February 6, 2016 - February 6, 2016, The Afro-American A1 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION
Volume 124 No. 35
APRIL 2, 2016 - APRIL 8, 2016
Inside AFRO Editorial: Bush Endorsement of Cruz: A Loser’s Bigotry Embrace
Baltimore’s City Lights
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Washington
• Howard Rape
Accusation Spurs Change
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Baltimore
‘Batman v Superman’ is a ...
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Photos by Anderson Ward
Performers parade through downtown Baltimore during the Light City Baltimore 2016 while onlookers took in the sights behind the ship The Pride of Baltimore II.
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Opinion
Maryland State Legislators Supporting Segregation –In the Dark and Content to Remain There By Saschane Stephenson At what point is it suitable in Baltimore to give elected representatives a pass on doing their jobs effectively? It’s a serious question. Would it matter if they are two years “young” to the State Assembly or whether they are pushing twenty years of trekking to Annapolis? Are constituents too idealistic in believing and trusting that an elected
representative’s “word is bond?” That is, we the people of Baltimore City really should wise up and not expect much from the bobbing figureheads littering our mailbox with glossy literature, coming by each election season for pictureperfect church visits, and
Civil Rights
Betty Dukes Continues Fight for Workers’ and Women’s Rights By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com The Black woman who took one of the world’s largest corporations to the highest court in the land said recently that she will continue to fight for gender equity and for the rights of employees in the workplace. Betty Dukes, who retired from Wal-Mart after 21 years last year, after fighting her employer in court for 15 years, was the principal speaker at a press conference that was held on March 29 at the National Press Club. The purpose of the event was to commemorate the Continued on A4
promising they’ve got “nothing but love for [us] Baby.” Downright shameful and disheartening is what it is. If it isn’t apathy and outright failure on the job, then how then can the Baltimore City delegation members, and more importantly representatives of Districts
43 and 40, explain their cluelessness about the impact Senate (SB1052) and House (HB1607) bills (the ‘2016 Merger Bills’) may possibly have upon Baltimore City’s historically Black higher-ed institutions Coppin State and Morgan State Universities? The sponsors of both the House and Senate versions of the “2016 Merger Bills” are two Baltimore City state representatives, respectively Continued on A3
Hip Hop Caucus Launches 2016 ‘Respect My Vote!’ Campaign The event featured celebrity spokesperson, Charlemagne Tha God, the New York based radio host of “The Hip Hop Caucus Founder Breakfast Club” and and CEO, the Rev. Lennox artists such as rapper 2 Yearwood, recently launched Chainz, who advocated a nationwide campaign to for more urban youth urge and assist young adults involvement and support in urban areas to vote. The in politics and voting. th first summit of the 12 annual “Hip Hop has always – Rev. Lennox Yearwood “Respect My Vote! campaign, been political from its was held March 22, in New York City. inception, and tells the story of the Continued on A4 By Lauren Poteat Special to the AFRO
“Hip Hop has always been political from its inception...”
Teen Gets 6 Months in Jail for Part in Freddie Gray Unrest By The Associated Press
Courtesy photo
Betty Dukes took Wal-Mart to the Supreme Court on behalf of workers’ rights.
A teen who smashed a traffic cone through a windshield of a city police car during the unrest following Freddie Gray’s death last year in Baltimore will spend six months in jail. News media outlets report that 19-year-
old Allen Bullock was sentenced March 29 after pleading guilty last month to damaging property during the unrest. Under the plea deal, Bullock was sentenced to 12 years in jail, with all but six months suspended. He must also serve five years’ Continued on A4
Copyright © 2016 by the Afro-American Company
centerstage.org 410.332.0033
New Model for Youth Success
Apr 8–May 8 At Towson University
DETROIT ’67 By Dominique Morisseau
In association with Detroit Public Theatre
FIRE-FUELED DREAMS and FRUSTRATED LOVE.” –Star Tribune
“A poetic play of
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The music and politics of the Motown era sizzle in the background of this sharp drama that follows one family’s survival amidst the Detroit riots of 1967.