THE INNER-CITY NEWS

A Family Comes Home As Funding Cuts Loom

by Laura Glesby

Ashley Bailey doesn’t remember living at 470 Howard Ave., where her father and grandfather raised her briefly as a baby.

But her 13-year-old daughter will remember painting her bedroom walls teal inside that same house now that Bailey is on track to purchase it as a firsttime homeowner, with the help of state and federal programs that are in jeopardy under President Donald Trump.

She and her daughter, London, convened for a press conference at the house on Friday afternoon with U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven staff, and state housing advisor Shanté Hanks to call on Congress to avoid erecting more barriers to homeownership.

Trump’s proposed 2026 budget would cut $32.9 billion from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to Housing Wire. The budget would endanger funding for organizations like Neighborhood Housing Services, including by underfunding NeighborWorks America and completely eliminating the HOME Investment Partnership and Community Develop Block Grant programs.

Those grants, according to Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) Director Jim Paley, were critical in funding the organization’s rehabilitation of 470 Howard Ave. and its ability to sell the home at a subsidized rate to Bailey.

Also at stake, DeLauro said, are the costs of borrowing money to buy a home.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” (as passed by the House) would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt — which “drives up the interest rates for everyone else” and “makes borrowing to buy a house more expensive,” DeLauro said.

A Yale Budget Lab model found that as a result, for a median-priced home, annual mortgage interest costs could increase by about $1,060 in 2030 and about $5,800 by 2050.

“These higher debt levels are going to severely limit whether people qualify for mortgages,” added NHS Managing Director Bridgette Russell.

Between those interest impacts and HUD funding cuts, homeownership could become more and more out of reach for many Americans.

“I will fight,” promised DeLauro, for lower debt and more housing funding as the Senate takes on the legislation noting that homeownership opportunities affect households across the political spectrum. Now is the time, she said, to “stand up and speak up” about the stakes.

Homeownership is “a source of comfort, pride, and success” for a family while building a “foundation of safe and stable neighborhoods.”

In an alternate universe in which those

bills passed before Bailey could buy her home, she might have been impacted as well.

But with the help of Neighborhood Housing Services, she’s reached a mortgage agreement and is in the process of buying the home for $325,000. She plans to live on the first floor with her daughter, while renting out the top two floors as two three-bedroom apartments.

“Now I have something I can pass down to my daughter,” said Bailey, a lifelong New Havener who works as a retail specialist at the Yale Schwarzman Center.

NHS acquired the home from another housing nonprofit in 2022 and then spent years restoring the historic Queen Anne-style home to a more habitable state, preserving artistic wall accents, ornate wood and tile floors, and a regal wooden staircase. The rehabilitation was made possible by some of the federal grants now in jeopardy, such as CDBG, though NHS declined to say how much was actually spent on that process.

Meanwhile, Bailey spent years working with Russell on a financial plan, building up her credit and reducing debt. “Their support has been invaluable,” Bailey said of NHS. She found assistance from the state’s Live Where You Work and Time To Own programs, CHFA, the Greater New Haven NAACP, and more, cobbling together about $93,000 in assistance to purchase the house.

NHS has helped about 300 families buy homes in New Haven over the course of more than four decades, according to Paley.

One of those first-time homeowners will be Bailey’s future neighbor, Truman Street resident Leslie Radcliffe, who stopped by to introduce herself to Bailey on Friday.

“Thirty years ago, I went through this same process,” she said. “I’m in this neighborhood.” She gave Bailey her phone number and told her to call with any questions or concerns she encounters upon moving in.

“As a homeowner, you become a stakeholder,” Radcliffe later commented, expressing hope that each new homeowner in the neighborhood will become another long-term voice invested in improving community life.

Walking through her future home, Bailey said she’s excited to have a backyard, since she and her daughter currently live in an apartment complex without any outdoor space. She especially loves the “attention to detail” across the home the scalloped window borders, the colorful tiles by the old fireplaces, the floral flourishes carved into the staircase.

Her daughter, London, is excited to peer out the window of her (hopefully teal) bedroom overlooking the backyard, and see a lawn of fresh grass she can call her own.

“I’m excited to decorate,” she said.

Jim Paley and Shanté Hanks.

Rosa DeLauro: Now is the time to "stand up and speak up."

13-year-old London in her future room. Laura Glesby photos NHS client Ashley Bailey meets NHS alum Leslie Radcliffe, her future neighbor.

Ashley Bailey doesn't know when she'll move in, but she hopes it'll be soon.

The New Haven independent

DeLauro Steps Up As Funding-Freeze Watchdog

by Jonathan D. Salant

WASHINGTON — As the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Rosa DeLauro has an outsized role in determining what programs the federal government spends its money on.

But since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, she’s spending her time making sure that money is actually being spent.

DeLauro is on a mission to get the White House to use all the funding approved by Congress on the programs lawmakers approved. Instead, Trump has refused to fund programs approved by Congress and signed into law.

“What they are doing is illegal,” DeLauro said in an interview at the U.S. Capitol.

“What President Trump and the House Republicans are doing is stealing appropriated dollars that’s the taxpayer dollars that were congressionally directed, passed in the House and the Senate, signed by the president, and just taking them for their own purposes in order for them to have dollars for tax cuts for the rich, wealthiest, and billionaires and for the the biggest corporations in the country,” DeLauro said.

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for comment.

The funding freezes to date have blocked more than $425 billion in spend-

ing, according to DeLauro and U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

DeLauro and Murray have posted an online tracker to highlight which programs and agencies are not getting the funding that Congress approved. They regularly update it with the latest numbers.

”No American president has ever so flagrantly ignored our nation’s spending

laws or so brazenly denied the American people investments they are owed,” the two women said.

DeLauro has returned to this theme over and over again.

“There is no inherent authority for the president to impound or steal funds and never has been,” she said on the House floor last week. “Over 200 years of American history say so. Our founding

fathers designed our government so.”

At the House Rules Committee, she said: “Since taking office, the Trump administration has unlawfully stolen funds appropriated by Congress, passed by Republicans and Democrats in the House and in the Senate and signed into law by the president, upending the separation of powers and our Constitutional order. My colleagues, there is no inherent authority for the president to impound and never has been.”

Trump and his budget director, Russell Vought, insist that the 1974 law preventing the president from refusing to spend congressionally approved funds without following specific procedures, the Impoundment Control Act, is unconstitutional. They have insisted on the right to unilaterally block funding.

But the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the congressional watchdog agency that is investigating more than three dozen Trump administration funding freezes, said otherwise.

The GAO said Monday that the president wrongly blocked $30 million for the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences, which provides aid to local libraries across the country.

“This is not complicated: Congress passed, and the president signed into law, billions in investments in critical infrastructure and support for communi-

ties across the country such as critical funding that the Institute of Museum and Library Services owes to public libraries across the country and those promises must be delivered,” DeLauro said in a statement after the GAO ruling.

The GAO last month said Trump violated the law when he cut off $3.2 billion in funding to build electric vehicle charging stations.

And the watchdog said OMB violated the law when it took down the website listing what the government spent taxpayer dollars on.

“They’re supposed to spend it in this way,” DeLauro said. “They are also supposed to – which they’re violating the law -– be transparent so that we know how the dollars are being spent, when they’re going out, etc. They pulled that website down, which is in violation of the law, and they continue to look at stealing [the appropriations].”

DeLauro said highlighting this issue might convince some members of the House Republican majority to join her in opposing Trump’s actions.

“We’re going to have the opportunity to stand up and fight back,” DeLauro said. “My hope is that some of my Republican colleagues will understand that the power of the purse is being destroyed and taken away from the Congress.”

Park Here, Go Anywhere.

Thomas Breen photo DeLauro, in New Haven on Monday: “What they are doing is illegal.”

CTNewsJunkie

Hill Heroes Honored

by LAURA GLESBY

Wait… Me?

That thought seemed to flicker across seven faces, one by one, on Wednesday evening, as Hill Alder Kampton Singh doled out surprise honors to several community stewards.

Singh brought a stack of official aldermanic citations to the annual joint Hill North & Hill South Community Management Team meeting on Wednesday evening.

The two management teams convened inside the Parish House at Betsy Ross school on Kimberly Avenue, with copious sandwiches, chicken, mac n’ cheese, green beans, salad, sweets, and more sponsored by Yale New Haven Hospital with the help of a donation from Alder Singh.

As usual, management team stalwart Angela Hatley had been the one to go to the supermarket, pick out the offerings, drive the food to the Parish House, sanitize the tables with Lysol she brought herself, and spearhead the group effort to bring tray after tray of food inside.

She expected to feel a quiet satisfaction from feeding the 20 or so attendees of Wednesday’s meeting.

She didn’t expect to see that satisfaction mirrored back at her in the form of a citation from Singh.

Hatley said she was completely surprised when Singh called her name toward the end of his presentation, presenting her with a formal citation to thank her for her continual behind-the-scenes work on the management team, including her stewardship of the group’s housing committee.

“I don’t do things to be recognized,” Hatley said. “I was very happy to be noticed for what [I] do.”

In addition to Hatley, Singh distributed a citation to Dora Brown (“My beloved neighbor … You are a beacon for us,” Singh said), Paul Larrivee (“When you see the Christmas Tree, that’s because of him!”), Hill South Management

Team Chair Sarah McIver (For helming the group, “We want to thank you!”), and Yale New Haven Health Senior Community Relations Officer Andrew Orefice (who has “been a part of our community for over 20 years”).

For a moment, Orefice glanced around as if to make sure he was the correct “Andrew” being honored.

“Meghan!” Singh projected, throwing two arms in the air for emphasis.

Meghan Currey, the former head of the Hill’s Wilson library branch who recently took a new position in Wallingford, had come to the management team’s annual joint meeting for old times’ sake. As Singh called her name, she received a hearty burst of applause from the room.

Singh began to tear up as he presented Currey with her citation.

“You opened up your doors to us in Covid,” he said, describing how the Hill branch became a haven for unhoused people looking for a place to rest during the day and children eager to try out new programs.

“We miss you, and we love you,” Singh told Currey.

Emotion crept into his voice once more as he presented a citation to the neighborhood’s top cop, Sgt. Jasmine Sanders.

“She takes the call at four, three in the morning, six at night,” he said. “You pour your dedication into the Hill.”

“I was so surprised,” Sanders said later. “It really is a good feeling to know that it’s not going unnoticed. ‘Cause the job, it’s not easy.”

Singh took a moment, too, to honor the memory of the late Johnny Dye, the unofficial “Mayor of the Hill,” whose surviving wife Martha attended Wednesday’s meeting. The miniature awards ceremony, he said, was dedicated to him.

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Assistant Chief Bertram Etienne snaps a photo of Sgt. Jasmine Sanders and Alder Kampton Singh.

Angela Hatley had set up a feast, and the group dug in.

LAURA GLESBY PHOTO Dora Brown receives a citation from Alder Kampton Singh.

The New Haven independent

300 Mark Juneteenth At Waterpark

by Laura Glesby

The best part of Quassy AmusemenWaterpark, according to six-year-old RJ, is “the black slide” a waterslide tunnel that feels at first like “a black void,” until after a few twists and turns, “we saw the outside.”

RJ was one of 300 New Haveners to spend Juneteenth at the Middlebury, Conn., amusement park as part of a subsidized trip arranged by Hill Alder Angel Hubbard.

RJ’s mom, Tynicha Drummonds, had organized a contingent of attendees from the Waverly apartment complex in West River.

The group boarded a yellow B&B school bus at 8 a.m. outside Career High School on Thursday morning. They explored the amusement park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., enjoying a seemingly endless supply of burgers and hot dogs for lunch. Finally, just as it began to rain, they boarded the yellow school bus back to Career, headed home.

The whole day, including food and transportation, cost $15 per person.

The trip was subsidized by about $2,300 from the City of New Haven as well as donations from McClam Funeral Home, Lynons restaurant, Aides and Companions, State Rep. Juan Candelaria, a handful of alders, CT-LEAD, Board of Alders, Trinity Temple Church, the Hill Legends, Hang Time Real Talk’s Her Time, and Yale’s Office of New Haven Affairs.

Hubbard additionally ran her own fundraiser, cooking meals for sale and raising over $1,000; she used those funds to purchase the bus for families who didn’t have other means of transportation.

“I am overwhelmed… I am just happy,” said Hubbard after Thursday’s event. “New Haven has a bad stigma,” she said, but “there wasn’t one argument, one fight. It was everybody communicating with each other, laughing, playing. That’s how you get back to the city being a city.”

“Some kids, this was their first time going to Quassy,” Hubbard added. “It touched me, because they were like, ‘When can we come back?’”

