Baltimore Afro American Newspaper April 18 2015

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Volume 123 No. 37

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April 18, 2015 - April 18, 2015, The Afro-American

APRIL 18, 2015 - APRIL 24, 2015

Expanded Felon Voting Rights Passes General Assembly

Loretta Lynch has waited five months to be confirmed as U.S. attorney general.

By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO

White House photo

Senate Delay of Lynch Vote Continues

By James Wright Special to the AFRO Civil rights leaders are continuing their push to have the U.S. Senate confirm President Obama’s pick for U.S. attorney general.

Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern

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District of New York, has waited a record number of days for a vote on her confirmation as the nation’s next chief law enforcement officer. The delay is unacceptable, Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said.

“It’s been five months since President Obama nominated Loretta Lynch to be the next U.S. attorney general, and the Senate has yet to even schedule a vote on her confirmation,” Henderson said. “A widely respected public servant with exemplary qualifications,

Lynch has been a champion in the fight against terrorism, hate crimes, public corruption and community violence.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), agrees with Henderson. “Times are serious, things are too on-edge for us not to have a sitting, confirmed attorney general to decide where we are,” he said.

Sharpton and Henderson made their remarks along with other civil rights leaders on April 11 at the NAN’s national

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members [former felons] that are in our communities, they have children too, they have children that go to school too, they’re concerned about [recreation] centers closing too, they’re concerned about the hospitals that their grandparents get treated in. And what does that revolve around? It revolves around politics. So when we’re choosing our state, local, municipal leaders, we have to make sure that they have a seat at the table, because they

Baltimore lawmakers have succeeded in guiding expanded voting rights for felons through the General Assembly. While it is not clear whether Gov. Larry Hogan (R) will sign the bill into law, supporters believe they have the votes to override a veto.

Sen. Joan Conway (D-Baltimore City), chair of the Senate Education, Health, and Continued on A4 Environmental Affairs Committee, and freshman delegate Cory McCray (D-Baltimore City) each introduced bills in their respective chambers to expand the franchise to felons immediately upon release from prison, regardless of whether the person in question was still on parole or probation.

Back in 2007, former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) restored the franchise rights of felons, but only upon completion of parole and probation. Advocates argued that the 2007 law did not go far enough since it preserved a level of alienation from society for convicted felons that could work to sabotage their efforts at reintegration.

Stock photo “One of the things that Former felons can vote as long as their sentence is sometimes gets left out of the completed. conversation is those community

Ex-Atlanta Educators’ Conviction Ignites Fury on Social Media A group of nine former Atlanta public school educators were convicted April 10 for participating in a massive cheating scandal to inflate student scores on standardized tests. According to the Associated Press, a state investigation found that as far back as 2005, educators from the school system fed answers to students and changed answers on tests that were submitted. The sentences ranged from one year to seven years in prison. After the news of the sentencing broke, Facebook users flooded the AFRO’s page to voice their disdain.

Ron Brown - Unbelievable! [A] teacher can have sex with students and walk away on probation. The judicial system is very flawed.

Rochelle Ates - Meanwhile in Mississippi, White girls are getting 5-7 years for the lynch mob slaying of a Black man…and nothing at all for the other victims they hunted down and beat on that they admitted to.

Brittany Danielle - The system was NEVER and NEVER will be built with OUR interests at heart. The system was never built for us. Sad but true.

Russell Sprinkle - Until we unite as a whole; Church, mosques, Greek organizations and community, then we can bring awareness to the unfair judicial process in America. That judge is an elected official. Hint! Get our peoples registered NOW!

City is Saddened at Death of Levi Watkins, Trailblazing Heart Doc

By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Pioneering Black physician Dr. Levi Watkins Jr., whose invention of the automatic implantable defibrillator forever changed the world of cardiothoracic surgery, died April 11 at his “beloved” Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he spent the majority of his professional career. He was 70.

Watkins died Saturday morning after suffering a massive heart attack and stroke the night before, his brother Donald Watkins said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“Levi died at his beloved Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he saved thousands of patients as a worldrenowned heart surgeon,” Donald Watkins wrote. “His spirit lives on in the three million patients worldwide whose hearts beat in a normal rhythm because of the implantable defibrillator he invented.”

Tributes poured in Saturday at the news regarding Baltimore’s cherished adopted son.

“He was a great man, a committed doctor and a staunch supporter of the

Sherry Tuston - White folks do this everyday all day and have been since the beginning of time how do you think their kids make it over—Surely it’s not because “all” their kids are smarter than our kids. When given the same opportunities our kids overshadow them 100% if not more.

Stacy Harbin - But u can rape and get pregnant by a student and live happily ever after smdh…

Michael Darden - Atlanta please use your vote!!!!!

Linda Lane - Their sentence is as ridiculous as their crime. Where are the protestors now? Not all crimes against Blacks are violent. WHERE ARE THE PROTESTERS???

Kurt L. Schmoke becomes 8th president of University of Baltimore Photo by Dr. A. Lois De Laine

Courtesy Photo

Dr. Levi Watkins Jr.’s automatic implantable defibrillator forever changed the world of cardiothoracic surgery. civil rights movement,” Maryland Sen. Catherine Pugh, D-Baltimore, told the AFRO. She also said in a statement, “The world has suffered a great loss.”

Mayor Stephanie RawlingsBlake also expressed sorrow at the news. “Saddened to hear of the passing of renowned surgeon, Continued on A7

Returning to his roots in Charm City, former three-term Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke begins a new chapter at the helm of his Alma Mater, and the city’s namesake university, The University of Baltimore.

The Investiture began with a prelude, “Shiny Stockings” performed by Knights of Jazz, Baltimore City College, Schmoke’s high school, and the invocation given by Rev. Dr. Frank M. Reid III, Schmoke’s brother who is a member of University System of Maryland Board of Regents and senior pastor, Bethel AME Church.

In the keynote remarks, President Schmoke paid tribute to Dr. William E. “Brit” Kirwan, Chancellor University System of Maryland, and Robert L. Bogomolny, president Emeritus, University of Baltimore and Dr. H. Mebane Turner for their leadership in hiring first-class faculty who are committed to the students and the institution.

Mr. Schmoke indicated that “Over the past eight (8) months I have learned a lot, and I have lot more to learn; some include the complex nature of the job.” Schmoke continued, “In my experience, however, there is one major similarity that matters: parking and snow removal.” “Everything else is great!”

Copyright © 2015 by the Afro-American Company

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

NATION & WORLD

projection screen.”

According to New York Magazine, Herron was the leader of a Bloods gang entitled Murderous Mad Dogs, who “poisoned” Boerum Hill’s Gowanus and Wyckoff Houses with his sales of crack and heroin. Herron was also allegedly responsible for the killings of three men associated with the drug trade, Frederick Brooks, Richard Russo, and Victor Zapata.

Herron was tried for Brooks’s 2001 murder, though he was acquitted after two key witnesses refused to testify, apparently because they felt intimidated.

Not long after that acquittal, however, Herron was convicted of drug charges and ended up in jail.

Prosecutors used Herron’s own rap videos against him, claiming he would rave about belonging to the infamous Bloods street gang, firing weapons and dealing drugs. Herron’s lawyers argued that

Jeralean Talley Oldest Person in the World

Jeralean Talley of Inkster, Mich., is currently the oldest person in the world at 115 years old, according to the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group.

“I feel good,” Talley told TIME. “I don’t feel sick. I’m still trying to do the right thing is all.”

Talley became the oldest person after the death of 117-year-old Japanese woman Misao Okawa on April 1. Gertrude Weaver of Camden, Ark., then became the world’s oldest living person at 116 years old, but she too passed away April 6 at the Silver Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center due to pneumonia.

Talley now has the title of oldest person in the world and turns 116 on May 23. When asked about the secret to her longevity, Talley told the Battle Creek Inquirer, “It’s coming from above. That’s the best advice I can give you. It’s not in my hands or your hands.”

Talley was born May 23, 1899, in Montrose, Ga., and moved to Michigan in 1935.

Michael Kinloch, 56, GM engineer and longtime family friend of Talley, told CBS Detroit, “It’s Courtesy Photos

Jeralean Talley is currently the oldest person in the world at 115 years old.

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unfortunate that other people passed away, but this has certainly elevated her. She’s feeling no pain. She just can’t get around like she used to.”

Talley’s husband passed away in 1988 and the centenarian now lives with her daughter Thelma Holloway, 77.

New York Rapper “Ra Diggs” Sentenced to Several Lifetimes in Prison

Rapper Ronald “Ra Diggs” Herron was sentenced to life in prison after his own lyrics were used against him in court.

Herron was sentenced to 12 terms of life in prison plus 105 years after being found guilty of 23 charges against him, including racketeering, drug trafficking and gang-related killings.

“You guys sit here and continue to paint this picture that I’m the devil incarnate, the scourge of righteousness — it’s all crap,” Herron told prosecutors before he was sentenced according to the New York Times.

“Even the most dim prosecutor could have secured a conviction under this atmosphere of guilt they built. They did all but point a big, red arrow of guilty up on that

Rapper Ronald “Ra Diggs” Herron was sentenced to life in prison. the lyrics were not autobiographical, but were commentary on crime, violence and drug wars in the inner city, according to NewsOne. In delivering his sentence, Judge Nicholas Garaufis reprimanded Herron for his lack of remorse for his “abhorrent conduct.”

“You personally exacerbated one of your community’s greatest blights,” he said, as quoted by the Times. “You’re obviously an intelligent person, and an articulate person. You could have done something different. Instead you chose to lead a criminal organization and commit violent robbery and murder.”

Herron appeared unmoved, according to news reports, telling the judge after his sentencing, “You can sentence me to 10 life sentences; I’m only going to die one time, and God have mercy on us all.”

April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

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Credit Arbitration Clauses Favor Corporations

By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist

were filed but the total amount of relief and debt forbearance that consumers received was less than $400,000;

Although arbitration is often associated with labor unions, millions of • Corporations obtained decisions that required consumers to pay $2.8 consumers are also affected by it and don’t even know it. Often consumers find million, largely for disputed debts during the same period; the extremely small print of credit agreements difficult to read. Others become bewildered by the legal jargon embedded in these clauses. • Nearly 34 million consumers could have been eligible for at least $1.1 In either case, consumers should take note. The adage, ‘the devil is in the billion in cash payments; and details’ still holds true.

A new report released by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau • At the same time, among those not affected by forced (CFPB) found that more than three in four consumers surveyed arbitration clauses, at least 160 million class action did not know whether they were subject to a credit members, were eligible for $2.7 billion in cash, in-kind arbitration clause. Checking accounts, credit relief, expenses and fees through federal legal proceedings. cards, mobile wireless providers, payday loans and prepaid cards were the six financial “Companies claim that arbitration is simpler, easier, areas that CFPB analyzed. and cheaper – but they fail to mention that forced Even worse, CFPB determined that despite arbitration rarely provides the impartiality or meaningful arbitration clauses dominant presence in review that a consumer can get in a court of law,â€? says consumer credit agreements, the clauses work Mitria Wilson, a vice-president with the Center for more in favor of corporations than consumers.

Responsible Lending.

All too often, credit terms are seldom negotiable. “In the worst examples, we’ve seen consumers Only in a few instances are consumers given being asked to travel to faraway places to try a one-time chance to opt out of these terms. to enforce their rights only to find out that the Additionally, when disputes arise, consumers ‘impartial’ arbiters were selected exclusively by seldom choose the arbitrator and creditors typically the companies that their dispute is with. These pay for arbitration services. proceedings are virtually impossible to get As consumers accept credit terms, they often overturned through a court of law –even if blatant forfeit their rights to legal action as an individual or mistakes are made.� as part of a class action. In short, from a consumer In 2010 and as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall perspective the choice becomes ‘take it or leave it’.

Street Reform Act, Congress directed CFPB to “Tens of millions of consumers are covered by conduct a study and provide a report on the use arbitration clauses, but few know about them or of pre-dispute arbitration clauses in consumer understand their impact,� said Richard Cordray, CFPB financial contracts. Dodd-Frank also banned the Director. “Our study found that these arbitration clauses use of arbitration clauses in most residential restrict consumer relief in disputes with financial mortgage loans. The issue of arbitration’s companies by limiting class actions that provide millions effects on consumers was also brought before of dollars in redress each year.�

Congress in 2007 when it enacted the Military In reaction to CFPB’s new report, business lobbyists and Lending Act. organizations spoke up on how arbitration remains a cost“This report is an important one – and we hope it serves as a precursor saving tool and as a result, helps to preserve affordability in to a strong and robust rule prohibiting this practice,� concluded Wilson. financial services.

Yet many consumer advocates held a near-opposite view.

Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for “Forced arbitration isn’t an alternative forum for resolving disputes; it’s Responsible Lending. a get-out-of-jail-free card for corporations,� said Ellen Taverna, legislative She can be reached at - $!- !./!-) * * " % )+ 1 % director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates.

Charlene.crowell@ *, &%+) +&)* % &+ ) (, # 1 *, &%+) +&)* &% “The findings of the CFPB study are crystal clear,� said David Seligman, an responsiblelending.org. + )%/ -4 *)/- / * 6 (+-*1!(!)/. /* /$! attorney with the National Consumer Law Center. “These clauses are written ! 2*-&. ) !/ ! /$!- '*2 ,0 '%5 /%*) / /$! by corporations to set & %1!- ./!2 /!- -! /(!)/ ' )/ % #+ $&) up a secret and lawless process that prevents ## , &%+) +&) ,''# ) (,&+ * % &)$* ) , consumers from !"*-! 0 +

holding corporations 3 ,0*/!. -!,0%-! "*-(. /*

accountable for ) ) % % ')&! + % $ % * &' & .&)" unlawful conduct.�

Over a five-year % ! # ' & " *"% "% ' & #%" ' % period, CFPB analyzed . !0( !' ( # ! ' ' "! evidence from . ! % ! ', consumer contracts, . % ' ") ', court data, surveys and more to determine . $( - ' "! ( # ! ' ' "! whether arbitration . $( - ' "! '"% ! & clauses offered a . % ! , "* % ! % ' "! ', fair and transparent . &&" ' "* &'% (' "! '%( '(% & resolution of consumer . " / ' "!& '" + &' ! ' & complaints in six . " & &(% % ! &" & &#"& consumer financial . &&" ' '% ! "!'%" &,&' & ! &&" ' markets. The findings & ' #%") !'& were as eye-opening as they were broad in ' ). +! . ) *-(. -! 1 %' '! / /$! impact. "*''*2%)# '%)& Payday loans and ++'* * ) '& %+ . #* )&,' &$ !& * + * &) prepaid cards were ) &% # * ,#+ *'/ found to have the & %! . *, * . *, * &$ highest usage of &&*"% ) ) arbitration clauses, The fellowship-trained physicians of LifeBridge Health’s Sandra %" ' & %1!- 6 *)/- / * at 99 and 92 percent, and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute at Northwest Hospital respectively. It should ## (, # 1 ''# %+* . ## ) - &%* ) + &% &) $'#&0$ %+ be noted that in provide comprehensive care for patients with disorders of the . + &,+ ) ) +& ) &#&) ) ) # &% * / &$ *+ California and in Texas, brain and spine. They treat the full spectrum of neurological ) # + &%* ' *+ +,* ' ) %+ # *+ +,* $ # # *+ +,* * /, # two states with some of &) %+ + &% % + &% # &) % % ) %+ +0 * # +0 &) conditions, including neuromuscular disorders, tumors of the the highest numbers of '&# + # 1# + &% payday stores, CFPB central nervous system ,&+ * . ## - #, + &% * &' ') /' ) % 1% % # obtained data on more and chronic pain. They use &% + &% % &+ ) ' )+ % %+ +&)* than 99 percent of store minimally invasive surgery locations.

