VOL. 54, NO. 27 • APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
Extend a Hand to Returning Citizens during Second Chance Month
WI Sustainability Supplement Center Section
Environmental Racism is Real, Destructive and Deadly
Suspect Arrested in Case of Three Black Church Fires in Louisiana
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
Trump Laments Notre Dame Cathedral, Remains Silent in Lieu of Arson on U.S. Soil By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Contributor and D. Kevin McNeir, WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
A man arrested in connection with recent Louisiana Black church fires has been confirmed as the son of a law enforcement official, reports say. And while the nation’s president and vice-president went to social media to lament the ravaging of the historic cathedral, Notre Dame, in Paris, neither have commented on
CHURCHES Page 5
5 Doug E. Fresh entertains the crowd as one of the featured performers at the family-friendly Emancipation Day Concert on Freedom Plaza in Northwest, Saturday, April 13. A parade was held before the concert and fireworks ended the day. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer) (See more photos on Page 32)
Black Maternal Health Week Highlights Alarming Disparities By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
5 On April 9, freshman Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (right) joined Rep. Alma Adams and co-launched the first first-ever Black Maternal Health Caucus. (Photo courtesy/NNPA)
Black women in the United States face significant health care disparities, including the highest maternal mortality rate in the country. According to numerous statistics, Black women are three to four times as likely to die from childbirth as white women, yet only 87 percent of Black women of reproductive age have health insurance coverage. Black women are also more
likely to live in states that did not expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, meaning they disproportionately fall into the coverage gap and Black women are more likely to experience complications throughout their pregnancies than white women. April 11 through April 17 marked the second annual Black Maternal Health Week, which, among other things, highlighted the United States' frighteningly high rate of maternal deaths among the highest of developed
HEALTH Page 34
For many, Earth Day stands as a reminder of everyone’s role as stewards of the planet. It’s a time to reflect and to plan ahead for a cleaner and healthier environment. For many others, though, it’s also a stark reminder of how African Americans and other minorities are often forgotten when it comes to the protection of their communities. A March study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that whites experience 17 percent less pollution caused by their consumption of goods and services. On the other hand, Blacks and Hispanics experience 56 percent and 63 percent, respectively, more pollution than their consumption would generate. Whites experience a “pollution advantage” while Blacks and Hispanics experience a “pollution burden.” In the District, the Georgetown Voice editorial board made this observation: “There are stark differences between the Potomac River and the Anacostia River. The first, bordering the south section of our campus, is a source of pride for its community. In the warmer months, its waters are littered with boats of all sizes, its banks occupied by patrons wishing the day away. We, at Georgetown, even refer to our school as its ‘lovely daughter’ when singing our alma mater.” The board went on to note that
ENVIRONMENT Page 17
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Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence
COMPILED BY SAM COLLINS, WI CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND D. KEVIN MCNEIR, WI EDITOR
SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
Second Case of Measles Confirmed in Maryland
By Tia Carol Jones
www.washingtoninformer.com
law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. hadA second come Maryland together resident to bring hasatested positive the highly conAmongfor measles, the programs Marlow sense uniformity in has thebeen wayspreading wantsrapidly to see implemented are tagiousofviral infection that across the country. Both When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- domestic violence stricter restraining policies, people infected live invictims the sameand household and acquired theorder disease outside old daughter told her the father survivors moreoutbreak, rights forsayvictim's families the state, inareantreated. area with an ongoing measles health officials. of her daughter threatened her “She's using personal to intervene on behalf of country a vicThere are nowher 555own measles cases reported in 20 states across the life, and the life of their child, story, her own personaltopain to Centers tim, a for domestic assessas of April 11, according the U.S. Diseaseviolence Control and Preshe knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens mentJersey, unitCalifornia, coupled with further vention, concentrated in New York, New Michigan and done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training for among law enforcement Washington. Officials warn the infection is occurring non-vaccinated with law enforcement's handling people. Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecof the situation, she decided to who Marlow's book willof cases tionreported Act and in mandatory counselIt's reads the second-greatest number the U.S. since 2000 start the Saving Promise cam- “get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. when measles was determined eliminated. Public health officials have urged paign. in issuch a way, themeasles-mumps-rubella, average “If we are going to eradipeople to get vaccinated. The measles case vaccine included in the or ever MMR, vaccine, which “It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, we must has become a bone of contention for those who believe it is unnatural or unsafe, contrary to widely accepted science. that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of the coin. ThoseMarlow most at risk from measles infection: pregnant women, infants less than 1 year old and loose,” said.of complications Marlow help people begin to have a dia- We need to address both the victhose who are immune compromised. Measles can lead to severe complications, including pneumonia or encephashared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow litis. One in 20District children with measles gets pneumonia, which can be fatal. ence at the Heights Also present at the event was said. The stateViolence health department notes that in addition to doctors and nurses, pharmacists in Maryland can administer Domestic Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see any vaccine on the CDC’s recommended schedule for ages 11 to 17 if they have a prescription. Those on May 7 at the District Heights wifeimmunization of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise 18 and older do not The need prescriptions. Municipal Center. sympo- who was sentenced to six consec- awareness among children in sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole public and private schools. She Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatCenter of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence. Heights andlatest the National Mildred Muhammad is an “We haveburial to stop being In the chapter ofHookits fight to2002. gain sole control of and memorialize ancestral ground, the pasBethesda UpAfrican of Black Women.Coalition (BACC) therecently founder of After the sive-aggressive with Attorney’s poor chilCemetery announced thatTrauma, the Montgomery County District Office Marlow has allwritten book,the protest an organization that helps the7. dren about domestic violence,” has dropped chargesaagainst group known as the HOC “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic violence Marlow said. Earlier this year, seven protesters had been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct over the span of two story about four generations of and their children. Marlow has to break public meetings at the Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) in Kensington. Theirworked nonviolent resistance domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of abuse in her counted as part of a longtime effort to pressure HOC to convey Moses African Cemetery to nearbyfamily, Macedonia inspired her own years in inBethesda. fear is a long time. It is and is confident the policies she BaptistbyChurch, anexperiences, historic Black church and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that Nearly two years ago, HOC purchased the unmarked plot of land, located behind Westwood Towers, from a her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process.have consistently stormed HOC private developer without any indication of its intent. Since then, BACC members She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad said take these policies to meetings andher publicly what they described as HOC’s duplicity“Iinplan the to matter. excerpts from book,commented she still on people who want to help a Congress and implore them to Thebelieve movement Moses African Cemetery, a site believed to hold the remains of 500 people, even gained can not the around words came domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. a supporter in Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D). Last year, he pledged to mediate the dispute. He from her. “Color Me Butterfly” be careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these polijoined National members of“Best Macedonia Baptist Church and engineers during an assessment of alternative outcomes wonrecently the 2007 the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” for the controversial space. Books” Award. that she may be in “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached That’s why BACC members out of a commitment to their First Amendment rights, they refused the Mont“I was just 16-years-old whensaid,mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net gomery County Police Department’s plea deal in which charges would be dropped in exchange for BACC ceasing my eye first blackened and my “Before you get to 'I'm going monthly HOC appearances. With this ordeal well behind BACC, attention has pivoted toward ensuring that Elrich lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI schedules a meeting between HOC, BACC and the Regency Group. Elaine Davis-Nickens, presihas Hook-Up not changed,” said Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, social justice ministry chair at Macedonia dent “Our of theposition National BaptistWomen, Church said and there member of Black is noof the HOC 7. Coleman-Adebayo’s comrades included Jeffrey Slavin, Dr. Lucille Perez, Lynn Tim Willard, Mary Tyrtle Rooker and The Rev Segun Adebayo. consistency in Pekkanen, the way domestic “Weissues maintain violence are that dealtMacedonia with by Baptist Church is the sole representative of the descendent community and as such Moses African Cemetery should be conveyed to Macedonia Baptist Church,” she continued. “Macedonia Baptist Church belongs in the lead role for the memorialization of Moses African Cemetery and the establishment of a museum to preserve its history. To have any of the bad actors we have been fighting for over two years supersede Macedonia Baptist Church’s lead role is simply unconscionable.” WI Staff Writer
Visit our updated Web site and give us your comments for a chance to win a gift from The Washington Informer Email comments to: rburke@ washingtoninformer.com
Charges Dropped Against the HOC 7
The Washington Informer Newspaper THE WASHINGTON INFORMER InPUBLISHER Memoriam NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Denise RolarkSr. Barnes published weekly on each Thursday. Wilhelmina J. Rolark Periodicals postage paid at Washington, THE D.C.WASHINGTON and additional mailing ofINFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published STAFF fices.weekly News on andThursday. advertising deadline postage Periodicals paid at Washington, D.C. and additional is Monday to News publication. AnD. Kevin Editor mailing prior offices. and advertising deadlineMcNeir, is Monday prior to publication. nouncements must be received two two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The Announcements must be received Ron Burke, Advertising/ Marketing Director weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016reserved. POST MASTER: Send change of addressWashington Informer. All rights Lassiter, Photo Editor by es The Washington Informer. to The Washington Informer,All3117Shevry Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, rightsD.C. reserved. 20032.POSTMASTER: No part of thisSend publication may be Barnes, reproduced without written Lafayette IV, Assistant PhotopermisEditor change addresses to TheThe Washsionoffrom the publisher. Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of John E. De Freitas, Sports Photo Editor ington Informer, 3117 Martin rates Luther photographs. Subscription are $30 per year, two years $45. Papers will be received King,notJr.more Ave.,than S.E.a Washington, D.C. Dorothy Rowley, Online week after publication. Make checks payable to: Editor 20032. No part of this publication may ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout be reproduced without written permisTHE WASHINGTON INFORMER sion from the3117 publisher. The Informer Neville, Bookkeeper Martin Luther King, Jr.Mable Ave., S.E. • Washington, D.C. 20032 Newspaper cannot guarantee the return Phone: 202 561-4100 • Fax: 202 574-3785 Dr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist of photographs. Subscription rates are E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com Tatiana Moten, Social Media Specialist $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will www.washingtoninformer.com be received not more than a week after Angie Johnson, Circulation publication. Make checks payable to: PUBLISHER THE WASHINGTON INFORMER Denise Rolark Barnes REPORTERS 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E STAFF REPORTERS Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, Washington, D.C. 20032 Brooke N. Garner Managing Editor Tia C. Jones, Ed Laiscell, Phone: 202 561-4100 Timothy Cox, Will Ford (Prince George’s Carla Peay Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, Fax: 202 574-3785 Ron Burke Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, Joseph Young County Writer), Jacqueline Fuller, Hamil news@washingtoninformer.com Mable Whittaker Bookkeeper Harris, D. Kevin McNeir, Dorothy Rowley, www.washingtoninformer.com LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS John E. De Freitas Sports Brenda Editor Siler, Sarafina Wright, James Wright Lafayette Barnes, IV, Victor Holt Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Maurice Fitzgerald, Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic PHOTOGRAPHERS Design Joanne Jackson, Roy Lewis, Robert Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster Ridley, Victor Holt Lassiter, John E. DeFreitas, Shevry
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We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic Smithsonian’s Anacostia Location for violence. I planPartners to take these ‘Offsite and in the City’ during Museum’s Closure policies toCommunity Congress and In partnership with the DC Public Library, the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Museum has opened mini-satellite versions of its groundbreaking exhibition, “A Right to the City,” in libraries located in the neighborimplore them to change our hoods profiled in the museum’s main gallery presentation. The museum has launched the initiative “Offsite and in the City” with the Library and other organizations to provide continuing outreach during the museum’s temporary closure for renovations, expected to last through mid-October. laws. I will not stop until The satellite exhibits, based on the Adams Morgan, Anacostia, Brookland and Shaw sections of “A Right to the City,” are currently on view during regular library hours at the following locations: Mt. Pleasant; Anacostia; Woare passed. odridge; and Shaw. The Southwest exhibit will open laterthese in the year inpolicies tandem with the establishment of the library’s
“
In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark
interim location in that neighborhood. The Chinatown satellite exhibit will be located at a non-library site to be L.Y. Marlow announced. Paul Trantham The Busboys and Poets restaurant group, another “Offsite and in the City” partner, will host “A Right to the City Conversations Series,” a group of programs highlighting the satellite exhibit content at their locations nearby. The first, a panel discussion entitled “Housing Rights in DC: Connecting Past and Present Struggles,” took place Wednesday, April 17, 6 – 8 p.m. at the newly-opened Anacostia restaurant at 2003 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE. Visit http://anacostia.si.edu/events for more information. 4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com Roy Lewis,CIRCULATION Jr., Mark Mahonny
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AROUND THE REGION CHURCHES from Page 1 several assaults against Black houses of worship in America. Holden Matthews, 21, has been arrested in connection with fires at three predominantly-Black churches in Louisiana while all three churches have been cited under the alleged arsonist’s social media account that confirm his tertiary connections with white supremacy groups. St. Mary Baptist Church in Port Barre burned down on March 26, followed by Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas on April 2 and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church on April 4. Authorities remain confident that the perpetrator intentionally set all three fires. Meanwhile, members of the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC] have asked for the FBI to investigate the arsons as hates crimes. “CBC Chair Karen Bass, Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson and Representative Cedric Richmond of Louisiana’s Second Congressional District call on the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] and all federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the possible hate crime that resulted in the recent burning of the three historically-Black churches in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana,” according to a CBC statement. “All three fires may be the product of domestic terrorism and places of worship should be protected and safe at all times. It is our expectation that the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies work expeditiously to resolve this matter to restore faith and normalcy among the residents of St. Landry Parish,” the statement continues. On April 9, NAACP President Derrick Johnson commented on the church fires. “What is happening in Tennessee and Louisiana is domestic terrorism and we must not turn a blind eye to any incident where people are targeted because of the color of their skin and their faith,” he said. “The spike in church burnings in the Southern states is a reflection of emboldened racial rhetoric and tension spreading across the country.” Matthews, taken into custody on the evening of April 10 according to Louisiana TV station KATC, has been reported to be the son of a St. Landry Parish sheriff's deputy.
HISTORY POINTS TO LEGACY OF HATRED
During the 1990s, a wave of 145 church burnings moved then-Pres-
ident Bill Clinton to share words of consolation to church members outside Salem Baptist Church in rural Tennessee in 1996. Clinton visited the rededication of the church after its destruction by arsonists in 1995. However, images shared by the media evoked memories of another house of worship, Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville, South Carolina – one of scores of others which bore the unfortunate and unique distinction of having been previously been torched by members of the Ku Klux Klan during the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement The church stood as one of 145 Black churches burned from 1995 to 1996 in a wave of arson attacks that prompted Congress to pass the Church Arson Prevention Act – legislation that raised the sentence for arson at a house of worship to a maximum of 20 years, along with Clinton establishing the National Church Arson Task Force. Based on the Church Arson Task Force 2000 Report, of the 145 fires at African-American houses of worship investigated from 1995 to 1999, whites made up 63 percent of those arrested. Blacks accounted for 36 percent of arsonists with Hispanic perpetrators numbering just under one percent. Additionally, during its height in 1995-96, arson occurred every five days at a Black church. Readers may recall that several Black churches succumbed to destruction by fire in 2015 following the murders of nine Blacks by Dylan Roof at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. More recently, the Monday fire that devastated France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral drew expressions of sorrow and sympathy from around the world, including from U.S. lawmakers including President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, regarding the edifice which has, for eight centuries, served as one of the most-visited houses of worship in the world. “It is heartbreaking to see a house of God in flames,” Pence shared in a tweet. However, their collective silence about the recent fires that destroyed three predominantly-African-American suggests a problematic lack of empathy for people of color who live as members of their own country and the history of the three Black houses of worship. Each of the churches in Louisiana, while significantly younger than Notre Dame, boast a rich legacy and have long-played a vi-
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tal role in St. Landry Parish’s Black community – one even hosting a cemetery that contains the graves of Blacks once enslaved in Louisiana. The Rev. Gerald Toussaint of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, whose church has stood for more than 140 years old, said the following. “I don’t get it. What could make a person do that to a church?” he said in an interview with a local Louisiana newspaper. As for Greater Union Baptist Church, also over 100 years old, its pastor and the grandson of one of its founders expressed disbelief. “He left a legacy for me and I was trying to fulfill that to the best of 5 The son of a sheriff’s deputy is accused of burning down three historically my ability,” the Rev. Harry Richard Black churches in Louisiana. (Courtesy photo/NBC News.com) said to CBC news reporters.. The church fires have, of course, ing to attacks on Black churches in NAACP president Derrick drawn wide coverage and attention the U.S. Johnson says Black churches have “As we hold Paris in our thoughts including the Louisiana governor long been targeted to frighten Afwho mentioned it in his recent today, let’s also send some love to rican Americans. state of the state. But top Trump our neighbors in Louisiana. Three “For decades, African-American administration officials have not historically-Black churches have churches have served as the epispoken out on or condemned the burned in recent weeks, charring center of survival and a symbol of buildings and scattering commuviolence. hope for many in [our] commuHowever, in a tweet from Hillary nities,” she said, including ways to nity,” he said in a statement. “As a Clinton, she addressed responses to contribute to their rebuilding via go consequence, these houses of faith the Notre Dame fire that have been fund me accounts. have historically been the targets of WI more numerous than those speakviolence.”
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 5 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
AROUND THE REGION
black facts APRIL 18
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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2003 – Singer/songwriter and civil rights activist Nina Simone dies of breast cancer at her home in the south of France at 70.
APRIL 22
1922 – Famed jazz bassist Charles Mingus is born in Nogales, Arizona.
APRIL 23
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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 is named as an anchor for ABC’s “World News Tonight,” becoming the first Black to anchor a network news broadcast.
1856 – Inventor Granville T. Woods, the first American of African ancestry to be a mechanical and electrical engineer after the Civil War and holder of more than 50 patents, is born in Columbus, Ohio. 1872 – Lawyer Charlotte Ray is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, becoming the first Black woman admitted to practice before the District Supreme Court. 2007 – Barbara Hillary becomes the first African-American female to reach the North Pole.
APRIL 20
APRIL 24
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 single-game playoff scoring record with 63 points in a double-overtime loss to the Boston Celtics.
1884 – The Medico-Chirurgical Society of Washington D.C., the first African-American medical society, is founded. WI
APRIL 21
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.
Buying Vinyl Records from 1950 to 1986, Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, R&B, Disco, Soul, Reggae, Blues, Gospel, and record format 33 1/3, 45s, and some of the older 78s. Prefer larger collections of at least 100.
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BY SARAFINA WRIGHT
Johnson Publishing Company, the former publisher of Jet and Ebony magazine, publications that have been a staple of Black American life for over 70 years, has filed for bankruptcy. What are your thoughts?
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I used to have subscriptions to both Ebony and Jet magazines for years — couldn’t wait for them to arrive in the mail. I remember when Ebony was a large magazine in size, then it was made smaller. Another great era gone away.
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 7 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
AROUND THE REGION The World According to Dominic BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR / WI EDITOR / @DKEVINMCNEIR
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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the most senior of 12 Black women in Congress and chair for the House Financial Services Committee recently met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, giving him a real lesson in what has been termed “mansplaining” – a new word in the English vernacular which most women must encounter time after time in a society dominated by men. It’s when a man attempts to explain something to a woman, the “slower species,” in a manner that’s patronizing or condescending. But Mnuchin, as evident in the way he spoke to Waters, would discover that she was more prepared than he will ever be. While discussing his plans for responding to the Democrats’ requests for Donald Trump’s tax returns, Mnuchin said, with just one day’s notice, that he had an important meeting with a very important person (name not provided) that would require him to leave the meeting early. Back and forth they went, with Mnuchin exhibiting the kind of arrogance, hubris and bravado typical of a white man in conversation with a person of color – especially a Black woman. Waters, unruffled by the obvious disrespect that Mnuchin exhibited, took the Secretary at his word – accepting his offer to remain. Then, he
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countered that she’d “ordered” him to stay so that more committee members could ask questions. He even instructed her as to how to end the meeting, saying, “Please dismiss everybody,” red-faced, clearly impatient and irritated. “I believe you are supposed to take the ‘gravel’ [sic] and bang it,” he shared, raising his arm to mimic the banging of the misnamed instrument, a gavel. Of course, Aunt Maxine had a response which she proffered calmly and with the kind of swag that didn’t surprise me at all: “Please do not instruct me as to how I am to conduct this committee,” she said. Don’t get it twisted. Mnuchin was rude, impertinent and clearly used to getting his way – illustrative of white male privilege at its best. If the situation had been reversed and Waters, or any female politician for that matter, had interacted with a male, especially a white man, in similar fashion, whether he was in charge or not, she would have had her lunch eaten. She’d be strung up and lambasted on the evening news. But for a Black woman to talk to a white man in such a manner – and to never raise her voice, or, if we lean on stereotypes from the “hood,” never snapping her polished nails or rocking her head in a manner that only a sister can do – that shows real self-control. Real power is displayed not by what one says, but rather by what one does not say. Black women have been bullied by the likes of Mnuchin so often in the American landscape that it’s almost expected. But after confronting an arrogant, obstreperous bully like Mnuchin who feels empowered to belittle those who he feels are beneath him, Black women, particularly those who have achieved success in the public realm, have had to master the skills of the game and to perfect how to offer their rebuttal – how to say just enough – and no more. As I always say, “Less is more.” Mnuchin has probably called Aunt Maxine everything but a child of God. But I’ll bet the next time the two square-off, he’ll think twice about how he speaks to her. To be embarrassed again, and in public, could send him over the edge. I hope the chance for such an encounter comes soon.
