MLK Supplement 2022

2022 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SUPPLEMENT

NEWSPAPER READING IS A HABIT DON’T BREAK THE HABIT!

Words from the Breaking a False Supremacy through Teachable Moments

By Dr. Shantella Sherman WI Special Editions Editor

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In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016

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PUBLISHER Denise Rolark Barnes STAFF D. Kevin McNeir, Editor Ron Burke, Advertising/ Marketing Director Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor Lafayette Barnes, IV, Assistant Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Sports Photo Editor Dorothy Rowley, Online Editor ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout Mable Neville, Bookkeeper Dr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist Tatiana Moten, Social Media Specialist Angie Johnson, Circulation REPORTERS Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, Timothy Cox, Will Ford (Prince George’s County Writer), Jacqueline Fuller, Hamil Harris, D. Kevin McNeir, Kui Mwai, Dorothy Rowley, Brenda Siler, Lindiwe Vilakazi, Sarafina Wright, James Wright, PHOTOGRAPHERS John E. DeFreitas, Ja’Mon Jackson, Shevry Lassiter, Roy Lewis, Jr., Robert R. Roberts, Anthony Tilghman

A strange thing occurred in 2006 when I moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. For the first time in my life, I experienced what it was like to be among “Salt-of-the-Earth” Americans, dyed in the wool patriots, and some of the kindest people you’d ever want to meet. They were also largely unfamiliar with non-White people. In quick order, I learned the difference between racists and people who simply had no frame of reference.

It was a regular occurrence to have strangers stare – and these were adults who should know even if I had a unicorn’s horn protruding from my forehead, to divert their gaze. Once it became clear that I was no visitor, but firmly living among them, White people routinely approached me and asked if they could touch my hair or feel my skin. What would have been grounds to assert that D.C. “homegirl” posture, instead impressed upon me the sheer, naked ignorance of my neighbors. I chose to address “a false supremacy” – the one Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks of in a recently surfaced, lost speech from 1962 [See Page 4].

Everything became a “teachable moment” that would later inform my historical research into identity formation and eugenics.

One student at the University of Nebraska, scheduled an appointment to meet with me so that he could introduce his father to his “pure Black” teacher. A very nice, but ill-informed gentleman politely asked if he could touch my hair (which was in Senegalese twists) and delighted in surprise by its softness.

“Did you believe my hair would not be soft?” I asked him.

“No, I heard someone say that Black women’s hair was so sharp that it could cut you and that’s why you all wear scarves on your head and won’t let Black men run their fingers through it.”

I stopped short of laughing in his face.

“Who told you that?” I asked him total shock.

“That comedian, Chris Rock, who said it during a stand up I went to see.”

Needless to say, we had a long talk about Rock and a few others.

Cornhusker dad, who was easily 50-plus in age, also admitted that he and his family enjoyed dressing in blackface for annual pageants and gatherings – which had begun when he was in grade school. Sure enough, there were pictures from yearbooks, religious socials, and fraternity parties he shared with me of his family blackened up with boot polish and mimicking the stereotypical behaviors of imaginary Black people. He never understood why it offended people when it was merely a bit of “fun.”

I was very kind in explaining the offenses to Cornhusker Dad. I showed him archival clips of little Black children being hit in the face with baseballs at state fairs as part of the African Dodger games and other children being dropped into vats of water for the amusement of carnival goers in the African Dip game (later simply called the Dunking Booth). Turning Black people into things which you could take pleasure in harming and win prizes to boot, was racist, demeaning, and savage. By turning Black people into “things” no one had to take their concerns – their housing, education, feelings, or lives – into consideration. It also meant that should someone you’ve hit in the head with baseballs or dressed up to mimic for Halloween earn a position as your supervisor, you would feel angered. It would likely convince you that it was good form to fall over yourself to meet your son’s professor, the “pure Black.”

Fortunately, Cornhusker dad and I became good friends and much of what I discussed with him traveled into his home and community. Sixteen years later, I count them as transformed people, card carrying members of the NAACP, and staunches supporters of civil rights.

