VOL. 54, NO. 17 • FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
February is American Heart Month; Get the Facts to Prevent Heart Disease
Northam Faces Uphill Battle to Retain Governor’s Seat
Howard Univ. Seniors Receive a Welcome Gift
Alfred St. Baptist Church Pays 34 Student Account Balances
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer Before Rev. Dr. John-Howard Wesley preached his sermon at Howard University’s Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel on Feb. 3, he made a major presentation before students and worshippers. Wesley, pastor of Alfred Street Baptist Church, presented an oversized check of $100,000 for the university’s “gap scholarship” to cover unpaid balances for 34 graduating seniors. Individual debt among the students ranged from $3,000 to $10,000. The donated funds were from a “love offering” given by pa-
GIFT Page 42
5 Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley presents a $100,000 check for “gap scholarships” to Tashni-Ann Dubroy, executive vice president and COO at Howard University, during an event at the university’s Rankin Chapel on Feb. 3. (Brenda C. Siler/ The Washington Informer)
Abrams Blasts Trump, McConnell for ‘Power Grab’ After SOTU By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Stacey Abrams delivered a scathing Democratic rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The former Georgia Gubernatorial candidate said the “hopes of American families are being crushed” by Republican political leadership. “In Georgia and around the
Black History Month Page 30
country, people are striving for a middle class where a salary truly equals economic security,” Abrams said. “But instead, families’ hopes are being crushed by Republican leadership that ignores real life or just doesn’t understand it.” The response is a tradition undertaken by a representative of the president’s opposing party, who gives a speech immediately after the State of the Union to
UNION Page 45
5 Newly-inaugurated Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam joined community workers who spent Dr. King’s birthday on Jan. 15, sprucing up the historic Evergreen Cemetery in Richmond, which serves as the final resting place for many prominent African Americans. (Dorothy Rowley/The Washington Informer)
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam continues to face criticism from prominent politicians, civil rights organizations and voters in his state and nationwide after a photo surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook page with someone in blackface and another person wearing a Klu Klux Klan costume. Northam apologized Friday, Feb. 1 for being in the racist photo published on a conservative website. The next day during a more than 40-minute press conference at the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond, Virginia, the 59-year-old Democrat backtracked and became “convinced” that he’s neither person in the photo and doesn’t plan on resigning. “We will continue to lead. We will continue to talk about the issues that are important,” he said. “We’ll also have a conversation about trust and I have been a man of honor…I ask Virginians to accept my word.” Northam also revealed Saturday he spread “a little bit of shoe polish to put on my cheeks” more than 30 years ago to dress as Michael Jackson in a dance contest in San Antonio, Texas, upon graduation from Eastern Virginia Medical School. Northam, who’s been in office since January 2018, received a flood of calls for him to resign from prominent Virginia Democrat Rep. Bobby Scott to Virginia’s and nation’s first elected Black governor, L. Douglas Wilder.
NORTHAM Page 13
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On February 10, 1939 singer Roberta Flack is born in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Black Facts / Page 6
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Paul Trantham
domestic violence victims and stricter restraining order policies, Online survivors publication Big old daughter told her the father are treated. more rights for victim's families After the Repubof her daughter threatened her Politics,“She's League the same webusing her own personal to intervene on behalf of a viclican Party domilife, and the life of theirsite child, that posted a racist photo-personal story, her own pain toandtim, nated state con-a domestic violence assessshe knew something hadgraph to befrompush VA Gov. Ralph Davis-Nickens forward,” ment gressional elections unit coupled with further done. Out of her frustration about Marlow. Northam’s said medical school training for law enforcement in 2010, they made with law enforcement's handling agencies, a Child's Life Protecyearbook page,Davis-Nickens has now pub- said goodanyone on their promof the situation, she decided who reads Marlow'sisebook will legislation Act and mandatory counsellishedtoa story under the headto enact start the Saving Promiseline: cam-“UPDATE: “get it.” Stanford She said shetion “putsthat the made ing for it batterers. paign. case in suchJustin a way, the average “If Fellow Hints at Possible more difficult to reg- we are ever going to eradi“It seems to be a viciousFairfax cycleSex Assault.” person can get it.” Sheister said and at thevote cate withdomestic violence, we must that won't turn my family end of thecomes day, thelaws book will look The story allegedly that rolled back at both sides of the coin. loose,” Marlow said. post Marlow people have a dia- We need to address both the vicfrom a private Facebook from thehelp woman whobegin the to early voting periods, shared her story the audidomestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow publication claimswith to have obtained logue from about a friend of imposed ID requirements and halted voter registraence at the District Heights Also present at the event was said. hers who had permission to share it. They claim that the tionthe drives. November, when the DemoDomestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, ex- But since Marlow would also like to see woman first approached The Washington Post with the crats regained some of ground lost on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programsthedesigned to eight raiseyears allegation shortly before Fairfax was inaugurated and that ago, they have been changing the rules for voting Municipal Center. The sympo- who was sentenced to six consec- awareness among children in in she said she had to speak out. On Monday, Fairfax, the the opposite Measures expanding sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole direction. public and private schools. access She to VA Lieutenant issued a statement denying the box have legislators proposing bills in New Family and Governor, Youth Services by a Maryland jury forthe hisballot role in feels children need to be educatcharges –ofcharges that have yet to be corroborated. Fairfax, New Virginia – evenviolence. South Carolina Center the city of District the Beltway Sniper York, attacks in Jersey, ed about domestic who wasand notthe married at the time of the alleged assault, and Texasiswhere “We the GOP has control, making Heights National Hook2002. Mildred Muhammad have still to stop being pasgives different picture of what took place in a Boston approval of the legislation there unlikely. With Up of aBlack Women. the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chil- Flohotel and which he sites asaa consensual encounter. A state- thatridians November to restoreviolence,” voting rights Marlow has written book, an organization helps voting the in dren about domestic ment from Fairfax’s chief of staff said he “has never to ex-felons, many 1.4 million once permanently “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors assaultof domestic violence asMarlow said. ed anyone ever –generations in any way, of shapeand or form.” Fairfax, stripped of their rights, including story about–four their children. Marlowother has states worked to breakIowa, now with legal representation, said in a second statement domestic violence. The book is Kentucky, Jersey “I lived in fear for six years. SixMinnesota, the cycleConnecticut of abuse in and her New family, that the Post hasown “smeared” him by publishing uncorinspired by her experiences, nowItconsidering legislation supported years inthe fear is a longare time. is and issimilar confident the policies she by roborated by the woman. and those account of her presented grandmother, Democrats. Republicans saying not an easy thing tothe come out isMeanwhile, pushing for will startarethat her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. the Democrats’process. efforts are tantamount to assaults on She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad said and the “I plan to take policies to to free speech attempt “to these rewrite the rules excerpts from her book, she still people who want favor to help and implore them to themaandCongress their friends.” can not believe the words came domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. from her. “Color Me Butterfly” be careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these poliwon the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” Books” Award. that she may be in “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached “IAwas just 16-years-old complaint of racial when profilingmode”. in Sweden, a at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net my eye first blackenedforand “Before you get to 'I'm going country long-touted its my high degree of tolerlips bled,” said. outcry about to kill it started as a verbal WI ance, has Marlow caused heated the you,' mistreatElaine Davis-Nickens, ment of minorities. Videopresitapes show security offiThe Social Sedent of the National cers recently draggingHook-Up a pregnant Black woman off curity 2100 Act ofa Black Women, said there is no city subway train and pinning her to the ground. was recently inconsistency in the way was domestic Her daughter, 5, who with her, was left crying troduced in the violence issues are guards dealt with by and alone while overpowered the woman. House and SenThe incident occurred just days after a well-known ate in efforts to TV investigative program in the country, aired a both expand the report on racial profiling in which 100 Swedes social insurance with foreign backgrounds said they’d been stopped, program and checked and treated by police in a “disparaging and make gradual condescending way.” The woman, identified only changes to keep as Jeanine because she says she fears for her life, it solvent for the remainder of the century. The reportedly works at actions come after decades dominated by cona beauty salon and is cerns that aging baby boomers would bankrupt a native of the Demthe government as they begin to draw benefits ocratic Republic of from Social Security and other entitlement proCongo. Her baby is grams. The Democrat-led initiative confirms the due Feb. 20. She says Party’s vision of social insurance in an era where she still has bruises on many people have meager savings and no private her back, thighs and pension. Republicans contend that entitlement arms. Videos of the programs, not tax cuts, are the primary reason guards’ actions have for growing federal deficits. In recent years, they been posted on soL.Y.met Marlow have recommended changes which great opcial media as reports position in the U.S. including: an increase in the of mistreatment of retirement age and a new formula for calculating minorities in Eurocost-of-living adjustments that could reduce fupean countries once ture benefits. deemed “safe” con-
Pregnant Black Woman in ‘Country of Tolerance” [Sweden], Dragged, Beaten by Guards
“
We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these policies to Congress and implore them to change our laws. I will not stop until these policies are passed.
4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.comtinue to escalate.
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Dems Push for First Major Social Security Expansion Since ’72
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law enforcement. SheAct said Quickly they threat,” said. tosheOverhaul ‘Outed’ Northam Alleges had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow sense of uniformity Election in the way wants Lawsto see implemented are Fairfax of ‘Sex Assault’ When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year-
By Tia Carol Jones
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Gray Steels for Fort Dupont Arena Fight By James Wright WI Contributing Writer D.C. Councilman Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) readied for a fight ahead of the council’s legislative meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5, planning to fund the expansion of the Fort Dupont Ice Arena by thwarting Mayor Muriel Bowser’s attempt to redirect $21 million from the facility via a disapproval resolution that he intended to move at the meeting. However, by Tuesday, Gray had worked with City Administrator Rashad Young and Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) to push the consideration of the arena’s funding for the Feb. 19 legislative meeting. At the pre-legislative session breakfast meeting on Feb. 5, Gray explained the decision to his colleagues. “I withdrew the disapproval resolution and will work with the executive branch and the council for a solution that will be introduced on Feb. 19,” Gray said. The arena rests in Ward 7 and is utilized by residents from all over the District. A large number of people also comes over from Maryland and Virginia to skate and participate in its programs. Bowser told the Ward 3 Democratic Club on Jan. 31 said the money for the arena’s upgrade “was just sitting there” in the city budget and could be better utilized for more pressing matters such as repairing school buildings and infrastructure. The mayor said funding for the arena could take place during the 2020 budget cycle. When the Friends of the Fort Dupont Ice Arena (FDIA) association got wind of what Bowser wanted to do a few weeks ago, the leaders instituted a strategy that included
contacting D.C. council members, members of the community and the media. The strategy culminated in visits to council member offices on Feb. 4 to explain why the arena needed the funds now. “We visited the offices of the council members to explain what was going on,” said Patrice Willoughby, a board member of the FDIA. “We wanted the councilmembers to know where we have worked well with the D.C.’s General Services Administration and the Department of Parks and Recreation and where we haven’t worked as well. We are very happy to have Council member Gray as our champion.” Willoughby said she is cautious but encouraged by the latest developments. “We are happy that the city wants to come to the table and discuss with us about going forward,” she said. A meeting took place with the leadership of FDIA, Mendelson, Gray and Bowser administration executives on Feb. 6. The arena served as the only indoor rink in the District, with its building taking place in 1976 by the National Park Service. In 1996, the FDIA took over the management of the arena after residents’ complaints of poor management by the National Park Service. Since that time, the FDIA has instituted a number of programs primarily for young people, including ice skating lessons and skating teams plus competitions with other ice skating clubs in the country. The FDIA wants to use the $21 million from the District government to build another rink and modernize the facility. The FDIA has been on track to raise $5 million to add to the $21 million to fund the expansion and modernization of the
rink. The plight of the arena has gone national. Monumental Sports and Entertainment launched a crowdfunding campaign on Feb. 3 to help the FDIA. Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and the NHL have pledged $100,000 to the FDIA effort, with an ultimate goal of $500,000. Councilman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) started the process of the arena being upgraded and the District government paying for it. “My son played ice hockey at Gonzaga and had a game at the Fort Dupont Ice Arena and I went there to see him play 11 years ago,” Evans told his colleagues. “I was horrified at how badly the rink looked and then I talked to [then-Council] Chairman Gray about getting it modernized and he agreed with him.” In 2013, Gray, as mayor of the District, budgeted $15 million for the new construction at the arena with the understanding that the FDIA would raise $5 million to pay for the work. However in 2014, Gray lost the mayoral Democratic primary to Bowser and the $15 million did not get allocated. When Bowser became mayor in 2015, she became disengaged from the project, though she set aside $10 million for the arena in her 2017 budget. When Gray got back on the council in 2017, he worked with Evans and Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) to put an additional $10 million in the budget for the arena’s completion. Evans noted, with Gray’s nodding approval, that the $30 million needed to complete the project can be gotten from the District’s budget and the $5 million campaign by the FDIA need not continue.
5 The Ft. Dupont Ice Arena is located in Southeast. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
“This is an embarrassment” Evans said. “It’s 11 years later and this is still not done.” Tyrell Holcomb, who serves as the chairman of 7F advisory neighborhood commission, said the arena needs to be expanded and modernized. “I think we have a situation here
where a commitment was made to the residents of Ward 7 and the community at large and it wasn’t followed through,” Holcomb said. “I don’t think it is right for the sit to renege on that commitment and that commitment needs to be honored.” WI
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*Rents and income limits subject to change 5 Students at the Ft. Dupont Ice Arena practice synchronized skating in preparation for an upcoming competition. The skating rink is opened every day offering classes and public skating. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 5 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
AROUND THE REGION
black facts
FEB 7 - 13, 2019
SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB
FEB. 7 1887 – Famed pianist Eubie Blake is born in Baltimore. 1965 – Comedian and actor Chris Rock is born in Andrews, South Carolina. 1974 – The Caribbean country of Grenada declares its independence from the United Kingdom. 1991 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide takes the oath of office as Haiti’s first democratically elected president.
FEB. 8 1944 – Harry S. McAlpin becomes the first African-American journalist admitted to a White House press conference. 1986 – Oprah Winfrey becomes the first African-American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show.
FEB. 9 1944 – Writer Alice Walker, author of “The Color Purple,” is born in Putnam County, Georgia. 1965 – Martin Luther King, Jr. meets with President Lyndon Johnson to discuss Black voting rights. 1971 – Pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. 1995 – Bernard Harris becomes the first Black astronaut to walk in space.
FEB. 10 1927 – World renowned opera singer Leontyne Price is born in Laurel, Mississippi. 1939 – Singer Roberta Flack is born in Black Mountain, North Carolina. 1992 – Author Alex Haley of “Roots” dies in Seattle of a heart attack at 70.
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FEB. 11 1920 – U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., the first African-American to reach the rank of four-star general, is born in Pensacola, Florida. 1977 – Clifford Alexander Jr. is confirmed as the first Black Secretary of the U.S. Army. 1990 – Human rights activist Nelson Mandela is released from a South African prison after serving 27 years.
FEB. 12 1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, is founded after race riots in Springfield, Illinois. 1926 – Historian Carter G. Woodson founds Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month. 1983 – Famed pianist Eubie Blake dies in Brooklyn, New York, at 96.
FEB. 13
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.
1920 – Baseball player Andrew “Rube” Foster founds the Negro National League. 1923 – The New York Renaissance, an all-Black professional basketball team, is founded. 1970 – Joseph L. Searles III becomes the first Black floor member and floor broker in the New York Stock Exchange. WI
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I’m with you, Cory, and I’m with Kamala! We need someone who is qualified to handle the commander in chief position professionally. No more celebrities. Black folks, please give Kamala or Cory a chance.
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Like someone said, I want to see receipts and experience. Going to research [Booker’s] platform.
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People need to stop being gullible and do some research. This lady got some issues. I’m all for empowerment of people of color in our government, but it’s time for us to say that not all Black people stand for us.
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AROUND THE REGION The World According to Dominic BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR / WI EDITOR / @DKEVINMCNEIR
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February is upon us once again and with it comes that time first proposed by Dr. Carter G. Woodson when our country recognizes the significant deeds of African Americans – countering a long-held and hallowed history that only told a portion of the real, complete story of these United States and how it developed. As a child, I loved the tales I would hear from my parents and teachers about Shaka Zulu, Harriet Tubman, Haile Selassie, Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley. I eagerly awaited my Mom taking me to Vaughn’s Bookstore – a staple for the Black community in my hometown of Detroit. There I’d salivate over an expansive collection of books, puzzles, maps and so many other “treats” that helped me learn more about Black folk, believe in myself and my God-given abilities and to begin to understand the beauty of my skin and the value of my ancestry. But since I joined the ranks of the Black Press more than two decades ago, with each passing year, I’ve gradually developed what one might describe as a
“love-hate” relationship in regard to my true feelings about Black History Month. However, before you dismiss my thoughts as absurd, let me elaborate. You see, I have good reason as to why I sway from one extreme to the other – sometimes experiencing a keen sense of euphoria – then falling headfirst into a seemingly, bottomless pit replete with a never-ending list of things to do and a prayer that the 28 days will pass swiftly.
