VOL. 55, NO. 9 • DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 WI Health Supplement D.C., Nation Brace for Frigid Temperatures Center Section Women of Millennial Grads Make Waves as DCPS Teachers Color Sweep By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer 2019 Beauty @SamPKCollins Pageants This year, the second graders in
Eugene Banks' math class have not only learned addition, subtraction and value placement, but often walked out of class with words of wisdom, inspired by Banks' upbringing in the District, that he gave between games, physical movement and call-and-response chants. During one of those moments, Banks told his students that leaders stand out from the rest of the pack using strategies much like what they need to solve word problems. This pedagogical approach, he said, has earned him the trust of students and their families, some of whom may be wary of their neighborhood school at times. "You have to be responsive, know the culture and make it relatable to them. I want to be
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
Zozibini Tunzi, who said she grew up in a world where a woman who looks like her was never considered beautiful, helped to cap an awesome year for beauty queens of color. On Sunday, Dec. 8, the South African was crowned Miss Universe. Tunzi's victory means while she's reigning as Miss Universe, each of the most recognized beauty queens will wear crowns simultaneously. In May, African American lawyer Cheslie Kryst, 27, was crowned Miss USA in a pageant in which the three finalists were women of color. Before that pageant, Kaliegh Garris, 18, won Miss Teen USA and in September, Nia Franklin, 25, was crowned as the 2019 Miss America. The victories prompted the U.K. Independent newspaper to declare that the "wins have become a powerful symbol of how much American views on beauty have evolved from a past marred by racism and gender stereotypes, even as Black women leaders are still severely under-represented in other fields, like corporate America or in Congress." The beauty queens have each endured stereotypes and other challenges often experienced by women of color. Kryst, who earned a law degree and an MBA at Wake Forest University, noted how she'd never forget the time a
BEAUTIES Page 33
5 Eugene Banks, a second-grade math and science teacher at Ketcham Elementary School in Southeast, infuses call-and-response, movement and words of wisdom in his instruction. (Roy Lewis/The Washington Informer)
NATIVES Page 38
Garth Reeves, Sr. – A Man of All Seasons and Times Publisher Emeritus, The Miami Times, Makes Most of 100 Year-Life By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Those familiar with the history of the Black Press, inevitably point to publications and publishers who risked life and limb in efforts to tell “our story,” to illustrate examples of excellence and to promote the greater good of African Americans – both throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean. And with the recent death of Garth Basil Coleridge Reeves, Sr. publisher emeritus for one of the nation’s oldest Black newspapers, The Miami Times, reflections
REEVES Page 28
– Sunrise: Feb. 12, 1919 – Sunset: Nov. 25, 2019
5 Garth Reeves, Sr. (Photo courtesy Gregory Reed, MFA)
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Women the Cycle of wi hotBreak topics Domestic Violence
COMPILED BY WI EDITOR D. KEVIN MCNEIR AND WILLIAM J. FORD,WI STAFF WRITER
Lewis Elected to Lead MD Democratic Party
By Tia Carol Jones
law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. had come together to bring a Among the programs Marlow Maryland Democratic State Censense of uniformity in the wayThewants to see implemented are tral Committee elected order Yvettepolicies, Lewis on When L.Y. Marlow's 23-year- domestic violence victims and stricter restraining Saturday, Dec. 7 to lead the state’s Demold daughter told her the father survivors are treated. more rights for victim's families ocratic Party after former chair Maya of her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal to intervene on behalf of a vicCummings recently life, and the life of their child, story, her own personal pain Rockeymoore to tim, a domestic violence assess- resignedment to run forcoupled Congress andfurther the seat she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens unit with once held by her Rep. Elijah done. Out of her frustration said about Marlow. training for husband, law enforcement Cummings (D-Maryland), prior to this with law enforcement's handling Davis-Nickens said anyone agencies, a Child's Life Protecdeath tion in October. Lewis brings a rare of the situation, she decided to who reads Marlow's book will Act and mandatory counsel-level of experience having served as the parstart the Saving Promise cam- “get it.” She said she “puts the ing for batterers. paign. ty’s leader The party posted case in such a way, the average “If2011-2015. we are ever going to eradi“It seems to be a vicious cycle person can get it.” She said at the pictures social media withwe Lewis cateondomestic violence, mustwho that won't turn my family end of the day, the book will will use the at rallying first.” State look both cry sides“party of the coin. loose,” Marlow said. Marlow help people begin to have a diaSen. Cory McCray (D-Baltimore City), We need to address both the vicshared her story with the audi- logue about domestic violence.who served as interim chair asMarlow the party’s tim and the batterer,” ence at the District Heights Also present at the event was said. pledged his support for Lewis vice chair, Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see on Twitter. “I think the state central comon May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, designed to raise mitteeprograms made an excellent choice,” he said. Municipal Center. The sympo- who was sentenced to six consecawarenessLewis among in “Chairwoman is achildren proven leader sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole public and private schools. She who has the know how to maximize our Family and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his rolepotential in feelsand children need to educatstrengthen thebeparty’s orgaCenter of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks nization. in ed about I lookdomestic forward violence. to working with Heights and the National Hook- 2002. Mildred Muhammad [her] is to deliver “We have stop House being back pas- to the to White Democratic Party chair Yvette Lewis, center. (Photo Up5ofMaryland Black Women. the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilDemocrats.” courtesy of MDDEMS) Marlow has written a book, an organization that helps the dren about domestic violence,” “Color Me Butterfly,” which is a survivors of domestic violence Marlow said. story about four generations of and their children. Marlow has worked to break domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of abuse in her family, inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. It is and is confident the policies she and those of her grandmother, not an easy thing to come out is pushing for will start that her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process. SheWhile