As for Maxine Waters, I can’t wait for the opportunity to give her an exuberant high-five. And to think, all she did was come to the table armed with the weapon that America has tried to keep out of the hands of Black folks for hundreds of years: competence, the product that one receives with equal education. Years ago, a white professor from South Africa, teaching a high-level Philosophy course at Princeton Theological Seminary unbraided me in front of my classmates, advising me that since I’d never taken a philosophy class, while everyone else in the class had, that my best bet would be to immediately withdraw and seek another avenue. It was my very first class on campus. In response, I feigned illness and asked him to accompany me out into the hallway. There I told him that I’d faced “creatures” like him before, in my college-prep, all-boys high school in Detroit, at the University of Michigan as an undergrad, at Emory in a highly-competitive master’s program – even during my years in corporate America at places like Dow Chemical and IBM. I shared how sick to my stomach he’d made me and asked him what I needed to do to make up the difference in my learning so I could master the material which he felt was so far above my head and mental abilities. Then, upon his advice which he said thinking I’d never pull it off, I went to our library and, with the help of the only other Black in the program, another brother, checked out almost 1,000 books. When doctoral exams came up several years later, I aced them. As for the professor in question, he not only apologized to me but said, in front of my committee, that he’d never had a student reach such academic achievement particularly coming from so far behind the rest of the pack. That’s what Black folk have been doing since the beginning of time. I wasn’t surprised at all. As for the case of Maxine Waters, I’m not surprised with her level of competence either. For Blacks in America, and around the world, it’s the only way we know. WI
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AROUND THE REGION
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CALL 800-353-6102 NOW Helping inventors and idea people since 1989. 5 Charles View, Tone P, Wanda Henderson, Sam P.K. Collins, and Senghor Baye at Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library on Sunday, April 14. (Courtesy Photo)
Post-#DontMuteDC Panel Touts Benefits of Cooperative Economics Discussion Part of Pan-African Federalist Movement WI Staff Report The #DontMuteDC movement demonstrated go-go's hometown appeal and sparked conversations about gentrification, particularly how a collective lack of ownership allowed outside forces to silence the music emanating from the MetroPCS on 7th Street and Florida Avenue in Northwest. The dialogue continued last weekend during a panel discussion at Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library in Northeast that featured award-winning producer Tone P, Shaw-area businesswoman Wanda Henderson, and local realtor Charles View. In reflecting on their professional experiences, each panelist touted the importance of ownership and a communal economic system. "Economics is a big conversation. Most Black people don't want to jump into this realm until their late 20s and early 30s," Tone P said during Sunday's panel discussion, titled "Thinking Beyond #DontMuteDC." Throughout most of the 90-minute conversation, Tone, who carved a niche in the music industry by mixing the go-go and hip-hop sound, explained how today's go-go artists should embrace lyricism and originality. Later, he, Henderson and View spoke about methods of circumventing the banks, including investor and vertical integration, when launching an independent venture. "We need to start taking ownership of our kids so this conversation becomes easier," Tone P said. "We live in an entire system and go to schools where white people teach us one way and they [do something else]. White people don't run to the bank."
The D.C.-based members of the Pan-African Federalist Movement (PAFM) hosted the even as part of an effort to unite individuals and groups in D.C., nationally, and across the globe around the political unification of the African diaspora in less than a generation. The economics-focused forum fulfilled one of eight goals specific to PAFM's local arm, known as the Banneker City Super-Local Initiating Committee. On Sunday, PAFM members Sam P.K. Collins and Senghor Baye explained how gentrification parallels the issues affecting people of African descent across the globe. Later during the discussion, View, well on his way to fulfilling a goal of placing 35 people on a path to home ownership by the end of the year, walked nearly audience members through the home-buying process. Along the
way, he stressed the importance of planning years in advance and repairing one's credit. In reiterating View's point, Henderson, owner of Wanda's on 7th, located a few doors down from MetroPCS, emphasized how her reputation as a businesswoman allowed her to return to the Shaw area after changes along 7th Street between Florida Avenue and T Street pushed out other businesses over the course of a decade. "I was blessed to have some investors see what was going on with me," Henderson said. "I was fortunate enough to have an architectural group to make sure we came back to our space. They couldn't pressure a sister to move out. Networking is powerful. Everyone has a skill. If we don't have our banks, we have our investment groups to help each other grow." WI
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 9 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT
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Who’s Reading the Informer? Wendy Glenn, director of Constituents Service for Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, reads the Washington Informer. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
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“Until Lee Elder (the first Black to tee off at the Master’s Tournament in April 1975), the only Blacks at the Masters were caddies or waiters. To ask a Black man what he feels about the traditions of the Masters is like asking him how he feels about his forefathers who were slaves.”
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AROUND THE REGION Officials Host Community Forum to Improve County Schools By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer The CEO of Prince George's County Public Schools and the president of the county's board of education came to one of the largest churches in the area Saturday to listen and share with parents about the plight of the 135,000 students in a school system that they say is improving after years of turmoil. Monica Goldson, PGCPS interim chief executive, and Alvin Thornton, chair of the PGCPS Board of Education, took part in "Coffee and Conversations," an event at Reid Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Glenn Dale that included a panel of community leaders such as education board Vice Chair Edward Burroughs III (District 8) and board member Belinda Queen (District 6). "I was raised on the village concept, 'It takes a village,'" Goldson said. "I know that I came to talk about the budget, but when you are in the House of the Lord and you have an opportunity to say a few things and be received where it is not offensive, I wanted to take an opportunity to do that." The forum began with a panel of eight people concluding that though Prince George's schools are getting better, they can improve even more. While several community activists articulated what they thought was the problem, the most passionate comments came from Nina Jackson, a 10th-grader at Oxon Hill High School. "We talk about students, but are we talking to students?" Nina said. "Do you hear us? If the adults don't add us to the discussion, then we as students will
bring our own chairs." Among the topics discussed at the forum were mental health and how students are being treated and disciplined by the school officials, issues that spurred Tamara McKinney to attend because she said her grandchildren aren't getting the help they need at school. "I don't think that the system is handling our kids very well," McKinney said. "Our kids have emotional issues. I think [school officials] use suspension as a tool instead of learning how to handle peer mediation better. My granddaughter, who is 8, brought play money to school, a classmate tried to buy lunch with it and the police [got] involved. I don't know why the police had to be involved in an issue like that." Lynette P. Cosby, who chairs Reid Temple's social action committee, spoke of the importance of holding the event at the church. "We wanted our members and the community to understand what is going on in the Prince George's County schools," Cosby said. "We see negative information on the news about the Prince George's County Schools, but that is not the whole story." Goldson and Thorton sat quietly on the front row as community leaders offered various critiques regarding problems within the school. The loudest applause came when activists talked about the alarming number of students who leave the schools and get ensnared by the criminal justice system. "Reid Temple bringing us together is so critically important for the development of a consensus umbrella over our children," Thornton said. "[Ending] the
school-to-prison pipeline starts with the community. That is the most important thing I heard today, [along with] holding all of us accountable for our children." Goldson, who was appointed in July by former County Executive Rushern Baker III, concurred. "It is important to have the
opportunity to make sure that we talk about what is working in Prince George's County and talk about the work that we still must do," she said. "Part of this journey is owning what we have to do to improve and then accepting the success that we have. I represent 135,000 students and every day is not perfect, but it is
far greater than it was before." Shirley Carswell, another one of the event's organizers, said that talking about issues within the school system is "critical" because too many people are moving out of the county in search of better education for their children.
SCHOOLS Page 41
Going to The Hill to Protect Energy Assistance Funding By Christina Harper
Year round our Customer Advocacy team works directly with customers to assist them in identifying resources that can help support their energy needs; but once a year, they elevate their advocacy and take on Capitol Hill ensuring the funding that is vital to their work is continued. As part of this year’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Action Day, hosted by the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition, Pepco employees spent two days on Capitol Hill advocating for policies that protect funding for the LIHEAP program. They shared stories of their day-to-day work with elected officials and policymakers to demonstrate the program’s value for vulnerable households in the District of Columbia and Maryland. “We spend a lot of our time engaging our customers across our service area at a variety of community forums and through our work with stakeholders and community partner organizations,” said Felecia Greer, director & customer advocate for Pepco Holdings. “LIHEAP Action Day gives us a great opportunity to tell these stories face-to-face and make sure our representatives know how important this funding is to our customers.” It’s been another cold winter in our service area, which for some means it’s a struggle to manage energy bills. Energy assistance is still available in the District of Columbia and Maryland to help pay for winter energy bills. LIHEAP provides up to $1,000 in grant support per customer, depending on a household’s income, size and type of fuel, with no pay back required. District residents can apply for assistance online though the Department of Energy and the Environment website or by calling 3-1-1. Maryland customers can apply for LIHEAP energy assistance through the Department of Human Services website, by visiting a Local Energy Assistance Office, or by calling the Maryland Department of Human Services Office of Home Energy Programs at 1-800-332-6347.
5 Prince George’s County Public Schools Interim Chief Executive Officer takes part in Coffee and Conversations at Reid Temple in Glenn Dale, Maryland on Saturday, April 13. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
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In addition to LIHEAP, there are many other programs and tips available to help our customers save money and manage their energy needs. Customers who may be struggling to make a payment should contact us as soon as possible at 202-833-7500.
APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 11 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Busch Lies in Repose at State House as Mourners Pay Tribute By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Hundreds descended upon Maryland state's capital Monday to pay respects to the late House Speaker Michael Busch, a man affectionately known as "coach," "friend" and "my speaker." The State Police Honor Guard escorted Busch's state flagadorned casket and placed it on a sunlit spot underneath the State House dome. "It is fitting that we have this opportunity to pay our respects for such a great Maryland leader here in the city that he called home," Gov. Larry Hogan said during a ceremony for Busch. "In these hollowed walls where he was such a strong presence for
so many years." Dozens of lawmakers said Busch, a 72-year-old Democrat from Anne Arundel County, said he became the first person to push for diversity among leadership positions. Sen. Obie Patterson (D-District 26) of Fort Washington, who served in the House of Delegates for 12 years, said Busch appointed him as chair of the election law subcommittee on the Ways and Means Committee. "He was a great man," Patterson said. "You can go in his office and he would talk with you. You may not always agree with him, but he was fair. That's the bottom line." Busch died April 7 of pneumonia following complications from a 2017 liver transplant. He had
5 Del. Adrienne Jones of Baltimore County signs a guestbook after a ceremony to honor late Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch at the State House in Annapolis on April 15. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
served as House speaker since 2003, longer than anyone in state history. Born in Baltimore but later residing in Anne Arundel County, Busch garnered numerous awards that included Man of the Year from the county's Lacrosse Association in 1982, the county's Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and municipal superstar from the Maryland Municipal League in 2009. The former high school football coach received acclaim for his education and environmental
advocacy from those statewide. This year, lawmakers credit Busch for pushing legislation to improve the Chesapeake Bay, increase education spending to $7 billion and gradually increase the state's minimum hourly wage to $15. "He brilliantly led Maryland through generational … and demographic changes with great vision," said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland). "By bringing people of different views together for a common purpose, he achieved an incredible record
Alsobrooks: Prince George's Rep Deserves House Speaker Seat By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has thrown her weight behind Del. Dereck Davis in his bid to become the state's next House
speaker. At a press conference Friday, April 12 inside the Beacon Heights Elementary School library in Riverdale, Alsobrooks said Davis' experience makes him the ideal person to succeed the late Michael Busch, who died this week at 72 of pneumonia
5 Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks speaks during an April 12 press conference at Beacon Heights Elementary School in Riverdale alongside state lawmakers from the county and members of the county council. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
12 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
following complications from a 2017 liver transplant. Alsobrooks added it would be beneficial for a lawmaker from Prince George's to hold state leadership. "To have a person who is fair-minded and balanced and experienced to do that, I think it is important," she said. "Those are qualities that I know [Davis] has. A person who's … able to listen to both sides. He is a person who is very smart." Davis (D-District 25), of Mitchellville, currently chairs the House Economic Matters Committee, one of the most influential boards in Annapolis. Davis, 51, who didn't attend the press conference, couldn't be reached for comment Friday evening. State lawmakers have declined commenting on the speaker position until after Busch's funeral Tuesday at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Annapolis. Two other lawmakers, Dels. Maggie McIntosh (D-Balti-
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more City) and Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County), have also expressed interest in the position. Jones currently serves as speaker pro tem and presided over the House sessions in Busch's absence. The House will hold a special session May 1 to decide Busch's successor. The venerable Democrat, who had held the position since 2003, was the longest-serving speaker in state history. Any one of the three delegates would make history if chosen, as no Black or female lawmaker has ever held the seat. According to the legislation handbook, the speaker's duties include the appointment of committee leadership, assigning bills to committee and deciding all points of order. Alsobrooks spoke about the county's accomplishments during this year's General Assembly, particularly its acquisition of about $1.5 billion in state aid, with $53 million earmarked for
SEAT Page 13
that will guide Maryland for generations to come." Busch's successor will be determined at a special session in the House of Delegates on May 1. Three delegates vying for the position — Dereck Davis (D-District 25) of Mitchellville, Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) and Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) — all spoke during the nearly 30-minute ceremony. Jones has served the same number of years as speaker pro tem, a position that's second-in-command of the House and presides over the sessions in the speaker's absence. After the ceremony, dozens waited behind a rope for a public viewing. Busch lied in repose until 7 p.m. and again from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday before his funeral service in Annapolis later that day. Delores Mooney of Annapolis showed up early Monday and said she will remember Busch for obtaining grants to improve a local community center and birthday cards. "His office would mail me a birthday card," she said. "I got about three of them. I don't know how I got one, but I sure did appreciate it." Those who attended the viewing could take small wallet-sized cards with Busch's picture and a scripture from the King James version from 2 Timothy 4:7-8: "I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." WI
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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
Message of Hope Resonates at Victims' Rights Conference By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Alice Oaks experienced the death of two sons killed by gun violence in Baltimore City. Through constant counseling, prayer and even a little humor, the Baltimore County resident serves as president of a victims support group called Survivors of Violence Everywhere, or S.A.V.E. "I was so consumed with grief I forgot about my grandchildren," said Oaks, who has eight grandchildren from her two sons, who died in 2008 and 2014 at ages 31 and 30, respectively. "I wanted to be in a cocoon, but had to get out of that to help myself and others." Because Oaks' organizations helped at least 35 people cope with similar tragedies, she received an award Thursday, April 11 during the fourth annual Crime Victims' Rights Conference at the University of Maryland in College Park. This year's conference focused on the theme "Honoring Out Past,
SEAT from Page 12 education. One point of pride is that schools with at least 80 percent of the student population eligible for free or reduced lunch are slated to receive additional resources for students with disabilities, expansion of pre-kindergarten and salary raises for teachers, with Beacon Heights being one such school. Monica Goldson, who was named interim CEO for the public school system in September, said this year's General Assembly marked one of the best displays of partnership in quite some time. One reason for the harmony was the transition in leadership, with Goldson, Alsobrooks and six lawmakers on the 11-member council now at the helm. Several of them attended Friday's press conference, including Councilman Calvin Hawkins (At-large), Del. Julian Ivey (D-District 47A) of Cheverly and Sen. Obie Patterson (D-District 26) of Fort Washington, a former county councilman who was elected to the Senate in November. "We continued to talk about
Creating Hope for the Future." It featured panels on federal and state policies, domestic violence and how to help victims. More than 400 people who registered from agencies, business and organizations in the entire state received information at the event hosted by the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention and the state Board of Victim Services. It also collaborated with Crime Victims' Right Week with conferences held nationwide. During the conference, Shamere McKenzie presented a spirited message for advocates to constantly fight for survivors of human trafficking, she asked attendees to take off their shoes and trade them to the person next to them. V. Glenn Fueston Jr. took off his black dress shoe and tried on one of McKenzie's white high heels, but her shoe didn't fit. The light moment came with a serious message: don't judge individuals until you walk a mile in their shoes. "Although we are different, the changes we were going to make in education, but this time we actually acted on it," Goldson said. "The best way to do that was for us to focus this legislative session on getting funds that would begin to help close that achievement gap. I know how important it is to make sure that we get it right and this was our opportunity to do it." Although certain priorities such as more money for school construction didn't get approved this year, Ivey said the goal will be to make that happen when lawmakers return to Annapolis in January. He's maintained that one way to help pay for education initiatives is legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana. For instance, he spoke of "isolated incidents" when he attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt where not every student received a textbook. "This is the high school in the county most would agree is the best, based on academics and test scores," Ivey, 23, said. "These are some of the priorities we need to focus on so that we can invest in our schools." WI
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5 V. Glenn Fueston Jr. and Shamere McKenzie exchange shoes as part of a light-hearted exercise on April 11 during the fourth annual Crime Victims’ Rights Conference at the University of Maryland’s Adele H. Stamp Student Union in College Park. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
we are alike," said McKenzie, the event's keynote speaker and a human trafficking survivor now CEO of Sun Gate Foundation, a nonprofit organization of Alexandria, Virginia, that assist and educate survivors after tragedies. "Don't forget that the commonality that amongst everyone in this room is the survivor." According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, slightly more than 5,100 cases were reported last year. Maryland ranked 19th in the nation with 72 cases reported, 47 of which dealt with sex trafficking. Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, who
presented awards to three survivors and advocates, said the Hogan administration provided at least $60 million in grants for victims' services such as witness protection and relocation programs. Last year, 180,000 victims received assistance. State officials hope that figure increases thanks to legislation passed in this year's Maryland General Assembly, which ended April 8. Lawmakers approved the designation of human trafficking as a violent crime and a felony, which will allow prosecutors to push for stronger penalties against those charged with the offense.
