Home Blog Page 169

Harris’s Interview with Black Journalists More Sedate Than Trump’s Before Same Group a Month Ago

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for a rare extended campaign interview Tuesday with a trio of journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists. (Matt Rourke, Associated Press)

By  MATT BROWN and DARLENE SUPERVILLE | Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday decried Republican Donald Trump for inflammatory rhetoric about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, and on other topics, saying voters should make sure he “can’t have that microphone again.”

Sitting down for a rare extended campaign interview Tuesday with a trio of journalists from the National Association of Black Journalists, Harris said her heart breaks after threats of violence have disrupted the city following comments amplified by Trump and his running mate alleging, without evidence, that immigrants are kidnapping and consuming people’s pets.

Two days after Secret Service agents foiled an apparent assassination attempt on Trump, who blamed Democratic rhetoric for the latest threat to his life, Harris said that “there are far too many people in our country right now who are not feeling safe.” She referenced the threats to immigrants, but also the conservative Project 2025 blueprint for the next Republican administration and a GOP-led effort to restrict abortion access.

“Not everybody has Secret Service,” she said. “Members of the LGBTQ community don’t feel safe right now, immigrants or people with an immigrant background don’t feel safe right now. Women don’t feel safe right now.”

Harris said she personally has confidence in the Secret Service and feels safe under their protection. She spoke briefly with Trump on Tuesday to express her gratitude that he was safe, but in the interview said his rhetoric should be disqualifying.

“When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a deep level that your words have meaning,” Harris said, without mentioning Trump by name. “Let’s turn the page and chart a new way forward and say you can’t have that microphone again.”

Harris said the Republican attacks on the city and migrants there were “lies that are grounded in tropes that are age old.”

The sedate interview in Philadelphia stood in contrast to former President Donald Trump ’s appearance before the same organization just a month ago, which turned contentious over matters of race and other issues.

The Trump interview opened a chapter in the campaign in which the Republican candidate repeatedly questioned Harris’ racial identity, baselessly claiming that she had only belatedly “turned Black” at some point in her professional career. Trump has since repeatedly questioned Harris’ racial identity on the campaign trail and during the September presidential debate.

Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, has repeatedly dismissed Trump’s remarks as “the same old show.” During her September debate with Trump, she said it was a “tragedy” that he had “attempted to use race to divide the American people.”

The vice president insisted she is working to earn the vote of Black men and not taking any constituency for granted. Black male voters are traditionally one of the most consistently Democratic-leaning demographics in the nation. But Republicans have tried to make inroads, while Democrats worry about flagging enthusiasm at the polls.

“I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket,” Harris said. “Black men are like any other voting group. You gotta earn their vote, so I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m gonna have it because I’m Black.”

Harris declined to say if she supported reparations for descendants of slaves, but said, “we need to speak truth about the generational impact of our history in terms of the generational impact of slavery, the generational impact of red lining.” She said expressed openness to studying the question “to figure out exactly what we need to do,” but said her focus was on building economic opportunity.

In Trump’s interview with NABJ, he lambasted the moderators and drew boos and groans from the audience at times. The interview also sparked debate within the NABJ convention itself, which operates both as a networking and communal space for Black professionals in media as well as a newsmaking event.

As with Trump’s appearance, the audience was made up of NABJ members and college students, but the tenor was markedly different. Where Trump called the reporters interviewing him “rude,” “nasty” and denounced their questions as “horrible,” Harris referred to the reporters who pressed her as “esteemed journalists.”

The crowd was inaudible throughout the Tuesday interview with Harris. In July, Trump’s comments were often met with laughter, shock and confusion from the room, which largely consisted of student journalists and media professionals outside political news.

Trump, his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and other Republicans have criticized Harris for largely avoiding media interviews or interacting on the record with reporters who cover her campaign events. She and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, gave a joint interview to CNN last month. Her campaign recently said she would be doing more local media, and last week she sat for her first solo television interview since becoming the Democratic nominee, taking questions from a Philadelphia station.

Asked whether Americans are better off today than four years ago when she and President Joe Biden entered office, Harris did not directly answer the question, instead referencing the state of the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and bringing up her plans to try to lower housing costs and promoting herself as a “new generation” of leader.

Harris said her candidacy offers the country a chance at “turning the page on an era that sadly has shown us attempts to by some to incite fear to create division in our country.”

Janiyah Thomas, Black media director for the Trump campaign, said Harris’ remarks to the National Association of Black Journalists on Tuesday reveal her record of failures for Black Americans.

“She told the NABJ that after three and half years of her failed policies, grocery prices are too high and the American Dream is unattainable for young Americans,” Thomas said. “We can’t afford four more years of Kamala Harris. It’s time to put President Trump back in the White House and restore economic prosperity.”

Harris has largely sidestepped traditional media appearances and instead focused on rallies, grassroots organizing and social media engagement, where the vice president can sidestep questions from independent journalists about her policy record and proposed agenda.

