The AC Phoenix: More than a Newspaper, a Community Institution -- Issue No. 2015, September 2014

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Page 4 September 2014 The AC Phoenix Chris Tucker: “Comedy Comes From Pain” By Gerald Payne can take control of me. Staying with that hasn’t been a problem.” “It’s harder than ever to do stand-up now because people’s attention span is so short. An entire generation has grown up with television, and they want everything to move fast. Very fast,” Tucker said. “My show requires top energy. I always arrive in the city a day early so I can get a good night’s sleep before the show.” Because of Chris Tucker’s tax woes were public, he isn’t talking sad, he believes he’s here to make people laugh. Motion Refiled To Continue Opportunity Scholarship Program Chris Tucker “Comedy comes from pain,” he said. “The trick is don’t ever let the pain show, and keep going.” “And you know this man!” is one of the signature one-liners that made Chris Tucker a household name in the mid 90’s. Since then he’s had a few hit movies, but thought to disappear from the big screen. And when he did appear, it was among rumors of tax troubles. But Tucker points out that Charlie Chaplin developed his classic “Tramp” character because he was broke at the time. As Chaplin did, Tucker is importing his recent struggles into his routine. “Comedy comes from conflict. I talk about my life. I talk about my beginnings. People identify.” While he has been a millionaire, Tucker also knows about the other side of the financial ledger. Now 41, he was the youngest in a family of six in Decatur, Ga., where his father was a janitor. Tucker helped out the family by working as a janitor at Burger King. “I started my dream at comedy clubs in Decatur. I’d work late at night and still get to my early-morning shift. I left for Los Angeles when I was 18 because I knew if I was going to make it, it would have to be there.” His idols were comics-turned-acting stars Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. “Movies were my main source. Later, I learned that movies are much slower. Stand-up is a good deal more rewarding.” Although mainly known for his high pitched voice and supercharged energy, his characters, like Smokey in the “Friday” series of movies, are also known for their four-letter words. Coincidentally, Tucker’s absence from movies for the past five years came after he announced he would not curse in roles again. “I want to be on the edge, but, on the other hand, I want to reach everyone. The balance is a tricky one.” And though he gained fame playing drug addicts, Tucker said he isn’t into that scene. “I was raised a Christian, but I still think an entertainer has to play modern roles. Playing a role isn’t being that character. Most of all, my mom raised me not to take anything that This too, shall pass WATCH – CIAA Extension with Charlotte Brings Lower Ticket, Hotel Prices By Staff Reports Officials from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association yesterday finalized a six-year extension with the City of Charlotte, and announced new benefits for attending fans and participating schools in the week-long event. According to the Charlotte Observer, the City of Charlotte will increase scholarship support for cIAA member schools from $1 million to $1.4 million, and will finance the costs for usage of the Time Warner Cable Arena. Early tournament games will be played in the nearby Bojangles’ Coliseum to ease costs. CIAA officials also announced new partnerships with several Center City Hotels, which will reserve more than 3,000 rooms at reduced rates for fans. Rooms will now cost between $100 and $250 dollars per night. Darrell Allison “Now that we finally have a written order from Judge Hobgood in hand, attorneys representing the many parents participating in the program and attorneys representing the North Carolina General Assembly are re-filing the petition and emergency motion to lift the injunction on the Opportunity Scholarship Program so that families can continue to attend the school of their choice. This action will ensure a smoother transition through the appellate court system and minimize the likelihood of any technical obstacles that could cloud the issue. Further, we’re happy to have such a strong and dedicated legal team to help overturn this untimely injunction. In fact, we hope that the Court of Appeals will act with all deliberate speed so that children do not have to return to schools that failed them in the first place. If the petition and emergency appeal are dismissed or rejected, the Supreme Court has indicated they will consider them. And as the Supreme Court ruled in our favor last time on the temporary injunction, we are confident that they are likely to do so again for the permanent injunction. In the past week, we’ve heard from parents and school leaders participating in the program who have witnessed a dramatic transformation in students who now grasp concepts that once eluded them because they are now in the right learning environment for them. While the lower court’s ruling has cast a cloud over such progress, we are thankful for the parents, school leaders and legal teams, who have remained steadfast in their commitment to ensuring all children in North Carolina have an opportunity to learn in an environment that works for them, regardless of income or ZIP code,” Allison said. The Opportunity Scholarship Program, passed in July 2013, creates scholarships of up to $4,200 for low-income and working-class families to attend a private school. To qualify, a child must be currently enrolled in a North Carolina public school and reside in a household that qualifies for federal Free and Reduced Lunch (about $44,000 for a family of 4). Baggy Pants Ban Taking Effect On Wildwood Boardwalk y Steve Keeley, Reporter Those Wildwood days will have a bit of a different look beginning Tuesday. That’s right, if you’re heading to the boardwalk there, make sure you hike up your pants! The ban on overly saggy pants is taking effect. The new regulation states you can’t have your pants more than three inches below your waist. And the same goes for bikini bottoms and dresses! Violators of the law will be fined $25 the first time and up to $200 thereafter. The ban only applies to the boardwalk. FOX 29’S Steve Keeley joined “Good Day Philadelphia” live from the boardwalk with more Tuesday morning on the ban that’s now in effect.
