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Vol. 38 No. 10 Website: theaustinvillager.com Email: vil3202@aol.com Phone: 512-476-0082 Fax: 512-476-0179 July 23, 2010

Presorted StandardU.S. Postage Paid

Austin, TexasPermit No. 01949

This paper canbe recycled

Austin RevitalizationAuthority, a catalyst in therevitalization of the EastEnd, is proud to announcethe opening of two new res-taurants located in the1000 Block of East 11th

Street.Zandunga Mexican

Bistro is now open forlunch and dinner, begin-

Those who monitorhate groups are worried aboutracism in the tea party.

“There are probablyclose to a couple thousand ofthese local tea party chaptersnow,” said Devin Burghart,vice president of the Institutefor Research and Educationon Human Rights, which isfinalizing a special report ontea parties.

“A number of thesegroups have been either thor-oughly infiltrated by morehard-core folks, or at leastthose more hard-core folks areallowed to swim in that sameocean.”

As examples, Burghartcited Robertson, as well assome speakers promoted bytea parties, such as RedBeckman, an anti-Semite whowas once evicted from hisland by the Internal RevenueService for refusing to paytaxes.

The racism isn’t comingonly from the fringe, Burghartsaid.

“This is not just a nutshowing up in the audiencewith a crazy sign,” Burghartsaid. “It’s someone who theyvetted and decided to give aplatform to.”

Zeskind said racist ten-dencies may be broaderwithin the party than evencritics realize.

“Liberals think theseare all poor, angry, working-class whites, but that’s nottrue,” said Zeskind, whohelped draft the NAACP reso-lution. “It’s a solid middleclass. The belief that these arepeople hit by the economicdownturn is a myth. It’speople who have what theywant and don’t want it takenaway. They’re defendingwhite privilege. Their sloganis ‘We want our countryback.’”

Zeskind pointed tosome of the numerous pollsdone in the past year on themovement.

Two New Restaurants Opening in Austin’s East End

ning Monday July 19th, serv-ing interior Mexican foodin a welcoming bistro atmo-sphere. The sister restau-rant to mi Madre’s on ManorRoad will held its grandopening Saturday, July 17th

from 6pm to 9pm.11th Street Station Res-

taurant & Bar will open itsdoors Wednesday, July 28th

at 11am offering Southernstyle dining in an upscalecasual environment. Fromthe people behind CatfishStation, the new restaurantwill serve lunch, happyhour from 4pm to 7pm, anddinner. Private dinning andtake out are also available.

The Eleven East build-ings located at 1000 and

1050 East 11th Street offer of-fice space, street level retailand restaurant services.These new additions in-crease the share of localsmall minority-owned busi-nesses in the area. Com-bined, the restaurants addmore than forty jobs to theEast 11th Street corridor aswell as provide diversity in

dining choices.With the addition of

these two restaurants, theEast llth Street buildingsnow has 100 per centoccupacy, according toGregg Smith, Interim Execu-tive Director of Austin Re-vitalization Authority(ARA), owners of the build-ings.

Zandunga is located at 1000 E. 11th Street E. 11th Street Station is located at 1005 E. 11th Street

A CNN poll found thattea party supporters are bet-ter off financially and aremore highly educated thanthe general population.Eighty percent of those iden-tifying themselves as teaparty supporters were white.

According to a NewYork Times/CBS News poll,52 percent of tea party sup-porters said that too muchhas been made of the prob-lems facing blacks, comparedwith 28 percent of the generalpopulation.

A University of Wash-ington survey found thatthose who think the govern-ment has done too much forblacks are 36 percent morelikely to support the tea partythan those who do not.

Christopher Parker, anassistant professor who di-rected the survey, said the re-sults showed that the teaparty is not just about poli-tics and the size of govern-ment. “The data suggests itmay also be about race,”

Parker said.Assuming the tea party

could be tainted by allega-tions of racism, some sayleaders need to take action.But reining in the radical ele-ment can be difficult becauseof the tea party structure,said Joe Aistrup, a politicalscience professor at KansasState University.

“It’s a loosely definedorganization, and no one’s incharge,” Aistrup said. “Whoin the tea party really runs it,and who’s there to actuallydenounce these folks?”

Keeping things undercontrol, Aistrup said, is a bal-ancing act.

people, but if you havetoo much of it, then you bringin the most fringe elements.

“And sometimes thatcan lead to their collapse be-cause those who might becalled normal people don’t

But Cozad said it’s notthe duty of the tea party to dis-tance itself from racists on thefringe.

Watchdog fears continued conflicts over racism

Four Aust in areayouth competed in the na-tional competition of ACT-SO (Academic, Cultural,Technological and Scien-tific Olympics) in KansasCity, Missouri last week,during the NAACP Na-tional Convention. Par-ticipants were ShalnoraWorlds: who competed inphotography, AcaciaJennings, vocal contempo-rary; Brandon McFarlandentrepreneurship and ora-tory; and medalist DanielPoku who competed in sci-ence, poetry, and originalessay. Daniel Poku won abronze medal in biologyand was awarded a silvermedal for his original es-say. Andre Timmes quali-fied to attend the competi-tion in art, but was unableto do so.

ACT-SO, competitionheld each year nationallyincluding categories suchas humanities, visual arts,performing arts and busi-ness. The competition issponsored by the NAACP(National Advancement ofColored People and was

founded thirty-two yearsago by the late VernonJarrett , a distinguishedjournal is t act iv is t andleader of the NAACP.Participants must committo a year long program ona local level preparingthemselves through work-shops and mentor ing.High school students com-pete on a local level in thespring of the year. Win-ners who score a goldmedal in any of the twenty-s ix categories local lyqualify to compete at a na-tional level. Polly Streetchairs the Austin -areaprogram and is assisted byMelinda Walker.

You are invited to re-ception on Sunday, August15 , a t 3 :30 p .m. at theCarver Library. Duringthis time interested par-ents and students may learnmore about the area programand experience some of thetalents of our local youth.Please join us in congratu-lating Daniel Poku, a gradu-ated senior of Mc Neil HighSchool for winning thebronze and silver medals.

Austin Area Youth winsNational Competition

National ACT-SO Competitiors (l to r) Brandon McFarland,Shalnora Worlds, Daniel Poku (National Medal winner), and AcaciaJennings.

Poster is an example of the signs exhibited at a recent Tea Party Rally

ThrowingStones!

When the NAACPpassed a resolution last weekcall for the repudiation of theracist faction in the Tea Party,they did not foresee the issuecoming back to bite them. TheTea Party immediately wenton the defensive and call formembers of the African Ameri-can community to take on theorganization.

Immediately Rev. JesseJackson and Rev. Al Sharptonstated that they were againstthe resolution, at the risk ofgoing against the oldest civilrights organization. However,they did not anticipate thepush from the Tea Party.

By the end of the week,the NAACP was on the defen-sive. In an effort to mendfences, they came out againstone of their own member foralleged racist statements thatwas uncovered by the TeaParty. As a results of a videoreleased, Shirley Sherrod, whowas forced to resign from herposition as Department of Ag-riculture Rural Developmentof South West Georgia.

The NAACP acted inhaste, without examining thefull video that was released.As a results, they had to re-scind their criticism ofSherrod. The Commissionerof Agriculture also took a sec-ond look at the situation andis currently considering ask-ing Sherrod to reconsidercoming back to the depart-ment. She is not sure that shewants the job back. She is alsotaking a look at an organiza-tion that she has supported formore than 40 years.

This issue proves that youcan’t throw rocks and hide yourhands. Eventually, that decisioncould come back to haunt youwhen it is discovered that youthrew the rock.

African Americans havebecome accustomed to scream-ing racism and expecting animmediate apology from theperceived offender. We do notexpect others to fight back. Thistime, they were wrong.