said Black everyentrepreneurs time she reads Muhammad said “I plan to take these policies to seek equalMildred treatment to excerpts from her in book, she stillcannabis people who awant to help a Congress and implore them to become integrated the medical industry, can believeone theBlack words came remains domestic violence victim must change our laws,” Marlow said. case not involving merchant uncertain from her. “Color Me Butterfly” careful of how they go into “I will not stop until these polias the case continues in Anne Arundelbe County Court. won the owned 2007 by National “Best of theGaithersburg, victim's life, and understand cies are passed.” Remileaf, June Akinaggbe Books” that she may be in “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached sought aAward. preliminary injunction to have its application “I was just 16-years-old when mode”. at tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net scored before the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commy eye grants first blackened andformy you get to 'I'm going mission preapproval processor“Before and grower lips bled,” said. and ruledtoinkill you,' it started as a verbal WI licenses. A Marlow judge disagreed favor of the Elaine Davis-Nickens, presicommission Thursday, Dec. 5. However, the commisdent of the National Hook-Up sion will not reward applications until it completes an of Black Women, said there is no internal investigation on domestic whether the application proconsistency in the way cess was conducted fairly. The by commission’s inquiry, violence issues are dealt with announced after a Montgomery County judge issued a temporary restraining order to not award licenses Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (Dand criticism from the Maryland Black Caucus, may DC) recently testified before the House Agriculnot be completed until February. During that same ture Committee on her bill to make the District of month, a court hearing remains scheduled when a Columbia eligible for urban forestry funding. Her judge could rule in favor of the commission to dismiss bill, the McIntire-Stennis Act District of Columthe case. If that happens and the commission starts bia Equality Act, would amend the McIntire-Stengranting licenses, “Remileaf would cease to exist,” nis Act that provides U.S. states and territories Akinaggbe said in court. with formula funds to support state-designated inWI Staff Writer
Norton Continues Plans on Medical Cannabis Case Continues as Black Entrepre- Bill to Make D.C. Eligible for neurs Seek Equal Treatment Urban Forestry Funds
The Washington Informer Newspaper THE WASHINGTON INFORMER PUBLISHER In Memoriam NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is Dr. Calvin W. Rolark Rolark, Barnes Sr. Denise published weekly on each Thursday. Wilhelmina J. Rolark Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing ofSTAFF THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published fices. weekly News and advertisingPeriodicals deadline postage on Thursday. paid McNeir, at Washington, D. Kevin EditorD.C. and additional is Monday to publication. mailingprior offices. News and Anadvertising is Monday prior to publication. Ron deadline Burke, Advertising/ Marketing Director nouncements must bemust received two two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The Announcements be received Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor weeksWashington prior to event. Copyright 2016 Informer. All rights reserved. POST MASTER: Send change of addressLafayette Barnes, Editor by The Informer. All 3117 es toWashington The Washington Informer, Martin Luther King,IV, Jr. Assistant Ave., S.E.Photo Washington, rights D.C. reserved. POSTMASTER: Send Johnmay E. De Freitas, Sports Photo Editorpermis20032. No part of this publication be reproduced without written changesion of from addresses to The The Wash-Informer the publisher. Newspaper cannot guarantee Dorothy Rowley, Online Editor the return of ingtonphotographs. Informer, 3117 Martin Luther Subscription rates are $30 per year, two years $45. Papers will be received ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout King, not Jr. more Ave., than S.E. aWashington, D.C. week after publication. Make checks payable to: Mable Neville, Bookkeeper 20032. No part of this publication may be reproduced without writtenTHE permisDr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist WASHINGTON INFORMER sion from the publisher. TheLuther Informer Tatiana Moten, Social Media 3117 Martin King, Jr. Ave., S.E. • Washington, D.C.Specialist 20032 Newspaper cannot guarantee the return Phone: 202 561-4100 Fax: 202 Circulation 574-3785 Angie •Johnson, of photographs. Subscription rates are E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will www.washingtoninformer.com REPORTERS be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to: Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, PUBLISHERCox, Will Ford (Prince George’s Timothy THE WASHINGTON INFORMER Denise Rolark Barnes County Writer), Jacqueline Fuller, Hamil 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E STAFF D.C. 20032 REPORTERS Harris, D. Kevin McNeir, Dorothy Rowley, Washington, Brooke N. Garner Managing Editor Tia C. Jones, Ed Laiscell, Phone: 202 561-4100 Brenda Siler, Sarafina Wright, James Wright Carla Peay Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, Fax: 202 574-3785 Ron Burke Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, Joseph Young news@washingtoninformer.com Mable Whittaker Bookkeeper PHOTOGRAPHERS www.washingtoninformer.com LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS E. DeFreitas, Jackson, Shevry John E. De Freitas SportsJohn Editor Lafayette Ja’Mon Barnes, IV, Victor Holt PhotoLassiter, Editor Roy John E. DeJr., Freitas, Maurice Fitzgerald, Lewis, Robert R. Roberts, Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic Design Joanne Jackson, Roy Lewis, Robert Anthony Tilghman Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster Ridley, Victor Holt
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We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these policies to Congress stitutions’ cooperative forestry researchand programs to also extend available funding to D.C. Norton said them that the District treated as a state under implore to ischange our virtually all federal programs and that the District’s omission from the legislation was likely an laws. I will not stop until oversight from before the District had home rule or a Member of Congress. The District’s notable these aremakespassed. absencepolicies from this definition it ineligible for
CIRCULATION Paul Trantham
5 Medical cannabis rally Dec. 5 in Annapolis. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com
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In Memoriam Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Sr. Wilhelmina J. Rolark
funds that would support research at the District’s L.Y. Marlow state-supported university, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). UDC’s College of Agriculture, Urban Stability, and Environmental Science complements the District’s ongoing forestry efforts. UDC is the nation’s only urban landgrant university.
