the-washington-informer-february-12-2015 by The Washington Informer

I N S I D E

Chavis Every Generation Can Contribute, Pg. 26

I N S I D E

Jury Still Out on Pepco, Exelon Merger, Pg. 4

Mayor Gives Lesson on Ruby Bridges, Pg. 27

Businesswoman Survives Gentrification, Pg. 12

Whitney’s Tragic Tale Continues, Pg. 36

Vol. 50, No. 18 Feb. 12 - Feb. 18 2015

Mayor Muriel Bowser reads “The Story of Ruby Bridges” to kindergarten and second grade students at Martin Luther King Elementary School during a Black History Month program in Southeast on Wednesday, Feb. 4. /Photo by Roy Lewis

New Schott Report Illustrates Growing Achievement Gap

Can District’s $20 Million Initiative Improve Outcomes for Black Males? By D. Kevin McNeir WI Managing Editor Race has taken center stage in conversations from D.C.’s Ward 8 here in the nation’s capital to all points north, south, east and west. And, while education serves as the best way to equalize an

eons-old unleveled field, a newly released report illustrates that little traction has been made in reducing the achievement gap. Detailing national graduation rates of black, white and Latino males and how they’re treated in school, “Black Lives Matter: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black

Males” points out a 21-percentage-point difference in national high school graduation rates between black male students and their non-black peers, and many predict that the gap will continue to widen. “The title ‘Black Lives Matter” is both an affirmation and a declarative statement,” said John

H. Jackson, president and CEO of Schott Foundation for Public Education, an organization that for over a decade has collected and published national data on four-year graduation rates for black males as compared with other groups. Their reports have highlighted how the persistent, systemic disparity in opportunity

creates a climate and perception of a population that is less valued. “Our goal was to lay out an agenda that makes it clear that black lives should matter not only when blacks die but while they’re alive,” Jackson said. “Op-

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2/12/2015 – 2/18//2015 PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY Pages 14-15 BUSINESS Pages 18-19 COMMENTARIES Pages 25-26 BLACK HISTORY SECTION Pages 27-35 LIFESTYLE Pages 36-40 SPORTS

At the end of a book discussion on Saturday, Feb. 7, Robby Novak, 11, also known as the “Kid President,” along with his ever-present brother-in-law Brad Montague, stayed around to chat with supporters. Robby and Brad spoke to a large audience at the MLK Jr. Library about their book, “Kid President’s Guide to Being Awesome,” which has created quite a buzz in the District. /Photo by Nancy Shia

Pages 44-45

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THREE WEEKENDS OF OVER 100 PERFORMANCES FROM 700 ARTISTS FROM DC AND BEYOND.

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SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY

Women Break the Cycle of Domestic Violence

AROUND THE REGION

By Tia Carol Jones

law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow sense of uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- domestic violence victims and stricter restraining order policies, Visit our updated Web site old daughter told her the father survivors are treated. more rights for victim's families and give us your comments of her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal to intervene on behalf of a vicfor a chance to win a gift from life, and the life of their child, story, her own personal pain to tim, a domestic violence assessThe Washington Informer she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training for law enforcement with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life ProtecEmail comments to: of the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book will tion Act and mandatory counselrburke@ start the Saving Promise cam- “get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. paign. case in such a way, the average “If we are ever going to eradiwashingtoninformer.com “It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, we must that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of the coin. loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to have a dia- We need to address both the vicshared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow ence at the District Heights Also present at the event was said. Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise Municipal Center. The sympo- who was sentenced to six consec- awareness among children in sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole public and private schools. She Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatCenter of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence. Heights and the National Hook2002.neighborhood Mildred Muhammad “We havewith to Exelon stop being pasA Pepco worker tends to his duty in a District last year. PepcoisHoldings merger is expected Up Black Women. the founder to be of completed later this year. /Photo courtesy of Pepcoof After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilMarlow has written a book, an organization that helps the dren about domestic violence,” “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic violence Marlow said. story about four generations of and their children. Marlow has worked to break domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of abuse in her family, inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. It is and is confident the policies she and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process. She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad said “I plan to take these policies to excerpts from her book, she still people who want to help a Congress andPepco implore them to In Memoriam many area businesses, faith lead- the contacts always have By Stacy M. Brown Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. can not believe the words came ers, domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. labor unions and health care had here in D.C. will remain WI Writer Wilhelmina J. Rolark fromContributing her. “Color Me Butterfly” organizations be careful of such how as they into the “I will not Pepco stop until poliVoltgoEnersame. will these still have The Washington Informer Newspaper won the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” gy, the National Utility Contrac- an office here and they will still THE WASHINGTON INFORMER Opposition InPUBLISHER Memoriam Books” Award.to the proposed that Association, she may beandinChildren’s “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414)Dr.isCalvin W. Rolark, Sr. participate with charitable orgaDenise Rolark Barnes utility company merger between “I was just 16-years-old when tors mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net published weekly on each Thursday. Wilhelmina J. Rolark Center at THEARC, 100 Pepco Inc. andand Exelon my eyeHoldings, first blackened my Health “Before you get to 'I'm going nizations. Periodicals postage paid at WashingBlack Men STAFF “We THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published has lips been bled,”well-documented Marlow said. and a to kill you,'ofit Greater started asWashinga verbal WI also know that our utilton, D.C. and additional mailing ofweekly Thursday. Periodicals paid at Washington, D.C. and additional ton, D.C., and the D.C. Promise ity bills won’t increase after the Elaine Davis-Nickens, presifices. Newsonand advertising deadlinepostage protest on Thursday, Feb. 5 by Denise W. Barnes, Editor mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. is Monday prior to publication. Anmerger and I think this will be dent of theenvironmental National Hook-Up numerous advo- Neighborhood Initative. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The D. Kevin McNeir, Managing Editor nouncements must be received two Johnnie Scott Rice, a Ward 7 good for all of us. Listen, it’s of Black Women, said there is no Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POST MASTER: Send change of addresscacy organizations again received weeks event. Copyright 2015 consistency in the attention. way domestic resident and the president of the important that everyone underes toprior The to Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, its share of media Ron Burke, Advertising/ Marketing Director by D.C. The 20032. Washington Informer. All No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permisviolence issues are dealt with by Metropolitan Washington, D.C. stands everything that’s going on However, supporters of the rights POSTMASTER: sionreserved. from the publisher. TheSend Informer Newspaper cannot return Lafayette Barnes, IV,guarantee Assistant the Photo Editorof change of addresses to The rates Washphotographs. Subscription are $30 per year, two years $45. Papers will be received more than $6.8 billion deal have Chapter of the National Con- in their community,” Rice congress of Black Women said the tinued. “I advise people to get not more than 3117 a weekMartin after publication. MakeE.checks payable to: ington Informer, Luther John De Freitas, Sports Photo Editor flown mostly under the radar, merger would only yield good educated because if you don’t King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. simply looking forward to the THE WASHINGTON Dorothy INFORMER Rowley, Online Editor 20032. No part of this publication may results for all local residents. know what’s going on, and if 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. • Washington, D.C. 20032 two companies finalizing the be reproduced without written permisShe said she has been sitting you don’t know all of the facts Brian• Young, Design & Layout Phone: 202 561-4100 Fax: 202 574-3785 deal and moving ahead with sion from the publisher. The Informer E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com on a blue ribbon panel put to- because you didn’t try to ascerNewspaper cannot guarantee the return plans most proponents said will Mable Neville, Bookkeeper www.washingtoninformer.com gether by Pepco for sometime, of photographs. Subscription rates are only help District and other area carefully analyzing details of the tain them, than you can’t make Mickey Thompson, Social Sightings columnist $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will noise when things go wrong.” residents over the long term. PUBLISHER be received not more than a week after major transaction and how it Also, Rice said it’s clear that Denise RolarkPalmer, Barnes Social Media Specialist Stacey “Pepco has been a good corpublication. Make checks payable to: could affect everyone. Pepco and Exelon have commitSTAFF porate citizen and, when you REPORTERS Angie Johnson, Circulation Rice has become keenly aware THE WASHINGTON Brooke N. Garner INFORMER Managing Editor Tia C. Jones, Ed Laiscell, look at its philanthropic efforts of and understands the intrica- ted to advancing sustainable enCarla Peay Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E and their support of nonprofits, cies of the merger plans and she ergy, which also will not change Ron BurkeD.C. 20032 Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, Joseph Young Washington, REPORTERS Mable Whittaker Bookkeeper particularly east of the river, you said those who oppose the me- after the merger and will result in Phone: 202 561-4100 Stacy Brown, Sam P.K. Collins, Eve Ferguson, LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS Fax:John 202 574-3785 understand just how good a cor- ga-deal primarily consist of indi- fewer and shortage power outagE. De Freitas Sports Elton Editor Hayes, Lafayette Barnes, IV, D. Kevin McNeir, Dorothy news@washingtoninformer.com Victor Holt Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Maurice Fitzgerald, porate citizen they have been,” viduals who aren’t fully educated es and net as many as 7,100 new Salmon www.washingtoninformer.com Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic Rowley, Design Barrington Joanne Jackson, Roy Lewis, Robert jobs in Maryland alone. said Edmund Fleet, a southeast about the transaction. Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster Ridley, Victor Holt For the District, The $6.8 bilresident and executive director “Pepco has always been right L.Y. Marlow lion all-cash transaction would CIRCULATION of THEARC. on time for all of us in WashingPaul Trantham PHOTOGRAPHERS “Pepco has also committed to ton, D.C. They have also always mean even more efficiency, offiJohn E. DeFreitas, Shevry Lassiter, continuing those efforts after the been on our side when we’ve cials said. The deal affects more Roy Lewis, Travis Riddick , Nancy Shia than two million Pepco custommerger and, from what I under- needed them,” Rice said. stand they plan to exceed what “Sure, at first, I was concerned ers in the District, Maryland, 4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com they’ve already done,” Fleet said. about Exelon, but I read all the Delaware and New Jersey. Support for the transaction documents, listened to all the decan also be found among the tails and also we now know that PEPCOMERGER Page 5

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WI Staff Writer

Pepco Merger with Exelon Moving Forward Supporters Prove to be as Plentiful as Opposition

“

We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these policies to Congress and implore them to change our laws. I will not stop until these policies are passed.

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301.292.9141/FAX 301.292.9142/Mobile 703.819.0920 doris@mcmilloncommunications.com/www.mcmilloncommunications.com THEARC Executive Director Edmund Fleet counts among the supporters of the proposed $6.8 billion Pepco/Exelon merger. Fleet said Pepco has been a good corporate citizen. /Courtesy of THEARC

PEPCOMERGER from Page 4 It creates a single energy provider for the Mid-Atlantic region. “The commitments we are making will deliver immediate economic benefits to customers in Maryland, and will ensure that Pepco and Delmarva Power continue their long history of investing in their communities,” Exelon President and CEO Chris Crane said in an earlier statement. Both Pepco and Exelon officials said they expect the merger to be completed in either the second or third quarter of this year. “The merger has been approved by the boards of directors of Pepco Holdings and Exelon, Pepco Holdings shareholders, Virginia regulators and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,” said Exelon spokesman Paul Elsberg. In another important development, the companies announced that they have reached a settlement agreement in the New Jersey proceeding to review the merger, which also requires ap-

proval from the public utility commissions of the District of Columbia, Delaware and Maryland, Elsberg said. Still, opponents don’t want the deal to finalize. One of the organizations that joined the protest in Baltimore, the Maryland Public Interest Research Group, claims the merger runs counter to the competitive marketplace and it’s bad for consumers because reliability could be reduced while rates and public safety risks would increase. In testimony before the D.C. Public Service Commission, Sandra Mattavous-Frye of the consumer advocacy group the People’s Counsel, urged rejection of the merger because she said it failed to meet minimum legal criteria set forth by the commission’s public interest standard. Mattavous-Frye said Exelon’s entry into the D.C. market through the acquisition of Pepco is by far the most significant undertaking in the local electric industry since Pepco’s divestiture of its generation plants in 2000. “Exelon’s corporate footprint and influence will include 10 million customers, stretching from Illinois to Maryland. Pol-

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icy and decision makers must make every effort to ensure that DC and its utility consumers receive maximum benefit,” Mattavous-Frye said. But, Pepco and Exelon said they will keep promises made to consumers about the quality of service and the availability of officials at the companies. Among the pledges, Exelon has promised to place $100 million in a customer investment fund to help ratepayers with the cost of benefits and provide credits, assistance for low-income households and energy efficiency measures. “It’s easy to laud Pepco when things are going good, but the moment things go wrong it’s a challenge for everyone,” said Janece Smoot Kleban, vice president of development for Goodwill of Greater Washington in Northeast. “Pepco is coming to the table and showing us what we need. If a business is interested in making a strong business decision in the interest of District residents, than we should support them,” Kleban said.WI

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AROUND THE REGION WEEK OF FEB 12 TO FEB 18

Black Facts FEB. 12 1793 – Congress passes the first Fugitive Slave Law. The law made it easier for a slave owner to re-take control of a slave who had escaped to freedom. 1865 – Henry Highland Garnett was an African American abolitionist and orator. He was the first black minister to preach to the United States House of Representatives. 1900 –Legendary poet James Weldon Johnson writes the lyrics to the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as part of a birthday tribute to Abraham Lincoln. 1909 – A group of African American leaders joined together to form a new permanent civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 1923 – The first Black professional basketball team “The Renaissance” organized 1923. 1930 – The infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment is funded. Over 400 black men from rural parts of Georgia and Alabama are lured into the program with the promise that they would be treated for syphilis. But the program was actually designed to study the effects of untreated syphilis on the body. 1934 -- William Felton Russell, better known as “Bill” Russell, player-coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team in 1968 and 1969 was born in Monroe, Louisiana.

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FEB. 13 1907 – Wendell P. Dabney establishes the groundbreaking black newspaper known as The Union in Cincinnati, Ohio. The paper’s motto was “For no people can become great without being united, for in union there is strength.” 1920 – The first successful Negro League established at a YMCA in Kansas City, Missouri by Andrew “Rube” Foster who served as its president. 1970 – Joseph L. Searles III became the first black floor member and floor broker in the New York Stock Exchange. 1991 – African American inventor Dr. Lonnie G. Johnson patents the Super Soaker toy that goes on to sell

over 40 million units making it the top selling toy in the US in 1991 and 1992. FEB. 14 1817 – The most likely birth date of abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass. Douglass purchased his freedom in 1845 and went on to become the most influential black leader of his day. He did most of his work while living in Rochester, New York. But after the Civil War, he moved to Washington, D.C. 1867 – One of the nation’s most distinguished institutions of higher learning, Morehouse College, was founded on this day in Augusta, Georgia. 1936 – National Negro Congress organized at Chicago meeting attended by 817 delegates representing more than 500 organizations. Asa Phillip Randolph of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was elected president of the new organization. FEB. 15 1848 – Sarah Roberts barred from white school in Boston. Her father, Benjamin Roberts, filed the first school integration suit on her behalf. 1965 – Great singer and Jazz pianist Nat King Cole dies of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California. He was only 45. Cole was the first black entertainer with his own radio program and later he became the first with a nationally televised TV variety show. FEB. 16 1923 – The “Empress of the Blues” Bessie Smith makes her first recording Bill Russell – “Downhearted Blues” – which immediately sells over 800,000 copies for Columbia Records and over 2,000,000 copies by the end of the year. She died in an automobile accident in 1937 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. 1951 – The City Council in New York City passes what is believed to be the first law barring racial discrimination in public assisted housing.

FEB. 17 1902 – Opera legend Marian Anderson is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Despite her fame she suffered from racist rejection. On Easter Sunday 1939, she performed an open air recital at the Lincoln Memorial because the all white Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow her to sing at Washington, D.C.’s Constitution Hall. 1942 – Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton is born. The Panthers were perhaps the most militant black organization of the 1960’s. 1963 – Perhaps the greatest player to ever dribble a basketball, Michael Jordan, was born on this day in Brooklyn, New York. However, his family moved and he played high school basketball in Wilmington, North Carolina. 1997 – Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song “Carry Me Back to Old Virginia,” a tune that glorifies slavery. FEB. 18 1894 – Paul Revere Williams, renowned architect was born. 1913 – Delta Sigma Theta Sorority was incorporated at Howard University. 1931 – Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison, (born Chloe Anthony Wofford), was born in Lorain, Ohio.

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AROUND THE REGION INTERVIEWS AND PHOTOS BY ELTON HAYES

VIEWP INT Phillip Walker

Washington, D.C. I am the program director of a program that Mayor Barry started called the Mayor’s Youth Leadership institute, and former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray recently changed its name to the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute. And the summer youth employment program is now called the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program. He is great icon for the city and I think we can name a lot of things after him, but I’m not sure about the University of the District of Columbia. I do think the university could take the numbers off of the buildings, and maybe name a building after him.

Betty Robinson

Washington, D.C. I think it’s a good idea because Mayor Marion Barry has done a lot of great things for the District of Columbia and for Ward 8. I used to work for the District and I see no reason why they shouldn’t name the university after him. He really fought for the school, and naming it after him will be a good way to honor his memory.

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DISTRICT COUNCILMAN VINCENT ORANGE AND U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DONNA EDWARDS (D-Md. 4th DISTRICT) LAST WEEK SUGGESTED THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SHOULD BE NAMED AFTER LATE D.C. MAYOR MARION BARRY. DO YOU AGREE?

The Reverend Nancy Knight

Washington, D.C. When I first heard it mentioned, I thought it was an excellent idea. But when I thought about it, and looked at other states that have schools such as the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia, I’m not so sure. The District of Columbia does need to honor him in some way—maybe give him a building or a street on the campus. Some will bring up some of the negative things about him, but I do not have a problem with that at all. God is forgiving and throws all of our sins into the lake of forgiveness. All of the great things Mayor Barry did for the city can never be erased.

Rudine Anderson Silver Spring, Maryland I think it’s a great idea. It is a great tribute to a man, regardless of how you might feel about him. He always fought for the District for most of his life. Very few people would give up a PhD to do the kind of things he did for the city. We need to honor his legacy. I think naming the school after him is a great idea.

Zeon Railey

Washington, D.C. While it’s admirable that some want the university to change its name to someone who was and will remain an icon in D.C., I feel as though Mayor Marion Barry does not reflect all of D.C. and all of D.C.’s history. While he is a major part of the city’s history, he is not all of its history. And I feel as though University of the District of Columbia should reflect and represent all of D.C.