Indeed, Hubbard said she was able to sign a contract renting out the park on Juneteenth of next year “whether or not I am the alder,” though she is running for the Ward 3 seat again.

Having the event on Juneteenth, the national holiday commemorating African American emancipation, was important to Hubbard. “It was my way of us celebrating our freedom day, our independence day,” she said. “When I was talking to some of the kids, I was explaining to them why it was important. They really didn’t know.”

The attendees included families from all over the city, Hubbard said. Some kids, like RJ, had never been to the amusement park before.

Others had, like RJ’s 9 year-old sister Lyric.

Lyric, in fact, had been to the park on a

school field trip less than two weeks prior. Was it too much Quassy for a ten-day span?

“I don’t think it was enough Quassy’s,” Lyric declared.

Her number one favorite part was the blue and purple slide, she said. Her second favorite was well, “It was called something… but I’m gonna call it The Death Drop,” she said, miming how the ride swung downwards. “I screamed at the top of my lungs.”

She was ready to go home, drink some cold water, and finish the burger and fries she’d wrapped in tinfoil to save for later.

The water slides and the feast for lunch were a highlight for many kids on Thursday. Also mentioned were “the spinny thing,” according to 12-year-old Nehemiah; “the after bus” (driving home with friends), according to 13-year-old Miasia; and “the splash pad,” according to 6 yearold Melody.

“I think it was pretty cool,” said 8 yearold Mulani, who said her favorite part of the day was the beach.

She said that Thursday was her first time at Quassy. “I like it so much,” she said, expressing excitement that “Ms. Angel said we could come back next year!”

Hubbard said the event was inspired by her mom, Mary Ogman (also known as Honey Ma), who would often organize neighborhood trips to Six Flags (known then as Riverside) and the Connecticut Hall of Fame. “I took that initiative from my mom… because it’s in me,” said Hubbard. “A lot of the families, they don’t have transportation. And we made this trip affordable.”

She hopes to one day bring families to the Bronx Zoo and Mystic Aquarium. “Hopefully,” she added, “this will be a new tradition for New Haven.”

A refreshing rain came near the day's end.

Angel Hubbard Photo Lunch time!

Laura Glesby Photo The Waverly contingent, including RJ and Lyric, after a full day at the amusement park.

The New Haven independent

Dallas Cowboy Inspires At Annual Football Camp

by Lisa Reisman

On a picture-perfect Saturday at Hopkins School’s Parr Field, a group of 75 middle schoolers surrounded a Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman and firstround NFL draft pick, hanging onto his every word as he handed out the highest award at the fourth annual Tyler Booker Football Camp.

“Stay in touch, you hear me, you’re special,” Booker told Arziel Francis, the overall MVP of the morning session, before gathering the group in a huddle. “If you didn’t get an award, your hard work didn’t go unnoticed,” he said. “So proud of you all. Let’s break it down. We family now. Y’all keep it up. Y’all need something, let me know.”

“Awesome,” said Jacob Freeman, who was in the running back group, as he

made his way up to the campus for lunch. “11 out of 10.”

Like Freeman, everyone on the field, the bleachers, lining up at the food trucks on the Hopkins campus was representing the Tyler Booker name, whether in Tyler Booker Football Camp T shirts or blue or white spanking new Cowboys jerseys emblazoned with 52, which was also Booker’s number at the University of Alabama, where he was a first team All American last season.

In late April, Booker was selected in the first round with the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys, joining Floyd Little, the No. 6 pick of the Denver Broncos in 1967, as the only New Haven natives to be selected in the first round.

Well before the draft, the camp, divided into sessions for middle schoolers and high schoolers and run by a select group

of high school coaches, was fully booked. It’s also free for all campers. There was a $20 registration fee at sign-up, which was refunded upon check-in.

“This is for our community and by our community,” said Tyler’s older sister, Jailen Booker, who was on a walkie-talkie, making sure the boxed lunches were ready for the middle school players. “We asked for sponsors, and we asked for volunteers, and everyone came through, everyone has been great.”

“Giving back is huge for Tyler and for our family,” said Tashona Booker, Tyler’s mom, as she exited the campus amphitheater, where she had led a panel discussion for middle school parents. She recalled taking Tyler and Jailen on walks to help fight ALS or sickle cell anemia as children and engaging in efforts to feed the

homeless. “When you’re able to help, you do.”

She added that Connecticut kids don’t get much attention from college and high school football recruiters. “Tyler wants to change that, and we’re going to help him do that,” she said. “He knows there’s real talent here.”

Up on the quad, Tyler Dixon, 8, his morning session complete, was heading with his family for a bench shaded by trees for a picnic lunch. “I learned how to decelerate and how to take a hard step and the best position to catch the ball,” he said. “I learned a lot.”

His father, Tyron Dixon, nodded. “This kind of event is super important for our community,” he said. “Just grateful that the Booker family is gracious enough to share this with inner city kids.”

Back among the food trucks, Brian Burkett-Thompson and wife Capria were selling Gorilla Lemonade to a long line of

thirsty spectators.

“Tyler, the Booker family, they’re not going to let fame or celebrity stop them from what they do,” said Burkett-Thompson who, as part of the Gorilla Lemonade enterprise, has collaborated with Booker on a host of community initiatives. “This camp is about showing these kids what’s possible if you learn the fundamentals and work hard and set high goals for yourself, not just in football but in life.”

Down on the field, William Booker, Tyler’s dad, watched clusters of high school football campers shuffling around cones, side-stepping and tip-toeing through ladders, and back-pedaling on a straight line amid a toot of whistles and shouted commands from coaches.

“It just gets bigger and better every time,” he said. “Can’t beat this and can’t wait for next year.”

Lisa Reisman photos Tyler Booker uplifting the next generation.

Jayden Smart and Jacob Freeman: "11 out of 10"

Volunteers Malakhai Breland, Tanazeia Marks, Kerwens Saint-Anne, and Sheron Marks.

The New Haven independent

Juneteenth Found With The Lost Tribe

by Jamil Ragland

The Lost Tribe feat. Movement of the People Dance Company

Hopgood/Lord Summer Music Series

Bushnell Park Hartford

June 19, 2025

Juneteenth 2025 featured some wonderful celebrations of African American culture around the Capital city, but few were as impactful as hearing the past, present and future of African American music performed by the Lost Tribe in Bushnell Park. Kalamatori.

The concert was part of the Hopgood/Lord Summer Series, which began on June 5.

The Lost Tribe describes itself as “a drum-centered Afro-funk fusion ensemble.” It features nine regular members, including band leader Jocelyn Pleasant, who is a multi-talented percussionist.

The Lost Tribe is reminiscent of the big band style of decades past, particularly the funk-era bands of the 1960s and 70s like Kool and the Gang and Earth, Wind

The Lost Tribe feat. dancers from the Movement of the People Dance Company

and Fire, as well as more contemporary multi-member bands like The Roots.

The depth of the ensemble allows for layered music that takes much longer than the three to four-minute pop songs

we’re familiar with to build to crescendo. A song that begins with Pleasant on the drums could end with Nathan David’s trombone. The next could feature Michael Carabello’s fingers flying across

the keyboard, until it transitions into DJ Stealth on the wheels of steel. There was a sense of the unknown in every song, as the audience waited to see where the band would lead us.

Colonial Mentality

Take the song “Kalatamori.” The song has its roots in New Guinea in West Africa, where it is played as a shout-out to teachers. It begins with the flute as the primary instrument, with the various percussion instruments setting the rhythm for the song. The guitar, played by band regular Douglas Wilson, comes in without fanfare as a member of the accompaniment. As the song continues, the flute and guitar begin dancing with each other, performing a kind of call and response. After about a minute, Wilson’s guitar took over the lead, and the song transformed into something tropical-sounding.

The transitions of each song, from contemporary to Caribbean to African, was a poignant reminder of the interconnectedness of music across the African diaspora.

“Colonial Mindset,” a cover of a song by Nigerian musician Fela Kuti, showed the interconnectedness of music and po-

litical action. The lyrics of the song are a challenge to the current status quo of American politics, but also the place that African Americans find ourselves in. Our battle isn’t so visceral and clearcut as fighting against overt systems of oppression like Jim Crow. So when I Shea says, “What does freedom look like now?”, he’s asking how we define freedom not only for ourselves, but for a host of marginalized groups who find themselves under attack today.

Later in the evening, the Lost Tribe invited guest dancers from Movement of the People Dance Company (MOPDC). It added yet another layer to the intricate performance, as the dancer’s motions traced the musical notes in the air, giving them a visual representation that almost made me feel like I could see the music, the interactions of all the instruments and performers on stage.

The convergence of the Hopgood/Lord Summer Series and Juneteenth was a perfect match, and gave the audience in Bushnell Park a chance to both relax and contemplate. There’s no better use of music.

The New Haven independent

Hill Stalwart Gets Her Corner

by Adam Walker

Annie Louise Boyd spent decades fighting for justice, uplifting her neighbors, and transforming New Haven through service and advocacy.

On Sunday afternoon, neighbors, city officials, friends, and family gathered to ensure her legacy endures, renaming the corner of Congress Avenue and West Street as “Annie Louise Boyd Corner“ in recognition of her life’s work.

The street naming was formally approved by the New Haven Board of Alders on Dec 2, 2024. The proposal, initially submitted by Hill Alder Evelyn Rodriguez in July 2024, called for designating the northwest corner of Congress Avenue and West Street in recognition of Boyd’s service to the Hill neighborhood and the city.

Boyd, a mother of nine and a lifelong resident of the Hill, was celebrated not only for what she accomplished, but for the spirit with which she did it. From her early activism in the 1960s with the New Haven chapter of the Black Panther Party to decades of leadership in housing, education, and social justice, Boyd’s dedication has left a lasting mark on the city.

“She wasn’t looking for a sign on a street she was looking to make lives better,” said Pastor Chip Anderson during the ceremony’s opening prayer on Sunday. “We thank you for putting that in her heart.”

The celebration began as Boyd emerged in a wheelchair, smiling and waving to the crowd while “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” played. Her son, Howard Boyd, introduced her and reminded everyone that this was her day a day to celebrate and respect a woman who loved each and every person gathered. The crowd followed behind her, fists raised, as they marched together toward the corner that now bears her name.

Once assembled, speakers reflected on Boyd’s lifelong contributions. Allison Dodge, representing U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office, praised Boyd’s commit-

ment.

“It was that leadership, commitment and dedication to your community that has made you a hero in the Hill,” Dodge said.

Tomas Reyes, Jr., former president of the Board of Alders, spoke about Boyd’s role in helping the community around her. State Rep. Juan Candelaria reflected on her decades of work in affordable housing and neighborhood development. Her eldest grandchild, Natalie Boyd, shared the history of her grandmother’s life and the values that shaped her enduring legacy.

Throughout her career, Boyd served in numerous leadership roles, including as chair of Project MORE, president of the Hill Development Corporation and National Housing Group, site manager of West Street Housing Association, and member of the New Haven Democratic Town Committee. She also contributed to the Hill North Management Team and Mayor Toni Harp’s community relations task force focused on justice and equity. The ceremony’s high point came as the crowd counted down and Boyd pulled the rope to unveil the new street sign, greeted by cheers and applause. Alder Rodriguez, joined by Alders Angel Hubbard and Troy Streater, presented the official Board of Alders citation.

It honored Boyd as “a symbol of compassion, service, empowerment, and leadership,” recognizing her as a devoted mother of nine and a pioneer of the Hill who uplifted generations through advocacy for youth, education, and justice.

The citation praised her decades of activism and service and concluded, “Today we honor not just what you’ve done, but who you are. Your legacy will continue to inspire future generations.”

The event ended with blessings, and attendees were welcomed in small groups into Boyd’s home to personally share their thanks a fitting close to a day honoring a woman whose presence shaped a community.

The New Haven independent

Annie Louise Boyd at Sunday’s corner renaming.

Boyd embraces attendees.

Alders Hubbard, Rodriguez, and Streater address the crowd.

Ms. Rachel Feeds Her Neighbors

by Lisa Reisman

At precisely 5:10 p.m., Rachel Allen knocked on the door of Isabelle Harris’ first-floor flat at Victory Gardens Apartments on Dixwell Avenue. Harris was expecting her.

“Hey darlin,’” Allen said, handing her a Styrofoam container.

Allen, 80, has been bringing meals to 15 of her neighbors every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday since early 2024. The food comes from the Fresh Starts program, which was established by her grand-nephew Marcus Harvin. The program, headquartered in the basement of Pitts Chapel Unified Free Will Baptist Church, has Harvin and his team, including Harris, assembling meals from excess food from area universities, as well as Haven’s Harvest, to ensure no one goes hungry.

