THE INNER-CITY NEWS

9 NHPS Seniors Land HBCU Scholarships

by Laura Glesby

Not so long ago, Highville senior Makayla Martin found herself standing atop construction scaffolding, gazing down at the the nails she’d hammered into a frame that would soon become a house for a neighbor in her city.

She was volunteering at Habitat for Humanity to qualify for a burgeoning local scholarship for historically Black colleges a scaffold, of sorts, for the future she’ll build for herself next year at Howard University.

Martin was one of nine New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) seniors selected for that scholarship the James W.C. Pennington Fellowship this year. Each fellow will receive $80,000 over the course of four years to fund their education at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU).

Martin celebrated the accomplishment with the eight other seniors on the second floor of City Hall on Tuesday morning. “I plan to become an entrepreneur, teaching other women especially women of color how to be an entrepreneur,” Martin said as she accepted a Howard pennant in front of the crowd.

Martin said she hopes to study business management in college. She doesn’t know exactly what kind of business she’ll start, but she does know that she wants a career that feels like standing upon scaffolding and looking down at a house built for someone else.

Initially, Martin said, she viewed the scholarship’s 40-hour community service mandate as a requirement to tick off. But once she actually started volunteering at nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity and New Haven Reads, she found a sense of fulfillment in helping her community. Those experiences inspired her dream of

becoming not only an entrepreneur but a mentor one day, said Martin.

As she spoke, her mom, Natasha Lewis, beamed in pride. “She’s been diligent,” Lewis said. “She has her head on her shoulders.”

The scholarship, administered by New Haven Promise and funded by Yale, supports New Haven students attending HBCUs for college. Yale created the program three years ago in an effort to reckon with its historic ties to slavery and exclusion of Black Americans.

In another universe, the nation’s first Historically Black college might have been founded right in New Haven, had city and Yale officials not successfully thwarted such a proposal in 1831.

Rev. James Pennington, the scholarship’s namesake, was born enslaved in the early nineteenth century and escaped at the age of 19. He eventually became the first Black student to take classes at Yale through the university’s Divinity School. Yale refused to formally admit him because of his race and did not allow him to speak in class or borrow books from the library. He became an internationally

renowned abolitionist.

“He freed himself and that’s important,” said CT Freedom Trail Chair and scholarship essay reader Charles Warner Jr.

HBCUs were “built to educate the recently enslaved people freed from the civil war,” Warner told the students. “Almost 200 years later, you all will be just another link in that chain of leadership. … It’s your job to then spread that opportunity to the people around you.”

This year’s Pennington scholarship re-

cipients come from six high schools and will be attending four different universities. In addition to Martin’s alma mater, Highville Charter School, the fellows hail from Hillhouse (Howard-bound Jayona Salmond), Wilbur Cross (Dyani Dolberry, headed to North Carolina A&T), Career (Aniya Avery, headed to Howard), Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School (Hampton-bound Trinity Mooring and Xavier Smith), High School in the Community (incoming North Carolina A&T student Sau’mora Short and incoming Morgan State student Ashanti Troutman), and New Haven Academy (Morgan Statebound Lashae Fairweather). The students span aspiring lawyers, business leaders, and mental health and medical professionals.

“You represent the amazing youth of our city,” said Supt. Madeline Negrón.

“Leave New Haven to gain that knowledge and broaden your horizons,” said Mayor Justin Elicker, “but don’t forget about New Haven.” He told the students that the city is excited to hopefully welcome them back.

According to New Haven Promise Director Patricia Melton, it’s very common for New Haven Promise students to return to the city after graduating: “Kids love the city, and the city loves them.”

Ashanti Troutman said she found out about the scholarship from a variety of resource fairs and presentations at her school, High School in the Community. Troutman said the financial support from the Pennington scholarship was what tipped the scales in favor of attending Morgan State. She now plans to study to become a doctor specializing in OB-GYN medicine.

“I really want to go to an HBCU,” she said. “I just really love my people.”

Police Arrest 10 As Education Advocates Stage Capitol Sit-In Outside Governor’s Office

by Donald Eng

HARTFORD, CT — Capitol police arrested 10 education advocates Wednesday following a rally and staged sit-in outside Gov. Ned Lamont’s Capitol office.

The event had begun just after 4 p.m. with several hundred supporters rallying outside the Capitol. The group’s demands included fully funding schools in the state’s poorest districts, adding a 50% weight to the funding formula for special education students, strengthening the Trust Act, and passing legislation making striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits after 14 days, according to New Haven Federation of Teachers President Leslie Blatteau.

“Students who need the most have the least,” said Julia Miller, Connecticut’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.

Miller said 129 student-facing positions were facing elimination in New Haven as a result of budget limitations. She pointed out that the state is currently running a budget surplus and has a multi-billion dollar fund balance.

“What are we waiting for?” she said. “The funds are there.”

Following the outdoor rally, the group, consisting of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Connecticut and the New Haven Federation of Teachers, entered the Capitol and requested a meeting with Lamont.

After a 20-minute closed-door meeting that included about 25 protesters, the group emerged and Blatteau announced to the crowd that Lamont had not committed to meeting the group’s terms.

“We acknowledge there has been progress,” she said. “And today, the House

passed revisions to the Trust Act.” Lamont’s office later released a written statement.

“Governor Lamont invited members from AFT to his office today to hear their thoughts and concerns,” according to the statement. “Connecticut has the best schools in the country because we have the best teachers in the country. That’s why he has made historic investments and increases in education funding. During the final weeks of session, he plans to work with the legislature that continues that progress.”

But with the lack of a firm commitment on funding, Blatteau sat down at the center of a line of 10 advocates across the entrance to the governor’s office suite.

Capitol police warned the group to leave or face arrest, to which Blatteau replied, “We’re staying for the children.”

... at Tuesday's City Hall presser for the new Pennington Fellows.

CTNewsJunkie

The New Haven independent

Adult Ed Gathers Its Global Community

By Abiba Biao

Holding a sponge gourd in her hand, Rita Kabali Wagener had a question for the audience: what was the name of the item?

“A pumpkin,” one person shouted out, relating it back to the pumpkins in his home country of Turkey.

“I want to taste one, then I’ll believe you,” Wanger said, settling the discourse among attendees by revealing the sponge gourd’s purpose as a washcloth.

Dance, music, trivia and artmaking all erupted at New Haven Adult & Continuing Education last week, as students rang out their May multicultural festival with a celebration of African arts and culture in the building’s community room. Organized by Project Museum, a class and “community museum” for students in the center’s High School Credit program, the festival became a chance to fête the diversity of Adult Ed, where students hail from both down the street and halfway across the world.

The two-week festival ran from May 12 - 23 with activities promoting cultural awareness and celebrating students, from a book fair and museum trip to a bike rodeo. Social studies teacher Rohanna Delossantos, who teaches Project Museum, said that the African Cultures Program was especially exciting, as over 130 of Adult Ed’s students hail from the continent. This year, the high school credit program also includes an African studies class.

“We don't get the chance to bring our building together that often,” Delossantos said. “And I think that's also symbolic of the Greater New Haven community, is that we are sometimes siloed off … I wanted to help create a space where we are challenging those blocks that we put up or those walls.”

Wagener, who tours the state teaching people about her Ugandan heritage, said that her favorite part about teaching is seeing the dialogue between people and hearing the questions that inevitably form. Thinking back to her time in college at the University of Alaska, where she was the only person of color in most spaces, Wagener has made it her mission to create spaces for inclusive discourse and cultural connectedness.

“By asking questions, that’s how you get to know about other people instead of just getting your information only from the

That communal spirit was evident across the community room, in activities that

ranged from cultural object exhibitions to documentary photography to African dance. At a photography station for Project Museum, student Sahana Hernandez helped fellow students fill out forms to register their cultural belongings.

While her own family hails from Mexico, Hernandez said that she doesn’t know a lot about her culture, because her parents don’t often talk about it. She would like to visit her parent’s hometown in the future, as a way to connect to her roots.

“I find it [the festival] really interesting, especially because everybody could come together and learn more about other people's culture,” she said.

She also highlighted the importance of upkeep of familial traditions and for parents and guardians to teach their culture and traditions to their kids.

“I'm hoping I can discover more about their culture and stuff like that, because different cultures are so beautiful really, and like, it's interesting to know about things that you never knew.”

Project Museum students also get the opportunity to travel to educational field trips, such as the Yale Art Gallery, the Peabody Museum, and the Museum of African American History in Boston.

Currently, Project Museum serves as a digital archive, but Delossantos hopes to expand it in the future by creating a physical showcase of cultural objects and is establishing partnerships with NXTHVN and the Yale Center for British Art. It wasn’t long before the community room shifted into a dance circle. While students were hesitant at first, Delossantos began passing out conga cloths, inviting anyone bestowed a conga cloth to dance. Students wrapped them around their waists and began participating in the activities.

Teachers, meanwhile, led by example to set the mood. English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Counselor Natalia Robinson couldn’t help but be infected by the groove launching into a shuffle and crowd surrounding into cheers. With the encouragement of teachers and staff, the dance circle was filled as a medley of African music played with hits like P-Square’s Shekini and Nwa Baby by Flavour.

Reflecting after the event, Robinson said that the dance party served as a release for her. She highlighted the importance of practicing open-mindedness and being receptive to learning different traditions and cultures, advising people to “not be afraid” to put themselves out there.

“It's great to get together and be able to enjoy one another, no matter what culture that you're from, so it was a blessing just to celebrate with one another,” Robinson said.

Rita Kabali Wagener. Abiba Biao Photos. media,” she said. “Sometimes the media don’t get it right or they just focus on negative things.”

Rohanna Delossantos.

Natalia Robinson.

The New Haven independent

Sisters’ Journey June Survivor of the Month - Tushemia Roberts

My name is Tushemia Roberts, and this is my breast cancer story.

From the beginning, these eight words from the bible kept me going: “Be still and know that I am God.”

In 2015 I received a call from my younger sister imploring me to get tested for breast cancer. She herself had been diagnosed at age 32. She was currently in treatment and had recently undergone bilateral mastectomy and ovary removal surgery. Our grandmother (Beverly Gilmore) was a 30-year breast cancer survivor, but eventually passed away from ovarian cancer. My grandmother’s daughter (Nina Gilmore) died three months before she died from ovarian cancer at age 45. This was a very difficult time in our family. It was time to go for genetic testing. I found out I carried the BRCA1 gene, which increases my risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. Initially, I chose to keep this information private and only told my husband.

In 2016, while at church, our pastor called me out and said to me, “The Lord told me to tell you that you have a strong gene or illness in your family, but do not worry. The Lord told me to tell you that it will pass over you and your children.” At this point only my husband and I knew that I carried the gene. Of course, this hit me like a ton of bricks because I couldn’t believe God sent a personal supernatural message just for me. I assumed that meant I wasn’t going to get cancer and needn’t worry.

On March 6, 2018, at age 43, I received a call in my office that I did in fact have a mass on my breast. Well, this was devastating news to receive at work, but I just kept on working. It took me a while to

process what was happening. It was like my world stopped and would be forever changed. I was absolutely devastated and confused. God told me I didn’t have to worry, right? I waited until the end of the work week to tell my husband because I didn’t want him to have to work with this kind of news all week

After the initial shock and concern, he immediately went into prayer and reminded me of the prophecy that was spoken over me. He never once left my side from that moment. We chose not to tell our children who were 17 and 20 at the time. I wanted them to complete their academic year. My gynecologist referred me for a breast biopsy and referral to Smilow Cancer Hospital.

On March 15, 2018 a breast biopsy was obtained and on March 20, 2018 it came back positive for DCIS 3, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC).

On Good Friday (March 30, 2018) we met with my oncologist, Dr. Silber; a breast surgeon; a social worker; a nurse coordinator; and a patient liaison. From the very beginning, Dr. Silber was positive and told me I had curable cancer, and it was caught early due to my high surveillance screenings. She told us she was recommending me for a clinical trial and my participation would assist with research and potentially save the lives of many others in the future. I endured multiple scans, tests, and blood draws.

Thank God the cancer had not metastasized to any other parts of my body.

I continued to work as a nurse full time for the first three months but had to take a week off after the second round of chemo

treatment because of significant fatigue. My tumor was completely gone three months into treatment. They couldn’t find it on the MRI or ultrasound. God said it would pass over me, and it surely did. All the tests after were negative. My tumor was gone, and the treatment was working! I am truly thankful for my husband and children who never left my side. I wouldn’t have gotten through this without them. Breast cancer survivors go through this journey the best way they know how, and for me it was with only my immediate family knowing at first. I felt I needed to hold onto God’s word without any outside noise or people treating me like I was dy-

ing. I needed to be laser focused on the word He promised me. My husband took me to every appointment, showered me, and fed me. He never left my side. He applied ice packs to my hands and feet during chemo (to prevent neuropathy). The nurses usually got a kick out of this. I eventually told close family members and their prayers, and meals, got us through. I would also like to thank my support team of Sharina Robert-Gibbs (my sister in-law), Shawn and Julie Browning, and my Aunt Barbara Gilmore. My Aunt Barbara was the first to call me and sound the alarm about cancer in the family. I really appreciated those phone calls. I thank Dr. Silber and the Smilow care team for taking excellent care of me, and my sister, Tanae, who I credit after God with saving my life. If she hadn’t called, I never would have gone to the doctor. I am now seven years cancer free, medication free, and only need to be seen once a year for follow up. I never doubted that God would heal me.

