Baltimore Washington 1-25-2019

January 12, 2019 - January 12, 2019, The Afro-American

Volume Volume 127 123 No. No.25 20–22

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JANUARY 26, 2019 - FEBRUARY 1, 2019

Inside

Baltimore

Race and Politics

Jim Crow Alive and Well on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

B1 Washington

Protests Planned at Screening of Michael Jackson’s Documentary

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Football Is My Guilty Pleasure

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Black Panther continues to make history as the first superhero film to be nominated for best picture.

Death of Eastern Shore Teen

Women’s March

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For months, the circumstances surrounding the death of Anton Black in police custody received little scrutiny. The investigation as to why Black died during his encounter with Greensboro, Md. police on Sept. 15, seemed stalled.

But, now after a concerted

effort by Anton’s family and their supporters to call attention to the case, pressure on investigators is mounting.

This week civil rights leaders and politicians weighed in, calling for the State Medical Examiner’s office and the Greensboro Police Department to release the autopsy report and body cam footage respectively. It’s a move they say would ease doubts about the way the probe has been handled so

far.

“The family has the right to both, and the decision on whether to release the footage of the autopsy should rest with them, not the department,” State Sen. Jill P. Carter told The AFRO. “By veiling this public information in secrecy, the department fuels distrust suspicion, and anger.”

Greensboro Police say they will only allow the family to view body

camera footage. But the family has asked that it be made public.

On Jan. 23, Greensboro Police said they would release the body cam video during a hastily called press conference. Yet, city officials announced they would delay making it available to the public.

A spokesman explained that the move was requested by the

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Black Furloughed Workers Bowser Vetoes Decriminalization Share Grievances at DMV of Metro Fare Evasion Town Hall

By Micha Green AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor mgreen@afro.com

By Micha Green AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor mgreen@afro.com The government shutdown has been going on over a month and furloughed workers are hurting.

“It hurts physically and it hurts mentally,” said Tyra McClelland a member of the Local 727 union of the American Federation of Government Employees.

On the 31st day of the partial government shutdown, which fell on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday, almost 250 people gathered at Community of Hope Church in Temple Hills, Md., to share grievances, listen, offer hope and take information back to their communities regarding struggling furloughed workers and their families.

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In a rare move, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the D.C. Council’s decision to decriminalize metro fare evasion. Her second time issuing a veto, the mayor decided to send the bill back to the council in concerns that decriminalizing the act will exacerbate the metro fare evasion issue- losing several million dollars for the city.

The bill, was approved 10-2 by the District of Columbia Council, and is now being sent back for an override vote. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Metro Board Chairman and Council member Jack Evans (D- Ward 2) were the two Council members to initially oppose the bill. Despite the mayor’s veto, if the Council approves the same bill, it will meet the requirements for the twoCourtesy Photo thirds threshold to inherently District of Columbia Mayor become law.

Muriel Bowser vetoed Last year the city made a bill that would have major strides for metro decriminalized metro fare evasion.

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Healing Baltimore with Straight Talk, House Music

By Rev. Dorothy Boulware Special to the AFRO

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By Stephen Janis and Taya Graham Special to the AFRO

Photo by Micha Green

Furloughed workers, community volunteers and politicians came together for a town hall discussing the impact of the government shutdown on the African American community.

If it’s Friday in Baltimore, what mix could be better than a great discussion about the city’s revival and house music. What a combination!

It’s the treat of the evening for those who venture out to the Impact Hub, Feb. 1, to talk with author, Sean Yoes about his book, “Baltimore After Freddie Gray” and hear the best music in the world, ala Baltimore.

This event is produced in partnership with Tiffany Ginyard, AFRO managing editor and founder of the Fly Girl Network.

Copyright © 2019 by the Afro-American Company

“It focuses on a conversation I’m facilitating with middle and high school students about the impact of violence on their lives, post Uprising,” Yoes said.

“We’re also going to be focused on healing using the conversation.”

Yoes had no idea of a book when he began capturing the news surrounding the arrest and death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, culminating in what the city has chosen to call the Uprising, the citizens’ response to the injustice they felt Freddie Gray endured while in police custody.

Yoes wrote himself through the horror

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

WHAT’S TRENDING ON AFRO.COM Paying for Funerals Impossible for Many Poor Families Your History • Your Community • Your News

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The Associated Press has been unable to find a telephone listing for Raymond Cantrell, who owned the Cantrell Funeral Home when its license was suspended last April. The AP left a message Thursday seeking comment from a spokesman for Perry Funeral Home.

In Indiana, stay-at-home mom Linda Znachko started helping bury such abandoned remains through her ministry called He Knows Your Name. Znachko saw a need after learning about the discovery of a baby’s remains in a trash bin in Indianapolis in 2009; it turned out a funeral home had dumped the remains along with others after going out of business. Znachko was shocked to learn that unclaimed remains would be buried in a mass grave.

“We live in America. … I said, ‘Why do we even have those?’”

Znachko said.

AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

By Sharon Cohen and Adam Geller AP National Writers

In this Nov. 2, 2018, photo Darlene Hardison speaks during an interview in Detroit.

DETROIT (AP) — Darlene Hardison would have loved to have a funeral for her father and uncle and bury them in marked graves at a Michigan cemetery. But she and her family could come up with only enough money to have Hoover Heags and Arthur Hardison cremated, then they left the remains to a Detroit funeral home to bury.

Authorities later discovered Heags’ and Hardison’s cremated remains among nearly 300 others in bags, boxes and other containers inside Cantrell Funeral Home, one of two Detroit funeral homes police and state licensing officials are investigating for allegedly improperly storing remains. Heags had died about a year earlier; Hardison had been dead for about two years.

“The funds were limited … to paying house bills and we just didn’t have the money to cover everything we needed,” Darlene Hardison said at a cemetery where a memorial service was held for some of the people whose cremains authorities found in the nowclosed Cantrell Funeral Home on Detroit’s east side. “We were just able to do a cremation and that was it,” Hardison said, wiping away tears.

Hardison’s story illustrates how the funeral homes now under scrutiny may have ended up having so many remains and why it is that families didn’t notice. Many poor families in the U.S. have been priced out of funerals and burials. People who can’t afford those services are left with the cheapest option: cremating their loved one’s remains and leaving it to a funeral home to dispose of them.

Others may simply abandon relatives’ remains altogether, leaving it to coroners and funeral homes to pay for cremation and disposal.

How to pay for indigent burials is a question that has stymied local governments across the U.S. Many states have programs that help pay for burials and cremations. Michigan pays up to $365 toward cremations and $485 toward burials without memorial services. Last year, a coroner in western Illinois resigned after facing criticism over his practice of keeping poor people’s remains until their relatives could pay $1,000; state officials noted they had funds available to help cover burial costs.

In Detroit, where more than one-third of residents live in poverty, traditional funerals that include services at a funeral home, cemetery burial and headstone can top $5,000 on the low end, according to the Parting.com website. Frill-free direct burials are listed for about $1,300 and up.

Estimates for simple cremations without services and memorials start at about $650.

Coming up with hundreds or even thousands of dollars to bury someone can be difficult for many families in Detroit, where U.S. Census Bureau figures show the median household income was below $30,000 in 2017 , compared with more than $61,000 nationally . Faced with the costs, some families have little choice but to leave a loved one’s body to someone else.

“The idea of paying $6,000, $7,000, $8,000 for funeral services was really an impossibility for many,” Sara Marsden, a spokeswoman for New York-based U.S. Funerals Online, a consumer information website and funeral home directory, said. “There isn’t that life insurance or that burial insurance that’s going to kick in and cover the cost.”

The Associated Press could find no data on the number of remains or cremains abandoned by families at funeral homes in Detroit. The medical examiner’s office in Wayne County, where Detroit is located, says it buries about 125 unclaimed bodies each year.

Authorities shut down Cantrell Funeral Home last April. In October, authorities received a tip that led them to the mummified remains of 10 fetuses and a full-term infant in the building’s ceiling. Days later, the remains of 63 fetuses were removed from Perry Funeral Home in Detroit.

Then in December, a suburban cemetery closed after authorities found remains of 300 fetuses and infants — handled

by Perry — in leaky plastic containers.

Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

In this July 10, 2014 photo, Bobby Bostic poses for a portrait in the visitation room at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, Mo., where he has served 23 years of a 241-year sentence for a 1995 robbery.

After a dramatic, hourlong meeting that recalled events from neaLocked up for life at 15, Norman Brown remains defined by the crime that put him behind bars.

Twenty-seven years ago, Brown joined a neighbor more than twice his age to rob a jewelry shop in Chesterfield, Missouri, and the man shot the owner to death. The shooter was executed. But state officials, bound by a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, pledged to give Brown an opportunity to get out — then rejected parole in a process a federal judge ruled recently must be overhauled.

Three years after the Supreme Court gave inmates like Brown a chance at freedom, the justice system is gaining speed in revisiting scores of cases. About 400 offenders originally sentenced to life without parole as juveniles have been released nationwide, and hundreds of others have been re-sentenced to shorter terms or made eligible for release by law.

But most remain behind bars as prosecutors and judges wrestle with difficult cases. Tensions have mounted and lawsuits have been filed in states like Missouri, while in 21 others, life-without-parole sentences are prohibited for those 17 and younger. About a third of those bans have been approved since 2016, according to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth.

“The national trend is certainly one where states are moving away from these sentences, whether by legislation or through the courts,” said Jody Kent Lavy, executive director of the group. But “there are still some outliers that in many ways are refusing to comply with the court’s mandate.”

In Missouri, lawmakers decided the more than 100 inmates serving life for adolescent crimes would get a parole hearing after 25 years. But the state is in court because the parole board has denied release in 85 percent of cases it has heard and has yet to free anyone.

Parole hearings have been brief and focused on inmates’ crimes, with little, if any, attention on the circumstances preceding them or what offenders have done to rehabilitate themselves, a lawsuit filed by the MacArthur Justice Center alleges.

The board’s actions violate the constitutional requirement that inmates be provided a “realistic opportunity for release,” a federal judge determined in October, ordering changes. Missouri’s corrections agency and attorney general’s office declined comment.

After Brown’s hearing in May 2017, the board cited his crime in denying parole. The state has since argued he is not yet eligible because he received consecutive sentences. Brown, now 42, said he hopes the board will eventually recognize his remorse, as well as his thousands of hours in restorative justice programs and work as a prison hospice caretaker and training rescue dogs.

In a telephone interview from Potosi Correctional Center, Brown recounted what he did that night in 1991.

“It’s shameful. … Because I’m an adult now, I know what it is to love your family,” he said. “I can definitely see where (opposition to release) comes from, and I think it comes from a place of pain.”

Florence Honickman’s husband, Stephen, was killed by Brown’s companion, and she vividly recalls the teen snatching a pendant off her neck as she lay bleeding from bullet wounds. She lives in Florida but returned to Missouri to oppose Brown’s parole.

“My family was turned upside down and inside out,” she said in an interview. “Do you really know deep down that this man — he’s a man now, not a child — has he really, really changed?”

The high court’s 2016 decision, one of four in recent years focused on the punishment of juveniles, hinged partly on research showing the brains of adolescents are slow to develop, making teen offenders likelier to act recklessly but capable of rehabilitation. The court said they must not be punished with the same severity and finality as adults, and that a life-without-parole sentence should be reserved for those inmates deemed beyond rehabilitation.

At the time, more than 2,000 inmates were serving mandatory life-without-parole sentences, most for murder convictions. And most cases were clustered in a few states.

In Pennsylvania, 399 of more than 500 juvenile lifers have been re-sentenced and 163 have been released, according to the Department of Corrections. Bradley Bridge, of the Defenders Association of Philadelphia, said the last of that city’s 325 lifers could be re-sentenced this spring.

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The Afro-American, January 12, 2019 - January 18, 2019

January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019, The Afro-American

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Deserves Answers Continued from A1

Caroline County State’s Attorney’s office.

A representative of the office offered no explanation for the delay.

The state’s top official Maryland Governor Larry Hogan also urged the Maryland State Police and Medical Examiner’s office to complete their investigation quickly.

“I’m very frustrated that we haven’t gotten answers yet,” Hogan told The Baltimore Sun. “I’ve been pushing both the state police and the medical examiner to finish their investigation as quickly as they possibly can. The family, the police department, the community, everyone deserves to get answers.”

Both the state police and the Caroline County State Attorney’s office say they are awaiting the autopsy report before moving forward. However, the office of the state Medical Examiner will not comment on the case or provide a timeline for when the autopsy will be completed.

Questions about the sequence of events that lead to Anton’s fatal encounter with police have swirled since the state champion track star and budding model was chased to his Greensboro home on Sept. 15, 2018.

“He was going back and forth to New York on his own for different events, for commercials and stuff like that,” his father Anton Black, Sr. said. “He was really

moving. And he came home to visit his mother here, and they [police] took his life.”

Shortly after his death, state police released a statement that a Greensboro police officer stopped Anton after a 911 caller alleged he was dragging a 12-year-old boy. Later, a White woman purporting to be the caller defended the police on Facebook “So glad I called!” she exclaimed.

Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.

But family members and supporters refute that story. They say the young boy who accompanied Anton that day was a relative and lifelong friend.

“That is his cousin-in-law, because the boy’s cousin is married to my daughter, we’re all in the same family,” his father, Anton Black, Sr. told The Real News Network.

They also cite surveillance footage of the stop that shows Anton and the boy walking together.

“I saw two individuals walking up the road, and then all of sudden you saw this police car coming up. And then you see Anton run,” said Richard Potter, former president of the Talbot County NAACP who is leading a coalition to support the family.

And while the events leading up to the police stop remain contentious, Anton’s mother Janelle Black who watched her son die, has little doubt about what happened.

Furloughed Continued from A1

Organized by the Rev. Leslye Dwight, the town hall was held to discuss the particular struggles facing the Black community during the partial shutdown. Politicians and furloughed workers alike agreed that while the crisis is affecting all of America, African Americans are really feeling the sting of the furlough.

