The AC Phoenix: More than a Newspaper, a Community Institution -- Issue No. 2020, February 2015

THE
TRUTH
WILL SET
YOU
FREE
NEWS
YOU
CAN
USE
Get Out and
Get Active
for a Good
Cause!
In Our 31th Year Issue No. 2011 February 2015 Associate Consultants Serving the Triad FREE
Black
Egypt Is
In Africa
By Pat Wilson
Black History Month:
From Slavery To
Obama and Beyond
By Clarence B. Jones
On Saturday, March 28th the Piedmont
Authority for Regional Transportation
(PART) and Triad Air Awareness will kicking
off the 9th Annual Triad Commute Challenge!
Just like in years past, the kickoff
event will be a Certified and Officially
Timed 5K Run/Walk called the Commuter
Dash. The good thing about this event, it is
FREE! Yes you heard that right, FREE. How
do they do that you ask? By signing up for
this 5K Race you are “pledging” that you
Carter G. Woodson
School To Adopt Its
Own Guide Scale
That Takes Poverty
Rates and Limited
English Proficiency
Into Account
The Carter G. Woodson School, one of the
first state charter schools in North Carolina,
located in southeast Winston Salem, is
pleased to announce that it is formulating
its grading scale. The CGWS scale uses factors
adopted by the North Carolina State
Department of Education, but adds factors
that must be considered in order to ascertain
the real educational achievements of
students.
The General Assembly passed recent laws
that call for schools in the state to be
assigned a letter grade, “A through F”.
will try alternative transportation like
riding the bus, carpooling, vanpooling,
walking, biking or telecommuting at least
one time by April 30th. You will also be
entered to win some great prizes!
The Commuter Dash will be held in Downtown
Winston-Salem at Merschel Plaza,
the race starts at 9:00am. There will be
refreshments, vendors and music, so come
on out and join the fun! Persons wishing to
register for the Commuter Dash can do so
by visiting www.triadcommutechallenge.
com or by calling 336-291-4321.
The Commuter Dash will be held in
Downtown Winston-Salem
at Merschel Plaza,
The state used three factors in its grading
process. Those factors are: Achievement,
Growth and Performance. CGWS’s grading
scale uses the three state factors and
additional factors that account for the full
achievements of its student population.
The additional factors used by CGW are:
Economically Disadvantaged Students
Population (EDS) (population greater than
85% free/reduced lunch), School size and
Composition, Hispanics and Limited English
Proficiency (LEP). CGW student population is
94% free/reduced lunch. CGW has a Spanish
population of 55% and 32% of those
students are Limited English Proficiency.
The Board of Directors of Carter G. Woodson
School is scheduled to vote on a final
resolution at its next board meeting.
Of all the locations I’ve visited, Egypt is the
most intriguing My first Holy Land tour was in
1997. My Pastor, Reverend Timothy Flemming,
of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church led about 42
pilgrims from all over the nation to Egypt and
Israel. We flew to New Jersey and caught an
International flight to Cairo, Egypt.
A tour bus picked us up at the airport and
transported us to our hotel. The hotel was part
of an ancient Egyptian Palace. I remember
exclaiming to my husband as we waited for
our luggage to be unloaded from the bus, “Oh
Eugene, just think, tomorrow we will get to
visit the Pyramids!” He said, “Pat, turn around!”
It was almost dark and when I turned there
they were illuminated against the sky by the
last light of dusk, THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA!
The next morning, our tour began at those
very same pyramids. It was so exciting! Sand
blew strongly as we inspected the ancient
magnificence of those pyramids. Some of
our people went on camel rides which we
were cautioned not to do. Why? Sometimes
robbers would take tourist out in the dessert
and take their valuables. After going down a
winding road, we gasped in awe at another
historical wonder, the SPHINX! It was much
more gigantic than I imagined. Spectacular!
We had lunch and bought souvenirs at an
open-air market. It amazed me to see so many
native Egyptians who looked just like my
cousins, friends, and even me!
The afternoon was spent at the EGYPTIAN
MUSEUM. The treasures inside were the most
educational and fascinating discoveries of
our journey. Who knew the ancient Egyptians
looked like some of our brothers and sisters
right here in America! They even had busts,
statues, and paintings of Pharaohs, their
family members, and other leaders with red
and ebony complexions. We were not allowed
to take pictures inside the museum, but we
did videotape. I’m embarrassed at how I
acted like Vanna White turning letters at every
important exhibit. I really wanted to
[continued on page 13]
President Barack Obama
Why do we as a nation celebrate Black History
Month? Why are there no French, Dutch,
German, Spanish, Jewish, Scandinavian, Irish,
Scottish, Greek, etc., history months?
We do so because none of the ancestors of
those ethnic groups were brought here from
their respective country of origin and enslaved
in the United States for centuries with de jure
sanction, enforcement, and approval of their
enslavement by successor governments of the
United States from 1619 to the Emancipation
Proclamation of 1863, and thereafter enduring
de facto racial segregation and oppression
approved by successor national governments
until the 20th century.
A close white family friend humorously and
sarcastically likes to remind me each year
that even in the celebration of Black History
Month, our nation chose February, the month
with the fewest days.
The principal cultural consequence of the
institution of slavery was the systemic
exclusion or distortion of the achievements
and contributions of African Americans
in the history books and media of our
country. Consider the history of black
people in the United States depicted in
movies like Birth of a Nation and Gone With
the Wind, in theatrical stage productions
of black face minstrel shows, and the
long-running radio series Amos & Andy.
Inside This Issue
[continued on page 14]
Why African Americans Are In
Desperate Need Of Mortgage Help 4
Ladder To Minority Business
Success Is In Danger 5
Lewis W. Sullivan Autobiography
Wins NAACP Image Award 6
The Four Letter Words Politicians
Avoid, POOR 13
Why Daughters Need Fathers 14
PEFNC President Responds
To School Performance Grades 14