“This is something I just enjoy,” Allen said last Wednesday, as she wheeled her cart down the tidy, carpeted hallway under the soft light. “I like feeding people and I love people and when you live in a building, you’re supposed to be like family.”

Allen grew up in Sumter, South Carolina, the second oldest of four daughters. Her grandmother, Sally Gamble, was a midwife. Allen used to accompany her when she would deliver babies. “I was the only one out of the family that used to go with her,” she said. “She showed me how to take care of the babies, how to do the cord, give the mother their bath.”

When she was 20, she and her sister, Sally Harvin, traveled by bus to New Haven, where they settled with their hus-

bands. “We told our church down there, Bethlehem Baptist, that we were leaving and we came up here to Pitts Chapel and I been here ever since,” she said, as she rapped on another door.

“Hm,” she said when no one answered. “I don’t leave it. I get them later on.”

In the first-floor reception area, Allen encountered Alice Johnson. “Hi baby, how you doin,’” she asked, taking a container out of the cart. Johnson opened it. There was chicken, beans, okra, and a roll. “Yes,” said Johnson, nodding.

“There’s my dinner.”

Allen told her that salad was in the refrigerator in the dining room area.

“Let me tell you about Rachel,” Johnson said, sliding the container into a compartment in her rollator. “She takes care of everyone, little children, us, everyone. The next thing is ushering. When she dresses up to be an usher, no one looks better than her.”

Allen allowed herself a smile. “You enjoy that, y’hear?” she told Johnson.

“Everyone’s on the porch,” someone told her as she passed. “That’s where I’m

headed,” Allen told him.

“Sometimes they’re all outside in the back when it’s a nice day,” she said. While her sister Sally worked for the Department of Social Services and then led the P.T.A. Council as its first Black president, Allen ran a childcare center, she said, as she continued through a conference room. Along with her two daughters, she and her second husband “had 125 foster kids came through our home, and we adopted the last three straight from the hospital,” she said, pushing open the door. Out on the sun-drenched patio, a group

of six residents settled around a table, taking in the early-June sun and chatting about the unseasonably cool spring.

“We’re all family here,” said Tina Edwards, as Allen handed containers to three of the residents. “And Miss Rachel, she’s always feeding people, her family, the family here, our homeless people, children. Make sure you put that in. She’s a community activist in her own way.”

After delivering two more meals, there were three left. Allen said she would try later. “Most everybody in the building is friendly, and some of them stick to theirself, but that’s fine too,” she said, after exchanging pleasantries with someone exiting the elevator.

Back in her cozy apartment, which was wallpapered with photos, she leaned her cart near the door. She talked about her grandmother and her two daughters— “this is the one whose husband was killed,” she said, pointing at a photo and about her mother Oree Kendricks, whom she and Sally used to visit in Las Vegas. She talked about her grandson and her goddaughter and the three kids she adopted and her second husband, who passed away and loved children just like her.

She talked about her sisters, Sally and Rose and Pat, and how much she missed Sally, who died in February 2021. “I’m the last one out of the four,” she said, sighing, over the sounds of “Blue Bloods” airing on her television. “Only God knows why, but I’m good. God has been good to me. “My daughter says, ‘Mom, why don’t you take a break?’ I don’t want to take a break. I got to keep busy. When I’m dead, I’ll take a break,” she said. “This keeps me going, keeps me happy.”

Blumenthal Backs Legislation Aimed At Reducing Veteran Suicide

by Donald Eng

HARTFORD, CT – United States Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has joined Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Joni Ernst, R-IA, in introducing bipartisan legislation to better support the mental health needs of veterans and servicemembers as they return home.

“Veterans who have sacrificed so much deserve the highest quality care our country has to offer,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the rate of veterans suicide is both shocking and shameful. I’m proud to support this bipartisan effort, and I’ll continue to fight to reduce this grim number by bolstering the resources veterans desperately need and pushing back on the reckless firings of indispensable VA staff.”

The Daniel J. Harvey Jr. and Adam

Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide

Act would improve the Department of Defense’s Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Solid Start program by providing increased mental health support for transitioning servicemembers and veterans. The bill was named in memory of two Marines who lost their lives to suicide: Lance Cpl. Daniel J. Harvey, Jr., and Cpl. Adam Lambert.

This bill would seek to reduce veteran suicide by requiring TAP to provide information to separating servicemembers about the mental health challenges they might face while transitioning to civilian life. It would also require VA’s Solid Start program to inform veterans about VA benefits and mental health services available to them at their local VA medical facility. Joy Craig, associate director of VFW National Legislative Services, said the legis-

lation was a solemn reminder of what was at stake for returning veterans.

“Transitioning from military to civilian life can be one of the most vulnerable times in a veteran’s life,” she said. “This bill gives servicemembers the mental health tools they need, early, clearly, and compassionately, to navigate that difficult transition and resolve service-related challenges before they become crises.”

S he called for quick passage of the bill.

“Veterans face a 35% higher rate of suicide in their first 12 months following separation from the Armed Forces, and this transition period provides a critical opportunity to expand access to mental health supports,” said Laurel Stine,executive vice president and chief policy and advocacy officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

In Connecticut, 34 veterans lost their lives to suicide in 2021, according to the VA.

Lisa Reisman photo Rachel Allen (right), with Isabelle Harris: “This keeps me going, keeps me happy.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal speaks at the Connecticut Veterans Memorial at Minuteman Park in Hartford on May 2, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie

The New Haven independent

Q House Celebrates Juneteenth Blowout

by Jisu Sheen

“It’s been a robust day,” said Kara Wallace at an all-day Juneteenth celebration at Dixwell’s Q House a day of art, food, sports, resources, and commitment to collective education and Black culture. Robust was an understatement.

Wallace, the head of marketing and social media activations on the committee behind New Haven’s annual Juneteenth celebration, had worked along with the rest of the Juneteenth team since the early morning to provide hundreds of attendees with Saturday’s offerings.

At the core of the Juneteenth organization was a group with generational roots in the fight to abolish slavery: the Descendants of the Connecticut 29th Regiment, the only Black regiment to fight in the Civil War. Long before Juneteenth became a federal holiday, the Descendants worked year after year to make their Black history known around town. Now, under the leadership of Kelly Mero, Juneteenth in New Haven has blossomed into a blowout event.

Barbara Binns, visiting from Jamaica, called the festivities “excellent.” She was resting in the shade of the Jamaica tent, one of several stations celebrating Black diaspora from places around the world, including Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Brazil.

Suzie Watson, playing games with 2 year-old Skylar, praised the festival for its smooth organization, and said it was easy to get around.

“We got Jeanette Morrison in the house,”

the DJ called out from the outdoor stage. Dixwell’s Ward 22 alder was making her way through the Q House’s plaza to greet the attendees and gush about the girls’ basketball game that was taking place in the gym at the same time.

Two decades ago, the old Dixwell Q House closed, and ten years later Morrison promised to build a new one for the community. Morrison was finally able to cut the ribbon on the brand-new Q House

in 2021. The old building, itself a giant in the hearts of those who remember it, could fit in the parking lot of the new one, Morrison said.

Morrison remembers Mero 14 years ago, trying to get support for Juneteenth festivities in the city.

The first year Mero put on Juneteenth as a festival in New Haven, there were only seven tents. That was back in 2015.

“Now, look at this,” Morrison said, ges-

turing to the plaza filled with something for every age range, interest, and need.

“It’s like a big wedding.”

This year, Mero organized 86 different tents, each with something unique to offer. There were educational tents with donated treasures from Black history, a New Haven oral history poster project, healthcare tents, art-making stations, carnival games from Party Plug USA, job recruitment opportunities, a basketball

tournament with over 170 kids coming together from all over the state, and an E sports competition.

“Y’all did your thing,” Morrison said to Wallace. “I appreciate y’all doing it in Dixwell.”

“This is home,” Wallace responded. She wanted the festival to always remain accessible.

That aim was grounded in the generosity of the festival, with free hot dogs and hamburgers for the kids, free shirts for the basketball players, free health screenings by Cornell Scott Hill-Health Center and Yale-New Haven Hospital, and cash prizes for the gamers. None of the activities cost money to join.

“We didn’t want anything to be cost prohibitive,” Wallace said. She wanted people to feel like they could “come right on over in their own neighborhood.”

Another type of festival might have trouble making the connection from E sports to collective consciousness, but Mero, Wallace, and the rest of the Juneteenth team made every link feel obvious. The day’s exhibits showed utmost respect for everything Black diasporas have created over the centuries, while the abundance of offerings and efforts to stay relevant for the kids constituted a promise to let the young ones’ interests lead the way. A full decade of Juneteenth in New Haven, in the books.

A Special Menu On A Special Day At Sandra’s

by Sonia Ahmed

Bourbon ribs and shrimp po’ boys were on the menu and customers visited from all across Connecticut as Sandra’s Next Generation in the Hill celebrated Juneteenth with a special lineup of meals and an especially busy day.

That was the scene at the family-owned restaurant at 636 Congress Ave. on Thursday, Juneteenth, a now-federal holiday marking the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Tex. on June 19, 1865, two months after the end of the Civil War and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

To celebrate the holiday, Sandra’s put out a special menu and the restaurant was part the Arts & Ideas festival’s Juneteenth restaurant week.

One of the restaurant’s most popular items is the fried chicken, according to owner Sandra Pittman. The chicken is first washed thoroughly, then coated in garlic and Pittman’s own seasoning before being marinated for 48 hours. Then the chicken is coated in breading and fried.

Pittman said the restaurant started in

1989 at her mother’s house in Edgewood. Her mother cooked not only for her six children, but also for the neighborhood.

This inspired Pittman to start selling dinners for $5. Those dinners were then sold at churches and other local businesses before she started a restaurant with her husband Miguel at their current location in the Hill in 1993. Sandra’s has been going strong for the past three decades.

Before the pandemic, co-owner Miguel Pittman decided to remove the indoor seating and emphasize delivery services and takeout options. This proved well for the restaurant, as Miguel said they saw a 300 percent increase in business during the pandemic.

Andre Cuvilie, a chef at Sandra’s, is originally from Jamaica. He said that being a chef at the restaurant was one of his first jobs, and he feels like he is part of a family there.

“For me, it’s a blessing working here,” Cuvilie, who’s been working at Sandra’s for 10 years, said on Thursday.

Pittman said she is selective with who she hires, as her employees must be passionate about their work. She gives people second chances, saying she does not

focus on her employees’ pasts, but rather on who they are in the present. Pittman also mentioned that she loves Juneteenth because people from different states such as New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, come to try her food on the holiday.

Shandrea Pittman, Sandra’s daughter and the manager of the restaurant, said now that Juneteenth is a federally recognized holiday, she hopes more people will be aware of it.

“Our mission [at Sandra’s] is to provide good Southern food that makes you feel your mom or grandma has prepared the food, makes you feel it from the soul,” Shandrea said.

Togi Kuttamberoor and Blake Thorkelson were two of the customers who visited Sandra’s in person on Thursday for the first time. They said they had tried Sandra’s before, but had only used delivery services like UberEats. Kuttamberoor was introduced to the restaurant by his coworkers, and said his go-to is the baked chicken.

Pittman explained that she wants to send a message through her food. ”Food is love, food is a language,” she said. “This is how we come together.”

Sonia Ahmed photo The inside of Sandra's Next Generation is booked and busy with many orders as well as decorations for Juneteenth.

Jisu Sheen The Mighty Marching Blue Machine, a New Haven-based band of kids from ages 13 to 24.

The New Haven independent

The New Haven independent

“Family Business” Charts Apizza Through The Generations

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Lucrezia and Francesca stand in the heart of their family’s restaurant, the tension building between them. Lucrezia, dressed in black from head to toe, is explaining every reason she has to be grateful. There’s a roof over her head and running water. There’s a pie in the oven, flames dancing behind her, and a daughter who can take over the restaurant one day.

On the walls, photographs tell a story of a single family, and the business they have built. The smell of clam pie and crushed San Marzanos is everywhere. And Francesca, who just wants to be a kid for an evening, has finally had it.

“You make no sense!” she cries. Her words hang there, thick and hot. “How do you have more?”

That tension is at the heart of Family Business: (A)Pizza Play, a long-awaited labor of love from the members of A Broken Umbrella Theatre (ABUT) and several New Haven partners including CitySeed, Sanctuary Kitchen and the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. The cheesy, charred, clam-kissed brainchild of Jes Mack and Ruben Ortiz, it builds on A Slice (Of What's To Come), an earlier version of the show that ran at Next Door last summer.

