District Chronicles V15 Issue 13 by District Chronicles

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WHITE CHURCHES TACKLE RACE ISSUES, REPARATIONS 5

Councilmember Brandon Todd puts seniors front and center at event Page 4 November 19 - November 25, 2015

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Volume 15 Issue 13

Cheriss May/Howard University News Servce

Editorial

Demonizing Black student protest By Lee A. Daniels George Curry Media Columnist

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If you read or listen to much of the media, you have to be wondering what would cause Black college students and their allies among other students and faculty at two prominent universities to stage nonviolent, institution-shaking protests – one of which resulted in the sudden resignation of two of the institution’s top officials. Are these disruptions at the University of Missouri and Yale University the result of student protesters using “political correctness” and “mob rule” to threaten the very foundation of “free speech” and “freedom of expression” and “civilized discourse” that should be the basis of these institutions’ existence? That’s what one could surmise from the hysterical reaction coming from many quarters of the mainstream and online media. The reality, however, is far different. The reality is that today, at the dawn of the 21st century, Black college students and other students of color, on predominantly White campuses in very small numbers, continue to face what Blacks at White colleges have always had to navigate: an environment in which there are manifold signs they’re not really welcome. Too often, their interaction with White students, faculty and administrators is far from being “coddled” – a word and sentiment that reeks of the central justification for the notorious 1896 Supreme Court Plessy decision validating “separate but equal” doctrine as the law of the land. That’s why the protests at Yale and the state of Missouri’s flagship university campus (Mizzou) underscore what’s always been a fundamental question for Black collegians at White colleges: What should be the response to the continual words and actions of some significant number of White students and faculty in these communities of higher learning that are intended to denigrate them and deny them their place as fullfledged members of that community? Should Black students (and

University Black students protest racial acts on predominantly White campuses.

other students of color) meekly accept the racist behavior as, in effect, the “cost” of not being White? Should they, as a now-infamous email written by a minor Yale official advised, either just “look away” or take on the burden of “educating” those White students who think it fun to dress up in costumes that denigrate Blacks and other people of color, or who scrawl racial and ethnic and gender slurs on walls, or who yell them from White fraternity and sorority houses, or who, in recent incident at Mizzou, cover a portion of a wall with a swastika smeared with feces? To protest, as the students and their allies at Mizzou and Yale have learned, is to provoke having their own actions be described in “criminalizing” terms – from people who seem to have forgotten the revealing exposure this past March of the “traditional” racist ditty adopted by some chapters of the national White fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and who, more recently, have studiously ignored last month’s aborted attempt of the GOP presidential candidates in the aftermath of the third presidential debate to limit the media’s freedom-of-the-press approach to covering their campaigns. What much of the condemnation of the student protests at Yale and the University of Missouri reveals once again is that casting Black protest as “criminal” and “mob rule” actions that threaten individual Whites and (White)

civilization itself is an old, foundational tradition of America: As old as the justifications developed in the 17th century for Negro slavery, and as recent as the “predictions” made in some quarters just last month of violence erupting at the 20th anniversary commemoration of the 1995 Million Man March (which repeated the predictions of violence made about the earlier event.) In the modern era, that dynamic is as old as Southern and Northern racists characterizing the nonviolent civil rights demonstrations of the 1960s as “lawless” and “criminal” (many predicted the 1963 March on Washington would produce wholesale rioting) and as recent as the predictions which buzzed through the conservative media echo chamber in October 2008 of the “coming thugocracy of the Obama administration.” And yet, today’s Black collegians at predominantly White colleges ought to be grateful for the critical understanding these negative experiences illuminate. That is that they have the privilege of carrying on a great tradition. Like every generation of Black Americans before them, they will have to fight for their freedom. And so will their children, and their children’s children. Lee A. Daniels’ new collection of columns, Race Forward: Facing America’s Racial Divide in 2014, is available at www.amazon.com.

Finance

University of Missouri football team wins on, off field

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University of Missouri president resigns after football team refuses to play; that would have cost the school $1,000,000.

