The Charlotte Post Life! · SouthPark Mall for Dress. Kryst, who was crowned. Miss USA on May 2 in Reno, Nevada. “I remember being. Kryst, whose blog “White. a little kid, and

control for these systems. The rest of the interior is

filled with metal, carbon fiber and other high quality materials used in larger BMW sedans. The racing-inspired steering wheel has a few duplicated controls,

but is basically there for gripping as tightly as pos-sible while driving. There is an 8.8 high-def screen that displays navigation, audio and other car func-tions. The gauge cluster is

Cheslie Kryst grew up knowing the kind of power pageantry success could give her.

Miss USA’s mother, April Simpkins set the stage for Kryst in 2002.

“My mom was Mrs. North Carolina, U.S., 2002,” said Kryst, who was crowned Miss USA on May 2 in Reno, Nevada. “I remember being a little kid, and wanting to be just like her. When I started competing, I com-peted in my high school pageant, and then got to

Black Enterprise returns to Charlotte this month. The FWD: Business on Your Own Terms national

business conference, previously called the Black En-terprise Entrepreneurs Summit takes place at the Charlotte Convention Center June 19-22. The confer-ence is designed to highlight and connect entrepre-neurs and business owners of color.

Keynote speakers include media personality Wendy Williams, Harlem Capital Partners’ John Henry, music producer Ryan Leslie and Always Civil Enterprise CEO Karen Civil.

Local entrepreneur Carlos Davis of professional de-velopment firm Stand & Deliver LLC will emcee the conference.

“I’m excited to host this year’s FWD because I have the opportunity to present Charlotte, the city that embraced me, on a national platform,” Davis said in a statement. “This also allows me to connect at-tendees to opportunities that they wouldn’t ordinarily have access to, and that’s important to me.”

Davis, a 2018 Black Enterprise Modern Man 100 honoree, has been involved with the publication since it established its connection with Charlotte in 2017. In addition to establishing Charlotte Profes-sional Networking Week, Davis is an instructor to PhD candidates at UNC Charlotte’s Urban Education Collaborative, teaching a semester of how to culti-vate professional networking skills.

The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post

Life!THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019 SECTION B

Yoga more than curiosity to underserved neighbors

Kiesha Battles is tackling Char-lotte’s yoga desert.

Battles calls the city’s Northwest area home, striving to create a space for her neighbors that they would otherwise have to travel to find. While she teaches across the region, including Corepower Yoga’s Midtown and Park Road Shopping Center locations as well as at Charlotte Family Yoga in Concord, she wants her neighbors to have the same access on Beatties Ford Road.

“I realized that there was no yoga in the space,” Battles said. “I didn’t mind traveling to all these great studios around town, being with great students and teachers, but I just realized there was noth-ing in my space. It became a mis-sion of mine to incorporate classes in the Northwest corridor.”

Battles’ work established two of-ferings on Beatties Ford Road: Friendship Missionary Baptist Church (3400 Beatties Ford Road)

and the McCrorey YMCA (3801 Beatties Ford Road).

“I teach three times a week at McCrorey, and we’ll average about 20 active seniors in our classes,” Battles said. “These are folks who are not just in chairs. They are doing headstands. They are ac-tively doing their practice—breathing, meditating. Then at Friendship, we have four classes a week with four teachers who ro-tate. I teach twice a week. We touch the whole gamut, from moms with little kids to seniors up in their 80s.”

Building community through yoga is not a new frontier for Bat-tles. Her journey at Friendship began with a single student.

“Miss Barbara, who is now 82 years old, she’s been with me for about seven years,” Battles said. “It became word of mouth. She told another person, and then another person, and then people would just start coming from word of mouth. From there it really became community, where

KARA VINCENT

Kiesha Battles is creating yoga space with instruction along the Beatties Ford Road community.

Miss USA home with platformlaw school and started competing again. I knew I wanted the platform, and the power that she had, and that’s what I got in the Miss Universe system.”

The Charlotte litigation attorney’s homecoming tour included a stop at her alma mater, Fort Mill High School, as well as one at SouthPark Mall for Dress for Success. Fashion has al-ways been a priority for Kryst, whose blog “White Collar Glam” highlights looks to empower women in the workplace. She will continue to raise aware-ness for Dress for Success

we’re supporting one another, in-viting people, and they saw that I was able to make the yoga acces-sible to anyone. Someone would come in and say, ‘I can’t get down on the floor,’ and I would say, ‘we’ll do it in a chair.’ Someone would say, ‘I have this going on with my shoulder, I can’t lift my arm.’ I would say, ‘we’ll just turn our head.’ What I just started to do was make it accessible to people and inviting to everyone, and not making it this space of, ‘we have to be quiet and serene and doing handstands and headstands,’ just making it accessible, and being the example.”

Said Rene Darity, who serves on Friendship’s health and wellness committee: “I got directly involved just from reading it in the [church] bulletin. I had practiced before, but just on a very small scale. With Kiesha, she makes you want to love it. She says anybody can do yoga, and she really makes you

Black Enterprise forum returns By Ashley Mahoney [email protected]

BMW M2 anything but an entry-level vehicleYou can call the BMW 2-

series an entry-level ve-hicle and you would be right but it would probably insult the vehicle if it had feelings.

The car is actually closer to the BMW’s sporting her-itage than she of its more expensive siblings.

This is especially true for the M2 Competition Coupe, which is a ridicu-lously fast, exceptionally smooth coupe that will melt the iciest heart of those who believe automo-biles are only for A to B transportation.

When I say the M2 Com-petition is ridiculously fast, I’m talking 0-60 times of 4.2 seconds. That’s be-cause of the 3.0-liter inline-

6 cylinder engine that cranks out 405 horse-power. This beast is hooked to a double-clutched seven speed auto-matic transmission that can be manipulated by paddle shifters. You can get a six-speed manual but this automatic is such a magical thing I think it’s worth the $2,900.

The first thing you notice once you are on the road is the glorious engine growls as you hit the gas. It’s a wondrous sound that come out of the dual exhaust which only lends to the ex-hilaration you feel when you are billeting down the road.

Lets talk about the driv-ing experience, shall we? This car made me grin, scream, giggle and howl – nearly at the same time.

Steering, handling, braking and accelerating – there is nothing this car does not do well. Find a stretch of open road to feel the car’s penchant for speed and you are instantly rewarded. Throw it around a twisty road with tight curves and you are rewarded. You are comforted if you have to stab the brakes because of something unexpected or just because you want to see how well the system works. This car is simply a beast that is willing to be tamed.

