The Washington Informer - March 5 2020

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FIRST OF A TWO-PART SERIES Vol. 55, No. 21 • March 5 - 11, 2020

‘They Don’t Call It Super Tuesday for Nothing’

Biden’s Domination in South Helps Claim Delegate Lead 5 Sherrilyn Ifill (Courtesy photo)

Sherrilyn Ifill Talks Politics, Voter Suppression and the Future of America

One-on-One Conversation Begins Informer’s Coverage on Importance of Casting Your Vote

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir

5 A mother accompanies her daughter who voted for the first time on Super Tuesday at the Charles Drew Community Center in Arlington, Va. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Perhaps channeling some energy from his and former President Barack Obama’s magical 2008 presidential campaign, Joe Biden has turned in what many call one of the most remarkable comebacks in modern political history.

After a South Carolina primary victory that breathed new life into his then-faltering campaign, Biden dominated the Democratic field in southern states during Super Tuesday, March 3.

Early projections revealed a hefty delegate count for Biden.

Unofficial results as of 11:45 p.m. EST., showed Biden projected to win North Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Minnesota.

Early Wednesday morning, unofficial results pointed to Biden also winning Texas with 228 delegates at stake.

“It’s a good night. It seems to be getting better. They don’t call it Super Tuesday for nothing,” Biden stated during a rally in Los Angeles.

“Those who have been knocked down, counted out, left behind – this is your campaign. Just a few days ago, the press declared the campaign dead. And then came South Carolina. And they had something to say about it,” he said.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg earned a victory in American Samoa territory.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders was looking west after he carried his home state of Vermont as well as Colorado and Utah.

“You cannot beat [President] Trump with the same old politics,” Sanders said.

“What we need is a new politics that brings working-class people into our political movement, which brings young people into our political movement, and which, in November, will create the highest voter turnout in American political history,” he said.

Sanders maintains that he will prevail because voters understand that he’s best positioned to defeat Trump.

Super Tuesday counts as perhaps the most important day of

SUPER TUESDAY Page 42

Over the next few weeks, The Washington Informer will share comments from Black political leaders, grassroots champions for Black equality and those who bring insiders’ perspectives about the goings on in the Trump Administration.

Here we include the thoughts of Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. [LDF] – the nation’s premier civil rights law organization fighting for racial justice and equality.

LDF, founded in 1940 by the legendary civil rights lawyer and later Supreme Court justice

VOTE Page 42

Black Voters Make Key Difference in the South

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer

After months of waiting and listening to predictions, African Americans went to the polls to revive the presidential campaign of Joe Biden as the battle for the Democratic bid is seemingly turning into a two-man race between him and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Biden won big in the South Carolina primary Saturday and

scored another prominent victory in Virginia on Super Tuesday.

He and Sanders are now battling for many of the same voters now that former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and billionaire businessman Tom Steyer have bowed out of the race.

Meanwhile, billionaire Mike Bloomberg’s once-promising bid has recently sputtered, evidenced by hecklers interrupting

SOUTH Page 42

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Karl of Center Opens in Southern law enforcement. She said theyRacine: threat,” she‘Beware said. had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow Coronavirus Scams’ Prince George’s County

By Tia Carol Jones WI Staff Writer

sense of uniformity in the way wants to see implemented are When L.Y. Marlow's 23-yearrestraining order policies, public stricter health conFor many years, residents indomestic Southernviolence Prince victimsAsand old daughter told her therequested father survivors more rights cerns grow about coro- for victim's families George’s County have some of are thetreated. same ofrecreational her daughter threatened her in other “She'sparts usingofher personal (COVID-19), to intervene on behalf of a vicamenities available theown navirus life, and the life of their child, story, her own personal pain to may tim, atrydomestic violence assessscammers to jurisdiction. Their pleas were answered Saturday, Feb. she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further take advantage of con29 as the 75,000-square-foot Southern Area Aquatics done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training for law enforcement sumers. Scams could and Recreation Center opened its door in Brandywith law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecinclude selling prodThe building features rooms for community ofwine. the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book will tion Act and mandatory counselucts that are ineffecgroups host programs, a track, fitness center and start the to Saving Promise cam“get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. tive at preventing the two high-school sized gymnasiums. Much like the paign. case in such a way, the average “If we are ever going to eradidisease and spreadWayne K. Curry Sports and Learning Complex in “It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, we must ing willmisinformation Landover, newmy building has ofa natatorium that won't the turn familyalsoend the day, the book look at both sides of the coin. through media with six lanes, a leisure pool and a spa.

The grand loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to have a dia- social We need to address both the vicand other channels. opening a plague in honor shared her ceremony story withalso the unveiled audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the batterer,” Marlow Otherwasscammers of the James Heights E. Proctor, Jr., who servedatinthe event ence at late theDel. District Also present said. may be to solicitwould donations to help the Maryland House of DelegatesMildred for more Muhammad, than two Domestic Violence Symposium thepretending exMarlow also like to seecoronavirus victims, but instead are stealing consumers’ decades in District 27 which cover parts of Prince on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise monand personal information.

George’s and Charles wife, cur-to sixeyconsecMunicipal Center.

The counties. sympo- His who was Susie, sentenced awareness among children in The Office of the private District’sschools.

Attorney rentlywas represents that area Maryland. sium sponsored by of theSouthern utive life terms without parole public and She General [OAG] provided tipsneed to protect yourself from Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role inhas feels children to be educatscams in whichedinclude: Beware violence. of emails claiming to Center of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks about domestic Heights and the National Hook- 2002. Mildred Muhammad be from fortoDisease Control is the Centers “We have stop being pas- and PreUp of Black Women. saying that havechilinformation the founder of After the vention Trauma,or experts sive-aggressive withthey poor Marlow has written a book, an organization that helps aboutthe the virus; consultdomestic a medical professional for dren about violence,” “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic questions prevention and treatment and igviolence about Marlow said. story about four generations of and their children. nore offers forMarlow vaccinations and be wary of advertisehas worked to break domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. the cycle of abuse for in the her disease; family, do your mentsSix for cures or treatments inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. is and is confident she own Itresearch before donatingthe to policies a charity. and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that If you believe you have been the victim of a scam, her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process. contact OAG by calling 202-442-9828, emailShe said every time she reads Mildred Muhammad “I plan to take these policies to ing said consumer.protection@dc.gov , or submitting excerpts from her book, she still people who want to a complaint help a Congress andA.implore them OAG to as the online. Karl Racine leads can believe atthe words Area cameAquatics domestic violence victim ourGeneral laws,” for Marlow said. of Co5 not Natatorium Southern and Recreational firstmust elected change Attorney the District from her.(Photo “Color Me of Butterfly” go intoVisit“Iwww.oag.dc.gov will not stop until these more. poliCenter. courtesy M-NCPPC) be careful of how they lumbia. to learn won the 2007 National “Best the victim's life, and understand cies are passed.”

Books” Award. that she may be in “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net my eye first blackened and my “Before you get to 'I'm going lips bled,” Marlow said. to kill you,' it started as a verbal WI Elaine Davis-Nickens, president of the National Hook-Up Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) recently intro of Black saidwould there isadd no the District to the national empowerducedWomen, a bill that consistency in the way domestic ment zone program to provide federal tax incentives for businesses violence issues dealt in with by to locate andareinvest low-income areas in D.C. The bill would restore many of the federal tax incentives for investment in low-income D.C. neighborhoods that Norton created through legislation in 1997 but Congress let expire in 2011. Her previous tax incentives bill produced significant investment in D.C. The new bill focuses on Wards 5, 7 and 8 where the need is greatest. Norton says since Congress continues to extend the national empowerment zone program, D.C neighborhoods that need the incentives should be able to participate. in this program.

“Withdrawing the D.C. tax incentives, particularly after they had proven to be effective in other areas of the city, has left the nation’s capital with essentially half of a revival and was tragically timed just as the lower-income parts of the District, which need the incentives most, are ready for redevelopment,” she said in her introductory statement. “The effectiveness of these incentives for the District has been demonstrated and their costs have been minimal compared to 5 Eleanor Holmes Norton (WI File Photo) the measurable benefits they have generated in the District.”

Norton Bill Designates Neighborhoods in Need of Investment as Empowerment Zones

“

We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these policies to Congress and implore them to change our laws. I will not stop until these policies are passed.

“

SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY

Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence D.C. Attorney General Aquatics, Recreational

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L.Y. Marlow

Ward 8 Residents Among Many Angered Over Proposed Cuts in Metro Bus Routes

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Working Families, Students, Seniors Among Those Whom Changes Would Impact Most

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter Some Ward 8 residents, including D.C. Councilmember Trayon White, have made it clear to leaders of the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority [WMATA] that they don’t like its proposal to cut nine bus lines which provide service for residents and workers in the ward.

“Bus services are a life line for working-class families across the city,” White said at a public meeting on WMATA’s 2021 budget that took place at the agency’s headquarters in Northwest on Feb. 26. “Reduction of bus services will deepen the wealth gap and inequality in this city. We create additional financial burdens for families who already struggle to go to work and take the kids to school in the morning.”

WMATA’s budget calls for the cutting of the 30N, 30S, 34, 36, A4, W5, W1, W2 and the W4.

Nine of the bus cuts in the District are in Ward 8. During an emergency meeting called by White on Feb. 25 at the William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Neighborhood Library in Southeast, dozens of residents expressed similar sentiments as White on the proposed Metrobus cuts.

“It is a disgrace to cut up our bus service,” Mary Cuthbert, a former Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner, said. “What they want to do to the W4 makes no sense at all.”

The W4 travels from the Anacostia Station on the Green Line and proceeds eventually to the Deanwood Station on the Orange Line through Malcolm X Ave., Martin Luther King Jr., Ave., and goes along Alabama Avenue to Eastern Avenue, Benning Road, East Capitol Street, NE. It then winds through neighborhood streets until its concluding route in the Deanwood community.

Metro’s proposal would eliminate the segment between MLK and Alabama Avenues and the

Anacostia Station on the W4 and extend it to Fort Drum and D.C. Village, replacing routes A4, W5 and the mid-day service on the W1 route.

Metro also wants to re-route the W2 and W3 to South Capitol Street and Malcolm X Avenue, in the Washington Overlook area and replace service to the St. Elizabeths East Campus Gate 4 with an extension of the A8.

Cuthbert also said the proposed extra 25 cents assessed to customers for adding money on their Smartrip card on the Metrobus “is a disgrace, too.”

On its web site, the WMATA board encouraged “all customers and residents to provide feedback on the proposal during the public comment period” which ended March 2. The board will vote on the proposals in early April and the new budget will go into effect on July 1.

Cuthbert expressed satisfaction with White’s views at the hearing, saying, “Trayon provided good testimony.”

tation.

“If we can allow more people to not have cars, that’s thousands of dollars in their pocket and it’s just a healthier environment for everybody,” said resident David Helms.

WMATA board members say resident’s testimonies will be in their official transcript when making the final budget decision. WI

5 Trayon White represents Ward 8 on the D.C. City Council. (WI file photo)

From the Editor’s Desk: In a report posted March 2 by WDVM, the Montgomery County Council held a town hall Monday to discuss cuts for the Washington Metropolitan area transit authority’s budget for 2021.

“WMATA is proposing a $35 million budget cut across the D.C. region for bus routes and they decided to not have a meeting here . . . where approximately 65,000 residents take the metro bus every single day,” said Councilmember Evan Glass, referring to plans to cut four metro bus routes in Montgomery County.

“We need more bus service because a lot of people can’t afford cars and when you’re trying to get people an alternative to driving, cutting bus service is going the wrong way,” said County resident Dan Wilhelm.

According to Montgomery county’s climate action planning committee, 41 percent of greenhouse gases come from transpor-

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 5

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black facts

MAR 5 -11, 2020

SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB

MARCH 5

1770 – Crispus Attucks, widely considered to be the first American casualty in the American Revolutionary War, is killed in the Boston Massacre.

1939 – Acclaimed playwright Charles Fuller, best known for his Pulitzer-winning play “A Soldier’s Play,” is born in Philadelphia.

1985 – The U.S. Postal Service issues the eighth stamp in its Black Heritage series, honoring Mary McLeod Bethune.

MARCH 6

1857 – The U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision in the Dred Scott case, affirming the right of slave owners to take their slaves into the Western territories.

MARCH 7

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1825 – Alexander Thomas Augusta, the first Black professor of medicine in the United States and the Army’s first African American physician, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

1876 – PBS Pinchback, the nation’s first Black governor, is denied by Congress a U.S. Senate seat he won four years earlier.

1993 – Famed jazz singer Billy Eckstine dies in Pittsburgh at 78 from complications following a heart attack.

1927 – In the U.S. Supreme Court case Nixon v. Herndon, the court strikes down a Texas law forbidding Blacks from voting in the state Democratic Party primary.

1942 – The first class of African American pilots at Tuskegee Army Air Field completes advanced pilot training.

1965 – The Selma to Montgomery marches, held to champion voting rights for African Americans and in protest of seg- MARCH 9 regation, begin in 1841 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the African Selma, Alabama. slaves who seized control of the Amistad slave ship had been illegally forced into slavery, and thus are free under American law.

1961 – African American corporate executive, educator and philanthropist Clifton R. Wharton is sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Norway.

1966 – Andrew F. Brimmer is sworn in as the first Black governor of the Federal Reserve Board.

1997 – Famed rapper The Notorious B.I.G. (top) is shot and killed in Los Angeles at age 24.

MARCH 10

1849 – Hallie Quinn Brown, an African American educator, writer and activist, is born in Pittsburgh.

1913 – Iconic abolitionist and escaped Harriet Tubman w dies of pneumonia in Auburn, New York.

1969 – James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and is sentenced to 99 years in prison.

MARCH 11 LORRAINE HANSBERRY

6 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

1959 – African American playwright Lorraine Hansberry opens “A Raisin in the Sun” at Barrymore Theatre in New York.

WI

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If you want Trump for another four-year term. … That’s what you’re going to get if Biden picks a Black woman as his running mate. Harris would better serve at this time as attorney general.

LAJUANA LOGAN / FAIRMONT, WEST VIRGINIA

Stacey Abrams should do it; however, I’m with her when she says, why run for second place when I can run for first! Makes sense to me.

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Won’t matter. I doubt corporate nepotism is beating Trump in the electorate. Old Blacks who think young Blacks are going to come out for Joe like they did for Obama have miscalculated. Might as well let Bloomberg take the nomination — not much of a difference. Voter turnout is key and I don’t think Joe can get the masses out.

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How could you compare these two? They aren’t equals!

Harris is a United States senator! We need Kamala Harris for the U.S. attorney general. Stacey Abrams, a wellknown community activist, is unfortunately not qualified at this juncture.

MICHAEL CARTER / NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA

He stood by the nation’s first African American president — why not have an African American woman as VP? Stop hating on Joe.

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 7

The World According to Dominic

BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR / WI EDITOR / @DKEVINMCNEIR

‘Black Kids Go Missing at Higher Rate Than Whites – Few Seem to Notice or Care’

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When I was little, I remember the images of missing children, usually white boys or girls, that appeared on milk cartons and often led me to wonder how anyone could allow something so terrible to happen to their children. At the same time, I also remained confident in the thought that my parents would never let anyone hurt me or take me away from their loving arms and protection.

With that and given my thenshort attention span, I’d pick up the carton and pout some milk into my bowl of Captain Crunch or Sugar Smacks and proceed with my day.

Tragically, it seems that my childlike, lackadaisical attitude about the lives of thousands of missing or exploited children reported each year in the U.S. receive about the same amount of attention from those who could do something about it that I allowed decades ago.

Here in the District, mainstream media paused a few days ago to remember the sad case of theneight-year-old Relisha Rudd – a young girl from D.C. who lived in a homeless shelter with her mother and brothers and vanished on March 1, 2014. Forensic artists with the National Center for Miss-

Data shows that missing white children receive far more media coverage than missing Black and brown children, despite higher rates of missing children among communities of color. ing and Exploited Children has released a new age-progression image for how she may look now at 14.

And while the chance that she’ll ever be found seems little more than a pipe dream, her family and friends promise to keep up the search until she’s brought safely home. Relisha has, in a sense, become the District’s poster child for missing children. But her story is not unique. In fact, given the frequency with which Black children and youth go missing in America, I wonder if we’ve almost become desensitized and apathetic – more concerned about abused puppies and kittens or sick Pandas at the national zoo then Black and brown children whose disappearances receive short shrift from mainstream media and local elected officials.

Perhaps the simple truth is we really do not care. Or maybe, as in the cases of Jayme Closs, 13, a Wisconsin girl kidnapped after her parents were killed that gained national attention, and the lesser-known tale of Arianna Fitts – the 2-yearold who went missing in 2016 before her mother was found brutally murdered in the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s just a case of white versus Black. Some believe the Closs case became a talking point because she was white while Fitts’s case would be ignored and forgotten because

she was Black. I want to refute such claims but the data seems to give credence to the idea that the lives of Black and brown children have less value than those of little white boys and girls.

Data shows that missing white children receive far more media coverage than missing Black and brown children, despite higher rates of missing children among communities of color. The FBI’s National Crime Information Center database lists 424,066 missing children under 18 in 2018, the most recent year for which data is available. About 37 percent of those children – that’s more than a third of missing child cases – are Black, even though they only make up about 14 percent of all children in the U.S. It’s ever harder to say with any accuracy how many Hispanic kids are missing as the FBI’s report groups white and Hispanic children together. About 20 percent of missing children are Hispanic or Latino, according to Robert Lowery, vice president of the missing child division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but he believes the real number likely higher.

“I think there’s a false belief that white children make up the biggest number of missing children when in fact (proportionally) it’s just the opposite,” Lowery said, adding that the high number of Black girls reported missing is particularly concerning.

And there are reasons experts say we don’t hear more about missing children of color: families are hesitant to call police whom they often distrust, even if they think their child is missing; families might not report that their child is missing because they fear it could have unintended, negative consequences.

Lowery thinks Latino children

EDITOR Page 22

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District Election Roundup

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter

MORE FOR YOUR THING.

have children that are considered at-risk and subject to trauma,” Patterson said. “Many of these schools are located east of the river and they deserve not equal funding but equitable funding. That

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REPRESENTING ALL 8 WARDS, PATTERSON WILL KEY ON EAST OF GEORGE STANDS THE RIVER SCHOOLS WITH UNION Even though Jacque Patterson has served as a Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner and been president of the Ward 8 Democrats, he wants to represent all District residents as an at-large member of the D.C. Board of Education.

“I could have run for the Ward 8 Board position but I think neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River need three representatives on the D.C. State Board of Education,” Patterson said. “Forty percent of all District students come from east of the river and yet most of the board members who set educational policy come from west of the river. That being said, if elected at-large I will represent all District residents.”

Patterson’s candidacy this year will be his second time seeking the at-large board post. In 2016, he ran for the position but didn’t get on the ballot because the D.C. Board of Elections determined that some of his petition signatures lacked validity.

Patterson said he knows during the campaign that the invalid signatures will come up but he will tell residents his version of the story.

“I was short of getting on the ballot 100 signatures,” he said. “Many of those so-called invalid signatures were from residents east of the river. It has been my observation that residents east of the river move more than others in the city and in many cases the addresses on the voter rolls didn’t match the residents new address. It appeared to be enough of those to keep me off the ballot.”

Patterson said he has learned from the mistakes of 2016 and will run a better operation to be on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot.

On the board, Patterson said while he will be attentive to the needs of schools throughout the city, he won’t hesitate to advocate for more resources for schools east of the river.

“Money for D.C. schools tends to be tied to enrollment but I want to see more funds go to schools that

Janeese Lewis George, a candidate for the Democratic Party Primary for the Ward 4 D.C. Council seat that will be held on June 2, has come out in favor of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) possibly striking at the Ward 4 Safeway locations.

“Ward 4 is home to two Safeway stores, on Piney Branch Road and on Georgia Avenue,” George said.

“These stores are an integral part of our neighborhoods both for the food they provide as well the jobs they support. The staff at these stores are part of our community and they deserve fair pay, fair benefits and the pensions that management has promised to them.”

George said her mother’s membership in the American Postal Workers Union for 34 years has sensitized her about the concerns of union workers.

“In 1970, postal workers went on strike and people in many unions, of all races and around the country stood shoulder-to-shoulder, missing wages, but staying unified,” she said.

“Those brave workers’ fight meant years later, my siblings and I had not only a roof over our heads but also food on our table, clothes on our back and healthcare coverage. And postal workers today benefit from that fight over 40 years ago.”

George said the postal workers and UFCW struggles are similar and thereby “will proudly join the picket line along with my campaign supporters.”

“I call on all Ward 4 leaders, workers and people who believe employers should honor their commitments to join me in supporting UFCW members as they stand up for good jobs at Safeway,” she said.

ELECTION BOARD TO HOLD OPEN HOUSE

The District of Columbia Board of Elections will host an Open House for prospective election workers on

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DESIGNER EYEWEAR 5 Jacque Patterson has served as an advisory neighborhood commissioner and president of the Ward 8 Democrats.

(Courtesy photo)

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Colon Hydrotherapy & Aqua Chi Detox System 5 Janeese Lewis George is a candidate for the Ward 4 D.C. Council seat. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer

March 7. The event will be held from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the board’s offices located at 1015 Half Street. S.E., Suite 750.

All attendees will learn about various election worker positions and responsibilities. In addition, they will receive a hands-on demonstration on the voting equipment.

Board officials say they need 3,500 election workers for the June 2 Primary Election. To register, visit VolunteerMatch.org and enter the keyword “DCBOE” in the search box.

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AROUND THE REGION CAPTURE THE MOMENT Ruth E. Carter is interviewed

by Scot Reese, professor of Theatre Performance and head of Performance in the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland. Carter, an Academy Award-winning costume designer, spoke at the 2019-20 Arts & Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series at The Clarice on the University of Maryland-College Park campus on February 25. (Ulrich Fonou/ The Washington Informer)

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“This [being on stage] is the one place where I am most at home, where there is no exile.”

