VOL. 52, NO. 31 • MAY 18 - 24, 2017
DCTAG Has Money for College. Apply by June 30th!
Celebrating Graduates Pages 40-41
Thurgood Marshall's Widow Talks of Husband's Legacy
Flint Residents Still Suffering, Forgotten, Abandoned
Three Years Since Discovery of Tainted Water, Little Has Changed By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
Residents of Flint, Michigan have very little to celebrate but much over which they continue to lament. On April 25, as citizens of the blue-collar city located about one hour from Detroit marked the third anniversary of the announcement that over 100,000 men, women and children had potentially been exposed to high levels of lead in the drinking water, the suffering continues.
FLINT Page 11
5 Ward 8 resident Anniyah Ryals, 11 gets her face painted by Celebrity MUA/Face Painter Patricia McQueen during the Congress Heights Festival at Shepard Park Elementary School in Southeast on May 13. / Photo by Mark Mahoney
Nation’s Clergy Rally Against Actions, Policies of Trump
Church during the clergy press conference Monday, May 15. /Photo by Travis Riddick
By Stacy M. Brown NNPA News Wire Contributor
y Hamil Harris B WI Contributing Writer President Donald Trump has had a less than stellar week at the White House – and that’s putting it mildly. Still reeling from strong blowback after his controversial and sudden decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, the president also reportedly divulged secrets to Russian officials that the intelligence community said could have life-threatening implications. The action led to several high-ranking administration officials being trotted outside the West Wing to give
When Cecilia Marshall looks back more than six decades ago, she couldn't have imagined that the battle for equal rights in schools and elsewhere would still be as vital today as they were when her husband proved instrumental in the fight to end legal segregation. "We haven't made too much progress," said Marshall, 88, the widow of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American appointed to the United States Supreme Court. "Sixty-three years later, we're still fighting in the courts for equal treatment and that's not what my husband nor I would have imagined would be going on today when he was on the Su-
CLERGY Page 46
BROWN Page 27
Ministers Stand United in Shadows of the U.S. Supreme Court
5 Bishop Marcus Matthews delivers remarks on behalf of the United Methodist
5 Thurgood Marshall /Courtesy photo
Celebrating 52 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area
Now Published by Dr. Charles Vincent
Her Legacy Continues.
In memory of Mickey Thompson Vincent, Founder and Publisher.
Dr. Charles & “Mickey” Vincent
The Brothers and Sisters of Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church who have shown more than 50 years of Faith and Devotion... STILL STANDING
Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church Pays Tribute to Members who Attended for 50 Years or More
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr. and First Lady Lena Michelle Bell (At Allen Chapel since 2006)
Dr. Shirley Jackson, Presiding
Margaret Branch (Member since 1939) with Rev. Dr. Bell Brother Gregory Powers (Member since 1959) discusses his journey through Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
Richard K. Bowden (Member since 1964)
Olivia Harris (member since 1964) with Rev. Dr. Bell
Irving Kemp (Member since 1957) with Rev. Dr. Bell
Jean Peterson-Jones (Member since 1961) with Rev. Dr. Bell
Mildred Strawder (Member since 1956) with Rev. Dr. Bell
The Whitfield Table with Denise Rolark Barnes (Publisher, Washington Informer)
A
llen Chapel A.M.E. Church on Alabama Ave SE paid tribute to its members with 50 or more years of Faith and Devotion. Dr. Shirley Jackson of the Clara B. Neal Lay Organization (CBNLO) presided. Louise Murrill-Graves (Pres. CBNLO) recognized the Honorees individually and presented their awards and certificates. Beverly Cowser was the CBNLO Tribute Chairperson. Micah Wortham and Brian Glover provided the music. Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr. (Pastor since 2005) blessed the occasion and congratulated each awardee individually. For more information go to: www.acamec.org Social Sightings - THE MAGAZINE Subscribe www.SocialSightings.com
Kendra Handy/Editor Dr. Charles Vincent/Photographer Brian Young/Graphic Designer l
Gloria J. Whitfield (Member since 1964) with Rev. Dr. Bell
2 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
Charles Young (Member since 1950) with Rev. Dr. Bell
l
Social Sightings-The Column is published in the Hill Rag, DC Mid-City, East of the River Journals, The Washington Informer Newspaper and in the Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlingnton, Loudoun Woman Magazines 2003 © SOCIAL SIGHTINGS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - DUPLICATION IN ANY FORM REQUIRES WRITTEN PERMISSION | E-mail SocialSightings@aol.com
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around the region
W I HBreak O T the T OCycle P I C of S Women Domestic Violence
SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
COMPILED BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR / WI EDITOR
law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. Kevin Durant Foundation Basketball Courts had comeRebuilds together to bring a Among the programs Marlow
By Tia Carol Jones
www.washingtoninformer.com
WI Staff Writer
Visit our updated Web site and give us your comments for a chance to win a gift from The Washington Informer Email comments to: rburke@ washingtoninformer.com
sense of uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are WandaL.Y. Durant, mother of NBAdomestic superstar Kevin Durant andand also stricter restraining order policies, When Marlow's 23-yearviolence victims known as “the real helped survivors celebrate are twotreated. brand new basket- more rights for victim's families old daughter told herMVP,” the father Monday, May 15her in Durant’s oldusing Seat Pleasant ofball hercourts daughter threatened “She's her ownneighborpersonal to intervene on behalf of a viclife, andThe thecourts life of hood. aretheir part child, of the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation’s story, her own personal pain to tim, a domestic violence assessshe knewIt something had Ball” to beinitiative. push forward,” Davis-Nickens “Build and They Will Children from Seat Pleas- ment unit coupled with further done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. ant Elementary attended the ceremony. “When I looked at the kids training for law enforcement with lawI enforcement's handling said interview. anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecthere, saw Kevin,” Wanda Durant Davis-Nickens said in a telephone of“Ifthe situation, sheand decided Marlow's bookKevin will tion Act and mandatory counselKevin made it startedtoat anwho earlyreads age, they can, too.” start the Saving Promise cam“get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. Durant couldn’t make it to the ribbon-cutting ceremony because paign. case in such a way, the average “If we are ever going to eradihe had to prepare for a playoff game Tuesday, May 16. Durant’s “It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, we must foundation unveiled new courts in Seattle, his former NBA that won't already turn my family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of the coin. city in Oklahoma City,Marlow Oklahoma, and another oneto this loose,” Marlow said. help people begin haveweek a dia-in We need to address both the vicOakland. [in audiSeat Pleasant] is special because it stands tim and the batterer,” Marlow shared her “This story court with the logue about domestic violence. by itself. This District is home,”Heights Wanda Durant 5 Kevin Durant /Courtesy photo ence at the Alsosaid. present at the event was said. Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise Municipal Center. The sympo- who was sentenced to six consec- awareness among children in sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole public and private schools. She Prince George’s County Councilman Mel FrankFamily and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatlin (D-District 9) of Upper Marlboro pleaded guilty Center of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence. Friday, Mayis12 to driving under the influence from a Heights and the National Hook- 2002. Mildred Muhammad “We have to stop being pascrash in November that injured two people. Circuit Up of Black Women. the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilCourt Judge Vincent J. Femia sentenced Franklin Marlow has written a book, an organization that helps the dren about domestic violence,” to probation and a Marlow $645 fine. “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic violence said.The probation means if any has violations year, the story about four generations of and their children. Franklin doesn’t incur Marlow workedintoabreak domestic violence. The book is charge be expunged from record. “I lived in fear forDUI six years. Six would the cycle of abuse in her his family, inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. Ittois a statement and is confident the policies she According from Franklin, he enrolled and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing in to the come out isIgnition pushingInterlock for willprogram start that Maryland in Deher mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process.a 12-week alcohol education cember and completed She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad “I plan to take policies to a program. said Police said during thethese Nov. 21 crash excerpts from her book, she still people who want11:34 to help a Congress and implore them to p.m. while driving a county vehicle, Franklin can not believe the words came domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. rammed into the back of a vehicle driven by Matfrom her. “Color Me Butterfly” be careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these polithew and Theresa Collins at a traffic light at Pennwon the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” Avenue and House in Upper Books” Award. that she may be sylvania in “survival TiaDower Carol Jones canRoad be reached Marlboro. The couple’s vehicle got totaled “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.netand went to a local hospital to treat their injuries. Police found my eye first blackened and my “Before you get to 'I'm going Franklin about 70 yards lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI away “walking in the center median, before crossing the northbound lanes and Elaine Davis-Nickens, president of the National Hook-Up walking along the shoulder.” Meanwhile, Franklin of Black Women, said is no /Courtesy photo 5 Councilman Melthere Franklin still hasn’t made a formal decision on whether to consistency in the way domestic run for one of the two, at-large seats on council that violence issues are dealt with by got approved in the November election. His term expires in 2018. A lawyer and community activist, Franklin has served on council the area known as “South County” since December 2010. He also attended the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last summer as a delegate. That evening, I let down both Mr. and Mrs. Collins and all of the residents who look to me for leadership and responsibility,” Franklin said in a statement Friday. “I must now begin the hard and necessary work of earning back their trust and forgiveness. I hope others in this region will learn greater caution in their busy lives from my poor judgment.”
County Councilman Franklin Pleads Guilty to DUI
Wilhelmina J. Rolark In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark THE WASHINGTON INFORMER PUBLISHER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published THE WASHINGTON INFORMER Denise Rolark Barnes published on each Thursday.postage weeklyweekly on Thursday. Periodicals paid at Washington, D.C. and additional Periodicals Washingmailing postage offices. paid Newsat and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. ton,Announcements D.C. and additional mailing of- twoSTAFF must be received weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The fices.Washington News andInformer. advertising All deadline rights reserved. POST McNeir, MASTER:Editor Send change of addressD. Kevin is Monday to publication. Anes to Theprior Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, Ron Burke, Advertising/ Marketing D.C. 20032. Nobe partreceived of this publication may be reproduced without writtenDirector permisnouncements must two Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor the return of sionprior fromto the publisher. The2016 Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee weeks event. Copyright Subscription rates All are $30Lafayette per year, two years $45. willPhoto be received by photographs. The Washington Informer. Barnes, IV, Papers Assistant Editor notreserved. more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to: rights POSTMASTER: Send John E. De Freitas, Sports Photo Editor change of addresses to The WashDorothyINFORMER Rowley, Online Editor THE WASHINGTON ington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther 3117 Luther King, Ave., S.E. • Washington, D.C.&20032 King, Jr. Ave., S.E.Martin Washington, D.C. Jr. ZebraDesigns.net, Design Layout Phone: 202 • Fax: 202 574-3785 20032. No part of this publication may561-4100 Mable Neville, Bookkeeper E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com be reproduced without written permisDr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist www.washingtoninformer.com sion from the publisher. The Informer Tatiana Moten, Social Media Specialist Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of photographs. Subscription rates are Angie PUBLISHERJohnson, Circulation $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will Denise Rolark Barnes be received not more than a week after REPORTERS STAFF REPORTERS publication. Make checks payable to: Brooke N. Garner Managing Editor Tia C. Jones, Ed Laiscell,Will Ford Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Carla Peay Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, THE WASHINGTON INFORMER (Prince George’s County Ron Burke Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, JosephWriter), Young 3117Mable Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E Bookkeeper Whittaker Hamil Harris, Tatyana Hopkins, Jade JamesWashington, D.C. 20032 LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS Gist, D. Kevin McNeir, Lauren Poteat, Phone: 202De561-4100 John E. Freitas Sports Editor Lafayette Barnes, IV, Dorothy Rowley, Sarafina Wright Fitzgerald, (General Fax:Victor 202 Holt 574-3785 Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Maurice news@washingtoninformer.com Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic Design Joanne Jackson, Roy Lewis, Robert Assignment Writer) Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster www.washingtoninformer.com Ridley, Victor Holt
“
We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these New Miss USA, Kára McCullough, represents District with Style policies to Congress and Last Sunday, Miss D.C., Kára McCullough, became the implore them second contestant in a rowto fromchange the District toour walk away with the national title of Miss USA. She took her walk amidst a shower of sequins and challenging statements. laws. I will not stop until McCullough, 25, a native of Virginia Beach, who first kept it a secret that she was running for the title, says she soon these policies are passed. realized that “if you just let people know your dreams and
PHOTOGRAPHERS CIRCULATION Paul Trantham
John E. DeFreitas, Shevry Lassiter, Roy Lewis, Demetrious McKinney, Mark Mahonny, Lateef Mangum, Travis Riddick
4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com
5 Kára McCullough /Courtesy photo 4 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
“
In Memoriam The Washington Informer Dr. CalvinNewspaper W. Rolark, Sr.
aspirations, people will respect you more.”L.Y. Marlow Will D.C. become the new pageant mecca, as she suggested in a Washington Post interview? Maybe. As for now, the young scientist, currently employed at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, says she will continue to celebrate the man in her life, all things Georgetown and stands firm on her belief, albeit controversial, as she explained in her interview prior to winning the title, that “health care is a privilege, not a right.” WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
Bowser: Homelessness Decreases in the District
By Tatyana Hopkins WI Staff Writer
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Department of Human Services (DHS) released last week the result of the annual count of homelessness in the city, which showed a decline from last year. The Point-in-Time count, which tallied the number of people experiencing homelessness on Jan. 25, indicated a reduction in the number of individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness in the District. On the night of the count, there were 7,473 people who were experiencing homelessness in the nation's capital including 5,363 in emergency shelter, 1,213 in transitional housing and 897 without any shelter. Compared to 2016, this year's count showed a 21.8 percent reduction in the number of families experiencing homelessness, a 2.7 percent reduction in unaccompanied individuals and a 10.5 percent reduction in the overall number of persons experiencing homelessness. The count, which provides a snapshot of the number of people experiencing homelessness in D.C. and their demographic characteristics, is a requirement of all jurisdictions receiving federal funds to address homelessness. "We know that it is possible to end homelessness in Washington, D.C.," Bowser in a statement. "These results show that our efforts to prevent homelessness and connect more residents to safe and affordable shelter are paying off. We still have more to do, but we have made significant progress over the past two years, and we will continue this work until every DC resident has a safe place to call home." Bowser often touts that her administration has invested more in affordable housing than any other jurisdiction in the country. "Since taking office, [Bowser] has launched new homeless prevention services which have prevented a shelter stay for almost 3,000 families and increased investments in permanent housing programs by nearly 60 percent, developed interim eligibility to provide immediate shelter for families in urgent need, helped more than 2,700 families avoid homeless services system altogether and connected more than 1,800
veterans to permanent housing," said a statement from her office. Last year, the city has committed more than $106 million to construction and preservation of more than 1,200 housing units. In 2015, the administration released Homeward D.C., a plan to make homelessness in the city "rare, brief and non-recurring." The current budget allocates nearly $560 million budget to DHS for the upcoming fiscal year, including nearly $50 million for capital projects over the next six years to include completion of D.C. General, short-term shelter replacements in each ward of the city, temporary housing and modernizations and renovations to existing agency spaces. But some experts have said that the budget does not allow for enough resources to seriously tackle the city's homeless problem. Kate Coventry, a policy analyst at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, noted while testifying at a Human Services Committee budget oversight hearing earlier this month that though the investments toward homelessness were substantial, they fell short of the needs of plans to end homelessness. "Without greater funding, far too many residents will remain homeless," she said. "For some, it may mean a life cut short. For others, it means lack in the stability needed to make progress in their education and employment." Coventry said though the investments fully fund family shelters, they also decreased the number of available slots for services such as permanent supportive housing. She said the current budget only meets 30 percent of the need to end homelessness outlined in the 2015 Homeward D.C. and would require $24.2 million in additional investments. DHS Director Laura Zeilinger said though the department could use more resources, it is seeing positive trends in its efforts to end homelessness. "We are so grateful for Mayor Bowser's leadership and all of the partners who have come to the table to help us prevent and end homelessness," Zeilinger said. "We are working every day to ensure each District resident experiencing homelessness has been offered the housing resources and supportive services they need." WI
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AROUND THE REGION
5 Located at 2nd & D, NW, spanning the entire block, and with the capacity to house well over a thousand people, Federal City Shelter FCS is the largest shelter in the country. /Photo by Rachel Cain for Street Sense
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AROUND THE REGION
WEEK OF MAY 18 - 24, 2017 MAY 18
1896 – The United States Supreme Court issues its infamous ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision declared the doctrine of "separate but equal" was constitutional. By doing so it, in effect, approved all Jim Crow or segregationist laws designed to degrade blacks or keep them separate from whites. The ruling would stand until the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954.
MAY 22
1863 – The War Department establishes the Bureau of Colored Troops and begins to aggressively recruit blacks for the Civil War. The black troops would play a major role in turning the tide of battle against the rebellious Southern slave states. 1966 – Entertainer Bill Cosby becomes the first African-American to receive an Emmy for Best Actor in a dramatic series for his role in the 1960s television series "I Spy."
MAY 23
1921 – "Shuffle Along," the first of a succession of widely popular black musicals performed for white audiences, opens at the 63rd Street Theatre in New York City becoming the first African-American Broadway musical. The musical comedy combined the talents of the legendary team of Euboea Blake and Noble Sizzle.
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1854 – Anthony Burns, one of the most celebrated fugi1925 – Black revolutionary Malcolm X is born Malcolm tive slaves in American history, is captured by deputy U.S. Little in Omaha, Nebraska. marshals in Boston. 1930 – Lorraine Hansberry, famed African-American 1944 – Legendary singer Patti LaBelle is born Patricia playwright best known for "A Raisin in the Sun," is born Louise Holte in Philadelphia. WI in Chicago. 1952 – Eccentric model and singer Grace Jones is born in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
MAY 20
1743 – Touissant L'Ouverture, the father Haitian independence, is born.
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MAY 24
MAY 19
MAY 21
1862 – Mary Patterson becomes the first black woman in U.S. history to be awarded a master's degree. She earned it from Oberlin College in Ohio. 1969 – Police and National Guardsmen open fire on student demonstrators at predominantly black North Carolina A&T University, leaving one student dead. Five policemen were injured. 2009 – A black man — James Young — is The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwell elected mayor of Philadelphia, Mississippi —a Special Education Lawyer town that, during the 1960s, had the nation's most•racist Ku Klux Klan memDoes reputation. your child have a learning or other disability? bers dominated the town and it was known •Is your child failing in school, especially in reading? for the mistreatment and unpunished killings •Has the school repeatedly suspended or sent your child home early? of blacks. One of the most brutal events in the •Does feel like your of child’s not working? city was theit1964 murder threeIEP civilisrights workers. In his 2009 election victory, Young captured 30 percent of the white vote. Is your child’s school ignoring your questions or concerns? Contact The Law Office of Nigel M. Atwell for a free consultation. We serve JONES children in traditional public schools and public charter schools. We GRACE specialize in serving low and moderate income families. Call us at 202.627.6926. See us at www.lawofficeofnigelmatwell.com.
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VIEW P INT By Sarafina Wright
American University recently pledged to change its policy on bias-related incidents after several African-American women were targeted on campus. What are your thoughts?
JAMAR JONES /
WASHINGTON, D.C.
We talk about the achievement gap. We talk about the wealth gap. Underneath, it is the value gap. The value gap is the belief. Principally the belief that white people matter more in this country.
JULIET KULIG /
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Unfortunately, this is nothing new. When I attended college in downstate Illinois many years ago, this and much worse happened inside my dorm to our small group of African-American, Caribbean and Jewish students. I ignored it because no one ever touched me. We complained but nothing ever changed.
SARAH SPAULDING / WASHINGTON, D.C.
I received my masters from this university and I am appalled that a school that prides itself on diversity is now a shining example of Trump's America.
SUZANNE RIDEOUT SEWICKLEY / PENNSYLVANIA
Millennials are no less bigoted than the general population. [The perpetrators] are disappointing, disgusting little cowards that must be exposed and expelled.
