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

Vol. 41 No.18 Phone: 512-476-0082 Email: vil3202@aol.com September 20, 2013

AAUL EMPOWERMENT GALA

By Angela WyattVillager Columnist

(Austin) - Workingto empower communi-ties, change lives inAmerica and celebrating36 Years of achievementin Central Texas, AustinArea Urban League(AAUL) commemorateda memorable evening tohonor champions ofequal opportunity, civilrights and social justice.On September 13, 2013,the Equal Opportunity

Dinner Gala was held atAT&T Executive Confer-ence Center. The Mis-tress of Ceremonies wasAshley Goudeau ofKVUE news. Invocationwas given by Rev.Gaylon Clark, Pastor ofGreater Mt. Zion in Aus-tin, Texas. The 2013 Hon-orary Chair Dr. CharlesW. Akins, Dr. GregoryVincent of The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin,

DDCE (Division of Di-versity and CommunityEngagement) and AAULChair, AAUL Presidentand CEO TeddyMcDaniel III welcomedguest with humble andremarkable speeches.The evening proceededwith dinner and presen-tation of awards, fol-lowed by a motivationspeech addressed by, ac-

See AAUL, page 2

(HONORABLE MENTIONS) - Austin Area Urban League host an inspirational evening, honoringstellar community leaders and advocates. (l - r) Jackson Walker L.L.P. Partner Mr. Leonard Woods andDr. Timothy George receive dignitary awards. Photos by General Marshall and Angela Wyatt

AAUL EMPOWERMENT GALA

St. John GalleryShowcase in Home

St. John GalleryShowcase in Home

Shirley A. Hammondfollow her ontwitter.com/

@xtremeridewish1

Ms. Beulah (Groves) Cooper

(Austin)-BeulahCooper doesn’t havecurtains hanging fromthe blinds on her win-dows. Instead, shegraces them with theabundant greeting cardsthat she has received

over the years, placingthem through the slatsso the pretty front cov-ers show. They includefunny messages, quipsabout life, thank younotes, and other content.She also has walls offramed pictures, certifi-cates, poetry, phrases,inspirational messages,

See GALLERY on Back Page

EARLCAMPBELLTO SPEAK

ABOUTDIABETES

EDUCATIONPROJECT

EARLCAMPBELLTO SPEAK

ABOUTDIABETES

EDUCATIONPROJECT

Texas Football Legend

Press Conference at HEB

Springdale Health Fair,

Sept. 21, 2013

( A U S T I N , T X ) –Texas football legendEarl Campbell is urgingthose persons with dia-betes and those at risk toeducate themselvesabout this deadly dis-ease capable of destroy-ing bodies piece bypiece. He is promotingthe Health for Life dia-betes initiative, whichestablishes free diabeteseducation programs inAustin, Dallas, Houstonand East Texas. The dia-betes classes are spon-sored by TMF HealthSee DIABETES, page 3

National EmpowermentTour for African

American Women

Launches in AustinAttendees Urged to “Start Wherever You Are”

Photo: Shirley A. Hammond

Shirley A. Hammondfollow her on twitter.com/@xtremeridewish1

National EmpowermentTour for African

American Women

Launches in Austin

Phenomenal formulas, acronyms, exercises,motivational speaking on steroids – they were allon the agenda at Norris Conference Center at 2525West Anderson Lane on Saturday from 9:00am-4:30pm. Thought-leaders from near and far offeredempowerment tools, ideas, advice, autobiographi-cal journey substance, and more to a group ofabout 60 women as they weaved messages pro-voking fresh thought and decisive action.

The well-credentialed leader who traveledfurthest was Toni Harris, who stated that she droveup from Jacksonville, Florida. Other presenterscame from Dallas, Houston, Austin and Atlanta,Georgia. Some are life coaches and others have

See POWERFUL ALCHEMY, page 2

Howard strives tomaintain a tenaciousDemocratic presence

in House District.See ELECTION

Page 6

Opening NewDoors to

Empowerment.Jeff Johnson, CEO of

the Jeff Johnson Institute forUrban Development, gave achallenge to the audience at-tending the Austin Area Ur-ban League Equal Opportu-nity Day Gala Friday, Sep-tember 13.

One of the things thathe said was that during the50th Anniversary of theMarch on Washington hewas looking to hear a sug-gestion of what our nextmove should be. He ac-knowledges that the CivilRights Movement was one ofthe greatest movements inthe history of the world, butit is time for us to start a newmovement.

As successful as themovement was, it is not theanswer to our current situa-tion. He believes that whatwe need now is to find waysof opening new doors toempowerment. And one ofthe tools for doing that is tocreate more businesses inorder to put pressure on themajor corporations to dobusiness with our community.In doing so, this will createjobs in our community.

Johnson is right. It is upto the African Americancommunity to help create thejobs need for our community.If we look back fifty years inAustin, we will find that thehigh unemployment numbersin our community is in directproportion to the number ofBlack businesses that wehave lost over that time.

Once upon a timeBlack businesses were theones who employed the per-sons in our community whohad police records and weredenied jobs in the largercommunity. These citizensnow have limited opportuni-ties, without the help fromour businesses.

I believe, as Johnsondoes, that we must come upwith a way to create morejobs in our community to hirethe seriously unemployed.Whether we do it throughnon profit companies orprofit making companies andorganizations, this is a chal-lenge that our communitymust take on. We must bethe ones Opening NewDoors to Empowerment inour community.

Welcome backYouth Brigade.

See 911Pages 4-5

New law raisesdiscriminatory barrierof U.S. Amendments.

See RIGHTSPage 7

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Page 2 ~ September 20, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

THE COMMUNIQUÉ

TICKETS: CALL (512) 476-0082

CCBFF

tivist, political com-mentator and inspira-tional journalist Mr. JeffJohnson. “..We havedone the celebratingpart, so now we have tochallenge ourselves,open new doors to em-powerment. AustinArea Urban League,what is your new vi-sion?”

The honorees in-clude Jackson WalkerL.L.P., the recipient ofthe Corporate Leader-ship Award and Dr.Timothy George, Medi-cal Director of the Pedi-atric Neurosurgery Cen-ter of Central Texas atDell Children’s Hospi-tal, recipient of theWhitney M. Young, Jr.Award.

Founded in 1910,

AAUL Envisions A Community Free From All Barriers

(SOULdiers) - Mz. Dre (center) sings LoveChanges by Kashif & Melissa Morgan along withDemetrius Campbell (right) and the band All UNeed. Photo: Angela Wyatt

continued from page 1National UrbanLeague’s Objective wasto right and improve theintolerable social andeconomic conditionsexperienced by BlackAmericans. Today, ithas 97 affiliates in 34states and the District ofColumbia and providesassurance to anyone inneed, no matter theirrace, age or gender. Thisyear, the National UrbanLeague proudly cel-ebrates 100 years ofmaking a difference inlives throughout the na-tion. Since 1977 the mis-sion of the Austin AreaUrban League contin-ues to hold fast to theiroriginal mission; to as-sist African Americansand all other under-served Austin-area resi-

dents in the achieve-ment of societal andeconomic equality byfocusing on education

improvement, employ-ment readiness, healthand wellness, and thepreservation of afford-able housing, annually

serving thousands ofclients across all pro-grams.

