1 www.cnyvision.

com | may 9 - 15| 2013

syracuse ny vol. 4 no. 6 may 9 - 15 2013
Corrupt minority officials
becoming a major problem
cover P6
2 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
LocaL office:
2331 South Salina Street
Syracuse, NY 13205
PH: 315-849-2461

Headquarters:
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Rochester, NY 14621
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Publisher/editor
Dave McCleary
davemc@cnyvision.com
business Manager
Pauline McCleary
pmccleary@minorityreporter.net
art director
Catie Fiscus
artdirector@MinorityReporter.net
PhotograPher
La Vergne Harden
lharden@cnyvision.com
advertising
Dave McCleary
Lucy Smith
advertising@cnyvision.com
editorial staff
Lisa Dumas
George Kilpatrick
Gary McLendon
Rasheeda Alford
contributors
Kof Quaye
James Haywood Rolling
Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Boyce Watkins
CNY Vision is a publication of Minor-
ity Reporter, Inc. We are a family of
publications and other media formats
committed to fostering self awareness,
building community and empowering
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taking them from information to under-
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Call 315-849-2461
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CALENDAR
may
{COVER P 6
Corrupt Minority Offcials Becoming a
Major Problem
{local P 4
Man Sentenced for Stabbing NY Police
Chiefs Son
Get Ready to Shred on May 18th
Performers Applications Available for
the 2013 Westcott Street Cultural Fair
{state P 5
John Sampson Arrested: New
York State Senator Charged with
Embezzlement
Group Cites 100,000 New York
Campaign Finance Violations
Settlement Reached Over Queensbury
Waterpark Viral Outbreak
{national P 8
Immigration Takes Center Stage at
Race Healing Conference
African-Americans Must Take Right-
Side of the Issue, Black Leaders Say
{OPINIONS/EDITORIAL P 8-11
Mountain Dew Eliminates The Negroe
Problem Then Responds With Nothing

By Dr. Boyce Watkins
No Second Class Families
By Benjamin Jealous
The Flawed Immigration Reform Bill
By Julianne Malveaux
In This Issue:
1 www.cnyvision.com| may 2 - 8| 2013
syracuse ny vol. 4 no. 5 may 2 - 8 2013
cover P6
national P8
Obama Administration Plan B Appeal
Draws Criticism From Reproductive Rights Groups
LOCAL P4
Syracuses Nassib,
3 other QBs picked
in 4th round
Two HBCU
Students Die in Hazing Incident
Group Violated University Ban
11
Farmers Market at the CNY Regional
Market
Time: 7:00am-2:00pm
Locaton: 2100 Park St
Open year round. Also open Thursdays
10-6 from May to November. For more
informaton: cnyrma.com.
14
Joe LaGuardia Amyloidosis Foundaton 5K
Run/Walk
Time: 5:30pm
Locaton: Inner Harbor, W Kirkpatrick St
On Tues May 14th at 5:30pm at the Inner
harbor there will be a 5K event honoring
the life of Joe LaGuardia. Many know
Joe from his work at the New York State
Fair and Lakefront Development Corp.
Joes wife Carol LaGuardia worked in
City Hall for many years, too. Joe passed
away on May 14th 2012 of Amyloidosis
and the event is taking place on the one
year anniversary of his death. For more
informaton, visit www.joelaguardia5k.
com or www.amyloidosis.org.
17
F.O.C.U.S. Core Group Meetng
Time: 7:30am8:45am
Locaton: City Hall Commons 1st foor
atrium - Sustainability Showcase, 201 E
Washington St
F.O.C.U.S. is a citzen driven organizaton
that taps citzen creatvity to impact
change in Central New York by enabling
citzens, organizatons, and government
to work together to enhance the quality
of our lives and our economic future.
F.O.C.U.S. engages in research, public
policy advocacy, public educaton, and
public outreach to promote intelligent,
inclusive, sustainable decision making.
For more informaton, please visit www.
focussyracuse.org.
18
Pulverize Confdental Documents Paper
Shredding Event
Time: 8:00am
Locaton: NBT Bank Stadium, formerly
Alliance Bank Stadium
Residents able to protect identty and
recycle shredded materials for free
Onondaga County residents are invited
to collect their confdental documents
and bring them to OCRRAs May 18 paper
shredding event for secure destructon.
June
17
TASTE OF SYRACUSE
Time: 11:00amSat, June 8, 11pm
Locaton: Clinton Square
Bring your friends and your appettes
to the AmeriCU Credit Union Taste of
Syracuse, presented by Tops, returns to
downtown, featuring live music, fabulous
food, and of course $1 samples. For more
informaton, visit www.tasteofsyracuse.
