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Birmingham’s Dave Crenshaw, Grammy-Winning Musician with Vision Impairment, Makes Acting Debut  

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Birmingham Times
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David “Dave” Crenshaw is back home in Birmingham starring as “Mr. Chickee” in the Birmingham Children’s Theatre “Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money.” (MARIKA N. JOHNSON PHOTO, FOR THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES)

BY SYM POSEY | The Birmingham Times

Being formally trained on multiple instruments has taken David “Dave” Crenshaw to different parts of the world to perform with some of the biggest artists like Maxwell, PJ Morton, Snoop Dogg and others.

Now he’s back home starring as “Mr. Chickee” in the Birmingham Children’s Theatre production of “Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money.” This story is based on the book by Newbery Medal winning author Christopher Paul Curtis and celebrates friendship, imagination, and determination as the true keys to success. This show will take place on the Main Stage at the Birmingham’s Children Theatre (BCT) beginning this Saturday, Feb. 17.

With all of his accomplishments as a two-time Grammy winning, multi-instrumentalist, musician, artist, producer, and songwriter, Crenshaw said this is first time acting.

“It’s new for me …” he told The Birmingham Times. “I can relate to Mr. Chickee because he’s one of the elders in the community in the play. He’s a musician and he’s visually impaired just like I am.”

In 2020, Crenshaw was officially diagnosed with low vision sight due to glaucoma. He also experiences synesthesia, which is a condition where a person will often experience one of their senses through another. For example, when a person with synesthesia hears music, they often see colors.

His songs on a previous album, the Color and Sound album, are Crenshaw’s interpretation of color through synesthesia. The songs are titled Blue, White, Brown, Gold, Yellow, Red, Green, and Orange – Check out the album here.

The visual artists were randomly assigned a color from the album to incorporate into their art installations.

Although it has been three years since his diagnosis, Crenshaw said he is still adjusting.

“There was a time I wanted to give up. I’ve been all around the world, I’ve met a lot of people, I’ve done a lot in life, so there is no need to give up now. For a year I was depressed, but I said to myself, I am not going to let me keep this down. I’m going to let God use me to motivate others who are going through this. You can still achieve and do what you need to do,” he said.

Family Of Music

Music has always been a part of his life. His father Edward Crenshaw Sr., served as band director at Ramsay High School for more than 40 years and in 2018 the band room at Ramsay was dedicated as the “Edward E. Crenshaw Room of Musical Excellence” in his father’s honor.

His mother is grounded in the Church of God “so I grew up around gospel and blues music and my father side was more into the Soul and R&B,” he said. “With him being a former musician, I came up around orchestral, symphonic music. I’m deep rooted in all types of music, especially southern music, gospel, r&b soul,” he said.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Crenshaw attended Huffman High School. The youngest of three, Crenshaw has two older brothers, Edward Crenshaw II, and Dawayne Crenshaw. A self-proclaim lover of all music genres, his passions lie in hip hop, pop, and electronic music.

Some of his favorite artist include,” Lenny Kravis, Doja Cat, and Steely Dan. These are people I’ve dreamed of playing the drums for,” said Crenshaw,40.

For over 10 years, Crenshaw was the percussionist for Maxwell and PJ Morton. In 2019 he won his first Grammy playing on a cover of “How Deep Is Your Love” by Morton for Best Traditional R&B Performance and again in 2021 for his work on Morton’s Gospel According to PJ: From the Songbook of PJ Morton.

“Everybody that I have worked with have been great, but Maxwell gave me the opportunity to do my first major tour. He is such a cool and awesome guy to work with.”

Besides winning two Grammys, Crenshaw said another major accomplishment that he proud of is “being inducted into the Blue’s Hall of Fame as a musician [last May]”.

Showing Love

Birmingham has always been home for him no matter where he goes, said Crenshaw.

“One of my goals [is] to try to bring more to Alabama. It has been my vision to get more attention on Birmingham. We have so many talented people, who are Grammy winners and musicians who play with major artist, but there is not industry here like it should be. “

As for acting, the role in Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money, just felt right, he said.

“I’ve had offers to act before but I guess it’s something I wanted to do, something I wanted to add to my list of accomplishments,” Crenshaw said. “It’s a new experience. I found out that in the Birmingham Children Theatre’s [in its 76-year history] I am the first vision-impaired actor to [be in that role] so I look at myself as being motivation for other people who are interested in acting who are vision impaired as well.”

Performing in Birmingham has always been extra special, he said.

“This is home for me and everyone is showing me love and support and this is something I want to accomplish first at home and take it to a higher level, possibly movies and television as far as acting.”

“Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money.” Main Stage, Birmingham’s Children Theatre (BCT).

Saturday, February 17 & 24 @ 11 a.m.

Friday, February 23 @ 7 p.m.

select Wednesdays in February at 10 a.m.

