TPATPATPATPATPATEXASPUBLISHERSASSOCIATION

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Austin, TexasPermit No. 01949

INSIDEVol. 42 No.35 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: vil3202@aol.com January 16, 2015

RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’RAPPIN’Tommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy WyattTommy Wyatt

TheAustinVillager.comTheAustinVillager.comThis paper can

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MARCH!MARCH!

The Annual Community March celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacywhile uplifting diversity and multi-culturalism in our city. The MLK CommunityMarch kicks off on Monday, January 19, 2015 at 9 a.m.with a short program atthe MLK Statue on the University of Texas campus.

We will then march on to the historic Huston-Tillotson University, whereexciting activities are planned. All businesses, non-profit organizations and indi-viduals are invited to march and celebrate Dr. King’s legacy.

NOTE: The MLK March WILL NOT go to the Capitol this year due to thepreparations for the Gubernatorial Inauguration on the following day.

Andrae Crouch in 1996. Credit Frank Wiese / Associated Press

Andrae Crouch,Legendary

Gospel Figure,Dies at 72

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES, CA —Andrae Crouch, a seventime Grammy® winninggospel performer,songwriter and choir direc-tor whose work gracedsongs by Michael Jacksonand Madonna and moviessuch as “The Lion King,”died on January 8 at a hos-pital in Los Angeles. Hewas 72.

His death was an-nounced by his publicist,Brian Mayes, who said hehad been admitted to thehospital on Saturday after

suffering a heart attack.Mr. Crouch and his

twin sister, Sandra Crouch,also a singer, lived in thePacoima area of Los Ange-les. They were pastors atthe New Christ Memorial

Church in the Los Angelessuburb of San Fernando.

Mr. Crouch was bornin San Francisco and wrotehis first gospel tune at age14. He went on to writedozens of songs, including

gospel favorites like “TheBlood Will Never Lose ItsPower,” ‘’My Tribute (ToGod Be the Glory)” and“Soon and Very Soon,”which was sung at a pub-

See PIONEER, page 3

The African American Male Research Initiative - Summit speakers andpanelists address audience. Photographer: UT staff photographer

The Black Student-Athlete SummitBy Shirley A. Hammond ~ follow me on twitter at twitter.com /xtremeridewish1

AUSTIN, TX - UT-Aus-tin carved out some timeto look at and engage indiscourse about the BlackStudent-Athlete - that stu-dent who has to study forexams, prepare criterion-based papers, attend lec-tures; and then suit up forpractice or games. Accord-ing to event coordinator,Maurice Gipson, there areboth challenges and op-portunities for thispopulation.”The audiencewas very receptive to thesubject matter and hadnumerous positive discus-sions,” reported Gipson.See SUMMIT, page2

The City of Austin’s Small& Minority Business ResourcesDepartment (SMBR) is hosting“Certification 101” on Tuesday,January 27th at 5:30 p.m. in ouroffice at 4201 Ed Bluestein Blvd,Austin TX 78721 (we are thenortheast corner of 183/EdBluestein and TechnicenterBlvd just south of MLK).

The purpose of Certifica-tion 101 is to give businessowners and overview of thetypes of Certifications [Minor-ity-Owned Business Enterprise(MBE), Women-Owned Busi-ness Enterprise (WBE), SmallBusiness Enterprise (SBE), Dis-advantaged Business Enter-prise (DBE) and Airport Conces-sion Disadvantaged BusinessEnterprise (ACDBE)] offered toqualified small businesses andsmall businesses owned byminorities and by women.

Certification does notguarantee your company acontract. As a certified businessowner, companies will ap-proach your business to ask forbids whenever the product orservice that you sell shows uson a list of items that the Citywants to purchase (a solici-tation).

All certifications arefree of charge along with theworkshop. To RSVP your at-tendance click here. If youhave any questions, pleasecall me at (512) 974-7677 orvisit our website at http://www.austintexas.gov/de-partment/certification.

Business Owners Invitedto Learn about

Minority- and Women-Owned Certifications

Tuesday 1/27/2014at 5:30pm

Conservativeopponents entice

central Texas voters.See ROCK

Page 6

Bishops establishdeprived youth

scholarship fund.See FERGUSON

Page 3

The Changing ofthe Guard

Beginning in January 2015,there are a lot of changeslocally, statewide and nationally.One of the largest ones is thatthere is a change in politicalideology. In Washington, D. C,the Republican Party nowclaims the majority ofmembers in both, the House ofRepresentatives and theSenate. Now they are tryingto get President Obama toagree behind closed doors thathe will work with them in theirefforts to get the country backon course. They are sayingthat they have an agreementfrom him. However, they didnot have any specific issues thatthey plan to tackle. We know that we have hadgridlock in Washington,because the Republicans didnot want to agree with thePresident on most of his keyissues – Obamacare,Immigration, BankingLegislation and others. One ofthe first issues that they put upfor vote is to roll back thelegislation that would regulatethe banking industry. This wasa bill that the president hadpassed in the early days of hisadministration. When he tookoffice, we had an economiccrisis on our hands thatthreatened to close some of ourlargest banks. In order to savethe banks, a bill was passed thatcalled for bank regulations thatwould allow the government tobail them out. Under those rules the bankswere taking loans from theFederal Government that wouldallow them to eliminate some ofthe debt and get back on track.Several of the big offenders wereconvicted and given jail terms fortheir fraudulent activities. Andjust when most of the banksare back in the black, theSenators wanted to remove thelegislation that would give themfree range again. That bill failedin the Senate and the leaders ofthe Senate cried foul. On the local scene, we nowhave a new council that is largerthan the previous one. We wentfrom a seven member to an 11member council. They are nowtrying to decide ways that theycan make the council functionmore effectively. For the firsttime in history, the councilmembers will be assigned tocommittees to work on councilbusiness. Those committees willreview the issues before they arepresented to the full council for avote. The community isanxiously waiting to see this planin effect. If it works, maybe wewill see council meetings endbefore midnight or later. We willall try to keep up.

African Americansdrive unemployment

down 10 percent.See RATE

Page 2

THE COMMUNIQUÉPage 2 ~ January 16, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

Texas Lottery

Three days in dura-tion, the summit ran fromJanuary 7-9. The AfricanAmerican Male ResearchInitiative and the Divisionof Diversity and Commu-nity Engagement at UThosted the summit. It waspart of the Heman SweattSymposium on Civil Rights.

The event launchedwith a special evening re-ception and meeting onWednesday, January 7 at6:30. Daron Roberts, aformer assistant NFLcoach, was the themespeaker. Roberts is cur-rently Director of UT’s newCenter for Sports Leader-ship and Innovation. Ac-cording to the UT website,he is also AAMRI (AfricanAmerican Male ResearchInitiative) Scholar in Resi-dence and Lecturer at UT’sHumanities Honors Pro-gram. His most extensivedegree is in law from theprestigious Harvard LawSchool. Roberts founded4th and 1, a non-profit de-signed to give footballtraining, free SAT prep andlife skills workshops.

The summit was at-tended by scholars, aca-demic advisors, coaches,student affairs person-nel, principals, formerand current student-ath-letes, reporters, coaches,athletic directors andmany others.A panel discussion, featur-

The AAMRI Summit draws 500 attendeescontinued from page 1

Maurice Gipson

ing some of theuniversity’s former stu-dent athletes was in-cluded.

Earmarked for a broadswath of people who areinvolved in the life of a black

student athlete, the eventdrew 255 people to the kick-off and about 500 people forthe three days.

