Monthly Archives: April 2009

Friendship-West hosts Political Forum for Dallas City Council Candidates

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PRESS CONTACT

Tonya Neal

(972)228-5200

tneal@friendshipwest.org

Friendship-West Social hosts City Council Candidate Forum

Social Action Community invites candidates vying for Southern Dallas seats

Dallas, Texas – On Thursday April 23, Friendship-West Baptist Church will host a City Council Candidate Forum where citizens of Southern Dallas can learn more about the views of those seeking office.  The event will be hosted by the Social Action Community.

“We want voters to hear more about the candidates’ positions on issues that directly affect citizens of Southern Dallas,” says Danielle Ayers, Minister of Justice at Friendship-West.  “We have held a number of political forums in past years and have found them to be an excellent way to engage and educate our community,” she says.

All city council candidates who filed to run in Districts 4, 5, 7, and 8 have been invited to participate in the forum.  Candidates are expected to field questions related to economic development, quality of life, public safety, and other aspects of local government.  For more information visit www.friendshipwest.org

What:             City Council Candidate Forum

Who: Dallas Candidates from Districts 4, 5, 7, & 8

Where: Friendship West Baptist Church

2020 Wheatland Road

Dallas TX, 75232

When: Thursday April 23, 2009 @ 6:00 p.m.

Friendship-West Baptist Church is a vibrant church in Southern Dallas whose vision is to be a Christian Community within the community that transforms the community.  The Senior Pastor of Friendship-West is Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III.

Why is Magic Johnson pitching Jackson Hewitt and Rent-a-Center

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It was odd to see Magic Johnson on T.V. selling the virtues of Jackson Hewitt’s Tax Services.  Not everyone feels comfortable doing there taxes, so seeking help from a big name company is understandable.  But many of the African-Americans that Jackson Hewitt targets don’t realize that the person they are working with isn’t that much more qualified to do their taxes than they are, just in tune with the software.

They’re predatory loan scheme, called Tax Refund Anticipation Loan, is the real problem.  This is where Jackson Hewitt takes part of their customers tax refund because they can’t wait to get the check in the mail.  Jackson Hewitt -just like pay day loan sharks- are seizing on black  folks struggle with delayed gratification.

When I then saw Magic fronting Rent-A-Center, I saw it as a disturbing trend.  Mr. Johnson appears in 15-30 second TV and radio spots created by Dallas ad agency Launch. I just found out Rent-A-Center is  one of my new neighbors, moving in to a retail spot vacated by Blockbuster some time ago.

“In teaming with Magic Johnson, we have found the ideal partner to help get the word out. He’s living proof of how, with hard work and determination, you can get the best things in life — which is exactly what Rent-A-Center is all about.”

Ann Davids, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer

Check out MagicTricksUs.org

It’s that “best things in life” line that gets me.  If you have to use RAC to get the “best things in life” then you don’t need it.  And trust me, if it came from RAC, it’s probably not the best.  Magic Johnson’s name means too much let these two companies trade off of it.

I didn’t question Magic and his support for Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary.  But his partnership with Jackson Hewitt and Rent-A-Center is troubling to say the least.  Teaming the Magic brand that we’ve trusted for so long (Starbucks, Movie theaters, etc.) with those that take advantage of our community is a bad mix.  Magic is better than that.

Here are some customer experiences from Rent-A-Center at ConsumerAffairs.com

  • Lashelle of Va Beach VA (04/02/09) This place is a joke. They promise one thing and then call you a lair when you ask them about it. I got an X-box from them that didn’t have the right pieces and when I went to return it and get my money back like I was told many times wouldn’t be a problem they just kept saying that I was wrong. They even came right out and said that I was lying. They are disrespectful and rude. I will never do business with them again and if you want to get what you pay for you wouldn’t either

    They are stealing peoples money!

  • Michael of Los Angeles CA (03/31/09)
    Well my wife went in to exchange a laptop to upgrade for a different one, she was told many times to come on in and that she could apply the balance she has paid towards a more expensive one, to which we agreed, shen she got there after 1 hour they tell her they could not we would have to start all over again and that they would not apply a penny towards the new laptop.

    they have done this too us several times in the past. we originally purchased it thru AArons to whom they own and changed name to RAC- i know many many people who have been ripped off from RAC so my wife left the laptop there after having paid 80% of the exaggerated purchase price.