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Benning Market Set for Ward 7's River Terrace By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter Ward 7 residents have long complained about the lack of fresh food options available to them, but city, business and neighborhood leaders hope the soon-to-be-built Benning Market in the River Terrace neighborhood will offer some relief. On Dec. 10, District officials joined leaders of the Neighborhood Development Company and Market 7 — a community exchange that features District Black-owned businesses — in breaking ground on the construction of Benning Market, a multi-use development that will include a 7,000-square-foot food hall. Benning Market, anchored by Market 7, will house several food stall incubations as well as a community grocery store and office space and has been scheduled to open in late 2020. Revere Bank and the Enterprise Community Loan Fund Inc. will serve as financiers of the estimated $6 million project and the Asturian Construction Group will build the structure. Adrian Washington, founder and CEO of the Neighborhood Development Company, expressed excitement about Benning Market. "We are here to celebrate the groundbreaking of a great exciting project," Washington said. "This will be a great project for the River Terrace and Ward 7 communities. Benning Market will have locally owned businesses and help bring economic development to the area." Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) said Benning Market will be a welcome addition to the
ward. The council member said Benning Market will be part of an emerging River Terrace neighborhood. "Our streetcar will go past here," Gray said, pointing to Benning Road NE. "We could have a stop here. There are plans for the modernization of the East River Park shopping center and there is money in the budget to re-do the Whitlock Bridge." John Falcicchio, Mayor Muriel Bowser's chief of staff and the interim deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said two key District programs, the Neighborhood Prosperity Fund and Great Streets, supported Benning Market as a concept and a soon-to-be reality. "This project has been years and years in the making," Falcicchio said. "This place will offer food options for residents for years to come." Mary Blackford, founder of Market 7, said Benning Market "is more than just retail." "Market 7 is a real, multi-generational, community-based approach to sustaining in Ward 7," she said. "The new Market 7 at Benning Market will be an exciting expansion of the work we are already doing to bring abundance, vitality, and total wellness to our community by creating a space where our local ecosystem and small businesses can thrive." Cinque E. Culver, an advisory neighborhood commissioner for single-member district 7D04 based in River Terrace, said Benning Market could help stimulate his area economy. "River Terrace residents won't have to go somewhere else to sit down and get a cup of coffee," Culver said. "Benning Market could act as a catalyst to see more small businesses come over here." WI
5 Benning Market will have a 7,000-square-foot food hall. (Courtesy of Neighborhood Development Company)
Ward 7 residents have long complained about the lack of fresh food options vailable to them, but city, business and neighborhood leaders hope the soon-to-bebuilt Benning Market in the River Terrace neighborhood will offer some relief. WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Stay Informed! www.washingtoninformer.com DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 5
AROUND THE REGION
black facts
DEC 12 - 18, 2019 SOURCE: BLACK AMERICA WEB
DEC. 12
1899 – George Grant patents an improved golf tee. 1940 – Grammy-winning singer Dionne Warwick born in East Orange, New Jersey. 1963 – East African country Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom. 1975 – The National Association of Black Journalists is founded in Washington, D.C. 1995 – Willie Brown wins a runoff election to become the first Black mayor of San Francisco.
DEC. 13
1916 – Pro boxer Archie Moore, the longest-reigning world light heavyweight champion of all time, is born in Benoit, Mississippi. 1967 – Academy Award-winning actor and comedian Jamie Foxx (top-right) is born in Terrell, Texas.
DEC. 14
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1945 – Writer and music critic Stanley Crouch is born in Los Angeles. 1963 – Jazz singer Dinah Washington dies in Detroit at 39 of an accidental overdose on sleeping pills.
DEC. 15
1833 – William Augustus Hinton, a doctor and professor who was the first Black to publish an academic textbook and developed the "Hinton Test" for diagnosing syphilis, is born in Chicago. 1934 – African American teacher and businesswoman Maggie Lena Walker, the first female bank president of any race to charter a bank in the United States, dies in Rich-
BUYING RECORDS
mond, Virginia, at 70. 1943 – Jazz musician Thomas "Fats" Waller dies in Kansas City, Missouri, of pneumonia at 39.
DEC. 16
1976 – President-elect Jimmy Carter nominates Andrew Young as ambassador to the United Nations. 2000 – Colin Powell is appointed by President George W Bush as the first African American to serve as secretary of state. 2003 – President George W. Bush signs H.R. 3491, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture Act, which authorizes the creation of a Smithsonian Institution museum.
DEC. 17
1760 – Deborah Sampson, a woman who disguised herself as a man in order to serve in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, is born in Plympton, Massachusetts. 1939 – Singer and founding Temptations member Eddie Kendricks is born in Birmingham, Alabama. 1996 – Kofi Annan becomes the first Black secretary-general for the United Nations.
DEC. 18
Buying Vinyl Records from 1950 to 1986, Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, R&B, Disco, Soul, Reggae, Blues, Gospel, and record format 33 1/3, 45s, and some of the older 78s. Prefer larger collections of at least 100.
