December 2013

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December 2013 - January 15 th, 2014 ● urbancny.com

Food & Drink

Rib Shack BBQ “Home Cooked Food Served Fast”

Footsteps in the Snow: Plumb Tuckered Out

The Hall Monitor

Honoring Nelson Mandela

Ithaca College Class of ‘79 A Stand Against Apartheid

p. 9

City Scuffle

Baby Boomers ballin’ in a different hood

p. 2

p. 3

p. 11

T’was The Nightmare After Christmas: Holiday Debt By James and Barbara Peterson

Did you know it takes the average consumer a little more than two years to pay off debt that they incurred dur ing the Christmas holiday? And that’s only Christmas debt. What about the bills incurred before the holiday season began? There has to be a way out of this vicious spending frenzy that occurs every December. So, before your go out and spend money that you don’t have, here are a few pre-holiday tips.

For starters pay your December bills before you purchase any gifts. If you’re one of those consumers whose mindset is to pay December’s bills with the January bills, we are talking to you. It’s time that we as consumers change our thought pro cess when it comes to bill-paying. We know you may not have a lot of money to purchase gifts if you pay your bills first. Do not panic, this indicates that you are not in control of your finances. Not to worry, all is not lost. You can be in control of your finances, and you can start by paying your December 2013 bills when they’re due. It’s that simple. It makes no sense trying to keep up with Joneses. They’re probably in more debt than you are!

Secondly, whatever happened to the days when fathers said, “I’m the big cheese around here, and what I say, goes? And whatever happened to the mothers who used to say, “Because I said so”? Let’s bring those fathers and mothers b a c k a n d teach our children a thing or two about spending. We’ve become p a r e n t s who go deeply into debt for c h i l d r e n who’re bringing home medi- ocre grades.

And these are the kids with a gazillion gifts under the tree. What is wrong with this picture?

Can you remember the gifts that you received last year? Can your children remember the gifts that they received last year? If so, where are the gifts from last year? In the back of the closet? And more im portantly, are you still paying down Christmas debt from the previous year? If you are, we are talking to you. Starting in January (Decem ber, if you are smart) get yourself a Christmas Club account for next year. During the Thanksgiving and Christ-mas holidays we also purchase more gro ceries. Holiday grocery spending can add an additional $400 to $600 to our budgets. Let’s not forget the all-seafood menu that many of us enjoy on New Year’s Day. That alone can set a budget back another $300. Your 2014 Christmas Club money can help with food as well as gifts. Be smart, start socking some cash

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy 2014

See DeBt, Page 4

2 December 2013 - January 15th, 2014 CNYurban

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City ScuffleBaby Boomers ballin’ in a different hood

By

Walt Shepperd

When his B&B Lounge team lost in the semi-finals of last year’s Baby Boomers (over 40) Basketball League playoffs, former Henninger High School and Syracuse University standout Lazarus Sims said he would definitely be back on the Southwest Community Center court this season. “This is my neigh-borhood,” he said then.

The current Binghamton University coach debuted this season December 8, as B&B lost to Show Time, but it wasn’t on the turf which has hosted BBBL action for the past 15 years. This year’s games are being played at McChesney Park, on the Northside behind Grant School, 2300 Grant Boulevard.

“It was a money issue with the building,” explains Show Time’s Julius “Pops” Anderson, who has played on eight league championship teams and had announced that last year would be his last run. “I think they wanted us to come up with $8,000 (for utilities) beyond the $600 registration fee each team was already paying.” During the season the players chip in each game to cover the $40 charge for each of two referees.

The relocation was facilitated by Syracuse Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs’ Jesse Brantley, who plays for B&B Lounge.

“As far as the players,” Anderson projected on the effect of the move before the games began, “I don’t think it would. But on family and friends (spectators) I think it would, a great deal.”

So far, however, Anderson and Brantley have been pleasantly surprised. “It’s going well so far,” Brantley observes. “The crowd didn’t waver. We might be missing a few from the community who came because the building (SWCC) was open, but most folks drove anyway.”

That assessment is shared by Howard Triche, who teamed with Anderson for a state cham-pionship at Corcoran High School before toiling for SU and in the NBA. The two combined for BBBL championships with Ballard Construction, but Triche missed last year’s finals with a knee injury. He did run the floor for Show Time’s victory over B&B, but, now 49, he says he may need surgery. What’s important for Triche is being back in shape for the following year. “My goal,” he reflects, “is at 50 to still be able to dunk.”

