Earl Austin’s ‘Shout Outs’ @stlouisamerican
Don’t miss Earl Austin Jr.’s “Shout Outs” for best high school football team and individual player of the week, part of the “St. Louis American Sports Break” series online.
@stlouisamerican
Video at www.stlamerican.com/video
St. LouiS AmericAn The
CAC Audited SEPTEMBER 6 – 12, 2018
Vol. 90 No. 24 COMPLIMENTARY
stlamerican.com
Scores up, suspensions down at Moline Elementary My journey Homegrown Black Males
to training responsible fathers
Principal Lisa Thompson connects with Christan Griffin at Moline Elementary School.
By Halbert Sullivan For The St. Louis American Part of a year-long series, presented by The American and the Brown School at Washington University, on changing the narratives and outcomes of young black males in St. Louis. During my religious upbringing, I was taught, “Train up the child in the way they should go and they will not depart from it.” These words help set the foundation for the work I do. I believe that effective parenting plays a major role in the emotional and psychological development of a child. Children are very moldable; hence, train up the child. In my opinion, the best training for a child comes mostly from two Halbert responsible parents. Sullivan I was born and grew up until the age of 15 in Memphis, Tennessee. I am the oldest of eight siblings, who were reared by a mother who was mostly a single mom. Eight children are a lot to provide for. I never knew my father prior to turning 55 years old. During my first 12 years of life, I met him briefly (maybe two times). I did, however, have a step-father, Fred Harmon, who was a good man but he was in and out of our lives. My mother Mennie Wilson was a strong, proud black woman. She taught us morals, values, manners, respect for authority, respect for ourselves
See FATHERS, A6 Photo by Rebecca Rivas
2018 Bayer School of Excellence will be honored at Salute on Sept. 29 By Rebecca Rivas Of The St. Louis American Moline Elementary School has two friendly greeters at the entrance of its building. They crawl around each other in a blue plastic baby pool lined with mulch and eat lettuce. Never mind that they’re turtles;
it’s clear that everyone considers them part of the family. Just like Ru, the black lab that wags his tail at all his friends in the hallways, and Jake the ball python who stays in the all-boys classroom. Moline, in the Riverview Gardens School District, has about 350 students and 98
percent of them are AfricanAmerican. When Principal Lisa Thompson came to Moline four years ago, she and the school community decided that the school needed to establish a more inviting culture. They also explored ways to help the students become more responsible and respectful.
See SALUTE, A7
Gardner’s police exclusion list could spur change By Jamala Rogers and John Chasnoff For The St. Louis American
Park renamed for Brig. Gen. C. David Turner Former commander of the South Atlantic region of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers By Shantana T. Stewart For The St. Louis American
Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General C. David Turner was honored when a park in his hometown of Rock Hill was renamed after him during a ceremony on Saturday, August 25.
The place where retired U.S. Army Brigadier General C. David Turner once played football as a boy has a brand new name and new significance. In late August, the City of Rock Hill’s Greenwood Park – located between Lithia and Eldridge avenues – was renamed Brigadier General C. David Turner Park. The renaming took place during a ceremony attended by approximately 200 Rock Hill and Webster Groves’ community members, as well as Turner’s family and friends. “The last park renamed in the City of Rock Hill was
See TURNER, A7
Jamala Rogers
John Chasnoff
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s creation of a police exclusion list, denying the prosecution of cases where 28 noncredible officers are the essential witnesses, certainly raises the stakes for transformative change of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The showdown has been coming for some time. The Ferguson uprising. Police repression during the Stockley verdict protests. Unprecedented community involvement in the search for a new police chief. The chief’s overhaul of the police Force Investigative Unit and new leadership in SWAT/Mobile Reserve. The election of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. All have created momentum for real change.
See GARDNER, A6 Photo by Wiley Price