To God be the Glory!

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13 kjv Support us by Shopping or Donating: Tee Shirts are available in our Shop! to Shop!

New Haven Virtual Support Group Meeting: Every 3rd Tuesday of the month 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Bridgeport Virtual Support Group Meeting: Every 3rd Thursday of the Month 6:30pm – 7:30pm Contact Us: sistersjourney@sbcglobal.net Or Call: 203-288-3556 We’re on the web @ Sistersjourney.org. or

Alders Honor Four Teens

by Laura Glesby

Three decorated national boxing champions and a Pulitzer-winning writer visited the Board of Alders chamber in City Hall this week as honored guests. All of them were teenagers.

The teens Amir Foster, Amare Foster, Troy Moore, and Rania Das gathered inside the Board of Alders chamber Tuesday night to receive aldermanic citations from Newhallville/Dixwell/Prospect Hill Alder Troy Streater and Beaver Hills Alder Gary Hogan.

Moore and the Fosters, all members of Get ‘Em Boy boxing gym, were recognized for numerous national boxing achievements. They arrived at City Hall proudly representing their gym, posing for photos requested by family, alders, and other community supporters.

Das, meanwhile, was recognized for winning the Pulitzer Center’s Local Letters for Global Change contest in the human rights category. An 11th grader at Hopkins School, she had written a letter

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to State Senator Gary Winfield questioning the efficacy of body camera footage in police accountability efforts.

Two of the awardees, Amir and Amare Foster, are brothers. Fourteen-year-old Amir, a student at Hillhouse, has won two national silver gloves and a Sugar Bert award. Twelve-year-old Amare, a student at Wexler Grant, has won a gold medal in the junior Olympics as well as a silver glove.

Asked for any advice to younger kids looking up to their achievements, Amir said he encourages them to “keep working on it.”

“Some days, I don’t feel like going to the gym,” echoed Amare. “Even if you get tired, keep pushing.”

Presenting the four teens with their awards, Streater said, “We must always remember that the children are our future and we must always support them.”

Once the awards were handed out, alders delved into city budget deliberations, with a school budget deficit at the center of debate.

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Tushemia Roberts

Laura Glesby photo Rania Das, Amir Foster, Amare Foster, and Troy Moore.

The New Haven independent

Crafters Color Outside the Lines

by Jisu Sheen

Lisseth Martinez needed a pop of springtime bliss for their table at Spruce Coffee’s Crafters of Color fair on Sunday. They called upon trusty co-worker Sarah at Whitney Avenue bagel shop Olmo to find something magical at the Wooster Square farmer’s market, where Olmo regularly sets up shop on the weekends.

Sarah delivered, bringing back an array of hefty unbloomed peonies. As the Sunday sun warmed Spruce’s sidewalk, pink petals blossomed over Lisseth Martinez’s Lissedibles, cute clay creations with boobs, butts, queer terminology, and Bad Bunny fan designs. The flowers added a touch of ethereal grace to the small outdoor stove Martinez was using as a display shelf for food-themed ceramic magnets.

Martinez had successfully participated in a longstanding New Haven artist tradition: making your day job work for you.

The Crafters of Color, a group of local New Haven area artisans of color vending together at New Haven artsy digs like Witch Bitch Thrift, Koffee?, Bradley Street Bike Co-op, and of course Spruce, filled the cozy coffeeshop Sunday and spilled out onto its State Street sidewalk. Visitors could grab a Jasmine Matcha or Rosie Palmer (think Arnold Palmer but rose-themed, with a hint of mint) and wander through nine decked-out tables of specialty crafts.

Zoē Pringle, selling her wares as Pringle Painting Plus, had a gumball-machine-like contraption among the astrological paintings and ceramics at her table. Customers could pay $5, take a spin, and collect a random assortment of not candy, but perhaps the candy of the craft world, beads.

I caught up with Ericka Saracho, who runs ceramics shop Bright Raven Studio with Gabriela Margarita De Jesus, just as they were selling a “berry bowl” to Damali Willingham. The bowl, as Saracho and Willingham told me excitedly, had holes in the bottom to wash and drain fruits. “You can eat the berries right out of it!” Willingham explained, ready to take this upcoming summer to the next level.

The berry bowl wasn’t the only beautiful oddity on Bright Raven’s table. Saracho also showed off an arrangement of so-called “mommy pots,” super tiny vases perfect for holding just one stem that a small child might bring you; “Mommy, look!”

For larger bundles, like the peonies Martinez scored from their co-worker, even a regular-sized artisanal vase might not be enough. Martinez ended up splitting their flower stash with friend and Wet Clay Works studiomate Tirza Harris, vending at the table right beside them.

“People call me the butterfly girl,” Harris said, a reference to all the clay butterflies she makes. One of the winged creatures, with multidimensional iridescent

loops, stood watch as kids, adults, and dogs flitted in and out of the coffeeshop.

I asked about a boxy vase with a gorgeous glaze, and Harris wrapped it lovingly in her hands, explaining it wasn’t for sale. It was part of an art trade between Harris and Pringle, one of many I could spot throughout the afternoon.

As the day wore on, the vendors’ tables

melted into a cohesive art piece, with artists sharing, trading, and proudly displaying each others’ work.

The Crafters of Color embodied friendship, curiosity, and mini-adventures Sunday afternoon. Martinez, delighted with their flowers, put it simply:

“You never know unless you ask.”

Lisseth Martinez's Sunday offerings.

Damali Willingham and Kiana Younker with their berry bowl find.

The New Haven independent

Civil Rights Leader, Sickle Cell Fighter Dies

by Thomas Breen

Jim Rawlings, a civil rights champion and health equity advocate who spent decades fighting for everything from good jobs for Black New Haveners to investment in research and treatment for those struggling with sickle cell disease, has died at the age of 81.

Rawlings passed away on May 25, according to his official obituary, which was posted to the Curvin K. Council Funeral Home’s website on Sunday and which is printed in full below.

Rawlings wore many hats over his decades-long career in New Haven and beyond.

He worked for 35 years at Yale New Haven Hospital, where he served as the hospital’s first Black assistant vice president and executive director of community health.

He served as president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, chaired the Connecticut Health Equity Commission, was a national trustee of the NAACP, and, up until his passing, was the health chair for the state NAACP.

And he was president and CEO of the Connecticut chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. In that capacity, he led Michelle’s House, a nonprofit headquartered at Chapel and Orchard Streets that serves as the region’s first education, prevention, and community-support center for people who suffer from sickle cell anemia, a painful and oft-misdiagnosed genetic disease that largely affects African Americans.

“He was a civil rights activist. He was a freedom fighter. He was a huge advocate for the disenfranchised communities,” Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile told the Independent. He singled out for praise a 2013 report put out by the state NAACP that Rawlings was the “driving force” behind, and that showcased the lack of diversity in hospitals across the state in jobs ranging from doctors to CEOs. That report “was a lightning rod that shook the foundation of the healthcare industry,” and was the brainchild of Rawlings.

“Jim mentored all of us,” agreed Dori Dumas, the current president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, and who succeeded Rawlings in that role in 2014. “Jim was respected at all levels,” by university presidents and people looking for work alike. Dumas recalled meeting Rawlings 30 years ago when she first became a board member for the Greater New Haven NAACP. What was evident right away was “his commitment, his love, his passion, and how serious he was about the work of the NAACP, about civil rights in general, about health equity, about health access.”

“Jim was the kind of person who really sat by and poured into people and made sure to always keep the focus on evening the playing field,” she said.

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walk-

er-Myers, whose West River/Dwight ward includes Michelle’s House, recalled Rawlings as a uniquely impactful advocate for the African American community in general, and for those with sickle cell disease in particular. “I haven’t met anyone as passionate about educating and advocating for people with sickle cell disease,” she recalled. He was dedicated and persistent. “We need more of that. I’m going to miss him.”

On May 28, the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. (SCDAA) posted a message to its website mourning Rawlings’ death.

“For over 30 years, Mr. Rawlings was a towering figure in the fight against sickle cell disease and a steadfast advocate in the broader public health landscape,” that post reads. “His unwavering dedication, passion and advocacy were rooted in a profound commitment to breaking through more than a century of neglect and stagnation surrounding sickle cell disease, particularly as it affects Black and Brown communities.

“Mr. Rawlings championed the voic-

es of the underserved and unrecognized. His tireless efforts, his leadership and his fierce compassion have left an indelible mark not only on our organization but also on the lives of countless individuals and families.”

See below for Rawlings’ full obituary, as posted on the Curvin K. Council Funeral Home’s website. James E. Rawlings, R. Ph., MPH (1943-2025)

James E. “Red Warrior” Rawlings, R.Ph., MPH, a visionary leader in healthcare, civil rights, and Native American advocacy, passed away of natural causes on May 25, 2025. He was 81.

A devoted son, brother, husband, father, and community elder, Mr. Rawlings was predeceased by his father James Rawlings, mother Edna Fisher Rawlings and sister Janice Yancey and is survived by sister Leslie Costa Fortes and his beloved wife, Jennifer Rawlings; sons Devol “Skip” Joyner, Andre Joyner, James “Jimmy” Rawlings and Jason Rawlings; and daughters Julie Rawlings-Dias and Jennifer Rawlings; and 8 grandchildren Andre, Isaiah, Brooke, Miles, Maya, Dyami, Jaylyn and Bentley and is cherished by many many other loved ones.

Directors of the National NAACP and chaired its Sickle Cell Disease Committee. He also served as treasurer for the National Board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. He chaired the Connecticut Health Equity Commission and was Health Chair for the CT State NAACP Conference. His lifelong dedication to health equity earned him national honors, including recognition by the National Civic League an award given to only 35 individuals annually.

Until his passing, Mr. Rawlings served as President and CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, CT Chapter (SCDAA.CT), where he founded Michelle’s House the first Sickle Cell Community Center in the Northeast. He championed academic support for students living with Sickle Cell Disease and spearheaded outreach programs for individuals unaware of their SCD and Sickle Cell Trait status. His leadership brought a unique partnership with CVS Health to advance equity in healthcare for the Sickle Cell community.

In 2014, Mr. Rawlings stepped down from his fourth term as NAACP branch president to focus on another lifelong passion preserving Native American culture. An elder of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe, based in Massachusetts, he worked diligently to ensure that the traditions and teachings of his tribe would live on in both New Haven and his tribal homeland.

James E. Rawlings was also a respected global voice on public health, presenting in Washington D.C., Barcelona, Durban, and Paris. He most recently presided over his final Freedom Fund Dinner as NAACP president at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, where Mayor Toni Harp praised him as “a real blessing to our community… [who] has given the organization plenty of heart.”

James Rawlings grew up in Providence and earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island and a Master’s in Public Health from Yale University. Mr. Rawlings retired as the first African American Assistant Vice President and Executive Director of Community Health at Yale New Haven Hospital, capping a distinguished 35-year career. During his tenure, he pioneered Connecticut’s first hospital-based adult AIDS and Sickle Cell Programs, both of which received national recognition. He administratively oversaw essential hospital departments including the Emergency Department, Laboratory Medicine, and all medical/surgical units.

Equally impactful outside of the hospital, Mr. Rawlings was a tireless advocate for equity and justice. He served as President of the Greater New Haven NAACP, where he transformed the branch through data-driven strategies and corporate structure and elevated its community impact. Under his leadership, the branch launched New England’s largest Community Health Fair and the region’s first Urban Career Fair for youth.

Mr. Rawlings served on the Board of

James served as Chairman of the Board for Ella B. Scantlebury Senior Residence, Dixwell Avenue, New Haven.

A man of unwavering purpose, humility, and compassion, Jim Rawlings devoted his life to enhancing systems of care and building pathways to justice. His legacy lives on in the countless lives he touched through healing, advocacy, and the powerful example of service. James loved to travel with his family, especially to Pow Wows and he loved his trips to Point Judith, Rhode Island to get seafood.

Family and friends are warmly invited to attend a visitation at Christ Church, located at 84 Broadway (at the corner of Broadway and Elm Street), New Haven, CT, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, starting at 10:00 A.M. A Service of Reflections will follow from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. The interment will be at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Michelle’s House, 1389 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT 06511 or by visiting https://www.michelleshousect.org/give

The New Haven independent

Students Walk Out For School Funding

by Laura Glesby

“I’m sure they have all nice bathrooms,” said Makayla Spell, gesturing at Yale’s School of Music. “We don’t have soap in our bathrooms.”

