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Casta-NWAs - The cast of Straight Outta Compton (from left to right): Aldis Hodge as MC Ren, NeilBrown Jr. as Dj Yella, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube, and Corey Hawkins asDr. Dre. Photo Courtesy Universal Picture (2015).
TPATEXASPUBLISHERSASSOCIATION
Presorted StandardU.S. Postage PaidAustin, Texas
Permit No. 01949
INSIDEVol. 43 No. 15 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: [email protected] August 28, 2015
RAPPIN’Tommy Wyatt
www.TheAustinVillager.com
This paper canbe recycled
Lionel RichieTo Be Honored asMusiCares Person
Of The Year
GRAMMY winner Lionel Richie groovesonstage during a performance on April 8 in Shang-hai. Photo: ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress viaGetty Images - The Recording Academy
By Naomi Richard | The Austin Villager Newspaper
Lionel Richie will be honored as the 2016MusiCares® Person of the Year on Saturday, Feb. 13,2016, it was announced by Neil Portnow, President/CEOof the MusiCares Foundation ® and The Recording Acad-emy ®, and Bill Silva, Chair of the MusiCares FoundationBoard. Proceeds from the 26th annual benefit gala din-ner and concert — to be held in Los Angeles duringGRAMMY ® Week two nights prior to the 58th AnnualGRAMMY Awards ® — will provide essential support forMusiCares ( www.musicares.org), which ensures thatmusic people have a place to turn in times of financial,medical and personal need.
See RICHIE “REALLY PROUD” OF HONOR, page 2
Prince to NewRecording Artists:
‘Don’t Sign’
Prince
By Alexis TaylorSpecial to the NNPAfrom the Afro-American Newspaper
Prince has a message for new artists eager for arecord deal: “Don’t sign.”
According to National Public Radio, Prince’s com-ment came during a meeting with selected journalistsin his Minneapolis hometown for the 2015 NationalAssociation of Black Journalists Convention.
“Record contracts are just like — I’m gonna saythe word – slavery,” said the Grammy Award winningsinger-songwriter, as he discussed the music industryat his Paisley Park Studios. “I would tell any youngartist…don’t sign.”
No recording of the artist’s statements exist, ac-cording to NPR, as devices that could take picture orvideo were banned from the studio. Nonetheless, art-ists are sounding off about the controversial statements.
“Unfortunately, I believe that today’s artist shouldavoid signing a contract with any label,” said Kevin Powe,Jr., a governor with The Washington, D.C. Chapter ofThe Recording Academy, which leads advocacy issuesfor the organization. “Artists are now intellectually ca-pable of doing everything a record company used to
See WE CAN PROVIDE FOR OURSELVES, page 2
Film Review: Straight Outta of ComptonBy Dwight Brown | NNPA Film CriticBy Dwight Brown | NNPA Film Critic
Warning: This isn’tsome chump changeSundance indie movieabout the rap group NWA.Nor is it a should-have-gone-straight-to-DVD af-terthought about hip-hopculture. This is a full-fledged, big-budget look-
ing homage to the L.A. rapscene that smartly, emo-tionally and historicallycapsulizes the life andtimes of Eazy-E, Ice Cube,Dr. Dre and everyonearound them who causedthe big bang that popular-ized West Coast rap music.
This is an Oscar-caliberfilm. This movie is a mon-ster.
You’ll need to giveyour undivided attentionto the 2 hour, 22 minutesof footage. Blink or go getpopcorn and you’ll miss anintegral piece of music and
cultural history that de-fined the times. You won’tlearn how legendary rap-pers such as Tupac andSnoop Dogg entered therap scene, or how Suge
SeeGREATNESS,
page 4
Louis Stokes,Ohio’s 1st BlackCongressman,
Remembered asPioneer
Louis Stokes
Special to the NNPA fromThe Washington Informer
Louis Stokes, Ohio’sfirst elected black con-gressman and a foundingmember of the Congres-sional Black Caucus, diedlate Tuesday, his familyannounced. He was 90.
The former U.S. rep-resentative, who served15 terms after beingelected to the house in1968, died at his Clevelandhome just a month afterannouncing he had brainand lung cancer.
His election to theHouse came a year afterhis brother, Carl, waselected mayor of Cleve-land, the first African-American mayor of a ma-jor U.S. city.
In the 1970s, Stokesserved as chairman of theHouse’s Select Committeeon Assassinations, whichinvestigated the deaths of
See FAIRNESS, page 2
The Donald TrumpFactor
There is no doubt thatDonald Trump is the mostpopular candidate on thecandidate trail. He seems tobe saying all of the rightthings to many mainstreamvoters. His popularity isnow being compared to thatof candidate BarackObama, when he wastalking about “Hope andChange for America.”Trump is talking about“Making America Greatagain.” The Obama admin-istration was blocked fromday one by a congress wheremany of its members saidpublicly that they would doeverything in their power tosee that he did not have asuccessful administration.And in spite of their efforts,he has been fairlysuccessful. The main issuethat they tried to block wasthe Affordable Care Act(Obama Care). And they arestill working to get itoverturned, inspite of itbeing accepted by themajority of the Americancitizens and the SupremeCourt. Donald Trump, likeBarack Obama, will have todeal with the congressionalleaders to get any of hisissues to become reality.Many of the issues that hesays that he will correct, willhave to get congressionalapproval to become law. Hemay also be forced to use hisveto power to keep some oftheir pet propjects frombecoming reality. One of the main things thatis wrong with Washington isthat many of the congressionalleaders have been in office fortwenty or more years. As aresult, because of theirseniority, they have morepower than the president. The only thing that willgive the president more poweris to have term limits placedon congress members. Wehave some members who takea certain position, whether itbe wrong or right, and workon it for the duration of theirterms. For example, severalmembers of congress statedtheir main goal in congress isto have ObamaCareoverturned. Trump and the othercandidates need to have thecourage to take on the realproblem in Washington. Weneed term limits on congress.
Residents demandpolice body cams be
added to budget.See AUSTIN
Page 6
Racial discriminationspikes in public
sector job reviews.See OFFICE
Page 4
IOTA Chapter awardsscholarships to
superior TX students.See BELLE
Page 3
THE COMMUNIQUÉPage 2 ~ August 28, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
To date, confirmed tribute concert performers in-clude multi-GRAMMY winners Lady Antebellum andPharrell Williams, as well as singer/songwriter LukeBryan, reigning Academy of Country Music and Coun-try Music Association Entertainer of the Year. RickeyMinor, current music director for “American Idol” andpast two-time music director for the GRAMMY Awards,will be the evening’s musical director. Additional per-formers will be announced shortly.