KIMBERLY SPEARMAN /
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
I can't say that I am surprised, but it is disappointing when people live down to your expectations. One can only hope that the black female student body president's election will help to steer these students in a better direction. WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
AROUND THE REGION
In Memoriam – Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. On this day, Dr. Calvin W. Rolark,
Sr. was born in Texarkana, Texas on May 18, 1927. He would have been 90 years old today. Family members and friends join his daughter, Denise Rolark Barnes, and son, Calvin W. Rolark, II, in this tribute to a man who devoted his life to his family and to the community he loved. Dr. Rolark, an alumnus of Prairie View College, was a civic leader, a civil rights activist, entrepreneur, humanitarian and philanthropist. After moving to D.C. in the early 1950s, he established The Washington Informer in 1964, a weekly newspaper serving the African-American community in Washington, D.C. He wanted a publication that would positively impact and give a voice to the District’s disenfranchised and predominately-Black community that was deeply engaged in a battle for Home Rule and self-determination. Ten years later, in 1974, he fulfilled an idea initiated by members of the Black United Front following the 1968 riots, to incorporate a Black philanthropic organization called the United Black Fund [UBF]. Its mission, To Serve Unmet Needs, addressed the myriad of social and economic needs served by mostly small and struggling Black and Latino non-profits shut out by the established United Givers’ Fund (later United Way). Following a legal battle led by Rolark’s wife and attorney Wilhelmina J. Rolark, UBF became the first Black non-profit organization to participate in the federal government’s Combined Federal Campaign. It was an historic victory. Rolark, and his wife Wilhelmina, who served on the D.C. City Council representing Ward 8 for 16 years, were known as the ‘dynamic duo.” They worked tirelessly to support and uplift those who were “paying it forward” to make D.C., and especially Ward 8, a better place to live and work. Dr. Rolark’s philanthropic work took him throughout the U.S. and beyond where he established UBF affiliates in more than 30 states and supported projects in Africa and the Caribbean through UBF International. “My dad passed away 23 years ago. Thank you to those who still express your gratitude to me for the big things and the small favors he did for you; the battles you fought and the victories you won . . . together, are stories that are emblazoned in my heart. They will forever remind me of how great a man he was. Thank you for keeping his memory alive,” Denise Rolark Barnes Dr. Rolark died on October 23, 1994, at age 67. May he continue to rest in peace!
a THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
MAY 18 - 24, 2017 7
AROUND THE REGION
By D. Kevin McNeir / WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
The World According to Dominic “HBCUs Have Always Mattered to the Black Community”
Years ago, when first considering where I’d attend college, I refused to include Black institutions on my list, believing that despite their glorious legacies, HBCUs had outgrown their usefulness. The Jesuits who led my all-boys, college prep high school firmly believed that we should only apply to schools that could provide the academic rigor and alumni connections we would need if we had any hopes of being successful in America’s cutthroat business world. I suppose that because I ingested their philosophy hook line and sinker was why I turned down a four-year academic scholarship from Howard University. I suppose it was also why I would spout off my well-rehearsed monologue Denise Rolark Barnes against Black colleges to anyone Independent Beauty Consultant willing to listen. I guess that’s www.marykay/drolark-barnes.com why I almost regurgitated when 202-236-8831 my parents, proud graduates of Hampton and Tuskegee, respectively, encouraged me ad nauseam to consider their beloved alma maters, even taking me to both schools for personally guided tours. In the end, I chose the University of Michigan – later matriculating at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and then Princeton Theological Seminary for graduate studies. But I sometimes wonder what (301) 864-6070 different paths I may have followed if I had gone “Black.” In a 1935 essay penned by W.E. B. MCCOLLUM & ASSOCIATES, LLC Du Bois, he asked “Does the Negro Need Separate Schools?” He ADA, Age Discrimination, Benefits, Civil Rights, explained that children who atCOBRA, Contracts, Deaf Law, Defamation, Disability Law, tend “separate Negro schools” are Discipline, Discrimination, FMLA, FLSA, FOIA, “treated like human beings [and] trained by teachers of their own Family Responsibility, Harassment, HIPPA, OSHA, race” . . . “infinitely better than National Origin Discrimination, Non-Compete, making [children] doormats to Race Discrimination, Rehabilitation Act, Retaliation, be spit and trampled upon.” He Severance Agreements, Sexual Harassment, Torts, believed in the significance of the n upper and lowercase, flush left as indicated on artwork at these point sizes: Consultant name in 11-point Helvetica Neue Bold; Independent Whistleblowing, Wage-and-Hour, Wrongful Discharge in which children n 9-point Helvetica Neue Light; Web site or e-mail address in 9-point Helvetica Neue Light; phone number in 9-point environment Helvetica Neue Light. mayFurther, be utilized. he concluded that t Beauty Consultant: Only Company-approved Web sites obtained through the Mary Kay® Personal Web Site program learn. SERVING MARYLAND, DC, & NORTH CAROLINA Black faculty and administration www.jmlaw.net (301) 864-6070 jmccollum@jmlaw.net from Black colleges profound-
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ly shaped both the culture and curriculum of their institutions, also providing students with a roadmap replete with a specific set of norms, motivations and aspirations that would inform and shape their minds and establish the foundation for their futures. It’s been over 60 years since “Brown v. Board of Education” radically altered America’s public education system, forcing former white bastions of knowledge to open their doors to Blacks. Still, segregation remains the norm in elementary education. As for our country’s predominantly white colleges, many of whom refused to admit Blacks well into the 1960s, they often present Black students with the unenviable likelihood of encountering racial hostility on their pristine campuses. What I could not grasp at the age of 18, I now most certainly understand – Black colleges and universities matter – they’ve always mattered. Unlike their predominantly white counterparts, HBCUs and the education they provide serve as the first line of defense against theories about and beliefs in Black inferiority, an idea still embraced by many college
"Years ago, when first considering where I’d attend college, I refused to include Black institutions on my list, believing that despite their glorious legacies, HBCUs had outgrown their usefulness."
faculty and staff on campuses that have recently encountered a surge of racial hostility. As for Black enrollment at the 107 remaining HBCUs in the U.S., the numbers have steadily declined, from 90 percent in 1960 to 11 percent as recently reported by the New York Times. Ironically, for all the fanfare that Blacks unleashed following the “Brown” landmark decision which led to the elimination of the country’s two systems of education, it had another, unforeseen effect: the demise and closure of many HBCUs, unable to overcome rising costs of education and dwindling numbers of students who went elsewhere with their student loans and tuition checks in tow. But HBCUs still matter proudly touting the fact that they produce 70 percent of all Black doctors and dentists, 50 percent of Black engineers and public school teachers and 35 percent of Black lawyers. Education has long been viewed as an essential weapon for Blacks in our centuries-old war against segregation, racism, poverty, illiteracy and yes, and still most certainly even today, white supremacy. I can only imagine the obstacles our ancestors faced when they opened the doors to Cheney University (1837) and Wilberforce University (1856) – America’s first two Black colleges – and over 100 more. Have our Black colleges and universities lost their edge? Have they become irrelevant, unnecessary and academically inadequate relics in an age where the majority of gadget-toting youth seem to be consumed with an insatiable hunger for knowledge, a seemingly unquenchable thirst for success and the inability to delay gratification any longer than it takes to shoot out a few tweets? Don’t bet on it. WI
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AROUND THE REGION D.C. Resident 'Soulful T' Cooking Her Way to Fame By Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer Sometimes, people find themselves repeating their steps to get in tune with their true calling. In the case of native Washingtonian Tanya Waller, she once moved away from the city she holds dear only to return just a few months later. Then there was that short-lived time when Waller, 47, tried making cooking videos for YouTube, only to give up when no one appeared that interested. But then it dawned on the affable and talkative mother of six that she'd never realize her calling if she remained nonchalant both in her love for D.C. and passion for cooking. "I love me some D.C. and that's why I came back," said Waller, who attended McKinley Technology High School in Northeast. "I did 911 calls for the city's communi-
cations system for 14 years, but I had to leave due to health issues. So being at home in 2014, I was watching YouTube when I started seeing [the late] Auntie Fee's cooking videos. "After watching her for a while, it was my sons who convinced who me that since everybody loves my cooking, I could do the same thing," she said. It wasn't long before Waller relaunched on YouTube as "Soulful T," providing simplistic instructions for her popular macaroni and cheese. While that first appeared to be marginally received, Waller trudged on for about four more months, sporadically offering a handful of videos on how to concoct a variety of mealtime favorite meals. She listed among them her recipe for fried chicken and pancakes. "At first the video responses were slow, and I thought I was do-
ing something wrong, so I took a break," Waller recalled. Because of all she had going on in her personal life, she surmised, the videos weren't garnering the wanted results. "But when I got myself together and came back to YouTube in 2015 with my yellow cupcakes recipe, my videos really began to take off," Waller said. "I'd said 'let me try this again,' and the responses were overwhelming. It's been going nonstop." Now with more than 53,000 YouTube subscribers and nearly 600,000 views of her macaroni and cheese recipe, she fancies herself on the road to becoming a household name. "The macaroni and cheese wasn't my favorite, but now it's my most popular video," gushed Waller, who credits her mother, Jacqueline, with her penchant for whipping up tasty entrées and desserts. "Growing up, I wasn't one much for going outside to play with the other kids," Waller said. "Instead I'd stay in the house and watch my mom cook. Soon, I was taking over.
"My mother was always complimented on her good cooking, although I think I might have actually improved on her macaroni and cheese and fried chicken," she said. In addition to the mouth-watering videos for fried fish, barbecued ribs, collard greens, shrimp gumbo, lasagna, cornbread and peach cobbler, which never fail to bring a thumbs-up from people across the country, Waller has a newly-published cookbook, "Cooking with Soulful T," a T-shirt and apron line, as well as a weekly YouTube video log called, "On the Couch," in which she offers down-to-earth commentary and advice on a range of topics. Meanwhile, Waller, who's raised six sons (ages 12 to 27) on her own, has lived in Southeast most of her life, having "stayed off and on in Barry Farms" with her mother before gentrification efforts began prodding residents to relocate. Jacqueline, 66, said she also learned to cook from her mother. When asked who was the better
COOKING Page 52
5 Tanya Waller and her mother
Jacqueline Waller are revered among family and friends for their cooking skills. /Courtesy photo
BAHAMAS CABINET MINISTERS SWORN-IN
Free National Movement Members of Parliament forming the new Government of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas were sworn in as Cabinet Ministers by Governor General Her Excellency Dame Marguerite Pindling at Government House on Monday, May 15. Photographed with the Governor General are, seated from left: Hon. Marvin Dames, Minister of National Security; Hon. Jeffrey Lloyd, Minster of Education; Hon. T. Brent Symonette, Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration; Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis, Prime Minister; H.E. Dame Marguerite Pindling; Hon. K. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance; Hon. Carl Bethel, QC, Attorney General and Minster of Legal Affairs; Hon. Renward Wells, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources; and Hon. Dr. Duane Sands, Minister of Health. Standing from left: Hon. Frankie Campbell, Minister of Transport and Local Government; Hon. Dionisio D'Aguilar, Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Bahamasair; Hon. Michael Pintard, Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture; Hon. Darren Henfield, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Hon. Lanisha Rolle, Minister of Social Services and Urban Development; Hon. Romauld Ferreira, Minister of the Environment and Housing; Hon. Dion Foulkes, Minister of Labour; Hon. J. Kwasi Thompson, Minister of State for Grand Bahama in the Office of the Prime Minister; Hon. Brensil Rolle, Minister of State for the Public Service and National Insurance in the Office of the Prime Minister; and Hon. Ellsworth Johnson, Minister of State for Legal Affairs in the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs. /Photo courtesy BIS/Letisha Henderson WI
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“We have to build our own power. We have to win every political office we can, where we have a majority of Black people . . . The question for Black people is not, when is the white man going to give us our rights, or when is he going to give us good education for our children or when is he going to give us jobs – if the white man gives you anything – just remember when he gets ready he will take it right back. We have to take for ourselves.” Fannie Lou Hamer, “To Praise our Bridges” (1967)
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AROUND THE REGION FLINT from Page 1 The health crisis arose shortly after officials decided to switch drinking water sources to the Flint River. Before long, thousands began to suffer from illnesses linked to the contaminated water, including an estimated 12,000 children who have been exposed to dangerously-high levels of lead. And while an estimated 15,000 children in the city will soon receive extra money for nutritional foods that can limit the effects of the lead exposure, that assistance will not be extended to families who left the city – even though their children may suffer from health problems related to the lead-contaminated water. That decision, made by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, has not been well received. For now, qualifying families will receive a one-time payment of $420 for each eligible child – funds that come from $7 million in additional food assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant. But for those like one former Flint resident and mother who moved barely a stone’s throw away for the sake of her young child’s health, the dollars won’t be made available. “If I had moved to another state, I could understand being treated differently. But moving just 15 minutes away, I feel like it’s unfair,” said Ariana Hawk in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. Meanwhile, a fundraising campaign has been launched by California-based Green for All – a climate and economic justice organization that focuses on poverty and pollution to create an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Director Vien Truong says the #FixThePipes campaign has raised $10,000 to fix Flint homes. With several celebrities signing on and asking their followers to give their support, including Van Jones, Common, Russell Simmons and most recently hip-hop artist Big Sean, she expects to see the level of donations increase. “Every dollar we collect brings Flint families one step closer to clean bathing and drinking water,” said Truong, who estimates that the bill for removing lead-contaminated pipes is $10,000 per home. “Many don’t know that over 8,000 city residents now have tax liens [on their homes] for refusing to pay for poisonous water,” she said. “It’s outrageous that three years later, families living in Flint still don’t have clean drinking water.
Lead has poisoned over 300,000 people. Meanwhile, companies have left, restaurants have closed, property values have declined and investors have gone elsewhere. We have to make people remember and help.” “With President Trump promising to cut the EPA budget by one-third, Americans need to understand that what’s happened here in Flint will one day become the norm. One can intellectualize this all they want but studies show the disproportionate number of landfills, toxic facilities and dumps are more often located near the dwellings of low-income families or near places where people of color reside. No one speaks for them. Race remains a prevalent factor,” she said. One young activist who has served as the face of the Flint water crisis, nine-year-old Amariyanna Copeny, also known as “Little Miss Flint, joined other protesters during the “Stand Up to Trump” rally outside the White House last month, criticizing President Trump for breaking his promise to address the problem. “On the campaign trail, he promised he would fix Flint. Unfortunately, this was one promise that he failed to keep – just like his promise to make America great again,” she said. “Little Miss Flint” first made headlines last year after she sent a letter to President Obama inviting him to come see the damage caused by the lead poisoning. Obama replied and visited the city, even meeting with the youthful activist. In many cases, the stories of suffering from Flint residents seem to be unbelievable in a country like America given its level of resources. One senior citizen who has lived in Flint since 1963 says she feels abandoned and confused particularly after receiving a water bill for $1099.09 which officials from the water department alleged was issued to her because she had been “undercharged.” “I’ve written letters, I’ve gone to the city’s Board of Review, I’ve called on my city councilmember – I’ve gotten nowhere,” said Mary Huddleston, 76, a widow who lives alone and says she barely uses any water at all. “I keep making payments each money – just enough to keep the water on so I can flush my toilet,” she said. “But I don’t wash much and only shower once a week. My hair began coming out from using the shower so I have to do it with bottled water that the city gave us.
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One day my water bill was $151. Then, after new meters were installed, it jumped over $1,000.” “I feel like I’m being forced to pay other folks’ bills – and for water that’s still contaminated,” said Huddleston, who has since been diagnosed with several respiratory illnesses which she believes are a result of drinking and using the contaminated water. Since a federal state of emergency was declared in January 2016, Flint residents have been instructed to use only bottled or filtered water for drinking, cooking, cleaning and bathing. Earlier this year, officials said the water quality had returned to acceptable levels. However, residents continued to be told that they should use bottled or filtered water until all the lead pipes have been replaced – something that won’t be completed any sooner than 2020 – another three years. “Flint will soon become a ghost town,” Huddleston said. “But I can’t go anywhere. I have nowhere to go. They talk about all this money being donated to help us. I don’t know where it’s going but I sure haven’t gotten a call.” WI
5 A Flint resident continues to wait for help.
/Photo courtesy nbc.com
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MAY 18 - 24, 2017 11
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Prince George's County on Cusp of Hotel Boom By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Prince George's County officials are pushing for the jurisdiction to become a visitor's destination, and the number of hotels proposed in the next several years could make that a reality. The county has at least up to 3,000 rooms either under construction, or in the planning stages. Some may not even happen for various reasons such as the market, which allows for more proposals to come through. "I like to say that the balance of power, tourism-wise, in the Washington area has shifted in our direction after years of being focused downtown [D.C.] and in Northern Virginia and our emer-
gence as a destination helps all the local tourism economies," J. Matthew Neitzey, executive director of the county's Conference and Visitors Bureau, said in an email last week. "Being able to visit National Harbor, MGM, Tanger Outlets [in Oxon Hill], the University of Maryland and Six Flags America gives you a reason to spend an extra night at your hotel no matter where you're staying in the metropolitan area." According to a hotel catalogue, about a half dozen already opened and broke ground this year that include two in Capitol Heights and one in College Park. The Hotel at the University of Maryland in College Park — a full-service, 297-room structure — plans to open later this year and a 144-room Courtyard by Marriott
5 A hotel is currently under construction on Route 1 in College Park near the University of Maryland. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter
in Bowie broke ground two weeks ago. The list also shows a possible hotel near the Greenbelt Metro station in hopes the federal government will chose that city to house the FBI headquarters, which still awaits approval by the federal government. The 300-room hotel at the MGM casino resort at National Harbor that opened in December continues to be one of the most high-profile locations in the region. The Peterson Cos. of Fairfax,
Penultimate SafeTrack Surge Begins By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Arnetta Cunningham began a different commute Tuesday from her job at Prince George's Hospital Center due to the second-to-last phase, or surge, of Metro's SafeTrack maintenance project. Instead of transferring from the
Orange Line at Stadium Armory to a Blue Line train for Capitol Heights, she rode the F14 bus from the New Carrollton station to get home. With New Carrollton and four other Orange Line stations closed for repairs, she and other riders will have to endure new travel routes until June 15. "I forgot all about this," she said before boarding the bus. "I think it's terrible. There should have more
5 Riders face more delays with recent surge. /Courtesy photo
12 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
warning for this." Metro announced April 28 it would close the New Carrollton, Landover, Cheverly, Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue stations instead of continuous single-tracking, so that workers will have time and space to conduct more than 12 miles of maintenance work along the rail system. Officials said fewer than 18,000 rush-hour trips will be affected. Dozens of shuttle buses will offer free rides between the closed stations and scheduled to run every 15 minutes. The New Carrollton station, which also houses Amtrak and MARC train systems and is a loading station for Greyhound and Peter Pan charter buses, is Prince George's County's largest transportation hub. Because the Metro station closure, officials recommended for those who park at New Carrollton to consider Union Station in Northwest. Metro workers handed out pam-
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Virginia, that built National Harbor proposes to add a 500-room structure by 2020 near the resort, according to the bureau list. Ryman Hospitality, which owns the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, owns a parcel next to it and may build another. The majority of the hotels proposed aren't full-service such as the MGM and Gaylord that provide a concierge, spa and other upscale amenities. Several, however, are part of the phlets in English and Spanish about the station closures and free shuttle bus service between the stations. According to Metro's website, express shuttle buses will connect the following Blue Line stations: • Minnesota Ave to Stadium-Armory • Deanwood to Capitol Heights • Cheverly to Morgan Blvd • Landover and New Carrollton to Morgan Blvd Prince George's County's bus service will provide free shuttles between the New Carrollton and Cheverly stations during peak hours at 6-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. It was announced last week at a meeting of Metro's Finance Committee that the estimated cost to fund SafeTrack so far ranges between $150 million and $160 million. AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend II said Metro's latest surge will increase congestion on roadways and streets along the
SAFE TRACK Page 52
Marriott and Hyatt chains such as one slated for Brandywine in three or four years. County Executive Rushern L. Baker III and other county officials attended a ground-breaking ceremony May 10 for a $50 million retail development that could have a 100room Marriott built in the third of four phases. Mani Patel, CEO of TripleStone Real Estate and owner of the property, said the hotel remains an integral part of the project that awaits more funding. In addition, officials hope the success of a Chipotle, Verizon store and other businesses scheduled to open this year will entice hotel officials to move in along the busy Route 301. According to county traffic figures, an estimated 85,000 vehicles travel along that highway daily. The site sits less than a mile away from the Charles County border that houses the St. Charles Town Center and its more than 130 retail stores and restaurants. "I like P.G. County. This is the only county I could think that could really grow in the Washington area," Patel said. "This is a prime location with 301. It's a lot of people who come through here." County officials are optimistic more high-end hotels will come. "We are very positive there will be boom of new hotel construction," said David Iannucci, deputy chief administrative officer for economic development in the county executive's office. "What we see in the pipeline is larger than anything we have seen recently." WI
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Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer
PARKDALE ALUM WINS $1M GRANT FOR FILM
Faraday Okoro, a 2005 graduate of Parkdale High School in Riverdale Park, was awarded a $1 million grant at the recent Tribeca Film Festival for his film, "Nigerian Prince." Okoro, listed as one of MovieMaker magazine's top 25 screenwriters to watch in 2016, received the award in April as one of AT&T's Untold Stories grantees. Okoro co-wrote his new film with fellow Parkdale student Andrew Long who graduated in 2007. The pair first collaborated on their award-winning 2014 film, "Full-Windsor."
SCHOOL WINS REDSKINS 5K RUN
Judith P. Hoyer Montessori School in Landover took home
5 Students at Judith P. Hoyer Montessori School won first place in a Washington Redskins draft day event. /Courtesy of PGCPS
the first-place prize on April 29 after participating in the Washington Redskins Draft Day Dash 5-K Run. The school will be presented at a later date with a $10,000 check by a Redskins player.
VALEDICTORIANS, SALUTATORIANS HONORED
The Class of 2017 Valedictorians and — the county's top students from 27 high schools — was recognized this week for their academic achievements at the annual PGCPS dinner. The event took place May 15
at Martin's Camelot in Upper Marlboro.
