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Volume 121 No. 38
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April 27, 2013 - April 27, 2013, The Afro-American
APRIL 27, 2013 - MAY 3, 2013
Inmates Run City Hundreds Rally for Fair Labor Detention Center By AFRO Staff
State officials pledged April 24 to launch a widespread investigation into corruption at the Baltimore City Detention Center in the wake of the federal indictment of 25 people, including 13 female corrections officers, for a racketeering enterprise that involved drug trafficking, money laundering and sex— all centered inside the jail. The scheme involved cash payments, sex and access to fancy cars, federal prosecutors said April 23. The federal grand jury, in an indictment handed up April 2 but sealed until April 23, painted a lurid picture of the jail in the grip of the Black
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Guerilla Family, a nationwide gang operating “in prisons and on the streets of major cities throughout the U.S.,” the indictment said. According to prosecutors, 13 female corrections officers essentially handed over control of a Baltimore jail to the gang leaders in exchange for access to luxury cars and money, prosecutors said. Del. Curtis Anderson (D-Baltimore) said the governor needs to address matters. “I think it reflects poorly on the warden of that facility, on the secretary of public safety and on the governor himself,” said Anderson, the chairman of the Baltimore delegation in Annapolis and a member of the House Judiciary Committee. “I think the governor needs to have a long conversation with Maynard and find out what the hell went wrong. There need to be some changes.” He was referring to Gary D. Maynard, head of the agency that oversees Maryland prisons. Maynard said April 23, ““It’s totally on me. I don’t make any
By Blair Adams Special to the AFRO
Organized labor and local citizen activists staged a noisy rally April 20 to underscore their demands for fair treatment in the workplace for workers and a share of the development proceeds for local residents as table gaming comes to Baltimore. According to the chants sent up just two blocks from the planned home of the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore by the hundreds of demonstrators, many of them hopeful employees of the casino, local residents want fair wages, quality jobs, better schools,
community recreation centers and more benefits on the job. “We are here fighting for fair development and local jobs for local residents in the city,” said Richie Armstrong, organizer of Baltimore Churches and Community United, part of the coalition of church, citizen groups and union activists that have come together early in the development of casino gambling in Baltimore. Armstrong told the AFRO, “With all the major developments in the city and the public funding that’s backing it, there should be benefits for Baltimore City residents. “If companies are receiving
Photos by Blair Adams
public funds, then it should benefit people in the Baltimore community,” said Roxie Herbekian, president of Local 7 of Unite Here, an international union that represents workers in the hospitality industry. The local represents 2,600 employees at hotels, restaurants, food-service companies and casinos, as well as at universities, BaltimoreWashington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Baltimore City workers and union members applaud new developments being built in the area, but say that those living in the community should benefit from the new infrastructure, said Continued on A3
Continued on A3
Museum Lounge to Lose Liquor License By Krishana Davis AFRO Staff Writer
It’s a favorite spot to grab a drink, have dinner and peoplewatch for Baltimore’s urban professional set, but on April 30, if not sooner, the Museum Restaurant and Lounge will serve its last drink. The owners were denied renewal of the facility’s liquor license during a Baltimore City Liquor Board hearing on April 18 after a homeowners group in the vicinity of the restaurant complained about live entertainment playing there. The venue will serve its last drink on April 30, according to Douglas Paige, spokesperson for the Baltimore City Liquor Board. “It’s not the worse bar to come down to the
there.” The Museum, located at 924 N. Charles Street in the Mt. Vernon community, was formerly the home of the Brass Elephant, a highly praised restaurant that remained in business for more than 20 years. The Brass Elephant changed management in May 2012 and became the Museum. It had not been in business for six weeks before some local residents began to complain that it was operating as a “club,” though it was not licensed for live entertainment, an official said. Fierce debate marked the threehour hearing, in which 10 witnesses AFRO Photo were scheduled to testify. The restaurant, considered by many to liquor board,” said liquor board Chairman Stephen be the latest go-to eatery and lounge for young, W. Foogleman. “The community clearly had a urban professionals, drew fire from the leadership stake, and a say, and a claim last year that they wanted a restaurant there. They don’t want a bar Continued on A4
42 Snubs Sports Writer Sam Lacy
Maryland Schools Among Nation’s Most Segregated
By Roz Hamlett Special to the AFRO
By Moses J. Newson Special to the AFRO The hit movie 42 talks plenty about Jackie Robinson, baseball’s color barrier and fair play but snubs AfroAmerican Newspapers’ legendary sports editor Sam Lacy, who played a key role in the baseball integration saga. Included among those who believe Lacy, a leader in the media push in the 1940s to integrate baseball was low-balled by the flick, are Jake Oliver, AFRO publisher, and Lacy’s son, Tim, who called the omission “a travesty.” Continued on A4
Sam Lacy and Jackie Robinson AFRO File Photo
Maryland has been the top-rated public school system in the nation for the last five years, but the state’s public school system is also one of the most segregated in the nation, according to a new study. A recent report “Settle for Segregation or Strive for Diversity? A Defining Moment for Maryland’s Public Schools,” found that an astonishing number of Black students attend public schools in Maryland that are nearly as segregated in 2013 as they were during the peak years of desegregation in the 1980s. The report, conducted by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, revealed that more than half of the state’s Black students attended schools with minority enrollments between 90 and 100 percent during the 2010-2011 school year, up from 33 percent in 1989. At the same time, nearly a quarter of Maryland’s Black students attended so-called “apartheid schools” with almost no White students in attendance, up from 19.1 percent in 1989. “It is clear that the unequal educational opportunities associated with most segregated public classrooms – less experienced teachers, higher teacher turnover, disparities in teaching materials, disparities in technology, disparities in facilities, and disparities in student teacher ratios – are
April 19, 1947 AFRO
Continued on A4
Copyright © 2013 by the Afro-American Company