A history lesson on Morehouse College

Page A3

MAY 24 - MAY 30, 2013VOLUME 21 NO. 21 www.flcourier.com

FREEPRESORTEDSTANDARD

MAILU.S. POSTAGE PAID

DAYTONA BEACH, FLPERMIT #189

ALSOINSIDE

COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: ObAMA’S MOREHOuSE SPEECH gETS A ‘b-MINuS’ gRAdE | A4

guEST COMMENTARY: bETSEgAW TAdELE: ‘WE SHALL REMEMbER THIS dAY’ | A4

Wyatt wins lawsuit against B-CUOther Reed-era lawsuits continue

Read the judge’s legal deci-sion at www.flcourier.com.

BY JAMES HARPERFLORIDA COURIER

DAYTONA BEACH – For-mer Bethune Cookman-University head football coach Alvin “Shine” Wy-att, Sr. won his breach of contract lawsuit against the Daytona Beach-based school and has been award-ed almost $770,000. The decision was announced Wednesday after a non-jury trial that concluded May 17.

Wyatt’s case was just one of 13 state and federal law-suits and administrative complaints filed in less than two years against the school – and personally against for-mer B-CU President Trudie Kibbe Reed – as indicated in a nine-part investigative

See WYATT, Page A2

See SCOTT, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS

Coalition of Black Trade Unionists meet in Orlando

Residents urged to prepare for hurricane season

FLORIDA | B2

FINEST | B5

Meet Jasmine

Cramming gainsfoothold in cell-phone marketplace

BUSINESS | B3

For full coverage about Obama at Morehouse, read Page A3 through A6 and B1.

COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

ATLANTA – President Obama urged Morehouse College graduates to use their education to help oth-ers and to work for “some-thing larger than yourself,” citing the example of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Lu-ther King Jr., a Morehouse alumnus.

In his commencement

address, Obama urged graduates headed to law school to make sure they “defend the powerless” during their careers. He said new physicians should find ways to “heal folks in underserved communi-ties,” and business school graduates should consider “putting people to work, or transforming a neighbor-hood.”

‘Widen your circle’Obama said his own suc-

cesses have depended less on his Ivy League degrees

and grades than on “the special obligation I felt, as a Black man like you, to help those who needed it most...So it’s up to you to widen your circle of concern.”

Obama spoke to about 500 graduates and their families, and thousands of alumni and other onlook-ers. He and the school’s top leadership remained dry onstage during his 32-min-ute address to the graduat-ing class of 2013, while ev-eryone else got soaking wet during an occasionally vi-olent thunderstorm that started almost immediately after the event began.

Umbrellas were not al-lowed on site, so the col-lege handed out clear plas-tic ponchos which did little to keep people dry.

“I see some moms and grandmas here, aunts, in their Sunday best, although they are upset about their hair getting messed up,” he

See OBAMA, Page A2

A MOREHOUSE MAN

President Obama, accompanied by Morehouse College President John Sylvanus Wilson, Jr., waves to graduates, family and friends attending the college’s 129th commencement ceremony in Atlanta.

REAd uS ONLINE

Like us on Facebook-www.facebook.com/flcourier

Follow us on Twitter-@flcourier

Fwww.flcourier.com

C

FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Gov. Rick Scott’s office con-firmed Tuesday that he quiet-ly signed a bill Monday aimed at cleaning up the voting prob-lems that plagued parts of the state during the November elections.

Scott apparently signed the legislation (HB 7013) before heading to Chile for a trade mission. But the governor’s of-fice didn’t announce the sign-ing until Tuesday afternoon.

Fixes problemsElections reform vaulted to

the top of legislative priori-ties after the November prob-lems, which included some Florida voters not casting bal-lots until after television net-works had projected President Barack Obama the winner na-tionwide. It also took days be-fore Obama was declared the winner in Florida.

The bill would allow up to 14 days for early voting, though local supervisors could re-main at the current eight days, and allows for more flexibility with early voting sites. It would limit the length of some ballot summaries for constitutional amendments.

And it would dissolve a com-mittee that sets the date of the presidential primary and in-

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

With new election changes, legislators hope that long vot-ing lines are a thing of Florida’s past.

Gov. Scott quietly signs elections bill

2013 MOORE TORNADO

Still aliveGENE BLEVINS/ZUMA PRESS/MCT

A woman is pulled out from under the rubble in Moore, Okla., on May 20 after a tornado with peak winds of an estimated 210 miles per hour hit the town. At least 24 people were killed, including at least nine children. Read Oklahoma native Karsceal Turner’s commentary about the tornado on Page A2.

In a speech to more than 500 graduates of America’s only all-

male historically Black college or university, President Obama focused

on personal responsibility and ‘no excuses’ as the keys to success.

A2 MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013FOCUS

People speak of the awesome-ness of the movie “Twister.” For me, the movie evoked night-mares of my childhood, which entailed hearing the wail of a tor-nado siren while watching the news for any indication of where it was headed.

I recall vividly the wonder and terror rolled up in one package. Happy my neighborhood was spared. Saddened by neighbors who lost every possession and those who lost their lives. As a teen, I wanted to become a storm chaser; instead I became a writ-er.

As a native of Oklahoma now living in Florida, I am flattened by the devastation, which oc-curred in my native state on May 20. I will attempt to give an ac-count.

Happened againOn May 3, 1999, 46 people

were killed during an outbreak that tore through Oklahoma, the strongest of which was an EF5 that hit the towns of Moore, Bridge Creek, Newcastle, Mid-west City and Del City. On Mon-day, nearly 14 years after Moore was destroyed by an EF5 tornado, it happened again.

The new Fujita scale, imple-mented in 2007, has six catego-

ries from zero to five, represent-ing increasing degrees of dam-age by a tornado. Just like in the movie “Twister” an EF5 equates to the finger of GOD.

As of the time I finally put the pen down, there were 24 dead, including nine children, from the largest tornado I’ve ever heard of in my life. It was billed as an EF5 with winds from 166 to 200 mph. The thing was two miles wide. Can you imagine a two-mile mass of swirling air coming at you? I hope you nev-er have to.

The worst part of this ordeal to me is the helplessness I feel by not being there to help in the ef-fort. I have made use of my im-mediate family, specifically my older brother Zack Phillips III. He is a utility worker in Oklaho-ma City (“OKC”) and is involved in the cleanup effort. Moore, the seventh-largest city in Oklaho-ma, is part of the OKC metro ar-ea.

How it happensWhy do storms happen in the

“Tornado Alley” states of Tex-as, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebras-ka, and Missouri? It’s a battle of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico colliding with dry air from the Southwest or the Rocky Mountains triggering thunder-storms and tornadoes.

How silly of me to think I could escape tornadoes on the beach-es of the Sunshine State. I arrived in Florida in 1990 via my first du-ty station in the U.S. Navy. Al-though I’ve now lived in Florida for 20 years, it wasn’t the reprieve from twisters I’d hoped it to be. The tornadoes found me.

My first experience was on Feb. 22, 1998, when seven tornadoes ripped through Central Florida, killing 42 people. This was the deadliest outbreak of twisters in Florida’s history and I was here for it.

Nearly a decade later, twisters would chase me again in Dayto-na Beach as four Christmas Day tornadoes in 2006 damaged hun-dreds of Florida homes, flipped airplanes at Embry-Riddle Aero-nautical University, and tore roofs off three apartment build-ings. That one was only an F2 (winds of 113 mph to 157 mph).

At the time, I lived directly up

the block from Sutton Place, one of the apartment complexes that were partially demolished. But once again, I was spared.

Season startsHurricane season begins on

June 1 and lasts half the year for people in the Southeast. Unbe-knownst to many of you, Florida actually reports a high number and density of tornadoes but not like those at home, which erase towns from the map.

Newsflash! Florida is the thun-derstorm capital of the Unit-ed States with the most thun-derstorms per square mile, and some of those storms produce tornadoes. July is generally the most active tornado month in Florida.

Florida’s hurricanes can also pawn tornadoes. According to tornado expert Dr. Greg Forbes, Florida was No.1 on his list of tor-nado states. The combination of the spring tornado season and summer and fall hurricane sea-son creates an almost year-round tornado threat for Florida.

I pray my Floridian neighbors take heed and better prepare for the impending season, which focuses on hurricanes – which spawn tornadoes.

I prepared a poem titled “Fin-

ger of GOD” to emphasize my feelings as I fought through tears this week:

The morning of May 20 was normal. By the same afternoon, 24 people went to meet their mak-er.

ROBBED of life by the fury of a springtime Oklahoma twister…

After such devastation, believ-ers lean and cling to the notion of this being the Lord’s will…in wake of the catastrophic still….

Cleanup has begun, but there isn’t a way to clean up dozens of lives affected…except thru em-brace of a love from the heavens.

Indeed, even as we brace for an-other dose of the terror in the re-gion known as Tornado Alley…with hands folded, I reflect on the fact that this could have hap-pened to ANYONE in this great country.

And so I pray…This is why I pray, knowing full well, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away…

Still, ain’t no way of knowing what the Higher Power has in store for TODAY!

Respect the finger of GOD.

Karsceal Turner is a free-lance writer. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Requiem for my fellow Oklahomans

series published from June through September 2011 in the Florida Courier entitled “Crisis at B-CU.”

There were legal actions filed by longtime profes-sors, the former men’s bas-ketball head coach, former football head coach Wyatt, and a former student who said she was raped by a group of basketball players and that the university tried to cover it up.

Serious issuesThe series also revealed

that during Reed’s presi-dency, B-CU was on the American Association of University Professors’ list of “censured administrations,” which means that condi-tions for academic freedom and tenure are unsatisfac-tory at a college or universi-ty. B-CU was one of only 49 institutions nationwide on the censure list at the time and has yet to be removed.

The Florida Courier al-so published the results of a previously secret 360-de-gree presidential evaluation report that criticized Reed’s performance and that pre-scribed strong medicine to fix what ailed B-CU.

Reed retired less than a year after the series was published, and was re-placed by current B-CU President Dr. Edison Jack-son.

Common themeThe plaintiffs filing the

lawsuits against B-CU were terminated for various jus-tifiable reasons, at least from the school’s perspec-tive – for criminal activi-ty, for having sex with stu-dents, for abandoning the job, for poor performance, for falsifying academic cre-

dentials. But almost all of the law-

suits, including Wyatt’s, have common themes – that the individuals filing the lawsuit were all termi-nated from B-CU improp-erly, either in violation of the school’s own procedure, their employment contracts – or both.

Wyatt successfully claim-

ing that B-CU breached his employment contract and was seeking more than $800,000 in contractu-al damages. That includes five years of his base sala-ry of $90,000 per year, plus money allegedly due to him from TV appearances and other guaranteed income.

The suit also charged Bethune-Cookman with age discrimination under the Equal Employment Op-portunity Act. Wyatt was 62 at the time he was termi-nated.

Wyatt signed a contract extension in 2005 that re-newed itself annually with a satisfactory evaluation. Wy-att claimed that B-CU did not follow the terms and conditions of the contract, and refused to pay him the contractual benefits he was promised after he was ter-minated.

Circuit Court Judge Ter-rance Perkins agreed, though Wyatt didn’t get ev-erything he asked for, in-cluding medical payments, TV payments and addition-al retirement benefits. Per-kins also found no evidence that Wyatt was fired due to his age.

‘Classic’ casualtyBethune-Cookman Uni-

versity did not renew Wy-att’s contract after the Wild-cats were dismantled at the 2009 Florida Classic by archrival Florida A&M Uni-versity 42-6 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

In a statement released soon after the game, B-

CU Athletic Director Lynn Thompson praised Wyatt – after Reed, who testified at the trial that firing Wy-att was her decision alone, booted Wyatt out the door.

“Today marks the end of an era in Wildcat football that many have enjoyed and celebrated. Alvin Wy-att has been the epitome of a B-CU Wildcat. He has giv-en so much to this univer-sity and it will be a tremen-dous challenge to find the right person to build on his legacy and take the Wild-cat football program to new heights,” Thompson stated then.

Wins, lossesWyatt spent 13 seasons

as the head coach at his al-ma mater. He compiled a record of 90-54 with a .620 winning percentage. But over the last four seasons – from 2006-2009 – he was 23-21 with three 5-6 sea-sons.

The Wildcats had eight straight winning seasons under Wyatt from 1998 to 2005. He had been the win-ningest coach in school his-tory.

In 2002, Wyatt led the Wildcats to an 11-1 record overall and won the MEAC at 7-1 and had a berth in the I-AA (now FCS) playoffs.

Had his criticsStill, fans and critics had

criticized Wyatt for years. Many questioned his of-fensive system, the “Wy-attbone’’ offense – a triple option/wing-T running at-

tack – saying it had become predicable and easy to de-fense.

At the 2009 Florida Clas-sic, Wyatt’s last as head coach, the Wyattbone yield-ed dismal results. B-CU did not get a first down on its first four possessions and did not score until the final seven minutes of the game.

The Wildcats’ offense put up pitiful numbers during the 2009 Classic battle. B-CU only managed 83 rush-ing yards and 259 total of-fensive yards, and commit-ted three interceptions.

