For as long as African-Americans have been in America, it has always been criminal for us. Wrong is undoubtably wrong no matter who you are or what position you are in. We must learn we cannot do what they do and get away with it. There is no way possible.

The society encourages the advancement of scientific education through original investigations; the dissemination of scientific knowledge; and the stimulation of high scholarship in the pure and applied sciences.

Senators Florence Shapiro and Steve Ogden, and Representatives Rob Eissler and Scott Hochberg were on the agenda to discuss appropriations, school finance and other education issues that could impact employment. After the workshop, our group moved to the Capitol to meet with individual legislators. At press time, we had confirmed meetings with State Representatives Sylvester Turner, Debbie Riddle, Gary Elkins, and Armando Walle, and State Senators Mario Gallegos, Dan Patrick and John Whitmire. In addition to meeting with those lawmakers, we also left information with State Representatives Dwayne Bohac, Senfronia Thompson and Patricia Harless.

Gregory Vincent

Board Chairman Robert Brown says Vincent’s commitment to foster a university partnership with the PVILCA is significant because it means “the history and the culture of the PVIL will last a little longer.”

Texas has a $9.4 billion rainy day fund set aside. Since its inception, the fund has maintained typically a modest balance, and an annual average of $237 million over the fund’s first 18 years. Legislature has used a little more than $100 million from the fund in a total of  six times.

HOUSTON-  The 82nd Legislative session continues in Austin and state leaders have difficult and complex decisions to make. I encourage staff members and parents to be vigilant for all legislative sessions but this one is certainly one to watch. As a school superintendent, I am doing my best to reach out and share information with our elected officials as they struggle with the money crisis.
On February 1 and March 8, I testified before the Senate Education committee about the impact of certain educational bills on Aldine ISD. Two bills under discussion dealt with class size for grades K-4 (SB 443) and contract issues for teachers and professional staff (SB 3). Both bills if passed, would allow local school districts and school boards to have some flexibility in decisions that are now currently decided through state law.

DALLAS-  Dozens of local Islamic community leaders recently held a press conference at Dallas City Hall to protest and denounce the disrespectful and flippant use of an Islamic title by a Dallas political leader designed to cast Muslims and Islam in a negative and bad light. Republican Precinct Chairman Jeff Turner addressed the Dallas County Commissioners Court and referred to County Commissioner John Wiley Price as a “Mullah”. “When will this stop! Why does it appear these days’ people are constantly either attacking my faith or using my faith to attack people of other faiths,” said Dallas Muslim activist Thomas Muhammad.

Evil flourishes when Black newspapers fail to report news without fear or favor in order to gain advertisers

HOUSTON— Roy Douglas Malonson, publisher of the African-American News&Issues, is not surprised that a fellow publisher,  James Tucker, of the African-American Voice, has asked the federal government to intercede on his behalf to stop a local school district from pushing a boycott of his publication. Malonson who founded his paper 16 years ago this week, said being a “watchman on the wall,” as the late Bud Johnson would put it, “gives the opposition the opportunity to take their best shots at you at any given moment.”

“New Year’s day, as always, conjures bitter-sweet memories of one of Houston, Texas, Fifth Ward Community’s most beloved sons, Artice Charles Vaughn, AKA ‘C-Boy,’ who dedicated his entire adult life to uplifting and glorifying the people indigenous to the whole village that natured him to become a great journalist-promoter.”

Those were words of the late George “Bud” Johnson, “The old African Warrior,” a colleague of mine who honored the memory of “C-Boy” Vaughn each New Year since he was found dead, of a heart attack, on the bedroom floor of his N.E. Houston Apartment, on the morning of January 1, 1989. Johnson quietly passed away June 18, 2010.

FORT WORTH- A group of Fort Worth pastors are standing up and combating the blasphemy of a group of Atheists promoting a message on the side of city buses that life is good without God.
“Christians must boycott the Fort Worth T,” said Rev. Kyev Tatum, president of the Tarrant County Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “Our message is clear. Don’t ride the Fort Worth T until they respect the big G.”

A “Good Without God,” sign is shown on a Fort Worth T Bus. 
                                                        Photo: Black Christian News

Dr. Juanita Wallace

DALLAS- Advancing the NAACP’s mission with a new inspired purpose of nurturing more community action, membership and people involvement, Dr. Juanita Wallace is undaunted and ready to take on challenges in her second term as Dallas Branch NAACP president.