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1865 – The 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery in the U.S., is ratified. 1946 – Stephen Biko, anti-apartheid activist, is born in Ginsberg Township, South Africa. 1971 – Rev. Jesse Jackson announces the founding of Operation PUSH. 1996 – The Oakland Unified School District school board passes a resolution recognizing Ebonics — or African-American Vernacular English — as an African language. 2002 – BET founder Robert Johnson is announced as owner of the NBA's Charlotte expansion franchise, making him the first African American majority owner in major professional sports. WI
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The Mind is Still a Terrible Thing to Waste
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Education has long been at the top of my family’s list of priorities, even decades before Brown v. Board of Education, the dismantling of Jim Crow in the South and affirmative action policies which opened the doors to prestigious bastions of higher learning that formerly barred Blacks from attending. In fact, our insistence upon striving for academic excellence has only increased from generation to generation, following the example of my parents and my former wife’s parents. So, you can imagine the pride I felt earlier this week while taking a short visit to my hometown of Detroit where my firstborn child and daughter walked across the Fox Theatre stage to receive her master of education degree from Wayne State University. As I looked across the sea of jubilant families, friends and graduates, I find myself thinking back to the words shared and lessons I learned from my parents. And I found myself thanking them both, wishing they could be there with me but also knowing that in many ways, they really were. Three vignettes from the past
I share these stories because I have grown weary of seeing young Black children salivate over standing on bus stops, smoking cigarettes or blunts, disrespecting adults and walking home from school without one book under their arms. came roaring back. The first was an episode from elementary school when, as a sixth-grader, I followed the crowd during our lunchtime, leaving the school’s playground and walking with a group of other kids to the nearby hamburger joint. Who knew that my father would have decided to take that day off early from work? Who knew that while I was “chilling like a villain,” Daddy would drive up next to me and snatch me off the sidewalk and into his car? Who knew? It would be my one and only attempt to skip school. The second memory is one very early in my education when it was determined that I was a “gifted” child. However, I was similarly deemed to be incorrigible because I could not stay in my seat or keep my mouth closed in class. When my father went to meet with the principal and teachers, he told them it was their job to keep me busy. He told them that as part of a two-parent home of educators, he and Mom demanded that those in charge give me work that
would challenge my mind and feed my inquisitive spirit. He also told them that he expected results – from the educators in charge and from me. And he expected nothing less. So, while some may have wanted to place me on the list of little Black, disruptive boys, Daddy stepped up and squelched all related efforts or considerations. Finally, as I moved from elementary school to junior high, an all-boys college preparatory Catholic high school and college, one phrase would often echo in my mind – something that both of my parents would say with great frequency, “C means cheat.” Their explanation was simple: because I was not an average student, because I was not a “C” student, that for me to go on automatic pilot in the classroom when I had the potential to achieve greater success was tantamount to cheating. In fact, when I earned average grades, my father would actually make me pay him – decreasing my allowance during my formative years and later, withholding “fun money” that I would receive from time to time during my matriculation at undergraduate and graduate school. I share these stories because I have grown weary of seeing young Black children salivate over standing on bus stops, smoking cigarettes or blunts, disrespecting adults and walking home from school without one book under their arms. If they only knew the sacrifices our ancestors have made so that they can attend any school they desire. Perhaps what really gets my goat isn’t that they do not know but rather that some simply don’t care. The mind is still a terrible thing to waste. My parents knew the deal. And I am a better man because of it. Now, I watch my own children and grandchildren follow the family tradition. That’s joy! WI
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5 Christina Henderson wants to be the next at-large member of the D.C. Council. (Courtesy photo)
5 Renee Bowser is challenging D.C. Councilmember Brandon Todd in 2020. (Courtesy photo)
District Election Roundup By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter Henderson Seeks Council Seat with Grosso's Blessing Christina Henderson, who has worked for D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large) as a committee director, deputy chief of staff and legislative director, wants to take her former boss's seat in next year's election cycle and has his strong support. "Christina has the most tenacity to get this job done," Grosso said at Henderson's formal campaign kickoff on Dec. 4 at the Busboys and Poets restaurant in downtown Washington. "When it came to issues, she did the research and as a result, we won the fights that we waged on behalf of the people of the District. On the council, Christina will fight for human rights and fight for racial justice." Henderson holds a bachelor's degree from Furman University in political science, gender and women's studies and a master's degree from Princeton University in the field of public policy. Her Capitol Hill experience consists of working for Sens. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the party leader of his chamber. Henderson has also worked as a coordinator for special projects for the District public schools and for the New York City Department of Education as a Pioneers Fellow in the Charter Schools Office. Her working experience in the District and New York in education along with her tenure managing the Committee on Education that Grosso chairs, led the council mem-
ber to say she would be the best person to succeed him because "education continues to be the main issue in the city" and "on the council, Christina will continue to improve D.C.'s educational system." In her speech, Henderson said improving access and the quality of the District's early learning system will be a priority as well as working for more affordable housing units and improving public safety throughout the city. Henderson, who will not be on the ballot until the Nov. 3, 2020, general election because of her run as an independent, said the District "is a great city but could do better." She said a resident's zip code shouldn't determine easy access to a hospital or a good school. "But right now it does and that is unacceptable," Henderson said. "I want D.C. to be for everyone." Renee Bowser Makes Another Bid for Ward 4 Seat Renee Bowser ran for the Ward 4 council seat in 2007, 2012 and 2015 and will challenge Council member Brandon Todd (D-Ward 4) for the Democratic nomination in the June 2, 2020, primary. "As a seven-term advisory neighborhood commissioner representing single-member district 4D02 in Petworth and a career labor lawyer, I have spent my life advocating for the community," said Bowser, who is no relation to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. "Despite the prosperity our city is experiencing, we are leaving generations of Washingtonians behind. Our city is not working for everyone. "Many of you have voted for me in the past and I call on you, and others, to support my campaign to
create affordable housing, prioritize the safety of the public and increase education options for all D.C. residents," she said. In 2007, Bowser received more than four percent of the vote in the May 7 special election to replace Adrian Fenty, who vacated his council seat to run successfully for mayor in 2006. Bowser competed with 18 other candidates and lost to Muriel Bowser. In 2012, she challenged Muriel Bowser for the seat in the April 3 Democratic primary, getting 13.36 percent of the vote but losing again. In 2015, Bowser ran in the April 28 special election to replace Muriel Bowser, the winner of the 2014 mayoral contest, and received 21.59 percent of the vote but lost to Brandon Todd, an ally of the mayor. Bowser said her 2020 campaign will be different from her past ones. "I am planning on using public financing this time and will use that to reach many more Ward 4 voters," she said. "I am also retired from working as a labor lawyer and can devote full-time to the campaign and getting to know more Ward 4 residents. I also have an experienced campaign team that worked with the Leon T. Andrews effort to defeat Brandon in 2016." In 2016, Andrews got 42.04 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary while Todd had 50.81 percent. Bowser said working with former members of the Andrews team, as well as what she senses as a growing desire for change in the ward, could tip the scales in her favor next year. "My new team will help me excite voters and lead us to success," she said. WI
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“We are told do not legislate on this subject; time will bring it about. Give the people time to get over their prejudices . . . If left to time the time will never come. Unless this matter is regulated by law, we will not only fail to have these privileges but we may look to have all of our rights, one by one or in fell swoop, taken away from us.”
