The Washington Informer - September 17, 2020

2020

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47 DAYS

Vol. 55, No. 48 • September 17 - 23, 2020

Little Relief in Sight as D.C. Joins Other Cities Facing VirusRelated Budget Crises

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

5 Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. (WI file photo)

As negotiations for a coronavirus stimulus bill remain at a standstill, millions of Americans continue to grow doubtful over the prospect of the federal government providing a lifeline.

In a battle rooted in partisanship, the Republican-led Senate and the White House have turned a deaf ear to Democrats’ stimulus proposal that would include aid for states and municipalities, including the District of Columbia, and money for essential services like healthcare and unemployment benefits.

With less than 50 days left until one of the most consequential elections in the nation’s history, some public officials at the local and state level continue to make strides in ensuring that voters can vote easily and in a variety of ways, not only on Election Day, but in the days leading up to Nov. 3.

For decades-long voter and District resident Lydia Curtis, not even mail-in ballots and the launch of a voter super center in

Capital One Arena, will suffice if she and other voters haven’t outlined the steps they’ll take to circumvent long waits at the polls that discouraged primary voters months earlier.

“Everyone should have a voting plan. It’s very empowering. I learned that during the last election cycle and the one before that,” said Curtis, an activist who has been involved in voter mobilization efforts, particularly among the homeless population, for nearly five

ELECTI0NS Page 52

BUDGET Page 46

Fast-paced Plans for COVID-19 Vaccine Spark Concerns among Blacks

DCBOE, Voters Prepare for Upcoming General Election

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

Both sides had previously agreed to a second round of direct payments to Americans for roughly the same $1,200 per individual as determined in the earlier CARES Act. “It’s becoming plain that all Congress will do before the Nov. 3 election is pass legislation to avert a government shutdown,” the Associated Press noted.

“The outcome of the election promises to have an outsized impact on what might be possible in a post-election lame-duck session, with Democrats sure to press for a better

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

5 The D.C. Board of Elections and Monumental Sports unveiled the Capital One Arena as an early voting location super center for District of Columbia residents. (Courtesy photo/nba.com)

For one notable contingent of Blacks, a recent polio outbreak in Sudan which the World Health Organization tied to an oral vaccine confirmed long-held apprehensions about the side effects of vaccines and what’s been criticized as an increasingly longer, profit-driven immunization schedule.

Meanwhile, as members of the global medical community continue their efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, some local parents, like Najai Knox, have not only voiced fears about the dangers ahead for Blacks who participate in medical trials,

VACCINE Page 22

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District’s NationallawMaternal enforcement. She saidRestaurant they threat,” sheWeek said.

Poised to had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow & Infant Health Summit Delights sense of uniformity in theShowcase way wants to Culinary see implemented are

By Tia Carol Jones WI Staff Writer

When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- domestic violence victims and stricter restraining order policies, Black Restaurant Week, is making final preparaold daughter told her the father survivors are treated. more rights forLLC, victim's families tions beforetohosting its inaugural campaign in of her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal intervene on behalf of a vic-the Greater Washington, DCa region.

Theviolence national culinary life, and the life of their child, story, her own personal pain to tim, domestic assess- and cultural campaign the flavors African-Amerishe knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens mentcelebrates unit coupled with offurther can, Africantraining and Caribbean cuisine with a regional showdone. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. for law enforcement case from Baltimore with an extension to Virginia.

Black with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecof the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book Restaurant WeekAct will also celebrate five years of service will tion and mandatory counselstart the Saving Promise cam- “get it.” She said she “puts which, has developed its multi-city culinary the sinceing2015, for batterers. paign. experiences in“Ifsupport Black-owned businesses and case in such a way, the average we areofever going to eradi“It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She saidtalent at thewithin thedomestic food andviolence, beverage industries. cate we must The palthat won't turn my family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of theWashington, coin. ate-pleasing showcase for the Greater DC loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to haveregion a diaWe need to address both the vicruns from Fri., Sept.

18 – Sunday, Sept.

27.

On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Mayor Muriel Bowser kicks shared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence. tim and the This year’s campaign willbatterer,” emphasizeMarlow the importance of off the third annual National Maternal & Inence at District’s the District Heights Also present at the event was andsaid. reviving saving the Black restaurant industry during fant Health Summit – Rethinking Our Perspectives, Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow wouldThe alsoplatform like to also see serves as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actions:Heights A Life Course Approach to ImonRetooling May 7 at Our the District wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise an educational tool to help show consumers the abunproving Maternal Health.

Municipal Center. and The Infant sympowho was sentenced to six consecawareness among in dance of cultural cuisines in theirchildren local community and Bowser opened the summit with welcoming remarks sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without toparole public and private schools. She dispel ethnic untruths. and participatde in a Services panel discussion: What We’ve Family and Youth by a Maryland jury for his role in children uncertainty need to be and educata timefeels of financial with the unLearned from COVID-19: The Pandemic’s Impact on attacksIn in Center of the city of District the Beltway Sniper ed about domestic violence. fortunate escalation of racial injustice incidents, Black Perinatal and Our Next Steps. additional Heights andHealth the National Hook2002.Two Mildred Muhammad is Week “We[BRW] have has to stop being pas- particRestaurant waived the financial discussions Root the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilUppanel of Black Women.include: Understanding the founderthe of After ipation fee for all restaurants.

Causes: Life Course; Marlow The has Impact written ofa Trauma book, on an the organization that helps “Supporting the drenthe about violence,” entiredomestic culinary industry, from farm to and In Forefront:which Moving Needle onofPerinatal “Color MetheButterfly,” is a the survivors domestic violence Marlow said. table, is necessary for providing more opportunities for Health through Youth Voice & Advocacy.

story about four generations of and their children.

Marlow has worked to break the whole community to thrive,” said BRW’s founder, The four-day will be virtual, featurdomestic violence.Summit The book is entirely “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of abuse in her family, Warren Luckett. “From the increased exposure for Blacking panel discussions, community-led a time. inspired by her own experiences, yearsworkshops in fear isand a long It is and is confident the policies she owned on our new national website to the and thoseresource of her expo grandmother, virtual dedicated tonot connecting an easy District thing to come out restaurants is pushing for will start that professional business herresidents motherwith andlocal herand daughter. national resources of,” sheand said.supports process. guidance gained from the educational events, Week helpstobusinesses She said every time she reads needed to ensure that babies, their families and commuMildred Muhammad said “IBlack plan Restaurant to take these policies expanda customer bases and receive resources for ongoing excerpts fromwhat her they book,need she to still people who want to help nities have thrive.

Congress and implore them to can not words came domestic violence must change our laws,” Marlow said.

The believe Summitthe continues with a series of daily break-victimsuccess.” about Black Restaurant from “Colorfrom Wed., Me Butterfly” of 18. To how they go For intomore“Iinformation will not stop until these poli- Week, out her. discussions Sept. 16be– careful Fri., Sept. its events and participating restaurants, visit blackrestauwon the 2007 National “Best theRSVP, victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” learn more about the Summit or to visit dcmarantweeks.com.

Books” Award. that she may be in “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached ternalhealth.com.

“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 The D.C. ended its summer of Black Women, saidCouncil there is officially no recess on Sept.

7 with the convening of various comconsistency in the way domestic mittee meetings.

However, violence issues are dealt with bywhen the first legislative meeting kicks off on Tues., Sept. 22, members of the Council will begin to address a number of significant issues impacting the District and will continue their deliberations through Dec. 31 – the final day of the current two-year Council period.

While the Council balanced the District’s $9 billion local budget which initially included an $800 million shortfall in late July, Councilmembers and the Mayor were notified on Aug. 5 that the 2020-2021 budget would have to be reduced by as much as $500 million due to the negative impact COVID-19 has had on the District. To keep the budget balanced as mandated by law, the Council will have to either initiate program and service cuts, tax increases or a combination therein. They’ll also probably consider if Councilmember Charles Allen’s (D-Ward 6) police reform legislation, voted on and approved during the summer on a temporary basis, should become permanent. Councilmembers Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1) and Trayon White (D-Ward 8) have co-sponsored a bill that, if approved, would further strengthen the District’s rent control policies. And there’ll be a final vote on the proposal to build a new Howard University Hospital along with hearings that will feature discussions on revisions to the unemployment compensation process and procedural changes to the election process.

“

D.C. Council Returns from Recess to a Busy Fall Agenda

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 Mayor Bowser Hosts D.C. Region’s Black

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L.Y. Marlow

A Field of Hopefuls Seek District Board of Education At-Large Seat

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @JamesDCWrighter The candidates trying to nail down an at large seat on the D.C. school board include a former Ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner, two Ward 7 residents who have worked in the District public schools, a Howard University scholar and a former board of education member representing the ward and a Ward 3 entrepreneur.

They all have their own ideas about how to make D.C. schools better.

Jacque Patterson has been elected as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 8 for a few terms and has served as the president of the ward’s Democrat club.

Patterson, who works as an executive with the KIPP charter school organization, said he wants to make sure educational concerns of residents east of the Anacostia River are heard.

“Neighborhoods east of the river have the most school-age children and the least amount of resources,” he said. “I want to change that.

Also, communities east of the river have two representatives on the board, for Ward 7 and Ward 8. If I am elected, I will be the third. That doesn’t mean I won’t be sensitive to the needs of residents west of the river, I will represent all Washingtonians. I just want to make sure that there is equity in all of the schools.”

Like Patterson, the rest of the candidates said in interviews with the Informer they would be an at-large board of education member for all residents of the District.

Candidate Troy Murphy could not be reached for an Informer interview. However, some candidates would like to see a fairer distribution of resources for east of the river schools.

“There is a situation here in D.C. where you have unequitable resources,” Ravi Perry, a political scientist at Howard University, said.

“Unlike other cities who are presently facing serious budget deficits D.C. has the resources. The money is here. There needs to be an effort on the part of the leadership on

the board and the D.C. Council to have the will to do it. As a member of the board, I will work to see Ward 7 and Ward 8 schools get their fair share and work for budget transparency.”

Mysiki Valentine, who also resides in Ward 7, has taught in the District’s public and charter schools. He said the city hasn’t done enough to make sure young people are educated well enough to be successful in school and life.

“Right now, there are many students who don’t have laptops even though the school year is virtual at this point,” Valentine said. “Even before the pandemic, there was the

Valentine said as a board member, he will work to help students perform better on standardized tests, address such issues as hunger among students and articulate the concerns of teachers. digital divide.”

Valentine said as a board member, he will work to help students perform better on standardized tests, address such issues as hunger among students and articulate the concerns of teachers.

In 2008, Ward 7 voters elected Dorothy Douglas as their board of education representative. She served one four-year term. Douglas said she wants to return to the board to even the educational landscape in the city.

“Our children, particularly those in Wards 7 and 8 are being left behind,” she said. “Our kids are failing. Many of them cannot read and write at their grade level. What is needed in the school system are quality resources for our children, dedicated teachers who are concerned about them and new, up-todate materials. As the at-large member, I will also engage the parents.

The parents are the key to children

AROUND THE REGION

being successful in school.”

Christopher Martin lives in Ward 3 and is self-employed. Martin said he entered the race to provide a better future for the city’s children, including his three young ones.

“I want to be the voice of equity on the board,” he said. “The entire school system needs to be revisited, not just certain wards. One of the problems is the lack of engagement and I will work on the board as a conduit to improve relations between it and the Office of the State Superintendent and the mayor. I want to create as many opportunities possible for our kids.”

WI

5 Jacque Patterson is a candidate for an at-large seat on the D.C. State Board of Education. (Photo courtesy/Facebook grab)

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black facts SEPT 17 - 23, 2020

SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB

SEPT. 17

1973 – Illinois becomes the first state to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a holiday.

1983 – Vanessa Williams becomes the first African American to be crowned Miss America.

SEPT. 18

1850 – The Fugitive Slave Act, which required that all escaped slaves be returned to their masters upon capture, is passed by the U.S. Congress.

1895 – Booker T. Washington delivers the Atlanta Compromise speech. The compromise was a deal struck between Southern Blacks and whites that Blacks would work and submit to white political rule in exchange for basic education and due process in law.

1951 – Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate, is born in Detroit.

1970 – Rock icon Jimi Hendrix is found dead in a London apartment at age 27.

1980 – Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, a Cuban Air Force pilot, becomes the first Hispanic and first person of African ancestry to travel in outer space.

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1893 – Black inventor Elbert R. Robinson receives patent for the electric highway trolley.

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1931 – Singer Brook Benton of “Rainy Night in Georgia” fame is born in Camden, South Carolina.

SEPT. 20

1958 – Martin Luther King, Jr. is stabbed during a Harlem book signing by Izola Ware Curry, an African American woman later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

1984 – “The Cosby Show” debuts on NBC, beginning an eight-year run as one of television’s all-time most beloved and successful shows.

SEPT. 21

1872 – John H. Conyers becomes the first African American admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

1989 – Colin Powell is confirmed by the Senate as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first African American to hold the position.

SEPT. 22

1828 – Shaka Zulu, monarch of Africa’s Zulu Kingdom, is assassinated.

1862 – President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date for the freedom of more than three million Black slaves in the United States.

1950 – Civil rights icon Ralph Bunche becomes the first African American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

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VANESSA WILLIAMS 6 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

1863 – NAACP charter member Mary Church Terrell (above), who was the first African American woman appointed to a school board of a major U.S. city as a member of the D.C. board of education, is born in Memphis.

1926 – Pioneering jazz saxophonist John Coltrane is born in Hamlet, North Carolina.

1930 – Music legend Ray Charles (top) is born in Albany, Georgia.

1998 – President Clinton presents Nelson Mandela with the Congressional Gold Medal for his anti-apartheid efforts. WI

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The World According to Dominic

COVID-19: The Thief Who Stole My Greatest Treasure – Hugs from My Grandsons

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Last December, I traveled back to my hometown of Detroit, eager to join the rest of my family as we celebrated the achievement of my firstborn child, my daughter Jasmine, as she received a master’s degree in her chosen field of education. I could hardly wait for the family reunion – the first time for us since my mother’s death on July 4th one year ago.

I was forced to face disappointment even before my plane had landed in Motown. Unforeseen circumstances arose which prevented my oldest grandson, now a high school senior who lives in Atlanta, from joining us.

But my precocious youngest grandson who started school this fall and lives in Detroit with his parents – my daughter and her husband – was more than willing to soak up the spotlight, relishing the fact that he didn’t have to share it with his older brother. And while the ages of my two man-cubs place them at opposite ends of the K-12 educational spectrum, I shower both of them with equal amounts of love and affection.

Sure, I express that love in different ways, sometimes. However, I have no qualms with grabbing either of them, wrapping my arms around

them, kissing them on their foreheads and telling them, “I love you” – as often as possible. So, shortly after returning home to the DMV, I began planning my travel itinerary for 2020. Being the proud grandfather, at the top of my list were a

Both of my grandsons seem to be adapting amazingly well with the “virtual thing” – much better than I believe I would if I were in their shoes. Even as the family patriarch, I’m still struggling, especially as it relates to my two man-cubs who I miss so much.

few visits to Atlanta to see Jordon, 18, star on his high school football and basketball teams and to later witness his commencement ceremony. In addition, I looked forward to several weekend trips to Detroit to see Jackson, 6, head off to first grade, to see him all aglow while opening his gifts on Christmas and for any other reasons that I could find and which would justify another trip to the Wolverine State.

Then, the world turned topsy-turvy as life ground to an unexpected halt after a mysterious sickness, now known as coronavirus, began to appear. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

There’s no need to rehash how COVID-19 has changed the American landscape in every facet of life.

But I have fond memories to hold on to until some semblance of normal can be found: class trips to the apple orchid in northern Michigan with the other first graders; hayrides,

haunted houses and marshmallow roasts enjoyed during an outing for the freshman class during my first year at U of D High; and talent shows hosted by the graduating class at Louis Pasteur Elementary when I was in the sixth grade.

Those experiences, and so many more, will forever mark my formative years, leaving with me unforgettable, precious memories. But I cannot help but wonder, will my grandsons have the chance to form and hold on to similar memories which have long been the magical moments of youth? Will there be proms, homecoming football games, college visits, that first kiss, snowball fights, campouts and sleepovers?

Both of my grandsons seem to be adapting amazingly well with the “virtual thing” – much better than I believe I would if I were in their shoes. Even as the family patriarch, I’m still struggling, especially as it relates to my two man-cubs who I miss so much.

I don’t want to learn how to become a “virtual grandfather.” I don’t’ know how to be a “virtual grandfather.” I don’t like being a “virtual grandfather.” I have grown weary of Zoom, text messages and Facebook live.

The Beatles said, “I wanna hold your hand.” I want and need more than that. I want to look into my grandsons’ eyes as they share their joys and fears or recount recent events that they can’t stop thinking or talking about.

I want to hug them tightly, kiss them all over and tell them that in all seasons, at all times and no matter what they may or may not do, I will always love them.

Officer, I want to report a robbery. I know the name of the thief: COVID-19. It’s already taken the lives of some of my friends and family. Now it wants to steal my joy – a joy that comes with being a grandfather. Can you, or anyone, help me?

WI

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Metro Board Members Suggest Shutting Down Metrorail System to Improve Operations

DESIGNER EYEWEAR

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Due to rampant problems at Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center, two board members proposed for one of the nation’s largest transit agencies to shut down its Metrorail system.

The idea from David Horner came two days after the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission released an audit with 21 recommendations for the agency to improve the operations center in Landover known as the ROCC. Some of the noted failures include emergency communications, lack of training, harassment among staff and other outdated procedures.

It would mark the second time since the system went down for one day in March 2016 to inspect cables that caught fire. A few months later, Metro began its “Safe Track” maintenance program.

“I urge you to take radical action to fix the ROCC,” Horner, a Metro board member who represents the federal government, said Thursday, Sept. 10. “Now that the dysfunction of the ROCC has been laid before the public, you would receive robust support from many quarters for decisive action.”

Another reason for the shutdown is stubbornly low ridership during the coronavirus pandemic, which Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said has fallen 88 percent and remained that way for the last six months.

Michael Goldman, who chairs Metro board of director’s Safety and Operations Committee, agreed with Horner.

“Cultural change is essential to maintaining safety for the riders.

Treat this as a crisis,” said Goldman of Montgomery County, Md. Unfortunately, Metro’s livestream went out while Jayme Johnson, director of change management for the ROCC since July 7, began to respond to Horner’s comments.

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ation. It is the hub for emergency responses, announces on the loudspeaker for commuters and directs all trains throughout each of the 91 Metrorail stations in Northern Virginia, the District and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland.

The audit at https://bit.ly/3m0DYfR shows the commission conducted interviews with 21 out of 26 controllers employed as of March 1.

Some controllers voiced frustration with ROCC management threats to workers of “arrest or termination” for following procedures or asking questions.

Widefield said Thursday the agency will continue to scrutinize allegations of sexual and racial comments from ROCC staff.

“Any type of harassment is unacceptable,” he said. “We are going to find out what happened there first before we take any action on those.

We want to get to the root of it.”

Joe Leader, chief operation officer for Metro, said one problem at the ROCC stems from lack of experience with tthe average length of service for controllers currently 2½ years.

He attributed it to the agency not having a plan at least dating back to 2012 to replace an “exodus” of experienced workers.

Metro officials have 45 days to respond to the commission’s audit.

In the meantime, a two-year plan has been launched to develop short, medium and long-term solutions ranging from better training and recruitment to conducting a nationwide search for a new ROCC director by December.

The audit also noted how some ROCC controllers worked 20 straight days without a day off.

“It’s utterly unacceptable that our

METRO Page 11

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District to Vote on Initiative 81

By James Wright WI Staff Writer @JamesDCWrighter

In addition to race for the D.C. Council, D.C. State Board of Education and advisory neighborhood commissioner, District voters will be asked to approve Initiative 81 on Nov. 3 which would decriminalize the possession and distribution of entheogenic plants and fungus—some known as “magic mushrooms”—in the city and alter the penalties.

