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METRO RIDERS VOICE THEIR CONCERNS ON BUS ROUTE CHANGE 4
Scholarship to stimulate DC teen boys’s interest in education, leadership Page 11 September 24 - September 30, 2015
Page 12 www.districtchronicles.com
Volume 15 Issue 5
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6
Hampton hands Howard loss in AT&T Classic
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2 | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | District Chronicles
Making classrooms work for all students
Educational technology helps teachers to educate students with different learning curves.
By Ben Jealous
The most important factor in a student’s success is a great teacher. But in the modern classroom, even great teachers face daunting obstacles. This is a story about what happens when big data meets the “three Rs” – reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic. It’s a story about the recent revolution in education technology, and how we in EdTech can help make our education system work for all American students. Kids learn in different ways and at different speeds. A lesson perceived as boring and under stimulating to one student could be far too complicated for another student. According to a study, seven out of 10 middle and high school students require instruction that is specifically targeted to their strengths and weaknesses. This is partly a function of human nature, but it is also a function of inequality. The first few years of a child’s life are crucial for their development, as they learn to recognize words and numbers by sight and sound. Many children who grow up poor, particularly children of color, have fewer books in their homes, less access to good libraries and less access to the Internet. As early as kindergarten, children in the highest socioeconomic level already outperform their playmates in the lowest socioeconomic level
by 60 percent. This creates a challenge for teachers: how do you take a class of 20 or 30 students who all have different home lives, backgrounds and skill sets and somehow manage to teach them the same material? A new generation of education software is beginning to help teachers answer that question. One of these services is Newsela, which provides teachers with daily news articles from national and local newspapers, written at five different reading levels. The class can discuss the news as a group and students can earn the satisfaction of moving up a level when they are ready. The software helps struggling students keep up with the class and allows the brightest students to find engaging material. What Newsela does for reading comprehension, NoRedInk does for writing. The web-based learning engine generates writing exercises and grammar questions for students based on their personal interests, such as Harry Potter or SpongeBob. It allows teachers to track students’ growth and progress and adapts questions based on what a student gets right or wrong. Like Newsela, it meets students where they are. On the other side of the academic spectrum is Front Row, an online software that generates
math exercises for students based on their current skill level. Like Newsela and NoRedInk, Front Row tailors the lesson to students’ needs and automatically tracks their progress. The program even reads math questions aloud for ESL students, something that’s particularly important in light of the fact that by high school, less than one out of 10 students in Advanced Placement Computer Science classes are Latino. As Silicon Valley investor Umang Gupta has pointed out, there has never been a “mega-breakout” in the education software space and only one percent of all education spending right now is on technology. But that is likely to change. Computers and tablets only continue to get cheaper and broadband access only continues to improve. In an increasingly diverse nation, we need to use all the tools at our disposal – both old-fashioned and new – to ensure that schools work for all of our kids. The era of widespread personalized education is rapidly approaching and social justiceminded entrepreneurs are starting to break the code on how to teach with tech. Ben Jealous is former president and CEO of the NAACP and a partner at Kapor Capital, a social impact investing firm that invests in EdTech companies.
Randal Pinkett no longer an ‘apprentice’ to fortune making By Willie Jolley NNPA Columnist
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randalpinkett.com
s someone who has pursued business ventures since he opened his first lemonade stand as a kid, Randal Pinkett’s favorite television commercial growing up was from the financial firm, Smith Barney. It had a famous line, “We make money the old fashioned way; we earn it!” The underlying message was that while there are plenty of ways to make money, the admired way is to actually earn it. And that tagline speaks to the work ethic of Pinkett, who was the first African-American winner of “The Apprentice” hosted by Donald Trump on Season No. 4. With an educational background in engineering and business, Pinkett is both a Rhodes Scholar and a Walter Byers Scholar, holding five earned academic degrees. His MBA and Ph.D. are from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before appearing on “The Apprentice,” Pinkett had already established a career in business. He is considered a “serial entrepreneur,” having founded his first company, MBS Enterprises – selling compact discs and cassettes out of his dormitory room in college. From there, he went on to start and grow numerous businesses, then sell them and go on to his next venture. From his compact disc company, he moved on to start a business to improve the lives of high school students. This evolved into his second venture – a training and development company for emerging and seasoned professionals. Next, there was the Inner City Consulting Group, where he helped small companies grow their profits and performance. From there, Pinkett co-founded Access One Corporation, with a mission to ensure that affordable housing was equipped for the 21st century by implementing innovative, sustainable broadband network and telecommunications solutions. All of this lead to his current consulting business that he cofounded called BCT Partners. This is a multimillion-dollar, management, technology and policy con-
Finance
Entrepreneur Pinkett, known for being the first African American to win the Apprentice T.V. show, now helps lead BCT Partners, a multimillion dollar firm.
