Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper February 1 2014

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Volume 122 No. 26

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The Afro-American

FEBRUARY 1, 2014 - FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Moving the Race Conversation Forward

Obama Hopes to Sidestep Congress to have ‘a Year of Action’

By Jazelle Hunt Washington Correspondent

White House Photo

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

President Obama gives his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tues. Jan. 28.

With a largely uncooperative, highlypartisan Congress headed into a mid-term election, President Obama declared in his State

of the Union speech Tuesday night that he will have ‘a year of action’ by expanding economic opportunity through executive orders and other action that do not require legislative approval.

“I’m eager to work with all of you,” Obama said in a speech that lasted a little longer than an hour. “But America does not stand still – and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for

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Juanita Bynum Preaches at Empowerment Temple

more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Repeating many of the themes he sounded in his State of the Union speech a year ago – and having seen congressional inaction on most of them – a frustrated Barack Obama promised to be more aggressive in using the power of the presidency.

In glowing review of his first five years in office, Obama said, “Here are Continued on A3

George Zimmerman. Paula Deen. And, more recently, Seattle Seahawks star defensive back Richard Sherman. Just the mention of their names ignites a passionate discussion about race.

The good news is that we’re talking about race. The bad news is that the discussions too often fall short of the mark, focusing on the latest incident, but not the underlying causes of racism. At least, that’s the conclusion of a new report by Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice and Innovation (formerly Applied Research Center). Race Forward seeks to build awareness, solutions and leadership for racial justice by generating transformative ideas, information and experiences.

As the introduction of the report explains, “’Moving the Race Conversation Forward’ is a two-part report that first describes some of the major impediments to productive racial discourse in the United States, and second, profiles and provides lessons from several recent interventions and initiatives that are breaking down significant barriers toward racial justice.”

In its analysis of nearly 1,200 race-related content from 14 print and television media outlets across the country, the report finds

Wikipedia

Richard Sherman ignited a firestorm when he loudly criticized an opponent. that just 32.7 percent were “systematically aware.” The report considers an article or TV segment systematically aware if it mentions or highlights policies and/or practices that lead to racial disparities; if it describes the root causes of disparities including the history and compounding effects of institutions; and/or describes or challenges the aforementioned.

“There’s a disproportionate level of Continued on A4

Character Education/ Black History Supplement

Women Forging Ahead in STEM Fields

INSERTS

Glennae Williams is still months away from her May 17 graduation, but is already on the path to making her Southwest Baltimore community of Mt. Winans proud.

Not only is she set to graduate with a baccalaureate degree from Morgan State University, but she is doing so as an industrial engineering major—adding her name to the short list of African-American women scientists making headway for other minorities.

“I always liked math, so engineering wasn’t so far from what I thought I would be able to possibly do,” said Williams, who comes from a family of civil engineers.

With a job already lined up for her at the Johns Hopkins University Physics Lab, Williams is just one example of what it means to exhibit grace under pressure.

Williams will be among hundreds of young women who participate in the Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) conference Feb. 6-8 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Northwest Washington. Events will include a luncheon, a gala and workshops to give young people the opportunity to interact with working professionals.

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Williams plans to attend the Black Engineer of the Year Awards Conference, where women in STEM fields will be recognized, in D.C. next week.

Aside from balancing her own difficult courses with the academic and personal challenges that come with entering the workforce, Williams has also helped her mother battle multiple sclerosis and breast cancer, the latter diagnosis coming during Williams’ senior year.

“She was leaving class to help me get up in the morning—doing homework and helping me when I was in pain,” DaVeeta White, Glennae’s mother. “She wasn’t always successful, sometimes she failed a class for not getting all her work in, or because she missed a major test when I was having surgery.”

Williams eventually learned to balance her caregiver duties with the rigorous challenges she faced at Morgan State.

“She worked for me for about three years and she has led our student organization, the Pre-freshman Accelerated Curriculum in Engineering, or PACE,” said Dr. Carl White, no relation, the associate dean of the School of Engineering at Morgan State. “Glennae has done very well, and she has been very influential in running the tutoring program during the semester.”

Upon receiving her degree, Williams will join the Continued on A4

Additional Safety Grandson of Late Baltimore Sought for Domestic Del. Hattie Harrison Charged With Defrauding Campaign Funds Violence Victims

By Blair Adams AFRO Staff Writer Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, along with the state Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, held a hearing Jan. 28 to discuss specific bills aimed at increasing protection for domestic violence victims.

Brown said he and his team of lawmakers, domestic violence and sexual assault advocates created a package of legislation that would

ultimately curb domestic violence in the Maryland area.

“Over the last seven years, we’ve worked together to reduce domestic assaults by 20 percent, but it’s not enough until we can say that all Marylanders are safe from domestic violence,” Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown said at the news conference. “By working together to pass legislation that makes it easier for victims to obtain final peace and protective orders, we will create a safer environment for all Marylanders.

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By Zachary Lester AFRO Staff Writer Phillip Harrison II, the grandson of former Del. Hattie Harrison (D-Balto.) has been indicted in connection with the theft of $17,600 in campaign funds, according to a statement from the state prosecutor’s office.

Harrison is charged in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court with felony theft, fraudulent misappropriation of campaign funds and an election law violation. He is accused of misusing campaign funds when he served as the treasurer of the “Hattie N. Harrison for Delegate” committee.

According to the indictment, Harrison wrote several checks out of the account for himself and Rehanna Singletary. Singletary was his girlfriend when the scheme started, but later became his wife.

According to the indictment, he continued to write checks to himself after he resigned Continued on A3

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Phillip Harrison II is charged with campaign fraud.

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The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014

NATION & WORLD

Hundreds of Female Inmates Sexually Abused at Ala. Prison

More than 900 female inmates at an Alabama women’s prison claimed male officers forced them to perform sexual acts in exchange for basic sanitary products, the Justice Department said in a recent report.

According to the Jan. 22 report, inmates at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in central Alabama were forced to shower or use the bathroom while the male officers watched, were organized into “strip shows” and were often spoken to in a sexually offensive manner.

“Officials have been on notice for over eighteen years of the risks to women prisoners and, for over eighteen years, have chosen to ignore them,” the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels, said in a statement to ABC News. “In that time, inmates have been raped, sodomized and fondled by prison staff.”

The Justice Department began its investigation in February 2013.

The women in the Alabama prison “feared for their safety”

Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women

and investigators found a pattern of sexual abuse at the facility dating back to 1942.

Commissioner Kim Thomas, director of the Alabama Department of Corrections, said her department has “never downplayed the significant and serious nature of these allegations.”

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Report: Black Teens Hit Hard in Economic Downturn

Black teens were the worst hit by the recent Great Recession in the labor market, the capstone to a decade of plummeting employment rates among young workers, according to a recent report by the Alternative Schools Network.

According to “Trends in Teen Employment in Chicago, Illinois and the United States,” any gains made by the “War on Poverty” on the rate of employment among AfricanAmerican teenagers were Official White House Photo by Amanda Lucidon erased over the past decade.

First Lady Michelle Obama orders a Subway sub made by Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin Teens and young and National Football League player Justin Tuck, during an event at a Subway restaurant adults across the United in Washington, D.C. States “have encountered extraordinarily severe declines in their employment eating among kids. rates—unmatched by any other age group,” the report stated.

As part of the initiative, which is tied into Obama’s “Let’s Nationally, the teen employment rate fell from 36 percent Move!” campaign against childhood obesity, the restaurant has in pre-recession 2006 to just 27 percent in 2012, the lowest agreed to align its kids’ menus with the federal standards of the employment rate among that group since World War II, the national school lunch program. report found.

A $41 million media campaign will also push healthier But according to the most recent jobs report from the federal options to children with a strong focus on fruits and vegetables.

Bureau of Labor Statistics, in December the employment rate “I’m excited about these initiatives not just as a First Lady, among teens spiraled even farther, to 20.2 percent. but also as a mom,” Obama said in a statement. “Subway’s kids’ Among African-American teens, and particularly among menu makes life easier for parents, because they know that no those from low-income households earning less than $20,000 matter what their kids order, it’s going to be a healthy choice.” annually, the prospects were even more dismal. In 2006, 25 As part of the new partnership, advertising in Subway percent of young Blacks were employed, compared to 18 locations targeting children will be solely focused on the percent in 2012. Across the nation in 2012, only 13 percent of healthier options available.

Black teens from low-income households were employed.

According to the National Institutes of Health, being obese Advocacy groups have long argued that high rates of is not the same thing as being overweight according to height. unemployment among teenagers and young adults decrease their The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention claim future employability and darkens their economic prospects. That that the consequences of childhood obesity can be severe and trend also feeds high rates of violence and delinquency, all of far-reaching. According to the CDC, approximately 35 percent which limit the socioeconomic development of their communities. of adults and 17 percent, or 12.5 million, children are obese.

Of the children who present signs of obesity, 70 percent also exhibit signs of cardiovascular disease such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

“With this partnership with the Partnership for a Healthier First lady Michelle Obama was in good company when she America, we will now reach millions of kids as part of a healthier visited a Subway restaurant in the nation’s capital on Jan. 24 to eating education campaign, making it our largest outreach announce a joint venture with the nationwide chain. campaign to date,” Suzanne Greco, vice president of R&D and Accompanied by Olympic gold medalists Michael Phelps Operations for Subway, said in a statement. “From a sign on each and Nastia Liukin and New York Giants defensive end Justin restaurant’s door that says ‘Playtime Powered by Veggies’ to a Tuck, the first lady announced a three-year deal with Subway video collaboration with Disney’s The Muppets, we will build upon and the Partnership for a Healthier America to promote healthy our ongoing efforts to create even better choices for families.”

Michelle Obama, Subway Team Up for Healthy Eating Campaign

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The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 1, 2014

February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014, The Afro-American

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Jennifer Hudson Visits Baltimore to Help Fight Obesity Hudson told the AFRO. “It’s one thing to say ‘I’m gonna do it,’ but to actually do it, live what you talk about and In an effort to encourage Baltimore get into it and make it happen, I think residents to embrace healthy living, Weight Watchers is the perfect way to award winning actress and former go. It’s a community. It’s a family in American Idol contestant Jennifer itself.”

Hudson teamed up with Mayor The new Healthy Communities Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and city Grant will help the current program health officials Jan. 21 to launch the serve more women in Baltimore’s expansion of B’More for Healthy Patterson Park neighborhood, an Babies—a healthy communities grant expansion Rawlings-Blake said she was very proud of.