Anderson, 52, has rescinded his decision to bow out of league play, having broken his wrist in last year’s loss in the finals to Flav Unit, maintaining that even without Triche he can go out a

See BooomeRS, Page 3

December 2013 - January 15th, 2014 3CNYurban

OpinionKen JacksonThe Hall Monitor

Top unseen uses for Amazon’s Delivery Drones

Footsteps in the snow: Plumb tuckered out “Truth is I’m tired Options are few

I’m trying to pray But where are you? I’m all churched out

Hurt and abused I can’t fake.

What’s left to do?” – Take Me To The King by Tamela Mann

I open with this quote from a song “Take Me to the King” that plays on regular rota-tion on my gospel Sirius XM. As of four years ago I became a regular church-goer, each Sunday looking forward to fellowship at my place of worship. After a while, like many church folk, I was sitting in the same seat every Sunday and found a sense of peace in what I assumed to be the body of Christ, the church of a living God.

I don’t write about religion. I can’t quote the Bible verbatim as some can. I attended Catholic high school so maybe I didn’t get the memo on how to behave in an African-American church. After four years in my pew, however, I’m Plumb Tuckered Out!

The actual derivation of this phrase is quite straightforward. ‘Tucker’ is a colloquial New England word, coined in the early 19th century, meaning ‘become weary’ and which ultimately derives from the Old English verb ‘tuck,’ meaning ‘punish; torment.’ No B-feature western from the 1930s and 1940s was complete without Gabby Hayes being ‘plumb tuckered out.’ Plumb’ means ‘completely; absolutely; quite.’

As a church member, you question noth-ing. The Pastor operates the facility from stem to stern. To paraphrase my pastor, I run it from the pulpit to the parking lot.

There’s nothing biblical about referring to your flock as “Negros and Niggerettes” or displaying images of d-Con rat poison as a desperate pastor illustrates his deep displeasure with his deacons. Another church wanted to elevate their dea-cons to a status above the pastor. People fled, due to church “politics.” Some congregations have been halved over the last five years.

The pastor of a large church recently told his flock, “You pass 10 churches on your way to complain about me. Why don’t you stop off at one of them and stay, I’ll write you a letter?”

After four years as an active churchgoer, I’m at a crossroads in my faith, my belief and participation in what we’ve come to affec-tionately refer to as “the Black Church.”

The largest assembly of African-Amer-ican talent both natural and nurtured is embodied at a Black Church. And I don’t just mean the gospel choir. I mean social work-ers, bankers, computer analysts, accoun-tants, education administrators, teachers, bus-drivers, custodians, day-care workers, grantwriters, entrepreneurs and even govern-mental bureaucrats. And yet, that vast pool of talent has been silenced by tradition. Any questioning of a leader can be cause for being admonished. Talent resplendent in the pews left like crumbs of bread only to be swept up and tossed into the garbage.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “If the Civil Rights Movement were a train, the church would be the caboose.” It’s ironic how so many of our churches have filled their collection plates on King Day and yet remain deaf and dumb to the issues that are crushing the heart and soul of the African-American

community. There are too many devoted to paying the pastor, his benefits package, mortgage and National Grid bill – “hallelujah!” When it comes to the missions of the church, though, paltry

amounts are committed because there’s noth-ing left. And out there beyond the church walls our community is dying.

At this time in Syracuse have 100 churches that address the needs of about 50,000 people. The majority of pastors don’t live in the city which makes some of them as familiar with urban life as a police officer from Central Square. They don’t want to live with us either.

Until recently the church was the most segregated place in America. Blacks went one way. Whites went another.

That’s changed, however, with the intro-duction of Abundant Life and other religious institutions which have made major inroads into the African-American community. As one recent refugee from the traditional Black Church said to me, “I want to hear the word, period.”

When I was a child growing up at Bethany Baptist Church, in the winter you’d see footsteps in the snow made by the folks who lived near church. They’d walk to wor-ship. At the end of the service, the Reverend Leo Murphy would greet each person as they left church, the entry overlooking vast empty lots surrounding the old Harrison Street remnants of urban renewal.

Today, there are no footsteps in the snow leading to the “church house.” For almost 25 years I’ve delivered Urban CNY to 18 churches on a regular basis. I’ve seen churches grow, literally fall down to their

foundation, pastor tossed out by legal edict, police called to the sanctuary…need I say more? Pastors no longer stand at the door of the church house shaking hands, smiling at children and hugging the elderly.

In college I had a friend who was not a church-goer. After graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C. We stayed in contact, but sometimes I’d call and not get an answer. “Where were you?” I’d ask. The response was shocking. “At church,” she said. “We have aerobics on Wednesday night.” Several months later she told me of all the wonderful programs they had at her church, day care, a senior center, educational programs. “We go all week long,” she said. “This is a living church.”

