CNY Vision Week of March 28 - April 3, 2013

7/29/2019 CNY Vision Week of March 28 - April 3, 2013

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1 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013syracusenyvol.3 no.52 mar 28 - apr 3 2013

cover p6

local p4

Common Councilor Khalid BeySeeking the True Path

State Awards Syracuse Schools$31.5 million to Support iZone Redesign

statep5

NY to open Dept. of MotorVehicles on Saturdays


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2 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013LocaL office:

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advertisingDave McClearyLucy [email protected]

editorial staffLisa DumasGeorge KilpatrickGary McLendonRasheeda Alford

contributorsKo QuayeJames Haywood RollingEarl Ofari HutchinsonBoyce Watkins

CNY Vision is a publication of Minor-ity Reporter, Inc. We are a family ofpublications and other media formatscommitted to fostering self awareness,building community and empoweringpeople of color to reach their greatestpotential. Further, CNY Vision seeksto present a balanced view of relevantissues, utilizing its resources to buildbridges among diverse populations;taking them from information to under-standing.

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CALENDAR

march

{COVER P6 - 7

Common Councilor Khalid Bey Seekingthe True Path

{local P 3 - 5

Syracuse Gun Rally Drew Hundredsof Gun Enthusiasts

Stop the Violence State Awards Syracuse Schools

$31.5M to Support iZone Redesign County Executive and Mayor to Take

Part in Greeting USAs Annual MeetingApril 18

{STATE P 5

NY to Open Dept. of Motor Vehicles onSaturdays

Yogurt Production Growing in NY but

Not Cow Herd

{NATIONAL P 8

Nearly Three Centuries Later, BlackPress Still Pleading Cause

{OPINIONS/EDITORIAL P 10-11

Catholic Women

By E. Faye Williams

Dr. Ben Carson, Great Surgeon but aBad Icon for the Politcal Collective

By Dr. William J. Leon, III

In This Issue:1 www.cnyvision.com|mar28 -apr3| 2013syracusenyvol. 3 no. 52 mar 28 -apr 3 2013

cover p6

local p4


State Awards Syracuse Schools$31.5 millionto SupportiZone Redesign

statep5

NY to openDept.of MotorVehicles onSaturdays

vision

cny

without avisionTHEPEOPLE PERISH

SUBSCRIBE TO CNYVISION FOR ONLY$65 A YEAR! CALL US @315.849.2461

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302013 SUMMER CAMPS/CLINICSRegistraon forms will be made availableonline on Saturday, March 30, 2013.Registraon forms will also be available atthe Parks Main Oce on Monday, April 1,2013. Registraon forms will be processedon a rst come, space available basis forCity Residents, beginning APRIL 1, 2013at 8:00 a.m. Conrmaons will be sentout within two weeks of handing in acomplete registraon form. Please notethat only complete registraon forms willbe processed and camp slots will not beheld for incomplete forms. In the case thata camp is closed, complete registraonforms will connue to be processed anda refund will be issued for the closedcamps (this could take up 4-6 weeks toreceive). Please review our refund policybelow. hp://www.syracuse.ny.us/parks/summerCamps.html

30

West Side Lile Laxers ClinicsTime: 9:00am-10:15pmLocaon: Burnet ParkInstruconal youth lacrosse returns toBurnet Park on Saturdays this spring!Join us for a six week program, focusingon the fundamentals of catching,throwing, shoong, sck handling, andage appropriate small sided games! Nohelmet, goggles, or pads are required, onlya lacrosse sck, mouth guard and a smile!All exercises and games are played with a

so lacrosse ball for a safe and enjoyablelearning experience!$35 per city resident. $55 per non-city resident. On-site registraon alsoaccepted, if space is availablePre-Register Online:http://ultimategoalonline.ezleagues.ezfacility.com/classes-clinics/15980/W e s t s i d e - L i t t l e - L a x e r s - % 2 8 C i t y -Resident%29-.aspx. 585-473-4330 formore informaon!

April

2Youth Sports Coach Cercaon CourseTime: 6:00pm9:00pmLocaon: Magnarelli Center at McChenseyParkSyracuse Parks will be oering a youthsports coaching educaon and cercaoncourse. The 3-hour program will coverall the essenal components of makingyouth sports coaching more enjoyable and

more manageable and conclude with acercaon exam. The SUNY Youth SportsInstutes coaching credenal is valid for2 years! To register call 877-828-8811 orgo to hp://registraon.youthsportsny.org and select the Syracuse Parks andRecreaon session. The cost for thecercaon course is $25 per coach ForMore Informaon on the SUNY YouthSports Instute, visit www.youthsportsny.org


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OPINION/EDITORIAL

Chris Rock: For Blacks, CollegeSports is No Different than Slavery

Ive always lovedChris Rock. Idont respecthim becausehes funny, richor famous,e v e r y o n enoces that. Irespect himbecause he isalso intelligent,progressive andc o u r a g e o u s .He doesnt just

give black people something to laughabout. He also gives them somethingto THINK about.

This week, while watching MarchMadness, that mul-billion dollarprofessional sports extravaganza thatpretends to be an amateur sportsleague, Rock made some interesngand powerful remarks about what hewas witnessing on television. Rock,a man who clearly understands theentertainment business, likely foundhimself confused about how a showcan aract tens of millions of viewerswithout paying its star performers.

Speaking from his Facebook page,Rock had this to say:

So Im watching the Kansas North

Carolina game on tv .And I nocethere are 9 black players and 1 whiteplayer btw the white player is amazing. Anyway I look in the stands andeverybody is white .Since its knownthat college sports is big money . Onecould come to the conclusion thatthe nine black and one white playerare playing to put 100 thousandwhite kids though college. I know noone is geng whipped or beaten buteconomically college sports are nodierent than slavery. I know a lotof black intellectuals will say we cando so much more than play ball andwe can .But that doesnt mean weshouldnt reap the benets from sports.white kids that go to Syracuse and

Georgetown do . These kids should bepaid and allowed to get an educaonfor themselves and there familys forthe rest of there lives. Black peoplenot making money from college sportsis like Arabs not making money fromoil insane. We have our reparaonsloery cket right in our pocket andwere not smart enough to cash it in.