By James Clingman via George Curry Media

ecollections of my 1995 article on the business of college athletics danced in my head when I heard the news about the University of Missouri football team’s refusal to play until the president of that University, Tim Wolfe, resigned or was dismissed. The players said, “due to his negligence toward marginalized students’ experience” and his lax attitude regarding racial issues on campus, they would no longer participate in football activities. Ultimately, Wolfe resigned. As I noted in 1995, and in several articles on college athletics and the billions of dollars they generate, money is the name of the game. When coaches of college teams earn several million dollars per year and half-billion dollar stadiums are being built, the actual laborers, the players, get lost in the shuffle. Well, the players on the University of Missouri football team are far from being invisible as they are making a statement that has divulged an economic vulnerability. There are lessons to be learned and actions to be replicated from this case. According to an article on CBS Sports, “Canceling game with BYU would cost Mizzou $1,000,000.” Everything boils down to dollars, if you look deeply enough, and the young men on Missouri’s team are illuminating that reality by their actions. The same thing could be

done in professional athletics as well, in an effort to change the business-as-usual approach to racial inequities and mistreatment in the general society. It would be much more effective than T-shirts and hoodies. Instead of wearing shirts with a nice-sounding slogan on them, or hoodies that connote illegal killings of Black folks, black armbands, or writing something on their shoes, Missouri football players chose the “nuclear option,” as some in Congress would call it. They put their prospective livelihoods and their scholarships on the line by actually doing something substantive rather than symbolic in response to their legitimate concerns about the conditions on their campus. Fortunately, they won their came Saturday against Brigham Young University 20-16, upping their record to 5-5 for the season. They took a principled stand against racism. Other athletes have already fought that battle and some are still paying the price decades later. Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Muhammad Ali, Curt Flood, and Craig Hodges, just to name a few, took their stands against the system and took the blows that their peers were unwilling to take. They paid a hefty price for having the temerity to stand up and speak out. The Missouri football players now find themselves in a crucible of consciousness, and we should stand with them and assure that they do not suffer the same fate as their forerunners. If they are “blacklisted” by the NFL, Black

people – and other sympathizers should boycott NFL games. The same goes for Head Coach Gary Pinkel who took the unusual step of standing with his players. The economic lesson from the players’ threatened “work stoppage,” juxtaposed against Mizzou student Jonathan Butler’s lifethreatening hunger strike, is quite revealing. Butler’s life was virtually ignored, but when the dollars came into play, things changed right away. The university’s message: A Black life does not matter, but Black dollars do matter. Considering all the critical issues facing Black people in this country, we would do well to use economic power instead of relying on political influence to make appropriate changes to our overall condition. We should celebrate the Missouri players for taking the “road less traveled” as they fight for their rights on their campus; they chose substance over symbolism, action over passivity. Rather than merely wearing their complaints on their chests or their shoes, they chose to wear their concerns on their hearts by letting the world know they are quite serious; they took their protest to the only level that gets results-the economic level. Much respect to those young men and their supporters at the University of Missouri. Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, can be reached through his website, blackonomics. com.

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ity Councilman Brandon Todd told over 300 senior citizens from his ward that they are his top priority and he will work to improve their quality of life and to support the District’s “age friendly” plan, during a speech last week at the RiggsLaSalle Community Center. In a 15 minute-speech, Todd, who so far is running unopposed in 2016 to retain his newly-won Ward 4 seat, told the audience that the elderly community is to be cherished for making the District of Columbia the place it is today. “I realize the importance of ensuring that the people who have worked so hard to make Washington a great city to work and play in, have that city to support them in their golden years with no worries,” he said. Dozens of members from the District’s agencies were on hand to talk with seniors about their concerns. The councilman said health care, particularly the ability of seniors to stay in their homes rather than going to nursing homes, would be a priority. “To age in place and stay in your homes, you will need to ensure you can manage your wellbeing, health and strength,” said Todd. “I will work to ensure our

government continues to fund programs that will provide you with resources you need.” Among the councilman’s list of priorities, he said, is safety. He said the elderly community are often the most targeted and vulnerable victims, not only facing the risk of physical harm, but are also victims of financial fraud. Todd said he and other members of the city council are trying to combat such fraud by passing the “Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Amendment Act of 2015,” which will make it a crime to take money from a senior citizen by intimidation or manipulation. According to Wells Fargo, senior citizens lose up to $2.9 billion annually due to financial exploitation. Ebony Robinson, an assistant Attorney General in Neighborhood and Victim Services Section in the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, said she has heard many sad stories of elderly who have been victimized in their own homes. “Many of them have told me their sons, grandsons or some other person has been doing something illegal in their homes, without their knowledge,” said Robinson. Senior citizens are often taken advantage of in their living spaces, said Delores Anderson, the education and outreach coordinator for the DC Office for Tenant Advocacy, which assists residents with

