WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 20 • March 2 - 8, 2023
Capture the Moment
Page 42
Youth Continue to Weigh in on Public Safety Issues
Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
Amid demands for more police, some young people are calling for more of a nuanced response to the epidemic of youth violence and crime gripping the District. Their solutions involve addressing bullying and the culture of low expectations that young people encounter in the school system. For some people, like AaLiyha Bunter, lowering crime also means realizing police officers can do only but so much to make communities safer, oftentimes because of the harsh manner in which they interact with District residents. “I hear about police killing Black
folks and hurting innocent people,” said AaLiyha, a 13-year-old Southeast resident. “I don’t see them always being the solution for violence happening in the city. Police officers can be helpful when they are around communities and helping somebody in need. When they see something, they can ask questions because a situation may not seem how it looks.”
EXAMINING A POLARIZING TOPIC
AaLiyha counted among several young people who converged on R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center in Southeast for a youth hearing that
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5 Several young people who converged on R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center in Southeast for a youth hearing that D.C. Councilmembers Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Trayon White (D-Ward 8) conducted on Feb. 25. (D.R. Barnes/ The Washington Informer)
Councilmember McDuffie Makes Another Attempt at Reparations Task Force
Medical Aid in Dying Appears Poised to Pass Richard D. Elliott WI Contributing Reporter
Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Member
Over the last couple of years, state and local governments have either commissioned a reparations task force or secured a form of recompense for African Americans whose descendants experienced chattel slavery. With the reintroduction of his legislation, D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At large) hopes to guide the District along a similar track. McDuffie recently reintroduced the Reparations Foundation Fund and Task Force Establishment Act. If passed, the legislation would establish a nine-member task force to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans living in the District -- and especially those who descended from enslaved people. It 5Councilmember KenyanMcDuffie (I-At-Large) reintroduced the Reparations Foundation Fund and Task Force
REPARATIONS Page 46 Establishment Act. (WI File Photo/ Marckell Williams)
Greg, who chose not to offer his last name, was one of the dozens of volunteers who took to Annapolis’ Treasury Building and outside on Lawyer’s Mall on Feb. 21 to prepare for lobbying on the main issue of the day: medical aid in dying. “I was asked by a good friend to buy a gun to shoot himself. He has emphysema, was dying a slow and painful death. I said never again,” Greg declared. Medical aid in dying, also known as assisted suicide or physician-assisted suicide, allows terminally ill patients to self-administer fatal medications in consultation with a doctor. Currently, this practice is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia. “This is the year we’re gonna pass this bill,” said Donna Smith, state director for the Compassion and Choices Action Network, to a roar of applause. She explained that the bill will likely pass in the Senate Judiciary
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