By press time, the TeaParty was on the defensive forreleasing a select portion ofthe video. When the full videowas viewed, it indicated thatSherrod was revealing her feel-ings in the early days after thedeath of her father at thehands of a White racist. Shewent on to show how she hadgrown from that experienceand learned to accept andwork with all races.

Many have been callingfor a discussion of race and itsplace in our society. The recentexperience has shown us thatwe very much need to have thisconversation. But, we must alsobe aware that this is still a verysensitive one and has to behandled with care. It would behelpful for us to have a facilita-tor to mediate the discussion.

Page 2/THE VILLAGER/July 23, 2010

EDITORIALS/COMMENTARY

By Ron WaltersNNPA Columnist

Right Tries to Bloc NAACP Criticism of Tea Party Racism

(NNPA) - It was anotherright-on-time moment thatBen Jealous exercised at theNAACP Convention in call-ing out the Tea Party for cod-dling elements of racismwithin their midst. The Con-vention went on to passed aresolution to this effect, call-ing on the leadership of theparty to repudiate these ele-ments, but it will not becomeofficial until approved by theExecutive Committee in Octo-ber.

Right away, Mark Will-

iams, the head of a groupcalled the Tea Party Expressand a California radio host,posted a letter to his websitethat was aimed at Jealous anddripping with racism. It saidin part: “We Coloreds havetaken a vote and decided thatwe don’t cotton to that wholeemancipation thing. Freedommeans having to work for real,think for ourselves, and takeconsequences along with therewards. That is just far toomuch to ask of us ColoredPeople and we demand thatit stop.” With this racist let-ter, he made Jealous’ case andhe did it so strong that, flushwith sensitivity to theNAACP charges, the TeaParty Federation kicked Will-iams out.

This was a positive actby the Federation because theleading lights of the Republi-can Party still, either saidnothing, or defended themovement. For instance,

Mitch McConnell, Senate Mi-nority Leader, said that hewas not “interested in gettinginto that debate” on CNN.When asked whether he hadseen the signs depicting thepresident as Hitler and etc. hedefended it by saying thatsuch extremism exist at thefringe of both parties. But theusual suspects, Fox peoplelike Glen Beck, Sarah Palin,and others jumped into thefray to defend the movement.Palin, regarded as the motherof the Tea Party movement,said that the charge of racismwas unfair and Glen Beck,FOX TV show host, said hewould repudiate the elementsof racism if he knew wherethey were.

What surprised me wasthe opposition of CynthiaTucker, African-Americaneditor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution who wrote thatthe NAACP had no businesscondemning the Tea Party.

Her view was: 1) she did notknow what “elements” of rac-ism were; 2) this would con-firm that the NAACP was anarm of the Democratic Party;3) the NAACP did not purgeits own ranks; and 4) the reso-lution just draws attention tothe Tea Partiers. This is veryweak stuff for the editor of amajor American newspaper,especially coming an AfricanAmerican. With enoughspace, I – or any one else —could easily prove all of themwrong.

The big push-back fromthe Right however (more of apolitical strategy) has been toraise the New Black PantherParty case from the grave. OnNovember 4, 2008, somemembers of the New BlackPanther party went to a poll-ing station in downtownPhilly because they hadheard that white peoplewould be trying to stop blacksfrom voting for Obama. It was

absolutely stupid for one of theyoung men to go down therewith a club in his hand and aMcCain staffer photographedhim in front of the polling sta-tion. The Bush administra-tion Justice Department didnot bring suit because al-though the law (intimidatingvoters) was potentially bro-ken, no one had been pre-vented from going to the polls;in other words, there was noinjured party.Now the case is in the CivilRights Division of the JusticeDepartment and Conserva-tives have charged that EricHolder is covering it up anda former conservative stafferwho resigned said the casewas not being pursued be-cause they only want to bringdiscrimination chargesagainst whites. So, Fox newsand other Right wingers havesucceeded in pushing this is-sue up into the spotlight byarguing that the liberal fringe

also has racist groups. Mostimportant, they have chargedthat the left wing mediawasn’t carrying the story andThe Washington Post, CNNand others have slavishlyfallen in line.So, if some people want tocompare the actions of theNew Black Panther party tothose of the Tea Party which,although it is overblown, stillhas thousands of adherents,it calls into question theirmotives. Most likely theywant to cover up the racismin the Tea Party. The Panthershave no influence in black orDemocratic Party leadershipcircles but the Tea Party is themain influence in the Repub-lican Party at this time. Still, Iam amazed that major newsorganizations, so intimidatedby the Right, will give cred-ibility to this made-up storyon the Panthers on equalterms to the NAACP’s criti-cism of Tea Party racism.

By Marian Wright EdelmanNNPA Columnist

The Importance of Healthy Communities for Boys of Color

By. Julianne MalveauxNNPA Columnist

(NNPA) - A new reportwas released in June thatsheds a sobering light on howmany Black and Latino boysgrow up in communities thatare, in a number of ways, dan-gerous to their health. Called“Healthy Communities Mat-ter: The Importance of Placeto the Health of Boys ofColor,” the report containedcontributions from scholarsand researchers at the RANDCorporation, PolicyLink, theCharles Hamilton HoustonInstitute for Race and Justiceat Harvard Law School, andthe Center for Nonviolenceand Social Justice and theDepartment of EmergencyMedicine at Drexel Univer-sity. It was funded by the Cali-

fornia Endowment. Some ofits data and best practices fo-cus on California but the les-sons learned apply to commu-nities across the country.The researchers found thatboys and young men overallexperience worse health out-comes than girls, that thesehealth disparities are evenmore profound for Black andLatino boys, and that manyof these disparities can beconnected to community pat-terns.

As they explain: “Nega-tive health outcomes for Afri-can-American and Latinoboys and young men are a re-sult of growing up in neigh-borhoods of concentrated dis-advantage, places that aremore likely to put boys andyoung men directly in harm’sway and reinforce harmfulbehavior. In other words, ifyou grow up in a neighbor-hood with a good school,where it’s safe, where you canwalk and play outside, whereyou have a regular doctor andwhere you have access togood food, you are more likelyto live a long and healthy life.

On the other hand, if yougrow up in a neighborhoodwhere you’re not safe, whereyour school is failing you andwhere you do not have aplace to go when you are sickor a basic grocery store, thenyou are far more likely to livea shorter life, to earn lessmoney, to be party to or vic-tim of violence and to be farless healthy emotionally andphysically. If you are AfricanAmerican or Latino, you arelikely to face not just one ofthose challenges, but many orall of them at once.”They found disparities forBlack and Latino boys andyoung men in a number ofareas, including infant mor-tality, childhood asthma hos-pitalizations, childhood obe-sity, post-traumatic stress dis-order, rates of HIV and AIDS,and lack of health insuranceand access to health care.They also found safety dis-parities, including higherrates of exposure to domesticand community violence,child abuse and neglect, life-time likelihood of going toprison, and gun violence and

homicide death rates. The re-searchers also were able totrack how social inequalitiesand negative neighborhoodconditions work together toshape the life course of boysand young men in schoolsand communities of “concen-trated disadvantage.” Theynote that these schools’ andneighborhoods’ commoncharacteristics, includingconcentrated poverty, com-munity violence, high rates ofincarceration, overexposureto unhealthy foods, and lackof recreation often work to-gether to lead to disruptivebehavior and psychologicalconditions for boys andyoung men of color. For theChildren’s Defense Fund andothers concerned about dis-mantling the pipeline toprison for children of color,their descriptions of accumu-lated risks and negative out-comes are sadly familiar.But there are solutions. Asthese researchers say, “Torecalibrate the life trajectory ofAfrican-American andLatino boys and young men,policymakers, community ac-

tivists and government offi-cials must view the health ofa community not in indi-vidual parts, but as an unbro-ken whole, made up of indi-vidual but virtually insepa-rable parts.” The report pro-files several California orga-nizations and public/privatepartnerships that are doingjust that and achieving re-sults including the CaliforniaEndowment’s Healthy Re-turns Initiative, which is de-signed to address the grow-ing number of youths withuntreated health and mentalhealth needs in the state’s ju-venile justice system; YouthUpRising, a successful Oak-land youth organization andcommunity center that in-cludes health and mentalhealth care, a healthy café,and job training among itsofferings; and Safe Commu-nity Partnership, which isusing a public health ap-proach to help stop gun vio-lence.