tenant/landlord issues. She said that often, the elderly just want to “make do” with the inadequate living conditions. “We want them to understand that they have rights as tenants and that they are protected,” said Anderson. “We don’t want to see them living in squalor.” Veronica Tolliver, a Petworth resident for 40 years said while there has been improvement in recreational facilities for seniors, more needs to be done. “Sometimes, we are told we are going get certain things, but it doesn’t happen,” said Tolliver, a member of the Emery Energizers, a woman’s exercise group she created with her friends. “At the end of the day, I think on a 1 to 10 scale, it’s a seven.” Seniors in attendance said they are already proud of the neighborhoods in Ward 4 and are excited for what Todd will be working on over the next few years to continue to help them age in place. They said they are grateful for the special attention the councilman is showing the elderly by holding a special meeting for them. “I’ve been living here for a while and have never experienced an event like this,” said Kathy Ayala, who has been living in Ward 4 since 1969. “I have seen so many improvements. I am so proud to live here.”

Divine Intervention

In some churches, talk of reparation draws a hearing By Jesse James Deconto Religion News Service

drew.edu

(RNS) – A White scholar is touring churches across the nation in an effort to convince Christians it’s time to start talking about reparations for the descendants of slaves. What divides the races in America is not the failure to embrace differences, but the failure of White Americans to repent and repair the sins of the past, said Drake University ethicist Jennifer Harvey. Her 2014 book, “Dear White Christians: For Those Still Longing for Racial Reconciliation,” has led to speaking engagements at United Church of Christ gatherings, Presbyterian assemblies and college campuses. The book “touched a nerve with a lot of religious leaders who care about this particular issue and who want to be prophetic in this moment,” said the Rev. Cameron Trimble, executive director of the Center for Progressive Renewal. “Jennifer is inviting a conversation that needs to be had among White people. In all of our mainline traditions, we have deeply institutionalized racism. We have to willingly give up power in order to equal the playing field,” said Trimble, whose center has published a video interview and study guide to promote Harvey’s book to its 13,000 affiliated congregations in nine different denominations. On Nov. 7, Harvey discussed the topic of reparations with members of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. More than 20 churches in the diocese have investigated their connections to slavery and produced “Trail of Souls,” an online historical tour, as an act of truth telling and confession. “If we’re not reconciled with our history, then we can’t understand what the repair is that’s needed,” said the Rev. Angela Shepherd, the diocesan canon for mission. According to her, it’s too late for the U.S. to consider any kind of direct reimbursement. However, she welcomed Harvey’s stoking the reparations movement in churches. She hopes Harvey’s

Jennifer Harvey travels the nation to talk about reparation to White Christians.

visit, along with the Baltimore protests in the spring, will help to motivate people in her diocese to support a bill first introduced by Michigan Congressman John Conyers’ in 1989 to create a federal commission to study reparations. Harvey’s push for reparations comes on the heels of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Atlantic magazine, “The Case for Reparations.” Coates traced some of the systemic injustices to “redlining,” the denial of home mortgages to Black Americans, driving them toward predatory lenders outside the banking system. Harvey said this history, beginning in slavery and Jim Crow and continuing with poor, underfunded pubic schools for minority children, has stalled well-intentioned efforts at reconciliation since the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. This history also explains the energy around the Black Lives Matter response to recent acts of police brutality. Though she grew up attending predominately Black schools in Denver, it wasn’t until she met Black students at Union Theological Seminary that Harvey said she began to understand how being White gave her societal power that they didn’t have. Harvey said demands for reparations drove White Christians out of the civil rights movement. They held onto King’s vision of the “beloved community” and kept talking about reconciliation, but never made the sort of recompense that’s needed. Harvey has spent her career writing on White supremacy and