Tuesday’s event was moderated by Eugene Daniels of Politico, Gerren Keith Gaynor of theGrio and Tonya Mosley of WHYY, a Philadelphia-area public radio station that co-hosted the gathering.

Asked whether she would change U.S. policy toward the Israel-Hamas war, Harris said she endorsed Biden’s pause on 2000-lb. bombs to Israel and didn’t signal any daylight with the president.

Harris noted the killing of Israeli civilians — and some Americans – by Hamas on Oct. 7 and added that far too many “innocent Palestinians have been killed” in Israel’s response.

She added that the Israel-Hamas war has to end and a ceasefire and hostage deal must get done, while calling for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. She said the goal is to ensure “the Israelis have security and Palestinians in equal measure have security, have self-determination and dignity.”

NABJ noted the importance of hosting the conversation in Philadelphia, a major city in a battleground state with a large Black population. Philadelphia was also the home to one of the major precursor organizations to NABJ.

For years, the association has invited both major presidential candidates to speak before the convention. Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden all attended NABJ events as presidential candidates or while in office.

Brown reported from Washington. AP writers Zeke Miller and Colleen Long in Washington contributed.

Dissonance: Two-Person Play Deftly Explores Race, Love, and Friendship at Red Mountain Theatre, Sept. 21

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
Kerri Sandell, left, plays Lauren; and Marci Duncan, plays Angela in Dissonance, the play where they open a cafe in a historic Black neighborhood and uncover deeply held perceptions that threaten to dismantle their friendship. (Provided)

By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times

What happens when two friends, one Black, one white, who have been acquaintances for two decades open a business together when the topic of race is a difficult conversation to have? Can their friendship survive an honest discussion about how they truly feel?

Those are questions Marci Duncan and Kerry Sandell, Florida-based actor-writers in a new play titled “Dissonance”, a 90-minute two-person drama asks during Red Mountain Theatre Company’s 7TH Annual Human Rights New Works Festival starting Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22.

The three-day event features four new pieces including a reading of “Dissonance”, Saturday, September 21 at 2 p.m. at the Red Mountain Theatre.

“This play is about two friends opening up a café together, and because of some events that happen, they now have to be honest with one another,” said Alabama-based playwright and actress, Marci Duncan. “They have to talk about things that they have never really talked about before. They dodged it. They’ve ducked it, but they’ve never really had an honest conversation about race.”

Kerri Sandell, left, and Marci Duncan. (Screengrab)

In the reading, Angela, a Black woman, played by Duncan and Lauren, a White woman, played by Sandell, met in graduate school, became godmothers to each other’s children. As they open their cafe in a historic Black neighborhood in Pensacola, Florida, they uncover deeply held perceptions that threaten to dismantle their friendship.

The play is set just after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, who was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the hands of a white police officer that sparked a series of protest against police brutality nationally and globally.

Four years later some of the same issues that sparked a conversation around race remain, said the playwrights.

“[The play] is timely,” said Sandell. “It was timely when we wrote it. It timely again as we go into political season, and some of that is [because] of what we saw in the media, and what we saw in social media back then, and now we are seeing it again. We are very much divided. It shows a portrait of us as Americans or as humans,” Sandell said.

Following the summer of the Floyd murder, Sandell remembers coming to see Duncan in a play at the Emerald Coast Theater Company in DESTIN. “She had been on my heart a lot,” Sandell recalled.

Adding, “I’m a mom. She’s a mom, we had 19, 20 years old sons at the time, so I had been thinking about her as a mom and thinking about the conversations she was having with her son, Jamari, versus the conversations I was having with my son and how they were different. After that [visit] I asked her how she was doing and if she had a second to talk and I just shared that with her.”

Sandell said she told Duncan that she believed that they should write a play about the conversations. “We’re both theater artists and that’s kind of a natural way actors and theater artists make sense of the world by talking it out, by storytelling, by narratives,” said Sandell.

Sandell, who serves as an Academic Advisor for the College of Science and Engineering at the University of West Florida said she met Duncan from an acting class.

“I had actually taken an acting class with her (Duncan) at the theater department, and we just had a professional working relationship and didn’t really know each other beyond acquaintances. We would say we were friends, but we didn’t have an intimate relationship before we started this project,” Sandell said.

Duncan, who teaches acting and directing at the University of West Florida where she is the director of the acting program, said honest talks can be healthy “especially when the end goal is unity and understanding and not necessarily to win or to be right. I think that’s what we need. We need to hear each other. We need to understand each other, even if we don’t agree, we still need to be able to talk to one another.”

This is Duncan’s playwriting debut and Sandell’s first play collaboration. Marci and Kerry extend invitation to Dissonance, (youtube.com)

During the pandemic while most were under quarantine, Duncan and Sandell met via zoom and wrote over a shared Google document.