Page 2 February 2015 The AC Phoenix

Page 3 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
Israel’s Black History
Dr. Ada Fisher
unspoken dilemma is the fact that the
Moslem population has about 8 children
per household versus 2 for the Jews. The
difficulty in maintaining a religiously sovereign
state becomes a dilemma where
Jews will not only be surrounded by those
who don’t serve our G-d but also internally
are outnumbered possibly within this generation.
Willie E. Gary
Honored As Trial
Lawyer Of The Year
Dr. Ada Fisher
Having an opportunity to visit Israel this
year after my previous 1996 trip was
insightful. So much had changed and
I found Her again, while in the midst of
turmoil, a nation very much at peace with
herself in many regards.
My one disappointment with the nation
was how little of Black History is incorporated
by the guides and within the nation
for at its crux is our history as well. In the
story of the creation of the nation of Israel
from the Balfour discussions of 1947, no
one mentioned the yeoman’s work of
Ralph Johnson Bunche, a Black Man whose
mediations led to this outcome and a 1950
Nobel Prize for his efforts. Bunche was a
much honored employee of the US State
Department and UN Department of Trusteeship
handling problems for those who
had not attained self-government. From
June of 1947 to August of 1949 his assignment
was the confrontation between
Arabs and Jews in Palestine which was
called the UN Palestine Commission which
after eleven months of negotiation led to
an armistice agreement between Israel
and the Arab States.
The erroneous assumption that all Jews
are white is both misguided and misreads
the Torah and Bible where men are often
described as putting their hands in their
cloaks and had such extracted as white
or that the Queen of Sheba--Makeda of
Africa had a son by Solomon, Melenick
whose removal of the Arc of the Covenant
reportedly to Ethiopia, also created a distinct
blood line of color for Jews. These
Falashas or Beta Israel have been granted
sanctuary in Israel. Operation Moses, a
large funded voluntary in-migration program
of relocation for them, to which I
contributed, has resulted in their beautiful
ovoid faces within the ranks of the military
or in various jobs in the nation.
There are significant tribes within Zimbabwe
who are thought as well to possibly
be descendants of the lost tribe of Israel.
The Lemba peoples who live in central
Zimbabwe and South Africa have DNA
links to the Cohen Modal Haplotype, an
indicator of Jewish ancestry of Aaron’s
priestly lines of Israel.
Most importantly all who are Jews are free
to settle within Israel’s borders.
The Islamic population of Israel is about
two million of its approximately eight
million residents. Within this land, the
size of New Jersey with population numbers
equal to North Carolina’s, a growing
In Israel, their regard for antiquities is visible
everywhere, hinders expansion and
rebuilding within but allows some access
to all religions for their respective treasures.
Visiting the Golan Heights, West
Bank and Gaza Strip one has a clearer
understanding of why these disputed
lands captured in defensive wars aren’t
likely to be returned—buffer zones and
fertile farmlands abound there. In a state
like North Carolina one could learn much
about self-sufficiency and sustainability
from how Israel manages its resources to
provide its citizens with all they need. And
for our nation, the Israeli military with a
draft of its young demonstrates how such
is important to defense, training of young
people for future careers and in instilling
a sense of pride in their country without
creating a permanent military career
structure.
For Israel it is about faith but also about
remembrance. Visiting the Holocaust
Museum or the Shrine of the Book, is a
constant and ever vigilant reminder of
what can happen to a people who so
willingly glaze over their history. Steve
Harvey’s comment that he “doesn’t give
a damn about slavery” or we should get a
different “Black National Anthem,” reveals
an ignorance of history and the need to
never forget so that it “Never Again” happens
on our watch.
We should hear what Netanyahu as Israel’s
leader has to say for the security of that
region of the world is intimately tied to
Israel’s survival and well-being.
Dr. Ada M. Fisher is a physician, Former
Fortune 500 Medical Director, previous
member of a county board of education,
licensed secondary education teacher,
gifted public speaker, author and is the NC
Republican national Committee Woman.
Her Book, Common Sense Conservative
Prescriptions Solutions for What Ails Us,
Book I is available through Amazon.com.
Contact her at P. O. Box 777; Salisbury, NC
28145; telephone (704) 223-2321; DrFisher@DrAdaMFisher.org
MICHAEL LONG
ATOC Lawns &
Tree Service
336.404.4640
704.606.6857
Willie E. Gary
Willie E. Gary was recently honored by the
National Trial Attorney Summit with the
Trial Lawyer of the Year Award as a Civil
Plaintiff Finalist. The Trial Lawyer of the
Year Award is presented annually by The
National Trial Lawyers and their affiliate
magazine in South Beach Miami. Gary
was recognized as the civil plaintiff lawyer
whose legal repertoire has made substantial
impacts upon the legal community on
a national scale. Any contestant must have
noteworthy accolades such as successful
verdicts and settlements. The constituents
of The National Trial Lawyers select their
winner each year and consider the top 100
trial lawyers from each state. Membership
in The National Trial Lawyers is extended
to the most qualified trial attorneys from
each state who demonstrate superior
qualifications of leadership, reputation,
influence, stature and public profile.
Gary is well-known for his philanthropic
endeavors. In 1994, he and his wife, Dr.
Gloria Gary, founded the Gary Foundation,
which provides college scholarships to atrisk
students who wish to attend college.
The Gary’s have donated millions of dollars
to help Historically Black Colleges and
Universities, including $10 million to their
alma mater, Shaw University in Raleigh,
North Carolina. Gary Law Group.com
The beauty of life is, while we can’t undo what is done, we
can see it, understand it, learn from it and change

