VOL. 54, NO. 18 • FEBRUARY 14 - 20, 2019
ASALH Traces History of Black Migrations – What’s Your Ancestry? / Page 9
Capture the Moment / Page 45
Trump’s ‘Last Stand’ in El Paso Foreshadowing of 2020 Game Plan?
HOC Announces Partnership in Decision about Burial Ground
Activists Threaten National Boycott of Major Banks
Hedges on Latest Offer to Avoid Shutdown While Ramping up Rhetoric of Red, White and Blue
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins To the chagrin of activists vying for sole control, and a key role in memorializing, what’s believed to be an African-American burial site in Bethesda, Maryland, the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) continued its efforts to include other parties in the discussion about the plot of land behind Westwood Towers on River Road. During the HOC’s most recent public meeting, commissioners revealed the Maryland-National
HOC Page 46
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir
5 Spectators pack Chinatown to pay homage to the “Year of the Pig” for the Annual Chinese New Year Parade in Washington D.C. on Feb. 10.(Michael A. McCoy/Washington Informer)
Rep. Underwood to Black Nurses: Get Involved in Politics By James Wright WI Contributing Writer Freshman Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) told a receptive audience of the nation’s leading African-American nursing association that they should seriously consider entering the political realm. “Please run for office,” Underwood said to the attendees of the 31st National Black Nurses Association Day on Capitol Hill at the Washington Court Hotel in Northwest on Feb. 7. “Our country needs you.” Underwood, a registered
nurse, spoke to the 90 participants of the one-day event during its morning session. The representative spoke strongly about the need for African American nurses voices to be heard in the country’s political dialogue. “Capitol Hill needs to hear from you,” Underwood said. “We as nurses are impacted by Hill actions and we are not a part of the conversation. Throughout the history of the Congress, there have been less than 10 nurses to serve and we need more. We have to be at the table.”
NURSES Page 16
5 Rep. Lauren Underwood (D. Ill) (James Wright/The Washington Informer)
Once again, with the showmanship of a veteran ringmaster, President Donald Trump leaked word of a late-night tentative agreement on border security being reached by a 17-member, bipartisan committee Monday, Feb. 11 – while keeping oddsmakers scrambling as to whether he’ll say, “Deal” or “No Deal.” But with only days remaining before a Feb. 15 deadline, many Americans, still reeling from the impact of an historic 35-day shutdown, fear that the president will open the floodgates to more unchartered waters and a second partial federal government shutdown. Nonplussed by deadlines and drama, Trump seemed to have other things on his mind, hinting that he “may” sign off on the latest offer despite being “displeased” – before quickly transforming the “support the wall hoedown” in El Paso Monday evening into a carefully-crafted campaign rally for 2020 bragging rights. “Just so you know; we’re building the wall anyway,” Trump said, then further promoting his unique blend of hyperbole to which America and the world have grown so accustomed over the course of his two years in
EL PASO Page 14
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