RECIPIENT OF THE DC BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION 2023 LEGACY AWARD
Serving Our Community in the DMV
Vol 59 No 23... March 21 - 27, 2024
Capture the Moment Page 43
Longer Cherry Blossom Bloom Expected After Record Early Peak
Last Spring Before the Removal of Around 150 Trees for Sea Wall Restoration By Kayla Benjamin WI Climate & Environment Reporter The District’s cherry blossoms officially hit peak bloom on Sunday, the National Park Service announced on X, formerly Twitter, late that afternoon. It’s the second-earliest date for peak bloom ever recorded, and it started nearly a week ahead of the window NPS initially predicted in late February. Fortunately, this week’s cooler weather may allow the blossoms to stick around a little longer than usual, according to Mike Litterst, NPS spokesperson for the National Mall and Memorial Parks. “In the average year, we'll get seven to 10 days out of the blossoms,” Litterst said. “We get a run at cool temperatures here, may5 Brothers from Florida check out the cherry blossoms with their parents, who booked the D.C. family vacation after a planned class trip was canceled. “I’m lucky that we came in the spring… I really loved to see all of this,” Dory Pardieu, 10, said. (Kayla Benjamin/The Washington Informer)
BLOSSOMS Page 52
Overextended Parents Fight for Public Investments in Early Childcare
4Gallaudet Street NE was symbolically designated Alexander Crummell Way, a move celebrated at an event hosted by Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker on Friday. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
Ward 5 Honors Black History Heroes: Alexander Crummell Way Unveiled in Ivy City
By Kayla Benjamin WI Climate & Environment Reporter
Nine streets across Ward 5 will host naming ceremonies this year as the city symbolically designates them in honor of local Black history giants. First up: Alexander Crummell Way in Ivy City. “Today is not just a day to name a street, but it’s [a day] to honor the
CRUMMEL Page 38
New Report Shows the Effects of Unaffordable Childcare on Families, Businesses and Taxpayers By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
For years, Troneice Harrington has struggled to juggle her motherly duties with a full-time job that allows her to support her family. She said that the lack of flexible, affordable childcare plays a significant role in her ongoing dilemma. Harrington, a Ward 8 resident and mother of two, spends nearly $400 a month -- 15% of her income -- on childcare for her five-year-old daughter. While her job at a D.C.-area homeless shelter provides her family some financial stability, she has found it difficult to get to work on time in recent years because of her children’s morning schedule.
CHILDCARE Page 38
3Civil rights activist Dorie Ladner, pictured at a Freedom Orientation in Ohio in June 1964, died on March 11 in Washington, D.C. She was 81. (Courtesy Photo/SNCC Digital Gateway, Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs, USM)
Remembering the Life of Civil Rights Activist Dorie Ladner By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer Dorie Ladner, a passionate intellectual from Mississippi who became one of the most ferocious activists in the Civil Rights Movement, died in Washington, D.C., on March 11. She was 81.
The late Ladner was a leader in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who dropped out of college in the 1960s to become a foot soldier on the frontlines of many struggles. Her sister, Joyce Ladner, said the late activist always
Celebrating 59 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news and information.
LADNER Page 52