I’m not alone in my thoughts; but it’s taboo to speak ill of a pastor. “Aren’t you afraid of having a heart attack or stroke?” I was abruptly asked after a particularly fiery church meeting.

My response, “No, I’m afraid for the people who toss their last dime into a col-lection plate and can’t get programing and economic transparency.”

Church fabric is ripped when verbally debilitating comments and physical violence is condoned, when people can’t participate – short of giving up their dollars – when the police have to be dispatched to the church house. For me, opening my big mouth and being attacked by a 300-lb. deacon destroyed any concept of communion. When the “bread and wine” are delivered by a bully calling you a “punk,” it’s only grape juice and crackers. I’ve stopped attending church on Sunday mornings at 11 a.m. I’m watching Oprah. At least she’s not asking for money.

winner this year, with teammates including former Nottingham High School star Pony Bullock and former LeMoyne College standout Bobby Chestnut.

One serious difference resulting from the move is the absence of the finger lickin’ soul food spreads which provided a major attraction at Southwest.

“It won’t stop the guys from playing,” Triche notes of the relo-cation. “They’ll whine for awhile, but they want the competition. They’ve played against each other going back to the playgrounds and in school. It keeps people coming back because they want to see what they can still do, even though they’re bodies don’t always let them. In the first few games they tend to see how out of shape they are.”

One attraction that still remains, the 16 game Sunday sched-ules are open to the public free of charge. Another is the ascorbic courtside commentary, especially on questionable calls by the of-ficials, provided loudly by league co-founder and coordinator Ed Mitchell, as he operates the electronic scoreboard and game clock.

This is an updated version of an article which appeared in the Syracuse New Times. Walt Shepperd is a three time winner of the New York Press Association’s Writer of the Year Award, and Executive Producer of the national award winning Media Unit.

How far do you want it to go to protect the Sarah Palin book you ordered? The drones could be enslaved and forced to do inhumane things such as steal a neighbor’s newspaper from his front porch or snag a steak off his backyard grill. Our lives would be just like that creepy robot spider scene in Minority Report. Thousands of drones will be ordered on revenge missions, de-livering everything from pornographic magazines to flaming bags of dog crap to your most irritating neighbors.

The following are top unseen uses for Amazon’s Delivery Drone:

1. Farmers could use them to take out rabbits, rats and other vermin.

2. Training for Anti-Drone Super Soakers (supplied by Wal-Mart).

3. Remote hedge clipper.

4. You’ve Been Served (process server).

5. Community policing (arm them with missiles and a net).

6. Elderly man in red suit, white beard, with eight hooved accomplices suspected in sabotage of Amazon drone.

7. Flying you back to jail.8. Filming for the local pervert.9. Thieves might shoot at them.

10. Spying for the government, naturally.

11. Fleeing from horny birds.12. The drone may even get invited

in and wind up mating with the Blu-ray player.

13. Forced to carry beers from the refrigerator to the living room.

14. Evil genius reprograms the drones to attack City Hall.

15. Deliver legalized marijuana.

Boomers From page 2


into a Christmas Club account.As consumers living in Syracuse, we also have to keep in mind that winter

here brings other expenses such as higher-than-normal heating bills. If you charged Christ mas on your credit cards, not only will those holiday bills be due in January, so will your gas and electric bill. Do not be fooled into thinking that your utilities cannot be shut off in the winter. The local utility company is required to give you a 72-hour notice (that is three business days) before they can shut your service off. The Public Service Commission requires the local gas/electric company to give 72-hour notices from Nov. 15 through April 15.

Having your utilities shut off dur ing the winter months is a disaster. If there’s a chance that you may forego paying your electric bill to purchase a gift or two, it’s just not worth it.

Sure, it’s easy to get caught up in the holiday merriment. Advertisers entice us on televi sion, on radio, billboards, every where. The malls are decorated beau tifully all to get us to spend, spend, spend. Merchants invest big bucks to get your dollars. When the new year arrives and you miss a payment, those same merchants start calling you at home and on the job, asking when can they expect payment. Did you know they like it when you miss a payment? Yes, that is how they make their money. Because you missed a payment, they can raise your interest rate, charge you over-the-limit fees etc. That’s how they make their money. If you pay your bills on time, retailers benefit but not as much as when you miss a payment or pay late. Keep that in mind when you get senti mental over Christmas shopping.

We don’t want to sound like Scrooge, but it’s time for Syracuse to get off the debt roller-coaster. If sound ing like Scrooge is going to help you, call us Scrooge and we will respond with a ‘Bah Humbug.’ To avoid spending more than you can afford this holiday, use discipline to manage your purchases. Do not get taken in by those 60-percent-off deals or those ‘no interest until 2016’ deals. Do not get tempted by liquidation sales. Liq uidators are in business to make money, they are not giving you a deal, liquidat ing is what they do. Don’t be fooled. That flat screen television that you purchased at the liquida tion sale for $1,199, you could have purchased it at BJ’s for $799. And BJ’s would

have given you a warranty. Liquidators do not accept returns nor do they give warranties.