The researchers sum-marize their findings thisway: “If we have a clearer un-derstanding of [the problems

facing Black and Latino boysand young men], then we areall more obligated to do some-thing about it. And once weknow that the trauma thesechildren experience is a prod-uct of many different factorsin their homes, schools andneighborhoods, then it be-comes incumbent on health,education, criminal justiceand civic leaders to all worktogether to improve condi-tions. As a society, we placegreat emphasis on the per-sonal responsibility of the in-dividual, and our familiesand institutions should doeverything they can to instillin all of our boys and youngmen a strong sense of self-worth, hope and accountabil-ity. But if we expect our chil-dren to climb over poverty’sgreat barriers without helpfrom the rest of us, then weare the ones who are beingirresponsible…Improving theplaces where our boys andyoung men of color live, learn,work and play is no easy un-dertaking. But it is doable.And that makes it the rightthing to do.”

Finally, Financial Services Reform

(NNPA) - Last week theUnited States Senate passedthe financial services reformlegislation that it has beenconsidering for the better partof a year. It was a nearlystrictly partisan vote of 60-39,with Democrat Russ Feingold(Wis.) voting against the leg-islation because it does not gofar enough, and RepublicansScott Brown (Mass.) andOlympia Snowe (Maine) vot-ing for the legislation. Sena-tor Christopher Dodd (D-

Conn.) and CongressmanBarney Frank (D-Mass.) are tobe commended for their per-sistence in shepherding thislegislation. To be sure, it isn’tperfect, but it is a step in theright direction, and it in-cludes much-needed protec-tions for consumers.

If I’d had my druthers,the new Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau wouldhave been freestanding, notpart of the Federal Reserve.Still, the new bureau will havea presidentially appointedindependent head, and it willhave to power to enforce rulesdealing with mortgages,credit cards, and other finan-cial products. Consumershave not had federal protec-tion for a very long time, andthis provision, alone, makesthe legislation worthwhile.The bill comes in at 884 pages,and I’ll confess to relying oncongressional summaries for

information about the legisla-tion. It is reassuring to knowthat large financial firms areno longer “too big to fail”, butinstead can be taken over bythe Federal Deposit Insur-ance Corporation (FDIC). Too,bankers can no long shop tofind the friendliest regulators,since the new legislationstreamlines regulation, elimi-nating some groups, and di-viding the work among oth-ers. The market for financialderivatives is more closelyregulated, which means thatpeople can’t sell futures oncastles in the sky, but insteadbe forced to monetize theirbets. All of these are steps inthe right direction. Do theylevel the playing field be-tween Washington and WallStreet, or is the field still tiltedin Wall Street’s direction?With all the money that WallStreet pours into elections,and with the active participa-

tion of Wall Street insiders inthis regulatory process, thefact is that Wall Street may stillhold the upper hand. Still,consumers get a break, andtaxpayers may be protectedfrom having to bail out andpay off future Wall Street chi-canery. The unfortunate real-ity is that the quality of newregulation will depend on thenew regulators. In otherwords, the quality of the ap-pointments will make a bigdifference in the ways this leg-islation is implemented. Whowill be the new head of theConsumer Financial Protec-tion Bureau? If this personserves as the pleasure of thePresident, will a more conser-vative President appointsomeone less inclined to fightfor consumer rights? WillWall Street come to Washing-ton (as Treasury SecretaryTim Geithner has done) toprotect their former interests?

Or will consumers really havea voice in the way regulationis enforced? One of the provi-sions of the new legislationrelates an Office of Minorityand Women Inclusion in allof the financial service agen-cies, with the charge of regu-lating diversity in manage-ment, employment and busi-ness activities. Kudos to Con-gressman Maxine Waters (D-CA) for consistently repre-senting the least and the leftout around financial issues. Iremember her stellar workduring the S&L meltdown inthe early 1990s and fully ex-pected that she would weighin on the role of women andpeople of color in financialservices reform. This workhas the possibility of ensur-ing that those who havemuch to offer, but few oppor-tunities, can participate in thefinancial services arena.While conservative commen-

tators have railed against thediversity requirements in thenew legislation, the provi-sions survived the Senate voteand will be implemented.

With the Senate havingpassed financial services re-form, perhaps they will nowturn to extending unemploy-ment benefits for the 2 millionAmericans who have beencut off by their inaction. InMay ways the 2 million whohave lost benefits are just thetip of the iceberg. Many oth-ers don’t even quality for ben-efits for various reasons. Still,the senate has not failed topass bailout legislation, or taxbreaks. Why do they continueto turn their backs on the un-employed? Extending unem-ployment insurance benefits,like passing financial servicesreform, is an imperfect solu-tion, but a step in the rightdirection. Why not take thatstep?

Steinbrenner Passes Away But Not Legacy By David Burnett - Special to the NNPA from SportsSense.net(NNPA) - Sports fans

knew George Steinbrenner for37 of his 80 years, ever sincehe bought the New York Yan-kees in the early 1970s. But thelegacy Steinbrenner leavesbehind will permeate the of-fices of sports owners foryears to come. GeorgeSteinbrenner set the standardfor just about all of today’ssports owners.

Embodied within oneman though, were many dif-ferent qualities. Not all flatter-ing. Charitably he’s been de-scribed as complex. But hewas always larger than life

and not to be forgotten.George Steinbrenner wasbombastic, when lesser in-clined owners sat quietly be-hind the scenes. He spent mil-lions on players while hispeers failed to successfullyutilize free agency like he did.Most importantly – he won.He demanded it. But the wayshe went about winning wereoften over the top, cartoonishat times and occasionallyeven cruel. Steinbrenner wasregularly lampooned by JerrySeinfeld and Saturday NightLive for his antics. But hedidn’t mind being made fun

of because it only enhancedthe big Boss brand.Without Steinbrenner, there isno Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder oreven Dan Gilbert.

Steinbrenner took sportsownership to the ultimatelevel. The sports owner is aunique being who can have aspecial relationship with acommunity. Some are flam-boyant, and extravagant. Oth-ers are stingy and greedy.Some are isolated in smallmarkets, just glad to be in theleague and hoping not to losetoo much money. Some havetransformed their sports and

made them more accessiblelike the Rooney family in Pitts-burgh. Others, like Bob Irsayand Art Modell, have beenvilified for uprooting and re-locating their teams. In otherwords there are all types ofowners in sports. But withoutthem there are no games. Theyspend millions to make aname for themselves andsometimes even their cities.Which means in most townsyou are stuck with them likefamily members. It takes bigones to own a team and actu-ally win – your way. It’s yourmoney, your team. Which is

why Jesse Jackson thinksCleveland’s angry owner DanGilbert acted like a “slave-master” when LeBron Jamesleft his “plantation”. That ofcourse is just one interpreta-tion. Then there are others likethe late Abe Pollin whoowned the Washington Wiz-ards. Pollin with little fanfareand even less credit builtTWO arenas for his fans, withhis own money. That wasAbe’s way. Sports owners in-deed have impact. But amongthem all George Steinbrennerwas genuinely unique. Morethan just about any owner

before or since, he changedthe dynamics and economicsof his sport and other sportsas well.

George Steinbrenner

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July 23, 2010/The Villager/Page 3

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Dear GP,

In 2009 I came into a lot of money. I am so grateful. Afteryears of hard times and living pay check to pay check wefinally can breathe! My family is now wealthy and we nowhave more than enough. When we first got the money wewere so excited, but now we’ve learned money just bringsnew problems! I have all of this money and can’t enjoy it. Afterall that I’ve purchased and our new privileges I am not happyor enjoying life. Please help.....

