Page 22 - Florida Sentinel 5-18-18

National
Sorority Members Cleaning Highway Questioned By Police
Grandmother And
A Black sorority is calling for the Pennsylvania State Po- lice to issue an official apology after some members were questioned by an officer dur- ing a community service pro- ject.
Members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., Harrisburg Alumnae Chapter, were cleaning the area around the 13th Street exit of High- way 83 in Harrisburg on last Saturday, when a state trooper pulled behind the group of women and asked them if they were fighting.
Sorority member Shawna Naomi outlined the incident in a Facebook post.
The sorority members told the trooper who they were and explained that they just finished cleaning up needles, bottles, diapers and other trash. The trooper asked the women what schools did they attend and requested identifi- cation, according to the post.
The women gave the trooper information about their professions and com-
ment read.
It is equally troubling that
the trooper was unaware the chapter had contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to inform the department of its project to beautify the highway.
“Finally, the ladies were dressed in the sorority colors of blue and gold with Sigma Gamma Rho Greek letters, were wearing gloves, were dragging trash bags filled with debris and were working in an area clearly marked “Adopt A Highway — Litter Control Interchange Area — Sigma Gamma Rho — HBG Alumnae KOS CHPT.
“We ask that the Pennsyl- vania State Highway Patrol immediately issue a public apology to the members of the sorority questioned, have a renewed commitment to be- coming a part of the commu- nity they police through diversity training and attend town hall meetings,” the statement continued.
As of presstime no apol- ogy had been issued.
From Tennessee State
plied with his request for IDs. After the trooper ran their identification through the system and handed the cards back, he commended them for doing “great work.”
Angela Spears, the sorority’s communications di- rector and historian, issued an official statement on be- half of the sorority.
“On Saturday, May 12, 2018, professional sorority members of the local Harris- burg, Pennsylvania chapter were engaged in an adopt-a- highway community service activity when a state trooper from the Harrisburg Division interrupted their work to question them,” the state-
Although born more than 40 years apart, Theresa Lyles and her granddaughter Zuri Lyles were part of the same graduating class at Ten- nessee State University.
Theresa, 68, and Zuri, 22, walked across the stage to accept their degrees, when TSU held its spring under- graduate commencement in the Howard C. Gentry Com- plex on May 5. Theresa’s de- gree is in sociology, while Zuri received a bachelor’s degree in health information management and a minor in business.
Theresa, a grandmother of 15, started at TSU in 1967, but dropped out in 1970 to raise her family. A little over a year ago, she came back to school without knowing she earned enough credits back then to put her close to grad- uating, until her academic ad- visers told her. But a few months into her schooling, alongside Zuri, tragedy hit the family. Theresa lost her middle daughter, Zuri’s mother, on January 6.
“That hit us so hard that I almost dropped out because I was struggling and my grand- mother went through a de- pression,” said Zuri. “But we
Grandmother,
Lyles and granddaughter, Zuri Lyles are TSU graduates
kept encouraging each other. Through it all, we started working harder and did everything we needed to get the job done.”
Zuri, who has a job offer with St. Thomas General as an information systems ana- lyst, said she plans to attend graduate school and get a de- gree in physical therapy.
For now, Theresa will continue to help with raising her grandchildren, but she is glad to finally get her degree.
This may just be the first time in TSU’s more than 100- year history that a grand- mother and a granddaughter will be graduating at the same time.
Woman Whose Cells Were Used To
Develop Polio Vaccine – Henrietta Lacks
Black Vodka Company Is
Granddaughter Graduate
Theresa
The Smithsonian Installs Portrait Of
A portrait of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were taken without her consent and widely used in groundbreak- ing research, was installed at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery recently.
The portrait was installed, Tuesday, May 15. It was painted by Kadir Nelson and jointly acquired by the gallery and the National Mu- seum of African American History and Culture.
Lacks died of cervical can- cer at age 31 at Johns Hopkins University, where researchers discovered her cells (HeLa cells) reproduced indefinitely in test tubes.
HeLa cells have since con- tributed to the treatment of thousands of patients and many scientific break- throughs, from the polio vac- cine to genetic technology, even as her family struggled without health care.
Lacks remained virtually unknown until a journalist spent years investigating and writing a bestseller, "The Im- mortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’, brought to TV by Oprah Winfrey, who por- trayed her relative.
First To Get International
Distribution
Henrietta Lacks’ cells were used to develop the polio vaccine. Here she is shown with her cousin, who later became her husband, David Lacks.
Vanessa Braxton is the owner and CEO of Black Momma Vodka, a company that offers various unique fla- vors of handcrafted, gluten- free vodka.
As the first African-Ameri- can woman to own a nation- ally distributed vodka, she stays true to her motto of mak- ing vodka for women... but still strong enough for any man.
The vodka Braxton her- self developed is an all-nat- ural, preservative-free, gluten-free vodka distilled and filtered 5 times from corn. It has a signature smooth taste and comes in different flavors. It is now being distributed in 32 states in the United States, in Hong Kong, and in the United Kingdom and can be requested at local restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and distrib- utors.
Black Momma Vodka is a product of her dreams and
Lacks was born as Loretta Pleasant on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. One of ten children, she and her siblings were dispersed to different households upon the death of her mother.
Lacks ended up in Clover, Virginia. She was left to be raised by her grandfather on the plantation owned by her white great-grandfather and great uncle. She shared a room with her cousin, David “Day” Lacks who would be- come her husband in the fu- ture. The Lacks had 5 children. After giving birth to her last child, Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer in January 1951.
Her doctor, Howard W.
Jones biopsied the mass on Lack’s cervix. It was deter- mined that she had cancer. Lacks was treated using ra- dium tube inserts. She was charged with returning back to the hospital for X-ray follow- up treatments. Unbeknown to Lacks and without her con- sent, samples were taken from her cervix. The samples were given to George Otto Gey, a cancer researcher and doctor at Johns Hopkins. One sample was non-cancerous while the other was cancerous.
The cells extracted from Lacks’ cervix later became known as the HeLa immortal cell line.
On October 4, 1951, Hen- rietta Lacks died.
Vanessa Braxton is the CEO of Black Momma Vodka.
imagination. As a child, her parents and grandparents, who were business owners themselves, taught her to be- lieve that she can do anything regardless of her gender or race.
For more information about Black Momma Vodka, visit www.blackmom- mavodka.com or follow them on Facebook at www.face- book.com/BlackMom- maVodka.
PAGE 10-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2018