McClelland, who is being forced to work despite not getting paid, broke down what she calls, “furlough math.”

For McClelland, and many other families, furlough math is being forced to make certain sacrifices and decisions based off the fact that they’re not sure when they’re getting paid.

Furlough math is having to decide whether or not to fill the gas tank or pay for a child’s school lunch.

Furlough math is holding off on medication because it’s weighing what’s more important- preventative treatment and paying bills. Furlough math is reducing a child’s shower time to “one Drake song,” McClelland said, adding humor, but honestly shedding light on the sacrifices her family has had to make during the partial shutdown.

Fighting through tears, many people shared their personal struggles during the shutdown.

“I don’t know when I’m going to be able to feed my family. I have rent. I have utilities. I have a car note.

I have daycare,” said one woman and mother of a twomonth-old and eight-year-old, who asked to be anonymous.

“I have to send her to daycare to hold her spot, so that’s $250 a week that I don’t have to provide for my kids. I feel like a pawn,” the woman said crying as she held her infant.

Many people noted they were embarrassed to speak up, yet from the anonymous mother sharing her story,

Community of Hope’s Pastor, the Rev. Tony Lee, gave her $200 in gift cards and the Rev. William Campbell, pastor at Union Bethel AME offered to pay her childcare.

Further, considering the financial burden, the furlough has contributed to mental health issues.

Jocelyn Route a social worker and community advocate in Bladensburg, Md., who’s running to represent her ward, pointed out the mental trauma associated with the shutdown.

“Depression is real,” Route said, pointing out that one her neighbors has not left

working with people on very liberal payment plans, so at least we’ll have water. You need water to be able to live.”

Several politicians were present for the town hall to listen to their constituents’ concerns, including, Maryland State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, Prince George’s School Board members Paul Monteiro and Edward Burroughs and Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD 4th District). The politicians were not shy in sharing their personal feelings regarding the shutdown and President Trump.

“My mom’s furloughed and what can I say? It just sucks that Donald Trump is president,” Burroughs said.

“The president’s got an issue. And we have our interest, and we have to come up with a negotiated solution,” Brown said.

“He’s not looking for a fix for America, he’s looking for a fix for himself. So let’s look at how we can give him that fix without doing harm to America. But we got to get this government open,” the Maryland congressman added.

While the conversation was filled with a lot of tears, many speakers tried to remain positive.

Never missing a moment to remind the audience that the church’s doors are always open, Pastor Lee prayed for the end of the shutdown. “We believe that you [God] can shutdown this shutdown,” he said.

“What I experienced here is we can laugh through this,” Eric Bunn, national president for District 14 of the American Federation of Government Employees said.

“I think from what we’ve heard from so many, is that if we work together, we can work our way through this,” Rep. Brown said.

“I don’t know when I’m going to be able to feed my family. I have rent.

I have utilities. I have a car note. I have daycare.” the house in 30 days due to the shutdown. Route told the AFRO she came out to listen to the community and be able to bring back resources to her neighborhood and the people she knows are hurting from the shutdown.

“So today I learned about food resources through Prince George’s Department of Social Services. They have a fresh produce food bank.

I also learned that there are banks that are giving out low interest or no interest loans, and that if you join their bank and you make direct deposits, you don’t have to worry about paying any fees,” Route explained to the AFRO. “In addition, I learned that WSSC, the people who provide our water service, they are stopping all cut-off notices at this time and their

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“He had Anton in a headlock,” she said, describing the scene outside her Greensboro home shortly after Anton cried out for help as he struggled with police. “They kept trying to handcuff him. I saw Anton kick his legs, and I did say, keep still. But that was his last kick,” said Jennell Black.

“I said he’s turning blue.”

Still, police have declined to comment on her story. And the town leadership, including an all-White council, has remained defiant.

Last week they voted to put the officer who stopped Anton, Tom Webster, on administrative duties. However, the move came only after weeks of pressure from residents. City officials told The AFRO Webster still has full police powers.

Indeed, the hiring of Webster was controversial from the start. Previous to joining the Greensboro police department Webster was indicted in Delaware for kicking an African-American suspect in the jaw, breaking it in the process.

He was acquitted of second degree assault after a trial, and resigned from the Dover,

Del., police department. That’s when Greensboro town officials hired him.

At a recent community meeting, residents who opposed his hiring said his addition to the department marked a crackdown on the African-American community; a change in policing strategy they say may have precipitated the chase that lead to Anton’s death.

“We had officers that cared that were invested. And if those officers were here on that day and they saw those two young men, knowing the history, knowing that they were friends, it would have never been misconceived to be what it was described as,” Greensboro resident Christina Robinson said.

Doubts about the progress of the investigation continue to grow.

“It not only concerns me, it is concerning to the public, there are a lot of unanswered questions that the medical examiner’s report might answer,” Carl Snowden, organizer of the Caucus of African-American leaders said of the yet-to-be completed autopsy.

“One of them is how did he die?”

Bowser

Continued from A1

when it decided to provide $500 million of dedicated funding to the transit system. Metro fare evasion, on the other hand, sets the city back financially, costing $25 million to $50 million per year.

“I am concerned that [the decriminalization bill] would exacerbate the problem,” Bowser said, according to {The Washington Post}.

An estimated $25 million of lost revenue is from bus fare evasion alone, as Metrobus operators have to record every instance where a passenger doesn’t pay. Metrorail, on the other hand, is harder to track as there is no reliable system to notate when fare is evaded.

The loss of money is a critical issue to the mayor, and one that she believes should have real consequences.

“While I understand that [the] Council intended to change fare evasion to a civil offense, it is important to note that the bill simply removes criminal penalties while failing to set up a new civil adjudicative process,” Bowser wrote. “This leaves [Metro] without any meaningful tools to enforce the payment of fares and will encourage fare evasion, which will result in additional lost revenue for the Metro system.”

Currently there are fines up to $300 and up to 10 days in jail for metro fare evasion, penalties that advocates say are too harsh for the crime.

Proponents of the bill contend that decriminalizing metro fare evasion is a social justice issue- as many of those arrested for the crime are disproportionately African American.

Council members Charles Allen (D-6),

Robert C. White (D-At Large) and Trayon White (D-8) championed the bill because of the fairness issue, pointing out a study by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, which found 91 percent of fare evasion penalties from January 2016 to February 2018 were issued to Black people.

“That is a problem,” Council member White Jr. said. “I’m sad that’s Metro’s losing money, but I’m more sad about what’s happening to Black people,” he said according to a {Washington Post} article about the original bill.

Council member Allen pointed out the larger implications of criminalizing the metro fare evasion. “The collateral consequences are numerous and devastating and they are vastly disproportionate to not paying the $2 fare,” Allen said last year. His office released a statement saying it hoped to override the veto.

“I will be moving to override the Mayor’s veto of this important criminal justice reform and working with my colleagues to ensure the will of the Council is upheld.”

Despite the Civil Rights argument being attached to decriminalization, Metro applauded the mayor’s decision to veto the bill.

“We truly appreciate Mayor Bowser’s leadership on this issue and stand ready to work with the Council to develop solutions that address their stated goal of making Metro accessible to people of limited means, while maintaining safety and fairness for the customers we serve,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

January 12, 2019 - January 12, 2019, The Afro-American

Baltimore Group Awarding Grants to Local Changemakers Futures Micro-Grant Fund.

If the organization’s first month is any indication, the future of CLLCTIVLY is bright. “Members are joining, the Black Futures online store is fulfilling orders and the first Black Futures MicroGrant Award is just weeks away. The community is responding, and we’re excited about it!” Wooten said.

To join CLLCTIVLY, apply for the Black Futures Micro-Grant or shop at the Black Futures online store, visit www.CLLCTIVLY.org

Baltimore, MD (BlackNews.com) -- Building Black Futures Together is their motto. CLLCTIVLY. org, a community-based organization in Baltimore is spearheading an effort to show the tremendous impact Black lives are having throughout the community.

Each month, CLLCTIVLY.org will award a local individual or organization with a Black Futures Micro-Grant - a no-strings-attached $1,000 grant for changemakers serving Greater Baltimore.

The deadline for the first submission period is Jan, 31, followed by a two-week, community-wide voting period. The award and $1,000 check will be presented on

Feb. 22. For more details, visit BlackFuturesGrant.org.

“CLLCTIVLY.org is very excited to offer the Black Futures Micro-Grant.

Baltimore has amazing, dedicated individuals and organizations in our community who are making a difference without a spotlight, and often under resourced. We want to show our appreciation and motivate others to also use their time, talent and resources to strengthen our communities,” said Jamye Wooten, the founder of CLLCTIVLY.org.

Wooten hopes that CLLCTIVLY will help bring unity and foster collaboration among the many community organizations doing great

work, but often working in silos. “Communitybased organizations often work in silos. Silos lead to fragmentation and fragmentation leads to duplication and wasted resources - such as time, talent and treasure,” says Wooten.

Recognizing the grand scope of its mission, CLLCTIVLY has organized its work into six-phases.

The first phase includes creating an online asset map/ directory of organizations in Greater Baltimore, listed by neighborhood and area of concentration. There is also an online store (https://cllctivly. shop) with 20 percent of the proceeds directed to the Black

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Services for Beverly Evans Johnson Beverly Evans Johnson, sister of Dallas mega pastor Tony Evans died unexpectedly on Sunday, Jan. 20 in a local Baltimore Hospital.

A native Baltimorean, she was the administrative assistant for Bishop Marcus Johnson, pastor New Harvest Ministries.

In addition to Dr. Evans, she is survived by her husband James Johnson; her father Arthur Evans; brother, Maurice Evans and a host of family and friends.

Homegoing services begin with the family hour, 10 a.m., Jan. 26, followed by the funeral at 11 a.m., at Transformation Church of Jesus Christ, 5150 Baltimore Nat’l Pike, Baltimore, Md. 21229

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

Rapper and business mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, left, speaks as Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO Galaxy Digital, listens during the launch of a partnership among entertainment moguls, recording artists, business and sports leaders who hope to transform the American criminal justice system, Jan. 23, in New York.

Meek Mill, Jay-Z and Sports Owners Back Justice Reforms

By Deepti Hajela The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A coalition of big names in sports and entertainment is taking on criminal justice reform.

Rappers Meek Mill and Jay-Z and the owners of the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets and the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots came together in New York City on Wednesday to announce the launch of an organization that will lobby for changes to state probation and parole laws.

The Reform Alliance will be led by Van Jones, a CNN host and activist who at one point served as an adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin said the group is dedicating $50 million to the effort.

Mill became a symbol for criminal justice reform activists after a judge in Pennsylvania sentenced him to 2-4 years in prison for minor violations of his probation conditions in a decadeold gun and drug possession case. He spent months in prison before a court ordered him released.

The performer said the Reform initiative “is one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life” and that he’s speaking “for people who don’t have a voice.”

About 2.2 million people in the U.S. are incarcerated, and about 4.5 million are on probation or parole, according to government statistics.

“If you thought my case was unfair, there are millions of others dealing with worse situations and caught up in the system without committing crimes,” said Mill, who will remain on probation until 2023. “With this alliance, we want to change outdated laws, give people hope and reform a system that’s stacked against us.”

Jones said the Reform Alliance is taking aim at the cycle of probation and parole violations that leads people back to prison.

“That is the revolving door that keeps people back in and back in and back in,” Jones said.

“We’re going to dismantle that revolving door.”

Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the current system “is not good for America.”

“We can make America better if we really cure this problem,” he said.

Healing Baltimore Continued from A1

and the injustice, the incredulity and the reality. He wrote himself through the mass media frenzy and the would-be stars of it all. Without planning, he wrote the script for an atrocity, the ashes of which have become a source of new life in the city.

One column at a time. Each week another column.

Each week another reaction. Week by week. Race and Politics.

While Yoes admits to at least emerging as an expert on Black Baltimore, he said “discussing Gray’s death and his life are important in understanding the ubiquitous system of White supremacy in Baltimore specifically.”

And the discussion at the Impact Hub will meld into what Yoes calls the ultimate Baltimore healing experience, “a House Music party with DJs Henry Da Man and Sunny T.” Yoes is neither a stranger to Baltimore nor a stranger to the AFRO. He is well known as a writer extraordinaire for his weekly column, Race and Politics, and most recently as the Baltimore editor.

Join Sean Yoes and the community 6 p.m., Feb. 1 at Impact Hub, 10 E. North Avenue.

“Baltimore After Freddie Gray: Real Stories From one of America’s Great Imperiled Cities” can be purchased at the event and on Amazon.com

Courtesy Photos

Sean Yoes, Baltimore AFRO editor will be moderating a discussion with youth regarding their experience living in Baltimore following the Uprisings that erupted in the city following the death of Freddie Gray. Afterwards, DJs Henry Da Man and Sunny T will get the party started with a house party.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens

Philadelphia 76ers co-owner and Fanatics executive Michael Rubin, left, listens as recording artist Meek Mill speaks at the launch of a partnership of sports, business and recording artists who hope to transform the American criminal justice system, Jan. 23, in New York.

January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019, The Afro-American

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COMMENTARY

Football Is My Guilty Pleasure

As a man who prides himself on eschewing violent, hyper-masculine pastimes, I still find it very difficult to give up watching professional football, especially once the playoffs begin. I promise myself and those around me that each and every game I witness will be my last—but this is never to be. The very best I can do is wean myself off the sport, skipping a Sunday here and there. I can’t seem to go cold turkey.

I have tried to kick the habit for at least the past six seasons because it has become almost a form of sadism to watch NFL games. The grotesque number and nature of injuries have forced the league to respond by changing certain rules with the goal of protecting players, particularly those who are most vulnerable.

