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Volume 122 No. 25
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JANUARY 25, 2014 - JANUARY 31, 2014
‘Disrespected’ Obama Has Appointed Highest Percentage of Black Judges
By Freddie Allen NNPA Washington Correspondent
Despite the unprecedented levels of obstruction from Republicans in the Senate, President Obama has managed to get a higher rate of Black judges confirmed than any other president in history, according to a court watchdog group. Research from the Alliance for Justice shows that so far during the Obama administration, Blacks have accounted for 18.7 percent of the federal judicial
Anacostia Community Museum Celebrates King, Mandela Legacies By Maria Adebola Special to the AFRO
“…President Obama has managed to get a higher rate of Black judges confirmed than any other president in history…”
AP Photos
President Obama and his daughter Sasha make burritos at DC Central Kitchen as part of a service project in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, in Washington. Also helping were First Lady Michelle Obama and daughter Malia Obama (shown at left).
confirmations, a sharp increase over the 7.3 percent confirmed under President Continued on A3
Friends of the Anacostia Community Museum came together Jan. 14 to remember the legacy of two Black leaders in an event focusing on the leaders of tomorrow. Just before they entered the Baird Auditorium at the National Museum of Natural History on Jan. 14, a young usher greeted attendees with a pleasant smile, saying “Welcome to the 29th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Program. Here’s a program, Continued on A4
D.C. Church Celebrates 15th Anniversary of ‘Jazz Night’
INSIDE
By CeLillianne Green Special to the AFRO
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Some believe a church is not the place for classical jazz performances, but the Rev. Brian Hamilton is not one of them. Hamilton has co-pastored Westminster Presbyterian Church in Southwest Washington, D.C. with his wife, the Rev. Ruth Hamilton, since 1996. When they arrived, he had been involved with jazz vespers and wanted an ongoing jazz ministry for “community organizing and cultural development.” In March 1998, he contacted Richard “Dick” Smith and Earl Banks, both well-known in jazz circles, and a series of concerts was born. An initial six concerts with a $5 entry fee began in January 1999. At first, they had a difficult time drawing an audience. “Thirty-two people attended the first and second Fridays,” Hamilton recalled in a recent interview. “Word of mouth and WPFW Radio brought 100 people to the third.” Jazz Night in Southwest, as the weekly concerts are now called, draws a filled-to-capacity audience most Friday nights from 6-9 p.m. Lovers of straight-ahead jazz gather to hear the region’s best jazz composers and musicians, most of them African American. On Jan. 17, fans of Jazz Night
‘The Butler’ Snubbed
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Lawyers for Black SC Teen Executed in 1944 Have New Info INSERT • Walmart
James King and DeAndrey Howard
Photo by Travis Riddick
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Psych Screening Sought in Case of 2 Slain Md. Kids
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By Eric Tucker Associated Press
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — Two women who police say killed two young children while performing what they thought was an exorcism will continue to be held without bond as prosecutors seek a psychiatric evaluation to determine if they are mentally competent to stand trial. The women, 28-year-old Zakieya Latrice Avery and Monifa Denise Sanford, 21, have told investigators that they believed evil spirits jumped successively between the bodies of the children, ages 1 and 2, and that an exorcism was needed to drive the demons out, said Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy. The women also reported to investigators that they saw the eyes of each of the children blackening and, after the intended exorcism, took a shower, cleaned up the bloody scene and “prepared the children to see God,” Continued on A3
After 30 Years, BaltimoreWashington Singer Maysa Is Going to the Show
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By Zachary Lester AFRO Staff Writer 7
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2 Montgomery Co. PD/AP Photos
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Zakieya Latrice Avery and Monifa Denise Sanford are accused of killing two children. Police say the women thought they were performing an exorcism.
Maysa Leak knew when her mother took her to see a performance of the Broadway show Purlie as a little girl that she would be an entertainer one day. And for decades she has worked as a singer. She left Morgan State University for Los Angeles to back up Stevie Wonder. She traveled across the Atlantic to front the British jazz funk band
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