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Editorials/Column
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Opinion
The Freeing Of Tampa Tony
ebster Dictionary de-
fines the word life as "the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body." But, in legal terms, when the letters L-I-F-E precede the word "sentence" it signifies the length of incarceration a per- son must serve under the super- vision of a governmental agency. The conditions of the term is normally only satisfied after a doctor officially confirms that the individual in question quali-
fies for corpse status.
This is the dire situation that
Antonio Alls, affectionately known as "Tampa Tony," found himself dealing with for the last ten years. His fate previ- ously sealed by a federal judge who believed his life was ex- pendable after finding him guilty of a cocaine trafficking charge.
Fortunately, President
Barack Obama saw Tampa Tony's case differently and be- lieved it fitting to reduce Tony's life sentence to 240 months through an act of clemency. It was a gesture that will, undoubt- edly, remove a huge amount of pressure from the shoulders of the popular DJ and allow him to focus on a suddenly brighter fu- ture.
While he will still have a few years to complete before he's ac- tually released, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in his grasp will help make facing each morning a lot easier. The thought of having to deal with the misery of federal prison for the next 30 to 40 years no longer taking up space inside of his mind as he attempts to make it through the unbearable minutes of a typical day.
Right now, I couldn't be any happier for the guy. As a person
who has known Tampa Tony for a better part of the last 20+ years, I could never get over the idea that he was given such a harsh sentence in the first place. I mean, to me at least, it just did- n't fit the crime or the person I knew.
This was a man who enjoyed life to the fullest, who enjoyed helping people have a good time, and who was drama free; a gen- uinely good and easy going per- son who, allegedly, made the mistake of chasing quick and easy money.
To lock him up for an eter- nity was a travesty from the start. Thankfully, though, that miscarriage of justice was cor- rected before it was too late.
It won't be long before Tampa Tony has a chance to return to his family and the city who still loves him immensely. I just hope that his skills haven't gotten too rusty because, the way the world is today, we may need him to throw down a party one more time to give us a tem- porary escape.
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The Mysterious Ethnocentricity Of Thanksgiving
iterally days following the most divisive presidential
election in our nation’s history, we Americans find our- selves wedged into another mind-warping dilemma that after what we went through, makes no logical sense: Call it Thanksgiving.
Perhaps, if it weren’t so soon, we could wrap our minds around the contradiction between a presidential campaign that would make George Orwell’s novel 1984 look like a Boy Scout manual, which was followed immediately by a na- tional holiday as humanitarian as Easter or Christmas. . . no doubt a menu for mental breakdown.
So, how did we Americans pull it off? For, no matter what the national catastrophe, no one has yet heard of anyone de- ciding not to celebrate Thanksgiving. And name us one group who does not eat at somebody’s house on Thanksgiv- ing Day.
Yet, no group has claimed ownership of Thanksgiving. So, with 20 pound baked turkeys, baked ham, fried chicken, chitterlings, collard greens, lima beans, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, cornbread, potato salad, “dirty” rice, sweet potato pie and a litany of other ethnic lick-smackers, we here and now declare Thanksgiving to be an African American holiday (although North Koreans claim they thought of it first).
Isn’t it strange, no matter how hard we want to kill each other, that when it comes to celebrating Thanksgiving, it’s not the Constitution, but the cornbread that counts? Never- theless, these days be sure to eat with your eyes open.
Teachers Union Lawsuit Threatens
Our Students, Our Community By Suzette Dean
hen my husband
Daniel and I started our school in East Tampa 17 years ago, we wanted to create a beacon of hope in the midst of struggle. Most of the students who came to Bible Truth Min- istries Academy were two grades behind in their previous schools. Some had been told they weren’t
capable of learning.
One by one, we lifted them
up. Now, our test scores show, many of them are actually learn- ing above their grade level. I can point with pride to my two old- est children, both of them grad- uates of our school. My daughter, who plans to be a lawyer, started at the University of South Florida last year, while my son will start working to- wards an engineering degree at USF this spring.