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serves as first Black governor for the state of Louisiana, Dec. 9, 1872. THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM
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By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill The region’s second busiest transit agency in the nation presents a proposal where fares could increase and changes to several bus routes for next fiscal year. According to documents online at https://bit.ly/38pWveH, the proposed $1.8 billion fiscal year 2021 capital budget would increase Metrorail peak fares by 15 cents, a $2 weekend flat fare and institute a flat $4 parking fee at all Metro parking garages in Prince George’s County. The agency’s board of directors are scheduled to discuss these and other proposed changes Thursday at Metro headquarters in northwest D.C. A resolution could be approved to hold a public hearing on not only the capital budget, but also a six-year, $9.7 billion capital improvement program that includes future projects for expansion of the Silver Line, the Potomac Yard infill station in Alexandria, Virginia, and the Purple Line in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland. Other Metrorail changes include: • Extend operating hours until midnight Monday through Thursday; until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Metro would run additional trains on Sunday, but still close at 11 p.m.; • Run trains from every eight minutes to 12 minutes from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m., but still charge peak, or rush hour fares; and • Run all trains with eight cars instead of some with just six cars. In terms of bus service, Metrobus fares would increase by 25 cents for those without a SmartTrip card and for commuters who load money onto their cards. Also, nearly six dozen proposed routes could be adjusted throughout the D.C. region. For instance, Route 37, a limited stop along Wisconsin Avenue in the District, would be eliminated based on “redundancy.” The Route E6 Chevy Chase that services portions of D.C. and Montgomery County would be combined with the M4 route along Nebraska Avenue in Northwe Due to “low ridership,” several routes would be cut such as three routes in Prince Georges: C11 and C13 (Clinton); C28 (Pointer Ridge in Bowie); and F12 (Ardwick Industrial Park shuttle in Hyattsville). Public hearings would be scheduled in January or February and the board approve the budget in March. If the board favors any of the changes, they would go into effect the new fiscal year begins in July. WI
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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 11
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Governor Hogan Announces Education Plan for 2020 By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill ANNAPOLIS – One month before the Maryland General Assembly convenes Jan. 8, Gov. Larry Hogan proposes a plan he called "the next chapter of education reform." The first measure he labeled the Building Opportunity Fund would provide $3.8 billion in construction and renovation projects over a five-year period for school projects currently on the state books. Another proposal called Community and Local Accountability for Struggling Schools, or CLASS Act, would allow parents and local leaders more input on changes in leadership and curriculum at schools which receive a one-star rating on the state's school report card for two straight years. "Education has been and will continue to be our administra-
tion's highest priority because I believe very strongly that every single child in Maryland deserves a world-class education regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in," Hogan said at a press conference Thursday, Dec. 5 in Annapolis. "Sixty-four percent of our entire capital budget goes to education. No governor in the history of our state has ever invested more in K through 12 education." The legislation hasn't been formally drafted and the governor provided no documentation last week. However, the proposals face a Democratic-controlled legislature where its leaders will put force legislation to support the ongoing $4 billion education restructure plan from the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, also known as the Kirwan Commission. House Speaker Adrienne Jones, who served on the commission, said in a statement she
5 Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (at lectern) announces two pieces of proposed legislation for school construction and accountability during a Dec. 5 press conference in Annapolis. Behind him (from left) are his chief legislative officer Keiffer Mitchell, state Superintendent Karen Salmon, Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and Hogan budget secretary David Brinkley. (William J. Ford/The Washington Informer)
spent hundreds of others working to craft a comprehensive education plan. "It is difficult to respond to slogans when there aren't actual details behind them," she said. With four officials standing beside Hogan, they summarized the proposals, which mirrored previous plans. The school construction proposal would use revenue bonds and casino money to build and renovate schools, but exactly how many remains unclear. Democratic leadership presented a similar $2.2 billion construction plan last month at Forest Heights Elementary in Oxon Hill. The measure would cost about $125 million annually, which would mostly come from casino revenue.
Hogan's budget secretary David Brinkley said the proposal wouldn't go against any existing debt already put toward schools. "People are saying we are tired of waiting for these schools for decades and we're going to try to get them fixed and built," he said. In terms of the accountability CLASS Act measure, it comes from a plan used by the state of Massachusetts where it created "innovation schools." According to the state's Department of Education website, the measure would allow parents, a superintendent, school principals, business and community leaders to help create "a school within a school" based on six components: curriculum, budget, school schedule and
Affordable Housing Among Focal Points at NAACP Town Hall By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill When Willie Flowers recently became president of the NAACP Maryland State Conference, he admitted one of his main duties will be to constantly remind people about the civil rights organization's role to help the Black community. Although local leaders say membership hasn't decreased, the goal remains for more people to join the 110-year-old organization. "We don't lack relevance, but we lack members to stand up for folks who need help and haven't been born yet," said Flowers of Howard County. "The folks who came before us were fighting for
12 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
us. Our forefathers didn't know what we needed. They wanted us to be better off. You know how deep that is? That's the spirit we have to reclaim. Just focus on Black folks seven days out of the week." The NAACP state conference, which organizes programs, assists local branches and advocacy efforts from a statewide perspective, plans to hold a town hall Jan. 18. Beside the date signifying the birthday weekend of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the discussion will be held in Prince George's County. Arrangements on the specific location are still being determined. One major topic of focus in the majority Black jurisdiction: housing. Based on research led by Elizabeth Johnson, who start-
ed her position as the state conference's housing chair Dec. 2, at least 35,000 homes in the county have been lost to foreclosure since the financial crisis of 2008. "Housing will be the catalyst ‌ because everybody wants to have a roof over their head," said Johnson of Temple Hills. "Housing touches every tentacle of your life." Johnson also serves as executive director of Strategic Housing Solutions Inc., a nonprofit organization established last year partners with the Prince George's NAACP branch to help fight foreclosures. The information attendees can receive includes the meaning of predatory lending, role of a servicer and documents to look for when seeking to purchase a home.