The remaining to provide patients with

!"% ', & ' % ! credit areas studied faster recoveries. And team still made significant neuropsychologists assess use of arbitration agreements: mobile patients’ memory and Gurdeep S. James L. wireless (88 percent), Ahluwalia, M.D. Frazier III, M.D. thinking skills to develop private student loans Neurologist Neurosurgeon individual treatment plans.

(86 percent), credit cards (53 percent) and checking accounts (44 percent).

Other CFPB findings For more information or to make an include: appointment at the Berman Brain & Spine Institute at Northwest Hospital, • Over the five years studied, 1,847 call 866-404-DOCS (3627). arbitration disputes

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The Afro-American, Afro-American, April April 18, 18, 2015 2015 --April April 24, 18,2015 2015

New Psalmist’s Bishop Thomas Celebrates 40 Years in Ministry

By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Visionary. Compassionate. Wise.

Dedicated. Down to earth.

These are a few of the descriptions of the Rt. Rev. Walter Scott Thomas Sr., portrayals offered in tribute as he celebrates his 40 years in ministry at the helm of Baltimore’s New Psalmist Baptist Church.

“Congratulations on your special day and may the Holy Spirit fill your heart and grant you strength to continue to do God’s will,” said Bishop Heber Brown II, a product of Bishop Thomas’ mentorship and pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church of Baltimore County, in an e-mailed statement to the AFRO. “I am honoured to be one your sons in ministry.”

“Praise God for your steadfast loyalty and commitment to the cause of Christ these past 40 years,” said the Rev. Darrell Greene, pastor of Martin Luther King Community Church in Columbia, in sentiments to Bishop Thomas.

Greene is a longtime personal friend of the New Psalmist pastor, in fact, he said, he may have played a hand in his friend’s call to ministry.

Thomas had studied and eventually received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Maryland. But in 1971, Greene recalled inviting his friend to visit his church, New Shiloh Baptist, which was then under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Harold Carter. And the experience seemed to strike a spark. Two years later, according to his bio on the New Psalmist website, Thomas was called to proclaim the Word of God, and in 1975 he was called to pastor New Psalmist.

Pastor Greene said he could

Facebook photo

Bishop Walter Scott Thomas preaches the word with enthusiasm. never imagine that inviting a friend to join him in worship could result in a ministry 40 years strong and counting.

“It shows the power of making a witness,” Greene said. “You don’t know how far your witness can go.”

Under Thomas’ leadership, New Psalmist has grown from 200 to more than 7,000 active members; the congregation is a thriving community, with myriad far-reaching ministries, including a national television broadcast; and a beacon of light in Baltimore and beyond. And at its center is Rev. Thomas, a true example of Christian leadership, many admirers have said.

“John C. Maxwell once said, ‘One of the worst liabilities in

leadership is to have charisma, but lack character.’ If one were to conduct an audit on ethics among clergy in this country during the 21st century, it would be very apparent why Bishop Walter Scott Thomas is considered an asset to Christian ministry. Although the New Psalmist Church serves as his ministry base, the entire city of Baltimore has been impacted by his character, charisma, and leadership,” said the Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore.

“I am eternally grateful to have Bishop Thomas as an incredible role model, trailblazer and mentor,” Bryant added. “Looking at all these years in ministry, and counting on all my fingers and toes, God’s grace still

doesn’t add up. However, the one thing that does is that Bishop Walter Thomas is undeniably No. 1!”

Ministers like Bryant and Brown, who have been indirectly or directly influenced by Thomas, are among the more tangible legacies of his 40-year ministry. Under his tutelage, dozens of ministers have been birthed in New Psalmist and have moved on to pastor congregations across the nation. And, he continues to be a source of wisdom, inspiration and encouragement, acting as a pastors’ pastor to many.

“I learned from Bishop Thomas what it was to be a true shepherd…, how to value your relationship with God but also with people. He taught me to offer people the best service

you can because you are God’s representative on Earth,” said Bishop Dwayne Debnam, of Morning Star Baptist Church in Catonsville, Md., who was mentored and licensed to preach by Thomas. He added about Thomas’ mentoring style, “His aim is to bring out the best in you. He disciples you without you knowing you’re being discipled.”

Bishop Thomas has used his gift of teaching and mentoring to reach individuals and groups all over the country, with over 30 years of experience in working with church leaders, pastors, church staffs, and building effective ministry teams through workshops and seminars and one-on-one consultation.

He’s also served as president of the Hampton University Minister’s Conference and is a successful author.

In 2005, in recognition of Thomas’ service, 28 sons and daughters of New Psalmist voted to elect him as president of Kingdom Association of Covenant Pastors as well as to the office of bishop. He was installed July 20, 2005, at the First Mariner Arena in downtown Baltimore before a crowd of 10,000.

As Bishop Thomas looks forward to another 40 years in ministry, Rev. Greene offered his advice: “With all that’s going on in church life it’s important that you stayed focused on your call and the one who called you, because there will be ups and downs, distractions and attractions.

So you have to stay centered and allow the Lord to direct and provide.”

Debnam said he is not worried, however, that Bishop Thomas will continue to thrive in ministry because, “He’s not doing this for a paycheck. He’s doing this because he loves God and cares for people.”

Flurry of Late Activity Guides Second Chance Act Through General Assembly

By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO Some late maneuvering spearheaded by Baltimore City legislators and advocates has helped secure passage of the Maryland Second Chance Act, which will make certain non-violent misdemeanor convictions eligible to be hidden (“shielded” in technical parlance) from employers performing background checks.

The act, which Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is in support of and is expected to sign into law, faced an uncertain fate as the final full week of the 2015 legislative session drew to a close after changes to the House version of the act (House Bill 244) by the House Judiciary Committee

for the shielding of a single conviction—or a single set of convictions stemming from a single event—in a single jurisdiction. Second, the committee’s counsel changed the phrase “all shieldable convictions” in the original drafting of the bill to “one or more shieldable convictions.”

Advocates, led by Caryn Aslan, senior policy advocate with the Job Opportunities Task Force, say that, in doing so, the Judiciary Committee changed the language in order to reflect the interpretation given by Morrissey, tacitly adopting his interpretation and effectively gutting the act. But Anderson says that the phrase was changed simply to conform to standard modes of statutory construction in Maryland,

“We don’t have any [shielding in Maryland] yet, and that’s what legislation, compromise, working together is all about.”

– Del. Curt Anderson left a number of advocates and legislators feeling that the bill had been effectively gutted.

At issue was whether the act would only allow a person to apply to have a single conviction shielded in a single jurisdiction (here a county or Baltimore City), or all eligible convictions in a single jurisdiction.

Two things occurred while the Judiciary Committee was debating the House version of the act, according to Del. Curt Anderson (D-Baltimore City), member of the Judiciary Committee and sponsor of the House version of the act. First, Chief Judge of the District Court of Maryland John Morrissey told Judiciary Committee members that he read the Senate version to only allow

where he says statutory language utilizes “one or more” rather than “all,” and that the language change was not related to Morrissey’s reading of the act. “’One or more’ does not imply singular,” said Anderson.

In addition to those language changes, the Judiciary Committee also stripped out a $1,000 penalty for violation of the law by employers, raising the ire of advocates and a number of freshman delegates, especially from Baltimore.

Del. Brooke Lierman (D-Baltimore City) prepared an amendment to the bill which would have undone the language changes that were made by the Judiciary Committee, and was set to present her amendment when

the Second Chance Act was to be debated on the floor of the House chamber on April 9.

With Lierman’s attempt to amend the bill looming, and advocates working behind the scenes to put pressure on delegates to reject the Judiciary Committee’s language changes to the act, the committee’s leadership agreed to consider Lierman’s amendment in a committee session rather than on the floor of the full House.

The Judiciary Committee convened on the afternoon of April 9, tweaked Lierman’s amendment slightly, and approved it as a friendly amendment on a 12 to eight vote. Lierman’s amendment was then presented as a committee amendment on the House floor on April 10 and passed the House chamber, setting up the Second Chance Act as a whole to be voted on April 11, where it passed the House on an 81 to 56 vote.

The Second Chance Act will soon head to Hogan’s desk for his signature. The Governor has publicly supported the bill and is fully expected to sign it into law.

Work remains, however, with a number of Democrats feeling that the law could be strengthened to allow the shielding of eligible convictions across multiple Maryland jurisdictions, as opposed to one. As Judiciary Committee member Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard County) put it, limiting shielding to convictions that occurred in a single jurisdiction “wasn’t the intent of the bill,” despite Morrissey’s reading of the language.

At days end, what is important, says Anderson is that a bill has passed that will start benefiting some and which can be strengthened later.

“I don’t care what form the bill passes in to get [shielding in Maryland] started. It will help some people. It’s not perfect, but

I’m not going to sit here and try to make the bill perfect because that’s the enemy of the good as they say. . . . We don’t have any [shielding

in Maryland] yet, and that’s what legislation, compromise, working together is all about,” said Anderson. ralejandro@afro.com

Courtesy Photo

Del. Cory McCray, center, sponsor of the House bill to expand felon voter rights, poses with John Comer, left, and Perry Hopkins, two of the lead advocates on the issue, after the House passed McCray’s bill on April 8.

Expanded Voting Rights Continued from A1

are home, they are right in our communities, they are right next door to us,” said McCray.

The original House and Senate versions of the bills included language imposing requirements on the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to provide felons with information related to their restored franchise rights prior to release.

This language which was mostly stripped out through the amendment process.

Advocates seemed unconcerned about those changes, however, arguing that restoring the right to vote was all that ultimately mattered. “[This law] is going to change not only my life, but a lot of other people’s as well as generations to come,” said advocate, community organizer, and former felon Perry Hopkins. “I’m fully a citizen now.”

In 2016, Hopkins will step into a voting both for the first time in his life. “I remember the signs that said, ‘pull lever 6,’ . . . I’ve never even seen a lever,” said Hopkins. “They say you do it by [touch screen] now so I’m really looking forward to this experience.”

The effort to expand felon voting rights was something of an oddity among the criminal justice related bills under consideration in

the 2015 legislative session. The bill passed despite it being a first-time effort, and was met with limited opposition testimony in the House hearing, according to McCray, and none when it was heard by Conway’s committee in the Senate.

Conway says she is not sure whether Hogan will ultimately sign the bill into law, noting that the governor is not a fan of the effort, but believes that in any case there are enough votes in the General Assembly to override a veto.

For Conway, the bill represents an important step in helping felons who are released from prison reintegrate into their communities. “If you’re not invested, and you can’t participate in the system, and you still live in our communities, sometimes you just don’t do the things that you need to do to improve your community because you feel that you’re not a part of it,” said Conway.

If Hogan vetoes the measure, legislators will have to wait until next January, when the General Assembly will reconvene for the 2016 legislative session, to attempt to override the veto. ralejandro@afro.com

April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

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TECHNOLOGY

What’s the What: Watching Hood Fight Videos Will Depress You

By Kamau High Special to the AFRO I have a friend named Alex who has one rule in life: if he’s ever out in public and someone starts shouting “Worldstar!” he’s going to sprint in the opposite direction.

And while he’s never had to invoke that rule it’s a completely understandable one. Worldstar, of course, is WorldstarHipHop.com, one of several sites devoted to showing, and encouraging, some of the worst behavior out there from hood fights to public sex.

WorldstarHipHop’s audience is primarily young Black males and in between the shocking violence it mixes hiphop videos of well-known and up and coming rappers with heavy-handed moralizing videos with titles like, “Motivational: Taking Chances In Life! “You Can Choose To Be The Hero Of Your Own Movie.”

The site, around since 2005, is one of the bigger places on the Internet focused on Black culture. According to Deadline.com, the site has 500 million page views a month. Those numbers led to a recent partnership with hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’ All Def Digital to create original shows for television and online services, Deadline reported. This follows a deal with Insurge Pictures, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, to buy the rights to a script based on the site that is described as similar to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off .

Fight videos are not just popular on WorldstarHipHop, of course. Mainstream public companies such as YouTube and FaceBook are often where these videos get their start. And LiveLeak, a U.K.-based site that received renown and condemnation in 2007 for posting a video of Saddam Hussein being executed, specializes in neighborhood fights alongside political commentary and killings by the military.

What is it about these videos that not only draw people to watch them but upload them to the Internet in the first place? Part of it is the desire to see a car crash from the safety of your computer. If you’re watching it, there’s is a zero chance that the violence will spring from your screen and involve you. Then there’s a small, but vocal group of racists online who use such video to “prove” whatever misguided notion they have of how Blacks act.

But no one would know, outside the participants, what happened if it weren’t put on the Internet. And many of the people who do that are looking for validation of their life experience which is vastly different from what generally is shown on television.

“What’s fueling this is the possibility of being able to be instantaneously famous,” Tony Herbert, a community organizer, told The Washington Post. “It’s automatic celebrity and … these kids being able to feel like they’re accepted.”

He added: “To have so many people on their Facebook pages, their Instagram pages, and their Twitter – these kids seem to love that attention, but again there’s been nothing positive out there to tell them that this is wrong.”

As for the man behind WorldStarHipHop, he is unrepentant. “These kinds of videos were popping on YouTube, and they were entertaining,” Lee “Q” O’Denat, the creator of WorldstarHipHop told Gawker. “It was something we couldn’t deny. People love to see that stuff.

“I didn’t think the site would move so much in that one direction, but Worldstar shows the good, the bad, and the ugly. And if it’s going to show something that’s ugly, we’re just providing the medium. We’re just providing the news.”

Kamau High is a journalist living in Baltimore and can be reached at kamauhigh@yahoo.om

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

COMMUNITY CONNECTION Africana Studies Independent Film Festival

The Community College of Baltimore County, Essex will host its Africana Studies Independent Film Festival on April 17 and 18. The festival will feature films focused on the Black experience and include speakers, panel discussions, workshops and opportunities to network. The films being screened during the festival are not recommended for children under 14. Tickets are available at the CCBC Box Office at 443-840- ARTS (2787) or at the door.

Cup Cakes, Pies, Cookies, & Cake!

The Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association is hosting a ‘Cherry Blossom Bake Sale Day,’ 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 18, in the 1600 Block of Appleton Street. Profits from this event will go to students of Matthew A. Henson Elementary and George Washington Carver Vocational Technical Senior High schools for excellence in education. Contact (410) 669VOTE or see www.mahna.com to learn more information about the Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association

Gospel Jazz Concert

The Mount Lebanon Baptist Church Capital Campaign Fund is hosting a Gospel Jazz Concert and Silent Auction, 4 to 8 p.m., April 18 at Mount Lebanon Baptist Church, 281214 Reisterstown Road, Baltimore, Md. The Mount Lebanon Baptist Church Capital Campaign Fund assists persons with homelessness, unemployment, substance addiction, domestic violence abuse and digital injustice. Contact Roberta McKinney at 410-945-1079 if you have any questions or to donate.