Dr. King wrote that “By burning in the consciousness of white Americans a conviction that Negroes are by nature subnormal, much of the myth was absorbed by the Negro himself, stultifying his energy, his ambition, and his self-respect. Inferiority as a fetter is more subtle and sophisticated than iron chains; it is invisible, and its victim helps to fashion his own bonds.”

As The Washington Informer celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we ask our readers to take a bold stand against inequality and teach our fellow Americans our truths. Let’s break apart the chains of inequality that bind us by checking (and addressing) our own biases.

Read, Learn, Grow.

Dr. Shantella Sherman THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 2022 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR SUPPLEMENT / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

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DYK: Did You

know?

Americans Remain Divided over Issues of Equality ByWILeeStaffRoss Writer The latest national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted July 8-18 among 10,221 adults, finds sizable differences between parties – as well as differences within parties – over how to ensure equal rights for all Americans, regardless of their racial or ethnic backgrounds.

58 percent Black Americans surveyed say that in order to achieve equal rights, most of the nation’s laws and major institutions need to be completely rebuilt because they are fundamentally biased; 19 percent say needed changes can be made by working in the current systems.

Reflecting back over the last 50 years, more than nine-inten Americans say the country has made progress toward “ensuring equal rights for all Americans regardless of their racial or ethnic backgrounds.”

About half of the public (48 percent) say a lot of progress has been made, while nearly as many (45 percent) say a little progress has been made. Only 7 percent say the country has not made any progress toward racial equality.

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8/10 Nearly eight-in-ten Black adults say a lot more needs to be done to ensure equal rights for Americans of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Among White adults, 42 percent say a lot more needs to be done to ensure racial equality: 18 percent say most laws and institutions need to be completely rebuilt, while 24 percent say necessary changes can be made within the current systems.

Younger adults are not only more likely than older adults to say a lot more needs to be done to ensure racial equality, but those who do are also more likely than their older counterparts to say most U.S. major institutions need to be rebuilt to ensure racial equality.

Nearly four-in-ten adults ages 18 to 29 (37 percent) say this, compared with 21 percent of those 50 to 64 and 16 percent of adults 65 and older.

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 2022 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR SUPPLEMENT / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘Lost’ Speech (1962) In November of 2013, an intern at the New York State Museum in Albany uncovered the only known recording of a speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sept. 12, 1962, at the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City. In the 26-minute speech, King spoke of the inequality that African Americans still faced in the 1960s – and which we, unfortunately, still grapple with to some extent today. King discussed the history and importance of the Emancipation Proclamation and its failures to truly free African Americans, as well as what the nation needed to do to create full equality.

Mankind through the ages has been in a ceaseless struggle to give dignity and meaning to human life. It is that quest which distinguishes man from the lower animals. If our nation had done nothing more in its whole history than to create just two documents, its contribution to civilization would be imperishable.

The first of these documents is the Declaration of Independence and the other is that which we are here to honor tonight, the Emancipation Proclamation. All tyrants, past, present, and future, are powerless to bury the truths in these declarations, no matter how extensive their legions, how vast their power and how malignant their evil.

The Declaration of Independence proclaimed to a world, organized politically and spiritually around the concept of the inequality of man, that the dignity of human personality was inherent in man as a living being.

The Emancipation Proclamation was the offspring of the Declaration of Independence. It was a constructive use of the force of law to uproot a social order which sought to separate liberty from a segment of humanity.

Our pride and our progress would be unqualified if the story ended here. But history reveals that America has been a schizophrenic personality where these two documents are concerned. On the one hand she has proudly professed the basic principles inherent in both documents. On the other hand, she has sadly practiced the antithesis of these principles. If we look at our history with honesty and clarity, we will be forced to admit that our Federal form of government has been, from the day of its birth, weakened in its integrity, confused, and confounded in its direction, by the unresolved race question. We seldom note or give adequate significance to the fact that Thomas Jefferson’s text of the Declaration of Independence was revised by the Continental Congress to eliminate a justifiable attack on King George for encouraging slave trade. It was

changed lest it offend the southern representatives, just as today still legislation is discarded or emasculated lest it too give offense to southern representatives.

