Biden, Sanders Lean Toward Women as VP Running Mates By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
Vol. 55, No. 23 • March 19 - 25, 2020
Regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination for president, the nation already knows it will be a man who will go up against Donald Trump in November. Now, the nation knows that a woman will serve as vice president under the next president if the Democrats take back the White House. “There are a number of women qualified to be president tomorrow. I would pick a woman to be my vice president,” Former Vice President Joe Biden said during his one-on-one debate with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday, March 15. “In all likelihood, I will,” Sanders countered. “For me, it’s not just nominating a woman. It is making sure that we have a progressive woman, and there are progressive women out there. So, my very strong tendency is to move in that direction.” Among those Biden could consider: former Georgia State Rep. Stacey Abrams, former Attorney General Sally Yates or California Sen. Kamala Harris. Sanders could consider: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner or New York Rep. Alexan-
DEBATE Page 38
5 The Costco store in Montgomery County, Maryland has a long line of consumers waiting to enter the store. A letter from Costco’s president indicates they are placing a limit on certain items to ensure access to its members. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
House Passes Bipartisan Families First Coronavirus Response Act
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia As President Donald Trump stood in the Rose Garden of the White House to declare a national emergency, members of the Congressional Black Caucus held a conference call to discuss a bipartisan $8.3 billion emergency funding package to help Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Following the conference call, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters that the bill successfully passed. “The three most important parts of this bill are testing, testing, testing,” Pelosi stated. “This legislation facilitates free coronavirus testing for everyone, including the uninsured.” Pelosi continued: “We can only defeat this outbreak if we have an accurate determination of its scale and scope so that we can pursue the precise, science-based response that is necessary. To put families first, our legislation secures paid leave
with two weeks of paid sick leave and family and medical leave for those affected by the virus.” “And for those who lose their jobs, we are strengthening unemployment insurance – a critical step to protect workers’ economic security. Putting families first, our legislation protects our children and, particularly, the tens of millions of little children who rely on the free or reduced-price lunch they receive at school for their food security.” “As schools are being closed, these children will be deprived of their meals. Our bill takes aggressive action to strengthen food security initiatives, including student meals as well as SNAP, seniors’ meals and food banks,” Pelosi said. The measure includes $500 million for nutritious foods to low-income pregnant women or mothers with young children who lose their jobs or are laid off due to
CORONAVIRUS Page 16
Howard Univ. Cancels 2020 Commencement Amid First Coronavirus Case first direct positive case of the virus and that the school’s 2020 commencement ceremony would be canceled. In an emailed statement, As the coronavirus panHoward University Presdemic continues to spread throughout the world and ident Wayne A.I. Frederthe United States, Howard University announced their GRADUATION Page 20 By Josyana Joshua Howard University News Service
CORRECTION
The Washington Informer in Vol. 55, No. 17, February 6-12, published an article titled Youth Hair Model Reeling from Private School Expulsion, written by Sam P.K. Collins. The writer inaccurately reported that a former student enrolled at Kuumba Preparatory School of the Arts and Kuumba Learning Center in Southeast was expelled due to a change in the school’s hair policy and that the former student is in “an ongoing battle for the former student’s academic records.” The allegations against the school appeared in the title and in the body of the article. These allegations were inaccurate, and The Washington Informer regrets the mistake. We extend our sincerest apologies to the Kuumba Preparatory School of the Arts, the Kuumba Learning Center, Ms. Rasheed, the Director of Kuumba, and the Kuumba staff.
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Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence Comcast’s Response to Civil Rights Leaders
COVID-19 Address Impact oflaw enforcement. She said they threat,”Helps she said. Americans had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow Stay Connected to Internet Coronavirus on Blacks
By Tia Carol Jones WI Staff Writer
sense of uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are When L.Y. Marlow's 23-yearviolence The nation’s leading civil rights domestic organizations have victims and stricter restraining order policies, old daughteran told her the father with survivors treated. more rights for victim's families requested urgent meeting HouseareSpeaker ofNancy her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal to intervene on behalf of a vicPelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck life, and theregarding life of their own personal pain to tim, a domestic violence assessSchumer racialchild, equity story, in theher coronavirus she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further response proposal. done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training for law enforcement Marc H. Morial, President/CEO, National Urban with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life ProtecMelanie Campbell, President/CEO, NationofLeague; the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book will tion Act and mandatory counselal Coalition on Promise Black Civic and Constart the Saving cam-Participation “get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. vener of the Black Women’s Roundtable; NAACP paign. case in such a way, the average are ever to eradiOn the heels“If of we offering new,going low-income Internet EsPresident/CEO Johnson; and the Rev. Al “It seems to be aDerrick vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, we must sentials customers two months of free internet Sharpton, Founder/President of the National Action that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of the coin.and raising the speed of that program’s service to 25/3 Mbps, Comcast Network, insist that legislation loose,” Marlow said.coronavirus Marlow response help people begin to have a dia- We need to address both the vicrecently announced additional steps to help ensure people must her takestory racialwith equity account. shared theinto audilogue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow stay connected to the internet as more schools suspend say, when white America catches a ence “As at we theoften District Heights Also present at the event was said. classes and companies employees cold, Black America gets pneumonia and never has Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlowencourage would also like to to seework from home due to the coronavirus. that metaphor been more apt,” Morial said. “Urban on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise “During this extraordinary time,children it is vital that communities of color likely towho suffer thesentenced brunt ofto six consecMunicipal Center. The are sympowas awareness among in as many Americans as possible stay connected to the internet – for the health and economic of thelife coronavirus sium was sponsored by impacts the utive terms without parole public and private schools. She education, personal health crisis and legislative responsebymust containjury tar-for his Family andanyYouth Services a Maryland role in work, feels and children need to bereasons,” educat-said Dave Watson,inComcast Cable CEO. “Our employees also live geted relief.” Center of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks ed about domestic violence. and work in virtually every community we passerve, and we Heights andconcerned the National Hook“We’re about the impact have on 2002.it will Mildred Muhammad is “We have to stop being all share the same belief that it’s our Company’s responsibilUp of Blackwho Women. children are out of school and don’t have the the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chility to step and help out.”domestic violence,” Marlow hasinternet writtenaccess a book, broadband they need digital learnan for organization that helps the updren about “Color Butterfly,” whichsaid, is a “And AdditionalMarlow programs include: Xfinity WiFi Free For ing atMe home,” Campbell comprehensive survivors of domestic violence said. story generations Everyone: Xfinity WiFi has hotspots across country will andnow theirmore children. paidabout familyfour leave for all is of needed than Marlow worked to the break domestic be available needsinthem free – includ“I lived in fear for six years. Six to theanyone cycle who of abuse her for family, ever.” violence. The book is inspired by her ownworkers, experiences, in fear is a long time. It is andInternet ing non-Xfinity subscribers. For a map is confident the policies she of Xfin“Low-income who areyears disproportionateand those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that ity WiFi hotspots, visit www.xfinity.com/wifi. Once at a ly African-American, are the least likely to have paid her her daughter. she said. process.should select the “xfinitywifi” network hotspot, consumers sickmother leave,” and Johnson said. “Blackof,” workers are more She saidtoevery time she reads Mildred to take these policies to launch a namesaid in the list“Iofplan available hotspots, and then likely face short-term layoffs or total loss ofMuhammad emexcerpts from her she still going people who their want to browser; help aPausing Congress andPlan: implore them Our Data Pausing data to plans for 60 ployment. How book, is the country to address can not believe the words came domestic violence victim our unlimited laws,” Marlow daysmust giving allchange customers data forsaid. no additionplight?” fromSharpton her. “Color Me that Butterfly” be careful of how into No“IDisconnects will not stop untilFees: these poli- to not or Late Guarantee noted urban neighborhoods and they algocharge; won the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” disconnect a customer’s internet service or assess late fees communities of color often lack access to quality Books” Award. that she may be in “survival Tiaand Carol reached if they contact us let usJones knowcan thatbethey can’t pay their health care facilities. “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net bills during this period, offering flexible payment options “What efforts will be made to make testing freely my eye first blackened and my “Before Sharpton you get to 'I'm andgoing can help find other solutions; and Internet Essentials available in urban and poor communities?” lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started asFree a verbal WI to New Customers: New customers will receive 60 asked. “We need to make sure that the relief offered Elaine Davis-Nickens, presidays of complimentary Internet Essentials service, which is in any coronavirus response plan does not bypass the dent of the National Hook-Up normally available to all qualified low-income households most need.” ofcommunities Black Women, saidin there is no for $9.95/month. The leaders consistency in thesaid way discussions domestic would include the For information, visit: http://www.comcastcorporation. possibility of making some provisions of the response violence issues are dealt with by com/COVID-19/. plan permanent.
“
We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor Norton Joins Congressional Coronavirus Task Force children about domestic Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) recently joined the newly-formed Congressional Coronavirus Task violence. I plan to take these Force, which seeks to collect, assess and use the information and expertise of Congress and its committees to better inform policies congressional policy and legislation. As Congress approached to Congress and its planned recess scheduled to begin Monday, House Democrats continued to work to pass their implore second coronavirusthem reto change our sponse bill which provides free coronavirus testing and paid emergency sick leave. On March 6, the emergency coronavilaws. I will not stop until rus supplemental spending bill was signed into law, providing $8.3 billion to respond to the coronavirus. these policies are passed.
“
SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY
COMPILED BY WI EDITOR D. KEVIN MCNEIR
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L.Y. Marlow
Black Church Extends Arms of Faith Beyond the Pews By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer On Sunday morning, March 15, the pews in many congregations around the Greater Washington Area /remained as empty as the shelves reserved for cleaning products at local grocery stores. For some, their absence reflected the importance of self-isolating as the coronavirus continues to impact the nation and the world. But for the faithful, being away from the Beloved Community has not been an easy decision to make or accept. The Rev. Howard John Wesley, pastor of the Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, preached from Philippians 4:6-7 as he attempted to calm the nerves of his parishioners during a sermon delivered during a previously-aired worship service. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” From Alfred Street to the First Baptist Church of Glenarden, some churches fortunate enough to have high-tech capability, continue to share worship experiences via the Internet, live streaming to their members. Most people stayed home last weekend where their cell phones or computers became cyber pulpits allowing them to hear the word of God and singing songs of praise. For the very few, they ventured out to gather in small numbers with other hearty church members. “It was a blessing to be able to worship,” said Denise Johnson, a District resident who worshipped at the East Capitol Street Church of Christ in Northeast because of the closing of her own church in Maryland. “We have been through Ebola and SARS but I have never seen anything like this before.” Johnson said she felt fortunate to be able to attend worship service
somewhere on Sunday. Later, she and her husband enjoyed listening to a sermon and other portions of the day’s worship service emailed to them from the leaders of the Glenarden Church of Christ. Tyrone Allen, a math teacher from Beltsville, watched services streamed from the Laurel Church of Christ on Zoom because he had a cold. “This is a 2 Chronicle 7:14 moment,” he said, “which tells us that people need to humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways and pray.” Worship services may have been cancelled at the First Baptist Church of Georgetown in Northwest but ministry continued for Carol Butler and two other members of the congregation, each of whom worked hard Sunday morning preparing pancakes, sausages and eggs for eight homeless people huddled in the church basement. Because the church wasn’t open, Butler said one of the deacons called in and taught Bible studies to the homeless through his cell phone. “We are small church and we don’t have live streaming,” she said. She said their congregation will house the homeless for another week because the place where they normally gather, Christ Episcopal Church in Northwest, remains closed for cleaning after the rector tested positive for the coronavirus. “We’re doing the right thing but we have to stay prayed up because while Satan is in people’s heads we know that God is in control,” she said. Worship went on as scheduled at the Bilingual Christian Church in Baltimore where Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison accompanied the church’s pastor, Bishop Angel Nunez, to the day’s several services ensuring compliance with Maryland Governor Hogan’s ban that limits the number of people who can assemble in public spaces. As people filed into the Baltimore church, greeters as the doors passed out hand sanitizer. During his message, Nunez prayed for the
AROUND THE REGION nation and the feelings of anxiety that may seem overwhelming. “There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love,” he said, quoting from I John 4:18 (KJV). As people left the church, one woman, Cindy, double checked to make sure that visitors had correctly filled out their information forms, distributed as they first entered the church. Then she made visitors a promise. “I plan to call you,” she simply said. WI
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5 Worship: Where two or three are gathered. (Hamil Harris/The Washington Informer)
MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 5
AROUND THE REGION
black facts
MAR 19 - 25, 2020 SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB
MARCH 19
1894 – Loretta Mary Aiken, best known as famed comedian Moms Mabley (top right), is born in Brevard, North Carolina.
MARCH 20
1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” is published. 1883 – Inventor Jan Matzeliger receives patent for first machine to manufacture an entire shoe. 1916 – Ota Benga, a Congolese man once kept in a human zoo exhibit at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, commits suicide in Lynchburg, Virginia, at 32. 1936 – Legendary Jamaican music producer Lee “Scratch” Perry is born in Kendal, Jamaica. 1948 – Actor James Baskett receives an Honorary Academy Award for his performance as Uncle Remus in Disney’s “Song of the South,” becoming the first African American male actor to win an Academy Award. 1957 – Renowned filmmaker and actor Spike Lee is born in Atlanta.
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1955 – Walter White, an African American civil rights activist who led the NAACP for almost a quarter-century, dies at 61 of a heart attack in his New York City home. 1960 – Police officers kill 69 and wound 180 during an anti-apartheid demonstration in Sharpesville, South Africa, known as the Sharpesville Massacre. 1965 – In the name of African American voting rights, 3,200 civil rights demonstrators, led by Martin Luther King Jr., begin the historic march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol at Montgomery.
MARCH 22
1943 – Chart-topping singer and jazz guitarist George Benson is born in Pittsburgh.
MARCH 23
1916 – Political leader and civil rights activist Marcus Garvey arrives in America from Jamaica. 1955 – Hall of Fame basketball player Moses Malone is born in Petersburg, Virginia. 1971 – The Rev. Walter Fauntroy was sworn in as the first delegate from the District of Columbia to the House of Representatives in nearly 100 years. 1985 – Patricia Roberts Harris, the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet, dies in Washington, D.C., of breast cancer at age 60.
MARCH 24
1912 – Civil rights and women’s rights activist Dorothy Height (above) is born in Richmond, Virginia. 2002 – Halle Berry becomes the first Black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in “Monster’s Ball.”
MARCH 25
ARETHA FRANKLIN
6 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
1931 – African American journalist, suffragist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells dies of kidney failure in Chicago at age 68. 1931 – Nine Black teenagers are arrested in Scottsboro, Alabama, and accused of raping two white women on a train, a landmark case in the fight against racism and unfairness in the U.S. legal system. 1942 – Legendary singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” is born in Memphis, Tennessee. 1965 – The Selma to Montgomery marches, held in protest of segregation and voter obstruction against Blacks in the South, end after 18 days. 2009 – Historian John Hope Franklin, author of “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans,” dies in Durham, North Carolina, at age 94. WI
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Everywhere you look and on every radio broadcast, televised news program – even across the entire social media stratosphere – the world at large, we in particular, continues to be bombarded with conversations and debates about the coronavirus pandemic. And given the advice and conclusions of the leading scientists and health experts, not to mention the provocative prognostications belched out like doomsday declarations by self-appointed soothsayers, if we don’t change our normal routines, we’re in big trouble. It’s like Whoopi Goldberg said in a film that always leaves me gasping for breath in a puddle of tears when the alleged fortuneteller exclaims, “Molly, you in danger girl.” Yes, by all reports and from everything we see, we hear, we feel – we, the human race, appear to be in grave danger. But enough of that. If I were to believe the hype, I might be inclined to pull out what few strands of hair may remain on my bald head. But as my “master tape” runs, I cannot ignore something my mother always said to me in times like these: “Just spit in your hands, baby, and take a fresh hold.” And so, I’ve done just that.