They finished 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the MEAC – the team’s third losing season in the last four years of Wy-att’s career.

New coach takes reins

Soon after the Classic loss, a selection committee made up of coaches, for-mer players, staff members and others put together by Reed fielded 87 applicants for the position. Five hope-fuls were interviewed.

In December 2009, after nearly a two-month vacan-cy period, the school hired 39-year-old former Rutgers University wide receivers coach Brian Jenkins.

Since his arrival in Day-tona Beach, Jenkins has compiled an overall record of 27-8, and a 21-3 mark in MEAC play. He has helped the Wildcats to two MEAC titles and two playoff ap-pearances and has been named the MEAC Coach of the Year twice.

stead require that vote be held on the first Tuesday that complies with party rules. Both Republican and Democratic delegations to national conventions lost members over the last several years as Florida vied for earlier primary dates.

Not far enough?Democrats had consistently pushed

for more far-reaching changes, argu-ing that the bill was essentially a series of tweaks and didn’t fix all the problems that they blamed on a 2011 law that re-stricted early voting and included a slew of other changes to Florida elections.

But most good-government groups applauded this year’s bill for the chang-es it made, and it nonetheless passed the House twice with all Democrats supporting it.

“Sometimes it felt like climbing a mountain with concrete boots, but with the governor’s signature on this election reform package, Florida has achieved what many of us thought at one time might be impossible: a huge improve-ment to our democratic process and a giant step forward for Florida voters,” said Deirdre MacNab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

Except for a provision making sure the state’s gift ban for committees of con-tinuous existence doesn’t lapse, which kicks in immediately, the bill takes ef-fect Jan. 1.

FLORIDA COURIER FILES

Former Bethune-Cookman University head football coach Alvin “Shine” Wyatt, Sr. lost to FAMU and lost his job, but won his lawsuit.

joked. “Michelle would not be sitting in the rain. She has taught me about hair.”

Serious talk“Just as Morehouse has taught you

to expect more of yourselves, inspire those who look up to you to expect more of themselves, he explained. “We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices. And I have to say, growing up, I made quite a few myself.

“Sometimes I wrote off my own fail-ings as just another example of the world trying to keep a Black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there’s no lon-ger any room for excuses.”

Obama said that having a degree doesn’t mean everything will be just fine.

“What was needed in (Morehouse President Dr. Benjamin E. Mays’) time, that spirit of excellence, and hard work, and dedication, and no excuses is need-ed now more than ever. If you think you can just get over in this economy just because you have a Morehouse degree, you’re in for a rude awakening. But if you stay hungry, if you keep hustling, if you keep on your grind and get other folks to do the same, nobody can stop you,” Obama exclaimed.

Then he turned personal, telling graduates to properly prioritize their lives.

‘Lazy afternoon’“I know that when I am on my death-

bed someday, I will not be think-ing about any particular legislation I passed; I will not be thinking about a policy I promoted; I will not be think-ing about the speech I gave, I will not be thinking the Nobel Prize I received,” he said.

“I will be thinking about that walk I took with my daughters. I’ll be think-ing about a lazy afternoon with my wife. I’ll be thinking about sitting around the dinner table and seeing them happy and healthy and knowing that they were loved. And I’ll be think-ing about whether I did right by all of them.”

After receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree, Obama quickly left the campus through a nearby classroom building. Later that afternoon, he at-tended a Democratic Party $10,000-per-plate fundraiser sponsored by Atlan-ta Falcons pro football franchise own-er Arthur Blank, founder of The Home Depot.

Some naysayersResponse to Obama’s speech, though

generally positive, was not universal. Some commentators especially took offense at Obama’s call for “no excuses,” and his silence about whether the fed-eral government had any responsibili-ty to help improve conditions in Black America.

Georgetown University law profes-sor Paul Butler told BlackAmericaWeb.com Obama’s address didn’t go far enough and that Obama should have told Morehouse students that he’s “sor-ry” for not doing more for Black men.

‘Discomforting pattern’The Atlantic columnist Ta-Nehisi

Coates wrote, “...some day historians will pore over (Obama’s) many speech-es to Black audiences. They will see a president who sought to hold Black people accountable for their commu-nities, but was disdainful of those who looked at him and sought the same….those historians will see a discomfit-ing pattern of convenient race-talk….I think the president owes Black people more than this.”

On the Black Agenda Report web-site, commentator Tim Wise fumed, “..Obama knows how demanding a school Morehouse is. So to preach hard work to these men, as if they had nev-er heard of it – as if they now intended to kick back and wait for things to be handed to them – is to not only insult their intelligence, but also to feed every vicious stereotype already held by too many White Americans about Black males, no matter how educated.”

Columnist Margaret Kimberley also castigated Obama.

“The poor graduates were not only forced to sit in a driving rain but were also insulted by a rank and ambitious politician...the president felt compelled to point out that there are Black people who make excuses, and don’t take care of their kids, and make bad choices and blah, blah and oh yes, blah...the Black people in the audience were part of the stage setting for the real audience, which was totally White.”

Paul Richter of the Tribune Wash-ington Bureau/MCT contributed to this report.

OBAMAfrom A1

KARSCEAL TURNER

GUEST COMMENTARY

WYATTfrom A1

SCOTTfrom A1

A3BARACK OBAMA AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGEMAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013

Morehouse College – a historyCOMPILED FROM STAFF REPORTS

In 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, Au-gusta Theological Institute was established in the base-ment of Springfield Bap-tist Church in Augusta, Ga. Founded in 1787, Spring-field Baptist is the oldest in-dependent African-Amer-ican church in the United States. The school’s prima-ry purpose was to prepare Black men for ministry and teaching.

Today, Augusta Theo-logical Institute is More-house College, located on a 66-acre campus in Atlan-ta. It enjoys an internation-al reputation for produc-ing leaders who have influ-enced national and world history.

Augusta Theological In-stitute was founded by the Rev. William Jefferson White, an Augusta Baptist minister, cabinetmaker and journalist, with the encour-agement of The Rev. Rich-ard C. Coulter, a former slave from Augusta, Ga., and The Rev. Edmund Tur-ney, organizer of the Na-tional Theological Institute for educating freedmen in Washington, D.C.

Led by ministersFrom 1867 to 1871, White

appointed five ministers to serve as Augusta Insti-tute principals. White ap-pointed the Rev. Dr. Joseph T. Robert, a trained minis-ter and physician and the son of the author of “Rob-ert’s Rules of Order,” the In-stitute’s first president.

In 1879, Augusta Theo-logical Institute was invited by The Rev. Frank Quarles to move to the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta and changed its name to Atlanta Baptist Seminary. Later, the Semi-nary moved to a four-acre

lot in downtown Atlanta. Following Robert’s death in 1884, David Foster Estes, a professor at the Seminary, served as the institution’s first acting president.

In 1885, when Dr. Samu-el T. Graves was named the second president, the insti-tution relocated to its cur-rent site in Atlanta’s West End community. The cam-pus encompasses a Civ-il War historic site, a gift of John D. Rockefeller, where Confederate soldiers staged a determined resistance to Union forces during Wil-liam Tecumseh Sherman’s famous siege of Atlanta in 1864.

In 1897, Atlanta Baptist Seminary became Atlan-ta Baptist College during the administration of Dr. George Sale, a Canadian who served as the third and youngest president from 1890 to 1906.

First Black presidentA new era dawned with

the appointment of Dr. John Hope as the fourth presi-dent in 1906. A pioneer in the field of education and civil rights, he was the Col-lege’s first African-Ameri-can president.

Hope, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown Univer-sity, encouraged an intel-lectual climate compara-ble to what he had known at his alma mater. He open-ly challenged Booker T. Washington’s view that ed-ucation for African-Ameri-cans should emphasize vo-cational and agricultural skills.

Atlanta Baptist College expanded its curriculum and established the tradi-tion of educating leaders for all areas of American life. In addition to attract-ing a large number of tal-ented faculty and admin-istrators, Hope contributed much to the institution we

know today. In 1913, Atlanta Baptist

College was named More-house College in honor of Henry L. Morehouse, the corresponding secretary of the Northern Baptist Home Mission Society.

Colors chosenDr. Samuel H. Archer be-

came the fifth president of the College in 1931 and headed the institution dur-ing the Great Depression. He gave the school its ma-roon and white colors – the same as those of his alma mater, Colgate University.

Archer retired for health reasons in 1937. Dr. Charles D. Hubert served as the second acting pres-ident until 1940, when Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays be-came the sixth president of Morehouse College.

A nationally noted edu-cator and a mentor to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Class of 1948, Mays is rec-ognized as the architect of Morehouse’s international reputation for excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.

During the presidency of Mays – a Phi Beta Kap-pa graduate of Bates Col-lege and the University of Chicago – the number of faculty members grew and the percentage hold-ing doctoral degrees in-creased from two to 34 out of 65 teachers. The Col-lege earned global recogni-tion as scholars from other countries joined the facul-ty, international students enrolled, and fellowships and scholarships for study abroad became available.

Morehouse received full accreditation by the South-ern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1957, and Mays’ 14-year effort to win a chapter of Phi Beta Kap-pa at Morehouse was real-ized in 1968.

First alumnusIn 1967, Dr. Hugh Mor-

ris Gloster, Class of 1931, became the first alumnus to serve as president of the College. Under his leader-ship, Morehouse strength-ened its board of trustees, expanded the endowment to more than $29 million and added 12 buildings to the campus, including the Martin Luther King Jr. In-ternational Chapel and the B.T. Harvey Stadium.

Morehouse established a dual-degree program in engineering with the Geor-gia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan and Boston University. Gloster founded the Morehouse School of Medicine, which became an independent institution in 1981. He ap-pointed Dr. Louis Wade Sul-livan its first dean; Sullivan later became the school’s first president.

In 1987, Dr. Leroy Keith Jr., Class of 1961, was named eighth president of Morehouse. The College’s endowment increased to more than $60 million, and faculty salaries and student scholarships significant-ly increased. Construction of the Nabrit-Mapp-McBay Science Building was com-pleted, and Thomas Kilgore Jr. Campus Center and two dormitories were built.

First Rhodes ScholarIn 1994, Nima A. War-

field, Class of 1994, was named a Rhodes Scholar, the first from a historically Black college. Under Keith’s leadership, the “A Candle in the Dark” Gala was found-ed in 1989 to raise scholar-ship funds.

In October 1994, Dr. Wiley Abron Perdue, Class of 1957 and vice president for busi-ness affairs, was appoint-ed the third acting presi-dent of Morehouse. Un-der his leadership, nation-al memorials were erected to honor Dr. Benjamin E. Mays and internationally noted theologian Dr. How-ard W. Thurman, Class of 1923. Perdue launched an initiative to upgrade the College’s academic and ad-ministrative computer in-formation systems and un-dertook construction of a 5,700-seat gymnasium to provide a basketball venue for the 1996 Summer Olym-pic Games.

On June 1, 1995, Dr. Wal-ter Eugene Massey, Class of 1958, took office as the ninth president of More-house College. A noted physicist and college ad-ministrator, Massey called on the Morehouse commu-nity to renew its longstand-ing commitment to a cul-ture of excellence.

Before joining the Col-lege, Massey held several notable positions, includ-ing senior vice president and provost of the Univer-sity of California System, di-

rector of the National Sci-ence Foundation and direc-tor of the Argonne National Laboratory.

Expanded programsMorehouse expanded

its dual-degree program in natural sciences with Geor-gia Institute of Technolo-gy; launched the Center for Excellence in Science, En-gineering and Mathemat-ics with a $6.7 million U.S. Defense Department grant; and established a new Afri-can-American Studies and a Center for International Studies named for former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young.

The College was reac-credited by the Southern Association of Colleges of Schools, and the Division of Business Administra-tion and Economics was accredited by the America Association of Schools and Colleges of Business, mak-ing Morehouse one of on-ly a handful of liberal arts colleges in the nation with both AASCB accreditation and a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.

Construction was com-pleted on Davidson House Center for Excellence, which serves as the presi-dent’s official residence and houses a mini-conference center on its lower level.

In 2005, a new Leadership Center (named the Walter E. Massey Leadership Center in 2012) was opened, with a comprehensive confer-ence center, the Executive Conference Center (named the Shirley A. Massey Exec-utive Conference Center in 2012). Other additions in-cluded the John H. Hopps Technology Tower, a 500-car parking deck and an ex-panded campus bookstore. Renovations were made to several dormitories, class-room buildings, Archer Hall Recreation Center, Chiv-ers-Lane Dining Hall and the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel. Also during his tenure, the Col-lege produced its second and third Rhodes Scholars: Chris Elders, Class of 2002, and Oluwabusayo “Tope” Folarin, Class of 2004.

$100 million-plusIn June 2006, the Col-

lege successfully complet-ed Morehouse’s most am-bitious capital campaign – raising a record $118 mil-lion. The same year, More-house became the perma-nent custodian of the cov-eted Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Col-lection, which includes more than 13,000 hand-written notes, sermons, let-ters, books and other arti-facts belonging to its most noted alumnus.

