Orders woman to repay $168,639.50

By Chinta Strausberg

After nearly six-years, former Alderman Wallace Davis, Jr. (27^th) Tuesday won his battle to recoup $168,000 that was allegedly stolen from him by a broker and the closer who worked for the Old American Financial Services, Inc.

Tuesday, Judge Susan Zwick ruled in favor of Davis and against the defendant, Shirley Johnson-MacFarland, and ordered her to repay Davis $168,639.50.

For years, Davis has been trying to recoup his money. He sued Old American Financial Services, Inc, Wallace Williams and Shirley Johnson (Shirley MacFarland) for negligence and conversion in the handling of his mortgage.

Davis, who owns Wallace Catfish Corner and a number of other businesses on the West Side, took out the loan in 2005 to help get former Chicago Policeman Howard Morgan out of jail. Morgan was shot 25 times on February 21, 2005 by Chicago police at 19^th and Lawndale but survived. He is a retired Burlington Railroad police officer. Chicago police claimed Morgan had a gun which he denied. Morgan contended he was a victim of police brutality.

According to court records, Davis secured a mortgage for $186,550.00 on 2755 West Warren Blvd. in Chicago. Old American, through Wallace Williams, was engage to act as Davis’ broker. Court records state that Johnson-MacFarland, a personal friend of Davis, who was also the closer on this deal, generated the documents needed to secure the loan. She was also a business associate of Wallace Williams and a former employee of Old American Financial Services as a loan originator.

According to court records, Johnson-McFarland ended her employment at Old American in 2002 and developed her own business as a loan closer and at the time of Davis’ loan was working for her own company.

Davis’ mortgage was approved in December of 2005 and the check was made available on December 15, 2005. It was issued by Title Company of America, Inc. “Although not a usual practice, the check was given to Wallace Williams at Old American, to give to” Davis.

However, before Mr. Williams delivered the check to Davis, Johnson-MacFarland presented him with a Letter of Direction that was dated December 9, 2005, which advised Williams to release the check to her. “Based on his previous dealings with Ms. Johnson-MacFarland, and her role in procuring the mortgage, he released the check.”

Court records state that on December 19, 2005, Johnson-MacFarland deposited this check in her personal account at the Evergreen Bank. The check was endorsed with Davis’ signature, although the nature and circumstance of the endorsement remain in dispute.

“She stole a stamp signature of mine and wrote under it that the check was to be paid to her and deposited it into an ATM machine at the Evergreen Bank. Judge Pincham was my attorney at the time. This was last case Pincham was going to take. I know today he is smiling in his grave because he told me this case is going to come back and haunt a lot of people,” Davis said.

In January of 2006, Davis contacted Williams at Old American to see about his mortgage check. Davis told Williams he never saw or received the check and did not know that Johnson-MacFarland had received it. Eventually, the check was traced to the Evergreen Bank account.

Davis accused Johnson-MacFarland of depositing his check into her own account and converting his funds into hers.

Davis said it has been extremely difficult for him to continue paying $1600-a-month for this mortgage loan and to keep his businesses and homes out of foreclosure. “I’ve been paying $1600-a-month for a loan I never received,” he said.

Court records state that Johnson-MacFarland admitted she deposited the check into her Evergreen Bank account but claimed it was with Davis’ knowledge and permission—a charge Davis hotly denies. She claimed the funds “represent a portion of moneys due and owing to her by” Davis.

Davis hired Attorney Lester Barclay who proved she was not telling the truth. “She stole my stamp in 2003 and Attorney Barclay proved this,” said Davis.

The judge ruled in Davis’ favor and against Shirley Johnson-MacFarland in the amount of $168,639.50 which must be paid on or before August 30, 2011.

Davis said the loss of this money has caused him to get behind in his child support payments, which the state claims is now more than $160,000. Davis said no one from the state helped him get his money back from Johnson-MacFarland yet called him a “dead beat dad” on the child support issue. He is very angry about that. “I have been paying child support,” he said. Davis has hired Attorney Lewis Myers to represent him on this case.

Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-29^th) was also pleased with the judge’s decision saying, “I think that is very good. It’s been going on for a long time. It’s an indication and a vindication that there is some accuracy to what he has been saying. I hope he will come out OK.”

Rev. Paul Jakes, pastor of the New Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church, said, “It is a joy to see Wallace Davis victorious. He has been a victim of different situations like a fatal shooting and people thought he was dead but ultimately someone saw him wiggle his toe at the morgue and he lived. They revived him.

“Then his business burned down and he was out-of-business and down and out. He’s back in business again. Wallace was down with this case for many years, which had him financially strapped. It is a delight and a joy to see Wallace back on his feet again. He is a modern day Job.”

Efforts to reach Johnson-MacFarland failed.

For interviews, call former Alderman Wallace Davis, Jr. at: 773-220-0103, or 773-265-9488.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host.

By Marc H. Morial. President and CEO
National Urban League

“We face, therefore, a moral crisis as a country and as a people…It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is a problem of one section of the country or another or deplore the facts that we face.  A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all.”  President John F. Kennedy

The National Urban League concluded the first conference of its second century of service and economic empowerment this past Saturday in Boston.  By all accounts, this was one of the most successful gatherings in the organization’s 101-year history.  Thousands of citizens from across the country came to the birthplace of America to rally support for jobs and to keep the American Dream alive.

This year’s conference which was themed, “Jobs Rebuild America,” gave voice to the concerns of 14 million unemployed Americans, including urban communities of color that have suffered the most during the great recession.  The National Urban League has been a lifeline of support during this crisis, providing job training, foreclosure prevention, education and health services to a record 2.6 million Americans in 2010.  But even with that assistance, our communities continue to fall further behind.

In a new National Urban League report released during the conference, “At Risk:  The State of the Black Middle Class,” we found that the great recession has begun to dismantle the crown jewel achievement of racial advancement in America – a strong black middle class. Our analysis clearly shows that whether one looks at education, income or any other meaningful measure, almost all the economic gains that blacks have made in the last 30 years have been lost in the Great Recession that started in December 2007 and in the anemic recovery that has followed since June 2009. This means that the size of the black middle class is shrinking, the fruits that come from being in the black middle class are dwindling, and the ladders of opportunity for reaching the black middle class are disappearing.

Our conference was also held in the midst of the debt ceiling debate which for weeks has held the American economy hostage to demands for draconian budget cuts that would spare wealthier Americans from tax increases and further imperil Black America along with middle and working class families.

That is why on the first day of the conference we asked the American people to formally enlist in the war on unemployment.  In the spirit of the “Shot Heard Round the World” that rang out from Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775 and began the Revolutionary War, we fired an opening volley in the War on Unemployment by urging everyone at our conference and everyone in America to sign an open letter to the President and Congressional leaders.  Our letter urges our political leaders to refocus the national debate from deficit reduction to putting America back to work.  It calls for a national jobs summit and a national jobs plan based in part on the National Urban League’s 12-point jobs plan.
 
It is my hope that public pressure will achieve what political leadership has thus far struggled to deliver – a fair, balanced and effective solution to the issue of job creation and ballooning budget deficits.

Our thanks to Boston Mayor, Thomas Menino; Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick; and  Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts CEO, Darnell Williams for making this year’s conference such a success.

To view and sign our open letter to the president and Congressional leaders visit:

http://www.iamempowered.com/article/2011/07/27/national-urban-league-open-letter-president-and-congress

Washington, D.C.  – A federal court in Washington, DC today released an opinion upholding  the validity of a constitutional rights lawsuit against former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for his role in the torturing and illegal imprisonment of a U.S. citizen who was working as a translator in Iraq.

The case, John Doe v. Donald Rumsfeld, et al, (No. 08-cv-1902 CKK), is being heard by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and the decision is available here (https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2008cv1902-56).

