INNER-CITY NEWS

INNER-CITY NEWS July12, 27,2016 2016--October August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 18, 2016

Framing New HavenaConversation Creative Arts Workshop Financial Justice Key Focus atat 2016 NAACP Convention New Haven, Bridgeport

INNER-CITYNEWS Volume 21 No. 2194 2203

Malloy Malloy To To Dems: Dems:

“DMC” Elm Haven “Home Boys”

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime”

Color Struck?

Snow in July?

ZADIE SMITH US ON FOLLOW

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“Don’t “Don’tDig” Dig”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Elm Haven “Home Boys” Go Home Again

by DAVID SEPULVEDA NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

“We were blessed this past year.

Nobody passed away — right?”

A burst of applause followed Jesse Hameen II’s comment as he addressed the 2016 Annual Home Boys’ get-together, the 11th such gathering of old-school Dixwell neighbors and classmates who lived in the old Elm Haven public-housing complex.

The crowd gathered at the Webster Street Elks Lodge this past Saturday to share stories, engage in some good-natured ribbing, break bread, take account of the previous year, and plan for the next. Across the street sits the Monterey Homes housing complex, which replaced the old Elm haven after the city tore it down.

Though the old Elm Haven vanished decades ago, the community’s spirit clearly lives on.

The names of Home Boys who had passed before last year’s reunion were recalled by the group of 30 men as more than a half dozen names were mentioned.

“Up here where we are, we’re much closer to the graveyard than to the playground,” said Hameen.

Another Home Boy confirmed: “Yes, more past than future,” which drew knowing chuckles from the aging group of men whose camaraderie, for some, has lasted more than a half century.

Hameen, a Home Boy reunion organizer (with Ed Byrd), is a well known percussion instructor with Neighborhood Music School and a drummer who has played alongside some of the best jazz musicians in the industry. Wearing his characteristic embroidered kufi hat, Hameen surveyed the audience to see how many remembered participating in PAL the local Police Athletic League which sponsored baseball teams as youngsters. Several hands shot up; others remembered playing basketball.

The event’s guest speaker, New Haven Police Sgt. Albert McFadden, spoke about the role of PAL, an organization of volunteer coaches who mentor city youth through a variety of sports programs and activities with partners at the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven.

As with their presentation of a

DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO 11th

annual Home Boys reunion.

Top row: Officer James Baker, Hameen, McFadden. Bottom: John Smith, Albert Bishop, Lindsey Horton.

William Kilpatrick, retired parking authority director and Conn. National Bank VP.

A very dapper Ron Lewis.

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$500 donation to the Pop Warner Football League this past summer during the demolition farewell ceremony and mural painting at the Old Q House, the Home Boys had prepared an oversized check representing their donation of $500 for PAL and its activities.

McFadden noted several familiar faces in the audience he had revered as a preteen, including Harold Butch Reid, nattily dressed and sporting a white ball cap, his name spelled out in rhinestonelike sparkles. “My father introduced me to golf at an early age as a caddie. Butch was a golfer at the time. Just to see these men as an 11 year-old, they looked like massive giants. Butch was dressed from head to toe — impeccable, just as he is today,” said McFadden.

For Reid, dressing up for golf “was part of the game.” Reid, who played as a golf pro in the New England professional golf circuit (now defunct) and was part of the Junior Golf Program in Phoenix, Ariz., said he played with golf champ Tiger Woods when Woods was a young player.

Another familiar face was former special constable Wayne Brooks: “He had so much knowledge of the law — I learned so much from him,” said McFadden. There was little exaggeration in McFadden’s

claim to be standing on the shoulders of giants among those present, as he cited their impact over years of personal development.

If one thing is commonly understood among the Home Boys reunion cohort, it is the importance that role models and mentors play in the development of younger generations. Amid the alienation and frustration that have given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement and the subsequent pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement, the Home Boys are helping to build bridges between the communities these organizations represent.

“We have African-American men and the police department coming together to benefit inner city youth, and appreciate the sacrifices that many of our good and concerned police officers are making in the New Haven community,” Hameen said.

McFadden noted that the PAL is making a difference. “The fact is that our children can and should see all officers of different colors — and there shouldn’t be a black or white issue,” he said. “Every officer has sworn an oath to serve and protect everyone, and they need to recognize that not only our children and our citizens, but our officers need to recognize that no Con’t on page 5

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

Babz Rawls Ivy

Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

Advertising/Sales Team Trenda Lucky Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Editorial Team Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers David Asbery Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft/Cartoons Barbara Fair

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner Smita Shrestha William Spivey Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

_______________________

Contributors At-Large

Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org

Memberships

National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.

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New Haven Was Winchester: The Family Behind the Firearm

New Haven, Conn. (October 2016)—The story of the Winchester rifle is a virtual Who’s Who of New Haven history, with many Elm City manufacturing scions as stakeholders.

Laura Trevelyan, the greatgreat-great-granddaughter of Oliver Winchester, will offer an engrossing personal history of the colorful family and its iconic firearm on Monday, October 24, at 6 p.m., at the New Haven Museum. Trevelyan’s presentation is based on her book, “The Winchester: The Gun That Built an American Dynasty,” and will be followed by a book signing. Admission will be free of charge.

Trevelyan chronicles the fortunes of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company across three generations, from Oliver Winchester’s involvement with the Volcanic Arms Company in 1855 through the following turbulent decades of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Trevelyan tells the story of the Winchester company as a family concern, through the lens of the individuals themselves.

From the Civil War era until World War I, larger-than-life characters ran the Winchester Repeating Arms Company

with great success. The war led to a precipitous decline in the company’s fortunes and eventually the end of the family’s association with the business.

The popularity of Winchester arms mirrored American expansion at a time of rugged individualism and the opening up

of the Western frontier. Trevelyan will share a story of the evolution of a paradigm-changing weapon that has become a part of American culture—celebrated in fiction, glorified in Hollywood, and applauded in endorsements from the likes of Annie Oakley, Theodore

Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, and Native Americans who called it “the spirit gun.”

Laura Trevelyan is an anchor and correspondent for the BBC, based in New York. She has worked for the BBC since 1993, reporting for many radio and television programs. Trevelyan first became interested in the family history at the age of 17, when she was visiting the Connecticut home of her Winchester relatives, and learned to fire a rifle adapted to shoot tennis balls. She is also the author of “A Very British Family: The Trevelyans and Their World.”

About the New Haven Museum The New Haven Museum has been collecting, preserving and interpreting the history and heritage of Greater New Haven since its inception as the New Haven Colony Historical Society in 1862. Located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue, the Museum brings more than 375 years of New Haven history to life through its collections, exhibitions, programs and outreach.

For more information visit www.newhavenmuseum.org or Facebook.com/NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.

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Elm Haven

matter what your biases or prejudices may be, if you take an oath, you need to honor it. I think PAL does a great job of getting everyone together, especially in working with our young in developing relationships than can last a lifetime.”

At this reunion, like those in past years, various hats worn by some Home Boys may have hinted at their past lives or current predilections.

Regardless of the hat worn, or their station in life, it’s a sure bet the Home Boys will be back again next year to celebrate their common roots, shared values, and hopes for a new generation.

In the words of Hameen, “We were the good guys. It feels good every year to be with you guys.

We came up at a good time.”

For more information on ACES schools, programs and services, please visit our website.

(203) 498-6800 | www.aces.org 5

Help For Marcus Harvin THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

by Christian Lewis, ICN Correspondent

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from a cousin of mine asking me to look into a young man he knows who was unjustly charged and incarcerated

by New London police. I asked him to give my number to his mother and to have her get in contact with me, ten minutes later, I was on the phone with his mother and she was telling me about her son, Marcus Harvin and how he was unjustly incarcerated and currently serving a 23 year sentence, suspended after 14 1/2 years.

According to Marcus’ mother on Memorial Day weekend 2014 Marcus was coming from a very short trip to the casino with his two daughters; as he was driving back home he felt himself getting sleepy so he decided to pull over at a rest stop, an older lady called the cops and told them that she saw a young man in the car with kids in the car and he appeared intoxicated. The State Police asked Marcus for his information and Marcus said that he felt threatened, he then pulled off and lost control of the car because he was unfamiliar with the area he was in and lost control of the car and ended up in a swimming pool. When the cops got to him they failed to do a breathalyzer on him, but they did transport him and his oldest daughter to a local hospital, his youngest daughter was transported to Yale where his mother met and stayed with her; they did a blood test on him while he was bleeding internally which in the end threw the results off making it seem as though he was indeed intoxicated.

In order to get his youngest daughter out of the car, the cops had to break the car window and her arm got caught on the glass causing her to almost lose her arm, it was impossible for what happened to her

Marcus Harvin arm to be blamed on Marcus.

Police officers told Marcus’s mother, Stephanie that they would call her when they had the warrant drawn up and when they did she brought him to the State Police barracks and she bonded him out. Once in court in New London, Judge McMahon was upset that there was an error on the bond and raised the bond higher, meaning Stephanie had to pay his bond, again.

Harvin hired Attorney Jack O’Donnell to represent her son after going to court numerous times, the state offered Marcus

15 years, suspended after 8 years which O’Donnell thought was a fair deal and wanted Marcus to take the plea deal; once Marcus denied him of taking the deal he cussed at Marcus and was fired by his mom. During the next court appearance Marcus explained to Judge McMahon that he wished not to keep Attorney O’Donnell, he granted Marcus more time to find another attorney and was quite upset with him for firing Mr. O’Donnell his exact words to Marcus were, “I don’t think if Johnny Cochran came back from the dead would 6

change my numbers ,” which was totally uncalled for. Ms. Harvin then hired Attorney John Williams and during his time on the case nothing ever changed as Judge McMahon stated earlier in the case. Marcus and his dad, Marcus Carpenter went to meet with Attorney Williams a couple of days before court.

Mr. Carpenter said to Attorney Williams, “I feel like the cards are stacked against my son in New London Court, the attorney’s response was “the cards are stacked against you partly because your bill is not paid in full yet.” Marcus told the presiding Judge Jongbloed that there was a breakdown between him and his lawyer and that he needed a little time to obtain another attorney or apply for a public defender, he was denied time to seek other counsel so he gave his paper work to go pro se with his case, until he was able to obtain a Public Defender. After applying, he was found to be eligible for a public defender, he was denied by the trial Judge Jongbloed and was made to go pro se during his trial, the prosecutor on the case told Harvin that this was just a stall tactic to buy him more time and continued on with the case anyhow. Marcus was found guilty and was sentenced to 23 years suspended after 14 ½ years.