“This program has been incredibly successful in curbing infant mortality rates across our city,” she said. “In partnership – Jennifer Hudson with Weight Watchers, and the U.S. Conference program—sponsored by Weight of Mayors—where I currently serve Watchers. as second vice president—we will be On Jan. 21, about 80 women expanding B’More Fit for Healthy converged on the Zeta Center in West Babies to serve more women in Baltimore to hear from Hudson and Baltimore…”

Rawlings-Blake, two well-known The program allows residents Weight Watchers clients, as they try to whose body mass index is 25 or higher, help Baltimoreans conquer their weight who are overweight, over 18 and problems. recipients of public assistance qualify “It’s great to see people motivated to participate in the Weight Watchers to be here and inspired to lose weight,” program at the rate of $1 per week,

By Blair Adams AFRO Staff Writer

“It’s great to see people motivated to be here and inspired to lose weight.”

officials said.

“It’s going to take a collaboration of both public and private entities to reach our goal in reducing obesity,” said Rawlings-Blake. “And we’re looking forward to continuing our partnership with Weight Watchers to offer a successful initiative to more Baltimore residents.”

Both Hudson and Rawlings-Blake have lost a significant amount of weight—and have kept it off.

“It was a struggle when I first started on my journey,” Rawlings-Blake said, adding that about 36 percent of Baltimore City residents are obese— which is higher than the national average. About 45.3 percent of African Americans in Baltimore are obese.

Her plan is to encourage healthy living in low-income neighborhoods.

“Healthy eating and good exercise are critically important to all of us. We have to encourage these good habits for our kids,” she said.

Hudson said Weight Watchers is a fresh start. “You can’t go wrong. [The] only way you can go is forward and any progress is better than none. Take small steps. It doesn’t have to be massive. Just start somewhere.”

Jennifer Hudson

Juanita Bynum Preaches New Year’s Revival at Empowerment Temple AME

By P. Dominic Booker Special to the AFRO The Rev. Dr. Juanita Bynum had one message for the members of Empowerment Temple AME when she preached at the church’s New Year’s revival Jan. 27-29. She wanted the men and women under her voice to wake up and make 2014 their best year ever.

The self-proclaimed “phophetess,” New York Times best-selling author, recording artist and life coach appeared before a packed sanctuary of approximately 3,000 people each night who came out to the West Baltimore church to hear her story of redemption.

Bynum spoke from the book of Psalms. Her theme was “Wake Up.” “I went to sleep but my heart

stayed awake,” Bynum said of her experience, which resonated with those who had come to hear her.

“A flyer didn’t bring you here.

Facebook didn’t bring you here.

Television didn’t bring you here,” she told the church. “God brought you back to yourself to walk in what God has called us to walk in.”

The Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, Empowerment Temple’s pastor,

told the audience on Jan. 28 to invite their friends to the Jan. 29 meeting to hear her special message.

After speaking on Jan. 27 and 28, Bynum added a sermon because she needed to stay another night to “close out the message.”

Bynum, 55, travels regularly to preach messages of affirmation and self awareness.

Photos by Devan Carter

Obama

Continued from A1

Bynum hugs the Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant

Harrison Continued from A1

from being treasurer of the campaign committee. He served as treasurer from July 2009 to Nov. 2009, but is accused of writing checks through Aug. 2010. He is accused of keeping the campaign checkbook in his possession after he was no longer in charge of dispersing the funds for the committee.

The indictment said the funds were used for personal expenses and that he forged the name of another treasurer on checks to pay bills for Comcast and Verizon.

Harrison faces a maximum of 21 years in prison and $40,000 in fines, if convicted of all charges.

Hattie Harrison, the matriarch of the Maryland House of Delegates, died Jan. 28, 213 at age 84, a year almost to the day that her grandson was indicted. She was beloved and known as the “fairy godmother” of the legislative chamber.

the results of your efforts: The lowest unemployment rate in over five years.

A rebounding housing market. A manufacturing sector that’s adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. More oil produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world – the first time that’s happened in nearly twenty years. Our deficits – cut by more than half. And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world’s number one place to invest; America is.”

He continued, “…The question for everyone in this chamber, running through every decision we make this year, is whether we are going to help or hinder this progress. For several years now, this town has been consumed by a rancorous argument over the proper size of the federal government. It’s an important debate – one that dates back to our very founding. But when that debate prevents us from carrying out even the most basic functions of our democracy – when our differences shut down government or threaten the full faith and credit of the United States – then we are not doing right by the American people.”

A major theme of the president’s speech was providing expanded opportunity for all Americans – an opportunity to get a job, to earn fair wages, to get an education and to have access to affordable health care.

“Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by – let alone get ahead. And too many still aren’t working at all.”

Unlike past State of the Union speeches, Obama did not call for higher tax rates on high-income earners. He also toned down his rhetoric on income inequality from a month ago when he called it “the defining challenge of our time” and referred to a “dangerous and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility.”

A recent report by Oxfam, a London based organization that seeks to eradicate poverty, found that the wealth of 1 percent of the richest people in the world ($110 trillion) is 65 times the total wealth of the bottom half of the world’s population.

The Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, collected data that shows the top fifth of the U.S. population receives 66 percent of tax-expenditure benefits, the middle 60 percent of the population receives slightly more than 31 percent and the bottom fifth receives just 2.8 percent of tax-expenditure benefits. The top 1 percent of the population alone receives 23.9 percent of tax-expenditure benefits.

According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 60 percent of Americans believe the “economic system in this country unfairly favors the wealthy.”

And even larger margin – 65 percent – believe the gap between the rich and everyone else has increased over the past 10 years.

But instead of getting into what his Republican critics like to call a class war, the president framed the issue Tuesday night through the lens of a lack of progress for working-class Americans.

“Let’s make this a year of action,” President Obama said. “That’s what most Americans want – for all of us in this chamber to focus on their lives, their hopes, their aspirations. And what

I believe unites the people of this nation, regardless of race or region or party, young or old, rich or poor, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all – the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can get ahead.”

In an action on Tuesday, President Obama issued an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contract workers from $7.25 an hour to $10.10.

To raise the minimum wage beyond federal contractors, as Obama has been urging for more than a year, he will need the support of Congress. He will also need cooperation from the House and Senate to act on other issues such as immigration, extending unemployment benefits, tax reform and expanding pre-K education.

Although White House officials are predicting some progress on farm legislation and immigration, they recognize that partisan politics traditionally grow even more partisan in a mid-term election, especially during a president’s second term. Consequently, the administration is advancing a series of modest initiatives, including: • Directing the Treasury Department to create a starter retirement savings account, called “myRA”; • Hosting a White House summit on working families; • Having Vice President Joe Biden lead a review of the federal job training system; • Streamlining federal regulations covering construction of manufacturing factories that rely on natural gas and • Convening a group of CEOs to solicit their ideas on how best to get unemployed workers back into the job market.

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The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014

Race Conversation Continued from A1

attention given to incidents like Paula Deen last year,” says Dominique Apollon, research director at Race Forward, and one of the report’s authors. “We get stuck on questions like ‘Who’s racist?’ ‘Did Paula Deen mean to be racist?’ ‘Does she have Black friends, what do her Black customers think?’”

Part one of the report also highlighted seven pervasive, harmful pitfalls in the general discourse on racism (in media and otherwise): Individualizing racism; falsely equating incomparable acts; diverting from race, disregarding it in favor of another social construct such as class or gender; portraying government as overreaching; prioritizing intent over impact; condemning through coded language; and silencing history.

These pitfalls and the hollow analysis of racism creates the phenomenon in which the conversation centers on individual overt racist acts, yet neglects to acknowledge or fully examine the impact of institutional racism (which exists within a system, such as the criminal justice system), and structural racism (which exists across institutions and permeates all of society).

Part two of the report attempts to move the race conversation forward by highlighting recent interventions and initiatives that challenge the narrow national conversation on racism. For example, multi-racial civil rights organization, Advancement Project, campaigned against the “Schoolhouse-toJailhouse” pipeline, helping reverse the impact of zero-tolerance policies. Other featured initiatives include the film Fruitvale Station and the Migration is Beautiful art series, which recognizes the humanity of the nation’s migrant workers.

Both parts of the report offer recommendations for including systemic awareness in analyses, and improving the conversation around racism overall. Part one

offers suggestions for individuals and media professionals: Expanding one’s understanding of racism; focusing on actions and impacts instead of attitudes and intentions; examining race within conversations on class, gender, sexuality, etc.; and featuring the humanity and leadership of people of color.

Part two’s recommendations are for those in the trenches of anti-racist activism. These include the importance of framing issues properly (Fruitvale Station, for example, reclaims Oscar Grant’s story by focusing on his humanity); connecting individual experiences to systematic problems; and alerting media outlets and professions to their racial bias blind spots. Apollon asserts that these recommendations are not just for activists or media professionals, but also for anyone who sees racism in media or in their daily lives.

The report also points out the near-absence of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in discussions of racism and race. Collectively, these groups (not including multiracial Americans) are 5.6 percent of the population, according to 2010 Census data.

Yet only 2.36 percent of all the content studied covered these communities.

A video produced by Jay Smooth, activist and Race Forward video and multimedia producer, accompanies the report. In it, Smooth explains the report and its takeaway points.

In its first two days, the video garnered more than 39,000 Youtube views. Apollon hopes it continues to reach as many people as possible, and sparks accurate conversations around race.

“It’s important to push back against all the ‘post-racial’ and ‘colorblindness’ rhetoric we hear. Because being silent about it is not going to eliminate the challenges we face,” he says.

“Insert race into conversations about class, gender, sexuality. Engage with us and each other about our definition of racism and the deficiencies in our racial discourse.”

Women Continued from A1

ranks of African American women scientists, which according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, are few in number.

Though women of all races make up 48 percent of the Americans clocking into work everyday, only 24 percent of those women are checking into jobs in a STEM-related field. According to information from the U.S. Census, though African American women make up 10 percent of the workforce, only 6.7 percent are actively employed in a STEM field.

Whether these women are working in hospitals or universities, their numbers are limited but growing thanks to programs such as the HBCU-Undergrad Program, an organization focused on increasing the number of African Americans in STEM fields.

“Women of our backgrounds do not move up in the professional ladder like men do,” said Claudia Rankins, a program officer for the National Science Foundation. “In academia, they sort of fall off between the associate and full professor level.”

“HBCU-UP is designed to make sure that HBCUs are competitive with other institutions that have bigger resources,” she said. “We also help them continue to stay current and continue to move forward by funding individual projects or institutions, upgrading equipment, employing new teaching strategies, and involve

undergraduates in research.”

As the semester winds down, Williams said her goal is all the more clear—especially after seeing how few and far between her peers are.

