I’ll be reporting throughout the day, at WAOD and on Twitter (cbhanif), from the Palm Beach County Courthouse on the first Dunbar Village case.
The trial is set to resume this morning with opening statements.
Dunbar Village trial coverage continues on Twitter and at WAOD
August 24th · Uncategorized
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Quiet before the storm in first trial of Dunbar Village rape case defendants
August 20th · Uncategorized
For WAOD, I’m still chronicling what promises to be an exhaustive and dispiriting volley of evidence in the Dunbar Village gang rape trial.
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Reporting on Dunbar Village trial, Day 2: jury selection
August 19th · Uncategorized
GEMPIRENewsBack at the Dunbar Village trial, Day 2, for http://www.whataboutourdaug… Marx just entered courtroom
4 minutes ago from web
…at WAOD.
Also follow Twitter updates from courtroom at GEMPIRENews (NOTE: We’ve moved the tweets from my cbhanif Twitter account).
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Chris Rock’s hairy scary good slice of African-American life
August 13th · NABJ
There’s a film set to debut in October for which I can offer a money back guarantee. As in: If you don’t like “Good Hair,” I can guarantee you can try to see Chris Rock to get your money back. You won’t want to do that, though, because “Good Hair” is the visual equivalent of a great read.
I got a serious education while watching an advance screening of this semi-documentary last weekend during the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Tampa.
The comedian was on hand afterward for a Q&A with actress Nia Long that was hosted by NABJ’s Patrick Riley.
ìEverybody knows about Madame C.J. Walker,î writer and producer Rock told the packed Muvico theater audience in Ybor City. ìEverybody knows that in the ‘70s everybody had an Afro. I wanted to do the new hair movie.î
He has delivered with this video commentary on hair culture and the business of hair — a $9 billion business among black folks. Yet as he documents, African-Americans net a miserly percentage of the proceeds on which they spend fortunes. The bulk goes to white and Asian beauty product suppliers.
“Human hair is India’s biggest export,” Rock reports from where else but…India.
Later he’s hanging out in Atlanta beauty parlors with everyday people who pay up $1,000 for their Indian hair-do — sometimes on a layaway plan. Entertainers and others ante tens of thousands of dollars.
Rock also shows women confessing, “I am on the creamy crack” — the ubiquitous yet toxic sodium hydroxide relaxers. Upon leaving the theatre one woman said, “My thing is I would never put a perm in my head again after what I saw.” And a weave? No answer.
Me, I’m long past those days of my huge crush on Angela Davis for her Afro hair as much as her spirit. Long past the days when I thought that sisters looked nice with “fried hair,” as some of us called it, but those with natural hairstyles seemed to signify a bit more on the brain. I’ve long since learned not to judge a book by its cover. In fact, I’ve learned enough to get out of the judging business, having recognized that the Creator Who made all will judge us all.
Similarly, Chris Rock manages to provide a ton of information in a non-judgmental manner that still manages to provoke thought and comment. A constant along the way is his trademark brand of humor.
The result is his 2009 Sundance Film Festival award winner. It’s guaranteed to be appreciated by ladies and gentlemen of all stripes.
The movie already is spurring all kinds of conversations, in which the best way to participate often is simply to listen.
Listen, for example, to my friend and fellow Trotter Group colleague Tonyaa Weathersbee, a columnist and a member of the Times-Union’s Editorial Board. I couldn’t wait for Tonya’s take on the movie. It shows again why her columns have earned numerous state and national journalism awards.
There’s also the official trailer and a YouTube video.
As usual I’ll add links to any other quality commentary that comes to my attention.
And of course I’d love to hear your comments.
There’s a film set to debut in October for which I can offer a money back guarantee. As in: If you don’t like “Good Hair,” I guarantee you can try to see Chris Rock to get your money back. You won’t want to do that, though, because “Good Hair” is the visual equivalent of a great read.
Tampa invaded by blacks
August 9th · NABJ
OK, now that I have your attention, make that the National Association of Black Journalists convention, from which I’m back — and once again lauding our aspiring student journalists.
See nabjconvention.org, the site produced by the NABJ Student Media Project, for examples of their outstanding work in print, radio, TV and online, such as xxx.
You may be watching the next Oprah — or the person who one day may run — or own — her and Bill Gates’ companies.
Meeting these kids and encouraging their work is one of the most rewarding aspects of our annual meets.