Marcus Harvin told me that he was never read his Miranda Rights, he said the State Police never placed him under arrest, the sentencing the courts gave him are utterly ridiculous and disgusting. Harvin stated that there was a gentleman in the same courthouse as him that drug and raped a 15-yearold girl was charged with risk of injury to a minor and only got 30 days in prison, to me, something isn’t adding up.

Marcus has filed many complaints on the judge and prosecutors working on his case be-

cause his bond was upped to 1 million dollars for a car accident where no one was killed or had life threatening injuries; because the judge and prosecutors were being investigated they were removed from the case, but somehow still managed to show up the day of Marcus’s bond hearing at court, now if that doesn’t seem odd to you, I don’t know what it.

The lady who called the police and told them that she saw a young man with kids in the car and seemed to be intoxicated couldn’t point the young man out in court, which leads us to believe that Marcus is a victim of mistaken identity, along with a laundry list of other things.

Marcus and his family have reached out to the New Haven Chapter of the NAAACP to get help with his case but were told they were unable to help him. I’m in the process now of sending letters out to a list of people who I think will be able to help this family out, the time they gave him is like the time a mass murderer should get, not someone who had a car accident where no one was killed or suffered life threatening injuries.

According to Stephanie Harvin and others that know Marcus say that he’s a good kid, was working for AT&T and was their best seller in Connecticut, he’s a great father to his two daughters who adore him more than life and he’s currently engaged.

In the next few weeks there will be a petition started to help get Marcus Harvin the justice he deserves, no young man should have to suffer like this because he’s Black; this is a typical case of the courts and public figures with badges basically saying, “there’s one less n***a that we have to worry about.”

If you know of anyone or any ways to help get this young man the justice he deserves please feel free to email me at christian.lewis85@yahoo.com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

SCDAA of Southern Connecticut Applauds and Welcomes the Inclusion of Sickle Cell Disease to the Rare Pediatric Priority Review Voucher Program

NEW HAVEN, CT (October 2016) – The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America of Southern Connecticut today commended Congress and President Obama for passing and signing the Advancing Hope Act, which includes sickle cell disease and extends the Rare Pediatric Review Voucher Program (PRV).

“I am proud to announce that Congress has passed and President Obama has signed the Advancing Hope Act to extend the rare pediatric review voucher program until December 31, 2016 and, more importantly, to clarify inclusion of sickle cell disease in this important program,” said James E. Rawlings, Chairman of the Board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Southern Connecticut. “Children with sickle cell disease deserve better alternative treatment options. Programs like the Rare Pediatric Priority Review Voucher are critical to incentivizing new treatments in difficult to research diseases.”

“We look forward to now standing on equal footing with other rare pediatric diseases to negotiate a more permanent authorization for this program, and will continue to urge Congress to adopt a permanent authorization like other PRV programs enjoy,” continued Rawlings. “We are truly optimistic that with the new incentives within the PRV program, pharmaceutical companies will pivot to include sickle cell, a disease that has suffered a lack of investment and research comparable to other pediatric diseases previously on this Priority Review Voucher Program.”

“Sickle Cell Disease impacts thousands of American lives every day. While we have made significant progress in the treatment of sickle cell, there

is still much work to be done to raise awareness and expand access to treatment across the globe,” said Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03). “The Advancing Hope Act is bringing just that—new hope— to those suffering from this devastating disease and their loved ones by leveling the playing field and furthering the opportunities for research and development of new, innovative treatment options. I am proud to join Jim and the SCDAA Southern CT in announcing this exciting news.”

Sickle cell disease is a crippling, genetic disease that affects mostly AfricanAmericans and Hispanics, with onset of devastating symptoms as early as 8-10 weeks after birth. Onset of the disease in the first year of life includes complications of dactylitis and death from acute chest syndrome as well as abnormal splenic function which renders the infant prone to overwhelming septicemia.

Sickle cell patients face painful vaso-occlusive crisis with resulting in frequent hospitalizations, transfusions, silent heart attacks and strokes, and regular use of opioid analgesics. Early childhood is often characterized by microvascular heart attacks and subsequent organ damage.

The psychological impact of limited activity and growth, the surgeries and hospitalizations are profound. Coupled with lost time at school, these realities dramatically impact a child’s future opportunities and even the chances of surviving into adulthood.

For further information, please call: James E. Rawlings Board Chair, SCDAA Southern CT 203-215-1521/Jamesrawlingsscdaa.sc@gmail.com

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“Don’t Dig” Strategy Paid Off THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

by PAUL BASS

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

A decision not to reconfigure a threestreet intersection saved five years and $50-$80 million — and led to a signing Wednesday of a deal to resurrect a vanished stretch of the Hill.

A similar decision has proved elusive in the Ninth Square, potentially delaying for years the resurrection of the old New Haven Coliseum property.

Call it the “Think Twice Before You Dig” approach to urban redevelopment. The benefits of that approach were on display Wednesday afternoon atop the concrete steps to the entrance of the old Welch Annex School at 49 Prince St. Mayor Toni Harp and developer Randy Salvatore signed a stack of documents (a “Development and Land Disposition Agreement”) there to finalize the city approval of the sale for $1.2 million to Salvatore of 11.5 acres of land where he plans to build $100 million worth of new apartments, stores and offices or labs.

People lived on that land until the mid-20th century, when New Haven leveled it as part of urban renewal. Most of that land is now surface parking lots. The land also includes two empty school buildings. Salvatore’s company plans to remodel one, the Welch Annex, into new apartments and tear down the other, the former Prince School Annex, around the corner at 22 Gold St., to make way for a new 100,000 to 110,000-square foot apartment building with first-floor storefronts. Those two buildings are the first phase of the project. Salvatore has agreed to rent 70 percent of the apartments at market rates while reserving 30 percent for affordable housing, the terms of which will depend on what state or federal subsidies support it. (Earlier Independent coverage inaccurately identified a third building, across from Welch on Prince Street, as the doomed building. In fact it is currently a privately owned doctors’ office building that will remain intact.)

The mini-neighborhood, which now resembles an abandoned movie set, will once again become “a walkable, inviting place for longtime residents and new residents,” Salvatore declared.

Harp called the signing “a remarkable step forward toward continued growth and prosperity” in New Haven. The deal, the product of dozens of meetings and several nearcollapses, marks a development success the Harp administration

PAUL BASS PHOTOS Harp,

Salvatore ink the deal; LCI chief Serena Neal-Sanjurjo, Hill Alder David Reyes look on.

can claim as its own (like the College Street Music Hall), rather than the shepherding to fruition of plans begun before it took office in 2014.

Success eluded three separate administrations over 25 years. The breakthrough came when the Harp administration took a second look at the spot where Lafayette Street and Washington and Congress avenues come to an angular intersection.

A Second Look Cliff Winkel said Wednesday that he had been trying to get City Hall to take that second look for decades.

Winkel has owned the development rights to all those 11.5 fallow acres since the late 1980s. That’s when the DiLieto administration gave rights to Winkel and thenpartner John Schnip to buy the land and build on it. It never happened.

Schnip left town. Winkel held onto the property. The subsequent Daniels and DeStefano administrations couldn’t budge the project along.

One stumbling block, Winkel said, was that Lafayette-CongressWashington intersection.

Plans called for the city to dig up and relocate the utility ducts there — the underground passages for phone and cable lines. That way the city could reconfigure that corner into a predictable grid. City planners con-

sidered that essential to help drivers and others navigate the area.

Winkel said he always disagreed.

“Nobody believed me until the Harp administration. It costs $50 million [to do the utility work]. You never get it back. It wasn’t worth it.”

Matthew Nemerson said he visited the intersection in December 2013, the month before he took office as Harp’s development administrator. He said he came up with an estimate at closer to $80 million. “All the fiber [optic cables] for the university and the medical center” are buried there, he said.

There’s no guarantee the city would be able to get that kind of money from the federal or state governments, he said. The mere act of trying would delay any effort to jumpstart a development project there for five years.

Besides, Nemerson reasoned, what was wrong with non-rectangular street grids? Who said cities had to have perfect rectangles at every corner? Sometimes unusual historical patterns make cities more interesting.

Nemerson said he met with Yale officials to ask whether they needed to have the streetscape made into “rectangles” for the nearby doctors building and College Plaza buildings, and how much it was worth to them. The answer: No need to dig up the street.

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Next Nemerson visited Winkel, who he has known for decades. He urged Winkel to pursue an amended deal with the city to build on the land, with updated concerns addressed and without all that utility work. Salvatore had just come to town starting to buy properties to build new housing. He had the wherewithal to build the Hill project. The two teamed up and set out to make it happen.

Salvatore Wednesday agreed that the don’t-dig decision was crucial.

Even New York has seen much development take place in recent years on less predictable streetscapes.

LiveWorkLearnDelay Nemerson would like to see a similar decision get started the longdelayed plan by Montreal-based LiveWorkLearnPlay to build a $400 million new-urbanist mini-city at the Coliseum site, with 1,000 mixedincome apartments, 30-40 new businesses, a four-and-a-half-star hotel with 160-90 rooms, 30,000 square feet of stores, and a public square.

So far that decision is proving elusive. The need for such a decision arose because it turned out to be much more complicated and expensive to move underground utilities at the site, specifically at Orange Street near MLK Boulevard, than the DeStefano administration contem-

plated when signing the LWLP deal.

The city negotiated wth United Illuminating for years about how to conduct the work and how much it would cost. Nemerson said the two sides had reached “95 percent” agreement. Then a Spain-based conglomerate bought UI. And the position changed, Nemerson said.

Now the two sides have agreed to disagree, he said. They agree that it will cost $15 million to $17 million to do the work. They disagree about who is legally bound to pay for it: UI or the city. That matter will be brought before regulatory authorities to decide.

Nemerson said UI is willing to go ahead and do the work if New Haven can prove it has the money to pay for the work if it loses the case. It doesn’t currently have that money available.

(UI could not be reached for a comment before this story was published.)

Under the best scenario, that would enable to utility work to be completed by the summer of 2019. Meaning LiveWorkLearnPlay couldn’t begin building the project before that. That’s way too long to wait, Nemerson said — because the city needs a new hotel sooner than that.

“They’re now a huge multinational corporation” at UI, Nemerson said.

“Other than one or two people who are still there, they’re all new. This is just another project for them.”

At this point, again, the simpler solution would be to redesign the project slightly to avoid having to do the utility work at all, Nemerson argued.

That would require moving the hotel only about 80 feet up the block on Orange Street, he estimated (and less so on the end of the block, on State Street). The city has been meeting with LWLP the past two months to urge the company to do the redesign. Those talks continue.