"I know you're probably saying, 'What took so long?'" Rutherford said. "We remain strongly committed to ensuring that victims of crime have the right to information, the right to provide input, the right to receive restitution and most importantly, the expectation to be treated with dignity and respect that they deserve." Oaks offered some advice for those who've experienced deaths and other tragedies of loved one. "Take care of yourself," she said. "We have a tendency to dig in a hole. You need to make sure you're healthy in order to help others. No need to be alone." WI
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 13 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
BUSINESS Confidence, Savvy Propels Adams to the Top By James Wright WI Staff Writer Jan Adams has a nice, wonderful smile that could warm even the coldest of hearts, but when it comes to business, she knows how to play the game and play it well. Adams leads JMA Solutions in the District of Columbia as its president and CEO. She founded her
company in 2005 after serving 24 years in the United States Air Force, achieving the high rank of chief master sergeant. Throughout her life, she has learned how to turn hurdles into steppingstones for success, particularly as an African-American businesswoman in the aviation field, a rarity. While in the Air Force, she grad-
uated from its community college. She came to the Air Force at the age of 27, unmarried with two small children, but had a determination to succeed that took her all over the world and working on challenging assignments. Adams said when she retired a former colonel she worked with in Germany asked her to come to the District to work for him as a contractor and she couldn’t refuse the offer. She worked for her colleague as a contractor supporting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from December 2000 to August 2009 when she struck out on her own with JMA Solutions. She had doubters in the FAA contracting field because Black women rarely do that type of work, but Adams didn’t let negative attitudes regarding race and gender stop her. “When you deal with the people I deal with in my field, you have to be sure of yourself,” she said. “When they see that you know what you are talking about and can execute
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5 Jan Adams, president of JMA Solutions, does business with the FAA, a rarity for a Black woman. (Rob Roberts/The Washington Informer)
and do what you say you will do, their attitudes soften. “You must show self-confidence when dealing in business,” Adams said. “When you show that you are solid in your knowledge base and they realize they can’t be successful without you, you become indispensable.” JMA Solutions assists the FAA and other clients in the areas of acquisition planning, air traffic management, financial management, information technology, program and project management, professional and technical training and software engineering. Her business employs 130 people full-time and she proudly notes that 40 percent of her staffers have military experience. In 2008, Adams won her first contract for $6.5 million to hire air traffic controllers for the FAA. By 2016, JMA Solutions posted $35 million in revenue and had established itself in the aviation industry. Businesses owned by people of color and women often have problems getting federal contracts. Opensecrets.org, a web site that monitors government activity, revealed in its April 13 post that of the $504.8 billion in federal contracts awarded in 2017, only five percent went to women-owned businesses and 9.8 percent to minority-owned firms. Still, that’s a very small piece of the federal procurement business considering that of the top 50 most expensive contracts in 2016 and 2017, not one went to a business ran by a woman or a minority. Adams doesn’t allow daunting statistics to faze her and she encourages Black female entrepreneurs to stay focused. “The business you have is only a
good as the person running it,” she said. “Your success also depends on the quality of the work.” On March 19, Adams joined D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), former interim Democratic Party Chair Donna Brazile, Ben’s Chili Bowl co-founder Virginia Ali and former D.C. first lady Cora Masters Barry in a discussion on how successful women operate on Capitol Hill. Though she has been in business less than two decades, JMA Solutions has been cited for excellence by the Air Traffic Controllers Association’s Small and Disadvantaged Business Award, INC. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce’s Community Impact Award, the Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader of the Year and the Disabled American Veterans’ Small Employer of the Year Award. Adams has been profiled in O, The Oprah Magazine, Entrepreneur magazine and Forbes and will be inducted into the D.C. Hall of Fame on April 28. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) appointed her to the D.C. Retirement Board and she serves on the boards of Washington Redskins cornerback Josh Norman’s Starz24 and a corporate partner of the D.C. Adopt-a-School program. Adams wants to keep the federal contracts that she has and explore others including an opportunity with the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She wants to look into the construction industry and has made moves in that direction. “Why not?” Adams said. “Why wouldn’t I want to do that? I love change.” WI
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High School Youth Dress for Success at Prince George's Summer Job Fair
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
Alonzo Hankerson said it took him about 30 minutes to put on his blue suit and tie in preparation for a youth job fair in Largo. The 17-year-old Potomac High School student chatted with several perspective employers such as Samson Properties, a real estate firm in Oxon Hill, in hopes of at least obtaining an internship this summer. "They told me some tips on how to get into the field of real estate, getting good mentors [and] making sure you're always on time," said Alonzo, an 11th-grader with an interest in marketing and social media. "I'm hoping I get the experience and some job opportunities on the career choice I want to have." He joined 18 of his classmates and more than two dozen other students from Parkdale High School that participated in the Youth CareerConnect job fair led by Employ Prince George's on Friday, April 12. The students from Potomac and Parkdale participated in the morning session and students from Bladensburg and Fairmount Heights high schools attended the fair. Yolanda Tully, director of the county's Youth CareerConnect program, said the chosen students are based on the county executive office's Transforming Neighborhood Initiative, or TNI. Students from those schools reside in areas former County Executive Rushern L. Baker III designated to receive additional services based on economics, health, public safety and other social ills. Besides interviewing with about two dozen companies such as CVS Pharmacy, National Institutes of Health and Benten Technologies headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, students received advice at learning labs on how to handle a job interview, dressing for success and secrets to the college admission process. The county received a $7 million Youth CareerConnect grant in April 2014 from the federal Department of Labor, which seeks to help more than 2,500 high school students obtain skills, internships and college credit in the industries of health
care and information technology. However, the grant expires this summer. "We need the resources to help more young people," Tully said. Meanwhile, Jasmine Brice, 16, expressed interest in health care, entrepreneurship and interior design. After Chris Valentine, 23, who manages his own media, photography and video consulting business, gave opening remarks to the students, Brice sat down next to him and focused her attention on nearly every word he said. "He told me how I would own my interior designer business, what I need to do, what were his steps for [running a business]," said Brice, a 10th-grader at Park-
dale in Riverdale. "If I go on vacation, then I still need to do my work and have my money rolling in and be on point." High school seniors such as Jon Robertson, who turns 18 on Sunday, aggressively sought companies who would offer summer internships in information technology. He summarized his goal to troubleshoot problems that occur within computer systems and on social media. "Being here is helping me learn … what I can do with IT," said Jon, who attends Potomac in Oxon Hill. while scanning through a list of employers at the job fair. "I'm looking to go to college and get a career opportunity from this." WI
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 15 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
NATIONAL IRS Changing Rules for Paycheck Withholding By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia A national survey found that 4.6 million fewer taxpayers will receive a federal refund this year while 31 percent of Americans said their biggest Tax Day fear is making a math mistake on their taxes. Now, there's another complication coming out later this year: The IRS is changing how you adjust your paycheck withholdings, and early indicators show it won't be easy. The agency plans to release a new W-4 form that better incorporates the changes ushered in by the new tax law so that the amount held back
ENVIRONMENT from Page 1 the same pride and ownership have not been widely bestowed on the Anacostia River, which at times has been labeled “D.C.’s forgotten river.” “This inequality is a matter of environmental justice, a concept often given lip service, but not widely understand,” the editors wrote. “The Anacostia River’s current state is the product of unjust systemic conditions within our community.” Earlier this month, Robert Bullard, former dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and the founding director of the Environmental Justice Resource
5 The IRS is making major changes to the W-4 form. (Courtesy photo)
for taxes in each of your paychecks is more accurate. According to USA Today, the agency's goal: A taxpayer shouldn't owe or be owed come tax time. But the changes won't be simple, said Pete Isberg, head of government affairs at ADP, the payroll and human resources company. Filling out the new form will be a lot like doing your taxes again. "It'll be a much bigger pain," Isberg told USA Today. "The accuracy will be 100 percent, but the ease-ofuse will be zero." While the new form hasn't been released yet, the IRS last summer put out a draft version and instructions seeking feedback from tax
preparation companies and payroll firms. Instead of claiming a certain amount of allowances based on exemptions — which have been eliminated — the draft form asked workers to input the annual dollar amounts for: • Nonwage income, such as interest and dividends. • Itemized and other deductions. • Income tax credits expected for the tax year. • For employees with multiple jobs, total annual taxable wages for all lower paying jobs in the household. "It [the new form] looked a lot more like the 1040 than a W-4," Is-
berg told USA Today. The new form referenced up to 12 other IRS publications to fill it out. It was reportedly so complex and different from the previous W-4 form that Ernst & Young worried employees would struggle to fill it out correctly and employers may need to offer training beforehand. An updated draft version of the new W-4 is expected by May 31, according to the IRS, which will also ask for public comment, agency spokeswoman Anny Pachner told MSN Money. Once the new form is ready, taxpayers will need their past 1099 forms, pay stubs and the previous
year's tax return. The IRS said they'll need their filing status, number of dependents, information about itemized deductions like home mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and charitable deductions. Taxpayers also will need earnings from all jobs and information about non-wage income like business income, interest and dividends. Also, if married and both spouses are employed, taxpayers will need to present their spouse's income. "We encourage taxpayers to take advantage of the [public comment] opportunity and send us comments on the design," Pachner said. WI
Center at Clark Atlanta University, noted that the PNAS study builds on a growing body of environmental justice literature showing racial and ethnic disparities in air pollution exposure. It shows that particulate matter exposure in the U.S. is disproportionately caused by consumption patterns of whites and inhaled by people of color minority, Bullard said. “Our Environmental Justice movement has been trying to change this and related environmental inequities for the past four decades,” he said. While the study takes a somewhat
different approach in examining disparities in air pollution exposure by examining consumption of goods and services, “its findings once again reveal blacks and Hispanics bear a disproportionate ‘pollution burden’ or costs, while whites experience ‘pollution advantage’ or benefits,” Bullard said. “There is a clear disparity between the pollution white people cause and the pollution to which they are exposed,” he said. The study concludes that “pollution inequity is driven by differences among racial-ethnic groups in both exposure and the consumption that leads to the exposure.”
There’s a name for this inequity, Dr. Bullard said. “It’s called environmental racism,” he said, noting a term coined by NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Chavis, who’s also known as the “Godfather of the Environmental Justice Movement,” first coined and defined the term environmental racism in his 1983 work, “Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States.” Chavis said environmental racism is racial discrimination in the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the presence of life-threatening poisons and pollutants near communities of color and the history of excluding people of color from leadership in the environmental movement. The civil rights leader also noted that there are different forms of racism, “yet environmental racism is a particularly insidious and intentional form of racism that negatively affects millions of Black, Native Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans, as well as people of color around the world.” “Environmental justice is the corrective antidote to the reality and prevalence of environmental racism,” Chavis said. The underlying message of environmentally racist tactics and strategies is that certain neighborhoods
and certain people matter less than others and that geographical vulnerability is inevitable when, in fact, it is socially constructed to be this way, said Deborah J. Cohan, an associate professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. “The problem with racism and society’s response to it is that we have failed to see this most basic thing: that in order to do that much damage to a community, one must so thoroughly objectify and dehumanize the people in it that they become things that can be discarded and forgotten about,” Cohan said. “People’s ability to thrive under these hostile conditions is greatly compromised,” she said. Extensive data show that low-income communities of color still breathe the worst air and have excessive rates of pollution-related illnesses such as asthma and other respiratory problems, said Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for The Greenlining Institute. “As we move away from oil, coal and gas to fight climate change, we must consciously bring clean energy resources and investment into communities that were for too long used as toxic dumping grounds,” Mirken said in an interview earlier this year. WI
5 Pollution from factories continue to destroy the environment. (Courtesy photo)
16 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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Report Sheds Light on Barriers in Education, Criminal Justice, Economy By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Black and Hispanic residents are less likely than whites to feel that people like themselves are treated fairly by their local police or legal system, but they are more likely than whites to say they would like the police to spend more time in their area, according to the key findings of a recent Gallup survey. Among those with children under 18, less than half say they are "extremely satisfied" (9 percent) or "satisfied" (37 percent) with the quality of area public K-12 schools. Thirty-six percent said they find it difficult to get by, compared to 17 percent of Americans overall while 18 percent of residents said they are living comfortably compared to 45 percent overall. Those statistics were among the key findings among those in fragile communities in the second annual Center for Advancing Op-
portunity's State of Opportunity in America report — a collaboration with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, The Charles Koch Foundation, Koch Industries and Gallup, Inc. The report was released during a three day-summit held April 1416 at the Grand Hyatt Washington in northwest D.C. Roughly 5,800 Americans were surveyed in 47 states from July through September. It detailed that about threefourths of fragile community residents nationwide (74 percent) say people like them are treated at least fairly by the local police, though just 19 percent say "very fairly." Black (35 percent) and Hispanic (28 percent) residents are more likely than white residents (12 percent) to say police treat them unfairly or very unfairly. Overall, two-thirds of fragile community residents in the U.S. (66 percent) say people like them are treated very fairly (14 percent)
or fairly (52 percent) by the courts and legal system. Again, the results differ starkly by racial group; almost half of Black residents (46 percent) and more than a third of Hispanics (35 percent) say the legal system treats people like them unfairly, vs. 19 percent of white residents. According to the Center for Advancing Opportunity's (CAO) new Criminal Justice Index, 18 percent of fragile community residents are "trusting" of their local police and justice system, while 45 percent are "skeptical" and 37 percent are "distrusting." Officials said the goal of the report is to better understand barriers to opportunity in America's fragile communities by methodically studying the experiences and opinions of those who live in them. A further goal is to help fulfill CAO's mission of moving people living in fragile communities from promise to prosperity. CAO addresses that mission
5 CAO Executive Director Gerard Robinson, Thurgood Marshall College Fund President & CEO Harry Williams, Thurgood Marshall College Fund Founder N. Joyce Payne, and Thurgood Marshall Executive Vice President of Business Development and Innovation and Entrepreneurship George Spencer at the release of the Center for Advancing Opportunity’s State of Opportunity in America report in Northwest during a three day-summit April 14-16. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
through three pillars of focus: ensuring all students have access to quality education, identifying barriers to entrepreneurship and job growth and supporting research to better understand and solve challenges within the criminal justice system. Fragile communities in America are characterized by high proportions of residents struggling
in their daily lives and possessing limited opportunities for social mobility, according to CAO. They said this conception is closely tied to the literature on concentrated poverty and disadvantage that became prominent by the mid-1980s. Although people are not born
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APRIL 18 - 24,11/29/18 20191:5817 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER PM
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Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe continues to struggle with health issues, with the 95-year-old veteran politician reportedly in Singapore on one of his many expensive health-related sojourns to the Asian country. This was revealed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa during an interview with state media ahead of the country's Independence Day celebrations Thursday, the New Zimbabwe reported. Mnangagwa said he was in constant touch with Mugabe, whom he overthrew in a military-assisted coup in November 2017, to check on his health. "He has not been feeling well. At the age of 95, I think he is reasonably in good health," Mnangagwa said. "Currently he is not in the country. He left on [April 2] to Singapore. He will be away for about 29 days and he will come back. I am making sure that I do the facilitation for him to receive treatment — take him to Singapore and to bring him back, all the facilities — I make sure that it is done." Even during his time as the country's leader, Mugabe often flew out to Singapore to receive specialist treatment by doctors outside, inviting scorn from opponents for abandoning his own health-delivery system he has presided over for decade to seek better hospitals abroad. His family and doctors have had the discipline of keeping his condition a closely guarded secret. According to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks 2011, then central bank governor Gideon Gono was cited as saying Mugabe suffered from prostate cancer. Mugabe, who has declared he will live up to 100 years, has nevertheless outlived some of his wartime colleagues.
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18 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
Jamaican Energy Minister Fayval Williams said Wigton Windfarm Limited has saved the country's government over $54 million on oil imports. The energy minister, speaking Friday at Wigton Windfarm's Initial Public Offering (IPO) investor briefing at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St. James, said the production of clean energy from the facility has enabled the country to avoid the purchase of 800,000 barrels of oil, and the emission of one million tons of carbon dioxide, thereby reducing the country's carbon footprint, the Jamaica Gleaner reported. Wigton, located in Rose Hill, South Manchester, is the largest wind energy facility in the English-speaking Caribbean. The company, which is a subsidiary of the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), began operating in 2004 with the commissioning of a 20.7 megawatt-generating plant, Wigton I. This was followed by the development of Wigton II in 2010, which generates 18 megawatts of energy. Wigton III, the 24-megawatt expansion of the facility, was officially commissioned into service in June 2016 by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. Williams commended the company for the progress made since its inception and lauded the IPO as a "bold strategy." "I can say that I am truly pleased with the strides that Wigton has made over these years," she said. "The growth in [renewable energy] globally will undoubtedly bring greater investment opportunities in the future for a company like Wigton and we want Jamaica to be a part of this growing global movement in an even greater way. I believe we have the will and the capacity, and as a government, we are putting the plans in place to ensure that we maximize our renewable energy potential." Jamaicans will have the opportunity to purchase shares in Wigton from when the IPO opened on April 17 to its closure on May 1. WI
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Enhancing Natural Gas Service in Washington D.C Delivering safe, affordable, reliable, clean-burning natural gas has been Washington Gas’ mission since our founding in the District of Columbia 170 years ago. We’re proud to call the District home and be an essential and dependable part of our customers’ lives every day as they heat their homes and prepare their meals. In delivering gas safely— our number one priority—we take every step to ensure our infrastructure is maintained to improve system reliability and reduce environmental impacts, all while meeting or exceeding the highest standards of safety and quality to better serve our customers. In Washington D.C., our accelerated pipeline replacement program called PROJECTpipes enables Washington Gas to enhance our system while maintaining excellent service. Progress with PROJECTpipes since June of 2014 has been steady and promising. We replaced approximately 13 miles of pipe and 3,000 service lines. In addition, Washington Gas reduced greenhouse gases released from our distribution system by an estimated cumulative reduction total of 5,674 metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent emissions. This is the equivalent of 989 homes’ electricity use for one year. Last December, we filed the second phase of PROJECTpipes with the PSC so that we can continue our work to replace aging infrastructure across the District to enhance safety and increase system reliability while further reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building on the last five years of work. We know that our work in your neighborhood can be disruptive. We will do all we can to minimize the impact. PROJECTpipes often requires excavation work affecting streets, sidewalks, public space and sometimes private property. As a property owner, we understand that you take great pride and enjoyment in your home. We want you to know that we take restoration very seriously and your community and property will be rehabilitated to its pre-construction condition. Throughout the restoration process, you can count on Washington Gas to: • Respect – your property as if it was our own; • Restore – your landscaping to an as-found condition after the replacement work has been completed on your property, weather permitting;
• Repairs- make temporary repairs to “hard surfaces,” such as streets, sidewalks and driveways, while work is in progress to make your neighborhood safe; • Restoration – complete final restorations to hard surfaces
after all services in an area are complete, typically within 8-12 weeks, as weather allows; and, • Comply – comply with the DC Department of Transportation standards and requirements for roadway restoration.
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 19 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
HEALTH Art Project Unites Communities of Color, Addresses Climate Change WI Staff Report Over the course of five months working with more than 150 individuals in two countries, Monica Jahan Bose created 60 saris for WRAPture, a large-scale outdoor project that recently went on display in Southeast. The temporary public art project combined the Anacostia community in D.C. and Katakhali Village on Bangladesh's Barobaishdia Island to activate saris with art and and drape them across five buildings in historic Anacostia. Birthed from Bose's ongoing
six-year Storytelling with Saris project, these massive colorful cotton handloom saris have been covered with customized woodblock printing, hand-painted images, and writings about climate change by Bose and residents of the two communities. A team of installers and the community gathered with Bose on April 2 and April 4 to complete the WRAPture installation. The blue and green saris on Good Hope Road symbolize water, storms, and sea level rise. The purple-pink saris on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue represent women's resilience in the face of
5 The art project entitled WRAPture combines the Anacostia community in Washington DC and Katakhali Village in Bangladesh to fabricate, assemble and drape saris across five buildings in Historic Anacostia (Courtesy photo/Anacostia Bid)
climate change and the disparate gender (and economic and racial) impacts of climate change. WRAPture opened on April 4, the assassination date of Martin Luther King Jr., in a predominantly African-American neighborhood as a gesture of solidarity across communities of color.
The exhibition, which was on display at Anacostia Arts Center on April 4 and April 14, will show once more on May 9 with a closing reception at the We Act Radio studio on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. The project is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Public Art Building Communities Grant Program and led by Bose, a Bangladeshi-American artist and activist. "The Earth has a fever, and we need to work fast to reduce our use of fossil fuels drastically," Bose said. "When we understand the impact of our energy use, we can make a difference as individuals despite governmental inaction. WRAPture, through the power of hands-on art, empowers and brings us together as
Over the course of five months working with more than 150 individuals in two countries, Monica Jahan Bose created 60 saris for WRAPture, a large-scale outdoor project that recently went on display in Southeast. 315656_6_x_6.5.indd 1
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a community in solidarity with each other." Since its November kickoff, WRAPture has worked with 12 women in Katakhali, Bangladesh, and over 150 D.C. residents, including youth from Project Create, formerly homeless women, hearing-impaired individuals, and people of all ages, genders and incomes. The inclusive project ensures that all events are accessible by wheelchair and sign and other language interpreters are provided as needed. Participating residents of Anacostia and Katakhali Village were paid for their work during the sari workshops, as they learned about climate change and renewable energy. They also wrote poetry and sang songs about climate as they worked on the saris, which will later be worn as garments by the women of Katakhali. The project includes an outdoor sound installation with songs and sounds from Katakhali and Anacostia collected by Bose and area youth. PUBLIC ART INSTALLATION LOCATIONS * Installation hubs: Anacostia Arts Center (1231 Good Hope Rd. SE) and We Act Radio (1918 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE) * Adjacent wrapped buildings: Anacostia Business Center, Check It, and District Culture buildings EXHIBITION DATE/TIME * May 9, viewing hours from 3 p.m. - 8 p.m., closing reception @ We Act Radio from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
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EDUCATION HBCU Students Lobby Congress for More Funds, Support
By James Wright WI Staff Writer
Students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) went to Capitol Hill recently to let their lawmakers know that their institutions deserve the support of the federal government. The HBCU Collective, led by Robert Stephens, organized the “HBCU Day of Action” on April 10, which consisted of meetings with members of the House and Senate to inform and persuade the lawmakers to support measures that HBCUs favor. “Thank you for taking time from your studies and busy schedules to come to the Hill and those from out of town, to Washington, to talk to your members of Congress about the needs of HBCUs,” said Stephens, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, N.C. The HBCU Collective serves as an advocacy group for HBCUs with the support of HBCU alumni and supporters. Its mission mirrors that of the United Negro College Fund and Thurgood Marshall College Fund but it focuses on student and alumni activism for Black colleges while the aforementioned organizations deal with fundraising and policy programs. There are 102 HBCUs, which primarily educates African-American students in 19 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The list of HBCUs includes both public institutions, such as the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) and Winston-Salem State, and private schools such as Howard University or Spelman College. Before the civil rights movement that encompassed the 1960s, HBCUs educated Black students who wished to pursue
a higher education for the most part. During that time, almost all public and prestigious private institutions in the South barred Blacks from admittance and their northern counterparts took in small numbers of African Americans. Since the 1970s, African Americans are generally free to go to any higher education institution that will admit them and that they can afford. Presently, 8.5 percent of all Black college students attend HBCUs and 14 and six percent of African-American students get their bachelor’s and master’s degrees, respectively from Black colleges. In a report, “HBCUs Make America Strong: The Positive Economic Impact of the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” Black institutions generate $14.8 billion in total economic impact for their local and regional economies. The report also said that HBCUs generate 134,090 jobs for their local and regional economies, 57,868 are on-campus jobs and 76,222 are off-campus jobs. In addition to Winston-Salem State University, students from Howard and UDC also participated in the lobbying activities. The students lobbied Congress members to extend mandatory funding for HBCUs for
5 HBCU students prepare for a day of lobbying U.S. Congress members on April 10. (James Wright/The Washington Informer)
infrastructure and maintenance of buildings, cancel student loan debt, increase Pell Grants and “ban the box,” or prohibiting hiring decisions based on a criminal conviction. The students also fear that work-study funds and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant are in jeopardy if Congress supports President Trump’s budget. Stephens advised the students to go into the members’ offices and speak up for HBCUs. “When talking about HBCUs, you have to be quick, concise and to the point,” he said. “You should try to tell the members and their staffs your story about your experience at HBCUs and why they need to support our agenda. Tell them unless we have dollars flowing to our institutions, we won’t have access to quality programs.” Stephens told the students that they had the right to speak on these matters “because you are a constituent.” He also advised them to follow up the meeting
The HBCU Collective, led by Robert
Stephens, organized the “HBCU Day of Action” on April 10, which consisted of meetings with members of the House
and Senate to inform and persuade the lawmakers to support measures that HBCUs favor.
with an email to remind them of their requests. Jarrett Goings, who attends Winston-Salem State University, said the trip to Washington “was worth it.” “I am glad that I advocated funding for all HBCUs, particularly more Pell Grant funding,” Goings said. “Students have
problems going to school because they don’t have adequate funding.” UDC student Jadelyn Abney agreed. “We need the support of the government to help us with our education,” she said. “We need educational equity and having more funds helps my future.” WI
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The Washington Informer 2019 Sustainability Supplement in Observance of Earth Day
Doing Our Part for the Environment
PRESENTED BY
SPONSORED BY
WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Protecting our Species Dr. Shantella Sherman WI Special Editions Editor
In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016 by The Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send change of addresses to The Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20032. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of photographs. Subscription rates are $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to: THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E Washington, D.C. 20032 Phone: 202 561-4100 Fax: 202 574-3785 news@washingtoninformer.com www.washingtoninformer.com
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PHOTOGRAPHERS John E. DeFreitas, Shevry Lassiter, Roy Lewis, Demetrious Kinney, Mark Mahonny, Lateef Mangum, Travis Riddick
It’s official. The rapid and unprecedented extinction of species in our world today – through climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, and unsustainable agriculture – are the result of human abuses. And with this year’s Earth Day, April 22, activists want people across the globe to understand their role in slowing and eliminating (in some cases) the impact of those abuses. As early as 1953, Keep America Beautiful, organized Dr. Shantella Sherman to encourage litter prevention, promote waste reduction and recycling, and to spearhead efforts towards community greening and beautification. In 1971, their campaign helped usher in the first Earth Day, with the theme, “People Start Pollution. People Can Stop It.” It was this campaign that featured actor Iron Eyes Cody, as a broken-hearted Native American man observing man-made destruction through pollution, litter and new innovations. Despite those warnings, nearly 50 years ago, we stand at a precipice wherein the largest period of species extinction in the last 60 million years is occurring. Normally, between one and five species goes extinct annually; however, scientists estimate that we are now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times that rate, with multiple extinctions daily. “The good news is that the rate of extinctions can still be slowed, and many of our declining, threatened, and endangered species can still recover,” says Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network. “If we work together now to build a united global movement of consumers, voters, educators, faith leaders, and scientists, we can demand immediate action.” Earth Day 2019’s Protect Our Species campaign hopes to galvanize nations to: Educate and raise awareness about the accelerating rate of extinction of millions of species and the causes and consequences of this phenomenon, Achieve major policy victories that protect broad groups of species as well as individual species and their habitats, Build and activate a global movement that embraces nature and its values; and Encourage individual actions such as adopting a plant-based diet and stopping pesticide and herbicide use. Building on that theme, the Washington Informer celebrates Earth Day by examining some of the crises impacting our city and the amazing organizations and efforts underway to thwart continued abuses of our natural resources. Join us in fighting the good fight for our future, and successive generations. Read, Learn, Enjoy! Dr. S
A Message from Pepco
Earth Day is a great time for residents, community leaders, and busi-
nesses to reflect on the importance of environmental leadership. At Pepco, we are committed to powering a cleaner, brighter, and affordable
energy future for all of our customers and communities. Climate change is real, and we understand the urgency of
efforts aimed at reducing carbon emissions across the areas we serve. As leaders in the energy industry, we want to
help usher in the clean and renewable energy future while doing our part to fight climate change and prepare for a world with more extreme weather and less predictability. Pepco is working with Exelon to advocate for policies, includ-
ing transportation electrification, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the federal, state, and municipal levels. So, however you plan to celebrate, Pepco wishes you a safe and happy Earth Day.