– Miriam Makeba,

“Makeba: My Story” [1988] The legendary South African singer and outspoken opponent of apartheid, exiled for 30 years, was born March 4, 1932 in Prospect Township, South Africa. Known as “Mama Africa and the Empress of African Song,” she remains as one of the most visible and outspoken opponents of South Africa’s apartheid regime from the 1960s till its dismantling in the early 1990s. Her career propelled her from township singing group to global celebrity, feted in some countries and banned from others. She was heralded as a natural and consummate performer with a dynamic vocal range and an emotional awareness who could induce the delusion of intimate contact in even the most impersonal auditorium.

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AROUND THE REGION Food Deserts Continue within City’s Southeast-based Environs Councilmember Has His Say ADDENDUM OF A TWO-PART SERIES y D. Kevin McNeir B WI Editor @dkevinmcneir In our two-part series about “food deserts” which continue to disproportionately impact District communities in Wards 7 and 8, published Feb. 20 and Feb. 27, we focused on the deleterious effect that years of “food apartheid” have had on residents in Southeast, experienced at much higher rates among poorer communities in the District. The significant differences between the District’s eight wards have particularly been of grave concern and garnered the attention of the councilmembers representing the two wards in Southeast, Vincent Gray and Trayon White, Wards 7 and 8, respectively. They, along with most city officials, acknowledge the lack of full-service grocery stores in Southeast as an inequity of services potentially threatening the health and well-being of an estimated 160,000 citizens who live East of the River. Strategies and legislation proposed by Gray were featured prominently in the twopart series.

Below, we include comments shared by White during an interview with The Washington Informer that appeared online as part of the Feb. 27 report but did not appear in the print edition due to limited space.

WARD 8’S COUNCILMEMBER WHITE: ‘CHANGE IS ALREADY HERE’

Just a few weeks ago, Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward) hosted a budget forum at The Temple of Praise in Southeast where he laid out his priorities for the communities he represents and invited residents to share their concerns. Among the issues he says remain tantamount to his constituents and which he continues to devote significant attention in the

alleviation of confirmed problems: the challenge of food deserts that Ward 8 residents still face.

“As for the delay in building grocery stores that many residents have requested, we first decided to hold a food justice walk which helped us to determine where the gaps are,” he said. “But we couldn’t proceed with construction because the funds weren’t there. The two full-service grocery stores currently being built were made possible because we were successful in securing $200,000 in the budget and now being utilized as we realize the requests of our residents and to the benefit of everyone in Ward 8.”

“We’re also building a state-ofthe-art urban farm. We’re an agricultural people and so it makes sense to put resources behind this project. It’s reminiscent of what I’ve seen during my visits to Africa. During its peak, the Songhai Empire was one of the most powerful on the continent. They were committed to making the conditions needed so that they could grow their own fresh produce.”

“Fresh produce is just as important as having a full-service grocery store and I’ve been tougher on grocery and convenience stores in the District than anyone else. After receiving complaints about substandard conditions at publically-identified 7-11 stores, I turned up the fire, communicated with the Department of Health and pressed them to monitor conditions more closely.”

“People continue calling me on a regular basis and we’re making progress. And my colleagues on the City Council, for the most part, have been supportive of what I’m doing in Ward 8 and what Councilmember Gray’s doing in Ward 7.”

“Two stores [budgeted projects currently under construction] will certainly help but two stores are not enough. We’re going to bring more grocery stores here – some may even more resemble the kinds of stores you see in co-op systems.

But we’re not going to become complacent,” White said. WI

5 Trayon White (right) (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

TWO RIVERS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS General Contractor Two Rivers PCS is soliciting price quotes from licensed general contractors to convert existing spaces in a school facility. To request a copy of the RFP, email ​procurement@ tworiverspcs.org​. Proposals are due by March 20, 2020.

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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Paid Family Leave Debate Looms over Md. Senate Committee Hearing

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill ANNAPOLIS — Sharon Long found out she suffered from multiple sclerosis the day before Thanksgiving in 2018.

The resident of Fort Washington, Maryland, said she continues to pray and work full time at the Federation of Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy in Alexandria, Virginia.

“I haven’t taken off of for MS, but I don’t know what it is going to look like for me in the future,” Long said.

“Thank God I didn’t have to use any [leave and short-term disability], but should I need to use it and should it

come up, I would like to have something in place.”

Long joined dozens of others at a public hearing Thursday, Feb. 27 before the Senate Finance Committee to support statewide legislation to offer Maryland employees paid family leave.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Antonio Hayes (D-Baltimore City) proposes to grant an employee time off to care for a spouse, child, sibling or parent or legal guardian. Grandchildren, stepchildren, adopted children and other “step”-relationships are also included.

Del. Kris Valderrama (D-District 26) of Fort Washington held a hearing last week in the House of Delegates on the bill, which offers workers up to

5 Lawmakers listen to testimony in Annapolis on Feb. 27 regarding proposed legislation for employers to offer paid family leave.

(William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)

15 days to spend time with a family member in the military on short-term leave during deployment.

The Family and Medical Leave Insurance program would be supported through a state-administered insurance pool equally split between both employee and employer. However, workers can maintain their own health insurance carrier and remain eligible.

Low-wage earners would receive up to 90 percent of their weekly pay when using the leave; higher income workers would get about 50 percent.

Partial wage replacement would be

between $50 to $1,000 per week for a maximum period of 12 weeks.

Any employee who worked at least 680 hours in a year at a company would be eligible.

If approved, Maryland would join nine other states and the District of Columbia that have committed to offering paid family leave for workers.

“I definitely see this as a benefit,” Hayes said. “This is one other way [employers] can honor, give the respect and dedication that their employees have to their company.”

Several business owners and repre-

End-of-Dying Bill Receives Plenty of Support, Opposition

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

5 Maryland Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (Courtesy of Maryland General Assembly)

12 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

Sen. William C. Smith Jr. of Montgomery County lightened the mood near the beginning of a more than four-hour public hearing on state lawmakers possibly deciding to allow terminally ill patients to end their lives.

Smith, who chairs the Judicial Proceedings Committee, praised the group’s vice chair, Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher (D-Montgomery County), for standing at the lectern for about 40 minutes to summarize and answer questions about the bill he’s sponsoring.

“That was the longest we’ve had a member of our committee standing up on the stand this year. You deserve a round of applause. Maybe a beer afterwards.” Smith said Friday, Feb. 28 to laughter and applause in the commit-

tee room.

Dozens of people traveled to Annapolis to testify on the proposed Endof-Dying Act, the only bill reviewed Friday by the committee.

Lawmakers, advocates, religious leaders and others presented emotional testimony last year in support and opposition on the legislation that passed the House. However, it failed on the Senate floor after a 32-32 tie because Sen. Obie Patterson (D-District 26) of Fort Washington didn’t cast a deciding vote.

The committee heard emotional testimony Friday, including from members of First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro.

“Too many faith leaders, including some from my church, have developed this myth that the God we serve is limited,” said the Rev. Joseph Lynn Kitchen Jr., president of the Young Democrats of Maryland and supporter

of the bill. “They will preach a version of an all-knowing God who foresaw terminal illness, but won’t acknowledge that he would deliver us the aid and the comfort to deliver those patients from that pain.”

The Rev. Allison Johnson, associate pastor at Glenarden and retired Army master sergeant, opposes the bill because it would affect Blacks and veterans.

“As a Christian ethics instructor, I and those I teach, believe in the sacredness of life,” she said. “Most of you would argue that capital punishment is barbaric and inhumane. Here we are in 2020 … poised to approve physician-assisted suicide under the guise of compassionate choice.”

Opponents pointed out that the bill wouldn’t force a person to face “civil or criminal liability or professional

DYING Page 54

sentatives with various agencies support time off for workers, but not the bill’s format.

Opponents claim the bill is broader than the federal Family Medical Leave Act, which grants certain employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for specified family and medical reasons.

In October, state workers can receive 60 paid parental days off for up to six months after a child’s birth or the adoption of a child age 6 or younger.

Because the bill could allow an employee to receive an additional 12 weeks within a year after applying for previous leave benefits, Paul Frey suggested the committee refer it over the summer.

“It’s very difficult for business owners to get here and talk to you in person. It’s a three-hour, round-trip drive from Washington County,” said Frey, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. “Here’s my recommendation: take it to a summer study, come to Washington County and [talk] with 50 business owners about their concerns and craft the bill that works for everybody.”

Sen. Pamela Beidle (D-Anne Arundel County), a former principal of an insurance agency, recalled one of her employees needed time off to help care for her father, brother and then she was diagnosed with cancer.

“She had a been a 20-year employee that I respected and trusted,” she said.

“I look at this [legislation] and I think, ‘what a gift this would’ve been to me to have something like this to pay for her.’ From an employer’s point of view, this would be very, very beneficial.”

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Education in the District.

This study is for research purposes only and all information provided will be maintained on a confidential basis

by Hanover Research and will only be reported to PGCPS in an aggregate form.

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

ADOPT-A-SCHOOL PROGRAM Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer

PSAT PARENT NIGHTS

Parents and guardians are encouraged to attend an info session to learn how to read their student’s PSAT 8/9 score report to identify strengths and weaknesses.

All sessions will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Upcoming dates include Wednesday, March 11 at Ernest Everett Just Middle School and Thursday, March 12 at Stephen Decatur Middle School.

All eighth grade students were given the PSAT 8/9 assessment in December.

NATIONAL COLLEGE FAIR

The Prince George’s County National College Fair will be held Friday, April 3 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex.

CTE SURVEY

PGCPS is seeking input from students, teachers and parents about experiences and perceptions of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

The goal is to provide students with a strong foundation of technical knowledge and workplace skills in preparation for college and careers. Interested persons are encouraged to complete the CTE Survey by Friday, March 6.

Hanover Research is conducting the survey — which will only take 10-15 minutes — to understand the use and perceptions of Career and Technical

The Adopt-A-School Program was created to support public schools throughout the county through enhanced educational experiences, financial support and volunteerism focused on improving outcomes for students.

The goal for school year 2019-20 is to ensure all of schools are adopted by a business, community or interfaith partner.

The program’s components consist of: • College & Career Exposure – Expose students to college/career pathways through field trips, career day or mentoring sessions.

• Financial Support – Provide at least $5,000 through in-kind donations and/or monetary contributions to each adopted school.

• Volunteer Service – Participate in at least one school-sponsored service activity.

School needs include: • Student Supplies • School Uniforms • Engineering Calculators • Classroom Smart Boards • Chromebooks and Tablets • Paid Speakers or Performers • Teacher’s Lounge Remodeling

ESTUDIOS UNIVERSITARIOS

UMD Community Engagement will hold Estudios Universitarios (A College Education is Within Your Reach: A Free Workshop in Spanish) on Saturday, March 7.

This bilingual event caters to students in grades 6-12 and their families, providing them with info about the college admission process and community resources. WI

5 All eighth grade students were given the PSAT 8/9 assessment in December. (PGCPS photo)

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 13

BUSINESS Compiled by D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor

UNCF’S ‘STATE OF THE HBCU’ HIGHLIGHTS IMPACT OF CONGRESS AND CONTINUING NEED

On March 3, the United Negro College Fund [UNCF] delivered its annual “State of the HBCU” Address, while announcing its Congressional Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Honor Roll, which highlights the positive impact of individual federal lawmakers on HBCUs. Because of their legacies and continued powerful combined impact, HBCUs serve a vital purpose in American academia and the U.S. economy. The State of the HBCU Address serves as a way to provide an update on what Congress has done to improve HBCUs, accordTraditional Help Buttons

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ing the UNCF’s policy proposals and share how Congress can continue to support HBCUs moving forward.

UNCF President/CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax delivered the organization’s second “State of the HBCU” Address, thanking federal policymakers for making a permanent, annual $85 million investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at HBCUs through the recently-passed FUTURE Act. However, he noted that investment only begins to close the gap between what’s available and what’s needed to ensure all students who want a good college degree can get one.

“It’s my hope that a year from now when we meet again, we will have taken a giant stride to end the HBCU paradox and secure the transformational support that HBCUs have longed deserved and

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D.C. Business News You May Need to Know long gone without. On one hand, we know that HBCUs are among the few institutions in America that enjoy consistent bipartisan support. The gamut of American society hails HBCUs and the role they have played in the history of our nation. But despite all of that bipartisan support, HBCUs have always been woefully underfunded throughout their nearly two centuries of history. And in 2020, we are still badly underfunded despite the very real victories we won in Congress last year,” Lomax said.

Highlighting the support of more than 300 members of Congress this year, UNCF also unveiled its HBCU Congressional Honor Roll which recognizes those who supported HBCUs during 2019 by doing things such as authoring legislation, writing congressional letters, making speeches, joining the bi-partisan HBCU Caucus and more.

AG RACINE: ‘OAG LEGISLATION TO PROTECT D.C. RESIDENTS’ ONLINE PRIVACY, SECURITY’

On Tuesday, Attorney General Karl A. Racine (lower left) thanked Chairman Phil Mendelson and the Council of the District of Columbia for passing the Security Breach Protection Amendment Act of 2019. Last March, the Office of the Attorney General [OAG] introduced the legislation to modernize the District’s existing data breach law and strengthen protections for residents’ personal information. The Council passed the bill unanimously.

“This law brings [D.C.] into the vanguard of state and local governments that have required companies collecting vast amounts of personal information to take appropriate precautions that safeguard consumers’ health, financial and other data,” Racine said. “And because laws without enforcement and accountability are toothless, OAG’s Security Breach Protection Amendment Act strengthens the District’s ability to hold companies responsible if they fail to implement reasonable protections for D.C. residents.”

Data breaches often result in the public disclosure of personally identifiable information like names, addresses, and phone numbers, or financial information, like bank and credit card details.

Recent years have seen some of the largest and most serious data breaches in history, including the Equifax breach, which exposed the

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personal information of over 143 million people, including nearly 350,000 District residents.

The new legislation expands legal protections to cover additional types of personal information from identity theft and fraud, requires companies that deal with personal information to implement safeguards, includes additional reporting requirements for companies that suffer a data breach and requires companies that expose consumers’ social security numbers to offer 18 months of free identity theft protection.

NORTON HOSTS MARCH FOR OUR LIVES PRESS CONFERENCE

On Wednesday, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (DDC) (above) hosted a press conference with the local chapter of March For Our Lives at the House Triangle to highlight urgent action needed to reduce gun violence.

“The work of D.C.’s March For Our Lives is especially important in our city, which has experienced the most significant increase in homicides in the country,” Norton said.

Look for our report at www. washingtoninformer.com and a more complete analysis in next week’s edition.

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BUSINESS

Census Information Coming This Month

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Starting Thursday, March 12, about 140 million households will begin receiving U.S. Census Bureau information to help build roads, plan new schools and assist in other capital projects.

According to the George Washington University Institute of Public Policy, federal programs in fiscal year 2017 relied on 2010 census data and distributed $1.5 trillion to state and local governments and nonprofit organizations, businesses and homes nationwide.

Based on population, the census totals can also redraw voting districts and realign congressional seats.

“The bottom line: It’s a lot of money,” according to Feb. 10 census analysis by George Washington. “In other words, census-guided spending makes up a large portion of the economy. The role of census-derived data in guiding that funding is not simple by any means, and the sensitivity of census-guided funding on state and local census accuracy differs greatly

from program to program.”

In Maryland, the state could receive $16 billion toward initiatives such as school breakfasts, public housing and health care centers.

But state and county officials and advocates admit some residents remain uneducated about the impact of the census or simply don’t trust the process.

In addition, the federal government will allow people to participate in the once-in-a-decade count for the first time online at my2020census. gov. People can still fill out forms by paper or respond by telephone until March 20.

Census workers plan to count individuals in shelters, soup kitchens and tent encampments and others on the street March 30 through April 1,

which will observe national “Census Day.” During the month of April, college students who reside on campus and senior citizens in age-restricted communities will be visited to ensure they’ve been counted.

“This is an effort where everyone can participate in our democracy where every single person is counted and able to participate,” said Del. Jheanelle Wilkins (D-Montgomery County), one of state lawmakers leading the census effort in Maryland. “There are forces out there that don’t want people to be counted … and incite fear. This is about resources for our community.”

Wilkins and local leaders emphasized that personal information is only for statistical purposes and won’t be shared.

The Census Bureau published a 21-page community outreach toolkit which notes “we cannot share your information with immigration enforcement agencies, law enforcement agencies, or allow it to be used to determine your eligibility for government benefits.”

Any census worker caught distrib-

5 The U.S. Census Bureau hosts a news conference to share outreach plans for the Black community at the African American Civil War Museum in Northwest on Monday, March 2. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

uting personal information faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Meanwhile, the NAACP, its Prince George’s County branch and the county government revived a lawsuit last month against the Census Bureau. The suit, previously filed by the NAACP in March 2018, alleges Congress allocated $1 billion to the bureau but hasn’t spent enough on advertising, hiring workers and other resources so Blacks and Latinos can be counted.

Prince George’s County Council-

woman Deni Taveras (D-District 2) of Adelphi, who represents the jurisdiction’s largest Latino population, said the census count ensures road improvements, education programs and other resources in local communities.

“The census is a change-maker for us,” she said. “Every dollar that comes from the federal government is to make sure you receive the appropriate amount of money for the safety net that is provided in this country.” wi

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 15

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NATIONAL Organization Provides Hope for the Missing

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Shurrell Caldwell is 12 years old and missing.

The 5-feet-8-inch African American girl was reported missing from her home in the 2300 block of Good Hope Court SE in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Shurrell, whom authorities said weighs 180 pounds and has brown hair and brown eyes, was last seen wearing a black shirt, green coat with fur on the hood, tan pants and black and white sneakers.

Anyone with information is asked to call D.C. police at 202576-6768 or 202-727-9099.

The stunning number of missing girls hits particularly hard in the nation’s capital where six years after her disappearance, authori-

ties and family members are still looking for Relisha Rudd. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children this week released a new age-progression image for what she may look like now at 14.

Last seen on March 1, 2014, Relisha lived in a homeless shelter with her mother and brothers. Natalie Wilson, the co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, said Relisha remains in “the hearts and the minds of the D.C. area.”

Three years ago, Metropolitian Police named July 11 as National Relisha Rudd Remembrance Day, and Wilson said she believes Relisha may be a victim of sex trafficking.

Another expert said the number of those who’ve disappeared overall in the United States is alarming.

“Over 600,000 people are reported missing to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) every single year. So, on any given day, we have more in

Shurrell Caldwell is 12 years old and missing.

The 5-feet-8-inch African American girl was reported missing from her

5 Relisha Rudd vanished in Washington, D.C., on March 19, 2014. Forensic artists with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) created this progression image for what she may look like in 2020.

the neighborhood of 85,000 active missing person cases on file with law enforcement,” said B.J. Spamer, the executive director of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS), a nationwide information clearinghouse that offers free, secure, and easy-to-use technology to help expedite case associations and resolutions.

NAMUS also provides free forensic services, investigative support, victim services, and training and outreach.

According to the NCIC, of the 609,275 individuals who were reported missing in the United States last year, 205,802 were Black — 164,769 younger than 21.

“The good news is that more than 90 percent of the NCIC entries are resolved each year,” Spamer said.

NCIC noted that of the 609,275 missing person records entered in 2019, a total of 607,104 were purged during that same period.

Reasons for the purge include the individual returning home or being located by a law enforcement agency, or that the record had to be removed by a reporting authority after they determined it is invalid.

home in the 2300 block of Good Hope Court SE in Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

16 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

NCIC categorized 95.23 percent of entries as runaways; 0.84 percent as abducted by a non-custodial parent; 0.11 percent as abducted by a stranger; and 3.82 percent as missing adults.

“One of the first things we look for is for the family to file a police report,” Spamer said. “The sooner they get a report on file with law enforcement, the sooner the family can get their loved one in the NCIC database, which is used by law enforcement across the country. If they come into contact with law enforcement, as soon as the authorities run their name and their date of birth, they’re going to locate that missing person.”

Also, once the report is filed, NAMUS can publish the case in its system and offer forensic and analytical resources.

“We can help the family get their DNA profiles, get fingerprints, dental records, and all of the vital metrics that are available,” she said. “Then we can get into a system where the results are actively compared and identified just in case the worst-case scenario has happened.”

Spamer said that it’s mostly a myth that you can’t report a missing person for 24 hours.

“You hear that especially on television programs, but that’s not an across-the-board policy,” she said.

“When it’s a case involving a child, it’s mandated that every missing child case be entered into NCIC within two hours of receiving that report from law enforcement. So I would encourage families to im-

mediately report a missing person, especially if they fear that something has happened to their loved one.”

Spamer said that awareness is a significant component of getting a missing person home safely.

“The media uses certain cases to highlight, and so many other cases don’t get the same amount of attention,” she said. “The media plays a huge role in making sure that we raise awareness for all missing persons and also be able to raise awareness of the tools that families have available to them that they may not know are available. We have had families sit down at the keyboard to search the database and find their loved one, essentially resolving their own case.

“It’s an empowering thing to have families to be able to participate in the search using certain tools that we make publicly available,” Spamer said. “There are so many resources available today that didn’t exist 20 or 30 years ago when their loved one may have gone missing.

“We would love to see those families come forward today and provide whatever information they still have on their loved one because we are routinely seeing identifications on cases that are 20, 30 or 40 years old,” she said.

“And so as long as there’s a searching family member, it is never too late to file a report, get that case in NAMUS and potentially find a match and bring resolution to that family.” WI

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Documenting History: Rep. John Lewis Leads 55th Anniversary Selma March

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

Legendary Rep. John Lewis (DGa.) made an inspiring return to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 1 to help commemorate the 55th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.”

“Fifty-five years ago, a few of our children attempted to march across this bridge. We were beaten, we were tear-gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge, but somehow and someway, God almighty helped me here,” Lewis offered while several people held the 80-year-old icon up to make sure the large crowd in attendance could see him and hear his encouraging words.

During the original march in 1965, Lewis suffered a broken skull after white police officers attacked

him and others in an attempt to stop the civil rights activists.

Diagnosed late last year with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, Lewis implored everyone to cast their vote in the 2020 election.