Tour For Justice exposes racism in Paris, Texas.
                                                            Photo: Lone Star Power Pages

Tour for justice takes justice system injustices to Washington, D.C. Houston next stop on the tour

AUSTIN- Increasing cases of discrimination and systematic racism have activists demanding a complete overhaul of the criminal justice system in Paris and Lamar County, Texas.

BEAUMONT- Schools in the Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) have earned a record number of Gold Performance Acknowledgements (GPAs) from the Texas Education Agency (TEA).  More than 20 schools and the District itself captured a total of 74 honors in recognition of high academic performance on various TEA indicators.  TEA recently announced the list of schools and districts gaining the gold honors for academic achievement in areas as commended performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, Texas Success Initiatives and Comparable Improvements.  While two district-wide honors were achieved—one for social studies and the other for the Texas Success Initiative in math—Homer Elementary captured the highest number of honors.

State Rep. Sylvester Turner at a luncheon in his honor tells
what the recent election means for Blacks.
                                                   Photo by Roger Jackson

At a luncheon intended to honor the sincere efforts and hard work of Representative Sylvester Turner, over a dozen community leaders took the microphone to share in an unusual introduction. Roy Douglas Malonson, Chairman of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston gave leaders throughout the Gulf Coast an opportunity to tell how Turner had made their corner of the world a better place.

Research reveals that Galveston beach was a port
of entry for enslaved Africans.  

GALVESTON- Sankofa Caravan of the Ancestors is one of the premier African ancestral remembrance ceremonies in the United States. In Texas, it means an annual pilgrimage to Galveston Island to the site where Black ancestral fathers and mothers were once bartered and sold as chattel.

AUSTIN-  The Housing Authority’s 13th Annual Family Self-Sufficiency & Homeownership Recognition Luncheon recongnized the achievements of the Family Self-Sufficiency Program graduates and homeowners on Oct. 14. Held at the Austin Convention Center, Coordinator Jean Libuard stated, “The staff works closely with the individuals and their families for five years or more. We have witnessed many stories of triumph and achievement. The luncheon recognizes the milestones achieved and celebrated the human spirit to accomplish great goals. One such person is Tichelle Adams, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee from New Orleans. She joined the FSS program to achieve independence.

Adams

Before the press conference held by Houston’s four Black Council
members, Jolanda Jones and Wanda Adams confer with each other. 
Their stance against Propostion 1 led to a berating of Houston’s Black
leadership by Renew Houston’s Bob Jones.
                                                                                Photo by Tuala Williams

HOUSTON- In the history of this city, the White political establishment has kept its control on power by dividing and conquering minority communities.  So long as the Black community or the Brown community is fighting amongst itself, the White power structure can march along the road to victory unfettered.  

For the first time in history, we have all four Black city council members: Adams, Bradford, Johnson, and Jones, sticking together on an issue that would affect Black people for 20 and maybe 40 years.  How dare Bob Jones of Renew Houston send an e-mail to Council Member Wanda Adams berating the unity of the Black city council members, who are standing up and are united against Proposition 1? 

He’s threatening our leaders like we’re on the plantation.  Slavery is dead, in case you haven’t heard.

Instead of staying in chambers until the issue was decided, Judge Keller decided to call it a day.

AUSTIN- Michael Wayne Richard was executed by lethal injection on Sept. 27, 2007.  Earlier that day, the federal Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving the claim that Kentucky’s three-drug lethal injection protocol constituted cruel and unusual punishment. 

Since Texas uses a similar method of execution, Michael Richard’s attorneys wanted to file a federal writ asking that their client’s execution be stayed until the Kentucky case was decided.  A stay would allowed Richard’s attorneys  to make an “Atkins claim” or mental retardation defense.
 
Unfortunately, they couldn’t file at the federal level until all state remedies had been exhausted.  They had two complicated writs to write and only a few hours to get the work done.