On Aug. 5, the D.C. Board of Election approved Initiative 81 for the November general election ballot. The initiative, if the voters approve, would advance “The Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020,” a measure to decriminalize the use of entheogens, such as psilocybin and ayahuasca. If enacted, under the law the District’s Metropolitan Police Department will make investigation and arrest of non-commercial planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing and possessing the lowest enforcement priority and issues a non-binding call for the D.C. attorney general and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia to cease prosecution of city residents for these activities.

District resident Melissa Lavasani, who serves as the chairwoman of Decriminalize Nature DC, the organization that led the Initiative 81 effort, said her personal experience with psychological problems led her to use small doses

METRO from Page 9 employees were working that number of successive days,” said Theresa Impastato, chief safety officer for Metro.

She said the agency and unions are working on a new policy to combat fatigue that is to be submitted to the safety commission “in the coming months.”

The coronavirus caused some staffing shortages at the operations center, which the report highlights about 30 controllers employed there in July. However, another 20 controllers are needed for a total of 50 to run all four control desks.

Leader said two groups are cur-

of psychedelic plants.

“After the birth of my second child, I had a battle with depression and suicidal thoughts,” Lavasani told the Informer. “I tried to heal with therapy and prescription drugs but that didn’t work for me. Fortunately, I am in a place of privilege and had plenty of sick leave and an understanding supervisor at my job with the D.C. Department of Energy and the Environment and a supportive husband. A friend recommended I try psilocybin and I did. I began to feel much better.”

Lavasani said if natural plantbased medicine worked for her, it should be an option for all District residents.

“D.C. residents from all parts of the city should have access to entheogens,” she said. “This city is in a mental health crisis and that was the case even before the coronavirus pandemic came here.”

Lavasani stressed Initiative 81 won’t legalize psychedelic plants for medicinal purposes, saying they are still listed by federal law as Schedule I drugs that are illegal.

Nevertheless, she said, a growing body of evidence suggests psychedelic plants are a remedy for mental health problems and “it would be silly for D.C. not to have this.”

She points out Johns Hopkins University has a center studying natural plant-based drugs to treat some mental illnesses.

“I would encourage people to read the science,” Lavasani said.

However, Dr. LaQuandra Nes-

rently undergoing controller training that should be completed by next year.

In other business, the board’s Finance and Capital Committee reviewed a grim financial outlook that includes a $212 million shortfall for fiscal year 2021.

Without federal assistance, there could be service cuts to close Metrorail stations by 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The stations currently close at 11 p.m.

Another proposal would be to push back the Silver Line extension to open in Northern Virginia to July 1, 2021. The line has been scheduled for operation in the spring. WI

AROUND THE REGION

bitt, the director of the D.C. Department of Health, views psychedelic plants to treat mental illnesses with skepticism.

“It is my understanding that plant-based medicines haven’t been broadly studied and there could be health effects consequences,” Nesbitt said at a news conference on Sept. 9. “I also understand plantbased medicines could be averse to people of certain age groups.

There seems to be a misconception that anything that is plant based is good for you but that’s not true.

Opioids come from the earth and tobacco comes from the earth and they are not good for anyone.

Plant-based medicines are not better medications. They could turn out to be toxic to your system.”

At the Sept. 9 news conference, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed ambivalence about Initiative 81.

“I haven’t given that much thought,” Bowser said. “This is

5 Entheogenic plants are being used to ease mental problems. (Courtesy photo)

not a burning issue for D.C. residents.”

Lavasani said District residents, even African Americans, should support Initiative 81.

“We are all experiencing trauma in the community,” she said.

“That is why you have Black Lives Matter which is not only a polit-

ical movement but a movement for humanity and it is based on trauma. Issues such as affordable housing and education have their basis in trauma at some level and it needs to be addressed. Entheogens may be one way to do that because if trauma isn’t addressed, nothing will change.” WI

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 11

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Police Reform Continues in Prince George’s County

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Since Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy was sworn-in to office in January 2019, at least 12 county and municipal police officers have been indicted for assault, reckless endangerment and other offenses.

A grand jury indicted two more officers, Bryant Strong and Luis Aponte, on Thursday, Sept. 10 for various charges in two separate cases.

However, a grand jury ruled a few days before those cases the police-involved shooting death on Sept. 26, 2019, of Leonard Shand, 26, “was objectively reasonable.” In addition, the grand jury didn’t indict any of the nearly 12 officers involved.

Tyrone Powers, a former Maryland state trooper and FBI agent, wrote a nearly 40-page report for the state’s attorney office to help examine the case by looking at video footage, reading police documents and analyze the county’s use-of-force procedures. He concluded “the officers were justified

in deploying deadly force.”

“I reached out to Dr. Powers awhile a go because we felt that was very important…to have an independent eye on those cases to provide a neutral report,” said State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy. “It is really important that I exercise that independence…and that’s what we’re doing.

“My office has a huge responsibility.

We must ensure the public trust our decisions,” Braveboy said.

She acknowledged the police department has a negative reputation among some residents and those outside the county and remains concerned about bringing indictments against police officers.

“Every time we have to indict an officer, we know that erodes the public trust,” said Braveboy, who grew up in Prince George’s. “We have a duty and responsibility not only to apply the facts to the law and render decisions, but also to educate, inform and be transparent with our public.”

For instance, her office recently began Fourth Amendment training police officers. Later this year, sessions will assess the Fifth Amendment, de-escalation, use of force and public integrity open to all law enforcement agencies in the county.

As for Powers, who runs a consult-

5 A grand jury indicted two Prince George’s County police officers Sept. 10. (File photo: William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)

ing firm called The Powers Consulting Group of Baltimore, has assessed other police-involved incidents throughout the state.

He provided recommendations to enhance the Prince George’s police department. Suggested recommendations include include: • Establish a Safety Fusion Center where cases from various county police agencies are reviewed for co-

Diversity Underscores Final Push for Census Count in County Spanish-Speaking Help Secured at 11th Hour

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Christopher Paul Johnson of Landover can’t wait to vote so can make sure the elected officials he chooses will provide employment opportunities for those formally incarcerated such as himself.

However, he didn’t know about the 2020 U.S. Census.

Monica Young gave Johnson a census door hanger and encouraged him to fill out the form online.

“This is how you fill it out. It takes 10 minutes. It’s very simple,” Johnson, chief of staff for Prince George’s County Council member Jolene Ivey (D-District 5) of Cheverly, said Saturday, Sept. 12.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Young and three other members of Ivey’s staff couldn’t knock on doors inside buildings at Kent Village in Landover.

They set up a census and voter

information table along a sidewalk and greeted residents who either walked to the table or came out of nearby buildings.

Besides Kent Village, Ivey and Cheverly Mayor Laila Riazi distributed census and voter information outside Cheverly Gardens apartments.

With some of the highest number of residential units in the District 5 area, Cheverly Gardens and Kent Village recorded lower than expected census counts in 2010.

“I don’t think everybody makes the connection of filling out the census and what you see around you,” Ivey said. “Do you have adequate public transportation? Do you have great health care in your area? All the things that make your life better are funded, in large part, through federal money that comes to your community.”

Census data helps determine how to distribute an estimated $1.5 trillion in federal dollars from the county held every 10 years toward Medicaid schools and housing in

12 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

addition to helping determine the state’s representation in Congress.

The participation for Maryland residents means federal aid of slightly more than $18,000 per person over the next decade.

This year’s census allows residents to fill out forms online.

The virus known as COVID-19 has limited large community gatherings, so county and municipal officials and community organizers have given out information at food distribution events.

By law the census count must be completed and delivered to the president by Dec. 31, but the actual data collection deadline remains in limbo.

A U.S. District judge in San Jose, Calif. issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Census Bureau from ending its operations until a court hearing Thursday, Sept. 17.

A lawsuit filed by coalition of cities and civil rights groups contend the bureau ending the count by Sept. 30 would undercount minority communities. The suit demands the bureau use the previous deadline

5 Nikki Greco, constituent services director for Prince George’s County Council member Jolene Ivey, prepares to place a census door hanger on a townhouse in Landover on Sept. 12. (William J. Ford/ The Washington Informer)

of Oct. 31 to complete the count.

As of Friday, Sept. 11, Maryland joins nine other states with at least a 70 percent self-response rate. That

CENSUS Page 27

ordination, consistency in response, consistency in training and interdepartmental communication; • Review policies for deploying less lethal technology; and • Supply and require body cameras for all police agencies in the county.

Powers said an interview Thursday the department should enhance its mobile crisis unit that connects with mental health professionals. In the Shand case, he said only one or two voices were needed to communicate with Shand to help calm him down.

He said the number of people within a mobile crisis unit depends on a jurisdiction’s population and number of incidents not only dealing with police, but also fire emergencies and on a college campus.

“The training dictates that you should have one voice, or someone from the mobile crisis unit,” he said.

“When you are experiencing someone in a crisis and dealing with anxiety.

We are going to increasingly deal with people with mental health issues.”

Meanwhile, current and former Prince George’s police officers involved in a 2018 lawsuit against the department and county sent a letter to a police reform task force created by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

According to the letter dated Thursday from the United Black Police Officers and Hispanic National Law Enforcement associations, it suggests any data received from the county should be met with skepticism.

This remains based on a 94-page report from Michael E. Graham, a former 33-year veteran Los Angeles County Sheriff Department who determined the white officers with the

REFORM Page 26

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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

Statewide Push Continues for Maryland’s Incarcerated Residents

By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill

The Maryland Board of Elections should secure collection boxes to all jails and prisons in the state’s 24 jurisdictions to ensure completed voter forms and ballots are safely secured.

The board should request local election boards add a non-partisan voter hotline provided by Out For Justice, an advocacy organization based in Baltimore led by former incarcerated individuals.

Voting instructions, mail-in ballot applications and other information should be sent to local jails and state prisons by Friday, Sept. 18.

These recommendations come from at least eight advocacy groups to make sure those incarcerated participate in the Nov. 3 general election.

A formal announcement on an initiative called “Expand the Ballot, Expand the Vote” got discussed Monday, Sept. 14 during a virtual press conference.

“We pushed to make sure the state Board of Elections understood that the right for people in prisons and jails was a priority for us,” said Nicole Hanson-Mundell, executive director of Out for Justice who’s helping to lead the statewide voting plan. “We all know that COVID changed our lives. Because of COVID, we were not able to fill in those gaps.”

Hanson-Mundell said an estimated 7,000 eligible people behind bars could be affected.

There’s been a nationwide effort to ensure ex-felons, referred to as returning citizens, to regain their voting rights. In some states such as Maryland, make sure those incarcerated who are eligible to vote have access to the ballot.

“This is a bipartisan effort. This is an effort that affects every citizen of the United States,” said Monica Cooper, executive director of Maryland Justice Project and former incarcerated citizen. “It doesn’t matter your party affiliation. As a citizen of this country, you’re preserved the right

the vote and nobody should ever take that away from you.”

Those who aren’t eligible to vote in Maryland fall in two categories: people with a current felony conviction and anyone convicted of buying or selling votes.

Incarcerated individuals with misdemeanor offenses and those held on pretrial status are eligible to vote.

A first-time joint effort led by Out for Justice continues to compile lists of eligible voters from most county jails and send them to the state Board of Elections. The state will count each person and mail off a cover explaining voter eligibility, a mail-in ballot application and a self-addressed stamped envelope.

As of Monday, officials from six counties responded.

Prince George’s County hasn’t been one of them.

The county’s state’s attorney office continues to work on an initiative known as “Operation Protect the Vote for All” to assess and determine eligible voters with the county De-

partment of Corrections and state Board of Elections.

Advocates on the press call didn’t know about the state’s attorney plan until asked by a reporter.

“We are in a movement, not a moment,” said Qiana Johnson, executive director of Life After Release in Prince George’s that assists returning

citizens. “We are not here for the performative stunts of elected officials.

For this to be sustainable, we need to have folks who are directly impacted leading this actual movement. We have not heard about this operation and we welcome the state’s attorney office to reach out to us.”

WI

2020 Presidential General Election Tuesday, November 3, 2020

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STAY SAFE. VOTE-BY-MAIL. Step 1:

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BY OCTOBER 20 To vote-by-mail in the 2020 Presidential General Election you must request a ballot. Your ballot request must be received by October 20.

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 13

BUSINESS Meet Dr. Ashley Fagan Bringing Luxury to Dentistry

La Luxe Dental Coming to District’s NoMa Neighborhood

By Sarafina Wright WI Contributing Writer Dr. Ashley Fagan is pressing forward since the coronavirus pandemic temporarily derailed her plans to open La Luxe Dental this summer in the District’s NoMa neighborhood.

The 29-year-old said the challenges the pandemic has brought forth haven’t been easy, but what motivates her to keep going with her own practice is one thing: autonomy.

“I don’t want to have someone telling me how to treat a patient and how much time I should spend with a patient,” Fagan said.

“I want to be able to spend as much time as I need and talk to the patient to find out what they want and what they need. And for them to leave feeling better and having a good experience at the dentist.”

Fagan says the patient experience will be a key component to La Luxe Dental, which will distinguish her practice from a typical dental office.

“I wanted autonomy over my patients, but also the atmosphere. I wanted a certain vibe,” she said.

“Even from the name, I didn’t want it to feel like a dental office. I wanted a spa-like feel with essential oils, calming music, a luxuries and comfort

5 Dr. Ashley Fagan of La Luxe Dental.

(Photo courtesy of La Luxe Dental)

menu that you can choose from that includes pillows, blankets…just little things that will make your dental experience better.”

Fagan was born in D.C. but moved around a lot in childhood due to her father, who is also a dentist, being in the military.

After finishing at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in Baltimore, she came to the District to start her career, deciding in year three to venture out on her own.

Fagan got started by hiring consulting firm Ideal Practices to assist with the process of opening a practice including financing, real estate, construction and permits to dental vendors.

In March, Fagan signed the lease for La Luxe Dental and was planning a summer opening, but then the pandemic hit twisting an exciting time to an uncertain one.

5 Dr. Ashley Fagan meets with contractors at La Luxe Dental in Northeast.

(Photo courtesy of La Luxe Dental)

“When the pandemic hit, I definitely questioned if I was supposed to be doing this,” she said. “It was very stressful…there were times I was just questioning and wondering.

“But there was also a lot of times where I just felt like this is where I should be. This is the time. I’ve already started. I have a team to back me up and I have some savings to get me through.”

According to the American Dental Association, Black dentists are

Your local marketing experts with UNLIMITED REACH. Kevin Berrier 443-508-1936 KBerrier@MDDCPress.com 14 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

proportionally less represented in the profession when compared to the U.S. population.

Only 3.8 percent of dentist in the country are Black, of that number the majority are male. Fagan said the bleak statistics of Black female dentists isn’t lost on her. She contends that’s why representation is so essential.

“When I had younger patients come in with their moms…they were just so shocked to see me. They get really excited,” she said. “They feel more comfortable, and you see them relax a little.

“They are a lot more open and honest, more at ease. It means a lot to me and I don’t think we realize how much it matters or it means to them.”

Being an advocate for young girls will be a pillar for La Luxe Dental. For every new patient, the office will sponsor a girl for Girls On the Run DC. “I run a lot especially now with the pandemic. I’m like, ‘This is so great’ and it’s empowering girls with confidence,” Fagan said. “At their age I was not a confident girl at all. So, when I found out about the program it was an inspiration and I definitely wanted to give back to them.”

With construction still underway, Fagan says La Luxe Dental will open to patients in late November-early December. She adds that she wants to change some of the negative feelings people associate with the dentist.

“I don’t want people to be scared of the dentist. I want people to come into my office and leave feeling better.”

WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

Rebranded Retailer Burlington Moves into Largo Town Center WI Staff Report While dozens of businesses have been unable to successfully remain afloat due to numerous factors related to the coronavirus pandemic, one commercial real estate firm has recently engaged three businesses who have signed leases at the Largo Town Center.

Finmarc Management of Bethesda purchased the property last year for nearly $44 million and opened a Burlington store Thursday, Sept. 10.

Formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, the retailer rebranded several years ago and shortened its name to reflect its de-emphasis on outer wear. Burlington currently operates 651 locations throughout 45 states and Puerto Rico, offering branded products in women’s ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, baby products, footwear, accessories, home goods and coats.

Approximately half of the 70,000-square-foot building, which previously housed Regency Furniture store, remains available for leasing. Meanwhile, a Foot Locker also recently opened at the Town Center as did the Rock & Toss Crab House – a seafood restaurant with locations in Bowie and Owings Mills in Baltimore County – which plans to open its doors for business later this fall.

“Competition for compelling new retail uses in the Prince George’s County region remains fierce, so it is extremely important to maintain a first-class environment to provide

BUSINESS

differentiation among the available shopping venues,” said Sean Sullivan, vice president of Finmarc.

Although Finmarc invested nearly $1 million in a property upgrade strategy, the company credits its success to a $35,000 award in façade and other upgrades from the Prince George’s County Commercial Property Improvement Program [CCIP] managed by the County’s Redevelopment Authority. The two-year-old program has helped contribute close to $2.8 million to county shopping centers.

“The CPIP funding mechanism is extremely unique and we believe it provided the critical advantage that enabled us to attract three new uses, highlighted by Burlington, which provides a new anchor and destination tenant for the center,” Sullivan said.

In addition to Burlington’s projected positive impact on the goal to significantly increase sales at the County-based business center, Shoppers Food & Pharmacy remains one of its most valued tenants with consistent traffic at the supermarket chain’s Largo Town Center along with a McDonald’s and several other fast-food restaurants already housed on the property.

More vehicular and even pedestrian traffic could be increased next year with the ongoing construction of the 11-story, $543 million University of Maryland Regional Medical Center that will be located nearby.

WI

Stay Informed! www.washingtoninformer.com

5 The facade of a Burlington store. (Courtesy photo)

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 15

NATIONAL Has ‘Unhinged Trump’ Secured ‘Political Popularity’ Through Racist Tropes?

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia ‘Unhinged’ serves as a continuing series developed by The Washington Informer which seeks to chronicle the unpredictable and sometimes questionable behavior of Donald Trump, including potential instances of race-baiting, while providing closer scrutiny of multiple examples of the president’s statements or positions, proven to be false or unfounded, that have marked his presidency.

On November 10, 2016, journalist Jesse Washington penned a column published in The Undefeated which proposed what the new president Donald Trump’s reign would mean for African Americans.

Washington, a senior writer for the news website, noted that “On

the morning after Trump’s election win over Hillary Clinton, a unique wave of despair, anger, fear, and depression washed over much of Black America.”

“Some folks cried. [Some] sought refuge in the Bible. [Some] comforted frightened children,” Washington wrote.

“Or,” he noted, many “steeled themselves for life under a president who has retweeted white supremacists, promised to increase stop-and-frisk policing in poor Black neighborhoods, falsely connected Mexican immigrants to crime and launched his political brand by attacking the legitimacy of the first Black president’s birth certificate.”

And, while plenty of white Hillary Clinton supporters also felt strong emotions after Trump’s victory, the demagogue’s track record on race seemed to make his

5 A voter considers the options. (Courtesy photo)

triumph cut deeper and feel more personal to many African Americans.

Now, just weeks before the 2020 General Election, Trump remains unrelenting in his rhetoric on race.

In a bold reminder of what serves as overt racism from the so-called most powerful man in the world, Trump blasted away at a California schools’ decision to incorporate a curriculum based on the New York Times’ [NYT] Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project which has since been developed into school lessons.

“Department of Education is looking at this. If so, they will not be funded,” Trump tweeted.

The NYT project reframes American history around August 1619 when the first ship carrying slaves arrived on our nation’s shores.

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16 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

The unhinged president has also remained at war with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser – one of many African-American women and leaders who he’s consistently attacked.