the contemporary reparations movement. She supports Conyers’ congressional bill and is trying to kindle the conversation in religious communities. Harvey resists specifying what form reparations might take, saying that should come from the wounded parties. She points to the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, which calls for cash, land, economic development, scholarships and policy changes ensuring equitable treatment in criminal justice, health care and financial systems. She also suggests environmental reparations for Native American land that was taken and exploited, citizenship for underpaid immigrant workers, and political remedies for the mass incarceration of Black Americans. “People who’ve been there, who lived through the civil rights movement, can look back and say, ‘Yes, our churches are just as segregated as they were before,’” said Michael DePue, director of Christian education at Chapel in the Pines, a White Presbyterian congregation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “It’s been 40 or 50 years, and the things that the civil rights movement set out to do, they haven’t come to pass.” Trimble agreed. “There’s an awareness among progressive Christians that if you do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten,” said Trimble. “The challenge that remains before us is, will it move beyond talk? What we do very well in church is talk a thing to death.”

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District Chronicles | Nov. 19 - Nov. 25, 2015 | 5

Cover Veterans honored with housing and haircuts By Brelaun Douglas Howard University News Service

“Veterans and homelessness do not go together,” added Robinson. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau also took the stage during the opening ceremony to tell the veterans about what the District is doing to combat the issue. “We’ve committed $23 million in this budget to the strategic plan to end homelessness,” said Nadeau to a room full of applause. “And another $13 million for housing.” Numerous housing services such as the Greater Washington Area Urban League, Bank of America and Habitat for Humanity of Washington were also there to provide housing services; such as onsite leasing, onsite assignments and eligibility services. For homeless Army veteran Winsley Sean Saunders Jr., this was the best part of the event. “I plan on using everything that’s available,” said Saunders. “But my main focus is to get a place to stay, preferably a one or two bedroom.” Saunders said he was honorably discharged from the Army for suffering from PTSD, hypertension and bi-polar disorder. The Veterans Administration enrolled him in a transitional housing. He said he now wants his own place.

Cheriss May/Howard University News Service

incent Wigfall served four tours of duty in the United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. Like thousands of veterans who served in the divisive war and others most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, he came back a changed man. Through tears, he told how the effect of killing and seeing friends killed made him angry and made his adjust to solely being a citizen civilian difficult. He was homeless for a while. He had a hard time holding job. It was difficult to get along with family and friends. Last week, however, was not the day to dwell on that. On Veterans Day, Wigfall; proudly displaying his Marine medals, badges and pins; joined 600 men and women of the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Army at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to be honored for his service and to get needed DC Housing Authority services during its third Veterans Stand Down appreciation event. In addition to offering free breakfast and lunch to all the veterans, the event also featured free

manicures, health screenings by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, comfort and hygiene kits and free haircuts. Korean and Vietnam War veteran Maurice Pace, 81, took advantage of the free grooming. “Today’s event is special,” said the Army Ranger as he was getting his haircut. “It’s very special to me and to all the veterans. It gives us an opportunity to be appreciated, number one, and to give back; letting people know we’re still around and appreciate what the country’s doing for us, and I thank them for that.” I love it.” Employment and training services were also offered from Operation Hope, Home Instead Senior Care, Linden Resources, ASM Educational Center, Elite Security Forces and No Opportunity Wasted, Inc. The main focus for many, however, was to get to housing for the homeless veterans, said Adrianne Todman, executive director for DC Housing Authority. “The core mission of today is for those of you who are housed to keep you housed and those of you who need housing to get you housed,” said Todman.

The D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) hosted a Veterans Appreciation Event on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at the Washington Convention Center. They provided Veterans with complimentary lunch, housing and homeownership services, health screenings, job opportunities, manicures and haircuts.

“My main focus would be affordable housing, something I could afford with my budget that the disability pension is paying me and being able to maintain that for a year or better,” said Saunders. For Saunders, having affordable housing would lead to more options for him since he is currently not employed. “Once I get into housing out of the homeless program at Veterans on the Rise, then I want to see about schooling,” said Saunders. “I’ve

been looking at communications.” Wigfall saw the event as a big step up from what it was like when he came home from service. “When I listen to the speaker and I hear the numbers that they are experiencing as far as placing people in housing, I’m very happy,” said Wigfall. “When I was homeless, this type of thing did not exist. All that positive stuff like affordable housing and jobs and healthcare, that’s great and I’m glad were getting it now.”