There’s no questions that America and our global neighbors remain prisoners, held captive by an invisible enemy, the coronavirus, whose deadly impact has us locked in its grasp, imprisoning the world in this new-age state of emergency. Yet, as one of my sage advisors, Dr. Cornel West, writes in his seminal text, ‘Hope of a Tightrope,’ “these are the circumstances that people of conscience must operate under during this moment of national truth or consequences.” Indeed, as a Black man of faith, I have no doubt that “trouble don’t last always.” On the contrary – when, as Brother Kirk Franklin and God’s Property proclaim, “And when I think about your [God’s] goodness, it makes me wanna STOMP.” My concern remains with the children in our nation – those high school seniors whose commencement ceremonies, trips to Disney World, Cedar Point (an amusement park located in the Midwest) and Six Flags, or proms and graduation parties, have all been canceled. For them, it’s not about safety or self-isolation. For youth who tend to live in the here and now and often venture out as if they were invincible, now is the time for fun. Who cares about tomorrow, many ask? What about today? I wish I could wave a magic wand or call upon a miracle tantamount to Moses as he parted the Red Sea. But as the “old man” of my clan with wisdom and six decades of stories about “how I got over,” I can’t allow my children or my two grandsons to exercise their proclivity toward meandering down pathways of self-indulgence. If I have learned anything from my parents and the ancestors before them, I understand that how we face today’s tests and trials will determine not only what tomorrow looks like but if we will survive to celebrate tomorrow at all. Returning to Dr. West: “We are
talking about the state of young souls: culturally naked, with no safe moorings, these children with no cultural armor to protect them while navigating the terrors and trauma of daily life. Young people need a community to sustain them, so that they can look death in the face and deal with disease, dread and despair.” And so, I act silly with my grandsons. I listen as my daughter, Jasmine, and my son, Jared, call their Daddy – wondering how I’m doing in this age of coronavirus – and tell them, “Everything is fine” – an answer I’d give even if fear and doubt had temporarily overwhelmed my sense of today. School bells are not ringing for now. The clanging of lockers being slammed shut have been exchanged for somber sighs from children who wish they were back in school, back in the gym for basketball practice with their teammates or on lush, green fields catching fly balls with the rest of the baseball squad. Thus, I am reminded of my ultimate mission – the job that I must hold sacred and execute as such – my role as father/grandfather to my biological offspring and the little sisters and brothers who have grown to trust me and see in a similar light. Nikki Giovanni, in “Podcast for Bicycles,” offers these thoughts. “I loved my Mother’s cool hands on my forehead. I loved the safety of her arms I trusted before I understood the word. Mommy would say when I had fallen: ‘Come here, Nikki, and I’ll pick you up.’” God, I miss the sounds of children’s laughter, my children’s laughter. But, I am poised and prepared, standing in the curtains, ready to pick them up – when the new world, the post-age of coronavirus, comes. Because, as I’ve already mentioned, I miss the sound of children’s laughter. WI
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Black Agenda — Not Candidates — the Focal Point for Some Voters By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins As the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination rages, Black people across the country debate which candidate could defeat President Donald Trump and best serve the interests of a long disenfranchised electorate. Some voices in the discussion have chosen not to unite around a particular candidate, but a set of concrete demands that they encourage Black voters to urge of the Democratic contenders. They said this move makes the 2020 election a mutually beneficial situation for Black people and the eventual nominee. “The first thing [we’re asking for] — for Black people [who descended from slavery] to be considered a special class, like war veterans and Native Americans are — doesn’t cost a dollar,” Sharece Crawford, committeewoman for the D.C. Democratic Party and Southeast resident, said in her support of what’s been dubbed the Black Agenda. In recent weeks, while promoting the event, she has circulated the tenets of the Black Agenda, developed by the American Descendents of Slavery and Foundational Black American movements. In addition to a special designation for Black people who descended from U.S. enslavement, the Black Agenda prioritizes the significant allocation of federal funds to Black-owned businesses and structural supports to alleviate the ripple effects of chattel slavery, Reconstruction-era land grabs, and other forms of Black disenfranchisement. “In legislation passed in 1971, Alaskan natives received billions of dollars and several acres of land,” Crawford said. “They had the closest to what was promised to those coming out of slavey: 40 acres and a mule,” she added. “As the day goes by, the numbers [are getting higher]. There are deeds to this day that Black people can’t inherit.” Last year, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) introduced H.R. 40, a reparations bill that the late Rep. John Convyers had long championed. On Juneteenth, the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and
Civil Liberties hosted the first hearing in more than a decade on that bill. If passed, it would launch a congressional study of reparations. The bill has since attracted the support of more than 120 lawmakers in the U.S. House. In the early months of the Democratic primary, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, along with former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro — all of whom have since dropped out of the race — espoused support for reparations. Biden and Sanders have yet to follow suit, with Sanders particularly adamant about not addressing structural racism by those means. Though they’ve made significant legislative gains in the past 50 years, African Americans continue to lag behind their white counterparts in many areas of life. They make an average of 20 percent less than their white peers. The average white family also has 10 times more wealth than the average Black family, a study by the Economic Policy Institute determined. The same study found that the Black inmate population in the U.S. prison system tripled over the past 50 years, while aggregate homeownership among Black families only slightly improved. Democratic contenders’ position on Black issues notwithstanding, the focus for some activists has shifted more to local matters, and less so on the national picture. The Black Voters Matter Fund, in existence since 2016, has been able to capitalize on this trend, increasing voter turnout in their travels around the country by organizing Black people around their community issues. This strategy has been credited with helping Doug Jones win a U.S.Senate seat in 2018, the first Democrat to do so in the state of Alabama in nearly 30 years. That year, it also pitted a group of Black elders riding to the polls against Jefferson County law enforcement officials during the Georgia gubernatorial contest between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp. In Durham, North Carolina, members of the Black Messiah Movement have taken on a similar philosophy, encouraging Black people of all ages to coalesce around economic rejuve-
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PHONE: 202-526-0300 FAX: 202-526-0233 5 Sharece Crawford shares her support of the Black Agenda. (Courtesy photo submission/Sharece Crawford)
nation of Black communities, implementation of a Black-centered curriculum in the public schools, and the end of mass incarceration and intra community violence. For Black Messiah Movement founder Minister Paul Scott, any local candidate who hasn’t shown a genuine willingness to follow through on constituent demands don’t deserve the Black community’s support. Earlier this month, he backed up his words by not voting for any of the candidates running for a seat on Durham’s public school board. This maneuver, which Scott said aligns with trips to the Durham City Council throughout the year, counts as part of what he called Pan-Hoodism, a political philosophy under which Black people organize as a local voting bloc and embrace African communalism, as explained by Kwame Nkrumah and Kwame Ture, “[It’s about] establishing a fence around the Black community and controlling what comes in and what goes out,” said Scott, an activist of nearly 30 years. “That means knowing the politics of your local community. The old guard tells us to vote but they don’t tell us how the system works. You don’t have to vote to participate. They’re not checking your voter ID card before you go into a city council meeting. Withholding the vote is a political tactic if it’s organized.” WI
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AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT A private ribbon-cutting/ press conference was held on March 12 for the opening of the Jim Vance Media Center. Radio host for 102.3 FM, Donnie Simpson was the master of ceremonies and Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory offered remarks and a blessing. Doreen Gentzler, NBC4 anchor who co-anchored with Vance for over 25 years was in attendance. (Ulrich Fonou/The Washington Informer)
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Evans, Seeking to Resurrect Career, Runs for Reelection Ex-Councilman Wants Ward 2 Residents to Forgive Mistakes
By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter Former D.C. Councilman Jack Evans, having resigned from the District’s legislative body earlier this year under the threat of expulsion, has made it clear that he wants to continue to represent Ward 2 residents, but opinions are split on whether he should. Evans submitted his resignation from the council on Jan. 7 when it became clear that his council colleague planned to vote him off the body. However, on Jan. 17, Evans filed paperwork with the D.C. Board of Elections to run in the June 2 Democratic primary to permanently fill the seat and the June 16 special election for his replacement that will serve until the end of the year. “I want to continue to represent the residents of Ward 2,” Evans told The Informer on March 16. “As a council member, I have performed great constituent services for my residents and I know the issues. I have in-depth understanding of the financials of the city and I have a strong record of accomplishment on the council.” Evans, who served on the council from May 1991 until his resignation on Jan. 17, holds the
record as the legislative body’s longest-tenured member. Evans has been credited for playing a legislative role in the construction of Capital One Arena in Northwest and being the primary force on the council in the building of Nationals Park in Southeast. He also served as the chief sponsor of legislation creating the District’s Earned Income Tax Credit program, a refundable tax credit for low to moderate income working residents, particularly those with children and strongly supported legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in the city. Evans ran unsuccessfully for mayor of the District in 1998 and 2014. As an active member of the Democratic Party, he has served as a delegate representing the District at every national convention since 1992. In 2018, he won an election as the District’s Democratic Party committeeman, a position he presently holds. However, Evans has had legal troubles for ethical issues. In 2019, he stepped down as chairman of Metro’s board of directors after the transit agency’s ethics committee found he violated conflict of interest rules. Evans has been investigated by District officials and the council
for taking payments from companies doing business before the council and Metro. A federal grand jury investigation of Evans’s business relationships culminated into a FBI raid of his home on June 21, 2019. After reviewing the findings of a council-funded investigation, Evans’s colleagues recommended his expulsion in December 2019. Evans said he understands that many Ward 2 residents may be wary of him serving another term but his message to them: I have learned my lesson.
“I’ve made mistakes,” Evans said. “I have apologized for those mistakes. This is a city for second chances. “This is a forgiving city. I have made enormous contributions as a member of the council and I want to continue to do so. “Besides, I have never been charged or convicted of anything. I think my council reprimand had more to do with politics.” However, there are Ward 2 residents who aren’t sympathetic with Evans. Adam Eidinger, one of the leaders of The Committee to
Hold Jack Evans Accountable that sought to hold a recall the council member before he resigned, adamantly opposes Evans’s reelection. “He resigned his position because he was going to be kicked off the council,” Eidinger said. “Now, he trying to get back on the council in a crowded race of candidates and he thinks he can win with less than 25 percent of the vote. I am against that. “Jack Evans has lost the trust of the community,” he said. “The in-
EVANS Page 38
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5 Jack Evans served on the D.C. Council from 1991-2020. (WI file photo)
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MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 11
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Prince George’s Budget Focuses on Education, Public Safety By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill After Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks was sworn in as the county’s new leader in December 2018, she stressed that education would be one of her top priorities. In the proposed fiscal 2021 budget, education represents about $2.3 billion, or nearly 60 percent, of the $4.5 billion spending plan. The education figure represents a 5 percent increase from the current budget.
Some of the education proposals that houses the state of Maryland’s second largest school system include: $76.2 million in pay increases for school employees; $12.3 million to increase pre-K enrollment for 400 new students with a goal of reaching 10,000 in five years; and $2 million to incorporate a universal meals program for 45 community schools where the majority of students receive free and reduced lunch. “This administration will provide a high-quality education and a safe environment for our students,” Alsobrooks said. “We
are proud to make the point that everyone in our school system is important.” One unfamiliar financial burden rest with the state’s ongoing education plan known as the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, based on recommendations started three years ago by the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, or the Kirwan Commission, named after its chair, former University of Maryland System Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan. As of Thursday, March 13, the $3.8 billion investment includes $2.9 billion from the state and $864 million from the 23 counties and Baltimore City through fiscal year 2030. The funding formula allocates Prince George’s to receive the most in state aid at $724 million. However, its contribution would rank as the second-highest amount at $183.5 million behind Montgomery County at $234 million. The plan includes expansions of early childhood education for children 3 and 4 years old, incorporate college and career readiness standards and provide additional counselors in communities with high concentrations of poverty. “Whatever happens there, our county has to be ready to meet our financial obligations,” Alsobrooks
5 Antonio Logan, a pre-kindergarten teacher at William Beanes Elementary School in Suitland, works with students to learn words that begin with certain letters in the alphabet. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
said. “We believe that Kirwan will pass.” Another financial uncertainty also comes from the novel coronavirus that the World Health Organization categorized as a pandemic. According to data at 1:30 a.m. Friday, March 13 from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, health officials recorded slightly more than 128,300 confirmed cases worldwide of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. About 1,663 cases are in the U.S.
On Thursday, the fourth confirmed case in Prince George’s represented the first in the state of a man in his 60s to contract the virus through community transmission and not from overseas travel. “We need to make sure we have the resources … to protect our citizens from the potential impact and provide them with the services they need,” Alsobrooks said. “We must also ensure we have the appropriate finances to account for
BUDGET Page 44
Coronavirus Pandemic Puts Stranglehold on Census Outreach Efforts
5 Life-sized 2020 census posters placed March 13 inside the Maryland State House in Annapolis. President leaders in the General Assembly closed public access to all state buildings one day prior. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
12 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill County government, city and municipal officials and nonprofit organizations have held hundreds of block parties, training sessions and community-wide events in preparation for the 2020 census. However, the novel coronavirus the World Health Organization recently described as a “pandemic” has forced the cancellation of dozens of local events throughout the D.C. region just as the first census forms began to arrive in households on March 12. Prince George’s County Councilmember Deni Taveras (D-District 2) of Adelphi said at least 40 events she either helped organize or planned to participate in through Census Day on April 1 won’t happen. Neither will she have the opportunity to inform residents in her district by knocking on close to 30,000 homes during the
days that follow. “The census is grassroots work to meet people, talk to people and continue to let people know how important this is,” she said. “The door-knocking was…to make sure we touched everybody. My strategy changed as a result of this coronavirus.” Because Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued a state of emergency that includes closing public schools for two weeks and prohibit gatherings of 50 people or more, social media and digital advertising appears to be the main alternative to ensure people are counted. In January, the U.S. Census Bureau showcased portions of a $500 million public outreach campaign called “Shape your future. START HERE.” Part of the advertising blitz seeks to highlight how census forms remain easy to complete with the responses confidential. “We cannot share your informa-
tion with immigration enforcement agencies, law enforcement agencies, or allow it to be used to determine your eligibility for government bene fits,” the agency document reports. Commercials continue to broadcast on local television and radio stations and social media with a constant message for Americans to fill out census documents in English or 12 other acceptable languages. People can call, or for the first time, complete a form online at https://my2020census.gov/. As of Sunday, March 15, about five million of an estimated 330 million Americans had responded online to the census. Maryland could receive about $16 billion of the $800 billion in federal dollars from the count held every 10 years. The money can be used for schools, roads, housing and even determine the state’s representation in Congress. With coronavirus infections still surging nationwide, reaching “hard-
to-count” areas that include low-income neighborhoods and residential areas representing those who speak limited English will become even more challenging. According to 2010 census data, Blacks and Latinos were undercounted at 2 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. That’s why advocates and organizations such as CASA de Maryland plan to use social media and word of mouth to ensure Maryland doesn’t lose an estimated $18,250 per person not counted in the census. Trent Leon-Lierman, a regional organizer with CASA, said the organization knocked on 12,000 doors and held 3,200 one-on-one conversations with residents before the coronavirus appeared. The group also collected more than 2,200 “commitment cards” in Prince George’s to ensure residents fill out
CENSUS Page 13
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PGCPS BRIEFS
provided at regional locations from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily during the closure. Students may get a sack lunch at one of the following locations: Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School 4545 Ammendale Road, Beltsville William Wirt Middle School, 6200 Tuckerman St. Riverdale Park
Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer
SCHEDULE READJUSTMENTS
The state superintendent of education has ordered all Maryland public schools to be closed temporarily through Friday, March 27 amid the coronavirus pandemic. All school buildings and school buses will be cleaned and disinfected. There will be no school-sponsored field trips, extracurricular/ athletic events or before/after care during this time. School officials have also suspended outside facility use until further notice. Teachers have also distributed school assignments to ensure continuity of learning during the closure. Educators have been asked to be accessible to students by email in case they have questions related to assignments. In addition, adjustments will be made to the school calendar to extend the third-quarter grading period to ensure an accurate reflection of students’ work and skills. “Grab and go” lunches will be
CENSUS from Page 12 census documents when they received them. “Because of this [coronavirus,], we’re going to make 2,200 phone calls to the people who signed a pledge card asking them if they have already filled out the census, or how can we support them to fill it out,” said Leon-Lierman, who performs immigrant rights advocacy work in both Prince George’s and Howard counties. “We have to make sure everybody gets counted in the house and apartments, especially children. When that happens, everyone benefits.”
CENSUS BUREAU REVISES SCHEDULE
Although the Census Bureau must
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS
The Charles H. Flowers girls and Oxon Hill boys are this year’s county high school basketball champions. The teams are also the 2020 Willard Champions.
RACHEL RAY FOUNDATION GRANT
High Point High School Principal Nicole McClure has been named named High School Principal of the Year by the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals.
Bladensburg High School is among eight high schools nationwide to have received a grant from the Rachel Ray Foundation to upgrade and expand their ProStart program. The grants will provide funding for schools that are offering the program in an effort to engage and educate high school students interested in exploring restaurant and food service careers. ProStart, a two-year career and technical education program focused on culinary arts and restaurant management, is offered in 1,900 schools across the country and currently enrolls 150,000 students. “I am thrilled to see the incredible passion these schools, students and teachers have for ProStart,” said Ray, award-winning television personality and philanthropist. “They’re already doing amazing work every day and I’m excited to support their dreams to be future chefs, restaurant managers or entrepreneurs. I can’t wait to see what these students and their teachers ‘cook up’ next.” WI
have all completed documents to Congress and the president by Dec. 31, the agency outlined some new strategies Sunday. For instance, the bureau will contact service providers to help with collecting census data at nursing homes, shelters, or other temporary housing locations. The previous date to interview persons at a soup kitchen or mobile food van was scheduled between March 30 to April 1. Nearly 35 percent of college students chose to fill out census forms on campus and drop them, but colleges and universities are closing campuses. They planned to conduct this on April 1. However, the coronavirus has not only forced the bureau to suspend that action with college administrators, but also move
back the day to knock on doors of students who reside off-campus from April 9 to April 23. In addition, the bureau will delay its March 30 date for mobile outreach and begin April 6 at some locations and April 13 for the rest of the country. “Currently, the planned completed date is July 31, but that can and will be adjusted if necessary as the situation dictates in order to achieve a complete and accurate count,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. “As we continue to assess the current situation, we will always make decisions that ensure the health and safety of our staff and the public in consultation with public health authorities.” WI
Nicholas Orem Middle School, 6100 Editors Park Drive Hyattsville Kenmoor Middle School, 2500 Kenmoor Drive, Landover Benjamin Tasker Middle School 4901 Collington Road, Bowie Walker Mill Middle School 800 Karen Blvd., Capitol Heights Drew-Freeman Middle School 2600 Brooks Drive, Hillcrest Heights Thurgood Marshall Middle School 4909 Brinkley Road, Temple Hills Stephen Decatur Middle School 8200 Pinewood Drive, Clinton Classes are set to resume for students on Monday, March 30.
PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR
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5 High Point High School Principal Nicole McClure has been named High School Principal of the Year by the Maryland Association of Secondary School Principals. (PGCPS photo)
Covid-19: A Time For Community! COVID-19 is spreading like an uncontrollable wildfire. Every day, we are informed on new outbreaks and exponential spreading. Events are being postponed, travel plans have halted, and businesses are having to cope with higher levels of uncertainty. Our lives, our economy have been turned upside down and, at best, we are left in a posture of how to respond. With fear abounding, we panic! Evidenced are hoarding of disinfectants, stocking up on water and buying masks. In this hoarding, pause and remember that others need cleaning and disinfectant supplies just as much. All, especially our elderly and children must disinfect their hands and clean their areas so that the virus doesn’t spread. If we hoard, then these vulnerable populations are left without making them more susceptible. In this time of crisis and uncertainty, the call to action must be community. Of course, we must protect our home and businesses, however, added to our actions is remembering others, especially making sure that the most vulnerable, have access to supplies. Do we really need ten or more of these items, or can we maintain with a far less number? For team members whose children are in schools or those coming down with cold/flu symptoms, providing your team with extra sick leave or work at home opportunities will go a long way in containing this virus. In short, this crisis calls for us to be a true community; that cares and emphasizes for one another in a way where we are not alone. Not a member? Please visit our website, www.pgcoc.org or drop by for a visit to get started! Membership is good for a full calendar year, so it’s always a good time to join! David C. Harrington President & CEO
MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 13
BUSINESS Bowser Restricts Restaurant, Bar Access Amid Coronavirus Crisis
Service Industry Workers Already Affected By Ra-Jah S. Kelly WI Contributing Writer D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office released a health advisory Sunday mandating significant changes in operations for city restaurants and taverns amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, including suspending the use of bar seating and service to standing patrons, ensuring that tables occupied by patrons are separated by at least six feet, and indefinitely closing nightclubs and multi-purpose facilities. The administration said the new rules are in compliance with the city
health department’s prohibition on mass gatherings and aim to help achieve the public health goals of social distancing. During a press conference the next day in front of the headquarters of The Foods and Friends nonprofit, Bowser expounded on the latest restrictions. “We are making all bars and restaurants in Washington, D.C., ‘grab and go,’ carry-out, pick-up, or whatever you call it, only,” the mayor said. While too early to accurately predict the changes’ full impact on the local economy, workers in the District’s service industry are already feeling the
5 At Hank’s Oyster Bar on Capital Hill, patrons enjoy Happy Hour the day before D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an order suspending the use of restaurant bar seating and service to standing patrons in an effort to stop the spread of Covid-19. (DR Barnes/The Washington Informer)
effects of the state of emergency for the city Bowser declared last week. Tony Fowler, a freelance audio engineer and sound technician, said he has lost almost 90% of his upcoming monthly income due to event cancellations. “My income revolves around live events whether it’s concerts or podcasts or conferences or company parties,” Fowler said. “And over the past week pretty much all live events have been canceled.” Courtney Davis, a D.C. transplant who obtained a journalism degree
from Howard University, said that though she holds a job in digital radio, the bulk of her income is from a second job in a serving position at Hill Country. “I thought that [the radio job] would be the majority of my income, but working at a restaurant, I make more money,” she said. “I get paid weekly and I have more disposable income because I will get a paycheck within the week.” Davis said she also appreciates the flexibility of the restaurant industry. “Anything can come up,” she said.
