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Serving Our Community in the DMV

Vol 61 No 19

Local Figures Honor Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Civil Rights and Statehood Champion

February 19 - 25, 2026

As Disapproval Resolution Advances, Four Black Women Mull Return of ‘Recess at the Capitol’

By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. WI Senior Local Politics & Education Writer

By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. and Hamil Harris WI Senior Local Politics and Education Writer, WI Contributing Writer The Rev. Jesse Jackson died on Feb. 17 at the age of 84, leaving behind a legacy of activism and public service matched only by those who preceded him in death. After the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1968 assassination, Jackson carried on the battle for social justice and economic parity via the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and what would eventually become the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Decades later, as a two-time presidential can- 5 The Rev. Jesse Jackson during his presidential campaign in the 1980s.

JACKSON Page 30 (WI File Photo)

Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, D.C. Pastor, Activist and Prophetic Voice for Justice, Dies

The Senate recently approved a disapproval resolution that threatens to throw the current tax season out of whack while nullifying the child tax credit funded by the D.C. Council last year. For Christina Hanson, an educator and one of several mothers who stood to ben- 5As the Senate moves to vote on a disapproval efit from the child tax credit, resolution that would eliminate the D.C. ongoing developments on Council-funded child tax credit, advocates are the Hill call for an act of civil calling for acts of civil disobedience similar to last disobedience like what she year’s Recess at the Capitol, organized by four local Black women leading a charge for change and

RECESS Page 14 progress. (Courtesy Photo/Instagram)

With Arrival to D.C., Monks Promote Power of Peace After 2,300-Mile Walk Onlookers Inspired by Lessons of Mindfulness, Reflection, Unity By Kree Anderson WI Intern

A Fearless Advocate for Justice in the District and World, ‘He was a Hero’

By D.R. Barnes, Sam P.K. Collins, and Hamil Harris WI Publisher, WI Senior Writer, WI Contributing Writer The Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler, 71, a longtime Washington, D.C. pastor, theologian and fearless advocate for social justice, died Feb. 17 in the District, leaving behind a decades-long legacy of faith-rooted activism and community leadership. “Today, with a heavy heart—one that feels the weight of 5 The Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler boycotts an anvil—we announce that our community has suffered a in front of the Columbia Heights Target in tremendously terrible loss. Our Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Gray- April 2025. He died on Feb. 17 after a long

HAGLER Page 15

Capture the Moment Page 37

battle with laryngeal cancer. (WI File Photo/ Jacques Benovil)

5 After a 2,300 mile, 108-day trek, Buddhist monks gather on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

The classic District soundscape of vrooming vehicles and street hustle and bustle temporarily came to a standstill on Feb. 10-11 as 19 Buddhist monks, and their rescue dog Aloka, arrived in Washington, D.C. as part of their 2,300-mile Walk For Peace, which also promoted mindfulness, kindness, reflection and unity. “Let peace bloom and flourish among all of us throughout this nation and the world, so that this world can become the better place for all beings to live,” said Venerable Bhikkhu Paññākāra, vice president of the

PEACE WALK Page 43

Celebrating 61 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news and information. FEBRUARY 19 - 25, 2026 1