The mayor’s office recently announced recommendations proposed by a City task force, recommended renaming nearly 50 D.C. sites whose namesakes “don’t reflect the values of District residents,” ranging from schools honoring Woodrow Wilson to government buildings named after Francis Scott Key. The White House immediately stated on behalf of the president that Trump “believes these places should be preserved, not torn down, respected, not hated and passed on for generations to come.”

“As long as President Trump is in the White House, the mayor’s irresponsible recommendations will go absolutely nowhere, and as the mayor of our nation’s capital city – a city that belongs to the American people – she ought to be ashamed for even suggesting them for consideration,” the statement continued.

If his astringent quarrel with Bowser appears more subdued in comparison to his usual tone, Trump didn’t hold back when speaking to journalist Bob Woodward over 18 now infamous telephone calls.

Woodward told the president, whom the House impeached in January, that they share one thing: “We’re white, privileged. My father was a lawyer and a judge in Illinois and we know what your dad did. Do you have any sense that

that privilege has isolated and put you in a cave, to a certain extent, as it put me and I think lots of white, privileged people in a cave? And that we have to work our way out of it to understand the anger and the pain [that Black people particularly] feel in this country?”

Trump, who famously said of African Americans during his 2016 election campaign, “What the hell do you have to lose,” responded, “No. You really drank the Kool-Aid, didn’t you? Just listen to you. Wow. No, I don’t feel that at all.”

As he had done since taking office, Trump repeatedly refuses to acknowledge that Blacks face systemic discrimination and are disproportionately killed by the police.

Throughout his four years, Trump has reminded anyone willing to listen what Jean-Max Hogarth, a 49-year-old physician from Maryland, told the journalist Washington back in 2016.

“Trump created his political popularity by using racist techniques of the birther issue and he never apologized,” he said. “And his unwillingness to denounce the KKK, I think he was attempting to appeal to the worst of the American nature – that racism which is the original sin of America.”

“And he tapped into the very thing that has historically prevented African Americans and poor whites from really understanding their similar needs and interests.

They don’t understand the level of racism this man displayed,” he said.

WI

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NATIONAL

One Century After 19th Amendment, Voting Rights Remain Elusive for Blacks

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia Some historians consider the 19th Amendment as a decisive victory for voting rights and progress.

But upon closer examination, the women’s suffrage movement also bears responsibility for advancing a moment which harbored divisions with the suffrage platform for Blacks.

Commitment to the above-cited platform undermined both the impact of the landmark legislation and its legacy, according to Robin Bleiweis, a research associate with the Women’s Initiative at the Center for American Progress, and her colleagues, Shilpa Phadke, vice-president of the Women’s Initiative at the Center, and Jocelyn Frye, a senior fellow who works with Phadke.

The trio joined to author a white-paper on the subject which noted that “persistent and prevalent racism throughout the era when the amendment was being debated infected the suffrage movement, resulting in [one] that largely secured the vote for middle-class white women but offered women of color, especially Black women, little more than an empty promise.”

Despite the passage of the amendment, many women of color remained barred from the polls through rampant intimidation and voter suppression tactics, denial of citizenship based on ancestry or immigrant status and blatant racial discrimination, the colleagues wrote.

“Many of the white suffragists fighting for the 19th Amendment gave scant attention to the lived reality of Black women at the intersection of gender and race, often insisting that the fight for racial justice was unrelated to the fight for gender equality,” penned the researchers. “This indifference served as the ultimate betrayal of Black women suffragists and other women of color fighting to participate fully in our democracy in exchange for political expediency.”

WE’RE READY 5 Rosa Parks with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (circa 1965). (Photo courtesy USIA/National Archives and Records Administration Records of the U.S. Information Agency Record Group 306)

It wasn’t until 45 years later that the 1965 Voting Rights Act brought voting rights closer to reality for African Americans who continue to disproportionately face voter suppression and denial efforts.

“For Black women outside of the South, the 19th Amendment’s effects were real and immediate. In cities like Chicago and New York, Blacks developed a strong political power base and used it to influence the Democratic party’s policies,” said David Greenberg, a professor of Journalism and Media Studies and History at the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

“For Black women – and men – in the Jim Crow South, however, such power would have to wait until the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the fall of segregation,” Greenberg said.

Voter suppression has been consistent throughout the U.S. since the Compromise of 1877, said Dr. Eric Smaw, an associate professor of Philosophy at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. Before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, European-Americans prevented [Blacks] from voting using racial intimidation, verbal threats, poll taxes, “voter literacy tests” and physical violence from domestic terrorist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan, Smaw said.

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“Since 1965, conservative groups have used the criminal justice system to suppress the vote by engaging in false arrests, wrongful conviction, and felon disenfranchisement,” he said.

David Canton, a Connecticut

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College associate professor of History and Director of the Africana Studies program, noted that Rosa Parks served as a suffragist and activist long before becoming the “mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”

After the 19th Amendment’s passage, the South only allowed votes from Black, middle-class women who could afford to pay the illegal poll tax, Canton said.

SUFFRAGE Page 46

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 17

NATIONAL

Major U.S. Companies Pledge to Add a Black Director to their Boards

The Board Challenge Aims to Improve Black Representation

By Sarafina Wright WI Contributing Writer Major corporations in the U.S. have pledged to add at least one Black person to its board of directors within the next year as part of an initiative called The Board Challenge.

Founded by Altimeter Capital, Valence and theBoardlist the initiative seeks to improve diversity of corporate boards starting with the representation of Black leaders.

Historically underrepresented in America’s public and private boardrooms Black leaders make up only nine percent of Fortune 500 company board members.

Approximately 66 percent are white men and 18 percent of members are white women, according to a report by the Alliance for Board Diversity and Deloitte.

While many companies tout their commitment to improve diversity, equity and inclusion, progress at the boardroom level is limited.

According to Black Enterprise, about 37 percent of S&P 500 companies did not have any Black directors in 2019 – only a two percent improvement since 2018.

“America has been reminded again in tragic fashion that we must redouble our efforts to build a more inclusive society Business leaders can’t let this moment pass us by without playing our part and taking this tangible step to build a more diverse boardroom,” Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital and co-founder of The Board Challenge said.

“As a next step, we are encouraging companies to take the pledge and add a Black director in the next 12 months. The Board Challenge is a movement to accelerate these changes and help companies tap into the energy and talents of all underrepresented groups.”

The initiative has been signed by 17 Founding Pledge Partners and supported by 27 Charter Pledge

Partners that already have at least one Black director.

Founding Pledge Partners who commit to adding at least one Black director to their respective boards in the next 12 months include: Accolade, Altimeter Growth Corp, Amperity, Bolster, Gusto, Heritage-Crystal Clean, Inc., Heritage Environmental Services, HopSkipDrive, Kin, M.M.LaFleur, NeXT door, PagerDuty, RealSelf, Ripple, Senreve, Vinyl Me, Please, and Zillow.

The Board Challenge co-founders say they will check in with the organizations within six months and at 12 months to evaluate their progress in adding a Black director.

They add that true and full racial representation at the board level is in the best interest of companies, employees, customers and communities — and helps to advance and support a more equitable society.

As part of taking the pledge, The Board Challenge co-founders will

(Photo courtesy of The Board Challenge)

provide partners with access to qualified talent to help in their search and recruitment of Black director candidates, while supporters will offer resources and training.

“One objection we hear is whether companies can find the kind of diverse board talent they are looking for. It is 2020 – it is not a pipeline problem, it is a perspective problem,” Guy Primus, CEO of Valence and co-founder of The Board Challenge, said.

“Valence alone is connected to hundreds of board-ready leaders

from every position imaginable.”

“Another objection is that the focus on diverse candidates is too narrow. We know focus yields results and this is the start of a much bigger movement,” Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, founder and chairman of theBoardlist and co-founder of The Board Challenge said. “theBoardlist has been focused on diversifying boards since 2015 and we know that making the commitment to look outside one’s network and dedicating the effort to be inclusive is ultimately what works.” WI

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World’s Most Vulnerable Children Suffer Even More During Pandemic

School closures and the economic downturn as a result of pandemic are taking the biggest toll on the world’s most marginalized children. The organization Save the Children released the largest global COVID-19 survey of its kind as part of the ‘Protect a Generation’ report on Wednesday, Sept. 9. This revealed that the poorest children have been most at risk during the crisis and have disproportionately lost access to education, healthcare and food.

According to Global Citizen, an international non-profit that aims to end extreme poverty by 2030, there is cause for concern as the children in crisis are some of the world’s most vulnerable.

In its own report summarizing the Save the Children study, it points out that these youngsters already lack access to the tools and resources they need to escape poverty and reach their full potential.

In its survey, Save the Children asked 25,000 children and adults how the pandemic is affecting their lives and highlighted the ways the crisis has widened gender and wealth inequalities. The organization now wants to see more response efforts that prioritize children’s needs.

“To protect an entire generation of children from losing out on a healthy and stable future, the world needs to urgently step up with debt relief for low-income countries and fragile states so they can invest in the lives of their children,” Save the Children President and CEO Janti Soeripto,” said.

“The needs of children and their opinions need to be at the center of any plans to build back what the world has lost over the past months, to ensure that they will not pay the heaviest price.”

Save the Children estimates that 9.7 million children will not be going back to school this year and the new survey suggests many of the children missing out are girls living in poverty. Less than one percent of the children from poorer households who participated in the survey had access to remote learning, and of those who didn’t classify themselves as poor, only 19 percent had access. Of the girls surveyed, 63 percent reported having more responsibilities compared to 43 percent of boys. The girls reported that chores got in the way of learning at over double the rate of boys — 23 percent compared to 10 percent. Caring for siblings fell on 52 percent of the girls surveyed compared to 42 percent of boys. School closures have also threatened child safety. Since schools shut down, violence at home doubled and reached 17 percent compared to eight percent before. Violence increased almost three times more in children’s homes where parents lost income.

Most children surveyed now face new challenges to education: two-thirds of children reported that they had no contact with teachers during lockdowns. In East and Southern Africa, for example, eight out of 10 children reported that they barely learned or didn’t learn at all during the pandemic. WI

caribbean now Tourism Industry: BHTA Chairman Says Finding the Right Balance Vital While the stakeholders in the tourism industry are concerned with its survival, they recognize that given that a health crisis is at the root of the economic challenges they face, it is imperative that a balance is struck with the health concerns.

So says Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) Geoffrey Roach. Delivering remarks during the recently held virtual Third Quarterly Meeting of the Association, Roach maintained that balancing health and economics must remain the focus.

“When we look at all that has happened within the country, if we look at the issues of practicing social distancing, the wearing of masks, we go back to the early days of the alphabet system where we were only allowed to go out on days where all last name starting with a particular letter – that all was really about balancing health and economics, ensuring that livelihoods could be maintained and that is going to carry through to the re-emerging of tourism in the country,” Roach stated.

The BHTA Chairman went further, contending that as flights slowly return in increasing numbers and visitors start to occupy the accommodation sector again and visit our attractions and restaurants, that “balancing act becomes even more acute,” to reduce the likelihood of the spread of the virus.

His comments came as he reflected on the cruise sector, which he said is particularly important to sustaining the attraction business in Barbados. Roach noted that the sector is the main source of revenue for many of the attractions.

Additionally, he noted that prior to COVID, the cruise sector also provided an opportunity for hotels in terms of the homeporting traffic, where persons had the option to cruise and stay. WI

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 21

HEALTH COVID-19 UPDATE

VACCINE from Page 1 but the potential erosion of civil liberties that could occur for those who refuse to be counted among the recipients of a yet-undiscovered, government-approved COVID-19 vaccine.

“I’m directly taking on the teaching of past generations who told me about the Tuskegee syphilis, government-funded experiments that went on for years,” said Knox, a Southeast resident and mother in her reference to the U.S. Public Health Service’s deliberate and decades-long infection of Black sharecroppers with the disease in a study conducted at Tuskegee University.

Knox, a millennial and proponent of de-schooling who plans to raise her son outside of the public school sys-

tem, said she predicted the insistence on vaccine development in the early days of the pandemic when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization that has sponsored the expansion of vaccines throughout the African continent, counted among other prominent groups on the front line of its development.

“I won’t be participating in COVID-19 vaccinations, but it looks like they’re going to make us do it in a forceful way,” Knox said. “If they can come to your door and make you take this vaccination, I have to worry about my grandmother and cousins and the repercussions of what the government has planned. These master wizards think they’re God [but] I know this will affect the people I love.”

THE RACE CONTINUES FOR COVID-19 VACCINE

The severity of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 194,000 lives in the U.S. since March, has inspired a race for a vaccine which President Donald Trump promises will be available in October or no later than days just prior to the general election on Nov. 3. Trump’s assertion remains highly-contested by many public health officials who point to uncertainty related to both approval and distribution of a vaccine.

In addition, a major impediment in the COVID-19 vaccine’s development, researchers say, involves the dearth of Black vaccine trial participants – a challenge that has reportedly prevented some trials from moving to Phase 3. In response, Pfizer, currently testing a possible vaccine with a German laboratory, recently proposed increasing the sample size in its trials by 50 percent to include more people of color and test subjects as young as 16.

Even leaders at historically Black colleges and universities have joined in issuing the call for more Blacks to become medical trial volunteers. The

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presidents of Dillard and Xavier universities, both based in New Orleans, announced their participation in clinical COVID-19 vaccine trials in the Ochsner Health System located in Louisiana earlier this month, encouraging students, faculty members and alumni to follow suit.

But in an era where Blacks have become more aware of questionable, if not unethical and illegal medical research using Blacks as subjects – from Tuskegee to the unapproved use of Henrietta Lacks’ cancer cells or shocking experiments performed by Dr. J. Marion Sims on Black women in his quest to advance modern gynecological knowledge and procedures – gaining the trust of Blacks will not come easily.

Mercedes Diane Griffin, a D.C.based public health professional known for her ability to achieve greater Black participation in HIV drug trials, said allaying the fears of Blacks needed for COVID-19 trials requires both framing the pandemic within an international context and highlighting the discovery of successful vaccines secured in recent decades.

“We need Black people and because [researchers] are making this push to get more Blacks, people are afraid,” said Griffin, founder of the Mercedes Parra Foundation.

“The history is bad but we have to look at modern times,” she said, referring to efforts to development a drug to blunt the spread of HIV/ AIDS. “The HIV vaccine was a game changer because HIV affected Blacks

at a rate higher than other groups.

Vaccines don’t keep you from getting the illness but your chances of dying are significantly reduced, almost miniscule.”

ENGAGING AFRICAN AMERICANS IN DIALOGUE

As of last Sunday, 35 COVID-19 vaccine trials now report having advanced to the human testing phase, including one scheduled to soon resume in the United Kingdom – interrupted after one volunteer suffered significant side effects.

In response to concerns about safety and speculation about the lengths to which Trump would go to win reelection, nine pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have signed a pledge saying they will not prematurely seek approval for a vaccine.

Consider what transpired when a guest appeared on the live-streamed show hosted by an emergency medicine physician and population health expert, Dr. Melissa Clarke, who has participated in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. Clarke, during the Aug. 31 segment, pointed to an uptick of what she described as polarizing, ill-informed anti-vaccine posts that continue to appear on social media platforms.

Her guest, a middle-aged African American man with preexisting con-

VACCINE Page 52

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HEALTH 9/11 Anniversary Spotlights Need for Helping Those who Assist Others Pandemic, Racial Turmoil’s Emotional Toll Mounting

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer

A 55-year old case worker walked into rat-infested apartment that contained a hot plate, small refrigerator and a third grader whose teeth were black because they had not been brushed in months.

A Baltimore City police officer walked into his house a few years ago and spotted his wife standing with a gun to her head and she pulled the trigger.

Night after night doctors and nurses greet screaming ambulances with bloodstained patients who attempted to take their own lives or in recent months, they have ferried people gasping for air only hours before they die of the Covid-19.

But those on the front lines of this carnage often struggle with emotional problems like those they are helping, experts are finding.

According to a national non-prof-

it that tracks first responder suicide deaths, in 2019, there were more than 200 reported officer suicides and 133 confirmed firefighter deaths across the nation.

Since 1975, National Suicide Prevention Awareness Week been observed from Sept. 6 to 12 and is taking on new meaning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, race-charged social unrest and weariness from the drumbeat of 24-hour breaking news.

“There is a direct connection between what is going today and the fact that the number of suicides in first responder community is up,” said John Wordin, founder of the LifeAid Initiative. “There is no national program for police and first responders no program to help them with the stress of being first responders.”

According to its mission statement LifeAid offers veterans, first responders and their families “opportunities …to heal the

brain, reduce pain, and restore purpose.”

Amid protest and social unrest, Wordin to start healing dialogues in strife-torn communities.

COST OF SOCIAL ‘AWAKENING’

On Sept. 11, Wordin and Rev. Charles Jackson, pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church in Daphne, Ala. hosted a multiracial town hall meeting in which they were able to mediate a dispute between African American and white cheerleaders over a dispute about a white cheerleader who publicly embraced support for slavery advocates.

“One thing about the George Floyd incident is that it has created an awakening,” Wordin said. “People are learning that you can be a white conservative but it doesn’t mean that you don’t believe that all men are not created and that there equal just under law. “ Michelle Lee, a chaplain with the Bal-

5 Victims and witnesses to traumatic events often experience stress. (Courtesy photo/9/11 Victim Compensation Fund)

timore Police Department, said, “On the 19th anniversary of the worst terrorist acts in American History. I still believe in my heart that in the midst of this reign of terror, God was there that morning.

He was at the World Trade Centers in New York. He was in Shanksburg, Pa. He was at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C./Arlington Va. “It is important that first responders feel like they have someone to talk

to with all of the trauma they see all day,” said Lee, who is a minister at Walk by Faith Ministries in Baltimore especially in the face of the risk of taking COVID home to their families.

Lee said for police officers this is a deeply troubling time in which they risk catching COVID-19 and taking it home. “There is an extra layer of danger.”

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 23 7/30/19 3:25 PM

HEALTH NSO Musicians Reach Out to D.C. Residents at Howard University Hospital ‘In Your Neighborhood’ Programs to Continue at Selected Venues Through November

WI Staff Report On Friday, Sept. 11, a group of National Symphony Orchestra [NSO] musicians traveled to Howard University [HU] Hospital where they performed a 45-minute mini-concert. The event serves as part of the NSO’s “In Your Neighborhood” program, which began this month – now in its 10th year. With the challenges Americans continue to face due to COVID-19, the NSO said it remains committed to offering special performances to frontline healthcare workers who have stepped up during the pandemic as well as others impacted in various communities. The program represents an annual residency in chosen D.C. neighborhoods whose goal remains to have a social impact by using music to better lives. The photos depict a select tandem of musicians from the NSO performing at HU Hospital during an outdoor concert for the staff, doctors and patients. (Photos 5 The National Symphony Orchestra’s musicians Alexandra Osborne and Joel

by Roy Lewis/WI photographer) Fuller in Northwest. (Roy Lewis /The Washington Informer) WI

5 Dancing to the music. (Roy Lewis /The Washington Informer)

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 25

EDUCATION Program Heralded as Crucial for District’s Returning Citizens

Organizers Seek Ways to Increase Job, Training Opportunities in Age of COVID-19

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Within the last two years, nearly 100 inmates from Rivers Correctional Institute, upon their release and return to their homes in the District, have made significant progress in both their careers and personal lives, thanks to an innovative approach which seeks to limit barriers which often derail their ability to find a footing in a strange, new world – the U.S. society in the age of COVID-19.

The program, the GEO Continuum of Care, appears to have found its niche as a much-needed support mechanism for many of the men who previously served time at the low-level, adult male facility. And while it has made a difference for a growing number of returning citizens anxious to secure a job within the D.C. government, some activists re-

main critical of the lack of incentives that would encourage private businesses to give greater consideration in their hiring practices, especially when one considers how the current global pandemic has crippled the economy.

“Giving returning citizens a second chance makes a solid community. We’re not going to throw people away if we can give them a job,” said Joe Johnson, a GEO Continuum of Care consultant who for the past 20 months has facilitated the reentry of District-based returning citizens who served time at Rivers Correctional Institute.