On July 1, 2007, the Rev. Dr. Robert Michael Frank-lin Jr., Class of 1975, took of-fice as the 10th president of Morehouse College. He was

former president of the In-terdenominational Theo-logical Center. Prior to com-ing to Morehouse, Franklin served as Presidential Dis-tinguished Professor of So-cial Ethics at the Candler School of Theology and se-nior fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Reli-gion, both at Emory Uni-versity.

‘Five Wells’During his tenure, Frank-

lin led the institution for-ward with his vision of the “Morehouse Renaissance,” which he accomplished in part by establishing the concept of the “Five Wells,” an ideal to cultivate men of Morehouse as “Renais-sance men with social con-science and global perspec-tive” who are well-read, well-spoken, well-traveled, well-dressed and well-bal-anced.

Under Franklin’s leader-ship, the College reaffirmed its commitment to academ-ic vigor, qualified by re-ac-creditation in 2009 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The Quality Enhancement Plan focused on internation-alization, global learning and world perspective. In a project initiated by Massey, Franklin oversaw the com-pletion and opening of the $20 million Ray Charles Performing Arts Center and Music Academic Building, a 75,000-square-foot facili-ty named after the late leg-endary musician.

Franklin led and support-ed cultivation efforts that increased the total number of new donors by an aver-age of 1,000 per year. The College generated in excess of $128 million since 2007 in grants and contracts, pri-vate fundraising and feder-al appropriations.

In January 2013, Dr. Wil-lis B. Sheftall, Class of 1964, served the College as acting president, before returning to the position of interim vice president for Academic Affairs and interim provost.

Wilson onboardOn January 28, 2013, Dr.

John Silvanus Wilson Jr., Class of 1979, took office as the 11th president of More-house College. Wilson pre-viously served as the exec-utive director of the White House Initiative on His-torically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which serves as the liaison among HBCUs, the White House, 32 federal agencies, and the private corporate and philanthropic sectors.

Wilson’s career in edu-cation began in 1985 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he served for 16 years in vari-ous roles and ultimately as the director of Foundation Relations. In this role, he helped to manage two re-cord-breaking capital cam-paigns, with combined re-sults approaching $3 bil-lion.

In 2001, his career led him to the George Wash-ington University, where he served for eight years, fill-ing such critical leadership roles as an executive dean and an associate profes-sor. His research focused on best practices for the sus-tainability and stability of colleges and universities, as well as transformative ad-vancement and finance in higher education.

After graduating from Morehouse, Wilson contin-ued his education at Har-vard University, where he earned master’s degrees in theological studies and ed-ucation, as well as a doc-torate in education, with a focus on administration, planning and social policy.

As Morehouse prepares to celebrate its sesquicen-tennial in 2017, the Col-lege continues its long and unique history of delivering an exceptional educational experience that meets the intellectual, moral and so-cial needs of students repre-senting more than 40 states and 14 countries – a distin-guished institution dedicat-ed to producing outstand-ing men and extraordinary leaders to serve humanity.

Florid

a Cou

rier

FRI 5

/24

1/4p

g. (4

.93”

) X 1

0”

MR

ALL.

FF6.

0524

.FCe

mai

l

JORDANA BREWSTER“FAST & FURIOUS 6” MICHELLE RODRIGUEZDWAYNE JOHNSONPAUL WALKERA JUSTIN LIN FILM VIN DIESELONE RACE FILMS PRODUCTION

AN ORIGINAL FILM/UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH RELATIVITY MEDIA

AMANDA LEWIS CHRIS MORGANEXECUTIVEPRODUCERS JUSTIN LIN SAMANTHA VINCENT GARY SCOTT THOMPSONBASED ON CHARACTERS

CREATED BY

CLAYTON TOWNSEND p. g. a.NEAL H. MORITZ p. g. a.PRODUCEDBY VIN DIESEL CHRIS MORGANWRITTEN

BY JUSTIN LINDIRECTEDBY

A UNIVERSAL PICTURE© 2013 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

SOUNDTRACK ONDEF JAM RECORDINGS

JOHN ORTIZLUKE EVANS GINA CARANOSUNG KANGTYRESE GIBSON CHRIS ‘LUDACRIS’ BRIDGES LUCAS VIDALMUSICBY

OWN THEM ALL ON BLU-RAY ™ & DVD

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMESSTARTS FRIDAY, MAY 24

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

Chayla Cherry, Cole Williams and Charles W. Cherry III visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel, one of the iconic sites on the Morehouse College campus.

MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013A4 BARACK OBAMA AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE

Mr. President, illustri-ous leader of these United States; distinguished mem-bers of the platform par-ty, faculty, staff, parents, guardians, and especially to my fellow classmates – Men of the Morehouse College graduating class of 2013 – ladies and gentlemen:

WE SHALL REMEMBER THIS DAY.

Donning our gowns, straightening our caps, cir-cling our necks with vari-ous representations of the excellence of our four-year journey, marching proud-

ly across a campus we have come to know and to love so well – Oh, we shall remem-ber this day!

We came in as freshmen – marching together to be “welcomed to the House,” marching together to ori-entation sessions, marching together to divisional meet-ings, and advisement ses-sions, and finally to that in-

famous Parents Parting Cer-emony where we said good-bye to our childhood and “girded up our loins” to en-gage the challenges of be-coming a man.

Today, as graduating se-niors, we came into this place – again marching to-gether, brother to broth-er, but this time to leave to go our separate ways – to blaze new trails, to ford new streams, to chisel new stones into masterpiec-es that will leave the plac-es where they stand better than we found them.

WE SHALL REMEMBER THIS DAY...

As we leave, to go out in-to a world that is sure to test our mettle, scrutinize our strong academic prepara-tion, and challenge our re-solve to lead lives not for our own glorification, but for service to others.

For we are world chang-ers because we do not hesi-tate to recognize that though the world has come a long way, we still dare to imagine a better world – free of pov-erty, free of corruption, free of social ills, free of debili-tating disease, and free of man’s inhumanity to man.

We dare to imagine a world where we are liter-ally reaching for the stars.

We dare to imagine a world where we can all live harmo-niously with one another. And, yes, we dare to imag-ine a world where brother-hood and sisterhood char-acterize all human relation-ships.

WE SHALL REMEMBER THIS DAY….

Because our parents and guardians, our teachers and our mentors, our role models and our trailblaz-ers made it possible for us to achieve and encouraged us to excel in arenas never engaged before. Today, we must say, “ Thank you!”

WE SHALL REMEMBER THIS DAY…

Because this Commence-ment, this glorious day of celebration and exultation gave us the rare opportunity to be among the few gradu-ates anywhere who will re-member 50 years from now who was their Commence-ment speaker.

We can never forget that on this day, we the men of the 2013 graduating class of Morehouse College were privileged and honored to hear words of indescribable inspiration from one who demonstrates every day that there is no “impossible” and there is no “unbelievable” and there is no “unachiev-

able” if you have the audac-ity to hope –words lived out every day by President Ba-rack Hussein Obama.

It is this daring attitude, this willingness to challenge the naysayers and the scoff-ers that will take us – mem-bers of the dynamic More-house College graduating class of 2013 – to places nev-er dreamed before, all be-cause we came to an institu-tion called Morehouse Col-lege, all because we came to a place that enabled us to grow, develop, achieve, be-lieve, and excel.

And for this, our hearts will forever sing:

Holy Spirit, Holy SpiritMake us steadfast, honest,

true,To old Morehouse and her

ideals,And in all things that we

do.

Betesegaw Tadele, a native of Ethiopia, was a computer science ma-jor who graduated from Morehouse College with a 3.99 grade point average. He will soon begin work-ing as a software tester for Microsoft Corporation. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

‘We shall remember this day’

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

THE CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESSThe Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national

antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and

legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in

the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1928-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC

Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra Cherry- Kittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Chief Executive Officer Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Lynnette Garcia, Marketing Consultant/Sales Linda Fructuoso, Marketing Consultant/Sales, Circulation Angela VanEmmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation James Harper, Andreas Butler, Ashley Thomas, Staff Writers Delroy Cole, Kim Gibson, Photojournalists

MEMBER National Newspaper Publishers Association Society of Professional Journalists Florida Press Association Associated Press National Newspaper Association

W W W . F L C O U R I E R . C O M

Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC, P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, publishes the Florida Courier on Fridays. Phone: 877-352-4455, toll-free. For all sales inquiries, call 877-352-4455; e-mail sales@flcourier.com.

Subscriptions to the print version are $59 per year. Mail check to P.O. Box 48857 Tampa, FL 33646, or log on to www.flcourier.com; click on ‘Subscribe’.

SUBMISSIONS POLICYSEND ALL SUBMISSIONS TO NEWS@FLCOURIER.COM. Deadline for submitting news and pictures is 5 p.m. the Monday before the Friday publica-tion date. You may submit articles at any time. However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any infor-mation that is submitted, without the Publish-er’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest com-mentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication. The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

GUEST COMMENTARY

BETSEGAw TAdELE

This year, I celebrated the 35th anniver-sary of graduation from Morehouse Col-lege. Coincidentally, President Barack Obama spoke at the 129th Commence-ment celebration of my beloved alma mat-er. (Given my consistent criticism of Bro. Prez’s policies, God obviously has a sense of humor.)

As a member of a class “in reunion,” I was one of the hundreds of Morehouse alum-ni who were there front and center. I could see, hear, and ‘feel’ the live interchange be-tween Bro. Prez and the listening audience. I also watched the speech again online pri-or to writing this analysis. (We linked it at www.flcourier.com.)

My evaluation:

Speech development: A His speech had almost everything: off-

the cuff observations; sharp details that were highly relevant to the primary lis-tening audience; touches and flourishes that a primarily Black audience could un-derstand. There was also enough ‘gener-al’ content and references to America and other racial groups as befitting the man who, as we are told so nauseatingly often, is “the president of the United States, not the president of Black America.”

Bro. Prez paid homage to Morehouse’s history and acknowledged the new grad-uates’ immediate desire to make mon-ey, but still challenged them in relevant ways.

As is now traditional, he personalized his main points by pointing out three success stories of Morehouse Men in the graduating class: one who was a father of three who graduated on his third try; one who grew up in a foster home, then be-came an outstanding scholar who will at-tend an Ivy League law school; and one who helped desegregate the University of Georgia and was returning for his 50-year class reunion.

Obama turned personal, and reflected on what was most important in his life; not fame, but family. And he took his time, speaking for more than 30 minutes.

Thematically and stylistically, it was a very good address – other than the glaring lack of specific relevant policies outlined below.

Policy content: DBro. Prez blew a major opportunity. And

because he’s the U.S. president, policy con-tent is weighted higher than all the other evaluation factors.

There is no place on earth that is more historically and progressively Black, male, and righteous than Morehouse College – the home of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, Dr. Howard Thurman, MLK, and too many Black male pioneers and barrier-breakers to count. The president was at the epicen-ter, the “Mecca” of assertive and principled Black manhood on this planet.

If this wasn’t the place to lay down a ‘doctrine’ concerning the issues causing disproportionate pain in Black America, especially among men and boys – unem-ployment, massive incarceration, dysfunc-tional education, etc. – what was? If not at Morehouse, where?

If not to “Morehouse Men” – the clos-est thing Bro. Prez will have to a highly ac-complished “band of brothers” who com-pletely understand the hell he’ll catch over eight years – to whom? (Remember when he advocated his “justifiable war” doctrine in 2009 when he received the Nobel Peach Prize?)

His speech was heavy on personal re-sponsibility – ironic, given the person-al and professional achievements of gen-

erations of the Morehouse Men Bro. Prez highlighted in the speech – including some who were in the rain-soaked audience. He preached to the proverbial choir.

But the speech was light on governmen-tal policy and proposed actions. And the government still does have responsibil-ity to even the economic playing field in an America in which these newly-minted Morehouse graduates will earn about 76 cents for every dollar a White male gradu-ate with equivalent education and experi-ence will earn.

Here’s a key passage: “My job, as president, is to advocate for

policies that generate more opportuni-ty for everybody – policies that strengthen the middle class and give more people the chance to climb their way into the middle class. Policies that create more good jobs and reduce poverty, and educate more chil-dren, and give more families the security of health care, and protect more of our children from the horrors of gun violence. That’s my job. Those are matters of public policy, and it is important for all of us Black, White and Brown – to advocate for an America where everybody has got a fair shot in life.”

It is not enough for a president to advo-cate (definition: “to recommend publicly”). A president must LEAD (definition: “to in-fluence, induce or cause”). And on so many issues that are critically important to Black America, Obama has “advocated” and not “led.” His speech confirmed to me that he doesn’t believe that “leadership” is his pri-mary function as president. Really?

General preparation: AObama is a speaking machine, and rarely

flubs speeches in public. He used only one Teleprompter, to his left, instead of the two he typically uses. I couldn’t tell if this was the first or second time he had gone over the speech, or if he had practiced it for days before he actually delivered it. And that’s one of qualities of a well-prepared speaker.