AAUL guides their

outreach, program-ming, partnerships andadvocacy. AAUL envi-sions a community inwhich all citizens are

free from barriers toeducation, economicand social success. Overthe years, significantsteps have been made inremoving the earlyprejudices and barriers,thus allowing many ofour constituents to learnto grow, and to thrive inthe Austin community.As Austin Area UrbanLeague moves forwardwith their programs,they have been able toadapt to the ever-chang-ing Austin environment- one that has grownfrom being merely thestate capital to that of athriving technologicalhub that incorporatesthe community, govern-ment, and the businesssectors.

The beginning ofthe 20th Century markeda critical phase of theBlack Experience in

America. The most ba-sic of human rights,such as the right to fairemployment, equaleducation, quality af-fordable housing andthe right to vote weredenied.

Austin Area UrbanLeague has stressedthis very issue andwith that has taken to atheme “Occupy theVote to Educate, Em-ploy and Empower”designed to mobilizevoters across this greatnation. Whether it’scity, county, state ornational races, yourvote is your voice.AAUL wants to makeyour voice heard! TheAustin Area UrbanLeague is now a desig-nated location for youto vote. For more infor-mation visitwww.aaul.org.

worked for Fortune500 companies. Whileseveral of them ownbusinesses, have jour-nalist backgrounds andmany have writtenbooks or book series. Inmany ways, some couldbe called statisticsbreakers or glass ceiling

shatterers.It’s impossible to

provide individual ex-cerpts from eachwoman’s message, butit is not a stretch to indi-cate that they each in-jected some powerfulalchemy into the atmo-sphere. “Love the

woman in the mirror,”advised organizer andco-founder Sherry Ran-som. “I had to face thewoman in the mirror. Ihad to learn to love me,”she told the group.

Dawniel Patterson-Winningham sharedways to become the phe-nomenal person eachwas created to become.She spoke on the impor-tance of passion, pur-pose, and winning atlife.

Denyce Gartrellstated that she traveledfrom Jacksonville to tellwomen how to trans-form their lives. “Di-vorce your past, marryyour future...” were thestarting words of hertransformative presen-tation.

“Most of us don’treally live our lives, welive our situations,” sheinformed the group. Shealso stressed the impor-tance of self-investment.

Toni Harris re-ported that she lost 100pounds – twice. She ad-vocated drastic steps,although she did notdiscount the value ofbaby steps as an earlierspeaker advocated.

She intoned,”Hike

up your skirt, kick upyour heel and get to it!”“It can cost you if youdon’t take drasticsteps,” she cautioned.

The tour continuesin Beaumont; Raleigh,North Carolina; Savan-nah, Georgia; Pontiac,Michigan; Jacksonville,Florida and Memphis,Tennessee. All told, itwill expand to15 cities.It is the brainchild of co-founders Sherry Ran-som.

Powerful Alchemy; Ransom says,“I had to face the woman in the mirror” continued from page 1

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/September 20, 2013 ~ Page 3

CHURCH & TOWN BULLETIN

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

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

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

Bus Ministry Call 512-478-1875

Dr. Ricky Freeman, Pastor

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

True Hope Apostolic ChurchThe Apostle Gerald E. Loveless, Senior Pastorwww.thcm.org 8863 Anderson Mill Rd.

Austin, TX 78653

512-744-5851 Cell

512-547-HOPE Church

512-767-4979Assistant, Elder Walker

St. Peter’s United Methodist Church 4509 Springdale Road Austin, Tx 78723Office 512- 926-1686 Fax 512-929-7281

Christian Web Site-stpetersaustintx.ning.com

stpetersaustintx@att.netTHE PLACE WHERE WE STEP OUT ON FAITH.

COME AND STEP OUT ON FAITH WITH USSunday 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.orgRev. 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

Damon LuckettSales Consultant

Charles Maund Toyota8400 Research Blvd.

P.O. Box 1608Austin, TX 78758

(512) 458-2222damon_luckett@

charlesmaundtoyota.com

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 Image

The 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

Felix Bamirin, 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

206 W Main St Ste 108Round Rock, TX 78664-5874

512-368-5770 (Office)512-335-1963(Fax)

rcogdell@farmersagent.comRoy Cogdell

Insurance Agent

The bills don’t stop whenyou’re sick or hurt and

have no income statefarm.com

INSURANCE THAT IS!

Richard Glasco, Agent11824 Jollyville Rd

Suite 300Austin, TX 78759-2300

(512) 250-5533

Ask me about DisabilityIncome Insurance the

State Farm Way.

HEALTH?HOW’S YOUR

Call for details on coverage, cost, restrictions and renewability

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

*Home Office: Bloomington, Illinois

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

SpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsSpearsLaLaLaLaLawwwww

Wes SpearsAttorney

spears.law@aol.com

Personal Injury,Criminal andFamily Law

512-696-2222512-687-3499

401 Congress AvenueAustin, Texas, 78701

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*Austin and Kileen | *Principal Office

30 Years Experience

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Quality Institute un-der contract with theCenters for Medicare &Medicaid Services, andconducted in partnershipwith various communityservice and health care or-ganizations including theAustin/Travis CountyHealth and Human Ser-vices African AmericanQuality of Life Unit.

The Texas footballlegend and NFL Hall ofFame inductee will par-

ticipate in a press confer-ence at 10 a.m., Saturday,September 21, 2013, at ahealth fair at HEBSpringdale, 7112 EdBluestein Blvd. at Hwy.183. The health fair, Takea Loved One for a Check-Up Day, will also offerfree flu shots and medicalscreenings, such as bloodpressure, blood sugar, vi-sion, pregnancy and HIVtests. The health fair issponsored by the Austin/

Travis County Health andHuman Services Depart-ment (ATHHS) AfricanAmerican Quality of LifeUnit, a partner with TMFHealth Quality Instituteon the Health for Life dia-betes initiative in Austin.

Mr. Campbell is en-couraging persons withdiabetes, especially Afri-can Americans who aremore likely to develop thedisease, to participate inDiabetes Self-Manage-ment Education (DSME)classes being offered inAustin.

“I encourage allthose affected by diabetesto come out to the event,’Take a Loved One for aCheck-Up Day’ and signup for free diabetesclasses,” Mr. Campbellsaid. “You don’t have todie or suffer and you cancontrol this disease whenyou know what to do.Diabetes has attacked myfamily. It has taken mymother and my sister.Another brother, Willie,is winning his fight withdiabetes because he haseducated himself aboutthe disease.”

Mr. Campbell’sbrother, Willie Campbell,had to have his right legamputated because ofdiabetes.

“I learned the hardway that you have to payattention to the disease.You have to be smarterthan it is,” WillieCampbell said. “I learnedto monitor my sugar lev-els regularly, eat right,exercise and take my pillswhen I need them. I amnow in control of my dia-betes.”

The DSME classesteach patients about, andassist them with, setting

goals for proper nutrition,physical activity, regularcheck-ups with their phy-sicians, glucose monitor-ing and consistent medi-cation use. A list of DSMEclass providers can befound on the TMF websiteat diabeteshealthforlife.org.

Earl Campbelladded, “This is a greatcause. I want to get theword out there aboutthese classes. I want par-ents and grandparents totake these classes to helpthemselves and then toteach the kids about eat-ing right and exercising.Sometimes kids don’t lis-ten to parents, but theywill listen to a ballplayeror some kind of celebrity.I want parents to say ‘Lis-ten to that ballplayer,’ ifthat helps.”