“We must go out and vote like we never, ever voted before. I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to give in. We’re going to continue to fight,” he said.

“We need your prayers now more than ever before. We must use the vote as a nonviolent instrument or tool to redeem the soul of America.”

With the Revs. William Barber, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton, and former Georgia Rep. Stacey Abrams among the many participating, the commemorative march paid tribute to civil rights protests that pushed for voting rights.

In the 1965 march, Lewis, who was part of the Student Nonvi-

olent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Rev. Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led participants in an attempt to walk from Selma to Montgomery.

Alabama state police and other authorities intervened, violently beating Lewis, Williams, and other protestors, which led to dozens of injuries.

The anniversary also paid tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., traveled to Selma where King attempted another march but, to the dismay of some demonstrators, turned back when troopers again blocked the highway at the Pettus Bridge.

After a federal court order permitted the protest, the voting rights marchers left Selma on March 21, under the protection of federalized National Guard troops.

Four days later, they reached

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NATIONAL

5 US Rep. John Lewis in a vintage photo taken in Selma, Alabama (Courtesy photo/John Lewis, Twitter)

Montgomery with the crowd growing to 25,000 by the time they reached the capitol steps, according to the History Channel.

Meanwhile, the observance in Selma included the induction of National Newspaper Publishers Association President & CEO Dr.

Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., into the Voting Rights Museum Hall of Fame for Ministers.

Located at the foot of the Pettus Bridge, the National Voting Rights Museum & Institute counts as the

SUNDAY Page 23

MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 17

NATIONAL Suffragist Gertrude Mossell Taught Black and Women’s History

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

5 Gertrude Mossell (Nathan Francis Mossell via Wikimedia Commons)

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.

Gertrude Mossell, who hailed from a prominent Philadelphia family of free Black reformers, helped to call attention to the plight of women suffragettes in an article for The New York Freeman, the premiere African American newspaper in the nation.

She wrote of her belief that intemperance is the greatest hindrance to the Black community,

HELP KICK HUNGER Gary Clark Washington Redskins

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and she aimed her dissertations at fellow African Americans using the Black Press.

Mossell titled her first article, “Woman Suffrage,” in which she implored women to read suffrage history and news articles about women’s rights.

Historians noted that Mossell’s pro-suffrage dissertations were similar to other Black suffragists of her era. Mainly, they said, Mossell called for a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women.

“As a professional writer and affluent mother of two, she could relate to the middle-class views of housewives who were feminists,” said historians at Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, an online homage to women of the suffrage movement.

Born July 3, 1855, in Philadelphia, Mossell worked as a teacher and then as a journalist. While she started writing for Black-owned newspapers that included the Indianapolis Freeman, the Philadelphia Echo, and The Richmond Rankin Institute, Mossell also wrote for Ladies Home Journal, the Philadelphia Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Press — all white-owned publications.

When Mossell wrote The Woman’s Department, a column for The New York Freeman, it was the first woman’s column published in Black-owned publications. She and her editors used the column to advocate for equal rights for

women.

However, her activism didn’t just include women. She strongly pushed the idea that newsboys should be used to distribute papers in African American neighborhoods, and she suggested the establishment of a Black newspaper syndicate similar to the Associated Press.

In 1919, Mossell founded The Associated Negro Press.

“I want to acknowledge African American journalists Ida B. Wells, Ethel L. Payne, and Gertrude Bustill Mossell, who served as a guiding voice to the African American community,” said Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.). “Without these women, much of our history would have gone unknown.”

Author Jackie Azúa Kramer, tweeted a salute this week to Mossell to kick off Women’s History Month.

“Let’s remember the lives of Black suffragettes Gertrude Bustill Mossell and Verina Morton Jones, who were fighting for the vote, gender and racial equality, long before Martin Luther King Jr., was born,” Kramer wrote on Twitter.

Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Hughes also honored Mossell, who died Jan. 21, 1948, in the City of Brotherly Love.

“Pennsylvania is incredibly fortunate to have been home to so many important figures in women’s suffrage,” Hughes said, mentioning six Black women, including Mossell.

WI

NNPA President, Others Make Ebony Power 100 List

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By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia What do Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Delores Tucker, Roland Martin, Gayle King and Brent Staples have in common?

Each has been named to the Ebony Power 100 list, which annually recognizes leaders in their respective fields and those who have had a positive impact on the

African American community.

“They are game-changers in their respective fields and have consistently challenged the status quo,” said Ebony Chairman Willard Jackson.

The Ebony Power 100 recognizes individuals in several fields and categories, including media, culture, crusaders, shining stars and power couples.

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LIST Page 19

LIST from Page 18 Chavis, Tucker, Martin, King, Staples, Karen Hunter and T.J. Holmes are named in the category of Excellence in Media.

Chavis is president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade association of the nation’s more than 220 African American-owned newspapers and media companies.

Tucker serves as president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), an organization comprised of Black journalists, students, and media professionals whose purpose is to provide quality programs and services to and advocate on behalf of African American media members.

Martin, host and managing editor of the daily digital show “Roland Martin Unfiltered,” has continued to blaze trails for African American journalists.

King, an anchor for “CBS This Morning,” has earned acclaim for her ability to land major inter-

views before any other television journalist.

Staples, who writes for the New York Times, has earned numerous journalism awards, including the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.

Hunter has co-authored several books and hosts Sirius XM Radio’s “The Karen Hunter Show.”

Holmes, who works for ABC News, spent five years at CNN, where he anchored important news stories, including Saddam Hussein’s execution in 2006 and the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, in 2008, and at Glasgow Airport in 2007.

“On behalf of the Black Press of America, I’m honored to be included on the 2020 Ebony Power 100 List,” Chavis said. “African Americans in many different fields continue to achieve excellence as a result of our resilience in the ongoing struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. I am proud to serve the NNPA.” Tucker, the NABJ president, said she’s humbled and honored by the recognition from Ebony.

NATIONAL

5 NNPA President and CEO Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. (NNPA Newswire)

“I congratulate my colleagues who are also being recognized,” Tucker said. “I stand on the shoulders of so many trailblazers, including the courageous founders of NABJ. As president, I am committed to ensuring that Black journalists worldwide have their

voices heard, are treated fairly, have access to the resources they need, always have a seat at the table – and can own that table, if they choose.”

Ebony Power 100 includes singer John Legend and his wife Chrissy Teigen; football star Rus-

sell Wilson and his wife Ciara; singer H.E.R., radio personality Charlamagne Tha God, hiphop superstar Jay-Z; NAACP President Derrick Johnson; tennis champion Coco Gauff, and Olympic medalist Simone Biles.

WI

If it were up to me, we’d have all the healthcare we need.

The 2020 Census informs funding for walk-in clinics, Medicare and all types of health services. Rest assured your answers are safe and secure.

Learn more at:

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New Education Minister Vows to Tackle Challenges in Sector

As the government of Rwanda seeks to scale up the quality of education and skills obtained by young graduates in the education sector, the new Minister for Education, Valentine Uwamariya, declared Friday, that with teamwork, transparency and accountability, the quality of education will become better.

Uwamariya remarks came during a handover ceremony from the outgoing minister, Eugene Mutimura (right) , who assumed the position in December 2017.

Uwamariya was named Minister of Education on Wednesday, Feb. 26, following a minor cabinet reshuffle by President Paul Kagame, The New Times reported The reshuffle also saw the creation of minister of state in the Ministry of Education in Charge of ICT and TVET Education, with Claudette Irere assigned to the task.

Uwamariya congratulated the outgoing minister for the work accomplished and promised that her team will work even harder because a lot is expected of them.

“The outgoing minister and his team, which I was also part of, has done a lot,” she said. “With this background, I believe that we have no excuse or obstacle that stops us from taking the education sector to a higher level.”

Additionally, the new minister urged her team to work towards addressing the existing challenges in the sector. She argued that one of the new leadership’s immediate challenges is to find solutions to issues that have been raised by the public.

“As you all know, this ministry has been receiving many concerns from the public. Even though some of them are not realistic, there is a need to consider each of them because these are problems that are on the ground,” she pointed out. “We have all it takes, ranging from a youthful team, to this foundation laid by the outgoing team. With strong teamwork and prioritizing the quality of education obtained by our children, I believe that we will contribute to the socio-development of this country.”

Mutimura, the former education minister, was appointed as the Head of Science and Technology Commission in the same reshuffle.

Gaspard Twagirayezu was appointed minister of state in charge of primary and secondary education, replacing Isaac Munyakazi, who resigned recently following corruption-related charges.

The reshuffle also saw the creation of a state minister in the ministry of education in charge of ICT and TVET education, to which Claudette Irere was appointed.

Promising that TVET graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills to cope with the current job market, Irere said, “I believe that based on my experience from the ICT field, there is a lot I look forward to share with young TVET students, and I am confident it will contribute to the quality of education in general.” WI

caribbean now Jamaica Partners with UWI for Research on Sexual Harassment The government of Jamaica will be partnering with the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus over the next three years to provide training and research on sexual harassment in the workplace and related matters.

Specifically, the collaboration is between the Bureau of Gender Affairs, under the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, and the Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute.

The partnership will see the Institute providing special training through seminars, lectures and workshops coordinated by the bureau. Training will cover the areas of sexual harassment, workplace bullying, emotional intelligence, labor laws, grievance handling and good industrial relations practices.

Both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize this partnership during a ceremony at the UWI Regional Headquarters on Feb. 28.

The emphasis will be on providing support to combat the stigma of sexual harassment through research and the areas of training identified. It is expected to contribute to an appreciation among public sector workers of the importance of promoting an environment free of sexual harassment, in which all categories of workers are treated with respect and dignity.

Olivia Grange, minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, participated in the signing and said the MOU has been entered into at an opportune time, in light of “the increasing incidents of violence and abuse of our women.”

She noted that through the MoU, the intent is to explore the impact on productivity of sexual harassment and the implications for workplace competitiveness. WI

20 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

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How Public Libraries Go Beyond the Books Submitted by AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia How often have you heard that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover?

When it comes to public libraries, you can also find a lot on offer under the surface. Libraries have long offered books and other media for people to read, watch, or listen to. But modern libraries often go far beyond that. They may provide much more than books.

Public libraries offer services for people of all ages. Visitors use a library’s free access to books, computers, and the internet to help them: • Find health care information • Finish homework • Write résumés • Learn new life and job skills • Apply for jobs Library staff may also offer: • Reading aloud, choir, crafts, and playtime for kids

• Child and adult literacy programs • Summer reading programs • Classes for GED® preparation, learning English, and learning how to become a citizen • Services to ease stress, like yoga, meditation, and coloring time • Classes on healthy cooking and making healthy meals on a budget In some areas, librarians serve as social workers and navigators as needed. Library staff may be trained to deliver medicines, like naloxone, for opioid overdoses. What’s more, some libraries provide relief for victims of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods.

TEAMING UP TO HELP

Some libraries partner with other groups or have specialists to connect people with services. This lets these libraries provide: • Health screenings and influenza vaccines • Notary services • Help with filling out tax, health insurance, and other government forms • Help for those who are homeless to find welfare services, such as meals, shelter, and legal aid

CONNECTIONS IN THE COMMUNITY

Public libraries are community anchors.

They help build communities through reading. They also host events to bring people together. For instance, they have offered social events like writing, painting, choir, and dance classes for older adults. Some libraries offer services for immigrants, LGBTQ youth, and veterans.

And, even with all that, libraries still offer a place of safety, peace, and quiet.

Sources: 1. Morgan M. Philbin, Caroline M. Parker, Jennifer S. Hirsch, and Mary Grace Flaherty, “Public Libraries: A Community-Level Resource to Advance Population Health,” U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6329675.

2. Marcela Cabello and Stuart M. Butler, “How Public Libraries Help Build Healthy Communities,” Brookings, https://www.brookings.edu/ blog/up-front/2017/03/30/how-public-libraries-help-build-healthy-communities.

All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model

#BestMe Corner

Help From Your Local Library The DC Public Library has libraries across the District. Find a library in your area at www.dclibrary.org. You can talk to your librarian or visit the library website for details on these services: • Books From Birth — This program gives your child a free book each month until age 5 • Homework help — This is a 24-hour online resource to help teens with their home work. You will need a library card or DC One Card number and PIN. • Adult Literacy Resource Center — This center is at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Room 300. You can call the Literacy Helpline at 202-7272431 for help with reading, writing, and math skills for the GED test.

• Income tax return help — The library has income tax return preparation sessions. Ask your librarian for locations and hours.

Find us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/amerihealthdc. / Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AmeriHealthCaritasDC.

#BestMe

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AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, at no cost, are available to you. Call 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 or 1-800-570-1190).

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 21

HEALTH Weather Critical in Success of Underground Railroad

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia As documented throughout the pages of African American and women’s history, Harriet Tubman courageously engineered the freedom of dozens of slaves through the Underground Railroad.

Tubman, who earned the nickname “Moses,” was successful because of her courage and determination.

Now, according to a new feature, Tubman’s efforts were aided substantially by the weather.

Monica Danielle, a senior producer for AccuWeather, notes that weather played a crucial role in the success of the Underground Railroad.

“Although traveling at night in the fall or winter offered the best chances for escaping, most enslaved people did not have maps or compasses to guide them,” Danielle wrote in a new feature for AccuWeather.

Tubman’s route usually took her up Maryland’s Eastern Seaboard, through Delaware and into Pennsylvania, where slavery was illegal.

“From here to Philadelphia is about 100 miles and she would’ve done that on foot. She could’ve taken boats as well as wagons, so it was a mixture — any way she could travel she did,” Angela Crenshaw, who manages the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Dorchester County, told Danielle.

“One hundred miles in the win-

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5 Harriet Tubman (H. B. Lindsley via Wikimedia Commons)

ter. Or fall,” Crenshaw said.

From there, those seeking freedom from pursuers would often make their way to Canada. Because the seasons played such an integral role in how and when Tubman planned her journeys, the park has installed stunning stained-glass windows depicting the seasons.

Danielle added that a freedom-seeker’s ability to navigate was often a matter of life and death.

Taught to navigate by Black Jacks, free African-American sailors, Tubman used the North Star as her guide, reportedly saying, “God’s time is always near. He set the North Star in the heavens. He gave me the strength in my limbs.

He meant I should be free.”

Crenshaw told Danielle that Tubman planned her emancipa-

tions to take place during the fall and winter months.

“When the sun sets in the winter at, say, 3:30 and doesn’t rise until 6 or 7, you have much longer to travel,” she said. “During the day when the sun is out, it’s much easier to see somebody in the woods — to chase somebody and follow someone.”

The journey, regardless of season, was perilous, Crenshaw said.

“The landscape here in Dorchester County is very tidal and very marshy so in the summer would’ve been squishy and wet,” she explained, adding that, “in the summer, there are a lot of biting flies and mosquitoes and chiggers and things that are definitely a hindrance.”

Contrast that with the cold of winter: “In the winter, the ground is

frozen solid, but it could also give way underneath you,” Crenshaw told Danielle.

Although most couldn’t read or write, those making escapes could find the star by locating the Big Dipper — also called the Drinking Gourd — which is most visible in the night sky during late winter and spring. Their eyes would follow the Big Dipper across the sky until they spotted the North Star.

As the National Park Service notes: “The night sky is a canvas of stories that links us to this past. National parks are among the best places to see the stars and hear these stories. The next time you gaze at the stars, think on the drinking gourd story and those early Americans who staked their freedom on a star.”

To read the entire AccuWeather report, go to www.accuweather.com. WI

EDITOR from Page 8

cial resources to respond appropriately when their child is missing, like hiring a private investigator or taking off from work to help look for their child and following up with law enforcement and the media. In some cases, they may not know what to do.

Additionally, some falsely believe they must wait 48 hours before filing a police report, when that waiting period varies by location. Places like Illinois or the District don’t have waiting periods to report a child missing so knowing the laws in one’s state helps.

But who could wait two days when their child has disappeared. I

know I couldn’t. I know I would be unable to eat or sleep. And I know I would not rest until I my child had been found – prayerfully safe and unharmed.

Relisha Rudd vanished six years ago. No one knows what happened to her or if she’s even alive. We all mourn for her family and try to remain hopeful that one day – perhaps against all odds – we will see her again.

As for today’s children whose safety and welfare rests in the job that their parents and guardians perform, I’d like to ask you one question: Do you know where your children are? WI

are underreported because some families with undocumented members refuse to contact police for fear of being deported.

Statistics notwithstanding, Black (and brown) boys and girls face the likelihood that whether they’ve been abducted or have run away, once they’ve gone missing, chances are they’ll never be seen or heard from again.

They don’t get as much media attention – something considered vital to helping solve those cases.

Their families don’t have the finan-

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

Congress Passes Historic Anti-Lynching Legislation

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

Sixty-five years after the horrific lynching of teenager Emmett Till, the U.S. House of Representatives has finally passed H.R. 35, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act. The legislation would make lynching a crime under federal law.

“Today, under the leadership of Representative Bobby Rush (IL-01) and three other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, the House of Representatives finally passed legislation to address the heinous act of lynching by making it a federal crime.

The first bill to outlaw lynching was introduced in 1900,” members of the Congressional Black Caucus wrote in a statement.

“Lynching was a brutal, violent and often savage public spectacle.

They were advertised in newspapers, memorialized in postcards and souvenirs were made from the victims’ remains,” the organization, who’s chaired by Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif), added.

A 1930 editorial in Raleigh News and Observer noted the delight of the audience witnessing a lynching as “Men joked loudly at the sight of the bleeding body; girls giggled as the flies fed on the blood that dripped from the Negro’s nose.”

“Make no mistake: lynching is domestic terrorism. It is a tool that was used during the 256 years of slavery to terrorize enslaved African Americans and discourage them from rebelling,” Bass said.

“It was used for almost 100 years after the end of slavery to terrorize free African Americans and discourage them from exercising their rights as citizens. Even today, we hear reports of nooses being left on college campuses and workplaces to threaten and harass Black people,” she stated.

Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Tim Scott (R-SC) applauded the passage of the bill, which is identical to anti-lynching legislation the three introduced in the Senate last year.

That legislation unanimously passed the Senate.

“Today brings us one step closer to finally reconciling a dark chapter in

our nation’s history,” Booker stated in a release.

“Lynchings were used to terrorize, marginalize, and oppress black communities – to kill human beings to sow fear and keep black communities in a perpetual state of racial subjugation.”

He continued: “If we do not reckon with this dark past, we cannot move forward. But today we are moving forward. Thanks to the leadership of Rep. Rush, the House has sent a clear, indisputable message that lynching will not be tolerated. It has brought us closer to reckoning with our nation’s history of racialized violence. Now the Senate must again pass this bill to ensure that it finally becomes law.”

Harris called lynchings racially motivated acts of violence and terror that represent a dark and despicable chapter of our nation’s history.

“They were acts against people who should have received justice but did not. With this bill, we can change that by explicitly criminalizing lynching under federal law,” noted Harris, who suspended her presidential campaign late last year.

“I applaud Congressman Rush and the House of Representatives for speaking the truth about our past and making it clear that these acts must never happen again without serious and swift consequence and accountability. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this bill’s passage,” she said.

Scott added that it’s essential to show that hate will not win while Rush

SUNDAY from Page 17 cornerstone of the contemporary struggle for voting rights and human dignity.

“The Black Press of America, represented by NNPA, retook steps along with thousands of people, to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate Bloody Sunday in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, in our long struggle for voting rights in America,” Chavis stated.

“On the eve of the 2020 Super Tuesday primary elections in 12 states across the nation, our com-

compared lynching to the French use of the guillotine, the Roman Empire’s use of crucifixion and the British use of drawing and quartering as tools of terrorism.

“And, for too long now, a federal law against lynching has remained conspicuously silent,” Rush noted.

“Today, we will send a strong message that violence – and race-based violence, in particular – has no place in American society. I am immensely grateful to Senators Harris, Booker and Scott for working with my office on this landmark piece of legislation, and I look forward to it being quickly passed in the Senate and immediately sent to the President to be signed into law.”

Bass said the last known lynching was as recent as 25 years ago and only then, for the first time in the nation’s history, was the perpetrator convicted and executed.

“This is an awful part of our history, but it is our history – our American history – and it is important for us to all know and remember it, especially now that we are facing a resurgence of hate crimes in America under the presidency of Donald J. Trump,” Bass stated.

“Now there is the National Memorial for Peace and Justice to document the known history of lynching and the many reasons why Black people were lynched, such as for making eye contact with a white person, not moving to the other side of the street, or spitting in public,” she said.

Further, Bass added that the bill makes “a long-overdue change to our laws by finally addressing the issue of lynching for the thousands of African Americans who suffered this heinous fate and the countless more we’ll never know.” WI memorative march this year in Selma had critical relevance to our demand for full restoration of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has been diluted,” he noted.

Chavis continued: “The Black vote is 2020 will determine the next President of the United States and the makeup of the U. S. Congress. We cannot afford to allow anyone or anything to keep us from voting. The Black Press has always been on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement and we remain there today.

Black Votes Matter and the Black Press Matters.” WI

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

HEALTH

5 Emmett Till at Christmas 1954 taken by Mamie Till Bradley/via wikicommons

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 23

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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and her administration leaders, as well as other District institutions, have taken steps to deal with the coronavirus should it come to the city.

Bowser held a news conference Tuesday on the virus at the John A. Wilson Building in Northwest, joined by Fire and EMS Chief Gregory Dean, Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham; Dr. LaQuandra S. Nesbitt, director of the D.C. Department of Health; D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Christopher Rodriguez and Jenifer Smith, director of the D.C. Department of Forensic Services.

Bowser said keeping District residents and government workers healthy has become her priority.

“There are no District residents who have contracted the coronavirus,” the mayor said. “I am calling for District residents to use common sense to stop the spread of germs.”

On Feb. 27, Bowser directed leaders of District government agencies to keep an eye on developments related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Since its detection late last year in Wuhan, China, the disease has killed at least 3,000 people worldwide as of March 1, according to BNO News.

