Houston mayor Annise Parker announced that she filed re-election papers last Thursday afternoon at her campaign headquarters located off Allen Pkwy.

“It’s an honor to serve the citizens of Houston; I am still excited to go to work everyday and I love the city even more with the experiences I’ve had,” said Parker who admitted that she still gets nervous when filing election paperwork though she has done the process eight times.

This comes as Parker made history as the first openly LGBT person elected mayor of a major American city alongside dealing with a first term that saw $100 million in budget cuts along with losing 747 jobs loses for Houstonians yet sees herself improving on her second-term if elected again.

“I’m going to be a better mayor in the second term because of what I’ve learned in the first term but I’m going to have that same passion and enthusiasm that I brought into office,” said Parker who compared her work and time in changing city bureaucracy to turning the direction of an ocean liner.

Former staffer for Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and current night supervisor at the University of Houston Recreation and Wellness Center, Kevin Simms along with Amanda Ulman, of the Socialist Party are the only candidates to have filed papers to run against Parker.

Parker also took time to speak to the new class of her Parker Fellowship Program. The program has interns (better known as Fellows) do all the usual work interns during a campaign but participants are involved in intensive training on the operation of modern political campaign through activities such as fundraising, grassroots organizing and overall strategy.

“Instead of working for free, they’re going to go away learning about a campaign,” said communications director for Parker’s re-election campaign Sue Davis. “I’ve never seen a campaign do this.

According to field director for Parker’s campaign Maggie Nelson, ever single aspect of a campaign from finance to communications will be covered.

“A lot of kids including myself started interning as apart of a campaign so it gets them involved and an overall feel in what it is,” said Parker’s campaign re-election field director Maggie Nelson who interned for Hillary Clinton.

Parker herself hopes that the Fellows who participate in the programs will use what they learn to make a huge difference in the community.

“I’m really hoping that they take their skill sets and use them in the community and if they can get me connected to areas of the city that need help; that need works or where I as mayor can make improvements then we both can benefit,” said Parker.

University of Houston graduate student Kimberly Willis said that she joined the internship basically to have knowledge of what it is like to have a successful campaign.

“I just want to understand government at a city level along with the system of how a campaign is run,” said Willis.

Activist and founder of the National Black United Front died last Thursday from complications stemming from an episode of cardiac arrest last month.

“I considered Ester my friend, my mentor and my champion,” explained P.K. McCary as she was preparing King’s obituary on a laptop computer at S.H.A.P.E. Community Center off Live Oak. “If he could do something to help someone, he would do it.”

Born June 26,1943 in Magnolia Springs to Vergie Mae and David King, Ester Lee King graduated from Carverdale Junior-Senior High School in the Cypress-Fairbanks district in 1962. After leaving the Army, King would later enroll at Texas Southern University to become a social activist, his daughter Tandiwe Kone said in a report.

Along with working with organizations like Afro-Americans for Black Liberation and S.H.A.P.E. Community Center, King’s commentary on KPFT Houston radio programs including “Pan African Journal,” “Connect the Dots” and “Self Determination” was known for King’s outspokenness on various issues. He also supported many causes including environmental justice along with rights of workers, women and more.

“He wore his power as a tool and he used it as a force for good,” said P.K. McCary. “His story is not finished.”

King’s sister-in-law Cynthia King remembers being educated on his movement because of him.

“He was a great soul,” said King. “The first words that come to mind was civil rights when I first met him at a family gathering.”

“King was a true warrior for the people. He loved history and historic movies and he served as the Friends of Emancipation Park Movie Chairperson. King also evaluated political science students’ presentations at Texas Southern University and gave them feedback on their work along with historic comments. I will miss him for his conversations with me at the office and for his contributions to to the students I taught,” said Dorris Ellis, publisher-editor of the Houston Sun.

King leaves behind his wife of 41 years Leallia King, daughter Kone King, son Ahmed Sekou Toure King, and two grandchildren.

The wake will took place at The Shrine of the Black Modonna located on 5317 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Funeral proceedings took place the following day at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church located at 3826 Wheeler Str. with the repast following at the Live Oak S.H.A.P.E. Community Center as a way to celebrate his life.

IRVING, TEXAS – The Texas Food Bank Network, Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Initiative and First Choice Power today released “Hunger by the Numbers: A Blueprint for Ending Hunger in Texas.” The report includes a hunger scorecard for each of the 254 counties of Texas, a state which ranks second in the nation for food insecurity. The report provides a road map with resources for funding and programs to fight at a local, statewide and national level.

“This is the first time one report measures and describes the extent of hunger and its potential solutions in each of Texas’ counties,” said Barbara Anderson, executive director of the Texas Food Bank Network, a coalition of the 19 food banks in Texas.

