The Washington Informer - January 1, 2015

I N S I D E

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

City Block to Be Renamed for Lawrence Guyot, Page 17

Church Social Events Draw Members, Page 12

Vol. 50, No. 12 Jan. 1 - Jan. 7 2015

Julianne Malveaux Says Every Death is a Tragedy, Page 16

The National Black United Front and other community organizations sponsored a Kwanzaa celebration in the District on Sunday, Dec. 28. See page 10. / Photo by Shevry Lassiter

Police Brutality Top 2014 Legal Cases Bar Association President Said Major Grand Jury Breaches Revealed

By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer Pamela J. Meanes put a lot of thought into what she believes are the most significant law and civil rights cases of 2014.

Certainly, for most African-Americans grand jury decisions such as the Eric Garner

choking death in New York and the Michael Brown shooting in Missouri immediately come to mind.

But, those didn’t exactly make it into a courtroom. At least not yet.

This year, the United States Supreme Court ruled on two significant cases that everyone

should watch with a keen eye, said Meanes, the president of the National Bar Association, which counts as the oldest and largest national association of black attorneys and judges in the country.

Those cases involved whether a police officer could search an individual’s telephone and

whether a state can implement Voter ID laws.

“Both of these cases will have a major impact on civil rights,” said Meanes, the first African-American to become partner of St. Louis’s largest law firm, Thompson Coburn LLP. “The most significant cases of 2014 were those in the area of

police brutality. These cases revealed major breaches in the grand jury and prosecutorial systems.”

Meanes said the case of Riley v. California proved to be significant because it tackled the issue of whether officers could

See MEANES on Page 8

Celebrating 50 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area

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Dr. Clayton Lawrence Host LEAP Foundation DC Annual Toy Drive

Dr. Clayton Lawrence

Dr. Clayton Lawrence hosted his LEAP Foundation DC Annual Toy Drive. It was held at his fabulous condo at the Residences at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, DC The mission of the Foundation is to provide educational & training opportunities to meet the aspirations of the underserved citizens of DC. For more information go to www.leapfoundationdc.org Below - Dr. Lawrence with Atty. Richard Bell

Dr. Lawrence with Atty. Derrick A. Pitts

Below - Dr. Lawrence with Trelane Patrick

The Rev .Dr.. George E. Holmes (Chaplain & Religious Chair of the DC Democratic State Committee) with Dr. Lawrence Below - Dr. Lawrence with Mrs. Christy & Mr. Robert White

Below - Dr. Laura Meyers, Dr. Lawrence, Masia Fernanda Barja & Wendy Cumberland

Dr. Lawrence with Atty. Sheryl Portee

Ms. Kathie Evans, Dr. Lawrence & Dr. Laura Meyers

Below - Atty. Brian Edge, Dr. Lawrence & Mark Ross

(Below) Vashti Henriques with Dr. Lawrence

Above - Dr. Lawrence with with C. Brian Williams

“Mickey” Thompson (Publisher of Social Sightings-The CoLumn & The MagaZine) with Dr. Lawrence

Dr. Lawrence with Mercy Morganfield

Want to publish.your event on the Social Sightings -The CoLumn page Contact SocialSightings@aol.com Kurt Pommonths, Sr, Photographer * Photo Enhancer * Graphic Designer Social Sightins The CoLumn is published in the Hill Rag, DC- Mid-City, East of the River & the Washimgton Informer Newspaper 2003 © SOCIAL SIGHTINGS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED — DUPLICATION IN ANY FORM REQUIRES WRITTEN PERMISSION | E-mail SocialSightings@aol.com

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1/1/2015 – 1/7//2015 NATIONAL Page 4 BLACK FACTS Page 6 BUSINESS William Reed’s Business Exchange Page 11 COMMENTARIES Pages 15-16 LIFESTYLE Pages 17-18

Dozens of supporters and contributors gathered over the holidays at Torrie’s At Wilson’s Restaurant for a fun-filled event where members of the community ate to their hearts’ delight. Pictured are: Mertine Moore Brown (l-r), Rhozier T. “Roach” Brown, Vida Ali, Virginia Ali and Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness. /Photo by Travis Riddick

SPORTS Page 20

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around the region

SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY

Women Break the Cycle of Domestic Violence

NATIONAL

By Tia Carol Jones

law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow sense of uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- domestic violence victims and stricter restraining order policies, Visit our updated Web site old daughter told her the father survivors are treated. more rights for victim's families and give us your comments of her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal to intervene on behalf of a vicfor a chance to win a gift from life, and the life of their child, story, her own personal pain to tim, a domestic violence assessThe Washington Informer she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training for law enforcement with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life ProtecEmail comments to: of the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book will tion Act and mandatory counselrburke@ start the Saving Promise cam- “get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. paign. case in such a way, the average “If we are ever going to eradiwashingtoninformer.com “It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, we must that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of the coin. loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to have a dia- We need to address both the vicshared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow ence at the District Heights Also present at the event was said.

Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise Municipal Center. The sympo- who was sentenced to six consec- awareness among children in sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole and private schools. She Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba for nearly five decades. /Photo courtesy Library ofpublic Congress Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatCenter of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence.

Heights and the National Hook- 2002. Mildred Muhammad is “We have to stop being pasUp of Black Women. the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilMarlow has written a book, an organization that helps the dren about domestic violence,” “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic violence Marlow said. story about four generations of and their children.

Marlow has worked to break domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of abuse in her family, inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. It is and is confident the policies she and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process.

She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad said “I plan to take these policies to excerpts from her book, she still people who want to help a Congress and implore them to In Memoriam Dec. 17 announcement, carrying ests,” Obama said. “Through

By Barrington M. Salmon Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. can not believe the words came signs domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow these changes, we intend to said. crecalling Obama a coward, WI Wilhelmina J. Rolark fromStaff her. Writer@bsalmondc “Color Me Butterfly” be careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these poliate more opportunities for the castigating the new policy and The Washington Informer Newspaper won the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.”

American and Cuban people, denouncing Obama as a traiTHE WASHINGTON INFORMER MIAMI – When Jennifer that she may be in “survival InPUBLISHER Memoriam Books” Award.

Tia Carol Jones can be reached NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414)Dr.isCalvin W. Rolark, Sr. There have been protests and begin a new chapter among Stokes-Fearing heard that when Pres- tor.

Denise Rolark Barnes “I was just 16-years-old mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net published weekly on each Thursday.

Wilhelmina J. Rolark other predominantly ident Barack Obama would my eye first blackened and bemy in “Before you get to 'I'mCuban going the nations of the Americas.”

Periodicals postage paid at Washing“We communities.

Demonstrators gin easing sanctions and norTHE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published STAFF lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI are separated by just over ton, D.C. and additional mailing ofweekly Thursday.

Periodicals malize relations with Cuba,presiher object to any deal with “tyrants,” 90 miles. But year after year, an Elaine Davis-Nickens, fices.

Newsonand advertising deadlinepostage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication.

Denise W. Barnes, Editor is Monday prior to publication. Andentthought, of the National Hook-Up first she said, was that it referring to Raul and Fidel Cas- ideological and economic barrier Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The nouncements must be received two of Black Women, saidathere no tro, and they say Obama should hardened between our two counshould have happened whileisago.

RonPOST Burke,MASTER: Advertising/ Marketing Director Washington Informer. All rights reserved.

Send change of addressweeks event. Copyright 2015 consistency in the way domestic es toprior The to Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, make no concessions to the Cas- tries. … This is fundamentally “It’s been a long time coming.

by D.C. The 20032.

Washington Informer.

All Lafayette IV,without Assistant PhotopermisEditor No part of this publication may be Barnes, reproduced written violence issues are dealt with by about freedom and openness, It will make it easier for people tro regime. rights POSTMASTER: sionreserved. from the publisher. TheSend Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of and also expresses my belief in There’s lingering bitterness to travel,” said the Fort LauJohn E. De Sports Photo change of addresses to The rates Washphotographs.

Subscription are $30 per year, twoFreitas, years $45.

Papers willEditor be received not more than 3117 a weekMartin after publication.

Make checks payable to: ington Informer, Luther derdale, Florida, resident whose against Castro, his brother Raul the power of people-to-people Dorothy Rowley, Online Editor King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. mother, Lourdes Matos, came and the communist government, engagement.”

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER 20032. No part of this publication may Obama said he’s instructed Brian Young, Design & Layout to Miami as a 9-year-old. “Now, particularly from older Cubans, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. • Washington, D.C. 20032 be reproduced without written permisPhone: 202 561-4100 • Fax: 202 574-3785 Secretary of State John Kerry who were forced into or chose people can only go a couple of sion from the publisher. The Informer Mable Neville, Bookkeeper E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com exile when Castro and his reb- to review Cuba’s designation times a year.

My mother went in Newspaper cannot guarantee the return www.washingtoninformer.com of photographs. Subscription rates are Mickey Thompson, Social Sightings columnist August of 2013. She hadn’t seen el forces overthrew President as a state sponsor of terrorism; $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will her family since 1969, when she Fulgencio Batista in 1959. The said steps are being taken to PUBLISHERPalmer, Social Media Specialist Stacey be received not more than a week after came to Miami with my grand- wealthier and more well off were increase travel, commerce, and Denise Rolark Barnes publication. Make checks payable to: Angie Johnson, Circulation mother and uncle. I have family able to flee, leaving behind prop- the flow of information to and STAFF REPORTERS THE WASHINGTON Brooke N. Garner INFORMER Managing Editor Tia C. Jones, Ed Laiscell, in Cuba who’re in poor health. erty, land and businesses that the from Cuba; and promised he Carla PeayLuther King, Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, 3117 Martin Jr. Ave., S.E I don’t physically know people Cuban government seized. De- would be “significantly increasREPORTERS Ron BurkeD.C. 20032 Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, Joseph Young Washington, in my family, like mom’s aunts spite an estimated 600 attempts ing the amount of money that Mable Whittaker Bookkeeper Stacy Brown, Sam P.K. Collins, Eve Ferguson, Phone: 202 561-4100 LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS and cousins. It would be good on Castro’s life by the Central can be sent to Cuba,” as well as Fax:John 202 574-3785 D. Kevin McNeir, Dorothy E. De Freitas Sports Elton Editor Hayes, Lafayette Barnes, IV, to have the freedom to see them Intelligence Agency, the failed removing limits on remittances news@washingtoninformer.com Victor Holt Photo Editor John E. DeSalmon Freitas, Maurice Fitzgerald, Rowley, Barrington www.washingtoninformer.com Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic Design invasion at the Bay of Pigs and that support humanitarian projmore frequently.”

Joanne Jackson, Roy Lewis, Robert Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster Ridley, Victor Holt Stokes-Fearing, a 34-year-old the more than 50-year economic ects, the Cuban people, and the L.Y. Marlow sector. service account manager for embargo, the Castro regime has emerging Cuban private CIRCULATION PHOTOGRAPHERS Paul Trantham Much, however, depends on UnitedHealthcare in Sunrise, outlasted eight American adminRaul Castro’s willingness to alFlorida, said she’s been observ- istrations.

John E. DeFreitas, Shevry Lassiter, ing the furor the announcement “In the most significant low greater freedom of expresRoy Lewis, Nancy Shia has stirred up in Miami’s émigré changes in our policy in more sion, improve human rights and community. Angry Cubans ral- than 50 years, we will end an out- stop the government’s harsh 4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com lied at Jose Marti Park in Little dated approach that, for decades, treatment of dissenters.

Havana within hours of the has failed to advance our interSee CUBA on Page 5

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WI Staff Writer

Obama’s Cuba Announcement Rattles Nation’s Status Quo Angers, Cheers Cuban Emigres, Observers

“

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.

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CUBA continued from Page 4 Novelist, columnist and wag Carl Hiaasen calls Obama’s decision “an unexpected outbreak of common sense,” and Americans and second- and third-generation Cubans appear to agree. Polls since the announcement show solid support for Obama’s push to thaw the frosty relations between America and its neighbor 90 miles away from Florida’s shores.

Predictably, conservatives, the Cuban lobby and lawmakers who are either Cuban or support the embargo were quick to hammer Obama for offering an olive branch. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez and Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen were all quick to disparage Obama, saying his decision is tantamount to appeasing the Castro government.

Sparks are flying between Rubio and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who fall on opposite sides of the issue.

“I do not believe we can keep doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result,” Obama said to his detractors. “It does not serve America’s interests.”

Stokes-Fearing, a Fort Lauderdale resident, acknowledged the deep divisions and the generational divide over the issue while discussing the human costs of being separated from family for such long periods of time. “(Normalization) isn’t going to please everybody. It depends on your viewpoint,” Stokes-Fearing said. “I would hope for equality, that you can attain what you want and have the opportunities you have here.”

Henry Crespo Sr., president of The Democratic Black Caucus of Florida, said he’s not

particularly surprised at the proposed changes, but added that there’s not yet enough information available to assess many of the implications of the U.S.– Cuba rapprochement.

