The Washington Informer - January 30, 2020

Don’t Miss This Month’s WI Bridge Center Section

Kobe’s Death Shocks the Nation, World

Vol. 55, No. 16 • January 30 - February 5, 2020

Students Lament Washington Metropolitan’s Closure

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins

NBA Superstar Had More to Do with Storied Life

Even after students, parents, and community members expressed their dismay during meetings and visits with city officials, the central office of D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) doubled down on its decision to close Washington Metropolitan Opportunity Academy at the end of this academic year.

Not even assurances by Chancellor Dr. Lewis Ferebee that students could easily transfer elsewhere have quelled the backlash among those who, after finding stability at Washington Metropolitan, say they’re struggling to figure out the maze of options.

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer From Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, people across the country and the basketball world continue to respond with shock and grief over the sudden death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, killed in a helicopter accident Sunday, Jan. 26.

On NBA courts Sunday night, players deliberately forced penalties to honor #24 who, along with his 13year old daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant and seven others, died after their craft crashed shortly after takeoff.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a press conference Sunday that nine people were on board the helicopter in Calabasas shortly before 10 am. Sunday morning PST. “All the survivors on board were determined to have been killed,” said LA County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby noting that there had been heavy cloud cover and adverse conditions, including thick fog.

Bryant and Gigi had been headed to Mamba Academy for her basketball practice and game. Another teammate and her parents also died in the crash.

Bryant often used his personal helicopter to make the commute between his home in Orange County to the Academy, which is located in Thousand Oaks.

Other victims included: Ara Zobayan, the pilot; John Altobelli, head baseball coach at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and his wife, Keri

ACADEMY Page 30

5 Chancellor Dr. Lewis Ferebee (WI File Photo/Shevry Lassiter)

Baltimore Mayoral Hopefuls Square Off as Primary Nears

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer

5 Tributes to Kobe Bryant now stand throughout LA and outside of the ‘House that Kobe Built.’ (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

and their daughter, Alyssa; Payton Chester and her mother, Sarah Chester; and Christina Mauser.

The National Transportation Safety Board continues to lead an investigation that is looking into the pilot, helicopter maintenance records and the weather conditions at the time the helicopter took off for reasons behind

the accident.

Since retiring. Bryant became deeply involved in the lives of his four children, according to media reports.

He often took his 17-year-old Natalia to his NBA games. He, his wife and their three children appeared court-

KOBE Page 31

Morgan State University’s Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center was packed Saturday with people and politics as Baltimore Mayor Jack Young and 13 other hopefuls looking to replace him took part in a lively candidates’ forum ahead of the April 28 primary.

A platoon of candidates made the Jan. 24 filing

deadline for the primary and onstage Saturday were 14 candidates that included Young, former Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott, former Mayor Shelia Dixon, state Sen. Mary Washington and former Maryland Deputy Attorney General Thiru Vignaragh.

The forum, sponsored by the Greater Washington

BALTIMORE Page 34

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Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence Prince George’s School Board National Black HIV/AIDS

COMPILED BY WI EDITOR D. KEVIN MCNEIR AND WILLIAM J. FORD,WI STAFF WRITER

Holds Awareness Day, February 7 She said law enforcement. they Budget threat,” she Workshop said.

By Tia Carol Jones WI Staff Writer

had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow George’s Get the Word sense of uniformity in thePrince way wants to see implemented are County who When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- domestic violence victims andresidents Out! Nationstricter restraining order policies, old told her the father survivors are treated. wish to provide moreinput rights for victim's families al daughter Black HIV/ ofAIDS her daughter the schooltosystem’s “She's using her own on personal intervene on behalf of a vicAware-threatened her life, pain to $2.3 tim,billion a domestic violence assessnessand Daytheis life Fri- of their child, story, her own personalproposed she had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens fiscal year 2021 mentbudunit coupled with further day,knew Feb.something 7–a done.

Out of toher frustration said about Marlow. get can do training so Tues- for law enforcement day created with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said day, anyone Feb. 4 agencies, at Cross- a Child's Life Protecincrease HIV 5 Whether you’re singlewho or involved, it’sMarlow's book ofeducation, the situation, she decided to reads will Act and mandatory counselland HightionSchool testessential thatcamyou know“get your HIV status.

(Photo start the Saving Promise it.”

She said she “puts the ing for batterers. in Temple Hills.

The board held two previous budget ing, commu- courtesy CDC ) paign. case in such a way, the average “If we are ever going eradiworkshops and public hearings earlierto this month. The nity involve“It seems to be a vicious cycle can getThis it.” She said at the plan cate domestic violence, weMonica must Goldspending released

by School’s CEO ment and treatment among Black person communities. that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will look both increase sides ofofthe son represents a 5 at percent thecoin. current $2.1 year’s theme, “Together for Love: Stop HIV Stigma,” loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to have a diaWe need to address both vic- nearbillion budget. According to a budget the summary, highlights the messages of the Let’s Stop HIV Togethshared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow ly $1.9 billion, or 82 percent, account for salaries and er campaign which continues in its efforts to raise the ence at the District Heights Also present at the event was benefits. said. The county’s biggest revenue source employee awareness that we all have a role to play in stopping Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, comes the ex-from state Marlow wouldwhich also like to increase see funding, could by onHIV Maystigma.

7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise $45.8 million.

Some of that involves recommendations Stopping HIV stigma starts with all of us. When we Municipal Center.

The sympowho was sentenced to sixfrom consecawarenessonamong children in the Commission Innovation and Excellence in call out attitudes aboutwithout parole sium wasnegative sponsored by and the misinformation utive life terms public and private schools.

She Education that include prekindergarten expansion and people with HIV, we end the cycle of HIV stigma.

Join Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatcollege and career readiness programs. #NBHAAD stopofHIV stigma together.

For more Center of thetocity District the Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence.

To read the full budget, go to https://bit.ly/2O5feUc. information, visit www.cdc.gov/together.

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 andOn their children.

MarlowPresbyterian has worked to break Saturday January 25, 2020 at Westminster Church in Southwest, domestic violence. The book is one“Ilocal livedevent in fear fordisgruntled six years. Six thecounted cycle ofamong abuse more in herthan family, with citizens 200 Saturday inspired by her own experiences, events years in is a longworldwide time. It is– organized and is confident the plans policies she through in fear 32 countries to denounce to rush and those of her grandmother, an notundemocratic an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that rollout of 5G. For the last two weeks, concerned citizens and enher mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process. vironmental groups have delivered to their elected officials at every government level She said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad said “I planand to take these policies to has been the International Appeal to Stop 5G on Earth in Space. The Appeal excerpts from her book, she still people who want to help a Congress and implore them to signed by 4,800 scientists, 2,800 medical doctors, 770 beekeepers, 2,000 environcan not believe the words came domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. organizations and 180,000 others from 207 countries and territories. It calls from her. “Color Me Butterfly” mental be careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these polithe world’s governments to stop the deployment of 5G. won the 2007 National “Best on the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.”

What’s this about? Stopping the deployment of millions of 5G antennas on Earth Books” Award. that she may be in “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached and 50,000 5G satellites in space, and to secure emergency high-level meetings with “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net in governments and international governmental organizations including the my eye first blackened and my officials “Before you get to 'I'm going European Union, the United Nations, and the World Health Organization. The issue lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI 5 (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Elaine Davis-Nickens, presi- is microwave radiation, which has been steadily intensifying for over two decades, Informer) dent of the National Hook-Up courtesy of the wireless revolution. 5G will bring a huge increase in radiation, virtually of Black Women, said there is no overnight, everywhere – in cities, suburbs, parks, nature preserves, wildlife refuges and oceans, Greenland, Antarctica. Instead of cell towers every few miles, there will be cell towers, small but powerful, in consistency in the wayand domestic front issues of every to with fifth home. violence arethird dealt

by Instead of 2,000 satellites orbiting the Earth, there will shortly be 50,000. However, research indicates a wide range of damaging consequences for people, bees, trees and the rest of nature. Residents continue to request additional information residents so they can protect themselves from unnecessary exposure to cellphone radiation – or for some – to better organize to stop 5G.

Protesters Demand Halt to Fast-Paced 5G Rollout

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4 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

CIRCULATION Paul Trantham

“

We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor about domestic Jack Evans Files to Regainchildren Seat on DC City Council Ten days after officially resigning amid an ongoing ethics scandal, to take these violence.

I plan Jack Evans has launched efforts to reclaim his D.C. Council seat.

Evans filed paperwork Monday for a special June 16 election that policies to Congress and will fill the Ward 2 seat he officially gave up Jan. 17. In addition, he’s on the ballot for the June 2 Democratic primary for that same implore them seat. Should he emerge victorious, it will make for inevitable conflict to change our between Evans and his colleagues who, just before his resignation, had decided to vote for his expulsion. Even before his Iresignation, laws. will not stop until Evans had faced opposition from his own constituents, with a recall petition being circulated. these policies are passed.

“

In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark

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Grosso, Bonds Press for Transparency in Pursuit of Increased Affordable Housing

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia As affordable housing in the District continues to elude many, D.C. Council members Anita Bonds and David Grosso are pushing for legislation to ease the ever-growing problem.

Grosso has introduced legislation that would require more transparency from the executive branch and developers when considering housing purchases intended to preserve and expand affordable housing in the District.

“The District of Columbia cannot afford to waste any more time when it comes to preserving and expanding our residents’ access to affordable housing,” Grosso told The Informer. “The imbalance in our housing stock, combined with rising rents and housing costs, is displacing mostly low-income families and families of color.”

In 2008, the council enacted the District Opportunity to Purchase Act (DOPA) to employ government resources to preserve and expand affordable housing units. Under the law, the District has the right to purchase buildings with five or more dwelling units with at least 25 percent affordable housing.

It also allowed the city government to assign its rights to purchase to third party entities.

“Unfortunately, nearly 12 years later, the District of Columbia still has not exercised its right to purchase a single property, and the District has missed too many opportunities to purchase,” Grosso said.

His office noted that regulations from the 2008 law were not finalized until November 2018, a decade later. And the mayor only recently announced 40 pre-qualified developers who can be assigned the District’s right to purchase in May. Grosso said he intends to increase transparency and accountability into the exercise of the government’s purchasing power with the DOPA Disclosure Amendment Act of 2020, which he introduced along with Bonds, who chairs the Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization.

The bill requires the mayor to file a detailed annual report that discloses the qualifications of developers as well as the process, factors, and communi-

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5 Anita Bonds (WI File photo)

cations involved in the government’s or its assignees’ decision making when exercising its rights under DOPA. “DOPA was intended to be another tool to address our affordable housing crisis, and so far, it’s not even been taken out of the toolbox,” Grosso said.

“District residents and policymakers need to understand better why this tool is not being used, and once it’s finally taken out of the toolbox, how it is being used.”

Currently, many residents are under the impression that through DOPA, the District government will purchase and actively manage affordable rental housing properties throughout the District, Bonds said in an email.

“What actually happens is that once a group of tenants decides that they are unable or choose not to exercise their TOPA [Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act] right, they work closely with DHCD, which then assigns a developer the rights to work on the property and complete the renovations, repairs and other improvements for the tenants,” she said.

The rental units in the property will remain affordable for the low-to-moderate income residents who once lived there, ultimately contributing to the maintenance of our city’s stock of safe, sanitary, and affordable housing, Bonds said.

“While DOPA has been law since 2008, it is only recently being implemented DHCD,” she said. “We are excited that it can be used to prevent displacement.”

The goal of this legislation is to ensure that the Council and the public receive regular reports on how these dollars are working to maintain affordable housing units. Most of all, Bonds said she sees this new reporting requirement as “an effective anti-displacement tool.” WI

Contact: Ron Burke rburke@washingtoninformer.com (202) 561-4100

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THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSING AUTHORITY REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) / SOLICITATION NO.: 0005-2020 Utility Billing Administration Services The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) requires professional Utility Billing and Administrative Services in support of utility services for DCHA. SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS will be available at the Issuing Office at 1133 North Capitol Street, NE, Suite 300, Office of Administrative Services/Contracts and Procurement, Washington, DC 20002-7599, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning Tuesday, January 21, 2020 and on DCHA’s website at www.dchousing.org.

SEALED PROPOSAL RESPONSES ARE DUE ON OR BEFORE Monday, February 24, 2020 at 11:00 AM. Contact Lolita Washington, Contract Specialist at (202) 535-1212 or by email at lwashing@dchousing. org with copy to business@dchousing.org for additional information.

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JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 5

AROUND THE REGION

black facts

JAN 30 - FEB 5, 2020 SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB

JAN. 30

1844 – Richard Theodore Greener, the first African American graduate of Harvard College and dean of the Howard University School of Law, is born in Philadelphia.

1944 – Former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt, the first African American woman to serve as mayor of a major American city, is born in the District.

JAN. 31

1865 – The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which outlawed slavery and indentured servitude, is passed by the U.S. Congress.

1919 – Baseball great Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947, is born in Cairo, Georgia.

1933 – Actress and singer Etta Moten becomes the first Black star to perform at the White House.

1988 – Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams becomes the first Black starting quarterback in a Super Bowl, winning MVP honors in Washington’s 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

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1902 – African American writer and social activist Langston Hughes (top) is born in Joplin, Missouri.

1960 – The Greensboro sit-in, an act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., begins.

1965 – Alabama officials arrest 700 Blacks as they demonstrate against the state’s voter registration requirements in Selma.

1976 – President Gerald Ford officially designates February as Black History Month in the United States.

1978 – The United States Postal Service issues the first stamp of the Black Heritage Series, honoring Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor.”

FEB. 2

1990 – South African President F. W. de Klerk lifts a 30-year ban on leading anti-apartheid group the African National Congress.

2009 – Eric Holder becomes the first Black person to be confirmed as United States attorney general.

FEB. 3

1870 – The 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which granted African American men the right to vote, is ratified.

1920 – The Negro National League, one of several organized Black baseball leagues, is founded.

1956 – Autherine Lucy enrolls as a graduate student at the University of Alabama, becoming the first African American ever admitted to a white public school or university in the state.

FEB. 4

1997 – Then-Rep. J.C. Watts becomes the first Black selected to respond to a State of the Union Address.

2006 – NFL great Warren Moon becomes the first Black quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

2007 – Tony Dungy becomes the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

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6 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

1884 – Inventor Willis Johnson patents the egg beater.

1934 – Baseball legend Hank Aaron is born in Mobile, Alabama.

1972 – Bob Douglas, “the father of Black professional basketball,” becomes the first African American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

1990 – Barack Obama becomes the first Black elected to Head Harvard’s Law Review.

1994 – Avowed white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith is convicted of murdering civil rights activist Medgar Evers in 1963. WI

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The World According to Dominic

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It was a typical spring day when at the age of 29, my wife informed me that we were expecting our first child.

I was excited, ecstatic – instantly transported to the special place that The Temptations referred to as “Cloud Nine.” However, unlike the message fueling that Motown classic, my exuberance and euphoria came through natural means.

With each passing month, and as my wife’s moods swung haphazardly from left to right and her once-svelte body blossomed as it changed in preparation for the birth of our baby, I began to think about the things I’d learned from my father, the times we had shared together and the love he poured on me – in me – always unconditionally and which I cherish, even to this day.

I lamented briefly when first getting the news, realizing that Daddy would be unable to share in the miracle of birth, having died from lung cancer years earlier when I was 25 – a period in my life where neither marriage, much less children, had even entered my mind. Still, I knew he wouldn’t miss this party. He’d be hovering in our midst and would certainly nuzzle his scruffy beard against the check of Baby McNeir from time to time – once he or she made their appearance.

My mother occasionally shared a past remembrance about fathers – a tale we could expect if she’d dropped one of her amazing dinners on us, then allowed herself a few sips of her favorite beverage, Cold Duck. Seems that when Daddy first saw me through the hospital window where one could get a look at the newborns, he bragged to my godfather “Slim.” See his impressive size, head full of hair and well-defined muscles, Daddy said, thrusting out his chest filled with either pride or hot air. My godfather is said to have burst my father’s bubble, responding, “It looks like a baby to me.”

I still laugh when I think about that story and it reminds me of how I felt when I first held my little girl and she grabbed my finger. Needless to say, she had me hooked from that moment on. She still has that power over me, my Jasmine – my self-proclaimed “Baby Girl” – the first to be given that title of affection. Two years ago, I gave the nickname to another “little lady.”

With my daughter’s permission, my four-legged companion and sidekick – a female Boxer – is also called “Baby Girl.”