Out of the many suits brought against Rumsfeld over the torture of detainees in Iraq, this is only the second case that has been allowed to proceed. The other case is Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel v. Donald Rumsfeld, et al (06 C 6964). In both cases, plaintiffs are being represented by Mike Kanovitz and Gayle Horn of the civil rights law firm Loevy & Loevy, based in Chicago. The Washington, DC-based nonprofit Government Accountability Project is co-counsel in Doe v. Rumsfeld.

“This case affects tens of thousands of American citizens who work on behalf of the United States in war zones.  We are relieved that the courts are going to exercise their constitutional role of judicial review instead of giving the President a blank check when it comes to the fundamental rights of U.S. citizens,” said Attorney Mike Kanovitz of Loevy & Loevy.

“There is a clear record showing that Mr. Rumsfeld authorized the use of brutal interrogation techniques that violated our nation’s constitution.  Like all Americans, my clients just want a level playing field and a fair jury.  Now they are going to get that,” Kanovitz.  

Last year, a federal court in Chicago held in Vance that two American citizens who were also tortured while detained by U.S. forces in Iraq could bring constitutional claims against Mr. Rumsfeld.  That decision is currently on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  A decision is expected soon. 

Background
In November 2005, while working as a translator in Iraq for the Marine Corps, “Doe,” an American citizen, was taken into custody as he was returning home to the United States on leave. Doe alleges that he was kidnapped by U.S. military personnel and whisked away to Camp Cropper, a U.S. military base in Iraq.  As the suit notes, 

Plaintiff was not held for the purpose of an investigation or prosecution by any branch or component of the Iraqi government. Nor did United States officials charge him with any crime, nor had he committed any crime. Plaintiff was not told when or if he would ever be able to leave. For months, no one in his family could find out if he was even alive. All they knew was that he had disappeared…. Throughout his detention, Plaintiff was held in torturous conditions of confinement, subjected to threats on his life, and denied an attorney or even access to a legitimate court to challenge the government’s actions.

After being held incommunicado for nine months without charges, Doe was released without explanation or an apology.

In John Doe v. Rumsfeld, the plaintiff was granted anonymity by the court due to concerns about retaliation.  

Contact: Andy Thayer, Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law
Phone: 312.243.5900; 773.209.1187
Email: andy@loevy.com
Contact: Dylan Blaylock, GAP Communications Director
Phone: 202.457.0034, ext. 137
Email: dylanb@whistleblower.org

Loevy & Loevy
Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law is the largest civil rights firm in the Midwest.  Over the past decade, Loevy & Loevy has won more in jury verdicts against law enforcement abuses than any other firm in the region.

Government Accountability Project
The Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, GAP’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, GAP is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.

Award-Winning Gospel Artists Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, Wess Morgan and more just added to Dallas Mens conference 

The Potter’s House Announces 2011 ManPower Conference Artist Lineup

Dallas, TX - Gospel artists Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, Wess Morgan,
Anthony Evans, and the Soul Seekers have just been added to the lineup for the 2011
ManPower Conference hosted by T. D. Jakes at The Potters House of Dallas. ManPower will be
held Thursday, August 11th through Saturday, August 13th, and will feature eminent speakers,
such as Bishop T.D. Jakes and other renowned guests who will share inspirational messages to
men. This year’s theme is ‘Breaking New Ground’.

ManPower, created by Bishop T.D. Jakes, is designed to address the specific needs, hurts, and
struggles of all men from a biblical perspective. The first ManPower conference was held in
1994 in Detroit. Years later, ManPower continues to equip and encourage men to build strong
marriages, increase their confidence and take on community responsibilities. To date,
ManPower has drawn over 150,000 men from around the world.

The ManPower conference not only takes the needs of men into account, but also the needs of
different cultures. In keeping with our service to a culturally diverse audience, this year’s
ManPower will offer Spanish audio translation, in order to better serve our Spanish-speaking
brethren.