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Recycling Revolution Spawns New, Innovative Products, Solutions By Sophia Sparks Special to the Informer With the turn of the new year, 2019, twins Misook and Anne Corley found themselves ushering in both their 21st birthdays, and a new, environmentally-conscious city, as restaurants and other service businesses in the District, officially banned the use of single-use, plastic straws. New to the nation’s capital, the ban kicked off in July 2018 in Seattle and has since moved across the nation and into major food chains. “It was a bit weird at first to drink from a paper straw and feel the texture was not plastic, but it caught on because we all want to do our part for the environment,” Misook told the Informer. “As a daily iced latte drinker, it made more sense for me to purchase and carry a tumbler and reusable straw than keep using paper and plastic products that harm the environment.” “It’s something we did not even consider initially,” Anne added. “We were quick to recycle bottles, glass and paper at home, but we never really thought about how much waste we contributed to those landfills.” In just the U.S. alone, one estimate suggests 500 million
straws are used every single day. One study published earlier this year estimated as many as 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world's beaches. Reusable and eco-friendly straws are now more in vogue than ever before. PLA is one of the most commonly found plastic straw substitutes these days, but you can now find straws made from cardboard, paper, bamboo, and grain, with differing levels of biodegradability. “At this moment, the global PLA [plant-based plastic] and paper straw market is very stressed, and product delivery has been delayed across the board,” David J. Fridland, who works on sustainability for food service provider Eco-Products, said. "We view this as an extremely positive trend that will get more and more brands and companies on the zero-waste journey.” Similarly, the German sportswear giant Adidas, has increased its environmental push through its ecological group Parley for the Oceans. Parley intercepts plastic waste at the shoreline before it enters the sea, to create its spring 2019 Outdoor footwear line. Adidas then recycled the material for the knitted uppers of its sneakers. Zero-dye technology contributed to the monochrome design, which requires fewer
Recently, Adidas signed the Climate Protection Charter for the Fashion Industry at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland—and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent before 2030. SS-3 H-3
Adidas’ Parley for the Oceans environmental line offers stylish footwear created from recycled materials. (Courtesy photo)
chemicals and less energy and water to produce. In addition to being eco-friendly, the shoes are super stylish and affordable. “We also continue to improve our environmental performance during the manufacturing. This includes the use of sustainable materials, the reduction of CO2 emissions and waste prevention,” said Gil Steyaert, who is respon-
Biodegradable straws have taken the place of plastic straws in restaurants across the nation, including McDonalds. (Courtesy photo)
sible for Adidas global operations in a statement. “In 2018 alone, we saved more than 40 tons of plastic waste in our offices, retail stores, warehouses and distribution centers worldwide and replaced it with more sustainable solutions.” Recently, Adidas signed the Climate Protection Charter for the Fashion Industry at the
United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland—and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent before 2030. Starbucks plans to phase out plastic straws by 2020. McDonald’s recently announced it will ban plastic straws at its U.K. and Ireland restaurants. SS
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Earth’s Natural Force Rangers Show Kids the Benefit of Protecting the Environment By Lee Ross with Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the Informer
ENF Rangers perform, showcasing the importance of a healthy natural environment. (Courtesy photo)
When Xavier Myles first saw the dance moves and uniforms of Earth’s Natural Force (ENF) Rangers, during an environmental program last year, the 7-year-old Northeast resident could hardly contain himself. Xavier’s mother said her son was so concerned about environmental abuses that he had single-handedly convinced the family to adopt recycling and neighborhood clean-up activities at home and in local parks. “ENF Rangers made him feel right at home for loving the environment and wanting to preserve the wonderful greenery around our city,” Elaine Myles, Xavier’s mother told the Informer. “It is important to have environmentally-conscious young kids, especially African Americans, from your neighborhood, working towards a shared goal, especially when so many environmental issues disproportionately impact people of color.” Xavier's enthusiasm demonstrates the power and reach of ENF’s mission to teach youth at very young ages and encourage them to take responsibility for the care and protection of the environment. Raina Coleman, an ENF Ranger, has been with the organization since 2013. Now a freshman in high school, Coleman plays on the girls basketball team, is a visual artist, and a talented performer with the Rangers. “Being an ENF Ranger helped me learn more about the environment and why it's important to do things now before it's too late,” Coleman said. “I have asthma and allergies and so I think we do a good job of teaching kids that the Earth wasn't always like this and it's up to us kids
to take care of it now so there won't be any more children being born with asthma and allergies.” Coleman said that kids have the power to change the world, and with the right tools, they will be become the next line of defense against negative environmental changes. ENF reaches out to children between the ages of 5-12 through school and community performances, television broadcasts, and social media promotion. But be clear, there is plenty of Ranger work to be done, both in front of and behind the scenes. “I love performing in front of little kids because it’s really, cool to see them dancing along to our songs,” Coleman told the Informer. “We practice for weeks just for an hourlong show. It’s fun, but a lot of work. I've been performing with the Rangers since I was eight and believe it makes a tremendous impact on other young people.” ENF encourages youth to stop littering, recycle trash and offers them an alternative way of looking at the world around them. They become, in essence, protectors and defenders of the natural world around them and what they call, their fellow “Earth-Mates.” “We really want to impress upon schools and family participants the importance of doing their small part to save the planet – as small efforts turn into large movements,” ENF Founder and CEO, Allen C. Burriss said. “We’ve incorporated fun, games, and environmental displays and presentations into our efforts because we believe it will have a phenomenal impact on attendees. We want our young people to understand they can be a force for good and they have the power to save the planet by being responsible citizens of the Earth.” SS
ENF Rangers perform at community events, schools, and environmental summits to get kids excited about their roles as environmentalists. / (Courtesy photo)
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WGL is the preferred source for clean and efficient energy solutions across the nation. But we also know that our responsibilities do not end there. We’ve made a commitment to help enhance the quality of life throughout the entire community. That’s why we’re proud to work with local organizations that improve people’s health, promote a cleaner environment, support efforts to better educate our youth and as a result, enrich lives today and for generations to come. To learn more about how WGL is helping create a healthier, more vibrant community, visit WGL.com.
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Groundswell’s Share Power Community Solar Program TM
WHAT IS COMMUNITY SOLAR? Community solar looks just like any other solar project you might have seen. The thing that makes it different is that community solar projects generate electricity that you can share. What that means is, for example, a local church could install a solar project on its own roof that provides electricity for its members, or an apartment building could install solar on its roof that provides electricity for the people who live in the building. Before community solar came along, the only people who could enjoy solar power were people who owned their own roof, had a good credit score, and could afford the up-front payments. Community solar means everyone, regardless of whether you rent or own or have good credit, can have access to solar energy. WHERE IS GROUNDSWELL BUILDING COMMUNITY SOLAR PROJECTS? Groundswell is building community solar projects in partnership with faith communities and other
community-based organizations in the District, including solar projects on the rooftops of local churches in Wards 4, 5, and 7 so far. Some of the solar projects we’re building are part of the Solar for All DC program, which will provide 100% of the electricity generated for free to DC residents with a household income of less than $65,650. DC residents who enroll in Solar for All DC should save about $500 per year on their Pepco bill – so the savings are real. We’re also building community solar projects that enable people to Share PowerTM, delivering the same deep utility bill savings to our neighbors who need it most. HOW DOES GROUNDSWELL SHARE POWERTM? Groundswell’s Share PowerTM community solar program was directly inspired by asking ourselves how we can “love our neighbors as ourselves” using the abundance of energy from the sun. If you live in the District of Columbia and pay a Pepco bill, you can purchase locally gen-
erated electricity from one of Groundswell’s solar projects for less than $50 per month, which is about the same you pay the utility for dirty power. Groundswell then shares the solar savings generated from the project with income-qualified households to help cut their electricity bills in half. For example, for one of the community solar projects we’re building in DC Ward 5, for every three families who sign up to get locally generated power, we’ll be able to enroll one income-qualified family who’ll be able to save about $500 per year. We think it’s a wonderful way to work together as a community to lift each other up.
come to keep the lights on. Why? Because families who are working hard to make ends meet typically live in less energy efficient houses and apartments, and have older appliances that use more energy. That’s why Groundswell’s Share PowerTM program was created - to enable neighbors to help neighbors. Families who want to get their power from a local solar project can, while at the same time, helping local families who need energy savings cut their bills. HOW DOES GROUNDSWELL CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN OUR COMMUNITY? Washington, DC is Groundswell’s hometown, and our vision is that solar power should be a “Made in DC” industry. That’s just one reason why we hire locally and work with local minority and women-owned businesses to install our solar projects. The companies we work with are also committed to the community and practice what they preach by providing job training through their work. Finally, we shine a light on where and how the
WHY IS SHARING POWER WITH OTHERS SO IMPORTANT? The bottom line is that it’s expensive to be poor. All across America, especially in Washington DC, the people who have the least household incomes have the highest utility bills. In fact, nationally the poorest 20% of Americans pay 10% of more of their entire household in-
DC solar market needs to improve to represent the beautiful diversity of our neighborhoods. The way we see it, the District has a thriving solar market thanks to its commitment to run on 100% clean, renewable energy. The solar industry projects that about $300 million will be invested to build solar projects in the District over the next five years, and every single solar panel will cut utility bills, create jobs, and build wealth. But the question we will always ask is: for whom? HOW DO YOU SIGN UP? If you live in Washington, DC and you pay a Pepco bill, just go to our website at www.groundswell. org/informer. Fill out the interest form on our home page and we will be in touch with more details and community solar participation availability. If you or someone you know is, or thinks they may be, income-qualified for free solar through the Solar for All DC program, please call our Customer Engagement Team at 443.598.6773. SS
WHAT IS COMMUNITY SOLAR? Electric Bill
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OPEN
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Groundswell installs a community solar project
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Solar panels produce electricity that is shared among neighbors
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You sign up with Groundswell to receive the locally generated power
Join Groundswell, get your energy from a local solar project, and Share Power™ with your neighbors today.
A portion of the energy generated is shared with qualified, low-income neighbors for free
Groundswell.org/informer
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SHARE POWER WITH COMMUNITY SOLAR Groundswell is building community solar projects in Washington, DC that connect solar power with economic empowerment and put people first. We believe that clean energy is a necessity, not a luxury; we’re all in this together; and we can’t afford to leave our neighbors behind.
Learn more at www.groundswell.org/informer
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Pepco Hopes to Expand Access to Electric Transportation Celebrating Earth Day reminds us all to be good environmental stewards. At Pepco, we never stop looking for ways to lead our community toward a cleaner and brighter energy future. This year, Pepco aims to expand access to electric transportation through its proposal to boost electric mass transit and ride share options and tackle some of challenges surrounding individual electric vehicle (EV) ownership. Not that long ago, owning an electric vehicle (EV) meant a hefty price tag and a long waiting list. Today, EVs are affordable and boast a growing battery life making them more accessible and practical than ever. Most major U.S. car manufacturers offer or plan to offer an EV model to customers; prices for a new EV start as low as $23,000 before state and federal subsidies that can reduce the purchase price by several thousand dollars, and lease payments start around $69/month. An increasing number of EV’s in the used car marketplace are getting the attention of consumers as well. Like most new technologies, early adopters help prove a market need and drive down costs. Any market savvy observer would scan the EV marketplace and predict the industry is poised for huge success. So why are we not seeing more
widespread adoption? Why does dents would consider owning an EV really take off, dozens of charging it feel like EVs are for the elite, ul- and the same number would like to stations are needed – in all Wards. tra-dedicated consumer? see more EV ride sharing and mass Fast chargers allowing EV owners Like most cities across the U.S., transit options. With multi-family to reach a full charge in under 30 the majority of District of Colum- dwelling development on the rise, minutes will be critical if we want bia residents live in multi-family how can the District accommodate people to think of a public charging dwellings; and chances are, if you’re EV ownership and bring EV bene- station as a practical alternative to not in an apartment, you live in one fits like reduced pollution and traf- the driveway charger. Electrificaof the city’s row houses. For these fic noise to its residents? tion of mass transit like buses will residents, EV ownership isn’t as simElectric vehicle charging infra- be equally important for District ple as buying the car and installing a structure is desperately needed residents. charger in the driveway. across the District. To date, private Managing a network of charging No, for these residents EV own- companies have installed chargers stations is a lot like managing a utilership comes with a lot of questions. in places like Georgetown, Friend- ity’s energy system. All the same Where will I charge my car? How ship Heights, and Cleveland Park. operational factors are involved: long will it take? How much will it For EV adoption in the District to safety, reliability, and equitable cost? Can I trust the access and delivery. company selling me Most important, the electricity? Will utilities are regulated the charging stations so that consumers Celebrating Earth Day actually work and be are guaranteed safe, reliable? reliable electricity at reminds us all to be good If you’re one of a fair price. Many inthese District residustry experts think environmental stewards. dents, it’s likely that that utilities are best these questions will positioned to provide At Pepco, we never stop dissuade you from an the charging infralooking for ways to lead our EV purchase despite structure needed for your desire and ability broad EV adoption. community toward to own a clean electric “As demand for vehicle. This is the sinEVs continues to a cleaner and brighter gle greatest barrier for grow, local electric widespread EV adopcompanies, such as energy future. tion. Pepco, will play a Survey data suggests critical role in makthat most District resiing necessary invest-
ments to deploy, own, and operate charging infrastructure for the benefit of customers,” said Edison Electric Institute Executive Vice President of Public Policy and External Affairs Brian Wolff. “Investing in EV infrastructure is a win for customers, the economy, and our environment.” In the District, Pepco agrees and is currently waiting to hear the decision on its EV infrastructure proposal to the District of Columbia’s Public Service Commission. The proposal lays out a detailed plan to deliver up to 35 charging stations across all eight Wards; 20 of the proposed charging stations would be the much needed “fast chargers.” Pepco’s proposal features partnerships with the District Department of Transportation, Uber, and Tesla ensuring that rideshare and mass transit entities won’t be left out of the equation. Bringing this positive change to District residents won’t be easy, but thanks to Mayor Bowser’s leadership and the Council’s work to enact ambitious clean energy legislation that supports transportation electrification, the District is poised to be a leader in clean energy transportation. SS
SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE Pepco is proud to make every day Earth Day with environmental leadership in energy efficiency, transportation electrification, and support for local conservation. How will you celebrate Earth Day? #PepcoEarthDay
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Understanding Climate Change through Numerical Shifts
29%
Researchers at Yale University and George Mason University that tracked public opinions about climate change in a 2018 nationwide survey found that climate change is threatening the health of Americans. Roughly 3 in 10, or 29 percent of survey respondents said they are "very worried" about global warming, marking the highest level since the surveys began in 2008.
One was from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and found that humans have only until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change. The other was the United States national climate assessment report, which found that climate change could shrink the US economy and kill thousands by the end of the century.
A World Health Organization report released in December found that meeting the commitments put forth in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to tackle climate change could save millions of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars by the middle of the century.
Lee Ross / Special to the Infomer
What’s the difference between climate change and global warming?
Earth's greening — meaning the increase in areas covered by green leaves — has made the greatest gains in China and India since the mid-1990s. The effect comes mostly from ambitious tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries.
“Global warming” refers to the long-term warming of the planet. “Climate change” encompasses global warming but refers to the broader range of changes that are happening to our planet, including rising sea levels; shrinking mountain glaciers; accelerating ice melt in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic; and shifts in flower/ plant blooming times.
Evidence shows warming from 1998 to the present, with the four most recent years (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017) being the four warmest years globally since 1880. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a network of more than 90 of the world’s largest cities taking action to address climate change by developing and implementing policies and programs that generate measurable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks.
BY NU THE MB ERS
30%
With no benefit to itself, Earth's vast sea has gulped up around 30 percent of the carbon dioxide humans emitted into Earth's atmosphere over the last century. Critically, scientists have now confirmed that the ocean in recent decades has continued its steadfast rate of CO2 absorption, rather than letting the potent greenhouse gas further saturate the skies.
ATTENTION PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY BUSINESSES New Mandatory Recycling Requirements Begin
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW! New County Legislation (CB-12-2018) states that all Prince George’s County business owners, tenants, or operators of commercial and industrial properties, including but not limited to offices, stores, hotels, motels, gas stations, restaurants, factories, processing plants, and manufacturing enterprises, shall provide at least equally sized and equally convenient recycling containers to accompany each trash container on the interior and exterior of the property, including along storefronts. Properties should also include a collection system for the recyclables. A list of items that can be recycled shall be clearly displayed on or near the container. To view a list of the County’s acceptable recycling materials, visit bit.ly/acceptedpgc. To review a copy of the legislation, go to bit.ly/CB122018. For more information, contact the Department of the Environment, Recycling Section, Inspection Unit at 301-883-3635. Source Reduction Tip: Recycling one ton of plastic saves 98 million Btu’s of energy
Prince George’s County has a goal to recycle at least 60% of the waste stream by July 1, 2020.
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Using the Power of Solar to Build Communities
When my two partners, President Nick Giannotti, and COO Nicole Marandino and I founded New Columbia Solar (NCS) just over three years ago, we had a vision of locals helping locals. Our mission to make it as easy as humanly possible for D.C. residents and businesses to benefit from solar energy. We became pioneers in how solar is financed for low-income residents through a unique community-focused business model. Today NCS helps businesses, property owners, schools, non-profits, and District residents significantly reduce energy costs and enhance sustainability through the implementation of solar power. We also have embarked on a public service campaign to educate and inform students and organizations about the impact of climate change and the use of renewable energy. New Columbia Solar was a key stakeholder in the development and passage of The Clean Energy DC Act which will require DC to transition to 100% clean electricity by 2032. The legislation, first introduced by Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh and passed with help from Ward 5 Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, is the result of months of collaboration across environmental groups, renewable and fossil energy companies, local businesses, and others. The Clean Energy DC Act amplifies the initiatives and policies of the last 10 years including the DC Department of Energy and Environment’ s Solar for All program. The expanded use of renewable energy, particularly solar, will stem the impact of climate change on our city and will have numerous benefits for our communities. Because of the District’s commitment to solar energy, the industry has already produced over 1,530 District-based solar job. Over $200 million of private capital has investment into solar projects in the city since 2016 alone. According to the Solar Foundation’s 2018 Solar Jobs Census, solar industry jobs are expected to grow by at least 7% this year and solar installations have increased dramatically over the last two years. More than 68 Mega-
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watts of local generating capacity has been installed here in our District. As a result, local companies like NCS are growing. NCS started with three employees in 2016 and has grown to 40 employees with employees spanning all eight Wards. Renewable energy will aid our city's ongoing struggle to maintain affordable housing by directly reducing the energy burden for our most vulnerable residents. We strengthen our communities by expanding access to renewable energy and increasing job and educational opportunities. Recently, New Columbia Solar completed our eleventh Ward 8 solar project at Altamont Condominiums. The residents received a new roof completely paid for by New Columbia Solar as part of the solar installation. They will also benefit directly from the electricity the solar panels deliver for the next twenty years. Additionally, NCS's Ward 5 solar project at Celestial Church of Christ was installed at no cost to the church and now powers 29 homes in the community. This is a premier example of how electricity generated from local solar systems is directly benefitting District residents. As a pending partner to the 2019 Solar for All Program operated by the DCSEU, NCS will help the DCSEU’s efforts to benefit up to 6,800 income-qualified DC households in total. “Solar for All” supports the District’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) Expansion Amendment Act of 2016, which aims to reduce the energy bills of more than 100,000 low-income households by more than 50% by 2032. It’s an ambitious plan calling for solar energy to directly benefit families across our community in a very real and positive way. Perhaps most importantly, the progress our city is witnessing serves as a real-world demonstration that the policy mechanisms that have been in place for the past decade are working. Our District is becoming powered by renewable energy and this transition is taking place without increasing retail electricity rates for consumers. In fact, the District’s retail electricity price has consistently remained below the
national average price with a 7% lower average price in 2017. DC is doing urban renew-
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ables like no other city in the world. Through local renewable energy management and production we not only have
the potential but the obligation, to serve as a role model for other cities across the U.S. and the world. SS
Noteworthy & Recommended Books on African American Ecological Tradition Lee Ross / Special to the Infomer
Ecowomanism: African American Women and Earth-Honoring Faiths. / Melanie L. Harris Scholarship on African American history and culture has often neglected the tradition of African American women who engage in theological and religious reflection on their ethical and moral responsibility to care for the earth. Melanie Harris argues that African American women make distinctive contributions to the environmental justice movement in the ways that they theologize, theorize, practice spiritual activism, and come into religious understandings about our relationship with the earth. Incorporating elements of her family history to set the stage for her argument, Harris intersperses her academic reflections with her own personal stories and anecdotes. This unique text stands at the intersection of several academic disciplines: womanist theology, eco-theology, spirituality, and theological aesthetics.
Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage. Dianne D. Glave
Black on Earth: African American Ecoliterary Traditions. Kimberly N. Ruffin
American environmental literature has relied heavily on the perspectives of European AmerWith a basis in environmental history, this icans, often ignoring other groups. In Black on groundbreaking study challenges the idea that Earth, Kimberly Ruffin expands the reach of a meaningful attachment to nature and the outdoors is contrary to the black experience. ecocriticism by analyzing the ecological experiThe discussion shows that contemporary Af- ences, conceptions, and desires seen in African rican American culture is usually seen as an American writing. Ruffin identifies a theory of urban culture, one that arose out of the Great “ecological burden and beauty” in which African Migration and has contributed to internation- American authors underscore the ecological bural trends in fashion, music, and the arts ever dens of living within human hierarchies in the since. But because of this urban focus, many social order just as they explore the ecological African Americans are not at peace with their beauty of being a part of the natural order. Blacks rich but tangled agrarian legacy. Emphasizing were ecological agents before the emergence of the tradition of black environmentalism and American nature writing, argues Ruffin, and using storytelling techniques to dramatize the their perspectives are critical to understanding work of black naturalists, this account corrects the full scope of ecological thought. Identifying the record and urges interested urban dwellers themes of work, slavery, religion, mythology, music, and citizenship, Black on Earth highlights to get back to the land. the ways in which African This mulch is primarily derived from the Christmas tree collections. American writers are visionFor more information, please call County Click 3-1-1. ary ecological artists.
A skid loader will be available to load mulch into pickup trucks.
Prince George’s County Organics Composting Facility 6550 S.E. Crain Highway, Upper Marlboro, MD
(From Crain Highway, proceed on Maude Savoy Brown Road to Facility)
8 am to 1 pm Citizens and residents transporting mulch by car should bring their own containers and shovels or pitchforks.
Learn to reduce water usage, prevent soil erosion and reduce the use of herbicides in your home gardens by applying mulch.
RESTRICTIONS:
• Prince George’s County residents only • Only non-commercial vehicles, 3/4 ton maximum weight • No business vehicle signage will be permitted, all commercial signs should be covered or removed prior to entering the site
Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors. Carolyn Finney Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the "great outdoors" and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces.
To Love the Wind and the Rain: African Americans and Environmental History. Dianne D. Glave, Mark Stoll “To Love the Wind and the Rain” is a groundbreaking and vivid analysis of the relationship between African Americans and the environment in U.S. history. It focuses on three major themes: African Americans in the rural environment, African Americans in the urban and suburban environments, and African Americans and the notion of environmental justice. Meticulously researched, the essays cover subjects including slavery, hunting, gardening, religion, the turpentine industry, outdoor recreation, women, and politics. “To Love the Wind and the Rain” will serve as an excellent foundation for future studies in African American environmental history.
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Takeaways from the Be.Hive: Climate Change Needs Behavior Change Summit ling – is largely ineffective in spurring long-term behavior change. “What really works is tapping into the complexity of why people do what they do and understanding the inner workings of how individuals view and respond to the Following last month’s “Be. Hive: Climate world around them,” Mosher said. Change Needs Behavior Change” summit orgaChris Graves, president of the Olgivy Center for Behavnized by the group, Rare, and National Geographioral Science, shared several examples emphasizing that in ic in Washington, the nonprofit Oceanic Society order to change behaviors the problem or desired behavior listed five important takeaways from the confermust be presented in a way that’s concrete, tangible, and ence: Social norms are powerful, Momentum related. breeds momentum, When it comes to making “We respond to people and situations we can relate to decisions, identity outweighs information, People and identify with. If we cannot picture or imagine a scefavor the status quo – and can adjust to a new one nario in our own lives, we place less value and importance if it shifts; and Individual behaviors add up. on it,” Graves said. “Across behavioral science research, it’s well unAt the day-long conference, Professor Elke Weber of derstood that social norms play a critical role in Princeton University highlighted the tendency to favor shaping individual behavior; people are more likethe status quo, but also individuals’ ability and quickness ly to do things that they think or see other people to adjust to a new status quo; while Rare’s President and are doing,” Lindsay Mosher, the Oceanic Society’s CEO Brett Jenks closed the summit by presenting a simBlue Habits project manager wrote following the ple, 7-step guide for individuals to combat climate change. March 19 conference. “His inspirational message was that if just 10 percent The full-day summit brought together a diverse of Americans adopt seven behaviors, the U.S. would still set of speakers including renowned climate and National Geographic’s Andrew Revkin, Project Drawdown’s Katharine behavioral scientists, business leaders, artists, and Wilkinson, and NASA’s Kate Marvel have a climate conversation. (Courtesy meet our emissions reduction target set by the Paris agreement, even as our government withdraws from the agreeThe Medium Corp.) entertainers—even a magician. ment,” Mosher said. The goal of the conference was to explore how Conference organizers said that over the last 30 years, to use human behavior insights to create solutions climate change has emerged as the most pressing threat to species and to life on the planet. for climate change. Human behavior lies at the center of this issue, both as the problem and the solution. At the At the event, Cornell University professor Bob Frank cited the contagion or “neighbor efsummit, attendees were afforded an opportunity to learn about the latest academic insights from fect,” observed with installations of residential rooftop solar panels across the United States. Studies have shown that once an individual in a neighborhood installs solar panels on their behavior science, receive inspiration from the world’s leading environmentalists, artists, storytellers and explorers, and they were able to identify some of the greatest opportunities for shifting roof, it significantly increases the likelihood that other neighbors will follow suit. To further Oceanic Society’s takeaway that momentum breeds momentum, the conference human behavior to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “[The conference was] really hopeful and motivating. Climate change is touching every single highlighted research that shows that people are willing to change their behavior if they witness one of us so it can’t just be scientists solving this problem. We have to bring in people who know new behaviors that indicate a new social norm is forming, even if that means behaving in a way how people work,” said Dr. Kate Marvel, a climate scientist with Columbia University and that is out of step with current social norms. “For example, researchers at Stanford University found in a series of studies that people ate NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “What have we learned? We learned that while the challenges are great, solutions are everyless meat and conserved more water when they were provided with information suggesting where,” said Lynn Scarlett, Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs for the Nature that those behaviors were part of a growing societal trend,” Mosher said. She also noted that presenting facts, statistics, and information – regardless of how compel- Conservancy. SS By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
Park Service, Preservationists Launch Work to ‘Save The Tidal Basin’ Sophia Sparks Special to the Informer As a teenager I visited the nation’s capital and was amazed at the expanse of greenways – from the Monument grounds and National Mall, to areas around the Tidal Basin and Hains Point. In fact, as a burgeoning scientist, I understood the importance of ecologically-sound natural spaces in the middle of sidewalks, subways, and urban living. The District of Columbia got it right. Unfortunately, with the unnatural rise in water levels and not-so-timely preservation efforts, areas of that great scenery are taking a beating. In recent years, East Potomac Park and Hains Point have seen
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many of its walkways, and benches, its golf course, and bicycle trails, covered with water and debris from the Potomac and erosion plaguing what was once a fisherman’s paradise and a Lover’s Lane for D.C. couples. According to the National Park Service, areas around the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin, also face rapid erosion of the seawall surrounding the area. “When they constructed this seawall, the construction methods that they did back then are probably not the same as what we would do today,” said Sean Kennealy, of the National Park Service. Built in the 1800s, the seawall that surrounds the Tidal Basin has had steady foot traffic – 1.5 million visitors alone for the cherry blossom festivities each year -- and areas of
construction, including the memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The groundswell and uneven pavement, vanishing ground, and submerged areas, have many visitors walking uneasy amid the sightseeing. “You will actually see the roots are not only compromised but actually exposed,” said Jason Clement, marketing director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “This is not just D.C.’s calling card to the nation; it’s America’s calling card to the world. It is sinking, and it is flooding, and there is over $500 million in deferred maintenance that needs to be invested in this park so that it can be saved for future generations.” The United States Army Corps of Engineers projects, in the next 50 years, locations like Roosevelt
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Island, Hains Point and Joint Base Anacostia-Boling could be inundated by water brought on by tidal flooding. “There is significant uncertainty as to possible futures, however a community can assess its overall risk with respect to climate change and plan for and later take actions
to prepare for the possibilities,” reads a 2015 report on climate change by the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment. The Park Service and the National Trust for Historic Preservation are turning to the public for help – announcing a $750,000 ideas lab, for the Tidal Basin. SS
Building a Resilient Model for Urban Agriculture Sabine O’Hara Dean of CAUSES and Land-grant Programs College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) University of the District of Columbia sabine.ohara@udc.edu Like most cities, Washington D.C., is divided. Administratively, the city is organized into eight wards. Ward 8 has the lowest median household income level, at $32,000 per year; an unemployment rate of close to 20 percent; and 90 percent of its residents are African American. Ward 3 has a median household income of $110,000 per year; an unemployment rate of less than 4 percent; and 5 percent of its residents are African American (United States Bureau of the Census, 2014). Similar disparities are evident in food security and health parameters. The United States Department of Agriculture defines food security as “… access by all people at all times to enough nutritious food for an active, healthy life.” Wards 5, 7, and 8, are the wards with the lowest income levels, and also are home to 34 percent of the population. Yet less than 10 percent of the city’s grocery stores are located in those wards. The result is food insecurity for a significant number of D.C. households: 13 percent have reported being food insecure; 19 percent have experienced food hardship; and 37 percent of households with children have been unable to get enough food (D.C. Department of Health,
2013). Among the damaging effects of food insecurity on children are impaired cognitive development, reduced school readiness, lower educational attainments, and slower physical, mental, and social development (Cook et al., 2006; Nord, Coleman-Jensen, Andrews, & Carlson, 2010). Another concern of food insecurity stems from the declining nutrient content of some of our food. One contributing factor is the increased time between harvest and consumption. To accommodate the time spent in transport, produce is harvested before it ripens. Populations in urban areas on the east coast of the United States are especially vulnerable, since California is the top producer of fruits and vegetables. That calls for an increase in the production of nutrient-dense produce closer to where the majority of consumers
live, namely in metropolitan areas on the east coast of the United States. In 2013, the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES), of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), set out to implement its Urban Food Hubs model. The model expands the USDA’s definition of a food hub beyond its core concept of creating market prowess for small food producers by forming networks and value-added operations. CAUSES, in collaboration with the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation (AEDC), the DC Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), and the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), has designed and built four of its award-winning urban food hubs in Wards 3, 5, 7, and 8. A UDC Urban Food Hub
Explore CAUSES ACADEMICS Architecture and Community Planning (BS & M'Arch) Urban Sustainability (BA & Professional Science Master's) Urban Agriculture
(Professional Science Master's)
Water Resources Management
(Professional Science Master's)
Urban Leadership & Entrepreneurship (PhD) Nutrition and Dietetics (BS & MS) Health Education Nursing
(BS)
(RN to BSN)
LAND-GRANT CENTERS
Center for Urban Agriculture & Gardening Education Center for Sustainable Development & Resilience Center for Architectural Innovation & Building Science Center for Nutrition Diet & Health Center for 4-H & Youth Development
As the only public institution of higher education in the nation's capital, the University of the District of Columbia provides a wide range of services to District residents. The services provided by our land-grant centers help strengthen D.C.'s resiliency and improve conditions among all segments of our community.
@UDC_CAUSES
@UofDC.CAUSES
consists of four integrated components – food production, food preparation, food distribution, and closing the loop through waste and water management. Each of the four components offers opportunities for business development, training, and improved resilience. Business development is increased through high-intensity food production on green roofs, raised bed gardens, and hydroponic and aquaponic facilities; food preparation that adds value to locally grown food and improves public health; innovative food distribution models that improve access to high-quality affordable food through farmers markets, food trucks, and community-supported agriculture (CSA); and waste and water management through composting, reduced storm water runoff, and green infrastructure improvements. Local entrepreneurs receive training and technical support to implement their business plans. These can range from a health-focused business that maximizes nutrient yield and offers health assessment and nutrition counseling; to growing microgreens and herbs for high-end restaurants; to ethnic crop production for local niche restaurants and grocery stores; to green roofs that serve as space for food production and events; and native plant seedlings grown for urban parks and rain gardens. The metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., is growing. The Urban Food Hubs model seeks to form a decentralized network of local food centers that improve food security, nutritional health, job creation, and resilience, especially in urban neighborhoods that have deficits on all counts. The Urban Food Hubs must therefore be competitive in an environment of intense land-use pressure. Some tangible benefits of UDC’s urban food hubs include reduced food-related illnesses and improved storm water management. Some less tangible benefits include
improved neighborhood aesthetics, stronger civic engagement, and neighborhood safety. By making an up-front investment in the Urban Food Hubs, UDC is building the capacity for improved food access, health, and economic development in underserved neighborhoods in the nation’s capital. Beyond applicability for Washington, D.C., the Urban Food Hubs can serve as models to improve the quality of life and economic opportunity of urban communities across the nation. The Urban Food Hubs thus have a larger agenda: to create a network of sustainable and resilient local food systems that advance economic, social/cultural, and environmental/physical benefits. The long-term sustainable development success of metropolitan communities depends on developing such resilient local economies. As urbanization continues globally, food and water security cannot be addressed without solutions that include urban communities and reimagine them as hubs for a comprehensive, sustainable food system close to where the majority of consumers live: in metropolitan communities. References United States Bureau of the Census. (July 10, 2014). Population. http://www.census.gov/topics/population.html District of Columbia Department of Health. (2013). District of Columbia community health needs assessment. Vol 1.. Retrieved from http://doh.dc.gov/ sites/default/files/dc/sites/doh/page_content/attachments/2nd%20Draft%20 CHNA%20%28v4%202%29%20 06%2004%202013%20-%20 Vol%201.pdf Nord, M., Coleman-Jensen, A., Andrews, M., & Carlson, S. (2010) Household Food Security in the United States, 2009. ERR-108, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Econ. Res. Serv.
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The Future of Urban Agriculture is Now.
As the nation’s only exclusively urban land grant institution and the only public university in the nation’s capital, UDC is providing research and training to answer the critical questions associated with urban growth in the new millennium. Our Professional Science Master’s programs allow students to tackle the challenges of building sustainable and resilient urban communities through urban agriculture, with a strong focus on food security, food and water safety, resource management and energy efficiency. We are building a new generation of leaders for urban America.
Learn more about our academic and land-grant opportunities at www.udc.edu/causes.
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With its Expanded Mission, OPC Continues Strong Support of District Utility Consumers
By Sandra Mattavous-Frye People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia The Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC) is pleased to contribute to the Washington Informer’s 2019 Sustainability and Energy Supplement in honor of Earth Day. As People’s Counsel, I am charged with educating consumers in the District of Columbia about their utility rights, protecting those rights, and advocating to ensure their utility services are safe, reliable, and sustainable and that the rates charged for such service are just, reasonable, and affordable. In the past year, the DC Council passed two important pieces of legislation expanding the scope of OPC’s mission: the DC Water Consumer Protection Amendment Act of 2018 and the CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018. These bills highlight the important role that sustainability and clean energy play with respect to the District’s environmental goals. OPC welcomes this opportunity to share with readers information about its evolving role in the District’s utility consumer advocacy landscape and is excited to continue to represent ratepayers with the new challenges ahead. Water Consumer Protection Act: Prior to enactment of the new law on April 11, OPC only had authority to advocate on behalf of District consumers in matters pertaining to natural gas,
electricity, and telecommunications services. If a consumer had a concern or complaint about their service from DC Water, the District’s sole retail water supplier, OPC did not have the authority to assist them. Because DC Water is a self-regulated entity, when water consumers had issues such as high water bills, increasing water rates, infrastructure repairs, or water-related safety issues, they could only turn to DC Water, the utility providing the service, for a remedy. With the passage of the Water Consumer Protection Act, that dynamic has changed. OPC’s authority has been expanded to bring DC Water ratepayers under OPC’s advocacy and education umbrella. While DC Water will remain self-regulated and possess decision-making authority in relation to its rates, OPC will now have the authority to represent DC Water customers with complaints about service, rates and billing. OPC also now has the authority to comment on DC Water rate proposals. Further, OPC will now educate water consumers about their legal rights with respect to services provided by DC Water. Water is a finite resource fundamental to human well-being and an indispensable component of sustainable development in the District. OPC is committed to ensuring that “Water is Life” to all residents. CleanEnergy Act: The District of Columbia is a trailblazer on setting aggressive goals for climate change and energy related sustainability issues. OPC has historically championed the District’s environmental and sustainability policies. We have been incorporating these issues into our case-related policies, our outreach and advocacy efforts for many years. With the enactment of the CleanEnergy Act on March 22, the DC Council has pushed the bar even higher. Among other things, the Act accelerates and increases the District’s electric service renewable energy portfolio standard so that 100% of the District’s energy will be provided by renewable resources like solar and wind by 2032 and carbon free by 2050. It also increases the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund fee that gas and electric utility ratepayers pay on
their monthly bills. This law also requires OPC to consider climate change in addition to continuing to consider safety, the economy, the conservation of natural resources, and the preservation of environmental quality in its work. OPC is embracing the expansion of its mission. For example, both Pepco and Washington Gas are presently seeking funding from
its customers for major infrastructure investment projects in the District. OPC has advocated that such projects should only be approved if, and to the extent that, they are needed, sustainable, complementary to the District’s environmental policies, and use ratepayer funds efficiently. As the District’s energy landscape continues to evolve, OPC remains committed to its core
principles that any new policies and initiatives must support consumers’ rights to safe, affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy services; and promote a clean and healthy environment. For more information about OPC’s sustainability and clean energy initiatives, please visit opc-dc.gov and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. SS
Who We Are The Office of the People's Counsel is an independent agency of the District of Columbia
government. By law, it is the advocate for consumers of natural gas, electric, telephone and water services in the District. District of Columbia law designates the Office as a party
to all utility- related proceedings before the Public Service Commission. The Office also represents the interests of District ratepayers before federal regulatory agencies. The Of-
fice is authorized to investigate the operation and valuation of utility companies independent of any pending proceeding.
The Office's mandate is to advocate the provision of quality utility service and equitable
treatment at rates that are just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory to assist individual consumers in disputes with utility companies about billing or services; and to provide technical assistance and consumer education to lay advocates and community groups.
In addition, in defining its positions while advocating on matters pertaining to the
operation of public utility or energy companies, the Office shall consider the public
safety, the economy of the District of Columbia, the conservation of natural resources, and the preservation of environmental quality.
Contact Information
1133 15th Street N.W., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 (202) 727-3071 info@opc-dc.gov www.opc-dc.gov
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Increasing Diversity in the Solar Market By Groundswell Groundswell recently partnered with NYMBUS, a minority-owned management consulting firm, to assess minority and woman-owned business participation in the solar sector in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. The results underscore both the growing opportunities in solar development and the urgent need for the industry to confront striking disparities in who benefits from them. The research is intended to shed light on participation trends within industries in order to identify where positive, inclusive change can be made. We recently sat down with the president and CEO of NYMBUS, Terrell Richmond, to learn more about his observations and reflections on the result findings.
ON THE STATE OF THE SOLAR MARKETPLACE.
The solar marketplace has experienced exponential growth on a global, national, and local scale, yet regardless of the trend we still found a gross lack of representation at every level of the solar supply chain. With such a vast space to create employment opportunities and wealth, we aspired to research the current solar economy with the intent of providing a visual depiction of its current status and the availability for future diversity. Baltimore and D.C. have unique opportunities to create shared assets, establish innovation centers and foster mentor relationships that ultimately create paths to prosperity for all members of every community.
ON LEAVING MINORITY AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESSES BEHIND.
The findings in our research were pretty stark. Only 3 out of 1678 certified small businesses in D.C. were registered as minority or woman-owned full-service solar firms. That means women and minority solar firms make up less than one percent of certified small businesses. In other words, they're not participating significantly within the solar value chain, and where they are participating, it's at the lower end as it relates to procurement and construction, as opposed to higher paying careers in development and finance. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics wages in the solar segment for finance are, at
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minimum, three times higher than wages in solar engineering and procurement. So wage disparity is one thing. The other consideration is that often the developer has the financial proficiency and the backing to not only build the project, but also own it. Developers that are also owners enjoy both the financial benefits from building the project and the long-term wealth generation that comes from owning the asset. The statistics reflect that very few minorities and women are involved at this level of the solar value chain in order to reap the more lucrative benefits of solar development.
ON WHY EARLY INVOLVEMENT IN THE SOLAR ECONOMY MATTERS.
Minority inclusion within solar is a problem throughout the country, and it’s largely because of the nascency of solar and because of the complexity of the value chain. The district just gave preliminary approval to a climate bill, requiring that 100 percent of the energy that is consumed has to come from a renewable source by 2032, so we know there's obviously an environmental impact. But there’s also an economic impact, and not just from an economic development perspective but from a consumption perspective. The cost of delivering solar
is less than conventional energy. A lack of participation in solar development prohibits minorities from creating economic value within their own communities and owning an asset that can generate longterm wealth. It's sort of like the advent of information technology or the combustible engine. Renewable energy is transformative and is going to be in high demand, and legislative changes are further stimulating demand. To not have equal access at the outset can mean you're shut out forever.
ON THE WAY FORWARD.
