The Washington Informer - September 28, 2023

WINNER OF SIX SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS FOR 2022

Don't Miss This Month's WI Bridge Center Section

Washington National Cathedral Unveils Racial Justice Stained Glass Windows

Windows by Kerry James Marshall and Poetry by Elizabeth Alexander Replaces Monuments

Honoring Confederate Generals

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer

The Washington National Cathedral was filled with people and purpose as leaders of the Episcopal Church unveiled two stained glass windows, created by world-renowned artist Kerry James Marshall, on Saturday, Sept. 23.

The reimagined windows, titled “Now and Forever,” marked a new chapter in the Cathedral’s historical

Annual Legislative Conference Concludes with Power Remarks from Biden and

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference concluded with resounding calls to action by Black lawmakers and their unwavering commitment to uphold democratic values and advance the rights

Harris

of Black Americans. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris paid tribute to the dedication of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) in their pursuit of progress and equality.

“I chose to run because silence is complicit, and I would not be silent,” Biden said in an impassioned address at the Phoenix Awards, hoping to underscore the urgency of the moment.

“Democracy was at stake in

CBCF Page 56

legacy of art and architecture that replaced previous stone tablets that paid tribute to Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

“The church in general, across all faiths and this National Cathedral in particular, exists as a symbolic representation of humankind’s aspirations toward perfection, and a desire to keep the promise of redemption

WINDOWS Page 48

Excitement and Contention, on House Floor and in the Streets, around RFK Campus Lease

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer

As a House committee advances a bill for the District’s new 99-year lease for RFK campus, the debate about how to develop the 174-acre federal landmark rages on with some community members vehemently opposed to the prospect of a new football stadium.

While D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has aggressively marketed RFK Stadium as the ideal home for the Washington Commanders, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Ebony Payne said that, other than a few nostalgic elders, many of her constituents aren’t excited about the return of

RFK CAMPUS Page 23

Celebrating 58 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news and information.

5 A President Joe Biden greets the crowd with Vice President Kamala Harris cheering him on at the 2023 Phoenix Awards on Sept. 23, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, as part of the CongressionalBlack Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference. (Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)

5One of the two new racial-justice stained glass windows at the Washington National Cathedral. (Courtesy Photo/ Washington National Cathedral)

Celebrating 58 Years - Vol. 58, No. 50 • September 28 - October 4, 2023

4Artist Kerry James Marshall (left) poses with his sisters. (Hamil R. Harris/ The Washington Informer)

Join The Washington Informer Digital Subscriber List

Text INFORMER  to 22828 or scan QR Code

wi hot topics

COMPILED BY STACY M. BROWN, WI SENIOR WRITER

Usher Set to Headline 2024 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Grammy-winning artist Usher plans to dazzle hundreds of millions of fans as he takes center stage for the highly anticipated 2024 Super Bowl halftime show. On February 11, 2024, the renowned performance will occur at the Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, just outside the famed Las Vegas Strip.

Kim Kardashian surprised Usher with a phone call to announce that he would be headlining at X (previously known as Twitter).

The appearance will mark Usher’s second appearance at the Super Bowl, following his 2011 performance alongside the Black Eyed Peas. Rihanna headlined the event last year and revealed her second pregnancy with rapper A$AP Rocky during her unforgettable performance.

“It’s an honor of a lifetime to finally check a Super Bowl performance off my bucket list. I can’t wait to bring the world a show unlike anything else they’ve seen from me before,” Usher said in a statement.

He extended his gratitude, saying, “Thank you to the fans

and everyone who made this opportunity happen. I’ll see you real soon.”

Jay-Z, whose Roc Nation company is returning to produce the halftime show for the fifth consecutive year, also commended Usher.

“Usher is the ultimate artist and showman. Ever since his debut at 15, he’s been charting his own unique course. Beyond his flawless singing and exceptional choreography, Usher bares his soul,” Jay-Z stated.

He added, “His remarkable journey has propelled him to one of the grandest stages in the world. I can’t wait to see the magic.”

The rapper, 53, and Usher, 44, have previously collaborated on tracks including “Hot Tottie,” “Anything,” and “Best Thing.”

Super Bowl LVIII will be broadcast live on CBS on February 11, 2024. The iconic halftime show generally draws hundreds of millions of viewers, making it one of the most sought-after platforms in music. WI

Historically Black Land-Grant Universities Deprived of $12.6 Billion in Funding Over Three Decades, Biden Administration Reveals

Historically Black land-grant universities across 16 states have been denied a staggering $12.6 billion in funding over the past 30 years, according to the Biden administration.

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016 by The Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send change of addresses to The Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20032. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of photographs. Subscription rates are $55 per year, two years $70. Papers will be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to:

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E Washington, D.C. 20032 Phone: 202 561-4100

Fax: 202 574-3785 news@washingtoninformer.com www.washingtoninformer.com

PUBLISHER

Denise Rolark Barnes

STAFF

Micha Green, Managing Editor

Ron Burke, Advertising/Marketing Director

Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor

Lafayette Barnes, IV, Editor, WI Bridge DC

Austin Cooper, Our House Editor

Desmond Barnes, Social Media Stategist

ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout

Mable Neville, Bookkeeper

Angie Johnson, Office Mgr./Circulation

REPORTERS

Kayla Benjamin, (Environmental Justice Reporter) Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, Curtis Knowles, Brenda Siler, Lindiwe Vilakazi, Sarafina Wright, James Wright

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor, Roy Lewis, Jr., Robert R. Roberts, Anthony Tilghman, Abdula Konte, Ja'Mon Jackson

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack announced that they have contacted governors in each affected state, urging them to rectify the funding gap, which has had its most significant impact in Tennessee, according to a news release. Tennessee State University has suffered an underfunding deficit of $2.1 billion.

“Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished historically Black colleges and universities to operate with inadequate resources

and delay critical investments in everything from campus infrastructure to research and development to student support services,” Cardona emphasized.

Similar letters were dispatched to governors in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The nation’s land-grant universities, established in the 19th century, were designed to advance agricultural education and research. While federal law mandates equitable distribution of state funding for all land-grant universities, this has not been realized for many historically Black institutions, as revealed in a comprehensive analysis. WI Read more on washingtoninformer.com.

Historic Confirmation of Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. Overcomes Blockade, Signals Milestone for Representation

With a rare display of bipartisan support in the Senate on Sept. 20, Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. overcame a protracted obstruction by Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville to win confirmation as only the second Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking military position in the United States.

The resounding vote of 83-11 reflects a strong consensus in favor of Gen. Brown, underscoring the widespread recognition of his qualifications and the importance of diversity in leadership roles within the U.S. armed forces.

Brown’s ascent alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin marked a historic milestone in American military leadership. With this confirmation, the top two positions in the Pentagon are now held by Black men, which the Biden administration said is a testament to the progress made in advancing diversity and inclusion within the U.S. military establishment. The late Gen. Colin Powell

was the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This pivotal moment in military history occurs just as the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark Milley, prepares to retire, signaling a seamless leadership transition at a critical juncture.

Because of Tuberville’s obtuse blockade, the confirmation process proved challenging. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer orchestrated the votes to circumvent Tuberville’s months-long blockade on military promotions. This maneuver helped fast-track confirmations for Brown and numerous other nominees, including Randy George and Eric Smith, whose confirmations are anticipated in the days ahead.

Yet, Tuberville’s hold remains firmly in place for nearly 300 military nominees, leaving these candidates and their families uncertain and leaving the nation in a precarious military position globally.

WI

Read more on washingtoninformer.com.

In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark

Norton Panel Addresses D.C. Statehood & Cannabis Policy

By James Wright WI Staff Writer

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton served as a moderator for a Sept. 20 panel at the Congres sional Black Caucus Foundation’s 52nd Annual Legislative Confer ence on the status of the District statehood, how the city’s policies on recreational and medicinal marijuana are influenced by fed eral laws and the intersection be tween the two issues.

“D.C. has legalized the pos session of marijuana but has been blocked by the Congress to commercialize its use,” said Nor ton, 86. “I am disappointed that President Biden, even though he is pro-statehood, stands with the Congress on this.”

Norton represents the District, a jurisdiction where adults can possess up to two ounces of mar ijuana and cultivate no more than six plants in their primary resi dence without penalty. It is illegal to smoke marijuana in public in the city. Commercial sales of rec reational marijuana are prohibited by the Congress, which oversees

5 D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton moderated a panel on District statehood and the city’s marijuana policy. (Markell Williams/ The Washington Informer)

AROUND THE REGION

SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB

American student to enroll at the University of Mis-

OCT. 2

1800 – Nat Turner, the leader of a major slave rebellion, is born in Southampton County, Virginia.

1935 – Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African American astronaut, is born in Chicago.

Famed lawyer Johnnie Cochran is born in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1967 – Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African American Supreme Court justice.

2005 – August Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, dies of cancer at 60 in Seattle.

OCT. 3

1904 – Mary McLeod Bethune opens the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls, which eventually became Bethune-Cookman University.

Singer Chubby Checker of "The Twist" fame is born in Spring Gully, South Carolina.

1949 – WERD, the first radio station owned and programmed by African Americans, is established in

1954 – The Rev. Al Sharpton is born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

SEPT. 28

1868 – The Opelousas Massacre, in which an estimated hundreds of Blacks were killed by armed white militias in an ethnic war, occurs in Louisiana.

1991 – Iconic jazz trumpeter Miles Davis dies in Santa Monica, California, of complications from a stroke at age 65.

SEPT. 29

1975 – WGPR-TV, the first wholly African American-owned television station in the United States, begins broadcasting.

1979 – Sir William Arthur Lewis, an economist from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, becomes the first Black to receive the Nobel Prize in economics.

SEPT. 30

1933 – Gospel singer Cissy Houston, mother of late superstar Whitney Houston, is born in Newark, New Jersey.

1935 – Famed singer Johnny Mathis is born. 1966 – African nation Botswana gains independence from the United Kingdom.

OCT. 1

1960 – African nation Nigeria gains independence from the United Kingdom.

1962 – James Meredith becomes the first African

1974 – Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson is named manager of the Cleveland Indians, becoming the major leagues' first Black manager.

OCT. 4

1943 – Social activist H. Rap Brown is born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. WI

BY SARAFINA WRIGHT

The NFL announced to much fanfare that R&B superstar Usher will headline the Super Bowl in 2024 in Las Vegas. What songs do you want to see him perform, and what are your thoughts?

PATRICIA MAYES / CHARLOTTE, N.C.

I want to hear Yeah, Superstar, and Caught Up, but it doesn’t matter as long as he performs.

RAINA MEDLEY / BALTIMORE, MD.

I want him to perform My Boo, Love in the Club, and anything else. He is great!

RYAN BAYNE / WASHINGTON, D.C.

It doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is that Usher upstages Justin Timberlake’s 2004 Super Bowl performance!

PATRICIA BANTON / NEW YORK, N.Y.

I don’t do football, but I will be glued to my chair waiting for Usher.

SONJA HOGGATT / WASHINGTON, D.C.

All of them!

Councilmember Parker, Other Lawmakers, Rally around LGBTQIA Nigerians

Nigeria Becomes the Latest Battleground for LGBTQIA Question in Africa

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer

After the largest arrest of LGBTQIA people in recent Nigerian history, D.C. Councilmember Zach ary Parker (D-Ward 5) has joined other openly-LGBTQIA elected officials in a crusade against Nigeria and other foreign governments that impose anti-LGBTQIA laws.

In a show of solidarity with the dozens of LGBTQIA Nigerians who’ve been criminally charged for attending a same-sex wedding, Parker will introduce a ceremonial resolution before the D.C. Council in October affirming support for LGBTQIA rights in Nigeria.

“Representation matters to reflect the humanity of Black queer people that have been here since the beginning of time,” Parker said.

During the latter part of August, Nigerian law enforcement officials broke up what was alleged to be a same-sex wedding in Nigeria's Delta region. According to reports coming out of Abuja, Nigeria, nearly 70 out of the 200 who were arrested have been charged with violating a penal code that carries a sentence of 14 years.

They have since been released on bail. For Parker however, the fight is far from over.

“We are protesting Nigeria, but

could protest other countries where Black queer people are being prosecuted, killed on our streets and hunted," Parker said. "I stand in solidarity to call on the Nigerian legislature to roll back policies that harm Black people. Black lives do matter, including queer lives.”

BLACK LGBTQIA LAWMAKERS STAND FIRM AGAINST THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT

On Sept. 12, Parker, along with Maryland State Delegates Gabriel Acevero (D-Dist. 39-Montgomery County) and Ashanti Martinez (D-Dist. 22-Prince George’s County), and Prince George’s County Councilmember Krystal Oriadha (D-District 7), organized a protest in front of the Embassy of Nigeria in Northwest.

During the protest, the cadre of openly LGBTQIA Black elected officials called on the U.S. State Department to pressure the Nigerian government into changing course on what they described as a violation of human rights.

In their appeal, they went as far as to propose that the U.S. and other western entities impose economic sanctions on Nigeria, the severity of

which depends on the level of harm inflicted upon openly LGBTQIA Nigerians.

The protest, coordinated by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), also allowed each lawmaker to weigh in on current developments in Nigeria, and reflect on their decision to stand firm in their identity while serving in office.

Their goal, as explained by Oriadha, centered on dispelling a notion that the LGBTQIA existence is a western concept imposed on African people on the continent and in the Diaspora.

Oriadha, who’s of Kenyan descent, said that her father has accepted her and other members of the LGBTQIA community. She said the same remains true of continental Africans living in the D.C. metropolitan region.

“There is a myth of a cultural divide and that the African-American community is holistically homophobic, but we have allies in the African community who stand against what’s happening in Nigeria,” Oriadha said.

“We are unified to make sure our bodies and identities are not erased from conversations about LGBTQIA rights. We want to make sure that the attacks stop and we open up diverse communities.”

5 D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) has joined other local openly-LGBTQIA elected officials in a crusade against Nigeria and other foreign governments that impose anti-LGBTQIA laws. (WI File Photo)

Cerise Turner, Ms. Senior D.C. 2023, Tackles Digital Ageism in Her Platform

Fourth-Generation Washingtonian Among the Contestants in Ms. Senior America Pageant

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer

Since being crowned Ms. Senior D.C. this past summer, Cerise Turner has maintained great fidelity to her responsibility as an ambassador to more than 110,000 senior District residents.

In her role, she has appeared at numerous events throughout the city and established ties with AARP, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, United Healthcare, and the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, among other entities.

As she prepares to compete nationally at the Ms. Senior America Pageant, Turner continues to advance a cause that’s near and dear to her heart: narrowing the digital divide that has placed many of her fellow seniors on the margins of society and made them prime targets for fraud and scams.

“Different government agencies and entities are using artificial intelligence to determine what society needs and seniors are being left out of that picture because they have less access to technology or they’re not using it as much as other groups,” Turner ,66, told the Informer.

A recent National Institute of Health report that highlighted a similar situation in another U.S. city found that elderly people lacking computer literacy will be left behind as telemedicine increasingly becomes normalized. According to the report,

this will exacerbate disparities due to elders' inability to access tablets and other digital conduits of up-to-date health information.

That’s why Turner said she wants to help District seniors become more knowledgeable and adaptive to modern-day technology. She expressed a desire to keep them involved in their communities and aware of the scams, fraud, financial exploitation and artificial intelligence schemes that have caused seniors across the U.S. to lose billions of dollars.

“I promote more tech training so seniors can be included and considered,” Turner continued.

“I’m also thinking about promoting assistive technology devices. There are so many ways to use it, whether it’s hands on or voice activated. Seniors need to be informed. This helps them age in place longer,” Turner added, acknowledging the Bowser administration’s ongoing efforts to help District seniors.

In June, Turner clinched the firstplace spot at the 2023 Ms. Senior D.C. Pageant at the University of the District of Columbia in Northwest. Valerie Robinson, Kadija Ash, and Annette Bush took the first runner-up, second runner-up, and third runner-up title, respectively.

For the talent portion, Turner performed her stand-up comedy routine, titled “Funding Humor in the Dating Game: A Senior’s Story.”

Her road to the crown and sash,

however, has been anything but funny.

In 2022, Turner first entered the Ms. Senior D.C. Pageant at the behest of pageant director Stacie Mack, who she befriended while leaving an exercise class at Model Cities Senior Wellness Center in Northeast. At that time, Turner had been frequently visiting that facility, and Hattie Holmes Senior Wellness Center in Northwest, as a means of escape from boredom and isolation that retirement brought on during the pandemic.

After months of preparation and mentorship from civil rights activist Shirley Rivins Smith, Turner rose to first runner-up that year.

Over the course of the next year, Turner started preparing for the national pageant as a member of the Queen’s Court. She appeared alongside Vene’ Le Gon, Ms. Senior D.C. 2022. As Turner explained to the Informer, that experience allowed her to accompany Le Gon to different events, and even stand in Le Gon’s place when she couldn’t attend speaking engagements.

In the weeks leading up to her firstplace victory in June, Turner consistently met with her coach, Ms. Senior D.C. 2010 Sheila Poole and relied on much of what she learned as a member of the queen’s court.

She said that level of immersion in the pageant world prepared her for the rigor of the competition at the local level.

On Oct. 16-19, Turner will show-

case her talents, poise, grace and ele gance once again at Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey when she stands among more than 40 contestants at the Ms. Senior America Pageant.

In addition to the talent portion, the competition includes an interview with the judges, an evening gown portion and a segment during which each contestant presents a “Philos ophy of Life” statement. Turner expressed excitement about not only going to the national level on the second go-around, but entering a new chapter in her life.

“I needed something mean ingful and purposeful to do,” Turner said. “It has been a trans formational experience and I was able to reinvent myself. I discovered things about me I never knew existed. I met con testants from all walks of life and experiences. I developed relation ships with so many fabulous, am bitious, intelligent women.”

Turner, a fourth-generation Washingtonian and mother of twin millennial IT professionals who are District homeowners, retired after 32 years in the legal field.

At the end of her career, Turner served as an executive legal assistant at Sullivan and Cromwell LLP, a firm dealing with finance, international in vestment and trade, along with mat ters relevant to D.C.’s legal, business, government and civic communities.

Turner, an alumna of UDC and what’s now known as Jackson-Reed High School, has also worked at Washington Hospital Center and the American Bankers Association.

Read more on washingtonin former.com.

AROUND THE REGION

The Newsletter

CAPTURE THE MOMENT

Who’s Reading the Informer?

Twin brothers Ludlow and Roy McKay read the Washington Informer. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)

"When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid."

Dwayne Sims (kneeling front and center) of the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame with the Bowie State softball team alongside. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

Strategies for Political and Business Success Highlight CBCF-ALC Sessions

By Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer

LADIES FIRST

The 15th Annual Black Women’s Roundtable Policy Forum was a firstday session. Nearly 40 female leaders in top local, state, and national positions weighed in on the theme “Power of the Ballot: We Won’t Be Erased!”

White House Correspondent and Bureau Chief at The Grio, April Ryan, served as moderator. The format could be described as a “lightning round” where each person had 90 seconds to present their thoughts on how we need to prepare for the 2024 elections.

“We can’t just vote, we have to leverage that vote,” said Melanie Campbell, president and CEO of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) and convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. “Our rights, our freedoms are under attack. The attacks are relentless, but we ain’t going back.”

Latosha Brown, Atlanta-based co-founder of Black Voters Matter, spoke about a different way to view the upcoming election season.

“We need to keep our eyes on the prize. It’s not about the candidates, it is about us,” said Brown.

“See Me in the C-Suite,” hosted by 100 Black Men of Greater Washington, provided pointers as one navigates a career to high-level positions in large organizations. Whether a Fortune 500 company, a national association, a nonprofit, or in higher education, the road is rocky.

“Take your personal feelings out of what you are experiencing,” said panelist Nzinga “Zing” Shaw, an adjunct professor at Fisk University. “Think about what you want to gain long term. Those are some ways I could navigate challenges in corporate America.”

There was agreement that the best way to demonstrate one’s value is to deliver the goods by assembling a great team.

“My big moments come when I hire amazing people and watch them really shine in a room,” said Danita Johnson, president of business operations at D.C. United. “When someone comes back to me and says, ‘I

met so and so; they’re amazing!’ I’m thinking, ‘I hired them.’”

The CBCF-ALC HBCU Brain Trust evaluated the challenges and successes of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The session was hosted by Rep. Alma Adams (DNC), who leads the HBCU Caucus in the House of Representatives.

A panel of three current HBCU presidents focused on upgrading buildings on campus and funding ongoing training for faculty and staff. They agreed that many students attending an HBCU do not realize their institution was built in the 1800s. Buildings are not sleek and modern.

Heidi M. Anderson, Ph.D. president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UNES), an institution that is 137 years old, received assistance from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund through the Partnership for Education Advancement program.

“The program helped us through COVID. We were the only university in Maryland that brought our students back with no interruption,” said Anderson.

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY) hosted “AI for the Culture” featuring panelist Carlos Mayers, a 24-year-old iOS Software Engineer and tech entrepreneur, who encouraged everyone to think differently about AI.

“Think like an engineer. Everyone should enter the AI space thinking as a problem solver,” said Mayers, hoping to help attendees not to fear AI.

Another panelist brought up how AI influenced the past two presidential elections. The audience was reminded of foreign bots that would pop up on our social media platforms by panelist Mutale Nkonde, founding CEO of AI For the People (AFP).

“It’s not believing everything you see online. What we see online reflects what we have put on there,” said Nkonde. WI

5 The HBCU Brain Trust president’s panel included (L-R) Makola M. Abdullah, Ph.D. president of Virginia State University, Heidi M. Anderson, Ph.D. president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Suzanne Elise Walsh, J.D. president of Bennett College. (Brenda C. Siler/The Washington Informer)

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Senate Race: Ivey Endorses Alsobrooks, Jawando Gains Endorsements, Trone’s New Ad Buy

By Richard Elliott WI Contributing Reporter

The race to replace Sen. Ben Cardin’s soon-to-be vacant seat is heating up as candidates continue to gain prominent endorsements and advocate for why they are the best person for the job.

CONGRESSMAN IVEY ENDORSES ALSOBROOKS FOR SENATE

The Alsobrooks campaign added their 100th endorsement on Sept. 18: U.S. Rep Glenn Ivey (D- Maryland).

This endorsement adds to her significant endorsement advantage over her two biggest challengers in the Senate primary: Congressman David Trone (D) and Councilman Will Jawando (D).

“I’m really excited for her to have the chance to do this, and it couldn’t come at a more important time,” Ivey said at Alsobrooks’ campaign headquarters on Mercantile Lane in Largo.

“We need to make sure we get people in the Senate who can push to make sure that we get those things through. Angela Alsobrooks is the right person to do that. Can’t wait for her to get in.”

Ivey said Alsobrooks has partnered

with federal lawmakers on transportation and broadband projects during his tenure, and she would support federal legislation to expand voting rights and reform policing. Both Ivey and Alsobrooks formerly served as the State’s Attorney of Prince George’s County.

Alsobrooks is hosting her ninth annual family barbecue on Tuesday, Sept. 26 from 6-9 PM at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt. Children under 12 are granted free entry. WI

JAWANDO ADDS ENDORSEMENTS, ATTENDS SOUTH COUNTY DEMS MEETING

Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D- AtLarge), who has often touted his past record during his campaign, has added new endorsements to his campaign. Prince George’s County Councilmembers Wala Blegay (D– District 6) and Krystal Oriadha (D– District 7), West Baltimore Democrat Kristerfer Burnett and Riverdale Park Councilmember Karen Meija have all expressed support for Jawando’s Senate campaign. Both Oriadha and Burnett emphasized that Jawando is the most progressive candidate in the race, while Blegay noted that she has known him for decades.