Coronavirus Forces School Cancellations in the District By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins For the rest of March – and perhaps even longer depending on how the coronavirus pandemic continues to play out – District public schoolchildren, teachers, staff and other personnel will be relegated to their
homes as part of a larger public health response to the virus of which more than 125,000 people worldwide have contracted. Early Friday morning, D.C. Public Schools [DCPS] Chancellor Lewis Ferebee announced that spring break would take place during the week of March 16, instead of April as originally planned. The week following will be
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14 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
dedicated to implementing distance learning as an alternative to classroom instruction. But from now until April 1 when classes are tentatively scheduled to resume, DCPS-sponsored after-school activities will also come to a standstill. This follows the cancellation of studyabroad trips taking place before May 1. D.C. public libraries have also been scheduled to close with public charter schools encouraged to follow suit. While public schools are closed, DCPS officials will dole out free meals to students at nearly a dozen locations throughout the city. The District government has also launched coronavirus.dc.gov as a resource for families anxious about how to avoid contracting the virus. “We are grateful for the patience, flexibility and cooperation our DCPS community is demonstrating as we manage the dynamic nature of this event,” Ferebee said in a statement. “As we approach the next few weeks, we ask for continued patience
and trust as the District navigates this unique situation. While this decision was made to prioritize the health and safety of our entire school community, we understand it will be disruptive to our families,” he added. Ferebee’s announcement follows one that Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) made earlier in the week, closing all of the schools in the state and limiting religious gatherings of more than 250 people. In Virginia, where 30 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed, Loudoun County school officials made plans to close school on Friday and reopen on Monday, while public schools in Alexandria and Arlington County will remain closed until midApril. As of Friday afternoon, 10 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the District, including two men, ages 38 and 59, who traveled to a level-three country on separate occasions. A
SCHOOL CLOSINGS Page 44
“I had the flu at the beginning of the year and I was out of both jobs for a couple of weeks and I was able to work at [Hill Country] to make up the money to pay those bills.” At Hill Country, utensils and plates for food service have been converted into disposables, a decision sure to affect “back of the house” staff members such as dishwashers. Davis said she already has seen cuts in her and other wait staff’s schedules. “Our managers told us we’re moving into a new skeletal system,” she said before her Friday shift. After her shift ended, Davis noted that sales for the night were about 50% less than usual. “I’m shocked that [on a Friday night] we only have four servers on the floor and we never have that,” she said. “There’s usually at least six and up to eight if there is a private event.” Jacob Hall, a bartender at both Chez Billy Sud, a French bistro in Georgetown, and The Player’s Club, a more volume-based establishment on the 14th Street corridor, said the effect is palpable. “The changes are pretty much what you would expect given the state of emergency [in D.C.] and the White House being very public about it,” Hall said. “There are [far fewer] people in attendance — last night [at The Player’s Club] was the slowest Friday we’ve ever had.” While Hall said his restaurant company has made some changes in terms of their health care policy to benefit the workers, he still has economic concerns. “My girlfriend and I are able to moderate our expenses pretty well in the short term, [but] in the long term, three, four, five months from now, if nothing bounces back, what are we going to do with this?” he said. WI
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Children of Incarcerated Parents Demand Action
BUSINESS
In Consideration of the Coronavirus Pandemic
By Roach Brown Special to The Washington Informer America has paid little or no attention to preventing the coronavirus (COVID-19) from infecting the 2.2 million men and women locked up in our correctional facilities. This disconnect from people who are incarcerated must end. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus a pandemic and fear of the virus spreading has prompted some two dozen governors to declare states of emergency. Schools are closing, religious services are on hold and people are working from home whenever feasible. It is therefore necessary to develop and implement rational emergency health and hygiene procedures to stop the spread of the coronavirus within the cramped and many times unsanitary quarters of our prisons and jails. At present, rather than developing well thought out humane public health procedures to address the spread of COVID-19, correctional
systems all around the country and the world have eliminated all contact visits; some states have been conducting video visits which can cost up to $30 dollars for a half hour visit. The knee jerk measure of canceling visits from loved ones at the estimated 122 federal prisons and some 1,700 state facilities is pure overkill. Unless there are approved special events, visits are extremely regulated with minimal if any physical contact. Despite restrictions including intrusive examinations to stem the flow of contraband, precious moments with relatives and friends are spiritually uplifting and encourage non-violent behavior as they are reminders of life. Although the Federal Bureau of Prisons has increased inmate phone call minutes from 300 to 500 per month, companies providing the service slam men and women with astronomical costs per minute. Meanwhile, inmates using the email system pay five cents per minute to receive and
INCARCERATED Page 17
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5 Roach Brown (l) with Yango Sawyer. (WI File Photo/Roy Lewis)
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MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 15
NATIONAL CORONAVIRUS from Page 1 the COVID-19 emergency. The bill provides $400 million for local food banks. It allows the Department of Agriculture to approve state plans to give emergency SNAP assistance to households with children who would otherwise receive free or reduced-price meals if not for school closings due to the COVID-19 emergency. Eligibility requires that a child’s school be closed for no less than five consecutive days. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act also includes $5 million for the Department of Labor to administer the emergency paid sick days’ program.
Additionally, it provides $250 million for the Senior Nutrition Program in the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to provide approximately 25 million additional home-delivered and pre-packaged meals to low-income seniors who depend on the Senior Nutrition programs in their communities. “This is an example of why we have co-equal branches of government,” Congressional Black Caucus [CBC] Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.) stated during the conference call. “If one is failing to act, the others must act. Speaker Pelosi and other leaders in the House have developed this comprehensive response to the
5 CBC Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.) (Courtesy photo)
coronavirus pandemic. Members of the CBC were involved in every committee in putting this bill together,” Bass noted. “One of the reasons we’re experiencing this pandemic is because of a lack of leadership from the White House but we are fortunate we have leadership in the House with Speaker Pelosi, who has led us
ER Nurse on Coronavirus Panic: ‘People Need to Keep Their Heads’ By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia One of the biggest problems with the coronavirus is that many don’t understand science says James Cobb, an Emergency Department registered nurse who publishes “The Dream Recovery System, a blog
about sleep and the benefits of dream journaling. “It’s unfortunate. The novel coronavirus is a serious matter but it shouldn’t cause panic and hoarding among generally healthy people,” noted Cobb. As a class, coronaviruses are one of the microbes responsible for the common cold, medical experts have stated. “When affecting someone, the
5 Photo illustration/Courtesy Johns Hopkins Medicine
16 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
symptoms look the same as a cold and most people who have contracted the novel coronavirus get a fever and cough,” Cobb said. “Some can be short of breath. While the virus can be deadly for the immunocompromised and the elderly in the way the flu can, amazingly, few of the victims are children. It’s not understood why, at this time.” The illness, which presents symptoms that include coughing, trouble breathing and fever, is believed to have the most traumatic effect on the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Chinese doctors have said people who recover from COVID-19 might still suffer as much as a 30 percent decrease in lung functions. Per the website worldometers. info, which keeps a running count, coronavirus cases have topped 139,000 worldwide. More than 5,100 deaths have been reported, while approximately 71,000 people have recovered. As of the deadline for this article,
PANIC Page 44
through another crisis,” Bass said. The president’s emergency declaration allows the administration to utilize the Stafford Act – a federal law that governs disaster-relief effort, to provide immediate funding to state and local governments. Meanwhile, the CBC-led Families First Coronavirus Response Act gives the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to issue nationwide school meal waivers – a move that eliminates paperwork for states and help more schools quickly adopt and utilize flexibilities. “The bill will also suspend the work and work training requirements for SNAP,” Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said. “It’s important because it allows states to request special waivers from the Secretary to provide temporary, emergency SNAP benefits to existing SNAP households up to the maximum monthly allotment. It also gives the Secretary broad discretion to provide much more flexibility for states in managing SNAP caseloads,” Scott said. The bill creates a paid benefits
program where eligible workers will receive a benefit for up to three months in which they must take 14 or more days of leave from their work due to the qualifying COVID-19-related reasons. Further, the measure authorizes $1 billion this year for emergency grants to states for activities related to processing and paying unemployment insurance benefits. “$500 million would be used to provide immediate additional funding to all states for staffing, technology, systems and other administrative costs. That’s as long as they meet basic requirements about ensuring access to earned benefits for eligible workers,” Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) said. “Another $500 million would be reserved for emergency grants to states which experienced at least a10 percent increase in unemployment. Those states would be eligible to receive an additional grant, in the same amount, to assist with costs related to the unemployment spike,” he said. WI
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INCARCERATED from Page 15 send an email. Why are emails free for all of society while prisoners must pay? Families should not have to pay to see or communicate with their incarcerated loved ones. Instead of draconian ineffective procedures, what is critically needed is the early release of elderly and infirm men and women who are no longer a criminal threat to the community and have served most of their prison sentences. High priority should also be given to eliminating the medical co-pay for all prisoners, who request to see medical staff during this emergency, and the immediate distribution of Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approved “effective� alternatives to alcohol based sanitizers for use by prisoners. Immediate action is required due to the harsh conditions in most prisons and jails that can greatly contribute to the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Numerous detention facilities house more than twice the number of people for which the buildings are designed. Combined with staff
NATIONAL shortages, confrontations that end in injury and/or death are regular occurrences. Basic hygienic necessities such as hot water, soap and toilet paper are scarce or nonexistent. The CDC recommended 20 seconds of hand washing is impossible under such conditions. When inmates are in transit to and from court appearances and/or sometimes within the correctional facility, their hands are cuffed behind their backs or they are shackled in waste chains. Covering their mouths when sneezing or coughing as advised by the CDC is impossible when handcuffed or chained. Men and women in correctional facilities do not expect special treatment, but they do desire humane treatment as they pay their debt to society. In that spirit, government and prison officials can grant early release to elderly and/ or infirmed men and women who are no longer a danger to society. Another option is a transfer to minimum security facilities or secure medical institutions. Public health officials warn senior citizens, with preexisting health con-
ditions are the most at risk population if exposed to COVID-19. To keep elderly men and women with health problems confined under present conditions places them and their caretakers at risk and the surrounding communities as well when infected prisoners require treatment outside the institution. Iran has released more than 77,000 prisoners due to the potential impact of the coronavirus. Indiana and other states are considering several forms of release with varying degrees of resistance. More people in our prisons are dying of old age, with an elderly prison population now exceeding 200,000. The guidelines state that Corrections has the authority to extend the limits of confinement for medical treatment, educational and training programs and for reasons consistent with the public interest can be extended indefinitely. The CDC recommends that hand sanitizers consist of at least 60 percent alcohol to be effective against COVID-19. However, alcohol is contraband in correctional facilities and inmates can be severely disciplined for obtaining
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5 Children seek to communicate with incarcerated parents on the internet. (Courtesy photo)
a squirt of hand sanitizer. Thurs, CDC-approved alternatives for alcohol-based sanitizers such as Lysol and diluted bleach solutions should immediately be made available to prisoners. Like it or not, correctional facilities are part of our communities, housing our family members, friends and acquaintances. As the world grapples with this latest viral attack, we must remember those who are trying to earn their
way back to open society. They do not warrant being virtually cut off from the positive contact of family and friends while left defenseless against a virus that has the potential to kill. In the case of COVID-19, the financial and human cost of maintaining the status quo vastly outweighs the cost of implementing humane and effective preventative measures to counter the spread of the virus in our jails and prisons. WI
MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 17
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DA Seeks to Limit Cele’s Powers in Appointing IPID Head The Democratic Alliance intends to table a private member’s bill (PMB) in Parliament to amend the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Act to limit the powers of the police minister to appoint the executive director of the police watchdog, the party said on Sunday, March 15. “IPID is in a state of complete chaos due to a lack of leadership and political interference,” DA shadow minister of police Andrew Whitfield said in a statement, the Cape Times reported. In the past two weeks IPID’s acting executive director Victor Senna had been replaced, head of investigations Mathew Sesoko had been suspended, and IPID investigator Mandlakayise Mahlangu was murdered while investigating former South African Police Service (SAPS) head Khomotso Phahlane, he said. In 2019, Parliament amended the IPID Act to limit the powers of the minister to remove an executive director of IPID. The DA believed that this amendment did not go far enough and that there was an urgent need to further limit the minister’s powers to appoint an executive director.Currently, the IPID Act gave the police minister the power to “nominate a suitably qualified person” which Parliament’s police committee had to either confirm or reject. The DA believed this process was problematic, because it gave too much power to the minister and reduced the role of the committee to a mere tick-box exercise while opening the directorate to undue political influence. The DA proposed amendments to section 6 of the IPID Act to allow for an independent panel to shortlist candidates. The committee would then interview the candidates and recommend a preferred candidate to the minister. The process would also allow for public comments on the shortlisted candidates. “We also trust that these amendments will speed up the process of appointing a permanent IPID head,” the alliance said. “The institution has had an acting head for the past year and despite continued assurances, [Police] Minister Bheki Cele continues to drag his feet.” The DA’s proposed amendments to the IPID Act would allow for greater parliamentary oversight in the appointment of an IPID head; reduce the chance of a political appointment; and ensure public participation in the appointment process. These amendments were critical to ensure that stability was restored at IPID and to ensure that IPID achieved its mandate, which was to “provide significant investigative breakthroughs in detecting systematic corruption and procurement irregularities” in the SAPS. “An honest and professional police service cannot be achieved without a capable oversight body,” Whitfield said. WI
caribbean now Jamaica, IDB Sign $50M Agreement for MSME Project The government of Jamaica and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have signed a $50 million loan agreement to implement the Boosting Innovation, Growth, and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems (BIGEE) program over the next 10 years. Nigel Clarke, minister of Finance and the Public Service, and Therese Turner Jones, general manager for the IDB’s Caribbean Group Country Department, signed the agreement during a brief ceremony Friday at the Ministry’s offices in Kingston. The project will provide financial and technical assistance support for Micro-, Small- and Medium-Size Enterprises (MSMEs), scalable and new business start-ups with high growth potential, and entrepreneurs with sustainable business ideas. It will also benefit incubators, business support accelerators and academia focused on the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The project, to be implemented by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), will be executed under two five-year, $25 million Conditional Credit Line for Investment Projects (CCLIP) funding facilities. The program components will include, among other things, provisions for engagements targeting innovation and growth for MSMEs — $8.35 million; scalable startups — $8.99 million; and high growth potential startups — $3.47 million. WI
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GRADUATION from Page 1 ick revealed that an attendee of their Charter Day Dinner on March 7 tested positive for the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. “A guest who attended the Howard University Charter Day Dinner has tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus),” the email read. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking all March 7 dinner participants to monitor and report to your doctor if you begin exhibiting flu-like symptoms.” Frederick also announced in this email that this year’s commencement and all class reunions are canceled. “On Sunday, the CDC issued recommendations that for the next 8 weeks, organizers cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States,” the university
said in its email. “Although the CDC states that this does not apply to the day-to-day operations of institutions of higher education, we do not consider commencement a day-to-day operation. “Given that Howard’s Commencement activities garner crowds of thousands, and the numerous elders and children regularly in attendance, we will cancel the event to avoid the potential for additional virus spread which would be problematic,” the university said. The email also announced all classes will be online for the remainder of the semester, which is an update from the university only announcing a recommendation of not returning to campus. “We have consulted with medical and public-health experts and regrettably, our University leadership has arrived at the conclusion that a return to campus for face-to face instruction will not be possi-
ble for the Spring, 2020 semester,” the university said. Residence halls are closing on March 22 at 11:59 p.m. and those who traveled for spring break are advised to contact the Office of Residence Life to get their belongings at a later date. Over the past week, there have been major updates and legislation regarding COVID-19. Schools all over the country have closed and began implementing remote learning. Many universities have also announced the cancellation and postponements of commencement ceremonies. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, has declared both a state of emergency and a public health emergency, including the closing of all public schools, bars and clubs and restricting all restaurants to takeout or delivery service only. There are currently over 177,000 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, including over 7,000 deaths. WI
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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Enacts Emergency Ghost Gun Legislation By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Within a matter of weeks, and amid a slew of gun-related deaths, D.C. officials enacted emergency gun legislation banning the use of “ghost guns” — untraceable and undetectable firearms often created from 3D printing and the assembly of various parts. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) signed the Ghost Guns Prohibition Emergency Amendment Act last Wednesday, just days after the D.C. Council overwhelmingly approved the legislation. Up until its expiration date of June 9, the bill — championed by D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) — prohibits the issuance of a certificate for ghost guns, and amends firearm control laws to penalize the possession of such weapons. “By enacting this legislation we are sending a simple message: If you play a role in profiting from bloodshed in our community, you will be held accountable. We have seen an alarming increase in the number of ghost guns being used in D.C., and we knew it was important to act quickly,” Bowser said in a statement crediting the Giffords Law Center, Moms Demand Action, and Everytown for Gun Safety for their support. “Only by working together can we get illegal guns off our streets and build safer neighborhoods,” she added. “Any gun in the wrong hands is a danger to our community. Any person using an illegal gun in our neighborhoods is a danger to our community.” For years, Sacramento, California, has served as a hub for ghost guns, a brand of firearm protected by federal law via what officials in the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives describe as a loophole. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Defense found itself in a case reaching the Supreme Court case after attempting to confiscate machines from Defense Distributed, the compa-