Richie is being honored as the 2016 MusiCaresPerson of the Year in recognition of his significant cre-ative accomplishments as well as his career-spanningcharitable work, which has included support for an im-pressive range of causes over the years, ranging fromAIDS and human rights to famine, poverty, human traf-ficking and women’s issues. He is also a longtime con-tributor to the United Negro College Fund.
”I’m really very proud of this,” said Richie. “As far
as I’m concerned, this is the highest honor in our musicbusiness because it means you have a career. You’vesurvived the journey, if you will. The people who havebeen there defy categories. When you say BarbraStreisand, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney — are youkidding me? When I got in this business I wanted to belike them. When you get recognition like this, it’s ev-erything. It really is the top of the mountain when itcomes down to what your industry gives as recognitionfor great work, and the opportunity to help raise fundsto sustain MusiCares’ critical safety net of programsfor members of the music community is momentous tome.”
The MusiCares Person of the Year tribute ceremonyis one of the most prestigious events held duringGRAMMY Week. The celebration culminates with the58th Annual GRAMMY Awards at STAPLES Center onMonday, Feb. 15, 2016. The telecast will be broadcastlive on the CBS Television Network at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
RICHIE: “I’M REALLY VERY PROUD OF THISHIGHEST HONOR IN OUR MUSIC BUSINESS”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
HE’S EASY - Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan team fora special performance of "Oh No" and "All Night Long"at the 2013 CMT Artists of the Year show on Dec. 3 inNashville, Tenn. Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images -The Recording Academy
do for an artist.”Powe said that social media has made the entire
world accessible, freeing artists “to do and say what-ever their heart desires.”
Aside from voicing disdain for record labels, Princealso railed against music streaming services, both ofwhich he sees as middle men taking money from art-ists who should be in control of their own music, money,and brand.
“Once we have our own resources, we can pro-vide what we need for ourselves,” said Prince, whowaged a turbulent war in the 1990s against WarnerBros. Records.
During that time, Prince performed as a WarnerBros. Records artist with the word “slave” written onhis face. He further protested by changing his name toa symbol with no pronunciation. In an interview withRolling Stone, Prince said the symbol was “adopted asa means to free myself from undesirable relationships.”
Royal Purple - Prince playing at Coachella 2008.Photo courtesy penner (http://flickr.com/photos/penner/2450784866).
PRINCE: “ONCE WE HAVE OUR OWN RESOURCES,WE CAN PROVIDE WHAT WE NEED FOR OURSELVES”
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1In the end, Prince lost the rights to his own fa-
mous catalogue and the stage name.“People think I’m a crazy fool for writing ‘slave’ on
my face,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “But if I can’t dowhat I want to do, what am I? When you stop a manfrom dreaming, he becomes a slave. That’s where I was.I don’t own Prince’s music. If you don’t own your mas-ters, your master owns you.”
In 2014 Prince re-signed with Warner Bros.Records, regaining the rights to his catalogue, alongwith more control over his art and the business of hismusic.
In July, Prince fans using streaming services likeSpotify were cut off from their supply of his work. Asthe artist continued his efforts to control distributionof his music, Prince videos have also been removedfrom Vevo and YouTube.
Prince will release his new album, “HitNRun,” Sept.7 exclusively on Tidal, a streaming service created byJay Z that pays artists directly.
President John F.Kennedy and MartinLuther King Jr. He was alsoa part of the congressionalprobes of Iran-Contra andABSCAM, the latter inves-tigation which he headed.
News of his death re-verberated through Wash-ington, as friends and col-leagues remembered theinfluential and reveredformer congressman.
President Obamasaid Stokes “believeddeeply in fairness and theidea that every Americanshould have the same op-portunity to succeed.”
“Growing up in De-pression-era Clevelandwith his mother andbrother Carl, Lou tri-umphed over hardship to
President Obama said Stokes “believed deeply infairness and the opportunity to succeed” continued from page 1
become a passionatevoice for those less fortu-nate,” Obama said in astatement. “He fought toexpand access to qualityhealthcare in strugglingcommunities and workedtirelessly on behalf ofhardworking Ohioans. Louleaves behind an indeliblelegacy in the countlessgenerations of young lead-ers that he inspired, and hewill be sorely missed.”
Congressional BlackCaucus Chairman G. K.Butterfield called Stokes“the embodiment of a pub-lic servant.”
“As the first African-American to representOhio, Mr. Stokes was a pio-neer in public service,breaking numerous barri-
ers for African-Americansand for all people of colorduring his extraordinarycareer as an elected offi-cial on the local, state andfederal levels,” Butterfieldsaid. “He selflessly usedhis elected positions toincrease opportunities formillions of African-Ameri-cans. … The impact of hislegacy of service and com-mitment to his constitu-ents and the African-American community willbe remembered for gen-erations to come.”
Because of his fightto eliminate health dis-parities, the CongressionalBlack Caucus Foundationnamed a program in hishonor called the LouisStokes Urban Health Policy
Fellowship.“Our hearts are heavy
today over the passing ofRep. Louis Stokes. We arepraying for his family, andthe CBCF’s thoughts are withevery person touched by hisgreat legacy of leadership,”A. Shaunise Washington,president and chief execu-tive officer for the CBC, saidin the statement.
Louis StokesLouis Stokes
CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN
St. Peter’s United Methodist Church 4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281
Christian Web Site-stpetersaustintx.ning.com
[email protected] PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.
COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH USSunday School 8:45 a.m.
Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 p.m.
and Praise /Bible Study 6:30 p.m.(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland
Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)Rev. Jack C. Gause Pastor
Agape Baptist ChurchIn “The Centre” Bldg. F-15 7801 N. Lamar Blvd. (SE Corner of N Lamar and 183)
AGAPE is a chuch for all people. “Where Jesus Christ is Magnified and the love Heexhibited is Exemplified.” Come, receive God’s unconditional lovefor you.
For there is no greater love!
Church ServicesSunday School 9:30 AMSunday Worship 11:00 AM
Mid-Week Service Thursday: Praise,Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PMCall 454-1547 for Transporation
Website www.agapebcaustintx.comRev. H. Ed Calahan
Pastor
Imani Community ChurchDavis Elementray Auditorium 5214 West Duval Road
Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Worship Service 10:00 A.M.•Power Hour Bible Life Group 6:00 P.M.