For more information visit their website: Mr. Chickee’s Funny Money — Birmingham Children’s Theatre (bct123.org)

 

Birmingham’s Iconic Civil Rights Attorney Arthur D. Shores Featured in New Documentary

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Birmingham Times
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Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shores at the federal courthouse in Birmingham, 1956. (Alabama Department of Archives and History, donated by Alabama Media Group. Photo by Birmingham News)

By Michael Sznajderman | Alabama News Center

A new documentary about pioneering Alabama civil rights attorney Arthur Shores explores his life and legacy over the decades he fought for racial justice – a mission that often put him and his family in physical danger.

“Defending Freedom: The Arthur D. Shores Story” premieres Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. on Alabama Public Television (APT). The one-hour film received its initial showing last week at the historic Carver Theatre in Birmingham, just across the street from where Shores maintained an office during the city’s darkest day of Jim Crow segregation.

The documentary is the seventh produced by Longleaf Studios at Jacksonville State University (JSU). Longleaf Studios offers JSU film and communication students the chance to work on projects with professional filmmakers.

In all, 11 students worked with Nashville-based Illuminate Films on the Shores documentary, which will be available for streaming on the APT website after its broadcast premiere.

Among those interviewed in the documentary is Shores’ daughter, Barbara, who still lives in the same Smithfield neighborhood in Birmingham where she grew up and where the Shores family home was bombed twice in 1963 by anti-integration terrorists.

Because of multiple racial bombings, the neighborhood – which ultimately integrated because of Shores’ legal challenges to the city’s racist ordinances – earned the infamous moniker: “Dynamite Hill.” Birmingham, in turn, endured its own notorious nickname: “Bombingham.”

Barbara Shores attended the premiere at the Carver Theatre, along with several other prominent Birmingham residents who were interviewed for the film, including Mayor Randall Woodfin, former Mayor Richard Arrington and retired judge Houston Brown, who grew up across the street from the Shores home.

Autherine Lucy and Arthur Shores in 1956. (Alabama Department of Archives and History, donated by Alabama Media Group. Photo by Ed Jones, Birmingham News)

Legal Giants

Born in 1904 in the old mining community of Wenonah in Jefferson County, Shores’ legal career spanned more than six decades. For years he was the only Black attorney in Alabama, starting in the late 1930s.

He quickly built a reputation for punching legal holes in the South’s segregation laws, in close coordination with the NAACP. Shores worked closely with major civil rights figures and legal giants, including Constance Baker Motley and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Speaking to the overflow crowd at the Carver Theatre before the film’s debut, Barbara Shores noted how Motley and Marshall would stay at their home when they were in Birmingham to join Shores for trial appearances on civil rights cases.

She said the film “continues the living legacy of my father” as well as her mother, Theodora, a teacher who was the quiet force that kept the family together during the darkest hours. Theodora was knocked unconscious during the second bombing of the Shores home and hospitalized. The couple were married for 54 years.

In 1955, Shores took on what would become his most famous case when he represented Autherine Lucy, a woman who was admitted to the all-white University of Alabama but then had her acceptance revoked when university leaders discovered she was Black. Shores served as the local attorney on the case, which was handled by the NAACP. A federal court ultimately ruled that the university couldn’t deny Lucy’s admission on the basis of her race, a victory later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the spring of 1963, Shores represented the more than 3,000 adults and children arrested in connection with street protests against segregation during the climax of the Birmingham Campaign led by the Revs. Martin Luther King Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Later that year, in August, a bomb blast at the Shores home blew apart the garage doors and smashed windows. Then, on the night of Sept. 4, 1963, hours after the first two Black students were registered for class at the nearby, all-white Graymont Elementary School, a second bomb exploded in front of the Shores home, opening a crater about 2 feet wide and 18 inches deep. No one was ever arrested for the bomb attacks by Birmingham’s all-white police department, whose ranks were rife with segregation supporters and members of the Ku Klux Klan. Less than two weeks after the second bombing of the Shores home, Klan members bombed Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, murdering four little girls.

Barbara Shores with the production team for the documentary about her father. (Jacksonville State University)

“Loved The Law”

After segregation was outlawed nationwide under the federal Civil Right Act of 1964, Shores continued to fight for racial equality and, in 1968, was sworn in as the first Black member of the Birmingham City Council. He remained on the council until 1978. Shores died in 1996 at the age of 92.

“My father loved the law,” Barbara Shores said during the Carver Theatre event. “He worked very hard on making changes. … He never gave up.” At the same time, he always counseled against hate. He told Barbara exactly that after one of her dogs was blown apart by one of the bombs planted at the family home.

“‘You can’t hate,’” Barbara Shores recounted her father saying to her amid her tears. “‘It will destroy you. Let it go.’”

Seth Johnson, director of Longleaf Studios and associate dean of the JSU College of Arts, Humanities and Sciences, said it was fitting that students helped produce the documentary, since Shores was a teacher and a school principal before he devoted himself fully to the law.

“This has been a rewarding experience for our students,” Johnson told the crowd at the Carver Theatre.