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5 The District of Columbia moves to ban ghost guns. (Courtesy photo/NPR)
ny that found instant fame as a 3D-gun printing entity. Since then, several U.S. cities, including the District, have struggled to tackle this issue. While the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) had only recovered three ghost guns in 2017, the amount of manufactured handguns, rifles and AR-15s found between 2018 and 2019 entered the hundreds and more than tripled. Within the first six weeks of the new year, MPD officials said they’ve found nearly 30 ghost guns. The D.C. Council introduced the Ghost Guns Prohibition Emergency Amendment Act earlier this month alongside the Extreme Risk Protection Order Implementation Working Group Emergency Amendment Act, through which government officials and community groups would implement the “red flag” law. In existence since 2018, the “red flag” law allows concerned family members, mental health professionals, and law enforcement officials to engage the D.C. Superior Court in removing firearms from those deemed a danger to them-
selves and others. These developments arise as various pockets of the District are reeling from gun violence. As of Sunday, the District has recorded 31 homicides, on par with the amount documented by MPD about the same time last year. Since the beginning of this year, instances of assault with a deadly weapon have increased by five percent. Some of the most recent gun deaths to rock the District include that involving Malachi Lukes, a young man from the Shaw area who was shot and killed just days before his 14th birthday. Allen, the D.C. Council judiciary committee chair whose constituency includes much of Shaw, has been on record saying that quelling violence in the District would require much more than police action. “These guns attempt to circumvent the hard fought and carefully considered gun safety laws of the District of Columbia,” Allen said. “We know they are used in violent crimes. They’re not for hobbyists or collectors. They’re being used for one purpose: to inflict harm in our communities.” WI
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EDUCATION March Celebrated as National Reading Month By Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer One way of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has closed schools across the country through the end of the month is to get young children and teens engaged with reading. And what better time to take advantage with March’s designation as National Reading Month? Regardless of age or grade level, having acquired good reading habits not only leads to academic success, they pave the way for notable future achievements as well. “It’s important to get children reading at a young age and I think it would be good if parents sched-
uled a regular reading time for their children while they’re away from school,” said revered children’s book author and D.C. resident Eloise Greenfield. “After reading, it would be good for children to discuss their books in detail with their parents on what the writers did in developing the characters and how could they tell who the characters were,” Greenfield, 90, the celebrated author of 48 books with yet another currently in production, said. “I hope that the books selected for them to read are books that will interest that particular child, because parents will then know their [children’s] tastes and interests,” she added. “It’s also a good idea to
Reading Tips
5 Renowned D.C. author and resident Eloise Greenfield has written several books geared to young children that include “The Great Migration: Journey to the North.” (Book cover courtesy Harper Collins, Eloise Greenfield headshot/ bcbooksandauthors.com)
select books that children may not have expressed interest in.” The 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress results show that more than a decade ago, the District was far behind the rest of the nation. But now the District is ahead of five states in 4th-grade reading. Now in its 19th year providing year-round programs that focus on motivating children and teens to read, the National Education Association’s “Read Across America” – supported by schools, libraries and other educational institutions – partners annually with parents and students in celebration of National Reading Month. Part of the project entails National Read Across America Day – an observance in the U.S. held on the school day closest to March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. As DCPS progresses toward
its Capital Commitment goal to have 100 percent of K-2 students reading on or above grade level by 2022, Chancellor Lewis Ferebee earlier this month took to Twitter to weigh in on the importance of reading. “We are excited to celebrate our love of great books,” Ferebee tweeted. “I want to know which books you loved as a kid . . . Share your favorite stories using #DCPSReads, he added. Poised for its third year of operation, the Black-owned D.C.-based Mahoghany Books in Southeast, created by the husband and wife team of Derrick and Ramunda Lark Young, was named for their 11-year-old daughter. The store, located inside the Anacostia Arts Center on Good Hope Road, specializes in books written for, by, and about people of color including Latinx, Native
With area schools mandated closed for at least the next couple of weeks, here’s a list of proposed family activities to help engage children in reading: • Take your children to a bookstore: Spending 15 minutes in a bookshop on the way back from school is not a great sacrifice but it can be an effective way to show your child books give pleasure and make people smart. • Read aloud to a child in the morning: Parents usually read aloud to their children in the evening, as the last activity before it’s time for bed. • Let your child see you reading: Many people read less than they would like because they are focused on everyday duties – work, family, children. Try to read during a day to show your child books are important to you. • Place books everywhere in your home: Place them in the most commonly used places: a coffee table in the living room, a table in the dining room, a bathroom, or windowsills. 5 Mahoghany Books in Southeast, which carries a varied selection of children’s books, is headed into its third year of operation. (Photo courtesy Mahoghany Books)
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5 “The Book Tree” by Paul Czajak, which serves as the National Education Association’s “Book of the Month” selection, details how after the mayor declares books dangerous and rips up every book in town, a young boy named Arlo discovers how to grow them. (Book cover courtesy Read Across America)the North.” (Book cover courtesy Harper Collins, Eloise Greenfield headshot/ bcbooksandauthors.com)
American and African cultures, according to its website. Due to the pandemic, Derrick Young said his store has been closed for the past few days, and that as a result, they’ve been focused on online sales where some of their children’s books are being sold at a discount. “In terms of reading skills, it comes down to repetition. It’s a skill that requires continued usage” Young said. “Most educators will tell you across the board that reading a lot of books or newspapers for 15 to 20 minutes a day builds confidence, vocabularies and comprehension,” he said, “although I would suggest children read 30 minutes a day and that they read a variety of books.” Young added that for children who are reluctant to read, parents should not only encourage them, but meet them where they are. Lastly, “let the child kind of dictate what they’re interested in because it lowers their reticence about reading and removes the stigma they’ve come to associate with reading,” said Young. Mahoghany Books also sponsors a regular slate of events such as book signings. However, due to the virus pandemic several events, signing events by author Terry McMillan and comedian Tommy Davison have been postponed. A signing by journalist Ed Gordon tentatively remains on schedule for 4 p.m., March 29 at the bookstore. WI
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DCPS
BRIEFS Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer
CALENDAR CHANGE
In response to coronavirus COVID-19, there have been changes to the school year 2019-2020 calendar. All schools will be closed for students from March 16-31. March 16 will be professional development for teachers and spring break will be March 17-23. There will no longer be a spring break period in April. From March 24-31, students will participate in distance learning.
TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS
DCPS-sponsored student travel outside the District of Columbia is suspended through May 1. This includes out-of-state and international field trips. DCPS-sponsored staff travel is limited to essential duties only.
DISTANCE LEARNING
DCPS prepared instructional contingency plans that will allow meaningful, relevant learning to take place while schools are closed. School officials have developed resources for every level in grades PK-8
and each graduation requirement course for grades 9-12. Information about how to pick up printed copies of these lessons throughout the city or access them online will be shared in the coming days.
Kimball Elementary School 3375 Minnesota Avenue SE Ward 7
MEALS FOR STUDENTS
McKinley Education Campus 151 T Street NE Ward 5
Meals will be available for all students every weekday from Monday, March 16-Tuesday, March 31 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the following sites: Anacostia High School 1601 16th Street SE Ward 8 Ballou High School 3401 4th Street SE Ward 8 Banneker High School 800 Euclid Street NW Ward 1 Brookland Middle School 1150 Michigan Avenue NE Ward 5 Cardozo Education Campus 1200 Clifton Street NW Ward 1 Columbia Heights Education Campus 3101 16th Street NW Ward 1 Coolidge High School 6315 5th Street NW Ward 4 Eastern High School 1700 East Capitol Street NE Ward 6 Jefferson Middle School 801 7th Street SW Ward 6 Kelly Miller Middle School 301 49th Street NE Ward 7
LaSalle-Backus Education Campus 501 Riggs Road NE Ward 4
Stanton Elementary School 2701 Naylor Road SE Ward 8 Walker-Jones Education Campus 1125 New Jersey Avenue NW Ward 6
5 DCPS households may be eligible to receive 60 days of free Comcast internet service. (DCPS photo)
Woodson High School 540 55th Street NE
GATHERING RESTRICTIONS
All non-essential citywide and individual school events that accommodate approximately 500 people in one room will be canceled through March 31. This may include assemblies, athletics events and field trips. Subsequently, the fifth Annual Math Bowl at Roosevelt High School was canceled. Schools officials said they will continue to provide critical updates as needed.
STUDENT TRAVEL
DCPS-sponsored student travel outside the District of Columbia is suspended through May 1. This includes out-of-state and international field trips.
STAFF TRAVEL
DCPS-sponsored staff travel is limited to essential duties only.
TMA WARRIOR SPORTS
The Thurgood Marshall Academy’s boys varsity basketball team won PCSAA championship. They defeated Friendship Tech Prep in late February to earn the title.
STAY CONNECTED
5 Thurgood Marshall Academy’s boys varsity basketball team won the PCSAA championship. (TMA photo)
EDUCATION
Households may be eligible to receive 60 days of free Comcast internet service during the coronavirus pandemic. If your child is a DCPS student, eligible for free or reduced lunch, sign up for internet service at http:// internetessentials.com. WI
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TOO MUCH MONEY IS LOST TO HEALTH CARE FRAUD. Treat your health care dollars like real money! Because it is real money!
REPORT HEALTH CARE FRAUD! If you have or someone you know has... • Been double billed (billed twice) • Been billed for products or services not received • Been offered free services • Had personal information misused Call 202-434-2099 (All calls are confidential.) or email LCESMP@aarp.org
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MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 23
Where there’s bath time, there’s DC Water. Join DC Water in hydrating the community. Visit the Hydrate DC Hub to learn more. www.HydrateDC.org #HydrateDC 24 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL
Social Distancing Required, Emotional Connections Needed
In just over a week, Novel Covid-19, otherwise known as coronavirus, has spread across the globe like wildfire. First in China, then in Italy, before skipping around the world to the U.S., where the country is now on fire with new cases reported daily, several deaths and a nation on lockdown, or mitigation, as the experts prefer to call it. State and local leaders are racing to microphones for morning and evening press conferences, calling for changes in the social habits of their constituents and the American people as a whole. It’s unlike anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Yet, we gathered in mass, at grocery stores, hardware stores, pharmacies, and gas stations, in long lines, next to or closely behind one another, preparing for Armageddon. With all of the toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizers, hand soap and face masks bought off the shelves, the American people are also being asked to hunker down in their homes and self-quarantine and practice “social distancing.” What is social distancing? Lisa Maragakis, M.D., M.P.H., senior director of infection prevention at Johns Hopkins, defines it as “deliberately increasing the physical space between people to avoid illness.” The recommended distance is six feet away. It’s a necessary requirement to slow the rate of infections, but as two network television hosts recently described, it has created many awkward situations. When two or more individuals are gathered in an elevator, a restroom, or any other small quarters, it is agreed that they stay far apart, but does it also mean that everyday pleasantries must even be abandoned? Is it also forbidding to say, “Hello?” In an interview published in Scientific American, scientist Matthew Lieberman made the case that “our need to connect is as fundamental as our need for food and water.” We’ve left the shelves empty of non-perishable items and we are now being required to empty our souls of social and emotional connections. As human beings, we can’t let what may kill us, deprive us of what will kill us – the absence of social and emotional connections. Most of us will survive this pandemic, and until it ends, we must find ways to stay connected to family and friends. We can’t allow our adherence to be self-quarantined and socially distant, deprive us of the emotional connections that would enable us to thrive. Social distancing must be seen as a temporary inconvenience at a time it is needed, and not a permanent situation when this crisis has ended. WI
Those Who Can Horde – Those Who Cannot Hunger
If you’ve tossed caution to the wind and gone to a grocery store in the last several days, you’ve noticed how people have grabbed water, cleaning supplies and food staples off the shelves as if we’re preparing for life in underground bomb shelters. Despite requests from government officials, those who have been financial able have ignored the suggestion to purchase what we need – instead shopping like exuberant parents during the first week of discounted items made available during the rush of the Christmas season. In this case, it’s not toys that folks are buying but food or cleaning supplies. We’re told that the shelves will be replenished in short order. But tell that to those who have found themselves rationing their sole roll of toilet paper for a family of five. Tell that to children who awaken hungry hoping for a simple breakfast but forced to eat junk food – a quick sugar fix but far from nutritious. We don’t want to glaze over how crucial a time that is for Americans or those from other countries around the world. This is a serious, potentially deadly time for all of us. Yet, we fear that those who can, are and may continue to horde. But what about people who have fewer dollars to spend or no money at all? What about “the least of these?” In the film “The Book of Eli,” which starred Denzel Washington, the antagonist, Eli, walked the Earth, dedicated to his mission of ensuring that the Word of God would not be lost in a world where the need for and availability of shelter, water and food had become so intense and limited that prices had soared. Of course, the result was that greed took hold of the planet’s inhabitants. We have survived world wars, pandemics and absurd examples of “man’s inhumanity to man.” We will survive this situation, we believe, as well. But only if we remember that while we may be in self-isolation, we do not have live on an island alone. If we survive, we will survive together. WI
TO THE EDITOR Take Coronavirus Seriously! I am seriously worried about this coronavirus! It keeps changing every day about what we should do. I’m glad that most people are taking it serious but I know that there are others who just won’t do right. Stay home if you can! Leonard Davis Washington, D.C.
Readers' Mailbox
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Profiting from Pain There’s so much fearmongering going on these days. Everybody’s profiting off this mass hysteria, from the grocery man to the science man to the hospital man. Stay clean, sanitize, be vigilant, use common sense and interact with everyone as if they’re contagious. That’s my advice. Boonie Parker Washington, D.C.
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. MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 25
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Julianne Malveaux
Corona Confusion and March Madness Basketball fans were looking forward to March Madness, those weeks when the best college teams face off against each other. Madness is replete this March, but it isn’t on the basketball courts. The dangerous coronavirus which can be transmitted by a cough, a touch or “direct contact” is spreading all over the world. It is madness that the United States, which loves
to brag about our world superiority, comes up short when it comes to coronavirus testing. Many who have been exposed to the virus have not been tested because test kits are in short supply. In reaction, March Madness has been canceled, as has professional basketball and other sports. In New York and other locations, public safety prohibits large gatherings, causing St. Patrick’s Day parades to be canceled. Broadway is likely to go dark because of the prohibition of groups of more than five hundred people, and most
Guest Columnist
Broadway theaters hold more than a thousand people. Some colleges and universities have told students to stay home for spring break and offered online classes. Some K-12 schools are closed for weeks because of the virus. And millions of workers have been told they should work from home because of the virus. All of these factors contribute to the volatile stock market; all of the gains shareholders realized since 2016 have now been wiped out. Much of this might have been avoided, but for the fact that 45 did
not initially take this virus seriously. Instead, when informed of this pandemic, the president’s initial reaction was a wholly vacuous assurance that the virus was “just like the flu,” and would go away “when it gets hot.” Instead, the repercussions from the coronavirus are massive. The stock market tanked during the week when 45 first dismissed the virus, and then imposed travel restrictions, preventing some people from traveling to the United States. The spread of the coronavirus reveals weaknesses in the armor of
the country, some describe as “the greatest country” in the world. The coronavirus has been declared a pandemic, a world emergency. The United States is woefully unprepared to manage this emergency. The focus of this administration has been to slash the public sector and provide tax breaks for the wealthy. Public health (or any other kind) has not been a priority for this administration. Managing a world pandemic is beyond the capacity of the private
MALVEAUX Page 45
By A. Peter Bailey
Black Students Must Be Taught the Legacy of Medgar Evers Recently, while delivering a lecture on my extensive, overwhelmingly Black collection of magazines, I showed the students the June 28, 1963, issue of Life, which cover showed a grieving Myrlie Evers consoling her young son at funeral services for the great warrior Medgar Evers. Brother Medgar had been assassinated by a white racist terrorist in the war against white supremacy.
During my lecture, I stopped and asked the students if they knew who Medgar Evers was. Only three of the 50 students raised their hands affirmatively. This means that 46 of the 49 Black students (one was white) had no idea of the major contributions that Brother Medgar had made in the fight for equal rights, equal opportunity and equal justice in the violently white supremacist state of Mississippi and throughout the former Confederate states of America. My immediate reaction was anger at the students, but I caught
Guest Columnist
myself when realizing their ages. However, I did explain to them that Brother Medgar’s son was crying hard for a father who had given his life to help the students and others enjoy some of the opportunities they have today. “If Medgar Evers and hundreds of others had not put their lives on the line, you would not be in the position you are in today,” I told them. “It is absurd that someone from your homes, your churches, your schools, your fraternities and sororities, etc., have not made you aware of such a talented intelligent,
determined and committed warrior.” The situation once again confirmed my position that the education system in this country will never, in the foreseeable future, teach the real history of Black folks in the United States. It’s time for the aforementioned institutions and organizations to make teaching our history an integral part of their agenda. In a February 1981 must-read Ebony magazine article, “Why Black History Is Important to You,” the brilliant journalist/historian Lerone Bennett Jr. stated that our
history is a bet that our ancestors placed that we must now cover. When 46 of 49 Black students in a university classroom don’t know who Medgar Evers was, it is clearly evident that we, as a group of Black people, are not covering the bet made by our ancestors. It also reinforces my belief that we, at least thus far, as a group of people we have not proven worthy of the supreme sacrifice made by ancestors such as Brother Medgar and numerous other warriors who were murdered and assassinated by white supremacist terrorists. WI
By Austin R. Cooper Jr.
My Child is Safer in South Korea Than Here in the U.S.
I first read about the coronavirus in the New York Times last Christmas. Since it first surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market in Wuhan, China, it has now spread to more than 118 countries, killing approximately 6,069 individuals globally. For me, reading initial reports of the coronavirus was immediately personal because my 32-year-old daughter Ashley has
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been teaching English at an elementary school in Seoul for five years. Ashley came home from Seoul in September and returned last month. Needless to say, I was very concerned. In typical millennial fashion, she respectfully dismissed my concerns, with responses always couched in reassurances of her love for me, and a commitment to “take the very same precautions in Seoul that I would if I were home in Maryland.” However, there was a statement she made before returning that has proven to be quite
prophetic: “Dad, yes, it is bad in South Korea right now. But soon it is going to get really bad here in the United States.” In a recent FaceTime conversation, when I questioned her return timing, Ashley again reminded me of the daily precautions she is taking, including wearing a N99 mask, constantly washing her hands, avoiding large crowds, not getting close to people, avoiding physical contact and frequently cleaning surfaces in her apartment.