“It’s such a great accomplishment, but it’s hard for me to see because I’m at an HBCUnot only do I see a lot of African Americans but I see a lot of women,” Williams said. “When we go outside of the realm of the HBCU, to events at different companies, it’s a shock. I

“I always liked math, so engineering wasn’t so far from what I thought I would be able to possibly do.”

– Glennae Williams

can’t believe we’re not out there. I can’t believe we are not represented.”

Williams said she is looking forward to starting her work at Johns Hopkins as a process improvement specialist, a contract position through Grove Resource Solutions, Inc. “I just hope to leave a good impression,” she said, “not only for Morgan State University’s School of Engineering, but for African Americans and for my age group. We are intelligent, we can be professional and we can get the job done.”

Additional Safety Continued from A1

Additionally, by increasing penalties for abusers who commit acts of domestic violence in the presence of kids, we’ll send a strong message that the safety of our children is always our top priority.”

From July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012, there were 49 individuals in Maryland who died as a result of domestic violence, the lowest year for domestic violence related deaths ever recorded in the state.

Tracy Brown, executive director of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland, told the AFRO that her group “served almost 800 victims last year—2013—in our projects that represent people in the protective orders.”

However, she said many victims still go without assistance.

Senate Bill 333 would modify the standard of proof required when a victim seeks to obtain a final peace order or a final protective order from “clear and convincing evidence” to “a preponderance of the evidence.” Currently, Maryland is the only state in the nation that uses the higher standard of proof for final protective orders.

Senate Bill 334 aims to amend current law and protect victims by adding second degree assault to the list of crimes for which a person can obtain a permanent final protective order, It would also require that an abuser only be

sentenced to at least five years in prison, rather than actually serving five years in prison, before their victim can obtain a permanent final protective order.

Senate Bill 337 seeks to break the cycle of domestic violence by taking a targeted approach to crimes committed in the presence of a minor.

In order to both discourage this behavior and hold abusers accountable, the legislation would give courts the ability to impose an enhanced penalty of up to five years, in addition to any other sentence, for crimes of violence that are both domestic and committed in the presence of a minor.

“We think it’s really important to use the resources that available to get as much protection as possible,” Tracy Brown said. “We go to court for them—with them—and advocate for them to get protection.”

“There are certainly things that can be done to improve bills,” she said. “There are laws in place that are helpful but as advocates we can continue to strengthen them to get more protection for people.”

Brown claimed that, in the time since he became active on the issue, Maryland has seen a 20 percent decrease in domestic violence assaults and a 32 percent decrease in the number of women and children that have died from domestic violence.

February 1, 2014 - February 1, 2014, The Afro-American

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Even The Healthy and Fit Need to Enroll in ObamaCare

For Kenneth Gray, owner when he remembered hearing of Graystone Fitness and a Republican politician Dominant Force Athletic say on the radio that it had Program of Severn, Md., it taken three hours for his was just a typical trip to the friend to get registered. Gray library. He had not planned on reasoned that he could not doing anything life changing invest three hours; rather he that day; but he would. His needed a process that was purpose in going to the library quick and painless, so he was to research high schools quickly dismissed the idea of in Maryland that had recently enrolling. contacted to put some of their As he finished his research star athletes through his new on the high schools he noticed physical training program. a woman with a certified Upon entering the library navigator badge shaking the everything looked the same. hands of a couple who were There was no new paint on leaving the computer lab. They the West County Library walls appeared to be very grateful or new chairs. Everything and he heard the couple say looked the same, neat and enrolling in Obamacare was clean. He even saw the same quick and painless. woman enrolling library He approached this Courtesy photo navigator, Bianca Harsley, patrons into health insurance Kenneth Gray Owner of plans through the Maryland and much to his surprise Graystone Fitness and Health Connection website. she said she would enroll Dominant Force Athletic He had met Deborah Lewis him immediately. Just 50 Program of Severn Thornton the last time he was minutes later Gray he had Maryland ACA recipient there. Thornton, he found done something that changed out was not only the chief of his life. Kenneth Gray had staff for Chatman, a partner with the Central successfully enrolled in a Qualified Health Region Connector Entity, Healthcare Access Plan, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Maryland, but also a navigator, certified to As a self employed man with a growing enroll the public into Affordable Care Act business, Gray was surprised to learn he health insurance plans. qualified for a large tax subsidy that would Thornton was once again busy helping reduce his monthly premium to only $202 per other library patrons enroll. month. Even better, he qualified for assistance As Gray walked past Thornton he had a called a cost sharing reduction that will pay 87 conversation with himself. It went something percent of his out-of- pocket costs like co pays. like this; Now Kenneth you will be 49 your Now on a first name basis, after a next birthday and you have owned your own productive fifty minutes, Gray told Harsley business for 13 years. You are healthy and fit, that he’d given himself an early 49th birthday but you still need health insurance. As a fitness present; by having healthcare he alleviated his trainer you can be one accident away from stress levels to zero. Gray said “Once you are financial ruin. You have to make the time to born you are given a birth certificate card and see if you can qualify for this affordable health a health insurance card should follow close care. This self-conversation quickly stopped behind that one.“

OBITUARY

Benjamin Scott Johnson, Fleet Owner April 1, 1928 – January 24, 2014 Benjamin Scott Johnson was born April 1, 1928 in Perryman, Md. on the shores of the Susquehanna River. He was the son of James Arthur and Mayfield Peaco Johnson. He was the third of four siblings and was preceded in death by his brothers James and Garfield, and sister Olivia.

Affectionately known as Ben, he accepted Christ at an early age at Union Memorial United Methodist Church (Swan Creek), his family church. He has returned to his home church almost every year since then for homecoming.

After graduating from Havre de Grace Colored School, he enlisted in the United States Army. He was deployed to the European Theater of Operations during World War II and was awarded the Army of Occupation Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal for his service.

He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946 and then moved to Washington, D.C. While working during the day he attended Wilson Teacher’s College in the evening to further his education. While there he met his future wife, Jean Holston.

They were married in the home of longtime family friend Clarice W. Philmore and recently celebrated 53 years of marriage.

Ben worked as a mechanic with the Federal Aviation Administration and developed a keen sense for business. He purchased a cab and began moonlighting as a cab driver. After his retirement from federal service in 1979, he purchased several additional cabs and along with his wife Jean started his own transportation company, B&J Transportation. One of his notable passengers was an old friend named Philip Lustine, who owned several car dealerships. Mr. Lustine made sure Ben always had tickets to Redskins games, even when these tickets were an extremely hot commodity. Due to his keen business sense and tenacity, he became known as the negotiator. When he walked into a dealership to purchase a new car, the salesmen knew they were in for a long day, and he always walked out with a great deal. The most famous cab in his fleet was a checkered cab that was used in the movie Broadcast

News. The scene where the cab was used shows the movie’s stars Holly Hunter and William Hurt riding in the cab and you can see Ben’s shoulder.

He later expanded his business by selling the cabs and purchasing 12 mobility vans. He won a contract to transport disabled passengers throughout the Washington metropolitan area and built a reputation for timeliness and dependability. This led to B&J’s selection as one of the official transportation companies for the first inauguration of President Clinton. His support of President Clinton culminated in a trip to the grand opening of the presidential library in Little Rock, Ark. where he purchased bricks in his family’s name.

Ben was a father to everyone he met; opinionated and always full of advice.

His love for his family, his friends, his community and his church were a part of his everyday life. He was a 50-plus year member of Israel Baptist Church, where he received many awards, highlighted by his selection as Father of the Year. He was beaming with pride and joy as he accepted this award, standing with his daughters and grandchildren.

Ben is survived by his wife Jean; daughters (from a previous marriage) Valerie Lee Fraling of Randallstown, Md. and Cheryl Johnson of Bel Air, Md.; four grandchildren, Keith Lee of Arlington, Va., Lisa Lee Packer (Greg) of Fairfax Station, Va., Michael Lee (Rebecca) of Owings Mills, Md., and Kevin Johnson (Angela) of Baltimore, Md.; 11 great grandchildren; and a host of other family and friends. He dedicated his life to hard work for man and the Lord and has now gone on to a welldeserved rest in heaven.

Services for Benjamin S. Johnson, father of AFRO columnist Valerie E. Fraling, begin 11 a.m., Jan. 31 with the viewing at Israel Baptist Church, 1251 Saratoga Avenue, NE, Washington, D.C. with the funeral following at noon. The entombment is immediately after at the Fort Lincoln Cemetery Community Mausoleum, 3401 Bladensburg Road, Brentwood, Md.

February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014, The Afro-American

A5

BUSINESS

STEM Conference Focused on Minorities Nears Opening Day

By Alexis Taylor Special to the AFRO African American engineers, mathematicians, and members of the science and technology community will converge on the nation’s capital in less than two weeks for the annual Becoming Everything You Are STEM Conference.

The conference includes training, mentorship opportunities, workshops, and career fairs for professionals already in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields, and also aims to entice minority students onto education tracks that lead to STEM careers.

“This conference is very important because it’s about the promotion of STEMs within the minority community,” said Imani Carter, corporate communications specialist for Career Communications Group, the company that organizes the conference each year.

The conference, now in its’ 28th year, will be held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park from Feb. 6 to Feb. 8.

“There will be career fairs open to the public on during specific times, and career fairs that are geared towards veterans and

students,” said Carter. “That’s a really huge part of the conference because people can come in network and talk with top STEM companies and try to get a job with them.”

Seminars will be held on topics including professionalism in the technology workplace, luncheons and dinners will recognize top achievers in the STEM fields, and small businesses will find helpful discussions on how to become and remain successful.

Discussions on climate change, cyber security, green businesses, social media, engineering licensure, and employee management will all be held, as well as seminars on obtaining security clearances.

“There will be a ‘Stars and Stripes’ mentoring program where people from different military services come and mentor students, and we also have a new veterans program called the veterans transition initiative where they can learn about education and business opportunities,” Carter said.

Carter said the conference will feature a host of activities for students, veterans, members of the armed forces, and those currently contributing to areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.

“There is a deficit of minorities in these

OBITUARY

Ethel Gillis Coleman, Teacher, First Lady January 13, 1916 – January 14, 2014 Ethel Gillis Coleman, born Jan. 13, 1916 in Concord, Cabarrus County, N.C. to the late William Henry and Barbara Goins Gillis. She departed this life peacefully at the Hillcrest Convalescence Center in Durham, Jan. 14, 2014. Mrs. Coleman was married to Bishop Clinton R. Coleman, Sr. on August 25, 1941. Bishop Coleman preceded her in death 17 years ago. Mrs. Coleman gave birth to four children, who mourn her death; Frances C. Walford, Baltimore, Md.; Barbara C. Smith, East Hartford, Ct.; Clinton R. Coleman Jr., Baltimore Md., G. Ray Coleman, Durham, N.C., with whom she lived since May, 2006. She is the grandmother of 8, the great grandmother of 12.