“We had these conversations that Lauren and Angela have in the play in a different set of circumstances, but we had these conversations about race and asking each other questions about what your first experience or awareness of race?  What do you believe about this? Some taboo things that I might not naturally ask her,” Sandell said. “We have difficult conversations but it’s not a scary play. It’s shows one way that people can have a conversation about race.”

“We keep telling this story because we want people to understand just random conversations with strangers about race, that’s not productive. It doesn’t work. Conversations with people who you are in a relationship with, I think that’s where you should start,” said Duncan. “As long as your end goal is to understand, and to bring unity, I think those are healthy discussions to have with one another.”

Red Mountain Theater Company’s 7TH Annual Human Rights New Works Festival, Friday, September 20 through Sunday, September 22. The three-day event features four new pieces including, a reading of Dissonance, a two-woman play about race, love, and friendship held Saturday, September 21st at 2 p.m. For more visit here.

 

‘I Would Love for You to Go on This Journey of Life With Me … Will You Marry Me?’

By
Birmingham Times
-
0

BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times

ASHLEY AND CAMERON DAVENPORT

Live: Bessemer

Married:  July 20, 2019

Met: Although Ashley and Cameron attended Auburn University at the same time, their paths never crossed. In 2017, Ashley’s uncle, Walter, tried to play matchmaker, and told her about a ‘nice young man’ he knew who would be great for her. Then, Cameron’s cousin Danny, who worked with Ashley at the City of Birmingham in the Division of Youth Services, also tried to set the two up, but neither attempt worked.

However, in May 2018, the City of Birmingham hosted the Nusa [Neighborhood USA] Conference at the Sheraton Hotel in Birmingham. Ashley and Cameron’s cousin Danny worked the event, and Cameron attended as a chaperone for the youth group from his church, 45th Street Baptist Church in East Lake.

“I was aware that he may show up because I made the name tags, and when he came in I recognized him from the picture my uncle had shown me and my nerves started popping,” Ashley laughed. I felt like ‘OK, girl, get yourself together.’ I had some excitement to see what was about to happen. During a panel, I needed a little help, and I asked him to take some pictures of the panel for me… and to get those pictures I put my number in his phone so that he could send them to me, and after he sent me the pictures, we didn’t converse. But the next day I texted him to say thanks for helping me out and it was nice to finally meet you.”

Cameron recalls Ashley’s uncle trying to play matchmaker and showing him her photo as well and after meeting her at the conference Cameron inquired about her through his cousin, Danny, who had also tried to set them up.

“He said, ‘Oh yeah, I was supposed to hook y’all up’,” Cameron laughed. The next day when Ashley contacted him, Cameron was pleased.

“I was excited to see a text and asked her out a week later.”

First date: May 2018, at the Hoover Tactical Firearms in Hoover, Alabama and Purple Onion.

“I wanted to do something unique and exciting and learn more about her. So I texted her and asked her how she felt about guns, and she responded ‘It depends…’, I wanted to ask her out on a date and I wanted to see how she felt about the gun range, and she agreed to go,” Cameron said.

“I asked her if she knew how to shoot and she said ‘yes’, and I gave her the gun and she didn’t know what to do with it,” Cameron laughed. “I got behind her and showed her how to use it.”

“I had been to the gun range before with my dad, so I was somewhat familiar, but I don’t know a whole lot about them… and Cameron just handed me the gun and was like ‘OK, go’?’,” Ashley laughed. “And when he got behind me and showed me how to use it I felt like, ‘OK, cool, maybe he is feeling me.’”

“After that, we went to Purple Onion and talked for like three hours,” said Cameron.

The turn: Late July 2018. “After the third date, we had a conversation about our intentions with each other and we both said we were dating with intention. And for me, there was a shift because Cameron wasn’t dating other people and we weren’t dating just to date,” Ashley said. “And later in July, we spent the whole day together doing sweet things, walks in the park, lunch, and then he drove me to the top of a mountain on the southside that overlooks the city and we talked, he asked me to be his girlfriend and we shared our first kiss.”

“I was intending on asking her to be my girlfriend that day, so I wanted to make it special and let her know how her future with me was going to be — special,” Cameron said.

“After we shared our first kiss, he was like ‘I only kiss my girlfriends’, and I was like OK, he’s for real.”

Ashley and Cameron Davenport met in 2017 after being set up by her uncle. The couple married in 2019. (Provided Photos)

The proposal: April 7, 2019, under the Magic City sign on the Rotary Trail. Ashley attended church that day with Cameron and his family at 45th Street Baptist Church in East Lake, and after service, they all went to dinner. After dinner, Cameron blindfolded Ashley for a drive around town where she called out locations, they were at based on her memory of the area and the turns Cameron was making. Once they arrived at the Rotary Trail, Cameron got a blindfolded Ashley out of the car and led her to the sign.

