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Volume 122 No. 51
July 26, 2014 - July 26, 2014, The Afro-American A1 $1.00
JULY 26, 2014 - AUGUST 1, 2014
Community Concerned Curfew Will Spur Violence Between Cops and Kids Register by Oct. 14 to vote in the Nov. 4 General Election
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By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO
Retirees & Others Feel Redline Tunnel Threatens Sanctity
By Sean Yoes Special to the AFRO
A community forum on Baltimore’s amended youth curfew law on July 1 at Morgan State University drew a response from participants vacillating between supportive and suspicious. While none of the community members who spoke at the forum criticized the idea that children should be inside by a certain time of night, their questions to the gathered city officials expressed an underlying suspicion that the measure would likely increase negative interactions between police and Black youth. The forum was attended by Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, Councilman Brandon Scott, and Director of the
Part one in an ongoing series.
Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice Angela Johnese. All of the city officials present repeatedly emphasized that the curfew measure would not result in arrests of youth, or in criminal records, and that the law was only intended for the protection of vulnerable young persons. “Those same young children that you see out during the summer time, are the same ones you see out with no coats in the winter time, so we Continued on A4
After 25 years of nursing, among other occupations over her lifetime, Lorraine Ledbetter sought the solace of retirement in the 300 block of N. Fremont Avenue in West Baltimore when she purchased her home in 1999. Variations on that retirement narrative played out for several individuals in addition to Ledbetter in that Poppleton neighborhood that year. But, for those retirees -- all in their 70’s now -- their plans for peaceful repose after decades of hard work are in danger of being shattered by expansion of Maryland’s mass transit system known simply as the Red Line. “To go to sleep and wonder whether or not you’re going to fall or that (train)
Debate Camp Emphasizes Role of Race in Shaping Policy and Society By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO In a classroom on the campus of Morgan State University, a group of high school students gathered for a lecture on the contours of Afro-pessimism. Afropessimism is a school of thought that argues multicultural theoretical frameworks err in equating the experience of other ethnic groups with the Black experience, and that American society is largely organized along the basis of a Black-White binary. These students, from all over the country, are attending the Eddie Conway Liberation Institute (ECLI), a camp for high school students on the national debate
circuit that emphasizes a style of debate that uses non-traditional theoretical perspectives and focuses on how the notion of race informs policy and affects people of color in the United States and throughout the world. Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS), a policy think-tank based in Baltimore City, organize the three week residential camp. Now in its second year, the ECLI is the only national debate camp held at a historically Black institution as well as the only debate institute in the country organized and run by Black debaters, according to Dayvon Love, director of Research and Public Policy for LBS. Daryl Burch, one of ECLI’s instructors,
Photo by Sean Yoes
Residents of the 300 block of N. Fremont Avenue say the proposed Red Line will greatly disrupt their lives. Sylvia McFail, left, Cornelia Kearney, Theresa Smith, Lorraine Ledbetter. Back: Rev. Ernest Miller, Jonathan Carroll, Vernon Smith. is going to rumble through there...that takes a lot away from you,” said Ledbetter, who is president of the Lexington Tenant Council, as she stood outside her home on Fremont with a group of her neighbors recently. The threat of that oncoming “rumble” is the bane of the residents of that block nestled between the
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AFRO Hosts Legacy Gala By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent A former slave built it, and he built it strong. And 122 years later, the Afro-American Newspaper continues to thrive. “Consistency and reliability,” said AFRO Chairman and Publisher John J. Oliver of the secret to the newspaper’s longevity and stature among its readers. “We’ve never missed an edition. “We’ve always been there [and] you can’t shake that. [We’re] like an old shoe – you don’t throw it away because it becomes part of the family.” On Aug. 15, the AFRO will
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shadow of the glittering University of Maryland BioPark and the swath of Route 40 in West Baltimore known as the infamous, “highway to nowhere.” The Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) plans to run a tunnel beneath the 300 block to accommodate subway trains that would run Continued on A3
AFRO File Photo
Mack Simpson was honored at the 2013 NcouragED award ceremony. He is with Valerie Allen, left, Lisa Robinson and Fandreia Bowman.
Mack Simpson’s Longevity a Tribute to His Faith in Action By Iyana Parker Special to the AFRO
When celebrating the history of influential African American leaders of our time, names like Ruby Bridges and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. automatically come to mind, but we often forget the everyday leaders. These men and woman are neighbors who strive to impact and uplift their communities. They are so extraordinary that although not world renowned, they are living legends deserving of both gratitude and recognition. “It never costs anything to be kind to people, people ought to keep God first and learn to walk around with an open fist instead of a closed one and God will always provide,” the words of one of those Baltimore legends, Mack B. Simpson Jr. One of the results of that kindness is that family members and friends are gathering, July 26, to celebrate Simpson’s
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