Seven x 7- churches call thousands to Pray for Peace in South St. Petersburg -

Every May the murder rate climbs for a long-hot summer, while a record number of young people are killed in the streets. This year the spree started early in March with four back-to-back murders in South St. Petersburg, beginning with 18-year old Levaud Landers.

In 2008, the faith community has united to do something about it!

On Thursday, May 1st 2008, the Seven x 7 movement of 49+ churches is calling thousands of people to fill up Gibbs High Football stadium in a Prayer for Peace in South St. Pete. Be there to hear the plan for street-level outreach all summer-long. Doors open at 6P for live praise directed by Music Minister Ricky Welch and at 7P for prayer. Gibbs High is located at 850 34th Street S. in St. Pete.

90 Days of Prayer
Hear About It
Gospel and Christian radio programs are getting involved to spread the word about Sevenx7. Support these show hosts. Listen in at WRXB AM 1590: Sister Diane Hughes "Total Praise" 6 am to 1 pm Mon thru Fri followed by Pastor Norma Miller "Prayze Party."


On January 26th, the Senior Pastors of dozens of congregations agreed to bind together in prayer every Saturday at 7 am for 90 consecutive days, beginning on February 2nd.

90 Days of Prayer for Senior Pastors

Feb 2 - Word of Life Fellowship, Pastor Ellis Hodge
Feb 9 - Bethel Community Baptist, Pastor Manuel Sykes
Feb 16 - Mt Zion Progressive MB, Pastor Louis M. Murphy, Sr.
Feb 23 - St. Mark AME, Pastor Keturah Pittman
Mar 1 - Gethsemane Baptist, Pastor Ron Gibson
Mar 8 - New Beginnings Westcoast Center, Pastor Charles S. McKenzie
923 Dr. Martin Luther King Street South in St. Petersburg
Mar 15 - Genesis Worship Center, Pastor Michael Culbreth
1818 - 29th Avenue North in St. Petersburg
Mar 22 - Bethel Metropolitan MB, Pastor Rickey Houston
3755 - 26th Avenue South in St. Petersburg
Mar 29 - Gateway Christian Center, Pastor Joe Van Koevering
4355 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg
Apr 5 - Truth, Faith & Deliverance, Pastor James Holt
5120 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg
Apr 12 - Unity Temple of Truth, Pastor Prentiss Davis
511 Prescott Street South in St. Petersburg
Apr 19 - New Hope MB, Pastor Carlos Senior
2120 - 19th Street South in St. Petersburg
Apr 26 - Blanket Pinellas County with Prayer - All Churches Welcome!
(Sign your church up to walk 1-mile of the Pinellas Trail)

Another view.

Will St. Pete taxpayers resume funding a revolutionary communist party?

If the three candidates backed by Mayor Rick Baker, his financial backers and the newspaper win next Tuesdays city election the city will be set to once again provide taxpayer support for this unique government sponsored movement. I am referring to the African People's Socialist Party and its various offshoots.

Candidate Gershom Falkner was specifically asked if he would support funding this group and said that he was not opposed to this.

The current council has blocked Baker’s attempts to reopen the city checkbook to his Marxist comrades. Support has been limited to staff assistance and very successful private fund raising. When council was asked to vote on a specific subsidy members got cold feet. The city was about to win a lawsuit from the TyRon Lewis family so naturally the Mayor asked council to offer a generous cash settlement. When this was denied the Uhurus staged a rally that turned into a riot. The mayor rewarded this conduct by arranging for private donations to the family.

Two years ago the city administration was back asking council to provide city land for a parking lot that was required for the Uhuru House to operate. Rene Flowers killed this by asking council to keep these vacant lots for future affordable housing. She described her move as dropping a “monkey wrench” into the city plans. When her term ends the balance will shift to the mayor on this issue. This meeting was not covered by the local media. During the debate former councilman Jay Lacita asked if the city had been providing these lots on the south side of 18th Ave. as a free parking lot to this group for many years. Apparently the city had quietly waived parking requirements for decades but could not get away with this now that the group was applying for building permits for a major building renovation.
Recently the local paper wrote a story about the renovation which proceeded without the city parking lot. Instead of thanking the city for giving them the VIP treatment the group actually complained about having to meet city building requirements.

After the ’96 riots the city found some backbone and refused to meet with the Uhurus. An editorial called them a hate group. HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros told the city to include this group and with the promise of $20 million in disaster relief funds he got his way. For a very brief time the Uhurus were leading a coalition of mainstream neighborhood groups. By the time residents were forced out of this coalition the city had given this group a prominent role in planning for south St. Pete.

Rick Baker had enormous influence from behind the scenes: Campaign manager to the mayor, leader of the Chamber of Commerce and part of the newspaper's law firm. When he personally asked council for a $100,000 gift so they could start an “African Market” the money came freely. The market had a great idea but without community support it wilted with the summer heat.

Other assistance included a computer lab that was to be part of one of Gov. Jeb Bush’s new charter schools. The school board was less than enthusiastic on this one and it never materialized.

A grant for a gym was diverted from the Community Development Block Grant that was intended to help the poor. This TyRon Lewis gym was not supported by the neighborhood so the city changed a requirement that it serve residents. Embarrassment over the center being named to honor a drug dealer did not stop council from handing them your tax money.

I mention the political ideology of this group only because it seems an unusual pairing with the supposedly conservative Republican mayor who has led the local campaigns for both Bush brothers. If they could demonstrate a public benefit for these expenditures I would defend them despite their unpopular views. This waste of scarce public money adds insult to the injury of their incitement of violence. I don’t agree with them but I respect their right to promote their views in a free market of ideas.

Where they loose me is with their close connection to throwing rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at police, at law abiding residents and at businesses. Were they to renounce violence they could use their influence to help bring criminals into law abiding society and lift the curse of violent crime that holds the southside down.

What will next Tuesday’s elections bring? What will you do about this? You can ask the candidates where they stand on this issue, and tell them where you stand. You can support southside residents who want to be free of Uhuru violence. Take our poll at the top of the column on the right.

Printer friendly version of this post.

See it, Stop it, and Say it-get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals

Gun violence escalates in South St. Pete where the mayor and council seem in denial that a problem exists. Other Florida cities are looking for solutions. Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville are using cash rewards to get guns out of the hands of criminals.

As part of Mayor’s Buddy Dyer’s commitment to public safety, the City of Orlando has launched a new partnership with Central Florida Crimeline to generate leads for additional arrests and to get illegal guns off the streets.

The Illegal Gun Bounty program will be administered through Central Florida Crimeline, whose mission is to increase the safety of the Central Florida community by assisting law enforcement agencies in removing undesirable individuals from the community. Initial funding of the Illegal Gun Bounty program is made available through the law enforcement trust fund – which is forfeiture dollars and monies seized from drug dealers and those involved in criminal activities.

“Our administration has been squarely focused on finding solutions to crime and opportunities to prevent it,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to Crimeline. “The Illegal Gun Bounty program is a great tool to empower residents and get illegal guns out of the hands of criminals.”

A similar program in Miami is marketed to criminals who have no interest in helping law enforcement but will turn someone in for easy money. "HOW TO GET A STACK." reads the ad that shows a "stack" of 10 $100 bills.

"Get $1000 cash reward for your information that leads to a person with an illegal gun.

"NO: Name, ID, Questions."

The newspaper Miami New Times reports "The flyers don't mention the police or any governing body. But Miami-Dade County is pushing them like spinach at a fat camp. Every time an inmate departs the county jail, upon collecting his property, he receives a flyer. It's even sized like a standard U.S. bill, so it can be folded into a wallet."