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AROUND THE REGION BOYS from Page 1 portunities exist, and we can turn things around. There are over 2 million black males with college degrees in the U.S. and over 1 million more black males currently in college. So, the issue is not whether black males have the ability to excel. The issue is whether we’re willing to provide them with the support they need to succeed – so they have a fair and substantive opportunity to learn,” said Jackson, 41, a Chicago native who’s earned two master’s degrees, a law degree and a doctorate. The 59-page report provides a holistic view of how black males are treated in the public education system, detailing graduation rates of black, white and Latino males nationally, by state and in major urban regions. Based on the report’s data, Washington, D.C., has a 50-percentage-point gap. Ironically, just across the bridge, Montgomery County, Maryland has the largest black male graduation rate in the U.S., with 74 percent. Additional significant gaps between black males and their peers were found in such areas as out-of-school suspensions (despite no evidence of higher rates of misbehavior in school); advanced placement enrollment (there is less access to AP courses in schools that serve more

black students); and reading and mathematics proficiency scores (opportunity gaps and lack of resources in early school years create a disadvantage). In the foreword to the report, associate professor of law Michelle Alexander, the author of the New York Times best-selling novel “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” said the racial divide that persists could have been prevented had America’s leaders been more honest about “the racial dimensions of our policymaking and our politics.” “We had a choice,” Alexander writes. “We could have responded to the economic collapse of inner-city communities in the 1970s, for example, with stimulus packages and economic development programs when staggering numbers of black men across the country found themselves suddenly trapped in racially segregated, jobless neighborhoods struggling for survival. “Black men, in particular, have been treated as being disposable, no longer necessary to the economy or to building the country. Through this report, Schott boldly proclaims that black lives do matter. And, because they matter, what we chose to do about educational inequity matters. It matters that we give our young people good reason to dream,” she said. In a recent bold step, the

Black boys can excel in school when given the proper support. /Courtesy photo

District of Columbia Public Schools has launched a new $20 million initiative centered on mentoring, targeting funding, and new partnerships – all aimed at addressing the urgent needs of male students of color. “We serve more black and Latino boys than any other group of students, and over-

all they are lagging behind their classmates – this is the greatest need we see,” said DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson. “We can’t do this work alone, we will not be able to succeed, and these young people will continue to falter unless we change the way we approach this work and unless the community steps up to help us change their lives. Now is the time for the type of change we know is both absolutely necessary and absolutely possible,” Henderson said. The new initiative includes several components: mentoring and fostering a love of reading, with DCPS now recruiting 500 volunteers who will mentor males of color throughout the city on a weekly basis; allowing

schools to apply for grants that will better enable them to focus on academic development, family engagement and social-emotional supports; and the opening of a new, all-male college preparatory high school in 2016 – modeling and partnering with Urban Prep Academies, a highly successful network of all-boys high schools in Chicago. Robert Simmons, DCPS chief of innovation and research, serves as the District’s point person for improving the academic achievement of males of color. He said it’s important to address all of the needs of the students if real and lasting improvement is to be achieved. “We’ve put together a mul-

BOYS Page 9

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Dr. John H. Jackson, president and CEO, Schott Foundation for Public Education

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Kiewit Clark Transit Partners invites interested DBE Suppliers and Subcontractors to submit a bid for: The Purple Line Project Work includes: Demo, Clearing, Grading, Wet & Dry Utilities, Drainage, Pavement, Flatwork, Structural Concrete, Walls, Bridges, Rebar, Trackwork, Controls, Lighting, Signals, Landscaping, MOT, Material Supply, Environmental Controls, Office and Site Logistics and various others. Interested DBE firms should visit our website: http://www.mtcpurpleline.com/business/

DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson

BOYS from Page 1 tifaceted approach and believe that a strong academic career leads to a strong and social and emotional background for students because they will be more confident in life,” Simmons said. “We already have an equity scorecard that charts high school graduation rates; we’re loading it now with benchmark data. Some of points of focus: access to AP programs and courses, early literacy development, college readiness and student satisfaction.” Simmons said DCPS will keep parents and other interested parties informed of its progress. “We’re going to monitor how the boys do, and we want good, relevant data. It’s important that the community can see how well we’re doing and how we’re improving. In addition, all age groups will be included from pre-K to 12th grade. We plan to work with every male student in DCPS – it’s a comprehensive approach,” he said. Jackson said public education can and has worked, for example in places like Montgomery and Howard counties. But, where high levels of poverty exists, the situation tends to be drastically

Author and attorney, Michelle Alexander

different. “I tend to begin with the systemic pieces when confronting problems,” he said. “A recent report by the Southern Education Foundation shows that for the first time in U.S. history, the majority of students who are in public school systems qualify for free and reduced lunch. That means they’re essentially low-income. We cannot ignore the impact that poverty has on districts and schools. “Why aren’t we paying for mentors the way we pay probationary officers? What do we value more? Do we want more students incarcerated or graduating?” Jackson asked. As for the all-male academy that DCPS plans to open next year, Jackson said, “I applaud the District for taking a step and doing something, recognizing that there is a challenge and a population significant enough to address it,” he said. “But I believe that whatever is provided in such an environment and recognized as a positive indicator for black males needs to be integrated into the entire system so that 99 percent get what’s needed – not just 1 percent.” WI

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JOBS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A crowd of hopeful jobseekers gathered outside of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development in Southeast, to sign up for positions with DC Water and Sewer Authority on Wednesday, February 5. The agency recently launched the DC Water Works Initiative, a multi-pronged effort to boost local hiring on DC Water projects underway and planned over the next 10 years. More than 200 individuals, mostly African American men from Ward 8, patiently waited for their number to be called for a construction related job or the opportunity to participate in a job training or apprenticeship program. Learn more by calling (202) 787-2304. / Photo by DR Barnes.

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Marvin F. Wilson Laid to Rest Funeral services were held Thursday, Feb. 5 for former Prince Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s County Councilman Marvin F. Wilson of Glenarden, Maryland. Wilson, 81, represented District 5 on county council for two terms (1994-2002). Wilson will long be remembered as one of the instrumental figures in helping the county to open the Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, Maryland. The track and field stadium adjacent to the complex is named after Wilson. Wilson, also a former mayor of Glenarden, died on Wednesday, Jan. 28 and is survived by his wife, two daughters and two grandchildren. /Photo courtesy Maryland Association of Counties

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AROUND THE REGION

Wanda Henderson (third from left) poses with her staff of stylists, manicurists and barbers in her salon and spa, Wanda’s on 7th, which is located in the heart of the Shaw neighborhood in Northwest. /Photo by Nancy Shia

Local Black-Owned Salon Survives Gentrification By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @ SamPKCollins Veteran beautician and business owner Wanda Henderson defied the odds last summer when she reopened her salon and spa in a newly erected mixeduse development along Seventh Street in the Shaw neighborhood in Northwest. As the only black-owned business to return to the historic neighborhood during a period of revitalization, Wanda’s on 7th serves as a piece of history in a community that’s constantly changing. While Henderson says the increasing cost of living in the area remains a burden for her, she says her store’s future looks bright. “Many of the black business owners moved out during the renovations in 2010 and never came back after developers tore the block down,” said Henderson. “Shaw’s one of the most expensive renovated areas in the District. Only people like me know the true history of this neighborhood. We have to show people that we can still be a part of the community. If we’re going to truly be one city, we should all be here,” said Henderson, a lifelong resident of the Shaw neighborhood. Henderson’s journey back to the Seventh Street corridor didn’t come without difficulties. After Wanda’s on 7th, which is located on the block near the Shaw-Howard University Metro station and The Howard The-

12 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

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atre, shuttered during the beginning stages of redevelopment in 2010, Henderson moved operations to another storefront on Georgia Avenue, across the street from Howard University in Northwest. For the next four years, Henderson maintained contact with the owners of Progression Place, a new mixed-use development in the Shaw neighborhood, and negotiated the terms of her return while paying rent for both the Seventh Street storefront and her new salon. Along the way, Henderson received some help from local bankers and community leaders. “I’m a household name in the neighborhood,” said Henderson, who opened Wanda’s on 7th in 2003. “My work should be able to continue here because I was among the first people on the street. My community loves me. I wanted to make sure that I got back to my original space because I felt that I deserved to stay in the neighborhood [where] I live and worship. It wasn’t smooth sailing during the process, but I never accepted no for an answer. I introduced myself to the right people and did what I had to do to get my original space.” In June, Wanda’s on 7th reopened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that attracted dozens of community members, business owners and local leaders including then-D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray. The newly revamped store, located on the ground floor of Progression Place, came equipped with state-of-the-art

hood dryers, hair steamers, styling chairs and mirrors. Even with the new interior and bold, red wooden signage on the top of the storefront, Henderson said, Wanda’s on 7th gives visitors a familial environment that they won’t find anywhere else in the immediate area. Questions, however, about how the salon would maintain its standing in the neighborhood have weighed heavily on her mind. While she said the base amount she pays in monthly rent hasn’t changed, additional costs, including fees for the usage and maintenance of a common area in Progression Place, utilities, and banking fees, have caused Henderson’s total monthly expenses to double since returning to the Seventh Street corridor. Even with more than 150 customers filing through the red double doors every week, Henderson said her business’s profit margin currently stands at less than 10 percent. “It’s been a struggle being in my original space,” Henderson said. “The base payment will go up after the third year, and I have to pay the market rate in the fifth year. When I first got that deal, it was expensive, and I was trying to work it out. I thought it was a lot [to deal with], but I was determined to get back into my space. It’s a story for all small businesses. We put all our time and money into these ventures.” Howard University student

WANDA Page 42

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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

County Hosts Public Hearing on Budget By William J. Ford WI Contributing Writer @jabariwill Tommi Makila of Accokeek said decreasing trash collection from two days a week to once a week could help save money in the Prince George’s County fiscal year 2016 proposed budget. Kevin Richardson of Upper Marlboro said the county should seek developers to build single-family or senior homes on a vacant lot in Suitland to increase the tax base. “SustainableInformer housing helps Washington the3.65 county need in W…x 8We in don’t H more apartment dwellings,” said

Richardson, 54, pastor of Hope Fellowship Church in Suitland. “The land along Silver Hill Road is ready for development, but it is up to the county leaders to decide what can go there.” Richardson and Makila spoke before 100 people who either listened or presented their ideas during a public hearing Feb. 3 at Prince George’s Community College in Largo. County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) hosted the meeting and told the audience the county faces a $117.4 million deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. A budget summary outlines how the county would receive

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$2.8 billion in general fund revenues, an increase of $18.4 million, or 0.6 percent. However, expenditures are anticipated to rise by $136 million, or 5 percent, above the current spending plan. Officials attribute the deficit to fixed and rising costs and anticipated requests on items such as the cost-of-living adjustment, public safety retirements and debt service payments for general obligation bonds at $14 million, according to the summary. Baker said the proposed $40 billion state budget released by Governor Larry Hogan (R) last month does include $30 million toward building a regional hospital in Largo. However, Baker said $15 million would be sliced in operating expenses toward the project. “So we know there are going to be some very tough decisions we’ll have to make and gaps we’re going to have to fill,” Baker told the audience. “So, in order to do that, we need your help. We need your ideas. We need your suggestions, if you have them, for ways that we can save money. If you have ways that we can actually pick somebody’s pocket and put some money into our treasury, [we’ll] take that also.” Although the hospital, a new FBI headquarters and the Purple Line light-rail system are some of the county’s biggest projects, residents, nonprofit leaders and business owners mainly presented ideas and support for their own causes. Ken Bryson, 73, president of the Friends of Prince George’s County Libraries, asked Baker to continue backing of the county’s 19 libraries the organization oversees. Michael Akpan, 67, of Upper Marlboro, wants the county to fund an outreach program to help immigrants who relocate to Prince George’s. Akpan, president of the Brookland Community Development Organisation Inc., moved to the United States from Sierra Leone, Africa. Patricia Pryor of Clinton suggested the county offer an incentive for landowners to refurbish dilapidated properties and replace them with upscale businesses. “Why would you put a Royal Farms on that corner [of Allentown Road and Branch Avenue in Camp Springs]? That is prime real estate,” she said. “There’s a gas station on the other two The Washington Informer

1/21/14 11:12 AM

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (left) and Terri Bacote-Charles, the county’s budget director listen to comments on the county’s proposed fiscal year 2016 budget during a public hearing Feb. 3 at Prince George’s Community College in Largo. /Photo courtesy Travis Riddick

Toya Powell, of Northeast, founder of Bid Compliance Solutions in Upper Marlboro, was one of at least a dozen speakers to give comments on the county’s proposed fiscal year 2016 budget during a public hearing Feb. 3 at Prince George’s Community College in Largo. /Photo courtesy Travis Riddick

Kevin Richardson of Upper Marlboro and pastor of Hope Fellowship Church in Suitland was one of at least a dozen speakers to give comments on the county’s proposed fiscal year 2016 budget during a public hearing Feb. 3 at Prince George’s Community College in Largo. /Photo courtesy Travis Riddick

corners. We don’t need more gas stations. So I would like to see [county officials] bring Clinton and Camp Springs up a few notches.” An Upper Marlboro business owner expressed support for the Purple Line project, which would run east-west between New Carrollton and Bethesda in Montgomery County. Although the governor allocated nearly $313 million in the state budget toward the plan, it’s under review. “It will create jobs and wealth in a 30-year period … and make Prince George’s County a destination around the globe,” said Toya Powell of Northeast, founder of Bid Compliance Solutions, whose management consulting company is a subcontractor for the project. The biggest budget hit anticipated for the county lies with

a $40 million decrease from the state toward education. That’s why Makila said any cuts and savings county officials can find should not disrupt education. “What bigger priority is there to make sure our public schools succeed?” said Makila, 44, who has a 13-year-old son in the seventh grade. “If we have less money, what should we do less of ? Cut standardized testing. All this testing is expensive. The financial savings are what we need.” Those who didn’t get the opportunity to attend last week’s public hearing can ask questions and offer suggestions about the budget at 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at Laurel High School in Laurel.WI

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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDUCATION BRIEFS

Congressman John Lewis (D-Georgia) will address students at Bladensburg High School in Bowie, Maryland, on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday./Photo courtesy

Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer Black History Month Celebrations Several schools will continue the celebration of African-American history this month by highlighting the contributions of blacks who’ve played defining roles in shaping the nation. Among the slated programs, activities and concerts are: 6:30 p.m., Feb. 12, Capitol Heights Elementary School – Laser light demonstration of important events in Black history. 6:30 p.m., Feb. 19, Hyattsville Middle School – The Hyattsville Middle School Creative and Performing Arts Department will present an African-American history concert. The concert will include mu-

sic that celebrates the lives of African-Americans as students perform skits and monologues written by African-American composers that depict and embrace black culture. 10:30 a.m., Feb. 20, Oxon Hill Middle School – A showcase of the school’s talented drama, dance, band and choir students with a celebration of Black history at The Mall at Prince George’s. 9:30 a.m., Feb. 23, Bladensburg High School – Georgia Congressman John Lewis will talk to students about the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the current state of race relations and protests in the United States. ‘Scholar of the Week’ Melissa Lima, a senior at Fairmont Heights High School in

Capital Heights, Maryland, has been named a “Scholar of the Week.” Melissa, who has a 3.54 grade point average, excels in advanced placement courses that include history, literature, calculus, computer science, and human geography. Listed among Melissa’s extracurricular activities are membership in the National Honor Society and participation on her school’s soccer, softball and drill teams. Melissa has been accepted to George Mason University, Stevenson University and the University of Maryland and plans to major in criminal justice and minor in cybersecurity. She is also a Posse finalist and member of the Incentive Awards program. Budget Cuts Would Impact Students About $40 million worth of cuts in Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s proposed fiscal year 2016 budget would result in class sizes at elementary schools increasing from 25 students to 31 students. Hogan’s proposal to the Gen-

Melissa Lima, a senior at Fairmont Heights High School in Capital Heights, Maryland, has a 3.54 grade point average. / Photo courtesy Prince George’s County Public Schools

eral Assembly could also prevent the expansion of full-day pre-K classes or eliminate all art, music and physical education programs in elementary schools. Nevertheless, schools CEO Kevin Maxwell remains hopeful that no cuts will be made. “We have not made final decisions because we are hoping some of this can be resolved in the legislative session in Annapolis. We are hoping to remediate some of this, all of it maybe,”

Maxwell, 63, said. “My recommendation is not to start cutting right now and [to] wait until we actually know the bottom line. In the meantime we will work diligently to weigh all of the options,” said Maxwell. “Right now, we are just trying to give people an idea of what these cuts could mean to us, but I am not really ready to start cutting and giving up the discussion. I would rather push it.”WI

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Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

NATIONAL

Young People Embrace Financial Literacy

Learn Ins and Outs of Adult Responsibilities By Barrington M. Salmon WI Staff Writer @bsalmondc Camiya Penny walked around a “mall” at the Junior Achievement Finance Park with almost 80 of her classmates, looking for bargains. For an allotted amount of time, she and the other teens went shopping for vehicles, homes, loans, child care, mortgages and other household-related items. Prior to her “shopping expedition,” Penny sat around a table with fellow seventh- and eighth-graders from Friendship Blow Pierce Public Charter School in Southeast staring intently – frowning at times – at a Samsung Galaxy tablet trying

to figure out how to make her modest salary stretch. The students, divided into several smaller groups, received instructions, researched a family budget and then wrestled with how best to spend their money. One instruction adult volunteers gave the group was to spend or save all of their income. Penny, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, said after participating in a four-hour financial literacy simulation that the experience gave her a better appreciation for the sacrifices and challenges her parents make in caring for her and her siblings. For this exercise, Penny played a butcher with no children, making $30,000 a year

Students learn about managing their finances in an innovative program in the District. /Courtesy photo

before taxes and operating with a $2,500-a-month budget. She, unlike several others, didn’t have a spouse to share the financial load. “I’m budgeting and saving,

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and I have to stick to the budget. I have to stay within my budget or end up with a small amount of money,” she said with a smile. “The first time I came, I didn’t apply what I learned, but now I will because it has an impact on your life.” Ed Grenier III, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Greater Washington, said that that’s his organization’s goal. In a society that has seen widespread economic and financial turmoil not seen in decades, Grenier explained, financial literacy has gained added currency. “Junior Achievement was founded in 1919 to teach kids how business works,” he said. “It evolved into financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness for middle and high school kids. “We’ve broadened the focus. We give them the fundamental basis to be successful in a global economy. “We recruit adult volunteers from companies or individuals. We teach our program through adult role models who bring their own experiences. The kids learn personal budgeting, lessons on transportation, health care, recreation, dining out. Teaching and training is a big part of what we do.” About 53,000 teens in the Washington metropolitan region have gone through the Junior Achievement program, and 4 million young people in total have been served. The financial literacy program is available in 125 countries, where 10 million children enjoy the program. In the U.S., 120 chapters are devoted to teaching young people to become comfortable and proficient with budgeting and finance, debit and credit, compound interest, taxes and investment portfolios. After the welcome and intro-

ductions by Junior Achievement staff in the auditorium, the big reveal turned out to be opening two large wooden sliding doors to the mall populated with storefronts of some of the region and country’s most recognized businesses. Some of them include Clark Construction, CVS, Omega World Travel, Volkswagen, Goodwill, Dominion Light, Northern Virginia Community College and Monumental Sports Entertainment. The teenagers oohed and ahhed at the colorful storefronts, the spacious pathways, the tall, black lampposts with signs indicating named streets and avenues, and the stock market ticker with companies’ morning stock prices running across the face of the banner. “They get life scenarios, such as making $40,000 and having three kids, to give them skills for life,” said Junior Achievement program Director Jason Tenuta. “Every storefront represents a cost item. They use the tablets with line items. They do the research for groceries, for example, then walk around to buy organic or generic food.” “It shows them that being an adult isn’t always easy. They learn about the little things they don’t think about day to day. It really gives them perspective, and it’s really cool to see it in action.” On this day, employees from E-Trade in Arlington, Virginia, worked with and guided the teens. In one room, Shannon Camp and Richard Grant moved around, helping the young people understand the task ahead of them; answered questions; and offered insight before sending them out into the “world.” “They know a lot; they’re well-

LITERACY Page 17

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NATIONAL LITERACY from Page 16 versed in the information. I’m astounded that they already know about stocks,” said Camp, a volunteer who works in the Compliance Department at E-Trade. “All I heard was ‘I’m broke!’ and them bawling when they saw salaries, taxes, kids and college educations. It was kind of enlightening. I never had this as a kid. I had a credit card in college. I didn’t know 19% was a bad thing. “This feels real. The environment feels real with the storefronts. It feels slick, nicer than some real stores.” Camp and her partner Richard Grant developed an easy rapport and exchange with the teens in their group. “Let’s have a discussion about savings,” Camp said at one point. “Why do we pay ourselves first? You should save at least 10 percent. Why do you save? For the future, retirement, vacations. You should be putting away 10 to 15 percent savings after taxes.” Grenier said his organization has been joined by representatives of other companies who are as committed to the teens and the concept as he is. “For us, there’s an expectation to invest in education and financial literacy. For our company and associates, this matters,” said Clifford L. Yee, senior director for Capital One’s Community Affairs and Market President Network. “This is one of our biggest activities and is consistently rated as one of the most popular. It’s logical to partner with local organizations to do this. Junior Achievement’s mission is aligned with what we try to do.” Capital One’s $900,000 grant bought the tablets, and the company also made substantial contributions to help construct the building. A host of corporate partners also contributed time, money and resources. “As soon as I became principal, I contacted Ed and Amy and told them they’d always have a place to do this,” said Blow Perce’s principal D. Jeffrey Grant. “The program shows the relevance of math, problem solving and reading. It is the application of what you learn in the classroom.” “Every child should be going through this program. Every adult should have gone through this program. There are things our children need to understand. We have to let them see that they have choices. We can’t give them choices without options.”WI

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Black History Month 2015 A Tribute to Legacies in the Black Community Aimee D. Griffin, Esq. Every year we celebrate the accomplishments that are so often overlooked by the dominate culture in the short month of February. We call February Black History month because we concentrate on recognizing the contributions of folks from the black diaspora. We post the accolades of those who are doing great things. We celebrate through community and faith based gatherings. It is inspiring to note the great sung and unsung heroes that have opened doors, developed resources and blazed trails that have changed the lives of so many. Each year we celebrate the lives of those trailblazers that have made their final transition. We are reminded with the great movie, Selma, that there is a great cost to changing the world. Many of us are not able or willing to pay that great a price. Yet, each of us has the capacity to blaze trails. Each of us has the capacity to build a legacy. It is not only those millionaires, sports stars or inventors. Each of us can touch and transform the life of another by caring, listening and planning. My commitment is to support folks to build a legacy. I have the opportunity to volunteer with AARP as a facilitator for the Life Reimagined workshop. This is a seminar that supports people in transition to continue to dream, renew their dreams or to simply dream again. We have so many opportunities to build our legacies. There isn’t an end date for building. As a matter of fact, estate planning creates an opportunity to build a legacy even after the final transition. In this workshop we discuss the gifts, passion and values that we have and package those unique attributes to create a Life that is Reimagined for the future. As Langston Hughes stated, Hold Fast to dreams for if dreams die Life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly. A favorite African American (s)hero of mine is Osceola McCarty. She was a washer woman born in 1908, who dropped out of school at sixth grade to work. She died with no children but through a Trust she created a scholarship fund for the University of Southern Mississippi that would benefit primarily African American students who were facing financial obstacles to attending college. She also donated to her church and her family. Ms. McCarty was thoughtful and strategic. Her giving was not as a result of her great wealth but of her mindfulness that she wanted to be a blessing and made sacrifices to facilitate that outcome. The key is not to wait to begin building. Your legacy is your lasting message that goes beyond the grave but is always available to build. We each are gifted with skills that have brought us thus far. We are fueled by passions that compel us to act, and we are shaped by values that make us care. I encourage you that as African Americans that dream, build the legacy that you want to foster and shape the world that you want to see.