The most important document a homeowner needs, Johnson said, is "the note," or a document which proves a homeowner owes money but should receive it back after making a final mortgage payment. She simplified it this way: "It is like a mortgage burning ceremony at a Black church. [Church officials] were burning the note to show the property is paid for." Johnson has studied housing for five years as the housing chair for the Prince George's branch. But she also suffered through the housing dilemma after she lost her custom-built home in St. Mary's County. "I lost my house to these bottom-feeders," said Johnson, who
NAACP Page 44
calendar, staffing, professional development and school district policies. The state doesn't allow private and parochial schools to operate an innovation school. Under Hogan's proposal, residents could request a school board to make a particular school an innovation school if it receives a one-star rating. The state's report card summarizes that rating when a school has less than 30 percent of total earned points based on test scores, attendance, school environment and a student survey. Hogan stressed he approves of some of the Kirwan Commission recommendations, but says it could create $33 billion in taxes, more debt, or take money away from other programs. Kirwan Commission supporters said it presents a more inclusive outlook on education such as teacher salaries, expansion of early childhood, special education resources and school accountability and governance. Cheryl Bost, president of the Maryland State Education Association, said the accountability proposal resembles what lawmakers approved a few years ago from the Protect Our Schools Act. The measure allows county and Baltimore City leaders and residents from those communities to provide input on low-ranking schools. "It didn't seem like the governor had anything new to say," she said. "The Kirwan Commission recommendations look at everything. We're not just picking out pieces to talk about it. It looked like the governor was supporting status quo." WI
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PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
Kirwan Spread Out in Prince George's By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Ashley Montgomery says state money should provide school uniforms for students from low-income families and underserved communities. Malvery Smith stressed money to renovate older schools would improve student achievement. Smith and Montgomery are not only Prince George's County residents, but public school teachers in county school system who presented two suggestions at a community meeting Saturday, Dec. 7 at Laurel Public Library. "Some rooms are cold. Some rooms are hot," said Smith, a fifth-grade teacher at Oaklands Elementary in Laurel. "We have [portable classrooms] for music, art and P.E. outside. Our school is more than 50 years old. Our children need adequate space for learning." The discussion labeled a "community conversation" focused on the ongoing $4 billion statewide
education proposal from the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education, also known as the Kirwan Commission named after former University of Maryland System chancellor William E. "Brit" Kirwan. The plan that seeks to revamp the state's public education structure lays out dozens of recommendations, including expansion of pre-kindergarten to include low-income 3-year-old children, teacher salary increases and incorporation of college- and career-readiness standards. A funding formula would increase spending with the state contributing $2.8 billion and counties and Baltimore City about $1.2 billion for a total for $4 billion. The formal plan called The Blueprint to Maryland's Future seeks for full implementation by fiscal year 2030. Saturday's talk marked the second of three organized by County Vice Chair Calvin Hawkins (D-At-Large) with one more scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12
at the Southern Regional Technology and Recreation Complex in Fort Washington. Hawkins said the idea came after he met with Del. Alonzo Washington (D-District 22) of Greenbelt, who served on the
commission that voted 19-3 to recommend state lawmakers approve the plan when they convene Jan. 8 in Annapolis for the annual 90-day session. "I have to do my part not so much with all the elected officials, but get the community involved so they understand the investment we may have to make
on this," Hawkins said. Alvin Thornton, Prince George's school board chair, served on the work group to organize a proposed funding formula for the education plan and summarized the commission's work with some historical
KIRWAN Page 44
5 Alvin Thornton (right), chair of the Prince George's County school board, discusses part of the recommendations from the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education plan at Laurel Public Library on Dec. 7. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 13
BUSINESS Md., Va. Residents Among Most Charitable in Nation By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
Maryland and Virginia's residents are among the most generous in America, according to the World Giving Index, which also shows the United States as the most generous country in the world over the past decade. American donors in 2018 gave more than $427 billion to charity, with 68 percent of the funds coming directly from individuals. Also, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, Americans do more than reach in their pockets to help others. They also contribute their time — and plenty of it. Nearly 63 million U.S. citizens volunteer, serving a combined total of 7.9 billion hours per year,
the equivalent of $184 billion of service. With the holiday season in full swing and philanthropic efforts ramped up, the District-based financial website WalletHub ranked the most and least generous states in America. Maryland finished third on the list, while Virginia ranked eighth. The top 10 are Minnesota, Utah, Maryland, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Virginia, Washington and Maine. The District of Columbia was not ranked because it still doesn't have statehood. Utah, Minnesota, Oregon, Iowa and Alaska are states with the highest volunteer rate, while Utah, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama and Idaho are states with the highest donated income, according to the
(Photo courtesy of Black Celebrity Giving)
WalletHub study. Utah, Illinois, New Hampshire, Maryland and Rhode Island had the highest percentage of the population who donated money. "U.S. nonprofits are impacted by many of the same forces that impact for-profit businesses," said WalletHub expert Robert L. Fischer, who is also an associate professor and co-director of the Center on Urban Poverty & Community Development at Case Western Reserve University. "Seeking financial donations can be tough when households have limited fiscal capacity, with nonprofits competing for the same disposable income that for-profits want." "In an economy with lower unemployment rates, nonprofits may have trouble competing for staff, especially since the compensation they offer is often lower than for-profit employers. Also, when government budgets shrink, nonprofits see increased competition for available government contracts related to their work," he said. The 2017-18 Income tax changes at the federal level increased
The Washington Convention and Sports Authority (t/a Events DC) Bid Opportunity The Washington Convention and Sports Authority (t/a Events DC) is soliciting proposals from qualified vendors for the provision of Exterior Façade Envelope Enhancement. Interested parties can view a copy of the Request for Proposal (RFP) by accessing the Event DC’s E-procurement website at www.wcsapex.com and opening APEX BID #20-S-131-622. Key Dates: Pre-Proposal Conference (Optional): 11:00 A.M. EST, Thursday, December 19, 2019 Questions: 5:00 P.M. EST, Friday, January 3, 2020 Proposal Due Date: 33:00 P.M. EST, Tuesday, January 14, 2020 Notification of intent to attend must be provided via e-mail to Briana Vaden, Contracts & Procurement Analyst at bvaden@eventsdc.com no later than 5:00pm EST, December 18, 2019.
