THE INNER-CITY NEWS

WineDown CT Curates A Vibe

Lucy Gellman

Monique and Lee Patrick held each other arm in arm, taking in the scene around them. Down Central Avenue, members of the Little Lion Collective prepared a tasting table, bottles of Black Girl Magic Sparkling Brut and a Moscato Spumante Dolce glinting in the sunlight. Across the street, a vendor market had popped up, with new books of poetry alongside literature on reducing recidivism and healing with home remedies. By sundown, there would be a futuristic portal just feet away, ready to transport attendees to the 6th Dimension.

“No ageism allowed! No sexism allowed! No homophobia. This is love,” crowed emcee Frank Brady, jamming as he looked across the grass. On a tree strung with blank CDs, the disks emitted bursts of prismatic light. “We outside for love.”

That love—and a joyful, sun-soaked, early summer kind of vibe—defined WineDown CT’s "The R&B Block Party Experience” Saturday, as vendors from Westville’s annual ArtWalk gave way to an evening of music, poetry, visual art and sommelier-level conversations and tastings in the heart of the neighborhood.

In addition to a buzzing vendor market and lineup of food trucks on Fountain Street, the event included live performances and a packed DJ lineup, from poet Michell Clark and Sage Noel to Ru Love, the Dwayne Keith Project and Natasha Ramos among others. Hundreds attended.

It is the rosé-kissed brainchild of holistic healer Thema Haida and DJ and media consultant Loren Jefferson, who have worked to grow the pop-up series since November 2021. After capacity events in January and March, the duo wanted to return to Westville at the very cusp of summer. ArtWalk weekend, during which the Central Avenue Patio is a main artery, seemed like the perfect time to do so.

And it was: hundreds of people turned out, creating community shoulder to shoulder well into the night. Some came from as far as New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Dallas and Houston, Texas to support the event. Around them, Black and Brown businesses flourished all night long, from herbal tea makers to small-batch bakeries and entrepreneurs with a serious sweet tooth.

“It feels amazing,” said Jefferson, who appeared as her mellifluous alter ego, DJ Too Much before the night was over. “It feels great to be able to create an experience that people want to be a part of, and are excited to come to. Like, we need it at this time especially.

So anything we can create to take peoples’ minds away from every day, even if it’s just for a few hours.”

“When they’re here, they’re here to experience something different, to meet new people, and to feel love and joy.”

Now in its fourth year of programming, WineDown began in late 2021, as people were beginning to pull out of a pandemic-induced fog of isolation. Folks were eager to get back out in the world, and needed a destination. Inspired loosely by Issa Rae’s eponymous series, which unpacks episodes of her HBO show Insecure, it was a space for adults to gather, celebrate, and bloom amongst each other, with an emphasis on having a good time and creating safe and joyful spaces.

The titular wine is perhaps secondary to the welcome: the series is a whole vibe, in which being seen and safe— and able to unwind—is the whole point. Like a fine wine (or Rae, who now has her own brand of prosecco with E. & J. Gallo Winery), the series has grown and matured in ways that Haida and Jefferson could not have imagined when they started. Think of the classiest engagement party you’ve ever been to, take out the meddling in-laws, the oppressive straights, and that angsty teenager that definitely wasn’t invited. Turn the cool factor up a notch, and you’re getting there. Then make it all about friendship, with little touches like vases of flowers, plein air jenga and outfits that feel fit for a club, but will less of the fuss.

“It feels great to continue to grow and explore and create new events each time,” Haida said Saturday, as she fielded vendor questions in one moment,

then doled out hugs and chirpy hellos in the next. “No event is the same as the other. We’ve done an event in this space before, but it didn’t look like this. So it’s a joy, always, to have different ways to express ourselves and different ways to engage community.”

Around her, the street was transforming: curator, artist and writer Juanita Sunday and poet Josh “AnUrbanNerd” Brown slid a huge, chrome-colored pentagon onto the street, where a faded mural from artist Heather Hope still stretches out across the pavement in blue and pink. On the sidewalk, blackand-white pillars from the Art of Jahmane made the corner feel like an art

That’s what she wanted to bring to Saturday’s event, she said. In the months leading up to WineDown, Sunday— who was also busy curating DiasporaCON—began to research portals, with the vision of a time machine. Saturday, she seemed a little amazed that the day had arrived.

In a growing vendor market behind them, poet Michell Clark prepared to read two poems from his recent publication Eyes On The Road, copies of which he had also set out on the table before him. As an artist and author, he said, he’s constantly working—which makes joyful, creative and communal spaces like WineDown all the more vital.

“I need somewhere to be where I can just be,” he said. WineDown has become that place. The location was an added bonus, he added: he lives close enough to walk right over.

Meanwhile, the first guests of the night began to trickle in, in a sea of floral silks, gauzy fabrics, tinted sunglasses, tidy headscarves and bandanas, and jewelry that glowed and jingled. There with her friends Vanessa and Michelle, Sasha (“like Beyoncé, she said with a smile) remembered attending a WineDown at Bear’s Smokehouse, and falling in love with the series. So when she saw another event pop up, she knew she wanted to be there.

“I like the vibe,” she said. Michelle agreed, calling it the kind of series that helped put Connecticut on the cultural map. “All of the different things, the people.”

In line behind them, Hamdenites Monique and Lee Patrick showed off their matching, distressed denim, which Lee accented with an immaculate Knicks baseball cap. Despite Saturday’s semifinals game against the Celtics, there was no question that they would be out at WineDown, in part to get to know the region better. While they moved from New York 18 years ago, “we’re still getting to know Connecticut,” Monique said.

park, as if a person had strolled momentarily into Storm King Art Center. Across the street, a line snaked down Fountain Street, the hum of conversation mixing with the music in the warm air.

“It feels really cool” to be a guest artist after coming as an attendee, Sunday said. When she launched the 6th Dimension as an exhibition in New London in 2023, Haida and Jefferson were supportive, enchanted with the idea of a portal like one in the show. Months later, they were still excited about the idea when Sunday reimagined the show at ConnCORP, just over the New Haven-Hamden town line.

That sense of growing community is part of the team’s hope for the series going forward. Beyond basic needs, like financial support, new community partners and physical spaces to plan and stage events, Haida wants to cultivate joy, from feel-good music that can make a body move to the friendships formed in line for that perfect, dry prosecco. “It feels quite necessary,” she said. “It feels almost like an emergency. Like a 9-1-1 emergency to do that. I’m just excited that so many people were excited to come here, because that just tells me how great the need is. And happy that we’re even able to do this today.”

Arts Council of greater New Haven

Thema Haida and Lore Jefferson during the evening. Steve Snaps Photo with permission from WineDown CT

Attendees Donisha and Cindy Lee, who drove from New London.

Clergy Speak Out As Avelo Deportation Contract Begins

Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

In what now feels like another life, Pastor Josh Williams took Avelo Airlines out of New Haven. At the time, the tickets jumped out at him; they seemed cheap, easy, convenient. The airport was close by. The flight got him to where he needed to go. If he was unsettled—if something didn't seem right—he shook it off.

Now that the airline is in the business of separating families, he can't fathom making that decision ever again. And when he thinks of why, there's a migrant who comes immediately to mind, right alongside Kilmar Ábrego Garcia. His name, of course, is Jesus Christ.

Monday evening, Williams brought his impassioned words to Burr Street, as faith leaders, immigrant rights activists and advocates of due process and the U.S. Constitution gathered outside Tweed New Haven Airport to protest Avelo Airlines' contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The budget airline began to charter deportation flights out of Mesa, Ariz. through that contract on Monday. Introduced by Bishop John Selders, who leads Moral Monday CT, speakers presented a united front against the airline, pointing to the sheer inhumanity and greed that running deportation flights entails.

For almost an hour, faith leaders turned the street into a house of worship, turning to both scripture and personal anecdotes as they addressed the crowd. From nods to Leviticus and Isaiah to the meaning of the word Ubuntu, speakers kept the crowd at attention, pausing only for the intermittent honking of cars that drove through the space, some drivers cheering in support. Over 100 attended, in what became the culminating hour of a day-long vigil for those deported and detained without due process.

"They decided to do something that was cheap in their mind. That was easy in their mind. That was convenient in their mind," said Williams, a pastor at Elm City Vineyard in downtown New Haven, of Avelo. "But what they did wasn't right. It was wrong. There's something about these options, the options that we have, as we choose to see how we're committed ... is to refuse what is cheap. Is to refuse what is easy. To refuse what is convenient. To do the right thing. That's what we have an opportunity to do today."

"What happens to the men and women transported by Avelo cannot be done in my name, or your name, or the name of a God I know and love and proclaim," added Rev. Carleen Gerber, associate minister at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme. "I stand in horror at this travesty."

The rally, the first to include faith leaders among its ranks, follows weeks of public outcry following the announcement of Avelo's contract with ICE. After that news became public last month, members of the New Haven Immigrants Coalition spearheaded a petition that has garnered almost 40,000 signatures. Advocates have shown up at TweedNew Haven board meetings and spurred growing community pushback to the airline.

Meanwhile, Avelo has maintained that the contract was simply a financial transaction, to get ahead of city- and statewide competition. Or in the words of Avelo CEO Andrew Levy, as first reported by the New Haven Independent, the contract was "too valuable not to pursue."

Monday, that argument didn't fly for those like Williams, who once counted himself among Avelo's passengers. Noting his own discomfort with that fact, Williams asked attendees to raise their hands if they had ever flown Avelo.

When over a dozen hands went up—his included—he acknowledged that the flights once seemed too good to pass up.

But last month, after learning what Avelo was taking part in, something in him shifted immediately.

"If you're a witness, raise your hand," he said, and more hands went up. "If you know the name Kilmar Ábrego Garcia, raise your hand.” More hands, still. “Do we want to support an airline that can charter a flight that has a story like that on it? No! So we have to support something different. We have to ask ourselves: what are we willing to do? What are we willing to give up in order to do not just the right thing, but the just thing?"