You are also comforted by sport seats. The M-sport seems are padded and con-toured in all the right places to keep you in place as you put the car through its paces. The seats are covered in black, Dakota leather.

The interior is also filled with a host of other fea-tures. The Harmon Kardon stereo system has excellent sound and ls equipped with Apple CarPlay. The navigation system is easy to use and there is voice

Please see MISS USA| 2B

CHUCK HOLLIDAY.

By Winfred Cross SPECIAL TO THE POST

«RIDES

Charlotte entrepreneur Carlos Davis will emcee the FWD: Business on Your Own Terms forum.

Please see YOGA | 2B

as an impact ambassador, highlighting the organiza-tion’s mission to promote the women’s economic in-dependence. Dress for Suc-cess provides women with

professional attire as well as life skills essential to success.

“I hope that people in general know that what

On the Nethttps://www.bl

ackenterprise.com/

By Ashley Mahoney [email protected]

Don’t eat anything with a face. At least that is how Chef Joya defines veganism.

The Charlotte personal chef loves pushing the boundaries of what people consider normal vegan food on The Creatives podcast last week to discuss her new cookbook, which comes out this fall, and more.

“My mom always told people, ‘don’t eat anything with a face,’” Chef Joya said. “Any animal bypro-ducts—if it had a face, don’t eat it. That pretty much sums up what being vegan is. There are different

No animals hurt in vegan advocate’s culinary productionBy Ashley Mahoney [email protected]

Please see NO ANIMALS | 2B

ASHLEY MAHONEY | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Miss USA Cheslie Kryst meets young fans at SouthPark Mall.

BMW

The BMW M2 Competition Coupe.

Please see BMW| 2B


Kiesha Battles brings passion, instruction in Historic West End

2B LIFE | The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post Thursday, June 6, 2019

feel like that in class.” Battles began practicing yoga nearly

two decades ago, while she was pur-suing her masters in Asian studies at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

“I was studying philosophy, lan-guage [and] religion throughout my course in college, and really my hus-band [Toby Battles], he was about a year or two behind me, so I needed something to do, so I signed up for a yoga class,” Battles said. “Back then, you would sign up for a series where you would attend once a week and your teacher would give you poses, and then they would say, ‘OK, you’ve blossomed, and you can move to the next things.’”

Battles followed that path for the next three years, during which she gave birth to their oldest son Toby. However, the New Jersey native and

Yoga more than curiosity to underserved neighbors in Historic West End

her family moved to Charlotte, forcing a brief pause in her practice.

“My dad [Kenneth Dowdy] was ill,” Battles said. “Life just kind of took over.”

Her mother, Georgieanna Dowdy, began practicing to cope with her hus-band’s illness and eventual death. Bat-tles found her way back after the birth of her second son, Elijah.

“Yoga picked back up in my life to where it started to consume my life, including my corporate space,” Bat-tles said. “It’s been seven years since I left Duke Energy, and started teach-ing yoga fulltime.”

For more information about Battles’ advocacy:

htttps:kieshabattles.com For more information about Friend-

ship’s Fitness Ministry: www.friendshipcharlotte.org/mini-

stry_post/fitness-ministry-2

Continued from page 1B

levels to veganism. You can go as far as not eating any animal byproducts—no cheese, dairy, anything like that. Not wearing any animal products. It’s a lot of different levels. The basic one is no animals.”

Chef Joya considers her-self a plant-based vegan. She became vegan at age 7, when it was considered being vegetarian. Eating out was nearly impossible, and products available at the supermarket were dif-ficult as well.

“It was very different growing up,” Chef Joya said. “I kind of stay along the lines that my parents taught me, which was pretty much what we put inside of our bodies. I really don’t even wear ani-mal products anymore, either. It’s kind of had this trickle-down effect of being more conscious of the things that you wear and the things that you do, because of the lifestyle.”

Chef Joya has the ability to create cuisine that may be vegan, but it resembles food with animal bypro-ducts—for instance, her sliders.

“People ask me, ‘how do you do it?’” Chef Joya said. “It’s magic. I really don’t

No animals hurt in vegan Chef Joya’s culinary production

know. Something just comes over me, and it’s like, ta-da!”

Her ability to craft famil-iar flavors allows her to help people become vegan, without sacrificing their fa-vorite flavors.

“A lot of people who are transitioning to eating vegan, they want to be fa-miliar with foods,” Chef Joya said. “Whenever I create something I try to make it that familiar fla-vor—that familiar taste. My brain is always going.”

A Milwaukee, Wisconsin native, Chef Joya followed her brothers Jabari and Akil Courtney, who at-tended Johnson C. Smith University, to Charlotte. She arrived in 2011, and has called Charlotte home ever since.

She will explore her her-itage with the inaugural leg of her dinner series on July 21. The theme: Gullah Gee-chee.

“There’s going to be a story behind each course and why I chose to do it,” Chef Joya said. “You’re going to learn more about me and my roots.”

Listen to Chef Joya on The Creatives; available on SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

For more information

about the July 21 event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/curated-with-chef-joya-a-culinary-explora-tion-of-gullah-cuisine-tickets-62422127263


JSW MEDIA

Chef Joya, center, at her vegan culinary event in Charlotte last month. The personal chef is a strict adherent to using not animal products in meal preparation.

you wear speaks before you do,” Kryst said. “It is very important to be mindful and cognizant of the clothes you put on your back, and unfortunately there are some people in Charlotte and across our nation who cannot afford clothing, especially for important places like a job interview. I’m glad that Dress for Success answers that problem, and answers that question for people.”

Her tour continues tomorrow with a visit to the state capitol in Raleigh, where she will address the General As-sembly.

“One of the really exciting visits that I’m making is to the North Carolina Supreme Court,” Kryst said. “I’m going to be meeting with Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who is the first black female chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. I am a woman of color. Miss America, Nia Franklin is a woman of color, and Kaliegh Garris, Miss Teen USA, is also a woman of color. It’s really cool for me to meet with Justice Cheri Beasley while I’m there in Raleigh.”

Kryst earned her law degree from Wake Forest Univer-sity. She was a track and field athlete at the University of South Carolina, where she earned her bachelor’s de-gree. Her brother Asa Kryst played soccer at South Car-olina, and professionally for the Charlotte Independence.


Miss USA marks her homecoming

simple but sporty. Yes, there is a back seat,

but it may only comfort-able for children.

