Check out this news from Miami Dade College. Pay particular attention to the opportunity to earn an Associate in Science in Transportation Logistics and future opportunity to earn a bachelor of science degree to address emerging markets. ~ Team Va-Va

Registration for the fall term at Miami Dade College (MDC) is underway, and students are encouraged to register early in order to get the courses and schedules they need to graduate. Classes are expected to fill quickly, and this year, registration will close at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 25. There will be no late registration once classes start on Monday, August 26.

The Panama Canal expansion and emerging markets in Latin America are expected to create a boom in the workforce, and to address this need, MDC will launch this fall the Associate in Science in Transportation Logistics. A Bachelor of Applied Science in Supply Chain Management is slated to start fall of 2014. Transportation logistics and supply chain management includes a broad range of jobs, from procurement of raw materials, warehousing and transporting of goods, to automobile, rail and aviation fleet maintenance and operations. Students interested in this program can contact Andre Naumann at 305-237-5952.

MDC’s bachelor’s degree options include biological sciences; electronics engineering; film, television & digital production; nursing; several education tracks; physician assistant studies; public safety; and supervision and management.

Please note MDC’s new Priority Registration system is also in effect, which allows early registration by appointment to assist students who need specific courses to graduate. Students can register, pay for classes, check course availability, print schedules, and more at www.mdc.edu. On-line service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A $20 non-refundable fee is charged for processing first-time applications.

For more information, or to register, call 305- 237-8888, or visit www.mdc.edu

The National Action Network (NAN) is spearheading a prayer vigil and rally in downtown Miami at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse, 400 North Miami Ave., Miami, FL 33128, 10:00 AM, Saturday, July 20, 2013.

This activity is part of NAN's national campaign in 100 cities across the country. There will be prayer for the family of Trayvon Martin and calls for change in Florida's stand your ground law.

Chrome Knights Motorcycle Association and Christ Fellowship Church invite you to come out and support the “SPEED TO FEED KIDS” even at the Campbell Drive K-8 Center, 15790 SW 307th Street, Homestead, Florida 33033 on August 10, 2013, 12-5 p.m.

There will be live music, food, vendors, stunt fighters and show bikes. Come help feed the kids and have fun!

One hundred percent of the proceeds go to help feed hungry children in Miami.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, sponsorship, vendor, or school supply donation opportunities please contact Jenny Love at [email protected] or (786) 506-5076.

The Walking One Stop is making it first ever visit to Homestead this Monday, July 22nd.

The Walking One Stop is the signature initiative of the Miami-Dade Anti-Gang Strategy and involves elected officials, faith leaders, social and economic service providers along with criminal justice personnel and concerned community activists bringing social and economic service referrals door-to-door in neighborhoods that have experienced recent, severe, or persistent incidents of violence – putting you face to face with residents who are traumatized.

On Monday, July 22nd at 9:30 a.m., we will gather for a short briefing at the Homestead Police Department Headquarters located at 4 Krome Ave, Homestead, then, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon, the Walking One Stop will be dispatched to a nearby location to be announced. Please RSVP by 12:00 noon this Friday, July 19th to [email protected] and include your name, affiliation, and contact information.

Please feel free to forward this message to whomever you deem appropriate. Everybody talks the talk but are you willing to walk the walk?

Best regards,

Wayne E. Rawlins
Developer and Lead Consultant
Miami-Dade Anti-Gang Strategy
www.waynerawlins.com

The following is a statement from Alan Jenkins, Executive Director of The Opportunity Agenda, a national organization that conducts research on media and public opinion in order to understand how to build public support for policies that improve people's lives. Their programs focus on racial equity and African-American men and boys, as well as immigration, economic opportunity, and reproductive health and rights.

"Whatever the jury's verdict, two things are clear: First, George Zimmerman acted on pernicious racial stereotypes when he suspected, followed, and killed an unarmed seventeen-year-old boy, Trayvon Martin.  Second, the same stereotypes underlie too many decisions by police, employers, and others in our society, denying African-American young people and others the promise of equal opportunity for all.

"We all carry around stereotypes and we have a shared responsibility to overcome them, by committing to equal opportunity, by acting on evidence instead of bias, and by requiring training, guidelines, and accountability for people in power.  If George Zimmerman, as a neighborhood watch member, had had that commitment, training, and guidance, this tragedy might never have happened.

