INNER-CITY NEWS

Goffe Street Courts Honor A Basketball “Super” Star

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

On the Goffe Street basketball courts, summer was in full swing. Mike Downing called out the start of a game, and kids spread out in a flurry of red and green shirts around him, eyes on the hoops above as the ground vibrated with color below. Beneath a tent nearby, chef Brandi Marshall served up chicken nuggets and ice cold bottles of water as family members caught up behind her.

A public art project, miniature basketball tournament, and Williamson family reunion came to DeGale Field Saturday, as NXTHVN and Common Practice cut the ribbon on the long-awaited, refurbished Goffe Street basketball courts with an afternoon of recreation, food, and pumping music that kept the party going for over four hours.

At its core was a chance to properly honor “Super” John Williamson, a son of New Haven who grew up in the Ashmun Street Projects, attended Wilbur Cross High School, and went on to play for the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Throughout the afternoon, kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Haven played on the court, completely in the zone.

“It feels amazing,” said Williamson’s daughter, Shareebah Williamson, who with her sister Kali has spearheaded efforts to properly honor her dad on the court since last year. “This is all I ever wanted—to keep my dad’s name alive, it’s really an honor and a blessing. We can see my dad’s legacy living on. This is history that he elevated right here, on this court.”

The courts come from a year-long collaboration between NXTHVN and Common Practice, an initiative that probes the intersection of public art and basketball. Designed by the artist Tschabalala Self, they feature alternating blocks of red and green, with a repeating eyeball motif in black.

At the center of the court, the number “23”—Williamson’s number with the New York (and later New Jersey) Nets, which was retired after he left the team— hovers inside the sclera and iris of a single eyeball, right where the pupil would otherwise be. The words In Loving Memory of John Williamson wrap around it.

Saturday, that legacy came alive for hours, as members of the Williamson family gathered to celebrate the finished design, catch up with each other, and play some ball in a superstar’s honor. Among them were siblings, first and second cousins, children, and grandchildren, all of whom grew up hearing stories and reading family-preserved news clippings of Williamson, and often pursued the sport in his memory.

Kristen Bowser, who grew up in Baldwin, Louisiana and played basketball

competitively for Louisiana State University, was one of those grandchildren. As a kid, Bowser spent her summers coming to New Haven, where she heard “all the stories” about Williamson’s life and career from her aunts and uncles. The courts are where she learned to play under the hot New Haven sun.

“I love the game, it’s just in me,” she said. When she heard about the project from Shareebah, she was excited to return to New Haven, and play on the courts after years away. “It’s something positive for the youth.”

As he watched teens sprint across one side of the court and kids take over the other, referee Tyrone Grant remembered being a kid on the court, and having Williamson toss the ball to him. He went on to help form New Haven's community basketball leagues, in which he has been a referee for 33 years.

He added that he is hopeful people will better remember Williamson for the footprint he left on New Haven. Raised with 10 brothers and sisters in the Ashmun Street Projects, Williamson grew up going to Bethel AME Church, which sits just half a block away from DeGale Field on Goffe Street. While studying at Wilbur Cross, he helped lead the team to the Connecticut state championships three years in a row.

When he graduated, he soared on to college basketball, and then to the ABA and NBA. In the NBA, he set records that took years to break. When he retired from the NBA at 30, he moved back to New Haven, and worked with young people as a juvenile corrections officer. He died in 1996, when he was only 44 years old. His children, who were teenagers at the time, have kept his stories alive.

Saturday, it appeared as though honor-

ing him was indeed the order of the day, from long-overdue family conversations and tear-flecked speeches to an ice cream truck that pulled up just as the sun became overbearing. As multiple balls rang out across the fresh court, there was the sense that Williamson was there, beaming down on well-refereed games and cousins who hadn’t seen each other in months, sometimes longer.

Beneath the tent, Williamson’s cousin Brenda Miller said she was elated to see the day take shape. Raised in Ohio, Miller moved to New Haven when she was

jonn Williamson took a minute to absorb the breadth and brightness of the design, which is rendered in Pan-African colors that seem to vibrate in the sunlight. Nijonn, who grew up playing on “every court in the city,” said he was excited to return to Goffe Street and honor his grandfather’s legacy. Jazmine, now an audience development coordinator for Long Wharf Theatre, said that she knew her grandfather would be excited to see the family together, ringing in the day as one joyful, cacophonous unit.

Back on the court, Achievement First Amistad Academy sixth grader Dagone Him said that knowing Williamson’s story “makes me feel like I could do the same.” Currently, basketball is his life— if he’s not in school or on the court, then he’s at home, watching the game. His favorite team is the Los Angeles Lakers, “because they just dominate.”

When he hears the stories of Williamson playing on the same court that he’s now learning on, it motivates him to do better.

John Dennis, creative director at NXTHVN and the co-editor of Common Practice: Basketball & Contemporary Art, said that the court is the first of four Common Practice plans to unveil this summer. He praised both the Williamson family and NXTHVN Founders Titus Kaphar and Jason Price for both trusting in and advocating for the project.

Since a community meeting at NXTHVN last year, he has worked very closely with sisters Kali and Shareebah Williamson, as well as City Landscape Architect Katherine Jacobs.

“It feels like one of our first successes in a community activation in something that exists outside of the [169 Henry St.] building," he said. "There were a lot of places where this could have gone wrong. Ultimately, love won the day.”

Saturday, Kali Williamson praised Dennis for working closely with the family to bring the vision to fruition. Since speaking almost a full year ago at NXTHVN, she and Shareebah have welcomed him into their homes, and become part of a documentary project that he is working on with Common Practice. Across the street, the family has lent NXTHVN Williamson’s number 23 jersey, where it hangs, framed, behind glass.

22, and described Williamson as more “like a brother to me” than a cousin. For years, she worked with the city to coordinate New Haven’s Midnight Basketball league. To pay tribute to Williamson seems overdue, she said, pointing to how deeply Ohioans celebrate Lebron James’ Akron-based roots.

“It’s nice that someone did that for John,” she said. “That’s what they needed. Our kids need something to do.”

Nearby, cousins Jazmine, Imoni and Ni-

"I just wanted to keep my dad alive," she said, adding that she is working towards an annual basketball league and Father's Day tournament in her father's honor. "I told JD that what he did for our family is literally priceless."

The collaboration is funded by Project Backboard, which in 2021 received a $500,000 grant from Five Star Basketball to resurface and design between 10 and 12 basketball courts across the country. This year, Dennis said that the Goffe Street Courts kick off a summer of ribbon cuttings on four courts, the other three of which are in New York City.

Kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Greater New Haven came to play. NXTHVN and Common Practice's John Dennis said he was excited to partner with fellow community organizations and hoped that NXTHVN could grow that work going forward.

Brandi Marshall and Kali Williamson.

Lamont Signs the Budget to Bipartisan Acclaim

by Hugh McQuaid

Connecticut policymakers from both sides of the political aisle gathered at the state Capitol Monday afternoon to watch Gov. Ned Lamont sign a two-year state budget including broad income tax cuts into law following its bipartisan approval by the legislature.

The governor put his signature on the $51.1 billion tax and spending plan during an afternoon ceremony surrounded by legislators. The budget passed with strong bipartisan support in the House and Senate last week during the final days of the legislative session.

The 832-page document will fund state government and services for a two-year period beginning next month and includes the first cuts to Connecticut’s marginal income tax rates since the 1990s.

“I think it makes a difference in this inflationary environment,” Lamont said after the ceremony. “It sends a signal, especially to working families and the middle class. This is a state that’s on the mend, getting our fiscal house in order and you’re going to share the benefits of it.”

The cuts are aimed at middle-class filers making less than $150,000 and joint filers making under $300,000. The budget will reduce the current 3% rate to 2% while dropping the 5% rate to 4.5%. Other tax

policies in the plan include a more flexible tax credit for retirees and increases in the Earned Income Tax Credit for lowearning working families.

The spending package will also support large increases in funding for local school districts, which will receive around $150 million more than previously scheduled

increases. Senate President Martin Looney called it a “significant infusion of new money.”

“We recognized a need — a post-pandemic need there is even greater than it was,” Looney said. “Those problems have been pointed out to us with kids returning to school, having their education

disrupted.”

The budget strictly adheres to spending constraints that have been in place since 2017 and which many policymakers credit with helping Connecticut amass billions in budget surpluses over the last several years.