“We got out of the car and continued playing on foot. She’s walking blindfolded and she’s guessing where we were on the Rotary Trail and once we landed at the Magic City sign, all our family and friends are there waiting for us,” Cameron said. “I got down on one knee and told her to take the blindfold off and at first, she was stunned by everyone being there — about 30 to 40 people — and I said, ‘I would love for you to go on this journey of life with me.  Ashley Stuckey, will you marry me?’ and she said ‘Abso-freaking-lutely!’.”

“When I took the blindfold off I was blinded by the sun, and [after my eyes focused I saw] everyone standing there with their phones pointed at me. I was completely shocked, I was oblivious to what had been happening,” Ashley said. “And when we were taking pictures I whispered, ‘Did you talk to my dad?’ and he said he did so I was relieved. It was a great feeling. The ring was pretty, he did really well, and I was overwhelmed with joy. So much so, afterward, I was like we gotta go sit down and marinate on this,” she laughed. “I wanted to know the details, like how did I miss this?”

The wedding: At Vulcan Park and Museum in Homewood overlooking the city, officiated by Pastor Andra Sparks of 45th Street Baptist Church in East Lake. Their colors were blush and sky blue, and their wedding reception was at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

Most memorable for the bride was the ride around town after the reception in the convertible Camaro they rented. “We rode around with the top down and he drove me back up to the top of the mountain where he asked me to be his girlfriend and we just sat there and took it all in,” Ashley said. “That was where it all began and it came full circle. And after that we went and got Waffle House and took it back to the hotel [Home 2 Suites by Hilton, downtown Bham] and were sitting there thinking this is the beginning of our lives together,” Ashley said.

Most memorable for the groom was first laying eyes on his bride. “I hadn’t seen her all day, and our wedding was an evening ceremony at 5 p.m., so finally getting to lay eyes on her when she came walking down the aisle felt surreal,” Cameron said.

They honeymooned in Hawaii and Las Vegas. “We had a 10-day honeymoon. We went to Hawaii for six days and then Vagas for four more days. It was nice,” Ashley said. “It was full of adventures and relaxation. Hawaii was the adventurous part, and Vegas was more chill, it was the vacation from the vacation.”

Words of wisdom: “Be intentional with keeping God at the center of your marriage and as your foundation. Over-communicate. Continue kissing goodnight. I know it sounds cliche, but if anything is on your mind or going on, that kiss refocuses you and you remember nothing is bigger than your marriage,” Ashley said. “And always go for double sinks in the bathroom,” she laughed.

“Communication is key to making sure you’re on the same page,” Cameron said. “Have patience, neither person is perfect so make allowances [for mistakes] for the other person. And make sure you’re intentionally loving each other and actually bestowing love on one another. Think about them more than you think about yourself.”

Happily ever after: The Davenports attend 45th Street Baptist Church in East Lake, where Cameron serves as a Deacon, and teaches youth Bible study. They are expecting their first child in October 2024.

Ashley, 35, is a Vestavia Hills native, and Vestavia Hills High School grad. She attended Auburn University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in human sciences, and Liberty University [online] where she obtained a master’s degree in elementary education. Ashley is a fourth-grade teacher at I3 Academy in Woodlawn.

Cameron, 35, is a Forestdale native, and Minor High School grad. He attended Auburn University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education from Grand Canyon University [online]. He is a high school history teacher and football and basketball coach at Banks Academy in the Huffman area.

“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.

Birmingham Personal Injury Attorney | Guster Law Firm, LLC

Beginning Jan. 2, All Birmingham Food Trucks Must Undergo Fire Inspections

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
All food trucks in Birmingham will now need to have a yearly fire inspection by the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. (City of Birmingham)

Ayron Lewallen | WVTM

Changes are coming, and they could affect business owners across the City of Birmingham.

A Monday meeting at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham addressed key topics such as business licenses, vending during major events such as the Magic City Classic, safety measures to begin operating a truck, and more.

Starting Jan. 2, 2025, food truck owners will be required to get a fire inspection before even applying for a business license or other permits. During the meeting, the City of Birmingham explained this is an effort to make sure all business owners are on the same page.

In the past, getting a yearly fire inspection was a free service to business owners by the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. Now, that service will cost $100. That fire inspection is the first step for business owners to make sure their food truck meets the requirements. City employees hope this will minimize confusion for food truck owners.

“Previously, it was a little more cumbersome for our vendors and taxpayers to come in and they would have to go back and do some backtracking,” city of Birmingham’s Yolanda Lawson said. “We’ve made the effort to streamline that process to kind of make it a more succinct process that ends up with the tax and license division, which should be the last step. But before it was basically people had a tendency to visit the tax and license division then we would have to send them away and then they would have to come back and back and forth. We’ve made the effort to eliminate that.”

Toni North owns Tasteful Touch Catering and Food Truck. She will feel the impact from the extra money she has to put into her business to feed people’s souls when she’s already $6,000 in the hole. On the other hand, though, she does understand the need for new safety measures.