The report comes on the heels of this morning’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Texas has the second highest rate of hunger in the nation. According to USDA, 18.8 percent of Texas households, or one in five were at risk of hunger between 2008 and 2010.

Hunger by the Numbers: A Blueprint for Ending Hunger in Texas incorporates the newest national data on hunger made available by Feeding America, the nation’s network of food banks, along with U.S. Census data and statewide data on usage of federal and state programs.

“As Texans read this report, they will learn some startling facts about the size of the hunger problem in their state, which currently ranks second worst in the nation when it comes to hunger,” said Jeremy Everett, executive director of the Texas Hunger Initiative. “They also may be surprised to learn the extent of the hunger problems in their own back yards.”

Hunger reaches every area of the state: 18 percent are food insecure in Harris County, home to the fourth largest city in the nation; 24 percent are food insecure in Hidalgo County, the gateway to Mexico; 16 percent are food insecure in Travis County, where state leaders meet to discuss how to combat these issues. Even Montgomery County, home to The Woodlands and some of the state’s most affluent zip codes, has a food insecurity rate of 15 percent, meaning one in seven residents are at risk of hunger.

Along with compiled hunger data county-by-county, the report lists the resources available in each community to address hunger. Those resources include: SNAP (formally food stamps), free and reduced breakfast and lunch in schools, WIC and other federal programs.

First Choice Power, a retail electric provider in Texas, sponsored the report as part of its Food FirstTM program, which was created to fight hunger in the communities it serves.

“Take a moment to look over this insightful report and ask what you can do to fight hunger in our own backyard,” said Brian Hayduk, president of First Choice Power. “We believe the greatest energy source in our state is its people. And we are convinced that an informed community will be an engaged community.”

For more information and to view your county’s hunger score card, visit www.firstchoicepower.com/HungerGapReport.

By PAUL J. WEBER

Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ Congressional Texas Democrats returned from Washington on Monday to bash redrawn voting districts in federal court, testifying that the GOP-backed map discriminates by crowding blacks and Hispanics into shared districts despite a statewide surge in minority growth.

U.S. Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson, Henry Cuellar and Al Green each asked a three-judge panel to throw out the redistricting map drawn by the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry this summer.

Hispanics accounted for two-thirds of Texas’ population growth the last decade. One by one, the elected Democrats testified the new map doesn’t reflect those gains and deprives Hispanics of a chance to elect their own representatives.

“Nothing is more satisfying to any minority group than having someone who looks like them represent them,” said Johnson, who was first elected to her Dallas district in 1992.

The Texas attorney general’s office began their defense later Monday, and made their first witness a Republican mapmaker who testified that the new map actually resulted in more districts with a majority of voting-age Hispanics than plans submitted by Democrats.

Gerardo Interiano, general counsel to Republican House speaker Joe Straus, said the new map gives Hispanics a fair chance to participate in the political process.

“More than ever,” Interiano said.
The prominent testimony from congressional members signaled that Democrats were winding down their case after more than a week of calling experts and minority leaders affected by the new map. They expected to rest later Monday after the scheduled testimony of U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

The state contends the map is fair and maintains or increases the voting power of minorities.

Closing arguments are expected by the end of the week.

Texas received four new congressional seats following the last census, more than any other state, in wake of a population boom was overwhelmingly driven by Hispanics,

The new congressional map was drawn with the goal of protecting and possibly expanding the 23-9 majority enjoyed by Republicans in Texas’ delegation in Washington.

The Democratic lawmakers said the surge in Hispanic growth warranted those residents getting more representation in new districts. Democrats argue the Republican plan splits Hispanic and black communities, so that conservative white residents would be more likely to win seats in Congress.

Each of the congressional Democrats conceded Monday that the new map didn’t diminish their own chances of re-election. But they warned the new boundaries would create “tension districts” _ overcrowded minority districts split among blacks and Hispanics, and divided over which candidates to elect.
“It’s like throwing a few crumbs out there for them to fight over,” Johnson said.

Interiano said the new map was designed to give all incumbent lawmakers the opportunity to preserve their seats. Along the border, for example, the district of Republican state Rep. Aaron Pena was redrawn to try to include more GOP voters because Pena switched parties before the last session.

Interiano said that while the redistricting process was “member-driven” in the Legislature, not all plans submitted by lawmakers were legal. One Democratic plan to add another so-called Hispanic “opportunity district” in the Rio Grande Valley didn’t work, Interiano said, because it had the ripple effect of splitting counties further north in violation of the Texas Constitution.