He turned the clock back to the 17th century, when the enslavement of Black Americans—the treatment of people as property—was part of America's founding sin. At some point, he said, he learned that half of all enslaved families in the U.S. were separated. These were families who colonizers stole from their homes, marched onto ships as cargo, and later pushed across man-made borders into a life of forced labor. He doesn't want to support that kind of violence in anything he does.

"We want to have a different way here," he said.

At times, the rally was reminiscent of those held outside of sanctuary congregations eight years ago, as migrants fought their deportation orders from within New Haven and Connecticut houses of worship. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration rescinded the immigration policy that protected churches, hospitals, and schools from immigration raids. And just as he was in 2017, Rabbi Herb Brockman is again at the front lines.

Brockman—who led Congregation Mishkan Israel for over three decades

before he retired in 2017—remembered his own childhood in Youngstown, Ohio, where he grew up as the child of immigrants. His father, a rabbi from Riga, Latvia, grew up in poverty, separated from other kids and unable to learn in school because of his Jewish faith. His mother, also raised in a Europe cleaved apart by war, remembered hiding in the woods to avoid sexual violence when soldiers raided the village where she lived. Her brother, who was older, would run there with the other girls in the family. They didn’t shy away from talking about what they had escaped— and sacrificed—to make it to the United States for their future generations.

"When they came to this country, all of them felt very strongly about what this country was all about," Brockman said.

For a while, that buoyed him. Each day, a young Brockman would walk into school, turn toward the flag, and say the pledge of allegiance with his classmates. Decades later, he thinks of that pledge—a pledge "to justice, and to what is right"—as an echo of the millennia-old words of the prophet Micah, who asked his followers: "What doth the Lord require of thee?"

"Only to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God," he answered, the crowd cheering and clapping. "So every day, I got up and I recited that pledge—I was so proud to be part of that tradition."

But the older he got, the more he realized that the pledge was "an ideal," a statement about America as it could be rather than America as it was. He kept his faith, urging those who listened to practice that commitment to justice. He did that himself, fighting back against the Trump Administration from sanctuary coalitions to recent lawsuits.

And still, he feels the heavy weight of this moment. As he spoke, he sported two intertwined symbols of freedom: a yellow ribbon for Israeli hostages, and a tiny red poppy, which has long been a symbol of Palestine.

"Every morning I wake up, I feel what's happened overnight," he said. "What evil has occurred? What is the government doing to people that are vulnerable, that live on the edges of society, who themselves were immigrants to this country and are treated without respect?"

Bishop John Selders, who leads Moral Monday CT, welcomed a lineup of speakers that lasted for almost an hour. ""How many of you feel just a little bit outraged?" he said at the top of the rally. "How many of you feel like this ain't right, we got to do something?"

Turning his attention to attendees, who

Pastor Josh Williams: "They decided to do something that was cheap in their mind. That was easy in their mind. That was convenient in their mind." Lucy Gellman Photos.

Rev. Carleen Gerber, associate minister at the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme: "I stand in horror at this travesty."

Rev. Scott Marks, who closed the rally, and Rev. Kelcy Steele, who spoke about the need to remember history.

Tardiness Targeted In Principal’s First Full Year

by Maya McFadden

In an effort to cut into chronic absenteeism rates and make sure that teens are showing up to class on time, Hillhouse Principal Dr. Antoine Billy has started handing out business cards including at a nearby McDonald’s as he asks the community to keep him in the know about students who skip or aren’t in school when they should be.

Billy reflected on that effort, among others, as he has worked to decrease Hillhouse’s student chronic absenteeism rate from 57.6 percent last year to 47 percent so far this year, during his first full year as the school’s principal.

Billy shared that update and more during a recent interview with the Independent. At the start of this school year, one of Billy’s goals was to decrease the school’s chronic absenteeism rate to 52 percent. (The district defines a student as chronically absent if they have missed 10 percent of school days or more.)

This school year is Billy’s first full year on the job after stepping up to helm the city’s second-largest high school in February 2024. Now 15 months in, he said he feels he’s getting to a place where “surprises are less each day.”

His goals for leading the school remain the same since he started which is to support Hillhouse’s students as they strive for greatness every single day.

To work on decreasing chronic absenteeism and tardiness, Billy has canvassed the Sherman Parkway school’s neighborhood to give community members his business card, asking that they notify him if students are skipping school in a nearby park, McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, or corner store. “Call me if you see them,” is his message.

The school’s average chronic absenteeism rates remained in the low-30 percentages until major cold weather events in January and February caused the chronic absenteeism rate to increase to 47 percent, he said.

So far, Billy said, he’s focused primarily on observing and learning about the current state of Hillhouse to then inform future improvements. He thanked his team for seeing his vision for rebuilding Hillhouse’s foundation. Hillhouse had 11 vacancies last school year, Billy reported. This year, he said, it currently has none.

A change he has already made is bringing consistency to Hillhouse’s leadership by remaining at the helm of the school. He stepped into Hillhouse’s top role after a revolving door of permanent and interim principals in recent years: In March 2022, Glen Worthy stepped down as Hillhouse principal after six years in the job. Retired former Wilbur Cross Principal Peggy Moore filled in as interim until Mark Sweeting took over in July 2022. Moore then returned to serve another stint as interim Hillhouse principal in August 2023 after Sweeting resigned. Billy said that, over the last year, he’s sought to model excellence for his students through his focus on relationship

building, accountability, and high expectations for all.

Next year he aims to take more risks, he said, as he now feels he’s observed a lot to help him continue to raise the bar for Hillhouse students and staff.

Focusing On First Years

Billy noted that setting the bar high for ninth graders is a task he looks forward to next year.

It’s also one that he began working on this school year. He reported that last year, 63 percent of ninth graders at Hillhouse were on track to move on to be sophomores. As of last Thursday, Billy reported that his team has surpassed his initial growth goal and has 71 percent of first-year students on track to move to become tenth graders.

He attributed this growth to Hillhouse’s staff enhancing its Tier One intervention efforts, meaning they don’t wait until students begin to show drastic academic decline or behavioral struggles and instead intervene with support early on.

He noted that many Hillhouse teachers have also been pulling students for “lunch bunches,” which are early intervention groups aimed at connecting with any students but particularly first-years who have sudden changes to their grades or are beginning to fall through the cracks.

When it comes to expectations for firstyear students, Billy said his team looked beyond the state’s six-courses-a-semester requirement for ninth graders and required first years to take seven courses.

“We’re pushing them to be great because I know they can meet the bar no matter how high,” he said.

He added that the school has also implemented a cohort support model for

a student who had missed a full year of school who told him, “I heard Hillhouse is changing.”

Billy said he believes students are seeing the recent work being put into making Hillhouse more welcoming and positively known in the community. The school’s number of fights has decreased by 50 percent so far, he added.

Next year, Billy hopes to make monthly efforts to meet with the school’s student government association to hear student voices in a more formal setting beyond the daily student input he receives while walking the school’s hallways.

He also hopes to focus in on providing the tools and partnerships needed for the school to support all students in improving their reading comprehension and algebraic skills, which are two areas that he’s observed over the last year need work.

He added that social-emotional skill development will continue to be a focus to help students in time management, conflict resolution, and relationship building.

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first-years. This means each of Hillhouse’s four assistant principals is assigned to oversee a grade cohort. Each of the cohorts also has an assigned school counselor, truancy staffer, social worker, and retention and drop out specialists to provide students with a dedicated team of wraparound services.

The groups meet weekly to discuss students’ needs and arrange interventions for classes 2025 – 2028. The freshmen team stays with their group for one year and then passes it off to the next assistant principal, who stays with the group for three years of the high school career.

“Relationships are built, but the freshmen team builds the foundation of being successful in school,” Billy explained. Manufacturing Lab Opened, Culinary To Come?

Billy said he shares about his own upbringing with his students to show that he too once attended public school hungry, late, and at times with a distracted mind full of outside responsibilities. He demonstrates to his students that he’s now a principal with a doctorate, showing youth “what you can be,” he said.

“Did you know Dr. Antonio Billy, the principal, had to stay in high school for five years and lost a football scholarship because of bad decisions?” he recalls telling his students.

“This is by far the best job I’ve ever had in my life,” he said about being Hillhouse’s principal.

One challenge Billy is looking ahead to addressing is how the school can better support its students who fail to meet graduation requirements and continue to be held back.

He learned this year that many of the these students are interested in a culinary program, and so he’s working to bring one to Hillhouse.

He recalled a conversation he had with

This year the school started up a DECA club, and it had over a dozen students graduate from an Excel Academy Certified Nursing Assistant Training Program just last week.

In April, a ribbon was cut on Hillhouse’s manufacturing lab, which has been years in the making and now has a waitlist of interested students. Billy also hopes to build up student interest in the school’s construction and automotive programs.

No More Ski Masks In School

Additionally this year Hillhouse staffers studied author Baruti Kafele’s book “Closing the Attitude Gap: How to Fire Up Your Students to Strive for Success.”

Billy said the book helped him to refocus his leadership work on one root problem, which he described as students’ shift in attitudes about school. He said he believes expectations have been lowered for students, making it so students are less engaged. He wants to raise expectations.

For mid-term testing this year, Billy also set a strict rule for attendance, requiring students to make it to school by 8;10 a.m. or else they would have to wait until the afternoon midterm makeup session. He saw many students who are typically tardy get to school on time as a result of the higher expectations. The school plans to set this rule again for its finals schedule requiring students to arrive on time for the morning testing.

Billy also said that he plans to implement a policy next school year restricting students from wearing ski masks during the school day. He noted that it’s been a common issue this year that he’s made students aware won’t be tolerated next year.

“The work is in the class and not outside the class,” he said. “You get here and go to class and we’ll take care of the rest.”

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Maya McFadden Photo Dr. Billy reminds Hillhouse, with new hallway decor, that the sun will always rise.

The New Haven independent

Alleged Killer Arrested In Boston

by Thomas Breen

A dispute at a Carmel Street tattoo party saw a 27-year-old New Havener allegedly shoot and kill 45-year-old Gregory Perez before wracking up a handful of other warrants and fleeing to Boston, where city cops ultimately found him a year later and arrested him for murder.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson and Asst. Chief David Zannelli described that homicide arrest during a Wednesday afternoon press conference held on the third floor of 1 Union Ave.