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of these four fantastic public servants. This campaign is based upon the belief that we can build a shared prosperity for all Marylanders,

and with their support, achieving this dream is increasingly possible. They represent the next generation of leaders in our state who are stepping up and doing their part to build a better future where no one has to be worse off for their neighbor to do better,” said Jawando.

“Over the coming weeks and months, my campaign will continue to expand into both Prince George’s and Baltimore City and County. The race is early, and anyone who tells you they know how things will shake out is mistaken,” he continued. “I have gained a sense from speaking with residents across our state that there is a deep frustration with the status quo, and they are looking for a U.S. Senator who can deliver for their communities. This is what I have done in Montgomery County, and it’s why I am running for the Senate.”

In an interview with the Informer, Jawando cited his progressive credentials, federal experience, the lack of millennial representation in Congress, and the number of votes he received in prior elections as some of the factors that distinguish him from the other candidates.

“I have the legislative credentials to show it– from my work on the Montgomery County Council passing historic rent stabilization to enacting police reform in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, to my current work fighting to eliminate tipped wages and ensure livable incomes for service workers. I have a deep understanding of the mechanisms of D.C. and Congress, and there would be no beat missed once I am elected in Mary-

land’s representation in the Senate,” he said.

“I am serving the community that I was born in and grew up in, and I am eager to serve the state that I have called home my entire life in the Senate.”

Jawando attended the South County Dems Meeting on Sept. 14 as the key speaker.

“If you’re not willing to put it on the line for our people, why show up?” he asked the South County audience. He thanked the Young Democrats for an invitation to their recent Kennedy-King dinner, and applauded Councilmembers Blegay and Oriadha for their determination on the Council. WI

CONGRESSMAN TRONE’S AD BUYS

Two new television ads will now be hitting Marylanders from the campaign of David Trone: Fair Shake, which outlines his background, and “Advocate,” which details his support for abortion rights and expanded access in Western Maryland.

EMILY’s List, a national reproductive rights organization, has endorsed Alsobrooks in the Senate race and criticized Trone for campaign spending to benefit Republican candidates for state office. Trone countered by saying these donations came from his business, not himself personally.

Trone ran two other ads beginning in May; one centered on Baltimore and a promise to address the opioid epidemic and another about his plans to reform the criminal justice system. WI

5 Congressman Glenn Ivey was County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’ 100th endorsement in the Senate race. They have already partnered together on local priorities during Ivey’s tenure in Congress.

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY POLITICAL UPDATES

5 This week, Will Jawando’s Senate campaign added four new endorsements: Prince George’s County Councilmembers Krystal Oriadha and Wala Blegay. Baltimore City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett and Riverdale Park Councilmember Karen Mejia (all D).

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY

Prince George’s County Represents Well at CBCF ALC Events

By Richard Elliott WI Contributing Reporter

Prince George’s County was well represented throughout programming and events during the 52nd Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC).

Laurel Councilman Brencis Smith, Prince George’s County Councilmember Sydney Harrison (D- District 9) and retired Delegate Carolyn J.B. Howard were some of the DMV electeds spotted in D.C.’s Convention Center for the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual legislative conference.

State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy hosted a party on Thursday night at Perch SW Rooftop Lounge, and gave, what some have described, as a soft launch for the County Executive seat.

In the event that current- County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) wins the Senate election next year, there is likely to be a special election to fill the seat. Braveboy has built a network of municipal officials and community advocates that could be formidable in the countywide race.

Congressman Glenn Ivey (D, District 4) hosted a discussion on Friday evening regarding how the Supreme Court’s recent decision on affirmative action will affect minority-owned businesses alongside Isabel Casillas Guzman of the Small Business Administration;

U.S. Black Chambers Inc. President and CEO Ron Busby Sr.; Minority Business Development Agency Undersecretary of Commerce Don Cravins Jr.; and Sysco Ltd. Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Adrienne Trimble.

“This may be one of the biggest moments that minority businesses face in the history of the United States,” Ivey said. “Now is the time for us to stand up and be heard on this.”

Alsobrooks also hosted a reception on Friday night, and she made the rounds to take plenty of photos with the attendees. The gathering included U.S. Reps. Kweisi Mfume (D-Maryland) and Glenn Ivey ( D- Maryland), Gov. Wes Moore (D), Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller (D) and House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D).

“Working together with our federal and state delegations, we have accomplished so much together over the past year to improve the lives of Prince Georgians and Marylanders,” said Alsobrooks in a Facebook post about the reception and the goals of the future.

“We are excited about all we will continue to accomplish together in our communities, because the best is yet to come.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Moore and members of the congressional delegation will be back in Prince

George’s on Sunday, Oct. 1 at Allen Pond Park for the annual Maryland Democratic Party BBQ bash.

Tickets start at $40.

“We’re exactly one week away from the Maryland Democratic Party Annu-

al BBQ Bash happening next Sunday, Oct. 1st from 4-7 p.m. at Allen Pond Park in Bowie,” said Maryland Democratic Party Chair Yvette Lewis in an email promoting the event.

Moore, members of our federal delegation, state and local elected officials, and other strong Democrats and activists from all over the state, and you won’t want to miss out!”

5 Governor Wes Moore (left) addresses the crowd alongside Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, Maryland Congressmen Kweisi Mfume and Glenn Ivey, and Black Caucus Chair Jheanelle Wilkins. (Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)

52ND ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE

5 State’s Attorney Braveboy takes a photo with Fox 5’s Maureen Umeh during the Thursday night rooftop celebration at Perch in Southwest, D.C. (Anthony Tilghman/ The Washington Informer)

BUSINESS

By James Wright / WI Staff Writer

CUTTING MEDICAL BILLS FROM CREDIT SCORES: VP HARRIS

Vice President Kamala Harris said on Sept. 14 that the Biden administration has started the process of removing medical bills from people’s credit scores.

The move—set to be done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)-- will likely improve the credit ratings of millions of Americans. The vice president said gutting medical bills from credit scores and reports will make obtaining a home mortgage or auto loan much easier. The Bureau has begun the rulemaking process to make the change official, she said.

“Access to health care should be a right and not a privilege,” Harris, 58, said. “These measures will improve the credit scores of millions of Americans so that they will better be able to invest in their future.”

“Research shows that medical

briefs

bills have little predictive value in credit decisions, yet tens of millions of American households are dealing with medical debt on their credit reports,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “When someone gets sick, they should be able to focus on getting better, rather than fighting debt collectors trying to extort them into paying bills they may not even owe.” WI

REAL PROPERTY/ BID TAX PAYMENTS NEW ADDRESS

District taxpayers have a new address to send to in regard to their property tax bills.

The new address is: Office of Tax and Revenue

D.C. Government Real Property Taxes

P.O. Box 718095 Philadelphia, Pa. 10171-8095

District residents or those who have property in the city can make their check or money order payable to the “DC Treasurer.” The

payment should include a square, suffix and lot, or parcel and lot numbers. The top portion of the bill should be included for timely processing of payment.

The D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue sends envelopes to taxpayers but if another envelope is needed, the Philadelphia address should be used. Payment can also be made via the agency’s e-check online payment system. If the payment date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSING ENTERPRISES (DCHE)

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) SOLICITATION NO.: 2023-7

New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) Application Administration and Support Services

DC Housing Enterprises (“DCHE”) is a wholly owned subsidiary and an instrumentality of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (“DCHA”) seeks qualified firms to provide NMTC Application Administration and Support.

SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS will be available beginning on Monday, September 25, 2023, on DCHA’s website at www.dchousing.org under “Business” and “Solicitations”.

SEALED PROPOSAL RESPONSES ARE DUE ON OR BEFORE Wednesday, October 25, 2023, at 12:00 NOON.

Email LaShawn Mizzell-McLeod, Contract Specialist at LMMCLEOD@dchousing.org with copy to business@dchousing.org for additional information.

legal holiday, the payment is due the next business day. WI

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 40TH ANNIVERSARY GALA

The Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation will celebrate its 40th anniversary on Nov. 3.

The event will be held at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Dinner, entertainment and dancing will be among the activities for the event expected to draw the county’s stakeholders, deal makers and business leaders as well as luminaries from the state. Tickets start from $150. Companies can also produce sponsorships for the event.

For more information, call 301583-4650. WI

D.C. MEDICAL CANNABIS BUSINESS LICENSES

The medical cannabis business license open application period for unlicensed operators will take place between Nov. 1 through January 29, 2024.

During this period, eligible parties may apply for Cultivation Center, Internet Retailer and Retailer licenses. Prospective appli-

cants are encouraged to register for the corresponding virtual information session scheduled for 10 a.m. on October 10. Advance registration is required.

Additional information, including application materials, is available on abca.dc.gov. Applications for the upcoming period may not be submitted prior to 9 a.m. on November 1. Early submissions will be rejected.

Questions related to any open application period should be directed to ABCA.CannabisLicensing@dc.gov. WI

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE DEVELOPMENTS

The United States Postal Service recently announced some peak holiday season initiatives.

Agency officials said the 2022 peak season was a success. As a result, the postal service will have no holiday demand surcharges. Plus, the agency is set to hire 10,000 seasonal employees; utilizing 348 new package sorting machines; increasing daily processing capacity to about 70 million; moving 95% of volume via more reliable ground transportation; and a new shipping solution—USPS Ground Advantage. WI

STATE OF THE DISTRICT & REGION CONFERENCE

The DC Chamber of Commerce will host its annual State of the District & Region Conference virtually on Sept. 29 from 9 a.m.2 p.m.

Attendees will hear from prominent business representatives and leaders, health directors, higher education administrators, workforce development leaders, and regional and local elected officials.

Panelists will discuss trends, strategies, solutions, and policies impacting our region’s education, health, workforce, and economic development.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Mark Madrid, associate administrator for the Office of Entrepreneurial Development, Small Business Administration. Participants can choose to attend the entire conference or any panels of interest.

WI @JamesWrightJr10

5 Kamala Harris is the vice president of the United States.

52ND ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS FOUNDATION ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE

CBC Chairman Announces Fight for Resources for Minority-Owned Businesses

Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer

With the second day of the 52nd Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) bringing out major celebrities and thought leaders– from hip-hop mogul Diddy, to author and professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson— many Congressmen, including Rep. Steven Horsford, made major announcements about legislative and federal progress for the Black community. The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Horsford said that he and his colleagues will wage a vigorous fight against Republican lawmakers who want to scrap programs that have helped minority business owners for decades.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has temporarily suspended new applications to its 8(a) programs after a July 19 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee ruled against people using social disadvantage as a status to gain entry to the program.

“The Congressional Black Caucus will fight, defend, and walk the line when it comes to these programs,” said Rep. Steven Hosford (D-Nev.), who was flanked by Isabella Casillas Guzman, administrator of the U.S. SBA.

“It is very important that we create wealth and my question to these individuals who are standing in the way and filing these lawsuits is what are they afraid of,” Hosford said.

Unlock Financial Assistance for Farmers, Ranchers, and Forest Landowners

Are you a farmer, rancher, or forest landowner who has faced discrimination in USDA farm lending prior to January 2021? You may be eligible for financial assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Discrimination Financial Assistance Program (DFAP).

What is DFAP?

$2.2 Billion in Financial Assistance: Thanks to Section 22007 of the Inflation Reduction Act, USDA is allocating $2.2 billion in financial assistance to eligible farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination in USDA farm lending programs.

Eligibility: Farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners who experienced discrimination by USDA in its farm loan programs prior to January 1, 2021, and/or are currently debtors with assigned or assumed USDA farm loan debt that was the subject of USDA discrimination that occurred prior to January 1, 2021, are eligible for this program.

How Does it Work?

Multiple Ways to Apply: Producers have the option to apply via the e-filing portal at 22007apply.gov or by submitting paper-based forms via mail or in-person delivery to the program’s local offices.

Free Technical Assistance: Technical assistance is available for potential applicants through four regional hubs working closely with community-based organizations.

Local Resources: Local brick-and-mortar offices are being opened across the country to ensure easy access and personalized assistance. In-person and virtual events are also being held weekly, with state-by-state information on the website.

Important Deadline: Don't miss out! The deadline for eligible farmers, ranchers, or forest landowners to complete their application is January 13, 2024..

Learn More:

Website: For detailed information about DFAP, please visit our official website at 22007apply.gov. Our website provides comprehensive information on obtaining in-person or virtual technical assistance, supplementary program resources, and detailed program guidelines.

Call Center: Our call center, available at 1-800-721-0970, operates from 8 a.m. ET to 8 p.m. PT, seven days a week, except for Federal holidays. English- and Spanish-speaking agents are available, ensuring you get the assistance you need, when you need it.

Newsletter: Information about the program, resources, recent office openings, and local events across the country is also available through a weekly e-newsletter, which you can sign up for on the program site.

DFAP is all about giving you the support you deserve. Don't let this opportunity pass you by! Apply now to secure this financial assistance.

5 Rep. Steven Horsford and SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman (not pictured) announced the intentional fight to support minority-owned businesses at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC). (Micha Green/ The Washington Informer)

Senior Biden Advisor Says White House is ‘Taking Names and Kicking Butt’

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

In the heart of the bustling city of Columbia, South Carolina, Stephen K. Benjamin’s journey began, rooted in a legacy that traversed from the Southern soil to the urban landscape of New York City. Born and raised in the vibrant neighborhood of South Jamaica, Queens, Benjamin’s early years were steeped in the ideals of civil rights, a torch passed down from generations before him.

After dedicating himself to pursuing justice through law school, Benjamin found himself drawn back to South Carolina. There, he absorbed lessons that ignited a fire within. In an interview at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s (NNPA)

studios in Washington, Benjamin recounted that his formative years gave him a profound understanding of the foundations of government - the three branches, the vital fourth estate, and the indispensable role played by civil society, which he called the fifth estate.

“We make sure that issues are addressed, and we serve not just folks who share the president and vice president’s agenda and success,” Benjamin insisted. “We listen to the community’s ideas, hopes, and dreams, and even give constructive criticism back to the White House.”

As the White House Director of the Office of Public Engagement and Senior Advisor to President Joe Biden, Benjamin is the bridge between the people and the highest

PUBLIC NOTICEIS THIS VEHICLE YOURS?

There is a Red 2015 Nissan Altima S Vin# 1N4AL3APXFC285831, that has been repaired and standing at SA Auto Repair since October 25th, 2019. If this is your vehicle, please claim it by providing proof of ownership and you will have to pay for the repair that was done, as well as storage, and bill fees. Please reach out to us within 2 weeks of this posting, otherwise the car will be auctioned. Call at 202-320-5030 for additional information or claim details.

SA Auto Repair

3011 Martin Luther King Jr, AVE

SE Washington DC, 20032"

echelons of power. He’s also aware of the rhetoric about Biden’s age, the president’s relationship with the vice president, and Vice President Kamala Harris’ abilities.

“Age is one of [Biden’s] superpowers,” Benjamin asserted. “With age comes wisdom and experience. The good thing about experience is that you have to go through something.

I would take a 53-year-old Stephen Benjamin over a 23-year-old Stephen Benjamin every day just because of experience, and there’s no more experienced president in the history of our country than Joe Biden. Experience and wisdom counts, and come the next election, people are going to want that same stability, character,

and experience of Joe Biden.”

Benjamin noted some of the more pressing decisions a president must make, and he believes one of the best made by Biden was choosing Harris as second-in-command.

“If God would ever call him to glory, Biden had to determine who would lead the nation,” Benjamin said. “Who has the experience, character, credibility, and emotional intelligence to take the country to the next level? That is Kamala Harris. Biden made that decision. Their connection is real, their partnership is genuine. They work together every single day.”

Benjamin called his tenure as the three-term mayor of Columbia, spanning nearly 12 years, a privilege, and

a blessing, one that also made him as the city’s first Black mayor. It was a position that endowed him with the power of proximity, which compelled him to be present and accessible to his constituents at every turn - in church on Sundays, at the post office, in the library, and even at traffic lights. That local governance experience, he believes, bestowed upon him not only the ability to navigate the intricacies of public office but also the emotional intelligence required to truly uplift and empower people.

In Washington, Benjamin joined Biden and Harris’ commitment to shattering the shackles of Reaganomics, championing instead the ideology of Bidenomics, a transformational approach that advocates for an economy built from the bottom up, with a laser focus on working families and providing a tangible path to the middle class for all.

“The president has focused on working families and making sure that everyone has a real pathway to the middle class,” Benjamin stated. “By doing that, it means that we had to take significant steps to change the trajectory of this nation.”

Benjamin said that Biden-initiated legislation and executive orders have led to investing in smart infrastructure, ensuring broadband, and seizing control of the supply chain so as not to rely on Asia or others. He said under the current administration’s policies, the nation’s debt has been cut by more than $1 trillion.

“We are kicking butts and taking names,” Benjamin declared. “This is all about making sure that our families are sustained, and workers have the ability to make sure their children have a better future. The impact of Bidenomics is working.”

The Social Justice PCS is requesting Special Education Coordination Services for the 23-24 school year. We are looking for a vendor that provides Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT) Information available by request. Proposals shall be submitted as PDF documents no later than 5:00 PM on Monday, October 6, 2023. The RFP is available through DCRegs.dc.gov Notice:N133004.

The Social Justice PCS is requesting Special Education Coordination Services for the 23-24 school year. We are looking for a vendor that provides Occupational Therapy (OT) and Physical Therapy (PT) Information available by request. Proposals shall be submitted as PDF documents no later than 5:00 PM on Monday, October 6, 2023. The RFP is available through DCRegs.dc.gov Notice:N133004.

He also championed Biden and Harris’ commitment to diversity, which is mirrored in the appointments to the federal bench, where a third of their appointees have been African Americans. The appointment of more Black women to federal appeals courts than all previous presidents combined also underscores the administration’s influence in shaping the judiciary for future generations.

“It’s a special moment serving the United States of America. It’s exciting,” Benjamin declared. “We are the most diverse administration in history. The president made a commitment to equity, and the Biden-Harris administration represents the best of America. I’m looking forward to taking the next steps.” WI

@StacyBrownMedia

5 Senior Advisor to President Biden and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, Stephen K. Benjamin sits down with NNPA President Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. (Stacy M. Brown/The Washington Informer)

STEPHEN K. BENJAMIN

Biden-Harris Administration Launches White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to Tackle Epidemic

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Gun violence remains a pressing concern for the United States, with over 500 mass shootings and a reported estimate of 25,000 victims in 2023 alone. In response, the Biden-Harris administration has announced a significant step forward in curbing this crisis. President Joe Biden has introduced the inaugural White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, dedicated to implementing crucial executive and legislative measures to save lives and heal communities. The office will be under the stewardship of Vice President Kamala Harris, perhaps the administration’s most vocal advocate against gun violence. Stefanie Feldman, a long-serving policy advisor on gun violence prevention, will take the reins as the director. Joining her are gun violence pre-

vention advocates Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox, who assume the roles of deputy directors.

“Every time I’ve met with families impacted by gun violence as they mourn their loved ones... they all have the same message for their elected officials: ‘Do something,” Biden asserted. He highlighted the importance of recent legislative strides and executive actions but stressed that they represent the initial required phase.

The White House said the establishment of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention builds on the historic actions already taken by Biden. This includes signing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a landmark piece of legislation aimed at preventing gun violence.

Officials insisted that efforts to implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act have yielded tangible results. They pointed out that the legislation has increased

the Justice Department’s ability to prosecute firearms traffickers, restricted access to firearms for those under 21, and increased mental health support for victims of gun violence.

The Biden-Harris Administration also noted they’ve introduced many executive actions to address the root causes of gun violence, including measures to curb the proliferation of dangerous weapons, hold rogue gun dealers accountable, and provide law enforcement with essential resources.

Biden has advocated for a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, mandated safe storage of firearms, universal background checks, and an end to gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability. His Safer America Plan also proposes increased investment in community policing and gun violence prevention.

“This epidemic of gun violence

requires urgent leadership to end the fear and trauma that Americans experience every day,” Harris affirmed. The vice president affirmed the administration’s un-

wavering commitment to a safer nation, pledging that “no effort would be spared in achieving this goal.”

5 President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greet one another at the 2023 Phoenix Awards on Sept. 23 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Annual Legislative Conference. (Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)

America’s Precarious Crossroads: A Nation on the Brink

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

In the crucible of American politics, chaos, legal wrangling, and disturbing incidents continue to carve deep fault lines into the nation’s conscience. These troubling events unveil a stark reality: the United States stands at a precipice, facing an uncertain future.

The recent scandal involving Colorado GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert served not merely as a reminder of how out of pocket many politicians are, but as a chilling benchmark of the current moral compass of elected officials. Boebert’s conduct, far from isolated,

has become emblematic of a political culture seemingly unmoored from the values that once underpinned public service.

Meanwhile, the looming specter of a government shutdown looms large, a damning testament to the gridlock that plagues Capitol Hill. Legal challenges continue to mount, particularly those targeting affirmative action initiatives designed to redress historical imbalances. The Fearless Fund, a lifeline for Black women entrepreneurs, finds itself in the crosshairs of conservative ire, further underscoring the desperate need for comprehensive reform.

Prominent Black leaders and

politicians issue a clarion call, asserting that America is in the throes of a war against its citizens of color. The parallels with the dark days of Jim Crow are impossible to ignore. Critical race theory, book bans, and a concerted effort to whitewash Black history from educational curricula are conspiring to rewrite the nation’s narrative in a way that undermines inclusivity.

The divisive rhetoric is echoed by public figures who distort historical realities with seemingly unabashed racial animus.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ claim that slavery "benefited African Americans" stands as an affront to the memory of countless

enslaved individuals whose lives were marred by unfathomable suffering. Even within the Black community, figures like Kanye West have made disconcerting statements, such as his assertion that slavery was a "choice," underscoring the gravity of the current crisis.

The imperative for collective action has never been more pressing as America teeters on the precipice. The urgency of this moment demands unflinching dialogue and unwavering determination. The nation’s future hinges on its ability to confront its past, wrestle with its present, and forge an unyielding path toward a more inclusive and equitable future.

Underscoring it all, a new poll from the PEW Research Center in Washington, D.C., found positive views of many governmental and political institutions are at historic lows. According to the research, just 16% of the public say they trust the federal government always or most of the time. While “trust has hovered near historic lows for the better part of the last

20 years, today it stands among the lowest levels dating back nearly seven decades,” researchers discovered. Additionally, PEW found that more Americans have an unfavorable than favorable opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court– the first time that has occurred in polling going back to the late 1980s.

“This is a powerful reminder of where we are as a country,” said Kathleen Stuart, the founder and CEO of Stuart Collective, a women-owned public affairs and communications firm in Oregon.

“Threats and acts of violence are set in an unfortunate and predictable pattern, and part of an ongoing attack on American democracy powered by conspiracies and bigotry,” continued Stuart, whose team has worked to create positive political change for women, the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities for more than a decade. “Elected leaders - local, state, and national - would be wise to take immediate and swift action as we prepare for 2024 and what comes after,” she asserted. WI

@StacyBrownMedia

5America’s political chaos has reached all-time lows with just 16% of the public say they trust the federal government always or most of the time. (Courtesy Photo/ Wikimedia commons

Meet the next generation of change-makers

For nearly two decades, our Student Leaders® program has helped prepare community-minded high school students to become successful in the workforce by connecting them to skills development, service and leadership training. Through paid internships with local nonprofits like YMCA of Metropolitan Washington, they gain practical work and life experiences. It’s just one more way we’re working together with our communities to build a better future for all.