Page 4 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
TV Premiere:
Mississippi Inferno
New York, – This year marks the 50th
anniversary of the passage of one of
the most important pieces of civil rights
legislation in American history, the 1965
Voting Rights Act. A new Smithsonian
Channel Black History Month two-part
special, MISSISSIPPI INFERNO reveals the
essential role played by black landowners
and black independent farmers as a real
driving force behind the passage of this
legislation. Narrated by actor, director
and political activist Danny Glover (Lethal
Weapon), the two-part special premieres
Monday, February 16 with MISSISSIPPI
INFERNO: SEEDS OF REVOLT at 8 p.m. ET/
PT, followed by MISSISSIPPI INFERNO:
DEEDS OF DEFIANCE at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
This past November President Obama
awarded the Presidential Medal of
Freedom to slain civil rights activists James
Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew
Goodman, who were murdered by the
Ku Klux Klan during 1964’s historic voter
registration drive. MISSISSIPPI INFERNO
reveals that a second “triple murder” was
being planned by the KKK – only the next
three targets were not “outside agitators,”
but three black landowners who allowed
civil rights workers to stay in their homes.
This group of black landowners and
independent farmers were willing to risk
their land, their homes, and their lives by
using their land as collateral to obtain
property bonds to get hundreds of civil
rights workers out of jail.
MISSISSIPPI INFERNO features compelling
first person accounts of the courage
and resourcefulness of the families who
jeopardized their land and their lives
for social justice. Their story has been
largely ignored and yet they were key to
the success of the civil rights movement.
They not only provided safe havens and
food, but even armed protection to the
outside volunteers who were otherwise
committed to non-violence.
control of 10,000 acres of some of the
most fertile land in the state and become
independent farmers who a generation
later became leaders of the civil rights
movement in Mississippi.
MISSISSIPPI INFERNO is produced by
Thunk It Media in association with
Mentorn Media for Smithsonian Channel.
David Shulman is the producer and
director. Joy Galane and David Royle serve
as executive producers for Smithsonian
Channel.
Smithsonian Channel, owned by
Showtime Networks Inc. and the
Smithsonian Institution, is where curiosity
lives, inspiration strikes and wonders
never cease. This is the place for aweinspiring
stories, powerful documentaries
and amazing entertainment across
multiple platforms. Smithsonian Channel
combines the storytelling prowess
of SHOWTIME® with the unmatched
resources and rich traditions of the
Smithsonian, to create award-winning
programming that shines new light on
popular genres such as air and space,
history, science, nature, and pop culture.
Among the network’s offerings are series
including Aerial America, L.A. Frock Stars,
Secrets, Mighty Ships, Mighty Planes
and Air Disasters, as well as criticallyacclaimed
specials that include Civil War
360, 9/11: The Heartland Tapes; The Day
Kennedy Died and the Peabody winning
MLK: The Assassination Tapes. Find out
more at www.smithsonianchannel.com.
Why African-Americans
are in Desperate
Need of Mortgage
Help
By Marcia Griffin
For African-Americans, the mortgage
landscape is particularly harrowing.
According to sociologists from Rice and
Cornell Universities, African-Americans
are 45 percent more likely than Whites to
go from owning their homes to renting
them.
There are many factors contributing to
this startling statistic. Among them:
* African-Americans are more likely to
lose their homes to foreclosure.
* African-Americans have been more
targeted by predatory lenders.
* African-Americans have less wealth to
put toward homeownership in the first
place.
During the Great Recession, between
2007 and 2010, wealth for Blacks dropped
by an average of 31 percent, home equity
dropped by 28 percent and retirement
savings dropped by 35 percent. During
that same period, Whites lost only 11
percent in wealth, 24 percent in home
equity and actually gained 9 percent in
retirement savings.
So are African-Americans destined to
fall further behind? Not if they are aware
of the statistics and trends and how to
overcome them.
For example, in inner cities, conveniently
located houses will go to non-minority
people who can afford the down payment
and have excellent credit. Meanwhile,
African-Americans will be pushed further
and further out, making it increasingly
difficult to get to work plus; stuck with
sky high rents and slum landlords.
Already, Wall Street investors have bought
thousands of foreclosed homes once
owned by African-Americans. They are
now the owners and we are the renters.
This is the scheme. Rents are predicted to
go up 20 percent per year.
To make matters worse, when investors
sell the properties, African-Americans are
not the buyers. The mortgage approval
requirements are exceedingly high.
Today, the average mortgage denial has
a 722 credit score. The average score
for the people we serve is 630. Since 96
percent of African-American wealth is in
our homes, we lose.
* Non-profit counseling and credit
assistance for distressed homeowners
and prospective homebuyers is available,
but rarely marketed. A lot of this is
valuable, free information from experts in
mortgage and credit fields.
* In many states, there is government
home buying money that goes unused.
This money is also not marketed. Call
your Department of Housing as soon as
possible.
* Limit the financial information you get
online. Speak to a professional over the
phone or in person so you can check out
their credentials.
* Without some guidance and information
the mortgage process can be confusing,
difficult and misleading. One wrong
decision and thousands of dollars can be
lost. So get the information you need.
Marcia Griffin is founder of HomeFree-
USA, a leading intermediary for the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, committed to turning
around home-ownership rates for
African-Americans and other minorities.
For more information: marciaghfusa@
msn.com; 202 288 8510; or call toll free:
(855) 493-4002. Also visit HomeFreeUSA.
org; Twitter: @marciahomefree
Willing to risk it all, they changed the
course of American history. Powerful
southern white officials may have been
worried more about African- Americans
using the “cotton vote” to take over
agricultural committees which controlled
millions of dollars in federal crop
subsidies than they were about black
enfranchisement. Also told is the story
of an independent farmer and teacher,
Robert Clarke J.R., who came to own the
land on which his great-grandparents
were enslaved and became the first black
candidate elected to a state-wide office
in Mississippi since Reconstruction.
The film also reveals how a New Deal era
experiment in land reform enabled over
100 families of sharecroppers to gain
Marcia Griffin
Buying a house or a piece of property
to call your own is part of the American
Dream. But, if you’re African-American,
that dream is becoming further and
further out of reach.
Whether you’re a renter trying to buy
your first home or a homeowner looking
for a modification to avoid foreclosure,
it has become more difficult than ever
to get approved for a loan and just as
challenging to understand the nuances
of what lenders are looking for.
While these statistics and trends are grim,
they are certainly not insurmountable.
With goal-oriented financial education
and information, thousands of
homeowners have achieved their
financial goals in recent years. Not only
that, but many families have achieved 0
percent foreclosure rates - a remarkable
feat in the recent economy.
Here is some valuable information that
could lead in that direction:
* Remember, the mortgage industry is in
business to make lots of money by any
means necessary. The less you know, the
fewer your options and the more you can
be taken advantage of.