Even though I think the full-contact nature of football is what makes it more exciting than any other team sport, I still cringe when I see a player drop like a sack of potatoes after a jarring helmet-to-helmet blow to the head. Hits like these and countless smaller ones seem to inevitably lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy(CTE), the effects of which are not only debilitating but destructive.

The discovery of CTE and the NFL’s attempts to downplay its effects were the subject of the 2015 film Concussion, which caused me no small amount of trauma when I learned for the first time that retired players were committing suicide by shooting themselves in the chest so that their CTE-infected brains could be studied. Not long after came the deeply tragic (and violent) saga of Aaron Hernandez.

And this is only tangential to the NFL’s domestic violence problem. I wrote previously about the bizarre fact that three players wearing the same number (27) had their careers cut short due to high-profile acts of violence against women in only a 10-year span. One of those players would be the starting halfback of the Kansas City Chiefs if he had not decided to push and kick a 19-year-old in the hallway of a hotel.

I would be remiss, of course, if I did not mention Colin Kaepernick, who went from hated rival to my currently favorite athlete for his willingness to stand up by kneeling down. Although the NFL eventually backed down on its counterproductive, Trump-demanded attempt to ban kneeling during the national anthem, its track record of supporting progressive causes and the players who promote them—from gay rights to Black Lives Matter—is uninspiring to say the least. What’s more is that the NFL continues to retaliate against Kaepernick personally by effectively blackballing him from the league.

What’s most puzzling (and appalling) is the extent to which I’m able to (narrow-mindedly) identify with losses suffered by my home team—given this context. Even the euphoria that results from a miraculous win doesn’t seem to balance out the losses. My feelings of anger and disgust only lead to stronger feelings of shame at being so juvenile as to become so affected by the failures of an organization whose players, coaches, and front-office personnel have no personal connection to me whatsoever. I don’t bet or brag, so why should I care who wins and who loses?

I used to equate the practice of fanatically supporting a particular sports franchise with nationalism, but now I don’t think it’s the best analogy because nationalism has brought people

Matthew Johnson

far more good and far more evil than even the New England Patriots - with five Super Bowl wins and an undefeated regular season since 2002, have given the people of Massachusetts—or any losing team has hurt their town. If the Patriots won every single game they played, they still wouldn’t give their fans much more than the privilege to cheer and boast ad infinitum. I think it’s clear that nationalism, while capable of causing a lot more harm than an occasional beer-soaked riot in its low moments, has provided far more tangible benefits for the masses—except the masses of those targeted by a sick nationalism from a Hitler or a Trump.

See more on AFRO.com

The Crisis of Immigration and the Welcoming of Strangers As we celebrate the monumental life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who gave his life to dissolve social inequities for the “other,” the partial government shutdown over immigration security has lasted for over thirty (30) days, which is the longest in United States history (9 of the 15 federal agencies closed). Over 800,000 federal workers and contractors are not receiving a paycheck, which is impacting over 172,000 in the entire state of Maryland and costing $4.8 billion dollars in economic impact throughout the nation. Despite contrary data, President Trump continues to assert that the need for the $5.7 billion dollars “wall” along the southern border is partially for a national emergency to stop the flow of drugs and crime into the country from undocumented workers.

From its inception, importation and immigration have been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the U.S. history. Because the United States is a settler-colonial society, all Americans, except a

Kevin Daniels

small percent of Native Americans, can trace their ancestry to immigrants from other nations around the world. In 2017, after historically having over 40 laws enacted, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services changed their mission statement from being “A Nation of Immigrants” to “A Nation of adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values.” While a majority of Americans do believe that there should be some form of border security, many are challenged by taking American tax dollars to build a wall that Mexico was to provide the resources to build.

Supporters of comprehensive immigration reform and the anti-immigrant activists who oppose it have one thing in common in that both, in some form, invoke the ethical teachings and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to support their positions on immigration and the welcoming of the strangers. However, he believed that all people, regardless of their race, gender, economic status should be treated equally,

fairly, and humanely to reach their full potential. His ethical teachings come from the sacred word “ger” for the hospitality toward a sojourner, alien, resident alien, stranger, foreigner or immigrant. His teachings reflect the fact that society has a sacred responsibility for the welfare of immigrants, treated with justice and fairness, provided regulatory protections, and considered as social equals.

It is clear that as we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that America needs to revisit the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, which says to the world “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Dr. Kevin Daniels is chair of the Civic Action Committee (Minister’s Conference) and associate professor, Morgan State University, School of Social Work.

The Debt We Owe Haitians More than 500 Haitian soldiers (referred to as Les Chasseurs-Volontaires de Saint-Domingue) fought alongside French troops, Oct. 9, 1779, to aid the Americans in trying to force the British out of Savannah, Ga. in order to open its port for the colonists’ use. The attack was unsuccessful, but it has been noted that the Haitians played a significant role in providing cover for the French soldiers who had to retreat from their positions on the battlefield. But even though Haitians shed blood for American independence, the United States in its foreign policy has always held a deep-seated hostility towards Haiti, despite denials to the contrary.

Haiti was born of a slave revolt that began on the French half of the island of Hispaniola and resulted in a revolution costing 200,000 Black lives.

When the Haitians threw off the French yoke of oppression to become the independent Republic of Haiti, France demanded recompense for the loss of its slaves. This demand for payment was backed up by the threat of an invasion, with the French navy laying off the Haitian coast. This forced payment, totaling more than $21 billion over the years, began Haiti’s slide from being France’s wealthiest colony to one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere.

When Haiti gained its independence, Southern slaveholders in the United States were horrified by the liberation of enslaved Black people by their own efforts. And in response, the U.S. government did not recognize the Black nation until 1862, when the United States was in the throes of its own brutal and bloody war over the perpetuation of slavery and the Southern states had seceded from the Union.

But recognition never meant respect. And ever since its creation, Haiti has had to battle against American hostility, with the United States keeping its heel on Haiti’s economy and

Oscar H. Blayton

domestic politics. This included a U.S. invasion in 1914 that precipitated a military occupation lasting until 1934.

The U.S. military occupied Haiti again in 1994, the year Haiti’s democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, returned from exile after fleeing from a coup by the Haitian military. When Aristide was re-elected in 2000, the U.S. military, in combination with the Haitian military, forcibly removed him from the country and sent him into exile again, this time in South Africa.

It is important to point out the irony of how badly the United States has treated Haiti, given the presence of a statue standing in Savannah’s Franklin Square. This statue was erected in 2007 to honor the Haitian soldiers that came to the aid of American revolutionaries 240 years ago in 1779.

But this statue is not the first recognition of America’s debt to Haitians. In April 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had Secretary of State Cordell Hull deliver a commemorative plaque to a cathedral in Haiti that reads, “Today we pay tribute to the courage and spirit of those Haitian Volunteers who in 1779 risked their lives for the cause of American Liberty.” The placement of Roosevelt’s plaque and the assistance given by the Haitians is unknown to most Americans. And even a 10foot monument in a busy downtown square of a major U.S. city does not bring this piece of our history to the attention of most Americans.

Haiti’s contributions to the United States are not widely known because, throughout our country’s history, America has shown itself to be hostile towards Haiti and Haitians.

On Oct. 30, 2018, the British newspaper, The Guardian, ran the headline, “Flee or hide: Haitian immigrants face difficult decisions under Trump.” This headline, curious to most Americans, has a backstory. After a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, the U.S. government offered Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to thousands of Haitians whose lives

had been destroyed. But now, Donald J. Trump has decided that their imminent deportation is best for America. Haitians who have made new lives in this country are now on the verge of becoming “illegal aliens” by the stroke of Trump’s pen.

But a monster like Trump has neither empathy for, nor any sense of obligation to, people of color whose ancestors helped to birth and build this nation. People of color can expect no consideration from this despicable, disgusting bully who wants to “make America white again.”

The White House also is planning to terminate TPS for people of color from other countries whose conditions have necessitated our compassion and offers of refuge because hostility towards Haitians is simply a part of the pattern of widespread American hostility towards people of color. Just as ancient barbaric people created narratives that gave animals human form and characteristics in an anthropomorphic attempt to conform them to the familiar, Trump and his supporters are pursuing a “europomorphic” attempt to mold America into a European form that is familiar to them. In short, he is attempting to make all Americans look as much like European Americans as possible. As ancient barbarians wanted to conform their world to their own image, these present-day barbarians want to conform America to their own image.

It is up to right-thinking Americans to stand up to Trump and the cynical, cowardly senators and congressional representatives who cater to his attempts at despotism. It is time to stand up and say “No!” to the deportation of Haitians and others living in the United States with Temporary Protected Status.

We must have compassion for our fellow human beings, even if the disgusting tenant in the White House does not.

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.

The opinions on this page are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the AFRO.

Send letters to The Afro-American • 1531 S. Edgewood St. Baltimore, MD 21227 or fax to 1-877-570-9297 or e-mail to editor@afro.com

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

Experts: Suing the Government Not an Option to End Shutdown

By Stacy M. Brown NPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

As the government shutdown enters an unprecedented fifth week, some are calling for drastic measures to end the stalemate that has 800,000 government employees either working without pay or altogether furloughed and unable to put food on the table.

In a recent column, Charles Ellison, a political strategist and host of the radio program, “Reality Check” on WURD Radio, said Congressional Republicans could help re-open the government by simply corralling enough votes in both the House and Senate to arrive at the two-thirds majority needed to override any Presidential veto of the federal budget.

But Congressional Republicans – led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (RKY) — refuse to do that. McConnell claims that not only is he awaiting a deal between Congressional Democrats and the White House, but he also needs approval from the president before taking action.

“Which brings to mind three questions: Why haven’t Congressional Democrats sued Congressional Republicans?

Could states do that instead?

Why are Members of Congress still getting paid?”

“I don’t know if suing will get us anywhere in any type of manner,” said Delaware County, Pennsylvania Democratic Chair Colleen Guiney.

“I’m not sure if it’s an option but Democrats in Congress have seven bills to reopen the government, but McConnell is refusing to consider any of the bills.

The Senate should respect the will of the people,” Guiney said.

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pennsylvania) said she and other Democrats have worked tirelessly to find and offer solutions to reopen the government as thousands of federal employees have gone without pay and are struggling to pay their bills and feed their families.

“What I fear is this administration and our Republican colleagues in the Senate have forgotten is that this is the people’s house,” Scanlon said. “We have an obligation to work for them. Refusing to uphold that commitment, that promise, is a slap in the face to the American people,” she said.

Former Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Alex Charlton said his guess is that if Congressional Democrats did sue Congressional Republicans it would be the “nuclear option.”

“It would significantly delay any progress towards an actual resolution,” he said.

Unlike the federal government, a state-level government shutdown in Pennsylvania is unlikely because a court decision mandates that state employees must be paid as long as the state is still collecting tax revenue, Charlton added.

“The Republican legislature has been diligent in ensuring that the state’s expenses do not outpace its revenue. Any increase beyond that would require tax increases, which the citizens of Pennsylvania do not want,” he said.

As to why federal lawmakers continue to draw a paycheck despite the shutdown, Charlton said the salaries of U.S. senators and representatives are paid by the treasury and are set by Congress itself.

“Members of Congress are paid under legislation that is separate from the appropriations bill that funds most of the government. The tax dollars that members of Congress are paid with do not come from the same budget used to pay other federal employees,” Charlton said.

Terry Madonna, a professor of Public Affairs and Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, said there’s no basis for a lawsuit.

“It’s a legislative function not a judiciary one,” Madonna said.

“Folks injured by the shutdown might sue but the courts would get involved in the separation of powers doctrine. That’s been in the courts now, but a federal judge refused to rule on the charge,” he said.

More pointedly, Professor Garrett Epps who’s a professor of law at the University of Baltimore, said the Constitution would not allow members of Congress to be sued for any vote or failure to vote in Congress because the Speech or Debate Clause would cover that.

“I also know that this shutdown only affects one-quarter of the federal budget so quite a few employees are still being paid like members of Congress,” Epps said.

Further, it’s Congress’ job and they make the rules so there’s no legal penalty if they don’t reopen the government, said Justin Levitt, a Constitutional law scholar and professor at Loyola Law School.

“The Constitution allows Congress to fund government, and everybody assumes that federal officials would want federal activity.

But it doesn’t require Congress to fund the government,” Levitt said.

“So there’s nothing to be gained by a lawsuit. It would fail,” he said, noting that there’s currently a federal lawsuit by federal officials who aren’t getting paid, saying that it violates the 13th Amendment to force them to come to work unpaid.

However, “the courts so far have said that because those officials could quit and get another job, they don’t win either. At least so far,” Levitt said.

Also, another reason members of Congress continue to receive their pay despite the shutdown is that 75 percent of the government had already been funded prior to the shutdown, Levitt said.

“Some members have refused their salary or donated their salary, but not everybody.

Ultimately, the pressure here is going to be political, rather than legal. Enough people get ticked off, and then this shutdown ends,” Levitt said.

Finally, Michael J. Gerhart who’s the Samuel Ashe Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law in Chapel Hill, said the shutdown is all governed by politics.

“That is, McConnell remains politically accountable for his decisions, just as Trump and the Democrats are politically accountable for theirs,” Gerhart said.

“McConnell has the power under Senate rules to block votes on legislative matters he does not wish to bring to a vote, and there is no legal basis on which Democrats could challenge his decision.”

January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019 , The Afro-American

Race and Politics

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BALTIMORE-AREA

Jim Crow Alive and Well on Maryland’s Eastern Shore Last October marked 85 years since the last “official” lynching in the state of Sean Yoes Maryland.

Baltimore AFRO October Editor 18, 1933, syoes@afro.com George Armwood, a 23-year old Black laborer cowered beneath a jailhouse bed in Princess Anne, Maryland on the state’s Eastern Shore, as a mob of hundreds gathered to render ultimate justice.

On October 16, 1933, Armwood, allegedly of diminished mental capacity, had been accused of assaulting Mary Dentson, a 71-year-old White woman (to this day it is unclear if Dentson was actually assaulted by anyone).

