ComedyCentral show and re-portedly checked him-self into a South Africanmental health facility in2005.

Saturday,September 7, 201310:00am - 12:30pm

*Foucs of this meeting:Travis County Commission

Precinct 1Location:

Goodwill CommunityCenter

1015 Nortwood Park Blvd.FMI: austintexas.gov

RedistrictingCommission Public

Input Meeting

Page 8 ~ September 6, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESSKatrina Survivors Share Stories, Hopes, Successes, Next Steps

by Shirley A. Hammond - follow her at twitter.com@xtremeridewish1

Right to Left: Claudia Conner, Gale Montgomery, Sheri Marshall, Jerrilyn Schmidt, Darnise Bowens, Virginia “Ginsie” Stauss. Photo by Shirley Hammond

cane Katrina and those affected by the disas-ter. One stated that she hopes the term of use willbe “survivors” by the next Hurricane Katrina an-niversary.

What was amazing is that many are now fig-ureheads of their own businesses or organizations.This is true despite the fact that a storm with adainty name leveled their lives, properties, busi-nesses and swept them away from the city manylovingly called home.

Jerrylin Bryan Schmidt facilitated the discus-sion, which got lively and emotional at times. Itwas shot through with many stories of challenge,adversity and the will to overcome it all.

Schmidt has many achievements to her credit- including curriculum specialist, educational pro-gram specialist and educator. She also has pub-lished works in her fields of expertise.

She shared a concise chronicle of her currentarea of focus, as follows: “For over twenty years,Jerrylin Bryan Schmidt has provided leadershipto initiatives and programs that impact care andeducation of children from birth through twelfthgrade.She is founder and CEO of Investments inHuman Potential and author of several curricula thatdevelop confident female leaders. Currently,among other projects, she implements Esther’s Per-sonal Image for Young Female Leaders curriculumthrough seminars for middle school-age youngwomen.

Dedicated to her purpose, Ms. Schmidt hasdonated many, many hours to organizations thatinvest in young and adult women.”

Keishal Walker“I know I’m destined for greatness,” stated

Keishal Walker, who owns Release The DesignsHair Salon. She was displaced by HurricaneKatrina and then later by Hurricane Rita. In thefirst instance, she was pregnant and reeling fromthe destruction of her hair salon in New Orleans.She and her children made their way to rural Mis-sissippi.

When the second disaster slammed into Mis-sissippi, they fled to Austin. She’s connected to BIGAustin, and became a part of their Beyond Bound-aries program, where she took workshops andclasses catered to Katrina survivors. In additionto opening and running her local salon, she hasadded medical hair specialist to her credentials.She said she’s learned from failures and gainedgreat experiences from them.

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As she explained it, she looked at her childrenwho were counting on her and decided, “I have tobecome something. I have to show what I can do.”She’s hoping to become a role model for otherevacuees.

Darnise BowensBowens states that she now looks at the dis-

placement as a relocation to an assignment. Sheechoed Walker’s sentiments that New Orleans is agreat breeding ground for talents and gifts, but saidhers were pulled out of her and fueled when shecame to Austin.

As she explained it, she packed her bible andlittle else when she fled the flooded city.

She was proud to state, “I am a native of NewOrleans.” Bowens started working with the UrbanLeague in May 2006 after Katrina hit, and had thedistinction of being placed over all their Katrinaprograms.

Gale MontgomeryA lot of people don’t know that some evacu-

ees were temporarily housed in a prison mezza-nine. Montgomery shared the story of how shedreamed that New Orleans flooded one year be-fore Katrina. She said after the levees broke andthe city flooded, she and her husband were tread-ing water up to their chests. She said they werefortunate to make their way to a neighbor’s 2-storyhome.

When they were rescued, she said they weretaken to a New Orleans parish correctional center.She reported that they spent five days there, anddidn’t get food until the fourth day. Afterwardthey were brought to Austin, where she stayed atthe Convention Center. It was there that she reportsreceiving three meals a day, and a place to sleep;alongside about 5000 other people. She said RedCross, FEMA, and medical providers gave themassistance there as well.

“When we came here, I just decided not to goback,” she reported.

The facilitator asked her to share how she wentfrom being angry to being empowered to over-come, and she responded with few words. “A spiri-tual connection with God.”

Virginia “Ginsie” StaussThe colorful graphics-rich double-sided busi-

ness card was “Ginsie’s” own design. The endur-ance canoe racer tells the story behind the “DaShrimp Design” moniker and detailed shrimplogo imprinted on her card. She said a fellow racer

nicknamed her that way due to her short statureand passion for New Orleans and the Beaux Bridgearea. The native of New Orleans said she was notan evacuee nor displaced, but admits that she wasimpacted by Katrina. She said she feels blessedbecause she grew up in a house where there wasno hatred for anyone. She reported that she is look-ing for a direction to channel her desire to helpothers, besides in her role as a teacher. “God wasthere for me,” she proclaimed.

Sheri MarshallMarshall was a model of multiple streams of

income through her cluster of entrepreneurial pur-suits.

A long-term military wife, she said she be-came concerned about base closure rumors, anddecided to become a notary public. Afterward, shebecame a loan officer and added a cleaning/make-ready business. Later she expanded to a maid ser-vice. Presently she boasts 62 maid contracts in thecity and has employed her own son and other ex-offenders. She told the group, “I don’t put up withany nonsense.”

The CEO has recently garnered the 2013 Aus-tin Award in the Housekeeping Category; whichrecognizes her company Umoveit-Wecleanit En-terprises for its use of best practices, marketingstrategies, customer service example and positivesmall business image.

Cell Group of DoyennesReferencing participants as a cell group,

Conner said each person who she called wantedto come provided they could help somebody elsepresent. “A cell group is a living group. It’s likean organization,” she told them. Also known ascare groups and connect groups, they are foundin churches and many other organizations.

Cell group they may be, but they go by othernames and titles. Within this cell group eachmight be individually classified as a doyenne;which is defined by Merriam-Webster as awoman who is most respected and prominentin her field.

Collectively and separately, this cadre ofwomen wear their histories like badges as theirachievements stack up like cake layers while theyturn their various wounds into wonders.

That being the case, this group is one that isglowing as it’s flowing, shining forth and partof the pulse beat of Texas’ capital city wherethey were given a softer landing after a storm.