“We have to see what the particulars are about for travel restrictions, for example. I’d be very interested to see what that looks like so people can go to Cuba and go on fact-finding tours,” he said.

“We know there’s no real political voice and need to look at the class differences. The majority of Cubans here were those who were able to come.”

He agreed that support for détente depends on one’s age.

“I would say that the generation where I’m in, anywhere from late 20s to 50, are more optimistic from the standpoint that something has to change,” said Crespo, a civic commentator and writer on culture, politics and social issues who has Cuban roots.

“My grandmother’s age group is more hard-line to change and wants things to remain as they are.”

Douglas, who would not disclose his last name to protect his wife’s family in Cuba, sat in front of a Miami Lakes bistro, carefully mulling the changing political landscape.

“It’s something that should have been done a long time ago,” said the retired attorney who’s married to a Cubana and who said he’s traveled to Cuba frequently over the last 30 years.

“Quite simply, the U.S.’s feelings were hurt because Cuba fought against their world domination.

I’ve been all over Cuba, and I’ve seen the damage the embargo has done to people. When the subsidies from the Soviet Union were taken away, people starved.

People ate ketchup, and an epidemic of blindness broke out

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301.292.9141/FAX 301.292.9142/Mobile 703.819.0920 doris@mcmilloncommunications.com/www.mcmilloncommunications.com

because of malnutrition. I’ll never forget that.”

While he was in Cuba, Douglas, 84, said, adequate transportation was almost non-existent and people walked everywhere.

In rural areas, pedestrians shared space with oxen- and donkey-drawn carts, the majority of ordinary Cubans couldn’t afford to buy the food available in government grocery stores, and most lived a hard-scrabble existence, he said.

His wife, who settled in the U.S. a year ago, had almost no reaction to the news, Douglas said, and he said he’d seen Cubans Denise Rolark Barnes in South Florida exhibit “many Independent Beauty Consultant mixed feelings.” www.marykay/drolark-barnes.com Mimi Machado-Luces, an Em202-236-8831 my-Award winning Afro-Venezuelan documentary filmmaker and promoter, could barely contain her excitement. “I’m overjoyed. I’m so unbelievably proud of how this entire shift took place from ‘El Papa’ Pope Francis serving as mediator facilitator to Obama and Raul Castro in their mutually agreeing to exchange wrongfully imprisoned people on both sides,” she said.

“He made me almost want to claim Catholicism again. This (301) 864-6070 is an outdated, generations-old sentiment and policy. The Rubios are out of touch with the new MCCOLLUM & ASSOCIATES, LLC Latino and the new Cuban.”

“Right now the veil of a revADA, Age Discrimination, Benefits, Civil Rights, olutionary society in Cuba is COBRA, Contracts, Deaf Law, Defamation, Disability Law, attractive, but racism and clasDiscipline, Discrimination, FMLA, FLSA, FOIA, sism is still very much alive and Family Responsibility, Harassment, HIPPA, OSHA, kickin.’”

As a consequence, MachaNational Origin Discrimination, Non-Compete, ‡ Please set all copy in upper and lowercase, flush left as indicated on artwork at these point sizes: Consultant name in 11-point Helvetica Neue Bo do-Luces said, she’s adopting a Beauty Consultant in 9-point Helvetica Neue Light;Discrimination, Web site or e-mail address in 9-point HelveticaAct, Neue Retaliation, Light; phone number in 9-point Helvetica Race Rehabilitation the Independent wait-and-see Toattitude about Beauty the Consultant: Only Company-approved Web sites obtained through the Mary Kay® Personal Web Site program may Severance Agreements, Sexual Harassment, Torts, fortunes of black Cubans, how Whistleblowing, Wage-and-Hour, Wrongful Discharge they’re treated and their chances for success and advancement if SERVING MARYLAND, DC, & NORTH CAROLINA capitalism takes hold in the iswww.jmlaw.net (301) 864-6070 jmccollum@jmlaw.net land nation.WI

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AROUND THE REGION WEEK OF JAN 1 TO JAN 7

Black Facts JAN. 1 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in rebel states with the exception of 13 parishes, including New Orleans, in Louisiana; 48 countries in West Virginia; and seven counties, including Norfolk, in Virginia. The proclamation did not apply to slaves in border states.

1916 – The first issue of The Journal of Negro History, which was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, is published. Its name is later changed to The Journal of African American History.

1956 - Sudan proclaims its independence.

1960 – Cameroon declares its independence.

1997 - Kofi Annan of Ghana becomes the first black secretary-general of the United Nations.

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JAN. 2 1915 – Historian John Hope Franklin is born.

1954 – Oprah Winfrey takes over as host of AM Chicago on WLS-TV. The show, which has low ratings when she takes over, becomes the top-rated talk program in Chicago within a few months.

1965 – Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a mass meeting at Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama, to kick off the Selma Voting Rights Campaign.

1968 – Actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. is born in the Bronx, New York.

1970 – Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president-emeritus of Morehouse College, is named president of the Atlanta Board of Education.

rial, who is the son of the first African American elected mayor of New Orleans, is born. He goes on to become mayor, as well.

1966 – A 67-year old white service station attendant shoots Sammy Younge, Jr., 21, to death. A Tuskegee Institute student and civil rights activist, Younge is shot after using the “Whites only” restroom at the service station where the attendant was working.

JAN. 4 1958 – Archie A. Alexander, a native of Iowa who ran his own engineering firm for 40 years, dies at 69. In 1954, President Eisenhower appointed him governor of the Virgin Islands.

1971 – The Congressional Black Caucus is organized.

1985 – Leontyne Price makes her farewell appearance with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City singing the title role in “Aida.”

1985 – Rep. William H. Gray, III is elected chairman of the House Budget Committee. He serves 12 years in Congress and later takes the helm of the United Negro College Fund. He dies in 2013.

1990 – Fashion designer Patrick Kelly, 35, a native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, dies in Paris.

Women who wore his clothing include Diana, the late princess of Wales, Grace Jones and Madonna.

JAN. 5 1911 – Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity was founded at Indiana

University as Kappa Alpha Nu. The name is changed in 1914.

One of the founders was Elder Watson Diggs, who served as the grand polemarch for the first six years.

JAN. 6 1993 – Famed jazz trumpeter John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie dies. Born in Cheraw, South Carolina, in 1917, Gillespie was proficient on the piano by age 4 and taught himself to play the trumpet and trombone. He joined Cab Calloway’s orchestra at 22.

2003 – Mamie Till Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, a 14-yearold Chicago youth who was murdered by racists for whistling at a white woman while visiting Mississippi in 1955, dies at age 81. Her insistence that her son’s casket remain open so that the world could see the brutal injuries he had suffered helped spur the Civil Rights Movement.

JAN. 7 1891 – Writer, folklorist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston is born in Notasulga, Alabama. She becomes one of the central figures of the Harlem Renaissance. A longtime resident of Eatonville, Florida, near Orlando, Hurston is celebrated there each year at the four-day Zora Neale Hurston Arts Festival.

LEONTYNE PRICE

JAN. 3 1961 – Adam Clayton Powell becomes chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor. During his three terms at the helm, the committee approved measures for federal minimum wage increases, school lunch programs and student loans.

1958 – National Urban League President and CEO Marc Mo-

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AROUND THE REGION INTERVIEWS AND PHOTOS BY ELTON HAYES

VIEWP INT

Tracy Oliver-Gary

Washington, D.C. I’m looking forward to working on having more patience. I’m also looking forward to seeing people around the nation grow together in terms of listening to one another, despite sharing different points of views. After seeing the police shooting protests and the issue now being discussed more frequently, I think we as a nation are on the right path and I look forward to seeing more of it in the New Year.

Steven Mungo

Fort Washington, Maryland I’m looking forward to seeing the progression of the health care system under [the Affordable Care Act].

I’m a diabetic and medicines are extremely expensive for me. So I’m looking forward to seeing how we can drop these costs in the New Year.

I make too much money to receive any assistance, but not enough to be able to pay for my medicine. I look forward to seeing how this will change next year.

AS WE BEGIN A NEW YEAR, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST IN 2015?

Anne McClain

Washington, D.C. I’m looking forward to seeing Washington, D.C. continue to grow as a city.

I look forward to seeing the city gain more political independence and hopefully eventual independent statehood. I also look forward to seeing the city have more autonomy with its budget. I also look forward to seeing how our new mayor [Muriel Bowser] does.

Phillip Walker

Washington, D.C. In 2015 I’m looking forward to seeing the end of political gridlock so that we can all move forward as a nation.

I think that we really need to continue to focus our attention on the development of our young people and continue to support them so that we can move out of the bottom tier of educational rankings as a country.

Aza Nedhari

Washington, D.C. I’m looking forward to graduating from graduate school in 2015. I am also looking forward to continuing to grow my business. I provide complimentary maternal health services to women who wouldn’t normally be able to afford these services on their own.

I look forward to continuing to help them and make an impact on their lives.

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AROUND THE REGION DID YOU KNOW? You may qualify for assistance in paying your home phone bill. Discounts for basic telephone service are available to eligible District of Columbia low-income residents.

Verizon Washington, D.C. Lifeline Plans: Verizon Washington, D.C.’s Lifeline service, known as “Economy II,” offers reduced rates on Verizon’s monthly telephone bill and one-time discounts on the cost of installing phone service. Additionally, toll blocking is available to Economy II customers at no charge.

Economy II Service*: $3.00 per month for unlimited local calling. Value-added services are not included (e.g., Call Waiting, Caller ID). No connection charges apply. Also, customers will not be charged for the federal subscriber line charge. Economy II customers who are 65 years of age or older can have this service at a further reduced rate of $1.00 per month. * Full terms and rates for these services, including terms of eligibility, are as set forth in federal and in Verizon’s tariffs on file with the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia. All rates, terms and conditions included in this notice are subject to change and are current at the time of printing.

Eligibility: District residents who have been certified by the Washington, DC Lifeline Program as eligible may apply for the Economy II program.

To apply, schedule an appointment with the Washington, DC Lifeline Program by calling 1-800-253-0846. Households in which one or more individuals are receiving benefits from one of the following public assistance programs or have an annual income that is 150% or below the Federal Poverty Guideline may be eligible.

P Food stamps P Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) P Supplemental Security Income P Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) P Federal Public Housing Assistance (Section 8) P Medicaid P National School Lunch Programs (Free Lunch Program)

Restrictions: P No other working telephone service at the same location P No additional phone lines P No Foreign Exchange or Foreign Zone service P No bundles or packages P No outstanding unpaid final bills P Bill name must match eligible participant P No separate Lifeline discount on cellular or wireless phone service P Business lines are not eligible P Phone number must match eligible participant P Must be a current Verizon customer or establish new service with Verizon

Contact Washington, DC Lifeline Program at 1-800-253-0846 to apply To learn more about the Lifeline program, visit www.lifelinesupport.org.

Economy II is a Lifeline supported service. Lifeline is a government assistance program. Only eligible consumers may enroll. You may qualify for Lifeline service if you can show proof that you participate in certain government assistance programs or your annual income (gross and from all sources) is at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guideline. If you qualify based on income, you will be required to provide income verification. Proof of participation in a government assistance program requires your current or prior year’s statement of benefits from a qualifying state or federal program; a notice letter or other official document indicating your participation in such a program; and/or another program participation document (for example, benefit card). Proof of income requires your prior year’s state or federal tax return; current income statement from an employer or paycheck stub; a statement of Social Security, Veterans Administration, retirement, pension, or Unemployment or Workmen’s Compensation benefits; a federal notice letter of participation in General Assistance; a divorce decree; a child support award; and/or another official document containing income information. At least three months of data is necessary when showing proof of income. In addition, the Lifeline program is limited to one discount per household, consisting of either wireline or wireless service. You are required to certify and agree that no other member of the household is receiving Lifeline service from Verizon or another communications provider. Lifeline service is a non-transferable benefit. Lifeline customers may not subscribe to certain other services, including other local telephone service. Consumers who willfully make false statements in order to obtain the Lifeline benefit can be punished by fine or imprisonment, or can be barred from the program.

8 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

National Bar Association President Pamela Meanes said the top civil and legal cases of 2014 were highlighted by the revelation of the major grand jury breaches in the American court system. /Photo courtesy of wbur.org.

MEANES continued from Page 1 randomly search an individual’s telephone during a random traffic stop.

Cops pulled over David Leon Riley and eventually arrested him on weapons charges. An officer who searched the car seized a cell phone from Riley’s pants and accessed information on the phone where he noticed the repeated use of a term associated with a street gang.

“At the police station two hours later, a detective specializing in gangs further examined the phone’s digital contents.

Based in part on photographs and videos that the detective found, the State charged Riley in connection with a shooting that had occurred a few weeks earlier and sought an enhanced sentence based on Riley’s gang membership,” Meanes said.

“Riley moved to suppress all evidence that the police had obtained from his cell phone. The trial court denied the motion, and Riley was convicted.”