Thank You,Still Unhappy

Dear Still Unhappy,

I love your transparency and honesty. You are grateful,but you had not anticipated or planned for the new problemsthat would come. Be of good cheer there is still hope for hap-piness.

You have learned one of the most important lessons ofall....the internal can never be truly satisfied by the external.Christ came to satisfy the internal. He invites anyone who isthirsty to come to Him and drink. When we spend time withChrist and His word, it truly satisfies us and gives us fullnessof life with or without money. It is the thief that has come tosteal and destroy, but Christ has come that you may have lifeand have it abundantly.

Take courage! God will teach you how to find joy in thisnew season. You can cast your cares on Him cause He caresfor you. Additionally, you are not alone, He will make knownto you the path of life, He will fill you with joy in His presence,and with eternal pleasures at His right hand. These are prom-ises you can bank on!

Love,The Great PhysicianLuke 12:15, John 7:37, John 10:10, I Peter 5:7 ,Psalms 16:11

Jeffrey Archer, Presi-dent of the Austin Chapter ofthe Huston-Tillotson Univer-sity International AlumniAssociation was the guestspeaker for the recent Conley-Guerrero Senior ActivityCenter’s Annual VolunteerRecognition Dinner andDance. Archer Presented adynamic, intellectual, inspir-ing speech stressing the im-portance of volunteerism andencouraging the guest to con-tinue to persue their commit-ment to service.

Conley-Guerrero par-ticipants want to thank Ms.Archer for her very timely pre-sentation.

Jeffrey Arhcerspeaks at

Conley-GuerreroCapital City Chapter

Top Ladies of Distinction re-cently inducted six newmembers: Cherry Brooks,Valencia Hadnot, JoyceHarris, Sharon Holmes,Vanessa Moore and Janis M.Todd. Conducting the cer-emony was TLOD’s AreaOne Director, LorisBradshaw Anderson, as-sisted by Di Ann Robinson,Area One Director of Opera-tions.

Immediately followingthe closed ceremony, Capi-tal City Chapter membersand guests enjoyed a deli-cious brunch and took partin the Founders’ Day Cel-ebration. Special recogni-tion was given to past andpresent Top Ladies of theyear: Orvis Austin, VivienCoe Richard, HeleneArnold, Gladys Jasper, LoisHunt, Catherine Petit,Bernice Toliver, Vera Giv-ens, Gloria Washington,

Jean Yates, RuthDotson, Marjorie Rhone,Betty Williams, Cheryl Mor-gan, Polly Street, MildredMoseley, Roye Reeves,

Wanda Johnson, EstellaHicks, Shirley Gordon andDelois A. Hall. In additionto Top Lady of the year lo-cally, Capital City Chapterhas been fortunate to havehad two national Top La-dies of the Year: Vivien CoeRichard, 9 t h Nat ionalPres ident and RuthDotson.

Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc.Induction and Founders’ Day

Capital City ChapterTLOD has been providingservice to youth and adultsin the Austin area for morethan forty years.

Chair ing the pro-grams were, Lois Huntand Shirley Thomas Gor-don. Debra Owens is chap-ter president.

INDUCTEES--(l to r) front, Joyce Harris Sherry Brookstop,Janis Todd, Valencia Hadnot, Manessa Moore and Sharon Holmes.

Page 4/THE VILLAGER/July 23, 2010

The African Diaspors SectionBy Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Life Loctk Meet the lender

Karibu, the Welcoming Taste ofEthiopian Food in Central TexasAustin is renowned as a

city that is culturally enlight-ened with its highly educatedworkforce. However, Austin isnot repudiated for its Africanfood because the city has justa few African restaurants,even though there is a sizableAfrican Diaspora in CentralTexas. Although, CentralTexas has a few authentic Af-rican restaurants, Karibustands above other restau-rants. It stands apart from theothers because it offers its cus-tomers a daily fresh organicfood. Moreover, Karibu whichmeans welcome in Swahilihas truly been a unique e ex-perience for its customers forvarious reasons, such as well-cooked Ethiopian dishes.Since its opening in 2008,Karibu has garnered a repu-tation of good foods and goodcustomer service at a very af-fordable rate.

At Karibu, one can ex-pect a high quality food witha high quality entertainment.A person can order from amenu that varies from veg-etarian to meat. For instance,a person can order a veggiecombo with Injera or rice andsalad. On the other hand,people can order either a beefcombo or a chicken combo.Both the beef and chickencombo come with Injera, rice,and salad. Moreover, a per-son can get a serving of freshorganic meals at an afford-able rate that doesn’t breakthe “eating out” budget. Also,Karibu offers special drinks,such as, organic coffee andspice tea. Furthermore, on Fri-days and Saturdays betweenthe hours of 11:00 PM and2:00 AM one can listen toReggae, Caribbean and Afri-can music. In addition, theentire restaurant can go to

happy hours between the4:00 PM - 7:00PM during theweek.

In summary, Karibu isone of the few authentic Afri-can restaurants in CentralTexas. Not only is Karibu oneof the few African restaurants,it is also one of the bestthroughout Central Texas.Since its opening in 2008,Karibu has been serving or-ganic foods with a taste foreveryone. At Karibu one canchoose between veggie com-bos or meat combos thatcomes with Injera, or rice andsalad. Most importantly, aperson can purchase food atan affordable rate that doesn’tbreak the “eating out” budget.It also provides authenticdrinks, such as, organic cof-fee and spice tea. Finally, onecan listen to Reggae, Carib-bean and African music with-out traveling to those areas.

By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Austin City CouncilThe Austin City Coun-

cil will convene on July 28,2010 at the city hall. Duringthe next meeting the city willbe hearing testimonies andalso voting on items set beforethe council.

Also, the council will gointo executive session to dis-cuss the shooting death ofSanders from a former Aus-tin police officer, which hasadded to the polarization be-tween the city council and itsAfrican American popula-tion. Moreover, their vote willeither add new regulations ortake away certain regulationsthat will also affect the smallAfrican American popula-tion of Austin. Consequently,the regular citizens livingand working in Austinshould be involved in theprocess because the council’svote affects everyone in Cen-tral Texas.

Item 33 on the cityagenda will affect the qualityof life for African Americanswho are disproportional af-fected by the Human Immunedeficient Virus (HIV) and alsoprovide funding for mental

health issues. Moreover, Item33 will seek to increase thefunding for organizationsthat help people with HIV.This increase of funding iscrucial for the prevention ofthe spread of HIV throughoutAustin and various commu-nities. As the city governmentraises the importance of fight-ing HIV, hopefully the rate ofinfection of HIV will dropthroughout Central Texas.Also, item 33 will increase thefunding of both mental healthcases and hospice care. It willhelp countless of people ofwho suffer from mental healthwith the opportunities of re-ceiving treatment. Further-more, the increase of fundingmay prevent people who suf-fer mental health conditionsfrom entering the criminal jus-tice system.

Then the city will Set apublic hearing to receive pub-lic comments of several itemsthat will affect the rate inwhich Austin residents payfor various services offered bythe city. For instance, item 89is set for public hearing in-or-der to receive the public input

on the proposed rates and feechanges for the Solid WasteService Department as part ofthe Fiscal Year 2010-2011Proposed Budget. Item 90,sets a public hearing to re-ceive public comments onproposed fee changes and theaddition of a transmissionservice adjustments and therise in the electric rate sched-ule of Austin Energy as partof the Fiscal Year 2010-2011Proposed Budget.

After items are passedfor the public hearings, thecity council will go behindclosed doors to hold an ex-ecutive session, in which,they will discuss of theNathaniel Sander’s case.Nathaniel Sanders was shotto death by a former Austinpolice officer, whose actionshave raised questions abouthow the police departmentrules and has also, broughtsuspicion between AfricanAmericans and the council.During the executive session,the council will seek to ap-prove the settlement regard-ing the Nathaniel Sander’scase.