"Our research also makes clear that a pattern of distorted media depictions of African-American men and boys contributes to stereotypes and discrimination.  Media outlets have a responsibility to ensure fair, accurate, and varied coverage of all communities that helps us to understand instead of fear each other.  This is an important time for media leaders to make a public commitment to fulfilling that responsibility."

The late Vernon Jarrett, renowned journalist and syndicated columnist, who created and launched the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), a national initiative of the NAACP, left a great legacy for students of African heritage.

Now in its 35th year, Miami-Dade County’s competition has been conducted; gold medalists and finalists have been selected and the National Competition is underway in Orlando, FL, July 11-14. This year, 11 local students achieved Gold Medalist distinction and represent MDCPS, the Miami-Dade NAACP Branch and its Youth Council.

Miami-Dade NAACP ACT-SO Medalists 2013

SCIENCE

Chemistry/Biochemistry

Netgie Laguerre

Dr. Michael Krop Senior High

Computer Science

Kayla Clark

TERRA Environmental Center

Medicine & Health

Kayla Clark

TERRA Environmental Center

PERFORMING ARTS

Dance

Kierra Gowdy

Miami Coral Reef Senior High

Alondra BalBuena

Robert Morgan Educational Center

Drama

Imani Jennings

Dr. Michael Krop Senior High

Akiya Bailey

Miami Northwestern Senior High

Music Vocal - Classical

Amberlyn Etienne

Miami Coral Reef Senior High

Marcus Blair

New World School of the Arts

Music Vocal - Contemporary

Akiya Bailey

Miami Northwestern Senior High

VISUAL ARTS

Architecture

Joseph Herring

Miami Jackson Senior High School

Unique Watkins

Miami Jackson Senior High School

Shannon Butler

Miami Jackson Senior High School

Drawing

Reinaldo (Rey) Jaffet

Miami Palmetto Senior High School

Painting

Phillip Burrows

Design & Architecture Senior High School

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Business

Clairdine Estimable

Miami Edison Senior High School

Frantz Senat

Miami Edison Senior High School

Chevon Williams

Booker T. Washington Senior High School

By Priscilla Dames 
      Miami-Dade County Black Affairs Advisory Board
      Chair

On August 28 it will be exactly fifty years since the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his landmark speech to 250,000 civil rights supporters of every tint and hue. The words he spoke tugged at the heart and ruffled the conscience of millions who heard him over the airwaves. He poignantly demanded that this country honor its promise of “the riches of freedom and the security of justice” for all. Who could argue with such a request, whether from the perspective of American values, faith-based morality, or simple human decency? Who indeed? We were a nation divided, not only by race, but also by sensibility. There were millions who listened to King’s words with outrage for the usual trio of reasons: ignorance, guilt and fear. We have inherited the results of those reasons –the disenfranchisement of the Black male as we continue to lose our children, our families, our communities and our society at large. And like it or not, we are all in it together.

King foresaw that 1963 was not an end but a beginning. The message he delivered was elegantly simple, but he knew that change would be neither quick nor easy. Justice has many levels. A country has its laws. A country has its agencies, administrations and departments. A country has its courts. And then, a country has the minds and the hearts and the spirit of its people. Today, as I sit at my desk with the Miami sunshine streaming in, I have to reflect on the progress of the journey that was defined that day in 1963, in view of the events that unfold at my doorstep.

Trayvon Martin was an unarmed Black youth walking in Sanford, Florida the night he was shot to death by a man who considered him a threat. There are questions regarding the behavior of the local police that night. There are questions regarding the killer’s intentions and motivations. Nevertheless, as reported in the Newark Advocate by DeWayne Wickham on June 19, attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Martin family, has stated, “We don’t care what the racial makeup of the jury is . . . we just want a jury that can put aside its biases, consider the evidence and deliver a fair verdict.”  If the trial is “fair and transparent,” Crump explains, the Martins will accept the verdict, regardless of what it is. This family’s dignified response to the cruelest of griefs reflects the scope of King’s righteous demands.