The partnership initially began when employees at Rivers Correctional Institution received skills training from GEO. Seven staff members have since been added to coordinate the program, which includes risk assessment, cognitive behavioral transitional treatment, case management, therapy and

substance abuse intervention.

In his role, Johnson connects inmates with socioemotional supports while incarcerated, and helps them look for housing and employment.

He’s also been an advocate for government incentives that would entice private employers to hire returning citizens – an endeavor that has since been threatened by the District’s COVID-19-related budget shortfall.

“The strategy was to get tax credits for businesses to do that but if the District needs money, they can’t give away tax credits during these days and times,” Johnson told The Informer. “Let’s hope that when we get stable, we can get a tax break for returning citizens.”

Earlier last month, in anticipation of a nearly $1.5 billion revenue decrease, the D.C. Council unanimously approved a version of the FY 2021 budget that increased gasoline taxes, cut non-essential operating costs and increased franchise taxes on technology companies that originally qualified for a tax break.

Additionally, the council’s amendments to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s original plan were proposed to curb the economic and public health effects of COVID-19. It also paved the way for a $15 million decrease in the Metropolitan Police Department’s budget and the allocation of funds for public housing construction and repairs, rental eviction and violence prevention and to address clearly delineated racial inequities.

COVID-19 notwithstanding, returning citizens often encounter barriers in their attempt to reintegrate into society. For example, tenants with felony convictions remain ineligible for subsidized housing options even as the cost of living increases.

And in a 2018 study conducted by the D.C. Policy Center in North-

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west, an independent research center that provides analysis on local policies and issues affecting the District, data suggests a nearly 30 percent reduction in inadequate housing could be achieved with the gainful employment of returning citizens.

More than five months since leaving prison, Lyneil Manago says he’s successfully handled many of the barriers he and other returning citizens routinely endure including the lack of a formal education, limited soft skills, a tenuous job history and mental health issues because of the support he received while enrolled in the GEO Continuum of Care program.

During his two-years at Rivers Correctional Institute, Manago, a journeyman since the late 1990s, often met with a caseworker who helped him work through anger issues and connected him with pro-

fessional development opportunities that would get him back into his trade.

Manago says that upon his return to Southeast in March, the program paid his outstanding union dues and purchased work boots and clothes he needed in order to begin his new life.

“I’m married, got a good job, make good money and stay out of the way.

I want to buy a house and hopefully get my own business one day,” Manago, a Local 77 operating engineer, told The Informer.

“The anger management helped me by giving me a lot of different options. [During] sessions with my case manager, we talked about anything when I had an issue. If they couldn’t help me, they would get someone to help, whether it was at home or in the prison,” he added.

WI

“Giving returning citizens a second chance makes a solid community. We’re not going to throw people away if we can give them a job.”

– Joe Johnson, GEO Continuum of Care

REFORM from Page 12 Prince George’s have conducted racial and retaliatory practices.

Additional information from Grahams report became public Thursday that shows out of more than 6,800 use of force incidents, about 86 percent happened to Black civilians and 8 percent against Latinos between January 2016 to the end of 2019.

The new information filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt also highlights 19 officers accounted for 685, or 10 percent, of those incidents. Fourteen of the officers were white and six of them involved no white civilians.

The report doesn’t show the officers names.

Discrimination also extends to promoting officers, according to the report.

It noted, for instance, 61 percent of

the department’s lieutenants and 81 percent of the captains ae white. At the same time, it pointed out, 27 percent of the lieutenants and 19 percent at captains are Black. Five percent of the lieutenants are Latinos. There are no Latino holding the rank of captain.

Sixty-four percent of the county’s population of more than 909,000 is Black with another 19 percent Latino.

“We believe that the Task Force should not only press for complete data – including all materials cited in the Graham Report – but submit anything PGPD provides to the public record…” according to the police associations’ letter signed by retired Capt. Joe Perez and Lt. Thomas Boone. “In that way, we and others who have such data from other sources will be able to assess its completeness.”

WI

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SCHOOL SCHEDULE

The current school term, which began Aug. 31, ends on Nov. 6.

The last day of classes leading to the summer break, is Thursday, June 24, 2021.

EVERY DAY COUNTS!

Students must sign into Canvas (http://dcps.instructure.com ) at least once every day between 6 a.m. and 11:59 p.m.; otherwise, they will be counted as absent.

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) UPDATES

To receive the latest information about DCPS and policies related to COVID-19 for the 2020-21 school year, visit DCPSReopenStrong.com, where information can be found for learning at home according to grade and reviewing health and safety commitments.

FOSTERING STRONG PARTNERSHIPS

While DCPS is committed to ensuring the well-being of all students, communicating about issues that impact school communities is important to fostering strong partnerships with families, and DCPS will continue to provide updates around coronavirus (COVID-19) on topics including: • Latest Updates • School Calendar Changes • Distance Learning • Additional Resources for Families • Letters to Families

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS

The D.C. State Board of Education’s Social Studies Standards

CENSUS from Page 12 figure ranks above the nationwide rate of 65.7 percent.

Prince George’s County ranks 12th in the state with a 68 percent response rate. Three municipalities in the majority Black jurisdiction are in the top 20 in the state: University Park (ranked number one at 90.6 percent); Bowie (ranked number 16 at 83.4 percent); and Berwyn Heights (ranked 19 at 82.2 percent).

One constant challenge in parts of Maryland engaging Spanish-speaking volunteers.

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5 Students must sign into classes at least once every day. (Photo courtesy DCPS)

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LEARNING AT HOME TIPS

From using a new computer to becoming familiar with Canvas, DCPS recognizes families may still have questions as students acclimate to the new school year.

Technical assistance is just a click or call away and families can visit backtoschool.dc.gov for answers to common questions such as how to reset a student’s password and review user guides for DCPS devices.

Additional assistance is available at DCPS’ help desk by calling 202-4425885 and pressing “1.”

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5 Part of building relationships with students is supporting them outside of the classroom. (Photo courtesy DCPS)

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While DCPS supported 10 weeks of learning at home this past spring, school officials are prioritizing instruction time to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on student learning this academic year.

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The student experience this year at Anacostia High School in Southeast will transform as the school launches a “Dream Team” of consistent, caring and committed adults poised to support students focused on progressing toward their individual goals. WI Duarte near the information table at Cheverly Garden, but Duarte speaks limited English.

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In addition, Duarte’s registered to vote.

“This shows seniors are important. Seniors are dynamic,” Riazi said. “We have to do everything we can to make sure everyone is counted.”

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL There’s Help to Ward Off Eviction Talk to any resident that rents or owns a home in the District, and it is increasingly evident that homelessness is a growing fear that dominates every waking hour due to COVID-19. In what many described as a severe housing crisis before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last March, thousands of residents face the very real possibility that they will be homeless before it all ends.

Due to massive job losses and the end of emergency benefits paid by the federal government, rents are not overdue, and mortgages are no longer affordable. It’s a sad reality that the federal government and local officials are trying to head off.

A national moratorium on evictions was recently extended, and local municipalities followed suit. Still, inevitably, the restrictions will be lifted, and it is predicted that as many as 1.65 million people will be at risk of losing their homes.

While their fate is a problem that we all will have to contend with, it is necessary to acknowledge that some, maybe many, take advantage of the crisis at hand. With the resources to fulfill their monthly commitment, they are not doing so, while not understanding that back rent and late fees will be due when the moratorium is lifted. An eviction moratorium does not mean freedom from paying your financial obligations. It only means what’s due now can be paid later. Unless officials grant unrestricted relief, everyone will be expected to pay up or get out. And, who will blame the landlords for making those the hard decisions?

We admonish residents not to wait until it is too late. If you can pay your rent, pay it, and avoid paying it late. But if doing so presents a hardship, and you’ve fallen behind, start now looking for programs set up to help. Millions of dollars in aid are being set aside for COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs, and non-profit organizations are providing rental and utility assistance. Seek help today, if for no other reason than to avoid another sleepless night. WI

As More Businesses Fall along the District’s U Street Corridor, Will COVID-19 Have Final Say? Earlier this week, the District witnessed another example of the devastating effect that COVID-19 continues to have on local businesses. Restaurants and bars have found it especially tough to weather the storm – many having already reduced staff while ramping up amenities including carryout, home delivery or outdoor dining just to keep their doors open.

But with the announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 15 that seven popular bars and restaurants along the U Street and 14th corridors will close up shop on Oct. 31, what’s more foreboding for others within the food and beverage industry, and the District, may rest more with the names of the owners and the locations than the fact that these businesses will soon join an ever-growing list of venues already closed – unable to survive the pandemic.

The Hilton brothers and their company, H2 Collective, have been credited with helping the U Street corridor – once referred to as “Black Broadway” and the epicenter of Black culture in D.C. since the 1920s until it fell into ruin after the 1968 riots – remake itself and regain economic prosperity following the opening of the U Street metro station in 1991. But not even the Hilton’s, long heralded as leaders within the District’s food and beverage industry, could overcome the financial setbacks they’ve suffered over the last six months.

“While we have done our very best to meet [the] challenges, we no longer have the capability to keep that fight going,” the company owners wrote in a statement. “Day after day, we and our staff are operating at loss, under duress and with little relief in sight.” In reference to the difficult decision they have made, closing “for the foreseeable future,” the Hiltons wrote, “we believe it’s the right one.”

The seven impacted bars and restaurants represent some of the most financially successful venues in a gentrified neighborhood that, since 2013, has ushered in thousands of “newbies” – mostly white millennials financially able to take up residence in swanky, new apartment buildings while indulging in all that the area’s refurbished and stylish-

TO THE EDITOR Empowering Latinos Give Single Moms in Politics Their Due I couldn’t believe that there has never been a Latino elected to the D.C. city council. There are so many Latinos in the District and the fact that they’ve never had representation on the council is a shame. I hope that changes this election season!

Leah Canady Washington, D.C.

ly-eclectic dining and shopping venues have to offer.

The restaurant and bar industry has seen 100,000 businesses close nationwide within the last six months. Three million former employees across the U.S. remain out of work and experts predict that by year end, the losses owners will suffer could exceed $240 billion. Maryland’s first-ever statewide restaurant week, which runs Sept. 18 – 27, and the return of the D.C. region’s Black Restaurant Week, which will operate during the same timeframe, both indicate that owners are still looking for creative ways to jumpstart their sales and remain in business.

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

I’m glad the perspective of single mothers is being shared with maintaining employment and distance learning at home.

It’s more of a struggle than people know and it’s not easy. If you can lend a hand to a family with small children that needs help, please do.

Simone Williams Washington, D.C.

But as one member of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington said Tuesday to a WJLA-TV reporter, “We need more [financial] relief – not just from the city but from the federal government.”

Winter’s coming and with colder weather in store, the outlook for restaurants and bars appears grim. With many owners having already depleted their reserves, the continued refusal of nation’s leaders to be honest and to confront this pandemic head-on, and with more partisan-based tug-of-wars still going on – holding up legislation that would provide sorely needed financial assistance for entrepreneurs, we shudder to imagine what lies ahead. WI

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 29

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Ben Jealous

The Key to Motivating Young Voters? Young Candidates

One of the most exciting parts of this year’s Democratic National Convention for me was the keynote speech delivered collectively by a group of young progressive elected officials, many of them Black. They showed us the potential for a promising future once we have gotten past the presidency of Donald Trump.

They also showed us how to get there. One way to make sure we

remove Donald Trump from the White House and his enablers from Congress is to support exciting candidates at all levels who can energize Democratic voters — especially progressive young people — to vote.

The mass mobilization we have seen in the Black Lives Matter protests is an essential tool for turning energy into political will and bringing pressure on public officials. Ultimately, though, voting is the only tool we have for putting people who are committed to making the changes our country urgently needs into

Guest Columnist

positions of power.

Many of the problems that have been with us for far longer than the current administration — including systemic inequity in health care, education, housing, and policing--can and must be addressed at local and state levels.

That’s why transformational local candidates are a key to building progressive power and making progressive change. And getting elected and serving successfully in local office is often the first step to higher office.

Look at Virginia, where intense

organizing over the past few election cycles turned the former capital of the Confederacy blue. Candidates from underrepresented communities — young people, people of color, women, immigrants, LGBTQ candidates — helped Democrats take control of both chambers of the state’s General Assembly. And that has meant the power to make huge changes for the people of Virginia — expanding access to health care, addressing gun violence and more.

Opposition to President Trump helped drive change in Virginia and

will motivate many people to get to the polls in November. But energy doesn’t come just from the top of the ticket. It runs both ways. In fact, exciting local candidates can generate enthusiasm among people who might see national politics and candidates as far removed from their lives and concerns.

People For the American Way’s Next Up! project supports young candidates running at the state and local level, many of them from com-

I think he gets up every morning and figures out what lie he can tell that sounds more preposterous than the many he told the day before. Real reporters listen to him and can hardly wait to translate what they just heard. More often than not, they’re pointing out his lies. He doesn’t even know how to keep his lies straight. He’ll give one answer today, and answer the exact opposite the next day.

He’s almost at the end of his painful four-year term, and he

hasn’t yet realized he was president of the United States! He still doesn’t realize it’s the responsibility of the president who’s currently in the White House to fix whatever he thinks is broken.

He undermined everything scientists were telling him and kept the truth about what was really going on. He knew how dangerous the pandemic was and still is.

JEALOUS Page 53

By E. Faye Williams

Blame Anybody

It’s so easy to blame somebody else. Donald Trump blames everything on somebody else while he takes responsibility for nothing.

Everything has to satisfy his ego or, in his mind, it’s fake news. So he lies to keep the American people from panicking! He fails at that because no matter what he comes up with every day causes

many American people to panic.

He thinks it was Bob Woodward’s responsibility to tell the truth to the American people. So what is his idea of presidential responsibilities?

With Trump, there’s something new every day, but it all works the same way. He’s like those kids who say the darndest things. The only difference in him and those kids is they’re not president! He’s a very chronologically advanced man who says dangerous things that

Guest Columnist

make no sense while he thinks he’s really smart!

He has no sense of decency.

The thing he does best is distort the truth to the point that no one believes anything he says. Those who follow him religiously can’t possibly be doing so because they believe he’s telling the truth or telling them anything that is going to help them. The people who follow him are either not paying attention to what he says or they never listen to real news.

WILLIAMS Page 53

By Marc H. Morial

Keep Politics Out of the Coronavirus Vaccine Approval Process

Maintaining the American public’s trust in the FDA is vital. If the agency’s credibility is lost because of real or perceived interference, people will not rely on the agency’s safety warnings. Erosion of public trust will leave consumers and patients doubting our recommendations, less likely to enroll in clinical studies or to use FDA-regulated products when they should to

maintain or improve their health.

This is problematic under normal circumstances but especially if we are to ultimately overcome COVID-19. Protecting the FDA’s independence is essential if we are to do the best possible job of protecting public health and saving lives. — Senior FDA executives Patrizia Cavazzoni, Peter Marks, Susan Mayne, Judy McMeekin, Jeff Shuren, Steven Solomon, Janet Woodcock and Mitch Zeller It’s no secret that the White House believes the approv-

30 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

al of a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 would be a boon for the president’s reelection campaign. From the moment the novel coronavirus first reached America’s shores in January, he has regarded it first and foremost as a political inconvenience.

Without evidence, has portrayed anything that delays the “magic bullet” he believes will end the pandemic — or at least appear to end it — as the result of a conspiracy to damage his candidacy.

This includes the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration approvals process.

If we have any hope of developing a safe, effective vaccine that brings the virus under control, it depends entirely on the FDA’s resolve to resist this shameful political pressure.

In an encouraging move, eight top FDA officials and doctors recently published an op-ed in USA Today pledging that all “decisions will continue to be guided by the best science” and maintain independence from political pressure.

Their statement came a day after executives representing nine companies working on coronavirus vaccines pledged to submit the vaccines for FDA approval only after they’re shown to be safe and effective in large clinical studies.

“We believe this pledge will help ensure public confidence in the rigorous scientific and regulatory process by which COVID-19 vaccines are evaluated and may ultimately be approved.” The pledge

MORIAL Page 53

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Del. Gabriel Acevero

When Pain is the Prerequisite for Progress

I remember being in the tear-gassed streets of Baltimore in 2015 following the announcement that Freddie Gray had died from injuries sustained while in police custody. The city had finally erupted. Like many who took to the streets, I was angry. Angry at a system of racialized policing that renders Black lives disposable. And angry at the people in power who couldn’t care enough

to enact the policies that our communities have been demanding for decades.

For weeks we occupied streets, shouted “Black Lives Matter” and lobbied state legislators on police accountability legislation.

Since then there have been five legislative sessions in Annapolis. Altogether, state legislators deliberated for over 430 days and passed over 4,000 bills; yet not one of those bills squarely addresses the issue of police violence. As a result, the system that supports our brutalization remains intact. And as we are bom-

Guest Columnist

Robeson were calling attention to police violence, and the lack of justice for victims and their families. Dr. King, during his address at the March on Washington, said that “we can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of unspeakable horror of police brutality.” Paul Robeson and the Civil Rights Congress presented a report to the United Nations detailing incidents of police brutality against Black people in America from 1945 to 1951 titled “We Charge Genocide.” Meanwhile, Black people continue to die.

barded with the heart-wrenching images of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Elijah McClain and Daniel Prude, Black America is forced once again to have this traumatic conversation about racialized policing. Meanwhile, Black people continue to die.

Police violence is not new to American discourse nor are our demands to end it. Before the Black Lives Matter movement sprung up in 2015, and even before the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, leaders such as Ida B. Wells, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Paul

Fast forward to now, with the availability of social media, the rest of America is witnessing what Black people have been living and saying for decades: “we can’t breathe.” In Maryland, we witnessed the killing of Anton Black, a 19-year-old college student who was beloved by his community in the small town of Greensboro. Anton was smart, funny and a gifted athlete on the verge of becoming a father. His life, however, was tragically cut short after

ACEVERO Page 51

By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.

Trump Leads by Division, While Biden Leads by Multiplication

As the presidential campaigns heat up, Americans are provided with a stark choice of leaders. The visits to Kenosha of Donald Trump and Joe Biden provide clear contrasts for all to see. Kenosha erupted after a white policeman shot an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Demonstrators have marched night after night demanding justice.

The protests were marred by van-

dalism, with some stores looted and burned. Informally organized, armed, right-wing militia groups came in looking for a fight. President Trump came to Kenosha despite the objections of local officials that his presence would be provocative. That didn’t deter him because he came to provoke. He met with local police, toured some of the businesses that were burned down, and condemned the demonstrators.

He refused to meet with the mother of Jacob Blake or to talk with Blake himself. Asked about the scourge of racism in our criminal justice system that has sparked unprecedented demonstra-

Askia-At-Large

bizarrely points to the chaos engulfing the country on his watch and warns that this is what will happen if his opponent is elected.

While scorning the governor and local officials as weak, Trump took credit for ordering in the National Guard, though he had nothing to do with it.

Trump offers no hope for reform. He acts only to fan fears and division in the hope it will help him in the election.

Joe Biden came to Kenosha two days later. He met in a church with representatives of the community, with firefighters and with local officials. He heard the pain of those living with fears

of police violence in the Black community and expressed his concern at the systemic racism in our criminal justice system. He spent an hour with Blake’s family and talked with Jacob Blake on the phone. He promised that he would work to bring reform, to address the scourge of racism that still scars our nation. He has condemned the violence, the vandals and the vigilantes, even as he praised those peacefully demonstrating for justice. He called for reform of the police, even as he distinguished the large number of dedicated police from

journalist Bob Woodward (with recorded interviews to back him up), Trump is quoted saying totally ungodly things about Barack Obama and even Nelson Mandela that no other prominent national politician would dare to say. The white tribal instinct laps it up.

Trump always knows the white thing to do — and always does it.