Aimee D. Griffin, Esq., The Griffin Firm, PLLC 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 440 Washington DC 20015 www.thegriffinfirm-PLLC.com 202-379-4738

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Airing Republicans’ “Dirty Laundry” No matter how much American Blacks stay away from the Republican Party, now it seems that Blacks in that party are adopting “stay away” piques towards each other. A good friend, Raynard Jackson, has publicly aired his grievances with the Republican National Committee (RNC) outreach staff and their methods and practices. A well-respected Black who happens to be Republican, Jackson has been purged by internal factions in the party. It’s regrettable that Raynard will “stay away” from the Republicans’ Black History Month Honors Program he started. The Black Press contributor says Blacks on Reince Priebus’ RNC staff “hijacked” a luncheon to recognize and pay homage to African-American Republicans of iconic status and involved in racial advancement to a lightweight affair with little substance that will have little reverberation in Black communities. Some Blacks may decry Jackson for airing the party’s dirty laundry, but if you look under the sheets you’ll find that it’s the RNC leadership and their long-standing lack of acquaintanceship with Blacks that needs airing. The Republican Party once enjoyed nearly unanimous support among African American voters; today, it hardly maintains a foothold among Blacks. The “dead man walking” RNC surely needs to institute substantive and race-conscious messaging that convinces Black Americans that benefits can accrue from joining their party. Few contemporary Republicans nowadays engage in showing Black Americans how to benefit by being in their party and pursuing their policies. Democrats do little, as well, and they serve Blacks poorly in politics and/or economics, yet they maintain a stronghold on Black voters, while Republicans make no headway among them. “Black Outreach” is not a new experience to the GOP; reportedly they have been doing it for decades. As they experience loss after loss at the polls, the RNC persistently uses the same political retreads to position the party among African-Americans. The Republicans have yet to

By William Reed clearly define their brand, nor explained “what it is” and “what it stands for.” Black voters share far more values with the Republican Party than they realize, and are on the same page on abortion, gay marriage, Christian values and supporting entrepreneurship. Republican Party members have to start working with Black Americans and using conservative principles to address issues impacting them nationally, and at local levels. Republicans should help in our cities and tackle issues among Blacks that the Democrats have ignored for decades. Republicans can help Blacks by introducing legislation advocating minority business development and resources to implement inner-city enterprise zones and micro-loan programs. Priebus says his party wants “to grow and expand with different communities and groups.” Actually, Republicans have little time to lose to remain relevant in politics. They have to discard old practices and start to make solid and lasting political inroads among African-Americans. If they are going to target African Americans, they should speak out via Black Pages. To do that will require they provide “a positive message for people of color” clearly, and with conviction. The Republicans need to expand who they are talking to in communities of color. Elitist GOPers aren’t welcome among African Americans and suffer from denial and self-reinforcing image problems that makes them, and their party, inhospitable to people of color. Jackson’s “honors” event was substantive for people who did things for, and within, Black communities. The RNC has to communicate in the right way to the right people. To this point, the RNC has ignored Black newspapers in getting their message out. Priebus and a company of advi-

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BUSINESS

Don’t Take Away the Ladder to Success for Aspiring Minority Small Business Owners By Djenane Bartholomew

Every day my husband and I make decisions that affect the lives of 450 people and their families. It’s a lot of responsibility but above all a labor of love. It is all part of being local franchise owners and living our American dream. The franchise model has been a gateway for millions of people over the years to achieve small business ownership, many of them from racial or ethnic minority groups. It is important to not only preserve, but to strengthen this business model. My husband came from Grenada and worked for UPS for over 20 years. As a young man, he had the foresight to invest in a property in Brooklyn which grew in value over the years. Blessed with some money when we sold it, we considered how to invest our good fortune into a new livelihood and soon discovered that franchising was the way to go for us. We started with Subway sandwich shops, then added Dunkin’ Donuts and Popeye’s Chicken and Buscuit but migrated to casual sit-down dining that did not include alcohol. The folks at Golden Corral shared our values and this began our journey to ownership, which ended with seven Golden Corral locations, five in Kentucky and two in New Jersey. Franchising is a unique business arrangement. Golden Corral provides a known brand which includes a logo, advertising and marketing, and specifications on everything from the 160-item buffet/salad bar to the The Chocolate Wonderfall fondue dipping fountain. Instead of the challenge of starting a business from scratch, with franchise ownership our customers know what to expect when they walk through our doors. Just the same, we are the bosses in the best sense of the word. We recruit, hire and train our staff. We are responsible for maintenance and watch the receipts so we can compete in our local community marketplace. We

REED from Page 18 sors would do well starting conversations with Black publishers that really reach Black voters. It’s a shame Priebus & Company can’t see the subtle and substantive differences in Jackson’s program designs and those that the RNC has used over the decades. When it comes to Black outreach, RNC

leadership continues with what they’ve been doing to get the results they’ve been getting. White or Black, the current crop of Republicans don’t go out, nor know how, to compete for African-American votes.WI William Reed is publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America” and available for projects via Busxchng@his. com.

Dexter and Djenane Bartholomew own seven Golden Corral franchises, with five in Kentucky and two in New Jersey. The couple has been married for 17 years and sponsors several community youth organizations at their home in New Jersey. Djenane, who is a registered nurse, also volunteers at a mobile clinic each year on a trip to her native Haiti.

are responsible for schedules, wages and encouraging the members of our team to do their best work. It has been a pleasure to see people grow professionally. In fact, we have now employed the children of our employees and many see working for us not merely as a job but as a career. This small business franchise model, which has worked so well for my family and other minority entrepreneurs, is in danger of being upended. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is trying to change the definition of “joint employer.” This is more than just a technical issue. If Golden Corral is considered a joint employer, my husband and I would lose control over the day-to-day issues at our restaurants. If Golden Corral and their locally-owned franchise owners morph into one big employer, we could lose our restaurants – and with it the hard work and money we’ve put into them – altogether, as Golden Corral could be forced to assume direct control over the day-to-day operations of our restaurants. This would be a tragedy for us and our employees because they are not just part of our businesses, but part of our family. I also worry about aspiring entrepreneurs who might be looking at owning a franchise themselves. Why would men and women looking at franchising consider it if the core

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of what makes it a proven and workable business model is removed? This would prevent jobs from being created and businesses expanded, in an industry that has been growing faster than the general economy in recent years. What’s more, according to a 2007 report from the International Franchise Association, 20.5% of franchised businesses were owned by minorities, compared to 14.2% of non-franchised businesses. A little more than ten years ago they made up just five percent of franchise owners. Franchising works for people who may have faced barriers to succeeding with their own businesses and policymakers should encourage this trend. If the franchise model is shattered by the NLRB’s revised definition of joint employer, instead of an economy populated with small business operators from all walks of life, we would likely see large corporations consolidating operations with big, regional companies created by buying up small business operations like ours. These challenges will have a negative impact on the independent, entrepreneurial spirit that has helped fuel America’s growth and economic recovery, and has paved the way for thousands to achieve their dreams of running their own businesses and serving their own communities. The Washington Informer

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Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

Tell Your ‘Truth’: Amplifying Youth Voices to Create Change By Ed Davies During Black History Month, as we recognize the strength and resilience of yesterday’s heroes who paved the way for us, we must also remember that if our young people are to become tomorrow’s leaders and innovators, we must ensure they are successful today. They will define the future of the District of Columbia based on what they accomplish at this present time. Our future depends on young people having a fair chance to thrive now, so that they can become a great source of civic engagement and economic strength our city needs in order to prosper. Yet, the truth is, far too many of our young people – especially in communities of color – are facing tremendous disparities in education, healthcare, economic mobility and justice systems that hinder their ability to thrive. “We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal...” Our country was founded on this principle during a time when African Americans faced dehumanizing indignity, prejudice and discrimination.

Sadly, today we still find that many of these injustices persist albeit in different forms. To begin understanding how to achieve the equality for our young people promised in the Declaration of Independence, it is important to understand what truths our youth hold today of themselves, this society, and their place in it. Dialogue has the power to change perceptions, and in changing perceptions, we create the tension necessary to change beliefs, actions, and policies. Therefore, we must engage young people in sharing their narrative about their truths, beliefs and aspirations. In tribute to the generations of African Americans who overcame adversity to demand equal opportunity and access, DC Trust is partnering with CBS Radio to create a platform for youth to amplify their narrative. Each day during Black History Month, CBS radio will broadcast young people sharing through spoken word their truths about what our forefather’s affirmation in the Declaration of Independence more than two centuries ago means to them today. Engaging our youth in a productive and meaningful dialogue about their

Ed Davies is the executive director of DC Trust

truths based on experiences in their communities and society is just one step. The DC Trust is committed to activating their words and beliefs into efforts that lead to a just society with the equal rights endowed to us all. Ed Davies is the executive director of DC Trust and his truth is all youth have the right to succeed.

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HIV Worker Needs Primer on the Virus By Freddie Allen NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Most nonmedical HIV health care workers earned a “D” when surveyed on the science and treatment of the virus, said a report released this week by the Black AIDS Institute. While 70 percent of HIV workers scored below 70 percent, or the equivalent of a “D,” just 4 percent earned an “A.” The report said, “The average score on treatment-related questions was 56 percent, or an ‘F.’” The institute, a national HIV/ AIDS think tank focused solely on black people, surveyed more than 3,600 nonmedical health care workers from AIDS service organizations, community-based groups and state and local health departments in “the largest ever knowledge assessment of the HIV/AIDS workforce and the first time that anyone looked at the level of science and treatment knowledge in the workforce,” said Phill Wilson, CEO of the institute. More than 70 percent of the workers said their organization offered prevention services, 62 percent provided treatment and prevention education, and nearly 50 percent offered treatment and care. “Black-serving organizations represented (56%) of organizations represented in the survey, with nearly one in three organizations serving people living with HIV (35%) and men who have sex with men (32%),” stated the report. “Seventy-five percent of participants were employees, 12% were consultants, and 13% were volunteers.” “[T]oday some of the main tools that we use to fight HIV are biomedical tools,” said Wilson. “In order to use those tools, you have to have a competency in science and treatment.” Although better tools exist today, health care professionals in the HIV/AIDS field worry their labor force may not be skilled enough to use them properly. With a new-infection rate eight times that of whites, blacks account for 44 percent of all new infections in adolescents and adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hispanics account for 21 percent.

Despite increased exposure to the effects of the AIDS epidemic, black and Hispanic HIV health care workers tested lower than whites on the survey. Wilson said, “We do know that there are elevated levels of stigma in the black and Latino communities around HIV. People who are entering the field who are black and Latino are coming into the field with some of that baggage, and that may influence their knowledge.” The stigma is connected to knowledge, Wilson added, and when you increase knowledge, you can reduce the stigma. “If the nonmedical healthcare providers and the outreach workers don’t have a high enough level of literacy, they are not equipped to fight the conspiracy theories that are pervasive in our community,” said Wilson. “The more knowledge they have, the better equipped they are to address those issues that are in our community.” “Too many people, particularly in our community, still have memories of the old ways that you got tested where there was blood drawn and you had to wait a week or 10 days,” Wilson said. “Today you can get an HIV test for free. … It can be an oral swab or a finger prick. You can get the results back in a minute; you can even get the results in the comfort of your own home.” The use of biomedical prevention tools has also emerged. “In 2011, the HIV prevention enterprise dramatically changed with the release of results from the HPTN 052 trial, which found that antiretroviral therapy reduced the risk of sexual HIV transmission by 96 percent,” the report explained. “The very drugs that have transformed HIV infection from an automatic death sentence to one that is often chronic and manageable also have the potential to stop the epidemic in its tracks.” “What that requires,” Wilson said, “is for us to help people living with HIV to get linked to care to stay in care and to reach viral suppression.” Wilson noted that the survey is not an overall evaluation of the knowledge of the workforce but an analysis of the science and treatment knowledge of the workforce. “We’re not saying that [HIV health care workers] have low

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HEALTH

Phill Wilson continues to lead meaningful discussions on HIV/AIDS and its impact on the black community./Courtesy photo

knowledge about everything; they just have a low knowledge in this particular area.” Wilson said that it’s important that nonmedical health care workers receive training on the current HIV science and treatment tools because black people

are disproportionately impacted by HIV, and he said that blacks are also the ones who are going to be disproportionately getting their HIV health care from clinicians who are not HIV specialists. As more people gain access to

health care under the Affordable Care Act, including people who are infected with HIV and those suffering from AIDS-related diseases, health care professionals have to evolve to meet the growing needs of the new consumers. WI

The Washington Informer

Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

Spotlight on Aging By John M. Thompson, Ph.D., CPM, FAAMA

John M. Thompson, Executive Director DCOA

In this month’s Spotlight on Aging, I would like to focus on life after retirement by highlighting Alice Thompson, lead community outreach specialist for the District of Columbia Office on Aging (DCOA). According to the United Kingdom’s Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), approximately 40% of retirees leaving the work force suffer from clinical depression and 60% experience a decline in health. Alice was one of those individuals who experienced depression despite the fact that she traveled frequently, shopped often, and was a gardener. Her depression stemmed from guilt that friends and family members were working, but she was at home; therefore, she decided to make a change in her life. According to AARP, at age 65 (around retirement age), men are expected to live approximately 18 more years as compared to women who have another 20 years of life. Wow! That is a long time and what will you do with that time? Your first reaction may be

that you no longer have to follow a schedule, set an alarm clock and can watch television all day. This sounds great but like Alice, many retirees find that after the novelty wears off, they become extremely bored. It is unhealthy for retirees to adopt a sedentary lifestyle as it could lead to weight gain and more prone to chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. At DCOA, I meet many seniors who are retired and I learn about their careers in government, the private sector, and even as business owners. Some seniors have been retired longer than I have been alive, 40 or more years! These seniors are not just sitting around and allowing time to pass them by, they are engaged in their communities. It is their time to give back in a very meaningful way, which brings them great satisfaction. One of those seniors who is now living purposefully is Alice whose journey is the epitome of a fruitful and rewarding retirement life. Alice is a healthy 68 years young, seasoned citizen who is so dynamic, works full time for DCOA, is actively

Search for District Centenarians

The District is searching for residents who are age 100 or older to honor during an event planned for this spring. If you know of residents who will have celebrated their centennial birthday by April 30, please call Darlene Nowlin at (202) 724-5622 or you may email: darlene.nowlin@dc.gov. When registering centenarians, please make sure you know the name, date of birth and contact information for each individual. 22 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

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engaged in political and civic activities in the District, has many hobbies, and is an avid world traveler. A native Washingtonian, she worked at the United States Postal Service (USPS). During her 38.5 illustrious years at USPS, she served as acting supervisor for letter carriers and lead window technician. She retired in 2003 and began supporting her family business, which provides ambulatory services for persons living with disabilities. In addition to working in the family business, Alice has been involved at the grassroots level with various political campaigns. In 2007, Alice’s political involvement landed her in the Mayor’s Office, where she was responsible for a core team of staff members in Ward 5 tasked with responding to all community issues such as rodent infestations, broken sidewalks, and dilapidated property. Eventually, Alice came to DCOA, where she has been since 2009. At DCOA, Alice is responsible for spreading the message about services and programs offered to every District

senior 60 years of age and older, persons living with disabilities, and family caregivers. She has a knack for connecting new customers to the agency as described by one of AARP’s local chapter presidents, “She knows everyone in Washington, D.C.” This is huge as it enables the agency to touch more lives, connecting residents to services to help improve their quality of life. Alice’s colleagues often describe her as one who has more energy than anyone, including the 20 and 30 year Alice Thompson, lead community outreach specialist of DCOA olds in the agency. That speaks volumes about her physical health as her job is very demanding. A normal day begins early as she walks Pierre, a playful Bichon Frise before work and often ends late with evening community meetings. An avid fish and coral reef keeper, Alice also maintains a 3-feet deep pond in her backyard, home to approximately 13 Japanese Koi, which are as long as 18 inches. She has travelled to Africa, Europe, Asia, and been on 28 cruises; her favorites are South Africa and Rome. Travelling is her opportunity to get away and rejuvenate from her demanding but fun life in Washington, D.C. Alice knows how to maintain a balanced lifestyle her husband Junior, two children and three grandchildren, which keeps her productive, positive, and healthy. Alice is married to Mr. Junior Thompson and has two children and three grandchildren. Whether a paid or a volunteer opportunity, the key is to allow your passion to exude with the activity at hand. This will help motivate you to wake up and give of your talents to others. Our District citizens need you as they would benefit tremendously from your talents. If you are interested in learning about opportunities to give back, please contact us at the District of Columbia Office on Aging at 202-724-5622.

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HEALTH

House Republicans Vote to Repeal Obamacare Senate GOP Members May Follow Same Course By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer Republicans in the House of Representatives have continued their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, despite soaring enrollment figures for year two and the growing confidence in the law by many Americans. On Feb. 2, the House passed H.R. 596, which would take away critical benefits and health care coverage from middle class families. Republicans have now tried more than 50 times to undermine the health care law, according to a White House spokesman. “In addition to taking away Americans health care security, the bill would increase the deficit, remove policies that have helped slow health care cost growth and improve the quality of care patients receive, and detract from the work the Congress could be doing to further job creation and economic growth,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. “If the President were presented with H.R. 596, he would veto it,” he said. Despite the vote to repeal Obamacare, it seems unlikely that the law could come off the books anytime soon. CNN reported that even if all 54 Republicans in the Senate vote in favor of the bill that’s

sponsored by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), supporters of such legislation would still be six votes shy of the threshold to overcome a filibuster. Also, there aren’t any Democratic defections in sight for a full repeal of the president’s healthcare act. Getting to the veto-proof 67 yes votes might just be a pipe dream, Democratic Party officials said. Some Democrats, like senior Congressional Black Caucus Member Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, have vowed to continue to fight to keep the president’s signature piece of legislation as law. “When it was time to vote on the Affordable Care Act, I showed up four hours early. I had just one prayer which was that God not let me die before I cast that vote because as far as I’m concerned, I knew this was probably the most important vote in my 30 plus years of being a member of Congress,” said Cummings, 64. The latest attempt to repeal the law counts as the 56th time Republicans have attempted to do so, Earnest told reporters. “I can’t account for every one of them. There are 56 of them, so it’s hard to account for every one of them – efforts to undermine or repeal the Affordable Care Act,” he said. The White House estimates that nearly 10 million individuals

Rep. Elijah Cummings remains a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act which House Republicans have voted to repeal. /Photo courtesy Bet.com.

have signed up for health insurance in state and federal marketplaces or they re-enrolled in coverage for 2015. Approximately 7.5 million have selected a plan or were automatically re-enrolled on the federal exchange, said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell. Because of Obamacare, more than 105 million Americans no longer have lifetime dollar limits on their coverage, and since September 2010, approximately 3.1 million young adults have gained coverage through the provisions of the law that enables children up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance plan, according to statistics provided by the White House. Still, Republicans have maintained their dissatisfaction and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell counts among the 44 co-sponsors of Cruz’ legislation to repeal the health care law. “We must send this bill [to re-

peal the law] to the President’s desk,” said Cruz, 44 . “If he vetoes it, the GOP Congress should pass bill after bill to stop Obamacare. Each

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will have broad support among the American people, and Democrats in both chambers will be hard-pressed not to support them.”WI

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ELEMENTARY TEACHER NEEDED Roots PCS is seeking an elementary teacher with innovative & enthusiastic teaching skills. The teacher will have excellent subject knowledge across elementary education discipline, a sound understanding of DC Common Core Collaborative, and the implementation of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in the curriculum. The position will involve teaching students in Multi Grade levels In open-s[aced classrooms and assist/ coach in extra-curricular activities like academic competitions. Use of technology is very important. Applicant will have BA Elem. Ed, Praxis II Elem Ed with minimum of three years of teaching experience. Resume will be received until March 18, 2015 at 5 p.m. Please submit your resume and cover letter to Principal, RPCS, 15 Kennedy St. NW, Wash, DC 20011. (202) 882-8073 or by email to bthompson@rootspcs.org. www.washingtoninformer.com

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Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

EDITORIAL

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Are Our Children Getting a Proper Education?