Jefferson knew that such compromises with principle struck at the heart of the nation’s security and integrity. In eighteen-twenty, six years before his death, he wrote these melancholy words: “…but this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night awakened and filled me with terror. I considered it at once as the knell of the Union. I regret that I am now to die in the belief that the useless sacrifice of themselves by the generation of seventeen-seventy-six to acquire self-government and happiness to their country is to be thrown away, and my only consolation is to be that I live not to weep over it.” Our nation has experienced a ceaseless rebellion against the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Supreme Court by one region.

In the Revolutionary War powerful slave elements in the south fought with the British. The development of the nation to the west was complicated and hindered by the slave power, and only the holocaust of war settled the direction and character of our growth. But the rebellion against equality continued into the second half of the 19th century and into the 20th century, diminishing the authority of the Federal government and corroding its authority. It has contaminated every institution in our society.

Today that single region of our country still holds a veto power over the majority of the nation, nullify-

ing basic constitutional rights, and in the exercise of its illegal conduct, retarding our growth. The south in walling itself off from the application of laws and judicial decrees behind an iron curtain of defiance, becomes a law unto itself. It is an autonomous region whose posture toward the central government has elements as defiant as a hostile nation. The unresolved race question is a pathological infection in our social and political anatomy, which has sickened us throughout our history, and is still today a largely untreated disease. How has our social health been injured by this condition?

The legacy is the impairment of the lives of nearly twenty million of our citizens. Based solely on their color, they have been condemned to a sub-existence, never sharing the fruits of progress equally. The average income of Negroes is approximately thirty-three hundred dollars per family annually, against fifty-eight hundred dollars for white citizens. This differential tells only part of the story; however, the more terrible aspect is found in the inner structure and quality of the Negro community. It is a community artificially but effectively separated from the dominant culture of our society. It has a pathetically small, grotesquely distorted, middle class.

There are virtually no Negro bankers, no industrialists; few commercial

enterprises worthy of the name of businesses, the overwhelming majority of Negroes are domestics, laborers, and always the largest segment of the unemployed. If employment entails heavy work, if the wages are miserable, if the filth is revolting, the job belongs to the Negro. And every Negro knows these truths and his personality is corroded by a sense of inferiority, generated by this degraded status.

Negroes, north and south, still live in segregation, housed in slums, eat in segregation, pray in segregation, and die in segregation. The life experience of the Negro in integration remains an exception even in the north.

The imposition of inferiority, externally and internally, are the slave chains of today. What the Emancipation Proclamation proscribed in a legal and formal sense has never been eliminated in human terms. By burning in the consciousness of white Americans a conviction that Negroes are by nature subnormal, much of the myth was absorbed by the Negro himself, stultifying his energy, his ambition, and his self-respect.

The Proclamation of Inferiority has contended with the Proclamation of Emancipation, negating its liberating force. Inferiority has justified the low living standards of the Negro, sanctioned his separation from the majority culture, and enslaved him physically and psychologically. Inferiority as a fetter is more subtle and sophisticated than iron chains; it is invisible, and its victim helps to fashion his own bonds. Inequality before the law is so pervasive in the life of the Negro that its detailing is impossible. We boast that ours is a government of laws, but every Negro knows a thousand examples in which law and government do not protect him. In the past three weeks, three Christian churches have been burned in a single community in Georgia.

If a government building were bombed in Washington, the perpetrators would be apprehended immediately. But if violence affects a Negro church, all of the agencies of government cannot find or convict

the arsonists. This is the essential texture of freedom and equality for the Negro one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation; and one hundred and eighty-six years after the Declaration of Independence. This somber picture may induce the somber thought that there is nothing to commemorate about the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.

But tragic disappointments and undeserved defeats do not put an end to life, nor do they wipe out the positive, however submerged it may have become beneath floods of negative experience. The Emancipation Proclamation had four enduring results. First, it gave force to the executive power to change conditions in the national interest on a broad and far-reaching scale.

Second, it dealt a devastating blow to a system of slave- holding and an economy built upon it, which had been muscular enough to engage in warfare on the Federal government.

