Center Section Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 19 • February 23 - March 1, 2023
February 2023. Volume 9. Issue 2.
Don't Miss This Month's WI Bridge
Afrofuturism in DMV Arts, Fashion, and Food
WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022
Black Street Vendors Anticipate Likely Passage of Council Legislation By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
Since last summer, numerous passersby have gotten a taste of honey glazed salmon, lamb chops, mac and cheese and honey barbeque wings, among other soul food delicacies, while walking along 14th Street in Columbia Heights. They’ve been able to do so, thanks to Sunni Teez Kitchen, a small Blackowned business that set up shop under a large black tent, just a few feet from the entrance of the DC USA Shopping Complex. Since launching Sunni Teez Kitchen last July, District couple Sunni
Stuart and Shaun Stepney have hired three people, including a chef. They’ve also started the process of transferring their LLC from Delaware to the District, all with the goal of eventually securing a brick-and-mortar location. In the interim, Stuart and Stepney continue to join other Black and brown vendors along a portion of 14th Street and Irving Street in Northwest, who sell a variety of foods, clothing, accessories and artwork -- all while under the threat of police harassment. With a vendor decriminalization bill making its way through the D.C. Council however, all of that will soon
VENDORS Page 44
5Sunni Stuart of Sunni Teez Kitchen, a small Black-owned business that sets up shop under a large black tent, just a few feet from the entrance of the DC USA Shopping Complex, on 14th Street in Columbia Heights. (Photo by Marckell Williams)
Biden Issues Executive Order on Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities
The D.C. Council Recognizes Black History Site in Georgetown By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer Over the last few decades, as Georgetown grew in prominence as one of the District’s top tourist locations, the Mount Zion-Female Union Band Society Cemetery served as a reminder of the neighborhood’s rich African-American history. That’s due, in part, to preservationists who’ve fought tooth and nail to memorialize Mount Zion-Female Union Band Society Cemetery. Such efforts have manifested in the District government’s infusion of $1.6 million for a nearby storm drainage system. Most recently, it also inspired the D.C. Council’s commemoration of the Mount Zion-Female Union Band Society Cemetery’s 215th anniversary with the passage of a cer- 5D.C. Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At large), pictured with Lisa emonial resolution. That resolution, approved by the entire Fager, executive director of the Black Georgetown Foundation, introduced council on Feb. 6, recognizes the cemetery’s national signifi- a D.C. Council resolution honoring Mount Zion-Female Union Band Society Cemetery in early February. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington
HISTORICAL SITE Page 44 Informer)
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer President Joe Biden has issued a second executive order to extend and strengthen federal actions to enhance equitable processes and outcomes for Americans. The action builds on the critical mandates contained in the president’s executive order to advance racial equity throughout the federal government. Biden issued the first order immediately after taking office in Jan. 2021. “This executive order is crucial to enhancing the federal government’s progress on advancing racial equity,”
EQUITY Page 38
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