VOL. 54, NO. 13 • JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
Are You Serving as a Drum Major for Peace?
Step Afrika! Marks 25th Year Page 28
D.C. Debates Early 2020 Primary By James Wright WI Contributing Writer If the longest-tenured member of the D.C. Council has his way, the city’s 2020 primary election won’t be in June, but earlier in the year. Councilman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who serves as the D.C. Democratic State Committee’s national committeeman and has been a member of the District’s legislative body since 1991, said during a Jan. 3 committee meeting that the District should move its presidential and council primary from June to possibly April. “You saw what happened last June — the turnout was horrible,” Evans said, noting that only 18.66 percent of all registered D.C. voters cast ballots in the June 19 primary. “California has moved up their primary date to March and others are looking at doing the same.”
PRIMARY Page 34
Anton Black, Unarmed, Dies While in Police Custody By John Muller, Special to the Washington Informer
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION SWEARING-IN
5 The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF) hosts a Ceremonial Swearing-In for current and newly-elected Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members of the 116th Congress on Thursday, Jan. 3 at the Warner Theater in Northwest with a record-high 55 members. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
To Carry on the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins This month, members of the Ward 8 community will celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy during a peace walk and parade along a major corridor named for the martyred civil rights figure who championed nonviolent resistance in the face of racial injustice. Emma P. Ward, a senior and youth advocate, said the annual event, themed “From Many to One Beloved Community,” should reso-
Blacks in Eastern Shore Seek Justice for Teen
nate with the young people, particularly those whose friends and family met a fate similar to King. “In the schools, the youth often say Dr. King was a good man. Some would even ask why someone would do that to him,” said Ward, Ms. Senior DC 2011 and retired teacher. “They can feel that. Many of them had that experience and could identify with someone killing someone else.” Ward counted among nearly 70 people — including members of government agencies, churches,
KING WALK Page 26
5 The MLK Peacewalk and Parade will take place Monday, January 21 in Southeast. (WI File Photo)
In the close-knit, Black enclave of Greensboro in Maryland’s Eastern Shore, boasting fewer than 2,000 residents – founded in 1732 along the banks of the Choptank River and once travelled by freedom fighters like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman – many citizens say their lives have become subjected to “imminent threat and danger.” Nearly four months after an unarmed youth, 19-year old Anton Black, died while in police custody, his family awaits a full report from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit, demanding the public disclosure of existing police body camera footage, reportedly 37 minutes long. Family members have called for the prosecution of Greensboro Police Department Officer Thomas Webster IV who, before joining the small-town Maryland department, made national headlines after being indicted and later acquitted of assault charges in Dover, Delaware. An organization whose membership continues to swell, the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black, recently generated a standing room only crowd demanding that Webster be placed on immediate leave. But after a closed-doors executive session, the mayor, members of the town council and the chief of police decided to retain Webster, casting a shroud of fear
JUSTICE Page 8
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On Jan. 11, 1971 Mary J. Blige, “The Queen of HipHop Soul,” is born in New York City. Black Facts / Page 6
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around the region
Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence
COMPILED BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR,WI EDITOR,WILL FORD,WI STAFF WRITER AND JOHN MULLER, SPECIAL TO THE INFORMER
SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
Show Goes on forlaw enforcement. SheSen. Kamala Harris said they threat,” she said. WIAnacostia Staff Writer had come together to bring a Among the programs Is Marlow Playhouse Publishes Memoirs; sense of uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- Burglary domestic violence victims restraining order Next? policies, Despite Holiday Runandfor stricter White House old daughter told her the father survivors are treated. more rights for victim's families By Tia Carol Jones
www.washingtoninformer.com Visit our updated Web site and give us your comments for a chance to win a gift from The Washington Informer
of her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal to intervene on behalf of recently a vic- rePlaywright/performer, Sen. Kamala Harris life, and the life of their child, story, her own personal pain to tim, a domestic violence assessKeith Hamilton Cobb, leased “The Truths We Hold: An she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further uses his love of language American Journey,” a book about done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training fortruths law that enforcement and 30 years of experithe core unite us and the with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecence in the American struggle to discern truths in Email comments to: of the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book will tion Act and mandatorythose counseltheatre to explore Shakewhat some consider a precursor to rburke@ start the Saving Promise cam- “get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. speare, race and America, her announcement to run for prespaign. case in such a way, the average “If we are ever going to eradiwashingtoninformer.com necessarily in can that get or- it.” She said at the ident in 2020. The daughter of im“It seems to be a vicious not cycle person cate domestic violence, we must der in “American Moor,” that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will lookmigrants, at both Harris sides has of long the exhibited coin. a which opened Jan. 9 at passion for justice – rapidly progressing from her election loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to have a dia- We need to address both the victhe Anacostia Playhouse, as district attorney for San Francisco to the chief law enshared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow formerly Street Playhouse. of the Atforcement officer of the state of California. She defeatence at the theHDistrict HeightsPriced out Also present at the event was said. las District more than five years ago,Mildred it relocated to ed Loretta in 2016,would succeeding outgoing Domestic Violence Symposium Muhammad, the ex-SanchezMarlow also like to seeSena2013 with great fanfare. wife of John Allen Muhammad, tor Barbara Boxer to becomedesigned the state’s third onSoutheast May 7 atinthe District Heights programs to female raise U.S. None of Center. that mattered thieves whowho made offsentenced with and theawareness first of either Indian or Jamaican descent. Municipal The tosympowas to Senator six consecamong children in computers, and cash sium was checks sponsored byduring the a Christmas utive life holiterms without parole public and private schools. She day burglary. Robey,Services a resident ofbythe Anacostia jury for his role in feels children need to be educatFamily and Adele Youth a Maryland community andcity executive director andthe co-founder Center of the of District BeltwayofSniper attacks in ed about domestic violence. Heights and the National the Playhouse with her lateHookhusband, said the robbery 2002. Mildred Muhammad is “We have to stop being pasUp Black Women. feltoflike a personal violation. “I am a pretty strong perthe founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilMarlow written book, son, but thishas hit me prettyahard,” she said. an organization that helps the dren about domestic violence,” “Color Me hours Butterfly,” is a of the survivors Within of thewhich discovery burglary,ofandomestic violence Marlow said. Prince George’sMarlow County public schools to released story four generations of launched and their children. has worked breaka suronlineabout fundraising campaign was by Nikvey last week with six questions on a proposed 2019-20 domestic violence. The book is Relations, “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of abuse in her family, ki Peele, owner of reSPIN Public a ward school calendar that includes whether parents and guardinspired by her own experiences, in fear is a long time. It is and is confident the policies she 8 small business, and editor of the years blog Congress ians will use an excused absence for a child to observe a and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that Heights on the Rise. Reported by local broadcast stareligious holiday. Another question asks if there’s support her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process. tions and social media platforms, the campaign raised to extend twothese to three hourstoon six She time shethan reads Mildred saidearly dismissal “I planfrom to take policies moresaid thanevery $8,000 in less 24 hours with hun-Muhammad In Memoriam excerpts from her book, she still professional development days “to provide more people who to for dreds of individual donors from surrounding com- want to help a Congress and implore them time Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. can not believe the words came teacher training.” A school system calendar committee domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. munities and regional artisans. Wilhelmina J. Rolark from“What her. “Color MeonButterfly” continues working on a draft for next school year. The surbe to careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these polihappened Christmas Day the PlayThe Washington Informer Newspaper won the 2007 National “Best vey will be available online through Jan. 18. To review the the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” house was awful,” Peele said. “But it is how we as a THE WASHINGTON INFORMER InPUBLISHER Memoriam Books” Award. that she may be in “survival calendar and complete the survey, go to https://content. Tia Carol Jones can be reached NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is community, on both sides of the Anacostia River, Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. Denise RolarkSr. Barnes at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net govdelivery.com/accounts/PGCPS/bulletins/226106c. published weekly on each Thursday. came together to help.” Wilhelmina J. Rolark my eye first blackened and my Periodicals postage paid at Washing“Before you get to 'I'm going ton, THE D.C.WASHINGTON and additional mailing ofINFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI STAFF fices.weekly News on andThursday. advertising deadline postage Periodicals paid at Washington, D.C. and additional Elaine Davis-Nickens, presiis Monday to News publication. AnD. Kevin Editor mailing prior offices. and advertising deadlineMcNeir, is Monday prior to publication. dent of the National Hook-Up nouncements must be received two two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The Announcements must be received Ron Burke, Advertising/ Marketing Director of Black Women, said there is no weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016reserved. POST MASTER: Send change of addressWashington Informer. All rights Lassiter, Photo Editor by es The Washington Informer. In one ofinhisthe final actsdomestic as Tennessee governor on Monday, Jan. 7, Bill Haslam granted executive clemency consistency way to The Washington Informer,All3117Shevry Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, rightsD.C. reserved. 20032.POSTMASTER: No part of thisSend publication may be Barnes, reproduced without written to Cyntoia Brown, commuting Lafayette IV, Assistant PhotopermisEditor violence issues are dealt with byher life sentence for murder and making her eligible for release on Aug. 7. change addresses to TheThe Washsionoffrom the publisher. Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of Brown, a victim of child sex trafficking, was sentenced to life for the killing of 43-year-old Johnny Allen John E. De Freitas, Sports Photo Editor ington Informer, 3117 Martin rates Luther photographs. Subscription are $30 per year, two years $45. Papers will be received in 2004. She was 16 at the time and living with her 24-year-old boyfriend, a pimp known as “Kut Throat” King,notJr.more Ave.,than S.E.a Washington, D.C. Dorothy Rowley, Online Editor week after publication. Make checks payable to: 20032. No part of this publication may who forced her into prostitution and raped her. Allen solicited her for sex, and she shot him dead at his home, ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout be reproduced without written permisTHE WASHINGTON INFORMER saying she thought he was reaching for his gun to kill her, according to court documents. sion from the3117 publisher. The Informer Neville, Bookkeeper Martin Luther King, Jr.Mable Ave., S.E. • Washington, D.C. 20032 “Cyntoia Brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16,” Haslam said in Newspaper cannot guarantee the return Phone: 202 561-4100 • Fax: 202 574-3785 Dr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist of photographs. Subscription rates are a statement. “Yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com Tatiana Moten, Social Media Specialist $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light www.washingtoninformer.com be received not more than a week after Angie Johnson, Circulation of the extraordinary steps [she] has taken to rebuild her life. Transformation publication. Make checks payable to: should be accompanied by hope. So, I am commuting [her] sentence, subPUBLISHER THE WASHINGTON INFORMER Denise Rolark Barnes ject to certain conditions.” REPORTERS 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E Brown was tried as an adult and convicted of first-degree murder, among STAFF REPORTERS Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, Washington, D.C. 20032 Brooke N. Garner Managing Editor Tia C. Jones, Ed Laiscell, other charges and was sentenced to life in 2006. In December, Tennessee’s Phone: 202 561-4100 Timothy Cox, Will Ford (Prince George’s Carla Peay Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, Fax: 202 574-3785 Supreme Court ruled that Brown must remain in prison for at least 51 Ron Burke Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, Joseph Young County Writer), Jacqueline Fuller, Hamil news@washingtoninformer.com years before she eligible for release. A lawsuit was filed on her behalf arguing Mable Whittaker Bookkeeper Harris, D. Kevin McNeir, Dorothy Rowley, www.washingtoninformer.com LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS that mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles was unconstituJohn E. De Freitas Sports Brenda Editor Siler, Sarafina Wright, James Wright Lafayette Barnes, IV, tional. The court rejected that contention, leading the Women’s March to Victor Holt Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Maurice Fitzgerald, Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic PHOTOGRAPHERS Design announce nationwide protests for Brown and other sex-trafficking victims Joanne Jackson, Roy Lewis, Robert Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster Ridley, Victor Holt on Jan. 19. Many celebrities publicly joined those supporting Brown after PBS John E. DeFreitas, Shevry Lassiter, L.Y. Marlow produced a documentary, “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story,” in 2011. Under Roy Lewis,CIRCULATION Jr., Mark Mahonny the conditions for her release, Brown will be required to undergo regular Paul Trantham counseling, work at least 50 hours of community service and get a job. In a statement through her lawyers, she thanked Haslam “for your act of mercy in giving me a second chance. I will do everything I can to justify your faith in me.” 4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com
Draft Calendar Proposed for Prince George’s Schools
“
Cyntoia Brown, Sex-trafficking Victim, Granted Clemency
We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these policies to Congress and implore them to change our laws. I will not stop until these policies are passed.
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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Bowser Talks Everyday Issues with D.C. Dems By James Wright WI Contributing Writer D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed a wide range of issues at the first meeting of the District of Columbia’s Democratic Party meeting. Bowser (D) keynoted the Jan. 3 meeting of the D.C. Democratic State Committee that took place at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Northwest. The Democratic State Committee serves as the District’s official arm of the Democratic National Committee and its members are elected citywide and in the eight wards. The Democratic Party in the District has the highest percentage of registered Democrats in the U.S. As of Dec. 31, 2018, D.C. Board of Elections statistics revealed that 75.80 percent of all registered voters are Democrats leading strong Blue states such as Rhode Island or New Mexico in that category. District residents have voted in each presidential election since 1964 and the Democratic candidate has won the city overwhelmingly even when Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan nearly won every state in 1972 and 1984, respectively. Before the mayor spoke, D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) welcomed her fellow Democrats to the ward and delivered words of encouragement. Nadeau spoke about more people seeking political office and becoming activists, saying “we need a deeper bench” and “every single elected position counts” but lamented about the growing inequality of income in the city. “We see our city growing and prospering but not everyone is benefiting,” the councilmember said. Bowser talked about her efforts to have the District as the 51st state in the country and how she works with D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) on that front.
“In 2016, I thought that we would have a supporter of D.C. statehood in the White House and we would win back both houses,” she said. “None of that happened. When we had the chance to advance statehood during the Clinton and Obama administrations, we had a perfect storm, but we weren’t prepared. “Now we are. We have a Constitution, a map of the state of Washington, D.C., the think tank Appleseed is looking at another judicial strategy and we now have a corporate council that has business leaders interested in statehood.” The mayor focused then on what many District residents believe is the number one issue facing the city: affordable housing. “We have a thriving growing city and we need to make sure that it continues to be affordable,” Bowser said. She talked about the Housing Production Trust Fund-a special revenue fund administered by the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development and the Finance Division that provides gap financing for projects affordable to low- and moderate-income households-and its role in making the District more economically reasonable for people to live in. “The $50 million Housing Production Trust Fund is a specific tool to buy down the cost of affordable housing,” she said. “Our goal is to have 36,000 affordable units by the year 2025.” Bowser said she has the utmost confidence in her selection as Dr. Lewis Ferebee as the incoming chancellor of the D.C. public schools. “Dr. Ferebee understands that the most important thing he must do is closing gaps,” she said. “Close the achievement gap. The achievement gap closely follows the income gap.” Bowser inferred that wealthier neighborhoods have the best public schools in the District while lower
income areas have schools whose students are academically struggling. “Better paying jobs for parents helps us close the achievement gap,” the mayor said. “We are also focused on paying teachers better.” Bowser mentioned the importance of re-invigorating vocational training in the school system and expressed openness about having a community meeting on Ferebee. Many people articulated concerns about public safety, especially in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River. Bowser expressed her thoughts on the issue. “The crimes that are taking place are being perpetuated by a small group of people,” she said. “Many people who are perpetrating crime know each other. It is important for
people in the community to help the police fight crime.” However, Bowser made it clear that the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has “no place for corrupt police officers.” The pending situation of Providence Hospital in Northeast came up. Providence will be shuttered in April and Bowser said not much can be done to change that. “Providence is losing money,” she said. “The biggest challenge for the community is to stop the emergency room for closing immediately and we managed to do that.” The recent situation in which Ward 6 advisory neighborhood commissioner Denise Krepp being billed $5,000 for police camera footage of minors being frisked pro-
voked discussion. Bowser said she knows about the situation but not in-depth. “I am going to look into this,” the mayor said. “I do know that in that situation regarding Commissioner Krepp there is not just one camera but 10. There is a charge for redaction of the sound.” Bowser said this year there are plans for her to travel to Israel and Ethiopia on behalf of the District and in her journeys, she will make one thing clear. “There is a concern about D.C. withdrawing from the world stage and I will prove that isn’t the case,” she said. “I will prove that we are much more than the occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” WI
5 District of Columbia Democratic State Committee hosts an evening conversation with Mayor Muriel Bowser on January 3 at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Northwest. (Robert Roberts/The Washington Informer)
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 5 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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black facts
JAN 10 - 16, 2019 SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB
JAN. 3 1750 – James Varick, the first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, is born near Newburgh, New York. 1888 – A.B. Blackburn patents the railway signal. 1924 – Legendary jazz drummer Max Roach is born in Newland, North Carolina. 1938 – Baseball Hall of Famer Willie McCovey is born in Mobile, Alabama. 1957 – The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is founded in Atlanta.
JAN. 11 1971 – Mary J. Blige, “The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul,” is born in New York City. 1987 – Three scientists announce they have discovered evidence of a woman who lived in Africa 200,000 years ago and may be the mother of the human species.
JAN. 12 1910 – Famed U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves dies of Bright’s disease in Muskogee, Oklahoma, at 71. 1948 – Supreme Court rules that Blacks have the right to study law at state institutions.
JAN. 13
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1835 – Isaac Myers, pioneer of the African-American trade union movement, is born in Baltimore. 1869 – The Colored National Labor Union, the nation’s first Black labor union, is founded in Washington, D.C. 1873 – P.B.S. Pinchback ends service as Louisiana governor. 1913 – Sorority Delta Sigma Theta is founded at Howard University. 1953 – Don Barksdale becomes the first Black to play in the NBA All-Star Game. 1989 – Poet and literary critic Sterling A. Brown, D.C. native and longtime Howard University professor, dies in Tacoma Park, Maryland, at 87.
JAN. 14 1916 – Fiction writer John Oliver Killens is born in Macon, Georgia. 1940 – Famed civil rights leader Julian Bond is born in Nashville, Tennessee.
JAN. 15 1908 – Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black Greek-letter sorority, is founded at Howard University. 1929 – Iconic civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is born in Atlanta. 1998 – Civil rights activist James Farmer is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton.
JAN. 16
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1871 – Jefferson Long becomes the first African American from Georgia to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. 1920 – Sorority Zeta Phi Beta is founded at Howard University. 1941 – The War Department announces the creation of an allBlack fighter squadron to train at an airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama. 1967 – Lucius D. Amerson, the first Black sheriff in the South in the 20th century, is sworn in at Tuskegee, Alabama.
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The explosive new documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” described allegations made against the singer over decades about sexual misconduct with minors and running a sex cult. What are your thoughts? BLONDELL TONEY /
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Everybody in that whole camp needs to be charged. Even the backup dancers. They knew these girls was underage and nobody did nothing. Now they want to talk. And Sparkle is going to bring her 12-year-old niece around him, knowing what she had already heard about him!