The idea of what constitutes education has roiled the educational ranks, ivory towers and other parts of society for decades but the battle for control of who educates our children and what they learn has been red hot. These days, the merits of testing, the pros and cons of the Common Core curriculum and other elements of learning are being debated over and argued about in board rooms, living rooms and on street corners. Often absent from these debates in any substantial way, however, are African Americans even though the implications of these policies on their children are vast and far-reaching. It’s long past the time for larger groups of black people, individually and collectively, to take an honest look at what passes for education in this country, ascertain if America’s educational system offers what it promises to their children and if not develop bold and viable alternatives inside and outside of the school system. A more fundamental question mulled over but often shunted aside, is whether or not a people who were enslaved for 400 years, denied an education and who were murdered, tortured or brutalized if they dared to try to learn to read should reasonably expect a racist, lopsided and discriminatory system to educate their children. The answer, according to a number of black scholars, is no. Noted educator, mentor and consultant Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu has argued quite convincingly for the past 40 years that black parents have to work tirelessly to counter the conspiracy to destroy black boys. He’s found that more black boys are in remedial and special education programs than girls; the boys see few black role models in schools and in the 20th century as now, more of them are suspended or thrown out of school for perceived or alleged infractions. These actions feed the school-to-prison pipeline which continues to destroy black and Latino families and communities in an alarming fashion. Parents in D.C. and other cities large and small complain about and have fought to keep schools in black and brown neighborhoods open, have assailed school officials for underfunding, marginalizing or shuttering their schools and have sought to blunt the elimination of arts, music and a range of other programs ostensibly because of budget cuts and austerity measures. And while the focus for quite some time has been on rescuing the boys, Kunjufu and groups like The African American Policy Forum are pointing out that black and Latino girls are also being given a raw deal in classrooms. They, too, are being expelled and criminalized for something as simple as writing the word “Hi” on a locker room wall. In a groundbreaking report, “Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced, & Underprotected,” released on February 4, the authors say school authorities are meting out harsher punishment and sanctions to girls of color than their white counterparts. Kimberlé Crenshaw, the report’s lead author, said even as public concern mounts for the needs of men and boys of color through initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper, it would be prudent to challenge the assumption that the lives of girls and women – who are often left out of the national conversation – are not also at risk.” Crenshaw is a leading authority in how law and society are shaped by race and gender and she contends that there must be a multidimensional, multidisciplinary approach that addresses how related identity categories such as race, gender, and class overlap to create inequality on multiple levels when looking at school discipline and the school-to-prison pipeline. Black psychologist and scholar Dr. Na’im Akbar describes education as a sacred right and responsibility. Why then would African Americans cede control of this to people more concerned with marginalizing children of color rather than educating them?

24 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

Photo Honors Barry

Thank you so much for including Roy Lewis’ photo of the young people applying for summer jobs and training here in D.C. through the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program [Feb. 5-11 issue]. Seeing numbers of our young people wanting to do something constructive and beneficial for themselves and others is a great testimony to the late Mayor Barry. It is fitting that his legacy of serving the communities of D.C. be carried on through this program, among others, to which Mayor Barry dedicated so much of his passion for helping young Washingtonians in every ward of this city. This photo is a visual reminder that Marion S. Barry was a man of action, not just words, when it came to solutions for youth employment problems in Washington, DC. Sandra McIntosh Washington, DC

Truth-Tellers

I wholeheartedly agree with the words of The Honorable Philip Davis, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development (Bahamas), as quoted in your paper this week [“Bahamian Official Calls for Renewed Partnership,” Feb. 5-11 issue]. On the occasion of the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s Mid-Winter Conference in Nassau, Bahamas, he was quoted as saying, “You must do all that you can to continue to be forthright and objective, true tellers, calming troubled waters while providing an accessible resource for young emergent leaders.” How true! I really see that mission reflected in the pages of the Washington Informer every week. When other news publications are stirring up controversy and taking sides when they should be neutral, The Washington Informer remains true to the cause. You present us with news about our own community when other media do not. If we want the true stories of events directly affecting the Black community, your paper is where we can depend on getting them. Thank you for that! Michael Vargus Arlington, VA

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Parties for a Cause

Your reporter Mickey Thompson is everywhere. I enjoy seeing her reports on what the socialites of Washington, D.C. are doing. Thanks to her page, I learn how many organizations use creative fundraising events to support social causes that are desperately need of financial support. I am very encouraged by seeing so many people doing such great things for people and organizations in need. Please share with my Thompson how much this Washington Informer reader enjoys her page. Valerie Heath Washington, DC

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Guest Columnist

By James Clingman

When are we Going to get Tired of Abuse? There comes a time in the course of human events for persons who have been mistreated to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with those who mistreat them. In the interest of self-respect and to claim the respect of others, after a long train of abuses, such persons have the right and the duty to throw off those who mistreat them and provide new guards for their future security.

-The Declaration of Independence This country was established on the simple facts that people were being mistreated, they were tired of it, and they were not going to take it anymore. One cannot help but admire people who come to the end of their rope, defiantly proclaim the truth about their condition, and then do something about it. I long for the day when Black people finally get so tired of the abuse we suffer all over this country that we will decide to

spend much more of our time, not trying to hurt someone else, but to use our resources to help ourselves. Our plight is similar to that of the founders of this country. The big difference: They were fed up and determined to make a change; we are just fed up. They had to go to war, as we must do if we want change. Our war must be revolutionary as well, but it must be fought with dollars rather than musket balls. Our resolve must be the same as the Patriots. We must “admit”

Guest Columnist

our problem and then “commit” to doing what we have to do to get what say we want. Why would we continue to hope and wish for change from people who have demonstrated no indication of their willingness to do so? Check out how Patrick Henry put it: “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry

for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves…” Henry knew he had to fight rather than hope and wish for change. He asked his compatriots what would make them believe their captors would change. “Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet.” Patrick Henry continued,

CLINGMAN Page 54

By Lee A. Daniels

The Detroit Walker,’ a Study in Resilience For most of the last decade, James Robertson, a 56-year-old Detroiter, walked to work every day. Of course, anyone who’s not been on planet Saturn this month knows that simple sentence is a gross understatement, akin to saying Brazil’s mighty Amazon River is just an ordinary waterway. In the space of three days as January turned to February, the

fact that James Robertson has walked a total of 21 miles to and from work most of his working days since 2005 became an Internet sensation, attracting legions of admirers and donations totaling at least $300,000, all because thousands of people both in Detroit and far from the Motor City recognized the quality that James Robertson embodies most of all. That quality is resilience. The plainspoken Robertson has said he was determined to keep the job he loved as a ma-

chine operator for a plastics molding firm that had moved from one suburb relatively near Detroit to a location farther away. So, when Robertson’s nearly 21-year-old car quit on him in 2005 and his working-man’s salary was too low for him to afford another one, and public transit cutbacks eliminated the possibility of fully commuting by bus, Robertson embarked upon the physically and mentally grueling regime of riding the bus from his neighborhood to its

Guest Columnist

end point – and then walking for hours through city and suburban neighborhoods to his job. Despite getting on average, two hours of sleep a day during the workweek, he’s never missed a day of work and he’s never been late. “I do it with no excuses,” the plain-spoken Robertson said later to one of the many news organizations that sought him out in the wake of a Feb. 1 Detroit Free Press story about him. “If you want something, you gotta go out and get it …

You better go ahead and do it because your girlfriend doesn’t want to hear it, your coworkers don’t want to hear it and you got to get up and do it again the next day.” That story was the product of a query made to the newspaper by a banker who, after seeing Robertson walking many days along his commuting route, began to give him rides for part of Robertson’s arduous trek. The

DANIELS Page 54

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.

Each Generation has Something to Offer Whether it is in an inner city neighborhood across America, the Caribbean, in Europe or in a sprawling mass of people in an African or Brazilian urban area, millions of Black youth throughout the world are crying out for a better quality of life. They should always have a better life than their parents. I always try to keep my eyes and ears open to see and hear what our youth are saying and

doing. The axiom that the future is in the hands of the young is certainly true today. I admire and support young people who stand up and speak out for freedom and equal justice. Despite what you may have heard, I have been impressed by the new generation of young activists, freedom fighters and community mobilizers who are emerging from Ferguson, Mo. to New York City, Rio, Soweto, Cape Town, Kingston, Havana, Luanda, and Lagos to Kinshasa and Lubumbashi in the Congo.

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Over the past several years, we have witnessed Black youth in the United States and throughout the Pan African world rise to challenge the lingering vestiges of racial oppression, neo-colonialism and economic inequity. There is a hunger and thirst for new movements for social, political and economic change by a generation of youth who appear to be ready to move forward. Unfortunately, there are many young activists and leaders who are not receiving the kind of encouragement that they deThe Washington Informer

serve and need to be successful. That’s especially true in the case of those of us who have learned the contours and dynamics of power, institution building and what it means to sustain an effective movement for change. We need to show our youth more love, concern and support, even when we have a different opinion about how they should approach a particular task. We cannot afford a generation gap at the leadership level. We cannot afford a cultural gap on the issues revolving around

the poetry, music and art forms of our young artists who have always evolved out of the crucibles of our long struggle for freedom, justice and equality. Wisdom must be transmitted from one generation to the other. But more than anything else, our young today need to be encouraged to withstand harsh contradictions of a society and world that still attempts to deny our humanity. Yet, I know from first-hand

CHAVIS Page 53 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Guest Columnist

By George E. Curry

Did NBC’S Brian Williams also Lie about Hurricane Katrina? “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams has finally admitted that he had incorrectly asserted that a helicopter he traveled aboard in 2002 while reporting on the Iraq War in 2003 was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, forcing an emergency landing. “This was a bungled attempt by me to thank one special veteran and by extension our brave military men and women veter-

ans everywhere…” he said on air. Williams’ admission came on the heels of a story published in the military publication Stars & Stripes that challenged his retelling of events. “NBC News anchor Brian Williams has told a war story over the years since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It grew to where he was claiming to be on a Chinook helicopter that was forced down after taking rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire,” the newspaper reported.

“In his on-air apology Wednesday, he backed off that, but said that he ‘was instead in a following aircraft.’ Soldiers who were in two Chinook companies say he was not in, nor ever near, a helicopter that was being fired upon.” Williams, who makes $13 million a year, has drastically altered his story over the years, according to a timeline published by CNN. Lt. Col. Jerry Pearman, the mission commander when one of the three Chinooks took fire,

Guest Columnist

told Stars & Stripes, “I can say with 100 percent certainty that no NBC reporters were on any of the aircrafts.” Following his public admission, Williams said that he would forgo his anchoring duties at the top-rated network news program “for the next several days.” Politico.com, describing what it called “a sign of deepening trouble,” reported on Sunday that Williams cancelled an appearance on “Late Night with David Letterman” that had been scheduled for Thursday.

It was on an earlier Letterman show that Williams also gave his now-discredited account. The New York Times reported, “In 2013, Mr. Williams told David Letterman that he had actually been on the helicopter that got shot down, adding that a crew member had been injured and received a medal. ‘We figured out how to land safely,’ he said, ‘we landed very quickly and hard. We were stuck, four birds in the desert and we were north

CURRY Page 54

By Julianne Malveaux

Poverty Doesn’t Have to be a State of Mind The racial differential in the poverty rate is staggering. Last time I checked, about 12 percent of people in the United States, one in eight people are poor. Depending on race and ethnicity, however, poverty is differently experienced. Fewer than one in 10 Whites are poor; more than one in four African Americans and Latinos are poor. Differences in occupation, income, employment and edu-

cation are considered the main reasons for poverty, with current and past discrimination playing a role in educational, employment and occupational attainment. We see the discrimination when we consider that African American women with a doctoral degree have median earnings of about $1,000 a week, compared to about $1,200 a week for Black men and White women, and $1,600 a week for White men. White men earn 60 percent more than African American women, and a third more than Black men

and White women. It would not take much to recite the differences, by race, or education, unemployment, earnings and occupation. The recurrent question in reviewing the data is: What are we going to do? It makes no sense to just recite the data and then wring our hands as if nothing can be done. The three steps in social change are organization (especially protest), which leads to legislation (with pressure) and litigation (when legislation is not implemented).

Askia-At-Large

Often laws preventing discrimination have been passed but not adhered to, forcing litigation to get offenders to do the right thing. Of course, it takes more than a minute. It takes people who are committed for the long run. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Dr. Martin Luther King said in 1964. Carter Godwin Woodson understood the long arc when he founded the Journal of Negro History and the Association for the Study of Negro Life

and History in 1915. The organization and the journal have changed their names to reflect the nomenclature of these times, and they are now called The Journal of African American History and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. Both the organization and the journal have now existed for 100 years which is perhaps why ASALH chose “A Century of Black Lives, History and Culture” as its 2015 theme. (ASALH

MALVEAUX Page 54

By Askia Muhammad

Unspeakable horrors in Christ’s name also If we don’t count James Byrd Jr., the Black man who was first beaten, then chained alive by his ankles, and dragged behind a pickup truck for three miles along an asphalt road by three White guys near Jasper, Texas in 1998 until his head hit a culvert in the road decapitating, and of course killing him, then there hasn’t been a really heinous, stomach-churning, lynching-style murder in this country

26 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

since maybe the 1960s. Most of us have simply forgotten about the frequent atrocities which were committed by White, Christian, Americans against Black people and Native Americans, sometimes just for sport. What we’re outraged about these days are the gruesome, disgusting, and absolutely deplorable murders of innocents by those godless Middle East operators who call themselves the “Islamic State,” ISIS for short. ISIS is not a state, though they control vast expanses of terri-

tory in Iraq and Syria, and there is nothing about their savage, brutal behavior that can be described as Islamic. Indeed, in the Holy Quran, the Islamic scripture, the most oft-repeated word is “mercy.” There is nothing resembling mercy in their makeup, nor in the countenance of the African-fake-Muslim terrorists, Boko Haram. No. Portia reminds us in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice.” “The quality of mercy is not strain’d, The Washington Informer

”It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven…” These guys are no Muslims. But lately, it’s the barbaric behavior of these fake-Islamic, provocateurs, and their wannabe, copy-cat imitators who have committed despicable acts, “in the name of Islam” which has us all on extra-high alert. I saw a photograph online recently of two enslaved, African children. It tore my heart, even more than the photo I saw of Jesse Washington, a Black man who was tied to a cross in

1916—also in Texas according to author Bill Moyers in an article for Alternet—by a mob after a trial which lasted less than 30 minutes, with no witnesses to the murder of a White woman for which he was convicted. He was taken from the courtroom, castrated immediately, then raised and lowered over a fire for two hours until he died. White men stood watching Jesse Washington’s murder. Some were wearing suits and ties.

MUHAMMAD Page 54

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Bowser Shares Story of Ruby Bridges Reads to Children at MLK Elementary By D. Kevin McNeir WI Managing Editor When black children hear the stories of how those from past generations overcame obstacles related to prejudice, they often become better prepared for the challenges they will one day face. Perhaps that’s why D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser chose to read a book to elementary children about one little girl who became the first child to desegregate the New Orleans Public Schools. Bowser read “The Story of Ruby Bridges” by Robert Coles to kindergarten and second grade students at Martin Luther King Elementary School in Southeast on Wednesday, Feb. 4. During her visit she also announced her choice for the Director of the Mayor’s Office on African American Affairs, Rahman Branch. However, the real buzz in the room came from the children as they listened to the moving account of Bridges who at the age of six, helped to shape history when she walked into an all-white school in Louisiana, becoming the first black student to ever attend. Bridges said a lot has changed since those days. “My mission for as long as I can remember and the basis of my nonprofit foundation is to promote diversity and to bring children from all races together,” said Bridges, 60, born in Tylertown, Mississippi whose parents answered a request from the NAACP for black students wiling to integrate the New Orleans school system in the spring of 1960. “I was judged based on the color of my skin and the kids in school teased me mercilessly,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why I’m an advocate to end bullying. That kind of behavior really comes from adults – it’s taught to children and they in turn pass it along to their own kids. Soon it became a huge problem.” Bridges’ act of bravery and determination led the legendary Norman Rockwell to paint a picture of her in braids, dressed in a simple white dress and accompanied by federal officers for her safety, “The Problem We All Live With,” a version of which now hangs in the White

“The world back then had some good and some bad but a lot of it was just plain ugly.” – Ruby Bridges

House where our country’s first black president now serves. Six students, including Bridges, had to take a test and pass a test to determine whether they could go to the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. Two children decided to stay at their old school, three were transferred to McDonough and Bridges attended Frantz alone. The mother of four adult sons said she never intended to make history – she simply wanted what white children had – a quality education. “Sometimes children find it difficult to understand the way the world was when I was their age. They don’t understand why my parents and I were willing to risk so much just so that I could receive a better education. I think it’s hard for them to wrap their hands around the sacrifices so many of us made during the civil rights movement because the history is not being taught in our schools the way it actually happened,” she said. “But you know, the truth will set you free. The world back then had some good and some bad but a lot of it was just plain ugly. We were unwilling to let it stay that way. Whether it was Dr. King then or President Obama today, the goal has been the same – to level the playing field for everyone,” Bridges said. WI

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T H E

W A S H I N G T O N

I N F O R M E R

F I F T H

A N N U A L

AFRICAN AMERICAN

HERITAGE TOUR ALEX HALEY MEMORIAL

“OUR ANNAPOLIS ROOTS TO FREEDOM” Motor Coach & Walking Tour: Saturday, February 14 | 8am - 4pm TICKETS: ADULTS- $15 CHILDREN- $10

The Washington Informer proudly presents the 5th Annual Washington Informer African American Heritage Tour! A tour commemorating Black History Month and celebrating local, notable sites important to African American history. This years theme is: “Our Annapolis Roots to Freedom”

Tour Departs from THEARC | 1901 Mississippi Ave., SE, WDC 20020 Purchase tickets: (tinyurl.com/AAHT2015) | For group rates contact Ron Burke at 202-561-4100 For more information, please call 202-561-4100. Tickets can also be purchased in person at Washington Informer Oﬃce. Continental Breakfast and Lunch will be provided

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Former Sailor Pens Tale of Racial Adversity By D. Kevin McNeir WI Managing Editor David Almond couldn’t even legally drink alcohol when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1972. So, one can only imagine how the then-17-year-old black youth handled what almost erupted into a full-fledged race riot aboard his first assigned ship, the USS Kitty Hawk, during the latter years of the Vietnam War. “When I look at the events that took place on a major carrier during wartime, I see two men of two different races, one black and one white, who risked their careers to do what was right, putting down a riot,” said Almond, 60, author of “A Sailor’s Story in Black and White” who served in the Navy from 1972 through 1975. Almond, along with members of his family, former and current members of the U.S. Navy, friends and history buffs, gathered at D.C.’s Navy Memorial in the Presidents Room on Wednesday, Feb. 4, for a book signing and discussion. He

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said he relished the opportunity to talk about his book and to share an important piece of American history. “As a result of their leadership and decision making, they never achieved higher rank – both retired as captains – but they had been identified to advance to at least as far as rear admirals,” he said. “Even though I was on that ship, it wasn’t until I began to do my research that I learned about the two heroes who stepped forward, enabling us to remain safe and to continue our opera- ences about his book. try and being honorably discharged, tions against the North Vietnamese. “If nothing else, I’d like my went on to college and later worked “Because I was just a teenager readers to understand that united as a cardiology technician and as a and had joined the Navy because I we stand, divided we fall,” he said. paramedic for the Los Angeles Fire wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with “We must comeBleed: beforeUS he began his Client: Allstate together and see Department Region: NA my life, it never occurred to me how Print Campaign: 2015 BHM Newspaper Trim: NA Language: English He said his next and stop pastoral ministry. Job #: 610-ALAAMNP4004 ourselves as Americans Live: 9.5” x 6” Notes: None serious the Agency situation could have esAD #/AD ID: AHAA0606 book will be about his experiences being racially divided. Race has Modified: Keyline Scale: 1”= 1” calated. TheDate actions of one or two CR: as a chaplain for the Arizona State been at the forefront of the majorOutput at: 100% people can AD have a lifelong effect on Round: Page: 1 of 1 Prison, where he currently works, ity of conversations and clashes for so many others – that’s the message which is located in the city of Kingthe past couple of years in the U.S. I wanted to share,” said Almond, a NOT TO BE USED FOR COLOR APPROVAL Even more tragic, the conversation man. native Californian,ECD: father and grandC. Wickman CD: S. Block Jr.AD: S. Michel AM: J. Norman BM: C. Novotny P: D. Varichak He said that to resolve the probfather who resides in Arizona with hasn’t changed too much since the incident occurred on our ship back lem of racism, one must begin with his wife of nearly 39 years. the heart. Almond said he hopes to have in the 1970s.” “I’m coming from a Christian more chances to interact with audiAlmond, after serving his coun-

David Almond displays his book, “A Sailor’s Story,” about a race riot on board the USS Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War, during a discussion held at the Navy Memorial in Northwest on February 4. /Photo by Nancy Shia

perspective, but I believe that to deal with the issue we have to recognize that we are spiritual beings who need to get right with God,” Almond said. “Both of the men who emerged as heroes in my book had strong Christian foundations which served as their moral compass. They realized that had obligations to the Navy, just as we do to various entities or organizations in society. But we have a higher obligation to God. As Micah 6:8 says, we are called to render justice and mercy and to walk in humility,” he said. WI

Give it up for @ICareAtlanta #GiveItUpForGood

SometimeS GooD FeeDS moRe tHAN tHe SoUL. Anthony Delgado founded I Care Atlanta, an organization that partners with grocers to fight hunger and break the cycle of poverty among the city’s poor and homeless. Celebrate inspirational people like Anthony and let their stories of good inspire you this Black History Month. Visit Allstate.com/giveitupforgood.