Everything that Rock says is right onpoint. The truth about college sports isthat the exploitaon runs deep, alongwith serious labor rights violaons, inconjuncon with operang praccesthat would be illegal in nearly anyother industry in America. Wheneverthis many fans watch something ontelevision, SOMEONE is geng rich.Its amazing that those individuals arenot the ones actually doing the work.

What I also love about Rocks remarkis that he wasnt afraid to address theracial elephant in the middle of theroom. Many conversaons about theunethical nature of collegiate athlecs

are watered down, focusing solely ongraduaon rates in a race-neutral sortof way. But the fact is that anyone whofollows college sports knows, withouta doubt, that black men are typicallyrunning the show.

The wealth extracon from theblack community by the NCAA easilyexceeds one billion dollars per year.This money could help address failingschools, black unemployment, urbanviolence and many of the other issuesthat plague our community as a resultof unchecked poverty and very feweconomic/educaonal opportunies.At the very least, it would get a fewfamilies out of the projects.

Sonny Vaccaro, the former Nikeexecuve who conceptualized theAir Jordan sneaker, called to tell meabout a mul-billion dollar class aconlawsuit being led against the NCAA.The aorneys were licking their chopsover the numerous an-trust violaonsbeing commied by the league, whichhas greedily taken athletes images andsold them to video game companieswithout compensang the players.

The lawsuit, should Vaccaro emergevictorious, could strike a tremendousblow to the toxic cash cow known asthe NCAA. But an even faster routeto liberaon lies right in the hands of

players and their families. Should bluechip athletes simply refuse to playwithout being compensated, then theshow (and the money) will all come toa halt. As Chris Rock said, the power isin our hands.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of theYour Black World Coalion and authorof the book, Black American Money.

DR. BOYCE ATKINS

FROM THE BoYce BLOG


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4 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013LOCAL

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SYRACUSE gun rally drew hundreds of gun enthusiaststo the Inner Harbor Saturday seeking a repeal of New Yorks Safe Act

Naonally known gun advocate,former Graham County, Arizona SheriRichard Macks appearance drew1,500 pro-gun enthusiasts to the InnerHarbor.

While in Syracuse Sheri Mackcalled gun control legislaon proposed

and/or supported by Gov. AndrewCuomo, President Barack Obama, VicePresident Joseph Biden and New YorkCity Mayor Michael Bloomberg illegal.

Ill tell Cuomo, Ill tell Obama, andBiden and Bloomberg. Ill tell all ofyou, at out, you are breaking the law,

said Mack. Gun control in America isagainst the law, and you dont get tochoose what kind of gun I own. As anAmerican free cizen, I do.

Mack and the other speakers, called onaendees to call their State Assemblyand Senate members.

Mack has been seng up rallieslike the one in Syracuse around thecountry. Mack said he plans to spreadthe message unl he believes civilliberes across America are restored.

County executive andmayor to take part in GreeningUSAs annual meeting April 18SYRACUSE Onondaga CountyExecuve Joanne M. Mahoney,Syracuse Mayor Stephanie A. Miner,and GreeningUSA Board MemberChris Carrick, will headline the 2013Greening USA Annual Meeng.

The public is invited to aend this freeevent, which will be held from 7:30a.m.to 10 a.m. on Thurs., April 18,from at The Spa, 500 West OnondagaSt., Syracuse.

Because of limited seang, advanceregistraon is required.

The ninth Annual Meeng is a forum

on the direcon of communitysustainability planning in Central NewYork.The City of Syracuse and OnondagaCounty have used GreeningUSAs

Sustainable Communies RangSystem in developing their respecvesustainability plans.

This years forum will celebratethe progress made in creang thoselocal sustainability plans, says DianeBrandli, GreeningUSA president.Leaders and cizens are invited todiscuss how we can collaborate tocoordinate these plans in order forall CNY communies to benet. It isour hope that this session will start athoughul and respecul discussion,which will connue well past ourannual meeng.

Each panelist will give a shortpresentaon on their sustainabilityplan, with a discussion and quesonsfrom the audience to follow.

Syracuse Mayor Miner and Actor Khalil Kain

Khalil Kain (center) with members of the community

Stop the ViolenceThe City of Syracuse, Mothers AgainstGun Violence, Trauma ResponseTeam, and 1199SEIU presented Stop

the Violence: A discussion on guns inour community.

The event was aimed at teens andadolescents but was open to thepublic. The keynote speaker was KhalilKain, an actor and advocate knownfor the movie Juice and TV show

Girlfriends, who spoke about hisexperiences with gun violence in hisown life as well as in the role he played

in Juice. This was followed by apanel discussion and Q&A session thatfeatured law enforcement ocials,community advocates, and vicms ofgun violence.


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STATENY to open Dept. of Motor Vehicles on SaturdaysALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ New York is testdriving a proposal to keep someDepartment of Motor Vehicles ocesopen in the evenings and on Saturdays,which could reduce hecc lunch hoursspent waing in a DMV line.

The states tentave budget wouldamend the Vehicle and Trac Law toallow the DMV to open on Saturdaysas a convenience for New Yorkers.

The Cuomo administraon plans to

choose some DMV oces for thepilot program. If it works in selectedcounes, the longer hours could beextended to other oces statewide.

The new DMV program will also include

self-serve kiosks for transaconswithout waing in line. New Yorkerswill also be able to use their smartphone to reserve a place in line beforethey go to the DMV oce.

Yogurt production growing in NY but not cow herdALBANY, N.Y. (AP) The recent yogurtboom in upstate New York has meantmore jobs and more economic acvity.But it has not led to many more dairycows in the state, even as Greek yogurtleader Chobani reaches beyond NewYork for some of its milk.