By Tsoke (Chuch) AdjavonStramaRama

On July 17, 2010 the in-cumbent Democrat candidatefor District 50, Mark Stramaheld a “StramaRama” inPflugerville, Texas”. TheStramaRama was organizedby 25 high schools and col-lege students who were en-rolled in the 2010 CampaignAcademy which is a pro-gram. State RepresentativeMark Strama began with hisfirst campaign in 2004. TheAcademy gives young peoplean opportunity to learn aboutstate politics. Furthermore, itgives them a real experiencein politics and Texas govern-ment.

Moreover, the“StramaRama” event repre-sents the sum total of their

training and work.Not only was the event

family friendly, but it wasalso a time for state represen-tatives to congratulate theyoung people who took partin the 2010 Campaign Acad-emy. During the event, therewere family friendly eventssuch as face painting, foods,snow-cones, and volleyball.As a result, all the children en-joyed themselves with theirparents. For instance, Ronstated, “It was an opportunityto take the entire family in-cluding the kids to an eventwhere they can learn about thepolitical process and alsoplay”. Before the closing of theevent, Representative MarkStrama took the time to recog-

nize and thank the young in-dividuals who had enrolledin the Campaign Academy.

In summary, the eventserved as both a family timeand a time to get people in-volved in the political pro-cess. During the event, therewere activities, in which, theentire family could partici-pate such as volleyball, facepainting and a time to eat to-gether. Furthermore, it servedas a time in which peoplelearned how they could be apart of local government,whose decisions affect thelives of all families livingwithin that jurisdiction. Itwas time in which the youngpeople who took part in theAcademy could put into prac-tice what they learned in theAcademy.

Local Group Trying to Get PeopleEnergized by the Elections

By Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Starting July 24 to Octo-ber 2, 2010 the Travis CountyDemocratic CoordinatedCampaign will be working intwo shifts in order to make aconcerted effort to registernew voters for the upcomingevents. So for the next thirteenweeks, the party will try to reg-ister new voters while re-minding the non-consistedvoters to get involved in theprocess. This effort will be tar-geting neighborhoods thathave a history of low rate of

registrations. Furthermore,they will be “deputizing” in-dividuals in order that theycan officially register newvoters. Moreover, they arehoping that the registration ofnew voters will lead to wins.

According to a statesource, about 5.2% of the reg-istered Democrats turnout tovote in the primaries and 8.0%of republican voters turnoutto their primaries. Only 13.2%of the voting population inboth parties came out to de-

cide who will represent themin the gubernatorial elections.Moreover, these numbersshow that both parties have alot of work to do because elec-tions are about who can getthe most people to the polls tovote for their candidates. Fur-thermore, the low Democraticvoter turnouts throughout thestate prove that the party hasa lot of work to do, in order, totake back the state govern-ment currently held by the re-publicans.

Salt (***) by Dwight Brown

(NNPA) - WhateverAngelina Jolie was paid forstarring in this nail-biting ac-tion thriller, she deservedeach and every million. She’sthe first woman to commandan action movie, on this level,since Sigourney Weaver in“Aliens.”

The script by “TomasCrown Affair” scribe KurtWimmer was originally in-tended for a male lead.Switching the role to a femalewas brilliant. Casting thebrooding, volatile Jolie wasgenius. This film is not a headcase like “Inception.” It’s astraight out moment-to-mo-ment, chase-to-chase, fightscene-to-fight scene actionmovie. Most films of thisgenre take a while to get go-

ing. This one barely takes abreath before Jolie is runningfor her life, then fighting aswarm of agents and spies.Hell breaks lose when CIA of-ficer Evelyn Salt Deep ques-tions a Russian spy/defectorin an interrogation roomviewed by agents and superi-ors. The turncoat swears asleeper spy mole has infil-trated the CIA. When Evelynask for a name, he says the un-fathomable, “Salt.” Before shecan bat an eye, counter-intel-ligence agent WilliamPeabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor,“American Gangster”) cast anaccusatory glance. Salt’s part-ner Ted Winter (LiveSchreiber, “X-Men Origins:Wolverine”) attempts to de-fend her reputation. But onceSalt feels her innocent hus-band might be at risk, shebolts. According to the defec-tor, Salt’s mission is to kill theRussian Primer Minster whilehe attends the funeral of theU.S. Vice-President.

The lightening-quick be-ginning that sets the film in

non-stop motion is a blessingand a curse. For a distin-guished CIA officer to go fromhero to zero in a few minutesdoesn’t seem real. But again,this is an old-fashioned actionthriller, and realism is not thepoint. Taken for what it is,“Salt” delivers well-paced ki-netic scenes (editor JohnGilroy also cut “MichaelClayton”), shot with greatimagination (Robert Elswit,Oscar-winning cinematogra-pher for “There Will BeBlood”), directed by PhilipNoyce, the dean of action/es-pionage thrillers, who honedhis skills on films like “Clearand Present Danger” and“Patriot Games.”

Wimmer’s script is in-triguing. When it’s strong ittakes the time to develop theSalt character so you careabout her childhood, mar-riage and betrayals. The erroris that there are so many flash-backs detailing the past thatthese edits take away fromforward momentum. A Rus-sian official may be assassi-

nated and Salt has to clearhere name. That’s what’s im-portant, not her life as a kidabused by Russian agents.Though the film and the scriptmay have flaws, Jolie hasnone. She’s photogenic. Sheemotes like an Oscar-winner.She handles action/fightscenes like a man, even if anoccasional body-double doesthe heavy lifting. She com-mands the screen on the levelof a Will Smith or Tom Cruise.Though it’s unlikely that atall, model-thin woman couldbeat up so many husky men,she makes you suspend beliefand stay engaged in hercharacter’s crises and quest.Schreiber and Ejiofor are solidactors, but they stand in theshadow of this gusty actresswho steals every scene.Leave your disbelief, skepti-cism and discerning eye at themovie theater door. Just sitback and take this joyride,which will keep your bloodrushing until Salt proves herinnocence, or completes herdeception.

July 23, 2010/The Villager/Page 5

EMPLOYMENT/BIDS/PROPOSALS /PUBLIC INFORMATION/ FOR SALE /FOR RENT/MISC

Employment

JANITORIAL WORKERSNEEDED

ISS Facility Services, Inc. has open-ings for supervisory, floor men, andgeneral cleaners for part-time eveningemployment. Apply at ISS Facility Ser-vices, Inc. Austin, M-F, between 4-6pm, 8101 Cameron Road # 304. ISSFacility Services, Inc. is an Equal op-portunity Employer (EOE) and pro-motes a Diverse Workforce.