Imani Complex & Office,11800 Mustang at Duval Austin, Texas 78727
Visit:imanichurch.comOffice: 512-343-9300Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims
7801 N. Lamar Blvd,Suite D 102,
Austin, Texas 78752
Worship: Sunday--10:00 am - 12:30 pm
Tuesday Bible Studies--7:30pm - 9:00 pmFriday Prayers--7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
The Church of Pentecost, USA Inc,Austin offers a wide variety of opportuni-ties for children, youth, adults, and olderadults to be involved in worship, spiritualgrowth, education, community outreach,and making a tangible difference to thosein need in our community. You too, canmake a positive difference in our commu-nity through your prayers, your presence,your gifts, your service, and your witness.Tel: 512 302-1270
Leading People to Experience God’s Love, Know Jesus Christ & Grow in His ImageThe Church of Pentecost
Olive Branch Fellowship of Austin / All Faith Chapel4110 Guadalupe St Bldg #639 Austin, TX 78751
Sunday MorningWorship @ 11: am
Romans 5:1 Therefore,having beenjustified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
This life, therefore, is not righteous-ness, but growth in righteousness; not health,but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest,but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be,but we are growing toward it. The process isnot yet finished, but it is going on. This is notthe end, but it is the road. All does not yetgleam in glory, but all is being purified.
--- Martin Luther
Kenneth Hill, Pastor
DOUBLE
GROCERY“R”
450l East Martin Luther King Blvd.*We cash ALL Tax Refund*Checks *Check Out
1179 San Bernard Street,Austin, TX 78702, 512-478-7023
Sunday Morning Bible Study, 9:00 A.M.Sunday Morning Worship, 10:15 A.M.Visit our website @ www.obcaus.org
Globalizing the Gospel
A Ministry That Ministers
Edward M. Fleming,Sr. Pastor
OLIVET BAPTISTCHURCH
Felix Bamirin, PastorGRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Experience Grace For Life
(By Parmer Lane Baptist Church building, behind Wells Fargo)
Call: 682.472.9073 l Email: [email protected] lVisit: www.gracewaycca.org
JOIN US This SUNDAY / THURSDAY@ 12424 Scofield Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78758
SUNDAYS 10:30 A.M., THURSDAYS 7:30 P.M.
Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church 5900 Cameron Road Austin, Texas 78723-1843
(512) 451-0808 (512) 302-4575 Fax Web Site - www.themount.net
WORSHIP SERVICESSunday Worship - 7:45 a.m. & 11 a.m.Church School - 9:45 a.m.Bible Studies - Mon, 6:30 p.m. & Wed., 12 noonWednesday Night Worship - 7 p.m.
“Ministries For Mankind” Luke 4:18 A.W.. Anthony Mays, Senior Pastor
Country Boyz Fixin’s4140 E. 12th Street, Austin, TX 78721
Featuring Fish, Poboys, Hot Wings, Pork Chops,Homemade Gumbo, Shrimp and Alligator
DINE IN OR ORDER TO GOMon - Friday 11 am - 8 p.m.Saturday - 12 noon - 8 p.m.
Closed SundayCall (512) 928-5555
*Mention this ad and get a FREE 20 oz. Drink*
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/August 28, 2015 ~ Page 3
Ebenezer Baptist Church1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax 512-478-1892
WednesdayMidweek Prayer Service 7:00 P.M.Child Development CenterAges 0-5 years (Daily) 512-478-6709
Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875
Worship Service 8:00 A.M.Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Discipleship Training 10:00 A.M.Worship Service 11:00 A.M.
Dr. Ricky Freeman,Pastor
We Want YOU!Advertise With The
VILLAGER
We Want YOU!Advertise With The
VILLAGER
Sunday Services
Do you have church news? Would you like topurchase a monthly ad for your church?
Inquire TODAY!Send your information to [email protected]
or call 512-476-0082
ProphetessStephanie N’ChoAssociate Pastor
469-226-4679 | www.vainqueurs.org805 S. Sherman St. Richardson, TX 75081
La Génération des VainqueursMinistry Church
Tuesday - Friday: 3pm -10pmWalking and Appointment
Wednesday Bible Study | 7:45pmFriday Prayer |7:45pm
Sunday Service | 10:00am
Villager Youth Brigade will be taking sponsorshipsstarting summer of 2015.Your support has beenmuch appreciated over the years. Please continueto invest in Austin’s youth. We look forward toanother successful year with some promisingstudents. FMI Call 512-476-0082
DAVID CHAPEL Missionary Baptist ChurchSUNDAY | Christian Education 9:15a.m.Worship 10:30 a.m. (MLK)Nursery AvailableTUESDAY | TNT Bible Study(Pflugerville) 6:45p.m.WEDNESDAY | Prayer & Praise 7:00p.m.Bible Study 7:30p.m.
Dr. Joseph C. Parker, Jr.Senior Pastor
512-472-9748 www.davidchapel.org2211 E.MLK @ Chestnut St. Austin, TX 78702
John O. Belle Memorial Scholarship AwardsThe Epsilon IOTA Chapter of Omega Psi Phi, Fraternity, Inc.
Austin, TX –The Epsi-lon Iota chapter of OmegaPsi Phi, Inc in partnershipwith the Epsilon Iota Foun-dation will be presentingscholarship awards to thefollowing high schoolgraduates this Sundaymorning, August 23rd, atE. 19th Street Missionary
2nd “JUBILEE” Arts, Crafts & More ShowThe St. Peter’s United Methodist Church, located
at 4509 Springdale Road, Austin, Texas, is sponsor-ing their 2nd “JUBILEE ARTS, CRAFTS & MORE SHOW.”Entrepreneurs from the Austin and surrounding ar-eas will have the opportunity to exhibit their talentsand wares for you, the public, to come and fellow-ship together and experience the ultimate shoppingexperience. Whether a vendor or a shopper, put thedate on your calendar. Saturday, September 5, 2015from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Plan to come and be a part of a wonderful com-munity experience as you support the many entre-preneurs and shop for holiday, birthday, anniversary,and “just because I love you or me” gifts. But, planto come and shop early, ‘cause, the early shoppercatches the best deals. Also, during the period of 12noon to 3:00 p.m. a “Gospel Jam Session” will be held
CamillaMcWilliams
Baptist Church.Orlando S. Smart
($500); Joshua Smith($500); Reginald S. Terrell,Jr. ($500) and Kendal J.Burkins ($1500)
Reginald S. Terrell,Jr.(Shaw) – graduatedfrom LBJ High Schoolwhere he was ranked inthe top 15% of his class. Hewas active in the marchingand jazz bands, a memberof NHS and an activemember of Greater Cal-vary Bible Church. Shawnwill be attending the Uni-versity of North Texas atDenton.
Orlando S. Smart –
graduated from CedarRidge High School wherehe maintained A/B HonorRoll his entire time there.He was very active withCedar Ridge Basketballand Cedar Ridge Theatreall 4 years. Orlando is amember of Sweet HomeBaptist Church where hevolunteers with the foodpantry. Orlando will be at-tending Texas State Uni-versity.
Joshua Smith –graduated from the Col-lege Prep Program ofReagan High School wherehe was in the top 10% ofhis class. He was active in
football, basketball andbaseball. Joshua is a mem-ber of E. 19th Street Mis-sionary Baptist Church.Joshua will be attendingUH .