sulting services firm. They work with corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations to improve organizational effectiveness and support strategies for change. BCT Partners is a minorityowned and operated, federal 8(a), small business enterprise. He has been a stalwart for sharing the excellence that small minorityowned businesses can bring to the marketplace. BCT Partners have positioned themselves as one of the leading firms in the country with expertise in the areas of: housing and community development, economic development, education, government and human services. Pinkett’s belief in God has always been his source of strength and kept him grounded. He grew up attending St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) in Hightstown, New Jersey. When he returned from England as a Rhode Scholar, he joined the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, and later, First Baptist Church of Lincoln in Somerset, New Jersey, where Pinkett is an active member today. He is the author of three books: “Campus CEO: The Student Entrepreneur’s Guide to Launching a Multimillion-Dollar Business” (Kaplan Business 2007), “No-Money Down CEO: How to Start Your Dream Business with Little or No Cash” (Trump University 2008). He wrote “Black Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find
Greatness” (AMACOM Books 2010) with his college roommate and business partner, Professor Jeffrey Robinson of the Rutgers Business School. In addition to his business ventures, Pinkett speaks to corporations around the country, including Pepsi and Walgreens; universities such as Duke and the University of Virginia; government agencies, including the U.S. Small Business Administration, plus national conferences, including the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference. Pinkett has signed radio and television commercial deals; served as spokesperson for Autism Speaks and made regular public appearances on behalf of Verizon to support their “Fiber Optics Services” (FiOS) services and their “Verizon Shotcaller Showdown” business plan competition for minority high school students around the country. Words of wisdom shared by Pinkett: You must grow your courage. Courage makes you willing to take the first step. No first step, no ultimate success. Don’t be afraid to fail because failure and success go hand and hand. The cleaner “Formula 409” was named 409 because it was the company’s 409th attempt. It happened after 408 failures. Willie Jolley is the host of “Wealthy Ways” radio show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. He can be reached through his website www.williejolley.com.
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District Chronicles | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | 3
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4 | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | District Chronicles
V
erdel Lee is suddenly very concerned about his job. Lee relies on the public bus every day to get him from Alexandria to work at the Dulles Greenway, a privately owned, 14-mile toll road that connects Washington Dulles International Airport with Leesburg, Virginia. If Metro follows through with its plan to get rid of the Dulles Line bus, Lee said, he is unsure how he will make it to work at his normal early morning hours. “Please,” Lee told Washington Metro Area Transit Authorities officials last week, “reconsider what you are all doing.” Lee was among scores of other concerned and passionate metroarea bus riders who gathered at the 6:30 p.m. public hearing at the Metro headquarters on Sept. 17 to voice their concerns about proposed changes to the bus lines. The changes are scheduled to take place by early 2016. During the hearing, led by James Hamre, director of Metro Bus Planning, and Mortimer Downey, chair of the WMATA, residents expressed their concerns and appealed to the Board as to why their neighborhood routes were vital to them with hopes of removing it from the agency’s chopping block. WMATA seeks to reduce or completely eliminate 30 routes in the District of Columbia, 21 in Maryland and 38 in Virginia before the end of the year. Hamre told the audience members the hearing was their time to speak. According to Metro’s official website, the changes are normal and will eliminate routes that have low ridership numbers, cut down on routes where customers can take a different bus and remove routes that have not performed to standards. There are also financial reasons. The elimination of the 5A bus, the one Lee and others ride, will save the system $2.3 million while halting the B8, B9 lines save $498,000, according to Metro officials. Attendees spoke passionately
Passengers board Metrobus running the 5A express service to Dulles Airport, at Rosslyn. Metro has put the route on the chopping block a second time since 2013.