Lawrence Di Rita President, Bank of America Greater Washington D.C.

Learn

What

No cash access or recurring payments. Can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted. Card valid for up to 6 months; unused funds will forfeit after the valid thru date. Card terms and conditions apply. Reply by 10/15/2021.

General: Additional charges may apply in areas that require guard response service for municipal alarm verification. System remains property of ADT. Local permit fees may be required. Prices and offers subject to change and may vary by market. Additional taxes and fees may apply. Satisfactory credit required. A security deposit may be required. Simulated screen images and photos are for illustrative purposes only.

Liberia: US$7.2 Million GROW-2 Agricultural Program Launched

Sweden has provided Liberia with US$7.2 million for the launch of the GROW-2 agriculture program, which is aimed at developing sustainable agrobased value chain enterprises, Liberia’s Daily Observer reported in an article published on Friday, Sept. 22.

The program, expected to last for five years, will be implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) following its launch on Sept. 19. With a focus on nutritious value chains and businesses, the Swedish-funded agriculture program will prioritize cocoa, horticulture, and cassava value chains, especially interventions designed to enhance output, productivity, and value addition in response to market demand.

The project, according to its implementer, constitutes the successor phase of the SIDA-funded "Markets and Value Chains in Agriculture" (GROW Liberia, 2013–2022), hereafter referred to as GROW-1.

Capitalizing on the results and lessons of GROW-1, the initiative seeks to also focus on scaling up prior efforts and expanding sectoral and thematic outreach.

Speaking at the launch, Charles Sackey, GROW-2 Chief Technical Advisor, and Dan Kiamue Johnson, National Value Chain expert field expert on GROW-2, revealed that the main objective of the program is to enhance production, diversify, and promote local value addition.

The program, according to the two experts, will facilitate market access and thus generate employment opportunities for farmers residing in poverty-stricken localities within the selected value chain, allowing the project's growth to match the donor's counterpart budget and duration.

The duo explained that the project will also focus on poor farmers, increasing engagement with men, women, and youth. According to them, the implementation strategy will be characterized by the market system development approach, which emphasizes the importance of flexibility in adapting interventions to the particular constraints and opportunities that may develop in different value chain sectors.

"The program will also focus on achieving and maintaining gender equality and empowering women. Youth economic empowerment and entrepreneurship will also receive particular focus,” they explained.

However, in addition to the overview, Sackey said that, due to financial constraints and a lack of technical knowledge, smallholder farmers rely mostly on primitive tools and little equipment to increase domestic, regional, and global market assets as well as domestic value-adding opportunities. He added, "Improved production and value addition in the case of horticulture and the Cassava Chain may help alleviate some of the issues that threaten food security in the Liberia value chain.”

"The GROW project will prioritize and focus on horticulture and cassava value chains, with a specific focus on interventions designed to enhance output productivity and value addition in response to market demand," he asserted. WI

Tyler Perry Pays Courtesy Call on Bahamas Prime Minister

Movie mogul Tyler Perry paid a courtesy call on Bahamas Prime Minister Philip E. Davis on Saturday, Sept. 23, at his office in the Sir Cecil Wallace-Whitfield Centre in Nassau.

In a post on his Facebook page, Prime Minister Davis noted that it “was a pleasure to welcome Tyler Perry to the Bahamas as we celebrate 50 years of independence.

“I had the opportunity to discuss my administration's plan to develop our orange economy with him. I am optimistic about what this means for our country and look forward to Mr. Perry's valuable collaboration in the future,” Prime Minister Davis said.

Perry was accompanied by the renowned Bahamian religious leader, Bishop Neil C. Ellis, who retired in December of 2022 as the Senior Pastor of Mount Tabor Baptist Church, which he founded in February of 1987.

Of course, Perry is not a stranger to The Bahamas. Indeed, his ninth feature film, “Why Did I Get Married TOO”, which was released in 2007, was filmed mostly on the island of Eleuthera.

The Atlanta-based Perry, who has visited The Bahamas many times since then, said at the time that he is “very inspired” by The Bahamas and “I come here to write. I come here to vacation; I come here to get away and unwind.” WI

5 Movie mogul Tyler Perry is pictured with Bahamas Prime Minister Philip E. Davis and renowned Bahamian religious leader Bishop Neil C. Ellis (right). (Courtesy Photo)

5 Participants posed for a group photo after the official launching ceremony of the GROW2 agriculture project. (Courtesy Photo)

New Medicare Benefits Will Help District Seniors Save

AARP DC Staff Reports

For too long, America’s seniors have paid the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Thankfully, landmark drug pricing reforms that AARP helped secure have started to go into effect. Our organization fought the big drug companies over these commonsense reforms for more than 20 years, and today, the new law is bringing real relief for the nearly 95,000 District residents currently enrolled in Medicare.

$35 INSULIN CAP

Earlier this year, copays for 30-day supplies of any insulin covered by Medicare drug plans were capped at $35. That means enrollees will not have to pay more than $35 regardless of whether they have met their annual Part D deductible. This is huge for the Medicare beneficiaries in prescription drug plans in the District who use insulin.

MEDICARE DRUGS PRICE NEGOTIATIONS

After decades of opposition from big drug companies, Medicare will begin to use its buying power to get a better deal for American seniors and taxpayers by negotiating for lower drug prices. This will save Medicare and taxpayers billions of dollars and help ensure millions of older Americans can afford the prescription drugs they need.

The US government recently made public the first 10 medications covered by Medicare Part D that will be included in the initial round of the price negotiation process. This

marks the first time in history that the price of life-sustaining medications that millions of older Americans in the nation’s largest health program rely upon to prevent strokes and blood clots and to treat diabetes and cancer will be subject to direct negotiation, leading to a lower price for Americans.

The first ten prescription drugs Medicare will negotiate include Eliquis- blood thinner, Jardiance- diabetes, heart failure, Xarelto- blood thinner, Januvia- diabetes, Farxigadiabetes, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, Entresto- heart failure, Enbrel- rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Imbruvica- blood cancers, Stelara- psoriasis, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, Novologdiabetes. By 2029, this list could include as many as 60 drugs with lower prices through Medicare’s direct negotiation.

FREE VACCINES

Beyond these savings, Medicare now covers the total cost of all vaccines recommended for older adults, including shingles, whopping cough, and tetanus. An AARP analysis found that just 45 percent of people 50+ with Medicare have had a shingles vaccine, even though it is recommended for everyone over age 50. This expanded coverage helps ensure that Medicare enrollees are protected against serious illnesses and makes it more likely that they will have affordable access to the vaccines they need to stay healthy.

END PRICE GOUGING

In the meantime, and thanks to the new law, if drug companies try to price gouge consumers by raising their prices faster than inflation – as they have for many years – they will be hit with new penalties.

These reforms are just one step

to lower prescription drug prices and out-of-pocket costs, and AARP will keep fighting to ensure that all seniors can get affordable

access to the drugs they need. The bottom line is: Medications only work if you can afford them. That is why AARP fought for this

new law and why we will keep fighting until every American can afford the prescriptions, they need to stay healthy.

We're in Your Corner

People today can spend nearly half their lives over the age of 50. That’s a lot of living. So, it helps to have a wise friend and fierce defender like AARP in your community. Find us at aarp.org/dc

HEALTH

Health Leaders Discuss Hot Topics and National Crises Among Black Communities

By Lindiwe Vilakazi WI Health Reporter

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation presented a host of well-rounded conversations concerning the welfare and empowerment of Black Americans across the country. Amid a full roster of sessions, this year’s conference in-

cluded a bevy of discussions highlighting prevalent health issues and their unique effects within Black communities.

Congressional representatives and health leaders from various parts of the country filled a diverse schedule of presentations covering agendas toward the prevention of maternal mortality among Black American

FOR EVERY GENERATION. THIS IS WHY WE WALK.

At

women, detection, and intervention of poor kidney health, advancing breast cancer equity, Black women’s reproductive rights, clinical research partnerships, the dire urgency to ending gun violence, and much more.

Perhaps some of the most profound conversations rallied around

the mental health issues of today’s youth, in addition to the drug abuse crisis ravaging many majority Black regions in the country. These two issues are especially prevalent in Washington, D.C., as the city faces rising rates of juvenile suicide, along with skyrocketing crime. Likewise, the opioid crisis lies undergirded in much of the danger and destruction throughout the Metropolitan area.

Ambrose Lane Jr., chair of D.C.'s Health Alliance Network, hosted a panel featuring local drug recovery advocates to discuss trauma and addiction, the information behind treatment, and the ultimate need for healing among Black men and fathers.

“When the Chief Medical Officer’s report comes out following current trends, there will be more opioid deaths than COVID deaths in the District of Columbia since March of 2020 when COVID began,” Lane Jr. shared. “Ninety-nine percent of [opioid] deaths this year in D.C. involved fentanyl. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and others all have public health emergencies, but not the District of Columbia. At the end of the day, all of these numbers represent people whose lives, families, and communities are forever impacted. This includes Black fathers, men, and boys.”

Panelist Larry Bing from the Leadership Council for Healthy Communities shared the groundwork behind prevention navigation for people battling addiction. Bing works to connect residents with wrap-around services to provide structure including housing, food, clothing, insurance, and more

for displaced men and women throughout the city.

The lack of infrastructure available to delicately approach the mental health concerns behind drug addiction echoes the complaints of the local organizations and residents who urge the District to provide sufficient resources to address mental health emergencies.

Bing resists the notion of providing those in recovery with more generic substances to encourage sobriety, understanding that addiction needs to be resolved from a holistic approach, as it often intersects into various tiers of mental health issues.

“When we ride throughout the city, there are so many men and women who are suffering not just from substance abuse issues, but mental health as well. They might have started one way and not realized that later on they were suffering with what they found to be bipolar or any other [condition] under that umbrella. If they don’t get the case management that they need to deal with this, they will continue to suffer,” said Bing.

Similar to the need for support services to guide drug-addicted residents, there also exists a frightening urgency to address the mental health crisis among our youth.

Congressman Troy A. Carter (DLA) sat with local substance abuse and mental health leaders to discuss the daunting suicide epidemic and the accelerated rates of suicide among Black children.

“Even beyond the suicide deaths, suicide attempts are increasing particularly between ages 13 to 17 since 2009. We are seeing suicide rates that are double their white counterparts for Black youth between the ages of 5 to 12. That statistic never gets easier for me to say. It never does,” shared Brandon J. Johnson, MHS, MCHES, Branch Chief of the Suicide Prevention Branch of SAMHSA during the “Our Kids are NOT Ok, and Neither Are We,” panel session.

Johnson explained that the research reveals that trauma is a significant factor behind the growing rates, as Black youth are disproportionately experiencing traumatic life and social events that are influencing morbid mental health and behavior.

“The data is clear that we have to address the mental health side, but there are some social systemic issues that we need to get together to get real support around our

5 Chef Huda Mu'min, founder and Executive Chef at Chef Huda's Kitchen and Monique Lanaux of the Albertsons Companies introduce healthy cooking during CBCF-ALC. ( Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)

football to RFK Stadium.

Payne, commissioner of single-member district 7D05, which includes Kingman and Heritage Islands Park, said she and her neighbors have been burdened by the noise pollution and traffic brought by the spring and summer festivals on the RFK campus. Other points of contention include the dearth of parking space during events. Payne told the Informer that the D.C. Department of Public Works hasn’t been the most diligent in enforcing parking restrictions that ensure her constituents living near Kingman and Heritage Islands Park can park their cars close to their homes.

Payne said that Bowser is scheduled to speak to community members at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church in Northeast on the evening of Oct. 18. By that time, Payne and her colleagues would be well into the collection of data from an RFK Future Stadium Survey they’ve circulated among community members.

In regard to a football stadium, Payne said that District residents deserve projects that are more creative and of greater benefit to their collective wellbeing. In recent weeks, she has heard a bevy of suggestions, including olympic-size swimming pools, basketball courts and activity space for seniors.

“I’m against taxpayer dollars toward billionaires for a private stadium. Residents have needs like addressing juvenile crime,” Payne said as she recounted previous attempts to secure accommodations in her single-member district.

“I’m asking the Department of Transportation to improve pedestrian access to our triangle park at D Street and 21st Street, and Oklahoma Avenue N.E.,” Payne continued.

“The park has an art project coming and a church across the street, and is one of the main entry points to the RFK campus,” Payne said. “They said they couldn’t do it. It doesn’t sit well with me that we couldn’t get a crosswalk but they’re going to get a superdome.”

THE HOUSE’S HARD DELIBERATION ON THE RFK CAMPUS LEASE

On Wednesday, Sept. 20, Bowser watched as the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability conducted a markup of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, co-introduced by Rep. James Comer (R-KY) and D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) in July.

Currently, the 70-year lease the District has for the RFK campus, located in Ward 7, will expire in 2038. Mystery surrounding the campus’ future complicated Bowser’s development plans. Earlier this year, her budget proposal allocated funds toward the construction of a D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation Sports Complex.

If the legislation passes, jurisdiction of the RFK campus would be transferred from the U.S. Department of the Interior to the General Services Administration (GSA).

The GSA would then enter a 99year lease with the D.C. government. From that point, the D.C. Department of General Services (DGS) could develop a stadium, or commercial and residential property.

This local-federal partnership would follow similar arrangements that led to development of Franklin Park and Walter Reed in Northwest, the Wharf in Southwest, and St. Elizabeths East Campus in Southeast. It would also align with the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, the Fields at RFK, and environmental programming conducted on Kingman Park and Heritage Island.

During Wednesday’s mark-up meeting, Comer introduced an amendment in the nature of a substitute (ANS) that allows the GSA administrator to assume the National Park Service director’s responsibilities as it relates to the RFK campus.

It also mandates the completion of a survey that determines the exact acreage of the RFK campus, designates 30% of the land as “parks, recreation or open space,” and mandates that development on the campus improves public access to the Anacostia River Trail. There would also be restrictions on development on land located along the edge of the Anacostia River.

Comer’s ANS also designates the campus for stadium, commercial or residential development that includes parking facilities, adequate public safety and security measures intended to reduce noise pollution and traffic. Grounds for termination of the 99-year lease, per Comer’s amendment, include the D.C. government’s failure to correct noncompliance within 90 days of notification.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania 10th District) unsuccessfully introduced an amendment to Comer’s ANS that no public funds, including those appropriated by the federal government, would be appropriated for a development of a stadium, including training

Ward 7 D.C. Councilmember Vincent C. Gray (D) would later comment on the blow that Perry’s amendment suffered.

“I am…pleased that a proposed amendment to H.R. 4984 failed,” Gray said in a statement. “It would have micro-managed, if not altogether hamstrung our local spending autonomy and, as well, put the District at a distinct negotiating disadvantage with surrounding jurisdictions.”

Gray went on to speak about the anticipated impact of RFK campus’ development for his constituents.

"I have always been open to discussions about re-imagining the RFK site, including the possibility of a new stadium, provided the best interests of District residents --in particular those in the surrounding communities-- are at the forefront of any outcome,” Gray said.

“Given today's encouraging vote, I am eager to learn more about what the Josh Harris Group has in mind for the future of the team. Certainly, many discussions will follow," Gray continued, referencing the current owner of the Washington Commanders.

ACTING DIRECTOR HUNTER’S MIXES NOSTALGIA, URGENCY, COLLABORATION IN HIS HOUSE TESTIMONY

RFK Stadium, which opened in the early 1960s, once served as the home of the Washington foot-

ball franchise, and the Washington Senators, DC United, along with high-school and college-level athletic competitions.

In 2017, RFK Stadium hosted its last event, a Major League Soccer match between D.C. United and the New York Red Bulls.

By the end of the year, the stadium is scheduled for full demolition. Earlier this year, D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At large) expressed interest in bringing the Washington Commanders to a newly developed RFK Stadium.

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) stood in opposition to the idea, reportedly out of concern about whether a football stadium would be the best economic development strategy for RFK campus. Allen, whose constituents live nearby, wrote a Washington Post op-ed in early August arguing that, when it comes to sports arenas, an aging Capital One Arena in Gallery Place-Chinatown deserves much more attention.

During a D.C. Council breakfast on Tuesday, Sept. 19, one of Mendelson’s staffers alluded to discussions among House committee members about which party -- the federal government or D.C. government -- would be responsible for environmental liabilities.

The staffer also said that the House committee is seeking some alignment between the D.C. Council and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) about the 99-year lease.

Later that day, DGS Acting Director Delano Hunter, one-time student athlete and alumnus of the shuttered Spingarn Senior High School, which was located near the RFK campus, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

In his testimony, he articulated Bowser’s vision of a campus that would not only bring professional football back to D.C., but serve as a “launching pad” for athletes of all ages from across the nation.

The sports complex Hunter described to committee members includes an olympic swimming pool, gymnastics training facility, indoor track and multipurpose field, and outdoor and indoor basketball and tennis court.

These resources could be brought on by local-federal partnerships, similar to what Hunter noted have been successful in years past.

For Hunter, former DPR director, the current state of the RFK campus doesn’t serve the best interests of District residents, particularly student athletes who travel outside of the District to compete in tournaments and events.

“Instead of connecting our community or serving as a grand entryway on the eastside of our monumental core, [the RFK campus] is a mostly desolate sea of asphalt,” Hunter told committee members on Sept. 19.

Read more on www.washingtoninfoirmer.com

5 The debate about how to develop RFK campus federal landmark rages on with some community members vehemently opposed to the prospect of a new football stadium. (WI File Photo)

facilities, offices and other related structures.

EARTH OUR Environmental

Justice at the ALC: A Conversation with Rep. Jennifer McClellan

By Kayla Benjamin WI Climate & Environment Reporter

Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia, has a long record of fighting for environmental justice in the Richmond area and beyond. The Democratic Congresswoman spoke with the Washington Informer about what the environmental policy landscape looked like at this year’s Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference.

ALC 2023 included seven events labeled “Energy, Infrastructure, and Environment,” but McClellan said that climate change and environmental injustice came up in conversations across all kinds of

topics throughout the conference. Here’s what she had to say.

WI: What kind of conversations are happening about environmental policy, and environmental justice, at the ALC this year? What types of issues are you seeing take the spotlight in terms of focus and priority?

JM: I think it's safe to say environmental justice issues have been woven into a larger conversation about overall health. So for example, yesterday [on Sep. 21], I did a panel talking broadly about the unique health challenges that face the Black community. And we weaved into that discussion the connection between air pollution and the fact that so many energy plants or plans for pipelines or chemical plants and pol-

lutants are impacting Black communities, and how that relates to overall health. So while it wasn't specifically just about environmental justice, it was more connecting the dots holistically, that all of these are related.

Over the years, we've focused a lot on the issue, but we're starting to try to connect holistically: it's not just about the environment, it's the environment’s impact on the health of these communities. And… in many of these communities, that's been the only economic development opportunity that most localities have gone after,

Remote Work’s Climate Benefits Bypass Black Workers

By Willy Blackmore

Word in Black

Between not having to commute to the office and not having to shiver in overly air-conditioned rooms once arriving there, it’s no wonder that the home office has a significant effect on the carbon emissions of working life. According to a study published on Sept. 18 in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),” fully remote workers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 58% compared to on-site workers.

While reduced carbon emissions have a net benefit for society, the study shows that there

are other benefits that these more climate-friendly remote workers gain — and much like eating organic, local food or driving an electric car, they’re much more readily available to people who are predominantly white and well-off.

The PNAS study, which looked at a range of work situations, found that office energy use is the largest source of carbon emissions for on-site and hybrid workers. For fully remote workers, the largest source of emissions came not from work but “non-commute-related travel.”

“Specifically,” the study reads, “we observe substantially more total travel miles for remote workers

to drop off/ pick up friends, conduct recreational activities, visit healthcare facilities, visit friends/ relatives, and exercise.”

In other words, not working in the office frees people up to have richer family and social lives, and, it can be assumed, a better worklife balance — and still with a much smaller carbon footprint even with the increase in recreational travel.

So, who are the workers living these more sustainable, rewarding lives thanks to remote work?

A study published last year found that 22% of workers were fully remote in the first year or

CLIMATEPage 25

and how do we help them diversify what they're doing so they're not placing all of these pollutants in their neighborhoods.

WI: Do you feel like environmental justice is getting enough focus, or is being overlooked? What changes have you seen in this policy space over the years?

JM: I don't think it's been overlooked. You know, for example, we filed the Don McEachin Environmental Justice Act. You know, he and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), were particularly focused on this issue. It's been a little harder now that we are in the minority to get any traction on it, so that's the downside. But one of my frustrations with government has always been how we silo issues. And I think we are starting to make progress on integrating conversations around environmental justice into the broader conversation of the overall wellbeing of the Black community.

WI: Why does it matter for the Congressional Black Caucus

to be leading in the environmental space?

JM: I mean, the whole point of the environmental justice movement is to raise awareness about, and do something about, the fact that policy decisions particularly around energy policy, transportation [and] economic development have concentrated pollutants in Black neighborhoods, in some cases destroying Black neighborhoods.

For example, in my district, I represent Jackson Ward, which had a highway built directly through the middle of it. In these same neighborhoods, they have fewer tree canopies, and all of that, holistically, has impacted the lifespan, the maternal health and [the] overall health of Black community. So if we don't talk about it, who will? And the Black Caucus is the conscience of the Congress to say, ‘we need to address, we need to redress, the disproportionate impact that so many policy decisions have had on the Black community,’ and environmental justice is a key to that. WI

The Informer's Our Earth page turns 1 year old this fall. We want to know what you think and what we can do better in year 2! Please let us know with this 3-minute survey.

5 Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan paid tribute to her predecessor, the late Rep. Donald McEachin, at an event honoring McEachin's environmental justice legacy held near Capitol Hill on Feb. 28. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)

CLIMATE from Page 24

so of the pandemic — but white workers were overrepresented at 24%, while just 19% of Black workers and 14% of Latinx workers were remote.

Why is this the case?

“This study demonstrated that around 80% of the difference in teleworking between White workers and Black and Hispanic workers could be explained by differences in four-year college education and occupation,” according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blog post.

The CDC noted that “the percentage of Black workers with a four-year college education was 27% lower” than their white peers.

You probably don’t need the CDC to tell you what you see in the community: Black folks are overrepresented in jobs that don’t require a college diploma, like healthcare support, transportation, protective services, and building maintenance jobs. It seems the racial disenfranchisement baked into the nation’s education system has a trickle-down effect on climate change.

And, thanks to the racial wealth gap and housing segregation, Black folks can’t always live close to work, which leaves plenty of drive time for more toxic car emissions to spew out of tailpipes during long commutes.

An analysis published in 2022 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on the racialized difference in commute times found that “Black commuters who drive

to work face longer commutes than white drivers even when both groups have similar demographic characteristics (such as income levels and educational attainment).” The findings “reflect an embedded race-based marginalization by which Black drivers are likely to live farther away from their jobs than white workers.”

So, as we saw in that first year of the pandemic, the difference between working remotely and working on-site could be deadly (and still can, though to a much lesser degree), as the far higher COVID-19 mortality rates for non-white Americans showed.

While a smaller carbon footprint and a richer social life are less stark advantages to remote work compared to…continuing to be alive, they’re still advantages that everyone should be able to enjoy. WI

The CDC noted that “the percentage of Black workers with a four-year college education was 27% lower” than their white peers.