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AROUND THE REGION The World According to Dominic BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR / WI EDITOR / @DKEVINMCNEIR
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The recent Lifetime documentary series, “Surviving R. Kelly, reportedly aimed at addressing the antics, abuses, exploits and escapades of the famed R&B singer/songwriter/producer R. Kelly, whether alleged or established as facts, has struck like an atomic bomb, dominating conversations in every barbershop, beauty parlor – even fueling chatter from preachers in the pulpits and radio talk show hosts – in Black neighborhoods from Maine to Miami and Alabama to Arizona. This time, however, we’ve been guaranteed to get the real scoop about the “Pied Piper of R&B” from a host of women, even a few brothers, now willing to emerge from their closets and the shadows to share their stories. Yes, with the #MeToo Movement still in full force, we’re seeing sisters who now want to substantiate long-held rumors about the legendary singer’s predilection for sexual and mental abuse, predatory behavior and his inclination for pedophilia in this tell-all TV show. As for me, I’ve been able to do little more than listen from the sidelines because I haven’t tuned
in to the show. That’s right, I haven’t viewed one episode – my explanation is simple. We’ve heard about R. Kelly’s bizarre behavior and lifestyle over and over again. We’re aware of some of the dastardly deeds he’s committed. We know he’s crossed the line more than a few times, breaking with established societal norms and doing things that should only be elements included within an entertaining piece of fiction. Still, we continue to praise his creative genius and the music he conceives. Still, we go to his concerts and buy his CDs. Still, we seem to ignore or overlook some of the baggage that has followed him or been essential fixtures for his modus operandi. Still, we invite him into our homes, snapping our fingers to his ditties, swaying via the Chicago hustle to his rhythms and keeping his bank accounts full. Here’s the question that I’ve been asking for decades which remains unanswered: Why are Black folks so willing to invite our cousins and kinfolk to the dinner table – uncles, cousins, aunts, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers – even preachers and
teachers – when we know, but refuse to admit, that among them are wolves ensconced in more palatable sheep’s clothing? Why do we hold our tongues and allow “Chester the Molester” to park his feet at the table, free to use one hand to grab some of Mom’s golden-fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, greens and cornbread while the other roams freely and without restraint under the table in pursuit of other “treats ripe for the taking?” Far too many Black families have allowed dysfunctional behavior and attitudes to go unchecked, maybe for no other reason than because we’re unwilling or afraid to face the demons. But with our silence, we’ve given a green light to those who have no qualms about stealing the innocence from the innocent. I’m not interested in viewing or discussing scenes from the lives of those who have survived R. Kelly. I’ve been busy maintaining my own safety, survival and sanity. Ignorance is not bliss, counter to the popular adage. Ignorance is nothing more than . . . ignorance. WI
JUSTICE from Page 1
RELEASE OF BODY CAM FOOTAGE
and trepidation among the town’s Black citizens. “We’ve heard about Trayvon Martin, we’ve heard about Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner and the list goes on and on,” Richard M. Potter, Jr., a former educator in Washington and leader of the Coalition said while standing in downtown Greensboro, a block from the police station. “Unfortunately, now we have a young man, Anton Black, to put on that list,” he said. “We have to ask how long are we going to continue to allow this injustice to happen? Now it’s happened at home for us here on the Shore.”
FAMILY WANTS 8 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
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Through tears, Jennell Black, Anton’s mother, recalled a violent struggle between her son and police from three different jurisdictions. “I kept asking was he under arrest,” Black said. “They kept telling me they were just trying to detain him.” According to Black, media reports and sources with eyewitness accounts or knowledge of the body cam footage attest to a sequence of events suggesting Anton had secured himself in a disabled vehicle precipitating Webster’s breaking a window and deploying his taser after which the teen became embroiled in a physical encounter with responding off-duty officers.
JUSTICE Page 45
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High School Journalist of the Year 5 DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council Chair Phil Mendelson take part in press conference at the Rayburn House Office Building where they talked about the city’s new effort to push for DC Statehood. (Hamil Harris/The Washington Informer)
By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is so upbeat about the District’s political fortunes now that her fellow Democrats are in charge of the House of Representatives that she has introduced legislation that would make the District of Columbia the 51st state in the union. Norton said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi supports the bill to make the D.C. the 51st state and there are 155 original co-sponsors of the legislation who include Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the new chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. “The biggest opportunity is the vote on statehood,” Norton told The Informer. “If you have support at the top for a vote on statehood, it seems to me that is the support you need. It is not just the committee chairman.” In a statement, Pelosi said, “For too long, the residents of the District of Columbia have served our nation in uniform, paid taxes and contributed to the economic power and success of our country while being denied the full enfranchisement that is their right. … H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C., Admission Act, is a critical step in righting this historic wrong.” Norton said Pelosi has been “one of the District’s greatest friends and allies in Congress,” and now that the Democrats have regained con-
trol of the House, she expects a vote on statehood and the restoration of political power in the House, which includes being able to vote on the House floor, “[Pelosi’s] resounding endorsement of H.R. 51 is the most important step yet in getting a House floor vote on the statehood bill,” Norton said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with the Speaker in our new Democratic House majority as we move H.R. 51 through the committee process and seek a House floor vote on it.” Norton sounded a more somber tone as she talked about the chances of the bill passing through the GOP-controlled U.S. Senate and being signed by President Trump. “After we get that vote, you’ll see me go on a second track,” she said. “Do I expect the Senate to give me a vote on statehood? Not hardly — that is why we have to fill out home rule.” For District residents, it is the best of times and the worst of times. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson joined Norton during a press conference at the Rayburn House Building last week, where both said the plight of District residents and local federal workers is most evident since Trump shut down the federal government. District officials have since had to pick up the tab for trash collection on federal park land and setting up a venue for people to obtain marriage licenses.
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“The courts issue marriage licenses and I have introduced emergency legislation to give the mayor to the authority to issue marriage licenses — I expect the council to vote on that this [this week],” Bowser said during the press conference. “We expect the Office of the Secretary will be the keeper of the licenses in the period of time the federal government is unable to do that. “Obviously I am annoyed by it, but I am proud that our government runs well enough and is balanced enough not to let our city become trash,” she said. “A bigger concern I have is [federal workers] not getting their paychecks. I don’t know about you, but I need my checks. I can’t pay my mortgage. I can’t go with a furlough a little bit but I start getting real anxiety when I think about how am I going to pay my bills. We have had furloughs before, but never in January.” Mendelson said that when it comes to democracy around the world, the U.S. gets failing grades for its treatment of D.C. “Why is the United States of America the only democracy on earth where its citizens do not have voting representation in its national legislature?” he said. “They overlook us. … We are one of the best-run jurisdictions in the country. We have to do gymnastics to obtain marriage license, we have to pick up trash on the [National Mall].” WI
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AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT
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ZORA NEALE HURSTON “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.”
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Born Jan. 7, 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama, Hurston was an influential author of African-American literature and anthropologist, who portrayed racial struggles in the early 20th century U.S. South, published research on Haitian voodoo and wrote about the Black experience and her struggles as an AfricanAmerican woman. Her novels went forgotten by the literary world for decades until interest was revived after author Alice Walker published “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston” in the March 1975 issue of Ms. Magazine. Hurston’s manuscript “Every Tongue Got to Confess” (2001), a collection of folktales gathered in the 1920s, was published posthumously after being discovered in the Smithsonian archives. Her nonfiction book “Barracoon” was published posthumously in 2018. She died Jan. 28, 1960 at 69, after suffering a stroke in Fort Pierce, Florida, relatively penniless.
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T.D. Jakes Remembers By Michael H. Cottman Urban News Service Bishop T.D. Jakes, who has visited Africa many times, proudly talks about his Nigerian roots after confirming, through a DNA test, that his ancestors were from Nigeria. “Going back there recently, I went into an area that was predominantly Ibo and it was kind of emotional to me,” Jakes said. “Because they made presentations to me – my house is decorated with a lot of African art – and they were telling me this is what your language sounds like.” Jakes said he has a vivid recollection of his great-grandmother who was once enslaved. He was just 10 years old but said he remembers listening to his great-grandmother talk about slavery and his family’s history “And I think of how so many people look at Africa and they talk about poverty but when I looked at it, I thought they are so rich in ways that we are poor.”
Jakes said. “They know who they are, they know whose they are, they know where they came from, they proudly understand their languages, and in that way, we are very poor and so there needs to be a greater exchange between us as people because for me it was like regaining a part of myself that was lost.” Jakes served as the honorary cochair of a new traveling exhibit, “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty,” which will run recently at Dallas’ African American Museum and premiered at Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The exhibit showcases more than 300 artifacts. Jakes reflected on the artifacts, which conjured images of enslaved Africans aboard slave ships heading from West Africa to the Americas. “All of the people who got on the boat were not the same people, but they had to unify in order to survive under stress.” Jakes said. “It’s an amazing story when you
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AROUND THE REGION think about it. They didn’t even speak any other’s language so well that was a certain amount of distrust under the planks of the ship there was a huge enemy above and so in that sandwich dimension of history we survive nonetheless.” “We learn how to communicate with each other,” Jakes said. “We learned how to become a people. We struggle with what to call ourselves – ‘darkies’ and ‘col-
oreds’ and ‘niggers’ and negroes’ and all of these names that were thrust upon us is a reflection of trying to identify who am I,” Jakes added. Dallas is the first city to host the exhibit that will feature additional objects that have never left Monticello. Other stops for the exhibit include Detroit, Richmond and the West Coast in 2019. “I think that no matter what
the color of the people are anytime we allow one group of people to have that much power, abuse perpetuates itself,” Jakes said, “whether you are talking about some of the atrocities that have happened in the history of the Jews or whether you’re talking about the apartheid in South Africa, or whether you’re talking about slavery and Jim Crow in America.” WI
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 11 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Democrats Enthusiastic About Upcoming Legislative Year By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill ANNAPOLIS — One day before the Maryland General Assembly reconvenes, the state’s Democratic Party held its 20th annual legislative luncheon Tuesday to tout how the party reflects the community. With about 60 new members and a record 72 of the 188 state lawmakers being women, party leaders enthusiastically proclaimed the party’s diversity. “I think there’s going to be a lot of electricity among our vet-
erans and our new members,” said Delegate Jazz Lewis, 29, (D-District 24) of Glenarden, who’s now vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “We have more women. We have more folks of color [and] more young people. The ideas brought forth by that is going to make us better.” The luncheon came amid an ongoing government shutdown affecting roughly 800,000 federal employees nationwide — 420,000 working without pay and 320,000 furloughed. An estimated 23,000 of those workers reside in Maryland,
5 Rep. Adam Schiff (left) greets Rep. Elijah Cummings at the Maryland Democratic Party’s 20th annual legislative luncheon in Annapolis on Jan. 8. (Photo by Brigette White/WashingtonInformer)
which Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) said feels the brunt of the shutdown because of the state’s proximity to D.C. Schiff presented the keynote address and said the country “is in a very precarious moment,” especially while President Donald Trump hounds Congress to approve funding that includes nearly $6 billion to construct a wall along the Mexican border. The House already approved
legislation to reopen the government, but without money for a wall. The Senate reconvenes Tuesday afternoon, but need Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) to initiate discussion for a vote on several bills. Schiff, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee and pledged to expand an investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential
election, said the country also received internal harm from elected officials. “The damage that Russia did to our democracy was nothing compared to the damage that our own president and his administration did to our Congress,” said Schiff, one of the most outspoken critics of Trump. “Under an ordinary
DEMOCRATS Page 13
Speed Camera Legislation Part of Prince George’s State Agenda
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Prince George’s County will push its annual legislative agenda in the state capitol as the Maryland General Assembly reconvenes Wednesday, Jan. 9. Compared to last year’s 40 pieces of legislation, the county’s House Delegation outlined 26 proposed bills with a hot-button topic being the 21-mile Indian Head Highway, also known as Route 210, which is considered one of the region’s most dangerous roadways. In the prior 90-day session in Annapolis, Delegate Kris Valderrama (D-District 26) of Fort Washington led an effort where lawmakers approved a southbound camera at Route 210 and Old Fort Road near the Livingston Square shopping center in Fort Washington. Valderrama plans to present legislation this year for a roving camera at various locations and adding more speed cameras along Route 210. According to the bill, “unless the driver of the motor vehicle received a citation from a police officer,” a speed infraction caught on camera would not exceed $40.
12 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
“When people hear ‘speed cameras,’ they hear ‘money generator,’” she said. “The first thing I said to my colleagues, ‘If it’s a money generator, then so be it. Slow down.’ The whole point of this is to save lives.” According to last year’s legislation, 58 people died in 47 crashes on Indian Head Highway between 2007 and 2017. County police statistics showed that between 2016-18, police conducted 15,600 traffic stops and investigated 1,019 traffic accidents along the highway. Police Chief Hank Stawinksi said at a Jan. 4 press conference that the department issued more than 10,000 citations and 70 arrests on the highway last year. He said initiatives such as targeting aggressive and distracted driving, excessive speeding and DWI enforcement with checkpoints and roving patrols led to those numbers. The call to enhance traffic enforcement and improve driver safety amplified after three children were killed Dec. 30 when a suspected drunk driver rear-ended their parents’ vehicle along Route 210. The crash occurred near the intersection of Route 210 and Kirby Hill and Livingston roads, where construction continues to build a $116
million interchange to relax traffic congestion near the MGM National Harbor casino resort. “This county executive [Angela Alsobrooks] has made it clear to me that we’ll continue this trend,” Stawinski said. “In 2019, you will see more traffic stops. You’ll see more citations. I ask that we all pause. We all examine our driving behavior … throughout Prince George’s County.” Although Route 210 is labeled a state highway, county police patrol it. County Councilman Monique Anderson Walker (D-District 8) of Fort Washington suggested state troopers help patrol the highway that stretches near the D.C. border into neighboring Charles County. That’s why newly elected state Sen. Obie Patterson (D-District 26) of Fort Washington said the state must provide more resources to the county. “[Route] 210 is a state highway, which simply means we need state government to step up to the plate and provide resources down here to help us,” he said. “210 is a crisis and we need help.” Other proposed county bills for the state legislature include: • Create an Office of Account-
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ability and Compliance in the county public school system. • Ensure the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission implements a nondiscrimination provision in contracts. • Property tax credit of up to $2,500 for “eligible” county public school teachers. One piece of proposed legislation not listed deals with shared parenting, which allows divorced parents to raise their children equally when not living together. Newly-elected Delegate Nick Charles (D-District 25) of Forestville will work on legislation so Maryland mirrors neighboring jurisdictions. In the District, there’s a presumption that joint custody works best for children except in cases of abuse or neglect. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed a bill in May that requires courts to assess both sole and joint custody in divorce proceedings. “It makes more sense we should be following the same line,” Charles, 36, said. “The court system creates a wedge with every other week parental visits. I want [parenting] to be 50-50.” WI
5 Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski addresses members of the media at a press conference in Oxon Hill, MD on January 4, 2019. (Michael A. McCoy/The Washington Informer)
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Prince George’s Co. Kicks Off Annual Youth Work Program WI Staff Report Since former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III revamped the county’s summer youth work program in 2012, more than 16,000 youths have gained employment, with gross wages at $9.3 million. According to the 2018 annual report, the county’s Youth@Work/ Summer Youth Enrichment Program (SYEP) enjoyed its highest numbers ever, with 3,300 teens obtaining employment at more than 100 public and private sector businesses. Program managers, coordinators and volunteers hope to increase those figures for this year’s program. “You’re starting your journey for employment,” County Council Chairman Todd Turner (D-District 4) told a roomful of youth and parents in attendance at the SYEP’s Jan. 5 kickoff event at Prince George’s Community College in Largo. “It’s one of those experiences you will remember for a lifetime.” Before the youth ages 15 to 19 can begin working this summer, they must attend and complete job readiness training that begins this month with classes offered from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at various high schools in the county. The estimated student-teacher ratio is 18 to 1. This year’s program will also provide sessions from noon to 4 p.m. The six-week summer employment begins June 24 until Aug. 2.
Those ages 15-17 earn $8.90 an hour and others age 18 and 19 receive $11.50 an hour for jobs in various fields such as technology, health care and agriculture. Some of the participating employers are Six Flags, Pepco and the county’s parks and recreation department. Parents received reminders the program assists their children to transition into adulthood, so students are responsible to call or email with questions about the program. Advice for parents listed on the Youth@Work site through the community includes: • Ensure their children attend all the face-to-face and online sessions. • Ensure they arrive at a session 15 minutes early.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY • Ensure they understand and appreciate the program’s value for their future. Cecilia Knox, who works at the community college and provides training sessions for students, said federal law doesn’t allow for instructors to discuss a student’s progress in the program. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows student privacy on academic records “when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level.” Some of the coursework will be graded, Knox said. In addition, career-development, life-skills and job-training opportunities are sponsored by the college. In regards to certain careers, Knox offered a straightforward suggestion. “Do not steer the young people — let them choose,” she said. “I tend to say what’s truthful.” WI
5 Cecilia Knox, who works at Prince George’s Community College, explains part of the Summer Youth Enrichment Program during a kickoff event at the college in Largo on Jan. 5. (Robert Roberts/WashingtonInformer)
DEMOCRATS from Page 12
administration, [it] would be the champion of democracy and would be pushing back against authoritarianism of democracy, but that is not at all what has happened.” He also praised Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), the new chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that plans to push certain mandates on the Trump administration, as a powerful ally, friend and orator. “I view Elijah as one of two moral leaders in the House along with [Rep.] John Lewis,” he said. “He has the kind of voice where if you read the back of a cereal box he could make it sound like Shakespeare.” The same day Democrats held its luncheon, Gonzales Research & Media Services of Arnold, Maryland, released a poll that shows only 34 percent of voters approve “of the job Trump is doing as president.” About 73 percent of Black voters support the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives to begin an impeachment process to remove Trump from office.
However, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s support continues to rise at 77 percent, including 71 percent among Black voters. In addition, 67 percent of voters say things in Maryland are “moving in the right direction.” “[Hogan’s] particularly impressive standing with state voters continues as he heads into his fifth legislative session as Maryland’s executive,” according to the poll from Patrick Gonzales, whose company conducted the poll between Dec. 28 and Jan. 4 among 809 registered voters. The poll has a margin of error of plus/minus 3.5 percentage points. Meanwhile, the state’s Democrat Party chairwoman, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, said after the luncheon some of the ideas Hogan has touted came from Democratic proposals. “In this legislative season, we think Governor Hogan is going to continue his ropea-dope tactics … usurping ideas off the Democrats,” said, Cummings, wife of Elijah Cummings. “We certainly want to put him on notice that we’re watching.” WI
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All are welcome: Rev. Charles W. McNeilll, Jr. President Rev. Charles W. Dockett, General Secretary
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 13 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
BUSINESS New Market to Bring Fresh Foods to Ward 8
By D.R. Barnes WI Contributing Writer
Mayor Muriel Bowser joined leaders and residents of the Bellevue community for the groundbreaking of a new fresh food market and affordable housing development in Ward 8. The Good Food Markets, scheduled to open in late October, will be the tenant in a 225,000 square-foot development that in-
cludes 195 units of affordable housing and 5,500 square-feet of community commercial space The development, located at South Capitol and Atlantic Streets, S.W., was made possible by an $880,000 grant provided by the Neighborhood Prosperity Fund, an initiative launched by Mayor Bowser, to the South Capitol Improvement LLC. “I’m excited that my second term
as Mayor of Washington, DC is getting started the right way: by breaking ground on a much-needed new grocery store in Ward 8, increasing access to healthy food options east of the river and creating jobs for local residents,” said Mayor Bowser. “This project represents what we’re going to be focused on over these next four years – tackling the day-to-day challenges that residents face and, in doing so, improving the quality of life for more Washingtonians while continuing to plan for our future and the growth of our city.” ANC 8D Commissioner Olivia Henderson, along with her ANC co-commissioners, worked with developers for two years to define the various aspects of the development, including a workspace for the ANC and the community. She called the groundbreaking a “wonderful day” because the development guarantees to serve the housing and employment needs of Ward 8 residents. Good Food Markets, a mission-driven grocery redefining what is possible in food deserts, opened its first store on Rhode Island Avenue, N.E. in Ward 5. Their experienced
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14 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
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5 Construction begins for new market in Ward 8. (WI photo)
retail team creates a full-service grocery selection in a fraction of the space, while also paying a living wage and offering educational opportunities in the community. “What they’re doing there on Rhode lsland Avenue is nothing short of a miracle,” said Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyon McDuffie, who praised the developers for ensuring local certified business enterprises (CBEs) were included on the construction project. He also praised Good Food Markets for providing job opportunities to local residents. “They hire from the community where they’re located,” said McDuffie. Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, who grew up just blocks from the Good Foods Market, said he remembered when a strip of stores was located there including a Murray’s Steaks, Snyder’s and a liquor store all down to make way for the development. “This project, said White, will prove 100 percent affordable housing units including units for the most low-income resident and 20 units for the homeless. “This is the kind of project we like to see here and all across this city, and it is a quality construction project,” he added. The Neighborhood Prosperity
Fund, administered by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), supports mixed-use, real estate, or retail development projects in targeted census tracts where unemployment is at 10 percent or higher. The grants provide necessary gap funding for the commercial component of development projects and will help create job opportunities and new food options in Wards 7 and 8. “We remain thoughtful in our efforts to drive economic growth in our underserved communities by investing in development that will create jobs and affordable housing for DC residents,” said Deputy Mayor Brian Kenner. “The Neighborhood Prosperity Fund is another tool to help us ensure we continue to provide our residents with the amenities they deserve.” South Capitol Improvements LLC is a joint venture between CityInterests and Michaels Development Company. The project is the final development in an overall master plan that also includes a primary care clinic, an office building leased to the DC Department of Human Services, and a 172-space parking garage. WI
Ward 8 Democrats and Ward 7 Democrats Meeting The Ward 8 Democrats and the Ward 7 Democrats will host a joint meeting at the United Medical Center, Saturday, January 19th from 12 pm – 2:00 pm to discuss access to health and hospital services in the area. All are welcome. WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
Many States to See Minimum Wage Increases D.C. Leads the Nation By Sarafina Wright WI Contributing Writer Nearly half of the U.S. population is expected to see an increase in statewide minimum wages in 2019, according to payroll experts at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. A total of 22 states and the District of Columbia will raise the minimum wage in 2019, with 19 of those states already implementing increases on Jan. 1. “While it isn’t unusual for there to be minimum wage rate increases in January, there is a growing trend to increase wages in response to calls for making sure the minimum wage is a living wage,” said Barbara O’Dell, Wolters Kluwer employment law analyst. “The incremental wage increases, including in California and Washington, which are moving minimum wages toward a fi-
nal goal of $15 per hour, are an example of how states are trying to address this issue.” Experts say the increases indicate a move toward ensuring a living wage for citizens across several states. D.C. currently has the highest minimum wage at $13.25 per hour, followed by Massachusetts and Washington each at $12 per hour, the report says. The District’s minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $14 on July 1. Under the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2016, the minimum wage will reach $15 per hour by 2020. Wages for tipped workers will also increase, eventually reaching $5 per hour by 2020. Starting in 2021 both wage rates will be adjusted based on inflation, the Wolters report said. A few states’ wages remain on the lower end of the spectrum, with some state minimums coming in
New Affordable Housing Opportunity in the Navy Yard, Washington D.C.
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below the federal wage rate, and others with a slower incremental increase. “The lowest minimum wage rates are at $5.15 and they are in Georgia and Wyoming,” O’Dell said. “However, most employers and employees would be subject to the higher federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 per hour. In Michigan, although the wage is technically rising in 2019, the state recently passed legislation to slow the incremental increase over the next decade.” WI
BUSINESS
(Courtesy photo)
Millennials Estate Planning is for you too! Aimee D. Griffin, Esq., As Estate Planning Attorneys in the Washington DC metropolitan area I will share our experience. The clients that we have that are under the age of 50 are not typically members of the Black community. It could be that Black people under 50 are going to other attorneys to discuss legacy building. Yet, I will never forget the 90 year old woman who told me that she wanted to wait before completing her estate plan. (Her daughter successfully encouraged her to do otherwise.) Millennials have an extra advantage in planning. As in retirement planning, the longer the planning time, the greater the possibilities in building and developing. Strategic Estate Planning is the creation, protection and transfer of wealth. The approach we are taking is wholistic financial planning. Too often I hear millennials say that they don’t have enough assets to create an estate plan. The truth is as soon as we become the age of adulthood there is a need for protection and when we are first enter adulthood there is a need for support. The privacy laws attach at the age of majority(18). These laws create a challenge for parents to help in more than a distant advisory role. In many cases, as young adults we run to the opportunity to become an adult. Yet, each of us should anticipate what supports we would like to have if we were to need it. As we embrace the global economy and many people move away from the initial support system for work or love or wanderlust we should be thoughtful. We must be thoughtful about who we would want to support us if there was a need and create the mechanisms that allow for limit that support. The benefit of appointing someone to act on our behalf for business/financial or health decisions is empowering. The proactive action is positioning for managing any occurrence. It enables the actor to choose in a way that dictates his or her support. It is empowering to determine who can support you in any vulnerable state that may develop. It is empowering to determine the support that you would like to receive or what you would reject. Not making any statement allows those who are appointed to help you the opportunity to determine that involvement. Stephen Covey, author of the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, proclaimed that we should begin with the end in mind. Although I am talking about estate planning, I am not speaking about the ultimate end but the lifestyle end. To what end are you willing to build? What did you go to school for? Youth creates an amazing planning opportunity for the life we want to live. The Griffin Firm has adopted the PBoD© approach to estate planning. We work with other financial professionals to create a synergistic team that provides comprehensive long-term counsel for the client to build diverse income sources that can grow over time while simultaneously building structures that protect your values and your assets. Time gives the great opportunity to start to build the legacy that will be yours. The legacy that we build is greatest when we have the greatest time frame to build and implement the plan. Collaborating with subject matter experts gives you the opportunity to build a great plan. The Bible says (Proverbs 15:22) Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. Take the opportunity to build the plan that will create the legacy of your life. Aimee D. Griffin, Esq., The Griffin Firm, PLLC www.yourestateplanningattorney.com / 202)379-4738 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 440 Washington DC 20015 1401 Mercantile Lane Suite 383 Upper Marlboro MD 20774 100 International Drive 23rd Floor Baltimore MD 21202 1100 Peachtree ST NE Suite 200 Atlanta GA 30309 2530 Meridian Parkway Suite 300 Durham NC 27713
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 15 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
NATIONAL Local Activists Organize Against Sudan Government By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins In what Sudanese refugees have called a revolution, people in their home country have taken to the streets with the goal of ousting President Omar al-Bashir, a man once indicted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly murdering masses of people in Darfur. As the conflict in Sudan, based in Northeastern Africa, enters its fourth week, Sudanese groups in the District have called on the U.S. government and international community to stand in solidarity with protesters and condemn al-Bashir, who they said has ordered the killing of dissidents since Dec. 19. “This is a dictatorship backed by the Muslim Brotherhood groups in Sudan and the Middle East,” said Niemat Ahmadi, a Sudanese human rights activist and founder of the Darfur Women’s Action Group. “They started killing the indigenous Africans in Darfur for who they are. They commit genocide, war crimes, and those against humanity.”
On Monday, Ahmadi and members of the Darfur Women’s Action Group, along with other Sudanese people living in the United States, gathered in front of the Sudanese Embassy and visited lawmakers on Capitol Hill on behalf of the Sudanese people. These events followed a rally in front of the White House on Dec. 28 that attracted more than 500 protesters, many of whom lost friends and family members in the struggle. Ahmadi, a D.C. resident of 11 years, hastily left Sudan after speaking out against al-Bashir, who, since coming into power during a 1989 military coup, has been re-elected three times in political contests mired in charges of corruption. Since 2009, when she founded the Darfur Women’s Action Network, Ahmadi has rallied Sudanese women and civil societies across the diaspora, many of whom have railed against al-Bashir’s government for committing genocide in Darfur and other human rights abuses. “President al-Bashir has been indicted because of those human rights violations,” Ahmadi continued, saying that the U.S. govern-
ment had a moral obligation to stand by the Sudanese people and lead the United Nations Security Council in stabilizing that region. The Darfur Women’s Action Group has recently pivoted its attention to the Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP, Black churches and other groups that have spoken against police brutality and other facets of the African-American experience, hoping that they will help the Sudanese people. “The Sudanese government has done everything to destroy the people and the country, and now the suffering has come into every household,” Ahmadi added. “The people came out and protested on the ground everywhere across the region demanding the government steps down and goes away.” On Christmas Day, to the chagrin of Sudanese refugees organizing in D.C., the United States, Britain, Norway and Canada issued a joint statement urging all violence to stop. Though leaders of those countries acknowledged reports that Sudanese government forces used ammunition against protesters, some Sudanese activists said they didn’t go far enough in condemning al-Bashir as the sole agitator. Since the conflict started, government forces in Sudan have reportedly cracked down on journalists, teachers, doctors, engineers and other opposition forces. Last week, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi offered Sudan his support, linking Sudan’s security to that of his country. Days later, without warning, al-Bashir replaced Minister of Health Mohamed Abu Zaid Mustafa in response to public fervor over rising prescription drug costs and drug shortages. Sudanese authorities and human rights group Amnesty Internation-
MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE DAY ACADEMY PCS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy Public Charter School (MMBDA) is seeking bids from prospective vendors to provide; STUDENT TRAVEL: MMBDA seeks a qualified vendor to provide educational trip packages to Costa Rica for approximately 24 students and 6 adult chaperones for 6 days and 5 nights in the second week of June, 2019. Pricing should be inclusive of all air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodations, educational experiences, and at least two meals per day. Please email rates, itineraries, and proposals to purchasing@mmbethune.org Proposals are due no later than 5:00 pm, January 18, 2019. Questions can be addressed to: purchasing@ mmbethune.org NOTICE OF INTENT TO ENTER SOLE SOURCE CONTRACT MMBDA intends to enter into a sole source contract with The Achievement Network (“ANet”) for student assessment and professional development services to help identify and close gaps in student learning for the upcoming school year. The annual cost of these contracts will be approximately $27,000. The decision to sole source is due to the fact that the vendor is the publisher and holds the copyrights to the materials and training. The contract term shall be automatically renewed for the same period unless either party, 60 days before expiration, gives notice to the other of its desire to end the agreement. For further information regarding this notice contact purchasing@mmbethune.org no later than 5:00 pm, January 18, 2019.
16 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
al differ on the number of people killed since Dec. 23, when the protests took a violent turn; the former estimates less than 20 dead while the latter gave an estimate of nearly 40. For some Sudanese immigrants in the District, including Amal Nourelhuda, the ongoing conflict between al-Bashir’s government and protesters represents the apex of a struggle they have endured for decades, in their home country and several miles away. As the calamity unfolds in Sudan, Nourelhuda keeps in contact with friends and family and sings to keep
her mind off of the circumstances that forced her to leave in 2015. “I miss home every day. I had a complete life; I didn’t want to leave,” said Nourelhuda, a singer also known as Amal Elbour. “The Sudanese people were so patient and tolerant as the government forced millions out of the country,” she added. “Now with what’s happening, people can’t survive. Even women and children know they’re going to die. al-Bashir insists on killing without remorse, all because protesters are peacefully asking for freedom and justice.” WI
In what Sudanese refugees have called a
revolution, people in their home country
have taken to the streets with the goal of ousting President Omar al-Bashir, a man
once indicted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly murdering masses of people in Darfur.
Trump Signs Ashanti Alert Into Law Nationwide System for Missing Adults
By Sarafina Wright WI Contributing Writer In the final days of 2018, President Donald Trump signed into law the Ashanti Alert Act, a nationwide alert system for vulnerable missing adults between the ages of 18-64. Ashanti Billie, the alert’s namesake, was 19 when she was abducted in September 2017 from the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek in Norfolk, Va. Her body was found behind a church in Charlotte, N.C., 11 days after she was reported missing. The Ashanti Alert will help find missing adults who are too old for an Amber Alert, the nation’s child abduction system and too young for a Silver Alert, which is for missing seniors. “The Ashanti Alert will be a beacon of hope for those that have a loved one deemed as missing under questionable circumstances,” said Brandy Billie, Ashanti’s mother. “Our dream is to bring as many as possible of those missing back home safely.” The federal system will enable police to notify radio and TV stations, and activate road and highway electronic sign boards for critically missing adults. Navy veteran Eric Brian Brown, 46, was arrested in 2017 for the mur-
5 Ashanti Billie (Courtesy photo)
der of Billie. As of December, the U.S. attorney for Virginia’s eastern district said the death penalty is in play, but Brown, a schizophrenic, is not competent to stand trial. Billie, a Prince George’s County native, was the inspiration behind Virginia’s Critically Missing Adult Alert Program, or the Ashanti Alert, established criteria for statewide officials for alerting the public on missing adults who are in imminent danger. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a primary sponsor of the Ashanti Alert Act, said the young woman fell through the cracks of the system, WTOP reported. “Despite the tragic loss of Ashanti Billie, with the love and support of Meltony and Brandy Billie, along with the Hampton Roads community, the Ashanti Alert Act is now law of the land,” Warner said. “In this new year, it is my hope that this important law enforcement tool can help save countless lives.” WI
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The Washington Gas Team – Serving our Customers and our Community Washington Gas has been a vital part of the Washington, D.C. community and economy for more than 170 years. In 1848, we were chartered by Congress to light the Capitol and White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue. Today our role as an energy provider, our commitment to the community, and the number and types of customers served have grown. Terry Fauntleroy has been with Washington Gas for over 30 years and witnessed this growth and numerous positive changes during his career. Fauntleroy started as a Helper and now serves a Construction Projects supervisor, “When I first started, we didn’t have all of the Personal Protective Equipment that we have now. Safety has always been a priority, but it’s clear that it has become a true focal point for us now more than ever.” Safety remains Washington Gas’ number one priority. The company continues to improve and invest in our workforce and the safety and reliability of the system, meeting or exceeding industry standards. In addition, Washington Gas responds immediately to reports of natural gas odor calls and conducts
necessary repairs around the clock, seven days a week. Fauntleroy remembers his early days working in the City for a contractor before joining the Washington Gas team, “I used to hear the Washington Gas guys talk about paid time off, retirement and other benefits and said to myself, ‘Those guys have real jobs,’” he stated. “I started working here on Oct. 17, 1988. I was young, but had an eye on the future. It was a good move. I met a lot of good people, learned a lot of new things and I haven’t really had a bad day here.” Fauntleroy continued, “I like what I do. I’m especially proud that I’ve been able to train others and pass on what I know. Teaching others how to do their jobs has made my job easier. When we go out to an assignment, everyone knows their part and how it works with everyone else’s. Those of us with the experience and knowledge have to pass it on in order for the company to keep growing and improving.” “One culture shift that has inspired me, especially in the last 10-15 years, is the opportunity that Washington Gas provides employees to move up the ladder and advance their career,” said Fauntleroy. “What I found is, if you make up your mind and decide you want to do something, well, Washington Gas gives you the opportunity to do it. A lot of people have grown as a result. The doors are now wide open, the lights are on to pursue opportunities within the organization.” “I find it rewarding to lead training
classes for fellow employees that cover some of the fundamentals of successfully maintaining pipeline so our team can get a first-hand understanding of best practices and the latest techniques to ensure high quality,” Fauntleroy added. As for other benefits he’s enjoyed from his extensive time with Washington Gas, “Personally, Washington Gas
has enabled me to do lot of different things,” he said. “I’ve been able to send my son to college at Howard University and my daughter to business school at Braxton in Richmond. Our company has a lot of things going on and offers a lot of opportunities.” As Washington Gas has continued to provide safe and reliable natural gas service over the years, our cus-
tomer base has grown from just serving Washington D.C. in 1848 to 500,000 customers in 1969 to over 1.1 million customers in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia today. Dedicated employees like Terry Fauntleroy make it possible to deliver safe, reliable and efficient natural gas service to customers every day.
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 17 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
INTERNATIONAL
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AFRICA NOW AND CARIBBEAN NOW ARE COMPILED BY OSWALD T. BROWN
Wary Unions OK New Minimum Wage
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At Home In the Car On a Walk On Vacation At the Park Shopping
The enactment of South Africa’s National Minimum Wage Bill has been welcomed by workers and trade unions, but skeptical economists have questioned the timing. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last week that millions would be eligible to earn a minimum of R20 an hour, or R3500 (approximately $252) a month, the local Cape Times newspaper reported. The bill was signed Nov. 23 and went into effect Jan. 1. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said the move offers a solid foundation for workers. “This is part of addressing issues of economic growth with regard to income distribution and unemployment,” said COSATU spokesman Sizwe Pamla. “We don’t understand why it is important to have an economy where workers produce goods and can’t afford them.” The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) said the announcement came at a time when workers were struggling to make ends meet. “We are happy that our people will never be exploited,” said FEDUSA spokesman Dennis George. “At least this will force every employer to pay that required R20 an hour. “To be honest, there’s never been a right time to introduce this bill because there will always be people criticizing it, despite the current economic conditions,” he said. We are happy that about 6.2 million people will benefit from this bill.” However, economist Chris Hart was not convinced about the announcement’s timing, saying it was a strategy for the African National Congress to score votes in the May elections. “I don’t have a problem with the minimum wage if we have policies to end poverty,” Hart said. “The problem is, we need to create more jobs at the moment. The unemployment rate is the biggest issue.” Meanwhile, the lowest-paid workers, such as petrol attendants and domestic workers, said it provided much-needed relief. “At least R20 per hour will make a difference because I was not surviving with the money I am earning,” said a 33-year-old petrol attendant, who did not want to be named. “I was struggling to pay rent and look after my children.” Matlakala Tabile, a 50-year-old domestic worker and mother of three, said she barely made ends meet with the little she made. “It’s even hard to buy food,” she said. “I think this will make a difference.”
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The Opposition United National Congress (UNC) is giving itself a major makeover for the 2020 general elections. With more than a year before the next general elections are due, political parties have already begun their candidate selection process, the Sunday Express reported. Sources told the Express that Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, on the advice of caucus members, is changing the faces for seats now held by Ganga Singh, Bhoe Tewarie, Ramona Ramdial, Surujrattan Rambachan, Rushton Paray, Christine Newallo-Hosein, Rodney Charles and Fuad Khan. Their seats are being allocated to other party members.
