Says Illinois must move forward  

ILLINOIS – The Campaign for Better Health Care (CBHC) released the following statement regarding the non-vote and lack of making any recommendations on the findings of the Legislative Study Committee tasked with developing the state’s competitive health care marketplace, or Exchange:

“The Campaign for Better Health Care is troubled by the lack of recommendations by the Legislative Study Committee today. Although most members of this committee expressed willingness to continue meeting in coming months and years, why do they want to continue to meet if they don’t want to make their recommendations public? ” said Jim Duffett, Executive Director of the Campaign for Better Health Care. “What is disturbing to Illinois small businesses and consumers is the possibility of certain committee members meeting behind closed doors to come up with legislation for the fall veto session instead of utilizing an open process and making these recommendations public today. The state needs to move forward in implementing the Affordable Care Act.“

To that end, CBHC submits the following:

Decision makers for this new competitive health care marketplace

• We agree with the recommendation that the insurance industry, brokers, and agents will not directly serve on the decision-making board.
• We believe that legislators should not be appointed to this board with voting privileges.  If they are appointed that must be non-voting members.
• We agree that the four ex officio members (Department of Insurance, Healthcare and Family Service, Human Services, and Public Health) are non-voting members, and that the Attorney General’s appointees are voting members.
• We believe five appointees by the Governor are an inadequate number, and not geographic and culturally diverse enough for our state.  This new competitive health care marketplace is designed to help small businesses and individuals, and as such, this board must be represented by a variety of consumers, small businesses and other stakeholders.
• We would prefer to see the governance board comprised of 13 voting members, as follows:
  • 3 representatives from organizations representing communities of color
  • 2 representatives from small businesses (one each from Chicagoland and downstate)
  • 2 representatives from consumer organizations (one each from Chicagoland and downstate)
  • 1 representative from an organization representing the disability community
  • 1 representative from organized labor

•  
  • 1 representative from a women’s organization
  • 1 representative from a rural based organization
  • 1 health actuary
  • 1 health economist 

Financing of the competitive health care marketplace and self-sustainability

• We staunchly oppose any fees being levied on consumers within the exchange or a user fee on all Illinoisans.
• We support multi-faceted funding options, with the largest funding mechanism being a progressive surtax on the insurance industry’s revenues.  The higher the percent of reserves that insurance companies have, the higher the surtax.  Leading health insurers have accumulated a combined 2010 surplus of $28,353,715,566, even while individuals and families in Illinois have paid a cumulative average rate increase of 181.8% since 2005. 

Due to the current economic situation, hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans have lost their health insurance and those with insurance are facing double-digit rate increases.  At the same time the insurance industry’s reserves increased by more than $2 billion in just 2010 over 2009 figures.  A surtax on industry reserves is a fair and equitable funding mechanism for a structure that will produce more customers and thus more profit to the insurance industry.  The insurance industry will benefit from it financially – they should support it financially.

Role of the marketplace in controlling costs, improving quality of care, and maximizing efficiency

We believe the new competitive health care marketplace should leverage the combined purchasing power of the one million plus individuals who will be participating in it by negotiating for more affordable rates, just as large corporations outside this marketplace do.  This leverage will stabilize costs for small businesses and individuals, increase efficiencies, and hold the insurance industry accountable for a greater quality of care.

We look forward to a competitive health care marketplace that gives consumers more control, quality choices, and better protections when buying insurance.  We have a real opportunity right now to design a marketplace that brings real competition and greater transparency to the insurance industry, ingredients that work to bring down consumer costs.  We can create a marketplace that incorporates real protections for consumers and levels the playing field for small businesses and individuals in Illinois.  We hope that the members of the General Assembly charged with this task will take these ideals into consideration and create a structure that benefits all who use it.