28 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

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Pamela McCauley, an engineering professor at the University of Central Florida, received the prestigious STEM Educational Leadership Award at a conference in Northwest on Feb. 7. /Photo courtesy of University of Central Florida.

STEM Education Pushed For Minorities February Opportune Time to Promote Advanced Careers By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer For many, Black History Month is a time to reflect on the strong contributions made by individuals of color, and it’s also a time to push for a better tomorrow for young black and minority youths. To that end, efforts have ramped up recently in the District and around the country to emphasize STEM education, a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. “Our clean energy present and future depend on a robust, talented pool of highly skilled engineers, technicians and craft labor,” said Mike Rencheck, CEO of AREVA Inc., a Charlotte, North Carolina-based company that provides solutions for low-carbon power generations around the world. “It’s important to spark the interest of students and raise awareness … of career opportunities in the energy industry and the importance of nuclear energy’s contribution to clean electricity,” Rencheck said. T.J. Storey, a schoolteacher who lives in Northwest, said that while many are focusing on the success, struggles, and other facets of the lives of black history makers this month, he’s hoping that educators and others carve out the time to promote STEM education among black and other minority students. “We must reflect on the greatness of our past leaders and those who stood tall throughout our history,” said Storey, 57. “But we also must remember that the future belongs to our children, and we have to decide on what kind of future that will be.

We must insist on excellence, and the best chance to achieve sustained excellence is not through bouncing a ball, rapping a lyric, but through STEM. That’s where we need to and can make a difference.” When it comes to jobs in advanced industries that are mostly related to STEM fields, the District ranks among the best in the nation, according to a study released this month by the Brookings Institute in Northwest. The Brookings Institute’s “America’s Advanced Industries – What They Are, and Why They Matter” study revealed the District to be third in the nation, with 503,000 advanced industry jobs. New York, with 630,000, and Los Angeles, at 513,000, topped the list. STEM education has become a hot topic, particularly for African-Americans, and even large corporations have begun to recognize the importance of offering support. Southwest Airlines serves as a sponsor for several Black History Month events, including The Washington Informer’s African-American Heritage Tour, which toured Annapolis this year, and the Black Engineer of the Year Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Global Competitiveness Conference, which took place from Thursday, Feb. 5, to Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Northwest. “Throughout the year, Southwest Airlines proudly sponsors and hosts events in an effort to celebrate the rich history and culture of the African-American community and to strengthen the communities we serve,” Ellen Torbert, Southwest Airlines’ Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion, said in a statement.

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M O N T H

“Southwest has always been a “Your award comes at a time and under-represented minority Bleed:for the United Region: in USthe College companyClient: thatAllstate puts people first, particularly critical doctoral candidates Campaign: 2015 GIUFG Press Release Trim: 6” W x 10” H Language: English and thatAgency extends into the commuof Science and Computer EngiStates. StatisticsLive: show that science, Job #: 610-ALAAMNP5002 Notes: None AD #/ADour ID: AHAA0635 nity. Through support of nonneering at the university, with over technology, engineering and matheDate Modified: Keyline Scale: 1”=1” 75 percent of her undergraduate profit organizations, we are able to matics enrollments are declining in CR: Output at: Round: Page: at the moment research team students going on to provide ADeducation and leadership our country exactly opportunities, in an effort to build when our global economy is driving pursue graduate degrees in engineerNOT TO BE USED ing. FOR COLOR APPROVAL a brighter future for those served by up demand for STEM professionals. ECD: C. Wickman CD: S. Block AD: J. Errico AM: J. Norman BM: C. Novotny P: D. Varichakaward is a teach“Dr. McCauley’s our impactful community partners,” The future of America rests in the Torbert said. sharing of your narrative with our ing moment in itself,” Storey said. At the conference, Pamela Mc- nation’s youth,” Tyrone Taborn, the “It further awakens us to how imCauley, an engineering professor at conference’s CEO, said about Mc- portant this is, and she’s a black woman who has excelled in this the University of Central Florida, Cauley’s award. received the prestigious STEM EdMcCauley counts among the all-important field, and that’s what ucational Leadership Award. highest-producing faculty of female we need more of.” WI

MEET ALLSTATE’S CHAMPIONS FOR GOOD Four Individuals Who “Give It Up For Good” Honored for Their Service to Others How does Allstate Give It Up For Good? By shining a spotlight on the heartwarming stories and acts of good that take place within our local communities every day, and honoring those giving back, doing unexpected good deeds, and serving as unsung local heroes. To honor these heroes, Allstate named four leaders from across the country as Allstate Champions For Good. In fall 2014, each Champion received a national award recognizing their commitment and leadership during a surprise presentation in their communities. Surrounded by colleagues, family, and fellow volunteers, each Champion For Good was celebrated for their achievements and service. The Champions also attended the 2014 Allstate Tom Joyner Family Reunion in Orlando, Florida, where they partnered with Allstate to conduct a live Twitter chat to celebrate stories of good and encourage others to give back – and “Give It Up For Good.”

These four individuals have dedicated themselves to making a difference in their communities and serving others. Allstate is proud to feature them as role models this Black History Month. Anthony Delgado – Atlanta, GA: From living on the streets to starting a nonprofit organization devoted to ending homelessness, veteran Anthony Delgado’s life has truly come full circle. In order to give back to the community where he knows it is most needed, Anthony founded I Care Atlanta, which provides resources and emergency assistance to the working poor and homeless in Metro Atlanta and surrounding communities. Visit ICareAtlanta.org for more information. LaRita Francois-Flotte – New Orleans, LA: Spending her teenage years in a homeless shelter and serving as guardian to her younger brother, LaRita Francois-Flotte says that she grew up faster than most kids. She now gives back by helping kids and teens who are facing similar conditions without a greater vision for themselves. LaRita founded Take the Lead Foundation, an organization focused on providing enhanced motivation and educational programs to youth in New Orleans. Her nonprofit focuses on building self-esteem, promoting leadership, and enhancing communication skills. Visit TLFNola.org for more information. Lydell Henry – Baltimore, MD: Lydell Henry founded Beat the Streets-Baltimore, a nonprofit program that uses wrestling as the hook to get students involved in academics through tutoring and mentoring programs. Lydell leads a group of volunteer coaches who partner with local university graduate students to tutor high school wrestling athletes after school on a weekly basis. Find Beat The Streets at www.facebook.com/BeattheStreetsBaltimore to learn more. Lamont Robinson – Chicago, IL: In addition to serving as an Allstate agent for the Chicago community, Lamont Robinson acts as a mentor for young men in grades 9-12 through the Kappa Leadership Institute of Chicago. As a mentor, Lamont provides youth with college readiness, tutoring and study skills, and leadership development programs to help them achieve their goals. Visit www.KappaLeagueChicago.org for more information.

How can you Give It Up For Good? Allstate encourages everyone to find simple ways to do good in your community. Share your stories using #GiveItUpForGood to inspire the good in others. Visit Allstate.com/GiveItUpForGood and follow @GiveItUpForGood on Twitter.

Be a part of the conversation and Give It Up For Good!

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Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

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B H M

Orchestra Honors AfricanAmerican Innovators Celebrations Taking Place in D.C., Virginia and Maryland

Association for the Study of African American Life and History A Century of Black Life, History, and Culture

Saturday, February 28, 2015 Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel 2660 Woodley Road N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 202-328-2000

Keynote Speaker Daryl Michael Scott, Ph.D. Professor of History at Howard University ASALH National President

Centennial Honorary Co-Chair Susan Taylor Author and Journalist

Emcee A'Lelia Bundles Author and Journalist

Centennial Honorary Co-Chair Harry Belafonte Singer, Actor, and Civil Rights Activist

Sonia Sanchez Poet, Activist, and Scholar

Featured Authors Event 10am-12 noon 89th Annual Luncheon: 12:30pm

To purchase tables and tickets visit www.asalh.org Contributions of $100 or more will be acknowledged in our program if received by January 21. For sponsorship and advertising information, please contact ASALH at 202-238-5910 or by email at aedwards@asalh.net /ASALH.BlackHistory

30 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

/ASALH

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By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer

innovators. Internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world’s most important orchestras, the BSO through its family series program will honor African-American innovators at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21. “The family series is one of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s longest running and this program to celebrate African-American history will be an interactive concert to engage children and family members by using classical music as the centerpiece,” said Annemarie Guzy, BSO’s director of education. “There will be lots of fun, lots of themes and this year we will look at Duke Ellington and Elijah McCoy, the inventor and engineer who help facilitate train travel and we will look at how that came to be that his name was the reason for the saying, ‘The real McCoy,’” Guzy said. The Black History Month celebratory event will feature the music of Ellington, the famed composer, pianist and bandleader, and Heitor Villa-Lobos, the Brazilian composer and one of the foremost Latin-American composers of the 20th century. Guzy said the Baltimore City Choir, led by its director Marcus Smith, will lend their voices for a collection of African-American spirituals, honoring the impact of innovation on history. Enter-

From the District to Northern Virginia and from Prince George’s County to Baltimore, government and civic organizations, museums and other cultural institutions have continued to lay out plans to celebrate Black History Month. In the District, contributions of African Americans have been recognized during a bevy of special events and at historic locations like the Martin Luther King Memorial in Southwest, the Smithsonian in Northwest, and the Newseum also located in Northwest. “Black History Month is an opportunity for us to reflect on the countless contributions that African Americans have made to this nation. During the month of February, we remember civil rights pioneers who led the fight for political change and equality,” said Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chair G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina). “We remember courageous African-American visionaries who were relentless in their pursuit of technological and scientific discoveries that have made the world a better place. And, we remember African-American vanguards that pushed the boundaries of art, literature, music, and sport,” said Butterfield, 67. The newly minted CBC chair said Black History Month serves as a reminder to the nation of INVENTORS Page 31 where the country has been and it helps everyone to focus on the future. He said it’s important to use the month not just for celebration, but also for a recommitment to the values America as a nation holds dear like equal access to the voting booth, economic equality, and fairness. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) counts among the organizations join- Engineer and inventor Elijah McCoy will be recoging the call to hon- nized during the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s or the work and Black History Month concert on Saturday, Februlegacies of black ary 21 at the Meyerhoff. /Photo courtesy of BSO. www.washingtoninformer.com

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able for children. “We definitely do intend to keep it as engaging as possible,” Guzy said. “We’ve really been working to energize and create the most meaningful and relevant concert possible for our families and I’m confident that everyone will have a fantastic time.” WI Tickets start at $29 and are available through the BSO Ticket Office, 410.783.8000 or BSOmusic.org.

Dhani Jones Sports Honoree (not shown)

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he music and legacy of Duke Ellington will be among those featured during the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Black History Month concert. /Photo courtesy of biography.com.

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Iyanla Vanzant Inspirational Honoree

Kevin Liles Entertainment Honoree Henry Coaxum McDonald’s Owner/Operator Honoree

Al Sharpton Humanitarian Honoree

Gabrielle Williams Community Choice Youth Honoree

Will Packer Arts & Entertainment Honoree

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tainer Shannan E. Johnson has been picked to serve as narrator and BSO’s associate conductor for education and director of BSO’s Youth Orchestras Ken Lam will conduct the event. A 2011 Memphis International Conducting Competition winner, Lam made his American professional debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in 2008 as one of four conductors selected by Leonard Slatkin. “To think that we can leave the District and drive up to Baltimore and not miss a beat and take in a great program that isn’t often associated with our people is really a testament to how America, at least in some important ways, have come to understand the importance of black contributors,” said Tyrus Raymond, a tour bus operator who lives in Northeast. Raymond said a prominent orchestra, such as the BSO, had never been previously known for its awareness of black culture. He said he’s looking forward to the event and hopes that other such organizations follow suit. “The program will be so much fun and the narrator will weave through the spirituals and help connect the audience to the music,” Guzy said. “We will also touch on the Harlem Renaissance and the writers and composers of that time and we will pair that with break dancing, so that is exciting.” Guzy said a break dancing workshop will be held in the lobby of the Meyerhoff before the concert. She said plenty of research went into planning the program because organizers wanted to be sure and presents an interactive and memorable celebration event. She said the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore will provide figures from its collections and activities such as face painting will also be avail-

H I S T O R Y

Skyler Grey Community Choice Youth Honoree

LOVIN’ BY EXAMPLE. Here’s to the leaders that don’t talk about dedication, they show it. To the people who constantly perform selfless acts as they reach out, reach back and bring others along. We show our gratitude during Black History Month, but we applaud you everyday. Let’s all be inspired to stay deeply rooted in spreading the love, 365 days a year. Find your motivation at 365Black.com.

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Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

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“What Would Frederick Douglass Do?” By: Ashley Chenault “Human Rights Violations in North Korea- What Can We Learn From Frederick Douglass?” The Frederick Douglass Memorial & Historical Association is the oldest Fredrick Douglass organization in the world. It was chartered by an act of Congress in 1900 with the persistent effort of Fredrick Douglass’ second wife, Helen Pitts Douglass, and the National Association of Colored Women’s Club. Helen Pitts Douglass wanted to ensure the late eminent human rights leader’s legacy was preserved. FDMHA President Moonyene Jackson-Amis said, “Today we are still looking to Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman for answers to eradicating slavery in the 21st century.” She welcomes you to join FDMHA and the ATLAS Network’s 197th birthday celebration lecture featuring distinguished writer and lecturer, Harvard graduate, FDMHA Trustee, Atlas Network

Fellow, and co-founder of Teach North Korean Refugees Casey Lartigue Jr. Lartigue is an American now living in Seoul, South Korea. In this lecture he will discuss North Korea’s brutality against citizens and how Douglass’ ideas apply to the current discussion on the escape to freedom. This lecture is an opportunity for conversation on how to eliminate modern-day slavery by revisiting lessons the great orator taught us years ago, by answering the question “What would Douglass do?” The program will also include first-person testimony of Cherie Yang, a North Korean refugee who escaped with her parents and found asylum in the United States of America. The lecture is free and welcomes all those interested in revisiting Douglass’ legacy for answers. It will occur on Saturday, Feb. 14, 5-7pm at the ATLAS Network, 1201 L St. NW, Washington, D.C., 20005. Light refreshments will be provided. To reserve your seat, please register at www.fdmha.atlas-

M O N T H

Frederick Douglass

network-birthdaypresentation. eventbrite.com, as seating is limited. The mission of ATLAS Network is “to strengthen the worldwide freedom movement by cultivating a highly effective and expansive network that inspires T:9.5”all committed and incentivizes

individuals and organizations to achieve lasting impact.” Part of FDMHA’s mission is to “initiate and support programs that perpetuate the legacy of Frederick Douglass.” Both organizations have united to host this lecture as a march toward Douglass’ bicentennial birthday celebration,

which occurs in 2018. In addition to this lecture FDMHA has two signature programs. One is an academic scholarship essay contest for public-school-educated, college-bound, graduating seniors who live in the District of Columbia (or in surrounding Maryland and Virginia cities within a 50 mile radius.) The other program, Violins for Douglass, celebrates Douglass’ musicality and love for the violin and rewards a promising student of music. Awarded applicants with financial need receive violin lessons for a year. For more information on Fredrick Douglass Violin Scholarships, email violins4douglass@ gmail.com, and for more information on the academic essay, email fdmhaessay@gmail.com. For more information regarding the lecture, please visit www.atlas.org or www.fredrickdouglassmha.org.WI Ashley Chenault is a freelance writer living in Talbot County, Maryland chenaultashley@gmail.com; 410463-5223

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Neo Griot Ava DuVernay, Director of the Oscar® Nominated Film: Selma*

*Now in theaters and coming soon to XFINITY® On Demand™ She’s felt the strength of thousands as she stood in the footsteps of a King. She even crossed the same narrow bridge that once started the diﬃcult path toward equality. The latest journey she’s undertaken as a female lmmaker of color allowed her to connect with stories from our past and share them with future generations. In celebration of Black History Month, XFINITY® recognizes and honors Black innovators and the history they’re making today. Check out more of Ava and others, plus other award-worthy movies, TV shows and more at CelebrateBlackTV.com where black history is always on.

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Mount Zion United Methodist Church

lack History Lives in B Georgetown Churches By Elaina Johnson Howard University News Service WASHINGTON – When Vernon Ricks, 76, looks out at the new Georgetown, he doesn’t necessarily see the high-end stores, scores of tony shops, the expensive restaurants and bars and homes selling for $1 million and more. Instead, he recalls the small apartment at the corner of 26th and P streets where he and his siblings were raised by his mother and father. He remembers The Phillips School, where he and his African-American classmates learned the three “Rs,” and Rose Park, where they and their friends played baseball games, acted in plays and attended dances on Fridays for 25 cents. Ricks recalls walking down the streets past the black-owned barbershop, the drug store, the cleaners, the shoeshine stand and other African-American business. All of that is gone now, and the building he grew up in has been replaced by one-bedroom condominiums selling for over half a million dollars. “It’s funny,” he said. “I can’t even afford an apartment in the building that I grew up in.” The Georgetown of today is known for expensive homes, stylish boutiques, swanky restaurants, the exclusive Georgetown University and being overwhelmingly white in a city where blacks make up the largest racial group. The only reminders of the community’s long and deep African-American heritage are three churches – Mount Zion United Methodist Church at 1334 29th St., First Baptist Church at 2624 Dumarton Ave. and Jerusalem Baptist Church at 2600 P St. Mount Zion United Methodist Church was founded in 1816 and

is the oldest of the three. Barbara Thompson is an 81-year-old member of the congregation and has been attending the church for as long as she can remember. “I have been attending the church since birth, but I didn’t join on my own until I was 15,” Thompson said. “I can remember taking part in service, attending Bible school in the summer time and being involved in the youth fellowship at Rose Park under the direction of Reverend James D. Ford.” Although the bulk of African-Americans have left Georgetown, the churches’ members continue to travel from surrounding areas in Washington, Maryland and Virginia area for service on Sundays. Glois Johnson, 81, has been a member of Mount Zion United Methodist Church for 55 years. She commutes every Sunday to and from Colesville, Maryland. “After so many years, you get attached to the people,” Johnson said. “As long as I am able to drive the distance, I will continue to attend worship service.” The Rev. Rodney A. Teal, senior pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church, said the black churches that remain in the neighborhood help the Georgetown community remember its rich history. Teal believes that, regardless of where the members currently reside, the church’s congregational members still have attachments to Georgetown. “Members who grew up in Georgetown are connected by family ties,” Teal said. “Allowing them to attend church in the neighborhood helps them to retain those memories.” In 1910, Georgetown’s black population reached a peak of 50 percent. Many of these residents

GEORGETOWN Page 33

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH

POSTER

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ESPIONAGE

Posters are FREE to the public. Individual posters are available at your neighborhood DC Public Library. More can be obtained from the DC Lottery. 2235 Shannon Place, SE Please phone 202-645-8000 Find out more about the DC Lottery’s Black History Month poster at dclottery.com

220 East 42nd Street | 14th Floor | NY NY 10017 www.footstepsgroup.com

for a bright future fueled by a rich history.

Vernon Ricks

Barbara Thompson

Khari Johnson, young historian

GEORGETOWN from Page 33

At PNC, we’re about community. Because community is where our past connects with what’s ahead. It’s why we created PNC Grow Up Great®, our $350 million, multi-year, bilingual initiative that helps prepare children from birth to age five for success in school and life. It’s why we’re sponsoring local events, working with local leaders and supporting job-readiness organizations. It’s why we’re fostering relationships with diverse suppliers. And it’s why we’re building a workplace as diverse as the people we serve. We’re committed to helping our communities keep achieving for years to come. Find out more at pnc.com/diversity

for the achiever in you®

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were descendants of slaves or blacks who moved there shortly after the Civil War. In the 1940s, however, the community began to change as President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies worked against blacks in Georgetown. Thousands of well-paid white government workers migrated into Washington, which created a demand for housing and pushed property values even higher in Georgetown. Black residents moved to more-affordable areas. “The whites saw an opportunity and wanted to own the land,” Ricks said. “Since most African-Americans rented their house, they were pushed out and their properties were condemned.”