Miami Gardens, FL – Less than fifty miles from the City of Miami Gardens sits one of the nation’s premier underwater diving locations, Biscayne National Park. In a multi-agency and cross-state partnership, Miami Gardens youth will have the opportunity to explore scuba diving and related career fields during a hands-on presentation and in-pool demonstration by Youth Diving With a Purpose, (YDWP) Thursday, July 11th, 2013 at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex, 3000 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens, FL 33056 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. The Tennessee-based organization is designed to challenge and empower youth (ages 15 to 23) to pursue scuba diving skills which create limitless educational, travel and maritime career paths as well as foster more mature youth involved in environmental stewardship. 

Led by dive instructor Kenneth Stewart, teen divers from Youth Diving With a Purpose will conduct volunteer dive excursions in Biscayne National Park the week of July 7th, 2013. Extending their commitment to environmental education and exposing more youth of color to the world of diving, YDWP will join the City of Miami Gardens Parks and Recreation Department, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and members of the National Parks Conservation Association to conduct intimate demonstrations of dive equipment and technique with Miami Gardens youth in an effort to motivate, encourage and inspire the next generation of youth of color to pursue dive skills and water-related career opportunities. 

“Often-time youth of color are not exposed to these activity choices or career possibilities and that’s one reason I created Youth Diving With a Purpose,” explains Stewart. “I wanted to create an organization of African-American divers who would travel, learn and explore together. If I knew years ago that you could make a living doing this, my life would have been totally different today.” 

City of Miami Gardens youth taking part in this unique demonstration will hear from expert leaders in the dive field, including dive master, Kamau B. A. Sadiki, Vice President of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers and an Underwater Archeology Advocate, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Dive Master Lt.  Marcend Coney, and Dive Master Jay Haigler, a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Scientific Diver; one of only 586 divers worldwide to hold the distinction. A film documentary crew working with Youth Diving With a Purpose and a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue videographer will also be on scene capturing all of the day’s events. 

The three-hour hands-on scuba diving demonstration is expected to be the first in a series of new partnerships between City of Miami Gardens Parks and Recreation and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue in efforts to expose more youth of color to water-related recreational activities and career opportunities. 

For more information on the Youth Diving With a Purpose program partnering with City of Miami Gardens, contact Julia Yarbough, Media Relations Specialist at [email protected] or (305) 622-2480.

Tuskegee University celebrated 132 years on July 4

TUSKEGEE, AL — As many marked America’s independence on the Fourth od July, Tuskegee University celebrated its 132 years of existence by honoring its two founders. The city and university community united for two graveside ceremonies for founders, Booker T. Washington and Lewis Adams.

During a wet start to the Fourth of July holiday, dozens braved rain and wind to join descendants of Washington and Adams to pray, sing songs and lay wreaths at the men’s graves. Rev. Charles Michael Adams, one of Lewis Adams’ descendants, led the prayers for the event.

“This meek and humble pioneer accepted the charge to become the first president of this mighty institution that has produced thousands and thousands of professionals throughout this nation and abroad,” Adams said of Booker T. Washington.

Alumna and Washington’s great granddaughter, Robin Washington Banks, read a passage from Washington’s memoir, “Up From Slavery,” and shared some history about the university’s humble beginnings in a one-room shanty and subsequent success.

“When he passed away in November, 1915, Booker left an institution with an endowment of approximately $2 million and property worth over $1.5 million and an annual budget of nearly $300,000,” Washington Banks said. “…To God be the glory!”

Later, a wreath of yellow and red flowers was placed on Washington’s grave and the “Lifting the Veil of Ignorance” statue. Afterward, there was a motorcade to Ashdale Cemetery in the City of Tuskegee to honor Lewis Adams at his gravesite. It was Adams who wanted to establish a school in the city and brought Booker T. Washington here to create the institution. Adams, the university’s first lobbyist, also secured the $2,000 appropriation from the state to pay teachers’ salaries.

After placing a wreath of red, white and blue flowers at Adams’ grave, participants sang “We Shall Overcome” and Rev. Adams thanked God for his ancestor having the vision to establish a school in the area. He also shared some insight about his relative’s character during his prayer.

“Mr. Adams was firm, fair and friendly,” he said. “He was the epitome of a true leader and he cared for all people from all walks of life.”

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