There also are the professional development sessions, the chances to compare notes with pioneers and peers, meeting and hearing from the newsmakers who join us, and the family reunion atmosphere.
For years I reported to my Palm Beach Post readers about the newsmakers who addressed NABJ — such as candidates Barack and Hillary in 2007.
(I’ve often mentioned my first NABJ, 1984 in Atlanta, where during a luncheon, then-Mayor Andrew Young made headlines by referring to presidential candidate Walter Mondale’s staff as a bunch of “smart-assed white boys.” Mr. Young proved himself a smart-ass during the recent presidential campaign, but that’s another post.)
This year I spent less time in the newsmaker events, and more in sessions improving my skills for my multimedia work and my freelance projects.
But as always there were the compelling sessions regarding which I plan to transcribe my notes and/or post photos. (The screening of comedian Chris Rock’s eye-opening, semi-documentary “Good Hair” jumps to mind.)
For now I have catching up to do and writing deadlines to meet.
In the meantime, for a succinct look at the convention I highly recommend my friend Richard Prince’s online Journalisms column. It’s a must read for media-watchers even when NABJ isn’t happening.
I’ll add other notable links as more colleagues’ work comes to my attention.
OK, now that I have your attention with that Faux News headline, make that the National Association of Black Journalists convention, from which I’m back — and once again lauding our aspiring student journalists. See the site produced by the NABJ Student Media Project for examples of their outstanding work in print, photography, radio, TV and online. You may be watching the next Oprah — or the person who one day may run — or own — her and Bill Gates’ companies.
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Tarra Pressey’s keys to success
August 3rd · Education, South Florida Times
“And lastly I give back generously by creating jobs and providing opportunities for those that will follow me. Having wealth is nice but I believe to truly be successful you have to give something back.”
An aunt had a restaurant in Belle Glade; she worked there. An uncle was foreman for a labor camp; she worked there. Her mother had a grocery store in Riviera Beach; she worked there.
Since then, Tarra Pressey has traveled the world. Each year, her nonprofit organization flies 30 girls – much like the girl she once was – everywhere from college tours to Congress while exposing them to myriad possibilities.
Pressey owns and operates airport concession businesses in four different markets: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Atlantic City.
Yet referring to her native Riviera Beach, and her mother’s hometown of Belle Glade, she says, “I’m just a black girl from The Raw by way of The Muck.”
The CEO of Tarra Pressey Enterprises shared some of her story with several dozen local entrepreneurs at a July 15 “Chamber Chat.”
The event was hosted by the Palm Beach County Black Chamber of Commerce, and took place, suitably, in her golf-themed Sam Snead’s Tavern at the Beach International Airport.
This is one of as many as 30 businesses that she owns. How to stay fresh and current in today’s changing business and economic environment was the focus of her exchange of ideas with the chamber group.
“She’s always had aspirations to do good,” said Melvin Williams, president of Melawil Cleaning and Restoration, an indoor air-quality business.
Williams, who said he has known Pressey since she was 16 and working part-time at a department store after school, and who introduced her at the chamber gathering, told the South Florida Times:
“Among all the young ladies, she was a perfect model then, so it’s not surprising to me that she turned out to be a perfect model in the community now. I don’t know how she does it. It’s always hard to please everyone in business, and she seems to do that so well.”
Pressey, 41, of Riviera Beach, outlined the strategies she tries to use: Obtain broad exposure, forge diverse ties, think entrepreneurially, position yourself to prosper, and give back generously.
The latter is what she has been doing with her Girls II Women, Inc., a non-profit that provides life-changing training and experiences — etiquette to education, culture to travel — for underserved young ladies from Belle Glade, Riviera Beach and Pleasant City in West Palm Beach.
Some of the girls attend Riviera’s John F. Kennedy Middle School and Suncoast High School, as Pressey did.
This year, the college tour took them to Memphis, Tn. Their connecting stop in Atlanta allowed Pressey to highlight the people traveling all over the world: “They got to look at the monitors and see that people were going to Korea, Austria.”
Two years ago, the group was hosted by U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the majority whip. In addition, the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Jones Tubbs, the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress from Ohio, was speaker that day. She invited the girls onto the floor of the chamber.
“They could see people like them and it was extremely rewarding. I get it, having had their experience. I was in their place when I went to JFK,” said the Tuskegee University graduate.