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora and Rep. Holly Cheeseman, REast Lyme, were among the legislators to attend Monday’s event. They said this year’s budget negotiations were a collaborative process.

“This document does reflect collaboration and input from the Republican Party,” Candelora said and thanked the governor. “It certainly is a continuation of the spirit of those fiscal restraints that we put in place to be able to now extend tax relief to our residents.”

Although the plan received overwhelming support in the legislature, it received a mixed reaction outside the state Capitol. Advocates of many causes argued it failed to adequately fund programs and services in a number of areas including to a network of nonprofit organizations that provide social safety net services once offered by state government. The budget also included less money than administrators of Connecticut’s public higher education institutions have said they needed in order to avoid drastic cuts.

Progressive groups like Recovery For All and the Working Families Party denounced the budget last week for its adherence to fiscal constraints over additional support for state residents.

“Our state deserves more than some small tax cuts and yet another austerity budget,” Sarah Ganong, state director of the Working Families Party, said. “We deserve an equity agenda and a moral budget that brings everyone to the table and has working families at its center.”

The Connecticut Business and Industry Associations, meanwhile, applauded the budget guardrails while arguing state policymakers missed an opportunity to provide more assistance for the state’s small businesses.

“Those hard-won bipartisan reforms provided long-needed stability and a platform to cut taxes and invest in childcare, education, and workforce development,” Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of the association, said.

On Monday, proponents of the budget focused on its sustainability and its iterative progress on policies advanced during the last few budget cycles.

“When you add up three years and four years of stability and successes without rolling back the investments that we made, that’s how you get a really good product,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said.

Lawmakers Complain About Guardrail Constraints, But Keep Them In Place

by Mike Savino

Much of the Senate debate on the $51.1-billion state budget followed a usual formula: members talked about areas where they think the budget fell short before ultimately praising its income tax cut and increased spending on priorities.

Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, took a different tact, giving an impassioned speech about how, in his view, the budget failed nonprofit service providers, striking group home workers, higher education, and various other constituencies. Then, he voted for the spending plan.

“It was not an enthusiastic one,” Winfield said after his vote Tuesday. He may have been one of the Democrats most open about his frustration with how statutory fiscal restraints limited budget negotiations, but others agreed they didn’t expect such strict constraints in a year when the state is flush with cash.

“I think there’s an educational curve that we all had when looking at it,” Rep. Toni Walker, D-New Haven, co-chair of the state’s budget-writing committee, said before Monday’s vote in the House of Representatives.

Still, that doesn’t mean the Democratled General Assembly will make any significant changes to the guardrails that the legislature voted in February to extend for at least five more years.

For starters, Gov. Ned Lamont said he thinks the new rules work.

“There’ll be push and shove coming and that’s what happens every two years,” Lamont said. “That’s why I’m here.”

He credits the guardrails — including a spending cap, a volatility cap that dictates that excess revenue from unstable revenue streams to the budget reserve and then to pensions, and a revenue cap that limits state spending in order to create a surplus — with helping Connecticut right the ship financially.

The budget, which passed with broad bipartisan support, includes the largest income tax cut in state history and spending increases of nearly $900 million each year. Still, the nonpartisan office of fiscal analysis projects a $615.4 million surplus next fiscal year, and $368 the following year.

“I’m not the only guy in this building that has to sometimes say ‘no,’” Lamont said in support of the fiscal restraints.

Republicans, too, have been quick to praise the guardrails, which were first put in place during bipartisan budget negotiations in 2017.

“Our state, I think we all agree, has tremendously benefited,” Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, said during Tuesday’s debate. He noted the rules have prompted Connecticut to use excess tax revenues to

boost the Rainy Day Fund to north of $3 billion and pay down some of its unfunded pension liabilities.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said the guardrails made it easier to have bipartisan talks on the budget this year.

“It was easy to reflect back on these

guardrails and say ‘no you have to stay in this framework’,” he said Wednesday. Democrats, themselves, have not called for a major overhaul to, let alone removal of, the budget guardrails.

Leaders in the House agree the restraints have helped avoid the types of painful budget negotiations the legisla-

ture endured last decade. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said the frustration comes because the state actually has money to spend.

“You will see years where nobody cares about them, and you will see years like this year where we wish we had a little more access,” Ritter said.

Outside groups certainly tried to pressure the legislature to spend that money.

“There was no money for us when the state didn’t have money and there’s no money for us when the state does have money,” said Gian-Carl Casa, executive director for the Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance.

The nonprofits weren’t alone. A group of 1,700 group home and day program workers with New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU 1199 have pointed to the Rainy Day Fund while striking for high pay and better healthcare and pension benefits.

Public university and college officials have said a $135 million increase for higher education next year is not enough to avoid cuts and layoffs.

Democrats said they think the guardrails allow for the flexibility to address those concerns. It’s just a matter of interpretation by those negotiating.

“I would just say there are many ways to legally do what you need to do irrespective of the guardrails,” Ritter said.

Gov. Ned Lamont signs the state budget on June 12, 2023 Credit: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie

Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, speaks to reporters outside the Senate chamber Wednesday night. Credit: Mike Savino photo

210 Graduate From Whose House? Hillhouse!

by MIA CORTÉS CASTRO

Sporting graduation caps covered in colorful flowers and pink feathers, Kaniya Rogers and Alayjah Ford took advantage of the few moments before graduation to celebrate their time at Hillhouse High School — and to look forward to hoped-for careers in healthcare and cosmetology.

Rogers and Ford were two of 210 students to graduate from James Hillhouse High School on Tuesday morning during a festive outdoor ceremony at Bowen Field on Crescent Street.

Alongside the rest of their graduating class, Rogers and Ford spoke about their plans for both the afternoon after graduation and the rest of their lives, excited to hang out together over the summer as well as to continue their paths to becoming a hair and makeup artist and travel nurse, respectively. Rogers is heading to cosmetology school next year, while Ford plans to begin looking for work.

“There’s a lot going on here at Hillhouse all of the time, so it was difficult for me to stay focused on one thing throughout my time in high school here, but I’m excited to get to study what I love and have been dreaming about forever,” said Rogers.

A parade of 210 graduates wearing colorful tassels, heavy medals representing all of their accomplishments, and florally decorated graduation caps that allowed their families to spot them from the bleachers of the stadium.

“Making my cap was fun. We took plastic flowers and tore the stems off to create these fun caps. I’m feeling good and excited to be graduating,” said Ford.

In addition to celebrating their milestone, the class of 2023 used their graduation ceremony to commemorate the lives of two of their classmates, Keiron Jones and Brian Ramírez Gutiérrez. who died while still in high school. Their lives were remembered and celebrated by all speakers in the ceremony, and their families walked the stage and received their diplomas in their honor.

All of the families of the graduates brought lots of spirit to the crowd of the ceremony. From megaphones used to shout out their graduates to large posters congratulating them, their spirit brought life to the stadium.

Two graduates who received a lot of this congratulating spirit were the valedictorian and salutatorian of the

graduating class, Julia Rosado and Elsa G. Holahan. In their speeches, both renounced their titles and emphasized their equality to their class, thanking them for the sense of community and family they all worked to create at Hillhouse.

“Our community is a combination of and an essence that revolves around accountability, care, kinship, love, and solidarity,” said Holahan. “Our community has manifested in various ways and has assumed various capacities. Community welcomed us into a state of collective being, offered support and guidance, community has encouraged us to mediate relationships and conflicts on our own, enabling us to be practitioners of restorative justice. Community can be found within all of us.”

In her valedictory address, Rosado continued on the theme of the power of the Hillhouse community, contributing to the points made earlier by Holahan in adding that the Hillhouse community and James Hillhouse High School as a whole is much more than the stereotypes assigned to them.

“Hillhouse kids are braver than most. I have seen firsthand the bravery you display despite the labels that are forced on you, despite the loss of loved ones and dear classmates, and despite the barriers you have faced,” said Rosado.

Besides highlighting their distinguished graduates, the ceremony included a speech from a recognized Hillhouse graduate from the class of 1999, Charmion Kinder, former White House press aide to First Lady Michelle Obama and current Director of Communications at the Peace Corps. In her speech, Kinder encouraged graduates to always face challenges with bravery, in all its various forms.

“Failure is an ever present possibility, but it’s not the enemy. Fear of failure is,” Kinder told the graduates. Mayor Justin Elicker also addressed the graduates, encouraging them to always choose supporting their loved ones and forming community, both values at the base of James Hillhouse High School.