About the Campaign for Better Health Care

Since 1989, the Campaign for Better Health Care, a non-partisan 501(c)3, has focused on grassroots organizing in Illinois to educate health care consumers and build coalitions with other organizations to ensure quality, affordable health care for all.  For more information, please visit www.cbhconline.org

Ballentine Addresses Critical Community Needs with a Cup of Joe

 Atlanta, GA - Warren Ballentine, popular syndicated radio personality and attorney affectionately known as “The #1 Truthfighter” is once again galvanizing his listeners and encouraging thousands to actively help support and elevate communities across America.  Ballentine announced today a new initiative challenging 30,000 people to buy coffee for $30 every month. The proceeds from the coffee will benefit distressed communities and help individuals who need it most. Every month the earnings from the coffee will go directly into the communities to financially assist in everything from saving homes in jeopardy of foreclosure, to funding college tuitions and helping small and community businesses stay afloat.

In true Ballentine fashion, the charitable cause does not come without pre-requisites. In order to qualify certain criteria must be met. To be considered potential recipients must: 1) Register to vote (if they are legally eligible) 2) Open up a bank account in a community-based bank  3) Hire people in the community which the recipient resides or does business in; no matter what/if the job applicant has a prior legal record and 4) Provide a business plan and/or proof of amount owed (for example a mortgage statement; tuition bill, etc).

The goal is to offer some immediate relief to people in need in our communities, while also focusing on longer-term solutions that stimulate economic growth and promote healthy communities that are engaged financially and socially.  Ballentine, who has always been extremely vocal about the state of the African-American community, continues to emphasize the dire need to work together and learn to invest in the community and become more economically sufficient. “This is an initiative aimed at trying to put hope and opportunity back into our communities. We can’t simply dream our way out of the current conditions. The only way we can do it is by working together and by having access to capital,” explains Ballentine.

Ballentine remains committed to helping the most vulnerable populations in neighborhoods across the country and shares that he will help roughly 5 communities every 30 days. Most recently Ballentine partnered with the National Banking Association (NBA), in a national campaign to get more minorities and other consumers in urban areas to put their money in black-owned banks.  In less than 3 months, Ballentine encouraged minorities to invest more than $1 million dollars into community, minority-owned banks.  He continues to be an activist and influential on the airwaves and in the community.  “It’s about we…it’s not about me.”

To learn more about Ballentine’s current initiative, please visit www.truthfighterscoffee.com.

About Warren Ballentine

Warren Ballentine is Ebony Magazine named Warren Ballentine one of the most influential African Americans on its Power 100 List and New York Times Names Him the Lefts Answer to Rush Limbaugh. Warren Ballentine has galvanized millions of people to not just complain, but to take action to solve problems. Using the power of radio, Ballentine has championed and lead the call for action for the JENA 6 movement, the National Economic Blackout, and the National Community Reinvestment Day, among other nationwide initiatives.  He has been instrumental in driving political education nationwide and led the ONE voter’s registration campaign. Additionally, he is a recurring guest and correspondent for CNN and FOX Business News. Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, Ballentine allowed his love for law to take him through law school at Ohio Northern’s School of Law and propel him into a career that brilliantly intersects the legal world, with the broadcast world. He has been featured in/on The New York Times, Atlanta Tribune, Black Enterprise, Atlanta Business Journal and others. Ballentine continues to use his voice on and off the airwaves to promote change. Going above and beyond the call of duty, he remains adamant about using his voice to make a difference in his community and driving people to move to action. The Warren Ballentine Show is nationally syndicated and can be heard weekdays around the country from 10AM-1PM (check local market listing information) or visit www.truthfighters.tv.

By Wade Henderson

African-Americans have long been targets of financial predators, but a new agency that will protect consumers has opened its doors. President Obama’s nominee to head the agency has been a true champion for minorities – but he will face an uphill battle to be confirmed after Oct. 6 when the Senate Banking Committee was expected to move his nomination to the Senate floor.

