WINNER OF FIVE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS It's Cherry Blossom Time! Capture the Moment Page 36 Vol. 56, No. 24 • April 1 -7, 2021
Malik Aziz Chosen as Prince George’s New Police Chief
Former Dallas Officer Brings Three Decades of Experience and Latino officers in an ongoing William J. Ford WI Staff Writer
5 Virginia Ada Hawkins Keane, who celebrated her 101st birthday Saturday, March 24, poses for a photo with her daughter Karen. Neighbors, friends and family gathered for a drive-by celebration at her home in Northwest. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
D.C. Resident Virginia H. Keane Turns 101 Years Old Daughter, Friends Refuse to Let COVID-19 Upend the Celebration
D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor During the 1920s, the decade during which Virginia H. Keane entered the world, America’s top news stories would include the beginning of prohibition, the first successful, non-stop flight from New York to Paris by Charles Lindbergh, the ratification of the 19th Amendment which finally gave women the right to vote, the
invention of the television and the worst race riot in U.S. history in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. But for Keane, born Virginia Ada Hawkins on March 24, 1920 in Cincinnati, faith in God, service to the community, a ferocious dedication to family, increasing opportunities for women in higher education and a love for jazz and classical
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Lt. Sonya Zollicoffer, a 20-year veteran of the Prince George’s County Police Department, listened to Malik Aziz’s words carefully as he talked about supporting the community and its law enforcement officials. “He sounded like a chief,” she said. “He has the experience and I hope he brings that experience with him. I am giving him a chance to make the right decisions but actions speak louder than words,” said Zollicoffer who also counts among several plaintiffs of both current and former Black
lawsuit against the department. Now, after nine months of interviews, phone calls and reviewing resumes, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks selected Aziz to serve as the new police chief for Prince George’s. Aziz, 52, works as deputy chief for the city of Dallas Police Department in Texas where he’s spent his entire career – 29 years including his first assignment as a patrol officer. Interim chief Hector Velez will remain in charge until Aziz takes the helm May 9. “Nothing is more important to me
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5 Malik Aziz will serve as the new police chief in Prince George’s County starting May 9. He speaks during a press conference March 26 at the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building in Largo. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
‘State of America’s Children’ Report Shows a Disturbing Link Between Race and Poverty Seventy-one Percent of Poverty-Stricken Youth are Children of Color tory, represents the poorest demographic in the country with youth of color suffering the highest povThe child population in the erty rates. “While we reported on the 73 U.S., while the most diverse in hisStacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
(Courtesy photo/Children’s Defense Fund)
million children in the U.S. in 2019, which is 22 percent of the nation’s population, we also note that 2020 was the first year in American history that a majority of children are projected to be children of color,” said the Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, the president and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund. Dr. Wilson’s remarks come as the Marian Wright Edelman-founded nonprofit released “The State of America’s Children 2021.” The stunning exposé revealed
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