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18 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
Guyana High Court to Hear Challenge to No-Confidence Vote
The Guyana government’s challenge of a no-confidence motion against it will be filed in the nation’s high court sometime this week, according to Attorney General Basil Williams. Williams said that Jan. 15 has been fixed to hear the case concerning the validity of former parliament member Charrandass Persaud’s vote given his Canadian citizenship, the Stabroek News reported. Persaud voted in favor of the no-confidence motion, which passed 33-32 last month. The attorney general said the government will also argue that 34 votes, not 33, constitute the majority required for the motion to pass.
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OUR OPEN LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY Building a Stronger Whitman-Walker for 2019 and Beyond We thank you for your support of Whitman-Walker’s mission of caring for the community. It is an honor to serve the metro Washington region. In 2019 and beyond, we will work to realize our vision of a society where all persons are seen for who they are, treated with dignity and respect, and afforded equal opportunity to health and wellbeing. We will endeavor to empower everyone to live healthy, love openly, and achieve equality and inclusion. To realize this vision, we will aim even higher in how we care for you. We will operate Whitman-Walker as a community-centered enterprise committed to advancing social justice and equality through health. We will expand our commitment to culturally affirming primary care and behavioral health services by way of Whitman-Walker Health—the nonprofit organization now in its 41st year. We will place greater emphasis on advocacy, education and research through a newly created Whitman-Walker Institute. We will grow our core base of philanthropic support with a newly established Whitman-Walker Foundation. We will pursue long-term sustainability through innovative partnerships and collaborations via the Whitman-Walker Health System. These efforts will reinforce what is core to who we are – providing care and compassion at Whitman-Walker, whether it is at 1525 14th Street NW, Max Robinson Center, Youth Services at Eastern Market, or the soon to be re-opened Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center. This year we will advance our plans for a major expansion east of the Anacostia River. It is the single biggest priority for the community we serve and will house expanded youth programming, primary and urgent care and behavioral health services for thousands of people living east of the Anacostia River. To fulfill this dream we will need the entire community to support our philanthropic efforts to raise a minimum of $5 million in 2019. We will realize this goal because you — our community— will once again rise in support of Whitman-Walker. Lastly, to achieve thoughtful management of our community-centered enterprise, our Board of Directors will adopt a shared leadership model in 2019. The model is based on a two-person team who work closely together to ensure that the different nonprofit entities advance our mission of caring. The two individuals who will serve on this team are well known in the community, and have worked together at Whitman-Walker Health for the past decade. Today we are excited to announce that Naseema Shafi, Whitman-Walker Health’s current Deputy Executive Director, will serve as its next CEO and that Don Blanchon, Whitman-Walker Health’s current CEO, will serve as the founding CEO of the Whitman-Walker Health System. We invite you to join us on this most important journey to advance social justice and equality through health. It is a journey worthy of our collective best efforts in this new year and beyond.
whitman-walker.org | 202.745.7000 Copyright © 2019 Whitman-Walker Health
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 19 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
HEALTH ‘Deep Fakes’ Pose Frightening New Internet Threat By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia It’s as frightening as anything imaginable. Fake pornography videos are the new craze, one in which celebrities and everyday folk are potential targets. So-called “deep fake” creators reportedly are making disturbing realistic, computer-generated videos with photos taken from the web, and turning them into nightmares for victims. In one case reported in Sydney, Australia, a video showed a woman
in a pink off-the-shoulder top, sitting on a bed, smiling a convincing smile. It was her face. But, as the Sydney Morning Herald reported, it had been seamlessly grafted, without her knowledge or consent, onto someone else’s body — a young pornography actress just beginning to disrobe for a graphic sex scene. Like countless other incidents, a crowd of unknown users had been passing it around online. The woman said she felt nauseous and mortified: What if her co-workers saw it? Her family, her friends? Would it change how they thought of her? Would they believe it was a
fake? “I feel violated — this icky kind of violation,” said the woman, who is in her 40s and spoke on the condition of anonymity because she worried that the video could hurt her marriage or career. “It’s this weird feeling, like you want to tear everything off the internet. But you know you can’t,” she told the newspaper. As the daily newspaper noted, airbrushing and Photoshop long ago opened photos to easy manipulation. Now, videos are becoming just as vulnerable to fakes that look deceptively real. Supercharged by powerful and widely available artificial-intelligence software developed by Google, these lifelike “deep fake” videos have quickly multiplied across the internet, blurring the line between truth and lie. In the District, strict laws are in place to dissuade such practices, which count as a felonies that carry a fine and up to three years in prison. “MPD has not received any reports regarding these specific activities,” said MPD spokeswoman Alaina Gertz, adding that residents who might be victimized in such a manner should immediately file a police report. Of course, victims of deep-fake pornography include some of Hollywood’s biggest names.
5 Researchers at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., are working to combat “deep fakes.” (Photo Courtesy of Techcrunch.com)
In a published interview this week, actress Scarlett Johansson talked of being a victim, noting that there isn’t much she and her team can do about it. “I think it’s a useless pursuit, legally, mostly because the internet is a vast wormhole of darkness that eats itself,” said Johansson, Hollywood’s highest-paid actress. In 2012, a hacker received a 10year prison sentence after leaking nude photos of Johansson and other celebrities. “Every country has their own legalese regarding the right to your own image, so while you may be able to take down sites in the U.S. that are using your face, the same rules might not apply in Germany,” she said. “Even if you copyright pictures with your image that belong to you, the same copyright laws don’t apply overseas. I have sadly been down this road many, many times.” From California to D.C., researchers are hard at work trying to figure out ways to detect such fakery. That, according to the San Jose Mercury News, includes SRI International in Menlo Park. Manipulating videos used to be the stuff of movies, done by Disney, Pixar and others, said Bob Bolles, program director at the AI center’s perception program at SRI. “Now face-swap apps are getting better and better,” Bolles told the Mercury News. Recently, he showed the news-
paper how he and his team are trying to detect when video has been tampered with. The team looks for inconsistencies between video and the audio track — for example, watching whether a person’s lip movements match the sounds of the video. The team also tries to detect sounds that may not jibe with the background, said Aaron Lawson, assistant director of the speech lab at SRI. For example, the video may show a desert scene but reverberations can indicate the sound was recorded indoors. “We need a suite of tests” to keep up with hackers who are bound to keep figuring out new ways to keep fooling people, Bolles said. Matt Turek, program director for MediFor at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in Arlington, Va., told the Mercury News that 14 prime contractors are working a project to keep up with hackers. The project began nearly three years ago. “There’s been a significant change in the last year or so as automated manipulations have become more convincing,” Turek said. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have helped make tools to create more realistic-looking deep fakes, and researchers are using the same methods to fight back. “The challenge is to create algorithms to keep up and stay ahead of the technology that’s out there,” Turek said. WI
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Annual Holiday Concert Sponsored by Faith UCC By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins For the sixth consecutive year, a District-based church congregation raised thousands of dollars to fund an ongoing education project in Liberia during an annual holiday show that attracted a standing room audience earlier this week. Proceeds from Faith United Church of Christ’s annual Christmas Jazz Concert will finance the daily operations of the Alpha & Omega Childcare Center, a daycare that serves the people of Caldwell, Liberia, a small town just minutes outside of the capital city of Monrovia. “The money will pay for student tuition, educators’ salaries, and material benefits, like pens and pencils,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, designated pastor at Faith UCC, based in Northeast off of South Dakota Avenue, as he explained how the nearly $3,000 collected on Sunday will most likely be used. The Dec. 16 concert at Faith UCC attracted more than 80 people, some of whom wore traditional Liberian lappa suits and headwraps. Guests enjoyed the musical stylings of jazz musician Natti for nearly two hours before eating a hearty meal. Natti, accompanied by a pianist, drummers, and a man strumming a bass, belted renditions of songs celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. At times, spoken word artist Seth Washington accompanied Natti by reciting Bible scriptures and performing original pieces. Teryce Danielle Simms served as mistress of ceremonies and Sia Barbara Ferguson Kamara, a congregant involved in fundraising efforts and Peace Corps alumna who served in Liberia during the 1960s, kept the audience’s focus on the children of Alpha & Omega Childcare Center and their families in her opening remarks. “The 19 of us who traveled to Liberia saw a school system that was so far below the standard of the poorest schools in the United States,” said Felicia Simms, member of Faith UCC’s West African ministry, as she recounted Faith UCC’s 2013 visit that compelled the restructuring the then-newly opened Alpha & Omega Childcare Center. The facility serves as an extension of Alpha & Omega Endtime Ministries, Inc. which Alexine Howard, a longtime UCC member, founded more than 20 years ago. Faith UCC members have also supported chil-
dren and staff at Waterside Market in Monrovia since 2010. “These Liberian students were eager to learn in circumstances that would deter a child living here,” Simms added. “They don’t have the type of programs we have to help children in Liberia. We’re putting our energy into providing decent education.” Young people attending government-funded school in Liberia, a republic founded by Black American repatriates in the 19th century on the road to recovery from a decades-long civil war and Ebola outbreak, often have to learn in dismal conditions. A dearth of qualified teachers and rampant corruption further complicates efforts to adequately educate more than 2.5 million children and teenagers, more than half of the
Liberian population. In recent years, an educational partnership between the Liberian government and a for-profit education company has sparked fears about what opponents call the increasing privatization of education. Royster, however, applauded the potential of Faith UCC’s work, saying its arrangement with the Alpha & Omega Childcare Center speaks to a bond that bridges a gap caused by the trans-Atlantic slave trade. “Folks at Faith United Church of Christ are familiar with the history between the United States and Liberia and the back-to-Africa movement given our connection with the school in Caldwell, Liberia,” Royster said. “Our work in Liberia is a daily conversation so we’re dealing with the historical ramifications of that relationship.” WI
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 21 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
EDUCATION First HBCU-focused Opportunity Zone Fund Launches By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Opportunity Zones have become an attractive economic development tool to spur investment in distressed and economically challenged communities around the country.
22 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
An Opportunity Zone is a designation created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 allowing for certain investments to have tax advantages. In response, the Community Development Action Coalition (CDAC), which focuses on historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), has launched the
first Opportunity Fund to ignite reinvestment in and around HBCUs. The Renaissance HBCU Opportunity Fund seeks to attract investment capital to help fund development of mixed-use projects on or near HBCU campuses in federally designated Opportunity Zones, according to a news release. The Fund has also been selected to receive support from the Kresge and Rockefeller Foundations through the Opportunity Zones Incubator, which will provide technical assistance to help bring the Fund to market. “With nearly 50 percent of HBCUs located in Opportunity Zones, the HBCU-CDAC sees this is an opportunity to position HBCU communities as investment hubs that will ultimately create jobs, stimulate small business activity, and create better economic opportunities within these communities,” said Ron Butler, CEO of the HBCU-CDAC. “With the support of the Kresge and Rockefeller Foundations and in partnership
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5 Members of the HBCU Coalition meet to discuss opportunity zones. (Photo courtesy of Morgan State University)
with Renaissance Equity Partners, the Fund will be in a position to actively seek investment opportunities on or around HBCU campuses.” The partnership between the HBCU-CDAC and Renaissance Equity Partners will pursue mixed-use projects that will attract business and create workforce housing opportunities targeted to junior faculty, staff, graduate students, and military veterans with GI Bill benefits. The Fund is particularly interested in mixed use projects that will attract supermarkets to food deserts designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as health care facilities to Medically Underserved Communities designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Butler said. The Fund also intends to structure each investment transaction in such a way that will allow the neighboring HBCU to share in the financial success of the project, he said. “The recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 provides significant federal tax incentives to investors who infuse cash in federally designated Opportunity Funds that reinvest the invested capital in enterprises located in federally designated Opportunity Zones,” Butler said. Two Maryland HBCUs, Coppin State University in Baltimore and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, are located in federally designated Opportunity Zones and a Renaissance HBCU Opportunity Fund was organized to attract private sector investment capital to help finance the development of quality mixed use projects on or near HBCU campuses. “We would welcome the opportunity to brainstorm with Coppin State and Maryland Eastern shore officials about potential mixed-use projects near their campuses,” Butler said. He called the alliance between HBCU-CDAC and Renaissance Equity Partners a win-win because they share a successful track record
of assisting HBCUs to access economic finance initiatives to attract investment capital to HBCU Communities. “For example, Renaissance Equity Partners is presently assisting a Dallas HBCU access the New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program to help finance the development of a mixed-use project with student housing and an adjacent community facility featuring a state of the art competition gymnasium,” Butler said. “We believe our participation in the Opportunity Zone program to be an appropriate extension of our successes with the NMTC program,” he said. “Like our work with the NMTC program, our operation of the Renaissance HBCU Opportunity Fund will enable us help HBCU attract much needed private sector investment capital.” Butler said HBCU-CDAC is “deeply appreciative of the support we are receiving from the Kresge and Rockefeller Foundations and the professional advice and counsel we are receiving from Calvert Impact Capital.” “Their assistance and support have been invaluable,” he said. Further, the Renaissance HBCU Opportunity Fund will facilitate the development of quality mixeduse projects near HBCU campuses with each project containing a residential and commercial component. “The residential component will consist of rental housing units targeted to junior facility, graduate students and returning military veterans,” Butler said. “Space in the commercial components will be targeted to grocery stores, sit-down restaurants with wait service, health care facilities, and coffee shops and we’re particularly interested in attracting health care providers to designated medically underserved communities and supermarkets to USDA designated food deserts.” WI
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EDUCATION Silverman Affirms Commitment to Disenfranchised Residents By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins If there’s still any question of AtLarge D.C. Council member Elissa Silverman’s commitment to representing all District residents — particularly lifelong Black Washingtonians who feel left out of the city’s economic boom — she attempted to lay those concerns to rest at the very start of her second term. Moments after taking her oath during the swearing-in ceremony for newly elected officials on Jan. 2, Silverman (I) appealed to her council colleagues and criticized political opponents who questioned her deference to those experiencing displacement and other woes. “There are many longtime D.C. residents who have seen their city change and grow in their backyard without them,” Silverman told the hundreds in attendance during the ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest. In Silverman’s speech, she hinted at a focus on workforce development, implementation of Paid Fam-
ily Leave legislation, employment at the impending East End Hospital, and student loan refinancing in the New Year — issues that have been of concern to Black Washingtonians. “For far too many, this is a city of dreams deferred,” she said. “We need to be focused on closing these gaps, but these gaps have been exploited to pit groups of residents against each other. This approach does nothing to empower those who need us the most. We need to work together to see strength in our diversity.” Nearly two months earlier, Silverman, a former reporter and policy analyst hailing from Baltimore, successfully defended her seat against third-generation Washingtonian and local business owner Dionne Reeder, accumulating 27 percent of the vote compared to Reeder’s 15 percent. The political contest revealed deep racial and economic schisms endemic of the once-Chocolate City now in the throes of significant demographic changes to its historic neighborhoods and local government. In the end, Silverman’s reputation as a progressive-minded maverick helped her weather the storm against her Black LGBT opponent, who received
backing from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) in the final weeks of her campaign. Bowser’s support for Reeder wasn’t without reason. During the the most recent council session, Bowser and Silverman clashed over the ultimately successful Paid Family Leave legislation introduced by Silverman, which Bowser contended would burden business owners and deter investment in the District. Since taking office in 2015, Silverman has been deeply involved in similar battles against corporate interests, refusing to take corporate campaign contributions and railing against multimillion-dollar development projects, including underground parking at Union Market in Northeast. In October, she and four other D.C. Council members voted against legislation to repeal Initiative 77, a voter-approved ballot measure to raise the tipped worker minimum wage to that of full-time District employees. “I like Council member Silverman’s grass-roots concerns about disenfranchised,” said Glenda Richmond, a D.C. resident, veterans advocate and ardent Silverman sup-
porter. Though Richmond criticized what she called the council’s lack of dialogue about retired servicemen and women, she commended Silverman for holding up her end of the bargain in a fight she said ultimately lies in the hands of the oppressed. Throughout much of last year, Silverman’s stance on other issues and what has been described as aloofness about D.C.’s racial politics perturbed some of her African-American constituents, including a contingent that rallied behind Reeder during last year’s election. Previous efforts to cut funding for the Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Program and cap spending on the Entertainment & Sports Arena on St. Elizabeths East Campus called into question Silverman’s commitment to east-of-the-River communities. Richmond said, however, that Silverman, more so than other council members, has remained consistent in her advocacy for those without resources. “Hearing her at the Council meetings, Council member Silverman seemed to be very sincere and by
herself on the issues we need to hold our city council people accountable on,” said Richmond, founder and executive director of the District Veteran Brain Trust. “That’s what she’s doing. Disenfranchised people need to organize. A lot of them aren’t involved in the political system, so the politicians are doing what we allow them to do.” More than a month after winning her re-election bid, Silverman carried on her rebellious streak, fighting for unionized workers at United Medical Center (UMC) in Southeast whose future employment status at the East End Hospital, scheduled to open on St. Elizabeths East Campus in Southeast in late 2021, had long been in question. The version of the East End Health Equity Amendment Act passed by the council on Dec. 18 includes an amendment proposed by Silverman that requires East End hospital administrators to hire the majority of UMC employees, provide explanations to those denied jobs, and establish a neutrality agreement for those who want to orga-
SILVERMAN Page 34
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 23 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 11/29/18 1:58 PM
THANK YOU, Senator Joanne Benson and Delegate Erek Barron for being co-sponsors in 2018 of the Health Insurance Down Payment Plan! Our health care costs too much. One reason is that people without health coverage often get medical care in the most expensive way possible—in emergency rooms. It’s called uncompensated care, and those unpaid costs drive up everyone’s insurance premiums. That’s why Senator Benson, Delegate Barron and dozens of other Maryland legislators got behind a proposal called the “Down Payment Plan” which helps expand the insurance pool. People get the care they need while the state shrinks uncompensated care, holding down insurance costs for everyone.
For more information, see www.HealthCareForAll.com Paid for by the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative Education Fund
24Benson_Barron JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 9.5x12.375.indd 1
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL
Are Americans Being Held Hostage for a Wall?