The D.C. Department of Health said the virus presently exists in 37 countries, including the U.S. The first known U.S. death from the disease occurred over the weekend in Washington state, and officials confirm that eight others have died since.

Nesbitt said those who may think they are suffering from the disease “should seek health care.”

“There is no treatment for coronavirus and there is no vaccine,” she said. “I am asking District residents to practice community and personal hygiene to stop the spread of the disease.”

Rodriquez said that his department has been put on enhanced watch because of the virus, saying that his agency will practice prevention and preparedness should it show up in the District.

Dean said his agency’s first responders are ready to respond to the disease

5 This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round blue objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. SARS-CoV-2, also known as 2019-nCoV, is the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The virus shown was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (Courtesy photo/NIAID-RML)

whether on a personal or communal level.

D.C. City Administrator Rashad Young said the city will be prepared for a quarantine situation if it has to take place.

Nesbitt refuted the stigma that since the coronavirus started in China that Asians are primarily the ones affected and spreading it.

“I am going to speak openly about this,” Nesbitt said. “There is no ancestry linked to who gets coronavirus. We are preparing materials to let people know this.”

Nesbitt said six District residents have been tested regarding the virus.

She said the risk remains low for District residents.

Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), who chairs the Committee on Health, expressed skepticism about Nesbitt’s approach to the coronavirus.

“As part of my oversight of the Department of Health, I have had numerous questions regarding the District’s response to potential threats of the coronavirus including how to conduct tests and prepare Ward 7 and other District residents for any health risks associated with the spread of this deadly virus,” Gray said. “We are learning more every day and are working to ensure the District’s readiness to respond effectively, while keeping residents informed.”

District universities such as Howard, George Washington, Georgetown, Catholic and American have also communicated to its faculty, staff and students about the disease. Howard University, for example, sent out a memo to its community on Feb. 28, saying it continues to monitor the development of the disease.

“This is a rapidly changing situation, appropriate resources are being allocated at the university to continue to monitor, develop and execute plans to maintain the safety and well-being of our community,” said the memo authored by Anthony K. Wutoh, the university’s provost and chief academic officer.

Metro, the Washington area’s transit agency, created a pandemic task force to deal with coronavirus, according to a Feb. 27 report by WJLA-TV (Channel 7).

“Metro has been focused on preparedness,” Theresa Impastato, the agency’s chief safety officer, said during a Metro board meeting on Feb. 27.

“The task force has met weekly since its activation and continues to meet. Metro’s current cleaning protocols include disinfecting of equipment and facilities on a regular basis.”

Impastato said Metro has also increased inventory of critical supplies such as hospital-grade cleaning products and personal protective property like masks and gloves.

MedStar Health, with operations in the city, has its plans on its website regarding the coronavirus.

“MedStar Health clinicians are prepared to accurately screen for risk of COVID-19 and respond immediately to prevent further spread,” MedStar Health said. “We are following the guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so that patients affected by COVID-19 will be able to get the care they need while protecting the health and safety of our associates and the community at large.

The health of our patients, physicians, staff and visitors is our top priority.”

WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

Washington Gas Safety – Mind the Marks The leading cause of gas damage emergencies in the country are due to individuals and contractors performing excavation work without a Miss Utility ticket. Miss Utility is the organization that coordinates the marking of utility lines to prevent them from being damaged by excavation or demolition work. Excavation includes digging, boring and directional drilling. Homeowners may not be aware that they need to call 811 each and every time they dig. Even if you’re adding a rosebush or mailbox, call before you install!

When it comes to preventing damage to underground utility lines, the area must be marked properly, and those marks must be respected so critical infrastructure is protected. The Call Before You Dig program is an important tool to stop construction crews and excavators from striking lines and disrupting service.

“We ask for the public to help us protect our infrastructure and avoid any disruption in your neighborhoods by calling 811 and telling your neighbors and friends to do the same every time you have a digging project,” said Blue Jenkins, president of Washington Gas. How is Washington Gas enabling safer digging?

We have developed an Enhanced Positive Response (EPR) program that goes above and beyond locating and marking underground utilities for the customer. It provides the customer-detailed information, including photographs and mapping, specific to their project each time an 811 call is made.

The EPR can be accessed via a hyper link when you receive your 811 locate confirmation email. In addition to the advanced EPR tool, Washington Gas also uses a computer-generated algorithm, as well as a process to rank the risk of each locate and mark request so we can prioritize our efforts, which all help us maintain a leadership role in damage prevention.

The markings consist of paint which is temporary, solvent, biodegradable and is either chalk or water based. While markings do not indicate exactly where the crews will be digging, it lets the crews know where all utilities are located underground. When excavating, it should be done within two feet on either side of the staked or marked location of an underground utility line.

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DO: • Call 811 at least 48 hours before a planned dig DON’T • Assume the depth of a utility line • Excavate under someone else’s ticket • Remove an abandoned utility line without receiving proper authorization

When using mechanized equipment, it is REQUIRED BY LAW to CALL Miss Utility at 811 before digging.

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WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

Call before you dig.

Allow time for marking.

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Excavate carefully.

MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 25

EDUCATION Legislation Aims to Help Schools with High At-Risk Population

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins As elected officials, agency heads, and constituents across the District continue to mull what will eventually become the fiscal year 2021 budget, the D.C. Council will discuss legislation that would devote additional funding to schools with a significant at-risk student population.

Later this month, the Critical Risk Rate School Funding Designation Act will go before

26 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

the council’s Committee of the Whole and Committee on Education, not only with the support of Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8), who introduced the bill last year, but that of Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), who has signed on as a co-sponsor.

“We’re trying to make sure we’re proactive [in addressing] inequities in Ward 8 schools. Last year, we had a billion-dollar increase in the budget but the school budget was supposed to be cut,” White told The Informer in anticipa-

5 D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8) (Courtesy photo/Trayon White screen grab)

tion of the March 10 hearing at the John A. Wilson Building in Northwest.

“With the amount of resources we have, we shouldn’t be taking money from the poorest part of the city,” White said. “This is to address the flaws in the per-pupil [school funding] formula. It’s our job as leaders to create quality schools everywhere in the District.

We can’t under-resource a school and expect it to produce at maximum capacity.”

The upcoming hearing will follow the passage of a resolution introduced by White and fellow Council members David Grosso (I-At large), Anita Bonds (D-At large), Robert White Jr. (D-At large), and Elissa Silverman (IAt large). The document, floated around in January, espouses the need for a solution to funding inequities that place Ward 8 schools at a disadvantage.

Earlier this year, D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) officials released a fiscal 2021 budget proposal that includes an eight-percent average increase in allocations for local schools. Nearly two dozen schools — more than half of which are located east of the Anacostia River — will have access to $3.4 million set aside in the chancellor initial budget assistance coffer for midyear enrollment influxes.

At the start of the budget process, the DCPS central office cir-

culated a Pocket Guide with which parents and other concerned parties can navigate the school budget planning process and see the amount allocated to each D.C. public school. Budget proposals also reached Local School Advisory Teams (LSATs) earlier this year, and DCPS officials conducted budget forums across the city.

These developments follow the overwhelming backlash that DCPS and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) faced in the aftermath of a fiscal year 2020 budget proposal that included a budget loss of more than $480,000 for Ballou Senior High School and Anacostia High School. An anticipated decline in enrollment — calculated with the per-pupil school funding formula — made for a dire fiscal situation in schools located in resource-starved communities.

Even Hart Middle School — an institution with a predicted stability in enrollment — lost $132.000 in the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget. In total, 15 Ward 8 schools would have lost more than $10 million.

In June, after students, teachers, parents, D.C. State Board of Education officials, and other advocates stormed the Wilson Building, the D.C. Council approved the Budget Sponsor Act, which directed an additional $5.4 million to 31 underfunded schools — the majority of which served Ward 8

communities — and made adjustments in public safety, transportation, and other portions of the $15.5 billion fiscal 2020 budget.

As the Ward 8 community engages city officials in another round of budget discussions, some people, including Ward 8 teacher Chantal Fuller, said leaders should work harder in aligning funding to the specific needs of the student population at each D.C. public school.

“With these budget cuts, schools [had to use] money needed to provide socioemotional support to cover teachers’ salaries,” said Fuller, a special-education teacher of six years who graduated from Banneker Academic High School in Northwest.

When not in the classroom, Fuller uses her committee assignment in the Washington Teachers’ Union to advocate for the hiring of psychologists and other interventionists who can assist her and her colleagues in meeting the needs of their special needs population.

“We’ve been trying to lobby and encourage LSATs and schools to request more money and fight for positions,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a magic number [for funding]. That’s what most government leaders have us believe. It’s about doing a full-needs assessment for all D.C. public schools for them to get what they need.

WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

DCPS

BRIEFS Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer

EXPLORING STUDENT HOMELESSNESS

The State Board, at its March 4 meeting, continued to explore barriers faced by students and families experiencing homelessness.

Federal and city law attempts to ensure that students with insecure housing are able to continue their educations, but in practice, it can be a daily challenge to move across the city to attend school.

The board also focused on a draft resolution that includes recommendations for additional action by other agencies to better serve families.

ticeship or industry-certification program.

COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

African American students make up more than 70 percent of the 43,556 students served by D.C.’s public charter schools. These students are achieving higher proficiency rates in English language arts and Math on PARCC, while more students are graduating in four years, prepared for college and the workforce.

Facts: • In SY 2018-19, African American students graduating in four years improved by 5.5 percentage points from the prior year, exceeding the state graduation rate for this same student group by 12 percentage points.

• On the PARCC English language arts assessment, African American students — consisting of more than 75 percent of the test-takers in the sector — improved in proficiency by 2.6 per-

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education recently recognized the accomplishments of more than 305 District residents who earned their DC State School Diplomas by passing the tests of the 2014-Series General Educational Development (GED®) or completing the requirements of the National External Diploma Program.

The commencement ceremony, held Feb. 29 at the University of the District of Columbia, was themed “Real Breakthroughs!”

As they celebrate their accomplishments, diploma recipients are taking the next step in their career pathways, by either enrolling in a two- or four-year college or university or entering an appren-

CHARTER SCHOOL EXCELLENCE

EDUCATION centage points from SY 2017-18 to SY 2018-19, the highest improvement of any race/ethnicity group in the sector.

• The 2017-18 Equity Report shows African American students in the charter sector have over a 90 percent in-seat attendance rate, higher than the 2017-18 in-seat attendance state average.

BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS

James Bonnette, also known as Mr. B., is one of the first faces Achievement Prep Public Charter School scholars see as they enter the building each day.

Bonnette, as the elementary school culture specialist, conducts daily check-ins with scholars, encouraging them to have a good day and be positive role models for their peers.

“Coach B. is a father figure to the scholars on the basketball team, and holds the young men accountable for their grades, their

5 James Bonnette conducts daily checkins with scholars, encouraging them to have a good day and to be positive role models for their peers at Achievement Prep Public Charter School. (Courtesy of Achievement Prep PCS)

behavior in school, and their skills on the court,” said Achievement Prep Principal Yolanda Barber.

Bonnette is also the middle school basketball coach and physical education aide, who takes pride in building strong relationships with scholars. WI

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 27

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8:59:06 AM

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL

DMV Commuters Deserve and Need a Metro Schedule with Teeth

Public hearings on the budget continue for Metro as its board of directors look to April when they’ll decide upon changes in service for buses and trains in the District, Virginia and Maryland for the next fiscal year.

Recent numbers indicate a rise in ridership for Metro after reported declines over the past several years – good news, we assume for Metro officials. However, that hasn’t stopped them from considering changes to over 20 bus routes in the District, among other proposed cuts.

But many longtime residents in the District, particularly senior citizens, say they’re frustrated and angry with proposed cuts to service in communities like Deanwood where they’ve lived for decades. Even more, they say they’re concerned about how they will get around should Metro go through with reductions in service to communities like theirs.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has joined in advocacy efforts, addressing the lack of latenight Metro service which she says, armed with a first-ever economic study of D.C.’s nightlife, is hurting the District’s economy which derives a significant amount of revenue from the nightlife industry.

The report, released Feb. 26, found that parking and transportation rank among the top obstacles late-night workers face in getting to their jobs, while businesses say they’re losing money and customers when Metro shuts down early.

It’s difficult to predict what Metro will decide when the board votes on its new budget and announces the changes, reductions and cuts in service which some Washingtonians fear are inevitable. But with the thousands of residents from the Greater Washington Area who have raised their voices to protest proposed bus route cuts, we urge Metro’s decision makers to think twice before leaving folks stranded.

Finally, Metro should also consider the impact its weekend cuts to Red Line service beyond the Takoma Station have had on workers as well as residents who only have weekends to handle their personal affairs. Due to Purple Line ongoing construction, train service has frequently been suspended on weekends, forcing travelers to add hours to their commute as they board shuttle buses for service between Takoma and Glenmont Stations, or dig deeply into their pockets to catch an Uber or, at even higher costs, a taxi. WI

Coronavirus in a Health Care Desert D.C. General Hospital shut down. Providence Hospital closed. United Medical Center will soon be closed. And, more than 250,000 residents in the Nation’s Capital’s northeastern and southeastern quadrants have been left without a full-service medical facility to address their needs in case of a medical emergency. Which brings us to the coronavirus, a major global medical health crisis that has reached the U.S. and caused nine deaths so far.

While there are no confirmed cases of the coronavirus in D.C. to date, Mayor Muriel Bowser met with members of her administration, the media and ANC commissioners throughout the city to outline a preparedness plan just in case an outbreak occurs in the District contributing to a possible pandemic with devastating consequences.

We commend the mayor for her leadership related to this crisis but for a huge population of District residents, a pandemic consistently exists from the likes of maternal deaths, the opioid crisis, heart disease, the flu and gun violence, to name a few of the current pandemics that are taking lives. Too many District residents constantly face the consequences from the lack of a medical facility nearby that can address their health care needs, and they face the reality that should a crisis occur, they may be the last and the least to receive needed health care because they have nowhere to go where their needs will be considered a priority.

Every day, residents in Wards 5, 7 and 8 are taken by ambulance routed or rerouted to medical facilities in D.C., Maryland or Virginia, depending on who has the room or resources to address their needs. United Medical Center still provides emergency services but only to stabilize a patient before redirecting them to other hospitals miles away where they can receive more comprehensive care.

The coronavirus represents a practice run for a potential pandemic that is providing health care officials lessons for what might happen if a real crisis occurs in the District. It should also be a wakeup call to the fact that District officials cannot delay deciding on the disposition and cadre of comprehensive services that will be needed and should be provided at a brand new medical facility slated to be built on the campus of St. Elizabeths sometime in the future. Clearly, the time frame is too long and knowing what services will be made available can no longer be treated as a secret held from those who must rely on these services the most. WI

TO THE EDITOR Informed Voters

For Us, By Us

I’m really looking forward to you guys putting out a voter guide for the upcoming elections. Every year or so, you all give me exactly what I need to know and who I need to know. It’s needed, trust me. I appreciate you all putting the news of the day, as they say, where the “goats can get it.”

So much good information in The Washington Informer. I just had to let you all know that. I love the fact that it’s a free paper and everything that I care about as a Black woman gets covered. The news is catered to me, the pictures are for me, even the ads are about me. I share with all my family and friends.

Paul Denny Washington, D.C.

Readers' Mailbox

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Mary-Ann Smith 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 5 - 11, 2020 29

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Dr. Ramona Edelin

Saving Spingarn High School: A Treasured Community Asset District of Columbia residents might think that our city has come a long way in terms of caring for our precious heritage. Conservation and stewardship inform decisions today in a way that has not always been the case in the District’s past, including its still-recent urban decline.

Home to abolitionists from Frederick Douglass and Charlotte

Forten Grimké, whose homes are national historic monuments, to organizations such as the Washington Abolition Society, to newspapers The Genius of Universal Emancipation and National Era, D.C. has much abolitionist heritage.

Slavery’s ubiquitous presence extends throughout the District, from the Underground Railroad stop that ran through Anthony Bowen’s house in Southwest, to the Capitol itself, built by slave labor. Even abolition is marked by D.C.’s Emancipation Day, nine months prior to

Guest Columnist

the national Emancipation Proclamation.

Civil rights, too, has its heart in the city which hosted the March on Washington, 101 years later. A groundbreaking but largely forgotten ruling, District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. Inc., desegregated Washington restaurants, one year before the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated the District’s schools. Carter Woodson, the “Founding Father” of African American history and of Black

History Month, also lived and worked here, with his former home a national historic site.

A key thread in this history’s fabric is Spingarn High School, named for educator and writer Joel Elias Spingarn, a Jewish civil rights activist, who served as board chair, treasurer and president of the NAACP. The schoolhouse is located off Benning Road, Northeast, close to the Anacostia River. This nearly quarter-million-square-foot schoolhouse was built two years before desegregation but shuttered by the

city eight years ago and left to rot at the mercy of nature, thieves and vandals.

What should be a shining community asset, housing contributions to the general welfare, is a derelict eyesore attracting behavior that undermines residents’ sense of community and its reality. Currently, the site makes a statement that the neighborhood is unimportant to the powers that be, and that the people who live alongside it are of

ators to vote for what finally became S.Res.39 apologizing for Senate inaction that could have saved countless lives. It wasn’t easy because several senators opposed the resolution.

Among those who supported the resolution by agreeing to be sponsors were then-Sens. Joe Biden, George Allen, Mary Landrieu, Chuck Hagel, John McCain, Diane Feinstein, Patrick Leahy, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy and others. Lynching was listed in the resolution as “the ultimate expression of racism in the United States following Reconstruction.” It apologizes to the victims of lynching

and the descendants of those victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation — nothing more; yet, there were senators who voted against the resolution. We weren’t even asking to make lynching a crime at that time!

EDELIN Page 53

By E. Faye Williams

U.S. Must Face Terrible Past of Lynching I don’t think anyone would argue that America has a tragic history of lynching, and as much as some would like to think, that part of America’s history is not so long ago. As a matter of fact, some of us would argue that the potential for lynching is still with us.

In 2005 Dick Gregory, Mark Planning, Janet Langhart-Cohen and I began a project to change the names of despicable racists on buildings who

had the stain of lynching on their hands and their calendars. We began with U.S. Senate buildings. To be exact, we chose the Russell Building named for Sen. Richard Russell of Georgia. Sen. Russell was a founder and leader of the conservative caucus. He served in the U.S. Senate for almost 40 years. He led Southern opposition to the civil rights movement.

We thought that our country had become more enlightened and once learning who Russell actually was, removing his name would be a breeze.

Well, it wasn’t. Some of our most beloved senators thought it would be

Guest Columnist

a bad idea with the most-often cited reason that if we removed Russell’s name, what would stop the removal of names of people we supported from other buildings?

Convinced that we were not even going to get more enlightened senators to support the removal, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and Virginia Sen. George Allen offered an option that would seek to have the U.S. Senate finally apologize for lynching. We agreed to support that effort. For a long time, Mr. Gregory, Mr. Planning, Ms. Langhart-Cohen and I walked from office to office encouraging sen-

Well, a few days ago, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) did take the next step and got that bill through the House 15 years later to make lynching a crime! It’s shocking that it took so long to do that, but even more

WILLIAMS Page 53

By Marian Wright Edelman

Remembering Margaret Morgan Lawrence

As a child, Margaret Morgan Lawrence grew up grieving a brother she never knew. He was her only sibling, but had died before she was born when he was just 11 months old, and their parents never fully recovered from his death. Margaret often dreamt that she was the child who had died and she could see her own body in a coffin under the large portrait of her

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brother that hung in their living room.

The sadness and loss that surrounded her family led her to decide that she was going to grow up to be a doctor and help other children live — despite the fact that she was Black and a girl at a time when neither Blacks nor women were welcome in many medical schools and residencies. Neither ultimately mattered. Dr. Lawrence went on to become a pediatrician and pioneering child psychologist, going around every door that was closed to her and opening others along the

way to become the “first” and “only” again and again.

Margaret Morgan Lawrence passed away in December at age 105 after a long and extraordinary life of service helping make sure children received the strongest and healthiest possible start. During Black History Month and every month, let’s stop and remember trailblazers like Dr. Lawrence who refused to abide by other people’s limits.

Harvard Graduate School of Education sociologist Sara Law-

rence-Lightfoot, one of Dr. Lawrence’s three extraordinary children, captured many pieces of her mother’s story in the 1988 biography Balm in Gilead: Journey of a Healer. Dr. Lawrence was born in 1914 and grew up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, the daughter of an Episcopal priest father and schoolteacher mother. She excelled in school and after graduating from her local segregated high school at age 14, she moved to Harlem to live with relatives in order to attend a more challenging preparatory school. She then attended

Cornell University on a scholarship, where she was the only Black undergraduate on campus. She worked as a live-in maid for White families to gain housing because she wasn’t allowed to live in the dormitories. She excelled in premed studies in college too, but was denied acceptance to Cornell’s medical school because of her race: they told her the only other Black student they had ever admitted 25 years earlier “didn’t work out” because he contract-

EDELMAN Page 53

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Marc H. Morial

Congress Must Defy Trump and Stop Foreign Election Tampering Since at least 2014, known and unknown individuals, operating as part of a broader Russian effort known as ‘Project Lakhta,’ have engaged in political and electoral interference operations targeting populations within the Russian Federation and in various other countries, including, but not limited

to, the United States, members of the European Union, and Ukraine. Since at least May 2014, Project Lakhta’s stated goal in the United States was to spread distrust towards candidates for political office and the political system in general.” — U.S. Criminal Complaint against Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, accused chief accountant of “Project Lakhta,” a Russian effort targeting foreign audiences in the United States, members of the European

Union, and Ukraine, among others.

For at least half a dozen years, possibly longer, the corrupt leaders of Russia have been engaged in a massive campaign to disrupt the United States of America’s political and social stability. Their goal is to weaken the institutions that have served as a bulwark against Russian aggression, such as the European Union and NATO. Federal prosecutors have

Guest Columnist

charged 13 Russian individuals and three Russian business entities with Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, and other crimes.

Last week, intelligence officials briefed Congress that the interference continues, and has expanded to include the Democratic presidential primary.