The arrest stems from the Jan. 5, 2024, fatal shooting of Perez, who police said was hosting a tattoo party at his Carmel Street home at the time.

Jacobson and Zannelli said that the man whom police believe pulled the trigger was there to get a tattoo. They said that the 27-year-old, who is now 29, wound up shooting and killing Perez.

Det. Jessica Stone led the investigation.

Jacobson said that she wound up traveling to Boston to look for the suspect, as that’s where his girlfriend was. After a full weekend’s worth of searching, Stone found him in Roxbury and arrested him.

Police have said that the suspect has been charged with murder and carrying a pistol without a permit, and is currently being held on a $1 million bond. Stone secured an arrest warrant for these charges on May 2.

This same suspect is also already detained on a number of other charges, Zannelli said, including those related to a 2021 nonfatal shooting in New Haven that Stone was also the lead investigator on.

More than a dozen of Perez’s family members attended Wednesday’s press conference. They wore black shirts showing Perez’s face and the message, “In Loving Memory of Gregory A. Perez Sr. 05/04/1978 – 01/05/2025.” A slideshow of pictures of Perez with family and friends played on a monitor hanging on the wall behind them.

“Happy birthday to my dad,” Perez’s eldest daughter, Adrianna Perez, said through tears as she reflected on how her father would have turned 47 last Sunday. Perez’s son, Greg Jr., and Adrianna spoke about how their dad had been turning his life around when his life was so abruptly cut short.

“Emotionally, he was an amazing guy. He always loved his family,” Greg Jr. said. “He always proved he was there for us.”

“No one understands unless you’ve been through this,” Perez’s cousin Ashley Rivera said, her tears visible beneath her sunglasses. “It’s not right at all. We should have celebrated his birthday” this week. Instead, they’re continuing to mourn his absence.

Perez’s family members thanked police for making an arrest of the man they believe killed their loved one.

“Just put down the guns,” Perez said in her closing plea to the public. “I witnessed it [the homicide]. He was trying to be so peaceful. He should be here right now.”

Thomas Breen photo Chief Jacobson. Asst. Chief Zannell, and lead Det. Stone.

Thomas Breen photo Greg Perez, Jr., at mic: "He always loved his family."

Thomas Breen photo Greg Perez, Jr., at mic: "He always loved his family."

The New Haven independent

NHPS Brings Budget Plea Back To Hartford

by Maya McFadden

HARTFORD – New Haven’s superintendent and 40 city students traveled to the state Capitol to press the governor to boost education funding and help the school district avoid teacher layoffs.

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) community members issued that message at a Thursday morning press conference in Hartford, where they stood side by side with superintendents and students from seven of Connecticut’s largest school districts.

This latest New Haven-to-Hartford presser provided yet another opportunity for city public school members to urge Gov. Ned Lamont and state lawmakers to increase state funding sent to municipal public school districts.

It also took place against a backdrop of widespread public pushback to NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón’s announcement that 129 school employees primarily teachers (including the arts), paraeducators, librarians, and math and reading coaches could face layoffs next year in order to close an anticipated $16.5 million budget shortfall.

The 2025 state legislative session ends in less than a month.

The school districts that participated in Thursday’s press conference included New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, New London, Norwalk, Vernon, and Waterbury.

“We are in a crisis,” Negrón said about what New Haven and the other school districts are facing right now. She pointed out that state lawmakers have worked to support school districts by proposing to increase Education Cost Sharing funds. However, she said, “the only person that stands in front of that being a possibility that would help us all across the state is Governor Lamont.”

In a email response to the Independent after Thursday’s press conference, Lamont spokesperson David Bednarz wrote, “Since taking office, Governor Lamont’s budgets have increased school funding by 22%, which has made our schools among the best in the country. As for funding in the next budget, the Governor continues to meet with legislative leaders and looks forward to signing a budget that continues to support our state’s outstanding schools.”

In April, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee proposed increasing funding for K 12 public education through its proposed state budget for FY2026-2027, by ful-

ly funding the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grant and providing an additional $124 million for the Excess Cost grant to support students with high special-education needs.

A press release sent out by the municipal school districts, including New Haven’s, in advance of Thursday’s press conference reported that the state’s per-student foundation amount is currently $11,525 and has not increased since 2013 while the state has also seen an average inflation rate of 2.7 percent.

The districts gathered Thursday to argue that state funding hasn’t kept up with the increase in the number of students with special needs, low-income students, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners.

After Thursday’s press conference, students delivered a letter to Lamont and met with state legislators, urging them to adopt the 119K Commission’s Young People First report’s recommendations and loosen the state’s fiscal roadblocks.

Hillhouse junior Johanelyz Arroyo spoke up during Thursday’s press conference and demanded that the governor and state lawmakers see the real consequences of underfunding from real children and dedicated teachers.

She described teachers as lifelines for students, mentors, and the fabric of the community. “Firing them isn’t just a budget cut. It’s a cut to our hearts.”

She continued that at Hillhouse, New Haven’s second largest high school, students miss classes due to the lack of access to basic feminine hygiene

products. She described this as causing “indignity, shame, and distraction” to student learning. She also spoke about her teachers having to pay for basic classroom supplies, like an art teacher at Hillhouse who had to pay for paper and staples due to a lack of supplies. The current state of public education funding has failed to meet students’ and staff’s fundamental needs, she concluded.

“Every day we delay, more students fall behind, more teachers lose their jobs, and more potential is squandered,” Arroyo said.

NHPS Board of Education student representative and Wilbur Cross senior John Carlos Serana Musser’s message to Lamont Thursday was “Public schools will fail if you fail to support them.”

Serana Musser reported that NHPS plans to lay off 129 educators, including all school librarians and a quarter of arts educators, and cut all middle school sports, among other cuts, if the district can’t close this budget deficit. He concluded, “There is no single reason my fellow students and I cannot receive a quality education, a holistic one complemented by the arts. There’s not one reason why my fellow students and I cannot receive an education where our research and love of reading is fostered by the warm smile and guiding hand of a librarian. There’s not one reason for this to be happening in a state that sits on a $4.6 billion surplus in the richest country in the world.”

Metropolitan Business Academy sophomore Brandon Daley speaks with Reps. Toni Walker and Alphonse Paolillo, Jr.

NHPS FACEBOOK Cross senior John Carlos Serana Musser in Hartford on Thursday: "Public schools will fail, if you fail to support them."

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Clergy Speak

cheered and lifted signs that read Hell No! Avel-o and CT Says Avelo: End The ICE Contract! he urged them to defend the rights of all people, including and especially immigrants who now fear for their lives, their livelihoods, and the safety of their families under the Trump Administration.

Invoking his parents a second time, he drew a parallel to railroad lines across Europe that eight decades ago entered into similar contracts with the Nazis. That network—from France to Germany to Holland—was extensive and deadly; countries are still reckoning with that history, and paying for it too. History, Brockman said, will remember that Avelo is committing the same atrocities. "That's exactly what's happening today," he said.

Dr. Kelcy Steele, pastor at Varick Memorial AME Zion Church in New Haven's Dixwell neighborhood, echoed that call to heed history, reminding attendees of how recent—and chilling—the history of chattel slavery still is in this country. Avelo can call the flights whatever it wants, he said—but deportation without due process is just another word for trafficking.

That seems especially true when it's the business of tearing families apart for profit.

"People are being taken, not after a trial, not after a hearing, but without ever seeing the judge," he said. "They are our neighbors, our coworkers, the mothers, the fathers, who have raised our children, the one who stands next to us in grocery stores and sanctuary pews and yet they are disappearing ... always silent and always cruel."

Their words resonated for attendees like Margarita and Crismar, a mother and son who are part of Unidad Latina en Acción. Earlier this year, Margarita and her husband attended what they thought would be a routine immigration check in in Hartford.

At the end of it, "he was kidnapped," she said through translator Ramon Garibaldo Valdez. Four days ago, he was deported to his native Ecuador, she said. Now, she feels that her only option is to follow him there. She is trying to raise funds to afford the trip back.

"They feel that it is the best to keep their family together, although it really hurts her, to see that her kid's dreams are put on hold right now," Valdez translated. "That is the situation that they're facing."

So too for Luis Luna, a longtime immigrants rights organizer who has worn hats for the Semilla Collective, Working Families Party, Make the Road Connecticut, and most recently HUSKY 4 Immigrants. This month, he is working on the final push to strengthen the TRUST Act, including in an interfaith advocacy at the State Capitol in Hartford this Thursday. He also encouraged attendees to make calls to Gov. Ned Lamont.

“Morning Without Childcare” Rally Seeks State $$

by Mona Mahadevan

“In New Haven, 85 percent of third graders are not reading at grade level. That’s not going to be solved in kindergarten,” said Allyx Schiavone, who spoke Wednesday morning to a crowd of over 200 early childhood advocates, teachers, and parents gathered on the Green.

“There is so much human and brain development that happens between 0 to 5,” she continued, “and so we have to give kids support earlier on.”

Schiavone, the executive director of Friends Center for Children, helped organize the fourth annual “Morning Without Childcare” a rally from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. that called on legislators to increase public investment in childcare.

Fourteen other rallies are scheduled throughout the state, including in Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Hartford.

Aundrea Tabbs-Smith, a well-being coordinator at Friends Center for Children, opened the rally with call-and-response.

“We use call and response to help kids’ brains develop,” she said. “Let’s see if we can use it to get Hartford to listen to us!” Afterwards, she led chants set to melodies from “Rain Rain Go Away” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”

Throughout the rally, speakers highlighted the economic and social strain of the state’s underfunded childcare system: In Connecticut, parents spend an average of 27 percent of their household budgets on childcare, while the average annual wage for childcare workers is just $34,500. More than 40,000 children have been left without quality care options, costing $1.5 billion in economic activity. Zoe Lubitz, mother to 16-month-old Lilah, joined the rally because she knows firsthand the importance of quality childcare. “Childcare enables me to work, but I also know that there are lots of people who can’t afford quality care, and we’re very lucky that we can,” she said. “I want

that for all families.”

