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 Page 11


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 Page 9


 Obama Officially Forming Panel

 to Explore Presidential Bid
 Sen. Barack Obama this week he is taking a
 first step toward running for president next
 year.
 "I will be filing papers today to create a presi-
 dential exploratory committee," the Democrat
 from Illinois said, adding that he will announce
 his final decision February 10 from his home-
 town of Chicago.
 He made the announcement in a video posted
 on his Web site.
 The Federal Election Commission told CNN it
had not yet received the paperwork.
Forming an exploratory committee is an initial step -- but not a required
step -- in running for president or any federal office. An exploratory
committee allows potential candidates to begin quietly raising funds and
"testing the waters" on whether they should run for office.
 Funds raised in an exploratory committee only need to be disclosed if
the potential candidate actually decides to run for office, at which point
he or she must go back and disclose any "exploratory" money raised.

New Orleans Is Losing Its Blackness
 A year after Mayor Ray Nagin made his infamous "Chocolate City"
remark to urge African Americans to return to New Orleans, the city most
ravaged by Hurricane Katrina has lost some of its chocolate flava. Once
one of the most culturally distinct African-American cities, New Orleans,
which before Katrina had a 67 percent Black population, now is only 47
percent Black and 43 percent White. "We need the chocolate back in the
vanilla,"housing activist Endesha Juakali shouted to a crowd last month
to protest the demolition of public housing damaged by Katrina. "It will
never be the same in my lifetime," she said, but added that the longer
housing takes to be rebuilt the less likely the city's Black population is to
rebound.

 Sony Nailed for Racial Bias
 Sony BMG, which is home to artists like Beyonce and Christina
Aguilera, was recently found to have discriminated against its Black
employees in its Manhattan office during layoffs in 2004. The New York
office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
found the company, which went through a merger and restructuring in the
summer of 2004, was guilty of discrimination against its Black employ-
ees, according to The New York Post. The EEOC found that the six.
Blacks in its Manhattan office were issued pink slips, but none of their
white counterparts. The only black worker that remained was a mail
clerk. Of the six Blacks fired, three accepted severance packages and
three were asked to leave "involuntarily." None of eight whites and one
Asian at the office was given the ax.

 Naomi Campbell Pleads Guilty

 to Assault with a Cell Phone
 Supermodel Naomi Campbell pleaded guilty in Manhattan Criminal
Court on Tuesday to assaulting her housekeeper with a cell phone. She
was sentenced to five days of community service, fined $363 and ordered
to attend anger management classes.
Campbell threw her cell phone at Ana Scolavino, 42, during a dispute
over a pair of missing jeans. They said the phone hit the woman in the
back of her head, opening a wound that required four staples to close.
Campbell did not comment as she left court.
In June 2005, a second maid, Gaby Gibson, said the celebrity struck her
in the head. She has also filed a civil lawsuit. And in July, former assis-
tant Amanda Black, sued Campbell for verbal, physical and emotional
attacks.
 In February 2000, the model pleaded guilty in a Canadian court for
assaulting another former assistant with a telephone. In that case she paid
the assistant an undisclosed amount of money and attended anger man-
agement classes.
 Campbell, 36, has blamed her hot temper on lingering resentment
toward her father for abandoning her as a child.

Slavery Apology Opposed in Virginia
 Some Virginia lawmakers say you can forget about the state of Virginia
saying it's sorry for its part in slavery, adding that an apology is unnec-
essary and a sign of too much political correctness.
"The present commonwealth has nothing to do with slavery," said Del.
Frank D. Hargrove (R-Glen Allen), whose ancestors were French
Huguenots who came to America in search of religious freedom.
The issue, which is likely to spark some serious debate, is sponsored by
Black Virginia lawmakers, at least two of whom descended from slaves,
the Daily Progress reports.
"It is meant to be a resolution that is part of a healing process, a process
that still needs to take place even today in 2007," said one sponsor, Del.
A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico County).
"No one is asking any individual to apologize, because certainly there
are no slaveholders alive today and there are no slaves alive today," said
McEachin, whose great-grandfather was born a slave.
"But Virginia is alive and well, and Virginia was built on the backs of
slaves, and Virginia's economy boomed because of slavery, and it is
Virginia that ought to apologize," he said.


Hargrove, who has asked how far apologies will go, also asked, "Are
we going to force the Jews to apologize for killing Christ?"