It is difficult to say which is more harmful to the nation: the ongoing Russian cyberwarfare, or President

Trump’s appalling response.

Terrified that Russia’s efforts on his behalf delegitimizes his election — and may do so again — President Trump and his allies in Congress not only refuse to take action to secure our elections, but have denigrated the findings of the intelligence community as a hoax.

President Trump has gone so far

MORIAL Page 54

By James A. Washington Jr.

Who Really Loves the Lord?

There is a question I’ve been mulling over and, if you don’t mind, I would like your input. Does one follow the Word of God because you know you should or, because you have to?

I mean, is the faith walk a walk of need or one of sincere desire?

You see, Scripture is full of rules.

The rules of the Old Testament and the laws of Moses give way to the parables of Jesus and the new covenant of the New Testament.

The question is, do we attempt to abide by the precepts of the New Testament out of fear of punishment or loss of reward, or, do we follow a path of righteousness (rules) because we genuinely love the Lord so much, we just want to please Him? If you think about it, our spiritual freedom has been blood bought and arguably remains the most significant event in documented history.

In the grand scheme of things, the Word became flesh in order for us to reclaim eternal life, that life Adam rejected with but one bite of one piece of forbidden fruit. Jesus’ sacrifice, by design, was an act of love so great that humankind will forever be

the beneficiary.

So, in order to claim freedom, a simple act of belief is required; a simple act of faith that demonstrates you understand this really was a sacrifice made by the Son of God. From there, do we follow the teachings of Christ Jesus begrudgingly, because if we don’t, we’ll burn in hell or, do we rejoice in the knowledge that someone loved us so deeply that living according to His guiding principle becomes a real desire to please? This sort of behavior is easily understood not to be a purposeless “have to,” but rather a sincere “want to.”

The Christian experience should

Askia-At-Large

not be confused with a view of a lifestyle restricted by arbitrary rules requiring one to deny life’s pleasures.

Rather, the Christian experience should be viewed as a lifestyle filled with all that life has to offer and then some.

That’s right, more not less. I believe it all starts with knowing. The kind of knowing that sees right from wrong and gives you insight into choosing right over wrong.

This brings me back to the question at hand: Are you behaving in a manner dictated by a set of predetermined rules, or are you living a life based in principle, purpose, conviction and, yes, love? One is hard. One

is relatively easy. I live the way I live because if I don’t, I’ll be punished vs.

I live the way that I live because I believe it’s right and I want to. The former is like going to a job you hate but you have to because you need the money. Where is the joy in that?

I’m sure there are those of you who are much more mature in the faith than I am and can explain this better. But I am starting to see a path that looks pretty good to me.

The more I try to understand the teachings of Christ, His life and His sacrifice, the more I understand just how much He and His Daddy think of me. That’s a heaven of a thought

WASHINGTON Page 54

By Askia Muhammad

Why Trump Will Win in 2020

Donald J. Trump will win reelection in 2020 because: 1. He is a lying prevaricator who doesn’t know the truth from a lie and who would lie as quickly as he’d tell the truth if it would make him look better than everyone else — and because many white people (and even eight or nine Black ones) want to believe he represents

The Second Coming.

2. Republican operatives in every town and hamlet are already busy practicing — practicing, not preparing — exactly how they will steal the election. They will defame and try to shame every potential rival, in order to dampen the enthusiasm of those “Never Trumpers” who might not cotton to the eventual Democratic nominee. This makes the contest close, where the operatives take over. Trump wins.

No “hanging chads” needed.

Of the last three U.S. presidents, two — Republicans Trump in 2016 and George W. Bush in 2000 — won the office with fewer popular votes than their Democratic opponents, yet they were able to prevail thanks to the historically “slavery-tilted” Electoral College.

Trump is capable of — and willing to — steal this election if he must.

3. He is impervious to shame.

He cannot be embarrassed, certainly not by truth, science or reality, not even by his own oafish

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self. The stock market wipes out $3 trillion in wealth in the worst week since the Great George W. Bush Recession of 2008. Trump shrugs it off. Hey, the markets will bounce back.

He drones on and on about flushing toilets and showers, for crying out loud, at a reelection rally, in front of thousands of people. The crowd roared its approval.

He’s their ever-loving president of the United States, just like them and unapologetic about the crude-

ness, in fact, proud of The Crude.

4. Things are just humming along. There’s no caravan of body bags full of dead soldiers returning from war. There’s no scandal larger than himself—he’s an impeached, sexual predator, scam business operator, who paid off porn stars to keep quiet about him. Overall, the rich guys aren’t complaining about Trump’s policies, despite his clownish style of governance.

ASKIA Page 54 MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 31

LIFESTYLE ‘A Soldier’s Play,’ Nearly 40 Years Since its Premier, Makes Sizzling Broadway Debut

Roundabout Theatre Company Pulls Out the Stops for Production Long Overdue

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon may seem to have the Midas touch but he’d probably admit that his meteoric rise to success has been significantly helped due to the quality of plays that he’s successfully tackled.

Who can refute the stellar musings of William Shakespeare, Lorraine Hansberry and now, Charles Fuller – the playwright whose Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, “A Soldier’s Play,” has finally received its just due – appearing on Broadway for the first time after its premier in 1981?

Now on stage at the Roundabout Theatre Company through March 15 as part of one of its most diverse and dynamic seasons ever, the production features David Alan Grier, Blair Underwood, Nnamdi Asomugha and Jerry O’Connell along with an equally-talented supporting cast. And it’s a production that moves from beginning to end – drawing the audience in with sudden emotional jolts and penetrating performances given by Grier and Underwood.

The story takes place in 1944 when a Black sergeant’s murder on a Louisiana Army base brings another Black officer, clearly facing the obstacles of segregation and racism, to investigate the crime. Many in the audience may have known the backdrop and the outcome of the work, given its popular, 1984 film version, adapted by Fuller for the screen, that earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Film & Best Screenplay.

But the play’s the thing and in this case – it most certainly is.

When “A Soldier’s Play” premiered

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off-Broadway in 1981 at the Negro Ensemble Company, it starred Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Larry B. Riley, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Friedman and Charles Brown.

That’s an irrefutable collection of talented actors.

But in the Roundabout Theatre’s production, the cast is equally, if not even more, adroit in their thespian artistry.

TITILLATING TIDBITS ABOUT THE CAST AND DIRECTOR

Grier (Sergeant Vernon C. Waters) has a long history with “A Soldier’s Play,” having joined the Negro Ensemble Company production in the early 80’s and then playing “Corporal Cobb” in the film adaptation. He made his Broadway debut playing Jackie Robinson in “The First” (1981) and was most recently on stage in “The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess” (2012).

Underwood (Captain Richard Davenport), an Emmy and Grammy Award winner, has been nominated for 17 NAACP Image Awards (with seven wins) and made his Broadway debut in 2012 as Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Asomugha (Private First Class Melvin Peterson), a former NFL star, made his New York stage debut last fall at the Vineyard Theater. This serves as his Broadway debut and he scores in the challenging task of portraying the role originated by Denzel Washington.

O’Connell’s (Captain Charles Taylor) career spans over 30 years, starting with his starring role in “Stand by Me” in 1986. He made his Broadway debut in “Seminar” in 2012.enny

5 David Alan Grier portrays Sergeant Vernon C. Waters. (Courtesy photos/Joan Marcus)

Leon is a Tony Award-winning Broadway and television director.

He directed his first Broadway play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” in 2004 (his 2014 revival earned him his first Tony Award).

The rest of the ensemble, as earlier stated, also deliver their lines and exude their often-tragic personas in formidable fashion. Sometimes, they break out in song, humming or harmonizing according to the mood of the scene.

Other times, they march in cadence, changing the chant to better fit the all-Black company of soldiers in which they’ve aligned. There are even a few instances in which actors tap out their message, reminiscent of the great Sammy Davis, Jr., Gregory Hines or Savion Glover.

As for Roundabout Theatre Company, they remain committed to celebrating the power of theater by spotlighting classics from the past, cultivating new works of the present and educating minds for the future. They present a variety of plays, musicals and new works on their five stages: Broadway’s American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 and Stephen Sondheim Theatre and Off-Broadway’s Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre.

As for my thoughts about “A Soldier’s Play,” I have seen and reported on hundreds of plays during my long career as a journalist. This production,

African-American Playwright Charles H. Fuller, Jr. Charles Fuller, who recently turned 81, was born March 5, 1939 in Philadelphia.

The African-American playwright is best known for A Soldier’s Play (first performed 1981), which won the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for drama. He attended Villanova University (1956–58) and La Salle College (1965–67) and served in the U.S. Army from 1959 to 1962. In 1967, he cofounded the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia and was co-director from 1967 to 1971.

His play The Village: A Party (1968) is a drama of racial tensions among a community of racially-mixed couples.

During the 1970s he wrote plays for the Henry Street Settlement theatre in New York and in 1974 the Negro Ensemble Company produced his In the Deepest Part of Sleep. He based The Brownsville Raid (1976) on an actual incident involving the dishonorable discharge in 1906 of an entire Black U.S. Army regiment for inciting a riot (they were exonerated in 1972).

In Zooman and the Sign (1980) Fuller presented a father’s search for the killer of his daughter. A Soldier’s Play follows the investigation by a Black army captain of the murder of a Black soldier at a base in Louisiana. Fuller also wrote the screenplay of the critically acclaimed film adaptation, A Soldier’s Story, 1984), for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

After A Soldier’s Play, Fuller began work on a series of plays devoted to African-American history during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.

The We cycle, as it became known, included Sally (1988), Prince (1988), Jonquil (1990) and Burner’s Frolic (1990). Continuing to draw inspiration from the military, Fuller later wrote One Night… (2013), about a female soldier who was raped by fellow servicemen while stationed in Iraq.

He also penned the children’s book Snatch: The Adventures of David and Me in Old New York (2010). Fuller continues to write and recently joined the cast and crew in New York City to celebrate the first time that his Pulitzer Prize-winning play has been produced on Broadway.

SOLDIER Page 46 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

LIFESTYLE

Black Girls Rock to Again Take District by Storm

By Lindiwe Vilakazi WI Contributing Writer

People across the globe are celebrating Women’s Month in March, and Black Girls Rock (BGR) will accordingly host a three-day event in D.C. to kick off the honorary period.

Founded in 2006, BGR has evolved into a leading platform, uplifting Black women from diverse career paths and accomplishments to the public eye. The organization has built a powerhouse of exposure and inclusion over the years as it hosts an annual award show honoring Black women leading the way for others through career and humanitarian efforts.

“When I started Black Girls Rock in 2006, this space wasn’t so open for us to occupy many places, so I think that it is only natural that there is a celebration of International Women’s Day weekend, that is led by Black women,” said Beverly Bond, renowned DJ and BGR founder and CEO. “All are invited, but Black women are leading. … Having this festival in Washington, D.C., during International Women’s Day weekend is strategic and important for our continued elevation.”

The Kennedy Center is partnering with BGR for a second year to host the three-day event with a concert headlined by Lauryn Hill and featuring D.C.’s own Alice Smith. The two-night concert will be followed by a conversation series on March 7.

“We’re really excited to continue the partnership with BGR,” said Simone Eccleston, director of Hip-Hop Culture and Contemporary Music at the Kennedy Center in D.C. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity to celebrate Black women’s contributions to arts and culture.”

During the inaugural year of the BGR festival, the Kennedy Center Hip-Hop Council committed themselves to presenting the event as a part of Women’s History Month.

The council continues that tradition this year, pushing their commitment to a year-round celebration of Black women and expanding the BGR festival.

“Last year was our inaugural year and it definitely demonstrated the impact of community and being able to provide space for women to continue to bond with each other, exchange information, and share resources — there were some really insightful conversations,” Eccleston said.

Bond is also a member of the council, which was assembled in 2016 to create a home for influencers and pioneers to build creative concepts and projects.

“It is necessary and important to us

VIP Invitation

to attend the 2020

A Celebration of Human Resilience and Greatness!

EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

ROCK Page 38

FREE ADMISSION

April 11th & 12th, 2020 • 11am - 6pm Pennsylvania Convention Center 12th & Arch Street, Philadelphia

For more info: www.blackhistoryshowcase.org An initiative of:

Hosted by:

Produced by:

Sponsors & Partners

5 Lauryn Hill (Courtesy photo/Dex Navy)

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 33

LIFESTYLE

Martha Graham Dance Company Prepares for Return to D.C. Stage Founder proclaims: ‘First we have to believe and then we believe.’

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir In celebration of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which finally extended the right to vote to women in the U.S., the Martha Graham Dance Company brings The EVE Project – a guiding force behind the Company’s previous two seasons – to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, March 5 – 7, in the Eisenhower Theater.

The EVE Project honors not only the progress of women in the last 100 years but also provides entrée into today’s most pressing conversations about gender and power. New works from several female choreographers have been commissioned, and the classic repertory will feature both Martha Graham’s heroines and anti-heroines — all with an underlying statement about female power.

The performances will honor female empowerment and engagement, featuring signature Graham Classics alongside new work by Pam Tanowitz and works by Aszure Barton, Liz

5 Leslie Andrea Williams and Abdiel Jacobsen in Martha Graham’s “Diversion of Angels.” (Courtesy photo/Brigid Pierce

Gerring and Michelle Dorrance. Last seen at the Kennedy Center in 2008, the world-renowned Martha Graham Dance Company’s EVE Project serves as a collection of new commissions and classics that make impactful statements about female power.

Recognized as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century and the mother of modern dance, Martha Graham (1979 Kennedy Center Honoree) altered the fabric of dance by creating an entirely new style of movement.

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Her approach to presenting women onstage remains revolutionary. Instead of gentile goddesses, princesses, flowers, or swans, she created complex, flawed, ambitious and powerful women onstage often modeled after real individuals and characters of mythology. “[The EVE Project] aims to connect audiences – in the ephemeral and visceral way dance does – to both historical and contemporary ideas of the feminine,” said Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Dance Company.

“It provides a lens through which to consider Graham’s transformative views of women in concert with the immediate and personal creations of today’s visionary dance makers,” she said.

Exploring the rich legacy of modern dance and its influence on contemporary work, the engagement of the Martha Graham Dance Company serves as part of the dance season’s celebration of legends in American Modern Dance.

REFLECTIONS FROM TWO GRAHAM DANCERS

The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding in 1926. Today, the company continues to embrace a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly-commissioned works by contemporary artists.

With programs that unite the work of choreographers across time within a rich historical and thematic narrative, the company actively works to create new platforms for contemporary dance and multiple points of access for audiences.

Two current members of the Company spoke with The Washington Informer about their careers, how they began drawn to dance and the challenges they’ve faced.

Leslie Andrea Williams, 26, born in Newport News, VA and raised in Raleigh, joined the Graham Company in July 2015.

Marzia Memoli, 23, born in Palermo, Italy, marks her fourth season with the Company. Both continue their careers as a dancer, performer and artist with the Company.

Both dancers were asked the following questions; their answers appear below:

5 Leslie Andrea Williams in Martha Graham’s Chronicle. (Courtesy photo/ Melissa Sherwood)

1) What’s the best thing about being a member of the ensemble, particularly given its diverse membership?

2) When did you know you wanted to become a dancer and can you explain the details briefly to further explain that moment or incident?

3) How long have you been with the company and what was your greatest apprehension/fear/concern as you first joined them? How was that resolved?

4) What advice do you give to youth who have similar aspirations to become a professional dancer? Often youth look at the glitz and glamour but have little awareness of the work -- the blood, sweat and tears that goes into achieving the dream.

5) When you have free time, what do you like to do?

Williams: I love my colleagues. We are a small group so it is important to stick together and support each other when things sometimes get tough.

Because it is such a diverse group with diverse ethnicities and dance backgrounds, I learn something from all my peers. Especially the more senior dancers.

My mother put me in dance class when I was three. First, it was gymnastics but unfortunately I couldn’t do a cartwheel to the left so I got cut. Dance was something I was naturally good at so I just kept with it until it got serious.

At first I wanted to be a ballet dancer.

Later I began to integrate the ballet and modern divisions. I was being exposed to a way of dancing that felt more true to who I was. After I got into Juilliard it became official to me that this was the path I was going to take and there was no other option. I always knew I

was going to be a dancer, because I had given so much time and energy to the craft, it was now just a matter of figuring out what kind of dance I would be doing professionally. It was time for me to move to New York, get my degree, and work in the dance world. I ended up doing just that.

This is my fifth season with the company. I joined in 2015, right after graduating from Juilliard. My greatest concern going in was that I did not have enough Graham technique training and would fall short in the company. While that ended up being sort of true, I realized that most of the dancers I was working with were also new to the company and still learning new things about the technique. I had to trust that the training I received at Juilliard was more than exceptional. I learned what it means to delve into a Graham work and understand the emotional, spiritual and psychological connection to the technique in order to tell the story. I even had my first out of body experience on stage doing the role. I realized I had nothing to fear.

There is a lot of sacrifice involved in being a dancer. My parents invested so much in my dance. They used to take off work early to drive me all the way across town to practice and would spend copious amounts of money on private dance lessons and pointe shoes.

They also allowed me to move out of the house at age fourteen to go to boarding school to train, which was a big deal. Professional dancing requires a lot of self-sacrifice and can be lonely and difficult at times. Most of the time it is not glamorous. You have to remember how dance makes you feel...it is fun! It’s invigorating. The happy times you experience in life can make the hard times in the studio feel less difficult, and ultimately you will be a better performer because of it.

I do as many things as possible that do not remind me of my job. I hang out with friends, I go to dinners, and I go out dancing. But mostly I love spending time with myself – reading, listening to music, journaling, being creative, or taking myself out on a date to the movies. I also do a bit of freelance work. I performed recently with world renowned artist and director Rashid Johnson for his new gallery exhibition in the city and I dance/model for fashion brands. I also model for the dancewear brand Capezio. For the holidays, I solo traveled to Morocco and then to

Paris for a photo shoot with some highly creative friends. I definitely recommend Paris for New Years. I am always on the move. But it’s lovely because these experiences teach me so much when I step back into my workplace.

Memoli: When I first joined the company, I was moving from a school environment from another country and such a different culture, to a professional/working environment with people from all over the world with diverse backgrounds. I felt as if I was a tiny little ant at the beginning, because I was and still am the youngest. But, I found beautiful and caring people, all very different, that since day one, have helped me through a lot, and with whom I share the best and worst moments in life and career, all connected by one big passion. I think this is the best thing of being part of this ensemble--to have found a group with whom you share your everyday life. You grow individually and artistically and you can call them family -- that means discussion and misunderstanding too, of course. Also considering the fact that we are always in a work environment – we all know, specifically in the dance field, competition is real, and does exist but is not personal, and not as important as being good people and caring about each other.

I never really knew when and why I wanted to become a dancer -- it has always been inside me. I believe I knew from four years old, I guess. You’ll probably think “oh, you don’t know what you want at four” and well, yes that is true, but I always felt something inside, a bit, in my heart, to never stop moving forward and dance. I remember my first dance class, how happy and satisfied I was, I just thought: “this is my place, I feel good, I feel happy!” But you never really understand what it means to “be a dancer” a professional one in the world, something that not just for you, or in your school and in your small community, until you get your first job, I believe. I never took dance as a hobby or viewed as something I did in my free time, I’ve always taken dance so seriously, always the little girl by herself, doing her hair and helping the others, always the first one in the studio and the last one to leave. At that time, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but now, looking back, I was creating a good foundation, and, it has always been so spon-

GRAHAM Page 40

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The Jackson Five Hits 55

Meteoric Rise to Stardom Began in 1965 COMMENTARY

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Fifty-five years ago, music changed forever.

In 1965, pop music’s most-celebrated and dynamic dynasty began its journey to stardom when five brothers from Gary, Indiana, formed The Jackson 5.

With chart-breaking songs like “I’ll Be There,” “The Love You Save” and “I Want You Back,” the brothers quickly took the world by storm. But more would come as their trailblazing act set the stage for music’s single most influential artist – Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop.” While the Jackson 5 never won a Grammy, Michael would eventually dominate all awards and shatter every record known to the music industry.

Following a long list of hits too numerous to recite including “Off the Wall,” “Thriller,” “Billie Jean,” “Bad” and “Man in the Mirror,” Michael’s solo accomplishments remain unchallenged with the youngest Jackson Brother not only idolized by fans around the globe but garnering the respect of other celebrities.

To put it in perspective, the praise heaped upon Michael equates to that achieved by Beyoncé multiplied by hundreds. As for the industry awards which eluded the Jackson 5 – who would later be rebranded as the Jacksons after leaving Motown – they dominated categories where it may have mattered the most with rarely-achieved record sales and concert receipts.

As for talent, Michael wouldn’t be the only Jackson to make his mark.

On stage and far from hyperbole, Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon and even Randy proved to be just as talented as any pop star. Of course, any-

one who shared the stage with Michael, had to possess talent of equal proportion. Few would argue that the only thing better than a Michael Jackson concert would be a performance featuring the entire Jackson clan.

“Nobody worked harder than Michael,” family patriarch, the late Joseph Jackson, once told this reporter.

“But nobody except my boys could run with him, Jackson stated.

Jermaine, perhaps the best-known group member not named Michael, would also be ticketed for superstardom. Far from coincidence, Jermaine served as the glue that held the brothers together.

He also possessed a string of hits, including “Let’s Get Serious,” “Dynamite,” and “When the Rain Begins to Fall.” Meanwhile, Tito would go on to front a Blues band, while Jackie found success producing other artists.

The Jackson Five earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 – Michael, who died in 2009, would be inducted as a solo artist four years later.

But the King of Pop’s music continues to routinely top the charts. In

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5 The Jackson 5 (Courtesy photo)

fact, his legacy has eclipsed the likes of musical icons including Elvis Presley and John Lennon, among others.

His estate continues to rake in hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and fans remain as loyal today as ever.

The Jacksons have since resumed touring, wowing a new generation of fans with sold-out performances.

“There was always magic in Michael and something special in all of them,” Motown Records founder Berry Gordy stated.

Motown Legend Stevie Wonder agrees.

“There will never be another Michael nor another Jackson Five.”