against the elimination of the 5A, which services L’Enfant Plaza, Rosslyn, Herndon-Monroe Parkand-Ride and Dulles airport, and the B8 and B9 Fort Lincoln Shuttle, which goes to Colmar Manor/ Fort Lincoln and Rhode Island Avenue. According to WMATA statistics, ridership numbers have dropped on 5A by 100,000 annually since the opening of the Silver Line. Patricia Seck, a Dulles Airport employee, works early morning and late night shifts and strongly disagreed with the claim of too low ridership numbers. Her bus is filled with many airport employees, as well as other everyday riders who depend on the 5A, she told officials. “The fact of the matter is that in the evening, I can barely get a seat,” said Seck. “The data really needs to be researched in terms of the ridership being down. I don’t know these peoples’ stories and they don’t know mine. I see them when we are going to work and when we are coming back from work.” Seck said she doubted the proposed alternative, which will have riders using the Fairfax Connector
Route 981 bus from the WiehleReston East Metro Silver Line Station. “I doubt very seriously that a person would ride the bus for an hour from Dulles airport into D.C., and then have another 30-minute ride, if they had another alternative to get to work,” she said. Residents also testified against the elimination of the B8 and B9 Fort Lincoln shuttle, whose elimination is due to low ridership numbers and duplication with other routes, Metro officials said. Frances Penn, a D.C. resident, said she is certain the alternative option of residents using the H6 in Fort Lincoln will not be sufficient for the people that live in nearby neighborhoods. “As we know, there are over 2,000 residents in Fort Lincoln, and they are building a whole new residence,” said Penn. “The H6 cannot handle the crowd. The B8 and B9 are there for the kids. We have so many seniors that need help getting from point A to point B, and to eliminate the B8 and B9 would be a great disservice to us. When you start thinking about eliminating the B8 and B9, you are really taking the quality of life from the people that live in that area.”
Divine Intervention The global refugee crisis is a moral test for all of us
ABC News
Refugees flee from war torn Syria and other parts of Middle East, North Africa as Europe, U.S. struggle to find asylum for them.
By David Gushee (RNS) – Western claims to stand for human dignity and human rights usually look pretty hollow whenever a major refugee crisis hits. That is what is happening now, as millions of refugees seek asylum in Europe – and mainly run into closed doors and cold shoulders. The current crisis is a grave one. According to Amanda Taub, 19 million people today are refugees. They come from all over, though today especially from Africa and the Middle East. Four million have fled Syria since 2011. They are making global headlines as they surge into Europe, which is for many just the latest stop on a desperate odyssey. They are dying in disturbing numbers – in rickety boats, sealed trucks and squalid refugee dumping grounds. They are not wanted where they come from and not wanted where they are going. The post-World War II world order was predicated on a global commitment to “never again” allow the mass violation of human dignity and human rights that the world had just witnessed. The very first line of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads: “Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members
of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.” Article 14 says, “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” Articles 15 says: “No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” Fine words. But they beg these questions: Which particular “other countries” are obligated to provide said asylum from persecution? Which particular other countries have an obligation to welcome people desperately desiring to change their nationality? Not in my backyard. Not my problem. In Europe, with the noble exception of Germany, that pretty much summarizes the answer. As for the United States, we have been missing in action as well. Not our problem. After all, we haven’t yet deported the 11 million “illegals” we already have on our hands, right? Here is the thing about human rights, one of the foundational concepts of the postwar world: They are so elegant, so expansive, so wonderful. Just read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It’s a beautiful statement. Bring a tissue. But rights imply duties. If I have a genuine right to X, someone has a duty to provide X. If I
have a right to a free K-12 education for my children, someone has a duty to provide it. If I have a right to marry the person of my choice, no one can be permitted to block me. The modern world has seen the shift of almost all such perceived compulsory duties into the hands of the nation-state. If I have a genuine right to something, almost always it is the state that either provides it or bans itself or others from preventing me from obtaining it. But refugees are between states. They have no state, they have left a hostile state or they have arrived at the borders of a state that they are not permitted to enter. As legal scholar Jeremy Waldron has noted, there is a connection between citizenship and dignity. Serious recognition of the latter seems to depend on recognition of the former. But this seems to end up meaning: If you are not a citizen you have no dignity and no rights that anybody in particular is obligated to recognize. This is not the way the postwar world saw itself operating, a world awash in refugees. But it is the world we live in. The Rev. David Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University.