Page 5 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
Don’t Take Away the
Ladder to Success for
Aspiring Minority
Small Business
Owners
By Djenane Bartholomew
Franchising is a unique business
arrangement. Golden Corral provides
a known brand which includes a
logo, advertising and marketing, and
specifications on everything from the
160-item buffet/salad bar to the The
Chocolate Wonderfall fondue dipping
fountain. Instead of the challenge of
starting a business from scratch, with
franchise ownership our customers know
what to expect when they walk through
our doors.
Just the same, we are the bosses in the
best sense of the word. We recruit, hire
and train our staff. We are responsible for
maintenance and watch the receipts so
we can compete in our local community
marketplace. We are responsible for
schedules, wages and encouraging the
members of our team to do their best
work. It has been a pleasure to see people
grow professionally. In fact, we have now
employed the children of our employees
and many see working for us not merely
as a job but as a career.
from all walks of life, we would likely
see large corporations consolidating
operations with big, regional companies
created by buying up small business
operations like ours.
These challenges will have a
negative impact on the independent,
entrepreneurial spirit that has helped fuel
America’s growth and economic recovery,
and has paved the way for thousands
to achieve their dreams of running their
own businesses and serving their own
communities.
Live the way you want to
be remembered
An Associate Consultant’s
Newspaper
Established in 1983
Rodney J. Sumler, Publisher
Jerome Johnson, Managing Editor
Dwight A. Jones, Editor
Ann F. Sumler, Finance Director
Advertising Constants
Chenita Johnson, Gerald Green
ACM Graphic Design
Ideas expressed in this publication
are not necessarily those of the
publisher or staff.
(336) 635 4096 Fax (336) 635 4567
e-mail: acphoenix@bellsouth.net
This small business franchise model,
which has worked so well for my family
and other minority entrepreneurs, is in
danger of being upended. The National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is trying to
change the definition of “joint employer.”
. Dexter and Djenane Bartholomew own
in Kentucky and two in New Jersey. The
couple has been married for 17 years and
sponsors several community youth organizations
at their home in New Jersey.
Djenane, who is a registered nurse, also
volunteers at a mobile clinic each year on
a trip to her native Haiti.
Every day my husband and I make
decisions that affect the lives of 450
people and their families. It’s a lot of
responsibility but above all a labor of
love. It is all part of being local franchise
owners and living our American dream.
The franchise model has been a gateway
for millions of people over the years to
achieve small business ownership, many
of them from racial or ethnic minority
groups. It is important to not only
preserve, but to strengthen this business
model.
My husband came from Grenada and
worked for UPS for over 20 years. As a
young man, he had the foresight to invest
in a property in Brooklyn which grew in
value over the years. Blessed with some
money when we sold it, we considered
how to invest our good fortune into a
new livelihood and soon discovered that
franchising was the way to go for us.
We started with Subway sandwich shops,
then added Dunkin’ Donuts and Popeye’s
Chicken and Buscuit but migrated to
casual sit-down dining that did not
include alcohol. The folks at Golden
Corral shared our values and this began
our journey to ownership, which ended
with seven Golden Corral locations, five
in Kentucky and two in New Jersey.
This is more than just a technical issue.
If Golden Corral is considered a joint
employer, my husband and I would lose
control over the day-to-day issues at our
restaurants. If Golden Corral and their
locally-owned franchise owners morph
into one big employer, we could lose
our restaurants - and with it the hard
work and money we’ve put into them
- altogether, as Golden Corral could be
forced to assume direct control over the
day-to-day operations of our restaurants.
This would be a tragedy for us and our
employees because they are not just part
of our businesses, but part of our family.
I also worry about aspiring entrepreneurs
who might be looking at owning a
franchise themselves. Why would men
and women looking at franchising
consider it if the core of what makes it a
proven and workable business model is
removed? This would prevent jobs from
being created and businesses expanded,
in an industry that has been growing
faster than the general economy in recent
years.
What’s more, according to a 2007
report from the International Franchise
Association, 20.5% of franchised
businesses were owned by minorities,
compared to 14.2% of non-franchised
businesses. A little more than ten years
ago they made up just five percent of
franchise owners. Franchising works for
people who may have faced barriers to
succeeding with their own businesses
and policymakers should encourage this
trend.
If the franchise model is shattered by
the NLRB’s revised definition of joint
employer, instead of an economy
populated with small business operators

Page 6 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
Louis W. Sullivan
Autobiography Wins
NAACP Image Award
Atlanta, GA - The autobiography of one of
the nation’s most admired public health
leaders has won an NAACP Image Award.
Authored by Louis W. Sullivan, M.D. (with
David Chanoff), and published by the
University of Georgia Press, “Breaking
Ground: My Life in Medicine” chronicles
Sullivan’s rise from a childhood in the
Jim Crow South to become a physician,
founding dean of Morehouse School of
Medicine -- the first predominantly black
medical school established in the 20th
Century -- and to serve as secretary of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services in the Cabinet of President
George H.W. Bush from 1989-1993.
The annual NAACP Image Awards
celebrates the accomplishments of
people of color in literature, film,
television, and music and also honors
individuals or groups who promote social
justice through creative endeavors.
Winners in the 46th NAACP Image Awards
literary categories were announced at
a gala dinner in Pasadena, California
Thursday, February 5, 2015.
About The Honorable Louis W. Sullivan,
M.D.
Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., is chairman of the
board of the National Health Museum in
Atlanta, Georgia, whose goal is to improve
the health of Americans by enhancing
health literacy and advancing healthy
behaviors. He also is chairman of the
Washington, D.C.-based Sullivan Alliance
to Transform the Health Professions -- a
national non-profit organization with a
community-focused agenda to diversify
and transform health professions’
education and health delivery systems.
As Secretary of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Dr. Sullivan
worked to improve the health and health
behavior of Americans including:
(1) leading the effort to increase the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget
from $8.0 billion in 1989 to $13.1 billion
in 1993;
(2) Establishing at NIH, the Office of
Research on Minority Health, which has
become the Institute for Research on
Minority Health and Health Disparities;
(3) Inaugurating the Women’s Health
Research Program at NIH;
(4) Introducing a new, improved Food
and Drug Administration food label;
(5) Releasing Healthy People 2000, a
guide for improved health promotion/
disease prevention activities;
(6) Educating the public regarding the
health dangers from tobacco use; (7)
leading the successful effort to prevent
the introduction of “Uptown,” a nonfiltered,
mentholated cigarette;
(8) Inaugurating a $100 million minority
male health and injury prevention
initiative; and
(9) Implementing greater gender and
ethnic diversity in senior positions of HHS,
including the appointment of the first
female director of NIH, the first female
(and first Hispanic) Surgeon General of
the U.S. Public Health Service, the first
African American Commissioner of the
Social Security Administration, and the
first African-American Administrator of
the Health Care Financing Administration
(now the Center for Medicare and
Medicaid Services).
Dr. and Mrs. E. Ginger Sullivan are
sponsors of The Sullivan 5K Run/Walk for
Health & Fitness on Martha’s Vineyard.
Now in its 26th year, the popular event
has raised more than $400,000 to benefit
Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Dr. Sullivan is the recipient of more
than 60 honorary degrees, including an
honorary doctor of medicine degree from
the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
He is also the author of The Morehouse
Mystique: Becoming a Doctor at the
Nation’s Newest African American
Medical School (with Marybeth Gasman,
2012, Johns Hopkins University Press).
Remember
Your First
Real History
Lesson?
When Grandma used to sit you down and talk about her life she
wasn’t just telling tales. She was following a long line of black
historians who passes their precious knowledge from generation
to generation using the most expressive instrument created. The
human voice.
This knowledge is power. Because when you know where you come
from, you know who you are. Our grandparents knew this. so did
W.E.B. Dubois, Sojurner Truth, Carter G. Woodson and martin Luther
King. they also knew how important it was that this knowledge
continue to be handed down. We all have a responsibility to preserve
and protect this history in order to positively affect the quality of our
future.
Happy Birthday - February 21st
To a Lady Blessed to live 86 years
Hazel Johnson Sumler
We love you! You are greatly missed!
Wilma, Rodney, Ann, Willia, 9 Grands and 20 Great Grands