The California Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court decision.

In a similar case, police arrested Brima Wurie after observing him participate in an apparent drug sale. At the police station police seized a cell phone they noticed that the phone had received multiple calls from a source identified as “my house” on its external screen.

The officers opened the phone, accessed its call log, determined the number associated with the “my house” label, and traced it to what they suspected was Wurie’s apartment. They The Washington Informer

secured a search warrant and discovered drugs, a firearm and ammunition, and cash. Wurie was then charged with drug and firearm offenses.

“He moved to suppress the evidence obtained from the search of the apartment. The District Court denied the motion, and Wurie was convicted.

The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the Riley case and affirmed the Wurie conviction,” Meanes said.

The Court held that the police generally may not, without a warrant, search digital information on a cell phone seized during an arrest.

The court went on to rule that a warrant-less search is reasonable only if it falls within a specific exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement.

“The well-established exception at issue here applies when a warrant-less search is conducted incident to a lawful arrest,” she said.

Yet another major 2014 case Meanes cited involved the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vs. Wisconsin, which tested the legality of forcing one to show identification before voting.

Prior to the 2014 mid-term elections, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s Voter ID law. On Oct. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked implementation of the state’s law on the grounds that implementing it so close to a general election date would be problematic.

The Court noted that some municipal clerks’ offices had already sent out absentee ballots

with no instructions for presenting a valid, government-issued photo ID. While the Court blocked the law, it did not rule on the central issue of the case: whether Voter IDs laws are constitutional.

“By falling to answer this question the Court set the stage for future debate on the issue.

Accordingly, my experts agree that the legal struggle will likely continue especially in states such as Kansas, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia and Virginia, which have some of the most strict laws requiring a government-issued photo ID,” Meanes said.

Meanes said she’s developed a deep appreciation for National Bar Association’s historical advocacy role.

That advocacy extends to the cases of Garner, Brown, and other incidents in which young black and unarmed males have been killed by police officers.

“While the [aforementioned] Supreme Court cases brought some glimmer of hope, there is no question that Garner, Brown, Tamir Rice, John Crawford and Akai Gurley’s murders at the hands of police officers were the most preeminent yet most clearing cases of miscarriage of justice in 2014. These cases raised the world’s consciousness to the prevalence of police brutality in the daily lives of minorities and revealed a major breach in the grand jury and prosecutorial systems,” Meanes said.

“More importantly, it highlighted some critical sub-issues and questions which have left many Americans wondering

See MEANES on Page 9

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AROUND THE REGION

Centennial

BLACK HISTORY LUNCHEON Association for the Study of African American Life and History Carolyn Demougeot, 24, of Maryland, Erin Miller, 24, of D.C. and Devon Minerve, 24, of D.C. hold signs during a vigil in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park in Northwest D.C. on Aug. 14 to demonstrate over the killing of a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri earlier in the month. / Photo by Nancy Shia

MEANES continued from Page 8 whether, in the land of the free and home of the brave, black life matters.”

She said some of those sub-issues include but are not limited to, for the first time there is a national discussion about the lack statistics kept regarding police shooting of unarmed citizens; while Americans can count the number of Asian Carp fish entering the Great Lakes, it cannot count the number of people killed by cops; the incidents raised the issue of moving forward and how will law enforcement change the way they police minority communities; and African-Americans have demanded that the community utilize its $1 trillion spending power to eradicate police brutality.

“Americans also demanded that police training to be evaluated and changed to place greater emphasis on policies of de-escalation, and encourage national standards governing the use of force,” she said.

“Americans encouraged federal legislation requiring use of body cameras; and encouraged a

national summit with civil rights organizations, NOBEL and other law enforcement agencies and organizations to discuss policies and practices to improve the relationship and level of trust between law enforcement and the minority community,” Meanes said.

Finally, Meanes noted three cases that everyone, particularly those in minority communities, should watch in 2015.

She said the case of Holt vs.

Hobbs involves whether a prison can deny an individual’s right to worship, while Elonis v. United States will help determine whether violent rap music lyrics can result in jail time and Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v.

Alabama which challenges redistricting.

“The issue before the court in Alabama is whether Alabama’s legislative redistricting plans unconstitutionally classify black voters by race by intentionally packing them in districts designed to maintain supermajority percentages produced when 2010 census data are applied to the 2001 majority black districts,” Meanes said.WI

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EvEry door dirEct Mailing sErvicE An energetic dancer entertained the community during a Kwanzaa event on Sunday, Dec. 28. / Photo by Shevry Lassiter

Kwanzaa Brings Divergent Local Groups Together

By Barrington M. Salmon WI Staff Writer@bsalmondc Charis Goff had never been to nor participated in any Kwanzaa activity until Sunday, when the organization she heads, the Thursday Network, partnered with the National Black United Front to produce the Ujima Kwanzaa Celebration.

Almost 60 people gathered with Goff on Ujima, the third day of a week of Kwanzaa activities. Kwanzaa, created by black nationalist Maulana Karenga in 1966, is an African and African-American celebration whose goal was to offer African-Americans a cultural alternative to Christmas while exposing them to a rich and vibrant history and African traditions often ignored by the mainstream.

Inspired by Africa’s “first fruit” traditions, Kwanzaa is based on the Nguzo Saba, which are seven principles that should

10 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

The Washington Informer

One woman lit a candle during a Kwanzaa celebration sponsored by the National Black United Front. / Photo by Shevry Lassiter

govern African individual and communal behavior.

“I really just wanted to learn from people who’ve been doing it for a long time,” said Goff, manager of volunteer and donor engagement with the Washington Metropolitan YMCA. “This is learning about the principles

and sharing it with people who don’t know.

“I’m hearing more this year that people are celebrating. I really enjoyed the dancers and drummers. It’s the kind of thing

See KWANZAA on Page 13

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BUSINESS

BUSINESS EXCHANGE

Blacks and the Sony E-Mails The U.S. film industry posted $31 billion in revenues in 2013, a modest increase over 2012.

Since 2002, U.S. theatrical ticket sales per person are down 22.7 percent.

New data shows the growing importance of African-American audiences. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) which tracks data on Black movie ticket buyers, cites 2013 as “exceptional in the number of offerings that featured popular Black screen stars” or subjects.

Historical films such as Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” and “12 Years a Slave” packed theaters and proved to be financial successes. Black-themed productions attracted large audiences.

Add in hit comedies like “The Best Man Holiday” and “Ride Along,” and Blacks proved to be good potential audiences for theaters and studios alike. However, Blacks don’t always support Black-themed movies. The “Red Tails” production about the Tuskegee Airman was a box office disappointment, grossing just $36 million so far. It will be a hard struggle for it to make back its $58 million production cost.

But, Black actors, nor audiences, are held in high esteem by many production houses or executives. In emails to Sony chairman Michael Lynton that were hacked, a producer wrote that Oscar-winning screen star Denzel Washington should not be cast as the lead in Sony mov-

Where did you hear about that?

By William Reed ies because films with Black lead stars do not sell well overseas.

According to documents found in the Sony hack, the film “The Equalizer,” which starred Washington, didn’t perform well because international audiences are “racist.” The email hack showed some industry executives’ view of President Obama to be negative, while the producer suggested that two-time Oscar winner Washington should not star in big-budget films since the international audience doesn’t accept him in leading roles because of his race. The Equalizer, with a budget of $55 million, grossed about $191 million around the world, including $90 million overseas.

While most Blacks want to hold on to “the dream” that they, and Washington, are accepted in mainstream thought and consciousness, industry studies also show there are significant gaps between Blacks and Whites in this genre. In addition to Blacks’ limited ownership and executive positions, few Whites attend or watch Black-themed or oriented movies. It’s no secret that it’s close to impossible for aspiring actors of color to make it in mainstream Hollywood. Every year, studies find that people of color are underrepresented in almost every aspect of the film industry. Many Whites fear Blacks and will stay away if they perceive there are too many people

I read it in The Washington Informer!

Wow! Where can I get a copy?

of color in, or attending, a film.

There is a spate of movies made for Blacks coming to a theater near you. Many Blacks celebrate the MLK Holiday by going to movies. The featured films for the film-friendly MLK Holiday include “The Wedding Ringer,” a film set for release on Jan. 16 with Kevin Hart and Josh Gad in lead roles.

The real MLK Holiday money-maker is sure to be “Selma,” whose message is beautiful, poignant and necessary. “Selma” is a classic all Blacks should see.

It is based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches. In 1965, the Alabama city became the battleground in Blacks’ fight for suffrage. “Selma” focuses on the landmark 1965 march led by Martin Luther King, Jr. to protest unjust voting registration regulations against Blacks. Director Ava DuVernay is an African-American woman charged with telling one of the most important stories in American history.

DuVernay financed the $22 million film, which is shaping up to be a high-potential awards contender. There is no question as to this film’s target audience.

Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions produced the film, along with Cloud Eight Films, and she plays the small supporting role of protester Annie Lee Cooper on screen. Winfrey has been at the forefront of celebrating the lives of iconic civil rights heroes, as well as highlighting those from the entertainment and arts industry who contributed to African-American history.

Paramount Pictures will distribute “Selma” in the United States and Canada. “Selma” opens nation-wide January 9, 2015. WI William Reed is publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America” and available for projects via Busxchng@his. com

Just go to www.washington informer.com to get informed and find out where to pick up the paper!

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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

Churches Change Strategy to Boost Membership

By William J. Ford WI Contributing Writer @jabariwill

They attended a service in the morning, then, instead of heading home on a recent Sunday afternoon, several dozen members of Turner Memorial AME Church in Hyattsville, Maryland, headed to the basement for a little secular fun.

A jazz duo served up tunes and church cooks portioned out shrimp and grits and jambalaya main dishes and bread pudding for dessert.

Members and guests from 18 to 88 shared fellowship and fun at the church’s “Jazzy Sunday” event on Sunday, Nov. 2. Jazzy Sunday was designed to give members an opportunity to fellowship outside the sanctuary, but also to offer a way to draw in new members.

“The church is where people should go to find out how to solve life’s challenging issues, such as suicide [and] marriage. The key is you have to package the message in a way [that] is relevant to a person’s life today,” said Bishop Phillip O. Thomas, 56, pastor of Highview Christian Fellowship in Fairfax, Virginia. “You must be creative enough to attract people. Most im-

portantly, however, you must know the Lord.”

Churches around the Washington region are using nontraditional activities to give members — and guests they hope to attract — new ways to spend time in church. The Sunday afternoon church dinners of yesteryear have given way to jazz concerts, game nights, Valentine’s Day dances, yoga sessions and book club events.

Church leaders said after the sermons have been delivered, the hymns sung, the offerings collected and the benedictions said, the recreational events offer wholesome activities and positive interactions in a place where godliness is still the order of the day.

“One of the more celebratory events [in the Bible] is when Jesus went to a wedding. We kind of do those events to help people to live and enjoy life,” said the Rev. James L. Graham, 62, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Herndon, Virginia. His church, which has about 2,500 members, hosted a “Jazz & Jeans Night Out” on Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Blue Mountain Café in Leesburg, Virginia.

“These [events] are just done to increase the fellowship among the believers and encourage people to enjoy themselves,” he said. “It is not an aggressive attempt to get new members.”

At Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Rockville, Maryland, a “Biggest Loser” boot camp, mirrored after the popular NBC television show where contestants exercise, eat nutritious meals and receive coaching to compete for the title and a grand prize, has been

popular with members.

But the 10-12 week sessions at Mount Calvary aren’t competitive, according to Natasha Hammond, 43, of Clarksburg, Maryland, who has lost 20 pounds since she started in the program.

“I haven’t [participated] as much as I want because of my job, but I will definitely become more involved,” said Hammond, a certified nurse who tracks the blood pressure and weight of participants.

Besides being a fun way for members to interact, the program encourages healthier living, which is encouraged in the Bible.

Mount Calvary member Alice Barnett, of Silver Spring, Maryland, said members don’t need expensive equipment to exercise.

They work out with personal trainer Marsi Fulmer. Recently, Barnett, 66, did push-ups on the church steps.

“We don’t have to buy all this fancy equipment. It’s an opportunity to fellowship and become more conscious of our health,” said Barnett, who helped organize the program. “We are building pride in ourselves.”

Reid Temple AME Church’s Restoration Center, Inc. in Glenn Dale, Maryland, uses laughter to cleanse souls. The church hosted its sixth annual Comedy Cafe on Nov. 14.

The 7-year-old restoration center provides counseling and other mental health services. The comedy show funds programs for children in need of those services.

Reid Temple has about 12,000 members at two campuses.

The Rev. Henry White, pastor of Turner Memorial AME Church in Hyattsville, spoke to participants at the church’s Jazzy Sunday event last November. /Photo by Travis Riddick

“Laughter is good for the soul. It is also an opportunity for people to see a different side of counseling,” said Dr. Frederica Brooks-Davis, executive director of the Restoration Center. “Mental health is a problem, but our comedians talk about it so that it isn’t so taboo.”

