Page 3 - 2-13-15 Friday's Edition

Features
Groups Meet To Discuss
NAACP Plans Trip To Selma For 50th Anniversary Of ‘Bloody Sunday’
East Tampa Problems
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
This year, people throughout the nation will remember the March across the Edmund Pettius Bridge in Selma, Alabama. On March 7, 1965, a group of African American attempted to march from Selma, Ala- bama to Montgomery, Ala- bama, for Civil Rights and Voting Rights.
The police attacked and beat the group of non-violent protesters. The brutal attack was enhanced with law en- forcement’s use of water hoses and dogs. The day be- came etched in history as “Bloody Sunday.”
Next month, the Hillsbor- ough County Branch of the NAACP will attend the 50th Anniversary of the conflict. A
tour bus will leave Tampa on Friday, March 6th and return on Monday, March 9th.
The cost of the trip will include the roundtrip, a two- night stay in a hotel in Mont- gomery, Alabama, and admission to the Street Fes- tival. The group will also visit the historic Brown’s AME Chapel for the re-enactment and take the walk across the Edmund Pettis Bridge.
There will be a series of workshops that will discuss such topics as: “Race, Poverty and the Injustice System,” “Health Care for All: Now Is The Time,” Ala- bama Unafraid: Latino Im- migrant Activism Post-House Bill 56,” “The role of Education in the Lib- eration of a People,” “Still Separate, Still Unequal: Combating Racial Segrega-
tion Under the Fair Housing Act and other Civil rights Laws,” “Environmental Jus- tice,” “Policing & Mass In- carceration in America,” and other subjects of inter- est.
Civil Rights activists such as Ms. Claudette Colvin, Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Robert “Bob” Moses, Ms. Diane Nash, and Rev. C. T. Vivian will also be in at- tendance.
The group will also tour the Freedom Rides Museum, the National Center for the Civil Rights & African Amer- ican Culture Museum, and the Rosa Parks Library & Museum.
The bus is scheduled to return to Tampa Monday, March 9th at approximately 10 p.m. (SEE AD THIS EDITION).
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
On Tuesday, two East Tampa Groups, the Citizens Task Force and the Consumer Health Council, met at St. John Progressive Church. The purpose of the meetings was to address the problems resi- dents are experiencing in East Tampa, and the need for change.
Both meetings were chaired by David Denson, and he said as far as the Con- sumer Health Council is con- cerned, the message needs to go out to parents to make sure their children are vaccinated for the measles.
“We also said there is a need for people to be exam- ined for diabetes, especially juvenile diabetes.
“We urged people without health insurance to sign up right way, because the dead- line is February 15th (this Sun- day).”
Denson said the Task Force will be meeting the new officers assigned to District III, and express to them and Major Diane Hobley-Bur- ney the urgency of getting law and order returned to the community.
“Our focus is going to be Lake and 29th Street, because of the shootings and other ac- tivities that have been going on. We also talked about the Open Air Market being a meeting place for a lot of ille- gal activity, and that it needs to be monitored more often, and secured.
“There is also a store in the area we’d like to see more at- tention paid to by law en- forcement, because it is a known hangout and den of il- legal activities.”
Denson said he really
doesn’t believe that much has changed along 29th Street over the years.
“What’s changed is the way the loiterers do their business. They adapted to the changes in the area, and for them it’s been business as usual.
“We don’t need a band- aid. We need people arrested and a message sent out that 29th Street and Lake Avenue is not an area where you want to hang out.”
Denson said there’s a new law that protects the members of crime watch groups, and if they are at- tacked or threatened, some- one will go to jail.
“We really need tighter crime watch rules and qualifi- cations. If you’re the leader of a crime watch group, we feel you need to live in that area.
“As a community, we all need to step up, because a lot of the illegal activities are oc- curring near or on the prop- erty of churches in the area. That shows what little regard these people have for any- thing.”
Denson said what’s been going on in and around Bel- mont Heights Estates was also discussed, and that one of the biggest problems is the people causing the problems don’t live in that community.
“There seems to be no re- gard for the privacy of the res- idents or the presence of law enforcement.
“It’s important that the residents take a more active role, and we’d like to see Code Enforcement come in and shut down some of the busi- nesses that allow the loitering to go on. We need to start doing some policing of our own, and stop expecting law enforcement to do it all.”
Woman Thrown From Ride At Fairgrounds
A 21-year-old Tampa woman was injured after being thrown from a ride Sunday.
The woman was riding the “Hit In 2000” ride when the lock on the ride appar- ently opened during the ride was moving.
Officials said Ms. Brenda Garcia was thrown into the crowd of people waiting in line. She received bruises and scratches on her face and body, officials said.
After an inspection, the ride re-opened, but the car Ms. Garcia had been thrown from remained closed.
A spokesperson for the Florida State Fair said, “We
Ms. Brenda Garcia was thrown from this ride known as the “Hit In 2000” Sunday at the Florida State Fairgrounds.
are aware of an injury to an adult female that occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday. The ride was immediately shut down and is undergoing in-
spection by the Florida De- partment of Agriculture and Consumer Services.”
The investigation is con- tinuing.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A