On the provider side, Michelle Herrera, Lilah’s teacher at Edith B. Jackson, explained that providers are not being paid “livable wages.” She wants people to recognize that early childhood education is “an important job,” because providers “help [kids] develop and transform so much within a short period of time.”

Isabella Manzo, a teaching assistant at Alphabet Academy, shared Herrera’s perspective. She loves her job, especially “the students, who are some of the most kind, respectful people that [she has] ever met.” But on her current salary, she is struggling to afford tuition for a master’s degree in elementary education. While she thinks that many reforms to the childcare system are needed, she mostly just wants “the government [to] step up and do something.”

The Capitol might be listening. In February, Gov. Ned Lamont proposed legislation that would create a University Preschool Endowment, which would be seeded by $300 million from the state’s 2025 fiscal year surplus. If enacted, preschool would be made available at no cost to families earning up to $100,000 per year, and 20,000 new preschool slots would be created over the next seven years.

Speakers called on the Connecticut General Assembly to approve Lamont’s bill or one of the similar proposals currently being debated in the state legislature.

At the end of the rally, Kim Flores buckled her 11-month-old daughter Sloan into her stroller. She started sending Sloan to Friends Center for Children when she was just four months old, and over the last seven months, she and her wife have come to believe that Sloan’s teachers have “a little bit of magic.”

As she and Sloan left the Green, she said that she could not imagine what she would do without the center. Firmly, she stated, “access to affordable and safe childcare should be non-negotiable.”

A Giant of a Woman: Soror Delilah Taylor Gomes

There are women who move the world simply by being steadfast and dedicated. My soror, a founding Member of New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Advisor who started Pi Alpha (Yale University Chapter) and Charter Member of Duplin (NC) Chapter. The GOAT-The Greatest of All Time! was such a woman. Few get to be in the presence of giants who forge paths forward, raise communities and leave an indelible mark wherever they step. We can never repay her for her fortitude and love.

Her life's work carries us and inspires us to do more!. We take this moment to honor her and sing her praises. Babz Rawls Ivy, Soror.

Delilah Taylor Gomes, age 91, of Warsaw, North Carolina, departed this life on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. Born on January 30, 1934, in Warsaw, North Carolina, to the late Ernest and Argie (Bryant) Taylor.

Delilah dedicated her life to education and community service. She retired in 1994 as Principal of

West Haven Washington Science Tech Magnet School, after serving in multiple roles within the West Haven and New Haven public school systems for 30 years. Delilah was a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. for more than 70 years. Delilah leaves behind her daughter, Paula (Nathan) Gomes McCall; her son, Michael (Annette Freeman) Gomes; many nieces, nephews, step-grandchildren, and an extensive network of family, friends and neighbors. She was preceded

in death by her husband of more than 50 years, Paul R. Gomes. The funeral service will be held on May 16, 2025, at New Christian Chapel Baptist Church in Rose Hill, NC 28458. At 10:00 am, the Duplin County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will conduct a ritualistic ceremony, which is open to the public. The Celebration of Life Service will begin at 11:00 am. Funeral will be livestreamed on the Hawes Funeral Home, Warsaw, NC Facebook site.

11-month-old Sloan and mom Kim Flores get ready to leave for Friends Center for Children.

Mona Mahadevan photos Teacher Michelle Herrera, 16-month-old Lilah Lubitz, and mom Zoe Lubitz were excited to show up for childcare workers across Connecticut Wednesday morning.

A large crowd braves the rain to gather for the rally.

Mom Stephanie Innes and teacher Isabella Manzo are passionate about making early childhood education high-quality and accessible throughout Connecticut.

Delilah Taylor Gomes

The New Haven independent

Seniors Spend A Night Out In Dixwell

by Mona Mahadevan

At the entrance of the Dixwell Q House’s gym, Monica Spruill walked the purple carpet and paused beneath a balloon arch for photographs.

“There are not a lot of places for [senior citizens] to go,” she lamented. But Saturday evening, she and more than 220 other seniors gathered for a prom-like gala hosted by the New Haven Elks Club.

Inside the gym at 197 Dixwell Ave., circular tables were draped in silky purple tablecloths and topped with gold candelabras. A photo backdrop stood across from a catering station, where dinner was served by ConnCAT’s Orchid Café.

Young people across New Haven volunteered to help organize the event. Eighth graders and 80-year-olds sat side-by-side in formal clothing and listened to live jazz music from Ricky Allen Draughn.

“This was an opportunity to do an intergenerational affair,” said Beaver Hills Alder and local Elks’ Exalted Ruler Gary Hogan. “We wanted to mix young people with seniors.”

The idea for a senior-centered event came from Isabella Windley, president of the New England Elks. “Seniors need to be appreciated,” she said firmly. “And what better way than to let them have a senior prom concept?”

Windley also emphasized the importance of cross-generational mentorship. She hopes that by hearing the wisdom of their elders, young people will be reminded that there is “life outside of [their] realm.”

The night was also designed to prepare eighth graders for their own prom. The seniors offered guidance on formal etiquette, from escorting a date to tying a tie. With support from donations and grant funding, the Elks purchased dress shirts for a dozen boys at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy many of whom plan to wear them to their upcoming dance.

Linda McLaughlin, a member of the Q House, gestured around the room. “The atmosphere is lovely,” she said. In her experience, while senior centers host many events, most are held during the day, when working seniors may not be able to attend.

She appreciated having an evening to dress up, listen to live music, and spend time with her friends. With a smile, she added, “us seniors dance all the time.” Mia Streater, a young member of the Elks planning committee, shared that she felt honored to help give seniors the recognition that they deserve. “My favorite part,” she added, “was how many people came out.”

Mona Mahadevan photo Linda McLaughlin, Naomi Campbell, and Brenda Adams enjoy the appetizers and iced tea from Cafe Orchid.

The New Haven independent

The Temptations and the Four Tops Thrill at The Palace Theatre

By Kirk Lang, Inner-City News Correspondent at-Large

The magic of Motown was in the house at the Palace Theatre in Stamford on April 24 as The Temptations and the Four Tops put on a clinic in real singing.

The two groups have toured together for decades and though the names and faces have changed over the years, they didn’t disappoint.

“I thought the show was absolutely awesome,” said Stamford resident Sean Minton.

“I enjoyed it,” said Bishop Eugene Collins of New Haven. “Everything was wonderful. They brought back a lot of loving memories of songs from back in the day.”

On this night, the Four Tops led things off, with Theo Peoples in the lead spot, doing all the original records justice. The late great Levi Stubbs would be proud. The night kicked off with “Baby, I Need Your Loving,” the Four Tops’ 1964 hit, which was also the group’s first Motown single.

Peoples introduced the group before going into “Bernadette.” The line-up includes Lawrence Payton Jr, son of original member Lawrence Payton. The group’s longest-serving member – due to the passing of the last original member, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, last year - is now Ronnie McNeir, who took Stubbs’ place in 1999. Rounding out the foursome is Michael Brock.

The Four Tops have always incorporated dancing as part of their repertoire, though they’re not known for their moves like the Temptations are. They’re more like the Rat Pack, but with more pep in their step. After opening with two up-tempo numbers, the Four Tops slowed it down a bit and reminisced about the old days, how every town used to have a thriving Main Street, and how money went further when taking a girl on a date.

“Try taking a girl to the movies with 50 dollars today and see what she says,” said Payton. “Take 50 dollars and she’ll think you’re cheap.”

The Four Tops went back into the hits with “Still Waters Run Deep,” a 1970 release that put the group back on the Billboard Top 40 album chart. Members waved their arms while singing, and the crowd followed suit. They then went into a lesser-known song, “Keeper of the Castle,” though one with a great message about a man’s responsibility and commitment to his family.

The Four Tops followed with Bobby Darin’s “Mack The Knife” and “Are You Man Enough,” a post-Motown 1973 hit that was featured in the film Shaft in Africa. After some comical banter with their musical director, he encouraged the crowd to prove the good time they were having by getting up and dancing. The Four Tops then launched into “When She Was My Girl,” a 1981 release that put them back on the Top 40 pop chart and #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart.

The group followed up with a trio of Tops’ classics, kicking off with “Aint No

The One I’ve Got)” from their stools. When “Aint No Woman” ended, Payton jumped from his seat, saying, “It’s party time” and he and his vocal brothers did a medley of “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” and “Standing In The Shadows of Love.”

The crowd now whipped into a frenzy; it seemed all good things must come to an end. Peoples said, “Thank you so much” and group members seemed to be departing the stage. However, this is an old show business trick. There would be an encore.

“Can we do one more?” asked Peoples. The crowd went nuts, knowing they were about to get the Four Tops most famous song, and a great up-tempo one - “Sugar Pie (Honey Bunch).” The crowd sang along to every word and McNeir was cutting a rug on stage more than any of his group mates. At one point, he feigned like he was going to throw his suit jacket into the crowd. Payton, the last to leave the stage, after shaking hands with audience members, said, “Thank you very much. You could have been anywhere tonight, but you chose to be here with us and The Temptations.”

After a 20-minute intermission, it was time for the headliner, often referred to as “American Music Royalty.” Ask anyone to name Motown’s most famous acts, and The Temptations are right there at the top, along with The Supremes, Marvin Gaye and The Miracles.

The “Classic Five” line-up of The Temptations were all at least six feet tall, good looking and always dressed impeccably. They were more than a music group. When they hit the scene in the early 1960s, it was a time when African-Americans were still being subjected to signs that said “whites only” above water fountains; it was a time when Martin Luther King Jr. was still marching for civil rights; it was a time when concerts were often still segregated, delineated by a rope to separates blacks and whites.

However, the R&B music of Motown, with its pop sensibility, likely played a role in the changing of racist laws on the books, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would officially de-segregate public spaces. At minimum, groups like The Temptations and The Supremes, helped boost the pride of young African-Americans in the 1960s with the sharp and elegant images they presented on stage. Motown’s acts, along with Muhammad Ali in boxing, and basketball star Lew Alcindor changing his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, are but a few examples of connecting dots that made African-Americans walk a little taller in the early to mid-60s in the face of blatant discrimination.