There are a number of reasons forthe stac herd numbers, includingstruggling dairy farmers leery aboutmaking long-term investments inmore cows. And while the Greekyogurt market grows like gangbusters,Americans have been drinking lessmilk over the years.

We would be swimming in milk if the

yogurt guys werent here, said farmerBen Simons, who keeps 80 milkingcows in Remsen, north of Uca.

Greek yogurt has gone from beinga niche product to a $1 billion-plusseller in a short me, and New Yorkhas been a big beneciary. Chobanihas increased producon at its CentralNew York plant, and the Fage plant lessthan 60 miles away in the MohawkValley also is growing.

South American yogurt maker AlpinaFoods opened a plant in Batavia inwestern New York in September, andMuller Quaker Dairy, a joint venturebetween PepsiCo, Inc. and the Theo

Muller Group, is building a yogurtplant in Batavia that is expe.cted to bein producon this summer.

It takes about four gallons of milk to

make a gallon of Greek yogurt, which isthicker than tradional yogurt, and theChobani and Fage plants are voraciousconsumers. The Chobani plant aloneused 1.26 billion pounds of milk lastyear, a 48 percent increase from 2011.The plant in New Berlin takes in about70 tanker loads a day.

As weve grown, so has our demandfor milk. More than 90 percent of ourmilk comes from New York farms,but we are having to reach out toneighboring states for the remainder,Chobani spokeswoman Lindsay Kossaid in an email. Chobani recentlybuilt another plant in Idaho. Whilewe connue to invest and expand our

New Berlin facility, we are acvelylooking into ways that will allow us toconnue to add capacity at the sitedespite the constraints of the currentmilk supply.

Even as more tankers ooad at yogurtplants in New York, the number ofmilking cows in New York has heldsteady since 2010 at an average ofaround 610,000, according to federalagricultural stascs. Farmers anddairy experts explain that the pathfrom the farm to the supermarketshelf is complex and an increaseddemand in one area can be oset inother areas, such as the long-termdrop in milk consumpon.

The fact that were seeing this growthin these yogurt plants is valuable andis important, but you have to keep inmind it is within a dynamic system,

said Andrew Novakovic, a professorof agricultural economics at CornellUniversity. So for example, the bigoset is the reducon in milk that isbeing used in beverages.

Wholesale milk prices are not asimple maer of supply and demand.Dairy farmers typically belong tocooperaves and do not sell directlyto yogurt makers. Federal markengorders set minimum wholesale pricesunder a complicated system thatfarmers complain is volale and canleave them producing milk at a loss.Dairy farmers, already dealing withhigh feed costs, think long and hardbefore spending money on more cows.

Do we want to go back into debtand expand the dairy to double thesize? ... The general consensus of thefamily is no, said Simons, treasurerof Boonville Farms Milk Cooperave.And the reason that decision wasmade was because of the insecurity ...the price of milk is never stable.

Sll, New York farmers produced3 percent more milk in Januarycompared to a year before thanks tomore producon per cow, a long-termtrend related to how cows are bred,fed and treated.

David Fisher, a dairy farmer in Madrid

near the Canadian border, said its notuncommon for dairy farmers to usenutrionists who balance the cowsfood down to each amino acid.

High-producing cows are geng

almost like a nely tuned athlete,Fisher said.

Sll unclear is how the herd will handleany future upck in demand in milkrelated to yogurt. Fage spokesmanRussell Evans said New York dairyfarmers have been very exible so farand they do not expect a problem.

Some farmers hope help will comefrom regulaons pending before theCuomo administraon designed toli burdens for small dairy farmerswho increase their herd. Currently,farms with up to 200 cows are exemptfrom regulaons requiring extra stepsto prevent polluon from waste. The

administraon has proposed raisingthe limit to 300 cows.

State Awards Syracuse Schools $31.5 million to Support iZone RedesignThe Syracuse City School District hasbeen awarded $31.5 million to supportwhole-school redesign eorts in thedistricts seven lowest performingschools.

Each of seven $4.5 million SchoolImprovement Grants, through thestate Educaon Departments Oceof School Turnaround, will supportwhole-school redesign eorts inthe SCSDs seven Innovaon Zone(iZone) Schools: Bellevue Elementary,Danforth Middle, Frazer K-8, PorterElementary, Seymour Dual LanguageAcademy, Van Duyn Elementary andWestside Academy at Blodge.

The iZone, which is co-sponsored by

the Syracuse Teachers Associaon willtarget seven of the lowest-performingschools in the Syracuse City SchoolDistrict.

They will be provided the resources,autonomy, exibility, and supportneeded to produce widespread, rapidand sustainable gains in studentachievement.

I am pleased that the NYSEDrecognizes our commitment to wholeschool reform and has awardedthe district SIG funds for all sevenapplicaons submied. These grantsput us rmly on the road to oeringa high-quality educaon for allstudents, said Superintendent Sharon

L. Contreras.

Schools in the iZone will implementintervenon strategies including anextended school day (an addionalone hour of instrucon with studentsand an addional half hour forteam planning and collaboraon);ongoing, job-embedded professionaldevelopment for teachers; andnew collaboraons with externalpartners such as Rochester Instuteof Technology to enhance Science,Technology, Engineering andMathemacs (STEM) educaon.

Superintendent Contreras, along withCentral Oce sta, worked relesslythroughout this process, said Stephen

Swi, president of the Syracuse CitySchool District Board of Educaon.The superintendent felt strongly thatshe, and her sta, could produce sevenaward-winning grant applicaons in avery short period of me and that isexactly what they did. This moneywill benet so many of our studentsand will be used to transform sevenstruggling schools into seven high-performing schools.

The Syracuse Innovaon Zone willbe overseen by an external AdvisoryCouncil, which will include parents,community representaves anddistrict and STA leadership.