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District Chronicles | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | 5
Cover
The name Francis sends clear message of Pope’s goals
By Kimberly Winston
Submit
your story ideas, stories and commentaries to lkaggwa@howard.edu
6 | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | District Chronicles
Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles
(RNS) – He could have chosen Paul. Or Clement. Or Pius. Or even Innocent – all earlier popes, all well-known quantities. But when Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, he picked a new name – “Francis.” It was a choice designed to send a clear message that he would be a new kind of pontiff with his own ideas for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. “The choice of a name by a newly elected pope is an announcement of his agenda,” said Nancy Dallavalle, an associate professor of religious studies at Fairfield University. “In choosing Francis, Bergoglio sent a very direct message – change of course ahead.” The choice was startling from the beginning. The College of Cardinals, the body that elects one of its own as pope, held five rounds of voting over two days. When it reached the required two-thirds majority, a cardinal appeared
on the balcony above St. Peter’s Square and proclaimed, “Habemus Papam Franciscum.” The throngs below cheered, but were confused. They clearly heard the Latin form of Francis, but which Francis? There had never been a Francis before. Was the new pontiff taking the name of St. Francis de Sales, the 16th century bishop of Geneva known for his spiritual writings? Or was he honoring St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits, the order of priests to which Pope Francis belongs? In fact, as the new pope revealed a few days later at a news conference with 5,000 journalists from around the world, he chose the name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, a 13th century Italian nobleman who shunned his family’s wealth and spent his life among the leprous and the poor, living even more simply than they did, in a rock hovel. He founded the Order of Friars Minor, also called the Franciscans. Pope Francis said he was moved to take the name by his
A picture of St. Francis of Assisi hangs over the door to the Basilica of the National Shrine at Catholic University. Pope Francis held a Canonization Mass here during his visit to D.C.
friend and fellow South American Cardinal Claudio Hummes. When it was clear Bergoglio won the more than 77 votes required for the papacy, Hummes hugged him, kissed him and said, “Do not forget the poor.” “That word, the poor, lodged in me here,” said Francis, tapping his head. “It was then that I thought of St Francis. And then I thought
of wars and about peace and that’s how the name came to me – a man of peace, a poor man.” Other cardinals suggested different names, such as Adrian, after a great reforming pope, and Clement, a sort of stick-in-the-eye to Pope Clement XIV, the 18th century pontiff who suppressed the Order of Jesuits to which Pope Francis belongs. But St. Francis, who was known as “il poverello“– the little poor man – resonated with him, said Pope Francis. “How I would like a church of the poor, for the poor.” It is a name the pope has lived up to, in the eyes of many. He has upbraided bishops for their highhandedness, made financial reforms at the Vatican and has personally moved among the poor, even washing the feet of some Italian inmates during Lent. And his landmark encyclical – the highest teaching of the church – calling on Christians to protect and honor the environment linked caring for the Earth to caring for
the poor. He even named it in honor of St. Francis, giving it the title “Laudato Si’,” medieval Italian for “Praise Be” and a quotation from St. Francis’ most renowned prayer, “Canticle of Brother Sun.” The Rev. Robert Wister, professor of church history at Seton Hall University, said Pope Francis has also lived up to St. Francis’ example in his personal lifestyle. He refused to move into the Apostolic Palace, the grand abode of his predecessors, choosing to remain instead in a Vatican guesthouse. Nor does he wear elaborate gold and gem-encrusted vestments or wear the famous – and expensive – handmade red-leather papal shoes. “He is much more normal,” said Wister. “And I think it terrifies some of the high-living people in Rome. I think Francis is saying to all the bishops and priests, ‘Keep it simple.’ ” This story is part of a series on the papal visit produced in collaboration with USA Today.