R1LA1 i IR-5 C1 A1 CO b l QLLI Y BLACK


Volume 20 No. 44 Jacksonville, Florida January 18-24 2007


 The State of Black America: Does Race Still Matter?


 by J. Jones, BAW
 Race is a hot-button issue.
 Whether it is debating the use of
the word "nigger" in all its forms
and intentions and by whom; deal-
ing with discrimination -- real and
perceived -- in the workplace and
the marketplace or wrestling with
immigration and its impact on the
quality of life and opportunities to


succeed in this country, when it
comes to race matters, as scholar
and author Cornel West would say,
race matters.
Why is it so important, and how do
we, as black people, get to a point
where we can address inequities
without falling prey to limitations
imposed by ourselves and others?
 "Racial divisiveness is ingrained


in our psyche," said David Campt, a
leading consultant and author on
diversity issues and author. Campt
said it is normal for black people to
be sensitive about race.
 On average, black people have
one-eighth of the family wealth of
their white counterparts. U.S. cen-
sus data show that 30 percent of
white adults had at least a bache-


Shown above at the game are Offensive MVP Steve Mott, game organizer Ronald "Track" Elps" an
Defensive MVP Charles Nicholson at the Annual Game.
 Love Abounds at Annual Old Timers Football Game


 What is an Old Timer?
 That depends on who you ask,
some may think of early gold min-
ers, an old man, or even someone
with traditional beliefs.
 But if you were at Boobie Clark
MEMEW-14. 7=%-xi~r


Park on the MLK Holiday. You
would know exactly what an Old
Timer is, especially if you asked the
hundreds in attendance.
 The park was a sea of brotherly
love and fun as community mem-


bers of all ages gathered for the
15th Annual Old Timers Flag
Football Game celebrating a day
"on love." The tradition that began
over 15 years ago by Ronald
"Track" Elps Cont. on page 12


Hundreds Enjoyed the Annual MLK Parade this year which was the largest to date. Shown above
are Betty Knighten, Reginia Green, Tyrone Green, Terry Dixon and Alleneisha Wooden enjoying the
parade scenes. For complete parade highlights, see page 7 FMPowell Photo


lor's degree in 2005, compared to
17 percent of black adults. The
median income for white house-
holds was $50,622, compared to
$30,939 for black households, and
three-fourths of white households
owned their homes in 2005, com-
pared with 46 percent of black
households. Continued on page 9

 Pastor Murray

 Celebrates 50

 Years of Preaching


 Pastor Ernie Murrary
 St. Thomas Miss. Baptist Church
 "What Shall I Preach After 50
 Years? For though I preach the
 gospel, I have nothing to glory of
for necessity is laid upon me; yea,
woe is unto me, if Ipreach not the
gospel." (I Corinthians 9:16) This
Biblical passage clearly expresses
Pastor Emie L. Murray Sr. as he
examined his fiftieth (50) year of
preaching in front of friends family
and colleagues.
 Pastor Murray says, "Ever since
I've known myself, I have been try-
ing to preach the gospel of Jesus
Christ." He joined the church at the
early age of nine years old.
 Rev. Murray received the call
to preach on his twelfth birthday. A
member of Mt. Ararat, he recollects
the January 14th day, "Pastor
Graham lifted me up on a box and I
preached for a few minutes. When
Pastor Graham helped me down, I
began to cry. He asked why? I told
him that I wasn't finished preached
 Pastor Graham told me "Not to
worry, for you will have a lifetime
to preach." I will always treasure
the memory of that day." Said
Murray
 His pastoral tenure includes six-
teen year in New Jersey before
coming to St. Thomas where he
recently celebrated his 20th
Anniversary. Since his arrival, the
church has grown by leaps and
bounds including new ministries
and facilities. Most recently, the
Moncrief Road institution celebrat-
ed the opening of their Family Life
Center servicing the needs of the
church and the community.


Battle on to Remove KKK Founder's Name From Area School


 By Dana Maule
 In 1958,
 Jacksonville's
 Forrest High
 School was
 founded and
 named after the
 first Grand
 Steve Moll Wizard of the
 Klu Klux Klan,
Nathan Bedford Forrest, by sugges-
tion of the Daughters of the
Confederation. For the past 50
years no one has acknowledged or


expressed enough outrage toward
the blatant symbolism of hate and
racism the KKK is notorious for.
That is until a Florida Community
College professor and some of his
students embarked on a controver-
sial civil service project. Just last
week, Professor Steve Stoll and his
sociology class made a second pro-
posal at the Duval County School
Board's Advisory Counsel meeting
to change the name of Forrest High
School. The goal of the group is a
name change from Forrest to that of


African-American humanitarian
Eartha M.M. White.
 Originally from Ohio, Stoll has
developed a keen interest in
Jacksonville over his six years here.
When he suggested Forrest High
School as a field project, many of
his students which were of African-
American background and native to
Jacksonville were in disbelief of the
reality that much of our city has
accepted the tradition and the ideol-
ogy behind the name of Forrest
High School.


 The student's research revealed
much about the school as well as
the effects of the civil rights move-
ment on the city of Jacksonville.
Students found that when the
school was founded in 1958 as a
white's only high school it disre-
garded the Supreme Courts deci-
sion made in 1954 to integrate
schools as a result of the Brown
verses The Board of Education
case.
 Continued on page 3


50 Cents


 King's Holiday

 Must Continue

,J to be a Time

 for Reflection

 for America?
 Page 4