When it’s Time to Say Goodbye in a Relationship

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Birmingham Times
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If we were to be honest, there are times that some relationships are way too costly for us. And it’s necessary to make tough decisions about whether we will remain in it or leave altogether.

Many times, we know when we reach this point, but often struggle with making a solid decision. The result of that indecision, or delayed decision, can result in frustration and possibly even loss. If this describes you, I want to help you move forward and I’ll pose a simple question first. What is this relationship costing you to stay in it?

Rather than just think aloud, grab a piece of paper and write the pros and cons. Once that’s completed, continue to write about what you’re experiencing in the relationship.

Here are a few questions, too, which should help.

First, is the relationship peaceful, purposeful and progressive, or does it yield disturbances, distractions and detractions? Second, what is your state of mind after interacting with the person? And can you imagine a future with them continuing from this point?

By completing this exercise, your answers will point you toward either a positive or negative experience.  But, if you’re still uncertain about your direction, let me suggest a little more work for you to do personally. This will involve you having a mature conversation with your partner to explain what you’re doing. By letting them know you are focusing on taking time away for you, they can endeavor to hopefully support your efforts.

When you take some time away, the goal is to focus on you for a short while and rekindle your interests, likes and desires, pouring needful energy back into you. And while you are getting back to you, it’s also a great time to do a serious evaluation of your relationship with distance between you two.

The goal is an environment which will foster healthy relational analysis and not knee-jerk emotional responses, which can come from direct interaction with your partner.

In other words, you’re simply taking a break with the goal of replenishing your soul.

And let me add, a supportive partner will not see this as a threat. We take vacations from work; how much more do we need to give our hearts and souls meaningful rest?

It might seem challenging to do, but this could very well be an important step to breathe new life into your relationship.

You gain a new perspective by getting the whole view of your relationship, often by stepping away from it. My encouragement is to take the step, or break, that’s needed to save your relationship, before it’s too late.

Remember, I am cheering for you, and I am just an email away should you need me.

Keisa Sharpe-Jefferson is a life coach, author and speaker. Her column appears each month online and in The Birmingham Times. You can contact Keisa at keisasharpe@yahoo.com and visit http://www.allsheanaturals.com for natural hair and body products.

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS

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Birmingham Times
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T. Marie King, Black Lens Film Week, Sidewalk Film Festival. (FILE)

GWEN DERU

CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

(CHECK OUT THE EVENTS AROUND TOWN!!)

TODAY…

**READ THE BIRMINGHAM TIMES. Catch up on the news!

**TINY MAKERS SERIES 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

**THE JOE LOCKETT SHOW Live Podcast with NEPHEW CLIFF and MS. DENISE, Monday-Friday at 4 p.m.

**FILM – 7 p.m. at the Sidewalk Film.

**BOOF, OVER SEASONS & POWERSINK at the Nick.

**MARC RABY’S STAGE PLAY “I’M IN LOVE WITH A COUGAR” at Perfect Note.

**KIKSTART at WaterMark in Bessemer with Free Food Boxes, 9 a.m.

**COMPUTER CLASSES AT THE FIVE POINTS WEST LIBRARY every Tuesday and Thursday.

**EACH AND EVERY THURSDAY HAPPY HOUR, 5-8 p.m. at D’ZIRE with SPECIALS.

**MOVIES EVERY THURSDAY at Sidewalk Fest.

**THIRSTY THURSDAYS at D’ZIRE Bar and Lounge.

**KARAOKE, 5-9 p.m. at Courtyard Alabaster Bar and Grill.

**THIRD THURSDAY BLUES JAM, 7 p.m. at True Story Brewing.

**TASTEMAKER THURSDAY – Every Thursday at Blaze Ultra Lounge, 228 Roebuck Plaza Drive, 8 p.m.- 12 a.m. with DJ Ace Twon (95.7 JAMZ) in the mix hosted by Audio Life and GMC Promo.

**THIRSTY THURSDAY at Hookah 114 17th Street No.

**TEQUILA THURSDAY at the Vibe Bar & Lounge.

**THROW BACK THURSDAY at Tha Vibe Bar & Lounge, 3801 Richard Arrington, Jr., Blvd.

**FILMMAKER HAPPY HOUR- Every 3rd Thursday, at Sidewalk Film Fest. Meet with other filmmakers and discuss your newest projects.

**EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT KARAOKE, 6:30 at Ruth’s Place hosted by LADY WOO and with DJ SHAY.