Politics
Race heats up for Maryland senate seat By Briahnna Brown Howard University News Service The Maryland Democratic primary for Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s seat has been heating up since the state’s ranking Democrat in Congress announced she would be retiring after 30 years in the Senate. The race could result in the state’s first Black senator. Rep. Donna Edwards from Maryland’s 4th District has been leading the polls since she entered the race a week after Mikulski announced her retirement. However, popular Rep. Elijah Cummings from Maryland’s 7th District has hired veteran Senate campaign fundraiser Ashley Martens, a strong sign that he will be joining the race this month. If Cummings does enter, he and Edwards will have to beat Rep.
Chris Van Hollen, a White candidate from Maryland’s 8th District who has received some strong endorsements. Despite leading in the polls, Edwards has a tough fight ahead of her, especially considering that Maryland has a history of electing White politicians over Black politicians for statewide offices. Last year former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown lost the gubernatorial race to Republican Larry Hogan in a state that rarely elects Republicans. In 2006, when Maryland held its last open Senate race, Kweisi Mfume lost in the Democratic primary to current Sen. Ben Cardin. Lorenzo Morris, professor at Howard University and expert on Black politics, says Edwards made a “big mistake” by giving up her seat in the House to run for Senate.
“I can’t imagine her winning,” said Morris. “[Van Hollen] is a big figure with the Democratic Party nationally, and he’s been popular with the Black community. “However popular she is, she has a very limited constituency with her congressional district. The other people barely know her or don’t know her, well, at all … I just don’t think she has the active constituency that you need to launch a statewide campaign.” Morris also does not believe that Cummings should enter such a highly competitive race because “he would sacrifice the advantage he has in the Congress if he were to run.” He noted that Cummings has the potential to become the first Black Speaker of the House. Still, a poll commissioned by Cummings in March showed him ahead of the two declared Demo-
Maryland House Rep. Edwards (left) hopes to replace Mikulski’s vacant seat in the Senate but there is anticipation about fellow Rep. Cummings jumping into the race.
cratic candidates. If he were to enter and win the primary, Cummings, who is a household name in Baltimore, will need to win over the rest of the state. Considering Maryland’s gubernatorial election giving a Republican its vote in a traditionally blue state, winning might not be so easy. “When you get outside of Bal-
timore, into Montgomery County, there are some serious pockets of conservatism in Maryland,” said Clarence Lusane, chair of Howard University’s Political Science Department. “If Elijah Cummings runs, he’s going to have to win over those populations who have not shown a whole lot of love for voting for Black people.”
NAACP ‘Journey’ March focuses on voting rights By Afrique I. Kilimanjaro Special to the NNPA from Carolina Peacemaker
by eight NAACP field marshals wearing orange safety vests. The group was led by Brooks, along with people from Selma carrying the U.S. flag. Also present were escorts from the North Carolina Highway Patrol, local law enforcement officers, followed by three buses, including a first aid station and several passenger vans. North Carolina is at the forefront of the battle over voting rights. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section 4b and 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 4b provided a formula that helped determine which jurisdictions would be subjected to preclearance based on their histories of discrimination in voting. Section 5 required certain jurisdictions with a history of discrimination, including North Carolina, to obtain federal preclearance prior to enacting any changes to their voting laws. In the aftermath of the Shelby County (Ala.) v. Holder decision, the Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly along with, quickly passed the most restrictive set of voting laws in the United States, which was signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory. The law, H.B. 589, “shortens early voting,
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Afrique Kilimanjaro/Carolina PeaceMaker
RALEIGH, N.C. (NNPA) – America’s Journey for Justice, an 860mile walk led by the NAACP, is considered the longest walk advocating civil rights in history. The distance traveled in this walk is longer than Mohandas Gandhi’s 240-mile Salt March in 1930 and 17 times the 50 miles marched from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. The journey began August 1, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma in remembrance of the events of Bloody Sunday where civil rights marchers advocating for voting rights were severely beaten by Alabama State Troopers on March 7, 1965. The starting date of the journey was also near the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965. Cornell Brooks, president of the NAACP and leader of the Journey for Justice, said the march will be carried out by hundreds, if not thousands of people “to demand federal protection of civil rights for all Americans.” Approximately 13 marchers from Greensboro, North Carolina, gathered before dawn at Temple