Georgetown’s population is now less than 4 percent African-American. The historic churches have served the community for many decades. Currently, however, their memberships are dwindling as parishioners grow older and the churches are not able to pull from the surrounding, mostly white neighborhoods for new members. The pews of Mt. Zion during a recent Sunday service were noticeably sparse and occupied primarily with members in their 60s or older. Khari Zame Johnson, a member of Mt. Zion, is an exception. Johnson is 18. He said he feels a special connection to the church. He will serve as the church’s new historian. WI

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DC Black History Celebration Committee Presents

African American Men Sing Songs of Praise Featuring Male Choirs, Soloists, Ushers & M.C. TV News Anchor (channel 7) Bro. Sam Ford Sunday, February 15, 2015 3:00 p.m.

Greater New Hope Baptist Church (A Downtown Cathedral of Hope and Destiny)

816 8th Street NW Washington, DC 20001 (202)842-1036 Office (202)421-8608 Cell Email: gnhbaptist@verizon.net Website: http://www.greaternewhopebaptistchurch.org

Bishop Melvin G. Brown, Pastor/Sr. Minister Bro. Chuck Hicks, Coordinator

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LIFESTYLE

The late superstar Whitney Houston pictured in a 2009 photo with daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. /Photo courtesy of ABC News.

Singer Bobby Brown has held a vigil over his daughter, Bobbi Kristina, while she lies in a coma at an Atlanta area hospital. /Photo courtesy of US magazine.

Seen in happier times, Nick Gordon and Bobbi Kristina Brown pose for pictures at an awards show. Family and now police suspect foul play may have been involved in Brown’s injuries and speculation now centers on Gordon. /Photo courtesy of People.com.

The Tragedy of

Whitney Houston Disaster Strikes near Third Anniversary of Singer’s Death By Stacy Brown WI Contributing Writer It’s straight from a soap opera. Raised by Whitney Houston like an adoptive son, Nick Gordon was a brother to Bobbi Kristina. He became her self-proclaimed husband. Now, as he prepares to meet police for an interview, he’s under suspicion for her death. Kristina was found face-down in a bathtub on Jan. 31 by Gordon and a friend, a frightening echo to the way Houston’s body was discovered three years ago.

36 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

According to reports, police are investigating suspicious injuries on Bobbi Kristina, who, as of press time, remains brain dead but still on life support. The relationship between Bobbi and Nick had been a sore spot for father Bobby Brown and the Houston family for some time. Houston opened her home to Gordon when the computer geek was 12 and Bobbi was just 8. He was the son of former Houston friend Michelle Gordon, who said she couldn’t care

for him. Houston felt sorry for Nick and decided to raise him, though she never formally adopted him. Bobbi and Gordon quickly developed a bond; with Gordon looking after her while Houston and father Bobby Brown continued their careers. Gordon habitually referred to Bobbi as “Lil sis” and she affectionately called him “Big Bruh.” When, at 15, Bobbi began dating, Nick, then 20, became angry, even jealous, said a source close to the family who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. “Nick was always telling boys that if they mess with his lil sis, they had to answer to him.” In 2011, he was arrested on a weapons charge after allegedly threatening a teenage boy with a gun after he expressed interest in dating Bobbi. Gordon never worked and Houston hired tutors to help him get through high school. Bobby Brown was mostly out of the picture; at age 14, Kristina sided with her mother in the divorce, and Houston was given sole custody. Long before Gordon arrived, Houston proved to be one of the world’s most recognizable and talented stars in music and on the big screen. The Washington Informer

Her first four albums, released between 1985 and 1992, amassed global sales in excess of 86 million copies, the Biography Channel reported. At age 19, renowned record mogul Clive Davis discovered Houston while she performed at a nightclub. She made her debut on national television, appearing on The Merv Griffin Show to sing “Home” from the musical The Wiz. She and Davis spent the next two years working on her debut album, finding the best producers and songwriters available to showcase her amazing vocal talent. In 1985, she released her debut album, “Whitney Houston,” and almost immediately became a smash pop sensation. Over the next year, her hit singles “Saving All My Love for You” and “How Will I Know” helped the album reach the top of the charts, where it stayed for fourteen weeks. Houston won a Grammy in 1986 for “Saving All My Love for You” and the award was presented to the singer by her cousin Dionne Warwick. She followed the monumental success of her first album with a second release, “Whitney,” in 1987. That record, too, went platinum many times over and won more Grammy Awards,

leading to a successful world tour. During this time, the singer also appeared at a concert for Nelson Mandela’s birthday and founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children, a nonprofit organization that funds projects to help needy children over the world. By 1992, Houston was on top of the world and she married New Edition lead singer Bobby Brown, after a three-year engagement. At first the marriage was passionate and loving, but things turned sour as the decade progressed and both Brown and Houston battled substance abuse and increasingly erratic behavior, biography.com reported. In spite of these growing personal troubles, Whitney Houston continued to progress in her career, crossing over successfully into acting in 1992 by starring opposite Kevin Costner in the wildly popular “The Bodyguard.” With the movie, Houston set a trend for her films to follow: in each film she also released a hit single, creating sensational record sales for the soundtracks. Her smash single from “The Bodyguard,” a cover of Dolly Parton’s 1974 “I Will Always

WHITNEY Page 37

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“The songs will speak to you . . . you’ll understand the changes I’ve gone through.” – Whitney Houston, 2009 WHITNEY from Page 36 Love You,” proved to be Houston’s biggest hit ever, spending a record-breaking fourteen weeks atop the U.S. charts. The soundtrack album went on to win Houston three Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Later in the 1990s, Houston also starred in “The Preacher’s Wife” and “Waiting to Exhale,” both accompanied by hit soundtracks as well. After almost a decade of struggling with her personal life, Houston seemed to be pulling herself together. She released a new album, “I Look To You,” in 2009. “The songs themselves will speak to you and you’ll understand where I am and some of the changes I’ve gone through for the better,” Houston told Entertainment Tonight. In early 2012, Houston rumored to be experiencing financial trouble, but she denied this claim. She, in fact, seemed to be poised for a career upswing. Houston worked on a new musical film “Sparkle” with Jordin Sparks, a remake of the 1976 movie about an all-girl musical group similar to the Supremes. She had reportedly been approached to join the singing competition The X Factor as a judge. Unfortunately, Houston did not live long enough to see the latest comeback reach fruition. She died on February 11, 2012, in Los Angeles. Gordon acted quickly to fill the void in Kristina’s life and they immediately began a romantic relationship. That same year, Gordon was arrested after totaling a Camaro. Last summer, Gordon was arrested another time on multiple charges, including driving with a suspended license and suspicion of DUI after smashing a BMW into a fire hydrant in Roswell, Ga. Family members contend that the unemployed Gordon spent most days smoking marijuana and being “high all of the time.”

Houston family members are convinced that Gordon “had been counting Whitney’s money since she died,” the source said. It was Gordon, they said, who turned Bobbi against the family. Marion “Pat” Houston, married to Whitney’s brother Gary, was named estate executor. “Krissy and Pat were close at one point and Pat always looked out for Krissy. They’d sit around, almost like a mother and daughter, and they’d talk about life, family, and even the birds and the bees.” But in April 2014, Pat Houston took out a restraining order against Gordon, whom she claimed had made terrorist threats against her and her husband on social media. Gordon had been demanding more cash from Houston’s estate and more control of her legacy, a police report said. This was shortly after Gordon and Kristina announced on social media that they were married. Cissy Houston referred to the relationship as incestuous and ties with the family were completely frayed. For his part, Bobby Brown mostly shrugged off the relationship and Bobbi later confided to her father that she wasn’t married to Gordon. Brown hoped that her infatuation with Gordon would eventually end, the source said. This week, the former New Edition lead singer’s lawyer confirmed that the marriage never existed, a revelation that leaves Gordon out on any potential inheritance, which a source said could ultimately swell to hundreds of millions of dollars. Bobbi remains the sole heir to Houston’s fortune, currently estimated to be as much as $100 million, and it’s not believed that the 21-year-old has a will. “What’s interesting is that Bobby had recently began having a cordial relationship with Nick, but he never trusted him and he did speak with him for a moment at the hospital and he told Nick that he better not find out that this was his doing or Nick would have hell to pay,” the source said. WI

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Poet Inspires Other

LIFESTYLE

Women of Color By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @ SamPKCollins

Performing spoken word has always served as a cathartic experience for Liz Acevedo. For more than 10 years, she has stood before an untold number of audiences and used masterful wordplay to contextualize events in her life and contemporary social issues. With a national poetry slam championship under her belt and the completion of a fine arts master’s program on the horizon, Acevedo has grown more resolute in her mission to give voice to those who feel voiceless, particularly Afro-Latino women. She says that ongoing dialogue about rape culture and the disappearance of local youngster Relisha Rudd has given her new questions to ask in the form of stanzas and metaphors. “We all get that feeling after a conversation when we didn’t get to say all of the things we wanted to say,” said Acevedo, 26, onefifth of the Beltway Slam Team, a group comprising some of the D.C. metropolitan region’s most notable spoken word artists. In August, Acevedo and her colleagues seized the first place prize when they defeated more than 70 groups from across the country during the 25th annual

Spoken word artist Liz Acevedo, who hails from Morningside Heights, New York, has performed before audiences for more than 10 years. Her current nationwide tour includes performances and poetry workshops at more than 40 universities, high schools, and nonprofits. / Photo courtesy of Liz Acevedo

National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California. During the five-day competition, Acevedo challenged Eurocentric ideas of beauty in her poem “Hair” and pondered how her daughters would fare amid threats of gender-based violence in “Spear.” Later that month, Acevedo kicked off a nationwide tour that includes performances and poetry workshops at more than 40 universities, high schools and nonprofits. She recently presented what she considered some of her most provocative work before dozens of students and educators at Vassar College

in Poughkeepsie, New York. Acevedo said that sharing her thoughts allows her to connect with people who may have similar feelings. “A lot of my poems [are] responses to some sort of trigger. When I can’t figure out what I want to say in the moment, I write my thoughts down on paper and craft it with figurative language. I don’t know how I’m going to raise my daughters. ‘Spear’ came from trying to answer that question. That’s the same way I process all of the bad

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LIFESTYLE POET from Page 37

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND FOCUS FEATURES PRESENT A MICHAEL DE LUCA PRODUCTION â&#x20AC;&#x153;FIFTY SHADES OF GREYâ&#x20AC;?MUSICDAKOTA JOHNSON EXECUTIVE JAMIE DORNAN JENNIFER EHLE AND MARCIA GAY HARDEN BY DANNY ELFMAN PRODUCERS MARCUS VISCIDI JEB BRODY PRODUCED BY MICHAEL DE LUCA p.g.a. E L JAMES p.g.a. DANA BRUNETTI p.g.a. BASED ON SCREENPLAY DIRECTED THE NOVEL BY E L JAMES BY KELLY MARCEL BY SAM TAYLOR-JOHNSON A UNIVERSAL PICTURE SOUNDTRACK ON REPUBLIC RECORDS

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things that I see on the news,â&#x20AC;? said Acevedo, a University of Maryland, College Park graduate student who lives in Southwest. Processing her innermost thoughts in spoken word has been a talent that Acevedo has strived to refine since participating in her first competition at the age of 8. During her childhood, she immersed herself in the language arts by reading the works of African-American poet Lucille Clifton and watching Lemon, Mahogany L. Browne and other artists perform on HBOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Def Poetry Jam.â&#x20AC;? While Acevedo said that watching seasoned artists command the attention of their listeners inspired her to take her craft more seriously, she acknowledged that Cliftonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work forced her to think critically about her place in the world as a woman of color. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think Lucille Clifton was incredibly honest and relatable in her work,â&#x20AC;? said Acevedo. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I could always see myself in many of her books. She was a woman of color speaking in a way that made sense. She knew how to put honesty on the page without being too wordy. She tried to craft poems by only using the necessary words, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I appreciated about her.â&#x20AC;? Acevedo, the daughter of Dominican immigrants who hails from Morningside Heights, New York, would find an opportunity to hone her skills and follow in the tradition of Clifton and other poets of color at the Beacon School. During her time as a student at the college preparatory high school based in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Acevedo penned dozens of poems as a member of the Live Poets Society, an after-school poetry group with which she would grow as an artist. Every week for four years, Acevedo and 10 other students wrote poems, critiqued each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work, and found their identities as artists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Liz joined the Live Poets Society, she had a hip-hop style, and I saw her grow into her own as time went on,â&#x20AC;? said Abby Lublin, who served as Acevedoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s adviser at the Beacon School. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It eventually became less about battle and more about self-expression. You see that in a lot of young people starting out in slam. Something opens up in them. The adolescent journey becomes less about oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self and more about using that The Washington Informer

Liz Acevedo performed before a group of students and educators at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, in January as part of her national tour that kicked off last year. / Photo courtesy of Luz Burgos

power to help build and sustain [their] community,â&#x20AC;? said Lublin, a community organizer and educator who now lives in Troy, New York. Acevedoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friends and colleagues contend that her passion to uplift her people fuels her work ethic. Pages Matam, an artist and educator in the creative writing and performance disciplines, said Acevedo opened his eyes to various writing styles while they coached the D.C. Youth Slam team together and competed against other slam poetry groups. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Liz has opened doors [for many people] in terms of finding a different approach to writing,â&#x20AC;? said Matam, 26. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have always longed to be surrounded by writers with a different style and distinct aplomb to their work that can challenge me while being in the local creative writing and spoken word scene. There are many people who donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t approach the craft like Liz does. She has helped me write shorter, robust pieces with every word being necessary, deliberate, and intentional. Watching her work with youth, she shows that once you know the feelings between the words, you can write a more concrete story,â&#x20AC;? said Matam, who lives in Northeast. Even with a demanding schedule, Acevedo finds time to visit her alma mater, The George Washington University in North-

west, where the District first received a taste of what she had to offer. More than four years after leaving Foggy Bottom, Acevedo stays in contact with student groups on campus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Liz has kept a great relationship with GW and the Multicultural Student Services Center after graduation,â&#x20AC;? said Kathya Saavedra, a senior at GW who helped planned the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Latino Heritage Celebration, which is centered on the theme of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Tal Como Soy,â&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just as I Am,â&#x20AC;? in the fall. In October, Acevedo served as mistress of ceremonies at a spoken word event touted as CafĂŠ con Leche, which she helped organize as an undergraduate student. That evening, Acevedo performed before more than 200 students, administrators, local poets and budding wordsmiths at Betts Theatre, which is located in GWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marvin Center. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Liz definitely understood the theme of our event,â&#x20AC;? said Saavedra, 21. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her words speak to our innermost struggles. As minority students, we face backlash from our parents when we choose careers that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t bring a lot of money. Liz showed us that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about surrounding yourself with good people and improving your craft. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always been her mindset, and sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been headstrong about it,â&#x20AC;? said Saavedra who lives in Springfield, Virginia. WI

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LIFESTYLE

Griot

TAURUS Keep your sunny side up and avoid arguments with anyone who seems to give off any negative vibes in your direction. You know in your heart that what you do in the world is much needed. Others know too, they just may have a hard time admitting it this week. Look for love to give you a lift. Soul Affirmation: The winner is me. I smile for the cameras. Lucky Numbers: 31, 32, 54

by Sheila McCauley Keys with Eddie B. Allen, Jr. c.2015, Penguin Tarcher $24.95 / $27.95 Canada 208 pages

dresser, Parks was never showy in manner or accomplishment – although she did save all her hate mail. To the children of her beloved brother and to those she enfolded in her circle, Parks embodied strength and fearlessness. She made sure there was food on tables more than once, and clothes on young backs. Through her mistakes, she taught the power of apology. She counseled them not to judge as they’d been judged, but she showed them that there’s a limit to forgiveness. In her latter years, they say, she was the same calm, determined person she’d always been. And even well into her eighties, she vowed to keep doing what needed done. With the approaching 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ famous act of defiance, you’re likely to hear a lot about her in the next year. But when was the last time you thought about Mr. Parks? That’s why “Our Auntie Rosa” is so important. Filled with memories of the Parks’ lives within the raucous, loving McCauley family, this book offers insights history doesn’t tell you. Author Sheila McCauley Keys (with Eddie B. Allen, Jr.) weaves her siblings’ memories into a treasury of life, not politics or action. We meet people important to Rosa Parks and, through them, we’re warmed by tales of a real person – tales that, if you never met Parks, will make you mourn for it. I absolutely loved this memory-filled delight, I loved its balance and I think you will, too. If you’ve ever wondered about the quiet, tiny giant behind the act, “Our Auntie Rosa” is a book to chase down.WI

Once,

many years ago, your grandmother chased your grandpa out of the house. Nobody remembers why or what happened afterward; the particulars are lost, and they aren’t important anymore, really. The laugh-til-you-cry telling, the knee-slapping, each embellishment as years go by – that’s what truly matters. Family stories are the glue that holds you all together. And in the new book “Our Auntie Rosa” by Sheila McCauley Keys (with Eddie B. Allen, Jr.), you’ll read one family’s recollections of an icon. For much of their early lives, Sylvester McCauley’s children didn’t know who their favorite aunt really was. Sure, they’d read about the woman who launched the Civil Rights movement. They’d heard her name said with pride. But for most of them, it took awhile to make the connection: the woman on the bus that day in Montgomery was their Auntie Rosa Parks. Even after she moved north, after she and her husband and mother came to live with the eleven-member McCauley family in Detroit, their Auntie Rosa didn’t much speak of her actions. The nieces and nephews asked her sometimes, but she usually waved questions away. The past wasn’t important to her then. Family was. The Parks never had any children, so the McCauley kids were happy to absorb any extra love. Their Auntie Rosa was a good cook who loved to entertain. She was steady, supportive, and resourceful but she encouraged independence. An elegant, sharp

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FEB 12 - FEB 18, 2015

ARIES Check the fine print carefully this week. You may find yourself in a number of positions this week to advance your financial state. Be sure you have scrutinized the details before signing on any dotted lines. A partner or relative could seem to be urging you toward one of these opportunities; examine that one with love and common sense. Soul Affirmation: What I need to be is fully present inside of me. Lucky Numbers: 6, 15, 40

“Our Auntie Rosa”

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Horoscopes

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GEMINI Your philosophical principles are ready for a larger congregation. Your hard work, patience, and determination to present a positive outlook will be paying off this week. You’ll be blessed with an intuitive flash of all that you have going for you, and the realization will make you very happy. You’ll be encouraging many others with your manner of being in the world. Soul Affirmation: All things work together for good. Lucky Numbers: 12, 16, 30 CANCER Be cautious about when and where you present your ideas this week. There’s some minor jealousy lurking about, and it wants to rain on your gorgeous parade. Be calm and keep your faith in yourself high. You’ve earned the respect and admiration of many by simply acting with complete faith in the rightness of your actions. Take all criticism, constructive or otherwise, with a grain of salt. Soul Affirmation: I change the way I look at business this week. Lucky Numbers: 28, 32, 50 LEO Your charm is unstoppable, and your poise is unflappable, sweeties. Continue to take advantage of all of your gifts this week and be your whole, wonderful self. If you take a high road where shared property is discussed, you may wind up with more than you started with. Exercise some caution when dealing with negative energy, whether from people or just a vague intuition. Soul Affirmation: I get joy from giving good things. Lucky Numbers: 13, 39, 41 VIRGO You need to stay in a positive zone to make your magic happen. A flirtation on the part of a younger person towards you needs to be gently discouraged. Trust has been placed in you; don’t inadvertently betray it. If in doubt, retire to your home and do some cleaning and catching up by telephone with the folks back home. Soul Affirmation: I flavor my life with good wishes towards everyone this week. Lucky Numbers: 16, 28, 52 LIBRA A happier mood is in store if you spend some of your emotions on a mate or family member. Your sensitivity to criticism should be kept in check as much as possible this week, because you don’t really want to spend your perfect moments feeling temperamental, do you? Others mean well, they just don’t express themselves perfectly every time. Soul Affirmation: I am a giver of good words this week. Lucky Numbers: 15, 23, 50 SCORPIO A very pleasant week is in store as peace seems to be the dominant current. Your experience will tell you how best to proceed with a close relationship. Right words and actions can restore all to the previous beauty. Soul Affirmation: I concentrate on what is beautiful about my life now. Lucky Numbers: 26, 34, 47 SAGITTARIUS Friends call and you should answer their requests to join them. You’ll have a nice week out if you go, with lots of camaraderie and good fellowship. You’ll be creating energy for a very inspiring environment. Soul Affirmation: I am inspired by my own words this week. Lucky Numbers: 5, 18, 21 CAPRICORN Authority issues may arise early in the week. You can handle these thoughts by observing them and letting them go. Listen to some music that fills you with positive vibrations. Soul Affirmation: I see myself as a finisher rather than a starter this week. Lucky Numbers: 14, 40, 46

