PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION
Volume 122 No. 44
June 7, 2014 - JUNE 13, 2014
Alabama Voters Need IDs or Friend-‘dentity’ By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Part 6 in a series detailing states’ efforts to keep citizens from voting. As Alabama voters trudged to the polls on June 3, many stepped into a new elections landscape, while for others, the view was all too familiar. In 2011, after Republicans took control of the state Legislature, they introduced laws that, some say, harken back to the days of segregation, including laws that suppress the votes of
AFRO Unveiling NewlyRedesigned Website June 9
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Bowie’s alumni question the off-campus commencement.
Bowie Provost Challenged
Commencement Controversy Continues
By Sean Yoes Special to the AFRO
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minorities and the poor. “We do know there have been reports of changes to polling places and alleged voter purges over the past couple months. None of that is confirmed,” said Deuel Ross, an attorney with the Political Participation Group of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund. “What we do know for sure is that in 2011, the same Alabama Legislature that passed a housing law that used discriminatory language against Latinos passed a voter ID law that is one of the most
restrictive in the country.” House Bill 19, which was signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley and went into effect beginning with this June’s primaries, requires an Alabama voter to have a specific type of photo identification at the polls in order to vote. Some would argue that the law is by no means draconian, as is Texas’ or North Carolina’s, since it actually allows the use of student IDs and employee IDs issued by federal, state or local Continued on A4
Prince George’s Officers on Administrative Leave After Shooting By Courtney Jacobs AFRO Staff Writer Two veteran police officers are on routine administrative leave after shooting and killing a 20-year old male. According to police, at 2:15 a.m. May 30, patrol officers were called to the 3300 block of Curtis Drive for the report of two men arguing. The 911 caller said that one of the men was holding a long gun. After arriving on the scene, two patrol officers
Next year, Bowie State University – one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the nation – will celebrate its 150th anniversary. And many members of the school’s proud alumni continue to question why the last two spring commencement ceremonies have been celebrated on the campus of the University of Maryland. In a letter published in last week’s AFRO, Weldon Jackson, provost and vice-president for academic affairs of Bowie State University reported nearly 650 students graduated at the school’s 2014 Spring commencement held at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland. In the letter, Jackson also claimed the cost of nearly $200,000 for moving the commencement from Bowie’s campus to the Comcast center – a move the school also made in 2013 – was “erroneous,” (Jackson did not provide the amount the school spent for the Spring commencement in 2013 or 2014). He was referencing a claim made by Diane Wilson-Bragg, a Bowie State alumnus who graduated from the school in 1961. She specifically stated Bowie’s 2013 commencement, which Continued on A3
A Journalist Remembers an Audience with Maya Story on A4
once, to put down the long gun. Then, she said, she heard two or three shots fired. A statement released by the department said the two officers described themselves as “in fear for their lives” when they opened fire. The suspect was pronounced dead at a hospital. The police identified the officers involved as 12-year veteran Corporal Vincent Tabbs and four-year veteran Officer Andrew Nacin. Both officers are assigned to the
“ …the two officers described themselves as ‘in fear for their lives’ when they opened fire.” approached the men using the corner of an apartment building as cover. The officers saw that one of the men was carrying what appeared to be an assault rifle. The officers ordered the armed man to drop the weapon, but he did not comply. Both officers, discharged their weapons, striking the armed suspect. A witness reported to police that she heard the officers order the man, more than
Bureau of Patrol – District IV. The deceased suspect was identified as 20-year-old Mark Anthony Blocker of the 3300 block of Curtis Drive in Suitland. The other suspect involved is Blocker’s brother. He was not injured and has not been charged. According to police spokeswoman Julie Parker, officers discovered the long gun and a handgun found at the scene were both pellet guns.
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Black Press Icon Ray H. Boone Sr., Dead at 76 By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent Raymond H. Boone Sr., a towering figure in the Black Press and founder, editor and publisher of the influential Richmond Free Press has died. He was 76. Boone died June 3 at his home after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer, his family told the media. The Suffolk, Va. native obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a master’s degree in political science from Howard University, where he later taught journalism for nine years. The majority of Boone’s career was spent in the Black Press, and Time magazine once credited him with bringing “sophistication and Continued on A3