VOL. 53, NO. 38 • JULY 5 - 11, 2018
Have a Safe and Enjoyable 4th of July!
“Ain’t Too Proud” Story and photos / Page 28
NNPA Honors Jackson, Scott; Informer Wins Two Awards
Ben Jealous Sets Sights on Hogan, General Election
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Less than 24 hours after he won the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor, Ben Jealous held an emotional press conference to lay out his plan for defeating Republican incumbent Larry Hogan in the November general election. Speaking at the 1199 SEIU headquarters, Jealous thanked voters and volunteers before touting his business acumen as a venture capitalist and unity among Democrats throughout the state. Jealous also took Hogan to task for the city having exorbitant prop-
JEALOUS Page 13
5 Over 30,000 people rallied in front of the White House on June 30 to protest the Trump Administration’s immigration policies that separate children from their families. Rallies continued in all 50 states. /Photo by Brigette White
District’s Teenagers Advocate for their Voting Rights By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Elders who oppose teen electoral participation often argue against the youth’s lack of maturity and knowledge of political systems. Such characterizations have perturbed young people on the front lines of burgeoning movements around safety, homelessness, education and other issues. Dozens of those youth leaders recently pushed back against critics with statistics and stories of their teen experience during a D.C. Council hearing, where they, and their adult advocates, attempted to make the case for lowering the city’s voting age to 16.
“We know what’s going on in the schools and how the problems can be fixed, especially education and classroom instruction,” Monae Scott, 17, a Ward 7 resident and peer educator at the Young Women’s Project in Northwest, said during the June 27 D.C. Council hearing, in her support of legislation that would change voting laws. “It’s imperative that schools involve young people in how the curriculum is set up,” Monae, a senior at SEED Public Charter in Southeast, told the council members. “There should be more curricula for 11th- and 12th-graders that push[es] them toward career choices. This is especially true for schools
VOTING Page 44
5 Council Member Charles Allen with local D.C. youth at a council meeting. /Courtesy photo
Civil rights icon Jesse Jackson Sr. received the Lifetime Legacy Award and legendary Rep. Bobby Scott received the 2018 Congressional Leadership Award at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual convention in Norfolk, Virginia. The convention, which celebrated 191 years of the Black Press in America, was hosted by the New Journal and Guide, one of the oldest and continuously published African-American-owned newspapers in the country. The six-day conference, which concluded Sunday, July 1, held the theme, “Sustaining, Engaging and Mobilizing Black Communities.” The event included several informative and interactive workshops and sessions, such as the second annual National Black Parents Town Hall meeting on education excellence and the Every Student Succeeds Act. Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, General Motors, Ford, the Koch Brothers, Reynolds America, American Petroleum Institute and Pfizer Rare Disease were among the sponsors who sent officials to participate in panel discussions. Panelists such as retired police Sgt. Cheryl Dorsey and retired police Chief John Dixon spoke openly about the ongoing problems of police brutality while District resident Lamont Carey, founder of the nonprofit Contact Visits, gave a passion-
NNPA Page 38
Celebrating 53 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area