Effectiveness and value: B- He loses a full letter grade and more for

the policy-free content of the speech. Still, the speech has symbolic value to counter the narrative of the violent, savage Black American male that is prevalent around the world, even in Africa. This wasn’t the 1995 Million Man March. But the image of most-ly Black, all-male graduates on one side, and older, accomplished alumni wearing white Panama hats on the other, was still powerful.

Situational awareness: BBro. Prez gave the entire speech during

a driving thunderstorm, including loud, rumbling thunder and lightning strikes. He used the inclement weather in the speech, humorously acknowledging the audience’s discomfort and blaming it on the notorious stubbornness of the Morehouse Men who decided that the event would be outside, come hell or literally high water.

(Floridians live in the lightning capital of the world; we know the danger. I know someone who was killed by a lightning strike. Here, the event would’ve been imme-diately stopped. Obama could have asked that the event be cancelled for public safety, a decision I would have fully supported.)

Eye contact, gestures, facial expression: A

He kept effective contact with the audi-ence. His gestures were appropriate and his facial expressions were more relaxed than usual, given the general friendliness of the audience. (Some people started lining up at 3 a.m. for a speech that was scheduled to start at approximately 11:45 a.m.)

Enthusiasm: A He had a good time. He chuckled during

impromptu remarks, and put his head back and laughed a few times at the reaction of the audience to some the things he said.

Audience response: B The most enthusiastic response was from

the graduates and their families, not older Morehouse alumni.

Historically, Morehouse students have been notoriously tough on speakers, much like the traditional Apollo Theater audience is tough on performers. At least one-third of the alumni present had Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, one of the greatest speakers in his-tory, as their president during their More-house College tenures. Mays spoke often to students during his presidential era.

Given the world-class quality of speak-ers, including teachers, administrators, ministers, and guest lecturers who regu-larly appear at Morehouse, Obama had big shoes to fill. He did well enough.

Details, nuances, language: A+Obama used buzzwords, jargon, and cul-

tural references that were very familiar to the Morehouse audience, the largely, Black audience at the event, and to the extended Black American audience watching online or on television.

“You can tell a Morehouse man, but you can’t tell him much;” a “trifling roommate;”

the “Morehouse Mystique;” the reference to “our brothers” who don’t have simi-lar opportunities; “keep hustling, keep on your grind;” and he congratulated the all-male graduates for not getting distracted by all-female Spelman College. All of these were instantly familiar to everyone there.

He spoke about Black women “getting their hair messed up” in the rain and said First Lady Michelle Obama “told him about hair” – an allusion to Black women’s gener-al aversion to getting their perms drowned by a few drops of water. It was a wink and a nod to Black culture without being overtly racial. (Expect right wingnut criticism any-way.)

Voice: A-In the beginning of his speech, he de-

volved into the fake Black Southern preacher style complete with a “moan” and a drawl (“…the Morehouse fam-leh,” and “it’s a Sun-deh” instead of “it’s a Sun-day”). That’s something he has done before in front of predominately Black audiences. He told the old “summa cum laude, magna cum laude, thank you laude” graduation joke. (Many of us laughed at the fact that he actually said it.)

I criticized him when he got “preacher-ly” when he delivered his MLK Memorial dedication speech in Washington, D.C. in 2011. However, perhaps due to situational awareness, he corrected himself about two minutes into the speech and finished it in his normal cadence and accent. He does get credit for catching himself.

Next week: “In the bosom of the brother-hood”

Contact me at ccherry2@gmail.com; holler at me at www.facebook.com/ccherry2; follow me on Twitter @ccher-ry2.

PUBLISHER

CHARLES w. CHERRy II, ESq.

qUICK TAKES fROM #2:STRAIGHT, nO CHASER

Obama’s Morehouse speech gets a ‘B-minus’ grade

Curtis CoMpton/AtlAntA JournAl-Constitution/MCt

President Barack Obama congratulates valedictorian Betsegaw Tadele after his valedictory speech at Morehouse College on May 19 in Atlanta.

A5BARACK OBAMA AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGEMAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013

Here are edited excerpts of President Obama’s speech to the Morehouse College Class of 2013, delivered on May 19 in Atlanta during a driving thunderstorm.

Graduates, I am hum-bled to stand here with all of you as an honorary More-house Man. I finally made it. And as I do, I’m mindful of an old saying: “You can always tell a Morehouse Man – but you can’t tell him much.” And that makes my task a little more difficult. But I think it also reflects the sense of pride that’s always been part of this school’s tradition.

Benjamin Mays, who served as the president of Morehouse for almost 30 years, understood that tra-dition better than anybody. He said, “It will not be suf-ficient for Morehouse Col-lege, for any college, for that matter, to produce clever graduates… but rather hon-est men, men who can be trusted in public and pri-vate life – men who are sen-sitive to the wrongs, the suf-ferings, and the injustices of society and who are willing to accept responsibility for correcting [those] ills.”

It was that mission – not just to educate men, but to cultivate good men, strong men, upright men – that brought community leaders together just two years af-ter the end of the Civil War. They assembled a list of 37 men, free Blacks and freed slaves, who would make up the first prospective class of what later became Morehouse College. Most of those first students had a desire to become teach-ers and preachers – to bet-ter themselves so they could help others do the same.

A century and a half later, times have changed. But the “Morehouse Mystique” still endures.

Academic competition

Some of you probably came here from commu-nities where everybody looked like you. Others may have come here in search of a community. And I sus-pect that some of you prob-ably felt a little bit of cul-ture shock the first time you came together as a class in King Chapel.

All of a sudden, you weren’t the only high school sports captain, you weren’t the only student council president. You were sud-denly in a group of high achievers, and that meant you were expected to do something more.

That’s the unique sense of purpose that this place has always infused – the con-viction that this is a training ground not only for individ-ual success, but for leader-ship that can change the world.

Dr. King was just 15 years old when he enrolled here at Morehouse. He was an unknown, undersized, un-assuming young freshman

who lived at home with his parents. And I think it’s fair to say he wasn’t the cool-est kid on campus – for the suits he wore, his classmates called him “Tweed.” But his education at Morehouse helped to forge the intel-lect, the discipline, the com-passion, the soul force that would transform America.

No fearIt was here that he was in-

troduced to the writings of Gandhi and Thoreau, and the theory of civil disobedi-ence. It was here that pro-fessors encouraged him to look past the world as it was and fight for the world as it should be. And it was here, at Morehouse, as Dr. King later wrote, where “I realized that nobody…was afraid.”

Not even of some bad weather. (I added on that part.) I know it’s wet out there. But Dr. Wilson told me you all had a choice and decided to do it out here anyway. That’s a Morehouse Man talking.

Think about it. For Black men in the ‘40s and the ‘50s, the threat of violence, the constant humiliations, large and small, the uncertain-ty that you could support a family, the gnawing doubts borne of the Jim Crow cul-ture that told you every day that somehow you were in-ferior, the temptation to shrink from the world, to accept your place, to avoid risks, to be afraid – that temptation was necessarily strong.

And yet, here, under the tutelage of men like Dr. Mays, young Martin learned to be unafraid. And he, in turn, taught others to be un-afraid...he taught a nation to be unafraid.

And over the last 50 years, thanks to the moral force of Dr. King and a Moses gen-eration that overcame their fear and their cynicism and their despair, barriers have come tumbling down, and new doors of opportunity have swung open, and laws and hearts and minds have been changed to the point where someone who looks just like you can somehow come to serve as president of these United States of America.

So the history we share should give you hope. The future we share should give you hope. You’re graduating into an improving job mar-ket. You’re living in a time when advances in technol-ogy and communication put the world at your fin-gertips. Your generation is uniquely poised for success unlike any generation of Af-rican-Americans that came before it.

Work to doBut that doesn’t mean we

don’t have work – because if we’re honest with ourselves, we know that too few of our brothers have the opportu-nities that you’ve had here at Morehouse.

In troubled neighbor-

hoods all across this coun-try – many of them heav-ily African-American – too few of our citizens have role models to guide them. Communities just a cou-ple miles from my house in Chicago, communities just a couple miles from here – they’re places where jobs are still too scarce and wag-es are still too low; where schools are underfunded and violence is pervasive; where too many of our men spend their youth not be-hind a desk in a classroom, but hanging out on the streets or brooding behind a jail cell.

My job as president is to advocate for policies that generate more opportunity for everybody – policies that strengthen the middle class and give more people the chance to climb their way into the middle class. Poli-cies that create more good jobs and reduce poverty, and educate more children, and give more families the security of health care, and protect more of our children from the horrors of gun vio-lence.

Those are matters of pub-lic policy, and it is important for all of us – Black, White and Brown – to advocate for an America where every-body has got a fair shot in life. Not just some. Not just a few.

But along with collective responsibilities, we have individual responsibili-ties. There are some things, as Black men, we can only do for ourselves. There are some things, as Morehouse Men, that you are obliged to do for those still left behind. As Morehouse Men, you now wield something even more powerful than the di-ploma you’re about to col-lect – and that’s the power of your example.

So what I ask of you to-day is the same thing I ask of every graduating class I address: Use that power for something larger than your-self. Live up to President Mays’s challenge. Be “sen-sitive to the wrongs, the suf-ferings, and the injustices of society.” And be “willing to accept responsibility for correcting [those] ills.”

I know that some of you came to Morehouse from communities where life was about keeping your head down and looking out for yourself. Maybe you feel like you escaped, and now you can take your degree and get that fancy job and the nice house and the nice car – and never look back.

Make that moneyAnd don’t get me wrong

– with all those student loans you’ve had to take out, I know you’ve got to earn some money. With doors open to you that your parents and grandparents could not even imagine, no one expects you to take a vow of poverty.

But I will say it betrays a poverty of ambition if all you think about is what goods

you can buy instead of what good you can do. So, yes, go get that law degree. But if you do, ask yourself if the only option is to defend the rich and the powerful, or if you can also find some time to defend the powerless.

Sure, go get your MBA, or start that business. We need Black businesses out there. But ask yourselves what broader purpose your busi-ness might serve, in putting people to work, or trans-forming a neighborhood. The most successful CEOs I know didn’t start out in-tent just on making money – rather, they had a vision of how their product or service would change things, and the money followed.

Some of you may be headed to medical school to become doctors. But make sure you heal folks in un-derserved communities who really need it, too. For generations, certain groups in this country – especially African-Americans – have been desperate in need of access to quality, affordable health care. And as a soci-ety, we’re finally beginning to change that.

But we’re going to need some doctors to make sure it works, too. We’ve got to make sure everybody has good health in this coun-try. It’s not just good for you, it’s good for this country. So you’re going to have to spread the word to your fel-low young people.

Inspire othersJust as Morehouse has

taught you to expect more of yourselves, inspire those who look up to you to ex-pect more of themselves.

We know that too many young men in our commu-nity continue to make bad choices. And I have to say, growing up, I made quite a few myself.

Sometimes I wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a Black man down. I had a tendency sometimes to make excuses for me not doing the right thing. But one of the things that all of you have learned over the last four years is there’s no longer any room for excus-es.

I understand there’s a common fraternity creed here at Morehouse: “Excus-es are tools of the incompe-tent used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness.” Well, we’ve got no time for excuses. Not because the bitter legacy of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they have not. Not because rac-ism and discrimination no longer exist; we know those are still out there.

It’s just that in today’s hy-per-connected, hyper-com-petitive world, with millions of young people from China and India and Brazil – many of whom started with a whole lot less than all of you did – all of them entering the global workforce along-side you, nobody is going to give you anything that you have not earned.

Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. No-body cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to re-member that whatev-er you’ve gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous gener-ations endured – and they overcame them. And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too.

Strong menYou now hail from a lin-

eage and legacy of immea-surably strong men – men who bore tremendous bur-dens and still laid the stones for the path on which we now walk.

You wear the mantle of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, and Ralph Bunche and Langston Hughes, and George Wash-ington Carver and Ralph Abernathy and Thurgood Marshall, and, yes, Dr. Mar-tin Luther King, Jr. These men...knew full well the role that racism played in their lives. But when it came to their own accomplishments and sense of purpose, they had no time for excuses.

Every one of you have a grandma or an uncle or a parent who’s told you that at some point in life, as an Af-rican-American, you have to

work twice as hard as any-one else if you want to get by. I think President Mays put it even better: He said, “Whatever you do, strive to do it so well that no man liv-ing and no man dead, and no man yet to be born can do it any better.”

What was needed in Dr. Mays’s time, that spirit of excellence, and hard work, and dedication, and no ex-cuses is needed now more than ever. If you think you can just get over in this economy just because you have a Morehouse degree, you’re in for a rude awaken-ing. But if you stay hungry, if you keep hustling, if you keep on your grind and get other folks to do the same – nobody can stop you.

Set an exampleAnd that’s what I’m ask-

ing all of you to do. Keep set-ting an example for what it means to be a man. Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner. Be the best father you can be to your children. Because nothing is more important.

I was raised by a hero-ic single mom, wonderful grandparents – made in-credible sacrifices for me. And I know there are moms and grandparents here to-day who did the same thing for all of you. But I sure wish I had had a father who was not only present, but in-volved.