The years have gone by quickly – the memorable moments seared into my heart and soul. And I’m so grateful that I have been granted these years replete with special one-on-ones and treasured opportunities to feel my daughter’s spirit and witness her internal beauty. On occasion, with no one else but us present, we found ourselves engaged in conversations between our spiritual selves, and we rejoiced.

This week she entered her third decade of life, turning 30 years old.

Time waits for no one. She’s made me proud – well, most of the time, anyway. As for me, while I can recount the mistakes I made, the words I wish I’d never spoken – the times that, rather than bringing laughter into her life, I had caused her pain – I can say that the good times, the good old days, far outnumber the bad. I think I’ve been a good father and friend. I know I have done my best.

And I cannot imagine my life without her – or her having lived for 30 years and me not having been a part of those millions of precious, impossible to recapture or replicate, moments.

Why then, I often wonder, do so many Black men, many who have been or remain my friends or mentors, look upon fatherhood as an injury they wish they’d dodged, an ugly blackhead that has taken residence on their face which they’d just as soon cover up – a mistake that they wish they could have avoided and never made.

Some brothers tell me, and I’ve certainly heard it from my elders when I was a child, that they only wanted one thing – a boy – they needed a boy to continue the family name, longed for a boy so they could teach him about becoming a man. Daughters were not included in their equation. And so, they continued to squander God’s gifts.

As fatherhood became another of my mantras, the gender of my children never mattered. Four years after my daughter, we had a son. And so, I have been twice blessed. And our connections to each other, my daughter and son, have been unique in their own respect. Still, there’s just something amazingly-special with father-daughter relationships. For me, it’s almost as if we were twins – mirror images – spirits walking in synch who just “know” when it comes to the other.

Of course I don’t love one child more than the other. I simply feel a “something” for my daughter, impossible to express in words – an irony given the career I’ve carved out for myself as a journalist.

It’s okay that I’m at a loss whenever I consider and then attempt to identify that “something” which my firstborn and I possess in equal portions – that we both cherish and to which we cling with all of our might.

And I celebrate the fact that it belongs to us, alone. In all of the ways that matter, my daughter Jasmine is “my best me.” What a special gift. My Baby Girl # 1.

WI

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AROUND THE REGION

District Election Roundup

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @Jamesdcwrighter

WHITE ANNOUNCES REELECTION BID

D.C. Councilmember Trayon White announced his reelection bid recently saying he will carry forward his advocacy for Ward 8 but pleaded for residents to become more proactive in the ward.

“It is a great honor and privilege to serve as the voice for the residents of Ward 8,” White said at Check-It Enterprises, a retail establishment in the Anacostia section of the ward, on Jan. 20. “It is a great responsibility that I take very seriously. The people of this community can trust and rely on my leadership to continue to have our ward flourish and prosper consistently with other wards in our city.

“I am proud of the accomplishments that we have made over the past three years,” he said. “I am an advocate for responsible development and ensuring that our city’s budget is being allocated in the spaces that our residents want and need.”

White then told residents that “we got a mighty work ahead.”

In regard to improving the conditions of the ward, White said, “I can’t do it alone, all of us play a role.”

“It doesn’t matter whether we are 5 years old, 25, 55 or 105, we can all work to improve our community,” he said. “I am the leader on the front lines and I will take a lot of shots and a lot of blows, but that’s all right because I know that you are behind me.”

According to Jan. 20 data from the D.C. Board of Elections, White faces nine Democratic opponents in the June 2 party primary, including community leader Stuart Anderson, 8C advisory neighborhood commissioner Mike Austin and 8E05 commissioner Christopher L. Hawthorne.

The winner of the Democratic primary will likely face Republican Nate “Ward 8” Derenge and independent Christopher Cole in the Nov. 3 general election.

Fifty supporters attended White’s reelection announcement. Many of them wore green T-shirts signifying their support for White while others donned blue and yellow jackets

bearing the emblem for “Cure the Streets,” an anti-violence program backed by the council member.

The Rev. Willie Wilson, the outgoing pastor of the Union Temple Baptist Church, wore a green T-shirt showing his backing of White for reelection. Wilson told The Informer he supports White’s because of his effectiveness as a leader.

“Trayon White has proven to be effective in making a difference in our community,” he said. “White’s work with combating violence, helping young people and promoting economic development are the reasons I wholeheartedly will work for his reelection.”

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5 Ward 8 Council member Trayon White announced his reelection bid on Jan. 20 at Check-It Enterprises. (Anthony Tilghman/Washington Informer)

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TODD SEEKS TO SERVE WARD 4 ONCE AGAIN

D.C. Council member Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) announced his reelection bid on Jan. 25 at his Northwest campaign headquarters on Georgia Avenue.

Todd chairs the council’s Committee on Government Operations and has become a strong ally of Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on the legislative body.

On April 28, 2015, Todd won a special election to succeed Bowser as the Ward 4 council member after she won the mayoral election in November 2014. Todd won his first full council term on Nov. 8, 2016.

The D.C. Board of Elections website lists Renee Bowser, Marlena D. Edwards and Janeese Lewis George as opponents of Todd in the June 2 Democratic primary.

At his campaign launch, Todd said he would like to continue to serve the residents of Ward 4.

“We’ve seen incredible progress to-

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Accepting United Health PPO, HSCSN & DC Medicaid (Straight only) 5 Ward 4 Council member Brandon Todd will seek reelection. (Courtesy photo)

gether in our ward from Chevy Chase to Petworth,” he said. “But we’ve got so much more to accomplish together. In order to continue fighting for our seniors and families, to keep our schools and recreation centers in state-of-the-art shape, and to ensure every Ward 4 resident — no matter his or her background — has an equal opportunity to succeed, I need your help.” WI

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AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund, presents the 2020 Choral Arts Humanitarian Award to Sherrilyn Ifill on January 26 at the Kennedy Center during the 32nd Annual choral tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. featuring a concert by the Choral Arts Chorus together with the Washington Performing Arts Gospel Choirs. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

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Long-time supporter of the Washington Informer, Belinda Willingham, reads the newspaper each week and looks forward to the WI Charities African American Heritage Tour she has attended each year since 2011.

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“I cannot stand and sing the national anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a Black man in a white world . . . I know that I never had it made.”

– Jackie [Jack Roosevelt] Robinson born Jan. 31, 1919 in Cairo, GA and first Black to play in major league baseball.

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D.C. Politicians Mum on Presidential Race

AROUND THE REGION

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter With the Iowa caucus set to take place on Feb. 3 — thereby starting the Democratic presidential nomination process — District politicians haven’t publicly committed to any of the 12 candidates remaining.

Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate but has spoken highly of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“He is an important voice who just doesn’t talk the talk, he walks the walk,” Bowser said, according to public reports last year.

Bloomberg’s feelings about Bowser appear to be mutual. On Jan. 22 at the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting in the District, Bloomberg said, “I hope that someday soon we’ll be calling her ‘Governor Bowser,’” referencing the city’s ongoing push for statehood.

Bowser has also complimented former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Peter Buttigieg. In her March 2019 State of the District address, Bowser said she looked forward to engaging “candidates like Mayor Pete.”

“I know I am biased as a fellow mayor, but I quite like the idea of having a president who understands the importance of not just talking about infrastructure, but actually investing in infrastructure,” she said.

While Bowser hasn’t announced her presidential choice, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) strongly supported Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) for the Democratic nomination. However, Racine has been quiet since Harris dropped out of the race in December.

An Informer email sent to a Racine spokesperson on Jan. 13 on the matter hadn’t been responded to by press time.

A spokesperson for Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said he has been focusing on pressing issues in the District instead of the race.

“While the chairman has been paying attention to the Democrat-

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5 D.C. Councilmember Robert White hasn’t decided his choice for president this year. (WI file photo)

ic primary season, he has not chosen a candidate to support,” the spokesperson said. “He has been focusing on navigating through and leading the council through a very difficult time, in regards to [then] Council member [Jack] Evans. Additionally, this time leading up to the budget season and oversight is very important.”

Council member Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) hasn’t committed to a candidate, either.

“As of right now, I do not have a preferred candidate to be the Democratic nominee,” McDuffie said. “I am, however, disappointed in the lack of diversity in the top tier of remaining candidates. I will continue evaluating the candidates to see who prioritizes issues impacting the residents of the District of Columbia, including access to a quality education, affordable housing and economic opportunities, as well as D.C. statehood.”

McDuffie’s concern about no racial minorities among the leading candidates for the nomination received support from Council member Robert White (D-At Large).

“I haven’t decided on a candidate but it is early in the process,” White said. “I am very concerned that no people of color are major players in the race. Because of that I don’t think our issues are going to be adequately addressed.”

Council member Anita Bonds (D-At Large) has a lot of experience dealing with presidential politics on the District level. Bonds served as the chairman of the D.C. Democratic State Committee from 2006-2018 during the time of the Obama presidency and the Hillary Clinton campaign of 2016.

When asked her candidate, she bluntly replied, “anybody but Donald Trump.”

“I will support any candidate, within reason,” Bonds said. “The candidate I support and the one D.C. voters should support, has to be strong on our issues.”

While these political leaders haven’t decided who they will support, Council member Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) said he has.

“I have made up my mind who but I won’t announce it at this time,” Todd said with a smile.

WI

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JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 11

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Orioles Legend Eddie Murray Helps Kick Off Maryland’s New Health Care Initiative

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

BALTIMORE – Baltimore Orioles legend Eddie Murray joined state and health care officials to encourage Marylanders to begin signing up for health insurance through state income taxes, kicking off the first such statewide program in the country.

Murray, a baseball Hall of Famer nicknamed “Easy Eddie” for his smooth swing, appears in a radio ad in the Baltimore area promoting the Health Insurance Easy Enrollment program that began Monday. It’s estimated slightly more than 162,000

residents younger than 65 could be eligible for either free or low-cost health insurance.

“It would be an awesome thing to get them out of the house and get things checked out,” Murray said Monday at HealthCare Access Maryland in downtown Baltimore during the kickoff event. “As we get older, maintenance is tough. I hope people take advantage of it.”

Those without health insurance such as low-income residents, some entrepreneurs and other “hardto-reach” residents would simply check a box on their state tax forms.

Afterward, a person’s information would be shared with the state’s

Health Benefit Exchange.

A few days later, a person would receive a letter in the mail from the Maryland Health Connection stating whether they have been approved for free or cut-rate insurance. Residents can learn more about their options at marylandhealthconnection.gov or by calling 1-855-642-8572.

Residents have until April 15, the end of this tax season, to enroll.

The Maryland General Assembly approved the creation of the program last year through legislation sponsored by state Sen. Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery County) and Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-District 21) of College Park.

Since its enactment, Maryland health care advocates said officials from states such as Colorado, Virginia and New Mexico inquired about what’s going on in Maryland and how to incorporate a similar plan in their jurisdictions.

“The legislature played a big role in getting this done,” said Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative, who helped lead effort for the program. “It’s historic and it is brilliant. Easy enrollment is a great victory for Maryland.”

Del. Robynn Lewis (D-Baltimore City) said the state has been influential in health care reform for more than a decade.

Lewis mentioned groundbreaking

Valderrama: Paid Family Leave ‘Right Thing to Do’

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Del. Kris Valderrama recalled when she once worked for an employer and her mother became diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Just like thousands of other Maryland workers, she had to use sick and vacation leave to take off and help care for her ailing mother, who’s now deceased.

“At my former employer, I got a lot of crap for taking off as much as I did,” Valderrama said as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Everyone says,

‘What is the purpose of this bill because we have sick leave, we have vacation?’ We don’t want to use our sick and vacation leave for family leave.

We all need one another and we have to be there for our families.”

Valderrama (D-District 26) of Fort Washington said Tuesday in Annapolis she plans to introduce legislation this week that would provide employees paid family leave. Sen. Antonia Hayes (D-Baltimore City) will introduce a similar bill in the Senate.

According to the proposed legislation labeled “Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program,” or “Time to Care Act,” an eligible employee

To ensure low wage workers wouldn’t lose as much pay, it’s proposed that they’d receive up to 90 percent of their weekly pay when using paid family leave.

12 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

would have worked at least 680 hours in a year at a company.

An employer would grant an employee time off to care for a spouse, child, parent, sibling, or a family member who’s a “legal guardian” of the worker. Adopted children, stepchildren, grandchildren and other “step-relationships” are also included.

The legislation also outlines how workers can assist family member in the military with provisions that include spending up to 15 days with a service member “on short-term temporary rest and recuperation leave during the period of deployment.”

To help fund the program, it would be supported through a state-administered insurance pool equally split between both employee and employer.

To ensure low wage workers wouldn’t lose as much pay, it’s proposed that they’d receive up to 90 percent of their weekly pay when using paid family leave. Higher income workers would receive about 50 per-

5 Baltimore Orioles legend Eddie Murray (right) shakes hands with Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot before a Jan. 27 press conference in Baltimore to kick off opening day of the state’s health care insurance enrollment program. (Brigette Squire/ The Washington Informer)

research conducted at places such as the University of Maryland Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University and National Institutes of Health Bayview campus in Baltimore.

She also praised former Gov. Martin O’Malley who created the Office of Health Reform in 2011 to help boost implement various policies.

The state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board held its first meeting this month in Annapolis. The five-member group, composed of college professors, an ophthalmologist and the state’s former health sec-

retary, has the authority to assess and recommend how to make drugs more affordable for Maryland residents.

It’s also the nation’s first-ever board created to analyze a cap on drug prices to make them affordable. The goal would be to focus on helping state and local government employees and then expand to other businesses.

“We’ve built up this army of people who work in health care,” Lewis said.

“We continue to push the boundaries and continue innovating and showing other places around the country how it can be done.” WI

cent of weekly pay. Partial wage replacement would stem between $50 to $1,000 per week for a maximum period of 12 weeks.

A December report from the state Department of Legislative Services highlights nine other states and the District of Columbia that have approved family leave. By July 1, California will expand benefit offers for workers from six to eight weeks and extend the timeframe for workers in New Jersey from six to 12 weeks.

The report, which didn’t outline a position on family leave, notes the state Department of Labor would possibly administer a family leave program since the agency collects payroll taxes for unemployment insurance.

Based on information technology costs researched from the other states with family leave, the report notes Maryland would incur $60 million in contractual services over a three-year period. The cost could be less if able to use existing technology from the labor department’s unemployment insurance system.

Jayson Williams, president and

CEO of MD Strategic Consulting of Bowie, already provides the benefit for his company of nine full-time employees.

“There’s compassion but also competitiveness,” he said. “This environment is getting more competitive for small businesses. The better benefits we can offer, the more likely we can compete and actual grow.”

David Chudy, a director with MD Strategic, needed to use family leave to care for his ailing parents. He also has a young son.

“I can’t even begin to express what a huge relief that was,” he said.

“When you have happy employees and know they are being taken care of and treated like family, they will go out of their way to make sure the company is doing very well. It’s a level of respect.”

That’s why Valderrama wants this legislation approved, especially since it’s been revised for the past several years.

“I’m not quite sure why it took this long but everything has its day and I know paid family leave is the right thing to do,” she said. WI

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Md. Lawmakers Cross Aisle to Back School Construction

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

ANNAPOLIS — Several Maryland leaders sat alongside each other in a bipartisan fashion to speak in one voice in support of a proposed $2.2 billion public school construction bill they call “a game-changer.”

County executives and the mayor of Baltimore City that represent jurisdictions small, medium and large acknowledged children continue to succeed, but in some buildings that opened more than 50 years ago.

“It brings bipartisan support for this effort,” said Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, a Republican. “When [students] get off the bus, they need to go to a school regardless of where it is in this great state.”

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said the average age of its school buildings is 41 years old, the second-highest figure in the state. She stressed the ongoing renovations at Forest Heights Elementary, where portions of the school are held up by “large, hydraulic jacks” and all 300 students currently have

PGCPS BRIEFS

Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer

SCHOLAR OF THE WEEK

Destiny Dennis, a senior at Charles H. Flowers High School, is the latest PGCPS Scholar of the Week.

Destiny, who is also a dual enrollment student at Prince George’s Community College, puts her critical thinking skills to use as the captain of the mock trial team.

The future lawyer, who holds a

been displaced and moved to nearby John Hanson Montessori School in Oxon Hill.

“This is unbefitting of children in our school system,” she said Thursday, Jan. 23. “We want to not only speak to their potential and their value, but we want to be able to speak to our kid’s dignity. We are at a key moment in time.”

Alsobrooks spoke first during the nearly 90 minutes of testimony before the House of Delegates’ Appropriations Committee in Annapolis on the bill labeled the Built to Learn Act, or HB 1. The number one signifies the legislation as the first presented in the 90-day session.