LOCAL


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6 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013COVER

By Lisa Dumas

Khalid Bey never really thought aboutleaving a long-standing legacy aer hisrst term on Syracuses city council,but hes denitely focused on makingthe city a beer place in the presentinstead.

Im not really concerned, he said.

You get a lot of people who reallywant to leave a legacy. Im alive inthe moment. I dont have me to bethinking about the end.

A Syracuse nave and long-meadvocate for economic developmenton the South Side, Bey said improvingcommunity life for the citys residentshas always been his primarymovaon.

Its not about me, he said. Youknow, Im not doing it for any ribbonsor trophies. I just want to make it[Syracuse] beer. I mean, I have kidshere. So I want a beer school system;I want safer streets. I want economic

opportunity; I want to improve housingstock. You know, and I want them tofeel like they live in a community thatsviable and has value. So, to me, my kidsand anybody elses kids coming up andnot facing the same type of obstaclesthat we faced, thats a victory. So, if Ido it and dont get one ribbon for it,

thats ok. It doesnt maer. Its likethis one quote I try to live by. To workhard throughout life, while ulmatelyknowing theres no reward, is the truepath of a master.

And working hard to make Syracusegovernment work hard for its peopleis exactly what Bey said he plans to do.

As a result, since coming into ocein 2012, hes either supported oropposed several dierent pieces oflegislaon based on what he said isboth his personal and professionalphilosophy of empowerment.

This is where the greatest amountof work is required, I think, said Bey.Empowering people, while it soundsabsolutely noble and it is noble; itis certainly not an easy thing to do.Empowerment suggests that theperson at some point can stand upon their own two, and become self-sucient in any respect. Unfortunately,weve been condioned in a lot of ways.Youre talking to people who might be

challenged by unemployment, andhave goen condioned in a way withthat struggle. Or people who may bedependent on public help, whether itsin the way of money or other services,and communies that have becomeaccustomed to asking for thingsinstead of doing things. You know,that is a struggle, and thats a struggleIm interested in trying to eliminate.And so, you know, it is absolutely theperfect plaorm for the passion I have.Its the one thing that I appreciateabout the job more than anything else;that you actually have the opportunityto empower people.

Through actually implemenng

his policy of empowerment, Beysaid he tries to work in the spiritof compromise, never separanghis partys plaorm from actualconstuent concerns or from issuesin the business community, because,somewhere in there, theres a hiddenprinciple thats relave to all sides, hesaid. According to Bey, its one he willnot stop seeking out.

Its that parcular principle that Iaempt to idenfy and stand on in thehopes of sasfying both, he said. Theone thing I wont do is sacrice actual

constuent concerns for party polics.That I wont do, and Ive made thatclear numerous mes. Fortunately,you really dont have to create anyseparaon or any wedges. You only dothat, and I hate to say it this way, butwhen you dont have the sight to seethe connecon. You know so I alwayslook to try to nd the silver liningbetween the opposing issues and

try to make that the more importantthing. You know, and hopefully by sortof exploing the middle, those otheraddional concerns that lie on theoutside can in some way be sased.

In eect, Beys strategy of nding themiddle ground on controversial issueshas been parcularly evident as oflate, especially concerning proposedlegislaon he supports to improvelocal employment opportunies forpeople with criminal backgrounds.

The bill, part of a naonal movementcalled Ban the Box legislaon, wasinially introduced by Councilor JeanKessner in collaboraon with the

Center for Community Alternavesin February, and would make it illegalfor any Syracuse employer to ask ajob applicant whether he or she hasbeen convicted of a crime, unlessthe employer was ready to oer thatapplicant a job.

But aer an outcry from local businessleaders, CenterState CEO presidentRob Simpson in parcular, Bey said thebill has now been delayed in an eortto nd a co-operave soluon that issasfying to the businesses, but onethat also sll serves the purpose of thelegislaon.

I was brought in on that legislaon,

he said. I cant take credit for theinial idea. It was Jean Kessner whowas approached by CCA to look atthis issue and then they brought mein. And really, not only knowing ourcircumstances in our community inregards to re-entry, but also the lackof workforce development iniavesand the like, I saw value in it from thatperspecve; and so I joined on. Thereis dialogue happening now betweenCCA, Councilor Kessner, myself and thebusiness community, and Rob Simpsonof CenterState CEO.

As for whether he has any indicaonabout what the nal agreement willlook like; Bey said its not yet clear.

I dont have any noons of what thatmay look like, he said. I dont wantto put the horse before the cart on thisone. I have ideas about what couldbe discussed but Im not sure. I cant

yet qualify what would be acceptableby the business community or by theCCA.

In regards to other potenallegislaon currently on the table, Beysaid he is also in support of a recentbill introduced for the regulaon ofstudent housing.

The proposed legislaon, if passed,would dene a student residence inthe city zoning code as any residenaldwelling occupied by three to vestudents. It would then requirelandlords to annually license theseresidences with the city through aregistry applicaon that includesrenters names and the university theyaend, according to reports. The lawwould apply to student residencesonly in the Special NeighborhoodDistrict, said Bey.

Theres what I believe to be upwards ofa 20-year feud, unfortunately, betweenthe residents and the universityneighborhoods; and the landlords

who buy, renovate and essenally rentout apartments or rooms to students,he said. The concern of one ofthe organizaons, called SoutheastUniversity Neighborhood Associaon,is that the breaking up of single-familyhomes into these mul-unit facilies,in their argument, tends to bringdown the overall property value in theneighborhood and it eects quality oflife. You know, students, they tend toparty a bit. Theyre renng, theyrestudents, so theyre not really thatcognizant of the exisng quality of lifein the neighborhood. They may not bepaying aenon to how they aect itposively or not. And so this has beena long issue.

