A king and queen hold court
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Nas and Mary J. Blige display rap and R&B dynasty with Royalty Tour
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91 years of serving and empowering the St. Louis community
CAC Audited AUGUST 8 – 14, 2019
COMPLIMENTARY
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Finding peace and purpose 5 years later A Q&A with Michael Brown Sr. By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Last month, Mike Brown’s stepmom, Cal Brown, and local artist Dail Chambers glue old St. Louis American newspapers onto the chest of Michael Brown Sr. to build a paper-mâché case of his chest to create a life-sized replica of his son for the August 9 five-year anniversary of Mike Brown’s killing.
The St. Louis American sat down with Michael Brown Sr. last week at the Urban League’s Ferguson Empowerment Center at 9420 W. Florissant Ave, where he and his family will host the “As I See You: A Tribute to Mike Brown Jr.” from August 9-11. American: What is life like for your family today? Brown: Everyday life for the Browns. Up and down. Emotions are different. Still waking up differently. Still trying to find some kind of peace.
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Photo by Rebecca Rivas
Smart jobs, bright future
By Rachel Lippmann and Jason Rosenbaum Of St. Louis Public Radio Two Democrats captured vacant St. Louis County Council seats Tuesday, giving their party control of the governing body that was shaken up by Steve Stenger’s resignation as county executive. Former state Sen. Rita Heard Days easily won the race in the heavily Democratic 1st District, which takes in parts of central and northern St. Louis County — including Ferguson and University City. Days beat Republican Sarah Davoli with 84% of the vote. In the 2nd District, which includes municipalities like Maryland Heights, Hazelwood, St. Ann, Chesterfield and Creve Coeur, Democrat Kelli Dunaway bested Republican Amy Poelker with nearly 60% of the vote. In addition to Democratic control, the wins
Photo by Wiley Price
Stellar Performer: Valerie Bell Salute to Excellence in Education is September 21st Explaining the impact that attorney and civic volunteer Valerie Bell has had on education in St. Louis can be a little complicated. But her husband, Kelvin Westbrook, a successful business consultant and board chair of BJC nd HealthCare, has a helpful analogy. The St. Louis Public School District is like an elephant, he said, and there are various people who want to help move this elephant in the right direction by
Democrats regain majority
Lezley McSpadden-Head and her son Andre, who was 12 at the time, working in a garden in the Jennings School District. Photo by Wiley Price
By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Dunaway, Days win STL County Council seats
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Jennings School District Superintendent Art McCoy introduces Kathy Osborn, president and CEO of the Regional Business Council during the kickoff of STL.works employment training programs on Monday, Aug. 5 at the America’s Center downtown.
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donating funds. In the past, some were pushing at the trunk and others at the legs. “The elephant, consequently, didn’t move at all,” Westbrook said. When Bell became the board chair of the St. Louis Public School Foundation eight years ago, she did some research, listened to the school district community, and decided to Valerie Bell completely upend how the foundation – which is in charge of managing donations to the district – had been operating. What Bell did was lead the foundation in coming up with four main
areas where funders could plug in, essentially making sure that people were all pushing in the same direction. “In the past, we would listen to what funders wanted to see happen,” said Jane Donahue, president of the foundation. “Val was reversing that paradigm and making sure we were responding to what was most needed by students.” Bell ensured that educators, the superintendent and parents had a voice in shaping the four main areas that the foundation would focus on, Donahue said. “We picked these four areas because we knew they would mean a lot to the communi-
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A mother’s worst nightmare By Kenya Vaughn Of The St. Louis American “I don’t think that this happened to me by chance,” Lezley McSpadden-Head said as she talked about the unimaginable and tragic circumstances that became her reality on August 9, 2014. “I think God picked our family because he felt that I was strong enough to deal with it.” She confessed that if she hadn’t had the revelation to look at the tragedy in a spiritual way, she doesn’t know where she would be today. “I have to thank God for the 18 years he let me have with Mike Mike and say, ‘Thank you for letting me be his mother.’” Friday will mark five years since her unarmed
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