“They’re requiring you to have the fire suppression system that wasn’t required before now, which is more that would cost me just to have that installed in front of you,” she said, “and I had to change my gas line. It’s safety management. I understand that aspect of it. We need those. We need safety measurements in place. Other cities around Birmingham that require it so why not?”

The city also announced there will be no food trucks allowed inside Legion Field. Instead of allowing food trucks to park under the stands, chefs can request a concession stand space, but those are limited to just 14 spaces with 30 entrepreneurs interested. North is grateful businesses along Graymont Avenue near the stadium will allow food truck owners to use their parking lots, but that’s just a band-aid to fix the problem.

“I think the business owners will be affected by the impact of not being able to participate in Magic City Classic,” she said, “and it has been such a boost to the economy and to small businesses, especially food vendors.”

The city also made changes to the way business owners pay their taxes as well. Business owners said those changes are expected to start next month.

For more information about the new requirements, visit the city’s website here.

UAB Light Pollution is Being Tackled Through New Lab, Campus SHINE

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is addressing light pollution with new Campus SHINE at UAB program. (UAB)

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is addressing light pollution via the Campus Safe and Healthy Illumination for the Nighttime Environment at UAB.

Light pollution is the poor management and distribution of artificial lighting released into the natural environment.

Michelle Wooten, Ph.D., assistant professor of astronomy in the Department of Physics, is the lab director for Campus SHINE at UAB.

Wooten says this project illuminates the necessity for targeted lighting that promotes the overall safety and wellness of UAB students and campus environment preservation. Proper lighting practices improve the visibility of one’s surroundings by reducing glare. Well-designed lighting can save the campus money through eliminating energy expenditure in unnecessary directions, supporting visibility of the stars, and protecting human and environmental health.

“Untargeted lighting can negatively affect our well-being and our natural environment,” Wooten said. “Excessive lighting at night can disrupt melatonin production and throw off our circadian rhythm.”

In addition to having negative effects on on-campus students, light pollution can largely impact the natural wildlife and environment. Light pollution can impact the ecosystem, for example via the disruption of biological processes in plants and pollinators. Excessive untargeted lighting is also a global factor in climate change, through unnecessary fossil fuel burning and release of greenhouse gas emissions.

In preservation of the nighttime sky, the American Astronomical Society formed the Committee for the Protection of Astronomy and the Space Environment, or COMPASSE. Wooten, a member of the AAS who serves on this committee, brought the Campus SHINE subcommittee efforts of COMPASSE to UAB.

CampusSHINEmap 2
Wooten and her team took data on each light on the campus green, highlighted in yellow. (UAB)

Wooten launched Campus SHINE at UAB this summer. In collaboration with UAB Facilities, Wooten and her student assistants have been working to assess the current state of on-campus lighting.

The Campus SHINE at UAB team first geolocated the lights on the campus green. Wooten and her team took data on each light, documenting whether it was shielded, analyzing whether the phosphorus coating was fully intact and measuring the correlated color temperature.

“Targeted lighting is arguably the most important element in proper lighting techniques, so you want outdoor lighting to be shielded,” Wooten said. “You also want to make sure to use ‘warmer’ or redder-appearing colors, so we want nighttime lighting to reduce and preferably eliminate blue wavelength emissions.”

Correlated color temperature is measured in the Kelvin unit. Lights that peak in longer wavelengths appear softer or amber-toned and emit under 3,000 K, which are dark-sky-friendly temperature readings. White or bluer-appearing lights emit primarily at a higher temperature. Readings over 3,000 K to around 7,000 K, bluer-appearing lights have a greater negative impact on human and environmental health. Bluer light scatters farther into the atmosphere.

Students interested in participating in projects related to Campus SHINE may consider enrolling in the course AST 121: Starry Skies in Birmingham, a City as Classroom, offered in fall 2024.

Brian Templeton, director of Planning, Design and Construction for UAB Facilities, says the work of Campus SHINE and Wooten is greatly improving their ability to accurately inventory the diverse population of over 3,800 lights around UAB’s campus.

“The data they are collecting allows us to better manage the efficacy and efficiency of our campus lighting, including reducing light pollution and improving compliance with DarkSky initiatives,” Templeton said.

The recommendations made by Wooten and her team will be incorporated into the campus master plan in 2025.

Tito Jackson’s Family Announces the Death of Jackson 5 Singer At Age 70

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
The family of former Jackson 5 member announced that beloved singer Tito Jackson has died at age 70. (Mark Von Holden, Invision)

By  BRIAN P. D. HANNON | Associated Press

Tito Jackson, one of the brothers who made up the beloved pop group the Jackson 5, has died at age 70.

Tito was the third of nine Jackson children, which include global superstars Michael and sister Janet, part of a music-making family whose songs are still beloved today.

“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce that our beloved father, Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Tito Jackson is no longer with us. We are shocked, saddened and heartbroken. Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being,” his sons TJ, Taj and Taryll said in a statement posted on Instagram late Sunday.