Spell was marching through Yale’s campus amongst about 200 fellow New Haven high schoolers on Friday afternoon, as part of a student-led walkout to protest for more education funding.

Students convened from numerous high schools at noon on the New Haven Green, marched along the sidewalks of Yale’s campus, and then circled back to the Green. All the while, they called for Yale, the state of Connecticut, and the federal government to contribute more funding to New Haven Public Schools.

The protest transpired as the public school system contends with an anticipated $16.5 million shortfall in the coming school year. New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón has said that 129 school employees — primarily teachers, paraeducators, librarians, and math and reading coaches may be laid off if the shortfall is not closed.

Days after the Board of Alders voted to increase the schools’ budget by no more than $5 million, student protesters called out state politicians for inaction in the face of stark school inequities from town to town. They also called on Yale University to redistribute part of its $41 billion endowment to better fund public schools.

An eleventh grader at Hill Regional Career High School, Spell said she’s seen how underfunding schools can translate to a dejected and even unsafe school culture. Students who don’t have adequate support from adults sometimes turn to bullying or worse, Spell observed. “Defunding [NHPS] is making New Haven an unsafe space in general,” she said.

“Look at what they have,” Spell said as she walked through Yale’s campus. She pointed to Yale’s status as a historically white university, compared to the majority of NHPS students who are Black and Brown.

“I feel like Yale is biased,” said Spell. Speaking into a megaphone, Ambar Santiago-Rojas called on Yale to contribute more financial resources to the city and especially to its school system. She pointed out Yale’s critique of the Trump administration’s proposed endowment tax, which university leaders have referred to as an existential threat to research and financial aid.

“If they oppose the federal tax, then they must step up locally,” Santiago-Rojas urged. “There is no excuse for a $40 billion institution to watch our classrooms fall apart.”

The student activists also called out differences between school conditions in New Haven compared to other towns.

“What makes a student from Cross and a student from Amity so different?” Oren Mendieta asked into a megaphone.

Insufficient funding will make an already-dire school budget even worse next year, the students warned.

“We are watching the future of our education deteriorate before our eyes,” said Hajar Abdelfadel, a ninth grader at Engineering and Science University Magnet School (ESUMS).

Students repeatedly criticized the Trump administration, including Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education as well as anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies that have left many families fearful of deportation and separation. Several pointed to capitalism as the source of many funding woes, including representatives of the Socialist Alternative political party, which had distributed signs to many students.

Though the protest was entirely student-organized, the students received support from NHPS administrators as well as the teachers union.

“I am impressed with our students! This makes me proud to be a New Haven alum,” said Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Keisha Redd-Hanans. “Our students are advocating not just for ourselves but for future generations of students.”

“I want to commend you for your organization, your courage,” echoed teachers union President Leslie Blatteau, who encouraged students to continue their advocacy in the long term: “I’ll see you in the organizing meetings!”

Throughout Friday’s protest, student organizers reminded their peers to remain on the sidewalks.

“We’re here to be peaceful and non-violent,” said student Board of Ed representative John Carlos Serana Musser. “All great movements are non-violent.”

The walkout’s lead organizers were Abdelfadel and New Haven Academy eleventh grader Tomitsela Engel-Halfkenny neither of whom had led a protest before.

They said they felt especially moved to speak out for more funding after learning how educators in their own school communities would be affected by the impending layoffs.

Engel-Halfkenny recalled recently learning that her school’s librarian could be let go. She described the librarian as an anchor of student support in the school. “We all have such deep relationships with our teachers,” Engel-Halfkenny said. “Without that support, everything falls apart.”

The pair said they fear that the layoffs and other effects of a budget shortfall could have consequences for a whole generation of NHPS students.

“I’m a freshman,” said Abdelfadel. “I don’t want to go through high school with everything getting worse and worse.”

“We are doing this for the future of our sisters and our brothers, and our cousins, and our future children,” said Engel-Halfkenny in a speech closing out the protest.

Laura Glesby photos At Friday's student-led walkout.

Hajar Abdelfadel: “I don’t want to go through high school with everything getting worse and worse.”

Assistant Superintendent Keisha Redd-Hanans tells students that they made her proud.

Laura Glesby Photo Career junior Makayla Spell marches for more educational resources.

The New Haven independent

West Rock/West Hills Celebrates An Early Summer

Lucy Gellman

Jordan Cunningham made his way up a steep hill to The Shack, soaking in the late spring sunshine as a cool breeze rolled across the grass. In a field across the street, snippets of poetry floated through the air, accompanied by the occasional Mmmm and Oh! Kids jumped, ran and slid on the playground, their laughter bubbling up in waves. Dancers stretched beneath a tent, ready to dazzle with hip-hop routines they’d been learning for weeks.

It felt like a family reunion, a spa day, and a reminder to eat your greens all in one—with a little extra neighborhood magic thrown in.

Saturday, that nourishing spirit of community defined the fourth annual West Rock/West Hills Neighborhood Festival, dedicated to “Mind, Body & Soul” and held in the park beside West Rock Author's Academy at 311 Valley St. A collaboration of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and a stalwart neighborhood planning committee, the celebration included live music, dancing, panels on mental and physical health, and plenty of home-cooked food to go around.

In addition to Arts & Ideas, organizers worked closely with The Shack, where Alder Honda Smith has transformed a long-vacant community center into a gathering space, safe haven for youth, community kitchen, spiritual oasis and hub for arts and culture. It is part of how neighborhood festivals, from Fair Haven to The Hill to Dixwell, each have their own specific feel and flair.

"Being raised in the West Hills/West Rock community has been a wonderful experience,” said Andrea Daniels-Singleton, a playwright and producer who grew up in West Hills, and now serves as the festival’s community chair. “I've met so many amazing unique talented people in this community. As a result I've built many lasting meaningful relationships and friendships. I always say, ‘We have the best community.”

“Serving as the community chair for Arts & Ideas has been a privilege that I don't take lightly,” she added. “It's hard work that I enjoy; I love working and being supported by Sha [McAllister] and Shannon [Miller]. It's an opportunity to serve, promote education, meet community members, network, listen to amazing music, and dance freely into the sunset."

And throughout the afternoon, it was— sometimes literally, as jubilant dance routines exploded on stage hoop houses and chicken coops made their presence known from across Valley Street. As wellness coach Robin Little-Bowman gave health advice from the stage, vendors set up across the grass, their tents ready with vivid designs, small-batch, handmade goods, and community groups like Elm City COMPASS, Solar Youth and Bench Haven.

Some, like a bench bound for the reopened West Rock Nature Center, drew messages of encouragement from the community, with an invitation to leave an inscription before the end of the day. Oth-

ers, like first-time vendors I'Mea Jackson and her sister, Ciera, flexed their artist-entrepreneur muscles while watching giant games of Connect Four unfold on the sprawling grass in front of them. Their mom, LaTonya Daniels-Jackson, is Daniels-Singleton's sister and a supporter of the neighborhood. "It feels so good to put myself out there," I'Mea said.

Beneath her sun-dappled tent, crochet artist Keesha Davis smiled at passers-by, striking up conversations about the community gardens and neighborhood relations all in the same afternoon. Born and raised in New York, Davis started crocheting when she was just 10, letting her imagination sprawl out as she spun yarn into pieces of art one slip stitch at a time. But at some point, life got busy, and crochet fell by the wayside. Davis got an education. She worked several jobs. She eventually made the move from New York to Connecticut, where she settled in New Haven four years ago. Around that same time, she resumed crochet at 45 years old. It was, for her and so many she spoke to Saturday, proof positive that it's never too late to start something. Five years later, she can fill an entire tent with pieces of crocheted art, many in bright, dazzling colors.

"It's a wonderful day!" she said, marvelling at the sun as she buzzed amongst dozens of floppy hats, and Crocs with crocheted covers. "The community is out."

Nearby, poet and community health advocate Steffon Jenkins showed off dozens of bracelets that are part of her business EmPress Creations, which she's been growing since a chance realization in 2017. Arranged in neat rows, each told a story, from distinguished-looking birthday presents to pink beads and ribbon-shaped charms for breast cancer awareness. As one hand hovered over her selections, Jenkins told the story of beginning her beading work eight years

ago, more or less by chance.

The founder and leader of Women Winning Over Fear (WWOF), which supports survivors of domestic violence, she started beading in 2017, after a three-layered, gold-and-cream colored necklace of hers grabbed the attention of other women she knew. She thought about how therapeutic the artmaking process had always been for her, and decided to turn it into a business.

What she hadn't banked on was bringing it to one of the neighborhoods that is closest to her heart. As she looked around, listening to Daniels-Singleton speak from the stage, she praised the festival for its focus on tight-knit community and arts and culture. The two are close, so when Jenkins heard that it was taking place, there was no question in her mind that she’d be there to support.

"I didn't even know that they did this!" she said, gesturing around to the stage and other tents that lined the greenspace. "For me it's a fulfilling emotion to get together. You have all these creatives and entrepreneurs, and to see the youth come out, it's

there.

“Ms. Honda brought it to life,” he remembered, heading up a steep, overgrown hill in her direction to say hello. It’s still flourishing behind The Shack, where Dishaum "Farmer D" Harris also nurtures a community plot. This time of year, it is filled with thick, lush green shoots and white and yellow flowers, a sign of the bounty that is yet to come.

"I think it's an amazing thing," Cunningham said of the festival. "It's much needed. Sometimes people don't even know their neighbors."

He added that the day—and the neighborhood—wouldn't be complete without Smith, who is both a West Hills visionary and fairy godmother to hundreds of kids and families in the neighborhood. It was her guidance, alongside neighbors, that encouraged Cunningham to give back to the city that raised him, which he now does as a supervisor with the Connecticut Violence Intervention Program (CT VIP).

She has that effect on a lot of young people in the neighborhood. As Smith parked herself behind a kitchen counter and served up plates of still-warm chicken and ribs, mac and cheese, string beans and corn, she had a comment for everyone, often punctuated with knowing laughter. After arriving at The Shack at four that morning, she had cooked up a storm, some of the food still warm as it made the building fragrant.

"I do find it relaxing," she said warmly, as though it instantly made up for the hours of lost sleep. As she buzzed around, she greeted every person who walked in by name, often reminding them that she already had a plate or bag of food ready for them. Taking a moment to walk through the space, she added that the festival is just part of the work that the Shack does year round, from after-school mentorship to days spent tending to the chickens as a form of stress relief.

so positive."

Around her, attendees of all ages had begun to trickle in, soaking in the sun after a soggy end to the week. As they ran across the grass, TVE Dance Studio students Makayla Jackson, Kylie Hardy and Symphany Jones shook off their pre-performance jitters, bouncing between the grass and the playground nearby. All 13 years old, the three said that they were excited to dance at the festival for the first time—nerves and all.

"It feels good because, like, we can inspire people to do it too," Hardy said. "Sometimes I get nervous, but it's also fun," Jones chimed in.

A few feet away, Cunningham joked around with Felix Rivas, who has been helping out in the community garden at The Shack. Born and raised in West Hills, Cunningham has "been in the community all my life," he said. The neighborhood raised him. So when he proposed a community garden as part of a high school project (he is a proud graduate of Engineering and Science University Magnet School), Honda Smith helped him get

"We've turned a lot of kids around," she said, proudly pulling up a report card that belonged to one of her Shack regulars, a student who was failing out of school a year ago. Beaming, she showed off rows of As and Bs that he had received after working with her to get his grades up. That kind of community spirit and support is what The Shack is all about, she said.

"Having the festival here, it just brings life to the community," she said, adding that it feels like an extra celebration because it is on her birthday weekend.

"Having it at the Shack is electric. It's what we stand for."

The International Festival of Arts & Ideas continues its celebration of New Haven neighborhoods this weekend with the annual Dixwell Neighborhood Festival, scheduled for the patio and field outside the Dixwell Community Q House as part of Freddy Fixer Weekend. More information is available at their website.

Shamain (Sha) McAllister, associate director of education and community impact at the Festival; Bench Haven's Typhanae Williams; and Solar Youth Green Jobs Youth Development Coordinator Alana Ceppetelli. "This part of New Haven can be isolated," McAllister said. "But it's good soil, you know?"

TVE Dance Studio students Makayla Jackson, Symphany Jones and Kylie Hardy.

The New Haven independent

Faith Over Fear

by Rev. Dr. Leon Bailey, Jr.

“Faith Matters” is a column that features pieces written by local religious figures. (Opinion) Faith or fear is the fundamental basis for our decisions, actions, and beliefs. This isn’t a philosophical exercise. This is a look at our relationships with each other and God.

