VOL. 54, NO. 13 • JANUARY 10 - 16, 2019
Are You Serving as a Drum Major for Peace?
Step Afrika! Marks 25th Year Page 28
D.C. Debates Early 2020 Primary By James Wright WI Contributing Writer If the longest-tenured member of the D.C. Council has his way, the city’s 2020 primary election won’t be in June, but earlier in the year. Councilman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who serves as the D.C. Democratic State Committee’s national committeeman and has been a member of the District’s legislative body since 1991, said during a Jan. 3 committee meeting that the District should move its presidential and council primary from June to possibly April. “You saw what happened last June — the turnout was horrible,” Evans said, noting that only 18.66 percent of all registered D.C. voters cast ballots in the June 19 primary. “California has moved up their primary date to March and others are looking at doing the same.”
PRIMARY Page 34
Anton Black, Unarmed, Dies While in Police Custody By John Muller, Special to the Washington Informer
CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION SWEARING-IN
5 The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF) hosts a Ceremonial Swearing-In for current and newly-elected Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members of the 116th Congress on Thursday, Jan. 3 at the Warner Theater in Northwest with a record-high 55 members. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
To Carry on the Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins This month, members of the Ward 8 community will celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy during a peace walk and parade along a major corridor named for the martyred civil rights figure who championed nonviolent resistance in the face of racial injustice. Emma P. Ward, a senior and youth advocate, said the annual event, themed “From Many to One Beloved Community,” should reso-
Blacks in Eastern Shore Seek Justice for Teen
nate with the young people, particularly those whose friends and family met a fate similar to King. “In the schools, the youth often say Dr. King was a good man. Some would even ask why someone would do that to him,” said Ward, Ms. Senior DC 2011 and retired teacher. “They can feel that. Many of them had that experience and could identify with someone killing someone else.” Ward counted among nearly 70 people — including members of government agencies, churches,
KING WALK Page 26
5 The MLK Peacewalk and Parade will take place Monday, January 21 in Southeast. (WI File Photo)
In the close-knit, Black enclave of Greensboro in Maryland’s Eastern Shore, boasting fewer than 2,000 residents – founded in 1732 along the banks of the Choptank River and once travelled by freedom fighters like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman – many citizens say their lives have become subjected to “imminent threat and danger.” Nearly four months after an unarmed youth, 19-year old Anton Black, died while in police custody, his family awaits a full report from the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit, demanding the public disclosure of existing police body camera footage, reportedly 37 minutes long. Family members have called for the prosecution of Greensboro Police Department Officer Thomas Webster IV who, before joining the small-town Maryland department, made national headlines after being indicted and later acquitted of assault charges in Dover, Delaware. An organization whose membership continues to swell, the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black, recently generated a standing room only crowd demanding that Webster be placed on immediate leave. But after a closed-doors executive session, the mayor, members of the town council and the chief of police decided to retain Webster, casting a shroud of fear
JUSTICE Page 8
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