The Washington Informer - October 11, 2018

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VOL. 53, NO. 52 • OCTOBER 11 - 17, 2018

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Victories, Challenges Remain

Financial Literacy Supplement Center Section

Council’s Domestic Violence Bill Lies Dormant

Anti-K2 Activists Seek Crackdown on Local Businesses

Could Unique Program with Barbers, Stylists, Make Difference?

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins D.C. Councilmembers Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) and Anita Bonds (D-At large) introduced legislation in April requiring barbers and cosmetologists obtaining and renewing their licenses in the District to undergo training that would help them recognize signs of domestic violence and sexual assault in their customers and connect them with resources.

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5 A large group of women took to the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court in protest shortly after Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation was announced on October 6, 2018. /Photo by Michael A. McCoy

Midterm Races in Full Swing; NAACP Urges Votes as Obama Endorses 200

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

5 Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO /Courtesy of NAACP

For the Black community, November counts as a watershed moment, says NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “If we fail to vote in numbers respective to our actual political power, future generations will suffer for our apathy,” Johnson said in a passionate op-ed for BlackPressUSA.com, the newswire for the 220 Black-owned newspapers and media companies around the nation, including The Washington Informer. “We don’t have to tell our people how to vote, only that we must vote as if our lives

and our children’s lives depend on it. Because it does. “The NAACP has decided to fight back and we ask you to join us by using your ballot as the weapon of choice,” Johnson said. “We ask you to visit NAACP. org to download and share resources to help those you know get registered and mobilized to vote. We are asking you to reach out to five people in your personal or social networks and bring them with you to the polls. If you understand the importance of this year’s elections, we know that you will sound the alarm, connect with others, and express your power by casting your vote.”

Emergency anti-K2 legislation recently passed by the D.C. Council and signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) expands the definition of synthetic cannabinoids and reinstates expired enforcement policy, part of an effort to curb an ongoing epidemic affecting areas east of Rock Creek Park. Activists on the front lines against K2, frustrated by the store owners they say continue to sell the cheap and deadly substance with impunity, welcome the institutional support but remain skeptical of the city’s willingness to target businesses found culpable in some of the more than 1,600 overdose cases that have occurred since June. “The attorney general would start holding stores accountable, but it’s [still] not adding up,” Robin McKinney, a lifelong Southeast resident and anti-K2 activist, said last week during a community meeting at Check It Enterprises in Anacostia as she explained how police officials wouldn’t reveal the names of local businesses found to be selling synthetic cannabinoids. Last Wednesday, a day after the council passed the emergency legislation, McKinney, as she has done several times before in the last three months, passed out small zip-close bags filled with snacks, toiletries and literature about K2 to visitors enjoying their evening at Shepherd Parkway, located at

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Celebrating 54 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area

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