SUMMER PROGRAMS
PGCPS summer programs offer students opportunities for acceleration, enrichment, credit recovery or original credit. The 2017 Summer Programs Guide can be used to review available options and for learning how to apply. Program availability will depend on enrollment, and because space may be limited, students should apply early. For more details, consult with school counselors or contact the Summer Programs Office at 301‐808‐1124. WI
Being a Chamber member opens the door to virtual networking. The Chamber's online membership database is yours to access at any time. When joining, you receive a membership code. With this code, you can enter the database, set up your business profile & proceed to search for and reach out to viable contacts. If for any reason, you haven't received a code or need assistance with designing your portal, please contact Chase Smith, Membership Associate. Managing your profile and utilizing the database is a major benefit for Chamber members. So, if you haven't set up your profile or gone through the database, do it today! You'll get an immediate return on your membership investment! Thank you for being a member of the Prince George's Chamber of Commerce-The Voice of Wealth Creation! Not a member? Please visit our website, www.pgcoc.org or drop by for a visit to get started! Membership is good for a full calendar year, so it’s always a good time to join! David C. Harrington President & CEO Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce www.pgcoc.org
Metro Board Member Admits Erosion of Public Trust
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Customers aren't satisfied with Metro's service, a new report shows — a complaint that's been expressed loudly since the transit agency began its SafeTrack maintenance project last year. The quarterly report — titled "Vital Signs" — shows customer satisfaction was 74 percent for bus riders and 69 percent for train riders, well below Metro's goal of 85 percent. Malcolm Augustine, who represents Prince George's County on the agency's board of directors, called the numbers "troubling." "I know there are efforts to turn this thing around, but I am very concerned … about the impact that [SafeTrack] has is long-term," he said. "As you are
fixing the system, you are making improvements to the operation and engage the public. I'm not so sure that the work is being done on the customer-satisfaction side
is sufficient." The board's Customer Service, Operations and Security Committee reviewed the report Thursday, May 11 during the
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target goal of 85 percent. /Courtesy of Metro
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MAY 18 - 24, 2017 13
BUSINESS Life Insurance a Key to Black Wealth, Exec Says By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Contributor If black lives matter, then black wealth should certainly matter, too. That's the motto that Eugene Mitchell, a corporate vice president and market manager in the African-American Market Unit for the New York Life Insurance Company, often shares. Since 2011, Mitchell has been on a mission to create wealth — $50 billion to be exact — in the Black community through an innovative and well-thought-out insurance program backed by his employers and the 1,200 African-American insurance agents the company employs.
"We are on mission to create $50 billion of tax-free future income in the black community," Mitchell said. "I believe the issues in the black community are not crime [or] drugs; those are symptoms of a greater and deeper rooted issue, which is about economics. "Without economics, without college saving plans in place, without down payments for new homes, folks struggle to move to the next level," he said. "What we've put together is a community empowerment plan that's about financial literacy." Mitchell said that leveraging financial tools to really make a dif-
ference is what's important. The equation is quite simple: multiply 200,000 families by $250,000 in life insurance and that creates $50 billion of tax-free income. Instead of thinking of life insurance as just a means to cover funeral expenses, Mitchell urges black families to consider life insurance as protection and an investment for future generations. Mitchell based his plan on four principles: Protect what you own and those you love; prioritize financial goals; plan for major life events; and pass on assets to individuals and institutions you care about. "We're not only trying to create wealth, but to spend it in the right place; to build upon it and protect it and leverage it for the future and pass it on, so that money is never an issue," Mitchell said. "Knowing collectively that we've created $50 billion and changed the financial future of our community shows that black wealth matters." Each generation of African-Americans stands proudly on the legacy of everyday heroes and civil rights leaders, just as Mitchell said he happily stands on the legacy of Cirilo A. McSween, an African-American trailblazer in the insurance business who dedicated his life to strengthening the black community. McSween, who served as the treasurer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a
Radio One Relaunches as Urban One By Lauren Poteat WI Contributing Writer Radio One, the largest blackowned multimedia company in the country, officially changed its name to Urban One, a coalition of its iconic brands TV One, Radio
One, Reach Media, iOne Digital and One Solution. The official rebranding was launched May 5 in celebration of the 18th anniversary of Radio One's IPO with a goal to increase consumer reach across the black integrated multi-
5 Radio One is now Urban One. /Photo courtesy Urban One
14 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
media platforms and hand out high-quality content that adequately represents black culture. Company President and CEO Alfred C. Liggins III celebrated the rebranding during a conference meeting. "More than 35 years ago, we proudly began representing black culture by lifting our voices boldly, courageously and unapologetically," Liggins said. "Urban One's mission is to enhance and maintain our position as the largest distributor of urban content in the country." The name Urban One was chosen to represent all things "first class" that encompasses "all things black," said Yashima White AziLove, the company's vice president of corporate communications. "[Urban] has been mimed, borrowed, stolen, embraced, and included in mainstream culture with urban enthusiasts and lovers of black culture for many, many years," AziLove said. "Our name Urban One says that we are fully owning this space, and we pro-
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5 Eugene Mitchell /Courtesy photo
close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr., was adamant about helping his clients create estates and leave legacies to financially empower the next generation, using life insurance as the foundation, Mitchell said. "I tell my agents that we have the responsibility to live up to the legacy of those who came before us by doing all that we can to help those who duce in every area of our business content that gives voice to black culture, thus our tagline, 'representing black culture.'" Viewers can look forward to new and revised additions for their listening and viewing pleasure including more morning live programming, additional truecrime and justice programming, more family reality TV and the introduction of R1 Digital, the new brand in the Urban One coalition specifically targeting radio. Dwayne Whitaker, senior director of digital sales and marketing for R1 Digital, emphasized the importance of the digital innovation. "This brand is poised to send a clear message to the marketplace that our radio group is in the digital business, so we're in it to win it," Whitaker said. "We believe offering a comprehensive local and digital national product will create new opportunities for businesses, but also as our radio audience grows, we need to be able to nurture that growth and allow them to engage with us via digital channels."
will come after us," said Mitchell, who holds a degree in finance from Florida International University and an MBA in finance from New York University. Helping to create economic opportunity and building multi-generational wealth can ensure the stability and the future of the black community, he said. A revelation struck Mitchell when his employers explained that his value to the company was $2.5 million. Mitchell said that was the current value of his future earnings at the company, just his salary alone, without bonuses. "So, it made me think about valuing my life. If someone got on the bus and was acting up, it taught me to move to the other side, for example," he said. "You tend to take better care of yourself, your children and your family and make better decisions, when you know you're worth a million dollars or more." Other races, particularly whites, inherit their wealth, most through life insurance payouts, he said. "You really can't work your way to wealth, you have to invest your earnings somewhere," Mitchell said. "It's time to consider tools like life insurance, as well as, looking at places where we can find money to invest. "We could empower ourselves, and send more kids to school, create endowments, lessen crime and create more home ownership, collectively," he said. Buying life insurance isn't a government handout, or someone else doing for the community, Mitchell said.
URBAN ONE Page 15
NY LIFE Page 15
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URBAN ONE from Page 14 With a notable history and groundbreaking strides media D'Angela Proctor, senior vice president of programming at TVOne solidified UrbanOne's' stance on the importance of a Black media market. "News and black media, the role that it's played throughout the history of people of color cannot be understated," Proctor said. "Black media played the central role in the Black Freedom Movement. … That's invaluable, and it's powerful and should not go away. We won't. We don't plan to." WI
NY LIFE from Page 15 "It's us, getting ourselves together with what we have," he said. "To teach our children better, to act better ourselves, and to use these tools that are readily available that have been underleveraged in our community, so that we can raise expectations and create a new legacy for generations to come." Quite simply, life insurance isn't a lottery ticket, Mitchell stressed. "We can insure our parents, ourselves and our children to build this within our own families," he said. "By getting our mindset and spending habits right, we can start setting up college savings plans and down payments for homes like others." Mitchell explained: "If you had inherited $250,000 from big mama, would it have helped you put aside your nest egg, put a down payment on a home or have startup capital for a business?" Already, after just six years, the plan is nearing its goal. In 2016 alone, New York Life paid out $5 billion in death claims, Mitchell said. African-American agents at the company handled more than $100 million in claims from black Americans. "The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) forthrightly salutes New York Life and Eugene Mitchell for this transformative initiative to undergird the building of wealth for black families and communities," said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president and CEO of the NNPA. Mitchell and others, including New York Life agents, plan to celebrate reaching the $50 billion milestone by taking a portrait on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in August. "The $50 billion is just a starting point," Mitchell said. "It could be used on top of the trillion dollars of earned income that black people already have." WI
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BUSINESS
Skeptics of District's East End Development Fear Gentrification By Tatyana Hopkins WI Staff Writer The District's east side has long been isolated, both geographically and economically, from the rest of the city, but some fear that development in the area will not result in improved quality of life for the city's resident most in need of assistance and force them to leave the city altogether. The city's two wards east of the Anacostia River currently have the highest levels of unemployment and poverty in the city, and the D.C. Council is looking to encourage development in the area that has long been cut off from the District's economic growth. In its most recent conversation about how to include Wards 7 and 8 in the District's overall growing prosperity, the council moved to create tax reductions and exemptions for businesses in the area. "We need these kinds of incentives," said Council member Jack Evans, who chairs the council's Finance and Revenue committee, at the committee's meeting Monday.
The committee discussed legislation that would lower the real property tax rate for qualifying commercial properties east of the Anacostia River, which currently $1.65 per $100 of assessed value of property, and make it equal to the property tax rate of residential properties,which is currently 85 cents for the next 10 years. The committee also discussed waiving deed recordation and real property, personal property, corporate franchising and sales tax for eligible sites in Wards 7 and 8 for a grocery store. "I think the need for this bill is pretty straightforward," said Ward 7 Council member Vincent Gray, who introduced the bill. The current commercial rate, he said, is "a huge impediment to business development on the east end of the District of Columbia." Supporters of the legislation cite job creation and increased tax revenue as positive outcomes of tax reductions to stimulate the east end economy. But some are skeptical about what development means for the city's
5 Protesters with Empower D.C. block a Washington Business Journal and the Washington, D.C., Economic Partnership bus tour of developers speculating in Anacostia on April 19, 2016. /Photo courtesy of The Washington Business Journal
poorest and largely black wards. Earlier this month, concerned residents met in Anacostia with community leaders including Ward 8 Council member Trayon White, former Council candidate Aaron Holmes and renowned civil rights leader Jesse Jackson Sr. to discuss how black residents could avoid displacement amid the prospect of development in the area. William Cunningham, an economist and public witness at the finance committee's last meeting, said the tax incentives were a "giveaway." "You're thinking apparently is
that real estate development is a job creation strategy when clearly that is not the case," Cunningham told the committee. "Basically, what you're doing is setting up a mechanism for gentrification." He recalled when Wal-Mart abandoned its promise to build stores in the city's poorest neighborhoods after the city allocated $90 million for the projects and how the development of 14th Street seemingly displaced existing black residents when similar incentives were offered in that area and when non-minority-owned developers began working
to redevelop the St. Elizabeths campus after the mayor offered $1 leases. "Clearly, the council has never met a white developer that it wasn't willing to go out of its way for even though the track record shows that this means damaging the economic prospects of black residents," Cunningham said. "The record clearly shows who this legislations benefits." Evans and Gray denied mass displacement and touted the 14th Street development as a model for success in the region. "I intend to move forward with this," Evans said. WI
Business Exchange The Black Agenda: Building Wealth 101
by William Reed "When white people are just rich, they're rich forever and ever. Even their kids are rich. But when a black gets rich, it's countdown to when he's poor again." — Comedian Louis C.K. The newspaper headline blared the question: "How Have Blacks Fared Under Trump's First 100 Days?" The news report described blacks in their traditional place — doing poorly in America, as if we'd been better off during the first 100 days of Obama, or the last hundred of George Bush's presidency. Under
16 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
Donald Trump — just like under Barack Obama, George Bush, Bill Clinton and others of the past 30 years — blacks have been falling behind. Blacks are doing no better, or worse, during the Trump presidency. In America today, the richest 1 percent of households own 37 percent of all wealth. The median net worth of white families is $134,000. The median net worth of African-American families is $11,000. For every $1 of wealth for white families, black families had just 12 cents. If current economic trends continue, the average black household will need 228 years to accumulate as much wealth as their white counterparts hold today. Blacks are politically impotent. Just as past public policies created the racial wealth gap, current policy widens it. The wealth and income divide runs along racial and ethnic lines. The typical black household has just 6 percent of the wealth of the typical white household. No
matter who was president, blacks have been falling further behind whites in wealth. Short of a revolution, among society, or themselves, blacks will never achieve parity with whites. The American dream concept of economic development is likely across staple and progressive communities with unlimited educational opportunities, regardless race, creed, color or sex. Our agendas are much alike, except, white America has a different way in which they exercise their demand for an agenda. The difference between the "white agenda" is that they aspire for economic dominance. Most blacks just want a simple slice of "the dream" and to survive, living in peace and harmony. Until black Americans comprise a functioning market segment, we'll continue getting "back of the bus" treatment. Black Americans lack the ability to support one another, instead ascribing our plight to "white racism" and their prejudices without
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ever considering our roles toward the quandary black Americans are in. Blacks are behind economically because we don't understand nor utilize capitalism. Across the board blacks miss the significance of building wealth. Blacks must liberate themselves, take responsibility and participate in commerce and basic exchange of money for goods or services. Our actions show, most blacks to be adverse to buying and banking black. Many rationalize their dysfunctional acts saying: "What if I were to say I'm only buying from Polish or white people? I understand spending in your community and places where you believe it will go to good, but only 'buying black' is racism." When will African-Americans come to cognitive realization that the fundamental rule among functional groups is to keep the money within your group. As Jews build businesses, they invest in their group and its ventures. They hire from among Jews. They buy and
spend Jewish. These are acts blacks cannot comprehend nor follow. Statistics show that the Jews' money changes hands an average of 18 times before leaving their community; for blacks, it is not even once. This is why Jews are at the top and blacks at the bottom of every economic gauge. Blacks must leave a legacy that helps build enduring wealth for our future. Instead of pursuing "post-racial" America, liberated blacks are about totally eliminating the racial wealth gap. It's time for each of us to tell ourselves the truth: When it comes to economics, wealth-building and power politics, blacks are a bust. We've all got to look in the mirror and admit to false, and dysfunctional, pride and premises. It's time to start a national conversation to evolve a Black Agenda. Saving is just one step on the road to wealth building. You can build black wealth and power by: buying from blacks, banking with blacks and voting blacks' interests’. WI
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NATIONAL Jury Selection to Begin in Cosby Sexual Assualt Trial By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer Jury selection begins Monday in Pennsylvania for the sexual assault trial of comedian Bill Cosby, who last month revealed in an exclusive Black Press interview that he's blind. The 79-year-old entertainer has pleaded not guilty to charges that he assaulted former Temple University athlete Andrea Constand at his home not far from the school more than a decade ago. Earlier, a judge ruled that jurors would be selected from a pool in Allegheny County, approximately 308 miles from Norristown, where the trial will take place. Cosby's attorneys had argued for the jury pool to be selected from outside of Montgomery County as a means to which the star could receive a fair trial. Testimony should begin on June 5. Twelve jurors and six alternates will be chosen from a pool of about 125, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O'Neill ruled. The selection hearing will take place in Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh. O'Neill ruled that potential jurors will be given a standard set of questions, not an extended questionnaire that defense lawyers had requested, to gauge objectivity. Cosby's lawyers wanted as many as 2,000 prospective jurors to receive detailed questionnaires in the mail before jury selection. O'Neill said during an earlier hearing that questionnaires mailed to peoples' homes would quickly end up on social media, and he expressed concern that family members or friends could influence the answers. He said that instead of a prescreening, the standard 16-ques-
tion form would be mailed to potential jurors and followed up by individual questioning in court. Cosby is accused of drugging and molesting Constand in 2004. He faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Jurors will be sequestered in a hotel during the trial. During an exclusive interview with organizations from Black Press last month, Cosby declined to talk specifically about the case, but in responding to a question about the arts the comedian managed to reiterate his position that the public should judge for themselves based on real evidence and not innuendo. "The history about African-Americans is a history of the United States; but the true histories, not the propaganda that is standard in our nation's history books," Cosby said. "The great writer, James Baldwin, said, 'If you lie about me, then you lie about yourself.' There is something about someone saying, 'I didn't know that,' that could cause a change in that person's thinking," he said. Supporters of the legend have argued that greed, extortion and a campaign to distort his legacy by alleged racists have destroyed Cosby's career. At the center of the alleged greed are the women who sued Cosby for defamation after his legal team denied their claims, and Cosby backers point out that courts have recently sided with the entertainer in many of those cases. Extortion, they said, comes courtesy of attorney Gloria Allred, who in 2014 called on Cosby to put $100 million in a fund for the alleged victims and to let a panel of retired judges determine the truth about their claims, many of which allegedly happened in the 1960s and 1970s. Allred has denied those claims. WI
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5 The jury in Bill Cosby's assault trial will be selected from Alleghany County, nearly 300 miles from the Philadelphia suburb where the trial will take place. /Courtesy photo
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INTERNATIONAL Compiled by Lauren Poteat / WI Contributing Writer
Maria Borges Becomes 2nd African to Grace Cover of Elle Angolan model Maria Borges has become the second African to appear on the cover of Elle magazine, since 1997. The celebrated 24-year-old known for her iconic natural hairstyle that she wore during the 2015 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York that made her the first black girl to wear short natural hair on the annual show, expressed how hon- 5 Maria Borges on the cover of Elle magazine /Courtesy of face2faceafored she was to be featured on the cover. rica.com "Honored to be the First African Woman of the Century to be on the cover of @elleusa. Thank you everyone for your support," Borges tweeted. The young model has also been selected to appear on the cover of Elle's May 2017 Swimsuit Issue, making her the second African to grace the infamous cover since its inception in 1945.
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Largest African Fashion Conference Hits London
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The Fashion Africa Conference, the continent's largest educational event on fashion, is set to return to London this month The May 25-26 event, hosted by the social Enterprise Africa Fashion Guide, will coincide with Africa Day, a festival of African Unity which began in 1963. This year's theme is "Africa. Fashion's Future," said Jacqueline Shaw, creator of the Africa Fashion Guide. Currently the artisan craft sector is the second-largest employer within the continent and over the next five years, Africa's textile industry has been given the potential to generate over $15.5 billion in revenue as stated by the African Development Bank. The entire textile/clothing market within Africa is already worth more than $31 billion and accounts for the second largest number of jobs in developing countries after agriculture.
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5The Fashion Africa Conference is set to take
place in London. /Courtesy of voice-online.co.uk
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HEALTH Vitamin D Checks Vital for African Americans By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer African-Americans are at a higher risk for vitamin D deficiency than anyone else in the U.S. population, according to some medical experts. Overall, at least 20 percent to 50 percent of adults have some form of low vitamin D values, a trait more common in winter months because of less sunlight but still more common in African-Americans because they convert less vitamin D from one form to another in the skin, according to the experts.
Also, vitamin D deficiencies are more common in obese individuals and people with kidney or liver disease. And with the high rates of obesity and other weight issues, and diabetes-related kidney disease among African-Americans, they have an even greater risk of a vitamin D deficiency, according to the Mayo Clinic. "We acquire much of our vitamin D supply from the sun," said Dr. Shannarose Guma, a primary care physician at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore. "Our skin absorbs one form of vitamin D and converts it into a different
The Lingering Fog of Smog Most Vulnerable Communities in D.C. Affected By Jade James-Gist WI Contributing Writer It's no coincidence that D.C., which has one of the highest asthma rates in the country, also tops the chart for air pollution and smog.