AUSTIN-  The Huston-Tillotson University 135th anniversary celebration began with a symposium to highlight health issues. Kenneth I. Shine, Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, University of Texas, was the keynote speaker. Mayor Lee Leffingwell brought greetings. Panelists Earl Maxwell, president and CEO, St David’s Community Health Foundation; Robert I. Bonar Jr., President and CEO, Executive Vice President, Physician Enterprise; and Timothy Merrill George, Medical Director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery, both from Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, rounded out the discussion with Ashton Cumberbatch, vice president for Community Advocacy, Seton Family of Hospitals, moderating.

DALLAS— Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, along with the Ismaili Council for Northern Texas and Southern Methodist University, gathered together to empower youth to become ambassadors of cultural awareness and leaders in their communities. The Youth Summit and Diversity Dialogue featured newly inducted Hall of Fame Running Back and Former Dallas Cowboy, Emmitt Smith, as the keynote speaker. The summit, held last month, is an ongoing partnership between Johnson’s Congressional Office and His Highness Prince Aga Khan Shia Imami Ismaili Council for Northern Texas.

Hall of Fame Running Back and former Dallas Cowboy, Emmitt Smith,
was the keynote speaker.

AUSTIN- For the first time in the history of The University of Texas at Austin, fewer than half of the fall semester’s first-time freshmen are White students. First-time freshmen who identified their ethnicity/race as “White” on admissions information total 47.6 percent. The university’s overall total White student population, is 52.1 percent. The Office of the State Demographer, Texas State Data Center, estimates the state’s ethnicity in 2010 to be 45.1 percent Anglo (White), 38.8 percent Hispanic, 11.5 percent Black and 4.6 percent other. The state’s ethnic/race distribution by 2020 is projected to change to 37.6 percent Anglo (White), 45.2 percent Hispanic, 11.2 percent Black and 6 percent other.

DALLAS- In 1969, several Black men knew that Black people needed an organization that would listen to the grievances of Black people while being fair-minded with everyone without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, social, or economic status. These men, Stanley O. Gaines, Arthur F. Joe, Sr., Al Lipscomb, Don Johnson, Ed Washington, and Dr. Emerson Emory, along with several others, chartered Black Citizens for Justice, Law, and Order to provide a bastion of strength and unity to people when they have perceived that they have been abused. BCJLO, a non-profit, civil rights organization includes race abuse hotline and race abuse support groups, but it also helps people deal constructively rather than destructively.

Daisy Joe gives out a Legist Award to Attorney Lawrence Mays, guest speaker at the 2009 Outreach Program
for BCJLO.

AUSTIN- A four-day celebration will commemorate the 135th anniversary for Austin’s oldest institution of higher education—Huston-Tillotson University. The University, with roots dating back to 1875 for Tillotson College and 1876 for Samuel Huston College, was founded by The United Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ to educate freed slaves.  The Charter Day Convocation, marking the anniversary, will be held at 10 a.m. on Oct. 22 on the campus in King-Seabrook Chapel, 900 Chicon Street. Charter Day represents the official designated celebration of the Board of Trustees’ signing of the State of Texas Charter of Incorporation that established Huston-Tillotson College (now known as Huston-Tillotson University).

AUSTIN- Four advocacy groups, two of them based in Texas, called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate accounts of widespread unsafe conditions and serious programming deficiencies in 10 secure lockdown facilities operated by the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) – conditions violating the constitutional rights of incarcerated youth and jeopardizing their rehabilitation.  A copy of the letter to the Justice Department is available at  www.texasappleseed.net -- on the home page, under In the Spotlight. Attorneys with these groups have interviewed youth in almost every secure TYC unit in the state. Most of these facilities, which together house about 2,000 youth, are located far away from urban centers, making staffing the facilities and recruiting teachers difficult.

Two schools named after famed Tuskegee Airman General Benjamin O. Davis

HOUSTON- The year Air Force General Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr., died (July 4, 2002),  Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, a professor in the Department of African-American Studies at Temple University, placed him on his list of 100 Greatest African-Americans. It was a recognition not to be taken lightly. Dr. Asante, the founder of the first PhD program in African-American Studies, the founding editor of the Journal of Black Studies, and the author of more than 65 books, is considered by his peers as one of the nation’s most distinguished contemporary scholars.

Bennisha Davis

AUSTIN- The Austin metropolitan area has the highest suicide rate of the major metropolitan areas in Texas, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Although most depressed people are not suicidal, two-thirds of those who die by suicide suffer from a depressive illness.