EDUCATION

Want Kids to Achieve? Heal Racism’s Wounds

By Joseph Williams Word In Black

Ashanti Branch was failing, and he wasn’t sure why.

In 2004, not long after abandoning a promising, lucrative career as an engineer, Branch found himself among the ranks of underpaid, overworked teachers at San Lorenzo High School in Oakland, California, the hometown he thought he’d left behind.

Fueled by a knack for math and a passion for helping his struggling community, Branch was a successful rookie teacher at the under-resourced school. But he noticed a cohort: Black boys carrying the weight of systemic racism who didn’t seem to care about their education — and disrupted his plans to teach students who did. Cajoling didn’t work; neither did bluster and discipline.

Because he’d been in their shoes — a Black boy raised by a single mother who studied his way out of poverty and into college —

Branch was frustrated he couldn’t reach them, and took it personally.

“I was like, ‘Why are you resisting this opportunity for your future?’” Branch said. “I knew, deep down, that [the boys] not getting an education would have no effect on my future life. But it would have an effect on my soul.”

A profound realization dawned on him: these children needed not mere academic guidance, but healing.

So Branch went back to the drawing board, so to speak. Having tried everything else, he put a bribe on the table for the disruptors — off-campus fast food from a nearby restaurant — and encouraged his students to teach him.

“I said, ‘I’ll buy you lunch once a week. In exchange for lunch, teach me how to be a better teacher,’” Branch said. “I brought in lunch, and we ate, and we talked, and I asked questions.”

With Branch establishing a safe space, the teens shared a meal and told him about their lives: dealing

with poverty or absent parents; navigating neighborhoods plagued by gun violence and gangs; trying to figure out a path for their lives with few visible options. And where they come from, they told him, book smarts are worth nothing on the street. Branch listened and advised where he could.

That first meeting, however, led to another the next week, and another the week after that. Within months, the sessions had become a regular part of Branch’s schedule.

Before long, the Ever Forward Club, a wide-ranging support program for at-risk young men, was born. The concept was simple: give

Black teenagers the time and space to get help with schoolwork, get advice from a trusted adult, and get a chance to heal, if just for 45 minutes over lunch.

Over time, Branch developed a more formal curriculum, and more young men began showing up — including some members who brought friends along. Membership exploded, student performance improved, and Branch began to see he was healing damage neither he nor his students realized was there.

“I was learning from students about what was going on with them — why they were behaving the way they were,” Branch said. “It wasn’t academic — it wasn’t, ‘I can’t multiply,’ or, ‘I can’t add numbers.’ It was that life was slapping them around. And when they came to school, they were just trying to keep things moving.”

Since that first meeting in 2004, the club has exploded in reach and scope. Along with mentoring high school students and young men in the East Bay area, the Ever Forward Club (EFC) holds workshops for educators, teaches students how to mentor others, and has a youth academy dedicated to social and emotional learning.

Spelled out on its website, the EFC mission statement is deceptively simple yet powerful: “(A) ddress the underlying causes of dropout rates, youth violence, and the growing achievement gap

through mentoring and social

emotional development.”

The first set of conversations with his students reminded Branch of “what it was like for my own self to navigate the chaos of life while I was in school,” he said. “I was like, ‘If I get to college, I’ll get out of Oakland, and all my problems will go away. I’ll make a lot of money, KIDS Page 27

5 Ever Forward Club participants. (Courtesy Photo/ Ever Forward Club)

“I was learning from students about what was going on with them — why they were behaving the way they were,” Branch said. “It wasn’t academic — it wasn’t, ‘I can’t multiply,’ or, ‘I can’t add numbers.’

KIDS from Page 26

I’ll get a good job. I gotta just fight through this current madness right now, to get to the other side.’”

The difference with his first Ever Forward Club members, is “no one had told them the formula for ‘happily ever after,” Branch explained. “So it occurred to me that, oh, yeah — they’re navigating all this other nonsense. They’re from a community where being smart wasn’t cool.”

Ultimately, Branch said, that group of kids needed healing, and he decided to step up.

The result of Branch’s efforts?

The Ever Forward Club website noted that since 2004, “100% of Club members have graduated from high school (in contrast with Oakland Unified’s 60.5% graduation rate).”

After graduation, “90% of Club members have enrolled in college, a trade school, or the military (in contrast with the national college enrollment rate of 45.5% for low-income students).

And, there are also zero EFC grads “currently incarcerated (in contrast with national in-

carceration rate of 8% for Black males ages 20 to 24).”

“Teaching math was what I was hired for,” he said. “But either I’m gonna just sit back and be like, ‘This is messed up,’ and just keep watching all these kids fall through the cracks,” or take on the challenge to stop it.

The success of the EFC — and the fact that the young men kept coming back, sometimes bringing friends along — is proof he made the right decision.

“They had a space that was safe enough for them to come in that room every Thursday for lunch and realize, ‘I’m not alone,’” said Branch, who compares acting out and disruption inside the classroom to hiding behind a mask.

“You’re getting something that you didn’t even know you were missing. Once you start getting more of it — once you’re getting more care, more love, and being heard and being seen — I think it’s harder to hide.”

This story was produced in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

5 Ashanti Branch is a math teacher and founder of the Ever Forward Club meant to address underlying issues that contribute to dropout rates and more. (Courtesy Photo)

Let’s Make a Plan: Debt Management

Q&A with Brian Atkins, D.C. Community Manager, Chase

Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

If you've found yourself in credit card debt, you're not alone. According to TransUnion, the average American has $5,474 in credit card debt—and the number of people in debt continues to climb. Brian Atkins, D.C. Community Manager from Chase, discusses the importance of debt management, including key steps to take and how to rid yourself of any debt stress.

1) WHY IS MANAGING DEBT SO IMPORTANT?

Falling into debt is undoubtedly stressful—it can feel like you're carrying around a weight. If you're dealing with your own financial burden or a loved one’s, long-term debt can distract you from living your regular day-to-day life. Finding a way to address your debt can be difficult, but it's important to manage it because you could spiral into further debt or other complicated situations if it's not addressed early.

2) WHAT ARE SOME STEPS TO TAKE TO MANAGE DEBT AND HELP GET RID OF THAT STRESS?

One way to jumpstart your debt management is by setting up a debt management plan, which is a roadmap for how you plan to repay your debts. Debt management plans can be made either on your own or through a credit counselor or debt relief program:

• DIY Debt Management –While it may be a major undertaking, managing debt on your own

is not impossible. If you're looking to find ways to navigate your financial situation on your own (and perhaps set yourself up for better habits in the future), there are resources you can use to build your own plan.

• Credit Counselor or Debt Management Company – If you want support from a professional, a credit counselor is a professional who has experience in understanding finances and budgeting. As experts in credit, they can help you figure out your financial situation, provide budgeting tips and personalize a plan for you.

3) CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THE STEPS FOR BUILDING A DEBT MANAGEMENT PLAN FROM SCRATCH?

The first thing you need to do is have a thorough understanding of your current financial landscape. Start by listing out your outstanding balances and give your budget a detailed look. Check with your bank for free online tools that can help break down some of these numbers. For instance, the Chase Credit Journey tool helps you understand your current credit score and how settling debts can help to improve it. You may want to ask yourself the following questions:

• What type of debt do you owe?

• Which debt would be cost-effective and helpful to pay off first?

• How much money are you spending on non-essential items?

4) IF WE WANT TO GO THE PROFESSIONAL ROUTE, IS THERE ANYTHING WE SHOULD KEEP IN MIND?

A credit counselor or a nonprofit debt management company can sit down with you and help you learn how your finances work, what actions to take and, other helpful advice. Working with a professional may come with negotiations about monthly payments, waiving fees and getting you a lower interest rate. When looking for professional assistance, make sure you consider the following:

• Are you working with a company that has a long history with a good reputation?

• Are the costs/fees reasonable for the services they offer?

5) ANY FINAL THOUGHTS YOU WANT TO ADD?

Remember that no matter how much debt you are in or what your financial situation is, managing money can be stressful. Taking proactive steps—whether that's creating a debt management plan with a credit counselor or developing one yourself—can help empower you to start making financially healthier decisions and set

yourself up for a better financial future.

For more information, tools and resources to help support your financial health anytime, visit chase.com/financialgoals, or better yet come down to Skyland Town Center and visit me in the branch.

Chef MAC and Pinkey Reddick, Co-Owners

Energy Bill Assistance: You Have Options

You may know Washington Gas as a 175-year-old utility provider, and we are proud of our history of service and innovations. While that describes what we do, we hope you will know us just as much for who we are: neighbors who care deeply about the hardships facing our communities. Our goal is to help our city build resiliency and thrive under any circumstances.

“Washington Gas is dedicated to the communities, families, neighbors and individuals we serve. It’s part of who we are and what the Washington Gas Cares initiative is all about – to lend a helping hand when customers can use it the most,” said Washington Gas President Blue Jenkins. “Our team stands ready to support customers facing difficult decisions when paying their bills. We can identify the right energy assistance option and payment plan that fits a customer’s budget and schedule during a time of need. Customers can also contact us directly. Let us help you today.”

The programs and resources below are just a sample of ways to seek assistance for yourself and those you love. To learn more about the options below, visit washingtongascares. com or scan the QR code on this page.

GET HELP WITH YOUR BILL

You may qualify for a grant from the federal Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) program to help pay your energy bill. Many other federal and state assistance programs can also use your LIHEAP application to provide additional aid, so this can be one of the most valuable actions you can take to receive energy

assistance.The Washington Area Fuel Fund (WAFF) is a partnership between Washington Gas and The Salvation Army that has distributed more than $33 million over the past 40 years to more than 300,000 area families for help with utilities. If you are a qualifying District of Columbia resident, you can receive assistance regardless of your energy provider.

MANAGE YOUR ENERGY COSTS

Whether you own, rent or are planning to buy a first home, your utility budget matters as you plan your budget each month. Completing an online Home Energy Profile provides an energy ranking, savings estimate and upgrade recommendations for your home energy usage. It takes about five minutes and requires no sign-up or personal data. You may also qualify for a free Energy Conservation Kit. Energy Saver is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) consumer resource for saving energy and using renewable energy technologies at home. Get tips for everything from lowering home heating and cooling costs to improving moisture control and ventilation.

Through the DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program, you may also apply for an “energy retrofit” for everything from new insulation, updated heating and cooling systems and upgraded electrical appliances.

MANAGING YOUR WASHINGTON GAS BILL

You can make payment arrangements by enrolling in the Installment Payment Plan. Flexible Installment Plans are available. Installment plans distribute your current outstanding balance across several billing periods. Avoid further credit action on your account if you make payments according to the agreement. Once your plan is approved, you will be eligible to enroll in Budget Plan.

The Budget Plan spreads the cost of winter heating over the entire year so that you pay the same amount every month. Each month, your bill will show actual gas usage and budget installments so you can review the information. The Budget Plan is designed as a 12-month program, and we encourage you to stay on it year-round to realize the potential benefits. Payment Extension Plans are available for residential customers only and allow for the payment due date extension.

Scan the QR code on this page, visit us at washingtongascares.com, or contact EAP@washgas.com with questions.

CELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF SERVICE

Washington Gas is proud of our long history of being there for the DMV. From the first gas lights at the White House in 1848 to serving 1.2 million customers in 2023, our company’s history is interwoven with that of our nation’s capital.

Across our 175 years, we have

seen how change drives innovation, and we are proud to help lead the way toward a future of exciting energy options. While many things may evolve, we always remember why we do what we do: to improve life in the city where we work, live and serve.

WASHINGTON GAS CONSTRUCTION NOTICE

UPDATE ON PIPELINE REPLACEMENT WORK ON FLORIDA AVENUE, NE

WE PRIORITIZE SAFETY at Washington Gas and would like to provide an update on the active Washington Gas construction project on Florida Avenue, NE. We are working in conjunction with the DC Department of Transportation (DDOT) on this project as part of the DC PROJECTpipes accelerated pipeline replacement initiative. This is a lengthy project that started in June 2021. The estimated completion date is March 2024. Neighborhoods that are impacted by this project include:

• Orren Street NE • Staple Steet NE

• Holbrook Street NE • 14th Street NE

• Florida Avenue NE

• H Street NE

The project consists of:

• 8,260 feet of main installation; 93% of the new main (7,735 ft.) has been installed.

• 12,647 feet of main abandonment/ retirement; 52% of the old main (6,552 ft.) has been retired.

• 189 affected services; 79% of the affected services (151) have been replaced.

Our contractor, Infrasource, Inc., is conducting all construction activities in accordance with the guidelines set forth by DDOT. We will do our very best to minimize the amount of disruption and impact to customers residing in the area. Construction work hours are between 9:00 am–4:00 pm, Monday–Friday, weather and construction conditions permitting.

As always, we value our partnering communities and remain committed to a continuous improvement process. Feel free to contact us with any questions regarding any of our construction processes via the PROJECTpipes Hotline at 202-624-6400, email Project_Pipes@washgas.com or visit washingtongas.com/projectpipes. Your patience is greatly appreciated.

Remember to Keep Your Cool Even in Frustrating Times

There’s an old adage, “you never know who is watching,” reminding us to always be on our best behavior, work hard, and set a positive example for others. However, I was recently in a rideshare vehicle and received another reminder: “you never know who is listening.”

As I was in the vehicle headed to my destination- a nail appointment before traveling the following morning– I decided to give the establishment a call to let them know I was on the way. It was at that point, I learned that the salon was closing early because business had been slow and the rain was heavy. They asked me to come the following day, but my flight took off an hour before the business even opened.

Now let’s be clear, I was furious. They were closing an entire hour-and-a-half early and completely disregarded my appointment.

I couldn’t believe that they just forgot about me and then refused to maintain the appointment, but I didn’t feel there was a need to yell or go into detail about how irritated I was– and trust me, I was.

I expressed my disappointment in a calm but firm and clear manner. After all, I was paying money to drive to a place that wouldn’t be open at the time of my arrival, and had been looking forward to the appointment most of the weekend.

When I hung up the phone, my uber driver said, “Wow, you were so kind! Most people would have gone off, or cussed them out from the inconvenience. You kept your calm and still got your point across. How did you learn to do that?”

Now let’s be clear, it was super inconvenient and I didn’t feel calm. But imagine had I reacted in the way he had expected? I wouldn’t have had a teachable for the driver, nor myself.

I told him I had been very intentional about working to control my reactions to things that frustrate me and that it felt great not getting too angry, so I could find another solution.

We had a great conversation about keeping calm and maintaining our peace, and how important that is with all people– from the workplace, to family members, to entrepreneurs who make supporting their business difficult with their practices.

Take a second to breathe, collect your thoughts and then react. Be sure to honor your feelings, all the while keeping your cool and finding a solution that works. WI

Self Care is Important Care

“Summer may be over, but self care should never end,” read an advertisement for a spa. The spa is correct– self care isn’t seasonal, it is important for our overall health.

“Self-care means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health,” according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “When it comes to your mental health, self-care can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy. Even small acts of self-care in your daily life can have a big impact.”

Self-care is not just for temporary pleasure, but necessary for healthy living, and it doesn’t need to be hard.

NIMH recommends implementing basic self care into our regular routines including, exercising, prioritizing sleep, practicing gratitude, and focusing on positivity.

Life does not always go according to plan. Sometimes it’s not easy, but implementing some of these basic self care steps will assist in helping us handle all the challenges that might come our way, and serve as a reminder to appreciate what we already have, and the positive people in our lives. Moreover, as COVID-19 numbers rise, and the District enters cold and flu season, some of these self care tools can also assist in boosting your immune system and wellness.

It won’t always be realistic to get that full eight hours of sleep, or hit the gym, but making it a practice will turn into a lifestyle.

So, be sure to prioritize your self care– it’s key for your health.

What a beautiful shot on the cover of the children from the H Street Festival by Marckell Williams! That was definitely an award-winning shot. Keep up the excellent work!

Louis Williams

Washington, D.C.

TO THE EDITOR

I can’t believe Washington Gas wants to raise customer rates by 20%. That is outrageous and unfair to residents. We are already dealing with inflation, stagnant wages, a housing crisis because of high costs, and now this? This is ridiculous, and no good can come from a society where the average person is being exploited financially at every turn.

Eden Tanker

Washington, D.C.

Readers' Mailbox

The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to news@washingtoninformer.com. or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you.

Moreover, as COVID-19 numbers rise, and the District enters cold and flu season, some of these self care tools can also assist in boosting your immune system and wellness.

Guest Columnist

Ben Jealous

Our Public Lands Need More Land and a More Diverse Public

to introduce young people to them over the last three decades aren't prompted by holidays.

knew, which is why they came back"

Baldwin Hills, he notes.

On Saturday, environmental advocate Bill Vanderberg was where he is most Saturdays during the year — leading volunteers maintaining trails traversing the Santa Monica Mountains around Los Angeles.

Fittingly, last Saturday was National Public Lands Day. But Bill's efforts to care for natural places and

He's seen the transformation in people when they experience the outdoors, particularly students in Crenshaw High's Eco Club he ran for years and became the school's biggest extracurricular. He returned recently to Yosemite National Park with nine alumni, two of whom had never been there. "Why do I continue to do it?" he asks. "The look in their eyes and their smiles was why. The other seven already

Guest Columnist

He'll be the first to tell you that more needs to be done across the entire country to create that exposure and to protect lands and waters as parks, preserves, monuments, and refuges.

"Los Angeles itself is a very park poor community," Bill said. The state recreation area he lives across a major highway from can only be reached by car on the southern end while there are two trails with direct access on the northern edge in

The arguments for more public outdoor spaces are overwhelming. Kids do better in school and experience less asthma when they have ready access to parks; older adults are healthier too.

Trees act as sponges for greenhouse gases, and acres preserved in a natural state aren't available for development. Our goal is to protect 30 percent of the nation's landscape by 2030, which will mean more than doubling what we have today. Right now, we lose the

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr.

UAW Auto Workers Will Get a Fair Deal Only If They Fight for It

At least 12,700 United Auto Workers Union (UAW) workers have walked out in the first strike wave against the Big Three automakers — GM, Ford, and Stellantis (the company that took over Chrysler).

Every worker in America — union and non-union, young and old, female and male, Black, brown and white — has a stake

in this strike. At issue is not simply whether autoworkers can gain a living wage, but whether this country can begin to rebuild a middle class and curb the extreme inequality that undermines our economy and our democracy.

The companies paint the worker demands as extreme, even as the workers seek simply to get a raise that reflects the companies' performance in recent years.

Consider from 2013 to 2022 the companies earned $250 billion in profits, up 92% over that period

Guest Columnist

an HBCU. Harris's historic election was a proud and inspirational moment not only for the Howard University community but for the entire HBCU family.

of time. The average pay of their CEOs — last year each pocketed an average $25 million — is up 40%. Last year alone, the companies ladled out $9 billion in stock buybacks — rewarding shareholders but not workers.

Meanwhile, average autoworker pay, adjusted for inflation, is down nearly 20%. Mary Barra, the CEO of General Motors, made $29 million last year, roughly $14,500 an hour. The starting salary of an autoworker now is $17 an hour.

This astounding inequity has

David W. Marshall

spread across the economy. The Economic Policy Institute reports that over the last 45 years, adjusting for inflation, CEO compensation in America's 300 largest companies has risen 1,460% while a typical worker's pay grew by just 18%.

The auto executives, however, have enjoyed special aid from the government. In 2008, GM and Chrysler almost went bankrupt and were bailed out with some $80 billion in taxpayers' money.

Workers made deep sacrifices to

equivalent of a football field of land to development every 30 seconds in this country.

Parks can more than pay for themselves. The Interior Department reported last month that visitor spending in communities near National Parks in 2022 resulted in a record high $50.3 billion benefit to the nation's economy and supported 378,400 jobs. Given federal spending of $3.3 billion, a $1 spent on National Parks creates more than $10 of economic ben-

JEALOUS Page 57

keep the companies going — a wage freeze, an end of cost-ofliving raises, a lower paid tier for new workers, weaker pension and health care protections. They haven't received a cost-of-living raise since 2009, even though consumer prices are up 40%.

Now, with the companies raking in record profits and the CEOs pocketing record salaries, workers are asking for their fair share. They seek wage increases on par with

JACKSON Page 57

As a sitting vice president, it remains to be seen if Kamala Harris will eventually follow the political pathway of Joe Biden and ultimately ascend to the highest office in the nation. Harris, who graduated from Howard University in 1986, has already made history by becoming the first vice president to have graduated from

The HBCU legacy of shaping and educating future Black entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, public servants, teachers, architects, and engineers continues to be fulfilled despite the challenges resulting from limited funding and resources. The struggles facing all HBCUs are no secret, but they are deep-seated, and the root causes

behind the struggles are complex. Many people would not have the opportunity to obtain a college degree had it not been for an HBCU. Despite being underinvested institutions with small endowments, tight budgets, and higher percentages of students depending on Pell Grants, these schools serve a critical mission. HBCUs were always faced with having to do more with less, but this should not be the case for the HBCUs federally designated as land-grant universities. Land-grant institutions are uni-

versities or colleges that benefited from the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 — proposed when Sen. Justin Morrill of Vermont served in the House of Representatives, the Morrill Land Grant College Act of 1862 set aside federal lands — wrongfully taken from Indigenous nations — to create agricultural and mechanical schools exclusively for white students. With the passing of the Agricultural College Act of 1890 (the Second Morrill Act), 19 HBCU land-grant institutions were established to provide a simi-

lar education system for Black students, primarily in the South. This Reconstruction Era legislation aimed to provide a "just and equitable" allocation of funds between the 1862 and 1890 universities. Unfortunately, the reality of racial discrimination will always undermine any law recognizing that people of all backgrounds don't start in the same place in society; therefore, fair adjustments must be made to adjust the imbalances.

Guest Columnist

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq. (Ret.)

African American Leadership Council Summit: A Journey Home

During the past week, I had the opportunity to attend and speak for a conference held by the African American Leadership Council Summit: A Journey Home. Ms. Brandi Alexander serves as chief engagement officer. The conference was about end-of-life choices and many shared their experiences on this subject.

In my case, I talked about our

family's experience with my mom who made her transition in 2021. Before leaving us, she wrote a message to us stating that we should not worry about her because she'd had a good life. She had shared with us her desire to live in her home rather than go to a health care facility while still with us. We honored her wish by having a health care worker come in during the day, and my sisters and I divided our time with her.

Individually we came to my mom's place to be with her every day from California, Washington,

Guest Columnist

D.C., and Houston and we had a sister who lived near my mom, but there was always a family member with her to the end. My mom left advice for us in terms of her burial choices and how to pay for her service. Upon her transition, we did not deviate from her desires.

While it's always difficult having a loved one make their transition, because our mom had nearly all her desires in writing, the process was easier for us.

I listened to the challenges some families had when there was no end-of-life plan for their loved

Marc H. Morial

ones. Many participants were professionals who worked with people who either had or did not have end-of-life choices in writing. They found that often there were family feuds once the loved one made their transition without a plan. Some had to do GoFundMe operations that often had the effect of holding up burials until the funds could be raised. Some had arguments about cremation vs. traditional burials. This called attention to the need for cultural traditions to be recognized. While cremation is not yet popular

U.S. Open Champ Coco Gauff Represents New Era of American Tennis

"If you can think it, you can do it. If you can dream it, you can do it. Just keep working hard. It won't come easy and it will seem impossible but if you keep working hard it will definitely happen."

Coco Gauff

Tennis is a sport that has been historically dominated by white

athletes. However, the sport has since been experiencing a massive shift. Today, young Black athletes, exemplified by the prodigious Coco Gauff, are not just participating, but also shining on the world's largest stages. Their rise not only redefines the face of American tennis but also challenges long-standing narratives around race and sports.