When it was time for The Temptations at the Palace Theatre, their band and horn section warmed the crowd up with a few instrumental versions of their well-known songs. When the guys came out, they did an up-tempo succession of hits, opening with “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and following with “The Way You Do The Things You Do” and “Get Ready.” That alone was worth the price of admission, with Anthony Grant doing a fine job holding down the spot once held by David Ruffin, and his successor, Dennis Edwards. Ronald Tyson, who has been with the group since the early 1980s, did his thing filling the role once held by Eddie Kendricks, with his falsetto lead vocals. The party continued on as The Temptations sang “Aint Too Proud To Beg,” a 1966 hit that reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #13 on the pop chart. Belting out the song while doing all the dance steps and arm movements, the audience ate it up. Original member and Temptations founder Otis Williams, who recently celebrated his 83rd birthday, must be eating all the right things, because his energy level was a sight to behold.

“I can’t believe he can keep up with the younger guys in his group,” said one concert-goer after the show. “He still

has the moves.”

“Ball of Confusion,” a 1970 hit single that touches on racism, war and the political times of the era, was the last song of the high-energy start before The Temptations slowed things down a bit.

Though a force throughout the night, Grant perhaps shined brightest on “I Wish It Would Rain,” a 1967 Temptations ballad written from the perspective of a man whose woman had just left him. Unlike the record, the performance featured a sudden musical pause. Simultaneously, the guys dropped down into a crouch, a second before a thunderstorm sound effect. When Grant resumed singing, beginning with the line, “My eyes search the skies, desperately for rain,” he seemed to take the song to another level, with more fervor than its start.

Tyson took over on “Just My Imagination,” which he pointed out was The Temptations first platinum record, although it was their third number one hit. Grant was back on lead when the group transitioned into “Can’t Get Next to You” and he was flapping his “wings,” or rather, his arms, when he sang the line, “I can fly like a bird in the sky…” When Grant wasn’t dancing in unison with the others, he was showing off some subtle but smooth footwork whenever he’d step away from the group. After “Can’t Get Next To You” ended, the guys gathered near their stools. Williams was behind his stool, slumped over it.

“We just started,” said Tyson.

“I just got tired,” joked Williams.

Fellow member Terry Weeks then used his microphone like a wrench at the bottom of the stool, and with each turn,” Williams became more upright, and was back to a full standing position. Weeks then dabbed Williams’ face a few times with a hand towel. He was good as new. Williams proceeded to share some Mo-

town history and advised aspiring entertainers to "own your rights.”

“When Berry Gordy started Motown, he started out with 800 dollars,” he said. “That’s a small income to put into the company but when he sold it, oh my goodness, he got a lot for the recording company itself, but when he sold the publishing, let me say this, Berry will never have to work again…I say this for those that might aspire to get into show business, own your rights, because it will come back and quadruple.”

Williams also spoke of a handful of people that were impactful on the group, including vocal coach Maurice King, arranger and artist-development coach Johnny Allen, the late great Paul Williams, a member of the “Classic Five” who was wise to the need for choreography, and famed choreographers Lon Fontaine and Cholly Atkins.

“You had to be a very good mathematician to do Cholly Atkins’ choreography,” said Williams, who added that sometimes an all-day rehearsal would go beyond the expected ending time.

Williams also mentioned The Temptations latest CD, Temptations 60, and spoke of collaborating with Smokey Robinson on one track, titled, “Is It Gonna Be Yes or No.” Robinson wrote the song for The Temptations and also contributed his vocals to it. The crowd laughed as Williams imitated Robinson’s soft voice in relaying a dialogue the two had as they worked on the tune.

“I want to make sure it’s just right so it will move the ladies,” said Williams, doing his best Smokey voice.

Although Tyson is the naturally higher voice in the group, Grant did Smokey’s part as The Temptations performed it for the Stamford crowd, showing there’s no end to his overall skills.

If the ladies weren’t already pleased by that tune, they were overjoyed when The Temptations went into “Treat Her Like A Lady,” a later career hit for legendary group that was part of the 1984 album Truly For You.

At one point, the group seamlessly segued into “Aint No Stopping Us Now” before reverting back to “Treat Her Like a Lady.”

Last but certainly not least, the group would close with their most popular song, “My Girl,” the Temptations’ first ever number one single. Bass singer Jawan Jackson, who previously starred in The Temptations’ musical, “Aint Too Proud,” and became an official member of the group in 2022, asked the crowd, “Do you mind if we keep this party going in here?” Jackson added that “My Girl” is the “Temptations’ National Anthem.” The crowd was on its collective feet once Grant began the classic cut.

“I know everyone knows the words,” said Grant, “But I want to hear you sing it.” He pointed the microphone toward the crowd for the second chorus.

A few minutes later, if things couldn’t get any better, Grant invited three people

Woman (Like

Photos by Kirk Lang and Marlene Centeno-Lang

By The #‘s: 12 New Jobs Pitched For City Hall

by Laura Glesby

Mayor Justin Elicker hopes to add 12 new city jobs to New Haven’s general fund budget in the coming fiscal year. Alders are now weighing whether to approve those new positions amid a host of separate funding requests from local food pantries, teachers, homeless rights advocates, and others.

Elicker has framed his $703,765,049 budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025 – 26 as a “primarily status-quo budget,” with nearly half of the proposed new jobs expected to bring in new forms of revenue for the city to offset their salaries. The mayor’s proposed budget includes a 3.63 percent spending increase, as well as a 2.3 percent increase to the local tax rate.

The proposed new positions include a tree trimmer, three parking enforcement officers, two assistant building and plans officials, a deputy controller, a chief data officer, and an Engineering Department resource analyst and scheduler, among other roles. The mayor has also proposed moving the director of community resilience into the general fund budget now that that position’s one-time federal funding is running out.

The mayor’s annual proposal for new positions in City Hall tends to be a focal point for alders seeking to amend the mayor’s budget plan. Over the last three years, alders have denied a total of 47 new city jobs included in mayoral budget proposals, nixing at least 10 new positions per year.

The 12 proposed positions for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1, are likely to undergo close review by alders this week.

Each position is listed in the budget proposal alongside a corresponding salary, but additional funding is typically required to actually hire a given employee, due to pension and medical benefits that depend on each person’s unique circumstances. According to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller, the city generally budgets for pension costs at about 12 percent of an employee’s salary and medical costs at about 42 percent of an employee’s salary, with the understanding that these numbers are likely to vary.

In total, the proposed new positions would cost $980,604 in salaries, as well as roughly $117,672 in pension costs and $411,854 in healthcare costs.

That adds up to a total of $1,510,130.

The city currently has 1,427 full-time employees, not including the school system.

The budget review process is unfolding at a time of widespread cuts in federal programs, leaving the fate of assistance ranging from food aid to healthcare and public benefits uncertain. Some federal grants allocated to the city are also in limbo such as an already-promised EPA award that the city is currently suing the federal government in order to obtain.

The city’s public school system is simultaneously gearing up to lay off 129 employees (including 56 teachers) due to an anticipated $16.5 million budget shortfall. Elicker has proposed increasing the city’s contribution to public schools by $5 million this year (bringing the general fund’s contribution up to $213.2 million in total), and has called on the State of Connecticut to make up the difference.

Over the course of several hearings held by the Board of Alders Finance Committee in recent weeks, city department leaders had a chance to advocate for the various proposed new positions. Here’s what they said.

Laura Glesby photo Community Resilience Director Tirzah Kemp (center) in a room full of advocates for funding schools, food, and more.

OP-ED: The Power of Black Visionaries: Moving from Resistance to Reconstruction to Reimagining

By LaTosha Brown

“Our politics will not save us, but it will be our humanity. Our silence will not protect us, it will be our resistance. Our fears will never advance or evolve our nation, it will only keep us stuck and moving backwards.”

In this moment of national reckoning, Black people must see ourselves not just as defenders of our humanity, but as the visionaries and architects of a world yet to be born. For too long, we have pleaded with a nation to recognize what should never have been in question – our fundamental humanity. Today, I am calling for a shift in consciousness that moves us from defense to creation, from resistance to reconstruction, from surviving to reimagining.

We are witnessing an intense anti-Black campaign disguised as opposition to DEI, Critical Race Theory, and Black history. This is an attempt to erase us, our history, and our collective memory. But those who seek to silence us forget something fundamental – we have been meeting, gathering, strategizing, and convening for our freedom ever since we reached the shores of this nation.

Make no mistake: We are the architects of democracy in America. From Black visionary W.E.B. Du Bois’s pioneering scholarship to Black visionary Ida B. Wells’s fearless anti-lynching crusade, we have always been at the forefront of expanding what democracy means. We pushed this nation to make what exists on paper real and sustainable. But it’s not paper that gives us our value. We have value just by our presence on this planet.

We are builders of a dream that has yet to be realized. We believed in this nation when she was unable to believe in herself. There is no America without the 14th Amendment. There is no justice when racism shapes public policy.

As we embark on what Rev. Dr. William Barber calls “America’s third reconstruction,” we must ground ourselves in five essential pillars: Vision, Voice, Values, Victory, and Vote.

Vision: Black people have always been the visionaries, seeing beyond systems designed to limit us. From Black visionary Sojourner Truth speaking truth to power to the Black visionaries of the Movement for Black Lives reimagining public safety, we have consistently imagined societies more just and inclusive than what existed.

Voice: Once we have vision, we must speak it into existence with authenticity and the full authority of our lived experience. Too many of us have been told our voices don’t matter. This moment requires our full-throated

truth-telling.

Values: Values are our compass when the path is unclear. Do we value people over profit? Community over competition? Justice over convenience? When our actions align with our values, we become unstoppable.

Victory: We must claim victories along the journey. Victory is when a first-time voter casts their ballot, when a community stops environmental racism, when a young Black girl finds her voice.