At Turner Memorial in Hyattsville, the Rev. Barbara McKenzie said showcasing local talent can help bring in new members, especially important when a small church has an aging congregation.

“It just shouldn’t be ‘Amazing Grace.’ We should also showcase

the other musical talents that God gave these local musicians,” said Rev. McKenzie, 64, of Silver Spring, who created the Jazzy Sunday program.

“The church is aging. We have 400 members and about 300 of them average 70 years of age.

Whenever we hear a newborn baby cry, we’re like, ‘Hallelujah!

A new member has graced the church!’” WI Editor-at-Large Avis Thomas-Lester contributed to this report.

The Prince George’s County Department of the Environment is making it easy for residents to recycle cut Christmas trees (no artificial trees) by offering convenient drop-off locations and curbside pick up.

Jazz keyboardist Janelle Gill and drummer Mark Prince provided the entertainment at Turner Memorial AME’s Jazzy Sunday event last November in Hyattsville, Maryland. /Photo by Travis Riddick

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AROUND THE REGION

Two local youth enjoy a Kwanzaa celebration at the Greater Washington Urban League’s Headquarters. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter

KWANZAA continued from Page 10 that draws people in and holds our attention. I plan to go to other events, definitely!”

Salim Adofo, NBUF’s national vice chairman, wore a look of satisfaction with a job well done at the end of the evening. He helped orchestrate the collaboration between the Thursday Network and the NBUF. “Kwanzaa is about community,” he said. “Grassroots and professional groups usually don’t get together. This is the first time that the Thursday Network has been involved in Kwanzaa.

It’s groundbreaking in terms of two groups coming together. We most definitely will do it again next year.

“Kwanzaa was born in the black power era, so this comes full circle. We can learn what the elders were doing. This gives us a cultural context and a foundation on how to organize. People like Nkechi [Taifa] and Assata Shakur were our predecessors in the movement, and they were successful.”

The celebration took place at

the Greater Washington Urban League in Northwest, and a consistent theme and the topic of keynote speaker Taifa’s presentation centered on Ujimas’ meaning, which is collective work and responsibility. On this day, black people contemplate ways to build and maintain their community, to make their brothers’ and sisters’ problems their own and to solve them together.

In front of the room, a large strip of white African cloth emblazoned with Gye Nyame adinkra symbols hung horizontally behind a table replete with items representing Kwanzaa.

Just below hung another strip of cloth printed with small Africas, a Sankofa bird, a fertility symbol, maize, the zawadi, a candle holder that holds seven candles, books, cowrie shells, photographs of recently departed ancestors and other items.

On one side of the room and in the foyer, vendors had set up and sold jewelry, African clothes, books, incense, toothpaste and other goodies.

The Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers lit up the place with spirited music and drumming

that, as several people noted, invoked the spirit of the ancestors.

New Yorker Maria Fernandez came as the guest of Jonathan Stith, a young activist deeply involved in the protests against police brutality and misconduct who is seeking a more equitable criminal justice system.

“It was beautiful, exactly what we needed,” said the 27-year-old Brooklyn native. I didn’t know what to expect, but I came with an open mind. Will I be back?

Yep, I’m back tomorrow at an event for political prisoners.”

Taifa, an attorney, organizer and activist, told the audience she’s been celebrating Kwanzaa since she since her teenage years in 1972. Despite attempts to keep people divided, ignorance and lack of consciousness, she spoke of the need for grassroots

and professional organizations to work in Ujima.

“It’s imperative that grassroots organizations take the lead in ensuring that the needs and concerns of the community take center stage,” she said.

She used the analogy of house, yard and field slaves, where those enslaved Africans who lived in the master’s house lacked independent minds and were unable or unwilling to work in their own interests or those of their brothers and sisters.

“The yard hand came from the field and was able to get away,” she explained. “They lived not far from the big house and were able to peek in the windows.

They could hear the lash of the whip, remember the harsh sting.

Often, they had the choice in what their lives would be. They

could choose to work with different people.

“Its the same choice black professionals have as they go about their work today. They can work to enhance the community’s interests, open doors and partner with the NBUF. Or they can sit and watch the demonstrations taking place outside their windows.”

As a lawyer, Taifa said, she’s vowed to seek and ensure that grassroots are intertwined with everything she does.

She said blacks have to find ways to overcome the indoctrination that has them hating and despising themselves when, in actuality, African genius has sparkled in the face of incredible odds. WI

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13

EDITORIAL

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Gray’s Last Bow

0n Christmas Eve, Mayor Vincent Gray released data indicating a significant decrease in unemployment in Wards 5, 7 and 8. The mayor, who described the new figures as “a historic and steady decline,” said the city’s overall unemployment rate, now 7.4 percent, is at its lowest level since 2008.

Early in Gray’s tenure, the unemployment rate stood at 10.2 percent.

As of November, the unemployment rate in Ward 8 had dipped to 16.6 percent from a high of 23.2 percent in January 2011, while Ward 7’s unemployment rate went from 19.2 percent to 14 percent. Meanwhile, Ward 5’s unemployment rate dropped from 15.8 percent to 11 percent over the last four years.

The District’s wards hardest hit during the Great Recession have experienced historic and steady decline in unemployment rates over four years.

In Search of Justice When a mentally ill gunman murdered Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos on Dec. 20, the New York City Police Department had the country’s sympathy.

But some of that has been diluted by a series of arbitrary, self-serving and dishonest statements uttered by police union President Patrick Lynch. The pugnacious Lynch had the audacity to blame Mayor Bill DeBlasio, President Barack Obama and the throngs of mainly young people around the country who’ve been protesting police brutality and police violence for the killings.

“There is blood on many hands, from those that incited violence under the guise of protest to try to tear down what police officers do every day,” he said.

What utter rubbish.

Former Police Chief Raymond Kelly, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Peter King, instead of showing leadership, have pandered to those who brook no criticism of cops and have stirred the pot by accusing Obama and DeBlasio of fomenting “anti-police” sentiment.

No one should be fooled by this diversion. Lynch and his kind are bullies who by their actions have made it clear that no one should criticize police behavior, and rather than look inward and acknowledge and try to correct the many flaws evident in a police department notorious for its harsh treatment of black and brown New Yorkers, Lynch and other apologists choose instead to attack those seeking change.

Most people are sickened by the murders, but they should reject the false equivalency conjured up by Lynch and others. The killings have nothing to do with a populace tired of the extra-judicial killings of unarmed black and brown men, women and children; the indifference of grand juries in Ferguson and Staten Island; and prosecutorial laziness and callousness.

Those marching against police misconduct have duly noted the distain too many police have for the people they purportedly serve, but supporters and organizers of groups like #BlackLivesMatter movement, the Justice League, The Gathering of Justice, ThinkMOOR, and #DCFerguson aren’t going away.

All this has just re-energized them and made them more determined to fight the powers that be.

14 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

Mayor Vincent Gray is a Good Leader

When I read the article, “D.C. Mayor Gray Gives Final Address”

by Sam P.K. Collins in your December 25th edition of The Washington Informer, I started thinking about how, in so many cases, the mainstream press is always convicting black men of crimes before they have their day in court. Time after time, black men who are in the spotlight, no matter what field, or arena, if there is an assumption of committing a crime, the mainstream media tries and convicts them. Mayor Gray has spent the better part of his life working for the people of the District of Columbia, and I believe he did a wonderful job as mayor of our city, but because he surrounded himself with people who he thought were trustworthy, he has been tried in a public media court and found guilty. I hope and pray that when he has his day in court he is found not guilty. Mayor Vincent Gray has been a very good leader and role model for the young people of the District of Columbia, and I hope he is remembered for that, and not for what those who want to spear the positive image of a Strong Black Man have tried to make of him.

Kenan Locket Washington, DC

The Washington Informer

Year-In-Review

Your “Year In Review” edition of The Washington Informer is right on! You could really just look at all of the photographs and get a sense of what was happening in the District and around the country. I really enjoyed the photo spread in the sports section. All of the articles are very interesting, especially “Historic Black Church 150 Years Strong”

by D. Kevin McNeir, and “D.C. Mayor Gray Gives Final Address” by Sam P.K. Collins. And the way you listed the Washington Informer Top Stories in 2014 was incredible! It’s amazing how your mind will allow you to forget things. But for me the story that stands out in 2014 is the tragic disappearance and presumed death of 8-year-old Relisha Rudd. As a parent of two girls, I can only imagine the pain and suffering the mother of that young girl is feeling each and every day. You want to believe, and I am sure so many are praying that Relisha will be found alive and well somewhere, someday, but until then the authorities should not stop looking for her.

We have to find out something so there can be some kind of closure for all of us, especially her mother.

The Senseless Killing Has to Stop

I have watched how The Washington Informer has covered the D.C. demonstrations, the one’s in Ferguson, N.Y., and elsewhere around the country, calling for police to place value on Black lives. While I see this as a necessary demonstration against law enforcement that seems out of control, I am also concerned about the lack of value we place on black lives in our own communities. So far this year, the MPD has answered the call of more than a dozen stabbings, shootings and murders; and, again, they have mostly been black on black violence. It is up to police to answer the calls but it is up to us prevent making the calls in our own communities. I just hope that in 2015, this new movement will teach everyone to value life, regardless of race, age, gender, sexual orientation and faith. The killing must stop.

Veronica Whitfield Washingotn, DC

Janice Roberts Washington, DC

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Guest Columnist

By Lauren Victoria Burke

‘Selma’ is More than a Movie The movie Selma, which debuted on Christmas Day, is an eerily timely film detailing a history not taught in American schools on a regular basis. There’s the obvious truth we already knew: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is in another stratosphere of leadership compared to the Who’s Who on the scene today.

In terms of results, no one has come close to Dr. King before or since. Anyone attempt-

ing to define themselves as a leader in the movement around the Black agenda today needs to check themselves after watching this movie. The film provides a unintended indictment of the non-strategies that yield no positive results often seen in today’s so-called leadership.

Director Ava DuVernay’s depiction of the lead up to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act leaves behind huge lessons – many unintentional. The first would be that without constant

pressure on those in power nothing will change. Even within the genre of a history we already know on a man we’ve over-studied, there’s that powerful truth.

Selma reminds us of what is required to win results for African Americans with 300 years of history stacked against them.

Even with the restrictions on the use of King’s speeches – screenwriter Paul Webb tells us that Dr. King remains one of few people in American life to speak brutal honesty on racism and make a difference.

Guest Columnist

The film reaffirms that Dr. King worked in service of a mission. In the case of the Selma campaign, it was voting rights.

King did not get up in the morning to focus on TV interviews, news conferences or participate on panels. His was a results driven movement. Understanding the domino effects of certain actions in Selma and how those actions would win results and move the needle on voting rights is featured.

It’s jarring to consider how unthinkable it was for Blacks

voting in the South 50 years ago just as it was unthinkable to imagine a Black president in the White House. Now, even with both those realities realized, current Black leadership still hasn’t found a way to win.

The post-King era of civil rights groups is more fixated on corporate sponsorships, endless roundtables and sprawling conferences. It also features meetings with people in power that yield no results and endless

See BURKE on Page 29

By Bill Fletcher, Jr.

Republicans 2015: A Trip into the Past At this time of the year everyone is making predictions about the coming year and/or reflections on the past. Let me add a quick note, by way of a warning.

The November 2014 elections, at the national and state levels, brought together some very conservative forces who, according to most opinion polls, do not represent the point of view of the majority of the population.

They do, however, represent the

views of about 15-20 percent of the population that voted for them on Election Day 2014.

The vast majority of the Republican Party has suggested, for many years, that their objective is to overturn the 20th century, that is, to reverse the various gains made by the average person in the 20th century. This means everything from the victories of the New Deal to the increase in voting rights in the 1960s. With majorities in the House and Senate, we should expect that these

conservative forces will go all out, with no interest in compromising, to advance their agenda.

Added to this, of course, is the conservative hatred for President Obama even when they agree with him on matters of policy. As soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made clear in 2009, the objective of the Republicans was to make Obama a one-term president. Well, they did not succeed at that, but they have continued in their efforts to under-

Guest Columnist

mine all of his major efforts.

What we should expect to see, in 2015, is not about President Obama. It really is more about conflicting visions of the future of the U.S. That is what we should appreciate. As I am fond of saying, conservative forces in the U.S. are attempting to block the future. They are hoping to gerrymander our politics in such a way that despite a popular majority to the contrary, rich and conservative forces will continue to dominate society. (This is

what makes the census and who controls state legislatures so important.)

Next year will be another year of struggle, but with what we have seen in the upsurge of youthful, Black action in response to police lynchings, there are good reasons to be believe that passivity will have little place in our future. The activism and energy that emerged in response to police violence must be trans-

See FLETCHER on Page 29

By George E. Curry

2014: Unfair and Unbalanced Media Fox News, which mislabels itself as “fair and balanced,” was anything but in 2014, according to MediaMatters.org, the independent media watchdog group.