Faith underpins trust, conviction, and courage. Though our paths may be unclear, faith pushes us onward. Even in uncertainty, we believe in a guiding higher purpose. Faith grants freedom, power, and solace. We can boldly tackle challenges, knowing we have support beyond ourselves.

Fear paralyzes, discourages, and isolates. Fear suggests the safest approach is to stay under the radar, avoid risks and play small. Don’t be fooled; that sense of security is an illusion. Just by operating discreetly doesn’t mean you’re unnoticed. Similar to an ostrich hiding its head, you might think you’re concealed. You are only hindering yourself. Our physical forms, much like an ostrich’s, are open to public view.

Living authentically requires confronting this choice. Can we move forward with faith, trusting the unknown, or will we retreat in fear, surrendering to uncertainty? The response affects not just personal growth, but our global contribution. Rising above fear is what faith calls us to do, not sidestepping problems but facing them fearlessly.

New executive orders have created widespread chaos, affecting people and organizations. The damage extends beyond policy. It hits society’s very foundation. The resulting disorder reflects the turmoil of Acts 2:1 – 21, where Pentecost brought clarity and unity to the confusion. The account of Pentecost teaches that despite confusion, the Holy Spirit gives clarity to those receptive to its direction. It was communicated to each individual so they could comprehend. This comprehension gave a gift that elevated believers beyond earthly conflict.

Today, we face the impact of changing policies that are causing confusion. People with a foundation of faith can transcend uncertainty. A firm foundation of faith provides solace and the drive to act with conviction despite chaos.

History proves that a foundation of faith-based leadership overcomes powerful opposition. Dr. Martin Luther King read more at www.theinnercitynews

Mentors Honored, Torch Passed At Freddy Gala

by Lisa Reisman

A week before this year’s Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade, Rodney “Rock” Williams and his Green Elm Construction crew engaged in their annual spring cleaning of Dixwell Avenue to get the corridor neat and spiffy. It’s among a host of beautification efforts around the neighborhood that he leads, and that he’s been quietly doing free for years.

“There’s doing work on the mountain, and that’s not doing work in the valley,” Williams told the dressed-to-the-nines crowd of 365 in attendance at the Elm City Freddy Fixer Parade Seventh Annual Awards gala on Saturday night at the Omni Hotel. “Like many of you, I’m in the valley.”

That Williams, a long-time advocate for Black-owned contractors and prodigious mask distributor in the Black community during the pandemic, was the Edward Grant Community Service Award recipient, seemed fitting. It was Grant who one day in 1962 came out with a broom because Dixwell needed sweeping, and soon had his neighborhood sweeping the streets and marching for social change. The Freddie Fixer parade grew around that broom.

“To my mentors, I say thank you, you saved my life, I’m who I am because of you,” said Williams, amid the festive atmosphere in the brightly lit ballroom. He lauded the awards committee for recognizing younger recipients among them, Time A Tell streetwear founder Joshua McCown and Ronald “Huggy Bear” Huggins, deputy director of the New Haven Youth and Recreation Department. “They are our future,” he said. The importance of mentorship was the theme at the gala, which was emceed with panache by Jessica Carl, Levon “Majesty” Whitaker, and Avery “SLAY” Washington, and marked by the passing

of the torch to new Freddy Fixer executive board President Reese McLeod.

Dr. Tamiko Jackson McArthur, the Health Care Award recipient, recalled riding on a New Haven Head Start float in the Freddie Fixer parade dressed as a doctor when she was 4.

“We have to remember the youth,” said McArthur, a pediatrician who runs New Haven Pediatric & Adolescent Medical Services, the only privately-owned pediatric practice run by a Black woman in New Haven County. “If they don’t see the proper examples, if they don’t see us trying, they won’t do it either. They need us, so keep getting up and I’m going to be there along with you.”

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers accepted the Community Ser-

vice Award for West Hills Alder Honda Smith. “Honda works everyday at the Shack to make sure that the kids have a safe place to go,” she said. “And that’s really important because we all know we have to create space for our youth, the youth is the future.”

Chazz McCarter who, among other roles, leads mentoring programs with Chozen Generation and Upon This Rock Academy, sounded a similar refrain. “We all have a piece of the puzzle,” the New Haven native and Community Service Award recipient told the crowd. “Find out what your piece is and bring it to the table. We can do it together. No one has to do it themselves. Someone was standing in the gap for us and now it’s time for us to do that for someone else.”

Emcee Levon “Majesty” Whitaker serenaded “Huggy Bear” Huggins to the stage to wild applause. “This man here is saving the community, one youth at a time,” he said.

“I was once told love is no good until you give it away,” said Huggins. “So New Haven, I thank you for the opportunity to share love.”

Sgt. Cherelle D. Carr, who heads up the NHPD’s Special Victims Unit, expressed gratitude to Stetson Library branch manager Diane X. Brown. “I was just 4 years old when she had no reason to let me into a program but she did,” she said. “She embodies dedication to our community, a lesson I carry with me everyday.”

Then Brown, who, alongside Petisia Adger, kept the parade afloat through leadership transitions, fundraising woes, and a global pandemic, took the stage.

“This parade is one of the oldest in the country, and I stand before you this evening, beyond proud to be amongst my village and supporting and maintaining our rich cultural legacy and heritage,” she began.

She and Adger made several attempts to turn the parade over to younger generations. “We were getting tired,” she said. Then she met Reese McLeod who was spearheading a holiday toy giveaway at the Q House that involved 2,000 toys for 1,000 kids. “She was the one,” Brown said. McLeod initially said no. Then Brown asked again. “She said yes, with the condition that the former committee be close by to mentor and support her,” Brown said.

“We heard about mentorship tonight, and I’m here to tell my generation to stop being selfish with our skills and find some young people to mentor,” she said. “And young people, you have to allow yourself to be mentored because we’re not going to be here forever.”

With that, she called McLeod to join her.

“This is not an easy job, not an easy task, and we don’t get paid for this,” said McLeod, after accepting flowers from Brown. “It’s another full-time job for me, but I love every minute of it, and we’re going to do it the right way, and we’re going to represent our community right.”

“You did the damn thing, girl,” Brown said, wrapping her in a hug, as the bass rhythms from DJ Herman Ham transformed the ballroom into a dance party.

Former Freddy Fixer Parade-everything Diane X. Brown passes the torch to new executive board President Reese McLeod.

Edward Grant Community Service Awardee Rodney Williams: “Like many of you, I’m in the valley.”

Cheering section for Ronald Huggins.

New Haven Lands On Trump’s List

by Maya McFadden

New Haven is now officially on the Trump administration’s list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that the federal government has newly called out by name for “deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws” and thereby “endangering American communities.”

At a Friday press conference at City Hall, Mayor Justin Elicker, Police Chief Karl Jacobson, Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow, local labor leader Scott Marks, and immigrant rights activist Ambar Santiago-Rojas, among others, pushed back on that characterization even as they embraced New Haven’s distinction as a “welcoming city” for all.

“This is something we expected,” Elicker said, “and we’re proud of it.” Friday’s press conference took place one day after the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that “undermine the rule of law and endanger the lives of Americans and Law Enforcement.”

The list includes six Connecticut municipalities, including New Haven, East Haven, Hamden, Hartford, New London, and Windham. It also claims that

Connecticut “self-identifies” as a “State Sanctuary Jurisdiction.” (In a separate press release Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont said that Connecticut is not a “sanctuary” in “any legal or practical sense,” but instead is a state that “upholds the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and prioritizes the safety and well-being of our communities.”)

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The list issued by DHS follows Trump’s Executive Order 14287: Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens, from April 28. The list calls on named jurisdictions, like New Haven, to “immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous

illegal aliens.”

It also comes as New Haven, San Francisco, and other mostly West Coast cities are suing the Trump administration in federal court to prevent the president from withholding funds from municipalities just because they limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

So far, the federal court has sided with the plaintiff cities like New Haven and against the Trump administration.

At Friday’s presser, Elicker rejected the Trump administration’s characterization of New Haven and other cities as “endangering American communities,” and said that Trump is lying to the American people.

Standing alongside Police Chief Jacobson, Elicker said New Haven is not obstructing justice or protecting dangerous, violent criminals. Instead, he said, public safety is the city’s top priority.

Jacobson added that the police department has had “welcoming” city policies and procedures since 2007. He said it is not New Haven police’s job to ask about immigration status, deport, or round up people. Rather, it’s the department’s goal to build trust with all residents regardless of their immigration status to encourage residents to speak up and come forward if they are the victim of a crime.

“We have these policies in place so the victims of crime feel comfortable talking to the police,” he said. “That’s a keystone of policing the proper way.”

He concluded that if federal officers need assistance with a legal warrant signed by a judge, the department would assist, but this hasn’t happened yet since Trump returned to office.

During brief remarks Friday, Furlow explained that the job of municipal leaders is to prioritize public safety, fairness, and the constitutional rights of all residents.

Local leaders should not and will not be forced to implement federal immigration policy, Elicker and Furlow agreed. Furlow went on to say the federal administration cannot command local officials to do the federal government’s job. “This is not about ignoring the law,” he said. “The Trump administration is trying to extort local communities to implement his cruel agenda to persecute good and hard-working people,” Elicker added. Referencing a federal judge’s recent ruling that the Trump administration can’t unilaterally withhold funding from “sanctuary jurisdictions,” Elicker concluded, “We beat the Trump administration once, and we will beat them again.”

FRIDAY | 06.06.25 8:00 PM

FRIDAY | 06.06.25 8:00 PM

Maya McFadden photo Rev. Scott Marks: “Imagine the workers who make this city work, who are undocumented, the nervousness that they may have. We want to fight to make sure that this cit y remains safe.”

The New Haven independent

Juneteenth Flag Returns To The Green

By Lucy Gellman

The sound of William Fluker’s trumpet sailed across the New Haven Green, bringing passers-by suddenly to attention with the melody of “We Shall Overcome.” At first, it was a slow, buttery sound, a silky edge to the notes. Then, just a hint of a keening, round and full as it rose toward the sky. Deep in my heart/I do believe, he played, and a few people hummed along quietly. We shall overcome, some day.

From his place atop the Green’s memorial fountain, Vance Solman began to raise Ben Haith’s Juneteenth flag, a trio of ropes steady in his hands. He watched the flag, a bolt of blue and red with a starburst of white in the center, make its slow ascent. For a moment, he wondered why it hadn’t started flapping in the wind. Then it caught a breeze, and took flight. That scene—and a call to remember and teach the full breadth of history—came to the New Haven Green Monday afternoon, as members of the Official Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven (JCGNH), International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities joined artists, onlookers, and city officials to announce a jam-packed lineup of Juneteenth events in and beyond downtown New Haven.

This year, the coalition’s theme is “Together In Truth.” Beginning June 15, events kick off with a Juneteenth restaurant week, followed by an annual hip-hop conference, “Juneteenth Jamboree,” day-long vendor village and sonic journey with the Black violinists Sons of Mystro. As in years past, it is spearheaded by the JCGNH in collaboration with Arts & Ideas, which has brought Juneteenth events to the Green for over a decade.

“Let’s not only remember why we need this flag, why we need this day, let’s also remember why we are here, what our purpose is,” said Dr. Hanan Hameen Diagne, president of the Official Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven and the founder and director of the Artsucation Academy Network. “This year, our theme is ‘Together In Truth.’ That’s what we need right now. We need to be together in our collective truth … because this is a collective effort. This is our Juneteenth.”

“This is the 160th year of celebrating Juneteenth,” added her mother, fellow JCGNH organizer Iman Hameen. “Think about that. One hundred and sixty years ago was the first celebration, and it’s still going on. People ask now, because of anti-DEI, ‘What are you gonna do? Are you gonna celebrate Juneteenth?’ We have been celebrating Juneteenth for 160 years, and we’re certainly not stopping now.”

Juneteenth recognizes the emancipation of enslaved Black people in Galveston, Tex. on June 19, 1865, a full two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The date marked the formal end of chattel slavery in the United States. It did not mark the end of the economic enslavement and disenfranchisement of Black Americans, which continues today.

Mayor Justin Elicker, who pointed to Juneteenth as a chance to talk about the way white supremacy still shows up in society. "Let's talk truth, right?" he said. "While technically emancipation has happened, we still do not have full emancipation as a society. We have systemic racism that continues to exist, and particularly today, there are people out there that are trying to undermine the work that has been done and to stymie progress. And it is at this moment that we need to double down on the work that we are doing to confront racism."

This year, the activities are meant to channel that history, as they walk a line between celebration, multi-modal artmaking and storytelling, and reflection.

From June 15 to 22, Juneteenth Restaurant Week unfolds across the city, with stops at Black-owned businesses like Sandra’s Next Generation and Jazzy’s Cabaret among others (last year, participating restaurants ranged from Raw Juicescape and Ninth Square Caribbean downtown to Wing Madness on Dixwell Avenue).

