PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION
Volume 122 No. 29
FEBRUARY 22, 2014 - FEBRUARY 28, 2014
Minimum Wage is Going Up
Young Black Men Respond to Dunn Case Verdict By Jonathan Hunter, Zachary Lester and Courtney Jacobs AFRO Staff Writers
Federal, Maryland and County initiatives gaining momentum By Alexis Taylor AFRO Staff Writer Efforts to raise both the federal and state minimum wage continued this month. At the federal level, information from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported a change could have wide-reaching positive and negative effects. “The $10.10 option would have substantially larger effects on employment and income than the $9.00 option would – because more workers would see their wages rise; the change in their wages would be greater,” concluded the CBO in their 39-page report.
Del. Aisha Braveboy, who sponsored HB 187, said lawmakers are working out problems with the bill, but believes it will get a committee vote by early to mid-March and then proceed to the House floor. Photo by A.R. Ward
“Once fully implemented in the second half of 2016, the $10.10 option would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers, or 0.3 percent.” Even though 500,000 could become unemployed as employers decrease their work force to increase the minimum wage, a total of 900,000 people would move to the positive side of the poverty threshold, where 45 million people are currently
making less than $23,550 a year for a family of four. With the $9 option, the CBO found that anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million people could end up unemployed. However, roughly 7.6 million low-wage earners would see an increase totaling about $1 billion extra dollars for families living in poverty. With the $9 option, 300,000 people would be lifted out of their Continued on A5
Voter registration deadline June 3
Heroin Overdose Deaths Skyrocketing in Region By Zachary Lester AFRO Staff Writer
INSIDE B3
Valentine’s Day Rebranded
B5
Sam Lacy: He Made a Difference
A baby picture alongside a photo of Randallstown teenager Christopher Brown, who died in June 2012.
Christopher’s Law Would Require Additional Police Training Named for Black Teen Killed by Balto County Police Officer
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To many young Black men in the Washington-Baltimore area, the failure of a Florida jury to convict a White man who fatally shot unarmed 17 year-old Jordan Davis for murder said a lot about the way the nation thinks about the value of the lives of its young Black men. To several young Black men interviewed by the AFRO in the District, Baltimore and Prince George’s and Howard counties, the failure of the jury to Photo by Jonathan Hunter convict White computer programmer Michael Dunn of Jordan’s murder Folarinade Adewale, 19, was surprised by the jury’s means a young black action. man’s life is not to be protected. Dunn was convicted of three counts of attempted second degree murder, but the jury deadlocked on the first degree murder charge in Jordan’s killing. “The thing that people aren’t hearing is he isn’t going to jail for murder,” said Kamaal Stewart, 20, of Baltimore. “When I first saw it I was upset, but I was numb to it.” Minilik Yewondwossen Jordan Davis was riding in a car with three of his friends, had a strong reaction. spending his weekend like most teenage males. They went to Photo by Zachary Lester Continued on A4
By Enitan Aigbomian Special to the AFRO A controversial measure that would require police officers to receive annual training on issues pertaining to proper use of force, sensitivity to cultural and gender diversity, and training in lifesaving techniques such as CPR, is currently under consideration in the Maryland House of Delegates. Christopher’s Law is named for Christopher Brown, the Randallstown teenager who died after a physical altercation with off-duty Baltimore County Police Officer James D. Laboard in June 2012. Laboard was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the case and has returned to work. “This happens far too often where someone acting under the color of law takes a life,” said Del. Jill P. Carter (D-Balto.) said in an interview with the AFRO. “And so what this bill is designed to do is change the culture of policing where far too often human life is taken. It’s designed to show that we value human life to the extent that we’re willing to demand that officers are better trained.” Primary opposition to Christopher’s Law at a Feb. 4 hearing in Annapolis came from Maryland’s police-training academy, she said. “They believe that to dictate to them how to train and how much to train basically ties their hands and restricts them,” said Carter. Another hearing on the measure was scheduled in the state Senate later this month, Carter said. She said House supporters of the measure are working in the state Senate with Senator C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s) “to make sure he has talking points and witnesses that we did not have during last
Stanice Anderson remembers the sensation of floating that came after she injected heroin. She also remembers the agony of trying to quit—the stomach cramps, nausea, the feeling of desperation that she would never be free. “The rush is euphoric. It felt like I was really light,” Anderson, of the District, told the AFRO. “There were no cares, no worries, no past. There’s just right now. I felt like it was floating and it was just beautiful, [but] you only have that for short periods of time, which is why you have to keep going back for more and more.” That need to go back for more is fueling what law enforcement officials are calling an epidemic of heroin
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Photo by Kevin Allen
Stanice Anderson is a blogger and author who chronicled how she conquered her addiction.
Commentary
USM Continues its Plan-tation Mentality for Coppin By Dr. Kenneth Morgan Special to the AFRO Coppin’s President Neufville gave a glowing report, Feb. 14, regarding the success of a 50-point plan to change the culture at Coppin. The 50-point plan came from a special committee that UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski chaired January 2013. Chancellor Kirwan of the University System of Maryland (USM) created this special committee. May 2013, it reported out its findings on Coppin’s “underperforming.” Along with it, a 50-point plan to remedy issues was put forth. To be honest, many of the 50-point plan proposals replicated many recommendations that already existed. CSU faculty, staff, and students proposed them over the years well before the special committee was ever convened. This erroneous out-of-context depicting serves to hide the bigger issue.
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