Rustic Roots marks a return of farm to urban area
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CAC Audited JULY 7 – 13, 2022
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Alton is ‘Goins’ places Town’s first Black mayor has big plans for historic city
By Ashley Winters The St. Louis American Mayor David Goins is in his second year as leader of the historic Missouri River town, and he tells the St. Louis American there has been a learning curve and proud moments. He has big plans for “this small yet mighty town.” “My experience and background prepared me for this role,” said Goins. He served as an Alton police officer for 25 years, and he’s a retired pastor from Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, where he led the congregation for 20 years. Service seems ingrained in him. Becoming the first Black mayor of a town that is almost 70% white and 24% Black seems surprising in the current racially and politically polarized United States Goins said he understands the “pressure” that comes from his community. Alton was home to abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy
See GOINS, A6
COMPLIMENTARY
NAACP chapters seek to slam brakes on police chases By Alvin A. Reid The St. Louis American
Photo courtesy of Goins for Mayor
Alton Mayor David Goins is sworn in by outgoing Alton City Clerk Mary Boulds in April 2021, with his wife, Sheila, on the steps of Alton City Hall.
Keeping cool
Chaeuron Spinks (8) and Audrey Hardie (6) beat the 100-degree heat by keeping cool in a waterfall at the City Garden in St. Louis on Tuesday, July 5. An excessive heat warning has been issued for the St. Louis area as temperatures top out near 100.
A deadly 18-day period between April 22 and May 9, 2022, saw seven people killed, two of them children, because of car accidents caused by suspected lawbreakers fleeing police. This has led the St. Louis and St. Louis County chapters of the NAACP to begin “formal interactions” with area police forces to eliminate this deadly threat to innocent citizens. “Crashes involving drivers fleeing the police constitute a public safety emergency. It is an urgent, unstable situation where the loss of human life is occurring,” John Bowman, St. Louis County NAACP president, said during a Wednesday press briefing at the county NAACP John office where he was joined by Bowman Adolphus Pruitt, St. Louis chapter president. “We are well aware that police throughout the country engage in hundreds of high-speed automobile chases every day. Enough of these result in serious property damage, personal injury, and death to make police pursuit a major public concern.” In response to calls for action, the local branches are working together and seek mediation agreements with city and County police departments “for the adoption and implementation of reforms/ recommendations.” “We have shared all the information gather to-date with the Justice Department and we are scheduled to start formal interactions with the department this week. Those interactions will consist of both in-person and video conferencing throughout the process,” Bowman said.
See POLICE, A7
Photo by Bill Greenblatt / St. Louis American
Branching out
By Andrea Y. Henderson St. Louis Public Radio Change and Action for Racial Equity and St. Louis Association of Community Organizations are working to promote literacy in north St. Louis by placing tiny libraries north of Delmar Boulevard. The project is part of the Read in Color initiative from the national literacy organization Free Little Libraries, which encourages people to place book boxes in neighborhoods. The initiative aims to provide communities with access to more books by diverse authors. Residents will be able to pick up and drop off
See LIBRARIES, A6 SPORTS
Guyton guides heralded Warriors wrestling program
Jeremy Guyton is the founder and head coach of the Warriors program. He saw a need for a program for up-and-coming wrestling talent in his home area and he has filled the void.
SLPS school now carries Betty Wheeler’s name Had been named for Confederate officer
St. Louis American staff
Little Libraries coming to North St. Louis
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Vol. 94 No. 15
Photo courtesy of Chande and Action for Racial Equity
Members of Change and Action for Racial Equity, St. Louis Association of Community Organizations and community volunteers place a colorful little library in north St. Louis in June.
HEALTH
History cannot be changed, but that does not hold true with the names of public schools – especially if they carried the name of a Confederate officer. The St. Louis Public Schools board recently voted to rename Kennard Junior Academy and honor the building with the name of Betty Wheeler Classical Junior Academy. For decades, the school at 5031 Potomac had carried the name of late Confederate Lt. Samuel Kennard, who became a wealthy St. Louis businessperson with known ties to a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, according to SLPS. In 2015, parents insisted that that school’s name be changed to better reflect it as a part of a diverse and inclusive neighborhoods and district. Collaborating with parents and alumni, the district did further research on school names and the
See WHEELER, A7
LIVING IT
Barbershops, salons allies in high blood pressure battle
Black Film Festival covers myriad of topics
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According to the American Heart Association, more than 315,000 people currently suffer from high blood pressure in the St. Louis area – and most do not know they have it.
The 2022 American Black Film Festival in Miami was back to an in-person event, featuring in-theater screenings and a virtual component too.