VOL. 52, NO. 40 • JULY 20 - 26, 2017
Babyface at the Summer Spirit Festival / Page 28
D.C. Steps Up Efforts to Combat Opioid Epidemic
Summer Spirit Festival Pages 28-31
Donna Edwards Talks Health Care, Politics Undecided on Next Step
By Tatyana Hopkins WI Staff Writer
On an average day nationwide: more than 650,000 opioid prescriptions are dispensed, 3,900 people initiate nonmedical use of prescription opioids, 2,580 people initiate heroin use and 278 people die from an opioid-related overdose, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The crisis has garnered responses from federal and local governments alike. Mayor Muriel Bowser highlighted D.C.'s efforts to combat its opioid epidemic, which largely affects
OPIODS Page 38
5 Donna Edwards /WI File Photo by Patricia Little
5 (Left to right) Tamika Mallory, Carmen Perez, Linda Sarsour stand with image drawn by Demont Pinder (2nd left) during the march from the National Rifle Association in Virginia to the Justice Department in Northwest on July 14. /Photo by David Moriya via @roguephotonyc
prise the laity of America’s stronghold of the Black faithful. Joined by just under 150 supporters including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Ca.) who served as the spokesperson for the Congressional Black Caucus, the minsters held a press conference on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building to denounce both the “immoral budget” proposed by the Trump Administration and the “equally unjust health care bill” most recently put before the Senate for approval and in breaking news, apparent-
Former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) had thousands of Prince George's County residents talking when she publicly revealed in a letter last week that she has multiple sclerosis. The letter, addressed to her former Congressional colleagues, states she received her diagnosis during a sitin in Congress on gun control legislation in June 2016. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society says the disease attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. She's since appeared on national television talk shows and podcasts speaking about health care and her condition. If Republicans on Capitol Hill vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass their own health care legislation, she said her and others' insurance costs would drastically
PROTEST Page 16
EDWARDS Page 11
America’s Black Clergy Confront Congress, Trump
Faith Leaders Reject ‘Immoral Budget,’ ‘Unjust Health Care Bill’ By Lauren Poteat, Contributing Writer, and D. Kevin McNeir, WI Editor
5 Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina
State Conference of the NAACP, joined a host of national clergy, July 18 on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. “We’re willing to march in, sit in, protest, preach in, and even go to jail in this season,” Barber said. “In this moment, bowing down is not an option.” /Photo by E Watson/EDI
Dozens of faith leaders from across the country, all members of the centuries-old collective commonly referred to as the “Black Church,” converged on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, July 18, sending a message of discontent and a prophetic word opposing injustice to President Donald Trump and the Republican-dominated Congress on behalf of the hundreds of millions of African Americans who com-
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Celebrating 52 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area