Emanuel to travel by van to the small town of Fuquay Varina, a suburb southwest of Raleigh. The group from was comprised of members from Greensboro’s Jewish and Quaker communities, representing Temple Emanuel, Beth David Synagogue and New Garden Friends School. They walked a 12-mile span to Raleigh, demonstrating their solidarity with Journey for Justice participants. Also participating were 15 reform and conservative rabbis who gathered from across the country to march and take turns carrying the Torah (five Books of Moses). Temple Emanuel’s Rabbi Fred Guttman and Rabbi Andy Koren sounded shofars each time the march began symbolizing the freedom attained when Joshua sounded the shofar and the walls of Jericho fell. According to Rabbi Koren, the shofar was blown during the journey for justice “in hope that laws such as those restricting voting would come tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.” Rabbi Guttman asked, “Who could have guessed that we would be here 50 years after Selma; that we would be here in a state with the worst voter suppression laws?” Each Journey for Justice participant walked in pairs flanked
‘Journey for Justice’ , led by Cornell Brooks, expected to reach Washington DC later this month to undo North Carolina’s new law that suppresses voting.
eliminates same-day registration during the early voting period, prohibits voters from casting outof-precinct provisional ballots, expands the ability to challenge voters at the polls, eliminates a pre-registration program for 16 and 17 years-olds and requires voters to show a photo ID prior to voting.” At least two lawsuits challenging H.B. 589 are currently making their way through the federal courts. “This law is the worst kind of voter ID,” said Rev. William J. Barber, chairman of the N.C. Conference of the NAACP. “It’s
the worst attack on voting rights to disenfranchise racial minorities, the poor and young people since Jim Crow. This bill is why we need full implementation of the voting rights act. Supporters of H.B. 589 are trying to suppress the vote in North Carolina in every way possible.” A bipartisan group of members of Congress introduced the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 (“VRAA”) to overturn the Supreme Court ruling. America’s Journey for Justice marchers are expected to reach Washington, D.C., later this month.
District Chronicles | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | 7
Arts and Entertainment
Review: ‘The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution’
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8 | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | District Chronicles
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It was a sign of the times for Black life in the ‘60s. Police brutality. Poor housing. Few job opportunities. Little chance for higher education. The response to the oppression in the South was demonstrations, sit-ins and peaceful civil disobedience. The response that bubbled to the surface in Oakland, California, was sheer anger and defiance. As Stokely Carmichael put it, “You tell all the [W]hite people in Mississippi that the scared [N****s] are all dead.” And so the evolution of the Black Panther Party began. Spreading from Northern California to metropolitan areas across the nation, a movement was born. Something in the swagger of the Panthers, the high-self esteem, intelligence and physical appearance (berets, leather jackets and sunglasses) attracted young, disenfranchised African Americans. It’s taken 40 years for the story of their grassroots social revolution to be told in a featurelength documentary. At the helm is veteran non-fiction filmmaker Stanley Nelson (“Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple”). He and his crew are well up to the task of sharing this bit of history. Jamal Joseph, former Black Panther, sets the stage: “You didn’t walk down the street with the same sense of safety as a [W] hite person. Police beat you up and put a gun at your head on a daily basis.” Elaine Brown a female ex-Panther concurs: “We couldn’t unsee what we saw.” Party founder Huey P. Newton explains the use of the panther as a symbol: “We used the Black Panther as our symbol because the nature of a panther doesn’t strike anyone. When he’s assailed, he’ll back up first. But if the aggressor continues, he will strike out.” Ex-panthers, like Kathleen Cleaver, who are now senior citizens, narrate the proceedings adding background and personal anecdotes to visions of iconic Panthers like Newton (the visionary), Bobby Seale (the personality) and Eldridge Cleaver (the intel-
Watch and relive the story on how the Black Panthers came to be.