The car’s exterior is clas-sic BMW. The kidney shaped grille is large and is functional, allowing lots of air to rush through to the twin-turbo inline-six. The 19-inch M-competition wheels certainly add mus-cle to the car’s already ath-letic profile. Even the mirrors get a bit of black-out trim that aid in aerody-namics and looks.

The Competition pack-age also includes M-sport brakes, 19-inch wheels, ambient lighting, auto-matic climate control, rear-view camera, shadow trim, heated front seat, parking distance control and active driving assistance. This comes at a price of $58,000.

Silver paint, auto trans-

mission, executive pack-age, M driver’s package and destination brought the as-tested price to $67,045.

Price a bit high? You can get a regular 2-Series for a lot less, but why? This car is a driver’s dream. It’s light, small and athletic. It’s also a BMW which means it’s sporting pedi-gree is legitimate. This is one of the better BMWs to buy. Pros: • A driver’s dream • Glorious turbo in-line

six • Breaking, steering and

handling • Looks like a sports car • Closest to BMW driving

heritage Cons: • It’s small • Price Email Winfred Cross at

[email protected].


BMW M2 anything but an entry-level luxury vehicle

We’re currently facing a huge public health crisis in which millions of people are living with early stage diabetes and don’t know it.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 million U.S. adults cur-rently have diabetes. Even more scary is a third of U.S. adults are prediabetic and most are undiagnosed. Think about it: over 80 mil-lion people walking around with early stage diabetes and most don’t know it.

Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar levels get too high. Most people have type 2 diabetes, which happens when the body loses its ability to properly use insulin, the hormone that help turns sugar into energy.

The high blood sugar levels wreak havoc on blood vessels, tissues, and organs. The damage can start long before you have symptoms.

Symptoms for type 2 dia-betes may include:

• Frequent urination • Feeling very thirsty • Feeling very hungry

even if you’re eating • Extreme fatigue • Blurry vision • Slow healing cuts or

bruises • Tingling, pain, or

numbness in hands or feet Over time, diabetes can

cause blindness, kidney failure, and lead to lower limb amputation. It can also increase your risk for a stroke or heart attack.

Diabetes is devastating and can cut years off your life if left untreated.

African Americans at greater risk for diabetes

Did you know that the risk of diabetes is 77 per-cent higher for African-Americans than non-Hispanic white Ameri-cans? They’re also more likely to develop complica-tions.

If you’re wondering why so much higher, experts say genetic, environmen-tal, biological, and behav-ioral factors are at play.

For starters, the tradi-tional diet with popular dishes like mac & cheese increase your chances for obesity. It’s a diet that

Poor sleep bad for millions with undiagnosed diabetes

tends to be high in carbs and lack fiber, which can help control blood sugar.

The situation is made worse by a lack of access to affordable healthy food, safe spaces for physical ac-tivity, and quality health care.

Also, troubling beliefs among African Americans don’t help. This includes a lack of trust in health pro-viders and a stigma sur-rounding diabetes.

More recently, obesity has been highlighted as the biggest reason why the risk is so much higher. Of par-ticular concern, the inci-dence of diabetes is rising in African American youth ages 10 to 19.

Poorer sleep of African Americans bad for diabetes prevention

Similar to diabetes, we’re also facing a public health crisis for insomnia. Every night millions of people struggle with sleep.

According to the CDC, 1 in 3 Americans are sleep deprived. For blacks it’s even worse – 45 percent of blacks get less than seven hours of sleep compared to 33 percent of whites and Hispanics.

Insomnia has long been suspected to be a risk fac-tor for diabetes. Last year researchers at Kaiser Per-manente Center in Oregon reported the results of a study with 8,233 pre-dia-betic patients.

Those with insomnia had a 30 percent increased risk for developing diabetes, confirming it’s just as im-portant as other traditional risk factors.

How insomnia affects your chances of getting diabetes is not completely understood, but research-ers think it may affect the body’s ability to use blood sugar.

Nonetheless, the higher insomnia rates among Afri-can Americans have been proposed to put them at increased risk for diabetes.

Insomnia by itself is bad enough – sleep deprived people don’t think as well, have a harder time coping, and a harder time getting things done through out the day. (And let’s not for-get the link to depression, dementia, and heart dis-ease.)

Sleep deprived African Americans may find it emotionally daunting to take positive steps for their health even as their dia-betes risk is increased.

Time to get serious about your sleep and diabetes risk

Are you one of the 80 million walking around with early stage diabetes?

If you sleep poorly and are overweight, it’s time to take diabetes more se-riously.

And if you have any of the other risk factors for type 2 diabetes, it’s for sure time to do something:

• Age 45 or older • Family history of dia-

betes • High blood pressure • Not physically active • History of heart disease

or stroke • Depression In 2019, we know too

much about sleep and dia-betes to accept the status quo. You can prevent or delay complications from diabetes if you catch it in time.

The real tragedy is that so many people do noth-ing.

So, schedule an appoint-ment today to see a doctor about your sleep and dia-betes risk.

Also, start practicing good sleep hygiene:

• Regular wake up and sleep times

• Avoid naps • Avoid stimulants such

as caffeine before bedtime • Maintain a bedtime

routine • Keep your bedroom

quiet, dark, and cool Don’t forget about the

things that will help both your sleep and prevent dia-betes:

• Eat healthier • More physical activity • Lose weight Remember, diabetes is a

devastating disease with high stakes for you and your family. You’re not alone, so do something sooner rather later.

To learn more diabetes, visit Diabetes.org.

Jason Wooden PhD., a founder of BetterSleepSim-plified.com, has worked for over 20 years in biomedical research and healthcare technology research and development.

By Jason Wooden PhD SPECIAL TO THE POST

BRANDPOINT

Fruit salad with almonds is a healthy travel snack for diabetics.

3B LIFE | The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post Thursday, June 6, 2019

C.M.E.

BAPTIST

Find the right church for your journey

Go homemade with beet spread and garbanzo beansBy Ashley Mahoney [email protected]


June? Is that you? Welcome! We have snacks in mind just for you. This month, we are dedicating Table Char-lotte to the exploration of homemade.

You’ve tried our traditional hummus recipe and black bean hummus recipe, but there are so many fabulous things that you can do with garbanzo beans. It’s packed with protein, and gosh, is it good. It makes the perfect spread on toast, or dip for veggies and crackers. Try it out, and let us know what you think!