As a child, I loved the tales I would hear from my parents and teachers about Shaka Zulu, Harriet Tubman, Haile Selassie, Crispus Attucks and Phillis Wheatley. Yes, love-hate. Those who, like me, claim membership within America’s Black Press, whether they’re the editor as I am, or if they are part of a team, like the incredible folks with whom I work, know that we will never be able to report it all, show up for every program to which we’ve been invited or photograph each noteworthy occurrence and tribute – all aimed at honoring the infinitesimal amount of contributions and sacrifices made by
“the family” – those who make up the African Diaspora – both from the past and in the present. We have been called by many names here in the U.S., some of which caused great humiliation and pain. But despite the odds, African Americans have weathered the storm, “made a way out of no way” and, as my Mother often advises, “tied a knot and hung on.” When I’m at my wits end, or feeling like I can’t write one more word, read one more article for editing or laboriously scan pages of books to check facts or to gather needed references and information, I think about those who paved the way for me. I think about my grandmother who only had a sixth-grade education before she was forced to abandon school and scrub stairs on the streets of Baltimore. I remember my grandfather, halfBlack, half-Native American, who was ostracized by his own tribe and so-called “full-blooded” Blacks alike because he spoke and looked different from them. I look back with pride at my parents – the first in each of their families to complete both college, Tuskegee and Hampton, and to receive master’s degrees. I look back over the academic opportunities and career choices that I’ve had – pathways that just one generation before had not existed – at least not for anyone who looked like me. I’m Black and I’m proud. So what if I’m a little tired. Spring will be here soon. WI
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AROUND THE REGION HU Symposium Charts Path Toward Safer Communities Experts Address Gun Violence in U.S. and Need for Policy Changes By Billi Wilkerson Special to the Washington Informer In an era where drive-by attacks, police-involved shootings and random mass murders, due to their unprecedented frequency, have led a growing number of citizens to a state of apathy, a series of panel discussions held on the campus of Howard University in Northwest invoked emotional reactions, personal testimonies and a host of recommendations related to changing the current landscape. With the theme “Triggered: The Power of Guns, Law and Politics,” the third annual C. Clyde Ferguson Jr. Symposium, hosted by the Howard University School of Law and the Howard Human and Civil Rights Review, fostered conversation on the development and implementation of strategies and legislation that could provide a pathway to greater safety in America’s cities and communities. Keynote speaker Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL 2nd district) joined legal experts, politicians, student activists and a vocal audience as they explored the meaning behind the second amendment, addressed the realities of gun-related violence today and provided reasons for more stringent gun laws and policies in the U.S. Panelists included: Aalayah Eastmond, student activist and senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School; Lord Jamar, recording artist, producer and activist; Zion Kelly, student activist; and Harold McDougall, professor of law. The morning panel, moderated by rap artist Rah Digga, focused on the concept of “human hierarchy” and the proliferation of and possible explanations for unprovoked mass shootings that continue to occur in common spaces, including public schools, in America. One teenaged participant, Aalayah, a survivor of the Parkland shooting that resulted in the death of 17 students, pointed out that the gunman had been a victim of repeated bullying and wondered if its emotional impact may have been the impetus for his deadly rampage. McDougall explained the concept of “human hierarchy” as de-
scribed in the New York Times best-selling book “Queen Bees and Wannabees,” written by parenting educator Rosalind Wiseman that served as the basis for the popular teen movie “Mean Girls.” McDougall said bullying plays a dominant role during adolescence, existing within a hierarchy that includes “winners and losers.” In comedic fashion, Rah Digga referred to her formative years when both bullies and the in crowd co-existed. Best known for her membership in the Busta Rhymes-created group, FlipMode Squad, she’s now a blog commentator with Lord Jamar who’s part of the popular rap group Brand Nubian. Lord Jamar chimed in asserting that today’s youth, including millennials, have become too “soft” and that being bullied makes one stronger. Before the session’s conclusion, Aalayah had been brought to tears. Briana Thompson, a third-year law student and member of the group that organized the event described its purpose. “One of the goals of the program was to have a panel comprised of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to facilitate a much-needed, realistic discussion on gun violence in today’s society,” she said. “There are generational gaps that cannot be ignored. Back in the day, bullying ended at the school; now bullying continues online.” Aalayah pointed out that while Parkland employs nine security guards, the school only has three counselors, illustrating a use of financial resources that she believes should be reconsidered. Other sessions included a panel that discussed the recently-formed gun violence prevention movement and the impact
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5 Student activist Aalayah Eastmond, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Fla., who survived the mass shooting that took place there last year, participates in the 3rd Annual C. Clyde Ferguson Jr. Symposium “Triggered: Guns, Law & Politics.” (Photo courtesy/HUNews)
of that violence on public health. One conservative politician, Liz Matory, approached the conversation from the perspective of a gun rights advocate. One litigator from the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Jonathan Lowy, called for greater gun control while a community advocate, Wilson Santos, spoke about the necessity for more intentional for violence prevention strategies within black and brown communities. Second-year law student James Walker said bringing different voices to the table needs to be facilitated more often so that information can be shared. Thompson agreed. “We hope the program provided a platform for the community to see the different perspectives in our society in a way that can help initiate a conversation on how we can come together to eradicate gun violence,” she said. WI
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Davison charges fees for services FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 9 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT
Celebrating Black History - The Bellevue Neighborhood Citizens Association celebrated Black History Month with special recognition of two of the far Southwest neighborhood’s stalwart residents, Vera M. Rolark Abbott and the late Theresa Jones, for their public service, activism and contributions to the community over several decades. “I love Bellevue,” Abbott told the organization’s members gathered at Covenant Baptist UCC Church in Southwest, one of the oldest churches in the neighborhood. She was recognized for establishing and leading several organizations in Bellevue AARP, Friends of the Bellevue/Lockridge Library, the High Noon Book Club and serving several terms as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner. Today, Abbott serves as a mayoral appointee to the Board of Employee Appeals. Jones, also referred to as an East of the River legend, was a native Washingtonian who dedicated 40 plus years to public service working on behalf of the poor in her community and across the city. She also served as an ANC, as well as a representative on the DC Rent Commission and an employee of the Southeast Neighborhood House and United Planning Organization (UPO). Jones died on July 10, 2017. She was 84. Three of her daughters were there to receive the award. Above are: Council Chair Phil Mendelson, Wanda Lockridge, chief of staff who presented Council Resolutions on behalf of for Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White; Kemi Morton and Sheila Bunn, president, and vice president, of the BCNA, respectively. (DR Barnes/The Washington Informer)
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Paul and Rosalyn Coates, of Black Classic Press, Baltimore, MD read the WI. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
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10 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
– Rosa Parks, from “My Story” [1992]
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By refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery (AL) city bus in 1955, Black seamstress Rosa Parks, (born Feb. 4, 1913) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the U.S. The leaders of the local Black community organized a bus boycott that began the day Parks was convicted of violating the segregation laws. Over the next half-century, she became a nationally recognized symbol of dignity and strength in the struggle to end entrenched racial segregation. In the years following her retirement, she traveled to lend her support to civil rights events and causes. In 1999, Parks was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the U.S. bestows on a civilian. (Other recipients have included: George Washington, Thomas Edison, Betty Ford and Mother Teresa.) When she died at age 92 on Oct. 24, 2005, she became the first woman in the nation’s history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.
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AROUND THE REGION
Brandon Jackson, Brother of Teen Killed in Police Custody, Found Dead By John Muller Special to The Informer RIDGELY, Maryland — Brandon Jackson, the older brother of Anton Black, an African-American teen killed during an altercation with police officers in Caroline County, Maryland, last fall, has died. He was 32. Jackson died Saturday afternoon in Ridgely, a town of about 1,600 people. His death was confirmed by the Ridgely Police Department, which has initiated an investigation with the OCME. Following the September death of 19-year-old Anton Black while in police custody, Jackson rose to the forefront of activists calling for an investigation into a tragedy that has affected African-American communities throughout Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Jackson participated in a Jan. 21 live podcast by the Baltimore Sun to bring attention to his brother’s death. Later that evening at an event celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gov. Larry Hogan (R) made his first public comments on the case. The governor’s remarks prompted release within 72 hours of a report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) calling Black’s death “accidental,” as SU_Press well as aAssoAD_SAU_2015_Layout 38-minute body cam1 video of the incident. With
recent editorials in daily newspapers in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the case has gained national attention after languishing for months. Jackson told The Informer that the acknowledgement from Hogan “put a smile on my face.” A native of Chestertown in Kent County, Jackson told The Informer shortly before his death that while he was living in Baltimore, younger brother Anton had visited with boxes of clothes from recent modeling events. During an October meeting at the Greensboro town hall, Jackson wore medals his brother had accumulated as a state champion track athlete at North Caroline County High School. In December, Jackson spoke in front of the courthouse in the county seat of Denton at a rally demanding answers and justice for Black’s death. After police body camera footage was released to members of the media in the Greensboro Town Hall late last month, Jackson sat onstage at a church across the street, holding a poster displaying photos of his brother. “Trying [to] stay off of social media,” Jackson wrote on his Facebook account on Jan. 26. “But thank you everyone who has been supportive to me and 8/20/15 11:24 AM Page 1 bless evmy family. May God eryone.” WI
5 Anton Black’s older brother Brandon Jackson (left) died Saturday, Feb. 2, after he was found unresponsive inside a Ridgely apartment. Jackson was a consistent and visible part of the effort to push for answers in the death of his younger brother, who at 19 died Sept. 15 outside his family’s home in Greensboro while in police custody. (Abby Andrews/Carolina Times Record)
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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 11 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Hogan: ‘Work and Get Things Done’ By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill ANNAPOLIS — Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan encouraged lawmakers work in a bipartisan fashion to improve the state’s transportation infrastructure, boost jobs and combat crime. Hogan used the words of the late President Ronald Reagan to help make his point in the annual State of the State address inside the House chamber. “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if don’t care who gets the credit,” Hogan said. “I pledged four years ago to create an environment of trust and cooperation where the best ideas rise to the top based on their merit, regardless of which side of the aisle they come from.”
In his 30-minute speech on Jan. 30, Hogan also emphasized tax relief, school construction and restoring $11 million in education for Baltimore City. He also mentioned the city to encourage lawmakers to pass two pieces of proposed legislation he introduced last month. One would increase the minimum sentence to 10 years for repeat offenders who use a gun to commit a violent crime. The other focuses on sentencing guidelines for residents to read detailed information on how judges deliberate and rule on court cases regarding violent crimes across the state. “We’re talking about taking our communities back and saving lives,’ Hogan said. “Enough is enough.” The Democratic leadership issued a few responses. Delegate Kathleen Dumais of
5 Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (center) gives the annual State of the State address inside the House chamber in Annapolis on Jan. 30. (Brigette White/The Washington Informer)
Montgomery County presented the Democrats response for about 4½ minutes on Maryland Public Television. She outlined some of the party’s initiatives such as raising the state’s minimum hourly wage to $15, curbing the cost of prescription drugs and increasing the age for tobacco sales to 21. “We will work with Gov. Hogan when we can,” Dumais said. “But we will not sacrifice our democratic values and principles to cut deals.” Maya Rockeymoore Cum-
mings, who chairs the state’s Democratic Party, released a statement on Hogan’s proposal to cut taxes instead of ways to help fund the recommendations from the ongoing work to revamp the state’s public education system by the Kirwan Commission, formally called the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education. “Gov. Hogan showed he is an old-fashioned Republican unwilling to learn from the failed trickle-down economic policies
Collaboration Sought in Prince George’s Youth Sports By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
5 County Executive Angela Alsobrooks talks to a constituent. (William J. Ford/ The Washington Informer)
12 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
Kevin Durant. Joe Haden. Marissa Coleman: these are just three of the dozens of professional athletes from Prince George’s County whose prowess started in youth sports programs. County Executive Angela Alsobrooks seeks to enhance such programs through the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) to ensure youth sports are part of its mission statement. She briefly explained to more than 100 youth coaches, players and organizers last month how youth sports affected her daughter as a member of the PG Pride youth lacrosse team that played all of its games in neighboring Montgomery County.
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
“I had to tell you how awful it felt for me to drive my daughter from Prince George’s County to Potomac, Maryland,” she said. “Driving … someplace else where my daughter can play sports said to her that her home wasn’t good enough. This is a message we cannot afford to send to our children.” The commission serves as a bi-county agency empowered by the state to acquire, develop and maintain land within Prince George’s and Montgomery counties, as well as collaborate with the Prince George’s public school system to use some of its schools for practices and games. Some youth organizers and coaches said that’s part of the problem. According to the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation website, there are about 50 community centers
YOUTH Page 16
of yesterday while thumbing his nose at education reform and other critical state priorities,” Rockeymoore Cummings said. “We should be surprised that he proposes a tax cut that panders to the GOP’s special-interest base, yet comes up far short on offering solutions for working Marylanders.” Hogan did receive praise from Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks when he mentioned transportation projects such as construction at the intersection of Kirby Hill and Livingston roads and Route 210 in Oxon Hill. County police patrol the 21mile state highway noted as one of the state’s most dangerous highways. In 2018, the department issued more than 10,000 citations and 70 arrests. The data doesn’t include a December crash that killed three children. “We’re really glad that [Hogan’s] focus is on those roadways that we have seen over the years that needed lots of improvement,” Alsobrooks said. House Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga, a Republican who represents portions of Baltimore and Harford counties, said reinforcing bipartisanship shows how effecting government works. “I think it’s wonderful pointing out that 35 miles down the road our nation’s government is plagued with gridlock and partisan rancor,” she said. “Here in Annapolis, we respect each other. We work together on common goals [for] the citizens of Maryland.” WI
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PGCPS BRIEFS
Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer
MISSING FUNDS, ALLEGED FRAUD
Interim schools Chief Monica Goldston issued a statement Feb.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY 1 regarding missing funds and alleged fraud brought to light by the Board of Education leadership. Part of the statement reads as follows: “A recent media report detailed PGCPS’ long-standing challenges with missing school funds and other abuse of resources. The reports have raised questions on the best course of action for holding wrongdoers accountable and ensuring PGCPS employees understand the consequences for these serious actions. “We cannot address the challenges facing our school system if we are not willing to have honest conversations and commit to making improvements. While these issues did not start under
my leadership, they must stop under my leadership. “With this in mind, I am recommending the Board of Education refer all cases of missing funds and alleged fraud since 2015 to the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office for review and possible prosecution. Moving forward, PGCPS will coordinate with law enforcement on any waste, fraud and abuse cases within the system.”
CAREER, TECHNICAL EDUCATION MONTH
February is being celebrated as “Career and Technical Education Month,” and students can discover programs that prepare them for careers in high-demand and emerging industries. As part of the celebration, student-led environmental projects at Croom High School are bringing science classrooms to life and inspiring students to pursue practical green careers in Prince George’s County.
ESOL NIGHT 5 Interim Schools Chief Dr. Monica Goldson chatting with fifth-graders at Tulip Grove Elementary School in Bowie. (File Phot /The Washington Informer)
NORTHAM from Page 1 “I stated, earlier, that Gov. Northam’s continuing in office was his choice to make. It is difficult for anyone who watched the press conference [Saturday] to conclude that he has any other choice…but to resign,” Wilder said in a Twitter post Saturday several hours after Northam’s news conference. Northam’s situation caused the cancellation of an event Monday, Feb. 11 at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland, called “A Conversation with the Governors of Delmarva.” He was scheduled to participate in a town-hall discussion with Delaware Gov. John Carney and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. Mike Dunn, president and CEO of the Greater Salisbury Committee which planned to host the event, said Tuesday up to 750 people anticipated to attend. “All parties agreed this was the best thing to do at this point and time,” he said. “We are all aware of what’s going on in the state of Virginia. We just thought it was the best thing to do.” Northam did receive rare public support Tuesday from former U.S. senator and Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Jo-
seph Lieberman. “I think there is a rush to judgement that is unfair to him. He ought to be judge in the context of his whole life,” Lieberman said on CNN. “I pray every day that God is merciful. I know how imperfect I am and I always feel that I’ve got to show the same kind of mercy to other people in judgement until they’re actually proven guilty.” Earl Ofari Hutchinson, a civil rights activist, author and political analyst, said he supports Northam remaining in office as a special guest Monday, Feb. 4 on the Rev. Al Sharpton’s “Keepin’ It Real” radio show. Hutchinson posted on his blog at http://www.thehutchinsonreport.net on how Republicans yelled for Northam to resign after the pediatric neurologist defended to relax abortion restrictions on a radio interview with WTOP on Jan. 30. The Virginia GOP accused Northam to support infanticide, the intentional killing of infants. “When Northam turned turncoat on abortion, this sent a flag high up within the GOP to find any dirt it could to embarrass him and create enough outrage that hopefully could prompt his ouster,” Hutchinson said in his blog. “So,
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James Madison Middle IB World School in Upper Marlboro, recently partnered with the Office of Interpreting and Transthere is no sudden moral outrage over a racist photo of Northam at work here. This is brutal, cynical and dirty politics. This and nothing more are why the GOP outed Northam on race.” Meanwhile, Northam faces another yearbook controversy where his nickname at the Virginia Military Institute appeared as “Coonman,” a racist moniker used toward Blacks. “Our sadness and that so many Virginians can be summed up in one term: trust betrayed,” the Virginia State Conference of the NAACP said in a statement Saturday. “After resigning, we ask Ralph Northam, his successor, legislators, other public officials along with Virginia’s most powerful corporate leaders, among others to work with VSC NAACP leaders in genuine efforts to restore the feelings of trust betrayed by so many African Americans and others.” The University of Virginia president James E. Ryan released a statement to condemn the “shocking and racist” photo in the medical school yearbook. The school located in Charlottesville dealt with violence August 2017 from a white supremacist rally where Heather Heyer, 32, got struck and killed by
lation to host its first “ESOL Night.” The event served as an opportunity for parents to meet teachers and learn about resources to support their journey through middle school.
COLLEGE TRACK PROGRAM
“College Track” at The Durant Center recently welcomed its inaugural class, where students will receive scholarships, tutoring and emotional and financial support to aid them getting into college, all the way through graduation. NBA superstar and in Prince George’s County native Kevin Durant, who donated $10 million to the program, was on hand for the grand opening of an after-school facility bearing his name.
5 Scholar of the Week Kierra Hughes (Courtesy of PGCPS)
Frederick Douglass High School International Baccalaureate student Kierra Hughes, who holds a 4.13 grade point average, has been named a Scholar of the Week. While managing multiple extracurriculars including National
Honor Society, student government, African Student Association, photography club and the mock trial team, Kierra has also earned more than 200 service learning hours. In her spare time, she enjoys writing narratives, poems and drawing. Kierra plans to attend Morgan State or George Washington University to study psychology and neurology to embark on a career as a clinical or rehabilitation psychologist. She also aspires to enlist in the U.S. Army as a reserve officer. WI
James Fields Jr. A jury convicted Fields in December to life in prison. If Northam decides to resign, then Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, 39, would lead the state and would become the state’s second Black governor. Fairfax also faced criticism Monday when the same conservative website that released a photo of Northam accused Fairfax late Sunday of an alleged sexual assault. According to published reports, Fairfax assaulted a woman in a hotel room in 2004 during the Dem-
ocratic National Convention in Boston. The lieutenant governor’s staff released a statement and denied the assault “in any way, shape or form.” “This is part of the sad and dark politics that the Lt. Governor has dedicated himself to helping Virginia and the nation rise above,” according to the statement. “The Lt. Governor will take appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation.” WI
SCHOLAR OF THE WEEK
Northam did receive rare public
support Tuesday from former U.S. senator and Democratic
Vice Presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman.
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 13 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
BUSINESS D.C. Leaders Praise City’s Strong Financial Outlook By James Wright WI Contributing Writer The District of Columbia’s financial picture remains solid, with a surplus in the hundreds of millions complemented by a growing population, good financial management and a thriving economy. That is the conclusion of Jeffrey DeWitt, the District’s chief financial officer (CFO), in a Jan. 24 letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) regarding the 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. District law requires the CFO to submit the report to the mayor each year.
DeWitt said during 2018, the city’s financial and economic standing “continue[d] to be strong.” “The District’s population continued to grow [through 2018], reaching 702,455 as of July 2018 and the job market continued to improve,” he said. “There were 7,100 new jobs created during the fiscal year, with an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent.” DeWitt said the District ended 2018 with a $205 million surplus. Bowser lauded the conclusions of the report. “For the 22nd consecutive year, the audit opinion is un-
The District of Columbia’s financial
picture remains solid, with a surplus in
the hundreds of millions complemented by a growing population, good financial management and a thriving economy.
5 Jeffrey DeWitt (Courtesy photo)
qualified [unmodified],” she said. “For the fourth year in a row, the auditor found no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, which demonstrates our continued financial discipline and sound financial management. The District’s finances continue to be among the strongest of any jurisdiction in the nation and this has allowed us in fiscal year 2018 to continue providing a fair shot to D.C. residents by increasing funding to public education, homeless services, affordable housing and public safety.” A portion of the $205 million surplus — about $80 million — has to be set aside for a “rainy day fund” to be used in emergency situations by District law, which didn’t sit well with some observers. “At a time when residents and businesses are still suffering from the shutdown, using some of the surplus would help them and provide needed stability for D.C. economy,” said Ed Lazere, exec-
utive director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. “Leaving money in the bank when it can be used to tackle challenges like affordable housing actually is fiscally irresponsible. Investing now in D.C.’s long-term needs will have long-term payoffs. “The surplus and rainy day fund should be used to tackle D.C.’s greatest challenges and unexpected circumstances that arise,” he said. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said the report is “both good news and bad.” “Of course, everyone will focus on the fact we ended last year with a surplus of $205 million,” he said. “Spending was within budget and revenue exceeded estimates. Great! However the surplus has already been set aside
Celebrate Black Love Day on Feb. 13 WI Staff Report The day before Valentine’s Day is being celebrated as Black Love Day on Feb. 13, a day that the African American Association of Holidays calls a solution for better relationships within Black and White communities. This year’s theme, “Heal a Woman, Heal a Nation,” will be addressed at the official 26th Black Love Relationship ceremony at Greater Beulah Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Md. The event focuses on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to be sold into bondage in North Ameri-
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for other purposes.” Mendelson hailed the fact that the rainy-day fund’s potency increased from 54 to 58 days, meaning that’s how much cash the District has in case of a financial emergency such as a federal government shutdown or a natural disaster that would require local funds to be utilized. However, he said the city needed to continue to stay on a path of fiscal soundness. “The District is in a stable place financially but we must remain cognizant of our spending, especially in the wake of the recent partial government shutdown,” Mendelson said, noting that DeWitt also said the District lost more than $11 million during the recent shutdown in another report. WI
ca at Jamestown, Va., in 1619. “We will help heal the inequalities that Black women have dealt with as the impact of the institution of slavery and the structural racism that evolved from it, creating deeply impactful issues for them, their Black families and the society to this day,” said Ayo Handy-Kendi, founder of Black Love Day. The association said it’s not about “where you go” but what you “do” to demonstrate love on Black Love Day that makes it a more cultural, spiritual alternative to the commercialized Valentine’s Day. WI
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Fair Shot February By Mayor Muriel Bowser Fellow Washingtonians, it’s that time of year again: it’s budget season in the District of Columbia – time to put our DC values into action and invest in the programs and initiatives that will keep our city moving forward. Back when I served as the Ward 4 Councilmember, I always thought the budget process was backwards – residents would only see the budget once it was finalized, when it was too late to provide input. So, when I became Mayor in 2015, I charged my team with putting together a process that would allow us to hear from residents about their spending priorities prior to finalizing the budget. Since then, every February, my team and I have joined residents and community leaders at budget engagement forums across DC. Every year, these forums are spirited events where deputy mayors and directors work hard to sell their programs and residents have lively conversations with their neighbors about their budget priorities, their ideas for building a stronger DC, and their vision for our community. Over the years, at many of these meetings, I’ve heard from seniors that we need to prioritize initiatives that support the creation and preservation of affordable housing, combat social isolation, and increase access to safe and affordable transportation options. During my first four years in office, we were able to take this feedback and invest in programs that have supported thousands of seniors across DC. Together, we launched and continuously expanded the Safe at Home program, making more than 2,000 homes safer through home adaptations and the installation of private security cameras; built and cut the ribbon on Plaza West, the District’s first housing development specifically designed for grandparents raising grandchildren; cut in half the amount that property taxes can go up each year for qualifying seniors; invested in a new Senior Wellness Center, the expansion of two centers, and interior renovations at all centers; and launched the Transport DC program, making it easier and more convenient for seniors to move around DC. We launched the first faith-
based senior village in Ward 8; worked with the community to pilot a satellite senior wellness model in Wards 2 and 3, using community spaces to deliver the same high-quality programs found in the Senior Wellness Centers in other wards; and, with partners in the LGBTQ community, launched a citywide meal and entertainment social program specifically created for older LGBTQ adults. In short: I asked the community to share their budget ideas with us, and you delivered. Then, I charged my team with turning your ideas into programs and solutions, and they also delivered. But our work is not done. As Washington, DC continues to grow and change, we know that we must stay focused on how we continue to be an AgeFriendly city and a community where people of all ages and
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backgrounds can thrive. On Monday, February 11 at noon, I will hold our first budget engagement forum – a telephone townhall for District seniors. You can join the call by dialing (855) 756-7520 and using extension 38887. If you are unable to join this call or you wish to attend an inperson forum, I hope you will join us at one of three other budget engagement forums on Thursday, February 21 (Arthur Capper Community Center), Saturday, February 23 (Deanwood Recreation Center), or Monday, February 25 (Roosevelt High School). You can learn more about the forums and other Fair Shot February events at mayor.dc.gov. Thank you for your support and for working with us to build a more inclusive and Age-Friendly Washington, DC.