During that time, the Juneteenth Coalition and Arts & Ideas will also be bringing several days of performance to the Green and the Audubon Arts Corridor. After the seventh annual hip-hop conference on Juneteenth itself (that event, which features a keynote from Dead Prez, is at the Neighborhood Music School; more information here), events continue with a “Juneteenth Jamboree” with Jose Cadelario, Keepers of the Culture, and the Rahsaan Langley Project on Friday evening. Then on Saturday June 21, the Coalition is back with a day-long Juneteenth Village and marketplace with Black-owned businesses, artists, and nonprofits. The festivities conclude Sunday evening with a concert from Black violinists Umoja and Malcolm McNeish, who perform as the musical duo Sons of Mystro. All of those events are free and open to the public.

For the first time this year, the JCGNH will also be raising Juneteenth flags in several of the city’s neighborhoods including Fair Haven, the Hill, and Long Wharf. The last is steeped in Black New Haven history: it is where free Black engineer William Lanson transformed a port into a hub of commerce and commercial activity in the nineteenth century..

“This is the place to be,” Hameen Diagne said. “So bring your families for the whole weekend.”

The day began fittingly with "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

The Green feels particularly significant, she added: it is a site of both lived and inherited trauma, where enslaved Black people were sold as property until 1825. That sale, of mother and daughter

curate, factual history and to speak out where they see injustice—or watch the clock turn back hundreds of years. “Our nation is crying out right now,” she said, praising both Hameen Diagne and Iman Hameen for the work they have done to breathe history into the city’s Juneteenth recognition (musician Jesse Hameen II has also been a powerful part of those celebrations). “It is time to take a stand. It is time to resist. It is time to come forward and say, ‘We are stronger together,’ and we can only do it with members of our community who are willing to take a stand. Who do not submit to fear.”

Joe Davis, the founder of the African American Lodge 024 in Hamden (the building is home to the budding African American Society #024), remembered growing up in a segregated North Carolina, where he was forced to enter businesses through a back entrance, use a different bathroom, and drink from a different drinking fountain because he was Black. While that may no longer be his reality, the history doesn’t seem so far removed at all.

“To envision what we have accomplished today, even though there is still more to accomplish, is to be commended,” he said.

That message echoed as New Haven Poet Laureate Sharmont Influence-Little took the mic, exploring the universes of pain and resilience that a single smile can hold. Performing his poem “Smile,” the poet tunneled through centuries of American history, from the pain of enslavement to the explosive creativity of hip hop, from policing to abolition, from LGBTQ+ rights to access to abortion.

Lucy and Lois Tritton, has only recently become a history New Haven is willing to reckon with. In that sense, a multi-day celebration of Juneteenth is also a kind of reclamation.

The Green also sits on unceded (or unwillingly ceded) Quinnipiac and Wappinger land, a reminder that America was built on stolen land by stolen people. Throughout Monday’s flag raising, participants stressed the specific need for truth-telling—and understanding the full breadth of American history—at the current political moment, as the U.S. veers sharply towards an authoritarianism that is increasingly anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, anti-science and anti-history. Cheryl Sharp, deputy executive director of the CT Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CT CHRO), urged attendees to teach each other ac-

“I think about the era of where we’re in today, as my people, I think of our resilience to continue smiling in the face of things that are happening,” he said. “And how my ancestors smiled in different forms and how a smile means so much.” That smile extended to Solman, fresh off his first flag raising, as he came back down from the fountain and headed towards a Parks Department truck parked on the Green’s lush grass. A lifelong New Havener and former member of EMERGE, Solman said he was thrilled to raise the flag Monday, in part because it represents “freedom, power, [and] a sense of belonging” that he hasn’t always felt around the date.

Growing up in New Haven, “I didn’t participate” in any Juneteenth events, he said—not because he didn’t want to, but because they didn’t exist for him at the time. There wasn’t yet the same amount of education or attention around the holiday as there is today. Decades later, he’s glad to see that the day has such a place of prominence in the heart of New Haven. So when colleagues at the Parks Department asked if he was interested in raising the flag, it was an easy yes.

“It was a wonderful feeling,” he said. “All these experiences are beneficial.”

Dr. Hanan Hameen Diagne and CT CHRO's Cheryl Sharp.

Mayor Justin Elicker, who pointed to Juneteenth as a chance to talk about the way white supremacy still shows up in society. "Let's talk truth, right?" he said. "While technically emancipation has happened, we still do not have full emancipation as a society. We have systemic racism that continues to exist, and particularly today, there are people out there that are trying to undermine the work that has been done and to stymie progress. And it is at this moment that we need to double down on the work that we are doing to confront racism."

New Threads Put Fabric Over Fish Scale

by Lisa Reisman

Change the narrative and turn it into something positive. Change the hustle and turn it into something good for the ‘hood.

Those words, from co-founder Gaylord Salters Jr., sum up the mission of Double G.I. (short for Go Get It), a new clothing company, which recently unveiled its Fabric Over Fish Scale streetwear collection at New Haven Apparel on Dixwell Avenue.

The meaning of Fabric Over Fish Scale, which includes windbreakers, sweatsuits and T shirts, is not immediately obvious.

According to its co-founder Gaylord Salters, the author, reform activist, 2023 New Havener of the Year, and now fashion designer, that’s the point.

“It’s meant to start a conversation,” Salters, also known as L.O.R.D. (Life Of a Resilient Dude), told the roughly 30 attendees at a press conference last Tuesday in the pocket-sized shop to celebrate the launch.

“Fish scale is the street name for powder cocaine in its purest form,” he said. “When the ‘80s hit, the influx of cocaine in America drove the prices down, opened the floodgates, and every inner city across the country was flooded with it.” The impact: “households folded, prison populations exploded, and the war on drugs has left a lot of people believing there’s not much more out there for us.”

The Fabric Over Fish Scale brand is part of a broader effort “to make people, especially young people, aware that there are better options to benefit yourself and your community than the drugs side of things and the crime side of things,” said Gabrielle Salters, L.O.R.D.’s daughter. “Developing this clothing line” choosing fabric over brick (a kilo of cocaine) “or any kind of creative entrepreneurship, is one of them.”

Salters said he’s choosing to shift his fo-

cus from fighting what he maintains was a wrongful 24-year sentence. In a 2018 affidavit, a witness recanted his earlier testimony implicating Salters. While a law providing for sentence modification afforded his release in 2022, his conviction still stands.

“I could continue on that path, just talking about my case, the wrongful conviction, but that’s the past and this is now and this is urgent,” he said. “We want to grab the attention of young folks to do something productive with their lives through myself and others that have already been through it.”

Rev. Iona Smith-Nze, pastor of Bethel

A.M.E. Church in Bridgeport, highlighted an obstacle faced by those predominantly Black and brown people affected by laws dating back to the so-called war on drugs in the 1980s. A member of Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT), she referenced her work on the Clean Slate Law, which requires the state to automatically erase most low-level convictions after a period of time. Gov. Ned Lamont signed the law in 2021, but it has been stymied since then by technical challenges.

That means, she said, “if cannabis is now a legal substance, then those who were wrongfully convicted well, at the

time rightfully convicted now should have the right to have their cases erased, and find a job without being penalized for a former conviction that has been erased.”

Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile referred to “our long history of doing for self and looking out for one another,” from Black Wall Streets, to Blackowned businesses, to HBCUs.

“It’s very, very difficult to try to bang on doors to get others from outside of our community to give us opportunity, so it’s important for us to do for ourselves, to create businesses and opportunities and, as Gaylord has, lines of clothing.”

Said Ray V. Boyd, program manager at the Yale Law School Law and Racial Justice Center, as well as co-founder of the Next Level Empowerment Program: “Our recidivism rates haven’t changed over decades either in the state or in New Haven, so we continue to lose the war on drugs.”

He commended Salters for at once bringing attention to the issue and seeking to flip the script. “I always tell people you can keep the same hustle, just switch your product,” said Boyd, who served 30 years in the state Department of Correction.

James Jeter, co-director of the Full Citizens Coalition, who grew up four apartments away from Salters in the Quinnipiac Terrace public housing development, sounded a similar refrain. “By the time we came into this world, forget about second chances, we were born into a reality that was ‘chanceless,” he said, after outlining the impact on their community of the war on crime and the war on drugs, as well as deindustrialization.

Fabric Over Fish Scale, both in name and product, represents “how you take it back,” Jeter said. “It’s the transformation we need in our communities where men and women can actualize their potential and have real opportunities.”

Co-founder Gaylord Jr. directed attention to the T shirt’s cotton terry fabric and distressed embroidery. “These were a long time coming because we thought out every detail,” he said. Gaylord Jr., who’s pursuing a music career under the name JunThatsIt, said the Fabric Over Fish Scale collection is available at New Haven Apparel and DA’W.O.R.L.D Clothing Store on Whalley Avenue; a website will drop soon.

“Our idea has always been to get the attention of the youth and we want to show that you can be fly and also carry the message that there is a more positive path,” he said.

Advocates Call Out Lack Of Legislative Action On Incarceration Issues

by Jamil Ragland

HARTFORD, CT – In raw and sometimes emotional personal testimony at the state Capitol, prison reform advocates called out the General Assembly and the state’s Democratic majority specifically for their failure to pass a host of legislation aimed at correcting deficiencies in the treatment of incarcerated people.

Ken Krayeske, a Hartford-based attorney who has taken on several cases for inmates against the Department of Correction, took issue with Section 4 of SB 1543 being left out of the budget implementer, while all other sections of the bill were accepted. Section 4 would have required DOC to publicly release a 2017 report that detailed nearly 50 cases of “extreme cases of medical malpractice and neglect experienced by persons in the custody of the commissioner” and required DOC to inform any

next-of-kin of incarcerated people listed in the report.

“Why is the Connecticut Department of Correction afraid of eight-year-old medical care that they have already judged to be bad?” he asked. “Why do we prevent these people from getting their day in court? And my thought is that if we are a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, we should acknowledge at the end of the day that people make mistakes, that people need to be held accountable and people should say they’re sorry when they do something wrong.”

Several advocates who have had direct dealings with DOC came forward to speak about the negligent treatment they received while in custody. Glenn London, who was incarcerated at Bridgeport Correctional Facility in January 2023, told a harrowing story of how corrections officials at the facility ignored him when he informed them that a

VA Medical Center told him he needed immediate medical treatment for a potential mass on his bladder.

London said he only received care on his court date, when marshalls took him to the hospital due to blood in his urine. After being transferred to Carl Robinson Correctional Facility in Enfield, he was rushed to UConn, where it was discovered he had stage-3 cancer and a mass the size of a golf ball.

“If they didn’t catch it then, it could have been fatal,” he said. “From that point, I had aggressive chemotherapy, over 28 rounds with two different types of chemotherapies. I was near death. Then I was scheduled for a nine-hour operation to where they removed my bladder, my lymph nodes, my prostate. I now have to live with an urology bag. I can’t pick up my grandson in a nor-

Lisa Reisman photo Gaylord Salters (L.O.R.D) with son Gaylord Salters, Jr. (Junthatsit), daughter Gabrielle Salters, and Rev. Iona Smith-Nze.

The New Haven independent

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Striking Teachers, Once Jailed, Reunite

by Allan Appel

Wearing sweatshirts bearing the number of New Haven teachers who were sent to jail in a historic two-week strike back in 1975 90 of them! 25 members of that proud class of incarcerated instructors gathered for a reunion Saturday morning.

They met for a photo shoot and to plan further commemorative events on the steps of the New Haven County Courthouse at 235 Church St.

That was the exact location where, a half century before, Judge George A. Saden of the Superior Court “would not have any of it it,” recalled then teachers union president Frank Carrano. What the judge wouldn’t have any of was that the New Haven Federation of Teachers, who were by law not permitted to go out on strike, should do just that.

In short order the judge sent 12 members of the union’s negotiating team, including Carrano, to jail for violating a back-to-work order.

When 78 other teachers came out in support of their leaders, they too were jailed. Thus the “Ninety” on long-time science teacher Shirley Neighbors’s sweatshirt.

“It was worth it,” she recalled. “We struck for better supplies and materials for the students, and salaries and benefits.”

There had been at least two strikes in the immediately preceding years, recalled Richard Romao, who taught math at Wilbur Cross, and Ron Comen, who taught middle school and was, at the time, executive vice president of the union.

In those cases, however, leaders were jailed for a few hours or a day and there was no mass arrest.

That in part is what made the 1975 strike significant in Connecticut labor history and resulted, eventually, not only in contract improvements but labor law changes statewide around binding arbitration and, said Carrano, putting management and union on a more equal footing in negotiation.

As it went on in November 1975, and all those teachers were in jail in three different facilities across the state, parental and popular support grew, culminating in a general strike being threatened by 146 unions in the Greater New Haven Labor Council.