lectual). The trio went through a metamorphosis, camaraderie to mistrust, rivals to enemies. A barrage of interviews with police, FBI informants, journalists, historians, Latino and White supporters and plenty of detractors gives a full perspective on how that party, it’s leaders, members and goals where perceived. Archival footage, TV appearances, photos, newspaper headlines, terse discussions, inspiring or inflammatory speeches from podiums at huge demonstrations … few stones are left unturned. In 1 hour and 53 minutes, what parades before your eyes is an historical montage that starts out like an old-school educational documentary, then adds on layers of facts, figures, recollections and shocking revelations that make you question how anyone lived through those times without being politically or socially involved. The most eerie and unsettling subplot is the insidious, evil and dastardly machinations of the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover. Encouraging local police to assassinate Panther members, planting informants in the party whose duplicity lead to murders, sending letters implying infidelities to spouses of party members, manipulating the relationships between Newton and Cleaver so they were at each other’s throats. There was little they would not
do to thwart any gains towards racial equality, which they saw as a threat to the government. If only half of the FBI dealings in this film are true, it makes you rethink the assassinations of Malcolm, JFK, RFK and MLK. Hoover’s program “Counterintelligence Program Black Nationalist-Hate Groups” was right from the devil’s playbook. Whittling down what must have been countless hours of possibilities into a coherent film was done by director/producer/ writer Stanley Nelson and editor Algernon Tunsil. The pacing starts off slow, and seems to build as the dramatic moments of the Panther’s existence materialize. Then, like a decades old drama, that energy splinters and flickers out. The music (Tom Phillips) and sound (JT Takagi) are perfect effects. Stick with this movie. It has a lot to say, a lot to reveal and is pertinent to today’s testy police/ civilian race relations. For four decades, possibly in a very imperfect way, some determined people sought to change the course of American history. Some lofty goals, such as dismantling capitalism, were not achieved. Some ideals, are now part of the fabric of the country, like breakfast programs for inner city kids. Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.
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In the Neighborhood
New program grooms Black boys for future leadership roles By Tatyana Hopkins Contributing Writer About 135 teenage boys from 10 Washington, D.C. public and charter schools last week filled the orchestra level of historic Howard Theater. They came to attend a Black male summit hosted by the Horace G. Dawson Scholars Program, a new non-profit organization dedicated to tackling the issue of Black male college attendance. The organization is a tribute to the legacy of Ambassador Horace G. Dawson, who the boys knew little of. Throughout the summit, Dawson sat inconspicuously on the balcony level, looking down at the boys and quietly savoring the moment. “Ambassador Dawson is not new to the task of inspiring and molding future leaders,” Lawrence Kaggwa, Howard professor emeritus, told the future leaders. “Back in the 1960s and 1970s, Ambassador Dawson was a cultural and public affairs officer in several African countries. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter appointed him Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana.” That period coincided with the Independence Movement that liberated at least 17 African countries. As the colonial powers left the continent, Dawson saw a need to increase the number of African college graduates to lead the nationbuilding efforts. He oversaw several scholarship programs that created opportunities for more than 1,500 African students to study at American universities for free. Kaggwa was one of them. Students Michael Moore and Kevin Jefferies are 17-year-old seniors at National Collegiate Preparatory Public Charter School who plan to attend college. Moore hopes to study psychology and sociology, while Jefferies would like to study environmental sciences. Though too old to participate, the two teens see the benefit of the program for those younger than them. They believe the Ambassador Horace G. Dawson Scholars program would be helpful to the teenagers, as they themselves have found the college application process to be tedious.
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Students disembark bus to attend Black Male Summit at Howard Theatre last week.
