Don’t Miss the WI 2020 Sustainability Supplement Center Section Vol. 55, No. 27 • April 16 - 22, 2020
Republicans Fight Against Coronavirus Aid For Black Businesses By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she wants stipulations in a new small business stimulus package that would focus on businesses owned by women, veterans and minorities. During an NAACP and BET event, “Unmasked: A COVID-19 Virtual Town Hall Series,” Pelosi said minority-owned and -operated financial institutions that process small business loans must be included. “We also really need to make sure that all the banks that can participate are able to do so because we’re finding out that if people don’t already have a relationship with banks, they’re being turned away,” she said. “This must not only include banks with a big reputation, but community banks, mi-
5 The Washington National Cathedral was illuminated with blue lights to honor medical professionals risking their lives to help those trying to survive the coronavirus pandemic. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
nority-owned banks, and the rest.” The most recent $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package included $350 billion to assist the nation’s small-business owners. However, Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues have discovered the process is still leaving out African Americans. “As the world faces unprecedented times and new realities during this global pandemic, the health and safety of people around the planet, particularly African Americans, are at an unparalleled risk,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. “The occasion to uplift and educate our community during this pivotal moment charts a pathway forward through uncertain times.” Republicans have presented a plan that calls for $500 billion in additional funding for small businesses and corporations. However, Dem-
Advocates Demand Early Releases, Improved Treatment for Inmates During Coronavirus Pandemic By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Unemployment Angst Tops District Residents’ Concerns
Congresswoman Holmes Norton Holds Virtual Town Hall By Sarafina Wright WI Contributor Countless D.C. residents are searching for answers as they grapple with a new reality due to the coronavirus pandemic. With a stay-at-home order forcing many businesses to close or temporarily lay off its workers, residents are filing for unemployment benefits at unprecedented rates.
According to NBC News, roughly 46,000 Washingtonians have filed for unemployment since March 14. That’s about 11 percent of the District’s workforce. Monnikka Madison, the interim deputy director for the Bureau of Economic Stability and Benefits within the Department of Employment
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5 Prince George’s County Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
Martina Hazelton of Southeast has been married to her husband of five years, but must currently maintain a long-distance relationship with him incarcerated at the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland. Hazelton declined to give her husband’s name, but said he’s been incarcerated for 27 years. A modification hearing regarding a possible new sentence and parole eligibility was postponed from Friday, April 17, which
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Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence Attorneys: Keep Stimulus WNBA Holds Virtual Draft April 17
Money Away From Creditors
By Tia Carol Jones
law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow Because of the ongoing coronavirus sense of pandemic, uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are the WNBA will hold 23-yeara virtual draft Friday, violence April 17 victims and stricter restraining order policies, When L.Y. Marlow's domestic be her televised on ESPN. The top prosoldscheduled daughter to told the father survivors are treated. more rights for victim's families are expected to participate ofpects her daughter threatened her remotely “She's with usingpicks her own personal to intervene on behalf of a vicannounced by of WNBA Commission Engellife, and the life their child, story,Cathy her own personal pain to tim, a domestic violence assessThesomething league willhad continue assessforward,” whether to shebert. knew to be topush Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further postpone of training camp April Marlow. 26 and done. Out the of start her frustration said about training for law enforcement season May 15.handling The telecast also plans to hon-said anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecwith law tip-off enforcement's Davis-Nickens oforthethesituation, sheAll-Star decidedKobe to Bryant, late NBA 41, aMarlow's major book will tion Act and mandatory counselwho reads start the Saving supporter of thePromise league. Itcamwill also“get honor it.” his Shedaughsaid she “puts the ing for batterers. paign. ter, Gianna, and two other girls, Alyssa case inAltobelli such a and way, the average “If we are ever going to eradi“It seems to be awho vicious cycle Payton Chester, played on Gianna’s bas-She said at the cate domestic violence, we must person Mamba can get it.” that won't mydied family end of the the book will look at both sides of the coin. ketball teamturn and all in a helicopter crashday, with loose,” said.“The Marlow people begintoto have a dia- We need to address both the vicBryantMarlow on Jan. 26. WNBAhelp Draft is a time shared her story with the audiabout tim and the batterer,” Marlow celebrate the exceptional athleteslogue whose harddomestic work violence. ence at the District Heights present and dreams are realized with their Also selections in atthethe event was said. Domestic Violence said Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see draft,” Engelbert in a statement. “Safeguarding onthe May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise health and well-being of our prospects, players, Marylandawareness Attorney General Froshinjoined 25 Municipal Center. The sympowhotowas sentenced among Brian children employees, and everyone connected our game asto six consecother attorney generals to urge the federal sium was sponsored by the utive lifeWith termsthat without parole public and private schools. She governwell as the general public is paramount. ment to give billions of dollars in stimulus payments Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatin mind, we will work diligently with our broadcast Center of the city of District to families and not debt collectors. The attorney genthe Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence. partner, ESPN, to create a memorable but virtual Heights and the National Hook- 2002. Mildred Muhammad erals stated in an April 13 letter the Coronavirus Aid, is “We have to stop being pasevent that appropriately honors these accomplished Up of Black Women. Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilathletes.” Marlow has written a book, an organization that helps the dren by Congress last month doesn’t designate the $1,200 about domestic violence,” “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic for violence Marlow adults and $500 said. for children as exempt from garstory about four generations of and their children. Marlow has to break nishment by creditors. Theworked attorney generals want domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. the cycle of abuseofinthe her federal family, Treasury StevenSixMnuchin, secretary inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. It is and confident the policies Department, to isensure the money helpsshe Americans and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that during this public health crisis. her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. “The statesprocess. do not believe that the billions of dollars She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad said “I Congress plan to take policies to appropriated by to these help keep hard-working excerpts from her book, she still people who want to Americans help a afloat Congress andbeimplore to should subject them to garnishment,” can not believe the words came domestic violence victim must tochange our laws,” Marlow according the letter. “Treasury has said. stated that… from her. “Color Me Butterfly” be careful of how theyAmericans go into will “I will see not faststop and until directthese reliefpoliin the form won the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” of Economic Impact Payments, and we request treaBooks” Award. that she may be in sury’s “survival TiainCarol Jones can be reached assistance ensuring Americans are able to “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net retain that monetary relief.” my eye first blackened and my “Before you get to 'I'm going lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI Elaine Davis-Nickens, president of the National Hook-Up of Black Women, said there is no The Washington Metropolitan Area consistency in the way domestic Transit Authority (Metro) issued a stateviolence issues are dealt with by ment on April 14 encouraging, but not requiring, customers to wear face coverings while riding in the system. The statement said the use of face coverings should take place on all buses, trains and MetroAccess vehicles, as well as in rail stations, bus terminals and other transit facilities. The statement said Metro customers will not be denied use of the system if they don’t wear face coverings. Metro employees are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings but aren’t required to do so, according to the statement. WI Staff Writer
“
Metro Encourages Customers to Wear Face Coverings
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.
“
SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
COMPILED BY WI EDITOR D. KEVIN MCNEIR AND WILLIAM J. FORD, WI STAFF WRITER
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L.Y. Marlow
AROUND THE REGION
D.C. Area Jurisdictions Order the use of Face Coverings in Retail Stores By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter With efforts continuing to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, local officials have joined others around the U.S. requiring citizens to wear face coverings whenever visiting or shopping at larger retail establishments including Giant, Safeway, Target, Walmart and Costco. In the District, the policy went into effect April 10 with Montgomery County following suit on April 13 and Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties on April 15. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has encouraged citizens to wear face coverings in public but has not required the practice to be mandatory. The face coverings actions by the leaders of D.C. area jurisdictions followed Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti speculation early last week that he might require face coverings in his city when his residents are in public places such as grocery stores. Garcetti moved on that consideration on April 10, ordering customers and workers in retail establishments to comply in his city. Shortly after the order by Garcetti, nearby Burbank took similar action. In South Florida, jurisdictions such as Miami-Dade County, Broward County and Fort Lauderdale issued orders similar to the ones in Southern California. In D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) issued an order on April 7 that stores post signage telling customers to shield their faces with masks or other coverings before entering. The order also encouraged store workers to wear face masks and promoted the use of one-way aisles as a social distancing method to fight the spread of the virus. On April 9, Bowser updated her previous order on the subject by requiring face covers be worn in grocery stores by customers and employees. “Our grocery workers are on the front lines of the response to this pandemic,” the mayor said. “All of us need to do everything in our
power to keep them safe.” When it comes to matters such as face masks and covers, Bowser had been following the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that recommend the use of covers in public. Face covers includes masks, household cloths, scarfs and bandanas that, according to the CDC, tend to shield the nose and mouth from virus droplets and germs. In addition to reviewing CDC guidelines, Bowser solicits the advice of D.C. Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt when it comes to the issuance of orders. While Bowser issued orders on face covers in the District, members of the Montgomery County Council considered authoring a bill that would require its residents to have face covers while shopping at retail businesses such as grocery stores, pharmacies, farmer’s markets and big-box retailers. However, on April 10, Montgomery County Health Officer Travis Gayles issued an order effective April 13 that largely required what the legislators wanted. On April 14, Anne Arundel County officials announced that its citizens will have to wear face coverings in retail stores, also. In neighboring Prince George’s County, Executive Angela Alsobrooks, signed an executive order requiring patrons to wear masks or coverings when entering grocery stores, pharmacies and large retail establishments. In addition, residents who ride the county’s The Bus transit system will be required to have face covers. Alsobrooks said the safety of county residents and curtailing the spread of the virus served as the purpose of the action. “The safety and well-being of Prince Georgians during this pandemic is my top priority,” Alsobrooks said. “For the protection of employees who work in these establishments, as well as the customers who need these essentials services, it is critical that each person does their part to cover their faces and minimize their exposure to others.” WI
5 Shoppers wearing masks as required by government officials in Montgomery County line up to enter the grocery store. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
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black facts
APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB
APRIL 16
1862 – The District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act, or simply Compensated Emancipation Act, a law that ended slavery in D.C. by paying slave owners for releasing their slaves, is signed by President Abraham Lincoln. 1864 – Internationally known singer Flora Batson, known as “The Double-Voiced Queen of Song,” is born in Washington, D.C. 1947 – Basketball Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is born in New York City. 1994 – Ralph Ellison, author of “Invisible Man,” dies in New York City at 81 of pancreatic cancer.
APRIL 17
1983 – Alice Walker wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel “The Color Purple.”
APRIL 18
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1966 – Basketball great Bill Russell is named player-coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the first African American head coach in NBA history. 1977 – Author Alex Haley is awarded the Pulitzer Prize in journalism for his novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.”
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1853 – Harriet Tubman begins her work with the Underground Railroad, a network of antislavery activists who helped slaves escape from the South. 1971 – The Supreme Court rules that busing can be used to integrate schools. 1984 – Influential cabaret singer Mabel Mercer dies in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, at 84. 1986 – Michael Jordan sets the NBA’s single-game playoff scoring record with 63 points in a double-overtime loss to the Boston Celtics.
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1837 – Cheyney University, one of the nation’s oldest Black colleges, is founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. 1971 – Walter Fauntroy is sworn in as the first elected Congressional representative from the District of Columbia since Reconstruction. 1978 – Journalist Max Robinson (above) is named as an anchor for ABC’s “World News Tonight,” becoming the first Black to anchor a network news broadcast.
APRIL 20
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APRIL 19
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1966 – Milton Lee Olive III, a U.S. Army soldier who sacrificed himself to save others by smothering a live grenade, posthumously becomes the first African American Medal of Honor recipient of the Vietnam War. 1974 – Lee Elder becomes the first African American professional golfer to qualify for the Masters tournament. 2003 – Singer/songwriter and civil rights activist Nina Simone dies of breast cancer at her home in the south of France at 70.
NINA SIMONE 6 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
APRIL 22
1922 – Famed jazz bassist Charles Mingus is born in Nogales, Arizona. WI
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Our people are dying disproportionately. There’s no time for sugarcoating. We need to stop getting offended and overly sensitive when we’re given constructive criticism in life-and-death matters — especially and particularly when it’s our lives that are at risk.
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He didn’t mean any harm! He just wants us to understand the severity of the situation! Obviously hearing it from a medical perspective isn’t working, so he broke it down. Nothing wrong with that.
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I think the problem with those references is the fact that he is portraying us as people that can’t be spoken to like everyone else. We understand English without stereotypical references.
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He tap-danced right into this web. I’ve never referred to my grandparents, parents with such a lack of respect.
KEISHA GORDON / WASHINGTON, D.C.
Stop trying to speak lowly to us. You are addressing the nation, not your family members! Why do people feel like they have to speak to us in slang for us to understand?
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 7
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As Americans try to cope with the shutdown of classrooms and college campuses, restaurants in which they can no longer congregate or sporting events and concerts that have been put on indefinite hold, citizens of all ages find themselves seeking new ways to enjoy life and entertain themselves. And given the creative spirit that exists within us all, we thought we’d try to identify a few suggestions for coping with the directive of self-isolation in a society that has long sought ways to be in community. What follows certainly cannot begin to be considered an exhaustive list. We solicit your ideas and strategies as well and hope to include them in our upcoming editions. Are you celebrating a graduation or an anniversary soon? Did you read a book for a grandchild on Zoom or Skype because, for now, you can no longer have them sit next to your or on your lap? Want to share cooking tips, sing an original song or offer a few words of encouragement? Feel free to share your words, your pictures, your videos, and more with The Washington Informer at mcneirdk@washingtoninformer.com.
LET THE SUNSHINE (IN) FOR BETTER AIR CIRCULATION, HEALTHIER HOME ENVIRONMENT
With millions of people adjusting to work-from-home orders and practicing social distancing, scientists are examining what simple changes could be made to home and office environments in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus. Researchers from UC-Davis and the University of Oregon have come up with recommendations for healthier work spaces in this new age including: opening windows for better air circulation and opening blinds or drapes for more natural sunlight. The researchers wrote, “daylight exists as a free, widely available resource to building occupants with little downside to its use and many documented positive human health benefits,” adding that more study is needed to better understand the impact of natural light on the virus indoors. The scientists also wrote that more air entering the building from the outside can dilute any virus particles that are already indoors, but adding, “No filter system is perfect.” They also note that these viruses tend to prefer drier air, so a more humid environment indoors is another way to potentially prevent the virus from spreading or even make it inactive. In addition, all those open-office design plans instituted by tech, media and finance firms over the last decade may not be the best for the current public health crisis. “Modern buildings are generally designed to promote social mixing – from open plan living areas in homes to open offices where many workers share space. By promoting interaction and chance encounters, these layouts are thought to generate more creativity and teamwork. At the same time, they are probably also really great for spreading viruses around,” said a press release which accompanied the study.
STUDY: COVID-19 PANDEMIC CAUSES STOCKPILING OF FOOD, TOILETRIES AND MARIJUANA
As the coronavirus disease continues to change everyday life for Americans and millions of others in over 195, uncertainty has resulted in panic leading people to stock up on foods, toiletries and other basic needs. But a recent survey suggests that the pandemic has also affected marijuana consumers? Here’s what the survey of some 990 marijuana consumers found.
COMPARED WITH MARIJUANA, WHICH ONE IS MORE IMPORTANT AMID THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC?
Major takeaways: Across the board, the U.S. marijuana consumers would prefer food, face masks, hand sanitizers and toilet paper over marijuana if they had to choose between marijuana and these. Among these necessary items for the COVID-19 pandemic, 28 percent of the 990 participants would rather value marijuana above face masks. And while 83 percent would rather choose toilet paper over marijuana, the shocker was that 5 percent of the same participants value marijuana above food during these times. Other Highlights from the Study 49 percent of participants DID stock marijuana products during the coronavirus pandemic outbreak while 51 percent DID NOT stock marijuana products with 55 percent of those stocking weed saying they did so to calm themselves during the coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile, 22 percent said they didn’t care about COVID-19 – they just wanted to stock up on some marijuana to chill at home. The remaining 23 per-
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8 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
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COVID-19 Rent Deferments Simply Aren’t Enough, Washingtonians Say
AROUND THE REGION
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins
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Amid demands for rent and mortgage moratoriums, and ruminations of a region-wide rent-strike movement, the D.C. Council recently passed its second coronavirus package that provided mortgage payment deferments for property owners and included a provision forbidding rent increases during the pandemic. The degree to which the legislation — the COVID-19 Supplemental Emergency and Temporary Amendment Act — takes into consideration the long-term effects of these deferments on a populace that has long struggled to pay the bills, in an ever-increasing city, has been a topic of discussion among some renters, landlords and elected representatives. While she hasn’t heard any recent concerns about rent or mortgages, ANC Commissioner Renee Bowser (4D02) said she has emailed information to her neighbors about unemployment benefits and other forms of local and federal assistance. In regard to some parts of the council’s emergency legislation, Bowser asserted there’s more to consider when it comes to tenants and their landlords, many of whom depend on payments to make ends meet. “If I’m not getting paid for three months and I start getting paid, even at the same salary, I’m still three months in the hole for my rent,” said Bowser, whose constituency includes part of the Brightwood community in Northwest. “That’s why we need a waiver of any rents and mortgages. If businesses could get some help, [tenants and landlords] should get some help. Loans for restaurants could turn to grants if they keep workers on payroll. There should be something like that for apartment owners.” Earlier this month, the D.C. Department of Employment Services reported that since March 13, more than 50,000 District residents have applied for unem-
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PHONE: 202-526-0300 FAX: 202-526-0233 ployment benefits. That amount surpassed total unemployment figures recorded at the end of 2019. On the first day of April, just days before the D.C. Council passed its latest coronavirus bill, renters and landlords across the region mulled whether, and how rent would get paid for the month. Even as some renters on social media called for a coordinated rent strike, some housing advocates, like Leigh Higgins of the D.C. Tenants’ Rights Center, warned against taking any action that could land them in tenant court once the pandemic ends. Dia King, an activist who lost his job as a valet weeks prior, said he begrudgingly charged half of his April rent to his credit card. In the weeks leading up the due date, he fought depression brought on by isolation while applying for unemployment benefits, and thinking about the drawbacks of delaying utility payments, as had been allowed in the council’s first coronavirus emergency bill. “It’s a double-edged sword because they’re throwing a lot of money into the economy, but we’re going to end up paying for that in the long term,” said King, a Southeast resident. “This will make the cost of living go up even more. I’d like the D.C. Council to help undocumented workers, sex workers, and Uber and Lyft driv-
ers, and [to also] see if we can put rent on hiatus.” A 2019 report showed that nearly half of tenants in the D.C. metropolitan areas spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent, even with increasing wages and slightly lowering unemployment. Experts attributed such conditions to the influx of high-income renters entering the market. Long before the District’s public health emergency, rent burden became a hot-button issue in the D.C. Council, particularly as it pertained to issues of rent control, expanding the District’s affordable housing stock, and the ramifications of the Comprehensive Plan. As real estate expert Karissa Spann explained on former D.C. Council member Kwame R. Brown’s online show “All Real Talk,” delaying the inevitability of paying the rent doesn’t completely serve those who struggled to do so. “There is some gray area that hasn’t been covered for renters,” Spann said during Sunday’s program. “When tenants and landlords are looking to enter a repayment agreement, landlords want to make sure it’s feasible and financially possible for the family to pay. Ninety days may not be enough. We know rent amounts are not affordable, and landlords are looking for rent to be paid at some point.” WI
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AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT Coronavirus precautions have caused vehicle and foot traffic to practically vanish on some of the most highly-traveled streets in Washington, D.C. The emptiness on F Street is reminiscent of the days when a portion of F Street was closed to vehicular traffic. (DR Barnes/The Washington Informer)
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“At the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. You get what you can take and keep what you can hold. If you can’t take anything, you won’t get anything. And if you can’t hold anything, you won’t keep anything. And you can’t take anything without organization.”
- A. Phillip Randolph (inscription on memorial statue, Union Station, D.C., born April 15, 1889
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AROUND THE REGION
District Officials Warn of Tough Budget Cuts Ahead By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwriter
The District has had years of economic growth that has produced budgets that saw surpluses, but with the coronavirus pandemic looming, city leaders say deep cuts in the upcoming budget are likely. At an April 10 news conference, Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed concerns of some residents and advocacy groups that programs benefitting low-income and working-class residents will be cut more severely than others, stressing that “we have to make cuts.” “We cannot operate in a deficit,” she said. “We can’t do everything. There are some things we did last year we will not be able to do this year.” When asked about the possibility of raising taxes to balance the 2020-2021 budget, the mayor rejected the idea. “This is not the time to ask residents to do that,” Bowser said. Days earlier, Bowser, Chief Finan-
cial Officer Jeffrey S. DeWitt and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) held another news conference to lay out the city’s dire economic circumstances. Bowser said that the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lack of economic activity will force District leaders to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from the budget. “The D.C. fiscal situation is dire,” Bowser said at the April 6 conference. “A $607 million cut is due. We will work to achieve every efficiency possible. Therefore, I will order a freeze on hiring, salary increases and travel for city employees unless it is essential.” DeWitt said the District’s projected losses stem from diminishing revenues from sales, business and income taxes receipts. He said the fiscal 2020-2021 budget, which Bowser will make public on May 6, will have approximately $600 million in reductions because of the severe decline in revenue coming. DeWitt noted that the $607 million figure quoted by Bowser applies to the budget that the District operates
under presently. “I don’t see the city’s financial situation getting better,” DeWitt said. “On April 24, I will have a better sense of the shortfall the city faces and that figure will be used to make up the 20202021 budget.” Before the coronavirus came to the city in March, the District benefitted from an economic boom with a thriving nightlife, businesses coming and being established in the city and a growing population, DeWitt said. The city financial picture looked good, DeWitt said, with months of taxes receipts fueling economic growth. DeWitt said that 60 hotels have closed in the District since March, including the Marriott Marquis Hotel linked to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest. He said many restaurants have been forced to close and those that are open can only serve their customers by delivery and takeout, “which hasn’t proven to be profitable at this point.” DeWitt said many organizations that scheduled conventions in the
District this year have canceled due to the coronavirus spreading throughout the world. As a result, he said April tax collections and revenues are expected to be very low and may be that way for some time. “When things get back to normal, it will take time for restaurants and hotels to ramp back up,” DeWitt said. He estimated that it might be the middle of 2021 for the city to be back near the economic activity of February. DeWitt even speculated that the estimated $600 million shortfall figure for the 2020-2021 budget could ultimately balloon as high as $1 billion. Neverthless, he said, the District has a much better financial situation than most jurisdictions. “We are in the best possible position of any large city in the country,” he said. DeWitt noted that the District has a healthy rainy day fund to tap into for emergencies and the city’s bond rating of AA-plus, according to Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, makes borrowing money from Wall Street much easier
5 D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Council Chair Phil Mendelson held a press conference to layout the city’s economic circumstances. (WI File Photo/ Roy Lewis)
and at lower rates if city leaders need to go that route. He said the District benefits from the presence of the federal government and its constant source of jobs
BUDGET Page 28
If I could do one thing, I’d make sure we stay healthy. If you could do one thing for your community, what would it be? More walk-in clinics? More funding for health services closer to home? Completing the 2020 Census is a safe and easy way to inform billions in funding for hundreds of services and programs in your community. Respond online, by phone, or by mail.