Performances run at CitySeed’s 162 James St. headquarters Fridays through Sundays through June 28. Tickets and more information are available here. https://www.artidea.org/event/2025/5637

“In these trying times, pizza is something everybody can love, pizza is something everybody can come around,” said Shane Quinn, who plays the Sinatra-like crooner Bruno Cantante, on a recent episode of WNHH Radio’s “Arts Respond.” “No matter if you have your preferences about how it’s served or what style it’s served in, it’s something we can all get around. And that’s really what’s at the heart of this show. It’s coming together to break bread in community.”

That’s exactly what the show sets out to do, from sharp, sweet humor that peppers the script to lines that are drenched in New Haven history (and tomatoes, so many tomatoes). Set between 1929, 1949, 1989 and 2010—with plenty of interludes that fill in the gaps in between—Family Business tells the story of the Carbonizzatto family, which has owned the fictitious Mi Caro Apizza for close to a century.

At the center of the story are its reluctant matriarchs: Lucrezia (Lisa Daly), Francesca (Teddy Anderholdt and Luciana Gardner as a kid and teenager respectively; Susan Kulp in her adult years) and Janice (Alice McGill), as well as Faith Pepper (Margeaux Ivy), who all but becomes family by the end of the show. All of them have made it through with a belief in la magia dell'apizza—that there is something specific and unique about New Haven pizza, or maybe the hands that pass it from generation to generation. In the present, Janice is running the joint, as her right-hand woman (Ivy as Faith)

tries to come up with the money for a business loan, and her mom (Kulp as adult Francesca) begins a precipitous spiral into forgetfulness. Around them, it’s graduation weekend 2010, and Janice is so tired. True to the story of a small family business, she’s also constantly fielding offers, which would see the place demolished or turn it into a franchise.

Through a series of flashbacks, short vignettes, and flash forwards, we learn that this is just the latest chapter for the Carbonizzattos, who built their immi-

ludes all weave themselves into the script, with generous humor, reflective passages and the kind of deep New Haven history for which A Broken Umbrella is known. Mack, who is the show’s co-writer, producer and director, has a way of circling back to certain refrains across time and space, so that “When was the last time you ate?” becomes another way of saying “I love you.”

The result is a gentle, genuine, totally delightful homage to New Haven pizza and its real-life matriarchs, including the late Flo Consiglio and Filomena Pepe (née Volpi). Over nearly a century, worked into an economical 80 minutes, the audience gets to know these women through both joy and unspeakable loss, through multi-generational stories, through friends and acquaintances that slowly get absorbed into the Carbonizzatto family lore.

But if this is a show about the uncompensated labor that women do every day, it’s also a show about family, about New Haven’s histories of migration, about the slippery and sticky nature of legacy, about systems that don’t work the same way for everyone. In New Haven, where the scars of “slum clearance” and Urban Renewal still criss-cross the city (and to which Wooster Square was not immune), the message sticks its landing.

Some of the show’s most interesting characters, in fact, are the Peppers, a Black family that has struggled to get a small business loan as they consider what it would mean to buy the restaurant (Babz Rawls-Ivy as the Pepper matriarch, Pearl; Margeaux Ivy as her daughter Faith and Noah Brown as her son, Curtis). As the three cycle in and out of the restaurant, they bring some of the most dynamic performances to the show, mining the past for both a cheeky humor and kind of truth-telling.

So too as Ruben Ortiz takes the stage as Eduardo, a Latino soldier (perhaps one of the 65,000 Puerto Ricans who fought for the U.S. in the Second World War, although it’s left ambiguous) who is treated with racism and disrespect when he returns home. Only towards the end of the show does he get his own kind of family moment, as his grandson recalls visiting the restaurant together for years in his youth.

Mangini breathes comedy into the show, from a moody Uncle Jimmy to a participant in the Faxon Road Race. Brothers Nate and Theo Brown also provide comedic interludes, making the audience wonder more than once if they’re seeing double. Real-life beloveds Dana and Cynthia Astmann world-build as an accordionist and roaming chanteuse, making it seem logical when a band appears onstage at the end of the show. Quinn and Alderman delight as friends Pete and Charles, and make space for a conversation about grief, loss, and the need to push forward that feels true to running a small business. And of course, Kulp and McGill are a winning duo, dynamic as they bump heads, push buttons, soften and mollify, and try each other’s nerves in the way that mothers and daughters do in real life. So too Lisa Daly (Lucrezia, the restaurant’s first owner) and Gardner, as they pass dozens of intangibles (and tomatoes) from generation to generation.

“I do think we all, in working on our backstories and thinking about our characters for this play, harkened back to our families' immigrant experiences,” Kulp said in an interview before the show. “And hopefully, that’s part of what’s brought the richness to all of our characters and ultimately to this big story.”

That history could not be more timely. A century ago this year, Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana opened on Wooster Street in June 1925, followed by Sally Apizza's in 1938. Less than a mile away on State Street, Modern—which started as Tony's Apizza in 1934—changed hands from Nick Nuzzo to Bill and Mary Pustari in 1988. Around them, that landscape has continued to grow, from Brick Oven to BAR to Zaneli’s. As Quinn’s character notes in the show, they represent the best of New Haven, a welcoming city that is open to immigrant businesses from across the globe.

grant-owned business in the first half of the twentieth century. With the help of a rotating set (snaps to Brandon Fuller, who has transformed the space), actors travel through time and space, from the 2010s to the restaurant’s scrappy beginnings in the 1920s and back. As the set rotates, those stories come to life in real time, including by the light of a glowing pizza oven.

That’s the magic of theater, of course, where time can be porous if you want it to be. Dream sequences, epistolary storytelling, comedic sketches and musical inter-

Around them, standout performances abound, particularly among ABUT’s youngest actors. As young Francesca, Anderholt makes the audience fall in love with the character, particularly affecting in a sequence with “Wartime Pete” (Shane Quinn) told entirely through letters. As Anderholt sheds that soft, wideeyed youth, Luciana Gardner steps easily into the role, and it fits her like a glove. It’s through her acting—and later, a fierce Susan Kulp—that the audience gets a feeling for Francesca’s pride and her passion, and for everything she has laid on the line for her family.

This is true community theater, where almost everyone has a chance (or many) in the spotlight, and they glimmer as they do. Playing a handful of characters, Lou

Meanwhile, Alderman-Dow Iron & Metal Co. also celebrates its 130th anniversary this year, in the same vibrant neighborhood that is home to CitySeed. At its helm is Ian Alderman, who plays adult Charles in the show and is the executive director of A Broken Umbrella. In that real-life New Haven story is also the story of the Carbonizzattos, and so many immigrant families who have made New Haven into the diverse and polyphonic place that it is.

Thanks largely to architect, foodie and historian Colin Caplan, there are plenty of nods to New Haven, from the old GANT shirt factory and Canestri's Pastry Shop to the name Carbonizzatto itself, which means “charred” in Italian. It’s in this arena that ABUT does its thing, from references to clam and mashed potato pizza (actors consume BAR’s mashed potato pie onstage) to a character modeled on Frank Sinatra’s famous visit to Sally’s to a few well-placed jokes about Explo. This

Andrew Elliott, Alice McGill, Margeaux Ivy, and Colin Caplan in Family Business: (A)Pizza Play. Performances run at CitySeed’s 162 James St. headquarters Fridays through Sundays through June 28. Chris Randall Photos.

Noah Brown, Margeaux Ivy, and Babz Rawls-Ivy in Family Business: (A)Pizza Play. Performances run at CitySeed’s 162 James St. headquarters Fridays through Sundays through June 28. Chris Randall Photos.

Susan Kulp, Shane Quinn and company in Family Business: (A)Pizza Play. Performances run at CitySeed’s 162 James St. headquarters Fridays through Sundays through June 28. Chris Randall Photos.

Grounded In Art, 116 Graduate Co-Op

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Jericho Scott never got the chance to walk across a stage for his high school graduation. So when it was her turn, his younger sister made sure he was with her every step of the way.

Monday, proud sister Carizma Buonome honored Scott’s memory at the Shubert Theatre, as Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School graduated 116 seniors and bid farewell to beloved arts educators Harriett Alfred and Pat Smith. For Buonome—and so many others at the school—it marked a bittersweet day, in which joy and celebration lived alongside the grief of that which is left unfinished. The Co-Op community is also saying goodbye to Assistant Principal and Arts Director Amy “Ms. Miggs” Migliore, who was abruptly transferred to Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School (BRAMS) last week. She will be helping with its transition to Betsy Ross Arts and Design Academy (BRADA) later this year.

“Welcome class of 2025—a class of trailblazers, artists and young people who have grown up before my very eyes,” said Migliore, whose remarks were delayed by almost a full minute of cheering, applause, and nicknames she has earned from students (“Auntie Miggs” may be the most catchy). “You arrived to us like blank canvases, and you are leaving us as unfinished masterpieces.”

That celebration began well before 1 p.m., as the school’s cafeteria hummed with seniors in their gem-colored caps and gowns, sorted by arts discipline for one last time. As teachers floated around, helping fasten caps, tie up hair and re-fit bobby pins, conversation rose and fell over the tables. A few student rocked homemade stoles and bright honors cords, celebrating far-away home countries, academic distinctions, college acceptances and affinity groups.

Buonome, a theater student who is headed to the University of New Haven (UNH) in the fall, displayed a stole printed with a picture of her brother Jericho, a junior at Wilbur Cross High School who was shot and killed in Fair Haven 10 years ago this April. When it happened, Buonome was just seven, and didn’t completely understand what was going on.

“As I got older, I started to understand it more,” she said—including the fact that her brother’s premature death would forever influence the way she lived her life. In the decade since, Buonome grew up. When Covid-19 hit in 2020—five years after her brother’s death—she was a student at Conte West Hills Magnet School, where the pandemic meant that “we barely had an eighth grade graduation,” she said. When she started at Co-Op, she tried to find what made her tick, and ultimately realized that theater was part of the answer. At the school, an arts magnet that can sometimes feel a little like the musical FAME, “I found myself,” she said.

Through theater teachers like Rob Esposito and Christi Sargent, she learned how to be more extroverted and independent. She explored her passion for helping people, with the realization that she wanted to study fire science and become a first responder. Last year, she also turned her grief into power, advocating for stronger gun reforms before the 2024 election.

Jericho was and is with her for all of that, she said: “In everything I do, I carry him with me.” So when she made it to graduation this spring, there wasn’t a question about who would be with her on that stage. Her sister Sahara, who graduated from Cross in 2019, had done the same.

“My brother was 16, and he didn’t get to graduate before he passed,” she said. “I know he’s, like, really proud of me.”

She added that he’s one of the reasons she wants to dedicate her life to helping others, and specifically to fire science.

The night Jericho died, every first responder she met was gentle with her, kind and delicate as they tried to explain what was happening. A decade later, she still thinks of many of the police that responded as her uncles. In college, she wants to use that experience to help other New Haveners.

She’s not done with the arts, she added: she plans to minor in theater at UNH. The discipline has taught her that through different roles, “you can be multiple people” at once—all while learning new lessons from each character.

Around her, fellow students took the moment to pose with each other for photos, exchange last-minute secrets, run over written remarks, and dance it out between the lunch tables. In the hallway, otherwise quiet enough to hear a pin drop,

three friends posed for a selfie, giggling when art teacher Erin Michaud walked by.

It was nearly time to head to the Shubert, and for a moment, the cafeteria was a freeze frame, in which nobody totally wanted to leave. On one end of the room, tech theater teacher Janie Alexander helped a student with her cap, in a kind of coordinated ballet that has become part of her work in the theater. On the other, Principal Paul Camarco checked in with a few students, weaving through the crowd before he slipped on a cap and gown himself.

As she burst through the room’s entrance, senior Caden Davila-Sanabria suggested that moment—that palpable, excitement-tinged hesitation—was because the transition could feel like a scary one, even to students who were ready.

Reilly adjusted his cap, from which a glowing, mountainous landscape erupted in bursts of brown and white, dotted with dozens of tiny, honeyed lights. A student in the visual arts department, he was inspired by the tradition of lantern releases, which he learned about in his art history classes with teacher Erin Michaud.

In the past four years, he said, Co-Op has taught him skills that are as intrapersonal as they are academic. For instance, he’s spent a lot of time at the Yale University Art Gallery, and also learned “ways to engage with other people who I otherwise wouldn’t have gotten to know.”

The sculpture on his cap, complete with a Triple A battery pack wrapped inside a construction paper mountain, felt like an homage to that personal transformation. After high school, he plans to attend CT State Gateway for Visual Art.