“If I feel symptoms, I can call a 24hour English-language hotline and they will tell me how to proceed,” she said. “If they recommend that I visit a doctor, and I am sent for specialized testing, medical transport will be arranged so that I do not risk possibly infecting anyone. I will be taken to one of many testing centers and tested for free. “If I test positive, and it is serious, I will be hospitalized at the government’s expense,” she said. “If it’s not a serious case, the doctor will send me
home with whatever meds and I will self-quarantine for 14 days. The government will send food to my apartment once a week to make sure I don’t have to leave during my quarantine. “Even without a doctor’s recommendation, for my own peace of mind, I can easily get tested and only pay $132 USD out-of-pocket,” she added. “Dad, right now, where can you go to get tested? There are still hardly any tests back home.”
COOPER Page 45
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Marc H. Morial
Clyburn Endorsement Demonstrates Power of Black Vote “One of my colleagues said to me, this is the first time I’ve seen a political billboard without a picture on it. Why isn’t your picture on it? I said, because it ain’t about me. It’s about the message on that billboard and the message is simply thus: making the greatness of this country accessible and affordable for all. We don’t
need to make this country great again. This country is great. That’s not what our challenge is. Our challenge is making the greatness of this country accessible and affordable for all.” — Rep. James Clyburn The 76-year-old great-granddaughter of an enslaved woman in South Carolina may be responsible for singlehandedly changing the trajectory of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
Guest Columnist
During a funeral in the church where Jannie Jones serves as an usher, she beckoned Congressman James Clyburn and whispered, “I need to know who you’re going to vote for.” He replied: “Joe Biden. Are we together?” She offered a thumbs-up and replied, “What are you going to do for him, for the people?” That question, Clyburn told the New York Times, moved him to ac-
tion. “I decided then and there that I would not stay silent,” he said. Clyburn’s endorsement spurred Biden to sweeping victories — not only in South Carolina, where he won 39 of 56 delegates and almost 48% of the vote in a field of six candidates, but also in 10 of the 14 states that voted three days later. Clyburn, who has held his congressional seat for 27 years, is the
third-ranking Democrat and highest-ranking African American in the House of Representatives. He is, so far, the only high-ranking congressional leader to have endorsed a candidate in the primary. Biden was expected to win South Carolina’s primary even before Clyburn’s endorsement, but according to exit polls, nearly half of voters there,
MORIAL Page 46
By Wilmer J. Leon III
The Dangers of Binary Politics for the Black Community
“You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger. … This innocent country set you down in a ghetto in which, in fact, it intended that you should perish. … The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity … that you were a worthless human being … not expected to aspire to excellence … expected
to make peace with mediocrity.” — James Baldwin, “My Dungeon Shook” (1963) America is recklessly muddling its way through perilous times. The pandemic called COVID-19 is being mismanaged by an administration that ignores science. Trump lied to the nation, falsely asserting that major insurance companies will cover treatment for COVID-19 free of charge. He then contradicted health experts with his “hunch” that the death rate was lower than WHO estimates, possibly down to a “fraction of 1 percent.” He also believes, “…we have thousands or
Askia-At-Large
hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work…” Contrary to Trump’s narrative that America’s economy is, “… the envy of the world. Perhaps the greatest economy we’ve had in the history of our country,” reality tells a much different story. According to political economist Dr. Jack Rasmus, after Trump’s March 11 address to the nation, “The Dow Jones stock futures market immediately went into a tailspin, falling 1250 points. … That has nearly wiped out all of Trump’s much vaunted stock market gains since
he came into office.” On the international front, Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” the Middle East peace plan that was supposed to be three years in the making has proven to be a total fraud. Similarly, his “peace deal” in Afghanistan was signed by the U.S. and the Taliban in February but the Afghans and Taliban have not signed it. You can’t have peace unless the warring factions (Afghans and Taliban) agree. This from the man who claims to understand the “art of the deal”? That’s not a peace deal; that’s a big problem. As America muddles its way through these perilous times, too
many in the African-American community appear to be more confused than ever. We have traded our interests in for “electability” and “anybody but Trump.” Former NAACP Board Chair Julian Bond told us that we have no permanent friends, and no permanent enemies, just permanent interests. Malcolm X called them permanent agendas. By failing to develop, understand and articulate our permanent interests/agendas, we fall victim to the problem of binary politics, the simplistic either-or scenario. Yes, this is a two-par-
LEON Page 45
By Askia Muhammad
Next ‘National Emergency’ Cancellation: Election Day
This is a feckless warning. That is, this is a statement that indicates there is an impending danger ahead in this country triggered by the COVID19 pandemic, but there is absolutely nothing which can be done to avoid it. Thanks to the corona virus outbreak, Donald J. Trump is already set to be President-for-life, or for as long as he chooses to remain
in office. Trust me. It’s unavoidable. If, as Election Day — Nov. 3, 2020 — approaches, and The Donald is far behind in popularity polls over the failing economy and his ruinous policies which favor the rich and the white, if Dude is behind, he may postpone or cancel the election, so he’s not embarrassed at the polls. He will stoop to any stunt to remain in office. Already, two states — Louisiana and Georgia — have postponed their 2020 primary elections, with-
out so much as a murmur of concern. The precedent is already in place. Trump has said, time and time again, that “his supporters, Bikers for Trump and members of the military,” might not accept his electoral defeat in 2020, and not let him leave office. He has joked that he might run for reelection in 2024, 2028, even 2032! Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has won support from his congress to extend his presidency indefinitely, you can
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bet that This Guy is not going to let himself be outdone by The Vlad. The Stafford Act, passed in 1988 gives the POTUS (president of the United States) broad emergency powers. In the event of disruptions and chaos caused by an overwhelming COVID-19 outbreak here and frustration over the lack of an adequate federal response, the Pres could just make another “national emergency” declaration like he did on Friday the 13th of March, and Election Day would be no more.
There is another scenario, in which the election is held, and Trump loses the popular vote by millions and wins the Electoral College, as he did in 2016 and still became POTUS. But in the event that he fairly loses both the popular vote and the Electoral College, there could be so much protest and outrage over alleged irregularities that the Electoral College vote is rejected, and then the 2020 president would
ASKIA Page 46 MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 27
LIFESTYLE From Kenya to America: The Wonderfully Interesting Case of John Michael Cummings
By Samuel Waragu Special to The Informer “With all my heart I wished I was Black, or she was white, or we could stay here forever” — author John Michael Cummings
What would the immortal martyr and abolitionist John Brown, whose 160th birthday would be this spring, think of the white man who wrote the above words not long ago? What if John Brown, also white, learned that the ancestors of this writer were the farmers, shopkeepers, and local militia who fought against him and condemned him to death, which his spirit today defies? What of the greatest irony of all, that as John Brown’s neck snapped at the end of a hangman’s rope, in the crowd of gawkers were the eyes of America’s most infamous assassin, John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s killer and the above writer’s distant relative. “Yes, I’m distantly related to him,” admits author John Michael Cummings, citing genealogical records compiled by a deceased aunt. “Hush! Hush! Don’t tell anyone,” he laughed with contempt. “It’s our big family secret.” One of Booth’s many prostitutes, he said, figures into his family line. Then he sits up straight, and his expression becomes serious, so serious that, with his large brown eyes and strong jaw, no one would doubt him. “Who cares? I’m no pedigree poodle,” he said. “I’m a crossbred, inbred human being of impure blood. Planet Earth is one big family reunion, right?” Cummings is referring to the genetic wonder that, according to our chromosomes, we all share a common ancestor. Our family tree is really one global sequoia, and as computational
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biology bears proof, you have undoubtedly married your 30th cousin. Technically speaking, we all are entitled to argue for a share of Bill Gates’ fortune. This revelation, however, is not exactly new, although it is germane here. John Brown would agree, though in his terms. We have one common creator — God. As a strict Calvinist, Brown believed slavery to be an abomination before God. On May 9, John Brown will be a sesquicentennial and 10 years old. Today, awareness and respect for black culture in America is immense and unwavering. John Brown and John Michael Cummings, put together for the first time in this sentence, both contributed. On a violent fiery October night in 1859, John Brown and his band of raiders attacked the federal armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (then Virginia), in an attempt to ignite an armed slave revolt. Harpers Ferry’s strategic location in a gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains offered Brown and his rebellion several routes of escape. Instead of arousing a slave uprising, he primed the Civil War that brought about an end to slavery. A century later, as a mistreated white boy growing up in Harpers Ferry, Cummings would inherit John Brown’s legacy — a far better story than one of DNA testing to lay bare the descendancy of a presidential assassin. Cummings, a sixth-generation native of the town, is the author of nationally acclaimed coming-of-age novel “The Night I Freed John Brown” (Penguin Group). His novel won The Paterson Prize for Young Readers and was selected by USA Today for Black History Month. It tells of a young white boy growing up in the heart of the historic district of
Harpers Ferry in the 1970s, in a small, run-down house ruled by a stern, bigoted father. To escape his father’s oppression, 13-year-old Josh adopts the defiant courage and passion of the town’s famous oppositionist. The novel, in production to be released as an audio book, is highly autobiographical. Cummings, 56, recently Skyped with me in Kenya from Harpers Ferry to bring Black History Month to America from across the world. As a Kenyan and African, Catholic, father, husband and brother, I know well that John Brown’s cry for racial freedom is heard around the world and, for this reason, Black History Month is every day of the year. America and Kenya share elements of the same story. As the United States was disunited during the Civil War by the North and South, so Kenyan history has been held hostage by two families: the Kenyatta family and the Odinga family. These rival families have dragged communities and tribes to war. In my view, the antagonism of “we” versus “they” is a global virus infecting us with unnecessary hatred, competition, suspicion, mistrust and scorn that can span generations if unregulated. Cummings’ fiction is the lens through which we can see history used as a narrative tool that teaches us that while the present has well begun to redeem the barbaric past of racism, unbelievable contradictions — the senseless and the unacceptable — still exist. “The Night I Freed John Brown” demystifies the puzzle: why would a white man sacrifice his life to save Black men, women, and children from slavery. In a pivotal scene in the novel, the young hero Josh defies his stern, bigoted father not only by taking part in Harpers Ferry’s annual play reenacting John Brown’s famous treason trial but, worse, by relishing the role of one of John Brown’s loyal, loving sons. Real life, though, doesn’t give anyone the privilege of exchanging bad dads for betters ones. The closest one can go, having decided to follow a higher road, is denying and denouncing your father. Cummings found himself here. In his short story “John Brown the Quaker” (Global City Review), another fictional treatment of the historic treason trial, the author cuts his prejudiced father off at the knees by putting brown makeup on his fictional self and playing the role of a slave child. In yet another true-to-life work of fiction, “The Scratchboard Project” (The Iowa Review), which received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories series, Josh, now 15, commits the eighth deadly sin: he falls
5 The book cover for ‘The Night I Freed John Brown.’ (Courtesy photo) 3 Samuel Waragu (Courtesy photo)
in love with a Black girl. “It’s really a true story,” Cummings said. “I never imagined I could find love in a Black girl. Ironically, she had already love. Love from her mother, from her brothers. The most amazing thing happened: She gave me love. She freed me, a white boy, in Harpers Ferry, where Brown had come to free the slaves. History and the present — they’re head-spinning.” In “Unsealing the Tomb” (Stickman Review), his young Black girlfriend, Shanice, returns to unshackle Josh from his fear of life after high school. She is feisty, and he timid. Their relationship thrives on her bravery and his attraction to it. Cummings invites the reader into the inner worlds of his characters and shows us that love, talent, beauty, charm, humor, tenderness and greatness exist in all people. Each is in need of mercy and, above all, love. In the world of nonfiction, however, Cummings’ young life lacked both mercy and love. His father was overbearing and highly critical of him and often erupted with a violent temper, slapping and kicking his children. As a boy, Cummings heard his father’s many racial slurs and, for this reason, believed that the menacing wax figure of John Brown in the window of the museum across the street would come to life and charge his house to continue his fight against racism. The wax figure, near the museum’s entrance, captures Brown at his legendary most fierce, with fiery red eyes, gnashing teeth, wild, flung-back hair, and a long, graying beard. He lunges forward with the barrel of a musket,
while a small-framed elderly Black man stands behind him in terrified helplessness at the revolt underway. “Believe it or not, I saw my father in this wax figure,” Cummings said. “The same rage — and for reasons that were not entirely different.” Cummings’ family history journeys back into the town to 1818, well before Brown and his cohorts burst into the Shenandoah Valley. His earliest ancestors were Irish immigrants who labored as diggers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that runs by the town. In succeeding generations, the Cummings contributed to the municipality of Harpers Ferry. His mother served as town clerk for 25 years. His father delivered mail for as long. So did an uncle. One relative fixed cars. Another ran a clothing store. Cummings’ grandmother on his mother’s side was a popular councilwoman. His grandfather, having taught school briefly, worked as a railroad brakeman on the local line. Later in life, he was elected town recorder. Cummings’ grandfather on his father’s side patrolled the streets as a constable in 1930s. The author’s great uncle was nicknamed “Mister Brunswick” for his efforts as mayor to pave the streets of an adjacent railroad town. Prideful of his family’s heritage in Harpers Ferry, Cummings’ father resented attention on John Brown, which intensified in the 1970s soon after the town became a national historical park. John Brown, his father flatly believed, stole away the white Irish heritage that built the town. For the full story,, visit us online at www.washingtoninformer.com WI
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LIFESTYLE Michael Prather: Woodson’s First Trachtenberg Recipient Awarded Full Scholarship to GW By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins When Trachtenberg Scholarship award recipient Michael Prather matriculates to The George Washington University (GW) in the fall, he will do so alongside nine other young people from the District who also won’t have to worry about tuition, books, room and board or fees. For Prather, this milestone culminates a high school career peppered with moments of hardship and triumph, during which he learned to persevere and rely on the moral support of friends, family and teachers who saw his potential. Just days after becoming the first-ever H.D. Woodson senior to win such an honor, he stressed this point with great enthusiasm. “A lot of times when I looked down on myself, I had that village behind me. It’s so surreal making history,” said Prather, 18. “The fact that I’m doing it at a local school [shows] that I can motivate others [because] now it’s a possibility.” Last week, GW President Thomas LeBlanc, accompanied by a large George Washington mascot, DC Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee and D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) surprised Prather with the scholarship announcement during a morning assembly — much like what other Trachtenberg Scholarship recipients often experience. Prather, an aspiring computer scientist hailing from Southeast, transferred to H.D. Woodson in the 10th grade after struggling at Banneker Academic High School in Northwest. By the third semester of his freshman year, he had plans to study elsewhere. However. before entering H.D. Woodson’s Information Technology/Computer Science Career Academy, Prather had to wrap up his freshman year — and raise his grade point average — at Ballou Senior High School. In the three years since he entered H.D. Woodon, Prather has immersed himself in the comput-
er science field, even securing an internship at Accenture where he helped develop a study-abroad mobile app. As a member of the H.D Woodson’s track and football teams, Prather also learned how to manage his time and dedicate every moment possible to finishing his school and spending time with his father, brother, uncles and other family members. “Some students from H.D. Woodson have a defeated mindset, but this can show them that they can beat the odds and rise above the criticism. It’s something I can’t take away. It’s part of my legacy,” Prather told The Informer. The Trachtenberg Scholarship program — named after former GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg — provides high school seniors from D.C.’s public and public charter schools with a four-year scholarship. The award, initially known as the 21st Century Scholarship, has been in existence since 1989, serving as a means of attracting District youth to GW. Last fall, GW undergraduate admissions representatives held information sessions about the Trachtenberg Scholarship at Petworth Library in Northwest, Anacostia Library in Southeast, and the second floor of GW’s Cloyd Heck Marvin Center. Seven out of 10 young people who won the Trachtenburg Scholarship — including Prather — attend a District public school, including: Banneker, Roosevelt STAY Opportunity Academy., Coolidge High School, Wilson High School and Duke Ellington School of the Arts. At H.D. Woodson, located in Ward 7, Prather found a home within the Information Technology/Computer Science cohort, one of four academies under the purview of the National Academy Foundation through which students are immersed in academic disciplines early in their high school experience. The selective NAF academies — which include college and career readiness, and resume preparation opportunities — have been opened to the entire
5 Youth scholar Michael Prather celebrates with city and school officials. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
student population. H.D. Woodson Principal William Massey said that Prather’s achievement has breathed life into a school community that has been on the cusp of change. “Michael sets the bar for young
people at H.D. Woodson who want to go college and may not believe it’s accessible,” Massey said. “They have a shining example of what that can be. It has recharged us and put us back into focus [about] the reason why we do the
work. “The word is out in the community that H.D. Woodson has scholars and resources to make sure students who graduate can access college and career,” he said. WI
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LIFESTYLE 2020 Women’s History Month: The Leaders Who Blazed the Trail By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter
Each year, Americans celebrate Women’s History Month in March to highlight the contributions of women. These contributions took place despite the lingering sexism and, in the case of Black women, racism that exists in the country. The Washington Informer has selected four female leaders who made history and inspired other women to follow in their footsteps.
RUTH BADER GINSBURG
Before she received the appointment as an associate justice on the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, Ruth Bader Ginsburg had a reputation in the legal profession as a leading advocate for gender equality and women’s rights. She served as a professor of law at the Rutgers Law School, starting in 1963 and receiving tenure in 1969. She also taught at the Columbia School of Law from 1972-1980, where she became the first female to get tenure and co-authored the first textbook on sex discrimination. She co-founded the Women’s Rights Law Reporter in 1970 and won five cases before the Supreme Court dealing primarily with significant legal advances for women under the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Noting the effectiveness of her advocacy, the late Antonin Scalia, who served on the Supreme Court with Ginsburg for decades, said “she became the leading and very successful litigator on behalf of women’s rights — The Thurgood Marshall
5 Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Courtesy photo)
5 Sharon Pratt
5 Mae Jemison
(Courtesy photo)
5 Ruth Simmons (Courtesy photo)
of that cause, so to speak.” In 1980, President Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and she worked on that court until Clinton tapped her for the Supreme Court, where she joined Sandra Day O’Connor as the second women ever appointed to the high court. As a justice, Ginsburg has established herself as a jurist who supports the legal rights of women whether in abortion rights, discrimination whether based on sex, employment or pay and equal access cases.
Pratt, a native Washingtonian who received her bachelor’s degree from Howard University and her juris doctorate from the Howard University School of Law, had many years of Democratic Party politics before she ran for mayor. From 1977-1990, Pratt represented the District on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the first woman to hold that position. She served as the treasurer of the DNC from 1985-1989. Pratt also made history when in 1983 when she became the first woman and first Black to serve as vice president of community affairs at Pepco, the D.C. region’s utility company. Pratt’s tenure as mayor had its troubles with the city heading into financial chaos and political infighting with members of the D.C. Council. She lost her reelection bid in 1994 and stepped down in 1995. In her later years, Pratt opened up a consulting firm and taught at the Harvard University’s Kennedy School Institute of Politics. Presently, she serves as founding director of the University of the District of Columbia’s Institute for Politics, Policy and History.