D.C.'s smog levels, second only to California, pose a huge public health hazard to all Washingtonians, but especially those suffering from lung-related chronic illnesses. While air quality has improved overall in the past decade, D.C.,
5 A day of smog in the District. /Courtesy photo
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5 Vitamin D should be a crucial part of the diets of African-Americans, health experts say. /Courtesy photo
form that we can use. "The darker your skin is, the less vitamin D you will absorb because the pigmentation in your skin called melanin protects the skin from harmful UVA rays from the sun," Guma said. "However, melanin also blocks the positive benefits that you could reap from the sun, such as vitamin D." Blocking those positive benefits puts African-Americans at risk for such conditions as osteoporosis, bone pain, muscle weakness, deformed bones and fatigue, Saint Agnes officials said. Further, it's vital that Afri-
can-Americans take a daily vitamin D3 supplement, said Guma, a graduate from the Ross University School of Medicine. Guma completed her Internal Medicine Residency at Saint Agnes Hospital in 2012 and she serves as a member of Ascension, the nation's largest Catholic and not-for-profit health system with practice locations both on the Saint Agnes Hospital campus and in Columbia, Maryland. "I advise that everyone take a daily vitamin D supplement, whether by itself or within a multivitamin," Guma said. "Al-
Arlington County and Prince George's County still earned an "F" grade in the American Lung Association's 2017 State of the Air report. More noxious than a blend of smoke and fog as the name implies, smog is formed after pollutants such as coal emissions, vehicular exhaust and agricultural fires react in sunlight to form toxic, secondary gases like ozone. Dust, sand and pollen particulates combine with this gas mixture and clog the air on hot and traffic-heavy days. Exposure can lead to several types of short- and long-term health problems for both healthy and vulnerable populations. High levels of ozone can irritate even non-vulnerable people's respiratory systems and cause coughing and throat or chest irritation, which can last for several hours. For vulnerable populations, the risk of developing illness is higher. Sensitive groups like children, seniors and people with lung illnesses are particularly susceptible to toxic effects of smog. And it's proven that early-life pollution exposure leads to the
development of asthma. In light of these blaring health hazards, environment and public health watchdog organizations filed a lawsuit against EPA Secretary Scott Pruitt for violating the U.S. Clean Air Act, citing his failure to determine whether D.C. and Philadelphia meet national clean air standards to control smog. Public health officials set standards in the Clean Air Act to lower the levels of manmade pollutants which exacerbate lung issues such as asthma, allergies and chronic bronchitis. Foreboding statistics indicate that higher levels of smog and air pollution contribute to increased diagnoses of asthma, allergy, emphysema and bronchitis every year and increased flare-ups of these illnesses. According to a D.C. community health assessment, 22.4 percent of children under 18 currently live with lifetime asthma in the District, almost twice the national average of 12.4 percent. But air pollution generally correlates with higher rates all types
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SMOG Page 52
though we know that the sun and our skin together make vitamin D for our body, I do not recommend trying to get vitamin D from the sun. It is still very important to wear sunscreen every day, no matter how much pigmentation your skin has. Everyone is at risk of getting skin cancer." Patients should ask their primary care physician to check their vitamin levels, she said. Some insurance policies will not cover that cost unless the patient show signs of vitamin D deficiency, so it's important to peruse insurance documents, too. Elderly patients will benefit the most from a vitamin D level check, especially females, as they are more prone to osteoporosis, Guma said, noting that normal vitamin D levels along with proper calcium levels, help to remodel and rebuild bones. Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are often nonspecific, but some include unexplained fatigue, joint or bone aches, muscle weakness or osteopenia/osteoporosis, she said. "I recommend that vitamin D-deficient patients take a daily vitamin D supplement," Guma said. "Currently it is recommended that people between the ages of 1 and 70 years old take 600 IU of vitamin D3 every day. For those above the age of 70, the recommendation is to take 800 IU of vitamin D3. "This is based on a 2010 report by the Institute of Medicine," she said. "However, if you are having symptoms of unexplained fatigue, joint/bone aches, muscle weakness or osteopenia/osteoporosis, ask your primary care physician to have your vitamin D level checked, as you may need to take in even more vitamin D on a daily basis." WI
MAY 18 - 24, 2017 19
HEALTH
D.C.-Area Officials Respond to Opioid Crisis Blacks Make up 81 Percent of Region's Overdoses
By Sarafina Wright WI Staff Writer In a follow-up to their first regional meeting in October where they signed the National Capital Region Compact to Combat Opioid Addiction, greater D.C. area officials convened once again to address the ongoing crisis. Mayor Muriel Bowser co-hosted the Regional Opioid and Substance Abuse Summit on Tuesday, May 9, with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, allowing for hundreds of policymakers and public health and safety professionals from across the region to discuss the many challenges associated with the growing opioid epidemic. "Opioid addiction must be treated like the health issue that it is," Bowser said. "Shifting the way we frame the conversation can destigmatize those who seek treatment and gives us — the entire region — a greater chance of success.
"In Washington, D.C., through improved interagency collaboration and increased communication, we have developed one of the most efficient and effective strategies to combat this issue," she said. "Working together as a region, we will be able to multiply our successes and learn from one another's challenges." The mayor highlighted during the summit the District's efforts to gain a better understanding of opioid use in the city, and the strategies put in place to help residents addicted to opioids. Between May and August of 2015, the city government put in place the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment pilot initiative. During this pilot, the D.C. Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services (FEMS) partnered with the Department of Behavioral Health to offer immediate access and treatment to individuals who experienced an opioid overdose. They said through the initiative, the city gathered critical information
about the epidemic in D.C. and the demographics of those affected. During the pilot period, FEMS responded to 104 overdoses, with seven patients experiencing a second overdose. The average age for users stood at 51, majority male at 81 percent and African-American at 83 percent. They assert that of those who were assessed, 48 percent were either verbally committed to an action plan or were transported immediately for treatment services. "The opioid crisis looks different in the District compared to our neighbors, but our commitment to addressing it is equally as strong," said Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health. According to the city, prior to the pilot initiative, every FEMS response vehicle and medical aid bag came equipped with naloxone. Now, through the D.C. Department of Health, the District has also started a Community Naloxone Pilot Program, a program to train and
5 Black community reeling from opiod overdoses. /Courtesy of mwcog.org
certify staff and community members affiliated with the city's needle exchange program to administer intra-nasal naloxone as an opioid overdose prevention. The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Department of Forensic Sciences have collaborated to improve toxicology testing around opioid abuse. In the past, OCME reported deaths from mixed drugs as "mixed drug toxicity" on death certificates. For the past three years, the city
has mandated that the drug or drugs be listed on a person's death certificate, allowing the District to better track specific drugs. "We have a broad, coordinated response that includes a team of officials in public health, health care and law enforcement," Nesbitt said. "It starts with gathering and sharing data so we can identify problems early, and then deploys a range of intervention strategies to reduce the risk to individuals and communities." WI
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HEALTH
District to Consider Plan for Hospital Serving Residents in Wards 7, 8 By Tatyana Hopkins WI Staff Writer The District’s Department of Health Care Finance recently announced a contract award, procuring the services of a Chicago-based consulting company to help develop a comprehensive proposal for a new hospital east of the Anacostia River. The contract, at a cost of nearly $1 million and executed through the City’s Office of Contracting and Procurement, engages the services of Huron Consulting Group, Inc. to assist city officials in efforts to formulate a plan that would lay the groundwork for a new hospital serving residents who live in Wards 7 and 8. The six-month contract will conclude in November. The plan will identify recent national and local health care trends intended to help D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the
Office of the City Administrator and others make more informed decisions about the design, financing options and potential partnership arrangements for an east end-located hospital. Huron’s findings and recommendations will be released in a comprehensive report. Huron, a global provider of clinical and performance improvement solutions for hospitals and health systems, has worked with more than 350 national, regional and community hospitals, integrated health care systems, academic medical centers and physician practices. Huron has also done extensive work with the District’s United Medical Center in Southeast. One councilmember who has long highlighted the need for an additional hospital in Southeast, said he supports moving forward and reading the proposal upon its completion. “I’m excited to have Huron
working with the District again. We hope that this will move quickly because there are profound healthcare needs on the eastern end of the City. Every day that we delay is another day that residents have to endure inequitable health care realities,” said Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent C. Gray. Gray, 74, who currently chairs the council’s health committee, often highlights the many existing health disparities in Southeast. He once stated that Wards 7 and 8, whose populations total nearly 140,000, have only 120 primary care and specialty physicians who practice in the area and have no urgent care facilities. Gray first proposed replacing the city-owned United Medical Center in Southeast with a new hospital on the grounds of the St. Elizabeth’s campus during his tenure as mayor but could not secure the support of the city council.
5 Vincent C. Gray /WI File Photo by Roy Lewis
The current budget sets aside $180 million to improve or replace the aging United Medical Center but Gray wants more to be done. During his “State of Ward 7 Address” in April, he fiercely challenged the City to allocate $300 million in the budget to build a new facility and find a private operator to serve as its manager. Bowser believes an operator should first be identified before the
District makes a commitment to fund a new hospital. Gray said the contract with Huron indicates that D.C. officials believe a new medical facility East of the River would greatly benefit residents. “We’re ecstatic that Mayor Bowser has acknowledged the need for a new hospital on the east end and an integrated healthcare system,” Gray said. WI
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MAY 18 - 24, 2017 21
HEALTH
D.C. Schools Say No to Lunch Shaming
tice of shaming has become widespread as a 2014 report found that nearly half of all disBy Stacy M. Brown nied a meal at school or simply ready owed $25. tricts used some form of shamThe U.S. Department of Ag- ing to compel parents to pay WI Senior Writer given a cold sandwich because of riculture, which oversees school bills — about 45 percent withtheir financial circumstance. It happens across the country: Witnessing a child go hungry meals, wants to put a stop to this held the hot meal and gave a children either cannot afford to at school has resulted in numer- and has issued a mandate that cold sandwich, while 3 percent or don't have the money to pay ous actions by personnel like the districts have a written policy in denied food entirely. for their school lunch. Colorado cafeteria worker who place by July 1. While efforts to reach DC The USDA wants school of- Public Charter Schools officials The School Nutrition Associa- said she'd been fired for paying tion reported that 76 percent of for a first-grader's meal and the ficials to stop embarrassing and were unsuccessful, those at D.C. America's school districts have Pennsylvania school employee singling out students who don't Public Schools said they support school lunch debt. This has led who quit in protest after being have the cash, they want school student health and achievement to a trend called "school lunch forced to take food away from a lunch shaming to cease. by ensuring all students have USDA officials said the prac- access to nutritious meals every shaming," where children are de- student who the district said alTESTIC ULA CANCER R day. OVARIA HEAD N BLADD CANCER AND ER CANCER LUNG NECK "Seventy-six percent of DCPS STOMA CHILD CANCER CANCER CH LIVER HO CANCER CANCEROD CANCER BRAIN students qualify for free and reS CHILD CANCER HO COLON BREAST APPEN CERVI CANCEROD DIX CA CANCER CANCER S duced meals," said Janae HinCANCER CANCER L TESTIC TE STICU ULA LAR CANCER R KIDNEY CANCER PANCR OVARIA son, DCPS deputy press secreEA at UNITED MEDICAL N TI SARCO CANCCENTER CANCER CANCER C MA/ ER BONE LUNG tary. "DCPS students who are STOMA CANCER CH CANCER LEUKEM CANCER UTERIN IA E classified as free or reduced, or CANCER PROST AT CANCER E who attend a Community EliTHYRO ID CANCER gibility Provision school, receive school lunch at no charge to the students." Students who do not qualify for free and reduced meals pay for their lunch. "If there are insufficient funds in the student's meal account, the student still receives a meal UMC—1310 Southern Avenue, SE, DC and the student's meal account will show a negative balance Continental breakfast and lunch will be served. with the associated cost," Hinson said. Importantly, there are no alternative meals served to students with negative balance, she said. That's vital because of what's Join us for our free Community Cancer Awareness Day to help happened in other school districts. In Alabama, a child was increase cancer awareness, prevention and early detection. stamped on the arm with "I Need Lunch Money," while a LEARN ABOUT: Lung, breast, prostate, colon and other cancers. Utah elementary school threw away the lunches of about 40 Cancer patients, survivors, families and the students with unpaid food bills. Hazel Compton, 12, told the community-at-large are all invited and encouraged to attend!
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New York Times that she remembered being given a sandwich of white bread with a slice of cheese instead of the hot lunch served to other children at her Albuquerque elementary school. A district spokeswoman said the sandwich met federal requirements. "They would use the sandwich like a threat," Hazel recalled. "Like, 'If you don't want it, your parents have to pay.'" Oliver Jane, 15, said that when she had meal debt at Shawnee Heights High School in Tecumseh, Kansas, she was told to return her tray of hot food and was given a cold sandwich instead. "If you didn't eat the lunch, they were just going to throw it away," she told The New York Times. "It seems unfair to me to expect a bunch of kids to be responsible for putting money in their lunch accounts when they don't even handle their own funds." Marty Stessman, superintendent of the Shawnee Heights Unified School District, said that younger children were allowed to take a limited number of meals despite debt, but that high school students were not. "Notices are sent home automatically when they go below $5, so it shouldn't be a surprise," Stessman said. "They should know before they get to the cashier." The problem of meal debt is not new, but the issue has received more attention recently because the Department of Agriculture, which oversees school lunch programs, imposed a July 1 deadline for states to establish
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5 D.C. Public Schools aim to make sure that lunch shaming doesn't occur. / Courtesy photo
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MAY 18 - 24, 2017 23
CAPTURE THE MOMENT
D.C. Region Marches to End Premature Births By Jade James-Gist WI Staff Writer In a display of support to combat premature births, approximately 500 people from Prince George's County and 2,000 from D.C. participated the 2017 March for Babies events in Watkins Regional Park and Nationals Park in the last weekend of April. "We are very thankful to our participants, sponsors and supporters throughout the region and their willingness to help give every baby a fighting chance," says Jennifer Abell, senior development manager for the March of Dimes. "We are working to change this unfortunate reality and help more moms have fullterm pregnancies and healthy babies." Americans lead the world in medical research and care, but the nation's preterm birth rate falls near the bottom among developed countries in the world. With one in 10 babies born premature, it is the leading contributor to infant death in the country. Premature birth affects about 380,000 babies in the United States each year, including approximately 1,250 babies in the District and approximately 8,525 babies in Maryland. With spirits high, marchers and organizers raised more than $700,000 to benefit the March of Dimes, a national nonprofit supporting mothers and babies for more than 75 years. Funds raised by these marches back March of Dimes programs that provide comfort and resources to at-risk or currently affected families in need of support. Other programs conduct innovative research to uncover why babies are born too soon or very sick and establish prevention methods. One such program, Healthy Babies Are Worth the Wait, focuses on reducing elective deliveries before 39 weeks gestation. In a world full of deadlines, limited maternity leave and shrinking health insurance coverage, families may feel pressured to schedule their due dates to fit their calendars — a mentality the program aims to combat through education and awareness campaigns, community intervention
24 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
programs and hospital quality improvement. Its strategies utilize methods with substantial, measurable impact on preterm birth rates, which have worsened for the first time in eight years, especially in vulnerable populations. In the United States, low-income, rural and minority communities experience much higher rates for low birth weight babies and infant mortality. The preterm birth rate among black women is 48 percent higher than the rate among all other women, and D.C. ranks 47 out of all 50 states in the 2016 March of Dimes Race and Ethnicity Disparity Index with a score of 37 out of 44 (0 represents equity). These significant racial and ethnic disparities remain major concerns for the March of Dimes and chapters continue to focus efforts on improving resources in their African-American, Hispanic, Asian-Pacific Islander and Native American communities. "We saw today how important the health of moms and babies is to the people of Prince George's County," Abell said. "I'm so proud to be part of this community of people who came together to give all babies a healthy start in life. Babies should be a top priority all year round, and we're excited about what we've accomplished here today." For resources, information and support, visit marchofdimes. org, nacersano.org, shareyourstory.org and persistats.org. WI
TOP Stacy D. Sewart, president March of Dimes, welcomes participants to the annual Walk for Babies held at the Washington Nationals Park on May 6 in Southeast. /Photo by Roy Lewis MIDDLE Washington National’s mascot, Teddy, with walk participants warming up for the Annual March of Dimes walk around National’s Park on May 6. /Photo by Roy Lewis BOTTOM Walkers and runners participate in the Prince George's County March of Dimes annual event at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro, Md. on April 29. /Photo by Lateef Mangum
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MAY 18 - 24, 2017 25
EDUCATION Local Girls Honored Among Nation's Top Volunteers
Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps Joins in the Tribute By Sarafina Wright WI Staff Writer Two local students recently received awards presented by Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps for their outstanding volunteer service. During the 22nd annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at the National Museum of Natural History on Sunday, May 7, Ayomide Okuleye, 17, and Debora Abera, 11, along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country, each received $1,000 awards for their efforts to help others. Ayomide, a senior at School Without Walls Senior High School in Northwest, started a club at her
5 Ayomide Okuleye, 17, and Debora Abera, 11, are honored for their volunteer service during the 22nd annual Prudential Spirit of Community Awards at the National Museum of Natural History in D.C. on May 7, as Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps presents the awards. /Photo courtesy of Prudential Financial
school that provided hygiene supplies and winter clothing to homeless people in its first year. The club dedicates itself to addressing a different social issue each year. Ayomide became passionate about volunteering while working with a nonprofit that teaches students how to cook, as well as how to teach cooking skills to others. "That experience empowered me to help people in many ways," she said. Her time there led her to want to start her own service project. After discussing issues that affect the African-American community, Ayomide decided to create a school club called Black Teen Alliance. "When a problem arises in your
community, people should ban together and try to find a way to mitigate or solve the issue," she explained. As fellow students came together to participate in Ayomide's club, they talked at length about problems they wanted to solve and decided to focus initially on homelessness. Ayomide gave presentations about their plan at school assemblies, set up a fundraising website, and coordinated events in which club members sold milkshakes, waffles, pizzas and cotton candy. They used the $1,000 proceeds to assemble 100 health care bags for a homeless coalition in Washington. The club also conducted a win-
ter clothing drive for the coalition. Debora, a sixth-grader at St. Augustine Catholic School in Northwest, said she firmly believes in the power of volunteerism. "When we volunteer our time, money or talents, we help make our planet a better, happier home where people work together to make life easier for all," she said. "Also, I do it because it makes me feel good." Debora first got involved in volunteering by reading to children at her school and sorting books in the library. "I always loved when someone read to me when I was little," she said. "The love I have for reading emanates from that experience." She also found it particularly
Bowie State University Announces First Female President By Lauren Poteat WI Contributing Writer
5 Aminta Hawkins Breaux will become the first female president of Bowie State University on July 1. / Courtesy photo
26 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
On July 1, Aminta Hawkins Breaux will make history as the first female president of Bowie State University, ranked as one of the top 25 historically black colleges and universities by the 2014 U.S. News & World Report. Appointed by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, Breaux will replace Mickey L. Burnim who has served as president for nearly 11 years and has worked in higher education for four decades. "The Board of Regents is very pleased that Dr. Breaux has accepted the appointment as Bowie State's next president," said USM Board Chair James T. Brady. "She brings more than 35 years of a wide range of leadership experience, including in the areas of advancement and student affairs.
Her higher education experiences also include academic affairs, strategic planning, enrollment management, capital planning, and budget management. She will serve the university, the USM and the state well." Breaux is currently vice president for advancement at Millersville University, where she increased the Pennsylvania school's endowment from $30 million to $40 million. "I am deeply honored and delighted to be selected as the next president of Bowie State University and to have the opportunity to build on its rich history and legacy," said Breaux. "I look forward to working with the campus and greater community — students, faculty, staff, alumni, employers, and friends — to ensure continued success for BSU." In addition to her work as vice president, Breaux also served as
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Millersville's vice president for student affairs and oversaw financial aid, counseling services, intercollegiate athletics, housing and residential programs, as well as the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership. Prior to joining Millersville, Breaux was dean of students at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia from 2000 to 2008 and assistant provost of Drexel University from 1998 to 2000. In preparation for his departure, Burnim shared his vision for the university and wishes for the upcoming president. "I have expressed to Dr. Breaux that she is becoming president of one of the finest public comprehensive universities in America," Burnim said. "Bowie State University is poised for further growth and progress. There are many people and organizations
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meaningful to volunteer at an annual Thanksgiving feast for nearly 5,000 community members, where she served beverages to homeless people. "It was a humbling experience to see the smiling faces of people who were very grateful for a Thanksgiving meal," Debora said. Created in 1995, the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program identifies and recognizes young people for outstanding volunteer service and inspire others to do the same. In the past 22 years, the program has honored more than 120,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national level. "These honorees have done exemplary work to contribute to the health and vitality of their communities, and we look forward to seeing the great things they achieve in the future," said John Strangfeld, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. "Congratulations to each of these extraordinary young volunteers." Youth volunteers in grades 5-12 received invitations to apply for the 2017 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards last fall through schools, Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of the HandsOn Network. More than 31,000 middle and high school students nationwide participated in this year's program. "It's a privilege to celebrate these students not only for outstanding volunteer service, but for the example they've set for their peers," said Jayne Ellspermann, president of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "These honorees prove that one person truly can make a difference." WI
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EDUCATION BROWN from Page 1 preme Court." There's little argument that the greatest achievement in the long and illustrious career of the late justice, who died in 1993 at the age of 84, was the landmark 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. It came more than a decade before his appointment to the Court while Marshall served as a civil rights lawyer for the NAACP. The suit had been filed on behalf of African-American parents in Topeka, Kansas. Their children had been forced to attend all-black schools. Marshall launched a challenge to the system of segregation, and on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that separate educational facilities are "inherently unequal" and the racial segregation of public schools
violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The decision is credited with inspiring the civil rights movement that unfolded over the next decade and it also led to Marshall being recognized among the top and most successful lawyers in America. "He accomplished so much and worked so hard, but I thought by now we would have come so much further. He would have thought that too," said Cecilia Marshall, whom loved ones and others affectionately call "Cissy." Her work continues in her husband's memory. On the 63rd anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, Marshall and the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust plan to host a fundraising gala to observe the historic decision and to announce a call to action which she's titled
"The problems remain and this event, this anniversary, comes against the backdrop of a significantly troubling retrenchment of access to education for African-Americans, Latinos and other children." CECILIA MARSHALL / "Equal Education for All Based on the Brown Decision." The event will be held at the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage in northwest D.C. "The problems remain and this event, this anniversary, comes against the backdrop of a significantly troubling retrenchment of access to education for African-Americans, Latinos and other children," Marshall said. She cited a Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights report that said there are numerous factors that appear to have combined to cause the rapid resegregation of schools since 1991, the year her husband retired from the bench. First, beginning in the 1980s, courts turned against desegregation plans — denying new petitions to desegregate schools, ending previous court-imposed plans and even striking down voluntary plans created by local school districts, according to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Further, executive branch agencies have stopped the aggressive campaign to enforce the Brown decision and the Civil Rights Act that proved successful in the 1960s and 1970s, the con-
ference said. "At the same time, rapid growth in the Hispanic and African-American population and growing income disparities have increased the concentration of minorities in high poverty districts," said a statement from the leadership of the Council which has a diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations which promote and protect the civil and human rights of all in the United States. Marshall plan to join the leadership of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and others at the historic event.