Remembering tennis greats like Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson, we celebrate their unforgettable spirit and the legacy they left be-

Guest Columnist

hind. These pioneers battled racial prejudice, both subtle and overt, to carve out their places in the archives of tennis history. Their stories are the epitome of courage, perseverance, and resilience.

Ashe and Gibson blazed new trails in sports and in social justice. Coco Gauff is who they blazed them for.

It's fitting that Gauff won the U.S. Open as the nation celebrates 50 years since it became the first of the Grand Slam tournaments to offer equal prize money to men

and women. Billie Jean King, who spearheaded the boycott that led to equal pay, said, "She's the reason we fought so hard 50 years ago."

Like many among the new generation of outspoken Black athletes, Gauff has used her platform to advocate for social justice – a trail that her own grandmother, Yvonne Lee, helped to blaze when she became the first Black student to attend Delray Beach's all-white Seacrest High School in 1961.

Marian Wright Edelman

Nurturing Children with a Heart for Justice

walls that keep others out. She also asked an important question: how do we learn to act with love and justice?

I recently shared several passages from a sermon my dear friend Rev. Dr. Shannon Daley-Harris, who served Children's Defense Fund for 30 years, preached at Princeton University Chapel titled "Draw the Circle Wide." In it, Rev. Daley-Harris spoke about the need for all of us to draw circles wide enough to see and welcome others in, instead of creating

Rev. Daley-Harris shared that thanks to a grant from the Children's Spirituality Research and Innovation Hub at Union Presbyterian Seminary, she has been engaged in a research project, "Nurturing Children with a Heart for Justice," to understand how children from birth to age eight develop an understanding of justice.

As she explained some of her first findings: "The surprising bottom line is that children understand justice

much sooner than we might assume. … From the time they are babies, children are putting together many of the pieces that will develop into an understanding of justice. While still infants and toddlers, children prefer those who help to those who hinder, and want to help. They expect resources to be shared equally and want to share equally." She also shared research showing that even young children value equity more than strict equality following explicit conversations with adults that show them the difference in age-appropriate ways. Absent these

among people of African descent, interest appears to be growing. There are other traditions/desires that should be included in a person's end-of-life directives. Among the speakers were Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie, who did a master class about end-of-life choices. She told us about her mom's plan that made everything easier for her family. If you've never heard her speak on this subject, you should invite her to do so at your next conference or conven-

WILLIAMS Page 58

Though she was only 16 when George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police in 2020, Gauff delivered a powerful speech at a Black Lives Matter rally outside Delray Beach City Hall, speaking just after her grandmother, saying, "I think it's sad that I'm here protesting the same thing that she did 50-plus years ago."

Like her grandmother, Gauff stormed onto the scene with a maturity and expertise well be-

MORIAL Page 58

conversations, children often default to equality or to explanations like personal effort or personal qualities to understand why things seem unfair; but when children as young as five understand that a high-status group created, maintains, and perpetuates structures that lead to inequality, it reduces children's bias and increases their efforts to rectify inequality. Rev. Daley-Harris added: "That means we adults must not shy away from these brave and honest conversations."

Rev. Daley-Harris is studying "how children create 'moral circles,' and

how they are helped to understand differences they observe. From infancy, children develop a familiarity bias; those whom they see, interact with, are cared for by, are familiar. As they observe who is around them children develop 'moral circles,' defined by researchers Chalik and Rhodes as 'boundaries within which we view others as worthy of moral concern.'

Researcher Paul Bloom notes that children sort people into three large circles: 'Kin,' 'In-Group,' and 'Strang-

EDELMAN Page 58

LIFESTYLE

Dignitaries, Changemakers, Lawmakers Tout the Black Press at 2023 NNPA National Leadership Awards Reception

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Founder and Head of Mission of the Diaspora African Forum H.E. Dr. Erieka Bennett, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, activist Erica Ford, Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison, Exonerated Five member and New York City Councilman-Elect Dr. Yusef Salaam, Eric Garner’s mother Gwen Carr, and Oscar Grant’s mother the Rev. Wanda Johnson, were among the activists, celebrities, politicians, and changemakers to fill the main

ballroom at the Marriott Marquis for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)

National Leadership Awards Reception.

The highly anticipated event delivered on the Black Press of America’s promise of an evening of recognition and celebration in honor of exceptional leaders who have made significant contributions to America, particularly the African American community.

This year’s theme, “Black Press of America Salutes Black Leadership Excellence,” reflected the spirit of acknowledgment and appreci-

ation for those who have tirelessly worked toward the betterment of society.

“The Black Press is the foundation of our community, it's how we hear and amplify what’s going on in our community,” said Harrison, among the many power brokers to grace the NNPA’s red carpet. “We have to support the Black Press. I’m going to make sure that we support the Black Press.”

Ohio Democratic Rep. Shontel Brown, a Leadership Award Recipient, joined Harrison on the Red Carpet and pledged to continue supporting the Black Press.

“My local newspaper is the Call and Post, and that newspaper is critical,” Brown declared.

“The Black Press is how we get and receive our news. It’s essential to communicate with people who look like us. I couldn’t agree more with the chair that we must support the Black Press,” Brown stated.

Fellow awardee Congressional Black Caucus Chair Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nevada) echoed Brown and Harrison, taking it a step further by insisting that Democrats and others ensure revenue continues to flow into Blackowned newspapers and media companies.

“We have to make every effort to support you, to fund you, to make sure our campaigns and organizations are placing ads and media spend with you,” Horsford

proclaimed, adding that after 196 years of serving African American communities, the Black Press is as vital as ever.

Ruff Endz, the renowned R&B duo, added a musical flair to the evening with some of their chart-topping hits like “No More,” and “Someone to Love You.”

Guy Lambert, a distinguished figure in the world of broadcasting, served as master of ceremonies, while the Rev. Mark Thompson, a longtime contributor and supporter of the NNPA, helped to introduce the awardees who also included Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Rep. Jasmine Crocket (D-Texas), Niesha Foster of Pfizer Inc., Jessie Woolley-Wilson of Dreambox Learning, and the People’s Attorney Benjamin Crump.

“It’s been a very exciting event,” Dr. Bennett said of her week in Washington at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Legislative Conference, and the NNPA National Leadership Awards Reception. She noted the excursions members of the CBC and the Black Press have made to Ghana and other parts of the African continent.

“In the African tradition, when someone comes to your house, you go back to their house.”

Ford, of Life Camp Inc., said although she arrived in Washington for a special ceremony at the White House, she’s always valued the role of the Black Press.

“I’m here because our hard work paid off. It’s history,” Ford declared. “The White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention (announced earlier in the week) is something we worked so hard for and so long for. So, we were at the White House and decided to come here.”

Standing only feet away from Ford were Carr and Grant. Both said the Black Press has helped to amplify their concerns and messages since police in New York and Oakland, respectively, killed their sons.

“I can’t tell you how important the Black Press has been before Eric and since,” Carr said.

NNPA Chair, Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry, and NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., presided over the evening, which drew thousands to the event.

Chavis said the outing further symbolized the unity and strength of the NNPA in its mission to continue to serve as the unchallenged voice of Black America.

“For 196 years, the Black Press has been the trusted voice, the unwavering voice, for truth, justice, equality, and equity in America and globally,” Chavis asserted. “We are at a pivotal time in history and the Black Press will continue to be the vital, trusted, and needed voice during this time as well.”

WI @StacyBrownMedia

5 NNPA Chair Bobby Henry and NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis present an award to CBC Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nevada). (Courtesy Photo/ Mark Mahoney)

5 R&B duo Ruff Endz performs at the NNPA National Leadership Awards Reception. (Courtesy Photo/ Mark Mahoney)

Bowser Presents the 38th Annual Mayor Arts Awards

A Celebration of Artistic Talent Across the District

By Milaka Saddler WI Contributing Writer

The 38th Annual Mayor Arts Awards will take place Sept. 28, at the Lincoln theater to honor local artists, arts educators, creatives and fashion industry gurus, nonprofit organizations, and patrons of the arts and humanities. Embracing this year’s theme, “Born Bold,” Latoya Foster, director of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME) emphasized that the awards are important to not only celebrate D.C. arts and culture, but highlight the vibrant, unique and diverse arts community.

“People are often told to calm down our boldness, to dim our light but we want our community to shine like diamonds,” Foster told the Informer.

Foster and her team found “Born Bold,” to be the perfect theme, she elaborated, because of the bold and creative visions many local artists possess.

CELEBRATING THE DISTRICTS SOUL

This year's celebration, Foster emphasized, will be held in the historic Black Broadway neighborhood-- also known as the U Street Corridor--- at the Lincoln theater. Foster shared that the event's location selection is purposeful as it is reflective of the District's fruitful art history.

The location is also fitting, she shares, because it is truly reflective

of the mayor's commitment to shining a light on our own.

“We know how important the arts are to our city,” Foster said, before quoting the late Mayor Marion Barry, from 1997.

“‘A city without art is a city without soul,’” the director added, quoting Barry.

The event, she said, would be “full of soul and be bolder than ever before.”

With the 50th anniversary of hip hop, the awards will also honor the genre.

HIGHLIGHTING LOCAL ARTISTS

Overall, the event is an opportunity for the District to not only award local talent in the community, but pay homage to historic artistic figures as well.

The winners of each award have already been selected by the community for all 14 categories. A few of the categories for the nominations are “excellence in Arts Education, in Creative Industries, Excellence in Media Arts, Excellence in the Nightlife Economy, and many more.

Attendees should also look forward to live performances, surprise guests,and overall arts and cultural celebration.

Foster also noted she hoped attendees leave with the courage to “be bold.”

“Being bold encompasses resilience, vision, defying the odds, and doing the things we’re afraid to do.” WI

(Courtesy photo)

THE THEATER AT MGM NATIONAL HARBOR

Hollywood Labor Dispute Nears End as Writers Guild Reaches Tentative Deal

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Hollywood’s protracted labor conflict has taken a significant step towards resolution. The Writers Guild of America, representing over 11,000 screenwriters, said the 146-day strike might end with the announcement of a tentative agreement on Sunday, Sept. 24.

The forthcoming days will see guild members vote on whether to accept the deal, which aligns with their demands. The demands include higher pay for streaming content, agreements from studios on minimum staffing for TV shows, and protections against AI technology affecting writers’ credits and pay.

According to the New York Times, the Writers Guild’s negotiating committee emailed members, expressing their pride in the deal.

The Alliance of Motion Picture

and Television Producers, representing studios, consistently refrained from celebrating prematurely, offering a concise statement: “The W.G.A. and A.M.P.T.P. have reached a tentative agreement.”

Many in the entertainment industry, profoundly impacted by the streaming revolution catalyzed by the pandemic, view this tentative accord as a crucial stride toward stabilization. However, a substantial portion of Hollywood remains at a standstill, with tens of thousands of actors continuing their strike and no talks scheduled between the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, and the studios.

SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14.

The agreement gives hope to Hollywood’s recovery, which could prevent billions in losses and financial hardships for workers.

WI

5 (Courtesy photo)

Duane “Cousin Wayne” Cunningham Speaks to Youth, Parents in New Book

By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer

Over the last few months, a book specifically tailored to District youth has been making its way into the hands of local teenagers, parents and schools.

Amid local officials’ ongoing efforts to curb violent crime, Duane Cunningham, the author of the book, calls this literary work the answer to many of the pressing questions and perilous situations that young people often encounter.

Since releasing “Blueprint to be a Better You” this past spring, Cunningham has been making the rounds at D.C. schools, community centers and communities, all as part of his mission to encourage young people and their parents to embrace his wisdom and bridge a crucial generational divide.

“I made something short and to the point, and I chose not to write about me,” said Cunningham, a longtime violence interrupter who many people know as Cousin Wayne.

“I can help children think about the things they’re going through,” Cunningham continued. “Everyone isn’t going to jail. Maybe their brothers and cousins. But they might be going through drug addiction. I tried to pick subjects that young people face on the regular and don’t know what to do about it.”

In less than 50 pages, “Blueprint to be a Better You” explores more than a dozen topics of significance to young people navigating a world unknown to most adults.

In the first few pages, Cunningham explains why young people are their own opps, a reference to a popular term that means opponent. He also emphasizes the importance of humility and using that to broker peace deals with other young people with whom the reader might have a conflict.

Throughout “Blueprint to be a Better You,” readers go through a deconstruction and reconstruction process as they reinterpret the meaning of respect, learn strategies for overcoming peer pressure, and understand how to seek out authentic role models. In the realms of health

and wellness, the book also touches on drug culture and mental health with Cunningham delving into the long-term effects of self-harm.

Toward the end of the book, Cunningham takes readers inside the classroom, where conflicts with well-meaning teachers often arise. He also encourages them to open up to trusted adults, decipher the true intentions of those they call friends, and, finally, step outside of the box that their surroundings have created for them.

Cunningham told the Informer that he learned these gems of knowledge late in his life, after enduring the same situations that he mentions in the “Blueprint to be a Better You.”

While he doesn’t touch on his past in great detail, Cunningham provides scenarios intended to show readers how failing to mitigate conflict -- also known as squashing beef -- can affect a young person’s life and the lives of their family members.

For Cunningham, it’s all about how young people respect themselves and those around them.

“I didn’t respect people,” Cunningham said as he explained his transformation. “I thought about me being a role model to my cousins. My oldest son was my turning point. He came up to the jail, and told me he wanted me to stay home. That made me say I was done and do what I had to do.”

Cunningham, a father of five and grandfather of one, currently works with D.C. Department of Youth and Rehabilitative Services in the Oasis Mentoring Program. He started his journey with youth in 2006 when he joined Peaceaholics, which was founded by Ronald Moton and Jauhar Abraham.

By 2010, Cunningham went on to work with the Rev. Donald Isaac and Collaborative Solutions for Communities. Along the way, he found mentors in community figures, like the late Amin Muslim, in whose name he and Warees Majeed launched a mentoring program in 2019.

As he continues to circulate “Blueprint to be a Better You,” Cunningham stresses the importance of evolution, both for youth and their

parents. He described that as the key takeaway from his book, and a message that many people take for granted.

Cunningham expressed his desire for young people to embrace his lessons before it's too late. He also told the Informer that adults in the community have a similar responsibility to be their best self for children in the community.

“The person who doesn’t succeed has a fear of change,” Cunningham said. “They’re scared about what happens when they stop hanging with the fellas and start working. That’s why they stay on the block. How many people gotta die before they think about changing their life? They’re inside a bubble. They don’t know what anything else feels like.”

WI

@SamPKCollins

5 Duane “Cousin Wayne” Cunningham (Courtesy Photo)

LIFESTYLE Generating Community Connection Through This Year’s Art All Night and Dine All Night

By Milaka Saddler WI Contributing Writer

Latisha Atkins, director of the Pennsylvania Avenue East Main Street, and a Ward 7 resident, is excited that her neighborhood will, once again, take part in this year's Art All Night events on Sept. 29 from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m., and looks forward to the added Dine All Night programming.

LISTENING TO DIVERSE VOICES & SUPPORTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Atkins has a strong commitment to strengthening her community and has worked in various capacities for 15 years to do so. She keeps her fingers on the pulse of her community, listening to the constantly develop-

ing, diverse voices within it. She explained that she concentrates on economic development. One of her main focal points: increasing foot traffic to local businesses.

By revitalizing local businesses and unifying the community, outdated narratives about the community will change, Atkins explained. She looks to transform the Pennsylvania Avenue East Main Street narrative “from a community that you drive through, to a community that you come to.”

PENN AVE EAST

MAIN STREET

ART ALL NIGHT & DINE ALL NIGHT

Initiative’s like Art All Night and Dine All Night greatly contribute to Atkins efforts. The festivities allow the residents within the community and residents from other neighbor-

hoods to connect and explore all that the District has to offer.

This year's theme is “Strength, Community and Unity,” and Atkins shared that the theme is reflective of all that this year's events will supply.

Atkins said attendees should expect to see live music including gogo bands. Guests should also look forward to a community favorite: a spades tournament. Also, look out for presenters from: WPGC FM, to Don’t Mute D.C., Broccoli City Festival and Market 7.

With an emphasis on family friendly fun, the event’s secondary theme, The Wiz and Munchkinland, will serve as an added entertaining bonus for children.

As part of Dine All Night, Atkins said attendees should look forward to checking out Highlands Cafe & Grill, which will have a happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and dinner specials 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

FOCUSING ON CONNECTING AND SUPPORTING COMMUNITY

Atkins emphasized the major purpose of the event: connecting the community and celebrating local arts and culture.

“The mayor's main focus is on

growth and sustainability,” Atkins told the Informer.

“The vision behind Art All Night is to really bring people out to these neighborhoods to celebrate the visual and performing arts and increase foot traffic to businesses residents haven’t yet exposed themselves to, overall, emphasizing our message of community support and connection.” WI

(Courtesy photo)

Book Censorship on the Rise in U.S. Libraries, ALA Reports a 20% Increase in Challenges in 2023

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

The assault on Black history and that of other minority groups in the U.S. has ramped up with the recent banning of books. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has released alarming preliminary data indicating a significant surge in attempts to censor books, materials, and services across public, school, and academic libraries in the United States during the first eight months of 2023.

The American Library Association (ALA) compiled crucial data on book challenges from reports filed by library professionals and news stories published nationwide. This year, between January 1 and August 31, 2023, OIF documented a staggering 20% increase in challenges, with 695 attempts to censor library materials and services. The challenges encompassed 1,915 unique titles, marking an escalation from the same period in 2022.

Books written by or about people of color or members of the LGBTQIA+ community are primary targets. Challenges within public libraries accounted for nearly half of documented cases, a

sharp rise from 16% last year.

RISE IN MULTIPLE TITLE CHALLENGES

What sets 2023 apart from previous years is the continued surge in simultaneous challenges to multiple titles. A staggering 92% of books challenged were part of attempts to censor multiple titles, compared to 90% in the first eight months of 2022. Cases involving challenges to 100 or more books were reported in 11 states, a significant increase from just six states during the same reporting period in 2022 and none in 2021. Previously, most challenges aimed to remove or restrict a single book. However, this year, a single challenge targeting multiple titles has become the predominant contributor to the rise in censorship attempts.

“These attacks on our freedom to read should trouble every person who values liberty and our constitutional rights,” said OIF Director Deborah Caldwell-Stone. “To allow a group of people or any individual, no matter how powerful or loud, to become the decision-maker about what books we can read or whether libraries exist is to place all of our rights and liberties in jeopardy.”

She further emphasized the expanding focus of groups with political agendas.

“Expanding beyond their well-organized attempts to sanitize school libraries, groups with a political agenda have turned their crusade to public libraries, the very embodi-

ment of the First Amendment in our society,” Caldwell-Stone insisted. “This places politics over the well-being and education of young people and everyone’s right to access and use the public library.”

PUBLIC CASES OF CENSORSHIP

To ALA documented several public cases of censorship:

• Samuels Public Library (Front Royal, Va.): A local pressure group called “Clean Up Samuels'' organized book-banning BBQ events, intending to fill out Request for Reconsideration forms for library materials. Their efforts primarily targeted LGBTQIA+ materials, resulting in over 500 forms completed for nearly 150 unique titles. County board members, influenced by the group, voted to withhold 75% of the library’s budget until it took action to restrict access to certain books.

• Clinton (Tenn.) Public Library: In response to challenges to books related to gender identity and sexual orientation, the library board voted against creating a special section for such materials. Challenges persisted, with group members advocating for the censorship of LGBTQIA+ representation in library materials. They also called for the library director’s resignation and threatened community members who defended access to resources. In August, elected officials asked the sheriff to investigate whether 17 books violated Tennessee’s criminal obscenity laws.

• Urbandale (Iowa) Community School District: Officials flagged 374 books for removal from school libraries in response to a state law defining age-appropriate content. The list included titles addressing sex, sex education, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The list was revised to 65 books, with titles like “The Kite Runner” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” removed.

CALL TO ACTION AND BANNED BOOKS WEEK

“The antidote to the conta-

gion of censorship is public, vocal support for libraries,” said ALA President Emily Drabinski, who encouraged public support for libraries and for individuals to attend local school or library board meetings, participate in Banned Books Week initiatives, and join the Unite Against Book Bans campaign to combat censorship.

Banned Books Week 2023,

scheduled for Oct. 1–7, draws attention to attempts to remove books and materials from libraries, schools, and bookstores. Officials said the theme, “Let Freedom Read,” highlights the urgent need to defend the right to read and support the community of readers, library staff, educators, authors, publishers, and booksellers. WI @StacyBrownMedia

FATOUMATA DIAWARA

Tomorrow! Friday, September 29

Malian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist fuses Afropop and jazz through stinging guitar lines and traditional West African string instruments.

Shelby Duncan

3 Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" is one of the books that has been pulled from libraries across the country as part of a ban on certain books. (Courtesy photo)

‘Reframing Americana:’ A Transformative Exhibition Merges Narratives at Art All Night

Artists Halim Flowers and Clarence James Challenge Stereotypes and Explore Identity in Groundbreaking Show

By Andrew S. Jacobson WI Contrubuting Writer

This weekend, the nation’s capital hosts an art exhibition that promises more than just paintings in the respective parks; it’s a call for re-examination and engagement with the multifaceted tapestry of Americana. “Reframing Americana: A Confluence of Narratives,” featuring artists Halim Flowers, Clarence James and Phillip Fenty, kicks off Friday, Sept. 29, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 1 as part of Mayor Bowser’s DC Art All Night. Set across two iconic venues— The Park at 14th and Franklin

Square Park—the exhibition invites patrons to partake in a transformative conversation. At Franklin Square Park, Clarence James’ monumental Black cowboy canvases stand boldly beside the Commodore Barry statue, challenging conventional stereotypes and probing the intricacies of American identity.

The arrangement of folding chairs around James’ pieces beckons the audience to engage in civil intellectual resistance and unity, referencing historical moments like the Montgomery brawl. James’ work is enriched by his research into Civil War encampments at Franklin Square, adding layers to the dialogue with figures of a Black revolutionary and a Civil War soldier.

A short distance away, at The Park at 14th, Halim Flowers explores narratives of native identities. His wallpaper installation envelops viewers in a world where native Washingtonians intersect with Native Americans and concepts of indigeneity. A monumental drape canvas suspended from

the second-floor balcony amplifies the themes of gentrification and genocide of native persons, offering a complementary narrative to James’s cowboy discussions.

This visual treat isn’t merely aesthetic; Flowers transforms the venue into an immersive and Instagrammable atmosphere. The dialogue between Flowers and James spans across time periods, cultures, and geographies, urging a redefinition and expansion of collective identity.

Adding a playful dimension to the exhibition, emerging video artist Philip Fenty presents looping video works, paying homage to the award-winning works of Arthur Jaffa and Khalil Joseph. Fenty’s themes, ranging from social media and blackness to health and nutrition, converge in beautifully organic visual expressions.

“Reframing Americana,” is more than an art exhibition; it’s a groundbreaking platform for poignant dialogue and exploration of what Americana really signifies. WI

A Battle of Culture and Values on the African Continent

The situation in Nigeria comes months after lawmakers in Uganda passed legislation reaffirming a current statute that imposes a life sentence for same-sex conduct.

The bill also increases the penalty for same-sex conduct by 10 years while levying the death penalty in certain cases, and further institutionalizing a system that censors LGBTQIA activists and punishes family and friends who don’t report same-sex activity.