I do not mention these things to boast, but to bring awareness to a lawsuit that threatens real harm to our stu- dents.
Two years ago, the teachers union, the NAACP and other groups filed the suit to kill the Florida tax credit scholarship program. The scholarship serves more than 95,000 students this year, including 48 at our school. It allows low-income and work- ing-class parents to find the schools that work best for their children, just like parents with more money do all the time. But if the lawsuit wins, those stu- dents will be evicted from the schools they love, and returned to schools where we know, from
the test data, that many of them were the lowest performers.
This is crazy. There is noth- ing about this program that in any way harms public schools, despite what the teachers union says, over and over again. That’s why every single study that has looked at the cost question has determined the program does not drain money from public schools. That’s why the first two courts to look at the lawsuit dis- missed it.
Despite the rulings, the teachers union and the NAACP are keeping the lawsuit alive.
In September, they asked the Florida Supreme Court to con- sider an appeal.
Next week, the state and the parents fighting the suit will file their response. In the meantime, everybody who cares about East Tampa and communities like it need to know this is going on. And they need to be asking, “Why?”
How in the world did a pro- gram that gives more options to low-income children get twisted into a negative? How did a school like ours become the enemy?
We are helping children in our community find the path to success. In our school, they are learning the academic skills they need to eventually become lawyers and engineers. But we don’t stop there. They also learn how to cook and sew; how to fix a lawn mower or refrigerator, if need be; how to shake hands and keep eye contact during
conversations. Oh, they can play a mean game of chess, too. We have a wall of championship tro- phies to prove it.
But our help isn’t limited to “our” students. A few years ago, we worked with alumni at Mid- dleton High, right across the street, to set up a free tutoring program at Bible Truth for stu- dents who were struggling at the high school. Our staff worked hand in hand with others in the community to give 25 to 40 stu- dents a day extra assistance.
We never saw a line between public school students and pri- vate school students. We saw students in our community who needed help, period. And we gave it to them.
I am a Christian woman, so I am choosing my words carefully. But I have to say, I am especially upset with the NAACP’s involve- ment with this lawsuit. The scholarship program is helping black students, in the black com- munity. So why is the NAACP trying to kill it? Again, the word that comes to mind is, “Crazy.”
Everybody should also be aware that it’s not just this one scholarship program that’s in jeopardy. Similar programs that benefit our community are just as vulnerable to these kinds of legal attacks, if not more so.
By that I mean programs like the McKay Scholarship, which serves students with disabilities, and VPK. We also have McKay and VPK students at Bible Truth, and I know we are not alone. If this lawsuit succeeds, do you think the people behind it will stop there?
Suzette Dean is the principal of Bible Truth Ministries Acade- my.
Trump Muslim Internment Camps Or Registry?
How many times do we have to say it? “Those who do not read or study history are doomed to repeat it.” In- deed, this quote comes to mind as we observe what -has
been happening while our nation moves unsteadily toward the installation of president-elect Donald Trump.
We encourage our readers to get a copy of Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, and read it as soon as possible. Depend- ing upon news channels and newspapers for our informa- tion is dangerous. Also, not reading or researching political candidates may be suicidal
For instance, last week, several of Trump’s advisors and a key member of his transition team heatedly argued in sup- port of a Muslim Registry for immigrants who come to the United States from Muslim countries in response to terror- ists’ attacks committed by Islamic extremists. Carl Higbie, former Navy Seal and Trump supporter, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a key member of Trump’s transition team, and New Hampshire state representative Al Bal- dasaro, co-chair of Trump’s veterans’ coalition supported the Registry.
Because Trump and his surrogates suggested support for a Muslim Registry during his campaign, we were not sur- prised that he and his camp would actually move toward such an initiative, but we refuse to be silent.
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PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2016