Makes 3 cups Ingredients: 1 loaf multigrain bread 8 ounces clover sprouts 1 can sliced beets (approximately 2

cups) 2 cans garbanzo beans (approx-

imately 4 cups) 1 tablespoon minced white onion 1 tablespoon minced garlic Pepper to taste Preparation: Combine beets (including juice),

drained garbanzo beans in blender, onion, garlic and pepper in blender

Start on the lowest setting, and grad-ually work your way up to purée

Pause occasionally, using a spatula to scrape the excess hummus off the sides

Once thoroughly combined, place blender with the lid on, in the fridge for 30-60 minutes, allowing the hummus to thicken

Spread over a piece of toast Top with clover sprouts, and enjoy

«TABLE CHARLOTTE

Homemade beet spread with garbanzo beans.

2000 Milton Road

Charlotte, NC 28215 704.532.6228

www.greaterprovidence.org

GreGGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchaGreater Providence Baptist ChurchtGreater Providence Baptist ChurcheGreater Providence Baptist ChurchrGreater Providence Baptist Church Greater Providence Baptist ChurchPrGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchoGreater Providence Baptist ChurchvidGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurcheGreater Providence Baptist ChurchnGreater Providence Baptist ChurchcGreater Providence Baptist ChurcheGreater Providence Baptist Church Greater Providence Baptist ChurchBapGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchtGreater Providence Baptist ChurchistGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist Church Greater Providence Baptist ChurchChGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchuGreater Providence Baptist ChurchrchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist ChurchGreater Providence Baptist Church

SUSUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM NDSUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM AY WSUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM OSUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM RSSUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM HSUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM ISUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM P: SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM 1SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM 0SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM :SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM 0SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM 0SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM SUNDAY WORSHIP: 10:00 AM Sunday School: 8:50 AM

Hour of Power: 12 noon, Wednesdays Spiritual Renewal Bible Study: 7:00 PM, Wednesdays

MeMMetrolina Extension Center trMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center oMetrolina Extension Center lMetrolina Extension Center iMetrolina Extension Center nMetrolina Extension Center aMetrolina Extension Center ExMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center teMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center nsMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center iMetrolina Extension Center oMetrolina Extension Center n Metrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center CeMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center ntMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center eMetrolina Extension Center rMetrolina Extension Center Metrolina Extension Center Diploma In Ministries/Pastoral Education Program

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7:00 PM

RRREVEVEV. F. F. FREDREDRED GGGIBSONIBSONIBSON D. MD. MD. MINININ., S., S., SENIORENIORENIOR PPPASTORASTORASTOR

& P& P& PROGRAMROGRAMROGRAM DDDIRECTORIRECTORIRECTOR, MEC, MEC, MEC

Easy and healthy travel snack ideas for diabetics

BRANDPOINT Do you have diabetes

and stress about finding healthy and convenient snack options while you're traveling?

See below for smart snacking tips and healthy recipes for diabetics.

• Choose healthy and satisfying snacks between meals. Snacking done right can keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible and can help pre-vent low blood sugar.

• Try almonds. Almonds fall low on your carb count chart at 6 grams per serv-ing, they're easy to stash in your carry-on bag and can be found in practically every convenience store and airport.

• Balance is everything. Combine a high-fiber carb with a protein-rich food to build your smart snack.

• Maintain a calorie cap. Keep snacks to less than 200 calories so your snack doesn't end up being an extra meal.

• Portability is key. Al-ways carry a snack with you so you're prepared for blood sugar slumps.

• Snack mindfully. Think before you eat.

Are you hungry or are you bored? Munching mindlessly out of boredom is a sure way to gain un-necessary pounds and in-terrupt your diabetes management goals.

‚•Check your blood sugar before you sweat. Check your blood sugar before and after you exer-cise to monitor if you re-quire a snack.

Exercise tends to lower blood sugar levels, so you may need sustenance be-fore or after.

“The health benefits of almonds are wonderful for people with diabetes,” says registered dietitian, nu-tritionist and diabetes ex-pert, Toby Smithson. “Almonds contain good fats, are a good source of fiber (4 grams), and when consumed in moderation, can help you feel full and maintain your weight.”

Fruit Salad with Almonds Serves: 1 20 grams of carbo-

hydrate Ingredients: 1/2 cup fresh raspberries 1/4 cup red grapes 1/2 teaspoon orange

blossom water (found in the ethnic foods aisle)

2 tablespoons sliced al-monds

Serve on top of 1/3 cup low-fat cottage cheese

Preparation: Mix the fruit, orange

blossom water and the al-monds in a small bowl. Serve with cottage cheese if desired.

Hummus Almond Wrap Serves: 1 27 grams of carbo-

hydrate Ingredients: 2 tablespoons hummus One 8-inch whole grain

tortilla 6 whole snap peas 3 large fresh basil leaves 1 tablespoon sliced al-

monds Preparation: Spread hummus over the

tortilla. In the middle of the tortilla, place the snap peas, basil and almonds. Fold ends of tortilla over to

wrap and eat. For more snacking tips

and recipes, visit al-monds.com.

No need to stress in order to maintain blood sugar levels

Portable Oxygen Concentrator May Be Covered by Medicare! Reclaim independence and mobility with the compact design and long-lasting battery of Inogen One. Free information kit! Call 844-348-8151

Attention: Oxygen Users! Gain freedom with a Portable Oxygen Concentrator! No more heavy tanks and refills! Guaranteed Lowest Prices! Call the Oxygen Concentrator Store: 855-969-1456 Finally, affordable hearing aids!! High-quality Nano hearing aids are priced 90% less than other brands. Buy one/get one free! 60-day free trial. 866-629-1642

ClassifiedThursday, June 6, 2019PAGE 4B

MEDICAL SERVICES

Financial Benefits for those facing serious illness. You may qualify for a Living Benefit Loan today (up to 50 percent of your Life Insurance Policy Death Benefit.) Free Information. CALL 1-855-402-5487 Applying for Social Security Disability or Appealing a Denied Claim? Call Bill Gordon & Assoc., Social Security Disability Attorneys, 1-888-989-4947! FREE Consultations. Local Attorneys Nationwide [Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington DC. Office: Broward Co. FL (TX/NM Bar.)]

Quote... Click...

