Van Zandt News (Canton, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 41, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 16, 2014 Page: 2 of 28
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2A
VAN ZANDT NEWS
Sunday, February 15, 2014
UglMiSISlUSPHlil®
BLACIC f-HSTDRYMONTTH-
Pioneer spirit
makes month special
By Charlene Hunter
James
In 2007 at age 75,
Barbara Hillary became
the first known African-
American woman to
reach the North Pole. Not
long after, she reached
the South Pole just one
year shy of her eightieth
birthday, earning the
distinction of being the
first African-American
woman to reach both
North and South Poles.
Here is one audacious
woman who reimagined
her life and went on to
do something unique and
personally meaningful to
her, long after many of us
have retired.
As we observe Black
History Month throughout
February, this pioneering
spirit is alive and well
in the contributions and
accomplishments of
African-Americans of
all ages, as it has been
throughout our history.
I can see examples
of this in the lives of
individual Texans and
Americans who have
made great strides and
accomplished great things
personally and for society.
People like Thurgood
Marshall, who was
instrumental in the Brown
v. Board of Education
decision to integrate
our public schools and
became the first African-
American appointed to
the U.S. Supreme Court
at age 59.
Or Ralph Bundle, who
was in his 40s when he
became the first African-
American to win the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1950
for helping end the first
Arab-Israeli war in 1949.
Or Texan Jamie Foxx,
a Grammy and Oscar
award winning musician,
actor, and entertainer
who has also been an
avid philanthropist and
has used his fame and
resources to give back to
the community. Bom and
raised in Terrell, Foxx
has worked with over
15 charities representing
causes like AIDS, Down
Syndrome, poverty and
more.
Or consider Mae
Jemison, a physician and
scientist who, in her 30s,
became the first African
American woman to
travel into space in 1992.
Ms. Jemison, who was
also a dancer, epitomizes
the challenge we at
AARP are issuing to all
Americans today: We can
all reimagine, and even
recreate, our life at any
age—whether we’re 30
or 100.
It all boils down to
following your passions
and living life to the
fullest.
“Don’t let anyone rob
you of your imagination,
your creativity, or your
curiosity,” Ms. Jemison
said. “It’s your place in
the world; it’s your life.
Go on and do all you can
with it, and make it the
life you want to live.”
This year, the theme of
Black History Month is
Civil Rights in America.
The first thing that brought
to mind for me was
a key Texas leader of the
Civil Rights movement -
Barbara Jordan.
Congresswoman
Jordan was the first
Afri can-American
elected to the Texas Senate
after Reconstruction and
the first black female
from the South elected to
the United States House
of Representatives. She
received the Presidential
Medal of Freedom,
among numerous other
honors.
But even before
Jordan’s election, we
were inspired by people
like Hattie Mae White,
a teacher turned PTA
president and mother of
five who decided to run
for the Houston school
board. She won, and
became the first black
person elected to public
office in Texas since
Reconstruction.
A tireless advocate
for desegregation, Mrs.
White held public office
for almost 10 years before
returning to teaching, and
she didn’t retire until age
70.
Mrs. White and
Congresswoman Jordan
saw considerable change
and a lot of progress
in their lifetimes, but
it was hard-earned.
The experience of
black Texans has been
paradoxical.
While working to help
build our state’s unique
cultural heritage, we have
also been subjected to
slavery, segregation and
prejudice. In spite of the
formidable obstacles,
the African-American
contribution in Texas
remains significant.
So this Black History
Month, as we look back
to the past, we also look
forward to the future.
We’re inspired by the
pioneering Texans who
preceded us, and we look
forward to reimagining
our own futures and
the change we want to
inspire in the world.
We want to hear your
powerful stories from the
Civil Rights movement,
and we want to hear
about your dreams for
the future.
Please visit aarp.
org/tellastory and
lifereimagined.org and
share them with us.
Charlene Hunter James
is a member of the AARP
Texas’ all-volunteer
Executive Council.
Opinion & Commentary
Letter Policy
Length: 500 words
Include: Name, telephone number, address
Send to: PO. Box 577, Canton, TX 75103;
Email editor@vanzandtnews.com; or deliver to
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Deadline: 4 p.m. Wednesday
So you’ll know: Letters will be edited for
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et/ien
name
yy ana
About 110 million roses, mostly red, are sold and
delivered in three days surrounding Valentine’s
Day each year. There are nearly 900
acres
of greenhouse dedicated to the pro- ^ duction
of fresh-cut roses in the United States. One
£
acre of greenhouse rose produc-
valued at about $1M. California
grows 60 percent of the roses in
the U.S., but the majority of Valentine’s
Day roses are shipped from South America.
tion is
Van Zandt county target for thieves -
you can make difference
A very tragic thing
happened in our county
in January, it is always
tragic when someone
dies. A young man who
hadn’t even fully started
his life, lost that life
because of some bad
decisions he made.
Somewhere along the
way in his short life,
something or someone
mistakenly taught
him that you can get
something for nothing -
if you steal it from other
people. I won’t go back
over the circumstances
of the shooting that he
died in, or the details
of the theft he was
committing as those
have been well covered
in this paper.
In my opinion there
could have been a much
better outcome to this
incident. One way
to help prevent such
occurrences and tragic
outcomes is to change
the environment where
crime is happening. As
is many times the case,
this young man wasn’t
even a resident of the
county.
The lesson behind
his deeds that day are
found in the basic
problem plaguing us -
we have an abundance
of Property Crimes.