As the partial government shutdown threatens to become longest in U.S. history, 19 days and growing, President Donald Trump continues to hold fast to his rhetoric and insistence that the country needs a wall – for national security, to keep out criminals, the list goes on. But since Dec. 22 when the shutdown first began, more citizens are finding themselves struggling to make ends meet, becoming increasingly anxious about the future and how long their savings, if they have any at all, will last and perhaps most important, how they’ll pay their rent and put food on their table. For those living in public housing, evictions appear to be unlikely, for now, but landlords say they’re already starting to reduce maintenance or scheduled improvements on their buildings. The renewal of HUD contracts has been put on hold just like the approval of mortgages for homebuyers who use USDA-backed programs which provide lower interest rates and allow buyers to forgo down payment requirements. And if you plan to fly, you should know that concerns about security and longer lines are beginning to mount – as are reports of callouts by TSA agents – something that TSA officials continue to downplay. Visitors can still get into national parks, but they’ll be met by overflowing trash cans, dirty bathrooms and without the benefit of park rangers for guidance and information. Forget about making plans on how you’ll spend that check from Uncle Sam. The IRS, already backlogged, will probably be banned from providing refunds anytime soon, if policies during this shutdown follow those in the past. More troubling, the USDA says it will run out of funds to provide Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) if the shutdown continues into February, impacting an estimated 38 million Americans. Some federal employees have already been sent home, indefinitely – others are about to collect their final payroll check unless Trump and Congress can come to some kind of agreement. Here in the District, business owners are seeing fewer customers enter their doors as a considerable percentage of their patrons, federal employees and contractors, now face a third week without pay and cannot afford to splurge at their favorite restaurants or other regularly-frequented hotspots. Tourism in D.C. has been negatively impacted as well after this week’s closing of the Smithsonian museums. Even if you believe that this shutdown won’t change your life in any significant way, thus leaving you indifferent to the plight of federal workers or those in the military, consider that the financial services company Standard & Poor’s estimates that the current shutdown will cost the U.S. economy $1.2 billion a week. Just what our country needs given the whopping national debt that shows no signs of being reduced. Something’s fishy about the whole thing, especially the facts, figures and reasons touted by the Trump Administration day after day which many economists and other experts refute, saying the numbers simply don’t add up. But have no fear Americans. Our president, one who has never had to worry about credit cards that are over the limit or savings and checking accounts that have negative balances, tells us to hang in there, be patient and believe that he’s holding to his guns for our benefit – for our best interests. Believe it or not. Well, Mr. President, we’re not buying it. Is securing $5.6 billion for a so-called wall so important to America’s safety that holding ordinary people hostage until Congress yields to his whims, something that can honestly be justified by Mr. Trump? Whatever happened to compromise? Finally, what ever happened to elected officials telling citizens not what they think we want to hear but rather the truth? WI
Trump’s Weak Appeal to Blacks on Border Wall
President Donald Trump’s game of Uncle is not working for Congress or the American people. His effort to force legislators into submission to address illegal immigration by building his $5.7 billion wall between the U.S. and Mexico has merit but lacks credibility, and his primetime speech on Tuesday before the American people failed to change minds. Also, why is it that Trump turns to African Americans when he believes his WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
TO THE EDITOR Wall Not Worth Shutdown
Ethiopians Making Mark in District
When the government shuts down, what does that mean? I hear that folks are going without pay, but that seems illegal to me. People have families, bills and more bills and just like that, they don’t have income, because of fools in Congress and the president? All of this over a wall? The hate for immigrants and minorities run deep, unless you have the complexion for the protection. James Salters Washington, D.C.
I didn’t know what to make of the title “Ethiopians Dominate D.C.’s African Community,” because, by itself, it sounds as if Ethiopians are at the top or preside over other Africans and other African communities, which had me shaking my head for that to be put in a Black newspaper. But after reading, I now understand that 30,000 of them are in and around the District and they have quite a presence on the business scene. Good for them. Shirley Mathis Landover, Md.
message to his base is failing. He did it during his presidential campaign at a time when he, and a vast number of American voters, believed he could not win the presidency. It was then that he spoke directly to African Americans before a crowd of very few African Americans in Michigan where he asked them the most absurd question, “What the hell do you have to lose by trying something new like Trump?” And during his first primetime speech on Tuesday he invoked African Americans again by stating “all Americans are hurt by uncontrolled, illegal migration” and “among those hardest-hit are African Americans and Hispanic Americans.” It is true that America’s illegal immigration policy impacted all
low-wage workers, including African Americans, who were replaced in low-paying jobs by those who would work for even less. Opportunities for immigrants were created by American employers who saw them as cheap labor, and there was little to no effort by lawmakers to ensure they received a fair wage or to protect the American workers. So here we are today, raising wholesale fear about this segment of the American labor force by calling them all “criminal gangs, drug smugglers, and human traffickers” who need to be kept out of this country by “a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall.” A $5.7 billion structure to be paid for by the American taxpayers – including those presently furloughed due to Trump’s government shutdown – and not the Mexi-
can government as he promised. What once was a universally accepted unauthorized workers industry mostly in farming and construction, has today become a “humanitarian and security crisis.” What Trump wants is $211 million to hire 750 additional Border Patrol agents, $571 million for 2,000 additional ICE personnel, $4.2 billion for 52,000 detention beds, personnel, transportation, and detention alternatives, and $563 million for 75 additional immigration judges and support staff. That is what Trump wants to make America great again, and that African Americans and Hispanic Americans will be the beneficiaries. We’re not ready to cry, Uncle. WI
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 25 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Austin R. Cooper Jr.
CBC Always the Conscience of Congress
In September 1970, my family moved to Cleveland. My father became the rector of Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church and my mother was a teacher in the Cleveland Public School System. Dad was the rector of Saint Andrew’s for 28 of his 38 years in the active ministry. It is no understatement to say
that Saint Andrew’s significantly influenced my career trajectory of public service in general, and work with the Congressional Black Caucus CBC) in particular. As the rector of the largest Black Episcopal church in Cleveland, I was exposed to numerous visiting elected officials and political candidates. At the age of 8, the first political giant I met was one of the founders of the CBC, the late Rep. Louis Stokes. In addition to being a founder of the CBC, Stokes was the first
Black Congressman elected in Ohio and served with distinction from 1969 to 1993. Rep. Stokes served as chairman of the CBC and was the first Black to chair the House Committee on Intelligence and sit on the House Committee on Appropriations. He also chaired the House Select Committee on Assassinations, which investigated the murders of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. These days, I am in the Rayburn House Office Building meeting
Guest Columnist
with members of the CBC or staffers several times a month. Without exception, each time I enter I feel the same excitement I did in June 1980 when I first entered as an eager, albeit nervous, 16-year-old reporting to work as a summer intern for Rep. Stokes. That summer, I fell in love with Capitol Hill and knew my professional calling. In September 1983, I returned to the Hill as a full-time employee for Stokes. Later, I was honored to also work for two other giants of the
CBC: the late Rep. William H. Gray III and former Rep. Charles Rangel, also a co-founder of the CBC. Last Thursday, I was in Washington to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the CBC at the Warner Theatre. Needless to say, my heart was filled with pride. In addition to Stokes and Rangel, I thought of the other 11 founding members of the CBC: Reps. Shirley Chisolm, Bill Clay Sr., Charles Diggs, George
COOPER Page 45
By Bill Fletcher Jr.
What About Cape Verdeans?
In a previous column, I discussed why I chose to write the novel “The Man Who Fell From the Sky.” Central to the novel is the Cape Verdean in the USA. But here’s the interesting thing. When I have mentioned Cape Verdeans to many knowledgeable people, they have no idea whom I am discussing. In other words, far too many of us have never heard of Cape Verdeans. Nearly 400 miles off the coast of Senegal is found the Cape
Verdean archipelago. Settled by the Portuguese in the 1600s, they became a transit point for African slaves stolen from the continent on their way to the New World. The Portuguese settled the islands with prisoners, adventurers, slavers and slaves. In the 19th century, Cape Verdeans became the first post1492 African population to come to the USA voluntarily. They came initially as whalers and fishermen, though later families migrated, often as a result of the periodic droughts on the Cape Verde islands. But they came as Portuguese colonial subjects speaking Portuguese and
having a very different history than those originally brought to the USA as slaves. This created an unusual tension between the two populations of African descent. Should the Cape Verdeans consider themselves Portuguese, Black or something else? The struggle for the independence of Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde islands (which were considered one territory by the Portuguese colonialists) emerged in the 1950s and ultimately turned to armed struggle when the Portuguese repressed the demands for justice. One of the great leaders of this struggle was none other than the iconic
Guest Columnist
Amilcar Cabral who was, himself, Cape Verdean. The struggle for national liberation for Guinea-Bissau and the Cape Verde coincided with the energized Black Freedom Movement in the USA. Both of these movements had a profound impact on the thinking of Cape Verdean Americans leading to increasing “Black consciousness” and support for national liberation. I decided to look at this important population because they are frequently ignored in discussions about Black America. Either they are treated as just another group of African Americans albeit with “strange names” or they
are not treated as being African American at all or they are unknown. Cape Verdeans, however, are part of what has made Black America, Black America. African Americans have evolved as a population beginning with those originally brought over as slaves and indentured servants to the influx of Cape Verdean voluntary migrants, to the migrations of Caribbean peoples to the USA and, particularly after 1965, migrants from other parts of Africa and Latin America to the USA. Black America is continuously evolving through the introduction of these new blood lines. WI
By Marc H. Morial
Message to Presidential Candidates: Include Plan for Black America
“You want our vote, come get our vote.” — Angela Lang, executive director, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities The nation recently experienced a midterm election of historic dimensions: more than 47 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in November — the highest percentage since 1966. Black voter participation drove were a significant force in driving that turnout, and in electing the most
26 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
diverse Congress in history. But as the presidential primary cycle begins, candidates cannot expect to see an equal level of enthusiasm unless issues of racial and economic justice are addressed. In fact, Black voter turnout fell seven percentage points in the last presidential election, falling from a high of 66.6 percent in 2012 to 59.6 percent in 2016. National Democratic Committee Chair Tom Perez blamed the drop, in part, on candidates’ failure to engage the Black community: “African-Americans — our most loyal constituency — we all too frequently took for granted.
That is a shame on us, folks, and for that, I apologize. And for that I say, it will never happen again!” The upcoming congressional session will demonstrate whether incumbent lawmakers — most of whom will be running for reelection in 2020 — truly are making an effort to engage the Black community. Following an intensive campaign by the National Urban League to urge diversity in Senate hiring, only two senators have hired Black chiefs of staff — Doug Jones, who credited Black voters for his surprise victory in 2017 — and Elizabeth Warren, who has just declared her intention to run for president.
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Research has shown that, more than ever, Black voters are basing their decisions at the polls on issues of racial justice and economic opportunity. A poll conducted by a coalition of civil right groups just after the midterm elections found that “to have similar or greater wins in 2020, candidates must invest in and engage communities of color and the issues that matter most to these constituents.” Yet, only 57 percent of Black voters were contacted from a campaign, political party, or community organization about voting in the months prior to Election Day.
The poll further found that that Black voters support policies that unite and strengthen the nation: • Equal pay for men and women (88 percent) • Congress should pass the Dre- am Act (81 percent) • Strengthening the Affordable Care Act (79 percent) • Sexual harassment is a major problem (84 percent) • Congress should enact strict gun laws (81 percent) Candidates across the political spectrum who are searching for a
MORIAL Page 45
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
Trump Administration Intent on Weakening Civil Rights Enforcement
When new U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked on “60 Minutes” whether she thinks President Donald Trump is a racist, she responded with the candor that makes her a compelling force in Washington: “Yeah, yeah, no question.” This, of course, lit up the social media, with Trump supporters denouncing Ocasio-Cortez and progressives praising her. One would think after his dog-whistle,
race-bait politics — from slurring immigrants to slandering a Hispanic judge to embracing the racist marchers in Charlottesville, Va., to denigrating Haiti and African nations as “s---hole countries” — that the question had been answered long ago. What is clear is that, whatever the president’s personal views, the Trump administration is intent on weakening enforcement of civil rights laws across the board. The same week that Ocasio-Cortez spoke, two widely respected reporters from Washington Post, Laura Meckler and Devlin Barrett, reported that the Trump administra-
Guest Columnist
tion is taking the first steps toward rolling back a centerpiece of civil rights enforcement: the doctrine that starkly disparate impact can provide evidence of discrimination even without proof of intent. If a government contractor announces that it won’t hire anyone who is living with someone of the same sex, the victims may not be able to provide direct evidence that the employer intended to discriminate, but the disparate impact of the announcement would provide the basis for finding discrimination. Disparate impact isn’t dispositive. Those accused can demonstrate that they have a rational
reason for the regulation or action and that there are no less discriminatory alternatives. In some areas, like election law, disparate impact is written in the legislation itself. In most areas, however, it derives from regulations on enforcing the 1964 Civil Rights Act, particularly Title VI which bars discrimination based on race, color or national origin by entities, including schools that receive federal funding. In 2014, as Meckler and Devlin report, the Obama administration formally put public school systems on notice that they could be found guilty of racial discrimination if
students of color were punished at dramatically higher rates than white students. Trump’s Education Department issued a report criticizing the regulation and has begun discussions about rescinding it. This assault on a centerpiece of civil rights enforcement comes on top of Trump’s stunning reversal of civil rights enforcement across the government. Under Jeff Sessions, the Trump Justice Department essentially abandoned the Obama effort to work with police departments to address systemic racially discrim-
JACKSON Page 46
By Roach Brown
Response to The First Step Act
The criminal-justice reform bill that was passed by the Senate with the support of the Republican leadership, and being claimed as a pivotal moment in criminal and prison justice reform, is a continuation of the same old piecemeal approach that’s noninclusive of most inmates and their families. This legislation is supposedly to benefit and affect the more than
200,000 federal inmates confined in Bureau of Prisons (BOP) correctional facilities. This shift in attitudes from punishment and lock-up-andthrow-away-the-key approaches has contributed to the devastation of families of color that have bore the financial burden of supporting their incarcerated loved ones. Sure, about 2,000 federal inmates like those convicted of crack and powder cocaine will benefit from the discrepancy of the harsh and punitive laws that Congress said “led to major racial disparities in sentencing.” These racial disparities existed
Askia-At-Large
long before the crack and powder cocaine epidemic and it still exists today. This legislation does not address the totality of our concerns as it relates to the multi-layer affect of the criminal punishment system, from arrest to prosecution, sentencing, corrections reentry, etc. Sure, quite a few federal inmates will hopefully see a lowering of their excessive and impossible sentences, through some of the issues addressed in the bill. If one has multiple injuries, the doctor will treat all of your injuries based on the seriousness of one injury. I did not see included in the
Bill any mention of the billions of dollars that is generated off the backs of inmates and their families. The talk about increasing inmate access to telephone time and video visiting and increased statutory good time and attempts to lower the recidivism rate — we don’t need a more comforting prison community. Why was there no mention of the fact that several prisons and major corporations and banks have made billions off the backs and pain of prisoners and their families? Some of whom have received no-bid contracts and operated as a monopoly
while generating revenues of billions of dollars from construction of private prison facilities. inmate telephone calls, health services, money transfers, prison commissary stores, co-pay for medical treatment, fees for emails, etc. Why are prisoners the only ones in America who have to pay to send and receive emails? Released prisoners are given what little funds that are in their institutional account on a debit card, issued by JPay, with outrageous fees for
BROWN Page 46
By Askia Muhammad
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and Jamil el-Amin
Continued steadfastness is required by those who love freedom for the oppressed. Two innocent, Black liberation freedom fighters — Mumia Abu-Jamal and Imam Jamil el Amin — are demanding justice from the courts, not “just us.” There is encouraging news for former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal. A judge ruled he can reargue his appeal in his case before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He has always maintained his inno-
cence. He may get a chance to retry his stacked trial, with ample new, exculpatory evidence which was blocked at his original murder trial. There is no new, good news however about former SNCC and Black Panther Party leader Jamil el Amin (known then as H. Rap Brown). He remains on lockdown, 10 floors underground, in a federal supermax prison, ostensibly for a State of Georgia crime. These heroes and all U.S. political prisoners should be freed! Abu-Jamal — for whom journalist and law professor Linn Washington coined the expression, called
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“the Mumia Abu-Jamal Exception,” a cruel double standard in the courts of Pennsylvania which meant that decisions rendered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court applied to every case in the state except Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case — has won a chance to reargue his appeal because a Supreme Court Justice invoked the Mumia Abu-Jamal Rule. An appeals judge ruled in late December, citing former Chief Justice Ronald Castille’s failure to excuse himself from the Abu-Jamal case due to his prior role as Philadelphia district attorney when Abu-Jamal was appealing his case. Abu-Jamal
was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner but has always maintained his innocence. I do not believe Mumia killed that cop. Abu-Jamal’s lawyers argued that statements Castille made about people accused of killing police officers indicated he should have recused himself. In 2011, Abu-Jamal was re-sentenced to life without parole after the state lost an appeal on his death penalty. Prosecutors feared that the court-ordered rehearing on the death penalty might open the door for Abu-Jamal to appeal on other grounds, including seeking a
retrial on the facts. “The only reason the government wants Mumia killed or locked up for life is because he has been so successful in exposing the hypocrisy, racism, oppression and deadliness of this system,” said Pam Africa, of the International Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal more than a decade ago, and it’s still true today. I believe Mumia Abu-Jamal is an innocent man who never should have even been arrested let alone convicted and sentenced to death. The same is true of Jamil el-Amin.
ASKIA Page 46
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 27 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LIFESTYLE Step Afrika! Kicks off 25th Anniversary Step Afrika! launches its 25th anniversary at the Music Center at Strathmore with a retrospective of the Company’s best-loved works on Sunday, January 20 at 5 p.m. The performance continues Strathmore’s rich collaboration with Step Afrika!, started in 2014, to celebrate step by showcasing some of the art form’s best performers annually on its hallmark Music Center stage. The performance includes selected works from Step Afrika!’s history, including Wade, Passing 25, and Nxt/Stp: Hip Hop. The wide range of work demonstrates the versatility of step, connecting it to hip hop, African- American spirituals and South African traditional and contemporary dance forms. Dem Raider Boyz Step Squad of Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County will open the show; the troupe achieved national notoriety on NBC’s reality-competition show World of Dance in 2018. For more information call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.