Complete the census at:
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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Md. Coronavirus Data Includes African Americans By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
After an outcry from state lawmakers and health advocates, the Maryland Department of Health released data last week on Blacks affected by the coronavirus. It wasn’t surprising to Black state and county officials to see that Blacks account for at least 34 percent of the confirmed cases statewide. As of Monday, April 13, Blacks accounted for 392 of the 605 residents hospitalized, or 65 percent. “What we take from the numbers is that now the rest of the world know what our reality is every day,” said Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. “In Prince George’s Coun-
ty, you can imagine the wealthiest, predominately African-American county in the country struggles to invite restaurants here that bring healthy foods. It struggles to bring grocers here. “We want to encourage [businesses] to bring their quality dining to Prince George’s County. To bring those grocers to Prince George’s County so that we don’t have those negative health outcomes that we’re seeing now that is killing us.” Now that there’s data, the goal will be to target where to target resources, critical care and other needs. Prince George’s continues to lead the state in the most confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavi-
5 Prince George’s County dashboard with a graph and map that highlights coronavirus data as of April 11 (Courtesy of Prince George’s County)
rus. Residents can view daily updates at princegeorgescountymd. gov, which shows confirmed cases by zip code. Alsobrooks wants to ensure those who died are remembered by their names as opposed to a number, such as Terrence Burke, 54, a counselor and boys varsity basketball coach at Northwestern High School in Adelphi. She also mentioned Leilani Jordan, 27, a greeter at Giant Food at Largo who had a disability but still managed to help navigate seniors around the store. “As we give the numbers every day, we are ever mindful [that] we are talking about lives,” she said. “We’re talking about people who
are near and dear to us. This fight for us is personal.” The county has reached out to Gov. Larry Hogan for more testing kits, personal protective equipment and other resources to combat the virus. A testing and screening site opened last month at FedEx Field in Landover, serving an average of 100 people a day during the three days per week it operates. All visits are free but must be made by appointment. Residents can call 301-883-6627 for more information. Triage tents have been set up at Medstar Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton, Doctor’s
Technology Boost Aims to Help Prince George’s Students By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
5 An employee at Crossland High School in Temple Hills waits for documentation to distribute a Google Chromebook to a student on April 2. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
12 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Eric Givens Sr. currently works on his laptop computer from home to assess repairs, registration and other information for Metro’s Planning and Scheduling Department. With Prince George’s County Public Schools currently closed through April 24, Givens registered for his 16-yearold son to obtain a Google Chromebook to prepare for distance learning. Givens and hundreds of other parents and guardians patiently waited in their vehicles Thursday, April 2 outside Crossland High School in Temple Hills
to receive a Chromebook for their children. “It’ll help him out really nicely,” Givens said. “We are working with every piece of technology at home. This is awesome. This will help him out.” Crossland High School Principal Michael Gilchrist tweeted later that day the school handed out 600 Chromebooks. Other schools such as Accokeek Academy posted pictures on Twitter thanking those who helped distribute more than 430 Chromebooks. The technology drives held this month allowed students to prepare for distance learning that began Tuesday, April 14. The Chromebooks must be
TECH Page 36
Community Hospital in Lanham and the University of Maryland Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly. Another 135 beds are scheduled for availability later this month at the previously closed Laurel Hospital. Health officials continue to stress proper hygiene — vigorous hand-washing and cover the mouth with an elbow when coughing, for instance — to decrease the spread of germs, as well as social distancing practices such as keeping at least six feet between all persons while in public. Chris Beyrer, professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the coronavirus can affect Blacks more because of underlying health ailments such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. “There is higher morbidity with this virus and higher mortality with this virus among African Americans,” Beyrer said. “Many of the underlying conditions … that are associated with poor outcomes and death from COVID-19 are also higher prevalence and higher burden in African-American communities.” Alsobrooks said there remains concerns some residents won’t call the health department for fear of having to provide private information. “One of the greatest concerns we have is people will die at home,” she said. “We are here just to save lives and we want everyone in our community to know that they are welcomed.” WI
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Prince George’s School Board Primary Races Now Underway By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Although the novel coronavirus forced the cancelations of hundreds of meetings, community forums and outdoor activities this month in
5 Prince George’s County school board member K. Alexander Wallace (Courtesy of PGCPS)
Prince George’s County, the primary election remains in effect. Education remains one of the major topics in the county as schools remain closed with distance learning beginning this week. That’s why Progressive Maryland announced its endorsement for four of the five county school board candidates running in the June 2 primary. “It is crucial that we elect local leaders who value equitable funding and distribution of resources, along with eradicating the school-to-prison pipeline,” Larry Stafford, executive director for Progressive Maryland, said in a statement. “We have selected candidates who we trust will ensure that families, students and educators share the responsibility of maintaining a safe and supportive school environment in which all students can thrive.” Three of the candidates — Vice Chair Edward Burroughs III (District 8), David Murray (District 1) and Raaheela Ahmed (District 5) — are running unopposed. The primary ballot shows Burroughs would face a challenger, Gary Lee Falls, a registered Republican, in
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
the Nov. 3 general election. The fourth endorsement isn’t for one of the other incumbents, but for Shayla Adams-Stafford in District 4, which encompasses schools such as Ardmore Elementary in Springdale, Thomas Johnson Middle in Lanham and Charles H. Flowers High in Springdale. According to a biography on her campaign website, Adams-Stafford works as a history teacher and instructional coach in D.C. She also runs a nonprofit organization called RemixEducation, which seeks to provide resources for first-generation college students. She seeks to replace current board member Bryan Swann, who was sworn in in January after the appointment by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. Swann currently works as deputy director of the Office of Financial Management for the U.S. Department of Treasury. He formerly worked for the Obama administration. The ballot shows three other candidates running for the District 4 seat: Mohammed Ali, a math and science professor at Prince George’s
Md.’s June Primary Will Go on Despite Pandemic By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan ratified the state Board of Elections’ decision to allow the June 2 primary amid the coronavirus pandemic with limited in-person voting, but still encourages voters to cast their ballots by mail. Millions of voters are scheduled to receive absentee ballots in the mail with prepaid postage to return their results to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Certain circumstances will allow for some in-person voting for voters who didn’t receive a ballot in the mail, people with physical limitations, or a language barrier. “In those rare cases where people must vote in person, significant social distancing practices must be implemented,” Hogan said Friday, April 10 during a press conference
in Annapolis. From that day, it gives local election officials less than eight weeks to higher election judges, safeguards for voting precincts and whether any personal protective equipment will be available for judges and pollsters. Because of the state’s directive of 10 or fewer people allowed to gather in one area, testing equipment, training judges and packing supplies usually takes more than 10 people to perform. According to the state’s Board of Elections comprehensive plan, it takes more than 20,000 election judges to conduct an election. However, local election boards are reporting 25 percent vacancy rates for early voting and 26 on Election Day. “As a result of the current public health emergency, the local boards of elections expect that more election judges — the majority of whom are over 60 years old — will
resign their appointments and recruitment efforts will become even more difficult,” according to the plan adopted April 2. “Additional election judges might be needed if health screenings are required to enter the facilities.” People who do vote in person must travel to an early voting precinct, or return drop off ballots inside containers outside the building. Because of the coronavirus surge, election officials in Maryland cannot conduct voter registration and absentee ballot programs inside nursing homes and assisted living facilities. State officials hope this would decrease the number of people who come out to vote. In addition, all 23 counties and Baltimore City can open between one to four early voting centers that would also allow same-day voter registration.
PRIMARY Page 29
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Community College, Trina D. Brown and Alethia J. Simmons. School board member K. Alexander Wallace seeks reelection for his District 7, which represents schools such as Princeton Elementary in Suitland, Andrew Jackson Academy in Forestville and Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High in Upper Marlboro. Wallace, a former legislative and constituent aide for the late state Sen. Ulysses Currie, works as a finance manager for DARCARS Automotive.
The other two candidates seeking the District 7 seat are Kenneth F. Harris II and Alexis Nicole Branch, a 2019 graduate from who received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. The top two vote-getters in the District 4 and 7 races will advance to the general election. School board races are nonpartisan and registered voters can participate in both the primary and general elections. WI
Getting Beyond COVID-19 Our community is being stretched beyond our wildest imagination! The photos of bread lines, high unemployment and overall economic tremors that we thought were in our rearview mirrors are now in front of us. Added to this, predictions on when this will end are scattered and uncertain. Although we are in a time of high anxiety, this is the time to collectively strategize for community enlivenment. Government officials, business leaders, and higher education institutions must gather and begin to design models for economic re-engagement and recovery. These models, for example, should include innovations that expand small business procurement opportunity, community infrastructure investment (for example fixing roads, bridges, public housing & others), and small business grants. Even during this troubling time, the Washington region with its expansive transportation network and growth projects remains the premier economic development corridor along the East Coast. Within this promising outlook, remains vast public and private procurement opportunities that, can offer small businesses a lifeline. This lifeline, however, will come with modifications in procurement policy that targets bids to regional small business. Regional infrastructure organizations, such as WSSC, Metro and regional school construction can offer job and contracting opportunities that will get our region back to work and provide construction companies with sustainability. This sustainability will go a long way in job growth. Things may look dire, but there is light at the end of the tunnel if we collectively and creatively come together to rebuild our regional & local economies. As in those photos of the past, this too will be in our rear-view mirror. Not a member? Please visit our website, www.pgcoc.org or drop by for a visit to get started! Membership is good for a full calendar year, so it’s always a good time to join! David C. Harrington President & CEO
APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 13
BUSINESS Vada Manager: From Ghetto Streets to Wall Sreet By Curtis Bunn ,Urban News Service (A Division of Zenger News) Vada O. Manager found his purpose in his East St. Louis childhood. Amid the trappings of inner-city life, where crime and poverty dominated, he was inspired to achieve. The president and CEO of Manager Global Consulting Group—who has traveled the world as an executive for Nike and Levi’s—sees that journey as more than about his own success. Manager, now 58, resisted the pull of crime that permeated his city and lured and devastated many of his classmates. “Despite what challenges were all around me, [I] still had to find
a way, either through education, spirituality or like-minded friends/ family to persevere and succeed,” he said. “My story, like many others, demonstrates that it isn’t how you start in life, it is how you finish. I had great family support— albeit a single mother and grandparents who helped raise me.” The teachings of his mother and grandparents helped him reject a life of trouble. He participated in school organizations, often alongside award-winning film producer Reginald Hudlin, who directed Eddie Murphy in “Boomerang” and worked on “Django Unchained.” “I could not have imagined all that when we represented SWAPO back in our Model UN days,” Hudlin said, referring to the Na-
mibian political party South West African People’s Organization. “But I’m not surprised either.” Manager would serve as former Washington, D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly’s press secretary, and advise the late South African President Nelson Mandela and U.S. President Barack Obama. he sees his story as a barometer for black and brown young people who feel limited by their circumstances. “I keep a sense of history in mind,” Manager said. “Having the privilege of serving President Mandela, even in a small capacity, was a historic moment as both his release from prison and the eradication of apartheid were the most pressing global priorities at the time.” That’s a long way from where Hudlin and Manager met in high school. “We quickly bonded over shared values: a drive to succeed, a deep interest in politics, and a healthy sense of humor,” Hudlin told Zenger News. “All three qualities have served us well over time. Vada has an amazing life, working in government and the private sector, serving on boards, advising high profile clients, and raising a beautiful family with his wonderful wife. He’s a success story in every sense of the word.” Manager attended Arizona State University, and is now the school’s
5 Vada O. Manager, the founder of Manager Global Holdings, has investments in industries as varied as Hollywood and parking services. (Photo courtesy Vada Manager)
14 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
5 Vada Manager, left, helped advise South African President Nelson Mandela, center. Manager also was the press secretary for Washington, D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, right. (Photo courtesy Vada Manager)
first African-American trustee. The companies that make up his business invest in hotel and hospitality companies, along with strategic consulting, real estate and parking services. “With President Obama, while I never served in his administration, I was an early donor when he came to Arizona and we had lunch with a small group to make a compelling case for governing,” he said. “I consider my contribution [to his presidential exploratory committee] after that lunch one of best investments in our civil society that I have ever made.” He participated in mergers and acquisitions work at Nike when it bought Converse, Starter and Umbro. He joined the board of Ashland Inc., thanks to a recommendation from former Honeywell executive Mannie Jackson, who helped the Harlem Globetrotters emerge from bankruptcy. Manager is turning his sights toward Hollywood, advising a project that debuted in January at the Sundance Film Festival. Manager hopes his story encourages black youths to resist difficult circumstances. East St. Louis, which is 95 percent black, had America’s highest murder rate last year and has a low high school graduation rate. When Manager, who has great pride in his hometown, was growing up, the city’s residents faced crime and poverty but not to the same degree. He said he carried a burden in corporate America that many African Americans would recognize. “The duality of successful Af-
5 (Photo courtesy of Vada Manager)
rican American men and women in America is that you have to be twice as competent, uphold the race and still be able to authentically be yourself and relate to your people,” Manager said. “It is a heavy mandate, which each person has to interpret for themselves.” WI
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BUSINESS
5 Stimulus checks have begun arriving in bank accounts. (H&R Block)
Coronavirus Stimulus Checks Begin to Arrive: What You Should Expect By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Payments from the $2.3 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package have begun hitting individual bank accounts. In a memo, IRS Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the first round of payments were sent Thursday, April 9 and should arrive in bank accounts beginning no later than Tuesday, April 14. Most Americans are eligible for and will receive stimulus payments, except for those who owe back child support payments. Single-filers who make less than $75,000 will receive $1,200, while married couples making less than $150,000 are scheduled to get $2,400. An additional $500 payment will be provided to households for each child under 17. The IRS will base the payments on the adjusted gross income of taxpayers’ 2019 return. If a 2019 return hasn’t been filed (the deadline has been extended for two months), the IRS will use information from the 2018 return. If the return doesn’t contain direct deposit information, or if the IRS doesn’t have returns from 2018 or 2019, a paper check will be issued later. Electronic payments also will go out to those receiving Social Security and disability, even if recipients don’t typically file a tax return. For those who haven’t provided the IRS with bank account information, paper checks are expected to begin reaching households in May, but, in some cases, recipients won’t receive payment until September.
“If we have your bank information, you’ll get it within two weeks,” Mnuchin said. “Social Security, you’ll get it very quickly after that. If we don’t have your information, you’ll have a simple web portal, we’ll upload it. If we don’t have that, we’ll send you checks in the mail.” Treasury officials said they expect 50 million to 70 million Americans to have received directly deposited payments by April 15, which is one day later than what the IRS said it expects the deposits to become available. The IRS does plan to set up a portal on its website where filers can enter direct deposit information if the agency doesn’t already have those details. Those who have provided bank information on their 2018 or 2019 returns don’t have to do anything unless their information has changed. As for paper checks, The Washington Post reported that the IRS plan would distribute those to the lowest-income Americans first, prioritizing payments for individual taxpayers with incomes of $10,000 or less on April 24. Checks for earners of $20,000 or less would be in the mail May 1, followed by those with incomes of $30,000 on May 8, $40,000 on May 15, and continuing in income increments of $10,000 each week, according to the plan. The IRS plans to issue about 5 million checks each week. Stimulus checks would be issued on Sept. 4 to joint taxpayers earning $198,000, the maximum allowed under the stimulus. All others would be sent on Sept. 11, in most cases, because the IRS did not have prior tax information for them, and they need to apply for the checks. WI
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 15
NATIONAL Should Black Men Be Afraid to Wear Face Masks? By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia
Aaron Thomas, a Black man who lives in Columbus, Ohio, wrote an eye-opening op-ed in the Boston Globe that likely hit home with many African Americans. “I’m a Black man living in this world. I want to stay alive,” Thomas wrote in the essay that carried
the headline, “Why I don’t feel safe wearing a face mask.” Thomas, who couldn’t be reached by NNPA Newswire for comment, noted that Black men and women in America have been “killed for any and everything. A child with a toy gun, a young girl sleeping in her family home, a man buying an air gun at Walmart. Knowing all that, I just don’t feel safe. Even in a time of pandemic, the discrimination does not stop.”
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5 Some African Americans are afraid to wear face masks. (Loop Barbados)
Thomas added that he would not wear a mask until he’s able to track down one where police and others won’t mistake him for a criminal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now recommending that people wear face masks in public. The guidelines from the CDC say that medical-grade masks should be reserved for health professionals, who are facing a shortage of supplies. The CDC suggests that Americans use T-shirts, scarves, handkerchiefs or any other spare fabric to make homemade masks to protect themselves from the disease. However, Thomas has declined to adhere to the CDC’s recommendation. “It’s not that I don’t trust the CDC. What I do not trust is the innate biases and lack of critical thought about the implications of these decisions,” Thomas remunerated. “I do not trust that I can walk into a grocery store with my face covered and not be disturbed,” he said. “I do not trust that I will not be followed. I do not trust that I will be allowed to exist in my Black skin and be able to buy groceries or other necessities without a confrontation and having to explain my intent and my presence. I do not trust that wearing a make-shift mask will allow me to make it back to my home.” A March 4, 2020 report by NewsOne noted that 76 Black men and boys had been killed by the police
already this year. The report stated that police shootings and killing Black males “is all but a centuries-old American tradition among law enforcement in the U.S.” With policies around the country such as “stop and frisk,” and “stand your ground,” African Americans have overwhelmingly felt the brunt of race-driven attacks. In 2012, a young Black man in “a dark hoodie, a gray hoodie” was a “suspicious guy,” according to George Zimmerman, just before he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman acted as the neighborhood watch captain in the community where Trayvon’s father lived. During a televised interview with Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera, Zimmerman said he targeted Trayvon because of the hoodie attire that many young African Americans wore. Rivera then warned parents not to let their children wear hoodies. He claimed wearing the hoodie sends a sinister signal. “You cannot rehabilitate the hoodie,” Rivera said. “Stop wearing it.” In its report, NewsOne noted that shootings of African Americans by those in authority is an apparent rite of passage. “It is still thriving in 2020 and only seems to be gaining momentum — and not slowing should give any American citizen pause as an increasing number of Black people — especially males both young
and old — continue to be added to a growing list of victims with what seems like a new shooting every week,” NewsOne reported. An April 6 report by the Center for American Progress (CAP) noted that “Inequality is magnified in times of national hardship. Perhaps nowhere is this clearer than in communities of color, which have long endured inequalities across American economic, social, and civic systems.” Amid this major public health crisis, the compounding effect of existing inequities puts people of color in an increasingly precarious situation, author Connor Maxwell wrote for the CAP. As federal, state, and local officials consider sweeping initiatives to address the human and economic cost of COVID-19, they must center America’s most vulnerable communities, Maxwell noted. “It is crucial that lawmakers understand why and how this crisis could disproportionately harm people of color and take steps to mitigate the effects of entrenched structural racism and promote health equity for all,” he said. For individuals like Thomas, it’s all the more reason he won’t wear a face mask. “Until I receive a mask, I will get to live out my childhood dream of being on ‘Supermarket Sweep,’” Thomas mused. “And yes, I will attempt to get everything I need into my cart and to the checkout in three minutes or less.” WI
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NATIONAL
Group Issues Call for Dispatching Cuban Doctors to U.S. By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins
Much to the chagrin of the Trump administration, Cuba’s Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade — a brainchild of the late Fidel Castro — has assisted more than 60 foreign nations on medical missions, even U.S. officials attempt to circumvent such collaborations with assertions that the Cuban government exploits its doctors. In recent weeks, hundreds of Cuban doctors, trained in facilitating community-level medical aid during public health emergencies, have stepped up to assist their fellow health care workers around the world in their fight to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus in their respective countries. As American health care workers struggle to protect themselves and flatten the curve, especially in communities of color with significant health disparities, an international assortment of Pan-African, leftist
academics, journalists, attorneys and organizers have called on U.S. lawmakers to join other nations, including their allies, that have made such arrangements with the Cuban government. “While confined to their homes glued to their televisions, computers and cellphones, families and communities inside U.S. borders have witnessed French parliamentary leader Andre Chassaigne urge his government to join those who have requested Cuban support,” said a letter addressed to the White House, U.S. House and U.S. Senate that Obi Egbuna Jr. of the Zimbabwe Cuba Friendship Association circulated on April 10. The two-page letter, titled “Get Out Cuba’s Way,” demanded that the U.S. government allow the Henry Reeve International Medical Bridge to assist domestic hospitals and clinics, train health care workers and collaborate with the American Medical Association (AMA), National Medical Association and Black Nurses Association.