She summarized how the bill would be financed by bonds for a 30year period through the Maryland Stadium Authority paid through $125 million per year from casino revenue directed toward education.

The bill operates separately from the ongoing recommendations by the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education to restructure the state’s public school system.

“Schools in every county of Maryland are in desperate need of renovations,” said House Speaker Adrienne

4.35 grade point average, was not only voted Best Attorney because of her finesse at public speaking but uses her critical thinking skills to form a persuasive, cohesive argument.

Destiny takes Advanced Placement courses in U.S. and world history, government, computer science, psychology, physics and English Language. A member of the National Honor Society, founder of the SAT Club, she has earned more than 100 service-learning hours.

In the fall, Destiny will attend University of Pennsylvania to study philosophy, politics and economics. In her spare time, she enjoys learning about other cultures, playing board games, listening to music and reading books.

ART TEACHERS, LEADERS HONORED

Several PGCPS art teachers and leaders were recently honored with

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY Jones (D-Baltimore County), who backed the bill. “Every year we have children sitting in classrooms with no heat or no air conditioning. Realistically, we can’t educate kids in substandard conditions.”

The Interagency Commission on School Construction ranked Prince George’s, along with Baltimore City and Kent County, as three jurisdictions with some of the oldest school buildings in Maryland.

Prince George’s would get its share of state funding through a public-private-partnership, or P3, as a way to help speed up the construction process.

It became the first jurisdiction in the nation to use the P3 model for school construction. So far, the county already has five schools slated for completion in three years.

The school system would select a private company to handle construction and maintenance, which county officials have said would decrease an estimated $8.5 billion backlog. Once construction gets completed and students are inside the schools, the school system would regain control of the buildings.

Prince George’s school system is the second-largest in the state and among the 25 largest in the nation.

Although everyone who testified supports public school construction,

the 2019 Maryland Art Educator Association Award.

The nine award recipients: Elementary Novice Art Educator: Nicolette Pitts, Frances Fuchs Early Childhood Center Elementary Career Art Educator: Lorca Beebe Diaz, Lamont Elementary School Elementary Retired Art Educator: Jana King Middle Novice Art Educator: Renee McDonald, Nicholas Orem MS Middle Career Art Educator: Sheila Hyman, Thomas G. Pullen K-8 Arts Academy High School Novice Art Educator: Tery Honeyghan, High Point High School High School Experienced Art Educator: Phaedra Byrd, Potomac High School High School Retired Art Educator: Elizabeth Sumner Champion of Visual Arts Education: Diedra Tramel, principal,

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

5 Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (center) sits alongside other county executives and Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young as they testified Jan. 23 in support of a $2.2 billion public school construction bill. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)

a few offered suggestions to the legislation.

Theresa Mitchell Dudley, president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association, warned lawmakers when new schools are constructed, “put some checks and balances” on residential development to prevent overcrowding.

Del. Michael A. Jackson (D-District 27B), who represents portions of Prince George’s and Calvert counties, said all ideas would be assessed, includ-

ing a recommendation to increase the threshold amount for pre-construction costs from $20,000 to $30,000 to benefit smaller counties such as Washington, Charles and Carroll.

“That component of the whole planning stage is a huge portion,” said Jackson, vice chair of the Appropriations Committee. “That’s what hearings like this are for, to give folks the opportunity to address those concerns. Everybody’s got a stake in this.” WI

Frances Fuchs Early Childhood Center

SPECIALTY PROGRAMS

Interested in a specialty program for your elementary school student? Now is the time to apply for PGCPS’ creative and performing arts, talented and gifted (TAG), language immersion and Montessori programs.

Parents can complete an application for multiple programs and submit one application per child.

All students must have a PGCPS family identification/student number.

For more information, contact: Prince George’s County Public Schools Sasscer Administration Building 14201 School Lane Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 Lottery Questions - Pupil Accounting: 301-952-6300

5 Scholar of the Week Destiny Dennis (PGCPS photo)

DEPRESSION IS REAL

PGCPS alumnus George Atkinson III attended Notre Dame before going on to the NFL to play for the Cleveland Browns, but suffered from depression. He recently died by suicide after his twin brother Josh did the same earlier this year.

Their mother died a year ago.

WI

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 13

BUSINESS Go-Go Museum Sets Out to Preserve D.C.’s Sound, Culture

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Members of the group coordinating, and raising funds for the launch of a go-go museum

in Southeast said instruments, photos, artwork, clothes and other artifacts representing the District’s unique music and culture should be on display at Check-It Enterprises on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue by the

5 Check It Enterprises in Southeast has an area set aside for the future go-go museum. (Courtesy photo/Check It Enterprises)

late spring.

One upcoming exhibit, an interactive map pinpointing for-

mer go-go venues in the D.C. area, cites research conducted by go-go historian and Don’t Mute DC affiliate Dr. Natalie Hopkinson.

Over several months, Hopkinson and a graduate student searched the Globe Poster collection at the John Hopkins University Sheridan Libraries for bold-lettered, vibrantly-colored artifacts that highlighted the prominent go-go bands and spots of the late 1980s.

“There were so many things on the posters, [like] hotlines to find out about the go-gos, the legendary photographers that would be

at the go-gos, the big butt contests and different dances and fashions that we would like to bring to life,” Hopkinson said.

Hopkinson’s soon-to-be-published study designates the Black Hole in Northwest, Cherry’s in Southeast near where National’s Park stand, and Evan’s Grille in Forestville, Maryland as some of the top go-go venues advertised in 1987 and 1988. Those spots, and many others mentioned in the study, have since shuttered, as has Globe Poster Printing Corporation, which had become

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BUSINESS

Gray Lauds Starbucks’ Arrival at Skyland Town Center

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter

The popular coffee shop Starbucks, along with Chase Bank, will take occupancy as tenants at the Skyland Town Center.

As part of a recently signed deal, Starbucks will open its first standalone drive-thru shop in Skyland in Ward 7.

D.C. Councilmember Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) expressed enthusiasm for the Starbucks deal.

“We have worked relentlessly to bring a solid anchor to Skyland after Walmart reneged and withdrew its commitment to locate at Skyland,” Gray said. “This is another substantial step toward bringing more retail options and ensuring the future of Skyland as a desired location for retail oppor-

tunities.”

Skyland will consist of 130,000 square feet of retail, a Lidl supermarket, a medical building and more than 260 residential rental units. The development of Skyland has been a process that has taken decades over several District mayoral administrations.

The Starbucks shops are a part of the economic development strategy of the Bowser administration and Gray’s advocacy for more retail, sit-down restaurants and full-service grocery stores in east of the Anacostia River neighborhoods.

Gray and other District officials also met with Starbucks executives to discuss opportunities such as the Skyland deal at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual Recon conference in Las Vegas last year.

Gray noted his proactive stance on boosting the economic prospects of his ward through legislation since rejoining the D.C. Council in 2017.

“Since my return to the council I have introduced three bills focused on ending food deserts in Wards 7 and 8 by incentivizing greater economic development and bringing needed amenities to the in Skyland in Ward 7,” he said. “One of these bills targets nine developments sites in Wards 7 and 8, including Skyland, for retail and full-service grocery stores.

The Starbucks announcement is a major win for Ward 7 and District residents.

“I look forward to continuing to work with our partners, stakeholders and my Ward 7 Economic Development Advisory Council to bring even more desperately

5 Vincent Gray represents Ward 7 on the D.C. Council. (WI file photo)

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NATIONAL

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) wrapped its three-day Mid-Winter Training Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on

Saturday, Jan. 25, with a proposal that could increase revenue for member newspapers through digital upgrading and innovation.

The NNPA is a trade organization representing the 200-plus newspapers and media companies around the country that make up the Black Press

Black Press Conference Wraps in Florida an electoral basis. It was about power, and that’s the basis of the Congressional Black Caucus,” Carew said. “I’m here because I believe in what you represent.”

Carew, co-creator of the hit television series “Martin,” provided a tutorial on a proposal for Black newspapers to create an affordable economy to sustain the NNPA. His proposal included a digital migration training initiative.

“To increase advertising income due to the newly emerging digital econo-

of America.

Colin “Topper” Carew, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab (MIT), led the discussion that included monetizing mobile devices and other technologies.

“Black Power was about our getting a voice in the political process was on

my by emphasizing and employing new digital advertising formats and capturing future digital ad budgets,” Carew explained to the group of publishers.

The proposal, which NNPA President and CEO Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. said was already accepted by leadership, concluded the conference of Black newspaper publishers.

The conference, which Washington Informer Publisher and NNPA Foundation Board Member Denise Rolark Barnes also attended, featured several presentations to assist and present ideas to publishers about upgrading their websites and focusing on digital.

Washington Informer Advertising Executive Ron Burke helped lead a workshop titled, “Give Me a Facelift: Upgrading a Publication’s Look, Website, Front Page, Media Kits, Rate Cards, Newsletters, and Video Advertising Promotion.”

Officials from AmeriHealth Caritas, Pfizer Rare Disease, Eli Lilly, Compassion & Choices, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, and Google participated in various discussions central to African American life and the Black Press of America.

General Motors, the Black Press of America’s longest-standing partner and supporter, formally introduced the future during a luncheon the company hosted for publishers and conference guests.

GM executive Charles Muse formally announced autonomous vehicles, electrification, and vehicle connectivity.

Muse, 28, said that those technol-

ogies have the potential to save lives, help create a better planet and save people precious time.

“At General Motors, we believe your journey should be safe, clean and efficient,” Muse said during the luncheon, themed “Transforming General Motors to reflect a transforming industry.”

Muse, who serves on GM’s program engineering management team for autonomous vehicles, said the company is advancing its vision of a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.

An annual highlight of the conference is the NNPA Publisher Lifetime Achievement Award, which went to Dallas Examiner Publisher Mollie Belt.

At a lively, entertaining, and emotional ceremony, held at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina on Friday, Dillard High School students who are in the Broward County Color Guard opened the event by marching into the hotel’s Grand Ballroom in full regalia, leading the large crowd in a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry then led many of the attendees in a Greek step dance as a DJ played George Clinton’s hit song “Atomic Dog.” “This is such an honor,” Belt said as she was accompanied onstage by her son James III and daughter Melanie.

“I’ve received many awards, but there’s nothing like receiving an award from your peers. The Black Press means a lot, and I want to say thank you.” WI

5 An annual highlight of the conference was the 2020 NNPA Publisher Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to The Dallas Examiner’s Publisher Mollie Finch Belt (center) with (l-r) Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA President and CEO; Dr. Melanie Belt, James Belt, III, and Karen Carter Richards, NNPA Chair and publisher of the Houston Forward Times. (Courtesy photo/NNPA)

16 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

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NATIONAL

GOP Rejects 11 Amendments to Impeachment Trial Rules

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Rep. Jason Crow helped close the first week in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Friday, Jan. 24 by noting how lightly Republicans and Trump have taken the proceedings.

“This defense would be laughable if this issue wasn’t so serious,” Crow (D-Colo.) said in response to the president’s legal team imploring impeachment managers and jurors that the trial should essentially be about unfounded allegations from Trump that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden committed some sort of crime in the Ukraine.

“Real people, real lives are at stake,” Crow said. “Just ask the Ukrainians sitting in the trenches right now.”

Prior to Friday, Senate Republicans rejected 11 amendments to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rules resolution that would have subpoenaed critical documents from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the White House, and testimony from acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Mulvaney’s senior adviser Robert Blair, and OMB official Michael Duffey.

The amendments were sought by Democrats, who said they would ensure a fair trial as impeachment proceedings got underway in the nation’s capital.

Some of the amendments rejected by Senate Republicans would have made changes to the McConnell resolution to ensure fundamental fairness, according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“I publicly offered to delay some of the votes to spare everyone from staying late, but Leader McConnell was so unwilling to let the trial of President Trump go on for one session longer than he had planned,” Schumer said. “He declined to delay any votes. It seems the only reason Senator McConnell refused to move votes back a day is because it would interfere with the timeline he promised the president.

“Not what’s a fair trial, not what’s

letting the American people hear what they have to hear, but just what President Trump, the defendant here, wanted,” he said. “Now, if there’s one thing we learned from the series of votes on the Senate floor, it’s that Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans don’t want a fair trial that considers all the evidence.”

Schumer’s first amendment was to have the Senate subpoena White House documents related to the charges against the president — important, Schumer said, because the White House has highly relevant records and communications involving officials within the West Wing and the National Security Council who have direct knowledge of the critical events in question.

Schumer’s second amendment was to have the Senate subpoena State Department documents related to the charges against the president because he said the State Department possesses highly relevant records and communications involving officials in the Office of the Secretary as well as officials covering Ukraine who have direct knowledge of the key events in question.

The records were requested as part of House impeachment inquiry, but the Trump administration refused to produce them and other vital documents.

A third amendment was to have the Senate subpoena OMB documents related to the charges against the president and regarding the suspension of assistance to Ukraine because the OMB remains in possession of highly relevant records and communications related to the charges against the president, including communications involving or referring to Mulvaney, Blair and Duffey, all of whom Democrats said defied lawful subpoenas for their testimony.

A fourth amendment was for testimony from Mulvaney. At the same time, a fifth included a subpoena for certain DOC documents and records because the department possesses highly relevant records and communications related to the charges against Trump, Schumer said.

Amendments six through 11 included subpoenas for the testimony

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of Blair and Duffey; a requirement to prevent the selective admission of evidence and for the appropriate handling of classified and confidential materials; testimony from Bolton; a provision for Senate votes on motions to subpoena witnesses and documents; allowing additional time to respond to motions; and requiring the Chief Justice to rule on motions to subpoena witnesses and documents.

“The House managers made a very clear and compelling case. Not only on the glaring need for evidence but also on the gravity of the president’s offenses,” Schumer said.

“In stark contrast, the White House defense was unprepared, confused, and totally unconvincing. White House counsel resorted to the kind of histrionics you see on Fox News evening broadcasts, rather than any sober-minded argument that could persuade thoughtful senators.

“On multiple occasions, they made discrete and demonstrable factual errors,” he said. “The president is always loose with the truth, and it seems his lawyers are the same way.

“Most telling of all, White House counsel were far more preoccupied with making inflammatory and inaccurate statements about House managers than providing an actual defense of the president’s conduct,” Schumer said. “This does not bode well for the president’s case if this pattern continues over the course of the trial.”

WI

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Proof Surfaces of France Backing 1994 Genocidal Government In a statement highlighting proof of preparation of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) has shed more light on how the then-French government supported the genocidal regime.

It comes as the Commission continues to share with the media the key acts that marked the preparation of the genocide.

Among others, it is noted that on Jan. 22, 1992, Col. Bernard Cussac, who was in charge of military cooperation between France and Rwanda, operating from France’s embassy in Kigali, wrote an official letter designated to the Ministry of Defense in France, saying guns were distributed to Interahamwe militia, by Rwandan armed forces and local leaders who were members of the MRND, reported The New Times, Rwanda’s leading daily.

From Jan. 7-21, 1993, international experts — including Jean Carbonare of France — investigated killings then happening in Rwanda.

Later, when he arrived in France on Jan. 24, 1993, Carbonare, the head of this delegation, was invited to the state-owned TV (France2) and declared that for the period of three weeks that they spent in Rwanda, they found mass graves into which killed Tutsi were dumped.

The CNLG states that he confirmed that there were facts proving that there was a plan of genocide to exterminate the Tutsi and that those involved in that plan were top leaders spearheaded by President Juvénal Habyarimana himself and his wife Agathe Kanziga.

The Frenchman, who died Jan. 18, 2009, at age 82, was the first person to state that the genocide was being perpetrated in Rwanda.

“What struck us very much in Rwanda was the scale, the systematization, the organization, of these massacres! There is a mechanism that is set in motion. We have talked about ethnic cleansing, genocide, crimes against humanity … we insist very much on these words,” Carbonare is quoted saying at the time. “Our country, which militarily and financially supports this system, has a responsibility. Our country can, if it wants, influence this situation.”

On Jan. 23, 1991, Habyarimana requested France to send troops to help him counter the RPF soldiers and remove them from the town of Ruhengeri, arguing that the invaders were from the Ugandan army.

Georges Martres, France’s ambassador to Rwanda at the time, accepted.

On the nights of Jan. 23-24, 1991, French soldiers in opération Noroit — under the command of Col. René Galinie — arrived in Ruhengeri for a rescue mission on behalf of the then-government of Rwanda. WI

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Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Saturday joined residents of Grants Pen in St. Andrew in searching for and destroying mosquito breeding sites in their community, under the national dengue cleanup campaign.