Harbor City Links Hold STEM Fair and Career EXPO

Mothers’ Day Contest: ‘My Mom is a Federal Super Hero’

Children are being asked to submit videos answering fun questions about why their Mom is a Federal Super Hero.

The winner will receive a $1,000 gift card for their mom and runners up will receive a $100 Amazon gift cards. To enter, children ages 12 and younger of female federal employees must submit and upload an original 30 second video to Harris Federal 12oclockboys.com website, federaldisability.com.

The Africana Studies Independent Film Festival opens at 9 a.m., April 17, with the The video must be posted by acclaimed feature film, “The 12 O’Clock Boys.”

April 24. Public voting for the best video will run through May 4. For more information publishing more than 45 diverse children’s books that seek to contact Marjorie Marr at 919-455-1744 or by email mmarr@ educate, entertain, and motivate readers ages 3-14. The party consultwebs-emails.com. is 3 p.m., April 19, at My Thai Baltimore, 323 Central Avenue, Baltimore, Md. 21231.

‘Believe and Move- A Night of Networking’

NyRISE Consulting and Over Accessorized will host its 1st Believe and Move- A Night of Networking affair on April 23 at the Forum Caterers in Baltimore at 6 p.m. The event will be hosted by Essence magazine Lifestyle & Relationship editor, Charreah Jackson and state Del. Antonio Hayes (40D).

Guest speakers include Monica Mitchell, vice president and senior relationship manager of Wells Fargo; Curt Anderson, entrepreneur and success coach; former mayor Sheila Dixon and Radio Personality Frank Ski. The cost is $45. To purchase tickets visit http://www.eventbrite.com/e/believe-movetickets-16192720864 or call 410-330-9130.

Spring at St. Louis

The St. Louis Church Concert Series presents, “Spring at St. Louis,” featuring Vivaldi’s Gloria, 4 p.m., April 26. Admission is free. Donations will be gratefully accepted. Respond to https:// stlconcertseries.yapsody.com . The concert will be held at St. Louis Catholic Church, 12500 Clarksville, Md. 21029. Call 443364-8583 or Susan Lepple at sleepple@stlouisparish.org.

To encourage Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) education, The Harbor City (MD) Chapter of the Links is hosting the ‘Dreamers and Achievers’ STEM Fair and Career Expo at Dunbar High School on April 18.

The event will include opportunities for students to meet and interact with professionals, as well as showcase their completed STEM projects.

ECOFEST at Druid Hill Park

It’s Baltimore Green Week.

Ecofest is the first celebration of the planet Earth on April 18 at 12 p.m. at Druid Hill Park. There will be a full day of recreation and learning, fun for the family.

Live music performances, delicious food and yoga classes are just some of the activities.

The Baltimore Green Bowl and the Verandah will serve great food for baltimoregreenworks.com every taste.

For a complete Ecofest schedule see www.baltimoregreenweek.com.

Admission is free.

facebook.com

The St. Louis Church Concert Series presents “Spring at St. Louis.”

Choir Day in D.C. twitter photo

The ‘Believe and Move’ event will be hosted by Essence magazine Lifestyle & Relationship editor, Charreah Jackson.

Choir Day will be celebrated at First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 3 p.m., April 26. Choirs from the DMV will visit and sing songs of praise and worship. The church is located at 602 N. Street, NW. All are welcome!

Western High School Class of ‘64

The Western High School Class of 1964 is planning a 50+1 reunion weekend at the BWI Marriott, September 25 through September 27. Graduates and friends of WHS Class of 64 contact Melva Thomas at 410-982-5495 or Susan Tager at 410532-5242 before April 30.

Adopt – A Chair

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the founding of Baltimore’s National Great Blacks in Wax Museum, the African American Tourism Council of MD is requesting support in the amount of $33.00. The donation will cover the cost of chairs needed for the Alberta Cason Reception Room on the second floor of the museum. All donors will be recognized.

Please make a donation to N.G.B.I.W.M. 1601 East North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21213, Attn: Dr. Martin. For additional information please contact Lou Fields at (443) 983-7974.

It’s a Book PARTY!

McBride Collections of Stories is celebrating three years of

Summer Arts Program

Sign up today for Muse 360 Arts’ “Dancing Many Drums Journey II” summer classes. The program offers dance, theatre, music, film and visual arts. Register today. The program sessions are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., June 22-31 at $100 a week.

Courtesy Image

McBride Collections of Stories is celebrating three years of publishing children’s books.

Call 410-235-0654 or visit www.muse360.org for more details.

Spaces are almost filled.

April April18, 18,2015 2015- -April April18, 24,2015, 2015, The The Afro-American

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As City Struggles to Reduce Violence, Many Residents See Easy Fix: More Jobs can’t do it. It’s not happening,” said Robinson.

The city needs to do a better job of Baltimore has seen nine more promoting its job training programs, homicides to date than it did last according to Robinson. “Make it a year, but residents throughout the [job training] program that actually city say they have not noticed the applies to the area,” said Robinson. increase. This suggests the violence “If you’re teaching these people which plagues the city has become so computer technology, but there are entrenched as to be unremarkable. no computer technology jobs in their As of April 13, Baltimore had area, that doesn’t even make sense. seen 57 homicides. Mayor Stephanie Government officials need to get Rawlings-Blake has argued that recent common sense.” increases in the number of homicides For Jaylan Johnson, 19, the lack reflect seasonal trends in crime that of jobs is made worse by a law occur as the weather warms, though enforcement focus skewed towards her administration remains undeterred low level drug offenses rather than in its efforts to reduce violent crime. violent offenders. “There’s a lot of “I’m focused like a laser on young [people] out here that are making our city safer,” said Rawlingstrying to hustle [sell drugs] because Blake during brief remarks to the they can’t get no jobs even if they’ve Travon Robinson of West Photos by Roberto Alejandro press on April 7. “We’ve made a lot of Baltimore says that residents got a diploma,” said Johnson. “Then Joshua Gore of Park Heights progress and I’m not going to let this they try to lock us up for trying to sell need jobs with higher wages says that the city will continue Jean Bowie says avoiding setback or any one in the future deter weed, but you aren’t locking people if the city is going to make any to struggle with high levels of violence in Baltimore is easy, us from having the safer city that I up that are shooting. [The police] are headway where reducing violent violence until there are more as long as you don’t mind know Baltimore can be.” scared of them, but they are quick to crime is concerned. jobs available for its residents. never leaving your house.

But residents who spoke to the grab us up though.”

AFRO about the violence in Baltimore City seem to diverge from every [neighborhood] in Baltimore, you might cut down on the Johnson said certain policies of the state exacerbate the the mayor where solutions to the violence are concerned. At the problem. He had been enrolled in a trade certification program crime, drug selling, and a lot of stuff,” said 20-year-old Park April 7 press conference, the mayor said that outside the box while serving a probation sentence, but had to leave the program Heights resident Joshua Gore. “Because without a job, a guy’s thinking is essential to reducing the city’s violent crime figures, when he finished probation early. At that point, he said, the state gotta come out here and sell drugs all day.” but almost everyone who spoke to the AFRO argued that the Gore says he knows of people who have found work but have stopped subsidizing his participation, leaving him with a $5,000 violence in the city has a simple solution: jobs. a month fee he had no way of affording and forcing him to drop nonetheless had to resort to dealing drugs because the wages do Indeed, of the 10 people in three different neighborhoods out. not allow them to meet their needs, an assessment that Travon who spoke about their reactions to the increased level of violence Robinson agreed with. “The average person looking for a job, In the meantime, a number of residents say they have a in the city, not one said they had noticed any changes beyond simple way of navigating the violence that has become the norm or living in poverty and searching for a job, when they get a what they had come to expect. However, when asked what could job they struggle to get to the job. So, by the time they get paid, in Baltimore City. “I don’t come outside,” said Patricia Banks be done to reduce the violence, the refrain of jobs was almost at a hair care supply store in Park Heights. “When it gets warm their first paycheck is going back towards what? Their ride. universal. more stuff happens.”

Their bills. So it’s like, ‘yeah, I’m working, but I’m seeing no “If [there were] more jobs for most of the Black people in ralejandro@afro.com progress.’ And minimum wage, you can’t survive off that . . . you

By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO

Anti-Gay Protest Backfires at Howard University

By Rachel Kersey Special to the AFRO WASHINGTON –Westboro Baptist Church, the infamous unaffiliated church known for its hateful, unorthodox protests, especially against homosexuality, brought its hate speech to Howard University April 10 – and the university’s students and staff fought back.

Armed with picket signs, the organization, which has been denounced by the two largest Baptist denominations, gathered on Howard’s campus at 6th Street to denounce OUTlaw, Howard University School of Law’s organization for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender and queer students.

“AMERICA IS DOOMED,” “MOURN FOR YOUR SINS” and “GOD H8S FAG MARRIAGE,” the

signs read. One featured a depiction of anal sex Howard students met the signs with their own. Dressed in all-black or rainbow colors, the students held signs that read “HOWARD <3s OUR LGBTQ,” “ALL BLACK LOVE MATTERS” and “GOD LOVES EVERYONE.” Nearly 100 students gathered at the flagpole and marched to the corner of 6th Street and Howard Place, where they promptly turned their backs on Westboro. With fists raised in defiance, the sea of students sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and more than one student shed a few tears. Only 20 minutes after starting, Westboro headed down the hill to the taunts of Howard students, who turned around to send them on their way.

“I thought it was perfect,” said Nia Johnson, a junior

economics major. “I definitely felt the love and I felt proud.

I was actually happy it ended early. Our power showed them that it wasn’t worth it here.”

Amber Mason, president of OUTlaw, agreed. “This sort of hate-filled rhetoric is not condoned on our campus, and we want to show them that through a show of solidarity,” Mason said. “That’s now how we think here at Howard. We are inclusive, we’re accepting and their kind of speaking and behavior will not be condoned.”

Lydia Durfler, the organizer of the student protest, said she did so because the LGBT community at Howard is often slighted. “I don’t think it gets enough outright support from the Howard community, especially where the administration and faculty

Senate Delay Continued from A1

convention in New York City.

If confirmed, Lynch will be the country’s first Black female attorney general.

On Feb. 26, Lynch’s nomination was sent to the Senate floor by a 12-8 Senate Judiciary Committee vote. All the Democrats on the committee support her nomination and three Republicans, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) voted for her also.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is holding up the confirmation vote because Democrats are contesting an anti-human trafficking bill that includes abortion restrictions. A spokeswoman for McConnell told the AFRO on April 13 that her boss will continue to delay the Lynch vote until the Democrats agree to stop blocking the anti-human trafficking bill or there is a bipartisan agreement to move the legislation forward.

The Senate was on Easter recess from March 30 - April 10, thereby extending the delay.

The chamber reconvened on April 13.

Lynch has picked up additional Republican support. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) have indicated that they will vote for her confirmation.

“I am confident from my conversation with Loretta Lynch that she will be a valuable partner in confronting the gang violence that

is robbing families of their children every in Chicago,” Kirk said on April 2. “We need the help of the attorney general to fight gangs of national significance through federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors, and to address organized crime like drug and child sex trafficking.”

The Senate’s two African-American members are somewhat at odds on Lynch.

Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), the only Black Democrat in his chamber, has long supported Lynch while Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lone Black Republican, has not, according to his spokesman, announced what he thinks of her nomination.

Sharpton said that civil right leaders and members of their organizations will continue to engage McConnell by either contacting his Washington office by written communications or with daily visits to his get the Kentuckian to move the nomination. Marc Morial, the president and CEO the National Urban League – Marc Morial of who joined Sharpton on April 11 and said that if a vote on Lynch were to occur presently, the result would be clear.

“Loretta Lynch now has 51 publicly committed votes, which means that she has all the votes to be confirmed,” Morial said according to the Associated Press. “So when we say call the vote, we know that the vote is going to be ‘yes’ in favor of Loretta Lynch.”

“Loretta Lynch now has 51 publicly committed votes, which means that she has all the votes to be confirmed.”

is concerned,” said Durfler, a senior political science major and an Amnesty International intern.

“And if we had a group on campus saying derogatory things about Black folk and we weren’t doing something to build ourselves up in the midst of that, that would seem pretty crazy. The same goes for the LGBTQ community.”

Joshua Narcisse, president of the Chapel Assistants, an

interfaith organization with Howard’s Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, said his organization stands against Westboro Baptist Church.

“One of the dominant themes in Christianity is love,” Narcisse said. “So, at the end of the day, whether it be Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism, this love or respect for humanity is at the center of the work that the chapel does. And this is really

just a part of us affirming that.”

Tyleah Hawkins, a senior broadcast journalism major, also objected to Westboro’s belief and its tactics. “I’m a Christian, but I’ve always been an advocate for gay rights,” Hawkins said. “I don’t agree with preaching hate. I am a proud Christian.

I love Jesus . . . and I feel like Jesus would be out here protesting with me.”

Dr. Watkins Continued from A1

pioneering activist, and respected leader Dr. Levi Watkins. He will be greatly missed,” she said in a statement.

“R.I.P Dr Levi Watkins …..he exemplified ebony excellence in medicine and manhood,” wrote the Rev. Jamal Bryant, of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore.

Dr. Watkins was born June 13, 1944, in Parsons, Kansas, the third of six children; his father, Levi Watkins Sr., was a college professor who became president of Alabama State College in Montgomery, Ala. The Kansas native was a trailblazer in many respects.

After graduating with honors from Tennessee State in 1966, Watkins became the first African American to be admitted to and to graduate from Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine. And, after graduating from medical school, Dr. Watkins went onto become the first Black chief resident in cardiac surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

In 1980, he broke new medical ground when he performed the world’s first human implantation of the automatic implantable defibrillator; he also developed the cardiac arrhythmia service at Johns Hopkins. Watkins would receive a Nobel Prize nomination for his innovation.

But his path to world renown was not without its challenges, his brother said.

Racism and its attendant evils was a constant spectre, though he learned to push through.

AFRO file photo

Dr. Levi Watkins and Dr. Elijah Saunders at the American Heart Ball in 2012. Both caretakers of Baltimore’s hearts, they died within days of each other on April 6, Dr. Saunders and Dr. Watkins on April 11.

“During the early years, white patients who needed a defibrillator would not allow Levi to operate on them. Later, they demanded that Levi be the one who performed this surgery.

Today, cardiologists implant this device because the procedure is so routine,” Donald Watkins said. “Now, every medical school around the world teaches heart surgery residents how to implant Levi’s life-saving medical device. Three million people around the world are alive today because of Levi’s determination to be a successful cardiac surgeon under the most difficult of circumstances.”

Dr. Watkins’ experiences fuelled his determination to increase opportunities for African American and other minority students and doctors in the field. According to Johns Hopkins, largely due to his efforts, by 1983, minority representation at the school

had increased by 400 percent.

He also championed diversity nationally through his work on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, whose chief aim was diversity. And, according to his brother, he continued with those efforts up to the time of his death.

“Levi died on his feet giving a speech to medical student recruits at Hopkins, which was one of his passions,” Donald Watkins said. “Levi made sure that the door of opportunity that cracked open for him at Hopkins would swing wideopen for all of the minority medical students and residents who followed him.”

Services for Dr. Watkins will be held 1 p.m., April 21 at Union Baptist Church, 1219 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore. Arrangements are entrusted to the Redd Funeral Home, 410-523-1600.

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

SPORTS

AFRO Sports Desk Faceoff

Should the Washington NFL Team Think QB With the No. 5 Pick?

By Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley AFRO Sports Writers The 2015 NFL Draft kicks off later this month as the NFL offseason rages on. The annual hoopla surrounding the draft is always appropriate considering the draft remains the foundation upon which teams improve themselves from year to year. Ask the Washington NFL Team how the NFL draft has improved the franchise over the last few seasons and the answer may fall incomplete. The Washington NFL Team has had picks over the last two seasons but none has fallen in the top 30 after the team surrendered consecutive first-rounders in the 2012 blockbuster trade to move up and draft Robert Griffin III. Ironically, with Washington having this year’s fifth pick in the draft, rumors are building that the club could be looking at drafting another quarterback after the failures of Griffin over the past couple of seasons have thrown the team completely out of whack. The draft’s two top signal callers this year, Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, are expected to go within the top five selections but nothing is set in stone. If one happens to be available when Washington’s selection comes up could the Washington NFL team draft their next signal caller?

Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley of the AFRO Sports Desk debate the question.

Riley: The holes in Washington are plentiful. And, while the quarterback play has been uneven, drafting another one without patching up some of the other potholes on the team just doesn’t make any sense. There’s actually a number of directions Washington could go with their pick. From wide receiver to pass rusher to even adding another offensive lineman, I just can’t see the Washington NFL team burning a pick on another young signal caller. Mariota’s playing style is already similar to Griffin’s, and Winston’s moxie and showmanship are already RGIII traits. Fixing the Washington defense should be priority No. 1 for the front office this offseason. Obviously, Griffin hasn’t progressed as expected but strengthening the team around RGIII would go a long way in getting Washington back to respectability.

Green: Yes, Griffin has a lot of similar attributes to the

two top quarterbacks coming out this season. However, the difference with Mariota and Winston is their ability to be available, something the injury-prone Griffin has struggled with since his days at Baylor. You’re never going to win in the NFL with an accuracy-challenged quarterback who can’t stay on the field. Two years of Griffin should be enough for the Washington NFL team to decide that the show must end at some point over the next few seasons. Winston is tailor-made to be an NFL leader, and Mariota might be one of the most athletic quarterbacks to come out in a while, probably since Griffin

Wikimedia Commons

The failures of Robert Griffin III over the past couple of seasons have thrown the Washington NFL Team completely out of whack.

and Andrew Luck in 2012. I firmly believe Griffin’s days are numbered in Washington and drafting his replacement to groom makes sense, especially with the Washington NFL team’s position in the draft. If Griffin was the answer then the team wouldn’t be looking at a 7-25 record over the last two seasons.

Riley: Blaming Washington’s problems sorely on RGIII for the last two seasons minimizes how poor a job everyone associated with this franchise has done. The quarterbacks, players, coaches and front office have all shared an important role in dragging this team to the bottom of the scrap heap.

Building the foundation around Griffin has to be the mindset going into the draft. The last two seasons have been highlighted

by Griffin’s inability to stay healthy, putting the onus on players like Colt McCoy and Kirk Cousins to pilot the team. The last two campaigns have also highlighted the lack of talent that the Washington NFL team has trotted out on the field, oftentimes being embarrassed on defense and held in check while on offense. There are several standout quarterbacks in the NFL playing on outstanding teams, and several of those teams could easily hold their own if their signal caller was shelved with an injury. Even with Griffin on the field, it’s been easy to see how outmanned the team was when playing against some of the stronger teams across the league. Even in Griffin’s breakout season in 2012, Washington’s defense finished 28th in the NFL and they haven’t ranked higher than 18th over the last two seasons. Washington could draft a quarterback and make media madness but they would still be in dire need of reconstructing the other parts on their team.

Green: I hate to use your own point against you, Riley, but you make a good one. Considering the Washington NFL team’s defense back in Griffin’s inaugural year was one of the worst in the league and the team still made the playoffs and won their division speaks to how unimportant the rest of their team may have been. Sometimes, good quarterback play can mask a team’s deficiencies, and RGIII covered up a lot back in 2012.

As your statistics show, the defense has been even better the last two campaigns but the team’s record has fallen off a cliff and Griffin’s absence and poor play has been at the forefront of the reasoning. Adding more talent through the draft would do any team some good, but Washington has to use their top selection wisely and reinvest into a position that has failed them for two straight seasons. I’m more inclined toward Winston than Mariota, who has had his own injury-prone tendencies in college. Winston is the real deal and would turn Washington into an instant winner. If he’s available, they better take him.

Wizards Rest Wall as Postseason Nears Wizards Weekly – 24

By Stephen D. Riley Special to the AFRO

Wall and Nêne, who also rested, watched on from the sidelines.

With their playoff seeding virtually decided, the Washington Wizards used their second-to-last week of the regular season to get their star some much-needed rest.

With only two games on the week’s slate, Washington took full advantage to give allstar point guard John Wall a pair of games off after a grueling season. The Wizards appear to have rebounded from a late-season slump and are now back on track as a solid but unspectacular team. Working veterans back into the rotation from injuries appears to be the next task on head coach Randy Wittman’s job board, and he’s been doing his best to get players like Bradley Beal, Nêne, Paul Pierce and Kris Humphries back into action. The Wizards survived a week without their star and the AFRO recaps the week that was for the Washington Wizards.

April 10: Brooklyn Nets Whip Wizards in 117-80 Win Sitting Wall against the 76ers worked like a charm but against the playoff-hungry Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, the idea didn’t work quite as well. Brooklyn center Brook Lopez put on an offensive clinic in the opening quarter, scoring 14 points to match Washington’s team output as the Nets raced to a 31-14 lead. It got worst for Washington as the game went on as the Nets kept their tight playoff hopes alive with a 117-80 win. Gortat added 21 points and 16 rebounds but the

April 8: Wizards Rout 76ers 119-90 Resting Wall on the road against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on a Wednesday night seemed like a good idea before tipoff even started but once the game began, the move turned out to be genius. Washington barely broke a sweat against Philadelphia, totaling 70 first-half points on their way to a 119-90 win. In Wall’s absence, reserve point guard Ramon Sessions flashed some of the ability that the Wizards’ brass envisioned in trading for him in February. Sessions tallied 19 points and seven assists, while Beal (21 points, three assists) and Marcin Gortat (18 points, seven rebounds) filled in to help Washington put seven players into double-figures. Washington shot a franchise-record 65.3 percent from the field as

Wizards were simply no match for the home-favored Nets. Lopez finished with 26 points and nine rebounds, and reserve forward Bojan Bogdanovic shot 6-of-6 from long range and scored a career-high 22 points.

Brooklyn’s win allowed them to continue their hold on the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a week left. The loss seemingly eliminated the idea of Washington moving into a higher seeding for home court advantage, but with Wittman’s decision to continue to rest Wall, perhaps Wittman and the team are simply comfortable to take their act on the road in the opening round of the playoffs.

Next - Washington will host the Atlanta Hawks on April 12, travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers on April 14, then play against the Cavs in Cleveland on April 15.

Playoffs Look Ahead: The NBA playoffs begin April 18, but while it’s a lock for Washington to take the fifth seed, what isn’t quite clear is who the Wizards will be playing. Both Toronto and Chicago share the

‘A Very Good Day’ This past week, I spent the day at the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, the location for an event that is very dear to my heart. This was the venue for an awards luncheon named for Sam Lacy and Wendell Smith.

For those of you who don’t know who Shirley Povich was, I can familiarize you with his son Maury. Maury has a show on TV that identifies dead beat dads. Shirley was my dad’s contemporary at the Washington Post. They were friendly competitors and friends off the field.

Sam Lacy was my dad and an African-American and Native-American sportswriter who was a columnist, reporter, editor and TV/radio host.

Wendell Smith was an African-American sportswriter who covered the Negro Leagues for many African-American newspapers, and boxing for the Chicago Tribune.

The collective efforts of Wendell and Sam are

largely responsible for Jackie Robinson being chosen to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

And then there’s James Brown, a three-time Emmy award winner, host of “The NFL Today” on CBS and “Thursday Night Football,” and special correspondent for CBS News. He was the guest of honor at the luncheon and winner of the Sam LacyWendell Smith Award.

Many of you have seen JB on your tube bringing you updates and airing his position on domestic violence. However, few know that JB is a product of D.C.’s DeMatha Catholic High School and Harvard University. He was a stand-out basketball star and was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA, and the Denver Nuggets of the ABA. In addition to the Sam Lacy-Wendell Smith Award, there were a few additional awards presented to a select group of well deserving recipients at the luncheon.

Robert Klemko of Sports

same record with 47 wins and 32 losses. The Wizards have gone 0-3 against Toronto this season while many around the District are still celebrating Washington’s playoff success last April against the Chicago Bulls. Chicago, however, is a stronger team this season with the return of Derrick Rose and the additions of Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic and the

Illustrated’s “Monday Morning Quarterback” was the 2015 “Rising Star” awardee.

Aaron Kasinitz was one of two All-Star Student Award Winners. He served a stint at the Diamondback, the University of Maryland’s independent student newspaper, where he was sports editor and men’s basketball beat writer.

The second of the All-Star Student Award Winners was (my wife’s favorite), Rhiannon Walker.

Rhiannon spent her time at UMD’s Phillip Merrill College gaining a diverse amount of experience in sports journalism with stints at WUSA, the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle, USA Today Sports, the Oklahoman and the Baltimore Sun. She is an active member in Maryland Association of Black Journalists and Maryland’s student chapter of the Association for Sports Media.

They served us a dynamite lunch. I would list the menu, but Jake (my boss) would call me and remind me that we ain’t running a restaurant.

All things considered, it was a very good day.

improvement of shooting guard Jimmy Butler.

Either matchup would be a difficult one for the Wizards, but Washington’s final two of three regular season games are against the East’s top two seeds in Atlanta and Cleveland.

The Wizards should use those contests as preparation for the level of basketball they’ll be seeing once April 18 arrives.

April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015 The Afro-American

COMMENTARY

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We Have Waited and Waited; It’s Time to Vote!

The debate on Loretta Lynch continues beyond human understanding. A simple review of politics in Washington since President Barack Obama has been that the President defies imagination. Cases in point are the 2014 nominations of Loretta Lynch for U.S. Attorney General and Ashton Carter for Secretary of Defense.

I, as I believe true for most Americans, consider Dr. E. Faye Williams chronological progression to be in line with the natural order of things. That is, 1 precedes 2; first come, first served. When Loretta Lynch, a Black woman, was nominated Nov. 8, 2014, I thought that she would complete the confirmation process far ahead of Ash Carter, a White male, who was nominated on Dec. 5, 2014– almost one month after Lynch. How wrong I was!

Only those most infected with political animus could deny the qualifications of either of these nominees. Both have had distinguished careers in their respective fields. Equal opportunity—well, that’s another matter.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale with a double major in physics and medieval history, a Rhodes Scholar, a former Harvard University

was considered, and proved to be, a slam-dunk nomination.

Likewise, Loretta Lynch has had a distinguished academic career and sterling career in law and law enforcement. She received her B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard and later a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. In 1990, she joined the Eastern District (NY) U.S. Attorney’s Office as a drug and violent-crime prosecutor. From 1994 to 1998, she served as Chief of the Long Island Office and from 1998 to 1999 was the Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of NY. In 1999, she was nominated

by President Clinton to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District. In 2010, President Obama nominated her to again serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of N.Y. She was approved by the Senate both times. During her latest tenure, she has been noted for prosecuting the securities violations of several major banks and for her aggressive prosecution of political corruption. She is far more qualified to be U.S. Attorney General than many of the critics are to do their jobs in the Senate. As for fitness, her character is impeccable!

The fact that escapes most is that President Obama can and should select cabinet officers who will assist him in the most efficient and effective execution of his job. These selections must be accomplished with the advice and consent of the Senate, but Senate tradition suggests that unless a nominee is unfit, which Loretta Lynch certainly is not, the President gets his choice. Instead of advice and consent, this Senate seems

“A simple review of politics in Washington since President Barack Obama has been that the President defies imagination.” professor of science and international affairs, and holds his doctorate in theoretical physics. During the Clinton Administration he served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy and, since 2009, has served the Obama Administration in executive Defense Department positions, most recently as Deputy Secretary of Defense. His

determined to frustrate the choice of the President in everything he does.

Has Sen. Mitch McConnell forgotten that democracy and decency require a vote? Why won’t he do his job? Ms. Lynch deserves a full vote of the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee sent Ms. Lynch’s nomination to the full Senate.

Importantly, eight Republican senators, with nothing more than partisan interests, voted against her.

It’s time for people who believe in our democracy and the rules of the Senate to contact their two U.S. senators and Speaker McConnell to demand a confirmation vote on Loretta Lynch as soon as they return to Washington. All of them can be reached by calling 202-225-3121 and asking the operator for the senator being called.

Dr. E. Faye Williams is president of the National Congress of Black Women and can be contacted at www. nationalcongressbw.org. 202/678-6788.

The Coalition Speaks We Can’t Afford to Wait Don’t let the door close on Loretta Lynch’s nomination as United States Attorney General!

As days quietly turn into weeks and weeks into months, the confirmation of Loretta Lynch lies dormant in the hands of Senators who have been elected to represent the people of the United States of America. Politics are at play.

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune cautioned “that we must keep a foot in the door –to keep it ajar to be able to kick it open at the appropriate time.”

This yester year idea should serve as a catalyst for all women of color, and especially AfricanAmerican women; none can let the door close on President Obama’s nominee. As time lags, each day jeopardizes the confirmation. Pressure must not abate. Calls, emails, or any form communication deemed best, must still flood the offices of the Senators. Voices must be heard. Intermittent voices are not enough. Let us begin today to mount a constant, powerful, focused flow of contact with Senators. The Maryland Senators are supporting Ms. Lynch, so direct calls to other offices. Do it now!! What about messages to Senators Chuck Grassley, Jeff Sessions, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, Michael Lee, Ted Cruz, Jeff Flake, David Vitter, David Perdue and Thom Tillis. They are key players and have the power to influence others. Call the Senate Office desk (202 224 3121) and ask for a Senator’s office. Leave a concise message.

Who is better to qualified than Ms. Lynch? Who equals her record, her readiness, her composite experience and training? None is on the horizon.

Act today. Don’t let the door close on Loretta Lynch’s confirmation!

Submitted by the Baltimore Chapter, National Coalition of 100 Black Women

In the critically acclaimed book, Why We Can’t Wait, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best, “Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper.”

In the awe-inspiring treatise, ranked #78 on Modern Library’s 100 Best Nonfiction works, Dr. King writes, “Just as lightning makes no sound until it strikes, the Negro Revolution generated quietly. But when it struck, the revealing flash of its power and the impact of its sincerity and fervor displayed a force of frightening intensity.” Through these words we are reminded of the effectiveness that lies within each of us to make a significant difference.

Yet, as many join in today’s civil rights movement, our collective voices have only belted out a mere whisper. Although voices are added daily – from the keyboards of computers, sound waves of the air, social media and other platforms – it’s time to make an impactful statement that signifies where our real power lies.

The battering cry where King explains why we can’t wait comes in a propelling conclusion. He adamantly articulates that as inherent citizens of the United States, we cannot move “toward” freedom.