Make yourself a Christmas shop ping list. Santa checks his list twice, so go Santa one better and check your list three times. Do you really want to buy gifts for everyone on your list? It’s alright if you want to splurge on ev eryone, but remember, you are feeling the hype of the season. Trust us, it will go away on Dec. 26.

Get creative in your gift-giving this year: take a picture of the person to whom you want to give a gift. Now purchase a nice silver picture frame at the Dollar Store. Then go to Macy’s for a gift box. Need we say more? Get uncon-ventional . Does someone on your list love their car? Purchase a car-wash gift certificate for them. It truly is not the amount of the gift that counts. It’s the thought that counts.

Do you have a few women on your list? Forever 21 has beautiful multi-colored scarves for $10. Go back to Macy’s and get a few more boxes, throw a scarf in each box. No one has to know you spent $10 on them. Do you have a niece who would love a fancy hair style? Do you have a nephew who needs driving lessons or an elderly aunt or uncle who needs an oil change or a tune-up ? Gift certificates are always affordable and much-appreciated.

Lastly, remember that when you use your credit card you are simply bor-rowing from your future income. When you use your debit card to purchase a Christmas gift, ask yourself what bill will not get paid be cause of that purchase. You know your finances better that anyone else. Be honest with yourself. Can you really afford it?

It’s time to break the cycle of spending money that you know you don’t have.

James and Barbara Peterson are local financial experts. To sched ule a seminar for your group, or business, call 446-4668, or email [email protected]. A version of this article originally ran in December 2008.

Food & DrinkRib Shack BBQ ‘Home Cooked Food Served Fast! ‘

It was a busy Friday afternoon at Rib Shack as several customers savored the last bites of their meals while another picked up a steaming hot take-out order at the counter.

The menu – with its wide variety of meats, sides and salads – can satisfy any appetite. Delicious side orders ac-company the barbecued ribs, chicken and burgers. Black beans and rice, potato salad and cole slaw all complement the marvelous meat entrees. Lighter eaters can order wings, and other items to name just a few of the Shack’s sides. On Fridays the fish fry takes over, serving haddock, shrimp and catfish dinners.

Every day, the dessert case attracts the eye as well as the palate. It’s colorfully stocked with carrot cake, red velvet cake, pound cake and an assortment of decorated cupcakes.

Rib Shack BBQ owner Essi Tadrus was inspired by the cuisine of America’s Deep South.

“We do Southern home cooking served fast,” Tadrus said. “I make everything from scratch. I use the best qual-ity meat I can get, and all my ingredients are top-notch. In the morning I get fresh produce, collard greens and tomatoes. I do that every morning.”

Tadrus’s day starts bright and early.“First thing we do is put our beef in the oven,” Tadrus

said. “We have beef ribs, pork ribs, pulled pork, and beef brisket made daily fresh. And they take time to cook every day, so that’s why we’re in here early making sure everything is right.”

Tadrus actually enjoys the long hours. “This isn’t work for me,” he said. “This is something I love.”

Everything is made fresh and served quickly. Home-made mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade macaroni and cheese, Philly steaks made from freshly shaved rib eye beef. The Rib Shack’s half- pound 100 percent Angus beef hamburgers are hand-formed and never frozen! When a customer calls for steak sauce, he or she won’t be handed a bottle of A1. No, Rib Shack makes its own special steak sauce from scratch!

Tadrus’s enthusiasm for his menu and his customers is apparent as he talks about his restaurant. “Where else can you get a rib dinner for $8.99? Our prices aren’t far from going to McDonald’s.”

Before long, Tadrus hopes to expand beyond his South Geddes Street location. “We’re going into high volume

urban areas where people are not comfortable leaving the area. We can come to you.” He advises his customers, “If you want us in your neighborhood, let us know.”

Rib Shack BBQ combines prompt, friendly service with traditional barbecue including classic favorites. This exciting new restaurant adds another establishment to the growing South Geddes Street Business District.

When asked, “How’s the food?” the young man who’d just devoured a juicy Rib Shack burger smiled and patted his belly. Now that’s a sign of approval!

Rib Shack BBQ will deliver within a five-mile radius. The restaurant periodically offers specials via Rib Shack Text Marketing: text RIBSHACK to 40518.

Ribs, chicken, burgers and

more!600 S. Geddes St.,

Syracuse(315) 478-4227

Hours of operation Monday - Thursday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday & Saturday,

11 a.m. – 3 a.m.; Closed Sunday.