While the city feels time pressure, LWLP doesn’t need to. It turns out that the deal struck by the DeStefano administration to sell the land to Reim’s LWLP gave the company 14 years to build the project. (LWLP principal Max Reim did not return a call for comment for this story before publication.)

Nemerson said if LWLP can’t make the change, the city might have to seek another developer for the land. But he said the administration remains hopeful LWLP will build it because of the company’s combination of retail, hotel and housing development.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Framing New Haven Conversation at Creative Arts Workshop

New Haven, CT – What’s the news about the news? What will it look like in the future? That will be the topic discussed by Paul Bass, Editor and Founder of the New Haven Independent, and moderated by Will Ginsberg, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. The conversation will take place on Thursday November 3 from 6 to 8pm at 80 Audubon St. in New Haven.

News Is the Foundation: Local Media in the 21st Century is the second annual Framing New Haven conversation at CAW, in which city observers share their knowledge and insights with the audience. The two will discuss how local news reporting and civic conversation have evolved over the

past few decades in New Haven and nationally, and where the conversation is headed next in a pe-

riod of rapid technological change.

“We are really looking forward to hearing from these men,” said

Daniel Fitzmaurice, CAW’s Executive Director. “Both in their own way have their finger on the pulse of the needs and events of this city.

This talk should be very rich.”

Refreshments will be provided by 116 Crown, and there will be ample opportunity to sip and mingle before and after the talk.

Tickets are on sale online at creativeartsworkshop.org/events/ framingnhv/, $40 in advance and $50 at the door. Seating is limited. Proceeds benefit CAW. ABOUT CREATIVE ARTS WORKSHOP Creative Arts Workshop is a non-profit community art center devoted to fostering creativity through participation in and appreciation of the visual arts, serving

the Greater New Haven area and beyond since 1961. The Workshop is a premiere community resource center for the visual arts offering a wide range of classes to students of all ages in fully equipped studios. CAW is supported by its membership, tuition fees, donors, sponsors, arts-related fundraising events and a dedicated group of volunteers. Additional funding comes from the Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts, NewAlliance Foundation, and the Laetitia V. Person Fund and the David G. Powrie Fund of The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

know what it was. They knew it was a city building,” Bombero told the Independent. “I suggesting repositioning it. I didn’t specify where. I believe in expression. I just believe context is important.”

Artspace at first considered moving the installation to the front of the Armory, along with signs and other artwork associated with CWOS. That would actually put it in fuller public view, but within a context that clarified it was part of an art exhibition.

Skinner didn’t like that idea. He felt it would compromise the message. So he and and CWOS Curator Sarah Fritchey decided instead to leave the other three milk-crate pieces in place and move “Cops” to a wall inside Artspace’s Orange Street gallery.

And to organize a public forum about the issues raised by the incident. The forum is scheduled to run from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday inside the gallery at 50 Orange St. Curator Fritchey said the incident presents “an opportunity to involve the city” in a broader discussion about where art should be shown, and how the public sees it. She invited everyone interested including the people who originally complained about Skinner’s “Cops” to the

Thursday afternoon discussion.

In an interview at the gallery Monday, Skinner didn’t seem upset about the incident.

He said he created the piece to provoke not controversy, but discussion. He succeeded.

“I was like, ‘OK. Wow. They noticed. Artists can go through a whole career without being noticed.”

Skinner, who’s 39, said the past two years’ worth of highly publicized police killings of unarmed black civilians by police officers inspired the piece. He said he also developed a view of police as “arrogant” watching them as he grew up in the Woodin Street area of Hamden and hanging out in New Haven.

Since the Black Panthers popularized the police-pig image in the 1960s, it has provoked strong emotions that persist to this day. Many cops say the epithet demonizes and dehumanizes them and lumps all officers, good and bad, together.

Good cops should “have nothing to worry about,” Skinner said. “I’m talking about the ones who abuse their authority.”

“I didn’t do this to be provocative.

It’s my job as an artist to document the times we are in. For me not to

Police “Pig” Moved Indoors

by PAUL BASS

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

Complaints about a painting of a pig with a police cap forced the artwork from an outdoor display but not before sparking a public debate about where art belongs.

Local artist Gordon Skinner painted the police-pig picture as part of a collage called “Cops.” He added some cut-up Marilyn Manson images and a recovered cassette music tape, attached it to a milk crate.

It was one of four milk-crate pieces Skinner created as an “Urban Totem Series” for a commission for Artspace’s month-long City Wide Open Studios (CWOS) extravaganza, which opened last weekend. Artspace hung Skinner’s pieces on a wall behind a fence on the Hudson Street side of the city-owned Goffe Street Armory, the site of this coming weekend’s CWOS mass exhibit.

Last Thursday Artspace heard from the city’s parks and rec director, Rebecca Bombero. Bombero said the city had received complaints from a cop and from a correctional officer at the Whalley jail, which is on the same block as the Armory. She suggested that Artspace move Skinner’s “Cops.”

“People walking by wouldn’t

PAUL BASS PHOTO Skinner:

“I’m speaking for the people who died.”

10

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

LCI Seeks Speed To Outbid Slumlords

by PAUL BASS

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

After watching slumlords and other “investors” gobble up thousands of foreclosed homes in city neighborhoods, Serena NealSanjurjo has come up with a plan.

She recently unveiled the plan to a committee of alders, who voted to delay a vote on it until they receive more information.

Neal-Sanjurjo, who heads New Haven’s neighborhood anti-blight agency, the Livable City Initiative (LCI), is asking the lawmakers to streamline the process for buying foreclosed properties from banks.

Right now it takes six to seven months for LCI to win all the approvals necessary to buy blighted abandoned properties, which have continued to stymie renewal in neighborhoods throughout town since the 2008 mortgage crash.

Banks don’t wait six to seven months to weigh offers when they finally decide to unload decaying foreclosed-upon properties. They usually take offers and accept a winner within 30 days.

As a result, a small number of investment companies — some but not all of them repeat violators of housing codes — have dominated the market, compiling portfolios of hundreds or thousands of apartments in Newhallville, Dixwell, Beaver Hills, Fair Haven, and the Hill.

In just 12 months, from June 2015 to June 2016, private investors bought more than 2,000 foreclosed properties in New Haven neighborhoods, Neal-Sanjurjo revealed at a hearing on her proposal held at City Hall last week by the Board of Alders Community Development Committee. She broke down the numbers by neighborhood in a chart distributed to committee members.

(See chart at top of the story.)

“We can’t compete with the investors,” who can get “cash on the table” in 30 days, Neal-Sanjurjo said.

Her chart startled Beaver Hills Alder Brian Wingate — especially the number of properties in his neighborhood, 148, snapped out of foreclosure by the investors in just one year.

“I was staggered” by all the

BASS PHOTO;

RONNIE RYSZ COLLAGE; RICKS GRAPHICNeal-Sanjurjo (at left): “We can’t compete.”

numbers, Neal-Sanjurjo agreed.

“I could not believe the numbers were that high. But they are real. It is public record.

Neal-Sanjurjo estimated that 5 or 10 groups of out-of-town investors creating multiple limited liability companies that trade properties among themselves accounted for 75 percent of those 2,000-plus purchases. Often those companies perform just a minimum amount of work to pass inspections, then charge high rents to poor families receiving federal Section 8 subsidies, she said.

“Many working families believe they have no choice for homeownership and must rent,” Neal-Sanjurjo told the committee. She said those same renters could in many cases become homeowners for the same amount they pay in rent if LCI bought and renovated the properties.

She pointed to the success LCI had in helping working families buy restored homes on Putnam Street in the Hill as an example of what the agency can accomplish under the proposed speed-up plan.

Two years ago LCI launched a campaign to help working families become first-time home-buyers.

The city offers qualifying buyers $10,000 in downpayment assistance (100 percent forgivable after five years if you still live in the home) and $30,000 in energysaving upgrades. It created this

website to promote the program.

Neal-Sanjurjo’s proposed new foreclosure-sale bidding speed-up is a modest plan. Neal-Sanjurjo said her entire budget to buy properties hovers at only a little above $200,000. But that could pay for 10 distressed properties, she estimated, and if applied strategically, create more Putnam streets.

Right now, she said, LCI’s efforts to help stretches of Newhallville revive get stymied by the foreclosure-purchase problem. For instance, Neal-Sanjurjo said, her office is proceeding with a $2.5 million state bond-funded project to build new homes for local owner-occupants to buy on vacant lots in the area of Thompson Street and Winchester Avenue. “Investor”-owned hovels bought out of foreclosure are sprinkled amid those properties, endangering renewal plans.

Under the current system, if LCI seeks to purchase a blighted property, it must negotiate a price with the seller. Then it must obtain a vote of approval from LCI’s Property Acquisition and Dispensation Committee. Next the full LCI board must vote to approve it. Then it goes to the Board of Alders, which sends the proposal to a committee for a hearing and a vote. If the proposal passes committee, it eventually returns to the full board for a “first reading,” then a vote at a subsequent

12

meeting. Next the mayor’s office drafts a contract. The city Finance Department reviews it.

That takes half a year or more, according to Neal-Sanjurjo — five or six months after lenders will have otherwise settled with a private investor on these vacant “REO” (or “real estate owned”) portions of their portfolios.

Her proposal would authorize LCI to go straight from an offer to cash in 30 days in negotiating with banks for a limited number of blighted foreclosed properties by bypassing all those approval steps.

The wording of the proposed order calls for “authorizing the City of New Haven, acting through the Livable City Initiative, to negotiate and enter into a contract to purchase vacant, foreclosed properties form lending institutions throughout the City of New Haven and authorizing the mayor of the City of New Haven to execute and deliver any and all necessary documents to complete the acquisition of said vacant, foreclosed properties.”

“This is a big ask,” Alder Wingate said at last week’s hearing. “it is a big ask,” Neal-Sanjurjo agreed.

“Our challenge around home ownership in this city is big. We’re losing a whole segment of population to East Haven, West Haven,” and losing out on helping local working families buy their homes and stabilize their neighborhoods.

Dwight Alder Frank Doug-

lass, the committee chair, raised concern about whether new homeowners would eventually lose their homes, repeating the foreclosure and blight cycle.

Neal-Sanjurjo said LCI would partner with not-for-profits to train homeowners and stay in touch with them after purchases to help them avoid problems.

Wingate noted that the proposal in its current form doesn’t contain many details including reporting procedures to the board to help alders monitor the process.

“It comes from a good place,” Wingate said of the proposal.