Her own role model is Lou Ella Jordan, her mother and also an accomplished businesswoman.
“I’m in the place that I am because of my mom,’’ she said. “So I think it is important for every generation to get to that next level. There’s no way you can’t do it if you’re given the roadmap. And that’s what I was given.”
Asked what books she has read, or is reading, she quickly cited This Child Will Be Great, the memoir by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia’s — and Africa’s — first elected woman president: “Late in her life she held public office, and has made a huge contribution based on her life experiences in education and economics.”
Her “favorite books in the whole world” are a biography and a fictional book about Sarah Breedlove — the hair-care entrepreneur and philanthropist who by 1917 had the largest African-American owned business in the United States.
Although more popularly known as Madame C.J. Walker — after her former husband Charles Joseph Walker — Pressey doesn’t refer to her “by a man’s name.”
Breedlove’s rags-to-riches tale “is an amazing story,” Pressey said. “I probably relate to her because she had one daughter, like my mother. She provided jobs for women who had never worked before, improving their self-esteem and the community in general.”
Today’s cosmetics mogul Mary Kay, “duplicated her process, her system. It’s one of the finest American stories,” she said, noting the fictional account The Black Rose, by former Miami Herald writer Tananarive Due.
When a chamber member at the July 15 meeting asked whether she has any political aspirations, she responded, “I really don’t.”
But there are a lot of opportunities that her city “is missing out on,” she said. “So it is in the back of mind, maybe when I’m retired. My goal is to give back.”
“Although I don’t have political aspirations,” she added later in an interview, “I do know politicians. The best part of knowing the minority whip was him hosting those girls. Those things are important to me because they help me in helping the community.”
In a few days, Pressey will join other high-powered entrepreneurs in an informal dinner at the home of one of their members in Washington, D.C. A top official in President Obama’s administration is due to make an appearance.
Not long ago, she joined other African-American women, “all at the top of their game,” in a session with Florida Chief Financial Officer and gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink. She recently held a fundraiser in her home for U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is running for the U.S. Senate.
In the meanwhile, say 10 years from now?
“My goal is to create generational wealth. My goal is to create true business enterprises that will be here after I’m gone. If in 100 years Tarra Enterprises is still here, I will have accomplished my goal with something I started.”
Here are Tarra Pressey’s keys to success, also known as “Pressey’s Five:”
1. “Obtain broad exposure to many ideas, to many people and to many backgrounds. Exposure includes being adventurous. I love to do things I’ve never done before. It helps me to grow.”
2. “Forging diverse ties in family and professional life. Sometimes it’s about who you know.”
3. “Always try to think entrepreneurially while acting resourcefully. Having vision for what I want to accomplish. I am resourceful in how I get things done. I think big, I dream big, and I trust my crazy ideas.”
4. “I try to position myself to prosper. I value education and will always be a student. I spend a lot of time reading and online because information is power. I attend world-class events where there are other business-minded people.”
5. “And lastly I give back generously by creating jobs and providing opportunities for those that will follow me. Having wealth is nice but I believe to truly be successful you have to give something back.”
C.B. Hanif is a former news ombudsman and editorial columnist for The Palm Beach Post who also blogs at www.cbhanif.com.
CBHanif@Gmail.com
Photo: Tarra Pressey
“And lastly I give back generously by creating jobs and providing opportunities for those that will follow me. Having wealth is nice but I believe to truly be successful you have to give something back.” — Tarra Pressey
(My latest in the South Florida Times.)
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Void on Delray commission as Mack Bernard, Harper seek Taylor’s former state House seat
July 30th · The Coastal Star
“District 84 goes all the way out to the Glades, so I have to do a lot of traveling,” said former Delray Beach Commissioner Mackenson Bernard.
He’ll be doing a lot more if he wins the Florida House of Representatives seat he is seeking.
“Mack” Bernard has resigned his commission seat to run for the state House district that stretches from North Palm Beach to West Palm Beach and the Glades.
With the July 28 qualifying deadline looming, two other Democrats had announced their intention for the Aug. 25 special primary election: Former state Rep. James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr. and Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas.
The short-notice primary was needed after Republican Gov. Charlie Crist crossed party lines to appoint then-District 84 Rep. Priscilla Taylor to the District 7 Palm Beach County Commission seat from which Addie Green, the only African-American member, resigned in April citing health concerns.