News of the alleged assault of the elderly Dentson by a young Black man spread through Princess Anne like wildfire and by the afternoon fear Armwood would be killed prematurely forced police to take him to the jail in the nearby town of Salisbury. However, a White mob assembled in Salisbury,which forced law enforcement to transport Continued on B2

Students Confront BCPS Board

Dispatches from Baltimore

No Armed Police, ‘You Will Hear Us’

‘Baltimore is My Beirut’

By Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead

Photo: J.K. Schmid

Cheryl A. Casciani, chair of the BCPS Board of School Commissioners, confronts members of the Algebra Project during most recent school board meeting.

advocating for the arming of resource officers in Baltimore City’s 105 public schools since last year.

As part of his remarks, Boatwright acknowledged his Students of the Baltimore Algebra Project seized the floor union’s unchanged position and the mounting resistance to of a Baltimore City Public Schools (BCPS) board meeting, the proposal.

Jan. 22.

“I’m reading some of the emails from some of the The time and space of organized groups and the 6 p.m. public hearing at some of the language district offices was primarily that I read is very dedicated to the issue of interesting,” Boatwright arming Baltimore City Public said. “I see a lot of Schools Police with firearms. ‘likely,’ ‘could,’ but Del. Cheryl Glenn’s House there’s no substantive Bill 31, first read by the data to support that it Maryland General Assembly -Sgt. Clyde Boatwright will do harm to students January 9, seeks to carve by having an armed out a special exemption for police officer.” the firearms ban in Baltimore City public schools. School Mere minutes prior to Boatwright taking the microphone, resource officers on public school property will be the bill’s attorney Kimberly R. Humphrey of the new and only exemption from the ban.

Maryland Coalition to Reform School Discipline, BCPS Police President Sgt. Clyde Boatwright, has been Continued on B2

By J. K. Schmid AFRO Baltimore Staff

“We urge a favorable vote, we urge that this measure passes.That’s all we ask, pass [the bill] forward.”

Former Wizard Star Promotes New Book at Frederick Douglass High School

By J.K. Schmid AFRO Baltimore Staff “When the police stop you, there are different rules that you have,” Etan Thomas told the AFRO. “That’s just the way that it is.”

Thomas, a retired nine year Washington Wizard turned author and activist, visited Frederick Douglass High School during a Fatherhood Summit. Part of the visit was for the promotion and to handout of copies of Thomas’s 2018 book We Matter: Athletes and Activism.

A collection of interviews with athletes such as Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade and journalists including Soledad O’Brien, Chris Hayes and Jemele Hill, We Former Washington Wizards star Etan Matter Thomas promoted his new book, We Matter discusses recently at Douglass High School in West the Baltimore.

intersection of sports and politics and the continuing dynamic between athletes and activists.

“One of things that resonated the most in mainstream America-White America, was that hearing people like Dwayne Wade talk about how he thought about his sons after Trayvon Martin was killed,” Thomas said of his book.

“I remember seeing you talk about your sons and how much they loved hoodies, because at the same time I was talking about my son Malcolm about how much he loved hoodies,” Thomas wrote. “... I remember having the conversation with my boys, and they didn’t really understand everything exactly, but it was important to let them know and answer all of their questions and talk with them about everything that was going on,” Wade said in the “We Matter” interview.

Central to the contemporary conversation is the increasing prominence of police brutality against Black people and the urgency of just as prominent media figures in sports and journalism voicing their and the Black community’s demand for justice.

“The battle, when you’re in confrontation with the policeman right there, it’s winning this battle,” Thomas said.

“You have to know about how to conspicuously use your cell phone. The main point is to get home safely, then you can fight to win the bigger war, later. But the main thing right there is to get home safely and those are the kind of discussions that we’ve having as we’ve been doing workshops with young Black men across the country.”

Thomas cited Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp as another part of the new dynamic of knowing and asserting rights while still getting home safely.

“A lot of the reaction from Black America is that they are thankful that people are standing up for our children, but they have to navigate through this,” Thomas said. “Because you can’t dictate somebody’s heart, you still have to navigate through it.”

Over the past weekend, as we celebrated the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., eleven people were shot in this city. This is not shocking or surprising news, in fact, it is the assumed norm.

We are expected to have multiple shootings. We are expected to be a dangerous city spinning out of control.

We are expected to soldier forward as if this is the only reality that can exist.

We are expected to accept the continued omission and erasure of our stories. Given that there is an implied dominant narrative—where the stories of violence and death and poverty are centered as if they are the norm—we (those of us who are conscious and who are working for change) must be willing to work to decenter that reality and then center our stories of survival. We no longer have the option to wait as politicians and thought leaders spend more of their years and more of our money pondering possible directions and solutions. If we want this city to change, it is up to us to imagine a new way forward.

I thought about all of this when I began my unofficial Continued on B2

Baltimore Blight Is this your house?

Photo Credit: Sean Yoes

506 N. Schroeder

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Past Seven Days

19

2019 Total Date as of Jan. 23

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

Dispatches from Baltimore

Race and Politics

ethnographic study within the Black Butterfly neighborhoods of Baltimore City in an effort to get a sense of what life is like outside of the White L. What I found is that it is not until you experience it for yourself—when you walk through the neighborhoods, visit the schools and churches, shop at the corner stores, talk to the residents and hear their stories—that you begin to get a sense of how much work needs to be done to tear down that economic barrier and bring this city together. In September, I spent a bulk of my time in and around the Greater Mondawmin area and got to know Ray and Dave, two elderly gentlemen. They both grew up in Edmonson Village and have never lived outside of the city. Ray told me that he was a veteran and that he remembered, in bits and pieces, what it was like to fight in a war and then come back home to Baltimore. “You commit your life to fight for this country,” he said. “Then you come back home and where you live is worse than where you were fighting.

It’s like the war never ended.” “I got drafted too.” Dave said. “I fought. I know a lot of people who died there; but right now, around here, this is like Beirut.”

They both started laughing, perhaps it was a type of gallows humor, but I found it difficult to join in. “Yea, that’s right,” Ray noted. “Baltimore is my Beirut.” I asked them if they could remember a moment when the city and its narrative began to shift. I wanted to know when did Baltimore, the place of their childhood dreams and where they came of age, become this Baltimore. They started talking to each other, offering dates, agreeing and disagreeing, finishing each other’s sentences. “1968,” Ray said. “It changed when King got killed.” Dave nodded his head. “Yea, it ain’t really been the same since then.”

It was on April 6, 1968, two days after Dr. King was assassinated, that Baltimore City found itself in the middle of a riot Uprising. It began on Gay Street, after three hundred people had come together (peacefully) for a memorial service. In less than six hours, more than one thousand protestors had come out and started to fill the streets in East and West Baltimore. The city responded by banning sales of firearms and alcohol and declaring a state of emergency. Spiro Agnew, then Governor of Maryland, called in the National Guard and the Maryland State Police. Eight days later, six people were dead, 700 had been injured, 5,800 people had been arrested, 1000 small business were damaged, and property damage was somewhere in the $12 million range. Although most of the damage was centralized in the neighborhoods were the protestors lived, it severely affected the city and parts of Baltimore have never recovered. If, as Dr. King once wrote, riots are the language of the unheard, then during this time, Baltimore’s inner city—which suffered from sub-par housing, high rates of infant mortality, drugs, gang violence, underemployment, and high unemployment rates—seem to be working hard to make their voices heard.

It has been almost 51 years and if you walk around the Black Butterfly, talk to the residents and listen to their stories, there is growing sense that they believe that once again, their voices are being silenced.

“They keep saying that Baltimore is changing, that it’s getting better,” Dave said. “But from where I sit—” “Me too.” Ray interrupted. “I’m sitting here too.” Dave chuckled and then looked around the neighborhood, maybe at the sea of dilapidated houses, or at the trash on the sidewalk. Maybe he looked at the liquor stores, or at the young boys standing on the corner. Or maybe, he looked far beyond what my eye could see. He then shook his head and said, very quietly, “It’s just not getting any better for us.”

Armwood to Cecil County and then Baltimore County.

Ultimately, Armwood was returned to Princess Anne on the morning of October 17, after Gov. Albert Richie was “assured” by state officials the condemned man would be safe.

After several more political and legal machinations a crowd of about 1,000 Whites--men, women and children-surrounded the jailhouse in Princess Anne where Armwood was imprisoned.

The bloodthirsty mob overpowered law enforcement and smashed down the jailhouse door with a battering ram. Men scrambled to the second floor of the jailhouse where Armwood and other Black prisoners were being held. They seized the doomed man from beneath the bed, tied a noose around his neck, dragged him downstairs to the rabid crowd, which began to punch, kick, stab and bludgeon Armwood. One person lopped off one of the man’s ears for a souvenir as the bloodlust of those gathered rose to a fever pitch.

Armwood, was tied to the back of a truck, dragged through the town and hung once. Then his dead body was dragged back to the jailhouse where the corpse was hung from a telephone pole and set ablaze.

Then Armwood’s charred remains were dumped in a lumber yard like so much refuse.

Yet, 85 years after the Armwood lynching, on Sept. 15, 2018, 19-year old Anton Black was unlawfully executed in the minds of many, by law enforcement in the Eastern Shore town of Greensboro, Md., as his mother Jennell Black watched in horror.

Black, a former high school track star and aspiring fashion model, was walking with a 12-year-old family friend on a bridge over the Choptank River in the small Caroline County town. Allegedly a White woman saw the two interacting and believed the younger boy was being abducted by Black and called police.

The man who arrived on the scene and confronted Black was dreaded by some Black members of the town. In fact, some of them fought to keep Officer Tom Webster from being hired to be a member of the Greensboro Police Department.

Webster had been caught on videotape when he was an officer in nearby Denton, Del., violently kicking a Black man in

Continued from B1

Karsonya Wise Whitehead is the #blackmommyactivist and an associate professor of communication and African and African American studies at Loyola University Maryland.

She is the host of “Today With Dr. Kaye” on WEAA 88.9 FM and the author of the forthcoming “Dispatches from Baltimore: The Birth of the Black Mommy Activist.” She lives in Baltimore City with her husband and their two sons.

Continued from B1

the head as he kneeled on the ground in submission to law enforcement during an arrest in 2013.

It was Webster who initially approached Black and the family friend when the teen ran away in the direction of his mother’s house. Did Black run because he knew of Webster’s alleged reputation of harassing and assaulting Black people? Moments later the fears of those who lobbied to keep Webster out of Greensboro were realized.

Black made it to his mother’s house and locked himself in a family car.

But, police officers including Webster converged on that car, broke the window and dragged Black from the car by the throat in an alleged choke hold. Minutes later the young man was hauled off in an ambulance, but his mother said she knew her son was already dead.

My colleagues, AFRO reporters Stephen Janis and Taya Graham wrote about the deadly plight of Anton Black last week and provide follow up reporting in this week’s paper. But, the duo has reported on ubiquitous racism, discrimination and de facto Jim Crow on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for years. It is clear through their reporting, as well as decades of welldocumented history, the specter of George Armwood continues to loom.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan was recently re-elected for a second term, a feat not accomplished by a Republican in this state since 1954. Hogan has crafted a national reputation as feverently antiTrump and a symbol of GOP resistance to Trump’s racism, xenophobia, authoritarianism and general madness.

However, Hogan presides over a state where the historic stench of Jim Crow wafts throughout the counties of the Eastern Shore. And an unofficial, but real hierarchy of racial segregation with Whites in control and Blacks existing as a permanent underclass endures.

Emboldened by a resounding victory, Hogan is implementing a vigorous political agenda.

But, how long will the Maryland Governor appear to turn a blind eye to the tyranny of 21st century Jim Crow in his state?

Sean Yoes is the AFRO’s Baltimore Editor and author of Baltimore After Freddie Gray: Real Stories From One of America’s Great Imperiled Cities.

BCPS

Continued from B1

of police contact between adolescent students and police and both the dubious prospect of reducing school violence through additional investment in law enforcement.

The studies were published in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

“Some of the language I see in these emails and these position papers, it’s like we’re a bunch of animals that just can’t wait to get over the kids, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Boatwright said.

Long-time Baltimore City community activist and 1960 graduate of Frederick Douglass Senior High School, Leo Burroughs, Jr., also testified.

“We didn’t tolerate the foolishness that’s happening now in our city, in regards to our students; beating up teachers, et cetera.,” Burroughs said. “I don’t want to get off track, but what I am suggesting is that we are not tough enough. We can be compassionate, we can de-escalate, I believe in all of that. I am a long-term scout master in the city for 55 years. So we’re very compassionate, but we’re very tough.”

The last five-minute slot was allotted to the students of the Baltimore Algebra Project, returning again and again to the message: “No Education, No Life,” during the remainder of the meeting.

Approximately a dozen students walled off the board from the audience and distributed their demands, including a national student Bill of Rights.

Emphasis was placed on “Right Six”, the right to safe and secure public schools.

“Students and youth shall have the right to safe and secure public school facilities of equal quality regardless of wealth, poverty or place of residence.”

“A part of safe a secure school is not having students in class with guns in the building,” John Gray said, during the demonstration.

Gray also cited a survey of students’ relationship with their resource officer, claiming a 51 percent disapproval rating of said officers by said students.

“Think about who these schools serve, these schools serve students,” Unique Chisholm said. “If students say ‘no,’ you need to rethink why it is that you think putting guns in school is okay.”

“You have been heard, and we demand,” said Board Chair Cheryl A. Casciani before being cut off. “The school board is gonna vote on this in due order.”

Casciani left her chair and confronted the students directly. When rebuffed, she and the remainder of the board gave up the floor and retreated via their exclusive entrance/exit.

“If anybody on the board does want to talk about it, we’re here,” Chisholm said as she and Gray and Daijah Hill took their seats to offer additional testimony. No member of the board returned.