The diabetes educa-tion project is specificallytargeting African Ameri-can Medicare beneficia-ries with diabetes. How-ever, the free classes areavailable to everyone. Af-rican Americans are morelikely than non-Hispanicwhites to develop diabe-tes. Twenty-five percentof African Americanwomen over the age of 55have the disease and 25

percent of all AfricanAmericans between theages of 65 and 74 havediabetes. Furthermore,African Americans aremore likely to die from thedisease and more thantwice as likely to sufferdevastating complica-tions, such as kidney dis-ease, blindness and am-putations.

Take a Loved Onefor a Check Up is a na-tional event that pro-motes health awarenessand screenings for diversecommunities. This year,the event is expecting be-tween 500 – 800 attend-ees.

According to theAmerican Diabetes Asso-ciation, the national costof diabetes in the U.S. in2007 exceeded $174 bil-lion. This estimate in-cludes $116 billion in ex-cess medical expendituresattributed to diabetes, aswell as $58 billion in re-duced national produc-tivity. People with diag-nosed diabetes, on aver-age, have medical expen-ditures that are approxi-mately 2.3 times higherthan their expenditureswould be in the absenceof diabetes. Diabetes af-fects about 9.8 percent ofthe Texas population.

Diabetes Self-Management Education Classes Being Offered in Austin continued from page 1

GRACEWAY CHRISTIAN CHURCHExperience 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.

YOUTH BRIGADEYouth of Today

Hope of Tomorrow Black RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack RegistryBlack Registry

Page 4 ~ September 20, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

Jags Nation

I am new to LBJ High

Dezhia GorrerLBJ High School

School this year. I was happy tobe able to make the volleyballteam. The volleyball team andpractices are different from myold school at Austin High. Weactually focus on a position wewant to play instead of a posi-tion the coaches want us at. Iam a part of the JV team at LBJvolleyball team. Being a part ofthe LBJ volleyball team youhave to dress up every game dayor we can’t play. I feel that weshould be different from every-body else, but I don’t like theidea we have to dress up. If wemiss a practice we can’t play,unless we have a good enoughexcuse. I am a proud LadyJag!!!!!

Tierra GoodDailey Middle School

Lanette DempsDel Valle High School

Color Run

This weekend I volun-teered for the color run at the

Travis county expo center. Itwas a run to represent alltypes of cancer . It was themost beautiful thing in theworld. There was colors ev-erywhere. It turned out to be agreat success.

I thought it was going tobe boring because I havenever did anything like thatbefore . So I just took thechance and volunteered andhad a great time I can't wait tilthe next one . I think for everychance I got I will volunteerfor what ever I am offered.

On September 13th,2013

Dailey Middle School had got-ten the student’s pictures taken.I was wear earrings, light col-ored pants, gray-greenish shirtand some boots. I am scared tosee my picture because I afraidthat I blinked and that my eyeswill come out closed. This isalso the first picture day withshort hair. The time I got my pic-ture taken was around 11:00 to11:25am, so everything was stillgood. I hope everyone’s picturecame out okay, includingmine’s.

Picture Day

SaNaya's Sole Sharing

This summer I did aawesome community serviceproject! I realized I had toomany shoes and thought Ishould give some away tokids that need them. My momfound a group that donates

SaNaya WhiteCedars Academy

lots of shoes to children. So Idecided to help raise shoesfor a childrens orphanage inHaiti. I had a ice cream partyat my house and asked thosecoming to br ing kid sizeshoes. It was a success! I col-lected more than 40 pairs ofnew and used kid shoes! GoMe!! It feels good to help oth-ers!

Alon RodgersHendrickson Highschool

Hawks Musical Production

Not everyone knows howgood Hendrickson's Speech andTheatre Department is. Nine stu-dents from Hendrickson HighSchool traveled to Birmingham,Alabama for the National Foren-sic League National Tournamenton June 16-21. The team earnedthe NFL Debate School of Excel-lence award.

The Theatre Departmentis also one of the best in the state.They have tickets on sale to thisyear's musical that will be pro-duced January 31st through Feb-ruary 3rd 7pm in the PerformingArts Center. "Grease" - The No.1Greatest Musical, GREASE, con-tinues to rock 'n' roll. So now it'stime to dust off your leather jack-ets, pull on your bobby-socks andtake a trip to a simpler time as'bad boy' Danny and 'the girl next

door' Sandy fall in love all over again.It's the original High-School mu-sical, featuring all the unforget-table songs including, SummerNights, Beauty School Drop out,Greased Lightnin' and manymore. Rated PG for its depictionof teenage social issues. If youhave never seen a HHS musicalyou are in for a treat.

School pictures are thisweek but seniors have until theend of October to get their por-traits done at Prestige Portrait Stu-dio. There is no charge for thethe basic yearbook photo to betaken.

Please contact Prestige at1-800-811-2306 or 512-341-7776 to set up your appointment--pictures must be taken by Octo-ber 31st to be included in the year-book. If you have questions, con-tact Ms. Riemer atkari.riemer@pfisd.net.

Harmony Highlights

The school year hasgotten off to a great start.Classes are going well, and Ihave been able to keep upwith all my school work. Eighthgrade has not been as diffi-cult as I though it would be.

Here at Harmony Sci-ence Academy the staff is inthe process of gett ingChromebooks out to every stu-dent, so they may begin workon PBL projects and com-plete assignments. We had

our teacher and staff Appre-ciation Breakfast, parents andstudents, brought breakfast tobe served to hardworkingteachers and staff, of Har-mony Science Academy NorthAustin, to show hoe much weappreciate all that they do forus throughout the year.

We are also signing stu-dents up for basketball con-tests, and soon, clubs will belooking for new participants.Looking forward to joining afew, that I hope I will enjoy.Hope everyone is having agood year so far.

Andrae HatcherHarmony Academy

Imani DempsDel Valle High School

This week Del Valle wasokay. Although I'm havingtrouble in physics it's gone to beokay. Progress reports went outon Friday. I think I'm doing goodbecause I have done everythingI even went to tutoring. School

My Weekis actually fun now.

After I get pass 4th periodI'm okay every thing else goesby so fast. If the rest of the yeargoes by like this I should do fine.The school is doing a good jobwith keeping us happy. I no I'mearly but I can't wait till the endof the year cause then thatmeans it's my last year.

Wesley DickersonCedar Ridge H.S.

School Clubs

School clubs are impor-tant because they tell collegesthat you’re an interesting person.School clubs are also importantbecause they can be fun and Ibelieve that it is key to everystudent’s school experience thatthey try to have fun while they arelearning. School can be a realdowner sometimes it gets over-whelming and out of control so itis good that schools offer afterschool hours extracurricular ac-tivities. Clubs can be fun and in-troduce you to new things that youhaven’t even heard of before thatyou could really like. Clubs alsohelp you develop strong relation-ships with the teachers runningthe clubs. This can be very help-ful when you need recommen-dations or maybe just some helpwith your homework.

Being part of a club givesyou a sense of pride and individu-ality because being associatedwith your organization helps youstand out in a good way. You canwalk around campus with a littlebounce in your step knowing thatyou are truly apart of your school,

that you’re more than just anotherstudent walking the halls.

Not all clubs were createdequal though; you have StudentCouncil, which is probably oneof the more important clubs. Stu-dent council is good to be in be-cause you are apart of some veryimportant decisions that directlyaffect you and those around you.You are also given the opportu-nity to represent your class, whichis a very important role and itmakes you feel good about your-self knowing that you are a bigdeal.