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 15 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
NATIONAL Mueller Probe Hovers over SOTU as End Nears By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia As President Donald Trump prepared to deliver his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Feb. 5, there’s little doubt the specter of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe hung in the air. It had to. Multiple media reports have indicated that Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference of America’s 2016 election and any wrongdoing on the part of the president has, at long last, neared its completion. Legal experts have speculated that Trump may at least be on the hook for obstruction of justice — a crime that can carry a prison sentence. But, because the likelihood of a sitting president being indicted or going to prison is as remote as one can imagine, Trump could finally face impeachment — particularly with Democrats now controlling the House. What’s more, one of Trump’s allies, Former New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie, told MSNBC this week that he believes a new probe that now has set its sights on the president’s inaugural committee and other investigations currently underway by the U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, as “much more concerning” than Mueller. “I’ve always thought the Southern District of New York’s investigation was much more concerning than the Mueller investigation for a simple reason: They have tour guides and no restrictions,” Christie said on MSNBC. He described the “tour guides” as Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen and Rick Gates, who was the executive director of the inaugural committee. “Unlike Bob Mueller who has restrictions placed upon him by the deputy attorney general when he was appointed — that his inquiry is on Russia, interference in the election, and potential Russian collusion — and you saw that Mueller reacted to those restrictions by sending the Michael Cohen matter that he discovered to the Southern District of New York,” Christie said. “The Southern District of New York has no restrictions. When I was a U.S. attorney — any U.S. attorney will tell you, they call them the ‘Sovereign District’ of New York. Their jurisdiction is everywhere around the world, there will be no restrictions on SDNY.” Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said during a radio interview last week that he expects Mueller will release a re-
Legal experts
have speculated that Trump may
at least be on the hook for obstruc-
tion of justice — a crime that can carry a prison sentence.
port on the Russia probe “within a month.” That was just before acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker said the investigation “is close to being completed.” Whitaker told reporters he has been “fully briefed” on the investigation. “I look forward to Director
YOUTH from Page 12 and 34 members of the county’s Boys and Girls Clubs. In the past several years, independent football and basketball squads have increased in the county, creating a battle with county teams for practice time inside gymnasiums and on athletic fields. “We’re fighting over the same gyms,” said Bewanda Alexander, vice president and athletic
The Washington Convention and Sports Authority (t/a Events DC) The Washington Convention and Sports Authority (t/a Events DC) is soliciting bids from qualified contractors to provide Servers and Storage Solutions for the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Interested parties can view a copy of the Invitation For Bid (IFB) by accessing the Event DC’s E-procurement website at www.wcsapex.com and opening APEX BID #19-S-016-554. Key Dates Questions Due Date: 05:00 PM EST, February 22, 2019 IFB Response Due Date: 12:00 PM NOON EST, March 4, 2019
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5 Then-FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies before the House Appropriations Committee in 2013. (Source: Flickr)
Mueller delivering the final report,” he said. The Russia investigation, which began when Mueller was appointed in May 2017, has showed other signs of nearing its end. CNN reported that some of the investigation’s prosecutors moved to different jobs outside of Mueller’s office and the office moved some of its cooperators such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn toward sentencing. The arrest of former Trump adviser Roger Stone, one of the last key campaign associates in the president’s orbit, was also
a long-anticipated move from Mueller, according to CNN. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein also will leave soon after attorney general nominee William Barr’s confirmation hearings. Rosenstein previously signaled to other officials that he would leave when he was satisfied that Mueller’s investigation was either complete or close enough to completion that it was protected from potential interference. Barr’s confirmation hearings began Jan. 15, meaning that a vote could occur in mid-February at the earliest. WI
director for the Kettering-Largo-Mitchellville Boys & Girls Club. “I can’t understand why we can get into some of the rec centers around here. We’re in competition with them and we shouldn’t be.” Aaron Graves, head baseball coach at Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, suggested the county invest in land to build turf fields for baseball and softball players near Croom Vocational High School in Cheltenham. “That way, Prince George’s County can be a number-one spot in this region when I played,” said Graves, who also runs Full Count Baseball, a nonprofit baseball youth development program. “The county can generate revenue for baseball tournaments, for clinics, for softball tournaments. We shouldn’t have to go to Anne Arundel County or Howard County to play baseball.” Marissa Coleman, who plays for the WNBA’s New York Liberty, recalled when she participated in basketball, teeball and soccer in Upper Marlboro as a youth.
Although she now runs her own basketball program, Lady Prime Marissa Coleman, with about 200 girls throughout the D.C. area, she advises parents to allow their children to play multiple sports. “I always believe that sports mimic life,” she said. “Anything to create opportunities for the youth is important. It’s not even necessary about trying to go pro. Using sports as a conduit to get a college scholarship to better a person’s circumstance and what the county executive is doing will allow that to happen.” In the meantime, “collaboration” was the common theme among the county’s Parks and Recreation, school system and Boys & Girls Clubs in ensuring equal time on the courts and fields. “We recognize there is frustration here,” said Elizabeth Hewlett, chairwoman of the county’s Planning Commission. “We’re just trying to work through it to find a way to make these facilities [available] for everybody.” WI
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Venezuela’s Future Uncertain as ‘Slow-Moving Coup’ Plays Out By Barrington M. Salmon Special to the Washington Informer @bsalmondc As of Jan 22, 2019, Venezuela found itself in the bizarre position of having an opposition politician declare himself president even though the man elected president, Nicolás Maduro, sits in the Miraflores presidential palace. Juan Guaidó, an unknown junior politician from the right-wing Popular Will Party pronounced himself acting president. He did so with the blessing and backing of the Trump administration who have been angling for regime change since the late President Hugo Chavez launched the Bolivarian Revolution in 1998. His successor, Maduro, remains as head of state for now, although President Donald Trump, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are saber-rattling, pushing for ‘regime change,’ threatening Maduro to step down, enlisting the support of several European countries, the Organization of American State and rightwing Latin American nations, like Brazil, Paraguay and Chile, while assembling a force of about 5,000 US military personnel in neighboring Colombia. Critics of US intervention have
been strident in their opposition to US meddling. Political Scientist and activist George Ciccariello-Maher said the power grab of right-wing elements, through Guaidó, is brazenly unconstitutional. “No matter how you slice it, an attempted coup is underway in Venezuela,” said Ciccariello-Maher in an article published in The Nation magazine. “ … Guaidó was not elected president – Nicolás Maduro was, in May of last year in a vote that the opposition might have won had they not boycotted it. Guaidó was elected to the opposition-controlled National Assembly, recently assuming the Assembly presidency through an informal power-sharing agreement among the opposition’s political parties.” “One poll even suggests that as recently as a week ago, more than 80 percent of Venezuelans had no idea who Guaidó even was … So, call it what you want: attempted regime change, a putsch, a “soft” coup—the military hasn’t supported it—just don’t call it constitutional. Francisco Tovar, a Venezuelan activist and a Guaidó supporter said the opposition has the right, based on Article 233 of the Constitution to claim power. But as Ciccariello-Maher and other experts point out, the assertion that Maduro has
abandoned his office is false. And furthermore, Ciccariello-Maher said, only the Supreme Court can disqualify sitting presidents. “Despite cries of dictatorship, the opposition did win the last election they contested – taking over the Assembly in late 2015 and using their platform to try to overthrow Maduro,” he said. “ Tovar, who fled to Colombia from Venezuela in 2015 after threats on his life, said what continues to unfold is more complicated than it looks and is one of the most complex set of issues on the planet. He added that those opposing Maduro have no choice but to use whatever tools are at their disposal to unseat him. “The thing is there are a lot of people on the Left who see it as an invasion, but this is one-time the U.S. is getting a real dictator,” said Tovar, an Afro-descendent rights activist and executive director of the Institute of African Diaspora Studies (IEA). “Maybe this isn’t ideal approach and yes, the U.S. has blood on its hands but in this case, they would be doing a good thing. We have no way to protect ourselves. We either starve to death or hope for the best. No one in Venezuela has the power to take this guy down. This is not an internal problem. We have no way to take him down ourselves. Sovereignty is important but we need help.”
Americans Remember Trayvon Trayvon Martin Honored on Social Media
WI Staff Report Trayvon Martin was 17 years old when George Zimmerman ended his life in Sanford, Florida, in 2012. And on Tuesday, Feb. 5, a slew of people took to social media to remember Trayvon on what would have been his 24th birthday. The Twitter account for the NAACP honored Martin in a tweet shared on Tuesday. “TODAY: We remember Trayvon Martin who would have been 24 years old,” the tweet read. “Just know that you are forever in our hearts. And we will keep fighting for justice.” Rapper Common remembered “our brother” [Trayvon] on Twitter, writing “RIP” in his post. Director Ava DuVernay paid tribute to Trayvon, while calling attention to white privilege.
“When people ask me what white privilege is . . . Imagine if this was a white boy in a hoodie with a bag of skittles who was just trying to walk home,” she wrote. Trayvon, unarmed, was walking home from a nearby convenience store, carrying a can of Arizona watermelon fruit juice cocktail and a bag of Skittles, when a then-28-year-old Zimmerman approached him. He told police dispatchers at the time that the teen looked suspicious, pursuing Trayvon even after a dispatcher advised him not to, eventually fatally shooting the teen. He would later be acquitted of all charges in the teen’s death. Protests against Trayvon’s fatal shooting and Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal have continued in the seven years after the teen’s death. WI
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Venezuela has been in a tailspin for years for a variety of reasons including, corruption, mismanagement, plummeting oil prices, and recently, opposition attempts to topple the government, crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration and economic warfare by the U.S, designed to weaken and destroy the Bolivarian Revolution. Although Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, the country is mired in a slumping economy, spiraling hyperinflation tagged at 1 million percent, severe food shortages, a paucity of medical supplies and long lines to get basic goods. Patricio Zamorano, an academic, political scientist. musician and journalist debated Tovar on radio recently and forcefully pushed back against his arguments. “The elections in May were very, very competitive. 46 percent of the people voted,” he said. “Henry Falcone ran during last election. He was a moderate. The most radical opposition, with the support of the U.S. didn’t run. The radical opposition is opening the door to U.S. intervention.” Latin and Central America has had “a horrible past of dictatorships
and coup d’etats,” and consequently people of goodwill should choose negotiation and peaceful solutions, he said. “The main situation here is that it’s not true to say everything has been tried,” said Zamorano. “There was an effort led by Vatican and the presidents of Panama, the Dominican Republic and Spain, not allied with Maduro, who were trying to establish a dialogue.” During the roundtable, opposition and government leaders participated and discussed how to move forward, sharing power and lessening polarization. “But the U.S. put a lot of pressure on the radical section. They were about to sign but abandoned the negotiation table,” Zamorano said. “The U.S. is not willing to support real reconciliation and support moderates. They support the violent, radical part of the opposition. The U.S. is not interested in dialogue or solutions. To say so is a lie. The Vatican is saying let’s find peace, let’s find negotiation. If Venezuela has a horrible economy and if the U.S. wants peace, they should help Venezuela, elimination sanctions and do nothing to create more problems.” WI
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ANC Pledges to Assist Zimbabwe
The South African government and the ANC are in discord over the current crisis in Zimbabwe, where citizens have taken to the streets over recent weeks in protest against massive fuel price hikes imposed by the government. While South Africa has condemned the human rights abuses meted out on Zimbabwean protesters by security forces, the ruling Zanu-PF party has blamed the protests on “regime change agents,” the Johannesburg-based City Press reported. A high-level ANC delegation — including secretary-general Ace Magashule and Bongani Bongo, a member of the ANC’s subcommittee on international relations — met with Zanu-PF officials, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa, in Harare this week. This, after at least a dozen protesters died and scores were arrested as police fired live ammunition and tear gas during clashes over the rising cost of living and the fuel
price increase. “We condemn violence wherever it takes place,” Bongo told City Press this week. “But the briefing we got was that the violence was informed by some elements of regime change. The people who were injured were not taken to Zimbabwean hospitals, but to centres designed by people unknown to the government of Zimbabwe or Zanu-PF.” Bongo said the ANC was now characterizing the violent protests as an element of regime change. “We think that if there are such things happening, government must take control. There are elements that seek to undermine the authority and sovereignty of the government of Zimbabwe.” This directly contradicts International Relations Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, who has criticized the Zimbabwean government for its “heavy-handed” approach in cracking down on protesters. “We have expressed our concerns about the levels of violence and how [the police] deal with any challenges on the streets,” Sisulu said last week. “During our press briefings, every time we have talked about Zimbabwe, we have mentioned the fact that we are unhappy. It only brings negativity to a country that needs a lot of support. They have acknowledged that they have been heavy-handed.” WI Traditional Help Buttons
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The Bahamas International Securities Exchange’s (BISX) plans for a cryptocurrency and digital securities trading platform will “revolutionize our jurisdiction,” its top executive said. Keith Davies told Tribune Business that BISX was “concluding the necessary steps” to establish such an exchange in the Bahamas, and intended to make “a formal announcement” on its intentions by the end of March. Declining to provide details as the specifics are still being finalized, along with regulatory clearance, he said BISX will largely steer clear of initial coin offerings (ICOs) and bitcoin-type cryptocurrencies given current global volatility in this area. Instead, Davies indicated that it will focus on so-called “tokenized securities” listings and trading. These digitized/electronic instruments effectively replicate ordinary shares issued by blue chip companies such as Amazon, with holders enjoying the same voting and other rights. The price of tokenized securities adjusts in exactly the same way as stocks listed on a traditional exchange, but with the share register now maintained by blockchain technology. “We’re concluding the steps required to take the next step towards the development of a cryptocurrency and tokenized securities listing exchange, and will be making an announcement shortly,” Davies told Tribune Business. “We’re targeting the first quarter, the end of March, in terms of making an announcement. WI
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A Healthier Heart for a Healthier You Submitted by AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia (DC) Every part of your body has a purpose, but your heart is one of the most important organs you have. In fact, keeping your heart healthy is vital to living a long, healthy life. This February, celebrate American Heart Month by learning how to prevent heart disease and keep your heart pumping for years to come. HEART HEALTH BASICS You probably know generally how the heart works. It helps pump blood to all parts of your body through your arteries, sometimes called blood vessels. This provides your other organs with oxygen and nutrients. For some people, the arteries that supply blood to the heart can become clogged with a fatty material called plaque. This is a sign of the most common type of heart disease, called coronary artery disease. Over time, the plaque that clogs the arteries can harden and cause the arteries to rupture. This can reduce or block blood flow and oxygen getting to your heart. This blockage can cause serious health issues, including a heart attack. For most people, plaque buildup happens over time. Certain factors can make this worse. These include:
• High cholesterol • High blood pressure • Diabetes • Poor diet • Smoking Your heart health can affect many other parts of your body. Talk to your primary care provider (PCP) if you have: • A dry and hacking cough • Trouble catching your breath doing normal activities • Swelling of your legs, feet, or ankles • Quick weight gain • Discomfort and swelling in your stomach area • Trouble sleeping KNOW THE SIGNS OF A HEART ATTACK Some people with heart disease do not show any symptoms, but a heart attack can happen at any time. This is scary to think about, but knowing the signs of a heart attack can save a life. Signs of heart attack can include: • Chest pain or discomfort • Feeling pressure or tightness in the upper body that doesn’t go away • Shortness of breath • Nausea or vomiting • Feeling lightheaded or fainting • Getting cold sweats If you think you or someone you know is having a heart attack, call 911 right away.
TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT HEART DISEASE No one wants to have a heart attack, and it can be extra scary since heart disease often has no symptoms. The good news is there is plenty you can do to help prevent and control heart disease. Use these tips to help keep your heart healthy: • Eat a balanced diet of hearthealthy foods • Exercise for at least 30 minutes per day • Control your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels • Maintain a healthy weight • Quit smoking • Take your medicines as prescribed by your health care providers If you need support with any of the healthy tips listed here, AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia (DC) can help. • Visit our Member Wellness Center. We are located at 2027 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20020. This is the perfect place to start your heart-healthy journey. We have fitness programs, yoga, and cooking classes to help you cook healthier versions of your favorite foods. For a list of activities, visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com. Then click “Members” at the top of the website, followed by “Classes” on the left. • Sign up for care management. AmeriHealth Caritas DC has special
programs for members with heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. One is our care management program. If you are interested, we will pair you with a Care Coach who can help you reach your health goals. To talk to a Care Coach for one-onone help, call 1-877-7596224. • Talk to your PCP. Your PCP can help you manage your heart and other health conditions. He or she may even prescribe you medicines to help prevent heart complications. If you need help making an appointment with your PCP, call Member Services at 202-408-4720. • Call our 24/7 Nurse Call Line. If you have questions and want to speak with a health expert after hours, call 1-877-759-6279 (TTY 1-202-2169885). We can help you learn more about heart health and help you know if your symptoms need a doctor, urgent care, or hospital visit. If you are unsure, just call. Someone is available to take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. STRIVE FOR A HEALTHIER HEART TODAY Heart disease can affect anyone. People of all ages, races, and sexes
are at risk. That means everybody should take steps to lead healthier lives and prevent heart disease. Making even small changes to your lifestyle can make a big difference. Take a stand now and celebrate American Heart Month with a promise to live a healthier life. Your heart is worth it. Sources: American Heart Association and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model
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All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model.
AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, at no cost, are available to you. Call 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 or 1-800-570-1190). Spanish: ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 o 1-800-570-1190). Amharic: ማሳሰቢያ፡ አማርኛ መናገር የሚችሉ ከሆነ፣ ከከፍያ ነጻ የሆነ የቋንቋ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ይቀርብልዎታል፡፡ በስልክ ቁጥር 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ወይም 1-800-570-1190) ይደውሉ. 1-800-408-7511 اﺗﺼﻞ ﺑﺮﻗﻢ.ﺎن ﻓﺈن ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﳌﺴﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﺗﺘﻮاﻓﺮ ﻟﻚ ﺑﺎ، إذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺘﺤﺪث اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ: ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ: Arabic .(1-800-570-1190 أوTTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 )رﻗﻢ ﻫﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺼﻢ واﻟﺒﻜﻢ
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HEALTH Fans, Celebrities Blast B. Smith’s ‘Disrespectful’ Husband and Caregiver By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia B. Smith deserves better than this. At least that’s the prevailing sentiment surrounding the iconic model, author, television host and restauranteur who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 69. But it’s not the disease that her fans and many on television and social media are angry about. It’s a video her husband, Dan Gasby, shared on Facebook that has the
masses up in arms. Gasby, 64, introduces the world to 53-year-old Alexandra Lerner — his live-in girlfriend — in the video. The three share meals and talks together, but it’s quite obvious that because of the disease, B. Smith simply is unaware about her husband’s apparent infidelity. “Wow,” wrote one social media user. “I just watched the video of B. Smith, her husband, and his girlfriend … Listen. This is foul. Straight up. I’m not unsympathetic to the heaviness and
5 Dan Gasby with girlfriend Alexandra Lerner on “The Dr. Oz Show” (Dan Gasby via Facebook)
20 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
5 B. Smith in an undated photo (Dan Gasby via Facebook)
loneliness of caring for a spouse with Alzheimer’s and dementia, but this is a whole other level of foul,” the commenter wrote with the user name @latintaesnegra. Twitter user @SomePeculiar wrote: “I don’t have a problem with B. Smith’s husband having a girlfriend. I have a problem with his girlfriend living in the house. I wonder if this was something B agreed he could do before her mind went away.” @Korafbaby went all-in on Gasby: “B. Smith’s husband is trash. Point blank. Married is still married.” On ABC’s “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg also was none too pleased. “I didn’t need that video at all,” Goldberg said. “That’s my per-
sonal feeling. I didn’t need to see that. I wouldn’t want that done to me. Don’t let anyone do it to me.” Smith, whose popular Union Station restaurant in D.C. often catered to top politicians and celebrities, was diagnosed four years ago with Alzheimer’s disease. She and Gasby have been married for 26 years and while she doesn’t have any children, Gasby has a daughter who appears in some photos with her father, Lerner and Smith. Gasby defended his actions. “I love my wife but I can’t let her take away my life!” he wrote in a Facebook post. “Five to 10 years from now when many of you who will have an almost pre-
5 Smith at home with her dog, Zeus (Dan Gasby via Facebook)
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destined meeting with Alzheimer’s because of genetics, obesity, and a myriad of inflammatory diseases, you’ll be wishing for someone to share moments with and ease the pain of loneliness and despair.” Lerner also defended their unholy union on “The Dr. Oz Show.” “What a lot of people don’t understand about Alzheimer’s [is that] B. now is really like a 4-year-old. … Like a toddler in an adult body and can’t take care of herself at all,” Lerner said. “She needs 24-hour care.” Gasby jumped back in. “All the ones that know B. are extremely supportive, extremely supportive, have no problems with it,” he said. “The people, because she’s a celebrity, a personality quote, unquote, they weigh in, and what they do is they attach what they feel B. would. They attach their feelings as ‘Well, B. doesn’t know. She wouldn’t want this.’ Well, if B. knew, I wouldn’t be with Alex because she wouldn’t have Alzheimer’s.” Sunny Hostin, a co-host with Goldberg on “The View,” said she has enjoyed a close relationship with both Gasby and B. Smith and she took the video personally. “I find it very disrespectful that he’s with his wife and is being disrespectful with his girlfriend in their home,” Hostin said. “I know how difficult it is to live with someone with Alzheimer’s because I lived with my grandmother who had it and a person has to have their dignity.” wi
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Study: Smoking Raises Risk of Peripheral Artery Disease in Blacks WI Staff Report African Americans who smoke appear to be at greater risk for peripheral artery disease, or PAD, new research has found. Additionally, the findings suggest that smoking intensity – how many cigarettes a day and for how many years – also affects the likelihood of getting the disease. PAD affects 8 to 12 million people in the U.S. and 202 million worldwide, especially those age 50 and older. It develops when arteries in the legs become clogged with plaque, fatty deposits that limit blood flow to the legs. Clogged arteries in the legs can cause symptoms such as claudication, pain due to too little blood flow, and increased risk for heart attack and stroke. The impact of cigarette smoking on PAD has been understudied in African Americans, even though PAD is nearly three times more prevalent in Blacks than in whites. The current study looked at the relationship between smoking and PAD in participants in the Jackson Heart Study, the largest single site cohort study investigating cardiovascular disease in African Americans. The new research, as well as the Jackson Heart Study, are funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), both part of the National Institutes of Health. The new findings appear in the January issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association. “These findings demonstrate
that smoking is associated with PAD in a dose-dependent manner,” said lead researcher Donald Clark, III, M.D., an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson. “This is particularly important in the African-American community and supports the evaluation of smoking-cessation efforts to reduce the impact of PAD in this population.” Even though PAD is more prevalent in African Americans than in whites, prior studies about the disease did not include significant numbers of Blacks. This limited the researchers’ ability to single out the specific effects of smoking in this population from other risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and obesity. For the study, researchers divided the 5,258 participants into smokers, past smokers and never smokers. After taking into account other risk factors, they
assessed smoking intensity and found a dose-dependent link between cigarette smoking and PAD. Those smoking more than a pack a day had significantly higher risk than those smoking fewer than 19 cigarettes daily. Similarly, those with a longer history of smoking had an increased likelihood of the disease. “Current and past smokers had higher odds of peripheral artery disease than never smokers; although the odds were lower among past smokers,” Clark said. “Our findings add to the mountain of evidence of the negative effects of smoking and highlight the importance of smoking cessation, as well as prevention of smoking initiation.” Clark noted important caveats. Despite strong associations between smoking and PAD, for example, the findings do not establish a causal link; nor can they be generalized to people of African descent from other regions or countries, since the Jackson Heart Study was conducted in a single community of African Americans. Visit www.nimhd.nih.gov or www.nih.gov for more information. WI
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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 21 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 6-time winner of NAACP image award
EDUCATION WTU President, Others Decry Chancellor Selection Process
Elizabeth Davis Expresses Willingness to Work with Ferebee, If Confirmed By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins In the weeks since D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced Dr. Lewis Ferebee as her choice for school chancellor, a contingent of educators have stood on the front lines, criticizing the selection process, like others before it, as one clouded in secrecy and of little benefit to them, and DC Public Schools students and parents. However, as Washington Teachers’ Union President Elizabeth Davis articulated during a community roundtable at Cardozo Education Campus in Northwest earlier this week, many teachers want to help the D.C. Council vet Ferebee, former superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools, to the fullest extent and bring to light questionable aspects of his experience. “The Washington Teachers’ Union might have been able to alleviate the pressure the coun-
cil is now under by sharing with it at a much earlier stage in the chancellor search process information that we could have gotten from our colleagues in in the classrooms of Indianapolis,” Davis said on Wednesday. In 2016, shortly after Mayor Bowser announced Antwan Wilson would serve as chancellor, Davis and others decried her choice as a violation of public trust that would taint Wilson’s tenure. On the day of an emergency press conference at Eastern High School in Southeast, selection committee members had received word that Wilson would replace Kaya Henderson just two hours prior. The ire of teachers and parents who felt left out would carry over in discussions around who would replace Wilson, who resigned in early 2018 amid controversy surrounding his circumvention of the school lottery system to enroll his daughter in Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest. In June, before the start of the selection pro-
5 Elizabeth Davis, WTU President & CEO (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
cess, Ward 8 State Board of Education Representative Markus Batchelor and others demanded transparency in Mayor Bowser’s final decision. Weeks later, at the prodding of D.C. parents who filed a lawsuit, Mayor Bowser added two students, a parent, and a teacher to the Our Schools Leadership Committee, the group that would determine the next chancellor. Such overtures, however, didn’t suffice for Davis. “Unfortunately, Mayor Bowser did not see fit to follow D.C. law,” Davis continued in her statement on Wednesday. “She did not involve the Washington Teachers’ Union in the deliberations that led to her choice. We did not learn about her choice of Ferebee until it was too late. But it’s not too late now for the Council to include the
In the weeks since D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced Dr. Lewis Ferebee as her choice for school chancellor, a contingent of educators have stood on the front lines, criticizing the selection process, like others before it, as one clouded in secrecy and of little benefit to them, and DC Public Schools students and parents.
22 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
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Washington Teachers’ Union in its fact-finding mission. After all, who knows the needs of DC public schools better than educators who work closest with students and their families every day than teachers?” D.C. law stipulates that the chancellor selection committee be presented with resumes of candidates. The mayor would also have to “give great weight” to the Washington Teachers’ Union’s recommendations. Davis’ concerns echoed that of local teachers and elected officials who questioned Ferebee’s collaboration with charter schools to run low-performing elementary campuses in the Indianapolis Public Schools system. Another point of contention involved what had been described as Ferebee’s lack of classroom experience, which, to some, overshadowed his administrative accomplishments in Indianapolis and Durham Public Schools. Wednesday’s roundtable, the second of two hosted by the D.C. Council Committee on Education, allowed for members of the public to speak and ask question about Ferebee, now acting chancellor, before D.C. Councilmembers David Grosso (I-At large), Phil Mendelson (D), Robert White (D-At large), Trayon White (D-Ward 8), Elissa Silverman (I-At large), and Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7). On the evening of January 30, during the first roundtable at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Northeast,
Councilmembers Robert and Trayon White expressed concerns that centered around Ferebee’s infusion of charter schools into struggling public institutions while at the helm of Indianapolis Public Schools. Grosso, just as he had done in a written statement hours after Bowser’s December 3 announcement, made known his reservations about the nomination process. He also pledged to inquire further about allegations that Ferebee overlooked a counselor’s alleged sexual misconduct while at the helm of Indianapolis Public Schools. In a moment that revealed the true tenor of DCPS teachers at this point in the confirmation process, Eboni-Rose Thompson, Ward 7 education council chair and daughter of a teacher at Patterson Elementary School in Southwest, told Councilmember Gray what her mother said upon finding out Mayor Bowser placed her support behind Ferebee. “My mother thought there would be a couple different candidates,” Thompson said as she referenced school boundary changes, a cause Gray championed during his stint as D.C. mayor. “We did this survey twice and one thing that didn’t change was that people didn’t feel engaged in the process,” she continued. “With the school boundary changes, people understood and knew why they didn’t get what they wanted. People here just want to know why.” WI
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DCPS
BRIEFS Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer
TEACHER REFLECTIONS
“As an IB reading teacher of color, I am aware of the intersectionality that my students experience daily. Every student has a story, and every student wants to read a story they can identify with. Students love seeing themselves in the literature we read, and it is my goal to provide a wide variety of diverse literature in my classroom library. I want my students to know they are readers, their stories matter, and that they are not alone in this journey of life.” — Toni Rose Deanon, sixth-grade ELA-L Teacher and seventh-grade level lead, DC International School
HARLEY LOVES HIS SCHOOL
“I love my school!” These words spilled out of fourth-grader Harley Mitchell, who attends Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys Public Charter School.
EDUCATION Harley says that the difference between Statesmen and his previous school is the staff, as more than 75 percent of the teachers and leaders at Statesmen are Black males. Harley says he “feels supported every day and know[s] that [the staff] will not give up on [him].” At Statesmen, there is also an emphasis on learning African-American history. “Learning math, STEM and English is great, but I really love learning my own history in our Kings 101 class,” Harley said. “I learned about Mansa Musa, who was one of the richest people in the world and had so much money he actually caused inflation. That’s amazing to me!”
TEACHER OF THE YEAR FINALIST
Kelly Harper, D.C.’s 2019 Teacher of the Year, is among four educators in the running for the nation’s top teaching honor. The last time a D.C. teacher was in the running for the national honor was in 2005, when Jason Kamras (now superintendent of Richmond Public Schools in Virginia), who went on to serve in leadership roles at D.C. Public Schools, was named National Teacher of the Year. “Ms. Harper is an inspiration to her students, a leader in her school community, and we are proud to have her representing Washington, DC and teachers nationwide,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser. “It is clear that Ms. Harper is dedicated to her
students, families and colleagues and this national recognition is very well-deserved.” Harper, a third-grade teacher at Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, is in her seventh year as an educator. She inspires her students through social justice and advocacy projects and serves as a leader at the school and district levels. Harper launched her career in Houston as a Teach for America corps member. In Houston, Harper led her students to significant gains and was the 2014 Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teaching Award Houston finalist and national nominee.
Hayes, who succeeds Joyanna Smith, is the third person ever to serve in the position. The ombudsman position, originally established as a critical
component of the Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007, was reestablished as part of the State Board in 2014. WI
NEW OMBUDSMAN
After an extensive search process, the State Board of Education recently announced the selection of Serena Hayes as the next District of Columbia Ombudsman for Public Education.
5 National Teacher of the Year finalist Kelly Harper launched her career in Houston as a Teach for America corps member. (Courtesy of OSSE via Twitter)
Ask questions. Explore DC schools. Start here. Do you want to learn more about your DC School? The DC School Report Card puts information about ALL public schools in the District right at your fingertips.
5 Teacher Toni Rose Deanon wants her students to know they are readers, their stories matter, and that they are not alone in the journey of life. (Courtesy of DC International School)
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL Northam Controversy Points to Perils of a Closeted Past In the days before surveillance cameras, social media, pin-sized recording devices and other high gadgetry came on the scene, it seemed a lot easier to put one’s past indiscretions, misdeeds and missteps into deep, dark secret hiding places – like wardrobe items we’re ashamed to have ever purchased but find impossible to discard. Today, no one’s closet is safe from eventual scrutiny and critique. Still, if you’re aiming for a high-profile job or career, what are your options? Should you tell all and hope for the best or should you keep your fingers crossed and make sure that rabbit’s foot remains in your pocket – hoping and praying that no will ever know “the truth?” Tragically, in the case of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, it appears that the past has made its way into the present with the potential to destroy his political future – or at least to render him devoid of any real power, prestige or potential to carry out the plans and programs he promised to fulfill when elected to lead the Commonwealth of Virginia. While opposition from both members of his own party and the GOP continues to increase each day, Northam remains defiant, refusing to step down from the job for which he worked so hard to secure. But he didn’t help his cause when he changed his story – claiming innocence, then guilt, then innocence albeit with one exception. Even Donald Trump referenced Northam and the debacle in which he’s now embroiled during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The governor has landed smack dab in the middle of a firestorm from which there appears to be no escape. It’s too bad that he has the kinds of skeletons in his closet that make most politicians shudder. But it appears he does. Even if he says 1,000 Hail Mary’s, apologies for every conceivable act of stupidity and poor judgment that he committed or considered in the past – whether tinged with racist or sexist ideology or not, we fear that Northam may be unable to shed his current “lame duck” existence on the local and the national scene. Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of men and women who went to the polls and cast their ballot on his behalf, given the direction in which he had appeared to be leading the commonwealth, those who live in Virginia will ultimately be the “biggest losers.” WI
Trump’s Soft Sell Fails Again President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union Address this week with words suggesting an effort on his part to draw political leaders closer together in unity at the White House and on Capitol Hill. It didn’t work. With the nation facing yet another government shutdown, just days after the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, Trump maintained his position to secure funding for “a new physical barrier, or wall,” on the U.S. southern border, he said, to address a crisis that many have called unfounded. Both Democrats and Republicans agree that a new approach to immigration is needed, but the proposal for $5.8 billion Trump says is necessary to build a wall is untenable, especially without a plan to address the status of young undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, which the Democrats want. Trump wants to make a deal, and on several issues, bipartisan support is clearly in the cards. Affordable health care, lower costs for prescription drugs and no penalties for preexisting conditions are a shoo-in. Criminal justice reform beyond the first step taken to pass the First Step Act, is another unifier, especially when Trump surmises that “sentencing laws have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community.” Keep on stepping, Mr. Trump. Another deal is undoubtedly in the cards. The same for paid family leave, repairing the nation’s infrastructure and creating more significant opportunities for women, all of which are steps in the right direction. Yet, Trump’s view of America seems different from what so many Americans experience. He continues to praise himself for achieving one of the lowest unemployment rates for African Americans, Latinos and Asians, while refusing to realize how many Americans have fallen below middle-class status due to policies he promotes that primarily benefit the wealthy. Responses to Trump’s speech were not complimentary, not even from members of his own party. As a messenger, Trump fails, but it is his actions we will be watching. If he wants unity, he should take heed to the NAACP: “We challenge him to match his call for unity with real actions that demonstrate his new commitment to such a task.” WI
TO THE EDITOR Working Magic at Ballou
Putting Faces to Names
It was very cool and surprising to see that Magic Johnson went to Ballou High School and talked to the students there. This is why I make sure to read The Informer every week because I get to read about things that interest me. Magic has always been a hero of mine and I am amazed by the life that he has carved for himself and how he continues to reinvent and be a role model.
I really enjoyed the “Baltimore Chef Cooking Up National Success” story, but I wish that you included a picture of the chef because I would have liked to see what he looked like. The reason I say that is because I am not technically savvy by choice and I try to stay away from that stuff. So I generally don’t run to Google. Please consider readers like me in the future who likes pictures.
John Warton Washington, D.C.
Marvin Sterling Washington, D.C.
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The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 25 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Julianne Malveaux
Moments and Migrations
Every year the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) chooses a theme for Black History Month. This year they have chosen “Black Migrations,” emphasizing “the movement of people of African descent to new destinations and subsequently to new social realities.”
Their theme is important, especially when we think of the Great Migration, the time after World War I when Black folk fled the oppressive South looking for a new reality. Why not flee? Black men were lynched in their uniforms when they came back into enslavement-type realities even as they embraced a country that did not appreciate them. Just a few years after Black men returned from World War I, White people in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, so jealous of African-American economic accomplishment, torched the 30 block Black-owned Greenwood community on a pretense. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from virulent racism. And yet, Black folks had mobility. Often, we came together to create community. We left oppressive spaces to find new ones that were only marginally less oppressive. As ASALH puts it, “African American migration patterns included
Guest Columnist
relocation from southern farms to southern cities; from the South to the Northeast, Midwest, and West; from the Caribbean to U.S. cities as well as to migrant labor farms; and the emigration of noted African Americans to Africa and to European cities, such as Paris and London, after the end of World War I and World War II.” Here’s what it means: Black folks were moving, migrating, making it happen, grasping at reality and opportunity despite every barrier.
Black folks moved because they were looking for safe places to survive and thrive, to enjoy life despite the racial obstacles that were thrown at us. Black folks moved because movement was preferable to standing still. We moved because we had to. At the same time, migration is not only about a movement of space, but also about a movement of mindset. The Mississippi men
MALVEAUX Page 53
By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.
Trump Cranks Up Misery for Venezuela
President Trump apparently has decided that intervention in Venezuela’s agonies can help repair an image scarred by the government shutdown debacle. In recent days, he recognized an obscure, right-wing opposition leader when he declared himself acting president. Trump has blustered that “I am not going to rule out a military option.” Mike Pompeo, his secretary of state, told the world’s nations to “pick a side” in the internal
Venezuelan standoff. Trump is ratcheting up sanctions, increasing the miseries inflicted on the Venezuelan people. And most recently, he named as point person for Venezuela the notorious Elliott Abrams, ardent advocate of dictators and war criminals, a cheerleader for virtually every catastrophic U.S. intervention from Reagan’s covert war on Nicaragua to the Bush’s invasion of Iraq, and a convicted perjurer (withholding information about the Iran-Contra scandal). This is like putting Al Capone in charge of enforcing law and order. Venezuela is in deep
crisis. Inflation is soaring, the currency is in free fall, corruption is crippling. Oil — it has the largest known reserves in the world — is its blessing and curse. For decades, the rapacious elite pocketed the wealth, leaving the vast majority in poverty. When a popularly elected president, Hugo Chavez, took over oil production, redistributed land and provided greater resources for health care, food and housing for the poor, the elites sought to overthrow him in a 2002 failed coup — one the U.S.shamefully supported (including Abrams as a member of the Bush National Security Council).