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City of AustinPurchasingOfficeAdvertisements07/19/2010

On October 2, 1995, a revision to the City’s MBE/WBE DBEsOrdinance became effective. The Ordinance establishes new goals for MBE/WBE or DBE Participation Bid/Proposal. Bidders are required to docu-ment efforts to solicit MBE/WBE or DBEs in the Compliance Plan. TheGoals for each project and the instructions and forms for the CompliancePlan are included in the MBE/WBE or DBE Program Packet included in thesolicitation. For construction contracts, the MBE/WBE or DBE ProgramPacket is a separately bound volume of the Project Manual. ALL BIDSAND COMPLIANCE PLANS NOT RECEIVED PRIOR TO THE DATEAND TIME SET FORTH WILL BE RETURNED TO THE BIDDERUNOPENED. SPECIAL NOTICE: Solicitations issued on behalf of theElectric Utility Dept. (Austin Energy) are no longer advertised in theAustin American Statesman. Notices will be posted on the City of AustinPurchasing website at: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/purchase

A. CONSTRUCTION ADVERTISEMENTS - ALL CON-STRUCTION SEALED BIDS addressed to the City of Austin will bereceived PRIOR TO date and time indicated for the following project(s), inthe Reception Area, 10th FL., Ste. 1045, Contract and Land ManagementDepartment, CLMD, One Texas Center (OTC), 505 Barton Springs Rd.,Austin, TX, then publicly opened and read aloud in the 10th FL. Confer-ence Room, Ste. 1045, unless otherwise indicated in the advertisement. AllBids received after the time set forth will be returned to the bidder un-opened. The OWNER’s Official opening the Bids shall establish the timefor opening of the Bids. All Bid Deposits are refundable upon return ofdocuments within the specified time frame and in good condition, unlessotherwise indicated. UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, Project Manu-als, Plans and Addenda may be obtained at the Office of Engineering De-sign & Surveying, PWD, Ste. 760, OTC. First time bidders are encouragedto attend the pre-bid conference to assure their understanding of Owner’sbidding and contracting requirements, particularly M/WBE ProcurementsProgram requirements. Cashiers or Certified Check Payable to the City ofAustin or acceptable Bid Bond must accompany each bid. Bidders will berequired to provide Payment/Performance bonds as specified in the bid-ding documents. The City reserves the right to reject any and all Bids andto waive any informality in the bids received.

Bidders must attend any Mandatory Pre-Bid Conference and areencouraged to attend any non-mandatory Pre-Bid Conference to ensuretheir understanding of Owner’s bidding and contracting requirements, par-ticularly MBE/WBE Procurement Program requirements. If the Pre-BidConference is mandatory the Bidder must arrive and sign-in within fifteen(15) minutes of the scheduled start time of the meeting, otherwise theBidder will not be allowed to submit a Bid for the project.

1. BARTON SPRINGS POOL BATHHOUSE RENOVATIONS(CIP 8741 8607 3015). IFB 6100 CLMC196. Pickup bid docs at OTC,STE 760, Attn. Gabriel Stan, 974-7151 after 7/19/10. A refundable depositof $50 is required. For info: John McKennis, 974-9481. A MANDATORYVendor Conf will be held at The Austin Area Garden Center 2200 BartonSprings Rd., Austin, TX at 1:00P on 7/29/10. Offers due prior to 9:00A on8/12/10. Compliance plans due prior to 1:00P on 8/12/10. Offers will beopened on 8/12/10 at 1:00P.

B. SERVICES AND SYSTEMS CONTRACTING /C. COM-MODITIES - Solicitations will be issued, and sealed bids or proposalsmay be received at the Purchasing Office, Municipal Building, 124 W. 8thSt., 3rd floor, Room 308/310, telephone number (512) 974-2500, Austin,TX until the dates and times specified on following item(s):

B. SOLICITATION SERVICES AND SYSTEMS1. RDR0063 STATIONARY CRANE INSPECTION AND TEST-

ING SERVICES. Offers due prior to 11:30A on 8/10/10.2. MSO0046REQUEST FOR INFORMATION- LEGAL PRAC-

TICE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE. Offers due prior to 1:00P on 8/17/10.

C.SOLICITATION COMMODITIES1. RDR0066 LOW FLOW SHOWERHEADS AND AREATORS.

Offers due prior to 11:30A on 8/3/10.THE CITY OF AUSTIN HEREBY NOTIFIES ALL OFFERORS

THAT IN REGARD TO ANY CONTRACT ENTERED INTO PURSU-ANT TO THIS ADVERTISEMENT; MINORITY BUSINESS ENTER-PRISES WILL BE AFFORDED EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO SUB-MIT OFFERS IN RESPONSE TO THIS INVITATION AND WILL NOTBE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST ON THE GROUNDS OF RACE,COLOR, SEX, NATIONAL ORIGIN OR DISABILITY IN CONSID-ERATION FOR AN AWARD.

Austin-Travis County Men-tal Health and Mental RetardationCenter dba Austin Travis CountyIntegral Care is currently solicitingbids through an Invitation for Bidsprocess for Public Relations Ser-vices for a Community AwarenessProgram. Bid specifications will beposted on the State of Texas Elec-tronic State Business Daily websiteat http://esbd.cpa.state.tx.us/. Bidspecifications may also be pickedup between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at1430 Collier St., Austin, TX 78704,beginning Monday, July 19, 2010.Bid specifications may also bemailed or sent electronically to in-terested parties, by contactingArianna Ramos at (512) 440-4062or arianna.ramos@atcic.org. Thedeadline for bid submission is 4:00p.m. August 13, 2010. HistoricallyUnderutilized Businesses (HUBs),including Minority-Owned Busi-nesses and Women-Owned Busi-nesses, are encouraged to apply.

Visit our website attheaustinvillager.com

BIDS/PROPOSALS

Laughlin-Thyssen, Inc. issoliciting Minority, Small LocallyOwned & Women-Owned BusinessEnterprise participation for the fol-lowing City of Austin Project: CBDAlleys Water and Wastewater Re-hab; IFB# 6100 CLMC187. BidDate & Time: 07/29/2010, 10:30AMCT. Please Call Albert at (713) 429-6500.

StudentsBE A PART OF THE

IN CROWD

Be a reporter from your schoolBe a reporter from your schoolBe a reporter from your schoolBe a reporter from your schoolBe a reporter from your schoolBe Be Be Be Be AAAAA

VILLAGER VILLAGER VILLAGER VILLAGER VILLAGER YOUTH BRIGADERYOUTH BRIGADERYOUTH BRIGADERYOUTH BRIGADERYOUTH BRIGADERFor information, call 476-0082For information, call 476-0082For information, call 476-0082For information, call 476-0082For information, call 476-0082

Deadline: Deadline: Deadline: Deadline: Deadline: August 15, 2010August 15, 2010August 15, 2010August 15, 2010August 15, 2010

Austin, Texas (July 13,2010) – Small business ownerswill have the opportunity to meeta variety of area business lend-ers face to face to gather informa-tion and make contacts duringthe City of Austin’s no-cost Meetthe LenderSM business loan fairon Thursday, August 5, 2010.

Hosted by the City ofAustin’s Small Business Devel-opment Program (SBDP), thisyear marks the seventh annualMeet the LenderSM event whichprovides existing and aspiringsmall business owners the op-portunity to meet in an informalsetting with dozens of represen-tatives including commerciallenders, credit unions, commu-nity development corporations

Banking On Success: No-cost Business Loan FairUnites Lenders & Small Business Owners

and government programs andagencies. This no-cost businessloan fair is to be held at thePalmer Events Center, from 3 – 7pm. Each year the event attractsapproximately 400 existing andaspiring entrepreneurs seekingto network, learn about the loanprocess and discover additionalbusiness resources.

“Meet the LenderSM pre-sents an opportunity for smallbusiness owners and hopefulsto get to know the players, un-derstand how various lenders/banks work, and what they re-quire for financing,” said GuyPerry, Senior Vice President ofSmall Business Lending for Ho-rizon Bank, an Austin-basedcommunity bank participating

in the Meet the LenderSM Busi-ness loan fair. “The more smallbusinesses know, and the betterconnected they become, they willget the answers and capital theyneed to make their businesses asuccess.”

In addition to access to thelenders, the event offers two no-cost informational classes.BizAid© Business Orientation,held at 3:15 pm and again at 5:45pm, presents information aboutCity and other resources avail-able for businesses. BizOpen©Orientation at 4:30 pm explainsAustin’s zoning, permitting anddevelopment processes. Attend-ees can register for classes by vis-iting www.AustinSmallBiz.orgor by calling (512) 974-7800.

W A S H I N G T O N(NNPA) - At NNPA deadlinethis week, there was one thingperfectly clear in just aboutall of fair-thinking America.That is that former Depart-ment of Agriculture RuralDevelopment Director ShirleySherrod of South West Geor-gia, had been hit and devas-tated by so-called “friendlyfire”.