“I really believe it’s a strong idea.

We need something like [this] in New Haven,” he said. “I just want the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed.

“Unfortunately you have foreclosures. We want this program to be managed and well put together with people watching it.”

Douglass, too, praised the general concept while seeking more details. The committee voted unanimously to table the proposal while LCI and Board of Alders staff work on fleshing out the details.

“We need to work out the kinds,” Neal-Sanjurjo agreed. “I’m open to any suggestions and recommendations in order to make this work.”

In an interview, James Paley, whose not-for-profit Neighborhood Housing Services also restores blighted properties and resells them to first-time homebuying working families, said he supports efforts like LCI’s proposed plan to combat bank sales of foreclosed-upon properties to private investors.

NHS faces the same problem as LCI in seeing its work threatened by the current foreclosure sales.

He called the 2,000 sales over 12 months a “terrifying” phenomenon: “It could undermine everything that we’re trying to do if our homeowners become surrounded by these investment-owned properties.” He recommended that the city go further than speeding up the process of approving a limited number of purchases, and use eminent domain powers to snatch properties from irresponsible banks and slumlords in Enterprise Zone neighborhoods like Newhallville.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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New Top Prosecutor Called Out THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

by MARKESHIA RICKS NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

New Haven’s new state’s attorney equated black-on-black crime with police shootings of unarmed citizens — and got a lesson in response from a room full of people seeking to improve relations between law enforcement and the community.

The lesson in false equivalence took place at a justice forum hosted Tuesday afternoon

by U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly.

Part of National Community Policing Week, the event brought cops, prosecutors, and community members together to discuss ways to further the dialogue that has been fostered between both groups in New Haven.

Patrick Griffin, a veteran prosecutor who this summer was appointed New Haven’s state’s attorney upon the retirement of Michael Dearington, made a plea to members of the community seated around the conference table at the U.S. Attorney office on Church Street for help dealing with the scourge of gun violence in communities. Griffin is the top official responsible for prosecuting state crimes in New Haven.

“I saw a statistic the other day and there has been more kids killed in Chicago than young people who have been killed in Iraq,” he said. “We’re not dealing with the gun violence in communities.”

He said he wants community members to work with young people before they fire a gun, thus ending the life of the person who has been shot and their own life because they’re likely going to jail when they are caught by the police and prosecuted. He said he also wants them to address the issue of “no snitching” so that guns don’t stay in the wrong hands, and help cultivate a culture of cooperation with law enforcement that gets the 2 percent to 3 percent of the people who are actually committing most acts of violence in communities.

“Certainly, if a police officer does wrong, the officer has dishonored his badge, dishonored his oath, and needs to be held accountable. But we also have to take into account the people who are doing crimes

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Griffin, at confab, heard that “no snitching” works both ways.

Schultz-Wilson: You must talk about easy access to guns.

Cousin: Cops and community are building relationships in New Haven.

14

in the very neighborhoods that are hurting so badly,” he added.

“We need to come together there and really not be divided and look at this scourge of gun violence from both sides. Not just from the law enforcement side, because violence is being done daily.”

Griffin never mentioned the race of the young people dying in the streets of Chicago, or that of the people around the table sitting in front of him. But for the record, they are in both cases, mostly black and Latino.

Those who had been invited to the table Tuesday vowed to do their part. But they also challenged Griffin to expand his own thinking about the separate and complex problems of crime between citizens and extrajudicial killings of citizens by police officers, who are empowered and paid by the government to protect lives.

“No Snitching” For Cops When regular citizens commit crimes, police departments and prosecutors work as long as they need to catch the person responsible and send them to prison. But the same system of justice has often let officers who shoot and kill unarmed citizens not only go free, but in many instances keep their jobs even in a state like Connecticut where cops have committed crimes and been

arrested, noted Tai Richardson.

Richardson, who grew up in Newhallville, came to the Tuesday event to represent his fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. “There is a perception that there is a no snitching policy among police officers,” Richardson said.

“There are great cops. For the great cops that see things that are wrong, even if you’re not going to be a whistleblower on somebody, at least have a conversation and acknowledge the pain that someone is seeing or feeling as a result of what’s happening.”

He said it’s very difficult to convince the community to speak up when they don’t believe cops are willing to be courageous enough to do the same. He also cautioned against making a correlation between an officer-involved shooting and violence in a community.

“Unfortunately, I have to fight this every day in my community, but they don’t take an oath to serve and protect,” he said. “We have to separate the two. We cannot make that correlation because if you do it in this room and it strikes a nerve, it’s definitely going to strike a nerve in the community, and actually push the divide further.”

Daly said that police officers should be, and are, held to a higher standard. But she said it also is true that to get a violent offender off the street, prosecutors need the help of the community.

Richardson suggested that if law enforcement wants help from the community, it must recognize the generations of mistrust that have developed around policing. He commended the work that has been done in New Haven to revive community policing and walking beats, but said there also is work to be done insuring that there isn’t a dual system of justice—one for police and another for ordinary citizens.

Valerie Schultz-Wilson, Urban League of Southern Connecticut CEO & president, pointed out the problem of easy access to the very guns that Griffin would like to see off the street. She pointed to the lax laws of other states with low criteria for obtaining a gun and that require even less from Con’t on page 18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Westville Tops Dixwell For “Ballers” Crown

by THOMAS BREEN

ally working out just as we imagined it, cops and community members getting to know one another, playing basketball side by side.”

While many of the community participants had some tangential connection to law enforcement, whether through family or friends, some of the young men who found themselves playing basketball in Edgewood on Wednesday afternoon were completely unaware of the tournament until a few minutes before it began.

“I was walking home through the park when I saw all of these police officers and cars gathered at the corner,” said Aaron Brevard, a 19-year-old student at Gateway Community College who also works for the school’s Office of the Registrar. “I was kind of worried, but when I walked over to find out what was happening, I got recruited to play on one of the teams.”

Brevard helped lead his “Youth 1” team to the second round, where they lost to East Shore’s District 9. The quarterfinals then pitted East Shore against Westville’s District 2 and Fair Haven’s District 8 against Dixwell’s District 6.

NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT

As Gregory Daniels leaned forward to sink yet another long-distance jump shot, an incredulous bystander shouted towards the police officers on the sidelines: “All these cops on the court, and they still can’t stop this man from shooting!”

Frequent shots fired and moves so quick they seemed illegal erupted on the hoop courts at Edgewood Park late Wednesday afternoon — and the cops not only didn’t try to stop the action, but took part.

The shots had nothing to do with criminal activity, and everything to do with basketball.

Specifically, with basketball played between police officers and members of the community.

One of the flagship events of New Haven’s participation in National Community Policing Week, the two-hour long tournament, called “Cops & Ballers,” brought together dozens of top cops, patrol officers, and community members from all over the city for hotly contested, if always warm-hearted, games of half-court, 3-on-3 hoops.

Coming on the heels of an impromptu afternoon gathering in which District 7 cops shared coffee and safety tips with East Rock residents, and just a day after an animated and somewhat contentious panel discussion between law enforcement and concerned community leaders about race, class, and police violence, Cops & Ballers presented an opportunity for local police to engage with younger New Haveners in a way that eschewed traditional forms of dialogue in favor of physical, competitive fun.

The brainchild of Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirde Daly, and organized in collaboration with interim police chief Anthony Campbell and retired New Haven police Officer (and current Daly staffer) Holly Wasilewski, Cops & Ballers represented the latest attempt at community outreach from a law enforcement community eager to build both familiarity and trust among the population it serves.

The tournament featured 14 teams, each representing a different police district or department and each consisting of a mix of

Officer Brandon Way, plalying for East Shore District 9.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Tyrone Wells at cop-community hoops contest.

As the sun began to set, an arduously fought final game between Fair Haven and Dixwell kept everyone in attendance whooping and cheering from the sidelines as the poorly lit court submerged from dusk into darkness.

After Dixwell’s narrow loss to Westville in the finals, all of the players managed to leave the court with smiles on their faces, and, for some, trophies in their hands.

One of District 6’s star players, Gregory Daniels, lifted his team’s second-place trophy before leaving the court for the night.

“They were friendly, they were very good basketball players, and they were really sticking up for us today,” said Daniels, 23, a former Common Ground High School athlete who now works in Hamden. “It’s really important that the police come out and show us that they’re human too, especially with everything that’s going down right now around the country. Today they did just that.”

Dixwell’s District 6 team comes in second place. Gregory Daniels second from left.

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Dixwell’s District 6 team comes in second place. Gregory Daniels second from left.

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“We really appreciate each and every one of you,” Chief Campbell said towards the beginning of the tournament, gesturing towards both the officers and their younger teammates. “This is re-

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New Top Prosecutor Called Out

the people who legally sell guns.

“You can’t talk about getting guns off the streets in Chicago and out of the hands of felons when we’re not talking about the access to guns,” she said.

Griffin said he didn’t disagree about the the problem of easy access. But he also pointed out that it would be 200 years before the last gun in the United States is fired.

“What I’m suggesting to you is to get the gun out of the hand of young people before he or she can use it will save two lives or multiple lives,” he said. “When a young person fires that gun his life is altered forever; he’s altered another person’s life forever.”

Daly said that statistically there are only a small percentage of people responsible for the vast majority of gun violence in inner cities.

“It’s not thousands and thousands of people, and if we can figure out who these people are we can radically change the lives of people in these communities,” she said.

“You’re right about guns, but there are so many guns out there.

And in most gangs there’s just one

gun. It’s a hard issue to attack but we want to make these cases and the level of cooperation is not always there. We had a case here with a high reward of $25,000.

Two women and a little boy were killed. Nobody even called.”

Daly admitted that ultimately that case was successfully prosecuted, but she suggested it might have been easier to do if the community had cooperated.

Truth & Reconciliation New Haven Assistant Police Chief Achilles “Archie” Generoso, a lifelong New Havener who grew up in the Hill, said Project Longevity — a joint federal-city anti-gang violence effort — is improving relations. He said there was a time that after a shooting or murder in a particular neighborhood the police would flood that community and stop every person walking.

“We would shut down everything,” he said. “And what did we do [because of that]? We alienated everybody in that neighborhood.” He said that the reality is that it was only a small percentage of the people in the neighborhood

creating havoc, but everyone was paying for it. Project Longevity uses data to identify the small percentage of problem-creators, and then to focus attention on them.

“As a police officer I apologize for that,” he said of the old methods. “That wasn’t our intent. We thought we were doing good because we shut down crime. We really didn’t shut crime down. We delayed it for a while. Because as soon as we pulled out of that neighborhood the crime started happening again. We were wrong.