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AQUARIUS You have strong physical energy this week. Make the most of it and get a lot of the work done that you’ve been meaning to get around to. This week’s a great week to get around to it! You’ll be very pleased at the end of the week with what you have created. Soul Affirmation: I concentrate on the highest possibilities this week. Lucky Numbers: 18, 22, 53 PISCES Freedom needs may be high this week. Use your powerful imagination to discover a way to feel freer in your current situation. At least in your personal space, let yourself be free and surrounded by objects and vibes that set your spirit soaring. Soul Affirmation: I speak my mind knowing that truth is my best defense this week. Lucky Numbers: 2, 8, 41

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Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

LIFESTYLE

Impact of Civil War on D.C. Explored

New Smithsonian Exhibit in Southeast Opens

Alcione M. Amos shared the little-known fact that some blacks actually owned slaves themselves during the opening of a new exhibit about the Civil War at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum in Southeast that opened earlier this month. /Photo by Robert Roberts

Members of the media and special guests attended an open house for the newly opened exhibition “How the Civil War Changed Washington” on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum in Southeast, which featured a brief presentation, gallery tour and question-and-answer session. Museum Curator Alcione M. Amos offers a fresh approach to

Civil War history, with her focus on the evolution of the nation’s capital and the stories of some of the individuals who came and contributed to the city’s growth. Changes in social mores, the built environment, population size and ethnic composition, along with women’s entry into the federal work force and the postwar fort-to-neighborhood transformation, are among the fascinating impacts explored in

the exhibition. The exhibition examines the social and spatial impact of the Civil War on Washington, D.C., and the resulting dramatic changes in social mores and the size and ethnic composition of the city’s population. The population of the city increased tremendously during the war. Between 1860 and 1870, the population of the area that became the city of Washington increased from 75,080 inhabitants to 131,700, and the African-American population increased from one-fifth to one-third, which began a trend of growth that continued until a century after the war, when blacks would become the majority. Female workers joined the federal workforce, the federal government was reimagined, and forts built in the hilly terrain around the city became new neighborhoods, expanding the city’s footprint. The exhibition contextualizes these and other changes while telling the fascinating stories of individuals who came to Washington during the Civil War and who contributed to its shaping.WI

DC Lottery Celebrates Black History Month Honors Heroes in Espionage

DC Lottery Executive Director Buddy Roogow (left to right), Captain Gail Harris, retired U.S. Army counterintelligence special agent, Sylvia Cyrus, Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), and Louis Hicks, ASALH at the unveiling of a new black history poster that features men and women of color who served as spies on behalf of the U.S. International Spy Museum in Northwest. /Photo by Robert Roberts Karen Buster provided the original artwork for this year’s black history poster with the theme “Heroes: African Americans in Espionage at the International Spy Museum in Northwest on Monday, Feb. 2 /Photo by Robert Roberts

The International Spy Museum in Northwest serves as the venue for a new exhibition about black spies. Members of the media and special guests attended an open house for the newly-opened exhibition, “Heroes: African Americans in Espionage,” that opened on Monday, Feb. 2. The exhibition was sponsored by the DC Lottery. Since 1986, the DC Lottery’s Black History Poster has celebrated people, places and events significant in the rich and comprehensive telling of American history. This year’s theme and program highlighted some of the men and women in the field of espionage. The original artwork for this year’s poster was produced by local artist Karen Buster. In the history of intelligence, African-American contributions have too often been unknown, overlooked and understated. To provide a more complete and accurate account, Captain Gail

40 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

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Harris, a retired U.S. Army counterintelligence special agent and Malcolm Nance, a U.S. naval intelligence agent, spoke about key events as well as the implications of race and gender in espionage. This survey begins with the Revolutionary War Era and also includes: the organizers of the Underground Railroad, who used intelligence tradecraft and collection techniques without benefit of training or mentoring; the Civil War era slaves and free blacks who took initiative at great personal risk to provide information they observed or heard in the course of their work tasks; and the daring 20th century spies and double agents. Since its inception in 1982, the DC Lottery has awarded more than $3 billion in prizes, transferred more than $1.86 billion to the District’s General Fund which supports essential services in the District, and has helped local nonprofits raise more than $125 million in support of social causes.WI

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LIFESTYLE

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returned to the Kennedy Center for its annual opening night gala benefit and performance on February 3. After the spectacular program, patrons danced and dined with performers and mingled with Alvin Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle and gala co-chairs Gina Adams, Lyndon Boozer, and Debra Lee. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Chamber of Commerce Vice President and COO Krystal Brumfield, D.C.P.S. Chancellor Kaya Henderson, and the Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton were just a few of the nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s notable attendees. /Photos by Shevry Lassiter

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WANDA from Page 12 Brittany Clark said she can attest to Henderson’s work ethic. Clark, who serves as a receptionist at Wanda’s on 7th, recounted first meeting the neighborhood entrepreneur during a visit to her Georgia Avenue-based salon in 2012. The duo’s relationship has since blossomed, with Henderson serving as a mentor to Clark, an aspiring business owner. “Ms. Wanda’s legacy will be that of hard work and determination that no one could stop,” said Clark, 20, a junior at Howard who studies musical theater. “It’s because of her will that she will still be here. Ms. Wanda does it for the people. That’s why she has a huge following among college students and people in the community. She’s had to deal with so many changes in the neighborhood. Many people thought we wouldn’t make it

back here, but we always find a way to make something out of nothing,” said Clark, who hails from Columbia, South Carolina. For Jamaal Clayburn, Wanda’s on 7th serves as a reminder of what can happen when a person remains humble and keeps the customers at the forefront. Clayburn, a legal assistant in a federal government agency, said that he has enjoyed Henderson’s hospitality since he followed his barber from another establishment. “Wanda’s on 7th is a neighborhood institution,” said Clayburn, 37, who lived in the Shaw neighborhood for 30 years. “There’s nothing but history around here. Ms. Wanda can inspire us. She was born and raised in this city just like me. She has shown us how to get her point across and get what she wants without being violent. She taught me respect and chivalry in the way that she takes the time

to speak to everyone when she walks through the salon,” said Clayburn, who lives in Southeast. With two salons in operation, Henderson said she doesn’t want to slow down. She has expressed plans to open additional salons in the city and possibly a beauty school that would allow her to impart technical skills and gems of wisdom to the next generation of beauticians and entrepreneurs. “You have to focus on what you want and keep God first,” said Henderson. “People never see your vision, so you have to see it for yourself. I never accepted no for an answer. They told me I couldn’t get it done. Today people of all nationalities and backgrounds come to this salon and have nothing but good things to say.” WI

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WI Community Calendar

Explore a list of upcoming community events including festivals, art and cultural events, workshops, classes and neighborhood meetings, sporting events and tournaments in and around DC, Maryland and Virginia on our online community calendar at www.washingtoninformer.com. If you have an event you would like to include on our community calendar, please email the details and attach a jpeg document (if available) to news@washingtoninformer.com. Please include your name, email address and daytime phone number.

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SPORTS

George Washington Colonials Defeat Dayton Flyers 65-64 in Overtime

George Washington guard Paul Jorgensen shoots over Dayton guard Kyle Davis in the first half of Atlantic-10 Conference (A-10) basketball action on Friday, Feb. 6 at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center in Northwest. George Washington defeated Dayton 65-64 in overtime. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Dayton forward Dyshawn Pierre looks for the basket while defended by George Washington forward John Kopriva in the first half of A-10 Conference basketball action on Friday, Feb. 6 at George Washington’s Charles E. Smith. George Washington defeated Dayton 65-64 in overtime. / Photo by John E. De Freitas

George Washington forward Yuta Watanabe drives past Dayton forward Kendall Pollard in the second half of A-10 basketball action on Friday, Feb. 6 at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center in Northwest. George Washington defeated Dayton 65-64 in overtime. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

George Washington guard Kethan Savage bangs into Dayton guard Kyle Davis during Savage’s game-winning basket to give George Washington a 65-64 overtime win against Dayton on Friday, Feb. 6 at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center in Northwest. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

44 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

George Washington guard Joe McDonald takes flight to the basket while Dayton guard Scoochie Smith defends in the first half of A-10 basketball action on Friday, Feb. 6 at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center in Northwest. George Washington defeated Dayton 65-64 in overtime. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

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SPORTS

Washington Wizards Defeat Brooklyn Nets 114-77

Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat soars past two Brooklyn Nets defenders in the first half of National Basketball Association (NBA) action on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Verizon Center in Northwest. The Wizards defeated the Nets 114-77. / Photo by John E. De Freitas

Wizards guard Garrett Temple heads to the basket as Nets guard Alan Anderson trails him in the first half of NBA action on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Verizon Center in Northwest. The Wizards defeated Nets 114-77. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Wizards forward Nene tries to avoid Nets guard Jerome Jordan in the first half of NBA action on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Verizon Center in Northwest. The Wizards defeated nets 114-77. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Wizards guard Otto Porter shows fans his dunking skills in the first half of NBA action on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Verizon Center in Northwest. The Wizards defeated Nets 114-77. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Wizards guard John Wall heads to the basket as Nets forward Bojan Bogdanovic looks on in the first half of NBA action on Saturday, Feb. 7 at the Verizon Center in Northwest. The Wizards defeated the Nets 114-77. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

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RELIGION

The Religion Corner

Black History Month

A True Supreme Court Story

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Floyd Hill was a young boy who grew up in rural North Carolina. He dreamed that one day he would own a very large farm. Hill was born in 1907. He disregarded the extreme racism that existed in the South, and he refused to allow it to kill his dream. At age 36, his dream came true when he purchased 227.2 acres of farmland that was repossessed from a white family during the Great Depression. In 1943, Hill went back-andforth to court, fighting for the land he believed was rightfully his. The Ku Klux Klan burned crosses on his lawn, his family was terrorized, but young Hill kept fighting. His fight went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor in 1945, [“DeBruhl vs. L. Harvey & Son Company, U.S. Library of Congress]. The facts in the case documented the judge’s declaration that no living DeBruhl or any unborn DeBruhls could ever again file suit for possession of the Hill Farm. Today, Floyd Hill and his wife Pearl are deceased, but we are proud of their efforts, the Hill Farm and the legacy that continues. For Black History Month, I’m delighted to share the story of my grandfather, Floyd Hill. I’m writing a tell-all children’s book entitled “Pappy,” the name we called him. No one can tell our story for us, but us. Full details of his victorious life will be documented in this book. Although this happened 69 years ago it is worthy of its’ own place in Black History. Floyd was born March 26, 1907, living only four decades following the abolishment of

slavery in America. He lived on a farm in Beaver Creek, North Carolina, sixty miles from Morehead City Beach, in a little town near Kinston. Pappy used what is often referred to as ‘Visual Motor Rehearsal.’ In essence, he visualized himself as the owner of a large farm long before he became one. One day, Pappy said to his mother, “Mamma look all around, you see all of that land, in every direction? Someday, I’m going to own every bit of it!” Pappy was still in the early years of ‘so-called freedom,’ when education wasn’t offered to little black boys and girls on an equal basis. Pappy finished in a church that was a school by day and it was a church on Sundays. It only went as far as the sixth grade, but he graduated, and was considered educated. When he was finally old enough, he began to work as a farm hand, always observing everything his overseers did; his mental picture very clear. He made a choice to watch how successful people lived, for he knew someday he could live that way, as well. He knew he would be the owner of his very own farm. For the next 30 years, Hill worked on several farms, continued to save, work and learn, until one day, he got the opportunity to buy the farm he always wanted. Attorney Watt Lero took him to an auction and purchased the farm for him; and without delay, he sold the farm to Hill. Though he was able to purchase the farm, with the help of his attorney, Watt Lero, Hill had a big fight on his hands. Once the white family discovered a

with Lyndia Grant

black man purchased their farm, they became determined to get it back. However, his able-bodied, white attorney helped him during this period in history, all the way through the Supreme Court. It worked! What an exciting, true story! It is a lesson in the way to have and use ‘Faith!’ It says so in 2nd Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight!’WI Lyndia Grant, author, inspirational, motivational speaker, radio talk show host and columnist, visit website www.lyndiagrant.com. Call 202-263-4621. Tune in Fridays at 6 p.m., to 1340 AM, WYCB, a Radio One Station; Office address: 1250 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036.

(301) 864-6070

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RELIGION BAPTIST

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL

Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Reverend Lyndon Shakespeare Interim Priest Foggy Bottom • Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW • Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 • Fax : 202-338-4958 Worship Services Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.

Blessed Word of Life Church Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors 4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax Schedule of Services: Sunday School – 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service – 11:00 AM Communion Service – First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study – Tuesday, 6:30 PM www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org e-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org

Campbell AME Church Reverend Daryl K. Kearney, Pastor 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., S E Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email:Campbell@mycame.org Sunday Worship Service 10: am Sunday Church School 8: 45 am Bible Study Wednesday 12:00 Noon Wednesday 7:00 pm Thursday 7: pm “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE Washington, DC 20020

Mt. Zion Baptist Church Rev. John W. Davis, Pastor 5101 14th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20011 202-726-2220/ 202-726-9089 Sunday Worship Service 8:00am and 11:00am Sunday School 9:15am Holy Communion 4th Sunday 10:00am Prayer and Bible Study Wednesday 7;00pm TV Ministry –Channel 6 Wednesday 10:00pm gsccm.administration@verizon.net

Pilgrim Baptist Church

Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor

Church of Living Waters

Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor Harold Andrew, Assistant Pastor 4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745

700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849

301-894-6464

Worship Sundays @ 7:30 & 11:00 A.M. 5th Sundays @ 9:30 A.M. 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 P.M.

Schedule of Service Sunday Service: 8:30 AM & 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org

www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ Drs. Dennis W. and Christine Y. Wiley, Pastors 3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax) SERVICES AND TIMES: SUNDAYS: 10:00 am AM Worship Services BIBLE STUDY: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30 PM (dinner @ 5:30 PM) SUNDAY SCHOOL: 9:00 AM – Hour of Power “An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantbaptistdc.org

Twelfth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340

St. Stephen Baptist Church Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Bishop 5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555 Sunday Early Morning Worship - 7:45 a.m. Church School - 9:30 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship – 10:45 a.m. Tuesday – Thursday - Kingdom Building Bible Institute – 7:30 p.m. Wednesday – Prayer/Praise/Bible Study – 7:30 p.m. Baptism & Communion Service- 4th Sunday – 10:30am Radio Broadcast WYCB -1340 AM-Sunday -6:00pm T.V. Broadcast - Channel 190 – Sunday -4:00pm/Tuesday 7:00am

“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org e-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Crusader Baptist Church

Isle of Patmos Baptist Church Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews • Senior Pastor 1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 Fax: (202) 526-1661

Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan, Pastor 800 I Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 Fax No. 202-548-0703

Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., • Pastor 2498 Alabama Ave., SE • Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 • www.acamec.org 2008: The Year of New Beginnings “Expect the Extraordinary” Sunday Worship Services: 8:00a.m. and 11:00a.m. Sunday Church School - 9:15a.m. & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30a.m. 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study - 6:30p.m. Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study - 10:00a.m. Tuesday Topical Bible Study - 6:30p.m. Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study - 6:30p.m. Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study - 6:30p.m. Wednesday Children’s Bible Study - 6:30p.m. Thursday Men’s Bible Study - 6:30p.m. Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service - 6:30p.m. Saturday Adult Bible Study - 10:00a.m.

Sunday Morning Worship 11:00am Holy Communion – 1st Sunday Sunday School-9:45am Men’s Monday Bible Study – 7:00pm Wednesday Night Bible Study – 7:00pm Women’s Ministry Bible Study 3rd Friday -7:00pm Computer Classes- Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org

“The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

“God is Love”

Third Street Church of God

Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:20 a.m. Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor 610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax

Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor 1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202.347.5889 office 202.638.1803 fax

Sunday Worship Service: 8 AM and 10:45 AM Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45 AM; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45 AM; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6 AM & 6:30 PM Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org emailus@gmchc.org

Sunday School: 9:30 a.m. Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m. Prayer Meeting and Bible Study: Wed. 7:30 p.m. “Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org

ST Marks Baptist Come Worship with us... St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Dr. Raymond T. Matthews, Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews Sunday School 9:am Worship Service 10:am Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service 6:45 pm Thur. Bible Study 7:15 pm

We are proud to provide the trophies for the Washington Informer Spelling Bee

Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor Service and Times Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m. Communion every Sunday 11:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Bible Study Tuesday 12Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday 6:30 p.m. Motto; “Discover Something Wonderful.” Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com

Mount Carmel Baptist Church

52 Years of Expert Engraving Services

Joseph N. Evans, Ph.D Senior Pastor 901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Sunday Church School : 9: 30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10: 45am Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00pm Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00pm Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10: 45am themcbc.org

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RELIGION BAPTIST

All Nations Baptist Church

Advertise Your Church services here: call Ron Burke at

202-561-4100 or email rburke@washingtoninformer.com

Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration

Sunday School – 9:30 am Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 am Baptismal Service – 1st Sunday – 9:30 am Holy Communion – 1st Sunday – 11:00 am Prayer Meeting & Bible Study – Wednesday -7:30 pm

Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards

“Where Jesus is the King”

Israel Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Morris L Shearin, Sr. Pastor

4850 Blagdon Ave, NW • Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 • Fax (202) 291-3773

1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288

Sunday Worship Service 10:15AM- Praise and Worship Services Sunday School 9:00am Monday: Noon Bible School Wednesday: Noon & 7PM: Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission Zion Baptist Church Shall; Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, and Exalt Our Savior. (Acts 2:41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org

Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Sunday School: 8:30 A.M. Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.

Mount Moriah Baptist Church

St. Luke Baptist Church

Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m. Sunday School: 9:15 a.m. Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute Wednesday - 1:30 pm Prayer Meeting Wednesday - 12:00 Noon

2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730

2001 North Capitol St, N.E. • Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591

Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor

1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940

Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor

Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor

Zion Baptist Church

Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor

King Emmanuel Baptist Church

Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, Senior Pastor 1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 Fax: 202-544-2964 Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 am and 10:45 am Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 am and 10:45 am Sunday School: 9:30 am Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon and 6:30 pm Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 pm Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 pm

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Rehoboth Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor Worshiping Location Knights of Columbus - 1633 Tucker Road Fort Washington, MD 20744 (240) 838-7074

Rev. Dr. Clinton W. Austin Pastor 2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Come Grow With Us and Establish a Blessed Family” Sunday Worship 7:30am & 10:45am Baptism/Holy Communion 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30pm Prayer Service Tuesdays – 8:00pm www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith

call Ron Burke at

202-561-4100 or email rburke@washingtoninformer.com

Salem Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert SR. Pastor

623 Florida Ave.. NW • WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 • Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 • Fax (202) 483-4009

4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184

Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 p.m. Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 p.m. Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 p.m. Noonday Prayer Every Thursday

9:30AM. Sunday Church School 11:00 Am. Sunday Worship Service The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Wednesday 7:00pm Prayer & Praise Services 7:30pm. Bible Study Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries 10:30am A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net

Matthews Memorial Baptist Church

Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator

Early Worship Service 7:30a.m Worship Service 10:45a.m. New Members Class 9:30a.m. Holy Communion : 1st Sunday -10:45a.m Church School 9:30a.m. Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: Wednesday 7p.m Bible Study : Saturday: 11a.m. Baptism: 4th Sunday – 10:45a.m “Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”

Sunday Worship Service 10:00 A.M.

Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 P.M

New Commandment Baptist Church Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor 13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560 Services: Sunday Worship 11 AM Sunday School 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study - Wed. 7 PM “A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”

Shiloh Baptist Church

Peace Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Sunday Morning Worship Service 7:15 am & 10:50 am Sunday School 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship Service 10:50am Wednesday Prayer & Testimonies Service 7:30pm Wednesday School of the Bible 8:00pm Wednesday - Midweek Prayer Service 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm “The Loving Church of the living lord “ Email Address pbcexec@verizon.net

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Rev. Alonzo Hart Pastor

Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor

Rev. Reginald M. Green, Sr., Interim Pastor

621 Alabama Avenue, S.E. • Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 F: (202) 561-1112

917 N St. NW • Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-4294

9th & P Street, N.W. • W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4200

602 N Street NW • Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595

The Church Where GOD Is Working.... And We Are Working With GOD

Sunrise Prayer Services - Sunday 7:00 a.m.

Sunday Morning Prayer Service: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:15 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship: 10:40 a.m. Third Sunday Baptismal & Holy Communion:10:30 a.m. Tuesday Church At Study Prayer & Praise: 6:30 p.m.

Morning Worship: 8:00 a.m Church School : 9:30 a.m. Morning Worship: 10:55 a.m. Bible Study, Thursday: 6:30 p.m. Prayer Meeting,Thursday : 7:30 p.m.