Mrs. Coleman attended the public schools of Concord and received her bachelor’s degree from Fayetteville State University (College), Fayetteville, N.C. in 1956. A member of Gamma Upsilon Zeta Chapter, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Mrs. Coleman taught in the public schools of North Carolina and retired from the Baltimore City School System in 1976.

From 1972- 1992, she worked along with her husband as missionary supervisor of the Episcopal areas her husband served during his 20 active years as a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, worldwide.

Mrs. Coleman loved fashionable clothes and wore elegant and beautiful hats. She was a friend to many, and particularly enjoyed her time with “the Birthday Girls” of Baltimore. To most of the women who were members of the Pennsylvania A.M.E. Zion Church, Baltimore, she was affectionately called “Lady Ethel.” To some she was also a second mom.

Although Mrs. Coleman spent nearly 47 years as a member of the Pennsylvania Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church, 13 of those years as First Lady while her husband was pastor; upon moving to Durham seven years ago, she immediately transferred her membership to the St. Mark A.M.E. Zion Church. She quickly adjusted and began an intense love connection with the members of St. Mark. While her recent months were spent at the hospital and in convalescence, her room was always filled with her St. Mark family.

We will miss and always cherish her radiant smile and her quick wit. Our faith tells us that she has simply transferred her membership again to her permanent home with the Lord.

Photo by Rob Roberts

Attendees at last year’s BEYA STEM conference. fields,” said Carter. “A lot of people stray the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. away from STEM fields because they don’t “The STEM areas really form the basis for see the opportunities.” everything that gets done from a technology According to Myron L. Hardiman, and science standpoint,” Hardiman said. executive director of the Advancing According to the U.S. Department of Minorities’ Interests in Engineering program Education, by the year 2020, jobs within at Morgan State University, improving system software development are expected to diversity in STEM fields can bring secondary increase by 32 percent. Professions dealing benefits to minority communities. with medical science will increase by 36 “Hopefully, as more minorities go into percent, while careers within computer these fields they are able to establish careers systems analysis will increase as much as 22 and they, in turn, will reach back and assist percent. other young minorities get into those fields,” Statistics released by the Department he said. “From an economic standpoint, as of Education show that “only 16 percent more minorities get better paying jobs that of American high school seniors are should have a positive economic impact on proficient in mathematics and interested in their neighborhoods.” a STEM career,” but professions within the Hardiman said his program works to mathematics field are expected to rise by 16 develop partnerships between corporate percent. government agencies and historically black Biomedical engineers stand to see the colleges and universities. Past participants most gain within the next six years, as the have taken their work as far as Afghanistan, of Education expects jobs within AfroAmerican_2014_Layout 1 1/24/14 11:17 AM Page Department 1 helping to rebuild the country as members of that field to increase by 62 percent.

Dial a Downtown Doctor... for your personal physician

Services were held, Jan. 21, at St. Mark AME Zion Church in Durham, N.C., where the Rev. Dr. G. Ray Coleman is senior Pastor. Bishop Nathaniel Jarrett officiated.

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A6

The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014

COMMUNITY CONNECTION State Del. Adrienne Jones to Co-Host Seminar

High School and Middle School Students Invited to Learn About Scholarships

In an effort to assist high school and middle school students, Speaker Pro Tem Del. Adrienne Jones will co-host a seminar to provide students and parents with information about college scholarships, grants and financial aid. Information on paid and unpaid internships will also be provided. Students and parents will have an opportunity to discuss their needs with number of Maryland’s college and university financial aid staff representatives.

The seminar will be held, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Feb. 1 at the Randallstown Resource Center, 3505 Research Drive in Randallstown.

“During these challenging economic times, parents often find it difficult to provide their children with the funds necessary to attend college,” Del. Jones said. “My goal is to get this information out early to high school as well as middle school students, so they can begin the process of finding money for college.”

Hair Cuttery Salons in Baltimore to Provide Free Haircuts for the Homeless

Next evolution of annual kids’ Share-A-Haircut program to give homeless adults confidence with a new look For every adult or child who visits any Baltimore area Hair Cuttery salon to purchase a haircut, Feb. 4-5, a free haircut certificate will be donated to a homeless person in their community through local organizations such as the United Way

and Salvation Army.

Hair Cuttery salons nationwide have participated in the annual August Share-A-Haircut program, where for every child’s haircut purchased, one in turn is donated to a disadvantaged child in the community, just in time for back-toschool. Hair Cuttery is now adding another way to give with next month’s Share-A-Haircut for the homeless.

“Through our Share-A-Haircut program, more than 725,000 free haircut certificates have been donated to children in need over the years,” said Dennis Ratner, founder and CEO of Hair Cuttery. “We’re evolving this program so adults in the community who are in need of a fresh look for a job interview or simply for added self-confidence as they get back on their feet can benefit as well.”

In partnership with government and non-profit social service organizations near each salon location, vouchers are distributed to adults to obtain a free haircut this winter. Last year, 100,000 free haircut certificates were donated through Share-A-Haircut at nearly 900 Hair Cuttery salon locations nationwide, a result of excellent participation from Hair Cuttery communities.

Horseshoe Casino Baltimore Announces Job Prep Academy

Horseshoe Casino Baltimore’s leadership team introduced the Legendary Candidates Academy, a two-day, six-hour training session to help prepare local residents seeking one of 1,700 jobs being created at the casino.

Part of a comprehensive recruitment program, the academy informs residents of minimum requirements for various types of positions, outlines the pre-employment process, underscores emphasis on exceptional customer service and prepares candidates for position-specific interviews.

The next academy will be held 9 a.m. to noon, Feb. 6 and 7 at the Northwest Career Center. Succeeding sessions follow 1 to 4 p.m., Feb. 11 and 12 at Westside Youth Career Center and 9 a.m. to noon, Fe b. 20 and 21 at Northwest Career Center.

For more information and to register visit eventbrite.com/o/ the-mayors-office-of-employment-development-579342078.

Red Dress Sunday in Baltimore

For the 10th consecutive year, Saint Agnes Hospital is partnering with congregations across Baltimore to offer Red Dress Sunday, a faith-based initiative that strives to educate

women about the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and the steps that can be taken to live a heart healthy life.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Saint Agnes cardiovascular experts will be speaking at the media church, Bethel AME, as will a Bethel member who will be sharing her personal experience with heart disease.

More than 130 local churches will participate in the effort, Feb. 9, giving thousands of women, who will dress in red to symbolize their commitment, the information and tools they need to understand and minimize their risks.

Services at Bethel AME Church, 1300 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore begin with a VIP reception at 9 a.m., Sunday worship at 9:45 a.m. and a health fair immediately following at 11:30 a.m.

‘Single Black Female’

The Living History Group presents four shows of Single Black Female, Feb. 12-15, at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center, 847 N. Howard St. in Baltimore. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m.; doors open at 6:30 p.m. The play, by Lisa B. Thompson, directed by Shelby Chapman, is another of the unique cultural experiences the Living History Group provides for the community. For more information call 410-355-0196.

Namyanka Christian Performance Arts

Namyanka is observing its 20th year in ministry during its annual Black History Month Celebration “When and Where I Enter - A Celebration in Music, Dance and Spoken Word,” 5 p.m., Feb. 23, at Lake Clifton High School Auditorium, 2801 St. Lo Drive, Baltimore. Seating is limited so tickets can be obtained from any member of Namyanka, or at The Way Christian Books and Supplies, 5438 York Road. Please call (443) 248-2616 or (443) 537-0830.

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February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014, The Afro-American

A7

COMMENTARY

Standing Up for Women at the Brink

During a January 12 Meet the Press segment, Maria Shriver unveiled “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink.” Her analysis outlined in graphic detail how dramatically American families, the workplace, and the role of women have changed during recent decades.

We all have a personal stake in the challenges that Congressman working women face.

Elijah Cummings For President Obama and congressional Democrats, our rallying cry has become “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds.” Assuring that every working woman receives the fair pay, adequate pay and family-friendly workplace that will help her and her children succeed are our core objectives.

Paycheck Fairness American women are now nearly half of all American workers outside the home. That is why I was deeply gratified to join Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, and our Democratic colleagues as an original co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 84 / H.R. 377).

The average working woman continues to be paid only 77 cents for every dollar the average man earns for the same work (only 64 cents if she is African American and 55 cents for Latinas).

Those disparities are unacceptable. We must reform the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to those who are victims of wage discrimination.

Nearly three out of every four Americans surveyed have expressed support for measures that would better assure equal pay for equal work. Yet, in the year since our legislation to further that goal was first introduced, not a single Republican has signed on in support.

America’s working women – and our nation – need reform now.

Perhaps the Shriver Report will help our Republican colleagues better understand the contradiction between platitudes about reducing poverty and their failure to act.

Raising the Minimum Wage Second, we must face the reality that, in recent decades, it has become far more difficult for women to escape poverty.

The value of the minimum wage (adjusted for inflation) has fallen by nearly one-third since 1968. That fact is why raising the minimum wage is a key component of Democrats’ “When Women Succeed, America Succeeds” initiatives.

In March of last year, I signed on as an original co-sponsor when Rep. George Miller and Sen. Tom Harkin introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act (H.R. 1010/S. 460).

Our legislation would increase the minimum wage in three steps over three years – from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour.

We would index future annual increases to inflation – and, thanks to the leadership of Maryland Congresswoman Donna Edwards, we also would raise the tipped minimum wage from $2.13 per hour to $7.07 per hour.

Here is why raising the minimum wage is a key issue for working women, their families and, ultimately, for our entire country.

Women comprise nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage

“We all have a personal stake in the challenges that working women face.” workers in this country. Contrary to popular belief, most are 20 years old or older; and they come from every ethnic group (61.1% white, 18.5% Hispanic, 14.8% black, and 5.6% Asian).

We must act decisively to help them in their struggle to survive.

A single mother with two children, working full-time at the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour earns only $15,080 each year. That annual pay is $4,450 below the federal poverty line for a family of three.

Yet, if and when our legislation becomes law, that same

single mother’s annual earnings would increase to roughly $21,000 per year – an increase of more than $5,900. Her family would still be struggling economically, but they no longer would be in poverty.