Vote: Look to the 1963 Freedom Vote in Mississippi, when over 80,000 Black Mississippians participated in a mock election in response to their disenfranchisement. This powerful act laid the groundwork for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, led by Fannie Lou Hamer. They didn’t wait for permission to claim their democratic power; they asserted it. Some suggest we are tired of protesting, marching, and fighting. Let me be clear: We aren’t tired of action— we’re tired of insufficient progress. We’re exhausted by trying to reform systems deliberately designed to create inequality, rooted in racism and white supremacy. We’re exhausted by constantly having to prove our humanity or justify our worthiness of equity

and justice.

We never tire of taking care of our families, creating lives of safety, security, and joy. What we are tired of is systems that extract our brilliance while marginalizing us, institutions that proclaim justice while implementing barriers to advancement.

The real question isn’t whether to continue struggling—it’s how to transform our struggle from defense to innovation and creation. Black people must be visionaries, not just survivors. We must unapologetically stand in the fullness of our humanity, citizenship, and power.

We must be institution builders like Black visionary Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, who founded a college with $1.50 and faith. We must be healers like Black visionary Fannie Lou Hamer, who established the Freedom Farm Cooperative. We must think differently about harm reduction like Black visionary Alicia Garza and the founders of Black Lives Matter. We must be the first line of defense for each other, like the Black visionaries of the Black Panther Party with their community programs.

We can no longer think just as citizens of a nation that we’ve pleaded with for 400 years to recognize our hu-

up on stage to sing the first verse of the song. Audience members made their way to the stage. Two ladies and a man were chosen. The male volunteer, who Inner City News caught up with later, was the consensus best singer of the bunch.

A performer from West Haven, CT, Alex Pericas said he initially hesitated to walk to the stage, but was prodded by a relative.

“I’m kind of a shy person,” he said. “But I sing at restaurants and senior homes [in New Haven County] and “My Girl” is one of the most requested songs that I do.”

How was it singing up there with The Temptations by his side?

“It was very enjoyable,” he said. At one point, while waiting to sing, he turned to his right and saw Williams.

“I shook his hand, and I said, ‘Man, it’s a real pleasure to meet you.’”

Before it was Pericas’ turn to sing, he tried to calm down, not only from the excitement of it all, but also “I’m in my 70s.”

“By the time I ran down that aisle and up to the stage I was kind of out of breath to begin with,” he said. “I was just trying to relax, cause I wanted to do my best.”

Pericas said he didn’t realize the gravity of the once-in-a-lifetime moment until after it was over.

manity. Instead, we must see ourselves as founders of a new nation yet unborn – one that understands that diversity is our strength, inclusion is our goal, and justice is our birthright.

This is not separatism but transformation. We are not leaving America; we are becoming the America that has always existed in our freedom dreams – the America that Black visionary Marcus Garvey envisioned through Black ownership, that Black visionary Ella Baker glimpsed when she empowered ordinary people to lead themselves.

The time has come to move beyond defending what should never have needed defense. On the dawn of America’s sesquicentennial (250th birthday), we will not accept anything less than what we deserve. We must build new systems and explore new ways of thinking, not just reform those designed to oppress us. The real opportunity is to assert our power and build something better for all of humanity.

LaTosha Brown is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter, which is dedicated to expanding Black voter engagement and increasing progressive power through grassroots movement-building.

“I felt it more after it was done,” he said. “I got in the car, and I said to the people I was with, I can’t believe I just did that, sang up there with The Temptations.” Before he left however, he received acknowledgement he did a fine job, even though he sang “My Girl” in a higher key than he normally would.

“The most exciting part of the whole deal was when we were leaving the theater,” said Pericas. “We walk out and I’m hearing my name being called. People are coming up to me shaking my hand, congratulations, saying, ‘You were great.’ I mean I felt like star, a celebrity.”

A singer himself, Pericas knows a topnotch singer when he hears one, and added that Grant was the icing on the cake on a night that featured quality vocalists.

“That show to me was one of the best I’ve ever seen,” he said, “Especially the lead singer, he sang with such soul and such a strong voice that it really spoke to me. I just didn’t expect the level of show that they put on. I was really, really thrilled with it.”

Inner City News would like to thank everyone who had a hand in helping us cover this wonderful concert, including Stamford Palace Theatre President and CEO Michael E. Moran, Jr.; Lenore Heller, Director of Patron Services; Yency Molina, Assistant Box Officer Manager; as well as The Temptations’ manager Shelly Berger; Publicist Jay Schwartz, and Tour Manager Derrick Porter.

Black Women Decimated by Job Loss in Trump Economy

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press National Correspondent

According to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, black women experienced the steepest job loss of any demographic group in April, shedding 106,000 jobs. The April report shows a significant setback for Black women in the labor market, even as the U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs and the national unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. The number of employed Black women dropped from 10.325 million in March to 10.219 million in April. Their unemployment rate jumped from 5.1% to 6.1%, the largest month-to-month increase among all racial and gender groups. Among other findings, the labor force participation rate for Black women edged to 61.2%, indicating a loss in employment and a possible decline in overall workforce engagement. The unemployment rate for white women remained unchanged at 3.3%. Hispanic women’s unemployment also held at 4.6%. Women in other groups generally do not face the dual barriers of racial and gender discrimination that Black women contend with, a factor in the jobless rate gap.

The overall Black unemployment rate rose to 6.3% in April, up from 6.2% in March, marking the third straight monthly increase and the highest rate since January. In contrast, Black men saw a gain in employment, dropping their jobless rate from 6.1% to 5.6%.

Asian Americans had the lowest unemployment rate in April at 3.0%, while the rate for Hispanic Americans was 5.2% and 3.8% for white Americans. HBCU Money reported that the number of Black women employed is now at a five-month low, while the number of unemployed Black women is at a five-month high. Economist William Michael Cunningham, owner of Creative Investment Research, told BLACK ENTERPRISE that the number of unemployed Black Americans increased by 29,000 in April,

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reaching nearly 1.4 million. At the same time, the total Black labor force declined by 7,000. “The unusual nature of this increase in Black women’s unemployment is a testament to and a direct result of the anti-DEI and anti-Black focus of the new administration’s policies,” Cunningham said. “This is demonstrably damaging to the Black community, something we have not seen before.”

Cunningham noted that many Black women are searching for jobs but not finding them. He said eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion roles and cuts in federal government jobs are key contributors. The BLS reported that federal government employment dropped by 9,000 in April and is down 26,000 since January. “For Black women, the numbers show that those seeking work are not finding jobs,” Cunningham said. “The jobs that have traditionally been a path to stability are disappearing.” Nationwide, job growth continued in health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social assistance. Average hourly earnings increased by six cents to $36.06. The Employment Situation for May is scheduled for release on Friday, June 6.

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women's workgroup within the company (Photo by Brenda Sangi Arruda)

Property is Power! Black Homeownership Why This Conversation Matters

By Dr. Anthony Kellum

Homeownership is more than just owning a house, it’s a cornerstone of financial stability, wealth generation, and community resilience. Yet for Black Americans, this cornerstone has remained largely out of reach, underscoring a deeper, systemic disparity that affects us all.

Understanding the Numbers (2025):

• Black Homeownership Rate: Approximately 44%, significantly lower compared to around 75% for white households.

• Persistent Gap: Despite over five decades since the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the homeownership gap between Black and white households has widened rather than narrowed.

• Affordability Crisis: Only 1 in 5 Black families can currently afford a median-priced home in America.

• Undervaluation: Black-owned homes frequently face appraisal discrimination, often valued less than comparable properties owned by white homeowners, perpetuating wealth disparities.

As we reflect on these stark realities, one thing becomes clear: This isn’t merely a gap in ownership, it’s a gap in opportunity, in wealth accumulation, and fundamentally, in power.

Why Ownership Matters:

“Renting is surviving. Owning is building.”

Homeownership transforms communities, providing stability, fostering pride, and incentivizing local investment. When

more families own homes, communities become stronger, safer, and more vibrant. Ownership encourages participation, reduces displacement, and anchors families to their neighborhoods, creating lasting legacies of prosperity.

The Broader Impact: Closing the racial homeownership gap

is not just a moral imperative, it’s an economic necessity. Studies show that narrowing this gap could generate over $1.7 trillion in additional economic activity.

A robust Black middle class powered by property ownership creates broader economic security, benefiting businesses, schools, and the entire fabric of American society.

“When

Black families win in housing, America wins economically, socially, and morally.”

How We Move Forward:

To address this disparity, concerted efforts are essential:

• Education and Financial Literacy:

Expand accessible education around financial tools, mortgage processes, and wealth management specifically tailored to Black communities.

• Fair and Equitable Lending: Advocate for and enforce equitable lending practices that dismantle discriminatory barriers in mortgages and appraisals.

• Policy Advocacy: Support legislative efforts aimed at providing down payment assistance, credit-building programs, and financial incentives targeting historically underserved communities.

• Community Empowerment: Encourage local investment, mentorship, and community-building initiatives that directly support homeownership.

Property is Power:

The essence of the “Property is Power” movement lies in recognizing property as more than a physical asset, it’s a powerful tool for economic liberation and generational growth. Homeownership grants individuals and family’s autonomy, security, and influence in their communities. “If you don’t own property, you are property. But when you own, you have power.”

Let’s recommit to bridging the homeownership gap, recognizing that when we uplift one community, we uplift our entire nation.

Property is Power! is a movement to promote home and community ownership. Studies indicate homeownership leads to higher graduation rates, family wealth, and community involvement

The Silent Killer On Your Plate: You Are What You Eat

Did you know that there may be a silent killer on your plate? High blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar are still killing the Black community at a disproportionate rate.

These diseases are not hereditary, but the traits get passed down from generation to generation.

For years, the narrative was that diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure “ran in the family”. Now that we know that is a myth, it is time to figure out the problem.

Soul food, southern food, country food, or whatever you call it, is ultimately bad for us. Fried chicken, veggies cooked with pork and even pork itself are a silent killer in the Black community.

It’s Not Just What You Eat, but How Much

Think back to a time when you were younger at Sunday or Thanksgiving dinner. You or one of your cousins would eat a lot of food, and the family would boil it down to the “growing”.