Maurice Gipson, Spe-cial Assistant to the UTVice President for Diver-sity and Community En-gagement, stated thatoverall it was a phenom-enal event. He said thiswas the first conference ofits kind and of this scalein the country. Hereported,”We had about40 different institutionsfrom across the countryrepresented.” Some werefrom universities in Con-necticut, Arizona and asfar away as the University

of Washington(state).Gipson said they sharedthat they are all commit-ted to this topic and arelooking forward to this con-ference next year. Hestated that they change

Daron Roberts

their topics each year, butthis particular subject mat-ter will be re-visited in2016 in a stand-aloneevent that still deals withissues surrounding theblack student athlete.

A native of Louisianaand holder of a Doctors ofJuris degree from SouthernUniversity Law Center, hehelps coordinate specialprograms such as the sum-mit. “I am excifed that theDivision of Diversity andStudent Engagementchose to take on this veryimportant topic regardingthe black studenta t h l e t e ,”c o m m e n t edGipson.

Black Unemployment RateHeaded for Single Digits

Valerie Wilson, the director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and theEconomy (PREE) at Economic Policy Institute. (Freddie Allen/NNPA)

By Freddie AllenNNPA SeniorWashington

Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D. C.(NNPA) – After three con-secutive months of theeconomy adding morethan 25,000 jobs, theBlack unemployment ratecould dip below 10 percentby mid-2015 if currenttrends continue, saysValerie Wilson, an econo-

mist and director of theProgram on Race,Ethnicity, and the Economy(PREE) at Economic PolicyInstitute.

When Wilson ana-lyzed the labor force par-ticipate rate, which in-cludes people that cur-rently hold jobs or are look-ing for work and the em-ployment-population ratiofor all workers, she foundthat Blacks had the big-gest increase in both mea-

sures from December2013 to December 2014.

“If the same trends inthe labor force participa-tion rate and the declinein the unemployment ratethat we saw in 2014 con-tinue into 2015, the Blackunemployment rateshould get down to thesingle digits by the middleof this year,” said Wilson.

SeeWORKFORCE,

page 7

CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN

St. Peter’s United Methodist Church 4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723

Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281Christian Web Site-

stpetersaustintx.ning.comstpetersaustintx@att.net

THE PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH US

Sunday School 8:45 a.m. Praise and Worship 10:15 a.m.

Wednesday Bible Study 12:00 p.m.and Praise /Bible Study 6:30 p.m.

(to include Children’s Choir Rehersaland Bible Study with age appropiate Activities)

Rev. Jack C. Gause Pastor

Agape Baptist ChurchIn “The Centre” Bldg. F-15 7801 N. Lamar Blvd. (SE Corner of N Lamar and 183)

AGAPE is a chuch for all people. “Where Jesus Christ is Magnified and the love Heexhibited is Exemplified.” Come, receive God’s unconditional lovefor you.

For there is no greater love!

Church ServicesSunday School 9:30 AMSunday Worship 11:00 AM

Mid-Week Service Thursday: Praise,Prayer and Bible Study 7:00 PMCall 454-1547 for Transporation

Website www.agapebcaustintx.comRev. H. Ed Calahan

Pastor

Imani Community ChurchDavis Elementray Auditorium 5214 West Duval Road

Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Worship Service 10:00 A.M.•Power Hour Bible Life Group 6:00 P.M.

Imani Complex & Office,11800 Mustang at Duval Austin, Texas 78727

Visit:imanichurch.comOffice: 512-343-9300Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Donald-Mims

7801 N. Lamar Blvd,Suite D 102,

Austin, Texas 78752

Worship: Sunday--10:00 am - 12:30 pm

Tuesday Bible Studies--7:30pm - 9:00 pmFriday Prayers--7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

The Church of Pentecost, USA Inc,Austin offers a wide variety of opportuni-ties for children, youth, adults, and olderadults to be involved in worship, spiritualgrowth, education, community outreach,and making a tangible difference to thosein need in our community. You too, canmake a positive difference in our commu-nity through your prayers, your presence,your gifts, your service, and your witness.Tel: 512 302-1270

Leading People to Experience God’s Love, Know Jesus Christ & Grow in His ImageThe Church of Pentecost

Olive Branch Fellowship of Austin / All Faith Chapel4110 Guadalupe St Bldg #639 Austin, TX 78751

Sunday MorningWorship @ 11: am

Romans 5:1 Therefore,having beenjustified by faith, we have peace

with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

This life, therefore, is not righteous-ness, but growth in righteousness; not health,but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest,but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be,but we are growing toward it. The process isnot yet finished, but it is going on. This is notthe end, but it is the road. All does not yetgleam in glory, but all is being purified.

--- Martin Luther

Kenneth Hill, Pastor

DOUBLE

GROCERY“R”

450l East Martin Luther King Blvd.*We cash ALL Tax Refund*Checks *Check Out

1179 San Bernard Street,Austin, TX 78702, 512-478-7023

Sunday Morning Bible Study, 9:00 A.M.Sunday Morning Worship, 10:15 A.M.Visit our website @ www.obcaus.org

Globalizing the Gospel

A Ministry That Ministers

Edward M. Fleming,Sr. Pastor

OLIVET BAPTISTCHURCH

Felix Bamirin, PastorGRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Experience Grace For Life

(By Parmer Lane Baptist Church building, behind Wells Fargo)

Call: 682.472.9073 l Email: gracewayaustin@aol.com lVisit: www.gracewaycca.org

JOIN US This SUNDAY / THURSDAY@ 12424 Scofield Farms Drive, Austin, TX 78758

SUNDAYS 10:30 A.M., THURSDAYS 7:30 P.M.

Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church 5900 Cameron Road Austin, Texas 78723-1843

(512) 451-0808 (512) 302-4575 Fax Web Site - www.themount.net

WORSHIP SERVICESSunday Worship - 7:45 a.m. & 11 a.m.Church School - 9:45 a.m.Bible Studies - Mon, 6:30 p.m. & Wed., 12 noonWednesday Night Worship - 7 p.m.

“Ministries For Mankind” Luke 4:18 A.W.. Anthony Mays, Senior Pastor

Country Boyz Fixin’s4140 E. 12th Street, Austin, TX 78721

Featuring Fish, Poboys, Hot Wings, Pork Chops,Homemade Gumbo, Shrimp and Alligator

DINE IN OR ORDER TO GOMon - Friday 11 am - 8 p.m.Saturday - 12 noon - 8 p.m.

Closed SundayCall (512) 928-5555

*Mention this ad and get a FREE 20 oz. Drink*

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/January 16, 2015 ~ Page 3

Ebenezer Baptist Church1010 East 10th Street 512-478-1875 Fax 512-478-1892

WednesdayMidweek Prayer Service 7:00 P.M.Child Development CenterAges 0-5 years (Daily) 512-478-6709

Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875

Worship Service 8:00 A.M.Sunday School 9:00 A.M.Discipleship Training 10:00 A.M.Worship Service 11:00 A.M.

Dr. Ricky Freeman,Pastor

We Want YOU!Advertise With The

VILLAGER

We Want YOU!Advertise With The

VILLAGER

Sunday Services

Villager Youth Brigade will be taking sponsorshipsstarting summer of 2015.Your support has beenmuch appreciated over the years. Please continueto invest in Austin’s youth. We look forward toanother successful year with some promisingstudents. FMI Call 512-476-0082

Do you have church news? Would you like topurchase a monthly ad for your church?