It is time for Congress to recognize the increasingly important role working women play in our economy and ensure that all women are adequately and fairly compensated for their work.

Increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would be an important first step.

Paid Sick Leave & Family Medical Leave In a recent nationwide poll, single mothers reported that paid sick days were the number-one policy that could help them. Yet, more than 70 percent of low-wage workers do not receive any paid sick leave – and 96 percent do not have access to paid family leave.

As a moral and practical society, we must minimize these conflicts between employment and parenting. America should move toward assuring paid leave that allows working mothers to care for their families.

Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ruling on Black Colleges Presents Maryland with Stark Choice The state of Maryland faces a stark choice with Michael D. Jones respect to its treatment of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). A federal court recently ruled that Maryland’s educational policies are unconstitutional and violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause because they deprive its four HBCUs of academic programs that are unique, high demand and high quality. Maryland must now choose either to begin implementing an appropriate remedy or to appeal the decision by challenging the fundamental principle that HBCUs should be entitled to any constitutional protection at all.

In the historic lawsuit brought by the Coalition for Excellence and Equity in Higher Education on behalf of students and alumni of Maryland’s four HBCUs — Morgan State University, Bowie State University, Coppin State University, and The University of Maryland Eastern Shore — federal Judge Catherine Blake ruled on Oct. 7, 2013, that Maryland policies are “detrimental” to HBCUs and that “remedies will be required,” including “the wide use of resources to enhance the quality of current and newly developed programs” at the HBCUs, and the likely transfer to the HBCUs of academic programs illegally placed at the Traditionally White Institutions (TWIs).

Judge Blake’s decision highlights Maryland’s practice of undermining HBCU programs in a way that exacerbates the disparity in the number of unique, high-demand academic programs at TWIs vs HBCUs: 122 to 11. These are the kinds of programs that create prestige and attract students. This disparity, the judge noted, was “highly suspect in light of the history of Maryland’s system of higher education.”

Historically, while southern states practiced “separate but equal,” Maryland made no pretext of equality. Its 1947 Marbury Commission declared: “the state has consistently pursued a policy of providing higher education facilities for Negroes which are inferior to those provided for whites.” That policy included establishing “inferior” academic programs at HBCUs and steering non-black students toward TWIs. While focusing on current policies, Judge Blake described the steps Maryland took, even after the Supreme Court

outlawed separate but equal in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, to avoid making HBCUs competitive institutions, attractive to all students. In 1968, for example, one of the HBCUs, Morgan State University, petitioned to be the state’s “first multiracial university,” but as Judge Blake noted, “the state ultimately rejected this proposal,” and instead created a new school, the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC). The state “made very large investments” in UMBC and Towson University, TWIs, at the expense of Morgan State, the HBCU. Discriminatory state policies propelled these two TWIs from a third of Morgan’s enrollment in 1953 to approximately three times Morgan’s size by the 1970s. Then, rather than expand its HBCUs, Maryland brought into the University System of

“Historically, while southern states practiced ‘separate but equal,’ Maryland made no pretext of equality.”

Maryland the bankrupt University of Baltimore. For decades, state policy steered preferred programs to TWIs. Beginning in 1969, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) first threatened to cut off federal funding and then engaged the state in negotiations off and on over its treatment of the HBCUs. Finally, in 2000, in an agreement or consent decree with OCR, Maryland agreed to remedy the disparity in high-demand programs and to stop undercutting HBCU enrollment by unnecessarily duplicating their programs at historically favored TWIs. But, noted Judge Blake, “unfortunately, the state did not follow through on this commitment.” Moreover, in 2006, the Maryland Legislature passed a bill to protect HBCUs, but the bill was vetoed by Republican Gov. Ehrlich.

To highlight the damage that unnecessary program

duplication does to the HBCUs, Judge Blake cited specific examples, such as a 73 percent decline in White graduate enrollment at Coppin State University, and a 67 percent decrease at Bowie State University. The judge described how enrollment in Bowie State University’s masters in computer science “dropped precipitously,” from 119 to 24 after the state duplicated the program at a TWI rather than support the program at Bowie.

In this respect, Judge Blake found Maryland to be comparable to, and in some cases worse than Mississippi, which lost a similar lawsuit decades ago. In a particularly aggressive defense, Maryland argued, through the Office of the Attorney General, that placing popular academic programs at the HBCUs, would attract students of all races and thus cause the schools to “lose their identities as black institutions.”

Alternatively, Maryland argued in open court, that the idea of truly diverse institutions was ridiculous,” and a “field of dreams.” Finally, Maryland argued that HBCU students had no constitutional right to sue because they were not “injured” by the constitutional violations, in the sense that anyone who chose to attend an HBCU knew what they were getting.

But Judge Blake rejected all these arguments, particularly describing the “no injury” arguments as “surprising and disappointing.”

So Maryland now faces a choice: to embrace the court’s ruling and become an example for the nation by creating transformative HBCUs with the kinds of academic programs that HBCU presidents have long advocated for, or to continue in its fight to maintain policies that undermine its HBCUs. Ironically, former Republican Lt. Gov. Michael Steele recently wrote an op ed article praising the judge’s ruling while the current democratic governor, through the Attorney General’s Office, has suggested that the state will seek to persuade appellate judges to adopt Justice Scalia’s view that HBCUs deserve no constitutional protection . Which position the state ultimately will take is an open question.

Michael D. Jones is co-chair of the Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights Under Law and lead counsel for the plaintiffs in The Coalition for Excellence and Equity in Higher Education v Maryland.

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

A8

The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014

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February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014, The Afro-American

Keynote speaker Dr. Paulette Walker, 25th national president, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Eleanor Matthews, president, Baltimore Alumnae Chapter

Past presidents front row, Christine Moore, Lydia Mussenden, Laura M. Knight, Mary Demory. Back row, Aloha McCullough, Gwendolyn Lindsay, Rosalyn Smith, Rita Cooper, Beverly Boston, Sara Smalley, Dr. Charlene Cooper Boston

Maggie Wiggins and Bobbie Swann Shelly Gordon celebrates with her 92-year old mother, Josephine Brown

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Mother-daughter duo Juanita Addison and Cheryl Addison

Mother-Daughter duo Alice Burley and Brenda Alice Burley

Mother-Daughter duo Mary Goode and Allora Goode Cyrus

I Lorna Forde, Montgomery County, MD Chapter, Leah Goldsborough Hasty, Deborah Peaks Coleman

Erin Duggins, Kandis Boyd-Wyatt, Rochelle Purnell, Lora Mayo

Danielle Battle, president, Fort Washington Alumnae, Carol Moses, president, Prince George's County Alumnae, Jerilyn Reed, Baltimore County Alumnae, Jo Ann Oatis, Baltimore Metropolitan Chapters

n observance of 101 years of the Founding of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter members celebrated with friends from the community, family and other visiting Deltas, Jan. 25, in the Calvin and Tina Tyler Ballroom of the Student University Center on Morgan State University’s campus.

Founders Day speaker was Dr. Paulette Walker, 25th national president, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. The theme for the occasion was “Uncompromising Commitment to Communities: Service, Leadership, Empowerment.”

The Vashti Turley Murphy award, the highest award for service was presented to Lydia W. Mussenden. Vashti Turley Murphy was a charter member of the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter.

Lydia Mussenden, a Golden Life member was inducted in 1936 at Alpha Chapter, Howard Dr. Ruth J. Pratt with granddaughter University in 1936.

Koreen King The Thelma Banks Cox Service Award was presented to recognize Deltas who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the Chapter. Recipients were Dr. Deborah Carter, Mildred Harper, Dr. Erness Aaron Hill, Joanne Mack, Rosalind Robinson-Ambrose and Tracie Sharp.

Special salute was given to chapter members 90 years of age and older. Members recognized were Josephine Brown, Ruby Couch, Susan King, Bernice Mitchell McDaniels, Lydia Williams Mussenden, Dr. Ruth Pratt, Frances Martin Stith and Mildred Taylor.

Chairperson and vice chairperson of the event were Sharon Grant and Denise Gordon, respectively. Eleanor Peters Matthews is the president of the Baltimore Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Deltas Cynthia Neverdon Morton, Jacqueline Hrabrowski, Photos by Dr. A. Lois De Laine

Merry Macer, Mattie Mumby, and Mu Psi Citywide Chapter president, Alisha Talley

Susan King celebrates 90 years of age with daughter Camile Hinmon Past president and regional director Christine Moore

Robert Wongus, The Honorable Helen Holton, District 8, City Council member, John Berkley, National Pan Hellenic Council

National president, Dr. Paulette Walker, Lydia Mussenden, recipient of the Vashti Turley Murphy Award, Eleanor P. Matthews, president, Baltimore Alumnae Chapter The Delta Chorale provided inspirational songs for the Founders Day program

Mother-duo Lydia Mussenden with daughter Chris Williams

Thais Ridgeway, Robin Jacobs, Eastern regional director, Deborah Hayes

Rosalyn Crosby, Pamela Crawford, Ruby Jackson, Kathy Alexander

Sharon Grant, chairperson, 101st Founders Day

Mother-duo Denise Gordon and Brittney Gordon Williams

Thelma Banks Cox Service Award recipients are Dr. Deborah Carter, Mildred Harper, Dr. Erness Hill, Rosalind RobinsonAmbrose, Tracie Sharp, Joanne S. Mack

Mother-daughter duo Laura Knight and Karaleigh Knight Henson

Esther Oliver, ticket chair, Monica Watkins, first vice president, Veronica Tubman, Sgt. at Arms

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The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014

My Take

Opinion: Where is the Spirit of Mandela?

By Thomas Mambande Special to the AFRO As I watched President Obama deliver his stirring eulogy for Dr. Nelson Mandela during the former president’s memorial service here in Johannesburg, I was struck by a mélange of competing emotions—each one battling for supremacy, each one struggling to anchor me within its reality.

Pride and nostalgia, but also a profound sense of loss, disappointment and anger at the dismal state of Black affairs, fought stubbornly for the upper hand.

As it was for millions around the world who were watching that day when Obama took the stage to rapturous applause, the symbolism of the moment was as poignant for me as it was powerful: America’s first Black president paying eloquent homage to the world’s greatest and most beloved statesman, himself a Black man and South Africa’s first democraticallyelected president. For those who understood just how intertwined and interconnected were the struggles for civil rights in the U.S. and against apartheid in South Africa, the moment was profoundly bittersweet, a metaphoric crossing of paths for two long walks to freedom, walks steeped

as much in tragedy as in triumph—and walks that are far from over.