Page 7 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
City Cuts the Ribbon
on First Community
GigaPower Site
Officials for the city and AT&T held a ribbon-cutting
Jan. 15 to celebrate the availability
of AT&T’s ultra-high-speed internet
connection at the Carl H. Russell Sr. Recreation
Center’s WinstonNet Lab.
The center is the first public site in Winston-Salem
to receive free ultra-highspeed
service under AT&T’s agreement to
connect up to 20 public sites with the city
to build an all-fiber network with speeds
up to 1 gigabit per second in Winston-
Salem.
Mayor Allen Joines noted that the fiber
network was announced only 10 months
ago. “The fact that we’re cutting the ribbon
so soon at the first public access site
is a testimony to the cooperation and
can-do attitude that is making this fiber
network a reality. I would like to thank
the hard-working employees at AT&T and
the city who are making this possible. Everyone
in Winston-Salem, businesses and
residents alike, will benefit from the new
opportunities that it will bring.”
Venessa Harrison, the president of AT&T
North Carolina, said, “The legacy of Carl
Russell, for whom the center is named, is
one of service that impacts lives and creates
opportunities. So as we think about
how broadband technology will open
new doors of opportunity, education and
economic growth, it seems fitting that
the first gigabit community site should
be at this center.”
Dennis Newman, the city’s chief information
officer, said, “This event demonstrates
the city’s commitment to work
with AT&T for the benefit of our community.
Residents of all ages can now visit
the Carl Russell Community Center and
use WinstonNet’s computer lab equipped
with leading-edge equipment. We look
forward to expanding this to other recreation
centers in the city.”
AT&T is providing the public-access sites
under an agreement whereby the city
provided expedited permitting and inspections
approval for the all-fiber network,
which AT&T announced last April.
The service, called U-verse with GigaPower,
will be available to residents as well as
businesses.
Make sure you don’t start seeing yourself through
the eyes of those who don’t value you.
Know your worth even if they don’t.

Page 8 February 2015 The AC Phoenix

Page 9 February 2015 The AC Phoenix

Page 10 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
Former Public
School Advocate
Partners With School
Choice Advocate To
Widen Educational
Opportunities For
Children
Lewis served as the political director and
chief lobbyist for the North Carolina Association
of Educators for five years before
opening last year his own firm, New
Frame LLC, in Raleigh.
“This marks a turning point in the public
conversation about education reform in
North Carolina,” Allison said. “On behalf
of PEFNC, I look forward to working with
Brian and other current and former leaders
in the public education establishment
to have productive discussions and even
create and shape policy that could better
complement our public schools.”
Brian Lewis
Former NCAE Executive Brian Lewis
partners with School Choice Advocate,
Darrell Allison, to broaden the important
role of private schools in public education
RALEIGH – Parents for Educational Freedom
in North Carolina (PEFNC) President
Darrell Allison announced today that the
organization is teaming up with former
North Carolina Association of Educators
(NCAE) Chief Lobbyist Brian Lewis to ensure
all children have the opportunity to
learn in an environment that works for
them.
“Darrell and I have participated in many
public forums and media interviews in
which we’ve stood on opposing sides of
parental school choice,” Lewis said. “But
we’ve also had – over the past many years
–honest, candid conversations about
how we can improve the quality of education
our children receive. I have also
had real personal experience around this
as well, and all of this has led me to believe
that if we continue to take a ‘public
schools only’ approach to education, we
will continue to fail our children.”
For many years, Lewis has been an active
and dogged opponent of school choice
initiatives. However, his experience trying
to find an academic environment in
which his daughter can best thrive as well
as his conversations with Allison have
changed his perspective.
“Our partnership in hosting future forums
around the state represents a significant
milestone in the parental school
choice movement,” Allison said. “Usually
when talking about this hot-button issue,
advocates on both sides retreat to
their staked-out positions and cut off
discussion. Hopefully, more of our leaders,
regardless of party affiliation or special
interest, can begin to have more dialogue
on how we can come together. At
the end of the day, parents don’t really
care what make or model a school happens
to be; they just want an education
that will work for their children. By coming
together and placing children as the
main focus, we have a better chance at
providing them a ‘sound, basic education’
as mandated by our state’s constitution.”
Our announcement comes just one week
before the state Supreme Court hears arguments
regarding the constitutionality
of the Opportunity Scholarship Program.
The program is in the middle of its first
year, and the court authorized in December
the state to move forward with
processing applications for the 2015-16
school year.
About PEFNC: PEFNC is a statewide organization
that supports greater educational
options through parental school
choice, such as the Opportunity Scholarship
Program. Our mission is to inform
parents of the benefits of expanded educational
options and empower them to
exercise freedom in meeting their children’s
needs, regardless of race, national
origin, income or religion. PEFNC envisions
an education system that maximizes
parental choice because children have
unique needs and parents should have
the freedom to choose the best education
to meet those needs.
“After having to enroll my child in a private
school, I now understand that private
schools can play an important role
in the education of our children,” he continued.
“I have been and will continue to
be a strong proponent of public education
and of our public school teachers,
but I do believe, as Darrell has stated on a
number of occasions, that other alternative
schools can work in unison with our
public school system.”