We made a mistake. I acknowledge that. We did the wrong thing.

We’re getting a little smarter now.”

He said now, at least in New Haven, the goal is to use “focused attention” to make life hard for the small number of people who are killing people. And part of that work is done through Project Longevity. The program puts gang members and those who are deemed violent by the department because of past behavior, or are most likely to shoot and be shot, on notice that if someone connected to them starts up the violence, the police will be coming after them. The program also gives them the alternative of going straight with the help of many community leaders.

“We do this with the support of the community and service providers,” Generoso said. “We speak in one voice.”

Retired New Haven police Det. Stacy Spell, who now oversees Project Longevity, said that

18

though generational mistrust exists, the community has to take a proactive role in building relationships with law enforcement as well as with each other. Spell, who also is a community activist from the West River section of the city, said he’s not talking about fostering the kinds of relationships that protect actual criminals, but that are willing to out those individuals regardless of who they’re related to because they’re destroying the neighborhood.

“We can no longer wait for the calvary to come into our community. We have to realize that we are the calvary,” he said.

Trust Earned The Rev. Steven Cousin Jr., pastor of Bethel AME Church, said that trust is building in New Haven. So when he recently saw young men in a car, wearing ski masks and holding what looked like assault rifles, he called the police and he gave his name. It turned out they were paintball guns.

“Any other time I would not have given my name because I know the street side of things,” he said.

“But because I’ve developed a relationship with officers in the New Haven Police Department, I felt comfortable calling them.”

Brent Peterkins, the state coordinator for Project Longevity, put the whole conversation, held in the city that was home to the gun that purportedly won the West, into the context of America’s relationship with guns and violence.

Peterkins told the room that he recently paid a visit to a young man in Hartford who was shot and paralyzed after a friend threw a rock at a car, shattering the car’s window.

The driver of that car circled back to the rock thrower and opened fire, injuring the young man. Peterkins said when he visited the young man, who is now a quadriplegic, he was using the little bit of physical movement he had left in his hands to play a video game.

“He’s playing ‘Call of Duty,’ which is a shooter game,” Peterkins said.

“Even a victim of gun violence is still enthralled with gun violence, whether fictional or real. There’s an issue with that because whether

we’re talking about law enforcement, or the murderers of Trayvon Martin or Jordan Davis, who weren’t officers of the law, these are individuals who were legally allowed to carry a firearm, but yet chose not to deescalate a conflict.

They are similar to African-American and Latino men in communities of color whether they are in illegal or legal possession of a firearm. It’s when you have that gun, its what you choose to do with it.”

He said Project Longevity cannot stop the “iron pipeline” of guns coming into Connecticut.

He said the goal is to implore people to make rational decision through group accountability. He said group accountability has to happen for officers who use their guns without restraint.

“They don’t speak to the nobility of their profession, just as the men we deal with through Project Longevity don’t speak to the nobility of their communities,” he said. “We have bad apples on both fronts.”

He said he believes the key to changing that dynamic in communities is reconciliation. He said the young men and some women that Project Longevity work with don’t see themselves as part of a community supported by churches, schools and other organizations.

And they definitely don’t see the police as a resource, and instead take matters into their own hands.

He also pointed out that police officers who don’t live in the communities they police and see their work as something they do for an eight or 10hour shift don’t see themselves as part of the community either.

He said all of that has to change.

“And it’s a love affair with gun culture on both ends,” he said.

“You have cops in love with their firearms. They love that part of the job and some of them will actually go against their training. Not in Connecticut, but we see that on video footage. With Tamir Rice. That’s not tactically sound to just run up on someone like that. You’re putting yourself and your partner at risk. That’s you having this intense proclivity to shoot and discharge your weap-

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Businessman Bails Men Out Of Jail To Bring Them Home For the Holidays

by Derrick Lane, Black Doctor.org

Businessman and entrepreneur Willie Wilson wants to bring at least 100 people home for Thanksgiving and the holiday season who are stuck in Chicago’s Cook County Jail because they can’t post bond.

The former mayoral candidate has a plan to raise $100,000 from community members to help people charged with nonviolent crimes post bond for the holiday who otherwise couldn’t.

Wilson has owned and operated several different McDonald’s restaurant franchises and owns Omar Medical Supplies, which imports and distributes latex gloves and other medical and safety supplies and equipment.

He also produces the nationally syndicated gospel music television program “Singsation” which won an Emmy Award in 2012.

The reason why he’s doing it is simple: Wilson got to experience how jail time affects families first hand. “I had two sons in jail,” Wilson said. “When

they came out, they came out hardened in their attitudes.”

He said one of his sons was later violently killed at the age of 20, and he doesn’t want other parents to see a similar transformation in their children. Wilson said

he would personally contribute $50,000 and was looking for others in the business and religious community to contribute the rest.

Organizers helping Wilson with his effort said they are starting to identify people jailed because

they can’t afford a very modest bond while awaiting trial. “We’ve had guys in there for two years because they couldn’t come up with $200,” said Gregory Livingston, who is heading the project.

Wilson established the Dr. Wil-

lie Wilson Foundation to fund his prison reform efforts and said he would reveal all donations and all recipients of money on the foundation’s website.

Wilson said as the bond money is returned to people for showing up at their court dates as ordered, his hope is it will cycle through the foundation again to help more people post their bond.

Wilson said he was seeking contributions from churches as well as other forms of charity.

Since conditions specify that inmates would not be released unless they could identify a family member, halfway house or… … viable place to live while awaiting trial, Wilson asked churches to seek places for people to sleep. He also formed a committee of clergy to figure out other barriers keeping people in jail unnecessarily.

He said his long-term plans were much bigger including getting prison-reform measures passed.

While the idea is well received, we hope that it catches on.

Comcast’s Internet Essentials Helps Low-Income Families Bridge the Digital Divide

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Contributor

In five short years, the cable giant Comcast has achieved incredible success with its Internet Essentials program, connecting 750,000 low-income households to the power of the Web. But for Karima Zedan, the director of the program, it’s time to dream even bigger.

“We are not complacent by any stretch, we want to continue to grow the program and connect as many families as possible,” Zedan said. “We won’t stop.

We won’t rest on our laurels.”

Five years ago, Comcast began its mission to help close the digital divide for low-income families.

In all, it’s estimated that 3 million individuals now benefit from the program and Comcast has also invested more than $300 million in cash and in-kind support to help fund digital literacy training and educational initiatives, reaching about 4.4 million people through national and local

nonprofit community partners.

The program allows qualifying families to pay $9.95 per month for Internet service, including Wi-Fi. Comcast also offers a subsidized computer or laptop for $150.

Additionally, the cable provider has also announced that it would give an additional $2 million in grants during the current back-to-school season to Karima Zedan, the director of Comcast’s Internet Essentials program, said that many children have even been able to turn their lives around by completing courses and applying for college online, thanks to the program. (Comcast)

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community-based organizations that provide vital digital literacy training and Internet access.

“I don’t think anyone here at Comcast, when the program launched in August of 2011, imagined it would grow to be the program that it is today,” Zedan said. “No other company or government organization has ever attempted anything of this size and scale before. We designed the program on best available research. We mobilized a companywide effort with hundreds of volunteers thousands of partners.”

While Comcast officials said they don’t believe that one company can close the digital divide all by itself, their efforts have led to success that have not gone unnoticed.

David L. Cohen, Comcast’s senior executive vice president and chief diversity officer, said that solving a big, societal issue like the digital divide takes a movement.

According to data collected in the 2013 American Community Survey, 98.1 percent of

households earning $150,000 or more owned a computer and 94.9 percent reported Internet use. For households earning less than $25,000, that level of access drops to 62.4 percent for computer ownership and less than 50 percent (48.4 percent) for Internet usage in the home.

Internet Essentials provides students the tools they need to succeed in and outside the classroom, according to the research.

Prior to the launch of Internet Essentials, the nation began to focus on the importance of having highspeed Internet access in the home and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) presented the National Broadband Plan in 2010, which articulated the research behind issues of broadband adoption and digital inclusion.

Internet Essentials was the first comprehensive and actionoriented response by a major Internet Service Provider to address the three main barriers to broadband adoption.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

First Black Woman Director Ever of a $100 Million Film

Filmmaking, like many other fields, is dominated by men. It’s not that women have no interest in filmmaking or film directing. In fact, half of all graduates of film schools are women. But, only 1.9 percent are directing big budget films. That small group includes Ava DuVernay, the first Black woman to direct a $100 million film.

DuVernay is the third woman to direct a film with such a huge budget, but she is the first African-American woman to do so. The film she is directing is Disney’s “A Wrinkle in Time.”

In addition, DuVernay has a new TV series, “Queen Sugar,”

that is already airing on OWN. Not at all new to the scene Filmmaking and directing is not only DuVernay’s career, but her passion. Five years ago in 2011, she released a feature film called “I Will Follow.” In 2012, she released another one, “Middle Of Nowhere,” which won her the Best Director Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. She was the first African-American woman to win this award. Also, the first to be nominated for a Golden Globe DuVernay was also the first Black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award, which

she earned for her work in Selma, and the first black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

So, it should come as no surprise that DuVernay has now broken through the glass ceiling to direct a big budget film. This Los Angeles resident whose hometown is Compton, California, is well on her way in a career that is quickly seeing excellent talent and accomplishments among women.

For more details, visit her official web site at www.avaduvernay.com

Police “Pig” Moved Indoors

say anything, I feel, would be a bigger disgrace,” he continued.

“The icon is bigger than me. I’m speaking for the people who died.”

An Old Meme Police spokesman Officer David Hartman said cops “are not allowed” to participate in debates like this one.

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“It’s frustrating,” he said. “We are not allowed to bring up that dialogue. People can call us whatever they want. When one cop does something bad, every cop is bad. If a cop ever generalized that way” about a person or a group, “they’d be fired.”

New Haven police union President Craig Miller noted that the association of “pig” with “police” dates back to the naming of a police force headquarters in 1811, and that people have been using the term in the United Stastes as an epithet for cops since the street protests of the 1960s.

Miller said he “brushes it off” when people including relatives make “pig” cracks.

“I get it from family members.

They give me a hot cup of tea in a pig cup. I just laugh it off,” he said.

“You’re calling someone a name.

What can you say? You don’t even know what kind of person I am.

You’re judging me. You’re calling somebody a ‘pig.’ Then when you need them” during a crime, you’re happy to see them, he said.

While he doesn’t think it’s “fair to call anybody a name,” Miller said pig-naming doesn’t personally hurt him: “You’ve got to have a thick skin to have this job.”