Sen. Royce West

DALLAS- Last week, Sen. Royce West, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, met with local Black Greek fraternities and sororities to address the crises faced by African-American students and the low graduation rates of African-American males in the state of Texas. The meeting, held at the T. Boone Pickens Mentoring Hall of Fame in the Big Brothers Big Sisters headquarters, 450 E. John Carpenter Freeway in Irving, Texas, emphasized the need for mentorship concerning the growing number of African-American children, boys especially, on the waiting list of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“No reasonable,” cause often cited in race-based discrimination charges brought before organization created by the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964   

When Jacqueline A. Berrien, the former Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), was sworn in last April as the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)  by Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru, she entered the history books as number 14 for the organization, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last month.

(Above) EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien, her husband Peter M. Williams,
and Commissioner Stuart J. Ishimaru at her swearing in, last April. 
As the 14th Chair, she is charged with continuing the organization’s
mission of  eliminating discrimination from America’s workplaces.

Michael A. Green

HOUSTON- Michael Anthony Green was cleared of a 1983 rape with the use of DNA evidence. Green was imprisoned for 27 years—the longest time of imprisonment for an innocent Texan to date.  Senator Rodney Ellis issues the following statement: “I want to extend my sincere apologies to Mr. Green and his loved ones for this extreme miscarriage of justice. I hope that he is able to live his life as a free man with some semblance of peace and normalcy. I also want to commend District Attorney Pat Lykos and Mr. Green’s attorney, Bob Wicoff, for working together to correct this injustice.

AUSTIN- Dr. Eun-Ok Im, the La Quinta Motor Inns Inc. Centennial Professor in nursing, completed a new University of Texas at Austin national study which found significant ethnic differences in the total number and severity of menopausal symptoms. Some of her findings on differences include: Black women had a slightly higher percentage of hot flashes at 67.8 percent with White women at 64.4 percent and Hispanic women at 52.5 percent. Only 26.1 percent of Asian Americans said they experienced hot flashes. More White women (60 percent) took some kind of treatments for menopause symptoms. These included antidepressants and alternative medicines like herbal remedies, chiropractic, meditation, acupuncture and dietary supplements.

AUSTIN-  Organizing for America-Texas (OFA-TX) State Director Luke Hayes released the following statement on President Obama signing into law historic Wall Street Reform legislation. “President Obama’s signing of Wall Street Reform is a landmark victory for the American people. As millions who lost their jobs, their savings, and their livelihood during the recession are well aware, an economy that is vulnerable to the whims of an under regulated and risk-laden Wall Street is not good for American families or the financial system. This historic legislation creates the strongest consumer protections in history, reins in the excesses of Wall Street banks, and ensures American taxpayers are never left footing the bill for Wall Street’s risky bets.

A few years ago in Milwaukee, Wis., police who beat party-goer Frank Jude
(above) were charged with a felony ... although charges were later dropped.
In Texas, they would have been charged with Official Oppression, a Class A misdemeanor.                                                                                  
Photo by bulldogsays.com

“I never thought about it. I never thought twice about it. You know, we went on to the next task after that ...,” said former Houston police officer Raad Hassan in an exclusive interview with Houston’s KHOU reporter, Jeff McShan.

Hassan was fired following HPD’s investigation of the March 23 beating of Chad Holley, 16, by eight police officers. The beating that also lead to his indictment in June, along with three other officers, was captured by a surveillance camera outside of Uncle Bob’s storage.

Holley was one of four burglary suspects. Initially, Holley made an attempt to flee from police. However, after seeing he was surrounded, according to police documents, “the video clearly shows that Mr. Holley subsequently lay on the ground and placed his hands behind his head and neck area, in an obvious position of surrender.”

By Frederick Douglas

Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

AUSTIN- Dr. Alaine Hutson’s proposal, “Is there an African Diaspora in the Middle East?” was selected for the Henry C. McBay Research Fellowship. This highly competitive program, with a monetary prize, is managed by the United Negro College Fund and designed to provide research support critical to faculty disciplines as well as professional development. Hutson is Huston-Tillotson University’s associate professor of history.