Guest Columnist
When the price of oil plummeted, the economy went into crisis; government mismanagement and corruption made things worse. Millions have fled the country. The opposition exacerbated the situation by refusing to recognize the 2013 electoral victory of Nicolas Maduro, sponsoring violent attacks, boycotting future elections and calling for military and foreign interventions. The agonies were worsened by U.S. economic sanctions, illegal under treaties of the Organization of American States and the UN. Now, the U.S., joined by a significant number
of Latin American countries as well as an increasing number of European allies, is calling for Maduro to resign and for new elections. Abrams’ appointment signals that the pressure will be ramped up even more. Most likely, Trump will follow the textbook used in the overthrow of Chile’s democratically elected leader, Salvador Allende. Then U.S. sanctions were tightened to “make the economy scream.” Covert efforts were made to enlist generals to overthrow the president. The CIA helped fuel
JACKSON Page 53
By Marc H. Morial
Raise the Wage Act a Long-Overdue Dose of Economic Reality
“In my inaugural, I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By ‘business,’ I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers, I mean all workers, the white-collar class as well as the men in overalls; and
26 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level — I mean the wages of decent living.” — President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, upon signing the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933 Nowhere in the entire country can a full-time worker earning the federal or state minimum wage afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent. One in nine U.S. workers is paid wages that can leave them in poverty, even when working full-time. Over the past 40 years, wages for the lowest-paid workers have barely budged, while wages for
the wealthiest have more than tripled. In a nation that calls itself the land of opportunity, where we claim as a value an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, our dismally insufficient federal minimum wage is practically a crime. That’s why the National Urban League has thrown its support behind legislation recently introduced by Rep. Bobby Scott, the Raise the Wage Act of 2019. The bill would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024, index future minimum wage increases to median wage growth and guarantee that all workers are paid at least the full
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federal minimum wage by phasing out the subminimum wages for tipped workers, youth workers and workers with disabilities. Had the minimum wage kept pace with worker productivity since the 1940s, it would be just under $22 per hour — more than triple what it is now. Instead, the vast majority of the gains from that increased productivity have gone to the wealthiest. The average CEO pay is 271 times the average pay of the typical American worker. In 1978, CEO earnings were about 30 times the typical worker’s salary. The Urban League Movement has long advocated for a federal-
ly mandated living wage tied to the rate of inflation, and it is a central element of our comprehensive blueprint for eliminating economic disparity, The Main Street Marshall Plan. A fair living wage not only raises the living standards of workers, but also stimulates the economy to benefit the nation as a whole. When he signed the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933, in the throes of the Great Depression, President Roosevelt asked skeptics to consider “the improvement of operating figures by greatly increased sales to
MORIAL Page 53
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By William Reed
Howard Schultz, Political Spoiler or Change Agent?
American voters now have a choice among 10 major-party candidates, including Cory Booker, an African-American man, and Black female Kamala Harris. Despite the fact that Blacks have declared for that office, 20 percent of respondents to a recent poll aren’t currently supporting either major-party candidate. But just how angry are Americans with establishment candi-
dates and with the current political system? Although Blacks are disenfranchised, will they be willing to give up what they consider “political power” to an independent candidate or a new party? Blacks’ participation in national politics and issues has digressed in the mainstream to the point where our opinions are characterized simply as “immoral” or “racist.” Across America, Blacks are cast as “victims” and paid little attention. It should be through diversity of opinion that we grow together as a country; instead, our leaders and media leverage this diversity to tear us apart.
Guest Columnist
Recently, billionaire and former Starbucks CEO Schultz, who is openly mulling an independent White House bid in 2020, was heckled during a book tour stop by an audience member who ridiculed his possible run as “egotistical.” Why? Because countless Democrats fear a third-party or independent candidate would merely siphon votes from their nominee. The Schultz book “From the Ground Up” is part memoir and part blueprint for positive change. Schultz has aspirations to run for president as an independent.
We think that Blacks are ideally and philosophically wed to the Democrat Party, but Schultz makes some suggestions for independent thinking that more Blacks need to heed. Schultz and his candidacy should be viewed by Blacks for his works and corporate and social and cultural impact. A family-values advocate, he built the kind of company that strove to balance profit and human dignity. Schultz is not a bad role model for Black youth. Under his leadership, Starbucks set an unusually good example of corporate
and social responsibility. He also already has hired two big guns from previous presidential campaigns — Bill Burton and Steve Schmidt of Barack Obama and John McCain fame, respectively. “Both parties are complicit, having made a deal with the devil,” Schultz said. “The devil with regard to the health care crisis is the way in which the pharmaceutical companies have lobbied inside Washington with a level of self-interest that basically controls how people vote.” He believes the answer to this
REED Page 54
By E. Faye Williams
The Real Winners of the Super Bowl
As far as I’m concerned, neither of the teams on the field won the Super Bowl. Something wonderful happened along the way, and we had a consciousness-raising event. So many who could’ve been performers for the half time show said “NO” to invitations to be there. Others made it known before being asked that they would
not perform if asked because they were supporting former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. What they did was spectacular, but the issue is bigger than Colin. They were making a score for Black dignity. Some of them have made mistakes in the past, but on this issue, they’re right. Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, claims that teams don’t believe Kaepernick could win games for them. A similar excuse is one many of us have heard all of our lives when it comes to getting an opportunity to try. Even
Askia-At-Large
when we have super, proven skills and a massive amount of education and training above our competitors, we often lose to those who’re inferior on all accounts, so, as we say down South, “that dog won’t hunt.” I’ve had my problems with some of those who are supporting the cause for which Kaepernick took a knee, but their speaking out now says to me they at least know right from wrong. I’m not so sure if others get it, whether they understand the power of unity. Jermaine Dupri
didn’t have to support the event. His work is already well known and appreciated by many people. He’s already earned a lot of money, so why? The Super Bowl needs people like him more than he needs the Super Bowl. It’s no sacrifice for him to support the cause, but instead, he chose to host a concert series called “Super Bowl Live.” I guess social justice has no meaning for him. Maybe nobody told those who insisted upon performing that Colin does not protest for himself, he does it to
raise awareness of police brutality, racial inequality and other social issues. The performer that hurts most is Gladys Knight singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” because she’s so widely admired for her music. I realize Atlanta is her hometown, but she didn’t need the exposure. She has long been a superstar. Those who refused to support the Super Bowl are the real winners. I can only hope that those
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By Askia Muhammad
The Donald Has Met His Match
In the world of Washington politics, Donald J. Trump has met his match. His tortured presidency limped into its second year last month after The Donald was publicly spanked by new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Despite his never-ending boasts, the true State of the Union under his supervision has been weakened after a Trump-inspired, useless and costly 35-day partial government
shutdown. U.S. foreign policy is in disarray, as the president remains in open defiance of the sworn testimony of his own intelligence chiefs. And he is caught in a tangled web of investigations about his campaign which is drawing in more of his closest friends and advisers. Woe is Trump. The new Democratic majority in the House staged a legislative confrontation with Trump, refusing to fund his demanded southern border “wall,” even as the government shutdown — the bargaining chip in the political drama — dragged on for five weeks, the longest in
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U.S. history. In the end, dude agreed to a three-week extension of government funding without money for his wall, although he threatened an emergency declaration to build his wall if Congress does not approve his funding demand. The Democrats responded saying “Bring it. We’ll see you in court.” “With Caravans marching through Mexico and toward our Country, Republicans must be prepared to do whatever is necessary for STRONG Border Security,” Trump tweeted late Sunday night, ahead of his State of the Union ad-
dress to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. “Dems do nothing. If there is no Wall, there is no Security. Human Trafficking, Drugs and Criminals of all dimensions - KEEP OUT!” he continued. Trump also repeated his criticisms of the intelligence community, which he tweeted earlier was “extremely passive and naive when it comes to the dangers of Iran.” Send in the clowns. That presidential behavior sparked an “uprising” of sorts among his own party in the Senate, in the form of a slap on the wrist
over his calls to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. Senators approved an amendment to a Middle East bill that warned that “the precipitous withdrawal of United States forces from either country could put at risk hard-won gains and United States national security.” The amendment, which was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), refrained from attacking the president by name but clearly targeted his foreign policy approach.
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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 29 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
BLACK HISTORY month
First Steps of Blacks on American Soil Touted as 1619 ASALH Leads Yearlong Discussion of Forced Migration to VA Colony By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor 1619 has served as the “official” date espoused by U.S. history scholars as the year that Africans first arrived in America for centuries. Its validity, that is, the accuracy of the date and the reasons behind the journey of Africans to America, however, has not enjoyed unanimous agreement, particular among Black scholars. Now, 400 years later, the D.C.-based Association for the Study of African Life and History [ASALH] has launched its first
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public event in a yearlong commemoration of the forced migration of Africans to Jamestown, one of the first, successful British colonies established in Virginia in 1619, with discussions on the meaning of the year and its relevance throughout the centuries. With the theme, “400 Years of Perseverance,” Dr. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, ASALH’s national president and chair, History Department at Harvard University, moderated a panel discussion on Friday, Feb. 1 at the National Press Club in Northwest which examined the historical importance of the date
and the role of historical preservation and memorization in illuminating the past, among other topics. Panelists included: Gloria Browne-Marshall, Brent Leggs, Spencer Crew and Roger A. Fairfax, all scholars in history, with Lonnie G. Bunch III and Alison Fitzgerald Kodjak providing words of introduction and greeting. A dedicated website [asalh. org/400-years] to the 400th Commemoration, launched on the birthday (Dec. 19) of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the “Father of Black History” and the founder of ASALH, provides pertinent information and updates on commemorative events scheduled for Jamestown and other places throughout the U.S. But as the noted scholar Lerone Bennett, Jr. posited in his seminal text, “Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America,” in detailing the Black struggle for freedom, he deemed it essential to “detach epochal black events – the Founding of Black America, for example – from the white shell and reinsert them into a black time-line extending from the African past to the transformation of Black America in the 20th century.” Not all Blacks came to America in shackles, Bennett reports. Some from both the African continent and parts of the Caribbean, including the West Indies, financed their own travel, crossing the waters for reasons similar to Europeans: in search of wealth, opportunity and a better chance for self-determination. But whites, recognizing the unlimited supply of free labor and heedless of the consequences, “decided to base the American economic system on human slavery organized around the distribution of melanin in human skin.” Thus, white America, in of its first steps, set about “the creation of an ideology of racism that justified the subordination of blacks,” Bennett writes, simultaneously putting in motion “the destruction of the bonds of community between black and white servants who constituted the majority of the population” as early as the 1660s. Author and scholar James W. Loewen agrees with Bennett’s
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5 Representation of Africans on a slave ship bound for America. (Courtesy photo)
5 ASALH panelists share perspectives. (Bridget White/The Washington Informer)
premises, as noted in “Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong.” “Profit was the primary reason most Mayflower colonists made the trip, he writes. “Textbooks neglect to analyze the profit motive underlying much of our history.”
FACT, FICTION OR CREATIVELYINVENTED HISTORY
Baby Boomers and those from generations prior, probably remember learning the rhyme, “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue” – a learning tool intended to help children memorize an historical landmark of the origins for a newly-discovered land that would one day be called America. Today, many refute this claim as illustrative of carefully-derived, revisionist history that has long ignored non-Europeans who had even earlier found refuge upon our shores, Native Americans being just one example of those who clearly came well before Columbus. Yet, these and other myths, including the “love feast” to which the Pilgrims allegedly “invited” the natives – savages in search of salvation and sustenance, contin-
5 The trail Africans took from freedom to bondage. (Courtesy photo)
ue to provide a shared history, albeit not totally accurate, which remains as the foundation for Thanksgiving and which continues to be maintained, defended, promoted and perpetuated within mainstream U.S. society. That said, there’s justification in wondering if we’re putting too much emphasis into the “celebration” of the 400th year (1619 to 2019) since Blacks first arrived in this country, specifically in Jamestown. Perhaps, as these celebrations take shape, unfold and inevitably occur, undoubtedly amid great pomp and circumstance throughout the year in the Commonwealth of Virginia and other parts of America, we, African Americans, specifically and especially, should examine both its merits and its validity. WI
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH Dylan Pritchett Showcases Griot Tradition in Truest Form By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins The role of the griot, a well-regarded village elder who verbally passes on tales of the ancestors, counted among remnants of ancient African traditions that survived the Transatlantic slave trade. For generations, these people have instilled hope and pride in African Americans facing insurmountable odds. For two days during Black History Month, amid conditions that bring to mind both the racialized terrorist acts of the Jim Crow era and the promise of a modern-day revolution, a master storyteller divulged some age-old wisdom that he said could guide today’s youth along their path to freedom. “Pencil, paper, and books are fine, but the oral tradition is as equally, if not more powerful,” Dylan Pritchett, a griot from Williamsburg, Virginia, said on Sunday afternoon, moments after wrapping up his second show at the Alexandria Black History Museum on Wythe Street in Alexandria. Pritchett, sporting a tattered off-white shirt, a purple handkerchief around his neck, large gray slacks and brown shoes like those worn during the 19th century, spent nearly 90 minutes engaging an audience of more than a dozen people in call and response, singing, and drumming as part of a show touted as “Civil War Stories for Families.” “We let paper hold our knowledge rather than the knowledge coming from our ear,” Pritchett added. “We retained most of what we learned from the oral. Africans believed that elders hold the future. That’s why grandparents are important.” While Sunday’s show bore some similarity to another program titled “African American Stories for Adults,” that took place the night before, Pritchett said he fashioned this edition to impart gems on the audience, similar to how an elder would serve the youth. For instance, a story he told on the afternoon of February 3rd involved a couple and their seven children, each of whom he described as live wax figures
without feelings. At the end of the story, the children learned about the pain of loss as they watched their parents mourn the oldest wax figure who melted upon stepping outside of their house in his thirst for adventure. Another parable involved an elder during the Reconstruction Era who toiled for her two daughters, Dove and Robin, so much so that the young women believed a treasure had been left for them in an old tin dowry box. When the elder transitioned, Dove and Robin found out to their amazement that the box had nothing but calls for hope that would the elder said would sustain the young ladies, by that time successful professionals in their own right. The opening story, during which audience members openly conversed with Pritchett about the underlying meaning, ended with a nod to the ancestors, and a reminder that no one truly dies unless people stop speaking their name and about their great deeds. “I liked how Dylan Pritchett made us think. He made you go deep into the stories and the time he spoke of so you could visualize the people and places he talked about,” said Stephana Miles, a congregant of nearby St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, located two blocks from the Alexandria Black History Museum, who attended Saturday and Sunday’s shows. The parable about the wax figures struck a chord for Miles, as it forced her to reflect on her youth and desire to leave the confines of her community in the pursuit of a college education. “The meaning of the story for each of us bring out of us who we are and what we should do with our children,” she said. “We used to tell stories to our children to give them hope. I don’t know what happened these days, if we’re so busy trying to make a way in life.” Pritchett, former president of the National Association of Black Storytellers, regales youth with folklore during more than 200 shows throughout the year. He has also provided narration for a PBS documentary about President Thomas Jefferson. For more than 20 years,
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Pritchett has contributed research about the African-American experience in Virginia for the Office of Historic Alexandria, under which the city’s historic sites have been preserved. That relationship led to his eventual appearance at the Alexandria Black History Museum. “Dylan understands Virginia and the role of African Americans in Virginia,” said Audrey Davis, director of the Alexandria Black History Museum. “People don’t want to hear a lecturer, but this makes history come alive. He can read an audience and gear it toward them. That’s really important and it was interesting for people to give their perspective,” she added. WI
5 Storyteller and musicians share the good news. (WI photographer)
93RD ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY LUNCHEON
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2019 TH E WA S H I N GTO N R E N A I S S A N C E H OTE L
999 Ninth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 Featured Authors’ Event: 10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Annual Luncheon: 12:00 p.m.
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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF AFRICANA STUDIES & HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
JELANI COBB M O D E R AT O R
IRA A. LIPMAN PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 31 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
5 Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine with Chuck Hicks greets attendees at the kick-off of Black History Month at the African American Civil War Museum in Northwest on Friday, Feb. 1. (Roy Lewis/ The Washington Informer)
5 Art exhibitor Carol A. Beane and Nije Durdeen, who was the last model to pose for Michael Platt, stand in front of the last project before his death, during the opening of the Michael B. Platt and Carol A. Beane Influences and Connections Exhibit. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
4 Laureen Butler (left) and President Baba Mosi Matsimela present the Marcus Mosiah Garvey Community Service Award to Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of the Washington Informer during the UNIA-ACL 330 Know Thyself Book Fair held at the Thurgood Marshall Center in Northwest on Saturday, Feb. 2. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
5 Recently deceased artist Michael B. Platt’s image pulls a viewer inside the picture at an exhibit held at the Katzen Arts Center in Northwest on January 26. The exhibit will run through March 17, 2019. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer) 4 A full audience gathered at the at the African American Civil War Museum in Northwest on Friday, Feb. 1 for the kick-off of Black history Month. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH
‘Green Book’ Doc Evokes Powerful Memories By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer The National Museum of African American History and Culture was filled with people and purpose Tuesday night as Comcast and the Smithsonian Channel hosted a private screening of a new documentary, “The Green Book: Guide to Freedom.” The 50-minute film featured stories of historians, business owners and families who were able to thrive thanks to efforts of Victor Green, a New York postal worker who between 1936 and 1966 annually published the “Negro Motorist Green Book” that served as a road guide to friendly services and places for traveling Blacks. “The Green Book is more than just a book. … It is evidence of our history, our fears, our pleasures,” said Yoruba Richen, the filmmaker of the documentary that premieres Monday, Feb. 25
at 8 p.m. EST on the Smithsonian Channel. The 335-seat Oprah Winfrey Theater was packed for Tuesday night’s viewing. The film included archival footage of a generation of African Americans who were forced to deal with peril as they traveled back to Southern cities they left seeking a better life. Many in the audience smiled and nodded their head as they watched footage of families packing up big cars and station wagons for those road trips. Many African-American hotels blossomed in the ‘40s and ‘50s and Green’s book continued to grow. The documentary is a real-life complement to the Oscar-nominated film “Green Book,” which tells the story of pianist Don Shirley and his Italian driver who travel across the county. Veteran news anchor Bruce Johnson, who moderated the panel, said,
“I should have seen this movie first.” Comcast Vice President Donna Rattley Washington said she is proud that company partnered with the Smithsonian Channel to air such a powerful film. “As a third-generation Washingtonian, I am thrilled that we can bring his story to the Washington area,” Washington said. “I can remember my dad saying, you don’t cross the 14th Street bridge and enter the very prejudiced South. This is personal to me.” Joan Hippolite, curator of the National Museum of African American History, said they have an interactive museum dedicated to the real stories of the Green Book. While many saw the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other gains during the civil rights movement as historical, it marked the beginning of the end of many African-American-owned hotels and restaurants. But today there