Debt From page 2


Give The Gift of Health to Your Family During the Holiday Season and All Year LongThe year is rapidly coming

to a close and the holiday season has officially begun. Have you considered making a Health Checklist to bring in the New Year with a schedule of healthy activities and tasks that will be of benefit to you, your family and friends? Here are 5 ideas that may be of interest to you.

1. Try stuffing holiday stockings for your family and friends with items that will motivate and peak interest in learning how to live a healthy lifestyle. A cookbook full of healthy recipes will be especially healthful for your friends who like to cook and entertain guests.

2. Schedule an annual physical next year for yourself and mem-bers of your family. Ask your physician to provide a list of immu-nizations and recommended health screenings based on the age of each of your family members.

3. Don’t forget to schedule dental cleanings and/or screenings for you and your loved ones. Although it’s been said many times, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

4. Get Moving. Join a gym, take the stairs or start a walking club at work or with family and friends. You will be surprised at how much more invigorated you will feel after exercising. It doesn’t mat-ter how long or short the distance you walk. The important thing is that you start!

5. Drink 8 glasses of water each day. Many of us are not drinking enough water. Although no single formula fits everyone, knowing more about your body’s need for fluids will help you estimate how much water to drink each day. Lack of water can lead to dehydration, a condition that occurs when you don’t have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.

This message is brought to you on behalf of Syracuse Community Health Center, Your Health Care Home of Choice!

Season’s Greetings and Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year!

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Food & Drink

Hours of Operation:Mon. - Thu. 10am - 9pm • Fri. & Sat. 10am - 10pm

Sun. 12pm - 9pm

(315) 565-43112032 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY

Blak LicourWine & Spirits

Bring This Coupon And Receive

5% OFF5% OFF Exp. 1/10/14

Veuve Clicquot RoséIt offers the eye radiant colour, its nose is intense and elegant. Notes of raspberry,

wild strawberry and cherry predominate, followed by a touch of dried fruits and pastry. In the mouth, the attack is powerful, leaving behind a harmony of fruits. El-egant and sensual, the wine offers exceptional balance and surprising intensity.

This non-vintage Rose is the end result of a desire to create a Rose champagne with a delightfully luscious, fruit-based charm. Jacques Peters, the cellarmaster, and his team wanted a champagne that would be accessible and naturally engag-ing while conserving Veuve Clicquot’s essential values in terms of style.

The wine has a luminous color with attractive pink glints. The nose is gener-ous and elegant, with initial aromas of fresh red fruit (raspberry, wild strawberry, cherry, blackberry), leading to biscuity notes of dried fruits and Viennese pastries (almonds, apricots and brioche).

The fresh attack is followed by a fruity harmonious sensation on the palate. The wine is perfectly balanced in the best Veuve Clicquot style of pink champagnes, combining elegance and flair. The wine works its magic—this delectably full champagne can be enjoyed as a true delicacy. A deliciously fruity wine in early bloom, this is a wonderful aperitif to be shared as a twosome or simply with friends.

Made using 50 to 60 different crus, the cuvee is based on Brut Yellow Label’s traditional blend: 50 to 55% Pinot Noir, 15 to 20% Pinot Meunier, and 28 to 33% Chardonnay

Spirits for the Holidays…

Luc Belaire Rare RoseA dramatically beautiful sparkling Rose: a rich, vi-

brant pink color. A rich red fruit bouquet precedes an elegant palate of strawberry and black currant, resulting in a perfect harmony of aroma, taste, body, and finish: refreshing but not too sweet. A delicious, delicate blend of France’s three most famous Rose grapes: Syrah, Cin-sault, and Grenache, aged for the perfect effervescence and blended with a 100% Syrah dosage

armand de Brignac RoséArmand de Brignac Rosé is among the finest examples

of the famous pink Champagne blend ever conceived, and is packaged in a brilliant pink-gold bottle with matching adornments.

Its beautiful color is achieved through assemblage, the process by which sparkling white wine is blended with a proportion of still Pinot Noir wine. Our Pinot Noir is picked from old -growth vines

grown specifically for use in Rosé Champagne. Our Rosé is announced with a rich bouquet of red fruits with delicate, smoky grilled

notes behind. It is fresh and full-bodied on the palate with aromas of strawberries and blackcurrant, and is lingering and complex in its finish. Armand de Brignac Rosé is produced in extremely limited quantities - even by comparison to our boutique Brut Gold. armand de Brignac Brut gold

Armand de Brignac Brut Gold - our flagship cuveé - is a singular example of the Brut Champagne tradition. Marvelously complex and full-bodied, its bouquet is both

fresh and lively, with light floral notes. On the palate, our Brut Gold has a sumptuous, racy fruit character perfectly integrated with the wine’s subtle brioche accents. The

Champagne’s texture is deliciously creamy, with great depth paired with a long, silky finish. Our Brut Gold is pressed from a perfectly balanced blend of Chardon-nay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier wine.