28 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
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LIFESTYLE
Ray, Goodman & Brown Headline Soul Train Cruise By Eunice Moseley Special to the Washington Informer “I love ‘Special Lady’ and types like that,” said Billy Brown of the legendary Ray, Goodman and Brown who are headlining the Soul Train Cruise (January 20 – 27, 2019) to the Caribbean with Gladys Knight, The Chi-Lites, Morris Day and the Time, New Birth, Ohio Players, George Clinton and Evelyn “Champagne” King, with a special performance by Smokey Robinson (January 23rd). “But I really love ‘Love on a Two-Way Street’ it was recorded before…it didn’t do anything. I told Joe (Robinson) I like that record and he said, ‘You like that syrupy stuff’ and he took the 45 and flipped it across the room and said, ‘take it and learn it.’ I learned it that night and the next day I recorded it.” “Love on a Two-Way Street” became a break through single of Sylvia and Joe Robinsons via their label Stang/All Platinum Records through the group The Moments. It reached #1 on Billboard’s R&B Charts. It was re-recorded by the label with Brown in the lead vocals as Ray, Goodman and Brown in 1969 for legal reasons. It sold over a million copies. That hit single and others from Ray, Goodman and Brown such as “Sexy Mamma” and “Look at Me (I’m in Love”) has the group constantly on tour to this day – 50 years later. Brown continued, “So I took him the (“Love on a Two-Way Street”) recording and he said, ‘This is the new single’. The way they released it was crazy too…the next day the distributor called for 50,000 more copies. And as they say the
rest is history.” You get to see how legends perform if you are on the Soul Train Cruise taking off January 20, 2019 for seven entertaining days. www. AAEG.com/RayGoodmanBrown
poems, so he did 21 original tracks and one track is from a producer out of Germany.” The collection of sweet and inspiring selections covers all topics
with one selection dedicated to her late husband simply titled “A Prayer for my Husband.” “Our family is musically inclined,” she explained, indicating
the depth and level of talent the Ruiz family has to offer. “2-UNeek, myself and my husband, he was a DJ on the side. We were very much into the music scene.” “Love Hard” by Joyce Ruiz, featuring Tone is available at Amazon and iTunes. WI
JOYCE RUIZ KEEPS IT MOVING WITH LOVE
A passion for the love of her children’s artistic talents Joyce Ruiz, along with her husband, sacrificed and the result was their children reaching unbelievable heights in entertainment. Twins Ashton and Ashley are named 2-UNeek and have toured as opening act for Disney’s Raven Symone, Beyonce’s Texas pre-show and Robin Thicke. They have also performed as actors in major sit-coms and films. Now Joyce Ruiz offers in more music with poetry in a book called “Love Hard.” The topic however is on finding the passion of love in your marriage. “I worked with 2-UNeek, the Texas Twins, as far as getting them out there,” she explained about her part in the husband and wife management team. Today Joyce promotes her own projects with the help of her children. The “Love Hard” book is also an album version produced by her son Ashton. As a producer Ashton is known as Tone and his credits include a commercial for a Texas Company’s advertising campaign. “I had no desire or intent to do so (publish a book) until that tragic season when I got the news of my husband’s transitioning. I felt God birth this project to me. At first it was one poem, then I said…put music to it. It built from there. I talked to my son, who produces under Tone, that one poem led to 22
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5 Ray, Goodman & Brown (Courtesy photo)
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 29 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER DCL2016 | Lucky for Life New Years Giveaway | Washington Informer | 4C | 5.625x10.5
LIFESTYLE Billy Strayhorn Collection on Display at Library of Congress By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer
A motherlode of material from a beloved composer, pianist, lyricist, arranger and Duke Ellington collaborator now has a permanent home in D.C. The Billy Strayhorn Collection,
consisting of 18,000 holograph scores, manuscripts, photographs, business papers, personal notes and correspondences, is now available to lovers of 20th century American music. A year ago, the Library of Congress acquired the collection from Strayhorn’s nephew and estate exec-
utor Gregory Morris and his family. Before Strayhorn’s death at age 51 from esophageal cancer in 1967, he asked Morris to take care of his things. Boxes of cataloged materials in acid-free folders reveal how meticulous and thoughtful Strayhorn was in his approach to arranging his compositions. “This particular collection was well-organized when we got it,” said James Wintle, the library’s music reference specialist. “It had been well taken care of.” Wintle opened a folder containing the original manuscript for “Sentimental Journey,” titled in French as “Voyage Sentimental.” According to Wintle, because Strayhorn was classically trained, he was deeply influenced by French composers such as Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. The depth to which Strayhorn worked out musical arrangements is seen through his notes on handwritten manuscripts. The names of specific musicians or instruments were written on those sheets showing who Strayhorn wanted to play a specific part in a composition. “You’ve heard “Take the ‘A’ Train” zillions of times, but you look at this and say, ‘well, this is how his first thoughts were really going down,’” Wintle said as he pointed out notations on the original score of the classic composition. “You see an outline not in terms of notes, but in terms of how he worked it out on the piano.” The collaboration between Ellington and Strayhorn produced may memorable songs, but their relationship was complicated. Strayhorn felt his contributions were not properly acknowledged by Ellington and strove to get full recognition for his compositions and arrangements. The collection has many Strayhorn compositions that were never used
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5 A photo of Billy Strayhorn from the Billy Strayhorn Collection on display at the Library of Congress (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
by the Ellington Orchestra, as well as unrecorded pieces that may have been used only for live performances. “What Strayhorn was doing as a composer fit in very well with the Ellington Orchestra,” Wintle said. “The way he was able to collaborate with Ellington was monumental. He was always composing, even during last few years of his life when he was in the hospital.” Because their styles were so similar, Wintle believes the collection better distinguishes what Strayhorn wrote than what Ellington wrote. “You didn’t know where one began and where one ended.” Wintle said of how Ellington and Strayhorn collaborated. “Seeing Strayhorn’s hand, especially these working copies, you see where he had a germ of an idea and how that was used in a full piece in interesting ways. His
5 Original manuscript for “Take the ‘A’ Train” from the Billy Strayhorn Collection on display at the Library of Congress (Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
arrangements were very dense, complicated and very personal.” Looking at black and white photos in the collection, Strayhorn is seen at work and relaxing. One photo shows Ellington laying on the sofa talking on the phone. Strayhorn in the foreground when the viewer realizes a photographer must have always been close by capturing movements of the two collaborators. Strayhorn’s personal papers in the collection includes letters to friends and colleagues about his travels. There also is an essay Strayhorn wrote about harmony. “He’s talking about Duke Ellington’s approach to harmony and how that is different from traditional jazz,” said Wintle. “This is what made Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington so special,” Wintle said. “They were walking this line between complexity and accessibility all the time.” The Strayhorn collection is in the Performing Arts Reading Room of the library’s James Madison Building. The Strayhorn collection joins other existing collections of Max Roach, Charles Mingus, Billy Taylor, Gerry Mulligan, Alvin Ailey, Dexter Gordon and Shelly Manne. WI
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January Greetings From DC Office on Aging Laura Newland DC Office on Aging Executive Director Happy New Year! Thanks to everyone who joined us for the many holiday celebrations throughout the city last month, and especially the Mayor’s Annual Senior Holiday Celebration at the DC Armory! We had a great time celebrating with you—and celebrating YOU! If you missed it, I hope you’ll plan to join us for the many activities and events we have planned in 2019. Every year we look forward to bigger and better ways to engage with you out in the community. Stay connected with my office in the coming months to learn more about opportunities to get active with the DC Office on Aging. Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter by calling 202-724-5626 or emailing us at dcoa.communications@dc.gov. This is especially important during the winter months. With shorter, colder days and wintery weather, we’ll be spending more time indoors. And with good reason—colder temperatures can be dangerous and pose some serious health challenges as you age. Here are some safety tips to help get us all through these colder months. On cold days, avoid strenuous outdoor activities. Freezing temperatures can put increased strain on your heart—which is especially dangerous for residents over the age of 65 who already have a heart condition. If you need
to work outside, remember to dress in layers of dry clothing, wear a windproof outer layer, a hat, and gloves. Pay attention to your body temperature and take frequent breaks to go inside to warm up. After a snow event, residents over the age of 60 who are homeowners can qualify to receive assistance shoveling snow from their walkway. Serve DC’s Volunteer Snow Program is a free service that matches DC seniors with volunteers to shovel their walkways after a snow event. To learn more about the program, or to get on the list to be matched with a volunteer, call 202-727-7925. During very cold days, stay indoors in a heated space as much as possible. To help your body warm itself, the CDC recommends eating balanced meals, warm drinks, and broth, and avoiding alcohol. Remember that it’s never safe to warm your home using your oven! You may be putting yourself and your household at risk of fire, serious injuries, and carbon monoxide poisoning. If your heating system isn’t working in your rental apartment building, contact your property management office. If you don’t receive a response, dial 311 for assistance. During the winter months, we also need to vigilant in protecting our mental health. Too many days indoors, without exercise coupled with less exposure to sunlight and vitamin D, can leave us feeling a little down. It’s just as important to schedule some activities that will get us moving and socializing. I encourage you to stop by
one of our six Senior Wellness Centers or a Department of Parks and Recreation sites near you and get involved with some of the winter programming to keep you active and connected. Call my office at 202-724-5626 to locate a site near you. Remember these colder months can be particularly isolating for the frail and seniors who live alone. Take some time to connect with your neighbors and friends and check-in with each other. If you’re interested in learning more about staying safe, active, and healthy during the winter months—or if you’re just looking to talk to someone—DCOA is here for you. Reach out to us at 202-7245626. Wishing you all a safe and prosperous 2019!
Ms. Senior D.C. Pageant 2019 Are you a D.C. resident age 60 or older and interested in representing your peers as Ms. Senior D.C. 2019? Are you actively involved in your community? Consider becoming a contestant in Ms. Senior D.C. Pageant 2019! Contestants are judged on: • their personal interview; • their philosophy of life; • their talent presentation; and • their evening gown presentation. The winner will represent the District and compete in the Ms. Senior America Pageant in October. For more information on how to apply please visit www.dcoa.dc.gov Call DCOA at 202-727-8364 Or email darlene.nowlin@dc.gov.
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 31 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LIFESTYLE
THE PERFECT GIFT Bowser Encourages Residents to A Personalized PORTRAIT by Celebrity Artist
Tell What D.C. Means Personally By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
240-643-6737
It’s a new year and D.C, Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to help instill in residents some old-fashioned District pride. The mayor has put out a call for those residing in the nation’s capital to give their story about what the District of Columbia means personally to each individual. “Today, our city is 700,000 Washingtonians strong,” Bowser notes on a new website, www.dc2me.com, dedicated to receiving responses from various platforms using the hashtag DC2Me. “That’s 700,000 reasons to love D.C., and 700,000 dreams for the future of our city. Let’s bring them together,” Bowser said. The site goes on to note, “what would you do if you were not afraid to fail? That’s the question we will ask ourselves for the next four years.
5 D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser wants residents to say what the city means to them on a website she’s created and on social media (Photo courtesy of the D.C. government)
That’s how we’ll challenge ourselves to think big — to go big or go home.” The mayor promises to build at least 6,000 units of affordable housing and to continue to make homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring.
Coming up at STEP AFRIKA!
25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Sun, Jan 20, Matinee
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO Fri, Feb 8
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www.nationalactionnetwork.net or call (202) 293-3232 National Action Network founded by Rev. Al Sharpton in 1991 32 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
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National Action Network Annual Prayer Breakfast Free and open to the public. Register on line at
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“We will continue to make historic investments in public education because public schools are still the great equalizer in our society,” Bower writes. Using the #dc2me, Corey Holman wrote that it means, “living in a D.C. that walks the walk when it comes to transparency and accountability, especially when it comes to D.C. Police Department conduct.” Another District resident Richard Livingstone tweeted, “after learning I was on the way to the convention center for Mayor Bowser’s inauguration, [an] Uber driver turned down [the] music and gave me an earful. An earful of wonderful ideas and support for another four years.” Twitter user Kimberly D of Ward 7 wrote, “#DC2ME means more east of the river love,” while Jim Slattery and others retweeted, “#DC2ME is a city that steps up when others step down.” Sylvie Bello of Ward 2 wrote: “#DC2ME means stronger African immigrant communities, DC language access, and Cameroon policies.” Organizations such as the ACLU of DC and the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs and emicfilms also chimed in. “It’s hard to ignore the vibrant murals painted on the side of busy streets or tucked away between alleys. It’s a part of D.C. that makes certain corners memorable and filled with life,” wrote officials at emicfilms. Finally, Bowser noted that, “Together, we’re going to ensure that Washington, DC continues to be a city that works for all Washingtonians.” To participate, go to www.dc2me. com or use the hashtag #DC2ME on social media platforms. WI
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LIFESTYLE
2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observance Calendar Jan. 19 28th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast, with keynote speaker Eddie S. Glaude Jr., the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Department of Religion and African American Studies chair at Princeton University; Shiloh Baptist Church, 1500 9th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; 9 a.m. – noon (www.shilohbaptist.org)
All events free unless otherwise noted Jan. 12 MLK Holiday Worship Service; Matthews Memorial Baptist Church, 2616 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE; 8:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.; $25 (https://mlkholidaydc.org) City of College Park Tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; The Clarice on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus; 2 - 3:30 p.m. (https:// www.visitmaryland.org)
Prince George’s County Top Ladies of Distinction 7th annual MLK Prayer Breakfast; Camelot by Martin’s, 13901 Central Avenue, Upper Marlboro, Md. 20774; 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.; tier pricing (https://www.visitmaryland.org)
Jan. 13 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Multi-Faith Perspectives; New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20005; 2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (https://mlkholidaydc.org)
MLK Holiday DC Essay Contest & Luncheon, coordinated by the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (https://mlkholidaydc.org)
Jan. 18 MLK Shabbat - Visions of Freedom and Justice, a joint service with Turner Memorial AME Church; Sixth & I, 600 I Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001; 7 p.m.; $8AssoAD_SAU_2015_Layout p.m. (https://www.sixthandi.1 SU_Press org)
Jan. 20 MLK Holiday Worship Service; Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, 3845 South Capitol Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20032; 10 a.m. - noon (https:// 8/20/15 11:24 AM Page 1 mlkholidaydc.org)
Howard University Andrew Rankin Chapel MLK Worship Service with Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.; Howard University Cramton Auditorium; 11 a.m. (https://chapel.howard.edu) Martin Luther King Annual Tribute; Musical performances from Howard University Choir, Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, and the Cathedral Band, with special guest Cathy Hughes, founder and chair of Urban One Media; Washington National Cathedral; 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. (https://tix.cathedral.org) Jan. 21 38th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast; La Fontaine Bleue, 7514 Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie, Md. 21061; 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.; $35 (https://www.visitmaryland.org) 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration sponsored by UNCF Washington and the Washington Inter-Alumni Council; The Hotel at The University
of Maryland, 7777 Baltimore Ave., College Park, Md.; 8:30 a.m. – noon; $75 (https://www.uncf.org)
Veterans Place, Silver Spring, Md. 20910; 10 a.m. – noon (https://www. visitmaryland.org)
24th Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast, sponsored by the Charles County NAACP #7016 with keynote speaker Joe Madison, “The Black Eagle”; 2500 Davis Road Waldorf, Md. 20603; 9 a.m. – noon; $35 (https:// www.visitmaryland.org)
Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Tribute & Celebration; Strathmore Music Center, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. 20852; 3 p.m. (https://www.strathmore.org)
MLK Holiday DC Peace Walk & Parade 2019; 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Information for assembly and route at https://mlkholidaydc.org Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Serve DC; Check-in location: Ron Brown High School, 4800 Meade St NE, Washington, D.C. 20009; 8 a.m. (https://serve. dc.gov) MLK Day of Service 2019 in Silver Spring, Md. for families, individuals and groups. Silver Spring Civic Building, 1
19th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in Baltimore, beginning at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Eutaw Street; noon – 2 p.m. (https:// www.visitmaryland.org) “Let Freedom Ring – A Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.,” featuring Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and the Let Freedom Ring Choir, cosponsored by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Georgetown University; Kennedy Center Concert Hall; 6 p.m. (http://www.kennedy-center.org)
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 33 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LIFESTYLE PRIMARY from Page 1 California has the largest share of delegates in the Democratic and Republican presidential process. California has traditionally held its primary in June but Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill in 2017 moving it to March. The reason for California’s shift had to do with the desire to have more influence in the presidential nomination process. California will join several other states to form a “Super Tuesday” on March 3, 2020. The electoral calendar for the Democrats has the District holding its presidential primary on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Evans expressed interest in the District holding its primary on Tuesday, April 28 with other East Coast states such as Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. It has been the tradition in the District for many years that a presidential preference primary takes place in May, January or February during presidential election years
while a council primary is held in September. That changed in 2010 when federal law stipulated that overseas citizens and military ballots needed 45 days before a federal election to be sent to the affected parties and, as a result, the District negated its traditional September council primary date. In 2012, both the presidential and council primaries were held on April 3 and in 2016, the primaries took place on June 14. Seventy-five percent of all registered voters in the District are Democrats. However, by the time the District presidential primary comes around in June, the Democratic nominee has effectively been decided already. The D.C. Republican Party traditionally holds its primary as the same time as the Democrats. In 2016, though, it held a presidential caucus in March and had council and D.C. delegate candidates on the ballot in the June primary. The D.C. Statehood Green Party had a similar situation, with the June
14, 2016, primary having D.C. delegate and council nominations and no presidential candidate on the ballot. Evans wants the District to have more of an impact on who will be the Democratic nominee, and some residents agree with him. “I do agree that the primary should be earlier,” said Charles Gaither, a member of the Democratic State Committee. “That might get us some recognition. I remember a few years ago when there was the ‘Potomac Primary,’ where Maryland and Virginia held primaries along with D.C. and it was pretty successful.” The “Potomac Primary” took place on Feb. 12, 2008, with thenSens. Barack Obama (D) and John McCain (R) winning. Obama and McCain ran against each other in the historic Nov. 4 general election in which Obama became the first Black president of the United States. Gaither said an April primary would be a boon for the cause of D.C. statehood, the Democratic
presidential candidates having to address the issue in the hunt for votes. Vicki Wright-Smith, a former advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 1, agreed. “By the time we vote in our Democratic primary, everything has been settled,” Wright-Smith said. “Everyone knows who the nominee is. Also, local races will get more attention if the primary is held earlier in the year. More people will go out and vote.” But not all Democrats are on board with an earlier primary. “No, I don’t support [the] 2020 primary being moved earlier in the year,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson. “We go through this every four years about D.C. having more influence in the process. To me, that argument is more
noise than substance. I would like to see something substantively that proves that.” Mendelson said the District should go back to September council primaries and that something could be worked out regarding the federal law for overseas and military ballots. The change in primary dates would have to get through the council and, in the best-case scenario, be supported by the mayor and reviewed by the U.S. Congress. John Falcicchio, chief of staff for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), said there have been discussions on the matter. “With the turnout that we had in the June primary, we are open to discussing when the primary should take place,” he said. WI
SILVERMAN from Page 23
Amendment Act at the very end of the council period. “As a union, we’re greatly appreciative of the work Council member Silverman did to put [the legislation] forward, but it was a concession, in a sense,” Yahnae Barner, vice president for the D.C.-area chapter of 1199 SEIU, said during a celebratory luncheon at Silverman’s council office Tuesday afternoon. However, not all was lost, the union leader said. “Council member Silverman did all that she could do in her power to educate other council members,” Barner said. “Overall, she understands that health care is a big issue. She’s always been receptive and able to go across the aisle to speak to other council members.” WI
nize at the East End Hospital. To the chagrin of medical staff and union advocates, the final product greatly differed from a previous amendment also introduced by Silverman, which had guaranteed stronger protections for unionized UMC employees. In early December, the passage of Silverman’s first amendment, along with one introduced by fellow Council member Trayon White (D-Ward 8) to provide residency opportunities for Howard University medical students at the East End Hospital, nearly brought the deal to a standstill. Ultimately, a series of phone calls and private meetings in the following weeks ensured the passage of the East End Health Equity
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LIFESTYLE
wi book review horoscopes “Blended”
ARIES The focus on your sector of responsibility looks quite intense this week, and it could see you working hard to get 2019 off to a positive start. If reaching a certain goal was one of your New Year’s resolutions, you might be in the frame of mind to make a start and build momentum. Lucky Numbers: 12, 17, 29
by Sharon M. Draper c.2018, Atheneum Books for Young Readers $16.99 ($22.99 Canada) 311 pages
TAURUS You seem very serious about taking advantage of an opportunity that you can build on to secure success. An alignment of planets in your sector of new experiences and far horizons indicates that fresh paths seem to be opening for you if you’re willing to work hard to reach your goals. Lucky Numbers: 4, 7, 25 GEMINI You’re currently undergoing a time of clearing out and restructuring, particularly with sobering Saturn continuing to move through a more intense sector. And with an additional focus on this zone over the coming weeks, change could be very much a part of your daily life. This isn’t something to dread but something to embrace. Lucky Numbers: 8, 32, 33
By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer One plus one is two. It’s simple: all you have to do is add or count, easy-peasy, a trick you probably learned shortly after you could talk. One plus one is two but as you grow up, you’ll notice that math can get funny and, in the case of the new book “Blended” by Sharon M. Draper, one plus one might suddenly become more. Eleven-year-old Isabella Badia Thornton has two homes. It’s not like she’s rich or anything. It’s true, though, that one house is like a mansion and the other is really small, but the first one is her dad’s house and the second belongs to her mom. Isabella has a bedroom in each home because her parents got divorced when she was a little kid and it’s been a mess ever since. What she doesn’t like: the “slicing in half every seven days” thing when her parents exchange custody at the mall. Ugh. What she loves: her tall, funny, cocoa-skinned dad who bought her a baby grand because Isabella is obsessed with playing piano; and her beautiful, blonde mother, who noticed Isabella’s talent back when Izzy was almost still a baby. Isabella would never choose between parents but sometimes, standing with one foot in two homes, between two races, is really, really hard. Her friends are super-understanding and her parents’ friends are cool. Her BFFs, Heather and Imani, let Isabella vent. Her mom’s boyfriend, John Mark, has sunburned skin, tats, and a big truck and he makes Mom happy. Anastasia, Isabella’s dad’s “lady friend” is elegant and sweet and Isabella likes Darren, Anastasia’s college-age son. So it’s not like she doesn’t have people who love her, right? But when you’re 11 years old, there’s a lot to figure out. Other kids can be jerks at school, and do dumb things. Adults can do equally stupid things by making decisions without asking the kids who are affected. Racial issues occur, even when they definitely shouldn’t. And when bad things happen to good kids, it’s nice to know who you can always count on. It can be assumed that author Sharon M. Draper was a little girl, once upon a time. Can we assume she remembers it keenly? Because in “Blended,” she taps perfectly into the emotions and the figuring-it-out period that almost-teenagers endure today. In getting inside the head of a preteen girl, Draper presents a great young character that happens to hate drama. Still, Isabella is a typical kid with bashful boy-crazy moments and fierce-girl classmate conflicts, but her forthrightness and willingness to ask for help could be a boon for any “blended” child in similar situations. Parents might also appreciate that many of Draper’s characters are not assigned a race, which subtly puts the emphasis of much of the plot on the action rather than on the color of skin. Meant purely for young readers ages 9 to 12, this middle-grade book is fun, profanity-free, and relevant now. Give it to the girl who needs a sharp story; for her, “Blended” is a good one. WI WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