5 A plaque representing the original “Green Book.”
is an effort to revive venues such Idilewild in Michigan, the AG Gaston Motel in Birmingham, Alabama, and Alberta’s in Columbia, South Carolina. “It is so powerful that this event is happening now when the association has named as
its Black History Month theme ‘Black Migrations,’ and the Green Book was a big part of Black migrations,” said Sylvia Cyrus, executive director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. WI
As we celebrate Black History Month in February, we recognize and honor the accomplishments of so many African Americans who have helped shape the face and future of our nation. FREDERICK DOUGLASS
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1/31/19 3:29 PM
black Georgetown Revisited
Part of The Washington Informer’s Historic Examination of Black America 1619-2019
Hidden in Plain View: The Overlooked History of Black Georgetown
5 Dr. Shantella Y. Sherman (Photo by India Kea)
By Shantella Y. Sherman WI Special Editions Editor One of my fondest recollections as a native Washingtonian was traipsing the streets of Georgetown in the mid-1980s, as the best buddy of two very distinct friends. One, Marlene Graham, was the step-daughter of Georgetown University’s then-Assistant Dean of Admissions, the other, Thalia Nash, was a fifth-generation Georgetowner, whose family tree fruited African American life in the District both
enslaved to affluent. Graham and Nash played unofficial ambassadors and ombudsmen to me and others visiting them after school or for sleepovers, showing us a myriad of unmarked and overlooked historical spaces, hidden in plain view. And while the area in the 1980s catered to an increasingly affluent, white and transient college crowd, vibrant and stable Black communities existed throughout its corridors from the canals of its lower end, to homes, businesses, and churches lining M Street and Wisconsin Avenue. “There are always people who ask me if I ‘have enough work’ when I exit my home, because they believe I am the maid and want to hire me. The thought never crosses their minds that I was born and reared inside my home, as was my father,” Nash’s neighbor told us one day. “It is the reason why I would never give up this property. It is my birthright and documentation of my family’s generational fortitude.” That fortitude, as a teenager was often lost on me, despite feeling uneasy in certain areas of Georgetown between the Foundry on lower 30th (Thomas Jefferson) Street, and the Georgetown Market (on M Street). We blamed it on the spooky, steep steps from the film The Exorcist, which marked the area of M Street leading to the Key Bridge and 3 A May 30, 1939 newspaper article from the Washington Daily News, detailing the current site of Dean & Deluca as a former slave auction house. (Courtesy photo)
5 African American barge workers navigating the canals of Georgetown. (Courtesy photo)
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Whitehurst Freeway. Only in recent years, on a lunch run through Dean & Deluca, did the basement of the market become identified as a slave auction site. The complexity of the market mimics the overall history of Georgetown. In 1776, as the nation fought for its independence, Blacks made up over a third of Georgetown’s population and by 1800, the area documented 1,449 enslaved and 277 free Africans among a population of 5,120. As historian C.R. Gibbs details in his book Black Georgetown Remembered: A History of Its Black Community from the Founding of “The Town of George” in 1751 to the Present Day, though, enslavement in D.C., operated differently that in more agrarian regions. Generally consisted of Africans working in skilled jobs as hired workers, who had to turn their wages over to slaveowners. These slaves lived away from the owners “in Georgetown wherever the master provided quarters: lofts, stables, attics, alleys, or shacks.” Many of those dwellings, according to Graham and Nash, held symbolic meaning to both the free and enslaved, whose safety relied on a complex system of rituals and codes of conduct to circumvent unjust laws – that included curfews, and the number of Blacks who could congregate publicly. “Understanding that slavery existed in a way that allowed freedmen and the enslaved to live and work in the same spaces, the threat of being misidentified was great. With the Underground Railroad operating fully alongside everyday life, also complicated Black life,” Nash said. “And yet, we made it work and thrived by learning, teaching, building, and sustaining each other.” More accurately, Georgetown, existed before either the United States and the District of Columbia, being officially founded in 1751. With First Nations, free and enslaved Blacks, immigrants, poor and working-class whites, and every imaginable socioeconomic group calling it home, Georgetown’s history lends itself to the larger “melting pot” story of the nation. As The Washington Informer Charities prepares for its annual African American Heritage Tour unlocking the Black presence in Georgetown, many of those treasures will once again come alive. WI
By Shantella Y. Sherman WI Special Editions Editor
5. A 1795 law made it illegal for more than this number Blacks to congregate at one time. 3, 5, 6, or 1. What percentage of U.S. presi- 8? dents owned and sold people? 5%, 10%, 20% or 25% 6. In what year did an Act of Congress ban slave trading in Wash2. In what year was a series of pro- ington, D.C. (then known as Washtest marches held against police bru- ington City)? 1940, 1850, 1852, tality in D.C., following the killing of 1860. several unarmed African Americans? 1920, 1938, 1960, 1990 7. What neighborhood is renowned as a significant post-Civil War 3. One of the school desegrega- settlement of free Blacks and freed tion cases reviewed by the Supreme slaves established by the Freedmen’s Court under Brown v. Board of Edu- Bureau? Naylor Gardens, Barry Farm, cation originated in Washington, D.C. Shaw, or LeDroit Park and was branded by this statement made by: Theophilus John Syphax, 8. What D.C. activist worked with E. Franklin Frazier, Gardner Bishop, or organizations including the NationAlbert Cassell? al Alliance against Racial and Politi“Segregation was not only white cal Violence, the National Black Enagainst black, but it was also up- vironmental Justice Network, and per-class Blacks against the low- Black Voices for Peace for which he er-class. We were on the bottom was the founder and co-chair. He shelf. I’m Black and I’m poor, so I’m passed away in 2006 from cancer segregated twice.” after being exposed to toxins while fighting against environmental rac4. The organization that grew ism in New Orleans? Morgan Snyout of the D.C. fight against segre- der, John Johnson, Damu Smith, gated schools (based on both race Carlton Spivey. and socioeconomics was named? Education Warriors, Parents Against Visit www.washingtoninformer. Segregation, United Schools, or Con- com for answers to this week’s trivia! solidated Parents Group. WI
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 35 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
ANNOUNCING
Former Freedom Riders Tell Their Riveting Stories Israel Baptist Church in Northeast Holds Black History Program
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5 Former Freedom Riders recount history. (Hamil R. Harris/The Washington Informer)
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Fifty years after laying their bodies on the line to integrate the South, three ‘60s-era civil rights activists known as Freedom Riders told hundreds gathered Saturday at a Northeast church that the battle against racism is far from over. Rev. Reginald Green, a Freedom Rider who is now interim pastor of Israel Baptist Church, said that in the 1960s, it took college students and others being beaten, jailed and lynched to make progress. Green, who was arrested as a Freedom Rider in Jackson, Miss., wrote a letter from jail to his father and gave it to a reporter traveling with a group of Freedom Riders from D.C. He asked the reporter to deliver it to his father, who thought he was still at Virginia Union University in Richmond. “Thank God he got that letter from me,” Green said. In the 1960s, Joan Mulholland was supposed to be at Duke University and Dion Diamond at Howard, but these students and others instead paused their college careers to become Freedom Riders. The trio was joined by civil rights veteran and former D.C. Council member Frank Smith to be part of the Black History Month program called “The Price of Freedom.” The program was held at Israel Baptist Church, which was led for many years by the late Rev. Morris Sheron, a longtime civil rights leader in the city. The forum came on the same day that Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam apologized but said he wasn’t stepping down for racist photo from his medical school yearbook page showing one person in blackface and another wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The Saturday’s event was moder-
ated by Washington Post columnist Colbert King, who during the forum answered a question posed to all of the panelists about why they are still fighting for social justice decades later. “I am still angry. I am still angry when I think about riding the trolley car that used to go up to Glen Echo,” King said. “The White kids could get off, but we couldn’t.” Diamond was one of the activists who tried to integrate a segregated amusement park in Montgomery County, where today a merry-goround stands as a crumbling remnant of the segregated past. “Glen Echo was segregated and we were looking for a place to integrate,” said Diamond, who got so involved in the civil rights movement that he never went back to Howard. “When I went back, I enrolled at the University of Wisconsin and then Harvard.” Diamond looked down at his stomach and said, “If I had this stomach back then, I would have been killed. A shotgun blast just missed my stomach. I only weighed 128 pounds.” Mulholland proudly showed her mugshot from the Jackson, Mississippi, jail. Asked why more young people don’t get involved, she said “they rely too much on devices. They are not talking face to face.” But there were young people who came to Israel looking to be part of a new movement, including 16-yearold Meira’cholle Fashion. “I think that young people care,” Meira’cholle said. “There is a generation gap, they just need to be more aware.” Tiffany Smallwood, who brought her 19-year-old daughter, called the event “an opportunity to learn from people actually participated in the civil rights movement. This is living history.” WI
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LIFESTYLE Terron Cooper Sorrells Depicts ‘Peculiar Institution’ in Stunning Exhibition
(Bottom left) A painting from Terron Cooper Sorrell’s ‘The Railroad’ 3 A compelling depiction of runaway slaves yearning to be free.
Strathmore Showcases Talented Artist’s ‘The Railroad’ thru Feb. 17 By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Portsmouth-born Terron Cooper Sorrells may be unfamiliar to collectors and lovers of African-American art whose legacy of iconic figures include Romare Bearden, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Jacob Lawrence, but if his current exhibition, “The Railroad,” serves as any indication of his talent and potential, it won’t be long before he becomes an internationally-acclaimed and recognized household name. But don’t take my word for it. Simply take a short jaunt over to the Mansion at Strathmore, now through Feb. 17, where Sorrells’ collection of paintings and prints “speak volumes” as the artist, just 24 years of age, explores the stories of enslaved African Americans, and the roads they braved in their pursuit for freedom, typically omitted in the nation’s history books. As for his perspective, Sorrells presents imagery which differs from the works of those who have more often focused on the horrors and atrocities of slavery. Instead, and perhaps more admirably, his work illustrates the resilience, perseverance and cunning of people desperately determined to be free – also providing entre to sorely-needed discourse
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6 The Prayer’s Circle. (Photos courtesy of the artist)
on race as it continues to manifest itself in the U.S. “’The Railroad’ reminds us that we face now in the form of institutional slavery isn’t anything new and can be overcome with prowess and unity,” he writes in describing his work. “At the same time, it acts as a collection of images that aim to further African-American culture and history.” During this writer’s tour of the exhibition, provided by Strathmore Visual Arts Coordinator Gabrielle Tillenburg, I was impressed with the degree of detail that the artist includes in his paintings. In addition, Sorrells clearly seeks to share images of Blacks or white sympathizers who, historically, were rarely depicted in a positive light, like Aunt Jemima or Nat Turner. “All of the images come from Terron’s objective – narratives on canvas of a history that the oppressors chose to withhold or ignore,” Tillenburg said. “His work offers a different ‘truth,’ maybe even ‘the truth.’ And it’s so compelling because since people connect more easily through stories, in his paintings and lithographs, he explores stories that bear a more honest and inclusive interpretation of American history.” Sorrells, who now lives and works out of Chicago, talked about his formative years, his compelling exhibition and his plans for the future during a conversation with The Washington Informer. Interesting enough, both he and his brother, Trey, 25, an accomplished saxophonist, serve as participants in Strathmore’s artist in residence program, 2018-2019. Washington Informer: When did you first know you
wanted to be an artist/painter? Sorrells: My earliest memories of wanting to be an artist stems from my time in the third grade. I was 9 and very interested in Japanese art styles, specifically manga and anime. I remember being able to imitate those characters with ease especially if I had a reference. I noticed that drawing skills was not common in my elementary school when other kids began to recognize me and talk to me. Honestly, art is how I’ve made a great deal of friends from my early childhood, so I wanted to hold on to it. WI: What role did your parents and/or teachers (K-12) play in your development and pursuit of your career? Sorrells: I had an amazing support group growing up from both my parents and my teachers; I was lucky to have it. My parents, both military heads, didn’t know much about art but they were constantly encouraging without being overbearing, even when the art I was producing at the time was bad. This was important for my development because practicing art never felt like a chore or something I had to do. It was just simply fun. My teachers were the same way except they could actually nurture my gift. Since the fifth grade, I was accepted into afterschool art programs and pushed to enter art competitions because my teachers believed in me. They had the most impact on me and we still talk to this day, including my magnet art teachers from high school, Mrs. Stith and Ms. Cosumano. They’re responsible for my shift from wanting to be an animator to becoming a fine artist. And they did this systematically through art history lessons, direct observational drawing sessions and introducing new mediums into my arsenal. That, along with competitive success, led me straight for a life as an artist. WI: Would you care to add any-
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thing else about your goals for and motivation behind “The Railroad?” Sorrells: I feel like my history is under represented in American Art Museums. What I mean by that is I do not see many works of art, if any at all, by slaves hanging next to the works by white men, [even] women, of the same time period. I understand the reasoning for this: slaves were not allowed to express themselves and it is a lot easier to hide literary talent than visual. That being said, I look to fill that void for future generations of African Americans so that they can feel a sense of inclusion in the art space and know where our people started. Now is the time to do it, while art institutions are opening up to other perspectives and listening. WI: What’s next for you and what do you say to those who are so by the level of maturity and skill you possess despite your young age? Sorrells: I’m jumping straight into another series of work. Instead of focusing on exiting slave life, this group
of paintings will force the viewer to be a part of plantation life which will be uncomfortable, I must admit. All the while, I’m looking to do residencies in the Caribbean and some South American countries to see the effects of slavery in other nations outside the U.S. Then, I think I’ll finally be ready for graduate school. I try to lure observers in with my youth and my detail but keep them with my interest in history and culture which I know they can tell comes from a genuine place. Fortunately, I’ve never been told I shouldn’t be making the work that I am because of my lack of experience or youth. If anything, people tend to get excited when they meet me and begin to try to teach me more about the history. I listen intently because there is always more to learn. I know that I am young, but my eyes are wide open and I offer a different perspective they might not have seen otherwise. For additional information visit www.strathmore.org or call (301) 581-5100. WI
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LIFESTYLE Ailey Dance Theater Celebrates 60 Years of Greatness
Three D.C. Premieres Featured at Kennedy Center, Feb. 5-10 WI Staff Report The groundbreaking Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to the Kennedy Center for its annual engagement with seven performances on the Opera House stage, Feb. 5-10. Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, the company opens the season for its 60th anniversary of promoting the African-American cultural experience. Performances include “Lazarus,” the newest work by choreographer Rennie Harris co-commissioned by the Kennedy Center, three D.C. debuts, one new production and a special “Timeless Ailey” classics program. And of course, their signature piece, the majestic “Revelations,” choreographed by founder Alvin Ailey will be performed as the finale for all seven programs. “Lazarus, inspired by the life and legacy of Ailey, connects past and present in a powerful work that addresses the racial inequities America faced when Ailey founded the company in 1958 and still faces today. As the final piece of a trilogy of works from Harris, “Lazarus” includes a score by Darrin Ross and incorporates spoken word. “Kairos,” choreographer Wayne McGregor’s second Ailey company premiere, fills the stage with sinuous, angular movement and synchronicity. The ballet is framed by Idris Khan’s dramat-
ic set design and played out to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons,” re-imagined by experimental composer Max Richter. “The Call,” Ronald K. Brown’s seventh work for the company, includes themes of spiritual awakening and redemption. Brown’s mix of modern and West African dance idioms is described as his “love letter to Mr. Ailey” and is set to recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach. As a new production of a work this season, “Juba,” Battle’s first work for the company, explores where ritual and folk traditions exist in today’s society as five dancers engage in a modern-day Rite of Spring with an abstract twist, fueled by a string quartet and plenty of percussion. of this edgy, ritualistic work. If you’re an aficionado of Ailey’s choreography, “Timeless Ailey” is just what the doctor ordered, featuring two acts of rarely seen excerpts of more than a dozen treasures from his rich body of work, including highlights of seldom-seen gems like “The Lark Ascending,” “Hidden Rites” and “Choral Dances,” as well as perennial favorites: “Love Songs,” “Night Creature,” “Cry” and “Revelations.” The annual engagement at the Kennedy Center began with a 20th Annual Opening Night Gala Benefit on Feb. 5 with proceeds to support Ailey’s D.C. programs including the creation
5 Dancers from Alivn Ailey in motion. (Photo courtesy Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
of new works, arts-in-education activities and scholarships to talented young dance students from the Greater Washington Area to attend The Ailey School in New York City. Dancers from the D.C. area include: Ghrai DeVore and Jermaine Terry (D.C.), joined 2010; Samantha Figgins (D.C.), joined 2014, Daniel Harder (Bowie), joined 2010; Jacqueline Green (Baltimore), joined 2011 and Courtney Celeste Spears (Baltimore), joined 2018. The company has made frequent appearances at the Kennedy Center, dating back to the Center’s opening performance in 1971 when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater participated in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, choreographed by Alvin Ailey. WI
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5 A scene from ‘Revelations’. (Photo courtesy Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater)
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LIFESTYLE Signature’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’ Revives Hit Play on Music Icon By Eve M. Ferguson WI Contributing Writer
5 Solomon Parker III, Iyona Blake, Nova Y. Payton, Korinn Walfall and Kevin McAllister in “Ain’t Misbehavin’” at Signature Theatre (Photo by Christopher Mueller)
To say that “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show” is a surefire hit is neither overreaching or inaccurately forecasting the impending success of the current revival of the much-loved revue, which premiered in 1978 as a cabaret show in New York City and is now playing at the Signature Theatre in Shirlington, Virginia. The revival is no less than the original which starred the late, great Nell Carter. What this production has done, while staying true to what Richard Maltby Jr. and Murray Horowitz conceived and directed more than 40 years ago, is to personalize it and endow the cabaret-style musical with a who’s who of local talent — Nova Y. Payton, Korin Walfall, Kevin McAllis-
ain’t misbehavin’ The Fats Waller Musical Show
A swinging celebration featuring DC’s greatest voices singing some of Harlem Renaissance’s finest songs including “The Joint is Jumpin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose” and more.
giving each cast member solos, as well as joining individual voices for duets and ensemble numbers such as the moving ballad “Black and Blue” and the rollicking “Handful of Keys.” One would be remiss not to point out the incredible dance numbers by Solomon Parker III, who defies gravity on “The Viper’s Song” and “T’ain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do.” Parker also handles the vocals with ease, and smoothly acts out numbers such as “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and the hilarious duet “Fat and Greasy” with Kevin McAllister. Iyona Blake also scores high on the drama scale, with her humorous antics on the racy “Squeeze Me” and “When the Nylons Bloom Again,” on which she and Nova Payton not only excel in their singing but add the extra dimension of comedic acting. Payton, a well-known and re spected local songstress, shows what she is really made of on solos “Cash for Your Trash” and “Mean to Me.” Her soaring vocals add to the ensemble numbers “Off-Time” and stand out on their own on duets such as “Find Out What They Like,” with Iyona Blake and “That Ain’t Right” with Kevin McAllister. The small but ample Signature Theatre, located in the Shirlington business district, was made to feel like one of the legendary clubs of the era, with small tables decorated with period lamps and plush chairs. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the time when nightclubs such
PLAY Page 42
Photo of Solomon Parker III and Korinn Walfall and Mark G. Meadows by Margot Schulman
Now through March 10
ter, Solomon Parker III and Iyona Blake. All the main vocalists in the cast have appeared in previous Signature Theatre productions such as “Jelly’s Last Jam,” “Billy Elliot” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” But the driving force, even amid the stellar vocals, energetic dance numbers and bawdy humor, is piano man Mark Meadows, who plays the legendary composer/pianist Fats Waller. Meadows also serves as the musical director, leading a six-piece live musical ensemble of gifted and experienced jazz musicians. Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller (May 21, 1904 - December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer. His musical sensibilities were a central part of the Black music scene in America in the 1920s and 1930s. “I made it my own by studying the score, studying Fats, and then using my own artistry to bring my sound to the music, all the while staying true to Luther Henderson’s arrangements,” Meadows said. “I also created lead sheets for the rhythm section so that they could put an authentic, ‘jazz’ feel to the music without worrying about flipping through many pages of a highly detailed score.” The revue is a two-hour tour of Waller’s iconic tunes, including of course, the title tune and other gems such as “This Joint is Jumpin’,” “Mean to Me” and “Honeysuckle Rose.” The talent on stage is liberally utilized in different combinations,
With Iyona Blake, Kevin McAllister, Solomon Parker III, Nova Y. Payton and Korinn Walfall with Mark G. Meadows as Music Director
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5 Mark G. Meadows in “Ain’t Misbehavin’” at Signature Theatre. (Photo by Christopher Mueller)
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LIFESTYLE Dorothy Butler Gilliam tells her Trailblazing Story By Wayne Dawkins Special to the Washington Informer Dorothy Butler Gilliam has lived to be a sage octogenarian. She has also lived a remarkable life: daughter of the segregated South, front-line chronicler of the dismantling of Jim Crow and ascension of the Civil Rights movement and most of all, “Trailblazer,” the title of her memoir. Indeed, Gilliam in 1961 became the first Black woman journalist at the Washington Post, joining two African-American men, Luther P. Jackson, Jr. and Wallace Terry. The value of Gilliam’s memoir is that it is written from an African-American woman’s perspective. She paints searing pictures of early 1960s racially-segregated District of Columbia. I’ve read good accounts by David Brinkley and Stewart Alsop, yet Gilliam’s brims with soul. For 20ish Millennials or 40ish Gen-Xers, these pictures of Washington could seem surreal. The District couldn’t have been that way, right? Baby Boomers, who are now 60- or 70ish, retired or about to retire, remember the oppressive Washington of their youth, the “Chocolate City” that lacked home rule and was treated sadistically by openly-racist Southern U.S. Senators who usually were tasked to mismanage the budgets.