MAE JEMISON
RUTH SIMMONS
SHARON PRATT
On Nov. 6, 1990, the residents of the District of Columbia made history when they elected Sharon Pratt as the city’s first female mayor. With that achievement, Pratt became the first Black woman elected to lead a major American city.
(Courtesy photo)
On Nov. 6, 1990, the residents of the District of Columbia made history when they elected Sharon Pratt as the city’s first female mayor. With that achievement, Pratt became the first Black woman elected to lead a major American city. 30 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
Mae Jemison, an African American female engineer, physician and astronaut, became the first Black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor. Jemison and her crew orbited the Earth for nearly eight days in September 1992. Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago, Jemison graduated from Stanford University with degrees in chemical engineering as well as African and African American studies. She then proceeded to Cornell University where she received a medical degree. After serving in the Peace Corps in Liberia and Siberia, she moved to practice in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, she took graduate engineering courses and applied for the space shuttle program. After her acceptance in 1987 in NASA Astronaut Group 12, the first group of astronauts after the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, she prepared to go into space. Following her successful mission on the Endeavor, Jemison left NASA and founded a technology research company and later formed a nonprofit foundation. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.
Ruth Simmons made history when she became the first Black female president of Brown University, considered to be one of America’s elite Ivy League higher education institutions, in November 2000. Prior to that historic appointment, Simmons served as the president of Smith College, a Seven Sisters institution and one of the largest women’s colleges in the U.S., with her tenure starting in 1995. A native of Grapeland, Texas, Simmons received her bachelor’s degree from Dillard University in 1967 and her master’s and doctorate from Harvard University in Romance Literature in 1970 and 1973, respectively. Her academic career took her to the University of New Orleans, California State University, Northridge, the University of Southern California, Princeton and Spelman College. As the president of Smith, she became the first Black woman to head a major college or program. While at Smith, she helped set up its engineering program and at Brown University, Time magazine selected her as “America’s Best College President” in 2001. On Dec. 4, 2017, Brown again made history when she became the first woman to serve as president of Prairie View A&M University in Texas, a historically Black institution. WI
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LIFESTYLE
Oscar Winner Ruth E. Carter Finally Gets Her Due ‘Black Panther’ Elevates Visibility for One of Hollywood’s Best By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer
5 Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter who spoke at the 2019-20 Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series at The Clarice on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus on Feb. 25. (Photo courtesy Ulrich Fonou)
Things did not go as planned for costume designer Ruth E. Carter when she envisioned her career. While studying at Hampton University, she had her sights on acting. Working on a play, the director steered her toward the costume department. The change in direction has given Carter a 35-plus year career and work on over 40 films including “The Five Heartbeats,” “BAPS,” “Sparkle,” “Baby Boy,” “Marshall,” “Amistad,” “Malcolm X.” “Selma” and “Do the Right Thing.” Her credits can be seen on many projects by Spike Lee, which whom she has forged a 10film collaboration starting with his second film “School Daze.” After being nominated three times for an Academy Award, she finally got the prize last year for Best
Costume Design. “We have seen her work many times before. Few people outside of the film industry knew her name until last year’s Academy Awards,” said Bonnie Thornton Dill, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland. “She’s known for her research, and diligence in producing both ensemble and period films.” Carter’s attention to detail was evident when she showed the audience through photographs and film clips, her process on “Black Panther.” For that film, she was intent on an authentic connection to the motherland. She started a conversation with others working on the film by asking what they look like in Wakanda. Carter viewed the comics from where the character Black Panther originated. She explored how people dressed in western African countries but felt a need to create a
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more forward-looking aura. “We added those elements to the younger Wakanda population you saw in T’Challa and his sister Shuri,” Carter said. “The elders still honored tradition.” Carter explained how she created the headdress worn by Angela Bassett’s character Ramonda, T’Challa’s mother. It was an original design, which explains why it was difficult to find it in specialty stores after the movie was released. Carter was further inspired by looking at a Masai warrior headdress and a beaded placemat for another costume piece worn by some of the male characters. It was not until a group picture was taken of the key characters that Carter felt the impact of the “Black Panther” film. “Entertainment Weekly was going to get the first look at the cast in costume,” said Carter about the eye-opening experience. “We were doing something special that had never been done before. I wanted to jump up and down and run around in circles.” Now Carter has expanded her vision to retail clothing design. Her line called “Ruthless,” a nickname Carter got from crew members on the set of Lee’s films, is now sold in H&M stores. The new collection launched Feb. 13 with sensibilities aimed to inspire pride, connection and personal expression. Liberation flag colors
of red, black and green are prominent through the designs. “Not many costume designers have this opportunity,” said Carter, who partly credits her work with Lee, especially on “Do the Right Thing,” for inspiring for her retail line. “I did a lot of ‘cross colors’ and I wanted to share with everyone my experience of that era.” Carter said the retailer is also contributing a $25,000 endowed scholarship to the Ruth E. Carter Endowment at Hampton University. A sharp eye mixed with curiosity has propelled Carter to be a highly sought-after costume designer. Her most recent recognition was the “Artisans Achievement Award” presented in January by the Hollywood Critics Association for her work on “Dolemite is My Name” starring Eddie Murphy. She is teaming up again with Murphy, another longtime Carter collaborator, on the highly anticipated “Coming 2 America.” Though acting was her first inclination, being pointed to the costume department yielded greater rewards. From film to retail, Carter continues to soar. Up next is “The Art of Ruth E Carter” a coffee table book. Carter’s early “ah-ha” moment tells it all: “Once I realized I could be a storyteller through costume design, it stuck.” WI
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5 Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter shows how she dressed actors who portrayed real-life Black heroes in movies “Malcom X,” “Selma” and “Marshall.” Carter spoke at the 2019-20 Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series at The Clarice on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus on Feb. 25. (Photo courtesy Ulrich Fonou)
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LIFESTYLE
5 Branden Mitchell reads an interactive story to students during library time at Wheatley Education Campus in Northeast. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
DCPS Librarians Fight for More Budgetary Supports By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Since the D.C. Public Schools [DCPS] central office released its Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal, public school librarians have relayed concerns that their job will be on the chopping block, especially since recent changes allow principals to use their discretion in budgetary matters concerning on-campus libraries. For some DCPS librarians, the current budget battle has brought to light their longstanding gripes with an environment in which they’re overworked and left without the proper resources to fully enrich their increasingly diverse student body. One veteran bibliosoph who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity told The Informer that possible budget cuts that librarians face would further debilitate instruction at public schools, especially those east of the Anacostia River. “For years, school librarians have had to work with contract violations and poor funding for books, supplies and technology. It is shocking that D.C. Public Schools makes it a principal’s discretion to eliminate the position of school librarian,” the paraprofessional said as she explained the hurdles she and her colleagues have struggled to overcome for years. “Currently, some D.C. public school libraries are not used prop-
erly. There are high school libraries with part-time librarians when they should have a full-time librarian and a full-time assistant,” the librarian added. “There are elementary libraries with part-time librarians who are misused as teachers and given extensive cafeteria or recess duty. Many elementary librarians, especially in Southeast, have duties outside of the library multiple times a week that subsequently prevent motivated students from going to the library more than once a week to get more books to read,” she said. School libraries have been credited with increasing access to print and digital materials that support reading. Educators also tout them as incubators of literacy, not only for students, but families. Currently, 70 percent of the District’s 118 public schools have fulltime librarians, while librarians at schools serving a student population of fewer than 300 students work part time. In the charter school sector, half of the schools have libraries curated by either a librarian or reading specialist. As of Monday, the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) has counted at least 25 D.C. public schools – the majority of which are located east of the Anacostia River where library staff anticipate budget cuts to their position, most likely because of
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Image Credit: Olalekan Jeyifous and the City of Alexandria Office of the Arts
What’s Coming Soon to the Old Town Alexandria Waterfront? From a new waterfront dining destination made from carvedout shipping containers to compelling new public artwork and tours that highlight the city’s African American history, there are plenty of new things to see along the Old Town waterfront this year. Alexandria will get a taste of the Mediterranean later this year with two new waterfront restaurants opening in Old Town. Barca Pier will be a seasonal outdoor eatery inspired by Barcelona’s beach bars and made from carved-out shipping containers. Barca Wine Bar, which will be open throughout the year, will boast an intimate, sophisticated setting and vast selection of unique and domestic wines from around the world. Alexandria’s highly anticipated maritime history experience at the Old Town waterfront, tall ship Providence, is slated to open for tours later this year. This celebrity tall ship, which has appeared in the international blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, is a full-scale reproduction of one of the most renowned ships in the Continental Navy. Once open, they will present 30-minute tours of the
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docked ship as well as cruises on the river. The biggest art event this spring in Alexandria brings a site of contemplation to Old Town’s Waterfront Park. From late March to November 2020, temporary public art installation Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies by Olalekan Jeyifous will be on display as the second in the City of Alexandria’s Site See: New Views in Old Town public art series. Jeyifous’ concept frames Alexandria’s African American history through the lens of the city’s industrial and merchant history from the 17th to 20th centuries. Once a prosperous port city that was home to one of the largest domestic slave trading firms in the country, Alexandria was a major center for shipping and manufacturing with an economy inextricably tied to the work of enslaved and free African Americans. Wrought, Knit, Labors, Legacies seeks to stitch Alexandria’s story together, featuring symbols that represent Alexandria’s merchant and manufacturing history, including factories, tobacco warehouses and railways. The ground mural will incorporate African American quilting and textile traditions, which are historically tied
to storytelling and oral tradition. When viewed as a whole, the pattern will become an abstract grid or map, with the manufacturing icons appearing throughout. From this colorful and rich surface, four large figures will face the water. Ornate metal profiles will be wrapped in sculptural seating platforms that are illuminated in low light. Coming later in 2020, visitors can learn more about Alexandria’s African American heritage through a new African American Waterfront Heritage Trail, a self-guided tour highlighting people, places and neighborhoods from a diverse time period in Alexandria’s history. The walking trail, presented as an online “StoryMap,” will ultimately include a north and south section and more than 20 stops along the Alexandria waterfront, including Waterfront Park, the Torpedo Factory Art Center and Jones Point Park. Alexandria’s African American Waterfront Heritage Trail is a community initiative supported by the Office of Historic Alexandria. Stay tuned to VisitAlexandriaVA.com for the latest on things to do and what’s happening in Alexandria.
MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 33
LIFESTYLE
Abolitionist and Women’s Suffrage Heroine Maria Stewart By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
This is part of an ongoing Washington Informer series about the Women’s Suffrage Movement and an initiative that includes Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes that will use the lens of history, the fabric of art and culture and the venue of the public square to shine a light into dark places, equipping all with a compass to chart the way forward. The initiative lives in the institutional home of the Washington Informer Charities. The setting: Jacksonian democracy – a 19th-century political philosophy led by President Andrew Jackson that would restructure a number of federal institutions. It was the early 1800s, and some whites had joined free African Americans in the call to abolish slavery. As difficult a time it was for Black men, the plight of Black women assuredly was more problematic.
But there was Maria W. Stewart, an abolitionist and women’s rights advocate, publicly denouncing sexism in the fight against racism. She stood before a group of African American abolitionists and bravely challenged the status quo. “These things have fired my soul with a holy indignation. It compelled me thus to come forward,” she said in a speech that shredded Black men who excluded women from the ranks of abolitionism. “Sexism denies Black women their full equality,” Stewart said. “It is a barrier to fighting for equality as a people.” Born free as Maria Miller in 1803 in Hartford, Connecticut, Stewart lost both her parents and was forced to become a servant in the household of a white clergyman. She lived with that family for 10 years. Although she received no formal education, Stewart learned as much as possible by reading books from the family library, according to an essay by Black Perspectives, the
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award-winning blog of the African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). After leaving the family at the age of 15, she supported herself as a domestic servant while furthering her education at Sabbath schools. Stewart would become an essayist, lecturer, abolitionist and women’s rights activist. She was the earliest known American woman to lecture in public on political issues. Stewart is known for four persuasive speeches she delivered in Boston in the early 1830s – a time when no woman, Black or white, dared to address an audience from a public platform. In 1826, she married James W. Stewart, a veteran of the War of 1812. With a successful career fitting out whaling and fishing vessels, the Stewarts were a part of Boston’s Black middle class. However, three years after their marriage, James Stewart died leaving a substantial sum to his wife, only to have white estate executors steal the entire inheritance and forcing Maria Stewart to work as a domestic to support herself. As the abolitionist movement
gathered strength, the newspaper The Liberator sought contributors from Black women. The newspaper would publish several of Stewart’s essays, including a 12-page pamphlet, “Religion and the Pure Principles of Morality,” which called upon African Americans to organize against slavery in the South and to resist racist restrictions in the North. She also called for Black economic progress and women’s rights. In 1832, Stewart lectured to an audience of both men and women at Franklin Hall in Boston, according to Black Perspectives. In that speech, she asserted that free African Americans were hardly better off than those in slavery: “Look at many of the most worthy and most interesting of us doomed to spend our lives in gentlemen’s kitchens. Look at our young men, smart, active, and energetic, with souls filled with ambitious fire; if they look forward, alas! What are their prospects? They can be nothing but the humblest laborers, on account of their dark complexions; hence many of them lose their ambition and become worthless.”