com.. Sat, June 8, 11pm
gary Morris, sr., Mba
Licensed Real Estate Broker/Owner
regina e. Morris
Offce Manager/Owner
g&r real estate 2007, llc
761 North Salina Street
Syracuse, New York 13208
email: GaryRegina5511@msn.com
offce: 315.399.5183
fax: 315.399.5191
3 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
PUZZLES
Across
1. Wheel of Fortune purchase
4. Special person
8. Precipitaton type
12. Acquiesce
13. Oil org.
14. Skin loton ingredient
15. Self-esteem
16. Sketching once again
18. Pack animal
20. Distnctve air
21. ____ League
24. Central positon
28. Questons afer a mission
33. Part of the Corn Belt
34. Much ___ About Nothing
35. Acquired relatve
37. Swim
38. Titanics undoing
40. Rooms with glass windows
42. Fishhook nylon
44. Swindle
45. Bit
48. Mangrove for example
52. Tarmac repairs
57. Its cut and dried
58. Spur
59. Instead, in ___ of
60. Heretofore
61. Schussers transport
62. Perimeter
63. Whats more...
Down
1. Over
2. Rejected proposal
3. American ____ show
4. In favor of
5. Monkey
6. Hindu sacred texts
7. Light brown in color
8. Romantc island
9. ___ Baba
10. Chemistry term
11. Chicken order
17. Elbows site
19. Coniferous tree
22. One of the King Henrys
23. Strong desires
25. Nitwit
26. Go for a dip
27. Memorial Day solo
28. Applies lightly
29. Paradise
30. Make yawn
31. Hong Kong ___
32. Warbled
36. Somewhat twisted
39. Outdoor toy
41. Be decisive
43. ___ ball
46. Lacquered metalware
47. Dry as a bone
49. Cheers actress; Perlman
50. Make
51. Checked out
52. Same old, same old
53. Sun, poetcally
54. Turkish ttle of rank
55. Beer holder
56. A boy named __ - Johnny Cash
song
Upstate is an academic
medical university built
around patient care,
education and research.
It is the only one of its
kind in Central New York.
As a place dedicated to
serving the community it
is a great place to start or
continue your career.
Upstate Medical University/
Upstate University Hospital is an
AA/EEO/ADA employer engaging
excellence through diversity.
Smoke-free campus since 2005
To learn more about career
opportunities at Upstate
and apply on-line
www.upstate.edu/jobs
UPSTATE MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Colleges of: Medicine, Nursing, Health Professions and Graduate Studies
Upstate University Hospital - Downtown and Community campuses
Upstate Golisano Childrens Hospital I www.upstate.edu/jobs
Generic - Upstate Medical UNIVERSITY Ad
CNY Vision/Minority Reporter 1/4 page Ad 5 x 6.75
A New Exciting Business!
Mention this Ad to Get:
4 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
LOCAL
Get Ready to Shred on May 18th
Onondaga County residents are invited
to collect their confdental documents
and bring them to OCRRAs May 18
paper shredding event for secure
destructon. Once there, residents will
be able to protect identty and recycle
shredded materials for free The event
happens from 8 a.m. to noon at NBT
Bank Stadium, formerly Alliance Bank.
Dave Netle, OCRRA recycling specialist
and event coordinator notes, This
is the ninth year for the shredding
event; due to popular demand OCRRA
expanded it and is hostng a second
event to help the community combat
identty thef and encourage recycling,
in September.
For the ninth year in a row, Confdata,
a division of Empire Recycling
Corporaton, is collaboratng with
OCRRA to help residents prevent
identty thef and ensure that their
minced paper is recycled. Confdata is
a local document shredding company
with mobile shredding capabilites.
Personal records from a household
such as medical documents, bank
informaton, tax documents and other
items containing account numbers or
private details are ideal for drop of.
Atendees do not need a reservaton
and there is no charge, thanks to
Confdatas generous donaton of their
tme and talent.
Partcipants should bring no more than
fve boxes of documents generated or
received at home per vehicle. Second,
enter the stadium parking lot from the
Grant Boulevard/Hiawatha Boulevard
intersecton. Third, pack confdental
documents, loosely, in durable boxes,
containers or paper bags and last, stay
in your vehicle.
There is no need for partcipants to
exit their vehicles as the event is full
service; staf unloads all vehicles. From
entrance to exit, wait tmes average
between fve and ten minutes.
Avoid bringing items in plastc bags as
they slow down the shredding process.
Remove binders or other non-paper
contaminants.
Confdata Sales Manager Ed Becker
says, All shredded material is brought
to our facility, baled and sent to Sca
Tissue in South Glens Falls, NY, where
it is pulped and turned into new paper
products like Dunkin Donuts napkins
or paper towels and toilet paper.
Since OCRRA started hostng shredding
events in 2004, more than 276 tons
of personal papers have been safely
shredded and recycled. Onondaga
County Parks and the Syracuse Chiefs
Management made this years events
convenient by allowing OCRRA the use
of the stadiums spacious parking lot.
Onondaga County resident John
Puopolo had this to ofer about his
experience at a past event, How well
planned and efcient the shredding
operaton was on Saturday. I was in
and out of there in minutes.
Workplaces in need of shredding
services should visit www.OCRRA.org
or contact a shredding service. OCRRA
does not accept materials generated
at a business at these events.
Man sentenced for stabbing syracuse police chiefs son
A 23-year-old man has been sentenced
to fve years in prison for stabbing the
son of Syracuses police chief.
Demetrius Archie of Syracuse was
sentenced in Onondaga County Court
Wednesday morning.
He pleaded guilty to an assault charge
on April 16 afer admitng to stabbing
21-year-old Frank Fowler Jr. early
on the morning of Jan. 6 inside a
convenience store.
A co-defendant, 24-year-old Antwann
Underwood, pleaded guilty to assault
earlier this year and was sentenced to
two years in prison.
According to police, Underwood held
Fowler while Archie stabbed him fve
tmes in the chest and butocks. Fowler
was treated at a hospital for non-life-
threatening injuries.
No motve for the atack was given.
Fowlers father, Frank Fowler, has been
Syracuse police chief since early 2010.
Police Chief Frank Fowler
Performers Applications Available
for the 2013 Westcott Street
Cultural Fair
Applicatons are now being accepted
for performances at this years
Westcot Street Cultural Fair. The
fair will be held this year on Sunday,
September 15, 2013 from noon untl
6:30 PM on the 500 block of Westcot
Street in Syracuse.
The fairs mission is to promote a
strong sense of community among
the diverse people who live and
work in the Westcot neighborhood
and to increase awareness of the
atractveness and viability of Westcot
as a great place to work, shop, socialize
and play.