The United States is wantonly skewed in favor of loving that White Narrative. For example, although he was a terrible military leader with his

golden hair and outsized ego, Gen. George Custer (really a lieutenant colonel who claimed the “breveted” rank because of bravery during the Civil War) is viewed by most Americans as a sympathetic figure, a martyr who was slaughtered by Sitting Bull and the Lakota at the Battle of Little Big Horn — or as the Natives called it, the Battle of Greasy Grass — Custer’s Last Stand.

Custer was wrong. He underesti-

tions across the country, he dismissed that as “the opposite subject.”

That wasn’t his message. He wanted to focus on “the kind of violence we’ve seen in Portland and here and other places. The fact is that we’ve seen tremendous violence and we will put it out very, very quickly if given the chance.”

He attributed the repeated police killings to the notion that the police “choke” under pressure, like a golfer choking and missing a short putt. For George Floyd or Eric Garner, the only choking came from the chokeholds police used to take their lives. Trump

JACKSON Page 54

By Askia Muhammad

Trump Has Perfected ‘How to Be White’

The secret to Donald J. Trump’s unwavering “popularity,” despite his flaws which would cripple a conventional politician, is that he has perfected and mainstreamed “how to be white.”

The Donald, a New Yorker, is the ideal blend of the ideological, but non-whiteness of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater — the Godfather of the

U.S. swing to the white-right — and Alabama Gov. George Wallace and Louisiana state Sen. David Duke, who were just too Southern, just too much “redneck” for them to be true national contenders.

The Texan and two-term President George W. Bush didn’t play his White Card. His daddy, President George H.W. Bush, was a “Connecticut Yankee” who tried to take to the White House “traditional American values,” says his White House bio. So, even though he was officially a “Texan,”

W. still had those Kennebunkport, Maine, patrician roots, and never espoused the openly racist views that it takes to be the “White President,” the way Trump has done.

Trump pulls no punches. He minces no words. He says what the White, Alt-Right, Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys, Tea Party folks have been whispering for decades — he’s unabashedly for white folks, and their sad agenda.

Trump calls Black athletes “sons of bitches.” And in new books by Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen and famed

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

ASKIA Page 54

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 31

LIFESTYLE March on Washington Film Festival Returns, Sharing Untold Tales of Freedom Fighters Virtual Event, Scheduled Sept. 20-27, Will Offer Films, Discussions, Workshops and Performances

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir When the March on Washington [MOW] Film Festival first took shape here in the District, its founders wanted to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The inaugural festival drew more than 1,000 people who traversed the City to 10 different venues for conversations, demonstrations and presentations, all utilizing film screenings as a foundational platform.

The Festival returns Sept. 20 – 27

with the focus turning to the historic 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley.

There’ll be a modern-day reenactment featuring The Atlantic writer David Frum and Harvard University professor Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad.

Nicholas Buccola, author of “The Fire is Upon Us,” the definitive text on the Baldwin-Buckley debate, will moderate. Questions will then be posed by Howard University debate team leaders, Michael Franklin and David “Tre” Edgerton.

As one might expect, there will be many changes to the format this

5 Graphics courtesy March on Washington Film Festival

year. But as the artistic director for the MOW Film Festival, Isisara Bey, explains, the vision remains the same: to find, encourage and bring to life stories of both icons and foot soldiers from the Civil Rights Movement while facilitating a better understanding of our history.

“The film of that seminal debate has long been part of pop culture but for many Baldwin has been a touchstone and while I thought about using the debate last fall, because of what’s happened now it’s even more fitting and appropriate,” Bey said. “We’re witnessing the push and pull between progressives, liberals, Democrats and Republi3 A scene from recent March on Washington Film Festivals. (Photo courtesy JKDowd Media)

32 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

cans – the extremes.

And we’re going to use the debate as a departure point, comparing where we are today to 1965.”

“However, we’ve revised the original motion which Baldwin proposed. He said, ‘the American dream is at the expense of the American Negro. Agree 5 James Baldwin (Courtesy photo) or not.’ We say, the American dream is still at our expense. The presenters, like it or not, some parts of virtual, with similar beliefs and sentiments I believe, are here to stay.” as Baldwin and Buckley, will adWhen asked about how the dress that revised motion.”

MOW Film Festival can connect Bey says the weeklong Festival today’s generation to those who will feature a combination of pre- walked in the marches of the 60s or viously-recorded sessions and live participated in and remember othZoom presentations along with the er seminal moments from the Civil many films that will be screened Rights Movement, Bey answered and discussed. Getting ready hasn’t quickly. been easy.

“I was watching a movie a few “Maybe it’s generational but I’m years ago about Ferguson and one who likes the in person gath- someone had on a t-shirt that said, ering so some of the adjustments ‘not your Momma’s movement,’” we’ve had to make – shifting to a she said. “I wanted to hear more virtual environment – have been a from the young man and he said challenge for me,” she said. “As we the way protests happened in the entered the month of March, when 50s and 60s were not as advanced we were directed to sequester and as as today’s. I told him there was cities shutdown, we were already in nothing different. We are standing high gear, planning for the Festival. on the shoulders of those who came Fortunately, as half of our program- before us.” ming includes films, that lends it“But unless we study, we may self to a virtual format. Whether we either repeat the mistakes made in the past or take steps backwards.

3 Isisara Bey (Photo courtesy JKDowd We cannot afford to do either,” she Media) said.” WI

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Reopening Slated for Museum of African American History and Culture

By WI Staff The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will reopen to the public on Friday, Sept.

18. Considering concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum will reopen with new standards that allow visitors to experience the museum in a more intimate setting. The guidelines include new hours of operation and enhanced safety measures that protect visitors and staff. The museum will continue to require visitors to obtain free, timed-entry passes to enter.

“We are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the museum,” said Spencer Crew, interim director of the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture. “We are taking all of the necessary precautions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff, visitors and volunteers. As we continue to adjust our operations, we want to make sure we offer the best experience possible to everyone who enters our museum.”

The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be closed on Mondays and Tuesday and open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. To protect the health of visitors and staff, the museum is limiting the number of passes to 250 per day during the initial weeks of reopening. The museum will increase the number of available passes the third week to 1,100 per day.

During this time, the museum will not accommodate any walk-up visitors. Visitors will be required to obtain free, timed entry passes, available on the museum’s website at nmaahc. si.edu/visit/passes.

SAFETY MEASURES SPELLED OUT

The museum has implemented enhanced safety measures based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Government of the District of Columbia sources to include: • Requesting that all visitors who are sick, do not feel well or have any symptoms related to COVID-19 to stay home.

• Requiring that visitors ages

six and older wear face coverings during their visit. Face coverings are also strongly recommended for visitors between the ages of two and six, according to CDC guidelines. Visitors are asked to bring masks with them to the museum.

The museum will not provide masks for visitors. Face shields are not permitted as a substitute for a face covering but may be worn over a face covering or mask. Face coverings or masks with an exhalation valve are not permitted.

• The museum is: • *Limiting the number of people entering the facility by requiring all visitors to obtain a free, timed-entry pass in advance of their visit; • *Implementing safe social distancing measures, including some one-way paths and directional guidance where appropriate; • *Providing hand-sanitizing stations for visitors and conducting enhanced cleaning protocols; and • *Establishing maximum capacity limits for restrooms, closing off alternate sinks or stalls and conducting enhanced cleaning.

The museum’s restrooms will be open. However, the museum’s gift shop and restaurant, “Sweet Home Café,” will remain closed until further notice.

As a precautionary measure, all on-site docent-led public tours and events are suspended until further notice. Some exhibitions, videos and interactives may be closed or operate at limited capacity. To plan your trip to the museum, visit NMAAHC.si.edu. Updates on access rules and the operating status of other Smithsonian museums can be found at www.SI.edu/visit.

About the National Museum of African American History and Culture Since opening Sept. 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has welcomed more than seven million visitors. Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the nearly 400,000 square-foot museum is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring,

documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world his-

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tory. For more information about the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edu, follow @NMAAHC on Twitter,

Facebook and Instagram, or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000. WI

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 33

LIFESTYLE 16th Annual

DC JAZZFEST

THURSDAY, SEPT. 24 – MONDAY, SEPT. 28

DANILO PEREZ • MARC CARY FRÉDÉRIC YONNET • MATTHEW WHITAKER BABY ROSE • MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF DADO MORONI • BEN WILLIAMS NASAR ABADEY TRIO • CHRISTIE DASHIELL ALLYN JOHNSON AND SONIC SANCTUARY CECILY • ¡ F I A S C O! • G IVE T ON G E L IN THE CHUCK BROWN BAND • HERB SCOTT

JACK

KI L BY

&

THE

F RONT

LI N E

ALLISON AU • H E A R T O F T H E G H O S T HEIDI MARTIN • DCJAZZPRIX FINALS The 2020 #DCJazzFest will be streaming live from our Nation’s Capital, watch on:

GATHER by

https://bit.ly/2020DCJazzFest The DC Jazz Festival®, a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization, and its 2020 programs are made possible, in part, with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; and with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts; the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; and, in part, by major grants from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Galena-Yorktown Foundation, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, Gillon Family Charitable Fund, Venable Foundation, The Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation, and The Leonard and Elaine Silverstein Family Foundation. ©2020 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.

P0141 5.96x7

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34 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

Nina Simone’s Childhood Home Now Permanently Protected

By Sarafina Wright WI Contributing Writer The childhood home of iconic singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone is now permanently protected as a historic place.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, in partnership with World Monuments Fund and Preservation North Carolina, announced the preservation easement status of the Tryon, N.C. site last week.

The Trust says a preservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement in which a property owner agrees to permanently protect a historic building’s authentic character.

With the easement in place, the home is now protected indefinitely, with the agreement carrying forward to all future owners. While protecting the home, the easement will not impede rehabilitation of the home, but ensure its historic character is maintained and prevent demolition.

“Preservation NC has long been in the business of saving the places that matter to the diverse communities of North Carolina—and equally important, we are committed to telling the stories of those places,” Preservation NC President Myrick Howard said.

“When the place disappears, frequently, the story does too. Easements are one of the most important tools we have to save places and their stories. We are beyond delighted and honored to be a part of preserving not just Nina Simone’s childhood home, but the powerful story of her roots in North Carolina.”

Born Eunice Waymon in 1933, the home is where Simone taught herself the piano at age 3. In recent years, the three-room, 660-square foot clapboard house had fallen in disrepair.

Alarmed by the condition of the home and the risk of losing this connection to Nina Simone entirely, four African American visual artists— Adam Pendleton, Rashid Johnson, Ellen Gallagher, Julie Mehretu—purchased the property in 2017, according to the Trust.

“Today, Nina Simone’s legacy is as important as ever. This preservation

5 Nina Simone’s childhood home in Tryon, N.C. /Photos courtesy of Nancy Pierce/ National Trust for Historic Preservation.

easement is another step towards ensuring that her childhood home, and the history it embodies, persists long into the future,” Pendleton said.

“We’re delighted to be working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Preservation North Carolina alongside many other partners to make this continuous stewardship a reality.”

In 2018, the Trust designated Nina Simone’s Childhood Home as a National Treasure and joined with its owners and partners - World Monuments Fund, The Nina Simone Project, and the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission to preserve the home.

The Trust says the preservation of the home, which started last year is scheduled to continue this fall.

“Nina Simone - legendary musician, social justice champion, and global inspiration – defied constraints placed on Black female performers in the mid-twentieth century to become the voice of civil rights,” National Trust Chief Preservation Officer Katherine Malone-France said.

“In order to honor and carry forward her extraordinary legacy, a group of visionary artists and preservationists have collaborated to demonstrate our commitment to equity and racial justice by protecting an American landmark in perpetuity and ensuring that Simone’s unique voice continues to inspire and empower people through her childhood home.” WI

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LIFESTYLE

Arena Stage Releases Third World-Premiere Film, ‘The 51st State’

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater’s latest world premiere docudrama, “The 51st State,” received its world premiere through Arena Stage’s Supper Club on Sept. 16. Viewers later joined artists and creatives for a post-film discussion and after-party on Zoom. The film, available online to the general public on Thurs., Sept. 17, can be viewed on both Arena Stage and WTOP. com websites.

The hyper-local 60-minute film created by District artists through the voices of 11 residents was inspired by protests and the reigniting of a movement after the murder of George Floyd and the quest for creating the 51st state and sovereignty in D.C. From a firsttime protestor to a fourth-generation Washingtonian political scientist, to artists, an attorney, people of faith and a retired cou-

ple who moved to take part in the movement despite the COVID-19 risks, the diverse perspectives and real-life stories represent poignant reflections transformed into narratives by 10 local playwrights.

“This is a hyper-local docudrama about a city in transition. What an amazing and overwhelming time to live in, in the midst of a pandemic with tragedy after tragedy and yet people continue to come together for positive change,” said Artistic Director Molly Smith.

“I cannot remember a time in my life that was both more tumultuous and creative,” she said. “Everyone in the arts is seeking ways to continue telling stories and to keep making art. It doesn’t matter if you’re putting it on a page or on film – it’s finding ways to continue the work and continue connecting to audiences, Smith said.

Smith further shared how the appearance of federal tanks in downtown D.C., dispatched by the Trump Administration shortly

after the murder of George Floyd, added further urgency to why District advocates should continue to press for sovereignty.

“The film is a combination of a story about people taking action to protest for racial justice and it’s about racial justice in D.C. which also includes full statehood,” she said. “It’s all part of the same story.

Until we’re a state, and not just a city, there’s only so much Mayor Bowser can do. But both she and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton have been brilliant in their fight D.C. statehood.”

Featured playwrights in the docudrama include: Dane Figueroa Edidi, Farah Lawal Harris, Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Teshonne Nicole Powell, Otis Cortez Ramsey-Zöe, Gregory Keng Strasser, Deb Sivigny, Mary Hall Surface, Aria Velz and Karen Zacarías.

Filmed throughout D.C., 11 actors from among the District’s theater scene portray one of the re-

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5 Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith on the set of ‘The 51st State.’

(Courtesy photo/Suzanne Blue Star Boy for Arena Stage)

al-life citizens and vividly recount their stories.

“We wanted to provide a window through which viewers can

learn what’s going on and what residents are thinking here in the District,” Smith said.

WI

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 35

LIFESTYLE

Report Reveals Alarming Amount of Systemic Police and Prosecutorial Misconduct

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

On Jan. 21, 2011, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge learned his fate – a sentence of fourand-a-half years in federal prison for perjury and obstruction of justice for lying under oath about his use of torture to extract confessions from numerous criminal suspects, an overwhelming number of them being Black men. He had been fired earlier in 1993, prosecuted only for lying in a civil case. He served more than four years in prison and died in 2018.

In 1987, when Ken Anderson served as district attorney of Williamson County, Texas, he successfully prosecuted Michael Morton for murdering his wife, Christine. However, based on a report from the National Registry of Exonerations, Anderson had concealed that neighbors had seen a suspicious stranger hanging around the Morton’s home.

After the murder, with Morton in custody, someone else attempted to use a credit card belonging to his wife and cashed a $20 check that had been among items contained in her missing purse. The Morton’s three-year-old son, who witnessed the killing, told his grandmother, “a monster” killed his mother when “Daddy was not there.”

Researchers discovered that even more atrocities had been committed by an officer of the court – all for the

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36 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

sake of securing a guilty verdict.

In 2011, DNA testing of a bandana found near the crime scene identified the real killer. The District Attorney’s Office had successfully resisted testing the bandana for many years. Meanwhile, Morton languished in prison for 24 years for a crime that he did not commit – a crime which represented an unimaginable tragedy for him and his family.

The real killer went on to bludgeon another woman to death in 1988. Anderson, later disgraced, pled guilty to contempt of court, spent four days in jail, would then be disbarred and eventually forced to resign from the position he later secured as a judge.

While researchers of a new report released Tues., Sept. 15, said it’s hard to summarize the enormity of the harm Burge and his underlings inflicted upon their victims, and what Anderson did, they successfully pieced together a critical and comprehensive study on tainted cases that further underscore why many Americans – particularly Blacks – have lost trust in the police and prosecutors.

The report, “Government Misconduct and Convicting the Innocent: The Role of Prosecutors, Police and other Law Enforcement,” highlights examinations conducted by the National Registry of Exonerations of more than 2,400 nation-

MISCONDUCT Page 38

5 A prosecutor in Ft. Worth, Texas lied when he said Paul Storey who was guilty of murder during a robbery told the jury that the victim’s family believed the death penalty was appropriate. It turned out that the prosecutor lied and misled the jury about that fact.

(Courtesy photo/The Marshall Project)

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Hope.

It’s our greatest feature.

It all started in 1998 when a group of Hyundai dealers wanted to make a difference for kids facing cancer. Their idea blossomed into Hyundai Hope On Wheels®. Now, every time a new Hyundai is sold a portion goes to Hyundai Hope On Wheels to help fight childhood cancer. To date, over $172 million and 1,000 grants have gone to support research at children’s hospitals with the hope of finding a cure. And during the COVID-19 crisis, Hyundai has also donated $4.4 million for drive-thru testing to help expedite diagnosis for health-compromised and at-risk children. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, a good time to remember that hope is our greatest feature. And it comes standard on every Hyundai.

Model pictured for illustrative purposes only. For every new Hyundai vehicle purchased, $14 is donated by Hyundai to Hyundai Hope On Wheels. Funds are used for pediatric cancer research grants and to raise public awareness. For more info visit HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org.

Hyundai is a registered trademark of Hyundai Motor Company. All rights reserved. ©2020 Hyundai Motor America.

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 37

LIFESTYLE

Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum: Octavia E. Butler’s Typewriter as Time Machine

By Jennifer Sieck ACM Collections Researcher Like many here in D.C., along with millions worldwide, I was struck and saddened by the recent passing of actor and Howard University alum, Chadwick Boseman. Perhaps best known for his role as T’Challa and his alter-ego Black Panther, Boseman led the nation of Wakanda in the Afrofuturistic film, Black Panther (2018).

An object in the Anacostia Community Museum’s collection set the stage for Boseman’s Black Panther.

Writer Octavia E. Butler’s typewriter, pictured here, was manufactured around 1976, the year Boseman was born. Butler used this typewriter to craft stories that, like the movie, meld science, technology, and African American protagonists who lead the creation of possible futures, all hallmarks of Afrofuturism. Think of her typewriter as a time machine.

Travel back in time to the late 1950s. In Los Angeles, California, ten-year-old Octavia E. Butler began writing science fiction at a time when few African American writers did. She asked her mother for a typewriter, later reflecting, “She did day work; she made not very much money….here she had a daughter begging for a typewriter.” Butler eventually composed her first ten books on a typewriter, only transitioning to computer after her mother’s death. She won top honors for her work, including Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards as well as a MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant.

Fast forward to the mid-1970s,

5 Photo of Octavia E. Butler taken by the author’s mother, Octavia M. Butler.

Undated. Anacostia Community Museum Collection, Smithsonian Institution.

5 Author Octavia E. Butler gave this Olivetti 46 typewriter to the Anacostia Community Museum. It dates to the mid-1970s. Butler participated in ACM’s exhibition, All the Stories Are True: African American Writers Speak, which featured her typewriter, in 2004.

Anacostia Community Museum Collection, Smithsonian Institution.

when the turquoise Olivetti 46 typewriter was made in Spain. Butler used the portable machine to travel in time and space with her writing. She later donated the typewriter, replacement ribbons, and several translations of her works to the Anacostia Community Museum when she participated in an exhibition that featured the typewriter called All the Stories Are True: African American Writers Speak (2004).

[Link address: https://anacostia.si.edu/ Exhibitions/Details/All-the-StoriesAre-True-African-American-WritersSpeak-2881 ] The typewriter took Butler to a safe space where she could create and explore. From there, she journeyed in time and place, asking what it means to be human by imagining past and future worlds. For example, her novel Kindred’s protagonist travels between mid-1970s California and antebellum Maryland, so readers can empathize with what it might have been like for an African American woman to experience enslavement. The characters and contexts that Butler created and inspired can help us to think—and feel—about issues ranging from climate change to racial injustice.