Bey said currently the legislaonproposes specically designangproperes for a certain use, suchas student housing, which wouldhopefully bring the discussion to aclose. And, due to the increase inthe number of properes bought bylandlords for student-living purposes,they would essenally pay a fee toregister those allowed to be used assuch.

Theres a fee I think they would paythats a registraon fee, said Bey. Ithink its a minimal fee of $50. But itsreally a maer of the city keeping trackof how many properes are there. The

area where this is happening has beenzoned a special neighborhood district,and, you know, that happened beforeme, but I think that was the rst aemptto try to nd some balance betweenthe increasing number of properes


khalid beysyracuse city council member


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7 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013COVER

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bought and owned by landlords, asopposed to people who actually livein the neighborhood. And so now youhave a second aempt to try to nda message for maybe bringing theconcept to close, hopefully for a longme, if not permanently. But evenin that, theres discussions going onbetween corporate counsel in the city,lawyers for the landlords and the liketo try to see if we can nd a middleground in that respect.

Recently, the aforemenonedlandlords have been willing tocompromise in the maer, he said,and hopefully the legislaon will beable to produce sasfacon for bothsides.

Another recent issue, which Beycontemplated but opposed, involvedallocang $484,000 in funds for 22unmarked police vehicles to theSyracuse Police Department. He saidhe would have been in support of thebill inially, but voted against it due toa last-minute amendment.

There was legislaon introduced bythe ocers to receive a lile over amillion dollars for a certain numberof marked and unmarked cars, hestated. Now, that legislaon I wouldhave been in support of. But, on thespot, one of the Councilors introducedan amendment to give them only halfthe money. So, myself and CouncilorHudson, we did not vote for theamendment. And that is essenallywhat was voted on, so for that reason,we voted no. You know, and thechief, they preferred a no vote ratherthan half the money themselves. Youknow, because they need it. My issueis simply this. Lets say that we passlegislaon or approve funding for themedical eld. Im not a doctor no morethan I am a police ocer. And, while wecan research and compare research,our greatest source of informaon inregards to our police department, isour police department. So, they havean understanding, even beer thanwe do, on whats required to do theirjob. We dont know.

Overall, Bey said the situaon hadbeen slightly blown out of proporon,and that there had been too muchbickering over what he deemed to bebasic overhead costs.

No stranger to controversy, Bey hasfaced other contenous maers inthe past as well. The one he labeled asbeing the most controversial, however,came in the form of a request from theLGBT community to amend the localfair-pracce law by adding transgenderto the list.

According to Bey, the purpose of theamendment was supposed to beto protect the rights of all cizensregardless of gender identy orgender expression, but it was the neprint of the law that became a causefor concern.

The LGBT community wanted to makean amendment to the local fair-praccelaw to add transgender to the list, hesaid. Fair-pracce law protects people

against discriminaon. In my opinion,theyre already protected as membersof the LGBT community by that law.Now, thats not the reason why I votedagainst it. I told the people who Italked to, that nobody, and I dont carewhat they do, should be discriminatedagainst. But then, there was what Ireferred to as a word of art that wasused in the legislaon. They wantedrights to certain public amenies.Now, a lot of legislators dont read thesmall print. And, my concern was thatthis thing was a purposeful aemptto slide it by without telling anybodywhat they meant by that. So, I knewwhat it meant. What it meant wasthat persons who were transgenderedhad the right to choose which publicbathroom they wanted to use. Thatmeans that a person who is by anatomymale, but by identy is female, canchoose to use the womens bathroomand vice versa. So, rst I conducted myown survey. Probably about 51 peopleat that me. Fiy people were againstit, only one person didnt care. Myconcern was specically for womenscomfort and their right to privacy. Imade the public statement at thatme that its not a right if it infringeson the rights of another person.

And, although he was the onlyCouncilor in opposion to the law, Beysaid, if he had to re-visit the situaon,he would do it over again.

If the vote came up tomorrow, I wouldvote the same way, he said.

In addion, relave to the possibleterminaon of Interstate 81, Bey saidhe was equally as sure of his conviconin the maer.

Lets knock it down, he said. Myinterests in regards to tearing it downare more so because of the costs thatit will take to keep it up. At this point, itwill cost more in the future to maintainit than it would to tear it down.

Bey also said he is not bothered bythe idea of a split through the citylike some, but suggested the citylook at the interstates removal asan opportunity to increase revenuethrough added businesses in the area.

A lot of people have mixed feelingsabout segregated neighborhoods,he stated. Certainly it could be seenas a negave, but I think it is equallyvaluable because culture is preserved;and it adds to the character of the city.But, I would like to see a boulevard orsomething similar with commercialspaces for businesses or oces forretail. Im very pro density, Im probusiness. I would love to see, even ifits not a boulevard, something whereyou have businesses and living spaceson both sides of the street, somethingfor the enre length of Route 81. Itproduces more money for the city onthe ground, and we need to generateas much revenue as we can locally tosustain ourselves.

In the end, according to Bey, the naldecision will be le to the state.

As for the Southside Community

Coalions new food co-operave onthe Southside, Bey said the co-op willnot inuence his decision to supportthe planned neighborhood storeby Walt Dixie, execuve director ofJubilee Homes of Syracuse Inc., in thesame area.

The food co-operave is relavelysmall, he stated. So it wont provideall that a full-scale supermarket would.Quite frankly we need both in thearea. Its been that way before. No,it will not change or alter the eort.You have people around the food co-operave who may never go to SouthAve. and those people on South Ave.,and beyond, who may never come tothe food co-operave. So they eachhave their own markets. And I thinkthat theyre much needed. But Ill re-iterate the fact that we may sll lookfor another full-scale supermarket onSouth Salina St.

On the whole, Bey said so far heshappy with the direcon hes takenduring his rst term in oce. Throughit all, he said hes managed to maintainan objecve and transparentrelaonship with the mayor and hisbiggest accomplishment has been re-establishing his constuents faith incity government.