“Certainly I’ve learned a lot of humility,” he said. “Every one has some chance to put themselves out there.”

“Art Lives Inside of You”

That balancing act—of holding the sweet with the bitter, the present with the future—followed seniors to the Shubert, as students filed into the theater to the sound of Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” played by the strings department.

In the rows and rows of shimmering, ruby red caps and gowns, there were dozens of stories: of creative writers who found their voice in the pages of the student publication Metamorphosis, of student soloists who dazzled both in school and outside the classroom, of theater kids who rocked the all-school musical and saw senior year through to honor a best friend gone too soon.

“I’ve never not gone to school [in New Haven] before,” said Davila-Sanabria, a creative writer who made the theater department her second home. Growing up in the city, Davila-Sanabria went to preschool in Westville, and has spent the rest of her time in the New Haven Public Schools. When she heads to Bard College in the fall, it will mark the first time she’s part of a private school since before kindergarten. She doesn’t know what to expect.

And yet, she said, Co-Op has also prepared her for that future. Somewhere between hands-on actor visits, homework assignments, and dramaturgy, “I’ve learned how to be a real person,” she said. “I’m definitely doing what I want to do how I want to do it. I’m not fitting into any boxes.”

Across the cafeteria, Justin Stephen

As teachers, administrators and student speakers came forward to address the class, many acknowledged how extraordinary the past four years have been. Not only has high school challenged them academically, said Principal Paul Camarco: it’s challenged many of them personally. As they move on to college, trade school, pre-nursing, military service, and professional training, he encouraged each of them to invest in themselves.

“You’ve faced challenges, setbacks, and uncertainty, but you’ve adapted, you’ve persevered,” he said, adding that it is ok—and even necessary—to ask for help. “You kept showing up, and that perseverance is the foundation of self-investment.”

Both salutatorian Eva Berthelot-Hill and valedictorian Cassandra Cleremont (her sibling, 2023 valedictorian Adi Clermont, is studying computer science at Boston University) echoed that message, encouraging their classmates to remain curious—and obsessed with the love of learning, rather than perceived rank or status—and also know when to lean on other people.

But it was Migliore who captured the

Creative writer Joanna Perez with her mom, brother, and dad. "I've opened up a lot" through her writing, she said.

Ali'jah Steed, who graduated alongside his twin brother, Aaron.

Juneteenth Joy, As Hip Hop History Comes Alive

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

In a little black box theater on Audubon Street, DJ Tony Crush was taking it back to 1972.

From one side of the room, the Soul Searchers’ “We The People” floated over rows of chairs, their occupants already standing. On the other, lifelong New Havener Linda Lampart listened closely, moving her head to the beat. In the center of the action, Dr. Hanan Hameen Diagne leaned to one side, and popped her shoulder towards the sound. Around her, clapping filled the room. It was becoming impossible not to dance.

A focus on hip hop, history, and heritage came to Neighborhood Music School on Thursday, as the seventh annual New Haven Hip-Hop Conference dug deep on the music, dance and cultural exchange that became a social movement five decades ago. An initiative of the Official Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven (JCGNH) and the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, the event focused on the necessity of Black stories and Black storytellers, particularly in and across the arts. It dovetailed with the coalition’s broader theme, which this year is “Together In Truth.”

“It’s about the community, it’s about having a space here for everyone,” said JCGNH President Dr. Hanan Hameen Diagne, as attendees gathered outside for a live graffiti demonstration from DJ Dooley-O Jackson. “We’re here to celebrate our freedom, to celebrate the freedoms that we do have, to celebrate being together, and to provide the space to build community.”

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.

The coalition’s activities continue Friday through Sunday on the New Haven Green, with a Friday evening “Juneteenth Jamboree,” Saturday village and marketplace, and closing concert with the violin duo Sons of Mystro on Sunday night. Earlier this month, they began with a flag raising ceremony and Juneteenth restaurant week that began June 15.

“We’re providing the space to document our history correctly,” said Hameen Diagne. “And teach people how they can do it, so we can get more of our stories shared by us, straight from the mouth of those who experienced it.”

And from the beginning of the day to a keynote from hip-hop pioneers M-1 & Umi of Dead Prez, presenters and participants alike captured history in bright, vibrant and often danceable detail. Even as attendees trickled into the school, which stands between an old foundry and arts workshop on Audubon Street, history seemed to work its way into every room, from the heavy double doors to a woodchip-covered, tented area outside that was ready for graffiti.

In the black box, author and historian

Jill Marie Snyder prepared a presentation on her latest research, which explores a largely-hidden history of slavery in nineteenth-century New Haven. Crush, of the iconic Cold Crush Brothers, set up a station with old-school turntables and shiny records, the vinyl discs still matte black and mysterious in their sleeves. He futzed with a mic, taking in the intimate audience as he thought about what he was going to say. Down the hall and up a set of stairs, AfroCrowd’s Sherry-Ann L. Antoine propped up a computer for Wikipedia editing, in the hope that attendees might stop by, set up usernames, and start adding Black histories to the public domain. She first brought that work to New Haven earlier this year, in a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon from the coalition at the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library.

Thursday, she was excited to see what new stories and interests attendees brought with them. She stressed the importance of sources like community newspapers and the Black press, which often share credible information that doesn’t exist elsewhere.

“This is a historical occasion in the community,” she said later in the day, as she worked with jazz drummer and educator Jessie Hameen to reset a password. She encouraged attendees to document the celebration itself, as well as the surrounding neighborhood. “You’ve got all these different things happening in the community, and what we’d like for people to do is these deep dives,” including additions of information rich with citations.

Outside, that vision came to life as Dooley-O pulled out a massive sheet of posterboard, and introduced himself to a dozen or so participants. As he lifted a can of lime green spray paint, he wound the clock back to New Haven in the 1980s, when the old Lee High School was “a playground” for young graffiti writers like himself, who were still just learning the tricks of the trade.

He shook it, stepping back, and outlined the letters J-U-N-E. Back at the old Lee High School, a former version of himself was taking in graffiti writing for one of the first times, still wide-eyed with wonder. He later brought that same awe to locations around the city, from Henry Street to Coogan Pavillion to Collective Consciousness Theatre.

Back in the present, attendees held on to every word. On a bench to his left, two kids leaned in closer to watch every move. He motioned to the artwork, cocked his head to one side, and then extended his hand and prepared to spray once more.

“I knew that one day, the people who didn’t like graffiti was gonna be out,” he said as the letters seemed to pop out from the white posterboard. He paused to unscrew the cap and put another in its place, explaining that it would give off a finer, smoother spray. “All of this wouldn’t have happened if hip hop wasn’t around.” For years, he was part of that transformation. When hip hop was born in 1973, Jackson was just a small kid, more interested in the rites and rituals of childhood than the artistic practices that would soon come into his life. But around him, hip hop was evolving from a rec room in the South Bronx to a genre that was both its own, and belonged to so much of music history.

By the 1980s, that style had become linked with not just dance and music, but also with modern art and the guerrilla, iterative nature of graffiti. After seeing it in New York in the late 1970s, Jackson started trying it out himself (“I used those for, you know, creepin’ around at night type of things,” he said of the cap). With a smile, he remembered how eager colleagues were to practice on train platforms and subway cars. Back in New Haven, it was the beginning of something.

By 1989, he loved it so much that he had turned it into a show called GTV—Graffiti TV—on Public Access Television. “When you’re looking at graffiti, you’re looking at no limitations,” he said. Back in the present, he stepped back to assess what the design needed next.

“Let’s get this red poppin!” he said.

As they watched, lifelong New Haveners Linda Lampart and her daughter, Kristina Lawrence, reflected on what Juneteenth means to them. Thursday, they’d come out to the conference after meeting Hameen Diagne at another event, and hitting it off with her. Together, the two run Spa At Home, a mobile massage station that promotes healing and self-care.

That mission felt especially resonant Thursday, both said. Over a decade ago, Lawrence decided to pursue massage after using it to help her grandfather cope with the pain of emphysema. “He had me do his hands and his feet, and he was like, ‘It feels good, it feels good, Papa feels better,” she remembered with a smile. After finishing high school, she went right into massage therapy.

Now, it has allowed her to become a Black small business owner and a proud second-generation New Havener, with a young daughter of her own. When she thinks of Juneteenth in New Haven, she

AfroCrowd’s Sherry-Ann L. Antoine and Jesse Hameen.

JCGNH President Dr. Hanan Hameen Diagne.

Haley Vincent-Simpson and her daughters.

Supt. Scraps Teacher Layoffs, Proposes Brennan-Rogers Closure

by Maya McFadden

A week before the start of the new fiscal year, New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Supt. Madeline Negrón has come up with a new budget-mitigation plan that would scrap previously proposed teacher layoffs and would instead close Brennan-Rogers School, cut teacher vacancies, eliminate central office positions, merge classrooms, and reduce funding for athletics-related travel.

After all that, this new plan would still leave a $3.8 million hole in the budget. Negrón provided that update Monday during the Board of Education’s latest meeting at John C. Daniels School in the Hill.

Her new plan comes just days before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. Negrón had said earlier this month that she would need to lay off teachers and other school staffers as many as 129 of them by July 1 in order to address a budget deficit exacerbated by insufficient state funding and the end of federal Covid-relief dollars. Mayor Justin Elicker had also said in early June that schoolstaff layoffs were “unavoidable.”

Now, at least according to Monday’s presentation, those layoffs may not happen even as another school closure looks increasingly more likely.

“This year we have faced unprecedented challenges in crafting our budget,” the superintendent said on Monday. Even with $5 million more from the city and $1.7 million more from the state, she said, NHPS is still looking at a $14.6 million budget gap next fiscal year.

Negrón’s initial plan was for cuts to “things that I know our kids need and deserve” like a quarter of arts staffers, all middle school athletics, and all librarians. She initially proposed a total of 129 student-facing staff layoffs. That would have saved $9.35 million and, combined with other savings plans, would have left the district with a $1 million budget gap. But after listening to community feedback, suggestions, and criticisms, she went back to the drawing board and has come up with a new plan.

“We’ve been trying to problem solve,” she said Monday.

Negrón’s plan, as presented Monday, can be read in full here. The school board didn’t take a vote on the plan on Monday, and instead intends to hold a special meeting on the topic before July 1.

Negrón’s new budget-mitigation plan includes:

• The closing of Brennan-Rogers School, which would save $2.2 million. Negrón told Brennan-Rogers family and teachers about the West Rock school’s potential closure at the very end of the school year, last week. Brennan-Rogers community members came out to Monday’s school board meeting to speak out against the potential closure. Click here to read a full story featuring the voices of parents, grandparents, and teachers advocating for Brennan-Rogers to remain open. “Brennan Rogers did not fail, we failed Bren-

Rogers advocates Monday.

• $400,000 in cuts to part-time work for staff that stay after school.

• $200,000 in cuts to the district’s travel and mileage-costs budget. That would include cuts to the $290,000 that the district currently spends on travel for sports teams, as well as to the $230,000 that the district currently spends on staff parking at New Haven Parking Authority facilities.

• Cuts to three librarian positions, as opposed to her original proposal to cut all 25. She said that one of the to-be-cut positions is a staffer currently assigned to central office as a Library Media Specialist (LMS) coach. Under this plan, that librarian would be assigned to a school. The other two to-be-cut librarian positions are currently vacant. Negrón said that library media specialists for elementary schools would continue to be shared amongst schools, while all of the high school librarians would remain in place.

• No cuts to NHPS arts educators. “I couldn’t cut not even one,” she said Monday. “We need them to be able to run the schedules. Without them we could not run the schedules. And second, we have contract agreements. Without them it would’ve resulted in some serious issues in violations to contracts. So no cuts to the arts.”

• The elimination of 21 vacant teaching positions, one vacant paraeducator position, seven vacant central office positions, and two currently filled central office positions.

• The consolidation of classes and classrooms, which would increase classroom sizes for next school year’s middle and high schoolers.

She told the board members and public that she has proposed closing Brennan-Rogers because of its low enrollment of 132 kids. She said that the school’s preschool program was also closed earli-

er this year because only six families had registered.

In response to critiques by some members of the public that closing Brennan-Rogers will rip apart a community, Negrón said, “I agree with you, but I have no other choice because I have a $6 million gap.”

And in response to critiques that the two schools slated to close this year Brennan-Rogers and Wexler-Grant have been unfairly targeted because of their students are predominantly Black and brown, she said, “I agree with the speakers. Black and brown communities, often we find ourselves there because the root problem is that we’re not adequately resourced.”