Performers for the fairs six diferent
stages will be chosen by a commitee
based on applicatons submited
by the deadline of May 31, 2013.
The applicatons are available on
the WSCFs new website, www.
westcotstreetair.org. Musicians
of all types, dancers, and childrens
entertainers are encouraged to apply.
All performers are compensated.
Every year, the WSCF relies on
volunteers the day of the event. If you
are willing to help for two hours please
contact us at info@westcotstreetair.
org.
Check us out online!
www.cnyvision.com
5 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
John Sampson Arrested:
New York State Senator Charged With Embezzlement
A prominent New York state senator
pleaded not guilty on Monday to
embezzlement and other charges
alleging he brazenly tried to sabotage
a federal fraud investgaton of his law
practce by seeking inside informaton
from an employee of the Brooklyn U.S.
atorneys ofce.
Sen. John Sampson told the employee,
who has since been fred, that he
wanted to identfy cooperators in his
case so he could arrange to take them
out, prosecutors said in announcing
an indictment against the former
Democratc leader in the Senate.
The indictment alleges that Sampson
embezzled $440,000 from escrow
accounts under his supervision
as a court-appointed referee for
foreclosures. It says some of the funds
were funneled into his losing campaign
to become Brooklyn district atorney
in 2005.
When an interview with the FBI last
year concluded with agents accusing
the senator of lying, Sampson
responded, Not everything I told you
was false, prosecutors said.
The allegatons show the extreme
arrogance and hubris involved in this
case, U.S. Atorney Loreta Lynch said
at a news conference.
Sampson, 47, was released Monday on
$250,000 bond afer prosecutors told
a judge they already ofered him a plea
deal that could him behind bars for a
maximum of about four years if he
pleads guilty to the top embezzlement
count and a lesser charge in a nine-
count indictment. His lawyer, Zachary
Carter, refused to respond in court.
Despite the allegaton involving
funding for the DAs race and another
accusing Sampson of fling false
Senate disclosure forms to conceal
a $188,500 loan from a real estate
developer, Carter insisted his case
wasnt in the same category as a recent
rash of other criminal cases accusing
New York lawmakers of abusing their
authority for personal gain or to cheat
on campaign fnance rules.
Carter, a former U.S. atorney in
Brooklyn, told reporters outside the
court that the case involved ordinary
charges related to his private life as a
lawyer, not ofcial corrupton.
However, Gov. Andrew Cuomo
immediately pointed to Sampsons
arrest as reason to revive his ant-
corrupton proposals, which include
public fnancing of campaigns, and
the Democratc leadership removed
him from his ranking positons and
commitee assignments.
There will always be bad actors,
Cuomo said, but it is incumbent on us
to reform the system.
FBI Assistant Director George Venizelos
said in statement: We share what
may well be the concern of many
New Yorkers that `incumbent and
`defendant cannot be accepted as
interchangeable.
Sampsons arrest on Monday
morning came less than a week afer
prosecutors revealed that former Sen.
Shirley Huntley, a Queens Democrat,
made numerous secret recordings
of other elected ofcials for several
months last year in a bid for leniency in
her own case. Recordings of another,
unnamed state senator and two other
ofcials yielded evidence useful to
law enforcement, prosecutors said in
court papers.
The unidentfed senator brokered
a deal in which a businessman gave
Huntley a $1,000 payment for helping
him get the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey to lease him more
space at John F. Kennedy Internatonal
Airport, according to the government
papers. Prosecutors declined to
comment on reports that the senator
was Sampson and there were no
charges brought Monday that were
related the alleged bribery scheme.
Huntley is scheduled to be sentenced
on Thursday afer pleading guilty to
mail fraud conspiracy last winter. She
admited embezzling nearly $88,000
from a state-funded nonproft group
she controlled.
Last month, state Assemblyman Nelson
Castro, a Bronx Democrat, resigned
afer admitng that he made similar
recordings of colleagues for federal
investgators afer they told him he
would be charged with perjury in yet
another corrupton investgaton.
His cooperaton ultmately helped
lead to the indictment of a fellow
assemblyman from the Bronx, Eric
Stevenson, who has been accused
of acceptng bribes in exchange for
legislaton that gave a compettve
advantage to a business in his district.
Stevenson has denied the allegatons.
In another recent case, Sen. Malcolm
Smith was accused of scheming with
New York City Councilman Daniel
Halloran, a Republican, to bribe county
Republican leaders for the GOP line on
this years mayoral ballot. Both have
pleaded not guilty.
Sampson was Democratc majority
leader for part of a term that was
marked by politcal gridlock. He rose to
the positon afer Smith, in his partal
term as majority leader, lost power
during a tme of a Republican-led
coup. Huntley, Castro, Stevenson, and
Smith had no real power in statewide
issues or spending, but wielded more
power within their own New York City
districts.
In 2012, Sampson stripped Huntley
of leadership positons when her
indictment was announced. He did
the same with then-Sen. Carl Kruger
when Kruger was arrested in 2011
in a separate bribery probe. Kruger
pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges
and was sentenced to seven years in
prison.
Sen. John Sampson
Group cites 100,000 NY campaign finance violations
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) Gassing up twice a
week in New Jersey? Hiring Turdo the
magician? Buying smoked meats for
Christmas presents?
A review by The Associated Press shows
thats all part of the questonable use
of campaign donatons that can buoy
lawmakers lifestyles and buy support
back home.
Now the New York Public Interest
Research Group reports more than
100,000 actual violatons of state
campaign fnance laws since 2011,
including campaign commitee failures
to fle accurate reports, or any reports
at all.