Instead, we must “assert” freedom. He further implies that no man, woman or child can exist being half a slave and thus half free. To stabilize the devastating impact of the disadvantaged, Dr. King argues for a Bill of Rights and reparations for unpaid wages. The focus on justice was not intended for the South only; it was initiated to purposefully echo the need for change around the world! So I say likewise in this day, we can’t wait!

Over the past several years, many have marched, protested, rallied, petitioned and prayed that justice would prevail for the named and unnamed brothers and sisters who have died unjustifiably. Some of their names are Michael Brown, Renisha McBride, Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Eric Garner and the not soon forgotten, Trayvon Martin.

Despite family heartbreak and community outcry, another unarmed Black man, 50-year-old Walter Scott, was allegedly shot and killed by a South Carolina police officer. The common thread in these stories is all too familiar. You see, it doesn’t matter if Scott was armed or unarmed, in compliance or resisting arrest, the fact of the matter is that the color of his skin subjected him to mistreatment, and ultimately, an untimely death!

The handwriting is on the wall; we can no longer wait! It’s high time Black Americans lead the way on implementing plans that will change how our children are educated, result in affordable health insurance, and eradicate the proliferation of drugs in our communities. There is simply no more time to talk about it. In

Dr. Jamal Bryant

this very moment in time, we must also take a stand to ensure equal justice against those who are sworn to protect and serve yet, mercilessly kill unarmed African Americans!

Those who we might ordinarily call upon for help are currently in recess. For example, the Black Legislative Caucus doesn’t meet until August, and the national NAACP Board of Directors will not reconvene until February 2016. Although the Urban League has issued a report about disparity on jobs and education among Blacks, we do not have the luxury of time or convenience to wait until the next report. We can’t wait!

If Black lives really do matter – and indeed they do – we must do something now! For too long we have been waiting and suffering; it’s time for change. French poet and philosopher Victor Hugo once said, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” This is our time!

Social economists and inventors claim that it takes a decade to build a new platform that will shift ideas. It’s been well over 250 years of maturation! When are African Americans going to realize that no one is going to fight for us, except us? When will the status of Blacks in America shift? When will Black lives matter to the masses?

Nearly every school in the Black community is underfunded!

The jobless rate among African Americans continues to hover at a staggering 13percent! The message is very clear, and I say this respectfully: we can’t wait on The White House, a caucus or council members to help us. Time has run out for Blacks in America to rely on others to run our schools and communities, and determine which jobs we get and at what salary. We can’t wait!

Instead of building more corporate jail facilities around the country, let’s focus instead on ending crime. As health concerns such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and diabetes continue to increase among minorities, let’s work toward offering more prevalent health-care options. America has no emergency implementation, no accelerated funding, and no decisive action for Blacks in America.

Therefore, we must demand one from ourselves!

The hour has come for Black people to believe what they’ve been marching for and praying about for years: “we shall overcome” and “Black lives matter!”

If you’re like me, and you no longer have the patience to wait, let’s collectively start moving toward change. I am rallying for the galvanization of Black America to flex its $1.1 trillion spending power. We have the power to create better communities, schools and housing by re-circulating our dollars in our own communities more frequently, and we don’t need anyone’s permission!

I absolutely cannot wait; I’m starting now. Join me!

Dr. Jamal Bryant is pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore with more than 10,000 members.

The opinions on this page are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the AFRO. Send letters to The Afro-American, 2519 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 or fax to 1-877-570-9297 or e-mail to editor@afro.com

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

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April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

Dr. Ruth J.K. Pratt was honored with the Harriet Ross Tubman Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual Harriet Ross

Tubman Day program, March 10 at the Maryland House of Delegates.

She was recognized and praised for her lifelong career in education and community

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service. Louis C. Fields, founder of Harriet Tubman Day, presented Dr. Pratt with the award, after warmly welcoming guests.

Louis C. Fields, Midshipman Tiana N. Williams, honoree Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt, Sen. Addie Eckardt and Erol E. Brown Sr. Louis C. Fields, M.C.,honoree Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt, Sen. Addie Eckardt and Erol E. Brown Sr.

“Grandmother” Edna and honoree Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt

Johnny Mautz, Louis C. Fields, honoree Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt, Sheree Sample-Hughes and Del. Chris Adams

Erol E. Brown, Sr., Midshipman Tiana N. Williams and Louis C. Fields

Midshipman Tiana N. Williams and Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt

Artist James Reid, Ted Mack, Louis C. Fields and Erol E. Brown Sr. Honoree Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt and Dr. Joni Jones, Dir. Bannecker-Douglass Museum

The Leah’s Book Club members held their Afternoon Tea with Hats in memory of Irene Bennett Reid, a charter member, a booklover who delighted the membership and audiences with her reviews of books.

Louis C. Fields, honoree Dr. Ruth J. K. Pratt and Erol E. Brown Sr.

Members of Mrs. Reid’s family: son, the Honorable Kurt Schmoke, president of the University of Baltimore and former mayor of Baltimore; his wife, Dr. Patricia Schmoke; her daughter, Karla Reid Young

and grandchildren, Jewel and Jeremiah Young were present for the recognition.

The program included a Salute to 2015 National Women’s History Month honorees: Marietta English, Betty Fitzgerald, Dr. Alison Glascoe, Joy Grandison, Bonnie Green, Shauna K. Henson, Gwendolyn Howard, Ernestine Jones Jolivet, The Honorable Verna JonesRodwell, Dr. Patricia L.

Photos by Anderson Ward

Whelch, Charlotte Makle Williams, and Minister Patricia Yeargin.

Over the past four years, the book club has recognized 47 outstanding women.

After the tea, the Book of the Month guest author and attorney, A. Dwight Pettit, discussed and signed his book, “Under Color of Law: The Story of An American Family.”

Family members of honoree Shauna Henson are Laura Knight, grandmother, Karl Knight, grandfather. Standing are honoree, with Karaleigh Knight, mother and Candice Davis, cousin

Alice Jones Shelton sponsor, with Sen. Verna JonesRodwell, Ernestine Jones Jolivet,, Ernestine Dunston, sponsor with honoree Charlotte Makle Williams Russell and Ernestine Jones Jolivet (2015 Honoree)

Barbara and A.Dwight Pettit, guest author

Book Club members Margaret Smith, Loraine Brown with daughter Wanda Brown Eleanor P. Matthews, (2014 Honoree), Beulah Wallace, Phylliss Nelson

Gillian Yeadon and Judy Rainey

Sisters Dr.Brenda Conley, Claudette Swain, Garcia Williams Dr. Irene V.Bennett Reid’s family, Dr. Patricia Schmoke, daughter-in-law, the Honorable Kurt Schmoke, son with her grandson, Jeremiah Young

Barbara Lee, Shirley Montgomery, Karla Reid Young (Dr. Irene Bennett Reid's daughter)

Dawn Ray, Betty Shelton (2013 honoree), Hiawatha R. Howard (2014 Honoree), Dr. Alicia Howard

Honorees with sponsors from left, Betty Fitzgerald, Dr. Brenda Bowe Johnson, Gwendolyn Howard, Dr. Alison Briscoe with sponsor Lorna Glascoe Brice

Peggy Jackson and Helen Shelton

Marilyn Dennis McDonald, Dr. Leah Goldsborough Hasty, sponsor with Shauna K. Henson Photos by Dr. A. Lois De Laine

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

Billie Holiday 100th Birthday Celebration Was Well Represented

Hello Folks! Check out this great weather we are having; mannnnnnnnnnn! I am ready to put on my bathing suit! (Just kidding) I had a busy week last week. Honey Child I was at one end of the city to the other and still didn’t make all the festivities given in honor of the legendary Billie Holiday’s 100th birthday. I swear, my Boo-Boo and I were doing book signings at a few of them, and there were some we just couldn’t make. I have never seen so many celebrations for Billie Holiday as I have this year. Just to mention a few, community leaders and organizations who did celebrate “Lady Day” were groups such as: Leonard E. Hicks Multi-Purpose Community Center, Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association , headed by president, Dr. Marvin L. “Doc’ Cheatham Sr. celebrated the life of the late-great Billie Holiday; The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum presented the wax figure of Billie Holiday; James Hamlin of the Royal Theater and Community Heritage Corporation, Arch Social Club, the Renaissance Productions and Tours, and Lou Fields just to name a few.

James “Jim” Hamlin, of the Royal Theater & Community Heritage Corporation and the owner of The Avenue Bakery (Home of Poppay’s Rolls), at the Avenue Bakery Courtyard last week, located at 2229 Pennsylvania Avenue, unveiled a one-of-a-kind photomontage titled “Billie Holiday A Life in Music,” by artist James Earl Reid, celebrating her life and work. Music was provided by Nevita & Company.

This week will be busy as well. Bluesman Reggie Wayne Morris will introduce his new CD “Don’t Bring Me Daylight,” opening as special guest of the Nick Moss Band for the D.C. Blues Society, 7 p.m., April 18 at the American Legion Post #41 at 905 Sligo Avenue in Silver Spring.

Brian Hall of D.O.T. Entertainment will have the “Hall of Fame Awards Show and Cabaret,” 5-9 p.m., Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center, located April 19 at the Patapsco Arena, 3301 Annapolis Road in 847 N. Howard Street now has a room called “Eubie Live”, which Baltimore, honoring such groups as “The Ebony’s, Skip is an intimate venue on the fourth floor featuring local talented Mahoney & The Casuals, Soul Generation, Joe Phillips artists. There will be variety of concerts in jazz, gospel, neo soul, & The Winstons, First Class, Black Ivory, The Young classical and much more. Cash bar and dinner menu. A Comedy Senators, the late Al Anderson of the Unifics, Big Jim Show with Howard G and many others are scheduled for April 17. of WEAA 88.9 FM, the late “Baretta & the Rolex Band, Call 410-225-3130 for more information.

Randy Dennis, and many more. BYOF and cash bar.

For more information call 410-929-1360.

Join the Enlisted Association Chapter 9 and Auxiliary for their Chicken & Fish Dinner (eat in or carry out), noon to 6 p.m., April 18 at the Northeastern American Legion Post #285, 2324 McElderry Street in Baltimore. For ticket information, call Kelvin Johnson at 410-236-5372 or 443-741-5176.

“The Crew” from Caton Castle on Baltimore and Hilton will have their “Oldies Show,” 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., April 17. Dance Brian Hall, CEO and founder and party to your heart’s of D.O.T Entertainment delight to the music of our shown here with his first past while you wine and born, will honor over 20 local dine on the delicious food and national R&B groups Caton Castle serves. For and entertainers from the more information, call 410Baltimore/Washington, D.C. 675-6379 or go to: www. area at his “Hall of Fame catoncastle.com.

Award Show, Party and Then there are the outCabaret,” 5-9 p.m., April 19 of-town events given by at the Patapsco Arena, 3301 our local folks. Fullwood Annapolis Road in Baltimore.

Travel Unlimited is For ticket information call sponsoring a motor coach 410-929-1360. trip with an evening with the Temptations and the Four Tops, April 24 in Lancaster, Pa. Dinner at Cracker Barrel.

For more information, call 410542-2530.

The 23rd Annual Las Vegas City of Lights Jazz & R&B Festival, April 18 and 19, featuring such acts as: Maysa, Norman Carlton and Darlene Douglass, owners Brown, of Carlton Douglass Funeral Service, Gerald will be emcees for the Rosa Pryor Music Albright, Scholarship Fund Gospel Prayer Breakfast Richard Elliot, Peter Fundraiser, 8 a.m. to noon, April 18 at the Forest Park Senior Center, 4801 Liberty White, Heights Avenue. For ticket information, call Eugene 410-833-9474.

Grove, Sax Pac, Kim Waters, Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Cole, Down to the Bone, Johnny Gill, Angie Stone, Kenny Lattimore and The Family Stone, just to name a few. For tickets and more information, contact: candidjazzads@ yahoo.com or www.yourjazz.com/ . Well, my dear friends, it is about that time. I am out of space and out of time. Enjoy this beautiful week that God has given us. Remember, if you need me, you can email me at rosapryor@aol.com, or call me at 410833-9474. Also I am available for book signing at your next event.

UNTIL THE NEXT TIME, I’M MUSICALLY YOURS.

April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

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ARTS & CULTURE

Paul Walker’s Sentimental Swan Song Proves Well Worth the Wait Film Review by Kam Williams The late Paul Walker (1973-2013) was best known for playing Brian O’Conner, a charismatic lead character of the Fast and Furious franchise. During a break in the filming of this seventh installment, he perished in a fiery crash away from the set while being driven in a Porsche by his friend and financial advisor, Roger Rodas.

Putting the production on hiatus, director James Wan (The Conjuring) consulted with Walker’s family before deciding to complete the project. After revising the script, he resumed shooting, using Paul’s younger brothers, Caleb and Cody, as body doubles.

Between the delays and complications flowing from the overhaul, the picture’s budget ballooned to over a quarterbillion dollars. Nevertheless, the rewrite was undeniably wellworth all the effort, since Furious 7 is easily the best offering from the series by far, for it’s the first to convincingly combine sincere sentiment with its trademark swagger and spectacular action sequences.

Yes, it’s remains mostly a muscle car demolition derby featuring an array of sensational stunts, destroying 230 automobiles along the way. But it’s also a touching tribute to the much-beloved Paul Walker, poignant homage carefully crafted to ensure there won’t be a dry eye in the house when the closing credits roll.

At the point of departure, we’re reintroduced to Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a trained assassin hell-bent on avenging the death of his brother, the diabolical villain who met his demise during the climax of the previous episode. Deckard’s

Pinto Intro

already killed Han (Sung Kang), so gang leader Dom (Vin Diesel) encourages his wife (Michelle Rodriguez) and the rest of his ragtag crew of mercenaries to regroup in order to avoid the risk of getting picked off one-byone, since there’s strength in numbers.

However, coaxing brotherin-law Brian out of retirement isn’t easy, now that he’s settled down in suburbia and Courtesy Universal Studios has already started a family Paul Walker, center, with Tyrese, Michelle Rodriguez and Ludacris with Mia (Jordana Brewster).

By contrast, unencumbered A captivating combination of camaraderie and cartoon playboys Roman (Tyrese) and Tej (Ludacris) are game for physics tempered by just enough nostalgia to tug at your another round of bombastic vehicular warfare, especially given heartstrings. the addition to the team of a cute computer hacker (Nathalie Emmanuel) whose affections they can compete for.

Excellent MMMM After a bit of obligatory flirting and jive talk by the brothers, Rated PG-13 for pervasive violence and it’s not long before the plot plunges the mercenaries headlong mayhem, suggestive into a familiar concatenation of fisticuffs and gravity-defying content and brief profanity car chases punctuated by macho exclamations like “I’m Running time: 137 minutes back bitches!” and “Time to unleash the beast!” Yet, such Distributor: Universal Pictures simplistic non-sequiturs are effectively counterbalanced by tender exchanges with Brian (“You’ll always be my brother!”)

To see a trailer for Furious 7, visit: https://www.youtube. during a denoument where he makes it clear that this dangerous com/watch?v=yISKeT6sDOg adventure will definitely be his last. test your endurance and find yourself motivated to go one step beyond what you thought were your limits.

Another aspect was the mental and emotional training, especially with my character, Elaheh. It was very important that I let myself go, and experience things I was afraid of experiencing.

Century to the present, all of which was beautiful and opened your mind to so much more. But I also studied Psychology which helped me immeasurably, and continues to help me in terms of the science of accessing emotions and how the human brain functions.