Board of Education Vice President Matt Wilcox said he didn’t think the board should vote on Negrón’s new plan Monday night. He called for a special meeting to be held close to July 1 “so that there’s time for last-ditch efforts to mitigate that final $6 million or so and potentially avoid an abrupt school closure.”

He noted that the recommendation to close Brennan-Rogers would still leave NHPS with a $3.8 million gap that would likely be closed through layoffs.

“There is no space to be able to do that. Those cuts would be devastating to the schools,” Wilcox said.

He added, “I’m not in support of any of those cuts per se,” but a Board of Education is required under state law to spend only the money that comes to it from the local, state, and federal governments.

He noted that NHPS is still chasing a more than $3 million deficit for the current fiscal year. “When you look at the [state] per pupil funding, we’re underfunded. If we had the funding that Hamden had per pupil, we would have more than $50 million. We would be talking about expanding programs, not cutting programs. If we even had the state average, if we even had what Hartford has, we’d be looking at another $10 or 12 million, which would wipe out a lot of those devastating cuts that were listed there.”

Mayor Elicker, who sits on the Board of Education, added Monday, “I’m sorry to the Brennan-Rogers community. I’m sorry to the entire New Haven Public Schools community because it’s a very, very difficult time.”

Reached for comment on the superintendent’s new budget mitigation plan, Graves told the Independent, “To protect the future of public education here in New Haven, the district must reinvest in strong, well-resourced community schools that are fully funded and fully staffed for every neighborhood. School Choice leaves many families with no choice of staying in their neighborhoods when lower resourced schools, like Brennan Rogers, end up closing due to low enrollment.

“The West Rock community deserves to be supported and protected, not dismantled further than it already has. Being in community with the Brennan Rogers C.R.E.W. last night, it’s evident that the potential closing of this school will be a evastating loss to the City of New Haven.”

Brennan Rogers protesters Monday. Watch the full June 23 Board meeting above.

nan rogers,” teachers union Vice President Jenny Graves said alongside Brennan

Negrón's new budget mitigation plan -- with no teacher layoffs, but Brennan-Rogers closure.

Maya McFadden photos Brennan-Rogers staff and families push back on closure plans.

The New Haven independent

Alders Speak Out For Brennan-Rogers

by Maya McFadden

Two west-side alders and a state representative stood alongside teachers, parents, and community advocates Wednesday at a press conference calling for New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) to release a line-by-line budget breakdown and to keep Brennan-Rogers School open.

West Rock/West Hills Alder Honda Smith led that press conference with Westville/Amity Alder and Majority Leader Richard Furlow and State Rep. Pat Dillon at The Shack community center at 333 Valley St.

The presser marked the latest community pushback, and the first spearheaded by elected officials, against Supt. Madeline Negrón’s new plan for trying to close a nearly $15 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The superintendent’s most recent plan, revealed to the Board of Education on Monday, calls for the closure of Brennan-Rogers School, the elimination of vacant teacher and central office positions, the reduction in funding for athletics-related travel, and a number of other cuts in order to avoid a previously pitched plan to lay off up to 129 student-facing school staffers.

Negrón has cited the Wilmot Road PreK 8 school’s declining enrollment –of only 132 students as a primary reason for why it might close. The district has also decided to close Wexler-Grant school in Dixwell and merge its student body with Lincoln-Bassett in Newhallville.

“I must publicly and firmly express my opposition to such a proposal,” Alder Smith said on Wednesday about the district’s proposal to close Brennan-Rogers.

Smith said she opposes the plan because closing Brennan-Rogers would negatively impact the West Rock/West Hills community’s sense of wellbeing; because of Brennan-Rogers’ legacy as a community school; and because the school is currently used as a polling place, and shutting it down might make it more difficult for neighbors to cast their ballots.

“This school carries the legacy of a woman who dedicated her life to empowering families who were often forgotten,” Smith added about Brennan-Rogers’ namesake, Katherine Brennan.

Smith went on to emphasize that the school is in a neighborhood with six large public housing developments. She said that McConaughy Terrace has 208 school-aged children, the Valley Townhouses has 90, Westville Manor has 109, Twin Brooks has 88, Brookside has 115, and Rockview has 43. And that doesn’t include children who live in privately owned or rented properties.

“Closing it would be a devastating blow to this community’s future,” she added.

Students may face increased absenteeism, suspensions, and lower academic performances if displaced from Brennan-Rogers and bussed elsewhere, she said.

Smith also said the school’s closure would displace the neighborhood diaper bank and health care supports.

Reached for comment Wednesday, NHPS spokesperson Justin Harmon told the Independent that Brennan-Rogers is a magnet school. He said students from all over the city can apply to attend, though the school is not open to students from outside New Haven.

Of Brennan-Rogers’ 132 registered students, 46 in total or 34 percent live in the school’s neighborhood, according to Harmon.

He also noted that the district is working to create a more detailed budget book but does not expect it to be complete before this week.

Rep. Pat Dillion: "I think we should sit down in a room [and] go over every single line the same way we do the state budget."

Also at Wednesday’s press conference, State Rep. Dillon said she’s witnessed first-hand the consequences of “the lack of communication between the Board of Education and our own delegation.”

“All of a sudden, at the last minute people, were saying we want X money, but they were doing it at press conferences and nobody had spoken to us,”

she said. “I think we should sit down in a room [and] go over every single line the same way we do the state budget.”

She said she thinks communication is not in a healthy place and should be addressed. “I’m not here to make any promises,” Dillon, a former alder, added, “except to say I do think having been on both sides of this that we need to look over the budget piece by piece.”

Other speakers at Wednesday’s press conference included Alder Furlow, Westville’s Dennis Serfilippi, former city alder Portia Jenkins and her brother Gregory Jenkins, and Brennan-Rogers staffers Charlene Neal-Palmer and Kristin Kazakewic.

Serfilippi criticized Negrón and Mayor Justin Elicker for not coming up with a detailed budget-mitigation plan sooner for the school district, and he called for NHPS to publicly provide a detailed operating budget for the school district. Furlow agreed that a detailed NHPS budget analysis is needed. “We’re going to get the answers,” he said. “And we’re going to keep asking the questions until the answers make sense.”

In regards to Brennan-Rogers’ potential closure, Furlow said, “I do have a concern about removing a resource from an area that is lacking resources… I think this is more than about a school closing. It is about creating and maintaining an area, a neighborhood, a community that needs to remain vibrant” like East Rock, Westville, and Edgewood.

Kazakewic, an educator at Brennan-Rogers for the past 15 years, said Wednesday, “Dr. Negrón stated that she understands the impact closing would have on our students, but does she really? Does she know what it’s like to go to the home of your kindergarten student in the morning after his mom tragically passed away, and to feel the tightness of his little arms wrapped around your neck? I do.”

Brennan-Rogers Principal Kim Danely joined staff during Wednesday’s presser. She said she understands the district has a budget deficit to mitigate, but is “hoping they can find a way to protect our school, the community, and dedicated employees’ jobs.”

West Hills native Gregory Jenkins said that, when he was growing up, he went to open gym at Brennan-Rogers with others in the neighborhood, “That gym was everything we had. It’s what kept us out of trouble,” he said. “This is criminal. At the end of the day, kids are a product of their environment, so what are they going to do?”

Smith concluded that several Brennan-Rogers staffers have reached out to her to get resources for their students over the years. She concluded that, without Brennan-Rogers’ staff’s “first con-

Maya McFadden Photos Alder Smith, with Majority Leader Furlow (right): Don't close Brennan-Rogers.

Maya McFadden Photos Alder Smith, with Majority Leader Furlow (right): Don't close Brennan-Rogers.

At Wednesday's presser.

The New Haven independent

Bama Joins the Juneteenth Party, Thanks to — Republicans???

The state where some of the civil rights movement’s toughest, deadliest fights unfolded — becomes the 29th to make the day slavery ended a state holiday. BY JENNIFER PORTER GORE, A WORD IN BLACK

Seventy years after the Montgomery Bus Boycott became a flashpoint of the Civil Rights Movement, Alabama makes Juneteenth an official state holiday. This year, for the first time, Alabama — the Heart of Dixie, where Klansmen bombed a Black church, Black leaders boycotted segregated buses and Gov. George Wallace personally stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama to keep Black students out — will celebrate Juneteenth as an official state holiday.

THE STATE LEGISLATURE LAST MONTH APPROVED LEGISLATION HONORING THE DAY THAT MARKS THE UNOFFICIAL END OF SLAVERY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. OFFICIALS PLAN TO CELEBRATE THE DAY WITH COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND THE LEGACY MUSEUM AND NATIONAL MEMORIAL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE — ALSO KNOWN AS THE LYNCHING MUSEUM IS OFFERING FREE ADMISSION ON THE HOLIDAY.

Juneteenth has been a federal holiday since 2021. For the last four years, Alabama’s current Republican governor, Kay Ivey, used her executive powers to designate Juneteenth as a state holiday. The legislation will make the designation permanent.

“Since President Trump observed Juneteenth in June of 2020, we have pro-

claimed it each year, and I am pleased the Legislature has made it an official state holiday,” Ivey said in a terse statement.

For Brenda Ward, this year’s celebration is merely the first step.

“I’m looking forward to it being taught in school more as well as in the churches through classes or the community centers,” said Ward, chair of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation of

Alabama.

The bill, which cleared the House of Representatives last month by an 85-4 vote, was sponsored by Republican Rep. Rick Rehm. Alabama senators didn’t debate the bill, but many of the chamber’s Republican members chose not to vote on it. The state has a GOP supermajority in both legislative houses.

“This is a bill that is constituent-driven,

that is brought to me by my constituents,” Rehm said when introducing his bill on the House floor in April. “To me, this is a very important holiday because Juneteenth celebrates the end of 330 years of the West African slave trade.”

Black Democrats Tried to Pass the Bill

But the bill is more or less identical to one Alabama’s Black Democratic lawmakers introduced repeatedly for several years.

Republicans, concerned that adding a new state holiday would increase costs for taxpayers, killed that bill again and again.

“We can’t carry a bill to acknowledge what has happened to us [or] get it out of committee,” said Rep. Mary Moore, a Black Democrat from Birmingham, in reaction to Rehm’s bill. “But you can bring the bill and get it out of committee, a bill that’s about us! There’s something wrong with that — that the only way that it could be a good bill is if somebody else carries it, and not the people that were affected by it in the first place.”

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were officially granted their freedom — even though President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier.

Alabama became a U.S. state on December 14, 1819, after several Native American tribes were forced to move west of the Mississippi River. During the early to mid-1800s, the state’s wealthy farmers considered slavery essential to their economy, and Alabama was one of the nation’s largest slaveholding states. Alabama was among the first six states to join the Confederacy.

Alabama still recognizes three Confederate-related state holidays, including one in January that jointly honors Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert E. Lee.

Brazilian tourist falls into active volcano in Indonesia, reports say tour guide ‘abandoned’ her

by Francis Akhalbey, Face2FaceAfrica.com

Efforts are still underway to try and rescue a 26-year-old Brazilian tourist who fell into an active volcano in Indonesia. Per BBC, Juliana Marins was hiking close to the crater of Mount Rinjani when she fell.

Located on the island of Lombok and standing at 3,726 meters, Mount Rinjani is the second highest volcano in Indonesia. The popular tourist location also attracts hiking enthusiasts.

Marins was with a group of hikers when she went missing early Saturday morning. Authorities in Brazil said the 26-year-old fell from “a cliff that surrounds the trail next to the volcano’s crater.”

“It was really early, before sunrise, in bad visibility conditions with just a simple lantern to light up the terrain which was difficult and slippery,” a climber who was part of Marins’ group told Brazilian TV network Globo.

Another climber also described the climb as “really hard,” adding that “it was so cold, it was really, really tough.”

And though efforts are underway to rescue Marins, Indonesian authorities said those attempts have been thwarted by the challenging terrain and foggy weather.

On Saturday, however, Marins was heard

shouting for help, Mount Rinjani park authorities disclosed. They also said she wasn’t in danger during that period, but she was seemingly in a state of shock.

Videos that were shared online and by Brazilian news outlets also showed Marins down the cliff on Saturday. She was seen in a sitting position and making movements, seemingly indicating that she was still alive.

Rescuers were, however, unable to locate her later on Saturday. That was after they made a 300m (984ft) descent to the spot they thought she was at, BBC reported. They also tried to get her attention, but there was no response from her.

Park authorities said that drone footage on Sunday indicated she had disappeared from that spot. They also said their rescue efforts and operation of a thermal drone were being stalled because of thick fog.

Marins was eventually found by rescuers on Monday, but she had apparently descended deeper, her family said, adding that “climate conditions” had caused those rescue efforts to be halted.