Addressing the then-absence of characters of color in science fiction, Butler populated her stories with people who looked like her—African Americans, as well as beings of many hues and hybridities (bodies, genders, and sexualities). Her typewriter-time machine charted paths leading still more artists to freely imagine, including superheroes like Black Panther,

38 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

embodied so powerfully by Boseman.

For Butler, empathy and building community are superpowers that can transform horror into hope. Fittingly, writer Alexis Pauline Gumbs calls the musical adaptation of Butler’s novel, Parable of the Sower, a “congregational opera.” From Afrofuturism to hopepunk, many continue to draw on Butler’s vision of a future where Blackness and Black people not only persist, but help to bring worlds into being.

Butler’s typewriter takes us to the twentieth century, when typewriters became time machines for many writers, but also to future worlds that she constructed through her writing. Today, her typewriter can launch us on a journey to learn about an extraordinary writer and her hope for a better future.

WHAT IS YOUR TIME MACHINE?

Butler’s inspiration to write came from seeing a science fiction movie.

She knew that she could write a better story. What inspires your creativity?

What tools do you use to spark your imagination, communicate ideas, engender empathy, and build community? What is your time machine?

To learn more about Octavia Butler and her typewriter, visit ACM’s related Learning Lab, Typewriter as Time Machine: Octavia E. Butler’s Typewriter.

[Link address: https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/typewriter-as-time-machine-octavia-butler-s-typewriter/ bmKzerwhHR4cAZ03/ ]

MISCONDUCT from Page 36 wide cases that measured the role of government misconduct in wrongful convictions and how African Americans specifically have suffered from those actions.

The study found that 54 percent of official misconduct involved corruption or negligence by police, prosecutors, lab workers or other government employees.

The authors, which included researchers from the Newkirk Center for Science at the University of California, Irving, the University of Michigan Law School and the Michigan State University College of Law, cautioned that “the tally is very likely a vast undercount of the actual number of instances in which misconduct has led to the convictions of innocent people.”

They outlined that many who’ve been wrongly convicted, including those who pleaded guilty to low-level crimes, did not have the necessary resources or adequate legal counsel.

Why did Ken Anderson conceal all that evidence of Michael Morton’s innocence?

“We don’t know. We could ask, but we wouldn’t trust the answer, if any was given, and Anderson himself may no longer know if he ever did,” the authors wrote.

Still, the report concludes that the most important causes of official misconduct in criminal cases are systemic – “pervasive practices that permit, if not encourage, bad behavior; lack of the resources needed to train, supervise and conduct high-quality investigations and prosecutions; and ineffective leadership by police commanders, crime lab directors and chief prosecutors,” the authors stated.

“If these systemic problems are corrected, misconduct is less likely to occur – and when it does happen, more likely to be counteracted before innocent people are condemned, they wrote.

Overall, Black defendants’ exonerations have a slightly higher rate of misconduct than those of white defendants, 57 percent to 52 percent.

But the differences are more significant for murder cases (78 percent to 64 percent) – especially those with death sentences (87 percent to 68 percent) – and drug crime exonerations (47 percent to 22 percent).

The study concluded that official misconduct falls into five general categories:

• Witness tampering occurred in about 17 percent of exonerations.

• Misconduct in interrogations occurred in 57 percent of all exonerations with false confessions or about 7 percent of all cases.

• Fabricating evidence happened in about 10 percent of cases, in three forms: forensic fraud – in 3 percent of exonerations, police officers or forensic analysts lied about forensic evidence.

• Fake crimes – in 4 percent of exonerations, police planted drugs or guns on innocent suspects, or lied and said the suspects had assaulted them.

• Fictitious confessions – in about 2 percent of exonerations, officers fabricated confessions from defendants who did not confess.

At trial, misconduct occurred in about 23 percent of exonerations, about evenly divided between perjury by law enforcement officers, 13 percent, and trial misconduct by prosecutors, 14 percent (with some overlap).

Most often, police lied about an investigation’s conduct including what a witness said or how a lineup was conducted. The most common subject of police perjury was the conduct of interrogations at which innocent defendants confessed.

“We miss a great deal of police perjury,” the authors wrote. “We rarely have access to transcripts or other detailed information about trial testimony, so we only learn about perjury at trial if it becomes a conspicuous issue.”

In 1959, the Supreme Court held that a prosecutor has a constitutional obligation to correct perjury by a state witness even if she did not herself offer the false testimony.

However, researchers discovered that prosecutors permitted perjury to go uncorrected in 8 percent of exonerations. In most cases, the perjury was by civilian witnesses.

Federal prosecutors committed misconduct in exonerations more than twice as often as police (52 percent to 20 percent), while state prosecutors committed misconduct less often than police (29 percent to 36 percent).

“We know that prosecutors lied in court in 4 percent of exonerations.

The real rate may be higher since we only count cases with clear evidence that prosecutors made statements they knew were false,” the researchers noted further. WI

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LIFESTYLE

PLAY TODAY TO MULTIPLY YOUR WINNINGS!

Ronald Bell, Co-Founder of Kool & The Gang, Dies WI Staff Report Ronald Bell, co-founder, saxophonist and 50-plus-year member of the legendary group Kool & The Gang, has died. He was 68.

Bell, aka Khalis Bayyan, who played on and wrote many of the group’s biggest hits including “Celebration,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Hollywood Swinging”, “Cherish” and “Joanna,” died Wednesday, Sept. 9 at his Virgin Island home, several news outlets reported.

Kool & The Gang was formed in the mid-1960s by Bell along with his brother Robert “Kool” Bell and neighborhood friends Dennis “DT” Thomas, Robert “Spike” Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown and Ricky West. The group started out as a traditional jazz ensemble, but eventually evolved into one of the premier funk bands of the 1970s.

By the 1980s, the group took on a more pop and R&B sound, bringing in lead vocalist James “J.T.” Taylor. Their new musical direction led to a string of commercially successful albums and the group’s lone Billboard No. 1 hit, “Celebration,” which was written by Bell. WI

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Wash. Informer | 1/2 pg V | 5.85” x 9.5” | 4c | New | September Ticket

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 39

LIFESTYLE

Florence Pendleton, D.C. Statehood Advocate and First Shadow Senator, Dies WI Web Staff Florence H. Pendleton, who championed statehood for Washington, D.C. and was the first elected “shadow” senator for the city, died Sept. 10 in Georgia. She was 94.

Elected in 1990 to the newly created post to advocate for D.C. issues in the Senate, she served as a principal in the D.C. public schools before becoming the first African American woman to gain a seat, although unofficial, the U.S. Senate. She represented the city’s interests as a lobbyist and advocate.

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) issued a statement on her death, noting that she and Pendleton won their congressional posts in the same year, along with Rev. Jesse Jackson creating the city’s first Capitol Hill delegation.

“Florence was a distinguished principal in D.C. Public Schools who further distinguished herself as the District’s first shadow senator, which she served as for three terms. I will always remember Florence as a friend,” she said.

40 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

“Our city will remember this year, the year the House passed our D.C. statehood bill, with gratitude for Senator Pendleton’s service to the District of Columbia.”

WI

The week-long exhibit held every first Saturday of the month is designed to become a commercial fixture aimed at circulating cash locally, especially in majority-Black Prince George’s County.

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Since 2011, Internet Essentials from Comcast has connected millions of people from low-income homes to the internet so they can be ready for anything.

We recently announced we will continue to provide 60 days of free internet to new Internet Essentials customers.

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 41

LIFESTYLE Howard Alumni Raise “Six Figures,” for Kamala Harris during Virtual Fundraiser and Lovefest

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer

Neither the Corona-Virus nor social distancing prevented hundreds of Howard University alumni from hosting a virtual fundraiser for Vice-Presidential candidate and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) Saturday night, just 52 days before the Nov. 3 elections where she and Joe Biden hope to send President Donald Trump and Mike Pence into retirement.

Absent food, drink and the other trappings of a fundraiser, the event had passion as Harris was greeted and honored by former classmates, friends and sorority sisters from her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority as well as members

of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

“I am so touched by this event...

You have been so incredible in your support of me,” said Harris during the Zoom event where she went from talking about her vision for the country to thanking her AKA sorority sisters, classmates and friends D.C. lawyer Lita Rosario, who she said, “dragged me to be on the debate team,” team at Howard.

The virtual fund-raiser was organized by a group of Howard University alumni who called themselves Bison 2020 and they included Rosario, Boxing promoter Rock Newman, lawyers Donald Temple and A. Scott Bolden and Lita Rosario and her godson Kristopher Ernst, who introduced Harris.

“Money is what helps to pro-

pel campaign trains forward and we said why don’t we try to do a fund-raiser for her so we got busy,” said Newman, who enlisted help from Dr. Cherie Ward and the students from the Jim Vance Media Academy at Archbishop John Carroll. “This event should the beauty of bridging us old heads and young people who have something to say.’

From shooting stand-ups and editing music to doing research and creating special effects, Ward said, “This has been a valuable opportunity for our students because they were able to have a hands-on real world experience in real time and always say movie making in real time is the best experience that can be offered.”

The event began with members of the Howard family observing a moment of silence in honor the late ac-

New Affordable Housing Opportunity in the Navy Yard, Washington D.C.

tor and alum Chadwick Boseman, star of the movie Black Panther. The Carroll students produced a special tribute to Boseman and throughout the event Howard alumni, noted recording artists and invited guests had plenty to say, “This is an epic event at a very serious time,” said Temple. “Howard is in a major historical space. We are connected by virtue of a candidate and we are now involved at a time when the nation needs to hear from this community.”

Rosario said Biden’s selection of Harris is a seminal moment. “Her being on the ticket is really making a difference in bringing out the African American vote, the female vote and the progressive vote.”

Michelle Bernard, a member of the Howard University class of 1985, hosted the event. Bernard, who is a close friend to Harris, began by saying, “This is the most important election of a lifetime,” and her comments was followed by Howard

alumni from across the country that they are supporting Harris with their deeds and their dollars.

WI

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THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

LIFESTYLE

wi book review “The Rock: Through the Lens: His Life, His Movies, His World” photographs by Hiram Garcia c.2020, St. Martin’s Press $35.00 / $47.50 Canada 247 pages

By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer Your favorite Hollywood star seems ten feet tall.

After all, he’s bigger than life. Everybody knows him; he’s handsome and funny and, well, you’re pretty sure that if you ever met him, you’d probably be tongue-tied. After all, the man’s famous! So, would you be surprised, as in “The Rock: Through the Lens: His Life, His Movies, His World,” photographs by Hiram Garcia, to learn that your favorite star is a regular guy after all?

Hiram Garcia was just a freshman in high school back in 1991 but he was tall, often towering over the dudes his sister dated. And then she invited him to the University of Miami to meet her “new boyfriend” and she introduced Garcia to someone who was bigger than he was. He met a man he calls “DJ,” and a lifelong friendship was formed.

For nearly three decades, Dwayne Johnson, Garcia, and Garcia’s sister have “come together in many creative ways,” including through their production company, which is responsible for some of Johnson’s biggest films and small-screen programs. But, as this book shows, Johnson isn’t just the star of Jungle Cruise or The Titan Games. He’s also a pro wrestler, a father, and a guy who truly appreciates his fans – and that includes kids, a group that Garcia says Johnson particularly enjoys.

Both staged and candid pictures in this book show all those aspects of Johnson’s life, and more. Here, for example, you’ll see Johnson’s love of family, his wife and daughters, his ex-girlfriend, as well as in-laws and extended family.

There are many photos of “The Rock” in training, working out and eating right. Readers will see what kind of work it takes to maintain a double-career and still have time for a personal life and “horsing around” with friends and colleagues. You’ll see Johnson’s fun side, and his fan side.

And you’ll see how Garcia came to understand that taking snapshots of his buddy, “DJ,” could ultimately take a hobby to the next level.

Looking for something you can read quick? Here, it won’t take you long to get through “The Rock: Through the Lens: His Life, His Movies, His World” because there really isn’t much to read at all.

No, most of what photographer Hiram Garcia includes as narrative consists of captions to go along with the dozens of pictures of the man he calls “the ultimate entertainer….” Some of these captions are only a few words long, others have more explanation to them, but the truth is that readers likely won’t dwell on this aspect of the book.

Instead, the real reason to want this well-done coffee-table book is for the photos inside. They invite readers to linger, showing Johnson at his most pensive, enjoying his fans, and at work. The pictures appear to have been carefully chosen, and they won’t disappoint anyone ages 16 to adult.

So, get “The Rock: Through the Lens: His Life, His Movies, His World,” especially if you love the guy. Because this is a fan’s book, after all... WI

horoscopes

SEPT 17 - 23, 2020

ARIES There some days where you just want to do things on your own. Things like doing a solo bike ride around the lake or to the ocean shore, taking a quiet hike under a canopy of trees, or just quietly reading a book on your own patio. Today others may be calling, texting, and FaceTiming you, but you might be nowhere to be found. Lucky Numbers: 6, 33, 47 TAURUS You may be feeling especially creative today—possibly wanting to refinish a piece of furniture or paint a room. If you’re around children, you can play together making frosted cookies or building pillow forts in the living room. For those Taurus natives who are business-minded, this is an excellent aspect for launching new products or a marketing campaign. But that said, do leave a little time for play. Lucky Numbers: 14, 29, 35 GEMINI Over the next week or so, you will likely see doors swing open in the areas of investing, passive income sources, as well as business income. You may receive tips on where to get good bargains on potential assets to acquire. Gemini natives who own a business may find this week that potential clients who were on the fence now start lining up to sign the contract. Lucky Numbers: 5, 18, 19 CANCER Over the next several weeks, people seem to be drawn to you. You can widen your circle of friends. Today, a new opportunity may arise to make a connection, tomorrow there could be two, and this can continue. This is lucky energy. Consider reaching out to someone you’ve always wanted to meet. Lucky Numbers: 8, 42, 51 LEO Today, others have a new respect and admiration for the systems you have in place for getting things done. You have been honing, delegating, streamlining, and eliminating the excess. You may be asked to teach others how to be so productive or how to use a productivity application you’re familiar with. Lucky Numbers: 6, 21, 41 VIRGO The new moon in your own sign of Virgo arrives on September 17, marking the beginning of the most significant four-week period for you this year. On the same day, the sun joins with the moon and melts together with Saturn in Capricorn. This is a good day for planning, checklists, and outlines.

Download apps to help you stay on target. Today, you can make progress in the areas of your life that are the most important to you. Lucky Numbers: 3, 10, 24 LIBRA You may be transforming your relationship with things. Perhaps you are moving from the concept of “keeping it just in case” to releasing things and trusting that when you need something, you will have the means and ability to get it. This is a great day to clean out the garage, bundle stuff up for a charity pickup, or send a call to friends and relatives to see who wants what you were giving away.

Lucky Numbers: 5, 8, 16 SCORPIO After a long period of rehashing, revising, and rethinking, now your focus returns. This energy will grow in strength over the next few weeks but for now, it just feels good to have a clear idea of what you want to do. Perhaps an acquaintance wants to purchase your boat, motorcycle, or old computer monitor. A financial transaction could lead to discussions of a bigger business opportunity. A partnership could be born. Lucky Numbers: 14, 16, 26 SAGITTARIUS You may have a long list of projects, none of which you find interesting at all. Today’s a good day to look at who could do these things for you. Look at what you can automate, streamline, delegate, or best of all, eliminate. Focus on repetitive tasks first and then look at projects. Even improving your daily experience by 1 percent could have an exponential impact by the end of the year. Lucky Numbers: 28, 37, 44 CAPRICORN All the energy and ambition you’ve been pointing toward your goals comes together with good luck. Over the next few weeks, you have excellent timing when it comes to job applications, reaching decision-makers by phone, or launching your product and getting some free publicity through a favorable news story. Now, your timing is in sync. Lucky Numbers: 21, 25, 27 AQUARIUS Today, you have the opportunity to get the assistance you need to remove blocks. This may be in the form of practitioners or how-to videos on YouTube. You may stumble on a self-help book that lives up to its name. Even clearing away the smallest obstacles can make a world of difference in your mood and your ability to accept the abundance of the universe. Lucky Numbers: 3, 7, 43 PISCES You may have been stymied by how you can make an impact in the world in these “interesting” times. You may be wondering how you can be in this world and not be consumed by it. And now a way forward begins to open up. As this transit unfolds over the next few weeks you can find your tribe.

Lucky Numbers: 3, 4, 28

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 43

SPORTS Washington Shuts Out Eagles in Second Half for Huge Comeback Win

By Daniel Kucin Jr. WI Sports Writer danielkucin88

Coming into the 2020 NFL regular season, Washington introduced a new head coach, brought in new personnel on both sides of the ball, and even established a new team name.

However, the first quarter appeared to display the same old shenanigans that Washington fans had seen before as they welcomed the Philadelphia Eagles home Week One. Washington looked abysmal offensively, going three-and-out on every possession in the first quarter.

Philadelphia took advantage of that, scoring 17 unanswered points by way of a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Carson Wentz to tight end Zach Ertz, then a 38-yard field goal from the toe of Jake Elliott, and finally from a 34-yard bomb to tight end Dallas Goedert.

Though things seemed to be going the Eagles’ way in the first half, the Washington Football Team defense stood tall and shut out Philadelphia the rest of the way for an impressive 27-17 win over their heated division rival to go 1-0.

Perennial pro bowl linebacker Ryan Kerrigan made history by passing Dexter Manley for the franchise alltime sack record and the rest of the defense fired on all cylinders, including first-round pick Chase Young (4 tackles, 1.5 sacks) who started over him.

“It just shows you how unselfish Ryan Kerrigan is,” Washington Football Team Head Coach Ron Rivera said. “He understands that we have a couple of young guys that we’ve got to get on the field, but he also knows that he has a tremendous role and an impact role for us.

“Coming off the bench and being fresh and getting two sacks and re-

covering a fumble and causing a few other plays out there just really speaks to who he is as a young man and what he means to our franchise moving forward.”

That defensive effort set up Washington with its first score when Wentz threw an errant pass into the hands of Fabian Moreau in Philadelphia territory.

Second-year quarterback Dwyane Haskins only accounted for 178 passing yards for the game, but he did lead the ensuing five-play possession hooking up with three receivers, including tight end Logan Thomas who hauled in a wide-open 6-yard touchdown pass.

Heading into halftime at 17-7, Washington carried that momentum into the second half after a passionate halftime speech from Washington’s signal-caller while Rivera received intravenous medication; Rivera was diagnosed with cancer this offseason.

“When playing quarterback, I’ve learned over the years that there are opportunities in a game to fire guys up,” said Haskins. “After that speech (at halftime), I tried to find a way to motivate the guys, and we found a way to come back and get the win.”

Wentz threw his second interception to cornerback Jimmy Moreland on their second possession of the third quarter, placing the ball on the Eagles’ 20-yard line after a 32-yard return.

Haskins dropped a 17-yard dime in the hands of wide receiver Steven Sims to set Washington in prime scoring position after the turnover. Three plays later, running back Peyton Barber crossed the chalk for a one-yard touchdown, 17-14.

Despite former Memphis University standout Antonio Gibson gaining high praise this offseason, he only accounted for 36 yards on nine carries as he split time with Barber and J.D. McKissic.

44 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

After a Dustin Hopkins 38-yard boot in the fourth quarter to tie the game up 17-17, Washington smelled blood in the water. Though Washington could only muster 80 yards on the ground as a team, Barber (17 carries, 29 yards) scored his second touchdown of the day with more than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Finally, Hopkins banged in a 40yard field goal for Washington’s final score of the contest. Wentz turned the ball over one last time on their following possession when defensive tackle Daron Payne forced and recovered the fumble on Philadelphia’s 16-yard line.

Though Philly had one more possession, it was too late, and a game that started looking like an Eagle’s rout turned into a solid come from behind victory for a youthful and ambitious Washington squad.

