RECIPIENT OF THE DC BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION 2023 LEGACY AWARD
MAY 2025 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT
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Vol 60 No 30
May 8 - 14, 2025
Bard HS Early College DC Parents Demand Response to Campus Safety Concerns
3Led to the beats of African drums, faith leaders and civil rights activists link arms during the #HandsOffOurHistory rally on May 3, a movement to protect the freedom to learn and uphold Black history amid the Trump administration’s attempts to take over the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. (Ja’Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer)
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
Within a matter of weeks, Courtney Sutton’s son will graduate from Bard High School Early College DC with not only a D.C. high school diploma under his belt, but an associate’s degree from an accredited university and at least three college acceptances. However, as Sutton explained to The Informer, her 5Parents of students at Bard High School Early College DC are frustrated son will also carry the trauma with the violence they said students have experienced on and near school of physical and emotional vi- grounds. (Courtesy Photo) olence experienced at a D.C. year, he was robbed and shot at by another stupublic school that, despite its reputation as an academically rigorous program, has dent. They’ve been going to school for months [and] the boy was never suspended or penalits share of problems as it relates to student safety. “My son was robbed when school first started ized. It’s on camera but they don’t know why during his 10th grade year, and nothing was done BARD HS Page 34 about that,” said Sutton, a Ward 7 resident. “This
D.C. Mayor Bowser Targets I-82 in Yet-to-Be-Fully Revealed Budget Proposal Council members, Restaurateurs, and Restaurant Workers Respond
As D.C. residents await the passage of a congressional budget fix, and D.C. council members grow anxious about a six-week budget season delay, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) continues to drop hints about an economic plan that, in the face of federal
BUDGET Page 48
‘Hands Off Our History’ Rallies Hundreds in Defense of African American Institutions, Culture
From Marches to Marching Orders, Civil Rights Leaders and Activists Champion Truth, Freedom to Learn By Jada Ingleton WI Content Editor In a culmination of the Freedom to Learn 2025 National Week of Action (April 27 May 3), hundreds of protestors marched to the beat of African drums and chants of resistance in a rallying cry for justice and fair education on May 3.
5D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announces a plan to diversify D.C.’s economy at a news conference, flanked by Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Nina Albert to her left and city administrator Kevin Donahue to her right. (Ja’Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer)
Following the Trump administration’s push back on African American history and institutions, the “#HandsOffOurHistory” demonstration scoured the three blocks from the John A. Wilson building to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to affirm
OUR HISTORY Page 23
Beyond Biology: Celebrating Mothers Who Rebuild Families from Loss and Tragedy By Dr. Patrise Holden Contributing Writer
By Sam P.K. Collins and James Wright, Jr. WI Staff Writers
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Motherhood does not always arrive wrapped in a birth certificate or within the walls of a maternity ward. Sometimes, it shows up with a phone call in the middle of the night, through a tragic loss, or a moment of decision when a child is in need. Stacey Brown, 57, remembers the exact moment her life changed. “I met her when she was two weeks old. This chunky, beautiful baby girl who smiled at me. I loved her from the start,” Brown recalled. She didn’t give birth to the infant, but from
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the moment she held her— baby Mikelle— Brown felt a bond that she instinctively knew would change her life forever. As Mikelle’s birth mother struggled to care for six children, Brown, then a family friend, became the baby’s constant. When the young mother was tragically killed, a custody battle ignited. Though
MOTHERS Page 38