After the World Bank suspended Uganda’s funding in September, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said he wouldn’t capitulate to pressure from foreign institutions, going as far to suggest that he has already adjusted Uganda’s budget to reduce foreign dependence.

Throughout much of Africa, LGBTQIA rights are limited, other than in South Africa and Cape Verde, both of which are considered countries friendly to LGBTQIA Black people.

South Africa in particular has legalized same-sex marriage and installed constitutional protections for members of the LGBTQIA communi-

ty. Meanwhile, Nigeria has joined Uganda, Somalia, Somaliland, and Mauritania in imposing the death penalty for LGBTQIA-related sexual acts.

Sudan, Gambia, Tanzania and Sierra Leone have laws on the books through which people convicted of performing such acts can be imprisoned for life.

During a visit to Ghana earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris (D) mentioned Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ bill, touting it as a human rights issue. Alban Bagbin, Ghana’s speaker of parliament, later decried Harris' statement as a violation of democratic values and Ghana’s right to determine its own fate without outside interference.

Months later, Ghana's supreme court dismissed a legal challenge to the impending passage of a string of anti-LGBTQIA laws through Ghana's parliament.

D.C. metropolitan area organizer Ayo Kimathi shares perspectives similar to Bagbin. He told the Informer that Africa has become the last battleground in western institutions’ campaign to impose homosexuality on the rest of the world.

Read more on www.washingtoninformer.com

5 “Reframing Americana: A Confluence of Narratives,” featuring artists Halim Flowers, Clarence James and Phillip Fenty, kicks off Friday, Sept. 29, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 1 as part of Mayor Bowser’s DC Art All Night.

LGBTQIA from Page 8

© 2023 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Je Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 39, No. 45

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a squirrel???

ow do some squirrels fly? They don’t have wings like birds.

The flying squirrel has a flap of skin that stretches from its front legs to its hind legs. When it stretches out its legs, these skin flaps form “wings.” The squirrel uses these to glide from tree to tree.

Flying squirrels use their tails to change direction and even move up and down. They turn and dive like stunt pilots and even turn somersaults! Using their tails as brakes, they land feet first and sink their sharp claws into the bark of a tree. After landing in a tree, they climb up higher in the tree and look around for the next landing.

The flying squirrels are having a feast, but which foods will they eat? Start with the letter in the square and read every other letter in the border to find out what foods flying squirrels like to munch. Then circle those foods.

directions.

S E I R N R S N S U T F U S N G I G G E B I E C S T E Standards Link: Reading Comprehension:

Are you an eagle-eyed paragraphs below nd. Then rewrite lines below or a

Last saturday, the leafs in squirrels were other from in our tree. the trunk onto the lawn. My dog Jethro across the and barking squirrels scrambled highest branch As I leafs, an acorn Jethro on Did the squirrels acorn? I’ll sure seemed

Use the code to learn some amazing facts about the flying squirrel.

Flying squirrels can glide as far as feet ( meters).

Flying squirrels live in the forests of Asia, Europe and North America. Most of them grow to be to inches long ( - centimeters).

Some Asian flying squirrels grow to be more than feet long ( meter)!

How many leaves can you count on this page?

ne day, when a ________ squirrel came back to the cozy hole in the oak tree where her little babies were _______, she saw a frightening sight. A lumberjack was in the tree, __________ a limb off. In horror, she watched him pull

her four hairless babies from the nest. She knew she would have to act fast!

Use the columns in the newspaper as guides to cut out long strips of paper. Measure your newspaper strips and line them up to show the number of feet (or meters) a flying squirrel can glide.

Find where each word belongs in this story.

She then __________ higher and sailed with her baby 86 feet across the river. She ___________ the baby up to a hole in another tree. She did this again and again until all of her babies were safe. Standards Link: Life Science: Animals have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places. Standards Link: Word Analysis/Phonemic Awareness: Distinguish sounds in words. Standards Link: Life Science: Describe similarities and differences in the behavior of animals.

KID SCOOP IS SPONSORED BY

Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recognize identical words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.

Talking Pictures

Cut out pictures from the newspaper and paste them on paper. Write words for the people, animals or objects in the pictures to say. Draw “talking bubbles” around the words to create comics.

Up in the Air

Up in the air, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s … Finish this story about something flying through the air.

"Bayard Rustin: A Legacy of Protest and Politics" edited by Michael G. Long, foreword by Clayborne Carson c.2023, NYU

$27.95 / 256 pages

Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer

You will never settle.

And why should you? If it's not right, you make it right. If it can be better, well, then get at it. You find the solution or you go on to the next thing because good enough is never good enough. As in the new book "Bayard Rustin," essays edited by Michael G. Long, there's always work to do and good trouble.

Somehow, it seems, in the discussion about Martin Luther King and the leadership he brought to the civil rights movement, certain things may be left out. In the case of Bayard Rustin, says Long, the record needs to be altered. Today, now.

His mother was still a teenager, and unmarried, when Rustin's grandmother helped deliver him in the spring of 1912. The boy's father refused to acknowledge him, so his grandparents gave him a family name and raised him in their Quaker faith.

Still, alongside the peaceful, gentle mandate of Quakerism, young Rustin experienced Jim Crow segregation. His grandmother left a major impact on him, teaching him compassion, kindness, and generosity — she reared him to do the right thing — but they lived in Pennsylvania, where racism was common and the Klan maintained a nearby presence. As if that wasn't difficulty enough, Rustin realized he was gay, which was illegal then.

At that point, though, he had seen many wrongs around him, and he became an activist. He also worked for justice as a speaker and organizer; at one time, he'd embraced communism but eventually became a socialist. By his own admission, Rustin was jailed more than 20 times and served on a chain gang for several months — but even then, his nonviolent Quaker beliefs emerged and he befriended his jailers, gaining their respect.

By the time he met a young preacher named Martin Luther King, Rustin was well-versed on civil rights work. He had direction, contacts and the organizational skills the movement needed.

And yet, he was willing to let King take the front stage …

Pulled together as a collection of essays, "Bayard Rustin" has one flaw that probably can't be helped: it's quite repetitive. Each of the essayists in this book wrote extensively about Rustin, his work, and his impact, but there just doesn't seem to be quite enough about Rustin himself — perhaps because, as editor Michael G. Long indicates in his introduction, Rustin left a legacy but history left him more in the background. This means that the nearly two dozen contributors to this book had only what they had to go on, hence, the repetition.

Even so, if you look for Rustin, you'll find abundant tales about him and this book has a good portion of them. Readers will be entertained, confounded and pleased by what they read here. i\It's like finding treasure you never knew you needed.

This book needs to sit on the shelf next to everything written about Dr. King. It's an essential companion to any volume about the civil rights movement. If you need history, find "Bayard Rustin" and settle in. WI

horoscopes

ARIES Think about what you're going to say, then place the call. Taking the first few days of the week step by step is the best way to survive the frantic, albeit fun, times. On Tuesday and Wednesday, if you find yourself flirting with someone, make yourself clear. This is also crucial on Thursday or Friday, but the people you're dealing with will most likely be family members, and the tenor of the conversation could be difficult and emotionally charged. Lucky Numbers: 8, 11, 34

TAURUS Monday through Wednesday are not great days to make major decisions about the future of your cash. In the present, cash could be uncharacteristically flying out of your pockets. More than anything, you're spending money on entertaining ways to waste time. This is all well and good, but Thursday and Friday strike a deeper note. Your close friends are in the picture. Lucky Numbers: 6, 7, 13

GEMINI It's not raining, it's pouring the first half of the week, metaphorically, at least. You were in the mood to meet some new people, and a bus full of new people has just pulled up to your life. If you're single and looking, this is an especially wonderful development. Chatting, shaking hands, and even flirting take up your week until Thursday, when money concerns distract you from your social life. Lucky Numbers: 7, 37, 45

CANCER Your wild side is coming through at the start of the week and people are responding well to it. You are the kind of person who makes an impact. Let your creative brilliance solve whatever conundrums are puzzling the people around you. Toward the middle of the week, your mind fills with possibilities for the future. This is a time for new beginnings. Lucky Numbers: 33, 49, 56

LEO A party is a fine place to get some things figured out. You and your friends have a casual rapport that strikes fairly deeply, a shorthand that lets you talk about weighty issues with lightness and humor. You are constantly impressed by these friends, especially on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, your chest swells with contentment. Intuition, sensitivity, and pride all figure strongly toward the end of the week. Lucky Numbers: 6, 16, 22

VIRGO What you need at the outset of the week is the skills of a mathematician. If you're not a mathematician, just work extra hard to be logical and reasonable when dealing with whatever comes your way. Emotional investment isn't paying off at this juncture. That said, be as warm as possible when communicating with others. Lucky Numbers: 10, 11, 41

LIBRA You're sick of what you already know. You'd rather wing it in a conversation about a subject you've hardly ever considered. This is related to a desire (that is strong Monday through Wednesday) to experience new things. To grow mentally. To expand. Lucky Numbers: 13, 17, 52

SCORPIO As good as it can be to take risks in your life, risks aren't going to go your way on Monday or Tuesday. Tempted as you are, you're best off passing them up. Being careful is key. Don't let any minor details escape your attention on Wednesday. On Thursday, the tension finally breaks and you can rely more on your wits. Sometimes it's a lot more fun to go along for the ride than to be the person setting the course. Lucky Numbers: 4, 23, 49

SAGITTARIUS Some people like to sit on the porch and talk about their dreams. You'd rather march into the world and realize yours. But there are a lot of porch-sitters in your life, so for the first half of the week, keep your head down and ignore them. In the second half of the week, you're more open to other people, but you'd still be wise to follow your mood, and if that means building a fort with couch cushions, crawling in with a book, and shutting out the rest of the world, so be it. Lucky Numbers: 9, 10, 22

CAPRICORN People love chatting with you, but your chatting time Monday through Wednesday is crowded out by more pressing tasks. Be nice, of course, but don't let yourself get trapped in a conversation about, say, what was on TV last night. The best way to get through this week is to narrow your aim and strike quickly at everything. Lucky Numbers: 35, 44, 57

AQUARIUS The fires of your romantic life are burning so brightly Monday through Wednesday that you can't see anything else. The connection isn't just about physical attraction; it's deeper and more cerebral than that. If you could spend every hour of the week with this person, you would, but Thursday has something else in store for you: a lot of responsibilities to see through. Lucky Numbers: 29, 51, 54

PISCES You aren't charging out of the gate on Monday. As a matter of fact, you might not even leave the house. The start of the week through Wednesday, you're busy but not particularly ambitious socially. A sense of uncertainty weighs heavily on you, at least until Thursday, when an unexpected romantic development puts a smile on your face. Expect the grin to last through Friday. Lucky Numbers: 29, 41, 57

COMMANDERS RECAP

Buffalo Bills Beat Washington Commanders 37-3

By Anthony Tilghman

In the third week of the NFL, the Buffalo Bills took on the Washington Commanders in the AFC. The game turned out to be a complete blowout as the Bills scored 37 points, while the Commanders only managed to score three.

There was little competition as the Commanders failed to score any points for three quarters consecutively. An impressive 51-yard field goal was scored by Joey Slye to give something to Washington.

The Commanders had the best chance at the end zone, but the Bills'

defense stopped a two-yard line touchdown turnover and there was nothing left for Washington.

The Bills offense was on point with nine sacks, 10 tackles, and 15 quarterback hits.

Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was sacked nine times and threw four interceptions. Washington converted exactly one of their nine third downs and allowed Buffalo conversions on nine of 15. The team couldn’t get the ball down the field and failed on the offensive end to convert.

Buffalo safety cornerback Micah Hyde made one interception after missing most of the games last season

with a neck injury that was painful to see for Bills fans.

A.J. Epenesa's 32-yard touchdown was impressive as he sealed the deal in the fourth quarter.

Star quarterback Josh Allen had a decent game and looked good on the field, scoring a touchdown with 218 yards putting the Bills in front, and completing 20 out of 32 passes.

The Buffalo Bills have won nine out of 10 games against the Wash-

ington Commanders.

The game also proved historic for Stefon Diggs, the Bills’ star wide receiver, who surpassed 9,000 receiving yards.

Overall, Sunday’s game was a good performance from the Bills to boost their confidence in the upcoming games.

Head Coach Sean McDermott looked happy with the back-toback wins. The Buffalo Bills defense

played fearlessly with no touchdowns and only one field goal for the Commanders.

“It just forces everybody to look in the mirror and make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin said. “They came in here, and they whooped us.”

The Commanders are now 2-1 after winning the first two games since taking over new ownership. WI

BSU Unveils Updated Basketball Arena, Bowling Benefit for Softball Program, Honoring Coach Dave Dolch

By Richard Elliott WI Contributing Reporter

BOWIE STATE BASKETBALL UNVEILS UPDATED BASKETBALL ARENA

Bowie State unveiled their brandnew NBA quality court on Sept. 21 with Wanda Durant and the men’s basketball team on-hand for the ribbon cutting. The court was funded by a $500,000 gift from NBA superstar Kevin Durant and the Durant Family Foundation, first announced in late 2022.

This investment also added new seating and refurbished the press box.

“When I sit back and think about my son playing in this very gym at age nine, I never thought I’d be here this day. I remember the many years I brought my sons here to play, sitting up in the bleachers and hollering at the referees. I never thought it would come to this,” said Wanda Durant.

“I’m grateful that he realized that it’s important for him to give back to an HBCU, and maybe he can be a catalyst for other athletes throughout the country to give back to HBCUs.”

Bowie State President Aminta Breaux highlighted the importance for Bowie State to build relationships with individuals and organizations to provide the top-of-the-line resources to student-athletes.

State dollars can’t go to athletic programs. Students are often charged athletic fees in addition to tuition to maintain athletic programs, a prohibitive cost for students. By funding this donation, Bowie State will not have the same need for raising athletic fees that other Maryland universities have implemented over the past decade.

“Bowie State’s partnership with the Durant Family Foundation has made our vision of an upgraded gymnasium a reality with improvements to the court and seating,” said Dr. Breaux.

“This half million-dollar gift by

the Durant Family Foundation to Bowie State’s athletic department transformed basketball, and it will energize the students behind me to get some wins.” WI

BOWLING BENEFIT FOR BOWIE’S SOFTBALL PROGRAM

Dwayne Sims, founder of the Negro League Legends Hall of Fame (NLLHF) and co-owner of Bowie’s Center Pocket Entertainment Center, hosted a bowling benefit for on Sept. 17 at the AMF in Landover for the CIAA champion Bowie State softball team.

The softball team, friends, family and supporters of Bowie State came out for free lanes and an opportunity to flex their bowling abilities.

Retired Texas Rangers shortstop and center fielder Dale Davis, who attended the bowling benefit, used to live in the DMV area and attended Prince George’s Community College.

“My first contract was a sevenyear contract. Usually the first is seven years. It helps when you have signing bonuses in place. The minimum wage is pennies for minor league play. To help with getting more Black players, we can push baseball more in schools and rec leagues, and spread word of the history to the community,” Davis told the Informer. “We don’t have too many players from the DMV area, so we can better spread the word around here. Recreational leagues often aren’t funded, you have to buy your cleats and equipment. Some teams have those things, but there’s nothing better than your own.”

Some of his mentors in the game have been Albert Cartwright, Jeron Sands, Greg Gordon, Jeff Francis and former Yankees player Antoan Richardson, who was the last player batted in by Yankees legend Derek Jeter.

“I learned a lot from PG Community College, and I used Cartwright’s motions and tactics to improve my game,” he said. WI

FORMER BOWIE STATE FOOTBALL PLAYER HONOR COACH DAVE DOLCH

Prior to the 1987 season, the Bowie State Bulldogs were perennial losers in college football– with a 32-game losing streak. Coach Dave Dolch, formerly an Assistant for Western Maryland College’s football team, inherited a two season winless streak that eventually grew to 32 games.

Yet in 1988, the team went 9-11 and was one of just 16 teams to make the Division II playoffs. Coach Dolch was widely credited with the turnaround, including improved recruitment efforts and a strong running game.

Dolch left Bowie State in 1988, ending his tenure at Bowie State with a record of 12-17-2.

WI

5 The Buffalo Bills beat the Washington Commanders 37-3 on Sunday, Sept. 24. (Abdullah Konte/ The Washington Informer)

CAPTURE

the moment

5 (L-R) CBCF-ALC Honorary Co-Chair Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) Danyel Surrency Jones, Terri A. Sewell (D-AL-7), CBCF Chair Rep. Steven Horsford (D-NV-4), Brian Kenner of HQ2 Policy at Amazon, Rep. Stacey E. Plaskett (D-USVI) and CBCF President and CEO Nicole Austin-Hillery during Amazon check presentation. ( Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

5 CBCF President and CEO Nicole Austin-Hillery and Coca-Cola representative. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

4 Rapper TI participated in a session, Young Gifted and Black, Fireside chat with hosted and moderated by Rep Maxine Waters. (Cleveland Nelson/The Washington Informer)

5 New Edition performs during the Phoenix Awards. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

5 A session at CBCF presented by the Hip Hop Caucus, Hip Hop and Politics: Activism, Culture Revolution and Entrepreneurship) with Rev Yearwood (2nd right), Linda Sarsour, Kevin Lyle and Rep Shyne (Belize). (Cleveland Nelson/The Washington Informer)

RELIGION

when we offend and fall short of the impossible,” said Marshall during the dedication.

The dedication also celebrated Elizabeth Alexander’s poem “America’s Song,” which will be handcarved into limestone tablets over the next nine months.

“I am forever honored to have been invited to offer these words to live alongside Kerry James Marshall’s magnificent stained glass windows, making space for feeling and reflection on our multivocal history as we try to move forward into a more just and beautiful future,’ said Alexander, during the event.

The new windows and poem are reminders of the Cathedral’s mission of inclusivity.

“This is a House of Prayer for all of God’s children and a House of Prayer for all of God’s People,” the Rev. Canon Rosemarie Logan Duncan, who works to put together all of the services at the national cathedral, told the Informer.

The very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the Washington National Cathedral, said the new windows and poem “marks a significant moment in the Cathedral’s history.”

“Windows that celebrated division are being replaced by windows

extolling the pursuit of justice," Hollerith said.

THE RACIAL JUSTICE WINDOWS

The newly designed windows replace windows that contained two depictions of the Confederate battle flag; those windows were removed in 2017.

The windows, according to a press release, “capture both darkness and light, both the pain of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow, as well as the quiet and exemplary dignity of the African American struggle for justice and equality and the indelible and progressive impact it has had on American society.”

The Cathedral’s commissioning is Marshall’s first time working with stained glass as a medium. The artist weighed in on the significance of the work.

"Today’s event has been organized to highlight one instance where a change of symbolism is meant to repair a breach of America’s creation promise of liberty and justice for all, and to reinforce those ideals and aspirations embodied in the Cathedral’s structure and its mission to remind us that we can be better, and do better, than we did yesterday, today,” he said.

The windows will be one of only

three permanent public exhibitions of the Marshall’s art in the United States.

“The people who showed up were so respectful and it brings tears to my eyes because I see my wife over there crying,” Marshall told the Informer. He was also joined by his sisters, brother, and other family members including his aunt from Birmingham, Alabama.

The newly installed racial justice windows will remain a permanent part of the Cathedral’s world-renowned sacred iconography.

“The addition of these windows and the powerful words that accompany them allows us to tell a truer story of America, a story that confronts our past and invites all of us into a more inclusive and hopeful future,” Hollerith said.

“AMERICAN SONG” IN A SACRED SPACE

During the program people read Alexander’s poem, “American Song,” which was composed to invite meditation in the unique sacred space of the National Cathedral.

The words of the poem will be etched into the limestone using a custom design by renowned lettering expert Nick Benson of the historic John Stevens Shop in Newport, Rhode Island, and carved by the Cathedral’s stone carvers, Sean Callahan and Andy Uhl.

THE CATHEDRAL COMMITS TO RACIAL JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION

The original stained glass windows and carved inscriptions honoring Lee and Jackson were donated to the Cathedral by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and installed in 1953 on the southern face of the nave. Following the 2015 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, then-Dean Gary Hall called for the Lee-Jackson windows’ removal, referring to the Confederate Battle Flag as “the primary symbol of a culture of white supremacy.”

The Cathedral Chapter formed a task force to consider the future of the Lee-Jackson windows and it was recommended that they remain in place for at least two years to help catalyze “honest discussions about race and the legacy of slavery that the windows represent, and the alternative narratives that those windows reflect.”

In 2016, the Cathedral Chapter accepted the Task Force’s report. However the group also voted unanimously to immediately remove the Confederate battle flag imagery from the Lee-Jackson windows.

In September 2017, following the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, the windows were deconsecrated and removed.

Furthering its mission to serve as a leading voice for racial justice and reconciliation, the Cathedral committed to preserving the windows and looking for opportunities to use them as educational tools.

During the summer of 2020, amidst the racial justice movement following the murder of George Floyd, the Cathedral agreed to loan the windows to the Smithsonian’s

“This is a House of Prayer for all of God’s children and a House of Prayer for all of God’s People,” the Rev. Canon Rosemarie Logan Duncan, who works to put together all of the services at the national cathedral, told the Informer.

National Museum of African American History and Culture to be used in their exhibition “Make Good the Promises: Reconstruction and its Legacies,” from September 2021 to August 2022.

The windows are now conserved and stored at the Cathedral.

‘THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING’

The service concluded with all present singing the “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black National Anthem.

Following the service, the Rev. Canon Michele V. Hagans said, “This is just the beginning that should represent how we are to move forward and fill this breach.”

“As we come into this space,” Hagans continued, “it should be a symbol that should inspire us and give us hope.” WI

5 Artist Kerry James Marshall and poet Elizabeth Alexander at the Washington National Cathedral for the dedication of the artist’s racial justice stained glass windows and the poet’s piece “American Song,” being carved into the limestone. (Hamil R. Harris/ The Washington Informer)

WINDOWS from Page 1

This week, let's dig into the topic of kindness to oneself and to others. Kindness is a way of treating yourself and/or others. First, let's talk about not being kind to others. Then we will get to how we mistreat ourselves.

Last week, DailyMail UK reported how Gymnastics Ireland did not apologize for "racism" after a viral video showed a young black girl being ignored during medal ceremony and sparked outrage from critics such as U.S. Olympic champion Simone Biles, who condemned the "heartbreaking" incident and said she had sent a video of support to the young girl after her parents reached out. Racism is hating on someone else, which shows you do not have godly love, not even for yourself. How can you mistreat someone else, especially a child, with no remorse? The only way is when you do not love God nor yourself, therefore, you know nothing about real love. Racism is one example. There is a Scripture which says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." Another is this: "You shall love

WITH LYNDIA GRANT

Love God First, Then Love Thy Neighbor

your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31).

Scripture also says in the book of Ephesians 5:29 "For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah does the church."

When a woman prostitutes her body, is she tenderly caring for her body? When folk abuse their bodies by shooting up drugs in their veins, are they tenderly caring for their bodies? No, some of them end up dead from overdoses.

Now, let's talk about how we mistreat our bodies, beginning with the habit of overeating, which causes our bodies to become overweight. We are not loving and caring for our bodies, in the way this Scripture describes. Let me stay right here on this topic, one of my favorites. Let us also talk about something closer to home, the sin of overeating for the wrong reason, why? It tastes good, and you are eating to drown our troubles!

I'm guilty!

