Author: Carma Henry

On Sunday, December 18, 2022, the members of Zeta Chi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. and their youth mentoring group (Lamplighters), visited Mt. Nebo Missionary Baptist Church, in Fort Lauderdale.

Giving back to the South Florida Community means so much to Chico The Virgo,  who has been an award-winning Radio On-Air Personality for 50 years. As a native of South Florida, Chico has done much work and provided services at no cost to support many causes. Creating the Sylvester Wesley Foundation 501(c) 3 is his way to give back to victims of Sickle Cell Anemia and the underserved in South Florida. And, during the holiday season of 2022, he wanted to give warm blankets and a hot breakfast to the Senior Citizens in Northwest Pompano Beach.

      A second pharmaceutical company has recalled a blood pressure medication that could increase the risk of cancer if taken in large amounts, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last week.

       Bobby Henry, standing well over six feet tall as Publisher of the Westside Gazette, has answered the call to literally become the new Sheriff in the Broward County School District. In fact, he’s reminiscent of the character played by Joe Don Baker in the movie entitled , Walking Tall. This movie was based on a true story of Bufford Pusser, a tough Tennessee Sheriff who defended justice using a single plank of wood the size of a baseball bat.

A Change is Gonna Come

     Since President Biden came into office, he has made it a priority to nominate federal judges who are not only legal stars but are diverse, come from underrepresented professional backgrounds, and have a deep commitment to civil rights. Many of them have been civil rights lawyers or public defenders. This is a real change, even from past Democratic presidents. For decades, presidents most often nominated corporate lawyers or prosecutors to the bench. Those people were also overwhelmingly white and male. Not anymore. 

The Broward County Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation announced at the Chamber’s Annual Celebration Luncheon that it received a $100,000 grant from Truist Foundation to provide technical assistance to local small Black businesses.

     Now that I have taken you somewhat down memory lane, I want to have some serious reflection on Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ song, Wake Up Everybody. Teddy Pendergrass leads in with:

     Harris is among a score of Black professionals who said Tuesday that paying little attention to the sentencing of Dean, and for that matter, any other high-profile case involving the killing of African American citizens, is now common behavior amongst themselves and their peers. Such cases are too emotionally taxing to watch, they said.

     Mamie Till-Mobley appointed Alvin Sykes as the advocate for herself and her son Emmett Till. Together they founded the Emmett Till Justice Campaign (ETJC). Mamie appointed Alvin as President of the ETJC in 2003. Alvin’s first accomplishment at the helm was the successful reopening of Emmett Till’s 1955 murder investigation through the Department of Justice in the State of Mississippi and the FBI. Shortly after this, Mamie would pass away. Alvin would carry the torch of the ETJC until his passing on March 19, 2021.