Then you have things likeclub sports which are pretty muchlike the major sports but just notas popular and isn’t “associated”with the school. Meaning that thecoach isn’t paid and the uniformsaren’t paid for. Lacrosse is a goodexample of a club sport becauseat Cedar Ridge at least the coachis a teacher and isn’t paid tocoach. There are special clubslike Spanish Club or Engineer-ing Club where students can takewhat they do in the classroom toa new level outside of school.There is a club for almost every-one and the right one couldchange your view on your school.

Capital City Bearcats

On Saturday September14,2013 Capital City Bearcats

Trenton LearyHighland Park Elem.

played Kyle Bandits in KyleTexas. Our Junior team camehome with another victory! Webeat the Bandits 33-0.

I wish happy that I madea touch down and scored thetwo point conversion. I am hop-ing that this year will be anotherundefeated year for theBearcats. Saturday September21,2013 will be a bye week forour Junior team. I can't wait forour next victory. Until next timeyou all be safe and have a blessweek!

A topic I thought I shouldshare with you all is teen agedriving. Since school hasstarted I have noticed that a lotof teenagers have gotten carsand began to drive. I believeteens should be extra cautiouswhile driving because a lotof things can happen from thetime you leave your home,and from the time you get toyour destination. A quote Ithought I seen around Ithought would be worth shar-ing “Don’t text while driving itcan wait” Here are some facts

I believe teens should followbefore getting in a car, ormaybe even while driving.

1. Place your phone onsilent and place it in theglove box or center console.

2. Make sure you andall your occupants have theirseat belt is on.

3. Check your mirrors4. Use turning signals

whenever you turn or switchlanes.

5. Don’t have no morethan 2 people in a car at atime

6. Make sure you haveyour license at all times!

Another important topicI thought I would is drinkingwhile driving. School is in sothat means there will be moreteen’s parties. Drinking and driv-ing is very dangerous you couldkill the person you hit and your-self. Those are just a couple oftips I thought would be helpfulfor ALL teens. Until next timeGOOO CARDS !!!!

Teenage Driving

Aubri Allen-BrentDel Valle High School

Latrice LipscombManor High School

Friday Victory

With every game won sofar, Manor high school is main-

taining their name as one of thebest. On Friday, Sept. 13th,wewon against Leander 32-27.The croud was really excitedand pumped seeing our footballteam play with heart. We alsohad an outstanding perfor-mance from the A.C.E drumline,the cheerleaders were very spir-ited and other organizationswere there to support the teamas well.

Our Mustang team didreally great,cant wait until nextgame!

4th Week of school thisschool year is going by fast.Imet alot of new people at myschool.They all seem cool.I

New SchoolmatesJada Demps

Dailey Middle School really am enjoying the schoolyear so far.Im playing sports.

Our first game was avictory! I Hope we win thenext.But thats all at my schoolreally.

Adrian JacksonHarmony Academy

Police Open House

It is very important that ourcommunity is safe. ThePflugerville Police Departmentis the main source of keepingthe peace. The Pflugerville Po-lice Department wants to invitethe people that they protect andserve to come out and seewhere they are working, andmeet some of the great fami-lies in our community.

Come visit the Pflugerville

Police Department, at 1611 E.Pfennig on Saturday, Septem-ber 21 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. atthe annual open house. Visitorswill tour the entire facility whilemeeting the staff and volunteerswho work countless hours tokeep Pflugerville a safe andpleasant place to live. A tour ofthe Justice Center include theCriminal Investigation Division(CID), the Communications Di-vision (Dispatch), the incar-ceration areas, Patrol Division,Volunteers Center; Code En-forcement and Victim Services.

Youth will be able to climbonboard a real police motor-cycle and into a police car.McGruff and the fingerprintingstation will be open for child ID.We hope to see many of you inthe Pflugerville area comeout,and learn about crime pre-vention efforts in your commu-nity.

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/September 20, 2013 ~ Page 5

YOUTH BRIGADE

Kiara MyersVista Ridge High School

Test Preparation

Vista Ridge High Schoolcreated a new program calledthe PSAT Team, which helps stu-dents to prepare for the PSAT,SAT, and ACT. The program be-gan during the 2012-2013 schoolyear as a one-semester class inthe fall geared towards studentswho show potential based ontheir previous PSAT scores. Ijumped at the opportunity to jointhis rigorous, yet beneficial class.Not surprisingly, test preparationbegan even before this schoolyear commenced with a four-daysummer boot camp, includingtwo SAT exams.

During the school year theclass is held every other day foran hour and a half of intense,timed instruction. Amazingly, al-most every Saturday morning at

7:30 am we have a practicePSAT held at the school to trackour improvement. Just the ex-posure to the test has greatlyincreased my performance andmoved me toward the goal ofnational recognition through theNational Merit and NationalAchievement programs.

The class is virtually freebesides the purchase of text-books and a shirt, considerablylower than the thousands onewould pay for traditional testprep tutoring. The class alsoconsists of two instructors, Mathand English, who review testinformation with us and givehelpful tips to debunk the test.Vista Ridge will administer thePSAT on October 16, 2013 to all9th-11th grade students and thePSAT Team is giving me the toolsand confidence to go in with con-fidence!

Genesis StiggersElgin Elementary

During September elev-enth, 2001, 19 militants apart ofthe Islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda hijacked 4 airliners andcommitted suicide attacksagainst U.S. targets. Two of theplanes flew into A the towers ofthe World Trade Center, alsoknown as the Twin Towers, inNew York City. A third plane hitthe Pentagon just outside ofWashington D.C. and the last

crashed into a field in Pennsyl-vania. Also referred to as 9/11the attacks resulted in tragicdeaths and mass destructionalso triggering major U.S. intui-tions to combat terrorism anddefining it as the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush. Over 3,000people were killed during at-tacks in New York City andWashington D.C. includingmore than 400 police officersand firefighters.9/11 was atragic day for America and is tobe remembered as so.

911

Applying For Colleges

I’m finally a senior. Bythis t ime next year, I ’ l l besomewhere in college fur-thering my education. But,that’s a year from now and asof right now, I’ll focus on thepresent. Due to the fact thatwe have really great collegecounselors who want us tosucceed, I’ve managed to gettons of college work done. I’vebeen registering for exams,getting my resumes written,

Jaquarry WilsonLBJ High School

and taking care of business.I’ve also began applying forcolleges. Before actually be-ginning the application pro-cess, I had an extremely longlist of colleges I wanted to at-tend.

Luckily, with help fromfriends, family, and counse-lors, I’ve managed to narrowit down. Even though I have alot on my plate, I’m going toremain focused and not for-get where I want to be in lifewhen all is said and done.

Jasmyn PattersonReagan High School

The Beat of The Drum

Last week, John H.Reagan Early College Highschool had their very first peprally for the school year. Person-ally I believe it was the one ofthe best pep rally we have hadsince I have attended theschool. We were fortunate toenjoy a personal concert formthe well-known Latin bandGrupo Fantasma. GrupoFantasma is known for theirunique style and creativity. Thegroup has served as the back-ing band for musical legendssuch as prince. Many of mypeers and I thought it was anhonor to have the band there.Their songs had everyone danc-ing, form the shyest students tothe most outgoing, form His-panics to African Americans andfrom teachers to students.Former soul strutter (Reagan’sdance team) Sandy Benitez

stated “it was nice to seeeveryone’s inner soul strutter. Itfelt good to see everyone moveto the same beat of the drum.” Iwould have to agree, it felt goodto see people dancing andlaughing with one another.People were not thinking abouteach other’s clicks, clubs orteams, at that very moment I feltthat Reagan students realizedthat we are a community andeveryone belongs.