Pay. www.thecharlottepost.com/

LEGAL NOTICESThe Lane Construction Corporation-Blythe

Development Co, Joint Venture 6125 Tyvola Centre Drive – Charlotte, NC 28217 ▪ 704-

553-6500 (PH) – 704-553-6548 (FX) NCDOT Letting Bid Date: Tuesday, July 16th, 2019

at 2:00 p.m. Attention Subcontractors - Invitation to Bid:

The Lane Construction-Blythe Development Co Joint Venture is bidding on the NCDOT Buncombe County project #C204266 TIP #I-4700 – Call #03 Description: NCDOT I-26 Widening – Buncombe County Subcontracting Opportunities: Hauling, Flatwork, Walls, Rebar, Seeding, Striping, Erosion, Signals, Signs, Electrical, Drainage, and other subcontracting opportunities and materials. DBE – 7%: All NCDOT DBEs are encouraged to participate on this project. *We request that quotes for this project be sent to our office by Friday, July 12th, 2019. *** To receive a formal Invitation to Bid for these I-26 projects, please email Wes Peace at [email protected] INVITATION FOR BIDS Mecklenburg County Asset and Facility Management will receive single prime, sealed bids for Marion Diehl and Sugaw Creek Renovations, until 2:00 PM, June 10, 2019 at which time bids will be opened. Bids will be received and opened at Asset and Facility Management - Valerie Woodard Center, 3205 Freedom Drive, Suite 6000, Charlotte, NC 28208. Bid, Performance, and Payment & Material bonds are required. NC law and applicable regulations of various licensing boards and M/W/SBE provisions will be observed. The scope of work includes interior renovations to two existing recreation centers, located in Charlotte NC. Plans can be obtained in digital format by providing a Letter of Interest, emailed to Mr. Daniel McNamee at [email protected]. Interested Bidders will receive all updates and addenda. No Pre-Bid Meeting has been planned. Bid Documents shall be on file at the Charlotte office of the Association of General Contractors (AGC), Dodge Data & Analytics, Minority Contractors Resource Center, and Mecklenburg County Minority, Women & Small Business Enterprise Program Office (M/W/SBE). Mecklenburg County reserves the right to waive technicalities and to reject any or all proposals. This is a re-advertisement for this project. This information will be made available in an alternative format for persons with disabilities by calling 980-314-2521. For questions, contact: Daniel McNamee at Neighboring Concepts via email as mentioned above, or by phone at 704-374-0916- ext. 232

Full Public Notice for Reappointment of an Incumbent Magistrate Judge

The current term of office of United States Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina is due to expire on April 29, 2020. The United States District Court is required by law to establish a panel of citizens to consider the reappointment of the magistrate judge to a new eight-year term. The duties of a magistrate judge in this court include the following: (1) conduct preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from a district judge; and (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants. Comments from members of the bar and the public are invited as to whether the incumbent magistrate judge should be recommended for reappointment by the court. All comments are to be emailed to [email protected]. Comments must be received by August 1, 2020.

Education/Vacancies 2019-2020: Elementary Education, Special Education, School Psychologist, Middle Education, Biology, Agricultural Education, Mathematics, Building Trades, Business & Information Technology, English, Instructional Technology Resources. www.pecps.k12.va.us. Prince Edward County Public Schools. Farmville, Virginia 23901. (434) 315-2100. EOE Fayetteville Technical Community College is now accepting applications for the following positions: Physical Therapist Assistant Instructor (10-month contract) Network Management: Microsoft & Cisco Instructor. For detailed information and to apply, please visit our employment portal at: https://faytechcc.peopleadmin.com/ Human Resources Office Phone: (910) 678-7342 Internet: http://www.faytechcc.edu An Equal Opportunity Employer

ANNOUNCEMENTSStruggling with DRUGS or ALCOHOL? Addicted to PILLS? Talk to someone who cares. Call The Addiction Hope & Help Line for a free assessment. 888-537-9106 Lung Cancer? And Age 60+? You And Your Family May Be Entitled To Significant Cash Award. Call 844-299-2498 for Information. No Risk. No Money Out Of Pocket.

EMPLOYMENT

There’s no cost to you! CALL (855) 399-9881

A Place for Mom has helped over one million families fi nd senior living solutions that meet their unique needs.

The support you need to fi nd quality

SENIOR LIVING SOLUTIONS

! We’re paid by our partner communities

COMPUTER SVCS

HELP WANTEDAVP, Programmer Prof MKTS sought by Bank of America, N.A. to modify existing sftwr to correct errors, allow it to adapt to new hardwr / to improve its performance. Analyze user needs & sftwr reqs to determine feasibility of design w/in time & cost constraints. Reqs: Bach degree or equiv. & 5 yrs exp. in developing ETL workflows using Informatica PowerCenter; Writing complex SQLs in support of ETL ops using ANSI Compliant SQL (PL/SQL, NZ SQL, T-SQL). Job Site: Charlotte, NC. Ref#2592738 & submit resume to Bank of America, N.A. NY1-050-03-01, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020. No phone calls or emails. EOE. Vice President; Product Consultant sought by Bank of America N.A. to carry out all activities w/in the project life cycle incl reqs analysis, system design, development, coding, testing, & implementation. Reqs: Bach degree or equiv & 5 yrs of exp in: Utilizing Teradata SQL in performing ETL, building tables & views, organizing data into usable & ready to access data for reporting & analytics. Utilizing korn shell (ksh) in a Linux enviroment. Job site: Charlotte, NC. Ref #2224716 & submit resume to Bank of America N.A. NY1-050-03-01, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020. No phone calls or emails. EOE. Director- Securitized Products Analyst Position available in Charlotte, North Carolina. Assist in the coverage of corporate sponsored assetbacked security (auto and equipment) asset classes such as shipping containers, rail cars, aircraft, equipment, trade and insurance receivables, as well as residential credit analysis. Perform comprehensive credit investment research and analysis, and risk analysis of fixed income securities using analytical platforms Intex, Bloomberg, and RiskSpan. Evaluate capital structures, company fundamentals and industry trends. Send applications to: Attn: CK-DWSA, Barings LLC, 1500 Main Street, Suite 2800, Springfield, MA 01115.

COMPUTER ISSUES? FREE DIAGNOSIS by GEEKS ON SITE! Virus Removal, Data Recovery! 24/7 EMERGENCY SERVICE, In-home repair/On-line solutions . $20 OFF ANY SERVICE! 844-401-1673

HEALTH SERVICES

On 6/1/19 Certificate of Need review began for Carolinas Gastroenterology Center-Kenilworth Proj F-11706-19 Relo GI endo. Written comments are due to the Agency by 7/1/19. A public hearing will only be scheduled if requested in writing by 7/1/19 and sent to [email protected] or 2704 Mail Service Ctr, Raleigh, NC 27699-2704.