The three-day exercise, which began Friday, was undertaken in an effort to control the spread of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which trans-

mits the dengue virus.

Holness led activities along Grants Pen Road, one of two sites selected as national projects. The other area is the Rae Town fishing village in St. Andrew.

These two communities are among 36 across the country that have been identified as being most in need of intervention to destroy mosquitoes and their breeding sites.

Activities at Grants Pen included removing bulky waste, bushing overgrown vegetation, and filling out depressed areas where mosquitoes are likely to breed. WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

GO-GO from Page 14 a resource for African-American event planners in the D.C.-Baltimore region by the mid-20th century.

As the D.C. Council inches closer to making good on its promise to make go-go the official music of the District, Hopkinson said she looks to Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA) as an indication of the vigor needed to preserve go-go history and culture. In 2010, after Globe Poster Printing Corporation closed, MICA acquired nearly 75 percent of its assets, including wood type and illustration cuts.

Today, those artifacts serve as research tools for artists and art students.

“It’s important for the city to make that investment,” said Hopkinson, author of ‘Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City’ “MICA and Globe Poster are a great model [given] what we want the city to do with D.C.’s music.”

Go-go museum consultants include Hopkinson, Ron Moten, Frank “Scooby” Sirius, Charles Stephenson and legendary drummer Ju Ju. Once open, the museum, housed within Check-It Enterprises, will also include a cafe, outdoor performance space and a commercial kitchen spe-

cifically designed for workforce development opportunities. The District’s Great Streets grant provided $50,000 for the museum and Check-It Enterprises recently launched a GoFundMe that raised $25,000. DJ Flexx of WPGC 95.5 FM has reportedly been scheduled to lend airtime to the cause during early February.

“If we’re serious about gentrification, we need to act like it,” Moten said. “This can be a place where people eat and young people get jobs in hospitality, tourism, engineering,” he added.

“Most people who start off in go-go end up doing a lot more.

It helps bring people together.”

WI

As the D.C. Council inches closer to making good on its promise to make go-go the official music of the District, Hopkinson said she looks to Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA) as an indication of the vigor needed to preserve go-go history and culture.

More About the Museum and Differing Views By the time the go-go museum opens, a year will have passed since the T-Mobile Corporation acquiesced to the demands of go-go artists, promoters, fans and elected officials who protested the silencing of Don Campbell’s MetroPCS franchise on the corner of 7th Street and Florida Avenue in Northwest.

For more than two decades, jumbo speakers outside of Campbell’s store played go-go tunes, much to the delight of passersby and neighbors grooving to the sounds of Junkyard Band, Backyard Band, Rare Essence, and numerous other acts.

However, once tenants of a nearby condo complained about the volume, the T-Mobile Corporation ordered Campbell to turn off the music. Subsequent on-the-ground efforts to revive the sounds of 7th and Florida, and confront negative attitudes about go-go music, coalesced into the Don’t Mute DC

Movement.

The Don’t Mute DC Movement has been credited with reviving a locally revered genre whose future had been in question amid the youth’s waning interest and venue owners’ marginalization of go-go bands.

Since April, when T-Mobile reneged on its directives to Campbell, members of the go-go community have hosted outdoor go-gos, community meetings, and conferences in support of various causes of significance to District residents.

After having weighed in on youth violence, funding for United Medical Center, and the splitting of immigrant families, activists and artists’ attention pivoted to the long-lasting effects of a movement that garnered the attention of residents and elected officials alike. In October, several members of the go-go community, including Hopkinson and Big G of Backyard Band, spoke before the

D.C. Council in support of the bill making go-go the District’s official musical genre.

That council hearing preceded one in which the council’s Committee on Business Economic Development discussed legislation introduced by D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At large) that would grant Check-It Enterprises and other businesses on the 1900 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue $2 million to purchase the buildings in which they operate.

“In an area with 102 Blackowned businesses, only three or four of them own property. This would be giving Black businesses a chance to stay,” Moten, business partner of Check-It Enterprises and a founder of the Don’t Mute DC movement, told The Informer.

WI

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JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 19

HEALTH Black Mayors Converge for Meeting of the Minds

U.S. Conference of Mayors Holds Winter Strategy Session in Washington, D.C.

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @Jamesdcwrighter As participants in the 88th winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, many of the nation’s African-American mayors gathered in the District to discuss strategies and to learn best practices on how to

deal with the problems bedeviling their cities.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors [USCM] serves as the official, non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more and boasts of a membership of 1,407 mayors. They convene an annual winter meeting in the District to meet with members of Con-

gress and the White House during which they highlight issues that plague their cities.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), who served as the official host, participated in the organization’s opening news conference on Jan. 22 at the Capitol Hilton Hotel where she kicked off the three-day event and then shared a recent concern in the District: ghost guns.

Ghost guns – weapons assembled without serial numbers or identifying markings – have become a rising concern for Bowser who says they’re increasing being used by criminals in the District, adding, “the U.S. Congress needs to act to stop these weapons.”

Steve Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, S.C., also focused on the problem of the weapons.

“We have banned ghost guns in Columbia and the majority of our city council are gun owners,” said Benjamin, past president of USCM. “We believe in responsible gun ownership and I know there are issues we have to resolve with our state but we have done the right thing on this.”

Gun violence emerged as a topic of discussion throughout the

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5 Keisha Lance Bottoms serves as the mayor of Atlanta. (Courtesy Photo)

conference and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot moderated a panel, “Lessons Learned: Preventing, Preparing for, and Responding to Mass Shooting,” that included nine mayors from cities including Pittsburgh, El Paso, Jersey City and Annapolis where they’ve dealt with multiple killings occurring within a single incident.

Lightfoot, the first Black female mayor of Chicago, said every American seems to be affected by mass shootings.

“None of us are immune from what has happened,” she said. “It has taken place at various places whether it is at a school, synagogue or a newsroom. It happens so frequently that we have become used to it and that’s not good at all. We need to prepare our first responders and residents on how to deal with this.”

Lightfoot told the Informer that despite Chicago’s homicide rate totaling 490 in 2019, things have improved.

“We are not where we want to be but we have had a decline in homicides for three years straight and we are going to continue that trend. I am very enthusiastic about the direction of our city,” she said.

The mayors also discussed the need for creating more affordable housing.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance

Bottoms moderated a panel, “Achieving Affordable Housing: Local Best Practices,” that brought more attention to the ongoing concern and need. She said that despite her city’s booming economic growth, affordability has become a problem for many longtime residents.

“Atlanta’s redevelopment is fantastic but it is often at the expense of legacy residents,” she said. Bottoms talked about a $1 billion fund that her city’s public and private sector has agreed to build to encourage developers to build more affordable housing.

“This is a priority in Atlanta,” she said.

But the agenda for the mayors also targeted issues often incorrectly considered of little importance to Black communities. As an example, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell participated in a panel regarding infrastructure, including the topic of cybersecurity in her comments.

“Cybersecurity is an infrastructure and cities should increase their budgets for cybersecurity,” she said.

“I learned this several weeks ago when New Orleans suffered a cyberattack that temporarily crippled the city government. We have had to rebuild our digital infrastructure.

I encourage cities to pay more attention to cybersecurity.” WI

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EDUCATION Book Fair to Feature Student of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins As has been the case in years past, the Third Annual Know Thyself Book Fair will feature literary works from a bevy of locally, nationally and internationally acclaimed authors of the African Diaspora. An accompanying forum will give book lovers the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking discussions with notable writers and scholars.

Among those scheduled to speak

at the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service & Heritage (TMCSH) on Saturday, Feb. 1 is a woman who, in the years since Dr. Frances Cress Welsing’s death, has kept alive the teachings of the well-regarded psychiatrist credited with defining racism as a global system created out of fear of white genetic annihilation.

“Dr. Welsing and her analysis of the System of White Supremacy and all of its behavioral dynamics among those who classify themselves as white and those who they classify as nonwhite

has changed the course of history,” said Sabrina Johnson, longtime student of Welsing and coordinator of the Cress Welsing Institute.

Since January 2016, when Welsing died, Johnson has taken the mantle in organizing lectures, much like what her mentor hosted under the Cress Welsing Institute for decades on the campus of Howard University in Northwest.

Those interested in learning about the depth and complexity of the global system of white supremacy (racism) spend the second Thursday evening of the month between September and June analyzing excerpts of “The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors,” Welsing’s work in which she, inspired by fundamental principles articulated by Dr. Neely Fuller, Jr., analyzed the system of white supremacy.

Between the hours of 12 noon and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Johnson and other affiliates will sell books from Welsing’s personal library which highlight Welsing’s acquisition of knowledge about the problems Black people face in economics, education, entertainment, labor, law and other areas of human activity.

Johnson’s appearance at the Know Thyself Book Fair precedes a commemoration and call to action in honor of Welsing scheduled for March 15 at TMCSH. “Dr. Welsing’s functional definition of racism/white supremacy is the foundation we must help all nonwhite people grasp and get a master-level understanding of how the system of white supremacy works and why,” Johnson said.

On February 1, Lorne Cress Love, Welsing’s sister, has also been scheduled to speak, as well as Dr. Von Martin of WPFW 89.3 FM who will explain the history of Trinidad’s steel pans.

Authors expected to showcase books that afternoon include: Dr. Jeff Menzise, Nana Farika Berhane, Dr. Acklyn Lynch, Cress Welsing Institute archivist Danny Queen, Bill Reeves on behalf of Dr. Fuller, Mike McIver of Black Seeds Calendars, W. Bruce Willis, Ayo Handy-Kendi, Dr. Akmal Muwwakkil, Mama Jeanette Carson, Yohance Maqubela, son of the late Dick Gregory, Sherrita Berry-Pettus and Mama Sala from Kuumba Kollectibles.

The Know Thyself Book Fair also features two youth authors, Meleik and

Mehkhy. Other guests include: booksellers and publishers like Rafu of Children of the Sun, Paul Coates of Black Classic Press in Baltimore, and Nati Natakati from Afrikan World Books, also in Baltimore.

Saturday’s event counts as one of UNIA-ACL Woodson Banneker Jackson-Bey Division 330’s annual functions intended to further cement the legacy of UNIA-ACL founder Marcus Mosiah Garvey and stress revolutionary, African-centered education’s role in making Black people more self-determined. It culminates weeks of planning by members of the Division 330 Education Committee.

“This has become a tradition, so everyone is looking forward to it,” said Laureen Butler, who chairs the UNIAACL Woodson Banneker Jackson-Bey Division 330 Education Committee alongside her husband and fellow former educator Charles Butler. .

“This happens on the first Saturday of February, which is Black History Month,” she continued. “What better way [to celebrate] than a book fair?

We’re pushing and aiming for that, and it’s been turning out well.” wi

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL

The Life and Lessons of Kobe Bryant

Even if you aren’t a fan of basketball phenom Kobe Bryant, the news of his sudden and untimely death has left no one untouched – not here or anywhere around the world. Watching him on the basketball court scoring the highest number of points – 60 to be exact – in his final game before retiring from the NBA, and later on, seeing him courtside as a loving and doting dad made his fans happy. As he gracefully transitioned into the second act of his extraordinary life and career, no one could have imagined that at age 41, Kobe’s life would tragically end as it did on Sunday, January 26.

The story has been widely reported but the details remain unclear. What we do know is that Kobe, and his 13-year-old daughter Giana, affectionately known as Gigi, were killed in a helicopter crash along with seven others in Calabas, Ca. Kobe, unquestionably, was a legend, and his outstanding sports career in the NBA beginning at age 18, is legendary, even by any standards set by his peers whose impressive careers Bryant tried to match. He not only succeeded but he excelled beyond belief during his 20 seasons in the NBA and his record proves he was the best.

Bryant represented excellence, and in his death, the more we know about his life, the more there is to learn from it. From the very start, he had a dream and he set his sights on achieving it, realizing that it would take consistent hard work and dedication to achieve his goals. Launching 1,000 shots at the basket each day meant nothing to a young kid who was striving to one day be better than the most celebrated basketball star he knew. Well-spoken and also fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, even conversant in Portuguese, Bryant held his own in the public arena. He was an avid reader and writer. He enjoyed rap music but also studied literature and film.

He excelled in business, but most recently demonstrated, after earlier exposing his human imperfections, that his greatest love was his four little girls and his wife.

There’s a lot to learn about life in the game of sports. Kobe’s life not only teaches us how fragile life is and reminds us of our own mortality but also teaches us to dream, to strive, to enjoy, to celebrate, to love and to give unselfishly. He gave us his all, and for that, we are grateful for the memories he has left us. R.I.P. WI

‘Blacks Take Note: Even 75 Years After Liberation, Jews Recount Horrors of Auschwitz’ It’s been 75 years since Russian armies swarmed the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz where over one million Jews suffered untold torture before being herded into gas ovens and killed. Men, women and children all died at the whims of the evil German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler’s command.

Days ago, many Jews, now much older, who survived, returned to pray, to mourn, to remember and to share the story with their families. But most important, they told the tale of the evil they experienced, doing so in order to prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

In many ways, the history of the Jews, even before Hitler’s rise to power with his desire to wipe out the Jewish race, has great similarities to the pain, suffering and humiliations that Blacks would experience after being kidnapped from Africa and brought to America for the chattel slavery industry. But while the Jewish communities emphasizes retelling their stories for future generations, and passing on lessons learned, African Americans remain more inclined to forget what happened to their forefathers and foremothers when slavery in the U.S. was at its height.

Truth be told, even with Black History Month, many Blacks avoid any conversations about the past, save for viewing a few documentaries or attending a few local observances. In recent months, some Blacks have ventured into unknown territory with the 400th anniversary of Jamestown when several dozen Blacks found themselves thousands of miles from home with no way to return.

Perhaps that’s a start. But is it enough? If nothing else, we have long realized that unless we are aware of our history, we are prone to repeat it – the good, the bad and the ugly.

What do your children know about their grandparents or great-grandparents? Can you trace your family’s history to the plantations of the South, if indeed that’s part of your family’s legacy?

Have you ever considered the breadth of the African continent and the contributions Blacks have made to the world for thousands of years – a lengthy story that often is only retold on a few pages, if any, in many history books?

We may be unable to share the names and stories of those who came before us and suffered as slaves – free labor that built this nation and helped America establish itself as one of the world’s most powerful and profitable countries.

But we were there. And we must never forget. WI

TO THE EDITOR Racine Suit Likely Futile

Special Treatment for MLK

Just wondering if Attorney General Karl Racine suing Trump entities are actually going to yield some consequences for the presidential inauguration shenanigans. I’m hoping so, but I don’t have much faith that this will go anywhere, much like the impeachment trial going on.

Love, love, love the special issue on Dr. King, as I do all your special issues. You guys really outdid yourselves this time! A wealth of knowledge, information and history. Thank you for all you do!

Beverly Thomas Washington, D.C.

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Reta Langley Suitland, Md.

Readers' Mailbox

The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 35

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Julianne Malveaux

Detractor-in-Chief Overstates Economic Progress Donald John Trump has been impeached, and to let him tell it, that isn’t bothering him, and we’d believe him if he hadn’t posted more than tweets in just one day. But his persistent overuse of the word “hoax,” both to refer to impeachment and to anything else he doesn’t like (see: climate change), proves otherwise.

45 delivered remarks during a keynote speech at the World Economic

Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but then declined to participate in the scheduled question and answer session afterwards. During his speech, Trump behaved in character, providing his audience with “the big brag.”

As usual, he had some trouble with the truth, complaining about the economy he inherited.

“America’s economy was in a rather dismal state,” he said. These comments clearly ignore the work that President Barack Obama did to pull us out of the Great Recession.

Of course, to let 45 tell it, President

Guest Columnist

Obama did nothing right. But as the unemployment rate fell during Obama’s tenure, 45 dismissed the progress, arguing that the statistics were wrong. Now that the unemployment rate is at a 50-year low, he is happy to quote the Bureau of Labor Statistics same data to tout the improvement he has supposedly made in the economy.

Atypically, 45 seemed to stick to his script during his speech, avoiding the ad-libs and ad hominem attacks he often makes headlines for. Since he was booed after his post-speech

Q&A at Davos in 2018, I suppose he was not eager to repeat the experience. Still, he was unable to stick to basic facts, exaggerating his successes and minimizing his failures.

Take the growth rate, for example.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, when President Obama left office in the last quarter of 2016, the US had a growth rate of 3.5 percent.

During the third quarter of 2019 (the latest data available), growth was not much higher at 3.8 percent.

Growth rates, however, fluctuate.