When my mother baked homemade chocolate layer cakes, I would eat half of the cake, slice after slice! She would tell me that I'm "eating too much of that cake!" Why did I do that? One, because it tasted so enjoyable, and secondly, because I didn't have joy

and fulfillment. My husband had abandoned me and our three children, I was working triple time, trying to make ends meet, so when I would walk in the door and my mother had made such a scrumptious meal — fried chicken, cabbage, some type of bean or maybe collard greens with smoked turkey in them, topped off with the chocolate cake — it was hard to resist.

It was a sin to eat that much food at once. Not only did I make myself fat and overweight, I also gave myself several health conditions that would hit me later. I didn't get Type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure until more than 20 years later, but it was a direct result of me overeating back in the day! My poor body decided, "You have given me entirely too much sugar to process, and you are interfering with my regular routine. Therefore, I'm going to quit doing what I do, and I will just let some of this sugar run rampant in your bloodstream."

That's what happens when our blood sugar is high. Our system just couldn't handle any more. This article is written to remind us to love our bodies, and then we will know how to love others. Be kind to others, and remember to be kind to yourself too! It's scriptural! WI

RELIGION

Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724

Crusader Baptist Church Isle of Patmos Baptist Church Pilgrim Baptist Church

Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor

700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849

Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00 AM

5th Sundays: 9:30 AM

Blessed Word

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

Pastors

4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/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

Mount Carmel Baptist

The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church 901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411

Fax (202) 682-9423

Service and Times

Sunday Church School : 9:00 AM

Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10 AM

Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00 PM

Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00 PM Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10 AM themcbc.org

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

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”

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

Reverend William Young IV Pastor 3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032

(202) 562-5576 (Office) / (202) 562-4219 (Fax)

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

St. Stephen Baptist Church

Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. / Senior Pastor 5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301.899.8885 – Fax 301.899.2555 Service and Times

Sunday Early Morning Worship 8:00 AM Sunday School 9:30 AM

Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 AM

Tuesday: 7:00 PM – Kingdom Building Bible Institute

Wednesday:  12:30 PM – Mid-Day Bible Study

Wednesday:  7:00 PM – Evening Bible Study

Baptism 3rd Sunday – Communion 4th Sunday Free Food Giveaway – Every Tuesday, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm

“We are One in the Spirit” www.ssbcmd.org | secretary@ssbcmd.org

Third Street Church of God

Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor 1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office / 202-638-1803 fax

Services and Times

Sunday School: 9:30 AM

Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 AM

“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org

Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church

Covenant Baptist United Church  of Christ Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr. Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor

John F. Johnson Reverend Dr. 1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005

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

Adams Inspirational A.M.E. Church

Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness Senior Pastor

Rev. Ali Gail Holness-Roland

Assistant & Youth Pastor 12801 Old Fort Road • Ft. Washington, MD 20744 Office (301) 292.6323 • FAX (301) 292.2164

Service and Times

Sunday Worship 10:15 am

Sunday Church School 11:00 am

Youth Sunday every 4th Sunday

Prayer Call @ Noon every Tuesday & Thursday 978.990.5166 code: 6166047#

Virtual Bible Study Wednesday Facebook & Zoom 7:00 pm

“A Growing Church for a Coming Christ” www.adamsinspirationalamec.org

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

Emmanuel Baptist Church

Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor

2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office / (202) 678-0885 – Fax

“Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . 100% Forgiven!

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

Reverend John W. Davis Pastor

5101 14th Street, NW / Washington, DC 20011

Phone: 202-726-2220

Fax: 202-726-9089

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.

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

Institute: Year-Round

Church / Communion Every 3rd Sunday

Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org / emailus@gmchc.org

Shiloh Church of God 7th Day

Elder Jonathan M. Carson Senior Pastor 5701 Eastern Avenue, Hyattsville, MD 20782 Phone: 301 559-5262

Service and Times

Sabbath Worship @ 1:00 pm in-person/FB/Zoom

Tuesday - Prayer@ 7:30 pm on Zoom

Wednesday Bible Study@ 7:30 pm on Zoom

Friday - Sabbath School@ 7:30 pm on Zoom

Web: shiloh7thday.org

Email: shiloh7thdaycomm@gmail.com

"A culturally diverse church of edification, deliverance and transformation"

Florida Avenue Baptist Church Holy Trinity United Baptist Church

Dr. Earl D. Trent

Senior Pastor 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 Services: 10:00 AM

Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 AM Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 PM

Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 PM

Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 PM

Noonday Prayer Every Thursday

Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert

Senior Pastor 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

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)

Israel Baptist Church

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 AM

School: 9:15 AM

Study: Tuesday at 10:30 AM

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith Lincoln Park United Methodist Church

Herman

Matthews Memorial Baptist Church

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

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"

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

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

“Where God is Praised, Christ is Obeyed, and People are Loved”

Dr. Lucius M. Dalton

Senior Pastor 1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003

Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964

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 Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org

Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org

Damion M. Briggs Pastor 8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240 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

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

Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org

Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor 13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560

Service and Times

Sunday Worship: 11 AM

Sunday School: 10 AM

Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM

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

Rev. Dr.

Service and Times

Service: 10:00 AM

School for all ages: 8:30 AM

Sunday Holy Communion:10:00 AM

Bible Study: 6:30 PM

Meeting: 7:45 PM

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

Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867

728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 Fax : 202-338-4958

Service and Times

Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns

Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org

Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org

All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.

Rev Kevin A. O'Bryant Pastor

401 Van Buren St., NW, Washington D.C. 20012 Office (202)-882-8331

Service and Times

Sunday Worship 10:30 am Zoom: zoom.us/;/2028828331

Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00pm

Communion Every First Sunday "Serve, teach and Live by precept and example the saving grace of Jesus Christ."

Website: Theplbc.org

Email: churchclerk@theplbc.org

Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor 602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595

Service and Times

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 “

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:

Prayer Service Bible Study

Rev. Lance Aubert Imterim Pastor

Elder

L. Simms

Rev. Richard B. Black Interim Pastor

The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church

Rehoboth Baptist Church

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

Promised Land Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor

Hosted by Denise Rolark Barnes

LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001055

Marva Louise Greene Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Barbra J. Postell, whose address is 3718 Hill Park Drive, Temple Hills, MD 20748, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Marva Louise Greene who died on 7/14/2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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:

9/14/2023

Barbra J. Postell

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 000994

Virginia Ruth Griffin Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Jason Jibri Griffin, whose address is 2115 Sudbury Place NW, Washington, DC 20012, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Virginia Ruth Griffin who died on July 14, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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: 9/14/2023

Jason Jibri Griffin Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 1045

Natasha Lewis Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Xois Blowe, whose address is 5527 C Street SE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Natasha Lewis who died on April 21, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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:

9/14/2023

Xois Blowe

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 1013

Jerome Barbour Decedent

Valerie Edwards 1725 DeSales St., NW Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Ronald Barbour, whose address is 9240 Edmondston Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20770, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Jerome Barbour who died on August 5, 2013 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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: 9/14/2023

Ronald Barbour Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

ADM 001024

2023

John H. Porter, Sr. Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Lorna A. Kelly, whose address is 36992 Sandpiper Lane, Selbyville, DE 19975, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of John H. Porter, Sr. who died on May 18, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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: 9/14/2023

Lorna A. Kelly Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

AFFIDAVIT Of ‘Notice Of HERITAGE’ 1

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001046

Antoine K. Springer

Decedent

Suren G. Adams, Esq. Adams Law Office, LLC

4201 Northview Drive Suite 401 Bowie, MD 20716

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Jacqueline Y. Jones, whose address is 2635 12th Street, NE, Apt. 3B, Washington, DC 20018, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Antoine K. Springer who died on December 16, 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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: 9/14/2023

Jacqueline Y. Jones

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2023 ADM 001054

Delores Pauetta Lewis-Beason Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Johnny Palmer Beason, whose address is 1311 Delaware Ave. SW S-747, Washington, DC 20024, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Delores Pauetta Lewis-Beason who died on July 23, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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: 9/14/2023

Johnny Palmer Beason Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001036

Arvetta Snead aka Arvetta Rivers Decedent

Robert P. Newman, Esq. Law Office of Robert P. Newman 801 Wayne Avenue Suite 400 Silver Spring, MD 20910 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Patricia Arvetta Snead, whose address is 2 M Street, NE, Apt. 828, Washington, DC 20002, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Arvetta Snead aka Arvetta Rivers who died on 5/18/2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Wash

ington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/14/2024. 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 3/14/2024, 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:

9/14/2023

Patricia Arvetta Snead

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

“Indeed, no more than (Affidavit) is necessary to make the prima facie case.” United States v. Kis, 658 F.2nd 526, 536 (7 th Cir. 1981); Cert Denied 50 U.S. L.W. 2169 S.CT. March 22, 1982.”

COMES NOW, One, :gary-villand::harris:, the living man and Biblical assignee, to affirm the following as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me Almighty God. Certified Notice, of One, :gary-villand: :harris:, authorized by Constitutional law, and Biblical birthright; Deuteronomy 21: 15-17, as of September 4, 2020, did accept and claim One’s federally-protected heritage from one’s mother, :ruby-jewel: :smith: I.e., including two (2) automobiles; Forty-five (45) pieces assorted jewelry, clothing (13 mink fur coats), furniture, three (3’) foot floor safe, bank accounts, land patents issued December 27, 1883, by Southern Pacific Railroad Company; stocks dividends, financial bonds and all other earthly valuables and possessions held and maintained at the 8510 Bella Vista Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California, held in possession of the decedent, :ruby-jewel: :smith’s: first-born, biological son; passing on, September 4th, 2020, as above stated; Physical possession of the above passed, in full witness by colleagues, in the immediate presence, without prejudice to any rights thereto. All such equitable and interest claim(s) to the said Federal Patent Land is included in this inheritance noticed and recorded in the said General Land Office of California Republic.

One’s secured interest is recorded and published regarding described land above identified as Parcel No.#1, plus both adjoining lands identified as Parcel No. #1A and Parcel No. #1B, property for posterity purposes. The said land with assessors’ number is includes in the 36,726.51 acres issued December 27, 1883 issued by Southern Pacific Railroad Company. Should any man or woman wish to rebut this affidavit, she or he must do so via certified affidavit within three (3) calendar days from the posting of this notice, or as soon within thirty days of the final day of posting hereof. Any failure to do so is default and failure of response to notice of claims of facts, herein and above, he/she/they must do so on their unlimited liability under penalty of perjury.

By: :gary-villand: :harris:,1308

Name: Date

August 21, 2023

Land Also Known As: 8510 Bella Vista Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino County California, is embodied in the original land patent in Section, Township, Range, Metes and Bounds

AFFIDAVIT Of ‘Notice Of HERITAGE’ 2

“Indeed, no more than (Affidavit) is necessary to make the prima facie case.” United States v. Kis, 658 F.2nd 526, 536 (7th Cir. 1981); Cert Denied, 50 U.S. L.W. 2169 S. CT. March 22, 1982.”

COMES NOW, (this present moment and always), One, :gary-villand::harris:, 1308, the living breathing man, affirms the following as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me Almighty Creator God. The following truths are ‘notice’ to the world, that One, :gary-villand: :harris:, by authority of constitutional law and God given/ordained birth right (Deuteronomy 21: 15-17), as of September 4, 2020, did and do and always claim and perfect my Federal protected right to the Cars, Jewelry, Clothes, Furniture, three and one half (3 ½’) feet floor Safe, Bank accounts, Land, Stocks, Bonds and All other earthly property and values of :ruby-jewel: :smith: that is the lawful and biblical entitlement to her first born biological son, One, :gary-villand::harris:, on the above underlined date of her earthly death and spiritual passing. Ones’, claim of heritance and lawful right to secure interest in land is backed and supported by Ones’ right to own and possess the Land granted in the Federal Land Patent and recorded in the General Land Office of California Republic and signed by the then governor. The certified Land Patent so ‘noticed’, that bears One secured interest, is evidenced and mis- identified in the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office under color of law with assessors’ and Lot numbers in the 15,515.92 acres issued November 24, 1871. Should any man or woman wish to dispute or rebut this affidavit, claims and facts, herein above, he/she/they must do so on their unlimited liability under penalty of perjury.

By: :gary-villand: :harris:,1308

August 21, 2023

Land Constitutionally Granted Also Known As: 10518 7th Avenue, Inglewood, Los Angeles County, yet is embodies in the original land patent in Section, Township, Range, and or Metes and Bounds

LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES

AFFIDAVIT Of ‘Notice Of HERITAGE’ 3

“Indeed, no more than (Affidavit) is necessary to make the prima facie case.” United States v. Kis, 658 F.2nd 526, 536 (7th Cir. 1981); Cert Denied, 50 U.S. L.W. 2169 S. CT. March 22, 1982.”

COMES NOW, (this present moment and always), One, :gary-villand::harris:, 1308, the living breathing man, affirms the following as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me Almighty Creator God. The following truths are ‘notice’ to the world, that One, :gary-villand: :harris:, by authority of constitutional law and God given/ordained birth right (Deuteronomy 21: 15-17), as of September 4, 2020, did and do and always claim and perfect my Federal protected right to the Cars, Jewelry, Clothes, Furniture, three and one half (3 ½’) feet floor Safe, Bank accounts, Land, Stocks, Bonds and All other earthly property and values of :ruby-jewel: :smith: that is the lawful and biblical entitlement to her first born biological son, One, :gary-villand::harris:, on the above underlined date of her earthly death and spiritual passing. Ones’, claim of heritance and lawful right to secure interest in land is backed and supported by Ones’ right to own and possess the Land granted in the Federal Land Patent and recorded in the General Land Office of California Republic and signed by the then governor.

The certified Land Patent so ‘noticed’, that bears One secured interest, is evidenced and mis- identified in the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office under color of law with assessors’ and Lot numbers in the 15,515.92 acres issued November 24, 1871. Should any man or woman wish to dispute or rebut this affidavit, claims and facts, herein above, he/she/they must do so on their unlimited liability under penalty of perjury.

Also Known As: 1065 W. 110th Street Los Angeles, Los Angeles County California, yet is embodies in the original land patent in Section, Township, Range, and or Metes and Bounds

The certified Land Patent so ‘noticed’, that bears One secured interest, is evidenced and mis identified in the County Recorder’s Office under color of law with assessors’ and Lot numbers. The 15,515.92 acres issued November 24, 1871. Should any man or woman wish to dispute or rebut this affidavit, claims and facts, herein above he/she/they must do so on their unlimited liability under penalty of perjury.

By: :gary-villand: :harris:,1308

August 21, 2023

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001065

Jayden Antoine Johnson

Decedent

Suren G. Adams, Esq. Adams Law Office, LLC

4201 Northview Drive, Suite 401 Bowie, MD 20716

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Laveta Sequita Johnson, whose address is 3493 Stanton Road, SE, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Jayden Antoine Johnson who died on June 5, 2015 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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: 9/21/2023

Laveta Sequita Johnson

Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001022

Emma Mae Robinson

Decedent

Tabitha R. Brown

Law Offices of Tabitha R. Brown 1200 G Street SE, Suite A Washington, DC 20003 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Vernon M. Robinson, whose address is 4536 Kinmount Road, Lanham, MD 20706, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Emma Mae Robinson who died on 6/8/2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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: 9/21/2023

Vernon M. Robinson Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

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

2023 ADM 001061

Nathan Anthony Campbell Sr. Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Nathan Anthony Campbell Jr., whose address is 45789 Bethfield Way, California MD 20619, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Nathan Anthony Campbell Sr who died on 5/27/2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/24/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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: 9/21/2023

Nathan Anthony Campbell Jr Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001068

Ervan Cordell Pearson Jr. Decedent

Stacy R. Pace, Esq. 1629 K Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Cordell Pearson, whose address is 2200 Columbia Pike, Apt. 713, Arlington, VA 22204, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ervan Cordell Pearson Jr. who died on 8/31/2015 without a Will and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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:

9/21/2023

Cordell Pearson Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2023 ADM 001060

Cynthia Ann Frost Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Louise Delynda Gross, whose address is 1120 45th Place SE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Cynthia Ann Frost who died on June 29, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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: 9/21/2023

Louise Delynda Gross Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001082

George L. Wilson, Jr.

Decedent

Bruce A. Marshall, Esq. 1200 G Street, NW Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Margie A. Wilson, whose address is 4869 Queens Chapel Terrace NE, Washington, DC 20017, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of George L. Wilson, Jr. who died on June 27, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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: 9/21/2023

Margie A. Wilson

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens

Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

1996 ADM 002009

Nathaniel Lindsey

Decedent

Deborah D. Boddie, Esq. Probate Law DC 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Ste. 300 Washington, DC 20001

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Annie B. Lindsey, whose address is 1020 Flat Rock Road, Tignall, GA 30668, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Nathaniel Lindsey who died on 9/18/1996 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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: 9/21/2023

Annie B. Lindsey Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001064

Maria Cristina Vilche

Decedent

Julie A. Simantiras, Esq.

The Geller Law Group PLLC 4000 Legato Road, Suite 1100 Fairfax, VA 22033

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Anabel Del Carmen Vilche, whose address is 5313 Riverdale Road, Apartment #323, Riverdale, Maryland 20737, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Maria Cristina Vilche who died on October 15, 2021 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/21/2024. 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 3/21/2024, 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:

9/21/2023

Anabel Del Carmen Vilche

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001084

Salvador Reineriz Sanchez Blanco

Decedent

Carlos Lopez Esq. 201 N Union St. Suite 110 Alexandria, VA 22314

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Santos Genaro Sanchez Blanco, whose address is 5200 4 St., NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Salvador Reineriz Sanchez Blanco who died on 11/15/2022 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Santos Genaro Sanchez Blanco

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001103

Jason N. Walden aka Jason Walden Decedent

NOTICE

OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Robert Alston, whose address is 31 Juliette Dr, Durham NC 27713, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Jason N. Walden aka Jason Waldon who died on February 7, 2007 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Robert Alston Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

1999 ADM 001582

Jimmie L. Ward

Decedent

Edward G. Varrone, Esq. 1825 K Street, NW Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Paul M. Toulouse, Esq. whose address is 1912 Sunderland Place, NW, Washington, DC 20036, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Jimmie L. Ward who died on August 13, 1999 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Paul M. Toulouse, Esq. Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2022 ADM 000963

Annie Louise Williams aka Annie L. Williams

Decedent

Glenda M. Wheeler Allen, Esq. Law Office Glenda M. Wheeler 808 E Street NE Washington DC 20002

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

David W. Gibson, III, whose address is 4306 38th St., Brentwood, MD 20722, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Annie Louise Williams aka Annie L. Williams who died on June 17, 2022 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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:

9/28/2023

David W. Gibson, III

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 1123

Estate of Beatrice T. Coleman aka Beatrice Thelma Coleman

NOTICE OF STANDARD PROBATE

Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Lawrence D. Coleman and Mack ArnoldlColeman for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representatives. Unless a responsive pleading in the form of a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth.

In the absence of a will or proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution, enter an order determining that the decedent died intestate (other) appoint unsupervised co-personal representatives

Date of first publication: 9/28/2023

Joan M. Wilbon 1629 K. Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20001 Petitioner/Attorney:

TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 000728

Shirley J. Bell aka Shirley Jean Bell aka Shirley Bell Decedent

Sharon Legall 1325 G Street, NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Joseph O. Bell, Jr., whose address is 1305 Kearney Street, NE, Washington DC 20017, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Shirley J. Bell aka Shirley Jean Bell aka Shirley Bell who died on 1/11/2021 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Joseph O. Bell, Jr.

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001093

Anna Mae Stewart

Decedent

Bobby G. Henry, Esq. 9701 Apollo Drive Suite 100

Largo, MD 20774

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Annette Eleanor Stewart, whose address is 4204 Brinkley Rd., Temple Hills, MD 20748, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Anna Mae Stewart who died on 8/3/2019 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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:

9/28/2023

Annette Eleanor Stewart

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2022 ADM 001324

Charles R. Scott Sr. Decedent

Howard Haley Esq. The Haley Firm, PC 7600 Georgia Ave. NW, #416 Washington, DC 20012

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Pamela L. Nichols, whose address is 4902 First Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Charles R. Scott Sr. who died on January 20, 2022 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Pamela L. Nichols

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2023 ADM 855

Muriel Branford aka Muriel Margarette Brandford aka Muriel Margarette Branford Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Mary Branford, whose address is 4015 5th Street NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Muriel Branford aka Muriel Margarette Brandford aka Margarette Branford who died on August 8, 2002 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Mary Branford

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001112

Nathaniel Ray Jones

Decedent

Colline Silvera Robinson Kirlew & Associates, PC 7731 Belle Point Dr. Greenbelt, MD 20770 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Beverly T. Jones, whose address is 935 South NC Hwy 50, Magnolia, NC 28453, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Nathaniel Ray Jones who died on March 2, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Beverly T. Jones Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2023 ADM 001118

Celestine Williams Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Tamiki Jackson, whose address is 14103 S Springfield Rd., Brandywine MD 20613, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Celestine Williams who died on 8/22/2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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:

9/28/2023

Tamiki Jackson

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

PROBATE DIVISION

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 FEP 000086

September 12, 2022

Date of Death

Odessa Dean Weaver

Name of Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Gregory McKinley Weaver whose address is 24917 NC Highway 87 East Riegelwood, NC 28456 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Odessa Dean Weaver, deceased, by the General Court of Justice Court for Nash County, State of North Carolina, on October 24, 2022.

Service of process may be made upon Deborah D. Boddie, Esq., 1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20011 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. 304 Seaton Pl., NE, Washington 20002. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Date of first publication:

9/28/2023

Gregory McKinley Weaver

Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens

Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 001088

Nancy J. Turner aka Nancy Jane Turner

Decedent

Donald R. Marlais, Esq. 411 10th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE

TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Dekisha Posey, whose address is 12104 Beach Hill Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Nancy J. Turner aka Nancy Jane Turner who died on July 30, 2021 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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

CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIEDS

Reader Advisory: The National Trade Association we belong to has purchased the following classifieds. Determining the value of their service or product is advised by this publication. In order to avoid misunderstandings, some advertisers do not offer employment but rather supply the readers with manuals, directories and other materials designed to help their clients establish mail order selling and other businesses at home. Under NO circumstance should you send any money in advance or give the client your checking, license ID, or credit card numbers. Also beware of ads that claim to guarantee loans regardless of credit and note that if a credit repair company does business only over the phone it s illegal to request any money before delivering its service. All funds are based in US dollars. 800 numbers may or may not reach Canada.

MEDIABIDS MISCELLANEOUS

Become a Published Author. We want to Read Your Book! Dorrance Publishing-Trusted by Authors Since 1920 Book manuscript submissions are currently being reviewed.

Comprehensive Services: Consultation, Production, Promotion and Distribution

Call for Your Free Author`s Guide 1-877-420-7280 or visit http://dorranceinfo.com/informer

Two great new offers from AT&T Wireless! Ask how to get the new iPhone 11 or Next Generation Samsung Galaxy S10e ON US with AT&T's Buy one, Give One offer. While supplies last!

CALL 1-877-370-2155

DISH Network. $64.99 for 190 Channels! Blazing Fast Internet, $19.99/mo. (where available.) Switch & Get a FREE $100 Visa Gift Card. FREE Voice Remote. FREE HD DVR. FREE Streaming on ALL Devices. Call today! 1-855-402-3370

SAVE 67% PLUS 4 FREE BURGERS The Favorite Feast ONLY

$49.99.   ORDER Today 1-888-318-1190 Use Code 48643VFW or www.OmahaSteaks.com/ ffmb93

Do you know your Testosterone Levels? Call 888-692-5146 and ask about our test kits and get a FREE Trial of Progene All-Natural Testosterone Supplement

Diabetes/Cholesterol/Weight Loss Bergamonte, a Natural Product for Cholesterol, Blood Sugar and weight. Physician recommended, backed by Human Clinical Studies with amazing results. Call today and save 15 percent off your first bottle! 866-640-5982

ATTENTION DIABETICS with Medicare. Get a FREE talking meter and diabetic testing supplies at NO COST, plus FREE home delivery! Best of all, this meter eliminates painful finger pricking! Call 888-421-1874

READERS & MUSIC LOVERS. 100 Greatest Novels (audio books)

ONLY $99.00 (plus s h.)

