WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 35 • June 15 - 21, 2023
Fathers Day: Highlighting A Father of Gospel Music
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Things to Do Around the DMV to Celebrate Juneteenth 2023 White House Celebrates with Star-Studded Concert By Stacy M. Brown and Milaka Saddler WI Senior Correspondent and WI Contributing Writer
Juneteenth, a significant holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States, holds even greater importance this year after President Biden signed it into law in 2021, designating June 19 as the Juneteenth National Independence Day. The historical origins of Juneteenth trace back to June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce to enslaved individuals that they were finally free. This momentous event occurred two and a half years af-
5 Opal Lee, known as the Grandmother of Juneteenth, was surprised when Vice President Kamala Harris invited her to the stage during the White
JUNETEENTH Page 33 House's first Juneteenth concert on June 13. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Worries Remain While Wildfire Smoke Moves On
A Street to Soon be Named in Makiyah Wilson’s Honor The Ceremonious Designation Honors Child Taken by Gun Violence
By Kayla Benjamin WI Climate & Environment Writer
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
As wildfire smoke from Canada engulfed the northeast U.S., the District of Columbia saw record-breaking levels of dangerous particle pollution in its air on June 7 and 8. Photos of D.C.’s famous monuments and landmarks shrouded in hazy smog circulated online as the city issued a Code Purple alert for “very unhealthy” air. Most of the smoke has now moved out to the Atlantic, leaving D.C. with clear air. But wildfire smoke will likely become a more common experience for our region in the coming years as fossil fuel emissions continue to heat up the planet. And experts warn that even short-term exposure to toxic air can have long-lasting health impacts. “What I try to tell people is that if you don't take air qual-
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5 Donnetta Wilson, the mother of the late Makiyah Wilson, stands next to a cutout board figure of the child who was murdered on July 16, 2018 in the Clay Terrace community in Northeast. The D.C. Council approved a resolution that ceremoniously designates the 300 block of 53rd Street in Northeast as “Makiyah Wilson Way.” (Courtesy Photo)
The D.C. Council recently approved a resolution that names a street in Northeast in honor of Makiyah Wilson, a child who lost her life to gun violence five years ago. The resolution, unanimously approved by the D.C. Council on June 6, symbolically designates the 300 block of 53rd Street in Northeast as “Makiyah Wilson Way.” On July 16, 2018, Makiyah was shot and killed on that block, what many know as part of the Clay Terrace community. In the years since Makiyah’s murder,
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Makiyah’s mother Donnetta Wilson has worked to combat gun violence through the Makiyah Lee Wilson Foundation, which establishes relationships with community members and raises funds to support movements geared toward quelling gun violence and curbing homelessness. Wilson and other members of the
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