"The NNPA reaffirms the living legacy of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall," said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., NNPA president and CEO. "We note this month the 63rd anniversary of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that was won by Marshall's legal genius and courage. Today, it's important to reassert the critical importance of continuing to demand equal high quality education for Black American students and all students across the nation." For Marshall, she said she still gathers with the wives of former and current Supreme Court justices. "We're a big family, we call ourselves sisters," she said. Those get-togethers as well as the success of her two sons — Thurgood Jr., and John W. — serves to further validate her husband's legacy. "My husband enjoyed life," she said. "Seeing his sons grow up to become adults — Thurgood Jr. a lawyer and John serving in civil service — has been a great joy. My husband gave me and all of us a great life and his favorite slogan was something we've always lived by and I still live by today especially when I think of the state of things in this country: never give up." WI
3 Thurgood Marshall with his family. /Courtesy photo
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5/1/17 7:21 PM
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL Is President’s New Voter Fraud Commission a Waste of Money? Six months after Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the race for president with an Electoral College tally of 304 to 227 votes, he continues to claim that he actually won the popular vote too. Of course, you first have to subtract the votes of the 3 to 5 million “non-citizens” who Trump alleges voted illegally, for Clinton of course, in the 2016 election. It’s a hard notion to swallow since Clinton outpaced Trump by almost 2.9 million votes. But that’s his story and he’s sticking to it. You’d think with only five presidents, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush, and now Trump, winning a presidential election while losing the popular vote, that #45 would be satisfied. After all, he’s still made history. But such is not the case. Perhaps those millions who voted illegally are the reason that the president recently created the voter fraud commission – to fix our problem-riddled electoral process and get those darned “illegals” off the voters’ roles so he can finally get a good night’s sleep. Trump has charged the commission, led by Vice President Pence and one of the country’s leading voices against noncitizen voting, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, with reviewing policies and practices that help or hinder Americans’ confidence in the integrity of federal elections. Then what? Probably very little since federal law, determined most recently in a 2016 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, and before that, in a 2013 Supreme Court ruling, clearly prohibits the establishment of tighter proof of citizenship requirements for federal elections. Perhaps Trump hopes that the commission will recommend changes that he’s been unable to secure in court. At least that’s what voting rights groups including the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, say they fear is the president’s real motive. Meanwhile, voting rights experts say there isn’t a significant problem of non-citizen voting in the U.S. The problem, they contend, is the tens of thousands of citizens who have been disenfranchised because of their state’s additional requirements to which they must comply if they wish to vote. We’d like to see Donald Trump move on to other agenda items that have much greater significance – including streamlining the electoral procedure to make it easier, not more difficult, for all eligible voters to have their say at the polls. Isn’t that a guaranteed right for all U.S. citizens? Guess we’d better check the Constitution just to be sure. WI
Blacks & Latinos Need Not Apply President Donald Trump reportedly never realized that being elected U.S. President also meant that he would have to hire his own people. One would have assumed that based upon the way Trump dogged former President Barrack Obama over the way he was running the country that he knew the former president was not making all of the decisions by himself. Clearly, he must have known that the former administration was made up of a diverse group of men and women who helped the president run the day-to-day operations of the federal government and were thereby helping to fulfill the executive mandates approved by the Congress and funded by the American people. Who did Trump think performed all of that work and why didn’t he know he’d have to find others just like them? Finally, now that Trump is carefully selecting appointees to fill these positions, 10 times out of 10, the candidates are all white and mostly male. His appointees verify what many American’s gathered was the underlying meaning of his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again!” The America President Trump is designing through his administration is clearly one where Black and Brown people need not apply. But for the seldom seen or heard Omarosa Manigault Newman (she recently married), who serves as Trump’s Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison and Dr. Ben Carson, Secretary WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
TO THE EDITOR Support HBCUs
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Your recently editorial on the legacy of Howard University (Howard University’s Legacy Perseveres, May 11-17, 2017) brought home the fact that many of us in the Black community take for granted what our institutions stand for. We forget the struggles others have gone through to make sure opportunities are provided to the rest of us. I hear folks complain about our HBCUs, Black churches, Blackowned business and even Black-owned media like The Washington Informer. Nothing or no one is perfect, as we see every day in the news as airlines, restaurants and even the Internet are challenged about the quality of service they give to their consumers. But we still ride those planes, eat in those restaurants and would die if we had to give up on the Internet. So, thank you for reminding us that we’ve got to stop complaining and start supporting if we want to see things improve in our community. We need our Black-owned institutions to be stronger because we know in the end, that’s all we know we can depend on.
I just read a copy of your health issue in a recent edition of The Washington Informer. What would it take for your staff to do more health stories on conditions prevalent in the Black community? As much as I hear about the greater prevalence of prostate cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity among Blacks, you would think a newspaper like The Washington Informer would be carrying stories about health issues like that every week. As a longtime reader, I think you do a pretty good job with most of your coverage, but I would like to see more health-related coverage that can help our people from becoming so sick. This is just a suggestion, but I am hoping you will follow it.
Valerie Shaw Baltimore, Md.
Mark Gordon Hyattsville, Md
Social Media Just a brief note to express my appreciation for The Washington Informer’s use of social media. You all are very active on Twitter and FB, especially with Facebook Live. Keep up the good work. Tracy Brown Oxon Hill, Md.
of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, no other African Americans have been appointed by Trump. In a recent article published in The Guardian, a Republican aide, attempting to explain the mostly white male group gathered behind Trump for photo ops, said, “We have no interest in playing the games of identi-
ty politics, that’s not what this is about; it’s about getting a job done.” And, “To reduce this to gender, race or geography misses the more important point of the diverse segments … the group represents on policy.” We agree with the position espoused in The Guardian that the suggestion that diversity of opinions is equivalent to diversi-
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ty is a slap in the face to those who fought intensely for equal opportunities for all regardless of race and gender and a list of other categories. Trump’s appointments represent a violation of the law and he should be held accountable for what is clearly a policy of discrimination in his administration. WI
MAY 18 - 24, 2017 29
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Rep. James E. Clyburn
The Mission of the Democratic Faith Working Group
Growing up in a church parsonage, the eldest son of a fundamentalist Christian minister, grounded me securely in faith and family. My dad's sermons, which were based in Old Testament scriptures as often as they were in the New Testament, offered up pretty big doses of Judeo-Christian doctrines that still guide me today as Chair of the Democratic Faith Working Group (DFWG) in the United
States House of Representatives. The Old Testament lesson found in Micah 6:8 calls upon the reader to do justice, be merciful and walk humbly. In Matthew 25:45, the reader is instructed that we are judged by the way we treat "the least (among us)." These are the principles that guide the members of the DFWG. We are composed of significant strains of the great diversity of faiths across our nation and in our Caucus. Our values reflect these faiths, and our faith perspectives are the lenses through which we see the great
challenges of our times. Whether the issues are combatting poverty, providing accessible, affordable health care; creating jobs that pay livable wages, rebuilding our infrastructure, tax fairness, environmental stewardship, comprehensive immigration reform, or any other matters important to the common good of our people, the members of the DFWG are utilizing our faithbased perspectives in our pursuit of "a more perfect Union." The members of the DFWG are actively opposing Republican
Guest Columnist
efforts to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would have devastating effects on "the least of these." It would violate the golden rule of "do(ing) unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Republican bill — that was passed by the House on Thursday, May 4 — would exacerbate the widening income gap in our society by lavishing massive tax breaks on the wealthiest few at the expense of working people. There is not justice, mercy or humbleness in such action. In my home district alone,
more than 270,000 South Carolinians under Medicare age have pre-existing conditions. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would subject this population to higher costs and loss of care. According to a recent Joint Economic Committee Report, the Republican Plan will cause 104,954 South Carolinians to lose private coverage in 2018, with their premiums increasing by $727 to $970. Additionally, we would see increased costs of over $94 million in uncompen-
CLYBURN Page 53
By Raymond Blanks
Confederates in the Cathedral
The current era is a time when truth is critically important, although dimensions of deceit still distort our reality. Slowly, the triumph of truth is emerging regarding the legacy of slavery and the onerous impact of white supremacy that President John Quincy Adams described as "the great and foul stain." Confederate symbolism is now being dismantled in New Orleans, Richmond, Virginia, and other cities. America is in-
creasingly recognizing the complicated racial factors related to the history of our racial past of oppression and injustice. Many college campuses and state and local governmental sites have removed memorials venerating the sponsors and sustainers of slavery. These recent actions of removal reflect new and intentional efforts of inclusion, sensitivity and decency. The Washington National Cathedral, however, has shamefully yet to become a part of this truth-telling trend two years after Dylann Roof murdered nine people in a prayer service in a
Guest Columnist
black church motivated by his abiding allegiance to the confederate past and its purpose. Shortly thereafter, it was discovered that the "house of prayer for all people," as some refer to The Cathedral, also strangely lauds the legacies of Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, two Confederate leaders who fought to preserve the perversion of slavery. They are depicted among more than 200 stained-glass windows, which are also adorned with confederate flags. The former Dean of the Cathedral, the Very Rev. Gary Hall, urged that the window be replaced. He maintained
that those symbol and personalities were contradictory to Christian values and had no place in a sacred space. He further suggested that the Confederate flag still represents white supremacy and racism. The Episcopal Bishop of Washington, however, maintained that the windows would instead be utilized as a source for conversation about racism and to foster better racial relations. Cathedral leaders suggested that a new narrative on faith and justice would result from such conversations. This perverse alternative is without merit and reflects a grossly
inadequate response. It is probable that members of the Cathedral staff missed former President Obama's recent comment, "Somebody says we have to have a conversation about race. We talk a lot about race. There's no shortcut. And we don't need more talk." Martin Luther King once observed, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Confederate personalities and symbolism are wholly antithetical to Christian values that promote the dignity
BLANKS Page 53
By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
The Lie About Voter Fraud Is the Real Fraud After President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey because of, as Trump admitted, the "Russian thing," he struck a new blow to American democracy: He created a commission on "election integrity," stemming from his fantastical claims of voter fraud in the 2016 election. In reality, fraudulent voting is virtually nonexistent. The claims of widespread voter fraud are a fraud. Voter suppression, on the other hand, is a real, present
30 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
and increasing threat to our democracy. And all signs are that Trump's commission will add to that threat. Trump named Vice President Mike Pence as chair, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a leading advocate of ballot-restricting legislation, as vice chair. Kobach has made a national spectacle of himself as a crazed pursuer of mythical voter fraud. In Kansas, Kobach has led Republican efforts to suppress the vote. As Ari Berman of the Nation reports, Kobach claimed that
"the illegal registration of alien voters has become pervasive," although he could point to only five alleged cases of noncitizens voting in Kansas during the previous 13 years. Kobach helped push through a law that required documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote, such as a birth certificate, a passport or naturalization papers. That requirement disproportionately impacts the elderly, the poor and the young, who often don't have access to such papers. Since the law went into effect in 2013, Berman reports, "one in seven
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Kansans who attempted to register have had their registrations held 'in suspense' by the state." To solve the non-problem of voter fraud, in 2015 Kansas gave Kobach the power to prosecute such cases. So far, he's convicted nine people. Only last month did he convict his first and only noncitizen for voting fraud. The Kansas City Star has noted the paltry results Kobach has to show for his unique prosecutorial powers, mocking him as the "Javert of voter fraud," a reference to the obsessed police inspector of "Les Miserables."
Now Kobach will be the driving force leading Trump's commission. Its purpose, no doubt, will be to cry wolf about voter fraud and push more states to pass harsh legislation to suppress the vote. Unlike voter fraud — which every independent study shows is essentially a myth — voter suppression is real and growing. The most significant outside factor in the 2016 campaign was not the scattered cases of voter fraud, or Putin's hacking, or even former
JACKSON Page 53
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Charlene Crowell
National Mortgage Servicer Sued for Unfair Practices Families who have assembled the necessary financial resources to apply, qualify, and then purchase a home, understandably value that key investment and its accompanying opportunity to build wealth. But buying the home is just the first step of securing the American dream of homeownership. What many homeowners soon discover is that faithfully paying a monthly mortgage is in some cases,
just not enough. Although homebuyers choose their lender, they do not choose who services their loan — the company that accepts and processes their monthly payments. Nowadays, very few lenders also service loans made. Instead, a third party receives payments, maintains account records and serves as the first point of contact should questions arise. Borrowers can also be caught in errors created by servicers whose records may not have been complete, incorrectly posted to accounts and more. Over the life of a loan, multiple servicers from different firms may
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manage a single mortgage loan. If a borrower discovers that something is amiss on their loan records, they can soon find themselves in a financial maze, trying to decipher who did what and when with their faithful payments. Moreover, while these consumers seek to find out what exactly happened, both fines and fees can be assessed, or even foreclosures filed. Imagine that scenario affecting 1.4 million mortgage loans in all 50 states, with a combined unpaid principal balance of $209 billion. Even worse, imagine this disheartening scenario happening with a firm that
specializes in servicing delinquent and subprime loans in years following the enactment of strong federal legislation designed to ensure protections from financial misbehaviors. In late April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with the Florida attorney general and the state's Office of Financial Regulation, filed lawsuits alleging Ocwen Financial Corporation with a litany of ills affecting virtually every phase of mortgage servicing. The Florida lawsuit alone affects more than 125,000 Ocwen borrowers.
"Enough is enough," said Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. "Florida's distressed Ocwen borrowers should no longer have to endure costly servicing errors and unfair practices." CFPB Director Richard Cordray said Ocwen "has repeatedly made mistakes and taken shortcuts at every stage of the mortgage servicing process, costing some consumers money and others their homes." "Borrowers have no say over who
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By Karl A. Racine / D.C. Attorney General
Three Ways We Can Help the D.C. Children Who Live in Fear
With the District’s coffers brimming with excess revenue, our officials and community leaders must devise, fund and competently implement a comprehensive strategy to treat the trauma that hurts our city’s most vulnerable young residents and breeds the violence that affects us all — violence described in a recent news article that depicted the experiences of eight-year-old Tyshaun McPhatter and heartbreakingly described parts of the nation’s capital as
places where children live in fear. At the Office of the Attorney General, we come into contact with kids such as Tyshaun every day. Based on that experience, there are three steps we can take quickly. First, we must invest in proven, data-based methods to interrupt violence and address it as a public-health crisis. Shootings and other violence cause long-term damage to whole communities, hampering prospects of economic development, traumatizing children and trapping families inside their homes out of fear. While heightened law enforcement is necessary, it is not sufficient to turn around
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high-crime communities. Models such as Cure Violence are proven. This model has three main components. • Detect and interrupt potentially violent conflicts by preventing retaliation and mediating simmering disputes. • Identify and treat individuals at the highest risk for conflict by providing services and changing behavior. • Engage communities in changing norms around violence (for instance, organize community responses to every shooting to counter normalization).
Multiple studies have shown that, where implemented, Cure Violence results in reductions in shootings and violent confrontations. New Orleans went 200 days without a murder in its Cure Violence sites; Philadelphia saw significant reductions in shootings in Cure Violence areas compared with similar districts; and Baltimore’s Cure Violence sites saw fewer homicides. We must fund a Cure Violence-based program in the District. Second, the District must invest in strategies to reduce and prevent childhood trauma at home. Ongoing trauma puts a child’s brain in a
constant fight-or-flight state, making it hard for other parts of the brain to develop properly. Children experience difficulty paying attention. Untreated trauma can lead to school failure, higher dropout rates, and aggression and other risky behavior. According to the National Kids Count Data Center, for children in the District, rates of abuse and neglect — major contributors to childhood trauma — are higher than the national average. In neighborhoods such as Tyshaun’s, they are dramatically higher.
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By Askia Muhammad
Trump Interference in FBI Cannot End Well President Donald J. Trump will never fade nicely into some future night. He's been in office less than four months, and bedlam is the result of his leadership in every area he's touched. This experience cannot end happily. This man we call "commander in chief" has already caused as much Constitutional confusion and all around political trouble in just four months as Richard M. Nixon instigated in five years! It took until 1973 and all the wheels falling off the Nixonian
bandwagon before members of Congress began to seriously talk about impeaching the Commander in Chief. Not only are angry, "sore loser" Democrats openly talking about impeaching this president because his request for "loyalty" from nowfired FBI Director James Comey, and then apparently firing Comey to impede the investigation he was conducting into the collusion of Russian agents with Trump operatives in the 2016 presidential campaign amounts to a clear obstruction of justice, but now psychiatrists are openly wondering, is this guy
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possibly insane? If his first 120 days are any indication of what to expect from the remaining 1,200 days of this term, then the worst is yet to come! I will go even further. Donald Trump has no intention of ever not being president. In other words, he is now "President for Life." Just look around. Timid Republicans dare not call this renegade to heel. By the time the few of them who are not political clones of The Donald realize this guy is dictator-bound, it will already be too late to stop him. Just look around at the dangerous forces Trump has unleashed. With-
in his administration his appointees to top administration positions, are mostly opposed to the missions of the agencies their appointed to direct. The attorney general, for example, who could not win confirmation as a federal judge 30 years ago — Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, who is named after not one, but two prominent Confederate War traitors — has told federal prosecutors to seek the maximum possible sentence for drug crimes. He wants to return to the racist-inspired notion of law enforcement: "Lock 'em up. Throw away the key." Washington has become like
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the library in the original "Ghostbusters" movie — a haunted place, swirling with ghoulies, spooks, ghosts and all manner of apparitions. Instead of "draining the swamp" of the foulness which permeates Washington politics, in just four months, Donald J. Trump has stocked political swamp with alligators, and has put deadly wolves in charge of the nation's henhouse. The worst is yet to come. It is clear this guy does not respect the rule of law. He has said out of
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LIFESTYLE Library of Congress Celebrates Disco Era With Monthlong Program By Eve M. Ferguson WI Contributing Writer She was Queen of the Disco, again, at least for the day. On Saturday, May 6, the Library of Congress paid homage to singer Gloria Gaynor, following the entry of her hit "I Will Survive" to the National Recording Registry at the institution. As the culmination of the library's monthlong examination of the disco era of the '70s and early '80s, the day was dedicated to Gloria Gaynor and the disco culture as seen through the lens of historical research. Beginning with a symposium examining the American phenomenon that dictated not only music and fashion, encompassing initial audiences from clubgoers who were primarily black, LGBTQ and urban immigrant communities such as Italian-Americans and Latinos, and expanding to include the evolving hippie psychedelic communities in Philadelphia and New York City during the late
1960s and early 1970s. The highlight of the daytime activities was an interview conducted by "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts with Gaynor on the making of the disco megahit "I Will Survive," which Gaynor was quick to point out she did not pen. "Barry White was the first to really introduce disco," she said of the origins of the genre that catapulted her to stardom. "He was called the 'King of Disco,' a genre that didn't yet have any music. In the cabaret clubs I used to work in, they started to move chairs and make dance floors. Then they would take a closet, open the door, cut the top half off, take a plank off the bottom half and that's where the deejay's turntable would go. And there was your discotheque. Then somebody had the bright idea to start to build discotheques from the ground up." "I Will Survive" was originally intended to be the B-side of another
5 Gloria Gaynor /Courtesy photo
record, but when Gaynor heard the song, she thought differently. The song resonated with her personally as she recalled having suffered a fall while performing and becoming paralyzed from the waist down. It wasn't permanent, but she had to undergo a painful spinal fusion and recovery, and it instilled the need for resilience in the young singer. "I really prayed, after the record company said they were going to revoke my contract," she said. "I mean I really, really prayed. I knew I was going to do something, but I didn't know what. "A few weeks after I got home, the record company sent me a letter saying they were not going to end my contract and they wanted me to record a song that the company's president had chosen," Gaynor said. "The A-side was a song called 'Substitute.' But I wanted a meaningful song that people could sing along to. So they showed me 'I Will Survive,' [that had been] written
two years ago. It was waiting for the right person. I knew when I read the lyrics that this was a timeless song." Gaynor emphasizing how her faith saw her through difficult times, and how "I Will Survive," became an anthem for people in almost any challenging situation. She also treated the audience to a taste of her current work from an upcoming Christian album. "I Will Survive" joined in this year's entries to the registry by Sister Sledge's iconic disco hit "We Are Family," provided the soundtrack for the disco era along with songs by the Bee Gees, the Trammps, Sylvester and Tavares, to name a few of the hit-making artists. According to scholar Alice Echols, author of "Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture," the dance music driven era embraced marginalized populations still struggling with civil rights, and created safe spaces in the
New Production of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Hits DMV
Nicholas Edwards Stars in a Cast Dominated by Actors of Colors By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
5 Nicholas Edwards stars as Jesus in a new production of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the iconic musical that tells the story of Jesus during his final week of life on stage now at the Signature Theatre in Arlington. / Photo by Margot Schulman
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The Signature Theatre, Arlington’s award-winning company known for producing contemporary plays and reinventing classic musicals, closes out its 27 season with one of the most beloved plays to ever hit and dominate Broadway – a rock opera with unforgettable songs that include “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and the upbeat title song, “Jesus Christ Superstar.” And in the lead role for the epic musical, the director, Joe Calarco has tagged Nicholas Edwards, a new face at the Signature – a young, Black actor with roots in the Dominican Republic. He
says he never imagined having the opportunity to portray Jesus of Nazareth and describes the experience as “a dream come true.” “I’ve always had a problem seeing Jesus portrayed by a white man with blue eyes since he was from Jerusalem and would more accurately resemble someone from the Middle East,” said Edwards who credits his high school circle of close friends for persuading him to go after a role in “South Pacific” and discovering that he loved acting. “With Jesus cast as a man of color, it humanizes the show and makes the story more relatable to what people in the world look like today,” he said. “In our production, you’ll see that this
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story is about a group of people searching for their faith. Then this man named Jesus comes along with new ideas for how things should be. Our show is about today and today’s people. I think audiences will listen more carefully, to every moment and will discover that ours is unlike the show they’ve probably seen several times before.” He laughed when asked if he has the support of his family, quickly replying that his mother has always told him to “dream big.” “She came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic and has achieved an amazing career in corporate America. She’s al-
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clubs where patrons could express a certain freedom. Clubs such as Studio 54 and Paradise Garage in New York became legendary, becoming fertile ground for a new sound and artists such as LaBelle, Grace Jones, Donna Summer and Gaynor, who were embraced by the black and gay communities in an almost cult-like following. Echols has authored four book on what she terms the "long '60s" where significant transformations in acceptance in American culture took place. Disco addressed many of those issues of cultural freedom and expression. Disco era music evolved within the club scene, eventually spawning EDM (electronic dance music) in Detroit, house music, and the European version, garage music. Photographer Bill Bernstein, whose career started in the 1970s at New York's progressive newspaper, the Village Voice, documented the time period through portraits, street photography and concert photography currently on view at the city's Museum of Sex in an exhibit titled "Night Fever: The Bill Bernstein Photographs." "New respect has grown for disco as being the source for what's out there today," he said. "Disco was much more than the music, the celebrities, the sex and the drugs. It was a state of mind." His book, "Disco: The Bill Bernstein Photographs," is a visual exploration of the people and the environment that created this uniquely American cultural phenomenon. But emphasizing that the disco era would have been non-existent without the music, Gaynor and her band performed a sold-out concert, performing such hits as "Never Can Say Goodbye," "I Am What I Am" and of course, "I Will Survive." The Bibliodiscotheque symposium and concert were taped for archival purposes, and can be viewed at a later date on the Library of Congress's website, www.loc.gov. WI
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LIFESTYLE 'Jesus' Gets Millennial Update in Local Production
By Lauren Poteat WI Contributing Writer
Director Joe Calarco does a captivating job with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's award-winning opera "Jesus Christ
Superstar," providing a millennial spin on the well-known classic. With a mostly black cast, including Nicholas Edwards, who plays Jesus, the Signature Theater's production focuses on the final days of Christ, amid a luminous
modern Roman-Greco backdrop that only adds to the energy. With the legendary songs "What's the Buzz," "I Don't Know How to Love Him," "Everything's Alright" and the title song, Calarco ("Gypsy") directs this dazzling and fiery epic of celebrity, passion, guilt and salvation. Edwards delivers smooth and soulful soprano tenor vocals, most notably in the touching "Poor Je-
rusalem." He eventually cuts loose in "Gethsemene" with a thrilling, Dio-like growl. Ashlie Monn brings a worldly calm and Madonna-like beauty to Mary Magdalene. One audience member, Martha White of Northern Virginia, marveled at how well the play had been performed. "This was such a good play," White said after the May 11 show at the Arlington theater. "This isn't
my first time seeing this production but it is the first time that I have seen it this way. I love the characters and the way that the director was able to make this play enjoyable for the next generation. It's full of life and a definite mustsee." "Jesus Christ Superstar," which opened May 2 at The Signature Theater in Arlington, Virginia, runs through July 2. WI
5 Nicholas Edwards (Jesus) and the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar at Signature Theatre. /Photo courtesy of Margot Schulman
ways rooting for me, telling me not to ever settle. Like many other youth from families of color, my support system is the reason I’m here today,” he said. Singing has always come easy for Edwards, with acting coming as an afterthought. He says he realized early on that he could study acting and dancing and add them to his arsenal of skills. But it wouldn’t be until right before the start of his junior year that he received the call and confirmation for which he had waited so long. “I had started doubting myself, wondering if acting was really for me,” he said. “Many of my friends were auditioning and booking gigs. I had posted several videos online and a director in Portland had seen them. He needed someone to replace an actor in “Kiss of the Spiderwoman,” and I had done the show before. Someone wanted me to come save the day. Wow! It was my first professional job and I realized that I could do it.” Edwards notes that the theater, unlike Hollywood, offers significantly more opportunities for people of color although things still aren’t 100 percent. “Boundaries continue to be broken. ‘Hamilton’ had a lot to do with that. Now, we’re getting chances beyond traditional roles
written for us [people of color] – real parts, real stories, people struggling – roles that require so much out of you, emotionally and physically. Even in this show, the director, who’s simply amazing, has put something together that’s totally outside of the box. He’s bending the rules with a completely diverse cast of mostly young actors like me. I knew this was going to be something special the first day of rehearsal. And the great thing is we’re all here for the art.” Join Nicholas and his cast members in a production that continues Signature’s history of presenting the classics in fresh ways. Call 703-820-9771 for tickets or visit www.sigtheatre. org for more information. The play runs through July 2. WI
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The iconic rock musical in a sleek, modern and immersive production May 9 – July 2, 2017 Tickets selling quickly!