Food pairingRosé Impérial pairs well with pairs well with simple, intense, colourful flavours: - Red meat, duck, goose, fresh game - Fresh goat cheese, mozzarella, mascarpone - Fresh, red-fleshed fruits - Fresh herbs & dried herbs - Black olives, olive oil, red onions - Pink peppercorns, Szechuan pepper, paprika - Morels

moet & Chandon Rector Rosé Impérial spontaneous - radiant - enticingRosé Impérial is a spontaneous, radiant,

romantic expression of the Moët & Chandon style, a style distinguished by its bright fruitiness, its seductive palate and its elegant maturity.tasting NotesA glowing colour

● pink with amber highlightsA bewitching bouquet

● a lively, intense bouquet of red fruits (wild

strawberry, raspberry, cherry)● floral nuances of rose● a slight hint of pepper

An expressive palate combining intensity and suppleness

● the juicy, persistent intensity of berries (strawberry, raspberry, redcurrant)

● the fleshiness and firmness of peach● the freshness of a subtle note of menthol

You can find these and many other selections of fine wines and Spirits at Blac Licour. There’s a 5% off coupon in this paper.


From Saratoga to slavery

the Whipping man opens January 29 at Syracuse Stage

19th century New York state black man’s real life nightmare inspired new movie By Russ tarby

Three up-and-coming black artists have combined to create a riveting film about slavery based on the 1853 autobiography of a free negro who lived in Saratoga Springs. The result is 12 Years a Slave, now playing at Regal Cinemas at Destiny USA Stadium 17; 466-5678.

British director Steve Rodney McQueen, 44, produced the $20-million movie with a screenplay written by John Ridley, 48, a native of Milwaukee, Wisc. McQueen cast a talented Eng-lish actor of Nigerian descent, Chiwetel Ejiofor, to star as Solomon Northup, a real-life carpenter and fiddler who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.

In the film, Northrup is transported to New Orleans, Northrup is forced to take on the identity of “Platt,” an escaped slave from Geor-gia. He’s purchased by a relatively benevolent plantation owner named Ford. After surviving an attempted lynching led by a racist carpen-ter, Northrup is sold to Edwin Epps (played by Michael Fassbender), a cruel Louisiana cotton-grower who believes his right to abuse his

slaves is biblically sanctioned. For instance, he repeatedly rapes a young slave girl named Patsey (played by Lupita Nyong’o), and eventually forces a reluctant Northrup to whip the woman.

In Louisiana, Northrup meets a Canadian laborer named Bass (played by Brad Pitt), who earns Epps’ displeasure by expressing opposition to slavery, but this convinces Northup to confide in Bass about his kidnapping. Northup asks for help in getting a letter to Saratoga Springs. Bass risks his life in taking such action in the South but agrees to do so. While working in the fields one day to break dirt for planting, Northup is

called out by the local sheriff who arrives in a carriage with another man. The sheriff asks Northrup a series of questions to match him to the facts of his life in New York. Northup recog-nizes the sheriff’s companion as a shopkeeper (Rob Steinberg) who he knows from Saratoga and realizes the man has come to free him.

Though Epps resists and Patsey is distraught, Northup leaves immediately. After being enslaved for 12 years, Northup is restored to freedom and returned to his family, which now includes his son-in-law and grandson named Solomon. Endnotes recount the inability of Nor-thup and his legal counsel to prosecute the men responsible for his being sold into slavery, as well as the mystery surrounding unknown details of his death and burial.

Richard Corliss of Time magazine wrote: “Indeed, McQueen’s film is closer in its storytell-ing particulars to such 1970s exploitation-expo-sés of slavery as Mandingo and Goodbye, Uncle Tom. Except that McQueen is not a schlockmeis-ter sensationalist but a remorseless artist.” Corliss draws parallels with Nazi Germany. “McQueen

shows that racism, aside from its barbarous inhumanity, is insanely inefficient,” he wrote. “It can be argued that Nazi Germany lost the war both because it diverted so much manpower to the killing of Jews and because it did not exploit the brilliance of Jewish scientists in building smarter weapons. So the slave owners dilute the energy of their slaves by whipping them for sadistic sport and, as Epps does, waking them at night to dance for his wife’s cruel pleasure.”

The film earned McQueen a New York Film Critics’ Circle award as Best Director of 2013.