Featured musical artists include:
· Fred Hammond, multiple Stellar and Dove Award-winning singer/songwriter/producer and highly influential solo artist

· Donald Lawrence, Grammy®-winning producer, composer, and recording artist who has collaborated with such artists as, the Clark Sisters, Hezekiah Walker, Mary J. Blige,
Ramsey Lewis, and more

· Wess Morgan, Dove Award-nominated, recording artist, and founder of the Wess Morgan Foundation

· Anthony Evans, composer, recording artist, and former Kirk Franklin protégée who has shared the stage with Yolanda Adams, David Phelps, and Natalie Grant

· Soul Seekers, up-and-coming eight-member quartet consisting of hit songwriters, producers, and session musicians touted as the new paradigm of modern-day Quartet music.

The 2011 ManPower Conference will be held at The Potter’s House of Dallas; 6777 W. Kiest
Boulevard; Dallas, TX. Registration is $59. For more information or to register for the 2011
ManPower Conference, visit www.manpowerconference.com or call 1-800-BISHOP2.

About The Potter’s House

Located in Dallas, The Potter’s House is a 30,000-member nondenominational, multicultural church and humanitarian organization led by Bishop T. D. Jakes, twice featured on the cover of Time magazine as “America’s Best Preacher” and as one of the nation’s “25 most influential
evangelicals.” The Potter’s House has four locations, The Potter’s House of Dallas, The Potter’s
House of Fort Worth, The Potter’s House of North Dallas, and The Potter’s House of Denver and a Spanish language church, Casa de Fe. www.thepottershouse.org.

Chicago, IL — The innovative and influential Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company (a program of New York Live Arts) opens The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago’s 2011–12 season with the repertory program “Body Against Body” Thursday, September 29–Saturday, October 1 at 8 p.m. at The Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

“Body Against Body” returns to Jones’s roots in the avant-garde with a program that revives and reconsiders the challenging, groundbreaking works that launched Jones and the late Arnie Zane, his partner and collaborator of 17 years. Still some of the most significant examples of the postmodern aesthetic, these athletic pieces redefined the duet form and changed the face of American dance. Both conceptually and physically rigorous, the works take on new life through the diverse dancers of Jones’s company, providing a rare look at the origins of a widely acclaimed choreographer.

Program A (September 29 at 8 p.m., October 1 at 3 p.m.) includes Valley Cottage (1980), a duet unseen since its original performances by Jones and Zane in the early ’80s, with music by Helen Thorington; Continuous Replay (1977, 1991), originally choreographed as a solo by Zane in 1977 under the title Hand Dance and adapted as a group piece by Jones in 1991, featuring Dance Center Music Director Richard Woodbury performing a live electronic score; and Monkey Run Road (1979), one of the first Jones/Zane duets that reveals the duo’s early dance-making concerns, with music by Thorington. Program B (September 30 and October 1 at 8 p.m.) includes Duet X 2 (1982), a work rooted in conventional modern dance vocabulary and marked by demanding athletics, surprising shapes and changing relationships; Continuous Replay; and Blauvelt Mountain (1980, 2002), an eccentric duet that capitalizes on the disparities and specificities of contrasting body types, with music by Thorington. Both programs contain full nudity.

RESIDENCY ACTIVITIES

As part of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s residency, Jones will give a pre-performance talk on Thursday, September 29 at 7 p.m., and there will be a post-performance conversation with company dancers and collaborators on Friday, September 30, both free and open to ticket holders. Company Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong will lead a DanceMasters class Tuesday, September 27 at 6 p.m. at the Lou Conte Dance Studio in the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 W. Jackson Blvd. DanceMasters is a series of community master classes presented by The Dance Center’s division of Community Outreach and Education (COE), in partnership with the Lou Conte Dance Studio at the Hubbard Street Dance Center and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Classes are for dancers at the intermediate level or higher.

BILL T. JONES/ARNIE ZANE DANCE COMPANY
Now in its 29th year, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was born out of an 11-year collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane (1948–1988). During this time, they redefined the duet form and foreshadowed issues of identity, form and social commentary that would change the face of American dance. The company has performed worldwide in more than 200 cities in 40 countries on every major continent and is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world.