Joined by other good government
advocacy groups that lay the blame
on lack of enforcement, NYPIRG plans
to present highlights of its fndings
Tuesday.
Other items marginally related to
campaigns, and currently regarded as
legal, range from paying for gifs and
entertainment and to hire lawyers
when charged with corrupton.
Settlement reached over Queensbury water park viral outbreak
QUEENSBURY (AP) -- Lawyers for an
upstate New York water park where
hundreds of visitors were sickened
during a viral outbreak in 2008 have
agreed to setle a class-acton lawsuit.
The Post-Star of Glens Falls reports
the setlement outlined in state
Supreme Court on Tuesday calls for
Six Flags Great Escape Lodge & Indoor
Waterpark to setle the lawsuit for
$1.3 million.
The state Department of Health
says more than 600 people reported
sufering bouts of vomitng and
diarrhea afer visitng the hotel and
water park in March 2008. Ofcials say
the illnesses were caused by a strain of
norovirus.
More than 100 of the sickened guests
are part of the lawsuit.
STATE
6 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
COVER STORY
32 New York state level ofcials have
been involved in corrupton cases in
the past seven years. The minority
community has seen several
minority ofcials on the wrong side
of the court room.
Monday, a federal prosecutor
accused Democrat Senator John
Sampson of Brooklyn of funneling
funds into his failed campaign
for Brooklyn district atorney. In
additon, hes being charged with
embezzling $440,000 between 1998
and 2008 and using some of it to
pay for a bid for Brooklyn district
atorney. When he feared getng
caught, he told an associate he
could track down informants and
take them out, according to an
unsealed indictment. Other charges
are obstructon of justce and lying
to the FBI.
The fourth arrest in the past four
weeks came as the Legislature
and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who
campaigned to clean up Albany, had
repeatedly insisted that state politcs
has shed its dysfunctonal past.
They cant contnue to go forward
saying Albany is working great and
its no longer dysfunctonal, said
Bill Mahoney of the New York Public
Interest Research Group. This is
clearly not true.
The latest wave of arrests has sent
fear throughout the Legislature
because two lawmakers working as
informants for federal prosecutors
secretly recorded years of
conversatons in Albany and New
York City. Sampson is now another
name to add to the list of minority
ofcials who have been involved in
some sort of corrupton.
Last month, Democratc State
Senator, Malcolm Smith was charged
with bribing Republican ofcials to
get on the GOP mayoral tcket. The
bribe money came from a real estate
developer who was undercover.
Smith agreed to help the developer
get funding for a project in Spring
Valley, New York in exchange for the
money.
In August of 2012, former New
York State Senator Shirley Huntley
turned herself into the Nassau
County District Atorneys ofce
along with her atorney and two
dozen supporters. Huntley plead
guilty to conspiracy to commit mail
fraud and embezzling $87,000 from
the Parent Informaton Network,
a Queens non-proft organizaton
in January of this year. She has not
been sentenced yet.
Larry B. Seabrook is a former New
York City Councilman from District
12. Elected to the city council in 2001,
was the frst Black politcian to hold
ofce in three separate legislatve
branches of government, both on
municipal and statewide levels. In
2010, Seabrook was indicted by a
federal grand jury on 13 counts of
money laundering, extorton and
fraud. He plead not guilty to the
charges but was convicted on nine
charges in July 2012 and is serving
fve years in prison.
Kevin Parker, member of the New
York State Senate, has a record of
physical violence against others.
In 2009, Parker was convicted of
criminal mischief for atacking and
breaking the fnger of a New York
Post photographer and severely
damaging the photographers
camera and car door. Afer, Parker
was stripped of his leadership
positon as majority whip and chair
of the Energy Commitee. He was
sentenced to three years probaton
and a $1,000 fne in 2011.
Efrain Gonzalez Jr was elected
to the New York State Senate in
1989, making him one of the citys
longest-serving state legislators.
He was the Chair of the Minority
Conference within the Senate,
President of the Natonal Hispanic
Policy Insttute, Chair of the New
York State Puerto Rican/Hispanic
Task Force and several other
positons. In 2010, Gonzales pleaded
guilty to charges of conspiracy and
fraud. Gonzlez funded a nonproft
group called Pathways for Youth for
approximately $200,000 in state
grants. Pathways then provided
more than $400,000 to the West
Bronx Neighborhood Associaton,
another nonproft organizaton that
Mr. Gonzlez founded himself and
solicited money from individuals
and corporate donors. Mr. Gonzlez
embezzled more than $500,000 from
West Bronx to pay for membership
fees in a vacaton club and luxury
apartment in the Dominican
Republic, jewelry, Yankees tckets
and college tuiton for his daughter.
He was sentenced to seven years in
prison.
Former New York City Councilman
Miguel Martnez resigned from his
city council seat in July of 2009 and
pleaded guilty to three counts of
conspiracy two days later. Martnez
confessed to stealing $106,000 from
childrens art programs and low-
income housing. He was convicted
on three felonies and was sentenced
to fve years in prison.
Nelson Castro, a former New York
state assemblyman was indicted for
perjury in a corrupton case in 2008.
Castro allegedly lied under oath
during a civil proceeding regarding
his eligibility for placement on the
ballot in a primary electon for the
86th Assembly District. He resigned
from his positon and cooperated
with federal ofcials in a separate
bribery case. Castro was not charged
criminally in that case. His next court
date will be later this year for state
charges.
Majority Leader of the New York
State Senate Democrat Pedro
Espada Jr was found guilty of
embezzling money from federally
funded healthcare clinics in May of
2012. Espada was allegedly using
his Soundview Health Clinic in the
Bronx to embezzle $400,000 in
taxpayer dollars to fund nonproft
luxuries like Japanese cuisine, home
improvements and his politcal
campaigns. Afer pleading guilty to
tax evasion, his other charges were
dismissed in exchange for agreeing
not to appeal his thef convicton
from 2012.