While this may be true, piling up on

the carbs and fried foods is a bad idea, no matter what age you are. Overeating at a young age can be the beginning of a hard, unhealthy life consisting of being overweight, obese, out of shape, and unhappy. This may seem harsh and over the top for some, but when you look at the numbers, you will soon see something has to be done. Seventy-six percent of Black people are overweight, according to the U.S. Department of Health.

This is because of not only what we eat, but also how much we eat.

Food is a nostalgic feeling of holidays, birthdays, and any celebration you can think of in the Black community. A more strategic method of health education can be the start of healthier Black people in America.

Time to Make Some Substitutions

It’s completely fine to love the way food tastes, but there are ways to eat the food you enjoy without clogging arteries or raising your blood pressure.

There are so many new developments these days and new recipes that can change your life! The air fryer is something many people will consistently swear by.

You can fry all of your favorite foods without having to bathe them in grease or even flowers, for that matter. You can fry any food you can think of in a matter of minutes.

Instead of cooking your greens with pork, you can try turkey. To push it even further, you can use no meat at all and rely on spices that won’t add any extra sodium.

One of the hardest things to replace for some people is sweets. We love homemade cakes, pies, cookies, and cobblers. What makes these treats delicious is their sweetness. Desserts like parfaits, oatmeal cookies, and baked peaches are great substitutes to satisfy your sweet tooth after a hearty air-fried chicken with meatless greens.

The adjustments might take some getting used to after years of eating things with high fat and sugar, but your body will thank you in the long run.

Mississippi County To Pay $2.5M To Black Men Tortured By ‘Goon Squad’ Cops

Mississippi county officials have settled a lawsuit filed by Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker, two Black men who were tortured and abused by sheriff’s deputies in 2023.

According to Fox 13, Rankin County reached a $2.5 million settlement with the two men, who were handcuffed, beaten, and shocked by six law enforcement officers during a warrant-

less raid of Parker’s home.

“This amount, for Mississippi, is historic,” Trent Walker, an attorney representing Jenkins and Parker, said in a statement. “I can’t think of an excessive force settlement larger than this.”

The attack involving Rankin County officers Hunter Elward, Christian Dedmon, Brett McAlpin, Jeffrey Middleton, Daniel Opdyke, and Joshua

Hartfield, who referred to themselves as “The Goon Squad,” unfolded on the night of January 24, 2023.

A white neighbor called McAlpin, asking if he and the squad were “available for a mission” before the officers entered a home where Jenkins and Parker were staying without a warrant. The officers went on to handcuff the two and assault them for 90 minutes.

The group beat Parker with wood and a metal sword, then poured milk, alcohol, and chocolate syrup over their faces before forcing them to strip naked and shower together. Elward fired a gun in Jenkins’ mouth. Following the assault, officers attempted to cover up the incident, fabricating a narcotics bust by planting weapons and drugs.

Last year, a federal judge sentenced

the six officers and former Richland police officer Joshua Hartfield to between 10 and 40 years for their roles in the 2023 torture of Jenkins and Parker.

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Trump Administration Moves to Eliminate Habeas Corpus

By Stacy M. Brown

Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller confirmed the Trump administration is “actively looking at” suspending the writ of habeas corpus — a constitutional right that allows individuals to challenge unlawful detention. Though framed as a move against undocumented immigrants, historians and legal experts warn the consequences could be far more sweeping, especially for Black Americans.

“The Constitution is clear,” Miller told reporters. “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in time of invasion.” Miller cited immigration at the southern border as justification, using language similar to what President Trump has repeatedly described as an “invasion.” But civil liberties advocates and Black historians say suspending this right — a cornerstone of due process — would reopen legal pathways used throughout U.S. history to detain, punish, and silence Black Americans. From the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 to Reconstruction-era terror and Japanese internment in World War II, the right to habeas corpus has been both a shield and a

last resort for marginalized people. Its suspension has consistently led to devastating consequences. “Black Americans remember what happens when the government has unchecked power to detain,” wrote historian Amanda Tyler, author of Habeas Corpus in Wartime. “This isn’t new. It’s the same mechanism that was used to capture fugitive slaves and suppress Black resistance during Reconstruction.”

In 1850, Congress passed a law that denied suspected fugitives any right to testify in court or even seek habeas relief. Free Black Americans were captured alongside escapees. “It meant no Black person in the North was safe,” wrote historians James and Lois Horton, who documented how the law turned states like Massachusetts into hunting grounds for slave catchers backed by federal power. The parallels are striking. Today, many of the deportation cases the Trump administration wants to fast-track involve habeas claims — legal challenges asserting that the government has no lawful basis for detention. One such case involves Rumeysa Öztürk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, who was jailed for 45 days without charges. A federal judge in Vermont ordered her release

after she filed a habeas petition, arguing her detention was based on her political speech and not any crime. Miller hinted that such judicial checks on the executive branch are part of the reason for considering suspension. “It depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,” he said.

That sentiment echoes past abuse. During Reconstruction, Congress had to pass the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871 to protect Black citizens from paramilitary terror. The act allowed President Grant to suspend habeas corpus — not to restrict civil rights, but to crush white supremacist violence.

Now, the suspension is being considered not to protect Black life, but to expand detention powers in the name of immigration control. Critics say that opens the door to much broader repression. “The legal history is clear,” said Tyler. “Suspending habeas has often led to the erosion of other rights — especially for Black people.” The fear isn’t hypothetical. In 1786, a Black father named Cato used a writ of habeas corpus to rescue his daughter Betsey from re-enslavement in Pennsylvania. Their case became one of the first major freedom suits in U.S. legal history. Even during Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus in 1862, a fierce backlash followed. Lincoln justified it during a rebellion. Critics warned then — as now — that the nation cannot preserve itself by abandoning the very liberties it claims to protect. Stephen Miller’s comments come at a time when millions of Americans are already concerned about voter suppression, militarized policing, and authoritarian tactics. For Black Americans, the prospect of suspending habeas corpus rings especially loud. “When we hear this,” said one civil rights attorney, “we don’t just hear a legal argument. We hear footsteps from the past.”

concept: habeas corpus. Under United States law, a writ of habeas corpus is a command from a court to the custodian of a particular individual (usually the state or federal prison system) to release that individual. A petition for a writ of habeas corpus is a common

The Glendower Group

Request for Proposals

Site Civil Engineer- Church Street South Development

The Glendower Group is currently seeking proposals from qualified firms for Site Civil Engineer. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, March 24, 2025, at 3:00PM.

WATER TREATMENT

The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking qualified candidates for Water Treatment Pumping Operator I to operate and maintain the Town’s potable (drinking) water treatment plant and pumping, storage tank, pressure regulating and groundwater well facilities. Must possess a H.S. diploma or equivalent with 1 year of experience involving the operation and maintenance of equipment used in water supply and treatment; or a technical high school diploma with demonstrated career and technical education related to electronics technology, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or water supply and treatment activities and operation; or completion of a program in water management. Applicants must possess State of Connecticut Department of Public Health Class I (WTP I) or higher Water Treatment Plant Operator certification, and completion of a program in water management or have the ability to obtain both within twelve (12) months from the date of hire. Must possess and maintain a State of Connecticut driver’s license. Wages: $29.61 - $35.75 hourly, plus 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 by the closing date of April 29, 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

METERING SUPERVISOR

The Town of Wallingford, CT is offering an excellent career opportunity for a strong leader to supervise and manage the meter department of the Town’s Electric Division. Applicants should possess 3 years of progressively responsible supervisory or management experience in a utility relating to metering, plus a bachelor's degree in engineering, or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. Must possess and maintain a valid State of Connecticut Driver’s License. Annual Salary: $115,203 to $144,003. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the closing date of May 5, 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

CLINICIAN

The Town of Wallingford is seeking a qualified professional to perform social work, counseling, case management, and crisis intervention services to youth and adult clients in the community. Requires a Master’s Degree in Counseling, Marital and Family Therapy, Social Work, or related field with training in crisis intervention and community services, and two (2) years’ experience in counseling or social work with youth and adult populations. Bilingual language skills (Spanish/English) are desirable. Must possess and maintain State of Connecticut licensure as a Clinical Social Worker, Marital and Family Therapist, or Professional Counselor, and a driver’s license. Wages: $32.08 to $38.98 hourly. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, individual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. The closing date will be April 23, 2025 or the date the 25th application is received, whichever occurs first. To apply online, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

ELECTRICAL / ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN

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

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids

Comprehensive Pest Control Services for Rodents and Insects

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

Monday, March 31, 2025, at 3:00PM.

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO.

Request for Proposals Redesign of Chatham HVAC System

360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking a qualified engineering firm to provide a full redesign of the existing Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) HVAC system servicing approximately 32 units within our facility. The objective is to enhance efficiency, meet current building codes, and optimize overall system performance. be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, March 24, 2025, at 3:00PM.

South Central Regional Council of Governments

Draft Public Participation Guidelines

The public is invited to offer comments from March 3, 2025, until April 18, 2025, on the Draft Public Participation Guidelines for the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG). The Plan documents the actions taken by SCRCOG to facilitate public participation in transportation planning, in accordance with Title 23 CFR 450.316.

Copies of the Draft Public Participation Plan are available at www. scrcog.org. Hard copies are available upon request to James Rode at jrode@scrcog.org.

Public comments may be emailed to jrode@scrcog.org or mailed, postage prepaid, to James Rode, Principal Transportation Planner, South Central Regional Council of Governments, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor West, North Haven, CT 06473 with receipt in both cases by no later than April 18, 2025. Public comments may also be offered at a Hybrid Public Meeting on April 9, 2025, at 12 pm. Instructions for participating in the Public Meeting will be posted at www.scrcog.org no later than 10 days before the event.

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

Elm City Communities/The Housing Authority City of New Haven

Invitation for Quote ECC/HANH Landscaping Services

Elm City Communities dba The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (ECC/ HANH) is seeking quotes from qualified contractors to perform landscaping services. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from ECC/HANH’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 3:00PM.

Continuum

of Care, New Haven, Connecticut

– LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID

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

Listing: Commercial Driver

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

***An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, Including Disabled & Veterans***

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.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR

Elm City Communities, the Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (ECC/ HANH) is proposing to amend sections of its Low-Income Public Housing Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Administrative Plan (Admin Plan).