Page 11 February 2015 The AC Phoenix

Page 12 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
FBI Director
Acknowledges ‘Hard
Truths’ About Racial
Bias In Policing
By Sari Horwitz
FBI Director James B. Comey
In an unusually frank and personal
speech, FBI Director James B. Comey on
Thursday addressed “hard truths” about
policing, acknowledging racial bias
among law enforcement officers and
lamenting a “disconnect” between police
agencies and communities of color.
“We are at a crossroads,” Comey said. “As
a society, we can choose to live our lives
every day, raising our families, going to
work and hoping someone, somewhere
will do something to ease the tension,
to smooth over the conflict. . . . Or we
can choose instead to have an open
and honest discussion about what our
relationship is today.”
In giving the speech, to students at
Georgetown University, Comey placed
himself at the heart of the politically
charged debate on race, policing and
use of force that has so often riven
minority communities during the Obama
administration.
President Obama has spoken out several
times about allegations of police brutality
against minorities. In 2009, Attorney
General Eric H. Holder Jr. sparked a
controversy with a speech in which he
said the United States was a “nation of
cowards” when it came to discussing race.
Comey’s remarks were perhaps less
provocative but still remarkably candid
for a director of the FBI. They also did not
come without risk, given the backlash
by police across the country to previous
statements by political figures about
racial bias in law enforcement.
Police “often work in environments where
a hugely disproportionate percentage
of street crime is committed by young
men of color,” Comey said. “Something
happens to people of goodwill working
in that environment. After years of police
work, officers often can’t help but be
influenced by the cynicism they feel.”
A police officer, whether “white or black,”
has a different reaction to two young
black men on the side of a street than
he does to two white men, Comey said,
because the black men “look like so many
others the officer has locked up.”
At one point in his remarks, Comey cited
the song “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist”
from the Broadway musical “Avenue Q”
in making the case that everyone makes
judgments based on race.
“Look around and you will find,” Comey
said, quoting the lyrics, “no one’s really
colorblind.”
Comey’s speech follows a series of highprofile
cases in which police have been
accused of racial bias, including the fatal
shooting in August of Michael Brown, an
unarmed black teenager in Ferguson,
Mo., by a white police officer, as well as the
choking death of Eric Garner, an unarmed
black man, at the hands of a white police
officer in New York City in July.
In December, two minority New York
police officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael
Ramos, were gunned down in Brooklyn
while in a patrol car. During their memorial
services, police officers turned their backs
on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom
they accused of making insensitive
comments about law enforcement.
Adolphus Pruitt, president of the St. Louis
branch of the NAACP, which has been
deeply involved in the response to the
shooting in Ferguson last year, applauded
Comey’s remarks.
“It is extremely profound and timely
that the folks at the highest level of the
justice system and law enforcement
are beginning to talk publicly about
what they know and we have always
suspected,” Pruitt said.
While acknowledging biases within
law enforcement, Comey, the grandson
of an Irish police officer, also called
on communities to appreciate the
perspective of officers who “want to do
good for a living” and who often risk their
lives to protect others.
“Citizens also need to really see the men
and women of law enforcement,” he said.
“They need to see what the police see
through their windshields and as they
walk down the street. They need to see
the risks and dangers of law enforcement
encountered on every typical late-night
shift.”
Amid the tension, Comey said, there
is also a need for better data about
encounters between police and the
communities they protect. Comey said
that, not long after the riots began in
Ferguson, he asked his staff to provide
statistics on the number of African
Americans shot by police. They could not,
he said, because data regarding officerinvolved
shootings is not consistently
reported to the FBI. “It’s ridiculous that I
can’t tell you how many people were shot
by the police in this country,” he later said
in response to a student’s question.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the
Police Executive Research Forum, said
Comey showed a “clear understanding of
the issues.”
“With this speech, Jim Comey brought the
FBI right into the national conversation
about race and policing,” Wexler said. “His
candor and forthrightness are striking
and a breath of fresh air.”
But Jim Pasco, the executive director of
the National Fraternal Order of Police,
said the issues Comey addressed were
the same ones the nation’s largest police
organization has long been focused
on. “We agree about the statistics of
deaths in police custody,” Pasco said.
“But we are also a proponent of keeping
statistics on the assaults and deaths
of law enforcement officers, which are
supposed to be kept by the FBI but are
not kept completely.”
In his remarks, Comey also reflected on
the bitter history of race in America. A
century ago, he noted, the police viewed
the Irish “as drunks, ruffians and criminals.”
“Law enforcement’s biased view of the
Irish lives on in the nickname we still
use for the vehicles we use to transport
groups of prisoners; it is, after all, the
‘paddy wagon,’ ” Comey said. “The
Irish had some tough times, but little
compares to the experience on our soil of
black Americans.”
Comey said he keeps on his desk the
one-page, five-sentence order that FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover requested and
Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
signed to wiretap the Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr.
New FBI recruits, who are overwhelmingly
white and male, have been taken to the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum for
many years as part of their training. But
since he became director, Comey has also
insisted that new agents and analysts
also be taken to the Martin Luther King
Jr. Memorial.
“Much of our history is not pretty,” Comey
said. “At many points in American history,
law enforcement enforced the status quo,
a status quo that was often brutally unfair
to disfavored groups.”
Still, Comey said, law enforcement must
learn from its “inheritance.”
“Many people in our white-majority
culture have unconscious racial biases
and react differently to a white face than
a black face,” Comey said.
“We simply must find a way to see each
other more clearly,” he said, adding later:
“It is hard to hate up close.”
Wesley Lowery contributed to this report.
Governor McCrory
Celebrates The life
and Legacy of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
In celebration of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Day, Governor McCrory, joined
by hundreds of elected officials, state
employees and citizens, spent Friday
afternoon honoring the legacy at the
Annual State Employees Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Day Observance in downtown
Raleigh. The theme of this year’s program
was “The Civil Rights Movement in Words
and Music: From Slavery to Freedom.”
“In honoring Dr. King, we wish to honor
the heritage of music and words that
has sustained generations and offered
a powerful building block toward
understanding,” Governor McCrory
said. “He inspired us with his spirit and
passion, touched the lives of millions of
people and his message of respect, peace
and justice still resonates strongly today.”
The program included performances
by the Bennett College Choir, Shaw
University Choir, remarks from
Governor McCrory, Secretary of the N.C.
Department of Cultural Resources Susan
Kluttz and a keynote address by John
W. Franklin of the National Museum of
African American History and Culture.
During Governor McCrory’s remarks,
military affairs advisor General Cornell
Wilson presented Clemon Terrell, a
Burlington-native and veteran of the
Coast Guard, with the Long Leaf Pine
award. Mr. Terrell was recently promoted
to honorary chief petty officer for his
20 years in the Coast Guard when
segregation prevented him from
achieving the deserved rank.
On Sunday, Governor McCrory officially
proclaimed Monday “Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Day” in North Carolina.
You may not like the outcome
of your decision, but you
always have a choice