January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019 , The Afro-American

“Art has to be a kind of confession. I don’t mean a true confession in the sense of that dreary magazine. The effort it seems to me, is: if you can examine and face your life, you can discover the terms with which you are connected to other lives, and they can discover them, too — the terms with which they are connected to other people. This has happened to every one of us, I’m sure. You read something which you thought only happened to you, and you discovered it happened 100 years ago to Dostoyevsky. This is a very great liberation for the suffering, struggling person, who always thinks that they are alone.

This is why art is important. Art would not be important if life were not important, and life is important. Most of us, no matter what we say, are walking in the dark, whistling in the dark. Nobody knows what is going to happen to them from one moment to the next, or how one will bear it...” James Baldwin The beginning of a new year is the perfect time to reflect on the past.

It’s also the perfect time to renew lost friendships and embrace current friendships. It’s another opportunity to get it right, the opportunity to build dreams or to rebuild old dreams. It’s a fresh start to a new day.

I visited Kevin Brown, my friend of over 40 years, at his restaurant Nancy By SNAC for my favorite chicken salad on wheat and a hot lemon ginger tea. After being in the house for eleven days recuperating from a cold Nancy was the first place I wanted to go and Kevin and his partner Bill Maughlin were the first people I wanted to visit. An eclectic place, it is immediately a feel-good place; it is a high energy with an art gallery.

There is art strewn throughout the area covering every available space on the walls, floors, tables and seating. Located in the MICA building, it’s an ideal hangout for the artsy people, many who have displayed their art in Nancy. It’s the go to spot when you want a bite to eat, meet friends, host community meetings, birthday celebrations, book signings and more. It’s a favorite of political leaders or political office seekers, bank executives, developers, or one of the homeless who stop pass knowing Bill and Kevin will feed them. Fulbright Artists Joyce Scott, Alma Roberts, Ernie Shaw, Jannette Witmeyer and other local artists have made Nancy the place to be. The mayor and her staff host breakfast meetings there, as does Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, Gov. Larry Hogan and State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.” James Baldwin Strong advocates for the arts and urban development, Kevin and Bill opened Station North Art Gallery on N. Charles Street about 13 years ago. Station North is an art gallery featuring art exhibits of students and local artists. Guests enjoy breakfast and lunch while appreciating or purchasing the artwork.

“The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.” James Baldwin Avid supporters of the great James Baldwin, who is displayed prominently throughout both establishments, they founded The James Baldwin Society, which recently celebrated 32

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years.

“The fact is we can only love what we know personally. And we cannot know much. In public affairs, in the rebuilding of civilization, something less dramatic and emotional is needed, namely tolerance.”

E. M. Forster SNAC was a diamond in the rough, in an area that was deemed a misfit with vacant buildings, a dilapidated motel and vagrants loitering the area.

Located between the Howard Street Bridge and Maryland Avenue, like the phoenix it is rising due to the foresight and vision of Kevin and Bill who birthed Nancy (as the regulars call her) five years ago. These two pioneers are excited about the changes that are taking place on the North Avenue corridor as it slowly develops into the Art District extension of Station North Arts Center (SNAC).

“A man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink and to be merry.” Ecclesiastes 8:15 The next time you want to eat, drink, look, listen or shop, visit Nancy for a delightful afternoon and an experience you will never forget. Like Cheers everybody will know your name. Just don’t be surprised if a tall, thin man wearing glasses and a huge smile yells, “Welcome to Nancy” and sits down beside you as he takes your order. If this happens you have officially been welcomed to Nancy and I guarantee you will not want to leave. Oh, come early they close at 3PM. “The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.” Abe Lemons Congratulations to Dawn Rini on her retirement from the Social Security Administration and the surprise retirement party hosted by her husband Tom Rini at Pappas of Cockeysville. Tom diligently contacted Dawn’s family, friends, coworkers and former coworkers to surprise her on her special day. More than100 guests enjoyed Pappas delicious menu especially their world famous crab cakes made famous by Oprah. There’s a chair in the lobby that says “Oprah sat here.”

Retiree Carolyn Hill is using her past work experience providing income tax preparation and notary public service at Security Income Tax Service in Security Mall. For more information call Carolyn at 443-5702245or email chill0630@aol.com It’s your birthday make some noise! Happy birthday: Candes Daniels, Harvey Harris, Dr. Vallen Emery Jr., Dr. Cynthia Neverdon Morton, The Hon. Marilyn Mosby, Ryan McNeill and Jean Johnson.

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” Langston Hughes Remembering the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

Photos by Keyon Smith

The 31st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Dinner was held, Jan. 18, at La Fontaine Bleu in Glen Burnie, Md. Many patrons from the Washington-Baltimore area gathered to celebrate the birthday, life and accomplishments of Dr. King. Community leaders from the Baltimore-DC area such as Congressman Anthony Brown, Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, Judge Vickie Gipson and Mayor Gavin Buckley were among those in attendance.

Boy Scouts of America Baltimore Area Council Troop 361

Dee Goodwyn, Steuart Pittman, Juanita Cage Lewis

Lawrence Diggs, Capt. Robert Dews, Tony J Spencer John P. Sarbanes and Steuart Pittman

Denise Lewis, Aaron Lewis III, Aaron Lewis Jr.

Gavin Buckley, Dutch Ruppersburger, Glaci Hines, Lyn Twyman, Barry Glassman, Steven McAdams, Manny Fonseca, (Left to Right) Boy Scouts of America Baltimore Area Council Troop 361.

Barry Glassman and Patricia Cole, recipient of the Alan Hilliard Civil Rights Award Thornell Jones, Rep. Dutch Ruppesberger, Carl Snowden Judge Vickie Gipson, First Lady Julie Buckley

Najiba Hlemi Gloria Criss, Christine Davenport, Rep. Anthony Brown, Jacqueline Boone Allsup

Boy Scouts of America Baltimore area council Troop 361

B Dunbar High School Band

Mayor Catherine Pugh

Interim Baltimore City Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle

Edmondson High School Marching Band

Sen. Antonio Hayes

Photos by James Fields Sr.

altimore residents withstood the freezing temperatures to support the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. parade, Jan. 21. Mayor Catherine Pugh, Councilman Brandon Scott and Councilman Zeke Cohen and members of Baltimore City offices led the parade down Martin Luther King Blvd. They stopped to thank all the city workers as well as the supporters that braved the cold. Marching bands from Dunbar and Edmondson High Schools as well as the Baltimore GO Getters, the Baltimore All Stars Marching Unit, fraternities and sororities and other local organizations marched in support.

Konan and April Watts of 92Q greeted everyone from the grand stand.

Office of The State’s Attorney for Baltimore City.

National Pan-Hellenic Council,Inc .of Metropolitan Baltimore.

Baltimore City Fire Dept Color Guard

Corrections From Last Week: Al Wylie Dr. Charles Gross and Pat Gross

January 25, 2019 - February 1, 2019, The Afro-American

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ARTS & CULTURE

Protests Planned at Screening of Michael Jackson Documentary

six-hour film that features two men who say they were sexually assaulted by Jackson when they were children.

The Q and A portion is when protesters may cause the biggest disturbances, TMZ reported.

The controversial documentary explores the alleged sexual abuse by Jackson, who died in 2009 at the age of 50.

Famous choreographer to the stars Wade Robson and another man, James Safechuck, are reportedly featured in the documentary and both tell stories of lurid behavior by Jackson.

Robson claims that when he was as young as 7, Jackson sexually assaulted him and the attacks continued for several years.

Safechuck, who traveled with Jackson when Safechuck was a young boy, said the singer repeatedly molested him.

Jackson was found not guilty of 13 counts involving the molestation of a 13-year-old cancer patient in 2005 and has always maintained his innocence despite acknowledging paying tens of millions of dollars in civil settlements to the family of at least three boys who claimed the singer molested them.

Jackson’s family has slammed the documentary and his fans have bombarded Twitter and other social media pages with protests.

One of Jackson’s nephews even tweeted that he could consider crowd funding to finance a counter-documentary.

Jackson’s estate executors have blasted the documentary, Robson and Safechuck, calling them “liars.” They point out that Photo: The artist Michael Jackson performing his song “Jam” as part of his Dangerous world tour in Europe in 1992. Source: Wikimedia Commons As for Jackson, the late hitmaker often publicly said he simply enjoyed the company of children because of both gave sworn testimony when Jackson was alive that the King of their innocence. “I’d slit my wrist before I’d hurt a child,” Jackson once said in a broadcast interview.

Pop never touched them.

The estate’s executors, John Branca and John McClain have also Kelly’s accusers are having their say and so are those who accused Bill Cosby. lashed out at HBO for planning to show the documentary in the spring. They claim And, in the era of #MeToo and #TimesUp, America’s embrace of “I believe the Jackson’s 1992 concert that aired exclusive on HBO, made the network millions and victims” has intensified. However, Michael Jackson’s family and ultra-loyal fan base, “this is how they show their gratitude.” are having none of it.

HBO officials said they still plan to air the documentary.

TMZ reports that police are gearing up for a mob of angry protestors who plan to Baton Rouge rap star Lil’ Boosie recently gave his thoughts on the Jackson let their feelings be known during a new blistering documentary about the late King of documentary.

Pop that’s set to premiere, Jan. 25, at the Sundance Film Festival.

The “Ghetto Stories” rapper took to Instagram for the “Surviving R. Kelly” Police are also gearing up for possible confrontations. controversy, in which Lifetime’s tell-all documentary on the life, times and sexually Law enforcement sources said the Park City Police Department is aware of an anti- deviant crimes of the Chicago crooner were thrusted to the forefront of pop culture at documentary protest being organized on social media, so cops are going to beef up the top of 2019. their presence both inside and outside the premiere with uniformed and undercover Now that a new Sundance film is in the works to spotlight Jackson’s alleged abuse officers. against children, Boosie said believe the victims. “Let’s see what the world has to say The website reported that law enforcement is most concerned about disruptions this time,” Boosie said. taking place during the Q&A portion of the screening of “Leaving Neverland,” a

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

Girlfriends Actress Talks Code Switching and Her New Role in I Am The Night her family, resentment toward her mother grows and the tension between them escalates to dizzying proportions. Brooks can relate. “I didn’t look like my mom and at 15 you don’t understand Golden Brooks spent much of her California childhood why. You think, ‘If I just looked like this, I would have acting out plays with her neighborhood friends. However, that.’ I went through a lot of that. A lot of that sadness acting wasn’t something she aspired to. “I wanted to and pain and anger I put into Jimmy Lee.” be Barbara Walters,” she says. “I wanted to interview Two things happened that began to solidify Brooks’ people.” Perhaps most known for the timeless comedy identity as a teen. “They began bussing kids from series Girlfriends in which she co-starred with Tracee South Central Los Angeles and they would tease me Ellis Ross, Jill Marie Jones and Persia White, Brooks is that I talked like a white girl. Eventually though, those one of the stars of the upcoming TNT series, I Am The kids helped me feel more comfortable with myself.”

Night.

Theater also entered Brooks’ life around that time. She Raised by a divorced mother, Brooks says she is recalls, “I found I felt safe in theater. So I engrossed mostly grateful for the way she was brought up. “My myself in theater in junior high and high school. I Mom worked two jobs to support my brother and I. We could disappear into the characters and that’s where I struggled but my brother and I were always in private felt most comfortable.” school. My mother always made sure we had the best. She As someone who majored in media representation did all she could to keep us busy and exposed to different at UC Berkeley, Brooks has an interesting vantage things.” Not having much left over for toys, Brooks was point from which to judge how Hollywood has forced to use her imagination, which helped in her career evolved. She explains, “I started out on Showtime on as an actress. a show called Links with Pam Grier and Tim Reid.

“Code switching,” she says, was also a big part of He actually was doing what Tyler Perry is doing now. her childhood. “I would go to these private schools and Tim had his own soundstage, everything. I’ve seen the assimilate and then when I got back to my block I would exploitation, I’ve played the stereotypes. I remember be more the neighborhood girl. I learned quickly to when the CW was around and it was like what BET is navigate both worlds. It was what gave me the knowledge now.” to build my character on Girlfriends.”

She shares that she doesn’t encounter the blatant I Am The Night is based on Fauna Hodel’s memoir One racism that she did even at the beginning of this Day She’ll Darken. In it, Brooks portrays the mixed-race century. “I used to get, ‘Can you just sass it up a bit?

Fauna’s mother Jimmy Lee. When Fauna learns some Yes, there was that code and I don’t hear that anymore. shocking secrets about her parentage, she sets off on a In the early 2000s you’d hear comments like that.” dark, sometimes terrifying search for her roots. Set in Brooks credits Girlfriends with helping to create 1960’s Nevada and Los Angeles, it is part mystery, part the more welcoming environment for Black actresses Courtesy Photo family drama, part tantalizing film noir. that exists today. “I can never talk about where we are Golden Brooks is a familiar “Girlfriend.”

The relationship between Jimmy Lee and Fauna is today,” she states emphatically, “without talking about complicated and Brooks drew from her experiences with Girlfriends. It was the springboard for a lot of things. her own mother to create the character. She says, “My It portrayed four successful African-American women mother has much lighter skin than me so there were a lot and I think it led to characters like Olivia Pope and the of things I would do she couldn’t understand. I used some Cookie. We’re now blockbuster sensations. There’s no of that for this character’s relationship with her daughter.” conversation about ‘Will they be successful?’ or ‘Are they gonna sell overseas?’ Yeah, Fauna, though white-passing, has always lived as Black. When she learns more about we do! We stood our ground and things changed. It’s living proof persistence pays off!”

By Nadine Matthews Special to the AFRO

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2018 ADM 001515 William Richard Wiggs Decedent Ferguson Evans, Esq. 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 900 South Bldg.