Third, it enabled the Negro to play a significant role in his own liberation with the ability to organize and to struggle, with less of the bestial retaliation his slave status had permitted to his masters. Fourth, it resurrected and restated the principle of equality upon which the founding of the nation rested. When Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation it was not the act of an opportunistic politician issuing a hollow pronouncement to placate a pressure group. Our truly great presidents were tortured deep in their hearts by the race question. Jefferson with keen perception saw that the festering sore of slavery debilitated white masters as well as the Negro.

He feared for the future of white children who were taught a false supremacy. His concern can be summed up in one quotation: “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.” Lincoln’s torments are well known, his vacillations were facts. In the seething cauldron of sixty-two and sixty-three Lincoln was called the “Baboon President” in the North, and “coward,” assassin, and savage in the South. Yet he searched his way to the conclusions embodied in these words; words already quoted this evening: “In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free, honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.” g For the full speech, visit us at www.washingtoninformer.com.

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Recommended Books About Racial Equality

By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer

equality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

tribution to wide-reaching debates on race, gender and space.

“whitelash” in the actions of social movements.

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

By Dr. Robin DiAngelo The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.

Antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence.

These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial in-

Space Invaders: Race, Gender and Bodies Out of Place

By Nirmal Puwar I n c r e a s i n g l y, women and minorities are entering fields where white male power is firmly entrenched. The spaces they come to occupy are not empty or neutral but are imbued with history and meaning. This book uncovers the hidden processes that undermine female and/or racialized bodies in spaces marked by masculinity and whiteness. How are positions of authority racialized and gendered? How do people manage their femininity and/or blackness while in a predominantly white male context or in what Dr. King labeled “false supremacy’?

Uniting social, cultural and political theory, and engaging with a range of substantive material from a variety of institutions, this book is a timely con-

Protecting Whiteness: Whitelash and the Rejection of Racial Equality

By Cameron D. Lippard, J. Scott Carter, David G. Embrick This book examines White resistance to racial equality since Dr. King’s speech on false supremacy and documents its shifts into more subtle beliefs and actions. It examines spaces like art museums that enforce their boundaries as elite white spaces, “right on crime” policies that impose new modes of surveillance and punishment for people of color, and environmental groups whose work reinforces settler colonial norms. In this incisive volume, twenty-four leading sociologists assess contemporary shifts in white attitudes about racial justice in the U.S, using case studies and investigations of entrenched white privilege in institutions, new twists in anti-equality ideologies, and

Diversity, Inc: The Fight for Racial Equality in the Workplace

By Pamela Newkirk One of Time Magazine’s MustRead Books of 2019, this book illustrates how workplace diversity initiatives have turned into a profoundly misguided industry--and have done little to bring equality to America’s major industries and institutions. Diversity has become the new buzzword, championed by elite institutions from academia to Hollywood to corporate America. In Diversity, Inc., award-winning journalist Pamela Newkirk shines a bright light on the diversity industry, asking the tough questions about what has been effective--and why progress has been so slow. Newkirk highlights the rare success stories, sharing valuable lessons about how other industries can match those gains.

The False Cause: Fraud, Fabrication, and White Supremacy in Confederate Memory

By Adam H. Domb The Lost Cause ideology that emerged after the Civil War and flourished in the early twentieth century sought to recast a struggle to perpetuate slavery as a heroic defense of the South. Adam Domby reveals this goal was founded on falsehoods. The False Cause focuses on North Carolina to examine the role of lies and exaggeration in the creation of the Lost Cause narrative. In the process the book shows how these lies have long obscured the past and been used to buttress white supremacy in ways that resonate to this day. The book concludes with a penetrating examination of how the Lost Cause narrative and the lies on which it is based continue to haunt the country today and still work to maintain racial inequality. g

MLK MLK

MLK MLK MLK MLK MLK MLK “The time is always right to do what is right” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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is proud to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

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8 Timeless Songs in the Key of Change

By Lindiwe Vilakazi WI Staff Writer Historian Reiland Rabaka wrote in Civil Rights Music: The Soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement, that “singing marchers of the Civil Rights Movement did not merely inspire

each other, but they also influenced and seemed to stir something deep within the more noted leaders of the movement.” And whether facing police dogs, fire hoses, or white mob violence, the songs of protesters steeled their resolves and quieted their fears. The secular and sacred

converged, mingled with their faith, and floated across segregated spaces and down dirt roads, like cadence.

