Volume Volume 123 123 No. No. 48 20–22
July 4, 2015 - July 4, 2015, The Afro-American A1 $1.00
www.afro.com
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JULY 4, 2015 - JULY 10, 2015
Baltimore
The Last Graduation?
Washington
• Sen. Pinckney’s Ties
• Dixon Jumps Into
to D.C. D1
Mayoral Race B1
• DOL Funds
• Baltimore City
Employment Opportunities for Ex-Cons D1
Breaks Up Homeless Encampment B1
• DOJ Asks Baltimore
Residents About Police Conduct B1
• C. Barry, Rev. Motley Receive Sentences D1
• Campaign to
• How a Dentist Breaks the Rules B1
Photo by Michael Davenport
Pamela Darien, valedictorian of Sojourner-Douglas College’s Class of 2015 at what could the schools final graduation. Turn to page C1 for more on the school’s fight for survival and go to afro.com/slideshows to see more pictures.
Strengthen the Black Dollar D1
Homeless Housing: Helpful or Hurtful Obamacare Ruling Receives Join the more than 464,000 Facebook fans who follow the AFRO, the Black newspaper with the largest digital reach in the country.
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Continued on A3
U.S. Senators Cardin and Mikulski Talk Civil Rights with Baptist Ministers
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The crises of area homelessness, including the overcrowding and pest-infestations that saw the closure of the D.C. Village homeless shelter several years ago and recently razed a homeless encampment of hundreds in Baltimore (see story on page A3) have caused more than a few advocates to re-evaluate how and why so many families are being impacted. With the largest yearly increase in the number of homeless persons in families occurring regionally among the District (a 29 percent increase) and Montgomery County (a 34 percent increase) residents, evidence points to a manufactured epidemic brought about through an unregulated housing market and greed among developers. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ 2015 Homelessness in Metropolitan Washington report found that a rising trend of family homelessness in the area had direct correlations with high-cost housing markets, with jurisdictions like Montgomery County and the District facing a diminished number of affordable housing
units (both subsidized and market rate). The report cited the lack of affordable housing as “a major contributor to the growth in family homelessness recorded during this period.” Coupled with a reduction in available Housing Choice Vouchers from local public housing authorities due to federal budget cuts (sequestration) and a rise in young adult heads of household (age 18‐24) with limited education and work experience, residents like Shondra Patrick, have found themselves “residentially vulnerable.” Patrick and her husband both work fulltime – she, as a nursing assistant in a hospice, and he in construction – but find having to pay upwards of $2800 a month in rent, plus utilities a burden on their family of five. “Owners of our apartment complex went month-to-month on leases and then began to take the cost of the rent up slowly over the course of the last six years from $850 to almost $3000. When my construction work slowed down two years ago, we were forced out and moved in with relatives,” Patrick’s husband said. “We have been moving from one relatives’ house to another’s ever since.”
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By James Wright Special to the AFRO Maryland’s two U.S. senators recently met with ministers from a Baptist denomination that once had Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a member to discuss issues such as voting rights, race relations and the uprising in Baltimore.Sens. Benjamin Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, both liberal Democrats, spoke at a meeting of members of the Progressive National Baptist Convention (PNBC) on June 25 on Capitol Hill for their legislative advocacy day. Cardin said that the recent commotion in Baltimore moved him to action. “We needed to turn
AFRO File Photo
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.)
the uprising into a transformational moment,” the junior senator from the Free State, said. “As I went out into the community in Baltimore, I found that people who live in challenging circumstances don’t think that policy makers are listening to them. Members of the community say that policy makers tell them what their priorities are and that is wrong; we should listen to what the community wants.” The meeting was convened by Cardin. Mikulski, the senior senator from Maryland and elected to the Senate in 1986, came by later to make remarks of her own. Continued on A3
Praise from Democrats
By James Wright Special to the AFRO On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a 6-3 decision on King vs. Burwell affirmed as constitutional and legal nationwide subsidies for middle and low-income families to assist in the purchase of health insurance through Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) exchange. The ruling is getting compliments from across the political landscape while conservatives grumble about its impact. U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield
“People’s lives have been changed and even saved because they have health insurance, many for the first time.” – Sylvia Burwell (D-N.C.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), said that the court decision on the ACA, popularly known Continued on A3
Nation of Islam Planning Million Man March 20th Anniversary By Linda Poulson Special to the AFRO The Nation of Islam is readying plans for the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March in Washington, D.C. The event will once again occur on Oct. 10 at the National Mall. While the first event on October 16, 1995, was specifically centered around the atonement of Black men, the initiative this time focuses on a myriad of racial and social injustices. Abdul Khadir Muhammad, student minister at Muhammad Mosque No. 14 and the MidAtlantic and Eastern regions, spoke to the AFRO on June 26 to clarify what the upcoming march will be about. “The title the media is implementing called “Millions for Justice” is
Copyright © 2015 by the Afro-American Company
incorrect,” Muhammad said. “The actual title is “Justice or Else.” “It’s not actually a march,” he continued. “It’s a gathering of people showing up at the
Continued on A4
Miss Black US Ambassador 2015
Courtesy photo
By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO
Ebony Andrews, the former Miss Black Maryland US Ambassador, was crowned Miss Black US Ambassador 2015 on June 27.