    Lost $800.00

  • Shane of Costa Mesa CA (03/24/09)
    I had the worst experience that I ever had with a company. They were not true to their word and shuffled me around. After signing the terms of agreement and took my money they went back on their word. They were mismanaged, had bad communication, and would not return my calls. They made me wait all day for nothing. They did not do their research and once it they arrived, they were confused and no idea of my adress. I was a monstrosity, and I would definitely tell people not to do buisness with them or give them money.

More from Gambia, Part 5 of 6

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By Nazim Ansari

Peace and Blessings friends and family,

4/15/09 – Banjul, The Gambia

Today was a day of fun, fun, fun.  We had lessons in drumming, dancing, Wolof language, and we visited the fishing market, and shopping market.  Our tour guide, Molong, took us to an area to learn the drumming, dancing and Wolof from some of the locals in The Gambia.  It was a blast!!! 

The drumming was exciting, and the dancing was downright hilarious, my mother got out and danced!!  Next, we stopped at a tie-dye shop to learn how the tie-dye and local prints are created.  The artist use all natural colors from flowers and plants to make the printed shirts, dresses, tablecloths, etc.

From there we toured the local fishing market and saw all the different types of fish the locals catch. There were shark fish, ugly fish, and all kinds of fish.  They use long fish boats and catch all the fish with a line, they are really skilled at their craft.  From there we went to the local marketplace to shop, it was a little exhausting, but extremely fun!

Our tour guide told us from the beginning, whatever price they quote you, take 1/3rd of it and bargain at that price…he was absolutely correct.  There were hundreds of small shop owners lined up in rows after rows all aggressively persuading you to come into their shop.   The local Gambian shop owners are not rude, but they are very aggressive because a large portion of their economy comes from tourism, so if they don’t sell, they have money.

I enjoyed the negotiations and bargaining and meeting so many people, there was so much to buy I just couldn’t get everything I wanted, from handmade jewelry, wooden sculptures, drums, and paintings to shirts, leathers bags, purses, and sandals.

The bargaining was fun, but make no mistake about it, the people in the country don’t have much income opportunities outside of small tourist shops, so I saw a lot of poverty traveling through Banjul, but from what I’ve learned The President has made a lot of progress over the last 10 years developing The Gambia, so its a growing country.

Our day ended with dinner at a restaurant right on the beach, it was a perfect day and the food was great, I have seen some of the most beautiful beaches and sunsets while in Africa.  Tomorrow we head out to visit the village of Kunta Kenteh, so please stay tuned for this.

Attached are pictures of;

1. Nazim dancing, they didn’t know I knew how to do the African tootsie roll.

2. Fishing market where all the local fishers dock to catch their fish, see the boats in the water.

3. Marketplace where shopping occurs.

4. Some have no choice but to sell their products on the side of the road.

5.  Sunset in Africa…beautiful.

Peace and Blessings,

-Nazim

Important Dallas South Survey

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In the next two months, Dallas South will take critical steps towards providing unprecedented coverage and commentary to the Dallas area. The first step to that end is soliciting feedback from the Dallas South Family to understand what’s going well, what we can improve on, and what you are seeing elsewhere on the web.

Please take a few moments to take the following survey. Your opinions are extremely important to us.

Click Here to take survey

Thank You,

Shawn P. and Dallas South

Dallas South Family Member makes it to Gambia

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BY NAZIM ANSARI
April 13 – Riding to Banjul, Gambia
This morning we left Banjul and rode a long way to The Gambia, which is a neighboring country to Senegal. We will be here for a few days before we depart back to Senegal.

The trip was a good experience because we made many stops and it ended up taking us 10 hours to get there by charter bus. We were able to stop along the way to visit some of the small remote villages in the countryside. Our group stopped in one village and the areas is called Bandulu where the people live in “huts” (that’s the best way I can describe their living quarters).
But the major misperception is that Africa and Africans are savage, ignorant people. Even in the most remote villages the people speak at least three languages, Wolof -the native language of Senegal- French, and English. Also, they live a rural life as their customs call for, have electricity and running water, know what cars, cellphones, etc are, but they choose a life that is normal to them and their tradition.