FRIDAY…

**EVERY FRIDAY DURING LUNCH – FRIDAY COUPON CHEAT DAY WITH HOT107 at 1918 Catering. (Use the coupon ANY DAY.)

**THE JOE LOCKETT SHOW Live Podcast with NEPHEW CLIFF and MS. DENISE, Monday-Friday at 4 p.m.

**FRIDAY NIGHT WRITES, 8 – 11 p.m. at 7611 1st Avenue North.

**BURLESQUE NIGHT at the Nick hosted by BELLA DONNA at The Nick.

**50 AND FABULOUS with R&B DIVA DEIRDRE GADDIS at Perfect Note.

**EVERY FRIDAY – R&B FRIDAY, at The Chandelier, 212 Cahaba Valley Road in Pelham with DJ MANISH mixing live. FREE Entry.

**EACH AND EVERY FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR, 5-8 p.m. at D’ZIRE with SPECIALS.

**FOOD TRUCK FRIDAY at City Hall, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. at the short 20th Street North.

**RIPCORD, 8 p.m. – 2 a.m. at 4501 Gary Avenue in Fairfield.

**QUE’S BAR & GRILL GROOVIN’ on 19th Street in Ensley.

**LIT FRIDAYS WITH RIPCORD, 8 p.m. – 2 a.m. at 4501 Gary Avenue in Fairfield.

**AFRO CARIBBEAN NIGHTS (Every Friday Night) at Ash’s on 2nd, 7 p.m. until with Reggae, Afro Beats, Dancehall and Top 40 Hits.

**FIREBALL FRIDAY at Tha Vibe Bar & Lounge.

**FRIDAY NIGHT RAP, Every 1st and 3rd Friday at Crescent Cultural Center, 1121 Tuscaloosa Avenue, W.

SATURDAY…

**EVERY SATURDAY at BIRDSONG FARMERS MARKET, 7 a.m. – 12 p.m., 2824 5th Avenue South at Automatic Seafood,.

**WINE DOWN HAPPY HOUR, 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. at Saferoom Lounge Bar.

**EACH AND EVERY SATURDAY HAPPY HOUR, 5-8 p.m. at D’ZIRE with SPECIALS.

**EVERY SATURDAY SOLD OUT – THE SATURDAYS JUMP OFF, 10 p.m. at Onyx of Bham, 615 8th Avenue West.

**NATIONAL RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY!

**A CALL FOR VENDORS at A Day of Black Excellence, 1-4 p.m.  For more, text 205-645-8308.

**CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH, 1-4 p.m. at the Crescent Cultural Community Center for a day of family, fun and education with drum performance by SAHI ONKP DJONY, music, food and Vendors. Speakers are CLARENCE MUHAMMAD, KUNDAIYI BAJIJIKI and KOBINA BANTUSHANGO. For more, contact 256-840-7834.

**ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER at The BJCC, 7 p.m..

**TRIBUTE TO JOHNNIE TAYLOR featuring DENNIS MITCHELL at Perfect Note.

**THE UNKNOWN & ETHER9 at The Nick.

**DIET RIOT & EMMA GOLDMAN SACHS at the Nick.

**MARC BROUSSARD-CARENCRO 20TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR at Iron City.

**BLACK LENS FILM WEEK at Sidewalk Film.

NEXT FRIDAY…

**EVERY FRIDAY DURING LUNCH – FRIDAY COUPON CHEAT DAY WITH HOT107 at 1918 Catering. (Use the coupon ANY DAY.)

**THE JOE LOCKETT SHOW Live Podcast with NEPHEW CLIFF and MS. DENISE, Monday-Friday at 4 p.m.

**FRIDAY NIGHT WRITES, 8 – 11 p.m. at 7611 1st Avenue North.

**TRISTAN TRITT AND AMERICA PART TWO with MILLENNIAL JONES and LATE NIGHT ROCK SHOW with RASPBERRY PIE & BLOOD MOON RIOT at The Nick.

**TRIBUTE TO JOE featuring DONALD SHIPMAN at Perfect Note.

**FLATLAND CAVALRY-WANDERING STAR TOUR at Iron City.

**BLACK LENS FILM WEEK at Sidewalk Film.

NEWS TO USE…

IT’S 2024! NEWS TO USE…CELEBRATING  BLACK HISTORY MONTH…

**BLACK LENS FILM WEEK is February 21-25th at Sidewalk Cinema in Birmingham. Get ready for a week-long celebration of Black cinema. It is more than just movies, it is a family reunion, a cultural feast and a whole lot of fun. Black Lens is all about showcasing the brilliances of films directed by, produced by and/or starring Black filmmakers. There will be stories that reflect the beauty and diversity of the Black experience and celebrate the Black/African American culture. So your presence at the Black Lens Film Week makes it real and makes it family…just like it has always been.

**CONGRESSWOMAN TERRI SEWELL SPEAKS TO DESCENDANTS OF CIVIL RIGHTS ICONS AND FIGURES AT FIRST BLACK HISTORY EVENT IN THE WHITE HOUSE – Rep. TERRI SEWELL joined Vice President KAMALA HARRIS, White House Director of Public Engagement Mayor STEPHEN BENJAMIN and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman STEVEN HORSFORD in welcoming more than two dozen descendants of civil rights icons and historical figures to a reception honoring their ancestors’ legacies in the fight for racial equality. This was the first time these descendants and families gathered at the White House to discuss existing civil rights issues in America. The families’ descendants included: Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., Martin Luther King, Jr, Emmett Till, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Ida B. Wells, Dred Scott, Homer Adolph Plessy, Sally Hemings, Oliver Leon Brown, Rodney King and George Floyd. This event comes as others are trying to restrict voting access, ban books, dismantle affirmative action, attack diversity and equity initiatives and limit the teaching of Black History.