She and her husband,the Rev. Charles Sherrod, ac-tually marched and orga-nized alongside Dr. MartinLuther King Jr. during thecivil rights movement, theNNPA News Service haslearned. Rev. Sherrod wasone of the first field workersfrom the Student Non-violentCoordinating Committee(SNCC) to be sent to Albany,Ga. around 1961.In a New York Times articlepublished Nov. 5, 2008, theday of the Obama election,Rev. Sherrod was quoted assaying, “This is what weprayed for, this is what weworked for …We have a legiti-mate chance to be a democ-racy.”

Shirley Sherrod’s father,a Black farmer, was murderedby a White farmer in front ofat least three witnesses morethan 40 years ago. But, a juryrefused to indict him amidstthe thick racism during thatera.

The civil rights and ra-cial justice work of this coupleunderscored the irony of themoment this week as she wasforced to resign by Agricul-ture Secretary Tom Vilsackbecause of a distorted andedited videotaped version ofa March 2010 speech toNAACP in which she wasmade to appear as if she haddescriminated against aWhite farmer.Sherrod, in just 24 hours be-came almost a householdname across America, criti-cism surrounding her. AtNNPA deadline, the endingcould best be described by thewar term “friendly fire”,meaning she has been dam-aged by her own fellow sol-diers in the battle against rac-ism in America.

On Wednesday morn-ing, many were still waitingfor the ultimate apology,

By Hazel Trice EdneyNNPA Editor-in-Chief

Sherrod Family Wounded by Friendly FireAgriculture Worker and Family known for their work for Racial Justice

which appeared to be forth-coming – the one from theObama Administration’s Sec-retary Vilsack - who fired herwithout first hearing the con-text of the remarks that eventhe NAACP at first con-demned as shameful. But, asthe truth slowly unfoldedwith the release of the fullvideo in context, rapid back-peddling took place andapologies were rampant.

“We have come to theconclusion we weresnookered by Fox News andTea Party Activist AndrewBreitbart into believing shehad harmed white farmersbecause of racial bias,” saidan NAACP release fromPresident Ben Jealous Tues-day night. “Having reviewedthe full tape, spoken to Ms.Sherrod, and most impor-tantly heard the testimony ofthe White farmer mentionedin this story, we now believethe organization that editedthe documents did so with theintention of deceiving mil-lions of Americans.”

The story was first re-ported by FOX News basedon the tape released byBreitbart.

More important eventhan the NAACP statement ofapology were the statementsmade by the White farmerhimself, 88-year-old RogerSpooner, and his wife Eloiselive on CNN:

“I couldn’t believe it.She was unbelievably helpfulin every way. She saved ourfarm,” he said. “This all hereis a bunch of hogwash in myopinion. She was as nice tous as anyone could havebeen. As far as racism and all,that’s just ridiculous.”

In the complete NAACPvideo, viewed by the NNPANews Service, Sherrod tellsthe story of working for a lo-cal agency 24 years ago, longbefore she ever went to workfor the USDA. She tells howher helping the White farmereven after her father’s murderand amidst a climate where

Black farmers were dispar-ately suffering because oftheir race, ultimately helpedher to realize that it’s not re-ally about Black or White, butabout the poor - “those whohave and do not have.”

She told how she de-cided then to give her life tohelping the poor of all races.The tape had been edited anddistorted to make her appearto say that she intentionallywithheld help from the Whitefarmer – later proven to be bla-tantly false.

The Sherrods could notbe reached by deadline astheir voice mail was con-stantly full. As the saga ofShirley Sherrod continued,the NNPA News Servicesought to learn more abouther and her family. A simpleGoogle search pulled up theNew York Times story quot-ing her husband. And asimple phone call to sourcesin South West Georgiabrought testimonies of thesparkling – even heroic -reputation of Shirley Sherrodand her family.Juanita Wright of Albany re-calls that she was a teenagerwhen she used to hold ShirleySherrod in her arms as a babyas their families were friends.

Wright, who actuallyattended the funeral ofSherrod’s father, also remem-bers the family’s suffering. Sherecalls that Sherrod’s mother,Grace, was pregnant whenher husband was murdered.She even visited her home af-ter the funeral.

“She was about full termwith the baby. She wasn’t ableto go to the funeral. I’ll neverforget how she was crying,”Wright said. About the falseallegations against Mrs.Sherrod, she said, “I neverthought anybody would sayanything like that. She’s nota racist. Her father fought thatand also her aunt and hermother, they fought racism.”

Perhaps a quote thatSherrod recalled from hermother sums up the heart ofthe matter: “‘If we’d tried tolive with hate in our hearts,we’d probably be deadnow.’”

She concluded in theCNN interview, “It’s notabout race. It’s about poorpeople and those who haveand those who do not. I wasencouraging them to get be-yond race. … I tried to use mylife to help people to see thatif I could move beyond race…if I could move beyond that toa life of service, then we allcould do it.”

Shirley Sherrod

Workforce HousingChallenges Ad-

dressed at LocalForum

Regional forum andeducational course set for

August 12-13 The Austin Board of RE-

ALTORS® (ABoR) is co-hostingthe Bring Workers Home: 2010Regional Forum on WorkforceHousing and Employer AssistedHousing (EAH) Class on August12 and 13 to raise awareness ofemployer-assisted housing ben-efits. Sponsored by the NationalAssociation of REALTORS®(NAR) and in partnership withthe National Housing Confer-ence (NHC), the two-day confer-ence will be held at the OmniHotel and Resort in DowntownAustin located at 700 San Jacintoat 8th Street.

The regional forum on Au-gust 12 will bring REALTORS®,local and state housing and busi-ness leaders together to discussworkforce housing challenges inthe region, the best practices to ad-dress these issues and the strate-gies for how workforce housingprograms can assist families infinding affordable, decent housingnear where they work.

Following the forum is anEmployer Assisted Housing (EAH)class on Friday, August 13. Thisclass will offer real estate profes-sionals a better understanding ofemployer-assisted housing ben-efits. Additionally, the course willhelp prepare REALTORS® to openthe dialogue and work with busi-nesses to implement housing ben-efits for their employees.

Individuals, REALTORS®,business and community leaderswanting to register for the forumand course may do so online athttp://austin 2010 housingforum.eventbrite.com/. The costfor both the forum and EAH classis $50.

Page 6/THE VILLAGER/July 23, 2010

Black Women

Farrah Gray

Women in Jazz

In my last column in theVillager, I discussed a fewprograms that demonstratehow The University of Texasat Austin is reaching out toEast Austin residents throughthe work of the Division ofDiversity and CommunityEngagement. This week, I’mgoing to talk about our Com-munity Engagement Incuba-tor program and how it ishelping connect university re-sources and knowledge withcommunity organizations toadvance social justice.

The Community En-gagement Incubator allowsus to work with communityorganizations that are al-ready doing great work, butmay not have the capacitythey need for a specific project.The incubator allows us topartner with the communityorganizations and determinehow the university can col-laborate with them—whetherit involves help for research,training, or conveninggroups. Some of our recentCommunity Engagement In-cubator partners have in-cluded the African AmericanMen and Boys Harvest Foun-dation, the Free Mindsproject, the SANDE project,and the Workers DefenseProject. These are four verydifferent projects and involvedifferent types of support andcollaboration.

For example, MichaelLoftin’s African AmericanMen and Boys Harvest Foun-dation, needed office space inorder to expand its program-ming which helps young Af-

UT’s Division of Diversity & Community Engagement AdvancesSocial Justice, Works with Community Organizations

rican American men succeedacademically and preparethem for life success. Thefoundation was housed inour Community EngagementCenter on East 11th Street for14 months. We also helpedsupport the foundation’s de-velopment of a model to helpclose the achievement gap.Now the foundation is intheir own office space, hasbeen able to hire three newstaff members this past year,launched five school-basedmentoring and tutoringprojects, and facilitated asummer enrichment pro-gram, Urban.Hood.Place.