Predatory lending to Black people has a very long history. In the 1950s, speculators were known to sell homes to Black families “on contract,” that is, on an installment plan. Black buyers made a down payment and were responsible for taxes, insurance, maintenance, and interest, but could lose the property if they missed even one payment. Given the expensive terms, missed payments were common, which meant that many Black buyers were evicted and had their properties resold over and over again, impoverishing entire neighborhoods and robbing families of their life savings.

Today, predatory financial products marketed to African-Americans are just as common, but increasingly complex. These range from everyday products like payday loans, tax refund anticipation loans, and prepaid debit cards, and go all the way up to the complicated subprime mortgages that have devastated Black communities. These products have gone under-regulated for far too long. 

President Obama and the Democrats in Congress responded by establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a new federal agency with the authority to crack down on predatory financial practices that enable companies to profit off of misery.

The president has also nominated a man to lead it who has protected and advanced the rights of minority consumers throughout his career, Richard Cordray. Until recently, Cordray headed up the nascent CFPB’s enforcement division, but before that he served the state of Ohio as its attorney general. If you ask about him around Washington circles, most know him as a smart guy who won Jeopardy five times. But ask Ohio’s Black and Hispanic leaders what they think of Cordray, and they’ll give you the real story.

At the time that Cordray was attorney general, Ohio’s urban communities were being described in the media as the foreclosure epicenters of the nation.  In the Cleveland-area, one out of 13 homes was vacant, with some estimates going much higher. Mortgage lenders had so many vacant properties that they were trying to sell them for less than they were worth in the 1920s. Many of these homes once belonged to lower-income families of all races who were sold subprime mortgages that they couldn’t pay back. The banks then illegally fast-tracked foreclosures by submitting fraudulently signed documents to the courts. This situation is strikingly familiar to one that a Black family in the 1950s might have faced.

Officials in Ohio were among the first and the most aggressive in going after the banks making fraudulent foreclosures. Cordray filed a lawsuit against a prominent bank, GMAC, seeking $25,000 for every violation of the state’s consumer protection laws.  It was hailed as “the biggest and boldest legal action taken against the mortgage companies” since the crisis began. Cordray also called on other banks to investigate their foreclosure processes and to stop evicting families immediately.

But a genuine advocate like Cordray will not have an easy time getting confirmed in this polarized political atmosphere. Getting Congress to agree to federal regulation of predatory bank practices was one of President Obama’s hardest won battles thus far. But now, the same members of lawmakers who fought tooth and nail to keep the agency from launching have set their sights on weakening it, neutering it before it can even fulfill its mandate.  One way that they’ve done this is by announcing that they will block Cordray’s confirmation – or the confirmation of anyone else Obama might appoint to head the agency – unless the agency’s enforcement powers are gutted.

The foreclosure crisis is still alive and well in communities of color, who are now on the wrong side of the largest wealth gap ever recorded. We cannot wait for a champion to save us. We must become our own champions and advocate for those like Richard Cordray who will fight for us. 

Wade Henderson is the President of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

New America Media

 Op-ed, Patricia Johnson

At the recent LinkedIn-sponsored town hall meeting, President Obama stated that we “make sure your neighbors and friends also have jobs.”

I’ve got a suggestion that doesn’t cost much, doesn’t need a government agency to run it, and could help reinvigorate our cities: hire teenagers.

Nationally, youth unemployment hovers around 20 percent. In neighborhoods where low-income African American and Latino youth are the majority, unemployment approaches 40 percent for people under 24 years of age.

I teach at Game Theory Academy, a nonprofit I founded to make economic education more relevant, and accessible to marginalized youth. In our classroom conversations, we discuss topics such as how the economy works, how students can act in their own best interest, and the opportunity costs of doing nothing, rather than working or pursuing education. Students often ask me, “Hey, Trish, can you find me a job?”

Among students at Game Theory Academy, a shocking 63 percent report not having any kind of part-time job. When I was 15, I got a job at a local real-estate office answering phones. I worked at a copy shop the summer before college. But it’s not the 90s anymore, and businesses don’t hire teens the way they used to.