Another demand involved the use of Interferon Alpha 2B, a treatment developed by Cuba’s Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology that’s been deemed effective against COVID-19. “Fifty-two Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Italy to treat their citizens who have contracted the COVID-19/SARS-COV-2 pandemic,” the letter said. “These developments come on the heels of the Governments of Great Britain and Northern Ireland reaching a diplomatic agreement with Cuba, which resulted in a cruise ship docking on their shores where established health measures were successfully implemented.” More than 100 people and entities have endorsed the letter, including the Sankofa Homeschool Collective, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Rev. Willie Wilson, Marc Lamont Hill of Temple University in Philadelphia, Samia Nkumah of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan African Center in Accra, Ghana, and veteran activist Dorie Ladner, formerly of the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Currently, the United States currently surpasses all other countries when it concerns the severity of the pandemic’s impact. As of Tuesday, there have been nearly 600,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus nationwide and more than 24,000 deaths. In a number of cities states, Black people — at a higher risk because of underlying medical conditions and lack of health care access — have experienced the brunt of the coronavirus. This has particularly been in the case in the District, as well as the urban centers of Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and New Jersey. Despite the six-decade embargo that some Cuban officials said has complicated efforts to acquire life-saving medical supplies, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health has recorded less than 650 cases and less than 20 deaths since reporting its first case in early March. Public health officials tie these outcomes to a medical program that prioritizes prevention
and the immersion of doctors in Cuban communities. A U.S. health care professional who chose to remain anonymous reflected on the free medical education he received in Cuba and what he described as the Cuban government’s penchant for preventative health care. He told The Informer that the United States has much to gain by integrating its medical and public health responses in a continuum. “Public health and medical science are not separated. It’s often one body,” said the health care professional, currently in the third year of his residency. “In Cuban medical programs, our public health education starts in the first year. We went inside the communities campaigning, knocking on doors and bringing health care to the community. “Cuba’s health care system could teach us a lot about decreasing health disparities,” he said. “Even if it’s just Cuban doctors coming here and discussing theory, the U.S. medical system could learn a lot.” WI
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ADB Offers Assistance for Mini-Green Energy Grids in Guinea The African Development Bank (ADB), through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), approved a grant of $830,000 to support the Guinean Agency for Rural Electrification (AGER), in the establishment green mini-grid projects in the Republic of Guinea. This grant will specifically finance technical, economic, financial and environmental and social pre-feasibility studies of green mini-grid projects. These are the projects identified in the Low Cost Electrification Plan drawn up by the Government of the Republic of Guinea in coordination with the World Bank and the French Development Agency. It will provide support to AGER for the evaluation of offers from the private sector and the conduct of negotiations for contracts for the construction, operation and maintenance of mini-networks resulting from the call for tenders which will be launched by the World Bank. Finally, this technical assistance will help to mobilize the additional funding necessary for these mini-networks and will contribute to the development of the related regulations. These services, combined with advice and knowledge transfer, will be necessary for the AGER to better coordinate and develop the sectoral approach to mini-networks in the country. Sixty-four percent of the Guinean population (8.1 million) live in rural areas where only 7% have access to electricity, compared to 34% at the national level. The probability of electric coverage in rural areas by the national network in the medium and long term, therefore, remains very low. Green mini-grids are thus an economical means of significantly and quickly improving access to electricity in rural areas. The World Bank and French Development Agency have allocated funding of about $7 million, and support from SEFA will help to better structure the program. This financial support follows the results of the Electrification Plan and Guinea’s low-cost investment prospectus, as part of the National Economic and Social Development Plan 2016-2020. “While improving the overall sectoral approach to green mini-grids in Guinea and promoting the participation of the private sector in mini-grids, it is expected that the deployment of the 57 mini-grids will give access to electricity to around 30,000 households. According to the expected results, the mini-networks should create around 100 jobs (50% of which for women) and generate productive use possibilities for at least 100 micro-small enterprises,” said Wale Shonibare, acting vice president of the Bank responsible for the Electricity, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth Complex. The Country Manager of the Bank in Guinea Léandre Bassolé, for his part, recalled that the Bank is a key player in the energy sector in the Republic of Guinea. “The Bank’s interventions since 2007 have made it possible to connect or improve the connection to the electricity network of nearly 500,000 people, half of whom are women, to create more than 300 new or improved electricity distribution lines and to reduce CO2 emissions of 3,274 tonnes per year,” Bassolé said. “This technical assistance will allow the Guinean Rural Electrification Agency to play its full role throughout the territory, while promoting the deployment of renewable energies,” he said. WI
caribbean now Bahamas Ambassador Negotiates Release of COVID-19 Medical Supplies Returned To U.S.
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Sports Photos by John De Freitas
at:
18 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
Sidney Collie, Bahamas ambassador to the U.S. and permanent representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), had informed the Bahamas Ministry of Foreign Affairs that following consultations with U.S. competent authorities in D.C., a shipment of COVID-19 medical supplies to the Bahamas that were “returned to the Port of Miami last week, on order by U.S. authorities” had been released and was due to arrive back in Nassau on April 14, the ministry confirmed. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs takes this opportunity to thank US Embassy Officials in Nassau and in Washington D.C., for responding quickly to our démarche to have these medical supplies released so that they can be added to our critical stock as The Bahamas continues to protect its citizens and residents from the spread of this terrible scourge of COVID-19,” Foreign Affairs Minister Darren Henfield said in a statement. Responding to inquiries from a reporter with The Tribune, one of The Bahamas’ leading newspapers, Henfield described the diplomatic snafu as “simply a bureaucratic misunderstanding.” WI
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 19
HEALTH Mask Makers – Offering Gear with Functional Flare
y Shevry Lassiter B WI Contributing Writer
Life as we know it has changed drastically for just about everyone in the world. Business closings, job layoffs, vacationing, travel, isolations and the coronavirus have changed the way everyone does things. The everyday way of life for some artists has been practically erased. Yvette Crocker, a self-employed
20 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
artist and fashion designer whose artwork has appeared on CNBC in multi-million real estate mogul Sean Colon’s, The Deed – Chicago and can boast that several celebrities have worn her jewelry designs including Michelle Obama and her daughters, continues to thrive in these uncertain times. For a number of years, Crocker served as a contributing artist for Essence Magazine creating paintings for the horoscopes. Women
all over the world fell in love with the horoscope paintings and so she came up with the clever idea to make them into pillows. Crocker had already stepped into the art world with a different way of showing her work well ahead in the game by being internet-based. While the coronavirus has altered the way life operates, especially small businesses, “my business is already mostly based online, so not much has shifted from that,” she said. “I decided to make masks after many of my clients started asking me to do them,” Crocker said. “I’m donating one mask for every five sales to an essential employee of my choice. I have given away a lot more than that already. I was already thinking outside of the box and fortunately for me, my artwork seems to cheer people up. My sales haven’t declined at all so far.” Be sure to visit yvettecrocker. com/shop to see some of the masks that haven been created. One full-time graphic designer teleworking through the quarantine period, Gina Crosland, started
HEALTH Page 21
5 Yvette Crocker uses her artistic talent to paint masks that might show how the wearer feels. (Courtesy photo/Yvette Crocker Art)
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HEALTH from Page 20 thinking about how to keep her relatives safe, including her husband Harry, who work in the health care field throughout the nation. Sewing is in her blood since her father was an upholsterer and her great grandmother was a seamstress who made clothes for the likes of Mahalia Jackson and several political figures. In fact, she learned how to sew when she took home-economics in middle school. Crosland, a resident of Upper Marlboro, participated in Cosplay where they make the character costumes they wear. After hearing about the shortage on personal protection equipment, she found a video tutorial of someone illustrat-
ing how to make masks and decided to take on the task herself. Making masks came easy for Crosland and she enjoys making things “beautiful and handsome.” Having bundles of material left over from the costumes she makes helps in the production of the masks. Crosland contacted the Maryland state government to find out how she could donate the masks and a health care facility directed her to a group that could accept them. One of the obstacles she faced when making the donations revolved around the sterilization of the masks. But she’d made the needed adjustments and on March 27, she delivered 150 masks to the
Prince George’s County administrative building. She’s in the process of completing 120 more at the request of employees in a government office. She doesn’t charge for the masks and only asks that those needing them pay for shipping. Crosland says it takes about 20 minutes to make one mask at a cost of about $2.00 per mask. She uses 100 percent cotton fabric which is the recommended material since it is breathable with the only delay being the elastic which is getting a little hard to find she says with more people now making masks. “I enjoy doing it because it is one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. I just pray that it helps someway somehow,” Crosland said. WI
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EDUCATION UPDATE from Page 8 cent stocked up on marijuana because of the fear of both the pandemic and marijuana product shortage. 28 percent of the 990 participants would rather binge-watch TV shows should the U.S. government impose a national quarantine, making it the most-preferred activity during self-quarantine. The least preferred activity is to do indoor exercise/sport activities, taking up only 13 percent of the 990 participants with 17 percent of them indicating they’d just rather smoke weed during self-quarantine than doing any of the presented activities. This is even higher than the percentages of those choosing to surf the internet (15 percent) and to do indoor exercise/sports. 34 percent of participants have consumed more marijuana products since the COVID-19 outbreak while the remaining 66 percent haven’t. 54 percent of the 990 U.S. marijuana product consumers feel calm about the global coronavirus pandemic thinking everything will be alright while 40 percent are worried sick. Only 55 (6 percent) of the 990 participants don’t really care about the COVID-19 pandemic at all. Methodology and Limitations To collect the data shown above, the researchers surveyed 990 respondents who are U.S marijuana consumers. A qualifying question was included to make sure the participants are truly weed consumers. An attention-checker question was also added to ensure the participants did not mindlessly answer questions. Because the survey relies on self-reporting, issues such as telescoping and exaggeration can influence responses. The primary writer for the report is Dwight K. Blake, a former mental health counselor who now works at AmericanMarijuana. For the full report, visit https:// americanmarijuana.org/marijuana-use-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-study.
HELP! I NEED 22 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
ANSWERS AND ADVICE
One of the best things about the New York Times and its exemplary writing staff is how they make their updates to previously reported stories so easy to follow. They, like The Washington Informer, continue to receive frequent questions about the coronavirus and requests for tips. Here are several questions and advice that NYT recently updated. We think they’re “spot on.” When will all of this come to an end? A lot depends on how well the virus is contained. A better question might be: “How will we know when to reopen the country?” In an American Enterprise Institute report, writers identified four objectives for recovery: Hospitals must be able to safely treat all patients requiring hospitalization, without resorting to crisis standards of care; the state needs to be able to at least test everyone who has symptoms; the state is able to conduct monitoring of confirmed cases and contacts; and there must be a sustained reduction in cases for at least 14 days. How can I help? Non-profit organizations could certainly use your help, particularly those working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities. More than 30,000 coronavirus-related GoFundMe fund-raisers have started in the past few weeks. I’m feeling ill; what should I do? If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others. Should I wear a mask? The CDC has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal
5 Scenes from a Tuesday airing of Elmo’s Playdate. (Photo courtesy Sesame Street)
guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the CDC, like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing. Is there a vaccine yet? No, but clinical trials are going on in the U.S., China and Europe. But American officials and pharmaceutical executives have said that a vaccine remains at least 12 to 18 months away. Further, unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and little is known about this particular virus so far. It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions – not just those with respiratory diseases – particularly hard. What if somebody in my family gets sick? If the family member doesn’t need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, according to CDC guidelines. If there’s space, the sick family member should stay in a separate room and use a separate bathroom. If masks are available, both the sick person and the caregiver should wear them when the caregiver enters the room. Make sure not to share any dishes or other household items and to regularly clean surfaces like counters, doorknobs,
toilets and tables. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently. Should I stock up on groceries? Plan two weeks of meals if possible. But people should not hoard food or supplies. Despite the empty shelves, the supply chain remains strong. And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home. Can I go to the park? Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.
CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TO GET TO SESAME STREET?
The only way to get to Sesame Street these days is by video conference. And as children stay home and viewing-time restrictions have long been abandoned, creators of child-focused content have been taking their cues from the hit Sesame Street special “Elmo’s Playdate,” which the show’s creative team recently cobbled together remotely. Anne Hathaway and Lin-Manuel Miranda (second row from top), were among the participating celebrities. Ernie the Muppet was trying to get through to his roommate Bert. Normally they would be together, sideby-orange-and-yellow-side. Not these days. Peter Linz, the puppeteer who plays Ernie, the gleeful “Sesame Street” character, was in his small home office in Westchester County, New York with the Muppet hoisted on his arm.
Watching from a dozen screens around the country, a director, editor, producers, curriculum experts and other colleagues were all working at a distance – and furiously fast. “Elmo’s Playdate,” which recently debuted on Tuesday, featured Elmo having a virtual meet-up with his Muppet pals and celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anne Hathaway. What might have taken an afternoon at the Sesame studios in Queens took days to shoot remotely. “It was a lot of work!” Lehmann, the producer, wrote in an email, as the special was being finished. “But everyone leaned into it. It’s the way Sesame Workshop has always responded to the most pressing needs of kids. We try to evolve as they do.” But the demand is apparent. Downloads of the PBS Kids video and game apps have increased 80 percent in the last three weeks — almost a million new downloads, said Lesli Rotenberg, chief programming executive and general manager of children’s media and education at PBS. Streaming is up, too: In March, “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” an animated spinoff of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” for the hard-to-corral preschool set, had 56.4 million streams, a spokeswoman said, up 15 percent from the previous month. And about 70,000 people have signed up in the past month for a daily newsletter from PBS with tips for navigating the new normal. As Chris Loggins, supervising producer for “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood,” put it, they are following one of Fred Rogers’s guiding principles: “He would say, ‘What’s mentionable is manageable.’” WI
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2020 Sustainability Supplement in Observance of Earth Day
Climate [in] Action!
50 Years of Earth Day Activism in Black America
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Whether the world tracks the health of its natural resources through loss, damage, minimized impact or newly designed innovations to replenish, one constant and unfortunate stream of data flows from the impact environmental contamination has on communities 5 Dr. Shantella Y. Sherman (Photo by India Kea) of color. In fact, as various nations grapple with COVID-19, scientists and medical communities have begun to chart the estimated disparity in the disease’s exacerbation and death among African Americans. This disparity, caused in large part, by exposure to environmental contaminants including poor living conditions where exposure to lead and other toxins routinely compromise lung health, historically makes a case for racial inferiority. Historians like Tera W. Hunter have explored the theory of the “sickly Negro” that posited Blacks as inherently predisposed to contract deadly diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis, AIDS, and perhaps, COVID19. It was believed that to control “black” pathogens and prevent pandemic outbreaks, segregation had to be strictly enforced. In the process, segregation buttressed beliefs in dangerous Black bodies, as city planners strategically situated Black neighborhoods amid tracks set aside for sewage runoff and the release of air and soil pollutants. Bartow Elmore writes of the introduction of environmental racism in city planning as early as 1865 with the introduction of segregated, Jim Crow neighborhoods. “No longer could wastewater drain from black communities into white neighborhoods, nor could the city use precious water supplies to hydrate black urbanites at the expense of whites. The success of the Jim Crow experiment depended on the complete separating of the black and white races,” Elmore discusses in the journal article Hydrology and Residential Segregation in the Postwar South: An Environmental History of Atlanta 1865-1895. “Natural resources that flowed indiscriminately between disparate communities had to be controlled by municipal agencies. For Jim Crow engineers, controlling nature provided a means to reify the boundaries between black and white worlds.” Diseases growing out of exposure to environmental toxins rarely factored into race-based studies of disease, including those that amounted to decades-long research on asthma and tuberculosis. “My family worked as farmers and it was nothing for the owners of fields to have the crops sprayed with chemicals while we worked,” Northeast resident Charles Grady told the Informer. “We would go low and cover our faces, but it did little good. Many of us developed asthma – not because we were Black or poor, but because our lungs were being poisoned. It is easy to believe that Black people are genetically inferior when the numbers show we are sickly; but we are sick as a condition of other people’s hatred.” Grady, 87, whose family worked fields in Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi, said eugenics or scientific racism often places Blacks as the source of pestilence and disease without regard for environmental racism, including being denied access, underfunding facilities in Black neighborhoods, and diverting resources to “more deserving” Americans. “The same types of lung issues followed members of my family to St. Louis when they arrived in Carr Square – which the city called ‘Lung Block’ because of the rates of tuberculosis. Instead of St. Louis health department blaming the lung issues on the factory toxins nearby, they blamed it on diseased black bodies migrating from the South,” Grady said. As a matter of precaution, the city would eventually require quarantine and vaccination of all Blacks coming into St. Louis. As the Washington Informer commemorates 50 years of Earth Day – a celebration that marks decades of active engagement to protect and improve the world’s natural resources – we do so shining a spotlight on the amazing job Black advocates have done in pushing the inclusion of environmental racism and environmental justice onto global agendas – as well as Black people to the dais to speak on behalf of their own communities.
Read, Learn, Enjoy!
5 St. Louis tenements, like this one in the North Central area, became plagued by tuberculosis after developers rented units of the condemned property to newly arriving migrants from Southern states. / Photo of St. Louis tenements, courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society
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Forging Inclusion and Access in Environmental Protection dren from the DMV visit our Chevy Chase and Loudon County, Virginia sanctuaries for field trips through A few of the nation’s most influ- our meadows, forests, and gardens. ential environmentalists spoke to the Some 14,000 children learn about Washington Informer to discuss Earth birds, bees, mammals, trees, wildDay, continuing efforts to end racial flowers, how to grow vegetables, and environmental injustice, and fruit, herbs, separate recycling and new innovations in making the world compost and just about everything healthier. Here are a few insightful in between. Students from elemenpoints from that dialogue (See the tary to high school learn about complete interview at www.washing- water chemistry and aquatic life in our streams and rivers through our toninformer.com) programs. We also have a nature WI: Many in the DMV, being preschool and with the opportusurrounded by concrete and fences, nities now afforded for internships tend to overlook the expanse of nat- and networking to college students ural beauty throughout the region. through Taking Nature Black and What are some of the programs that Naturally Latinos, some of the most Audubon Naturalist Society offer to comprehensive and career-inspiring engage with young people and make environmental education available to young people in this region is them aware of their surroundings? Caroline Brewer, Chair of the provided by our organization. Taking Nature Black Conference WI: In February, the Taking Naand Audubon Naturalist Society ture Black conference underscored Director of Marketing and Commany of the issues surrounding the munications: An environmental intersectionality of environmental observer calls Americans today an and criminal justice, including the “indoor species.” Whatever lack of intentional polluting of Black and awareness and appreciation there Brown neighborhoods. Why do is, undoubtedly, is a function of a you think there are few, if any, crimsociety that is overwhelmed with inal enforcement of dumping and connections to electronic devicpolluting, given its damage proves es - computers, smart phones, and televisions. It’s a function of the both human and environmental? Eliza Cava, Audubon Naturalfact that schools are more heavily focused on testing than on teaching ist Society Conservation Director: and learning in ways that give young One answer is that environmental people hands-on experiences and enforcement is often driven by reopportunities to explore outdoors. quests—and a community that is I’m a former classroom teacher and wary of over-policing of its people my urban students were always ea- may be less likely to request policing ger and grateful to get outdoors about dumping and other harms. Another piece is that even when and explore the natural world. The Audubon Naturalist Society (ANS) requests are made for environmenunderstands this hunger that young tal enforcement, there could be a people have to engage with nature resource disparity. For example, in and has been feeding it for more Maryland, the Maryland Departthan 50 years. In fact, when ANS ment of the Environment (MDE) first moved into its current head- has ultimate responsibility for a lot quarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland of environmental enforcement, but in 1969, children from DC Public they delegate much of that to the loSchools were some of the first to visit cal counties and other jurisdictions. MDE does not have enough staff and explore the nature sanctuary. Since then, we have grown our to respond to many enforcement environmental education efforts to requests. If the local jurisdiction is include sending science and nature also understaffed because they have educators to schools in DC, Mary- a relatively lower tax base, they will land, and Virginia to provide year- be less able to respond. Industries have always made the round, hands-on science and environmental education. In addition, claim that they are job creators and we provide 10 weeks of nature sum- contributors to tax bases, so many mer camp at our sanctuary and chil- local governments are wary of enforcBy Shantella Y. Sherman Special Editions Editor
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ing fines or other punitive measures on them and instead work towards education or voluntary compliance. The EPA should be the backstop of this and require more enforcement, but especially under this federal administration those backstops are being blasted away. Since so many polluting companies are disproportionately sited in Black and Brown communities (due to disparities in land values, zoning, and structural racism in the political system and land use patterns), those communities end up bearing the brunt of the slow pace of improvement. So, the kind of enforcement system in place can make all the difference on the level and consistency of enforcement. WI: A number of years ago, the District began working to clean up walking paths and nature trails in all wards to promote family-centered good health and the existence of the trails. Do you believe that D.C.’s trails are still largely hidden in plain view? Ari Eisenstadt, D.C. Conservation Advocate: Significant work has been done by our environmental partners and nature-oriented organizations to connect trails all over the city, and this is definitely bearing fruit in terms of accessibility. However, there is still much work to be done to provide trail connections from Wards 7 and 8 to the rest of the city, particularly because there are few safe connections across the Anacostia River. There are some rather contentious plans in the works for bridges and trails across the river. Depending on the eventual outcome, these may help provide additional access. Trails in Rock Creek Park, Oxon Run Parkway, Kingman and Heritage Islands, and the Anacostia River Trail do get tons of community use, and many of the speakers at Taking Nature Black, such as 2020 Regional Environmental Champion Akiima Price, are working hard to increase the connections between people and their local parks. There are still some gaps left between the presence of trails and green space and their use, particularly in Shepherd Parkway. This almost 200-acre site is entirely wooded and owned by the National Park Service, but still has no interior trails.