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upgrades. This year, budget proposals reached Local School Advisory Teams earlier than in previous years to give principals more flexibility in petitioning for additional funds. District public schools receive an initial budget allocation based on a comprehensive staffing model which factors in enrollment projections for the upcoming academic year and demands for special needs accommodations. Nearly two dozen public schools, more than half of which are located east of the Anacostia River, will have access to the chancellor’s initial budget assistance coffer of $3.4 million. However, such expenditures come after the 2020 budget season during which 15 schools in Ward 8 stand to lose $10 million total in per-pupil funding. Hart Middle School, which doesn’t have a projected decline in enrollment, counts in that group. At some schools, funding cuts threatened the availability of paraprofessional positions including social workers and librarians – a situa-
fluctuating student enrollment coupled with increasing personnel costs. In the weeks following the release of DCPS’ FY 2021 budget proposal, the DCPS central office has received petitions demanding the funding of their position. A meeting between DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee, WTU President Elizabeth Davis, John Chraska of EveryLibrary Institute and several DCPS librarians had been scheduled for March 27, though it hasn’t been determined how the District’s ongoing public health state of emergency would affect this event. Davis told The Informer that Chraska would discuss how DCPS could access federal funds that can be appropriated to Title 1 schools, those with a large concentration of low-income students, with the staff needed to maintain its libraries. The chancellor’s initial budget designates $12 million to staff public schools with librarians with another $1 million allocated toward
5 Maria Stewart (Courtesy of NPS)
Ultimately, history shows that Stewart was the first African American woman to lecture about women’s rights and Black women’s rights. She also counted as the first American woman to speak to a mixed audience of men and women, Black and white. Stewart also is recognized as the first known American woman to lecture in public on political issues, and the first African American woman to make public anti-slavery speeches. Stewart died on Dec. 17, 1879. WI tion that some like Sherri Jones says don’t allow public school libraries to reach their full potential. In her third year as a librarian, Jones splits her time between Simon Elementary School in Southeast and Houston Elementary School in Northeast. During her tenure, she says she’s seen the need for enrichment like that which she has attempted to implement at each school under time constraints. “If a principal knowing their population has to choose between a librarian and social workers, in-school suspension support and behavioral tech support, that’s an easy choice in the interim but in the long run it’s not good,” said Jones, a former classroom teacher of 18 years. “Librarians make huge impacts in schools with robust library programs. I’m part time because the district funds schools based on enrollment. It’s difficult to institute reading incentive programs and collaborate with teachers when I’m at both schools two-and-a-half days a week,” she said. WI
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LIFESTYLE
wi book review “Bread for Words: A Frederick Douglass Story” By Shana Keller, illustrated by Kayla Stark c.2020, Sleeping Bear Press $16.99 / 32 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer It’s that time of day and your stomach’s growling. That’s what happens when you’re hungry and you need to eat: your body reminds you that a growing kid like you needs good food. Feeding your belly makes you stronger, and in the new book “Bread for Words: A Frederick Douglass Story” by Shana Keller, illustrated by Kayla Stark, a young boy finds something to feed his soul. Little Freddy didn’t know when he was born, but he knew where: he came into the world in a cabin in Tuckahoe, Maryland, and he lived there with his Grandma. He did for awhile, anyhow, until the day Grandma sadly told Freddy that he had to leave the cabin because he was a slave and Old Master needed him at “the Great House Farm.” Freddy didn’t exactly know what a slave was, but he quickly learned that being one meant lots of work and he absolutely had no say about it. The only reason for that, as far as he could tell, was that his skin was dark and Master’s son, Daniel, was fair-skinned. This also meant that Daniel had a nice bed with blankets, while Freddy had nothing like that at all. Daniel also had schoolbooks, but when Freddy asked to learn to read and write, he was told that it was “Unlawful” and “Unsafe.” Maybe he shouldn’t have asked: his questioning got him sent to Baltimore, where he was supposed to take care of a boy named Thomas. Once there, Freddy got a better bed and just a little education, thanks to Thomas’s mother – but then Thomas’s father became very angry when he learned that his wife taught Freddy some words! Thomas’s father knew that if Freddy could read, he might try to reach for freedom. It was right then that Freddy knew how reading “could loosen the chains of bondage.” It was then that he knew he had to make a plan. “That moment” made him figure out a way … No doubt about it: your child loves books. Most kids do; they love the pictures, the words, and the goodness of snuggling up with a new story. “Bread for Words” is one they’ll love to share. You’ll have plenty to discuss with your little book-fan, too, once you’ve read this tale together. Author Shana Keller uses a small-but-momentous chain of events to introduce children to the life and work of Frederick Douglass, and it’s all told quite minimally, staring with small slices of plantation life and ending with Douglass’ search for learning. This brevity makes the story more powerful in its lack. Hint: don’t bother with the afterword; it mostly just repeats the body of the book, but do read the author’s notes. Properly introduced and explained in a kid-friendly way, they could send kids running for more information. While illustrations by Kayla Stark could be fun for small children, this book is really more for early grade-schoolers who enjoy biographies and history. Introduce “Bread for Words”to your 6- to 10-year-old, and they’ll be eager to bite into it. WI
horoscopes
MAR 19 - 25, 2020
ARIES The sun lands in your chart this week and it finishes the last few days in the sign of Pisces. It’s good to reflect on the past 12 months. Your intuition is strong now. Pause and listen to what it’s telling you. Lucky Numbers: 4, 37, 55 TAURUS This week friendships are highlighted. A casual friendship may turn romantic in a very physical way. As the moon makes its way to the last quarter and forms a connection with the sun in Pisces, it’s good to think about friends and look with appreciation to what they bring into your life. Lucky Numbers: 5, 16, 29 GEMINI This week it’s time to look at your vocation with an open mind and see bigger possibilities. Focus on things like finishing your taxes, getting a project done for work or updating your website. You can also consider more practical, hands-on projects such as building a new deck at home or repairing a vehicle. Lucky Numbers: 11, 18, 28 CANCER As the sun travels through the last degrees of Pisces, it reaches the highest point in your chart. An opportunity for a discussion with your partner now presents itself. Everything can now be laid out on the table. Your concerns can be heard. Lucky Numbers: 14, 22, 26 LEO The focus this week shifts to how you can grow spiritually. Over the past few weeks, you may have worked on taxes, investments, and money-making projects. But now the desire to grow is here, just as the sun enters the sign of Aries signaling the first day of Spring. You may be interested in taking classes, doing online workshops, or perhaps a subject has just taken your fancy and your queuing up YouTube videos to learn more. Lucky Numbers: 32, 39, 44 VIRGO This week the sun connects with Saturn in Capricorn in your house of creativity and fertility. Time for consulting with knowledgeable people. If you’re considering fertility help or adoption this is a good week to fill out paperwork or to meet with doctors and/or lawyers about moving forward with your plans. Lucky Numbers: 15, 45, 52 LIBRA Mars in Capricorn syncs with Pluto in Capricorn creating a powerful combination in your house of home and family. Use some caution around the people you care about as this energy can be pushy and overbearing. Allow others to have their way when it’s important to them. You may feel a great desire to be in charge, but pushing today may start a little war when all you wanted to do was pick a restaurant. Lucky Numbers: 23, 27, 53 SCORPIO The last quarter moon shines in your house of finance and makes an angle to the sun in your house of risk-taking. You may be tempted to fly off to Vegas for the weekend or to spend a little money on lottery scratchers. But this energy will soon shift quickly into more practical Capricorn than Aries so don’t bet the farm. Lucky Numbers: 12, 24, 40 SAGITTARIUS The week begins with the moon angling toward the sun in Pisces in your fourth house of home and family. This is an aspect for cleaning up and getting rid of excess. Shortly thereafter the sun moves into Aries, ushering in the first day of Spring. Sell off the excess material goods and make yourself some money. Lucky Numbers: 7, 9, 21 CAPRICORN This week the focus is on yourself. The moon moves from Sagittarius into your sign of Capricorn. You may feel more emotional this week and more determined. Be gentle in your communications to others and especially to yourself. Lucky Numbers: 3, 16, 51 AQUARIUS You need some downtime this week as the moon moves into your house of rest and recuperation, and angles toward the sun in your house of self-worth. Love the marvelous machine that is your body. Meditate to care for your mind. Sit in nature and breathe the fresh air to refresh your soul. Lucky Numbers: 3, 11, 12 PISCES The last quarter moon this week highlights your career and can bestow upon you more confidence than usual. This is a good time to speak up and to set up a meeting with your supervisor to discuss opportunities for promotion or transfer. Lucky Numbers: 10, 12, 21
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MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 35
CAPTURE the moment
For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com
Life in the Age of Coronavirus
5 The Costco store in Montgomery County, Maryland has a long line of consumers waiting to enter the store. A letter from Costco’s president indicates they are placing a limit on certain items to ensure access to its members. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
5 A patron at a local grocery chain dons hand protection and a mask while shopping. (Ulrich Fonou/The Washington Informer) 6 A lone pedestrian heads up the Metro escalator during a time of day when normal foot traffic would be heavy. (Ulrich Fonou/The Washington Informer)
5 The Costco store in Northeast DC is practically void of cleaning supplies and toilet tissue. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
5 A sign on the National Zoo entrance shows the facility closed until further notice. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
5 A Virginia Costco store shows packed lines as consumers rush to shop for supplies. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
36 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
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SPORTS For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com
NCAA Cancels Men’s, Women’s Basketball Tournaments for 2020
Coronavirus Pandemic Results in an Historic First
By Daniel Kucin, Jr. WI Contributing Writer @danielkucin88 Not wars, riots or any other historical events have ever led to the cancellation of the NCAA Tournaments, often referred to as “March Madness,” since 1939 or 1982, re-
spectively, for the men’s or women’s basketball teams – until now. With the coronavirus sweeping across the globe, the news of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19 prompted NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to postpone the season for at least 30 days in an effort to protect players,
staff and fans who attend the games. The NCAA would take similar precautionary measures – first choosing allow the games to continue, albeit without roaring fans in attendance before canceling the tournaments altogether. “This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to spread of the pandemic and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities,” the NCAA said in a statement. Teams from across the nation had been battling it out in various conference’s tournament games hoping to punch their ticket to the “Big Dance” with an automatic bid – the prize for winning their league’s title. One of those matchups featured two teams in the Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball [CAA] Tournament held in the District at the newly-developed Entertainment and Sports Arena, March 7-10. Hofstra University defeated Northeastern University (70-61) as
Coronavirus Brings Pro Sports in D.C. to Standstill
By Daniel Kucin Jr. WI Contributing Writer @danielkucin88
During a nationally televised broadcast game between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks on March 11, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban visibly recoiled in his courtside seat in disbelief while looking at his phone. He had just gotten word that the NBA suspended the rest of the season and that he, and his fans, would be watching the last game for at least 30 days due to the coronavirus pandemic. Cuban openly said that he would like to pay hourly arena workers during the suspension. “I reached out to the folks at the arena and the folks at the Mavs to find out what it would cost to financially support people who aren’t going to be able to come to work,” Cuban said. “You know, they get paid by the hour, and this is their source of income.” The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has taken the lives of thousands of people globally. Still, it only took one NBA player testing positive for the virus to bring the sports world to a halt. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus on March 11, and while he was not in the arena, the game between the Jazz and Oklahoma
City Thunder was canceled. What does that mean for the Washington Wizards? Since the Jazz played the Wizards on Feb. 29, MedStar medical staff members have advised players to self-quarantine for the better part of a week as a precautionary measure from spreading the virus any further. “Under the direction of team and MedStar medical staff, the Washington Wizards have advised players, coaches and basketball operations personnel to self-quarantine for the next three to four days,” the Wizards said in an issued statement on March 12. The decision was made with an abundance of caution due to the team’s recent game schedule, which saw them play at Utah on Feb. 29 and against New York (who played Utah on March 4) and March 10.” As for the Washington Mystics, numerous players are still playing overseas. At the same time, there is a travel ban in place from Europe to the United States until early April, which creates a possible conundrum with the WNBA season just around the corner (April 26) and the draft set for April 17. However, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that the league has a “scenario plan” for upcoming events, including the regular season. The NHL has been postponed un-
til further notice, and the Washington Capitals “will not be playing games until the NHL determines next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the Capitals said in a statement on March 12. The XFL, in the inaugural year of its second iteration as a professional football league, announced that it has canceled the rest of its regular season games, including the final five games for the DC Defenders. The league also said that all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season, and ticket-holders will be refunded. DC United fans will have to wait 30 days to see the Black and Red play, The Washington Nationals’ opening day game will be pushed back at least two weeks, and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder wants his team and staff to take more precautionary measures. “Due to health and travel concerns surrounding COVID-19, we have informed all of our scouts and coaches that they must return to their home bases and travel will be suspended until further notice,” Snyder said. “The health and safety of our staff and players is our number one priority and we feel that these are the necessary precautions given the current circumstances.” WI
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5 James Madison University players react to losing in the first round of the 2020 CAA tournament after falling to Elon University 63-61 on March 7. (Daniel Kucin, Jr./The Washington Informer)
the Pride moved on to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 – a dream come true for the game’s most outstanding player since the age of six. “Growing up, that is always what I wanted to do, sitting at the TV and watching those games,” Hofstra guard Desure Buie said. “You dream of this as a kid. Kemba Walker was my role model, so I used to run home to see him and I just wanted to be a part of something special. I wouldn’t trade these guys for the world.” But on March 12, the CAA announced that a game official who worked at the 2020 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship tested positive for the coronavirus. Tournaments would be abruptly canceled, including those for many powerhouse conferences including the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac 12. The last basketball game of the year would be between two storied HBCU institutions, Delaware State University and Morgan State University, but the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Women’s Tournament game held at Scope Arena in Norfolk did not finish in typical fashion. Despite the third-ranked Lady Bears from Morgan State (17-13) snagging victory in a thriller, 6463, coaches and players alike knew they’d be denied the opportunity to play in something for which they’d prepared most of their lives. “Extremely, extremely disappointed. I think all of us felt we could postpone and even postpone into May, and if we needed to cancel, we could cancel then. If that’s what they’re doing then, I guess, that’s what they’re doing,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said during a live
interview on ESPN as the news first broke. However, Villanova head coach Jay Wright admitted, “it was the right thing to do.” Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal weighed in on the NCAA’s decision also. “Damn shame it’s gone take the top tier NCAA teams to do what they’re doing now for them (the NCAA selection committee) to halt the tourney!” Beal said on Twitter. The University of Maryland (No. 12 Terps, 24-7) won the Big Ten Tournament regular season conference championship on March 9 at the Xfinity Center in College Park after defeating No. 25 Michigan University 83-70. Afterwards, they received the Big Ten Championship Trophy for the first time since joining the league in 2014. Former St. John’s College High School standout Anthony Cowan, Jr. cut down the nets in celebration. Sadly, no one would ever know how far the senior could have taken his team. In similarly-disappointing fashion, Hartford University defeated Stony Brook, 64-58, in the American East Conference Championship semifinal match. The Hawks (Hartford) stood just one game away from winning their first conference championship in school history and an automatic bid to play in the tournament before the cancellation. Six-foot-six senior standout Malik Ellison emerged as the leading scorer for the Hawks and the catalyst for his team’s success during their historic run. For his coach and many of his teammates, they will have another chance to compete for a championship. Ellison will have to live with the fact that he won’t be able to fulfill that goal. WI
MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 37
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38 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
DEBATE from Page 1 dria Ocasio-Cortez. Originally scheduled to take place in Arizona, the debate moved to the District because of the coronavirus pandemic. It also occurred just two days before scheduled primaries in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. Many observers indicated their belief that it could be the last debate before the Democratic National Convention scheduled to take place in Milwaukee in July. The theory stems from the fact that Biden could virtually lock up the nomination with a strong showing this week, particularly if the Democratic National Committee, in conjunction with Sanders, decides it’s in the best interest of the Party for the Vermont senator to concede. Political observers said the coronavirus, which has already forced the postponement of several upcoming primaries, will make it difficult for voters to cast their ballots. As Biden and Sanders entered the debate room inside an audience-free CNN Washington, D.C. Bureau, they may have noticed that the podiums and microphones spaced six feet apart – a change from the norm due to a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Also, keeping with CDC recommendations to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Sanders and Biden abstained from the traditional handshake in exchange for bumping elbows. During the debate, Sanders criticized Biden’s for voting for the Defense of Marriage Act, trade agreements like NAFTA, authorization for the War in Iraq and a 2005 bill on bankruptcy. Biden countered that Sanders repeatedly voted against the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act – a bill that sought to curb gun violence. “I voted against the Defense of
EVANS from Page 11 vestigations show that he used his council seat for personal gain and making money for himself and his friends.” According to data from the D.C. Board of Elections, Evans faces seven other Democrats on June 2 and six Democrats and one Republican on June 16. Eidinger said if Evans gets a majority of votes during the primary and the special election, “I will respect the wishes of Ward 2 voters.” Eidinger said if Evans squeaks by as the winner in both contests,
Marriage Act. You voted for it. I voted against the bankruptcy bill, you voted for it. I voted against the war in Iraq, which was also a tough vote, you voted for it,” Sanders said. “I voted against the disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR with China, which cost this country over 4 million good-paying jobs. You voted for it. I voted against the Hyde amendment, which denies low-income women the right to get an abortion. You have consistently voted for it. It takes courage sometimes to vote and do the right thing,” he said. Biden responded that Sanders could argue about the past but noted that his opponent voted against the Brady bill five times. Background checks. Background checks. Five times,” Biden shot back. “This man is one of the few Democrats I know who voted to exempt the gun industry from being able to be sued. Talk about a special, special interest. We should be able to sue drug companies. We should be able to sue tobacco companies,” Biden continued. “We can’t sue gun manufacturers because he voted for that years ago. He says it was a mistake now. I am prepared to accept he says it was a mis-
take. The question is, what do we do from this point on?” One moderator asked the candidates their steps taken to protect themselves during the coronavirus pandemic. Sanders has ceased hosting rallies while Biden said he’s only doing virtual town halls. “This is about America. This is about the world. This is about how we bring people together and make the kind of sacrifices we need to make to get this done,” Biden said of the pandemic. “So first and foremost, what we have to do is start to listen to science again. Donald Trump has exacerbated every single one of these problems – both the immediate urgent need and how we’re going to hold people harmless for the damage done as a consequence of this virus. It’s important we do both,” he said. Sanders noted that this is a time to move aggressively in dealing with the coronavirus crisis and the economic fallout. “But it is also time to rethink America and create a country where we care about each other rather than a nation of greed and corruption, which is what is taking place among the corporate elite,” he said. WI
ELECTION 2020 UPDATE While Ohio canceled its primary because of the coronavirus pandemic, Biden dominated Florida and Illinois to put a stranglehold on the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, March 17. Biden also edged out Sanders with Arizona voters. With 1,991 delegates needed to seal the nomination, NBC News projected that wins in Florida, Illinois and Arizona had brought Biden’s delegate count up to at least 1,073. Sanders had 803 after his loses in Florida, Illinois and Arizona. “Winning big like this in a delegate rich state matters so much,” CNN political director David Chalian stated Tuesday. “I would call this a near insurmountable lead at this time,” Chalian said.
he will strongly consider challenging him in the Nov. 3 general election as an independent. Nonetheless, there are residents who stand by Evans. “I have known Jack Evans since the late 1970s and I think he was an outstanding council member,” said Mary Eva Candon. “When he told me he wanted to run again for the council, I told him I would support him. He has apologized for what he has done and I believe him.” Candon said Evans’s awareness of the District’s finances and his fiscal prudence “are skills that are
needed now.” “He knows how to hold projects accountable and he is good with constituent services,” Candon said. Candon has also heard from Ward 2 residents who feel that Evans has been their council member for too long and she disagrees with their view. “I understand that a new generation wants the chance to lead, but we don’t need that in Ward 2 now,” she said. “During these times, we need someone who knows what they are doing and Jack knows what to do.” WI
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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
Scripture Warns of Plagues
The world is experiencing a plague as talked about in many Scriptures. According to Google, the word plague is mentioned 68 times throughout the Bible. Though it is a bit frightening, my spirit feels calm once I remind myself that I am indeed a child of the King. My earthly father went home to be with the Lord in July 2010. He may be gone, but because he was a frequent Revelations preacher who often taught about end times, his sermons came up in my spirit recently. At this very moment, schools are closed in many states, many companies have shut down for a few weeks, large congregations are worshipping by telephone conference calls, and our country is in a state of emergency with all major events canceled. There certainly is something serious going on in the world, and especially right here at
home. This is different from any experience I have witnessed during any other time in my 68 years. The president of the United States has not called for a country-wide lockdown as of this moment. Yet we know that this is a possibility, just as they’ve done in Italy, Spain and other countries. The Holy Bible does predict that the world would indeed experience such plagues. The coronavirus is not the first such plague, and it will not be the last. Let’s take a look at what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. According to the CDC website, the 1918 strain of influenza known as Spanish flu caused a global pandemic. It spread around the world quickly, killing young, old, sick and otherwise healthy people. Of those who became infected, at least 10% died. The website further stated that estimates vary on the exact number of deaths caused by the disease, but it is thought to have infected a third of the world’s population and killed at least 50 million people, making it the deadliest pandemic in modern history. The History Channel’s website talks about six worldwide plagues that killed millions of people. It
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
would take up too many words to share with you here. When you take the time to look back over the past 10,000 years, you will find many pandemics, bacteria and diseases that have killed millions of people. The Book of Matthew predicted we would have wars on large scales and talks about famine. Luke 21:111 speaks of great earthquakes and epidemics of “terrible diseases.” In closing, let us take a look at the book of Revelation 15:12 (KJV), which says, “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up with the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” We are living in critical times, when we must believe that we are covered because we are children of God. He says in Psalm 91:10, “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Amen! 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
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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
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MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 39
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
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
Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org
Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ
Blessed Word of Life Church
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
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
www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org
Campbell AME Church
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
“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org
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
Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.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
Crusader Baptist 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
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
40 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
Mount Carmel Baptist Church Reverend Dr. Paris L Smith, Sr. Senior Pastor 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
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.
MARCH 19 - 25, 2020 41
LEGAL NOTICES
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
2020 ADM 000206
2020 ADM 000139
2020 ADM 000195
Mary Lane Warley Decedent
William Rudolph Matthews aka William Matthews Decedent
James Louis Alston, Sr. Decedent
Aimee D. Griffin, Esq. The Griffin Firm, PLLC 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney
Tabitha R. Brown Law Offices of Tabitha R. Brown 1200 G Street SE, Suite A Washington, DC 20003 Attorney
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 ADM 000160
Howard Haley 7600 Georgia Ave., NW, #405 Washington, DC 20012 Attorney
Terry Joseph Johnson Decedent Johnny M. Howard 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 402 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
LEGAL NOTICES \ SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 Adm 000182 Larnell J. Mills, Sr. 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
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Meloney Early, whose address is 16 Ocean View Drive, Stamford, CT 06902, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Mary Lane Warley who died on December 11, 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 9/5/2020. 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 9/5/2020, 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.
Mary Matthews, whose address is 2002 Ridge Place, SE, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of William Rudolph Matthews aka William Matthews who died on January 9, 2016 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 9/12/2020. 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 9/12/2020, 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.