Photo of Michael Brown by Christopher Mueller
SUPERSTAR from Page 32
Free parking | 16 area restaurants
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LIFESTYLE DJ Spooky Reimagines Infamously Racist Film from 1915 Will Debut Multimedia Performance, ‘Rebirth of a Nation,’ at Kennedy Center By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir You may not recognize the name or even the face of Paul D. Miller, an accomplished composer, multimedia artist, editor and author whose career continues to soar with meteoric proportions. But once you’ve witnessed this D.C. native employ his provocative imagination and extensive knowledge of music, cast through the lens of his unique art of remixing, you’ll never forget the sound of his alter ego, DJ Spooky. And as part of the Kennedy Center’s JFK Centennial Week, DJ Spooky, along with a string quartet from the District-based music ensemble Sound Impact,
will present “Rebirth of a Nation,” conceived as a reimaging of director D.W. Griffith’s infamous racist silent film, “The Birth of a Nation,” first shown in 1915. The culturally significant project, debuting on Tuesday, May 23 in the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, will showcase the deejay as “artist” accompanied by two violins, a viola and a cello, along with three screen video projections controlled live on stage by DJ Spooky. In describing his work and the influences that led him to consider tackling the images and ideology that serves as the basis of Griffith’s controversial film, he says he wanted to examine how “exploitation and political still haunt the world to this day.”
We asked him to tell us more about his project, a commissioned piece by the Lincoln Center Festival in 2004 and has been performed in venues around the world from the Sydney Festival to the Herod Atticus Amphitheater. Washington Informer: Given the controversy that has long surrounded “The Birth of a Nation,” what prompted you to use this as the foundation of your project? DJ Spooky: I’ve been a firm believer that history is increasingly important. The problem of our time is that people too easily forget how the gains we’ve made in human rights, civil rights, women's rights – you name it, all come into being because people were unwilling to accept the
world as it was and they wanted to change it. I’ve wanted to look at cinema as a reflection of the possibilities that we have at our disposal. It's so important to remember — the past is never the past. It lingers in the present at every level. WI: What are your goals for the audience as they experience this multi-faceted presentation? DJ Spooky: I want people to walk out of the Kennedy Center feeling like they saw history as a cinematic remix and realize that the world is what we make it. Let's face it — “Birth of a Nation” is a propaganda film. This is anti-propaganda propaganda. WI: How did you first get interested in working as a DJ? What prompted you to develop your music in ways that are so different from others – so out of the box? DJ Spooky: I'm from Washington, D.C. and grew up in a household that valued information. My father was Dean of Howard University Law School and my mother owned a store called Toast and Strawberries at DuPont Circle. I grew up listening to music that came from
Washington: Donald Byrd and the Black Byrds, Trouble Funk, Minir Threat, Bad Brains and later Thievery Corporation and beyond. I never planned on being a DJ. I was planning on being a diplomat. So, I guess this is just an extension of that process of thinking about international D.C. culture. WI: Do you believe that entertainers have a responsibility to address societal ills, problems and challenges? problems/challenges? DJ Spooky: Absolutely. WI: In your recent travels abroad, what was the focus of your music and how were you received? DJ Spooky: One of my favorite projects is where I took a studio to Antarctica and wrote a symphony about the sound of ice. To me, environmental issues are more than ever at the core of what Americans can do to help the world. We need to understand that human rights, civil rights and environmental justice are all tied together. ‘Rebirth of a Nation’ is a kind of call to people to realize — we are all in this together. WI
Rebirth of a Nation racism. Exploitation. Corruption. DJ Spooky remixes the infamously racist 1915 silent film in a powerful multimedia event that examines how “exploitation and political corruption still haunt the world to this day, but in radically different forms.”
Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky with Sound Impact May 23 at 8 p.m. Eisenhower theater tICKEtS ON SALE NOW! KENNEdy-CENtEr.Org | (202) 467-4600 Tickets also available at the Box Office. Groups call (202) 416-8400. For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.
Support for JFKC: A Centennial Celebration of John F. Kennedy is provided by Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, Chevron, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, and Target.
34 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
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5 DJ Spooky /Photo courtesy of DJ Spooky
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Nikki Giovanni's New Book suggests that Everyone Needs a Good Cry Contradiction can be a good thing — sometimes. At least that's a working theory of Nikki Giovanni, the famed poet, activist, educator and author who, for more than 30 years has held a unique place on the American stage. "The older you get, writers have to contradict themselves. It's incredibly important especially for poets because we write from our emotional experience and we've learned something," said Giovanni, 73, whose fiery, humorous and reflective voice has informed the national conscious and charmed the hearts of millions. This fall, Giovanni will release her latest book, "A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter." (William Morrow Hardcover, $19.99). The new book might Giovanni's most intimate collection, as she recalls the violence that permeated her parents' marriage and her early life, and how she came to live with the grandparents who Giovanni credits with saving her life. "Grandpa was in love with grandma until the day he died and grandma helped me to get through a lot," Giovanni said of her childhood. Born in 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Giovanni now makes her home in Virginia. She first grabbed national attention as part of the Black Arts movement of the late 1960s. After graduating with honors from Fisk University in 1967, Giovanni traveled back to her childhood home in Cincinnati and established the city's first Black Arts Festival. She then penned the poems that are included in her first self-published volume, 1968's "Black Feeling, Black Talk." By the mid-1970s, Giovanni had established herself as one of the leading poetic voices. She won several awards including "Woman of the Year" from Ladies Home Journal in 1973 and made several television appearances, including the African-American arts and culture show "Soul!" During the 1980s, she spent much time touring. Giovanni
also taught at College Mount St. Joseph and Virginia Tech University, where she still works as a professor. Recently, Giovanni has produced several new works, including "Jimmy Grasshopper Versus the Ants," "Rosa" and "Acolytes." She also shared a memorable friendship with the late Maya Angelou and the two formed a bond that included a friendly kitchen competition. "We lived about two hours away and she'd call me up and say she's making chicken and some fancy dressing and I'd say, 'You know, you're a good cook, but I'm a better cook and your chicken needs a little more lemon,'" Giovanni recalled with a laugh. Two years ago, Giovanni suffered a seizure, which not only led her to discovering the benefits of crying — as her new book suggests — but it may lead to the naming of a new disease, she said. "It's one of those seizures where you forget things and you have to come back into them," she said. "My doctor said I have high blood pressure and eat too much junk. I told him that I had a seizure because I never learned to cry and if you don't learn to cry, you can't get all of those emotions out. "I told him one day there will be a disease called 'Nikki' and that he would be the one to invent it," she said. A good cry could help most, Giovanni said. "It's a skill," she said. "You have to learn to cry. Men, in particular, need to let those emotions out otherwise they'll be kicking the dog or something." Giovanni, a noted activist, said she's proud of the Black Lives Matter movement, but doesn't offer them any advice and doesn't believe older ones should. "I think our job was done," she said. "My generation had to take down signs that said, 'Colored waiting rooms,' and we took down segregation. We couldn't take down racism so we have to allow the young ones to do their jobs. "What I'm looking for as an old black woman is the new ww
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music," she said. "Black people have bought a sound from the spirituals to hip-hop that explains what's going on. There has to be a new sound because hip-hop is now classic so something else has to come in that's protesting. I'm hoping that I live another 10 years to hear what that is because I know it's going to be good." WI
5 Author Nikki Giovanni will release a new book this fall. /Courtesy photo
DANCE PLACE PRESENTS
30th May_30 June 4 Celebrate the dance and music of the African Diaspora Introducing Griot Mama Sylvia Soumah Free Outdoor Events & African Marketplace Performances Master Classes Tickets / Info: danceplace.org or 202.269.1600
3225 8TH ST NE WASHINGTON, DC 20017 DANCEPLACE.ORG METRO: BROOKLAND-CUA (RED LINE)
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Photo © Enoch Chan 2016
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
MAY 18 - 24, 2017 35
CONGRATULATIONS DISCOVER THE UNEXPECTED FELLOWS!
36 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
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Discover the Unexpected is back! This year’s DTU journalism fellowship presented by the all-new 2018 Chevrolet Equinox in partnership with the National Newspaper Publishers Association has expanded beyond Howard University to include students from Spelman College, Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University. This summer, our 8 DTU Fellows will intern at the Washington informer in Washington D.C., the Atlanta Voice in Atlanta, the Carolinian in Raleigh and the Louisiana Weekly in New Orleans. These young journalists will explore these rich strongholds of African American history and culture, and share unexpected stories from our community. Join them as they embark on this exciting journey of inspiration, education and discovery.
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Warner Brother's ‘King Arthur: Legend of the Sword’ is Exhilarating
DC COMMISSION ON THE ARTS & HUMANITIES
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5 Charlie Haunnam /Courtssy photo
Funding support available for individuals and organizations working in the arts and humanities. dcarts.dc.gov | 202-724-5613
Renew
A Silver Jubilee Concert
WASHINGTON PERFORMING ARTS’ MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN OF THE GOSPEL CHOIRS
FRI, JUN 2, 8PM • THE MUSIC CENTER AT STRATHMORE Renew your spirit with the joyful sounds of our combined gospel choirs, singing traditional and contemporary arrangements by composers like Richard Smallwood, Hezekiah Walker, and Marvin Gaye, plus new commissioned works by Toshi Reagon and Choir director Stanley J. Thurston. Join us for this powerful journey that will feed your soul, touch your heart, and leave you standing on your feet! Special thanks: Van Auken Private Foundation to honor the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation; Tom Gallagher, in honor of Turnaround, Inc.; Reginald Van Lee; Jacqueline Badger Mars and Mars, Inc.; Washington Performing Arts’ Junior Board; National Endowment for the Arts; friends of Jenny Bilfield; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather
TICKETS: WashingtonPerformingArts.org 202.785.9727
By Eunice Moseley WI Contributing Writer Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) directs the Warner Bros. Pictures’ presentation of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, an exhilarating version of the English tale. Ritchie comes from a comedy background as a director of films and it is so evident in this medieval story of King Arthur, which arrives in theatres May 12, 2017. Co-produced and co-written by Guy Ritchie, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is about the legendary blade that has mystical powers, seen through the eyes of an orphan boy named Arthur. It seems Arthur was born to be King, but he doesn’t know it. His evil uncle Vortigem, played by English actor Jude Law (Sherlock Homes), is killing all family members in the way of him getting to the thorn of England. English actor Charlie Haunnam (“Sons of Anarchy”) is Arthur Pendragon the young Englishman who was raised in a brothel as an orphaned boy until adulthood. Arthur gets
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wrapped up in his Uncle King Vortigem’s devious search for the man who can remove the Excalibur from the stone just so he can eliminate him as a royal bloodline threat to the crown. Arthur, just out to make some money that any man who participates in trying to pull free the sword received, removes the sword and now his Uncle knows who he truly is. When Arthur is able to handle the power of the sword he can see also who he is and what happened to his parents. What transpires next is an adventure that is full of fantasy, drama and perfect comedic relief moments. Rated PG-13 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is also co-produced by Akiva Goldsman, Joby Harold, Tory Tunnell, Steve Clark-Hall and Lionel Wigram. Co-screen writer is Joby Harold. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword also stars West African actor DJimon Hounsou (The Legend of Tarzan) as Bedivere who becomes a knight of “King Arthur’; Spanish actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey (Pirates of the Caribbean) is “The Mage” (Guinevere); Australian actor Eric Bana (Hulk, The Finest Hour) is Uther Pendragon - Arthur’s father the true King; Tom Wu (Skyfall) is George a fight trainer who also becomes a knight of King Arthur’s roundtable; Kamil Lemieszewski as
Merlin; Annabelle Wallis as King Vortigem’s Maid Maggie; Irish actor Tony Award winner Aidan Gillen (“Games of Thornes”) as Bill Wilson another friend to become a knight at the roundtable; English actor Freddie Fox (Victor Frankenstein) as Rubio Arthur’s childhood friend also part of the group to be knights; Craig McGinlay as Percival; Kingsley Ben-Adir as Wetstick a friend of Arthur, and Neil Maskell as Backlack. It also stars David Beckham, Millie Brady, Michael McElhatton, Mikael Persbrandt, Lorraine Bruce, Hermione Corfield, Katie McGrath, and Poppy Delevingne. “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword” is a Safehouse Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Weed Road Pictures and Ritchie/Wigram Productions production. Watch the trailer or learn more about the Warner Bros. Pictures’ presentation by logging onto www.KingArthurMovie. com. WI Eunice Moseley, has an estimated weekly readership of over ¼ million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a Public Relations Strategist and Business Management Consultant at Freelance Associates, and is Promotions Director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times. www. ThePulseofEntertainment.com.
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‘The View UpStairs’ Sparkles, Sizzles, Scores Off-Broadway Musical Explores LGBTQ Fight for Equality By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir If you can sneak away to New York City for an evening at the theater, you may want to consider heading down to Bleecker Street and catching “The View UpStairs” for its Off-Broadway run at The Lynn Redgrave Theater. The first thing that will grab your attention is the staging of this fast-paced show. The entire theatre has been transformed into a vibrant 70s gay bar located in the French Quarter of New Orleans – and you are in the club. Actors saunter over to patrons – sitting on laps, pulling up chairs, offering drinks and sharing the banter reminiscent of one out on the town. What makes this concept work is the way we – the audience – feel more like participants rather than observers. As the play unfolds, we get to meet some of the colorful characters who made the Up-
Stairs Lounge their home and their refuge. They are a forgotten community that receives a new lease on life when a young fashion designer from 2017 buys the abandoned space. What follows is an exciting journey spanning two generations with each character slowly revealing their own personal history as a member of the LGBTQ community and how they have come to accept themselves, their desires and their sexuality, despite the attacks from outside. The actors, who sing and dance to a funky, 70s disco-infused beat, are a wonderful collection of accomplished thespians who succeed in becoming the characters they’ve been chosen to portray. I loved Frenchie Davis (Henri), Jeremy Pope (Wes), Michael Longoria (Freddy) and Nancy Ticotin (Inez) but in truth, every actor finds a way to grab us by our heartstrings. The end of the musical will shock you. In fact, it actually
brought me to tears as I considered yet another example of man’s inhumanity to man. The play, much to my surprise, traces its inspiration to one of the most significant yet summarily ignored attacks against the LGBTQ community, ending in the deaths of innocent men and women. Their crime? Seeking to live their lives on their terms. Max Vernon, the writer, director Scott Ebersold, choreographer Al Blackstone and James Dobson, music supervisor and orchestrator have combined their talents and produced a show that you won’t forget. Often the past can serve as a guide when we confront times of uncertainty. Today, in light of the push back against rights only recently extended to the LGBTQ community, this show helps us remember both the gains and losses in their fight for equality in America. See “The View UpStairs.” Then go see it again. WI
5 The cast of "The View UpStairs" /Photo courtesy Invisible Wall Productions
5 A poster announces the new musical "The View UpStairs". /Photo courtesy Invisible Wall Productions
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5 The University of the District of Columbia graduating class of 2017 and their families is a showcase of the population of the Washington DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on May 13 in Northwest. /Photo by Roy Lewis
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5 Sheila C. Johnson charges the University of the District of Columbia graduating class of 2017 with things they should do to have a great future in their careers during commencement exercises on May 13 in Northwest. / Photo by Roy Lewis
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5 President Mason Jr. hands out diplomas to graduates during the commencement exercises for the University of the District of Columbia class of 2017 held May 13 in Northwest DC. /Photo by Roy Lewis
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5 Senator Kamala D. Harris of California (Center) is honored with Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters during Howard University’s the 149th Commencement Convocation Saturday, May 17. (Left - Pres. Wayne A. I. Frederick, Right- M. Kasim Reed) /Photo by Travis Riddick
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CAN’T GET ENOUGH INFORMER NEWS? 5 Howard University held its 149th Commencement Convocation in Burr Gym-
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LIFESTYLE Local Startup Helps Women Entrepreneurs By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
After attending multiple networking events, Ashley Grimes and Destiny Jones said they were left unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Those repeated experiences helped the budding business owners to realize that there was a need to establish a platform for female entrepreneurs to continuously con-
nect, share information and gain support. In February, the two founded The Millennial Entrepreneur Network, LLC, which they said would accelerate the advancement of female entrepreneurs with an objective to provide members with the essential tools and connections needed to succeed in the competitive business world. "Women are already a minority
in the business world, therefore it is imperative for them to be educated on how to run a business," said Grimes, 26, of Randallstown. "My mom would always say when odds are already working in your favor you have try two times harder to be better than the competition." Currently pursuing a Master's in business administration with a concentration on entrepreneurship at Morgan State University, Grimes
Please join us! The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) invites you to a public meeting on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center from 6:30pm - 8:30pm. The objective of this meeting is to discuss the Revitalization of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE Project (South Capitol Street to Milwaukee Place). DDOT will present recommendations and gather comments from the community at this public meeting. If you have questions about this public meeting, please contact Dawit Kebede, dawit.kebede@dc.gov.