To address our findings, we made several strategic recommendations. Accessing the data relevant to solar or small business participation is very difficult. There's a need to create a more centralized data source to reflect as well as to understand the trends in not just the solar economy of small minority communities but the business trends of solar in general. Other recommendations included: expanding awareness of the solar business model; forming a government and industry partner coalition to increase the participation of minority and woman-owned contractors and suppliers; increasing entrepreneurial capacity through
Terrell Richmond CEO of NYMBUS
mentorship; and exploring the launch of innovation centers to foster entrepreneurship and connect emerging minority and woman-owned businesses to business development opportunities associated with utility and university supply chains. This is a complex space, and there's this interdependence between local legislation and policy as well as access to capital and financing to capitalize on solar opportuni-
ties. It's a very nascent market, and it is complex, with legislative and financial nuance. There are numerous companies that have the capacity, but don't have the awareness. By engaging with local governments, community leaders and industry professionals, we can collectively take necessary action to make sure growth in the solar industry demonstrates increased equity and inclusion. SS
KICK OFF! COMMUNITY SOLAR
We are excited to announce the kick off of Dupont Park Seventh-day Adventist Church’s landmark community solar project. Construction funding for the project was provided through DC’s Solar for All program. As a result, 100% of the electricity produced by the project will be delivered to low-income households in the District of Columbia at no cost for 20 years. Learn more about community solar and how it is empowering communities, creating jobs and improving the lives of neighbors at:
www.groundswell.org/dupont-park.
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driving environmental leadership Pepco is proud to support clean and sustainable electric transportation across all Wards of the District of Columbia. How will you celebrate Earth Day? #PepcoEarthDay
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© Pepco, 2019
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL The Case for Reparations Heats Up Henry Louis Gates did the movement for reparations for African Americans a huge favor by producing his latest documentary now airing on PBS, Reconstruction: America After the Civil War. The two-part series confirms that the atrocities against Black people didn’t end with the abolition of slavery. Rather, the vestiges of the decades-long system of legalized racism, bigotry, violence and white supremacy are still apparent in the lives of Black people who, across generations, still suffer economically, socially, politically and educationally. Gates’s film provides proof for the call for reparations that followed the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation 156 years ago. It offers convincing evidence as to why reparations should be considered a serious matter and a means by which the U.S. government and others can be held accountable to the descendants of Black people victimized by slavery and its aftermath in the U.S. Former Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) saw it that way when he introduced bill H.R. 40 Commission on Reparations in 1989. When Conyers retired two years ago, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) picked up the mantle and reintroduced the bill. Last week, a companion bill was introduced in the Senate by New Jersey Senator and presidential candidate Corey Booker. Alongside them, the bill’s supporters also include Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and 36 other co-sponsors, mostly members of the Congressional Black Caucus. And several Democratic presidential candidates are expressing their support for reparations including Julian Castro, Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris, to some degree. HR 40 establishes the Commission to Study and Develop Reparations Proposals for African Americans to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommends appropriate remedies. In Booker’s announcement, he said he was “proud” to introduce legislation that “will finally address many of our country’s policies – rooted in a history of slavery and white supremacy – that continue to erode Black communities, perpetuate racism and implicit bias and widen the racial wealth gap.” Despite the ongoing debate about reparations, Gates’s film holds nothing back and reveals the facts the American people were never taught as well as many of the findings the commission will seek. We are encouraged that conversation continues but anxious to see the legislation move forward. We also appreciate Mr. Gates, Jr. for telling the stories that some would have us forget. WI
LeBron James Helps Reignite Dreams for Akron At-Risk Youth Every day that students at LeBron James’s “I Promise School” walk through the doors, they’re invited to a celebration from the sounds of Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family” blaring over the school’s loudspeakers to hugs, high-fives and compliments showered upon them by staff. In most public schools one would expect it to be part of a special occasion but for those in the Akron, Ohio school, it’s an everyday occurrence. The school serves as LeBron’s most significant contribution to educational philanthropy and seeks to change the lives of those identified as the worst performers in the Akron public schools, branded with behavioral problems, or labeled at-risk students – some as young as 8. It’s still early but the results appear most impressive in efforts to close the achievement gap. The sample of students, 240, is small but for the inaugural classes of 3rd and 4th graders at I Promise, 90 percent met or exceeded individual growth goals in reading and math, outpacing their peers across the district in the first set of district assessments. What’s more, I Promise is not a charter school run by a private operator but is instead a public school operated by the district. Its population: 60 percent Black; 15 percent English-language learners; 29 percent special education Every day that students at students; and 75 percent of its families meet the LeBron James’s “I Promise low-income threshold to receive help from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. School” walk through the The school’s $2 million budget comes from the district, comparable to the same amount per pu- doors, they’re invited to a pil that’s spent in other schools. But with LeBron’s foundation, $600,000 goes toward the support of celebration from the sounds additional teaching staff to reduce class sizes and of Sister Sledge’s “We Are an additional hour of after-school programming and tutors. One of the keys to success, many say, Family” blaring over the remains the school’s unusual attention to and reschool’s loudspeakers to sources provided for parents. LeBron does not show up with the cameras and his entourage. After all and as he clearly under- hugs, high-fives and complistands and says, this is not the NBA. This is life. ments showered upon them What a lesson we could learn or so many fronts. WI by staff.
TO THE EDITOR Taking a Stand for Go-Go
Remembering Nipsey
I was very happy to see the swift action against the gentrifiers who have decided they have the right to silence the community — in this case, the go-go music in the Shaw neighborhood. First of all, I’ve walked past the store many of times and never thought the music was too loud or even obnoxiously loud. Once you cross the street, you can barely even hear it. So what was this about? A power play. You live in the inner city. It’s noisy. Duh!
I’m glad to see you all covered Nipsey Hussle’s death, but I wish you had more pictures that I could keep as a keepsake for my personal archive. Nevertheless this week’s Final Call had a full spread of beautiful photos and portraits of the late, great Ermias Asghedom, so I am just fine. We must tell our own stories. That’s why I support the Final Call, The Washington Informer and plenty more Black publications.
Tamra Pascal Washington, D.C.
John Simmons Washington, D.C.
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 23 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Julianne Malveaux
Mnuchin Madness
Who does Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin think he is? Simmering in his putrid privilege, he seemed to think that he was in charge of the House Financial Services Committee. He was rude and rogue when he snapped back at Congresswoman Maxine Waters, the committee chair, because she checked him on his nonsense. The hapless Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, forgot his place and was publicly and un-
acceptably disrespectful to Waters (D-Calif.), the chair of the House Financial Services Committee. Waters compelled his presence to testify and then summarily dismissed him (“you can leave if you want”) when he got testy and disrespectful with her. Mnuchin is really above his Peter Principle as Treasury secretary in any administration but 45’s. And those birds of a feather stick together because they share values and shady, self-serving morals. Mr. Mnuchin boldly requested government planes to facilitate his honeymoon, is taking his cues from the man who has turned the presidency into a profit center, op-
erating government on a “pay-toplay” basis with possibly Russians, Saudis and who knows who else. No wonder Mnuchin won’t release 45’s taxes. No wonder he could not answer the direct questions of a congressional committee. No wonder he whined about being the “worst-treated” Treasury secretary in history. Was that comment supposed to impress someone? It surely didn’t impress Maxine Waters, who handled Mnuchin the same way one might treat a bag of dog poop abandoned by its careless owner. You wouldn’t put your hands on it. You might not even kick it. But you’d sniff at
Guest Columnist
it and turn away. That’s just what Waters did when she told him that he could leave the hearing he’d committed to participate in. Then, she icily told him not to presume to instruct her on how to hold a hearing, and how to use a gavel (he said “gravel” — inarticulate). Maxine Waters took the hapless Mnuchin to Liberation School, but since he graduated from the Klux Academy of White Supremacy, he will probably have to subject himself to further detoxification from his racist behavior. Mnuchin’s behavior toward Waters was his exercise in white supremacy, pure and simple.
White supremacy is the belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races, and that white people should have control over people of different races, especially people of African descent. White supremacy manifests itself in public policy that allows white so-called “law and order” officers to kill unarmed Black people because they think they are superior and call tell the lie that they are in fear for their lives. White supremacy manifests itself in the ways that African Americans earn unequal pay for the same work and the ways that supremacists justify it. White supremacy occurs
MALVEAUX Page 41
By Marc H. Morial
How Your State Fared on the NUL Report Card
“This bill upholds the core value that animated the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act signed by President Lyndon Johnson — the value that says education, the key to economic opportunity, is a civil right. With this bill, we reaffirm that fundamental American ideal that every child, regardless of race, income, background, the zip code where they live, deserves the chance to make
out of their lives what they will.” — President Barack Obama upon signing the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the 2015 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, establishes civil rights standards for educating students from historically underserved populations — such as children of color, students with disabilities and those learning English as a second language — receive the resources they need. Not every state is meeting its obligations, however.
The National Urban League reviewed the plans states are required to submit to the federal government, outlining how they will meet their commitments to ensure equity and excellence to every student and every community. We found that only nine state plans qualified as “excellent.” We reviewed plans in the 36 states and the District of Columbia where Urban League affiliates are located. The review comes at an important time in our history. The landmark 2016 election marked a shift in conversations about race, socio-
Guest Columnist
economic status, and the systemic impact of these social markers on the experiences of people across the nation. With Education at the forefront, advocates and stakeholders are looking critically at what states have committed to do for students and how they are going to do it. The nine state plans identified as “excellent” are Colorado, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Rhode Island. These states are off to a strong start making the most of opportunities to further advance equity with some areas for improvement and a small number of
areas deserving urgent attention. The eight state plans identified as “poor” are Virginia, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan and California. These states missed opportunities to further advance equity in a majority of areas with several areas needing urgent attention. The other 20 states, rated “sufficient,” were adequately attentive to opportunities to further advance equity while missing several opportunities, all of which having a few areas deserving urgent attention.
MORIAL Page 41
By Doug Mayorga
SBA Should Withdraw Proposed Rule Harming Minority-Owned Businesses Low-cost SBA-backed lending is critical for small business owners. Securing funding is already hard for small businesses, and minority-owned small businesses such as the 25,000 members and partners of the U.S. Minority Chamber of Commerce face unique hurdles and often turn to U.S. Small Business Administration loans as a result. But recently, the administration
24 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
proposed rules introducing sweeping changes that would make it harder for small business owners to access the capital they need to grow their businesses. This could be devastating for minority-owned businesses, especially as the number of smaller loans from the SBA continue to decline. These changes could push business owners into the hands of alternative and often predatory lenders, who can charge rates between 18 and 99 percent annually. The SBA received over 4,000
comments on this proposed rule, which is currently under review. Many of these comments are from small-business owners — including minorities — opposing the rule because of the impact it would have on lending. The SBA's own Office of Advocacy even submitted a letter that reflected these concerns and urged a less invasive approach to protect lending. And in February, Sen. Marco Rubio, the new chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, questioned
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then-Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Linda McMahon about this proposed rule. But SBA still shows no indication that it will listen to small-business owners and withdraw this harmful rule. We need the House Committee on Small Business, chaired by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, to press the SBA for answers here. Minority-owned small businesses would be among those that suffer the most by any policy change
that restricts access to credit. These changes will stifle jobs and investments in our communities. Small-business owners looking for loans under $350,000 are the very businesses that SBA was created to serve. I urge the Small Business Administration to follow through on their commitment to help truly small businesses secure funding, particularly minority-owned businesses who face increased barriers to credit, by rejecting this proposed rule. WI
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By E. Faye Williams
We Must Not Be Afraid!
My good friend Dick Gregory often talked about the power of the Black woman. In a joking manner, but a serious meaning, he said, “A Black woman is the only woman in the world who can cut a man’s tires to the rim with a butter knife!” He also said the two strongest forces in the nation are the Black church and the Black woman. Despite all of our hardships, discrimination, disrespect by
gangsta rappers and others, Black women have shown the strength and the know how to overcome whatever gets in our way. We jump through the hoops and accomplish what we set out to accomplish. When white women received the right to vote with the support of Black women, some were OK leaving us out. It took another 40-plus years through dangerous conditions, and numerous efforts for us to vote. We’ve pushed our way to victory for not only Black women, but for those who offered to support our issues when Black women were not in the
Guest Columnist
race. Sometimes we had to vote for the lesser of two evils. We always did what we had to do. Our efforts are beginning to pay off, but some are trying to diminish our strength. In this last election, we played an important role in electing Black women in a larger number than ever, and played an important role in the victories of others. A Black woman is now facing threats on her life for saying far less damaging things than #45 says daily and he goes unpunished. I’ve faced my share of threats for speaking truth, but I’ve never backed down from say-
ing what I believed to be right. Now, we’re faced with threats against one of our sisters, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. A Trump supporter boldly threatened to “put a bullet” through her skull. We must not be afraid to stand up for her. We don’t have to agree with everything she says to defend her right to speak. If we don’t stand with her, and other Black women when they speak up on issues with which others agree, but are afraid to say so, when they come in the morning, it could be for any one of us. It’s tragic that so many for whom Black women have done
so much, leave the words of others unchallenged, but make only luke warm statements in support of Ms. Omar or criticize her for what she says. You don’t have to agree with everything she says, but, she is our sister and we must speak up for her rights. The system tries to crush her today, but it could be any one of us tomorrow. Those of us who understand that are not afraid. Those of us who’ve been through similar treatment, know how lonely it can be when even our friends are afraid to protect
WILLIAMS Page 42
By Charlene Crowell
CFPB Denies Duty to Enforce Military Lending Act
America’s 1.29 million-member, all-volunteer military includes men and women from all 50 states, according to the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. Regardless of race or ethnicity, each made a choice and swore an oath to protect our nation. Together, they wear our nation’s uniforms and carry our flag on assignments and deployments in
times of both peace and war. I’d like to believe that our entire nation respects and appreciates their sacrifice and service that takes them away from families and our stateside. While these brave men and women protect us, the nation should also protect them — including from the clutches of predatory lending. It was that kind of perspective that led to strong bipartisan enactment in 2006 of the Military Lending Act (MLA), a reform that was strongly supported by the De-
Askia-At-Large
partment of Defense. At the time, the department warned how severe financial stress diminished “military readiness.” Years later with the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), MLA enforcement was assigned to the new agency along with other laws, and MLA was updated to include the phrase, “shall be enforced by the CFPB.” That kind of language eliminates discretion or interpretation, thereby ensuring appropriate actions when warranted. For years, CFPB’s enforcement
levied fines against businesses that broke consumer finance laws and made consumers financially whole with proportional restitution. From July 2011 through September 2017, CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs delivered $130 million of financial relief as a result of actions taken on 91,482 military complaints filed. In just one lending area — payday loans — CFPB projected that servicemembers saved $35 million every year as a result of MLA rules. The justification for continued
aggressive enforcement is attested to in CFPB’s own reports. From 2016 to 2017, CFPB recorded a 47% increase in the number of servicemember complaints. The following year, 2017 to 2018, the number of complaints were still rising at 12%. According to the Pentagon, military members can and do lose security clearances and/or less than satisfactory discharges each year. Every discharged soldier’s separation costs the government an estimated
CROWELL Page 42
By Askia Muhammad
Trump's Attempt to Bully the Bully Pulpit
Donald J. Trump portrays himself as The Big Winner. He won the presidency, didn't he? That's big. In gambling terms: at first he was a lone wolf hustler who won the big stakes with his call to white tribalism. Now, he is trying to run the table again, and all the Republican squares in the casino who think he's a political Rodney Dangerfield, only with bad jokes, have come to think he's on a lucky streak, and hey, they want to win too; so they're willing to
bet with Trump. In political terms: he's got this rabid, loyal, white fan base that will back his bad decisions and his gross, disgusting behavior, even if they saw him shoot somebody in the middle of New York's Fifth Avenue. He's The Big Winner. He thinks he's Bad. He's just a bully. Donald J. Trump's lucky winning streak must come to an end one day soon. They all do. Furthermore, he's not Bad. Sooner or later, someone is going to call his bluff. See, Trump is just an actor who knows he can bully most of the people in any situation in which
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he finds himself. And, so he does. He's a bully. He's good at it. In gambling terms, he's got the hot hand. But in political terms, he's in over his head. He's nothing but a bully, shoving the bully pulpit around. Trump would be King. Trump would be President For Life. The "bully pulpit" expression has been around since President Theodore Roosevelt, the unTrump Republican who served two terms in the White House. Roosevelt, from a distinguished family of wealthy patricians, was a wounded military war hero and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He referred to his office as a "bul-
ly pulpit," by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Trump, on the other hand, is a "my way or the highway" kind of bully with a military exemption because of paid-for "bone spurs." It's all about him "winning," though — winning it all! Trump's not an advocate of an agenda in any democratic society ruled by merit and right, and justice and freedom, in a marketplace of ideas, by fair-minded people. Oh, no. The politics and the gamble converge. Just about everyone in the Republican universe is now intellectually coming to terms
with Trump's objectionable appeals to KKK-style hate, among his hateful brood of white, armed thugs inside the military, the police forces and "the bikers for Trump," who are armed and willing to go to war if Trump loses. Willing to fight the slovenly, unmotivated masses if Dude loses anything at all — the Mueller report, his tax returns (all illegal schemes, by the way, to steal his presidency). Team Trump is now saying, "The laws don't apply to Trump." "The president's authority must not be challenged." The Bully has
ASKIA Page 42
APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 25 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LIFESTYLE Prince Remembered: Three Years Later, Fans Say Their Guitars Still Weep By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Three years ago, the world lost still another icon: Prince. The Minneapolis-born Grammy-winning artist, 57, collapsed in an elevator and died of an accidental prescription-drug overdose at his Paisley Park home and studios on April 21, 2016. Standing just 5 feet 2 inches, the legendary "Purple Rain" singer was proof that the smallest of individuals can have the biggest effect on the entire world. "No other single album influenced me as a teenager and into my adult years more than Purple Rain," said Michael Stover, president of MTS Management Group and MTS Records. "The album is sheer perfection, and Prince was a once-in-a-lifetime [artist]. I've always told people that Prince is the 20th and 21st century equivalent to Mozart or Beethoven." Prince's groundbreaking 1984 album "Purple Rain" sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and produced such era-defining hits as "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy" and the title track. The album earned three Grammy Awards and three American Music Awards while the film earned an Oscar for Best Original Song Score.
26 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
5 Fans mourn the life of Prince during a party held in his honor April 2016. (Shevry Lassiter/WI File Photo)
Just two years prior in 1982, Prince released "1999," his fifth studio album which sold more than 6 million copies and was the first to reach the top 10 on the Billboard music charts. It proved that he was just getting started. Born June 7, 1958, Prince was named after his father, whose stage name was Prince Rogers and who performed with a jazz group called the Prince Rogers Trio, according to the website PrinceVault.com. In a 1991 interview, Prince's father, John L. Nelson, said he named his son Prince because "I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do." With albums such as "Prince," "Controversy," "1999," "Purple Rain," "Sign O' the Times," and "Musicology" under his belt, Prince released nearly 1,000 songs over his career. He won multiple Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award and, in 2004, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. That same year, he was named the top male pop artist of the past 25 years and Rolling Stone ranked Prince No. 27 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. "The highlights of Prince's life are so many — how to pick
one?" said Terence O'Toole Murnin, a Prince fan who lives in Arizona. "From the first time I watched Purple Rain in the theater — where the girls in Boston screamed at the screen every time Prince was in a scene — to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame solo on 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' to the most amazing Super Bowl halftime performance ever where Prince said 'Can you make it rain harder?' when a concerned producer checked in with him before he was supposed to go on — his life was one of brilliance that inspires us to this day." Another fan, Nicholas Wolaver, attended what would be Prince's final concert series in Atlanta in 2016. It was following that show that a plane carrying the superstar was forced to make an emergency landing because he needed immediate medical attention for an apparent overdose. Doctors revived Prince and less than a week later, as a private doctor was arriving at Paisley Park to help the singer with addiction, he was dead. "I started listening to Prince in the fourth grade with 'Little Red Corvette' and other pre-'Purple Rain' hits on the radio," Wolaver said. "Later my college journey took me to Minnesota where the local scene was much more
informative about Prince's impact there. I attended three of his concerts in Atlanta, including an arena show, an intimate performance with only a few hundred people and finally that penultimate concert at The Fox Theatre. "For the arena and intimate show, he was all about the guitar, while the piano was the centerpiece for the final events — he rocked any instrument he touched," he said. "I still have a recording from that penultimate concert on my phone and play it often and reflect on the life he led and music he created. He's greatly missed." For Ginna Currie of New York, she said she's thankful that famed director Spike Lee throws an annual block party in Brooklyn in memory of Prince. "I have been a Prince fan since 1979's 'I Wanna Be Your Lover,'" Currie said. "It is still hard to comprehend that there will be no more Prince concerts to attend. "Every couple of years Prince was in the New York metro area on tour," she said. "He was the consummate entertainer with singing, dancing and playing guitar, piano, drums. I listen to his music almost every day and I just wish [Prince's] family would release the music inside the vault." WI
For Ginna Currie of New York, she said she's thankful that famed director Spike Lee throws an annual block party in Brooklyn in memory of Prince.