GWEN’S SPOTLIGHT – AT BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL GARDENS…

**CELEBRATING ANNE SPENCER HOUSE AND GARDEN, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on Thursday. The BBG is honoring the rich legacy of African-American Heritage during Black History Month and will welcome Shaun Spencer-Hester, the executive director of the Anne Spencer House & Garden Museum in Lynchburg, Va. as the guest for the evening.

IN FEBRUARY… LET’S CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY, CULTURE & EXCELLENCE…

**FEBRUARY 20 – 25 – BLACK LENS FILM WEEK at Sidewalk Film.

**FEBRUARY 24 – BIG MACHINES DAY 2024 at the McWane Science Center.

**FEBRUARY 24 – KATT WILLIAMS, 8 p.m. at The BJCC.

**FEBRUARY 29 – BIRMINGHAM BLACK ECONOMIC ALLIANCE – Bi-Monthly Business Mixer, 6-8 p.m. at Sienna, 1025 20th Street South. Guest Speakers are EVAN JEFFERSON, Virtual Dispensary Owner and NIECKO GLOVER, Community Organizer/Advocate.

INTERESTED IN POLITICS, CANDIDATES AND ELECTIONS…

**FEBRUARY 29 – PARTY WITH THE CANDIDATES, 5-8 p.m. at The Dannon Project, hosted by Jeh Jeh Pruitt. Vendors and food trucks wanted. For registration, call 205-873-4572. Tell them Gwen sent you.

FOR ART LOVERS…

**NOW THROUGH MAY 10 – ROOTS & RENAISSANCE, an African American Journey Through Art, at C.A. Kirkendoll Learning Resource Center, 5500 Myron Massey Blvd., Fairfield, Miles College. The Roots And Renaissance Art Exhibition at Miles College LRC is open Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. and Sunday 2 p.m. www.fairfieldblackartcollective.com.

AROUND TOWN…

**FEBRUARY – YOGA IS FOR EVERYBODY, Every 1st and 3rd THURSDAYS at Crescent Culture Community Center, 1121 Tuscaloosa Avenue, S.W. with OPTION 1 – 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Flexible) and OPTION 2 – 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. (Work Tension Relief and Relaxation). These self care yoga classes are with YAMALA MA’ATMAN Trauma Informed Yoga for all ages and genders.  Suggested Donation is $5. Light snacks available.

FOR COMMUNITY LOVERS…

**CHIEF DONALD LEWIS JONES MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP – $500 SCHOLARSHIP FOR ONE BIRMINGHAM AREA GRADUATING SENIOR, Deadline is March 1. For more: www.magiccitypoetryfestival.org.

**MONTHLY POP-UP – BE KIND BIRMINGHAM (with you name it), EVERY First Wednesday, 10 a.m. at Titusville Library; Second Wednesday 10 a.m. at West End Library; Third Wednesday, 10 a.m. at Smithfield Library; Fourth Wednesday, 10 a.m. OR 3 p.m. at Five Points Library, and Fourth Wednesday, 4 p.m. at Harrison Park Rec Center.

HAPPENINGS AT SIXTH AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH

…SEE YOU AT THE SIXTH…EVERY SUNDAY!

**EVERY MONDAY MORNING MEDITATION WITH PASTOR CANTELOW, 7:15 a.m. Contact the church at (205) 321-1136 or (205) 321-1137.

**CHILDREN’S CHURCH & COLLISION CHURCH, each First Sunday at 9:30 a.m. for K-5th (Children’s Church), 6-12th (Collision).

Well, that’s it. Tell you more ‘next’ time. People, Places and Things by Gwen DeRu is a weekly column. Send events, your things of interest and more to my emails: gwenderu@yahoo.com and thelewisgroup@birminghamtimes.com.

 

Safety Tips to Keep You Away From Fraud

By
Birmingham Times
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With escalating prices all around the need to protect your money is even more urgent. Every penny, nickel and dollar counts for the average person. Therefore, this article will continue to focus on how you, the average person, can fight against fraudulent attacks on your bank accounts, credit cards, and personal identity. The fight is real, and you want to win the battle.

Information is the air the scammers breathe. Without your email addresses, Social Security numbers, passwords, credit card information or other personal data, a scammer could not reach you or pretend to be you. Therefore, an enormous illegal, international underground economy has surfaced to serve the needs of the scammer.

The wares? More than 15 billion pieces of stolen personal data, say the law enforcement and cybersecurity experts with the firm Digital Shadows. This number sounds massive, but they say it is not. The reason why is that the average person logs in to nearly 200 sites that require passwords or other information. Your computer contains an endless amount of personal data about you which is useful to a scammer. This fuels another arm of this illegal enterprise: data stealing.

In 2021, there were a record 1,862 publicly reported breaches of large organization customer databases says the identity Theft Resource Center. Most of the data ends up in the dark marketplace referenced earlier.