teamed with Jones, 23, a Baltimore resident who she earned a bachelor's of science in international business and marketing from Salisbury University. "We help aspiring female entrepreneurs to establish a supportive community through powerful connections," Grimes said. "We encourage, enlighten, and empower women to become leaders in the business world." The company hosts a series of brunch events for women entrepreneurs that include those from diverse backgrounds and occupations. "The Millennial Entrepreneur Network, LLC speaks on topics that are relative to entrepreneurs at any stage in business," Grimes said. "We also bring speakers that share their failures and successes and how they got started and what they have done to sustain in order to enhance the experience. "Our attendees are able to have an open dialogue through Q&A, have meet-and-greets after the event is over as well as build their network up through mixing and mingling with other entrepreneurs," she said. The company choose to hold a brunch because it's typically cheerful, sociable and inciting, Grimes said. "It is talk-compelling — it puts you in good spirits, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, and it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week," she said. "Brunch is a communal experience." Diversity remains a key because
of the varying perspectives involved, which is essential in business, she said. The Millennial Entrepreneur Network, LLC eventually will become the premier organization of women serving women in business, Grimes said, noting that they're already an active and inclusive organization that fosters professional mentorship and resources, and a diverse network of members supporting one another in the business world. The company aims to prepare young women for success, promote women entrepreneurship, address the barriers to entrepreneurship and find solutions by advocating the measures meant to promote women entrepreneurs, she said. "We are able to ensure positive outcomes through providing members with the appropriate tools in order to develop and grow their business and be successful," Grimes said. "We provide our members the opportunity to meet, exchange information and develop business relationships as well as help build profitable relationships. "The Millennial Entrepreneur Network, LLC will also link them with mentors in their industries as well as have one-on-one strategy meetings with our members," she said. "We understand that women's entrepreneurship is the best way to achieve economic, financial and social impact; however, it can be hard being a double minority. "Women in business encounter unique challenges and we wanted to provide a supportive community that provides the knowledge and skills in order to excel as an entrepreneur in the business world," Grimes said. WI
PASTORAL VACANCY Emmanuel Baptist Church Washington, DC
Emmanuel Baptist Church is seeking a full-time Pastor who conforms to the Biblical qualifications in Titus 1:6-9 and I Timothy 3:1-7. The Pastor should have a compassionate shepherd’s heart, ready to lead our church in reaching out to our community and the world as we proclaim the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The pastor should have strong and challenging biblically based preaching and teaching abilities, a passion for evangelism, discipleship, and families. The Pastor should also stand boldly to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To learn more about the Emmanuel Baptist Church and the application, please visit our website at www.emmanuelbaptistdc.org. Opening Date: April 10, 2017 Closing Date: May 31, 2017
5 Ashley Grimes (left) and Destiny Jones have started a new business to help
women entrepreneurs. /Courtesy photo
42 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
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LIFESTYLE
wi book reviewA
Horoscopes
ARIES You may breathe a sigh of relief this week as tensions begin to ease and you start
to feel more relaxed. This can be a time for planning ahead and doing the groundwork when it comes to new projects. In addition, embrace new ideas in a very down-to-earth way. Studying and networking could also be important. Lucky Numbers: 12, 17, 35
"The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die"
TAURUS You might want to share ideas that you've been mulling over recently. You're very much in your element at this time, and this week could be an opportunity to take steps to fulfill one of your heart's desires. It may not happen overnight, but bit by bit you'll get there. Friday night can be perfect for a sizzling date. Lucky Numbers: 5, 13, 24 GEMINI You may find that you're naturally more connected with your feelings. This week and over the coming weeks it may become easier to discuss issues that you've so far kept to yourself. In addition, letting go of any situations that no longer serve you can also leave you feeling quite liberated. As the Sun enters you sign this weekend, mixing and mingling can be rewarding and uplifting. Lucky Numbers: 8, 9, 11
by Keith Payne c.2017, Viking $28 ($37 Canada) 246 pages
CANCER A new club or dating website beckons, this might be the time you go for
it. There may also be a new opportunity associated with your work that looks promising. Although this may just be a stage in the overall process, you'll feel like you're making solid progress. The Sun's move into your spiritual zone later in the week could encourage you to enjoy more quiet time. Lucky Numbers: 2, 9, 22
The Broken Ladder
LEO Your career puts you in the spotlight, make a big splash. This is your chance to
show off your skills and let others know what you can do. Mercury also enters this sector, so you might be eager to give a presentation that can augment your image. Relaxing with friends or enjoying community events could appeal greatly. Lucky Numbers: 16, 19, 23
By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer He got more. There was a time in your life when just noticing that was reason to throw a tantrum. It was enough to make any adult near you want to run away. But now that you're all grown up, "He got more" means more — and in the new book "The Broken Ladder" by Keith Payne, you'll see how it might affect your life. Airplane kerfuffles are hardly news these days, but Keith Payne sees them differently: they are, he says, linked to status hierarchy. First class has wider, plusher seats while coach fliers must cram themselves into tiny cushions and share an armrest. Whether the fliers know it or not, that causes envy; in fact, air rage increases, say researchers, when people are forced to see this inequality. Add a delayed or canceled flight, and things escalate to violence. The thing is that flights aren't cheap. Just the fact that someone is on a plane says a lot about their income but when people perceive inequality, they "feel poor and act poor, even when they're not." Even so, it's true that the rich do get richer, while the poorest people have treaded financial water for about the past half-century. Payne imagines a ladder as a metaphor for inequality. The higher the rung an individual reaches, the better their status and income, health, safety, and future. Racial inequality — which is "qualitatively different," no matter how big a person's paycheck is — affects one's position on the ladder. So does geography and education, or lack thereof. The lower the rung, the less the person has, monetarily and otherwise. The good thing is that each person's situation may change within parameters, and can be relative to that of others: the Haves, in other words, think they have not … until they see that the Have-Nots have less. That changes perceptions and may, at least temporarily, lead to a more satisfied life. Even so, in the incessant effort to get ahead, an individual's needs (or imagined needs) can cause risk-taking, and the accompanying adrenaline rush affects body organs negatively. Simply put: inequality can kill you. And if you're on a lower rung of that imaginary ladder, even your death will be unequal. Oh my, but the first three-fifths of "The Broken Ladder" is an eye-opener. In those pages, author Keith Payne sets readers up with a plethora of statistics to support what he's about to lay down; specifically, that inequality is worse than we think it is. Once the point is made, however, the last of this book is quite repetitive. It's filled with the common-sensical, a rehashing of brain science with which audiences for this book are likely familiar, stereotyping, and frequent comparisons to our simian relatives, ending with a Kumbaya that barely matches the book's original tone. Heavy sigh. And yet, in this world of widening class gaps, how could you miss the important first chapters here? You can't, that's all, because every little bit helps understand it and with "The Broken Ladder," you get more. WI WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
MAY 18 - 24, 2017
VIRGO You may become curious about exploring countries or cultures you've never encountered before. The coming weeks might see you booking a trip or vacation to a place that can provide sensual delights, heady experiences, and plenty to explore. You may also have a chance to make some positive changes on the home front because of a brilliant idea. It could save you a lot of work if you put it into action. Lucky Numbers: 21, 25, 29 LIBRA Insights might help make a difference in a matter that has been niggling at you for some time. In addition, you may also be thrilled by a relationship that seems to offer something different. This person could be a breath of fresh air in your life, enabling you to see key issues from a fresh perspective that's very liberating. Lucky Numbers: 4, 10, 38 SCORPIO Gauging other people's reactions before you make key decisions can be crucial if everything is to work to plan. Also, other factors could bring up ideas that have an impact on your income and moneymaking ability. If you've experienced some difficulty in this area recently, a key blend of energies could coincide with a job offer or business proposal that is very good for you. Lucky Numbers: 7, 9, 33 SAGITTARIUS With a focus on your lifestyle sector, you may be curious about how
you can make better use of your time in order to accomplish more. The coming week could encourage you to take a closer look at your routines and daily activities and streamline them in order to give yourself more leeway. In addition, you could find that a new hobby, sport, or creative activity has a liberating effect on you, bringing friendships your way that may be very welcome. Lucky Numbers: 17, 18, 32
CAPRICORN A focus on your leisure sector could entice you to explore hobbies that you might relish. And even though you may have a lot of your plate, the opportunity to relax and do something you enjoy might be too tempting to resist. Improvement could show up concerning a family or domestic matter, and it may be due to a brilliant idea. It might require patience but it's worth following through. Lucky Numbers: 24, 40, 52 AQUARIUS Get organized at home by clearing out closets, tackling chores, and making sure that everything you keep has a home. You might be able to earn extra money by selling items. Another key aspect suggests that if you're willing to cooperate with a friend or group, something unique may be achieved. A blend of new information and tried and trusted techniques could pave the way to success. Lucky Numbers: 1, 2, 14 PISCES This can be a good time to take a class that enables you to learn a new skill. It's also a great opportunity to reach out and make some vital connections that can bring new offers, deals, and contracts your way. At the same time, you might be able to increase your income if you act on an idea. It could be a game-changer for you. Someone in authority may welcome your genius! Lucky Numbers: 6, 24, 30
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SPORTS Wizards Take Celtics to Limit
5 Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk is defended by Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi during the Wizards' 92-91 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series at Verizon Center in Northwest on Friday, May 12. /Photo by John E. De Freitass 3Washington Wizards guard John Wall drives past Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley during the Wizards' 92-91 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series at Verizon Center in Northwest on Friday, May 12. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
5Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi is defended by Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk during the Wizards' 92-91 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series at Verizon Center in Northwest on Friday, May 12. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
6Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal posts up against Boston Celtics guards Avery Johnson (0) Isaiah Thomas during the Wizards' 92-91 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series at Verizon Center in Northwest on Friday, May 12. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
4 Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley is defended by Washington Wizards forward Otto Porter Jr. during the Wizards' 92-91 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series at Verizon Center in Northwest on Friday, May 12. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
44 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
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SPORTS Mystics Top Stars in Season Opener
5 Washington Mystics center Emma 6 Washington Mystics guard Elena Meesseman is defended by San Antonio Stars forward Haley Peters during the Mystics' 89-74 win in Washington's 2017 season opener at Verizon Center in Northwest on Sunday, May 14. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
Delle Donne shoots between two San Antonio Stars defenders during the Mystics' 89-74 win in Washington's 2017 season opener at Verizon Center in Northwest on Sunday, May 14. / Photo by John E. De Freitas
4 San Antonio Stars forward Mo-
nique Currie clashes with Washington Mystics center Emma Meesseman during the Mystics' 89-74 win in Washington's 2017 season opener at Verizon Center in Northwest on Sunday, May 14. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
5 Washington Mystics guard Tayler Hill is defended by San Antonio Stars
guard Alex Montgomery during the Mystics' 89-74 win in Washington's 2017 season opener at Verizon Center in Northwest on Sunday, May 14. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
3 Washington Mystics
guard Ivory Latta drives against San Antonio Stars forward Haley Peters during the Mystics' 89-74 win in Washington's 2017 season opener at Verizon Center in Northwest on Sunday, May 14. /Photo by John E. De Freitas
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CLERGY from Page 1 media members varying, and ultimately less-than-honest defenses of Trump while political fires burned throughout the Capitol. But another blaze still burns as Trump now seemingly has a problem with God – or at least those who say they are men and women of the cloth. On Monday, a group of national and local religious leaders stood in the shadows of the U.S. Supreme Court to call on the president to make good on his promises to Blacks and minorities instead of tweeting out threats and innuendoes. “We are especially concerned by the actions, policies and behaviors of the president of the United States,” said the Reverend Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Presbyterian Church USA Office of Public Witness in Louisville. “He has appointed men and women as members of his cabinet who instead of promoting policies that enhance the public’s well-being, promote policies that do more harm than good,” Hawkins said. There is a “danger of moral corruption by offering tax cuts mostly for the rich while slashing programs for veterans’ health,” said the Reverend Barbara Skinner, a former faith advisor to President Barack Obama. Harkening back to last month’s health care bill that threatens to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature piece of legislation, the Reverend Leslie Copeland-Tune also lashed out at Trump. “It’s inconceivable to me that the House of Representatives would vote to pass a healthcare bill that cut out the most vulnerable in the nation,” said Copeland-Tune, the director of the Ecumenical Poverty Initiative in Northwest. Each speaker recalled when
then candidate Trump made a stop in Ohio on Aug. 22 where he called on African Americans to vote for him, saying what has since become legend: “What the hell do you have to lose?” Trump initially posed the question during a campaign rally in North Carolina a few days earlier. He then repeated it in both Michigan and Virginia, before expanding it to include Latinos. “Our government has totally failed our African-American friends, our Hispanic friends and the people of our country. Period,” Trump said to a mostly white crowd. “The Democrats have failed completely in the inner cities. For those hurting the most who have been failed and failed by their politician, year after year, failure after failure, worse numbers after worse numbers. Poverty. Rejection. Horrible education.” “No housing, no homes, no ownership. Crime at levels that nobody has seen. You can go to war zones in countries that we are fighting and it's safer than living in some of our inner cities that are run by the Democrats.” “And I ask you this, I ask you this – crime, all of the problems – to the African Americans, who I employ so many, so many people, to the Hispanics, tremendous people: What the hell do you have to lose? Give me a chance. I’ll straighten it out. I’ll straighten it
out. What do you have to lose?” said Trump, who often repeated the refrain to potential blue collar voters who bought into his “Make America Great Again” campaign. However, Hawkins said that the coalition of ministers has issued a “Progress Report” to coincide with Trump’s first 100 days in office and it’s sure to reveal that Trump has completely missed the mark in any effort to make the country great. Going forward, Hawkins said, the coalition has asked for a meeting, an economic plan for the African-American community and a plan for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. They also want Trump to reconsider his stand on healthcare reform. “Healthcare is not a privilege, but a right,” said the Reverend Cynthia Turner, pastor of Day Spring Community Church in Lanham, Maryland, who joined the coalition of both national ministers and local pastors at the event. The Reverend Kip Bernard Banks, pastor of East Washington Heights Baptist Church, said hate has played a vital role in the current administration’s policies. “Today, hate is in style,” he said. “And, we are losing out in terms of jobs and prosperity.” WI Senior Writer Stacy M. Brown contributed to this report. WI
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RELIGION THE RELIGION CORNER
The Griffin Firm, PLLC
The Steps of a Good Man Are Ordered by the Lord! This story begins with my cross-country drive from Los Angeles back to D.C. It was 34 years ago, August of 1983; 2,740 miles, as me and my sister Ernestine, and my three young children drove our car back home to start a business. Back in the 1980s, Highway 80 had lots of detours, but we wanted to see the northern part of America! In fact, we ended up in high altitudes, winding around and around mountains to get back on the main road, but through it all, we made it. Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." Here is where I know for sure that this scripture is true. As I look back over my life, I realize that I was a sinner, saved by grace. Even during those times when I was living my life vicariously, wasn't going to church, yet the Lord was still ordering my steps. He knows who we are before we were formed, therefore, He knows what you and I will do eventually. Understand that having your steps ordered by the Lord does not mean that everything will be rosy and smooth for you all the time. While the Lord is ordering your steps, there will be times you will face some problems, obstacles, setbacks, sickness, pain, disappointments, heartbreaks and failures. Through sunshine and rain, while the Lord is ordering your steps, just know and believe that all things are going to work together for the good to them that love the Lord, and is called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
Turning Hearts Church
Though there have been so many turbulent days that I can't begin to remember them all, I know for sure that my steps have been ordered by the Lord. If you're anything like me, you wonder: what makes a man a good man? In this column, you will hear my version and meaning of this scripture. A man or woman is not considered "good" just because they don't use drugs, they don't drink to a point where they get drunk, may be just social drinks here and there, or they don't run around on different dates, with a "free spirit" attitude! It is also not just because he has lots of money in the bank, several degrees, living in the best neighborhood! What am I saying? After driving all the way across the country 34 years ago, you probably wonder how and when I could feel the Lord ordering my steps. There were major milestones all along the way, but, of course, there were lots of tumultuous moments. It took years, but today, I realize my destiny was set in motion prior to my birth. My mother predicted in a vision she had about my life. I won't share that dream, but believe me, it has become a reality! As I look back over my life often, as most of us do, and think of that vision the Lord showed to her about my life, I am certain that my steps have been ordered by the Lord, and I'm grateful that He picked me, with all of my flaws, to do this job! Moses was a good man, but he killed a man. King David was
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Aimee D. Griffin, Esq., The Griffin Firm, PLLC with Lyndia Grant a good man, but he committed adultery. Peter was a good man, but he cussed somebody out, and the list goes on and on. Like me, you too might have messed up, but it's OK. Scripture reminds us that none of us are perfect. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." But if you let Him, your steps will be ordered by the Lord too! WI
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Organizational Formation, Governance Issues, First Ammendment, Church Employment, Ministerial Exception, Maintenance Issues, Risk Management, Safety and Security Issues, and Real Property Law SERVING MARYLAND, DC, & NORTH CAROLINA
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Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher
Service and Times Sunday School 8 – 9 AM Worship Service 9 – 11 AM Tuesday Night Bible Study 6:30 – 8:00 PM Wednesday Daytime Bible Study 11 AM – 12:30 PM
Committed to providing services and supports to increase the capacity of individuals, businesses, and communities.
Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.
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MAY 18 - 24, 2017 47
RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724
Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 a.m. 7 10:00 a.m. Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor 700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849 Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00am 5th Sundays: 9:30am 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30pm www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org
Church of Living Waters
Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
Crusader Baptist Church
Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor
Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor
Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor
Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor
2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org
800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703
4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00am Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30am 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00am Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30pm Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00am “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”
Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45am Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00pm Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00pm Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment
1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661
Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00am Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30pm Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org
E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org “God is Love”
Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ
St. Stephen Baptist Church
Third Street Church of God
Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors
Drs. Dennis W. & Christine Y. Wiley Pastors
Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor
Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor
Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor
4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax
3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax)
5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555
1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office 202-638-1803 fax
610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax
Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00am Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30pm
Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am Worship Services Bible Study: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30pm (dinner @ 5:30pm) Sunday School: 9:00am – Hour of Power
Blessed Word of Life Church
www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org
Campbell AME Church Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 am Sunday Church School: 8:45 am Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 pm Thursday: 7: pm “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantbaptistdc.org
Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45am Church School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45am Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 pm Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30am
Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Prayer Meeting and Bible Study: Wed. 7:30pm
“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net
www.thirdstreet.org
“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital”
Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church
Sunday Worship Service: 8 AM and 10:45am Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45am; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45am; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6am & 6:30pm Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:20 a.m. Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net
St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us... Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00am Worship Service: 10:00am Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45pm Thur. Bible Study: 7:15pm
Twelfth Street Christian Church Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 am Communion every Sunday: 11:00 am Sunday School: 10:00 am Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 pm Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com
Mount Carmel Baptist Church
Rev. John W. Davis Pastor
Joseph N. Evans, Ph.D Senior Pastor
5101 14th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20011 202-726-2220/ 202-726-9089
901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 8:00am and 11:00am Sunday School: 9:15am Holy Communion 4th Sunday 10:00am Prayer and Bible Study Wednesday 7:00pm TV Ministry –Channel 6 Wednesday 10:00pm
Isle of Patmos Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10am Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00pm Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00pm Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10am themcbc.org
gsccm.administration@verizon.net
48 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church
All Nations Baptist Church
King Emmanuel Baptist Church
Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor
Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor
Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor
7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471
2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591
2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730
Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Service 11:00 a.m. Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.” Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com
Zion Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards
Israel Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 am Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 am Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 am Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 pm
Emmanuel Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Clinton W. Austin Pastor
Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor
2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office - (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Come Grow With Us and Establish a Blessed Family”
623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 Fax (202) 483-4009
4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 7:30am & 10:45am Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30pm Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00pm
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 p.m. Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 p.m. Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 p.m. Noonday Prayer Every Thursday
www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org
“Where Jesus is the King”
Lincoln Park United Methodist Church
Sermon On The Mount Temple Of " Joy Apostolic Faith
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Matthews
Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:15AM Sunday School: 9:00am Monday: Noon Bible School Wednesday: Noon & 7PM: Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission Zion Baptist Church Shall; Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, and Exalt Our Savior. (Acts 2:41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org
Rev. Dr. Morris L Shearin, Sr. Pastor
Rev. Dr. Diane Dixon Proctor Pastor
Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor
1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288
1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lpumconthegrow@gmail.com www.lpumcdc.org
5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Sunday School: 8:30 A.M. Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10: am Holy Communion: First Sunday 10: am Sunday School: 9: am Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30pm Motto: “A CHURCH ON THE GROW”.
Holy Trinity United Baptist Church
Florida Avenue Baptist Church
MemorialRev. Joan E. Buchanan
Executive Pastor
Baptist Church
2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304
Rev. Joan E. Buchanan Service and Times Executive Early PastorWorship Service:
7:30am Worship Service: 11:00am New Member’s Class: 9:45am 1st Sunday, 11:00am ServiceHoly andCommunion: Times Church School: 9:45am Early Worship Service: 7:30am Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer,11:00am Praise and Bible Study: 7:00pm Worship Service: Saturday Bible Study: 11:00am Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, New Member’s Class: 9:45am Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00am Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged. st 1 Sunday, 11:00am The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42Holy Communion: “Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 P.M Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 P.M.