While during some quarters 45 has

presided over an economy growing at nearly six percent, he had also seen growth rates as low as 3.8 percent, and economists project the growth rate is slowing. In contrast, President Obama experienced growth rates, after the great recession ended, ranging from as low as three percent to higher than five percent. He also did so without the stimulus of a tax cut that favored the wealthy.

The Trump growth rates are both a result of ill-advised, deficit-ex-

MALVEAUX Page 41

By Marc H. Morial

New Jersey Does the Right Thing for Diverse Communities “When districts with prisons receive enhanced representation, every other district in the state without a prison sees its votes diluted. And this vote dilution is even larger in the districts with the highest incarceration rates. Thus, the communities that bear the most direct costs of crime are therefore the communities that are the biggest victims of prison-based gerrymandering. The Census Bureau’s decision to count incar-

cerated people in the wrong place interferes with equal representation in virtually every state.” — Prison Policy Initiative, The Prison Gerrymandering Project The census is one of the most powerful tools the African American community has to claim our rightful voice in the political, legislative and social institutions of our nation.

Unfortunately, it also is one of the most abused.

One of the ways the census is abused is prison gerrymandering.

Our mass incarceration crisis has thrust 2.3 million Americans into

Guest Columnist

correctional facilities — nearly one in 100. Black people are incarcerated at five times the rate of whites, so more than half of the incarcerated are Black, most from urban communities. Most of these prisons are located in overwhelmingly white, rural communities. And when it comes to the census, Black, urban Americans who are incarcerated — and who can’t vote — are counted as residents of those white rural communities rather than the diverse urban communities where they live.

Hundreds of prison communities around the country counties have a

10-to-1 ratio of racial overrepresentation — in other words, the portion of the prison that is Black and can’t vote — is at least 10 times larger than the Black portion of the surrounding county.

This siphoning of Black urban political power into white, rural communities is the modern-day version of the Three-Fifths Compromise and violates the principle of One Person, One Vote.

Some states are rejecting this relic of the racist past and I’m pleased to congratulate New Jersey for be-

coming the latest to reject prison gerrymandering. Gov. Phil Murphy this week signed a bill requiring incarcerated persons to be counted in their home districts when legislative boundaries are redrawn. Congratulations also to the bill’s co-sponsors, Sens. Sandra Cunningham and Nilsa Cruz-Perez and Assembly members Shavonda Sumter, Raj Mukherji and Annette Quijano.

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, more New Jersey inmates come from Essex than any

MORIAL Page 41

By Austin R. Cooper Jr.

The Criminal President

Donald J. Trump has disgraced the American presidency from the moment he placed his left hand on a Bible, raised his right hand and took the oath of office, which was administered by the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: “I, Donald J. Trump, do solemnly swear, to faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States. And will, to the

best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend, the Constitution of the United States. So, help me God.” The president lied before God, the American people and the world. He never had any interest in “defending the Constitution of the United States” or anything, other than advancing his personal financial interests, as well as those of his family, as well as advancing his own selfish political agenda. How ironic is it that exactly three years after taking the oath of office, the very same Chief

36 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Justice John Roberts is currently presiding over his impeachment trial? It has always been clear from his election that the president would either one day impeach himself or possibly go to prison.

President Trump, thanks to a majority in the House, has been impeached as a result of his quid pro quo actions of delaying Congressionally approved, bipartisan, military aid to the Government of Ukraine. He did so with the desire that the Government would open

an official criminal investigation of a 2020 political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. As for prison, stay tuned.

Just how is it that one man, the most powerful man in the world, can have so many criminal minds in his inner circle? Because the president has always had a criminal, mafia, the rules do not apply to me, mentality for his entire life. It is true that every president is surrounded by thousands of supporters and hired aides. Many serve in numerous positions through-

out the campaign and administration. So, one may reasonably expect that a few may run afoul of the law.

Here it is important to note that this was not the case with the Obama administration. However, the Trump White House is different. Never in history has a president amassed so many senior advisors who have either already gone to prison or for whom reservations are being made.

Former Rep. Chris Collins, for

COOPER Page 41

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Jack Brown

We Need Political Courage on Homelessness and Recidivism economy to education and foreign policy.

With the Democratic primary kicking into gear and the general election right around the corner, the stage is set for an impassioned battle of ideas and policy initiatives that could shape our country for the next decade.

Fortunately, sitting lawmakers and candidates from both sides of the aisle have shown a willingness to take on some of the greatest challenges of our time — from health care and the

But too often missing from this of menu of priorities have been the issues at the margins that make for uncomfortable conversations, such as rising rates of adult and youth homelessness and the persistent obstacles faced by individuals transitioning back into society after periods of incarceration. It goes without saying that these problems intersect with those that receive the most attention, but a failure to address them head on is a deficit of courage that we can ill afford.

Guest Columnist

Now, more than ever, we need our political leaders to be unafraid in naming these challenges, bold in forging solutions, and committed to making lasting progress. And every one of us has a moral responsibility to do our part.

As the CEO of CORE Services, a nonprofit human services and community development organization operating programs in New York and Washington, D.C., I know firsthand that extending unconditional compassion and providing support for those who need it can transform

lives.

Every day, at emergency housing shelters we operate in both cities, people with nowhere else to turn show up at our doors: it’s the single mother who has fled an abusive situation with her young daughter; the young man struggling with the onset of a disorienting and destabilizing mental health condition; the LGBTQ teenager who was tormented with relentless bullying and threats of violence.

These are some of the most courageous and resilient people you’ll

ever meet. And when they are given the gift of a safe and stable support system — a hand to help them get back on their feet — they can become thriving members of the local workforce and community. The financial investment in helping someone find the right path, compared to the costs of other public-private programs, is minimal: with support of government agencies, we provide these individuals a comfortable bed to sleep in, nutritional meals to eat, access to health services, and a pathway to employment. The benefits are

BROWN Page 42

By E. Faye Williams

A Call to Action The life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is universally recognized as having been remarkably inspirational. The world recognizes that the beacon of his life expands beyond geographic boundaries. Our community has come to honor the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday as a day to celebrate his message of peace and human dignity – an

immortal message that is proving itself to be transgenerational. In that spirit, this year, as in years past, many of us found a variety of activities designed to honor and commemorate his life and works.

This MLK Birthday, I celebrated with hundreds of others. We reveled in song and a sincere spirit of unity. We listened to eloquent speakers who spoke to the virtues and accomplishments of Dr. King.

The joy and enthusiasm of the assemblage was clearly apparent, but

Askia-At-Large

I felt something was missing.

We had clearly celebrated Dr. King as a “drum major for justice,” but we had failed to elevate him to the position he most often occupied, leading the Vanguard against the evils of racism, discrimination and exploitation. While I know that this was not the case in all observances, one instance of this omission is one too many. I find no fault in the feel-good spirit of our observances, but we must never forget or omit the fact that,

although peaceful, Dr. King was a relentless warrior against injustice.

In our current national emergency of corruption and divisiveness, I can only believe that Dr. King would be in the forefront of sounding the alarm for action. I believe that he would be proactive in the fight against the current occupant of the White House and his Wild, Wild West administration. Even in his most generous disposition, I cannot see Dr. King tolerating the volume of

lies that negatively affect the lives of millions of Americans. Chief among them is 45’s ego-based opposition to everything Obama, especially the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which, most notably, provides health insurance for millions and protects insurance eligibility for preexisting medical conditions.

Many of us forget or ignore that

WILLIAMS Page 42

By Askia Muhammad

White House Invitation from Trump? No, Thanks

I was shocked at the recent anti-abortion “March for Life” in Washington — where Donald J. Trump became the first sitting president in the 47-year-history of the event to attend and speak in person. I was shocked to see people on stage smiling broadly and applauding, standing right next to The Donald.

I realize how important the symbolism of the presidency is to most people. He’s The President, the “most powerful leader in the world,” folks say of him. “But he’s Trump,” I say to myself in disgust.

How can these so-called “faith leaders,” so-called “values voters,” so-called Christian evangelicals — pro-abortion or no-abortion — even want to be anywhere in the same zip code with this Dude and his three marriages, during which he cheated on each of his first two

wives, and then cheated again while his current trophy wife was nursing his newborn son.

How could so-called religious, “values voters” be happy to stand with a man who described on the infamous “Access Hollywood” hotmic recording how he approaches and gropes women, grabbing them “by the p---y,” and how if you’re famous like him, women let you do it? How can they fix their mouths to smile in his presence?

How could so-called voters

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with “values” even let themselves be seen with a guy who has run multiple gambling casinos into bankruptcies; who was ordered to pay $25 million to students he defrauded at his fake “Trump University”; who has paid hush money to keep a porn-film actress and a Playboy model from revealing details of their extramarital liaisons with This Dude?

I wonder how can military personnel grin and take selfies with Mr. Fake-Bone-Spur-Vietnam-

War-military-deferment, who never served a day in uniform, and who now salutes every marine who is required to salute him (the commander in chief ) as if it makes him appear to be in step with those in the armed forces? I wonder, what’s the trade-off? Because This Guy once called all his generals and top intelligence advisers “dumb,” claiming to know more than them, in an expletive filled briefing, early

ASKIA Page 42

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 37

LIFESTYLE ‘No Blue Memories’ Salutes Poetic Genius of Gwendolyn Brooks All-Black Creatives Capture Essence of First African-American Pulitzer Winner

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Before Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Rita Dove or Sonia Sanchez burst on the American landscape, another trailblazing Black woman poet and educator, Gwendolyn Brooks (19172000), found her voice within the nation’s maelstrom of racism, sexism

and economic and social injustice – becoming the first African-American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Recently, the Strathmore, in celebration of both the legacy of Brooks and the District’s grassroots poetry scene, presented Manual Cinema’s “No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks” – a piece written and conceived by an all-Black creative team with original music which first

premiered in the poet’s hometown of Chicago in 2017.

The production included a live quartet, intricate paper puppetry and live actors working in shadow which combined to create an unforgettable multi-media experience, undergirded by the words of Brooks whose works often dealt with the personal highpoints and struggles of ordinary people from her own community.

The event also featured scholar and poet Kim Roberts who spoke before the show, followed by a poetry reading hosted by Dwayne B of Spit Dat along with local poets Morgan Butler, Brandon Douglas and Marjan Naderi.

Strathmore Artistic Director Joi Brown said she remembers “falling in love with the company” before becoming aware of the Brooks work and relished the thought of bringing the show to the D.C. region.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the content of the piece because the narrations and live music are quite compelling,” she said. “But the most fascinating part is seeing multiple parts working at once with constantly

5 Gwendolyn Brooks (Courtesy photo)

changing images, puppets manipulated to perfection and a project built from start to finish before the eyes of the audience and then projected on a big screen.”

“Unlike a reading of poetry that’s one-dimensional, the company worked with local writers, creators and jazz makers all familiar with the poetry of Brooks and leading voices of Chicago’s artistic community who made sure Gwendolyn Brooks’ words, in all their vibrancy, remained as the foundation and focus.”

When asked about the broadened range of the productions she’s brought to Strathmore since being hired five year ago, Brown said she’s been fortunate to be part of an incredible team.

“I have a talented cabinet of workers and I’ve learned to listen to other art curators and my colleagues, all of whom help us to remain focused on incorporating as many unique voices as possible and presenting productions that bring diversity to the stage,” she said.

SE NATIVE DWAYNE B TOUTS NEW GENERATION OF D.C. POETS

Highly-celebrated spoken word artist Dwayne B, born and raised in Southeast, describes the District as “somewhere you want to be if you’re serious about and looking for the best in spoken word poetry.”

“During the pre-show event, Kim [Roberts] led a conversation on the works of Brooks, then included the

38 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

history of how she, along with May Miller and Georgia Douglass Johnson, helped to cultivate a community of poets who have since paved the way for future artists,” he said. “After sharing a few of my own works, I introduced some of today’s generation of voices from the D.C. area – strong, talented and whose skills have been cultivated right here.”

“During the past 20 years, we’ve hosted national poetry slams in the District and our youth have emerged among the country’s best – repeat winners of championships. Spoken word continues to provide an outlet for those who didn’t feel they fit on the academic side of poetry or the hip-hop side of writing poetry. Spoken word is a melting of the two and allows incredible writers to share their thoughts in performance and makes the headier aspects of poetry more digestible for audiences.”

Dwayne B points to today’s Black youth whose numbers of hopeful wordsmiths continue to rise after first being connected to poetry through spoken word – many of whom develop a thirst for more.

“Once they discover the deeper nuances required of the serious writer, they often fall in love with the art of writing,” he said. “Sometimes they move to prose or fiction and some of my peers have become amazing writers, like Jason Reynolds and Liz Acevedo. They started out as poets in their communities, first doing spoken word before realizing that there’s so much you one can do with the art.” WI

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Suffragist Helen Appo Cook: Wealthy Champion of the Poor

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Helen Appo Cook put her life on the line for women’s suffrage. The DC educator rallied other Black women, and in 1896, she founded the National Association of Colored Women.

On its website, the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs stated that “long before the founding of the organization, our forbearers had organized ourselves into self-improvement and charitable organizations.

These organizations were led by women named Harriet Tubman and Helen Appo Cook (both NACW founders), Sojourner Truth, Anna Julia Cooper, Josephine St. Pierre

Ruffin and a plethora of unnamed others whose lives were devoted to the struggle to free people of color from the bondage of slavery, illiteracy, and prejudice in an unforgiving world that treated them as less than human.”

The site noted that it was also the time of Ida B. Wells Barnett and her Red Record, voluminous documentation of the lynching of black Americans.

At a conference held in 1896 in the District, Ruffin stated that the reasons were apparent as to why the organization should confer.

“We need to talk over not only those things which are of vital importance to us as women, but also the things that are of special interest to us as colored women, the training of our children, openings for

our boys and girls, how they can be prepared for occupations and occupations may be found or opened to them, what we especially can do in the moral education of the race with which we are identified, our mental elevations and physical development, the home training it is necessary to prepare them to meet the peculiar conditions in which they find themselves, and how to make the most of our own opportunities,” Ruffin stated.

“These are some of our questions to be discussed.”

Cook took the lead in bringing those issues to the forefront.

Born in New York in 1837, Cook was considered wealthy, with an estate valued at more than $250,000 – equivalent to $5.4 million in 2020.

In 1864, she married John F. Cook, Jr., and the couple had five children.

According to Jones Massey’s index

SUFFRAGIST Page 40

LIFESTYLE

5 Helen Appo Cook/The Colored American (Washington, DC) newspaper, 4 June 1898, p2. Via wikicommons

BURROUGHS Page 44

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JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 39

LIFESTYLE Acclaimed Pianist Brian Ganz Continues His Quest to Reimagine Music of Chopin WI Staff Report Internationally acclaimed pianist Brian Ganz celebrates a decade into his sojourn of performing the complete works of Frédéric Chopin with “Chopin: The Growth of Genius” at The Music Center at Strathmore at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1. The entire concert will be marked by Ganz’s signature “musical gardening” showcasing Chopin’s growth as a composer with selected compositions that

demonstrate the seed of his genius.

It’s the first time Ganz has employed this technique for the course of an entire performance.

“I’m especially excited to alter this year’s concert by foraying into the technique and growth of Chopin’s musical works over the years,” said Ganz who began his “Extreme Chopin” quest in January 2011 with a sold-out recital in partnership with the National Philharmonic at The Music Center at Strathmore.

As the Music Center at Strathmore’s orchestra-in-residence, the National Philharmonic showcases world-renowned guest artists in time-honored symphonic masterpieces conducted by Maestro Gajewski, and monumental choral masterworks under National Philharmonic Chorale Artistic Director Stan Engebretson. For tickets visit nationalphilharmonic.org or call the Strathmore at 301.581.5100.

WI

TICKETS FROM $49 WITH CODE ASPWI

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American Airlines Theatre • 227 West 42nd St. 212.719.1300 • roundabouttheatre.org Support for A Soldier’s Play is provided by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

40 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

5 Pianist Brian Ganz will celebrate a decade into his sojourn of performing the complete works of Frédéric Chopin with “Chopin: The Growth of Genius” at The Music Center at Strathmore at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 (Photo courtesy Christina Mendenhallu87)

‘Splendid Suns’ Production an Unflinching Triumph

By Kui Mwai WI Contributing Writer

Author Khaled Hosseini is known for his eloquent fiction, receiving critical acclaim for his portrayal of the beauty of Afghanistan and depiction of the universality of the human condition. His novels have been adapted to stage and as motion pictures to generally positive reviews.

However, each adaptation came up short in capturing the emotional intensity achieved in Hosseini’s storytelling. Until now.