There is a redevelopment plan in the works, which could outfit the park with trails, depending on community feedback. Some people have expressed safety concerns about frequenting heavily wooded parks, however, which is a major obstacle to more use of the District’s parkland. Another serious concern among the environmental community is the presence of invasive plants (plants that can take over an area, choking the life out of the native plants that feed and sustain wildlife, and are difficult to remove and control), particularly vines, which threaten the survival of much of the city’s wooded parkland, and create visibility barriers along trails that make them less accessible. WI: Is there a prescribed manner for demanding space at state-wide and national tables on environmental issues? Caroline Brewer, Chair of the Taking Nature Black Conference and Director of Marketing and Communications: As to pressing for a space at other tables, that’s not where our planning committee is coming from. We have operated
with an understanding that as representatives of environmental organizations, and as leaders of our own, are equal to leaders and representatives of others. In fact, there are three key principles of the 17 principles of Environmental Justice, adopted in October 1991by the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit that have been guiding principles of our work with the conference, although not written anywhere, except our in our minds and hearts. Those principles are: 1) Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction, 2) Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples; and 3) Environmental Justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation. SS
5 Caroline Brewer, Chair of the Taking Nature Black Conference and Audubon Naturalist Society with Outdoor Afro Member Raymond Smith. (Photo by Don Baker)
5 The Taking Nature Black Conference, designed to give African Americans in the environmental field a space to share ideas, network, and support one another saw close to 700 participants at its recent gathering. (Photo by Don Baker)
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Tips for Saving Energy While Staying Put Submitted by Pepco In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders in our region, many residents are spending more time than ever at home. Between working from home and children who are home from school, customers are using more energy during the day. The following tips can help you manage your energy costs during the coronavirus pandemic. • Adjust your thermostat. Set your thermostat a few degrees lower when heating and higher when cooling to reduce energy use. • Use appliances wisely. Wash full loads of laundry in cold water and run appliances that produce heat, like clothes dryers and dishwashers, at night. • Replace light bulbs. Switching to LED light bulbs can reduce your lighting costs by 70 percent or more. • Turn off lights. Do a quick walk through of your home and ensure all lights are turned off. • Unplug chargers and electronics. Even when an appliance or electric device is not in use, it is using energy when plugged in. • Switch up your dinner plans. To cut down on energy use, grill outside, use a crock pot instead of using your oven, or choose a cold meal option. • Try low power mode. Switch your devices to low power mode to not only save energy, but also to help equipment run cooler and last longer. • Get smart with power strips. Using smart power strips and surge protectors helps save energy and helps shut down multiple items quickly.
A COMMITMENT THAT GROWS EVERY DAY Powering a cleaner and brighter future for our customers and communities is a vital part of our everyday work. We proudly support The Washington Informer and join in their commitment to promoting education for Washingtonians on environmental stewardship and conservation.
pepco.com
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Wash clothes in warm or cold water. Be sure to rinse laundry in cold water and clean the lint screen after each load and check the exhaust regularly. A lint screen in need of cleaning and a clogged exhaust can lengthen drying time and increase the amount of energy used.
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Turn off the stove. Get in the habit of turning off the elements or surface units on your electric stove several minutes before completing the allotted cooking time. The heating element will stay hot long enough to finish the cooking without wasting electricity.
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Set your refrigerator’s temperature to 38°F. In most households, the refrigerator is the one thing that is always on—24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Did you know that in the average home, the refrigerator consumes the most energy of all kitchen appliances? Make sure your refrigerator is not too cold to minimize the annual costs of running the appliance.
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Run full dishwasher loads. Your dishwasher uses a great deal of energy, especially for heating water. There are several steps you can take starting today—with no investment—to reduce your bills associated with dish washing.
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Learn more. Visit pepco.com/MyAccount to explore additional ways to save money and energy and sign up for helpful billing options, such as budget billing, which averages payments over a 12-month period to help customers manage their monthly energy bill. SS
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Submitted by Pepco
Know What’s Below – Call 811
Not only is April Earth Month, it’s also National Safe Digging Month. Pepco is joining District One Call – the one-call notification center for the District of Columbia and Maryland – to remind residents, businesses and contractors that safe digging prevents damage to critical underground energy services and helps keep communities safe. During our current health crisis, we’re spending more time than ever at home. If you’re planning to use this time to take on a new spring DIY project that involves digging – like planting a new flowerbed or trees, building a new walkway or deck, or replacing your mailbox – you must call 811 a few days before beginning to learn the approximate location of underground utility equipment. Getting started is easy. Here are a few simple steps to follow if you’re planning a digging project this spring: • Always call 811 a few days before digging, regardless of the depth or your familiarity with the property. • Professional tip: call on a Monday or Tuesday for work that’s planned for an upcoming weekend. Providing enough time for lines to be marked will help your project go smoothly. • Professional locators will visit your dig site to mark the approximate location of underground utility lines with spray paint, flags, or both. • Confirm that all lines have been marked. If a contractor has been hired, also confirm they called 811. You should never allow work to begin if lines aren’t marked. • Once your site has been marked, it’s safe to begin digging around the marked areas. If your project is near utility line markings, consider moving the location of your project. • To learn more, visit call811.com. We always want you to be safe, so be sure to call 811 to know what’s below before your next digging project. SS
DELIVERING A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE We are committed to powering a cleaner and brighter future for our customers and communities. We are proudly working to bring the next generation of energy services to the District of Columbia, while helping the city achieve its environmental goals.
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OPC’s Water Services Division One Year Old and Making a Sustainable Difference By Sandra Mattavous-Frye People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia The Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia (OPC) is pleased to contribute to the Washington Informer’s Sustainability and Energy Supplement in honor of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, for the third consecutive year. As this 2020 edition focuses on the relationship between health and sustainability, we contend that having clean, affordable and reliable water services sustains life. That premise is especially relevant in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. I welcome this opportunity to highlight OPC’s role as the statutory advocate for DC Water consumers, one year after the formation the agency’s Water Services Division (WSD). Our mantra is: “OPC is Your Utility Lawyer.” And 45 years since OPC was created as an independent agency of the DC government, our mission remains to Educate, Advocate and Protect consumers of electric, natural gas, and local telephone services. Now, OPC is Your Water Utility Lawyer. For years, DC Water ratepayers expressed concern that they did not have a seat at the table when the DC Water Board set rates. As water bills skyrocketed, and consumers demanded to be heard, the DC Council passed the DC Water Consumer Protection Amendment Act of 2018. After it became effective on April 11, 2019, WSD became the voice of DC Water consumers. The Division’s first task was to Educate the community. Following the example of the agency’s impactful “OPC in Your Neighborhood” initiative, WSD staff took to DC streets of all eight wards, attending dozens of Advisory Neighborhood Commission meetings, community fairs, block parties, and farmers markets, touching thousands of residents of all ages. Our goal was to make consumers aware that OPC is ready and able to address concerns about increasingly high water bills. OPC also created various educational materials, including fact sheets on how to file a complaint
and how to conserve water. The Office hit the radio airwaves, and launched an “OPC Can Help” campaign with posters in English and Spanish displayed on Metro trains and buses. We added a water page on opc-dc.gov and a feature in the Office’s monthly newsletter. Under the legislation, OPC worked with the District Department of the Energy and Environment (DOEE) and DC Water to develop a Consumer Bill of Rights. It delineates the rights and responsibilities of DC Water and its customers. OPC created a simple guide to the document and both are posted on opc-dc.gov. Under our mission to Advocate, OPC is empowered to represent ratepayers at proceedings that affect all water consumers. Unlike the other utilities, DC Water is not subject to oversight by the DC Public Service Commission. Instead, DC Water is self-regulating subject only to oversight by its own board of directors, which sets and approves its rates. Even with this construct, OPC has been successful in advocating for ratepayers. In 2019, OPC played an active role in two key DC Water rulemakings. The first was the proceeding that proposed an adjustment to the controversial Clean Rivers Impervious Area Charge (CRIAC). Impervious areas are surfaces like driveways, parking lots, and other paved areas that hold water. Since 2009, DC Water has implemented CRIAC to recover the costs of the Clean Rivers Project, a $2.7 billion dollar federal program to reduce combined sewer overflow into District waterways. You are paying CRIAC through your bill. In the CRIAC rate adjustment, OPC filed extensive comments and testified at a Water Board public hearing. OPC’s overarching theme was the lack of transparency and public participation in the process. As a result of OPC’s advocacy, DC Water has increased openness and opportunities for consumer participation. A second rulemaking involved the Customer Assistance Program II (CAP2) for fiscal year 2020. OPC supported the extension of
CAP2 and advocated for a sustainable funding source for the program. OPC’s advocacy paid off-DC Water has extended CAP2 and is proposing to make it permanent. Next, OPC will aggressively advocate for reasonable rates when DC Water proposes rates for the current and upcoming fiscal years. Under our mission to Protect, OPC has represented individual customers to resolve complaints-with payment problems, disconnections, and billing disputes at the top of the list. Since the inception of the Water Services Division, WSD has addressed more than 400 complaints, saving consumers tens of thousands of dollars. These savings have led to real relief for real people. For example, in separate investigations of leaky pipes, two
property owners received a combined $12,000 in bill credits as a result of OPC’s vigilance. Our victories for consumers are propelled by a dedicated staff utilizing effective customer service tools that facilitate timely response to calls for help. Moving forward, we will continue to Advocate, Educate and Protect, with the goal of sustaining health and life for the residents of the District of Columbia. Happy Earth Day! SS
Who We Are The Office of the People’s Counsel is an independent agency of the District of Columbia government. By law, OPC is the advocate for District consumers of water, natural gas, electric, and telephone services. The Office’s mandate is to advocate for the provision of safe and reliable utility service at rates that are just, reasonable and nondiscriminatory; to assist individual consumers in disputes with utility companies; and to provide technical assistance and consumer education to the community and stakeholders. OPC carries out its mission through the work of the following divisions. The Climate and Sustainability Policy Division works to ensure that OPC is effectively incorporating District of Columbia sustainability and climate goals into all aspects of our education, outreach and advocacy. People’s Counsel Sandra Mattavous-Frye launched this new Division to ensure climate action policy considerations are an integral part of OPC’s operations at a time when climate change threatens the future of our world as we know it. The Litigation Services Division represents consumers in legal matters involving utility companies before the DC Public Service Commission, federal regulatory agencies and the DC Court of Appeals; and engages in diverse energy, telecommunications, technical and market monitoring functions. The Consumer Services Division provides education and outreach to consumers on utility and energy issues; assists in the resolution of consumer complaints; and provides technical assistance to lay advocates seeking to participate in the regulatory process. The Water Services Division serves as a voice for water consumers by investigating complaints related to DC Water services, rates, and billing; represents ratepayers at DC Water administrative hearings and rulemaking proceedings, as well as the DC Court of Appeals; and educates water consumers about their legal rights and responsibilities. Contact Information: Phone: (202) 727-3071
Email: info@opc-dc.gov Website: opc-dc.gov Twitter & Instagram: @DCOPC Facebook.com/DCPeoplesCounsel
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We’re Doing Our Part, Are You?
1. Think twice before shopping. Every product we buy has an envi-
Sustainability is about much more than just “being green.”It involves managing and protecting earth’s natural resources, ecosystems, climate, and atmosphere. By practicing sustainability today, we can preserve precious resources for years and generations to come. Practicing sustainability starts close to home. We all have a responsibility to protect Prince George’s County’s natural beauty. Keeping our County clean makes it a healthier, safer place to live and raise our children, increases property values, and boosts our local and regional economy. Over the past year, my office, in partnership with Department of the Environment and Department of Public Works & Transportation has made some visible and significant progress toward beautifying our County. • We launched our Beautification Initiative and anti-littering advertising campaign that encourages County residents and visitors to adopt behaviors that will keep the County clean and green; • We collected more than 3.2 million pounds of litter and illegal signs; • We resurfaced over 20 miles of County roadways, filled over 40,000 potholes, and replaced one million square feet of sidewalk; • We installed 29 Bigbelly dual solar trash and recycling stations at bus stops throughout the County, and these stations have collected 54,978 pounds of trash; • We strengthened law enforcement on illegal dumping with the installation of cameras to monitor illegal dumping hotspots throughout the County and introduced new penalties; and • With the assistance of the County Council and fellow Prince Georgians, we passed legislation to ban plastic straws—a move that will go a long way toward eliminating microplastics that end up in our food and harm our waterways and marine animals. While getting the word out about the County’s Beautification Initiative and our actions to beautify the County is critical to getting the public involved, it isn’t a quick fix. Changing behaviors takes continuous and consistent effort. To help us reach our goal, here are some easy actions you can incorporate into your daily routine that will help make our earth, our County, and our communities more sustainable.
ronmental impact, from the materials used to create it to the pollution emitted during manufacturing to the packaging that ends up in landfills. Before you buy, ask yourself if you really need it. If you do, consider buying gently used instead of new, and look for minimal packaging.
2. Go plastic free. Plastic never goes away. Every year thousands of
marine animals are killed after ingesting plastic or getting tangled up in it. You can cut down on plastic waste by using reusable shopping bags, water bottles, and straws.
3. Use green cleaning products. Many household products contain
ingredients that are harmful to the environment. For instance, phosphates in many cleaners, detergents and soaps can cause algal blooms that can kill fish and aquatic plants when washed into waterways. Most retailers sell natural, environmentally safe cleaning products. When shopping, look at the labels and make the switch to natural products.
4. Prevent waste around your home by: • Purchasing only those items that you need. • Buying high-quality, long-lasting products. • Using cloth towels, napkins, and rags instead of disposable paper products and avoiding using disposable cups, plates and cutlery. • Returning unwanted clothes hangers to the dry cleaners for reuse. • Donating clothes and household items you no longer use to charity. These are just a few examples of what you can do to make our earth greener, cleaner, healthier, and more beautiful. Together, we hold the key to a sustainable future—and by working together, we can make sure that future generations will enjoy the resources our earth provides. Yours in service, Angela Alsobrooks
Plant a Tree
Protecting our planet
starts with you Bike more drive less Educate
When you further your own education, you can help others understand the importance and value of our naturals resources.
volunteer Volunteer for cleanups in your community. You can get involved in protecting your watershed too!
Long lasting light bulbs are a
water ways
Choose nontoxic chemicals in the home and office.
shop wisely
Buy less plastic and bring a reusable shopping bag.
Conserve Water The less water you use, the less runoff and wasterwater that eventually ends up in the ocean.
reduce reuse recycle Cut down on what you throw away. Follow the three R’s to conserve natural resources and landfill space.
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Energy efficient light bulbs reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Don’t send chemicals into our
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Trees provide food and oxygen. They help save energy, clean the air, and help combat climate change.
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Sourced from oceanservice.noaa.gov
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Committed to Our Customers; Committed to Our Environment
By John O’Brien Executive Vice President Strategy and Public Affairs
In the movie “The Martian,” Matt Damon’s astronaut character looked around at his predicament and declared that he would have to ‘science’ his way out of it. Likewise, Washington Gas’ approach to addressing climate change has always been based on the leading science, for both understanding and determining our actions. In 2011, we committed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from our fleet, facilities and distribution system. By 2016, we had reduced our own emissions 74 percent and the emissions intensity associated with the delivery of each unit of natural gas by 20%., We then pledged further reductions, in line with the global consensus in the Paris Agreement to make our fleet and facilities carbon neutral and to further reduce emissions intensity to 38% by 2025. Our annual measurements since then, which are all verified by an independent auditor, show us on track to meet those commitments. When AltaGas and Washington Gas merged in 2018, we made a commitment to develop and share a long-range climate business plan that would demonstrate how Washington Gas could help the District meet its ambitious climate goals. After months of study, collaboration with experts and exploration
of new and emerging opportunities to reduce emissions, we presented the plan to the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia on March 16, 2020. It is available for public review on their website at dcpsc.org as well as the Washington Gas website at washingtongas.com. We also plan to host regular public meetings in the future to share our progress and gather stakeholder input. The Plan covers everything from fuel sourcing to distribution all the way through to customer end use, and it supports the District goals with Washington Gas doing its share; reducing emissions associated with natural gas 50% by 2032 and being carbon neutral by 2050. The Plan supports customer energy choice and presents a framework of options and specific tactics that combine to achieve the targeted emissions reductions. While some people may think that it is impossible to meet these climate goals while continuing to use natural gas, the science shows it not only is possible, but that it is highly beneficial to the District. Natural gas costs less and is critical to maintaining the reliability and resiliency of the District’s energy delivery system. While we propose changing the mix of the gas we deliver to include carbon neutral renewable natural gases—including biogas and green hydrogen—this change will be undetectable to our customers who will still be able
to continue to use their existing equipment and appliances. By using new materials and technologies, we can and will reduce emissions from our distribution system. Lastly, incredibly high-efficient appliances and equipment are in development (some are already available) so that when people want or need to change out a stove, water heater or heating/cooling system, they can take advantage of the energy cost savings those new technologies provide. We are also looking at encouraging conservation of energy through energy efficiency programs that add to—but do not compete with— those available from the DC Sustainable Energy Utility. Washington Gas has evolved over the more than 170 years that we have provided energy to District residents, businesses, agencies and organizations. There is no better symbol of how far we have come than how we have served our very first customer. We started out in 1848 using gas to light the Capitol Dome. Today a modern, highly efficient Combined Heat and Power (CHP) installation provides both heat (for warmth) and electricity (to light that landmark dome with high-intensity discharge (HID) fixtures. And, tomorrow, that same plant may be running on renewable natural gas, making it carbon neutral or even possibly carbon negative. SS
“When AltaGas and Washington Gas merged in 2018, we made a commitment to develop and share a long-range climate business plan that would demonstrate how Washington Gas could help the District meet its ambitious climate goals.”
Supporting Customers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Washington Gas’ commitment to sustainability goes beyond the environment. We have committed to help our customers who may be experiencing financial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have made contributions to non-profit groups that are providing critical safety net services. We have waived late fees and suspended disconnections during this time. We are also taking necessary precautions to ensure the well-being of our employees, customers and the communities we serve by following all safety protocols and practicing safe social distancing. We also continue to provide funding to help customers pay their energy bills through WAFF (the Washington Area Fuel Fund). Visit WAFFHelp.Org for more information. WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 2020 SUSTAINABILITY SUPPLEMENT IN OBSERVANCE OF EARTH DAY
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DID YOU KNOW? Our Paperless Billing customers SAVE 2,800 TREES EACH YEAR.
That’s almost the same number of cherry trees that surround the Tidal Basin in DC! To join our growing number of PAPERLESS BILLING customers, visit washingtongas.com/ebill to enroll.
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ENERGY ANSWERS TO PRESERVE THE ENVIRONMENT.
Tips for Celebrating & Saving the Planet By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer 1. Skip the Elevator / Escalator – By side-stepping elevators and escalators, we save electricity and get a quick cardio workout in the process. This is a great way of getting in shape alongside the planet. 2. Limit Fuel Use – The Washington, D.C.-metropolitan region’s efforts to increase the use of bicycles and trails by limiting the use of fuel powered vehicles is not only achievable, but is quickly becoming the wave of the future. In addition to hiring bicycles, electric mopeds, and scooters, consider using a rideshare service (Uber or Lyft) or taking public transportation.
WGL PROVIDES AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, SUSTAINABLE AND MODERN ENERGY ANSWERS We are committed to reducing our environmental footprints as well as those of our customers environmental footprints. Since 2008, we have reduced emissions from our fleet and facilities by 76 percent and reduced fugitive emission intensity by 24 percent — both ahead of our 2025 targets. In addition, our clean, efficient energy solutions help customers reduce energy use and costs as well as their own environmental footprints.