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LIFESTYLE
Chess Prodigy Returns to National Tournament By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins
In August, teen chess phenom Zahir Muhammad will represent the District in the National Tournament of Champions for the second consecutive year. During four days in Orlando, Florida, he will go toe to toe with more than 50 of his peers from across the country for a chance to compete internationally. Despite the pressure that comes with being a standout chess player in his community, Zahir said he has risen to the occasion time and time again by remembering life lessons he learned on the board. He credits what he described as clear thinking for his victory at the DC Scholastic Chess Championship earlier this month. "Chess sets you apart mentally and emotionally," said Zahir, 16, as he explained how the mentally stimulating game helps him avoid the pitfalls of adolescence. "We deal with emotional struggles, but life is about being able to think outside of your emotions and make strong decisions," he said. "When you see a good move, you think of a better move. You think about the best way to solve problems, especially in terms of being a teenager." Zahir, a Southeast resident who attends DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, has won nine chess tournaments in the past three years, including his most recent victory at the 2018 DC Scholastic Chess Tournament. In September, the D.C. Council recognized Zahir for his local and national success. Shortly after, he competed against 50 other statewide teen chess champions in the National Tournament of Champions. During his travels throughout the United States and West Indies, Zahir has defeated the best in his age group and older, including Chappell Wyms and and David Sands, vice presidents of the Bahamian Chess Federation. This summer, Zahir, an ardent chess player since the age of 3, plans to sharpen his skills with the help of instructors at the Castle Chess Exposure Program in Atlanta. He also expressed a desire to increase his Chinese language proficiency at the Beijing Language and Culture University, an endeavor for which he launched a
crowdfunding campaign. Staying true to his mission to set an example for his Black peers, Zahir has volunteered as a chess instructor at several schools, camps, and community centers throughout the D.C. metropolitan area, and trains with the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute. In February, he spoke to a group of students before they participated in a Black History Month chess tournament at the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage in Northwest. For Robin Ramson, the D.C. scholastic coordinator for the U.S. Chess Federation, Zahir's seemingly meteoric ascent to masters level provides an example for Black youth in the city of the power of chess in fulfilling academic and professional goals. Ramson said Zahir fills a very conspicuous void in the local and national chess scene. "Going back maybe 10 or 15 years, I don't think anyone could remember a young Black man from Southeast representing D.C." in a national chess tournament, she said. "The children don't understand Zahir's power, because they don't see chess as a serious opportunity to connect
5 In February, local chess phenom Zahir Muhammad spoke to a group of students before they participated in the Black History Month chess tournament at the Thurgood Marshall Center Trust in Northwest. (Photo by Alyssa Webb)
the dots, and put [something different] on your college resume. Zahir has been doing a good job speaking to the power of chess in building up your confidence." For more information about how to support Zahir and contribute to his training, email zahirmchess@gmail.com. WI
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Freedom School Bridges D.C. Emancipation Day's Past and Present By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins In commemoration of D.C. Emancipation Day, One DC and We Act Radio hosted a discussion, movie screening and a series of workshops Tuesday centered around the local holiday's significance in the ongoing fight for educational and housing equity. The six-hour event, titled "Emancipation Day Freedom School," took place at THEARC in Southeast and explored April 16, 1862, in the context of African Americans' 400-year struggle for self-determination, widely believed to have started with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to Jamestown in 1619.
Keynote presenter and internationally renowned historian C.R. Gibbs schooled an audience of nearly 100 organizers and city residents about the decades of grassroots pressure and institutional pushback that eventually led to the passage and signing of the D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed more than 3,000 enslaved Africans in the District less than a year before President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. "It took more than 30 years. People were beaten for us to get it, and it didn't stop on April 16, 1862," Gibbs told The Informer shortly after wrapping up his presentation.
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He noted that passing on that knowledge to the next generation remains one of his greatest challenges. "We continue to get resistance to get the knowledge in the schools about how emancipation occured," Gibbs said. "We have to [also] have to fight for representation; we can't take a seat at the table of citizenship if it's denied to D.C. residents." Other activities on Tuesday afternoon allowed for reflection on D.C. history and next steps in addressing inequity in the District. Veteran breathologist Ayo Handy-Kendi led guests of the Emancipation Day Freedom School in a group meditation, during which she honored the Africans freed in 1862 and those who died during the Maafa, also known as the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Participants later broke into working groups where they explored the fallacies of average median income (AMI) calculations, brainstormed educational resources and reflected on how much they learned, or didn't learn, about racism in traditional school settings. At the end of the night, the audience watched a screening of the newly released documentary "What Happened 2 Chocolate City?" before engaging in dialogue with director Mignotae Kebede. "Every year, we commemorate D.C. Emancipation Day. This year, we want to [also] commemorate 400 years of inequal-
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ity starting from Jamestown, and tie the history of emancipation with the first arrival of enslaved Africans," said Kelly Iradukunda, key organizer of the Emancipation Day Freedom School and ONE DC's People's Platform, a compilation of solutions to issues affecting long-term residents, single mothers, returning citizens, and other marginalized groups. Iradukunda said the "What Happened 2 Chocolate City?" plays a role in galvanizing people to fight against the external forces perpetuating inequality.
"The film screening shows the housing and income issues that people of color face in the District today," she said. "We have to get people who are directly impacted [by inequality] to fight for their rights and what they deserve." A study released this spring by National Community Reinvestment Coalition determined that 20,000 Black D.C. residents had been displaced between 2000 and 2013. By 2015, Black Washingtonians accounted for less than 50 percent of the population. Since 1997, long before gentrification grappled the District, ONE DC, formerly Manna DC, has worked to enable members of affected communities to self-advocate. For ONE DC member Robert Warren, the time has well passed for speaking about mass displacement. He said that he hoped that Tuesday's discussion would induce some concerted action geared toward Black Washingtonians' collective economic prosperity. "We need to have this conversation with the generation of Washingtonians who experienced Jim Crow and the destruction that didn't allow them to raise their families out of poverty," said Warren, director of the People for Fairness Coalition, an advocate for universal housing. "Gentrification is class warfare, and we focus on history [too often]," Warren said. "That doesn't
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5 Historian C.R. Gibbs lectures students about the many plantations located in and around Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia and how life was for African Americans during the time of Emancipation until the present day at Emancipation Day Freedom School held at THEARC in Southeast on Tuesday, April 16. (Robert Roberts/The Washington Informer)
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NEA Honors Newest Class of Jazz Masters
Fans Enjoy Up-Close Sessions with Honorees By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer With Jazz Appreciation Month underway in April, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently honored its 2019 class of Jazz Masters with three days of events throughout D.C. This year's honorees were Stanley Crouch, Abdullah Ibrahim, Maria Schneider and the late Bob Dorough. Crouch missed the event due to illness and Dorough, who died last year, was recognized posthumously. But even in their absence, fans who took in the three days of events got their fill of jazz through the NPR Listening Party on Sunday, an All-Star Tribute Concert on Monday and the Master Class at Howard University on Tuesday. Crouch, an influential jazz historian, author, critic and co-founder of Jazz at Lincoln Center, received the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy. His written reviews have influenced musicians for decades and, as a drummer himself, he has long championed jazz music to the
general public. "He's very unapologetic and very honest about how he feels," said Christian McBride, bassist and host of "Jazz Night in America," who was in high school in the 1980s when he discovered Crouch's writings. "What I have always deeply respected about Stanley is he has a personal connection with the people or things he is writing about. I never thought of him as doing guesswork. He's always at the club talking to the musicians." Schneider's career has put her out front as a bandleader, composer and arranger, and her work is considered a combination of jazz and classical. As a college student, she orchestrated with renowned jazz pianist and bandleader Gil Evans, also a NEA Jazz Master. "Those were the moments I said I was going to start my own band," Schneider said. "To me, music is an expression of life and music is just a conduit." Ibrahim, who proudly turns 85 this year, combines the rhythmic influences of South Africa with the improvisation of jazz to create his spiritually enriching
music. Born in Cape Town as Adolph Johannes Brand, he was widely known as Dollar Brand early in his career before changing his name when he converted to Islam. Some of the jazz luminaries Ibrahim has worked with include Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Elvin Jones, John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and Cecil Taylor. One of the high points of his career came in 1994 when he performed at the presidential inauguration of Nelson Mandela. Ibrahim on Tuesday held a master class with students in the Jazz Studies Program on the Howard University campus, an event that annually wraps up the ceremonies for the year's NEA Jazz Master honorees. "Jazz music, from my perspective, is the highest developed form of music ever," he said. "What jazz music does is gives you that insight into yourself because you constantly challenge
5 Abdullah Ibrahim gives young pianist Jose Andre Montano advice on his performance during a jazz master's class held at Howard University in Northwest on Tuesday, April 16. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
yourself." Dorough, who died shortly after being notified of the designation, was known across many generations as a vocalist, pianist, composer and sought-after arranger. His career spanned more than 70 years, collaborating with great talents such as trumpeter Miles Davis, saxophonist Phil Woods and Maya Angelou. His
compositions have been recorded by Mel Torme, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Jaime Cullum and many others. In the 1970s, Dorough gained a new following from composing and performing songs for the animated series "Schoolhouse Rock," including the multiplication song "Three is the Magic Number."
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5 From left: Maria Schneider and Abdullah Ibrahim, two of the 2019 class of the National Endowment for the Arts' Jazz Masters, pose for a photo with Mary Anne Carter, acting NEA chair, at the awards dinner for the honorees. (Shannon Finney/NEA)
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 29 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LIFESTYLE
Tiger Woods Emerges from the Wilderness, Wins 5th Masters Title
Continues along Path Forged by Lee Elder, Calvin Peete and Thousands of Unheralded Black Caddies By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor In 1997, Tiger Woods, then just 21, captured the spotlight with an unbelievable 12-stroke victory to snag his first major as a professional golfer at the Augusta National. His amazing rise to supremacy in the golf world could only be matched by the sudden plunge from grace and superiority – a decline that many predicted he’d never be able to overcome. But after a decade of professional disappointments, physical pain and personal struggles,
Woods regained his position at the top on the familiar greens of Augusta, securing his fifth Masters title and 15th major tournament on Sunday, April 14. And so, sporting that pumped fist which fans had witnessed so many times in year’s past – a sign of victory for the former amateur golf standout – and with an emotional embrace of his children and mother, Woods, now 43, pulled off the improbable, the impossible and the unbelievable – pulling to within three major titles behind Jack Nicklaus’s record 18. Woods, known for his reti-
cence, even allowed himself a shout of joy, perhaps revealing just how much this victory meant to him. When he last held center court, neither of his children, now 10 and 11, had been born. Ironically, Woods finished the first round at 70 – the exact score he grabbed along his first win at the Masters. However, many will point to his five-under-par 67 in the third round that left him just behind the leader, Francesco Molinari. Seven golfers entered the fourth and final round no more than two strokes out of the lead. But it would be Woods, always the shrewd, calculating sportsman who, with a twostroke lead, settled for a bogey on the final hole, gambling that by being cautious he could avoid any disastrous error, silencing his critics with a one-stroke victory. And he did. “It’s unreal for me to experience this,” he said in a televised interview after his victory on Sunday. “It was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to win just because of what’s transpired the last couple of years. To have my kids here, it’s come full circle. My dad was here in ’97 and now I’m the dad with two kids here.” Woods, who started the final round two strokes off the lead, besides his unprecedented victory, also did something that he’d never done in his career, coming from behind in the final round
5 Tiger Woods celebrates winning the 2019 Masters during the final round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo courtesy/The Augusta Chronicle)
to win a major tournament. Woods has always given much of the credit for his success to his father, Earl Woods, who died in 2006. But on the eve of his most recent victory, history reminds us that decades ago, just one day later, April 15, 1975, it would be Lee Elder, facing numerous death threats and forced to live in several houses to keep his whereabouts unknown, who teed off at Augusta – the first Black to be allowed on its pristine greens – as a golfer, not as a caddie. Elder, along with other Blacks
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on the PGA Tour, would be humiliated and forced to change clothes in a Pensacola parking lot after club members refused to allow them in the clubhouse. Another time, while in Memphis, Elder found himself awakened by someone who reportedly said, “N-----, you better not win this golf tournament, forcing him to continue play with a police officer as his escort. Scores of other tales of hatred and prejudice remain ensconced in the annals of history. When asked what it was like for him back then by South African PGA champion Gary Player, Lee asked Player, “How do you explain what it was like being a Jew during the war?” Woods has Elder, now 78, to thank, along with Calvin Peete, the most successful Black to have played on the PGA Tour before Tiger hit the scene and scores of Blacks who once served as caddies but never gained the chance to swing their club as competitors in the formerly all-white world of golf, for the opportunities from which he’s so richly benefited. Maybe, just maybe, his recent emergence from the wilderness will serve as the impetus for Woods to become more vocal and proactive on behalf of other talented youth of color, making the path a little easier for Blacks in the years to come while continuing to break down a door that has long kept talented Blacks locked out. WI
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wi book review “Queen Bey: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter”
APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
ARIES The start of the week reveals a positive transit that could bring an opportunity or even a gift your way. This upbeat vibe could give you the confidence to follow your dreams if you’re willing to take that first step. Lucky Numbers: 6, 23, 27 TAURUS The coming week sees the sun moving through the last part of your spiritual sector before moving into your sign on Saturday. This is an opportunity to tie up any loose ends and bring closure to any situations that are dragging you down. The sun entering your sign can be like a mini rebirth. Starting with a clean slate could be very beneficial. Lucky Numbers: 3, 19, 36
edited by Veronica Chambers
GEMINI As sweet Venus angles toward jovial Jupiter on Monday, someone could offer you a favor or helping hand. If you accept, things could begin to progress very nicely. Chatty Mercury moves into Aries and your social zone on Tuesday to add extra sparkle to outings and events. You’ll also have an opportunity to resolve a relationship issue that may have been bugging you for some while. Lucky Numbers: 30, 38, 54
c.2019, St. Martin’s Press $27.99 ($36.50 Canada) 224 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer You were Crazy in Love. It happened the first time you heard Beyoncé Knowles, before she won a Grammy, before she added to her life with a man and motherhood. It happened the first time you saw her, a skinny child with a mispronounced name, and in “Queen Bey,” a book of essays edited by Veronica Chambers, you’ll want to say that name again. “What might a Black girl be in this world?” That’s a question Veronica Chambers says she’s spent her lifetime asking. The answer arrived in the songs of a performer who “has no interest in separating herself from the struggle of being a Black woman…” That singer, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, “is the greatest performer alive,” according to Luvvie Ajayi, one essayist here. When Beyoncé was first seen (on TV’s “Star Search” in 1993), viewers recognized her talent. Even then, she was “our generation” and that never changed: these days, she’s “named the pain of … Black women who … love Black men.” Through her actions and music, she’s shown that “Black men’s apologies to Black women matter.” Writer Ylonda Gault says that there were times when Beyoncé’s life eerily paralleled Gault’s. Meredith Broussard calls Beyoncé “a constant presence in my own life.” She’s a businesswoman who reportedly has a climate-controlled archive of every print and digital bit of press with her name in it. She’s a writer, mother, feminist, actress, and award-winner; a “hard-working professional,” a champion for gay rights, an inspiration for young Black girls, and a comfort for women who’ve miscarried. And she’s a dancer: who among us hasn’t memorized the incredible moves seen in her music videos? Naysayers and haters might scoff, but for a fan, there’s probably nothing Beyoncé can’t do. Says writer Edward Enninful, “she’s above trends. She can’t be put in a box. Frankly, she can do whatever she wants.” Let’s stop right here a second: if you barely know who Beyoncé is and can’t name at least five of her songs, stop reading now. Go do something else, because this book is not for you. Come to think, it’s not a book for mere casual fans, either. No, “Queen Bey” is a book for rabid, die-hard, sing-all-the-songs fans who know what the Hive is, and exist in it. It’s for the readers who’ve listened to Beyoncé’s albums and watched all the videos over and over again, because all the contributors to this book have done that, too. It’s for fans who’ve played the “Michael, Whitney, or Beyoncé?” game. Just beware: this over-the-edge rhetoric here can get excessively florid, sometimes making Knowles-Carter seem like a deity, and that lack of perspective can mar the messages behind the outpouring of love. Readers with a tendency to roll their eyes might do that here, Beyoncé fan or not. Keep that in mind when you see this book. If you’re a sometime follower, you’ll probably be happier just taking a pass. If you can’t get enough of “Queen Bey,” you’ll like it and you shoulda put a bookmark in it. WI WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
horoscopes
CANCER Monday could see you striking gold because a great opportunity to further your interests might show up for you. As expressive Mercury enters Aries on Tuesday, there could be an opportunity to make some valuable connections. If you have an area of expertise, the coming week or so could see you giving a presentation and showcasing your knowledge. Getting and giving advice could help smooth the way ahead. Lucky Numbers: 12, 24, 43 LEO A heartfelt transit at the start of the week could see you and another enjoying each other’s company immensely. A romance could develop along positive lines as a result. If you continue to nurture this bond, it could become very special. Lucky Numbers: 2, 45, 57 VIRGO Are you planning a family event? Monday and Tuesday could be a good opportunity for everyone to come together in a spirit of goodwill and sharing. The focus shifts on Tuesday as interactive Mercury, your personal planet, moves into Aries and a transformational zone. The presence of the planet of talk and thought in this sector could encourage conversations that change your life. And if you need to connect with a life coach or therapist, this would be a good time to do so. Lucky Numbers: 22, 36, 48 LIBRA Relationships are very much in the forefront this week as both chatty Mercury and sweet Venus move into Aries and your sector of relating. With lively Mercury moving in on Tuesday and sultry Venus moving in on Saturday, things could get much busier in this zone as you network and generally enjoy life. Lucky Numbers: 10, 19, 33 SCORPIO You may be seeking pleasure on Monday because a heady angle between sweet Venus and jovial Jupiter could inspire you to go out and enjoy yourself no matter what the cost. If you’re eager to wine and dine someone, you can have a wonderful time. Lucky Numbers: 7, 14, 28 SAGITTARIUS You may find yourself giving in to temptation on Monday when an invitation or offer seems too good to pass by. It might be a chance to have a meal with a friend or another outing that inspires you to forget about work and enjoy yourself instead. Lucky Numbers: 31, 43, 55 CAPRICORN Sobering Saturn is very close to powerful Pluto in your sign, so you may feel like redoubling your efforts to reach a personal goal. You could burn yourself out, though, and this is certainly something to be avoided. Consider delegating some tasks or finding an easier way to get what you want. Lucky Numbers: 3, 29, 50 AQUARIUS Your social life gets perkier from this week with opportunities for networking and making new friends. With both chatty Mercury and sociable Venus moving into this sector this week, you’ll be eager to reach out and forge new connections. In general, this is a great time to establish bonds with those who are on your wavelength and who share your goals and interests. Lucky Numbers: 2, 12, 34 PISCES The focus this week shifts to your sector of values and finances and could see you eager to do some planning. This can be especially valuable if things have gotten out of control lately. Even so, with shopaholic Venus moving in over the weekend, your good work could go out the window unless you set some firm limits. Be kind to yourself and don’t overspend. Lucky Numbers: 8, 40, 57
APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 31 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
CAPTURE th e mo me n t
MAYOR BOWSER INVITED DC, MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA (DMV) TO CELEBRATE EMANCIPATION DAY WITH A PARADE, CONCERT AND FIREWORKS. (Above) Faith Evans was one of the featured performers. (Top right) Mayor Bowser and her darling daughter Miranda along with the Director of the Office of Cable Television Angie Gates sing along. (Middle) Mya and her dancers excite attendees. (Bottom). Several hundred concert-goers enjoy the festivities at Freedom Plaza in Northwest on Saturday, April 13. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
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Nats Rally Late, Edge Pirates at Home
5 Washington Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton slides back to first base ahead of a pickoff attempt as Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell awaits the throw during the Nationals' 3-2 win at Nationals Park in D.C. on Saturday, April 13. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 4 Washington Nationals third base coach Bobby Henley waves home third baseman Anthony Rendon as he scores on a Kurt Suzuki single during the fourth inning of the Nationals' 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park in D.C. on Saturday, April 13. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
5 The Washington Nationals recognize the finalists of the 2019 Washington Informer Spelling Bee and Prince George's County Spelling Bee presented by The Informer before the April 13 game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park in D.C. Shown are (from left) D.C. Public Schools Spelling Bee coordinator Jason Moore, joined by his son, Rocket; D.C. Bee winner Teddy Palmore; D.C. Bee third-place runner-up Thomas Power; Prince George's Bee winner Alyssa Burgos; Prince George's Bee runner-up Shree Ruttala; and Ron Burke, The Informer's director of advertising and marketing. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
San Francisco Giants 7, Nationals 3 On Tuesday, the Washington Nationals join all of Major League Baseball in celebrating Jackie Robinson Day on the 100th-year anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s birth. In conjunction with Jackie Robinson Day & Black Heritage Day, the Nationals also hosted alumni, students, parents, faculty and fans of Howard University as part of the Nationals College Day Series. Howard University students and alumni participated in pregame ceremonies and other activities throughout the game.