Praising the humility, courage and tenacity of the man who helped the world better grasp the true riches of the human spirit, Obama’s eulogy sought to remind the world of how much Mandela has meant to America. How, far beyond his own shores, his example has inspired us, bracing the spines of generations of Americans who have yearned for justice and equality as he did.

But for many here in South Africa and abroad, the powerful symbolism surrounding Obama’s eulogy and presence at the memorial, where the groundbreaking legacies of two Black men of global stature converged briefly, stood in stark and glaring contrast to the grim realities which stalk the masses of Black men, particularly in the U.S. On a day when a truly great Black man was being honored, I found myself questioning how deeply his example has forged itself into our collective consciousness, and whether many of us as Black men in America have really drawn from the well of Mandela’s spirit.

How many of us have taken his legacy beyond our lips and into our homes, communities, jobs and businesses?

How many of us can truly claim that we have championed the ongoing struggle for the dignity and advancement of a people that, nearly 50 years after the civil rights movement, lag behind in nearly all areas of American life?

How many of us are genuinely seeking to emulate the courage, tenacity and humility that were the hallmarks of Mandela’s character?

Admittedly, these may be awkward questions to pose, but we need to pose them.

Almost 50 years after the end of our own “apartheid,” nearly 1 million AfricanAmericans reside in jail, most of them men. Nearly half of all Black males are arrested by the time they turn 23. Two out of three Black children grow up without a father in the home. Black males comprise just 5 percent of America’s college students and, with a graduation rate of 33 percent, are the least likely of all racial and gender groups to complete their education.

More ominously, young Black males suffer rates of violence comparable to war zones in Iraq or Syria, and are more likely to be housed in the penal system than in a college dorm.

Thanks to the international media, these grim realities have become well-known and are relayed around the world

Ted Polumbaum/Newseum collection

See photojournalist Ted Polumbaum’s powerful images of Freedom Summer, and explore news coverage of key civil rights events of 1964.

Contributing sponsorship support for “Civil Rights at 50” has been provided

by Walmart and Altria.

on an ongoing, steady basis.

As an African-American living overseas who travels regularly to different countries, I can bear painful witness to this fact. While the people in the various places I visit may not always be familiar with the statistics, conversations with them invariably reveal their perceptions of AfricanAmerican men and Black men in general: in a word, “useless.”

African-Americans are the most globally-recognized and profiled Blacks on the planet. More than any other people of African descent, what happens among Blacks in America has a profound influence on not only upon how the world views Blacks

as a whole, but how Blacks around the world view themselves.

Ironically, the achievements of Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, while tremendously significant, tend to be viewed on the global stage as exceptions to the rule for Black men. They are seen as special, unique, and far cries from the general character and aptitude of Black males.

As a whole, we are viewed as a bastion of failure, men who have abdicated our roles as strong, capable and committed agents of society, perpetually tossed aside by the tides of life.

Triumphs on football fields and basketball courts do little to dispel this notion, nor do

hit songs or movie roles.

Worldwide, people understand all too well that the power of a people and its men must extend beyond their ability to entertain. Communities and businesses must be built.

Societal cohesion, health and harmony must be maintained.

Black men, with our disappearing acts from the home, from responsibility and from the front lines of society, are plunging our people into the depths of disintegration and self-destruction.

Brothers, where among us is the spirit of Mandela?

Thomas Mambande is a Philadelphia-born social entrepreneur and corporate consultant who lives in Johannesburg, South Africa.

February 1, 2014 - February 1, 2014, The Afro-American

B3

ARTS & CULTURE

Line Dancers Celebrate Creativity at Annual Awards Ceremony to mixed versions of classic soul and 1990s R&B songs, younger participants chose hip hop beats from artists such as Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and As Hollywood was gearing up for the 56th Drake, with the expletives removed.

Annual Grammy Awards during the weekend of A Gospelcise program by Cleveland Jan. 24-26, nearly 1,000 Baltimore line dancers resident Belinda Haywood focused converged on the Marriott in Linthicum, for on faith-based fitness. Haywood the 7th Annual UC Star Awards, dubbed “the started her program in 1993 and was Academy Awards of Line Dancers” by event considered one of the most innovative founder Mike Womack. choreographer/instructors at the “Folks from all the major cities, Puerto Rico convention. and Ireland, are here to celebrate what we do all Womack said his line dancers are year,” said Womack, UC Star Awards founder, Mike Womack, center, greets anything but typical of the genre. who, along with his dance participants Janet Shipp, left, Upper Marlboro, “We’re aware of and respect the wife Trish Womack, Md. and Kiwanna Jones of Dover, Del. original L.A. and N.Y. hustles, the Bus helped form the Stop, Monarail, Baltimore-based Electric Slide Union Crew (UC) and country Line Dancers in line dancing.

2005. Womack, of Ours is slightly Baltimore, is the more technical, cousin of Rock complicated and and Roll Hall of very challenging,” Fame singer Bobby said Womack, Womack. adding that Gloria Stevens, The Madison of Silver Spring, (circa 1950s), said participating is generally in dance troupes considered the has been a healthy original line lifestyle choice since dance. she retired after a Womack also 30-year career as a credited the late special education Dave Bush, of administrator.

Cessily Greene of Baltimore received the The New Enkgans Soul Line Dancers traveled from Boston to the awards show.

Philadelphia, “It keeps your 2014 Choreographers Award. for being the mind sharp, in Godfather of addition to the urban line dancers. obvious health Bush, who died benefits,” she said.

Photos by Timothy Cox last May, is also Wilma Wright, known as the creator of the recently dance 58, of Cerritos, Cal., flew in with her group, the craze, the Wobble.

J&J Soulful Steppers of Los Angeles.

Womack said he was inspired to honor “We wouldn’t miss this for the world. It line dancers after watching the Academy gives us a chance to reunite with our brothers wards, the BET Awards and the Grammys. and sisters of dance,” said Wright, a Hamilton, The event honored dancers, choreographers Ohio, native and former classmate of the late and instructors. music legend Roger Troutman of the Zapp band. “[I] realized that our line dancing should “Really, it’s like a family reunion, a love-fest for be considered as more than just a way for dancing. People are so friendly and warm.” people to dance and party,” he said. “Just LeMetia Butler, 29, joined fellow like the awards shows on TV, we figured it Houstonians, adding that their Texas-style flavor. was time to organize and award our people “We all learn from each other,” said the social for their skills, talents and commitment.”

Line dancers from around the country came to Baltimore for the 7th annual services administrator. “That’s the beauty of this For more information, call 443-766-9369 UC Star Awards 2014. event.” or email UCStarts@hotmail.com.

Though many dancers primarily dance

By Timothy Cox Special to the AFRO

Book Review

Love, Peace, and Soul

Behind the Scenes of America’s Favorite Dance Show

Soul Train: Classic Moments

By Kam Williams Don Cornelius was a class act… a strong black man with dignity and character and integrity... “Love! Peace! And Soooooouuuuuul!” I loved to hear him say that…

With Soul Train, we saw ourselves looking good and feeling good. And what enhanced it so much was its creator… He provided the entertainment, but he also doled out information, education and history weekly…

The cultural impact of the show was profound, revolutionary, and evolutionary at the same time… It provided the ability for you to see our great artists on television. Before that, exposure was on the small-club circuits…

It was one of the few times that we had the opportunity to see ourselves on television in a manner where it lifted our pride and increased our self-esteem… It represented uncompromised authenticity. When you saw us on Soul Train, we weren’t trying to be anything other than us. When you went to any of the other shows, you were in somebody else’s house; when you went to Soul Train, you went home.”

-- Excerpted from the Foreword by Al Bell (pages vii-ix) Soul Train was a nationally-syndicated

TV series that enjoyed a phenomenal, 35-year run from 1971 until 2006. The weekly, song and dance show was the brainchild of host Don Cornelius, a brother who unabashedlypatterned his production on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand.

But the former radio DJ also added a little flava of his own to the proven formula by telescoping his camera as tightly on gyrating Black teenagers as on the R&B artists invited to perform on the program. In fact, many members of the Soul Train Gang, as the dancers were called, received tons of fan mail and became stars in their own right. A number were even savvy enough to parlay their fame into entertainment careers, perhaps most notably the late Fred Berry, who played Rerun on the sitcom What’s Happening!

Given the turnover, the one constant remained the show’s self-assured emcee. His velvety-baritone wormed its way into the heart of a generation of young African-American viewers with the help of that signature catchphrase, “You can bet your last money, it’s all going to be a stone gas, honey! I’m Don Cornelius, and as always, in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!”

Sadly, the bloom had long since fallen off the rose by the time Don committed suicide in February of 2012. A few years earlier, the sepia Sugar Daddy went through a bitter

Author Ericka Blount Danois divorce from a Russian trophy wife who’d had him arrested for domestic violence.

Don pled no-contest to the charge before forking over millions to his ex. Yet, around the same time, he turned down a request for just a few hundred dollars from the impoverished family of a recently-deceased Soul Train dancer to help pay for the dearly-departed’s headstone.

All of the above is revisited in captivating

fashion in Love, Peace, and Soul, a mesmerizing trip down Memory Lane, or should I say, a breakdance down the Soul Train Line. The behind-the-scenes bio was written by pop culture diva Ericka Blount Danois, a diehard fan who herself was weaned on the groundbreaking program.

A warts-and-all look at the life of an African-American icon who undoubtedly helped launch a thousand show-biz careers.

B4

The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014

FAITH

Soul-Stirring Vocal Powerhouse To Release ‘Reloaded’ In March

Zacardi Cortez

“I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision

When Zacardi Cortez sings, everybody listens. Whether it was fronting James Fortune & FIYA’s #1 hit “I Believe” in 2010 or his own top ten breakthrough single “One More Time” with John P. Kee in 2012, Cortez always delivers. Now, the rough kid from the Houston projects is sitting on top of the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart with his latest radio smash, “1 on 1.” The urgent yet smooth ballad is also spending its second week at #1 on the Mediabase Gospel chart.

“This is a dream come true,” Cortez says. “I’m thankful to the president of the record label Kerry Douglas for believing in me and giving me a chance. And Tawanda Shamley for working the radio long and hard to get me to this place. My music director Lucius Hoskins, who cowrote ‘1 on1,’ is always upping my game musically. I’m just really grateful to God

we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by

and all of the radio music and program directors for making this happen.”

January has turned out to be a whirlwind month for the singer who serenaded gospel legend Daryl Coley at the BMI Gospel Trailblazers Awards a week ago and stole the show that featured a who’s who of the gospel industry. Then, he performed “1 on 1” on the nationally syndicated TV broadcast of the 29th Annual Stellar Awards and won a slew of social media praise.