Order of Services Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 am Sunday School: 9:00 am Holy Communion 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer / Bible Study: 6:15 pm - 7:20 pm (Tuesday) Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church” Matthew 6:33 and Mathew 28:18-20, KJV

Sunday Service: 10 am Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 am 1st Sunday Baptism: 10: am 2nd Sunday Holy Communion: 10 am Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 pm Prayer Meeting: 7:45 pm

Email: stmatthewsbaptist@msn.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org

Motto: : “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”

48 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

2616 MLK Ave., SE • Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 • Fax 202-678-3304

1864-2014

150 Years of Service

Christ Embassy DC

Elder Herman L. Simms, Pastor

Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged. The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42

services here:

Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor

Dr. C. Matthew Hudson, Jr, Pastor

tel: 202-291-6565

Advertise Your Church

Holy Trinity United Baptist Church

5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005

Prayer/Seeking Wednesday at 8:00 P.M.

301 kennedy street, nW Washington, DC 20011

Florida Avenue Baptist Church

6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065

Quality Printers

Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org

St. Matthews Baptist Church

Emmanuel Baptist Church

The Washington Informer

Sunday Worship Services: 7:45am & 11:00am Sunday school For All Ages 9:30am Prayer Services Wednesday 11:30am & 6:45pm Bible Institute Wednesday at Noon & 7:45pm “Changing Lives On Purpose “ Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org

Wednesday Bible Study 7:00 P.M. Friday Evening Service 7:00 P.M. ; Last Friday “…Giving Your Life a Meaning” www.Christembassydc.org Christ.embassy.dc@hotmail.com

Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor 3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 Sunday Church School: 9:30 A.M. Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 A.M. Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 P.M. Prayer Service Bible Study

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor 2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 Fax: (202) 529-7738 Order of Services Worship Service: 7:30 a.m. Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30 a.m. & 10:30a.m. Prayer Services: Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 12 Noon Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.

www.washingtoninformer.com

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2015 ADM 23

Administration No. 2015 ADM 27

Administration No. 2015 ADM 46

Walter L. Howard, Sr.

Gregory Lavon Kendall

Decedent

James Larry Frazier, Esq.

Deborah D. Boddie, Esq.

918 Maryland Avenue, NE

1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Washington, DC 20002

Washington, DC 20001

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Attorney

Administration No. 2015 ADM 28 Robert Becton

Booker T. Brooks aka Booker Talafaro Brooks

Decedent

Aaron E. Price, Sr., Esq. 717 D St., NW, #300

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Washington, DC 20004

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Attorney Christopher W. Brooks, whose address is 20 William

Administration No. 2014 ADM 1362 Gladys H. Massey Decedent

Chariene M. Thompson, whose address is 400 Peabody

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

St. Apt.#2D, Mount Vernon, NY 10552, was appointed

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Personal Representative of the estate of Booker T.

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

December 3, 2014 with a Will, and will serve without

Walter L. Howard, Jr., whose address is 7449 Seventh

Walvette V. Kendall, whose address is 1101 Bellevue

Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20012, was appointed

Street, SE, Washington, DC 20032, was appointed

will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs

whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance

Personal Representative of the estate of Walter L. Howard,

Personal Representative of the estate of Gregory Lavon

and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter

in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or

Sr., who died on January 1, 2015 without a Will, and

Kendall, who died on July 14, 2014 without a Will, and

their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such

will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs

appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills,

and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter

their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such

D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor

appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills,

D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor

Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 29, 2015.

Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

on or before July 29, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned,

believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do

on or before July 29, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons

not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days

by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so

believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do

inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and

of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills,

not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days

relationship.

of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills,

including name, address and relationship.

Date of first publication:

January 29, 2015

Walter L. Howard, Jr.

Walvette V. Kendall

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Keisha Becton, whose address is 409 Beasley Dr., K1, Greenville, NC 27834, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Robert Becton, who died on December 8, 2013 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance

Brooks aka Booker Talafaro Brooks, who died on

to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the

in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or

to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the

A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before

July 29, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

July 29, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

to the undersigned, on or before July 29, 2015, or be

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before July 29, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice

Date of first publication:

January 29, 2015

January 29, 2015 Christopher W. Brooks Keisha Becton

Personal Representative

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2015 ADM 0014

Administration No. 2015 ADM 31

Sunday Solomon Oyeyiga

Jean E. Pearman

Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Oladapo Adebisi Amusan, whose address is 1007 Butterworth Lane, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Sunday Solomon Oyeyiga, who died on October 24, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding.

Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Gloria J. Nuckles, whose address is 807 Arnett Street,

3, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court

heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall

#4, Fort Stockton, TX 79735, was appointed Personal

supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose

enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to

whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance

such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will)

to the undersigned, on or before July 29, 2015, or be

a copy to the undersigned, on or before July 29, 2015,

forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees

or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or

of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice

legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this

by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so

notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall

January 29, 2015 Oladapo Adebisi Amusan Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

1001 Connecticut Ave., Suite 402

and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown

Date of first publication:

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Younger, who died on December 3, 2014 with a Will,

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy

so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address

shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C.

Administration No. 2015 ADM 95

Washington, DC 20036

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Attorney Naydine Fulton-Jones, whose address is 4403 13th NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20017, was appointed

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Personal Representative of the estate of Bertle Mae

Representative of the estate of Lynwood C. Westray, who

Fulton, who died on May 22, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter

died on December 14, 2014 with a Will, and will serve

their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such

with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose

appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills,

whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance

D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor

in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or

Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 5, 2015.

the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with

a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register

A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before

of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before

August 5, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned,

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

on or before August 5, 2015, or be forever barred.

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent

to the undersigned, on or before August 5, 2015, or be

who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25

August 5, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including

Date of first publication:

January 29, 2015

February 5, 2015

Reginald Pearman, Jr.

Shirley Baber

Lydia P. Harris

Personal Representative

forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and

Personal Representative

relationship.

Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship. Date of first publication: February 5, 2015

Date of first publication: February 5, 2015

Naydine Fulton-Jones Personal Representative

Gloria J. Nuckles Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY TRUE TEST COPY

Washington Informer

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the

and relationship.

Personal Representative

20001, on or before August 5, 2015. Claims against

name, address and relationship.

Anne Meister

July 29, 2015

Decedent Houston & Howard

the estate of Jean E. Pearman, who died on November

shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the

Date of first publication:

Johnny M. Howard

20639, were appointed Personal Representatives of

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned,

Bertle Mae Fulton

Decedent

Representative of the estate of Mary Beatrice Dozier

on or before July 29, 2015. Claims against the decedent

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

Lynwood C. Westray

20001 and 3630 Samanthas Way, Huntington, MD

July 29, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

relationship.

Mary Beatrice Dozier Younger

Administration No. 2014 ADM 53

Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal

N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001,

inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and

Administration No. 2015 ADM 71

addresses are 9118 September Lane, Silver Spring, MD

A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before

Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

Reginald Perman, Jr., and Lydia P. Harris, whose

be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street,

Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 29, 2015.

Anne Meister

Shirley Baber, whose address is 5147 7th Street, NE

who died on November 22, 2014 without a Will, and

TRUE TEST COPY

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall

Personal Representative of the estate of Gladys H. Massey,

Chariene M. Thompson

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Anne Meister Anne Meister

Washington Informer

www.washingtoninformer.com

The Washington Informer

Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2015 ADM 97

Administration No. 2015 ADM 82

Administration No. 15 ADM 101 Carrolyn N. Andrews Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Administration No. 2015 ADM 110 Barbara A. Battle Decedent Johnny M. Howard, Houston & Howard

Administration No. 2015 ADM 76

Sally M. Brooks aka Sally Y. Brooks Lenora Battle Decedent

1001 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 402

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Washington, DC 20036

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Lillie Mae Green

Decedent

Robert L. Bell, Esquire

Attorney Ethel Mitchell, Will and Trust LLC

245 Farragut Street, NW

1050 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1045

Washington, DC 20011

Washington, DC 20036

Attorney

Attorney Tiffany L. Brown, whose address is 2918 Akron Place, SE,

Attorney Janice D. Fountaine, whose address is 222 Castleton Pl.,

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Upper Marlboro, MD 20774, was appointed Personal

Carrolyn N. Andrews, who died on December 9, 2014

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Representative of the estate of Lenora Battle, who died

without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 12, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

Renee’ Francine Parker, whose address is 4612 9th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Barbara A. Battle, who died on December 1, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall

on January 6, 2015 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose

(1)Arlene Y. Brooks (2) Everett F. Brooks (3) Viola Walker, whose addresses are (1)7903 Old Burn Rd., Bowie, MD 20715 (2) 623 Quincy St., NW, Washington, DC

whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance

20011 (3)6701 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20012,

in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or

was appointed Personal Representatives of the estate

to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building

enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections

A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of

August 12, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to

Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor

the undersigned, on or before August 12, 2105, or be

of Sally M. Brooks aka Sally Y. Brooks, who died on December 27, 2014 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Robert Green III, whose address is 6006 Arbutus Lane, Clinton, MD 20735, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lillie Mae Green, who died on October 20, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their

whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance

appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such

in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or

appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills,

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the

D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor

Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 12, 2015.

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to

Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 12, 2015.

forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees

Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

the undersigned, on or before August 12, 2015, or be

A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before

Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees

by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship. Date of first publication: February 12, 2105

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before August 12, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship. Date of first publication:

Tiffany L. Brown

Anne Meister Register of Wills

of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before August 12, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees

relationship.

of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice

Date of first publication: February 12, 2015

by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

February 12, 2015

February 12, 2015 Robert Green III

Arlene Y. Brooks

Personal Representative

Everett F. Brooks Viola Walker

TRUE TEST COPY

Personal Representatives Anne Meister Register of Wills

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

Date of first publication:

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register

inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and

Janice D. Fountaine Renee’ Francine Parker

Anne Meister

by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so

February 12, 2015

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice

August 12, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be

Anne Meister

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer Washington Informer

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2014 ADM 171

Administration No. 2014 ADM 1363

Administration No. 2015 ADM 92

James McRae

Amy L. Taylor

Administration No. 2015 ADM 94 Donald P. Hackett Sr.

Lois Hamilton Cooper aka Lois H. Cooper Decedent

Decedent Jacqueline Jones Moore NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Tina M. Hackett, whose address is 512 59th St., NE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Donald P. Hackett Sr.,

7605 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20012 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Donte McRae, Dion McRae and Arza Gardner, whose addresses are 2224 16th Street, NE Washington, DC and 7204 Quantum Leap Ln., Bowie, MD 20720, was appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of James

who died on March 3, 2012 without a Will, and will

Joseph Yager, whose address is 5249 Chillum Place,

A. McRae, who died on June 25, 2014 without a Will,

serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and

NE, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal

and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown

heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their

Representative of the estate of Lois Hamilton Cooper aka

heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall

Lois H. Cooper, who died on April 27, 2012 with a Will,

enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections

and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown

to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of

appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 12, 2015. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C.

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned,

20001, on or before August 12, 2015. Claims against

on or before August 12, 2015, or be forever barred.

the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship. Date of first publication:

a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before August 12, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive

Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 12, 2015.

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

Washington Informer

50 Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2015

estate of Amy L. Taylor, who died on October 23, 2014 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before August 12, 2015, or be forever barred.

who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent

days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of

who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25

Wills, including name, address and relationship.

days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address and relationship.

February 12, 2015

Dion McRae Arza Gardner

Washington Informer

20032, were appointed Personal Representatives of the

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent

Donte McRae

22408; 806 Alabama Ave., SE, Washington, DC

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

Date of first publication:

Anne Meister

20747; 4926 Queensbury Cir., Fredericksburg, VA

on or before August 12, 2015, or be forever barred.

February 12, 2015

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

name, address and relationship.

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Deborah Downs, Mozett Petway, Marian Parker, whose

with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned,

Date of first publication:

Anne Meister

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before August 12, 2015.

publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including

Personal Representative

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed

a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first

Joseph Yager

Decedent

Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the

February 12, 2015 Tina M. Hackett

Washington Informer

Date of first publication: February 12, 2015 Deborah Downs Mozett Petway Marian Parker Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills

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CLINGMAN from Page 25 “They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed… Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?” Henry reminded the people of their futile petitions, their arguments against oppression, their entreaties and supplications

DANIELS from Page 25 publicity, in turn, led a Wayne State University student to quickly set up an online funding campaign. The initial target: $5,000. Now, the banker has assembled a team of advisers to ensure the windfall the story brought in will be managed wisely. Robertson himself has made it plain the windfall won’t change his simple wants and needs. “I’ve seen what happens when people get money,” he told the Free Press. “My dad, God rest his soul, he still influences me. He’s not going to let me get haughty.” James Robertson has become a figure of widespread acclaim for two reasons. First, he’s a man who has refused to accept de-

to the King. He reminded them of their demonstrations, their protestations, and their humility, all rejected by the power structure. He told them it was time to take things into their own hands and stop begging their oppressors to come to their rescue. He said, “There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free… we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight. Until Black people decide to fight against negative external forces and our own internal economic recalcitrance, things will not change. If we do not act upon the historical juxtaposition of David Walker’s Appeal and Patrick Henry’s words, we are doomed

to permanent underclass status. We must leverage our economic capacity against corporations that treat us like afterthoughts. And, we must combine our intellectual and financial resources to build our own political, economic, educational, and social independence. Having written in this space for 22 years, I figured I’d let a White man do the talking this time. That way more of our people will listen and act; because if a White man called for a revolt, it must be all right for a Black man to call for one. So I leave you with Patrick Henry’s most famous words: “Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What

feat. He refused to bow to powerful large-scale economic forces – such as those that have pushed many blue-collar and white-collar jobs away from cities and public transit cutbacks. And he refused to surrender to smaller-scale individual economic setbacks that increasingly threaten low-wage workers’ ability to get and keep jobs. Secondly, Robertson’s quiet heroism illuminates the value of work itself to human beings’ sense of themselves and their own sense of connection to the larger society. It also underscores the point that poor people and people with modest incomes don’t need tendentious lectures about that. They just need work and affordable means of getting to those jobs. In other words, James Robertson refused to be kept from his goal.

At the first level, one can say that goal is simply to keep the particular job he loves. But there’s another meaning to the incredible saga of James Robertson. That meaning is to be found in the elements that make up that over-arching quality of resilience he possesses in abundance. Those elements – commitment, grit, and a refusal to be deterred – show he understands a profound point about human existence. It is the determination to keep trying to make our way in the world on our own terms—a determination produced not by our vanity but by our humanity.

Comments? Comments? Opinions? Email us at:

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would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”WI

Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and can be reached through his Web site, blackonomics.com

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CHAVIS from Page 25 experience that it is difficult, if not impossible, to give to others what you do not have in your own mind, pocket or spirit. In order to encourage our young lions to become strong freedom fighters, we have to be encouraged ourselves. If our spirit is broken, how are we going to inspire someone else? W.E.B. DuBois, John Oliver Killens, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Angela Davis, Sonia Sanchez, Nelson Mandela and many other of our freedom-fighting writers and scholars all were once encouraged by elders who pointed the way

forward in the global struggle for freedom and empowerment. Now more than ever before, our youth need the encouragement and guidance of the elders who are sober with informative and inspiring wisdom of the past and present. That is true at home and abroad. For example, there are 78 million people, whose average age is 16 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Millions of these young Congolese should be educated about the legacy and spirit of Patrice Lumumba. The majority of Africans across the continent are young, gifted and talented. This is no time for us to engage in hopelessness in Africa, nor in America. The miseries of the past

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do not have to be our future. We must learn from the past. Our future should not be determined by what others do to us, but by what we will do for ourselves, and in particular what we will do to help our youth excel, triumph and push for a better quality of life.WI Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is the President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and can be reached for national advertisement sales and partnership proposals at: dr.bchavis@nnpa.org; and for lectures and other professional consultations at: http://drbenjaminfchavisjr.wix.com/ drbfc The Washington Informer

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choose a Black History Month theme each year). This year, their focus on the long arc of African American life in our nation and asserts that “this transformation is the result of effort, not chance.” Carter G. Woodson made many choices that led to his education and to the creativity and brilliance that motivated him to uplift Black History through Negro History Week, now Black History Month. Woodson was the son of former slaves, and a family that was large and poor. He worked as a miner in West Virginia, and attended school just a few months a year. At 20, he started high school and by 28 he had earned his bachelor’s degree. He was only the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from

MUHAMMAD from Page 26 Each week you’ll get news from The District of Columbia, Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, and Northern Virginia. You will discover Arts and Entertainment, Social Tidbits, Religion, Sports, People’s Viewpoints, Letters to the Editor, Classified Ads and more! And best of all… No crime, no dirty gossip, just positive news and information each week, which is why… The Washington Informer is all about you! Name............................................................................................. Address.......................................................................................... City, State, Zip................................................................................. Phone number (daytime)................................................................... Yes! I want to subscribe for: 1 year/$45.00 Method of payment:

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ayune reported in a Pulitzer Prize-winning story, “Four weeks after the storm, few of the widely reported atrocities have been backed with evidence. The piles of bodies never materialized, and soldiers, police officers and rescue personnel on the front lines say that although anarchy reigned at times and people suffered unimaginable indignities, most of the worst crimes reported at the time never happened.” To Williams’ credit he did air a week long series called “After the Storm: The Long Road Back” in which the network tackled racial discrimination, among other issues. He said Katrina was different from most disasters and that NBC would “keep covering it.” However, that was not the case.WI

Harvard (W.E.B DuBois was the first in 1895). He was a member of the Howard University faculty and was later a dean. He wrote, “If you can control a man’s thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one.” In other words, poverty can be the reality of living, but it doesn’t have to be a state of mind. Many are trapped in poverty because that may be all

they know, and because protest, legislation, and litigation have not provided a passage out of poverty. No one provided a passage out of poverty for Woodson. He worked as a miner to earn a living, and he transcended his status as a miner to make a life of embracing his people and our history. He wrote about the ways that our thinking could oppress us as much as living conditions can. He is a role model and example for African Americans today because, motivated by a desire to be educated, he fought his way out of poverty. There is a difference between thinking you can live like Carter G. Woodson, and thinking that you can’t. (CHECK OUT www.ASALH. org for more information on Carter G. Woodson and his organization. WI

folks in the name of Christianity. “Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ,” President Barack Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast recently. On Facebook, Dee Butler said it this way: “The Warsaw ghetto was contrived and designed after the antebellum American slave/plantation system; the only bombs ever dropped on American soil were by White Christian Americans on Black people in America (such as in Oklahoma’s ‘Black Wall Street’)…prior to just recently in 1964.” But alas, White Americans are not inclined to see the error in their own

ways. They have a penchant for finding the mote in everyone else’s eye, not so good at removing the beam from their own eye. You see, because he hosted a White House meeting for 14 Muslim leaders the day before this year’s Prayer Breakfast, the right-wing, xenophobic spin machine charged the President with inviting the “Muslim Brotherhood” into the White House. Talk about having a short memory. Just days before that, House Majority Whip, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), was defending himself for having spoken at a Ku Klux Klan affiliated meeting at the invitation of none other than grand Louisiana Klansman and onetime elected official, David Duke. You can’t make this stuff up.WI

MARYLAND STATE FAIRGROUNDS

out ahead of the other Americans.’” Of course, none of that was true. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), the media watchdog group, said, “Now that he’s cleared that up, there are some other tall tales that Williams might want to take back. Take his recounting of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (Dateline NBC, 8/22/10; Extra!, 10/10): “You know, I’ve been around a lot of guns and a lot of dead bodies, and a lot of people shooting at people to make dead bodies. But you put them all together and you put it in the United States of America, and boy, it gets your attention… “It was clear already there weren’t going to be enough cops… Everywhere we went, every satellite shot, every camera shot, we were at the

height of the violence and the looting and the—all the reports of gunplay downtown. Well, who’s bathed in the only lights in town? It was us …“ “We had to ask Federal Protection Service guys with automatic weapons to just form a ring and watch our backs while we were doing Dateline NBC one night…. State troopers had to cover us by aiming at the men in the street just to tell them, ‘Don’t think of doing a smash and grab and killing this guy for the car.’” FAIR stated, “As long as he’s in a confessional mood, Williams might as well admit that he didn’t see ‘a lot of people shooting at people to make dead bodies,’ nor would people have killed him for his car if he hadn’t been surrounded by feds – none of which appeared in his original reporting.” The New Orleans Times-Pic-

Some climbed trees so they could see the spectacle. The picture of the two little boys hurt me even more than the picture I saw from a nighttime scene of a Blackman’s burned body, lying on a small bonfire, a couple of dozen or so White men—most in suits and ties, a few even smiling—stood watching. The picture of the little boys hurt me more, because how could they know the horrors that lay just around the corner in the future for people who looked like them at the hands of folks like the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan? And folks in this country condemn fake-Muslim extremists, as though nothing like these abominations, nothing like the bloody Crusades, was ever committed by White The Washington Informer

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