CANCER It may seem as though you’re being pressured by others into doing things that you don’t really want to do. A very intense line-up in your sector of relating hints that you might need to set firmer boundaries so you have time for yourself and for those things that are important to you. Lucky Numbers: 6, 23, 46 LEO If your life seems to consist of nothing but work, you may wonder what you’ve done to deserve this. With sobering Saturn and intense Pluto in this zone for some time to come, the cosmos is offering you the perfect opportunity to restructure your lifestyle and routines. Lucky Numbers: 1, 19, 39 VIRGO If you’re very serious about promoting your creative talents, this is a good time to do so. With a very intense line-up in your sector of creativity and self-expression, you might be ready to put everything into launching a product or getting the recognition you deserve. However, it’s best not to force the pace, particularly around Friday when the sun merges with persistent Pluto. Lucky Numbers: 4, 20, 53 LIBRA Whatever else is happening in your life, home and domestic affairs can seem to be intense and take up a lot of time and attention. However, with lovely Venus, your guide planet, gliding into Sagittarius, you might decide it isn’t worth beating around the bush and say exactly what you think. Other factors suggest that this isn’t the time to pussyfoot around. If you do, your views may get trampled on. Lucky Numbers: 5, 9, 40 SCORPIO As 2019 gets underway, there is a powerful focus on your sector of talk and thought that suggests a lot of mental work and plenty of administrative planning and organization. At the same time, even trivial matters could receive your full attention so that you potentially turn a mole hill into a mountain. If you have complex plans, you can do a thorough job and leave no stone unturned to make sure everything is researched and double-checked. Lucky Numbers: 5, 26, 50 SAGITTARIUS Although the presence of expressive Jupiter in your sign could encourage you to set your sights high and be adventurous, you need to be practical as well. There’s a major’s focus on your money zone, with sobering Saturn and potent Pluto here for quite some time yet. And along with chatty Mercury and the sun, things could get intense this week. Lucky Numbers: 18, 31, 44 CAPRICORN The very powerful focus on your sign continues this week, ensuring that you’re on target with your plans and firing on all cylinders. But just as you’re at your most focused, lovely Venus moves into your spiritual sector on Monday, and this could divert your attention to subtler matters. With lovely Venus, your romance planet, in this sector, you may find yourself enjoying encounters in spiritual circles. Lucky Numbers: 6, 9, 36 AQUARIUS It could seem as though you’re on a permanent retreat with the current very serious focus on a secluded and spiritual sector of your chart. You may be looking at life from the inside out and realizing that it isn’t so much what you do but who you are that counts. This intense energy can encourage you to clean up your act and release unwanted emotional baggage. If going through all of this seems unnecessarily painful, think of the freedom and sense of joy that will come when you’ve finally released it. Lucky Numbers: 8, 11, 14 PISCES Your social life is very much emphasized, yet you may be involved in an organizational or volunteer capacity. Your time with others may not be so much about having fun but more about supporting your community or local club and helping behind the scenes. Although commendable, don’t forget to take the time to unwind as well. Lucky Numbers: 5, 13, 15
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 35 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
SPORTS St. John’s Edges Georgetown
5 Georgetown guard Greg Malinowski elevates for a layup attempt in front of two St. John’s defenders during St. Johns’ 97-94 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Saturday, Jan. 5. (Photo by John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 Georgetown center Jessie Govan dunks during a 97-94 loss to St. John’s at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Saturday, Jan. 5. (Photo by John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) (Bottom Left) Washington Wizards center Thomas Bryant spins out of the post against an Atlanta Hawks defender during the Wizards’ 114-98 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 2. (Photo by John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 6 Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal drives against Atlanta Hawks guard Daniel Hamilton during the Wizards’ 114-98 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 2. (Photo by John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
36 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
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4 Rock Newman was one of the emcees for the evening during Mayor Bowser’s DC Proud party at the Anthem in Southwest on Saturday, Jan. 5. (Mark Mahoney/ The Washington Informer)
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5 Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks attends Mayor Bowser’s DC Proud party with two guests at the Anthem in Southwest on Saturday, Jan. 5. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
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5 R&B artist Ledisi performs during Mayor Bowser’s DC Proud party at the Anthem in Southwest on Saturday, Jan. 5. (Mark Mahoney/The Washington Informer)
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5 The DC Proud party presented by Mayor Bowser also featured Raheem Devaughn at the Anthem in Southwest on Saturday, Jan. 5. (Mark Mahoney/The Washington Informer)
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38 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
nonprofits, and community organizations — who placed the finishing touches on preparations for the 13th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Walk & Parade during a meeting last weekend at St. Elizabeths East Gateway Pavilion in Southeast. For her, learning about the event’s educational component, an essay contest about voting rights, proved the most impactful. “There’s a tendency for education to not be as popular as the other subjects,” Ward said. “Those who do a lot in education don’t get recognized. When we talk about our youth, you have to deal with the seed and the root. Education is the root for the youth, who are the seeds. If they get an education, everything can sprout.” The peace walk, taking place on the morning of Jan. 21, will take revelers through downtown Anacostia in Southeast, starting at the Black Workers Wellness Center, formerly known as the United Black Fund headquarters, and ending near Anacostia Park on Good Hope Road in Southeast. The parade will follow, wrapping up at the Gateway DC Pavilion. Events in the days leading up to the Martin Luther King Peace Walk & Parade include an annual prayer breakfast at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church in Southeast on Saturday, and a private event on Jan. 17 at Revival Temple Full Gospel Church in Southeast for families who have lost loved ones to gun violence. On Jan. 16, winners of the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute’s King holiday essay contest will read their work explaining why young people deserve the right to vote. “The parade and march involve people and organization actively involved in addressing violence in our community. It’s in the memory of Dr. King, an advocate for non-violent solutions to our problems,” said Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer, who serves as co-chair for the event’s planning committee along with returning citizens advocate Stuart Anderson. On Jan. 21, Barnes and WJLA-TV (Channel 7) news anchor Sam Ford will be mistress and master of ceremonies. “We hope that these events will reinforce the commitment the majority of people in Ward 8 have to nonviolence,” Barnes added. “The greatest challenge is making sure we have young people at the table to learn how and why we do this. We want to continue Dr. King’s legacy in the coming generations.”
FRONT LINES OF A MOVEMENT
On Jan. 15, 1979, what would have been King’s 50th birthday, thenWard 8 Council member Wilhelmi-
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
5 Scenes from a recent King Parade. (WI File photo)
na Rolark, Washington Informer founder Calvin Rolark, and radio personality Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene hosted the inaugural Dr. Martin Luther King parade. On that day, Ward 8 residents marched along the street that had come to be known as Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, due partly to Rolark’s efforts. Around that time, the D.C. Council, with Rolark as a key facilitator, passed legislation making King’s birthday a local holiday. These events placed D.C. among the growing number of cities and states leading the charge for a federal holiday in King’s honor. In 1983, 15 years after former Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich) first introduced legislation to institutionalize the practice, President Ronald Reagan (R) signed the bill into law. Since King’s 1968 assassination, civil rights groups, activists and celebrities including music legend Stevie Wonder, had stood on the front lines of a movement to make the holiday possible. At the second annual King parade in 1980, Wonder served as a grand marshal. The parade, then taking place around St. Elizabeths, concluded with a children’s program at Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, the place then known as Covenant Baptist Church where Rolark’s office provided constituent services. Wonder, along with comedian and activist Dick Gregory, Rep. Ron Dellums (D-Calif.), and among other dignitaries, addressed an intergenerational audience of Ward 8 residents. The King parade would remain a permanent fixture in Ward 8 for several years to come, until 2005 when frigid weather conditions forced its cancellation. The following year, Councilman Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) moved the parade to April, in commemoration of King’s assassination, to the chagrin of some residents. Between 2007 and 2011, in the absence of the original parade that cemented King’s legacy in the Ward 8 community, Barnes, along with returning citizens advocate Yango
Sawyer and Keith Silver, founder of Beloved Communities for PEACE, organized a coalition of churches and community groups around a peace walk. In 2012, the original parade had been resurrected, only to be replaced by the peace walk again in 2013 due to financial and logistical constraints. By 2015, the peace walk had been combined with the parade. The Bowser administration, in consultation with King holiday steering committee, decided that the parade and protest would coexist, though the parade would follow a route completely different from its counterpart. This year, amid concerns about the longevity of this event in a city where other large public gatherings have fallen to the wayside, the Martin Luther King peace walk and parade has been sponsored by Events DC, The Washington Informer Charities, and a St. Elizabeths block grant. But Merilyn C. Holmes, founder and executive director of Total Sunshine, Inc., a Iocal nonprofit geared toward supporting D.C. students in their educational endeavors, said it’s the dedication of committee members that pumps life into what she described as one of the District’s more organic, neighborhood-oriented King holiday celebrations. Since joining planning efforts in 2008, Holmes has played her part, promoting the festivities on her public access television show and engaging young people who can carry on the tradition. “The parade will continue because there are so many people who want to keep Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy,” Holmes said. “If it wasn’t for the committee, I’m not sure what the celebration would look like. It’s imperative that we maintain a committee of committed individuals. There are many heads of local nonprofits who volunteer their time in order to make sure Dr. King’s life is celebrated properly.” WI
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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
The Man in the Mirror: Make That Change The new year is finally here and the celebrations are all done. After more than 200,000 years of the existence of human beings, according to universetoday.com, this leaves you and me with our short life span of one to 90 years or so. The Book of James 4:14 describes our short lives this way: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Vanishes? Have YOU found YOUR purpose? Ephesians 2:10 says this about our purpose: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Let’s just take a moment to review a part of the lyrics from the song, “Man in the Mirror.” It says, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror/I’m asking him to change his ways/And no message could have been any clearer/If you want to make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself and then make a change.” New Year’s is a time of self-reflection; when we set out to make that change. We vow to lose weight, we plan to marry, get divorced, move to better homes, seek new directions, decide to become vegan, so much more. First place to look, though, Mt. Zion Baptist Church Reverend John W. Davis Pastor 5101 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.) Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m. “A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold”
is in the mirror. Take a look at yourself and evaluate whether you are doing what you were sent here to do. Have you gotten the same message year after year, but you have ignored that small voice, because what it is saying into your spirit seems too huge for you to comprehend? While enjoying family in Gilbert, Arizona, near Phoenix, I have enjoyed several Netflix documentaries. “Quincy,” the story of the life of Quincy Jones, was epic! Even with his humble beginnings on the South Side of Chicago, a mother who was committed to a mental institution when he was only 7 years old, there was one aspect that really stood out: Jones said his grandmother would cook whatever she could — collard greens, possums, rats! It was back in 1939, but rats, of all things — what a shocker! Unheard of! But Quincy said his grandmother did it! Jones said that when he was a young teenager, he broke into a commissary for food. While he was inside, he saw an old-fashioned, upright piano. The trajectory of his life changed at that moment. Rather than continuing with gang life, which is what all the kids in his world did, Jones followed the voice inside of his head. And look how his life has turned out! Why do you think his life
has been so rewarding? He has lived his life on purpose, writing music, performing, using the talents God sent him to earth with. We really don’t know what will happen in our lives, but the Holy Spirit does know — just follow that lead! WI Lyndia Grant is a speaker/ writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www. lyndiagrantshow.com, email lyndiagrant@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook. Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958 Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.
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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
John F. Johnson Reverend Dr. 1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005 Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m. Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com
www.mtzbcdc.org
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JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 39 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church
Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor
Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724
Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 a.m. 7 10:00 a.m. Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849 Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00am 5th Sundays: 9:30am 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30pm www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org
Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ
Blessed Word of Life Church
Church of Living Waters
Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor
Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor
Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor
Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor
2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org
800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703
4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00am Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30am 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00am Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30pm Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00am “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”
Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45am Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00pm Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00pm Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment
1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661
Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00am Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30pm Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org
St. Stephen Baptist Church
Third Street Church of God
Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors
Rev. Dr. Alice Greene Interim Pastor
Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor
Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor
4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax
3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax)
5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555
1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office 202-638-1803 fax
Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00am Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30pm
Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am Worship Services Bible Study: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30pm (dinner @ 5:30pm) Sunday School: 9:00am – Hour of Power
www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org
“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantdc.org
Campbell AME Church
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 am Sunday Church School: 8:45 am Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 pm Thursday: 7: pm “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020
Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: gr8luv4u2@gmail.com
www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org
Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor 610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax
Sunday Worship Service: 8 AM and 10:45am Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45am; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45am; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6am & 6:30pm Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org emailus@gmchc.org
St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us... Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00am Worship Service: 10:00am Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45pm Thur. Bible Study: 7:15pm
(Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 am Communion every Sunday: 11:00 am Sunday School: 10:00 am Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 pm Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com
Mount Carmel Baptist Church Reverend Gerald H. Hesson Interim Pastor
Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher
Service and Times Sunday School - 10:15 am Sunday Worship Service - 11;15 am Children’s Church - 11:15 am Tuesday Bible Study - 6:30 pm
“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital”
Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:20 a.m. Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net
Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor
Turning Hearts Church
421 Alabama Ave. SE Washington, DC 20032 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445
“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net
Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 am
E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org “God is Love”
Isle of Patmos Baptist Church
Twelfth Street Christian Church
Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org
Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45am Church School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45am Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 pm Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30am
Crusader Baptist Church
901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10am Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00pm Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00pm Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10am
40 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
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RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church
All Nations Baptist Church
King Emmanuel Baptist Church
Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor
Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor
Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor
7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471
2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591
2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730
Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Service 11:00 a.m. Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.” Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com
Zion Baptist Church Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:15AM Sunday School: 9:00am Monday: Noon Bible School Wednesday: Noon & 7PM: Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission Zion Baptist Church Shall; Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, and Exalt Our Savior. (Acts 2:41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org
St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m. Sunday School: 9:15 a.m. Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 pm Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon
Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards
Israel Baptist Church
Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor
2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office • (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . . 100% Forgiven!
623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 Fax (202) 483-4009
4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 8:00am & 10:45am Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30pm Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00pm www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org
“Where Jesus is the King”
Lincoln Park United Methodist Church
Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith
Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor
Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor
1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288
1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lincolnpark@lpumcdc.org www.lpumcdc.org
5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Sunday School: 8:30 A.M. Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10: am Holy Communion: First Sunday 10: am Sunday School: 9: am Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30pm Motto: "Faith On The Hill"
Mount Moriah Baptist Church
Eastern Community Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 P.M Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 P.M. Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged. The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42
New Commandment Baptist Church
Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor
Damion M. Briggs Pastor
Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor
1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964
8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240
13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 am and 10:45 am Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 am & 10:45 am Sunday School: 9:30 am Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 pm Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 pm Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 pm
Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM
Rehoboth Baptist Church
“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org
Salem Baptist Church
Holy Trinity United Baptist Church
Florida Avenue Baptist Church
Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor
Rev. Dr. Morris L Shearin, Sr. Pastor
Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org
St. Matthews Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 am Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 am Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 am Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 pm
Emmanuel Baptist Church
“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 p.m. Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 p.m. Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 p.m. Noonday Prayer Every Thursday
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Rev. Joan E. Buchanan Executive Pastor 2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304 Service and Times Early Worship Service: 7:30am Worship Service: 11:00am New Member’s Class: 9:45am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00am Church School: 9:45am Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00pm Saturday Bible Study: 11:00am Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00am
Service and Times 9:30AM. Sunday Church School 11:00 Am. Sunday Worship Service The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Wednesday 7:00pm Prayer & Praise Services 7:30pm. Bible Study Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries 10:30am A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net
Christ Embassy DC
Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator 6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Friday Evening Service: 7:00 P.M. ; Last Friday “…Giving Your Life a Meaning” www.Christembassydc.org Christ.embassy.dc@hotmail.com
“Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”
Peace Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Early Morning Prayer & Bible Study Class 8:00 am Sunday School 9:00 am Sunday Morning Worship Service 10:00 am Wednesday Service 12:00 pm
Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor 3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 A.M. Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 A.M. Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 P.M. Prayer Service Bible Study
“The Loving Church of the living lord “ Email Address: admin@pbc712.org
Shiloh Baptist Church
First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Mt. Horeb Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor
Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor
Rev. David McIntosh-Peters Pastor
Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor
Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor
Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor
2001 Brooks Drive District Heights, MD 20744 (240) 838-7074
621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112
917 N St. NW - Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-4294
9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288
Service and Times Sunday Service: 10 am Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 am 1st Sunday Baptism: 10: am 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10 am Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 pm Prayer Meeting: 7:45 pm
Service and Times Sunday Morning Prayer Service: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:15 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship: 10:40 a.m. Third Sunday Baptismal & Holy Communion:10:30 a.m. Tuesday Church At Study Prayer & Praise: 6:30 p.m.
Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 a.m. Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 a.m. Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 p.m.