Supreme Court to wade back into abortion debate By Richard Wolf USA Today The Supreme Court agreed Friday to re-enter the national debate over abortion. The justices will decide whether tough new restrictions placed on abortion clinics and doctors in Texas constitute an “undue burden” on women seeking legal abortions and should be struck down. The restrictions – forcing doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals and requiring clinics to meet standards for outpatient surgery centers – threaten to leave the state with only 10 clinics clustered in four population centers and along the Mexican border. Whatever the justices decide next year will help clarify the court’s 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, when a deeply divided court upheld the right to abortion while letting states im-

pose restrictions that do not block women from obtaining services By clearing up the ambiguity left by the 1992 ruling, which said states can impose restrictions that do not constitute an “undue burden,” the justices could serve notice to lower courts across the country and hand a victory to one side or the other in a debate that has raged since their Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion in 1973. Emboldened by the court’s most recent action on abortion, in its 2007 ruling that upheld bans on “partial-birth” or late-term abortions, state legislatures have enacted hundreds of restrictions in recent years. They range from 24hour waiting periods and parental notification laws, mostly upheld by lower courts, to bans on abortion after six or 12 weeks, which courts have blocked. The result of the laws and lawsuits is a growing disparity among

6 | Nov. 19 - Nov. 25, 2015 | District Chronicles

states. California had 160 abortion clinics in 2011 and New York nearly 100, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The Texas law, passed in 2013, forced more than half the state’s 46 clinics to close, and more are threatened by the latest appeals court decision. Wyoming has no abortion clinics. Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota each have one. The Supreme Court has refused to re-enter the debate since 2007. The Texas case has created a split among lower courts on how the Casey standard applies to doctors’ admitting privileges and clinics’ operating standards. “Like so many Supreme Court decisions, it’s subject to interpretation,” said Neal Devins, a William & Mary law professor who has written on the subject. For years, state legislatures focused on restrictions such as requiring parental consent and waiting periods, he

says, but more recently Republican legislatures have been “going well beyond the template of laws that Pennsylvania had enacted and Casey had approved.” Coincidentally, the issue could play out during next year’s presidential election. The latest Gallup polls show 80 percent support for legal abortion in at least some circumstances, so a renewed focus could help Democrats next year. “There is no evidence that women will experience any materially different travel distances to obtain an abortion,” the state contends in its brief opposing a Supreme Court decision to hear the case. The law’s challengers claim the restrictions are meant to limit abortions rather than improve women’s health and would force all but 10 clinics to close in a state where about 60,000 women seek abortions annually.

“Women unable to make the trip to one of the remaining clinics are left with only two options: carry an unwanted pregnancy to term or attempt an illegal abortion,” their reply brief says. The challengers lost the first round in court, after which the number of clinics dropped from 40 to 18. The Supreme Court has twice blocked the law from taking effect while appeals continued, most recently in June by a five - four vote in which the court’s most conservative justices dissented. That makes the legal battle lines clear. “Part of what each side is counting on is getting Justice Kennedy,” said Michael Dorf, a professor at Cornell Law School who clerked for Kennedy in 1992, when Casey was decided. “Both sides think in a perfect world that the court would move much farther – in opposite directions.”

Time is ripe for criminal justice reform, say advocates By Curtis Bunn Urban News Service

Urban News Service

New Orleans – Something unique has happened: Advocates from all political and social backgrounds – liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans and a wide range of players from all socioeconomic backgrounds – have united to inspire criminal justice reform. At the Advancing Justice 2015 conference in the Crescent City last week, criminal-justice reform leaders met and discussed, advised and surmised, in hopes of reducing mass incarceration and its impact on families and communities. “It’s the dawn of a new day in criminal justice,” said Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst for civil and justice reform at Open Society Foundations in Washington. “This conference has people in the same room for the same purpose and commitment that never would share the same space.” The conference, sponsored by the Charles Koch Institute, featured 300 attendees, including an array of nonprofits that focus on specific areas of criminal justice, as well as think-tank leaders, politicians, judges, lawyers and former inmates. Congress is weighing six bills that address criminal reform in various ways, said Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a civil liberties organization. But none is gaining much traction with lawmakers, she said. So, those who can influence policy or circumvent it through their respective organizations say they are seeking to make a dent, with Advancing Justice as a catalyst. “This moment in history is so rare that if we don’t get as much out of it as we can,” Stewart said during the panel discussion on sentencing and public safety, “crime could go back up, and people will not be as willing to do more for reform.” The conference raised many concerns. Among them: Harsh sentencing. Mandatoryminimum penalties give judges no room to administer prison time based on their assessment