Award-winning playwright Ursula Rani Sarma’s adaptation of Hosseini’s New York Times bestseller “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is nothing short of a theatral triumph. Premiering in 2017 at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, the production finally made its East Coast debut at Arena Stage.

The play follows the unlikely friendship between Laila and Mariam, who find themselves bonded by their society’s attack against women and their rights. Though they come from opposing backgrounds and generations, the women forge a lifelong bond, a plot device that offers compelling commentary on transcendent aspects of womanhood.

The stage adaptation is extremely successful in translating the enormousness of the story, its characters and its meaning. All senses are aggressively engaged in this production. Ken MacDonald’s set design is versatile and just barren enough to believably represent coup-rid-

den Kabul/Herit in the ‘90s. David Coulter’s original music is dynamic and dramatic, the perfect copilot to the play’s heavy plot.

Actors Hend Ayoub (Mariam) and Mirian Katrib (Laila) are incredible forces that lead their fellow actors vallianty. In violent scenes that were almost too difficult to watch, Ayoub and Katrib refuse to shy away from the rawness of those moments. Actor Haysam Kadri (Rasheed/Fight Captain) also gives a memorable performance, successfully embodying the hate and fear of a generation.

Director Carey Perloff, a longtime friend of Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith, said the production “belongs in Washington, D.C. Perloff statement is met with collective agreement, especially when she mentions the current state of Middle Eastern affairs.

Perloff also says what makes this show special is its depiction of “female friendship onstage.” Theater is dominated by stories that are centered in white, male friendships.

What makes this production magnificent, along with superb acting and visual and auditory elements, is its depiction of the bond between women.

In this sociopolitical climate, representation of brown and black women in different spaces, in different forms, is paramount. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is vivid and evocative, but ultimately ends in a offering of hope and a better future to come.

WI

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LIFESTYLE Bishop Curry Brings ‘More Jesus’ to Southeast Revival

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer More than 3,000 people filled the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast Sunday as the Rev. Michael B. Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, preached during a revival titled “More Jesus, More Love.”

Curry mixed scripture with humor during the revival, which was part of a weekend of meetings and services convened by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in which Curry preached at venues ranging from the National Cathedral to St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Southeast.

“This is the largest diocesan-wide gathering in our history, and part of an entire weekend of events with the potential to reach every congregation and beyond with a message of God’s love, revealed in Jesus, for all people,” Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, said in a statement.

Curry’s involvement in the 125th Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal District of Washington began Saturday at the National Cathedral.

Sunday morning, he conducted

a Eucharist service at St. Timothy’s where he talked about the state of Black and multicultural churches across the country. Then members of various Episcopal congregations gathered at the Entertainment and Sports Arena on the old St. Elizabeths Hospital campus.

The event began with an eclectic offering of music that ranged from hymns to an acoustic guitarist to soul-stirring gospel. The speakers displayed the diversity of the diocese, including Jay Cryton, a self-identifying “gay millennial” who told the audience, “our church is an embassy for Jesus.”

Another attendee, who said she is the daughter of a minister who grew up in Calvary Episcopal Church, said “nobody needs Jesus more than Christians.”

The woman talked about how the church drove her to be an activist and to visit the U.S.-Mexico border after six immigrant children died in U.S. custody.

“Jesus loves all of us,” she said Curry, following up on the young woman’s comments, said, “There are no walls in love that comes from

God,” adding, “I wish that I could preach in the Senate.”

Curry, who rose to worldwide prominence in 2018 when he delivered the sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, said one of the biggest results of his participation in the royal ceremony is being invited to give interviews.

He said he started to decline an interview on TMZ but reconsidered upon learning how popular the tabloid organization is with young folks.

“We got Jesus on TMZ,” said Curry, who added that young people “want to believe that when you get pulled down by reality love can lift you up. Love is the only is the only thing that has ever worked.”

As Curry preached, word spread the arena that NBA legend Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash. Even though he might not have known, he continued with his message with his Latino interpreter close to him.

As Curry concluded his message, he exited the podium and engaged in a call-and-response with the crowd, repeatedly shouting “More Jesus!” as the audience replied with “More love!” WI

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

5 The Rev. Michael B. Curry (WI File Photo/Anthony Tilghman)

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 41

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42 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

“Students are going to have to get split up, and [there are] too many hood beefs. A lot of people said they’re going to drop out. One girl said she’s going to get her GED,” said Lyric Johnson, an 11th grader at Washington Metropolitan who’s gearing up for an early graduation.

Lyric entered Washington Metropolitan in 2017 after experiencing a bevy of challenges at Raymond Education Campus in Northwest. At her new school, she improved her discipline and gained greater self-awareness – a process which started in Washington Metropolitan’s eighth grade academy where Lyric mastered foundational concepts and acquired high school credits.

While she remains on track to receive a high school diploma before the closure, she acknowledges that recent events have confirmed her feelings about the mistreatment of her peers and other Black youth in a rapidly-changing city.

“DCPS isn’t going to put any money in our school because of attendance,” said Lyric, 16. “It’s always a money thing. I talked to the chancellor, deputy mayor for education and [staff working with] council members. They heard us but it went in one ear and out the other. All we wanted was some resources.”

In his November 27 announcement about Washington Metropolitan’s fate, Ferebee cited low enrollment, inconsistent attendance, staff vacancies and dismal academic achievement as key reasons for his decision – the first public school closure since 2013.

Ferebee’s announcement outraged education advocates, while spurring some of the more than 150 young people who attend the Shaw-area school into action. In recent weeks, Washington Metropolitan students engaged D.C. Councilmember Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) during a community meeting and delivered a petition of more than 1,500 signatures to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and other officials.

Since the start of their campaign, Nadeau, D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8), and the D.C. State Board of Education have thrown their support behind Washington Metropolitan, via separate letters to Ferebee.

Still, after conferring with Bowser, Ferebee has remained steadfast in his

5 The campus of Washington Metopolitian High School. (WI photo)

decision. He told The Informer that listening sessions and staff meetings with 200 students, educators and families solidified his course of action.

“DC Public Schools has a responsibility to create learning environments where every student can succeed at their neighborhood school and we do not take the decision to close Washington Metropolitan High School lightly,” Ferebee said.

“We believe that the unique educational offerings and support services provided at our neighborhood high schools and opportunity academies are well-suited to meet the needs of Washington Metropolitan students.

We are committed to partnering with the Washington Metropolitan community to thoughtfully transition students to schools where they will be loved, challenged and prepared to positively influence society.”

In an email to community members last week, WTU President Elizabeth Davis countered Ferebee’s perspective, saying the District precipitated Washington Metropolitan’s downfall by not investing in the school as it had done for others across the city.

Over the last few years, the District’s other opportunity academies – Luke C. Moore High School in Northwest, Roosevelt STAY in Northwest and Ballou STAY in Southeast – received renovations and curriculum revamps. All the while, Washington Metropolitan students and community advocates remained critical of the per-pupil funding structure they said prevented the school with a smaller student body than other institutions from fulfilling its potential.

Washington Metropolitan, in existence since 2008, counts as the only opportunity academy in the District also serving middle school students, including nearly four dozen eighth graders, who face academic and behavioral challenges in traditional school settings.

Earlier this year, the school enrolled 19 students into its inaugural seventh grade class.

For one Washington Metropolitan student speaking on the condition of anonymity, the school’s closure leaves many questions unanswered including if she can transition into another school environment similar to that which she entered two years ago.

“I’ve been to about 13 schools and I never had a school help me like Washington Metropolitan,” said the student who entered the program as an eighth grader. In the year leading up to her enrollment, she spent much of her time at home still reeling from an expulsion from Paul Public Charter School in Northwest.

As she counts down the months leading up to Washington Metropolitan’s closure, the youth, who recently gave birth to a baby, said she remains ambivalent about attending another school, especially since Washington Metropolitan helped her get half of the credits she would need to graduate.

“If you wanted someone to talk to, [Washington Met staff] would be right there. They make time for everyone,” she said. “Students try to help each other out there. During my pregnancy, my teachers made sure I had what I needed. I’d come up there certain days and teachers even gave me their phone numbers so I could call them at home.” WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

KOBE from Page 1 side during his retirement tour.

Seven months ago, they celebrated the birth of their fourth child.

Bryant had recently been spotted with his daughter Gigi at various NBA games. He often posted videos of her playing basketball and when a reporter suggested that Bryant might be disappointed for not having a son to follow in his footsteps, she jumped forward expression that she would continue the family legacy in basketball.

Another NBA legend and close friend of Bryant’s shared his thoughts about the tragedy.

“Laker Nation, the game of basketball and our city, will never be the same without Kobe. Cookie and I are praying for Vanessa, his beautiful daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri, as well as his parents Joe and Pam and his sisters. We will always be here for the Bryant family,” said Lakers legend Earvin Magic Johnson.

Bryant, the son of former NBA player Joe Bryant, entered the NBA draft after high school during which the Charlotte Hornets selected him as the 13th overall pick.

The Hornets then traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. He spent 20

years in the NBA, all with the Lakers. During his career, he won five championships, would be voted as an all-star 18 years, was chosen as a member of the All-NBA Team 15 years and captured the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Former teammate Shaquille O’Neal, part of the Lakers’ lineup when they won three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002, stated on social media that he’s still trying to accept the reality of his friend’s death.

“Kobe was so much more than an athlete, he was a family man,” O’Neal said on Twitter. “That was what we had most in common. I would hug his children like they were my own and he would embrace my kids like they were his.

His baby girl Gigi was born on the same day as my youngest daughter Me’Arah.”

Lakers icon Kareem Abdul Jabbar echoed O’Neal’s sentiments.

“Most people will remember Kobe as the magnificent athlete who inspired a whole generation of basketball players. But I will always remember him as a man who was much more than an athlete,” he said on Twitter.

Bryant quickly emerged as one of the top players in the NBA upon

LIFESTYLE

joining the Lakers – a position he would hold until being sidelined after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in 2013 at age 34. Although he recovered from that injury, he suffered season-ending injuries to his knee and shoulder and retired after the 2015–16 season.

The NBA superstar in whose

footsteps many believe Kobe followed, exciting the next generation of basketball fans, shared his thoughts.

“Words can’t describe the pain I’m feeling. I loved Kobe – he was like a little brother to me,” tweeted Michael Jordan on Sunday.

WI

5 Solemn reminders pay homage to Kobe Bryant throughout Los Angeles.

(Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

Morgan Wootten Remembered as Basketball Coaching Legend

By Hamil R. Harris nd Shevry Lassiter WI Contributing Writers

In life, Morgan Bayard Wootten was a high school basketball icon who in 46 seasons at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, led the Stags to five national championships and 33 titles in the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference.

And in death, it was understandable why Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and generations of talented basketball players would gather in the Morgan and Kathy Wootten Center to honor one of the most successful high school coaches in U.S. history.

“I never remember one time when Coach obsessed about winning a basketball game,” said CBS Sports anchor and former DeMatha player James Brown, fighting back tears as he eulogized a man he other play-

ers affectionately called Coach. “He stressed maximizing the gifts and talents that the Lord blessed to become the best player, the best team and the best person that we could become.”

Brown said he will always remember interviewing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who recognized Brown as a player on the Wootten-coached DeMatha team that made national news in 1965 by ending the 71-game winning streak of Abdul-Jabbar’s Power Memorial Academy.

“He said, ‘You are from that school,’” Brown told the crowd with a big smile.

Wootten was born in Durham, N.C., but his family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, when he was a child. He attended Gonzaga College High School and Montgomery Blair High School, from which he graduated in 1950.

In 1951, Wootten began coaching baseball, football and basketball at St. Joseph’s Home and School for Boys, an orphanage in northeast D.C.

During this time, he transferred from Montgomery College to the University of Maryland, College Park, where he earned his degree in physical education and history in 1956.

That year, Wootten was hired as a history teacher and coach of the football and basketball teams at DeMatha. Although his football teams won three league titles, he eventually focused on basketball after the 1968 season.

When he retired in 2002, Wootten’s career coaching record stood at 1,274-192 in 46 seasons as the head coach of DeMatha.

Wootten never had a losing record, with his worst performance coming in the 1957-58 season, when DeMatha went 17-11, the only one of his teams to not have at least 20 wins. He had two perfect seasons, the first coming in 1977-78 (28-0) and the other in 1990-91 (30-0).

Wootten coached more than a dozen players who went on to play in the NBA, including Adrian Dantley

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

and Danny Ferry, as well as current Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey.

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden (1910–2010) once said of Wootten, “I know of no finer coach at any level — high school, college or pro. I stand in awe of him.”

In 2000, Wootten became the third high school coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the first to be admitted solely as a high school coach, Brown said.

While Wootten received job offers from North Carolina State and Georgetown and was sought after by Duke, Wake Forest and Virginia. He never got an offer to coach at Maryland, though sports writers said he would have taken that job.

At his funeral service, generations of coaches and players watched as a Catholic priest led the somber procession with Wootten’s cremated remains out of the DeMatha gym.

The Woottens, who were married in 1965, lived in University Park

5 Morgan and Kathy Wooten (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington

where they raised their five children, Cathy, Carol, Tricia, Brendan and Joe. As the family walked out of the gym, WI photographer Shevry Lassiter asked Tricia how did it feel to be the daughter of one of the greatest coaches of all time. She responded, “He was Dad! He was just Dad!”. WI

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 43

LIFESTYLE

wi book review “Delivered by Midwives: African American Midwifery in the Twentieth-Century South”

By Jenny M. Luke c.2018, University Press of Mississippi $30 / 193 pages

By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer The mailman’s come and gone for today.

He never brings you much anymore anyhow, just a few bills and a card sometimes; now and then, you might get a box of something you purchased and that’s always fun. You know, though, that the mailman doesn’t always bring you what you ordered. As in “Delivered by Midwives” by Jenny M. Luke, someone else brings a different kind of package.

At the turn of the last century, if you were an African American woman and you were pregnant, you might have struggled with more than just labor: white doctors simply didn’t have to treat Black patients if they didn’t want to.

Because of this, “many African American women in the Jim Crow South had no expectation of medical care for pregnancy and childbirth.”

And so, as did their foremothers when they were slaves, laboring women relied on “granny midwives” to “catch” their babies. Doing so was a natural conclusion, says Luke, since both men and women in early Black communities were “authorized to be healers,” which was “a power that the white medical establishment could not undermine.”

What the white establishment could do, however, was to point out the high rate of maternal and infant death in Black communities. Because of this, laws were made in the 1920s to regulate midwives of all races. Classes on hygiene and cleanliness were taught to help improve the health of the most poverty-stricken mothers and their families, and joining a “midwife club” was mandatory.

As World War II began, however, so did the perception that not calling a doctor for a baby’s birth indicated “an indifferent negligence toward” the child.

Black mothers still reached out to midwives but it was increasingly becoming “a marker of status” and more “’scientific’” to have a hospital birth. By 1970, and though racism persisted and “hospital care and medical expertise were … not expectations of African Americans …” nine out of 10 Black women delivered their babies in hospitals.

The tide is turning back again, says author Jenny M. Luke, but there are issues — specifically, educational requirements for professional midwives have become steeper, which can lead to questions of affordability. Still, in “Delivered by Midwives,” she shows a continued need for midwives, especially in poorer communities — though getting to that point here can sometimes feel a lot like labor.

Luke moves her history at a good pace before repetition forces everything to slow down, then it speeds up again, so things move quickly inside this book — and then they don’t. We’re treated to painful, wincing tales of past midwives and what their patients endured, and those things might make you scream before you hurry-up-and-wait for relevant-but-scholarly information that slows the process down. It ends in a somewhat-frazzling, acronym-laden whoosh.

That doesn’t make this a bad book — it makes this informative and interesting, good for students and prospective midwives, but not a curl-up-by-the-fire something to read. Still, if it’s the kind of medical, African American, or feminist history you’re looking for, “Delivered by Midwife” is the total package.

WI

44 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

horoscopes

JAN 30 - FEB 5, 2020

ARIES This can be a week when you might prefer to go with the flow. A delightful Venus-Neptune alignment in your spiritual sector can put you in the mood to make a sacrifice. You might feel like helping at a local charity or volunteering to assist those who can’t manage alone. Lucky Numbers: 12, 19, 22 TAURUS For much of this week, the ethereal qualities of Neptune could influence your affairs. With feisty Mars making an awkward angle to this dreamy planet, you may feel less inclined to get on with things. If you have something important to do, you might need to push yourself to complete it. Lucky Numbers: 5, 30, 44 GEMINI It helps to set your intentions early this week or you could find yourself drifting. With beguiling Neptune on the field, it could be easier to go with the flow even when you have a lot on your plate.