WI

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 35

LIFESTYLE

Community Discussion Focuses on Diversity of African Diaspora

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

5 Ashley Emerson director of the Mayor’s Office on African American Affairs (right) moderates a discussion for Communities in Conversation across the African Diaspora with panelists (L-R) Mohamed Camara, Dr. Amy Yeboah, and Ayana Lara Rockett.

(Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

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For more than a century, the diverse ethnicities, communities, cultures and people that encompass the African Diaspora have united around a common lineage and shared struggle against the anti-Black forces that continue to impose their will to this day and by various means.

As seen at a recent event hosted

by the D.C. Mayor’s Office on African-American Affairs (MOAAA) and other local government agencies, people of African descent have also embraced the custom of starting events later than what had been formally announced — what a panelist described as a form of rebellion against European domination.

“The idea for African people is that we don’t start until everyone gets here.

The party doesn’t start until everyone gets there, but that keeps us at our core and center, and forever evolving as African people and connecting across space and time,” Amy Yeboah, an assistant professor of Africana Studies at Howard University (HU), told audience members at the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center on Thursday during “Communities in Conversation across the African Diaspora.”

Though the three-hour event — sponsored by MOAAA, the Mayor’s Office on African Affairs, the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, and other entities — had been scheduled to start at 6 p.m., guests continued to roll into the lobby of the Reeves Center at 6:30 p.m. where they spoke among one another, enjoyed a catered meal and listened to the sounds of the East of the River Steelband.

By 7 p.m., more than 70 people had been immersed in a nascent panel discussion that included Yeboah, a native New Yorker of Ghanaian descent, her HU colleague Mohamed Camara, Ayana Lara Rockett, an Afro-Latina who works in the D.C. Office of the City Administrator, and Doreen Thompson, a onetime member of the first African-Caribbean Commission under D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

During that portion of the program, Yeboah touted her ancestral homeland as one of the ideal places for Africans of the diaspora to embrace their roots.

“Ghana becomes one of the spaces where you can be unapologetically African,” she said. “They’re just busting out of the seams with pride because of what Kwame Nkrumah did with Pan-Africanism. With language, people and legacy, it becomes a good place to go with students.”

Since the turn of the century, the District’s Black population has become increasingly diverse — with representation increasing among Haitians, Jamaicans, Nigerians and Ethiopians —

many of whom come through the visa lottery or familial connections.

By 2015, nearly one out of five Black people in the D.C. metropolitan region had been foreign born. A significant number of Black immigrants — credentialed with degrees from their home country that the U.S. education system doesn’t recognize — count among the District’s underemployed, often taking blue-collar and service-sector jobs to make ends meet in an increasingly expensive city.

During “Communities in Conversation,” MOAAA Executive Director Ashley Emerson, who served as moderator of the panel, pivoted the discussion toward fostering a cross-cultural understanding between people in the African Diaspora, defining Blackness, and the importance of 2020 census participation among Black Americans and Black immigrants.

In their responses, each panelist relied on personal experiences that informed their knowledge about Blackness. Kamara, a Guinean who has spent a significant portion of his life in the U.S., said the nuclear family structure doesn’t suffice in describing the depths of African people’s communal ties.

“The community defines the values of the individual,” he said. “Being in America and learning from the Afro-American [and] Caribbean community, [I learned] that Blackness shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s an evolving set of values that I’m still learning at Howard, the mecca of African-American intellect.”

For Thompson, a Jamaican attorney amid a campaign to launch the D.C. Office of Caribbean Affairs, unification of Black people must start locally — with the support of Black-owned businesses, regardless of the owner’s nationality.

“We have to spend our dollars with Black businesses and consciously make that decision,” Thompson told audience members on the evening of Feb. 27. “[It means] asking yourself when you’re going out to eat, who are you spending your money with. Black Restaurant Week takes place in D.C. [This isn’t] to exclude, but to be conscious about what it takes. We can talk about gentrification and the changes, but we have to support each other.”

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 37

LIFESTYLE ‘Sister Circle Live’ Tackles Tough Topics Targeting Women Daily Talk Show Marks Third Year; Brothers Invited to Tag Along, Too

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir It’s that time of the year when Americans salute the achievements and sacrifices of sisters, mothers, grandmothers and even school-age girls – Women’s History Month.

But for Quad Webb Lunceford, Syleena Johnson, Rashan Ali and Trina Braxton, the dynamic quartet of “sistahs” who co-host the on-air daily talk show “Sister Circle Live,” the obstacles and fears which women, particularly African Americans, face and often overcome each day, gives reasons to applaud the perseverance and ingenuity of women 365 days a year.

Produced by TEGNA, Inc. and TV One, the show will mark its third anniversary this year in September.

And while the configuration of its four female hosts has changed since the show’s debut in September 2017, the focus has remained the same – providing a gathering place on TV for women seeking inspiration, information, entertainment and empowerment.

During a recent interview with The Washington Informer, the talented tandem illustrated one of the more obvious reasons for the show’s growing success: a cohesiveness shared by the foursome which compliments their individual similarities and differences.

“It can be challenging to come up with the right combination of co-hosts but ours works well for us – we’re real friends even outside of “Sister Circle,” so we always have a good time when we’re together,” Quad

said. “In fact, when the production team first began holding auditions in Atlanta in 2016 (still, the show’s home base), the concept was for this to be a one-woman, local show. But we all tested well, we had different backgrounds and we filled different types of roles. In the end, it was the combination of our personalities that sold them on changing the format to four co-hosts,” Quad said.

The newest addition to the show, Trina Braxton, while used to a life replete with lights and cameras as a member of the talented Braxton family, says joining a team like the “Sister Circle” group, has long been one of her greatest desires.

“I’m really happy to be here – it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Trina said. “It’s really special because now I’m part of a group of women who are all entrepreneurs, brilliant and able to empower anyone. They do their job and they do it well.”

Far from covering themes considered as easily-palatable, the co-hosts say they relish the opportunity to launch discussions and share their opinions on more controversial, often avoided topics ranging from race relations and raising a family to maintaining friendships, managing money and maneuvering delicate issues of love.

“When we have stories that might discourage our viewers, we always end with a message of inspiration because we want them to be even more encouraged to press on,” Rashan said. “We always keep things on the upswing. Sometimes it’s possible to make tough subjects more palatable but not always. Either way, our conversations are family talks among ourselves – sometimes you have to go through the pain.”

ROCK from Page 33 to continue to push the envelope to make sure that we are represented,” Bond said. “The next generations that are coming up are growing up in a world where they see representation.

That changes your entire level of confidence, and we’ve got to keep that going.”

Eccleston stressed the importance of the Kennedy Center continuing their core commitment to celebrating Black Women and their contributions to Art and Culture. The center’s Hip Hop Council includes genre lu-

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5 The talented four-women team and co-hosts of the popular, TV talk show “Sister Circle Live.” (Photo courtesy “Sister Circle Live”)

The co-hosts collectively agree that they eagerly await each day when they’re able to other women, sharing the belief that when women gather for girl talk, they’re usually more willing than men to reveal their vulnerability while also holding one another accountable.

“Women are different in many other ways too,” Rashan said. “We know that. Still, we want men to know that while our focus is first our sisters, we have something for our brothers as well.”

“If a brother wants to understand a woman better, he might want to watch us. We have candid conversations and the four of us share our own life experiences – some joyful, others painful. And we’re willing to ask questions and confront issues that a lot of men and women are afraid to raise,” Rashan said.

As our conversation ended, we talked about how each woman’s relationship with their father impacted

their lives, the support each said they always received from their dads and why they believe many relationships fail.

“Far too often, our men show a lack of respect and appreciation for women,” Quad said. “They don’t know how to inspire or empower the women in their lives. There are times when women can sense that a train wreck is about to happen and because it will impact the entire family, we feel compelled to step in – to have our say.

But some men still believe that they always know best and don’t want to listen to a woman. Maybe some men look at a woman like she’s disposable.”

“We want to help women who may doubt themselves, to realize that we [women] have tremendous power within us,” the four concluded. “But we’ve got to realize that. We have to claim our power – and we should never allow anyone, including the men we love, to make us think differently.” WI

minaries such as Questlove, MC Lyte and others.

The three-part conversation series feature various Black women in the entertainment and business industries, including actress Naturi Naughton, #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and several other female entrepreneurs.

“I thought it was very important for us to talk about Black women’s safety and make sure that we were talking about news here that is related to us — especially considering that a lot of our stories are still not being recognized in a certain way as other

victims of sexual assault and abuse, when we know that the numbers are alarming,” Bond said.

The BGR brand has proven itself as a significant and important staple for the culture, inspiring Bond to continue using the festival as an expansion of the work of those in the forefront and behind the scenes of the organization.

“Beverly is such an incredible visionary, and she is so selfless in regard to her commitment to Black women and ensuring that they’re celebrated and recognized, and have a safe and supported space,” Eccleston said. WI

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‘Future’ Festival Showcases Cultural Creativity in SE

By Lindiwe Vilakazi WI Contributing Writer

Photographer and events coordinator Harvey Fitz held his first vendor festival in Southeast over the weekend, showcasing a side to Black business and culture that is arguably misconstrued and abandoned east of the Anacostia River.

The Anacostia Arts Center hosted the Black to The Future Festival on Saturday, Feb. 29, with many local vendors providing their one-of-a-kind creations and products to over 600 attendees.

“The intent behind creating this particular festival actually started out as an idea that I had — just the ‘Melanin Market,’” Fitz said. “I wanted to do it back during Black Friday for the holidays, and the gentle pushback suggestion was, ‘well, why don’t we save that for our Black History month program?’”

The extra time allowed for Fitz to put deeper thought into the intent and theme of the festival beyond just generating income or fulfilling a program description.

“I wanted specifically to strategically place businesses in here that aren’t just about generating revenue for themselves, but also had a message, a goal, or a purpose for humanity’s betterment — and importantly, Black AF,” Fitz told The Informer.

Fitz received inquiries from over 100 vendors the first day of posting the artist call on Instagram. Harvey, along with Jess Randolph, creative marketing director at the Anacostia Art Center, took two weeks to review vendor submissions to ensure their messaging aligned with the intent and vision of the festival.

Carribean Citations, for example, was a must-have for Fitz, as he believed in their purpose and business practice prior to receiving their request for entry into the festival. Others who made the cut included 16-year old Andrew Burton with his popular original Uncle Dell’s Mumbo Sauce, Jennifer Kouakeu, author of the children’s book “Nina’s Best Self,” and Bianca Alexis with her All Things B. Alexis jewelry line.

Fitz said he intends to have similar events in the future.

“This was the, I guess you could say, the inaugural test to see if this could

LIFESTYLE “SPLENDIDLY REALIZED...Majestic and sprawling.”

–The Washington Post

“A MUST SEE.” –DC Metro Theater Arts

“SPECTACULAR…Every moment, and I mean every moment, is well executed.”

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“POWERFUL…A not-to-be-missed production of a great American work.”

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5 Photographer and events coordinator Harvey Fitz. (WI photo)

be a thing, and the results were great,” Fitz said. “We’re looking to plan something similar to this for all women entrepreneurs and brands because March is Women’s Month.”

Saturday’s festival showcased not only the vendors but mini-workshops as well, including a tai chi lesson taught by a Black man and a yoga class taught by a Black woman. The goal was to bring diverse creations and services typically not available to Anacostia-area residents.

“The stigma of southeast Anacostia is so much worse than the reality of you being endangered here,” Fitz said. “I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had productions to come into our Black Box theater, and we’ve had to strategically put the press days for their productions in the early morning or afternoon because the press have literally said to these people, we’re not coming to view your show after dark in Anacostia.”

The Anacostia Arts Center showcases a number of services not prevalent throughout neighborhoods east of the River. In addition to the unique vendor services offered during the festival, the center’s permanent storefronts such as ELife and MahoganyBooks are town jewels. ELife is the only vegan restaurant east of the River, MahoganyBooks the only bookstore.

“I want this to serve as a message to the community here that you are your strength,” Fitz said. “Gentrification is literally on the forefront of Anacostia, and if you are not as involved heavily as you should be, you are going to get swept up in that wave, and you don’t have to.” WI

Photo of Mia Ellis and Antonio Michael Woodard.

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 39

LIFESTYLE

Beaches Provide Refuge for Blacks During Jim Crow Era

By Timothy Cox Special to The Informer In the post-1940s Jim Crow era, many recreational water locales, including Ocean City, Maryland, and Virginia Beach, prohibited the inclusion of African American vacationers.

Segregation-era laws in states just south of the Mason-Dixon line legally excluded Blacks from enjoying the fruits of summertime fun in the sun, even in central Maryland near Baltimore.

To counteract such laws, African-American entrepreneurs often created businesses catering solely to a Black clientele. One such example is Elizabeth Carr Smith and Florence Carr Sparrow, two sisters who developed beachfront property originally owned by their formerly enslaved parents, Frederick and Mary Wells Carr.

The parents purchased 180 acres of farmland on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula, off the Chesapeake Bay and the Severn River, according to published reports. Although farmers, they also hosted family picnics and church outings, even inviting boarders to participate in summer outings on their water-based property.

By 1926, the family had dubbed the water location Carr’s Beach while naming their nearby oceanside property Sparrow’s Beach. By the late 1940s, Carr’s Beach had become one of the most popular beach spots on the East Coast, with Blacks coming from as far as Ohio and West Virginia.

The location usually hosted family picnics or Sunday School and church outings during the week. But on weekends, some of the premier Black stars from the “Chitlin’ circuit”

GRAHAM from Page 34 taneous and natural. At 14, I felt the desire to leave my city, my family, and learn more from the world. I was starting to feel that my city wasn’t enough for me, I needed more, so I took the next step and I decided to move to Milano at first and then Switzerland, at Maurice Bejart’s school.

I joined the company four years ago when I was 19. It was my first contract in such a big company. I was scared, I was freaking out actually, from the first moment. The company was performing in Palermo, and I was still studying

40 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

entertained thousands, with such acts as Billie Holiday, Count Basie, James Brown, Ray Charles and the Raelettes, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Little Richard, Esther Phillips, The Orioles and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers hitting the region.

Two area residents recalled the days when their family would travel from West Baltimore for some good ol’ summer fun.

“I was aware that we weren’t welcome at places like Ocean City, still, Carr’s and Sparrow’s beaches offered us a place where we could do what we wanted to do without having someone look over us like law enforcement and it was a free environment,” said Mike Lee, 68, a Morgan State University alumni who worked for four decades with the Social Security Administration and was a vocalist with several professional singing groups in the Baltimore region.

Lee’s high school classmate, Robert Ford, 67, also has fond memories of visiting “The Beach” as a youngster.

“Carr’s Beach was a summertime location where everyone wanted to go to experience the beach, but due to the activities below the Mason-Dixon line, we were faced with Jim Crowism and segregation -- where we could not go everywhere, including Ocean City,” Ford said.

“To this day, I have never gone to Ocean City,” he said. “It’s just something about not being allowed to go back then, I guess that’s lingered with me even now.

“We had Carr’s Beach and Sparrow’s Beach,” Ford said. “Both were Blackowned and we felt comfortable going to both of those places.”

Ford studied broadcast journalism

at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. As one of only 15 Blacks of approximately 2,000 students during his freshman year, Ford said he was forced to make major adjustments coming from an urban environment.

At Washington and Lee, he helped found the Student Association of Black Unity. He also earned his bachelor’s degree and ultimately started working at WJZ-TV (Channel 13) in Baltimore.

He also helped form radio stations at Morgan State where he worked as operations director and jazz director, he said.

Darryl Dunn, 73, a Pittsburgh native, was first introduced to Carr’s Beach by a former girlfriend from Baltimore whose father had business partners who often frequented “the Beach.”

“It’s been several years ago, but I recall the first time I heard about Carr’s Beach,” Dunn said. “She invited me down to go see James Brown perform.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“In Pittsburgh, we never had such a waterfront beach presence, so to see thousands of Black people having so much fun in bathing suits, and picnicking and just having a flat-out ball, I knew it was something unique, and now I realize it was part of Black history,” he said.

Mr. Dunn is a retiree of Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, a retired DJ/bandleader and a Black music historian.

According to published reports, on the evening of July 21, 1956, an estimated 70,000 people traveled to Carr’s Beach to hear rock ‘n roll pioneer and legendary guitarist Chuck Berry perform, although only 8,000 made it past the gates because the grounds were

in Switzerland, so I flew to Palermo and asked to take some classes. That’s when they offered me a contract and a few months later my life took a completely different path. At first, I was so happy and proud, I had made it, but, then, I felt lost! I didn’t speak any English and I had to jump on stage after just two weeks from joining; my only language, my way to communicate, was dance.

Maybe the worst thought I had at that time was: Am I enough? Am I really capable to do this? A professional dancer, I couldn’t believe it. But I stopped questioning myself – I just did it, and it worked. I was exhausted, every day,

like you actually are when you dance professionally and I slowly understood how to face fears and insecurities. They are still there, but, with time and experience, you figure out your way to work on them.

You know when you are following the right track -- you feel it inside of you and nobody is able to take that from you. There will be a lot of “No” responses, of blood, tears, and doors that will close in your face, but if you don’t give up, if you trust yourself, your capabilities, your talent, and your emotions (good or bad ones), something will work out -- something bigger than

5 Blacks enjoy a day at the beach in segregated America. (Courtesy photo)

filled beyond capacity.

By the early 1960s, integration and the civil rights movement had somewhat diminished Jim Crow and also the popularity of Carr’s-Sparrow’s Beaches as a predominately Black-inhabited recreation site.

A 1962 performance in the area

by James Brown, said to have drawn 11,000 fans, marked the last of the major crowds drawn to the area, located near Annapolis off the Chesapeake Bay and Severn River.

Susan McNeill’s father, photographer Robert H. McNeill, was a regular visitor to the beaches and took hundreds of photos of revelers. For this

article, McNeill, a D.C. native, offered The Informer images of her father’s work at no cost.

“There are times when we charge for use of the images,” she said. “But in the case of newspapers, we want to inform, and keep this historical legacy alive.”

Both Carr’s Beach and Sparrow’s Beach are now mostly populated with expansive million-dollar, single-family homes, most of which are white-owned properties. The area where Blacks used to congregate and dominate is now ritzy beachfront property commonly known as Arundel on the Bay. Hence, the end of an unforgettable era in American Black history. WI

you didn’t even expect. Dance is not easy. You have to face a world that constantly asks you to grow, to do more, to be better, and you will feel the pressure, the vulnerability. You will learn about yourself more than anyone else, and it is going be painful. But, ALL of that is worth it. You go up on stage, and all the sacrifices, hard work, pressure, anxiety – it goes away, because this is your place, the stage is your home, and you’ll need that forever.

When I have a long lay-off and free time my favorite thing is to go back home in Italy. Seeing my family, my lifetime friends, to catch up on ev-

erything I missed of their lives; all of them, also from far away, help me push through, so they are a big part of my life. I love keeping care of my body as well -- if I’m not dancing I will always move or take new classes, everything that is fun and in the meantime connected to dance. I love spending time in the city and shopping. I love cooking also even if I’m not the best cook. I also enjoy watching movies and rest sometimes, of course.

For more information about the company, visit www.marthagraham. org.

WI

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LIFESTYLE

wi book review “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot”

By Mikki Kendall c.2020, Viking $26 267 pages

By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer A sea of people.

That’s what you saw, overlooking the crowd at the rally you attended. More people, perhaps, than you’d ever seen in one place before, all gathered together for one ultimate cause. Or were they? In the new book “Hood Feminism”

by Mikki Kendall, look again: was that sea of people mostly white?

Chances are, says Kendall, if it was a women’s event, many were. White feminists “can lean in,” but they sometimes don’t “show up when Black women” have different issues to deal with. Feminism, she says, can’t “forget that a movement that claims to be for all women” must “engage with the obstacles women who are not white face.”

“And when we act as allies, feminists have to be willing to listen to and respect those we want to help,” she says.

That includes understanding that guns have a lot to do with feminism because poor women and women of color are “more likely to be victims of gun violence.” It includes knowing that hunger and homelessness are painful realities for many Black women, and that it doesn’t help to make either seem like they were the result of “bad choices.”

Respect means that victims of abuse and sexual harassment are not blamed for their clothing, job, or hairstyle. It means never asking what they were drinking when they were assaulted. It means the end of hypersexualizing young Black girls and women. It means accepting their unique beauty, without politicizing hair or body shape, and without comment. This also, by the way, extends to trans women of any color.

Feminism for all means that we ignore fear and misconceptions of “the hood.” It means that we must “unteach the normalization of violence against women.” It demands that we confront family and friends who hold racist ideals. It means supporting health measures for women and their children. It means voting for the good of all women, and it requires that allies occasionally “stop, step back, and realize they are still part of the problem.”

In tackling “Hood Feminism,” there may come a time when a reader finds it necessary to split the narrative.

On one hand, author Mikki Kendall offers exactly what she promises: an uncomfortable truth, because it’s necessary and because she’s kind, and laying out this information is a sort of kindness. The things she points out are vital for people who profess to be “feminists” to know, and while that may not be any fun, neither is ignorance. Fingers out of your ears, think of this book, maybe, as consciousness-raising workshop plus personal intervention.

On the other hand, however, Kendall paints white women with a milewide, 10-feet-tall brush of condemnation, that may or may not be fair. Yes, these are words that white women need to hear... and yes, they’re also somewhat overgeneralized.

Still, keep in mind that this is a book to help, not to censure, and even though it stings, you’ll be glad you read it. Find “Hood Feminism.” It offers an ocean of thoughts to ponder. WI

horoscopes

MAR 5 - 11, 2020

ARIES Take a break — you deserve it. The week begins with the sun still in your house of rest and recovery.

