VOL. 53, NO. 23 • MARCH 22 - 28, 2018
Celebrate National Disabilities Awareness Month
Youth Shine in Local Spelling Bees, pgs. 22-23
March for Our Lives Resonates Among District’s Youth But is Enough Really Being Done to Stop Mass Shootings?
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
By Tatyana Hopkins WI Staff Writer Youth from the District will join thousands of protestors from across the country at the “March for Our Lives” anti-gun rally on Saturday, March 24 to call for an end to the epidemic of mass school shootings. Students in the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI) say they will lead efforts to get District students involved. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that a pre-rally with District youth will be held Saturday morning at Folger Park, located at 2nd and D Streets, SE at 9 a.m. “We are spreading the word in our schools,” said MBYLI Youth Mayor Zende James, 15, who expressed his concern that District
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5 The first line of security at most high schools in the District of Columbia are metal detectors and screening devices like those shown here at H.D. Woodson High School in Northeast staffed by security personnel. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter
Pamela Wright: Super Mom, Soul Survivor Relies on God Army Retiree Overcame Abuse, Promiscuity and Poverty
By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir As Pamela Wright stepped forward to receive one of the highest awards given to a civilian for service from a two-star general of the U.S. Army, she says her mind drifted back to the many obstacles that she had to overcome throughout her life. Now as a recent retiree from the Headquarters of the Army
District Believed Front-runner for Amazon’s HQ2
[HQDA] after 30 years of stellar service to her country as a civilian member of the Army, she’s faced abuse at 12, early pregnancy, alcohol and drugs, promiscuity, guilt and anger, years of domestic violence from her former husband, homelessness and poverty. But that hasn’t stopped this 66-year-old mother of four sons from finding her way back to God . . . and to her true destiny.
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5 Woodbridge, VA resident Pamela Wright, 66, recently retired from Headquarters Department of the Army [HQDA] after 30 years of service and received the Superior Civilian Service Award during a ceremony that included generals, family, friends and co-workers. /Photo courtesy HQDA.
Amazon officials and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser reportedly dined at a local eatery this month and some observers, including Time magazine, are speculating the District will land the e-commerce giant’s second headquarters. Neither Bowser nor Amazon officials would offer comment. However, if the company chooses the nation’s capital, it would be a boon to the city and surrounding areas as the development is expected to bring about 50,000 jobs that pay as much as $100,000 annually. Amazon also met with Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam with the governor pitching sites in Alexandria and Arlington, just outside of the District. “We’ve had some really good discussions,” Northam said. Company officials have also been promised by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan who has proposed a reported $5 billion incentive package for Amazon to locate its HQ2 there. Maryland officials have offered up an area in White Flint, near a Metro station. Bowser and District officials have proposed taking the bulldozer to a parcel of land near Capitol Hill and RFK Stadium. The District also has pitched alternate sites. However, in what can be seen as throwing cold water on the District’s hopes, Newsweek this week reported grim results from a robot developed by Wells Fargo to handicap the chase. “Early favorite Washington DC struggled to live up to the hype, at least according to the Wells Fargo robot. The capital finished seventh on the list, just behind Austin, Texas,” Newsweek reported, based on the robot.
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Celebrating 53 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area