And so my whole life, I’ve tried to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me. I want to break that cy-cle where a father is not at home – where a father is not helping to raise that son or daughter. I want to be a better father, a better hus-band, a better man.

It’s hard work that de-mands your constant atten-tion and frequent sacrifice. And I promise you, Michelle will tell you I’m not perfect. She’s got a long list of my imperfections. Even now, I’m still practicing, I’m still learning, still getting cor-rected in terms of how to be a fine husband and a good father. But I will tell you this: Everything else is unfulfilled if we fail at family, if we fail at that responsibility.

I know that when I am on my deathbed someday, I will not be thinking about any particular legislation I passed; I will not be think-ing about a policy I promot-ed; I will not be thinking about the speech I gave, I will not be thinking the No-bel Prize I received.

I will be thinking about that walk I took with my daughters. I’ll be think-ing about a lazy afternoon with my wife. I’ll be think-ing about sitting around the dinner table and see-ing them happy and healthy and knowing that they were loved. And I’ll be thinking about whether I did right by all of them.

Engage othersSo be a good role model,

set a good example for that young brother coming up. If you know somebody who’s not on point, go back and bring that brother along – those who’ve been left be-hind, who haven’t had the same opportunities we have – they need to hear from you.

You’ve got to be engaged on the barbershops, on the basketball court, at church, spend time and energy and presence to give people op-portunities and a chance. Pull them up, expose them, support their dreams. Don’t put them down.

So if you’ve had role mod-els, fathers, brothers like that – thank them today. And if you haven’t, commit yourself to being that man to somebody else.

And finally, as you do these things, do them not just for yourself, but don’t even do them just for the African-American commu-nity. I want you to set your sights higher.

At the turn of the last cen-tury, W.E.B. DuBois spoke about the “talented tenth” – a class of highly educat-ed, socially conscious lead-ers in the Black communi-ty. But it’s not just the Afri-can-American community that needs you. The country needs you. The world needs you.

You know the feelingAs Morehouse Men,

many of you know what it’s like to be an outsider; know what it’s like to be marginal-ized; know what it’s like to feel the sting of discrimina-tion. And that’s an experi-ence that a lot of Americans share.

Hispanic Americans know that feeling when somebody asks them where they come from or tell them to go back. Gay and lesbian Americans feel it when a stranger pass-es judgment on their par-enting skills or the love that they share. Muslim Amer-icans feel it when they’re stared at with suspicion because of their faith. Any woman who knows the in-justice of earning less pay for doing the same work – she knows what it’s like to be on the outside looking in.

So your experiences give you special insight that to-day’s leaders need. If you tap into that experience, it should endow you with empathy – the understand-ing of what it’s like to walk in somebody else’s shoes, to see through their eyes, to know what it’s like when you’re not born on third base, thinking you hit a tri-ple. It should give you the ability to connect. It should give you a sense of compas-sion and what it means to overcome barriers.

Class of 2013, whatev-er success I have achieved, whatever positions of lead-ership I have held have de-pended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy – the special obligation I felt, as a Black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn’t have the opportunities that I had – because there but for the grace of God, go I – I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me.

So it’s up to you to wid-en your circle of concern – to care about justice for ev-erybody, White, Black and Brown. Everybody. Not just in your own community, but also across this country and around the world. To make sure everyone has a voice, and everybody gets a seat at the table; that every-body, no matter what you look like or where you come from, what your last name is – it doesn’t matter, every-body gets a chance to walk through those doors of op-portunity if they are willing to work hard enough.

High expectationsThat’s what we’ve come

to expect from you, More-house – a legacy of leaders – not just in our Black com-munity, but for the entire American community. To recognize the burdens you carry with you, but to resist the temptation to use them as excuses.

To transform the way we think about manhood, and set higher standards for ourselves and for others. To be successful, but also to understand that each of us has responsibilities not just to ourselves, but to one an-other and to future genera-tions. Men who refuse to be afraid.

Class of 2013, you are heirs to a great legacy. You have within you that same courage and that same strength, the same resolve as the men who came be-fore you. That’s what be-ing a Morehouse Man is all about. That’s what being an American is all about.

Success may not come quickly or easily. But if you strive to do what’s right, if you work harder and dream bigger, if you set an exam-ple in your own lives and do your part to help meet the challenges of our time, then I’m confident that, togeth-er, we will continue the nev-er-ending task of perfecting our union.

God bless you. God bless Morehouse. And God bless the United States of Amer-ica.

Click on www.flcourier.com to read the complete speech.

‘Nobody can stop you’

MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013A6 BARACK OBAMA AT MOREHOUSE COLLEGE

College administratortells how presidentcame to addressMorehouse College

BY ASHLEY THOMASFLORIDA COURIER

To have the president of the United States speak at your grad-uation is no easy feat. In fact, the office of the president rejects hundreds of speaking requests each year. So how did Atlanta-based Morehouse College get the most powerful man in the world to deliver their 2013 spring com-mencement address, and what did it take to get him there? The Florida Courier interviews Dr. Anne W. Watts, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, to get the scoop.

Florida Courier: Before tak-ing his seat as president of More-house College in January of this year, Dr. John Wilson Jr. served as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Histori-

cally Black Colleg-es and Universities since 2009. How did this connec-tion aid in secur-ing the president’s appearance?

Dr. Watts: Our president, Dr. Wil-son Jr., worked at the White House up until the day he came to More-

house College when he was named president. He was a part of President Obama’s adminis-tration and apparently President Obama was very impressed with him.

We had invited President Obama for the last three, four years and just decided, well, may-be it’s not going to happen and one day President Wilson was in a meeting (the Founder’s Day meeting in February) and he got this very important call and we saw him rushing out with the phone to his ear. He was very se-cretive and said nothing when he returned, so we just assumed it was a regular phone call that presidents get. When he was able to announce it, he told us that it was the White House calling and President Obama wanted to be the commencement speaker at Morehouse College this year.

The preparationsFlorida Courier: Once the pres-

ident was secured as the speaker, how did planning arrangements move forward?

Dr. Watts: We had already be-gun the planning of our com-mencement in November. As chair of the committee, I had

called our first meeting before we left for the holidays. Now we had March and April to prepare. We have a great deal of pageantry, a great deal of observance of ritu-als and those things that charac-terize a Morehouse College event. Those things were in the process and then we were told a White House advance team and the Se-cret Service would be visiting us.

Florida Courier: What was the preparation like for graduates?

Dr. Watts: We kept them (stu-dents) informed at senior class meetings. One thing is that they had a certain amount of tickets for their family and in the past they had a certain amount of tick-ets but that was for reserved seat-ing. The rest of the family could come in and they could sit in oth-er sections. But this time every-one needed a ticket to come in period.

So that meant that some of them that came from large fami-lies had to make the tough deci-sion to seat Grandma on this side and Grandmother on the other side and which cousin (would be able to attend).

The Secret ServiceFlorida Courier: During the

moderately short time frame available for preparation, how did security measures change due to requests made by the Secret Ser-vice?

Dr. Watts: They came within several weeks after we got the an-nouncement. We told them what we normally do and they told us some things that we needed to do and we were soon made aware that this would not be a More-house College commencement in the normal sense of the word.

Everyone (commencement at-tendees) had to go through mag-netometers; everyone had to have a ticket. When the motorcade was entering the campus, everyone had to be seated. The rules and regulations were there. But the person from the advance team said to me ‘Dr. Watts, plan your commencement as you usually do. You all have one goal – to put on a commencement for these young men and their parents; we have one goal – to protect the president.’ With that type of part-nership, a second team came and then this past week they returned in large numbers. The Georgia Secret Service also came.

Florida Courier: Tell us more about the Secret Service agents.

Dr. Watts: It was very exciting and just like you see in the mov-ies. They were dressed in black suits with pinstripes. They all had on dark glasses and their shoes were dress shoes, but you could see where they were made for running, quick movement. Then they gave us their business cards and it had that silver star on it. That was the Secret Service.

‘No surprises’Florida Courier: What security

measures were put in place? Dr. Watts: Security was very,

very tight. The Secret Service came three

times. Any time a new group would come, we’d show them a DVD from previous commence-ments as well as take them along the route for the motorcade. They wanted to see everything and said “no surprises, just no surprises.’’

Our campus is open and every-thing was closed off, barricades, dead zones, buildings that had to

be locked and Secret Service was telling the people putting chairs down and putting the stage up about security fences.

It was an exciting journey, but it was a lot of work, a lot of attention to detail. There were things that we planned to do and we could not do it that way this year. I was told from a gentleman from the White House to be fluid, and not to be fixed and we told them that we could do that. Near the end there were changes, there were restrictions.

Graduation DayFlorida Courier: How did the

day of the commencement go?Dr. Watts: The stage had to be

secured the morning of. A clean sweep of the campus was done at 4 a.m.; the dogs came in, then the magnetometers. The holding room for the president was desig-nated and called “the hold” in the McCall building, a few feet from the stage. Then the doors were opened for the public. There were snipers on the roofs.

I was sitting on the stage and couldn’t see the snipers, but my friends sitting in the audience saw three. I’m sure they were on other buildings throughout the campus or in camouflage as well.

Also, there was security detail seated on the stage right behind President Obama; he was dressed in one of our robes so that he could blend in with the platform party.

Florida Courier: There was a lot of rain before, during and af-ter the commencement, which was held outside. What measures did Morehouse have in place for commencement attendees. How did the Secret Service respond?

Dr. Watts: Some people were uncomfortable (with the rain), but I noticed that even though they were a little upset with being out in the rain they didn’t leave. Morehouse ordered 12,000 pon-chos and gave them out when each person came in.

Some people brought umbrel-las in, (which attendees were in-formed was a prohibited item) Secret Service just walked over to them. They may have thought they were different or would be excluded. But Secret Service’s job is to protect the president. And they did an excellent job of that.

Everyone else was sending up prayers to stop the rain, but I was praying for God to please let this commencement go well and that everything be OK. Then I’ll worry about the rain later.

Now a ‘Morehouse Man’Florida Courier: What was

your most memorable moment of the entire experience?

Dr. Watts: It is something I will remember as long as I live. Even after President Obama was elect-ed, in my wildest dreams, I never would think that I would be seat-ed on the stage, two seats from him, shake his hand and I would speak from the White House po-dium.

You want to know if I’m excit-ed? Yes I am, I’m still excited. I was content with seeing him on TV because I’m so proud of him and his beautiful story. It’s such an awesome story for history.

And as he walked in, everyone was standing and screaming and they were hollering and he was smiling and waving and he shook all the dignitaries’ hands and went to the board (of trustees) on the platform on the front row and shook their hands and I thought ‘oh I’m at the podium, I won’t be able to shake his hand,’ and when he finished giving his speech he came over to the three of us who he hadn’t had the chance to greet and he made sure that he came over to shake our hands.

While talking to students, he was talking their talk and had done his homework, even remark-ing that he knows it gets hard with Spelman nearby. He was just reg-ular, but he was inspiring.

I know he is a mortal; we deify our rich and famous, our presi-dent, but not in deifying him I ap-preciate him so much and what he represents.

That was powerful!Florida Courier: So the big

question: Can President Obama say he shares anything new with the Spring 2013 graduates?

Dr. Watts: We gave President Obama an honorary degree, a Doctor of Laws. He became a Morehouse Man on Sunday.

It started with a phone call from the White House

THE WHITE HOUSE

The Morehouse College Class of 2013 is caught in the rain but still reacts enthusiastically to President Obama’s speech.

PETE SOUZA/THE WHITE HOUSE

President Barack Obama is reflected in a mirror talking with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough before speaking at the commencement ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta on May 19. A painting of the president stands in the foreground.

Dr. Anne W. Watts

LIFE | FAITH | HEALTH | MONEY | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD

www.flcourier.com

BSHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE | SECT ION

HEALTH | FOOD | TRAVEL | SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS

LIFE/FAITHT

Mississippi Valley,FAMU facing offSept. 1 in Orlando See page B4

SuN coAST / TAmPA BAY

May 24 - May 30, 2013courier

Graduates of the world’s only all-male historically Black college or university

converged on Atlanta to renew ties with classmates and schoolmates, and to kick off a “Forever More-house” fundraising campaign ini-tiated by the college’s most recent president, Dr. John Sylvanus Wil-son, to secure Morehouse’s finan-cial future.

In addition to baccalaureate and commencement, alumni im-mersed themselves in other activi-ties.

Weekend events included a breakfast for 50-year alumni; a president’s welcome luncheon; and an Alumni Action Summit focused on strengthening the school’s endowment, better pre-paring Morehouse students to earn money after graduation, building a modern academic vil-lage on the Morehouse campus, preparing Morehouse to serve as an international institution serving the African Diaspora, changing the school’s administrative culture to be more customer service-orient-ed, making Morehouse a “thought leader” on African-American male education and development, discovering and developing the Morehouse “brand,” and other is-sues.

There was also a rite of passage ceremony for graduating seniors; an alumni mixer and picnic; a me-morial service at the gravesites of Morehouse presidents Dr. Benja-min E. Mays and Dr. John Hope, both of whom are buried on cam-pus; and an alumni banquet.