That is bigger, I think, than anylegislaon that could be wrien, he

said. That we, as cizens, pay intothis machine to allow it to funcon.The one thing that people fail to try tore-establish for the constuents is thefaith and the belief or the knowledgethat government actually works forthem.

Lastly, its important, Bey said, for thepeople of Syracuse to be aware of theways government decides to use theirmoney.

People have to follow their money,he said. If I came and asked you for$500 to make an investment on yourbehalf, youd be calling me tomorrowto ask me what I did with your money.Theres no way youd give me $500and not check up on me at least withina week or so. But we pump thousandsof dollars into this system every year,and we dont parcipate. Nobodyschecking on their money. Nobodysmaking sure its invested right. Notas many people as there should be.Not only in communies of color, butin all communies. People are justnot following their money, and theyshould.

For current informaon on theCommon Council Agenda visit hp://www.syracuse.ny.us/Council_Agenda.aspx


8/12

8 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013NATIONAL

Nearly Three Centuries Later, Black Press Still Pleading Cause

By Deniqua Campbell(TriceEdneyWire.com) - WendellAllens life came to an abrupt end onMarch 7 last year as he died shirtless,standing on a staircase, at his Genllyhome in New Orleans, La.

Unarmed, the 20-year-old basketballstar was shot in his back by NewOrleans Police Department ocerJosh Colclough. For six weeks the Allenfamily believed their child was shot inhis chest unl the embalmer revealedthat Allen was actually shot in his back.

Yet, newspaper readers in NewOrleans noced two starkly dierent

news priories on the stands and inthe streets. Louisiana Weekly, a Black-owned paper, had the Wendell Allenshoong on the front cover. Rightbeside it, was the Times-Picayune, aWhite daily newspaper that had nomenon of the Allen shoong. Instead,the cover featured a Black male beingcharged with mulple counts ofmurder.

In interviews over the past year,seasoned journalists say thedierences in coverage betweenWhite and Black-owned media -whether print or broadcast - connueto be clear.

News outlets like CNN, MSNBC, BBCand Fox News, all cover certain typesof stories from a certain perspecve.Black press is the voice of the Blackcommunity, said Ingrid Sturgis,journalism professor of new mediaand mulmedia expert at HowardUniversity. Our story doesnt alwaysget heard in mainstream media.

Award-winning Black press reporterHazel Trice Edney agrees. Both ofthese stories are important, saidEdney, editor/publisher of the TriceEdney News Wire. It is typical acrossAmerica that when Black newspaperscome out they have disnctly dierentstories than White newspapers.

On August 13, 1977 an arcleheadlined A lile About A lotTheNeed for the Black Press, was featuredin the Balmore Afro-American thatdetailed former dean of the Schoolof Communicaons, Dr. Lionel C.Barrows four reasons for Black press.According to Barrow the Black pressfunconed as a watch dog, answeredaacks published in the White press,presented a view point dierent evenfrom that of liberal whites and, theblack press also served as the carrierand preserver of Black culture.

Marrow did not deny that there weresll improvements that needed to be

made, improvements on producon,in invesgang and in reporng,wring and eding. But consideringother issues Black media has faced, itssurvival is incredible.

The strength of the Black press wouldbe that it always relied on context andproviding perspecve, said GeorgeCurry, award-winning journalist whois editor-in-chief of the NaonalNewspaper Publishers AssociaonNews Service.

Curry reected on when heinterviewed the family of TrayvonMarn, the Florida teen shot dead byNeighborhood Watch captain GeorgeZimmerman on Feb. 28, 2012, a highlypublicized court case now set for courtJune 10.

No one was doing a story on how the

news broke to Marns father, Currysaid.

While reporters of White publicaonswere scking to the basics andinvesgang the case, Curry went foran inmate and personal story.

Urgency is not such a big problem,Curry said. Its worth the waitbecause we dont come out with thesame frequency as other newspapers.

Today the Black press faces issueswithin its own agencies. Perhaps thebiggest is technological advancement.According to the State of the NewsMedia in 2007, an annual report by

the Pew Research Center on Americanjournalism, the black press has beenslow to technology, and its audienceappears to be aging.

Pews State of the Media 2013 reportsa new Black press hurdle how toaract the aenon of new, youngerreaders.

One of the broader challengesfor African-American news mediain general, and most notably thenewspaper sector, is striking a balancebetween appealing to a youngergeneraon with a contemporaryproduct and fullling a mission tohonor a history that includes the

dening civil rights struggle of a half-century ago, the report states.

History has got to be a deniveweave in what we do, said John J.(Jake) Oliver Jr., the publisher andchief execuve of the Afro-Americannewspapers in Balmore andWashington, D.C., was quoted in thePew Study. Weve got to redeneour personality from just a straightdelivery of community news to helpingpeople really educate themselves.

The Black press has an extensivehistory dang back to March 16, 1827.That is when the rst Black newspaper,Freedoms Journal, was founded in

New York City by John B. Russwurm,a journalist, and Samuel Cornish, aminister. Its rst editorial stated, Wewish to plead our own cause. For toolong have others spoken for us.

Because of its longevity, now 186 yearsold, some nd it hard to fathom whythe Black press isnt the biggest andmost advanced among all media in theU.S. But, there are many reasons itsnumeric growth has been stunted.

Technological advancement is anissue and it remains an issue, Edneysaid. But were working on that.There are many black newspapers thatare online and there are many that arenot.

According to Sturgis, it has a lot to dowith resources. A lack of resources,reporters, funding to do in depth

pieces, and training in new mediahampers the ability to cover whatneeds to be covered as well as theability to grow, Sturgis said.

Financial struggles due to racialdiscriminaon in adversing havealso been a complaint by NNPA, afederaon of more than 200 Black-owned newspapers, founded in1940. The organizaon has launchedmany strategic campaigns calling onfair share in adversing from majorcorporaons.

