RECIPIENT OF THE DC BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION 2023 LEGACY AWARD
Serving Our Community in the DMV
Vol 59 No 19... February 22 - 28, 2024
DYRS Budget Oversight Hearing Sheds Light on Treatment, Staffing Gaps By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
5Marshai Small (center right), D.C. chapter president of the African National Women’s Organization, and her partner Justice Jackson (center left) have been in a battle with Howard County, Maryland officials for custody of their two children. (Courtesy Photo)
Local Mothers Organize 'ArrestCPS' Campaign By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
In the weeks and months leading up to a Mother’s Day march scheduled to take place in front of the White House, a group of Black women in the D.C. area continue to demand the reunification of Black children who’ve been separated from
their families by the government. For Mashai Small, this cause is personal. “Although some of our family members are praying for us, they don’t want us to deviate from the state’s plan, which is to close the case how they want and basically do what they say,” said Small, D.C. chapter president of the African National Women’s Organization (ANWO). Small is a soon to be 28-year-old mother of two who’s currently in a battle with Howard County, Maryland
MOTHERS Page 16
Capture the Moment Page 43
As recently as last week, Youth Services Center (YSC), the detention center operated by the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), still has more residents than it can accommodate, and even fewer staff members present than what’s needed to ensure a safe and stable environment. During a DYRS oversight hearing, Katerina Semyonova placed the blame on the lack of local treatment options for committed youth, along with what she described as a lengthy placement process. “A large part of this problem is the District’s failure to have a comprehensive continuum of community-based services that are timely, robust and meaningful,” Semyonova explained on
Feb. 15 while testifying before the D.C. Council Committee on Recreation, Libraries, and Youth Affairs. Semyonova counted among a bevy of public and government witnesses who spoke before committee chair, D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8), during the budget oversight hearing. This hearing, which took place months after DYRS Director Sam Abed’s contentious confirmation process, allowed Semyonova, special counsel to the director for policy and legislation at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, to pinpoint what she called missteps that arise when DYRS youths await placement. She told White that, from the moment Court Social Services files a notice
DYRS Page 20
Young Sudanese Women Lead D.C.’s First Sudanese Protest of 2024, Offer Hope for ‘New Sudan’ Crowds Chant ‘Sudan is not for Sale' By Bousaina Ibrahim WI Contributing Writer The unified cheers for “sawra,” the Arabic word for revolution, flooded the entrance of the Embassy of the United Emirates on the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 18. More than 200 people from the Sudanese diaspora and their sup5A protestor advocating against war, genocide porters gathered to call for the end of and mass displacement in Sudan stands the war, genocide, and mass displaceoutside the Embassy of the United Emirates in ment ravaging Sudan for nearly a year. Northwest, D.C. on Feb.18.(Ja'Mon Jackson/ “The last 10 months have just been The Washington Informer)
continuous grief. This was an effort to reset and say ‘I want to try in my capacity and create space for the community,’ because that’s where collective suffering creates avenues for community, growth and healing,” said Wafa May Elamin, one of the lead organizers. The protest’s organizers were a group of four Sudanese American young women who were called to speak up for their motherland. Elamin, 31, Roaya
Celebrating 59 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news and information.
PROTEST Page 51