3. Consider Natural Products – Each year, millions of people are hospitalized or perish from acute inhalation injury which occurs when chemicals found in household cleaning products – including bleach – cause inflammation in the lungs. Despite labels on most household cleaners that advise against using in closed-in spaces or inhaling directly, they contradictorily include fragrances that invite you to breathe them in. The reality is that natural, tried-and-true items like lemons, vinegar, and baking soda, do the same work without the toxins. 4. Turn Off – The digital age and all the great technology that has come with it, have also created a vacuous use of electricity. For instance, how many of us use our laptops while watching television, with the lights aglow all around us – and with our mobile phones on and at the ready? Consider turning off electronic devices not actively in use or using the energy saver setting on everyday devices. This will not only save on electricity, but will also, lower electric bills. 5. Let Go of Paper Mailings – Some of us are die-hard paper lovers – and will always prefer physical newspapers and magazines to their digitized versions; however, consider eliminating paper bills, notices, and announcements from your life. Most banks, and other businesses allow you to receive mail directly into your inbox, saving trees and limiting the amount of paper waste from mailers. 6. Go Back to Eden – Indoor plants offer a wealth of benefits by purifying the air inside homes and offices. Consider purchasing plants like English Ivy, Elephant Ear Philodendron, Lady Palm and Bamboo Palm to cut traces of formaldehyde and other toxins from the air. 7. Use What You Have – Years ago, a broken heel on a shoe went to the cobbler or shoe repair shop, rather than the trash. Too often today, we throw away what could be repaired or passed along to others with a need for them. Consider giving your clothes a new life by donating to charity or consignment shops. And for the fashionistas among you, work with friends to invent new styles by raiding each others’ 5 Indoor plants closets. 8. Time Showers – While many of us love a great shower, they can become taxing on water systems. Use a timer for showers to reduce the amount of water used getting fresh and clean. SS
like the Elephant Ear Philodendron cut toxins from homes and offices. / Courtesy photo
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Healing the Land and Empowering People in the Woods of Ward 8 By Nathan Harrington Down the hill from the Congress Heights Metro Station and the Giant on Alabama Avenue is a magical place hidden in plain sight. Along Mississippi Avenue east of 13th Street, open fields and woods give the impression of having suddenly left the city behind. Because there are no signs, few realize that this is the 126-acre National Park called Oxon Run Parkway. Because there are no trails, not many take the short walk through the woods to the stream, with its deep pools full of fish darting about, and extensive sandbars and islands carved out by meandering currents. Crossing the stream, you’ll find yourself in a rare magnolia bog ecosystem, surrounded by ferns and mosses. Nearby are the ghostly ruins of a WWII era shooting range, all that remains of former Camp Simms military reservation. Further south, near Southern Avenue, is a pristine upland area of beech trees and mountain laurel. A mile to the west, Shepherd Parkway, another National Park Service property, runs along the steep hillsides that rise from 295 for two miles and 197 acres. These woods feature towering stands of old-growth oak, poplar and sweetgum, two bald eagles nests, and views across the city. In 2019 eight acres of woods were cut down as part of the new 295-Malcolm X Avenue Interchange project. If these parklands were in Northwest DC, Montgomery County or Northern Virginia, they would probably be clean, well-marked, and traversed by well-maintained hiking trails. It’s hard to imagine any part of Rock Creek Park being destroyed to make way for a road. Instead, the same neglect and discirimination that have made poverty and violence all too common in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River have taken a toll on the land there. Decades of illegal dumping and littering have left the ground in many places covered with millions
of pounds of household trash, furniture, construction materials, tires, car parts, electronics and appliances. All this trash doesn’t just spoil the forests’ beauty value; it contaminates the soil, poisons foraging wildlife, and flows from stormwater to rivers. Further weakening the ecosystem, invasive plants introduced from other parts of the world have overwhelmed native ones and choked out thousands of native trees. In some areas, all that remains of the forest are meadows covered with a single invasive vines. This disparity in the condition of wild parklands fits the pattern of environmental racism, in which negative environmental impacts fall heaviest on the poor and people of color. The Ward 8 Woods Conservancy was established in 2018 to increase the health, beauty, and public enjoyment of the more than 500 acres of forest in Ward 8, which also include Ft. Stanton Park and the land along Suitland Parkway. A crew of four Park Stewards, Ward 8 residents who face barriers to employment, work four days a week to realize these goals. Robert Carpenter, the lead Park Steward, is a Ward 8 native and returning citizen. “ I have a background that got me turned away from a lot of jobs, but there was no discrimination with Ward 8 Woods. I like giving back to the community I’ve been living in all my life” he says. In 18 months of work, the crew and volunteers have removed more than 100 tons of trash from the woods, cut invasive vines from more than 600 trees, and shared information about our work with over 2,000 Ward 8 residents. To help reduce the amount of litter generated, they’ve been passing out reusable grocery bags. In February 2020 Ward 8 Woods took a first step in its long term vision of making these parks accessible and inviting with a network of hiking trails by adopting the existing George Washington Carver Nature Trail. Created by staff of the Anacostia Communi-
ty Museum in the 1990s but unmaintained and unused in recent years, the trail is an easy half mile loop through the beautiful woods directly behind the museum. A grand reopening is scheduled for this summer. Residents can support Ward 8 Woods in three ways: 1. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @ward8woods 2. Volunteer! For details visit ward8woods.org/volunteer 3. Donate at ward8woods.org/ donate Nathan Harrington, is founder and Executive Director of the Ward 8 Woods Conservancy. He has been a Congress Heights residents since 2009. SS
The Ward 8 Woods Conservancy is a grassroots nonprofit organization founded in 2018 to increase the health, beauty, and public enjoyment of the more than 500 acres of forested parkland in Ward 8. Join us as we remove trash and invasive plants, construct hiking trails, and create opportunities for residents find health, healing, and inspiration in nature! ward8woods.org
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@ward8woods
Timeline 1970 – 2020 How Far We’ve Come
By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer
The first Earth Day in 1970 mobilized millions of Americans for the protection of the planet. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans — 10 percent of the U.S. population at the time — took to the streets, college campuses and hundreds of cities to protest environmental injustices and demand a new way forward for our planet. Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, who served as a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin at the time, reportedly came up with the idea for a national day to focus on the environment after seeing first-hand the devastation caused by a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, Nelson used the fervor of civil rights and anti-war protests to engage with those interested in also protecting the water, air, and soil environments. “Ecology is a big science, a big concept, not a cop-out. It is concerned with the total eco-system--not just with how we dispose of our tin cans, bottles and sewage. Environment is all of America and its problems. It is rats in the ghetto. It is a hungry child in a land of affluence. It is housing that is not worthy of the name; neighborhoods not fit to inhabit,” Nelson said during his Earth Day speech in 1970. “Environment is a problem perpetuated by the expenditure of $17 billion a year on the Vietnam War, instead of on our decaying, crowded, congested, polluted urban areas that are inhuman traps for millions of people.” Nelson’s passion for improving the environment and raising awareness, led to the passage of landmark environmental laws in the United States, including the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts. Many countries soon adopted similar laws, and in 2016, the United Nations chose Earth Day as the day to sign the Paris Climate Agreement into force. Today, one of the event’s organizers, Denis Hayes, said that despite the many advances, things have become even more critical. “Despite that amazing success and decades of environmental progress, we find ourselves facing an even more dire, almost existential, set of global environmental challenges, from loss of biodiversity to climate change to plastic pollution, that call for action at all levels of government,” said Hayes, who serves as the Earth Day Network’s Board Chair Emeritus.
Earth Day History 1970
The first Earth Day mobilizes 20 million Americans to call for increased protections for our planet
1990
Earth Day goes global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries
2000
Earth Day leverages the power of digital media to build millions of local conversations across more than 180 countries
2010
Stay Informed! www.washingtoninformer.com
2020
Earth Day Network launches A Billion Acts of Green® and The Canopy Project. Earth Day 2010 engages 75,000 global partners in 192 countries Earth Day will mark 50 years with global activations that aim to mobilize a billion people worldwide for transformative action for our planet
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Recent & Recommended Books on Environmental Justice Compiled by Lee Ross WI Staff Writer Environmental Justice and Environmentalism: The Social Justice Challenge to the Environmental Movement by Ronald Sandler and Phaedra C. Pezzullo Although the environmental movement and the environmental justice movement would seem to be natural allies, their relationship over the years has often been characterized by conflict and division. The environmental justice movement has charged the mainstream environmental movement with racism and elitism and has criticized its activist agenda on the grounds that it values wilderness over people. In ten original essays, contributors from a variety of disciplines consider such topics as the relationship between the two movements’ ethical commitments and activist goals, instances of successful cooperation in U.S. contexts, and the challenges posed to both movements by globalization and climate change. Environmental Justice: Concepts, Evidence and Politics by Gordon Walker Environmental justice has increasingly become part of the language of environmental activism, political debate, academic research and policy making around the world. It raises questions about how the environment impacts on different people’s lives. This book explores the diversity of ways in which environment and social difference are intertwined and how the justice of their interrelationship matters. It has a distinctive international perspective, tracing how the discourse of environmental justice has moved around the world and across scales to include global concerns, and examining research, activism and policy development in the US, the UK, South Africa and other countries. The widening scope and diversity of what has been positioned within an environmental justice ‘frame’ is also reflected in chapters that focus on waste, air quality, flooding, urban greenspace and climate change.
The Promise and Peril of Environmental Justice by Christopher H. Foreman Are we environmentally victimizing, perhaps even poisoning, our minority and low-income citizens? Proponents of “environmental justice” assert that environmental decision-making pays insufficient heed to the interests of those citizens, disproportionately burdens their neighborhoods with hazardous toxins, and perpetuates an insidious “environmental racism.” In the first book-length critique of environmental justice advocacy, Christopher Foreman argues that it has cleared significant political hurdles but displays substantial limitations and drawbacks. Activism has yielded a presidential executive order, management reforms at the Environmental Protection Agency, and numerous local political victories. Yet the environmental justice movement is structurally and ideologically unable to generate a focused policy agenda. Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice by Julian Agyeman Popularized in the movies Erin Brockovich and A Civil Action, “environmental justice” refers to any local response to a threat against community health. In this book, Julian Agyeman argues that environmental justice and the sustainable communities’ movement are compatible in practical ways. Yet sustainability, which focuses on meeting our needs today while not compromising the ability of our successors to meet their needs, has not always partnered with the challenges of environmental justice. Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice explores the ideological differences between these two groups and shows how they can work together. Agyeman provides concrete examples of potential model organizations that employ the types of strategies he advocates. This book is vital to the efforts of community organizers, policymakers, and everyone interested in a better environment and community health. SS
We are here. Here for residents. Here for small business. Here for Earth Day. Here for DC. Here to help.
While we are closely monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, the DCSEU remains operational, with most staff teleworking to help customers use less energy and save money. We know this is a very difficult time for DC businesses, institutions, nonprofits, and residents alike and we are here to help. For updates on the District’s response to COVID-19 visit coronavirus.dc.gov. DCSEU.com
(202) 479-2222
info@dcseu.com
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By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer “I don’t believe I have seen the sky so clearly – lit with stars as far as the eye could see – since I was in South Africa many years ago,” San Marcos, Calif. resident Epifania Shawls recalls after
COVID-19 & Air Pollution
the first week of quarantine began in the area. “Without the planes, trains, and automobiles, factories, or even cigarette smoke, there was no smog the waters are blue again. It looked to me like a lot of California has been through an environmental makeover.” Shawls’ excitement echoes that of
Americans across the nation who have seen the quick transformation in air quality since the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic. With various industries, travel networks, and corporations at a standstill, a drastic drop in carbon emissions occurred. Emissions have fallen, according to
research produced by bodies including the Queen Mary University of London, at least for now in countries where public health measures, including quarantines, have kept personal vehicles off the road and public transport to a bare minimum. One estimation places emissions from public transportation with contributing to 72 percent of pollution and 11 percent of the transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. In New York, the restriction has led to a 50 percent drop in levels of pollution from this same time last year. “There are satellite images showing the disappearance of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions from various areas of the world, which should give evidence to the naysayers that don’t believe in the negative impact we have on our environment,” Shawls told the Informer. “We cannot afford to exchange our good health for greed or reckless innovation.” Shawls estimation has already been realized as global medical communities also document the links between air pollution levels in areas with significantly higher rates of Covid-19 deaths. Research from the Forum of International Respiratory Societies in two review papers, published in the journal Chest found that ultrafine particles pass through the [lungs], are readily picked up by cells, and carried via the bloodstream to expose virtually all cells in the body and ir pollution may be damaging every organ and virtually every cell in the human body. “Air pollution may be associated with symptoms immediately upon exposure, such as coughing, tearing, difficulty breathing, and angina. It
may also be associated with long-term harm that is more subtle,” the report said. “People are usually unaware of how long-term exposure affects their health or worsens their medical problems over time. Polluted air gains access to the body through the respiratory tract but has systemic effects that can damage other organs.” In the case of Covid-19, some researchers believe the increase in particle pollution levels before the epidemic has contributed to a 15 percent increase in death rates. “It is well known that pollution impairs the first line of defense of upper airways, namely cilia, thus a subject living in an area with high levels of pollutant is more prone to develop chronic respiratory conditions and [is more vulnerable] to any infective agent,” the study revealed. It also suggested that “dirty air” significantly increased the likelihood that people in polluted areas die from the coronavirus than those living in cleaner areas. “This information can help us prepare by encouraging populations [with high pollution exposure] to take extra precautions and allocate extra resources to reduce the risk of poor outcomes from Covid-19,” Xiao Wu, one of the research contributors writes. “It is likely that Covid-19 will be a part of our lives for quite a long time, despite our hope for a vaccine or treatment. In light of this, we should consider additional measures to protect ourselves from pollution exposure to reduce the Covid-19 death toll.” Read full Chest research journal article here: https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(18)32723-5/pdf ss
5 Air pollution may be at the center of the alarming number of Covid-19 deaths across the globe. (Courtesy photo)
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Remembering the Flint Water Poisoning on Earth Day By Barrington M. Salmon WI Contributing Writer For more than a year, state officials, beginning with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, dawdled and stonewalled as complaints from frustrated and concerned Flint, Michigan residents mounted. Residents complained about the foul taste and color of their drinking water but the governor’s former spokesman, state and city officials and others, dismissive of the chorus of complaints, continued to insist that the water was safe to drink. Now we know that a decision by Snyder – and Darnell Earley, the emergency manager he appointed – to switch water sources has had long-term consequences for the health of Flint’s 100,000 residents. The governor and his emergency manager engineered the switch of drinking water from the clean freshwater of Lake Huron to dirty and corrosive Flint River. The move, initiated in April 2014, was supposed to save $5 million. The order came from Gov. Snyder but a decision by state water officials to opt out of using corrosion prohibitors which would have cost a mere $50 a day, produced a man-made public health disaster that has affected the lives and health of many of Flint’s residents, particularly children. Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who has been described as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, took the unusual step of sharing the results of her exhaustive study at a press conference. She found that the proportion of children under five in Flint with elevated lead levels in their blood nearly doubled following city’s switch to Flint River water. The mother of two and director of Hurley Medical Center’s Pediatric Residency Program, Hanna-Attisha told CNN, “We had an ethical, professional, moral responsibility to alert our community (to) what was going on. … Our mouths were ajar, and we couldn’t believe that in 2016 now, in the middle of the Great Lakes, we couldn’t guarantee a population access to good drinking water.” Hanna-Attisha found that children in Flint who were tested exhibited elevated blood-lead levels which jumped from 2.1 percent
in the 20 months communities prior to Sept. 15, receive to as2013, to 4 percent sorted toxins, between Jan. 1 and chemicals and Sept. 15, 2015. pollutants. In certain ZIP Leslie Fields, codes, she said, the director of the change was even Sierra Club’s more dramatic and Environmental troubling, spiking and Commufrom 2.5 percent nity Partnerto 6.3 percent in ship Programs, children who were agreed. tested. The changes “Climate correspond close- 5 Corroded pipes in and around Flint, Michigan, led to one of the most volatile, manchange is a ly to the timing made environmental health disasters in the nation’s history. (Courtesy photo) threat multiEmergency Manplier for the ager Earley authoBlack commurized the switch. nity,” she said Flint residents “Our children are dealing with have asthma, the fallout from miss school, a lead poisoning fall behind and tragedy that could end up in the affect them and school-to-pristheir children for on pipeline. Afdecades. Problems rican Americans associated with exare disproporposure to lead are tionately affectirreversible. Lead ed by climate is a potent neurochange and are toxin which can demanding accause memory loss, tion. Air polluirreversible brain tion and climate damage, impaired change don’t development, cogjust greatly imnitive dysfunction, pact health, speech impedi- 5 Flint residence have faced years of contaminated water that poured from faucets brown they stifle our ments and other and smelly. (Courtesy photo) ability to grow serious chronic economically.” conditions, particularly in chil- with black and brown communi- According to Fields, the Sierra ties intentionally poisoned by lead Club is monitoring the cumuladren. According to the Centers for Dis- and other toxins. tive impacts. Climate change is There has sprung up a vibrant manifested in illness from exposure ease Control and Prevention, even marginal lead exposure can cause and spirited opposition to envi- to pollutants that drive climate behavioral and cognitive problems, ronmental racism and support for change, physical displacement of including an increased tendency to climate change. individuals and families in the face “Fifty percent of people of col- of rising sea levels, catastrophic or exhibit violent behavior. Moreover, children affected by lead poison- or live within two miles of areas of destructive storms, economic and ing are seven times more likely to pollution,” said Beverly Wright, ex- food insecurity, and malnutrition.” end up as a high school drop out ecutive director of Dillard UniverInvestigative Journalist Curt of school and six times more likely sity’s Deep South Center for En- Guyette, whose work help expose to become involved in the juvenile vironmental Justice. “There need the Michigan state government’s justice system than those not ex- to be buffers. We need a special poisoning of Flint’s drinking water, posed to lead. Moreover, the im- distribution of polluting facilities. writes that much of the problem pact of lead exposure is irreversible. The people least responsible are the with the deterioration of the waTo those who assume that the most affected.” ter infrastructure can be attributed Wright said those involved in to a change in policy on the part Flint poisoning represents a deviation, green supporters, climate environmental justice have a tough of the federal government, which experts and environmental justice job fighting against corporations, reduced funding for water and activists point out that environ- utilities and government officials wastewater systems by 80 percent mental racism and policy decisions who are intent on decimating the between 1977 and 2014. made by federal, state and local environment. The professor said “As a result of those cuts, conlawmakers created a country dot- race is a predominant indicator sumers have been forced to bear ted with thousands of other Flints, that determines the exposure some most of the burden of paying for
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the repair and replacement of aging water infrastructure, causing rates to soar,” he said in a 2015 article titled, “In Flint, Michigan, Overpriced Water is Causing People’s Skin to Erupt in Rashes and Hair to Fall Out. “One particularly stunning survey of 100 municipalities by USA Today in 2012 found that water prices had doubled in more than a quarter of the cities since 2000, and even tripled in several others.” And they’re going to continue to climb, he explained. Experts estimate that it will take about $1 trillion dollars, with half of that used to replace existing infrastructure, and the other half allotted to install new infrastructure to serve population growth and areas that currently aren’t receiving water. With the federal government filling in only a fraction of the gaps, municipal systems’ solution of choice has been to dump rising infrastructure costs on customers by raising prices, Guyette continues, but cities have also been exploring other options, including privatizing their water systems and switching over to cheaper water sources, as Flint had done. “Rarely, however, have the changes offered much benefit; frequently, they have made the situation worse,” he said. The City of Flint has excavated 25,400 service lines in its effort to replace all lead service lines. Fewer than 5,000 are left to check, according to contractors. Testing has continued to show that water quality has stabilized, and residents are encouraged to get their water tested. Water filters also are available as a more convenient option for Flint households. Filters, replacement cartridges, and water tests are free and delivered to your front door. Nestlé Waters North America has been providing 100,000 bottles of free water each week to the residents of Flint since May 2018. The water is distributed from three help centers in the city, with more than 9.7 million bottles donated to date. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Nestlé has increased its donation of bottled water to the Flint with donations earmarked specifically for home delivery to those who are most vulnerable to the deadly virus. ss
Simple Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Family from Lead Hazards WI Staff Report If you think your home has high levels of lead, the Environmental Protection Agency advises taking the following steps:
Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF)
HELPING OUR NEIGHBORS Washington Gas and The Salvation Army created the Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF) to help families in need pay their heating bills. Utility assistance is available regardless of the type of fuel used to heat a home. You do not have to be customers to receive assistance. A family of four earning up to $75,050 could be eligible.
ANYONE seeking to RECEIVE FUNDS through WAFF can fill out the application at
SalvationArmyNCA.org/gethelp through May 31.
Make sure your children eat healthy, low-fat foods high in iron, calcium, and vitamin C. Get your children tested for lead, even if they seem healthy.
Always wash your hands before eating.
Get your home tested for lead if it was built before 1978. Call 1-800-424-LEAD for more information. Wash children’s hands, bottles, pacifiers, and toys.
Do not use imported pottery to store or serve food.
Let tap water run for one minute before using. Use only cold water for making your baby’s formula, drinking, and cooking.
Regularly clean floors, windowsills, and other surfaces using wet methods that control dust.
Wipe or remove shoes before entering your house. If you rent, it is your landlord’s job to keep paint in good shape. Report peeling or chipping paint to your landlord and call your health department if the paint is not repaired safely.
For additional information on protecting yourself and your family from lead exposure, contact or visit: The National Lead Information Center 1-800-424-LEAD (424-5323) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Safe Drinking Water Hotline 1-800-426-4791 EPA Lead Program Web site www.epa.gov/lead U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Web site www.hud.gov/offices/lead
Take precautions to avoid exposure to lead dust when remodeling or renovating.
Don’t try to remove paint yourself!
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ai158636658340_SWYDESTIV148190_2019SustainabilityHighlights.pdf
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Our Future
Sustainability Highlights: 2019
By being locally great and nationally strong, we are able to make a meaningful difference for our people, planet, products, and communities.
PEOPLE
Supporting employees to reach their full potential More than 60 women in Albertsons Companies were recognized for their leadership by industry publications
More than 60,000 of our associates celebrated 15 years years of service, and more than 43,000 celebrated over 20 years of service
Over 241,000 employees have completed Diversity and Inclusion Training
PLANET
Minimizing our impact on the planet Recycled more than 25 million
pounds of plastic film and 780 million pounds of cardboard from our facilities
1,400+ energy efficiency projects completed in 475+ stores and warehouses
Announced Plastics and Packaging Pledge which includes 100% of
our Own Brands packaging will be recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025
PRODUCTS
Meeting the demands of an evolving marketplace
Won the EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award for the third year
Expanded Open Nature® brand with
compostable and bamboo products, and added certified plant-based, organic frozen
foods and meatless proteins to our Own Brands portfolio
100% of our Own Brands Waterfront BISTRO® and Open Nature® seafood is sourced to meet our Responsible Seafood Policy, achieving our commitment three years ahead of our 2022 goal
COMMUNITY
Supporting causes that impact our customers’ lives Our stores donated more
than 100 million pounds of food, making us a Visionary Partner for Feeding America®
Partnered with 146 local
organizations and food banks in 35 states
to provide hunger relief
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Enabled 70 million
breakfasts to kids in need
in 2019 through Hunger Is®, and more than 100 million breakfasts since the program began
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL
Trump Finds a Scapegoat for COVID-19 – What’s Needed is a Recovery Plan
President Trump recently made good on his threat to withhold funding from the World Health Organization [W.H.O.] over its actions taken and approach to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Instead of looking toward developing a recovery plan which will be critical to the U.S. and other countries as the world returns to some semblance of normal once the pandemic is over, Trump has chosen to point fingers, deflecting attention from his Administration and his earlier perspective that the coronavirus was nothing more than a “hoax.” The president, we fear, has moved America in the wrong direction with his decision to target the health organization, laying the blame for the spread of COVID-19 in their lap. As he tweeted several days ago: “The WHO really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look.” Once again and as no surprise, the president has chosen to politicize COVID – a conclusion which W.H.O. Director-General Ghebreyesus announced in response to Trump’s threat last week which has now come to pass. Trump wants to review what he describes as “mismanagement” and withhold what amounts to 15 percent of the organization’s approach, taking a similar approach that he followed in 2017 when the U.S. cut $285 million from its funding to the United Nations. he U.S. cut $285 million from its funding to the United Nations. The U.S. contributed more than $400 million to the W.H.O. last year – the largest donor of any country toward the organization’s $6 billion budget in 2018-2019. Ironically, while the U.S. enjoys its self-described position as the “leader of the free world,” we don’t seem willing to pay the price for being the leader or chose policies that help us stand out as a leader more concerned for the well-being of the world’s population instead of just America’s citizens. We cannot say for certainty whether the W.H.O. should be held accountable for the spread of this life-threatening pandemic or not. Maybe Trump has a point. But the real issue with hundreds of thousands of deaths, critically-ill citizens and an economy boarding on implosion is not who’s to blame. What we need from our commander-in-chief is his total focus to developing a recovering plan for the future – for the time when social distancing mandates will be rescinded, when businesses reopen, when education moves from virtual instruction to classrooms. We will need to figure out how to care for those whose health will forever be comprised by the coronavirus. We will need a plan for a very new world. There’s no time to waste pointing fingers. And given the number of deaths already recorded or those that we’ll see in the coming months, does it really matter? WI
TO THE EDITOR Finding Religion
We’re the Victims Here
I always read this paper when I can find it. The stores near me don’t have it. It would be nice if it can come to my building. I love the spiritual corner in the back of the paper by Lyndia Grant. Thank you so very much.