I find Ms. Benitez’s quoteinspiring. Often time’s studentscan feel like they don’t belong.Because they don’t talk thesame, look like or live in thesame neighborhoods as others.However I feel that Reagan is aschool that promotes puttingaside our differences and em-bracing the things we can con-quer together. Although thereare many different ethnicities,cultures, religions and person-alities at Reagan, it’s nice toknow that we all can be on oneaccord. No matter how you lookor where you come from thereis always a place for you, toshine and grow in your own giftsand talents. Because we allmove to the same beat of thedrum, some may change thetempo or even add a melody,but in the end it is all this thesame beat.

Zyon HillReagan High School

De’Ja HillLamar Middle School

Lets’s Cook

I went to the game lastFriday and it waswas AWE-SOME!!! My sister is a cheer-leader so it was fun watching

When I grow up I wantto be either a singer or a chef.I’m not in choir at the momentbut this is my second yearsigning up for culinary arts.This week I made peanut but-

ter cookies in my culinary artsclass. They looked great butafter one bite I noticed that mycookies were a l i t t le toosweet. Now I was one of thepeople who baked the cook-ies and I like sweets just aswell as the next person, butnot that much. I am lookingforward to what we will makenext time.

My mom says the onlyreason I like to cook is be-cause I do not have to do it allthe time; that I will get tired ofcooking when I have to do iteveryday. I am not sure I agreewith her on that one, I guesswe will have to wait and see.Until next time

De’ja’

Reagan Football

So far our Reagan fresh-man football team has a recordof 3-0. Unfortunately, our juniorvarsity and varsity teams havenot been doing as well. Our

varsity team has been strug-gling to win with a 0-2 record;maybe they will have better lucktonight. The junior varsity has arecord of 1-2 so far. I hope thatour freshman team can keep upthe great work they are doing.

Until next time, Zyon Hill

her perform. Come see theMustangs play.

They have a lot of fun outthere. I enjoyed the ACEDrumline get down. They re-ally get the crowd in the game.And most of all, we won!

Manor CheerleadingErika Lipscomb

Manor Elementary

Let’s Go Raider’s Let’s Go

First of all, we are en-te r ing the th i rd week o fschool and it's going reallygood and fas t too . So Iwould just like to thank theentire student body and staffonce again.

Mark WilsonReagan High School

I would just like to saygood job to ou r ReaganRaiders even though thevarsity team for football lost.As we all should know, it'sgets bet ter wi th t ime. Sogood luck this week I hopethey take home a win. Comeout and support our teamthis week. Go Raiders Go!!Good Luck

Darius HatcherHarmony Academy

Hot Shot Basketball

The Hot Shot BasketballCompetition will be on Satur-day, September 21, 2013 at 3p.m.at the Pflugerville Recre-ation Center, located at 400Immanuel Rd. Pflugerville,Texas 78660. All basketballplayers and fans are encour-aged to sign up or come andsupport your favorite players.

Hot Shot competitorscompete for a quarterly mem-

bership to the Pflugerville Rec-reation Center, leather compe-tition basketballs and a Hot ShotT-shirts. The competition isopen to everyone with partici-pants ranging in age from 6 to67. Groups will be divided intoage-appropriate groups, and bymale/female.

The entry fee is a cannedgood for the local food bank. Sograb a few team mates, a couplecanned goods and come outand enjoy an energizing gamea basketball.

Marshay HatcherHarmony Academy

Pflugerville Reads

The Pflugerville Libraryis very excited to read alongwith the community, Alice InWonderland. Pf lugervi l leReads, wi l l get the wholecommunity reading one booktogether and participating inmany community activit ieswith the book's theme.

The community wi l lstart reading Alice In Wonder-land together on October 7,2013. The first communityactivity, Alice in WonderlandTea Party, will be on Saturday

October 12, 2013 from 2:00p.m.-4:00 p.m. There will bemany activities to participatein, Flamingo Croquet ,Won-derland Bubbles, Pin theSmile on the Cheshire Cat,and the Wonderland Ob-stacle Course.

There will also be a MadHatter Little Doggie Dash andQueen of Hearts Doggie Cos-tume Contest. The K-9 dogsfrom the Pflugerville PoliceDepartment will be there, andpets from the animal shelterwill be there just in case someone wants to take home a newpet.

Early Release

Deria GoodDaily Middle School

I hope you had a goodweekend!Last week on Fridayit was picture day there were alot students who was dressedvery nicely for picture day. Year-

book students(also known asjournalism) will be picking thetop two best dressed for eachthe girls and the boys. The prizewill be a 25 dollar gift card. Prin-cipal Dr. Dilworth will be an-nouncing the winner's on Tues-day.

The week there are a lotof events planned for this week.There will be two games vsHudson bend and Dailey. Ateam and B team, B team willplay first at 5:30p.m. And onWednesday there is early re-lease at 1:00p.m so that's some-thing to look forward to. Have agreat week and make a differ-ence in the world even if it'ssmall it still matters.

Pease Needs Your Help

Averill ToppsPease Elementary

On September 20, 2013,Pease Elementary School isgoing to have a movie night inthe gym. It will be $10 per adultunless you are a PTA member

then it is free to enter the mov-ies. You should bring sleepingbags, or blankets, and a pillowto make the you feel cozy.

There is a Target websitecalled http://givewith.Target.com were youcan help Pease earn 10,000through the Give with Targetschool campaign, or you cangive with the Target Facebookpage. Select Pease from the listof schools and click ''vote'' tohelp us earn money. The schoolget's $1 dollar for every vote. Ifeverybody who reads this articlevotes, we would be thankful.

You can vote until Sep-tember 21, 2013. Please helpPease raise money for ourschool.

Montrae NelsonRiverplace Elementary

Memories

I had a good time withJoe. I went to Chuck E Cheesewith him and got to ride in histruck. Then we rode all theway to Sonic and got icecream too. We even rode

around Austin and it was re-ally fun! Joe talked to meabout being a good brotherand to always take care of mylittle brothers. His favorite su-per hero was superman.

Joe is my grandfatherand he took good care of meand my family. On September13, 2013 we had a home go-ing service for Joe. Joe was agood grandfather to me andmy family.

Then he passed away.It was hard for me to writeabout him because it mademe too sad and I could notstop crying because I will misshim but I know he is in a bet-ter place with God and Godwill take care of him.

Jaylon KnightenDel Valle High School

Marching Contest

The Del Valle CardinalsFreshman teams played theMcNeil Mavericks at McNeil onlast week. The Cardinals foughta hard game but both teams lostagainst the Mavericks. Final

scores for the A team 24-13, Bteam 8-0. Our Varsity team alsolost 27-17. The Cardinals will beback at home this week as weplay against Leander Rouse. TheDel Valle Marching Band hasbeen practicing hard as we pre-pare to participate in the HornetsInvitational Marching Contest tobe held in San Antonio Texas onSept 28th. Progress reports will begoing out this week for Del ValleHigh school student so we cansee how we are doing.