Their communal lifestyle is amazing, everyone works to help each other in the village. The values are much more prioritized, (God, family, and community) and they are very happy and peaceful. Hmm, would you trade in the stress of job, mortgage, car note, pollution for the peaceful life enjoying the beauty of nature, fresh air, well water, growing your own food, and a peaceful community life? Well probably not completely .
I learned a lot about priorities from them which will help make my life more peaceful, and there are a lot of things we should absolutely adopt. The children really value education, a pen is the best gift you can give them, they love it. Notebooks or books of any kind is like hitting the lottery, and education is treasured.

There is a true respect for elders, who set the tone for the village. The council of elders, resolve all the issues that arise. As we got to the border to cross into The Gambia, the area was packed with people and a lot of children, because Monday was a holiday.
I met several young brothers, who upon hearing my name asked if I was in the Nation of Islam. They had heard The Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan speak when he visited Gambia and loved it and love him, needless to say I was very excited. I spoke with one young man for a while we waited, and I have been reading a few books on the trip, one of them is Closing The Gap, so I gave him a copy of this book and he was very appreciative.

Also, I saw several young girls selling cashews, which grow plentiful in the Senegal/Gambia region, and a few of the girls had pink marks on their faces which looked like their skin had been burned. We asked them what happen, and were told that they young girls are trying to bleach their skin. I was very disappointed to see and hear this, because our minds are still trapped in this destructive thinking, even for our young people in Africa.

We finally made it to our hotel, and it’s late, the Ocean Bay Hotel in Banjul, Gambia is also built directly next to the ocean, but it’s dark and I can’t see anything, only hear the water. We have a full week planned, school visit, museum, another slave dungeon in this area, market, etc…so I will try to update you all later this week.
Attached pictures are;
1. Entering into the home of the Chief of the Bandulu village.
2. Inside the bedroom, notice the bedroom suite.
3. Another “hut” home for another family in the village.
4. Mom carrying little baby on back.
5. Bro. Rente, who I gave my book to.
6. Gambian little girls, notice the one on the left, she has a pink burn mark on her forehead where she is starting to bleach her skin.

Ethics complaint against Dave Neumann allegeds over $20,000 in campaign donation violations

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This week I received an ethics complaint that was submitted to the city against Dallas Councilman Dave Neumann. Realize that I’ve known his District 3 opponent Casey Thomas for years, supported him at the NAACP, and even introduced him when he announced he was running for office.

The documentation that accompanied the complaint seemed straight forward, but the Neumann campaign answer is not. I waited a bit before I posted anything but now I can direct you to Sam Merten’s article for the Dallas Observer that sums up the complaint, documents related to this complaint and others, and the Neumann camp’s reaction. Here’s a portion of Sam’s extensive report:

  • A supporter of Casey Thomas filed an ethics complaint Monday against Dave Neumann, who’s being challenged by Thomas for his District 3 city council seat, claiming he violated the Dallas City Code. Brian Wesley alleges Neumann accepted $27,925 in contributions that exceed the allowable $1,000 donation per individual in each election cycle.
  • We called Neumann’s office Monday for comment and were referred to his consultant, Laura Reed Martin. She told us Tuesday that his camp was unaware of the complaint and stressed that it’s “standard” for candidates to be able to raise money in current election cycles and apply them to past cycles when a debt is carried.
  • This isn’t the first time Neumann has found himself in trouble regarding his finances. After The Dallas Morning News busted him in February for overspending his office budget by $8,000, he initially declined to pay the funds back. Instead, he asked council members Linda Koop and Mitchell Rasansky to dip into their budgets to cover his overage, but both were unwilling. (Shawn P. aside – aren’t Republicans supposed to be fiscally conservative?)
  • Eleven days later, Neumann was nailed again by the paper, this time for accepting contributions exceeding the monetary limit. He claimed his office audited his campaign finance reports and discovered four contributions of $1,000 that violated city code.