Congratulating the graduates and welcoming them into the Hillhouse alumni community, the Hillhouse band concluded the ceremony by performing the school’s alma mater. The song played in the background as the new 2023 alumni rushed off to meet their loved ones.

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Crowd of graduates and their families while exiting the stadium.

MIA CORTÉS CASTRO PHOTO Kaniya Rogers and Alayjah Ford: "I’m feeling good and excited to be graduating.”

Students parading into graduation carrying photo of their classmate, Keiron Jones.

Covid Survivor Passes Adult Ed Finish Line

by MAYA MCFADDEN

Six months ago, Raquel Cuiman was in a hospital bed fighting for her life against Covid for a second time.

This week, with the support of her family, friends, and mentors at the New Haven Adult & Continuing Education Center, she received her GED — and is now pursuing a dream to help others overcome the same health and emotional and educational obstacles she found a way to clear.

Cuiman told that story on Tuesday morning as she was one of 130 students to graduate from the Adult Ed center. The ceremony took place at the Omni Hotel on Temple Street. The graduating students ranged in ages from 17 to 70 years old. In her opening remarks, Adult Ed Assistant Principal Stephanie Paris-Cooper congratulated the class for the commitment and determination that helped them to cross the finish line.

“Education is the password to the future,” said Paris-Cooper.

General Educational Development (GED) graduate Raquel Cuiman shared during the ceremony that the past year while at Adult Ed was full of ”trials and a plethora of tribulations” mostly due to the Covid pandemic.

“Covid showed you how valuable you are,” she said.

At the start of last year, Cuiman caught Covid for the first time and it “knocked me down,” she recalled.

As a result she was out of school and work for weeks. She said her Covid-

induced illness and being out of school and work for so long caused a significant amount of emotional and physical strain. Months later, she was admitted to hospital for a suicide attempt. She then ended

a long-term relationship. She then resigned from her job.

“Thank you God for a second chance at life,” she said on Tuesday.

On top of it all, towards the end of 2022, Cuiman lost her father to cancer. Soon thereafter, she and her son had to find a new place to live.

At the start of this year, she caught a bad case of Covid again. This time around, she said, “I made a promise to myself that I am no victim and that everything in my life is happening for me and not to me.” After recovering, Cuiman was able to refocus and get back on track with her schooling.

Next she bought a gown for Tuesday’s celebration which she described as her “wedding to success.”

This coming fall, Cuiman plans to attend Gateway Community College’s Drug and Alcohol Recovery Counselor (DARC) program with the end goal of one day opening up her own adolescent support home.

She aims to work with children similar to her who are growing up in group or foster homes.

Cuiman’s mentor, Maureen “Ms. Maureen” Rya, who is a GED teacher for Adult Ed, described Cuiman as always having a positive attitude despite the many challenges she’s had to overcome. “I’m proud because she never gave up,” Ryan said.

Read more by going to THE INNERCITY NEWS .COM

OPPORTUNITY + EQUITY

The B lack F utures F und

Uplifting and empowering Greater New Haven’s Black Community Commemorating J uneteenth

One hundred Black-led and Black-serving nonprofits were supported in 2023 by The Black Futures Fund during The Great Give.

As we commemorate Juneteenth, we also thank our Black Futures Fund supporters without whom we could not continue to advance racial equity in our community.

cfgnh.org/blackfuturesfund

African American William Lanson (d. 1851), a leader of New Haven’s Black community.

Sculpture: Dana King; Photo: Judy Sirota Rosenthal

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTOS Newly minted GED graduate Raquel Cuiman with family ...

Angélique Kidjo Lifts New Haven In Song

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

On one end of the New Haven Green, Angélique Kidjo leaned into the mic, and prepared to put her whole heart into “Malaika.” Beneath her, a carpet of strings rolled out across the stage and toward an audience of thousands. Her voice sailed over the Green, well past its flagpole and onto Chapel Street.

Just feet away, Awuor Onguru lifted her phone up to the stage, belting along to the lyrics as they brought her back to a childhood in Nairobi. Every so often, she leaned over to translate a line or two from the Swahili to English for her friends. Around her, children swayed atop their parents’ shoulders, delighting in the sound as dusk fell around them.

New Haven was in full force Saturday, as thousands gathered on the New Haven Green to hear Kidjo and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) ring in the International Festival of Arts & Ideas on the Alexander Clark Stage. After a full day of programming across New Haven, the evening culminated in a concert that focused on bringing the city together in a time of global divisiveness.

The evening included veteran New Haven drummers Michael Mills and Brian Jawara Gray, as well as dancers Tia Cruz and Charliece Salters, both Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School and Eastern Connecticut State University grads who have gone on to dance professionally. As they danced in the night, it marked the start to a two-week calendar of 150 Arts & Ideas events. More on that below.

Even before Mills and Gray kicked off the night with their signature healing drums, a sense of energy crackled in the air, alive in the constant hum of conversation, peals of laughter and miniature pride flags that popped up across the Green. Taking the stage to cheers, Director of Programming & Community Impact Malakhi Eason looked out over a growing crowd, the sky above him clear after nearly a week of wildfire smoke.

“Let me hear the love!” he said, and the crowd roared back in appreciation. By the stage, couples snagged a few open patches of grass, a few bringing out picnic blankets and bottles of wine to welcome in an early summer. Halfway across the Green, Saddam Alshuwaykh wheeled his bike through the open walkways, savoring the last, honeyed hours of Saturday sunshine.

Back up front, Eason welcomed Mills and Gray, who grew up in New Haven and have been bringing the sound of their drums to the city’s neighborhoods for decades, sometimes when residents need to hear them most. As the sound rang out over the Green, amplified through the microphones, both musicians brought the audience into their set, which seeks to unite hearts and minds around the life-

giving sound of the drum.

“This is when we come together y’all!” Mills said, and some members of the audience stood to dance along. “Hearts! Beat! Hearts! Beat!”

They had musical tricks up their batiked, brightly patterned sleeves: they always do. No sooner had Mills invited the audience to sing along than he and Gray were layering sound, chimes and extra percussion ringing out beneath the drums. Every so often, Mills added in a rumbling beat, building a whole percussive symphony.

The two added depth as they welcomed Ken Tedeschi, a veteran music educator in the North Haven Public Schools who is currently the assistant principal trumpet with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As he walked on, Tedeschi eased right into a sort of chopped-up, staccato take on Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” the trumpet wailing as he played. On the grass, it became nearly impossible not to sway and shimmy along.

In the audience, guitarist Ed Beverley made his way to the stage, his shoulders and hips already moving to the music. He swayed and rocked to the sound, closing his eyes until the rhythm surrounded him, and came up through the ground into his whole body. When his lids fluttered back open, part of him was still in New Haven, and part of him was on another plane entirely.

Born in Bristol and raised in New Haven, Beverley grew up playing music with Mills and doing martial arts with Gray, both of whom he now considers close friends. He can’t remember missing a single iteration of Arts & Ideas in its 28 years, he said—including a festival that

the two opened decades ago. This year, he said, he was excited to see New Haven’s talent get its due on the main stage.

“It’s a wonderful thing to see someone you grew up with performing up there,” he said, nodding to his nearly seven decades on the planet. “Dance, this music keeps you young. It soothes me.”

Just a few feet away, Mills and Gray were soloing at the lip of the stage, so close that Beverley could nearly touch them. “I need you to repeat after me!” Mills shouted from the stage, lifting his arms to the sky. “Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!”

“Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh!” the audience half-sang, half-spoke back. It was good enough for Mills.

“La la la la la la la la!” he continued. His hands rarely left the drum. By the

and became close friends during their time studying dance at Co-Op. Speaking as she ran through her movements, Salters credited New Haven’s schools as the foundation of her dance education.

“It was where we learned everything we know,” she said.

When she performs, “I feel powerful,” Cruz chimed in. She called it an honor to dance alongside Kidjo, a five-time Grammy winner and champion of human rights who was recently named a recipient of the Polar Music Prize. Just a day before on the Green, Kidjo had joked that when she accepted the prize, she was able to get even the King of Sweden dancing. Behind them, Neale stepped offstage for just a moment, taking Kidjo’s hand before he ushered her onto the stage. Even as Cruz and Salters continued to warm up, an ear-splitting cheer rose from the other side of the stage, a sign that she had arrived.