Green, the Houston-area congressman first elected in 2004, said his district that currently has a plurality of black voters could be more evenly split with Hispanics under the new map. He said that by contrast, more than two dozen districts controlled by white voters are unlikely to change.

“It’s difficult to believe that it could happen by accident, the type of surgery that was performed,” Green said of the new map.

Under the Voting Rights Act, new Texas maps must be cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure the changes do not diminish minority representation. That case is pending in Washington.

WASHINGTON – One of 10 small businesses from around the country will be selected as the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year at the 29th annual Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week conference, hosted jointly in September by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency.

The MED Week conference will take place Sept. 27-30 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.

“We are happy to partner with MBDA on this year’s MED Week event to bring together accomplished minority small business owners, respected business leaders, federal agencies and top Fortune 100 companies to provide a lively, interactive framework for small businesses to learn critical tips on how to gain access to capital and federal contracts, how to expand their businesses and take their businesses global,” said SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills.

The national winner will be chosen from 10 regional winners representing Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Virginia, Texas, Kansas, South Dakota, South Carolina, Indiana, California, and Washington.

Regional award winners have businesses that offer services ranging from manufacturing of military and occupational uniforms and marketing and staffing services to the design and construction of office furniture and environmental services including wildlife habitats, wetlands development and naturalized landscaping.

MED Week celebrates the accomplishments of outstanding minority entrepreneurs and leaders and provides a platform for small, minority-owned businesses to learn about business growth strategies, receive premier training and networking opportunities.

“Minority businesses are a phenomenal asset to the U.S. economy in a variety of sectors, from manufacturing to hospitality services and everything in between,” said MBDA National Director David Hinson. “These firms create good paying jobs and boost economic growth in America’s communities. The businesses recognized through the MED Week awards program represent just a few of our nation’s brightest and most innovative minority enterprises.”

The conference will also include workshops on access to SBA’s lending programs, access to federal contracts through the Small Business Jobs Act, growing your business through social media and access to government contracts through federal Mentor-Protegé programs. The SBA will participate in a roundtable entitled, “Doing Business with the Government,” to discuss government contracting opportunities for small businesses. For more information on MED Week workshops, or to register for the conference, visit www.medweek.gov.

The theme for this year’s MED Week event is “Emerging Industries & Markets: A Blueprint for Success,” and will continue its focus on helping minority small businesses expand their operations and establish a presence in the global marketplace while helping them weather the

current economic climate in the U.S. There will also be a business expo and tradeshow and a Small Business Town Hall to discuss the Small Business Jobs Act.

In addition to announcing the national minority small business award winner, SBA will present the SBA Administrator’s Leadership award which recognizes the recipient’s tireless efforts and unwavering commitment on behalf of the nation’s minority small business community and the award for the 8(a) Graduate Firm of the Year.

The 10 Regional Minority Small Business Persons of the Year are:

REGION I REGION VI

Charran K. Fisher, President Armando A. “Rocky” Aranda Jr., President

Fisher Contracting Corporation MILCON Construction, LLC

Worcester, Mass. San Antonio, Texas

REGION II REGION VII

Oscar Quiles, President Elizabeth K. Harshfield, President

Pentaq Manufacturing Corporation Exhibit Arts, LLC

Sabana Grande, PR Wichita, Kan.

REGION III REGION VIII

Carlos Del Toro, President & CEO Jacqueline Nettleton, President

SBG Technology Solutions, Inc. Mountain Movers Construction, Inc.

Stafford, Va. Rapid City, S.D.
REGION IV REGION IX

Kenneth B. Canty, President & CEO Ricardo A. Lopez, President & CEO

Freeland Construction Company RAL Investment Corporation

Charleston, S.C. National City, Calif.

REGION V REGION X

Clyde D. Harris II, President Lorraine Kimberly Erion, President

Diverse Staffing Services, Inc. LKE Corporation

Indianapolis, Ind. Washougal, Wash.

For more details on this year’s MED Week conference, please visit www.medweek.gov.

The rate of HIV infection among African-American gay and bisexual men aged 18 to 29 increased 50
percent between 2006 and 2009, according to new data released by the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS at the CDC, said this
segment of the population was the only group to experience a significant increase in new infections
during that period. Speaking at a press briefing at the National HIV Prevention Conference in Atlanta on
August 16, Dr. Fenton said the rise took place even as the overall number of new HIV infections in the US
held steady at 50,000 cases per year.

Furthermore, the CDC estimated that nearly half of infected African Americans may be unaware of their
HIV status. CDC researcher Dr. Alexandra Oster called infrequent testing and low awareness “a major
concern,” with data indicating only 55 percent of this high-risk group is receiving adequate care. To
increase rates of HIV testing and awareness among African American gay and bisexual men, the CDC is
rolling out a new campaign called Testing Makes Us Stronger, which will feature messages posted in ads
as well as on social media and in outreach programs.