Page 5 September 2014 The AC Phoenix Good Health is Everything! By John Raye [continued from page 1] get sick! You don’t worry, for example, about a cold, until you catch one! Look at me. I never thought about cancer until I was diagnosed with it. Never thought it would catch up with me. But one day, it did. Eight years ago. And it is, as some survivors will tell you, an almost indescribable feeling. It’s the highest form of supreme anxiety and focused uncertainty. Going to sleep with cancer in your body every night is not the best way to have a good night’s sleep! We should add that unlike catching a cold, nobody actually, “catches cancer”, as it is not a virus. Cancer is a manmade, self-created disease, brought on by the victim or patient’s lifestyle, environment, food choices, thoughts, feelings, emotions, behavior, etc. There is no getting around it; “a man is made or unmade by his thoughts!” What happens when you put too much air in a flat tire or balloon? What happens when too much stress is left to simmer, unchecked, in the human mind? Man has set foot on the moon, but has set zero foot prints on cancer! All by itself, the word carries the stench of death. It is the apex or granddaddy of all fears. Nothing scares people faster or quicker than a cancer diagnosis. It is an equal opportunity killer. It makes no difference whether one is a billionaire like the late Steve Jobs, or an ordinary, poverty stricken individual; cancer is no respecter of persons. When given a, “BIG C”, diagnosis, most people instantly see their life flashing in front of them. Cancer is a cold-blooded wake-up call! “I thought I was going to die”, says Winston-Salem’s Joann Agnew, who, after being diagnosed, went home, planned her own funeral… even down to writing her own obituary. But through prayer, meditation, change of diet, eating habits, and other lifestyle changes, Agnew is now celebrating 16 years free of cancer. Around our house, my mother used to sing the blues, most often when things weren’t going well. One of her favorites was, “you don’t miss your water till the well runs dry”. The same applies to our health. We don’t miss it until it’s gone. An initial cancer diagnosis, can bring out the worst in some people…or, in many cases, it can bring out the best! For me, it brought out stuff that I didn’t even know I had! For instance, when you first hear the “C” word, you are likely to break down in a cold sweat. A brain freeze. A runny nose. Trembling hands. Your eyes shutter and pop. Dry air paralyzes your tongue. Your head swims. Fear replaces faith. Tears flow but they are not wet. You feel abandon, lonely and alone. Almost every waking hour, you are scared! Death thoughts linger, leave- -then come back. Cancer is ugly, nasty, evil, painful, vicious. The diagnosis brought me to my knees. For a minute, I felt like a wet dish rag, like salt that had lost its favor and momentarily, I lost consciousness. It wasn’t long before I found myself with a gashing of teeth, weeping and whaling in a corner darker than the darkest midnight hour. A cancer diagnosis is a journey to a place I never intend to visit again. And you don’t want to go where I’ve been! Now, it is a proven, scientific, medically documented fact, that cigarette smoking is the chief cause of lung cancer. This fact alone, however, is hardly enough to dissuade 45 million smokers to quit. Can 45 million people be wrong, stupid or just that ignorant? Short answer: Yes! Centuries ago, the ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates (400-377 BC), the father of natural medicine told us exactly what to do in order to stay healthy. In very simple but profound terms, he said: “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food” Then, he capped it with another singular great truth: “Let walking be thy exercise” Not much else needs to be said. Other than, drink the Kosher-certified Aloe and protect your good health.