12 Years a Slave premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August and has been widely lauded by critics. The film, released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, began its American run on Oct. 18 and is scheduled to be released in England on January 24, 2014.

Richmond, April, 1865. The Civil War has ended and Caleb DeLeon, a badly wounded Confederate soldier, stumbles into the ruin of what was once his home. His family has fled the City’s destruction leaving two former slaves, Simon and John, to wait and watch. Together they care for the wounded Caleb, and having adopted the religion of their former owners, celebrate Passover. A mesmerizing drama where secrets are revealed and the plot twists and turns. Since opening off-Broadway to critical acclaim and

winning the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play, The Whipping Man has become one of the most produced plays in the country.

Matthew Lopez holds new play commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhat-tan Theatre Club and Hartford Stage. He is a staff writer on Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series The News-room. Timothy Bond is the Producing Artistic Director of Syracuse Stage, where he last directed August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size.

The Whipping Man is recommended for ages 13 and up due to strong language and some violent content. Single tickets: $30 - $52. Children (under 18): $18. Under 40: $35 all tickets, all per-formances. SU students: $18 all performances. Senior discounts available all performances except Fri. and Sat. evenings. Rush tickets avail-able day of performance only: $22 - $27 general public and $18 with valid student ID, subject to availability. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more (call 315-443-9844).

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as a free man from Saratoga who’s kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South in 1841 in the new movie “12 Years a Slave,” now playing in Syracuse.


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Church NewsSacred Melody : ‘A haven of Christ’s love’Why Prayer Goes Hand-in-Hand With Worship

Posted by Kristi in Christian ministry articles, Church & Worship RelatedWorship is more than singing songs of praise. It is the primary ingredient to prayer. Although it’s popular

to make a distinction between a “prayer of worship” and a prayer of petition, a prayer of intercession, or a prayer of confession, I would venture to say that all categories of prayer are constrained to worship.

Prayer is humble communication to God, and to be in the presence of God is to be aware of His holiness, which leads to worship. There is no one like Him. He is completely “other”. Ac-knowledging God’s holiness through worship is essential to each category of prayer. Let’s discuss the relationship in each classification: Worship in prayers of petition

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3). For prayer to be affective you must know the God you pray to and with this mind ac-knowledge the truth of who He is through worship. One expression of worship is thanksgiving. We are told in Philipppians 4:6 “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” When we approach God and recount the many ways He has blessed us, it clears out “self” and makes room for thoughtful prayer according to His will (not ours).

Acknowledging who God is, and a willful submission to His plan are also forms of worship, both of which are demonstrated in the Lords prayer: The first, acknowledgment of God’s holiness is, “Our Father who art in heaven, holy is your name”; and the second, worship through submis-sion, states “thy will be done”. Both forms of worship are made prior to any petition if we wish to be heard. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15).

By Ken JacksonSacred Melody has been family-run

since it opened for business in 1957. The religious bookshop began in the heart of downtown.

“I heard they would play Christian music to bus riders as they waited on the corner for their bus,” said owner/manager Katrina Skinner. “Since we started, it was always all about spreading the gospel. We started as a music- and shirt-supply store, and now we’ve become a store focused on the basic customer with some church sup-plies and a lot more gifts. We’re a lot more of a book/gift/music store.”

Sacred Melody shines as a unique gift shop with a decidedly spiritual side.

Located in a newly remodeled space in Eastwood Plaza on James Street, Sa-cred Melody displays a large selection of Christian-themed books, Bibles, music, gifts and greeting cards.

Shoppers come in for a variety of reasons, Skinner said. “Any church pro-motional event, we do a lot of pastor-appreciation month, or if someone wants to give their pastor a Christmas gift, that’s when they think of us,” she said. “We have clocks, wall clocks, desk clocks, pens. We also imprint Bibles. That’s one of the most important things we do here. And we have more translations of the Bible than you’ll find anywhere. We are a Christian depart-ment store in a very small place, service in a calm atmosphere.” Sacred Melody also offers a rewards program for churches that enroll.

The store also has a CD song-burner. Sacred Melody can burn any music the customer chooses and combine five differ-ent selections to create your own personal compact disc. A CD filled with your fa-vorites make wonderful gifts for friends or family, Skinner suggested.

Laser-engraving is the shop’s latest in-novation. This new service provides free personalization of anything made of wood, metal or glass and a range of crosses and crucifixes, water bottles, flashlights, etc. In addition to standard engraving of frames and personalized gifts, Sacred Melody’s capable of making wooden coins engraved with the church name on one side and Scripture on the other.

”The mission of our staff is to create a haven of Christ’s love in our city,” Skinner said.