The receptionist answering the phones at the local real estate office is easily twice the age I was when I did that job. I’ve never seen a teen at the register at the copy shop near my office. Adults need those jobs too: but could they use some support from an eager teen?

The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that small businesses generated 64 percent of all jobs created in the last 15 years. If they are the engine for growth, then small businesses are in the best position to take the lead on ending youth unemployment.

Back of the envelope: if a local, small business hires one teenager for ten hours per week at ten bucks an hour, the cost is about $100 per week, plus some supervision expenses. Assuming 50 weeks of work in the year, that costs $5,000 and change.

Oakland, where I am based, is home to 25,000 youth ages 15 to 19, and at least 10,000 small businesses. If each of those businesses hired one job-seeking teenager, we could make a huge dent in that 40 percent youth unemployment number. Do the math in any city, and it’ll add up.

What impact will this have?

Youth are local spenders. They ride the bus. They buy snacks and go to movies. If our young workforce spends in Oakland and nearby cities, that’s estimated to be close to $500 in annual sales tax revenue per youth – or $6 million total. Imagine the effect if cities in every state joined this call to action.

A majority of juvenile crimes are property crimes. Teens who earn money have less incentive to steal and deal drugs. A paycheck shifts the risk-reward ratio. They are too busy. They have money in their pockets and a sense of opportunity.

Teens who work are more likely to find and sustain jobs as they age into adulthood. Studies show that unemployment as a youth leads to a lifetime of lower wages. It also lowers life expectancy. Give youth jobs now, and they will have higher lifetime earning potential – and the habit of employment and better health. Once you’ve had a job, you want another one.

Dust off an apron or a clipboard and invest $5,000 in our nation’s youth, and in your own business. They might surprise you with the value they add.

Patricia Johnson is the Director of the California Council on Youth Relations.

Simon commends “Reinvention” campus tours, education panel

Chicago, IL – In the final week of her Complete College Tour, Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon voiced support for a City Colleges of Chicago plan to better prepare city youths for college-level work.

Simon said she wants more high school students to take four years of math, up from three required by current Illinois graduation requirements. Increasing high school math instruction could decrease the number of college students who linger in remedial courses and drop out of City Colleges or other schools statewide, she said.

This proposed City Colleges “Reinvention Strategy” would ultimately help the state meet its goal of having 60 percent of working-age adults hold college degrees or certificates by 2025, she said.

“Blurring the lines between high school and college can help keep students on track toward a meaningful college credential,” Simon said. “High school students who know the expectations of colleges can rise to meet those expectations and serve us all well.”

The Lt. Governor’s call for reform came during a panel discussion with City Colleges faculty and students at Malcolm X College, one of the seven Chicago colleges Simon visited Monday and today in her quest to visit all 48 community colleges across Illinois this year.

She was joined on the education panel by Alexi Giannoulias, chairman of the Illinois Community College Board; Gery Chico, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education; and Perry Buckley, president of the Local 1600 of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

“High schools, community colleges and public universities must work together to create seamless transitions from one level to the next,” Giannoulias said. “Otherwise, our education system will continue to be a leaky pipeline that leaves too many students behind.”

The City Colleges’ Reinvention is a comprehensive program designed to review and revise City Colleges’ programs and practices in order to drive greater degree attainment, job placement and career advancement. One strategy to improve college performance is to make sure more incoming students are ready for the rigor of college courses.

This year, only 23 percent of ACT-tested high school graduates in Illinois met all college-ready benchmarks in English, reading, math and science. And more than 90 percent of incoming City College students require remedial courses in one or more subjects, which often tap into financial aid but don’t always count toward a degree.

City Colleges is working to strengthen its relationship with Chicago Public Schools by targeting graduating seniors for an intensive summer program designed to reduce the time spent in developmental education. It is also looking at new placement testing policies to ensure that students are enrolled in appropriate entry-level courses. 