The way that the right-wing network covered the deaths of police officers in 2014 is a case in point.

“The politicization surrounding the killing of two New York Police Department officers over the weekend was amazingly

swift. Fox News led the rightwing media charge, immediately claiming Democratic elected officials were somehow responsible for the gun rampage…,” the Media Matters for America analysis observed.

“On Fox, hosts and guests were sure who was to blame for the tragedy; not the gunman necessarily, but political and community leaders like President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Mayor Bill de Blasio and MSNBC’s Al Sharpton. Why? Because the men, to varying de-

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grees, have spoken out about the troubled relationship between law enforcement and the black community, and raised concerns about two recent high-profile cases, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, in which unarmed black men were killed, and police officers responsible were not indicted.”

The watchdog group continued, “…former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told Fox News, ‘I personally feel that Mayor de Blasio, Sharpton and others like them, The Washington Informer

they actually have blood on their hands.’ “’Let’s talk about the president as well,’” responded Fox’s Jeanine Pirro, suggesting Obama and Mayor de Blasio were to blame. “’The two of them have undoubtedly created racial tensions that worsens, not betters the situation for law enforcement.’

“Appearing on Fox News, former New York City Mayor Rudolf Giuliani insisted the message from recent Obama ‘propaganda’ was that ‘every

body should hate the cops.’ (No such Obama ‘propaganda’ actually exists.)”

Media Matters noted, “Yet in stark contrast, as Media Matters has documented, Fox News has routinely paid very little attention to breaking news stories that feature right-wing, or anti-government, gunmen who target law enforcement officials as a way to deliver their warped political messages.

“And critically, when they have

See CURRY on Page 29 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

15

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

Guest Columnist

By Julianne Malveaux

Innocent Blacks and White Cops – All Lives are Valuable

Rafael Ramos had been a school security guard before he joined the New York Police Department two years ago. Ramos, 40, was married and had two children. The youngest child, Jaden, 13, fondly remembered his dad on Facebook and Twitter, describing his dad as “the best father I could ask for.” Already, many in the Ramos family say they have forgiven Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the man who executed

Rafael Ramos and his colleague, Wenjian Liu, on December 20.

Liu, 32, attended the College of Staten Island and Kingsborough Community College. He was a dedicated police officer who, according to news reports, chose his career out of a sense of duty and obligation. He had been married for just two months.

Eric Garner, 43, was also married and had six children; the youngest, Legacy, was born just three months before his father died. Garner’s death was ruled a

homicide, probably because he was placed in a chokehold, a forbidden police maneuver. At 400 pounds, he suffered from diabetes and asthma, but – despite sinister efforts to blame Garner’s health for his death – those diseases did not kill him. A cursory view of the last moments of his life on images captured by witnesses with a smart phone camera show excessive police force and medical indifference to a man whose dying utterance, “I can’t breathe,” has become the mantra for a movement.

Guest Columnist

Tamir Rice never lived long enough to reach the legal age for marriage. He was just 12 years old when Timothy Loehmann shot him to death. Loehmann was described as “unfit” for police duty in Independence, Ohio, but he somehow made it onto the larger, Cleveland police force. It took him all of two seconds to decide the precious little boy had a dangerous weapon, although the 911 caller who alerted the police said the gun was probably not real.

Michael Brown, described as a

“gentle giant” by his friends, also had his life cut short. He was killed by a remorseless Darren Wilson, who pumped 12 rounds into the young Black man who was looking forward to attending community college. His words, “Hands up, don’t shoot” have been printed on signs and T-shirts all over the world as a symbol of police brutality and active resistance. A grand jury failed to indict Wilson, whose testimony seems to have been

See MALVEAUX on Page 30

By Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.

Creating a Global Blueprint to the Future As we begin 2015, millions of people throughout the world will make their annual New Year’s resolutions. For 42.7 million Black Americans, 2015 hopefully will be a year of socioeconomic, political, cultural and spiritual progress. But achieving these goals will require more than just making a seasonal resolution.

I believe that Black America’s national leadership should immediately convene a summit to

devise a “global” action agenda for the next year that will address the economic and political interests of African descendants around the world. The call for a national or international summit devoted to the sons and daughters of Africa is not a new idea.

In fact, there have been numerous efforts to present action agendas for Black people in America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean.

So what will be different this time? First, the “world order” has changed and will continue to

change, as we have already seen in the case of the Soviet Union and, more recently, Cuba. Consequently, people in Asia and Africa will continue to make up a larger percentage of the world population and this major demographic shift will afford an unprecedented opportunity for new global strategic alliances.

Secondly, global economies that are now growing rapidly in Asia and Africa will provide a tremendous stage for the exchange of stronger business and trade relationships between Afri-

ASKIA-AT-LARGE

cans and other people of color throughout the world. In particular, 2015 can be and should become a time for Black American entrepreneurs and business leaders to secure stronger sustainable economic relationships.

Thirdly, the results of President Barack Obama’s U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit last summer have been encouraging thus far. More than $33 billion has been committed to economic development in Africa through the African Union. President Obama said at the time, “Even

as the continent faces significant challenges, I believe a new Africa is emerging. With some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, a growing middle class and the youngest and fastest-growing population on Earth, Africa will help shape the world as never before.”

To help assure this happens, national Black leaders from a broad spectrum of organizations, including the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC),

See CHAVIS on Page 30

By Askia Muhammad

President Obama’s ‘Great’ Bad Year What a great bad year President Barack Obama had in 2014.

As the face of the Democratic Party and the symbol of the liberal agenda, his party and its senators and representatives got whipped badly on Election Day, losing control of the Senate, and giving Republicans their largest majority in the House in more than 84 years. It’s hard to imagine a worse state of affairs than that.

16 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

And yet, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in five years.

The stock market has soared through the roof. The DowJones Industrial Average has gone above the 18,000 mark for the first time in history. That marker was at 7,949 when President Obama took office in January 2009. That was the lowest Inauguration Day performance of that index since its creation.

Economically speaking, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a 5 percent annual rate

from July through September 2014, the biggest advance since the third quarter of 2003, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Consumer confidence has risen dramatically under this administration. All that is good news for the economy, but it doesn’t help this president’s popularity.

And oh, Obamacare, the signature achievement of this president, has enrolled 8,000,000 souls. Republicans wanted it to fail so badly, the GOP House majority voted to repeal it 43 The Washington Informer

times. Republican governors in some of the neediest states refused to even enroll for Medicaid, even though the federal government was paying 90 percent of its cost.

So, Obama’s had a great, bad year. That’s what they say, and they have been saying it, and saying it, and saying it, to the point where folks just believe that he must not have been doing a good job.

From the “birther” movement, which questioned his eligibility to serve in office even after

his inauguration, to the shameful outburst during his first State of the Union address when a member of Congress blurted out “You lie!” while he spoke, all the way to disgusting caricatures of the President of the United States and the First Lady as apes, to more death threats than any other president before him, this leader has endured slanders and vilifications which would drive an otherwise sanctimonious man to strong drink.

See MUHAMMAD on Page 30

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LIFESTYLE

Lawrence Guyot, pictured in 2011, worked to educate young people about the civil rights movement. /Photo courtesy of Dr. Paul Ortiz, Samuel Proctor Oral History Program, University of Florida

By Avis Thomas-Lester WI Editor-at-Large Lawrence Guyot battled against voter intimidation in Jim Crow Mississippi in the 1960s and lobbied ardently for D.C. statehood after moving to the nation’s capital in the early 1970s.

The D.C. Council recently recognized the sacrifice and steadfast support of Guyot, who died in 2012, when the members voted unanimously to rename the 500 block of U Street in Northwest Washington in his honor. If the measure is approved by Mayor Vincent C. Gray, the block where Guyot lived for 30 years will bear the name “Lawrence Guyot Way.” “He would have been so proud, and it is a much-deserved recognition,” said Julie Guyot-Diangone, Guyot’s daughter. “He loved Washington, D.C. so much. It is appropriate that he be recognized with a street named in his honor, and the street where our family lived for so many years is the perfect street to be named for him.”

Guyot died on Nov. 23, 2012, of complications of diabetes and heart disease in the wee hours of the morning after Thanksgiving. Though his health was failing in the final days of his life, his activism and love of politics never faltered. He looked forward to witnessing the second inauguration of President Obama, for whom he had campaigned. Guyot had cast his ballot for Obama a few weeks earlier, determined that his vote would be

Julie Guyot-Diangone stands in front of a painting based on a photograph of her father, Lawrence Guyot, and other civil rights activists who were jailed together for three weeks in Mississippi in the early 1960s. /Photo by Travis Riddick

Julie Guyot-Diangone stands in the home in which she grew up in the 500 block of U Street NW, which is to renamed “Lawrence Guyot Way” in honor of her civil rights activist father. /Photo by Travis Riddick

Lawrence Guyot Block to Be Renamed for Activist

counted, when he was carried into the polls by D.C. Fire Department rescuers because he was too weak to walk.

“I never thought I would live to see it. I hoped, but never dreamed it,” Guyot said at the time of Obama’s re-election. “Not only did we witness an African-American elected to the highest position in the nation. We saw him reaffirmed in a second election. It is unprecedented and sets the tone for civil rights moving forward.

It also says to young people of color that there are no limits. You truly can achieve anything if you work hard enough — anything.”

It was Guyot-Diangone’s idea that a street should be named for her father.

She moved back in with her parents before Guyot died with her two young children.

“This is the way D.C. honors its local heroes, its most beloved — the people who made a difference to D.C.,” said Guyot-Diangone. “It’s especially significant for me because I will be raising his grandchildren on

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the street named for him. That really resonates with me.”

Council records show the Lawrence Guyot Way Designation Act of 2014 was sent to Mayor Vincent Gray’s office on Dec. 9. He signed the measure last week. It now moves to Congress for a 30-day period of review.

In an email, Gray spokeswoman Doxie McCoy said he was “pleased to sign the bill in honor of a man who fought for freedom, self-determination and democracy for the residents of the District of Columbia and disenfranchised people all over.”

Guyot-Diangone said her family moved to the brownstone in the 500 block of U Street in 1981, several years after the elder Guyots moved to the District after her father graduated from Rutgers Law School. Guyot worked for Pride Inc. and then in the administration of Mayor Marion Barry, whom he had met on the civil rights trail in the Deep South. Barry, a lifelong friend, died exactly two years to the day after Guyot on Nov. The Washington Informer

23, 2014.

Guyot-Diangone cited serving as an ANC commissioner, supporting small business and urging Howard University to build on empty lots near the university as some of her father’s most important contributions. His efforts spurred economic growth in his beloved LeDroit Park neighborhood, she said.

Guyot also continued his work in Mississippi, traveling there several times and working actively in the Freedom Schools and in the effort to bring racial reconciliation to the citizens of the state once considered among the most racist in the nation.

“When he retired, after quintuple bypass surgery seven years before he died, I said, ‘Great, Dad. Now your job won’t interfere with your work,’” Guyot-Diangone recalled. “He laughed.”

Born in Pass Christian, Mississippi, on July 17, 1939, Guyot was the son a businessman and a schoolteacher and lived as a child in an area where blacks were not subjected to the constant

racial harassment and hate-related violence that African-Americans in most areas of the state faced.

His education in the ways of racial hatred came after he enrolled at Tougaloo College and became an activist for blacks’ rights. Guyot was among the early members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, whose first president was Barry.

As such, he worked with the scions of the movement: Ella Baker, whose enlistment of students to get involved in the civil rights movement led to the formation of SNCC; NAACP Field Secretary Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in 1964; and Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist with whom Guyot founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964.

Guyot was ardent supporter of the Voting Rights Act and was always concerned about efforts to weaken it.

Dorie Ladner of Northwest Washington, who also spent years on the civil rights trail in Mississippi, her home state, met Guyot when they attended Tougaloo together.

“Because of the street renaming, his name will live on, and people will be reminded who he was and the contributions that he made to the citizens of the District and the city,” said Ladner, 74. “That’s good.” WI Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

17

LIFESTYLE

Chantelle, a massage therapist and mother of three, has been a Redskins cheerleader since she graduated from Howard University. /Photo courtesy of Washington Redskins.

Behind the Pom-Poms Redskins Cheerleaders Have Successful Careers

By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer

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Phone: 301-272-8100

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AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

We request bids from small, disadvantaged, minority and women owned subcontractors and suppliers.

18 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

The Washington Informer

Monique spends her weekdays performing investigative research for federal law enforcement, while two of her friends, Madison and Chantelle, respectively, hold careers as a social worker and a massage therapist.

Each are college graduates, Monique with a bachelor’s of fine arts degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; Madison with a B.S. in health science and a master’s in social work from Howard University in Northwest; and Chantelle holds a business degree from Howard.

The three friends also share something else in common: they work on Sundays in the fall as Washington Redskins cheerleaders.

“These are women that teach their children,” said Stephanie Jojokian, the director and choreographer for the Redskins’ cheerleading squad.

