Page 4 - 5-19-15 Tuesday's Edition

Local
Farewell Bus Tour To Honor District III Commander
Residents of East Tampa and other areas are hosting a “Farewell Bus Tour” in honor of Major Diane Hobley- Burney.
Major Burney, Com- mander of District III, Tampa Police Department, has ac- cepted the position of Chief of Police, in Ft. Pierce, Florida.
On June 1st, a bus will de- part from 3808 North 22nd Street, District III Headquar- ters, heading to Ft. Pierce.
Organizers are asking everyone to learn HERstory, as they join the newly appointed Chief in her new hometown, where she will be officially
DIANE HOBLEY-BURNEY .....new Ft. Pierce Police Chief
sworn in on Monday, June 1st at 6:30 p. m.
Motivational Speaker Frustrated By Random Acts Of Violence
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland wasn’t easy for Donald Dowridge. He saw the turmoil his community was in, and for a while joined the calamity. That cost him his freedom for a while, but he evolved from that experience, moved to Tampa, Florida, and reinvented himself.
Now a much sought after motivational speaker, Dowridge has had to take a step back lately and focus on what’s going on with young people across the country.
“I think I had turned a blind eye to what was going on with young people until things got out of control in Baltimore.
“I’m not saying I wasn’t aware of the violence here in Tampa. What I’m saying is it really hit a personal level when it came to my home- town.”
Dowridge said “enough is enough,” and it’s time for the adults to reclaim their children and start acting like parents instead of their
DONALD DOWRIDGE
friends.
“Society in the 1980s de-
veloped a scheme to remove the Black male from the home as a husband and father/dad. Today, many of these young Black males are growing up in a home minus the Black fa- ther/dad. Those young males are growing with anger and hate towards their father/dad because he has turned into a baby maker with many women who fall for the ill of birthing four and five babies from four or five different Black men, and with that move on to the next woman forgetting about them.”
Dowridge said his plea to the Black fathers/dads to please go home to their chil- dren and be a part of their lives.
“Those children you fa- thered should not live their young lives without your pres- ence. Stop setting your young Black sons up for self destruc- tion.
“While sitting home watching what was going on in Baltimore, I saw Toya Graham go to the scene of some protests, and just as her son Michael was preparing to throw a brick at the police, she grabbed him, let him have it verbally and physically, and ran him home. I smiled when I saw that, then realized that there were no fathers around doing the same thing for their children. They could have acted quickly and there wouldn’t have been any vio- lence or rioting.”
Dowridge said he be- lieves the pain of attending the funerals of young Black men hasn’t sunk in yet to their fathers, and he prays the light will come on sooner than later to save their lives.
Meeting
Tampa Housing Authority Meeting
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of the City of Tampa is scheduled for Wednes- day, May 20th at 8:30 a. m. in the main office boardroom, 5301 West Cypress Street, Tampa, 33607.
An Ethics Training will take place immediately following the regular meeting.
This meeting is open to the public and any person, who might wish to appeal any decision made by the Board of Commissioners, with respect to any matter considered at this meeting, is advised that he/she will need a record of the proceedings.
Dr. Hazel S. Harvey is Chair; Jerome D. Ryans is Presi- dent/CEO.
Women’s Council Of Realtists Host Social
From left, Tammie Fields, guest speaker; Ida Campbell, Aidza Thomas, Lesia Redeske and Patti Bonner.
Stephanie Richardson and Sherlene Mendez-Vaz at- tended the Membership Social.
leadership and education. It also offers support to youths by providing grants, scholar- ships and mentoring.
The organization offers first- time home buyers/fi- nancial literacy classes, down payment assistance toward the purchase of a house.
You do not have to be in the real estate industry to be a part of the organization.
On April 18, 2015 the Women’s Council of Bay Area Association of Realtists, Inc. hosted a Membership Social. The guest speaker for this event was Tammie Fields, Channel 10 news anchor,
who delivered a powerful motivational speech.
The Women’s Council leads the way by empowering you to build and expand on everything the real estate in- dustry has to offer through
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015