RECIPIENT OF THE DC BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION 2023 LEGACY AWARD
2024 Sustainability Supplement in Observance of Earth Day
Environment... all around us 2024 Sustainability Supplement Center Section PRESENTED BY
Serving Our Community in the DMV
Vol 59 No 27... April 18 - 24, 2024
Street Vendors Demand DC Health Releases Emergency Regulations
Southwest Church Recognizes Historic Potomac River Slave Escape 14 Years Before D.C. Emancipation
Despite Passage of Legislation, Street Vendors in a State of Limbo By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer Fourteen years before the D.C. Emancipation Act was signed, 77 enslaved people attempted to escape bondage on April 15, 1848 by sailing out of the Potomac River and up the Chesapeake Bay on a schooner called “The Pearl.” Monday evening the community and church members from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Southwest, D.C. traced the slaves’ steps to commemorate an event, which prompted a revolt that turned the tide against slavery and prompted the Civil War. On that Saturday night on April 15, 1848, enslaved people who worked for various masters in Southwest left their homes and quarters to board a schooner at the 7th Street SW Wharf on the Potomac River. The boat sailed South on the Potomac and then North into the Chesapeake Bay. “The boat left from the 7th Street Wharf,” said the Rev. Bryan Hamilton, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church. “We planned to read the names of those who were aboard the ship and pour libations
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CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS
5 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George and Shaun Stepney of Sunni Teez Kitchen pictured last year at a Vendors United street pop-up in front of the John A. Wilson Building. A year after the passage of the Street Vendor Advancement Act, several street vendors are still unable to legally pursue their businesses, particularly those who prepare and sell home cooked meals. (WI File Photo)
By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer
Joshua Jackson, William David Hill Sr. Allege DFS’ Mishandling of Evidence
The main sanctuary of Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest, D.C. was filled with freedom fighters on Saturday, April 13, as they paid their final respects to Dorie Ladner, a “warrior” for social justice, who died March 11 at the age of 81. The Rev. Kevin Lamar Peterman, associate minister at Shiloh said “When the history books are written, the story will not be complete without the story of Dorie Ladner.” While Ladner was a passionate intellectual from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, when her people needed her, she left college and became a ferocious activist during the bloodiest days of the civil rights movement. Last Saturday’s service was a chance for close comrades and family to share their sentiments of the late activist.
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
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Remembering Dorie Ladner as a “Warrior” of the Civil Rights Movement
Two Men Target D.C. Crime Lab in Attempt to Secure New Trials
For four years, Joshua Jackson has been awaiting sentencing for a crime he denies committing. All that time, he’s fought to have an appeals court re-examine his case. In his appeal, Jackson says that his conviction stems from a beleaguered D.C. Department of Forensic Science’s (DFS) mishandling of ballistics evidence -- and its failure to report such missteps to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia. “You have thousands of cases being reviewed,” Jackson
A year after the passage of the Street Vendor Advancement Amendment Act, several street vendors, specifically those who prepare and sell home cooked meals, are still unable to legally pursue their business endeavors on District streets. Some vendors, like Reyna Sosa, place the blame with DC Health for not adhering to legislation that mandated their implementation of emergency food safety regulations that paves the way for vendors receiving a microenterprise home kitchen business permit, and ultimately their vending license. Sosa told The Informer that, without those regulations,
5Dorie Ladner (Courtesy photo/thirteen.org)
Celebrating 59 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news and information.
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