Brian Krebs, a security expert, with KrebsOnSecurity.com says that smartphones are also a target. He says, “Threat actors are really going after people’s phone numbers to hijack their digital lives.”

Therefore, below are some safety tips to help you fight back:

  • Set up your digital accounts to require multifactor authentication.
    • Freeze your credit at the three major credit bureaus. Do the same for your dependents’ credit. This helps prevent a scammer with your information from making any major transaction in your name or the name of a dependent.
    • Do not save credit card numbers online with merchants or service providers.
    • Activate biometric locks (facial recognition or fingerprints) on your mobile device to safeguard data if the device is lost or stolen.
    • Use antivirus software and perform recommended cybersecurity updates on your devices.
    • Because your phone number is increasingly being used to identify you, remove it from as many online accounts as possible. You may need to use your number to open some accounts but go back and remove them later.

Again, due to the serious nature of this topic much of the information is quoted from Identity Theft Resource, KrepsOnSecurity, the special fraud edition of AARP, along with other reputable sources to help everyone Keep an Eye on Safety.

This article appeared originally May 11, 2022 on birminghamtimes.com 

CEO Melvin Gravely’s Reality Check for Black Business Owners in Birmingham

By
Birmingham Times
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Panel participants at the A.G. Gaston Conference from left: Moderator and conference host/co-founder Bob Dickerson; Fuddruckers owner Nicholas Perkins; conference co-host Gaynelle Jackson Adams; author, speaker and TriVersity Construction Company majority owner Dr. Mel Gravely II. (Keisa Sharpe-Jefferson Photo, For The Birmingham Times)

By Keisa Sharpe Jefferson | For The Birmingham Times

Speaker, teacher, author and Black business owner Dr. Melvin J. Gravely II spared no words as the keynote speaker for the opening day of the 20th annual A. G. Gaston Conference at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex.

Gravely, majority owner of TriVersity Construction Company based in Cincinnati Ohio, on Tuesday apologized up front for his harsh reality check.

Addressing the Black business leaders in he room, he said, “We don’t have an agenda because we’re distracted by what other folks are doing to us, instead of what we can do for ourselves. If we don’t evolve, America has decided that they’ve moved on,” he said.

He also offered a straightforward, no-nonsense challenge directly to business owners and asked, “What, if anything, are you reading about business?”

Gravely, who is author of “Dear White Friend: The Realities of Race, the Power of Relationships and our Path to Equity” (a compilation of 19 letters on race relations), added, “We have to grow our companies and our businesses. My job as a business owner is to make money, not so I can keep it, but so I can use it to transform my community,” he said.

A.G. Gaston conference host and co-founder Bob Dickerson, who is president and CEO of the Birmingham Business Resource Center agreed with Gravely.

“If you look back at our first paper we published … in 2005…. It talked about Black business in Birmingham and how little revenue it generated in Birmingham,” said Dickerson. “And if you wrote a paper in 2024, you could still write the same story. You can change the dates, but you’re not going to be able to change any of the facts.”

The annual conference was created to honor Black businesses and named in honor of Dr. A.G. Gaston, an iconic Birmingham entrepreneur who employed a system of “find a need and fill it.”

In his lunch keynote Gravely encouraged business owners to build up their industry knowledge; recruit the best and brightest talent; redefine business success and focus on multigenerational businesses.

He later joined Dickerson, Gaynell Adams Jackson and Nicholas Perkins for a panel discussion.

Jackson, from Birmingham, is founder of Advanced Planning Services, a meeting and event management company. Perkins is the CEO of Perkins Management Services who owns Fuddruckers hamburger chain, the first African American to own a national hamburger franchise system.

Perkins said he used Gaston’s example to enlarge his vision of entrepreneurship and began his entrepreneurial career just a year and a half out of undergraduate school, receiving his first food service contract.

“This company which was a dream of mine and it put me in a position to be able to provide food services for a number of HBCU and government organizations,” said Perkins.

When his company acquired Fuddruckers, his business admittedly was the “smallest dog in the fight” and he still decided to “thrust himself into the world of mergers and acquisitions,” he said.  “I decided to put my hat in the ring. Let’s just say I got a crash course in mergers and acquisitions.”

While the decision was risky, it proved to be a life changing as he acquired the chain and ownership of the Fuddruckers brand, he said.

More information on the A.G. Gaston conference and schedule of speakers can be found here: https://aggastonconference.biz.

‘He Got on His Knee in Front of Me and I Started Crying and Said, ‘Yes’”

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Birmingham Times
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CHINEKA & RONNIE PARKER

BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY • The Birmingham Times

Live: Forestdale

Married: Oct. 4, 1996

Met: Summer 1992 in the Southtown Projects on the southside of Birmingham. Both Chineka and Ronnie were residents and Chineka, then 20, said she’d often flirt with Ronnie, who was then 29 because she had a crush on him.