14 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
significantly the number of individual tax returns taking standard, rather than itemized, deductions which means that charitable contributions only benefit the donor if they itemize, said WalletHub expert William J. Smith, chair and David A. Johnson Distinguished Scholar at the Richards College of Business at the University of West Georgia. "So fewer taxpayers are able to receive a tax benefit for making charitable donations," Smith said. "This reduces the incentive for charitable donations for those fam-
ilies well under the limit for itemizing, and this represents a large number of potential gifts. Furthermore, by reducing the top income tax rate, the marginal tax benefit from donating one more dollar is reduced for every potential donor in that bracket. "The same can be said for every income tax rate reduction," he said. "One of the original purposes of the charitable deduction was to encourage more work by private charities." For the full report on the most charitable states, go to wallethub.com. WI
'Tis the Season for Charitable Giving, But to Which Charity? By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia For the 38th time in the past 40 years, charitable giving increased in 2018 from the previous year, according to Giving USA. Americans donated $427.71 billion — nearly $292 billion of which came from individual donors. With the giving season in full swing, the District-based financial website WalletHub compared more than 100 of the most prominent U.S. charities based on their financial performance, transparency and popularity. Researchers also identified the best organization to donate to for each of the most popular causes. For those who want to contribute to veterans' services, researchers at WalletHub identified the Fisher House Foundation as the best organization for donors to contribute. Researchers consider the Semper Fi Fund as the best organization to give donations or health, while DonorsChoose.org was listed as the best for education.
Researchers said the Conservation Fund counts as the best for the environment, and Prevent Child Abuse America's National Office is the recommendation for childabuse prevention donations. The group Action Against Hunger-USA is the best organization to donate funds to fight hunger, while Direct Relief is the choice for hurricane relief, according to researchers. WalletHub experts also provided tips for choosing a charity, including finding a cause, asking for recommendations and conducting research. The site's experts also outlined tips for making a successful donation, including having a budget, deciding on itemized deductions, considering processing fees and earmarking funds for something specific. "So very often, people give impulsively or possess a 'shotgun' approach to philanthropy," said WalletHub expert Sidney James Nakhjavan, who serves as executive
CHARITY Page 44
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Battle Joins DC Water as General Counsel By James Wright WI Staff Writer @jamesdcwrighter Marc Battle, a former Pepco vice president, recently joined DC Water as its executive vice president, legal affairs and general counsel. Battle had worked for Pepco, the electric utility for the District and the Maryland suburbs, since December 2013 as the vice president for government and external affairs, handling public policy and stakeholder relations with government officials, community leaders and business, consumer and non-profit organizations on behalf of the company. He transitioned to DC Water, the agency that provides drinking water, sewage collection, sewage treatment and maintains more than 9,000 public hydrants to the District and services wholesale wastewater treatment to adjoining municipalities in Maryland and Virginia, in November. David L. Gadis, DC Water's
chief executive officer, said Battle will be an asset. "We are thrilled to have Marc and his expertise here at DC Water," Gadis said. "Marc will provide strong, fresh leadership for our legal department and help us continue to provide world-class service to our customers." Battle holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of the District of Columbia and a juris doctorate from the Howard University School of Law. He has worked as the senior counsel and press secretary for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), the D.C. Council's Committee on Government Operations counsel, a litigation associate for the law firm of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson in its New York office, assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., and as Pepco's associate general counsel. Battle served on the Haledon, N.J., township council, as an appointed and then elected member.
Battle said he joined DC Water to "get back into the practice of law." "I also wanted to stay in the utility space and I wanted to remain local," he said. "I think DC Water is an innovative company that has great employees that provide excellent service to its customers in the District of Columbia." Battle said as the general counsel, he will deal with a "breath of legal issues." "Those issues include water quality, employment and real estate law as well as dealing with civil rights matters," he said. A board member of several nonprofits, Battle said changing employers hasn't change his commitment to community service. "I recognize the importance of having an active relationship with the community and will continue to serve on boards that I am invited to join and those whose interests are similar to mine." he said. WI
BUSINESS
5 Marc Battle holds degrees from the University of the District of Columbia and the Howard University School of Law. (Courtesy of DC Water)
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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 15
NATIONAL Legendary Radio Jock Tom Joyner Prepares for Retirement WI Staff Report Renowned syndicated radio host Tom Joyner is set to retire this week after more than two decades of bringing the latest in news, live performances, celebrity interviews and more to a loyal legion of fans. While "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" will broadcast through Dec. 31, the final live in-studio show takes place Friday, Dec. 13. For the show's final week, call-in guests will include Arsenio Hall, Bill Clinton, Magic Johnson, Emmitt Smith, April Ryan and Lionel Richie. Joyner, 70, announced in 2017 that he would retire once his contract ended this month. "I'm retiring, and for the next two years we're going to rem-
inisce, go down memory lane and talk about all the things that we've done for the past 25 years," the National Radio Hall of Fame inductee said at the time. Comedian Rickey Smiley is being tapped to succeed Joyner. Joyner, who broke the news earlier to listeners, introduced Smiley to his audience, saying, "you've got to keep the party with a purpose going and find a purpose to the party." As host of the nationally syndicated show, Joyner revolutionized radio when his daily, African American-targeted music show premiered in 1994. In addition to his popular morning talk show, the legendary host continues to solidify his legacy with multiple brand extensions that include annual events,
5 Tom Joyner with comedian Chris Paul, radio personality Donnie Simpson, and comedian Huggy Lowdown at the One More Time Experience in the DC area in May earlier this year. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
engaging digital platforms and a dedication to serving, empowering and educating his loyal community/audience. Joyner's impact and influence has had far-reaching implications with thought-provoking commentary from emerging social justice leaders that have included the likes of Shaun King, Roland Martin and Rev. Al Sharpton. Also, whether the "Fly Jock" has raised money for education or provided aid to those in need, giving back to the community
has always been his priority, including efforts for relief funds that have aided hurricane and tornado victims, to supporting friends and families that have taken in survivors. Joyner, a leading voice in the campaign to promote health and wellness in the African-American community, initiated an annual wellness-emphasis period, Take a Loved One to the Doctor Season, which expands upon the weekly "Get Well Wednesday" segments of his show.