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Worship in prayers of confessionAcknowledgement of God’s holiness lays us

bare before him, uncovers sin and should result in confession. Isaiah, when confronted with the holiness of God said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5). True confession is born of a heart that sees and knows God. Concede God’s holiness and confess your sins so that you will be heard. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, God won’t hear us (Psalm 66:18 NKJV).

One of my favorite passages in scripture is

Psalm 24. It is a discourse on God’s holiness and our inability to approach Him due to our sinful-ness. If you read the passage you will notice the question of our moral character and need for repentance, is not even brought into the discussion until God’s glory is first defined. “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. (Psalm 24:3-4). Worship precedes our prayers of confession. Worship in prayers of intercession

Colossians 1:9-12 is a beautiful example for us on intercessory prayer. The essence of the pas-

sage is that we petition God on behalf of another that they would know the will of God; seek out the glory of the Lord resulting in wisdom and spiritual understanding; grow in the knowledge of God; be strengthened with power according to God’s glorious might; and be filled with gratitude. All these things are fruit produced out of a heart of worship.

I like what Oswald Chambers says about intercessory prayer, that it is not putting yourself in someone else’s place, but rather “it is putting yourself in God’s place; it is having His mind and His perspective.” It echoes what Romans 12:2 says: “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind

that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable, or well pleasing and perfect.”one last point

Worship (acknowledging God’s worth) prepares our mind for effective prayer, which in turn results in even deeper worship. The two are intrinsically linked and cannot be separated. Rehearse the ways God has been faithful to you, and express specific gratitude to Him; once you do, you will be able to pray more effectively and realize the rewards of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). It is this kind of expectancy in prayer which leads us back to worship.

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ithaca College Class of ’79: An early stand against apartheid By Ken Jackson

It was Graduation Day, May 19, 1979, at Ithaca College, the culmination of our senior year full of protests against apartheid, South Africa’s government-sanctioned system of racial segrega-tion. Divestment was the mantra at universities across the country as the world focused attention on the Afrikaner-dominated National Party which created apartheid. We students had learned that our colleges held billions in endowment funds invested in Fortune 500 companies found to be doing business with South Africa.

In the campaign to end apartheid the strategy was simple: starve the institution that perpetu-ated this evil, anti-apartheid movements sprung up on university campuses across America. We’d missed Vietnam, but this was our defining mo-ment in protest as we collectively raised our voices for the people of South Africa. Racial lines melted as there was broad agreement that “apartheid is evil.”

At the time there was global pressure against doing business with the apartheid regime. South African authorities were viciously beating black protestors, their bloodied images beamed by satellite around the globe.

An earlier generation watched Birming-ham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Con-nor sic attack dogs on peaceful civil rights activists and then soak them with high-pres-sure fire hoses. They saw church bombings kill innocent children. They saw Alabama Gov. George Wallace stand defiantly in a school doorway declaring “Segregation forever.” In the early-1960s, those images burned into the national psyche.

These confrontations viewed by Ameri-cans on their living-room televisions pro-pelled the nation towards civil rights and voter-registration reform and a plethora of initiatives aimed at mitigating the multi- generational impact of state-sponsored segregation. A down payment was made

on the check Dr. King referred to, a national obligation to African-Americans’ returned marked, “insufficient funds.”

Both hills of Ithaca, at Cornell University and Ithaca College, were bombarded with material explaining the issue. It even took on unintended comical overtones as it snuck into our youthful banter. Late one night after reports of a brutal strike of South African min-ers, James Brown’s “Living in America” began playing. Suddenly,

a member of the crowded dorm room sang a re-worded version, “Living in South Africa,” replacing Brown’s words and spirit with cynical protest lyrics, “Living in South Africa… In the Mines… with no vacation, huh!”

Posters of imprisoned anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela adorned walls of countless dormitory rooms, his name was spray-painted on sidewalks near Cornell, the epicenter of the movement in Ithaca. Posters were stapled on telephone poles turned into impromptu message boards reminding us of the struggle taking place in South Africa.

Graduation Day was sunny and warm. People gathered from all over to see their friends and family graduate in a field near the center of campus. Jessica Savitch of NBC News was the commencement speaker. The program began and at a predetermined time dozens of us stood in protest. We demanded divestiture. For most of us this was our first act of civil disobedience of any kind. Protestors stood for one minute. After a little commotion we sat back down.

Americans often suffer a kind of cultural myopia, a rather limited view of global events. But if you take George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. and transfer their attributes into one person and you’ll come up with Nelson Mandela.

Looking through reflective lenses at the life of Nelson Mandela, we can see that his vision and his redemptive suffering transformed a person, a nation and the world.

Nelson Mandela

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