2017
PRINCE GEORGE’S
COUNTY
SPELLING
BEE
March 17, 2017 - 7 pm Clarice Smith Perfo rming Arts Center
VOL. 52, NO. 23 • MARCH 23 - 29, 2017
Presented by The Wash
ington Informer
Prince George’s Spelling Bee Page 26-27
The Washington Informer Celebrates Women's History Month
Bee Program.indd
The Black Press Celebrates 190 Years
Affordable Housing, Social Services May Face the Axe
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor
BUDGET Page 11
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3/9/17 3:25 PM
Trump’s ‘Skinny Budget’ – Bad News for D.C.
President Trump says he wants to “make America great again.” But given the budget outline for fiscal year 2018 [FY18] that he recently released, and after an initial review by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and City Administrator Rashad Young, it looks like life for many District residents, particularly youth, the poor and those hoping to find affordable housing, won’t be so “great.” Trump’s “skinny budget,” that is, an outline as opposed to the traditional line item budget, would cost D.C. at least $103 million and a
2 0 1 7 Pr i n c e G e o rg e ’s Co u n ty Spelling Be e • March 17, 2017
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5 The Washington Informer Publisher congratulates the Prince George’s County 2017 Spelling Bee
champion Kelly Han, a student at Buck Lodge Middle School. The spelling bee was held at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on March 17. /Photo by Roy Lewis
FIRST OF A TWO-PART SERIES
Gun Sales in America Surging Among Blacks District Leaders Ramp Up Efforts to Curtail Violence
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor
Ministers Demand Action as D.C.'s Children Go Missing 5 Dennis W. Wiley, pastor of the Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ in Southwest,
joins other ministers calling for increased attention to the high number of children missing in the District on Monday, March 20. /Photo by Roy Lewis
Over the last year, the National African-American Gun Association (NAAGA) has seen their membership double to 18,000 members, attributing a large portion of their growth to the election of President Donald Trump. In fact, the association’s president, Philip Smith, says “gun sales have jumped off the roof.”
GUNS Page 5
The oldest black business industry in America began 190 years ago this month. On March 16, 1827, the first edition of the Freedom's Journal was published, thrusting African-Americans into the bustling publishing business. At the time, blacks in America weren't even considered citizens — most were slaves and forbidden to read or write. However, up rose John Russwurm and the Rev. Samuel Cornish, both men bravely declaring that "others have spoken too long for us; now we wish to speak for ourselves." "When the Black Press was founded by the publishing of Freedom's Journal, it was to provide a voice for black people. And it became the only means of communication between black people," said Dorothy Leavell, publisher of the historic Chicago Crusader newspaper, which in 2015 celebrated its 75th anniversary. "Black men and women were vilified in the New York press in the 1800s; some white newspaper publishers sought to defend the dignity, honor and character of black people, however Russwurm and Cornish said they wish to plead our own cause," Leavell said. Without the Black Press, genuine stories of African-Americans would go untold, said Robert W. Bogle, the publisher of the Philadelphia Tribune. "They would tell it through their lenses but only we can tell our story accurately," Bogle said. "We are as relevant today as we were when the Freedom's Journal said they wanted to tell our story in our words," he said.
FREEDOM Page 46
Celebrating 52 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area