Really disappointing to see how Black people are being made the face of the coronavirus. At first, the conversation was about testing and lack of preparedness by the U.S. medical system as a whole, but now it’s about the Black death rate and thus the demonization of our people. We’re dying at a high rate for the same reasons we always die at a high rate – systematic inequality! Food deserts, economic deprivation, redlining, environmental racism — shall I go on?
Adrienne VanDorn Washington, D.C.
COVID-19 and the Environment
Global efforts to battle the months-long spread of COVID-19 that is leaving hundreds of thousands sick, and thousands more dead, is far from over. The continuing threat is real, and some areas, including the Nation’s Capital, are said to still be facing a peak of the pandemic, rather than a “flattening of the curve.” For now, “Stay-AtHome” orders will remain in effect, thereby requiring the indefinite adherence to social distancing, wearing of face masks in public and constant hand-washing. This new normal that is a necessary inconvenience to humans is beginning to have positive impact on the environment. And it comes at a time when activists whose causes include clean air, clean water and green living, are planning a virtual celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day next Wednesday, April 22. Environmentalists have made a causal connection between the impact of industrial development across the planet and health concerns that create and exacerbate diseases that cause sickness and death. Also, there is evidence that people living in polluted environments have a much more difficult time staving off infections or illness and even a higher chance of succumbing to both. We’re seeing it now with COVID-19 and it is having a disproportionate impact on African Americans who, not only may lead an
Sandy Myers Washington, D.C.
unhealthy lifestyle, but are more likely to live in unhealthy environments. The good news is slowly coming to light. Despite the inconvenience of COVID-19, the air is getting clearer, the rivers are getting cleaner and humans are cleaning and disinfecting their personal living spaces as if their lives depended on it…and it does. The reduction of people and vehicles on the streets, fewer planes flying the air and a drastic cut in gas and oil manufacturing, among a host of other factors, seem to be
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having a positive impact on the environment. But the question is, for how long? It also begs the question, are we, human beings, the virus that’s killing the environment? Are we creating the cause of a pandemic that is causing death among ourselves? Earth Day is a day to celebrate, only if we realize we are responsible for creating a clean, safe and healthy environment. What this virus has taught us should not be forgotten when the curve flattens. WI
APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 23
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Julianne Malveaux
City Finances are Hard-Hit by the Coronavirus
ities depend on density. They C depend on people milling around downtown, or at neighborhood parks, or street fairs and restaurants. Not only does this milling about bring energy to urban areas, but it also contributes dollars to city coffers. Now with the coronavirus causing some cities to issue “shelter at home” orders, close
restaurants except for pickup and delivery, and order the use of facial coverings in public places, the gush of revenue has slowed to a drip, and cities are being forced to revise their budgets to manage the new reality. San Francisco Mayor London Breed was quick to act, issuing a shelter-in-place order in late February. In contrast, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dragged his feet on issuing such an order. While some cities closed schools
in early March, de Blasio dragged his feet until mid-March. As a result, San Francisco is in much better shape, in terms of infections, than New York is. At the same time, both San Francisco and New York are both grappling with the impact of decreased revenue. People won’t necessarily feel it right away, and there will be some federal help available, but it will likely take cities years to recover. The District of Columbia started the year with a projected bud-
Guest Columnist
get surplus. It had 77 days of reserves on hand, more than they’ve had in years. These reserves were partly due to the steady leadership of Mayor Muriel Bowser and the economic expansion of the past several years. But as soon as the coronavirus lifted its ugly head and Mayor Bowser wisely ordered all nonessential commerce to cease, city finances were at risk. The mayor recently said the city will end this fiscal year $600 million in the hole, which will cause a hiring freeze, a salary freeze and
other austerity measures. The tourism industry is virtually nonexistent these days, and many cities fund some services with taxes on tourists. In San Antonio, about 270 employees will be furloughed because their positions were funded by the Hotel Occupancy Tax. In Detroit, the mayor expects to cut its already “to the bone” budget by $100 million. Baltimore is relocating homeless people to motels to lim-
MALVEAUX Page 41
By Marc H. Morial
World of Black-Owned Businesses and Entrepreneurs Has Lost its Greatest Champion at the forefront of black economic development in the early days.” — Earl G. Graves Sr. “I feel that a large part of my role as publisher of Black Enterprise is to be a catalyst for Black economic development in this country. When I can act as an instrument to make it happen for legitimate and reasonable people, I do it. I try to be helpful and put people together, whether it’s finding a candidate for a trustee position at Howard University or reaching out to the CEO of Motown Records to save a company that was
As the nation’s preeminent civil rights organization dedicated to the economic empowerment of Black people, the National Urban League shares a mission with Black Enterprise magazine and its late founder and publisher, Earl G. Graves Sr. Founded in 1970, Black Enterprise has helped to launch and nurture the careers of two generations of African American pro-
fessionals and innovators. Earl Graves was not just a chronicler of Black businesses and entrepreneurs, but a leader, and a role model for excellence in his own right. Graves’ partnership with and support of the National Urban League was extensive and influential. Graves’ devotion to his three sons, Earl Jr., John and Michael, was a large part of the inspiration for the National Urban League’s Male Responsibility Campaign. The initiative, launched in 1985
Guest Columnist
by then-president John Jacob, was designed to educate young men about the importance of a father in a child’s life. The following year, Jacob and Graves teamed up to persuade a national hotel chain, the frequent host of Black-themed conventions and meetings, to expand its advertising into Black-owned media. Born in 1935 to West Indies immigrants, Graves was seized by the entrepreneurial spirit early in his life, selling Christmas cards door to door in his Brooklyn neighborhood at the tender
age of 6. His father’s struggle to move beyond blue-collar employment, despite a high school diploma, was a motivating force as he pursued a college education. He graduated in 1957 from Morgan State University, whose business school now bears his name. Graves served two years as an officer in the Army, then worked in various jobs before joining the presidential campaign of Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The next year he was appointed to the staff of Sen.
MORIAL Page 41
By Donnell Williams and Antoine M. Thompson
Fate of the American Middle Class Is in the Hands of Regulators
Last week, Congress passed phase three of its COVID-19 response, the CARES ACT, a $2 trillion stimulus package that has become most well-known for its direct payments of up to $1,200 for many Americans. These payments are a much-appreciated addition to the already enacted policies like the delayed tax deadline,
24 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
deferred interest on student loan payments, updated paid sick leave policies, and other actions taken to ease the impact the pandemic is causing. One of the policies that the media has largely neglected to cover is the impact of widespread forbearance — the term for when a mortgage servicer allows homeowners
to temporarily pay at a lower rate or pause payments. During the current crisis, forbearance will serve as a significant relief for many middle- and low-income families. The typical mortgage can add up to nearly 30 percent of the average American family’s income, and with many individuals temporarily out of work and affected by COVID-19, forbearance allows those funds to be reallocated to immediate life-sustaining expenses like meals and
medications. Homeownership has long been a quintessential element of the American dream. It is more than a place to live. It is a tangible path to the middle class — and arguably the greatest investment an individual can make. Furthermore, expanding access to homeownership is key to closing the gap between socioeconomic classes, providing new economic opportunities for families, and laying the foundation for success for aspiring home-
owners. However, an often unknown part of forbearance is that although homeowners around the country are receiving much-needed relief, lenders and servicers are still obligated to pay principal, interest, taxes, and insurance, on the homeowner’s behalf. Given the nature of their business, this is potentially fatal for non-bank lenders.
WILLIAMS/THOMPSON Page 41
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By E. Faye Williams
Refreshing the Voter Rolls
With the COVID-19 tragedy, our community has lost so many of our voters who’ve succumbed to the virus. As we grieve their losses, I thought about the untold number of brothers and sisters we’ve lost as voters when they were arbitrarily removed from voter rolls and lost
their voting privilege when Republicans raided voter rolls and removed thousands of our people. Not only have we lost potential voters, but we’ve lost many who regularly take the time to publicly support voter registration projects because we are all advised to stay indoors when they would normally be signing up voters. With that in mind, Bishop Joe Simon, the former R&B genius,
Guest Columnist
and I talked about the terrible impact the coronavirus has had on his carefully laid out plans to personally travel to various of our communities to promote voter registration. As the virus grew worse and public officials began adding more and more time to how long we might still be under “shelter in place” orders, we decided that one way to continue with voter registration would be to develop an online voter registration project. The
project was launched through Joe Simon Ministries on Monday, April 6. We understand that everyone may not know how to use the appropriate online forms since every state differs in its requirements. I serve as president of the National Congress of Black Women whose early leaders included Dr. C. Delores Tucker (founder and former secretary of state of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania) and the incomparable
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. Joe and I decided we could do something to register voters since we don’t have the ability to travel to the towns planned. Members of the National Congress of Black Women agreed to learn each state’s procedures so that we could provide technical assistance to anyone requiring it. The press release
WILLIAMS Page 42
By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
Coronavirus Illustrates Our Failure to Create a Fair Society
The media has just discovered that the coronavirus is far more deadly to Blacks and Latinos than to whites. Twice as deadly in New York City, according to The New York Times. Seventy-two percent of the fatalities in Chicago are Blacks who constitute about 30 percent of the population. The news is treated as a shocking revelation on the BBC, CNN and CBS and in newspapers across the country.
Why should anyone be shocked? Over 150 years after the abolition of slavery, and over six decades since the end of legal apartheid in this country, America still remains, as the Kerner Commission concluded in 1968, “two societies, one Black, one white, separate and unequal.” The coronavirus does not discriminate, but people do. African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to die because we bear the preexisting condition known as race. The reality is harsh and inescapable. African Americans are more likely to be poor, more likely to be
Askia-At-Large
unemployed, more likely to lack health insurance, more likely to be arrested, jailed and incarcerated. We live lives of greater stress, in neighborhoods too often scarred by gun violence. The result is a lower life expectancy even before the virus hit. This discrepancy is structural, and it is not accidental. It is, as the Kerner Commission concluded, the direct result of public policy and private prejudice. African Americans are more likely to be afflicted with preexisting health conditions that make the virus particularly fatal: heart disease, diabetes, asthma, obesi-
ty. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, we are 50 percent more likely to have heart disease and 40 percent more likely to die at an early age. Nineteen percent of us can’t afford to see a doctor. The majority of us live in the South where many Republican governors have refused to extend Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Anti-immigration rhetoric and policing make many Hispanics reluctant to go to the hospital or see a doctor, even if they can afford it. Blacks and Hispanics also constitute a disproportionate number of the front-line workers — the
bus drivers and grocery clerks, janitors and mass transit workers, child care and nursing home staffs. They take the early bus. They do not have the luxury of “social distancing.” They can’t work from home and can’t afford not to work. These realities are preexisting conditions that make us more vulnerable to the virus. They aren’t a secret, even though they are seldom discussed. Now the virus is bringing them to public attention once more. The question is whether anything will be done this time. If the president or Congress were serious, they would create a
JACKSON Page 42
By Askia Muhammad
White House Press: A News-Free Zone
Finally, finally, the overpaid guys who wear the suits in the corporate-owned news media front offices have begun to come to the realization that they’ve been “played” for nearly a month by the crafty badger in the White House. In the form of “coronavirus updates,” Donald J. Trump has managed to get himself free daily prime-
time television, radio and cable airtime to dispense useless, often false information intended for one purpose and one purpose only: to make Donald J. Trump look good. He can’t really have campaign rallies nowadays, with enforced, social distancing, so he does the next best thing, he marches into the White House press briefing room where he commences to read a bunch of boring, exaggerated statistics about what a great job he’s doing. Not only are the outlets repeating
Trump’s drivel, they are then obviously unable to air any reporting of their own that might contradict 45’s view. He even boasted during one of the bizarre, snore-fests, that his ratings were “through the roof,” better even than “The Bachelor” and “Monday Night Football.” Some broadcasters have begun dropping the drivel when he brings on one of his advisors to say something, or—recognizing the non-urgency of what Dude is saying every
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day in the first place—have decided to not even bother with the broadcasts. Days ago, a group of non-commercial radio stations announced they would not carry the presidential briefings because of the near impossibility of fact-checking everything he would be saying in real-time as he spoke. He’s such a liar. But this Dude didn’t invent the White House Press Office system, he simply turned it to manure. He’s good at that. He dumps on
journalists regularly. He has a special penchant for insulting black female correspondents. He bullies the “briefings,” he blocks his “experts” from answering questions he doesn’t like, he cheats to get sympathetic journalists into the socially-distanced, reduced-capacity room. He has no bounds. But the White House Press Corps has always been like that. I
ASKIA Page 42 APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 25
LIFESTYLE Kenny Westray Eludes Death Twice – Now A Go-To Designer for NBA Players By Curtis Bunn, Urban News Service (A Division of Zenger News) Kenny Westray has battled to stay relevant in the clothing game for decades—and he has the scars to prove it. Westray, now 53, suffered a gunshot to the mouth when he was 24 and seven stab wounds a year later.
But he told Zenger News he had to go through that pain and trauma to get to where he is, on the precipice of celebrating 28 years as one of NBA players’ go-to clothing designers for athletic wear. While many players have deals like LeBron James’ mega-contract with Nike, it is routine to see James, Kevin Durant and
Available in paperback and e-book formats on Amazon.com. From Southeast Washington’s premier author Ronald R. Hanna
26 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
many other NBA players sporting Westray’s brand, We Are One. “I haven’t really sat back and thought about the journey,” Westray said. “I had no idea I’d still be in business 28 years. But I thank God every day.” Westray spent five years in prison on a drug charge, but he said his life of crime turned around after his second near-death experience. A friend shot him in the mouth during an argument over drugs one year and he was stabbed multiple times during a drug deal gone wrong the next. When he was released, he found a job at The Athlete’s Foot in the Maryland suburbs, selling sneakers. He was quickly promoted to manager, moved to a Washington, D.C. store and helped it earn $2 million in a year. Finally, he was responsible for the sale of clothes in the store, which was when it clicked for him. “I found my niche,” he said. “I was pronounced dead twice,” he said. After the stabbing, “I thought I saw my grandmother and mother say, ‘That’s two strikes.’ That’s when I put down the drugs and picked up the T-shirts.” He parlayed the sewing and designing skills he developed in junior high school into a business in 1992. He used $2,000 of his savings to launch We Are One, selling athletic gear out of the trunk of his Honda. It was stylish and trendy, “urban classic” style, Westray recalls. It was a hit because Westray’s designs featured oversized pockets that accommodated the large hands of athletes and prevented wallets and other items from falling out. “They appreciated that part of my designs,” he said. His friend, former NBA star Sam Cassell, was among the first to sport We Are One. “I met Kenny and we just clicked,” said Cassell, now an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. “He said, ‘I got something for you.’ It was some of his gear. I loved it.” Cassell helped spread the word of We Are One to his NBA friends, like Nick Van Exel, Sherman Douglas, Steve Francis, Dennis Scott, Eddie Jones, Penny Hardaway, James Posey and Nick Anderson, among others. Westray quit The Athlete’s Foot and opened Alpine, a storefront on D.C.’s Florida Avenue, not far from Howard University. “I was just hoping to make $250 a day to pay my rent that first year,” he said. The store made $400,000.
5 Kenny Westray founded We Are One after surviving both a shooting and stabbing. (Photo courtesy Kenny Westray)
The success inspired him to open eight more locations in metro D.C., Baltimore and Houston, where he moved, met Master P and ran the rapper and entrepreneur’s No Limits clothing line for four years. Westray’s brand continues to flourish. More than 200 players have donned his gear—a monumental feat for an independent operation— including James and Durant. “What Kenny has done with his brand is outrageous,” Cassell said. “To take an inner-city, urban brand in the ’90s and elevate it to where at one point at least 60 percent of NBA players were wearing it, that’s pretty remarkable. Even coaches wore it.” Through former Denver Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe and executive Tommy Sheppard, We Are One gear in 2002 was sold in the team’s NBA Store in the area. It was also sold in arenas in Milwaukee and Houston and elsewhere. The “We Are One” title became a rallying cry in 2014 when tapes were released of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling making a series of racist comments. Clippers coach Doc Rivers wrote “We Are One” on the chalkboard in the locker room as a rallying cry for his mostly black players. Soon, countless players around the league were wearing shirts with “We Are One “on them—but it was Westray’s trademark. Vandeweghe, who had moved to the NBA office by then, realized it, called Westray, and he and the league worked out a multimillion-dollar deal to use the phrase.
It was significant to Westray because he came up with the name to have multiple purposes. Originally, it was about him and two friends uniting as one, an idea confirmed when the song “We Are One” by Frankie Beverly and Maze blared from a convertible’s speakers as the thought popped into his head. “‘ In the spirit of God, We Are One,’ is really the brand,” he said. And “now, as we deal with the coronavirus, it’s about We Are One, ” he said. “We have to work together, be one, to get past this.” Westray filed a lawsuit against The Gap for using his trademark without permission, and after two years of wrangling, won a significant settlement. The money aside, Westray enjoys the business the most when he is creating. The 2008 financial crisis and gentrification combined to force him to close all but one store in Maryland, which is temporarily shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic. But he has extended his products to include jackets, button-up shirts, women’s and children’s clothes. He said he designs 90% of the products he retails. “It’s the best when I am designing,” Westray said. He still gets pleasure out of seeing people wearing his creations, like when he says rap mogul Dr. Dre told him, “Man, your clothes are so comfortable.” “You feel good about yourself when stuff like that happens,” said Westray. “All this time, it still feels good.” WI
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Remembering Rosa Parks: A Civil Rights Icon and Black Women’s Suffrage Champion By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
This is part of an ongoing Washington Informer series about the Women’s Suffrage Movement and an initiative that includes Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes that will use the lens of history, the fabric of art and culture and the venue of the public square to shine a light into dark places, equipping all with a compass to chart the way forward. The initiative lives in the institutional home of the Washington Informer Charities. In October 2005, Rosa Parks died of natural causes, and the world mourned a civil rights icon. Yet most Americans are only familiar with the made-for-TV version of Parks, while many historians had documented Parks’ sacrifice and commitment to social justice and equity. “The sanitized versions view Parks as a dignified, graceful and respectable Southern Black woman. Historians have portrayed Parks as an activist and social justice warrior,” said David Canton, an associate professor of history and director of Africana studies at Connecticut College. “Rosa Parks was an activist long before she became the ‘mother of the civil rights movement,’” Canton added. The professor noted that Parks actively fought sexual assault in Alabama as well as for Black women’s suffrage. In 1920, the Supreme Court passed the 19th Amendment that allowed women’s suffrage, but in the South, only middle-class Black women, who could afford to pay the poll tax, were permitted to vote. “Parks fought to get all Black Southern women to vote, and in 1965, a decade after Montgomery, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act,” Canton said. After the bus boycott, racist backlash ensued. “The Parks family could not get any employment and were forced to leave Alabama. They relocated to Detroit, Michigan, and former congressman John Conyers hired Parks
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5 Rosa Parks, seen here circa 1955 with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the background (National Archives)
where she had remained active in civil rights,” Canton said. In 1984, Parks and civil rights activist Joe Madison asked African Americans to boycott Dearborn, Michigan because the city had passed an ordinance that prohibited Blacks from Detroit from using their playgrounds. In Michigan, all Black women had the right to vote, but Parks supported gender equity and participated in both women and Black women’s movements. “Rosa Parks understood that racism existed in the women’s movement and she made sure that white women did not marginalize Black women’s perspective,” Canton said. In 2013, eight years after Parks’ death, the Supreme Court ruling in the Shelby v. Holder case allowed states to change voting rules without any clearance from the federal government. Since 2013, over 1,000 polling places have closed in many Southern states, and this has had a disproportionate impact on Black voters. “Any Republican politician who had visited Parks’ body in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and who have not fought to end voter suppression but said they support Rosa Parks’ life and work, they have disrespected her legacy and are bald-faced liars,” Canton said. WI
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 27
LIFESTYLE
Hairy Situation: COVID-19 Pandemic Forces Tough Styling Decisions By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwriter Since D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered nonessential businesses such as barber and beauty shops to close as of March 25 as a result of the coronavirus, many Washingtonians have been in a conundrum about the appearance of their hair. In an interview with The Inform-
er, former D.C. Council member Sandy Allen made a confession. “My hair looks like the devil,” she said with a laugh. “I am having a fit. I have a friend of mine who is a barber who I would like to come to my house to work on my hair and I can’t wait until that happens.” Even Bowser candidly admitted at an April 8 news conference that she wished her hair could be done professionally but stood by her or-
der and would not consider a partial lifting of it for the barber and beauty industry in the city. “I know that the beauty business employs a lot of people in the city,” the mayor said. “But we have to slow down the spigot when it comes to this virus. The workers in the beauty industry are eligible for unemployment benefits and the businesses are eligible for grants and loans from the city and the federal government but
5 Hairstyles done by people without the aid of a barber or beautician. (Courtesy photo/ Pinterest grab)
let me say this. It has been the businesses themselves that have said to me that they would be safer if they were closed during this pandemic.” Dereck Davis, co-owner of the Davis Barber and Beauty Service in Ward 8, said his barbers have been inundated with calls from customers “begging for haircuts and offering to come to their houses or the barbers come to theirs.” “But I advise them against that,” Davis, a former president of the National Barber Boards of America and the former chairman of the D.C. Barber and Cosmetology Board,” said. “We don’t know where our customers have been and who they have interacted with. Besides, some of my barbers have preexisting conditions such as diabetes and that makes them susceptible to the virus. “I know it is tough for a lot of barbers who don’t have an income at this time,” he said. “But I would not recommend they work on people’s hair at this time. It’s just not worth the risk. This about safety.” Allen respects the intent of the mayor’s order and Davis’ viewpoint but notes that hair professionals visiting their clients’ homes has roots in
African American history. “I remember when I was younger beauticians used to come to your house,” she said. “The beauticians would work on everyone’s hair. I would get my hair done in my grandmother’s kitchen.” Some people who can’t get to a hair professional have resorted to styling their hair themselves or with the assistance of a family member or friend. Davis expresses reservations with that approach. “People need to wait for the professionals,” he said. “We are educated and well-trained in all situations with styling hair. We are trained in the principles of sanitation and sterilization of equipment and how to deal with different textures of hair.” Wanda Henderson, owner of Wanda’s on 7th in Northwest, offers advice for people on what to do until Bowser rescinds her order. “People should shampoo their hair twice a week,” she said. “That should get the virus, if it is there, out of their hair. This is especially the case if locs or bushes are worn. Also, people should maintain good personal hygiene because that will keep germs away.” WI
BUDGET from Page 11
The council chair said he doesn’t have a sense yet of what may be cut in the 2020-2021 budget. “We need to get a better number to work with,” Mendelson said, adding that he will wait for the April 24 figure before commenting further on the budget. But the chairman made it clear that cuts will take place. “One thing for sure is that the budget will be much leaner,” he said. “Adding additional programs, that will be a hurdle. We should be thinking of priorities.” WI
that bolsters the city’s economy, as well as the possibility that the District will get $500 million from a fourth stimulus bill passed by the U.S. Congress that it didn’t get in the third bill because of the city being labeled as a territory. Once the mayor presents the budget proposal, it jump-starts a process in which the council makes changes and ultimately approves it before it goes before Congress for review. Mendelson, as the leader of the District’s legislative body, manages the process.