Inquire TODAY!Send your information to vil3202@aol.com

or call 512-476-0082

Leaders of Black Methodist Denominations Unite InFerguson to Provide Scholarships for Normandy Students

(BLACK PR WIRE) —St. Louis, MO (January 12,2015,) Senior Bishops ofthe three historical BlackMethodist denominations:African Methodist Episco-pal Church (AME), AfricanMethodist Episcopal ZionChurch (AMEZ), and theChristian Methodist Epis-copal Church (CME) - willtravel to Normandy HighSchool to announce the es-tablishment of several fulltuition scholarships to His-torically Black Collegesand Universities that aretraditionally affiliated withthese denominations.

Today, at a specialsurprise assembly for the

students at NormandyHigh school, the sameschool the late MichaelBrown, Jr. attended, theannouncement of the‘Michael Brown ChangeFoundation’ scholarshipendowment fund will bemade.

Dr. Jamal-HarrisonBryant, President of theEmpowerment Movement,who spent several monthsin Ferguson leadingpeaceful marches, townhall meetings, and even ar-rested, has partnered withthe parents of MichaelBrown, Jr. and bishopsfrom African AmericanMelodist Denominations:

African Methodist Episco-pal (AME), Christian Meth-odist Episcopal (CME),and African MethodistEpiscopal Zion (AME Zion)to create scholarships forthe underprivileged inFerguson. The partnershipbrings together a com-bined membership base of5.2 million people acrossthe county.

Six full tuition scholar-ships to: Fort Valley StateUniversity (Fort Valley, GA);Lane College (Jackson, TN);Miles College (Fairfield, AL);Texas College (Tyler, TX);Edward Waters College(Jacksonville, FL) andOakwood College (Hunts-

ville, AL). The scholarshipswill be awarded, in honor ofMichael Brown, Jr. to 2015graduates of Normandywho meet criterion set forthby the respective institu-tions.

Monday, January 12 at2:00 p.m.CST

Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant,the President of the Em-powerment Movement,before he gave the eulogyat Michael Brown, Jr.’s fu-neral vowed “not to forgetthe Michael Brown’s of theworld.” His organizationwill continue support andaddress issues pertainingto civic and social dispari-ties in America.

lic memorial forMichael Jackson.

In the 1960s and ’70s,Mr. Crouch helped pioneerthe burgeoning “Jesus mu-sic” movement that startedthe spread of contemporaryChristian music.

His influence alsocrossed over into in popmusic. Elvis Presley per-formed his song “I’ve GotConfidence” for a 1972gospel album, and PaulSimon recorded his “JesusIs the Answer” for a 1974live album.

Mr. Crouch workedwith many other stars, fromDiana Ross to Ringo Starr,and his gospel albumssometimes featured per-formers from other musicalgenres. His 18th solo al-bum, “The Journey,” re-

Crouch: A Pioneer of Contemporary Christian Musiccontinued from page 1

Andraé Crouch beforea 2011 concert in Sandnes,Norway. Photo credit: EirikVoss/Voss Consultingvossconsulting.no

leased in 2011, featuredChaka Khan, Shelia E., Take6, Kim Burrell and MarvinWinans.

Mr. Crouch was one ofonly a handful of gospelperformers to have a star onthe Hollywood Walk ofFame.

He also arrangedmusic for the 1985 film“The Color Purple” —which earned him anAcademy Award nomina-tion — and Disney’s “TheLion King” in 1994.

His success came de-spite a lifelong strugglewith dyslexia. To create,he would make drawingsthat allowed him to graspthe concept. For the Jack-son song, he drew a mir-ror with an image in it.

“I memorized every-thing through sight, the

shape of the word,” Mr.Crouch told The Associ-ated Press in 2011. “Somethings that I write, you’llsee a page with cartoonpictures or a drawing of acar — like a Ford — or aflag. I still do it on an oc-casion when a word isstrange to me.”

“So when I finish asong, I thank God forbringing me through,” hecontinued. “You have topress on and know yourcalling. That’s what I’vebeen doing for all my life.I just went forward.”

Mr. Crouch hadhealth issues in recentyears, including diabetesand cancer. Last month hewas hospitalized for pneu-monia and congestiveheart failure and had tocancel a tour. The Villager

Entertainment Reporter,Naomi Richard, will attendall final services for Mr.Crouch on January 20 and21 at West Angeles Churchof God in Christ in Los An-geles, California.

A COMMUNITY GATHERING TO CELEBRATETHE BIRTHDAY FOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

The University Presbyterian Church, New CovenantFellowship Church, UT Innervisions Gospel Choir, andAISD’s Bertha Saddler Means Young Women’s Leader-ship Academy will be gathering on the premises of Gen-esis Presbyterian Church, 1507 Wilshire Blvd., on Janu-ary 18, 2015 @ 3:00 o’clock to pay tribute to Dr. King—

the 86th birthday. The highlights of the program will bemusical selections by the University of TexasInnervisions, and the Bertha Sadler Means School Gui-tar Ensemble, and readings and poetry created by stu-dents. A special number will be rendered by the UPCGracious Plenty musical group.

YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today

Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry

Page 4 ~ January 16, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

New Year and New Goals

Lanette DempsDel Valle High SchoolIra “T.J.” Williams

Ridgeview M. S.Genesis Stiggers

Elgin Middle School

As you know 2014 haspassed and it ’s time tomake 2015 worth while. Itis important that your newyears creates somethingspecial. Something thatmakes a difference. Some-thing that changes lives.Make something betterthan it was last year, be-cause all the greatest teach-ers, were the ones thatstarted with the will to dosomething great.

This semester Ihave a class called YouthLeadership. It teaches you

leadership and develop-ment skills, G.R.E.A.T., andAVID. The programs haveinformation we learn inclass about gang resistanceand college preparation.The whole class is based oncharacter traits you will usein the adult world. Some ofthe most successful peopleI’ve ever known were thepeople who used the sametraits that people you passeach day carry. The only dif-ference is the successfulpeople took the risk.

I think my future isbright yet I am always afraidof failing, taking that riskand failing. It is one of themost annoying parts of meand I think it needs tochange. I am brave, andsmart and know I’m capableof anything. That is why Iplan to be a doctor, theysave lives and changepeople. They are my rolemodels. That is why myNew Year’s Resolution is tobe courageous and try newthings, riskier things.

Now Or Never

This past Thursday, theRidgeview 8th grade basket-ball team faced off againstCanyon Vista MiddleSchool. The B-team beatCanyon Vista by ten points,but the A-team game was abit more stressful.

The game started outwith the two teams neck-and-neck and the score in-creased every 30 seconds.Connor Arroyo and C.J.Ramirez were the leadingscorers for Ridgeview in thefirst half. By halftime, theRidgeview Panthers weredown by three and hungryfor the victory. At the startof the second half, the Pan-thers took a four point leadagainst Canyon Vista.

Every possession, wethrew it out to Connor for a3-pointer or down low toC.J. for a lay-up. The crowdwas electric. Everybodywas on their feet cheeringus on. When it came downto the final 10 seconds ofthe game, Ridgeview wasdown by two points. It wasour ball. Colin Stehr passedit in to Connor Arroyo.Connor faked out the de-fender and passed the ballto C.J. Ramirez. C.J. backsdown his defender andshoots a reverse lay-upright as the buzzer goes off.The crowd screams. Thescore is tied up 43 to 43 atthe end of the 4th quarter.Ridgeview and CanyonVista were going into over-time.

During overtime, thePanthers fought their hard-est but lost by a mere threepoints. Even though we lostthe game, we are finallylearning how to work as ateam. Next Wednesday, theRidgeview Panthers will beplaying the Walsh Wildcats.This will be a great gameand every Ridgeview playerwill fight to the end to getthat win!

Starting Tuesday westart out semester finals. Iam so scared because thepast few weeks have beena struggle. I really want toat least make an 80 orhigher on all of my finals.