Neighbors, who was among the incarcerated sent to a National Guard barracks in Windsor Locks, said teachers knew then what they were facing when they struck.

However, “the surprise for me came when the sheriff came to my door to serve a summons; then it was real.”

Organized by current New Haven Board of Education staffer Dr. Pame-

la Monk-Kelley and Nancy Charest, who helms the New Haven Federation of Teachers 933 (Retired), Saturday’s gathering on the windswept steps of the courthouse was full of warm encounters and double-takes of “Is that you?” good reunion feelings and good vibes.

The 1975 strike caused “good trouble,” said Monk-Kelley, who started her career in 1977. “They set a path for teachers to come for better wages, classes, and conditions.”

Cheering on the photo shoot was current NHFT President (and recent civil-disobedience arrestee) Leslie Blatteau, who recognized among the smiling retired strikers Peter Herndon,. He was her mentor when she began as a young social studies teacher at CT Scholars, a kind of mini, more family-style high school to help ninth and tenth graders transition to Wilbur Cross High School.

“Leslie had such a heart for the kids,” he responded when prodded by a reporter for a memory. He recalled one day when they had been trying all kinds of approaches breaking kids into groups, other techniques to reach the kids that day, without much luck.

“After class,” he recalled, “we were both crying!”

“We have a lot to learn from our predecessors,” said Blatteau, whose union is facing potential cuts of teachers and other staff due to remaining large funding gaps in the Board of Education budget. “Like taking risks when needed, and how to be well organized.”

The fight was very much still in the minds of the strikers of 1975.

“They underfund municipal education then and now,” said Nancy Charest, who taught for 35 years. “And Yale doesn’t pay its fair share.”

“We can’t get enough teachers to fill positions we have,” said Richard Romao. “Tell me where laying off [teachers] makes any sense.”

More talk, more memories, and maybe more organizing will unfold at a range of events planned for this fall featuring retired teachers, parents, and students from the 1975 experience.

“It’s important to recognize the longterm effects of the strike on public education in New Haven,” said the press release that Monk-Kelley sent out in advance of Saturday’s photoshoot. “It’s important to note that there has not been another teachers strike in New Haven in the past 50 years.”

For more information about coming events, the contact is pamela.monk.kelley@gmail.com.

Cheers to the striking Class of 1975!

Contributed photo Blatteau, Carrano, and Dr. Pamela Monk-Kelley. Peter Herndon and Leslie Blatteau.

The New Haven independent

Redefining Emotional Vulnerability in Black Fathers

By BlackMentalHealthMatters.com

Recently, I came across a LinkedIn post that talks about normalizing “loving on our [Black] sons” and positive masculinity. In addition, the Psychotherapist posted a photo of her 16-year-old son crawling into his father’s arm and falling asleep. I didn’t see an issue with the image or the message behind it; however, the comments were in SHAMBLES.

So many people supported the post’s powerful message, while others were uncomfortable seeing this 16-year-old teenager nestled against his father. I wish I could say I didn’t know the answer, but as a Black woman, I understand the lack of emotional vulnerability portrayed by my own family.

We aren’t sure if this young man had a bad day at school or in general, yet to others, there was no excuse for this moment. But what was so unusual about this photo? Why is it hard for us to display this type of affection? Especially to our sons. Simple. Our ideology of “masculinity” is

intertwined in Western Culture that a man (of any color) must act and be a certain way – strong, tough, dominant, and more; machoism. So much so that Black men don’t have the space or capacity to be emotionally vulnerable.

A great example of someone like this is American rapper Boosie. He admitted last Spring how he paid women to sleep with his underage son to prevent him from becoming gay. In Boosie’s eyes, he was “making a man” out of his son. Extremely problematic, right? Unfortunately, you would not believe how many people didn’t see anything wrong with what happened. And they are the same ones who would have an issue with the LinkedIn post. Imagine if all Black fathers took the “Boosie” route.

We must help redefine emotional vulnerability in Black fathers. We should want our boys to know how to express themselves and not be ashamed to do so. That is one way we can break generational curses and form healthy relationships.

Healthy Dads: Fathers Need to Care for Themselves as Well as Their Kids

By BlackHealthMatters.com

If you had to choose, which would you rather have: a healthy dad or a good dad?

Studies suggest men often choose being a good father over being healthy. Becoming a father is a major milestone in the life of a man, often shifting the way he thinks from being “me focused” to “we focused.” But fatherhood can also shift how men perceive their health. Our research has found that fathers can view health not in terms of going to the doctor or eating vegetables but how they hold a job, provide for their family, protect and teach their children, and belong to a community or social network.

As founder and director of the Center for Research on Men’s Health at Vanderbilt University and as a postdoctoral fellow from Meharry Medical College, we study why men live shorter lives than women, male attitudes about fatherhood, how to help men engage in healthier behavior—as well as what can be done to reduce men’s risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Working with men to try to get them to be more physically active, eat healthier and maintain a healthy weight, we found that for many, their own physical and mental health is not high on their list of priorities. Men, we found, treat their bodies as tools to do a job. Health is not always important or something they pay much attention to until poor health gets in the way of their ability to go to work, have sex or do something else important to them. These roles and responsibilities are often the ways they define themselves as men and how others in their lives define their worth.

While many aspects of gender roles have changed, we have found that many men still recognize they are often defined as good or successful if they have paid employment that is enough to take care of their children and other responsibilities. Fathers generally aspire to be able to look after their children, spouse, partner or other loved ones. That may mean less sleep, longer hours at work and less free time for hobbies and exercise.

Wanting to be a great dad can motivate men to push themselves to work longer and harder than they may have thought possible, but these choices can come at a cost, particularly if they also are not making time to take care of themselves.

We have seen evidence of despair, such as depressive symptoms, having thoughts of suicide, heavy drinking and marijuana use among adults in their 20s and 30s. These behaviors tend to be higher in men during the time when they tend to become fathers for the

first time. Consistent with this pattern, unintentional injuries and suicide are leading causes of death for men across racial and ethnic groups in their 20s and 30s. This is not the case for women.

By age 45, heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death for all groups of men. These chronic diseases can be prevented, to some degree, by not smoking, eating healthier foods and drinking less alcohol. Also, improving sleep, sitting less and moving more are important behaviors for good health.

Rather than trying to restart these behaviors after taking a break from them for a number of years, studies have found that it is important to help men keep healthy behaviors a part of their lives as they age.

As men age, they may not make deliberate choices to engage in less healthy behavior, but they may just do so because their lives and environments make unhealthy choices easier than healthy ones. Policymakers have to think about how to make it easier to make healthy choices in men’s daily lives and to incorporate health into the time fathers spend with children and family or at work. Men don’t have equal access to healthy foods or the same opportunities to go to the doctor, be physically active or earn a living wage, and yet, if asked,

they all want to be healthy and have a positive influence on their children and families.

Where does making time for their own mental and physical health fit into dads’ busy, stressful lives? We have found that it will be different for every father, but loved ones have to help them find a way. Based on our research, we believe that families, particularly women in men’s lives, can play an important role in encouraging fathers to eat healthier and take better care of their health.

Wives in particular often provide emotional support, offer advice, facilitate men going to the doctor and promote healthy behavior. Wives, daughters and other women in fathers’ lives are important sources of information about men’s health, and they often play a key role in helping fathers and other men better understand and cope with stress. It is important to recognize that fathers, generally speaking, may not place health at the top of their priorities. Many fathers gladly sacrifice to see their children happy, safe and successful. The problem is that if fathers think only about these goals, their own health can often suffer.

Five-Decade Study: Black Girls Build on Preschool Success, While Black Boys Struggle in Some Measures

Lauren Camera, The Hechinger Report

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education. Armed with a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Craig Ramey established the Abecedarian Project at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The study assigned infants, most of them Black, who had been born into low-income families between 1972 and 1977, to an intervention group that received full-time, high-quality child care from infancy through age 5. (The project name was drawn from an old-fashioned term meaning someone who is just learning their ABCs.) In the 1960s and ’70s, researchers lacked a full understanding of why children from disadvantaged backgrounds had developmental delays compared to their more advantaged peers, said Ramey, now 81 and a professor and researcher at Virginia Tech. “What I wanted to address is whether we could prevent that delay from occurring in the first place,” he said.

The children in the intervention group received individualized prescriptions of educational activities and games that focused on social, emotional, and cognitive areas of development, with particular emphasis on language. Researchers tracked the participants well into their mid-40s, comparing them to a control group that did not receive the services. Their latest findings, published last year in the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, found different results for Black boys and Black girls who were enrolled in the program.

Both boys and girls in the early education intervention group showed significant gains through their elementary, middle, and high school years. That finding

matches that of other long-running early education research programs, such as the Perry Preschool Project, which tracked subjects in Ypsilanti, Michigan, from their toddler years into their 50s. But the study also showed that while Black women continued to build on those cognitive gains into adulthood, the progress of Black men stalled out. By their mid40s, the students’ cognitive outcomes were significantly different, with Black women continuing to gain in IQ, reading, and math skills while Black males wound up scoring the same as those in the control group — their gains virtually erased. “When boys hit adolescence they face some rocks in the road that are maybe different from what girls face,” Ramey said.

The latest research looked only at results on cognitive measures; other research into the Abecedarian participants found long-lasting positive outcomes in other areas, such as health and social development. What the Abecedarian Project showed, Ramey says, is that at-risk children don’t have to enter the education system already further behind. “We can change that and we can change it much more dramatically with much bigger and with longer-lasting results than anyone would have bet 30 years ago,” he said. “In part that’s due to a lot of our findings, and I’m proud of that.”

But few, if any, programs have been able to successfully bridge that gender gap in long-term results. And now, many efforts to figure out how to support Black

boys — or young Black children in general — are on the chopping block, as the Trump administration shuts down federal funding for research related to promoting educational equity. Brian Wright, an associate professor and program coordinator for early education at the University of Memphis, said he has already had one research project canceled as a result of the sweeping elimination of federal grants and programs. That project, which would have been funded by the National Science Foundation, was to be a longitudinal study following kindergarteners through third grade to better understand, through a racial equity lens, their access and participation in STEM classes. In late April, the National Science Foundation was told to stop awarding new grants

and funding existing ones.

Few — if any — programs today provide low-income children of color with the level of support that the Abecedarian Project did. “I’ve been from the West Coast to the East Coast, I’ve interviewed teachers and families and children all over the nation,” said Wright. “I get asked often this question of can I identify programs that are exemplars. I’m usually not able to do that.” Wright’s research has illuminated which elements are essential for such high-quality early education programs, starting with educators who have deep training in elevating and celebrating the culture, race, and traditions of students of color, who create spaces for them to play, enjoy childhood and feel understood, and whose class libraries and lessons reflect students’ own experiences and realities. For Black boys in particular, Wright said, these elements need to be paired with programs later in middle school and high school that preserve their childhood instead of rushing them through adolescence to prepare them for adulthood and the workforce.

The question, however, is how much more of that work can be done under the current administration. Earlier this month, Wright and other policy experts and practitioners who focus on building high-quality education programs for students of color hosted a panel discussion at George Washington University to sound the alarm on the fact that not only is there a dearth of programs equipped to support Black boys, but federal officials are actively eliminating the best of those programs’ practices. “There are pockets where these things exist, but there’s certainly more work that needs to be done,” Wright says. “The fact that we can’t name programs that are exemplars is telling that we have a lot of work to do.”

A Black College Student Was Lynched 95 Years Ago. His Nephew Just Accepted His Posthumous Degree

In June 1930, Dennis Hubert, a then18-year-old African American college student, was lynched by a white mob in Atlanta. Nearly a century later, Morehouse College has honored him with a posthumous degree, accepted by his nephew in an emotional ceremony. Two weeks ago, Morehouse College awarded Dennis Hubert a posthumous Bachelor of Arts in Religion. His nephew, Imam Plemon El-Amin, accepted the degree on his behalf, saying it brought long-overdue recognition to Hubert’s life and legacy.

“Many prayers were said in his name,” El-Amin told CNN about the ceremony. “Many people remembered him and were informed about his life and his legacy, and so the knowledge was there, as well as the charity of him sacrificing his life so that we would be more conscious of the value of young life and the value of human life, but also the value of justice.”

Hubert was a sophomore studying divinity at Morehouse when he visited the

playground of a segregated Black school on June 15, 1930. While there, seven white men accused him of insulting a white woman. Hubert denied it, but the

men attacked him. One of them shot him in the head at point-blank range in front of two dozen witnesses. Police never investigated. There was no trial.

His killing was one of thousands of racially motivated lynchings in the American South during that era. The Equal Justice Initiative reports over 4,000 such acts

between 1877 and 1950.