But the Black press isnt losing its olderaudience. Curry admits that the olderaudience is a lot more appreciave of

news and Edney agrees that there arefaithful readers of Black newspapersthat have strong conngencies withinthe community. The biggest concernEdney has with the black press isgeng online and becoming moretechnology savvy.

Because of the urgency of our issues,we must use every opportunityavailable to get our message out,Edney said.

According to the Pew ResearchCenters Internet and American LifeProject, 83 percent of U.S. adultsown a cell phone. Of these adults, 35percent of them own a smart phone

and one quarter of them use theirphone as their main source of internetaccess. This is a trend that is especiallyfound among 18 to 29-year-old adultswho idenfy themselves as Black.

Pew Internet research shows thatwhen someone has a mobile deviceconnected to the internet, they aremore likely to share, to forward,to create and to consume onlineinformaon, from text to photos tovideos.

Curry said, Youre not going to reachthe younger audience through printYou have to reach them through amobile plaorm.

The Black press, aiming to play a vitalrole in the lives of African-Americans,has been serving the community tobring perspecve and context for

over 100 years. Black press connuesto do its part in telling the story andkeeping its readers loyal. You have togive them something they cant getanywhere else, Curry said.

Two months into Wendell Allens death,the Allen family remained outraged atthe slowness of the invesgaon.

They feel that because their son

is African-American, the policedepartment is taking its meinvesgang the incident, said theRev. Raymond Brown, president andfounder of Naonal Acon Now duringa press conference at the Allen home.

According to Louisiana Weekly, theshoong took place inside the Allenshome during an execuon of a searchwarrant for marijuana. Since theshoong, Allen has not been linked tothe marijuana allegedly sold in or nearthe home.

Eventually, Colclough was indicted bya state grand jury on one account ofman slaughter regarding Allens death.

A year aer the shoong Colcloughawaits trial and no date has yet beenset. Meanwhile, the family, earlythis month, led a federal wrongfuldeath lawsuit against the City of NewOrleans, accusing the New OrleansPolice department of several civilrights violaons.

Though the Times-Picayune has doneextensive reporng on the case, theLouisiana Weekly in keeping with theBlack Press mission has not only leadthe way, but agitated for jusce, Edneysays.

The White press [sll] criminalizes

and stereotypes us, Edney said. Weneed to bring a sense of fairness andbalance to the media consciousness.

Unarmed Wendell Allen was shotin the back, killed by a New Orleans

Police ocer.


9/12


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10 www.cnyvision.com |mar 28 - apr 3| 2013OPINION/EDITORIAL The views expressed on our opinion pages are those of the author and do notnecessarily represent the position or viewpoint of MRMG or CNY Vision

DR. E. FAYE ILLIAMS,

ESq.

POSITIVE! POWERFuL! CONVINCING!

(TriceEdneyWire.com) Ivelived throughthe elecon ofseveral Popes. Ican honestly saythat, although Iam not a Catholic,Ive always beenfascinated bythe ancipaon,p o m p ,c i r c u m s t a n c eand ceremony

related to the change of leadershipof the Catholic Church. The eleconof the current Pope was even moreintriguing because it wasnt preceded

by the death of a Pope. Im eager tosee the potenal impact on churchdoctrine with the co-existence of asing Pope and a Pope Emeritus.

Not since the resignaon of PopeGregory XII in 1415 has the CatholicChurch had to deal with the resignaonof a Pope. The Papacy or line ofsuccession was much dierent thenwith polics and naonalism impacngThe Church more signicantly than

theology. Pope Gregorys resignaonwas a part of a plan to resolve thePapal Schism. This Schism was a splitwithin the Catholic Church from 1378to 1417. Two men simultaneouslyclaimed to be the true Pope. Drivenby polics rather than any theologicaldiscord, The Schism was ended bythe Council of Constance (1414-1418)which resulted in the resignaon ofPope Gregory and Anpope BenedictXIII, the rival Pope. Although dramac,church doctrine was lile changedaer these resignaons and theelecon of the new Pope, Marn V.

Like many, the praccality of PopeBenedicts resignaon gave me

signicant cause to ponder The Churchsfuture. Although the uncertaintyassociated with his resignaon wasincalculable, it was refreshing to see aleader of the stature of Pope BenedictXVI acknowledge that age and healthconsideraons precluded his abilityto successfully perform the dues ofhis oce. I was hopeful that TheResignaon would signal the dawnof a new era in the history of TheChurch - a new era that, consistent

with our contemporary reality, wouldallow for greater and more signicantparcipaon of women in the aairsof The Church.

For years, the stereotypical Catholicwoman was characterized by the nunor the devout female parishioner.Normally, we would see the nun placedin the role of the self-sacricing nursein a Catholic hospital or as the sterndisciplinarian with a ruler managinga classroom of youthful miscreants.My rst year of school was spentwith one of those nuns! The devoutfemale parishioner is oen portrayedon television and in movies as a guilt-ridden believer who is caught in the

throes of a theological challenge and isseeking absoluon in the confessional.Pope Benedicts resignaon broughthope that wed see these stereotypesdissolve into obsolescence. It appearsas though the elecon of Pope Francisis conrmaon of the perpetuaon ofa theological status quo.

Lest my readers see my last sentenceas a lead-in to cricism of the newPope, Im not crical of him as a man,

cleric or theologian. His track-recordappears on rst glance to demonstratea human being of immense humanityand humility. Hes shown a desire anda pracce to abandon the trappingsof status while emphasizing thecommonality between us all. However,his public pronouncements seeminglyindicate his personal leaning towardmaintaining tradionalist limits onwomens parcipaon in the hierarchyof the church and a tradionalapproach to the quesons of aboronand birth control.

If Pope Francis holds to the tradionaltheology that has existed for centuries,we all lose a meaningful opportunity

to redene the role of Catholic womenin The Church and society at-large.Wed lose an opportunity to reframethe role of women in the context asequals in the Chrisan experience andspiritual expressions. It is my sincerebelief that a revision of the valuethat The Church places in women williniate a redenion of the acceptabletreatment of women as members ofthe human family.