FinalsI know Spanish is going tobe the hardest out of all . Ihave been studying but idon’t feel i studied hardenough. My brother wasright when he told meyour sophomore year isthe hardest. This is the 1sttime in me living on thisearth i got 2 F’s on my re-port card. I really don’twant to fail nothing. If i failanymore it going to lookbad on me when i applyfor colleges. I am so happythat when we take ourSTARR test sophomoreonly have one, whichmeans we only have onething to study and onething to worry about.

Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary

Zachariah WashingtonCedars Academy

Student Council President

In my 8th grade year Ibecame Student CouncilPresident along with otherpeople who ran for otherpositions with me like the6th, 7th, 8th grade repre-sentatives and theseceretary. Two weeks laterwe had our first meetingwhich was great, we talkedabout what we are going toachieve this year and howwe are going to do it. BeingStudent President with it’sadvantages and disadvan-tages.

Being Student CouncilPresident advantages arethat you get to be out ofclass more and get to do er-rands for teachers like gomake copies, make peoplesign up for sports and more.Another advantage is thatyou get to go to teachermeetings like facility meet-ings and get snacks and goto shack and governancecouncil meetings and meetdominos pizzas. The best ofit all is that I get to have asay in the student body andthat I am the voice of theStudents at Cedars Interna-tional academy.

The Student Councildisadvantages are thatpeople call you a nerd andother mean and cruicalnames. Another problem isthat teachers think that stu-dent council members cantmake mistakes and that weare some type of hero orsomething, please don’tforget we are regularpeople.

Winter Break

Hello everyone, thepast two weeks we havebeen home on winterbreak. My brothers and Iwere home with our mom.We had a wonderfulChristmas, we got every-thing we asked for andmore! We woke up andopened our presents andplayed outside with ourfriend. My aunt cookeddinner for Christmas so wewent to her house thatnight and ate,watched

movies, and played withour cousin. New Years Evewe were all home to-gether with our family andon New Years Day we wentout to eat andshopping.Then my auntsBirthday was the secondof January, so we cel-ebrated with her!

My brothers and Ibought my aunt somejewlery for her Birthdayand she loved it. This win-ter break was so busy,buying presents, going toso many differentstores,the mall, andplaces were always full ofpeople! What I really likedwas the Christmas musicand that’s all we played inthe car. My brothers and Ilove to ride our new scoot-ers but sometimes it isway too cold! We havebeen back in school for aweek now and it time toget back to work but I amalready looking forward toSpring Break!

This week is finals andit’s CRUNCH time. I have alot of test to take this week.The first semester is gettingready to end. The fist se-mester was really interest-

ing starting from the firstday of school. I had a lot ofexperiences I will never for-get. Like The rapper B.O.Bvisiting our school for ourhomecoming pep rally. Hegave the football players anencouraging speech aboutthe game. Cheer was some-what exciting this year ex-cept for the many injuries Ihad. Cheer tryouts is onValentine’s Day. And I’m soready! I can’t wait. Semes-ter 2 I plan on staying on topof my grades like I’m doingthis semester. I don’t allowmy grades to drop lowerthan a 85. I plan on passingthis semester. Until nexttime GOO Cards!!

Second Semester

Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School

Year of Change

This year I have thehonor of being a senior atJ.B. Connally High school.It’s starting to hit me thatthis year I will graduate highschool and I will also be ona college campus. Everynow and then that seemsawesome and awful at thesame time. I’m excitedabout the next chapter inmy life, but at the same

Hannah RobertsonConnally High School

time I’m anxious.So, I have decided to

live in the moment. Enjoyhigh school now, go to bas-ketball games, soccergames, softball games, lis-ten to the band, watch thedance team perform andenjoy my time in highschool. I recommend do-ing anything you can pos-sible do in whatever schoolyou attend: join clubs, go tosports events, schoolevents, and participate inschool related functions.Watch the band perform, goto a school play, enjoy yourfriends and get to knowyour teachers. Becauseonce it ’s gone you won’thave a chance to get it back.Create memories becausethey will last forever, butremember regrets last along time too. Enjoy thisyear of change.

Friday I went to L.B.J.and Eastside high schoolsbasketball game and had agood time. L.B.J. was show-ing off, one of the best play-ers is Shasire; he was hittingthree point shots back to

Basketballback and stealing the ballfrom the Eastside players.Marcus Collins was anotherplayer that was taking careof business; he came awaywith a lot of points. The fi-nal score was 75-17, whichwas a very uneven game.

Next month is whenwe celebrate Black Historyand I think that is cool be-cause we get to learn aboutour culture. Learning whatseveral people hand to gothrough so that we couldhave the right to walk downthe street is interesting. Ithelps some of us appreciatethe things that our racewent through.

Aaron WilliamsKealing M.S.

Most people askwhat is your “New Year’sResolution?” Have youthought about it? Haveyou made any New Year’sResolutions for 2015? Ifyou haven’t here is a listand some facts. Somepeople start out the yearwith an eye on failure,they say, “Why make newyear resolution, if you areonly going to break them?”One thing is for sure, ifyou don’t make a list you

will surely not achieve it.Most people write

their resolutions in a listso they can approved whatthey strive on and knowwhen they have achievedit. Most people put ontheir New Year’s Resolu-tion list includes weightlost, don’t eat chocolate,exercise, do good inschool, get straight A’s,and some other thingsthat wil l improve theirlives. New Year’s Resolu-tion list are supposed tobe personal, things youwant to do, not what yourfriends or other peoplesay. New Year’s Resolutionlist are good because ev-eryone should have ayearly goal and at the endof the year you get to seeif you achieved your goal.So, I’m inspiring you todayto make your own NewYear’s Resolution list andsee at the end of the yeardid you achieved it. Re-member this is your list ofgoals. God Bless.

Sarah RobertsonAthlos Leadership Acad.

New Year Resolution?

YOUTH BRIGADEwww.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/January 16, 2015 ~ Page 5

Erika LipscombManor Elementary

It is a new year and Iam excited what’s going to

happen for 2015. At school,when it is a new year ourclasses switch specials.Next week, we are gong toArt instead of Music. Nextmonth is February and I amtrying to save up Box Topsbecause each box top isworth 2 Colt Cash again forthe Colt Cash Store whereyou can get things likebracelets, bookmarks, andsometimes they put inthings like Stuffed Animals.Can’t wait to get a good startoff for 2015.

A start to the New Year

First Week Back To School

Zyon HillReagan High School

De’Ja HillLamar Middle School

Hello Readers,This week at Reagan

High School, which I am sureyou all have seen on televi-sion, Reagan had a ninth

grade Algebra teacher whowas arrested for inappropri-ate behavior with a minor.There may be other chargesapplied later, however, thatis all the information I haveat this time.

This is also the firstweek back to school sincewinter break and it was avery familiar feeling, as if itwas the first day of schoolagain. The only differenceis that I already knew whatclasses I have. Honestly, Icannot wait until winter isover because this winterweather is not for me whatso ever.

First Week Back

Hello Readers,My second semester

has been amazing so far, al-though I still have the samecore classes, I have a few

great electives that I justlove. I am in a Graphic De-sign class and I make imageson a computer and havesomeone put it on a bill-board. Any time you see atee shirt with pictures and/or words on it, which isgraphic design.

My second electivethat I really enjoy is an of-fice aide. I get to help outin the office, take notes toclassrooms for teachers orstudents, and when I havefree time I can work on mywork that I had from an-other class. Sometimeswhen I have nothing to do, Ijust draw pictures, which isalso something I love to do.