In commissioning Skinner’s series, Artspace asked the artist to incorporate the image of milk crates as basketball hoops. Skinner grew up playing hoops with friends, often improvising with milk crates

when no formal hoop was available.

The pieces in the series incorporate other childhood memories as well. As a kid, he noted, “you improvise and make a game out of everything.” Adults follow the same pattern, he observed, “when you don’t have materials, and you improvise.” So he used found materials in these pieces.

Skinner started his artistic career at 30 years old after an inspiring encounter with Andy Warhol’s work during a visit to New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The first gallery to display his work was City Lights in Bridgeport; the curator there, Suzanne Kachmar, became a mentor.

He developed his craft, created a website, and started displaying his work elsewhere in the area. (“I use the canvas to explore the social, racial and gender driven aspects of our subconscious, and to push these competing impulses toward synthesis,” he writes.) His current paying job is managing a group home; he also works daily in a studio at Erector Square, where he plans to open a new business, a seven-day-a-week breakfast-lunch spot at Building 4. He plans a soft opening on Oct. 29th and 30th.

He plans to feature special evening events there where patrons sip wine, eat, and do paintings that they then bring home with them.

He’s calling it Gordon Skinner’s Art Cafe. The betting money is that there’ll be plenty to talk about there.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

AILEY II Troy Powell, Artistic Director

Wed Oct 26 7:30 pm Universally renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the country’s best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding emerging choreographers. The program will include Ailey’s iconic suite Revelations.

“...one of the most sublime dances ever choreographed.” – The Boston Herald JORGENSEN Center for the Performing Arts jorgensen.uconn.edu | 860-486-4226

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Only 30 minutes from Hartford

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

CLOSES OCTOBER 29TH

HazWaste Central Working with Communities to Protect Our Water Resources SAFE & FREE DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD CHEMICALS SATURDAYS ONLY, 9 AM–NOON THROUGH OCT. 29, 2016 HazWaste Central is for residents in these participating towns: Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, East Haven, Fairfield, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge.

Partial list of what to bring. For a complete list of what to bring: www.rwater.com/products-and-services/hazwaste-central/ KITCHEN & BATHROOM Aerosols

Metal & Furniture Polish

Bathroom Cleaners

Floor Care Products

Oven & Drain Cleaners

Nail Polish Remover

GARAGE & WORKSHOP Gasoline

Auto Body Repair Products Paint Thinner & Stripper

Auto Batteries

Other Oils/Cleaners

Used Motor Oil*

Brake & Transmission Fluid

Latex & Oil-Based Paints*

Antifreeze

GARDEN & MISCELLANEOUS Chemical Fertilizer

Herbicides & Insecticides

Batteries*

Fungicides

Pesticides

Photographic Chemicals

Swimming Pool Chemicals

Fluorescent Bulbs (Including CFL Type)*

Small (1 Pound) Propane Cylinders

Mercury & Mercury-Containing Items

* Local disposal options may be available. Please check with your public works department or local transfer station or the following resources: Batteries: call 1-800-8-BATTERY or log on to www.call2recycle.org (excluding alkaline and auto batteries).

Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs: call 1-800-CLEANUP, or log on to www.earth911.com Paint: log on to www.paintcare.org and visit the Connecticut portion of the site to find a drop-off location for household paint.

No Gas-Grill Size Propane Tanks or Electronics

Residential Waste Only

SMALL BUSINESSES: CALL 203-401-2712 FOR DISPOSAL INFORMATION For more info call 203.401.2712 or email ask.hazwaste@rwater.com.

Located at 90 Sargent Drive, New Haven at the Regional Water Authority’s Headquarters.

Take I-95 exit 46 and follow signs to the RWA.

Election 2016: What Black Women Want

by Glynda Carr

This article originally appeared on Huffington Post Black Voices | Monday night’s presidential debate might as well be described as an exercise in futility when it comes to what Black women want out of this election. Debate moderator, Lester Holt brought up race in broad terms, asking both candidates Clinton and Trump what they would do to bring racial healing in light of recent slayings by police in Oklahoma and North Carolina.

Trump invoked the now unconstitutional “Stop and Frisk” saying he would re-implement it. Clinton made debate history by asking everyone to check their implicit bias that ultimately leads to tragedies like those we’ve seen play out in Ferguson, Baltimore and Charlotte.

But what does this ultimately mean for women of color? How does this translate to Black women getting their needs met come Election Day? Black women are a powerful voting block at the ballot box. In 2008 and 2012, 70 percent of eligible women cast ballots accounting for the highest voter turnout of any racial or gender group, giving Barack Obama the margin he needed to win two presidential terms. Black women’s engagement have demonstrated that they are the building blocks to a winning coalition.

What is lesser well-known are the myriad issues important to Black women voters and how the candidates actively lobbying for our

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critical votes will address them.

These issues include economic dignity, parity in education, legislation that ends police overreach and quality affordable housing.

What we heard Monday night spoke to very little of this. It was encouraging to hear Secretary Clinton open her remarks with pay equity and universal child care, both of which if enacted by our next president would impact Black women’s lives immeasurably. But it is also why #BlackWomenVote is calling on all Black women across the country to help us mobilize more Black women than ever. Regardless of who is elected to hold the highest office in our land, our voting power must go beyond the presidential election and continue all the way

down to state and local officials.

In fact, this November, 34 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats and all of the 435 House of Representative seats are up for election. There are Governors races in 12 states and 5,920 of the country’s 7,383 State Legislative seats are up for election. There are municipal elections in 46 of the country’s 100 largest cities including 25 Mayors races.

What Black women want are long term initiatives and strategies able to secure the future of their families, communities and neighborhoods. Black women want investments in education, the roads they drive their children to schools on, safe schools for their children to attend. Black women want economic dignity, equal pay for equal work and an end to discriminatory practices across the board whether that be in employment, education or the environment.

The late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan once said, “What the people want is very simple. They want an American as good as its promise.” The issues important to Black women matter all the time, not just during presidential elections. This November after casting their votes, Black women will work to ensure the return on their voting investment beyond Election Day. GLYNDA C. CARR IS THE CO-FOUNDER OF HIGHER HEIGHTS, A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION BUILDING THE POLITICAL POWER OF BLACK WOMEN FROM THE VOTING BOOTH TO ELECTED OFFICE.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

These Black CEOs Were Denied Business Loans

(But Now They Run America’s Fastest Growing Companies!)

Edwin Bosso, Anastasia Gentles, and Zawadi Bryant

Every year, Inc. magazine publishes a list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the nation. They also publish the Inc. 5000. Among all those fast-growing companies, only 73 of them are run Black-owned and/or run by Black CEOs. From that small number, many of them have said that they have experienced discrimination when they applied for business loans. But still, they were able to become successful!

Here are a few Black CEOs that were denied business loans from banks, but now they own some of the fastest growing companies in the country: Edwin Bosso: founder of Houston’s Myrtle Consulting Group struggled to get a loan, especially since his company is service-oriented which means no assets for collateral.

They, too, finally got a bank to work with them, resulting in their revenue increasing 1,000 percent in the past three years. For more details, visit www.myrtlegroup.com Anastasia Gentles and Zawadi Bryant: founders of Sugar Land, a Texas-based Nightlight Pediatric Urgent Care. They were turned down by other banks but eventually got the attention of a woman banker at Louisiana-based Whitney Bank. Since then, the business has grown with revenues increasing over 150 percent in the last three years, they have 5 locations, their staff has dou-

bled. For more details, visit www.nightlightpediatrics.com Lori Burke: founder of LLB Enterprises, a Stafford, Virginia-based consulting firm, was denied loans by not only traditional banks but also the Small Business Administration. But a company called Kaleo Construction helped her out with a loan and had faith she would succeed. Not only did her company flourish, but it is also the fastest-growing company led by a black woman on the 2016 Inc. 5000. For more details, visit www.llbenterprisesllc.com To view the complete list, visit www.inc.com/inc5000

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Why More Black Families are Choosing Homeschool Over Traditional Learning

The number of black students being homeschooled is on the rise.

The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that 290,000 African American children are currently being homeschooled, now representing 10 percent of all students being homeschooled.

What is the reason for the increase?

Why Hurricane Matthew is Hurting African-Americans and Low Income People the Most

How racism gets in the way All children deserve a good education. But this doesn’t mean they all get a good education. Black children often struggle against racism in school and unfair suspensions and other forms of discipline. So more parents are making the decision to place their children into a healthier environment where they can thrive both academically and culturally. According to The Atlantic newspaper, “Although Black students only make up 16 percent of all publicschool students nationwide, they now account for 10 percent of the homeschooling population and these numbers are rising rapidly.”

Unfair treatment Black children account for almost 48 percent of all out of school suspensions, according to a US World News report. This is extremely high since black children represent only 18 percent of the population. They learn little in school about African history and culture and are often in an environment where their sense of value is undermined.

Controlling the environment Homeschooling is an increasing choice over traditional learning for

many black parents who want their children to have a good education but also be in an environment where they are socially accepted.

Schools like Urban Village Academy, a popular African-Centered homeschool in Atlanta, are on the rise. As Deborah Boldt, who runs Urban Village Academy, states, “The potential and possibilities for all black children are infinite with the right knowledge, will, and support.”

Learn more about the National Black Home Educators (NBHE) organization at www.nbhe.net

White Acceptance Will Never Lead to Wealth in the Black Community

By James Clingman, NNPA Newswire Columnist Black folks in America have been so successfully programmed that many of us are still psychologically enslaved to the point that we truly believe we have “made it” when we have reached a certain financial plateau or when we have attained a certain position or title. Far too many of us, as a consequence of our psychological enslavement, have turned our backs on our own people, especially many affluent Blacks who have gained the status of being “accepted” by White society. Remember O.J. Simpson?

Our new “Talented Tenth” has turned out not unlike its predecessor of 1903, which W.E.B. DuBois lived to regret, as he stated in his speech to The Boule in 1948.

Forty-five years of watching the selfishness of his brothers and sisters was enough for DuBois to admit that he had made a mistake.

“I assumed that with knowledge, sacrifice would automatically follow. In my youth and idealism, I did not realize that selfishness is even more natural than sacrifice,” DuBois lamented. “There were especially sharp young persons [at Fisk University] with the distinct and single-minded idea of seeing what they could get out of it for themselves, and nobody else.”