In the days after Hubert’s murder, his family faced more violence. His father’s house was burned down. A church raising funds for the family and calling for justice was tear-gassed. His cousin narrowly escaped an attempted murder. Despite eyewitnesses, the men involved received light sentences. The shooter served only two years.

Morehouse College president David Thomas called Hubert a “martyr of justice” and likened his death to the modern-day tragedy of Trayvon Martin. For El-Amin, now 75 years old, the ceremony reflected Islamic teachings about leaving behind good deeds and prayers. He said Hubert’s legacy now inspires others to value human life and justice.

“Ninety-five years later, people are conscious of his life, which means he’s still alive,” El-Amin said. “Though not here with us physically or in body, but his life, his will, and he is providing inspiration for those of us left behind.”

Trump-Era Cuts, Truth Bans Fuel Growing Racial Divide in U.S. Education

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press National Correspondent

Despite the promise of equal opportunity heralded by the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, a new WalletHub report reveals that America’s educational system remains critically unequal—especially for Black students. The disparities, experts say, have only widened in recent years, worsened by former President Donald Trump’s dismantling of federal education funding and his administration’s attacks on teaching real American history. WalletHub’s analysis ranked states by racial equality in education, using key metrics such as gaps in graduation rates, college degree attainment, and standardized test scores between Black and white students. Wyoming, New Mexico, and West Virginia top the list for equity, while Connecticut, Minnesota, and Wisconsin rank lowest. According to the report, school districts with predominantly white students receive $23 billion more in funding per year than districts with majority nonwhite students. “Promoting racial equality in education can have a significant impact on promoting equality in the overall economy,” said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “It is essential to ensure that all school districts receive sufficient funding, the latest technology, and equal opportunities for tutoring and extracurricular activities.”

But instead of addressing these inequities, Trump and his allies have stripped resources from schools, gutted the Department of Education, and fiercely opposed instruction that addresses America’s history of racism, slavery, and systemic inequality. Their rejection of Critical Race Theory—often a stand-in for broader discussions about race—has sparked book bans, curriculum censorship, and efforts to whitewash the past.

Rodney Coates, a WalletHub expert and professor at Miami University, said the system is structurally rigged. “Race and class are both associated with differential school spending. Poor areas—mostly Black, Native American, and Hispanic— have lower per-pupil spending across our country,” Coates said. “Educational opportunity and a commitment to excellence are the only lasting solutions.”

The report details how states like

Connecticut and Wisconsin—among the worst for racial equity—suffer from wide gaps in high school graduation rates and access to advanced coursework. In contrast, states like Hawaii and New Mexico show narrower gaps in test scores and degree attainment. “It’s not just about race, but the effects are highly racialized,” said Shauna Lani Shames, a WalletHub expert and political science professor at Rutgers University.

“Schools remain segregated today by geography and class, which are deeply tied to race due to generations of redlining and discriminatory policies.” The pandemic and recent economic downturns have exacerbated the problem. As WalletHub expert Tyrone Howard of UCLA explained, the regression in math and reading scores for Black and Brown students is alarming, and without targeted resources—school counselors, academic support, and mental health services—the gaps will only grow.

William McCorkle, also a WalletHub expert and an education professor at the College of Charleston, noted structural barriers in South Carolina that perpetuate inequality. “Even at the kindergarten level, some children are divided based on gifted and talented programs, which are almost completely based on parental income.” According to experts, solving these inequities requires more than just increased funding. It demands a commitment to truth, accurate teaching of history, and valuing every student regardless of their background. “Every person deserves the finest education we can provide,” said WalletHub Expert Dr. Kim Scipes, a professor emeritus of sociology at Purdue University Northwest. “Despite its wide usage, there is no white race, no black race, no brown race—there is only one race, the human race,” Scipes stated.

Billions Ripped from Minority-Owned Firms Under Trump

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press National Correspondent

The Trump administration is dismantling the very programs created to correct generations of systemic racism and economic exclusion—programs that helped level the playing field for Black, Latino, Indigenous, and women entrepreneurs. In a series of targeted assaults, Trump has moved to destroy the federal government’s most effective tools for uplifting historically disadvantaged communities, threatening billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs. In the most devastating move yet, Trump’s Justice Department filed to end the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, a nearly $37 billion affirmative action initiative that for decades guaranteed at least 10 percent of federal transportation contracts would go to minority- and women-owned firms. The administration now claims the DBE program violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause, siding with two White-owned companies that sued because they didn’t want to compete with firms led by people of color.

If approved, the settlement would kill the DBE’s founding mission—to address the entrenched discrimination that has locked out marginalized groups from

federal contracting. The Biden administration previously defended the program, recognizing that race-neutral alternatives alone cannot erase centuries of inequality. But Trump’s team reversed course, citing the Supreme Court’s ban on race-conscious college admissions to justify gutting one of the country’s last-standing economic justice efforts.

“Today’s decision helps ensure that the voices of minority- and women-owned businesses will be heard in a case that directly threatens their opportunity to participate fairly in federally funded transportation work,” said Brooke Menschel, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward. “With this ruling, the court has recognized what’s at stake—not just for these businesses, but for the longstanding principles of redressing past discrimination in our economy.”

At the same time, Trump signed an executive order aimed at neutralizing the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)—the only federal agency solely dedicated to supporting minority-owned businesses. Under President Biden, the MBDA helped secure over $3.2 billion in contracts and $1.6 billion in capital for entrepreneurs of color, creating or preserving more than 23,000 jobs. Trump’s action, combined with a recent court ruling that barred the

MBDA from considering race in program eligibility, threatens to erase those gains. “These actions are designed to kill

progress,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. “This isn’t just ne-

glect—it’s sabotage.”

Even as Trump claims to champion small business, his policies have delivered devastating blows to those most in need. A Kentucky judge previously issued an injunction weakening the DBE program, and now Trump’s administration is making that decision permanent. Meanwhile, courts and right-wing organizations aligned with Trump are challenging the very legality of race-conscious aid, using the courts to do what Congress would never allow—turn back the clock on civil rights. In response, a coalition of minority- and women-owned business groups successfully petitioned the court to intervene. Their warning is blunt: without DBE and MBDA protections, many minority-owned firms will collapse.

“This decision is an important step forward in the hearing of minority- and women-owned businesses who want to ensure that Congress’s laws creating and maintaining the longstanding ‘Disadvantaged Business Enterprise’ contracting program are preserved,” said Douglas L. McSwain of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs. ”They will have the opportunity to demonstrate that the program is important and needed to help prevent ongoing discriminatory practices.”

American People Diversity Celebration and 4th of July and Independence Day in the United States bringing diverse people together as a multicultural celebration of freedom and patriotism as a Fourth day honor celebrating USA.

241 Quinnipiac Avenue, New Haven

Spacious 2 bedroom townhouse with hardwood floors. Private entrance. Appliances. 1.5 baths with basement and washer/dryer hookups. On-site laundry facility. Off street parking. Close proximity to restaurants, shopping centers and bus line. No pets. Security deposit varies. $1,850-$1,950 including heat, hot water and cooking gas. Section 8 welcomed. Call Christine 860-231-8080, Ext. 161.

Please bill 241 Quinnipiac Avenue, LLC, c/o White & Katzman, 111 Roberts Street, Suite G1, East Hartford, CT 06108.

Bridgeport Housing Authority dba Park City Communities is accepting bids for Phase I of Stair Renovations at the P.T. Barnum Apartments. Full bid documents can be found on our website: www.parkcitycommunities.org or requested via email to: procurement@parkcitycommunities.org .

Continuum of Care, New Haven, Connecticut – LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID

LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID: CONTINUUM OF CARE, NEW HAVEN is requesting licensed and insured general contractor bids for their property located at 133 Maple Street, New Haven. Scope to include Main furnace replacement, installation of central ac system, chimney replacement, garage roof replacement. Environmental testing reports will be provided. Further information and details of scope will be reviewed by the owner on the scheduled site visit. GC price should include dumpster and permit feeds. The project is tax-exempt. Minority/women’s business enterprises are encouraged to apply. A bidding site meeting will be held at 133 Maple Street, New Haven on 4/10/2025 at 12pm. All bids are due by 4/21/2025 at 10 am. All bids, questions, W9, work scope/project timeline, COI should be submitted in writing to Monica O’Connor via email moconnor@continuumct.org or delivered to 285 State Street, Unit 13 North Haven.

Listing: Commercial Driver

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

City Communities/The Housing Authority City of New Haven

from ECC/HANH’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 3:00PM.

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO.

Request for Quotes

Wilmot Lighting-122 Wilmot Road, New Haven, CT

360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking quotes from qualified, lice sensed electrical contractors to perform the replacement of the exterior lighting fixtures at the property located at 122 Wilmot Road. performance. be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at 3:00PM.

Emergency Medical Technician

The Town of Wallingford Fire Department is seeking qualified applicants for EMT. Applicants must possess a H.S. diploma or GED, and be a Connecticut or National Registry Certified EMT with CPR Certification. Must possess and maintain a valid State of Connecticut Driver’s license. Wage rate: $832.81 weekly plus an annual EMT bonus of $2,100. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and a deferred compensation plan. To apply online, please visit: www.wallingfordct. gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492 by the closing date of June 19, 2025 or immediately once the 25th application has been submitted. This posting will close immediately once the 25th application has been submitted and received by the Human Resources Department. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

WATER MAINTAINER II

The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking qualified applicants to perform a variety of semi-skilled tasks in the operation, maintenance, repair and construction of the Town’s potable water transmission and distribution system. Applicants should possess 3 years of experience as a Maintainer in the Water Division or in construction involving the installation and maintenance of pipelines and related equipment, or 2 years training in plumbing plus 1 year of employment as a Maintainer in the Water System or an equivalent combination of experience and training. Wage rate on 7/1/2025: $28.65 to $34.43 hourly, plus an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, and 13 paid holidays. To apply online by the closing date of June 24, 2025, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/ human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Sound Communities, Inc Request for Qualifications – Construction Manager

Sound Communities Inc. is soliciting qualification packages from construction management companies, general contractors, and other qualified firms to provide preconstruction and construction activities for an affordable housing development in Norwalk, CT. The selected firm will provide full-service construction management for pre- construction, during construction and post construction of the project including but not limited to cost estimating, construction scheduling, materials purchasing, Track Section 3 and WMBE recruitment activities, and enforcement / compliance of prevailing wage requirements. This is a CHFA and CT DOH funded project.

Submission Deadline: Proposals are due by Monday, June 23rd, 2025, at 5PM EST. Submission Instructions: Please send your qualifications, including a detailed portfolio, firm profile, and references to: lmarlin@soundcommunitiesct.org. To request full RFQ, please contact Leala Marlin, Development Project Manager at telephone number 203-970-7085 or email at lmarlin@soundcommunitiesct.org, or visit our website Norwalkha.org/vendor-portal. Sound Communities, Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Electric

Apprentice Meter Technician / Meterman Helper - Trainee position involved in the installation, maintenance and repair of electrical metering equipment for a municipal electric utility. Requires a H.S./trade school diploma or an equivalent in experience and training. $30.62 to $40.73 hourly plus an excellent fringe benefit package. The closing date for applications is June 4, 2025, or the date we receive the 40th application, whichever occurs first. To apply online please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/ government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

Electric

Meter Technician A – The Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly qualified individual to perform skilled work on alternating current and direct current circuits, metering devices and meter equipment. Requires graduation from a high school / trade/ or technical school with course of study in the electrical field and 4 years experience as a Meter Technician in an electric utility or related experience. Experience and training may be substituted on a year-for-year basis for up to 2 years. Must have a valid State of CT Driver’s License. $42.20 to $44.88 per hour plus an excellent fringe benefit package. To apply online by the closing date of June 24, 2025, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 2942080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

Water Utility

Water Treatment and Pumping Supervisor. The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking qualified applicants to perform highly technical and supervisory work involving the operation and maintenance of the municipality's water treatment facilities, pump stations, and well facilities. Applicants must have 4 years of progressively responsible experience with 2 years as a supervisor in the operation of a municipal water treatment and pumping system, plus an A.S. degree in engineering or chemistry, or any equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience. Must possess or be able to obtain within the probation period, State of Connecticut Department of Health Services Class IV Water Treatment Plant Operator and Class II Distribution System Operator Certifications. Must possess and maintain a CT driver’s license. Salary: $79,529 to $100,878 annually plus on-call pay when assigned. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, generous paid sick and vacation time, medical/dental insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and a deferred compensation plan. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. To apply, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

P2 PLUMBING WORKERS NEEDED

LBR Mechanical Corp is seeking P2 plumbing mechanics, jour¬neymen and helpers for a construction project located in Bridgeport, CT. Experience in plumbing/heating, construction and roughing a plus. Will train the right candidates. Driver’s license and proof of cit¬izenship required.

Please call 914-276-1493 for an application to start your new career.