Malakhi WashingtonCedars Int’l Academy

Winter Dream

How was your winterbreak? Winter break istime to take off from schooland celebrate the holidayswith family and friends.

This winter break I cel-ebrated Christmas and gota Nabi Tablet, converseshoes and clothes and ajacket for Christmas.

The Nabi has a lot offeatures such as the abilityto change the wallpaper byputting your hand on thescreen. It has other greatfeatures that I also enjoy.My clothes and jacket wereawesome also.

We ate a lot of greatfood and rested a lot whileon this winter break. I amgrateful for the time that Ispent with family andfriends and am looking for-ward to the next one!

Hendrickson ad-vanced to the Round of 32for International PublicPolicy Forum. Only 2rounds until the Top 8 inthe country advance todebate in NYC. The teamexists of Jordan Rojas,Carlos Gregory, MarcusAyala and Zach

Year Book

Alon RodgersHendrickson Highschool

Falkenbury. Only four otherteams from Texas ad-vanced – Houston Bellaire,Plano Senior, St. Mark’sand Colleyville.The 2015 HendricksonHigh School yearbook is aBalfour National sampleyearbook and will receivewidespread recognitionacross the United Statesand Europe as a sample ofexcellence in journalism.An untold number of highschool students on twocontinents will reap theeducational benefit of us-ing Hendrickson’s year-book as an exemplary re-source for gathering ideasin layout, design, coverageand writing. Kari Riemerand the yearbook staffearned this recognition.

Depending on thecollege a student is apply-ing to, an interview may berecommended or required.During my time in the ap-plication process, I’ve tooexperienced the college in-terview process. It can behighly stressful, but if youhave a big personality, it’s agreat opportunity to showit off. I’ve had to participatein both phone and in-per-son interviews with acouple of colleges and havefound the latter more re-warding.

Recently, I had an in-person interview that Ithought what was very in-spiring. It flowed like a con-versation and didn’t haveany awkward pauses or

College Interviews

Kiara MyersVista Ridge H. S.

feelings of intimidation.The informality of the in-terview made me morecomfortable and helpedme to clearly convey mythoughts. We were able todiscuss a lot about theschool, and I could tell thatthe man was actually en-gaged in what I was saying.By the end of it I felt veryconfident and was reallyexcited about the impres-sion I left on my interviewer.

I must say college in-terviews are not for every-body. I believe they suitstudents who are more ex-troverted and social, butwith practice and prepara-tion, success can surely befound. It’s important to al-ways keep in mind the bigquestions colleges want toknow about you: “Who areyou? What do you plan todo during/after college?Why are you worth admit-tance?” As long as you cananswer these questionswith confidence, I’m sureyou’ll make a great impres-sion. Also remember thatthe interviewer is probablyinterviewing other stu-dents, so find a way tostand out!

AYC to host Career Fest andExploration for students to learn

about career opportunities

The City of Austin’s Youth Council in partnershipwith Workforce Solutions Capital Area will host its sec-ond annual Career Fest and Exploration from 9 a.m. to1 p.m. on April 7 at the Palmer Events Center, 900Barton Springs Road.

The City of Austin is recruiting for local businessesand youth organizations to participate in the event thatprovides the opportunity for representatives to talk tostudents about career opportunities, summer employ-ment/ internship possibilities and what steps studentsshould take to prepare.

There is no fee for businesses to participate. Theevent will provide a table and chairs for a booth set-up.

The student-focused event is free and open to allarea students as well as others in the community. Lastyear more than 50 businesses and organizations par-ticipated with more than 200 students attending.

Career Fest began as a recommendation from theAustin Youth Council, as an initiative to expand oppor-tunities to explore various careers, as well as combatthe rising teen unemployment rate.

Last year in addition to private employers such asFacebook, Coolhead Tech and Google, several City de-partments participated.

The Austin Youth Council is a City of Austin prografor area high school students to engage and learn moreabout local government. The program, in its third year,was an initiative of Mayor Lee Leffingwell.

For more information, visit www.austintexas.gov/kids or call (512) 530-3333.

HTU’s Annual Lecture to Address‘The Psychological Balance of Debt: The Ties that Bind’

United States Navy Chaplain Monya A. Stubbs

(AUSTIN, Texas) —United States Navy Chap-lain Monya A. Stubbs willreveal the power to recog-nize and appreciate the giftof God in another. Her lec-ture, titled, “The Psycho-logical Balance of Debt:The Ties that Bind” will beaddressed during theEighth Annual Huston-Tillotson University BishopE.T. Dixon Lecture that willbe held on Thursday, Jan.29, 2015, from 2 p.m. to3:30 p.m. on the campusin the Agard-LovinggoodAuditorium, 900 ChiconStreet.

“God’s reconcilingwork in the world is mani-fest through the process ofall people understandingthemselves in a mutuallyindebted relationship witheach other,” said Stubbswho is also an elder in theAfrican Methodist Episco-pal (AME) Church.

Stubbs is a graduateof Spelman College, At-lanta, GA. She holds amaster’s degree in Theo-logical Studies (with anemphasis in Biblical Stud-ies) and a doctorate in theNew Testament Studiesand Early Christianity fromVanderbilt University,Nashville, TN. Stubbs isthe author of A ContextualIntroduction to the Gospel

of Matthew and its Read-ings (co-author, AbingdonPress, 2003) and IndebtedLove: Paul’s SubjectionLanguage in Romans (Wipf& Stock Publications,2013), and a host of es-says that range from anessay on “HealingThrough Touch” in My Soulis a Witness (BeaconPress, 1995) to “Subjec-tion, Reflection, Resis-tance: Romans 13 and the

Free-Market Economy” inNavigating RomansThrough Cultures (T&TClark, 2004) to“Philippians” in True toOur Native Land: An Afri-can American New Testa-ment Commentary (For-tress Press, 2007), “1Thessalonians” featuredin the revised and updatedWomen’s Bible Commen-tary (Westminster JohnKnox Press, 2012), to her

latest contribution on 1Corinthians that is in-cluded in the CovenantBible Study (AbingdonPress, 2014). Building onher last book, Stubbs iscurrently working on amanuscript that comparesthe theological and socio-logical significance of debtin the biblical world andour contemporary society.

Dixon, for which thelecture is named, is one oftwo HT graduates to re-ceive “bishop” status. Hegraduated magna cumlaude from what wasSamuel Huston College in1943 before earning a de-gree from Drew Theologi-cal Seminary. He servedthe church and communityin numerous positionswhile establishing innova-tive programs before andafter becoming presidentof Philander Smith Collegein Little Rock, Arkansas.He retired in 1992 anddied in 1996. Huston-Tillotson is affiliated withThe United MethodistChurch, the United Churchof Christ, and offers a mi-nor in religious studies.

Free and open to thepublic. For more informa-tion, contact Rev. DonaldE. Brewington, UniversityChaplain, 512.505.3054, ordebrewington@htu.edu.

ZETA FINERWOMANHOODYOUTH CONFERENCE

Your purpose Defined

Area youth are invited to attend the “Zeta FinerWomanhood Conference: Your Purpose Defined” spon-sored by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., the Pi Omega ZetaChapter.

The event will be held on Saturday, January 24,

from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Old Settlers, 3300 Palm ValleyBlvd in Round Rock.

Interactive and team building exercises are alsocomponents of the daylong conference open to all areagirls ages 13-18.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., a non-profit organiza-tion founded in 1920, is a national organization withmore than 100,000 members.