Service and Times 9:30AM. Sunday Church School 11:00 Am. Sunday Worship Service The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Wednesday 7:00pm Prayer & Praise Services 7:30pm. Bible Study Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries 10:30am A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net
Christ Embassy DC
Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator 6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Friday Evening Service: 7:00 P.M. ; Last Friday “…Giving Your Life a Meaning” www.Christembassydc.org Christ.embassy.dc@hotmail.com
Church School: Multitude 9:45am of Souls to Christ”
Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study
St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m. Sunday School: 9:15 a.m. Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 pm Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon
Mount Moriah Baptist Church Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor
Damion M. Briggs Pastor
Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor
1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964
8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240
13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 am and 10:45 am Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 am & 10:45 am Sunday School: 9:30 am Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 pm Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 pm Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 pm
Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM
Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org
St. Matthews Baptist Church
Eastern Community Baptist Church
New Commandment Baptist Church
Rehoboth Baptist Church
“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org
Salem Baptist Church
Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00pm Saturday Bible Study: 11:00am
Peace Baptist Church
Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00am
“Empowered to Love and Challenged
Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell
to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”
“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”
712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship Service: 7:15 am & 10:50 am Sunday School: 9:30am Wednesday Prayer & Testimonies Service: 7:30pm Wednesday School of the Bible: 8:00pm Wednesday - Midweek Prayer Service: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor 3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 A.M. Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 A.M. Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 P.M. Prayer Service Bible Study
“The Loving Church of the living lord “ Email Address pbcexec@verizon.net
Shiloh Baptist Church
First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Mt. Horeb Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor
Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor
Rev. Alonzo Hart Pastor
Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor
Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor
Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor
Worshiping Location Knights of Columbus - 1633 Tucker Road Fort Washington, MD 20744 (240) 838-7074
621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112
917 N St. NW - Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-4294
9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288
Service and Times Sunday Service: 10 am Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 am 1st Sunday Baptism: 10: am 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10 am Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 pm Prayer Meeting: 7:45 pm
Service and Times Sunday Morning Prayer Service: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:15 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship: 10:40 a.m. Third Sunday Baptismal & Holy Communion:10:30 a.m. Tuesday Church At Study Prayer & Praise: 6:30 p.m.
Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 a.m. Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 a.m. Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 p.m.
602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595
2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 a.m. Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30 a.m. & 10:30a.m. Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 12 Noon
Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”
The Church Where GOD Is Working.... And We Are Working With GOD
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 am Sunday School: 9:00 am Holy Communion 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer / Bible Study: 6:15 pm - 7:20 pm (Tuesday) Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church” Matthew 6:33 and Mathew 28:18-20, KJV Email: stmatthewsbaptist@msn.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 a.m. Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30 a.m. Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 p.m. Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “
Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.
MAY 18 - 24, 2017 49
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2017 ADM 470 Kathy Annette Butler Decedent George L. Garrow, Jr. Garrow Law firm, PLLC 300 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Suite 900 Washington, DC 20001 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Kenneth Butler, whose address is 117 Franklin Street, NE, #I-22, Washington, DC 20002 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Kathy Annette Butler who died on September 21, 2015 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: May 11, 2017 Kenneth Butler Personal Representative
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2017 ADM 425 Bettye D. Steve Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Anthony A. Johnson, whose address is 4025 Clay Pl., NE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Bettye D. Steve who died on February 20, 2017 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 4, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 4, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: May 4, 2017 Anthony A. Johnson Personal Representative
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2017 ADM 434
Administration No. 2017 ADM 441
Administration No. 2017 ADM 468
Frances E. Early Decedent
Constance M. Thomas Decedent
Ethel K. Butler Decedent
Johnny M. Howard, Houston & Howard 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 402 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney
Ronald Dixon Bynum & Jenkins 1010 Cameron Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Lacountis Compton and Helen Humes, whose addresses are 1903 Curtis Ct., SE, Washington DC 20020 & 7807 Mandan Rd., #201 Greenbelt, MD 20770 are appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Frances E. Early who died on April 10, 1997 with a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Washington Informer
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Juanita E. Goodwin, whose address is 1908 Tibet Court, Las Vegas, NV 89117 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Constance M. Thomas who died on August 5, 2016 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: May 11, 2017
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Administration No. 2017 ADM 473
Administration No. 2017 ADM 465
Administration No. 2017 ADM 501
Administration No. 2017 ADM 490
Anna S. Jacobs Decedent
James Garrett Smith Decedent
Santiago Saez, Jr. aka Santiago Saez Decedent
Tanya A. Chavis Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Marcus Jacobs, whose address is 107 33rd Street, NE, Washington, DC 20036 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Anna S. Jacobs who died on July 11, 2012 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Martell Simms, whose address is 533 Shepherd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of James Garrett Smith who died on September 6, 2016 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Jean-Francois E. Ferre, whose address is 377 N Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Santiago Saez, Jr. aka Santiago Saez who died on June 29, 2016 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Marcus Jacobs Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
Date of first publication: May 11, 2017 Martell Simms Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
50 MAY 18 - 24, 2017
Michael D. Chavis, whose address is 1181 First Terrace, NW, Washington, DC 20001 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Tanya A. Chavis who died on March 25, 2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 18, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 18, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: May 18, 2017 Michael D. Chavis Personal Representative
Date of first publication: May 11, 2017
TRUE TEST COPY
Jean-Francois E. Ferre Personal Representative
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Anne Meister Register of Wills
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Peter D. Antonoplos, Esq. 1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney
Ronald T. Butler Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Donnell H. McNeal 1300 Mercantile Lane, Suite 136-F Upper Marlboro, MD 20774 Attorney
Date of first publication: May 11, 2017
TRUE TEST COPY
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Peter D. Antonoplos, Esq. 1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney
Ronald T. Butler, whose address is 1208 42nd Street, NE, Washington, DC 20019 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ethel K. Butler who died on March 17, 2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before November 11, 2017. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before November 11, 2017, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Juanita E. Goodwin Personal Representative
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Date of first publication: May 11, 2017
LEGAL NOTICES
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Lacountis Compton Helen Humes Personal Representatives
Anne Meister Register of Wills
LEGAL NOTICES
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Date of first publication: May 11, 2017
TRUE TEST COPY TRUE TEST COPY
LEGAL NOTICES
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at 59 percent. The report also notes the 10 most crowded bus routes by jurisdictions such as the 16th Street line in the District; New Carrollton-Silver Spring line in Maryland; and Ballston-Farragut Square line in Northern Virginia. To help boost rider comfortability, Andrea Burnside, chief performance officer for Metro, said the agency will test placing air fresheners inside railcars. So far, she said about 6 percent have them. Although officials admit there's a perception about buses and Metrorail being unsafe, the report states crimes against persons decreased 30 percent from the same period last year. One reason for the improvement, according to the report, is the placement of Metro officers at various stations during shift tran-
sitions and evening hours. Board chairman and D.C. Council member Jack Evans (Ward 2) said the agency has made gradually improvements, but must receive financial help. During a press briefing after the committee sessions, Evans placed a bag full of pennies on a table to promote a regional sales tax. He said the millions of tourists who visit and spend money in the District, Maryland and Virginia would help Metro. "This is an opportunity to capture money that is not generated from the region to support our Metro system," he said while holding a penny. "For a region that is one of the wealthiest regions in the country. That isn't too much to ask for to fix our Metro system and make this a pride of not only the region, but of the nation." WI
cook between her and her daughter, Jacqueline laughed heartily and said that, of course, that would be her. But both mother and daughter are quick to credit each other. While Jacqueline said both of their cooking "tastes great," Tanya said her sons absolutely love their grandmother's cooking. "For one thing, my mother cooks every day and I tend to only cook for my boys on the weekend," she said.
Waller said she takes pride in the fact that, despite having reared her children on her own in one of D.C.'s most poverty-stricken areas, none has been in trouble with the law and that her youngest son, Jackson, is an honor roll student. As for what lies ahead, Waller expressed a desire to someday own a food truck. "At first I want it based in the [D.C. region], and then become popular enough to put on the road to give people everywhere a chance
to enjoy my food," Waller said. Loletta Robinson, Waller's close friend of 17 years, said Waller deserves all the accolades she gets from her YouTube subscribers, family and supporters in D.C. "I love Tanya and her mom — they're good people," said Robinson, 36. "I also love the cooking, especially Tanya's maple and bacon cupcakes. The flavor is so good. I would love to see Tanya get her food truck and live her dream because she deserves it." WI
SAFETRACK from Page 12
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route. Various reports and research by the organizations that include the University of Maryland's National Transportation Center has shown roadway traffic during SafeTrack has increased by 10 percent during the morning rush hour and 15 percent in the afternoon. "A number of commuters will bail out of Metro for the period because they don't want and can't afford to be late, fearful their employers will dock them for being late or [fire them] due to excessive tardiness, or habitual lateness," Townsend said. That means commuters such as Calvin Jenkins of Bowie will have to start their day at least an hour earlier. Jenkins, who usually catches the train at New Carrollton, had to board a shuttle bus to Morgan Boulevard to catch a Blue Line train to Metro Center. Then he had to transfer to a Red Line train to his job as a cook in Rockville. "The biggest inconvenience for me is getting up earlier," he said. "I get off work at 10 [p.m.] and get picked up, but it will take me longer to get home." For more information, go to https://www.wmata.com/service/ status/details/Surge-15.cfm. WI
of health detriments. The connection between increasing pollution and low birth weight babies exists even below the current accepted "safe" levels of pollution. Additionally, magnetic particles from air pollution are linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. In many instances, air pollution and smog are environmental injustices, as the most high-asthmarisk populations live in low-income or minority communities. Failing to rate a city's progress on air pollution and smog reduction leaves public health at risk. Without oversight or regulations, industries that produce the most pollution face no enforcement or standards to abide by. Once such standard, the Air Quality Index (AQI) ranks air quality from zero to 300. Levels above 150 are considered unhealthy for anyone, and levels above 200 are considered very unhealthy. A level 100 smog day is forecast as early as this week, Wednesday, May 17. Children and adults with respiratory and heart ailments should limit time spent outside. WI
that want to see that progress and are willing to work with her to achieve it." "Over the years of my tenure at Bowie State University, many of our accomplishments have strengthened the viability of the institution for the long term," he said. "Two initiatives that I very much hope will continue after my departure [include] the Education Innovation Initiative (EI2), which has great promise for creating a pipeline of students entering the STEM disciplines and complete funding for the university's first endowed chair. This chair will be an important tool for attracting new, outstanding faculty members and retaining our faculty stars who others might try to lure away." Founded in 1865, Bowie State University serves more than 5,600 undergraduate and graduate students and offering over 41 bachelor and master degree programs, two doctoral programs and 14 graduate and advanced study certificates. Areas of focus at the school include computer science, information technology, nursing, natural sciences and education. WI
weekly board meetings. Some of the reasons cited in the report for customer unhappiness were late-arriving buses and trains, uncomfortable rides, bus collisions and railcar malfunctions. A major factor in delays is the massive SafeTrack initiative that began last summer, but officials believe buses and trains will arrive on time once the maintenance-overhaul program is completed next month. Officials warned ridership could possibly decrease during certain phases, or surges, of SafeTrack — and it has, by 11 percent. According to the report (http://bit.ly/2ppzvVw), the Green Line had the highest ontime performance at 80 percent during first three months of this year. The Blue Line had the worst
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ed, "Only by coming to terms with history can we free ourselves to create a more just world." The writer James Baldwin once testified, "In the church in which I was raised, you were supposed to bear witness to the truth. Now, later on, you wonder what in the world the truth is, but you do know what a lie is." The Cathedral's leadership needs to join the truth squad and speak with prophetic power. How The Cathedral resist racism will also demonstrate whether the faithful take seriously its role as disciples of Christ. Racism gives the faith community the opportunity to join in bearing witness to the truth and the struggle for liberation. WI
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of all people. Confederate symbolism represents another vestige of white supremacy. The memorial tribute is also an affront that especially assaults African-Americans. It is difficult for people of faith to be "the beloved community" when such symbolism reduces our witness to dismantling racism in the church and society. Other secular sectors such as Georgetown University have made drastic efforts to remove evidences of our nation's vile racist past. Other elements of institutional racism, however, still plague this landmark site. There are only two black females on the senior staff of 13. Most worship
services rarely reflect communities of color among those who preach or the music sung by overwhelmingly white choirs. Three schools are connected to The Cathedral and the overwhelming majority of their leaders, teachers and students are white. The Cathedrals prior legacy is today at odds with its current mission to a more diverse society. The loss of the privilege of the powerful is also a gain in the dignity of the powerless. Many people are still anchored in past privileges and prerogatives rather than willing to venturing to shape a better future, one that respects the dignity of all people. Harvard's president, Drew Gilpin Faust, insightfully comment-
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care system is a step history will not forgive. Public policies that do not square with the admonition of Micah 6:8 or the lesson of Matthew 25:45 are offensive to our moral responsibility to do the most good for the most people. The members of the DFWG will continue to use our shared values found in the fundamentals of our faiths to inform and guide us in our efforts to keep the public informed as we address the most pressing issues confronting our nation. WI
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sated care to hospitals in South Carolina. The plan also includes a big transfer of wealth from low to middle income Americans to the wealthiest of Americans. It provides $274.9 billion in tax cuts for the highest income Americans, with over half of the tax cuts going to millionaires. In 2020, 61 percent of the cuts go to those earning more than $1 million a year. To pay for this, Republicans
cut Medicaid by more than $880 billion. To add insult to injury, health care CEOs are big winners in this legislation; it cuts taxes by $400 million for insurance company executives. I have long maintained that the Affordable Care Act is the Civil Rights Act of the 21st century, basically because it outlaws discrimination against sick people, most especially those with pre-existing conditions. Repealing the ACA and putting discrimination back into the health
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SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY JACKSON from Page 30 FBI Director Comey's interventions. The most significant factor was the suppression of the vote — particularly the black vote — in North Carolina, Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. As Berman has argued, federal court records show that "300,000 registered voters, 9 percent of the electorate, lacked strict forms of voter ID in Wisconsin." A recent study by Priorities USA, a Democratic PAC, estimated that Wisconsin's harsh voter ID laws "reduced turnout by about 200,000 votes" — disproportionately
SHAME from Page 22 policies on how to treat children who cannot pay for food. "It has been a longstanding issue in schools, one that's gone on for decades," said Kevin W. Concannon, who served as the department's undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services in the Obama administration. Approximately 20 million children — about 40 percent of all American students — receive free lunches, which reportedly counts as a significant increase
black votes. Trump won the state by 22,748 votes. The 2016 election was the first in 50 years without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. Fourteen states had new voting restrictions in effect for the first time. Now Berman reports, 87 bills to restrict access to the ballot have been introduced in 29 states this year. Arkansas and Iowa have already passed strict voter-ID laws. Republicans claim these laws are needed to stop voter fraud, but the claims of voter fraud is the fraud. These
bills are being pushed because they make it harder for certain communities to vote — and Republicans benefit when they vote in smaller numbers. When politicians can pick their voters — by voter suppression laws, by gerrymandering, by big money campaigns — rather than voters picking their leaders, democracy is mocked. Political leaders in both parties should be pushing to make it easier, not harder, to vote. Instead, voter suppression has become a partisan weapon. Our very democracy is under assault. WI
from 13 million in 2000. School lunch debt has fallen to about $61,000 this year from about $180,000 just four years ago, CNN reported. But there are still more than 4,000 students carrying debt. "The kids we're most concerned about are kids on reduced-price school meals who are struggling to come up with the co-pay of 40 cents at lunch," Crystal FitzSimons, a director at the Food Research and Action Center, told CNN. A family of four earning un-
der $31,400 can get free lunch for their children. The reduced lunch cutoff stands at about $45,000 for a family of four. Hinson stressed that DCPS isn't shaming its students. "All DCPS students use a student meal account when going through the lunch line to receive a meal, even if the meal is free," she said. "This eliminates any apparent distinction between students who receive free lunch and students who pay for meals." WI
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The District should invest in evidence-based parenting programs that have been proved to reduce rates of child abuse and neglect, such as Triple P (for “Positive Parenting Program”). Triple P draws on extensive social science research to help parents and has the strongest evidence base of any such program in the country. For instance, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded randomized study showed a reduction in child-abuse and foster-care rates in counties using Triple P compared with control locations. This is the kind of support that should be available to every District family that needs it.
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services their mortgage, so the bureau will remain vigilant to ensure they get fair treatment," he said. The numerous new allegations against Ocwen include: • Failure to credit multiple borrowers' payments, or to correct billing and payment errors; • Mishandled hazard insurance that led to the lapse of 10,000 borrowers' homeowners' insurance; • Illegally foreclosing on at least 1,000 people — even though borrowers had been given 30 days to submit information to servicers, and servicers instead initiated foreclosure proceedings and sales; and • Deceptive enrollment and charges to borrowers for add-on products. Readers may recall that many of the foreclosures that affected Black and Latino neighborhoods during the housing crisis were high-cost, unsustainable adjustable-rate-mortgage loans. As mortgage brokers were paid financial kickbacks called "yield spread premiums" for selling these loans, borrowers were often steered into these higher-cost loans,
his own mouth, he could "shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose a single vote." He has said with his own mouth he can grab women by "the p—" and get away with it. He's right. At least 53 percent (a solid majority) of white women voted for Trump! He has said that any laws, or the Constitution, which folks might think put a check on presidential conflict of interest, don't apply to him, so he can in his mind, run the U.S. government, while at the same time managing his private Trump Enterprises. Oh, and on top of that, he says he will not release his tax returns which might give a clue to his financial entanglements — as all other presidents have done, dating back to —
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not knowing that the broker had an additional financial incentive. "In 2013, the $2.1 billion joint state and national foreclosure settlement intended to provide compensation to mortgage borrowers who were harmed during the housing crisis," said Nikitra Bailey, an executive vice president with the Center for Responsible Lending. "DoddFrank's Wall Street Reform Act imposed new requirements for mortgage servicers, and authorized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to implement requirements and adopt new rules, which the Bureau did in 2013. "At the same time, this new litigation underscores the value that the CFPB brings to consumers," Bailey said. "Congress should allow the CFPB to continue to do its job." In recent weeks, Members of Congress and President Trump have publicly called for regulatory rollbacks in general and for CFPB in particular. On April 26, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on newly filed legislation, the Financial CHOICE Act. Dubbed the "Wrong
Choice Act" by consumer advocates, the bill would reverse much of what the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act authorized, including CFPB's independent governance and funding. Bailey's concerns were echoed by Rep. Maxine Waters. "This is one of the worst bills I've seen in my time in Congress," Waters said. "It's an invitation to another Great Recession—or worse. This bill is rotten to the core." Sen. Elizabeth Warren testified at an April 28 committee hearing organized by the minority members of the House Financial Services Committee. "Let me be blunt," the senator testified. "This is a 589 page insult to working families. … This bill would let big banks, and payday lenders, and financial advisers go back to cheating people with no accountability. And it would unleash the same behavior on Wall Street that led to the 2008 financial crisis. "This bill doesn't solve a single real problem with the economy or with our financial system, but it does make some big-time lobbyists happy," Warren said. WI
Third, the District must invest more resources in programs and services that treat the effects of trauma before children make contact with the court system. Therapeutic early interventions, when instituted in a comprehensive manner, have improved public safety. For instance, since I took office, we have increased the rate at which we divert low-level juvenile offenders into the D.C. Department of Human Services’ Alternatives to the Court Experience (ACE) program. This program offers intensive services for six months, tailored to an individual child’s needs. Of the approximately 1,000 kids who have completed the ACE program, more than 80 percent have not been rearrested. That’s an ex-
traordinary success rate in juvenile justice. The same approach should be used to provide quality psychiatric services for children, increase trauma-informed practices for schools and provide other supports to children before they find themselves in trouble. My colleagues and I do not pretend to have all the answers. But we owe it to our young people to give them what they need to become resilient, thriving, contributing members of our community. We must focus our resources to meet the crisis facing our children. No child in this city should have to face the fear that young Tyshaun and his peers face every day. WI
guess who? — Nixon. Outside of the government, which Trump is systematically dismantling as a reflection of any type of guarantor of an equitable society, Trump's "Alt-Right," all-white street posse, which we know is heavily armed and just itching for a race war, is warming up. Not a week goes by nowadays, when some white folks don't hang a noose on some college campus (So much for the notion that these "young people" are better than their slave-owning, segregationist parents). These racists recently surrounded a Confederate War statue in Virginia, in a nighttime torch-lit rally, a reminder of a good old KKK cross-burning. These are the Second Amendment darlings who are armed, and ready to kill non-white
people. Trust me on this. They want war. They want war at home. They want war overseas. You will never muster a Congressional will to impeach Trump, and if such happened, his supporters will fight, go to war to protect him — that is, if he doesn't usher in a fascist, dictatorship before them. Folks — particularly black folks — need to stop "lunchin'" and get "woke." This drama will not be seen on "Scandal" or "Empire," and certainly not on "Real Housewives of Atlanta." Now, I could very well be wrong in my dystopian view of this madman at the helm, but what if I'm not? What if Trump refuses to obey laws he doesn't like, ones that would confine him? The worst is yet to come. WI
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