In 2009, the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois commissioned the company to create a work honoring the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. The commission resulted in the company’s most ambitious work to date, Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently Do We Pray (2009), now the subject of a feature-length documentary by Kartemquin Films entitled A Good Man, which screens at Chicago’s Siskel Center September 23–29, during the company’s residency.

Co-Founder and Artistic Director Bill T. Jones, a multitalented artist, choreographer, dancer, theatre director and writer, has received major honors ranging from a 1994 MacArthur “Genius” Award to Kennedy Center Honors in 2010. He received a 2010 Tony Award for Best Choreography in the critically acclaimed musical FELA!, which he also co-conceived, co-wrote and directed. He also earned a 2007 Tony for Best Choreography in Spring Awakening and an Obie Award for the show’s 2006 off-Broadway run. In 2011, Jones was named Executive Artistic Director of New York Lives Arts, an artist-led, producing and presenting arts organization formed by a merger of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Dance Theater Workshop. New York Live Arts strives to create a robust framework in support of the nation’s dance and movement-based artists.

FUNDING
The Dance Center’s presentation of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is funded, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.

THE DANCE CENTER
The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago, named “Chicago’s Best Dance Theatre” by Chicago magazine and “Best Dance Venue” by the Chicago Reader, is the city’s leading presenter of contemporary dance, showcasing artists of regional, national and international significance. Programs of The Dance Center are supported, in part, Alphawood Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, Sara Lee Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Arts Midwest, The Boeing Company, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The Irving Harris Foundation and New England Foundation for the Arts. Additional funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council. Special thanks to Friends of The Dance Center.

The Dance Center’s 2011–12 season continues with Pick Up Performance Co(s) (October 13–15), Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (October 28–29 at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance), Merce Cunningham Dance Company (co-presented with the Harris Theater November 18 and 19 at the Harris Theater), Margaret Jenkins Dance Company (February 9–11), Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak (February 23–25), The Space/Movement Project with Rachel Damon/Synapse Arts and with Erica Mott (March 8–10) and Ballet Hispanico (March 22–24).

TICKET INFORMATION
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company appears Thursday–Saturday, September 29–October 1 at The Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Avenue. Performances of Program A are Thursday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m.; Program B takes place Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Single tickets are $35–40; subscribers who order tickets to three or more performances from the 2011–12 season save 20%. The DanceMasters class with Janet Wong on Tuesday, September 27 at 6 p.m. at the Lou Conte Dance Studio at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 W. Jackson Boulevard, is $15, $10 for students; space is limited. All programming is subject to change. The theatre is accessible to people with disabilities. Call 312-369-8330 or visit colum.edu/dancecenter.

 Tickets on sale Aug. 5

Chicago, IL – The critically acclaimed Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago (GJDC) presents its fall engagement at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, 205 E. Randolph Dr. in Chicago’s Millennium Park Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. The October engagement is part of GJDC’s 2011-2012 “Passion and Fire” season.

In this engagement, GJDC will feature two world premieres: a  full-company work from renowned choreographer Kiesha Lalama and a duet from Artistic Associate Autumn Eckman.  The fall performances of “Passion and Fire” will also highlight popular selections from GJDC’s critically acclaimed repertoire including Del Dominguez’s spectacular Latin ballroom dance work “Sabroso,” premiered by GJDC in its spring 2011 Harris Theater engagement. The Chicago Tribune calls “Sabroso” “[a] sizzling concoction… fast-paced, invigorating…savory in its duets and even more impressive in its eye-catching ensemble designs. The mood is pure joy, the energy unstoppable.” The full program for the 2011 engagement will be announced at a later date. 

Tickets are $15-$60 and go on sale Aug. 5. For tickets or more information contact theHarris Theater box office at 312.334.7777 or visit harristheaterchicago.org. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Entering its 49^th season, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago is a world class jazz dance company and a driving force in Chicago’s thriving performing arts community.  Founded by Gus Giordano and currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Nan Giordano, the company’s new works continually expand the boundaries of jazz dance. The company also has an active outreach and education program in Chicago Public Schools. For more information about Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago visit giordanodance.org.