5 Miss. Howard University Kyla Cole and Mr. Howard University Grant Robertson assisted in the GEICO President’s Race. (Top Middle) (L to R)Kendra Gaither, (Jackie Robinson alum) Alicia Wallace (JRF alum)Thomas Bennett, (JKF alum) Rayshon Payton, (JRF alum) Veronica Clanzy (JRF, scholar at Georgetown University) 4 The Howard University “Showtime” Marching Band and Howard’s Cheerleaders gave a special performance in Center Field Plaza beginning when gates opened at 5:00 p.m
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5 Howard University 2019 soft ball team at National Park as part of the Nationals College Day Series
APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 33 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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5 A celebration of motherhood. (Photo courtesy/Black Mamas Matter Alliance)
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34 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
for Disease Control and Prevention, and some 65,000 women nearly die of pregnancy-related complications. While every other developed country has seen a decrease in maternal deaths in recent years, the U.S. has seen an increase, and the numbers are even more staggering for African-American women, data shows. "If you're an African-American … your risks of dying in childbirth are three to four times higher than if you're white," Dr. Neel Shah, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and an
OB-GYN at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, told ABC News. "It's not tied to income. It's not tied to education. … It's something about the lived experience of being African-American." Adams said Black mothers are dying at alarming rates and that the nation is "truly in the midst of a national health crisis." She said she wants Congress to do something about it and created the caucus to provide legislative solutions. "More than half of these deaths are preventable," Adams told ABC News. Supporters said current policies aren't doing enough to prevent complications and save Black mothers' lives. "That is unacceptable in America and we need to change it. We cannot and must not accept this," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Congress has already passed several bills aimed at reducing maternal mortality rates, according to ABC News. But caucus members said there's little focus on the impact on minority groups and racial disparities. Supporters said the caucus can change that. "There is something that we have to fix within our health care system and our society that says Black mamas lives don't matter," said Elizabeth Dawes Gay, a co-founder of Black Mamas Matter. Racial bias is a certainly a factor and federal leaders, health professionals and mothers from all walks of life must work together to close gaps in the system, Dawes Gay said. "Recognize the disparities, but to also envision a brighter future for Black mamas," she said. WI
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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
12 Things That Make Men Rich, Pt. 3 While we’re in the midst of Holy Week, and with Easter coming this Sunday, let us finish this series on wealth-building. First, let us thank God for sending His Son for sinners like us and giving us this chance to be, do and have whatever it is we desire. However, we must believe, and His angels will be camped all around each of us. In this final article of this brief series, we’ll discuss the last three of the 12 principles in Napoleon Hill’s book “Think and Grow Rich.” In case you missed the previous columns, here’s is the list thus far: 1. A positive mental attitude. 2. Sound physical health. 3. Harmony in human relations. 4. Freedom from fear. 5. Hope of future achievement. 6. The capacity for applied faith. 7. A willingness to share blessings with others. 8. Being engaged in a labor of love. 9. An open mind on all subjects toward all people. And this week, we will close this series with the final three things that make men rich Principle 10 — Complete self-discipline. What is discipline? It is defined as controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training. More simply, this tells each of us that we have control over our behavior, resultMt. Zion Baptist Church Reverend John W. Davis Pastor 5101 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089 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. “A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold”
ing in the good or bad things that happen in our lives. Principle 11 — Wisdom with which to understand people. Scripture reminds us how sweet wisdom is, and it lets us know we can have hope. Take a look at Proverbs 24:14: “Wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Scripture also says in Proverbs 4:7, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Principle 12 — Financial security. Whatever amount of finances you believe will work for you is yours. You can feel rich when you have organized your finances
in such a way as to keep your bills paid, maintain a strong credit rating and have adequate savings. You have worked on your goal as a businessman in one form or another, and you’ve actually learned how to accumulate great wealth. Don’t expect to get wealth or keep it if you have a negative mental attitude about yourself and others. How can you achieve very much when your health is not good, or when you’re not even working in harmony with others? Forget about it! You cannot work against others, you must work with them. Take some time, review these thought-provoking principles. Finally, just do it! Make that change!
Don’t expect to get wealth or keep it if you have a negative mental attitude
about yourself and others. How can you achieve very much when your health is not good, or when you’re not even
working in harmony with others? Forget
about it! You cannot work against others, you must work with them.
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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
John F. Johnson Reverend Dr. 1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005 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
www.mtzbcdc.org
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 35 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724
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
Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor 700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849 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
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor
Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor
Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor
Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor
2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org
800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703
4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464
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”
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
1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661
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
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
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
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
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
36 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantdc.org
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: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 PM Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30 AM “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
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
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
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
All Nations Baptist Church
King Emmanuel Baptist Church
Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor
Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor
Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor
7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471
2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591
2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730
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 Sunday Worship Service: 10:15 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Monday: Noon Bible School Wednesday: Noon & 7 PM Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission Zion Baptist Church Shall; Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, and Exalt Our Savior. (Acts 2:41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org
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
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
Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert 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
4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184
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
“Where Jesus is the King”
Lincoln Park United Methodist Church
Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith
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
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"
Eastern Community Baptist Church
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
Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor
Damion M. Briggs 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
Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington 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 Service: 10:15 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer Meeting / Bible Study: Tuesday at 7 PM Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church with an Emphasis on “Evangelism and Discipleship”
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: pastorstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org
Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”
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“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org
Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958
Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor
“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”
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
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
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
“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
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
“The Loving Church of the living lord “ Email Address: admin@pbc712.org
Shiloh Baptist Church
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
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
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
Emmanuel Baptist Church
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 18 - 24, 2019 37 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
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
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2019 ADM 306
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001273
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000293
Margaret C. Goins aka Margaret Cecelia Goins Decedent
Beverly A. Skelton aka Beverly Ann Skelton Decedent
Evelyn Parchment, Esq. 7826 Eastern Ave. NW Suite 410 Washington, DC 20012 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Agnes M. Hawkins, whose address is 7215 25th Avenue, Hyattsville, MD 20783, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Margaret C. Goins aka Margaret Cecelia Goins who died on March 25, 2017 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 10/4/2019. 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 10/4/2019, 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.
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Teia A. Skelton, whose address is 1933 P Street SE, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Beverly A. Skelton aka Beverly Ann Skelton who died on August 23, 2018 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 10/4/2019. 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 10/4/2019, 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: 4/4/2019
Date of first publication: 4/4/2019
Agnes M. Hawkins Personal Representative
Teia A. Skelton Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Eleanor E. Reid Decedent James Larry Frazier, Esq. 918 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Roland Joyner, whose address is 3420 Rickey Avenue, Apt. 104, Temple Hills, MD 20748, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Eleanor E. Reid who died on July 13, 2016 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 10/4/2019. 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 10/4/2019, 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: 4/4/2019 Roland Joyner Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2019 ADM 000271
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2019 ADM 000272 Marcia E. Parkes Decedent
Frankie Elton Dye Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Angela Glover Burgess, whose address is 1616 Monroe Street, NE, Washington, DC 20018, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Frankie Elton Dye who died on April 1, 2013 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/4/2019. 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 10/4/2019, 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: 4/4/2019 Angela Glover Burgess Personal Representative
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Ethel Mitchell, Esq. 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS P. Elizabeth Nicholson, whose address is 4201 Bokeelia Loop, Clermont, FL 34711, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Marcia E. Parkes who died on February 9, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/4/2019. 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 10/4/2019, 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: 4/4/2019 P. Elizabeth Nicholson Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
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
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
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2019 ADM 292
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000322
2019 ADM 000141
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000277
Administration No. 2017 ADM 001151
Michael Bernard Platt Decedent
Vernice Lorraine Howard Decedent
Estate of Lawrence Smith, Jr.
Sallie White aka Sallie Edwards White Decedent
Richard Carroll Tolbert Decedent
James Larry Frazier, Esq. 918 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 Attorney
Nakia V. Gray, Esq. Gray Legal, P.C. 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney
NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE
Larry C. Williams, Esq. 7600 Georgia Avenue, NW Suite 405 Washington, DC 20012 Attorney
Aimee D. Griffin, Esq. 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Carolyn B. Palmer, whose address is 1915 Woodshade Ct., Bowie, MD 20721, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Sallie White aka Sallie Edwards White who died on September 19, 2018 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 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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.
Aimee D. Griffin & Paula M. Noble Tolbert, whose addresses are 5335 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Ste 440, WDC 20015 & 113 Cree Drive, Forest Heights, MD 20745, were appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Richard Carroll Tolbert who died on January 5, 2015 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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: 4/11/2019
Date of first publication: 4/11/2019
Carolyn B. Palmer Personal Representative
Aimee D. Griffin Paula M. Noble Tolbert Personal Representative
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Carol A. Beane, whose address is 1468 Chapin Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Michael Bernard Platt who died on January 20, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/4/2019. 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 10/4/2019, 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: 4/4/2019 Carol A. Beane Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Carl Howard, Jr, whose address is 2525 Iverson Street, Temple Hills, MD 20748, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Vernice Lorraine Howard who died on December 17, 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 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 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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.
Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Patsy Hilliard for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth. Admit to probate the Will dated March 29, 2008 exhibited with the petition upon proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution by affidavit of the witnesses or otherwise Date of first publication: 4/4/2019 Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 301 Largo, MD 20774 Petitioner/Attorney:
Date of first publication: 4/11/2019
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Carl Howard, Jr Personal Representative
Anne Meister Register of Wills
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Washington Informer
Anne Meister Register of Wills
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
38 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
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
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
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000323
Administration No. 2019 ADM 256
Administration No. 2019 ADM 310
Marline Olivia Scott Decedent
2019 FEP 000023
James C. Perry Decedent
Ella Frances Weeks Hall aka Frances W. Hall Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Kisha L. Woolen, Esq. Tobin O’Connor & Ewing 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW #700 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney
Rachelle H. Raphael, Esq. 4800 Hampden Lane, Suite 200 Bethesda, MD 20814 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Cynthia B. Tucker, whose address is 12113 Elmwood Drive, Brandywine, MD 20613, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of James C. Perry who died on August 11, 2004 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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.
Essmus T. Hall, II, whose address is 3611 Clairton Drive, Bowie, MD 20721, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ella Frances Weeks Hall aka Frances W. Hall who died on February 8, 2006 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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.
Juan Ricardo Scott, whose address is 5120 Queens Stroll Place, SE Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Marline Olivia Scott who died on June 12, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment 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 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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: 4/11/2019 Juan Ricardo Scott Personal Representative
Date of first publication: 4/11/2019
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
Cynthia B. Tucker Personal Representative
Washington Informer SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Trust No. 2019 NRT 13 Theodora McGill Name of Deceased Settlor NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST Theodora McGill, whose address was 3909 17th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20018 created a revocable trust on 12/18/2001 with later amendments, which remained in existence on the date of her death on March 15, 2019, and Matthew F. Shannon, Successor Trustee, whose address is 3332 M Street, SE, Washington, DC 20019, is the currently acting trustee, hereinafter the Trustee. Communications to the Trust should be mailed or directed to Matthew F. Shannon at 3332 M. Street, SE, Washington, DC 20019. The Trust is subject to claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors, costs of administration of the settlor’s estate, the expense of the deceased settlor’s funeral and disposal of remains, and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse and children to the extent the deceased settlor’s residuary probate estate is inadequate to satisfy those claims, costs, expenses, and allowances. Claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors are barred as against the Trustee and the trust property unless presented to the Trustee at the address provided herein on or before 10/4/2019 (6 month after the date of the first publication of this notice.) An action to contest the validity of this trust must be commenced by the earliest of (1) 3/15/2020, (One year from date of death of deceased settlor) (2) 10/4/2019, 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice) or (3) Ninety days after the Trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice informing the person of the trust’s existence, of the Trustee’s name and address, and of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding. The Trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust before the expiration of the time within which an action must be commenced unless the Trustee knows of a pending judicial proceeding contesting the validity of the trust or the Trustee has received notice from a potential contestant who thereafter commences a judicial proceeding within sixty days after notification. This Notice must be mailed postmarked within 15 days of its first publication to each heir and qualified beneficiary of the trust and any other person who would be an interested person within the meaning of D.C. Code 20-101(d). Date of First Publication: 4/4/2019 Matthew F. Shannon Signature of Trustee TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
Date of first publication: 4/11/2019 Essmus T. Hall, II Personal Representative
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
November 3, 2017 Date of Death Edward S. Flanagan Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS Robert L. Flanagan, whose address is 8727 LaSalle Court, Ellicott City, MD 21043, was appointed Administrator of the estate of Edward S. Flanagan, deceased, by the Superior Court for Chittenden Unit County, State of Vermont, on March 18, 2019. Service of process may be made upon Jeffrey K. Gordon, Esq., 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20015 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real estate. 514 2nd Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice. Date of first publication: 4/11/2019 Robert L. Flanagan Personal Representative
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2019 ADM 000320 Susie H. Hammond Decedent Larry C. Williams 7600 Georgia Avenue NW Suite 405 Washington, DC 20012 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Philip G. Hammond, whose address is 6903 5th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20012, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Susie H. Hammond who died on January 7, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment 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 10/11/2019. 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 10/11/2019, 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: 4/11/2019 Philip G. Hammond Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
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
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000354
Administration No. 2018 ADM 000388
Administration No. 2019 ADM 372
Administration No. 2019 ADM 358
Gwendolyn Delora Prioleau aka Gwendolyn D. Prioleau Decedent
Juanita N. Gonzalez aka Juanita Gonzalez Decedent
Lucy Campbell Pridgen Decedent
Joseph Eory Decedent
Janet W. Blassingame, Esq. 1413 K. Street, NW Suite 1500 Washington, DC 20005 Attorney
Deborah D. Boddie, Esq. Probate Law DC 1308 Ninth Street, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 Attorney
A. Benjamin Horton 4111 Woodberry Street University Park, MD 20782 Attorney
Ethel Mitchell, Esq. 8403 Colesville Road Suite 1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Sandra Crew, whose address is 2330 Darius Lane, Reston, VA 20191, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Gwendolyn Delora Prioleau aka Gwendolyn D. Prioleau who died on November 18, 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 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 10/18/2019. 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 10/18/2019, 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: 4/18/2019 Sandra Crew Personal Representative
Amelia G. Govan aka Amelia G. B. Govan, whose address is 1313 Taylor Street, NW, Apt. B, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Juanita N. Gonzalez aka Juanita Gonzalez who died on January 7, 2018 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 10/18/2019. 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 10/18/2019, 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: 4/18/2019 Amelia G. Govan aka Amelia G. B. Govan Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Steven Craig Pridgen, whose address is 777 Harvard Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lucy Campbell Pridgen who died on January 31, 2019 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 10/18/2019. 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 10/18/2019, 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.
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Jennifer Eory, whose address is 3736 Yuma Street, NW, Washington, DC 20016, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Joseph Eory who died on November 7, 2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 10/18/2019. 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 10/18/2019, 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: 4/18/2019
Date of first publication: 4/18/2019
Steven Craig Pridgen Personal Representative
Jennifer Eory Personal Representative
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 39 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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MALVEAUX from Page 24
learn in the church and in the home about how to treat other people," Young said. WI
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"My daughter had to move out of Prince George's because she didn't want to put her 5-yearold on a public school," Carswell said. "It is so important that Prince George's builds up its school system. Reid Temple has Reid Temple Academy and people are trying to get in here because the Prince George's schools are seen as less than, and it shouldn't be that way." Even though he wasn't on the program, Todd Turner, chairman of the Prince George's County Council, also came by the forum. "My motto this year as chairman of the county council is service and community progress," he said. "Only through the community can you progress and obviously the churches are very important in making sure that we can do that in the county." Robin Young, a member of Reid Temple, said having forums such as Saturday's event is all part of fostering Christian education throughout the community. "Christian education is ex-
tremely important, and it is not only those principles that you learn in the classroom but it is also those principles that you
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SCHOOLS from Page 11
ble the current rates, and it has set the same long-term goals for each “subgroup” of underserved students. Louisiana is also tackling the school-to-prison pipeline, targeting schools with unusually high suspension rates for support and improvement. These are just a few examples of what went into our evaluation of the plans. You can check out each state’s detailed report card along with our policy recommendations for improving education equity at www.naturbanleague.org. WI
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The report cards are not meant as an or analysis of a state’s school system on the whole. Rather, they identify the extent to which states have addressed specific equity concerns, such as breaking the schoolto-prison pipeline, expanding access to early childhood education, cultural competence training for staff and disparate per-pupil spending in their state plans. For example, California — one of the states ranked “poor” — makes little mention in its plan of
out-of-school learning. It sets the number of students of students needed to form a student subgroup for federal reporting and accountability purposes unreasonably high. The definition it uses for “consistently underperforming schools” is not specific enough to identify any schools for additional support under the law. On the other hand, Louisiana — one of the states ranked “excellent” — has set a goal of 63.5 percent of students proficient in reading and 56.5 percent of students proficient in math by 2025. That’s dou-
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MORIAL from Page 24
reinforce the egregious nature of the Dred Scott decision in which the Supreme Court of these United States declared that the Black man had “no rights that a white man is bound to respect.” For Steven Mnuchin, Congresswoman Maxine Waters had no rights he was bound to respect. For Mnuchin, and too many others in the 45 circle, the Dred Scott decision still stands. Mnuchin may have simmered in his faux white superiority for much of his life, but his simmer turned into a boil when he tangled with the House Judiciary Committee, and his boil was on the hot seat. He learned, I hope, not to mess with Max. I hope he also learned that his white supremacy will not protect him from a band of tenacious Democrats who will continue pushing him for both truths and tax returns. WI
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when colonizers come into predominately Black communities and then insist that others play by their rules and kowtow to their desires. They want someone to turn down the go-go music, but readily accept other loud noise. Because they are loud noise. Loud, myopic, uncompromising noise. And Munchkin Mnuchin was the noisiest of all when he presumed to instruct an African American icon on how to use a gavel after she has spent nearly 30 years in Congress. Mnuchin’s performance was a tribute to the racist capitalist patriarchy that is the foundation of white supremacy. He would not have even slightly presumed to tell a white man, or a Black one for that matter, how to close a hearing. He might have told a white woman, possibly adding the term “honey” to soften or sharpen the bow.
But the only person he’d dare get huffy with, just based on the white supremacist belief of his privilege, was a Black woman. Maxine Waters was the wrong Black woman. Excuse my Ebonics, but Max don’t play. She takes no tea for the fever. She takes back her time, stands up for her rights, and was not about to have a pathetic 45 lackey disrespect her. The House Judiciary Committee held hearings around the same time the House Financial Services Committee was. So while the Treasury Secretary was disrespecting Congresswoman Waters, the House Judiciary Committee was holding a hearing about the dangers of white supremacy. White supremacy was displayed at its most privileged, when an elected member of Congress is inappropriately chided by a Cabinet member, who does not have peer status. White supremacy attempts to
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 41 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Lutheran Mission Society
Alan Amrhine, Communications Director Lutheran Mission Society
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WILLIAMS from Page 25 our rights. What’s happening with Ms. Omar is one more effort to silence Black women. Critics see the power we have. Twenty Black women mayors in Louisiana — including the three largest cities — is an example of the power
CROWELL from Page 25
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$58,000. Despite this abundance of complaints and warranted enforcement, CFPB’s first Trump-appointed leader, Mick Mulvaney as the bureau’s acting director, turned an aboutface on our military families by halting its use of its supervisory powers to fulfill its mandate of MLA enforcement. CFPB’s new director, Kathleen Kraninger, made it clear that she supports the same policies and practices begun under her predecessor in a March 8 letter to ranking members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. In a recent Capitol Hill hearing, Kraninger went even further, claiming that Congress via legislation should provide CFPB with appropriate authority, Politico
ASKIA from Page 25 spoken. The Bully must rule. The Republican Party (because most are now beginning to come around to appreciate the way Trump "wins," and want to win themselves and line their pockets too, even if it means doing so "In the Name of Whiteness") is
REPORT from Page 17
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42 APRIL 18 - 24, 2019
fragile, too many are born into situations that make a transition from poverty to prosperity a daunting endeavor, thus the report's findings come from individuals living in such circumstances, who identify barriers and offer solutions; as such, the report is important to stakeholders who are interested in an opportunity agenda. "In order to fully understand the barriers to opportunity in America's fragile communities, we need to hear these experiences from residents firsthand," said Gerard Robinson, CAO's executive director. "Looking to the future, CAO will build on this report with additional research to develop solutions for a happier, more fulfilling life for millions of Americans." The summit featured panel discussions with more than 200 subject matter experts from historical-
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of Black women. We have Black women mayors in San Francisco, Washington, Baltimore, Rochester, Charlotte, Flint, Toledo, Atlanta and Chicago. There’re others, but you get the point. We have a Black woman running strongly for president of the United States. We have many new Black women in Congress,
joining a strong group already there. Think about what Sojourner, Harriet, Ida B., Fannie Lou, Shirley and others went through to bring us to where we are today. Let’s not lose the momentum by our silence that is interpreted as our consent when one of our sisters is attacked. WI
reported. Confused? You’re not alone. In October, a bipartisan group of 33 states attorneys general wrote Mulvaney, then the acting CFPB director, following his announcement that the bureau would no longer ensure that lenders would comply with MLA as part of its supervisory examinations. “We are perplexed by reports indicating that the CFPB has determined that it needs further statutory authority in order to conduct examinations for MLA violations,” the attorneys general wrote. “We are disappointed to learn that CFPB did not consult the Defense Department in developing its new examination policy, even though Congress specified that the Defense Department — not the CFPB — is the primary federal agency responsible for interpreting the MLA.” The officials signing the letter to
Mulvaney represent states as far west as Alaska and Hawaii, to as far east as Massachusetts and New York, and southward to Mississippi and North Carolina. Together, these state officers understood and embraced that when it comes to consumer finance, predatory lenders make no partisan distinction. “There’s no utility in arguing the fine questionable difference between enforcement and supervision,” said Scott Astrada, the Center for Responsible Lending’s federal advocacy director. “The bottom line is that consumers — especially those serving in the military — need their government’s protection against those who would exploit their personal finances and at the same time, jeopardize their military service and careers. Our nation should protect them with just as much dedication as they give to protect all of us.” WI
on board: Team Trump, all the way. They've got the courts, the corporations. They're suppressing the votes of those who might chase them out of office. They're winning with Trump. By 2020, they'll be all-in. Meanwhile Trump is full of glee because by the time those masses discover that he's a bully and would-be dictator, who's
not "Bad" and might not win all the time, it will already be too late to stop him from cheating to win, like declaring a national emergency and suspending the Constitution and ruling by proclamations and sanctions. He's a bully. He would most certainly take it that far. Trust me. Watch him. WI
ly Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and others committed to advancing opportunity for people living in fragile communities. Discussions during the summit focused on the entrenched poverty and lack of social mobility that plague fragile communities, which officials said they'll then use insights gleaned from the new report to explore solutions for improving education, reforming the criminal justice system and boosting economic mobility. The report detailed how many fragile community residents struggle to fulfill basic, day-to-day needs for themselves and their families, making it more difficult to pursue longer-term goals such as furthering their education or starting a business. Forty-one percent of fragile community residents surveyed said there were times in the past year when they didn't have enough money to buy food they
or their families needed, compared to 23 percent of American adults overall. Nearly 40 percent of fragile community residents received Medicaid benefits in the past 12 months, while two in 10 said they've received disability benefits. Black residents were more likely than whites or Hispanics to have received these health-related services; correspondingly, they're more likely to say they've been diagnosed with high blood pressure or diabetes. Also, among fragile community residents, Blacks, Hispanics and women are particularly likely to report that they're not employed and have been actively looking for work in the past four weeks and almost one in four Black women in fragile communities are currently seeking employment. To view the full 72-page report, go to http://www.advancingopportunity.org. WI
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APRIL 18 - 24, 2019 43 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
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