The FBI is investgatng claims that
a scandal-scarred (former) Bronx
assemblywoman, Naomi Rivera,
hired her unqualifed then-lover to
run her taxpayer-funded nonproft,
and used the charity as her personal
piggy bank. Agents paid a visit in
late 2012 to the Rockland County
home of Riveras ex-beau Vincent
Pinela, the former $75,000-a-year
head of her Bronx Council for
Economic Development. Pinela, 40,
detailed how Rivera, 49, hired him
at her crony-packed BCED, and used
charity funds for romantc dinners
and campaign expenses. Rivera lost
her seat last year to Mark Gjonaj.
Several Minority New York officials Involved in
Corruption Since 2006
7 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
TO SUMMER JOBS!
BE A YOUTH ENRICHMENT SPECIALIST
SAY YES
Syracuse
is seeking high
performing
undergraduate
students to
work this summer
in a school-based
setting with
Syracuse city school district K 5 students!
If you enjoy working with children and
staff in a collaborative setting, have
excellent communication skills, and are
flexible & creative,
wed love to hear from you!
Youth enrichment specialists will support SCSD
teachers in the classroom with academic and
enrichment projects that will allow students to
explore interest areas while enhancing their
academic performance.

PAID positions will begin in July and run
through early August.
Paid TRAINING is provided!
To apply go to: www.sujobopps.com
Click on
temporary
jobs
Say Yes to Education is a national non-profit foundation committed to increasing the high
school and college graduation rates of our nations urban youth. Say Yes Syracuse is a
chapter of the national foundation that provides comprehensive
supports for students in the Syracuse City School District. Supports include
extended day and year programs, family services and legal assistance, and culminates with
the promise of free college tuition to one of nearly 100 colleges and universities for those who
meet residency, graduation and admission requirements.
To learn more, go to www.sayyessyracuse.org

BIG RIG DAY
Sat., May 18
11 am-3pm
Burnet Park
Avery Avenue
FREE ADMISSION!
8 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
NATIONAL






Choices today create tomorrow!
Your future is filled with many possibilities. Its important to take care of
yourself so that youll be ready to take on the world. What can you do?
Eat a healthy diet and get physically active!
Take folic acid every day
Dont smoke, use street drugs, or drink to excess
Get screened and tested for possible medical conditions like diabetes
or infections
Get regular check-ups and talk with your health care provider to
manage your health
Make sure your vaccinations are up-to-date
Use an effective method of contraception correctly and consistently
to prevent unplanned pregnancy
For more information on how to improve your health now, visit:

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Immigration Takes Center Stage at Race Healing Conference
African-Americans Must Take Right Side of the Issue, Black Leaders Say
By Hazel Trice Edney
(TriceEdneyWire.com) More than
50 years since the civil rights struggle
for the right to vote and racial
desegregaton for African-Americans,
a new kind of racial and ethnic batle
is raging in America.
The issue of immigraton, now at its
peak in a bill before Congress, recently
took center stage at a conference on
racial healing. Modern day civil rights
leaders say it is imperatve that Blacks
take the high road.
Fify years ago, Dr. King was sitng
in a Birmingham Jail, contemplatng
the sum total of the movement that
he was partcipatng in and he was
troubled, said Rev. Alvin Herring,
a training director for the PICO
Natonal Network, the natons oldest
and largest faith-based community
organizing group.
Herring contnued, He was troubled
because he understood that there was
a window open but it wouldnt stay
open forever. And he and others were
going to have to fgure out how to
capitalize on the moment and do what
was morally right, do what was just,
do what God was asking of him and
others to do. I think in many respects,
we are back to that moment.
The frst to speak on a panel of civil
rights leaders, Herring had set the
tone for a hearty discussion on various
issues. The setng, the W. K. Kellogg
America Healing Conference held in
Asheville, N. C. late last month, strred
up a rare level of free and uninhibited
debate that largely included the issue
of immigraton and its implicit racial
disparites.
One of the largest groups of
undocumented immigrants is
Canadians in this country. Another
is Irish in this country, said NAACP
President/CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous.
Jealous pointed out that these
immigrants are regularly given cart
blanch on American soil mainly
because of the color of their skin.
You dont see raids of their homes due
to ordinances that limit the number of
people who can sleep in a living room.
We dont see them seeking to enforce
that on White households. But, weve
seen it happen to Latnos. Weve seen
it happen to other groups of color,
Jealous said.
The annual Kellogg conference, part
of a fve-year initatve with a goal
to start healing racism in America,
featured discussions on a plethora
of hot-buton issues that contnue to
rage in America. At this forum, the
immigraton issue, stll being debated
in the U. S. Congress, took center
stage with rights leaders focused on
how to change the narratve or the
perspectve from which immigraton is
currently viewed and the conversaton
surrounding it.
While a common complaint among
African-Americans is that a burgeoning
Latno populaton is taking up jobs,
leaders say it is to the advantage of
African-Americans to join the fght
for immigraton reform alongside the
Hispanic populaton.
While a large porton of
undocumented immigrants are Latna,
weve got to educate people that its
people from Canada, that its people
from Ireland, that its people from
the African diaspora Yes, Africa and
the Caribbean, said Natonal Urban
League President Marc Morial. Weve
got to afrmatvely indicate that this
is a mult-dimensional, mult-cultural
issueWeve got to afrmatvely
educate people about the importance
of this.