“This is a place where we get together, and tell the world there are possibilities,” she had said just a day before, before cutting a ribbon on the Alexander Clark stage. “There are solutions. We can be a better world if we all come together through arts and through education to create a country that can be a trailblazer in human rights, in everything that we stand for.”

Nowhere were those words more alive than during her set, which wove through multiple languages and decades of music making in which she has never stopped experimenting. After easing the audience in with a slow, full-bellied and translated interpretation of George Gershwin’s “Summertime,” she picked up the pace, and got the audience onits feet for the rest of the evening.

time the audience answered him, it felt like a quarter of the Green was moving along to the same beat.

It was the perfect introduction to the NHSO, which opened with Quinn Mason’s “A Joyous Trilogy” before welcoming Kidjo to the stage. As the first movement rose, wispy and unrushed in the warm evening, Maestro Alasdair Neale glowed at the podium, his eyes locked with musicians. He leaned forward, mouthing something imperceptible to the horns as his baton cut through the air. No sooner had woodwinds entered the fray and he lifted his heels, in a subtle, subconscious kind of dance that turned the whole stage into a celebration.

Backstage, Cruz and Salters went over their routines one last time before joining Kidjo on stage. Now dancers at The Lab in Meriden, both grew up in New Haven,

It was during her “Kelele,” off her 2010 album Õÿö, that the crowd came alive for the first time. At first, there were just a few whispers of movement at the front, where parents lifted their kids— and sometimes, friends’ kids—onto their shoulders to give them a full view of the stage. At the front, the singer-songwriter Thabisa trilled her tongue and bounced in excitement.

“Repeat after me!” Kidjo said, and sang the first line of the song to the crowd. When they repeated it back, she beamed. “Let’s go for it!”

On guitar, Dominic James joined in and wisps of 1980s Guinean dance filled the air as attendees clapped in time with the music. In one sonic world, the audience could have been in the basement of Barbès, listening to the blessing that is New Haven’s Mamady Kouyaté. In another, they were already halfway around the globe, taking in the breadth of a diaspora. By the time Kidjo came in, attendees Read more by going to THE INNERCITY NEWS .COM

ELEANOR POLAK PHOTOS Angelique Kidjo and New Haven Symphony Orchestra at the Arts & Ideas Festival.

ELEANOR POLAK PHOTOS Michael Mills and Brian Jarawa Gray play the Healing Drum.

Alleged Murderer Caught;

Victim’s Mom Relives “Worst Nightmare”

by THOMAS BREEN

Haven Independent

With tears streaming down her face, Krystal Woodhouse thanked police for arresting the man who allegedly murdered her son — and pleaded with anyone listening to come forward, talk to the cops, and do their part to help stop the cycle of violence that took her first-born two and a half years ago.

Woodhouse expressed that gratitude and offered that community plea Thursday afternoon during a press conference at police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson, Assistant Chief Bertram Ettienne, Mayor Justin Elicker, a top fellow cops and detectives convened that presser to announce that, on June 2, police served a warrant for the arrest of a 25-year-old Hartford man for the Nov. 17, 2020 murder of 24-year-old Tylee Bellamy on Grace Street in the Cedar Hill neighborhood.

Ettienne said the murder suspect — who is currently incarcerated in Hartford and awaiting trial for unrelated charges — killed Bellamy during an attempted robbery of a gun. Police were able to close the case two and a half years after Bellamy’s shooting death thanks to the work of city police Det. Steven Cunningham, collaboration with the Hartford Police Department, and a review of relevant social media.

While top cops offered few details on Thursday on what exactly led to police securing a warrant for this murder arrest, Tylee’s mom Krystal Woodhouse and grandmother Lorraine Bellamy spoke candidly and with tearful emotion about the life-shattering pain that came from

their loved one’s violent death.

“My worst nightmare is burying one of my sons,” Woodhouse said. And that’s exactly what she did two and a half years ago. She said she had Tylee at just 15 years old, that she had always been close with him, that his birth had helped turn her life around from her own “horrible” childhood. Tylee has left behind four kids, she said, who now will never get to grow up with their father.

“This right here is not what I wanted for them,” she said through tears.

She urged anyone listening — parents, children, New Haveners from all wakes of life — to come forward and talk to the police if they know about someone who has committed violence, and especially if they have taken another’s life.

“Everybody needs to be held accountable,” she said.

“Tylee was my oldest grandson,” Lorraine Bellamy said. “I talked to him every day. I just pray and I just wish that people would do better. You raise your kids and you hope they live a full life.” And it’s just so terrible when that isn’t the case.

“I thank God that they found justice for Tylee.”

Thursday’s press conference took place one day after police officials held a separate press conference with family members Allen “Shawny” Freeman, announcing that they had arrested a 22-year-old man for allegedly killing Freeman during a robbery on Bassett Street on Nov. 6, 2020.

Annual Commissioner Mullins Youth Leadership Award

This week, former West Haven Planning & Zoning Commissioner Steven R. Mullins presented the “Commissioner Mullins Youth Leadership Award” to two outstanding West Haven High School freshmen.

Lauren Paulemon is a member of the school’s theatre workshop, debate club and Class of 2026 Student Council.

Khalil Kabila is a member of the school’s track team, Class of 2026 Student Council, the Muslim Student Association and the Model United Nations.

The students were chosen by high school Principal Dana Paredes and the student’s respective counselors, Heather Brown Doraz and Olivia Quagliani.

Each student received a Certificate of Achievement, a booklet of the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation and a gift card to Barnes & Noble.

Mullins presents the award every year to two freshmen in the hopes that they will be inspired to continue to be civic minded leaders at the high school and the wider West Haven community.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Krystal Woodhouse: "Everybody needs to be held accountable.”

New

Photographs by WHHS Principal Dana Paredes Khalil Kabila and Lauren Paulemon receives their awards.

Surprise Award Honors “Life Changing” Teacher

by MAYA MCFADDEN

Just like during every other day of the school year, East Rock Spanish teacher Magda Colón came to work on Thursday ready to celebrate the hard work of her students.

This time, she was in for a surprise when her students and school staff turned that praise around, and presented her with an award recognizing the impact she’s had on their lives.

Colón was celebrated alongside her students Thursday morning at East Rock Community Magnet School at 133 Nash St. She received a “Life Changing Teaching” award during the school’s end-ofyear recognition assembly, known as the Dream Assembly, which was hosted in East Rock’s gym.

Colón was one of over 250 New Haven teachers nominated for the award thanks to the New Haven Public Schools (NPS) district’s partnership with a teacher-recognition nonprofit called Honored Schools.

The award is given to an educator to celebrate their impact and highlight the

differences they have made in the lives of their students and school communities. Schools that participated for the district’s first year were High School in the Community, Hill Regional Career High School, Family Academy of Multilingual Exploration, and East Rock School. Honored Schools narrowed the candidate pool to four finalists. A panel of New Haven community leaders scored the nominees and selected a winner.

Students and staff dressed in vacation attire with pineapple-shaped sunglasses, floral shirts, colorful lei’s as necklaces and hair accessories, and grass skirts at the Thursday celebration. NHPS lets out for the summer in less than a week.

To kick off the assembly students and staff recited the schools “Dream Pledge” as a collective, stating:

“I am dedicated to achieving my dream, I am respectful, ethical, and accepting of our diverse community. We will motivate each other to dream.”

East Rock Principal Sabrina Breland encouraged the middle schoolers to remember and continue to be guided by the schools dream pledge throughout their

summer vacation.

NHPS Assistant Supt. Viviana Conner and Director of Professional Learning and Leadership Development Edith Johnson surprised Colón with the award and prize money at the start of Thursday’s as-

sembly.

Before school staff went into spotlighting several students’ accomplishments and for “being caught doing the right thing,” which is what the Dream assembly highlights each year with student’s

families, Johnson and Conner recognized Colón for doing the right things as an educator for the past nine years at East Rock. Staff celebrated Colón for her daily acts of kindness and for always finding a way to make students and staff “feel loved and accepted,” Johnson said.

In addition to the recognition of Thursday’s award, Colón received a $5,000 check for her to use to support her family. Colón’s husband, mother, children and other family members surprised her at the celebration.

Johnson said the district partnered with Honored Schools to “give back to teachers” through recognizing that education is a tough but rewarding career path. Students gave Johnson a drum roll and cheered in excited as she announced Colón the winner of the award.