The Jackson 5 included brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. The family group, which was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, produced several No. 1 hits in the 1970s including “ABC,” “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There.”

The Jackson siblings from their television program The Jacksons. Front, from left: Janet, Randy, La Toya, Rebbie. Back, from left: Jackie, Michael, Tito, Marlon. (CBS Television, Public Domain)

The Jackson 5 became one of the biggest names in music under the guidance of their father, Joe Jackson, a steelworker and guitar player who supported his wife and nine children in Gary, Indiana. As the family’s music careers took off, they relocated to California.

Born on Oct. 15, 1953, Toriano Adaryll “Tito” Jackson was the least-heard member of the group as a background singer who played guitar. His brothers launched solo careers, including Michael, who became one of the world’s biggest performers known as The King of Pop.

Michael Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009. Speaking to The Associated Press in December 2009, Jackson said his younger brother’s death pulled the family closer together.

“I would say definitely it brought us a step closer to each other. To recognize that the love we have for each other when one of us is not here, what a great loss,” he said, adding he would personally never “be at peace with it.”

“There’s still moments when I just can’t believe it. So I think that’s never going to go away,” he said.

In 2014, Jackson said he and his brothers still felt Michael Jackson’s absence in their shows, which continued with international tours.

“I don’t think we will ever get used to performing without him. He’s dearly missed,” he said, noting that Michael’s spirit “is with us when we are performing. It gives us a lot of positive energy and puts a lot of smiles on our faces.”

Days before his death, Jackson posted a message on his Facebook page from Germany on Sept. 11, where he visited a memorial to Michael Jackson with his brothers.

“Before our show in Munich, my brothers Jackie, Marlon, and I, visited the beautiful memorial dedicated to our beloved brother, Michael Jackson. We’re deeply grateful for this special place that honors not only his memory but also our shared legacy. Thank you for keeping his spirit alive,” he wrote.

Tito Jackson was the last of the nine Jackson siblings to release a solo project with his 2016 debut, “Tito Time.” He released a song in 2017, “One Way Street,” and told the AP in 2019 that he was working on a sophomore album.

Jackson said he purposely held back from pursuing a solo career because he wanted to focus on raising his three sons, TJ, Taj and Taryll, who formed their own music group, 3T. Jackson’s website offers a link to a single featuring 3T and Stevie Wonder titled, “Love One Another.”

Tito Jackson also is survived by his brothers Jermaine, Randy, Marlon and Jackie, his sisters Janet, Rebbie and La Toya and their mother, Katherine. Their father died in 2018.

Jackson’s death was first reported by Entertainment Tonight.

16th Street Baptist Church Holds Commemoration Service for 4 Girls Killed 61 Years Ago

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
16th Street Baptist Church held a commemoration service Sunday to remember the four girls killed in a bombing the morning of Sept. 15, 1963. (File)

WVTM/The Birmingham Times

On Sunday, family and church attendees remembered the four girls killed on Sept. 15, 1963, when a bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham 61 years ago.

The church held a commemoration service as those in attendance recalled the loss of 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and 11-year-old Denise McNair, who were killed that morning.

Kimberly McNair Brock

Kimberly McNair Brock, sister of Denise McNair, was there at this Sunday’s church service.

“A lot of my family went to this church, so it brings back a lot of memories,” said Brock.

After many years of investigations and legal proceedings, three men were found guilty in the bombing.

Members of the Ku Klux Klan planted a bomb inside the church that killed the four young girls. Collins’ younger sister, Sarah, was blinded by the blast, which also injured 22 others.

That same day, police shot and killed 16-year-old Johnny Robinson after a group of kids reportedly threw rocks. Virgil Ware, 13, was shot to death while riding on the handlebars of his brother’s bicycle. (The teens who killed him got no jail time.)

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sent a telegram to President Lyndon B. Johnson, “Dear Mr. President, I shudder to think what our nation has become when Sunday school children … are killed in church by racist bombs.”

Days later, he told a crowd of 8,000 at the girls’ funeral service, “The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as the redemptive force that will bring new light to the city.”

The bombing became a turning point in generating broader supports for the Civil Rights movement and contributed significantly to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Congress.

How Birmingham’s Allen Pruitt Jr. Brings Solace Through His Ministry of Music   

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
Allen Pruitt Jr., Minister of Music at Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Choir Director with Refresh Family Church, said he loves to sing and perform, but for him it’s more about reaching people. (File)

By Sym Posey | For The Birmingham Times

Choir Director Allen Pruitt Jr. can still remember the look of joy on the face of the woman who was in hospice.

“[She] was the mother of my wife’s best friend and the year prior we went to a birthday gathering and they sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ I was just playing around with the end, and her mother loved me from there. My wife’s friend said that is all she talked about. It was like five seconds, that was it.

“When we were told that she was on hospice, I said, ‘I would love to put something together for her.’  We went by and she passed within that week but the joy you could see on her face … That means more than anything else.”