The author of an annual State of
Black America, report which actually
quantfes the efects of racism
in America, Morial says African-
Americans should be the frst to
identfy with and empathize with the
problems faced by immigrants given
the oppression history of Blacks in
America.
The African-American community has
a responsibility to be on the right side
of this issue, Morial said. We know
oppression and repression having
been treated as a second class person.
So we cant stand by the wayside,
be spectators, embrace reactonary
arguments in the face of one of the
great human rights challenges of our
tme.
The moderator, former CNN
correspondent Soledad Obrien,
agreed that the common false stories
that have been told about immigrants
must be corrected. The story is that
they are running across the borders
and taking or destroying America, she
said.
Hundreds in the audience, listening
to the conversaton, were invited to
weigh in or ask questons.
A woman named Audra (last name
withheld to protect her privacy) came
to the microphone and said she has
found herself in multple situatons
in which some of her friends and
associates have made ofensive
comments pertaining to immigrants.
Im getng angry and about to shut
down the church picnic, she said in
jest, drawing laughter from those who
identfed with her feelings. She asked
How to use personal leadership to
change hearts and minds on this
issue.
Kathleen Ko Chin, president/CEO of the
Asian and Pacifc Islander American
Health Forum, responded with
empathy: You want to be building
your emotonal forttude when youre
not at that situaton so when you are
in that situaton you can pull from
those reserves.
It is this kind of emotonal build up
thats dealt with in what Kellogg calls
healing circles during the annual
conference. In these private talks,
group members speak personally from
their hearts about their day to day
experiences with the issues of race
in America, how they are impactng
those issues and how those issues are
impactng them.
The conference is part of the Kellogg
Foundatons America Healing
initatve which provides grants for
organizatons to address structural
bias and facilitate racial healing in
communites. Gail Christopher, Kellogg
vice president for program strategy,
said there is an urgent need to present
stories, not just of racial pain, but
inspiratonal stories of racial healing
and people working together.
Given the level of racism that contnues
in America, quantfying the impact
of the program afer fve years will
clearly be dauntng. But, Christopher is
convinced that it is absolutely doable.
We certainly dont stop. It really
doesnt end, she said, She noted
that the impact will be measured
based on four goals. They are:
How much impact weve made
surrounding communicatons around
these issues, both in the media and
otherwise; How much capacity has
emerged at the community level?;
Have we accelerated the amount of
research that relates to these issues?
And the amount of capacity within
the organizatons that work on the
changes.
Meanwhile, in its third year, the race
healing conference is expanding
and growing in topics. Among those
discussed this year were afrmatve
acton, gun violence, health care
disparites, poverty, economic justce
and immigraton, an issue that has
moved front and center as a new civil
and human rights issue.
Obrien, who specialized in race
documentaries at CNN, mainly Black
in America and Latno in America
outlined the principled questons
within the issue: [This is] an American
conversaton. Who will be considered
as a real citzen? Who gets to be
counted?...[Who gets to] stop hiding
in the shadows and come into the light
of day.

9 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
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OPINION/EDITORIAL
The views expressed on our opinion pages are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the position or viewpoint of MRMG or CNY Vision
I started last
week by being
traumatzed by
an ad released by
Mountain Dew,
which I referred to
as the most racist
ad in history.
The commercial
featured a
batered white
woman being
intmidated by a
police lineup full
of black men, along with a demonic negro
goat making a series of ebonic threats. As
the goat told the woman that he was going
to dew her up (sounds like s-xual assault
to me),I remember sitng at my computer
with my eyes crinkled and my botom lip
hitng my keyboard. I couldnt believe
the company had released this ad to the
public.
Thats when I wrote an artcle that
apparently got the atenton of White
America. To be truthful, I write most of
my content for the 600,000 people who
follow Your Black World, and I dont care
much about what anyone else is thinking.
Crossover appeal can be highly overrated,
and ofen leads one to become to a
watered down version of who they once
were. The man who initally stood frm
for black America is suddenly bought
of to go campaigning for gay rights and
immigraton reform, while black families
contnue to be surrounded by joblessness,
a lack of educaton, poverty, violence,
workplace inequality and the prison
industrial complex. Honestly, Ive accepted
the fact that standing up against racism is
going to create a few enemies, so I am
comfortable with white America not liking
me very much.
A conversaton I had the other day with
the rapper Rhymefest out of Chicago
reminded me of just how silly the
Mountain Dew situaton actually was, and
how silly it ended. It all starts of with my
writng an artcle about the companys
racist ad and their decision to sign Lil
Wayne. Then it proceeds to the company
removing the racist ad, afer which, they
choose to dump Lil Wayne. The fnale is
that Mountain Dew/Pepsico executves
can sleep beter at night frmly believing
that theyve fully alleviated the negro
problem in their company (similar to how
Adidas responded when Rev. Jesse Jackson
and I spoke out about their brilliant
shackle on the ankle sneakers that no one
seemed to connect to slavery).
Not so fast.
Sometmes when we address the
symptoms of a problem, we believe that
weve actually addressed the problem.
I can say, as a person who has taught
in business schools for 20 years, that
the decision to release one of the most
disrespectul pieces of corporate trash in
history was indicatve of deeper problems
with the Mountain Dew/Pepsico corporate
infrastructure. Their shallow response
is even more indicatve of their way of
thinking.
The fact that this ad was able to ease
itself through the internal review
process without so much as raising an
eyebrow shows that there are few, if any,
individuals in the company who are either
capable of, or empowered to, express
meaningful cross-cultural sensitvity. If
my grandmother knew that the ad was
unacceptable afer the frst ten seconds of
seeing it, why werent all those Ivy League
MBAs able to pick up on the same thing?
Possibly because their Ivy League MBAs
led them to believe that black people
dont really mater (Lil Wayne thought the
same thing).