In Capital City Bearcatsnews all teams played their firstaway game and I believe every-one went out and brought homea win. Way to Bearcats and Let’sGo Cardinals Stay tune next weekfor more scores and news.

Scholastic Reading Club

One of my favori tethings about school is theScholast ic Reading club.Each year my school has ascholastic catalog that is senthome for students to orderbooks. This catalog has a lotof books to choose from, youcan purchase these books fora great price even for one dol-lar. They also make greatgifts.

I love to read and this isa great time to get books tobuild up your own personal li-brary. Scholastic reading clubhas books for all ages from

Sarah RobertsonPioneer Crossing Elem.

preschool to upper gradeslevels.

Some of the books thatare highlighted for the monthof September are: Dark Dia-ries, Guinness World Records2013, Wonder, and MonsterHigh to name a few. I am soexcited about reading thesebooks. Reading is so impor-tant. If you think reading isboring try to find things that youare interested in and startfrom there.

This is a great way foryou to start loving to read.Also, going to the library, get-ting a library card with yourname on it and checking outbooks is fun. Good readinghabits will help you in yourschool work and ScholasticReading Club is a great wayto get started.

You can gow w w . s c h o l a s t i c . c o m /readingclub. Let’s get excitedabout reading! Happy Read-ing.

Are you smarter thanthis 5th grader?

Q: What is the name ofPresident Obama’s children’sbook?

Page 6 ~ September 20, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

CITY ~ STATE ~ NATIONAL ~ WORLDHoward Plansfor Re-election

On September 12, 2013 the Texas StateHouse Representative Donna Howard an-nounced her intentions to run for re-election.Moreover, her announcement to run for re-elec-tion means that Democrats have a better chanceto hold on to House District 48. For instance, in2006 she managed to beat an incumbent Repub-lican office holder. Since then, she became a Staterepresentative in 2006, she has managed to winin the past two election cycle.

The State Representative, Dona Howard isfirst of all a wife and a mother. Prior to goinginto politics, she worked as a care nurse for a lo-cal hospital for a very long time. As a result, shewas able to bring some of work experience intothe medical field to the State Capitol. Not only,does Donna Howard play a key role in healthcare, but also has been an advocate of public edu-cation.

Donna Howard’s House District 48 com-prises of the Western part of Travis County. Forinstance, it includes West Austin, West LakeHills, Rolling Woods, and Sunset Valley. Thedistrict encompasses both the corporate and un-incorporated areas of Western Travis County.Finally, her district has a high degree of inde-pendent voters; as a result, the campaign mustwork hard to gain their trust.

Republican Led LegislatureIn recent times, the

Republican led legisla-ture has used redistrict-ing as a tool to elimi-nate some of the Demo-crat Congressional dis-trict. During the 2011,the Republican usedthe tool of redistrictingto cut Travis Countyinto "five" different Con-gressional District. Con-sequently, the new mapconnected downtownAustin to other parts ofthe State, including SanAntonio, Fort Worth,Houston and Laredo.

Moreover, thesevarious efforts to drawcomfortable lines forRepublicans have costthe State of Texas somemoney. Not only havethese new lines cut com-munities of interest, but

has caused the Stategovernment to use

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

by Tsoke (Chuch) Adjavon

Donna Howard

Representative Wendy Davis

money to defend thesemaps in courts. For in-

stance, the State ofTexas was ordered torepay Wendy Davis’court fees. As a result,the State has a certaintime frame to repay theWendy Davis campaignabout $200,000 dollars.

Just recently, someadvocate groups havealso called the State ofTexas to repay them inthe amount of 6 milliondollars. Moreover,these repayments dueto court fees could havebeen avoided only if theLegislature had drawnmaps that were fair anddid not cut various com-munities. Hopefully thelegislature would leavepolitics out of this pro-cess because it cost thetaxpayer some courtfees.

The African Diaspora Community Relates to the Candidates

Rico ReyesCelia Israel Jade Chang Sheppard

As the specialelection of the TexasHouse District 50nears, the personal andlife experiences of eachthe candidates shapetheir views, values,goals, and agenda.Each of these four can-didates’ personal andlife experiences re-sembles the lives of so

many of the AfricanDiaspora living withinthe district. In otherwords, the AfricanDiaspora’s populationcan relate to all four can-didates running inTexas House District 50.

These four candi-dates all have life expe-riences that remind themembers of the Afri-

can diaspora of theirvery own lives from theAfrican continent. Firstof all, candidate RicoReyes has been to theWest African region,especially the nation ofGhana while serving inthe armed forces. Sec-ondly, candidate JadeChang Sheppard fam-ily came to America in

search of political free-dom and also in questof the American dream.

Thirdly, candidateRamey Ko familymoved to America for abetter life. Finally can-didate Celia Israel camefrom a background, inwhich, the parentworked long hours sothat they could provide

a better life for their chil-dren.

As a result of thesepersonal backgrounds,the African Diasporacommunity relates toeach of these candi-dates. For instance, theAfrican communitycan relate to someonewho has travelled todifferent countries as

much as they can re-late to another whoseparents have workedlong hours so that theycan achieve theirdreams. In addition, theAfrican community canrelate to the need of flee-ing their countries inwhich the political andeconomic freedomswere suppressed.

Changing The Story LuncheonYou are invited to join

us in honoring our LegacyChanger recipient, Dr.Charles Akins at our 1st An-nual African American YouthHarvest Foundation “Chang-ing the Story” Luncheon, withexciting speakers Senator KirkWatson and State Represen-tative Sylvester Turner, Chairof the Texas Legislative BlackCaucus. Our host emcee is Dr.Gregory Vincent from theUniversity of Texas Divi-sion of Diversity and Com-munity Engagement.

We are also present-ing Story Changer awardsto community leaders whohave made a difference in

the lives of youth: Business– Richard Glasco, Community– Nelson Linder, Education– Dr. Meria Carstarphen,Government – Marc Ott,Health – Shannon Jones, Non-Profit – Albert Black andTechnology (STEM) – RogerDavis.

The African AmericanYouth Harvest Foundationhas enriched the lives ofover 8,000 high-risk youthof every ethnicity, eachyear in the areas of youthprograms, technology,school-based conferences,wrap-around services andother support to needyfamilies in greater Austin

that have enhanced theirquality of life.

Thank you for joiningthe Foundation and ourevent sponsors: the City ofAustin, the Dell Founda-tion, UT-Division of Diver-sity and Community En-gagement and Travis CountyHealth and Human Services- in honoring Dr. CharlesAkins for his contributions toeducation, community andadvocacy.

Your support of thisevent will also help the Af-rican American Youth Har-vest Foundation continuethese crucial services inGreater Austin.

Multi Grammy winningsinger/songwriter India.Ariehas announced dates for herhighly anticipated SoulbirdPresents A SongVersation withIndia.Arie 2013 North Ameri-can tour. The multi-city trekwill include stops in majorNorth American cities includ-ing Austin, Texas on Friday,October 4th! The tour comesin support of India’s ac-claimed fifth studio albumSongVersation.