So apparently in this case, Neumann’s people are arguing that if you have campaign debt for previous elections (say the 2007 election cycle) then you can solicit donors of the current year to pay towards that debt without it counting it towards the $1,000 per election cycle figure.

So Mr. John Public -under the Neumann campaign rules- can write a $1,000 check in January of 2009 for this year’s race and then another $1,000 check in April of 2009 that would count towards Mr. Neumann’s first election. Make sense? Didn’t think so.

So all the hot water we have seen Southern Dallas officials get into over “ethics violations” that run over and over on the news, and Neumann seems to be skating through just fine. I say that because it is not even seen as an issue worth reporting by the T.V. stations. Excellent work by the Observer, we’ll see how the other outlets follow this from here on out.

I’ll leave my commentary at that. There’s enough meat in Sam’s article to chew on for quite some time.

Southwest Center Mall Urban Land Institute Use Study announced to nervous tenants

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On Thursday, tenants at Southwest Center Mall were briefed about the Urban Land Institute Use Study commissioned by the Dallas City Council last week. The city will pay $120,000 to try to figure out what to do with the struggling retail outlet.

Edna Pemberton lead the meeting of current and future tenants. Some of those in attendance were getting nervous about rumors circulating that the mall was about to shut down. Many of them, like African-Imports and Mr. Pretzels, have been at the mall for years.


Pemberton did open up about some of the malls more tedious moments: pleading with an Oncor worker at the meter with his hand on the switch about to shut the mall’s power off. And a similar episode when the waters was about to be turned off.

But it’s been the City of Dallas and Councilman Tennell Atkins who’ve thrown lifelines out to the mall to help keep it afloat. Mr. Atkins recounted some of the history that landed the trouble mall in the hands of a bankruptcy court.

Councilman Tennell Atkins

Both Pemberton and Atkins were hopeful about the mall’s future, though the councilman curbed Ms. Pemberton’s enthusiasm on at least two occasion when she seemed to suggest that the mall will continue to exist in the same or similar capacity after the study.


Atkins also urged the group to start looking towards the 2010 Bond Package when the mall and community could request that funds for sorely needed infrastructure improvements are included.

As the meeting concluded, they announced a number of events planned for the near future:

  • Next Thursday April 23rd there will be a formal kickoff announcing the Urban Land Institute that will include Mayor Tom Leppert, Deion Sanders and others.
  • On May 6, a breakfast is scheduled to recognize National Small Business Appreciation Month. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis (who the members from SWC met with on a trip to Washington) has been invited to speak at the breakfast.
  • May 16, the mall plansto recognize the accomplishments of current U.S. Trade Representative and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk who is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at U.T. Arlington the day before.
  • Labor Day Festival September 5-7 produced by CWhatsPoppin.com that will include a Gospel and Soul Concerts, Bike/Car Exhibits, Comedy Shows, Purple Carpet Fashion Show, 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament and more.

Ms.Pemberton acknowledged the contributions of a number of members of the community who have supported the mall through its uncertainty, including Rev. Tommy Brown who she called “The Mall’s Pastor” and Danielle Ayers, Minister of Justice at Friendship-West Baptist Church.  Dallas South will continue to update the progress of the mall.

R.I.P. Dallas makes is presence known, gathers 600 young professionals to support “Vote No” Campaign

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It’s amazing what a group of friends can do with an email a Twitter account, and a few facebook messages.

Early this week I got an email from a friend that I trust. It read as follows:

Hello:

I would like to invite you as my special guest for theDallas Young Professionals for the Convention Center Hotel Luncheon, next Thursday April 16th from 12-115pm at Eddie Deans Ranch (Downtown Dallas off Lamar Blvd).

The benefits of attending this luncheon will be powerful networking with the top young business and political leaders in Dallas and information and planning session for supporting the Dallas Convention Center Hotel.

This will be the first event of its kind where we are expecting over 300 young corporate professionals/entrepreneurs to attend. If you are serious about building your network and growing your business or climbing the corporate ladder, then you must be there. If you received this email it is because I truly believe that you are a young professional leader who will continue to excel.