Washington, DC NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Renee Regina Smith and Ricardo R. Wiggs, whose address is 200 S. St., NE, , Washington, DC 20002 and 4303 Midtown Square, A[pt.

2035, Camp Springs MD 20746 were appointed Personal Representative of the estate of William Richard Wiggs who died on June 9, 2018 without a Will and will service with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed With the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 18, 2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before July 18, 2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

Date of Publication: January 18, 2019 Name of newspaper: Afro-American Washington Law Reporter Renee Regina Smith Ricardo R. Wiggs Personal Representatives TRUE TEST COPY REGISTER OF WILLS

the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before July 18, 2019, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2018 ADM 001527 James Govan Decedent Eli J. Guiterman, Esq. 2857 W. Wimbledon Way Oro Valley, Az 85737 NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Lula Randolph, whose address is 1736 D Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of James Govan who died on September 25, 2011 without a Will and will service with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed With the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W≥, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 18, 2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to

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All unknown heirs and heirs whose where-abouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., 3rd Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 25 2019. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before July

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All unknown heirs and heirs whose where-abouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., 3rd Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before December 8, 2018. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before December 8, 2018, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

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Superior Court of the District of Columbia PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2018ADM00574 Decedent Michael Wesley Smith NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Jacquelyn Yolanda Smith Williamson whose address is 5306 Lakevale Terrace Bowie, MD 20720 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Michael Wesley Smith , who died on February 27, 2018 without

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CITY OF BALTIMORE OFFICE OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS PUBLIC NOTICE PROCUREMENT OF CONSULTANT SERVICES PROJECT # 1306 - ON-CALL CIVIL/STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING SERVICES The Baltimore City Office of Boards and Commissions has been requested by the Department of General Services, Major Project Division, to advertise Project #1306 and certify Prequalification of engineering firms to provide On Call Civil/Structural Engineering Design services on renovation, repair, and construction projects for various City agencies. Up to four (4) contracts will be awarded for a period of four (4) years each.

The services to be provided may include, but are not limited to assisting the City Major Projects Division with studies, designs for repairs, renovations, and upgrades to a variety of City owned or maintained structures. The services may include feasibility studies, field investigations, analysis of existing structures for safety, and prepare temporary or permanent corrective measures, bid analysis, post award services, maintenance of project records and documentation, review of contractor’s application for payment, attendance at progress meetings, preparation of record drawings, review of contract claims and supports, estimating, scheduling, project engineering, constructability reviews, submittal reviews and responses, RFI reviews and responses, and construction contract administrative support.

The needs of the Department of General Services Major Projects Division vary widely as projects are identified. Consultants should be capable of providing engineering design services which may include expertise in the following areas; * Civil and structural engineering design applications * Civil and structural modifications to existing facilities * Familiarity with applicable codes, standards and 2015 Baltimore City Green Building Code * Knowledge of local, state, and federal historic preservation policy and procedure, especially The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for the Treatment of Historic Property * Preparing field investigations, feasibility studies, life-cycle cost analysis and condition assessments reports * Experience with change orders and claims analysis * Environmental engineering services, sampling and testing for hazardous material * Architectural design services * Mechanical engineering services * Electrical engineering services * Cost estimation services * Quality control services * Project management services * Commercial high rise building (five (5) stories or more) expertise * Overall team approach with Minority/Women Business Enterprises * Experience with Oracle Primavera version 6 software and Critical Path Method construction scheduling Consultant’s team will provide engineering staff with the following capabilities; * Personnel with skills equivalent to an Engineer, including a professional degree in Civil and Structural engineering or a State license to practice Civil/Structural Engineering. * Personnel with skills equivalent to an Engineer, including a professional degree in Mechanical and Electrical engineering or a State license to practice Mechanical and/ or Electrical Engineering.

410-554-8200

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1 Col. Inch Up to 20 Words

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: BALTIMORE AFRO-AMERICAN CO. 1531 S. Edgewood Street Suite B Baltimore, Md. 21227 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

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

a. Absent Defendant b. Absolute Divorce c. Custody Divorce

Firms interested in submitting a proposal as a prime consultant for this project are requested to complete and submit a “Letter of Interest” to the Office of Boards and Commissions, 4 South Frederick Street, 4th Flr., Baltimore, Maryland 21202 (EMAIL: obc.consultants@baltimorecity.gov). Since these letters are utilized to assist small, minority and women business enterprises in identifying potential teaming partners, the letters should be submitted within five (5) days of the date of the project’s advertisement. The letter should contain a contact person.

Failure to submit a “Letter of Interest” will not disqualify a firm submitting a proposal for the project.

Each prime consultant applying for this Project will be required to complete and submit an original Federal Form 255, along with five (5) copies, to the Office of Boards and Commissions. The Federal Form 255 and the five copies must be submitted on or before 12:00 P.M. (Noon) on

$180.00 per 3 weeks $180.00 per 3 weeks $360.00 per 6 weeks $125.00 per 2 weeks

$ 74.00 $ 245.00

$ 220.00 $ 220.00 $ 220.00

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.

1-800 (AFRO) 6892 For Proof of Publication, please call 1-800-237-6892, ext. 244

Insurance Requirements * Personnel with skills equivalent to a Construction Claim Analyst, including a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering or a related The Consultant shall procure and maintain during the life of this agreefield, and seven (7) years’ experience in construction claim or risk ment, the following required insurance coverage. analysis work. Registrations/Certifications preferred: PSP from AACEI or a PMI-SP. a. Worker’s Compensation coverage as required by the State of Maryland, as well as any similar coverage required for this work * Personnel with skills equivalent to a CPM Scheduler, including by applicable Federal or “other States” State Law. a college degree and at least five (5) years’ experience in construction or construction management, and a minimum of 1 year in b. Professional Liability, Errors, and Omissions Insurance at a limit analyzing schedules. Three (3) years’ experience in construction of not less than Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000) including a 3 scheduling software using current industry standard. Proficient year extended reporting period, in the event that services delivered with Primavera P3 and Primavera Project Management 6.0 pursuant to this Agreement, either directly or indirectly, involves or requires professional services, Professional Liability, Errors, and * Personnel with skills equivalent to a CAD drafter, including a Omissions coverage shall be provided. “Professional Services” for college degree and at least three (3) years’ drafting experience usthe purpose of this Agreement shall mean any services provided by ing AutoCAD software. a licensed CONSULTANT professional.

Project fees have been estimated at $2,000,000.00 per agreement for four (4) years. If further information is required regarding this request, please contact Ms. Azza Rizkallah at 410-396-1073.

$180.00 per 3 weeks

FAMILY COURT • 202-879-1212 DOMESTIC RELATIONS • 202-879-0157

LEGAL NOTICES * Personnel with skills equivalent to a Preservation Architect, including a professional degree in architecture or a State license to February 22, 2019. Submittals are not accepted after this deadline. The practice architecture or at least one year of full-time professional City will advertise for thirty (30) days. experience on historic preservation projects.

All tasks must comply with the 2006 edition of “The Specifications for * Personnel with skills equivalent to a bachelor degree in environ- Materials, Highway, Bridges, Utilities and Incidental Structures.” City mental science and has at least one (1) year of experience in this personnel will utilize the City of Baltimore Guidelines for the Performance Evaluation of Design Consultants and Construction Contractors field. for this contract/project. * Personnel with skills equivalent to a bachelor degree in geotechnical engineering and has at least one (1) year of experience in this Consultants interested in providing services to the City should be aware of City policies which determine the amount of overhead and profit a firm field. will be allowed. An Audited Financial Statement less than two (2) years * Personnel with skills equivalent to a Contract Administrator II, old will be require to justify any requested overhead rate above 100%. including a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or uni- The maximum allowed overhead rate is 172.73% for architectural firms, versity and three (3) years of experience in contract administration and 150% for engineering firms. Profit is fixed at 10% and salaries are capped at $65.00 excluding Principal’s time. work, project management, or project coordination.

* All teams shall have at least one member LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP).

Effective October 1, 2008

c. Commercial General Liability Insurance at limits of not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence for claims arising out of bodily injuries or death, and property damages. With those policies with aggregate limits, a minimum limit of Three Million Dollars ($3,000,000) is required. Such insurance shall include contractual liability insurance. The CITY, it’s elected/ appointed officials, employees, and agents shall be covered, by endorsement, when applicable, as additional insured’s as respects to; liability arising out of activities performed by or on behalf of the CONSULTANT in connection with this Agreement. d. Business Automobile Liability at limits of not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence for all claims arising out of bodily injuries or death and property damages. The insurance shall apply to any owned, non-owned, leased, or hired automobiles used in the performance of this agreement e. To the extent of the CONSULTANT’s negligence, the CONSULTANT’s insurance coverage shall be primary insurance as respects

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the CITY, its elected/appointed employees and agents. Any insurance and/or self-insurance maintained by the CITY, its elected appointed officials, employees and agents, shall not contribute with CONSULTANT’s insurance or benefit the CONSULTANT in any way. f. Coverage shall not be suspended, voided, cancelled, reduced in coverage, or in limits, except by the reduction of applicable aggregate limit by claims paid, until after forty-five (45) days prior written notice has been given to the CITY. There will be an exception for non-payment of premium, which is ten (10) days’ notice of cancellation. g. Insurance is to be placed with insurers with a Best’s rating of no less than A:VII, or, if not rated with Best’s with minimum surpluses the equivalent of Best’s surplus size VII and must be licensed/ approved to do business in the State of Maryland. h. The CONSULTANT shall furnish the CITY a “Certificate of Insurance” with a copy of the additional insured endorsement, when applicable, as verification that the coverage is in force. The CITY reserves the right to require complete copies of insurance policies at any time.

Prequalification Certification All architectural, engineering, and surveying firms listed in the specific proposal for the Project must be prequalified by the Office of Boards and Commissions for each applicable discipline at time of submittal for this Project. A copy of the prime and sub consultant’s current Prequalification Certificate should be included in the bid submittal package. If you need information on the City’s Prequalification Certification process please call the Office of Boards and Commissions at 410-396-6883.

MBE/WBE Certification It is the policy of the City of Baltimore to promote equal business opportunity in the City’s contracting process. Pursuant to Article 5, Subtitle 28 of Baltimore City Code (2000 Edition) – Minority and Women’s Business Program, Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) participation goals apply to this contract.

The MBE goal is 13% The WBE goal is 6%

Both the proposed Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise firms must be named and identified as an MBE or WBE within Item 6 of the Standard Form (SF) 255 in the spaces provided for identifying outside key consultants/associates anticipated for utilization for this project.

Any submittals that do not include the proper MBE/WBE (in some instances DBE) participation will be disapproved for further consideration for this project.

Verifying Certification Each firm submitting a SF 255 for consideration for a project is responsible for verifying that all MBEs and WBEs to be utilized on the project are certified by the Minority and Women’s Business Opportunity Office (MWBOO) prior to submitting the proposal. A directory of certified MBEs and WBEs is available from MWBOO. Since changes to the directory occur daily, firms submitting SF 255s should call MWBOO at (410) 396-4355 to verify certification, expiration dates and services that the MBE or WBE is certified to provide.

A bidder that is an MBE or WBE may count up to 50% of the dollar value of the work it intends to perform with its own forces toward the applicable MBE or WBE goal. The amount of credit may not exceed the MBE’s or WBE’s available work capacity as calculated with the Contractor Prequalification rules. Intentions to count self-performance toward the MBE or WBE goal must be identified within submitted proposals and will be required to be indicated on Part C: Statement of Intent to Self-Perform. (Art 5, §28-31(d)).

A firm submitting as a prime consultant that fails to comply with the requirements of Article 5, Subtitle 28 of Baltimore City Code when executing a contract is subject to the following penalties: suspension of a contract; withholding of funds; rescission of contract based on material breach; disqualification as a consultant from eligibility to provide services to the City for a period not to exceed 2 years; and payment for damages incurred by the City.

Additional Requirements A resume for each person listed as key personnel and/or specialist, including those from MBE and WBE must be shown on the page provided within the application.

Please be advised that for the purpose of reviewing price proposals and invoices, the City of Baltimore defines a principal of a firm as follows: * A principal is any individual owner, partner of a partnership, shareholder of a Sub-Chapter ‘S’ Corporation, or an officer/director of any Corporation.

Out-of-State Corporations must identify their corporate resident agent within the application.

The applications for this Project (Form 255) cannot be supplemented with any additional information such as graphs, photographs, organization chart, etc. All such information should be incorporated into the appropriate pages. Applications should not be bound. Applications should simply be stapled in the upper left-hand corner. Cover sheets should not be included. Inclusion and/or submittal of additional material may result in the applicant being disqualified from consideration for this project.

Failure to follow directions of this advertisement or the application may cause disqualification of the submittal.

Sincerely, Deena Joyce, Executive Secretary Office of Boards and Commissions

Issue of: January 25, 2019 Baltimore Sun Daily Record Afro-American Baltimore Times

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ENHANCED LEASING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

City of Baltimore Department of Finance Bureau of Purchases

RFP NUMBER: B-1888-19 The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (“HABC”) is requesting proposals from interested and qualified entities to continue implementation of an Enhanced Leasing Assistance Program (ELA Program), designed to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities (“NEDs”) in successfully leasing rental units subsidized by Section 8 project-based vouchers issued by HABC and to provide mobility counselling to NEDs who apply for units created by HABC for NEDs in strong Baltimore City neighborhoods.

PROPOSALS WILL BE DUE no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 1, 2019.

A non-mandatory pre-proposals conference will be held on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at 10:00 a.m., at 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 nonminority 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 RFP may be obtained on or after Tuesday, February 5, 2019, 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, Senior Contract Manager Tel: (410) 396-3261 john.airey@habc.org Questions regarding the RFP should be directed in writing to the address and individual indicated above, and must include the reference: HABC RFP Number B-1888-19.