Dorothy Butler was a 23-yearold single woman when she began working at the Post. She endured taxi drivers who refused to pick her up, which meant she was perilously close to missing reporting assignments and blowing writing deadlines. Restaurants were segregated, and she was limited to eat a particular cafeteria where she sometimes dined with a white female colleague or Luther Jackson. White male co-workers, she said, would acknowledge her in the office, but not on the street. That courtesy would have offended other whites. D.C. was so segregated before the mid-1960s civil rights laws, even the district’s pet cemeteries were segregated, Simeon Booker, the Washington Post’s first Black journalist, told Gilliam. Booker, 99, worked briefly at the Post in the 1950s then had a remarkable five-decade career as Ebony/Jet’s Washington editor, publishing his memoirs a few years before his death in 2017. There is no hint of complaint in Gilliam’s “Trailblazer.” In fact, she calmly recounts the racism she and other Blacks endured. However, she had reason to feel fear or rage, like in 1957 when she traveled to Little Rock to cover the desegregation of Central High School. Butler, then 20, was ordered by her editor, the Tri-State Defender’s L. Alexis Wilson, to stay behind in Memphis because the assignment was too dangerous. Indeed. The edi-
tor had been beaten and stoned by a white mob, yet he refused to run. The Marine defiantly walked away. Butler went to Little Rock to finish the reporting. After a year of reporting at the Post, Butler was dispatched to Oxford, Mississippi in 1962 to cover James Meredith’s effort to desegregate “Ole Miss,” the University of Mississippi. Butler interviewed Black service workers whose voices were rarely heard in white daily newspapers. During Butler’s early years at the Post she covered so-called serious news; she was not a journalist toiling in the women’s pages, aka features, which existed until 1969. She married Sam Gilliam, Jr., a fine artist, in 1962 and after starting a family she left the paper. Nearly a decade later she was encouraged to return to the Post. Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and his team hired Gilliam as an assistant editor for Style, the former women’s pages, transformed into an edgy features section about women and men, suburbanites and city dwellers. Gilliam saw an opportunity: “I knew the vast and complex Black cultural world,” she wrote in her memoir, “which was unknown to white readers, was largely missing from the section and I longed to help unveil what some called a secret world and make the marvelous culture of Black America better known and understood by all races.”
Gilliam’s platform expanded when she became a columnist. Ever the changemaker, Gilliam co-founded the Institute for Journalism Education, a training ground for hundreds of women and men of color who entered mainstream journalism in the last quarter of the 20th century and early part of this one. When she retired from the Post at the end of the century she did not retire from empowering others. George Washington University supported her Prime
Movers Media Program that promoted media training for high school students. “Trailblazer” is an essential read about the lives of mainstream media Black journalists, told by an earnest and elegant revolutionary who led the charge. Dawkins, author of “Rugged Waters: Black Journalists,” is an associate professor at Morgan State University School of Global Journalism and Communication. WI
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5 Dorothy Gilliam (Photo courtesy/Kea Dupree Photography)
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The Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival Qualifies for Oscar Competition By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer The Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival (MVAAFF) has been approved by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a qualifying festival for the academy’s short-film award. Winners of the festival’s Best Short Film award will now be eligible to enter the academy’s short-film competition for the concurrent season. Short films are often early productions for
PLAY from Page 41 as the Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom were the playgrounds of usually White high society patrons and the Harlem dives where Black patrons went out to play were filled with piano players thumping out the new rhythm that came to be known as swing. The costumes, as well as the scenic design, by Sarita P. Fellows and Paige Hathaway respectively, were equally reflective of that glamorous era in history, when the Harlem Renaissance was in full flower and the authentically American musical genre, jazz, was taking the country — and world — by storm.
GIFT from Page 1 rishioners at the conclusion of a monthlong fasting and cleansing process, in which half of the church’s 8,000 parishioners participated.
up-and-coming filmmakers. Festival co-founder Floyd Rance said the academy’s designation marks a major milestone. “For the past 17 years, we’ve produced the MVAAFF with the primary goal of providing a positive environment where African-American filmmakers can share their thoughts, ideas and aspirations,” Rance said. “Now, we can offer recipients of our Best Short Film award the possibility of being considered in the short-film category of the
Academy Awards.” The five-day festival, created by Rance and wife Stephanie, presents films by African-American filmmakers. Run&Shoot Filmworks, the company that produces the festival, has also created spots for HBO, Martell Cognac, Reebok, NBC Sports and Foot Locker. Last year, Run&Shoot Filmworks and MVAAFF presented the “Color of Conversation” film series at the AFI Silver in Silver Spring, Maryland. WI
“The music is paramount,” Meadows said. “The music of Fats Waller is packed with wit, sexiness, and soul, which the musical personifies in every way. Every note, every inflection, every harmony reflects what this genius was able to accomplish in his music, Black excellence.” Excellence is another word that best describes “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show” at the Signature Theatre. Under the guidance of Joe Calarco, the Signature Theatre’s director of new works, the production sings, swings and fills the heart with joy while reminding the audience of a time gone by when many of the foundations of Black music in Ameri-
ca were just coming into light for the entire population, regardless of race. “All in all, I’m confident that the music is historically accurate, but has a fresh energy that one might hear in a jazz club of today,” Meadows said. “Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show” plays at the Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue in Arlington (Shirlington Business District) through March 10. Several complementary programs are planned at the venue and at neighboring establishments during the run. For ticket and showtime information, go to www.sigtheatre.org. WI
“We are happy to sow this money into Howard University so that these seniors can graduate and walk across the stage in May,” Wesley said. Wesley also announced that an additional $50,000 was donated
to Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. The institution risked losing its accreditation by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges, citing financial instability after being on probation for two years. Bennett College needed to raise $5 million by Feb. 1 to avoid losing its accreditation. The donation from Alfred St. was the largest given to Bennett College by a church. “We made a commitment that everything we raised would go outside the doors of the church to transform lives as God directed us,” Wesley said. “We have a commitment to our HBCUs and we refuse to let Bennett close its doors.” WI
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LIFESTYLE
wi book review “When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon”
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
ARIES This week is shaping up to be a very sociable and positive time for you in which you can accomplish much. The sun and chatty Mercury in your social sector encourage you out and about, and you could move in new circles. With the new moon in this same sector on Monday, you have an opportunity to make a dream come true. If a goal of yours has been on your mind, this might be the time to make it reality. Lucky Numbers: 9, 26, 41 TAURUS This is very much a time to enjoy being in the spotlight and promote yourself and your ideas in any way you can. Don’t hide your light under a barrel. Enjoy sharing your special talents and abilities. Indeed, the new moon in your career zone on Monday could inspire you to take things even further. Lucky Numbers: 14, 21, 26
By Joshua D. Mezrich, MD c.2019, Harper
$27.99 ($34.99 Canada)
GEMINI The week ahead brings some exciting options your way. Travel adventures might be in the cards, as well as the possibility of attending a workshop or course of study. In either case, you’ll enjoy learning because the subject will be something dear to your heart. Lucky Numbers: 1, 3, 39
371 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer Flat as a dinner plate. That was the surprise on last night’s commute home: a flat tire. An inconvenience, a hassle and an expense, but that’s the beauty of a disposable economy: if something goes bad, we just replace it. In the new book “When Death Becomes Life” by Joshua D. Mezrich, MD, though, that’s easier said than done. Who among us has a chance to be truly awed by our job on a daily basis? Joshua Mezrich does. As an associate professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, he literally holds life and death in his hands every time he steps into the OR because, for much of his career, Mezrich has performed organ transplants on extremely ill patients. It almost didn’t happen this way. Early in his medical journey, Mezrich was focused on pediatrics. Like most interns, he rotated through various medical branches and at one point, he worked with a transplant harvest team, which entailed shaving skin from recently-deceased donors to buy time for burn victims. He loved to joke around and had barely learned a thing about surgery in general until a superior called him on his lack of knowledge. That led to a falling-in-love with the field of organ transplant, specifically that of the liver and heart. Again, it almost didn’t happen. In the 19th century, doctors flirted with the idea of organ transplants but medical knowledge was woefully inadequate. About a century ago, they knew enough to make strides in the field, mostly based on theory and canine experiments. In the 1950s and 1960s, organ transplants became more successful, but not until relatively recently, in the 1980s and with the invention of immunosuppressant drugs, have they become as commonplace as today. And yet, as Mezrich tells in personal anecdotes that weave in and out of the history of organ donation and transplantation, there’s nothing common about it. “We have many victories, but the losses are the ones we never forget,” he says. “They torture us, but also keep us striving to do better.” It’s a sobering thought, and one that author Joshua D. Mezrich says haunts each of his transplant patients: in many cases, someone must die in order for someone to live. That fact never wavers in “When Death Becomes Life.” And yet, this is book is not always serious. Mezrich’s tone perfectly fits the jokester persona that he says he has. Moments of humor nicely balance the pages and pages of thriller-like action, as he and his colleagues fly cross-state to receive organs and save the lives of people who are hours from death. Those stories will pound that heart you have, as you’re introduced to heroes who gave their lives in research, and heroes who gave their lives to strangers in need. Be aware that there are real (and unexplained) medical terms in here, but they shouldn’t be a problem. You’ll be too busy being amazed by — and flat-out loving — “When Death Becomes Life” to notice. WI WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
horoscopes
CANCER As feisty Mars continues its journey through your sector of goals and ambitions, you might be moving through a busy yet very positive time. The presence of the sun and chatty Mercury in a more intense sector could encourage you to deal with issues that may be uncomfortable for you. The sooner you dive in and sort them out the better. Lucky Numbers: 4, 28, 31 LEO There is a lot to celebrate this week, and with the support of key people, you can do very well. Rather than go it alone, this is a time to work as part of a team or perhaps collaborate on a plan or project. The sun’s presence in your sector of relating encourages you to team up with certain people, resolve relationship issues, and relish the company of friends and family. Lucky Numbers: 23, 27, 32 VIRGO Streamlining your daily routines can be very rewarding and leave you with more time for those things you enjoy most. With the sun in your lifestyle sector along with chatty Mercury, your guide planet, the days ahead can be an opportunity to consider how you might improve your schedule. And with a new moon in this sector on Monday, it’s also the ideal chance to kick-start new and healthier habits that leave you feeling upbeat and energized. Lucky Numbers: 7, 42, 47 LIBRA Leisure opportunities could keep you happily occupied this week. With the sun and Mercury in your leisure zone encouraging you to seek out new diversions, you might be drawn to a new hobby or interest that proves engaging and rewarding. The new moon in this same zone on Monday might inspire you to take a budding romance to the next level. If you’ve been chatting to someone you admire for what seems like ages, this new moon can be your cue to ask him or her out on a date. Lucky Numbers: 7, 21, 49 SCORPIO With the focus on your home and family sector this week, you could be eager to get your place organized. You may have some novel ideas about how to make key improvements, too, including purchasing gadgets or managing your time so that household tasks and chores are much easier. The new moon in your domestic zone on Monday can be your cue to take the initiative in this regard. Lucky Numbers: 22, 30, 37 SAGITTARIUS Communication, administrative tasks, networking, and promoting your goods and services could be key activities this week and next. The sun in your sector of talk and thought might inspire you to reach out to others you haven’t seen in some time. Plus, if you need to negotiate, hearty discussions can lead to positive developments for all concerned. Lucky Numbers: 10, 20, 54 CAPRICORN Financial matters may be uppermost in your mind this week, but in a way that encourages you to explore the possibilities in your present situation. If you’re eager to generate more money, then opt for novel solutions rather than the tried and trusted. And with the new moon in this same zone on Monday, this can be the perfect time to kick-start schemes that help you save more and earn more in 2019. Lucky Numbers: 3, 16, 38 AQUARIUS This can be a very positive and sociable time when your connections can bring out the best in you. The people you network with might act as mentors to advise you and encourage you when necessary. If you’re slightly nervous about putting some plans into action, the sun’s tie with jovial Jupiter on Thursday will see friends coming to your aid. Lucky Numbers: 2, 10, 30 PISCES You might be making a big splash and attracting positive attention, but this could put you in the position of having to call the shots. Don’t be too eager to jump at the first opportunity offered because you might be able to get something better. Trust your instincts on this because they can lead you in the right direction. Lucky Numbers: 16, 28, 32
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 43 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
SPORTS
5 Washington Wizards forward Sam Dekker fends off Indiana Pacers guard T.J. Leaf during the Wizards’ 107-89 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 30. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal elevates for a dunk as Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) and guard Darren Collison look on during the Wizards’ 107-89 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 30. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
Wizards Defeat Pacers at Home
Hoyas Handle Big East Foe Xavier
5 Georgetown guard James Akinjo drives past Xavier guard Paul Scruggs during Georgetown’s 80-73 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Thursday, Jan. 31. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 Georgetown guard Greg Malinowski and Xavier forward Naji Marshall battle for possession during Georgetown’s 80-73 win at Capital One Arena in D.C. on Thursday, Jan. 31. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
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5 Stacey Abrams interviewed by Oprah Winfrey (Courtesy photo)
UNION from Page 1 rebut claims made in his address. According to CBS News, the first rebuttal was delivered by Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen and Rep. Gerald Ford in response to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1966 State of the Union. Since 2011, there have been responses in English and one in Spanish given by a separate speaker. The address has usually been given by a member of Congress or a sitting governor, making Abrams an intriguing choice given she doesn’t currently hold a political office. Only one other time has an elected official not holding statewide or federal office given their party’s response: Elizabeth Guzman, a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates, delivered the Spanish-language response for Democrats in 2018, CBS reported. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is giving the Spanish address this year. However, since losing her gubernatorial bid, Abrams has said she is open to running for political office again. The first Black woman to deliver a party’s formal response, Abrams railed against Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over the government shutdown. Abrams noted McConnell’s recent verbal assaults on a House Democratic voting rights and an election bill that he has labeled a Democratic “power grab.” “This is the next battle for our democracy, one where all eligible citizens can have their say about the vision we want for our country,” Abrams said. “We must reject the cynicism that says allowing every eligible vote to be cast and counter is a ‘power grab.’” She blasted Trump and McCo-
nnell noting the missed paydays and the struggles of more than 800,000 federal workers who could still face another shutdown in just a couple of weeks because Trump wants to build a $5 billion wall on the southern border. “Just a few weeks ago, I joined volunteers to distribute meals to furloughed federal workers. They waited in line for a box of food and a sliver of hope since they hadn’t received a paycheck in weeks,” Abrams said. “Making their livelihoods a pawn for political games is a disgrace,” she said. Further driving home her point, Abrams continued: “The shutdown was a stunt engineered by the president of the United States, one that defied every ten-
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et of fairness and abandoned not just our people, but our values.” Trump, who continues to garner headlines over a myriad of alleged misdeeds, misstatements, and the division that’s enveloped the country since he took office, called for bipartisanship in his address. He claimed outstanding records on jobs and the economy and America’s global standing. Abrams, who was once the Democratic Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, dismissed those claims. “We may come from different sides of the political aisle, but our joint commitment to the ideals of this nation cannot be negotiable,” Abrams said. WI
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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 45 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
RELIGION Pastor Hands Down the Word Through ASL By Jacqueline Fuller WI Religion Writer @JacquelineF1017
Religious communities usually tell their congregants and visitors that they want them to feel welcomed when they come through their doors to attend a worship service. However, many houses of worship are not equipped to fully connect with those of differing abilities. Rev. Raymont Anderson is attempting to bridge such gaps, namely by communicating with people who are deaf as an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. “People don’t realize that it’s an actual profession,” he said. Anderson, who has been ordained as a Christian minister, an interfaith minister and a New Thought minister, was also ordained
in 2017 as a minister with Religious Science, now known as the Centers for Spiritual Living (CSL). A native of Pittsburgh, Anderson said he was inspired to learn ASL after watching the TV shows “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” when he was 5 years old. He recalled watching Linda Bove, a deaf actress who was the librarian on “Sesame Street,” and was fascinated by how she communicated with the cast using her hands. “’What is she doing? What is that?’” Anderson said he remembers thinking while watching the show. “I need to learn this.” On “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” the character Mayor Maggie, played by Maggie Stewart, wasn’t deaf but was fluent in sign language. Anderson said he connected with her because she also is from Pittsburgh.
5 The Rev. Raymont Anderson (Jacqueline Fuller/The Washington Informer)
46 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
Several years later, Anderson had his first encounter with deaf people in middle school. He noticed that nobody interacted with the deaf students and they communicated with themselves. “I was a shy kid — I also didn’t reach out but one day I will have deaf friends and one day I will not be afraid to talk to people like them,” he said. “I am going to have friends and community with folks.” When Anderson went to college to pursue a degree as an art teacher, he decided to go back to his middle school as part of his student-teacher work. The art class he observed, ran by a former teacher of his, had deaf students, but Anderson noticed that the teacher wasn’t reaching out to help them learn the lesson and their interpreter was not in the classroom. “How are they learning?” Anderson asked the teacher. The teacher’s response was, “Well, if their interpreter felt this was important enough, they would be here. Since they don’t think it’s important enough, to hell with them.” Shocked by the teacher’s response, Anderson decided that if he became a teacher, he would push his students, no matter their situation, to learn things they didn’t know before. Right before Anderson graduated from college, he signed up for a sign language class. He was not doing well and met with the instructor for advice to improve but it didn’t help. For his midterm exam, one of the assignments was to present a song in ASL. He realized during the process of translating the song “The Gates of Heaven Opens for Me” that he had incorrectly been trying to learn ASL as English. “English is a linear, two-dimensional form of communication. Sign language is three-dimensional and is spacial,” he said. “It’s based on concepts, not words.” After his epiphany, he markedly improved, bringing his impressed instructor to tears. “’What did you do? Did you, like, find the ASL from Rosetta Stone?’” Anderson recalled his instructor marveling. After Anderson graduated, he taught in the Pittsburgh public school system while continuing to take classes in ASL. In 2003, a friend reached out to him and offered a job with a performing arts company as an interpreter based in D.C. and was a guest performing artist with them for two years. Anderson recently accepted the role of senior minister at CSL Greater Baltimore after serving as associate minister at CSL DC. “It started while interpreting in Christian churches in Pittsburgh,”
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5 The Rev. Raymont Anderson says the word “heaven” in American Sign Language (Jacqueline Fuller/The Washington Informer)
he said. “Being an interpreter in a religious setting gave me greater understanding once I ended up on the other side of the pulpit as the minister [and] gave me the insight of knowing if we’re going to have an inclusive community.” Anderson said it is ideal to have a team of interpreters working in shifts of about 15-20 minutes each, based on their level of stamina. In a religious setting, the interpreters will switch off rather during a transition in service and opt to switch. The majority of Anderson’s experiences with faith communities accommodating deaf congregants and interpreters have been positive. However, he said he’s faced challenges with having interpreters in religious settings, mainly stemming from a general lack of understanding of what it takes to have ASL presence or start or restructure a deaf ministry. “You’re one of those finger-talkers,” he said about how his work was described. Another person called him “one of those sign-language people.” He informs them that interpreter is the appropriate
word to use. Anderson said other challenges clergy and lay leaders often face include not knowing how to properly screen interpreters, where to sit deaf congregants to give them visibility of the interpreter during service, or whether the deaf person reads. Additionally, ushers and others will sometimes talk louder to deaf people, mistakenly thinking that it will help them understand what they are saying. Then there is the issue of whether to pay for an interpreter. Anderson said he knows of two CSL communities that has a regular interpreter during their Sunday services. “You have shunned them,” he said. “You already started to discriminate.” Anderson encourages people to become aware and mindful of ways to communicate with the deaf. He recommended using a sheet of paper to write what you need to say to share a message. “As hearing people, we take a lot of things for granted,” he said. WI
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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
A Black History Story from 1945 An African-American farmer purchased 227.2 acres, a farm in Dover, North Carolina, in 1945? A time when racism was in full bloom with nothing being done about it? For perspective, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was only a teenage boy at the time. Just outside Kinston, North Carolina, this true story may be difficult for some to believe. It is the story of how our grandfather, Floyd Hill, was able to buy this farm so long ago — and was able to keep it! He made history with the state Supreme Court case #161, DeBruhl v. L. Harvey Son Co. The DeBruhls, a White family, heard about their old farm lost at auction back in 1921 and how it had recently been sold to a Black man by the name of Floyd Hill. It was then that they decided it was time to get their farm back, and would stop at nothing to retrieve it! They had lost it during the Great Depression, sold at auction to L. Harvey & Sons Company, which kept it for 24 years. My grandfather, affectionately called “Pappy” by family and friends, knew he would own a large farm someday. Born March 26, 1907, he disregarded southern racism. Pappy, in the early years of “freedom,” was educated, though education offered to Blacks was not on equal footing. The 1954 Brown Mt. 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”
v. Board of Education case, which resulted in the end of segregation in public schools, had not yet been heard by the Supreme Court. The story of my grandfather’s momentous case began with his initial purchase in 1945, ending with a win 14 years later! You’ll agree it’s worthy of its own place in history once you hear these details. Although racism loomed large in the south, my grandfather decided it didn’t matter. He kept his dream alive until one day, he would find his own part of the earth to own. His desire and will, mixed with determination and unstoppable effort, caused him to win. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” My grandfather did exactly that. On Oct. 17, 1945, Mary Heartt Harvey, et al., conveyed the 227.2acre farm to Floyd and Pearl Hill. Real estate attorney Walton LaRoque knew of Pappy’s dream of owning a farm and he financed the tract to R. A. Whitaker, Trustee, as security for the payment of a principal indebtedness of $4,000 to LaRoque. Our grandparents were able to purchase the entire farm for only $6,363.50. With a $4,000 deposit, Pappy paid without delay, and LaRoque transferred the farm to him. Though he was able to purchase the farm, Pappy had a big fight on his hands. His family was terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan, which burned crosses in his yard and terrorized the family.