For more information and admission call,512.699.0443

CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDPage 6 ~ January 16, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

On January 13, 2015 the Texas Legislature con-vened at noon to hold its 84th Session. The new Leg-islature will reflect the face of a Texas that is more“Republican and more conservative.” Over the pasttwo legislative cycles, there has been a decrease ofDemocrats elected to the Texas Senate and to theTexas House of Representative. Therefore, with fewDemocrats to face the Legislature, this means thatthe Republicans will seek to pass bills that would“regulate morality” and bills that seek to decreasethe effect of the Trade Union in Texas. However, bothDemocrats and Republicans will have to find ways tofund education in the midst of falling oil prices.

The State of Texas has always depended on itsnatural resource of Oil in order to fund its budget.During the high prices of oil, the State of Texas’ “cashflow” drastically increased. It provided an economicboom which allowed the State to fund its educationalbudget. Now that the price has fallen to about $50.00a barrel, the State of Texas will have to find ways tomake up its budget, including the aspect of educa-tion. Therefore, one of the priorities of the 84th Leg-islature will be locate educational funding for itsschools.

Not only will the Texas Legislature seek to ad-dress education funding, it will tackle a large amountof issues. Some of the issues that the Legislature willseek to address include water, property tax, and elec-tronic voting. As the drought hit Texas about 3 yearsago, water has become a dominant issue. Recently,Texans passed a Proposition 6 that would create a“State Water Plan,” which seeks to improve the watersupply throughout the State. Furthermore, the fallingoil price revenue may mean that certain municipali-ties may seek to increase property taxes. Therefore,the Legislature may seek ways to help municipalitiesso that, there would not be an increase in propertytaxes.

The Texas Legislatureby Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Blazing the Way for JusticeIn the last 5 years,

there has been a drasticincrease of the AfricanDiaspora living in CentralTexas. Moreover, the Af-rican Diaspora is leavingthe usual “immigrant hubcities” and moving to Aus-tin. In the case of SamuelSarfo, he moved to CentralTexas “burgeoning”economy. Upon gradua-tion from law-school inHouston, he moved to Aus-tin where he opened uphis own law practice. Mr.Sarfo who started the“Sarfo Law Firm” ( locatedat 7901 Cameron Road,Suite 2-242) which is ageneral practice law firmis a proud graduate of theTexas Southern UniversityMarshall School of Law.According to Mr. Sarfo, hehas taken one of the high-est caseloads among the2011 graduates of his law-school.

As a general practicefirm, Attorney Sarfo deals

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

with criminal, family, andimmigration law. Accord-ing to Attorney Sarfo, hebelieves that it is the greatcustomer service thatseparates his law firmfrom the other local attor-neys in the greater Austinarea. Mr Sarfo states thathe has won about 85% ofhis cases. Mr. Sarfo men-

tioned that he became alawyer due to several rea-sons. First of all he be-came a lawyer becauseas an adolescent hewould follow his dad tocourt and saw that moreseasoned attorneys tookadvantage of his dad’slack of knowledge in thelaw. Secondly, he men-

tioned that he became alawyer due to the fact hebelieves that it was a“glamorous” profession.

In addition of beinga lawyer, he is also thepresident of the Ghana-ian American Associationof the greater CentralTexas area. As the presi-dent of the association,his job is to make surethat the Ghanaian Ameri-cans are well integratedwithin the Central Texasarea. Furthermore, healso plays of role of bring-ing about the 400 Ghana-ian Americans in the com-munity together throughvarious events, such as,the celebration of Ghana’sindependence. As an at-torney, Mr. Sarfo fights forthe “average person” andas the president of theGhanaian American Asso-ciation, he ensures theGhanaian American com-munity continues to growin various aspects.

Samuel Sarfo

RoundRock,

Soon toHold

Elections

On January 24, 2015the residents of RoundRock, Texas will be goingto a special election to re-place a City Council mem-ber Place 3. The currentCouncil member vacatedthe seat due to family rea-sons. Round Rock is lo-cated north of Austinwhich covers bothWilliamson and TravisCounty. In the past de-cade, Round Rock hasseen dramatic population

growth and increase. Ac-cording to the 2014 UnitedStates census, Round Rockhas surpassed the mark ofa 100,000 inhabitants. Ac-cording to certain statis-tics, the city of Round Rockhas grown for over 7%since 2000. Moreover,Chris Koob plans to alsorun for Round Rock CityCouncil Place 3. Further-more, he will be runningagainst FrankLeffingwell.

According to Chris

Koob, he moved to theRound Rock area in 2002.He moved to the RoundRock area in-order to takea technology job. For over14 years, Central Texashas become his home. Al-though, Round Rock cityelections are “non-parti-san”, Chris considers him-self as a conservative.Moreover, it means that heis further to the right fromFrank Leffingwell in termsof policies. Furthermore,Chris Koob may have lessname recognition than hisopponent; however, hisconservative viewpointmay appeal to more votersin Round Rock due to thefact that the area is moreconservative than cer-tain parts of CentralTexas.

Chris Koob is run-ning on several issues.According to Koob, thepublic money should notbe given or spent freely;

City spending should notbenefit just a few (Itshould really benefit all);and it’s important to keepcity regulations specific,yet having as minimal animpact as possible. Fur-thermore, early voting hasalready begun for the spe-cial election. And the Elec-tion Day to fill the vacantPlace 3 seat is on January24th. It is important foreveryone to go the pollsand vote so that theirvoices can be heard.

by Tsoke(Chuch) Adjavon

Chris KoobFrank Leffingwell

New City Council Seeks Feedbackon Improving Public Input

The new Austin CityCouncil is seeking feed-back on an extensive re-structuring of its deci-sion-making process. Theproposed plan aims to im-prove customer serviceand engagement for resi-dents participating inCity government deci-sions.

In the past, longpublic hearings havecaused Council meetingsto carry on very late atnight, and sometimesinto the early morninghours. The inconvenienthours make it difficult forresidents to attend andvoice their opinions onmajor City decisions.

The restructuringwould emphasize the useof Council committees tohold these public hear-ings before items reachthe full City Council.

The proposedchanges include:

·An altered approachto adding items to Coun-

cil meeting agendas.· A list of possible

Council standing com-mittees which could re-view proposed local lawsand resolutions beforethey’re considered byCity Council.

· Better planningand management of the

Benefits to Public*Earlier engagement,

more impact*No more 3a.m. meetings

Join the discussion! @austintexas.gov·Visit our discussion board on SpeakUp Austin.

·Learn more about the proposed changes:·Chart – How an Item Moves Through Council

Council agenda to avoidlate-night meetings

· Easier and morecomplete access to Coun-cil committee and com-mission records.

· A longer-term in-vestigation into bestpractices for public en-gagement

Judge Kennedy Electedto District Court

The Travis CountyCriminal Court Judges arepleased to announce thatDistrict Judge Brenda P.Kennedy was elected Pre-

siding Judge of theCriminal Courts effectiveJanuary 7, 2015. JudgeKennedy was firstelected to the 403rd Dis-trict Court on November 4,2002. Prior to that,Judge Kennedy served asthe Judge for County Courtat Law #7 forapproximately 15 years.Please join us in congratu-lating Judge Kennedyon her new appointmentand wish her well with hernew responsibilities.Judge Kennedy will servea 4 year term.

Judge Brenda P. Kennedy

The Gamma Eta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Al-pha Fraternity Inc. turned out to assist the Austin home-less population brave the cold winter temperatures andarea-wide hard freeze that caused many to seek shel-ter. On Saturday January 10, 2015 the fraternity distrib-uted 50 blankets and clean water under the bridge lo-cated at IH-35 & 7th Street to aid and assist those inneed. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity coordinated the distri-bution with other organizations that are distributingblankets to ensure that there would not be any duplica-tion in the distribution process. This appeal is a responseto an annual need and is humanitarian in nature.