I find all of that very intriguing. I’m not saying that’s the answer for other actors, just that I’m a very cerebral and scientific kind of person. More than anything else, if you can spend a great deal of dedicated time observing people without judgment, that can be a great way of learning.

Born in Mumbai on October 18, 1984, Freida KW: Attorney Bernadette Pinto exhibited an interest in acting from an early Beekman asks: Did your training in age. She had participated in community theater classical Indian dance help prepare as well as school productions by the time she you for the 8 hours of daily practice graduated with a degree in English Literature for this role? from St. Xavier’s College, rated the top college in FP: [Laughs] I wish I really had India for the Arts. any training in classical Indian dance.

Freida was signed as a model by the Elite That’s Wikipedia just lying. That is Agency and was hired to anchor a TV travel not true. I came with zero experience show prior to making her highly-acclaimed from the dance world. The only Wikimedia Commons screen debut co-starring opposite Dev Patel in dancing I’d ever done was in clubs.

Slumdog Millionaire, which swept the 2009 [Laughs some more] Academy Awards. She’s since appeared in Woody Freida Pinto stars in “Desert Dancer.”

Allen’s You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, KW: Bernadette also admires that portrayed the title characters in Trishna and Miral, and played you are so involved in causes respecting girls and education. She James Franco’s love interest in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. asks: Is there any particular subject or course of study you would Here, she talks about her latest outing in Desert Dancer, a recommend to young girls considering a career in film? biopic about Afshin Ghaffarian, the Iranian dissident who founded FP: In film? I have not been formally trained at an acting an underground, modern dance company in a country where school or even a film school. But when I majored in English dancing is strictly forbidden.

Literature in college, part of the syllabus covered film in literature, adaptations, and reading poetry and prose from the early 19th Kam Williams: Hi Freida. Thanks for the interview. I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Freida Pinto: Of course, Kam. Thank you so much for doing this for my little, tiny film.

KW: Editor Lisa Loving says: You are such a talented performer, and yet I have been thrilled at the work you have done to support underprivileged women and children around the world.

This film, too, shows the power of art in a corrupt society. What do you think are the most pressing political and social issues we should be addressing today? And what do you think we, as citizens of the world, should be doing to make it a better place?

Freida Pinto The “Desert Dancer” Interview with Kam Williams

KW: A small, but powerful art film. It had everybody at my screening crying.

FP: Oh my God! Thank you for telling me. We love hearing that there wasn’t a single dry eye in the room. That’s what we aimed for.

KW: Yes, it was very moving, as well as uplifting. In this picture, you reminded me of Halle Berry in Jungle Fever, where she also played a drug addict. Have you seen it?

FP: No, I haven’t. But I love Halle Berry, so thanks for the compliment. I’m going to watch it.

KW: How did you prepare to play a heroin addict?

FP: I didn’t want to watch any film about heroin addicts, because I didn’t want to imitate or exactly copy someone else’s take on what the individual symptoms were, although I did watch Candy, with Abbie Cornish and Heath Ledger, which was amazing. Instead, what I did was spend a lot of time with my director [Richard Raymond] at A.A. meetings in London, and just listened to people speak.

KW: I told my readers I’d be interviewing you. So I’m mixing in some of their questions with mine. Sangeetha Subramanian says: Hi Freida, the movie looks great! What was the process like learning the dances for the film?

FP: It involved a physically-demanding regimen, because in a movie like this about dance, the actors are expected to look the part. So, first, we had choreographers and trainers come and break us down. If we arrived thinking movement was a certain thing, they were teaching us something brand new. We were being twisted and turned and bent backwards, and under the most challenging of circumstances, as well. We were working really, really long hours, so we had to push ourselves. It was amazing to

See more on afro.com

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

HBCU NEWS Lincoln Student to Be Selected for Paid Internship in Tanzania Internet entrepreneur and Lincoln alumnus Mihayo Wilmore and his business partner, Yasmin Chali, are offering a deserving Lincoln student an all-expenses-paid three-month internship this summer with their company, UhuruOne, in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania.

Wilmore, a 2000 Lincoln University graduate, made the announcement to students who remained at the university’s International Cultural Center auditorium for what was to be his keynote address at Thursday’s all-university convocation, but had been abbreviated due to travel delays.

“We are looking for someone who has passion and drive,” he said.

“We need someone to help us in marketing, possibly a communications major or someone that’s interested in I.T. to develop websites, or law to help with Human Resources manuals. It doesn’t matter.”

The internship, which covers travel and accommodations, also makes various stipulations, requiring the intern to travel to Tanzania via Dubai so that the student will gain greater perspective of that newer, foreign city’s advances and technology as compared to other older, major American cities. In addition, the intern will also visit

the Serengeti, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa and one of the ten natural travel wonders of the world, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, and Zanzibar, an island portion of Tanzania known as a breathtaking tourist destination.

“We want to give students who have never traveled outside of the U.S. to have an opportunity to come to Africa, to Tanzania, via Dubai,” Wilmore said. “For you to see a city (like Dubai) and compare it to a New York and see the changes that they have, the technology that they have, it is truly impressive. This will give you a different perspective as a student to see where you want to be in the world.

Many of my friends from Lincoln remained in the tri-state region so they limited their opportunities to a single continent, to a single geographic area.

Come to Africa and see what it’s all about.”

Wilmore explained that he and Chali’s success would not be the same had they remained in the United States.

Donna Brazile to Deliver Spelman College Commencement Address

Donna Brazile will speak to Spelman graduates on May 17

Donna Brazile, an academic, author, syndicated columnist, television political commentator, and political strategist, has been named Commencement speaker for the Spelman College Class of 2015. Brazile, who will receive an honorary degree, will address more than 475 graduates on Sunday, May 17, 2015, at 3 p.m. at the Georgia International Convention Center.

“Donna Brazile has been a trailblazer in the political arena and a staunch advocate for human and civil rights,” said President Beverly Daniel Tatum. “We are pleased she will have an opportunity to impart words of wisdom to Spelman graduates as they begin the next phase of life’s journey, and join the ranks of Spelman alumnae who have made a choice to change the world.”

With a lifelong passion for political progress, Brazile had worked with a candidate every presidential campaign from 1976 through 2000, when she became the first African American to manage a presidential campaign. Today, Brazile is founder and managing director of Brazile & Associates LLC, a general consulting, grassroots advocacy, and training firm based in Washington, D.C. She is also the vice chair of voter registration

UMES presents Renewable Energy Seminar Series The University of Maryland Eastern Shore will serve as the host site for five early evening presentations on the basics of solar and wind energy sources.

The “Introduction to Renewable Energy” seminar series will be led by Bruce M. Williams, a renewable energy consultant who has conducted research at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the University of Delaware. The first portion of the series kicked off April 14.

The series, which is free, is being underwritten by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Maryland Energy Administration and Princeton Energy Resource International.

Williams and the sponsors bill the seminar as a primer on solar and wind energy designed to appeal to a broad audience, including beginners. The goal is provide seminar participants with an understanding of the engineering principles, economics and policies behind renewable energy designs.

Participants, who are asked to register for the event, can earn a “certificate of completion” by attending all five sessions.

The April 14 session kicked off the series with “Introduction to Renewables; Wind & Solar.” It will be followed by: • April 16: Data Collection, Analysis, Resource Assessment • April 21: Project Planning, Site Selection, Impact Assessment • April 23: Grid Connection/Integration, Micro-Grids, Off-Grids • April 28: Applications, Policies, Subsidies, Economics.

All of the sessions will run from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Room 2146 of the Student Services Center on the UMES campus. Participants also can participate via webinar by selecting that option when registering online.

UMES invested in a 17acre solar-energy collection system on campus in 2011 to reduce its electricity bills, while the City of Crisfield is pursuing plans to build wind turbines to help the municipality achieve electric savings as well.

To register online, please visit: https://attendee. gotowebinar.com/rt/7299509628324882434

and participation at the Democratic National Committee and former interim national chair of the political organization.

Author of the best-selling memoir “Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics,” Brazile is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a syndicated newspaper columnist for Universal Uclick, a columnist for Ms. Magazine, and O, The Oprah Magazine, and an on-air contributor to CNN and ABC, where she regularly appears on “This Week.”

Brazile remains active in her hometown of New Orleans, where she was recently appointed to serve on the executive committee of the Tricentennial Commission, responsible for the celebration of the city’s founding in 2018. Last fall, President Barack Obama appointed her to the Fulbright Board – where she helps select candidates in the Caribbean and Latin America that will participate in the Fulbright Program.

Brazile has received honorary doctorate degrees from Louisiana State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Grambling State University, Morehouse School of Medicine, Northeastern Illinois University, Thomas Jefferson School of Nursing and Xavier University of Louisiana.

April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

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FAITH

Awards Mark 30 Years of Stellar Gospel Music

By Stephanie Poplar Special to the AFRO The enthusiasm and excitement were unmistakable. The Stellar Awards event was in town.

“I am pleased that God has blessed us with the staying power of the Stellar Awards brand,” said Don Jackson, founder and executive producer of the Stellar Awards. “And we are celebrating our 30-year anniversary as the most respected name in Gospel music and in the faith-based community today.”

That “Stellar” milestone and legacy brought gospel singers, music icons, actors, actresses, pastors, business leaders, and faith-based leaders from around the country together to experience the gospel in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas was filled with the gospel for three consecutive days.

Bounce TV provided an exclusive preview screening, March 26, of its groundbreaking new sitcom, Mann and Wife, starring Stellar Award hosts - David and Tamela Mann. The couple then participated in an interactive Q & A session. This family-friendly sitcom is must see and was a great way to gear up for the Stellar Awards. On March 27, a preshow took place and the actual awards ceremony was held March 28, though not televised until Easter, April 5.

Awards were presented in five special categories highlighting the top radio stations serving urban Gospel music audiences nationwide. The awards honored terrestrial radio and internet programs that broadcast Gospel music, including the top Gospel announcer of the Year.

The Stellar Awards also bestowed special honors upon President Barack Obama with the Thomas Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award and Bishop Paul Morton with the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award. Andre Crouch and Al “The Bishop” Hobbs were recognized posthumously with the Dr. Bobby Jones Legends Award for their great contribution to the gospel music industry.

Superstar, WEtv personality Erica Campbell and Ricky Dillarrd and New G shared the top spot as the most nominated artists with ten nominations each. Mary Mary’s Campbell earned hers for her first solo project effort, “Help.”

The Walls Group

Photos by Denise Laws

Dr. Bobby Jones

Pastor Donnie McClurkin

Don Johnson

Michelle Williams

Virtue

Dorinda Clark and KiKi Sheard

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The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

Rethinking the Recognition of Doris Miller going beyond the call of duty right there.’’

But Medals of Honor don’t come easy. Bills introduced in Congress in 1942 to award the medal to Miller were referred as a matter of course Part IV in a four-part series to the House and Senate naval affairs committees. They never surfaced again.

After all of the publicity about Dorie Miller’s heroic efforts by Following Doris Miller’s death in 1943, interest in his case waned.

March of 1942, there was pressure on President Franklin D. Roosevelt Thirty years later the Navy dedicated the destroyer escort USS Doris from all over the United States to give Doris Miller the Medal of Honor.

Miller.

The Medal of Honor is given for service “above and beyond the call of ‘’Here is a guy who has received the Navy’s second-highest award, duty.” and he’s also had a ship named in his honor,’’ he says. ‘’The opposition For his heroism, Miller, the first African American to be recognized I’ve been running into with Miller is that if we want to give him a as a hero in W.W.II, received the Navy Cross. It was the first time in Congressional Medal of Honor too, we might as well give him the the history of the Navy that an African-American sailor had been given whole Navy. People have said to me, ‘Hasn’t he received enough?’ ‘’ such an honor. It was a consolation for having been denied the Medal The other obstacle remains race. ‘’I know that a Black guy has to be of Honor; which was the American policy at the time.

‘Super Black,’ ‘’ Ramsey says. ‘’Unfortunately, a Black guy has to do Even the Navy Cross was a hard won prize. Secretary of The Navy twice as much to get half as much.’’

Frank Knox had issued a denial of the Medal of Honor even though There were 433 Medals of Honor awarded during World War 2, 219 Senator James H. Mead, Senate Reso S.2392 Congressman John D. of them were given after the recipient’s death. None for Black men in Dingell (D. Mi.) H.R.6800 and superior Officers had recommended that the Navy! he be given the Medal of Honor in response to the public outcry.

Maybe we do not know how many, if any planes he shot down the Due to the American racist traditions and military attitudes, it was day that would live in infamy. Maybe we do not know if he was the first not just Doris Miller who did not get the Medal of Honor. From the American hero of World War II. Or the answers to any other questions.

Spanish American War in 1898 thru World War I up to and including What we do know for certain is that Doris Miller was important to World War II until the Korean War in 1950 no Black military men were a wide range of the American society, not just African Americans. awarded the Medal of Honor.

Miller’s trips around America selling war bonds gave African In spite of the opposition of the Top Naval Officers, the Secretary of Americans a reason to support the War effort. His presence as a hero the Navy and Southern Congressmen, the final decision was and is the called attention to the mistreatment and degradation of Blacks in the President of the United States. As the Pittsburgh Courier, May 9, 1942 military. The Navy’s policies toward men of color were cruel and unfair. wrote in 1942, “President Roosevelt has the power and authority to Soon after his historic rise in the public’s eye, changes began to happen make such an award without conferring either with the Congress or the Doris Miller with his Navy Cross in the Navy. Slowly but surely and long overdue, Blacks could have Navy Officials.” rates other than Messmen; the Golden Thirteen were commissioned as It seems to me President Roosevelt ordered the Navy to give Miller Officers in the Navy; Black men were admitted the US Naval Academy. the Navy Cross to appease the Black community and not get the white community in an uproar. It I believe Miller had an indirect influence on these changes. Doris Miller made America aware did not work then. It has been 70+ years and the Black community is still not satisfied. of it shortcomings and exposed its hypocrisy; that the words of equality as written in the American Constitution are hollow. Can we fight a war abroad for democracy and not practice it at home?

July 29, 1990 | By STEVE LEVIN Dallas Morning News Doris Miller will always be gratefully remembered by Americans. To his heroism and the But it wasn’t until March 14, 1942, that Doris Miller’s identity was discovered and revealed by heroes of others like him, white and black, we owe our lives and our nation. While the official Navy the Black newspaper Pittsburgh Courier. The discovery set in motion a chain of events that is still records still do not credit Miller as having shot down any enemy aircraft, Miller’s heroism and his playing itself out today. legacy helped to call worldwide attention to the evil practice of segregation in the military.

Within a matter of days Miller became one of the country’s best-known blacks. He was referred With the Medal of Honor comes recognition and everyone including the President must salute to as “Dorie Miller, Texas-born and Texas-raised.” Bills were introduced in the U.S. House and the recipient. Also their offspring gets a free education at the military academies. By denying Senate - against the objections of the secretary of the Navy - to present the Medal of Honor to him.

African Americans who make these sacrifices the Medal of Honor the Navy denies a race of people On April 1, 1942, the Navy awarded him a letter of commendation for his bravery. recognition as first class citizens and generations of people a first class education. It’s now time for A month later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the Navy to award Doris Miller its this recognition! After 400 years, we have earned it. By recognizing Doris Miller with the Medal of highest honor - the Navy Cross. The first black to receive the medal, it was pinned on him by fellow Honor and the thousands like him the Country honors us all.