She added that she hopes to continue the Honored School partnership and make awarding educators in the district an annual event.

In an interview after receiving the award

Read more by going to THE INNERCITY NEWS .COM

Common Ground Mural Reaches For The Sun

by ALLAN APPEL

New Haven Independent

Kids with hands upraised half way between shouting hallelujah and playing volleyball with an immense sun. A green plant as imposing as Jack’s beanstalk growing out of the palm of one girl’s outstretched hand while goats, cats and two hens, notably a Buff Orpington and a Polish chicken, dash happily underfoot.

Those joyous images are at the heart of “Class of 2025,” a lush and engaging mural executed by long-time New Haven muralist Kwadwo Adae and the entire sophomore class (thus the title) at Common Ground High School.

Tuesday morning Adae and several of his collaborating tenth-grade artists were on hand for an impromptu but festive ceremony to unveil the mural, the very first on an interior wall of the ecology-focused charter high school at 358 Springside Ave. They were also there to reflect on the process as well as the product of six weeks of collaboration.

“It was like being the conductor of a visual orchestra,” Adae, explained, “and the students were players.” And yet both were also composers of the composition.

With funding received both from the Barr Foundation and a pandemic-relief American Rescue Plan Act/Connecticut state grant to create interdisciplinary, beyond-the-classroom curricula that enhance health and well being at the school, Adae was engaged and came up to Common Ground High School, Urban

Farm, and Education Center just after the spring break.

He listened to all 50 kids, reported Common Ground Director of Engagement Joel Tolman, and listened very well, taking copious notes (“We want goats! We want trees, West Rock, diversity!”) on the range of imagery that would reflect the kids’ lives in general and at Common Ground in particular.

That included not only animals, trees, plants, and farming, but also Hello Kitty and Star Wars imagery and lots of other references this reporter knows not of.

Adae took home his notes and began to think about elements and a design.

“To be a student here, you have to want to be connected to nature. So there’s tree planting, she’s literally growing a plant from her hand,” he said of one of the central images that eventually emerged.

The task was to find images that reflect, through the kids’ eyes, “the magic of the place.”

And here’s how the sun came about to play such a prominent part in the composition: “I looked at my notes and I noticed so much was involved with the sun.” He

got to thinking about the sun and agriculture, he said, and realized without the sun there’s nothing.

Adae returned with an initial sketch, reported art teacher Nicole Mackin, and all 50 of the kids had their chance for feedback.

“Some wanted more goats,” she recalled. More chickens – hens – were also added. And Adae and one tenth grader, Jonathan Hayek, had a back-and-forth about lettering. Hayek particularly liked to do lettering. So he ended up placing “CGHS” on the fluttering flap of the pants of one of the figures.

As part of that discussion, Adae said the number he had originally placed in the sketch on the jersey of the basketballplaying figure to the left was also changed to “25.”

The reason: Because the mural belongs to the sophomore class, the class of 2025, he said. “So one day they can come back, ten years from now maybe,” added Tolman, and remember their contribution.

Hello Kitty remains on the mural, as do many other references important in the lives of the kids, in the clothing of the figures. Still Adae, who is experienced in doing murals with students and in school settings, takes each element seriously and he even researched the Hello Kitty logo. “She stands for love, acceptance, friends,” he said, and there’s nothing at all wrong with that.

Nothing indeed.

After Adae sketched in the figures on the wall, students over the course of the

following week, were given tubes of acrylic paint and brushes, and divided up the work so that all could participate. The hall is narrow, and faces a wall of dull grey lockers, which it now enlivens. The corridor also is tucked between a nurse’s office at one end and on the other a passageway to other buildings on the campus.

Yet there were no accidents as passersby encouraged the artists and they and Adae just inhaled deeply, he reported, to make a few inches more of room for kids, rushing by to class, to pass safely.

In parts the production was not unlike a Renaissance workshop where artists with specific skills clouds, drapery, architectural elements, for example – are assigned those to execute by the master artist.

When sophomore James Stanley, for example, came by and said he had some skill at painting appendages, especially feet and toes, Adae took note. Soon enough the young man was painting in the feet of one figure and the large coming-at-you hand out of which the plant is ascending skyward in the center of the composition. Adae, whose many in and out of school projects include, most recently, an LGBT heroes-focused mural at the Elm City Montessori School, said, “As a public artist, your work has to reflect the surroundings where you are.”

As this reporter was leaving, James Stanley took me aside and proudly reported, “I painted the toes.”

ALLAN APPEL PHOTO

Artist Adae with Common Ground student Leon Armstrong.

Colón with family at Thursday's celebration.

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Goffe Mural Puts Eyeballs On The Court

by ABIBA BIAO

Michael Evans-Benton watched as a trio of teenagers shot hoops on the newly renovated basketball courts at Goffe Street Park and found himself captivated not just by the game before him, but also by the bright red and green colors and swirling eye design beneath the players’ feet.

That was the scene at Goffe Street Park Saturday during the official unveiling of the newly renovated basketball courts by the Dixwell art galley NXTHVN and their partners Common Practice, Project Backboard, and the City of New Haven.

The on-the-courts mural was done in honor of “Super” John Williamson, a New Haven-raised basketball legend, who got his start playing for Wilbur Cross High School before making it to the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA).

In conjunction with the mural installation, NXTHVN also opened an exhibition at its 169 Henry St. gallery space called COMMON PRACTICE: Public Access, which runs through Sept. 3. Evans-Benton, 35, lives in the Dixwell neighborhood. He came out to the park on Saturday hearing about the opening from one of his friends.

“I love the decoration of the painting that they did,” Evans-Benton said about the designs. “I think it was definitely a good symbol for the community. And definitely a good day to bring everybody outside.”

Evans-Benton added that this mural makes people want to “come outside and see something new,” disrupting a trend of sedentary lifestyle among kids and neighbors.

“I think nowadays there isn’t even a lot of people playing basketball, honestly. When I drive around town, I don’t see anyone at this court, in West Haven, East Haven, anywhere I go, even at the beach.” For him, the games unfolding on the court Saturday was reflection of the larger spirit and community-building athletic activities of Goffe Street Park.

“When it’s a vibe, it’s a vibe,” EvansBenton said, “Whenever there’s any festivities going on, I think it’s definitely something to come out and check out.”

Also sitting on the sidelines watching the games on Saturday were sisters Shareebah, Kali, and Raushana Williamson, who are all daughters of the late John Williamson.

To each of the sisters, the new court had special significance to them and their dad. For 47-year-old Kali, the eldest of the sisters, it was seeing the impact the court had on surrounding friends and family.

“It’s euphoric, being able to keep his legacy alive, and to be able to have young kids on this court,” Kali said.

Kali also resonated with the court’s design and eyeballs, discussing the theme with the installation artist Tschabalala Self during the concept’s development.

“For us, these eyes are like the window to New Haven to show who we really are,”

she said, “and not kind of what you see on the news all the time.”

Shareebah, 42, agreed, highlighting why they chose Goffe Street Park for this mural and the park’s influence on their dad’s life.

“His stomping grounds is here on Goffe Street Park,” Shareebah said. “This is where his blood sweat and tears took place and determination took place to become the amazing basketball player that he was.”

After basking in the sun and watching games, Kali and her sisters went over to NXTHVN on Henry Street to see the accompanying artistic exhibition for the first time. Before making her way there, Kali stopped to take a picture with her dad’s jersey on display in the lobby and got emotional.

“I miss my dad a lot, and I wish that he was here to still see how much people

love him,” she said. “He was a loving man and he would have loved this because he loved kids. That was his thing. After he had retired from playing he’d still coach kids.”

As Kali entered the exhibition with wife Brandi Marshall they were greeted by NXTHVN Creative Director John Dennis, who curated the exhibition. Kali and the Williamson family first approached Dennis last July to inquire about NXTHVN’s community engagement initiatives and have been in touch ever since. Dennis’ goal of the exhibition is to highlight the influence of basketball not just in Goffe Street but in NXTHVN as well. “I wanted to keep it really nuanced and simple,” Dennis said, describing his curatorial process. “We really built around Tschabalala’s presence before trying to bring some of that presence into the space interstitially tied together.”

"Super" John Williamson's daughters Shareebah, Kali, and Raushana Williamson: Keeping dad's legacy alive.

Kali Williamson standing next to her father’s jersey for the New York Nets at NXTHVN.