MISC

FOR SALEPut on your TV Ears and hear TV with unmatched clarity. TV Ears Original were originally $129.95 - NOW WITH THIS SPECIAL OFFER are only $59.95 with code MCB59! Call 1-877-914-6068

AUCTIONSBankruptcy Auction of Sunrise Performance Inc. d.b.a. Paradise Tack, Online Only, Begins Closing 6/24 at 12pm, Dressage Attire Inventory, Equestrian Care Products, Tools, Farm Equip. and more, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936 Bankruptcy Auction of Remaining Lots & Acreage Tracts of Haven Heights Subdivision in Marion, NC, Online w/Live Bid Center, Begins Closing 6/26 at 2pm, Bid Center at Marion Community Building, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936 Semi Trucks and Custom Trailer Auction in Lexington, NC, Online Only, Begins Closing 6/20 at 2pm, Property at JKS Inc. 301 Welcome Blvd, Lexington, NC, ironhorseauction.com, 800.997.2248, NCAL 3936

Social Security Disability Claim?Need Help With Your

Applications • Hearings • AppealsWe've Helped Thousands Get the Benefits They Deserve

Bill Gordon & Associates, a nationwide practice, represents clients before the Social Security Administration. Member of the TX & NM Bar Associations. Mail: 1420 NW St Washington D.C. Office: Broward County Florida. Services may be provided by associated attorneys licensed in other states.

(844) 474-0037Start The Process Today!

HOME IMPROVBATHROOM RENOVATIONS. EASY, ONE DAY updates! We specialize in safe bathing. Grab bars, no slip flooring & seated showers. Call for a free in-home consultation: 844-376-0084 ENERGY SAVING NEW WINDOWS! Beautify your home! Save on monthly energy bills with NEW WINDOWS from 1800Remodel! Up to 18 months no interest. Restrictions apply 888-676-0813 AFFORDABLE NEW SIDING! Beautify your home! Save on monthly energy bills with beautiful NEW SIDING from 1800Remodel! Up to 18 months no interest. Restrictions apply 877-731-0014

INTERNETEarthlink High Speed Internet. As Low As $14.95/month (for the first 3 months.) Reliable High Speed Fiber Optic Technology. Stream Videos, Music and More! Call Earthlink Today 1-866-887-0237

CAREER TRAININGAIRLINES ARE HIRING - Get FAA approved hands on Aviation training. Financial aid for qualified students - Career placement assistance. CALL Aviation Institute of Maintenance 866-441-6890

LEGAL NOTICES

PHILADELPHIA — Meek Mill’s lawyers will get a chance to argue the rapper’s 2008 conviction on gun and drug charges should be overturned.

Pennsylvania Superior Court granted Mill a hearing in his long-running ap-peal, his legal team announced Tues-day. Arguments are scheduled for July 16 in Philadelphia.

Mill has been trying to get his convic-tion overturned because of questions about the credibility of the arresting of-ficer.

Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, became a symbol for criminal justice reform after a Philadel-phia judge sentenced him in 2017 to two to four years in prison for minor probation violations. He spent months in prison before a court ordered him re-leased in April of last year.

The rapper has attracted support from a string of high-powered figures and celebrities, and he was a fixture at 76ers playoff games this spring.

Last month, Philadelphia’s top prose-cutor called for a new trial and judge for Mill, saying Common Pleas Judge Ge-nece Brinkley abused her discretion and has been biased against him. Brinkley, who denied Mill’s bid for a new trial last year, has rejected accusations of bias and refused calls to remove herself from the case.

“We’re looking forward to the oral ar-gument before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and to, hopefully, having Meek’s conviction vacated,” Jordan Siev, Mill’s lawyer, said in a statement. “In light of the district attorney’s recent filing, where he supports the granting of a new trial to Meek and the recusal of Judge Brinkley, we hope to have this in-justice rectified once and for all.”


Common was in Charlotte Friday to promote his new book, "Let Love Have the Last Word." He is releasing an album by the same title in August.

The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post

THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2019 PAGE 5B

a&e

Common is letting love lead. “Let Love Have the Last Word” is

the title of his second book and up-coming album. The book published in early May; the album is scheduled for an August release. The New York Times bestselling author’s book tour began on May 6 in New York, and will conclude on June 27 in Detroit. It in-cluded a stop in Charlotte at The Park Church’s Beatties Ford Road campus on May 31. Senior Pastor Bishop Claude Alexander moderated “A Con-versation With Common & Bishop Claude Alexander.”

“I’ve had the opportunity to read Common’s book,” Alexander said. “It is a very insightful, powerful story of a personal journey of an individual who has influence that is global. To-night we’re going to delve into the things that he has revealed, hope-fully so that all of us might benefit from the truths he seeks to convey.”

Common has earned nearly every entertainment accolade from Grammy Award to Academy, Golden Globe, Emmy and Oscar. Yet it is about applying love to his life, which he reflects on in his book.

“It is really my journey into my dis-covery of how I could apply love in

my life more,” Common said. His work explores everything from

his relationship with his daughter, Omoye Assata Lynn, to his own ex-perience of being molested as a child.

“It is talking about specific situ-ations in my life, like being a father, being challenged by my daughter, about how I wasn’t a good father and it made me examine myself,” Com-mon said. “It made me examine my-self in a lot of ways, and the self-examination made me really be on the quest to become a better per-son overall. Love, in the different di-mensions of love, is the greatest way to pursue that bettering of self: love for God, love for self and love for others—even for those who are not like you. Just striving to practice those things.”

A concert tour commences on July 11 in Denver ahead of the release of Common’s first album in two years and concludes on July 26 in Newport Beach, California. He has never worked on a project like this.

“I never ventured into a project where I was writing the album based upon a book or a film—some project where it was already connected,” Common said. “I’ve had titles that were based on other things, “Like Water for Chocolate,” the title of one of my albums, it was based on a

movie and a book, but I didn’t write the album around the movie.”

The project is all about telling the story.

“I want my projects to have their own stories to them,” Common said. “I would love to write a whole album for a movie or for a play, or for an in-stillation at an art exhibit. That type of stuff is cool, because it’s like a col-laboration in a way because you are writing for something that exists al-ready. It gives you different themes that you might not normally write about.”

However, he is quite familiar with the theme of love.

“I do feel like it made me go into more personal places in my writing,” Common said. “I’ve always been an artist that’s open and talking about things that I feel and places where I’ve failed, and I always talked about love, to be honest. In fact, my songs that have thrived the most in my ca-reer were ‘I Used to Love H.E.R.,’ ‘The Light,’ ‘Come Close,’ and those are songs about love, or the people, and that’s love for the people, and glory, which is really about love for God, and the people.”