Texan Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet. The Navy, in late May 1942, issued Are there military awards for a lifetime achievement, for a life well lived, for a legacy that will its version of the events of Dec. 7 aboard the USS West Virginia to the national press: live forever? It is an obligation America owes for generations past and generations to come. Miller “An officer ordered (Doris Miller) to the bridge to aid the mortally wounded captain of the ship. leaves a legacy that remains timeless. A debt that can never be repaid!

Here, Miller, after helping that dying officer, manned a machine gun. It was his first experience with such a weapon. He said: `It wasn’t hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us.’”

The rest of 1942 was busy for Doris Miller. He was promoted to mess attendant first class, he traveled the country promoting war bonds and his face appeared on a Navy recruiting poster.

Schools, parks and buildings around the country were named for him. He became known as “the first American hero of World War II.” By mid-1943, he had been promoted to ship’s cook third class and reassigned to the escort carrier Liscome Bay. On Nov. 24, 1943, the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine near the Gilbert Islands. The Liscome Bay sank in 20 minutes; 646 men, including Doris Miller, died.

Over the next four decades little attention was paid to him. But in 1984 Dr. Leroy Ramsey, a retired Hofstra University history professor, became angered because so few Blacks were included in televised celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of D-Day in Europe. Black and a World War II veteran himself, Ramsey decided to write a book on the Black military experience during the war. When he discovered that no Black had received the Medal of Honor in World Wars I and II, he abandoned the book and began a quest to redress what he believes is a gross oversight - getting the Medal of Honor awarded to one or more Black veterans of the two world wars.

After reading each of the 3,417 Medal of Honor citations, Ramsey checked the records of Black servicemen who had been awarded other high military honors. And that’s how he discovered Doris Miller.

“I just don’t think that this can be a situation where no Blacks performed with valor to the point that they didn’t get the Medal of Honor,” says Ramsey. “I saw a hell of a lot of Congressional Medals of Honor (awarded) for a whole lot less than ... Dorie Miller did.”

Since then, Ramsey has become the seaman’s unofficial biographer. It was he who revived interest in a Medal of Honor for Doris Miller by hounding members of Congress in person and through the mail from his Albany, N.Y., home. In October 1987, the late Rep. Mickey Leland, Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, co-sponsored a bill to waive the medal’s statute of limitations for Doris Miller. The bill stalled in committee, but in 1988 the Department of Defense began researching the sailor’s actions at Pearl Harbor. ‘’Because Miller was Black, this is what makes his heroism so outstanding,’’ Ramsey says. ‘’The first thing that the Congressional Medal of Honor asks is (that) you have to go beyond the call of duty. That phrase cannot be lost when it comes to Dorie Miller. ‘’Here was a man who did what he was not allowed to do. Just manning that machine gun was

By MarshaRose Joyner Special to the AFRO

April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

Interdenominational Church Ushers Association Marks 100-Year History in Maryland It was a century ago that members of three Baltimore churches – Ames United Methodist Church, Enon Baptist Church and Sharp Street United Methodist Church – gathered to form a church ushers organization that would break down denominational barriers.

From that meeting, Henry Sorrell organized the State of Maryland United Ushers on March 15, 1915, in Baltimore City. The group later became known as the Interdenominational Church Ushers Association of Maryland (ICUA), an interfaith Christian organization affiliated with the National United Church Ushers Association of America, Inc., and the Eastern Region Church Ushers Association. Sorrell remained an active member until his death in 1945.

On April 11, the ICUA of Maryland celebrated its 100-year history with an historic gala at the La Fontaine Bleue in Lanham, Md., with more than 350 people in attendance.

“In our 100 years, the ICUA has made great strides by working tirelessly with hundreds of ushers across Maryland to ensure they are properly trained,” said Vanessa W. Lucas, president of the ICUA-Baltimore Unit and co-chair of the gala. “We also participate in community outreach and resource programs; feed and clothe the poor and elderly; provide educational resources for young people; promote spiritual growth; and encourage leadership development.

“We have achieved a tremendous milestone and accomplished much in our 100-year history by walking in faith and putting God first,” she added.

Lucas said ushers are a vital part of the church worship experience and the ICUA has a proven track record of helping ushers of all denominations give their best service to God. “Ushering is an important job and a long-standing tradition in the African-American church,” she explained. “As ushers, we’re the first people that church visitors meet at the door.

So, it’s important that we’re friendly and welcome them with a pleasant smile so they’ll come again.”

To be a good usher, Lucas said one must be trained. This training includes knowing the church’s program, being polite, courteous and alert, and keeping movement around the church to a minimum. Ushers are taught to communicate from a distance using signs and signals.

Every usher that the ICUA trains is able to usher in any church in Maryland or around the country in a uniform manner.

“I’m excited as we prepare for the next 100 years by continuing to grow our organization and groom our junior ushers to be more actively involved,” Lucas said. “They are our future.”

During the 100th anniversary gala, the ICUA acknowledged 88-year-old Usher Jessie Brown of Perkins Square Baptist Church who was the first female president of the ICUA of Maryland – a position she held for 10 years. She is now president emeritus of the organization.

A surprise award recognition also was presented to 82-year-old Usher Ernest Wilson, Sr., of Enon Baptist Church who was named the ICUA’s first ‘Usher of the Year.” Wilson has been actively involved with the ICUA for over 52 years. He served on the Board of Trustees for the State of Maryland United Ushers and is now Board of Trustee emeritus for the ICUA of Maryland.

The ICUA is headquartered at 2212 Eutaw Place in Baltimore. Its School of Ushering meets every second and third Saturday of the month. To learn more, visit www.icuaofmd.com.

Bro. David A. Fuller, chairman of the board of the ICUA of Md.

Photos by J.D. Howard

Overall view of guests and friends and the ICUA of MD at the LaFountaine Bleue, Lanham, Md.

Ernest Wilson, longest serving board member, Cynthia Hicks, state president and Charles J. Brown, Eastern Regional director Charles J. Brown, regional director, receiving a Gold Plate from the State President, Cynthia Hicks, for outstanding and dedicated service.

Ms. Jesse Brown, president emeritus, 1976-1986 and Ernest Wilson, longest serving board members.

The Rev. Dr. Cleveland T.A. Mason, pastor, Perkins Square Baptist Church

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TYPESET: Wed Aug 06 14:33:16 EDT 2014

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TYPESET: Wed Apr 15 11:57:06 2015 LEGALEDT NOTICES

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BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING ON BILL NO. 15-0467 The Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee of the Baltimore City Council will meet on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 9:35 a.m. in the City Council Chambers, 4th floor, City Hall, 100 N. Holliday Street to conduct a public hearing on City Council Bill No. 15-0467.

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AVIATION Grads BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING BILLBoeNO. 15-0467 work with ON JetBlue, nd Legislative Investigations ing, Delta and others-Committee of the Baltimore l meet on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 9:35 a.m. in the City startCity hereHall, with100 hands ers, 4th floor, N. on Holliday Street to conduct a training forCouncil FAA certiblic hearing on City Bill No. 15-0467. fication. Financial aid if RDINANCEqualified.

- Department of Public Works, Transportation, Call Aviation ervices - Conforming Code References to Charter AllocaInstitute of Maintenance 866-823-6729 se of correcting agency references rendered obsolete by ments thatMEDICAL have reallocated various powers and duties BILLING gencies; repealing certain obsolete or obsolescent proviTRAINING o these and other units of City government; correcting, PROGRAM! to provisions; and generally onforming the languageTrain of related dministration and regulation of public works, surveys, public process insurance and ets, highways, rights-of-way, transit and traffic, and general Medical Billing from home! NO EXPERIENCEwith NEEDED! nd reordaining, amendments: Article - Building, Fire, de Sections 2-103training (BC §§at102.7, Online CTI 102.8, 102.10, 102.16(8), 1.r, 117.3, 426.3.2, 426.3.4, 3113.3, 3201.3.1, and gets you job ready!3112.2, HS more City Revised Code (Edition 2000); Article - Health, Diploma/Ged & Coma), Baltimore City Revised Code (Edition 2000); Article puter/Internet needed.(12), (18)-(19), (21), (22)(iii), s 2-202(c)(2), 10-405(2)-(5)(i), nd 11-205(b), Baltimore City Revised Code (Edition 2000); 1-877-649-2671. or, City Council, and Municipal Agencies, Sections 17-1 1-3(b) and (c)(1), (3), (4), and (6), 21-4, 21-5, and 23-4(b)(7), HELP WANTED: Code (Edition 2000); Article 5 - Finance, Property, and ections 10-1(c), 10-5(a), (b)(1), and (c), 18-1, 18-2(a), 21SALES 41-3(a), and 45-1, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); EARN $500 A DAY:53-3, 53-11(a), 53-12 through al Resources, Sections 53-2, 6, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 10 - Harbors, Insurance Agents arves, Sections 7-3(a) andNo 7-10, Needed; Leads, ColdBaltimore City Code (Edicle 13 - Housing and Urban Renewal, Sections 11-1(c), Calls; Commissions Code (Edition Article 14 - Special Benefits District Paid2000); Daily; Lifetime , 7-8(d), and 8-8(d), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Renewals; Complete cational and Cultural Programs, Sections 1-36(a), Baltimore Health & Ordinances, Sections 41-2, ion 2000); Training; Article 19 - Police Dental Insurance; Life -26 through 50-28, 50-31(a), (c), and (d)(1), and 73-1(a), License Required Call- Railroads, Sections 2-1(a), Code (Edition 2000); Article 20 , 2-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-6, 6-8(a) and (c), and 7-1 through 7-4(a), 1-888-713-6020 Code (Edition 2000); Article 26 - Surveys, Streets, and ons 1-6 through 1-9, 2-1 through 2-3(a), 2-4 through 2-6(a), nd (2), 3-3, LANDS 3-4(a)(1) and 3-4(b), 3-5(a)(intro) and (c), FOR(2)(ii), SALE (b)(1)(iv) and (v) and (b)(2)(intro), 3-8(3), 3-9(a) and (c), 2(a), (b)(2), and (c)(3), 3-13(b)(1) and (2), 3-13(c), 3-16, RECREATIONAL ), 3-20, 3-21(b), 4-1, 4-3, 5-1, 5-2, 5-4(a), (b)(1), (b)[2nd], 6.5 AC, POND 2), 5-6(2),CABIN 5-7(intro), 5-8(3), 5-10, 5-11, 6-3, 6-4(a) and SITE7-3(a), $84,900 Park 7-5, 8-2(a), 8-3(2)(iii), 8-4(a), 6-7(2), 7-2(a), 7-4(a), 8-5(a), 8-7(a), 8-8,and 8-9(b), 8-10, 8A-1(b-1) and (c), 8Alike open wooded (c)(1), 8A-4(a), 8A-10(a)(1), 8A-11(b)(1), (4), (7), Parcel8A-9(a), with 2 state 10), 8A-12(b)(1), (3), (6), (8)(intro), and (9), 9-1(a), 9-3, views/1,000+ sq. ft. b)(2), and shell (c)(1), 10-2(a), ready for You10-4(3)(i), 10-5(a)(intro), (b)(1) (c), 10-7(a) and (b), 10-9(a), 10-10, 10-11, 10A-4(a) and to finish11-2(a)(intro) and enjoy. and (b), 11-3, 12-1, 13-2, 10A-5, 11-1(b), available perc and (c), 15-4, 15-5(a) and d (d), 13-5, Elec.,tele 13-6, 14-1(a), 15-1(b) CALL OWNER 6-2, 16-3(a), 16-4(a) and304(b), 16-5(2), 16-6, 16-7, 18-1 8-7 through901-4931 18-10, 18-11(a) and (c), 19-1, 19-2, 19-3(1) and gh 19-7, 20-1, 20-2(2), 20-3, 20-4(a), 20-5,23-1 through 3-6(a), 23-7 through 23-10(a), 24-2(b) and (c)(2), and 25-2, Code (Edition 2000); Article 28 - Taxes, Sections 23-2(1), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); and Article 31 - Transit

FOR the purpose of correcting agency references rendered obsolete by Charter amendments that have reallocated various powers and duties among these agencies; repealing certain obsolete or obsolescent provisions related to these and other units of City government; correcting, clarifying, and conforming the language of related provisions; and generally relating to the administration and regulation of public works, surveys, public and private streets, highways, rights-of-way, transit and traffic, and general services.

