VOL. 53, NO. 15 • JANUARY 25 - 31, 2018
Let’s Work Toward Keeping Dr. King’s Dream Alive
D.C.’s Second National Women’s Day March Challenges Status Quo
Center Section
Martin Luther King III: Walking in his Father’s Huge Footsteps
By Lauren Poteat WI Contributing Writer
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
Thousands of people again converged on D.C. over the weekend for the second National Women’s Day March, a women-led movement that advocates for a range of issues, including ending violence against women, LGBT rights, immigrant rights and environmental justice. Brightly dressed in hot pink “pussyhats” — a reference to Donald Trump’s lewd remarks about grabbing women by the genitals in a 2005 recording — participants began the Jan. 20 march with a rally at Lincoln Memorial and ended at the White House. “This could not have come soon enough,” said Susan Booker, who came from New York to participate. “This same march 4 A protestor holds a sign is happening in New York as we at the Lincoln Memorial to speak, but I couldn’t stay there to rally before the 2nd Annual protest. I had to be near the White Women’s March in WashHouse, where all of the law makers ington DC celebrating reside and them know our voices women’s rights on January
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Check Out the WI Bridge
20, 2018. /Photo by Michael A. McCoy
District Leads Nation in Black Male Achievement By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
5 Members of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement [CBMA] are joined by several of their mentees during the recent release of a report that shows a marked increase in investment of and action benefiting Black men and boys in U.S. cities, despite a decrease of federal support. The report highlights progress made in the District in its efforts to increase investment in Black achievement. /Photo courtesy CBMA
A new report released Tuesday highlights the District for its progress in scaling investment in Black male achievement. Released by the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), the report reveals increased investment and action in Black men and boys in cities across the country — even as federal support wanes. The report also outlined clear action steps for cities to make further strides. The Black Male Achievement City Index first launched in 2015
and the latest report revealed a 62 percent higher level of engagement for advancing Black male achievement across all 50 cities. The report, titled “Promise of Place: Building Beloved Communities for Black Men and Boys,” and the Black Male Achievement Index was presented by stakeholders who included Sheba Rogers, the Promise of Place program manager for the campaign; Shawn Dove, CEO of the CBMA; Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock and Anthony Smith, executive director of Cities United. “There’s progress,” Rogers said.
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Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the late civil rights legend and Coretta Scott King, was just a few months shy of 11 years old when his father was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He went on to graduate from Morehouse College with a bachelor’s degree in political science. Among the many high-profile roles King has since taken on are community activist, county commissioner and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, the organization that his father served as its first president. Like his father, King has led protest marches and has convened police brutality hearings. “There’s a barbaric mentality today with police shootings of African Americans, but all of that can change when people rise up which is why I applaud Black Lives Matter,” King said. “One of the things we’ve not done in the past is mobilize people, different groups and this election coming up in November is important because we need a stopgap in Congress because this president doesn’t have an understanding of what goes on in communities of color. “Right now the Republicans have the presidency, the House and the Senate,” he said. “But this coming election creates prospects of one or both houses being flipped to people who would have some sensitivity to these issues.” King, the recipient of the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s
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Celebrating 53 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area