Here is my advice for Pepsico as they move
forward, so as to avert another mult-
million dollar tragedy. I tried to reach
out and give them this advice in person,
but a series of non-returned phone calls
reminded me again that perhaps they see
me as the enemy. But then again, it might
be the case that seeing your critc as an
enemy means that youre stll in denial,
like the alcoholic who gets angry at a
family interventon.
But either way, here are some quick
thoughts on Pepsico:
1) Pepsico MUST Adjust its corporate
culture: The fact that Pepsico was sued
for millions for racially-discriminatng
against its employees is a frm reminder
that there is a problem within the
company. Releasing this ridiculous ad
shortly thereafer clearly implies that the
issue has not been resolved. A lack of
diversity in senior management could be
a problem, or there could be no diversity
in perspectve. Black faces dont save you
if they either a) do not have an authentc
and intelligent voice, or b) are afraid to
use that voice. Nearly every black person I
know saw the ad and immediately wanted
to vomit, so Im sure someone within the
frm felt the same way.
2) The company must do more authentc
outreach to the black community: With
all the millions that Pepsico/Mountain
Dew were willing to give Lil Wayne to
buy more sizzurp, I am hopeful that
they can use a fracton of those dollars
to pay for scholarships, community
centers and educatonal opportunites
for impoverished communites. Putng
money into the pocket of a hip-hop
artst, the Tom Joyner Morning Show or
your favorite civil rights leader is not the
same as showing support for the African
American community. If youre going
to use us for our consumer dollars, you
should be investng in the people, not in
artfcial fgureheads.
3) Replace Lil Wayne and Tyler the Creator
with artsts who are doing positve things:
I felt bad that Tyler the Creator lost his
contract, since he is not nearly as toxic
as the worst artsts out there. I cant say
I felt the same way about Lil Wayne, who
refused to even apologize for his Emmet
Till fap untl it was too late. But I hope
that as Pepsico decides how to replace the
crater in its marketng plan created by Lil
Waynes removal, they will look at some
of the stronger black artsts out there who
dont always get deals with companies like
PepsiCo. Names like Common, Immortal
Technique, Jasiri X or Vigalantee come
to mind, and even my friend Rhymefest.
These artsts should, in turn, be asked to
use their platorms to beneft the broader
community, so that everyone in black
America has a full incentve to Do the
Dew.
Untl corporatons learn to implement
serious and substantve change to their
strategies, tragedies like this are going to
contnue to happen. Pepsico has learned
tme and tme again, that racism doesnt
pay. But for some reason, they keep
going right back to the well of corporate
irresponsibility, driven by an insidious
addicton to structural racism that
plagues the very fabric of the American
socioeconomic infrastructure. Like any
addicton, withdrawal is not a comfortable
process, and we all know that to overcome
that which ails us, we cant always look for
the easy way out.
------------------
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the author of the
lecture series called Commercialized Hip-
Hop, the Gospel of Self-Destructon.
Mountain Dew Eliminates the Negro Problem,
Then Responds with Nothing
FROM THE BoYce BLOG
DR. BOYCE WATkINS
African Americans
have spent much
of our history
fghtng for equal
treatment. Just
two generatons
ago, our
parents and our
g r a n d p a r e n t s
were banned from
eatng at certain
r e s t a u r a n t s ,
atending certain
schools, and
working in certain professions.
So it is not difcult to empathize with the
struggle of immigrants in our country.
Like our ancestors who migrated from the
former slave states of the Deep South,
millions of undocumented immigrants
move to the United States each year to
fnd work and a decent educaton for their
children. But when they arrive, they are
confronted with blatant discriminaton
and racial profling - with hardly any legal
recourse and litle public outrage.
As people of color, we have a responsibility
to stand up for social justce whenever
it is violated. That is why the NAACP
has joined other civil rights and human
rights organizatons, including the Rights
Working Group and the Leadership
Conference of Civil and Human Rights,
to support comprehensive immigraton
reform.
Across the country, an estmated 11
million undocumented immigrants live in
a permanent second-class status. Many
immigrants come to the U.S. to fnd a
beter life, but fnd themselves living in
the shadows, in constant fear of arrest and
deportaton. This segregaton has a cost.
Undocumented workers are exploited on
a regular basis. Many business owners pay
low wages and provide dangerous working
conditons for their undocumented
workers, with litle fear of retaliaton.
They know that their employees have too
much at stake to risk contactng the proper
authorites.
Undocumented immigrants are also
targeted by police. Racial profling has
been legalized in states like Alabama and
Arizona under the guise of immigraton
enforcement. Our natonal immigraton
laws, in conjuncton with these state laws,
encourage local police to stop people of
color, whether they are undocumented or
not.
Right now Congress is debatng a
comprehensive immigraton bill that will
ofer a roadmap to citzenship and also deal
directly with workplace discriminaton and
racial profling. One proposed provision
allows undocumented immigrants to have
the full protecton of American labor laws.
Another one explicitly prohibits racial
profling by Homeland Security agents -
which would make it the frst federal law
to do so.
The bill in its draf form is not perfect.
The racial profling provision needs
adjustments that are being debated at
the tme of this writng. The draf bill also
contains provisions that would eliminate
the diversity visa program - which helps
many African and Caribbean immigrants
come to America - and dramatcally expand
the guest worker program. The NAACP and
our allies will contnue to make our voice
heard as Congress debates the bill.