The Free Minds projecthelps low-income adultsjumpstart their college careerby offering two humanitiesclasses free of charge andprovides baby-sitting ser-vices while the parents at-tend the classes. CurrentlyFree Minds is housed in theDDCE Community Engage-ment Center and the programis receiving support fromDDCE staff in several areas,including communicationsand development. This yeara Free Minds alumna, single-mother Abbie Navarette,graduated from Austin Com-munity College. Navarettesaid Free Minds provided an“intellectual awakening”that “has changed how Iview myself, my place in thecommunity and in the world.It is especially exciting to beable to share this new viewwith my children.”

SANDE is a nonprofitstarted by Toni Tipton-Mar-

tin, a food writer and chef,who began the organizationas a culinary heritage pro-gram designed to teach basiccooking skills, nutrition, and10 core values to children. Thecore values fall in the areas ofspirituality, attitude, nutri-tion, deeds, and emotion(SANDE). Tipton-Martin isworking to preserve the histo-ries of African American cooksand is dedicated to preservingan historic East Austin homeas a nurturing and safe placefor kids to go after school.Through a partnership withDDCE, she is starting a Gar-den to Table program at EastAustin Elementary School ina pilot project that takes aimat childhood obesity.

Finally, our partnershiplast year with the Workers’Defense Project (WDP) is stillhaving an effect. With supportfrom DDCE and University ofTexas researchers, the WDPproduced a report on poorworking conditions inAustin’s construction indus-try. As a result, in June theAustin City Council took stepsto protect construction work-ers, requesting the city man-ager develop an ordinancemandating rest and waterbreaks. That ordinanceshould be presented to thecouncil at the end of July.

These are the kinds ofprojects and results we hopeto continue to have in the Aus-tin community. By workingtogether, even on smallprojects, we can make a bigdifference to the quality of lifein Austin.

Entrepreneur Independence MindsetBy Farrah Gray NNPA Columnist

(NNPA) - An entrepre-neurial mindset is re-emerg-ing in Black America. New-breed entrepreneurs are nolonger obsessed with lack ofopportunities, but with cre-atively creating their futureout of nothing into something.Necessity is the mother of in-vention! Becoming self-madegives you a fighting chance.If it is your dream to becomesuccessful, achieve financialindependence, earn a lot ofmoney and become a million-aire in five years. My advice?Become an entrepreneur. His-tory is full of entrepreneurswho saw a need, met it andmade a fortune in the process.More than half of the world’sself-made millionaires are en-trepreneurs or self-employedprofessionals.

Of course, there is an-other side to it. Those whohave squandered away theirlife’s savings did so, trying tostart or run a business! So,why is it that some peoplesucceed in business, while therest fall flat on their faces?What makes an entrepreneursuccessful? What traits andcharacteristics best describethat unique person who di-rects his rags to riches storythrough sheer grit, persever-ance and enterprise? Here iswhat people, businessmenthemselves, have to say aboutwhat it takes to become a suc-cessful entrepreneur.

They are fast movingand flexible, and adaptable.

Entrepreneurs are persistentand determined to succeed,because their own money andego are at stake. Successfulentrepreneurs are passionateabout their business. Theiroverwhelming passion fortheir work helps them over-come exacting challenges andfind solutions for insur-mountable problems thatcome in their way.

You don’t need to pos-ses an MBA or PhD to suc-ceed in your own business. Infact, there are a lot of entre-preneurs who did not evenfinish secondary education.And not all of them are ge-niuses. Studies show thatmost self-made millionaireshave average intelligence.Nonetheless, these peoplereach their full potential andachieve financial and per-sonal goals in business be-cause they are open to learn-ing new things.

Entrepreneurs think ofproblems as opportunities forimprovement and sources ofnew ideas. With the tradi-tional employment trackseemingly on the decline, en-trepreneurship is fast becom-ing a catching trend. Run-ning your own business is acreative, flexible and chal-lenging way to become yourown boss and chart yourown future. But, before youtake the plunge, do under-stand what it will demand ofyou and whether you are pre-pared to give what it takes.

The lure of entrepre-neurship is undeniablystrong for many but it is im-portant that you go into it forthe right reasons. Being mis-erable in your job does notautomatically make startingyour own business the bestidea in the world. In fact, itcould be the worst reason ofall to get into business. Do re-member, finding another jobis certainly far easier thanrunning a business. But if,taking into account every-

thing that’s been said above,are you still sure that youhave courage, determinationand foresight to become asuccessful entrepreneur, goon, take the bull by the hornsand go for it.

The aspiring person inthe mirror must ask the rightquestions:

”Am I the type”? Re-member you will be your topemployee! Rate yourself ob-jectively. Evaluate yourstrengths and weaknesses. Ifyou need retraining do so orhire somebody more compe-tent.

Be Committed! Success-ful entrepreneurs make it theirmission to commit to theirventure. Work is their heartand soul. You may need toforego luxuries like a regularpay packet, holidays and al-most certainly sacrifice yourweekends.

Be a type ‘D’—someonewith desire, drive, determina-tion and discipline. Neversay, (you) never can! It is notjust enough to have goodideas; you should have thetenacity to follow through.Believe in your product/ven-ture and work hard to makeyour people believe in it too.Know as much as you canabout the various aspects ofyour business.

Create a business plan(after the prerequisite marketresearch) and stick to it. Noamount of determination anddiscipline can help you if youdo not have the knowledge ofhow to run a business suc-cessfully.

Have a great backup.While you may like to run theshow alone, you most defi-nitely need the support of oth-ers like your spouse andfriends. They can provide youwith the advice and encour-agement needed to keep yougoing.

Cultivate the resourcesabove and you’ll be well beon your way to success!

www.TheAustinVillager.com

We’re Bigger, Better, and Faster than Ever(NNPA) -This spring,

while away at college, my sonracked up $278 in bank over-draft fees on his debit cardaccount. The actual chargeswere relatively small, $10 here,$20 there and before he knewit, he had a financial trainwreck on his hands. The bankcharged $39 for each overdraftthat it paid and an additional$39 for each day the accountwas overdrawn. We sus-pended the account and be-cause we had a relationshipwith the bank, the total feeswere reduced. We then wiredhis monthly spending moneyto him through Walmart.I asked the question, “Whycan’t the bank just deny thedebit transaction when hisbalance is too low, instead ofjust piling on fees?” The an-swer I got was, “the systemcannot do it!” Well, that isabout to change with new

modifications to the Elec-tronic Funds Transfer Act,commonly referred to asRegulation E. What is Regu-lation E? Regulation E is afederal regulation that gov-erns the electronic transfer ofmoney. Recent changes thatthat went into effect, July 1,2010, modify a banks abilityto assess overdraft fees onATM and debit card transac-tions. If a customer attemptsto make a transaction thatwill result in an overdraft, thebank will decline the trans-action at the point of sale andthe customer will be sparedthe automatic overdraft fee.The purpose of the changesto Regulation E is to help pro-tect consumers from excessivefees that they were beingcharged. “Banks made a tre-mendous amount of money—over $38 billion from over-draft and NSF fees in 2009,”

according to Michael Flores,CEO of Bretton Woods Inc.,an independent banking in-dustry research firm. “Thenational annual non-suffi-cient fund/overdraft perhousehold with checking ac-counts increased from $343in 2008 to $376 in 2009, a 10%increase.” Money is Chang-ing. The next time you arestanding in line at a local re-tailer—grocery store, drug-store, etc., observe how manypeople pay for their transac-tions with cash or check andhow many pay with a plasticbank card, either credit ordebit. Debit card use has sur-passed credit cards and ac-cording to a December, 2009Nilson Report, “There were34 billion U.S. debit cardtransactions in 2008, totaling$1.33 trillion, up from $16.1billion transactions totaling$583 billion in 2003.”

Bank Overdraft FeesBy Michael G. Shinn - NNPA Columnist