Ninety-eight percent of
the crimes in Van Zandt
County are property
crimes. If it wasn’t for
the burglaries, thefts and
auto thefts, crime would
almost be non-existent
in our county.
The people who were
victims of that crime
that day aren’t the only
victims in this situation.
All of the law-abiding
citizens of this county
are also victims, and
here’s why.
Our county has
somehow gained the
reputation that it is
an easy target - and
that reputation grows
with every passing
successful burglary
or theft. Criminals
know this as they band
together and share each
other’s secrets, but it’s
no secret that they can
Buster
Leavell
f [ ^ Van Zandt
r Precinct
Watch
come to Van Zandt
County and hit it lucky
by finding a lucrative
hunting ground, and for
the most part, if they
are smart, they don’t
even have to worry
about getting caught.
In the current
environment their odds
of getting caught are
extremely low. Why,
you ask? The most
major reason is because
we don’t have enough
sheriff’s deputies to
adequately prevent
crime through routine
patrol and catching
criminals in the act.
Why are we so under
staffed? Last year, of
the top 25 counties in
the State of Texas that
were most like Van
Zandt County in size
and population, Van
Zandt County ranked
third from the bottom
in having the necessary
financial resources,
primarily through tax
revenues, to adequately
fund the appropriate
number of county law
enforcement officers;
and that’s not based just
on how many officers
we would like to have
to fight our level of
crime, but based on
how many officers the
National Standards say
we should have.
And we all sit here
knowing this, but
there’s no blame,
because we simply
don’t have the large
companies, the big
manufacturers, the
gigantic housing
developments to
furnish those additional
revenues. And an added
condition is the fact
that we have a great
deal of agricultural
and senior citizen
exemptions throughout
our population.
Could it be better?
Sure it could, but it’s
not - and, if we want
to live here and prosper
here, WE the citizens
have to do something
about it.
One alternative is for
us all to start throwing
extra money at the
county, but that’s not
an answer as most of us
are just trying to make
ends meet as it is.
One of the only
answers is why
the Precinct Watch
Program has come into
existence- someone has
to assist the sheriff’s
office in helping to
take our county back.
Someone has to rise to
the occasion - and that
has to be US, YOU
and ME and all of the
caring, law abiding
citizens of the county.
The sheriff wants our
help! Not as gun-toting
vigilantes, but as a
massive force of caring
and concerned citizens
looking out for each
other with our eyes and
ears.
We have to create a
new reputation with
the criminals. The
reputation that “we
need to stay out of
Van Zandt County -
those people are crazy.
They are all over the
place just looking for
someone to report
for their suspicious
behavior or their
criminal intent.”
Can it be done?
You’re darn right it can
be done, but not if we
don’t ALL get involved.
You see, just a couple
of citizens here and
there carrying out this
effort won’t work. The
criminals will simply
go around the block or
down the county road.
Our threat to them needs
to saturate this entire
county. We need to turn
the threat around and
become a threat to them.
Just as much a threat in
Precinct One as we are
in Precinct Two, three
and four.
At a recent Precinct
Watch meeting a woman
spoke up and said “we
need to do something
about drugs, that will
get rid of the problem.”
She says that because
it is widely known that
drug users are driven to
steal in order to support
their habit.
To a large extent that
lady was right. Yet,
there is also something
to be said about taking
the opposite approach
- If we tighten this
county down, secure
our property, and
start watching out for
each other, and the
burglaries and thefts go
down as a result, then
just maybe the drug-
types will need to go
find another place to
do business, because
the drugs will also be
going away.
Take away the revenue
and you often take
away the supply.
Bottom line is: we
need YOU to join
your precinct’s watch
program, heck - YOU
need YOU to join
the Precinct Watch
Program.
There’s one in every
precinct organized
as the Van Zandt
County Precinct Watch
Program. There are
even some special ways
you can help within the
program if you want
to. There can’t be too
many people out there
watching out for each
other.
Applications for
membership are
available from
someone already in
the program or at the
Van Zandt County
Sheriff’s Office located
at 1220 W. Dallas St. in
Canton.
You have to be at least
21 to apply and be
willing to undergo a
cursory background
check.
Buster Leavell is the
chairman of the Precinct
Watch Program. He
has previous law
enforcement experience
as well as experience
with management and
leadership of volunteer
programs. His email
address is vzcpwa@
texascellnet. com.
VAN ZANDT News published by Van Zandt Newspapers, L.L.C.
Publisher
Brad Blakemore
Editorial Staff
David Kapitan
Britne Reeves
Advertising Staff
Kelli Baxter
David Barber
Glenn McNiell Jr.
Barbara Robertson
Misty Stanberry
Managing Editor
Donnita Fisher
Layout
Lori Davis
Amanda Greene
Office Staff
Accounting Typesetting
Shannon Kennedy Rachel DeLira
Linda Nielsen Charlotte Jeane
Graphic Artist
Lela De Leon
Classifieds
Robin Campbell
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 577
Canton, TX 75103
Office: 103 E. Tyler St.
Canton, TX 75103
© Copyright 2014
No reproduction without permission
Member
Texas Press Association
North &East Texas
Press Association
Van Zandt News (USPS
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Van Zandt Newspapers, L.L.C.,
Box 577, 103 E. Tyler St. Can-
ton TX 75103. Subscription
rates are $29 per year in county
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Fisher, Donnita. Van Zandt News (Canton, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 41, Ed. 1 Sunday, February 16, 2014, newspaper, February 16, 2014; Canton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth868001/m1/2/: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Van Zandt County Library.