Religion

Dr. B.J. McCormick

As usual the best place to begin any story is at the beginning. About two months ago, I was turning onto NW 18th Avenue in Pompano Beach. NW 18th Avenue had been renamed Dr. B.J. McCormick Avenue in 1993 when I was 12-years old. I thought to myself  as I drove past the lot where his humble three-bedroom house once stood (he moved his family there in the late 1950’s from the projects), you can still see the concrete sidewalk that led from the road to the front door of the house. I wondered how many people live in the new houses and apartments that have no idea why that street is named that. The truth was I only knew a few things myself. You see, Dr. McCormick died July 10, 1977, four years before my birth. […]

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Health

When COVID hit, homeschooling spiked. Now, parents are reluctant to send their kids back.

     Fall 2020 U.S. census data shows that the number of Black families choosing to homeschool their children quintupled. Although reports from the National Center for Education Statistics show that homeschooling has been a historically white practice, the demographic change is unsurprising to experts because nationwide disruptions to student achievement were uneven. […]

Sports

Westside Gazette’s Student/Athlete of the Week, Mikayla Porter of St. Thomas Aquinas

      Volleyball sensation Mikayla  Porter, a 6 foot setter and OPP hitter from St. Thomas High School, has been chosen as the Westside  Gazette’s   Student/Athlete of the Week. Utilizing her natural physical gifts of size, length, agility, quickness and innate intelligence has contributed immensely to her individual success and the school’s elevation as a perennial volleyball power. St. Thomas recently completed its season, reaching the Florida State 6A semi-finals. With a cumulative 4.17 G.P.A. her future most assuredly includes competing on the collegiate level, for which she definitely has the physical tools to do so successfully. […]

Opinions

Tell the Supreme Court: We Still Need Affirmative Action

     But today’s Supreme Court is different. It’s dominated by far-right justices who have made it clear they don’t share this view. Chief Justice John Roberts’s famous quote, “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” sums it up: conservatives believe affirmative action is at best unnecessary and at worst just another type of discrimination. Some conservatives would like to retire affirmative action because they claim it’s accomplished everything it set out to do. But it hasn’t. Not even close. […]