BY repealing and reordaining, with amendments: Article - Building, Fire, and Related Code Sections 2-103 (BC §§ 102.7, 102.8, 102.10, 102.16(8), 107.2.3, 109.6.1.r, 117.3, 426.3.2, 426.3.4, 3112.2, 3113.3, 3201.3.1, and 3202.5.1), Baltimore City Revised Code (Edition 2000); Article - Health, Section 4-704(a), Baltimore City Revised Code (Edition 2000); Article Zoning, Sections 2-202(c)(2), 10-405(2)-(5)(i), (12), (18)-(19), (21), (22)(iii), (23), and (29), and 11-205(b), Baltimore City Revised Code (Edition 2000); Article 1 - Mayor, City Council, and Municipal Agencies, Sections 17-1 through 17-8, 21-3(b) and (c)(1), (3), (4), and (6), 21-4, 21-5, and 23-4(b)(7), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 5 - Finance, Property, and Procurement Sections 10-1(c), 10-5(a), (b)(1), and (c), 18-1, 18-2(a), 2111(a), 37-1(c), 41-3(a), and 45-1, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 7 - Natural Resources, Sections 53-2, 53-3, 53-11(a), 53-12 through 53-14, and 53-26, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 10 - Harbors, Docks, and Wharves, Sections 7-3(a) and 7-10, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 13 - Housing and Urban Renewal, Sections 11-1(c), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 14 - Special Benefits District Sections 6-8(d), 7-8(d), and 8-8(d), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 18 - Educational and Cultural Programs, Sections 1-36(a), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 19 - Police Ordinances, Sections 41-2, 44-2, 50-11, 50-26 through 50-28, 50-31(a), (c), and (d)(1), and 73-1(a), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 20 - Railroads, Sections 2-1(a), (c), and (d), 2-2, 2-3, 6-1, 6-2, 6-6, 6-8(a) and (c), and 7-1 through 7-4(a), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 26 - Surveys, Streets, and Highways Sections 1-6 through 1-9, 2-1 through 2-3(a), 2-4 through 2-6(a), 3-1, 3-2(b)(1) and (2), 3-3, 3-4(a)(1) and (2)(ii), 3-4(b), 3-5(a)(intro) and (c), 3-6, 3-7(a) and (b)(1)(iv) and (v) and (b)(2)(intro), 3-8(3), 3-9(a) and (c), 3-10, 3-11, 3-12(a), (b)(2), and (c)(3), 3-13(b)(1) and (2), 3-13(c), 3-16, 3-18, 3-19(intro), 3-20, 3-21(b), 4-1, 4-3, 5-1, 5-2, 5-4(a), (b)(1), (b)[2nd], and (c), 5-5(a)(2), 5-6(2), 5-7(intro), 5-8(3), 5-10, 5-11, 6-3, 6-4(a) and (b)(1), 6-5, 6-6, 6-7(2), 7-2(a), 7-3(a), 7-4(a), 7-5, 8-2(a), 8-3(2)(iii), 8-4(a), (b)(1), and (d), 8-5(a), 8-7(a), 8-8, 8-9(b), 8-10, 8A-1(b-1) and (c), 8A2(b)(intro) and (c)(1), 8A-4(a), 8A-9(a), 8A-10(a)(1), 8A-11(b)(1), (4), (7), (9)(intro), and (10), 8A-12(b)(1), (3), (6), (8)(intro), and (9), 9-1(a), 9-3, 10-1(a)(intro), (b)(2), and (c)(1), 10-2(a), 10-4(3)(i), 10-5(a)(intro), (b)(1) and 2(iii), and (c), 10-7(a) and (b), 10-9(a), 10-10, 10-11, 10A-4(a) and (b)(2) and (3), 10A-5, 11-1(b), 11-2(a)(intro) and (b), 11-3, 12-1, 13-2, 13-3(a), (c), and (d), 13-5, 13-6, 14-1(a), 15-1(b) and (c), 15-4, 15-5(a) and (b), 16-1(a), 16-2, 16-3(a), 16-4(a) and (b), 16-5(2), 16-6, 16-7, 18-1 through 18-4, 18-7 through 18-10, 18-11(a) and (c), 19-1, 19-2, 19-3(1) and (2), 19-4 through 19-7, 20-1, 20-2(2), 20-3, 20-4(a), 20-5,23-1 through 23-3(a), 23-4, 23-6(a), 23-7 through 23-10(a), 24-2(b) and (c)(2), and 25-2, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 28 - Taxes, Sections 23-2(1), 23-5, and 23-7, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); and Article 31 - Transit and Traffic, Sections 1-1(a) and (k), 1-2(g), 1-3(i) and (j), 2-1 through 2-4, 2-5(10), (14), (16) through (18), and (24), 2-6, 2-7 through 2-11, 3-1 through 3-3, 6-1(c), 6-6(b) and (c), 6-9(b), (c), and (d), 6-12(b) and (c), 6-13, 6-14(a), 6-15(a) and (b), 6-36, 8-1(a)(1), 8-4(b), 8-5, 9-1(a), 9-2, 9-3(b) and (c), 9-12(a) and (c), 11-1, 12-1, 15-9, 15-12(a) and (c), 16-2(a), 16-3(a), 1612(a), 16-22(a), 16-27, 16-44, 16-47(a)(1) and (b)(1), 16-57(b), 16-58, 17-6, 19-1, 19-3(a), (b), (c)(intro), and (d), 19-4(a), (b)(2), and (c), 19-5 through 19-7, 31-1(b), (d), and (e), 31-7(b)(1), 31-8(a), 31-21(a), 31-27(b), 31-28(a), 31-29(a), 31-41, 31-42(a), and (d), 31-43(a)(1) and (c), 31-44, 31-45, 31-47(b), 31-50, 31-57(a), (b), and (c), 31-59(b), 31-60, 31-66(b) and (c)(1), 31-67(b), 31-68(a), 31-102, and 31-103, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); BY repealing Article 1 - Mayor, City Council, and Municipal Agencies, Section 40-14(2)(§50-26), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 9 Fire Suppression and Prevention, Sections 8-1 through 8-7, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); Article 19 - Police Ordinances Sections 41-4 and 50-16 to 50-18, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); and Article 31 - Transit and Traffic, Sections 11-2 and 31-1(c), Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000); And BY repealing and reordaining, with amendments, and transferring to the Annual Ordinances and Resolutions of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore Article 13 - Housing and Urban Renewal, Section 2-13, Baltimore City Code (Edition 2000).

NOTE: This bill is subject to amendment by the Baltimore City Council.

JAMES KRAFT Chair The Baltimore City Online: TYPESET: Wed Apr 15Council 12:02:58 EDT www.baltimorecitycouncil.com 2015 HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS E-LEARNING & LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SERVICES

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B8 The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

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410-554-8200

Buy it • Sell it Swap it • Lease it Rent it • Hire it

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AFRO Classified minimum ad rate is $26.54 per col. inch (an inch consists of up to 20 words).

Mail in your ad on form below along with CHECK or MONEY ORDER to: WASHINGTON AFRO-AMERICAN CO. 1917 Benning Road, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002-4723 Attn: Clsf. Adv. Dept.

City Code (Edition 2000).

1. This bill is subject 2. to amendment3.by the Baltimore 4.

NOTE: City Council.

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JAMES KRAFT Chair

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The Baltimore City Council Online: www.baltimorecitycouncil.com

NAME: ________________________________________________ ADDRESS: _____________________________________________ PHONE NO.:____________________________________________ CLASSIFICATION: ______________________________________ (Room, Apt., House, etc.)

INSERTION DATE:_________________

BALTIMORE AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER Legal Advertising Rates Effective October 1, 2008 PROBATE DIVISION (Estates) 202-332-0080 PROBATE NOTICES a. Order Nisi $ 60 per insertion b. Small Estates (single publication $ 60 per insertion c. Notice to Creditors 1. Domestic $ 60 per insertion 2. Foreign $ 60 per insertion d. Escheated Estates $ 60 per insertion e. Standard Probates

CIVIL NOTICES a. Name Changes 202-879-1133 b. Real Property

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To place your ad, call 1-800-237-6892, ext. 262, Public Notices $50.00 & up depending on size, Baltimore Legal Notices are $24.84 per inch.

1-800 (AFRO) 892 For Proof of Publication, please call 1-800-237-6892, ext. 244 TYPESET: Wed Apr 15 12:06:14 EDT 2015

LEGAL NOTICES

City of Baltimore Department of Finance Bureau of Purchases Sealed proposals addressed to the Board of Estimates of Baltimore will be received until, but not later than 11:00a.m. local time on the following date(s) for the stated requirements: April 29, 2015 8SKID STEER LOADERS WITH ATTACHMENTS B50004038THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION DOCUMENT CAN BE VIEWED AND DOWN LOADED BY VISITING THE CITY’S WEB SITE: www.baltimorecitibuy.org

To advertise in the AFRO Call 410-554-8200

RFP NUMBER: B-1793-15 The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (”HABC”) will issue a Request for Proposals (”RFP”) for interested and qualified firms to provide e-Learning products and Learning Management System (LMS) services to the Agency as requested by HABC. PROPOSALS WILL BE DUE no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 20, 2015.

A non-mandatory pre-proposals conference will be held on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, at 10:00 a.m., at 417 E. Fayette Street, Room 416, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202.HABC has established a minimum goal of twenty percent (20%) of the total dollar amount of the proposed contract for Minority Business Enterprise (”MBE”) utilization, applicable to all minority and nonminority businesses proposing to provide the requested services as the prime contractor. No goal has been established for participation of Womenowned businesses (”WBEs”), however, HABC strongly encourages and affirmatively promotes the use of WBEs in all HABC contracts.

Responders shall also comply with all applicable requirements of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. Section 1701u.

The RFP may be obtained on or after Monday, April 27, 2015, at the following location: Housing Authority of Baltimore City Division of Fiscal Operations, Purchasing Department 417 E. Fayette Street, Room 414 Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Attention: John Airey, Chief of Contracting Services Tel: (410) 396-3261 Fax: (410) 962-1586 Questions regarding the RFP should be directed in writing to the address and individual indicated above, and must include the reference: HABC RFP Number B-1793-15.

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CAREER CORNER TYPESET: Wed Apr 15 15:02:49 EDT 2015

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ADJUNCT FACULTY Carroll Community College is seeking Adjunct Faculty for the Fall 2015 Semester. Additional information, including class information be15:02:27 obtained at www.carrollcc.edu.

TYPESET: Wed may Apr 15 EDT 2015 HOUSEKEEPING ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES SUPERVISOR CARROLL COMMUNITY COLLEGE has a full-time, 12 month position available as Environmental Services Supervisor. Additional information may be obtained at www.carrollcc.edu.

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April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015, The Afro-American

B9

D.C. Artists Brings Unconventional Performance to Familiar Setting

By Christina Sturdivant Special to the AFRO Longtime friends, A’Leighsha Butler and Nia Barge met as teenagers at Oxon Hill High School in PG County, Md. Today, the co-founders of Nameless theater company are business savvy women blossoming with creativity.

Unlike traditional performance shows, Nameless offers an experience that brings unconventional audiences out of the theater and into familiar settings. “If you’re not brought up in the arts or given opportunities to understand theater while you’re younger, you don’t just all of a sudden start going to the

theater,” Barge told the AFRO. “We know how much theater means to us, how entertaining it can be, how engaging it can be and how it can spark dialogue about important subjects. We knew the importance, power and weight that theater can hold in the community and we wanted to find a way to communicate that to people who look like us, who are our age, and didn’t go to the theater.”

One place millennials frequent often is happy hour.

Nameless’ introduction of Happy Hour Theater premiered June 2014 in Adams Morgan with Last Call – the portrayal of tensions between new and old District residents who are forced to come together at the height of a crisis. The after-work show took place in a local bar where patrons were able to get drink and food specials and a stellar performance – all at an affordable price. During its run, the show sold out shows and received 5-star reviews.

Much like the company’s target audience, there wasn’t much access to the arts for Butler growing up, “At Oxon Hill [High School] and my middle school, there were no drama classes offered, but it was something that I was interested in,” she says. “I’ve always written little stories, but there wasn’t a chance for me to enter into a drama class or test it out.”

As an undergrad at the University of Maryland, College Park, she was finally able to take drama classes, which fueled her interest further. Likewise, at Howard University, Barge was introduced to acting through mock trial lessons while on a law school track; she then garnered an interest in performing.

Barge received her bachelor’s degree in communication and culture with a minor in film. Butler received her bachelor’s degree incommunications/public relations. After college the two began working together professionally creating workshops for youth. “That’s when we discovered that we really enjoyed working in the community and in the arts, and we started working together more in that sector,” says Butler.

In 2010, Butler and Barge attended the University of London, Goldsmith to pursue master’s degrees in applied drama and performance making, respectively. While producing intimate theater shows in London, the two also produced a one-woman show, Happy Birthday Lola, starring Barge who became a fairly well-known poet.

As a young company, resources for Nameless are slim and ticket sales cover only 40 percent of production costs; but payment for rehearsal spaces, lighting, chairs, performers customs and, of course, the venue must be accounted for. The ladies have relied on a lot of creativity and ingenuity to keep the company afloat, they say.

In the second installment of Happy Hour Theater – and the fourth show for the company—Nameless will present Death at the Prom, premiering April 16 at Uniontown Bar & Grill in D.C.’s historic Anacostia neighborhood. A murder mystery comedy show, the production will take place in the midst of a fictional high school prom where disaster strikes and audience members must gather clues, question suspects, and bring the murderer to justice.

“This show is a bit more light for our happy hour crowd and should be a lot of fun because there’s a lot more audience interaction,” Butler describes the show in comparison to Last Call.

Hoping to achieve as much notoriety as before, the show may also move to a larger venue to bring over 200 guests to the party. “A week before the show, we are pretty tired, but we remind ourselves that we are waking up everyday and we are doing what we love to do,” says Butler, “I’m just thankful to have the courage to go after it and want to do it because its not easy, but the end result is always rewarding because we pour something of ourselves into every single show.”

B10

The Afro-American, April 18, 2015 - April 24, 2015

HEALTH

Physicians Insist Infant Immunization Safe, Necessary Despite Concerns

By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO

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s health organizations around the country gear up for the 2015 National Infant Immunization Week, (April 1825) a renewed effort is underway to invigorate the conversation about individual and societal benefits of vaccinations in the wake of growing safety concerns. Since 1994, National Infant Immunization Week (NIIW) has highlighted the importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases and celebrated the achievements of immunization programs in promoting healthy communities. However, with some data hinting at a causal relationship between the vaccine ingredient thimerosal in the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine to the development of autism, many parents had begun opting out of the immunization.

Overall immunization rates remain high, however, state immunization programs, clinicians, and parents continue to challenge getting all recommended booster doses in the second year of life for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), and Pneumococcal disease (PCV).

African-American children and those living at or below the poverty line tend to have lower rates of vaccination coverage, with an overall rate less than other populations. In some instances, the rate of Black children meeting the recommended immunization schedule was

as low as 69 percent.

The 2014 Whistleblower report – claiming a CDC-sponsored immunization study had fudged numbers that concretely linked MMR vaccinations to African-American male babies developing autism – was later refuted, but created significant challenges in convincing parents to keep to the immunization schedule.

More exemptions to immunizations occurred, according to the CDC, resulting in more incidents of preventable disease, such as whooping cough.

Health officials worry that the hesitance in keeping to vaccination schedules could create an outbreak scenario similar to one that occurred at Disneyland in 2014, where 59 visitors contracted measles. The infected ranged in age from 7 to 70 and the disease spread to four other states as the visitors returned home.

Fearful of giving infants potentially harmful inoculation cocktails, parents have avoided having them immunized. The childhood vaccine known as DTaP protects against diptheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. It is given in a series to children at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months and 15-18 months of age; a booster is given before kindergarten.

The DTaP vaccine, like other routine childhood immunizations, has been shown to be more than 98 percent effective.

Dr. Heidi Larson, lead author of a recent vaccine study, published in PLOS Current Outbreaks, found that the refusal to inoculate

Four Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child

By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO Through advancements in medical science, children can be protected against more diseases than ever before. Some diseases, like polio that once injured or killed millions of children, are no longer common in the U.S. The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases note the following benefits to infant immunization.

Vaccinations are largely safe and effective

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grew from an historical level of distrust between parents and the medical community.

“We asked people about their confidence in their health systems, in health programs, in family planning programs. We saw pretty consistent correlation between high confidence in the health care system and high confidence in immunization programs. It’s not just about the product – the vaccine. It’s also about the interaction around it,” Larson said.

In the U.S. and United Kingdom, the initial report linking MMR to autism – now discredited – led to more than a decade of reduced vaccination rates and is blamed by some medical authorities as contributing to the Disneyland outbreak. At its core, the MMRautism claims cited conspiracy-like theories of pharmaceutical negligence for the sake of profit and denying parents full disclosure of potential side effects.

“I think the relationship between the provider and the parent is still the most important dynamic. People need to feel they can trust the information they’re getting. When a parent does not feel respected, it really can turn a hesitant parent into a refusing parent,” Larson said. “Providers need to be open to dialogue, to having respect for questions.

After all, for new parents, it’s a very complex vaccine environment. It’s reasonable that they ask questions.”

In the case of thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used to prevent contamination of multi-dose vials of vaccines, the ingredient was believed to be the source agent in children developing autism. Beginning in 1999, thimerosal was removed or reduced to trace amounts in all childhood vaccines except for some flu vaccines.

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Vaccines are only given to children after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals. Vaccines will involve some discomfort, however, serious side effects following vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare.

Immunization protects others Children in the U.S. still get vaccine-preventable diseases. There has been a resurgence of measles and whooping cough (pertussis) over the past few years, with nearly 50,000 cases reported since 2010, causing a renewed challenge to fight them.

Immunizations can save your family time and money A child with a vaccine-preventable disease can be denied attendance at schools or daycare facilities. Some vaccine-preventable diseases can result in prolonged disabilities and can take a financial toll because of lost time at work, medical bills, or long-term disability care.

Immunization protects future generations Vaccines have reduced and, in some cases, eliminated many diseases that killed or severely disabled people just a few generations ago. For example, the smallpox vaccination eradicated that disease worldwide, making vaccination against smallpox unnecessary.

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