“I would see him walking past, and I would say ‘Hey, Ronnie, what cha’ doing?’, and he would say, ‘Girl you better leave me alone, you’re too young for me’. Over time I left him alone, but about six months later I saw him in the club at the Sports Den [downtown], and a song came on and he came up to me,” Chineka recalled. “At first I thought he was just going to [say hello] but he asked me to dance and the rest was history.”

“Make it Last Forever [by Keith Sweat] was playing and that’s what we been doing ever since,” said Ronnie, as the couple approaches nearly three decades of marriage.

First date: December 1992, the pair went for a drive around town to spend some time alone.

“I stayed with my mom at the time, and he shared his place with a roommate, and we just wanted some alone time,” Chineka said.

Ronnie said he just wanted an opportunity to learn more about her without interruptions.

“During that car ride, I just wanted to get to know her and see where her head was,” Ronnie said.

The proposal: New Year’s Eve 1995, in Indianapolis, Indiana, at Chenika’s aunt’s house after Chenika became pregnant with their second child, Ronnie wanted to make their family official.

“We had one child in our life and I was ready for more, I wanted [a son] and I knew she was the one and was going to be mine forever,” Ronnie said. “We went to her aunt’s house to bring in the new year, and the music was playing and everybody was dancing and socializing when I stopped the music and said I had an announcement to make. And I went and got Chineka by my hand and got on one knee and asked her to marry me.”

“I thought he was about to make a toast to bring in the new year because it was about a minute left until midnight, but then he got on his knee in front of me and I started crying and said ‘yes’,” Chineka said.

Ronnie said they lived in Indiana for two years. “We went up there with one child and brought another one back [to Birmingham] and came back married,” he laughed.

The wedding: On their firstborn child, Ronnika’s birthday [October 4, 1996], at a courthouse in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, officiated by a clergyman, followed by a reception at Chineka’s aunt Anna’s home in Indianapolis. The reception colors were shades of red and white.

Most memorable for the bride was a moment during their reception when she realized their life plans had come full circle. “Most of that day [I felt] gratefulness, happiness, and couldn’t believe I was married with two children. We [had had our] baby boy, Ronnie Jr., in September of 1996, and had got married on our daughter’s birthday like we always said we would,” Chineka said.

Most memorable for the groom was a myriad of emotions. “I was crying and happy, all my emotions were mixed up together. I knew it was time to step all the way up [in my manhood] because now I had a whole family to take care of,” Ronnie said.

They honeymooned for the weekend at a hotel in Indiana, but had “a real honeymoon 10 years later when we renewed our vows and had a church wedding at Good Hope Baptist Church [in Birmingham] with the children in it,” Chineka said. “That’s when we went to Las Vegas and had the time of our lives!”

Words of wisdom: “Trust each other, and every day we wake up and say ‘I love you and kiss each other’ … You gotta spread your love because you never know when it might be the last time you get to say I love you,” Ronnie said.

“Trust and communication are important. We also try not to go to bed mad at each other. Listen to one another, listen to his heart, listen to his mind, and listen to his emotions. Marriage is a job and you constantly have to work at it. You can’t leave it alone to complete itself, you have to work it and manifest it into what you want it to be,” Chineka said. “Also, try something different or be spontaneous to [keep the spark] going… we’ll go places at the spur of the moment.”

Happily ever after: The Parkers attend St. James Christian Center in Ensley, and have two children, Ronnika, 30, and Ronnie Jr., 27, and six grandchildren.
Chineka, 51, is a Southside Birmingham native who grew up in Southtown Projects. She is a Phillips High School grad and works as a therapeutic specialist for Birmingham City Schools.

Ronnie, 60, is a Southside Birmingham native, who grew up in Southtown Projects. He is a Phillips High School grad and works on the shipping dock at the Amazon Warehouse in Bessemer.

 “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.

https://www.gusterlawfirm.com/

 

 

President Biden Appoints Montevallo Grad as First Black Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

By
Birmingham Times
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The Birmingham Times

WASHINGTON – This week, President Joe Biden announced Willie L. Phillips, Jr. as Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). FERC is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, electricity, and other energy projects.

As the Biden Administration works to tackle the climate crisis, advance environmental justice, and create a clean electricity grid by 2035, FERC will maintain an important role in spurring access to reliable, affordable carbon-free energy moving across the country.

Philips, a graduate of the University of Montevallo, was confirmed to serve on the commission in 2021 and has been acting chair since January 2023. He is the first Black person to lead the commission.

He is an experienced regulatory attorney combining over 20 years of legal expertise as a utility regulator, in private practice, and as in-house counsel. He has an extensive background in the areas of public utility regulation, bulk power system reliability, and corporate governance.

Prior to the DCPSC, Willie served as Assistant General Counsel for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a not-for-profit international regulatory authority charged with ensuring the security and reliability of the bulk power system in Washington, D.C.; he also worked for two law firms, where he advised clients on regulatory compliance, litigation, and policy matters.