Next week, Washington will be on

5 Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins celebrates with his team after a big defensive stop. (Daniel Kucin Jr./The Washington Informer)

the road against the Arizona Cardinals as Philadelphia will lick its wounds and take on the Los Angeles Rams at home.

“We had a lot of guys make plays

today, and I’m very excited four our football team,” Rivera said to conclude the first step in the right direction for the new campaign.

WI

Baseball Academies Seek to Help Increase Black Participation in America’s Pastime

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia

Major League Baseball has ramped up its efforts to diversify the sport in its clubhouse, front offices, and fan base.

The league recently celebrated the continued rise of Tony Reagins, an African American, as MLB’s chief baseball development officer.

Reagins, former general manager of the Los Angeles Angels, oversees the growth of youth and amateur levels of baseball and softball, both domestically and internationally, and the streamlining of amateur scouting around the world and operations of the Arizona Fall League.

Some of the more notable youth development programs have produced hundreds of college players and MLB Draft picks.

“Over the past five years, about 20 percent of our first-rounders were African-American, and our Youth Academies have been built in communities largely African-American,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated in an earlier news release.

“Almost all of those kids had some touch with one of our Academy programs or diversity series events. The bigger we make those programs, the more diversity we will attract to the game.”

According to a Good Morning

5 MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and a group of youth participating in league-backed activities. (Photo courtesy MLB)

America (GMA) profile this month, C.J. Stewart has spent more than a decade hosting high school baseball team tryouts in his former Atlanta neighborhood every spring.

But the players chosen are not for an ordinary team. They are students handpicked by Stewart and his wife, Kelli Stewart, with a goal that extends far beyond winning on the field.

The team is part of an organization called Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct, or LEAD, which aims to help Black boys in low-income households break out of the cycle of poverty and incarceration in their neighborhoods through the game of baseball.

According to the GMA report, Stewart, 44, knows about their neighborhoods because he is a prod-

uct of them.

He grew up in inner-city Atlanta, and his love of baseball gave him a reason to stay out of trouble. “[Baseball] was the goal. It was my reason for living. It was my reason to say no to drugs,” said Stewart, who played for the University of Georgia and the Chicago Cubs organization.

“It was the tip of the spear for me for everything.”

Each year, the program hosts tryouts for young men who attend Atlanta Public Schools. Players, who they call “ambassadors,” are expected to uphold the highest school standards and in life.

“Grades, attendance, behavior, and community service – that’s how our boys earn their opportunity,”

SPORTS Page 45

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

CAPTURE the moment

For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com

Lending a helping hand

5 Washington Wizards star John Wall handed out backpacks and school supplies to students in a COVID-19 safety drive-through for his annual John Wall Family Foundation back-to-school event at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast on Monday, Sept.

14. (Courtesy photo/wizards.com)

SPORTS from Page 44 Kelli Stewart told GMA. “Pay-toplay opportunities are out of reach for them, but getting good grades, good behavior, and attendance in school and completing community service hours [are] well within their reach.”

If expectations aren’t met, Stewart said the young men are cut from the program.

Similar MLB programs include the Anderson Monarchs in Philadelphia, the Chicago White Sox Amateur City Elite (ACE), the Rockstars Travel Program in Los Angeles, and the Jerry Manuel Foundation in Sacramento.

There are also MLB youth acade-

mies in Compton, Calif., New Orleans, Philadelphia, Houston, Kansas City, Texas, Cincinnati, Chicago, and New York.

In the District, the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy provides youngsters in underserved neighborhoods of Southeast a safe and supportive environment in which to learn and play. The academy is located in an area with some of D.C.’s highest rates for crime, obesity, diabetes and school dropout.

With a state-of-the-art campus that includes training and education facilities, a full kitchen, and three baseball diamonds, the academy is a place where officials said D.C.

youth could develop relationships and build character both on and off the field.

Such academies primarily serving urban youth count as vital at a time when the percentage of Black MLB players to start 2020 stood at just 7.8 percent, or 80 players out of 900.

According to USA Today, those figures included the expanded 30man rosters and those on the injured and restricted lists.

Like L.E.A.D. in Atlanta, the effect of the baseball academies is far-reaching, particularly for African Americans.

The program boasts a staggering graduation rate. Since its start in

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

2007, 100 percent of the students have graduated from high school, 93 percent enroll in college, and 90 percent of them enroll with scholarships, according to Kelli Stewart.

Several young men have gone on to get college degrees, while some have enrolled in the Army, finished master’s programs, and started careers at top companies in the Atlanta area.

“The most rewarding aspect of founding L.E.A.D. is giving our boys the knowledge that they have someone in their corner,” Kelli Stewart told GMA. “Day to day, they’re battling homelessness, battling stability ...

you can get to a point where you have no hope because you have no help. For the young men who are a part of L.E.A.D., they see people willing to help make a change in their lives.”

L.E.A.D. is an “incredible example of how baseball can greatly benefit the individual who plays the game as well as the communities that support it,” Reagins told the Informer.

“More importantly, they understand the pathway the game can provide for young people who want to pursue their dreams. We commend C.J. and Kelli Stewart for changing these lives through the game we all love.”

WI

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 45

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BUDGET from Page 1 deal if Democrat Joe Biden unseats President Donald Trump,” the article continued.

However, it remains to be seen whether as the Democrat-led U.S. House returns this week, lawmakers will focus on resuming negotiations with the goal of finding common ground.

“State and local governments went into this year expecting things to be pretty easy,” said Tracy Gordon, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution that focuses on fiscal challenges facing municipalities.

“Instead, they’re faced with this once-in-a-lifetime challenge, on the heels of the Great Recession, which everyone then thought would be a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.”

According to the financial website Bankrate, budget cuts are typically a state’s first option in efforts to make up for shortfalls. Departments which receive the lion share of state funding – K-12 education, public safety and health care – typically serve as the first budgeted items to go under the axe. Other, smaller agencies could be trimmed as well, or states could shift special funds earmarked for another department into the general budget fund.

Another way legislatures often fill a budget shortfall is by raising taxes, though that option isn’t as politically viable, according to Bankrate experts.

States are likely to make budget cuts and then tap into their rainy-day funds first, which Bankrate experts noted hit record highs across most states leading up to the recession, though some had less than a week of reserves put away.

State workers who rely on public pension funds for their retirement

(Courtesy photo)

income may dread the coronavirus crisis. But former state workers already drawing payments should not feel any impact, nor should those on the brink of retirement, though more significant funding issues could arise down the road.

Even though state and local governments employ only about 14 percent of workers, the hard-hit sector has had negative consequences on the rest of the economy, given the overall contagiousness of recessions. Estimates from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that states lost out on an estimated $283 billion during the Great Recession as revenues held below 2008 levels until 2013 after adjusting for inflation.

Threatened cuts to federal funding – a game-changer – to several major U.S. cities, including the District of Columbia, have served to worsen conditions.

The White House announced it has instructed federal agencies to prepare reports for the White House

SUFFRAGE from Page 17 “Parks fought to get all Black southern women to vote. After the bus boycott, white racist backlash ensued and Parks could not get any employment and was forced to leave Alabama,” Canton said.

“In Michigan, all Black women had the right to vote but Parks supported gender equity and participated in women’s and Black women’s movements. In 2013, eight years after Parks’ death, the United States Supreme Court passed the Shelby v. Holder case that allowed states to change voting rules without any clearance from the federal government.”

“Parks fought to get all Black southern women to vote. After the bus boycott, white racist backlash ensued and Parks could not get any employment and was forced to leave Alabama.”

Office of Management and Budget, setting a timeline for the agency to restrict federal grants from “anarchist jurisdictions.”

The memo explicitly mentions the District.

“The President’s memo that threatens to withhold funds from named cities, including the District of Columbia, if acted upon, would unconstitutionally usurp the spending power, which lies exclusively with Congress,” D.C. Democratic Delegate to the U.S. House Eleanor Holmes Norton, stated.

“The President may be able to condition funding if Congress has given him the power to do so, and a circuit court recently held he may be able to withhold policing grants from sanctuary cities, though there is a circuit split on this matter,” Norton said.

“But his memo’s wholesale threat to withhold funds from cities is a violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers which gives the spending power exclusively to Congress.” WI “Since 2013, over 1,000 polling places have closed in many southern states which has had a disproportionate impact on Black voters.

Any Republican politician who visited Parks’ body in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and who have not fought to end voter suppression, but said they support Rosa Parks’ life and work, have disrespected her legacy and are bold face liars,” he said.

This feature is part of an ongoing Washington Informer series about the Women’s Suffrage Movement initiated by Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes. It lives in the institutional home of The Washington Informer Charities. WI

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT

Your Arms Too Short to Box With God!

“Your Arms Too Short to Box With God: A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance” is a Broadway musical based on the Book of Matthew and inspired by Black writer and poet James Weldon Johnson. In his book of poems, “God’s Trombones” — which I had to read when I was in college at Trinity University — Johnson began one poem about the Prodigal Son by saying, “Young man, young man — your arm’s too short to box with God.” This Scripture reminds the prophet Isaiah emphatically that we are too puny to box with God. In fact, we’re too small to grasp fully God’s greatness. In Isaiah 45, God reminds us through his prophet this way: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things. …

Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker.”

Why would a clay pot get upset with its maker? It would never disagree with its maker, saying some-

thing ridiculous like, “Stop, that’s not how you do it.”

As Isaiah 45 says, “For this is what the Lord says — he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited — he says: ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other.’”

Now that’s a powerful Word!

Our God is all wise, all-powerful, all knowing and He loves us so dearly, that we can only bow in heartfelt reverence and obedience, which leads me to my point for this column. I’ve been praying for our country, praying with others, encouraging them to pray.

Each of us must pray without ceasing. This Scripture — “I bring prosperity and create disaster”— whether what is happening is good or bad, is true: “I send good times and bad times.” Not to worry, everything will be all right.

We see about five or six states, seemingly burning up; we see floods on the East Coast; hurricanes that have never been so destructive; and a pandemic that has hit the United States worse than anywhere else in the world.

Whether one believes in global warming or not, global warming

Mt. Zion Baptist Church

is truly alive and well. Research shows that the snow in the Alps is melting, and the animals who are accustomed to living in a frozen environment are experiencing a meltdown.

God destroyed the world once by a flood, and Scripture says next time it will be destroyed by fire! We must be afraid of God, and we must know that any man in power who believes he is God, will soon find who God really is. Thus, the topic, “Your Arms Too Short to Box With God!” None of us can defeat the God I serve. He is all knowing! He made the Heavens and the earth; He made every living creature.

Therefore, be encouraged, continue to trust in God! His word is so true. Remember the Scripture, 2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV), says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Today, Lord Jesus, we pray that you will heal our land. Please remind our president and any other leader who thinks he is the savior: Your arms too short to box with God! WI

John F. Johnson Reverend Dr.

5101 14th Street, NW / Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089

1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005

“A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold” www.mtzbcdc.org

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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church

Reverend John W. Davis Pastor

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m.

Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.)

Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m.

(301) 864-6070

Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m.

Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 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”

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

Blessed Word of Life Church

Church of Living Waters

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor 4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464 Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org

St. Stephen Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., / Pastor 2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 / Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00 AM Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30 AM 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00 AM Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30 PM Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00 AM “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

Third Street Church of God

Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors

Reverend William Young IV 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

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

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

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

“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org

Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor 800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703 Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45 AM Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00 PM Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00 PM Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org / “God is Love”

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor 610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax

Sunday Worship Service: 8:00 AM and 10:45 AM Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45 AM; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45 AM; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6:00 AM & 6:30 PM Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church / Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org / emailus@gmchc.org

Isle of Patmos Baptist Church Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor 1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661 Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Sunday Church School: 9:20 AM Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 AM Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 PM Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!”

Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net

St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us...

Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45 PM Thur. Bible Study: 7:15 PM

Twelfth Street Christian Church 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

Turning Hearts Church Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher

“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org / E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net

Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 AM

Crusader Baptist Church

Reverend Dr. 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

48 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

themcbc.org

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor 7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471 Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 AM Service 11:00 AM Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.”

Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com

Zion Baptist Church Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School 10:15 a.m. – Worship Service Wed. Noon: Dea. Robert Owens Bible Study 7 PM Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Sunday, Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission: Zion shall: Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, And Exalt our Savior. (Acts 2: 41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org

St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 PM Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon

All Nations Baptist Church Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor 2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591 Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education / School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards

Israel Baptist Church

Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor 2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730 Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 AM Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 PM “Where Jesus is the King”

Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor

2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office / (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . . 100% Forgiven!

623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 / Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 / Fax (202) 483-4009

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM Baptism/Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Family Bible Study Tuesdays – 6:30 PM Prayer Service: Tuesdays – 8:00 PM www.emmanuelbaptistchurchdc.org

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith

Lincoln Park United Methodist Church Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor

Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor

1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288

1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lincolnpark@lpumcdc.org www.lpumcdc.org

5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:45 AM Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 PM Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 PM Bible Study: Tuesday at 10:30 AM

Mount Moriah Baptist Church Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Holy Communion: First Sunday 10:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30 PM Motto: "Faith On The Hill"

Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 PM Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 PM Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 PM Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged.

The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42

New Commandment Baptist Church

Eastern Community Baptist Church Damion M. Briggs Pastor

Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor

1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964

8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240

13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 AM and 10:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 AM & 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:30 AM Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 PM Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 PM Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 PM

Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM

Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM

Rehoboth Baptist Church

Reverend Peter R. Blue Sr. Pastor

Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor

2001 Brooks Drive District Heights MD. 20744 240.838.7074

621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112

Service and Times Sunday Worship Experience: 10:15am Sunday School: 9:00am Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Noontime Bible Study: Tuesday @ 12:00pm Prayer Meeting/Bible Study: Tuesday @7:00pm Theme: "Building On A Firm Foundation"

Service and Times Sunday Service: 10:00 AM Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 AM 1st Sunday Baptism: 10:00 AM 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10:00 AM Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting: 7:45 PM

Email: revprbstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org

Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”

“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org

“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”

Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958

Shiloh Baptist Church

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

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

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. Dr. Jerryl V. Moody Pastor-Elect

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.

SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 49

LEGAL NOTICES

LEGAL NOTICES Notice Of An Unregistered Claim Notice of an unregistered claim by a private living woman, sovereign by the grace of God, their name written in the Book of the Tree of Life, beneficiary in original jurisdiction now coming as Grantor/settler with NOTICE of Unregistered Claim, or priority equitable right, title and interest in the JOHN QUE PUBLIC estate, Illinois state file number 112-1954 0097573, including all assets, attributes, derivatives and transmutations thereof. For more on the nature of the claim see http.//notice.legal-registry.org/PublicNotice.pdf.

Notice Of An Unregistered Claim Notice of an unregistered claim by a private living man, sovereign by the grace of God, their name written in the Book of the Tree of Life, beneficiary in the divine and ancestral original jurisdiction now coming as Grantor/settler with NOTICE for Unregistered Claim, or priority equitable right, title and interest in the KAMISHA NISHAWN YOUNGBLOOD and Kamisha Nishawn Youngblood estate, State of Illinois file number 112-1972 6016207, et al. This NOTICE prays with agreement an express decree unregistered claim or priority equitable right, title and interest retained also shall not be cloned or mis-taken including, but not limited to: all assets, RB 900908183 US, Case Number 2020CONC000056, Case Number 17 CH 03261 and each Case, RE 024178 475 US, issue RE 024178484 US, RB 900908197 US, RB 900908170 US, RB 900908206 US, RB 900908210 US, RB 900908223 US, all intellectual property, signs and seals or distinguished marks; and, any attributes, hereditaments, subsequent derivatives, heirs and assigns or transmutations thereof, therefrom, therein, thereby or thereon past present and future forever and always, without recourse.

In God We Trust Declaration of Nationality Notice of Special Appearance: I am that I am: “Adrian Bogopane ©”, in full life, in propria persona, sui juris, in solo propio, Haqdar by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: “ BOGOPANE, ADRIAN ©”, corp. sole Dba.: “ADRIAN BOGOPANE©”, Notice of Special Appearance: I am that I am: Lesley Ann Bogopane ©”, f/k/a “Lesley Ann Jackson©; in full life, in propia persona, sui juris, in solo proprio, Haqdar by natural issue, the beneficiary and heir of: “ JACKSON, LESLEY ANN© , corp. sole Dba.: “LESLEY ANN JACKSON ©”, and “BOGOPANE, LESLEY ANN ©, corp. sole Dba.:”LESLEY ANN BOGOPANE ©”. Collectively having reached the age of majority, being aboriginal to the northwestern and southwestern shores of Africa, the Atlantic Islands, the continental Americas, being duly certified, hereby affirm to declare our tribal intention to be as our pedigree subscribes, as: Moorish American(s), but not citizen(s) of the United States. We declare permanent, and unalienable, allegiance to The Moorish Empire, Societas Republicae Ea Al Maurikanuus Estados, The Constitution for the united States of America, Article III Section 2, The Lieber Code, Hague Conventions of 1899 & 1907, The Geneva Conventions, [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples], and all natural laws governing moors, and hereby declare and proclaim our Nationality in good faith as: Moorish American(s). Any and all facts contained in this publication, are fully applicable to any and all private tribal issue offspring of Affiants, Nunc pro tunc. I am: Adrian Bogopane© “, from this day forward, in harmony with my Nationality/Status/Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “ amanya basimane bogopane-el©”.

I am “Lesley Ann Bogopane© “from this day forward, in harmony with Nationality/Status/Jurisdiction, shall be known as: “lesley ann bogopane-el ©”. Notice of White Flag Surrender: as “hors de combat pursuant to The Geneva Conventions, Article III, as ministers of the Moorish Empire, and Internationally Protected Persons. Notice of LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF WAR ON LAND (HAGUE, IV), ARTICLE: 45, 46, & 47. Notice of Claim pursuant to Public Law 87-846, TITLE II, SEC. 203. Notice of Bailment Merging of Legal Title with Equitable Title: This order is to preserve legal and equitable title, and to reserve all rights, title, and interest, in the property, Re: 1. DEPARTMENT HOME AFFAIRS / REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA/ CHILD’S ID NO:”, B4048958/7107145747081: “Adrian Bogopane ©, to the depositor: “amanya basimane bogopane-el©”nom deguerre: Adrian Bogopane©”, 2. STATE OF CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: State file number: 14181, “LESLEY ANN JACKSON©”, to the depositor. “lesley ann bogopane-el©”, nom deguerre: “Lesley Ann Bogopane©”. All property of the same issue and amount, in like kind and specie, is to be returned fully intact, as a Special Deposit order of the Depositor/ Beneficiary/ Bailor/ Donor/ Principal/ Creditor. “amanya basimane bogopane-el©”, nom deguerre: “Adrian Bogopane© for: “AETHIOPIA JUS SOLI TRUST”, and or: “lesley ann bogopane-el©”, nom deguerre: “Lesley Ann Bogopne©”, for “Rising Sun Trust”, as special deposit order in lawful money. This special deposit is to be used exclusively for the benefit of: each respective Trust, an Inter Vivos Unincorporated Divine Grantor Trust. This deposit is not to be commingled with general assets of any bank, nor depositary/ trustee/agent/ bailee/ donee/ debtor. This deposit is not limited to, but including: discharge and set off, of any and all outstanding liabilities as accord and satisfaction. Inter alia enact fuit. All Rights Reserved.

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 000402

2019 ADM 001022

2020 ADM 000397

Alberta D. Wilson Decedent

Barnett Lee Schank Decedent

George C. Valentine aka George Valentine Decedent

Cheryl Chapman Henderson, Esq. 4920 Niagara Road, Suite 200 College Park, MD 20740 Attorney

Brett Cohen 7910 Woodmont Avenue, #1430 Bethesda, Maryland 20814-7047 Attorney

Robert P. Newman, Esq. 801 Wayne Avenue, Suite 400 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

Dale J. Wilson, whose address is 4706 Cherokee Street, Apt. 203, College Park, MD 20740, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Alberta D. Wilson who died on December 10, 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 3/10/2021. 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 3/10/2021, 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.