No Second Class Families
BENJAMIN JEALOUS
11 www.cnyvision.com | may 9 - 15| 2013
OPINION/EDITORIAL
The views expressed on our opinion pages are those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the position or viewpoint of MRMG or CNY Vision
JULIANNE MALVEAUx
(TriceEdneywire.com) - The
Senates Gang of Eight have put
together an 844 page monstrosity
known as the Border Security,
Economic Opportunity and
Immigraton Modernizaton Act,
legislaton that President Obama
says he basically approves of.
The crafers of this essentally
unreadable bill was put together
by Senators Dick Durbin (Illinois),
Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chuck
Schumer (D-NY), Michael Bennet
(D-CO), Marco Rubio (R-FLA),
Jef Flake (AZ), John McCain
(AZ) and Lindsay Graham (R-SC). On its surface, the bill
provides much-needed relief to many of the 11 million
undocumented people who live in our country. The
challenge is that it disadvantages some immigrants,
especially African and Caribbean immigrants, while
helping others.
Further, the Senators crafing the bill put goodies into
the bill that only serve to advantage themselves or their
states. Senator Lindsay Graham wants more visas for the
meat packing industry. Senator Charles Schumer provided
special provisions for Irish people with a high school
diploma (why?), Senator Marco Rubio, the much touted
possible presidental candidate in 2016, asked for more
visas for the cruise ship industry, and Senators Michael
Bennet wants more visas for workers in ski resorts.
Meanwhile, the legislaton would eliminate the Diversity
Visa Program, which allows a visa lotery for countries that
have low levels (less than 50,000 people) of immigraton
to the United States. Many African immigrants come
here through this program (Ghana and Nigeria each had
six thousand immigrants through this program in 2011;
African immigrants are 36 percent of those receiving
diversity visas). Thus, while Sen. Schumer pushes for
special provisions for Irish immigrants, there is no one on
the Senate side pushing for special provisions for African
and Caribbean immigrants.
Instead of the Diversity Visa Program, the Senate Bill 744
creates between 120,000 and 200,000 visas on a merit
based system, which gives highest priority to those
who have future employment opportunites. Because
employers do not seek out African and Caribbean
immigrants for employees (as they seek out Indian and
Chinese employees), the merit-based point system is
likely to provide fewer opportunites for those from Africa
and the Caribbean. Sen. Schumers special provision
for the Irish carries no stpulaton that these people be
employed, essentally grantng them a pass from the
merit-based point system.
Many hi-tech companies use the H-1B visa program on
the grounds that there is a shortage of skilled workers
in the United States. There is evidence that this claim is
specious and that employers prefer foreign workers who
they can pay less and control more. The new legislaton
will prevent employers from holding workers hostage
because their contnuing employment is necessary in
order to keep their visa.
The new legislaton gives H-1B 60 days to fnd a new
job. But why do we have H-1B visas at all. With
unemployment over 7 percent, and black unemployment
over 13 percent, surely there are unemployed people
who could work efectvely in technology companies.
Howard University economist Bill Sprigs has writen
that there are proportonately more African American
students majoring in computer science than white. Many
of these graduates cannot fnd jobs. Meanwhile, African
and Caribbean immigrants get just a small percentage of
H-1B visas.
The Immigraton Modernizaton bill will spend $4.5 billion
in an atempt to secure the southern border, which will
secure our country from Mexican immigrants, but
ignores the northern border, which makes our country
more open to Canadian immigraton. Of course, Canadian
immigrants are more likely to be white, and thus less
feared, than Mexican immigrants. The Congressional
Black Caucus is one of many groups that suggest that this
$4.5 billion could be more efectvely spent, perhaps on
STEM educaton.
The immigraton bill is by no means fnal. The House of
Representatves stll has to vote on it, and many of them
will add amendments and exceptons to take care of their
pet causes. Meanwhile, President Obama has been
urging Democrats to accept the immigraton bill as it is,
because too many amendments may jeopardize the bill.
For example, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) would like to
propose an amendment that would allow gay Americans
to sponsor their partners for green cards. The Judiciary
Commitee is likely to pass this amendment, but the
whole Senate might not pass it.
President Obama has had a bad year, so far. He didnt
get his way on gun control, and hes been kicked around
by an obstructonist House of Representatves. He needs
immigraton reform to fulfll promises he made to the
Latno community during his campaign. But the unwieldy
844-page piece of legislaton contains lots of provisions
that dont pass the smell test. It makes it more difcult
for African and Caribbean immigrants to become citzens
of the United States.
The African-American community must take a closer
look at this legislaton. If Sen. Schumer can give 10,000
Irish immigrants the open door, how many Africans
and Caribbeans will he make exceptons for? At the
very minimum, Congress should restore the Diversity
Visa program. The bill is called the Border Security,
Economic Opportunity and Immigraton Modernizaton
Act. Exactly who will have more economic opportunity?
And is immigraton really being modernized when it locks
foreign-born black people out of the process?
The Flawed Immigration Reform Bill
Has this ship sailed
In August 1963 a sea of diverse actvists stormed the
Natonal Mall to demand social justce and an end to
segregaton. In April 2013 a similarly diverse wave of legal
immigrants, undocumented immigrants, and actvists
of all backgrounds gathered at the United States Capitol
to call an end to second-class citzenship. The March on
Washington pressured Congress to pass the Civil Rights
Acts. This year, we need to show Congress again that
American of all stripes care about progressive reform.
As Dr. King said, injustce anywhere is a threat to justce
everywhere. African Americans have spent much of our
history fghtng for fair treatment and equal opportunity.
We must also ofer support to our immigrant brothers and
sisters. If we want to escape the sins of our past, we must
ensure there are no second class families today.
-----------------------
Ben Jealous is president/CEO of the NAACP.
Contact: Ben Wrobel 917-846-0658 bwrobel@naacpnet.
org @NAACPPress
No Second Class Families
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