Pruitt, Minister of Music at Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church and Choir Director with Refresh Family Church, said he loves to sing and perform, but for him it’s more about reaching people. “I want to be able to touch each person musically and spiritually so that they can receive whatever they need,” he said. “I love to see people and how blessed they are from just the experience of what I am doing and the impact that they receive from it.”

He added, “I’m not an accolades chaser, to tell you the truth I’m not a position chaser. I’ve received things, but just the opportunity to be able to minister to people is enough,” he said.

It’s very simple for him, he said. “I love music. I love background, I love choirs. I love trying to put the voices together, even if they don’t sing as well. There is a place for everyone,” said Pruitt.

Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Pruitt moved to Alabama and was raised by his grandmother from six months old in Edgewater, northeast from Birmingham, along with his younger brother. “I was an only child for six years, and then he came to live with us, and she [Pruitt’s grandmother] adopted both of us,” he said.

Pruitt’s love for music came at every young age.

“I remember sitting in front of the television at five years old, maybe a little earlier than that, and just sitting there and watching some of the music things that were on. I even watched Lawrence Welk when he came on late at night. I got a guitar for my birthday present, and I would sit there and just strum along with whatever was playing on the television.”

Allen Pruitt Jr. and his wife, Deborah celebrate their 15-year anniversary this month. (Provided)

Music Lessons

As that love continued to grow, his grandmother asked him about taking music lessons. “We didn’t have anybody that taught guitar in Edgewater, Alabama, but we had a lady name Rosalie Pritchett who taught piano. My grandmother said, ‘…you can take piano,’ and I started there,” said Pruitt.

Pruitt’s grandmother, Emma M. Williams, passed in 2011, one month away from 100.

“Her birthday was December 25th. She was my foundation and my biggest cheerleader. She saw what I’m doing now them. I wouldn’t be doing anything that I’m doing now if it wasn’t for her. She imparted, nurtured, and covered [my brother and I].”

“I tell people, we weren’t poor, we were po,” he said jokingly, adding, “but I didn’t know it. I didn’t know we didn’t have any money. The things that we were able to do, I look back and I’m amazed. Whatever we needed, she was able to get it.

Pruitt can recall the Christmas he got his first piano at age 5. “My grandmother told me this story. I didn’t know how they were going to get it. They asked me what I wanted, and I said, ‘a piano.’ She said she talked to my grandad, and he said he didn’t know how they were going to get it and I ended up with one of these big old pianos.”

Pruitt attended West End High School until 1984, and continued his education at Jefferson State Community College before he graduated from UAB in 1994.

“I had an opportunity to go to Atlanta twice to do music. After graduating from high school, a mega church [pastor] came over, I don’t remember which one, but he came over with his deacon and he told me it was just something about me and I didn’t go. I was a grandmother’s child,” he said.

After finishing at UAB, Pruitt found himself in need of a job. A friend at the time happened to be the station manager for a local radio gospel station at the time (WAYE 1220 AM) and he helped Pruitt get the job where Pruitt did the music, commercials, and editing.

“I had an ideal situation,” Pruitt said. “He had me to come up and so I got there and then I needed certain things because I’m a musician.”

Pruitt said he went in and, “just laid everything that I needed out on the table.

“They gave me everything I asked for,” said Pruitt, who wanted more flexibility in his schedule to do music, but he eventually would leave radio in 1996 to pursue music full time with New Rising Star in East Lake.

“Not About The Money”

“I heard a voice say, ‘if it wasn’t about the money, would you keep this job?’ And I was like, no, ‘well let it go,’” said Pruitt.

For Pruitt, he always knew he wanted to have a career in music despite what others around him may have thought. “It was something that was said by my uncle when I graduated high school. He asked me what I was going to major in, and I said, ‘music.’ He was like music’s not going to help you do anything unless you’re teaching, otherwise, you’re not going to make it.”

When he’s not performing at the churches, you can find him working with Call II Worship, a group he put together for his wedding 15 years ago. “They felt that they sounded so good and I told them. ‘It’s been great working with y’all, and I appreciate what y’all are going to do’ and they said, ‘we have to keep this thing together,’” Pruitt recalled.

Being involved in the community is the name of the game for the ensemble. At the beginning of August, the 23 members hosted a back-to-school rally for students in need.

Pruitt currently resides in Ensley, Alabama with his wife, Deborah. The couple celebrate their 15-year anniversary this month.

Regions Foundation Provides New Jobs Through $150,000 Workforce Development Grant

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
The Regions Foundation’s grant to STRIVE Birmingham was presented Friday during one of STRIVE’s first graduation events honoring adults who have successfully completed the program. (Regions)

regions.doingmoretoday.com 

The Regions Foundation on Friday announced a $150,000 grant supporting education and workforce development opportunities provided by STRIVE Birmingham.

