081414Front FREE PRESS FRONT.Qxd
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Miami Setting Queen Latifah Why Good Charter the Standard and All Star Cast Taking on Schools Can for Educating the Legendary Coexist with Minorities Bessie Smith Public Schools Page 3 Page 9 Page 4 It’s Not Too PRST STD 50c U.S. Postage PAID Late to Enjoy Jacksonville, FL the Nation’s Permit No. 662 Historically RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Cultural Beaches for a Family Vacation Page 10 50 Cents 'Aunt Jemima's' Heirs Sue Volume 27 No. 40 Jacksonville, Florida August 14-20, 2014 Product Makers for $2 Billion The great-grandsons of the woman who was the face of "Aunt Jemima" Report: Voting Rights Discrimination Alive and Well Nationwide are suing for $2 billion. The two men are going after Quaker Oats, its par- by Zenitha Prince ballot box, voting advocates said. rights enforcement and elections guage translation and assistance. ent company PepsiCo (PEP) and Pinnacle Foods. Forty-nine years after the signing “It (the report) challenges the laws in the U.S. since 1995. States in the South and Southwest Quaker Oats is the maker of Aunt Jemima pancake mixes and syrup. of the Voting Rights Actand one Supreme Court’s rationale in the In that time, the report found: that were previously covered under Pinnacle Foods (PF) currently makes Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes, waf- year after the Supreme Court’s Shelby case that improvements in There were at least 332 success- Section 5 had the worst records of fles and French toast. Shelby County v. Holder decision minority citizens’ rate of voting and ful voting rights lawsuits and blocking free access to the ballot In their suit, D.W. Hunter and Larnell Evans say Quaker Oats representa- gutted a vital protection of that act, registration and the success of denials of Section 5 preclearance by box, with Texas, Louisiana, South tives discovered their great-grandmother, Anna S. Harrington, making pan- a new report from the National minority candidates indicated that the U.S. Department of Justice Carolina and Georgia ranking as the cakes at the New York State Fair in 1935. Commission on Voting Rights the coverage formula for protecting (DOJ) and another 10 non-litigation most frequent and egregious Harrington portrayed the character in commercials and other public found frequent and ongoing voting minority voters was unconstitution- settlements from 1995 through offenders. In fact, 72 percent of suc- appearances for 15 years. rights discrimination. ally outdated,” Barbara Arnwine, 2013. cessful Section 2 claims were in The suit says Quaker Oats used Harrington's pancake recipes and trade- The high court’s decision in president and executive director of Discriminatory redistricting plans jurisdictions previously covered by marked her likeness as the character "Aunt Jemima" in 1937. Shelby invalidated Sections 4 and 5 the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil and at-large elections were the most Section 5, Arnwine said. The great-grandsons say Quaker Oats exploited Harrington with the intent of the Voting Rights Act, or VRA, Rights Under Law, the lead organi- common forms of discrimination, The Commission was formed in of not paying royalties toward her estate after her death in 1955. They claim sections which required federal zation supporting the commission, prompting the most successful law- 2013 in response to the Supreme the companies conspired not to acknowledge Harrington's status as an approval of election law changes in said during a press call Aug. 6. suits under Section 2 of the VRA. Court’s ruling in Shelby, just as pre- employee of Quaker Oats by saying they could not find any employment certain jurisdictions with a history The report, “Protecting Minority However, there were also 48 suc- vious iterations of the Commission records or images of her. But they say, Quaker Oats had her image deposit- of discrimination. That decision Voters: Our Work Is Not Done” cessful lawsuits and 10 non-litiga- were pulled together to amass a - ed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. does not reflect the reality at the examined the record of voting tion settlements relating to lan- Continued on page 3 Harrington's family, filed the suit after it was able to obtain a death cer- tificate that listed Quaker Oats as Harrington's employer. ILA Awards More than $22K in Scholarships Barneys to Pay $525K in NY Last week, the International tunity such as this could completely Longshoremen’s Association (ILA change things for a family.” Shopper-Profiling Probe Local 1408), awarded more than “So many of the things we use NEW YORK — The upscale retailer Barneys has agreed to pay $525,000 $28,000 in scholarships to 21 area come off a ship and that creates to settle allegations of racial profiling at its flagship New York City depart- high school seniors and college stu- local jobs,” Todd said. “As the