Catholic omen


11/12


(TriceEdneyWire.com) -

Nobody is starving on thestreets (of America). We havealways taken care of them. Wehave churches which actuallyare much beer mechanismsfor taking care of the poorbecause they are right therewith them. This is one of thereasons we give tax breaks tochurches... Dr. Ben Carson CPAC Speech 2013

In modern culture, an icon is asymbol i.e. a name, face, picture, or even a personreadily recognized as having some well-knownsignicance or embodying certain qualies. Thatface or person begins to represent something elseof greater signicance through literal or gurave

meaning. With his speech at the 2013 NaonalPrayer Breakfast and his recent CPAC speech, Carsonhas become the new Black conservave darling.Hes a great pediatric surgeon but a terrible icon forthe polical collecve.

Dr. Ben Carson has an incredibly compelling andmovaonal story. Born into poverty in Detroit in1951 and raised by a single mother with a third-grade educaon, Carson became the rst surgeon toseparate conjoined twins and the youngest to heada surgical department. His focus, work ethic, andcommitment to excellence should be emulated byas many as possible.

One problem with Dr. Carson and others like him i.e. Jusce Thomas, Michael Steele, Wardell Connerlyand Condoleezza Rice is how they have lent their

voices and their personal narraves to conservavesin ways that allow them to undermine the socialsafety net in America. The argument is that theseindividuals have overachieved in spite of the odds;therefore, the inability of the poor in America to riseinto the middle class or beyond is due to personalfailure, lack of drive, iniave, and dependenceupon the system. Carson, Rice, and Thomas made it;why cant you?

Another problem with their realies is their failureto recognize and/or admit how they beneedfrom the system at some point in their struggle.For example, Wardell Connerly grew his business inpart with assistance from the 8(a) Program. JusceThomas was a beneciary of Armave Acon. Idont know if Carsons mother ever received anypublic assistance during his childhood but if she did

not I am certain some of his neighbors did. Is heready to cast them all as lazy and totally dependentupon the government?

We love to hear stories about people overcominggreat odds to achieve success. What is ignored whenrecing the stories of the Carsons, Thomas, andRices of the world is depth of the chasm that liedbetween Africans in America and later the AfricanAmerican community and white America. There havealways been personal successes in the midst of thecollecve or group struggle. During the 18th centurywhile hundreds of thousands and later millions ofAfricans in America where bound by the shacklesof slavery, individuals such as Olaudah Equianoaka Equiano, the African and James Forten foundsuccess on American shores. Did the success ofEquiano, Forten and others negate the suering and

systemic oppression of those enslaved? Obviouslynot.

Today, in spite of all of the disturbing datadocumenng the disparity between the African

American community and Whites, such as eighteen

percent unemployment, African Americans beingy-three percent of those incarcerated and onlythirteen percent of the populaon, the wealthdisparity, high school drop-out rates, collegegraduaon rates, home foreclosure rates, etc. thelikes of a Wardell Connerly, Shelby Steele, or ClarenceThomas stand before conservaves and argue thatwe no longer need Armave Acon, Head Start,and other social programs.

Individual success should never become thestandard of measure of success for the collecve.It is only through group success that the AfricanAmerican community will truly become policallyand economically empowered.

Dr. Ben Carson made some very inaccurate anddangerous statements during his CPAC speech that

cannot go unchallenged. He stated as referencedabove, Nobody is starving on the streets (ofAmerica). According to Bread for the World, 14.5percent of U.S. households struggle to put enoughfood on the table. More than 48 million Americansincluding 16.2 million childrenlive in thesehouseholdsAmong African-Americans and Lanos,nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger. Hashe forgoen that in 1951 he may have been one ofthose hungry children?

He also stated, Many people dont know this butsocialism started as a reacon to America becausepeople in Europe, they looked at us and said,wait a minute look at those Americanspeoplelike Henry Ford, Kellogg, Vanderbilttheyve gotso much money it needs to be redistributed.Actually, the term socialism is aributed to Pierre

Leroux and Robert Owen around 1827. Henry Fordwas not born unl 1863. Socialist models and ideas

espousing common or public ownership have existed

since anquity. Karl Marx, considered by many tobe the founder of modern socialism rst publishedDas Kapital in 1847. Henry Ford was 4 years old.Socialism was actually a reacon to the IndustrialRevoluon which started in Britain around 1760.

Carson said, People dont want to talk about Godlets let everybody believe what they want to believe.Actually, the basis of the free exercise clause of theFirst Amendment is the freedom to believe. It is oneof the few absolute protecons that the Constuonprovides. There is a big dierence between beliefand pracce. If Carson understood the Constuonhe would know that.

Dr. Ben Carson has a very movaonal story but hispolical analysis and message lack real understandingof the issues necessary to be taken seriously. It is

dangerous to use the success of an individual(s) asthe basis of a sociological or economic indictment ofan enre class of individuals. A reporter once askedDr. Carson why he never talked about race to whichhe responded, because Im a neurosurgeon.Well, Dr. Carson, Ill make a deal with you, Ill stayout of the operang room if you leave the policalanalysis and dialogue to trained professionals.

Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: [email protected].

OPINION/EDITORIALThe views expressed on our opinion pages are those of the author and do notnecessarily represent the position or viewpoint of MRMG or CNY Vision

Dr. Ben Carson, Great Surgeon but a Bad Icon for the Political Collective

no sweat

------------------------

Wilmer J. Leon, III, Ph.D. is a Political Scientist whose primary areasof expertise are Black Politics and Public Policy. He is host of Insidethe Issues, a three hour, call-in, talk radio program that airs live on XMSatellite Radio.

dr. WiLMer J.

Leon iii


12/12


CNY Vision Week of March 28 - April 3, 2013

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