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF BALTIMORE CITY INVITATION FOR BIDS HUD CERTIFIED CABINETS IFB NUMBER: B-1887-19 The Housing Authority of Baltimore City (“HABC”) will issue an Invitation for Bids (“IFB”) for qualified and interested vendors to submit sealed bids to supply HUD certified cabinets to HABC developments located throughout Baltimore City.

BIDS WILL BE DUE no later than 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, March 1, 2019.

A non-mandatory pre-bid meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 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 threshold 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 threshold 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.

Bidders 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 and all supporting documents may be obtained on or after Monday, January 28, 2019 from the following location: Housing Authority of Baltimore City Division of Fiscal Operations, Procurement Department 417 E. Fayette Street, Room 414 Baltimore, Maryland 21202 Attention: John Airey, Senior Contract Manager Tel: (410) 396-3261 john.airey@habc.org Questions regarding the IFB should be directed in writing to the address and individual indicated above and must include the reference: HABC Bid No. B-1887-19.

City of Baltimore Department of Finance Bureau of Purchases Sealed proposals addressed to the Board of Estimates of Baltimore will be received until, but not later than 11:00 a.m. local time on the following date(s) for the stated requirements: February 27, 2019 • ANNUAL AND FIVE YEAR CERTIFICATIONS AND INSPECTIONS FOR LADDER TRUCKS B50005665 THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION DOCUMENT CAN BE VIEWED AND DOWNLOADED BY VISITING THE CITY’S WEBSITE:www. baltimorecitibuy.org

Sealed proposals addressed to the Board of Estimates of Baltimore will be received until, but not later than 11:00 a.m. local time on the following date(s) for the stated requirements: February 20, 2019 • 45-FOOT BUCKET TRUCK & 47-FOOT DIGGER DERRICK TRUCK B50005418 • ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE B50005648 • PNEUMATIC TIRE FORKLIFT B50005649 • REGULAR CAB TRUCK W/ENCLOSED UTILITY BODY B50005650 • SPRINTER CARGO VAN B50005651 • CRACK SEALING TRAILER MELTER APPLICATOR B50005652 February 27, 2019 • OEM PARTS, SERVICE AND WARRANTY FOR PETERBILT LOAD PACKERS B50005670 THE ENTIRE SOLICITATION DOCUMENT CAN BE VIEWED AND DOWNLOADED BY VISITING THE CITY’S WEBSITE: www.baltimorecitibuy.org IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR BALTIMORE CITY Case No.: 24-O-18-004063 IN THE MATTER OF

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR BALTIMORE CITY Case No.: 24D18-001335 IN THE MATTER OF

Jacob Thomas Plummer FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO Adelina Nicole Carr

Jessica Maria Spencer FOR CHANGE OF NAME TO

ORDER FOR NOTICE BY PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to officially change the name of the petitioner from Jacob Thomas Plummer To Adelina Nicole Carr It is this 15th day of January , 2019 by the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, ORDERED, that publication be given one time in a newspaper of general circulation in Baltimore City on or before the 18th day of February , 2019, which shall warn all interested persons to file an affidavit in opposition to the relief requested on or before the 15th day of March, 2019.

Marilyn Bentley Clerk 1/25/19

Jessica Maria Wilkerson ORDER FOR NOTICE BY PUBLICATION The object of this suit is to officially change the name of the petitioner from Jessica Maria Spencer to Jessica Maria Wilkerson

afro.com

LEGAL NOTICES

C5

•Your History •Your Community • Your News

January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019, The Afro-American

It is this 18th day of December, 2018 by the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, ORDERED, that publication be given one time in a newspaper of general circulation in Baltimore City on or before the 18th day of January, 2019, which shall warn all interested persons to file an affidavit in opposition to the relief requested on or before the 11th day of February, 2019.

Marilyn Bentley Clerk 1/18/19

BALTIMORE CAREER CORNER ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Chief, Project Management and Planning Equipment Operator II Facilities Maintenance Mechanic II GIS Specialist GIS Technician Permits Processor I Planning Administrator Plans Examiner (Engineer II) Police Communications Operator II Programmer Analyst I Recycling Program Specialist Utilities Maintenance Crew Leader Utilities Support Worker 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. Deadlines to apply posted on website.

AEO/DF/SFE

CANDIDATES FOR MARYLAND STATE TREASURER The General Assembly of Maryland is charged by the Maryland Constitution with appointing the State Treasurer by joint ballot of the Senate and House of Delegates.

A committee, appointed pursuant to Section 5-101(b) of the State Government Article of the Maryland Annotated Code, will review resumes of all applicants, hold a public hearing, and make a recommendation to the members of the General Assembly. The State Treasurer is the guardian of State funds, responsible for receiving, depositing, investing and distributing State money. Among other duties, the Treasurer oversees the issuance of State debt, the investment of State funds, and the administration of the State Insurance Program. The State Treasurer also serves on a variety of fiscal planning committees and a number of other State boards, including the Board of Trustees of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System and the Board of Public Works.

The Honorable Nancy K. Kopp, the current Treasurer of the State of Maryland, has applied for reappointment. Other applicants must submit their resumes or statements of work experience not later than February 5, 2019. Applicants must also present themselves at a public hearing to be held February 12, 2019 at 6 p.m. Resumes should be submitted to: Kacey M. Smith, Committee Staff Joint Committee to Select the State Treasurer Department of Legislative Services 90 State Circle Annapolis, Maryland 21401 410-946-5200 Baltimore/Annapolis 301-970-5200 Washington D.C. Metro Area 1-800-492-7122 for other areas in Maryland

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

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January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019, The Afro-American

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WASHINGTON-AREA

Mayor Pushes for Emergency Legislation for Unemployment, SNAP Benefits

D.C. Women’s March An All Inclusive Affair

By George Kevin Jordan AFRO Staff Writer As the country enters its second month of a financially crippling federal government shutdown, on Tuesday Mayor Muriel Bowser announced plans for legislation that would offer some relief to D.C. residents who were impacted.

That relief comes in two ways. One would be an emergency bill to allow federal employees deemed essential to receive unemployment insurance benefits. Also, the mayor will provide $2 million in additional support from a contingency fund to go to new and recertifying D.C. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries.

On average, a family receives about $220 of food benefits per month, a small yet vital lifeline for approximately 110,000 Washingtonians. Of these beneficiaries, 41,000 are children under the age of 18, and 16,000 are seniors over the age of 60, according to the mayor’s office.

“Millions of Americans, including hundreds of thousands of District workers and families, are feeling the full impact of lost income and the anxiety that comes with not knowing when you’ll receive a steady paycheck,” Bowser said. “We know that what Americans need is a resolution to this shutdown, but until that happens, we’re going to keep doing what we can to make sure our residents have their basic needs taken care of.”

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Photo By George Kevin Jordan

A poster at the third annual Women’s March on Jan. 19.

By George Kevin Jordan AFRO Staff Writer Thousands gathered Saturday to observe the third annual Women’s March in D.C. The group was diverse, representing many demographics, ages and nationalities.

The march started around 11 a.m. near Freedom Plaza, 1455 Pennsylvania Ave NW, and wrapped back around to the orignial location and site of the rally. The march, Rise Up, #womenswave built steam as it went on with crowds swelling once they reached the main stage. This event was part of several marches held across the U.S. The women’s movement is a complex push for changes in policy. The group organization put forth a 72 page agenda.

According to their official document: “We believe the Women’s Agenda is the first intersectional feminist policy platform. Women’s March convened a group of 70 movement leaders to create this set of 24 essential federal policy priorities that form the foundation of the 2019 Women’s March on Washington and will establish the priorities of our movement over the next two years.”

The root of the movement is based in intersectionality, which the agenda describes: “Intersectionality is a way to describe the experiences of identity that cross lines of gender, such as race, class, ability and sexual orientation, and come together to impact one’s experiences of moving through the world. The concept originates in Black feminist theory and the word itself was coined by Dr. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw to describe the ways that

National Collegiate Prep Has Charter Revoked

By George Kevin Jordan AFRO Staff Writer The District of Columbia Public Charter School Board (DCPCSB) voted Tuesday for charter revocation of National Collegiate Preparatory Public High School with a one year wind down period.

The school and the board have held impassioned meetings over the last several months. National Collegiate Prep students, staff and advocates wanted the school to have more time to make improvements to raise math Courtesy Photo and other scores.

The District of Columbia Public Charter School Board The board, however, said (DCPCSB) voted for charter revocation of National the efforts and turnaround Collegiate Preparatory Public High School with a one-year plan arrived too late for their wind down period. actions to change the vote.

National Collegiate Prep was granted a charter by the DCPCSB in 2009. While schools have independence over budgets and other matters, they do have to uphold charter rules and sign an agreement with the board.

The board held a 10 year review of the school and stated that NCPH had not met all their agreement goals. According to their report, they stated that National Collegiate partially met three goals and did not meet one of its goal. One couldn’t be accessed and one was removed.

School staff pushed back saying they had met eight of their ten goals.

In a public written response the school debated certain criterias of measurement especially when they came to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career testing, saying in part that, “NCP’s PARCC scores alone are not valid and reliable measures of NCP’s

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Black women are uniquely impacted by discrimination in the workplace, the criminal justice system, education and more. Today, we advocate for an expansive understanding of intersectionality when we fight for social and policy change.”

The movement wants to create policies and legislation that address ending violence against Women & Femmes, Reproductive Rights and justice, LGBTQIA Rights, Immigrant rights, Civil Rights and liberties, among many other items.

The lineup of speakers was representative of the intersectionality that the organization’s agenda described.

Romper.com reported a full list of speakers.

One of the highlights of the march and rally was the imaginative posters and protest signs depicting everything from an illustration of Martin Luther King, Jr. silencing a tweeting President Trump to a man carrying a sign that read: “Build Blasey-Ford Tough” paying homage to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford who testified during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings.

For Alyzsha Negron, a Virginia resident, attending the march was personal.

“I’m here to stand for something,” Negron said. “If we don’t stand for something we’ll fall for anything.

“Everybody’s out here for something. I’m hoping that we actually have some change. I just hope for equality for everyone.”

Negron said she is hopeful the new energy and legislators in office might help bring a change.

“As long as we let oppressors oppress us it won’t make a difference,” Negron said. “So as long as we stand together with the new faces we’ll be fine.”

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Bowser Brings Wrath With Fare Evasion Veto

By George Kevin Jordan AFRO Staff Writer On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day more than 46 organizations publicly admonished Mayor Bowser’s veto of the Fare Evasion Decriminalization Bill, joining Council member Robert C. White, Jr. who released a blunt statement criticizing the move last week.

The letter by local organizations was addressed to D.C. Council members saying: “We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to vote to override the veto of Mayor Muriel Bowser on bill 22-408, the Fare Evasion Decriminalization Act of 2018. As organizations that serve clients, organize constituents and interact every day with people who directly experience the inequitable enforcement of fare evasion penalties, we have seen firsthand the effects of overcriminalization on entire communities, almost exclusively communities of color.”

The letter also pointed to data found in the Washington Lawyers Committee report which stated that some 91% of all fare evasions involved a Black person, typically a young Black male.

Represented in the chorus of opponents to the veto include organizations such as the ACLU of District of Columbia, Bread for the City, D.C. for Democracy, Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and Black Lives Matter D.C., among others.

Late last week Councilman At large Council White offered a statement that hit Twitter. In the statement he

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Hip Hop Icons Honored at Underground Gala

By Mark F. Gray AFRO Staff Writer mgray@afro.com Marking the 40th anniversary of the release of iconic rap music single “Rapper’s Delight,” the Sugar Hill Gang were among the nominees elected to the Hip-Hop Hall of Fame during an underground gala at the Hip-Hop Museum Pop Up Experience at Blind Whino in southwest D.C. “We tried to tell a hip-hop story that shows our love and appreciation of hip-hop and the history we’re trying to preserve,” said Red Summer, curator of the Museum tells the AFRO. “Its constantly growing and this is just the beginning.”

The Hip-Hop Museum launched a monthlong gallery show with a concert featuring The Sugarhill Gang, Trouble Funk, Melle Mel, and Grandmaster Caz to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the world’s first commercial hip-hop single and to honor pioneers and contributors to the groundbreaking industry.

D.C.’s legendary go-go band Trouble Funk was one of seven contributors selected by the Museum to earn Hall of Fame status after being honored as “the most sampled group in [hip hop music] history.”

That Trouble Funk was honored for its place in hip-hop’s history speaks to how the credibility of both, go-go and hip-hop have grown over the last four decades. Many extreme hip-hop purists of the late 1980s through the mid-1990s were reluctant to appreciate D.C.’s musical art form, which led

to animosity between groups from New York City and the nation’s capital.

However, the atmosphere of the museum and the night’s events nurtured a spirit of camaraderie amongst fans and artists from the DMV and around the world. Walls that once proved fatal, which separated regions of the nation who brought different styles to hip-hop shared in this special evening. There wasn’t any east coast versus west coast or rap versus go-go “beefs.” Instead it was an evening to honor the pioneers of the revolutionary music that has become a cultural phenomenon.

“When we started it was all about having fun and telling stories that were important to us,” said DJ Melle Mell from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five who was honored by the Museum. “These days it’s all about being tough guys, beefs and disrespecting women. Its great that we can remember what hip-hop is about through places that tell the history like this.”

According to the Museum’s chief historian, Jay Quan, The Sugar Hill Gang remains one of the most controversial of the early rap artists because of Big Bad Hank’s borrowed and uncredited verses. However, Master Gee & Wonder Mike began writing lyrics and performing before rap records existed.

The three blended seamlessly for “Rappers Delight,” which proved to be the foundation for the lifestyle of a new generation.

“The Sugar Hill Gang kicked the door down, and set the template for successful rap recordings,” said Quan.