Kendal J. Burkins -graduated from theCarnegie Vanguard HighSchool where he wasranked 3rd in his class of141 students. Kendal wasactive in basketball, senioractivities committee andthe NHS. He is an activemember of Good HopeMissionary Baptist Churchwhere he active as a youthleader. Kendal plans to at-tend Stanford University.
with twelve groups, choirs or individuals scheduledto perform. Our contact number is 512 926-1686 –office or 512 929-7281 – FAX.
Rev. Dr. Jack C. Gause is the pastor of St. Peter’sUMC and Camilla McWilliams and Shonese Brownare the “Jubilee” coordinators. ADMISSION IS FREETO THE PUBLIC!
HolyCross
CatholicChurchInstallsState
HistoricalMarker
Sunday, August 30,2015, Bishop Joe S.Vasquez, Bishop of Aus-tin, TX will officiate thededication of the marker,service will begin at10:00 am and a receptionwill follow.
The community iswelcome to join in on this
joyous occasion. ChurchLocation is 1610 East11th Street, Austin, Texas78702.
Some of thechurch’s history datesback to the 1930s, therewere numerous Catholicchurches serving variouscommunities in Austin,Texas. However, noCatholic church servedthe needs of the growingpopulation of AfricanAmerican Catholics inAustin. Holy Cross Catho-lic Church, established in1936, was the first Catho-lic Church to serve Afri-can Americans in Austin.
The establishmentof the church led to otherbenefits for the AfricanAmerican community inEast Austin. By 1940,Holy Cross Hospitalopened providing notonly medical services tothe community but alsoproviding the only local
hospital where AfricanAmerican doctors wereallowed to practice. In1941, the church openedHoly Cross CatholicSchool which served thecommunity for nineteenyears. HOLY CROSSCATHOLIC CHURCH wasfounded as a DiocesanParish in 1936 by the Rev-erend Francis R. Weber,C.S.C., a graduate ofNotre Dame University.He established thechurch to serve theneeds of the growing Af-rican American Catholicpresence in Austin. We-ber gathered the few al-ready baptized and con-firmed Black Catholics liv-ing in East Austin and metin the living room of theWilliam M. Tears’ familyresidence at 1203 E. 12thStreet for the first Mass.
The original churchwas completed in 1937through the labors of Fr.
Weber with some helpfrom volunteers. HolyCross Catholic Churchwas the first CatholicChurch in Austin to servethe African Americancommunity.
Holy Cross CatholicChurch has had a signifi-cant and important impacton the community asmany of its parishionershave been very involved innumerous educational,social and political issuesthat affected East Austin,the City of Austin and theState of Texas. Two mem-bers of the parish servedon the Austin Indepen-dent School DistrictSchool Board; two servedas state legislators (in-cluding one who is cur-rently a state representa-tive), Currently, the statepresident of the NationalAssociation for ColoredPeople (NAACP) is amember of Holy Cross.
THE VILLAGER/August 28, 2015 ~ Page 4 www.theaustinvillager.com
THE COURIER
Knight hooked upwith Dr. Dre, or how Dr. Dremet producer JimmyIovine.
From the film’s firstmoments, you know you’reexperiencing greatnessbecause everything seemsso real: the visuals ofCompton streets, thestrong bass beats in night-clubs, the ghetto fabulousclothes, the Jheri curls, thepolice arrests. The perfor-mances, the dialogue, theplotline – it’s all amazinglyauthentic. It’s as if you area fly on the wall peekingin or a narc during a drugbust watching it all godown.
Instantly the thoughtoccurs: Who orchestratedall this and why is it sogood? Once you read theproductions notes, it allmakes sense. Ice Cube(Friday), Dr. Dre and Eazy-E’s widow Tomica Woods-Wright are co-producers oftheir own story. F. GaryGray, who shot Ice Cubevideos (e.g. “True to theGame”) back in the day,and has gone on to directurban dramas (Set it Off)and comedies (Friday), isat the helm. That’s whywhat you’re viewing is sographic. These guys lived
THE INCIDENT - A scene from the movie Straight Outta Compton that was the catalyst forNWA’s controversial song, “F the Police”. Photo Courtesy Universal Picture (2015).
it. They’re just sharingtheir experiences.
It’s 1986 and 16-year-old O’Shea Jackson, akaIce Cube (O’Shea Jackson,Jr.), is getting involved indrug deals that don’t endwell. Twenty-one-year oldAndre Romelle Young, akaDr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), is
a wannabe record pro-ducer/DJ still living withhis mom, Verna (LisaRenee Pitts), and hisyounger brother. He’s fo-cused on his music, andnot working. Mom, whohad him as a teen and isholding down two jobs tomake ends meet, isn’t hav-
ing it. She’s in his face:“People said I would beshit. You would be shit. I’veworked hard. I refuse to letyou throw that all away!”Next thing you know, Dreis out on the streets, withhis prized LPs in tow,couch-surfing. Eric LynnWright, aka Eazy-E (Jason
Mitchell) uses his entre-preneurial skills sellingdrugs, but at age 23, he’sburned out and the thugshe does business with aredropping like flies.
Call it a confluence.The three decide to pooltheir talents and changetheir focus to writing, pro-
ducing and performing rapmusic. Now, Dr. Dre is a DJin local Compton clubs,working alongside DJ Yella(Neil Brown Jr.). Ice Cubeand MC Ren (Aldis Hodge)are young emcees startingto form fierce rhymes.Eazy-E has enough drugmoney to invest in produc-ing. He becomes theleader. They form RuthlessRecords, cut music andbecome NWA – NiggazWit Attitudes. An ambi-tious music manager, JerryHeller (Paul Giamatti),promises them gigs and afuture. The rest is history,or urban folklore, depend-ing on how you look at it.
The group comes upat a time in L.A., during theRonald Reagan’s years,when gang violence isrampant and police brutal-ity is the norm. Their rapmusic reflects the chaos intheir environment and therest of the world isshocked by their graphiclyrics that some feel glo-rify crime (“GangstaGangsta”), exploit women(“A Bitch Iz a Bitch”) andverbally assault cops (“F-— Tha Police”). When the
SeeVÉRITÉ FACTOR,
page 5
From the Film’s First Moments, You Know You’reExperiencing Greatness continued from page 1
Public OfficesDiscriminate Against
Black Americans
(Billy Hathorn/CC BY-SA 3.0)
By Jazelle HuntNNPA WashingtonCorrespondent
By Jazelle HuntNNPA WashingtonCorrespondent
W A S H I N G T O N(NNPA) – It’s an open se-cret that Black-soundingnames can hinder employ-ment, housing, and loanapplications. Apparently,basic emails to public ser-vants have snuck onto thatlist.