Meek Mill pushes for new trial in PhiladelphiaTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Common denominator: Love gets the last word

‘Secret Lives of Pets 2’ is well-craftedBy Mark Kennedy THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

If the sweet, animated 2016 film “The Secret Life of Pets” was mostly for kids, its new sequel might be for another segment of the audience altogether — whoever is buying the tickets. Amid the cute critter shenanigans, this one has plenty of lessons for the parents.

Most of the same gang is back this time: Kevin Hart as the fluffy white bunny Snowball, Eric Stonestreet as the goofy giant Newfoundland, Lake Bell as the laconic cat Chloe and Jenny Slate as the plucky Pomeranian Gidget. This time, though, our main hero terrier Max is voiced by Patton Oswalt, replacing the disgraced Louis CK.

Both films in the franchise deal with a new addition to the family. In the first, it was a new dog that allowed the filmmakers to explore sibling rivalry. This time, the stranger is a baby, who Max learns to love unconditionally but which also ups his anxiety levels. (Any helicoptering parent out there knows what we mean.)

Returning screenwriter Brian Lynch and returning director Chris Renaud, who also voices the guinea pig Norman, have actually concocted three inter-

locking plots in ”The Secret Life of Pets 2 .” It’s a wise decision since none are deep enough to carry the film alone, forcing some convoluted stitching to-gether. But they manage it, creating a solid piece of entertainment for all ages, if not a terribly revelatory one.

In one story, Max finds himself ever

fearful for her owner’s new toddler, stressing out as the boy’s protector. “Was the world always this danger-ous?” he asks after a harrowing New York City stroll. He even develops a nervous scratching tick that requires a mortifying dog cone. A trip to a farm in

«MOVIE REVIEW

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Max, voiced by Patton Oswalt, in a scene from "The Secret Life of Pets 2.

NEW YORK — Frank Lucas, the former Harlem drug kingpin whose life and lore inspired the 2007 movie “American Gangster,” has died, a relative said Fri-day.

Lucas, who was 88, died Thursday in New Jersey, nephew Aldwan Lassiter said. Lucas had been in declining health, according to his former lawyer.

Raised in North Carolina, Lucas climbed the ranks of crime in Harlem in the 1960s and ’70s, becoming a major drug dealer known for supplying huge amounts of particularly potent heroin.

He said it netted him millions, and au-thorities seized over $500,000 in cash when they raided his house in Teaneck, New Jersey, in 1975. He was convicted and sentenced to decades in prison, but he turned informant and was released after about five years.

Lucas was quickly arrested again for drug dealing, on a much smaller scale. He served seven more years, getting out again in 1991.

Lucas’ story became the basis for the Ridley Scott-directed “American Gang-ster,” starring Denzel Washington as Lucas and Russell Crowe as Richard “Richie” Roberts, a composite of various detectives and prosecutors. The real-life Roberts is a former prosecutor who helped convict Lucas but later became his lawyer and friend, even godfather to Lucas’ son.

Lucas was a fixture on the film set, giving Washington advice on such de-tails as how he carried his gun.

The movie got awards buzz but also brought scrutiny of claims in Lucas’ leg-end, particularly a portrayal of him smuggling drugs in U.S. soldiers’ cas-kets during the Vietnam War.

A co-author of a book about Lucas, Ron Chepesiuk, said he never had any evidence or court records to substanti-ate the so-called “cadaver connection.” Lucas, however, continued to say in 2008 that he’d transported heroin via coffin — but only once.

The film’s assertion that Lucas rooted out a heap of law enforcement corrup-tion also was called into question, and a group of former federal drug enforce-ment agents claimed in a lawsuit that the movie grossly misrepresented the

‘American Gangster’ inspiration dies at 88By Jennifer Peltz THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Please see FRANK LUCAS | 6B

On the Netwww.th ink-

common.com

Please see THE SECRET | 6B

Author, actor and vocalist gets busy with national tours for music, book

I want my projects to have their own stories to them.Award-winning actor and recording artist COMMON“

“

the country seems to offer a respite. Getting his head right is his quest.

Before he leaves, he asks Gidget to take care of his favorite squeaky toy. She promptly loses it in a cat lady’s apartment filled with crazed felines. Getting it back is her comedic quest. Meanwhile, Snow-ball is asked by a brave Shih Tzu (newcomer Tif-fany Haddish) to rescue a tiger cub held by a malev-olent circus boss. His quest is, like the others ones, to find his inner superhero.

Oswalt is a fine replace-ment for Max, able to con-nect with the character’s timidity, wonder and blos-soming courage. He is helped by a gruff farm dog voiced by Harrison Ford, who unfortunately muddies his first animated voice role with some hyper-masculinity.

Ford’s alpha dog is pure action cool, ripping off Max’s cone in disgust (not the best message for kids in treatment), rejecting Max’s embarrassed neuro-sis and being the cold, si-lent type. “The first step in not being afraid, is acting like you’re not afraid,” he advises.

Ford gets to play with his own he-man screen per-sona, but we’re not sure this John Wayne bit — or the whole dynamic of pam-pered city folks versus

‘The Secret Life of Pets 2’ is a well-crafted sequel

tough country folks — is what we need right now. Another drawback is the scary elements: fearful wolves and an awful villain with a whip and a cattle prod.

Even so, the majority of the film is carefully con-structed, switching from plot to plot to plot while also incorporating old characters — Dana Car-vey’s elderly Basset hound and Hannibal Buress as dachshund Buddy — in an increasingly complex patchwork, fed by a lively soundtrack that includes Stevie Wonder, Jefferson Airplane, Coolio and ZZ Top.

As signs of how well engineered this movie is, a cover of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day” is used at the end, a callback to the orig-inal song’s appearance in the first film. It also opens with “Empire State of Mind,” an echo of how the first one opened with Tay-lor Swift’s “Welcome to New York.”

There are some nifty touches, including a dream sequence in which Snow-ball fantasizes about being a caped crusader, which creates a comic book sequence INSIDE an ani-mated film. Bell pretty much steals the movie when her cat gets high on catnip and later teaches Gidget the “way of the cat” — complete with man-

datory walking on a laptop keyboard and batting mugs off tables. All this with extraordinary ani-mated effects. You will marvel at how real the il-lustrators have made this world, from rocky cliffs to speeding cars and dazzling eyes. In a neat twist, too, the cat lady becomes the butt of jokes but also this — a heroine.