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PRIMARY from Page 13 Some jurisdictions early voting precincts, including Prince George’s County, which has 11. The state will allow the local election boards to choose which places to open. Alisha Alexander, election administrator in the county, said in an April 14 email; that the four sites scheduled to open are Kentland Community Center, College Park Community Center, Bowie Gymnasium and Southern Regional Technology and Recreation Complex in Fort Washington. One of the county’s biggest voting precincts, Wayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex in Landover, may not be available because County Executive Angela Alsobrooks announced last week the complex could serve as a potential alternative care site for those who test positive for COVID-19. The governor sent the Army Corps of Engineers to assess the feasibility of handling patients at the site. The majority-Black jurisdiction has the highest number of positive coronavirus cases in the state. As of March 31, the county has 628,929 registered voters, Alexander said, adding that the election board continues to assess how many poll workers would be needed at each site since most of them are 60 or older. She said information could be provided within the next two weeks. Personal protective equipment has been ordered for election judges, other staff and poll workers. Social distancing practices will also implemented at the polls. “This is a pandemic that none of us have ever experienced before and has presented numerous challenges for elections,” she said. “As the elections administrator, there are many difficult decisions to be made that strikes a balance between protecting the health and safety of our employees, election judges and voters and ensuring that citizens can exercise their right to vote.” Voting advocates continue to urge state and local election officials to provide not only a variety of options but also transparency in the process to keep voters informed. “Getting that information out early and often to folks, whether it is mailers, on a website, [or] even robocalls to voters to let them know the information they need is extremely important,” said Diallo Brooks, senior director of outreach and public engagement for People for the American Way in northwest D.C. “Board of Elections officials need to be all over that. I know their hands are full. We need to make sure we dismantle all the barriers for citizens to participate.” WI
Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF)
HELPING OUR NEIGHBORS Washington Gas and The Salvation Army created the Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF) to help families in need pay their heating bills. Utility assistance is available regardless of the type of fuel used to heat a home. You do not have to be customers to receive assistance. A family of four earning up to $75,050 could be eligible.
ANYONE seeking to RECEIVE FUNDS through WAFF can fill out the application at
SalvationArmyNCA.org/gethelp through May 31.
Stay Informed! www.washingtoninformer.com
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 29
LIFESTYLE INCARCERATION from Page 1 was also her daughter’s 27th birthday. While her husband awaits a new court date, Hazelton wants to make sure he and other inmates are subjected to clean and sanitary conditions during the coronavirus pandemic. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol when soap and water is not “readily available,” the substance remains illegal in jails and prisons because of its alcohol content. “[Inmates] have access to sinks
30 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
in their cells, but not when they are walking around in common areas,” said Hazelton, who runs Lifer Family Support Network. “I think it is a human rights situation. You don’t have to know of anyone there. They’re people.” Hazelton and other advocates are calling for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to mandate jail and prison officials to provide better treatment to incarcerated individuals and returning citizens in a state where the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hovers near 10,000. Along with her group, the ACLU
of Maryland, retired law enforcement personnel and criminal justice reform activists sent a letter to the governor’s office with a list of demands, including: • limiting arrests and pretrial detention to decrease jail and prison populations, except when doing so poses an imminent risk to public safety. • releasing those who are currently or recently have been pregnant, persons 60 and older and those with medical conditions per CDC guidelines. • coordinating with the courts to release youth housed at juvenile facilities.
• suspending the prohibition of hand sanitizers in jails and prisons, and providing better hygiene products and unlimited cleaning supplies for all inmates and staff. Health officials have stressed social distancing — including the recommendation that persons stand at least six feet apart from each other — will help combat the outbreak. But jails and prisons are inherently designed to house inmates in tight quarters. “An outbreak in a facility affects all of us, no matter where people are,” said Sonia Kumar, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Maryland. On Saturday, an inmate in his 60s at the Jessup Correctional Institution became the first incarcerated person to die in Maryland due to the coronavirus. The state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said in a statement that the inmate had underlying conditions. As of Monday, the department reported 93 confirmed coronavirus cases within the state prison system, including 13 officers, 10 inmates and 10 contractual employees at the Jessup facility. D.C. Jail officials also announced Monday its first inmate death from the virus. Deon M. Crowell, 51, who was awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge, died Monday morning, six days after he was diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease. Defense attorneys have urged the release of hundreds of inmates because the virus could spread inside the jail. Medical professionals and instructors at Howard, Georgetown and George Washington universities released a letter Tuesday to the mayor, judges and other city officials with recommendations for limiting the spread of COVID-19, including releasing all inmates with misdemeanor offenses, arranging for testing of incarcerated individuals and correctional facility workers who exhibit common or atypical symptoms, and waiving fees or copays for related medical care or testing. “As public health experts, we believe these steps are essential to support the health of incarcerated individuals, who are some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” the letter stated. “The vital personnel who work in prisons and jail and all people in the District of Columbia. Our compassion for and treatment of these populations impact us all.” Advocates nationwide have demanded state and correctional offi-
cials to release nonviolent inmates as hundreds of correctional officers and inmates continue to contract the coronavirus. Governors in New Jersey and Pennsylvania issued executive orders Friday, April 10 to grant the temporary release of nonviolent offenders, those scheduled for release within months and elderly inmates. Also on Friday, the Washington Supreme Court ordered Gov. Jay Inslee and Steven Sinclair, director of the state’s Department of Corrections, to present a report no later than noon Monday, April 13 and an update report Thursday. “We recently took considerable action, including suspending civil and criminal trials across our state, because our court facilities are ill-equipped to effectively comply with social distancing and other public health requirements,” Judge Sheryl Gordon McCloud wrote. “It’s difficult to believe that our prisons and jails are any better equipped to ensure public health. Indeed, we now know that COVID-19 has found its way inside our prisons.” Locally, fewer than 600 inmates remain at the Prince George’s County jail after the court agreed to release about 136 inmates. Mary Lou McDonough, director of the county jail, said at a press conference Thursday, April 9 that correctional officers received masks the week prior. Then the jail issued masks to inmates April 6. Both officers and inmates received “sanitation materials,” but no hand sanitizer, at least for those incarcerated, she said. “An inmate is never more than six feet away from a sink. There’s a sink in every cell,” McDonough said. “We are providing them with soap every day.” Neill Franklin, executive director of Law Enforcement Action Partnership and a former state trooper, said that at a “critical level,” at least 60 percent of those incarcerated in the state’s jails and prisons could be affected by COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. “If we don’t do something soon, that’s what we’re going to be looking at,” he said. “I’m very familiar with the unsanitary conditions in our institutions as well as close contact and the lack of cleaning supplies. The lack of soap … and other things that are definitely during such a time in dealing with a very contagious virus.” WI
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LIFESTYLE
wi book review “Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels: Insulting the President, from Washington to Trump” By Edwin L. Battistella c.2020, Oxford University Press $14.95 By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer You’ve got a few things to say about that guy in the White House. If not now, well, you’ve said a few things about other guys in the White House over the years — much of it civil, but some of it was inappropriate for polite society. And in “Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels” by Edwin L. Battistella, you’re in good company. Was there ever a time when people didn’t verbally poke one another? Probably not. Says Battistella, in times past, insulting was a combat sport of lips and minds, like a Greek-and-Roman “Yo Mama” war of words. With that history of zingers and arrows in mind, it’s no surprise that American Presidents have heard their share. Insults, says Battistella, take many forms but for all of them, disrespect and demeaning are key. In politics, especially, neutral words can take on a tone of deep insult, some names practically scream to be zinged, flaws (real or perceived) could be highlighted, and insulters should gets bonus points for alliteration. Old language can also resurface as a brand-new burn, when words just come back around to insult anew. “Dotard,” anyone? Sticks, stones and snowflakes aside, then, does an insult matter? Yes, says Battistella: “How we insult presidents tells us about the presidents, but it also tells us about the American nation’s anxieties and aspirations.” And that White House guy gets it on the chin. Though he was really quite popular, for example, George Washington took his share of insults, and he took them to heart. Abraham Lincoln, beloved now, was called an “imbecile” in his day. Alice Roosevelt Longworth had very little good to say about her cousin-in-law, Franklin. Harry Truman was infamously rankled by an insult to his daughter; JFK and Bill Clinton were both called “spoiled”; several post-World-War-II presidents have been verbally compared to Hitler; Margaret Thatcher had a uniquely-British opinion about Ronald Reagan, and what was said about Richard Nixon, well, let’s just say that it’s in this book … In this time of partisan politics and divisiveness, you’ve probably said some things. You probably have some opinions. A few of them may be rather peppery, so what you need is a little sprinkle of “Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels.” And that’s about what you’ll get: a small but nicely balanced, nonpartisan selection of 45-plus brief, quick-to-read entries and accompanying sidebars that are gently humorous, historical and — most surprisingly — not entirely focused on politics. Nope, author Edwin L. Battistella writes just as much about the language we use when we create insults as he does about the targets of those japes; here, you’ll learn about the different kinds of insults and how delivery is important. Battistella then goes on to include a glossary of common terms and a how-to for insults which (who knew?) actually have structure and meaning that an English teacher would be proud of. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself burning with a brand-new 18th-century vocabulary. Don’t be surprised if you laugh, either, because, as for “Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels,” there’s a lot of good to say about it. WI
horoscopes
APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
ARIES Your confidence may be increased and you’re ready to leap into something you really like doing. Parachute or not, you seem ready to jump. Shoot for the moon, for sure, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot in the process. If you’re leaving something behind, make sure you’re heading for something better. Lucky Numbers: 27, 42, 52 TAURUS This week, the disseminating moon angles harshly toward the sun at the rising point of your chart. There are thoughts about your identity and how you present yourself in various social and professional situations. Recent events in your life may have shaken some concepts you had since childhood. You may find today that it’s easy to release something you held onto for a long time, something that has been blocking your forward progress. As a symbol of this, look around the house and find something that no longer works such as a clock and consider letting it go. Lucky Numbers: 21, 25, 32 GEMINI Don’t waste time reproaching yourself for past spending. Instead, put your dollars to work by creating a written budget with some money going to obligations and other to savings. Today you can plant the seeds for passive income sources in the future. Lucky Numbers: 9, 38, 44 CANCER One person may be doing more than the other or because of your schedules, there’s too much left undone — especially when it comes to caring for each other. This aspect can help you straighten out the situation by aligning yourselves to a single goal. The Universe is giving you a little push. Drop your routine for just a moment to see how you can both get on the same track. Lucky Numbers: 15, 22, 23 LEO You may have a sudden desire to become a minimalist. You may want to throw away every excessive piece of stuff in your house and garage (and storage unit). This aspect allows you to let go of blocks in your life by releasing external items. They will return to you if you need them. If you have a half-finished project that has sat in your cupboard for weeks (or months or years) consider bundling up all the pieces and tossing them in the trash. Free yourself from the self-recrimination of undone tasks. Lucky Numbers: 3, 6, 32 VIRGO This week is about risk tolerance and when to make the leap as the sun in Aries, in your house of resources, receives an aspect from the moon in Capricorn, in your house of gambling. It’s not about trusting others or even trusting the process. It’s about learning to trust yourself and recognizing when a risk is worth taking. Today, a literal seed can be planted that could change your life. Lucky Numbers: 11, 19, 26 LIBRA Pluto gives you the ability to strip away the fluff and extraneous matter finding the core meaning. What is truly important can be revealed today. And this can be applied to your relationships, with your partner, your friends, and your family. This aspect allows you to make a change, even a radical shift—away from things that don’t work, or help you move toward the goals you truly dream of. Lucky Numbers: 7, 9, 15 SCORPIO This week is about repairing the disconnect between your thoughts and your routines. When you lay down to sleep, do you regret not creating a piece of art; not having a conversation; or not eating a salad? This week you have the opportunity to transform your thoughts and actions. Lucky Numbers: 4, 45, 59 SAGITTARIUS This week is about getting out of your comfort zone especially regarding how you make money. You may have thoughts of the many ways to generate additional income, but have not felt necessarily ready to pull the trigger on any particular scheme. This week find out what’s holding you back. Lucky Numbers: 2, 36, 39 CAPRICORN This week, as the moon moves out of Sagittarius and into your sign of Capricorn, it angles toward the sun in your house of residences. You may be making an important decision about your dwelling. You may, in your mind, be choosing a future date when you will leave this place and move on. Or you may be picking a day in the future when someone will join you in this house such as an older relative or a love partner. Lucky Numbers: 4, 15, 33 AQUARIUS Time to delete the loop of negative thinking and to uncouple the repetition of the same thoughts over and over again. Yes, it’s hard to control your thoughts, but as the thoughts rise up in your mind release them, set the thought on a cloud and let it drift off out of your field of vision. Feel the peace that follows. Lucky Numbers: 9, 12, 14 PISCES This week, as the moon moves through your eleventh house and harshly angles toward the sun traveling through your house of money, it’s time to consider your income derived from career. If you look ahead and don’t see the possibility of an increase or bonus, it may be time to think about moving on. If you have locked yourself into an industry that has little potential, it’s time to use the resource of your time, even if it’s only a few minutes a day, to strike out on a new path toward a better, more lucrative career. Lucky Numbers: 5, 10, 41
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 31
SPORTS For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com
Jackie Robinson Day – The Celebration Goes On, Albeit Virtually
WI Staff Report
Jackie Robinson Day is a traditional event which occurs annually on April 15 in Major League Baseball, commemorating and honoring the day Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. Wikipedia Date: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 Significance: Honoring the legacy of Jackie Robinson Observed by: Major League Baseball Observances: All players and umpires wear uniform number 42
WHO STARTED JACKIE ROBINSON DAY?
Former MLB commissioner Bud Selig officially stated the Jackie Robinson Day would occur annually on April 15 in 2005. The league-wide
donning of No. 42 jerseys began in 2009 and has been a tradition ever since. Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano: “Jackie is my hero.”
WHY DO WE CELEBRATE JACKIE ROBINSON DAY?
April 15 marks Jackie Robinson Day, a day in which every Major League Baseball [MLB] team honors the first player to break the sport’s color barrier after decades of segregation. ... Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.
the MLB. ... Robinson’s No. 42 is the only number to be retired across baseball. Since 2009, MLB honored Robinson on the anniversary of his debut by having all players and staff wear his number, hence the matching uniform numbers every year across baseball. WI
WHY IS MLB WEARING NUMBER 42 TODAY? Jackie
Robinson
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Wizards Update
5 The franchise was meant to build around John Will but for the last two years Wall sat on the bench with an injury. (John De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 5 Bradley Beal has taken over the scoring in the absence of Wall (John De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
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Services [DOES], said she’s witnessed a rapid change in the economic landscape. “Due to the COVID-19 health pandemic, we’ve heard the grievances from claimants and employers. We’ve seen a profound impact on low wage workers and more than 30,000 small businesses in and around the District of Columbia area that we serve,” she said. Madison was one of several local and federal experts who joined with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for a telephone Town Hall on Tuesday, April 14. District resident’s called in to voice their most pressing concerns and look for answers like when they can expect to receive their stimulus check and are they even eligible? Paul Axelson of the IRS said the vast majority of people do not need to take any action to receive a stimulus payment. “Many Americans started receiving payments, showing up in their bank accounts on April 10. Today and through the rest of this week many more Americans will see their payment,” he said. Axelson said if you filed your 2018 or 2019 taxes and made less than $75,000 you are eligible to receive a stimulus check. If you made more than the threshold amount up to $99,000 you will receive a reduced payment. There were other questions from residents as well including: will essential workers receive hazard pay; what about student loan debt; how are residents in nursing homes faring; and how can someone get tested for coronavirus? However, the most prevalent question was concerning unemployment. A Cleveland Park business owner wanted to know if he was eligible for unemployment since his business has been forced to close since it’s not essential. Then there was an independent contractor who asked if he would be able to collect unemployment. “Through the CARES [Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security] Act, three different programs are going to be released in the upcoming weeks,” Madison said. “One of them is called the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. It has expanded the eligibility criteria for individuals who are self-employed, file a 1099 and who are traditionally ineligible for unemployment benefits.” Madison says the CARES Act also provides Federal Pandemic Unem-
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
301.292.9141/FAX 301.292.9142/Mobile 703.819.0920 doris@mcmilloncommunications.com/www.mcmilloncommunications.com
ployment Compensation which provides $600 per week on top of regular unemployment benefits. One woman called in and voiced her frustration, saying she’d just secured a job in February after being unemployed for six months but now she’s laid off again. She said she doesn’t know what to do because she’s exhausted her unemployment benefits. Madison said the CARES Act has a provision for that situation as well – Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation which provides
an additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits. “For those individuals who still need to file unemployment compensation, we strongly encourage you to apply at dcnetworks.org.” Congresswoman Norton says the problems the country now faces as a result of the coronavirus points to the result of failing to be proactive. “The administration got the country into this at least a month late, so we’re playing catch-up. The virus however teaches us not to play catch up, but to get ahead,” she said. WI
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ocrats want Black-owned businesses and other minority firms to receive billions more to assist them during the crisis. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell so far has balked at the proposal. Pelosi said Democrats aren’t signing off on legislation that would neglect Black-owned businesses. The party wants an interim measure to include $100 billion for hospitals and health systems for rapid coronavirus testing and personal protective equipment, $150 billion for state and local governments, and a 15 percent increase in the maximum food stamp benefit for families.
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TECH from Page 12 returned when schools reopen, or by the end of the school year on June 9. The state school board held a virtual meeting Tuesday, which included an update from Superintendent Karen Salmon on how the 24 school systems will prepare for online and distance learning. While schools remain closed, Salmon said school systems must submit a “continuity of learning” plan that includes distance learning platform, technology available, describe roles of school staff and parents, how teachers are grading students and how to accommodate students who don’t have access to a device or the internet. “We are learning a lot as we develop these plans,” Salmon said. “No effort on this scale has ever been attempted in the history of our state school system.” Students without Wi-Fi access at home in Prince George’s can log in to the internet at or in the proximity of 33 schools. A list of the participating schools can be found at pgcps.org. In addition to the school system providing internet access for some students, more devices will be purchased thanks to a $100,000 donation from former county resident and University
Democrats also want $125 billion to be specifically for farmers, women, minority, family and veteran-owned businesses and nonprofits and are calling for improvements to ensure banks do not reject small businesses seeking loans. “The heartbreaking acceleration of the coronavirus crisis demands bold, urgent, and ongoing action from Congress to protect Americans’ lives and livelihoods,” Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. “As Democrats have said since day one, Congress must provide additional relief for small businesses and families, building on the strong down-payment made in the bipartisan CARES Act.” In an editorial in the New York
Times, “Race Related: COVID-19 and the Collapse of America’s Welfare State,” Eduardo Porter wrote that people of color were denied access to many of the benefits provided by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. “If they had been given access, Southern Democrats wouldn’t have voted for it,” Porter wrote. “When Lyndon B. Johnson opened America’s welfare state to African Americans and other minorities 30 years later, the political consensus that had set America down the path of social democracy soon collapsed. “If the safety net had to be shared with people of color, many white Americans decided they would rather not have one at all,” he opined. WI
of Maryland graduate Sam Brin, the younger brother of Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Brin’s donation, along with assistance from the Greater Washington Community Foundation, helps ensure every high school senior in need has the necessary technology to finish their secondary education. The school system will commit $2 million to help cover internet access for families with students eligible for free and reduced-price meals. The partnership with Comcast and Verizon will allow about 82,000 students marked in that category to receive internet or broadband access for the remainder of the school year to end June 9. Another $20,000 donation came from UnitedHealthcare toward internet connectivity. Distance learning isn’t scheduled to start until April 14. A school system timeline summarizes what’s going on before that day. Although March 30 marked the last day for the third quarter, students received permission to electronically file any previously assigned work by Friday, April 3. “Students unable to submit assignments electronically will not be pe-
nalized,” said a school system memo released Friday. “Work identified by teachers as enrichment during the closure will not be graded.” No online instruction will take place between April 6-13, which includes spring break and Easter Monday. Professional development for educators to learn distance and online instruction began more than a week ago. Technology priority went to families in need, parents who completed a PGCPS technology survey and those who communicated with teachers and administrators a need for assistance. Those still in need of technology assistance can go to www.internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376 by April 30. Hours of operation are from 8 a.m. to midnight daily. “While I do not expect your families to replace our professional educators … I do know that we are in this journey together and I truly appreciate all that you have done thus far,” Goldson said during an April 1 press conference outside the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building in Largo. Those looking to donate toward technology costs can do so through the Excellence in Education Foundation for PGCPS Inc. at pgcps.org. WI
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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
My People Perish for the Lack of Knowledge ow frustrating is it to watch H the news day after day and see how African Americans are the hardest-hit during this COVID-19 pandemic? It doesn’t seem to matter whether we are the minority or majority — our stats keep coming up higher than others. According to an April 8 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though the racial breakdown from those monitored the report was 59% white, 14% Latino and 18% Black, 45% of hospitalized coronavirus patients were white and 8% were Latino, while 33% were Black, suggesting that Black populations might be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. In Chicago, new data released Saturday showed that 70 percent of people who have died from COVID-19 in the city were Black, according to a report by radio station WBEZ. Black people make up only 29 percent of the city’s total population. You also heard the reason is because of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity issues. Why do you suppose this is true?