Make a to-do list on Monday and determine to stick with it. Lucky Numbers: 6, 23, 27 CANCER Sweet Venus meets with nebulous Neptune in your sector of travel and far horizons, and this dreamy influence could see you enjoying a holiday romance. Whether solo or spoken for, you might relish getting close to someone, particularly if you have a chance to unwind and relax. Lucky Numbers: 8, 38, 41 LEO Fiery Mars continues in your sector of leisure and links to dreamy Neptune over this week. This could cause you to hold back just when you’re about to move ahead. You could be filled with all kinds of doubts, which isn’t your normal style. And the smaller setbacks could see you faltering when you’d normally march right past them. Lucky Numbers: 1, 4, 30 VIRGO You may breathe a sigh of relief as sobering Saturn moves farther away from potent Pluto. And while you may not feel completely free of tension, life can appear a lot easier. Regarding relationships, though, aquatic Neptune can have an influence on key relationships for much of this week. Solo?

Someone could impress you so much that you feel you’ve met the perfect partner. You could be convinced that they have soul-mate potential. Bide your time, though, because they may not be quite as wonderful as they seem. Lucky Numbers: 9, 20, 28 LIBRA How much is enough? A dreamy aspect in your sector of work and service could see you sacrificing your time with no thought of any return. If you have your own tasks to do, it would be wise to set limits even though you may not want to. Lucky Numbers: 4, 17, 32 SCORPIO You could find yourself mesmerized by someone, and it could be difficult to get them out of your mind. Over this week, a yearning to get to know them better, coupled with a touch of obsession, could mean that you lose your common sense where this potential relationship is concerned. Lucky Numbers: 29, 31, 45 SAGITTARIUS Dynamic Mars in your sign links to nebulous Neptune in your home zone, so you may not feel up to doing much of anything this week. If you can lighten your schedule, this might be a wise option. Your body might need a chance to recharge, and taking the opportunity to do nothing much could be the best way ahead. Lucky Numbers: 7, 15, 25 CAPRICORN Although there’s a very practical and down-to-earth emphasis on your sign that helps to keep you grounded, you could still get carried away. The early part of the week could see you getting close to someone and finding it easy to pick up their thoughts and feelings. Whether this is romantic or platonic, you may feel as though any barriers between you have melted away and you understand each other completely. While this phase may not last, it can mean that you develop a natural intimacy with this person that continues into the future. Lucky Numbers: 3, 27, 53 AQUARIUS Look after your money this week or it may not go very far. There could be a tendency to give too much of it away to charity or to help friends or family. Or you could yearn for certain items and decide to splurge. Set yourself some limits. If you don’t have a budget, it might help to get one up and running. Keeping control of your finances is one way to ensure peace of mind. Lucky Numbers: 13, 15, 26 PISCES All kinds of dreams and fantasies could show up this week, but it would be best not to take any of them too seriously. With lovely Venus aligning with beguiling Neptune in your sign, it’s better to harness this energy creatively. If you have any projects in mind, this artistic and imaginative transit can give them a sparkling edge. Lucky Numbers: 9, 21, 35

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

SPORTS For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com

5 Howard Bison guard Gia Thorpe looks to pass while defended by Florida A&M Rattlers forward Kayla Massop during Howard’s 72-58 win at Burr Gymnasium in Northwest on Saturday, Jan. 25. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 Howard Bison guard Ayonna Williams elevates for a layup during Howard’s 72-58 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers at Burr Gymnasium in Northwest on Saturday, Jan. 25. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

HU Women Handle FAMU

Florida A&M Tops Howard

5 Howard Bison guard Nate Garvey shoots over Florida A&M Rattlers guard MJ Randolph during the Rattlers’ 8783 win at Burr Gymnasium in Northwest on Saturday, Jan. 25. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 Howard Bison guard Charles Williams drives past Florida A&M Rattlers guard MJ Randolph during the Rattlers’ 87-83 win at Burr Gymnasium in Northwest on Saturday, Jan. 25. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

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JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 45

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Urban League, was fast and furious because candidates only had one minute to answer questions, which ranged from education, health care, crime and economic development to why they were running for office.

Washington, who represents Maryland’s 43rd District, said that she decided to run despite just being elected to the statehouse in 2018 because of her frustration with “false promises and old leadership.”

“Our institutions have failed our children with out investing in education,” she said.

T..J. Smith, former spokesman for the Baltimore City Police Department, said he got into the race because he wanted to do more than talk about the crime problem.

“We have to turn a page on the violence,” Smith said.

Catalina Byrd, a political strategist and one of just seven Republicans in the race, said she decided to run because she wanted to do more than lobby in Annapolis.

“I am a victim of violence. I had to tell my 4-year-old why her father wasn’t coming home after he was shot,” Byrd said. “We all have different plans, but we all love Baltimore.”

Her sentiments were echoed by businessman Rikki Vaughn: “We have a plan to take Baltimore to the next level.”

Young (D) was the city council president in May when he was named acting mayor after Catherine Pugh resigned amid a corruption scandal that resulted in criminal charges. She was indicted in November in connection with the scandal, which stemmed from Pugh allegedly pushing sales of a children’s book she authored in

5 A panel of Baltimore mayoral candidates discussed their platforms at a recent forum. (Hamil Harris/The Washington Informer)

exchange for city contracts.

To win a full term, Young will have to outlast a bloated field of Democratic contenders, many of whom were on hand for Saturday’s forum, to represent the party in the Nov. 3 general election — largely a formality in the majority-Democrat city.

The forum included candidates from the old guard alongside several legislative neophytes. While Scott, Carlmichael “Stokey” Cannady, Dante Swinton and Frederick Ware-Newsome made it clear that they are part of a new generation with new ideas, Young sparked laughter when he said he is a political veteran who knows where the money is in the budget.

“I have seen it,” he said.

Vignarajah, also a former city prosecutor who spoke of his parents’ deep roots in Baltimore as educators, addressed his plan to cut the city’s homicide rate.

“I am running for mayor because I am going to cut the murder rate in half without mass incarceration [or] cash bail,” he said.

Karsonya “Dr. Kaye” Wise

Whitehead, a local radio personality and one of the forum moderators, stressed the event’s importance for voters as the primary rapidly approaches.

“We heard from 14 of the 30 or so candidates and we had a chance to listen to the issues that the people wanted to hear,” she said.

“We heard where they are coming from, we made them show us what they have done and now we have more information to prepare us to make a good solid vote.”

The forum came less than two weeks before a Feb. 4 special primary election to replace late U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D), who died in October at age 68, in Maryland’s 7th District.

Cummings’ widow Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the former chair of the state Democratic Party, and former Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who held the seat before Cummings, are the two most well-known hopefuls in a field of 24 contenders. The general election for that race will be held April 28, the same day as the Baltimore mayoral primary. WI

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46 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT

Never Stop Learning!

When we operate according to biblical standards — just by following Hebrew 11:1, which says, “For we walk by faith and not by sight” — we can never go wrong. We will be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old. Another perfect Scripture that defends this philosophy is Romans 12:2, which reads, “And be not conformed to this world, but ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

An exciting way to achieve your goals in life is if you will renew your mind and your plans daily.

This will surely yield results that are almost immediate.

If you decide to grow your business, develop a marketing plan, and once you have the perfect marketing tools, keep that plan in front of someone who can use your services every day!

My sisters and I were new on the scene. Nobody knew us. Why would an unknown like me believe it was possible to work with Rev.

Jesse Jackson?

Although he didn’t win, the 1984 and 1988 presidential campaigns of Jesse Jackson, was very significant as it represented the first major attempt by a Black to gain the presidency. It got us President Barack Obama!

During Jackson’s first presidential campaign, my company commissioned a sculptor to create an official bronze bust of him. It took two years, a lot of mistakes, 40-60 phone calls to schedule appointments to meet with Jackson, but in the end, it worked.

My ability to continuously learn daily was key. Daily affirmations became the norm for me; written statements hanging near my bed so I could fall asleep at night by seeing myself already meeting with Rev. Jackson, studying and memorizing Scriptures and quotes. It worked!

Today, that bust stands as a testament to my faith, sitting as the centerpiece of Rainbow Push Operations headquarters in Chicago. He takes pictures with his visitors at the bronze bust. The plaque bears my name as president and CEO along with my board of directors.

While going through the early phases, it was difficult to see this project completed but I believe that it would make a difference for my company, and it did! With faith as my ammunition, and by wiping

Mt. Zion Baptist Church

away any non-belief or doubt, it was essential that I took time to renew my mind daily.

The Lord ordered my steps, and today my work is a testament to my ability to stay focused. I couldn’t teach this to you if I hadn’t already proven my own abilities to do this.

Now that I have such strong roots that spread far and wide like those of the bamboo tree, one of my favorite successes is my coaching abilities. As I reach out with this column to help thousands of readers achieve dreams the Lord has placed in their hearts, writing about success principles and trying to motivate you, encouraging you to “do it now” feels really good to me. I know it is the purpose for my life!

The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step. As Alan Alda once said, “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.

What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.”

WI

John F. Johnson Reverend Dr.

5101 14th Street, NW / Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089

1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005

“A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold” www.mtzbcdc.org

EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS MCCOLLUM & ASSOCIATES, LLC ADA, Age Discrimination, Benefits, Civil Rights, COBRA, Contracts, Deaf Law, Defamation, Disability Law, Discipline, Discrimination, FMLA, FLSA, FOIA, Family Responsibility, Harassment, HIPPA, OSHA, National Origin Discrimination, Non-Compete, Race Discrimination, Rehabilitation Act, Retaliation, Severance Agreements, Sexual Harassment, Torts, Whistleblowing, Wage-and-Hour, Wrongful Discharge SERVING MARYLAND, DC, & NORTH CAROLINA

www.jmlaw.net

(301) 864-6070

jmccollum@jmlaw.net

Mount Olivet Lutheran Church

Reverend John W. Davis Pastor

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.)

Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.

(301) 864-6070

Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m.

Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 47

RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church

Pilgrim Baptist Church

Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor

Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor

9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 / Fax: 301-499-8724

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 AM 7 10:00 AM Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 PM Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”

Blessed Word of Life Church

Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00 AM 5th Sundays: 9:30 AM 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 PM www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ

Church of Living Waters

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor 4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464 Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org

St. Stephen Baptist 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 Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00 AM Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30 AM 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00 AM Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30 PM Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00 AM “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

Third Street Church of God

Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors

Rev. Dr. Alice Greene Interim Pastor

Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor

Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor

4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax

3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) / (202) 562-4219 (Fax)

5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555 Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45 AM Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45 AM Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday , 12:30 PM Mid-Day Bible Study Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 PM Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30 AM

1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office / 202-638-1803 fax

Service and Times 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 Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 AM Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 PM Thursday: 7:00 PM “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address : Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020

Turning Hearts Church Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher 421 Alabama Ave. SE Washington, DC 20032 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445 Service and Times Sunday School: 10:15 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11;15 AM Children’s Church: 11:15 AM Tuesday Bible Study: 6:30 PM Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: gr8luv4u2@gmail.com

Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am 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.covenantdc.org

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

Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 AM “Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org

Crusader Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor 800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703 Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45 AM Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00 PM Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00 PM Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org / “God is Love”

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: 8:00 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 6:00 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

Isle of Patmos Baptist Church Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor 1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661 Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Sunday Church School: 9:20 AM Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 AM Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 PM Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!”

Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net

St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us...

Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45 PM Thur. Bible Study: 7:15 PM

Twelfth Street Christian Church Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion every Sunday: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 10:00 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 PM Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org / Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com

Mount Carmel Baptist Church

901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00 PM Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00 PM Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10 AM themcbc.org

48 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor 7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471 Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 AM Service 11:00 AM Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.”

Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com

Zion Baptist Church Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School 10:15 a.m. – Worship Service Wed. Noon: Dea. Robert Owens Bible Study 7 PM Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Sunday, Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission: Zion shall: Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, And Exalt our Savior. (Acts 2: 41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org

St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 PM Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon

All Nations Baptist Church Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor 2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591 Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education / School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards

Israel Baptist Church

Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor 2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730 Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 AM Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 PM “Where Jesus is the King”

Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor

2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office / (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . . 100% Forgiven!

623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 / Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 / Fax (202) 483-4009

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30 PM Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00 PM www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith

Lincoln Park United Methodist Church Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor

Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor

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

1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lincolnpark@lpumcdc.org www.lpumcdc.org

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:45 AM Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 PM Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 PM Bible Study: Tuesday at 10:30 AM

Mount Moriah Baptist Church Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Holy Communion: First Sunday 10:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30 PM Motto: "Faith On The Hill"

Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 PM Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 PM Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 PM Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged.

The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42

New Commandment Baptist Church

Eastern Community Baptist Church Damion M. Briggs Pastor

Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor

1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964

8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 AM and 10:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 AM & 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:30 AM Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 PM Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 PM Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 PM

Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM

Rehoboth Baptist Church

Reverend Peter R. Blue Sr. Pastor

Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor

2001 Brooks Drive District Heights MD. 20744 240.838.7074

621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112

Service and Times Sunday Worship Experience: 10:15am Sunday School: 9:00am Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Noontime Bible Study: Tuesday @ 12:00pm Prayer Meeting/Bible Study: Tuesday @7:00pm Theme: "Building On A Firm Foundation"

Service and Times Sunday Service: 10:00 AM Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 AM 1st Sunday Baptism: 10:00 AM 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10:00 AM Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting: 7:45 PM

Email: revprbstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org

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

“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org

“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”

Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958

Shiloh Baptist Church

Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Dr. Joseph D. Turner / Senior Pastor 2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304 Service and Times Early Worship Service: 8:00 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM New Member’s Class: 9:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00 AM Church School: 9:45 AM Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00 PM Saturday Bible Study: 11:00 AM Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00 AM “Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”

Peace Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Early Morning Prayer & Bible Study Class: 8:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Service: 12:00 PM “The Loving Church of the living lord “

4504 Gault Place, N.E. / Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service : 11:00 AM The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Prayer & Praise Services: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: 7:30 PM Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries: 10:30 AM A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net

Christ Embassy DC

Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator 6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Friday Evening Service: 7:00 PM ; 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 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 PM Prayer Service Bible Study

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor

Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor

Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor

9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288

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

2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30AM & 10:30 AM Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 PM. Wednesday 12 Noon

www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org

Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 AM Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 AM and 10:55 AM Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 AM Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 PM

All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.

Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org

Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 AM Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 PM Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 PM Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 PM Noonday Prayer Every Thursday

Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor

Email Address: admin@pbc712.org

Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest

Holy Trinity United Baptist Church

Florida Avenue Baptist Church

Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor

Rev. Reginald M. Green Interim Pastor

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

St. Matthews Baptist Church

Emmanuel Baptist Church

King Emmanuel Baptist Church

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 AM Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 AM Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30AM Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 PM Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 PM Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “

Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.

JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020 49

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2019 ADM 001353

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2019 ADM 1378

Yvette Nash Blount Decedent

Thelma Clinton Sydnor aka Thelma C. Sydnor Decedent

Joan M. Wilbon, Esq. 1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney

Aimee D. Griffin 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Marlowe A. Blount-Rich, whose address is 700 Faraway Court, Bowie, MD 20721, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Yvette Nash Blount who died on 9/10/2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/16/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/16/2020, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/16/2020 Marlowe A. Blount-Rich Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Marshall E. Sydnor, whose address is 14804 Joliet Place, Bowie, MD 20721, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Thelma Clinton Sydnor aka Thelma C. Sydnor who died on 2/14/2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding.

Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/16/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/16/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/16/2020 Marshall E. Sydnor Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2020 ADM 000004

2019 ADM 001347

Vera Jean Rogers aka Vera J. Rogers Decedent

Leslie Reynolds Garner Decedent

Caren M. Webb, Esq. 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 250 Washington, DC 20001 Attorney

Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 9701 Apollo Drive, Suite 100 Largo, Maryland 20774 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Constance R. Williams, whose address is 13017 Broadmore Road, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Vera Jean Rogers aka Vera J. Rodgers who died on October 31, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding.

Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 23, 2020. 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 July 23, 2020, 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.

John M. Garner, II, whose address is 1208 D. Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Leslie Reynolds Garner who died on July 15, 2002 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/16/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/16/2020, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/23/2020

Date of first publication: 1/16/2020

Constance R. Williams Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

John M. Garner, II Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

TRUE TEST COPY

Washington Informer

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

50 - JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5, 2020

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2019 ADM 001402

2019 FEP 000150

2019 ADM 001404

Sarah Lloyd Adams Decedent

July 29, 2016 Date of Death

Edith A. Watkins Decedent

Otis Johnson Name of Decedent

Steve Larson-Jackson 1629 K Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Neville E. Adams, whose address is 177 V Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Sarah Lloyd Adams who died on July 1, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 16, 2020. 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 July 16, 2020, 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.