Simon commended City Colleges for preparing a pilot program that aims to expand dual credit math courses for high school seniors at CPS. Students in dual credit earn high school and college credit at the same time, thereby accelerating their path to college level courses and credentials. Dual credit math courses are college credit courses taught by high school math teachers who hold the same credentials and use the same syllabi as math teachers at City Colleges.

“Lt. Governor Simon recognizes that community colleges have a critical role to play in ensuring people across our state are prepared for the jobs of today and tomorrow,” said Chancellor Cheryl L. Hyman. “Her work demonstrates the state’s leadership on aligning community colleges around outcome-based goals.”

“Through Reinvention, City Colleges of Chicago is already working to dramatically improve outcomes for our students, and to shift the paradigm – from being a community college system focused solely on access to one committed to both access and student success,” continued Chancellor Hyman.

In order for the state to reach its “60 by 2025” goal, Illinois’ postsecondary institutions must increase the number of graduates statewide by 4,400 students each year, for a total of 600,000 additional graduates by 2025.

To do so, Simon says schools need to reform how they deliver remedial education and handle transfer students. She also serves on the state’s performance funding committee, which is creating a system to tie state higher education dollars to completion milestones and graduation.

“We have a funding system now that rewards enrollment, and we need to shift that to reward course completions, graduation and other markers of progress and success,” Simon said.

Starting yesterday and continuing today Simon visited the seven colleges that make up City Colleges: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S. Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College.

Simon has now visited 44 community colleges on her Complete College Tour, which concludes Thursday at Rock Valley College in Rockford. She will report her listening tour findings to the Governor and General Assembly this winter.

Commemorates 150th Anniversary of Civil War

Washington, DC (BlackNews.com) — The National Veterans Coalition recently added a twist to the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War by honoring black participation in the iconic battle with a presentation on African American service and a screening of the blockbuster movie, “Glory.”

The event, held at the University of the District of Columbia, is part of ongoing community outreach by the Coalition to publicize African American military involvement. The group’s key focus is obtaining an honorary posthumous promotion of Col. Charles Young to Brigadier General. He was denied the honor because of the color of his skin and, at the time of his death in 1922, was the highest ranking black man in the US military.

“It’s vital to recognize the contributions of black soldiers in the defense of the nation; it’s a part of American history,” said Charles Blatcher, III, Chairman of the Veterans Coalition. He further stated: “Our goal in sponsoring this event is threefold. First, we are acknowledging the occasion of African American participation in the Civil War. Second, the occasion offered the opportunity to introduce or re-introduce the importance of learning the facts and preserving our history.”

“It is our intention to provide additional forums for our scholars and experts to bring the conversations to the community firsthand, just as we did in Washington, DC. Third, this occasion was appropriate in providing us the opportunity to publicly embrace the National Museum of African American History and Culture,” he continues. “Little known outside of the Washington, DC area, it is an institution with vast potential. It presents the history of Black America to the nation and the world. Hopefully, it will interface with public education to make available to schools throughout the nation supplemental materials which are a part of American History. We invite the public to become involved in supporting the development of that institution. We are requesting the institution to broaden its outreach to join us in presenting programs similar to this event across the nation, to cultivate community interest in this national project.”

The presentations were led by highly esteemed historians from the District’s top universities and a representative of the Capitol’s sole museum dedicated to the Civil War’s soldiers of color. The panel included: Hari Jones, Curator, African American Civil War Museum; Dr. Jennifer C. James, George Washington University; Dr. Maurice Jackson, Georgetown University; and, Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber, University of the District of Columbia.

The Coalition, along with the Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Brain Trust and the University of the District of Columbia, sponsored the event.

“One of the best-kept secrets in American history is the story of how Americans of African descent helped save the Union and freed themselves in the Civil War,” Mr. Jones said. He continues, “It is important that we know and understand this history in order for us to truly know and understand who we are as a people.”