So concluded a re-cent study published bythe Institute for the Studyof Labor, an internationalresearch center based inGermany.
“Discrimination byproviders of public ser-vices not only has a poten-tially detrimental impacton the economic and so-cial lives of those affected,but is also illegal,” thestudy concluded. “Whilederegulation and global-ization may have in-creased competition inthe U.S. economy, thusplacing pressure on dis-criminatory attitudes inthe private sector … this
has certainly been muchless the case for the pub-lic sector.”
To test this hypoth-esis, researchers sentemails asking for basic in-formation to more than19,000 local public officesaround the United Statesover two non-consecutiveweeks. The emails usedfour names: Jake Mueller,Greg Walsh, DeShawnJackson, and Tyrone Wash-ington.
Public offices re-sponded to 72 percent ofemails each from Jake andGreg. For DeShawn andTyrone, who had slightlydifferent levels of re-sponse, 68 percent of theiremails received replies.
“Our results showthat emails signed with adistinctively Black nameare less likely to receive areply than identical emailssigned with a distinctivelyWhite name, thus indicat-
ing the presence of dis-crimination in access topublic services,” the re-port stated.
And while the officesthat did respond tookroughly the same amountof time and used the sameamount of words for every-one, the responses toDeShawn and Tyrone were“less cordial;” 72 percentof the responses to Jakeand Greg addressed themby name or included asalutation such as “Hello,”“Dear,” or “Thank [you].”For DeShawn and Tyrone,66 percent of their re-sponses included suchpleasantries, despite hav-ing the same amount ofwords.
During the secondweek of emails, all thenames included “real es-tate agent” in their signa-tures to test for socioeco-nomic bias. The resultsremained the same as the
first week without the ca-reer mention, leading theresearchers to assert thatthe responders were dis-criminating by race, notclass.
The study also foundthat the emails from Blacknames were less likely tobe ignored if the recipientwas also Black. The re-searchers argued that ifthe email senders werebeing discriminatedagainst because of socialstatus or some other, non-racial prejudice, “Whiteand Black recipientsshould have a similar pro-pensity to respond tonames conveying low so-cioeconomic background,i.e., Black names.”
Since the researchershad no way to record theidentity and race of eachof the 19,000 responders,
SeeWIDEST RACIAL GAP,
page 7
Austin Interfaith Calls on the Mayor and City Councilto Invest in Children, Workers and Families;
Promote an Economy of InclusionAustin, TX - On
Thursday, August 20,Austin Interfaith leaderswill hold a press confer-ence in the media roomof Austin City Hall to ad-dress the unwise priori-ties of the proposed Cityof Austin budget for2015-2016. Austin Inter-faith opposes the pro-posed budget because itignores the almost 1 in 4Austin children liv-ing be-low the federal povertyline and leaves vulner-able part-time and tem-porary city employees toearn pov-erty wages.
This year, the city will
collect $50 million in newrevenue, but over $20 mil-lion will go to the policedepart-ment, while at thesame time the city will cutfunding for afterschoolprograms, and other ser-vices for children andfamilies. That is the wrongpriority. The city generalrevenue fund has in-creased 38% since 1999,and 95% of this increasewent to public safety,when Austin is one of thesafest cities in the nation.How long can this lastwhen we neglect Austinresidents’ priorities?
Austin Interfaith
leaders condemn a bud-get that prioritizes a non-existent public safety cri-sis, instead of an in-equality crisis. Austin In-terfaith budget prioritiesinclude Prime T imeafterschool programs,Victory Tutorial, the Sum-mer Playground Program,parks, pools, libraries anda living wage increase forall city workers. Thesebudget priorities reflectpriorities from hundredsof small group and indi-vidual meetings with con-stituents in our congre-gations, school PTA’s,unions, and associations.
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/August 28, 2015 ~ Page 5
COLLECTED PRÉCISCasting Actors Who Are Not Recognizable Faces
Helps The Cinema Vérité Factor continued from page 4
guys tour, it’s safe tosay they don’t perform atchurch socials, the Na-tional Organization ofWomen events orfundraisers for thePatrolmen’s BenevolentAssociation.
Along the way, mem-bers leave the group,some are cheated out ofmoney and bad bloodtakes hold. There are goldrecords, arrests, condem-nations, orgies, babies,threats, TV appearances,rivalries, betrayals, andrevelations. They growapart. Will they come backtogether?
As you watch NWAblow up and flame out,and get a feel for what lifewas like behind the risquéMTV videos, you alsowatch the truth about theL.A. police department un-fold. The Rodney King in-cident exposed the prac-tices NWA cataloguedyears before. You’re notonly watching the historyof West Coast rap, but theevolution of L.A.’s innercity community and racerelations.
It is a credit to thestory by S. Leigh Savidge(Welcome to Death Row),Lan Wenkus (Private Re-sort) and Andrea Berloff(World Trade Center),which evolved into an as-tute screenplay by Berloff
THE O.G.’s of WEST COAST GANGSTA HIP-HOP - Photo of the original members of NWA (from Lto R): O’Shea Jackson a.k.a. Ice Cube, Andre Romelle Young a.k.a. Dr. Dre, Eric Lynn Wright a.k.a. Eazy-E, Antoine Carraby a.k.a. DJ Yella, and Lorenzo Jerald Patterson a.k.a. MC Ren. Picture courtesy ofwww.hotnewhiphop.com.
and newcomer JonathanHerman, that all the piecesfit so neatly together. Younever feel like anything ismissing, or that charactersaren’t saying what’s ontheir mind, or thestorytelling is not leadingsomewhere important. Alot is packed into the bril-liant and revealing script.
Casting actors whoare not recognizable faceshelps the cinema vérité
factor. For all practical pur-poses, they are the rap-pers, girlfriends and en-tourage. Corey Hawkinsnails the ethereal essenceof Dr. Dre. Casting O’SheaJackson Jr. as his dad IceCube was a stroke of ge-nius and is absolutelyhaunting. Paul Giamatti asthe helpful but deviousmanager exhibits the rightamount of smarm. Burlystuntman-turned-actor R.
Marcos Taylor walks like ahardened felon on deathrow and oozes an evilnessthat exudes Suge Knight.Jason Mitchell has thewidest array of emotionsto play as Eazy-E, who isgangsta tough and thenextremely vulnerable. Ifthere is a surprise scène-stealer it’s Lisa Renee Pittsas Verna. The openingscenes are pivotal and shesets them off perfectly as
the exasperated mom whowants her kids to succeedand survive. Her time onscreen is short, her perfor-mance is huge.