--John Raye, a life-health coach, is an eight year cancer survivor who lives and writes in Kernersville, NC (rayeandrosie@aol.com) 336-782-8383 Residents of Ferguson Need to Make a Change By Raynard Jackson, NNPA Columnist I’m Gonna Make A Change, For Once In My Life It’s Gonna Feel Real Good, Gonna Make A Difference Gonna Make It Right… I’m Starting With The Man In The Mirror I’m Asking Him To Change His Ways And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change (from Michael Jackson’s hit song “Man in the Mirror”) This song is very appropriate for the situation going on in Ferguson, Mo. Regardless of what happens during all the legal wrangling, one thing is certain: the residents of Ferguson have had all the power they ever needed to make the change they have been seeking. And they haven’t used it. Some have argued that Ferguson is symbolic of “inner city America.” They argue that Ferguson is about racism, hopelessness, structural and systemic discrimination, and Blacks who feel helpless. Well, it’s kind of hard to make these arguments when Blacks are almost 70 percent of Ferguson’s population. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there are 14,297 Blacks and 6,206 Whites; 22 percent live in poverty; the mayor is White; there is only one Black on a 6-member city council (.096 percent); three Blacks out of 53 policemen (5.6 percent); and the St. Louis suburb is the sixth most segregated city in the U.S. As a native of St. Louis, I worked closely with my friend, Freeman R. Bosley, Jr. in his successful efforts to become the first Black Circuit Clerk for the 22nd Judicial Circuit in 1983 and the first Black mayor in 1993 (with 66 percent of the vote). Blacks were a majority of the city; so I thoroughly understand the power of the vote. Juxtapose this with the voting history of Ferguson. In this year’s elections, only 12.3 percent of eligible voters actually voted (17 percent White, 6 percent Black); 11.7 percent in 2013; and 8.9 percent in 2012. How can one argue that Blacks have no power? A more accurate statement is that Blacks have refused to exercise their power. You can’t blame that on the “White man” or “racism” or the “system.” In the Wizard of Oz, the Lion already had courage; the Tin man already had a heart, and the Scarecrow already had a brain; but they had all been so psychologically abused that they couldn’t see the power they already had. The Wizard just simply reminded them of what they already had. Upon the prompting from the Wizard, they then began to actually believe again in themselves and the power lying dormant inside of them. Many across the country are asking: What do the residents of Ferguson want? Thus far, their response has been “justice;” meaning they want the White policeman who killed Michael Brown, Darren Wilson, indicted, convicted, and sent to jail. Well, that is out the control of any one person. The facts of what happened must be established and then let the justice system function. The fact that Blacks have the power of the vote is undeniable. They have the power to control the political climate in Ferguson – that is no fairytale. The question is do they have the courage to look at the man in the mirror and make that change? Do they have the heart to change their apathetic approach to voting as a perpetual tribute to Michael Brown? Do they have the brains to understand the power dynamics of voting? Just like the Wizard did nothing to change the conditions of Dorothy and her friends, there is nothing America needs to do for Ferguson that they can’t do for themselves. They have everything they need. Maybe the death of Brown will be the reminder of what has been lying dormant in the residents of Ferguson all along. Maybe after all of the marches are over, they will be, as Fannie Lou Hamer put it, “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Ferguson has non-partisan elections, meaning no votes are cast based on party affiliation, but vote for the individual. The residents of Ferguson need to begin to run – and vote for – candidates who can best represent their interests. The government can provide tax credits and other tax incentives for businesses to locate to Ferguson. Social service agencies can provide job training programs. And the federal government will even help provide much needed training of their police force. But in the end, Ferguson will have to look at the man – and the woman – in the mirror and make that change. ###### Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a Washington, D.C.-based public relations/ government affairs firm.
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The AC Phoenix: More than a Newspaper, a Community Institution -- Issue No. 2015, September 2014

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