Individual classes in reunion al-so held their own events, usually in conjunction with their female counterparts and former class-mates at Spelman College.

A WEEKEND OF RITUAL

‘Morehouse Men’ returned to their alma mater from around the world last weekend to renew ties, celebrate with new graduates and their families, and

hear from President Obama.

Kelly Rowlandjoins ‘X Factor’ See page B5

African drumming is a key part of Morehouse ritu-als. Here they lead graduates to the commencement services.

Above: Instruc-tors lead the pro-cession of their former students.

Left: Obama pointed out graduate Freder-ick Anderson as a role model during the commence-ment speech.

PhoTos by CurTis ComPTon / ATlAnTA JournAl-ConsTiTuTion/mCT

ChArlEs W. ChErry ii / FloriDA CouriEr

More-house’s leader-ship poses with Presi-dent Obama and his hon-orary degree.

Above: Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher was there with his schoolmates and the Class of 1963.

Left: “Men of Morehouse” line up for baccalaure-ate ceremonies on Saturday.

Gradu-ates flank a More-house banner on Sunday morning.

Morehouse alumni line up to march with the Class of 2013 to commencement services.

STOJFLORIDA MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013B2

Black trade union members convening in OrlandoNew CBTU presidentdiscusses impact ofunion membership for Black workers

SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) and its 42nd International Convention is be-ing held through May 27 in Or-

lando at the Bue-na Vista Palace. This is the first CBTU convention led by the Rev. Terry Melvin, who was elected last year to succeed William “Bill” Lu-cy, the legendary labor leader who had been CBTU’s

only president since its inception in 1972.

This comes as the American la-bor movement tries to organize a workforce that is younger, more black and brown, a workforce battered by globalization, wage stagnation and ebbing confi-dence in shaky political leaders.

This moment certainly is not lost on Melvin, who is also the secretary-treasurer of the power-ful New York state AFL-CIO.

“CBTU will continue to be a reli-able voice for progressive change within the labor movement and a key player in mobilizing Black voters on the national and local level.” However, he added, “CB-TU also must – and we will – ‘re-boot’ our own approaches to re-cruiting new members, building more active chapters and leading stronger coalitions.”

Four active chapters In Florida

More than 800 union activ-ists and guests from the U.S. and Canada, representing 77 interna-tional unions, are participating in CBTU’s skill-building and agen-da-setting convention.

CBTU, which is dedicated to addressing the unique con-cerns of Black workers and their

communities, has more than 50 chapters in major U.S. cities and one in Ontario, Canada. There are four active CBTU chapters in Florida (Jacksonville, Central Florida, South Florida, and Bro-ward County).

According to Melvin, what unions contribute to the eco-nomic stability of many Black communities and to a decent standard of living for Black work-ing class families is ignored too often or under-valued by the mainstream media.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 2.2 million African-American work-ers – or more than one out of six Black employees – were covered by a union contract in 2012.

Bigger paychecksMoreover, Black workers who

were represented by unions brought home bigger paychecks. The wage differential between union members and workers not represented by a union is substantial – 25 percent – with unionized workers earning near-ly $10,000 more per year than their non-union counterparts ($40,768 vs. $31,148), plus oth-er negotiated benefits such as health care coverage and retire-ment plans.

The 2013 CBTU convention is featuring panels and presenta-tions on the racial wealth gap, im-migration reform, the dropout cri-sis in the Black community, and the pending implementation of Obamacare. A special town hall meeting also is scheduled to dis-cuss the continuing threat of vot-er suppression schemes and mea-sures to protect voting rights.

Co-founder among speakers

Guest speakers include Ran-di Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teach-ers, Rep. Benny Thompson (D-MS), ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Larry Rousseau, executive vice president, Public Service Alliance of Canada.

CBTU President Emeritus Bill

Lucy will be the special keynote speaker at CBTU’s Awards Ban-quet. As co-founder of CBTU in 1972, Lucy’s 40-year tenure at the helm of CBTU made him one of the most respected labor lead-ers in the world. His charismatic and strategic leadership has be-come the model for the next gen-eration of union officers, includ-ing Melvin, whom he mentored as a member of CBTU’s executive council.

Impact of CBTUCBTU’s legacy is grounded in

resistance and empowerment.

When CBTU was founded in September of 1972 in the midst of a bitterly partisan presidential election, the conservative lead-ership of the AFL-CIO – the pow-erful national labor federation – fiercely attacked CBTU’s bold, progressive political positions. But the beat went on.

CBTU was one of the key sup-porters of the newly formed Con-gressional Black Caucus in the early 1970s and played a lead-ing role in empowering African American voters through voter registration drives, voter educa-tion leaflets and get-out-the-vote operations. In 1984 and 1988, CB-

TU members gave a much-need-ed boost to Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.’s electrifying presidential cam-paigns. The beat went on.

Throughout the past 42 years, CBTU members have done it all: marched and been arrested; fought for jobs; saved hospitals from closing; helped hurricane survivors cope with devastation and tragedy; funded scholarships for students; empowered voters and elected presidents; fed and clothed the needy; defended la-bor rights and human rights; and groomed a new generation lead-ers.

Hurricane exercise held this week in TallahasseeEmergency managers preparing for storm season; urging residentsin state to do the same

SPECIAL TO THE COURIER

TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s State Emer-gency Response Team (SERT) hosted the 2013 Statewide Hurricane Exercise through Thursday at the State Emergen-cy Operations Center in Tallahassee. The annual exercise serves to practice Flori-da’s emergency plans and procedures for a potential hurricane-making landfall in the state, in preparation for the upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season.

“Last year, Floridians were reminded of the significant impacts a tropical system can have on a community,” said Bryan W. Koon, director of the Florida Division

of Emergency Management. “Hurricanes and tropical storms are a reality of life in Florida, and I encourage all residents and visitors to take the opportunity to review their emergency plans and disaster sup-ply kits in preparation for the upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season.”

The 2013 Statewide Hurricane Exercise scenario centered on the potential land-fall of two fictitious storms, Hurricane Kirk and Hurricane Lay. Hurricane Lay is named in honor of the late Brevard Coun-ty Emergency Management Director Bob Lay, a nationally respected emergency manager.

The hurricane exercise included partic-ipants from different states and the United States Military.

The 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season be-gins Saturday, June 1. Florida residents are urged to make sure their families and businesses are prepared to follow the in-structions of local officials if a hurricane threatens their community. Residents are urged to know the nearest shelter, make an evacuation plan and have a disaster supply kit.

For more information about the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane Season in Florida, visit www.FloridaDisaster.org.

BY BRANDON LARRABEETHE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Rick Scott on Monday sliced a rafter of turkeys and plenty of other projects out of the for-merly $74.5 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, bringing an end to speculation about what the governor

would do with the hefti-est spending plan in state history.

In all, Scott cut just shy of $368 million in fund-ing from the budget (SB 1500), bringing its overall total down to $74.1 bil-lion. That’s still the larg-est that Florida lawmak-ers have ever approved, but the governor’s office says it’s one of the small-

est since 2000 when population and in-flation are factored in.

“We made strategic investments in this budget, while holding the line on spending that does not give Florida tax-payers a positive return on investment,” Scott wrote in a letter accompanying his vetoes. “In order to ensure all taxpayer funds are well spent, I have vetoed spe-cial legislative projects totaling $368 mil-lion.”

Long bike trail vetoedScott announced by email that he

had signed the budget and followed up with a brief press conference outside the Florida Department of Emergency Man-agement’s headquarters in Tallahassee. It marked another striking contrast with Scott’s history – his first budget signing, in The Villages, resembled a political ral-ly, while he spoke about his decisions last year at an elementary school in St. Johns County.

He also signed 16 budget-related bills, among them an economic development bill (SB 406) that includes a sales-tax holiday for clothing and school supplies from Aug. 2 through Aug. 4.

The largest item vetoed by Scott was a $50 million trail for bikers and pedestri-ans cutting across the state from St. Pe-tersburg to Titusville, filling in gaps in existing paths. While pointing out that he and Budget Director Jerry McDan-iel like to ride bikes, Scott told reporters that he felt state agencies should handle which projects get funded through nor-mal channels.

“We’re doing projects like that out of the Department of Transportation,” Scott said. “That’s the way we should

be doing that, rather than have a project like that.”

Tuition hike nixed The governor also vetoed a 3 percent

tuition increase at state colleges and uni-versities, removing $26.4 million in fund-ing for colleges and almost $18.5 million for universities, as well as $1.2 million for workforce education programs.

Scott, who has for months pressed for lower higher education costs, brushed away suggestions that he was meddling in universities for political reasons.

“This is not a political decision; this is the decision for Florida families,” he said. “Tuition cannot continue to go up the way it’s been going up.”

The proposed tuition increases were in budget fine print known as proviso language. While vetoing the proviso lan-guage could be legally dubious, Scott said he didn’t expect a court challenge.

“But if there is [one], we’re going to fight it,” he said.

Response about turkeysScott’s vetoes in many instances

tracked with the list of budget “turkeys” issued last week by Florida TaxWatch. The organization said Monday that more than two-thirds of the items it highlight-ed were sliced by Scott.

“It is clear from the high number of ve-toed projects that the governor carefully scrutinized all of the budget turkeys Tax-Watch identified, which is the intent of the Turkey Watch Report,” said Domi-nic Calabro, president and CEO of Tax-Watch.

Reaction to the vetoes broke down largely along party lines. Senate Presi-dent Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, who had blasted TaxWatch’s list of turkeys last week, was far more mild in his reac-tion to Scott’s decision to actual veto the items.

“While many will disagree with some of Governor Scott’s line item vetoes, that is his constitutional role as chief execu-tive,” Gaetz said.

But Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, flayed Scott’s vetoes.

“His targets reveal a basic misunder-standing of the critical role local com-munities, and local community projects play in Florida,” Smith said. “Our econo-my hinges on many facets, and this fund-ing was intended to infuse the areas that contribute to its struggling rebound.”

Shown above are CBTU representatives. More than 800 union activists and guests from the U.S. and Canada, representing 77 international unions, are participating in the Orlando convention this week.

Terry Melvin

Gov. Rick Scott

Governor signs budget after cutting turkeys and projects

AMY BETH BENNETT/SUN SENTINEL/MCT

Thaddeus Hamilton, of Sunrise, left, holds an umbrella for his grandson Chris-tian Hamilton of Lauderhill on Oct. 26, 2012, as they check out sand and debris onto the roadway on A1A between Sunrise Blvd. and NE 20th Street due to earlier flooding on Fort Lauderdale Beach. The flooding occurred as Hurricane Sandy was passing to the east.

B3BUSINESSTOJ MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013

Federal Trade Commissionfiling lawsuits relatingto companies tackingunauthorized chargesto phone bills

BY EILEEN AMBROSETHE BALTIMORE SUN/MCT

Take a line-by-line look at your cell phone bill — all dozen or so pages. See a $9.99 charge for horo-scopes, flirting tips or some such thing that you didn’t request?

If so, you’ve been crammed.

Once only a big prob-lem with landline tele-phones, cramming — the placement of unauthor-ized charges on phone bills by outsiders — is gain-ing a foothold in the mo-bile-phone marketplace, regulators and consum-er advocates say. Indeed, some landline crammers have migrated to wireless schemes as consumers switch to smartphones.

The Federal Trade Com-mission filed its first mobile

cramming lawsuit against a company last month, and the agency says more such cases are likely to fol-low. The agency held a one-day workshop earlier this month to explore mo-bile cramming and how to stop it.

“The cell phone industry is like the Wild West right now,” said Jim Chilsen, director of communica-tions for the Citizens Utili-ty Board, an Illinois-based consumer advocate, and a panelist at the FTC work-shop.

Using a mobile phone to make purchases or pay bills can be convenient, partic-ularly for those without a traditional bank account. And mobile payments have been a boon for char-ities seeking to raise small sums from thousands of new donors following a ca-tastrophe.

Fraudulent chargesMobile cramming typi-

cally involves commercial enterprises billing con-sumers without their per-mission or knowledge for horoscope, trivia or love tips sent by text message to mobile phones, regulators said. The extent of cram-ming is unclear. The wire-less industry says it’s not

a growing problem. But the National Consumers League estimates Ameri-cans pay as much as $730 million a year in fraudulent charges.

“The complaints we re-ceive really are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Phil-ip Ziperman, an assistant attorney general in Mary-land’s consumer protec-tion division who attend-ed last week’s FTC work-shop. “The concern in my office is that as people in-creasingly use their mobile phones to pay for services, the problem is only going to grow.”

The wireless industry, which self-polices against cramming, several years ago set up guidelines on when outside parties are

allowed to place charg-es on a consumer’s phone bill. One key provision is the double opt-in, in which consumers must con-firm twice they agree to a purchase before they can be charged for it on their monthly bill.

No major increaseUsually, the initial opt-

in occurs when a consum-er signs up for a service on the Internet. Then the ser-vice or content provider sends a text message to the consumer’s mobile phone number, seeking a second confirmation.