Stanley Alston, whose address is 10115 Griff Drive, Ft. Washington, MD 20744, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of James Louis Alston, Sr. who died on May 20, 1991 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 (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 September 12, 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 September 12, 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: 3/5/2020
Date of first publication: March 12, 2020
Meloney Early Personal Representative
Date of first publication: March 12, 2020
Mary Matthews Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Washington Informer
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
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
2020 ADM 000105
2020 ADM 000171
2020 ADM 227
2020 ADM 000147
2020 ADM 000189
James C. Watts Decedent
Betty Jean Booker Decedent
Stephen Abrecht aka Stephen Baxter Abrecht Decedent
Tyrone F. Brown aka Tyrone Francis Brown Decedent
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Jason A. Deloach 11414 Livingston Road Fort Washington, MD 20744 Attorney
Cordell H. Hayes, Sr. aka Cordell Homer Hayes, Sr. Decedent Aimee D. Griffin, Esq. The Griffin Firm, PLLC 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney
David C. Majors, Esq. 1420 Spring Hill Rd. Suite 600 McLean, VA 22102 Attorney
Kerri M. Castellini, Esq. Price Benowitz LLP 409 Seventh Street, NW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20004 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Cecile Watts, whose address is 501 Constitution Ave., NE, Apt. #6, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of James C. Watts who died on December 3, 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 9/12/2020. 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 9/12/2020, 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, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Stanley Alston Personal Representative
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer
Date of first publication: 3/12/2020 Larnell Joseph Mills, Jr. Personal Representative
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Date of first publication: 3/12/2020
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Jennie L. Booker Personal Representative
Joigie S. Hayes Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
42 - MARCH 19 - 25, 2020
TRUE TEST COPY
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
TRUE TEST COPY
Washington Informer
Shirley Lee Personal Representative
Larnell Joseph Mills, Jr., whose address is 647 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Larnell J. Mills, Sr. who died on November 6, 2013 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 9/12/2020. 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 9/12/2020, 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.
TRUE TEST COPY
Cecile Watts Personal Representative
Washington Informer
Date of first publication: 3/12/2020
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
TRUE TEST COPY
Jennie L. Booker, whose address is 4413 Ridgecrest Drive, Suitland, MD 20746, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Betty Jean Booker who died on October 29, 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 9/12/2020. 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 9/12/2020, 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: 3/12/2020
Shirley Lee, whose address is 1100 2nd Place, SE, Apt. 410, Washington, DC 20003, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Terry Joseph Johnson who died on December 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 9/12/2020. 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 9/12/2020, 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.
Joigie S. Hayes, whose address is 7503 12th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20012, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Cordell H. Hayes, Sr. aka Cordell Homer Hayes, Sr. who died on February 12, 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 9/19/2020. 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 9/19/2020, 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: 3/19/2020
Washington Informer
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Janet Linda Sherik, whose address is 3821 Livingston Street, NW, Washington, DC 20015, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Stephen Abrecht aka Stephen Baxter Abrecht who died on December 6, 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 9/19/2020. 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 9/19/2020, 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.
Blondie B. Brown, whose address is 1385 Barnaby Terrace, SE, Washington, DC 20032, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Tyrone F. Brown aka Tyrone Francis Brown 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 9/19/2020. 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 9/19/2020, 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: 3/19/2020
Date of first publication: 3/19/2020
Jane Linda Shenk Personal Representative
Blondie B. Brown Personal Representative
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Nicole Stevens Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2020 NRT 000009 Viola Kelly
Name of Deceased Settlor NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST Viola Kelly whose address was 5437 C Street, SE, Washington, DC 20019 created a revocable trust on April 10, 2007, which
remained in existence on the date of her death on October 7,
2019, and, Carolyn Gray, Maggie Thompson, whose addresses are, 5437 C Street SE, Washington, DC 20019 is the currently
acting trustees, hereinafter the Trustee. Communications to the Trust should be mailed or directed to the following:
Ms. C Gray, Ms M. Thompson at 5437 C. Street SE, Washington, DC 20019.
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 September 12, 2020 (6 month 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) October 7, 2020, (One
year from date of death of deceased settlor) (2) September 12,
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). Date of First Publication: 3/12/2020
Maggie Thompson Carolyn Gray
Signature of Trustee TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens
Register of Wills Washington Informer
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there were 2,952 cases in 49 United States, and more people have died (57) than have recovered (12). The virus has called to mind other health crises. In the spring of 2009, novel influenza – H1N1 – emerged. It was detected first in the U.S. and spread quickly. The Obama administration tested 1 million people for H1N1 in the first month after the first diagnosed case. The first U.S. coronavirus case was nearly two months ago, yet under the Trump administration, less than 10,000 people have received tests. From April 12, 2009, to April 10, 2010, The Centers for Disease Control estimated there were 60.8 million cases of H1N1, 274,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S.
BUDGET from Page 12 any economic impact caused by the virus.” According to a Feb. 25 PowerPoint document, the county projects a $30 million fund balance that includes $20 million dedicated to the county’s contribution to the Purple Line light-rail project. The remaining $10 million “is for undefined, one-time expenses.” Regarding public safety, about 21 percent of the budget that includes $2.6 million to purchase hundreds of body cameras for officers in the Police Department’s Bureau of Patrol. Those are the officers who mainly interact with the community. The county began with a pilot project more than five years ago
SCHOOLS CLOSINGS from Page 15
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58-year-old woman who contracted the virus had also traveled to a highrisk country while a 39-year-old made contact at a large public gathering with someone who tested positive. A 24-year-old man, the youngest among this group, had no known exposure before health officials determined that he, too, had contracted the coronavirus. With D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s decision to declare a state of emergency for the District on Wednesday, numerous local entities have curbed or ceased large-scale activities as part of an effort to contain the virus. Staff in local government agencies will work remotely while public arenas under the purview of Events DC will be closed throughout the rest of
“People seem to be thinking of pictures of the 1918 Spanish Flu. They’re thinking of bodies stacked in piles, hauled off in carts,” Cobb stated. “That’s not likely. For most people, they’re going to feel terrible. They’re going to need to rest and stay at home. The far majority of them are going to recover, however.” Symptomatic people should wear masks to avoid coughing on others. The masks won’t protect healthy people because they don’t completely filter the air, Cobb added. “Hand sanitizer you use should be at least 60 percent alcohol. The straight 90 percent alcohol won’t be as effective because it causes the proteins that make up these viruses to coagulate and may evaporate too fast to work,” he said. “If stores run out of hand sanitizer,
and you want to make your own, you need to get the concentration up to 60 percent isopropyl alcohol.” Cobb continued: “If someone is back from a virus-stricken area and after two weeks they still haven’t shown any symptoms of being sick, they’re not infectious. Shunning people who go to help in these virus-stricken areas is common.” “It happened during the Ebola epidemic a few years ago. It can affect anyone of any race, too. If Asians haven’t been to a virus-stricken area like South Korea or China, there’s no reason to suspect they’d be carriers.” “If they have, and they’ve been back for more than two weeks, and there’s no symptoms yet, then there’s no special reasons to think they’d be carriers either. People need to keep their heads,” he said. WI
to incorporate body camera cameras, but one of the most expensive endeavors police departments would need to pay for deals with equipment to store footage. Prince George’s currently has 80 officers with body cameras and expand to 1,000 by the end of the year. Other parts of the proposed budget include construction of a $16.8 million homeless shelter, $7.4 million in pedestrian safety improvements and $7 million for the popular Summer Youth Enrichment Program (SYEP) to provide 6,000 for those ages 14 to 22. In terms of revenues, the county anticipates to receive 70 percent in residential property taxes and 30 percent in commercial taxes.
The county still aims to boost development around its 15 Metro stations. An 11-story regional medical center near the Largo Metro station is slated to open March 2021. The 11-member County Council reviews and holds various meetings before it formally approves the budget by June 1. “The council is committee to an open, inclusive and participatory budget process,” said Council President Todd Turner (D-District 4) of Bowie. “We are supportive of the priorities detailed in the executive’s budget proposal and we look forward to our continued partnership with County Executive Alsobrooks, county residents and all stakeholders to produce a final FY 2021 spending plan.” WI
March. The Library of Congress, The Capitol, White House and Smithsonian museum system have also been closed to the public until further notice. This spring, tourists will, sadly, be unable to partake in always-anticipated, annual festivities including the Cherry Blossom Festival, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and other gatherings. Nationally, coronavirus cases have risen well beyond 1,700 with at least 40 reported deaths. This has compelled the National Basketball Association to cancel the rest of its season, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association to do likewise in light of its highly-coveted March Madness men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The cancellation of such events have raised questions about what the future
holds for people suddenly inconvenienced. For District families, particularly those with special-needs students and others gearing up for graduation, they now face uncertainty about how the pandemic will affect their futures. Ferebee crafted a special message at the end of his public statement to address their fears. “We acknowledge the anxiety this may cause our students, especially our seniors who are focused on graduation and those students who depend on DCPS for critical services,” he said. We also recognize the burden this will place on our staff and working families. As we learn more about what this extended closure means for the school year calendar, we’ll share that information with our school communities.” WI
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MALVEAUX from Page 26
le our most pressing challenges.” Yes, we know Joe; he has quite a long record. His record on bussing, the crime bill, Ms. Anita Hill’s testimony against Clarence Thomas, plagiarism and other issues is very clear. I don’t write this to say that Joe Biden is the wrong choice. I write this to say that if your analysis is solely based on “electability” or “anybody but Trump” your analysis is shallow. In fact, it’s not even analysis it’s reactionary. The African American community can ill afford reactionary politics. It’s not about the politics of personality; it’s about the politics of policy. “Anybody but Trump” ignores the fact as a US President, Trump is a functionary of the US govern-
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ty system, but failing to have an afro-diasporic weltenschung or world view continuously leaves us with the simplistic and deadly choices of the status quo, “do you want lead in your drinking water or mercury? … do you want arsenic with your grits, B\baby, or do you want mamma to sprinkle a bit of strychnine on them for you?” Having an afro-diasporic weltenschung does not mean that we are a monolith. It recognizes that we share a common history, oppressor and we should have common issues and values. This rant of “anybody but Trump” is a perfect example of the dangers of binary politics, especially for the African-American
Community. Please don’t get this twisted. Yes, Trump is disgustingly ignorant, vile, gauche, racist and an admitted sexual predator. However, following the simplistic narrative of “anybody but Trump” without an afro-diasporic weltenschung as the basis of your analysis will not ipso facto lead you to a better alternative. As Sportin’ Life says in “Porgy & Bess,” “It ain’t necessarily so.” We’ve been told by some in leadership positions of Joe Biden: “we know Joe and Joe knows us,” “He is a public servant who has always worked for the best of who we are as a nation and we need that right now,” “The answer to hatred and division is to reignite our spirit of common purpose. … He’ll restore honor to the Oval Office and tack-
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offer from the World Health Organization (WHO). The president went from the coronavirus being a “hoax” to a “national emergency” in the span of several days. Even during his press conference declaring a “national emergency,” President Trump, when asked if he takes responsibility for the lag in making test kits available, replied, “No. I don’t take responsibility at all.” He will always be both proudly and embarrassingly lacking in leadership. Thankfully, the administration and Congress have reached a deal on a bipartisan economic relief package for impacted Americans and businesses. Yet, the fact still remains that in the president’s never-ending desire to spite President Barack Obama, he spited the nation. And, we here in America are all at greater risk because of it. But not Ashley. WI
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Case closed, by a non-lawyer. South Korea has been testing approximately 10,000 residents and non-residents daily for weeks. How can she, an American citizen, be safer during this global health crisis in a foreign country, and not in the most advanced and developed country in the world? Here, she resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, a little over six miles from the White House and U.S. Capitol. Were Ashley home, getting tested would be a major challenge. Why? Because, the Trump administration is one of unconscionable and unprecedented incompetence! At the beginning of this crisis, President Trump did not take it seriously. Thereby hampering — crippling, even — the federal government’s initial response. His carelessness put all Americans at
greater risk, particularly the elderly and those with preexisting conditions. In a recent article in The Atlantic, David Frum stated, “At every turn, President Trump’s policy regarding the coronavirus has unfolded as if guided by one rule: How can I make this crisis worse? Trump’s actions have ensured the worst possible outcomes.” Initially the president called the coronavirus a “political hoax by the Democrats.” It was President Trump who disbanded the White House National Security Council’s entire global security unit. Its creation under the Obama administration was shaped by lessons learned from the Ebola epidemic of 2014. This decision eliminated numerous jobs addressing global pandemics, hampering the U.S. Government’s response to the coronavirus. In addition, tests are not available widely, in part, because the White House declined an
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and bridges, public buildings and waterways, and more. We get a D+, and yet some brag about our “greatness.” Once we were a world leader, but now we are a laughingstock, especially when our country has abdicated from leadership, blaming the pandemic on China and Europe. Anyone who understands globalization knows that our countries are intertwined, and there are no borders strong enough to eliminate disease. Will March Madness turn into Adversity April and Miserable May? Will the Congress pass measures that will ameliorate the effects of this virus on our health, and on our economy? Candidates Biden and Sanders have offered ideas to minimize the impact of the coronavirus. Is anybody paying attention? WI
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sector. Both Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders have given substantive speeches on their approach to this coronavirus. Unlike the president, these Democrats were concerned with the children who get school lunch when schools are closed. They were concerned with the contingent workers who won’t get paid when they don’t work, unlike government and other employees who will be paid no matter what. Both Biden and Sanders talked about the weakness in our public health system, and the ways that hospitals will be burdened if this virus gets worse. Yet, 45 addressed this matter with a pithy 11-minute
speech that was full of outright lies and misinformation. When 45 campaigned four years ago, he said he’d fix infrastructure, which is a bipartisan issue. As soon as he entered the Oval Office, the infrastructure plan was forgotten. A strong and resilient public health system should be part of our infrastructure. Instead, that sector has been ignored by an administration that would rather feather the nests of billionaires than ensure that everyone who has been exposed to the coronavirus can be tested. The National Society of Civil Engineers issues a report card on our nation’s infrastructure every two or three years. The most recent report card, from 2017, gives us a D+ grade on our infrastructure, our highways
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MORIAL from Page 27 said Clyburn’s endorsement was an important factor in their vote and almost a quarter said it was the most important factor. Pollster Patrick Murray told USA Today he’s never seen such a high percentage of voters cite an endorsement as the most important factor in their decision. In Southern states, which have a higher percentage of Black voters, Biden dominated the primaries. He won 63 percent of Black voters in North Carolina and Virginia, and 72 percent of Black voters in Alabama. He won a majority of Black voters in Arkansas, and 62 percent of Black voters in Tennessee.
LEON from Page 27 ment. His position on Venezuela is the same as previous administrations’. Both Democrat and Republican administrations have had policies that included US interference in other Central and South American countries. Trump’s position on tax cuts and cuts to social programs builds upon tax policy and social policy cuts from previous administrations. Remember “ending welfare as we know it” under Clinton and Obama’s failed “Grand Bargain”? Again, I did not write this to say that Joe Biden is the wrong choice. I’m merely asking what do we get for our loyalty; more hope without substantive and systemic change? The issues that plague America are systemic. Racism in America is organic. What do we get for our endorsements? An afro-diasporic
ASKIA from Page 27 be chosen by the House of Representatives. Twice in U.S. history — 1800 and 1824 — the House of Representatives chose the president. John Adams was chosen in 1800 and John Quincy Adams was chosen in 1824. In the event of the House choosing the president, each state congressional delegation gets one vote. Despite a commanding lead in the number of Democratic House members over Republican members, more state congressional delegations have GOP majorities than Democrat majorities, hence, Trump wins. One vote per state. That’s the clean “by the book” scenario for how 45 remains in office. But be sure, if it gets down and dirty, and he decides not to leave
Clyburn’s endorsement, and the response of Black voters, has put Biden on what appears to be an inevitable path to the Democratic nomination. South Carolina is the only early primary state where a majority — or even any significant percentage — of Democratic primary voters are Black. Consider that 98 percent of Black Americans consider themselves Democrats, and Black voters in recent presidential elections have comprised nearly 20 percent of the total votes for Democrats. It’s no wonder that many Americans are starting to question the wisdom of starting the primary process with two states — Iowa and New Hampshire — that are more than 90
percent white. The National Urban League has long maintained that addressing the concerns of Black voters is key to winning elections, for office-seekers at every level and of every party. At the start of the primary season, I urged the candidates, via a personal letter, to address issues such as housing affordability, educational equity and voting rights — including the ongoing campaign by hostile foreign actors to suppress the Black vote through misinformation and deceit. As the reaction to Clyburn’s endorsement has shown, responding to these issues with a comprehensive plan is the key to winning the presidency. WI
weltenschung is essential to developing the platform that serves as a baseline for any political candidate that seeks the African American vote. Any candidate seeking our support must commit to supporting a set of clear platform planks and policy initiatives that support the Community. The 1972 Gary Declaration from the National Black Political Convention is the place to start. Yes, Trump needs to go, but so does the status quo. Dr. William A. Darity Jr. wrote in “How Barack Obama Failed Black Americans,” “the relative economic position on virtually all indicators, including the racial unemployment rate gap, has not improved (for African Americans) since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” A return to the status quo for the African American community is unacceptable.
Samuel Yette told us in The Choice that this is a question of survival. In the minds of the elites, African Americans are “obsolete people. … Black Americans have out lived their usefulness. … The wood is all hewn, the water all drawn, the cotton all picked … and only a few shoes remain to be shined.” By settling for the status quo through the willful ignorance of supporting a candidate that has a proven track record on issues that are not in the best interest of the African American community, are we, as Baldwin warned, making peace with mediocrity? Without substantive systemic change, are we believing that we really are what the white world calls a nigger? This should never become our reality. WI
the White House if the voters and the Electoral College want him out, there is nothing, and no one who will — or can — do anything to rein him in. This guy has defied Congress repeatedly, taking money from military appropriations to build his infernal wall on the Mexican border. No one defied him, no one could stop him. He was impeached by the House of Representatives, to little effect. Only one Republican voted to convict him and remove him from office. At least 20 Republicans would have needed to vote yes to remove that man from office who is guilty of far more “crimes and misdemeanors” than were presented in his Senate trial. For three whole years, the world has watched this man who has six bankruptcies, who paid multiple
porn stars to keep silent about their illicit affairs with that married man, whose fake “university” was convicted of fraud and forced to pay millions in penalties and restitution, who confessed to grabbing women “by the p---y,” who warned (and virtually proved his warning to be true) that he could shoot someone in the middle of New York’s Fifth Avenue and not lose a single vote, has for three years flouted the law as well as civilized decorum in pursuit of his narcissistic agenda and nothing has been done to restrain him. So, get ready for the Trump regime, now ruling, to become the Trump dynasty, by hook or by crook, and if it takes another declaration of “national emergency” to seal the deal, remember This Dude is the author of “The Art of The Deal.” WI
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