Onlookers heard them, long before they saw them. Eventually, their spirit-fueled protests messages would blare from radio stations and turntables across the nation. There are

thousands of these songs that still promote civil and human rights or encourage personal and social improvement – but these are the eight that we believe have stood the test of time. Be sure to check our social media posts to add your own favorites to this list.

Nina Simone, “I Wish Knew Now it Would Feel to Be Free” (1967) One of the most symbolic anthems of the Civil Rights Movement and the internal struggles of marginalized people across the globe. Simone imagines what it would be like to live in a world without racism and segregation.

WGL Supplier Diversity Program As we reflect on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is essential to speak to his commitment to economic empowerment. This initiative continues today and aligns with our aspirations in being a responsible corporate member in the business community.

Washington Gas is committed to supporting diverse and protected class businesses through its Supplier Diversity Program.

For our company, procuring goods and services from diverse suppliers is a sound business strategy and produces competition in the marketplace, and benefits our customers, the community, and employees.

Stevie Wonder, “Higher Ground” (1973) Higher Ground is a soul song with a bit of funk measured in and written by the incomparable Stevie Wonder. It first appeared on his 1973 album Innervisions and reached Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the U.S. Hot R&B Singles chart.

Curtis Mayfield & the Impressions, “People Get Ready” (1964) Music critic Stanley Crouch wrote that “People Get Ready” was Mayfield’s very powerful and creative reaction to the March on Washington.

“By saying ‘There’s a train a-coming, get ready’ that was like saying, okay, so regardless of what happens, get yourself together for this because you are going to get a chance. Your chance is coming.”

Sam Cooke, “A Change is Gonna Come” (1964) The Library of Congress called A Change is Gonna Come a soulful ode to the struggles, yet prevailing hopes, of a Black citizen living under the oppression of Jim Crow laws in the segregated South. Haunting in its lyrics, and chilling in Cooke’s delivery, the song continues to inspire activists to fight on.

Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On?” (1971) Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo “Obie” Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye. The song topped the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossed over to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It sold over two million copies, becoming Gaye’s second-most successful Motown song to date.

The Staple Singers, “Respect Yourself” (1971) The Staple Singers easily claim top billing in the ranks of social justice leaders with songs that inspired the civil rights movement. In fact, they wrote and performed much of the movement’s soundtrack. Respect Yourself focuses on both community and social issues we can fix by changing our attitudes with lyrics like, “If you’re walking around thinking that the world owes you something because you’re here; You’re going out the world backwards like you did when you first come here.”

Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror (1988) Written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard, the song declares that the way to ‘’make the world a better place’’ is to ‘’take a look at yourself and then make that change.’’ The call to look inward first, makes its lyrics pivotal in encouraging personal and social uplift.

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Wake Up Everybody (1975) Wake Up Everybody” is a classic R&B song written by John Whitehead, Gene McFadden and Victor Carstarphen. The song spent two weeks at number one on the Hot Soul Singles chart in early 1976.

It also enjoyed success on the pop charts, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. g

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If you can’t fly then

RUN, if you can’t run then WALK, if you can’t walk then CRAWL,

but whatever you do you have to

KEEP MOVING FORWARD! Martin Luther King Jr.

washingtongas.com

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THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 2022 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR SUPPLEMENT / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

By The

numbers How the Voting Rights Act Shook the False Supremacy of Black Inferiority ByWILeeStaffRoss Writer Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, prophetically, in the “loss” speech on ending a false supremacy that there would be gains and new oppositions to fight, making it feel at times like African Americans were fighting a never-ending battle for equality.

“We must all maintain faith in the future and believe that the American dream can and will become a reality. This is my faith. I know that dark days still lie ahead. Gigantic mountains of opposition will still stand before us.” King said. “And there is something in this universe which justifies William Cullen Bryant in saying, ‘Truth crushed to earth will rise again’.”