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of defendants’ potential for good citizenship. The same amount of time is levied against a career criminal and a first-time offender, with many convictions leading to at least five years for nonviolent crimes, often in the drug-enforcement sphere. Re-entry into communities after incarceration. “Our world is very unforgiving,” said Tina Naidoo, the executive director of the Texas Offenders Reentry Initiative. “The returning citizens are crippled from being good, productive citizens.” Finding work for an ex-offender to provide for himself and/or his family “is near impossible,” because laws banning the convicted from particular occupations and the stigma that comes with a criminal record “have taken away their rights to live because they are continuing to be punished.” The militarization of police. Conference participants echoed popular concerns about deployment of law enforcement officers, following the high-profile deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; Freddie Gray in Baltimore; and other high-profile killings involving police. In addition to what some have called an intimidating police presence, conferees discussed numerous cases in which law enforcement raids have targeted the wrong homes, often causing the tragic deaths of innocent people. Such actions

frequently befall minority households. “We have blown up the partisan divide in this area,” said Norman Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “This (conference) is a huge step forward. That is what it takes to get things done. People must come together.” Lamont Carey, 40, of Washington, spent 11 years in prison on a drug charge. He said his illegal involvement was a socioeconomic issue. “It was strictly about making money to get out of a community that was hopeless.” Since his release, Carey has used education as a catalyst to reenter society, and he eventually started a nonprofit that helps returning citizens get adjusted to life as free men. “The road back to being productive is not easy, and it’s not set up right now to really help those who want to be helped,” said Carey. “But this collection of people who can make changes and who want to make changes in one event gives me hope that some really strong things can happen. I have talked to White conservatives who have a passion for changing things. I have talked to women, to Black liberals and everyone in between. This event shows people are concerned and want change. That has to be encouraging.”

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istrict of Columbia high schools are struggling with a chronic truancy problem that at any given time involves more than half of their enrollment, according to a sobering report released by the Children’s Law Center and D.C. Lawyers for Youth. The report is critical of anti-truancy measures that increase administrative and legal interventions without addressing the underlying cause. Many factors contribute to poor school attendance, particularly for low-income and disadvantaged youth. The root cause is a lack of engagement in learning that is relevant to everyday life, gives students a sense of accomplishment and connects them to employment. District of Columbia schools are not alone. Research shows more than 1 in 4 African-American youth in the U.S., ages 16 to 24 have little or no connection to school and work experiences as they enter adulthood. A decade ago, District of Columbia Students Construction Trades Foundation founded the Academy of Construction and Design at one of D.C.’s oldest public high schools. Their goal was to increase the skills and readiness of individuals seeking jobs in the region’s booming construction industry. It met extensively with school, industry and community leaders to address diverse needs and concerns. After listening intently to a description of a proposed techni-

cal academy in an early meeting with the D.C. Board of Education, a student representative to the board remarked that more students would stay in school and avoid dropping out if they were able to participate in the hands-on math, carpentry, electrical, blueprint reading and science courses we planned to offer. Over the ensuing decade, outcomes for students in the career and technical education (CTE) classes would prove him right. The Academy of Construction and Design has maintained a greater than 90 percent graduation rate. CTE pathways combine academic and technical studies to encourage students to stay in school and graduate with skills and credentials that open doors to employment, further education and viable careers. Skilled trades CTE changes the way students see themselves and their future prospects. However, D.C. and other urban school districts continue to overlook or eliminate these programs entirely. Anyone who dismisses the need for accredited instruction in carpentry, electrical and other building trades should remember that heavy snow, arctic temperatures and high winds shut down much of the country last winter. The winter storm also caused broken pipes, collapsed roofs and downed power lines. To begin to understand why skilled trades education has been pushed aside, we can look back to debates between the 19th-century leaders, W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington. Washing-

ton advocated training students in craft, industrial and farming skills, while Dubois focused on college-educated African Americans whom he called the “Talented Tenth.” This planted the seed of thought that college education holds much more value and commands greater respect than vocational education. This misconception lingers today, even as educators struggle to reduce truancy, improve student performance and close the achievement gap for Black and Latino students. The DC Students Construction Trades Foundation just opened its newly renovated and constructed training facility at IDEA Public Charter School, one of the city’s longest operating and top performing high schools. These classrooms and training labs are the new home of the Academy of Construction and Design during school hours and the DC Apprenticeship Academy, which offers evening classes for apprentice trainees employed by contractors in the District of Columbia. Our science, technology, engineering, design arts and math partnership with IDEA is a replicable model for educating and employing the next generation of skilled trades professionals who will keep technology-smart homes and buildings from being cold, dark and flooded. Carol Randolph is chief operating officer for the DC Students Construction Trades Foundation and co-founder of the Academy of Construction and Design in Washington, D.C.