It all builds to a climax where all three plots con-verge, some stretched un-comfortably. Max is clearly the emotional center of the film but Snowball’s jour-ney is just weird, starting as a bunny who plays a dress-up superhero, morphing into a real super-hero who is revealed to be anything but, before prov-ing he IS a superhero, kind of. (Stick around at the end credits for a clip of Hart as a gangsta Snowball rapping “Panda” by Desiigner.)

If the knock on “The Se-cret Life of Pets” was that it was a rip-off of “Toy Story,” then the second film better grounds itself in its own universe. Like its main three characters, it has learned to be comfort-able in its own animated skin.

“The Secret Life of Pets 2,” a Universal Pictures re-lease, is rated PG for “some action and rude humor.” Running time: 86 minutes. Three stars out of four.


Frank Lucas, druglord portrayed in ‘American Gangster,’ dies at age 88Continued from page 5Btruth and defamed them. That lawsuit was tossed out.

As for Lucas’ unquestioned role in supplying heroin that killed some users, he told The Associated Press in 2007 that he regretted it.

“I did some terrible things. I’m aw-fully sorry that I did them. I really am,” he said.

Lucas, who lived in Newark in recent years, had another brush with the law

in 2012: He pleaded guilty to lying to try cashing in twice on a $17,000 fed-eral disability benefit check. Lucas, who came to court in a wheelchair, was sen-tenced to five years’ probation, with prosecutors saying they agreed to it be-cause of his poor health and advanced age.

Roberts told NJ.com on Friday that Lucas’ health was failing when the two spoke a few weeks ago.

The morning after Ava DuVernay’s four-part Net-flix miniseries about the Central Park Five, “When They See Us,” premiered at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater, she was in a daze.

“I don’t drink, and I don’t do any other kinds of sub-stances,” she told Rolling Stone, “but I think I have a hangover.”

She had the headache, but also the hazy memory of the community she’d felt the previous night, screening her labor of love in the neighborhood that raised the five teenagers wrongfully convicted of brutally raping jogger Trisha Meili on April 19, 1989.

It was a whirlwind of fel-lowship that involved “a lot of smiles, hugs, and a lot of tears,” DuVernay said.

“When They See Us,” de-buted on Netflix on May 31.

The true and gripping tale of five boys of color between the ages of 14 and 16 who were forced to falsely confess to the rape of a white woman in New York’s Central Park, has re-ceived critical acclaim with reviewers noting that it’s “impassioned,” and “mov-ing.”

One critic said it’s “must-see TV.”

There’s already a cate-gory of movies we expect to artfully, if painfully edify – think “12 Years a Slave,” or “Schindler’s List” – but not acculturated to it on television, said Willa Pa-skin of Slate magazine.

On April 19, 1989, the lives of Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise changed forever. News media de-scribed them as “a wolf pack,” and “animals,” and then-citizen Donald Trump took out a full-page ad in four New York City area newspapers attacking the youth and calling for the return of the death pen-alty.

Decades after they’d been exonerated, Trump still has refused to rescind his damning words against the men and he even de-nounced a multi-million civil settlement reached between New York City and the five men.

“Trump was the fire starter,” Salaam said. “Common citizens were being manipulated and swayed into believing that we were guilty.”

The police-coerced con-fessions were the only ev-

Central Park Five miniseries now streaming on Netflix

idence against them, but racism made the boys con-venient scapegoats and metaphors for all that had gone wrong in a stratified, corrupt, crime-ridden, rape-infested, and fearful New York City, according to Slate.

DuVernay, who took on the project after Santana suggested it to her via tweet, wants to dramatize what the criminal justice system and New York City stole from these innocent teenagers.

The series begins on the day of the rape. Antron (Caleel Harris and, as an adult, Jovan Adepo), Ray-mond (Marquis Rodriguez and Freddy Miyares), Kevin (Asante Blackk and Justin Cunningham) , Yusef (Ethan Herisse and Chris Chalk), and Korey (Jharrel Jerome) are going about their regular lives: talking about the Yankees with a father and dreaming of be-coming a shortstop; kis-sing a girlfriend; lugging an instrument around after school.

Though they don’t know each other particularly well, they all wind up in a group of about 25 boys who head into the park that night, where some goof around, while others harass bikers or a home-less guy.

The police descend, ar-resting a handful of them, but the cops don’t consider any of them suspects in anything particularly se-rious.

That changes after the rape victim is discovered in the early hours of the morning and Assistant Dis-trict Attorney Linda Fair-stein decides the boys’ presence in the park that night can’t be a coinci-dence.

Despite there being no physical evidence that the boys were involved, the police set out to make the facts fit the theory of the case. They start trying to

get confessions and names, which they use to pick up additional sus-pects.

Korey Wise, whose name is not on the police list, goes down to the precinct with Yusef just to be a good friend. He won’t leave police custody for more than a decade.

For his act of kindness, he will spend years at Rikers Island awaiting trial and then 13 years in an adult prison, the only one of the five who was 16 and so sentenced as an adult.

When Rolling Stone noted that this story had never been told from the perspective of the five men, DuVernay said she started just speaking with the men first.

“That was my first way in. And from there I folded in all of the court tran-scripts, different records and files that we were able to get a hold of through public means or private transfer,” DuVernay said.

“We then read every sin-gle stitch of press coverage to really get an under-standing of the ways in which this was being re-ported, to understand the propaganda around this case. You know, there was a study done that 89 per-cent of the articles that were written at the time, by the New York papers, didn’t even use the word ‘alleged,’” DuVernay said.

She continued: “I also talked with aca-

demics to get underneath the state of New York City at the time. What were the political motivations?

“But it always came back to the men and then their families. Over a four-year period, it was just exhaus-tive. Interviews, but some-times just spending time. Lunches, dinners, just get-ting to know them. Some-times it’s the little things more than just the core stories.”

By Stacy M. Brown NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION

A&E | The Charlotte PostThe Charlotte Post6B Thursday, June 6, 2019

OUT & ABOUT PHOTOS BY DANIEL COSTON | FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST

Jeanease Lucas and Serena McCorkle supported Thompson Family Services Center at their annual luncheon at the Westin Hotel on May 30.

This Nov. 2, 2007 file photo shows Frank Lucas, the man Denzel Washington portrayed in the film "American Gangster," in New York. The Harlem drug kingpin whose life became the basis for the 2007 movie “American Gangster” has died. Frank Lucas was 88. His nephew Aldwan Lassiter confirms Lucas died Thursday, May 30 in New Jersey, where he had lived for years.

JIM COOPER |THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A scene from “When They See Us,” which is now streaming on Netflix.

ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA | NETFLIX