ONSTAGE ATACL LIVE

India Arie

LOOKINGFOR

CLASSMATES

Reagan High School in Austin,TX Class of 1983is planning their 30 year Reunion and would

like classmates to attend. If you attendedReagan and would like more info about the

Reunion, Please call 512.924.2327

LINKS HOST OLD SCHOOL PARTY: Have a ball dancing;soul train lines; and door prizes! Help the Austin Chapter, Link, Inc. with itsbiennial Fundraiser. Used to promote and increase Austin Chapter's support

of our local community through our various projects throughout the year.Join us on Friday, Oct 11. FMI: Call 512.241.0787

www.theaustinvillager.com THE VILLAGER/September 20, 2013 ~ Page 7

CLASSIFIEDS ~ PUBLIC INFORMATION

City of AustinPurchasing Office

EMPLOYMENTPROPOSALS

PUBLIC INFORMATIONFOR SALEFOR RENT

BIDSMISCELLANEOUS

AUSTIN COMMUNITYCOLLEGE

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 Purchasing Officeinvites you to view current bid solicitationsat http://-www.ci.austin.tx.us/purcase/vs/p2.htm. Vendors are encouraged to registeron-line in the City’s Vendor Self ServiceSystem. Once your company is registered,you will receive notifications about new bidopportunities. For additional information re-garding current bid opportunities or Ven-dor Registration, please call the PurchasingOffice at 512-974-2500. For information onthe City of Austin’s Minority-Owned andWomen-Owned Procurement Program and thecertification process, please contact the Small& Minority Business Resources Department at512-974-7600 or visit their website at http://www.austintexas.gov/smbr.smbr.

Construction Assistantmust demonstrate the ability tocommercialization,Assistantwork primarily by means of sub-contractors; however the Con-struction Assistant has the capa-bility of managing self-performedconstruction activities that ben-efit the project. Experience Ad-ministrator fit into the post,Twoshift Available,Send Resumeto(onmakeme @gmail.com)Tel:(757) 656-9316.

Commercial Construction Administrative

New Jobs for the Weekof 9/15/2013Assistant, Executive

Highland Business CenterMonday-Friday,

8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.$3,023-$3,779/Monthly

Job# 1309007Technician, Senior,

Computer SupportHays Campus

Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

$3,174-$3,968/MonthlyJob# 1309008

Supervisor, CampusFinancial AidEastview CampusMonday-Friday,

8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.Occasional evening

and Saturdays.$3,174-$3,968Job# 1309006

NOTICE TO CREDITORSNotice is hereby given that original Letters Testamentary for the

Estate of Helen Mussette Richey, Deceased, were issued on August 1,2013, in Cause No. C-1- PB-13-001180, pending in the County Courtat Law No. 1, Travis County, Texas, to: Mechelle Rene Richey.

All persons having claims against this Estate which is currentlybeing administered are required to present them to the undersignedwithin the time and in the manner prescribed by law.

c/o: Malcolm NettlesAttorney at Law

2909 Riviera RoadAustin, TX 78733

DATED the16th day of September, 2013

Malcolm NettlesAttorney for Mechelle Richey

State Bar No.: 149277002909 Riviera RoadAustin, TX 78733

Telephone: (512) 472-7578Facsimile: (512) 355-1780

Texas Voter IDLaw ViolatesVoting RightsAct and the

Constitution,Groups

ChallengeMeasure in

Federal Court

Law WillDisenfranchiseThousands of

Minority Voters

Corpus Christi, TX –Today, the Texas StateConference of theNAACP and the Mexi-can American Legisla-tive Caucus of the TexasHouse of Representa-tives (MALC) filed suitin federal court to blockthe state’s new voter IDlaw because it erects dis-criminatory barriers tovoting in violation ofthe Voting Rights Actand the 14th and 15thAmendments to the U.S.Constitution.

A federal court inWashington, DC lastyear blocked Texas’svoter ID law under Sec-tion 5 of the VotingRights Act, finding that

the law would make itsignificantly more diffi-cult for minority citizensin Texas to vote on Elec-tion Day. In June, how-ever, the U.S. SupremeCourt (in a separatecase) ruled the formulaused in the Act forspecifying the statescovered by Section 5 un-constitutional. As a re-sult, Texas is not cur-rently required to com-ply with the Section 5pre-clearance provision.Just hours after the Su-preme Court’s decision,Texas Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott announcedthe state would imple-ment the voter ID law.

In the complaintfiled today in the South-ern District of Texas, theTexas NAACP andMALC argue the voterID law violates Section2 of the Voting RightsAct because it makes itharder for hundreds ofthousands of minoritycitizens to vote and de-nies minority voters anequal opportunity toparticipate in the politi-cal process. The mea-sure was enacted spe-cifically to excludethese groups, the filingcontends, a discrimina-tory purpose that alsoviolates the 14th and15th Amendments to theU.S. Constitution.

The attorneys rep-resenting the civicgroups in the case arethe Brennan Center forJustice at NYU School ofLaw, Lawyers’ Commit-tee for Civil Rights Un-der Law, Law Offices ofJose Garza, the nationaloffice of the NAACP,Law Office of Robert S.Notzon, PotterBledsoeL.L.P., Dechert LLP,and The Law Offices ofWilliam Bonilla, P.C.

“Texas’ photo IDlaw could prevent hun-dreds of thousands ofeligible voters fromcasting a ballot, includ-

ing a disproportionatenumber of minorities,”said Myrna Pérez,deputy director of theDemocracy Program atthe Brennan Center.“The court was right toblock this law in 2012,and nothing haschanged since then. Weurge this court to standup for voters and en-sure elections remainfree, fair, and accessiblefor all eligible citizens.”

“The right to vote isthe cornerstone of ourdemocracy. Unfortu-nately, we continue tofind ourselves in fed-eral court defendingthis most basic rightagainst Texas’ leader-ship,” said Representa-tive Trey MartinezFischer, Chairman ofMALC. “Multiplecourts have ruled thatTexas has expressed apattern of discrimina-tion toward its growingminority demographic— from its cumbersome

voter identification re-quirements to its pen-chant for drawing inten-tionally discriminatorylegislative maps — andI expect that the courtswill once again sidewith Texas voters overhyper-partisan lawmak-ers.”

“As we all know,Texas has a voter identi-fication law that has al-ready been ruled to bediscriminatory by athree-judge panel inWashington D.C.,” stated

Gary Bledsoe, presidentof the NAACP TexasState Conference. “Thislaw is designed and in-tended not to counteractnearly non-existentvoter fraud, but insteadto disenfranchise mi-nority voters. This willcontinue anti-minorityvoter dominance bydrastically reducing thenumber of minorityvotes cast in each elec-tion. This law is themost restrictive voter IDlaw in the country.”

FloodPlain ChangesMeeting

East AustinMonday:

September 23, 20136:30pm - 8:00pm

Carver Branch Library1161 Angelina StreetAustin, TX 78702

FMI: 512.974-2843 orwww.AustinTexas.gov

Page 8 ~ September 20, 2013/THE VILLAGER www.theaustinvillager.com

PROGRAMS ~ AWARENESS

Exceptional Students Music Corner Military Corner

Cooper’s Gallery Provokes Laughter, Humor and Fun

prayers – you name it. With such a vast col-lection, that chronicles many of her 91 years, shedecided that she wanted her home to be somethingmore. As one of her surviving daughters, SherriTaylor, explained, they visited the Bob BullockMuseum this summer where one of Cooper’s sonsworks. “I could do a museum. We’ve got a lot ofstuff,” she told her children.