Accolades should belavished on the technicalcrew: Joseph Trapanese’s(Nightcrawler) compellingscore; MatthewLibatique’s (Black Swan)perfectly lit cinematogra-phy; Billy Fox’s (Hustle &Flow) ultra-tight and smart
editing; the productiondesign (Shane Valentino),art direction (ChristopherBrown) and set decoration(Christopher Carlson, Jef-frey Kushon) that recre-ates ’80 and ‘90s Comptonto a T; and costume designby Kelli Jones (Sons of An-archy) that is never garish,always suitable, rightdown to the last goldchain.
The tech credits, act-ing, and writing are su-perb, but the lion’s shareof accolades must go todirector F. Gary Gray. Fromthe film’s opening se-quences you’re question-ing who pulled all of thistogether so perfectly, andit’s him. Certainly when afilm features an ensemblecast of relatively unknownactors and all give univer-sally strong performances,credit goes to the directorfor guiding them. There isnot one flawed, imperfect,plastic moment in this en-tire movie. Gray should beproud for realizing all thepotential of this historicmovie.
This is a monster film.You will walk out feelinglike you have been enter-tained, educated andemotionally fulfilled. Eightmonths into the year2015, and this is the onlyperfect film that has hitthe theaters. This is it.
Firearms andForgiveness
by Karsceal TurnerSpecial to the NNPA from The Florida Courier
Is self-defense bibli-cal? Are Christians requiredto forgive, as in the case ofthe Charleston massacrefamilies forgiving the youngWhite supremacist whokilled their relatives?
Dr. Charles A. Harper,III, pastor of Paradise Mis-sionary Baptist Church inAtlanta, answers with anemphatic “yes” to bothquestions.
Armed in churchThe Second Amend-
ment supporter has pos-sessed a concealed weaponspermit for 15 years and at onetime carried a firearm tochurch. He also vigorouslyadvocates self-defense.
“I have the right toprotect myself against thecriminal element. You dowhat you have to do to pro-tect yourself. The Bible says,‘Watch and pray.’ There’snothing wrong with protect-ing one’s family and prop-erty while doing so legally,”Harper added.
“As a Second Amend-ment supporter, I feelChristians have the right toprotect themselves, butmost people don’t be-cause of personal prefer-ence. However, for thosewho have undergone theproper firearms and weap-ons training, it’s perfectly
alright to do so.”Question of ‘maturity’
When addressing thequestion of mandatoryforgiveness, Harper said“spiritual maturity” is themain issue.
“It depends on whereone is spiritually,” Harpersaid. “The thing you haveto understand about astatement like ‘turning theother cheek’ is that it de-pends on where you are inyour growth.
“Jesus on the crossgave the ultimate state-ment of turning the othercheek. After being spat on,nailed to a cross, his laststatement was, “Fatherforgive them, for theyknow not what they do.’
Most of us do notgrow to that point.”
Charleston resonatesHarper also said the
shooting in Charleston, S.C.was a very personal thing tomany churchgoers.
“The Charlestonshooting is a very touchysubject. When you focus inon it from a Christian per-spective, it is very difficultwhen put in a situation likeCharleston to forgive. Onehas to dig very deep withinthemselves.
“I taught about thissome weeks ago and I
posed this question: ‘Doesforgiveness negate justice?’
The answer is, ‘No, itdoes not.’
Killed in churchHarper, who was
born and raised in Atlanta,recounted a story aboutforgiveness he sayschanged his life.
“Martin Luther King,Sr. was preaching one Sun-day (at Ebenezer BaptistChurch in Atlanta) and hiswife was on piano. A men-tally disturbed man walkedup to his wife and shot herdead,” Harper said.
“When questioned bynews reporters how he feltabout the man who cold-bloodedly killed his wife,King, Sr. replied, ‘I’ve got toforgive him, I’ve got to lovehim.’ I don’t think I’ve grownto that point yet.
“That was the ulti-mate. It was the ultimateexpression of forgivenessthat I’ve seen. I was not yeta Christian, but lookingback, I can say that King,
Sr. had grown to the pointspiritually where he coulddo that,” Harper added.
God’s protectionDr. Terry Turner, pas-
tor of Mesquite FriendshipBaptist Church in Mes-
quite, Texas, addressedwhat he sees is an innateconflict of a pastor beingarmed in church.
“I think in carrying aweapon that can take aperson’s life or that couldbe detrimental to thehealth of a person, andstanding in the pulpitpreaching at the sametime, does not exemplify avery strong faith in Godand God’s protection,” heexplained.
“However, I firmlybelieve that God helpsthose who help them-selves as well. For thosepreachers who do chooseto carry, more power tothem if they want every-one to know,” he added.
“I just prefer to notbe one of those preachers
who is recognized as beinga gun-toting preacher atthe same time that I’mpreaching love andpreaching that God willtake care of you and thatwe should trust in Him. Wefirmly believe that ‘Allthings work for the goodof those who love the Lordand those who are calledaccording to his purpose.’”
Strapped or not?Turner was cagey as
he addressed the subjectwhether he’s personallyarmed. Texas is an “opencarry” state.
“I chose not to revealwhether I carry or not. I be-lieve it’s a personal prefer-ence. I don’t think if onechooses to carry, not every-one needs to know that youare carrying,” Turner said.
CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDPage 6 ~ August 28, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
Saturday, August 22, the Bill Rogers Foundation held a gala in Austin, Texaswhich was meant to showcase the work of the foundation. Its founder, Mr. Rogershas worked hard to help the people of Liberia better themselves. During the heightof the Ebola crisis in Liberia, Mr. Rogers was seeking to get the attention of Ameri-cans and Central Texans regarding the situation of his native land in Liberia. More-over, the foundation still keeps its main focus of providing clean water and educa-tion for the people of Liberia.
At this gala, it was meant to inform the attendees of the foundation past workand future work in the nation of Liberia. For instance, one of the attendees likeAmbassador Dion Osagie mentioned that, I was one of the first supporters of theBill Roger’s foundation due to its excellent track of helping the children of Liberia. Inorder, to better understand the Bill Rogers foundation one must understand thefounder’s history.
Bill Rogers left the nation of Liberia due to the civil war. Bill Rogers came to theUnited States and would eventually attend Huston Tillotson University at Austin,Texas. At HT, Bill Rogers excelled as a student athlete who ran track. As a result, BillRogers decided to enter the first ever Liberian marathon, which occurred in 2011.Moreover, Bill Rogers was the champion of the Liberian marathon which was thefirst ever to be held in Liberia. After winning, Bill Rogers was propelled to go furtherinto the national and international marathons and decided to use this exposure tohelp the people of Liberia, by establishing a foundation. The Bill Rogers Foundationdoes a lot of work with the youth of Liberia.
The Central Texas Liberian American CommunityStands with the Bill Rogers Foundation
by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon | Villager Columnist
Pictured left to right are Joseph Livingstone, Dr Raymond Youngblood,Paul Tiah, Augustus Sonpson and front center is Bill rogers.