Hosea 4:6 says it best: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” My extended family has experienced a COVID-19 death, a 64-year-old man from Detroit. The General Motors retiree, who was also a deacon with a dynamic singing voice, was a textbook case of at-risk Blacks as described by the CDC. He had three underlying conditions — type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and a high body mass index. This column is my effort to help each of you understand how these three health challenges can either cause devastations, or with proper knowledge, you can be spared. Back on Christmas Day 2000, when my mother passed away from complication of the three culprits, my family was uninformed about diabetes. We wanted to know more about the disease that took our mother in such a brutal fashion, so much pain and suffering, a classic case. Mother had both legs amputated and had kidney failure, so she was on dialysis. Mother had at least 10 strokes, and she suffered with high blood pressure for years. As her oldest daughter, I promised to educate millions of people regarding the causes and preventions of type 2 diabetes. In sharing with
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
the general public, my mother’s living shall not be in vain. Let’s now talk about causes of all three of the conditions that African Americans find themselves suffering with. First, let’s talk about how this problem got started in the 1600s, all the way back in slavery days. Dr. Sherita Hill Golden, who heads the Diabetes Center at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital, told me during an interview on my radio show, “During Grand Rounds, the team of doctors discussed how back during the time when Blacks were enslaved, the masters were the only ones to suffer from diabetes.” The masters were free to eat and sleep and didn’t work in the fields from sunup to sundown, but the enslaved did. It didn’t matter what Black folks ate, especially if they were working in the fields. Put simply: We can all shake off the shackles of these three killers by simply changing our diet by eating less carbohydrates and sweets, more green leafy vegetables, and only eating portion sizes. Secondly, take 30-minute walks at least five times each week. Lastly, eliminate excess salt intake and stress from our lives. More next week. WI
John F. Johnson Reverend Dr.
5101 14th Street, NW / Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089
1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005
“A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold” www.mtzbcdc.org
EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS MCCOLLUM & ASSOCIATES, LLC ADA, Age Discrimination, Benefits, Civil Rights, COBRA, Contracts, Deaf Law, Defamation, Disability Law, Discipline, Discrimination, FMLA, FLSA, FOIA, Family Responsibility, Harassment, HIPPA, OSHA, National Origin Discrimination, Non-Compete, Race Discrimination, Rehabilitation Act, Retaliation, Severance Agreements, Sexual Harassment, Torts, Whistleblowing, Wage-and-Hour, Wrongful Discharge SERVING MARYLAND, DC, & NORTH CAROLINA
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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
Reverend John W. Davis Pastor
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.) Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.
(301) 864-6070
Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m. Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com
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APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 37
RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church
Pilgrim Baptist Church
Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor
Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor
9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 / Fax: 301-499-8724
700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849
Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 AM 7 10:00 AM Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 PM Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
Blessed Word of Life Church
Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00 AM 5th Sundays: 9:30 AM 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 PM www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org
Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ
Church of Living Waters
Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor 4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464 Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org
St. Stephen Baptist Church
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 Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00 AM Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30 AM 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00 AM Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30 PM Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00 AM “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”
Third Street Church of God
Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors
Rev. Dr. Alice Greene Interim Pastor
Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor
Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor
4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax
3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) / (202) 562-4219 (Fax)
5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555 Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45 AM Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45 AM Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday , 12:30 PM Mid-Day Bible Study Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 PM Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30 AM
1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office / 202-638-1803 fax
Service and Times 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 Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 AM Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 PM Thursday: 7:00 PM “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address : Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020
Turning Hearts Church Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher 421 Alabama Ave. SE Washington, DC 20032 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445 Service and Times Sunday School: 10:15 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11;15 AM Children’s Church: 11:15 AM Tuesday Bible Study: 6:30 PM Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: gr8luv4u2@gmail.com
38 - APRIL 16 - 22, 2020
Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am 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.covenantdc.org
“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org / E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net
Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 AM “Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org
Crusader Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor 800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703 Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45 AM Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00 PM Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00 PM Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org / “God is Love”
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
Sunday Worship Service: 8:00 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 6:00 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
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 Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Sunday Church School: 9:20 AM Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 AM Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 PM Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net
St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us... Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45 PM Thur. Bible Study: 7:15 PM
Twelfth Street Christian Church Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion every Sunday: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 10:00 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 PM Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org / Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com
Mount Carmel Baptist Church Reverend Dr. Paris L Smith, Sr. Senior Pastor 901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00 PM Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00 PM Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10 AM themcbc.org
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RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor 7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471 Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 AM Service 11:00 AM Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.” Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com
Zion Baptist Church Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School 10:15 a.m. – Worship Service Wed. Noon: Dea. Robert Owens Bible Study 7 PM Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Sunday, Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission: Zion shall: Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, And Exalt our Savior. (Acts 2: 41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org
St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 PM Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon
All Nations Baptist Church Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor 2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591 Service and Times 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 Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards
Israel Baptist Church
Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor 2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730 Service and Times 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 “Where Jesus is the King”
Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor
2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office / (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . . 100% Forgiven!
623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 / Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 / Fax (202) 483-4009
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30 PM Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00 PM www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org
Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith
Lincoln Park United Methodist Church Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor
Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor
1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288
1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lincolnpark@lpumcdc.org www.lpumcdc.org
5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:45 AM Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 PM Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 PM Bible Study: Tuesday at 10:30 AM
Mount Moriah Baptist Church Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Holy Communion: First Sunday 10:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30 PM Motto: "Faith On The Hill"
Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 PM Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 PM Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 PM Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged. The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42
New Commandment Baptist Church
Eastern Community Baptist Church Damion M. Briggs Pastor
Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor
1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964
8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240
13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 AM and 10:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 AM & 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:30 AM Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 PM Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 PM Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 PM
Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM
Rehoboth Baptist Church
Reverend Peter R. Blue Sr. Pastor
Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor
2001 Brooks Drive District Heights MD. 20744 240.838.7074
621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112
Service and Times Sunday Worship Experience: 10:15am Sunday School: 9:00am Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Noontime Bible Study: Tuesday @ 12:00pm Prayer Meeting/Bible Study: Tuesday @7:00pm Theme: "Building On A Firm Foundation"
Service and Times Sunday Service: 10:00 AM Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 AM 1st Sunday Baptism: 10:00 AM 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10:00 AM Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting: 7:45 PM
Email: revprbstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org
Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”
“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org
“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”
Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958
Shiloh Baptist Church
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Dr. Joseph D. Turner / Senior Pastor 2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304 Service and Times Early Worship Service: 8:00 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM New Member’s Class: 9:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00 AM Church School: 9:45 AM Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00 PM Saturday Bible Study: 11:00 AM Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00 AM “Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”
Peace Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Early Morning Prayer & Bible Study Class: 8:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Service: 12:00 PM “The Loving Church of the living lord “
4504 Gault Place, N.E. / Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service : 11:00 AM The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Prayer & Praise Services: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: 7:30 PM Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries: 10:30 AM A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net
Christ Embassy DC
Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator 6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Friday Evening Service: 7:00 PM ; 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 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 PM Prayer Service Bible Study
First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Mt. Horeb Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor
Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor
Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor
9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288
602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595
2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30AM & 10:30 AM Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 PM. Wednesday 12 Noon
www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org
Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 AM Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 AM and 10:55 AM Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 AM Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 PM
All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.
Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org
Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 AM Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 PM Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 PM Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 PM Noonday Prayer Every Thursday
Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor
Email Address: admin@pbc712.org
Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest
Holy Trinity United Baptist Church
Florida Avenue Baptist Church
Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor
Rev. Reginald M. Green Interim Pastor
Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org
St. Matthews Baptist Church
Emmanuel Baptist Church
King Emmanuel Baptist Church
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Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 AM Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 AM Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30AM Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 PM Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 PM Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “
Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.
APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 39
LEGAL NOTICES Declaration of Nationality In God We Trust Notice of Special Appearance : I am that I am: “ robinson, ladiviosia gerell© ”, in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: “ ROBINSON, LADIVIOSIA GERELL© ”, corp.sole Dba.: “ LADIVIOSIA GERELL ROBINSON© ”, &, Notice of Special Appearance : I am that I am: “ hutch, latasha sharea© ”, in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: “ HUTCH, LATASHA SHAREA© ”, corp.sole Dba.: “ LATASHA SHAREA HUTCH© ”, &, Notice of Special Appearance : I am that I am: “ robinson, nodia comoniech© ”, in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: “ ROBINSON, NODIA COMONIECH© ”, corp.sole Dba.: “ NODIA COMONIECH ROBINSON© ”, &, Notice of Special Appearance : I am that I am: “ robinson, zarita alora© ”, in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: “ ROBINSON, ZARITA ALORA© ”, corp.sole Dba.: “ ZARITA ALORA ROBINSON© ”, collectively having reached the age of majority hereby duly affirms to declare our intention to be as our pedigree subscribes, as: Moorish American Nationals , but not citizens of the United States. We declare permanent, and unalienable, allegiance to the Moorish Empire, Societas Republicae Ea Al Maurikanuus Estados, The united states of America, Republic ( Major ), The Constitution for the united States of America, Article III Section 2, International Law, etc.. In harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and all Natural laws governing homo sapiens, we hereby Declare and Proclaim our nationality as: Moorish American Nationals. I am that I am: “ robinson, ladiviosia gerell© ”, from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality / Status / Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “ robinson-ali, ladiviosia gerell© ”. I am that I am: “ hutch, latasha sharea© ”, from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality / Status / Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “ hutch-ali, latasha sharea© ”. I am that I am: “ robinson, nodia comoniech© ”, from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality / Status / Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “ robinson-ali, nodia comoniech©
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
2019 ADM 000209
2015 WIL 953 2020 ADM 000155
Samuel Cornell Pledger Decedent Jennifer C. Concino, Esq. 5335 Wisconsin Ave., NW # 700 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Jennifer C. Concino, Esq., whose address is 5335 Wisconsin Ave., #700, Washington, DC 20015, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Samuel Cornell Pledger who died on August 22, 2018 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 (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/2/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 10/2/2020, 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: 4/2/2020 Jennifer C. Concino, Esq. Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY
”. I am that I am: “ robinson, zarita alora© ”, from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
/ Status / Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “ robinson-ali, zarita alora© ”. Notice of Merging of Legal
Washington Informer
Title with Equitable Title : This order is to preserve legal and equitable title , and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: “ ROBINSON, LADIVIOSIA GERELL© ”, corp.sole Dba.: “ LADIVIOSIA GERELL ROBINSON© ”, to the depositor: “ hutch-ali, latasha sharea© ”, nom deguerre: “ robinson, ladiviosia gerell© ”. Notice of Merging of Legal Title with Equitable Title : This order is to preserve legal and equitable title , and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: ‘’ HUTCH, LATASHA SHAREA© ‘’, corp.sole Dba.: “ LATASHA SHAREA HUTCH© ”, to the depositor: “ hutch-ali, latasha sharea© ”, nom deguerre: “ hutch, latasha sharea© ”. Notice of Merging of Legal
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 ADM 000200 Valentine Partee Decedent
Title with Equitable Title : This order is to preserve legal and equitable title , and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: “ ROBINSON, NODIA COMONIECH© ”, corp.sole Dba.: “ NODIA COMONIECH ROBINSON© ”, to the depositor: “ robinson-ali, nodia comoniech© ”, nom deguerre: ‘’ robinson, nodia comoniech© ”. Notice of Merging of Legal Title with Equitable Title : This order is to preserve legal and equitable title , and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: ‘’ ROBINSON, ZARITA ALORA© ‘’, corp.sole Dba.: “ ZARITA ALORA ROBINSON© ”, to the depositor: “ robinson-ali, zarita alora© ”, nom deguerre: “ robinson, zarita alora© ”. All property , of the same issue and amount, in like kind and specie, is to be returned fully intact , as a Special Deposit order of each individual Depositor / Beneficiary / Bailor / Donor / Principal / Creditor in lawful money. This special deposit is to be used exclusively for the benefit of : “ Anointed Church of Ase Ali Trust© ”, a Unincorporated private foreign divine trust. This deposit is not to be commingled with general assets of any bank , nor depositary / trustee / agent / bailee / donee / debtor. This deposit is not limited to, but including: discharge and set off, of any and all outstanding liabilities as accord and satisfaction. Any and All Attorneys with a License from the BAR Association are explicitly prohibited from administrating ‘’ Anointed Church of Ase Ali Trust© ‘’ property without handwritten consent from each and every trustee, after said Attorneys have furnished their Foreign Agent Registration Statement to trustees Pursuant to Public Law 75-583. All Rights Reserved. PN2020-1013-LGR-DN
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Patricia A. Partee, whose address is 716 Church Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Valentine Partee who died on February 17, 2020 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., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/9/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 10/9/2020, 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.
Angelene C. Showell Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Mary O. Hutton, whose address is 15642 Ensleigh Lane, Bowie, Md 20716, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Angelene C. Showell who died on October 18, 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., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/16/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 10/16/2020, 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: 4/16/2020 Mary O. Hutton Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer
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Date of first publication: 4/9/2020
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TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer
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MALVEAUX from Page 24 it their exposure. In the short run, it is heartening that they chose life over budget. In the long term, we must wonder how the budget will handle it. Chicago was fiscally fragile when Mayor Lori Lightfoot was elected a year ago, and she faced crushing deficits. Now, dealing with the coronavirus, she has had to cancel projected tax increasing, plunging her city even further into the hole. She has imposed a 9 p.m. curfew until April 30 and exploring other ways to promote social distancing in her city. Cities are Blacker, browner, older and younger than the rest of America. These folks, among the neediest, are also the ones at more risk to the coronavirus. It was no surprise to learn that Black folk are more likely to get the coronavirus than others. For example,
MORIAL from Page 24 Robert F. Kennedy, for whom he worked until the senator’s assassination in 1968. He started Black Enterprise with a $250,000 loan, and turned a profit in a remarkable 10 months. “Black Enterprise was just a modest magazine when I founded it,” he said. “Just me, a few brave advertisers like Pepsi, ExxonMobil and General Motors and a
WILLIAMS/THOMPSON
from Page 24
Non-depository mortgage servicers have limited liquidity access. And depending on the duration of the crisis at hand, non-bank servicers will not have the liquidity to advance mortgage payments at the high rate that will be necessary. This presents a challenge, considering more than half of all mortgages in recent years came from non-depository lending institutions-including larger parts of loans made to low-income families. If a solution for non-bank mortgage lenders is not found, we could backtrack on nearly a decade of housing gains and relief efforts, and require further government intervention to prevent a mortgage crisis that could mirror the events of 2008. Now that the CARES Act has
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African Americans are 23 percent of the Chicago population, but a whopping 70 percent of the city’s coronavirus cases. People want to be tested, especially if they are experiencing symptoms, but testing sites are not well geographically distributed. Those areas who can flex political muscles are likely to get more services, while Black and brown communities are likely to be ignored. As an aside, it is essential to note that Black folk are among those most likely to risk their lives to ensure that life moves smoothly. We are quick to thank the doctors and nurses, and most deservedly so. Some are now lifting up grocery store workers (who earn an average of $12 an hour), which is important because they keep us fed. But the invisible workers are our sanitation workers, and in some cities, these are mostly Black men.
Imagine what might happen if these men disappeared? They are essential to city operations. Years ago, David Caplovitz wrote a book, “The Poor Pay More,” that spoke of the “poverty penalty” that comes when the poor pay more for goods and services than their wealthier, whiter neighbors. Now the coronavirus is extracting a poverty penalty, especially in cities, for those who are most vulnerable. The penalty is the immediate disproportionate impact of coronavirus on Black folk. The penalty will continue to be extracted when, after the coronavirus epidemic subsides, cities will have to adjust their finances. Who will pay? The homeless? Education? Social services? City services? Urban leaders must speak up and talk about the price their cities will pay, and how they might be restored. WI
small but spirited staff. And one other person who did just about everything there is to do to put out a magazine — my wife, Barbara.” Over the years, Graves served on the boards of some of the nation’s most influential corporations, including American Airlines, Daimler Chrysler, and Federated Department Stores. His endorsement of Barack Obama in the pages of the magazine was considered pivotal in Obama’s victory.
Graves demonstrated an almost perfect combination of intelligence, ambition, tenacity and passion in his career and in his personal life. His influence can be seen everywhere from the humblest small businesses to the c-suites of the nation’s most influential corporations. The Urban League Movement extends its deepest sympathy to his children and grandchildren and all who loved him. WI
Servicers open the door for homeownership for many American families. These institutions play a key role in market diversification and provide new opportunities for a diverse group of borrowers.
regulators. Hours after Congress’ omission of liquidity to non-depository servicers, Ginnie Mae announced plans to provide liquidity in the market for servicers within the next two weeks. While this is a step in the right direction, regulators must provide additional guidance to protect lower-income Americans and allow servicers to prepare for the coming months. Servicers open the door for homeownership for many American families. These institutions play a key role in market diversification and provide new opportunities for a diverse group of borrowers. It is essential that regulators and Congress work to ensure that non-bank lenders and servicers receive the necessary protections and have access to needed liquidity, allowing them to continue the important role they play in helping families realize the dream of homeownership. WI
been signed into law, it is important that regulators take the opportunity to clarify forbearance policy to not only provide needed economic relief to affected homeowners, but also lay out guidelines for mortgage lenders to navigate this unprecedented challenge. Unfortunately, policymakers failed to provide lenders and servicers with access to the necessary liquidity in the CARES Act and puts the issue in the hands of
APRIL 16 - 22, 2020 41
Lutheran Mission Society
Alan Amrhine, Communications Director Lutheran Mission Society
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we’ve sent reads in part as follows: “If you are not registered to vote, you’ve moved since the last time you voted or changed your name, do the following: Go to https://www.usa.gov/ register-to-vote; Check Voting and Elections and follow the prompts; If you need help, call Joe Simon’s line at 877-805-8447. Many people who were concerned about voter registration have volunteered to help. As many of you, no doubt heard when you were growing up, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” You can help in many ways. Call to sign up with
JACKSON from Page 25 new Kerner Commission, an independent commission to document the structures of racism and discrimination built into our public policies. And then they would act on the recommendations — many of which no doubt would be no different than those of the Kerner
ASKIA from Page 25
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WILLIAMS from Page 25
ought to know. Back in 2006 when George W. Bush pulled my White House “hard pass” after 28 years — for no other reason than my religion — I sneered, “I’ve been kicked out of fancier parties than this.” I had pleaded with my friend and Bush Press Secretary Tony Snow to personally help me keep my credential. He would be leaving soon on a leave of absence to battle cancer. We stood holding hands in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, I said a Muslim prayer for his recovery. We had forged a friendship over years on the panel on Howard University
registration or if you are not registered and need help registering, just call the Joe Simon National Voter Registration Drive helpline at 877805-8447. We have decided that we will not be defeated. In memory and out of respect for the courage of people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr; Fannie Lou Hamer, Congressman John Lewis, Dick Gregory, Jimmie Lee Jackson, Ella Baker, Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, Amelia Boynton-Robinson, Rosa Parks, Viola Liuzzo, Diane Nash and so many others, let us work to get every potential voter registered. I especially urge our young brothers and sisters to under-
stand the blood, sweat and tears of our people who gave their last full measure — and, for some, their lives — to give all of us the right to vote so that we could make better lives for ourselves and our people. No matter who you liked in the Primaries, let us turn our attention to the general election of Nov. 3, 2020 and be sure that you’ve registered so that you can be counted in that number that says “Thank you” to our heroes and sheroes who had the courage to stand up for our right to vote. Now is not the time to have regrets about staying at home. Help this voter registration effort to succeed. WI
Commission itself over half a century ago. If they fail to act, governors could create similar investigations for their own states, and act upon the recommendations. Donald Trump has failed to mobilize adequately the federal resources needed to combat the coronavirus effectively. But past presidents and congresses have
failed for decades to mobilize the resources and make the wrenching changes needed to end the virus of white racism, and finally create an equal playing field for all in America. The coronavirus only serves to once more draw attention to the terrible human costs of that failure. WI
Television’s “Evening Exchange.” Tony said he’d do what he could. Truth be told, as a reporter, I really could not invest much time at the White House. These were the days before handheld computers, when having a “landline” or any broadband connection was premium. It was the prestige of having a White House pass. Under those unforgiving working conditions, the White House was then (and is now) a “news-free zone.” There is one story per day at best, unless, as This Guy has proven, he makes a reporter the story with his insults and denials. I’ve seen him even deny saying something he just said minutes
before. He’s practically insufferable. No, he is insufferable, and he’s an inveterate, lying bucket of spit, who, incidentally, believes he’s God’s gift to all humanity. Since he’s Decider-in-Chief, the ultimate audience-of-one, to whom truth is immaterial unless it makes him look good, there is no solution that favors the truth, save the evil accident of time. James Russell Lowell’s words are instructive: “Truth forever on the scaffold/Evil forever on the throne.” Free airtime for campaign sales pitches— why not? After all, he’s got the perfect solution. Right? Right? No. it’s a news-free zone. WI
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