The DC Lottery honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the countless African-American heroes who’ve contributed in our journey toward civil rights, equality and freedom.

Washington Informer | 1/2 pg V | 5.85” x 9.5” | 4c | New | MLK

Stay Informed! www.washingtoninformer.com

The Voting Rights Act invalidated the use of any test or device to deny the vote and authorized federal examiners to register voters in states that had disenfranchised Blacks. As a result, more Blacks became politically active and elected Black representatives. Additionally, with new representatives, came better jobs, contracts, facilities, and services for the Black community.

Combined, these struck a blow against the false supremacy tied to disenfranchisement.

The law had a huge impact on many Southern states. For example, Black voter registration rates in Mississippi increased from a mere 6.7 percent in 1965 to 59.8 percent in 1967, according to the US Commission for Civil Rights.

For a state that’s historically around 40 percent Black, this represented a massive shift in politics — a change that much of the predominantly white leadership at the time feared but would have to accept due to the Voting Rights Act. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new Black voters had been registered, one-third by Federal examiners. By the end of 1966, only 4 out of the 13 southern states had fewer than 50 percent of African Americans registered to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was readopted and strengthened in 1970, 1975, and 1982.

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The Voices of the Civil Rights Movement – a virtual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day from past to present.

Unlock your firsthand experience featuring recounts from marchers, Civil Rights pioneers, and civic leaders. Plus, explore articles, photo galleries, and video biographies that forever captured the moment that ignited inspiration in all of us.

Visit xfinity.com/blackexperience to learn more.

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Requires Xfinity TV with X1 and compatible TV box or Xfinity Flex and Xfinity Internet. ©2022 Comcast. All Rights Reserved.

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In 1963, millions started marching down the paths we continue to walk today. Xfinity invites you to listen to the stories of those who helped Dr. King create history told directly from their voices.

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All of this was organized without a single tweet

5 Tips to Removing Chains of Bias

By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer Many Americans have embraced racial stereotypes or socially toxic beliefs taught in schools or their communities. get retooled. Since many neighborhoods remain segregated in 2022, much of what different communities know of each other comes from television, film, news, and social media. This is, by and large, a fail. Today, a bevy of short courses and tips exists to engage a changing world where the past, present and future tussle for empower the public. Here are a few tips offered by mental health

organizations and social equity firms, including Very Well Mind that will help you remove the shackles of misinformation.

USE VALUES AS A BRIDGE, NOT A BYPASS.

Opening conversations with shared values helps to emphasize society’s role in affording a fair chance to everyone. But starting conversations here does not mean avoiding discussions of race. We suggest bridging from shared values to the roles of racial equity and inclusion in fulfilling those values for all. Doing so can move audi-

ences into a frame of mind that is more solution-oriented and less mired in skepticism about the continued existence of discrimination or our ability to do anything about it.

TALK ABOUT THE SYSTEMIC OBSTACLES TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND EQUAL JUSTICE.

Often our culture views social problems through an individual lens – what did a person do to “deserve” his or her specific condition

or circumstance? But we know that history, policies, culture, and many other factors beyond individual choices have gotten us to where we are today, reports Very Well Mind. When we’re hoping to show the existence of discrimination or racism by pointing out racially unequal conditions, it’s particularly important to tell a full story that links cause (history) and effect (outcome). Without this important link, some audiences can walk away believing that our health care, criminal justice, or educational systems work fine and therefore differing outcomes exist because non-White people are doing something wrong.

RECOGNIZE YOUR OWN PREJUDICE

All of us are born with or grew into certain biases. If you think things like, “I’d never do anything racist,” you might want to check yourself. Research shows people who claim they’re never prejudiced are the most likely to be prejudiced.

LEARN ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE

Educate yourself about other races as well. Learn about the history of racism and discrimination and strive to learn more about what other people are experiencing today. Read books, watch documentaries, and attend cultural events to learn more about others’ experiences. Get your news from a variety of sources, including Black,

Latino, Jewish, and student newspapers.