“We’ve had a pediatric nurse on the team; we’ve had someone with a doctorate degree. This is their hobby, their second full-time job,” Jojokian said.

Team policy prohibits the publication of the cheerleaders’ last names.

Monique, 25, serves as one of the cheer team’s captains. She said she grew up loyally waving the pom-poms for the home team.

“I’m from Northeast and I remember going to the games with my grandmother when I was just 9 and I told her that I was going to [be a cheerleader],” she said.

After attending the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Northwest, Monique tried out for the Redskins during her senior year at college.

She made the team and later reigned as Miss DC USA in 2012.

With the glamour of her Redskins job, Monique said her law enforcement career never takes a back seat.

“My colleagues [playfully] give me a hard time, they are tough and they say, ‘here’s the girly, girl,” Monique said.

“But, I have attention deficit disorder, I want to do everything. I was told at

a young age to go to college and do what you want and let your ambition lead you.”

Madison, 27, hails from Atlanta, but has lived in the District since attending Howard. She said her experience at FedEx Field and in the community representing the Redskins has been nothing short of amazing.

“I have lived in the DMV area since college. My favorite aspect of dance is performing,” she said. “There’s nothing like having an audience with whom to share your passion.”

Madison said she works for a core mental health agency as a treatment coordinator and therapist for the agency’s school-based program in the District.

Her goals include opening her own mental health facility that offers therapeutic services and different forms of art therapy.

She said she joined the Redskins the same year that star quarterback Robert Griffin III signed with the team. Approximately 400 others tried out and Madison counted among the 36 who made the cut.

“You have to have the whole package,” she said. “You have to interview well, speak well and present yourself well. As far as my social work career, I have to maintain great time management because work can really be busy, so I plan ahead a lot.”

She said one of the children she works with once noticed her on television, which Madison said, proved kind of neat.

“It was fun. The child got a kick out of it,” she said.

Chantelle, 32, grew up in Columbia, Maryland and operates a massage therapy business. Additionally, she works as a customer care specialist at a firm where one of her bosses hold season tickets to Redskins games.

Perhaps her biggest challenge remains raising three children with her husband.

Chantelle said she originally tried out to be a cheerleader with the Wash-

See POMPOMS on Page 19

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LIFESTYLE

Horoscopes

Griot

“Embracing the Love God Wants You to Have”

by Taffi Dollar c.2014, Amistad $21.99 / $26.99 Canada

240 pages This is the year when you’ll finally do it.

Your New Year’s Resolution is to find love.

You’ve vowed to open your heart and your mind and this year, you’re going to do it. But dating is fraught with trouble, so where do you begin? In the new book “Embracing the Love God Wants You to Have” by Taffi Dollar, you start right at home – with yourself.

When she was young, Taffi Dollar was somewhat of a wild child.

She drank, took drugs, partied, and slept with her military boyfriend. Her relationship with him wasn’t very good, though, and that caused a lot of sadness – until someone handed her a flier about a Bible study group, and she decided to attend.

After that first night, she was so excited about what she learned that she ran to her dorm room, fell on her knees, and gave herself to God. She also fell in love with the speaker at that Bible study. They dated for awhile, married and started a family, but their relationship wasn’t perfect – and that’s one of the points Dollar makes: nobody is perfect. We’re all flawed, but God loves us anyhow.

And yet, it’s good to remember that “God’s ways are not always our ways.” What He offers

POMPOMS continued from Page 18 ington Wizards but failed to make the cut. However, she said she followed Jojokian to the Redskins and found a home at FedEx Field.

“My children are very excited and they love to come to games and my daughter, especially, wants to come to our practices,” Chantelle said.

Juggling each day, particularly as an employee and entrepreneur with a family of five, isn’t easy, she said.

“The kids have karate and dance practices and we have to have everything organized, in-

ARIES Take a positive and sensible stance this week where co-workers are involved. Situations could be tricky, but you’ll do fine if you don’t commit yourself to anything that you really don’t want to do. Soul Affirmation: The earthiness of my being reflects the sunshine of my soul. Lucky Numbers: 28, 36, 48 TAURUS A positive, alert attitude will draw opportunities to you this week. You’ll see more of the big picture if you take a mental step backward. You’ll hear exactly what you need to hear if you take the time to listen. Soul Affirmation: Jewelry reflects the beauty of my feelings about myself. Lucky Numbers: 13, 21, 39

us in blessings may not be clear, at least not in the beginning. We need to listen, be quiet, and pay attention and “when we understand how God expresses His love, we can recognize His love in our life.”

If you feel a wall between love and happiness, learn to determine where that wall came from.

Get rid of guilt, anger, old hurts, betrayals, irritations, and wipe the slate clean by knowing that God made you and that he’s proud of His creation. Don’t, therefore, give yourself such a hard time.

When times get tough, remind yourself to walk in faith. Dedicate your relationships to God and ask Him for help when you need it.

Pray with the ones you love and keep the lines of communication open. Put grace back in your life. And above all remember that, no matter what happens today or tomorrow, you are blessed.

When I first picked up “Embracing the Love God Wants You to Have,” I thought it was a book on hearts-and-flowers kind of love. And I suppose, ultimately, it is – but there’s much more to it than that.

Long before any romance can begin, author Taffi Dollar guides her readers on a path toward loving themselves and accepting the love of God. That, as Dollar indicates, is a good base for having a strong relationship with a man. And once you’ve found that, she includes chapters on keeping a marriage healthy, asking for help from God, and raising children to love their Creator.

If you want love of self or other this year, don’t breeze through this easy-to-read book, even if you’re tempted to. Instead, grab it knowing that “Embracing the Love God Wants You to Have” demands introspection and meditation. And then do it. WI

GEMINI Guard your words this week, and let peace and harmony rule where they may. It’s not the time to point out the character flaws of a higher-up. You can make this a very productive week if you apply your industrious spirit to your work. Soul Affirmation: Facing down challenges makes me feel good about myself. Lucky Numbers: 15, 23, 37

you can never be too careful.

The women said they enjoy representing the team and each said they hope that fans and others view them as more than merely eye candy.

“These are women in the community and it is hurtful to have people judge us and come up with such a shallow and narrow outlook,” Jojokian said. “Those who feel that we are nothing more than eye candy don’t take the time to see that we are your neighbors, this is our hobby, our second fulltime job.”WI

CAPRICORN Confusion exists over some question, and every time you think you’ve got the answer, circumstances will change and new information will come to your attention. Don’t worry, things are going to clear up and work out. Take it easy. Soul Affirmation: My smile is a radiant light to those I encounter. Lucky Numbers: 30, 31, 52

cluding either me cooking dinner or my husband cooking dinner,” Chantelle said, adding that despite the nonstop pace, she’s living her dream.

“There’s nothing greater in this world than family and I would not be where I am today without the support and love of my family and God,” she said.

Each of the cheerleaders said they have family, friends, neighbors and, of course, the Redskins organization who carefully watch out for their well-being.

In the age of social media, paparazzi and sometimes overzealous fans, Redskins’ officials said

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JAN 1 - JAN 7, 2015

CANCER Good deeds are in order this week. Perform all the random acts of kindness that you can. Everything you do this week is going to come back to you in triplicate, so enjoy storing up some future blessings!

Soul Affirmation: Another week in which to rejoice is upon me. ah-h-h-h-h!

Lucky Numbers: 2, 32, 45 LEO You can help out a friend this week if you plan your schedule so that you’ve got time for kindness built in! Embrace your generous side while getting your own work finished. You are excellent at multi-tasking!

Soul Affirmation: Old love? New love? The most important thing is true love!

Lucky Numbers: 26, 38, 41 VIRGO You may want to make this week a schmooze-fest! Whether you go out to a party or stay in with a friend, you’ll have a good time if you remember that charm is the only weapon that’ll work for you this week.

Soul Affirmation: I work hard to combat envy this week. Lucky Numbers: 11, 29, 33 LIBRA Your vibrations could cause you to pause. That’s good, because a pause is just what you need to remember to think of the positive. Reject the negative and you’ll have a wonderful week. Soul Affirmation: I give my mind a holiday again this week. Lucky Numbers: 10, 17, 32 SCORPIO Rev up your engines. This is a fine week for making progress with projects that you’ve got in the works. Your energy is high and your mind is clear. Use every advantage this week to finish up your work. Soul Affirmation: What life has given me is sufficient to any task. Lucky Numbers: 45, 47, 54 SAGITTARIUS A spirit of competition may be troubling you. Let it go.

Celebrate differences and get on with the work of creating new hope in the world! Your tendency to speak without considering the full impact on others should be checked this week. Soul Affirmation: I graciously anticipate joy and this gives me the ability to give. Lucky Numbers: 18, 19, 31

AQUARIUS Communications flow smoothly this week and your word is golden. A wild idea for money making could come to you, but you should let the strictly material walk on by. Stick to your current plan and use your imagination for ways to streamline your work. Soul Affirmation: Confusion gives me an opportunity to show my love. Lucky Numbers: 13, 46, 48 PISCES Creative mental energy makes this a banner week. An ambition that you thought you had left behind years ago suddenly resurfaces, and you’ll see similarities between what you are doing now and what you dreamed of back then. Soul Affirmation: I give my brain full power this week. Lucky Numbers: 12, 30, 47

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Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

19

SPORTS

Dallas Ends Redskins Season with a 44-17 Defeat Redskins Quarterback Robert Griffin III hands the football to running back Alfred Morris space to run during National Football League action on Sunday, Dec.28 at FedEx Field in Landover. Dallas defeated Redskins 44-17. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Boston guard Marcus Smart pressures Wizards forward Paul Pierce as he heads to the basket in the first quarter of National Basketball Association action on Saturday, Dec. 27 at Verizon Center in Northwest. Wizards defeated Boston 101-88. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Redskins TE Jordan Reed protects the football from Dallas CB Sterling Moore during NFL action on Sunday, Dec. 28 at FedEx Field in Landover. Dallas defeated Redskins 44-17./Photo by John E. De Freitas Wizards guard Bradley Beal is defended by Boston center Tyler Zeller in the first quarter of NBA action on Saturday, Dec. 27 at Verizon Center in Northwest.

Wizards defeated Boston 101-88. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

Wizards forward Kris Humphries is defended by Boston forward Kelly Olynyk in the first quarter of NBA action on Saturday, Dec. 27 at Verizon Center in Northwest. Wizards defeated Boston 101-88. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

20 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

Dallas WR Cole Beasley leaves his opponent behind and goes for a first down during NFL action on Sunday, Dec. 28 at FedEx Field in Landover. Dallas defeated Redskins 44-17./Photo

by John E. De Freitas

The Washington Informer

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Get Connected ThroughVolunteerism

By John M. Thompson, Ph.D., CPM, FAAMA

In this issue of the Spotlight on Aging, we will focus on volunteerism.

According to the United Nations, “volunteerism is a powerful means of engaging people in tackling development challenges worldwide.”

Such development challenges include inadequate or the lack of health and human services infrastructures in less developed countries and communities. In our communities here in Washington, D.C., there are numerous opportunities to shape development in ways that could improve the quality of life of fellow residents.

One opportunity that I would like to present to you is the D.C. Office on Aging’s (DCOA) Ambassador Program. The purpose of the Ambassador Program is to train citizens on all of the programs and services offered by the agency and those offered by other agencies that could help seniors, persons with disabilities, and family caregivers to improve their quality of life. By acquiring this knowledge, ambassadors are fully prepared to refer customers to the agency who could benefit from the array of services.

Another program that may be of interest to you is our Intergenerational Program, which is a partnership between D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), Jump Start, and DCOA. Through this partnership, Jump Start trains senior volunteers interested in working with children in the Pre-K programs in selected DCPS schools. According to research, there are mutual benefits for the seniors and the children when connected through intergenerational programs. For seniors, it is an opportunity to combat social isolation as they are working in the school system. Moreover, it gives the seniors an opportunity to give back by contributing to a greater good of helping children while being a huge help to the teachers. For the children in intergenerational programs, studies show that they improve their social and academic skills, which means better success as they matriculate through the school system and interact with their peers. This is a win-win situation!

There are also volunteer opportunities available through the many senior villages in the District. Senior villages add tremendous value to the District as they are designed to help seniors with aging within their communities. As these seniors remain in their communities, senior villages provide them with assistance in accessing a variety of discounted or free resources. These resources include, but are not limited to, handyman services to fix a hot water heater, furnace, or light fixture; lawn service; transportation; companionship services; cooking; and light duty house cleaning. The services are discounted or free as a result of the generosity of community stakeholders willing to give of their time and resources. As the number of seniors continues to grow, the demand for a number of these services will continue to rise in the District of Columbia.

Consequently, there are plenty of opportunities for citizens to volunteer their time in a meaningful way.

I trust that as you make your New Year resolutions that you would seriously consider an opportunity to join me in serving our fellow citizens. If interested, please contact us at 202-724-5622 to learn more about our volunteer programs. I am confident that once you get connected through volunteerism, you will see how you are making a tremendous impact in our communities.