As the moon moves into its first-quarter, paperwork might be mounting and your list of things to do may be growing longer, but there is no productivity without some leisure. Take some time to do pleasurable things. Lucky Numbers: 2, 9, 16 TAURUS With the moon in Gemini reflecting your finances, you may be feeling a little cash-poor. This energy can cause you to feel alone and separated from others. You may feel acute dissatisfaction with your financial picture at the moment. Saturn looks for discipline as Venus dreams of an easier life. But through discipline, the rewards are achieved. Lucky Numbers: 9, 12, 13 GEMINI Receiving admiration this week is quite probable. Be open to compliments from others even if they are not exactly worded as you like. The week begins with the sun in Pisces making a tense aspect with rigid, precise Saturn in your house of resources from others. At the same time, Venus in Aries also angles Saturn harshly. These two aspects can give you a strong desire for independence. But there are duties and responsibilities. Lucky Numbers: 23, 25, 37 CANCER Commune with the Universe this week and you will hear the music of the stars. The week begins with the moon in Gemini in your house of psychic ability, moving toward its first quarter. This is a good time to connect with your spiritual beliefs. You may consider doing a little folk magic like saying your wishes over some birdseed and casting it out for the birds to eat. Lucky Numbers: 2, 10, 36 LEO Pooling your talents with friends can yield some big results. This week begins with the sun in Pisces angling toward Saturn in your house of work and daily routines. At the same time, Venus at the zenith of your chart will square Saturn. Pulling together and joining forces with your creative, talented friends and followers can help you manifest your bigger goals. This is a good time to have a meeting and see who believes in your dream. Lucky Numbers: 8, 13, 19 VIRGO The week begins with the sun and Venus making aspects to disciplined, reserved Saturn. This pair of aspects can make you feel uncertain and alone like you’re the last person on earth. Saturn creates boundaries between you and everyone else to give you the opportunity to be introspective. You may feel resentment of how other people push their ideas and expectations onto you. Lucky Numbers: 9, 23, 26 LIBRA Make time for prayer, yoga, or meditation no matter how busy you are. The week begins with the moon traveling through the upper portion of your chart and moving into its first quarter. Your schedule is booked however communing with Universe brings everything you’ve been looking for. Don’t skip this step. Lucky Numbers: 6, 13, 47 SCORPIO Financial plans swirl around your head this week as the moon, in your house of resources from others, moves to make the first-quarter phase. This is a good week to investigate real estate or securities. Try investing perhaps through a Meetup group, classes at your brokerage house or a meeting with your financial planner. Mercury is still retrograde and so stay in investigation-mode rather than signing important contracts. There will be time for that later this month. Lucky Numbers: 4, 10, 56 SAGITTARIUS Your week begins with lots of activity around family members and your partner. The moon in Gemini moves through your house of relationships, making a tense angle to the sun in your house of home and family. This first-quarter moon can be somewhat combative. If you want to avoid a fight, you might want to keep your opinions to yourself at least this week. Lucky Numbers: 5, 21, 32 CAPRICORN This week you may be bogged down with paperwork and phone calls as the first-quarter moon travels through your house of work and routines. March 3 shows a couple of planets making aspects to Saturn, the ruler of your sign. The sun and Venus both make tense angles with Saturn. There needs to be a balance between duty and self-gratification. Today you may struggle with your responsibilities and wonder when it gets to be your turn. Lucky Numbers: 22, 26, 50 AQUARIUS You may have some exciting money opportunities this week as the sun in Pisces continues its transit through your house of finance. The moon moves into its first-quarter phase. You may find some luck at a casino or in a lottery scratcher, but you’re better off taking calculated risks to promote yourself and your many talents. Lucky Numbers: 22, 33, 38 PISCES You are breaking free of family patterns this week as the moon moves through your house of home and family and its first quarter. While your family may have gifted you many talents and resources, there are family patterns you don’t want to repeat. These will be clear this week. Lucky Numbers: 32, 34, 50

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 41

SUPER TUESDAY from Page 1

the Democratic primary when voters in 15 states and territories select their choice for the nomination. Still up for grabs – California with 415 delegates which at the time we went to press, appeared to be leaning toward Sanders who has been more successful among young voters and Latinos than his opponents.

To win the nomination on the first ballot at the Democratic National Convention, a candidate must obtain 1,991 of the 3,979 total delegates.

If no candidate captures the nomination on the first ballot, all delegates become unpledged. A total of 4,750 delegates vote on a second – and any subsequent – ballot.

Before results came in from Texas, California and Maine, Biden had captured a total of 296 delegates for the campaign, while Sanders trailed at 257.

VOTE from Page 1 Thurgood Marshall, became a separate organization from the NAACP in 1957. The lawyers at LDF developed and executed the legal strategy that led to the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, widely regarded as the most transformative and monumental legal decision of the 20th century.

Ifill serves as the second woman to lead the organization. She began her career as a Fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union, before joining the staff of the LDF as an Assistant Counsel in 1988, where she litigated voting rights cases for five years. In 1993, she left LDF to join the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law in Baltimore where she taught civil procedure and constitutional law to thousands of law students for over 20 years. She also pioneered a series of law clinics, including one of the earliest law clinics in the country focused on challenging legal barriers to the reentry of ex-offenders.

And her 2007 book “On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century,” has been credited with laying the foundation for contemporary conversations about lynching and reconciliation.

42 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

Of the candidates still in the race, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren had 19 delegates, while Bloomberg earned 10.

Warren lost her home state to Biden on Super Tuesday with her future in the race remains unclear. Bloomberg, who entered late, has pledged to “do whatever it takes to defeat Trump.”

CNN reported that, as of 11:45 p.m. EST., Sanders had opened up a wide lead in California among Hispanic voters, who accounted for 3 in 10 Democratic primary voters, according to exit polls.

A majority said they supported Sanders, while only 2 in 10 supported Biden. Sanders also leads among white voters, who make up a majority of the voters statewide, CNN noted.

Biden, whose South Carolina and early Super Tuesday wins were powered

by Black voters, won with that group in California too – but they made up only 7 percent of the primary electorate, according to CNN exit polls.

Sanders won more than 7 in 10 voters under 30 and he won liberal voters by a nearly three-to-one margin over Biden.

Still, Super Tuesday proved remarkable for Biden.

Prior to his victory in South Carolina three days ago, his campaign appeared out of gas.

However, over the course of two days, Biden’s fortunes began to turn when he sat down for an exclusive interview with The National Newspaper Publishers Association in Charleston, and a day later, he received an endorsement from powerful South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn.

“Biden is going to be very successful and he will be our nominee. I really deeply feel he will be the next president of the United States,” Clyburn stated.

After his victory in South Carolina, Biden’s campaign received an added boost when three former candidates – former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke – announced they were backing him.

At the end of the night on Super Tuesday, Sanders held a wide early lead over Biden in California and a slight lead in Texas. The two frontrunners remained in a virtual tie in Maine.

A 10th anniversary edition of the book has recently been released with a foreword by Bryan Stevenson, the acclaimed lawyer and founder of the national lynching memorial in Montgomery who most recently received national notice following his work as detailed in the film and book, ”Just Mercy.”

In 2013, Ifill would be invited back to the Legal Defense Fund – this time to lead the organization as its 7th Director-Counsel. In that role, Ifill has increased the visibility and engagement of the organization in cutting edge and urgent civil rights issues, while maintaining the organization’s decades-long leadership fighting voter suppression, inequity in education and racial discrimination in application of the death penalty.

Ifill responded to a few questions posed earlier last month.

Washington Informer: What are your feelings after having received a Humanitarian Award from your peers here in the District? How does this award speak to the work you continue to do?

Ifill: Honestly I could not have been more honored to receive this award. It was beyond exciting to look out from the stage at a packed Kennedy Center

audience and receive this acknowledgement for doing the work that means so much to me. It is tremendously fulfilling to be a civil rights lawyer, but there are also moments of discouragement and fatigue. It means so much to feel as though your work is seen and recognized, and it’s deeply touching to receive this support.

WI: ASALAH recently held its annual event with the theme focusing on the vote. What is the role that everyday people can play in securing the vote for all Americans, especially Blacks?

Ifill: Check to make sure that you are registered 30 days before the election. Make sure everyone in your family is registered. Bring up registration and voting when you meet with your friends, when you’re at the office, in the beauty salon and barbershop, and when you’re at your place of worship.

Take advantage of early voting so you can help others get to the polls on Election Day. Vote in every election – not just every four years – and vote for every office on the ballot, from President to sheriff.

WI: Voter suppression continues to be one of the most significant problems and challenges in the U.S. Why do we continue to face this hurdle given the rhetoric of the country and the laws of

Editor’s Note: As this story went to press, updated delegate totals stood as follows: Biden has 453 delegates; Sanders has 373; Warren has 39; and Bloomberg has 18. Elections in both California and Maine remain too close to call. And, as mentioned earlier, Biden has won Texas.

Michael Bloomberg also suspended his bid for the Democratic nomination. WI

SOUTH from Page 1 the former New York City mayor’s speech in a Selma, Alabama, church during the commemoration of Bloody Sunday.

“It’s time [to stop] taking African Americans and poor for granted,” said Charles Steele Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He talked to The Washington Informer on the eve of the South Carolina primary, where all the campaigns were focused on mobilizing the Black vote.

On Sunday, Rep. John Lewis, who recently announced his diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, rode across the Edmund Pettus Bridge while joined by civil rights activists and several presidential contenders from Biden to Buttigieg.

“We can make the difference for Joe Biden,” said a voice in a commercial running Sunday on WHUR-FM that was sponsored by super PAC Unite the Country. “Joe Biden is the only person who can beat Donald Trump.”

The commercial was played on the eve of the Virginia Democratic primary, in which Biden and Sanders were both competing hard. Sanders spoke in Springfield and the Virginia Beach area while Biden was all over the country.

Prior to the Super Tuesday showdown, representatives from the various campaigns made their pitches to Black the land? And with many Americans, especially millennials, seemly apathetic about voting, what steps should be taken to increase voter participation?

Ifill: Voter suppression targeted at African American and Latino voters is a form of white supremacy. It is one of the most dangerous challenges to our democracy because it reflects the desire of some to hold onto power completely and indefinitely. Democracy is premised on power-sharing, and the opportunity to not only cast a vote, but to have a meaningful opportunity to have your voice heard in the political process.

All voters – millennial and otherwise – get excited about voting when there are candidates with ideas that excite them. But we must also remove barriers that make it harder to vote. Election Day should be a national holiday, or we should have weekend voting. Early voting has been a terrific innovation. We need automatic voter registration. Every high school student who is 18 years old when they graduate should receive a diploma and a voter registration card when they walk across the stage. Those who are not yet 18 should be pre-registered and automatically added to the rolls when they turn 18.

voters and offered a variety of policy proposals at the SCLC Public Policy Conference and Presidential Candidate Forum in Columbia, S.C. During the Feb. 26 event, surrogates from the different candidates addressed an enthusiastic crowd at the Tin Roof Event Center in Columbia. The event included participants representing Biden, Buttigieg, Steyer, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Surrogates for Sanders, Bloomberg and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar didn’t participate.

“This was a tremendously important event,” Steele said. “Presidential campaigns spoke directly to African Americans about how they would improve our quality of life, create racial equity and provide opportunities for our communities to succeed.

“The candidates did not disappoint.

We heard a variety of plans, promises and proposals that will help Black voters in South Carolina, Super Tuesday states and across the country determine which candidates to support,” he said.

Steele noted that while Black voters are critical to the base of the Democratic Party, Black communities endure significant health disparities, a wealth gap, economic distress and ineffective education for their children.

“It’s time for candidates to give comprehensive proposals on how they

SOUTH Page 46 We must end voter suppression practices that purge voters from the rolls, move polling places without notice, require unnecessary government-issued photo identification to vote. And end racial and partisan gerrymander of legislative districts, that cancel out the voting power of particular groups.

Most of all, we should treat voting as right, not a privilege for those who manage to navigate the maze of barriers we erect. WI

5 Virginians turned out in record number to cast their vote in the Democratic presidential primary election. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

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SPORTS For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com

Dunbar Girls, Theodore Roosevelt Boys Claim DCIAA Championships

By Edward Hill Special to The Informer Zyaire Hairston showed why she is the most dominant player in the league, recording a double-double of 16 points and 10 assists to lead Dunbar to a 63-35 win over Banneker, while Theodore Roosevelt got a game-high 19 from James Pitts off the bench in a thrilling 66-63 victory over Woodrow Wilson in the girls and boys DCIAA championships on Sunday, Feb. 16 at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast.

Using the same successful formula they had all season, defending champion Dunbar bolted out to a 43-11 halftime lead and never looked back in capturing their second straight title.

“We played a game like we have all season,” said Dunbar head coach Shayla Williams, who is building the Crimson Tide into a local power.

“The key to it is that they stay hungry and never take anyone lightly.”

Brown, a sophomore guard who is quickly becoming regarded as one of the top young guards in the country, did all her damage despite playing only 19 minutes (the high school has a 30-point rule where the clock has to run continuously until the lead gets down to 20 points; the team with the advantage also has to take out its starting five during that period).

Hairston plays with a style and flair beyond her years. Her biggest asset is the ability to find her teammates with her laser-like passes.

“I don’t care a lot about scoring,”

5 Making the most of a rebound. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 4 Dunbar guard Zyaire Hairston is defended by Banneker forward Naki Cobb during Dunbar’s 63-35 win at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast on Sunday, Feb 16. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

said the soft-spoken Hairston, who was the tournament MVP last season. “The main thing is that I care about is winning — I like to win.”

In the boys game, it was a matchup of the eighth-ranked Tigers, the twotime defending champions, and the seventh-ranked Rough Riders (291), which defeated Wilson (23-4) in their only encounter early in the

season.

The Tigers, using their decided length advantage combined with the play of Nasir Best, Darren Buchanan Jr. and Jay Young, got a bit of breathing room with a 33-28 halftime lead.

The Tigers led by as many as nine on three different occasions in the third quarter, but Buchanan and two other starters were shackled with foul

trouble, which changed the complexion of the game.

The Rough Riders rode the scoring of Pitts, a junior guard, who tallied 14 of his 19 in the final quarter. Pitts converted on 10 of 11 free throws to take advantage of the Tigers’ foul trouble.

For the full version of this story, go to washingtoninformer.com. WI

Pigskin Club of Washington Celebrates 80th Anniversary in Grand Style Georgetown Coach Wiese Honored at Awards Banquet

By Ed Hill Special to The Informer It was only fitting that the Pigskin Club of Washington, Inc celebrate its 80 anniversary by honoring an NCAA national champion.

The Georgetown University men’s soccer team was the highlight of an exciting event at the 80th Awards Banquet at the Edward J. Pryzbyla Center on the campus of Catholic University.

Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese guided the Hoyas to their first ever NCAA championship.

“When we started out this process, we did not do very well,” Wiese said during the Feb. 28 event.

“There were probably people who questioned whether Georgetown

44 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

made the right decision. But there is something to be said about patience.

That’s what makes this award by the Pigskin Club very special to our program. We are very humbled.”

Hoyas All-American Dylan Nealis was also honored but was unable to make it since he was selected third overall in the recent Major League Soccer draft and will be playing professionally.

The Pigskin Club was formed in 1938 in an effort to honor high school and college athletes, coaches and community service leaders. In recent years, the organization has added spring sports in a separate banquet and an academic component for athletes displaying outstanding achievement in the classroom.

The festivities included the honoring the 2019 All-Met football team that boasted players who have signed with such programs as national champion LSU, Ohio State, University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Michigan State and Virginia Tech.

Several were cited for their academic prowess and will be attending Harvard and Yale.

On the collegiate side, the Howard University women’s volleyball team was named the Metropolitan collegiate team of the year with head coach Shaun Kupferberg and senior Kira Porter receiving special awards for their leadership and contribution to that success.

“We are very grateful to the Pigskin Club for this honor,” said

Kupferberg, who has led the Bison to five straight MEAC titles while having 52 of his athletes named to the all-academic team.

In other areas, quarterback Amanda Congialdi was named Divas offensive player of the year and defensive back Kucheria Johnson Eades was honored as defensive player of the year. Sierra Martinez was named Under Armour Female Boxer of the Year, Jordan Roach, the junior boxer of the year and Jahmal Harvey the youth boxer of the year.

Deputy Chief Willie Bailey was awarded the Community Person of the Year.

There was also a special tribute to those who died during the past year: former Hall of Famer Willie Wood. former DeMatha head

basketball coach Morgan Wootten, former Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant, former Howard University standout and high school All-American James Ratiff and Ahkii Washington-Scruggs, a student-athlete at Dunbar High School who was fatally shot prior to the 2019 season.

“He was an outstanding young man who was shot and killed along with his father,” said Dunbar head coach Anthony Vaughn, who led his team to the 2019 DCIAA championship. “We dedicated our season to his memory so the Pigskins Club paying this tribute to him means a lot to his family.”

For a list of remaining honorees go to www.washingtoninformer.com.

WI

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Rapids Top United in Overtime

SPORTS

3 Colorado Rapids midfielder Kellyn Acosta dribbles past D.C. United midfielder Junior Moreno during Colorado’s 2-1 overtime win at Audi Field in Southwest on Saturday, Feb. 29.

(John E. De Freitas/ The Washington Informer)

5 Colorado Rapids defender Lelas Abubakar jockeys with D.C. United defender Joseph Mora for possession during Colorado’s 2-1 overtime win at Audi Field in Southwest on Saturday, Feb. 29. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

Xavier Edges Hoyas

5 Georgetown Hoyas guard Jagan Mosely elevates for a layup attempt over Xavier Musketeers guard Paul Scruggs during Xavier’s 66-63 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, March 1. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

5 Georgetown Hoyas guard Terrell Allen is defended by Xavier Musketeers forward Jason Carter during Xavier’s 66-63 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, March 1. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

5 Georgetown Hoyas forward Jamorko Pickett drives against Xavier Musketeers forward Jason Carter during Xavier’s 66-63 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, March 1. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

5 Georgetown Hoyas guard Jagan Mosely drives against by Xavier Musketeers guard Paul Scruggs during Xavier’s 66-63 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, March 1. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)

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will address these issues,” he said. “The SCLC forum presented that platform and we applaud those who participated. It demonstrates their seriousness in addressing the impact that racial bias has had on our communities.”

Trey Baker, director of African American Engagement for Biden, told the audience that, as president, Biden would aggressively use executive orders to counter policies and practices enacted by President Trump.

Baker said Biden would “protect the absolute right to vote” and “turn back some of the damage that Donald Trump has done to our government, to our bureaucracy and to the Constitution. He will do this through executive orders.”

Baker said the former vice president has a solid history of accomplishments.

“People are confused,” he said. “Being progressive isn’t so much about being liberal, being progressive is getting things done.’’

Baker took direct aim at the 2010 Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United vs. FEC case determining that during elections, the government cannot restrict independent expenditures by corporations, associations, nonprofits and labor unions.

“What Citizens United did was bring all this flow of money into campaigns,” Baker said, adding that Biden would seek a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling.

Kat Taylor, wife of Steyer, who had been making inroads with Black voters, spoke on her husband’s behalf and expressed strong support for the Voting Rights Act, proclaimed that her husband is a strong supporter of a “national referendum” on issues. But Steyer bowed out of the race Saturday after performing poorly in South Carolina, even though he spent millions.

The campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren was represented by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner,

SOLDIER from Page 32 without question, ranks among the best I’ve ever witnessed.

Sitting one row behind me, Suzanne Senegal, 51, given the applause she offered during the curtain call and the occasional murmurings I overhead during the production, seemed more than enthusiastic about what she’d experienced as well.

“It was excellent, exciting, electric and emotional,” said Senegal who said she happened upon the show while visiting the Big Apple from her hometown of Houston.

“And there’s something that young

who emphasized the need to fix criminal justice as a route toward improving economic justice for people of color.

“When you mess up criminal justice, you mess up economic justice … the two cannot be separated,” Krasner said, citing research by the Brookings Institution showing that people from low-income backgrounds are 30 times more likely to be in jail than high-income people. “We know they didn’t commit 30 percent more crimes.”

Krasner also said that “the country is under the control of a shrinking number of incredibly wealthy people” who control policymaking on voting, health care, homeownership, criminal justice and other aspects of life. He cited Warren’s “plan for economic justice” and said she supports federal standards for elections.

He blasted conservatives who seek to prevent formerly incarcerated people from voting as “cheaters” for “trying to squash the vote of people more interested in progress.”

South Carolina state Rep. J.A. Moore, who represented Buttigieg, insisted that his candidate was the right person for the White House even though Buttigieg struggled to win support among African Americans.

“We need new generational leadership,” Moore said. “We need a president who does not just talk and tweet, but has fought for his country honorably. … We need a president who will bring integrity, dignity and grace back to the White House and we can be proud to [say], ‘that’s my president.’”

Combat veteran Joseph Metty represented Gabbard, who has so far performed poorly in the primaries. He said her platform includes reducing the money spent on endless wars and using it to help the American people.

In an emotional moment, Metty broke down and cried as he described the suffering of veterans, some of whom are committing suicide.

“We spent trillions of dollars since

9/11 on unnecessary wars,” he said.

“Why? When we have communities in our state and across the nation that don’t have drinking water, people in many states who have two and three jobs just to keep the lights on, people who are essentially drafted into military service — it’s not an actual draft, but they can’t afford tuition for college or gas for their car to get to work, so that’s why they enlist.”

Metty also said the criminal justice system has been “racist” in the way it is applied to African Americans.

“Stop throwing people in jail for weed and minor drug violations,” he said, adding that Gabbard would end the prohibition on marijuana and treat drug addiction as a mental health issue, not a criminal issue. “It is already treated as a mental issue if you are rich.”

After the forum, Steele told The Informer that as a nonprofit, the SCLC does not make any endorsements.

“We don’t support a candidate, we support public policy,” Steele said, adding that the Black people have been waiting for real solutions to their issues.

“African Americans and poor people are very disgusted in their lack of upward mobility,” Steele said. “People have lost confidence, Black banks are about to go under, our folks have lost interest in the process and we have gone back to states’ rights.”

This weekend, many civil rights leaders will head to Selma, Alabama, to observe the anniversary of the march from Selma to Montgomery when civil rights workers were beaten and bloodied by the Alabama National Guard on a day that became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Steele said many people forget that Hosea Williams of the SCLC led the initial march that sparked the bigger march after the workers were beaten.