The soulful song has been getting radio spins since July, 2013 and anchors Cortez’ forthcoming CD “Reloaded” that will be released in March. “The song is about spending one on one time with God,” Cortez said. “We all go through those times when we just have to put everything else aside - turn off the TV, put the video game down, stop taking phone calls - and just concentrate on our relationship. It can

having shared their love.” Leo Buscaglia “Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.” H. Jackson Brown Jr. Dante and Candes Daniels, owners of Randallstown’s popular new family restaurant Colin’s Seafood and Grill and Maceo’s Lounge, chose the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. to honor their staff at an appreciation party. The staff of over 100 employees gathered at Colin’s for a night of fellowshipping and dancing. Dante thanked his staff for the love and support they have shown him and Candes during the construction of Colin’s.

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.” Oscar Wilde Special thanks were given to the staff at Maceo’s for their hard work and diligence during the opening of Colin’s. “The joint is jumping” Randy Dennis and his wife Tanya had everybody on the dance floor learning the latest line dances as AFRO photographer Anderson Ward captured the evening.

“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive, to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love then make that day count!” Steve Maraboli Two of my dear friends celebrated their birthdays in grand style; Dorothy Williams who I lovingly call “The Queen” celebrated her birthday at Fleming’s Harbor East with her daughters Diane Hocker, Denise DeLeaver, son in-law Frank Hocker and other family members. I was unable to join the family celebration at Fleming’s so after dinner, I met the fashionable Queen, Frank and Diane at Colin’s for dessert.

“You must be a special lady ‘Cause you got me sittin’ on top of the world” The “jazzy lady” of the hour Murnell Cooper regaled us with stories that had us laughing to the point of tears when we gathered in her elegant Lexington Street home for her birthday party hosted by her daughter Dr. Charlene Cooper-Boston. Guests arrived throughout the day with flowers, candy, gifts and well wishes as she celebrated her 92nd birthday. Among the well-wishers braving the winter chill were Flora and Richard Johnson, Carolyn Wainwright, Sara Smalley and Rosemary Atkinson. The catered supper of ham, baked chicken, potato salad, string beans, imported meats, cheese and champagne was perfect.

“The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose.” George William Curtis “It’s your birthday make some noise” Happy birthday Pierre Stewart, Ann Branch, Herman and Vivian Jones, Vernon Stephens, Teresa Bogans, Root’s Lounge John Shaft, Marcia Wagner, Reginald Haysbert, Deborah

be your relationship with your girlfriend or God. We all need that one on one time with the ones we love to let them know that we do love them.”

The primary songwriter Lucius Hoskins says that after a long day of working on music, he fell asleep in his recording studio and woke up around 2 a.m. “I prayed for God to give me a melody that would speak to all people not just the gospel community,” the Grand Rapids native recalls. “When I finished, I sat at my piano and began to play the melody. There were only a few words to what I played so I reached out to two of my writer friends, Traxx Sanders and Ike Jenkins. I told them of my prayer about a universal song that anyone could relate to and they put the finishing touches on it.” For more information, visit www.mrkerrydouglas. com or www.zacardicortez.com.

Peakes Coleman and my step-mom Jean Johnson.

Gustavo King and Joe Zammarella parties are legendary at their lovely Wineberry Terrace home nestled among the courtyards.

You feel like you’re climbing to the top of the mountain. There are courtyards on each level before you get to their home with plenty of steps so by the time you arrive at their door you are ready to party. I tell Joe and Gustavo they should set up a bar on each level for guests to sip and rest. The party themes throughout the house are eclectic, every room highlighting the party. The party’s menu features a variety of dishes from Gustavo’s native Panama personally prepared

by Gustavo. The festive atmosphere is enhanced with the flow of Spanish and English intermingling throughout the party as we salsa and dance the night away greeting old and new friends.

“Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” Sarah Caldwell Retired Gen. William “Kip” Ward is now president and COO of Sentel Corporation.

An IT intelligence, integrated logistics and engineering services company. Congratulations Kip. Organizing for Action’s Baltimore City and Baltimore County representatives are hosting a discussion on the Affordable Care Act and the benefits of the new Health Care Law on February 6 at the Liberty Senior Center in Randallstown. Contact Mildred Owens, at 410521-4082 for details.

“There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.” Orison Marden Sending get-well wishes to James Robinson, Denise DeLeaver, Napoleon Sykes, Berice Bogans and Marie Alston continue to recover as we pray for your strength.

“Though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower, we will grieve not; rather find strength in what remains behind.” William Wordsworth Condolences to Valerie and Myron Bundy on the death of Ada Thomas; to Denise and Kenneth Abrams on the death of David Reid Jr.; to Darron Green, Myra and Albert Queen on the death of Sheila Green; to Terry and Debbie Owens on the death of his brother Dwayne Owens; to Ted Fickling, Joanne Pulley, Damien and Tobi Pulley on the death of your mother and grandmother; to Patsie Williams on the death of her husband Willie Williams, and to the families of Barbara Bentley and Helen Baskersfield on their death.

In loving memory of my daddy Benjamin Scott Johnson April 1, 1928- January 24, 2014

February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014, The Afro-American

B5

SPORTS

AFRO Sports Desk Faceoff

What Should the New York Knicks Do with Carmelo Anthony?

get invited into that special group, he needs to win and win big. Maybe he joins up with the Los Angeles Clippers or the Lakers, who knows? But wherever he winds up, it’ll be a place he knows the clear-cut plans of the organization and how they expect to win immediately. New York won’t be in that position next year so an enticing trade makes sense. Did I mention that the Knicks don’t even have a first round pick in this summer’s loaded draft?

By Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley AFRO Sports Desk Fresh off his 62-point performance against the Charlotte Bobcats on Jan. 24, Carmelo Anthony is the talk of New York City basketball right now. He’s also a free agent at the end of the season, thanks to a player option in his contract, and his team has been dreadful and dysfunctional this season to say the least.

With the Knicks (16-27) sputtering, there’s been chatter that the team should trade Anthony and receive some type of compensation in case he opts to leave for greener pastures in the summer and they get nothing. But how do you trade a talented scorer such as Anthony and find equal compensation?

That’s the situation the Knicks find themselves in. Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley of the AFRO Sports Desk debate the question.

Riley: If I’m New York then I’m trying my best to keep Anthony. Simple. He’s a talented contributor who obviously needs pieces around him to help out. He’ll never be a LeBron/ Durant-type leader, but he could easily be the co-star of a team with another dominant player as the lead dog. The Knicks’ big-city attraction, with Anthony attached, could and should entice other players to sign up. With Amar’e Stoudemire’s sizable contract coming off the books in 2015, New York could be ready to go free agent shopping again. If New York can convince Anthony to bite the bullet for another season, then both parties will be in line for something a lot better than what’s going now.

Green: You can’t take that risk if you’re the Knicks.

Trading Anthony is never going to return full value, but it might be best to take what they can and run. You can’t ask

Riley: The Knicks sold the farm to land Anthony a few years ago, so they need to sell the farm again to romance him to stay. Anthony is just entering his prime at age 29, and another four to five years of top-shelf play is clearly in the cards. It doesn’t matter who they have to fire or hire, doing whatever they can to keep the Brooklyn-born Anthony at Madison Square Garden should be top priority. Roughly $40 million is scheduled to come off the Knicks’ books in 2015, giving New York a few expiring contracts that they could flip for a stronger supporting cast, or position for a 2015 free agent class headlined by Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kyrie Irving for starters. Help is on the way for New York, but can Anthony be patient enough to wait?

Carmelo Anthony a 10-plus year perennial All Star to stomach another season of mediocrity. Anthony knows his time to win is right now.

Obviously, we all know he’s a great scorer and fantastic player but LeBron and Kobe are still tiers above him. For him to

Basketball Academy Goes Beyond the Sport

By Keith Henry Special to the AFRO Far more than basketball was offered at the 18th Annual Baltimore City Public Schools Basketball

Head Start or the Baer School for Special Needs Students.

Also included were cultural enrichment trips to the Great Blacks in Wax Museum and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

Among the participating

Poly junior Aneah Young skies for this jump shot. The Lady Engineers came back to defeat Milford Mill 66-57 on Sat. morning at the BCPS Basketball Academy.

Academy, held at Morgan State University from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25.

Nearly 600 middle and high school students who participated also learned about SAT preparation, financial literacy, college admissions, gang awareness and more.

Attendees completed community service projects by volunteering at either Delta

high schools from the Baltimore and Washington areas were Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Dunbar, Edmondson-Westside, Lake Clifton, Patterson, Milford Mill Academy, Potomac, Randallstown, New Town, Riverdale Baptist, Aberdeen, Eleanor Roosevelt and Largo.

Also in attendance were girls from Eastside High School in

Paterson, N.J. and boys from John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx.

The middle school students participated in academic workshops and watched the various basketball games.

Scholarships remain a major component of the Basketball Academy; through various sponsors and partners, approximately $8,000 in scholarships has been awarded each year to students.

The games at Morgan State’s Hill Field House featured tough competition as the top teams in the Baltimore and Washington areas, Baltimore City College and Riverdale Baptist, squared off. City won the Friday night game, 60-57.

The City College Lady Knights avenged their 3A North Regional final loss by defeating the Aberdeen Lady Eagles, 56-49, on Thursday afternoon. The Poly Lady Engineers crushed the New Town Lady Titans, 67-40, on Thursday evening.

Two of Maryland’s best girls’ basketball teams were brushed aside by the Eastside (N.J.) Lady Ghosts, the fourth-ranked team in the Newark, N.J. area. Eastside routed the Dunbar Lady Poets on Friday afternoon, 70-45.

Aberdeen tried their luck on Saturday afternoon, but was blown out, 67-34.

John F. Kennedy (N.Y.) took on a pair of the Baltimore boys’ teams. First, the Lake Clifton Lakers smashed Kennedy on Friday evening, 80-41. Then the Poly Engineers came back to defeat Kennedy in a 54-49 thriller on Saturday evening.

Green: At this point in his career, Anthony can’t sit around and wait to see if the Knicks get better. He wants to win now and he’s already given New York three years of his best play— now it’s time he gets what he wants. There’s no way he resigns in New York this summer unless the Knicks can flip the roster this offseason, which will be a tough task for a front office that’s made several regretful moves over the last few seasons.

This season has gone belly up for the Knickerbockers, and the front office can’t just let their most valuable asset leave without getting something in return. The smart move and only move at this point is to trade Carmelo Anthony.