Working together, LaRoque, L. Harvey & Sons and a team of dynamic attorneys all stuck by my grandparents. They fought court after court to defend Floyd Hill. Victorious, history will forever reflect these records as cited in the North Carolina Supreme Court records. Chief Justice William H. Bobbitt ruled in Pappy’s favor, citing: “By deed dated October 17, 1945, Floyd Hill and wife, Pearl Hill, conveyed the tracts to R.A. Whitaker, Trustee, as security for the payment of a principal indebtedness of $4,000 to Walter D. LaRoque.” The facts in the case documented the judge’s declaration that no living DeBruhl or any unborn DeBruhls could ever again file suit for possession of the Hill farm. Today, 74 years later, the Hill farm thrives and its great legacy lives on! WI 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 Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.
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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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FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 47 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church
Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor
Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724
700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849 Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00am 5th Sundays: 9:30am 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30pm
Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 a.m. 7 10:00 a.m. Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org
Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ
Blessed Word of Life Church
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 11:00am Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30am 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00am Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30pm Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00am “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”
Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45am Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00pm Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00pm 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& 11:00am Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30pm 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: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00am Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30pm
Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am Worship Services Bible Study: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30pm (dinner @ 5:30pm) Sunday School: 9:00am – Hour of Power
www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org
“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantdc.org
Campbell AME Church
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: pm “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020
Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: gr8luv4u2@gmail.com
www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org
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 AM and 10:45am Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45am; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45am; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6am & 6:30pm 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
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: 9:00am Worship Service: 10:00am Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45pm Thur. Bible Study: 7:15pm
(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 Reverend Gerald H. Hesson Interim Pastor
Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher
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
“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital”
Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:20 a.m. Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net
Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor
Turning Hearts Church
421 Alabama Ave. SE Washington, DC 20032 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445
“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net
Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 am
E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org “God is Love”
Isle of Patmos Baptist Church
Twelfth Street Christian Church
Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org
Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45am Church School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45am Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 pm Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30am
Crusader Baptist Church
901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10am Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00pm Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00pm Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10am
48 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
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 a.m. Service 11:00 a.m. Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 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: 10:15AM Sunday School: 9:00am Monday: Noon Bible School Wednesday: Noon & 7PM: 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 a.m. Sunday School: 9:15 a.m. 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: 8:00am & 10:45am Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30pm Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00pm 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: 10:00 A.M. Sunday School: 8:30 A.M. Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10: am Holy Communion: First Sunday 10: am Sunday School: 9: am Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30pm Motto: "Faith On The Hill"
Mount Moriah Baptist Church
Eastern Community Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 P.M Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 P.M. 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
Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior 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
“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org
Salem Baptist Church
Holy Trinity United Baptist Church
Florida Avenue Baptist Church
Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor
Rev. Dr. Morris L Shearin, Sr. 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
“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 p.m. Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 p.m. Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 p.m. Noonday Prayer Every Thursday
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Rev. Joan E. Buchanan Executive Pastor 2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304 Service and Times Early Worship Service: 7:30am Worship Service: 11:00am New Member’s Class: 9:45am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00am Church School: 9:45am Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00pm Saturday Bible Study: 11:00am Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00am
Service and Times 9:30AM. Sunday Church School 11:00 Am. Sunday Worship Service The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Wednesday 7:00pm Prayer & Praise Services 7:30pm. Bible Study Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries 10:30am 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 A.M. Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Friday Evening Service: 7:00 P.M. ; 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 A.M. Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 A.M. Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 P.M. 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. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor
Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor
Rev. David McIntosh-Peters Pastor
Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor
Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor
Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III 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
917 N St. NW - Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-4294
9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288
Service and Times Sunday Service: 10 am Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 am 1st Sunday Baptism: 10: am 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10 am Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 pm Prayer Meeting: 7:45 pm
Service and Times Sunday Morning Prayer Service: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:15 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship: 10:40 a.m. Third Sunday Baptismal & Holy Communion:10:30 a.m. Tuesday Church At Study Prayer & Praise: 6:30 p.m.
Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 a.m. Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 a.m. Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 p.m.
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 a.m. Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30 a.m. & 10:30a.m. Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 12 Noon
Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”
The Church Where GOD Is Working.... And We Are Working With GOD
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” Email: pastorstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org
Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 a.m. Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30 a.m. Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 p.m. 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.
FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019 49 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2019 ADM 000004 Lucia Anne Browne Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Kimberly Sellers Miller and Melony Renee Harley, whose addresses are 10402 Bending Brook Way, Upper Marlboro MD 20772 and 8289 Londonderry Ct., Laurel MD 20707, were appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Lucia Anne Browne who died on June 3, 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 7/24/2019. 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 7/24/2019, 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: 1/24/2019 Kimberly Sellers Miller Melony Renee Harley Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Foreign No. 2019 FEP 2
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 40
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001531
Evelyn B. Taylor Decedent
September 22, 2007 Date of Death
Joan M. Wilbon 1120 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney
Joshua H. Reeves Name of Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS Leslie Kay Hardcastle, whose address is 104 Barryview Court, Hendersonville, TN 37075 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Joshua H. Reeves, deceased, by the District Court for Shawnee County, State of Kansas, on May 9, 2018. Service of process may be made upon Joshua Branson, 1615 M Street, NW, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20036 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. Decedent has cause of action in DC. The decedent owned District of Columbia personal property. 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: 1/24/2019
Eric W. Taylor and Lynne T. Hundley, whose address is 479 Ridgewood Rd., Middletown, CT 06457 & 1124 Buchanan St., NW, Washington, DC 20011, were appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Evelyn B. Taylor who died on August 16, 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 7/31/2019. 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 7/31/2019, 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: 1/31/2019 Eric W. Taylor Lynne T. Hundley Personal Representative
Leslie Kay Hardcastle Personal Representative Anne Meister Register of Wills
TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
LEGAL NOTICES
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2018 ADM 001073 Roscoe Hemsley aka Roscoe L. Hemsley aka Roscoe Larry Hemsley Decedent
Lory Shaw Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Patricia Ouzts, whose address is 504 Millrace Court, Capital Heights, MD 20743, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lory Shaw who died on November 25, 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 7/31/2019. 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 7/31/2019, 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: 1/31/2019 Patricia Ouzts Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY
Valerie J. Edwards, Esq. 1725 DeSales Street, NW Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Roscoe Larry Butler, whose address is 1324 Talbert Court, SE, Unit A, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Roscoe Hemsley aka Roscoe L. Hemsley aka Roscoe Larry Hemsley who died on April 13, 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 7/31/2019. 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 7/31/2019, 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: 1/31/2019 Roscoe Larry Butler Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY
Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Anne Meister Register of Wills 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. 2018 ADM 000041
Administration No. 2018 ADM 001456
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000038
Administration No. 2019 ADM 42
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000044
Eileen Juanita Thomas Decedent
Sherman Wade Eason Decedent
Mary V. Murphy Decedent
Mary M. Thomas aka Mary Magdeline Thomas Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Nakia V. Gray, Esq. Gray Legal P.C. 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney
Lee Dawson aka Lee Anita Dawson aka Rhode Anita Dawson Decedent
Nakia V. Gray, Esquire 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Veronica Lynn Riley Guyther, whose address is 16021 Dorset Road, Laurel, MD 20707, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Eileen Juanita Thomas who died on December 18, 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 7/31/2019. 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 7/31/2019, 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: 1/31/2019 Veronica Lynn Riley Guyther Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
James Larry Frazier, Esq. 918 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Kenneth Brown, whose address is 3000 Pineview Court, NE, Washington, DC 20018, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Sherman Wade Eason who died on October 26, 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 7/31/2019. 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 7/31/2019, 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: 1/31/2019 Kenneth Brown Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
Joseph W. Murphy, whose address is 1311 Queen Street NE, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Mary V. Murphy who died on 9/26/2018 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 August 7, 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 August 7, 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: February 7, 2019 Joseph W. Murphy Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Washington Informer
50 FEBRUARY 7 - 13, 2019
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Ivy Thomas, whose address is 4801 Iroquois Street, College Park, MD 20740, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Mary Thomas aka Mary Magdeline Thomas who died on October 14, 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 August 7, 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 August 7, 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: February 7, 2019 Ivy Thomas Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS David Robert Baylor, whose address is 3017 Massachusetts Ave., SE, Apt. 3, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lee Dawson aka Lee Anita Dawson aka Rhode Anita Dawson who died on October 8, 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 August 7, 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 August 7, 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: 2/7/2019 David Robert Baylor Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer
Washington Informer
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Foreign No. 2019 FEP 000006
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2019 ADM 000073 James Mitchell aka James Anthony Mitchell Decedent
June 4, 2016 Date of Death Janice Browne Sellers Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS Kimberly Sellers Miller, whose address is 10402 Bending Brook Way, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Janice Browne Sellers, deceased, by the Amherst Circuit Court for Amherst County, State of Virginia, on October 6, 2016. Service of process may be made upon Anthony Jones, Jr., 1406 3rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001 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: 4200 Lane Place, NE, Washington, DC 20019. 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: 2/7/2019 Kimberly Sellers Miller Personal Representative
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Jai-Ahmal Mitchell, whose address is 216 Jefferson Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of James Mitchell aka James Anthony Mitchell who died on September 2, 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 8/7/2019. 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 8/7/2019, 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: 2/7/2019 Jai-Ahmal Mitchell Personal Representative
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
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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. 2001 ADM 1240
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000045
Administration No. 2019 ADM 000033
Geneva T. Jones Decedent
Catherine Armstead Decedent
Henry Wade Geter, Sr. Decedent
Nakia V. Gray, Esq. Gray Legal, P.C. 9701 Apollo Dr., Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney
Larry C. Williams 7600 Georgia Ave., NW Suite 405 Washington, DC 20012 Attorney
Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 9701 Apollo Drive Suite 100 Largo, MD 20774 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Lenora Lee, whose address is 2269 Pointer Lane, Hayes, VA 23072, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Geneva T. Jones who died on February 15, 2001 with 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 (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 August 7, 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 August 7, 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.
Mary E. Wood, whose address is 6731 13th Place, NW, Washington, DC 20012, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Catherine Armstead who died on December 16, 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 August 7, 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 August 7, 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.
Surdell Geter, whose address is 39 V Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Henry Wade Geter, Sr. who died on October 19, 2004 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 7/24/2019. 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 7/24/2019, 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: February 7, 2019
Date of first publication: 2/7/2019
Date of first publication: 1/24/2019
Lenora Lee Personal Representative
Mary E. Wood Personal Representative
Surdell Geter Personal Representative
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Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Anne Meister Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
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MALVEAUX from Page 26
where, but especially not in the wealthiest nation on earth. The Raise the Wage Act would bring the federal minimum wage in line with economic reality and bring us closer to the promise of the American dream. WI
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be expected from the rising purchasing power of the public.” In fact, researchers estimate that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage would increase sales by about $2 billion each year. Raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would lift wages for 41 million American workers, including 40 percent of all African-American workers. The average age of workers who will benefit from the bill is 36. Contrary to claims by opponents of a fair federal living wage, moderate increases in the minimum wage have little to no impact on employment. A University of California at Berkeley study last year examined the effect of minimum wage increases in six cities and found pay increases for workers and no significant employment reductions. A more extensive study by the London School of Economics examined the impact of 138 separate minimum wage increases implemented between 1979 and 2016 and found no overall reduction in
low-wage jobs. Income inequality in the United States is out of control and threatens not just economic stability of our nation, but our democracy itself. Full-time workers shouldn’t live in poverty any-
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experts argued, “the only solution is a negotiated settlement.” They called on the U.S. and outside countries to support negotiations between the government and its opponents, rather than to risk fostering a coup that might plunge the country into further violence. It is a time for diplomacy and for restraint, not another intervention that unleashes violence that we surely will come to regret. WI
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strikes and demonstrations from the opposition. The result was the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship that consolidated itself with savage brutality. The U.S. has a long, sordid history of regime change — military and covert interventions aimed at overthrowing governments — in Latin America, a record that belies our proclamations about in-
ternational law and a rule-based global order. We would do well to avoid adding to that regrettable record. Last week, an open letter signed by 70 scholars and other experts on Latin America called on the Trump administration to “cease interfering in Venezuela’s internal politics, especially for the purpose of overthrowing the country’s government.” Given how polarized the country is, the
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De n : Sade
JACKSON from Page 26
a story of the ways we have moved our hearts. What do we mean when we say Black community? What do we mean when we embrace the theme of migrations? Are we aware of the rigors our people experienced when they moved South to North? Do we honor them with our presence? I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. Sadie Tanner Moselle Alexander, but because she was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in economics (and one of the three who were the first to receive the degree on the same
We move. We migrate. We seek the best that our nation has to offer, and when it does not provide what we need, we move, and we move again.
Photo
and women who moved to Chicago had to change the way they chose to encounter the world. They had to move from being sharecroppers to being entitled voters. Their movement changed the way that politics and economics influenced major cities. Even though their movement did not necessarily result in “fairness,” their movement and their changed participation made things far more fair, and the political process somewhat more representative. Migration. Movement. Mobilization. A shifting of the brain. A shifting of the heart. While ASALH would like us to focus on the physical migration that happened in the 20th century, I would also like us to focus on the necessary heart migration that must take place to propel us through the 21st century. Our Black History Month story can’t simply be a story of the ways we moved to accommodate economic shifts, but it must also be
weekend), I feel a bond with her and have written about her life and her career. She wrote about migration, about the folks who came from the South to cities like Philadelphia to find a space for themselves. She wrote about the many ways cities were unwelcoming to new residents. She wrote then, like we might write now, about the many ways our urban landscape changes with mobility and migration. In choosing “Black Migrations” as a Black History Month theme, ASALH has chosen to examine the mobility that is part of African-American life in this country. We move because we want safer space and place. We move because we flee structural danger. We move because we are African and American and moving is part of our DNA. We move. We migrate. We seek the best that our nation has to offer, and when it does not provide what we need, we move, and we move again. WI
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problem is strong leadership that keeps American people as the priority and puts pressure on pharmaceutical companies to remove self-interest from the equation. He also took a swipe at Democrats for championing free health care. “If that plan were executed, it would create a $32 trillion bill in 10 years,” he said. “It’s not realistic to execute.”
WILLIAMS from Page 27
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who could not resist performing will do something to redeem themselves. In the Black community, we always have important causes for which we have to fight, so all is not lost for them. They can still help to do something good for Black America. There is a bill in Congress on Voting Rights and Anti-Corruption they can support. Bennett College urgently needs funds to stay open — as do many histor-
ASKIA from Page 27
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REED from Page 27
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“It is incumbent upon the United States to lead, to continue to maintain a global coalition against terror and to stand by our local partners,” said the amendment. “The best I can figure is we know that Trump in many ways was the useful idiot for the GOP and like any useful idiot when he became and as big as he becomes a problem, they’re going to discard him,” said Dr. Greg Carr, chair of the
Schultz’s “independent” run is viewed unfavorably by Democrats, Republicans and independents. In a Change Research poll, 50 percent of Democratic respondents said they viewed Schultz as “unfavorable,” while 43 percent of Republican and 31 percent of independent respondents said the same. Schultz bought Starbucks, which grew from 11 stores to more than 28,000 under his leadership. In 2018, Starbucks ranked
fifth on Fortune’s list of “World’s Most Admired Companies.” He is a former owner of the Seattle SuperSonics and was a member of the Board of Directors at Square, Inc. He was named by Forbes in 2016 as the 232nd richest person in the U.S., with a net worth of $3.1 billion. If only any of that mattered to Blacks. It should — and we should stop being prime prey for professional politicians. WI
ically Black colleges and universities. Rep. Lucy McBath from Atlanta already has challengers for the next election after winning her race just a few weeks ago; she could use early support to protect her seat. Sen. Kamala Harris is leading the presidential race and could use help. The Progressive National Baptists need support for their campaign against Wells Fargo for causing so many in the Black community to lose their homes; they ask that we stop banking with Wells Fargo.
The National Congress of Black Women, National Black Alliance and Clear the Airwaves need help with the Respect Us campaign by refraining from spending money with McDonald’s, Subway restaurants, Kohl’s, JCPenney’s and Adidas so long as they spend their advertising dollars on radio stations that play hateful, derogatory, misogynistic rap. Those are some of the ways all of us win something bigger than the Super Bowl. WI
Department of African American Studies. “It seems to me that the first time they’ve had any conflict with Trump was about this wall business and the federal government. All they needed him to do was be an ‘auto-pen’ to sign for their judges which they wanted, and for deregulation which they wanted, and for their massive tax giveaway and wealth transfer. Those are the three things they wanted and he was great with that.” Pelosi cut her political teeth in
the rough-and-tumble Baltimore political theater, where her father and brother were both mayors of Charm City, so she’s dealt with characters like The Donald before. Trump, on the other hand, is accustomed to politicians seeking to curry his favor, rather than those who will stand up to him. “I think that she was very rigid,” Trump said of the House speaker in a Twitter storm, “but I think she is very bad for our country. She knows that you need a barrier. She knows that we need border security. She wanted to win a political point. I happen to think it’s very bad politics because basically she wants open borders. She doesn’t mind human trafficking or she wouldn’t do this.” But Trump knew he had been bettered by the woman from California. “She can keep playing her games, but we will win,” 45 continued. “Because we have a much better issue. On a political basis, what she’s doing is — I actually think it’s bad politics, but much more importantly it’s very bad for our country.” Trump remains alone. “Mitch McConnell is just basically decided this is the end for my party,” Carr said. “This is the end for my ideology and I’m going to ride this until the wheels fall off. I’m gonna get as many judges that I can get on the bench, maybe extend this thing another generation or two through the courts. And other than that, oh, that’s my legacy.” Is a requiem for the Trumpster coming soon? Soon enough, I suppose. WI
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FOR 2 FULL YEARS with 2-year agreement Equipment, taxes and other charges extra, and subject to change. See details below.
Go to xfinity.com, call 1-800-xfinity or visit an Xfinity Store today.
Offer ends 2/24/19. Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. New residential customers only. Limited to the Standard Triple Play with Performance Pro 150 Mbps Internet and Voice Unlimited services. Early termination fee applies if all Xfinity services are cancelled during the agreement term. Equipment, installation, taxes and fees, including regulatory recovery fees, Broadcast TV Fee (up to $10.00/mo.), Regional Sports Fee (up to $8.25/mo.), and other applicable charges extra, and subject to change during and after agreement term. After term agreement, or if any service is cancelled or downgraded, regular rates apply. Service limited to a single outlet. May not be combined with other offers. TV: Limited Basic service subscription required to receive other levels of service. Access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Pandora on Xfinity X1 requires an eligible set-top box with Xfinity TV and Internet service. Netflix streaming membership and Prime Video subscription required. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube and Pandora use your Internet service and will count against any Xfinity data plan. Internet: Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed. Voice: If there is a power outage or network issue, calling, including calls to 911 may be unavailable. Call for restrictions and complete details. © 2019 Comcast. All rights reserved. NPA221830 NED-AA-Q1-BAU-V3
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THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM1/28/19
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