Bernard, originally appointed to the Delray Commission in 2008 to fill Brenda Montague’s term when she resigned, planned to finish the remainder of the term to which he was elected in March, then seek term-limited Taylor’s District 84 seat.
But the University of Florida law and Atlantic High School grad, who was raised in Delray after coming from Haiti at age 10, said, “Timing is everything. If I don’t take that opportunity now, I don’t know if I will ever get that opportunity (again).”
No Republican is expected to enter the race in the African-American and Democrat-dominated district. In that case, the election will be won in the dueling-nicknames primary as “Mack” and “Hank” muster votes during the summer doldrums.
West Palm Beach business consultant Harper was a legislative aide and District 84 rep before losing a commission bid. During his July 14 campaign kickoff he cited his experience, his fifth-generation roots and focus on creating jobs.
Attorney Bernard, who would have to move into the district by the Sept. 22 general election date, said his own experience, understanding of the issues and ability to work with people across lines make him the best choice.
“I want to thank the citizens of Delray Beach for their graciousness in letting me have the opportunity to serve,” he said, adding that the all-white-male commission should replace him with “someone who has a different voice to address the needs of the community. I worked closely with the commission to do that.”
Delray Beach is accepting applications to fill City Commission Seat No. 4.
Applications will be accepted beginning Aug. 11 until 5:00 p.m. Aug. 25 in the form of a letter of intent and resume to be submitted to the City Manager’s Office.
For more information, call (561) 243-7010.
My latest at The Coastal Star:
“District 84 goes all the way out to the Glades, so I have to do a lot of traveling,” said former Delray Beach Commissioner Mackenson Bernard.
He’ll be doing a lot more if he wins the Florida House of Representatives seat he is seeking.
“Mack” Bernard has resigned his commission seat to run for the state House district that stretches from North Palm Beach to West Palm Beach and the Glades.
With the July 28 qualifying deadline looming, two other Democrats had announced their intention for the Aug. 25 special primary election: Former state Rep. James Henry “Hank” Harper Jr. and Riviera Beach Councilman Cedrick Thomas.
Editor of The Nation sez it: “Ain’t Nothing Centrist About Them”
July 26th · Uncategorized
“At this moment — when 72 percent of the nation supports a public plan option and 14,000 people lose their healthcare every day — the House Blue Dogs and conservative Democratic Senators are doing just about everything they can to cripple real health care reform.
“So why does the media keep ceding them the label of ‘centrist’ or ‘moderate’ as if they are the guardians of mainstream values?”
Yep, with friends like “the liberal media,” who needs Faux News?
Katrina Vanden Heuvel makes it plain:
At this moment — when 72 percent of the nation supports a public plan option and 14,000 people lose their healthcare every day — the House Blue Dogs and conservative Democratic Senators are doing just about everything they can to cripple real health care reform.
“So why does the media keep ceding them the label of ‘centrist’ or ‘moderate’ as if they are the guardians of mainstream values.”
Hear, hear: ‘Road Song,’ the sophistication of Wes
July 25th · Uncategorized
The strings. His brother’s bass. The horns. That last, haunting note.
And through it all, there’s Wes.
Am working, with some jazz providing background. Wes Montgomery’s “Road Song” just played.
According to an Amazon.com reviewer, he died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968, a month before the posthumously released “Road Song” was recorded.
I won’t head to Amazon for it. Thanks to the Father’s Day gift of a turntable from my youngest a couple of years ago, I’ll be spinning the “Day in the Life” album again.
But I stopped working long enough to jump to Google. Found this. It’s long, so I scrolled down to Nat Adderley on Wes (Part V).
Seemed to say it all about this fine artist.
The strings. His brother’s bass. The horns and Herbie. That last, haunting note.
Through it all, there’s Wes.
Am working, with some broadcast jazz providing background. Wes Montgomery’s “Road Song” just played.
According to an Amazon.com reviewer, John Leslie Montgomery died of a heart attack on June 15, 1968, a month before his posthumously released “Road Song” was recorded.
I’ll forgo heading to Amazon for it. Instead, thanks to some Father’s Day love in the form of a turntable from my youngest a couple of years ago, I’ll just spin my “Day in the Life” vinyl again.
But I did pause working long enough to jump to Google. Found this. It’s long, so I scrolled down.
Nat Adderley on Wes (Part V) seemed to say it all.