port ment store. dents during a ceremony at JAX- gets bigger, it’s great to imagine State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the agreement PORT. that my dad could get a job or my Monday. It comes after several customers complained last year that they Scholarship applicants were fiancé could get a better job con- were singled out as suspected shoplifters because they were minorities. required to submit a two to three tributing to something that impacts Schneiderman says Barney's also will hire an "anti-profiling consultant" page essay discussing how our community.” for two years, update its detention policy and improve training of security increased business from the To be considered for the scholar- and sales personnel. Jacksonville Harbor Deepening ship, in addition to the essays, stu- CEO Mark Lee tells the Daily News that Barneys is pleased with the set- project would positively impact dents were also required to have a tlement. The newspaper first reported the agreement. Northeast Florida’s economy. minimum 2.75 GPA and complete Lee says Barneys prides itself on providing unparalleled service for all cus- One of the winners, Katelynd community service activities. tomers and doesn't tolerate discrimination. Todd, a Jacksonville native current- Students can reapply each year as In December, Barney's and several other major retailers agreed to create ly attending the University of long as they meet the criteria. and publicize a customer bill of rights. Florida, plans to use the money to Many students are repeat applicants become the first person in her fam- that have received a scholarship all ily to graduate college. Her essay 4 years towards their Bachelor's Arizona Charter School Under Fire states, in part, “If the harbors are degree. For Teaching ‘Benefits Of Slavery deepened, we could potentially ILA Local 1408 helps connect increase distribution activity and more than 1,200 longshoremen and A charter school has come under heavy criticism for using books that fea- create lucrative and stable jobs for dock workers with jobs at JAX- ture questionable religious teachings. citizens in need of work. My father Shown (L-R) is former Florida Senator Tony Hill, Federal Policy PORT. Opportunities for these The Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a nonprofit has been unemployed most of my Director, Jacksonville Mayor’s Office, scholarship winner Tierra members continue to grow along organization filed a complaint to the state’s school board against Mesa- life so I understand how an oppor- Johnson and Charles Spencer, Founding ILA Board Chairman, pre- with the port. based Heritage Academy for using books that teach debunked “Christian sented each student with their ILA Scholarships. nation” history and have “sexist, racist and anti-Semitic messages.” “The 5,000 Year Leap” and “The Making of America”, by Cleon Skousen, are reading requirements for 12th graders at the school. Garrett Epps, law professor at the University of Baltimore, spoke to The Hob Nob Kicks Off Arizona Republic against the use of Skousen’s books in the classroom. “Parts of his major textbook, ‘The Making of America,’ present a system- atically racist view of the Civil War. … A long description of slavery in the Local Political Season book claims that the state (of slavery) was beneficial to African Americans and that Southern racism was caused by the ‘intrusion’ of northern aboli- tionists and advocates of equality for the freed slaves,” Epps said. Epps said he believes that “any student taught from these materials in a public institution is being subjected to religious indoctrination” and “is also being crippled educationally and will be ill-prepared to take part in any seri- ous program of instruction of American government and law.” Man Sues Restaurant for Beating Him Up After Trying to Rob Them Back in 2010, Nigel Sykes tried to rob Seasons Pizza restaurant in Newport, Delaware, but employees tack- led him, took his gun, and beat him up. Now he is suing the restaurant for his injuries, and he’s doing it from jail. Shown above are party hosts Sharon porter-Thompson, honoree Now 23-years old, Sykes has just filed a federal civil Rometa Porter, Tanzy Howard and Syleste Porter at the celebration complaint claiming that the rough treatment was “unnecessary”. He also says that because of his Rometa Grahama Porter Rings 74th incurred injuries during the attempted robbery, he wants to be compensated. He also claims in his suit that after employees Birthday with A “Happy New Year” subdued him, two local police officers improperly used their stun guns on Daughters, Sharon Porter-Thompson, Tanzy E. Howard and Syleste R. him and denied him access to medical attention. Porter threw their mother a party to remember complete with exquisite In his written complaint, Sykes admits committing the robbery and “dis- decorations and framed portraits of special memories. A bevy of food was playing” a handgun.