Members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity distributeblankets & Clean water to the homeless.

Gamma Eta LambdaChapter Aid the

Homeless

CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION

City of AustinPurchasing Office

EMPLOYMENT / PROPOSALSPUBLIC

INFORMATIONFOR SALE / FOR RENT / BIDS

MISCELLANEOUS

The City of Austin Purchasing Office invitesyou to view current bid solicitations at https://www.c i . au s t i n . t x . u s / f i nanceon l ine /vendor_connection/solicitation/solicitations.cfm.Vendors are encouraged to register on-line in theCity’s Vendor Self Service System. Once yourcompany is registered, you will receive notifica-tions about new bid opportunities. For addi-tional information regarding current bid opportu-nities or Vendor Registration, please call the Pur-chasing Office at 512-974-2500.

For information on the City of Austin’s Mi-nority Owned and Women-Owned ProcurementProgram and the certification process, pleasecontact the Small & Minority Business ResourcesDepartment at 512-974-7600 or visit their websiteat http://www.austintexas.gov/smbr.

City of Austin Featured JobOpportunities

The City of Austin is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Please visit the City of Austin employmentwebsite at www.austincityjobs.org to view

requirements and apply for these and other jobopportunities. We encourage you to check the

employment websiteoften as new job opportunities

are posted daily.If you have any questions or need assistance,

please call 512-974-3210 or email us atemployment.services@austintexas.gov.

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/January 16, 2015 ~ Page 7

Apply at HRMiddle Fiskville Rd.

6th Floor, Austin, TX 78752Job Line (512 223-5621hhtp://www./austincc.ed

EEOC/AA/M/F/D/V

The City of Austin is currently seeking qualifiedapplicants for the following positions:

• Regional Branch Operations Manager• Administrative Assistant - LibraryCirculation Clerk• MuniProg, Service/Maint-Public EventWorker - 20 Part-Time TemporaryPositions• Neighborhood Liaison• Accountant Associate• Dispatcher Technician- Temporary• Public Health Program Specialist II• Drainage Ops & Maint III• Engineer A• Administrative Specialist

New Jobs for the Week of 01/11/2015

Assistant, Student ServicesRiverside Campus

Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00p.m. Hours may vary dependingon program need and may include

some evenings andSaturdays as needed.

$2,256-$2,820/MonthlyJob#1311020

THE STATE OF TEXAS

TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE ESTATE OF PATRICIA Z BRYANT Deceased, No. C-1-PB-15-000035 in Probate Court Number of Travis County, Texas. BILLY Z. HUGHES, JR AND ALL.The alleged heir (s) at law in the above numbered and entitled estate, filed in Probate Court No. 1,Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, 1000 Guadalupe, Austin, Texas, on January 08,2015, an Application to Declaration of Heirship and for Letters of Independent Administrator in thesaid estate and request (s) that said Court determine who are the heirs of the said PATRICIA ZBRYANT, Deceased, and their respective shares and interests in such estate.Said application will be heard and acted on by said Court at 10:00 o’clock a.m. on the first Mondaynext after the expiration of ten days from date of publication of this citation, at the County Courthousein Travis County, Texas.

All persons interested in said estate are hereby cited to appear before said Honorable Court at saidabove mentioned time and place by filing a written answer contesting such application should theydesire to do so.

If this citation is not served within 90 days after date of its issuance, it shall be returned unserved.

GIVEN UNDER MY HAND AND THE SEAL OF SAID COURT at office in Travis County, Texas, onJanuary 08, 2015.

CITATION BY PUBLICATION

C-1-PB-15-00003528p - 000001709

Austin Travis County IntegralCare is currently seeking Requestfor Applications (RFA) for Non-Traditional Community BasedServices and for Licensed, CertifiedProfessionals and CounselingServices. Applications must bereceived by Integral Care no laterthan 5 p.m. on April 13, 2015.Please download the link to accessthe RFA’s and follow submissioninstructions. http://www.i nte gralc a r e . o r g / c o n t e n t / r e q u e s t s -applications-and-proposals If youhave any questions regarding anyRFA, please send an email toProviders@atcic.org.

The Black unemploy-ment rate decreased from11 percent in November to10.4 percent in December,and the jobless rate forWhite workers ticked down0.1 percent to 4.8 percentin December, according tothe latest jobs report bythe Labor Department.

The unemploymentrate for Black men over 20years old ticked down from11.2 percent to 11 percentin December while the un-employment rate for Whitemen fell from 4.6 to 4.4 per-cent over that period.

The unemploymentrate for Black women over20 years-old slid from 9.5percent in November to8.2 percent in Decemberand White women sawtheir unemployment rateinch down from 4.5 per-cent to 4.4 percent duringthe same period.

The Labor Depart-ment also revised thenumber of jobs added inOctober (261,000) andNovember (353,000), ac-counting for an increase of50,000 jobs.

American workersfound jobs in professionaland business services,construction, food servicesand drinking places,health care, and manufac-turing in December.

Wilson said thatDecember’s jobs reportsignals that the prospectof economic recovery inthe Black community is

WILSON: “The African Americanworkforce is benefitting from the jobgrowth that is taking place right now”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

pretty strong.She said, “The Afri-

can American workforce isbenefitting from the jobgrowth that is taking placeright now and the longerthat continues, the betterit’s going to be for thosecommunities.”

Bernard Anderson, anationally-recognizedeconomist and professoremeritus at the Whartonbusiness school at the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania inPhiladelphia, agreed.

“Despite the fact thatBlack people have a higherrate of unemployment andlower income, they remainfar more committed to thelabor market than Whiteworkers on average,” saidAnderson.

Anderson said thatemployment is growingmore rapidly now than atany time since the recoverybegan in 2009. Gross do-mestic product (GDP) grew5 percent in the third quar-ter of 2014, yet wages havenot increased significantly.

“We have an anoma-lous situation in the labormarket where employmentis beginning to rise, butearnings are still relativelyflat,” explained Anderson.In fact, average hourlyearnings for all employeesshed a nickel in December.

Anderson observedthat wages increasedmore rapidly during previ-ous recoveries as the un-employment rate fell.

Lawrence Mishel, thepresident of the EconomicPolicy Institute, wrote in ablog post at EPI.org thatstagnant wages hurt morethan the workers at bot-tom.

“Since the late1970s, wages for the bot-tom 70 percent of earnershave been essentiallystagnant, and between2009 and 2013, real wagesfell for the entire bottom90 percent of the wagedistribution,” Mishelwrote. “Even wages forthe bottom 70 percent offour-year college gradu-ates have been flat since2000, and wages in mostSTEM (science, technol-ogy, engineering, andmath) occupations havegrown anemically over thepast decade.”

Anderson said thatwhen the labor markettightens the unemploy-ment rate comes down,and employers are forcedto compete with eachother for available labor.That competition oftenleads to increased wages.

Unionization alsoplays a critical role in rais-ing the wages of low- andmiddle-income earners.

Mishel said thatunionization leads tohigher wages withoutharming economic effi-ciency.

“Collective bargain-ing also leads to a largershare of corporate income

going to wages rather thanprofits; the fact that cor-porate profits are at his-toric highs is a reflection,in part, of the currentweakness of collectivebargaining and the height-ened power of corporateowners and managers,”Mishel wrote at EPI.org.

Even though overallunion membership hasfallen to record lows, ac-cording to a 2012 reporton unionization by the La-bor Center at the Univer-sity of California at Berke-ley, Black workers wereunion members at higherrates than non-Black work-ers in the United States.