Page 13 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
Neither Obama Nor
Republicans Have
Vision
By Raynard Jackson
Raynard Jackson
Last week I thought Stevie Wonder gave
a great State of the Union Speech. Oops,
did I say Stevie Wonder, I meant to say
President Obama. But like Stevie Wonder,
I couldn’t see the America the president
was describing in his speech.
Listening to Obama, you would have
thought that America, especially Blacks,
had full employment. But according to
the Labor Department, the national unemployment
rate is 5.6 percent and 10.4 percent
for Blacks – nothing to brag about in
either case.
The Hispanic unemployment rate is 6.5
percent. Well, this stands to reason since
Obama has bent over backward to address
issues uniquely impacting Latinos, but has
done nothing to address the myriad of
pathologies negatively affecting the Black
community.
Am I really the only one who has noticed
that the Black unemployment rate is
almost twice that of the Hispanic community?
If not, why does no one seems to be
angry? How ironic it is that the first Black
president has done more to help every
other community more than his own –
Hispanics, illegals, homosexuals, etc.
When Obama began talking about the
obstructionist Republicans, I thought he
was talking to an all-Black audience. He
was condescending, arrogant, dismissive,
and professorial in his lecture to Republicans.
Listening to Obama, you would have
thought the Democrats had just won a
resounding victory in the November elections.
While Obama has failed Democrats and
Blacks, Republican leaders in Congress
have proven that they are equally blind
to the needs of their followers. They have
done absolutely nothing to inspire confidence
within the rank-and-file of the
party. They have caved on bedrock issues,
including homosexuality, amnesty for illegals,
and foreign labor at the expense of
American workers just to name a few.
If Republicans are going to be “Democrats
light,” why settle for a knockoff when we
can have the real brand? It is becoming
more difficult to distinguish the Republican
leadership from the Democrats
because Republicans are too busy trying
to be liked instead of standing up for the
party’s beliefs based on a core set of principles.
For example, Obama wants to
mandate paid leave for those who have
a baby or adopt. While this sounds good
and all touchy feely, can someone explain
to me what is the rationale or legitimate
role for government intervention on this
issue? I thought Republicans believed in
keeping the government out of our lives.
Republicans are so obsessed with trying to
garner the female vote that they lose sight
of their principles. All they need to do is to
explain that based on a Republican view of
the world, the government has no legitimate
role to mandate that an employer
provide certain benefits. It is up to the
employer to do what he or she deems is
in the best interest of the company and its
workers. If the employer is on the wrong
side of a given issue, the marketplace will
make it known through good employees
leaving for a better company that will give
them all the perks they feel they deserve.
This is a real-world example of a practical
“conservative” principle in action. Having
a child is strictly a personal, private issue
and there is absolutely no role for the government
in this area of one’s life. Having a
child is a responsibility, not a right. If you
can’t afford a child, you should delay child
birth until you can afford it.
Obama wants to increase minimum wage.
He said, “If you truly believe you could
work full-time and support a family on less
than $ 15,000 a year, go try it. If not, vote
to give millions of the hardest-working
people in America a raise.”
Well, maybe these “hardest-working”
people should have worked harder to
reach for some birth control to avoid
having kids. Minimum wage was never
meant for adults; it was created to give
high schoolers their first job to prepare
them for adulthood.
On the surface, offering a free community
college education sounds like a great idea.
But how is it going to be paid for? Will Congress
allot new money or merely re-direct
what’s already in the pot, meaning other
programs will suffer.
It’s quite obvious that Obama doesn’t care
that this program will further destroy Historically
Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs). Obama has done more to harm
HBCUs than any president in modern history.
On the other hand, Republicans have
been among the staunchest supporters
of HBCUs. Why haven’t they stepped up
on this important issue? Is this how they
“reach out” to African Americans?
And what about Obama’s point about
equal pay for women? He said, “That’s why
this Congress still needs to pass a law that
makes sure a woman is paid the same as a
man for doing the same work. Really. It’s
2015. It’s time.”
Obama should clean up his own home
before pointing to dirt in others. The Washington
Post reported last July that males
get paid 13 percent ($10,200) more than
women in the Obama White House.
Even when it comes to politics, both
Obama and Republicans are short-sighted.
The Four-Letter Word
Politicians Avoid: Poor
By William Spriggs
William Spriggs
In his State of the Union address on Jan.
20, President Barack Obama never used
the word “poor” and only used the word
“poverty” once, which was in the context
of fighting “extreme poverty” globally, in
emphasizing the recent Ebola outbreak
in West Africa.
The previous week, most Americans were
shocked by a report from the Southern
Education Foundation suggesting that
low-income students were now the majority
in America’s public schools. What the
report actually found was that the majority
of America’s school children were eligible
to receive free or reduced price lunches
at their schools. Some of the eligible poor
students are living in poverty, others are
at near-poverty levels and the rest go to
schools with high concentrations of poor
students. So, maybe that explains why this
report didn’t influence the president to
change his State of the Union to mention
the word poor, or poverty.
Nonetheless, the dire situation of America’s
children means we must move to a
new accounting framework. Economists
have favored real gross domestic product
(GDP) per capita-the value of all goods and
services produced by a country adjusted
for population size and inflation. For economists,
this figure marks what is possible
for a nation, since it measures the resources
available to address problems-whether
an outbreak of Ebola or the need to build
roads and bridges or educate a nation.
In January 1964, the real GDP per capita of
the United States stood at $19,233, when
President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his State
of the Union address, told America that:
This administration today, here and now,
declares unconditional war on poverty
in America. I urge this Congress and all
Americans to join with me in that effort.
It will not be a short or easy struggle, no
single weapon or strategy will suffice, but
we shall not rest until that war is won. The
richest nation on earth [emphasis added]
can afford to win it. We cannot afford to
lose it.
I added emphasis to the “richest nation
on earth,” because the United States real
GDP per capita was the largest at the time.
And, so, as President Johnson said, “we can
afford” to defeat poverty.
This January, the real GDP per capita for
the United States is more than $50,805.
Given the poverty level for a family of four
is $23,850, it is a real puzzle how, with
output per person growing by $31,572,
poverty was not eradicated. Clearly the
fruits of growth didn’t spread very wide.
Instead, we began 2013 with 19.9 percent
of America’s children living in poverty.
Sadly, 7.6 percent of America’s children
live in a household below the poverty line,
where at least one family member works
year-round full-time; a clear testament to
the effects of falling and stagnant wages
for all workers. Falling wages have pushed
the rings of the middle-income ladder on
top of the collapsing rungs of the falling
minimum wage and the working poor. But
there was no mention of the word “poor”
or ending poverty, though clearly “we can
afford” to end it.
The silver lining in the story on the high
share of American children getting subsidized
lunches is that it is a sign we can
get it: that the wealth of the United States
can solve some problems-it can help feed
our children. And it shows a use of the
“commons,” in the sense that many of our
states are “commonwealths”-as the U.S.
Constitution puts it to “promote the general
welfare.”
But with so many of our children poor, near
poor and in school systems with high concentrations
of poor children, the “general
welfare” becomes even more important.
Unless we act, too many of our children
will be priced out of the education our
nation needs them to attain to sustain our
economy and run our complex defense
systems, or add to our cultural riches or
cure our sick.
We need a national accounting that measures
what the nation needs. And with so
many poor children, the deficits we face
if we let people be “priced out” will not
be close.
Instead, what we are now hearing from
Congress is that the richest nation on
earth that sent people safely into outer
space, launched the interstate highway
system and found the vaccine to polio
when its per capita GDP was less than
half its current size, cannot now afford to
educate its children.
My paternal grandmother grew up in Fayette
County, Iowa, at the turn of the past
century. The motto of West Union High
of Fayette in 1919 was: Impossible is un-
American. Maybe that is why Congress has
such a low rating?