602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595
2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 a.m. Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30 a.m. & 10:30a.m. Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 12 Noon
Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”
The Church Where GOD Is Working.... And We Are Working With GOD
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:15 am Sunday School: 9:00 am Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting / Bible Study: Tuesday at 7 pm Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church with an Emphasis on “Evangelism and Discipleship” Email: pastorstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org
Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 a.m. Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30 a.m. Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 p.m. Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “
Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 41 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2018 ADM 001427 Lucille Spencer Harris Decedent James Larry Frazier, Esq. 918 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Gary Harris, whose address is 4091 Summit Crossing Drive, Decatur, GA 30034, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lucille Spencer Harris who died on September 8, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 27, 2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before June 27, 2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: December 27, 2018
LEGAL NOTICES
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001306
Irving Hutchinson Decedent
Dale Marie Johnson Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Mona Clemonts, whose address is 28 Hanover Place, NW, Washington, DC 20001, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Irving Hutchinson, who died on October 3, 2018 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 27, 2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before June 27, 2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Dianne Dunlap, whose address is 5054 10th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Dale Marie Johnson who died on February 11, 2018 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/27/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/27/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Date of first publication: December 27, 2018
Date of first publication: 12/27/2018
Mona Clemonts Personal Representative
Dianne Dunlap Personal Representative
Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Anne Meister
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Foreign No. 2018 FEP 000167
Molester Foxworth, Jr. Decedent
May 27, 2011
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Brian L. Portwine
Felicia Foxworth Dixon Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Washington Informer
Administration No. 2018 ADM 1414
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001445
PROBATE DIVISION
Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Date of Death
Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Peggy J. McNamara, whose address is 1360
Primrose Drive, Roswell, GA 30076 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Brian L. Portwine,
deceased, by the Circuit Court for Volusia County, State of Florida, on November 21, 2017.
Service of process may be made upon Joshua
Branson, 1615 M Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C.
The decedent owned District of Columbia personal
property. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of
Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW,
Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.
Date of first publication: 12/27/2018
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Felicia Foxworth Dixon, whose address is 7202 Ballantrae Court, Clinton, MD 20735, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Molester Foxworth, Jr. who died on July 26, 2018 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/27/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/27/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Gary Harris Personal Representative
Anne Meister Register of Wills
LEGAL NOTICES
Date of first publication: 1/3/2019
Peggy J. McNamara
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Register of Wills Washington Informer
Washington Informer
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001292
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001422
Foreign No. 2018 FEP 000166
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001437
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001484
Betty Mae Thornton aka Betty Thornton Decedent
Andre Robinson Decedent
April 23, 2008 Date of Death
Rosa Lee Kittrell Decedent
Lola S. Moy aka Lola C. Moy, Lola Clara Moy Decedent
Aimee D. Griffin 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney
Attorney Ethel Mitchell Wills and Trusts, LLC 8403 Colesville Road, # 1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attorney
Jonathon M. Cote aka Jonathon Michael Cote Name of Decedent
Gerald R. Belton 1101 L. Street, NW #806 Washington, DC 20005 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Christopher Cote, whose address is 15 Primrose Lane, East Amherst, NY 14051 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Jonathon M. Cote aka Jonathon Michael Cote, deceased, by the Surrogate’s Court for Erie County, State of New York, on October 26, 2018. Service of process may be made upon Joshua Branson, 1615 M. Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned District of Columbia personal property. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Marilyn E. Thornton, whose address is 4024 24th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20018, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Betty Mae Thornton aka Betty Thornton who died on August 31, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/27/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/27/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: 12/27/2018 Marilyn E. Thornton Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
42 JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Minnie Carter, whose address is 1127 Sigsbee Place, NE, Washington, DC 20017, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Andre Robinson who died on May 10, 2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/27/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/27/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: 12/27/2018
Date of first publication: 1/3/2019 Christopher Cote Personal Representative
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Marion K. Rodgers, whose address is 5205 Whitfield Chapel Road, Lanham, MD 20706, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Rosa Lee Kittrell who died on June 13, 2002 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/3/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/3/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Constance G. Starks, Esq. 7053 Western Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20015 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Ronnie W. Messersmith, whose address is 1611 Butler Street, SE, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lola S. Moy aka Lola C. Moy, Lola Clara Moy who died on September 12, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/3/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/3/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: 1/3/2019
Date of first publication: 1/3/2019
Ronnie W. Messersmith Personal Representative
Marion K. Rodgers Personal Representative
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Minnie Carter Personal Representative
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Washington Informer
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Trust No. 2018 NRT 000049 Linda D. Irika aka Linda Darlene Irika aka Linda Irika Name of Deceased Settlor NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST Linda D. Irika aka Linda Darlene Irika aka Linda Irika whose address was 412 20th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 created a revocable trust on August 7, 2018, which remained in existence on the date of her death on October 17, 2018, and Patricia J. Huggs, Trustee, whose address is 2311 Rosecroft Boulevard, Fort Washington, MD 20744, is the currently acting trustee, hereinafter the Trustee. Communications to the Trust should be mailed or directed to Patricia J. Huggs at 2311 Rosecroft Boulevard, Fort Washington, MD 20744 The Trust is subject to claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors, costs of administration of the settlor’s estate, the expense of the deceased settlor’s funeral and disposal of remains, and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse and children to the extent the deceased settlor’s residuary probate estate is inadequate to satisfy those claims, costs, expenses, and allowances. Claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors are barred as against the Trustee and the trust property unless presented to the Trustee at the address provided herein on or before 6/27/2019 (6 month after the date of the first publication of this notice.) An action to contest the validity of this trust must be commenced by the earliest of (1), October 17, 2019 (One year from date of death of deceased settlor) (2), 6/27/2019 (6 months from the date of first publication of this notice) or (3) Ninety days after the Trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice informing the person of the trust’s existence, of the Trustee’s name and address, and of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding. The Trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust before the expiration of the time within which an action must be commenced unless the Trustee knows of a pending judicial proceeding contesting the validity of the trust or the Trustee has received notice from a potential contestant who thereafter commences a judicial proceeding within sixty days after notification. This Notice must be mailed postmarked within 15 days of its first publication to each heir and qualified beneficiary of the trust and any other person who would be an interested person within the meaning of D.C. Code 20-101(d). Date of First Publication: 12/27/2018 Patricia J. Huggs Signature of Trustee
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2018 ADM 1460
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001477
Administration No. 2018 ADM 866
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001492
Debra T. Middleton Decedent
Linda D. Irika aka Linda Darlene Irika aka Linda Irika Decedent
Juan Zamorano Decedent
Gerald A. Fauntroy Decedent
Deborah D. Boddie, Esquire Probate Law DC 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 Attorney
Deborah D. Boddie, Esq. Probate Law DC 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 Attorney
Kisha L. Woolen, Esq. Tobin O’Connor & Ewing 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, #700 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney
Deborah D. Boddie, Esq. Probate Law DC 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Patricia J. Huggs, whose address is 2311 Rosecroft Boulevard, Fort Washington, MD 20744, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Linda D. Irika aka Linda Darlene Irika aka Linda Irika who died on October 17, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/10/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/10/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Jennifer C. Concino, Esq., whose address is 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, #700, Washington, DC 20015, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Juan Zamorano who died on January 17, 2018 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/10/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/10/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Louvel J. Fauntroy, whose address is 1513 Beaver Dam Court, Hanover, MD 20176, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Gerald A. Fauntroy who died on October 20, 2018 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/10/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/10/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Date of first publication: 1/10/2019
Date of first publication: 1/10/2019
Date of first publication: 1/10/2019
Patricia J. Huggs Personal Representative
Jennifer C. Concino Personal Representative
Louvel J. Fauntroy Personal Representative
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Wanda Means-Harris, whose address is 1320 Montague Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Debra T. Middleton who died on October 26, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/3/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/3/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: 1/3/2019 Wanda Means-Harris Personal Representative
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001451
Administration No. 2018 ADM 1441
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001499
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001459
Ruth W. Turner Decedent
Mary L. Reaves aka Mary Lee Reaves Decedent
Juanita Mae Montague Decedent
Samuel C. Hamilton, Esq. 8601 Georgia Ave., Suite 503 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attorney
Cheryl Chapman Henderson, Esq. 4920 Niagara Road, Suite 200 College Park, MD 20740 Attorney
Valerie J. Edwards 1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Gertrude Turner Wills, whose address is 10827 Bucknell Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20902, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ruth W. Turner who died on September 1, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/3/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/3/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Inez Thomas and Joycie Faison, whose addresses are 3819 Walters Lane, Forestville, MD 20747 & 7141 8th St., NW, Washington, DC 20012, were appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Mary L. Reaves aka Mary Lee Reaves who died on April 10, 2018 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/3/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/3/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Winnell Montague, whose address is 4543 Eads Place, NE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Juanita Mae Montague who died on June 7, 2012 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/10/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/10/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Date of first publication: 1/3/2019
Winnell Montague Personal Representative
Date of first publication: 1/10/2019
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Inez Thomas Joycie Faison Personal Representative
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Stacey Scott Personal Representative
Anne Meister Register of Wills
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Washington Informer
Date of first publication: 1/3/2019 Gertrude Turner Wills Personal Representative
Washington Informer
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
Date of first publication: 1/10/2019
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Jordan William Scott Decedent Joan M. Wilbon 1120 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Stacey Scott, whose address is 2217 E. Cumberland St., #2, Philadelphia, PA 19125, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Jordan William Scott who died on June 11, 2018 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/10/2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/10/2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019 43 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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COOPER from Page 26
SOUNDING THE ALARM
After Webster’s hiring in Feb. 2018 by the Greensboro Police Department was reported by the Associated Press, leaders within African-American communities throughout the Eastern Shore inter-
CAROLINE COUNTY STATE’S ATTORNEY AWAITS FULL REPORT
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During the review of Webster’s hiring last year, Chief Michael Petyo met with then-interim Caroline County State’s Attorney Joe Riley, who ran unopposed last fall and was sworn-in to serve his first full term Monday. “The only question I was asked is how would the dismissal of criminal charges impact the ability of the officer to testify in court,” Riley said. The evaluation of Webster’s application was a decision independent of the state’s attorney, according to Riley. Although Riley has publicly expressed sympathies for the family of Anton Black and met with representative counsel, his office, “doesn’t do any independent investigation.” Meanwhile, he awaits release of the final report from the Maryland State Police saying, “we cannot make any decision about the case until all of the evidence is made available.” It should be noted that the Office of State’s Attorney for Caroline County would have no jurisdiction if the Anton’s family should file a civil lawsuit. For information on the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black visit their Facebook group at www.facebook. com/CoalitionForJusticeForAntonBlack/, Twitter @CoalitionAnton or email coalition4justice4antonblack@gmail.com.
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Allegedly, evidence from the scene failed to be properly secured. Law enforcement officials from multiple towns confirmed the response of Webster alongside a presence of plainclothes officers from the nearby towns of Ridgely and Centreville. La Toya Holley, Anton’s older sister, believes a combination of her brother being tased, given Naloxone, often used to treat sufferers of heroin overdoses, and the application of a chokehold resulted in his death at the scene. “I don’t need a toxicology report to tell me my brother wasn’t on heroin,” Holley said. “Our main concern is we want prosecution [led by the] state’s attorney because someone has to be held accountable. This cannot continue to happen to black and brown young men with no justice.” Adding insult to injury, Anton’s mother says officials detained her at the scene, making it impossible for her to accompany her son to Easton Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead on the evening of Sept. 15, 2018.
nally expressed their concern. In April, Robert Thomas, a retired military serviceman and Anton’s coach for the statewide champion North Caroline High School track team, warned attendees at an annually-held awards ceremony of the looming menace of WebstAer’s presence in Eastern Shore’s Black community. He would reiterate his fear during the recent town hall as he addressed the mayor and police chief. “You sat up here and told me that, ‘Rob, it’s no way I’d hire anybody who would be a danger to this community.’ And now there’s a loss of life yet we are still respectful to be standing up here,” he recalled. The Eastern Shore’s newspaper of record, the Star Democrat, and local television station WBOC have followed the death of Anton Black and community reaction. According to a front page story in Sunday’s Star Democrat, the paper has made a formal request to the Maryland State Police under the Maryland Public Information Act for the body camera footage from Greensboro Officer Thomas Webster IV, Anton Black’s autopsy report and investigation documents. On January 4, 2019 Potter and the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black made a separate Public Information Act request to the chief of the Greensboro Police Department for documents pertaining to the hiring of Webster. According to public law, a response is required within 30 days.
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JUSTICE from Page 1
and Democrats, at our conference. We are prepared to do the same, and we will expect every candidate to explain his or her plan to address racial justice and economic opportunity and face questions about the above issues and more. WI
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blueprint for a platform that will address the concerns of Black voters can find it in the National Urban League’s Main Street Marshall Plan. The National Urban League and the Urban League Move-
ment take seriously our responsibility to challenge candidates for the highest office and remind them. Over the course of the 2016 election season, we invited all declared candidates to participate in a civil rights briefing. We also hosted a number of presidential candidates, Republicans
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MORIAL from Page 22
55-member CBC will yield unprecedented power. Five will hold the gavels of full committees and 28 of subcommittees. Rep. Karen Bass, in remarks as the new chair of the CBC, stated, “The conscience of the Congress — the Congressional Black Caucus — will fight fiercely against hate. We will not retreat and allow our past victories to be erased. The CBC will in the 116th Congress exercise every ounce of our power and influence to continue to fight for justice. Now let’s get ready for the course correction.” As I sat in the Warner Theatre, Stokes and the other 11 deceased founders of the CBC were also looking down from heaven, smiling and confident that while the struggle continues, their work was not in vain. WI
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Collins, John Conyers, Ronald Dellums, Augustus Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell and Robert Nix. With the exception of four, I was blessed to meet each. Each of the founders not only saw the need for the CBC, but also had the courage, conviction and vision to establish the caucus as a much-needed voice of Black America in the halls of Congress. For 47 years, the CBC has fought “to empower these citizens and address their legislative concerns by pursuing a policy agenda” that includes, but is not limited, to: • Reforming the criminal justice system and eliminating barriers to reentry. • Combating voter suppression. • Providing access to quality, affordable health care and eliminating
health disparities. • Promoting U.S. foreign policy initiatives in Africa and other countries that are consistent with the fundamental right of human decency. In the recent midterm elections, Democrats regained control of the House and the CBC gained nine members: Reps. Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jahana Hayes, Lauren Underwood, Lucy McBath, Steven Horsford, Joe Neguse, Antonio Delgado and Colin Allred. For the first time in history, three CBC members hold positions in the House leadership. Rep. Jim Clyburn is now the House majority whip. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was recently elected the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. And Rep. Barbara Lee now serves as a co-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. In the 116th Congress, the new
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every time you use or don’t use the card, resulting in millions of dollars to the company. This financial rape is spread across the spectrum of correctional services. I support any positive change that would reduce these impossible sentences and bring our families and friends back home. If one has all four tires flat, you have to repair all four tires — you don’t put air in one and say, “Look what we’ve done.” Men and women are released every day with little or no money after years of making nothing to pennies a day, yet have to pay for a lot of products and services they require while incarcerated, and none of the billions of dollars are shared with the inmates or their families. The practice is to give the institution a kickback for permission to provide their services to the inmate and their families, and none of the profits or commissions are shared or returned to aid or assist those being released. Our pain is someone else’s gain. Shouldn’t inmates and their families share in the billions that are generated from their money? Not only should monies be given for release and reentry purposes, but for micro loans, investments, family unification, etc. It is ironic that none of the companies that operate these sole-source, no-bid contracts are a minority company and yet Blacks and people of color are the majority of the prison population. Why did Congress not address the financial burden that is breaking the backs of families that are already poor and indigent? There are laws and reg-
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inatory police practices. Sessions directed the Justice Department to stop defending affirmative action programs and start enforcement actions against them. The administration rolled back protections for transgender students, while banning transgender people from the military. The Justice Department chose to defend a discriminatory Texas voter ID law, which a district court later ruled was passed with discriminatory intent. In department after de-
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It is easy to see the flaws in the case against Abu-Jamal. You don’t need a law degree, nor do you need to read 15,000 pages of trial transcripts understand that his trial and conviction was racially manipulated by police and prosecutors, in front of a mostly White jury which was presented tainted evidence — and that is a gross injustice. We’ve known all along that the jury pool was tainted, stripped of Blacks, that he was framed by a po-
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partment, the administration has sought to weaken civil rights divisions and cut their budgets. As head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Trump’s acting chief of staff Mike Mulvaney gutted the unit responsible for enforcing anti-discriminatory lending laws. This list can go on. Is Donald Trump personally a racist? Whatever your conclusion, Trump surely campaigned by trying to stoke racial fears and divisions. And this administration is the most hostile to civil rights and to
equal justice under the law than any since the passage of the Civil Rights laws. Trump’s defenders insist that the president objects to being called a racist, that he signed the recent legislation rolling back some of the discriminatory sentencing practices, and that he happily has his picture taken with African-American children. But the record of his administration is clear, and the disparate impact of the measures it has taken provides compelling evidence of its intent. WI
ulations that would address some of the immediate relief that’s required to release prisoners if implemented with a compassionate and humane focus. The criminal punishment system and big business equals profits. There are a few issues that should have been addressed, like the fastest growing prison population is Black women. Over 30,000 inmates are over 55 years old and have aged out of crime. Reintroduce parole, increase the wages that inmates earn, eliminate the high cost of telephone calls, make emails free, use liberal application of the furlough program, utilize family impact statements and its effect on families with young children at time of sentencing, end the school-to-prison pipeline for our children, and expedite implementation of the compassionate-release program for the elderly and infirmed. Returning control to D.C. of our correctional and paroling authority are a few issues that should have been included. Any progress in granting relief to those incarcerated in any and all forms is appreciated, but it reminds me of having your house of fire, and the fireman gives you a cup of water to put the fire out. Until we address the social and economic causes of poverty and social disenfranchisement, this First Step Act implies that there will be a Second Step, and the First Step has taken years of politicking. Hopefully the second step will happen while we still have feet to step. For the men and women incarcerated who heard that Congress will pass legislation on prison reform,
gave everyone hope for some type of relief from the discriminatory and racial practices, but not every inmate will see any type of benefit from this legislation. Everyone needs hope and not every federal inmate will receive any, depending on nature of violent crime, availability of institutional programs that are supposed to make one eligible for earlier release to the halfway house. The BOP has closed 16 halfway houses nationally, causing some inmates to be incarcerated longer. Mothers of children younger than 10 should be given furloughs to maintain parental unification during incarceration, 75 percent of whom are primary caregivers. The biggest losers are our children. They, too, are serving sentences. No released inmate should be made to pay income taxes after serving five years or more. Do we thank you for the First Step Act? Any relief is needed, but how do you rectify the racial and discriminatory practices that have gotten us to this point? The powers that be are praising this bipartisan participation. African Americans have been stepped on for over 400 years. Let’s get to the Last Step and release those imprisoned now. Unjustly treated because of the color of their skin, discriminatory and racial application of unjust laws, only attitudes and compassionate humaneness will change this. Piecemeal legislation will result in piecemeal results. Our car has been totally wrecked and the First Step Act will fix only one tire. WI
lice force, a prosecutor, and a judiciary tainted by racism. But there’s even more. A decade ago, pictures from the night of the shooting emerged, revealing police evidence tampering and other contamination of the crime scene. The photos were taken by freelance photographer Pedro Polakoff the night of the shooting, and Abu-Jamal’s supporters insist they prove that the conspiracy to blame him began that night at the crime scene. “There’s a number of shots showing deliberate manipulation and
corruption of the crime scene,” Washington told this writer at the time. And so the beat goes on. The efforts to suppress any Black leader, whether he’s a militant journalist like Mumia Abu-Jamal or a dedicated Atlanta Muslim leader like Imam Jamil el-Amin, continue in full effect. But with a steadfast and sincere defense of the truth, we will prevail. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Free Imam Jamil el-Amin. Free all Black political prisoners in the U.S. WI
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