Dr. Jennifer James furthered this point of view: “People of African descent have served in almost every conflict in North America from the 1600’s forward. All Americans should be aware of that long history of sacrifice.”

These patriots were eager to prove their valor, according to Georgetown’s Dr. Jackson. He retold the story, “…the cry had been long: ‘Give us the opportunity; show us a chance to climb to distinction, and we will show the world by our bravery what the Negro can do.’”

Dr. Jowers-Barber addressed the black soldiers’ courage. “They fought in every conflict prior to the Civil War and yet were still not considered worthy to be citizens. But when it came time to fight for their own freedom and save the Union they were ready and again distinguished themselves in the Civil War. Do not be misled; African American history is indeed American history.”

For further information, call (510) 467-9242 or e-mail cnmmmf@aol.com. Go to www.colonelcyoung.org. for photos. Senator Michael D. Brown, District of Columbia & Charles Blatcher, III, Chairman. See reference correspondence: National Museum of African American History and Culture & Kwane R. Brown, Chairman, City Council of the District of Columbia.

By Misty A. Oaks, Esq.

Nationwide (BlackNews.com) — The execution of Troy Anthony Davis was nothing more than a modern day lynching of a black man who was convicted of murder on nothing more than what people said and later took back. Like a scene out of the movie Roots, the government of the State of Georgia shackled Troy Anthony Davis and told him, in front of our faces, that his name was Toby and there didn’t seem to be anything we could do about it. Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz, and other ’speakers’ on the matter would have you believe that Troy Davis was not a man worthy of having his life spared. They will tell you that this was a man that was convicted of shooting someone in the face earlier the same day as he was accused of shooting and killing off-duty Savannah police officer Mark McPhail. But whatever he did in his life before or after the events that led to his twenty-year incarceration and subsequent death by lethal injection, matter not one bit. The bottom line is that the reasonable doubt that got Casey Anthony acquitted of murder is the same reasonable doubt that should have saved Troy Anthony Davis from death.

The State of Georgia remained resolute in its decision to execute Troy Davis from the beginning to the end. Seven of the nine witnesses whose testimony formed the basis for Troy Davis’ conviction signed sworn affidavits saying they were forced or coerced by Savannah police into offering testimony against Troy Davis. And when those same witnesses recanted their testimony, the State of Georgia offered no apology, no humility, and no remorse for holding a man in prison for twenty-years without just cause. Officer McPhail’s widow, mother, children and other family members maintained that Troy Davis was guilty of the murder and were quoted several times as saying of his execution, “That’s what we wanted and that’s what we got.”

Officer McPhail’s mother said of those who protested the execution of Troy Davis nationwide, “I think these people are just against the death penalty. They don’t know what happened.” Well my question to the McPhail family is – how the hell do you know what happened that fateful night? Were you there? No. There was no physical evidence linking Troy Davis to the murder and the State of Georgia refused to allow Troy Davis to take a polygraph test, so you are going off the faulty and forced testimony that was later retracted. Your confidence in his guilt is really just misplaced anger and bitterness at the loss of your loved one, but it is just that – misplaced.

Many marchers and protestors feel dejected that their voices went seemingly unheard. So in many minds, there is no point in standing up against such a formidable, well-rehearsed opponent. But that is what the unjust would have us believe, that we are powerless. That could not be any further from the truth. No matter what the outcome, the reality is that there is strength in numbers and power in unity. Let Troy Davis’ execution serve as a reminder to us of how far we’ve come and how far we’ve yet to go. Let us be reminded of LQ Ivy, Mary Turner, and the thousands of others who were unjustly and unscrupulously murdered and are now without sanctuary. Let the voices of Malcolm and Martin ring loud and clear in our ears reminding us that the struggle did not end with them and that we still have to “make it to the mountaintop” “by any means necessary.” We would be irresponsible to brush Troy Davis’ memory under the rug and move on as if there is no lurking threat to our rights and freedoms. We must unite and stand together for justice all over the world, no matter what the cost, lest Troy Davis’ death be in vain.