Page 14 February 2015 The AC Phoenix
Black History Month
From Slavery To
Obama and Beyond
By Clarence B. Jones
[continued from page 1]
Clarence B. Jones
The historical impact of years of exclusion
and distortion of positive images and knowledge
about the achievements of African
Americans in our national literature, books
and magazines was poignantly reflected
in the results the “Dolls Test,” designed and
administered by a husband-and-wife team
of psychologists, Drs. Mamie and Kenneth
Clark, in connection with the 1954 Supreme
Court decision outlawing racial segregation
in public education.
The dolls used in the test were identical in all
respects except that one was white, the other
brown. Similar age groups of white and black
children, with equal numbers of boys and
girls, were asked the same questions about
the dolls:
Which doll is the “ugly” doll?
Which doll is the “pretty” doll?
Which doll is “good” doll?
Which doll is the “bad” doll?
Which doll “would you like to be when you
grow up?”
All the white students and an overwhelming
majority of the black students gave the same
answers: the brown doll was “ugly” and “bad.”
The white doll was “pretty” and the one they
would most like to be when they grow up.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that
racial segregation claiming to be “equal” was
inherently unequal because it conferred a
“badge of inferiority” in the minds of white
and black schoolchildren.
Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to the
African-American historian Dr. Carter G.
Woodson. In 1926 he initiated Negro History
Week for the second week of February. It was
scheduled to occur between the birthdays of
the Negro abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass
and President Abraham Lincoln. In 1976
this became Black History Month.
The founding of Ebony Magazine by John
Johnson was a milestone effort to present
pictures and stories about the African-American
experience to blacks and whites who had
never had the opportunity to see black life in
our country.
quential impact of the legacy of slavery and
its ideological rationale of white supremacy
has been the core of our national hypocrisy
about the relationships between white and
black people in America.
The election of Barack Obama in 2008 as the
first African American to become president
of the United States has been interpreted by
a significant number of white people as the
advent of a new “post-racial America.”
I created and teach a course in the College
of Arts and Sciences at the University of San
Francisco called “From Slavery to Obama.” I
am grateful for the support we receive from
the administration and faculty at USF. Over
a period of 15 weeks, I seek to provide our
students with a historical framework for the
impact that the institution of slavery has had
upon the mindsets and lives of subsequent
generations of the children of slaves and
slave owners.
Commencing this September, USF plans, for
the first time, to offer this course in the form
of online videos to its enrolled students, and
subsequently to students at other colleges
and universities.
For those who genuinely believed the election
of Barack Obama was the arrival of a
post-racial America, I hope their examination
of the significant opposition to the legitimacy
of his first term as president and the
continued intransigent opposition to him
by a Republican-controlled Congress might
provide some degree of a reality check on
their belief.
PEFNC President
Responds To School
Performance Grades
Report
By Darrell Allison
Darrell Allison
Raleigh, NC – Below is a statement from
Parents for Educational Freedom in North
Carolina (PEFNC) President Darrell Allison
regarding the School Performance Grades
Report issued last week:
“Our state took a positive step toward providing
parents and school leaders with a transparent,
user-friendly measure on how public
schools are performing,” Allison said. “We
need a fair system that is helpful to parents
who want to know how a school is potentially
impacting their child. Undoubtedly, there has
The reality of race in America and the consebeen,
and will continue to be, debate about
the efficacy of the grading system; however,
there is one glaring fact that is staring at us
all – educators, policy makers and the general
public – far too many of our low-income students
living in certain zip codes are zoned to
schools that have the lowest grades.
I am hopeful the discussion will shift from
whether leaders support or disapprove of
the current school performance report to a
more important question: how can we work
to ensure that all of our children have access
to the resources they need to meet their fullest
potential?”
The newly released school performance
grades were mandated by a law approved
by the General Assembly in 2013.
Parents can go to the North Carolina Department
of Public Instruction website to view
individual school grades as well as district
grades: www.ncpublicschools.org/src/.
PEFNC is a statewide organization that supports
greater educational options through
parental school choice, such as the Opportunity
Scholarship Program. The program,
passed in July 2013, creates scholarships of
up to $4,200 for low-income and workingclass
families to attend a private school. To
be eligible for a scholarship for the 2015-
2016 school year, household income must
not exceed 133% of the amount to qualify for
free and reduced price lunch (about $59,668
for a family of 4).
This too, shall pass
Why Daughters Need
Fathers
By Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
Excerpted from Raising Black Girls and
Educating Black Girls
The media and the academic community
provide a wealth of information on why
boys need their fathers. The most obvious
being you can’t be someone you have not
seen. Girls can look at their mothers and
receive the importance and significance of
role models on a daily basis. But, why do
girls need fathers?
How will a girl learn how to be loved by a
man? What criteria will a girl use to select
a mate if she has not seen a man at home?
Why do many females choose thugs over
scholars? Why do so many choose disrespectful
men over gentlemen? How will
she know how she should be treated by
a man?
Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu
Forty-seven percent of rapes are due to
date rape. In a relationship, there is a 61%
chance of a physical altercation. Sixty per
cent of teen pregnancies occur between
males three to five years her senior. Are
girls looking for an older male to fill the
shoes of their missing daddies?
In my book, Raising Black Girls, I provide
over 20 illustrations of girls suffering from
“daddy issues”. They range from having a
low grade point average, to depression.
They include not being able to trust a man,
staying in toxic relationships, multiple sex
partners, and suicide. Our daughters are
crying out for their fathers. The question
becomes, are the fathers listening?
Some fathers feel that when children are
younger they need their mothers more
and some also believe their sons need
them more than their daughters. I believe
young children and daughters need their
fathers more than ever before. When
daughters are loved and respected by the
most important male in their lives, they
will not settle for second best.
Can you visualize a father reviewing his
daughter’s attire before she leaves the
house? Many females dress promiscuous
because the father was absent. Can you
picture a father rehearsing the famous
lines males use to try to seduce young
girls? This could reduce teen pregnancy
and possessing an STD. Can you imagine
a father taking his daughter out in a limo
to a five star restaurant? He is teaching her
to be a queen and to have high standards
and high expectations. He is teaching her
not to act like the degrading names gangster
rappers call females.
The challenge is that only 28% of our
daughters have fathers in the home. I am
imploring the remaining 72% to call their
daughters and begin to spend time with
them. Don’t worry, she will teach you all
the things that interests her, like, what she
wants to do with you, what she wants to
talk about, and how she wants you to love
her.
How nice to anticipate her glorious wedding
day where you will walk her down
the aisle and give your daughter away to
a man that meets your approval. A man
who reminds you of yourself.
Make it a Great Day!

Page 15 February 2015 The AC Phoenix

Page 16 February 2015 The AC Phoenix