I’m not sure how many more invites I’ll get to events for “young professionals,” but I’ll ride that train until it runs out.

Anyway, I thought since Dallas South was one of the first entities in Dallas to offer an opinion on the Convention Center Hotel , and since people link the site to the project, it seemed like a good idea to at least show my face. Wasn’t sure how they’d pull off 300 people since I was just hearing about it…but I try not to judge.

A couple of days later I received another email from someone that I didn’t know, and a phone call on yesterday from someone else asking if I was planning to attend. I’m not a rocket scientist, but I’d say it seems like they were covering their bases. It felt like momentum to me.

So when exited off I-35 and headed toward Eddie Dean’s Ranch, I halfway expected the bumper to bumper traffic turning into the parking lot. And when I got inside the room; it was jumping.  A lot of folks in attendance were shaking their heads at the beginning, and now that I know more of the story, I can see why.

As it was told, about a week ago 4 or 5 friends got together and asked themselves how could they impact the Prop 1 and Prop 2 elections. They decided to hold a meeting to get out the facts about the proposals and what they think it would mean to Dallas.

So supposedly they emailed their friends and asked their friends to email their friends, started as website called R.I.P.Dallas, and there we all were at Eddie Deans. 600 people showed up for the gathering. Even the organizers were visibly shocked.

Now let’s be clear, the 4 or 5 friends aren’t just anybody. The guys I met and that I was introduced to were the sons of some heavy hitting Dallas businessmen. But they have a (somewhat) diverse circle of friends that produced more African-Americans than I had expected to see.

There was a question and answer session with Dallas City Council member Ron Natinsky, a few people from the audience to speak, a slide presentation and some words from the mayor. All and all a really good meeting. Check the RIP Dallas site. We’ll be ramping up convention hotel talk next week.

A couple of hours after the meeting ended, I received an email from “Grim” the fictional leader of the group. Here’s what Grim had to say:

Will we soon be saying R.I.P. Dallas? If the two propositions on the May 9 ballot pass, very likely.

That’s why we are asking YOU to get on board the movement to Vote NO! on Propositions 1 and 2 on May 9 and to forward this message to 20 of your friends.

More than 600 souls have already joined our campaign but we need many more. Here’s how you can get involved:

1. Campaign headquarters is Loft 111 at South Side on Lamar. Drop by when you can to help with strategy, pick up signs and get on camera to speak your mind about billionaires and unions pushing their agenda on our Dallas.

2. We will be conducting an urban sign blitz Friday April 17 at 4:00 pm. E-mail me if you are willing to assist – we’ll convene at campaign headquarters (see above).

3. We are going to storm City Hall next Wednesday, April 22. E-mail me at grim@ripdallas.com to participate.

4. Forward this e-mail to 20 people you know and encourage them to join the campaign.

5. Go to the website where you can read blog posts by Grim (feel free to comment), view photos and videos of our upcoming stunts all over Dallas and read about projects in jeopardy if Propositions 1 and 2 prevail. If you are at work you may want to check your volume:

http://www.ripdallas.com

Gotta run. Lots to do. This election is going to be the death of me yet…

Grim.

This is how movements are created in the 21st Century. What started as an idea a week ago has become a coalition in short order. I’m looking forward to seeing what these guys (and ladies that are now working with them) have up their sleeve for city hall next week. It looks like it could be a doozie.

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Racialicious and Afro-Netizen Bloggers join the Roundup Thursday Night

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Chris Rabb

More people continue to tune in to the  Shawn P. Williams Show and our new segment Bloggers Roundup. This week I’m excited to bring in two guests that I recently spent time with at the Poynter Institute.

Latoya Peterson

On Thursday Night at 9 PM Central, Kristin and I welcome Chris Rabb, chief evangelist from  Afro-Netizen.com and LaToya Peterson of Racialicious.com, an African-American female gamer who educates readers on issues of race.

This week we will discuss the National Criminal Justice Act of 2009 proposed by Jim Webb and how changes in the media will specifically effect the Black Press.  Tune in and check us out by clicking The Shawn P. Williams Show.