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Features
More Community Donors Needed To Share In March On ‘ACT-SO Sunday'
DR. CAROLYN COLLINS ...Speaker
On Sunday, May 3rd at 4 P. M. in historic Beulah Baptist Church “ACT-SO Sunday 2015” will bring the community to- gether for an inter-genera- tional afternoon of faith and fellowship in an Ecumenical Worship Service.
The 11 ACT-SO Gold Medal Winners (Charity Franks, Joshua Ingram, Anna Castillo, Kalima Ujaama, Nynchoyha Pitt, Carlea Boswell-Edwards, Pierre Alsint, Shennell Spencer, Victoria French, Naomi Mendez and Naylea Ruiz) of the NAACP Hillsbor- ough County Branch and guests will enjoy a diverse wor- ship experience and get a chance to meet the Honorary Co-Chairs, who have pledged to help them financially reach their goal of competing in Philadelphia this summer.
One of the highlights of the afternoon promises to be the “Marching 100 March” where local donors, who each have pledged $100.00 in sup- port of the students, will bring
their gifts by participating in an organized procession.
A partial list of individuals participating includes: Dr. Bennie Small, Dr. Carolyn Collins, Sol Davis, Jeffrey Rhodes, Leon Russell, Dr. Barbara Wright, Ms. Pat Spencer, Lady Vanessa Banks, Joseph W. J. Robinson, Norris Collins, Mrs. Dee Merritt Bell, Ms. JoAnn Lewis, George Robinson, Wayne Bright, Ms. Vernice “Jeanie” Jenkins.
“I donated the first one hundred dollars and I asked these citizens to help me in this asking campaign by doing the same and to ask others to do so as well. Our goal in this effort is ten thousand dollars,” said Maurice Jackson, ACT-SO Chair.
Leslie Brook, aka “LT Victory,” Nynchoyha Pitt, Alexis Sealey, Karlea Boswell-Edwards, Dimitri Cole and the Tampa Negro Spiritual Ensemble, Ta- tiana Larry, and cellist, Laura Smith are some of the gifted artists scheduled to min- ister on Sunday.
The featured speaker is Dr. Carolyn H. Collins, Past President of the Florida A& M National Alumni Society and Immediate Past President of the NAACP Hillsborough County Branch. She will be in- troduced by Dr. Walter L. Smith, former President, Florida A&M University. The public is invited to attend and to contribute to the success of this event.
Town Hall Meeting Uncovers Problems Between Citizens And Law Enforcement
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
On Wednesday night at the Chester Ferguson Law Center, more than 200 people packed the Barry Cohen Room to dis- cuss race relations and law en- forcement issues in Tampa.
The meeting was spon- sored and hosted by Attorney Barry Cohen, and a panel of 11 people spoke on different areas of concern involving the problems that exist in Tampa, and the effort to stave off what’s happening in cities like Baltimore, Maryland.
The panel consisted of: Judge Thomas Stringer; Tampa Police District 1 Com- mander Major Rocky Ratliff; Public Defender Julianne Holt; Attorney Warren Dawson; Curtis Stokes; Andrew Joseph, Jr.; County Judge Rex Barbas; Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Major Willie Parker; LIFE; School Dis- trict Representative Larry Sykes, and Men Of Vision President Marquavius Hamilton.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn
opened the meeting by saying Tampa is a “work in progress.
“None of us want to see what’s happening in Baltimore come to Tampa. By communi- cating with each other and be- coming more unified, we can have a great city with great communities.
Atty. Cohen started off the speaking by saying some- thing is wrong with the law en- forcement system in Tampa.
“When you have a young man attending the Fair being killed, and the overall way offi-
Atty. Barry Cohen (left) and activist, LIFE.
cers handle young Black males, that says the system in place isn’t working.
“We’ve got to concentrate our efforts on what’s happen- ing with African American children getting into trouble, and the problems some of them are causing. It’s every- one’s problem, not just the Black community. We know what the problems are. All we need to talk about are solu- tions. My message to the cops is you get respect back when you talk to people with re- spect.”
Judge Rex Barbas talked about his experience as a judge in the juvenile system, and how some teenagers who came before him found their way to court.
“These kids rode bicycles from as far away as Brandon to come downtown for a hearing. We’ve got to find a way to make the services they need more available to them. We’ve got to find a way to keep them out of juvenile court and start recognizing the problems be- fore they become big prob- lems.”
Andrew Joseph, Jr. said there needs to be more leader- ship in law enforcement and education on how to deal with our young people and the role the parents play in developing that understanding.
“What happened to my son didn’t have to happen. The complete disregard for the safety and protection of our kids was thrown out of the window last year at the Fair.
“When a group of kids started problems, the cops im- mediately saw all of the Black kids as being a problem, and even if you weren’t a part of what was going on, you were targeted and thrown out on your own. That’s what hap- pened to my son.”
Hamilton made an appeal to educators to stop giving up on their students.
“Oftentimes, they take the easy road by throwing students out of school instead of helping them to solve their problems. That’s not the way to help the students, and they only return with the same problems.”
Major Ratliff said they are training officers so there won’t be a repeat of controver- sial incidents like what hap- pened to the late Arthur Green. He also defended their practice of stopping bicyclists for suspicious activities.
“We’re not saying everyone that rides a bicycle is a target to be stopped and searched by an officer. What we’re saying is when something has happened in a community, or if we get a call that someone is riding a bi- cycle and may be armed with a gun, we have to check that out.”
Atty. Dawson said the problem is not the children.
“The children are just symptoms. The disease is the parents.
“As far as the bicycle polic- ing policy is concerned, it’s wrong and presents enough smoke to suggest there is fire underneath.
“If you dragnet a commu- nity, you’re going to find some- body doing something wrong. I think the current bicycle pol- icy is another version of ‘Stop And Frisk’ without probable cause. I think we need a new policy, not a new police chief.”
Atty. Dawson said he’s calling on the City Council and the Mayor to do what it takes to suspend the current policy.
LIFE addressed the issue of police activity in the Black community, and how better re- sources could be spent in the Black community.
“I think when cars are con- fiscated in a drug bust, instead of them ending up on an im- pound lot, give them to a mother who needs to take her children to school or get to work. When you confiscate money from these drug busts, instead of using it to put more cops on the streets with dead- lier weapons, put that money back into the community.”
Other citizens spoke about their concerns involving law enforcement and African American youth, and most felt by giving the young people something to do and making them feel wanted and impor- tant, that would get them off the streets and out of jail.
FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 3-A