“It is increasingly clear that rapid testing for HIV should play a larger role in the overall strategy to
alleviate the suffering of at-risk populations as well as the population-at-large,” says Lawrence Siebert,
CEO of Medford, NY-based Chembio Diagnostics, a New York-based developer and manufacturer of
point-of-care diagnostic tests. “These rapid tests are capable of producing a result in as little as 15
minutes.”

Chembio’s two FDA PMA-approved, CLIA-waived, rapid HIV tests are marketed in the U.S. by Alere,
Inc. The company markets its HIV 1/2 STAT-PAK® and SURE CHECK HIV 1/2 line of rapid HIV tests
internationally to government and donor-funded programs directly and through distributors. Chembio
has developed a patented point-of-care test platform technology, the Dual Path Platform (DPP®)
technology, which has significant advantages over lateral-flow technologies. This technology is
providing the company with a significant pipeline of business opportunities for the development and
manufacture of new products based on DPP®. Specifically, Chembio has developed a rapid oral fluid HIV
test and also a Syphilis test which are now in clinical evaluation as part of the FDA approval process.

Additionally, Chembio is working on making its unique SURE CHECK HIV over-the-counter test available
for consumer self-testing, and foresees submitting it to the FDA for approval for this use. The privacy
and convenience of self-testing could encourage more individuals to determine their HIV status, and to
pursue treatment if it turns out that they are indeed infected.

For more information, please visit: www.chembio.com

August is African American Business month and The Houston Sun went to the only financial institution established for African Americans for an interview. Unity National Bank has made a name for itself as not only being the only African American owned bank in Texas but for being dedicated to serving the community for the last 48 years.

Existing in one form or another since 1963 when it received its charter as Riverside National Bank, the institution was started by a group of Houston’s elite professions of African descent who wanted something in their own community.

“They wanted to give access to capitol to small businesses and personal loans to those who qualified and otherwise wouldn’t have access to funds,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer John Scroggins.

The 1980s came along and Riverside National Bank went into recievership, was sold to a group of white businessmen and became Peoples Bank for a brief period. The African American community was in shock and worked to regain ownership of the bank. In 1989 was sold again to another group of African American businessmen, headed by Limas Jefferson. This is when Riverside National Bank would change to the now current Unity National Bank.

Unity National Bank would hit its new milestone in 2005 when businessman Kase Lawal would become majority shareholder of the bank. With the change in ownership came a new management team. The new chairman would become former mayor of Houston Lee P. Brown and Lawal became the vice chairman. Scroggins would be recruited from a high paying career at Wells Fargo to his position.

The reason Scroggins moved from an almost trillion dollar bank to a small community bank was simply to make a difference.

“It’s because I knew I could make a difference at Unity, more than what I could make at Wells Fargo,” said Scroggins. “I could really see the difference it would make in advising small businesses; especially African American, Latino, and woman owned businesses.”

When Scroggins came to Unity National Bank in January of 2006, the total assets of the bank were about $50 million. Now, the total assets stand at around $70 million along with an overly strong balance sheet. Scoggins also helped push for online banking, bill pay, credit card services, mortgage banking and merchant card services.

Along with City National Bank in New Jersey, Unity National Bank is the only black owned National Charter banks in America. With that ability, Unity National Bank has the ability to bank outside of the state of Texas and join the ranks of bigger banks like Chase and Bank of America which will help the bank accomplish its goal of being the biggest African American owned bank in the nation. Currently outside of the location of Blodgett Street, there’s a location in Missouri City area and one in the Pavilion shopping center in downtown Houston.

Unity National Bank serves the community through niche banking. This means that because they cannot compete with bigger banks due to size and numbers, the bank lends mainly to local businesses such as churches (along with other religious organizations), locally owned restaurants, and small government entities. In an effort to grow, the bank also has not ruled out acquisitions of other banks to coincide with its organic growth throughout the community said Scroggins.

According to Scroggins, local community businesses that have thrived while banking through Unity National Bank include Holman Street Baptist Church, Frenchy’s Chicken, Acute Machines, and Womack Development Company.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood has a new grocery store.

On Wednesday, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market became the first grocery store to open in the neighborhood in more than two decades.

Supporters tell the San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/nXoMoV) more residents will now have the option of buying fresh food. The historically African American neighborhood has previously been considered a food desert _ an area with limited access to affordable produce and other nutritious foods.

Community leaders say some residents would have to drive for miles for those items, making it easier to turn to fast food.

Fresh & Easy is a unit of United Kingdom-based retailing giant Tesco.