Includes MP3 Player & Accessories. BONUS: 50 Classical Music Works & Money Back Guarantee. Call Today! 1-866-680-1822

Quote. Call before the next power outage: 1-855-948-6176

Eliminate gutter cleaning forever! LeafFilter, the most advanced debris-blocking gutter protection. Schedule free LeafFilter estimate today. 20% off Entire Purchase. 10% Senior & Military Discounts. Call 1-833-610-1936

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY!

Affordable prices - No payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 855-761-1725

Donate Your Car to Veterans Today! Help and Support our Veterans. Fast - FREE pick up. 100% tax deductible. Call 1-800-245-0398

HughesNet - Finally, super-fast internet no matter where you live. 25 Mbps just $59.99/mo! Unlimited Data is Here.

Stream Video. Bundle TV & Internet. Free Installation. Call 866-499-0141

Become a published author. We want to read your book!

Dorrance Publishing trusted since 1920. Consultation, production, promotion & distribution. Call for free author’s guide

1-877-729-4998 or visit dorranceinfo.com/ads

DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/31/24.

1-866-479-1516

Safe Step. North America's #1 Walk-in tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-the-line installation and service. Now featuring our free shower package & $1600 off limited time! Financing available. 1-855-417-1306

MobileHelp, America's premier mobile medical alert system. Whether you're home or away. For safety & peace of mind. No long term contracts! Free brochure! 1-888-489-3936

Free high speed internet if qualified. Govt. pgm for recipients of select pgms incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet. Android tablet free w/one-time $20 copay. Free shipping. Call Maxsip Telecom! 1-833-758-3892

Inflation is at 40 year highs. Interest rates are way up. Credit Cards. Medical Bills. Car Loans. Do you have $10k or more in debt? Call National Debt Relief to find out how to pay off your debt for significantly less than what you owe! Free quote:

1-877-592-3616

Wesley Financial Group, LLC Timeshare Cancellation

ExpertsOver $50,000,000 in timeshare debt & fees cancelled in 2019. Get free info package & learn how to get rid of your timeshare! Free consultations. Over 450 positive reviews. 833-308-1971

No contract and no hidden fees. Unlimited talk and text with flexible data plans. Premium nationwide coverage. 100% U.S. based customer service. For more information, call 1-888-684-1169

HEALTH/MEDICAL

DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Coverage for 350 plus procedures. Real dental insurance - NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now! Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details! 1-877553-1891 www.dental50plus.com/macnet #6258

DIAGNOSED WITH LUNG CANCER and 65+? You may qualify for a substantial cash award. NO obligation! We’ve recovered millions. Let us help!! Call 24/7, 1-866-590-5563

Stroke and Cardiovascular disease are leading causes of death, according to the American Heart Association. Screenings can provide peace of mind or early detection! Contact Life Line Screening to schedule your screening. Special offer - 5 screenings for just $149. Call 1-866-518-8391

Don’t let the stairs limit your mobility! Discover the ideal solution for anyone who struggles on the stairs, is concerned about a fall or wants to regain access to their entire home. Call AmeriGlide today! 1-844-317-5246

HOME IMPROVEMENT Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator $0 Money Down + Low Monthly Payment

Options Request a FREE Quote. Call now before the next power outage: 1-855-465-7624

Safe Step. North America ’s #1 Walk-In Tub. Comprehensive lifetime warranty. Top-of-the-line installation and service. Now featuring our FREE shower package and $1600 Off for a limited time! Call today! Financing available. Call Safe Step 1-833-356-1954

The bathroom of your dreams for as little as $149/month! BCI Bath & Shower. Many options available. Quality materials & professional installation. Senior & Military Discounts Available. Limited Time Offer - FREE virtual in-home consultation now and SAVE 15%! Call Today!

1-877-540-2780

The Generac PWRcell, a solar plus battery storage system. SAVE money, reduce your reliance on the grid, prepare for power outages and power your home. Full installation services available. $0 Down Financing Option. Request a FREE, no obligation, quote today. Call 1-866-783-0292

MISCELLANEOUS

Are you a pet owner? Do you want to get up to 100% back on Vet Bills? Physicians Mutual Insurance Company has pet coverage that can help! Call 1-866-314-0584 to get a free quote or visit insurebarkmeow.com/macnet

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2023 ADM 1104

DiAnn Winford Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Gwendolyn Daniel, whose address is 1551 Hemlock Street NW, Washington, DC 20012, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of DiAnn Winford who died on August 16, 2023 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., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 3/28/2024. 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 3/28/2024, 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: 9/28/2023

Gwendolyn Daniels Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Any laptop repaired just $79. Macs too. REALLY! FREE Fedex shipping! $69 extra for screen or motherboard replacement.

CALL Authorized Laptop Repair Specialists 1-866-437-6184

Ever Consider a Reverse Mortgage? At least 62 years old? Stay in your home & Increase cash flow! Safe & Effective! Call Now for your FREE DVD! Call Now 888-420-4716

READERS & MUSIC LOVERS. 100 Greatest Novels (audio books)

ONLY $99.00 (plus s h.) Includes MP3 Player & Accessories.

BONUS: 50 Classical Music Works & Money Back Guarantee. Call Today!

1-866-680-1822

Personalized holiday gifts for Everyone on your list! Save 20 percent off qualifying products from Personal Creations! To redeem this offer, visit www.PersonalCreations.com/Beauty or Call 1-888-732-0679

Diabetes/Cholesterol/Weight Loss Natural Product for Cholesterol, Blood Sugar and weight. Physician recommended, backed by Human Clinical Studies with fast acting results within 30 days. Call to hear about our special offer 866-640-5982

ATTENTION DIABETICS with Medicare. Get a FREE Talking Meter and diabetic testing supplies at NO COST, plus FREE home delivery! Best of all, this meter eliminates painful finger pricking! Call 888-421-1874

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY BENEFITS. You WIN or Pay Us Nothing. Contact Disability Group, Inc. Today! BBB Accredited. Call For Your FREE Book & Consultation. 888-649-5110

Attention Joint & Muscle Pain Sufferers: Clinically proven all-natural supplement helps reduce pain and enhance mobility. Call 888-760-5952 to try Hydraflexin RISK-FREE for 90 days. HEAT YOUR HOME FOR 5¢ AN HOUR! Portable infrared iHeater heats 1000 sq. ft. Slashes your heating bills by 50%.  FREE Shipping too! Use claim code 6239 WAS $499 NOW $279 Call

1-866-784-5182

CADNET & NANI CLASSIFIED NETWORK

HEALTH & FITNESS VIAGRA and CIALIS USERS! 50 Generic Pills SPECIAL $99.00. 100% guaranteed. 24/7 CALL NOW! 888-445-5928 Hablamos Español

Dental Insurance - Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Covers 350 procedures. Real insurance - not a discount plan. Get your free dental info kit! 1-855-526-1060 www.dental50plus. com/ads #6258

Attention oxygen therapy users! Inogen One G4 is capable of full 24/7 oxygen delivery. Only 2.8 pounds. Free info kit. Call 877-929-9587

MISCELLANEOUS Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator $0 Down + Low Monthly Pmt Request a free

DIRECTV Stream Carries the most local MLB Games! Choice Package $89.99/mo for 12 mos Stream on 20 devices at once. HBO Max included for 3 mos (w/Choice Package or higher.) No contract or hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS 1-866-859-0405

Are you a pet owner? Do you want to get up to 100% back on vet bills? Physicians Mutual Insurance Company has pet coverage that can help! Call 1-844-774-0206 to get a free quote or visit insurebarkmeow.com/ads

Diagnosed with lung cancer & 65+? You may qualify for a substantial cash award. No obligation! We've recovered millions. Let us help! Call 24/7 1-877-707-5707

Leading smart home provider Vivint Smart Home has an offer just for you. Call 833-427-0530 to get a professionally installed home security system with $0 activation.

MID ATLANTIC COMMUNITY PAPERS ASSOCIATION CLASSIFIED NETWORK (MACNET)

ANNOUNCEMENTS Become a Published Author. We want to Read Your Book!

Dorrance Publishing-Trusted by Authors Since 1920 Book manuscript submissions currently being reviewed. Comprehensive Services: Consultation, Production, Promotion and Distribution Call for Your Free Author`s Guide 1-866-482-1576 or visit dorranceinfo.com/macnet

Donate your car, truck, boat, RV and more to support our veterans! Schedule a FAST, FREE vehicle pickup and receive a top tax deduction! Call Veteran Car Donations at 1-877-3270686 today!

Replace your roof with the best looking and longest lasting material – steel from Erie Metal Roofs! Three styles and multiple colors available. Guaranteed to last a lifetime! Limited Time Offer - 50% off installation + Additional 10% off install (for military, health workers & 1st responders.) Call Erie Metal Roofs: 1-855-338-4807

AUTO INSURANCE Looking for auto insurance? Find great deals on the right auto insurance to suit your needs. Call today for a free quote! 866-924-2397

BUILDING MATERIALS Metal Roofing & Siding For Houses, Barns, Sheds etc, 36" Coverage, Painted $2.35 LF, Bare $1.45 to $1.70 LF, Rainbow $1.35 LF, Sold As Seconds Made in Ephrata, Pa 717-445-5222

FREE OFFER FREE high speed internet for those that qualify. Government program for recipients of select programs incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet service. Bonus offer: Android tablet FREE with one-time $20 copay. Free shipping & handling. Call Maxsip Telecom today! 1-833-516-2829

GENERAL SERVICES Switch and save up to $250/year on your talk, text and data.

DIRECTV OVER INTERNET - Get your favorite live TV, sports and local channels. 99% signal reliability! CHOICE Package, $84.99/mo for 12 months. HBO Max and Premium Channels included for 3 mos (w/CHOICE Package or higher.) No annual contract, no hidden fees! Some restrictions apply. Call IVS 1-866-629-6086

DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo Expires 1/21/24. 1-866-590-5561

Need IRS Relief $10K - $125K+ Get Fresh Start or Forgiveness Call 1-877-705-1472 Monday through Friday 7AM-5PM PST

WANTED BUYING CLASSIC CARS, TRUCKS, SUVs **American and Foreign** Any Condition. Buying entire car collections. $$PAYING CA$H$$ Please call 717-577-8206 Krmiller1965@yahoo.com

WANTED! MOTORCYCLES! ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC. Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Triumph, BSA, and other foreign models. $$PAYING CA$H$$ 717-577-8206 Krmiller1965@ yahoo.com

MARYLAND STATEWIDE CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING NETWORK

FOR SALE

Prepare for power outages today with a GENERAC home standby generator. $0 Money Down + Low Monthly Payment Options. Request a FREE Quote. Call now before the next power outage: 1-855-993-0969

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

BEAUTIFUL BATH UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Superior quality bath and shower systems at AFFORDABLE PRICES! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Call Now! 877-738-0991.

MISC. SERVICES DENTAL INSURANCE from Physicians Mutual Insurance Company. Coverage for 350 plus procedures. Real dental insurance - NOT just a discount plan. Do not wait! Call now! Get your FREE Dental Information Kit with all the details!

1-855-337-5228 www.dental50plus.com/MDDC#6258

FREE high speed internet for those that qualify. Government program for recipients of select programs incl. Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, WIC, Veterans Pension, Survivor Benefits, Lifeline, Tribal. 15 GB internet service. Bonus offer: Android tablet FREE with one-time $20 copay. Free shipping & handling. Call Maxsip Telecom today! 1-888-592-5957

PETS/PET SUPPLIES

Are you a pet owner? Do you want to get up to 100% back on Vet Bills? Physicians Mutual Insurance Company has pet coverage that can help! Call 1-888-928-1656 to get a free quote or visit insurebarkmeow.com/mddc

VEHICLES WANTED

DONATE YOUR CAR/TRUCK/RV - Lutheran Mission Society of MD Compassion Place ministries help local families with food, clothing, counseling. Tax deductible. MVA licensed #W1044. 410-228-8437 www.CompassionPlace.org

2020, and thank God, because of you, we won,” Biden said.

However, the president also issued a sobering reminder that the threat to democracy persists. “I wish I can say the threat to our democracy ended with our victory in 2020, but it didn’t. Our democracy is still at stake, don’t kid yourself,” Biden insisted.

At the awards, which were held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest, D.C., Vice President Harris, a former CBC member, lauded the Caucus as the nation’s moral compass, emphasizing their role as truth-tellers about the past and advocates for the future.

“Across America, there is a full-on attack on many of the hard-fought, hard-won freedoms that the CBC has achieved,” Harris asserted.

The evening also celebrated leaders and trailblazers who have dedicated themselves to advancing the cause of Black communities.

The 2023 Phoenix Awards recognized individuals whose work is creating opportunities for the next generation:

• White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre received the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference Honorary Co-Chairs’ Award.

Bass was honored with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Chair’s Award.

• House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) received the Congressional Black Caucus’s Body Award.

• Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-TN-52) was presented with the Congressional Black Caucus Chair’s Award.

• MC Lyte and LL Cool J were

bestowed with the 2023 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Culture Icon Award.

The conference featured insightful panels and discussions addressing critical issues facing Black communities throughout the week. Notable sessions included a

press conference hosted by the Hip Hop Caucus, calling for continued activism around issues of policing and overpolicing.

Additionally, a panel led by CBC Chair Rep. Steven Horsford and Small Business Association Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman highlighted the signifi-

cant increase in SBA-backed loans going to Black-owned businesses under the Biden-Harris Administration.

Other sessions delved into critical topics such as advancing equity in infrastructure access, protecting voting rights, and celebrating arts and foreign affairs achievements. A panel discussion on the battle for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the face of growing opposition was of particular significance.

The conference also addressed critical issues such as transportation and the impact of innovations on Black communities. A panel on artificial intelligence delved into leveraging the potential of AI while mitigating risks and ensuring that Black voices are amplified in discussions surrounding emerging technologies.

With the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action and challenges to DEI initiatives, this year’s ALC took on added importance, said Nicole Austin-Hillery, president and CEO of CBCF.

“It is vital that we all engage... to fortify our democracy, protect fundamental freedoms, and celebrate the richness and vibrancy of our cultural heritage as the nation looks ahead to a pivotal 2024 presidential election," Austin-Hillery asserted.

WI

5 A former member of the Congressional Black Caucus, Vice President Kamala Harris addresses the crowd at the Phoenix Awards on Saturday, Sept. 23, as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. (Rob R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)

“Across America, there is a full-on attack on many of the hard-fought, hard-won freedoms that the CBC has achieved,” Harris asserted.

5 President Joe Biden speaks at the Phoenix Awards on Saturday, Sept. 23, as part of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. (Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)Informer)

“I chose to run because silence is complicit, and I would not be silent,” Biden said in an impassioned address at the Phoenix Awards, hoping to underscore the urgency of the moment.

efit.

Bill Vanderberg points out that availability of parks is just a start to realizing equitable access. He spent the summer working in Yosemite. "I saw no African Americans all summer," he says. "The only people of color I saw were from France."

They aren't truly "public lands" if significant percentages of the public

JACKSON from Page 34

those of the executives, an end to the two-tier labor system that discriminates against new workers, a shorter workweek and an end to the use of temps to undermine full-time workers. They want workers to be rewarded when the company issues stock buybacks or special dividends to reward stockholders.

Central to the dispute is also what will happen as the companies again receive massive government subsidies, this time to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles. The companies have started building plants in anti-union red states, clearly hoping to use the transition and taxpayer subsidies to weaken workers and their unions. The union seeks protections so workers and their unions will benefit from the taxpayer subsidies, not just

MARSHALL from Page 34

By taking advantage of ambiguous legislative language, the states created a loophole to use when providing greater appropriations to white land-grant institutions. States' unwillingness to fairly support the 1890 institutions shows you can change laws, but laws do not automatically change hearts. The funding disparity and shortchanging of HBCUs are obvious to many philanthropic groups, resulting in millions of dollars donated to HBCUs. But states should never be let off the hook. The Biden administration is taking note of the more than $12 billion disparity between HBCUs and white institutions. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent a letter to 16 state governors calculating how their respective state landgrant HBCU institution was underfunded from 1987 to 2020. For example, North Carolina

don't feel welcome using them, Bill notes. In 2017, his students were recognized as the youth volunteer group of the year by Yosemite. A few years later, he was threatened with arrest when he tried to use showers in the park.

"Racism at parks is real — both macro and micro. My kids have had numerous negative experiences while exploring 'their' public spaces," Bill says. "The problem is not

companies and their shareholders.

Will taxpayer subsidies help build a green economy that empowers workers to gain a fair share of the profits they help to produce? Or will the subsidies add to the extreme inequality already weakening our society and economy? Will they help build a broader middle class or deprive more workers of a living wage?

From Hollywood to fast-food workers to the autoworkers in the Midwest, workers are finally standing up. Once more the question is posed: Whose side are you on?

A stunning 75% of Americans side with the UAW in their negotiations and strike. President Joe Biden has praised the autoworkers. Sen. Bernie Sanders stood with the autoworkers on the first day of their strike. Donald Trump tells them they should stop paying union dues and oppose building electric vehicles — presumably

A&T University has a $2 billion funding disparity compared with North Carolina State University, an original 1862 land grant institution. Likewise, Prairie View A&M University in Texas and Southern University and A&M in Louisiana have $1.1 billion in underfunding compared to the 1862 land-grant institutions in their states. The letters were sent to the governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The question remains: what will be the long-term response by each state?

The dismantling of segregation laws in the 1960s did not mean states fully ended discrimination when funding HBCUs. The legal doctrine of "separate but equal" was always a sham that never provided equal protection, accommodations, or facilities for all people.

The "separate but equal" doctrine is a mindset of inequality

the parks, but this racism in society."

He's right that parks aren't the problem. They can be a part of the solution. Providing greater access to them and finding efforts to support like the school club Bill ran will bring more and more of us together. When we gather that way and can share in natural wonders side by side, we will grow closer as a nation. WI

throwing themselves on the tender mercies of the auto CEOs.

The media tends to focus on whether the strike, if it continues, will be bad for the economy. But the economy is not divorced from workers. It is bad for the economy when autoworkers can't afford to buy the cars that they build. It is bad for the economy when autoworkers are paid less than they made 15 years ago. It is bad for the economy when full-time workers don't have a decent retirement or can't afford health care.

Record auto company profits haven't helped workers. Taxpayer bailouts haven't helped. Workers lost ground under Obama and under Trump. Wealthy CEOs don't suddenly become generous. Workers will get a fair deal only if they fight for it. The UAW has decided to fight — and we all have a stake in their victory. WI

and injustice that never intended to have a society with equal provisions and conditions for the education of Black students on either the K-12 or collegiate level. For decades, unequal funding forced HBCUs to function without adequate resources for campus infrastructure, research and development, and student support services. The current disparity in financial support shows that HBCUs are often seen as an after-thought, and in other cases, a continuation of the "separate but equal" mindset where states' rights perpetuated a racial culture where governors and state lawmakers were emboldened to do whatever they wanted to do against people of color. The Biden administration appears willing to take the incremental steps necessary to dismantle the long-term effects of "separate but equal." Having a U.S. vice president who is an HBCU grad should be a constant reminder that HBCU students are well worth the investment. WI

WILLIAMS from Page 35 tion.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux shared her family's end-of-life story with her mom. Rev. Kevin Taylor, Pastor of Unity Fellowship Church of Newark, shared his story of personally performing the service for his mom and how challenging that was, but he knew it was his mom's desire. Dr. Rosalyn M. Satchel of the Berkman Klein Center at the Harvard Law School shared her experiences working on the issue of early and unexpected death among her students.

There were many experts who shared with us how end-of-life choices are made and how they help those of us left behind to car-

MORIAL from Page 35

yond her years. From her run at Wimbledon in 2019 defeating seven-time Grand Slam title winner Venus Williams, to her consistent performance on the global stage, Coco's story is a testament to the transformative power of dedication and grit. But Coco is more than just a talented tennis player.

ry out the wishes of the deceased. Ms. Kim Callinan, president and CEO of Compassion and Choices provided an overview of the importance of the organization's work.

Dr. Elisha Hall, African American engagement director of C&C, and Ms. Brandi Alexander, chief engagement officer of C&C; Shawn Perry, executive producer and host of "The Senior Zone"; Dr. Beverly M. Morgan of the Black Nurses Association; and Ricardo Thomas all offered valuable economic information. I wish I could name everybody who participated, but I'm limited with words! The best advice I can offer is to go to the website to learn more about why you should put your

She embodies hope, the promise of change, and the boundless potential of the next generation. She's not alone though. Players like Frances Tiafoe, Sloane Stephens, and Taylor Townsend also play crucial roles in reshaping that narrative.

Together, they signify the increasing diversity in a sport once perceived as elitist and exclusive.

end-of-life choices in writing ASAP!

This rise of young Black athletes in tennis is not just about achieving individual excellence. It's about challenging the status quo, breaking barriers, and carving out spaces where historically there were none. Their successes send a powerful message to Black children everywhere that they too can challenge the status quo, and win. It is also important for institutions and stakeholders in tennis to recognize this shift and support it. From funding grassroots programs in marginalized communities to promoting diversity at all levels, there's a lot that can and should be done.

As we celebrate Coco Gauff and other Black athletes in this sport, let's remember the significance of their journey. They are not just changing the face of tennis; they are changing the fabric of American sports.

EDELMAN from Page 35

ers.' As they are developing these circles, based on familiarity, of who is kin, in-group, and strangers, babies are also observing characteristics of people. They notice languages, accents, genders, ages, skin tones, and more, preferring those that are familiar. And so we see in babies that it is an inevitable part of human nature to categorize; none of us, not even babies, is 'color blind' when it comes to seeing people."

But, she emphasized, "babies and young children don't attach values to any of these observed categories automatically. Children first look to adults to discern what significance differenc-

es have."

She continued on this critical point: "If we treat people with different skin tones, languages, sexualities, genders, as bad or less than, our children will. If we wall ourselves off, hem ourselves into homogenous circles, our children will see those unlike themselves as 'other.' But, if we seek out or create diverse community, an inclusive circle of chosen family or 'kin,' that's how our children will regard them. Researcher Bloom observes that 'the categories of kin, in-group, and stranger are porous.' Getting to know those who seem 'other' personally, through stories, by joining in common cause, and focusing on individual identities, all help widen our moral circles. And

the powerful metaphor of kinship affects children's perceptions, emotions, and actions as well. If we lean into our shared identity as children of God, which makes everyone 'kin,' then our children will too."

This is a call to us. Helping children see that we all share a common kinship — and should all treat others as we want to be treated — is a critical step towards nurturing and preserving their innate sense of justice. Rev. Daley-Harris summed up: "It's never too soon and it's never too late to proclaim, teach, remind, and enact the truth that each person is kin as a beloved, precious child of God." Amen!

This rise of young Black athletes in tennis is not just about achieving individual excellence. It's about challenging the status quo, breaking barriers, and carving out spaces where historically there were none.

There were many experts who shared with us how end-of-life choices are made and how they help those of us left behind to carry out the wishes of the deceased.