A woman held a sign in protest of Troy Davis’ execution outside of President Barak Obama’s headquarters in Chicago that said, “Hey Obama, take a stand! Don’t let Georgia kill an innocent man! Save Troy Davis.” Now I love Barack Obama. I respect him, I admire him, and I pray for him every time I pray. But as for President Obama’s ‘vow of silence’ on the issue, I can say that I am disappointed. I wasn’t expecting him to convene a session of Congress or grant a pardon to Davis himself, because legally he couldn’t anyway. But he could have said something – anything. President Obama is a lawyer and he knows or should know better than anyone that we are responsible for upholding justice, truth, and order. It is inherent in our job title. And for him to sit silently by while one of his brothers was about to be ’strung up’ in the modern sense of the word, and not say anything, to me is even sadder than the execution itself. Some have made excuses for President Obama saying, “Look at the position he’s in. He probably couldn’t say anything.” But that gives one the impression that the leader of the most powerful nation in the world isn’t even free enough to speak his own mind in his own country. Far be it for me to judge because heavy lies the head that wears the crown…and he is only one man. But in the words of the Negro National Anthem, we must lift EVERY voice and sing till Earth and Heaven ring with the harmony of liberty. President Obama should have been our choir director, instead of a silent bystander who couldn’t even clap his hands.

Attorney Misty Oaks is a writer, a professional speaker, a radio personality, and the owner of The Oaks Firm, which is the premiere loan modifications & strategic default law firm in the Atlanta area. Other practice areas include foreclosure defense and entertainment and business law. The Oaks Firm is now offering seminars, webinars, and other products to educate and empower the masses through this national housing crisis. Please go to www.theoaksfirm.com to learn more about their educational services. Attorney Oaks can be heard from 9am – 10am EST every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on her hit internet radio show The Misty Oaks Experience on www.sensationstationnetwork.com. She is on Facebook and Twitter at: The Oaks Firm and Who Is Misty Oaks?

Having just turned 101, retired Chicago Public School teacher Ora Higgins will be holding her 35^th anniversary youth scholarship awards dinner Saturday, October 8, 2011, from 12 noon to 4 p.m. at the Sabre Room, 8900 West 95^th Street in Hickory Hills, Illinois.

Higgins, who is also the first African American personnel director for Spiegel’s and the great-great aunt to Michelle Obama, will be saluting eight scholarship winners with the “2011 Distinguished Leadership Awards.”

Murrell Higgins Duster, her daughter and treasurer of the Foundation, said this year’s theme is: “Helping Students to Succeed as we Enter the Global Society.”

Duster said the students are selected from Chicago schools based on their academic scores along with contributions they have made to both their families and communities.

The Foundation also gives the “Builders Award” to students who show “distinguished leadership” qualities.

The Ora Higgins Youth Foundation will also celebrate Mrs. Higgins 101^st birthday. She was born on September 24, 1910 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Just as Ora Higgins gave numerous blacks their first jobs when she was personnel director at Spiegel’s, over the past 35-years, her Foundation she founded in 1976, has sent scores of African American students to college.

Higgins believes, “The seeds we sow by giving to our youth shall be rewarded in the harvest of their prosperity.”

Tickets are $50 and include dinner. All proceeds go toward scholarships for the youth.

Annual El Humanitario Awards Ceremony honored two prominent Latino community leaders

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, along with members of the office’s Hispanic Advisory Council,  presented awards to two individuals who have made contributions to the Hispanic community through their professional and personal lives during a ceremony yesterday.

The Honorable Ronald Amaury Guzman, Judge in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois and Mr. Juan Rangel, Chief Executive Officer of the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) received the office’s El Humanitario Award for their professional excellence and community involvement.

State’s Attorney Alvarez also presented scholarships to two outstanding students for their academic achievements.

The ceremony was held at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 West 19^th Street, Chicago.