With five GRAMMYs, 14 Blues Foundation Awards, and a groundbreaking career spanning nearly 50 years under his belt, Keb’ Mo’ returns to the Garde for a night of contemporary roots music.

with Special Guest: Anthony D’Amato

Here are states that do not recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday

by Mildred Europa Taylor, Face2FaceAfrica.com

As Juneteenth approaches in the U.S. to commemorate the end of slavery, many states are yet to adopt it as a paid public holiday two years after it was signed into law as a federal holiday. Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day in the United States, Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19 every year, commemorates the freedom of some 250,000 enslaved people in Texas in 1865, nearly 160 years ago.

Although it is not the day slavery legally ended, it is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States. Enslaved African Americans in Texas were freed more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation that established Juneteenth as a Federal holiday. Still, several states are yet to recognize it as a paid holiday, saying that it would be too costly to give state employees another paid day off. Such states also argue that not many people know about Juneteenth or celebrate it.

Meanwhile, a recent Gallup poll shows otherwise. 17% of those surveyed in the poll said they know “a lot” about Juneteenth, 11% said they know “nothing at all”, 42% said they know “some,” and 29% said “a little bit”. Actually, Juneteenth became well known in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Still, while all 50 states have at some point commemorated or observed Juneteenth, 25 states have yet to adopt Juneteenth as a paid public holiday, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Florida

fA state holiday bill was introduced but opponents argued that Florida’s Emancipation Day which falls on May 20 should be recognized instead of Juneteenth. In effect, there is debate over what day to commemorate — June 19 or the day slaves in Florida got to know they were free.

Mississippi

Proposals to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for state employees also failed in Mississippi, where the birthdays of Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate General Robert E. Lee are treated as a shared paid state holiday, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ report said.

Alabama

In May this year, some lawmakers said they were hopeful that Juneteenth would be made a permanent holiday in Alabama. A bill was introduced in the Alabama House of Representatives some weeks ago that would make Juneteenth a permanent state holiday. Last year, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey authorized Juneteenth as a holiday for state workers and it remains to be known if that will be a permanent policy.

The following are the other states that do not recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday:

Tori Bowie’s Cause of Death Revealed in Autopsy Report

by Robyn Craig, BlackDoctor.org

An autopsy report obtained by USA Today Sports shows that Tori Bowie died of complications during childbirth last May.

The 32-year-old Olympian was found dead in her home in Orlando, Florida after her family requested a well-fare check. They had not heard from Bowie in several days, which led to the check at her home. Later it was revealed that the athlete passed away and was also eight months pregnant.

Her sudden death is believed to have been caused by respiratory distress and eclampsia, which are rare pregnancy complications. During pregnancy, respiratory distress and eclampsia can cause a sudden spike in blood pressure and cause seizures. Her family may also not have known about her pregnancy, according to reports.

Her management team, Icon Management released a statement on her death stating “We’ve lost a client, dear friend, daughter, and sister. Tori was a champion…a beacon of light that shined so bright! We’re truly heartbroken and our prayers are with the family, friends, and everyone that loved her.”

Other athletes expressed their condolences including track star Sha’Carri Richardson, who said in an Instagram post “People never know what you’re going through, Rise up Queen, you deserve peace.”

While the sports world continues to mourn her death, it has opened the conversation around the Black maternal mortality rate. According to the CDC, “Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women. Multiple factors contribute to these disparities, such as variation in quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism, and implicit bias.”

Due to racial biases within the healthcare field, the Black maternal mortality rate has risen over the past few years, causing many Black pregnant women to consider alternative childbirth options.

Black athletes recently have expressed the racial bias that exists at all levels for pregnant Black women, including Serena Williams and Allyson Felix, who both experienced near-death childbirths.

In an essay for Glamour, Felix, who was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, talked about her horrific childbirth experience in a 2019 Senate hearing on Maternal

Mortality Crisis.

She stated in her testimony, “We need to provide women of color with more support during their pregnancies… There’s a level of racial bias within our health care system that is troubling and will be difficult to tackle, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t.”

Although this issue continues to be a systematic problem, tragedies like Bowie’s death have sparked this conversation once again.

In a tweet from BET, it states “Black women die at exceedingly higher rates due to pregnancy-related complications. We face a much higher risk of maternal death due to various reasons including chronic stress and implicit bias from health care providers. There is so much work to be done to properly protect and advocate for Black women’s health.”

While this conversation continues, the best advice healthcare professionals can provide to potential and expecting mothers is to keep track of any unexpected changes and learn more about dangerous maternal warning signs. However, the healthcare industry is still responsible for changes.

Photo Credit: FRANCK FIFE/AFP VIA GETTY

Millions of Black Americans live in cardiology deserts

By Anissa Durham, Word in Black

You have probably heard of food deserts.

But have you heard of a cardiology desert? Both mean a lack of access to something. Cardiology deserts are counties with no cardiologist available.

A recent report by GoodRx Health found that two million Black Americans live in a cardiology desert. And more than 14 million Black folks live in counties with limited or no access to cardiovascular care.

Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama each have a sizable population of Black folks and are among the places with the highest number of cardiology desert counties.

But why does this matter?

Black folks who live in these counties struggle to access cardiovascular care. These areas have higher rates of diabetes, obesity, smoking and excessive drinking, compared to areas with

a cardiologist. A cardiologist helps treat conditions like high blood pressure, heart failure, and other heart and vascular problems.

Tori Marsh, MPH director of GoodRx Research, said in an email interview that for Black individuals who live in a cardiology desert, this can have significant implications for their health.

“This could include delayed or inadequate care, limited preventative care and higher cardiovascular risk,” Marsh said. “The lack of access to cardiology services exacerbates these disparities, resulting in higher rates of undiagnosed or uncontrolled conditions, higher rates of complications, and increased mortality.”

Part of the reason there are so many counties identified as cardiology deserts is due to poverty levels. In Mississippi, the average median income for Black Americans in these counties is $25,420, whereas the average household income for Americans is more than twice that, at $57,456.

In Mississippi, 67 percent of counties were identified as cardiology deserts. And most of these counties have a high percentage of adults with obesity, diabetes, less access to healthy foods,

and who get less physical activity and smoke more.

GoodRx Research rated the counties using an index score ranging from one

to six. In Mississippi, the top 10 counties that have the highest percentage of Black folks with limited or no access to a cardiologist were all rated five

in the index score. Eight out of 10 of these counties are cardiology deserts.

The rates for Louisiana don’t fare much better. More than 90 percent of counties in Louisiana with a sizable Black population need cardiovascular care. The report found that nearly half of these counties are cardiology deserts with no active cardiology practice.

More money would help.

“Living below the poverty level makes it harder to afford care, travel to the nearest cardiologist, cover any out-of-pocket expenses, and/or make lifestyle accommodations that may reduce the risk of heart disease (purchase healthier foods, access a gym membership, etc.),” Marsh said.

Increasing access to office-based cardiology care in rural communities has been shown to improve access in rural areas. And continuing to educate Black folks about the importance of preventative care can help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

This article was originally published by Word in Black.

Anissa Durham

Claws for celebration!

Come

New chemical hair care study reveals links to uterine cancer in Black women

By Wayne Campbell, Special to The Inner-City News courtesy afro.com

Recently, researchers noted that Black women may have a higher risk of uterine cancer than women who reported not using chemical hair straightening products. This ground-breaking research was done by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). A group of researchers with the NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences looked at the hair care habits of more than 33,000 women and found that those who used chemical hair straightening products at least four times a year were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.

Researchers said chemicals like parabens, phthalates and fragrances in hair care products disrupt the endocrine system, which helps regulate hormones. That could, in turn, raise the risk of uterine cancer, the most common cancer of the female reproductive system.

“Sixty percent of the participants who reported using straighteners were Black women. The

bottom line is that the exposure burden appears to be higher among Black women,” said Chandra Jackson, who co-authored the study as a participant in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Earl Stadtman Investigators program.

The study’s lead author, Alexandra White, the head of the agency at the Environment and Cancer Epidemiology group said, “We see a doubling of risk for frequent users, and that’s a very alarming figure. For non-users, the absolute risk is about 1.64 percent, and then when you look at frequent users, the risk goes up to 4.05 percent. It’s a notable increase in risk.”