Dr. Alaine Hutson

President Obama and Advisor Carol Browner are updated on the BP oil spill.
                                                                                                       White House Photo, Pete Souza

We no longer hear, “Drill, baby, drill.” Rather, what the American public has been watching for the past few weeks on the network news is, “Spill oil, spill.”  This is the worst natural catastrophe in the history of this nation.

 It is all because of man.  We can’t blame it on God. The backlash of criticism is being forced onto the shoulders of President Barack Obama. British Petroleum Oil Company is the owner of this bad baby in the Gulf region. Now, we are hearing the political talking points bashing and blaming President Obama for not taking appropriate action. 

Is this really the problem? Members of the political far right, known for their addiction to black gold, quickly washed their hands of the problem, claiming innocence by publically announcing that perhaps off-shore drilling is not the only resource for energy.  

Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Founder & Chairman of the National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign.

GALVESTON– Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Galveston Island and the Juneteenth Coalition remember this holiday with a series of celebrations held June 12- June 20. “Juneteenth is a day of reflection, a day of renewal, a pride-filled day,” said Ennis Williams, Juneteenth Coalition member. “It is a moment in time taken to appreciate the African American experience.”

This Juneteenth is the 31st anniversary of Emancipation Day or Juneteenth becoming a state holiday in Texas. This year also signals 145 years since General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 in Galveston, TX in 1865, guaranteeing the emancipation of the slaves. 

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.  Rep. Al Edwards stated, “At a time when some people seek to re-write our history for harmful political purposes, it is more important than ever to celebrate and remember the history of our nation. I’m urging everyone to participate in the many area Juneteenth events across the city and nation.”

AUSTIN- After months of debate and national controversy, the Texas State Board of Education passed new high school textbook standards that recast U.S. history from the point of view of a conservative movement. The AP reports on the 9-5 vote by the Republican-dominated board: The partisan board has amended or watered down the teaching of the civil rights movement, slavery, America’s relationship with the U.N. and hundreds of other items. ... They dictate how political events and figures will be taught to some 4.8 million schoolchildren in Texas and beyond for the next decade.

AUSTIN— Now, students can list resumes at no charge on Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association’s (TREIA’s) new Texas jobs site.  The job site is a place for people seeking careers in renewable energy and for businesses in need of qualified employees.  

In addition to other services it provides to its approximately 600 member-base, TREIA is a powerful source for job opportunity information for the broader public as well.   Students may post their resumes, view jobs and create alerts on the TREIA website job page.

Companies looking for qualified employees will find this an effective service to post job positions and quickly target and streamline their searches for qualifying matches.  

For more information visit www.treia.org.

SAN ANTONIO- Ruth Jones McClendon, a native of Houston, was first elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1996, representing District 120 in San Antonio. Her service during the 81st Regular Session of the Legislature marks her seventh term in office. McClendon has served two terms as Chair of the House Committee on Rules and Resolutions.

The city of FT. Worth admits no wrongdoing in the settlement with relatives of Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr., although his death last year was ruled a homicide.

FT. WORTH AGREES TO PAY FOR TASER DEATH OF MICHAEL JACOBS

FORT WORTH— What is the value of a Black man’s life in Fort Worth, Texas? That was a question the federal courts were asked to decide when Charlotte and Michael Patrick Jacobs Sr. and family members filed a civil rights law suit for damages in excess of $75,000 against the city for the April 18, 2009 tasering death of their son, Michael Patrick Jacobs Jr, 24. It was a decision U.S. District Judge Terry Means was loath to make, ordering the city to enter into mediation with the family, forcing them to grapple with the question. “What is the value of Michael Jacobs Jr’s life?”

Motivational speaker and Internet consultant Stephen Pierce, of Whitney, Texas, often talks about the day he almost never made it home. ‘It was a cold day, many years ago when I found myself lying back-down on a slab of cold concrete. I had been shot. I was lying there thinking about my entire life, wondering how in the world I allowed myself to get to this point.

PEARLAND, TEXAS– Velma Winston, has been named the best Direct Support Professional in Texas. The honor is bestowed by the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) a national providers’ association. Ms. Winston, is a residential director at Educare’s Somerset Community Home in Pearland. She was one of 41 state honorees selected from hundreds of nominations. Veronica Jackson, program administrator for ResCare Texas, nominated Winston.