“Selma was very important in terms of fighting for voting rights,” Steele said.

“Hosea Williams doesn’t get the respect he deserved in terms of the Selma to Montgomery march.” WI

people who have never seen this play and have the great opportunity to see it, can take with them,” she said. “Our ancestors – the Black men and women who came before us, before today’s youth – paid a price – an incalculable price, for all of us. The freedoms we enjoy today and often take for granted did not come without a price being paid. We must remember that particularly when we yield to in-fighting within our own community that diminishes the power of Black Americans. We’re at our best and at our full strength and potential when we are unified. We only fall into the plans of

the majority when we allow ourselves to be divided.”

Roundabout’s 2019-2020 Broadway season includes: The Rose Tattoo, by Tennessee Williams, starring Marisa Tomei, directed by Trip Cullman; A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller, starring David Alan Grier and Blair Underwood, directed by Kenny Leon; Birthday Candles, by Noah Haidle, starring Debra Messing, directed by Vivienne Benesch; Caroline, or Change, by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori, starring Sharon D. Clarke, directed by Michael Longhurst.

For information, visit www.roundaboutheatre.org. WI

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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT

Black Women Lynched in America: A Women’s History Month Story

Thanks to Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush for the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, approved last week in the House by a vote of 410-4. Let us pray for the president’s signature to make this bill law. I thought I would take this opportunity to share with you how women were also lynched.

Advocates say there have been more than 200 attempts to pass the legislation in the past, and the latest effort has been in the works for nearly two years.

“This act of American terrorism has to be repudiated,” Rush, who sponsored the legislation nearly two years ago, told NPR. “Now it’s being repudiated. It’s never too late to repudiate evil and this lynching is an American evil.”

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, has information on its website which tells of the museum’s which overlooks the Montgomery the state capital. It uses sculpture, art and design to give visitors a sense of the terror of lynching as they walk through a memorial square with 800 six-foot steel columns that symbolize the victims. The names of thousands of victims are engraved on columns — one for each county in the United States where a lynching took place. In Ala-

bama alone, a reported total of 275 lynchings took place between 1871 and 1920.

Evelyn M. Simien sought to tell the stories of these women and why they have been left out. Between 1880 and 1930, close to 200 women were murdered by lynch mobs in the American South, according to historian Crystal Feimster. Who knew this troubling history?

In a recent report, Lynching in America, researchers documented 4,075 lynchings of African-Americans that were committed by southern whites in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia between 1877 and 1950.

Lynching differed from ordinary murder or assault. It was celebrated by members of the Ku Klux Klan as a spectacular event and drew large crowds of people who tortured victims, burned them alive and dismembered them. Lynching was a form of domestic terrorism that inflicted harm onto individuals and upon an entire race of people, with the purpose of instilling fear.

The conventional approach to teaching the history of Jim Crow and lynching has focused almost exclusively on the Black male victim.

However, such an approach often simplifies and distorts a much more complex history.

Not all victims were African-Amer-

Mt. Zion Baptist Church

ican men, and although allegations of African-American men raping white women were common, such allegations were not the leading motive for the lynching. We know from the pioneering work of anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells-Barnett that African-American men, women and children were lynched for a range of alleged crimes and social infractions.

The book “Trouble in Mind,”

by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Leon Litwack, provides a detailed account of the many accusations of petty theft, labor disputes, arson and murder that led to these lynchings.

This fact requires a richer, more nuanced understanding of discrimination that is critical of racism and sexism at the same time. Martyrs such as Laura Nelson and Mary Turner experienced racial and sexual violence at the hands of vigilante lynch mobs because of their race and gender.

According to Laura Nelson and Mary Turner, in May 1911, Laura Nelson was lynched in Okemah, Oklahoma. Nelson allegedly shot a sheriff to protect her son. The officer had been searching her cabin for stolen goods as part of a meat-pilfering investigation. A mob seized Nelson along with her son, who was only 14 years old, and lynched them both.

However, Nelson was first raped by several men. The bodies of Laura and her son were hanged from a bridge for hundreds of people to see. WI

John F. Johnson Reverend Dr.

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

1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005

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

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

www.jmlaw.net

(301) 864-6070

jmccollum@jmlaw.net

Mount Olivet Lutheran Church

Reverend John W. Davis Pastor

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

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

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

(301) 864-6070

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

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

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 47

RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church

Pilgrim Baptist Church

Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor

Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor

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

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

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

Blessed Word of Life Church

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

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ

Church of Living Waters

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

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

St. Stephen Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., / Pastor 2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 / Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00 AM Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30 AM 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00 AM Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30 PM Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00 AM “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

Third Street Church of God

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

Rev. Dr. Alice Greene Interim Pastor

Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor

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

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

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

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

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

Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30 PM www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org

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

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

48 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am Worship Services Bible Study: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30 PM (dinner @ 5:30 PM) Sunday School: 9:00 AM – Hour of Power “An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantdc.org

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

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

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

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor 610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax

Sunday Worship Service: 8:00 AM and 10:45 AM Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45 AM; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45 AM; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6:00 AM & 6:30 PM Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church / Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org / emailus@gmchc.org

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

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

St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us...

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

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

Mount Carmel Baptist Church 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

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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 5 - 11, 2020 49

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 ADM 000114 Valton Reeves Decedent James Larry Frazier, Esq. 918 Maryland Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Cherie A. Jackson, whose address is 1116 Hamilton Street, NE, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Valton Reeves who died on November 18, 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 8/20/2020. 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 8/20/2020, 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: 2/20/2020 Cherie A. Jackson Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

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 000115

2019 ADM 001380

2019 ADM 000917

Rhoda J. Shorter Decedent

Inez L. Turner Decedent

Bennie Prophet Decedent

Edward G. Varrone, Esq. 1825 K Street, NW, Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 Attorney

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

Ronald Dixon Bynum & Jenkins 1010 Cameron Street Alexandria VA, 22314 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Christine J. Spruill, whose address is 17 Stonegate Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20905, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Rhoda J. Shorter who died on November 11, 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 August 20, 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 August 20, 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: February 20, 2020 Christine J. Spruill Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Gerald Turner and Reginald Turner, whose addresses are 4404 7th St., NE, Washington, DC 20017 and 10314 Marlboro Woods Dr., Cheltenham, MD 20623, was appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Inez L. Turner who died on October 4, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 8/20/2020. 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 8/20/2020, 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: 2/20/2020 Gerald Turner Reginald Turner Personal Representative

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Ronald Dixon, whose address is Bynum & Jenkins, 1010 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Bennie Prophet who died on March 18, 2019 at 5426 Clay Pl., NE, Washington, DC 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 (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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 FEP 000010 May 5, 2019 Date of Death Francis Bernard Beckwith, Jr. Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS Michael Bernard Beckwith whose address is 8549 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1413, Beverly Hills, California 90211 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Francis Bernard Beckwith, Jr., deceased, by the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, State of California, on September 5, 2019.

Service of process may be made upon Deborah D. Boddie, Esq., Probate Law DC, 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real estate.

1030 Quebec Place, NW. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Date of first publication: 2/20/2020

Ronald Dixon Personal Representative

Michael Bernard Beckwith Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

Washington Informer

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

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

2019 ADM 741

2020 ADM 000133

2020 ADM 000036

2020 ADM 000011

2019 ADM 337

Rodney Eugene Gill Decedent

Vannie L. Taylor III Decedent

Roberta D. Gabel Decedent

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

Dalton Howard, Esq. 4020 Lee Street, NE Washington, DC 20019 Attorney

Jeffrey K. Gordon, Esq. 5335 Wisconsin, Avenue, NW #700 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney

Mary E. Moss aka Mary Ethel Moss aka Mary Ethel Moody Decedent

Robert Charles McDuffie, Sr. aka Robert C. McDuffie Decedent

Attorney Ethel Mitchell 8403 Colesville Road #1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910 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

Valerie J. Edwards Antonoplos & Associates, Attorneys at Law 1725 DeSales St., NW Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney

Kimberly Fahrenholz, whose address is 1707 N Street, NW, Suite 2, Washington, DC 20036, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Rodney Eugene Gill who died on January 9, 2019 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding.

Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 8/20/2020. 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 8/20/2020, 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.

Adriane E. L. Dorrington, whose address is 48 Madison Street, NW, Washington DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Vannie L. Taylor III who died on October 13, 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/20/2020

Date of first publication: 2/27/2020

Carol J. Light, whose address is 3001 Veazey Terrace, NW, #1119, Washington, DC 20008, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Roberta D. Gabel who died on December 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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.

Kimberly Fahrenholz Personal Representative

Adriane E. L. Dorrington Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

Date of first publication: 2/27/2020 Carol J. Light Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS William R. Moody, whose address is 4005 Vine Street, Capitol Heights, MD 20743, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Mary E. Moss aka Mary Ethel Moss aka Mary Ethel Moody who died on October 13, 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020 William R. Moody Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

TRUE TEST COPY

Washington Informer

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

50 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Gale McDuffie, whose address is 3245 Walnut Street, NE, Washington DC 20018, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Robert Charles McDuffie, Sr. aka Robert C. McDuffie who died on November 19, 2018 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020 Gale McDuffie Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION 2020 NRT 000005 Rhoda J. Shorter Name of Deceased Settlor NOTICE OF EXISTENCE OF REVOCABLE TRUST Rhoda J. Shorter whose address was 1600 Trinidad Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002, created a revocable trust on July 18, 2018, which remained in existence on the date of her death on November 11, 2019, and Christine J. Spruill, whose address is 17 Stonegate Drive, Silver Spring MD 20905, is the currently acting trustee, hereinafter the Trustee. Communications to the Trust should be mailed or directed to the following: Christine J. Spruill at 17 Stonegate Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20905.

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 8/20/2020 (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) November 11, 2020, (One year from date of death of deceased settlor) (2) 8/20/2020, (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: 2/20/2020 Christine J. Spruill Signature of Trustee TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 FEP 000011

Thomas Jackson Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Clara L. Jackson whose address is 9917 Elm Street, Lanham, Maryland 20706-4711 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Thomas Jackson, deceased, by the Orphans Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland, on November 21, 2016.

Service of process may be made upon Caren M. Webb, Esq. 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 250, Washington, DC 20001 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real estate.

1841 M Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Clara L. Jackson Personal Representative Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

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 000113

2020 ADM 000135

Matthew Ginyard Decedent

Julia Matthews Decedent

Julius P. Terrell, Esquire 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20004 Attorney

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

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

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

Otis Ginyard, whose address is 3346 Blaine Street, NE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Matthew Ginyard who died on January 3, 2012 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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.

Katie Bernice Matthews, whose address is 125 57th Street, SE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Julia Matthews who died on October 6, 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020

Date of first publication: 2/27/2020

Otis Ginyard Personal Representative

Katie Bernice Matthews Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Acting 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

2020 ADM 000118

2020 ADM 000126

2020 ADM 000160

Fostenia W. Baker Decedent

Debora Tinong Ebei aka Deborah E. Tinong Decedent

Mary Lane Warley Decedent

Julius P. Terrell 1455 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Suite 400 Washington, DC 20004 Attorney

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

October 14, 2016 Date of Death

Date of first publication: 2/20/2020

LEGAL NOTICES

Tonya Chevelle Gadson, whose address is 3319 Somme Ave., Norfolk, VA 23509, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Fostenia W. Baker who died on January 23, 2020 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020 Tonya Chevelle Gadson Personal Representative

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Martin Agwonjang Tinong, whose address is 2110 Maryland Ave., NE Apt. 303, Washington DC 20002 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Debora Tinong Ebei aka Deborah E. Tinong who died on June 8, 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020 Martin Agwonjang Tinong Personal Representative

2020 FEP 000013 November 21, 2011 Date of Death Helen E. Staten Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Nykysha N. Bethea whose address is 2930 M Street, SE Washington, DC 20019 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Helen E. Staten, deceased, by the General Court of Justice for Guilford County, State of North Carolina, on June 7, 2016.

Service of process may be made upon Nykysha N. Bethea, 2930 M Street, SE, Washington, DC 20019 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C. The decedent owned the following District of Columbia real property: 2930 M Street, SE, Washington, DC 20019. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Date of first publication: 2/27/2020 Nykysha N Bethea Personal Representative Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 ADM 000142 Cora Thomas aka Cora B. Thomas Decedent Cheryl Chapman Henderson, Esq. 4920 Niagara Road, Suite 200 College Park, MD 20740 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Julia B. Bowman, whose address is 1313 Robert Lewis Avenue, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Cora Thomas aka Cora B. Thomas who died on December 15, 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 8/27/2020. 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 8/27/2020, 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: 2/27/2020 Julia B. Bowman Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

Aimee D. Griffin, Esq. The Griffin Firm, PLLC 5335 Wisconsin Avenue NW Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney

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.

Date of first publication: 3/5/2020 Meloney Early Personal Representative

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

Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer

TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

Washington Informer

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 51

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EDLIN from Page 30

of the first child therapy programs in schools, hospital clinics, and child care centers. Dr. Lawrence was dedicated to serving underserved children and especially interested in helping develop “ego strength” in Black children.

She was also dedicated to helping children and families recover from trauma and develop resiliency, and always said helping families was a privilege.

She gave other children the thoughtful, loving care she once might have needed.

All along the way, in her daughter’s words, “her life [was] one of courageous boundary crossing; enduring the visibility and distortions of tokenism, and the double oppressions and assaults of racism and sexism” — yet she “faced the virulent barriers of racism and sexism with a deft blend of grit and grace.” All of us who care deeply about child development owe Dr. Margaret Morgan Lawrence a debt of gratitude.

WI

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ed tuberculosis and died before graduating, and they were not ready to give another Black student a chance. So she kept going.

Dr. Lawrence graduated from Columbia University’s medical school instead, where she was the only Black student in her class and one of only ten women. She was turned down for the first hospital internship she applied for because women were not allowed to live in the affiliated doctors’ housing and the nurses’ housing wouldn’t allow a Black woman, but again she kept going. She secured an internship at Harlem Hospital, and during her time there became keenly aware of how much the poverty and other challenging circumstances children faced in the surrounding neighborhoods influenced their health and the care they needed. This shaped the rest of her professional life.

She went on to pursue a master’s

of public health at Columbia, where she studied under the famous pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock. There she learned more about the deep relationships between physical, social and psychological health, and that led her to continue formal training in psychiatry, becoming the first Black resident at the New York Psychiatric Institute and the first Black trainee at Columbia’s Psychoanalytic Clinic for Training and Research. Dr. Lawrence ultimately became both the first Black woman psychoanalyst and the first Black woman physician certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.

She served as chief of the Developmental Psychiatry Service for Infants and Children at Harlem Hospital, as an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and as the first practicing child psychiatrist and co-founder of the Center for Mental Health in Rockland County, New York, and she established some

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that Trump was guilty of the charges against him? Congressman Rush decided the time had come to make lynching a crime so he introduced HB 35 — named for Emmett Till.

If Trump’s behavior and lynching human beings are not crimes, we are a shameless nation and have no right to tell another nation what decency is.

Now, let’s see what the current Senate will do about lynching. WI

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shocking is the fact that Reps. Louie Gohmert (D-Texas), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) and Justin Amash (I-Mich.) voted against the bill! The presidency of Donald Trump is charged with carrying out laws Congress decides and the men I have just named are responsible for making the laws! I have to wonder if their con-

stituents will in good conscience send them back to Washington or will they vote “No” on them?

For more than 150 years, an anti-lynching bill failed in the Senate even though the House and several presidents had supported anti-lynching measures. Does this sound like the current Senate that refused to convict Donald Trump even though the House had proven without a doubt

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WILLIAMS from Page 30

the neighborhood — for example, affordable teacher housing. The community also lacks a library and community center.

Additionally, co-location revenue sharing legislation is needed to allow city-run schools hosting a co-located charter to benefit from the co-location and offset costs, while releasing currently underutilized classroom and other school space.

Government should also provide a new facilities grant fund to assist the establishment of new public charter schools. Funding charter students on a par with their peers in city-run schools for facilities — currently they receive one dollar for every three that go to traditional public school students — would assist mixed use development further.

Spingarn ought to be part of the rebirth and revival of D.C.’s Trinidad district, allowing the community to contribute to the District’s history and heritage. Will the government step up to the plate for our children and this community? WI

Photo

little concern to those in authority, but renovation could create many beneficial community uses.

Nearly 12,000 individual student names lie on waitlists for public charter schools that lack the space to accommodate them. Charter schools provide a free public education to D.C. residents that operate independently of the city-run system, while being held accountable for improved student performance by the city’s charter board. Charters currently educate half of D.C. public school students.

District law requires these unique public schools receive a “right of first offer” to bid for surplus city-owned school space before developers can, and the Spingarn schoolhouse could house many such popular over-subscribed public school options. But sadly, the District has all too often chosen to ignore this requirement, leaving buildings like Spingarn empty without even keeping up its basic infrastructure.

The government’s hoarding of surplus school properties, including a further nine schoolhouses, is a social injustice and a blight on underserved neighborhoods. Combining these buildings with underutilized school space, there is approximately 1.4 million square feet of city property that could be leased by over-subscribed public charter schools but, shockingly, is not.

District charter schools’ per-student facilities allotment formula which funds their facilities needs could be used to help renovate the Spingarn school building. Charters can also leverage private funding for renovations.

Spingarn could be used as incubator space for charters that typically extend enrollment by one grade level at a time, relieving them of the need to find often costly, scarce additional space.

This huge building also could combine public education provided by District charter nonprofits with entities adding to the quality of housing and employment in

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MORIAL from Page 31 as to remove the acting director of national intelligence whose staff provided the briefing, following a chilling pattern of retribution against government employees for carrying out their duties.

One of the ways, but certainly not the sole way, corrupt Russians believed they could advance their agenda was to promote the election of Donald Trump. Whether by design or by coincidence, Trump has served Russia’s interests in a number of ways: Days after inauguration, his administration began working to lift sanctions against Russia, and explored withdrawing military forces from Eastern Europe. He’s refused to condemn Russia’s annexation of Crimea. He’s pushed to re-admit Russia to the G-7. He’s continually attacked NATO, threatening to pull out of the treaty, and berated the

leaders of NATO ally nations.

All of this has weakened other nations’ trust in the United States, and our ability to conduct responsible foreign policy.

Is difficult as it is to believe, we are at a point in history where the President’s bruised ego has taken precedence over our national security.

And instead of fulfilling its constitutional duty to exercise oversight of the President, Congress is enabling his dangerous behaviors.

Earlier this month, the Senate blocked three election-security bills, including one that would require campaigns to report offers of foreign election assistance to the FBI, and another that would require campaigns to report such offers to the Federal Election Commission. The Senate also has blocked the Securing America’s Federal Elections Act (SAFE Act), which would provide additional funding to the Election

Assistance Commission and would ban voting machines from being connected to the internet as well as machines that were manufactured in foreign countries. Also rejected have been the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act, which requires offers of foreign assistance to be reported to the FBI, and the Defending Elections from Threats

by Establishing Redlines (DETER Act), imposing sanctions on Russia if U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Russia interfered in a federal election.

Congress can no longer afford to continue compromising the national security of the United States simply to demonstrate partisan loyalty. The Senate must act at once to protect democracy and stand up against foreign tampering in our elections.

WI

The more you understand the Word of God, the more you understand it to be worthy, not demanding, of your praise.

I guess what I’m asking you is at

what point does the Light go on and the questions get answered? At what point do you live free of all the rules?

May God bless and keep you always. WI

kept in servitude slavery for 310 years. I believe that the best solution to that calamity is to permit Black people to form a separate state of our own. Although most whites can’t stand to have Black folks among them, they loathe the idea that Blacks might be happy living apart from them. That’s why Donald Trump wins: white people want him to win and keep things going along, just the way they are.

6. He invigorates the political libido of white AmeriKKKa. Trump’s image of just taking what he wants, arouses the cave-man, savage instinct, especially among white, gun-loving men in a com-

pletely sexual way. There they are, SEAL tams, penetrating vulnerable countries, chanting the motto, “Kill them all.” And despite politically correct complaints about the toxic masculinity involving Trump, Republicans and guns, all too many women are charmed by Trump’s swagger, like all too many sorority “girls gone wild” video participants a generation ago. Today, a stripper pole is part of the Super Bowl halftime show.

Friday night smackdowns, bloodsports — Trump wins because he is political Viagra for white people, and they want all of that they can get. WI

ill.”

A person terminally ill must receive a prognosis that highlights a medical condition to result in death within six months.

According to the legislation, physicians who coerces patients to make written requests to end their lives would be charged with a felony and face up to 10 years in prison, a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both.

The nonprofit organization Death With Dignity notes eight states and the District of Columbia approved aidof-dying laws.

Sen. Robert Cassilly (R-Harford County) said a portion of the Mary-

land legislation, “actions taken in accordance with this subtitle do not for any purpose constitute suicide [or] assisted suicide,” tries to present a positive tone. He likened it to using words and phrases such as a “man-servant,” which he said represents a “slave,” and “work camps,” which he said means “concentration camps” used to kill Jews in Europe.

“Clearly, this is assisted suicide,” he said. “As a worldwide society, we’ve had a bad experience when we call things, things they are not. For the [proposed bill] to say it is something else, it troubles me.”

WI

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54 - MARCH 5 - 11, 2020

ASKIA from Page 31 So that means us average squares think everything is alright, as well.

Trump wins.

5. Democrats are gun-shy and are fond of forming circular firing squads. Too many are fearful of advocating the radical solutions necessary to stop the AmeriKKKan rot from within, before then trying to set the country on a sustainable course for the future.

The Number 1 issue which white America must resolve for its survival, is justice for the tens of millions Black men, women, and children, whose ancestors were

DYING from Page 12 disciplinary action for participation in good faith.”

Sen Michael J. Hough (R-Frederick County) asked why these specific doctors who conduct end-of-life measures would receive immunity when others in the medical profession don’t.

“This is a new area of law and requires people to know that they are safe in operating under the code we are advocating,” Waldstreicher said. “In other states, that level of safety has provided comfort for the physicians who are partaking in this to provide these services to patients who are terminally

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MARCH 5 - 11, 2020 55

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