Chairman Phillips is an active member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) where he served on the NARUC Board of Directors and chaired the Select Committee on Regulatory and Industry Diversity. He earned a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Montevallo.

The full press release can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/.

UAB Among 12 Entities To Provide Services for the International Space Station Program

By
Birmingham Times
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The International Space Station is seen in this image taken by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano. UAB's School of Engineering’s Engineering and Innovative Technology Development organization has been selected to provide research, engineering and mission integration services for the International Space Station Program. (Luca Parmitano, Wikimedia Commons)

By Micah Hardge | UAB News

The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Engineering’s Engineering and Innovative Technology Development organization has been selected to provide research, engineering and mission integration services for the International Space Station Program.

Along with 11 other entities, UAB will receive a multiple-award, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract allowing the opportunity to be awarded task order projects as a part of the $478 million Research, Engineering and Mission Integration Services-2, or REMIS-2, contract.

“This new contract will operate as if we’ve been added to an ‘approved supplier list’ for future opportunities that arise,” said Chad Duke, P.E., director of the UAB EITD. “The award grants us the ability to essentially bid on task orders that come out under the duration of the contract.”

The seven-year contract began in January 2024 and extends through Sept. 30, 2030, with an option to extend through Sept. 30, 2032.

“The REMIS-2 contract is a tremendous opportunity for our group and reinforces our commitment to excellence in this field,” Duke said. “We are excited about this new opportunity with hopes that it allows us to expand our offering of hardware and services within the NASA community and beyond.”

To read more about the work of EITD, click here.

The EITD group was created to support the development of specialized research instruments for ground- and microgravity-based research experiments. Under the direction of Duke, EITD serves as one of the nation’s leading developers in thermal controlled hardware for use in microgravity and aspires to provide hardware for operations beyond low Earth orbit.

Prior to the awarding of this recent contract, EITD’s work in thermal controlled systems had established a baseline of consistency and excellence with NASA under multiple previous contracts. EITD currently offers a range of options in size, temperature range, cooling rate and sample containment. With a team of experienced engineers and technicians, EITD specializes in the design, development and commercialization of innovative hardware and software systems for the aerospace and life sciences industries.

For more information about NASA and its programs, visit www.nasa.gov.

Birmingham Mounts Full Court Press to Get Third Graders Up to Reading Level

By
Birmingham Times
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Mayor Randall Woodfin, in collaboration with the city’s Department of Youth Services, is seeking 200 teachers and educators who are either retired or have flexible schedules to participate in an expansion of its Page Pals. (FILE)

By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times

Birmingham City officials are beginning a full court press to get all third graders reading on grade level or proficiency by the end of the year.

“This is it everybody,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin in an interview last week. “The test is less than 90 days away, and every third grader in the state of Alabama, including the 1,300-plus third graders in Birmingham City Schools will take this test.”

Passed in 2019, The Alabama Literacy Act requires third graders to reach a certain reading score on a statewide test — the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program — to go to fourth grade.

“If this test was today, I would be extremely concerned because about 750 of them read below grade level,” Woodfin said last week. “… there’s only so much you can do in less than 90 days. I think what we have to do is level up our time that we are spending with our third graders.”

The mayor, in collaboration with the city’s Department of Youth Services, is seeking 200 teachers and educators who are either retired or have flexible schedules to participate in an expansion of its Page Pals, a program which started in March of 2022, where retired educators and/or educators with flexible schedules will provide one hour per day of in-school tutoring for reading over four weeks, from February 21 to March 22, 2024. Participants will receive a one-time stipend of $500 for their commitment to advancing literacy among Birmingham’s youth.

Qualified applicants are invited to apply beginning Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. Interested individuals must be retired educators or educators with very flexible schedules, preferably with backgrounds in English or Language Arts. Application packets should include a detailed cover letter expressing interest, a resume with contact information, and copies of credentials to verify educator background. These materials should be addressed to Cedric Sparks, Sr., Chief of Staff for the City of Birmingham. Packets should be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.

Applications can also be emailed to pagepalsteacher@birminghamal.gov.

Sparks said the city is asking former educators because they know those are the ones who have the skills necessary to help a student’s reading improve prior to their standardized tests.

“Our goal is to accentuate the positive. It is not to be critical about what doesn’t happen, but we feel like we can move the needle with all three versions of this effort. So if we affect one, that is a win, but the goal is to affect 700. Anything in between is a win,” said Sparks.

The mayor said he is calling on “every volunteer, every parent, every teacher, every reading coach, every adult in the community, give your time. We’re talking what, maybe eight to nine weeks out of an entire year that we need to give all our energy, attention. and focus on this issue.

“We’re talking about the village and all other adults participating and making sure we can do everything we can in this immediate crisis right in front of us to make sure the majority of our third graders are put in the best position to pass that test and matriculate to the fourth grade. “

He added, “I can’t imagine a world where that many third graders have to repeat the third grade. Neither should you all.”

For more information about the Page Pals: SOS initiative and how to apply, visit www.birminghamal.gov/pagepals or call 205-320-0879.

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