Copies of the amendment to the ACOP and the Administrative Plan will be made available on Thursday, May 1, 2025, to May 30, 2025, on the agency website www.elmcitycommunities.org or via Facebook www.facebook.com/ElmCityCommunities or Instagram @elmcitycommunities_hanh.

You are invited to provide written comments addressed to: ECC/HANH, ACOP & Admin Plan Revisions; Attn: Evelise Ribeiro, 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511 or via email to: eribeiro@elmcitycommunities.org.

A public hearing where public comments will be accepted and recorded is scheduled for Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 3:00pm via Teams Meeting ID: 278 411 499 507 Passcode: rT7y4fN2

Any individual requiring a Reasonable Accommodation to participate in the hearing may call the Reasonable Accommodation Manager (203) 498-8800, ext. 1507 or at the TDD Number (203) 497-8434.

AVISO DE AUDIENCIA PÚBLICA

PARA

Elm City Communities, la Autoridad de Vivienda de la Ciudad de New Haven (ECC/HANH), propone enmendar secciones de su Política de Admisión y Ocupación Continua de Vivienda Pública para Personas de Bajos Ingresos (ACOP) y del Plan Administrativo de Vales de Elección de Vivienda (HCV) (Plan Administrativo).

Las copias de la enmienda al ACOP y al Plan Administrativo estarán disponibles del jueves 1 al 30 de mayo de 2025 en el sitio web de la agencia, www.elmcitycommunities.org, en Facebook, www.facebook.com/ElmCityCommunities, o en Instagram @elmcitycommunities_hanh.

Le invitamos a enviar sus comentarios por escrito a: ECC/HANH, ACOP y Revisiones del Plan Administrativo; Attn: Evelise Ribeiro, 360 Orange Street, New Haven, CT 06511, o por correo electrónico a: eribeiro@elmcitycommunities.org.

Se ha programado una audiencia pública, donde se aceptarán y grabarán los comentarios del público, para el jueves 29 de mayo de 2025 a las 15:00 h a través de Teams.

ID de la reunión: 278 411 499 507 Contraseña: rT7y4fN2

Cualquier persona que necesite una adaptación razonable para participar en la audiencia puede llamar al Gerente de Adaptaciones Razonables al (203) 4988800, ext. 1507, o al número TDD (203) 497-8434.

GOP Medicaid Plans Would Slash Health Coverage for Millions, CBO Confirms

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Correspondent

A newly released analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has confirmed that proposals pushed by Republicans in Congress to slash Medicaid spending would result in millions of Americans losing health coverage. The analysis arrives just days before the House Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on several of these drastic policy changes. The CBO report, addressed to Senate Finance Ranking Member Ron Wyden and House Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr., outlines five Republican-backed Medicaid policy options that would significantly reduce federal spending. The agency estimates that under the proposed changes, as many as 8.6 million people could lose Medicaid coverage, and up to 3.9 million would become uninsured.

“This CBO report further confirms what we already knew – that Republicans in Congress are willing to sell out millions of working families to give their billionaire friends another massive tax break,” said Kobie Christian, spokesperson for Unrig Our Economy. “Republicans in Congress have been gaslighting the American public by claiming to be against Medicaid cuts, while actively trying to take away health care from millions of working-class Americans.”

The proposals outlined in the CBO’s letter are capping federal contributions to Medicaid, reducing the matching rate for states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and repealing enrollment rules designed to streamline access to Medicaid and CHIP. Each of the first four policy options would force states to respond by cutting provider payments, reducing benefits, and slashing enrollment. The fifth option alone—repealing the Eli-

gibility and Enrollment final rule—would eliminate coverage for 2.3 million people, most of whom are low-income seniors and people with disabilities. “Donald Trump and Rubber Stamp Republicans in Congress are lying to the American people about their plans to enact the largest cut to Medicaid in our nation’s history,” warned

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The CBO analysis confirms House Democrats’ warnings that the GOP proposals would force states to raise taxes, cut education spending, or push people off health insurance,” Jeffries said. “Rather than working to improve the Medicaid program, congressional Republicans are continuing a

15-year-old fight to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” noted Andrea Ducas, vice president of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. “This new CBO report confirms that each of congressional Republicans’ latest proposals would kick millions of the most vulnerable Americans off their health care, all to pay for tax

giveaways for the president’s billionaire donors.”

The report also arrives as Senate Republicans voted 53–47 to confirm Frank Bisignano—former Wall Street executive and self-described “DOGE person”—as the new head of the Social Security Administration, drawing harsh criticism from Democrats and advocates. During his confirmation hearing, Bisignano dodged questions from Senators Bernie Sanders and Ron Wyden about the agency’s cuts and the use of cryptocurrency-related tools in sensitive federal databases. In recent months, under the Trump administration, the SSA has shuttered field offices, laid off 7,000 employees, and made it harder for Americans—especially seniors and rural residents—to access benefits. Reports from outlets including Axios, NPR, and the Washington Post highlight the collapse of customer service at the SSA, long wait times, and the inability of many Americans to apply for benefits online or by phone. “Republicans just handed over the future of Americans’ Social Security to Frank Bisignano, a Wall Street stooge,” said Ken Martin, Chair of the Democratic National Committee. “Just like Trump and Musk, Bisignano will gladly put Social Security on the chopping block to line the pockets of billionaires and special interests.”

Democrats argue the Republican strategy—cutting Medicaid and destabilizing Social Security—amounts to an all-out war on working-class Americans. The CBO report estimates the GOP’s Medicaid policy shifts would reduce the federal deficit by as much as $710 billion over the next decade, but at a devastating cost: loss of care, rising out-of-pocket expenses, and widening inequities in health access. “Crafting health care policy is not an academic exercise; for tens of thousands of Americans, it’s a matter of life or death,” Ducas noted.

Poor heart health increases risk of dementia for Black Americans

Diabetes, high blood pressure linked to degenerative diseases like dementia Diabetes and hypertension could have a domino effect for future health problems like dementia — especially for Black Americans, according to a new University of Georgia study.

The study found that Black Americans diagnosed with both conditions in midlife had significantly higher levels of a dementia-related biomarker more than a decade later.

“This matters. This study shows that chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, especially when combined together, might start damaging the brain earlier than we thought, especially for this group,” said Rachael Weaver, corresponding author of the study and

a graduate student in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of sociology. “When these two conditions show up together in midlife, they might start a chain reaction leading to brain aging even as much as a decade later.”

Out of the over 250 participants, those with both diabetes and hypertension at midlife had elevated levels of a biomarker of dementia. Both of these diagnoses not only contributed to higher amounts of that biomarker but also a greater increase of it over an 11-year period.

The findings suggest that health practitioners should place a higher focus on cardiovascular health as an indicator of dementia risk, especially among Black Americans, the researchers said.

“Health inequities like the ones that we’re

exploring are not inevitable. They are very systemic, and they’re potentially preventable. Just as crucial as early screening and treatment is the need for change that addresses the structural inequities putting Black Americans at higher risk in the first place,” said Weaver.

This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Co-authors include Steven Beach, Regents Professor of Psychology in the Franklin College; YuWen Lu, a graduate student in the Franklin College; and the late Ron Simons, Regents Professor in the UGA Department of Sociology, who passed away in March. Additional co-authors include Michelle M. Mielke.

Medicaid newspaper headline on hundred dollar bills with US Capitol in Washington DC

Trump Orders Undercut Black Business Gains

By Stacy M. Brown Black Press USA Correspondent

Black-owned businesses have experienced historic growth in recent years, but that progress is now under threat. A sharp decline in small business optimism, coupled with sweeping anti-DEI executive orders from the Trump administration, is creating new hurdles—particularly for African American entrepreneurs who remain vastly underrepresented in the U.S. economy. According to Pew Research Center, the number of U.S. firms with majority Black ownership surged from 124,004 in 2017 to 194,585 in 2022. Revenues also soared by 66%, reaching $211.8 billion. Yet Black-owned businesses still accounted for just 3% of all classifiable firms and only 1% of gross revenues that year, despite Black Americans making up 14% of the population. More than one in five Black adults say owning a business is essential to their definition of financial success, and most of those who own businesses depend on them as their primary income source. The vast majority—71%—have fewer than 10 employees, and they are disproportionately concentrated in sectors like health care and social assistance (26%), professional and technical services (14%), and transportation (9%).

However, as the Pew report shows gains, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) paints a far more troubling picture of the broader small business climate. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped to 95.8 in April, marking the second month in a row below its 51-year average. Small business owners reported declining expectations for real sales, fewer capital investment plans, and significant difficulties finding qualified labor. Only 18% of owners said they plan to make capital outlays in the next six months—down from previous months and the lowest level since April 2020. The policy environment compounds the

problem for Black-owned firms. In January, President Trump signed executive orders EO 14151 and EO 14173, effectively dismantling many federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These orders direct agency heads to align all federal programs—including contracts and grants—with so-called “merit-based opportunity,” opening the door to deprioritizing race-conscious support programs. While the administration cannot eliminate statutory set-aside programs like the SBA’s 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business designation without congressional approval, it is already moving to gut enforcement and reducing goals. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler issued a memo in February announcing her intent to reduce the 8(a) contracting goal from 15% to the statutory minimum of 5%, citing alleged disadvantages to veteran-owned businesses. The administration is also expected to cease auditing compliance with subcontracting goals for minority-owned firms, which could severely impact opportunities for small and large companies that depend on federal contracts.

These moves are especially worrisome for Black business owners, who are already navigating disproportionate barriers to access to capital and markets. While White-owned businesses make up 84% of all classifiable firms and account for 92% of total revenue, Black-owned businesses remain a small sliver despite their rapid growth. With small business optimism waning and federal support shifting away from equity initiatives, many Black entrepreneurs now face a chilling reality: a promising rise in business creation and growth may be undermined by policy changes designed to erase the very programs that helped level the playing field. “Uncertainty continues to be a major impediment for small business owners,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said, noting that labor shortages, declining sales expectations, and inflation remain pressing concerns.

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