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LEGAL NOTICES

Construction Services The University of Maryland Medical System is seeking a General Contractor for a 100,000sf Ambulatory Care Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center Midtown Campus in Baltimore, MD. Interested companies must have previous experience working in an urban hospital setting, have constructed at least one Ambulatory Care Center & one project that involved adding levels to an existing occupied parking garage. A pre-bid meeting will be held during the 1st week of February 2014, Time & Location TBA. Parties interested should send correspondence to UMMS at: ummc-mbe@umm.edu or via post to: UMMS 110 S. Paca Street, Suite 6-N-605, Attn: DM/Midtown-ACC, Baltimore, MD 21201.

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PROJECT 1207R - CANCELLED OWNER ADVISOR SERVICES FOR THE CITY´S ALTERNATIVE CAPITAL PROJECT DELIVERY PROGRAM The City of Baltimore Office of Boards and Commissions has been requested by the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Water & Wastewater to notify the public that the solicitation for this service has been cancelled.

Submittals for this project will NOT be accepted by the Office of Boards and Commissions.

If you have any questions regarding this cancellation, please contact Mrs. Larisa Feldsher at 410-396-7300 or e-mail at larisa. feldsher@baltimorecity.gov Mr. Kumasi Vines Executive Secretary Issue of: 1/28/2014 The Baltimore Sun The Daily Record The Afro-American The Baltimore Times eMaryland MarketPlace TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:49:50 EST 2014

CITY OF BALTIMORE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NOTICE OF LETTING Sealed Bids or Proposals, in duplicate addressed to the Board of Estimates of the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and marked for FAP No. STP-000B(23)E; SHA No. BC410003; BALTIMORE CITY NO. TR13306; RESURFACING HIGHWAYS AT VARIOUS LOCATIONS SOUTHEAST SECTOR III will be received at the Office of the Comptroller, Room 204 City Hall, Baltimore, Maryland until 11:00 A.M FEBRUARY 26, 2014. Positively no bids will be received after 11:00 A.M. Bids will be publicly opened by the Board of Estimates in Room 215, City Hall at Noon. The Contract Documents may be examined, without charge, at the Department of Public Works Service Center located on the first floor of the Abel Wolman Municipal Building, 200 N. Holliday Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 as of JANUARY 31, 2014 and copies may be purchased for a non-refundable cost of $75.00. Conditions and requirements of the Bid are found in the bid package. All contractors bidding on this Contract must first be prequalified by the City of Baltimore Contractors Qualification Committee.

Interested parties should call (410) 396-6883 or contact the Committee at 3000 Druid Park Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21215. If a bid is submitted by a joint venture (”JV”), then in that event, the document that established the JV shall be submitted with the bid for verification purposes.

The Prequalification Category required for bidding on this project is (A02601 Bituminous Paving & D02620 Curbs, Gutters & Sidewalk).

Cost Qualification Range for this work shall be $2,000,000.00 to $4,000,000.00 A Pre-Bidding Information session will be conducted at 10:00 AM. on February 7, 2014, at 417 E. Fayette Street, Charles L. Benton, Jr. Building, Richard L. Baker Conference Room, Baltimore, MD 21202. Principal Items of work for this project are: HMA Superpave 12.5MM PG64-22 For Surface, Level 2 -8,163 TON; 9 Reinforced Cement Concrete Pavement Using Mix No. 9 for Bus Pad 2,132 SY; and Pavement Removal of Bituminous Material 0 to 3 Depth 60,646 SY.. The DBE goal is 30% APPROVED: Bernice H. Taylor, Clerk Board of Estimates

Want a larger footprint in the marketplace consider advertising in the MDDC Display 2x2 or 2x4 Advertising Network. Reach 3.6 million readers every week by placing your ad in 82 newspapers in Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

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Call 1-855-721-6332 x 6 or email wsmith@ mddcpress.com or visit TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:51:17 EST 2014 our website at www. mddcpress.com HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY INVITATION FOR BIDS LATROBE HOMES ROOF REPLACEMENT IFB NUMBER: B-1749-14

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) will issue an Invitation for Bids (IFB) for interested and qualified vendors to submit sealed bids to remove existing asphalt/modified roofing systems and replace with new modified bitumen flat roofing systems, polyisocyanurate tapered insulation and metal flashings, warranted for 20 years, on forty-five 3-story apartment buildings at Latrobe Homes.

BIDS WILL BE DUE no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, February 24, 2014.

A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Friday, February 14, 2014 at 10:00 a.m., at the Charles L. Benton Building, 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 non-minority businesses proposing to provide the requested services as the prime contractor. No goal has been established for participation of Women-owned 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 IFB may be obtained on or after Monday, February 10, 2014, 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 IFB should be directed in writing to the address and individual indicated above, and must include the reference: HABC IFB Number B-1749-14.

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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.

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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

$180.00 per 3 weeks $180.00 per 3 weeks $180.00 per 3 weeks $360.00 per 6 weeks $125.00

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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.

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LEGALEST NOTICES TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:47:51 2014 Notice Invitation for Bid Construction Renovation Services Somerset Manor, Havre de Grace, MD Solicitation# CI 2014, Phase A The Havre de Grace Housing Authority is soliciting bids from highly qualified contractors toprovide construction renovation services within its 60 unit public housing townhome community.This is a Davis-Bacon contract that includes replacement of residential unit windows,replacement and installation of exterior building lighting, and repair and repaving of communityparking lots at Somerset Manor located in Havre de Grace, MD 21078.

To obtain the scope of work and to bid on these projects, contractors must attend a mandatorypre-bid meeting to be held on Thursday, February 13, 2014 at 1:00pm at 101 Stansbury Court. Asite visit will be held immediately following the pre-bid conference.

Bids must be submitted no later than 12:30pm EST on Thursday, February 27, 2014 to theHDGHA Capital Improvements Department, 101 Stansbury Court, Havre de Grace, MD 21078.Sealed bids will be opened at a public meeting on Thursday, February 27 at 1:00pm.

Havre de Grace Housing Authority Nicki Biggs Acting Executive Director

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TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:49:33 EST 2014

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Effective immediately, The Afro American Newspapers will require prepayment for publication of all legal notices. Payment will be accepted in the form of checks, credit card or money order. Any returned checks will be subject to a $25.00 processing fee and may result in the suspension of any future advertising at our discretion.

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February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014 The Afro-American LEGALEST NOTICES TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:50:51 2014

LEGAL NOTICES

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY INVITATION FOR BIDS INSTALLATION SERVICES AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE ADAPTATION OF DWELLING UNITS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH HEARING AND VISION IMPAIRMENTS ACCORDING TO UFAS REQUIREMENTS AT VARIOUS HABC HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS IFB NUMBER: B-1748-14 The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) will issue an Invitation for Bids (IFB) for interested vendors to submit sealed bids to provide installation services and equipment for the adaptation of dwelling units for individuals with hearing and vision impairments according to UFAS requirements at various HABC housing developments.

BIDS WILL BE DUE no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 7, 2014.

A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at 10:00 a.m., at the Charles L. Benton Building, 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 non-minority businesses proposing to provide the requested services as the prime contractor. No goal has been established for participation of Women-owned 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 IFB may be obtained on or after Monday, February 10, 2014, at the following location:

2014 Combined Charity Campaign for Baltimore City, Maryland The City of Baltimore is now accepting applications for consideration as a participating agency in the 2014 Combined Charity Campaign. Any organization that desires to participate may apply online at ccc. baltimorecity.gov beginning February 1, 2014.

Applications with supporting documentation are due no later than 4:30 pm on Friday, February 28, 2014.

Eligible agencies, in addition to other requirements, must have 501(C)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service, be registered with the Maryland Secretary of State as a charitable organization, if required, and must have exercised its charitable functions in the Baltimore metropolitan area within the past year.

Agencies that participated in the 2013 campaign WILL NOT have to renew their application for the 2014 campaign, but will need to reapply in February of 2015.

In each passing moment, you cross our hearts and minds but this year we want to celebrate what would have been your centennial birthday. Born 50 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 50 years before the March on Washington, you instilled in us the importance of education and possessing pride in yourself and your community. As an educator and later a highly decorated federal

and county government employee, you exuded an unmatched fortitude and determination to excel in all that you do. We were blessed to have been in your presence for the time we were given and we celebrate the centennial of your birth on this day. We want to wish you a Happy Birthday from your beloved daughter, Jo-Ann and your loving grandchildren, Ja-Zette and Antonio.

To place an Announcement or Obit, call 410-554-8200 and ask for an advertising representative.

TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:54:44 EST 2014

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CAREER OPPORTUNITY Engineer III Equipment Operator I Maintenance Worker II Management Assistant I Mason Planner I Police Communications Operator I/II Secretary II Visit our website at www.aacounty.org for additional information and to apply on-line. You may use the Internet at any Anne Arundel County library, or visit our office at 2660 Riva Road in Annapolis.

AEO/DF/SFE

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) Contractual Administrator I Special Assistant http://jobaps.com/md Recruitment#: 14-999999-058 Filing Deadline: February 10, 2014 , 11:59 pm Salary: $20.69 - $26.79/hour (Grade 16/base - step 9)

Questions regarding the IFB should be directed in writing to the address and individual indicated above, and must include the reference: HABC IFB Number B-1748-14.

Celebrating the Centennial Birthday of Gertrude C. Marshburn

CAREER CORNER

TYPESET: Wed Jan 29 11:54:22 EST 2014

Housing Authority of Baltimore City Division of Fiscal Operations, Purchasing Department 417 E. Fayette Street, Room 414Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Attention: John Airey, Chief of Contracting Services Tel: (410) 396-3261 Fax: (410) 962-1586

September 15, 1913 – March 25, 2000

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Work that matters. DHCD is a national leader in the financing of affordable housing and revitalizing communities support to the Team Leader and Director on matters involving rental housing development for persons with disabilities, preservation, services, and federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

The position will also be involved in the administration of housing assistance vouchers in the event of state emergencies or disasters and will assist with other Rental Initiatives, including transit-oriented development, and sustainable communities.. Please visit the link above to view selective qualifications (REQUIRED) and apply online. EOE

INSIDE SALES ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Entry-Level Advertising Sales Rep needed for the AFRO-American Newspapers, Baltimore, M.D. Position provides: • • • •

Competitive compensation package Salary and commission plan Full benefits after trial period Opportunity for fast track advancement

Candidates should possess: • Good typing/data entry skills

• • •

Excellent customer service skills Previous telephone sales experience Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Please email your resume to: lhowze@afro.com or mail to AFRO-American Newspapers, Diane W. Hocker, Director of Human Resources, 2519 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218

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The Afro-American, February 1, 2014 - February 7, 2014