February 24, 2024 - March 1, 2024 The Afro-American A5 THE BLACKwww.afro.com MEDIA AUTHORITY • AFRO.COM $2.00 $1.00
Volume 132 No. 32
MARCH 9 , 2024 - MARCH 15, 2024
CIAA Tournament returns to Baltimore
Photos courtesy of Visit Baltimore and CIAA AFRO photo/James Fields
Photo courtesy of Visit Baltimore
AFRO photo/Steven Hopkins
Al Hutchinson (top, left) serves as president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, the city’s designated tourism sales and marketing organization. Jacqie McWilliams-Parker (bottom, right) is commissioner of the Center Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). She is the first Black woman to serve as commissioner of the sports conference for historically Black colleges and universities, which returned to Baltimore Feb. 26- March 3. After multiple days of battling it out on the basketball court, the women of Fayetteville State and the men of Lincoln University were crowned as the champion teams for 2024. The tournament is a lucrative endeavor that brings thousands of tourists to Baltimore each time the city hosts the event. By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer msayles@afro.com
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Student athletes, coaches and basketball fans from around the country flooded the downtown Baltimore area Feb. 26 to March 3 as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament returned to Charm City.
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The men of Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University beat out Fayetteville State 54-51, capturing the men’s 2024 CIAA title, while the ladies of Fayetteville State battled Elizabeth City State University, 64-59, ultimately taking the title. While most of the action took place on the court at CFG Bank Arena, a spotlight was also shone on Baltimore’s Black dining
scene. The Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, in collaboration with the Baltimore Local Host Committee, held the BlackOwned Restaurant Tour for the third time to encourage fans to patronize Black businesses. “Every night was packed, especially on the weekends,” said Chris Simon, co-owner of the Outkrowd Group, which operates Baltimore
restaurants Prim and Proper and Blk Swan. “Blk Swan was the landing spot for people after they finished bouncing around during the day. We definitely felt a surge in business because of that.” Simon said his sales surged during the eight days of the tournament. Both Prim and Proper and Blk Swan had several buyouts for private parties from alumni of
schools competing in the competition, like Bowie State University. The rentals substantially added to the restaurants’ revenue for the week, according to Simon. “I think Baltimore is a great city for CIAA,” said Simon. “I really like how people were purposeful about supporting Black businesses while being here to support HBCUs.” In 2023, CIAA brought
Photo courtesy of CIAA
38,450 fans to CFG Bank Arena. The tournament, which showcases premier teams from historically, Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), generated an economic impact of $29.6 million, up from $19.6 million in 2022. “We almost doubled in economic impact year over year, and the city of Baltimore really stepped
Continued on A5
Super Tuesday victories sets stage for presidential rematch consecutive time, he closed the gap, leaving little room for his main rival, Nikki President Joe Biden Haley, who suspended her and his twice-impeached campaign the morning after. and four-times indicted Haley and Biden earned predecessor, Donald Trump, victories in the District of emerged victorious on Super Columbia’s primaries held Tuesday, wrapping up their the Sunday before Super respective party nominations Tuesday. and setting up a rematch of The latest delegate the volatile 2020 election. estimate revealed Trump’s More than a dozen states substantial gain of 617 participated in primaries delegates on Tuesday, and caucuses on March propelling his overall count 5, constituting the most to 893, or 92 percent of significant nominating race those awarded, putting AP Photo/Susan Walsh him on the brink of the day, and shifting the focus Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden are from the one-by-one march 1,215 delegates required gearing up for a tough election season. through early-voting states. for clinching the GOP Despite signs of potential nomination. In contrast, weaknesses in their election strategies, both Biden and Haley lagged significantly with only 66 delegates. Trump faced challenges. Numerous progressives, reportedly “They call it Super Tuesday for a reason,” declared Trump, disillusioned with Biden, opted for the “uncommitted” option whom a civil jury twice sanctioned for sexually assaulting a in places like Minnesota and Michigan, while college-educated writer and a New York judge found guilty of massive business suburbanites leaned towards alternatives to Trump. While the fraud. “This is a big one,” continued Trump, who was ordered 15 states in contention didn’t officially provide Trump with to pay nearly $500 million for his New York crimes and $90 enough delegates to secure the GOP nomination for a third million for the sexual assault guilty finding. “And they tell me, By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire
Copyright © 2024 by the Afro-American Company
the pundits and otherwise, that there’s never been one like this.” Despite facing challenging headlines and low approval ratings, Biden maintained his dominance on Super Tuesday, securing approximately 80 percent of the vote, while Trump struggled to reach that threshold. Although Haley posed a more formidable challenge, Biden retained solid support from his party’s Continued on A5
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