Photo by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
Under One Roof
TheAustinBudget
As the Austin CityCouncil drafts its new bud-get, numerous citizens areupset of how the budgetis being written. Currently,44% has been earmarkedas “public safety” in whichthe Austin Police Depart-ment will receive a bigchunk. Despite APD re-ceiving a big slice, the de-partment has not asked topurchase body cameras.Moreover, none of the 10Austin City Council Mem-bers district and MayorAdler have demandedAPD to include body cam-eras in the budget.
The APD budgetseeks to hire more policeofficers that will engage in“community policing.”However, the APD budgetdoes not address the issueaccountability, such as,body cameras. Accordingto APD the increase of Of-ficers will allow for thoseofficers to better inter actwith the community. Con-sequently, numerous localactivists like, “Lesvoices
by Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon |Villager Columnist
group” have expressedtheir “un-belief” at theamount of money thatAPD is supposed to receivefrom the Austin City Coun-cil.
Austin Interfaith wasone group that went to theAustin City Council to askthe council to reduce themoney that should go toAPD. According to AustinInterfaith, they opposedthe “proposed budget be-cause it ignores the almost
1 in 4 children living belowthe federal poverty lineand leaves vulnerable parttime and temporary cityemployees to earn pov-erty wages.” According toInterfaith, the city of Aus-tin should go towardsitems like the following:prime time after-school;new high school YouthDevelopment Programsinternships; parks; afford-able housing and othersocial issue items.
by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon | Villager Columnist
“Under One Roof” isa business located inNortheast Austin (4700Loyola Ln) that seeks to re-write the narrative of theareas by offering healthyand organic natural prod-ucts to its customers.Moreover, it is a creationunlike others because it isabout African Americanfamilies coming togetherto open one business “atone location.”
Not only is “UnderOne Roof” a business butit is also a community cen-ter. For instance, at UnderOne Roof, one can comeby to arrange their traveland lodging for the up-coming Million ManMarch 2015. Furthermore,one can stop by their“knowledge center” forthe tapes and books of the
Honorable MinisterFarrakhan and HonorableMinister Muhammad. Inaddition, one can pur-chase CD’s of the localAustin’s rap artists.
“Under One Roof” isdifferent from the otherstores because it seeks tosell natural and organicproducts that are healthyfor one’s body. For in-stance, one can purchasenatural body oils, sham-poo, conditioner, andnatural organic food. Cur-rently, the Cafe is underconstruction. Further-more, they sell other prod-ucts like clothing, purses,crochet items and jewelry.In the future, they will alsoseek to train Young AfricanAmericans to become en-trepreneurs and businessowners.
Christina Muhammad with Under One Roof.Photo by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
The Future Begins Today -- in Pre-KPre-K enrollment is now more important than ever. For children to succeed
in school, it is vital they start strong. Children who attend a Pre-K program aremore likely to be ready for school when they start Kindergarten. Now is the timefor qualified families to enroll in a FREE Pre-K program. Please get the word out tofamilies that schools are registering now.
Head Start/Early Head StartThe Head Start / Early Head Start provider in Austin/Travis County is Child
Inc at 512-451-7361.
9-11MEMORIAL
EVENTS
Austin FirefightersAssociation:
9-11 MemorialCeremony
Friday, Sept. 11th@ 7:30-8:30 AM
Buford Tower, CesarChavez and Colorado
Austin Fire Dept.9-11 Memorial Climb
Friday, Sept. 11th@ 9:30 am
AFD Pleasant ValleyTraining Tower(517 S. Pleasant
Valley Dr)
ESPADA 9-11 MemorialPerformance
Friday, Sept. 11th@ 12:00 noon
Texas Capitol Rotunda
This ceremony alsoincorporates a remem-brance of AustinFirefighters, active and re-tired, who have passedaway in the last year. Theevent will take place atBuford Tower. The cer-emony will include theAustin Firefighter HonorGuard, Emergency Ser-vices Pipes and Drums As-sociation and AFD Quint 1.
Public is welcome toobserve. AustinFirefighters will to pay trib-ute to the 343 New Yorkfirefighters who lost theirlives on 9-11 by climbingup and down the firetower stairs until it equalsthe number of floors ofthe World Trade Center.
Performance by theEmergency Services Pipesand Drum Association(ESPADA)
Rev. Sandy, Mount Olive Baptist ChurchAssociate Pastor is a member of Austin Interfaith
and was at City Hall calling for budget thatreduces the money given to APD.Photo by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon
We want YOU!AdvertiseWith The
VILLAGER
CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION
City of AustinPurchasing Office
EMPLOYMENTPROPOSALS
PUBLICINFORMATION
FOR SALEFOR RENT
BIDSMISCELLANEOUS
The City of Austin Purchasing Office invitesyou to view current bid solicitations at https://www.c i . au s t i n . t x . u s / f i nanceon l ine /vendor_connection/solicitation/solicitations.cfm.Vendors are encouraged to register on-line in theCity’s Vendor Self Service System. Once yourcompany is registered, you will receive notifica-tions about new bid opportunities. For additionalinformation regarding current bid opportunitiesor Vendor Registration, please call the Purchas-ing Office at 512-974-2500.
For information on the City of Austin’s Mi-nority Owned and Women-Owned ProcurementProgram and the certification process, pleasecontact the Small & Minority Business ResourcesDepartment at 512-974-7600 or visit their websiteat http://www.austintexas.gov/smbr.
City of Austin Featured JobOpportunities
www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/August 28, 2015 ~ Page 7
The City of Austin is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Please visit the City of Austin employmentwebsite at www.austincityjobs.org to view
requirements and apply for these and other jobopportunities. We encourage you to check the
employment website often as new jobopportunities are posted daily.
If you have any questions or need assistance,please call 512-974-3210 or email us [email protected].
The City of Austin is currently seeking qualifiedapplicants for the following positions:
Austin Fire Dept.
• Administrative Specialist• Librarian I or II (Youth Services Librarian)• 911 Call Taker Trainee- Multiple Positions• Stores Specialist Senior-Temporary• Building & Grounds Assistant (Temporary)• General Maintenance Worker I• Cashier (MuniProg, Administrative Sppt)• Licensed Vocational Nurse• Graduate Engineer A or Graduate Engineer B• Athletic Official Volleyball(20 part time openings)• Utility Account Specialist - Billing Services
Austin Travis County IntegralCare is currently solicitingproposals through a Request forProposals (RFP) process forLandscaping Services. RFPs maybe mailed or sent electronically, bycontacting Brody Ballard [email protected] or (512)440-4022 beginning August 24,2015. The deadline to submit aproposal under the RFP is 4 p.m.CST on September 21, 2015.Historically UnderutilizedBusinesses, including Minority-Owned Businesses and Women-Owned Businesses, are encouragedto apply.