Launched in 2023, STRIVE Birmingham follows a nationally recognized model of delivering both job training and wraparound services. Through work-simulated environments, STRIVE empowers adult students by focusing on mindset, accountability, personal responsibility, workplace ethics, professional etiquette and interpersonal skills. Occupational skills training and a certification process further position people in the program to build long-term, rewarding and successful careers.

“STRIVE has a unique and successful approach to workforce development,” said Marta Self, executive director of the Regions Foundation. “Their combination of mindset and skills training provides the best chance of success, and their connection with employers ensures that people are being prepared for in-demand careers.

“This program is about more than providing skills and jobs,” Self added. “This is about building hope and a brighter future, so more people can truly prosper and succeed here in our hometown.”

The Regions Foundation’s grant to STRIVE Birmingham was presented Friday during one of STRIVE’s first graduation events honoring adults who have successfully completed the program. Self said the benefits created by STRIVE today will enhance the quality of life for families for many years to come.

“STRIVE Birmingham is truly grateful to receive this support from Regions,” said Quiwintre Frye, Executive Director of STRIVE Birmingham. “This funding comes at a critical time as STRIVE is growing and expanding to more communities experiencing disparities in access to opportunity.

“Too many families face barriers to financial mobility,” Frye said. “And we at STRIVE are committed to opening doors and creating pathways to stable employment, careers, and a hopeful future.”

Training and certification that students gain through STRIVE’s Healthcare & Office Operations program puts them on a pathway to careers in the local healthcare industry with opportunity for advancement.

“The comprehensive training and support provided by STRIVE has been instrumental in helping me achieve my goal of becoming a certified administrative assistant at a local hospital,” said STRIVE Birmingham graduate LaShundra Ravizee. “I gained organization, communication, and office management skills but also a sense of confidence in my professional capabilities, preparing me for the demanding administrative challenges of working in a hospital environment.

“The relationships I built with the STRIVE staff, who went above and beyond in guiding me and offering mentorship, and my peers, who provided mutual support, played a pivotal role in my success,” Ravizee continued. “The encouraging environment fostered a strong sense of community, where we could learn from one another and share experiences.”

The Regions Foundation is a nonprofit that is funded primarily by Regions Bank. The Foundation supports a wide range of programs that offer education and workforce development opportunities. In addition, the Foundation supports several economic and community development and financial wellness initiatives throughout the communities served by Regions Bank.

“STRIVE is in tune with the employment opportunities that are in demand today – and their lifetime graduate support fosters continued success into the future,” Self said. “We are honored to provide crucial resources and look forward to seeing the success of STRIVE graduates here in Birmingham.”

STRIVE’s next training program in Birmingham begins Sept. 23, with a focus on health care and office operations jobs. Application information is available through the STRIVE website.

City of Birmingham to Host Meeting for Food Truck Owners at Sloss Furnaces on Sept. 16

By
Birmingham Times
-
0
On Monday, the City will host an informational meeting for food truck owners and food tent operators wishing to operate in Birmingham. (Naughty But Nice Kettle Corn, Facebook)

birminghamal.gov  

On Monday, Sept. 16 at 2 p.m., the City of Birmingham will host an informational meeting for food truck owners and food tent operators wishing to operate in Birmingham. It will be held in the Visitors Center at Sloss Furnaces. They are located at 20 – 32nd Street North near the railroad tracks.

This meeting will cover many of the questions that food trucks have had, including an update on required fire inspections, how to legally vend during the Magic City Classic, etc. To register for this meeting, food truck operators should send an email to register@birminghamal.gov.

Why is this meeting important? Come Oct. 1, 2024, all trucks operating in Birmingham must have undergone a fire inspection done by the Birmingham Fire Department. This will be a free inspection in 2024. But in 2025, there will be an inspection fee.

The fire department is partnering with City Walk in downtown Birmingham to make inspections easier for operators. On Monday, Sept. 16, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Birmingham fire inspectors will be at City Walk on 9th Avenue North between 15th and 16th Street North to do inspections. Please see the flyer with the QR code. If food truck owners miss the Sept. 16 inspection, they can get one done on another day at Fire Station No. 6.

Fire inspections are done at Fire Station No. 6, which is located at 317 – 15th Street North.

Inspection hours at Fire Station No. 6 are 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday – Friday.  Operators should call the Birmingham Fire Prevention Office at 205-250-7540 to set up an appointment. A checklist is enclosed of what the food truck employee will need to bring with them for the inspection.

Also, please note that starting Jan. 2, 2025, all food trucks operating in Birmingham, “must’’ first get a fire inspection before they can even apply for a Birmingham business license, a mobile vending license or a health department permit. These requirements are in place as additional safety precautions. More details will be provided during the meeting, which will feature information from the Jefferson County Department of Health, Legion Field, the city’s Transportation Department, Birmingham Fire and Rescue Services, and the city’s Finance Department. Most city offices will be closed on Jan. 1, 2025.

A website about the meeting can be found at www.birminghamal.gov/foodtruck.

1...168169170...1,736Page 169 of 1,736
©