ELECTRICAL / ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN

Performs skilled work in the repair, maintenance and calibration of all electrical and electronic equipment pertaining to the wastewater treatment plant in the Town of Wallingford. Applicants should possess a H.S., technical or trade school diploma, plus 2 years of experience in the repair and maintenance of electrical and electronic equipment; or an equivalent combination of experience and training substituting on a yearfor-year basis. Must possess a valid Connecticut Driver's License. Hourly rate: $32.24 to $36.79. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of April 22, 2025, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids

Comprehensive Pest Control Services for Rodents and Insects

Elm City Communities is currently seeking bids for Services of a firm to provide Pest Control Services for Rodents and Insects. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Disdain for the Poor: Job Corps Shutdown Sparks Outrage

By Stacy M. Brown Black National Correspondent

For over six decades, Job Corps has been one of the most effective federal programs aimed at helping disadvantaged youth overcome poverty. Created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964—a cornerstone of his War on Poverty—Job Corps has helped millions of low-income Americans gain education, housing, job skills, and a pathway to employment, particularly African Americans and other marginalized communities. Now, in what critics are calling a direct assault on America's poor and working-class youth, the Trump administration is suspending operations at all Job Corps centers nationwide. The Department of Labor's decision made public on May 30, has already resulted in thousands of students being abruptly sent home from residential campuses, leaving many with nowhere to go and no immediate support. From Detroit to Memphis to Clearfield, Utah, stories

have emerged of stunned students and outraged parents. “Everybody right now don't know what to do,” said Haley Hawkins, a student from the Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center in Memphis. “They feel like this is a dead end.” In Detroit, 16-year-old Carleton Davis had just settled into the program when he and dozens of others were told to pack up and leave. His mother, recovering from breast cancer and recently unhoused, feared what would come next.

The closures affect 99 contractor-operated centers and align with Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget proposal. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer claimed the centers are no longer achieving the outcomes students deserve and cited financial strain as justification for the pause. But many lawmakers across party lines have condemned the move. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, blasted the decision, noting the value of centers in her home state. “They have become important pillars of support

for some of our most disadvantaged young adults,” she said. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) accused the administration of prioritizing “tax cuts for billionaires” over proven programs for poor and working-class youth. The stakes are enormous. Job Corps serves youth between the ages of 16 and 24, most of whom are low-income, have dropped out of school, or face other barriers to employment. Many have aged out of foster care, experienced

homelessness, or had contact with the criminal justice system. The program offers not only training in skilled trades such as healthcare, auto tech, and culinary arts but also provides room, board, and wraparound services, including counseling and healthcare.

Historically, the Job Corps has been especially vital to African Americans. According to data from the Cleveland Job Corps, the majority of its 12,000 graduates over two decades were Black women. Across the nation, the program has offered a rare safe harbor for Black and Brown youths seeking alternatives to crime and poverty.

Its roots stretch back to the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s, which gave work to young men during the Great Depression. Modeled in part on the CCC, Job Corps was designed to serve both urban and rural youth, with a large portion of participants historically coming from the South and other poverty-stricken regions. Despite occasional criticisms over operational issues, Job Corps has demonstrated strong outcomes. Over 80% of

graduates either enter the workforce, join the military, or pursue further education. Students typically improve at least two grade levels in literacy and math while enrolled.

At its heart, the Job Corps mission remains simple yet powerful: provide vulnerable youth with a chance. “For so many people in this program, their lives have been very challenging,” former Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said recently. “Job Corps has been the game-changer.” With this administration's decision, many said the message to low-income Americans—particularly African Americans and others in underserved communities—is loud and clear: support systems that have worked for decades are expendable. Programs that create opportunity, equity, and stability are being dismantled to make way for budget cuts that disproportionately favor the wealthy. “These aren't kids in a youth home that got caught in a crime,” Pastor Mo, a Detroit minister and advocate, said. “These are kids who are trying to avoid getting caught in a crime.”

Billions Ripped from Minority-Owned Firms Under Trump

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Correspondent

The Trump administration is dismantling the very programs created to correct generations of systemic racism and economic exclusion—programs that helped level the playing field for Black, Latino, Indigenous, and women entrepreneurs. In a series of targeted assaults, Trump has moved to destroy the federal government’s most effective tools for uplifting historically disadvantaged communities, threatening billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs. In the most devastating move yet, Trump’s Justice Department filed to end the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program, a nearly $37 billion affirmative action initiative that for decades guaranteed at least 10 percent of federal transportation contracts would go to minorityand women-owned firms. The administration now claims the DBE program violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause, siding with two Whiteowned companies that sued because they didn’t want to compete with firms led by people of color.

If approved, the settlement would kill the DBE’s founding mission—to address the entrenched discrimination that has locked out marginalized groups from federal contracting. The Biden administration previously defended the program, recognizing that

race-neutral alternatives alone cannot erase centuries of inequality. But Trump’s team reversed course, citing the Supreme Court’s ban on race-conscious college admissions to justify gutting one of the country’s last-standing economic justice efforts. “Today’s decision helps ensure that the voices of minority- and women-owned businesses will be heard in a case that directly threatens their opportunity to participate fairly in federally funded transportation work,” said Brooke Menschel, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward. “With this ruling, the court has recognized what’s at stake—not just for these businesses, but for the longstanding principles of redressing past discrimination in our economy.”

At the same time, Trump signed an executive order aimed at neutralizing the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)—the only federal agency solely dedicated to supporting minority-owned businesses. Under President Biden, the MBDA helped secure over $3.2 billion in contracts and $1.6 billion in capital for entrepreneurs of color, creating or preserving more than 23,000 jobs. Trump’s action, combined with a recent court ruling that barred the MBDA from considering race in program eligibility, threatens to erase those gains.

“These actions are designed to kill progress,” said Rep. Maxine Waters,

the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. “This isn’t just neglect—it’s sabotage.”

Even as Trump claims to champion small business, his policies have delivered devastating blows to those most in need. A Kentucky judge previously issued an injunction weakening the DBE program, and now Trump’s administration is making that decision permanent. Meanwhile, courts and right-wing organizations aligned with Trump are challenging the very legality of race-conscious aid, using the courts to do what Congress would never allow—turn back the clock on civil rights. In response, a coalition of minority- and women-owned business groups successfully petitioned the court to intervene. Their warning is blunt: without DBE and MBDA protections, many minority-owned firms will collapse.

“This decision is an important step forward in the hearing of minority- and women-owned businesses who want to ensure that Congress’s laws creating and maintaining the longstanding ‘Disadvantaged Business Enterprise’ contracting program are preserved,” said Douglas L. McSwain of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs. ”They will have the opportunity to demonstrate that the program is important and needed to help prevent ongoing discriminatory practices.”

Black Feminist Movement Mobilizes in Response to National Threats

By Stacy M. Brown Black National Correspondent

More than 500 Black feminists will convene in New Orleans from June 5 through 7 for what organizers are calling the largest Black feminist gathering in the United States. The event, led by the organization Black Feminist Future, is headlined by activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis. Paris Hatcher, executive director of Black Feminist Future, joined Black Press USA’s Let It Be Known to outline the mission and urgency behind the gathering, titled “Get Free.” “This is not just a conference to dress up and have a good time,” Hatcher said. “We’re building power to address the conditions that are putting our lives at risk—whether that’s policing, reproductive injustice, or economic inequality.” Hatcher pointed to issues such as rising evictions among Black families, the rollback of

bodily autonomy laws, and the high cost of living as key drivers of the event’s agenda. “Our communities are facing premature death,” she said. Workshops and plenaries will focus on direct action, policy advocacy, and practical organizing skills. Attendees will participate in training sessions that include how to resist evictions, organize around immigration enforcement, and disrupt systemic policies contributing to poverty and incarceration. “This is about fighting back,” Hatcher said. “We’re not conceding anything.” Hatcher addressed the persistent misconceptions about Black feminism, including the idea that it is a movement against men or families. “Black feminism is not a rejection of men,” she said. “It’s a rejection of patriarchy. Black men must be part of this struggle because patriarchy harms them too.” She also responded to claims that organizing around Black women’s issues

Chrisley’s Prison Confession:

A White Man Finally Says What Black America’s Known

By Stacy M. Brown

Black National Correspondent

April D. Ryan

Black Press USA Washington Bureau Chief & Senior White House Correspondent

Just days after being pardoned by Donald Trump, reality TV star Todd Chrisley used his platform to call out the racism he witnessed firsthand in federal prison—shining a rare spotlight from within the system on the unequal treatment of Black inmates. At a Nashville press conference, Chrisley described how young Black men were routinely denied access to programs and opportunities that he, a wealthy white man, easily received. “I was not denied that,” he admitted. “But we know why I wasn’t.” While some dismissed his remarks as too little too late, others acknowledged that his privilege could force long-overdue conversations about how the prison system devalues and dehumanizes Black lives.

Chrisley’s words matter—not because they’re new, but because they come from someone many in mainstream America might finally listen to. His experience adds a surprising voice to the chorus of Black activists who’ve spent decades calling out discrimination in prisons. “The disparities I know all too well,” Yusef Salaam, a member of the Central Park Five –now, Exonerated Five, and a New York City Councilman, told Black Press USA. “I welcome the support and advocacy of anyone joining the fight to right these wrongs. We need all handson deck.”

Salaam and others said the moment raises key points that cannot be ignored.

Here are 10 Reasons Why Chrisley’s Remarks Matter for Black Americans:

1. Confirmation from Inside: Chrisley’s statements echo what Black inmates and advocates have long said—now backed by someone with direct access and a national spotlight.

2. White Privilege Named and Claimed: He openly acknowledged that his race gave him access others were denied, making a rare public admission of systemic bias.

3. Media Visibility: His high profile ensures major media coverage, potentially elevating prison reform back into public debate.

4. Cross-Audience Impact: As a white conservative figure, his words may sway audiences who’ve ignored or dismissed Black voices.

5. Exposure of Policy Gaps: His account reveals how policies meant to provide

rehabilitation are unequally applied based on race.

6. Support for Advocates: Organizations pushing for prison reform can now cite his experience as additional validation.

7. Disruption of the “Equal Justice” Myth: His experience directly challenges the belief that prisons treat all inmates the same.

8. Call for Accountability: He has publicly pledged to fight for the men he left behind—raising expectations for follow-through.

9. New Pressure on the System: Public figures spotlighting injustice create momentum for lawmakers to act.

10. Moral Imperative: His faith-driven message—“when you know better, you do better”—calls others to speak up, especially those with privilege.

weakens broader coalitions. “We don’t live single-issue lives,” Hatcher said. “Our blueprint is one that lifts all Black people.”

The conference will not be streamed virtually, but recaps and updates will be posted daily on Black Feminist Future’s YouTube channel and Instagram account. The event includes performances by Tank and the Bangas and honors longtime activists including Billy Avery, Erica Huggins, and Alexis Pauline Gumbs. When asked how Black feminism helps families, Hatcher said the real threat to family stability is systemic oppression. “If we want to talk about strong Black families, we have to talk about mass incarceration, the income gap, and the systems that tear our families apart,” Hatcher said. “Black feminism gives us the tools to build and sustain healthy families—not just survive but thrive.”

Trump Got Checked in Tariffs

By April Ryan

The Trump White House vows to appeal the three-judge panel of the United States Court of International Trade's ruling that the proposed presidential tariffs exceed his legal authority. This ruling means neither President Trump nor his administration can arbitrarily invoke tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. The three judges appointed by former Presidents Reagan, Obama, and Trump unanimously made the decision. The courts essentially deemed the president's tariff declaration invalid. Democratic Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett says President Trump “has a lot of emergencies in his mind for sure.” However, Crockett emphasized that this nation is not in an emergency to declare tariffs. “That act declared we are under siege. We are not at war,” assured Crockett.

Congress, which typically holds the purse strings under the Constitution, regulates import commerce with foreign nations. Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingle believes “it's a win

for consumers. It will not immediately increase costs in stores, which is what I'm worried about. But what's the next step?” At the White House podium this week, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the courts should have no role here. There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process.”

However, the ruling temporarily alleviates growing concerns about the cost of imports, from food to cars and more. Thursday, Dingle told Black Press USA in Mackinac, Michigan, at the Detroit Regional Chamber of Congress Meeting, "Every industry needs certainty, and they're all dealing with a lot of uncertainty. The autos don't want to be a ping pong ball. They're too trying to keep their heads down and figure it out. So what we need for the industry and other companies is certainty.” The Trump administration has already filed motions to change the decision. Meanwhile, Crockett, a lawyer turned politician, says she’s “excited that some branch of government put a check on the executor.”

Todd Chrisley and daughter Savannah Chrisley of the reality TV series Chrisley Knows Best interviewed by RumorFix at KIIS-FM's Jingle Ball 2014. (Wikimedia Commons / Photo by RumorFix)