Ezekiel’s dream comes true
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Elliott becomes only RB drafted by Cowboys in top 20 picks
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2015 Newspaper of the Year!
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St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited MAY 5 – 11, 2016
Vol. 88 No. 5 COMPLIMENTARY
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Book club for ‘Nerdy Girlz’
Community opposes new shelter Slay’s plan would further concentrate the homeless in North City, residents claim By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
n “Our neighborhood does a really good job of helping the homeless right now. We are already doing our job.”
Ebony Washington, 28, grew up in the Carr Square neighborhood in North St. Louis and is now raising her two sons there. Not far from her home at 16th and Biddle streets is the St. Patrick Center, a homeless shelter with 30 beds for mentally ill women, and a few blocks away is Gateway 180, which has 150 beds for – Ebony homeless women and Washington children. Less than 10 blocks away is a 50-bed shelter for men. And within two miles is a 550-bed shelter for homeless men recently released from prison. Washington has volunteered in these shelters
See SHELTER, A6
Photo by Lawrence Bryant
Savannah Williams and Jaiden Eason enjoyed a book about Helen Keller at the Nerdy Girlz Book Club meeting held on Saturday, April 30 at the Lewis & Clark Branch of the St. Louis County Library.
8-year-old Kennedy Rain Thompson organized group that makes reading fun By DePorres Shepard Steeples Jr. For The St. Louis American
Photo courtesy of DePorres Shepard Steeples Jr.
Akiba Thompson and Kennedy Rain Thompson
I am writing you all on behalf of my 8-year-old sister, Kennedy Rain Thompson. At this moment, as you see on the return address, I am incarcerated and so I can’t do much to help my little sister, but I’ve come up with this solution. Kennedy has her own book club called the Nerdy Girlz Book Club. Kennedy started the book club herself. She started this book club about three months ago and, as of right
now, Kennedy has over 75 members. That’s really amazing to me. My mother, Akiba Thompson, certified the book club, so it’s like she’s running the book club officially. Nerdy Girlz is a good club for young females who like to read, have fun and be around good friends. There’s so much that happens inside the Nerdy Girlz Book Club. I hear about it when I call my mother. The Nerdy Girlz go on field trips, go out to eat with one another, and a lot more. It’s not a
See NERDY, A7
‘Brothers inspiring change’ Aaron Batiste, a Harris-Stowe State University junior majoring in secondary education, remembers when his high-school English teacher told him that he “wasn’t college-ready.” “She even told my mom, ‘Why are you
even talking to your son about college?’” said Batiste, who moved to St. Louis from California to attend Harris-Stowe. His teacher became one of the main reasons Batiste has pushed himself so hard academically – just to prove her wrong. In the fall, Batiste will begin his reign as Mister Harris-Stowe State University 2016-17, adding to his other college achievements.
‘Humility and humanity’ shine at 2016 Health Care Salute By Chris King Of The St. Louis American
Harris-Stowe hosts Male Empowerment Summit By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American
Photo by Wiley Price
The 2016 Stellar Performer in Health, Dr. Angela Brown, with 2016 Salute to Excellence in Health Care Lifetime Achiever Michael Holmes.
Batiste’s story of overcoming adversity as an African-American male was among several inspiring tales told during Harris-Stowe’s first Male Empowerment Summit, “Brothers Inspiring Change,” held from April 29 to May 1. The event was hosted by the university’s
The 2016 Lifetime Achiever in Health Care, Michael Holmes, set the tone of extreme humility for the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2016 Salute to Excellence in Health Care, held Friday, April 29 at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac. “A servant does not need to be commended for doing what he is told,” Holmes told the sold-out crowd of 400. Holmes is anything but an underling. He
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See SALUTE, A7