“In 2012, 13.1% of allBlack workers in the UnitedStates were union mem-bers; 11.0% of non-Blackworkers in the UnitedStates were union mem-bers,” the report said.“Among workers in thelargest metropolitan ar-eas, Blacks were 42%more likely to belong tounions compared to non-Blacks.”

Wilson said that ifworkers don’t feel empow-ered on the job, it’s diffi-cult to go in to negotiateand demand the pay thatthey deserve.

She said, “As long asworkers feel disenfran-chised, barring a suddenboom in the economy thatdrives wages up, I don’tknow that it’s going to hap-pen organically.”

G.K. ButterfieldElected to Lead CBC

by Stacy M. BrownSpecial to the NNPA from The Washington Informer

Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) (Courtesy photo)

After his unanimousselection as the nextchairman of the Congres-sional Black Caucus, NorthCarolina Democratic Con-gressman G.K. Butterfieldsaid he’s grateful to all onthe caucus, including out-going chair Marcia Fudge(D-Ohio).

“I’m moved by theunwavering support theCongressional Black Cau-cus has shown methroughout the years,”said Butterfield, who willtake over as chair later thismonth.

“Each year they’vecontinued to elect me tosenior positions within thecaucus, solidifying theirconfidence in me to helpsteer and now lead theconscience of the Con-gress as chair. I do not takethis endorsement lightly,”he said.

Butterfield, who offi-cials said has a long his-tory of civil rights activismunder his belt, previouslyserved eight years in lead-ership positions within thecaucus.

“The new Congressprovides a fresh start toaddress the issues that are

important to us all,” saidButterfield, 67.

“Members of the CBCcome from every region ofthe country. While we eachhave our own priorities,we speak with a singular,powerful voice in our fightto deliver on the expecta-tions of Americans, whichis to have a governmentthat works for us all,” hesaid.

MLK YOUTHLEGACY AWARDS

The MLK Youth Scholarship Awards will be pre-sented at the MLK Youth Scholarship Awards Programscheduled for 3pm-5pm, Saturday, January 17, at Aus-tin Community College, 3401 Webberville Road, Build-ing 8000, Multipurpose Room.

This event is sponsored by the Austin Area Heri-tage Council (AAHC) in partnership with Applied Ma-terials Foundation and Seton Healthcare Family. Formore information call 512.750.9343

We wantYOU!

AdvertiseWith The

VILLAGER

Page 8 ~ January 16, 2015/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESS

www.TheAustinVillager.com

Stay In The Know...News On The Go! Exclusive C

overage 24 / 7 @ Your Fingertips

Don’t Miss An IssueDear Advertiser:

The oldest and most respected directory of African-Ameri-can owned and managed businesses, the Black Registry (BR),is now compiling ads and listings for 2015. An exhibition in theBR is a proven asset to any advertiser. The directory was firstpublished in 1971 and it remains a major resource for Minorityand Small businesses in Austin and the surrounding Central Texasareas.

This directory is a platform for a diverse scale of enterprisesand organizations. In the BR, there is a place for everyone, so noentity is too small! A supporting advertiser section for non-minor-ity businesses is also included. This base of support enables us topublish, distribute, and serve consumers and merchants in theGreater Austin Metropolis.

Don’t delay, submit your application today! Completethe order form below and return it, along with your display adver-tisement. Accepted forms of payment are: Cash, Check, MoneyOrder or Credit Card. Please make checks and money orderspayable to:

Black Registry Publishing Company4132 E. 12th Street, Austin, TX 78721

The deadline to purchase space is February 15, 2015. Atminimum, a 30% deposit is required to reserve your space. If youhave any questions, please call 512-476-0082. You may email aPDF copy of your ad to vil3202@aol.com or drop it off at theabove address.

The Black Registry Publishing CompanyTelephone: (512) 476-0082 4132 E. 12th Street Austin, Texas 78721

All photos - $5Business listing - $301/8 page - $751/4 page - $1251/2 page - $175Full page - $300

Front inside cover - $500Back inside cover - $500Back cover - $750Copy attachedCopy will be sent laterHave a slaesman call

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U.S. Small BusinessAdministration

THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACTTHE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Regional AdministratorYolanda Garcia Olivarezwill present information onthe Affordable Care Act &

resources for your smallbusiness

Thursday, January 22, 2015@ BiGAUSTIN’s Women’s Business Center

Capital Plaza, 5407 N IH 35, Suite 200 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m.

“Central Texas resource providers united tostrengthen small businesses and communities”(Navigating ACA – What small business owners need toknow about the healthcare law)*Learn about the ACA health care law and how to get yourfamily, community and business healthy and wealthy.*On-site, one-on-one “Affordable Care Act” counseling andenrollment.*Learn how to access cutting edge tools, training and accessto capital from small business facilitators, counselors and localchamber of commerce organizations.

(Light refreshments provided)

Reserve your seat: http://utsa.ecenterdirect.com/ConferenceDetail.action?ID=23055

Health care information and resources for your small business

WANTED: SIXTY REENACTORS

Officers & Enlisted (17 years old & up no experience necessary)For the Formation of the 62nd United States Colored Infantry Regiment

COME AND JOIN US BROTHERSMay 11-16 2015

For the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of the Battle of Palmito HillContact us for more information:

The Living History Foundation 512 578-6267 - Allen_Mack909@yahoo.com

WANTED: SIXTY REENACTORS

Austin Mentorship ProgramReceives Much Needed Grant

Austin, Texas (January 12, 2015) — An Austin youthmentoring program was one of five recipients of a $1 mil-lion, federal grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice Delin-quency and Prevention, an arm of the U.S. Department ofJustice. The grant money will help Southwest Key’s AustinYouth Mentoring Program expand its services to help morelocal youth ages 10-17 receive guidance from caring adults.The grant comes at a time when Travis County is experienc-ing a shortage of volunteers.

Southwest Key’s Youth Mentoring program connectsadults with youth who are involved or at risk of involve-ment with the juvenile justice system. January is nationalmentoring month and Southwest Key is utilizing its newresources to heavily recruit mentors in Travis County, wherethere is a shortage of volunteers, especially men.

Southwest Key is looking for volunteers to spend just fourhours a week with a young person in need of guidance.

taskforceatx.org - facebook.com/peoplestaskforce - contacts@taskforceatx.org

Judge Lee Yeakel Should Deny CharlesKleinert’s Petition for Federal Trial

AUSTIN, TX (January 7, 2015) The People’s Task Force, a grassroots

police accountability group in Austin, calls on Judge Lee Yeaker to deny Charles Kleinert’sPetition for a federal trial. Not only does this amount to forum shopping, it would consti-tute an enormous waste of resources that have already gone into making sure he isprosecuted in Travis County.

People’s Task Force recognizes that Kleinert’s case is a watershed moment in the wake ofthe events in Ferguson, MO and New York, NY. Should Kleinert actually face manslaughtercharges, it would be one of the first cases nationally of a police officer facing a trial for killing anunarmed black man since the beginning of the Ferguson protests.

The PTF also worries that the decision to move the case to federal court comes afterlengthy grand jury deliberations and pre-trial motions that have already meant that thecase has been delayed for over a year. In fact, the decision to move to federal court seemsmore likely to be born out of a worry that the Travis County DA’s office is actually going toprosecute Kleinert, and the hope that a jury pool beyond Travis County will be moresympathetic to Kleinert.

As a result, the People’s Task Force calls on Judge Lee Yaeker to deny the petition for achange of venue. The People’s Task Force continues to stand in solidarity with the Jacksonfamily and continue to fight to make sure that Detective Kleinert is actually prosecuted.