VOL. 53, NO. 12 • JANUARY 4 - 10, 2018
Happy New Year to the DMV – Make it the Best Ever Housing Boom Exacerbates Problem of Gentrification
Alec Ross Focused on Medical Marijuana
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer Washington, D.C., had the second-highest number of home sales over $1 million in the past three years, surpassed on the East Coast only by New York City. PropertyShark, a real estate website that provides in-depth data for approximately 90 million properties in the District, New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and other major U.S. markets, compared D.C. to other cities with a population exceeding 300,000. The site noted that the District closed 2,279 multimillion-dollar sales over the past three years, second to New York’s more than
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WI Holiday Party Page 24
Seeks Governor’s Seat in Maryland By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
MAYOR BOWSER KICKS OFF ‘YEAR OF THE ANACOSTIA’
Donning gloves, a heavy coat, hat and scarf, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser began the new year by hosting the 4th Annual Fit DC Fresh Start 5K Run/Walk at Anacostia Park. The annual 5K is part of the Mayor’s One Billion Steps Challenge – a citywide initiative which encourages residents of all eight wards to make more healthy lifestyle choices. In addition, the mayor designated Anacostia Park as the location to kick off the District’s celebration of the ‘Year of the Anacostia’ – a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Anacostia River corridor and its historic milestones. Those who braved the cold to join the mayor, received special gifts, courtesy of Mayor Bowser, 5K sponsor Aetna and event partners: Vida Fitness, Jersey Mike’s, Safeway and running groups from across the District. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter
Activist Erica Garner Remembered for Campaign for Justice By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
5 Erika Garner, daughter of Eric Garner who was killed when police in New York used a chokehold to arrest him, emerged as a strong activist against police brutality following her father’s death. /Photo courtesy of cnn.com
Erica Garner, who became an activist for all who were wronged by the American justice system, died Saturday, Dec. 30 of complications from a heart attack. She was 27. A Twitter account associated with Erica Garner spoke of her compassion for humanity. CNN reported that her family is controlling the account. “When you report this you remember she was human: mother, daughter, sister, aunt,” Garner’s account tweeted. “Her heart was bigger than the world. It really, really was. She cared when most people
wouldn’t have. She was good. She only pursued right, no matter what. No one gave her justice.” Garner famously and fiercely sought justice for her father, Eric Garner, who died from a police chokehold in Staten Island, New York, on July 17, 2014. She led marches and demonstrations in New York City and other places, and even appeared on national television imploring the Justice Department to review the circumstances that led to her father’s death. “She was a fighter, she was a warrior and she lost the battle,” said Erica Garner’s mother, Esaw Snipes,
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Alec Ross helped work on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign administration, served as a senior adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and released last year a New York Times bestselling book, “The Industries of the Future.” Now the 46-year-old technology entrepreneur must try to convince Democratic voters in Maryland he’s the best choice among seven other gubernatorial challengers in the June 26 primary election. His website touts various proposals that include more investments into child care, require all Maryland schools to offer computer science courses by 2022 and automatic voter registration. A native of Charleston, West Virginia, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He touts as one of his proudest professional achievements his work as a sixth-grade teacher at Booker T. Washington Middle School, which is located in a Black neighborhood in West Baltimore. It’s also personal because that’s where he met his future wife, Felicity, who taught in a classroom across the hall and remains a teacher in the city’s public schools’ system. All
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Celebrating 53 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area