VOL. 53, NO. 42 • AUGUST 2 - 8, 2018
Celebrate the music and culture of the DMV during Summer Fest 2018 See pictures and story on Page 34
GoGo Fuels Childhood Learning - Page 22
Ethiopian Prime Minister Renews Hope, Pursues Unity D.C. Mayor Declares July 28 as ‘Ethiopia Day’ By Lafayette A. Barnes WI African Affairs Reporter With the highly-anticipated arrival of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed to the District in full swing, Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed Saturday, July 28 as “Ethiopia Day in DC,” continuing a relationship first established in 2013 when D.C. and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, entered into a Sister City Agreement and Protocol of Friendship. And on Saturday, following several days filled with more private conversations between Dr. Abiy and business and political leaders from the Greater Washington Area, Bowser joined the prime minister at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest where the recently-elected leader shared
ETHIOPIA Page 33
Voter Registration Drives Catching on Ahead of 2018 Midterms By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
5 With nearly 300,000 Ethiopian immigrants living in the Washington, DC area, the largest group of Ethiopian-born people in the U.S., thousands came to hear Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s message delivered at the Washington Convention Center in Northwest on Saturday, July 28. /Photo by John Simms
Death of Ron Dellums Mourned Coast to Coast
Longtime Congressman, Former Oakland Mayor Fought for the People By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
5 Ronald V. Dellums /WI archives Shevry Lassiter
Ronald Vernie Dellums, 82, the third Black mayor for the City of Oakland and a 13-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives, died on Monday, July 30, ending an extended battle against prostate cancer. The former D.C. lobbyist, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, first
African American elected to Congress from Northern California as well as the first openly-identified, non-incumbent Socialist to successfully mount a political campaign for Congress since World War II, will probably be most remembered for his leadership in ending the apartheid policies of South Africa – an initiative that would
DELLUMS Page 38
Earlier this year, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) announced an unprecedented voter registration drive with a mission to register five million new Black voters before the midterm elections in November. It appears that drive has sparked registrations everywhere. A new TargetSmart analysis of voter registration data in the 39 states with available data shows that registration rates for voters ages 18 to 29 have significantly increased in key battleground states over the past seven months, presaging the increased impact youth voters may have on the upcoming midterm and presidential elections. Using Feb. 14, 2018, as a reference point — the date of the Parkland shooting massacre, which spurred a youth-led movement to register young voters across the country — TargetSmart’s analysis found that the share of youth registrants nationwide has increased by 2.16 percent, a potentially impactful surge in youth enrollment. With more than a dozen states’ primaries still left and months until voter registration deadlines, the findings are an early quantitative sign that youth turnout is on the rise for this year’s midterm elections. The state-by-state analysis shows that younger voters are poised to have an outsized impact in key battleground races. Pennsylvania — which has November elections for U.S. senator, governor, and many
VOTERS Page 44
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