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Children are observant and complex thinkers. They look to people around them including parents, teachers, and other children, to make sense of who they are. They learn how people who look and don’t look like them are treated. Research shows children as young as two-years-old can articulate ideas about racial differences and develop judgments on what those differences mean. In short, watch you mouths and your behaviors because your children do and say what you (and those around you) do and say. g

“The imposition of inferiority, externally and internally, are the slave chains of today.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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What’s a great way you can help someone today?

© 2022 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 34, No. 6

The kids in Mrs. Kelsey’s class painted some posters to give kids ideas about the kinds of things they can do to help in their neighborhood.

Make your celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. But they fell off the line while Day “a day on, not a day off.” This year, thousands drying and got mixed up. of people will do just that by volunteering. committee Can you match the two halves of elect each poster? r mayo the and igh ing the m an d council spring, sk ill s by we AMHERST, MA – Every hool in counting the seeds. hearing kids at the Common Sc further d an s kin y mp the pu ng continues as Am he rst , pla nt rni lea e Th until for e car proceed to learn how to ds come me asu re ing red ien ts to ma ke a wall see ad, se bre the n m them. And fro dozens of loaves of pumpki nearby distu study and service. which they donate to the neighbor center. ior sen with the t ves har y In the fall, after the th ma ce cti pra ts den stu s, pumpkin

Standards Link: Civics: Students understand the importance of volunteering as a characteristic of American society (e.g., people should volunteer to help others in their family, schools and communities.

Standards Link: Language Arts: Use reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of texts.

elderly 1. Clearing an dewalk. si ’s or hb neig nned 2. Collecting ca od bank. fo a r fo s good a younger 3. Help coach . am te child’s

• The 4 students filled a total of 15 bags.

• No one filled more than 7 bags.

• None of the students filled the same number of bags.

• Cassidy filled 5 bags.

• Owen filled 3 less than Cassidy.

• Sam filled the most bags.

Standards Link: Mathematical Reasoning: Use a variety of strategies to solve problems.

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Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow simple written directions.

SERVICE TUTOR DONATE VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY SENIOR SUPPORT PROMOTE COLLECT ENERGY KING LOAVES SEEDS CARE POSTER

Find the words by looking up, down, backwards, forwards, sideways and diagonally.

S S D E E S B R C T

U Y G R E N E E O C P D O N A T E E M E P P I E I C A T M L

O O V O I K L N U L

R S E V A O L U N O T T R O T U T L I C

U E A P R O M O T E

S R C N T E E V Y R

Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recongized identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.

Thank You Ads

Find ads in the newspaper that thank and acknowledge community volunteers. Create a newspaper “Thank You” ad for participation in a Book Drive. Contact your local newspaper to find out the cost of running this ad.

hbor with 4. Help a neig k. or w rd some ya at the 5. Play a game er nt senior ce .

The volunteer coordinator asked four students to collect as many bags of garbage as they could find in the park.

How many did each student find? Use the clues to complete the chart.

Starting at the R, move clockwise around the circle and write every third letter on the lines to find out something you can do today to help someone.

Standards Link: Reasearch: Use the newspaper to locate information.

How many stars can you find on this page in 60 seconds? Now have a friend try. Who found the most?

Make a Difference

Look through the newspaper to find: An organization that helps others A person helping others Adjectives about helping Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events Standards Link: Civics: Know how various American holidays reflect values, principles and beliefs of Americans.

Tell how you make a difference in someone’s life within your family, your school or in your community.

… helping people in your community whenever possible.

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 2022 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR SUPPLEMENT / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

“The time is always right to do what’s right.”

Give back on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and every day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s own words remind us of the importance of leadership, hope and service. And at AARP, we believe your experience, skills and passion have the power to inspire others to make a difference.

We encourage everyone to continue his legacy by lending a helping hand in their community. And we can help.

Join us in making a difference on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and every day.

Go to createthegood.aarp.org to find ways you can volunteer in your community Please serve your community and others safely by following all CDC COVID-19 guidelines and federal, state and local regulations.

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 2022 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR SUPPLEMENT / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

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