Back-to-School events coming in August
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St. Louis American See page A8
The
CAC Audited JULY 18 – 24, 2024
Serving, empowering and advocating for equity in St. Louis since 1928
Vol. 96 No. 15 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Martin to host ‘#Ferguson and Beyond’
Exciting Expo SLPS, Urban League event July 20 By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American While summer is still in full swing, the 2024-25 school year is nearing, meaning it’s time for the region’s biggest back-to-school event. The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis (ULSTL) and Saint Louis Public Schools (SLPS) present the Urban Expo Back to School & Community Empowerment n Attendees will receive free Festival from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday July 20 at America’s school supplies, Center downtown. including book “The Urban Expo in partnerbags and shoes. ship with the St. Louis Public Schools is a family fun celebration for the community,” said Michael P. McMillan, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis president and CEO. It’s an opportunity for everyone to tap into essential resources, enjoy great entertainment, and come together. Everyone is invited to join us.” Attendees will receive free school supplies, including book bags and shoes. SLPS officials will be on hand to help with transportation, school enrollment, and any other questions you may have. The festival will also include a community fair with
See EXPO, A6
‘Morning Edition’ will air live Aug. 6 By Fontella Bradford St. Louis Public Radio
Photo courtesy of Urban League
Spiderman spun a web of fun last year for kids attending the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis (ULSTL) and Saint Louis Public Schools Urban Expo Back to School & Community Empowerment Festival. The 2024 festival is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 20 at America’s Center downtown.
Aug. 9 will mark 10 years since Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer. The killing, which became known as the Ferguson Uprising,” sparked unrest, activism and demands for reform both locally and nationally. NPR Morning Edition host Michel Martin will return to Ferguson on August 7, 2024 to lead a conversation with panelists and community members “where we hope to look back and forward; to talk about what happened and why, and what Michel Martin has — and hasn’t — changed in the last 10 years,” according to Martin. “#Ferguson and Beyond: A Community Conversation 10 Years Later” will be hosted by St. Louis Public Radio in collaboration with NPR to offer the public an opportunity for reflection and thoughtful discussion. This conversation comes nine years after a four-hour long discussion with Martin, STLPR, and more than 200
See MARTIN, A7
VP Harris stumps for women’s health initiative
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
The new Nicholas J. Booker Basketball Courts opened in Forest Park Saturday morning July 13, 2024 to a full house of basketball enthusiasts. Booker, who worked for the city Parks and Recreation Department, was a star student and athlete at John Burroughs School and loved Forest Park, passed away following an asthma attack while playing a pick-up basketball game during his freshman year at Fordham University.
Meet me at The Nick n “Being an organ donor and having the basketball court in his honor, he is continuing to help others.”
day of games, food, and music. Over 100 friends and family of Nick Booker came to honor and celebrate his memory and love for Forest Park and basketball. Basketball teams The Nicholas J. Booker Basketball from across the region signed up for specific Courts are named after Nick Booker, a games and contests. St. Louis youth who loved basketball and A proclamation from the Mayor of St. worked as a teenager in Forest Park for the Louis City, Tishaura Jones proclaimed July St. Louis Parks Division. He died tragically – Tanya Booker 13, 2024, as Forest Park Nicholas J. Booker from an asthma attack while playing pickup Basketball Day – cheers from family and basketball during his first year of college. friends filled the hot summer day air. A partnership between the St. Louis “This is such a tremendous honor for our family to have City Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry and something that is so needed and inclusive that is in his the private nonprofit conservancy Forest Park Forever and honor,” said Booker’s dad Britt Booker. Britt describes his funding including a lead gift from the Eric P. and Evelyn son as someone who loves to bring everyone together, even E. Newman Foundation and other supporters helped bring those he doesn’t know. basketball to Forest Park. This is the first time in the park’s history to have a basketball court. See NICK, A6 Saturday, July 13, the dedication of the courts, had a
By Ashley Winters The St. Louis American
BUSINESS
Will address Black mortality rate By Jennifer Porter Gore Word In Black Addressing an issue important to Black women, Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out a new set of national health and safety standards for hospitals that she says can help protect new mothers and stem the maternal mortality crisis. Speaking at the national convention of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. — a sorority in which she is a member — Harris said the new standards establish clear and proper procedures for hospitals and clinics that deliver newborn babies. It also requires those facilities to stock enough specific medical supplies for any type of emergencies that a birthing mother might face.
See HARRIS, A7 SPORTS
Eliminating neighborhood ‘environmental nuisances’
Everything came up Roses for STL hoop teams
Neighborhood Advocacy program serves 16 neighborhoods in St. Louis, helping residents and community-based organizations to prevent and reduce vacancy and property abandonment.
There are more than 60 teams from the state of Missouri in the Run 4 Roses Classic in Louisville, which includes many basketball teams from the St. Louis area.
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