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In the Neighborhood

Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington

princegeorgescountymd.gov

Prince George’s County Council among those calling for Maryland Governor Hogan to release state appropriated funds.

Prince George’s County Council urges Gov. Hogan to release $68M for schools

he Prince George’s County Council is joining leaders from across the State of Maryland in urging Gov. Larry Hogan to release $68 million in fiscal year (FY) 2016 state-appropri-

Montgomery County Potomac, Chevy Chase libraries expand hours

mended by Councilmember Roger Berliner, were approved by the Council in the FY2016 budget. “Libraries are one of our most beloved and important community assets. Yet, after several difficult budgets, we still haven’t fully restored the hours of operation for all of our county’s branches to their pre-recessionary levels,” said Berliner. “That is why I recommended that we add additional funding into our most recent county budget to accomplish this goal. While there is still more work to be done, expanding the hours at the Chevy Chase and Potomac library branches moves us one step closer to that goal.” “We appreciate Mr. Berliner’s recommendation for this funding which was accepted by the Council,” said MCPL Director Parker Hamilton. “The expanded hours at Chevy Chase and Potomac libraries will allow the residents of those

more immediate investment in areas including pre-kindergarten, professional development, signature programs, and technology. The council is urging county residents to contact Gov. Hogan at 1.800.811.8336 and insist on the release of these important funds supporting children and families. The County Council meets as a legislative body on Tuesdays in the Council Hearing Room on the first floor of the County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro.

flickr/MCPL

Expanded hours have started at the Chevy Chase Library, 8005 Connecticut Ave. and the Potomac Library at 10101 Glenolden Dr. Monday through Thursday these two Montgomery County Public Libraries will open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. “I am pleased the hours are extended at the Chevy Chase and Potomac libraries to provide residents with more time to access the extensive programs and services offered,” said County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett. “Our libraries play a critical role as a community anchor that supports learning and connectivity to literacy and information.” The expanded hours, recom-

ated funds, to more equitably fund school districts across the state. Maryland anticipates an estimated $500 million budget surplus in the current FY, which further positions the governor to fully fund the State’s Bridge to Excellence formula for fair and equitable funding of local school systems. Prince George’s County students would receive nearly $20 million in aid from these funds in the current year, allowing for

The Potomac Library is among two libraries with expanded hours.

communities to more easily take advantage of all MCPL has to offer.” For more information contact Chevy Chase Library at 240.773.9590 or Potomac Library at 240.777.0690. For information about MCPL branches, visit http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.

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In the Neighborhood

Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington Montgomery County

Weichert Realty hosts annual toy drive

he Weichert Family of Companies is inviting metro area residents to drop off new, unwrapped toys at the company’s sales offices through Dec. 11. The

toys will be delivered throughout the holidays in conjunction with local charities that assist financially and physically disadvantaged children. “As we get into the holiday spirit, it’s important to remember those children who are less fortunate, and to do our part to help brighten their holiday season,” said Jim Weichert, president and founder of Weichert, Realtors. “As

a company, Weichert makes it a priority to assist in all of the communities where we do business, and our annual toy drive allows us to extend our efforts even further.” Weichert employees at the company’s corporate headquarters, as well as in other company locations throughout the United States, will also participate in the yearly community service event. To date, the annual toy drive has yielded hun-

dreds of thousands of items for underprivileged children in the communities Weichert serves. Last year, more than 13,000 toys were distributed to charitable and service organizations. To make a donation, visit any Weichert, Realtors sales office.

Mid-Atlantic Equitation Festival comes to Show Place Arena

Robert Eubanks/DistrictChronicles

Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles

Robert Eubanks/DistrictChronicles

Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles

12 | Nov. 19 - Nov. 25, 2015 | District Chronicles