Brett Cohen, whose address is 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1430, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-7047, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Barnett Lee Schank who died on July 16, 1997 without a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/10/2021. 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 3/10/2021, 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.

Darrell Valentine, whose address is 1120 ½ C Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of George C. Valentine aka George Valentine who died on 3/27/2020 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 3/10/2021. 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 3/10/2021, 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: 9/10/2020

Date of first publication: 9/10/2020

Dale J. Wilson Personal Representative

Brett Cohen Personal Representative

Date of first publication: 9/10/2020 Darrell Valentine Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2020 ADM 000417

2020 ADM 000388

Ratrini H. Nyasumah Decedent

Richard D. Fleming Decedent

coming as Grantor/Settler with NOTICE OF UNREGISTERED

Attorney Ethel Mitchell 8403 Colesville Road, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attorney

Joyce A. Ferguson 33 Sherman Circle, NW Washington, DC 20011 Attorney

JOHN QUE PUBLIC estate, NORTH CAROLINA, state file number

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2020 FEP 46 November 12, 2019 Date of Death John Henry Gause, Jr. Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Tyrone Timms, whose address is 16988 W. Durango Street, Goodyear, AZ 85338 was appointed personal representative of the estate of John Henry Gause, Jr., deceased, by the Superior Court of Arizona Court for Maricopa County, State of Arizona, on February 28, 2020.

Service of process may be made upon Jeffrey K. Gordon, Esq. 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW #700, Washington, DC 20015 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.

5524 C 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: 9/17/2020 Tyrone Timms Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

Notice of Unregistered Claim

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

Notice of an unregistered claim by a private living woman, sovereign by the grace of God, name written in the Book of the Tree of Life, benificary in the original jurisdiction, now Claim, or priority equitable right, title, and interest in the 1962000073498 529133, including all assets, attributes, derivatives, and transmissions there of. For more on the nature

2020 ADM 000448 Linda L. Coleman Decedent Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 800 Maine Ave., SW Suite 200 Washington, DC 20024 Attorney

http.//notice.legal-regristry.org/PublicNotice.pdf 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

Anthony Burley, whose address is 1316 Park Road, NW, Washington, DC 20010, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ratrini H. Nyasumah who died on January 13, 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 3/10/2021. 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 3/10/2021, 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.

Joyce A. Ferguson, whose address is 33 Sherman Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Richard D. Fleming who died on January 24, 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 3/10/2021. 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 3/10/2021, 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: 9/10/2020

Date of first publication: 9/10/2020

Anthony Burley Personal Representative

Joyce A. Ferguson Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

Washington Informer

50 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

Alicia Gordon, whose address is 1876 4th Street, NE, Apt 130, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Linda L. Coleman who died on December 24, 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 3/17/2021. 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 3/17/2021, 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: 9/17/2020 Alicia Gordon Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

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ACEVERO from Page 31 his encounter with Thomas Webster, a former Dover police officer who had been indicted on second-degree assault charges in Delaware.

The assault charges against Webster were based on dashcam video that showed him kicking a subdued, unarmed Black man in the head. The Delaware assault charges against Webster were later dismissed and the Dover police department gave him a sizable severance package. But he was not decertified as a law enforcement officer despite having had many use-of-force reports filed against him while working for Dover police. So, Webster went to Maryland and got a job with the Greensboro police department, despite residents urging the town not to hire him because of his record. Not long after Greensboro hired him in 2018, Webster chased down, tasered, handcuffed and shackled Anton Black at his family home where Black’s mother watched in horror and disbelief as her son struggled and became unresponsive.

After months of protests and demands by the Coalition for Justice for Anton Black, Webster was let go from the Greensboro Police Department, and the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission decertified him in July of 2019. What’s more, the former Greensboro Police Chief who oversaw Webster’s hire, Michael Peyto, pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct for hiding critical background information about Webster such as his multiple uses of force reports. Had the systemic changes we’re calling for been in place, Anton Black would be alive today.

So how can someone like Webster be protected in instances of police brutality while also remaining in law enforcement? The answer is simple: Maryland state law allows it.

Maryland is one of the worst states in the country when it comes to police transparency and accountability laws.

In fact, I would argue that Maryland gave America the blueprint on how to protect corrupt and racist cops. Maryland was the first state to pass a Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBR) in the early 1970s. That law grants extraordinary privileges to law enforcement officers that ordinary citizens like you and I do not enjoy.

Among other things, LEOBR shields police misconduct behind the virtually impenetrable wall of “personnel record privacy” and weakens civilian review boards, ensuring that there is no proper oversight of law enforcement agencies.

It also grants officers accused of misconduct special privileges, including

a five-day “cooling off” period during which the officers are protected from any questioning about possible misconduct.

“Anton’s Law,” named after Anton Black, is legislation I introduced with Sen. Jill P. Carter (Baltimore City) that begins to address inadequacies in state law that allow corrupt and racist cops to routinely engage in violence with impunity. It focuses on reforming certain areas of Maryland law such as the Maryland Public Information Act and LEOBR to increase transparency and accountability. Anton’s Law would also establish statewide use of force standards to address the disproportionate use of force against people of color by law enforcement.

Although the bill incorporates much of what our communities have been demanding for some time, it is only a start. We not only must pass Anton’s Law, but expand on it. I appreciate Speaker Adrienne Jones for creating and appointing me to a House workgroup on police accountability. I look forward to our workgroup identifying and recommending comprehensive legislation addressing the scourge that is police brutality. While I’m optimistic about the work ahead, I also recognize that we’ve been here before, and we can’t continue to study what we already know needs to be done. Meanwhile, Black people continue to die.

Five years after Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore City, four years after Korryn Gaines’ death in Baltimore County, two years after the death of Anton Black in Greensboro and Robert White in Montgomery County, and a year after Demonte Ward Blake was para-

ACEVERO Page 54

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SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020 51

ELECTION from Page 1 years.

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52 - SEPTEMBER 17 - 23, 2020

Curtis and her husband were among several June 2 primary voters who filled in an absentee ballot.

That’s when, she recounted, learning about what would be the D.C. Board of Elections’ (DCBOE) eventual pivot to mailing absentee ballots to all registered voters and encouraging early voting. “D.C. is one of the jurisdictions where voters will get their ballots in the mail,” said Curtis.

“When I get mine and I fill it out, I won’t mail it in. I will walk it in. I encourage people to vote early in person, and to not mail it in, just to be on the safe side. Definitely don’t wait to vote on Election Day. Vote early.”

The District’s voter registration deadline is Oct. 13 and early in-person voting starts on Oct. 27.

DCBOE officials said that voters will receive mail-in ballots, each one bearing a unique identifier and “I voted!” sticker, in three waves throughout late September and much of October.

Given the apprehension about a U.S. Postal Service backlog, voters have been encouraged to postmark mail-in ballots by Oct. 21.

On June 3, DCBOE opened 20 polling stations -- a far cry from the more than 140 locations regularly available to voters citywide -- while encouraging early and mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic. On that day, Councilmembers Vincent C. Gray and Trayon White, representing Wards 7 and 8 respectively, thwarted Democratic primary challenges to their seat, while Councilmember Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) lost to Janeese Lewis George, an attorney and self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist.

However, much to the chagrin of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and other elected officials who received complaints from constituents, DCBOE fulfilled less than 60 percent of the more than 90,000 requests for mail-in ballots during the primary. For some people, reports of waits in line at polling stations going well beyond the District’s 7 p.m. COVID-19-related curfew have called into question whether all voters were allowed equal opportunity to cast their ballot.

That’s why DCBOE’s Vote Safe campaign, launched last week with the unveiling of the voting super center at Capital One Arena in Gallery Place, has become a way to instill voter confidence in the electoral process and curb the spread of COVID-19 during the general election.

This campaign not only facilitates the distribution of mail-in ballots to registered voters’ homes, but the

launch of more than 30 early voting stations and 90 additional stations on Election Day. “We’re expecting record-shattering turnout for this election. That’s why we’re starting on Oct. 27,” election board chair Michael Bennett said Sept. 10 at Capital One Arena while announcing the DCBOE-Monumental Sports & Entertainment collaboration.

“One of the things that’s cool about a Super Vote Center is that we can process multiple people at a time,” Bennett added. Nationals Park has since been announced as another super voting center site.

“There are no processing issues.

There are chances to be inside. Things will move very quickly. We want people to use the Super Vote Centers and the ballots you get in the mail.”

Over the last few months, the election board’s voter outreach strategy has included a media blitz and virtual voter registration events that have attracted a bevy of first-time voters. The agency has also worked closely with the Office of the Chief Technology to enhance tracking of mail-in ballots, enhancement of online voter registration, and extension of a call center.

Through its recruitment efforts, DCBOE has also been able to attract more than 200 poll worker applica-

tions per day. By press time, the agency has recruited 4,000 poll workers, many of whom are young people.

More than half have also received training, while Bowser has pledged 2,000 District employees to join those forces.

During a recent D.C. Council oversight hearing, DCBOE Director Alice Miller answered questions about the election process, including the timeline for dissemination of mail-in ballots and the list of contractors involved.

During the more-than-two-hour virtual hearing, some members of the D.C. Council Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety expressed their misgivings about DCBOE’s continuation of its relationship with vendors they said had fallen short during the primaries.

“Our voters want to know the status of their ballots. What if there’s something janky with the website platform?” D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman (I- At large) said Sept. 10 while asking Miller questions about how DCBOE assesses the performance of its contractors.

“This is one of the key transparency issues for us. Obviously, you have an issue about the mailer. Is the board going to check the ballot [the contractor] is mailing out?” WI

VACCINE from Page 22

speak this week on Wednesday and Thursday during an event hosted

by WHUR and the Black Coalition Against COVID-19 about Blacks’ anxieties about vaccines. The twopart series, “Making It Plain: African Americans and the COVID-19 Vaccine,” will air on WHUR 96.3 FM and stream online.

ditions, spoke about his involvement in a vaccine trial at The George Washington University. A researcher from the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity also discussed his findings about how social media continues to be used to disseminate false

“It will be important for doctors and other medical professionals in our community to go over the real facts about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.”

– Dr. Melissa Clarke information about vaccines.

“COVID-19 is killing African Americans disproportionately, compared to other populations, and if Americans choose not to take the vaccine, then that death gap will widen,” said Clarke, author of “Excuse Me, Doctor” and host of a weekly YouTube/ Facebook show by the same name.

Clarke and others are scheduled to

“It will be important for doctors and other medical professionals in our community to go over the real facts about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy,” Clarke said. “We don’t know that yet but when we have that information, it will inform our individual decisions about the vaccine – not our distrust or what we see on social media.” WI

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JEALOUS from Page 30 munities that have long been denied their fair share of political power.

The enthusiasm for their candidacies can boost progressive prospects up and down the ballot.

There’s Arizona, for example, where Democrats have an excellent chance of picking up the U.S. Senate seat now held by the appointed Republican Sen. Martha McSally.

We’re excited about supporting two local candidates Whitney Walker and Jevin Hodge, both young Black people who are engaging their communities by challenging Republican incumbents on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

How about Michigan, a battleground state that helped put Trump in the White House? Chokwe Pitchford is generating excitement as a 21-year-old Black man running to flip a seat in the state house.

WILLIAMS from Page 30 He obviously thinks that somebody else is charged with leading the country. Apparently, he was shocked to find out there was something he couldn’t control when he was told exactly what this “China virus,” as he calls it, was likely to do.

He spoke with Woodward in those 18 calls seemingly jubilant about how dangerous the virus was.

He seemed to relish discovering something that was airborne and dangerous. It was like he had this

MORIAL from Page 30 was signed by the CEOs of AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, Inc., Novavax, Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Sanofi.

It’s worth noting that many of the regulations that still govern the FDA’s drug testing process were developed in the wake of the thalidomide scandal of the early 1960s.

The drug, taken by pregnant women, killed thousands of babies in the womb and caused at least 10,000 others in 46 countries to be born with severe deformities. The U.S. escaped this tragedy largely due to the determination of FDA medical officer Frances Oldham Kelsey.

“For a critical 19-month period, she fastidiously blocked its approval while drug company officials maligned her as a bureaucratic nitpick-

Young voters have been going to the polls in higher numbers in recent elections. We must do everything in our power to keep that trend rising.

If you know a young communi-

Young voters have been going to the polls in higher numbers in recent elections. We must do everything in our power to keep that trend rising.

ty-oriented person who ought to run for public office in the future, encourage them. We need their voices and energy to keep turning citizens and activists into voters.

And between now and November, do what you can to support young candidates who have stepped up.

They are running in a year when public health restrictions make traditional campaigning harder and when disinformation and voter suppression campaigns are trying to keep Black people from voting. We can and will move this country toward a more just future — and we can’t let anyone convince us to take our eyes off that prize.

For reliable information on voting, visit the websites run by the League of Women Voters (https:// www.vote411.org) and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (https://866ourvote.org/state).

WI

big secret and was only going to tell Bob about it. He was gleeful to go out and tell the American people he had everything under control while knowing he was lying.

What kind of person plays games with a deadly disease that he knows is deadly, yet gleefully tells the people he’s responsible for protecting that they shouldn’t do the very thing that might protect them? What kind of person would say such horrible things about military leaders who’re also responsible for protecting the American people at his command? Who

believes those little Black kids sitting behind him as he speaks even know who he is?

When it comes to truthfulness, Joe Biden runs circles around Donald. It’s obvious Trump doesn’t even understand the concept of truth. What I don’t understand is why people who seem to have a bit of sense follow him religiously.

The way he told Woodward, “You drank the Kool-Aid,” he doesn’t need to tell me again that he in no way can relate to the pain and suffering his white privilege still causes others. WI

er,” the New York Times wrote in a 2015 obituary.

Widespread vaccine use helped eliminate deadly and disabling diseases in the U.S. The last natural outbreak of smallpox — which killed three of every 10 people who contracted it — was in 1949, and the disease was declared eliminated in 1952. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, although outbreaks among the unvaccinated are triggered by infected travelers bringing the virus from other countries. Rubella, a typically mild illness that can cause serious complications for pregnant women and their babies, was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2004. Prior to 1955, polio permanently paralyzed thousands of children every year. No cases of polio have originated in the U.S. since 1979.

I have faith that one day, coronavirus can be added to this list.

But only if we can maintain faith in our public health institutions. A recent poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 62% of Americans are concerned that a COVID-19 vaccine will be rushed to the market before it’s ready because of political pressure from the Trump administration.

A smaller majority, 54%, said they wouldn’t take a vaccine that is approved before Election Day. It’s hard to estimate how much damage the Trump administration has done by allowing politics to override responsible public health policy. The FDA and the pharmaceutical companies must invoke the spirit of Frances Oldham Kelsey and stand as a firewall against his interference.

WI

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ACEVERO from Page 51 lyzed during a traffic-stop scuffle with a Prince George’s cop; what has the General Assembly done to address police violence? The short and infuriating answer: NOT ENOUGH. It is not enough for statewide leaders to say, “Black Lives Matter” and not commit to the solutions that are rooted in the communities most impacted.

Those closest to the pain are closest to the solution. If state legislatures govern what is permissible policing, at what point does the Democratic leadership of the General Assembly and Gov. Hogan, who acknowledged publicly that Anton Black’s family deserved answers and accountability, commit to passing Anton’s Law?

JACKSON from Page 31 the lawless few who should be held accountable. He quoted Jacob Blake’s mother who told him: “I’m praying for Jacob, but I’m praying for the policemen as well. I’m praying that things change.”

The contrast was clear. Trump leads by subtraction and division; Biden by addition and multiplication. One fans polarization, the other seeks reconciliation. One peddles fears; the other offers hope. Trump refuses to condemn the right-wing vigilantes, even offering a defense of the 17-year-old Trump supporter who traveled to Kenosha with an assault weapon and shot and killed two people, wounding another.

Trump refuses to acknowledge the provocations that lead unprecedented

ASKIA from Page 31 mated the size of Sitting Bull’s forces, but still thought they would turn and run when he and his troops attacked.

Every member of Custer’s force was killed, including his horse, but most Americans sympathize with Custer, the aggressor. White people, Americans, just want to side with the white guys in the genocide against the Natives and the stealing of their land.

And so, it is.

Trump has perfected the game.

He’s a non-Southerner, who champions every “redneck” cause. Trump’s followers, throughout the “Northern” states like Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, proudly display the Confederate flag, along with the Stars and Stripes, along with their Trump banners. It’s the “white” thing to do.

The number one rule to being white, which Trump never violates, is

Incrementalism is not the approach to the immediate problem of police violence. The solution to police violence is neither diversity and inclusion training, nor is it “coffee with a cop.” We cannot expect to train and converse our way out of systemic oppression. Listen to Black, Indigenous and Latinx folks — we’ve formulated and presented solutions to police violence that begins with a change in state law. One of those solutions is Anton’s Law. Five years after Freddie Gray’s death it angers me to read the painful words of loss expressed by Fredericka Gray, Freddie’s twin sister. It angers me to listen to LaToya Holley, Anton Black’s sister, who every year treks from the Eastern Shore to Annapolis to appeal to state legislators to pass Anton’s Law. An-

ton’s mother is still struggling to move on after his death, and his father is still asking why charges weren’t brought.

They deserve justice and accountability.

What we don’t need is pandering and performative wokeness.

We all deserve an end to police violence. Passing Anton’s Law and repealing the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights are crucial first steps towards reimagining public safety. Black people have shouldered the burden of police violence for far too long. I call on the Maryland General Assembly and Governor Hogan to pass and enact legislation that will help build a just and equitable Maryland where Black pain is no longer the prerequisite for progress.

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numbers of people to protest peacefully for justice, dismissing them as “anarchists.” Campaigning in 2016, he encouraged police to mistreat suspects, suggesting a little brutality would be a good thing. In the face of demonstrations marred by violence and vandalism, Biden chose not to abandon those demanding justice.

He condemned lawless actions on both right and left and called on Trump to do the same. At the same time, he reached out to the victim and acknowledged the provocations that lead citizens to march for justice.

Trump sees the demonstrations as a political opportunity that he can use to scare those in the suburbs, to stand as the law-and-order candidate. Biden, in contrast, has felt the pain of losing a child. He hears the agony of African

Americans who want safe neighborhoods and, at the same time, live with real fears for the safety of their sons or daughters from the very forces tasked with protecting them.

In 1960, amid a presidential campaign, Martin Luther King was arrested in Birmingham for leading peaceful protests. John F. Kennedy made a dramatic call to King in his jail cell, making it clear that he understood the justice of his cause. That call had a dramatic effect on his razor-thin margin over Richard Nixon.

It also set the stage for the civil rights reforms that came after Kennedy’s assassination. Americans must choose whether they want a leader who promises only to drive us apart or one who offers the possibility of bringing us together. WI

to hold Black people in contempt and to demonstrate that contempt whenever possible.

And even though by any measurement, he’s as un-Christian as anyone in public life — multiple divorces; well-documented reports of cheating on each of his wives; accusations of sexual abuse by dozens of women including some who were underage at the time; confessions of groping women for fun; payments to silence porn stars; he still enjoys the support of white evangelical religious voters.

Some even think he is a messiah.

That’s because Trump’s White Game demonizes the things which those white churchgoers hate.

He comes across, not as a wicked sinner, but as an “imperfect” person, who — like most of us — has stumbled from the straight path, from time to time. White people who hate “the others” — Black folks and all the non-conforming lifestyle folks who

have made their way to the table of political correctness — white folks who hate the “deviants” like it that Trump demonizes them, and will wage holy war against them.

And so, we have this character, who told us four years ago that he could “shoot someone in the middle of (New York’s) Fifth Avenue and not lose one vote,” is proving to us every day, that he can do just that. He’s a draft-dodger, who trashes the military dead, injured and captured; who cannot even recite the words to the Pledge of Allegiance, who gets to drape himself as a patriot.

Unless you view him as a White Knight in a country with racial demographics rapidly trending toward dark people, it’s almost impossible to see how he gets away with it. Come November, we’ll see if his charade is once again successful.

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