June 7, 2014 - June 7, 2014, The Afro-American
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Volume 122 No. 44
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JUNE 7, 2014 -JUNE 13, 2014
Alabama Voters Need IDs or Friend-‘dentity’
Wax Figure to Mark ‘Everybody’s Bishop’s’ Lifetime of Ministry
By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO
Part 6 in a series detailing states’ efforts to keep citizens from voting.
It was 1975 when the Rev. John R. Bryant arrived at Bethel AME Church and transformed it into an exemplar of faith-based community activism and development in Baltimore City. He was already an established preacher and went about transforming its worship, infusing it with a neo-pentecostal sensibility that would contribute to Bethel’s exponential growth over the course of the next 13
As Alabama voters trudged to the polls on June 3, many stepped into a new elections landscape, while for others, the view was all too familiar. In 2011, after Republicans took control of the state Continued on A3
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Legislature, they introduced laws that, some say, harken back to the days of segregation, including laws that suppress the votes of minorities and the poor. “We do know there have been reports of changes to
polling places and alleged voter purges over the past couple months. None of that is confirmed,” said Deuel Ross, an attorney with the Political Participation Group of the NAACP Legal Defense Continued on A3
Story on A3
Bishop John R. Bryant is the longest serving bishop in the AME Church. AFRO file photo
years. “The AME church was typically a quiet type of a service, very solemn,” said Wanda Watts, director of the Wattsline who joined Bethel AME in 1977, “and he changed that with choirs that sang contemporary music, and a different way of praising than AME had been accustomed to.” In addition to introducing a new style of worship,
Bryant also instituted a number of important community development programs at Bethel, including a credit union, a food coop, an investment program, an elementary school, an outreach center, a women’s center, and a bookstore. These programs were, in part, a response to the lack of services available to AfricanAmericans in this period.
Continued on A4
Community Leaders React to New Baltimore City Youth Curfew By Roberto Alejandro Special to the AFRO On June 2, the Baltimore City Council passed a revision to the city’s youth curfew law that imposes stricter curfew times and establishes increased penalties for parents or businesses found to be in violation of the law. Many in the Baltimore City community continue to oppose this revision of the law, concerned that it will impose a heavy
burden on youth and parents. The new law sets a yearround, nighttime curfew of 9 p.m. for anyone under the age of 14. For minors 14 or older, but younger than 17, the law establishes two nighttime curfews, one for the summer and one for the rest of the year. During the summer, defined as running from the Friday before Memorial Day through the last Sunday in August, anyone 14 or older,
but younger than 17, is subject to an 11 p.m. curfew on any night of the week. During the rest of the year, anyone in this age group is subject to an 11 p.m. curfew on Fridays and Saturdays, and a 10 p.m. curfew on all other days (Sunday through Thursday). The new law also beefs up the city’s daytime curfew, and prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from being in any public place or establishment
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Ray H. Boone Sr., Dead at 76 By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Raymond H. Boone Sr., a towering figure in the Black Press and founder, editor and publisher of the influential Richmond Free Press has died. He was 76. Boone died June 3 at his home after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer, his family told the media. The Suffolk, Va. native obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a master’s degree in political science from Howard University, where he later taught journalism for nine years. The majority of Boone’s career was spent in the Black Press, and Time magazine once credited him with bringing “sophistication and verve” to that cadre. Before joining Howard’s faculty, Boone did a stint as editor and vice president of the Baltimore-based AfroAmerican Newspaper Group. As a correspondent for Continued on A4
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between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on any day when school is in session. The curfews do not apply to minors accompanied by their parents, or on the sidewalk running along the minor’s residence or that of a next-door neighbor, so long as the neighbor has not complained to the police. Parents are in violation of the curfew law if their child violates the curfew, whether given permission by the parent or not. Business owners can also be found in violation of the curfew law if they, or any of their employees, knowingly allow any minor on the premises of their establishment during curfew hours. Parents are subject to a $50 fine for a first offense. This fine may be waived if the parent attends family counseling at an agency approved by the city, accompanied by the child who violated the curfew. Parents are subject to a fine of up to $500, imprisonment
for up to 60 days, community service, or any combination of the three, for subsequent violations. Business owners are subject to a fine up to $500 for any violation of the curfew law. Sharon Black of the Baltimore People’s Power Assembly, a group that opposes the new curfew law and joined a protest against it on the day the Council voted to pass the measure, expressed concern that the law would increase racial profiling. “In our own work, we were hearing a lot of reports from young people who felt they already suffered from racial profiling and just general profiling that goes on in poor communities who feel they have no recourse and no power,” said Black. Black argued that the law is likely to raise antagonisms between youth and the police, and noted the difficulty for police in even attempting to enforce the law. “How do Continued on A4
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