Austin Community CollegeDistrict is requesting proposalsfrom qualified firms for laborcompliance consulting services.Request for Proposal
(RFP) No. 918-16001RLAll proposals must be submitted toACC Purchasing Department by nolater than 2:00 p.m., Central Time,on Thursday, September 10, 2015.The RFP document is available onthe ACC Purchasing website athttp://www.austincc.edu/purchase/or in the ACC Purchasing Office(512) 223-1300 between the hoursof 9 am and 4 pm, Monday throughFriday. All responses must be sealedand returned to the ACC PurchasingOffice, ACC Service Center,9101 Tuscany Way, Austin, Texas78754, by the date and timeindicated above. Electronicallytransmitted responses will NOT beaccepted unless otherwise stated inthe documents. Late submittals willbe retained unopened.There will be a mandatory pre-proposal meeting for this RFP toheld at 11:00 am on September 1,2015; ACC Service Center, Room133.The ACC Board of Trusteesreserves the right to reject any and/or all responses and waive allformalities in the solicitationprocess.
NOTICE OF PUBLICHEARING
On September 15, 2015 at 9 A.M.,in the Travis County Com-missioners Courtroom on the 1stfloor at 700 Lavaca Street, theTravis County Com- missionerswill receive public comment on theTravis County District Clerk’sDISTRICT COURT RECORDSTECH- NOLOGY FUND (FUND139).This is the Plan for Fiscal Year2015/2016 for funding thepreservation and restoration of theTravis County District Clerk'srecords. To review a copy of thePlan before the hearing, contactLaura Jimenez of the Travis CountyDistrict Clerk's Office at (512) 854-9737.
they used the demo-graphics in each profes-sion plus a racial databaseof last names to infer therecipients’ race, to test theidea.
And they found that,“where the probabilitythat a recipient is Blackbecomes more substan-tial, the predicted re-sponse rates for the tworaces become indistin-guishable.”
In rural areas, the dif-ference in response wasalmost double that of ur-ban areas. The Northeasthad the smallest racialgaps in responses, and theMidwest had the largest;but the researchers pointout that the Midwest ishome to more rural coun-ties than the Northeast,South, and West. TheSouth had the second-low-est incidence of discrimi-nating against DeShawn’sand Tyrone’s emails – theresearchers believed this isbecause more Black
In Terms of Professions, EmailResponses from Sheriff Offices
Showed Widest Racial Gapcontinued from page 4 people hold public jobs in
the South than in otherparts of the country.
In terms of profes-sions, the responses fromsheriff offices showed thewidest racial gap, respond-ing to 46 percent of theBlack senders, and 53 per-cent of the White senders.School districts had thesmallest gap of 3 percenthigher for White senders.Job centers were the onlyagencies to respond moreto Black senders thanWhite senders.
Roughly half of all theemails were sent to schooldistrict employees, andanother 25 percent weresent to library workers.The rest were spreadamong sheriff offices,state and county treasur-ers, job centers, andcounty clerks. Sampleemails included: “My part-ner and I would like a mar-riage license. Could youplease tell me what youropening hours are?” and,“I am about to purchase ahouse. Could you please
explain how I can checkwhether there are unpaidtaxes on the house? Ifthere are unpaid taxes,who would be liable forthem?”
The report cited afew examples from pastresearch in which Blackand low-income Ameri-cans access social servicesand opt into programs athigher rates when they aregiven more information.So while being stingy and/or unfriendly with publicinformation doesn’t nec-essarily mean less accessto these services, this be-havior can seriously affectBlack Americans’ ability totake action and make de-cisions about their lives.
“Making it more dif-ficult for a citizen to obtaininformation about a ser-vice is not merely a nui-sance, but can also havean important impact onwhether and how the citi-zen engages with the ser-vice,” the researcherswrote. They also pointedout that it’s unlikely thatthese discriminatory be-haviors only happen in re-sponding to emails, with-out spilling over into thegeneral and unspokenways of operating a publicoffice.
The study concluded,“Besides being illegal, dis-crimination by public ser-vice providers is particu-larly startling, since gov-ernments could be majorplayers in the effort toeradicate discrimination inAmerican society.”
Senator Ellisand SenatorGarcia work
to combat lowvoting
(Houston, TX) - Sena-tors Rodney Ellis (D-Hous-ton) and Sylvia Garcia (D-Houston) are joining theNAACP, LULAC, and TexasCivil Rights Project in acivic engagement cam-paign to promote voterregistration and engage-ment in Houston.
Thanks to a partner-ship with Clear ChannelOutdoor, the Senators willpost over 20 billboards inEnglish and Spanish in thegreater Houston area toencourage citizens to reg-ister and vote ahead ofNovember’s general elec-tion. Advertising space isbeing donated by ClearChannel Outdoor to theNAACP and LULAC for thecampaign and is valued inexcess of $75,000. Hun-dreds of thousands poten-tial voters will view thesemessages over the comingfive weeks prior to thevoter registration dead-line, which is October 5.
“I am honored to par-ticipate in this campaign toincrease voter engage-ment in our community,”said Ellis.
MayorRecognizes
Data-DrivenProcess in
Rundberg as aModel for
CommunityHealth
ImprovementAUSTIN, TX - After a
successful tour of theRundberg area, MayorAdler spoke at a press con-ference this Wednesdayregarding the need to bedata-driven while under-taking community healthimprovement plans, suchas the process undertakenby the Latino HealthCareForum and RestoreRundberg’s Health andWellness Initiative.
The RestoreRundberg team selectedthe Latino Healthcare Fo-rum, a community-basedorganization, as the entityto complete a local healthassessment and based onthat assessment, provideoptions moving forward toimprove the health andwell-being of Rundbergresidents.
Solutions are laidforth in the RundbergCommunity Innovation
Zone proposal. This zonewill focus on the 1.5 milesfrom the North AustinYMCA & Little WalnutCreek Library down toDobie Middle School & theCity of Austin’s Gus GarciaRecreation Center. Thiszone will be a focus of ser-vices, transportation, anda home for local Commu-nity Health Workers as apart of the new Center forHealthy Communities.
The Center forHealthy Communitiesblooms from the originalfocus of the Latino
HealthCare Forum,expanding the original
mission to accommodatefor the natural advocacyfor other minority groupsbeyond Latino & Hispanic.One example is recogni-tion of Burmese and Ara-bic groups as benefittingfrom the data-driven pro-cess, unveiling linguisticisolation of these groups inthe Rundberg area.
The Center forHealthy Communities willhold an Open House from12-5pm on September 18at 6601 Felix Avenue, anda healthcare hackathonsponsored by Dell MedicalSchool on October 17-18at IBM.
Page 8 ~ August 28, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com