Mike Altschul, a senior vice president and gener-al counsel for the CTIA, a wireless industry associa-

tion, said cramming is not increasing, noting that the volume of complaints to regulators has remained steady in recent years.

Altschul said his group opposes new government regulations on cramming, arguing that phone com-panies and others in the industry would react more quickly to the latest fraud schemes.

“Regulation is so static,” he said. “It takes years for the government to investi-gate, craft (rules) and seek comments, and authorize a particular practice in an industry with technolo-gies and fraudsters that are evolving every day.”

But regulators and con-sumer advocates said in-dustry guidelines can be

circumvented easily by bad actors.

Surprise to consumers

Some consumers are led to believe the service they are signing up for on-line is free, regulators and consumer advocates said. When they get a text lat-er about the service, they might delete the message, thinking it is spam. Some crammers consider this lack of a response a confir-mation that the customer wants the service.

Complaints to regula-tors also are a poor mea-sure of the extent of cram-ming, regulators and ad-vocates said. Often con-sumers complain to their phone carrier — not reg-ulators — when they’ve been crammed.

“Consumers don’t even understand this is happen-ing,” said Kate Whelley Mc-Cabe, an assistant attorney general in Vermont, during the FTC workshop.

Her office released a sur-vey this month of more than 800 consumers who were asked to review third-party charges on their cell phone bills. Nearly 80 per-cent were unaware that outside companies could tack on fees to phone bills, while 55 percent discov-ered charges they hadn’t known about.

Consumers can overlook unauthorized charges be-cause they can be listed in an abbreviated form or un-der a name that’s not rec-ognized, regulators said. And frequently, consumers don’t read lengthy phone bills, particularly if using automatic bill payments, so they don’t catch cram-ming.

Cramming gains foothold in cell-phone marketplace

Regulators say mobile cramming typically involves commercial enterprises bill-ing consumers without their permission or knowledge for horoscope, trivia or love tips sent by text message to mobile phones.

Advice to retirees:Create budget and watch the spending

BY DONNA GEHRKE-WHITESUN SENTINEL/MCT

The Great Recession saw unemployment rates dou-ble and the housing bust that proved far stronger and lasted much longer than anyone had expected. Through it all, retirement savings plans took a ma-jor hit.

The economy is im-proving now. But for baby boomers who can see the finish line of retirement in the not-so-far-off distance, the race is on to rebuild — or start over — with their retirement plans.

The clock is ticking — loudly. Finding work still isn’t easy. Neither is find-

ing safe investments with reasonable returns.

For Vilma Hart, 58, an unexpected layoff during the recession undermined her best-laid retirement plans.

“It was a rude awaken-ing,” said Hart, a former corporate trainer and state caseload manager who was let go by the state in 2008. “I could not find a job for a year and a half. I exhausted all my retirement savings.”

Hart took a part-time job with the AARP Founda-tion in 2010 so she could scrape by with her bills and also watch over her elderly mother. She hopes to find full-time work, but also un-derstands the challenges ahead.

She has nothing saved for retirement now, and hasn’t yet been able to start saving again.

“I have to adapt,” she said. “I thought I had my

ducks in a row but it didn’t work out.”

‘In a world of hurt’Hart is among the two

out of every three baby boomers who are in some kind of unfavorable retire-ment situation.

Surveys spell out in de-tail the depth of the prob-lem. About 63 percent of displaced workers during the recession dipped in-to their retirement savings to pay bills, according to a 2012 study by the non-profit Transamerica Cen-ter for Retirement Stud-ies. Middle-aged workers were most at risk, the sur-vey found.

Workers in their 40s and 50s had only a median $2,300 left in their retire-ment accounts.

Investment earnings for Americans 65 and over ac-counted for 10 percent of

their income on average in 2006 Now, it’s only 6 per-cent, according to a sepa-rate AARP survey of 2011 trends, the most-recent year available.

“This is going to be a huge story for years and years,” Florida AARP spokesman Dave Bruns said. Many boomers “are in a world of hurt. You have to wonder what their options are. Many say, ‘I’m going to work until I drop.’ ”

Overqualified counselor

Sharon Hallback is 65 years old. She went back to school late in life and has two master’s degrees. She still can’t find the right full-time job to help get her back on her feet.

“They say I am overqual-ified,” said Hallback, who has stopped telling some prospective employers about her degrees.

Hallback was a counselor who was hired by a private company to make home visits to help special needs children. But in 2009, her mother became gravely ill and Hallback ultimately lost her job because she re-fused to give up caring for her mother. “I will never regret what I did.”

She went on Social Se-curity at 62 to bring in a monthly check. Her retire-ment savings accounts had been depleted by putting

her three children through college.

“I was a single parent,” Hallback said. “I had to pull out my money.”

She was able to find work at a juvenile program but has struggled since then to get by. She considers her-self lucky that she got into an AARP program, working at a state workforce agency in Hollywood, Fla.

Even with her Social Se-curity benefits, making ends meet has not been easy. And saving for retire-ment? Out of the question.

Lots of competitionHer warning to other ba-

by boomers: If you think you want to get a part-time job to supplement your So-cial Security, realize it may be harder than you think to snag one.

“There are so many peo-ple looking for work — even part-time work,” Hallback said. “It didn’t use to be that way. But now there’s so much competition.”

To get to a comfortable retirement level, many ba-by boomers will have to reinvent themselves by working longer and resum-ing their saving — even if it means not financial-ly helping their children and further shaving off liv-ing expenses, said financial planners and analysts who work with older workers.

Most who lost jobs will

have to rework their bud-gets to still save for retire-ment with smaller pay-checks, said Florida’s AARP director Jeff Johnson.

“Chances are they are going into a much lower salary than they had be-fore,” Johnson said.

Some boomers will also have to adjust to the new reality of more companies eliminating their 401(k) contributions to workers’ accounts, said Boca Raton financial planner Mari Ad-am.

But boomers can’t use that as an excuse not to save, Adam said. “They don’t save enough now,” she added. They especial-ly must not help their chil-dren through college if that jeopardizes their retire-ment savings, Adam said.

“Their kids can get loans,” she said.

The key is to not to go through all the savings within a few years of retir-ing, added Craig Copeland, an analyst with the Employ-ee Benefit Research Insti-tute.

Some laid-off boomers who have managed to hold onto some savings can re-tire as long as they budget and watch their spending, said Plantation financial planner Ben Tobias.

“While comfortable, their retirement won’t be as comfortable as planned,” he said. “It’s happened to a lot of people.”

Boomers’ financial outlook darkens as retirement nears

TAIMY ALVAREZ/SUN SENTINEL/MCT

Sharon Hallback, 65, left her job to care for her mother in 2009. Since re-enter-ing the job market, she has found it hard to find work. She found help with the AARP job training program in Hollywood, Fla. Her plight is common among baby boomers.

Tampa: A Family Fun Carnival Day will be held at the Glazer Children’s Museum May 27 as well as open for families to enjoy over 170 interac-tivities and exhibits.More information: http://glazermu-seum.org.

Jacksonville: Join the Small Busi-ness Administration and ACCION USA on how to grow and finance your small business. Learn about financial assistance for women and minority business owners. The workshop is June 5 from 10 a.m. - noon at the SBA District Office, 7825 Baymeadows Way, Suite 100B. Free. Registration required. More information: Natalie Hall, 904-443-1902 or natalie.hall@sba.gov.

Tampa: “Jazz in the Afternoon will honor Rose Bilar, a jazz singer/entertainer/activist. The benefit is June 2, 4 p.m. at Mamma D’s Café, 1222 E. Scott St. More information: 813-401- 1829.

Oakland: The town’s annual Triple “A” Festival will be held June 7-8. The festival is organized in collabo-ration with Orange and Seminole counties. The honoree is Mary Ann Carroll. The festival will be held at Speer Park, 331 N. Tubb St. More information: http://hapcotriplea.eventbrite.com.

Jacksonville: The Jacksonville Jazz Festival featuring Najee, Gary Staling, the John Ricci Quartet and others will be held through May 26 at 117 West Duval St.

Orlando: Orlando Black Pride will take place May 28 through June 2 at the Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort Hotel, Pirates Din-ner Adventure and other venues throughout Orlando with a full schedule that includes educational events and church services for the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual community. More informa-tion: orlandoblackpride.com.

Naples: The NAACP Leadership 500 Summit will be held through May 26 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Partici-pants will attend interactive panel discussions, strategy sessions, and facilitated general sessions led by prominent private sector, non-profit, corporate and community leaders.

St. Petersburg: A free, two-part household budgeting seminar de-

signed for people who want to live better on less and/or to save to buy a home will be held May 30 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. at the Sunshine Center, 330 Fifth St. N. A certificate of completion will be awarded. More information: 727-461-0618, ext. 4 or www.csfhome.org

Jacksonville: Avant and Brian McKnight will be at the Florida Theater Jacksonville May 24 for a 7 p.m. show. Winter Park: Adult hip-hop classes are held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. 244 Pennsylvania Ave. More infor-mation: 407-644-3430.

Orlando: Play games including Battleship, Candy Land, Chinese Checkers, Clue and many more at the Orange County Regional History Center, 65 E. Central Blvd. on May 31 from 7 p.m.-midnight. Retro attire encouraged. $5 for non-

members, free for members. More information: 407-836-7010.

St. Augustine: Rap artist Kendrick Lamar will be at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre June 19 for a 6:30 p.m. show.

Tampa: State Rep. Janet Cruz will host a West Tampa Job Fair July 30 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Higgins Hall, 5255 N. Himes Ave. Admission for job seekers is free and an eight-foot table is free to employers. More information and to register as an employer: 813-673-4673.

Jacksonville: R&B trio TGT (Tyrese, Ginuwine and Tank) will be at the Times Union Center Performing Arts Moran Theater in Jacksonville on July 3.

Jacksonville: Cedric The Enter-tainer will be at the Florida Theatre Jacksonville, July 19 and the Bob

Carr Performing Arts Centre, Or-lando, July 20.

St. Petersburg: Kool & the Gang will be at The Mahaffey June 21 for an 8 p.m. show.

St. Petersburg: LL Cool J, Ice Cube, De La Soul and Public Enemy will be at The Mahaffey in St. Petersburg during their Kings of the Mic Tour on June 6 and the St. Augustine Amphitheatre June 7.

St. Petersburg: Youths ages 7 to 11 can enjoy a night of football, kickball, ping-pong, foosball, video games and dance parties during “Freestyle Fridays” at the Fossil Park & Willis S. Johns Center, 6635 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N. First visit free; $6 each following visit. More information: 727-893-7756.

St. Petersburg: First Fridays are held in downtown St. Petersburg at

250 Central Ave. between Sec-ond and Third Avenues from 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m. More information: 727-393-3597.

Fort Lauderdale: The Florida Minority Community Reinvestment along with a coalition of Florida mi-nority non-profits and neighborhood associations are hosting the 2013 Let’s Do Business Florida & Summit June 28-June 29 at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa. No cost to women-minority-veteran business-es and nonprofits. More information: www.letsdobusinessflorida.com.

Jacksonville: Ritz Jazz Jamm “Walter Beasley” will be at the Ritz Theatre June 1 for 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. shows.

Orlando: Kelly Rowland and the Dream bring their Lights Out Tour to the House of Blues June 6 for a 7:30 p.m. show.

TOJCALENDAR MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013B4

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR

TOM JOYNER Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion Aug. 29 – Sept. 2 at Gaylord Resort in Orlando featuring daily concerts, seminars and events over the Labor Day Weekend.

TONI BRAXTONTickets go on sale at noon May 31 for a show by R&B artist Toni Braxton at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg on Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

CHAKA KHANChaka Khan will be at the James L. Knight Center July 20 for a 7 p.m. show.

SPECIAL TO THE COURIER

Football, marching bands and good food make a per-fect combination for a good time in the upcoming foot-ball season.

On Labor Day Weekend, ESPN will bring a football team from a historically Black college and universi-ty in the Southwestern Ath-letic Conference (SWAC) and the Mid-Eastern Ath-letic Conference (MEAC) to the city of Orlando.

The 2013 MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney will showcase a matchup between the

Delta Devils of Mississip-pi Valley State University (MVSU) and the Rattlers of Florida A&M University (FAMU) in the Florida Cit-rus Bowl.

More than a gameThe weekend is jam-

packed with more than just the game. The weekend will include a high school seminar featuring figures in the sport industry, a pep rally at Downtown Disney, a band showcase at Dis-ney’s Epcot, a Legends’ re-ception honoring influ-ential figures in the HB-CU community at Disney’s

Contemporary Resort, the Great Heart & Soul tailgate at McCracken Field, and the ever memorable battle of the bands.

During the summer, as Mississippi Valley and FA-MU prepare for the Sept. 1 game, journalism students from both universities will provide stories, profiling

their head coaches, key players and band directors. The students also will share why they chose to attend a historically Black college and university (HBCU).

For more information about the game and week-end events, visit www.meac-swacchallenge.com.