There have been at least 65,000 new cases of uterine cancer in the U.S. this year, about three percent of all new cancer cases, according to the study. Professor Greene calls the pressure a “straight hair mandate” noting that it can affect Black people’s work, social and educational lives. Hair care products targeted toward Black women seeking to fit such beauty standards are often full of endocrine-disrupting and asthma-associated chemicals, many of which are not listed on product labels, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Environmental Research.

What is uterine cancer

The uterus is part of the female reproductive system where a baby grows and develops during pregnancy.

The well respected Cleveland Clinic states uterine cancer is a general term that describes cancers of your uterus: Endometrial cancer develops in the endometrium, the inner lining of your uterus. It

is one of the most common gynecologic cancers affecting the female reproductive system. Uterine sarcoma develops in the myometrium, the muscle wall of the uterus and is very rare. Uterine cancer can refer to either endometrial cancer, uterine sarcoma or other rare forms of cancer that can arise in your uterus. But people often treat the terms “endometrial cancer” and “uterine cancer” the same. That is because endometrial cancers are much more common than other cancers that can form in your uterus.

Re-defining beauty

Our concept of beauty and self is largely associated with our colonial past. Unfortunately, our notion of beauty is oftentimes entrenched in a Euro-Centric concept. We have been brainwashed to believe that chemically processed hair is

beautiful in comparison to natural unprocessed hair. Regrettably, too many of us have bought into the narrative which says anything too Black is not good. Many Black women are overly eager to process the hair of their pre-teens. This chemical processing of the Black hair is not done in a vacuum. After centuries of enslavement and chattel slavery which resulted in the differentiation regarding the treatment of slaves on the plantation we should not be surprised that this practice, a rather discriminatory practice, persisted over the centuries.

According to Professor Wendy Greene, pressure to adhere to societal beauty standards that prioritize and glorify hair textures and styles associated with White people have led some Black people to rely on harmful hair care products like chemical relaxers to look the part. Greene is a law professor at Drexel Kline School of

use chemicals in their hair. The conversation surrounding the use of chemicals on the Black hair must also include Black men.

Many Black men secretly use chemicals in their kinky hair. Older men often use hair dyes to get rid of the gray hairs. Are there any studies regarding the chemical compositions of these products on the health of men? Many of us are unaware of the chemical composition of these products given we use them as a mean of convenience due to years of indoctrination concerning the concept of beauty.

In many instances the products are not made with the Black hair as a consideration. The narrative that it takes too long a time to comb natural hair is expounded ad nauseam; however, this is a weak excuse for parents to rush to process the Black hair.

Ironically, in Jamaica there is on –going debate regarding hair and what constitutes appropriate hairstyles for schools. Students have been reprimanded for having dreadlocks and locked hair. In one case a female student at a well- known St. Catherine based primary school was barred from attending the institution due to her dreadlock hair.

The case eventually ended up in the courts.

Messaging is important and as a result we must be cognizant of the messages being sent by the hidden curriculum. We have a far way to go before total emancipation as many of us still have our minds locked in a colonial past. Perhaps with the direct association between uterine cancer and hair straightening products we will look more carefully at our hair care habits.

As people of color we must become more conscious of our culture, history and indeed of ourselves. We must do our own research and interrogate our colonial past and the skewed interpretations many of us now have of beauty, Black beauty.

Law who studies Black hair discrimination.

We must also be mindful of the advertisements which are not only on traditional media but have been rather popular on many social media platforms. These marketing strategies are craftily devised with messages which appeal to minority groups especially in the United States of America and other parts of the Americas. The pressure to straighten or process Black hair is relentless. We should not expect any changes from the perspective of the beauty industry. It is clearly all about profits and as such the poisons and toxins which are frequently in many beauty products are not a cause for concern for the beauty industry.

Additionally, our low self esteem plays well into a beauty industry which does not care about our health concerns as people of color. Needless to say Black males also

The time has come for us to re-image the taught traditional concept of beauty. We need to affirm ourselves in our Black skin and be aware of the on-going institutional discrimination against natural Black hair and how this violates our sense of self, our dignity and humanity.

We must embrace the growing natural hair movement and move away from all vestiges of our colonial past which have served to enslave our minds. We should reject all attempts to discriminate against the texture and style of our hair. Discrimination in any form or any space is unacceptable. Natural Black kinky hair is beautiful. The time to affirm and empower our Black sisters is now. Reclaim your natural beauty.

Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 15, 2023 - March 21,

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Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Construction

NOW ACCEPTING PRE-APPLICATIONS

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICE

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Contact: Tom Dunay

Phone: 860- 243-2300

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 6211720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Affordable Housing-CANAL PARK, Westport, CT

Preliminary Applications will be accepted beginning on 06/20/2023 AND ENDS with a postmark date of 07/14/2023. Pre-Applications received after the end date as postmarked will be automatically rejected. Pre-Applications are to be mailed only to Owner’s offices located at 5 Canal Street, Westport, CT 06880.

Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

: Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Drug Free Workforce

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

Owner: Canal Park LLC

Funded by:

State of Connecticut Dept. of Housing, and U. S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development through its Section 8 housing program

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Large CT Fence Company looking for an individual for our PVC Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. This is an in-shop production position. Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com.

Applicants will need to meet the income requirements based on family size for 50% of Area Median Income, or less. Eligible applicant households must have a head, co-head, or spouse age 62 or older, or a disability determination from the Social Security Admin. to qualify. Preliminary Applications will be received during the period noted above and placement on the wait list will be made through the random selection method, once the period has ended. The maximum number of pre-applications to be placed on the wait list is one hundred (100). Pre-applications will not be accepted by hand-delivery, facsimile, email or any other electronic transmission.

Income Limits: One Person - $60,000 Two Persons $68,550

Union Company seeks:

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave

AA/EOE-MF

Full Time Administrative assistant position for a steel & misc metals fabrication shop who will oversee the daily operations of clerical duties such as answering phones, accounts payable purchase orders/invoicing and certified payroll. Email resumes to jillherbert@gwfabrication.com

State of Connecticut

Office of Policy and Management

Pre-Applications will be provided to any & all interested persons. Individuals or families may pick up a hard copy of the pre-application at the Owner’s offices located at 5 Canal Street, Westport, CT or online at https://www.westportha.org/ You may request a pre- application be mailed to you by contacting us at 203-227-4672.

For Additional Information Contact Westport Housing Authority: Phone: (203)227-4672

TRS/TDD: (800) 842-9710

Listing: Commercial Driver

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Immediate opening for a Class A full time driver for petroleum/like products deliveries for nights and weekends. Previous experience required. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email: hrdept@eastriverenergy.com

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units)

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Fiscal/ Administrative Officer position Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/ CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 230419&R2=1308AR&R3=001

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Listing: Lead Installer

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

HVAC department has an opening for an experienced, full time, lead installer for all mechanical systems (Hydronic, Duct-less, RTU’s). Candidate must possess a minimum D2 license, EPA Certificate, and a minimum of 5 years experience. Benefits, 401k, Paid Time Off, Company Vehicle. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or emailHRDept@eastriverenergy.com

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Listing: Mechanic

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Immediate opening for a full time mechanic; maintenance to be done on commercial diesel trucks and trailers. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email hrdept@eastriverenergy.com

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

WANTED TRUCK DRIVER

Truck Driver with clean CDL license

Please send resume to attielordan@gmail.com PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE

NOTICE OF INVITATION FOR BID HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY

NOTICE

QSR STEEL CORPORATION APPLY NOW!

NOW ACCEPTING PRE-APPLICATIONS FOR HALES COURT

Affordable Rental Housing - TWO, THREE & FOUR-BEDROOM UNITS, 2-78 Hales Court, Westport CT 06880

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Ductless Split Units Preventative Maintenance and Repair Services

IFB No. B23002

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders

SCOPE:

The Housing Authority of the City of Danbury hereby issues this Invitation for Bid to provide preventative maintenance and repair services.

BID SUBMITTAL RETURN:

Housing Authority of the City of Danbury, 2 Mill Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT 06811

Envelope Must be Marked: IFB No.B23002, Ductless Split Maintenance

SUBMITTAL DEADLINE

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

June 12, 2023 at 10:30am (EST)

NOTICIA

CONTACT PERSON FOR IFB DOCUMENT:

Devin Marra, Director of Financial Operations, T#203-744-2500 x1410

Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

Preliminary Applications will be accepted beginning on 06/20/2023 AND ENDS with a postmark date of 07/14/2023. Pre-applications received after the end date as postmarked will be automatically rejected. Pre-applications are to be mailed only to Owner ’s offices located at 5 Canal Street, Westport, CT 06880.