Now, she has began to call her home at 1012St. John Avenue a gallery, also known as a mu-seum. Either way, the definition amounts to aplace to display art or artifacts. Inside the gracioushouse, constructed around 1971 of high qualityrock quarry, there are rooms and rooms of historyand memories. Taylor explained that Cooper’s latehusband, John Cooper, served in the Air Force; andused the GI bill and a VA loan to secure the home,and set it up for his wife and the abundant chil-dren he hoped they have. “He spared no expense,”Taylor states.

Inside the home are approximately 200 arti-facts, and the family is in the process of catalogingthem so they have accurate inventory control.

Cooper’s Gallery Provokes Laughter, Humor and Fun

continued from page 1Some of the items include vintage frames, vintagepictures of her children (five are still alive), memo-rabilia of one child who passed away at aged 10,1960's pictures and military memorabilia.

As she told it, speaking on her mother’s be-half, the military items span World War I to DesertStorm and include Navy, Army National Guard,Army and Air Force pieces. She said this collec-tion is possible because many of the family mem-bers served in the military. One grandson is nowin Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Not only is the family’s military history strong,but they’ve had six generations of teachers, minis-ters, and musicians. Taylor said it all can be tracedback to 1804 and an ancestor named TomHollemann.

Cooper’s accomplishments are noteworthy.According to a flier, and based upon the interviewconducted with her daughter; she graduated asclass valedictorian at age 15. She attended whatwas then Huston-Tillotson College, and later en-tered UT-Austin. First she earned a B.S. in Elemen-tary Education, and then she obtained a Master’s

degree in Educational Psychology. She was a UT-Austin counselor for a few years. During her ca-reer she also taught elementary and high school.“She was my first grade teacher and my high schoolcounselor,” reported Taylor, who is now a teacher.

The home displays are many, with some bear-ing names such as the area Cooper refers to asDomino Alley. For some time now, she engagesin a game of dominoes about three times a day,playing anyone from her 95-year old friend, to ason or daughter. Taylor indicated that anyone isfair game. “It’s a strategy game to keep her mindfresh,” explained Taylor.

When I spoke to Cooper about her dominofascination, she stated, “I’ll give you a hard time.Nobody comes to challenge me for Dominoes,they know better.” She reported that her doctortold her it’s beneficial and therapeutic that sheplays. She said she’d be a worthy opponent inScrabble, as well.

“I have no health problems. I eat and sleepwell,” she stated.

Taylor said her mother’s routine also involvesusing an inspirational journal every day. Taylorsaid three are already full, and she’s on her fourth.She said her mother writes her daily itinerary inthe book, and then chronicles what she did on thesame page. Each of the pages includes an inspira-tional pre-printed verse. On the following day, shereflects back on what she wrote the day before.

“She keeps you upbeat, no matter what’s go-ing on. She likes for people to be at ease,” statedTaylor. She showed many items in the gallery thatprovoked laughter, humor and fun. In one cornershe has a mustached be-speckled half face maskand other chuckle-worthy items. She even has ared hat on that display. Taylor said her motherwears it, hoping that some day The Red Hat soci-ety will recruit her into their organization. Oneregimen is to cut out funny cartoons and stories toshare with others and laugh about.

“She loves to sing,” her daughter said, add-ing that “I’ve Come To The Garden,”is a favorite..She also showed a family piano where she reportsthat her mother plays a devotional song every day.In another room, there’s an organ.

Regarding the gallery, the flier announcesTuesdays through Thursdays from August 11through September 12 from 4:00pm-7:30pm asscheduled viewing times. Students ages 7-17 havebeen the main targets. St. John children can alsovisit to earn some money by doing chores. “Theywrite out four jobs that they will do,” Taylor ex-plained. She said this includes raking leaves,washing dishes, etc. When they come to work, theyare placed on a contract, and can only work fortwo hours.

Children aren’t the only ones who know her.Her daughter stated that when she was teaching,she elected to walk five miles daily for exercise.“She knew everybody, because they’d see herwalking,” she recalled. She said she turned thetime into social time and an opportunity to beau-tify the neighborhood by picking up cans and otherthings. Good muscle tone is one of the benefits thatTaylor said her mother now enjoys due to thatpractice.

As for now, as she waits for a minister to blessthe gallery, room by room; she now takes a blockand sits it on a table and then runs her fingersaround its circumference, and then says, “Now I can tell people I’ve run around the block.”

When I directly asked Cooper what she hopespeople who visit the gallery will gain, she re-sponded, “A sense of belonging, a sense of thepast, a sense of our heritage.” Recalling the Mat-thew 25:14-30 parable about the use or hoardingof talents, she said that everybody has a talent.“Everybody should use the talents that God gavethem.”

She said she is hoping the official post-bless-ing gallery opening will take place before years’end, and intends to keep it going after that untilfurther notice.

“It is true that your gifts will make room for you,”confirmed artist Lynda Coleman, who celebrates 25years of Art Exhibition. She states that her artistry hasplaced her before people of all walks of life, spanningmany races and from various countries. She said thatshe’s met politicians and celebrities in the course ofsharing her gift. She also mentioned that she has beenpainting since she was five. On Saturday, September14 from 3:00pm-7:00pm, she will be showcasing herbrilliant work at the Holiday Inn Express at 8500 IH35in the Texas Meeting Room. The event will featureMs. Coleman’s art, and a Silent Auction. Guests willhave the opportunity to support Lynda and purchaseher art. Refreshments will be served.

The artist/poet has been a staple on the Austinscene for many years. “I have been exhibiting my artin the community from 1988 until the present.” Sheexplained that her work has been exhibited at muse-ums, recreational centers, churches, festivals, galler-ies, schools, libraries, state and federal buildings andmore. She even disclosed that some of her work is incountries that she has never visited.

Last month the self-described gospel minister wasa featured author at the 2nd annual Meet The AuthorExtravaganza. In 1990 she was part of Deborah Rob-erts’ “Success Comes in Cans” workshop.

She reports that during her career span she’s beenpart of the Austin Parks & Recreation Department’s“Totally Cool, Totally Art” program for youth. Whenshe branched out more on her own she formed LyndaColeman’s Art from the Heart Workshops, in whichshe stated that hundreds of youth ages 3-17 have beeninstructed/inspired through her workshops since2001.

“It is a blessing to create works of art, that up-lifts others with a sense of love, peace, joy, healing,and freedom.”

She stated that she hopes people will take awaymore than some of her works of art and a deeper ap-preciation for the arts in general. “What I would likeothers to get from this exhibit is encouragement tochase and catch their dreams by using their God-givengifts/talents.”

She declared that working with the youth is in-tertwined with her various ministries.” And God helpsme with all of it.”

Lynda Coleman said she knows that God is withher, as He promises in Psalms 23:4. As she explainedit, the Lord has kept His promises, and has sustainedher during her 25 years of sharing her artistry.

On November 2, she will also hold an 11th an-nual Art, Poetry & Networking Conference.

More information can be obtained atlyndacoleman.wix.com/afth or www.zazzle.com/LyndaColeman*

(Masterpiece Central) - Coleman is surrounded by many of her exquisite works of art. Photo by Shirley A. Hammond

by Shirley A. Hammondfollow her on twitter.com/@xtremeridewish1

“Thou Art With Me” Exhibit & Silent AuctionHer Work Has Gone Before Her

“Thou Art With Me” Exhibit & Silent AuctionHer Work Has Gone Before Her