Jefferies believes college is a must and that advanced degrees are the best way to secure a successful financial future. “High school doesn’t get you anywhere anymore,” said Jefferies. “College is not just about the financial aspect; it’s about a personal aspect,” said Moore, who believes college is a place where people can discover their true aspirations. Leila Pray, founder and executive director of the program, hopes to mirror Dawson’s efforts to support young students in their academic pursuits. This fall she plans to select 30 teenagers to participate in the program. Participating scholars will be African-American students in D.C. Public Schools with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, though some slots will be reserved for at-risk students. The initial group of students will be selected from the 10th and 11th grades with the help of school administrators and interviews. The intent of the program is to enrich the young men’s middle through high school experience with personalized tutoring, standardized testing preparation, college preparatory workshops, mentoring and professional guidance through the college admission process. Pray was inspired to develop an engaging college-prep program when her daughter, Joy Scott, began her college application process in 2011. Pray found that pairing
Scott with professional counseling was necessary although she was a high achieving student. Overawed by the competitive nature and technologic features of today’s college applications, she thought her own input as a parent was “dated.” Chosen scholars will also be provided workshops in public speaking, social etiquette, resume writing and financial aid. Each scholar will be paired with a mentor from the Mighty Men of Metropolitan AME Church based on their professional interests. The 100 Black Men and The Collegiate 100 will provide tutoring services in core subjects and the students will be supported through college. Scott, a senior at Stanford University, is president of the Ambassador Dawson Scholars program. She recalls two factors that motivated her to get involved in grooming young Black males for future leadership roles. She saw gender discrepancies in her own college preparatory program, College Advocate. In a message on the Ambassador Horace G. Dawson Scholar’s website, she notes that participation in her program among the high-achieving minority students was overwhelmingly female. “Surely, I knew males had similar resources as myself, but I wondered if a different approach would be more beneficial on their journey from high school to college,” said Scott.
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District Chronicles | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | 11
In the Neighborhood
Mystics, Wizards get Ward 8 basketball arena
By Brelaun Douglas Howard University News Service (WASHINGTON) – Just a few blocks from St. Elizabeths, a former mental hospital, a new day is coming. According to city officials and civic leaders, the aged campus will be converted into a new stateof the-art arena for the Washington Mystics and a training facility for the Washington Wizards. Mayor Mariel Bowser and Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May made the announcement last Wednesday to the applause of a crowd that included Mystics players Natasha Cloud, Stefanie
Dolson and Emma Meeseman and Wizards players Bradley Beal and John Wall. The facility is about more than just basketball, said Bowser. It’s about change and growth for a community that desperately needs it. “It brings me great pleasure as mayor to deliver that game changer which will allow us to attract other developments, other amenities and get those projects started too,” said Bowser. “We’re going to create 600 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs.” Construction on the 5,000-seat arena is slated to begin in 2016 with a completion date of 2018.
It will cost $55 million, with $23 million contributed from the city and the remainder from Events DC, the official convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia and Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns the teams. Work training programs will be created to help prepare residents for the jobs and there will be internship programs to expose students to careers in sports, entertainment and hospitality, according to Bowser. The arena is expected to generate more than $4 million annually and a total of $90 million over the 19-year lease. “We don’t have a 5,000-seat
arena in the city,” said Bowser. “And so there is demand for shows ranging from concerts to children’s programs where we can draw a 5,000-seat crowd without competing with some of our other arenas.” “This investment will help revive and renew southeast D.C. and bring new economic vitality to the community,” said Mystics President and BET Co-founder Sheila Johnson. “We’ve seen it happen. Just look at the impact the Verizon Center has had on the Chinatown area. I know we can see it happen here too with jobs and growth.” Patricia Bobo, a Ward 8 resi-
dent since 1972, was ecstatic about the news. “I think it’s a good thing, because we are a portion of a city and we deserve to have everything that other parts of the city have in order to be a whole city,” said Bobo. “This is a good start and I love it.” Jimmie Jenkins, another longtime Ward 8 resident, said he believes the arena will help to improve his community. “Thank you Mayor Bowser and thank you Councilmember May for your leadership and for using my favorite sport, basketball, to bring more opportunities to my community,” said Jenkins.
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Hampton University beats Howard University 37-19 in AT&T Classic showdown at RFK Stadium
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12 | Sep. 24 - Sep. 30, 2015 | District Chronicles