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Date of first publication: 1/16/2020

Michelle Dawson, whose address is 12216 James Madison Lane, Glenn Dale, MD 20769 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Otis Johnson, deceased, by the Orphans Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland on March 12, 2018 Service of process may be made upon Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 800 Maine Ave., SW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20024 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real estate: 3376 Alden Place NE, Washington, DC 20019 The decedent owned District of Columbia personal property. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Neville E. Adams Personal Representative

Date of first publication: January 16, 2020

TRUE TEST COPY

Michelle Dawson Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2019 ADM 001372 Joseph A. Quander, Jr. Decedent Joan M. Wilbon, Esq. 1120 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Katalina Quander, whose address is 7526 Val Lane, District Heights, MD 20747, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Joseph A. Quander, Jr. who died on 5/31/2019 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/16/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/16/2020, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/16/2020 Katalina Quander Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Washington Informer

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Diane P. W. Barker, whose address is 3351 Brothers Place, SE Washington, DC 20032, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Edith A. Watkins who died on December 22, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision.

All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/23/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/23/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/23/2020 Diane P. W. Barker Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2019 ADM 001403

2019 ADM 001397

Barbara T. Locke Decedent

Ellaretta P. Matthews Decedent

Dalton Howard, Esq. 4020 Lee St., NE Washington, DC 20019 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Ida C. Locke, whose address is 517 69th Place, Capital Heights, MD 20743, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Barbara T. Locke who died on September 7, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before July 16, 2020. 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 July 16, 2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/16/2020 Ida C. Locke Personal Representative

Washington Informer TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Florence Stewart, whose address is 15277 Bowmans Folly Dr., Manassas VA, 20112, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ellaretta P. Matthews who died on December 20, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision.

All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/23/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/23/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 1/23/2020 Florence Stewart Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2020 NRT 000001

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Charlotte H. L. Hughes Name of Deceased Settlor

2019 ADM 001303

NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST

Winnifred E. Greaves aka Winnifred Eleith Greaves Decedent

Charlotte H. L. Hughes (name of deceased settlor), whose address was 644 Kenyon Street, NW, Washington, DC 20010, created a revocable trust on April 4, 2011, which remained in existence on the date of her death on September 23, 2019, and Milsun Isaac Butler, whose address is 644 Kenyon Street NW, Washington DC 20010, is the currently acting trustee, hereinafter the Trustee. Communications to the Trust should be mailed or directed to Milsun Isaac Butler at c/o Attorney Ethel Mitchell, 8403 Colesville Rd., Suite 1100, Silver Spring, MD 20910 The Trust is subject to claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors, costs of administration of the settlor’s estate, the expense of the deceased settlor’s funeral and disposal of remains, and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse and children to the extent the deceased settlor’s residuary probate estate is inadequate to satisfy those claims, costs, expenses, and allowances.

Claims of the deceased settlor’s creditors are barred as against the Trustee and the trust property unless presented to the Trustee at the address provided herein on or before 7/23/2020 (6 months after the date of the first publication of this notice.) An action to contest the validity of this trust must be commenced by the earliest of (1), 9/23/2020 (One year from date of death of deceased settlor) (2), 7/23/2020 (6 months from the date of first publication of this notice) or (3) Ninety days after the Trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice informing the person of the trust’s existence, of the Trustee’s name and address, and of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding.

The Trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with the terms of the trust before the expiration of the time within which an action must be commenced unless the Trustee knows of a pending judicial proceeding contesting the validity of the trust or the Trustee has received notice from a potential contestant who thereafter commences a judicial proceeding within sixty days after notification.

This Notice must be mailed postmarked within 15 days of its first publication to each heir and qualified beneficiary of the trust and any other person who would be an interested person within the meaning of D.C. Code 20-101(d).

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Arthur Lindo and Joan Lindo, whose addresses are 122 Bullard Circle, Rockville, MD 20850 and 315 Peabody St., NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Winnifred E. Greaves aka Winnifred Eleith Greaves who died on September 4, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/23/20. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/23/20, 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.

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PROBATE DIVISION

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 FEP 000005 November 22, 1998 Date of Death

ton, DC 20002 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Jeralee G. Richmond, deceased, by the Orphans Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland, on December 27, 2019.

Service of process may be made upon Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 800

Maine Ave., SW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20024 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C.

The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real

Claims against the decedent may be presented to the under-

estate.

511 21st Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002

signed and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Date of first publication: 1/30/2020

John M. Garner, II

Personal Representative Nicole Stevens

Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Barry Stuart Engel aka Barry S. Engel aka Barry Engel Name of Decedent

AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Jeralee G. Richmond Name of Decedent

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Marsha S. Engel, whose address is 7751 East 6th Avenue, Denver, CO 80230 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Barry Stuart Engel aka Barry S. Engel aka Barry Engel, deceased, by the Probate Court for Denver County, State of Colorado, on August 8, 2017.

Service of process may be made upon Antonoplos & Associates Attorneys at Law at 1725 DeSales Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real estate.

2/3 interest in 539 Randolph Street, NW, #3, Washington, DC 20011 The decedent owned District of Columbia personal property. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

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Milsun Isaac Butler Signature of Trustee

Washington Informer

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Washington Informer

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Date of First Publication: 1/23/2020

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Maria Tuah Roxbury, whose address is 3826 2nd Street, Baltimore, MD 21225, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Daphne O. Tuah who died on November 27, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/30/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 7/30/2020, 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.

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Date of first publication: 1/30/2020

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Date of first publication: 1/30/2020

Maria Tuah Roxbury Personal Representative

Marsha S. Engel Personal Representative

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Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

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SUFFRAGIST from Page 27

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of “Famous Black People,” W.E.B. DuBois invited Cook to submit a paper in 1898 for the third annual Atlanta Conference of Negro Problems held at Atlanta University.

The purpose of the conference series, which ran from 1896 to 1914, was to identify difficulties the African American community faced and suggest solutions, Massey noted.

Others invited to submit papers included Rev. Henry Hugh Proctor of First Congregational Church (Atlanta, Georgia), journalist and attorney Lafayette M. Hershaw, and Miss Minnie L. Perry, a board member of the Carrie Steele Orphanage.

Massey wrote that Cook’s paper outlined the accomplishments of the CWL, including the enrollment of more than 100 children in its kindergartens.

In the 1927 book, “Out of the depths, or, The triumph of the Cross” by Nellie Arnold Plummer, Cook’s trailblazing mission for women’s and African American rights are summarized.

“We, the living who worked with her, know the devotion she brought to the cause. Under her administration, the scope of the Association was enlarged, and hundreds of children were brought under care. “[Cook], being identified with the people cared for by the National Home for Destitute Colored Women and Children, felt and exhibited a sympathy impossible to be cherished by those who belonged to another race, a racial affinity, an instinct as deep and lasting as human nature itself – altruism energized by this affinity is dynamic force, worthy of deep thought and consideration in all efforts to save.

“Therefore, because she was a colored woman because she had deeply realized and felt the woes and sufferings of her people, Mrs. Cook laid upon the altar her talents and services for the uplift of the poor and needy. She needs no epitaph. The race will remember Helen Appo Cook as a leading and devoted worker of the Association through many years of its splendid service to God and humanity.

“From its birth the National Home for Destitute Colored Women and Children has had many able secretaries whose reports make most interesting reading, embodying as they do the real history of the Home.

In the beginning and until 1880, the secretaries were white.

“Then Mrs. Helen Appo Cook became secretary.” WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

MALVEAUX from Page 24

subordinate his private desires to the public interest, to serve the nation as a whole rather than any faction within. Trump displays no evidence that he understands these obligations.”

Applebaum wrote those words in March 2019, six months before the start of the impeachment process.

The truth is, President Trump never will.

Last December, he was impeached by the House, only the third president in history to meet that fate.

Chairman Adman Schiff, in his closing statement at the impeachment trial, said, “Because in America, right matters. Truth matters. If not, no Constitution can protect us. If not, we are lost.”

Regardless of what happens in the Senate, he will remain impeached, forever. The question, however, still remains: If the president is acquitted in the Senate, which I fully expect, will he make history again by becoming the first, because of his continued lies and criminal behavior, to be impeached twice? With this president, anything is possible. WI

tendency to lie. He cannot help himself. Lying is a part of his DNA. Lying is who he is. Asking Donald Trump not to lie is like asking him not to breathe. It is but one of his many character flaws.

The impeachment trial of the president is currently underway in the Senate. According to Yoni Applebaum from The Atlantic, “The oath of office is a president’s promise to

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example, who was the first member of Congress to endorse candidate Trump in 2016, has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to securities fraud conspiracy and making false statements. Collins is just the latest in a series of close allies and associates of President Trump – “the best” — to face the stain of a criminal record.

Recently in Davos, President Trump said he opposed the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, “even though he was doing bad things like lying.” The president added, “Now with me, there’s no lying.” Not true.

With almost every breath he takes, he lies or is preparing to lie about something he’s planning down the road.

According to The Washington Post, since his inauguration, President Trump has made more than 16,200 false or misleading claims.

The wooden character Pinocchio is notably characterized by his frequent tendency to lie, which causes his nose to grow. The president has a similar

Regardless of what happens in the Senate, he will remain impeached, forever. The question, however, still remains: If the president is acquitted in the Senate, which I fully expect, will he make history again by becoming the first, because of his continued lies and criminal behavior, to be impeached twice?

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diction that has ended prison gerrymandering.

State action, while vitally important, won’t solve the problem at the federal level, or affect the unfair allocation of federal resources that results from unfair census practices, but it is a step closer to the ideal of One Person, One Vote.

Every state should follow New Jersey’s lead and end prison gerrymandering to ensure equal representation for every American. WI

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other county, but most of the state’s correctional facilities are located in counties to the south. That meant more than 1,600 Camden residents were counted as residents of other counties.

The problem is even worse in other states. According to the Prison Gerrymandering Project, 60 percent of Illinois’ prisoners are from Cook County (Chicago), yet 99 percent of

them are counted outside the county.

In Texas, one rural district’s population is almost 12 percent prisoners.

Eighty-eight residents from that district, then, are represented in the State House as if they were 100 residents from urban Houston or Dallas.

New Jersey is the seventh state to end prison gerrymandering — the other states are New York, California, Maryland, Delaware, Nevada and Washington. More than one in four Americans now live in a juris-

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able sodium content in foods and get away with offering burgers and pizza as full meals. This is a leap backward, especially when you consider that most of the children who consume school lunches are low and moderate income.

While world poverty is a challenge, 45 is hardly likely to even mention our domestic poverty to an audience full of world leaders. Thus, he was complimented for his “optimism” which is a far off idea and outright joke to many Americans who are hurting under this administration.

Deflection, deflection, deflection.

45 may have run away from impeachment in Davos, but he can’t hide from it. And while the Senate is likely to acquit 45 on the charges against him, the majority of the House of Representatives voted for impeachment. It is part of his legacy. WI

Photo

panding tax cuts, and an inherited record-breaking Obama-era expansion.

45 said he would expand manufacturing jobs. Really? In 2019, fewer than 46,000 manufacturing jobs were created, compared to 264,000 the previous year. The decrease in manufacturing jobs is likely due to his recently imposed tariffs.

So why was 45 boasting in Switzerland? Mostly because his impeachment trial started at the same time as the World Economic Forum.

Too bad that strategy didn’t work.

The news was focused on impeachment, all the time, while the World Economic Forum is getting far less attention. His upbeat and exaggerated claim of economic success was designed to deflect both from im-

peachment, and from his party’s shenanigans.

When 45 talks about the U.S. economy, he never talks about poverty or people at the bottom, largely because he does not much care about them.

His administration frequently shows this disdain for the poor by implementing new rules targeting the disadvantaged. Thanks to a policy change on SNAP eligibility, 700,000 people will no longer be able to receive food stamps. Is this a necessary byproduct of economic growth? Further, the Department of Agriculture has taken us all the way to the Reagan days when ketchup was declared a vegetable!

Now, many of the changes that First Lady Michelle Obama advocated for have been rolled back under this administration. Schools will be able to cut the amount of fruits and vegetables that students are served, increase allow-

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enormous.

Both New York City and Washington, D.C., have taken significant steps to curb rates of homelessness.

Other cities should follow suit.

Another key initiative at CORE is providing reentry services for individuals returning home from being incarcerated, disproportionately black and Hispanic men. It’s hard enough that these men — our sons, brothers, and fathers — have had to spend long periods of time away from their families and communities. But making matters worse is the fact that these individuals are too

WILLIAMS from Page 25 before his assassination in Memphis, Dr. King was in the midst of an economic campaign for fair wages for city garbage collectors. I cannot be convinced that today he would not be leading a campaign against income inequity and for a living wage for minimum wage

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in his term. It’s after that meeting when short-term Secretary of State Rex Tillerson left, calling His Nibs, a “dumb [expletive].”

And then I realized that the trappings of the White House are enormously seductive. It’s easy to get carried away with yourself, or with your cause, when you get a White House invitation. (I confess, I saved all the holiday greeting cards, and engraved invitations with my name on them, which I have saved … because they’re from the White House, wouldn’t you?)

Clearly those presidential appearances and Oval Office invitations are super-important (even with 45 The Dotard), because it’s the White House! Just ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, lead House Impeachment Manager Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

It’s Trump’s withholding of an Oval Office meeting and hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally appropriated military aid to the Ukraine — exposed by a federal whistleblower who overheard the coercion during the infamous July 25 telephone call — which is at the heart of the impeachment charges against this president, though he’s done many, many more even more ill-advised,

often forced to make the transition back into society without any support at all. Too often that approach leads to isolation and failure.

At our reentry centers, former inmates have access to skills training, job-placement services, and transportation, among other critical resources. We put together workshops on everything from résumé-writing and interviewing to how to knot a tie and use the Internet. Our work amounts to a rejection of the insidious belief that a person can be a lost cause. We believe in a bold model of human services founded on compassion and honesty.

These are some of the challenges

that we don’t hear about enough on the debate stage or on the campaign trail. And they are the challenges that too often get short shrift by Congress and state lawmakers — because they don’t lend themselves to easy solutions. They require difficult conversations, showing up, and staying the course.

At the dawn of this decade, we need lawmakers to devote more attention to solving problems like rising rates of homelessness and persistently high rates of recidivism. At CORE, we are committed to playing our part. We need more courageous partners in government.

WI

workers. He understood that the consequences of low wages and poverty led to self-perpetuating social disparities.

pression is the only option for a political party that cannot achieve policy objectives by allowing free, fair and open elections. He would be vigorous in his vocal protest of gerrymandering, closing polling places, purging voter lists and other pernicious methods of suppression.

WI

I am sure that Dr. King would place great emphasis on issues of voting rights. He, like most who pay attention, would know that the current trend of voter sup-

(I confess, I saved all the holiday greeting cards, and engraved invitations with my name on them, which I have saved … because they’re from the White House, wouldn’t you?) grossly worded, disgusting acts since taking office, any one of which would get a normal person fired from any and every job.

So, I get it. The White House and its occupant are supposed to be a big deal, and still in the eyes of most people, it remains big, even when the POTUS is the “forever impeached” Donald J. Trump.

Once, when I was a White House credentialed correspondent, with full “hard pass” access for 28 years, once during those years I even struggled to get brownie points with my boss, for whom I arranged a White House invitation, even though the occupant then was Ronald Reagan, who betrayed the U.S. commitment to help buy bank Zimbabwe farmland from whites who stole it under colonialism almost the day he took office; who convinced the Iranian hostage takers not to release the 400-some-odd American captives until after incumbent

President Jimmy Carter was defeated; who invaded the tiny island nation of Grenada (population 107,000, about the same as Anacostia in the District) to overturn a legitimate, radical government; and who secretly acquired and sold drugs in Black communities to get money to fund an illegal war in Central America.

I arranged for Mr. L.H. Stanton, then-publisher of National Scene magazine, which I edited, to attend a briefing with other regional magazine publishers. To his credit, Reagan did (reluctantly) sign the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday bill into law. But he was still a scoundrel, but it didn’t matter.

That scoundrel was the president.

And so it is today. Not everyone can be as clear as the NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the WNBA champion Washington Mystics, the Women’s World Cup soccer champions, and other teams who’ve said thanks, but no thanks to standard invitations to meet Trump. But not everyone is that clear-minded.

Still, Trump is a special kind of despicable person who should be permanently disqualified from all social contact. Sure, he’s the President, but don’t overlook the smelly detail: he’s still Donald J. Trump, and he’s still the leader of The Deplorables. WI

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