JOIN JUMPSTART’S COMMUNITY CORPS AND DCOA TO PUT CHILDREN FIRST

A Great Opportunity for Older Adults to Work with Young Children

Why Volunteer?

• Older Adults work with preschool children on reading, writing, and social skills • Earn a stipend for your service • Receive professional training in early education and community leadership • Serve with a team

LEARN MORE

For more information contact Thursday, January 8, 2015 Krystal Branton 12:00PM-2::00PM 202.727.8370 DC Office on Aging 500 K St NE krystal.branton@dc.g Washington, DC 20002 ov

RSVP to Krystal Branton by January 6nd P: 202.727.8370 e: krystal.branton@dc.gov

Jstart.org

We’re working toward the day every child in America enters kindergarten prepared to succeed.

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The Washington Informer

Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

21

FOLLOW US TO UNITED MEDICAL CENTER...

Quality Healthcare. Close to Home.

OUR HOSPITAL SERVICES » Cancer Screening » Cardiology » Diabetes » Emergency Medicine » Family Practice » GI

» Infectious Disease » Intensive Care » Internal Medicine » Interventional Radiology » Minimally Invasive Vascular Surgery » Neurology » ObstetricsGynecology » Orthopedics

» Pathology » Plastic Surgery » Psychiatric Services for Adults » Pulmonology » Radiology » Rehabilitation Services » Renal Dialysis » Rheumatology

» Skilled Nursing » Surgery » Telemetry » Urology » Wound Care

Our ED is divided into two sections The Emergency Department Core and the Fast Track to care for patients with both major and minor medical conditions and emergencies.

PRIMARY CARE CENTER At the UMC Primary Care Center, we want to be your first choice “your lifelong home” for all of your health care. Our staff of board-certified doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses can take care of all of your medical, prevention, and wellness needs: General Hours of Operation Monday: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm Tuesday – Thursday: 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Friday: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm Saturday: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT Our Emergency Department (or “ER”) is opened 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year and is continuously staffed by highly trained physicians who have extensive training and experience in emergency medicine. Our dedicated staff of providers cares for over 53,000 patients annually.

Our Location United Medical Center Medical Office Building (next to the hospital) 1328 Southern Ave, SE, Suite 302 Washington, DC 20032

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT CORE In UMC’s Emergency Department Core, our skillful physicians, nurses, and technicians are trained to care for patients with major medical conditions including cardiac diseases, stroke, respiratory distress, trauma, diabetes and other acute life-threatening illnesses. Should patients require higher levels of care or further trauma care, patients are stabilized first and then transferred to one of our affiliated major medical centers. Our staff will coordinate the transfer with the receiving hospital.

FAST TRACK In Fast Track, emergency medicine providers will treat a patient’s minor illnesses and injuries. Our Fast Track, like our emergency department, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days yearly.

Not-For-Profit Hospital Corporation | 1310 Southern Avenue, SE, DC 20032

P 202.574.6000 | www.united-medicalcenter.com 22 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

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RELIGION

The Religion Corner

Make 2015 Your Best Year Yet

Each New Year’s, millions of us make decisions about how to have a better year. First, we may ask ourselves “Will I use my time much more wisely this year?

We may also ask “Will there be an improved me?”

The focus of this column is to address the use of time and improving in 2015, issues I’m currently addressing in my life. My pledge is to use my time

The Griffin Firm, PLLC Committed to providing services and supports to increase the capacity of individuals, businesses, and communities.

• • • • •

Estate planning and probate Medicaid planning Elder law Business and succession planning/ coaching Workshops and seminars on legacy creation for economic strength

Aimee D. Griffin, Esq., The Griffin Firm, PLLC 5335 Wisconsin Ave NW Suite 440 Washington DC 20015 www.thegriffinfirm-PLLC.com

wiser this year. In fact, some simple changes are already in motion.

The first adjustment will require tracking ideas God gives me. For example, my goal is to make

with Lyndia Grant

notes as revealed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of writing my upcoming book titled, “Pappy.” It is the story of my grandfather’s purchase of 226 acres near Kinston, North Carolina, in 1945 and how his case involving the land purchased went to the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of World War II. The court sided with my grandfather and he kept the land, still part of my family today. This goal will require daily writing, even if only for an hour.

Finally, new syndication goals are set for my radio show, “Think on These Things.”

The wheels are in motion to add my show to a Baltimore radio station. Thanks to my sponsors and the listeners, we’re on the rise!

202-379-4738

Procrastination can interfere with your efforts to use your time wisely and to be a better you in 2015. You’ve heard my goals. Set some for yourself. Then never stop utilizing your God-given mission to succeed; and help others when you do! WI Lyndia Grant is the host of “Think on These Things,” a radio talk show on WYCB-AM, 1340, Fridays at 6 p.m. Contact her at 202-518-3192 or email her at lyndiagrant@gmail.com.

(301) 864-6070

CHURCH LAWYERS MCCOLLUM & ASSOCIATES, LLC

Organizational Formation, Governance Issues, First Ammendment, Church Employment, Ministerial Exception, Maintenance Issues, Risk Management, Safety and Security Issues, and Real Property Law SERVING MARYLAND, DC, & NORTH CAROLINA

www.jmlaw.net

(301) 864-6070

jmccollum@jmlaw.net

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Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

23

RELIGION BAPTIST

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL

Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Reverend Lyndon Shakespeare Interim Priest Foggy Bottom • Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW • Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 • Fax : 202-338-4958 Worship Services 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.

Blessed Word of Life Church Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors 4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax Schedule of Services: Sunday School – 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service – 11:00 AM Communion Service – First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study – Tuesday, 6:30 PM www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org e-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org

Campbell AME Church Reverend Daryl K. Kearney, Pastor 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., S E Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email:Campbell@mycame.org Sunday Worship Service 10: 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

Mt. Zion Baptist Church Rev. John W. Davis, Pastor 5101 14th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20011 202-726-2220/ 202-726-9089 Sunday Worship Service 8:00am and 11:00am Sunday School 9:15am Holy Communion 4th Sunday 10:00am Prayer and Bible Study Wednesday 7;00pm TV Ministry –Channel 6 Wednesday 10:00pm gsccm.administration@verizon.net

24 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

Pilgrim Baptist Church

Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor

Church of Living Waters

Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor Harold Andrew, Assistant Pastor 4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745

700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849

301-894-6464

Worship Sundays @ 7:30 & 11:00 A.M. 5th Sundays @ 9:30 A.M. 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 P.M.

Schedule of Service Sunday Service: 8:30 AM & 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org

www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ Drs. Dennis W. and Christine Y. Wiley, Pastors 3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax) SERVICES AND TIMES: SUNDAYS: 10:00 am AM Worship Services BIBLE STUDY: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30 PM (dinner @ 5:30 PM) SUNDAY SCHOOL: 9:00 AM – Hour of Power “An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantbaptistdc.org

Twelfth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340

St. Stephen Baptist Church Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Bishop 5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555 Sunday Early Morning Worship - 7:45 a.m.

Church School - 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Morning Worship – 10:45 a.m.

Tuesday – Thursday - Kingdom Building Bible Institute – 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday – Prayer/Praise/Bible Study – 7:30 p.m.

Baptism & Communion Service- 4th Sunday – 10:30am Radio Broadcast WYCB -1340 AM-Sunday -6:00pm T.V. Broadcast - Channel 190 – Sunday -4:00pm/Tuesday 7:00am

“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org e-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., • Pastor 2498 Alabama Ave., SE • Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 • www.acamec.org 2008: The Year of New Beginnings “Expect the Extraordinary”

Crusader Baptist Church

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 E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org

“The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

“God is Love”

Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor 1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202.347.5889 office 202.638.1803 fax Sunday School: 9:30 a.m.

Sunday Worship: 11:00 a.m.

Prayer Meeting and Bible Study: Wed. 7:30 p.m.

“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org

Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews • Senior Pastor 1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 Fax: (202) 526-1661

Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan, Pastor 800 I Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 Fax No. 202-548-0703

Sunday Worship Services: 8:00a.m. and 11:00a.m.

Sunday Church School - 9:15a.m. & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30a.m.

2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study - 6:30p.m.

Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study - 10:00a.m.

Tuesday Topical Bible Study - 6:30p.m.

Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study - 6:30p.m.

Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study - 6:30p.m.

Wednesday Children’s Bible Study - 6:30p.m.

Thursday Men’s Bible Study - 6:30p.m.

Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service - 6:30p.m.

Saturday Adult Bible Study - 10:00a.m.

Third Street Church of God

Isle of Patmos Baptist Church

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

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church 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 10:45 AM Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45 AM; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45 AM; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6 AM & 6:30 PM 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...

St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Dr. Raymond T. Matthews, Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews Sunday School 9:am Worship Service 10:am Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service 6:45 pm Thur. Bible Study 7:15 pm

We are proud to provide the trophies for the Washington Informer Spelling Bee

Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor Service and Times Sunday Worship Service 11:00 a.m.

Communion every Sunday 11:00 a.m.

Sunday School 10:00 a.m.

Bible Study Tuesday 12Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday 6:30 p.m.

Motto; “Discover Something Wonderful.”

Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com

Mount Carmel Baptist Church

52 Years of Expert Engraving Services

Joseph N. Evans, Ph.D Senior Pastor 901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Sunday Church School : 9: 30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10: 45am Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00pm Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00pm Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10: 45am themcbc.org

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RELIGION BAPTIST

Advertise Your Church services here: call Ron Burke at

202-561-4100 or email rburke@washingtoninformer.com Zion Baptist Church

All Nations Baptist Church

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

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

Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards

“Where Jesus is the King”

Israel Baptist Church

4850 Blagdon Ave, NW • Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 • Fax (202) 291-3773

1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288

Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 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

2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730

2001 North Capitol St, N.E. • Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591

Rev. Dr. Morris L Shearin, Sr. Pastor

St. Luke Baptist Church

Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor

Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor

Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor

Sunday Worship Service 10:15AM- Praise and Worship Services 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

King Emmanuel Baptist Church

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.

Mount Moriah Baptist Church Dr. Lucius M. Dalton, Senior Pastor 1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 Fax: 202-544-2964 Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 am and 10:45 am Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 am and 10:45 am Sunday School: 9:30 am Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon and 6:30 pm Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 pm Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 pm

ChurCh Printing

20% Off PrOgrams & BOOklets

l l l l l l

Copies Color Copies fax services tee shirts scan & email service lamination

call Ron Burke at

202-561-4100 or email rburke@washingtoninformer.com

Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor Worshiping Location Knights of Columbus - 1633 Tucker Road Fort Washington, MD 20744 (240) 838-7074 Order of Services Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 am Sunday School: 9:00 am Holy Communion 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer / Bible Study: 6:15 pm - 7:20 pm (Tuesday)

Rehoboth Baptist Church

Salem Baptist Church

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

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

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

Elder Herman L. Simms, Pastor

2616 MLK Ave., SE • Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 • Fax 202-678-3304

Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator

Early Worship Service 7:30a.m Worship Service 10:45a.m.

New Members Class 9:30a.m.

Holy Communion : 1st Sunday -10:45a.m Church School 9:30a.m.

Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: Wednesday 7p.m Bible Study : Saturday: 11a.m.

Baptism: 4th Sunday – 10:45a.m “Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”

Sunday Worship Service 10:00 A.M.

Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 P.M

New Commandment Baptist Church

Peace Baptist Church

Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836

13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560

Sunday Morning Worship Service 7:15 am & 10:50 am Sunday School 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship Service 10:50am Wednesday Prayer & Testimonies Service 7:30pm Wednesday School of the Bible 8:00pm Wednesday - Midweek Prayer Service 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Services: Sunday Worship 11 AM Sunday School 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study - Wed. 7 PM “A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”

“The Loving Church of the living lord “ Email Address pbcexec@verizon.net

Shiloh Baptist Church

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Rev. Alonzo Hart Pastor

Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor

Rev. Reginald M. Green, Sr., Interim Pastor

621 Alabama Avenue, 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) 232-4200

602 N Street NW • Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595

The Church Where GOD Is Working....

And We Are Working With GOD

Sunrise Prayer Services - Sunday 7:00 a.m.

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.

Morning Worship: 8:00 a.m Church School : 9:30 a.m.

Morning Worship: 10:55 a.m.

Bible Study, Thursday: 6:30 p.m.

Prayer Meeting,Thursday : 7:30 p.m.

Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church” Matthew 6:33 and Mathew 28:18-20, KJV

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

Email: stmatthewsbaptist@msn.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org

Motto: : “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”

Sunday Worship Services: 7:45am & 11:00am Sunday school For All Ages 9:30am Prayer Services Wednesday 11:30am & 6:45pm Bible Institute Wednesday at Noon & 7:45pm “Changing Lives On Purpose “ Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org

www.washingtoninformer.com

Dr. C. Matthew Hudson, Jr, Pastor

1864-2014

150 Years of Service

Christ Embassy DC

5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005

Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged.