FAMU, Mississippi Valley to compete in Sept. 1 MEAC/SWAC Challenge

BY JAMES HARPERFLORIDA COURIER

The 10th Annual Elisha J. Strapp Invitational Golf Tour-nament takes place June 1 at LPGA International Golf Course in Daytona Beach. Honored during the tourna-ment will be Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Little and former Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) head foot-ball coach; B-CU former coach and athletic director Cy “Jack” McClairen; and avid golfer Willie “Bill” Flynt.

Little played at Bethune-Cookman and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He was with the NFL Miami Dolphins from 1969 to 1980 and was named an AFL All-Star. Little also served as head football coach of his alma mater, Bethune-Cookman from 1983 to 1991 and as head coach at North Carolina Central University from 1993 to 1998.

McClairen was the first Betune-Cookman Wildcat to be

drafted into pro football. After a two-year tour of duty in the United States Army, McClarien began a successful NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He was named to the NFL All-Pro team in 1958. McClairen also coached football and golf at Bethune-Cookman and served as the Director of Athletics from 1961 to 1972. He is currently the assistant golf coach at B-CU.

Flynt has participated in numerous tour-naments and won many awards. In 1959, he graduated from Campbell Street High School in Daytona Beach before enlisting in the United States Navy. He owned and was president of Flynt Concrete Company for 20 years before his retirement. Flynt served on the Daytona Beach Golf Adviso-ry Board for 10 years where he also worked with youth in the junior golf program.

The tournament is hosted by the Great-er Friendship Baptist Church of Daytona

Beach’s Scholarship Ministry. For more information about tournament, call co-direc-

tors Sandra Strapp at 386-212-2151 or Ronald Gibson at 386-405-8589.

Jack ‘Cy’ McClairen

Larry Little

Former B-CU coaches to be honored during June 1 golf tourney

mike

Mike Garvey is a South Florida resident of Jamaican descent and a Marine Corps veteran who has bloodlines to historical leader Marcus Garvey. The aspiring actor and 1st Million Management talent has worked numerous projects, including appearances on Starz Network’s “Magic City,” “The Glades” (A&E Network) and “Burn Notice” (USA Network). Recently he played a security guard in the upcoming film “Pain and Gain.’’ Photo courtesy of 1st Million Management

Jasmine Akakpo is a former child model and actor who has recently made her way back in the entertainment industry. She has done work on TV shows such as “The Game” and “Drop Dead Diva” along with independent films through young filmmakers like herself. Jasmine takes pride in her fun, down-to-earth personality and loves working with others. Contact Jasmine at www.jasmineakakpo.com; www.facebook.com/jasmineakakpo.com or on Twitter: @jasmineakakpo. Credit: BlackIce Bell

B5FINEST & ENTERTAINMENTSTOJ MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest? E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier.com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

FLORIDA'Ssubmitted for your

approval

Meet some of

finest

Former Destiny’s Child member and Latin singerjoin judges panel

EURWEB.COM

Fox has confirmed that former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland and Latin singer Pauli-na Rubio will be the new “X Fac-tor” judges for season three, join-ing executive producer-judge Si-mon Cowell and his fellow lone surviving panelist from last sea-son, pop singer Demi Lovato.

“It’s taken more than a decade but I’m delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls (I think!),” said Cowell in a statement. “Pau-lina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry and togeth-er with Demi, this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the

time to do some-thing different.”

The newbies come with prior experience judg-ing a music com-petition shows. Rowland was a judge on the UK version of “X Fac-tor,” while Rubio

judged the Mexican version of “The Voice.”

“I am very excited to be reunit-ing with Simon Cowell and The X Factor family,” Rowland stated. “It feels great to be able to take this journey here at home in the states!”

Focus on ‘Idol’The new panel targets a di-

verse collection of music fans of varying ages: Lovato (age 20) is a current pop singer, Rowland (32) leans toward R&B, and Ru-

bio (41) sings Latin dance music. And of course Cowell (53) lends his experience as a music pro-ducer and talent spotter.

The deals were reportedly signed Monday afternoon, just time for Tuesday’s official launch of production for season three.

With “X Factor” on lock, Fox will turn its attention toward the judging panel of “American Idol.” In recent weeks, panelists Ran-dy Jackson and Nicki Minaj have said they won’t be back, Keith Ur-ban says he’d like to return, and Mariah Carey hasn’t said any-thing. NBC’s rival “The Voice” firmed up its judges panel for the next two cycles last week.

Cowell, meanwhile, took a mo-ment over the weekend to remi-niscence about his former time at “Idol.” “Randy leaving Idol made me remember that Paula, Randy, me and Ryan had the best time,” Cowell tweeted. “I miss them.”

Kelly Row-land ar-rives at the 85th annual Acad-emy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 24.

FRANCIS SPECKER/LANDOV/MCT

jasmine

Rowland added to ‘X Factor’

Luckett, Wayans, Brant join ‘Single Ladies’

Letoya Luckett, Damien Wayans and Lesley-Ann Brandt are set for major re-curring or possible regular roles in VH1’s “Single La-dies.”

Luckett, formerly of Des-tiny’s Child, will play Feli-cia Price, the icy and aloof founder and senior partner of Price Management, one of the most influential music management companies in the world.

Wayans will play David Be-renger, April’s (Charity Shea) main foil at Price Manage-ment — a masterful syco-phant, and a slick manager on the Atlanta music scene.

Brandt, best known as the original Naevia in the Starz original series “Spartacus,” will play Naomi Cox, a de-mure, sexy, scheming gold-digger who is a constant thorn in Keisha’s (LisaRaye McCoy) side.

The forthcoming third season is set to air later this year.

EURWEB.COM

Giancarlo Esposito understands that some of his diehard fans — who have shown support ever since his breakout role as Buggin’ Out in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” may not be checking for him in his current gig on NBC’s “Rev-olution.”

The freshman drama had decent enough ratings for NBC to renew it for a second season last month, but let’s face it – Esposito’s role as militia leader Tom Neville isn’t generating nearly as much morning after, water-cooler talk as his Emmy-nominated “Breaking Bad” char-acter Gustavo “Gus” Fring, the mild-mannered drug kingpin who was quick to slice a fool’s neck with a box-cutter if something wasn’t right.

While “Revolution’s” Tom Neville has a similar mix of politeness that can turn to cold-blooded brutality on a dime, the show’s science fiction subject matter – survival following a worldwide blackout – may have turned some of his longtime fans away off the bat.

And Esposito, 55, says that’s okay.“I think after having some success in

the work I do, and being proud of what I do, knowing that you can’t always hit the mark or the bar that I set for myself, I’m able to accept that some people aren’t gonna dig this show, or they’re gonna

feel that some parts of it are weak,” Es-posito said during interviews for the series. “I can acknowledge it and say,

‘Okay, I understand it, and I’m not tak-ing it personally.’ Not every show is for everyone.”

EURWEB.COM

Actor Giancarlo Esposito attends an NBC event at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on May 13.

Letoya Luckett

Paulina Rubio

Damien Wayans

Lesley-Ann Brandt

Esposito: Not every show is for everyone

TOjB6 TOjFOOD MAY 24 – MAY 30, 2013

FROM FaMily FeatuRes

Few things in life are harder to resist than the delicious aroma of a back-yard barbecue. There is just something about the sizzle and smells of grilled fare that brings folks to-gether.

The farm families who grow Wisconsin potatoes know how to please the palates of hungry crowds. The natural flavors found in the many varieties of Wisconsin potatoes are easy to enhance with the addition of a few fresh in-gredients and a little bit of smoke.

The Wisconsin russet potato makes for a great tasting baked potato, but its light and fluffy interior also holds up well when seared on the grill. Also great on the grill are Wis-consin yellow flesh pota-toes, which have a just-buttered appearance.

The appearance of the trendy new blue and pur-ple potatoes will certainly get guests talking. They add color and a subtle nutty flavor to your favor-ite dish. Everyone’s favor-ite dish at an out door bar-becue is often the potato salad. Wisconsin round red or white potatoes are both well-suited for sal-ads as well as roasting, boiling, and steaming.

Potatoes are an ex-

tremely versatile and hearty vegetable. But the one thing all potatoes have in common is nutri-tion. Just what can Wis-consin potatoes do for you? Well, potatoes are:

• Nutritional power-houses. In addition to be-ing fat-free, choles terol-free, sodium free and glu-ten-free, a medium potato has just 110 calories.

• Rich in potassium. Ac-cording to the USDA, di-ets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. The potato is second on-ly to the banana in the amount of potassium it contains.

• Packed with Vita-min C. A medium potato contains 45 per cent of the daily recommended amount of Vitamin C.

• Great source of fi-ber. The USDA reports that fiber helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower your risk of heart disease. Potatoes can also help make you feel fuller with fewer calo-ries.

Grilled, fried, baked, roasted or boiled, few in-gredients get every guest asking for second help-ings like the versatile po-tato.

Find more health infor-mation, as well as recipes and purchas ing tips, at www.EatWisconsinPota-toes.com.

Potatoes make healthy meals in minutesChiCken and Potato Fiesta Grill

Servings: 4Ready time: 60 Minutes1/2 cup prepared Italian dressing�

2 tablespoons lime juice�

1 tablespoon chili powder�

4 whole chicken legs with thighs, skin �on1 1/3 pounds (4 medium) red Wisconsin �potatoes, cut into 1 1/4-inch cubes2 tablespoons water�

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 1/2-inch �pieces2 medium zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch-�thick slices4 to 8 flour or corn tortillas, warmed �(optional)Prepared salsa (optional)�

In small bowl, combine marinade ingredients; remove 1/4 cup and combine with chicken in reseal able plastic bag. Turn to coat; marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, in microwave-safe dish, combine potatoes and water. Cover and microwave on high 9 to 10 minutes or until just tender; cool. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, alternately thread with bell pepper and zucchini onto eight 10 to 12-inch skewers; brush with remaining marinade. Remove chicken from plastic bag; discard marinade from chicken.

Grill chicken over medium to medium-low coals 30 to 40 minutes or until juices run clear, turning occasionally. About 10 minutes before chicken is done, add vegetables to grid; reserve marinade. Grill until tender and lightly browned, turning and basting occasionally with reserved vegetable marinade. Serve chicken and vegetables with tortillas and salsa, if desired.

roasted red Potatoes with Pesto

Servings: 8Ready time: 40 Minutes3 pounds medium-size red �Wisconsin potatoesOlive oil cooking spray�

1/3 cup white or golden �balsamic vinegar1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil�

1/2 teaspoon sea salt�

3 cloves garlic, minced�

Freshly ground pepper �to taste1/3 cup shredded Parmesan �cheese1/4 cup finely minced fresh �basil1/4 cup toasted pine nuts �(optional)Place potatoes in a large

microwave-safe bowl; cover with lid or plastic wrap. Note: If using plastic wrap, make sure plastic wrap is not touc hing any ingredients and poke one small hole in cover to vent. Micro wave on high for 10 to 12 minutes or until potatoes are tender (cooking time may vary depending on micro wave). Use oven mitts to carefully remove from microwave.

When cool enough to handle, cut potatoes in half or quarters and spray liberally with olive oil spray. Grill over high heat for 5 to 7 min utes, turning occasionally, until grill lines are apparent. Remove from grill and let cool.

Cut into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Whisk together vinegar, oil, salt and garlic; pour over potatoes and toss lightly to coat. Season with pepper, then cover and

refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, toss with Parme san cheese and basil, then sprinkle with pine nuts.

Grilled red Potato skewers

Servings: 4Ready time: 20 Minutes2 medium russet or Yukon �

gold Wisconsin potatoes or 6 red Wisconsin potatoes

2 medium zucchini�

1/2 smoked sausage rope�

4 12-inch skewers�

1/2 cup Italian dressing�

Preheat grill. Cut potatoes in half. Cut zucchini and sausage the same width as potatoes. Place skewer through potato, zucchini and sausage. Repeat for each skewer.

Place skewer in dish and pour Italian dressing over skewers. Mari nate in dressing for 5 minutes.

Place skewers on grill and cook 5 minutes each side, or until potatoes are done. Remove from grill and serve.

little havana Grilled BeeF and Potato salad

Servings: 6Ready time: 30 Minutes2 pounds medium unpeeled �Wisconsin potatoes (about 2 1/2-inch diameter), such as yellow flesh or round reds2 teaspoons ground cumin�

Salt and pepper�

1 beef top round steak, cut 1 inch �thick (about 1 1/2 pounds)3/4 cup prepared white wine �vinaigrette2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, �rinsed, drained1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro�

Cut potatoes crosswise in half; place in microwave-safe dish with 1 cup water. Cover and microwave on high 10 to 14 minutes or until almost tender, rearrang ing once. Immediately rinse under cold running water; drain well.

Meanwhile, combine cumin and salt and pepper; press evenly onto beef steak. Place steak on grill over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, uncovered, 16 to 18 minutes for medium rare doneness, turning occasion ally. Remove; let stand 5 minutes.

About 5 minutes before steak is done, brush potatoes with some of the vinaigrette. Place on grid around steak. Grill 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown, turn ing occasionally.

Carve steak into thin slices. Combine beef, potatoes, beans, cilantro and remaining vinaigrette in large bowl; toss gently. Serve immediately.