Owner: Hales Court Housing, LLC

Managing Agent: Millennium Real Estate Services, LLC

Applicants will need to meet the income requirements based on family size for 60% of Area Median Income, or less. Preliminary Applications will be received during the period noted above and placement on the wait list will be made through the random selection method, once the period has ended. The maximum number of pre-applications to be placed on the wait list is one hundred (100). Pre-applications will not be accepted by hand-delivery, facsimile, email or any other electronic transmission.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

E-Mail: dmarra@hacdct.org

[Minority- and/or women-owned businesses are encouraged to respond]

WANTED TRUCK DRIVER

Truck Driver with clean CDL license

Please send resume to attielordan@gmail.com

PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Principal Labor Relations Specialist. Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/ CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 230417&R2=6342MP&R3=001

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

POLICE OFFICER

City of Bristol

Four Person family 60% AMI Max limit $71,520/year: 2 Bedroom unit Maximum current rent- $1,200/month

Six Person family 60% AMI Max limit $82,980/year:

3 Bedroom unit Maximum current rent- $1,350/month

Eight Person family 60% AMI Max limit $94,440/year:

4 Bedroom unit Maximum current rent- $1,450/month

Pre-Applications will be provided to any & all interested persons. Individuals or families may pick up a hard copy of the pre-application at the Owner’s offices located at 5 Canal Street, Westport, CT or online at https://www.westportha.org. You may request a pre- application be mailed to you by contacting us at 203-227-4672

For Additional Information Contact Westport Housing Authority: Phone: (203) 227-4672

TRS/TDD: (800) 842-9710

Exterior Door Repair and Replacement Contract

NEW HAVEN 242-258 Fairmont Ave

$70,915 - $86,200/yr.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

Elm City Communities is currently seeking bids for exterior door repair and replacement contract. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing. cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

beginning on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 3:00PM.

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Required testing, registration info, and apply online: www.bristolct.gov

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units)

Full time experienced welder for Structural/Miscellaneous metals- email resume to jillherbert@gwfabrication.com

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

RESIDENT SERVICES COORDINATOR

Fairfield Housing Authority

Electric Utility

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016

DEADLINE: 05-04-23

EOE

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Distribution Engineer – The Town of Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly technical individual to work in the design and development of overhead and underground power distribution lines. The utility serves 24,700 customers in a 50+ square mile distribution area with a peak demand of 130 MW. The position requires a B.S. degree in electrical engineering plus 2 years of responsible experience in utility engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and experience substituting on a year-for year basis. Salary: $84,586- $108,221 annually plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Applications may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page and can be mailed to the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492 or emailed to wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing date of July 11, 2023 Phone #: (203) 294-2080, Fax #: (203) 294-2084. EOE.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Laborer

Please send resume to attielordan@gmail.com

PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the

Town of Bloomfield DRIVER

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Minimum Salary: $52,500 annual

Application DEADLINE is July 7, 2023

Assistant Building Official $39.80 hourly

General Description of Work:

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

The Resident Services Coordinator is a key Fairfield Housing Authority (FHA) staff position that insures residents’ services are the Authority’s first priority. The Resident Services Coordinator (RSC) is responsible for initial and ongoing engagement of residents and all administrative duties to assist the FHA in its operations. The RSC works closely with our supportive service provider and our property management team to insure residents’ needs are addressed, and support residents to fulfill their responsibilities under the lease. A full job description and employment application is available at https://www.fairfieldhc. org/ or by calling 203-366-6578. Applications must be postmarked on or before July 7, 2023 to be considered and the FHA reserves the right to begin interviewing candidates prior to the application deadline.

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Full Time – All Shifts Top Pay-Full Benefits

Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of: (1) a background check, (2) a physical examination, including drug screening, and (3) a 90-day probationary period. Applications & job descriptions are available at the Fairfield Housing Authority’s office located at 15 Pine Tree Lane, Fairfield Monday-Friday, 11 A.M. to 3 P.M, or downloaded from the website listed above. To be considered for this position, the applicant must complete the job application and attached a Resume which should be mailed to the address above. Fax, email or hand delivered applications will not be accepted. Minority and Bilingual applicants are encouraged to apply. The Fairfield Housing Authority is EOE, M/F/D employer.

The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth The National Museum of African American History & Culture

By www.nmaahc.si.edu

On “Freedom’s Eve,” or the eve of January 1, 1863, the first Watch Night services took place. On that night, enslaved and free African Americans gathered in churches and private homes all across the country awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect. At the stroke of midnight, prayers were answered as all enslaved people in Confederate States were declared legally free. Union soldiers, many of whom were black, marched onto plantations and across cities in the south reading small copies of the Emancipation Proclamation spreading the news of freedom in Confederate States. Only through the Thirteenth Amendment did emancipation end slavery throughout the United States.

But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than

250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas.

The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200+ years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.

Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. Although it has long celebrated in the African American community, this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.

The historical legacy of Juneteenth shows the value of never giving up hope in uncertain times. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a community space where this spirit of hope lives on. A place where historical events like Juneteenth are shared and new stories with equal urgency are told.

109-year-old survivor of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is now the world’s oldest author

by Dollita Okine, Face2FaceAfrica.org

109-year-old Viola Fletcher recently became the world’s oldest author, as well as the oldest living survivor of the unfortunate 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Her memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story,” was released early in June at Fulton Street Books & Coffee, according to The Black Wall Street Times. Aside from her experience, the book also describes her thoughts on the traumatic incident.

According to Market Watch, Ms. Fletcher, also known as “Mother Fletcher,” guides readers through her journey as a scared 7-year-old who was awakened in the middle of the night and forced to run for her life, leaving behind a blazing Greenwood.

The memoir also covers her experience as a 107-year-old who had to testify before Congress a century later in hopes of finding justice for the victims and families of the unfortunate incident.

“I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being

burned… I have lived through the massacre every day. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot, ” she said.

Mother Fletcher attended the Book launch in the company of her grandson, Ike Howard; her 102-year-old younger

brother, Hughes Van Ellis, who is another survivor of the massacre and hopes to also release a book soon; and lastly, her publisher, Mocha Ochoa.

Howard, who is also the co-writer and President of the Viola Ford Fletcher

Foundation, said, “This book is about different things that happened to our family and the generational trauma that was passed on because of the Race Massacre.”

He also noted that Viola was a welder in a Shipyard during World War II, adding that he experienced his grandmother having nightmares and had always been nosy about what had really happened.

He later encouraged her to share her story with him and the world at large, which she did as he got older, causing him to understand what had really held her back from telling it in the years past.

Her grandson explained that his grandmother often kept to herself, as she had received threats that if she ever told a thing, she and her entire family would be killed. In a feat to protect her grandson, she refused to share the story until now. According to Howard, his grandmother “wants accountability. She wants justice. She wants people to know the history so that it doesn’t repeat itself.”

Her publisher Mocha Ochoa, also said, “Some of us use our gifts or we use our stories to create a better world.”

Earlier in May, Fletcher joined a court hearing in the ongoing trial of a lawsuit

over restitutions for people impacted by the massacre. For this reason, she delayed her book’s publication to give her some time to add her contemplations of the trial in the book, Tulsa World reported.

The family admitted that it was a challenge to narrate 109 years’ worth of stories. According to 2 News Oklahoma, Howard revealed that his grandmother told him something new each day. Anytime they went on a drive, she would give him new information.

Lifelong Tulsan resident, Bobby Eaton, who was part of the Launch attendees, said, “I’m most inspired by Mother Fletcher’s and Uncle Red’s legacy and the information that they’re giving us, about their lives, not only the massacre, but their lives.”

In 2021, Viola Fletcher and her brother visited Ghana and met with Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo. She was crowned a queen mother and honored with many Ghanaian names like Naa Lamiley, which means ‘the first female child in a family,’ and Naa Yaoteley, which means ‘somebody who is strong, ’ according to The Washington Post.

Emancipation Day celebration, June 19, 1900 held in "East Woods" on East 24th Street in Austin.

Credit: Austin History Center.

HUSKY Health, SNAP, and Cash Recipients!

To keep your cash, food, or medical benefits active, we need your most up-to-date mailing address and phone number to make sure you get important information from Access Health CT and the Connecticut Department of Social Services.

To make updates, please go to or scan the QR code: ct.gov/UpdateUsDSS