Her family on social media also said rescuers had “advanced just 250m down, they had 350m left to reach Juliana but they retreated,” per BBC. Despite her predicaments, the 26-year-old’s family said that the park was still operating, and the route

in question was still being accessed by hikers. They said all of this was happening “while Juliana is NEEDING HELP! We don’t know the state of her health! She still has no water, food or warm clothes for three days!”

Earlier, Marins’ sister told Brazilian TV station Fantástico that Marins was “abandoned” by a local hiking guide before she fell. She claimed that Marins asked her guide to “stop for a while” after she “got very tired” during her hike, however, the guide didn’t but continued without Marins. “They continued on, and the guide didn’t stay with her,” Marianna said.

On Monday, an official with the Asian nation’s forestry ministry told the news outlet that there was no need to cordon off the trail because officials determined it “would not disrupt the evacuation process.” “Climbers were cautioned and directed not to approach the evacuation site,” the official said.

The official also said that other climbers had traveled from far and already booked online to visit Mount Rinjani. “Closing the climb would have potentially caused chaos for those climbers,” he added.

Marins’ family on Tuesday announced that rescue efforts had resumed.

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Juliana Marins, 25, fell into an active volcano in Indonesia -Photo Credit: Rescue Juliana Marins/Instagram

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First HBCU pavilion at Venice Biennale honors African Diaspora with a talking drum

By Nadia Addezio and Sylvie Bello Special to The Inner-City News courtesy of the AFRO

Professor Coleman A. Jordan teaches architecture at Morgan State University. For over two years, he has worked closely with students and alumni from the Baltimore HBCU, as well as from Tuskegee and Clemson Universities, to realize “ReCall & Response,” a wooden pavilion whose form evokes African instruments, the djembe and the dundun—the latter often referred to as the “talking drum.” This striking work, blending architecture and sound, is now on view at the Marinaressa Gardens in the captivating lagoon city of Venice.

“The drum has always been the heartbeat of everything. The drumline is essential if you look at historically Black colleges and universities. It’s central to the school’s identity,” says Jordan.

That’s why exhibiting in Venice marks a major milestone: it’s the first time an HBCU (historically Black college or university) is participating in a globally renowned event like the Venice Architecture Biennale.

“In the ’80s and early ’90s, only about 2 percent of architects in the U.S. were African American. And now, in 2025, the most recent data I’ve seen still puts us just above that 2 percent. We haven’t made meaningful progress in terms of access to this kind of opportunity. So I believe it’s critical for an HBCU to be represented,” Jordan explains.

The architecture faculty at Morgan State is led by Abimbola Asojo, an educator of Nigerian descent who is well-experienced in African architecture and global issues.

“ReCall & Response” was inaugurated on May 10, coinciding with the opening of the 2025 Venice Biennale. The project aligns with the Biennale’s core theme of “Repair, Regenerate, Reuse,” and seeks to mend cultural rifts between African diasporas and African Americans. It also works to rekindle the shared cultural practices, values and historical ties that

have defined their intertwined histories.

A particularly symbolic moment will occur on June 21: “At the heart of the pavilion, a circular opening serves as a ceremonial space. An elder from Ghana will step inside, wearing traditional kente cloth, and pour libations to honor the solidarity between Africa and its global diaspora,” Jordan shares.

Constructed entirely out of wood, the pavilion embraces the principles of environmental sustainability that guide the broader exhibition across this lush green

HYPERLOCAL

space. It is part of Time, Space, Existence, a major showcase organized by the European Cultural Centre—an independent cultural institution with several branches across Europe, including one in Venice. The structure is built without nails or

glue; it’s designed to be easily assembled and disassembled, using only interlocking wooden joints.

Its creative spirit is expressed through both carved symbols and vibrant textiles crowning its peak. Ghana, the cultural thread linking much of the work, is represented in many details—including the Sankofa, an Adinkra symbol meaning “go back and retrieve.” It speaks to the act of reaching into the past to reclaim one’s story in order to move forward. This symbol has become emblematic for many African Americans. While the Sankofa is rooted in Akan tradition, the wax fabrics animating this monumental drum also come from West Africa—Ivory Coast, in particular. These textiles were crafted by Talking Hands, a social project that brings together migrants and refugees currently living in Italy. Many of the artisans come from countries such as The Gambia.

“In a sense, it’s very poetic: taking the idea of ‘talking drum’ and turning it into an instrument that can be played collaboratively. This also reflects the spirit of collaboration behind the project, which is really about bringing people together,” says Amos Asamoah, a student from Ghana at Morgan State University.

Connecticut man rescued from chimney, arrested after bizarre attempt to save dog trapped in park bathroom

by Prosper Kuzo, Face2FaceAfrica.com

35-year-old Carlos Owens’ actions landed him in handcuffs after employees at Rockwell Park in Bristol called authorities and reported that someone was in the chimney at the recreational meeting facility.

According to The Post, firefighters had to remove $5,000 to $10,000 worth of parts to free Owens, whose pup was waiting in the bathroom after also getting stuck inside the building the night before. For now, it is not clear if Owens was trying to climb up or inch down the chimney, but police said they found him near the flue at the base.

Although Owens was unharmed when discovered by cops, he was immediately cuffed and charged with burglary, trespassing and criminal mischief. Community engagement coordinator

for Bristol Parks, Recreation, Youth and Community Services, Erica Benoit, stated that the bathroom doors are set on timers and lock every night at 10 p.m. For the other doors, they can still be opened from the inside overnight. For Owens’ pet to be stranded in the lavatory, it means it would’ve had to enter before then.

“It is a bit of a crazy scenario. Our parks staff is working with the police department and the fire department to make sure that doesn’t happen again. If he had just contacted police in the first place, we might have been able to avoid the situation,” Benoit said.

Nonetheless, it’s unclear how the man found himself stuck in the chimney with his pup, but thankfully, the dog was unharmed, only slightly befuddled. Owens was reportedly released on bond and ordered to appear in court on July 7.

photo credit : AP, Bristol Police Police have revealed that on Sunday, a man got stuck in a chimney while he tried to rescue his dog that was trapped inside a locked bathroom at a Connecticut park.

The “ReCall & Response” pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale takes the shape of a traditional African drum, symbolizing dialogue across the African Diaspora. Credit: Courtesy photos

Coleman A. Jordan, a professor of architecture at Morgan State University, led the collaborative pavilion project featured in Venice.

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ALL Bids to Viking Construction – estimating@vikingconstruction.net

Project Description:

This Pacific House Project is subject to Prevailing Wage Rates, and is Sales Tax Exempt for Labor only. This project consists of only ONE new building, 4-story woodframed construction with 85 units and common spaces on 4 acres. (Buildings 14 & 15 are NOT constructed; they are a future phase.) This project is PASSIVE HOUSE which has higher performance standards than Energy Star.

DRAWINGS AND SPECS are available on 2 sites per below: SharePoint Link: https://vikingonstruction.sharepoint.com/sites/vik-biddocs/VIK%20 Bid%20Docs/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2Fvik%2Dbiddocs%2FVIK%20 Bid%20Docs%2F23%2D220%20Pacific%20House&p=true&ga=1

Project includes 25% SBE and 6.25% MBE participation goals. DAS certified S/M/W/DisBE’s, Veteran, Section 3 Businesses as well as local subcontractors and vendors are encouraged to participate on this project.

Trades include but are not limited to: Div1, Cleaning; Div 2, Sitework, Paving, Utilities, Landscaping incl. Irrigation, Fence, Furnishings, Playground Surfacing, Segmental Retaining Walls, Site Concrete for walks and ramps; Div 3, Cast-In-Place Concrete, Gypsum Underlayment; Div 4, Thin Masonry Veneer Panel system, Unit masonry; Div 5, Structural Steel, Metal Fabrications incl. Railings, Stairs; Div 6, Rough Carpentry, Wood Trusses, Finish carpentry; Div 7, Vapor & Air Barriers, Weather Barriers, Insulation systems, Structural Thermal Break Material, Fiber Cement Siding, EPDM Roofing, Asphalt Shingle Roofing, Prefabricated Roof Specialties; Div 8, Hollow Metal Doors & Frames, Pre-hung Doors, Patio Doors, Hardware, Aluminum Entrances, Storefront Systems, uPVC Tilt Turn & Fixed Windows (Passive House); Div 9; Drywall, ACT, Flooring incl. Ceramic Tile, Resilient, Carpet, Paint, Intumescent Painting; Div 10, Metal Wall Louvers, Plastic Signs, Mailboxes, Toilet & Bath Accessories, Closet Specialties; Div 11, Waste Recycling Systems (including Trash Chute), Residential Appliances; Div 12, Residential Kitchen & Bath Casework incl. Countertops, Entrance Mats & Grates, Blinds; Div 14, Elevators; Div 15, Fire Protection, HVAC, Plumbing; Div 16, Electrical incl.: Generator & Transfer Switch, Fire Alarm, Telephone & Television Wiring, Telephone Access Entry System, Security System, Commissioning.

Project Notes:

Bid documents are also available on SharePoint, no password required. PLEASE SEND REQUEST FOR SHAREPOINT LINK ALONG WITH ANY QUESTIONS TO: estimating@vikingconstruction.net

Viking Construction, Inc. especially encourages the participation of all Disadvantages, Section 3, Minority, Women, Disabled and Veterans Business Enterprises. AA/EOE.

The Glendower Group Request for Bids

The Glendower Group on behalf of the Owner and General Partner St. Lukes Development Corporation (SLDC) is seeking bids for Abatement and Demolition Services in connection with the St. Lukes Redevelopment. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Elm City Communities dba The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (ECC/HANH) is seeking quotes from qualified contractors to perform HVAC Services for LIPH (Low Income Public Housing) Units. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from ECC/HANH’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 3:00PM.

Elm City Communities is currently seeking bids for Services of a authorized reseller to provide Microsoft Licenses. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at 3:00PM.

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.

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 .

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY STATE MODERATE RENTAL PROGRAM

MR 19, 19A, 066, and 008 PUBLIC NOTICE

OPENING OF THE 2 AND 3 BEDROOM WAITING LISTS

Effective July 1, 2025 the Seymour Housing Authority will open the 2 and 3 bedroom State Moderate Rental Waiting List for a period of 90 Days and it will be closed again on September 30, 2025 in accordance with its Tenant Selection and Continued Occupancy Policy. Apparently eligible applicants for these lists will be placed on the waiting list as a result of a random lottery of the pool of apparently eligible applicant from the open period. The lottery drawing will be held on Thursday November 6, 2025 at 2:00 P.M. in the Main Lobby of The Seymour Housing Authority, located at 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT 06483. There are existing apparently eligible families on our 2 and 3 bedroom list at the present time, and the pool of applicants from the July, August and September 2023 open application period would be placed at the bottom of the current waiting list.

Family must first meet the eligibility requirements to qualify for this program. Maximum Income and Base rents averaging $530 or 30% of income, whichever is higher, applies for this program. Applicants must demonstrate an ability to pay the base rent to pay utilities for the unit including oil heating, electricity, and water. Applicants for the 2 bedroom list must demonstrate an ability to occupy all 2 bedrooms based on their household composition. Applicant for the 3 bedroom list must demonstrate and ability to occupy all 3 bedrooms based on their household composition. Please be advised that these programs are not subsidized voucher programs, such as Section 8. This program is for Low to Moderate Income State Public Housing. For more information on Qualifications, please visit our website at www. Seymourhousing.org or contact us at 203-888-4579.

Applicants can be picked up from the Seymour Housing Authority at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 or requested at 203-888-4579.

Applicants may also apply online at www.seymourhousing.org. At the top of the homepage, go to the “Waiting List” drop-down menu. Then, under Brothers Court, Chamberlin Road, and Seymour Avenue, click on “Online Application.”

Please follow the instructions provided to complete your submission.

P2 PLUMBING WORKERS NEEDED

Warehouse/Yard Manager:

Large CT Fence Company is looking for an individual to manage our warehouse/yard. Prior warehouse shipping/receiving and forklift experience a must. Duties will include loading and unloading of trucks, pulling and staging orders for installation and retail counter sales and maintaining general yard organization. Basic computer skills required, ability to fill out daily paperwork accurately, assist with inventory control and supervise other yard staff. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test, have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to obtain a DOT Medical Card. Competitive wages and benefits provided. Send resume to: gforshee@atlasoutdoor.com

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

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY Modernization Management & Planning Services RFP No. P25002

Please register here to obtain Bid Package: https://ha.internationaleprocurement.com/requests.html?company_id=49968

The Constitution and Immigration Chaos

By April Ryan

The nation’s democratic state attorney generals are conferring with one another over these unprecedented tense and escalating migrant raids conducted by ICE agents, the FBI, DEA, and other federal and local authorities. Migrant captures happen in hardware stores, construction sites, immigration courts, farms, vacation resorts, and hotels. The most recent chaos surrounds aggressive ice raids on Mexicans, Brazilians, and others who are said to be illegal in this nation by overstaying a visa or being undocumented.