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

Metro Fare

National Cathedral Pulls from Spike Lee’s Canon for 2nd Annual Weekend of Film

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Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Dean of the Episcopal Divinity

By George Kevin Jordan School at Union Seminary and the Canon Theologian at Washington AFRO Staff Writer National Cathedral, Dr. Greg Garrett, Professor of English at Baylor University, and author of more than 20 books on religion, politics, Spike Lee’s body of work in film has been called many things narrative, literature, and popular culture, Vann Newkirk, a staff writer over the past three decades, from genius to groundbreaking. The at The Atlantic, The Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce, Professor and Dean of filmmaker’s passion for probing the issue of race is also undeniable. the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC., and On February 1st and 2nd Washington National Cathedral presents “A Mr. Elliot Williams, a Principal with the Raben Group.

Long, Long Way Film Weekend,” a two day event designed to give The festival name was inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. “Before cinephiles, activists and enthusiast alike an opportunity to discuss his death in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther Lee’s work.

King, Jr. remarked that while the nation A Long, Long Way: had come “a long, long way” in its quest Race and Film, 1989 - 2019, for racial justice, it still had a long, long takes two of Lee’s movies, way to go. In this spirit, the Long, Long “Do the Right Thing” Way Film Weekend compares historical and “BlacKkKlansman,” and contemporary film, exploring and provides a venue for narratives of race and prejudice over audiences to view them then time,” according to the press release. discuss their importance “Do the Right Thing” (1989) was with a panel of theologians, Lee’s third feature film.It brought forth scholars, journalists and many characters like Mookie, and Radio policymakers. This is the Courtesy Photo Raheem. The film went on to make second annual event of it’s over $37 million world wide according to The Washington National Cathedral is using films kind for Washington National from Spike Lee’s canon as part of their second annual boxofficemojo.com. DTRT was nominated Cathedral. for four Golden Globes including Best “A Long, Long Way Film Weekend.”

A screening of “Do Screenplay - Motion Picture, and two The Right Thing” will take Academy Award nominations including Best Actor in A Supporting place at 7 p.m. Friday Feb. 1st, at the Cathedral, located at 3101 Role for Danny Aiello and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. At 6:30 p.m. Saturday February 2nd for the Screen for Lee. “BlacKkKlansman” will be shown. Both films will have discussion Last year Lee’s latest film “BlacKkKlansman” was released. With panels immediately after the screening. only a $15 Million budget it earned over $89 Million worldwide. The Moderating the panel discussions will be Korva Coleman, a film was nominated for four Golden Globe awards including Best newscaster for NPR. Coleman has written, produced, and delivered Motion Picture - Drama, and Best Director - Motion Picture. And film national newscasts for programs like NPR’s “All Things Considered,” could be up for one of several Academy Award nominations this week.

“Morning Edition,” and “Weekend Edition.”

This event is co-sponsored by Austin Film Festival, Baylor Also from 3 - 5 p.m. Saturday February 2nd will be an in depth University, and The March On Washington Film Festival. To register workshop dissecting the two films, and the issues of race and policing. for tickets please visit Washington National Cathedral website.

Scheduled speakers and panelists throughout the event include: The

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Lyn Walker from Pennsylvania, walked along the the perimeter of the stage. She said that her need to attend was nonnegotiable.

“I had to be apart and show the government that we do care about they way their talking about women, the way they’re treating us, and how we need to be apart of the administration as well,” Walker said.

The experience was powerful for Walker who added, “It feels good to see so many women that I didn’t realize felt the same way, that they want a government that understands their point of view.”

There was controversy prior to the march as some members of the founding organization accuses other organizers of anti-

semitism. During the day, inclusion was the focal point.

Patricia Thomas, Tee Ford Ahmed and a woman who wants to be identified as Amoriya traveled all the way from Athens, Ohio to attend the march. The women were excited as soon as they got to the crowds.

“I’m already feeling inspired,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to make a positive change in this country.”

And although they all came with hopes for the future, they were all united to keep the momentum of the march going when they returned home.

“We already have a sister march in our hometown,” Thomas said. “We’ll go home and keep it rolling.”

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D.C. Council members and proponents for the decriminalization of metro fare evasion are crtiicizing the mayor for her choice to veto the bill which would make fare evasion a civil offense. said, “I am disappointed that the Mayor used a rare veto to overturn the {Fare Evasion Decriminalization Amendment Act of 2018}.

WMATA fare evasion enforcement data shows a stark and undeniably racial disparity. Advocating for an enforcement practice that is clearly discriminatory is unjust, and we can not forsake justice in the name of “financial challenges.” When we do people of color and low-income residents bear the consequences of our inaction.

Vetoing a criminal justice bill without offering an alternative solution hurts our residents.

I ask that the Mayor strongly consider reversing course.”

The bill (22-0408) which passed the D.C. Council by a voice vote, would have reduced the fine for fare evasion down to a $100 civil

fine. Currently the law can fine a person up to $300, imprisonment of no more than 10 days or both. The bill stated that in practice the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority usually issues warnings, $50 fines or makes arrests.

On Jan. 16 Bowser vetoed the bill. In a letter addressed to Council chair Phil Mendelson, the mayor cited Metro’s financial challenges and that the District loses between $25 million and $50 million from fare evasion and that {Bill 22-0408} might make matters worse.

“While {Bill 22-408} also has the aim of reducing the impact of the criminal justice system, it would be to the detriment of the Metro system and its users.

We should not encourage lawlessness on Metro, which could exacerbate public safety concerns on our Metro system and in our city,” the letter stated.

The bill was originally introduced on July 11, 2017

by Council members Trayvon White Sr. (D- Ward 8), Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), Elissa Silverman (D- At Large), Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), White (D-At-Large), Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 5), David Grosso (D-At-Large), and Kenyan A. McDuffie (D-Ward 4) at Committee of the Whole meeting. The D.C. Council still has an opportunity to override the mayor’s veto.

A motion to override the veto is scheduled for Tuesday during the next D.C. Council Legislative Meeting.

Keeping Metro Safe, Reliable and Affordable

Let us know what you think about Metro’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget.

Metro has proposed several changes to deliver better service and value to riders: Expand weekday peak service times

Enhance and reducing cost of pass products

Extend service on the Yellow and Red lines

Run all 8-car trains

Introduce a $2 weekend flat fare on Metrorail Go to wmata.com/budget to get more information about these proposed adjustments, the Capital Improvement Program and Strategic Plan.

To provide feedback, go to wmata.com/budget or attend an open house/ public hearing:

Tuesday, January 29, 2019 Metro Headquarters Building 600 5th Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Open House 5:30 p.m.

Public Hearing 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019 The Durant Arts Center 1605 Cameron Street Alexandria, VA 22314 Open House 6:00 p.m.

Public Hearing 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, January 31, 2019 Greenbelt Library 11 Crescent Road Greenbelt, MD 20770 Open House 6:00 p.m.

Public Hearing 6:30 p.m.

Please provide your feedback by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5, 2019.

Public feedback will be provided to Metro’s Board of Directors in March 2019 as part of the final decision making process.

Any Board-approved fare or service changes will begin on or about July 1, 2019.

Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, gender, religion, disability or family status. If you require special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or translation services (free of charge), contact the project team at 202-962-2511 (TTY: 202-962-2033) as soon as possible prior to the public hearing date.

Get more information at wmata.com/budget.

January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019, The Afro-American

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Hip Hop Museum

Mayor

Grandmaster Caz was honored as one of Hip Hop’s first “rapping DJ’s” who spun and rhymed simultaneously. He is regarded as one of rap’s earliest and greatest storytellers.

The Large Professor is one of rap music’s legendary emcee/ producer tandems. His first commercial success came as part of The Main Source. He is responsible for introducing Nasty Nas (who became Nas) to the world by producing his first single. He also produced Fakin’ The Funk with Main Source and remixed songs for Eric B & Rakim, Kool G Rap, Roxanne Shante’ and Slick Rick.

Busy Bee earned the title “Chief Rocker” after recording for various labels including Sugar Hill, but earned his induction because of his on stage presence. He was an original emcee, whose rhyming, scatting, crowd participation and humor were in his performance repertoire.

unemployment benefits since the shutdown began. And, in the District alone, 5,897 federal workers and contractors have applied for unemployment benefits. The District government has stepped up to process thousands of unemployment claims for furloughed workers and we hope to do the same for those deemed excepted or essential.”

The Department of Labor, however denied the request, leaving D.C. to fend for itself.

The damage of the shutdown, which Bowser referred to as a “lock out” expanded beyond just federal workers. She added up the auxiliary business that depend on income from all the federal workers coming into the District.

“The lock out is hurting our economy overall,” Bowser said.

Courtesy Photo The mayor also mentioned the Metro District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed emergency legislation system which must continue to run to to assist essential federal employees with unemployment insurance service the public, but is currently losing benefits and $2 million in additional support for Supplemental Nutrition about $400,000 a day.

Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries.

A press conference was held at the Capital Area Food Bank, which has seen the impact of the shutdown in a very real Last week Bowser wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta pushing for federal employees to be eligible way. Radha Muthiah, President and CEO of the CAFB said the organization which normally provides about 3 million for unemployment benefits. meals a month, provided over 3.6 million this past month, or a In the letter Bowser stated: 20% increase in need.

“This partial government shutdown is now the longest in For a list of resources in D.C. for assistance please go to history. For the past three weeks, roughly 800,000 federal dc.gov/shutdown. Also for food resources in the area go to workers have either been without work or must continue to dcfoodpolicy.org/federal-government-shutdown-resources. work without pay. In the National Capital Region, at least 7,127 federal employees and contractors have applied for

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Hip Hop Legend The Sugar Hill Gang performs during the opening of the Hip Hop Museum’s Pop Up Experience in southwest D.C.

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National Collegiate Continued from D1

proficiency or performance in ELA and Math and show that, when NWEA MAP data is considered as a measure of growth, as it must be consistent with the business rules NCP adopted when it amended its charter, NCP’s students have achieved average or better than average growth in ELA and Math.”

In late December the board moved to start the revocation process but still allowed for public testimony to be heard. Last week there was an outpour of support from students and parents during a public hearing.

During Tuesday’s special meeting the mood was somber on both sides and tensions high.

“I used to teach in Southeast and kids in Southeast have gotten a bad deal in terms of the school they have available to them for a really long time and it’s not right,” Board member Steve Bumbaugh said. “The kids deserve better than that.”

“If this school closes in June there aren’t going to be a lot of good options for kids who attended last year. I’m trying to think of a compromise. I would like to suggest a lifeline.”

Naomi Shelton, another board member, proposed a motion for revocation with a three year wind down, in an attempt to “extend the runaway to ensure the safety of students as we transition.”

“The outcomes of the school are less than stellar, but at the same time we heard overwhelmly the need to give safety concerns priority in how we deal with this.”

Ultimately the a vote was proposed by Bumbaugh and passed to close the school by the end of the 2019-2020 school year, and in interim closure plan developed by DCPCSB by March 1.

An amended charter agreement executed by the school and the board by January 25th and no new students could be enrolled past that time.

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The Afro-American, January 26, 2019 - February 1, 2019

Zumba Class

Aaron Gilchrist, NBC 4 news anchor

T

he 2019 NBC4 Telemundo 44 Health and Fitness Expo was held Jan. 12-13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest, Washington, D.C. For the 26th year, attendees had a chance to learn more about health, wellness and fitness while having fun. There were various cooking demonstrations, several Zumba presentations, various games for the kiddies to play. D.C. Fire and EMS gave classes on CPR and a variety of non-profits were there to share information about their organizations. The entire NBC4 and Telemundo news anchors teams were in attendance. Even D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser came and demonstrated her skills on the hulahoop. Attendees left the convention center armed with the tools to live a healthier lifestyle.

Miss District of Columbia Cordelia Cranshaw with Redskins Cheerleaders Candess and Kiki

Blood pressure screening offered by Howard University Hospital Community Services

Rock -climbing activity

Health and Fitness Expo attendees

Young attendees with animal characters

Latina Dance Group

Melonie Barnes and John Torres Mayor Bowser (center) participating in hula-hoop activity

From DC Health Link (L) Mila Kodman, Johnette Wilson, Mercelena Ezuma and Paulette Sheffield

Mayor Bowser’s hula-hoop performance

Photos by Rob Roberts

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he Ira Dorsey Scholarship Endowment Fund (IDSEF) of the Prince William County, Virginia-based Xi Alpha Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity held its fourth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Contest January 19 at the Waterford Reception Center in Springfield, Virginia. Four high school students from the national capital region were asked to speak on the theme Achieving the Dream: what Dr. King’s Dream means to them; the progress made in America and the world in the 55 years since and what they and others of their (Front row) Anthony T. Walker and Evan Kinsel. generation can do to make Dr. King’s dream a reality.

(Back row) Ronald Atwater, William Kinsel, Michael This contest is one of four major events (along with a golf Ward and Gerald Gladney tournament, a 5K run/walk, and the signature event - the Black and Gold Ball in June) IDSEF sponsors annually to raise funds for its scholarship program. Since 1994, IDSEF has provided nearly $200,000 in assistance to college bound Photos by male seniors in Virginia, Rob Roberts the District and Maryland.

The Judges: Larry Henderson, pres. IDSEF, Hershel L. Holiday and Forte’ D. Ward

Entertainment by Louis Neeley

Rhonda Dunn, Kelly Lucas and Trinetta Chandler-Kinsel

Introduction of Student Speakers, Ronald Atwater

Greeting from Sidney Evans, Oratorical Contest Chairman

Paris Washington, 2018 winner of The MLK Oratorical Contest makes a few remarks

Al Moseley, Joyce Moseley, Jeanie Terry and Joseph Terry

Melvin Cloud, Pres. Xi Alpha Lambda Chapter, 3rd places winners, Royce Dean Shark and Jody Peacock, 2nd places winner, Xavier Haynes, 1st place winner, Michael Kinsel

Corey Davis, Raymon Haston and Kenneth Tarrant

Tavan’s Turner, John Norfleet, Michael Massie and Joseph Massie