The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42

services here:

Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert SR. Pastor

6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065

tel: 202-291-6565

Advertise Your Church

Holy Trinity United Baptist Church

Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor

Matthews Memorial Baptist Church

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith

Prayer/Seeking Wednesday at 8:00 P.M.

301 kennedy street, nW Washington, DC 20011

Florida Avenue Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Clinton W. Austin Pastor 2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Come Grow With Us and Establish a Blessed Family” Sunday Worship 7:30am & 10:45am Baptism/Holy Communion 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30pm Prayer Service Tuesdays – 8:00pm www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org

Quality Printers

Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org

St. Matthews Baptist Church

Emmanuel Baptist Church

The Washington Informer

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

Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor 3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 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

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor 2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 Fax: (202) 529-7738 Order of Services 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 Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.

Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

25

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2014 ADM 1193

Administration No. 2014 ADM 783

Lucretia Mary Sexcius

Elamin Elghebaili

Decedent

Decedent

Wesley L. Clarke

Johnny M. Howard

1629 K Street, NW, Suite 300

Houston & Howard

Washington, DC 20006

1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 402

Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Susan Daniel, whose address is 229 Quackenbos St., NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lucretia Mary Sexcius, who died on September 21, 2014 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 18, 2015. 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 June 18, 2015, 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: December 18, 2014

Washington, DC 20036 Attorney

Johnny M. Howard, whose address is 1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 402, Washington, DC 20036, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Elamin Elghebaili, who died on September 25, 2013 with a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 18, 2015. 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 June 18, 2015, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or 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: December 18, 2014

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister

Anne Meister

Register of Wills

Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Administration No. 2014 ADM 1265

Administration No. 2014 ADM 1268

Edith McClenny Griffin

Lisa D. Reid

Decedent

Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 18, 2015. 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 June 18, 2015, 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.

or email rburke@washingtoninformer.com

LEGAL NOTICES services here:

P. Lee Reid, whose address is 2517 Park Place, SE, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Lisa D. Reid, who died

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,

call Ron Burke at

D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 18, 2015.

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 June 18, 2015, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent

202-561-4100

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:

December 18, 2014

December 18, 2014

Emanuel Alexander Lipscomb

P. Lee Reid

Personal Representative

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister

Anne Meister

Register of Wills

Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

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on December 14, 2013 without a Will, and will serve

Date of first publication:

26 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

202-561-4100

legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this

Personal Representative

Griffin, who died on May 25, 2014 with a Will, and

call Ron Burke at

their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such

Johnny M. Howard

Personal Representative of the estate of Edith McClenny

services here:

AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Personal Representative

Upshur St., NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed

LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Susan Daniel

Emanuel Alexander Lipscomb, whose address is 1736

LEGAL NOTICES

or email

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BURKE continued from Page 15

re-statements of unsolved problems. The pattern typically ends with a behind-the-scenes deal to keep modern civil rights leaders quiet.

All this comes at a time when any glance at economic data on poverty, unemployment and economic status would tell you something is seriously wrong with Black leadership. That Dr. King was operating during a much more perilous time punctuated with murder makes it even more of an indictment of today’s “leaders.”

In the wake of Ferguson, Mo. and the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner by state

actors, there is the realization that much of what King confronted and improved remains unconquered. We still have unarmed Black men being shot dead and their killers going unpunished after telling tales that blame the dead for their demise.

At first glance, a viewer could look at Selma as a completely different era. The failure of the state to punish those who killed Black people is featured in the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson by an Alabama State Trooper who was never punished. Given recent events the film prompts a scary question: What’s different now?

Selma in theaters this holiday season becomes a time to push

idiot movies about assassinating foreign leaders to the side. Off in Hollywood, where people can waste $90 million on trivia, the movie Selma is worth far more than that. And Selma will have far more longevity because it details neglected history. It also gives us a much needed whiplash when we compare civil rights activism now and civil rights activism then. WI Lauren Victoria Burke is freelance writer and creator of the blog Crewof42.com. She can be reached through her website, laurenvictoriaburke.com, or Twitter @Crewof42 or by e-mail at LBurke007@gmail.com

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FLETCHER continued from Page 15 lated into fights for voting rights, healthcare, housing, education and jobs. It must be translated into a recognition that the battle

for justice in the so-called post-racial USA is a battle to establish consistent democracy rather than any acceptance of a political and economic establishment that looks a lot like a 21st century Jim Crow or apartheid regime.

Free

www.livelinks.com

Happy New Year! WI

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is the host of The Global African on Telesur-English.

He is a racial justice, labor and global justice activist and writer. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and

If Your Ad Were Here Someone Would Be Reading It! Contact me, Ron Burke, at 202-561-4100 or rburke@washingtoninformer.com

ATTENTION H.S. Seniors:

The MDDC Press Foundation is looking for an outstanding senior staff member from a high school newspaper in Maryland, Delaware or D.C.

Win a $1,500 CASH SCHOLARSHIP! CURRY continued from Page 15 touched on those deadly attacks, Fox talkers have stressed that it’s not fair to blame politics. Note that in 2013, after racist skinhead Michael Page started killing worshipers at an Oak Creek, Wisconsin Sikh temple, and then murdered a police officer, Fox’s Andrea Tantaros stressed that the killing spree was an isolated event that didn’t have any larger implications. ‘How do you stop a lunatic?’ she asked. ‘This is not a political issue.’

“At Fox, that has been the pattern: These kind of deadly right-wing attacks are treated as isolated incidents that are mostly void of politics. Instead, the perpetrators are portrayed as lone gunmen (and women) who do not represent any cultural or political movement.”

Visit www.MDDCPress.com for details.

To buttress its assertion, Media Matters stated: “On a September night this year, 31-year-old marksman Eric Frein was allegedly laying in wait outside the Blooming Grove police barracks in northeastern Pennsylvania, preparing to assassinate state troopers. That night, state police officer Bryon Dickson was shot and killed as he walked towards his patrol car. “…In the two weeks after the shooting, as a massive manhunt unfolded in the mountains of Pennsylvania, Fox programs mentioned Frein’s name in just six reports, according to Nexis transcripts. One of the reports mentioned Frein’s hatred of law enforcement, but none mentioned Frein’s vocal anti-government leanings.

“When Frein was finally captured in late October, Fox News covered the stories a handful of

www.washingtoninformer.com

times. Again, there was no emphasis on his possible anti-government motivations and why the “survivalist” set out to assassinate law enforcement officers.

“Another police assassination attack unfolded in June.

Claiming to be acting under the bloody ‘banner of Liberty and Truth,’ Jerad Miller and his wife Amanda entered a restaurant Las Vegas executed two local policemen while they ate lunch. “…Fox News primetime hosts Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity both ignored the shocking cop-killer story the night after it happened; Megyn Kelly devoted four sentences to it.”

Fox has plenty of company on the right.

According to Media Matters, the “Worst 2014 Smears from Right-Wing Websites” included: “The Daily Caller suggested that Obama’s statement expressThe Washington Informer

Application Deadline: January 30, 2015

2015 Michael S. Powell

High School Journalist of the Year ing his condolences to the parents of Michael Brown was calculated to boost Black turnout in the midterm elections.” [Media Matters, 8/12/14] In November 2014, Breitbart.com criticized the media for not mentioning that President Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch, “was one of the Clintons’ Whitewater defense attorneys.” But “Breitbart. com targeted the wrong Loretta Lynch – the woman they named, a defense attorney for the Clintons, is a California-based attorney who has worked on several prominent political campaigns, and is White. The nominee Lo

retta Lynch became a federal prosecutor in 1990, two years before the other Lynch participated in the Whitewater investigation, was appointed by President Clinton as a U.S. Attorney in 1999, and is Black.” [Media Matters, 11/9/14] Yes, Black lives matter. And so does the truth.WI

George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA.) He can be reached through his Web site, www.georgecurry.com.

You can also follow him at www.twitter.com/currygeorge and George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook.

Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

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MALVEAUX continued from Page 16 coached by Robert McCulloch, a prosecutor whose actions were, at best, questionable. His killing, linked with those of Tamir Rice and Eric Garner, has sparked an international movement against police brutality and excessive police force.

What links the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu? Some would say that one set of deaths was revenge for the other. Actually, all of the deaths represent a tragic loss of life. They represent losses for families and friends, tragedies for communities. The connection between Brown, Rice, Garner, Ramos and Liu is that all of these lives should be mourned.

Patrick Lynch, the president of the New York Police Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, has used incendiary rhetoric to link the killings of Rafael

CHAVIS continued from Page 16 should gather to plan, develop and present a global agenda for equal justice, economic empowerment, youth leadership mentorship and spiritual revitalization.

Naturally, the recurring crisis and devastating impact of racially motivated police violence has to be addressed in this setting. But the issue of police brutality and use of deadly police force should be viewed within the larger context of inequity and injustice.

For starters, here is my short

MUHAMMAD continued from Page 16

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30 Jan 1 - Jan 7, 2015

What’s curious to me in all of this anti-Obama rhetoric from the well-heeled who have coached the suffering poor— the needy favor the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but they hate its sobriquet “Obamacare”—is that the wealthy announcers of the hateful screeds are doing pretty well for themselves, even padding their pockets even more, at the public’s expense.

According to the Tax Policy Center, in 2014, 78,000 tax filers with incomes of $211,000 to $533,000 paid zero taxes. There were 24,000 tax filers with incomes of $533,000 to $2.2 million who paid zero taxes. There were 3,000 tax filers with incomes above $2.2 million who paid zero taxes.

Nice work if you can get it.

For far too many people in this The Washington Informer

Ramos and Wenjian Liu to the international protests against police brutality. Lynch blames the killings of Ramos and Liu on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, whose compassionate words after a grand jury failed to indict Eric Garner’s killer set just the right tone.

Instead of asking who is to blame for the tragic deaths, Lynch should focus on the mental illness that clearly compelled Brinsley to kill two police officers. It is troubling that the media has focused on “revenge” shootings without fully exploring the possibility that Brinsley simply was “not all there.” He shot his former girlfriend before heading to New York to kill police officers. Then he killed himself.

These are not the actions of a rational human being.

Acting in absolutely righteous rage, tens of thousands of protestors have taken to the streets, sometimes in actions that have been carefully or-

chestrated and other times in spontaneous outrage. Al Sharpton marched with thousands in Washington, D.C., flanked by the mothers of some of the Black men who were slain. Refreshingly, the protesters were multi-racial and multi-generational. “Hands up, don’t shoot,” and “I can’t breathe” were their watchwords. There is no thick line and probably not even a dotted line between the police killings and killings of black men except for the fact that we live in a violent culture.

When Adam Lanza killed 26 people in Newtown, Conn. in 2012, his deranged Internet postings were seen as part of his mental illness. Too many are focusing on Brinsley’s supposed “revenge” and too few are focusing on his mental illness. And, most importantly, too few are focusing on the equivalence of life, the fact that every death is a tragedy.WI

list of priority concerns that should be addressed at the summit: reaffirming and encouraging the emergence of young, committed, gifted and talented youth leaders; rededicating support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); strengthening Black-owned businesses with an emphasis on global economic development; establishing strategic alliances with the African Union; organizing Black American trade delegations to China, Africa, the Caribbean, Brazil and Indonesia; participating in the planning for the execution of the 2020 U.S. Census; supporting and in-

vesting in expansion of Blackowned media; prioritizing legislative and public policy issues; focusing on how we spend $1.3 trillion annually; advancing the cause of freedom, justice and equality; and inspiring a moral and spiritual transformation of American society.WI

Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and can be reached for national advertisement sales and partnership proposals at dr.bchavis@ nnpa.org and for lectures and other professional consultations at http:// drbenjaminfchavisjr.wix.com/drbfc.

country, it is better to be rich than well educated. That’s why it’s okay to pay a bad member of Congress a boatload more money than it is paid to a good teacher.

How do these guys make their evil fair seeming? I think I know the answer to that conundrum. I was taught this lesson at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Thanks to Craig Wilson from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government I’ve gotten a little deeper insight into this devilish scheme to pull the wool over the eyes of the public.

Until 1968, when Republican Richard Nixon took power utilizing his “Southern Strategy,” Christian, segregationist, White Democrats–so-called “Dixiecrats”–ruled the South telling White voters six “truths:” 1. The federal government’s a threat; 2.

Federal courts don’t understand the Constitution; 3. Taxes are bad; 4. Unions need to be elim-

inated; 5. You have a lousy hospital; 6. But at least you’re White.

And it worked like a charm.

Now, the Republican Party has flipped that script. They have applied the Nixon Southern Strategy and county by county, congressional district by district, Senate seat by senate seat, and governor’s mansion by mansion, they have seized power in Dixie—now called “Red States” and they’re no longer just in the South.

From the latter part of the 20th century until this day, the GOP mantra reiterates to White voters a few new “truths:” 1.

The federal government’s the enemy; 2. Taxes are bad; 3. The federal courts don’t understand the Constitution; 4. Unions are bad; 5. But at least you’re an American.

It all adds up, and despite otherwise great statistics, President Obama is really having a bad year. WI

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