As for Los Angeles and the recent tensions stemming from the ICE raids, Democratic ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, New York Congressman Greg Meeks, says President Trump “decided to enflame the situation” by sending in the Marines “for what?” Meeks says the president's actions on the

National Guard and military presence in LA are “overreach” and “unconstitutional.” The Constitution is the standard reference Democratic state attorney generals are leaning on amid this current Trump immigration deportation controversy.

Aaron Ford, Democratic Nevada State Attorney General, says the focus is to “uphold the law“ and “if they [ICE and Trump administration] are unconstitutional, we have to stand up against that.”

Over the weekend in Las Vegas, Black Press USA talked to Ford, who laments, “There is a lot of trepidation and fear.”

Among the group of democratic state attorney generals is Keith Ellison of Minnesota, who most recently was on a list of lawmakers targeted by the Trump-supporting, right-wing evangelical preacher 57-year-old Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot and killed a state lawmaker and her husband Saturday and wounded another state lawmaker and their spouse as well.

The horrific events happened at 2 AM on Saturday, the day the president celebrated his birthday with the military review in front of the White House. Amid this immigration raid chaos, the president's poll numbers are underwater. A recent NBC News poll shows President Donald Trump’s disapproval rating is 55%.

One of those who actively disapprove of President Trump’s immigration policy is former CNN Anchor and now independent journalist Jim Acosta, who asked, "Where are the ICE raids at the Trump properties? Could somebody call ICE on the Trump golf course in Virginia? You're telling me there's nobody in there that is undocumented or has some kind of squirreliness going on with their paperwork?" He commented Saturday on Substack’s Contrarian program. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to Acosta, calling him “a disgraceful human being.”

Black Americans Face Unequal Burden as U.S. Inches Closer to War

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press National Correspondent

As the United States edges closer to possible military action against Iran, history signals a familiar reality for Black Americans: disproportionate risk, unequal support, and a long legacy of being asked to sacrifice more while receiving less. From World War I through Iraq and Afghanistan, Black servicemembers have routinely been overrepresented in combat roles and underrepresented in decision-making positions. Today, although Black Americans make up just over 13% of the U.S. population, they account for nearly 19% of active-duty Army personnel. “When the U.S. goes to war, Black Americans, whether as civilians, enlisted personnel, or military families, often carry a disproportionate share of the burden,” Liscah R. Isaboke, Esq., Managing Partner at Isaboke Law Firm, PLLC, told Black Press USA.

“Historically, Black service members have been overrepresented in frontline and high-risk roles while underrepresented in officer ranks,” Isaboke said. “This exposure results not only in increased physical danger, but also long-term disparities in access to VA benefits, career advancement, and mental health care upon return.” That overrepresentation is linked to greater economic inequality. Recruitment data shows the military draws heavily from low-income communities, and Black Americans—more likely to face systemic barriers to college and employment—are disproportionately represented among enlistees seeking stability, education, or opportunity. Once enlisted, they are less likely to be promoted into leadership roles, often due to bias in evaluation and selection processes. According to the VA’s National Health Study, 21.9% of deployed Black veterans screened positive for PTSD, compared to 14.1% of

white veterans. Studies have shown that Black veterans are less likely to receive long-term, culturally competent mental health care and face more barriers to follow-up treatment. Military justice records also reveal that Black service members are more likely to face court-martial than their white counterparts.

“Black Americans have historically been overrepresented in the U.S. military while being under-protected both at home and abroad,” Cazoshay Marie, a disability advocate, artist, and writer, wrote in an email to Black Press USA. “From the disproportionate impact of PTSD and other invisible war wounds among Black veterans to the lack of adequate support upon returning home, the psychological and socioeconomic costs of war weigh heavily.” “Increased military spending often

coincides with the defunding of essential programs—education, healthcare, and community infrastructure—which are lifelines in our communities,” Marie said. Those federal divestments have long-term consequences. During the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s estimated that the U.S. spent over $6 trillion on military operations, interest payments, and veteran care. As those expenses ballooned, domestic programs—including housing subsidies, public education investment, and job training—faced cutbacks. Black Americans, already on the receiving end of wealth gaps and institutional neglect, felt those losses acutely.

In their February 2024 essay “The Race Gap That Shapes American Views of War,” published in Foreign Affairs, Naima Green-Riley of Princeton University

and Andrew Leber of Tulane University wrote that Black Americans have consistently been less likely than white Americans to support U.S. wars abroad. The authors cited not only political and moral skepticism but also a deeply rooted sense that these wars are carried out in the name of democracy while offering little tangible benefit to Black communities. “Black Americans are more inclined to ask: Is this war just? Will our people gain anything from it? And what are we sacrificing for a country that so often withholds justice at home?” Green-Riley and Leber wrote.

The article pointed to cultural responses, including KRS-One’s 2008 track “Our Soldiers,” which critiques the Iraq War and opens with a siren that initially evokes U.S. policing. The song’s hook, “Front-

line of the political war,” highlights a dual consciousness: the experience of fighting abroad while being targeted and marginalized at home. “As a historian of public health and policy, I can say that when the U.S. goes to war, Black Americans often shoulder a disproportionate share of both the burden and the consequences—on the battlefield and at home,” Dr. Zachary W. Schulz, of the Department of History at Auburn University, told Black Press USA. “Historically, military service has been a double-edged sword for Black Americans,” Schulz said. “From the Civil War through Iraq and Afghanistan, Black soldiers have fought for freedoms abroad they were denied at home. Military service offered mobility, education, and sometimes even a pathway to civil rights advocacy—as in the case of the Double V campaign during WWII—but it also exposed Black personnel to racism within the ranks, limited advancement opportunities, and post-service disparities in veteran care.”

“Civilians are also deeply affected,” Schulz said. “Wars often fuel economic shifts and labor demands that open up jobs for Black workers—only to see those gains reversed when the war ends. Wartime policing and surveillance disproportionately target Black communities, and anti-war protest movements led by Black activists—think Muhammad Ali or Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech—have historically met with state suppression and public backlash.” “The impact is layered,” Schulz added. “Black Americans are overrepresented among the fighters, under-resourced in the aftermath, and frequently erased from the national narrative of sacrifice.” “We must tell the full truth,” Isaboke concluded. “Black Americans have always shown up for this country, even when this country has not always shown up for them, especially in times of war.”

Group of black people. Crowd of people. Stronger together concept. Solidarity of different men and women. Different human silhouettes. Vector illustration

(Photo by Iryna Alekseienko)

Building Black Brotherhood Between Straight & Queer Men

By Taylor Lofton, BlackHealthMatters.com

BLK is the leading social and dating app for the Black community and has launched a transformative Pride Month 2025 campaign titled Solidarity is for the Homies. This initiative seeks to strengthen the bonds between straight and queer Black men. This aims to redefine Black brotherhood as a space of inclusivity and respect.

Insights from the Survey

Their campaign consists of multiple components, one of which is a national survey of nearly 3,000 Black men. This was conducted to reveal the complexities within the community and to identify lingering tensions in society. While 48.4% identify as allies to queer Black men, 36% remain uncomfortable with these friendships. Furthermore, 32.4% have either made or laughed at derogatory jokes about queer Black men which showcases the ongoing need for conversations and understanding. However, nearly half recognize the unique challenges their queer counterparts face which shows a growth in empathy.

Key Findings

Their Comfort With Queer Friendships

• 39.8% are comfortable with close, platonic friendships with queer Black men

• 6% are uncomfortable, and 24.3% are neutral.

Derogatory Comments

• 32.4% have made or laughed at derogatory comments about queer Black men

• 43.5% claim they never have

Defending a Queer Friend

• 46.6% would publicly defend a queer Black friend against attacks on their masculinity or identity

• 23.6% would not Stereotypes

• 58.2% have heard stereotypes about queer Black men (33.4% “overly flamboyant,” 16.7% “threat to traditional Black culture”)

• 36.2% claim they haven’t Avoiding Friendships

• 23.4% have avoided friendships with queer Black men due to others’ perceptions

• 61% have not

Allyship

• 48.4% say they’re already strong allies

• 19.4% want more positive queer-straight friendship examples

• Campaign Features and Positive Change

The campaign also features a three-part video series created with Ziggy Mack Johnson, a Los Angeles-based content creator. The series features open conversations between straight and queer Black friends, capturing moments of vulnerability and authenticity.

Ziggy notes, “This series is about showing the love, the struggles, and the realness that holds us together as Black brothers, no matter who we love. It’s per-

sonal for me because these conversations remind us that, at the core, we all want to be seen, accepted, and supported.” Episode 1 premiered on June 11 on BLK’s YouTube Channel. Watch Episode 1 here. The BLK app invites users to actively participate in this cultural shift through meaningful tools. One feature includes a limited-edition in-app profile sticker designed by graphic artist Davian Chester. This sticker is designed to celebrate and support queer Black men, encouraging users to make a visible statement of allyship. By incorporating this sticker into their profiles, users can promote meaningful conversations and foster a more inclusive community. Take a look at the sticker here.

Additional features of the campaign, such as the Ally Badge and Solidarity Pledge, are designed to foster intentional allyship and create a nurturing, supportive environment.

Amber Cooper, BLK’s Brand Manager, emphasizes, “At BLK, we don’t just create campaigns — we tell stories that come from the heart of our community… ‘Solidarity is for the Homies’ is real, honest, and necessary because it reflects the complexities, joys, and challenges that Black men face every day. Our goal is to build something authentic, something that doesn’t just check a box but truly honors the diverse experiences within Black brotherhood”. As Solidarity is for the Homies promotes deeper conversations and fosters meaningful relationships, it extends a warm invitation to anyone seeking a place of understanding and acceptance. Through captivating stories, inclusive tools, and open dialogue, BLK hopes to build a community where everyone feels valued. The BLK app is ready to welcome you to join its journey toward unity and solidarity.

We Need Solidarity Now More Than Ever Initiatives like these are critical as we hear news that the federal government announced that it has directed the national suicide prevention hotline to stop giving specialized support to LGBTQ+ callers. Saying they will be directed to the general number.

The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that had been providing specialized support, received a stop-work order, effective July 17, 2025, according to The New York Times.

While there will no longer be a 988 number for services, The Trevor Project will continue to offer resources through their nonprofit’s hotline numbers. These proposed cuts were not intended to take effect until next year, so the organization is scrambling.

Founder of HBCU Move-In Day Mafia Honored on Sherri Shepherd’s Daytime Talk Show for Transforming the Lives of Foster Youth Attending HBCUs

By BlackNews.com

TeeJ Mercer, the dynamic founder of Move-In Day Mafia, was recently spotlighted on the nationally syndicated Sherri talk show hosted by Sherri Shepherd. During the April 9th episode, Mercer was honored in the “She’s the Boss” segment for her groundbreaking work helping low-income and former foster youth transition into college life at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

A proud Howard University alum and 25-year Hollywood veteran, Mercer launched Move-In Day Mafia in 2022 to provide fully decked-out dorm rooms and ongoing monthly care packages to students who have

aged out of foster care or face housing insecurity and extreme financial hardship. The nonprofit has since served 84 scholars across 21 HBCUs, with remarkable retention results—92% in 2024, compared to 0% in its pilot year. The idea was born when Mercer met a young woman who shared how her social worker dropped her at college with no guidance or support. This heartbreaking encounter, coupled with the staggering stat that only 1% of kids in foster care ever graduate from college, propelled Mercer into action. What started as a single act of kindness has evolved into a full-fledged movement—one that’s catching national attention.

What sets Move-In Day Mafia apart is its deeply personalized approach. Each room is curated by professional

designers from Nikki Klugh Design Group, and students get to select their own snacks, hygiene products, and supplies, down to their favorite toothpaste and cereal. “The tears don’t fall when they see the beautiful rooms,” Mercer shared. “They fall when they realize we paid attention to what makes them feel seen and loved.”

Her appearance on The Sherri Show not only sparked laughter—thanks to a hilarious on-air slip-up from Mercer—but also ignited a surge of new donations and volunteers. It’s not Shepherd’s first time supporting the cause; she’s also helped raise $55,000 by playing on Celebrity Jeopardy and Celebrity Family Feud, all in honor of Move-In Day Mafia.