DuBois left this country, a sad and disheartened man, never wanting to return again, and we have seen his words and his assessment of our people magnified. Black people spend an estimated $1 trillion every year, much of which is wasted everyday on anything and everything other people make and sell. We buy it all, but we are dead last in every other economic category. We also have the worst housing, the highest unemployment, the poorest healthcare, the highest infant mortality, the poorest education, and our life expectancy is not even long enough to collect our hardearned social security payments.

We are not using our tremendous resources — or talents — to do

good “and” to do well. We are not using our talents to help the least of our brethren. We are not multiplying our resources. Instead, we are virtually burying them in the ground by succumbing to every advertisement and marketing campaign laid before us by corporate America. We have taken on the title of “Conspicuous Consumption Champions of the World.”

Second, we have placed too much emphasis on creature comforts and have allowed ourselves to be defined by what we do on someone else’s job, rather than what we can do to create our own jobs. We have devalued business ownership and business education, and we have lost sight of self-sufficiency, selfreliance, and collective economic empowerment. We have been lulled into the trap of thinking “the man” will take care of us or the government will take care of us, or our local politicians will take care of us. That is so far from the truth it is not even funny. Besides, anyone or anything that has the power to give you all you need also has the power to take away everything you have.

Con’t on page

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Hurricane Matthew has wreaked devastation across the coast of the southeastern United States. The Category 5 hurricane impacted Haiti, Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas, across the Caribbean Sea, and affecting coastal areas of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. More than 100,000 people have been displaced from their homes, but the ones most affected are people in low-income communities.

Sub-standard housing and weak infrastructure A recent Time article pointed out the reasons why low-income people suffer the brunt of devastation by monster hurricanes like Matthew. Many people of color and low-income families live in low-lying areas or communities that have sub-standard housing with weak and crumbling infrastructure. When a storm like Katrina or Matthew hits, they are the ones most likely to suffer the

most housing damage and loss.

Although federal, state and local laws prohibit discrimination, years of discrimination, such as discriminatory housing and racial steering have resulted in African Americans living in more vulnerable communities and neighborhoods that are decaying, with community governments less likely to invest in their rehabilitation.

The need to invest in low income communitie It makes good sense to invest in better housing for lowincome families. According to a report by the National Institute of Building Sciences, every dollar spent on mitigation saves $4 in recovery costs. Equally important, every dollar not spent on mitigation only increases the disparity between racial groups.

Read more by visiting www.time. com/4522780/hurricane-matthewrace-low-income-communities/

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Film Review

by Kam Williams

Reverential Retrospective Offers Intimate Look at the Life of Late Icon Maya Angelou (1928-2014) was born Marguerite Annie Johnson,in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928 to parents for whom she and her big brother Bailey soon became a burden. When Maya was just 3, the siblings were sent alone by train to live with their paternal grandmother in Arkansas where they would be terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan.

At 7, Maya moved back to St. Louis, only to be molested by her now single mother’s boyfriend.

When she reported the rape, the perpetrator was soon murdered under mysterious circumstances.

Maya subsequently fell mute and was shipped back to her grandma’s house. Although she couldn’t talk, she did take to reading like a fish to water. And by the time she spoke again at the age of 12, she’d become very acquainted with the classics ranging from Shakespeare to Langs-

ton Hughes to Edgar Allan Poe. Unfortunately, exposure to great literature didn’t save Maya from further trauma, as she would become a single-mom

at 17 after being pressured into a sexual encounter with a boy who wanted nothing more to do with her. She subsequently supported herself and her son,

Guy, by holding an array of odd jobs, including work in the sex trade industry as a stripper, prostitute and even a madam.

Yet somehow, Maya would

overcome her humble roots and checkered early career to become an African-American icon and a very respected writer in her own right. That miraculous recovery is the subject of Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise, a reverential retrospective offering an intimate look at the life of the late poet/author/actress/ director/civil rights activist.

Co-directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack, the film features heartfelt reflections by an array of luminaries, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, John Singleton, Cicely Tyson, Dave Chappelle and Valerie Simpson, to name a few. For example, we hear Secretary Clinton refer to her as “a phenomenal woman” while Lou Gossett, Jr. credits her with raising his political consciousness.

A poignant portrait of a sex abuse survivor’s unlikely path from abandoned street urchin to consummate poet laureate!

Excellent (4 stars) Unrated Running time: 114 minutes Distributor: American Masters Pictures

ZADIE SMITH AT MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE READING AND DISCUSSION OCTOBER 20, 2016

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Acclaimed author Zadie Smith will read from and discuss her forthcoming novel, “Swing Time” at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 20, 2016 at Medgar Evers College. The event, which is free and open to the public, takes place at Founders Auditorium, 1650 Bedford Avenue in Crown Heights.

The reading will be followed by a short discussion and a Q & A. “Swing Time,” Ms. Smith’s fifth novel, will be released in November.

It is the tale of two biracial girls from a poor London neighborhood who aspire to be dancers. Ms. Smith, a professor of Creative Writing at New York University, was born in London in 1975 and studied at Cambridge.

Her many accolades include two appearances on the Granta Magazine list of the “Best of Young British Novelists.” Her reading at Medgar Evers College, a senior college of the City University of New York, is spon-

Zadie Smith

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sored by the English Department.

Doors close once the reading begins.

Ms. Smith has become a worldrenowned writer since the publication of her first novel, “White Teeth” in 2000, which centers on the lives and extended families of two wartime buddies. The book won a number of awards and prizes, including the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread First Novel Award, and a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

“The Autograph Man,” her 2002 novel about a Jewish- Chinese Londoner who makes a living selling autographs, received the 2002 Jewish Quarterly Wingate Literary Prize for Fiction. Her novel, “On Beauty” about two families in a fictitious college town in this country won the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction. Her most recent novel “NW,” which told the stories of four characters from the same pocket of northwest London, was named one of The New York

Times’ “10 Best Books of 2012.”

Ms. Smith, a writer for The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books, is also the author of “Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays” (2009) and is working on a forthcoming book of essays entitled “Feel Free.”

About Medgar Evers College Located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Medgar Evers College is a senior college of the City University of New York. It is a growing institution offering both Associate and Baccalaureate degrees. The nearly student body is primarily comprised of those who are the first in their families to attend college. Medgar Evers College was established in 1970 with a mandate to meet the educational and social needs of the Central Brooklyn community. For more information, visit www.mec.cuny.edu.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Black Youth Vote! Launches its HBCU/Community “Vote Your Power” Challenge Across the Country Black Millennials Leading the Way to Leverage Their Voting Power in the 2016 Election Cycle (Washington D.C.) – The Black Youth Vote! Network has launched its 2016 HBCU/Community “Vote Your Power” Challenge (BYV! ’16 Challenge) across the country. The BYV! ’16 Challenge is a key component of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s (NCBCP) Unity ’16 Black Voter Empowerment Campaign. (www.unitycampaign.org).

“The BYV! ’16 Challenge is an organizing strategy developed by and for Black millennial leaders and activists to engage young people in getting their friends educated, motivated and energized to register to vote, verify their registration, vote in the 2016 election; and encourage their peers to vote as well,” said Deven Anderson, Unity ’16 Campaign Senior Advisor and BYV! Lead Organizer, NCBCP. “These elections are critical and we found through our interactions & research, that millennials tend to respond better to other young people,” Anderson added.

The BYV! ’16 Challenge has already partnered with millennials leaders on over 30 Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), other colleges/universities, churches and communitybased organizations in several battleground and southern states.** The challenge’s ultimate goal is to maximize the collective voting power of the Black youth vote to ensure national, state and local candidates are held accountable to address key issues they care about including criminal justice & policing reform, living wage jobs and college affordability.

“The National Coalition is committed to lifting up and supporting a new generation of civil rights and social leaders through our Black Youth Vote! Network, as well as our Black Women’s Roundtable Intergenerational Network.” Black millennials are key to leveraging Black power for our communities to achieve civil rights, economic and social justice victories now and into the future.” **Participating campuses include: North Carolina: WinstonSalem State University, Elizabeth City State University, Saint Augustine’s College, Shaw University, Johnson C. Smith, Bennett College, NC A&T, Fayetteville

Con’t from page 24

With $1 trillion, coupled with trillions in intellectual capital, Black people in this country can do anything we set our minds to.

I think we have gotten very lazy and complacent, because it makes absolutely no sense for us to be in the situation we find ourselves today. It simply means we have not been taking care of our business, while everyone else has.

We must get back to the way it was before integration and before Black people in this country were dis-integrated. For almost 50 years we have mimicked the Children of Israel, wandering in this desert called America, whining, murmuring, and complaining about our situation since we left Egypt in 1964 when Pharaoh (President Lyndon Johnson) signed the Civil Rights Act. Some of us even want to return to Egypt. We must use our $1 trillion to possess the land.

What we have been given was not given to us just for us, just for our families, and just for our friends. It was given to us to help others — even strangers.

Rich athletes and entertainers, who are already doing some fantastic things with their wealth, must look deep inside themselves and consider their own mortality. Then they should each make a relatively small effort to help someone, maybe by pooling some of their dollars to start a business, that will create employment or housing opportunities.

State University, North Carolina Central University; Washington, DC: Howard University, University of the District of Columbia; MD: Prince George’s Community College; AL: Birmingham Residential, Lawson State University, Alabama A & M University, Tuskegee University; FL: FAMU, Bethune-Cookman University, University of Central Florida, Florida Memorial University, University of Florida; GA: Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University.

MD Community-Based Organizations and Churches: Community of Hope AME, Temple of Praise, Embry A.M.E. Church, Hunt-

er Memorial AME, Jack-n-Jill.

Challenge National & StateBased Partners include: Alabama Coalition on Black Civic Participation/AL BYV!, Florida Coalition on Black Civic Participation/FL BYV!, Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda/GA BYV!, National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame, National Pan-Hellenic Council, North Carolina Black Youth Vote!, Rising Sons/Philadelphia Black Youth Vote, and SEIU Black Youth Vote! was founded in 1996 by The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

The National Coalition creates and enlightens communities by building institutional capacity that pro-

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vides and develops leadership. By educating, motivating, organizing, and mobilizing Black communities, the National Coalition seeks to encourage full participation in a barrier-free democratic process.

The National Coalition works to expand, strengthen, and empower communities to make voting and civic participation a cultural responsibility and tradition. #Blackyouthvote #Vote4Justice #voteyourpower To Join the BYV! 16 Challenge or for more information visit: http://unitycampaign.org/hbcu Contact Black Youth Vote! @ blackyouthvote@ncbcp.org or call (202) 659-4929

I often have a dream of a beautiful world, a world where our children are educated properly, where our elderly are taken care of properly, where our youth are taught respect and responsibility, where our adults are not afraid to administer discipline – with love, and a world where our people are taking care of our resources, providing for ourselves, and making the necessary sacrifices to build a sure and certain foundation for the next generation. It’s a dream that would make W.E.B. DuBois proud.

James Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people.

His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense,” is available on his website, Blackonomics.com.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

The Glendower Group, Inc Request for Proposals

CO-DEVELOPER FOR ROCKVIEW PHASE II The Glendower Group, Inc an affiliate of Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for CO-Developer for Rockview Phase II A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Friday, October 7, 2016 at 3:00 PM.

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY Inventory Consultant RFQ No. RQ16001 CONTACT PERSON HOW TO OBTAIN THE RFQ DOCUMENTS: SUBMITTAL RETURN

SUBMITTAL DEADLINE

Ms. Devin Marra, Director of Procurement Telephone: 203-744-2500 x141 E-Mail: dmarra@hacdct.org Contact Ms. Devin Marra, via phone or email.

Housing Authority of the City of Danbury 2 Mill Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT 06811 Envelope Must be Marked: RFQ No. RQ16001 Inventory Consultant October 31, 2016 – 10:00 am (EST)

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

INVITATION TO BID Dwight Gardens 94 Edgewood Avenue, New Haven CT (4 Building, 32 Units) A Taxable Non-Prevailing Wage Rate Project Renovation of wood framed building, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Div. 10 Specialities, Appliances, Residential Casework, Electrical, Plumbing.

Bid due date: October 14, 2016 Anticipated start: November 15, 2016 Project documents available at Joseph Merritt & Co. 60 Hamilton Street, New Haven, CT 203-562-9885 Fax or email questions & bids to: Al Ridinger rmail: paraal@earthlink.net Paragon Construction encourages participation of all Veterans, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses.

19 South Main Street, Branford CT 06405 P 203-624-0009 / 203-624-2339 CT G.C. Lic #00900468 Equal Opportunity Employer / Affirmative Action

Tri-axle drivers need.

Prior construction exp a plus. 2 years driving exp necessary. Please call Nano Construction Services, LLC for interview 860-585-9090.

An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V

Fusco Corporation is seeking a Project Manager for Construction Projects in the $ 15M to $100 M range.

DUTIES AND RESPONSBILITIES • Develops, monitors, and maintains Progress and Cash Flow Schedules for the project.

• Reviews invoices and approves payment to all subcontractors and vendors required for the project.

• Maintains proper contractual relations with owners, subcontractors and vendors, interpreting contracts, plans and specifications.

• Keeps a complete current record of work performed under the contract, and maintains the Cost Reports in conformance with the requirements of the corporation’s established cost system..

• Reviews and drafts monthly requisitions for final processing by the Owner. Monitors the payment requirements of the contract.

• Accumulates data and prepares statements covering extra work for the owner’s account; subcontractor and vendor claims, back charges and any data required by the Manager of Construction Administration.

• Reviews required procedures and develops systems necessary to close out all projects for which he/she may be responsible.

Administers processing of guarantees, warrantees, releases, maintenance and procedures manuals.

Insures collection of final payment from owner and proper final payment to all subcontractors and vendors.

• Produces customized Monthly Owners Progress Report

• Assists in Pre-construction Services, attend meetings, produce constructability and plan completion reports...

• Participates in formal presentations and interviews on qualification based project selection teams.

QUALIFICATIONS

• BS degree in Engineering or Construction Management would be helpful.

• Well rounded computer skills Fusco Corporation offers a competitive benefit package including medical, dental and 401k. Fusco is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Resumes should be sent to openjobs.group@fusco.com. Phone calls will not be accepted.

Maintainer II Must have 2 yrs. exp. as laborer in field of construction work involving the operation and care of mechanical equipment or 2 yrs. in a skilled trade and 1 yr. exp. in construction operations or and equiv combination of experience and training. A valid Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) Class B and a clean driving record. Pay rate: $21.33 to $25.00 hourly plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. The closing date will be that date the 50th application form/resume is received, or August 17, 2016, whichever occurs first. Candidates without a valid CDL should not apply. A copy of your license will be

City of Norwich Fire Department

FIREFIGHTER

Salary: $49,296 - $62,901 Visit www.norwichct.org/hr to apply and for more information. AA/EEO.

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 1:30-3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitt hapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

C

FENCE ERECTING CONTRACTORS

Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for Fence Installer foreman and helpers. Foreman must have at least 5 years’ experience. Helpers-no experience required, will train the right person. Work available 10-12 months per year. Valid Ct. Driver’s license required and must be able to get a DOT Medical Card. All necessary equipment provided. Medical, vacation & other benefits included.

Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Foreman rates from $22 to $28/hour plus benefits, helper rates from $18/hour plus benefits. OSHA 10 training is a plus. Please email resume to rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE

Portland Youth Services – Junior Staff

Town of Portland, CT (EOE) Junior Staff: High School Youth (age 15 to 18) part-time from August 31, 2016 to June 2017, Monday thru Friday 3:00 to 6:00 PM; Counselor I, $9.60 per hour. Individual schedule determined by need and availability. Based at Brownstone Intermediate School, the Kids Blast After School Program is a very structured team program. Working, interacting and supervising children ages 5 to 12. Help with homework by staff is required. Other creative activities are also planned. Previous experience working with children preferred.

Send Seasonal Recreation Employment Application to: First Selectwoman’s Office P.O. Box 71 Portland, CT 06480-0071 Deadline: August 29, 2016 or until filled

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

The Glendower Group, Inc

Housing Authority of the City of New Haven

Request for Proposals Construction Manager at Risk for the Redevelopment of Farnam Courts Phase II

Invitation for Bids Snow Removal Services at Newhall Gardens and Prescott Bush

The Glendower Group, Inc an affiliate of Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Construction Manager at Risk for the Redevelopment of Farnam Courts Phase II. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Friday, October 7, 2016 at 3:00 PM.

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Snow Removal Services at Newhall Garden and Prescott Bush. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 @ 3:00 PM.

Housing Authority of the City of New Haven Invitation for Bids Snow Removal at Westville Manor and 295 Wilmot Road

Westbrook Housing Authority 1224 Mill Street Building A, Suite 102 East Berlin, CT 06023

OPEN WAITLIST The Westbrook Housing Authority hereby announces that pre-applications for the State Elderly/Disabled Complex Worthington Manor will be accepted for ONE BEDROOM UNITS on OCTOBER 3, 2016 through NOVEMBER 30, 2016. To qualify you must be at least 62 years old or disabled. Income limits as published by HUD cannot exceed $46,000 (one person) and $52,600 (two people). Interested parties may pick up an application at Worthington Manor, 34 Worthington Drive, Westbrook, CT 06498 or have one mailed by calling (203) 481-5632 ext. 202. Completed pre-applications must be returned or postmarked no later than NOVEMBER 30, 2016.

Westbrook Housing Authority 93 Deming Road Berlin, CT 06037 203-481-5632

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Snow Removal at Westville Manor and 295 Wilmot Road.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 @ 3:00 PM.

Housing Authority of the City of New Haven Invitation for Bids Snow Removal Services at Valley and Waverly Townhouses The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Snow Removal Services at Valley and Waverly Townhouses. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 @ 3:00 PM.

WAITLIST ABIERTO

La Autoridad de Vivienda Westbrook comunica que pre-solicitudes para el Estado de ancianos / discapacitados Complejo Worthington Manor será aceptado para unidades de un dormitorio el 3 de octubre, el año 2016 hasta el 30 de noviembre de 2016. Para calificar, usted debe tener al menos 62 años de edad o discapacitados. Los límites de ingresos según lo publicado por HUD no puede exceder de $ 46.000 (una persona) y $ 52.600 (dos personas). Las partes interesadas pueden recoger una solicitud en Worthington Manor, 34 Worthington Drive, Westbrook, CT 06498 o tener uno enviado por correo llamando al (203) 481-5632 ext. 202. Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse o enviarse antes del 30 de noviembre 2016.

Town of Bloomfield Town Assessor - Reposted $77,881 - $120,209

For details and how to apply, go to www.bloomfieldct.org. Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE

DISPATCHER The Town of Wallingford is seeking responsible candidates to perform 911, police, fire and EMS emergency dispatching duties. Must be able to work under stressful conditions and be able to type information with a high rate of speed and accuracy. Must be able to work all three shifts including weekends and holidays and be able to work additional shifts beyond the regular shift schedule. Requires a H.S. or business school diploma with courses in typing and 2 years of responsible office work experience. $ 21.32 ~ $ 25.43 hourly plus shift differential and excellent fringe benefits. Closing date is September 14, 2016 or the date of receipt of the 50th application, whichever occurs first. Apply: Personnel Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492. EOE. 28

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

17th Annual

Employer Recognition Dinner

ACES Business Advisory Council cordially invites you to ACES 17th Annual Employer Recognition Dinner

Wednesday, October 19, 2016 Cocktail Hour 5:30pm | Buffet Dinner 6:30pm Keynote Speaker: Anthony Rescigno | President, Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce

Anthony’s Ocean View 450 Lighthouse Road • New Haven, CT 06512 Dinner Cost: $45/Per Person Two complimentary dinners will be provided to each company recognized. Additional dinners may be purchased at $45.00 each. In addition to each company’s two complimentary dinners, a table of 8 may be purchased for $340.00. A table of 10 may be purchased for $410.

RSVP by October 4, 2016 to Gene Crocco by email: gcrocco@aces.org, by phone: 203-281-3577, or by fax: 203-248-8312

at

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OCT

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10 JONATHAN FRITZEN

GET YOUR TICKETS AT

LYMANCENTER.ORG

203-392-6154 29

THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

Toddler Special Mon-Thurs 10-12 • 1 Parent 1 Toddler • Only $15 1 hr $20 2 hr

$60

off

frequent jumper

10 1-hour jump/play passes reg. $150 now $90 Complete coupon must be presented at time of purchase.

One coupon per person. These coupons are only valid in park, in person, and not valid for online purchases.

Cannot be combined with any other offers. Exp: 9/30/16

FREE

buy 1 hour, get second hour free buy 1 hour and jump/play for two hours Mon-Thurs only. Not to be combined with any other offer or promotion. Not valid online. Does not include required jump socks. Exp: 9/30/16

$20

HOURS: 10AM TO 10PM • 7 DAYS A WEEK

off

any Birthday Party booked Monday - Friday Coupon MUST be mentioned when booking. Coupon must be redeemed at time of party to receive discount.

Exp: 9/30/16

203-989-3357 • jumpoffct.com 27

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS October 12, 2016 - October 18, 2016

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