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His popular morning show features non-stop hilarity five days a week, led by top comedians Sherri Shepherd, Kym Whitley, Guy Torry and Damon Williams. The show also serves as the place to break new music as Joyner has hosted more than 200 live in-studio performances by today's biggest artists. In addition, the Tom Joyner Foundation continues to thrive supporting students attending historically Black colleges and universities, having raised more than $65 million to date. Joyner, who grew up in Tuskegee, AL, is son of an Tuskegee Airman and best friend to famed singer Lionel Richie. After being "unintentionally" hired as a DJ while protesting a local station's refusal to play R&B music (Joyner was selected from the crowd and hired on the spot), he eventually worked his way through Memphis, St. Louis and Dallas, landing at WJPC in Chicago. In the mid-1980s, Joyner was given the nickname "The Fly Jock" for flying between Dallas and Chicago five days a week, doing his morning drive program at KKDA in Dallas and then commuting to WGCI in Chicago for his afternoon program. During his tenure, Joyner was number one on both stations for seven years and traveled eight million miles. Joyner has received the National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Award, Billboard's Best Urban Contemporary Air Personality Award, the NAACP Image Award and many honorary doctorate degrees. WI
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NATIONAL
Suffrage Battle Encounters a Negro Problem in Wyoming By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia
This is part of an ongoing Washington Informer series about the Women's Suffrage Movement and an initiative that includes Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes that will use the lens of history, the fabric of art and culture and the venue of the public square to shine a light into dark places, equipping all with a compass to chart the way forward. The initiative lives in the institutional home of the Washington Informer Charities. The fight for women's suffrage saw success, at least temporarily, when on Dec. 10, 1869, women gained the right to vote in Wyoming Territory, roughly a half-century before all women in America received the right to vote. What happened? What was the status for Black women? The new legislature decided votes for women weren't such a good idea after all, however, and passed a bill to repeal the 1869 law, according to wyohistory.org, which
recounts the history of Wyoming. Then-Gov. John Allen Campbell vetoed the repeal. The House came up with the two-thirds vote necessary to override his veto, but the council fell one vote short. That left the new law standing, and it was never challenged again. However, the issue was more tied to race than suffrage for women. From wyohistory.org: "The Legislature met in October 1869 in Cheyenne. All those Democrats seem to have had it on their mind not to protect Black people's rights, like the Republicans wanted to do, but to protect women's rights. "They passed a resolution allowing women to sit inside the special space where the lawmakers sat. "They passed a law guaranteeing that teachers — most of whom were women — would be paid the same whether they were men or women. And they passed a bill guaranteeing married women property rights separate from their husbands. "The idea that women deserved the same rights as men had been
growing steadily in the United States since the 1840s. For a long time, many people who supported the abolition of slavery also supported women's rights. Both feelings were strong in the Republican Party before the Civil War. "But after the war, Republicans felt they had to do all they could to make sure the freed slaves got the right to vote and were able to keep it. So, the Republicans put women's rights on the back burner. Some women were furious about this and felt betrayed by the party. "In 1854, meanwhile, the legislature in Washington Territory tried and failed to give women the right to vote. Nebraska Territory did the same in 1856. In Congress, a senator introduced a bill after the Civil War to give women in all the territories the right to vote." However, that failed as well as bills in 1868 that would have amended the U.S. Constitution to give all women in the United States and territories the right to vote. Early in 1869, Dakota Territory came within one vote of passing a so-called woman suffrage bill.
5 Wyoming Territory grappled with women's suffrage and the impact of the Black vote in 1869. (Courtesy of Visit Laramie)
From wyohistory.org: "The idea was not new in American politics. Many of Wyoming's legislators came from states or territories where the question had been discussed often. "Many of the legislators believed strongly that if Blacks and Chinese were to have the vote, then women — especially white women — should have it, too. The following spring, a Cheyenne newspaper reported this as 'the clincher' argument. 'Damn it,' an unnamed
legislator supposedly said, 'if you are going to let the niggers and the pigtails [the Chinese] vote, we will ring in the women, too.' William Bright, an Alexandria, Va., native who was uneducated saloon-keeper, stalwart Democrat, ex-Virginian, Union Army veteran, and president of the council, was the man who had introduced the bill to give women the vote. Bright "was one of the main backers of this argument," wyohistory.org reported. WI
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CARICOM Opens Office in Kenya The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Saturday inaugurated its diplomatic office in Nairobi, Kenya, with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley saying it could become the most important contact between the 15-member bloc and the United Nations. "I would like to suggest to those here that perhaps, more than any other location — more than Geneva, more than New York — the CARICOM representation in Nairobi is going to be the one that is going to have the greatest impact in how our nations function, how we build, how we trade, how we deal with our food security, and, above all else, how we deal with our water security, because one of the more silent consequences of this climate crisis has been on our ground water supply across the region," Mottley said. The United Nations Office at Nairobi is one of four major United Nations office sites where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. Nairobi is the global headquarters for two UN programs — the UN Environmental program and the UN Human
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Settlements program. Mottley said CARICOM needs technical support as well as the amplification of the financial development resources, noting the Warsaw Development Mechanism for Loss and Damage as a consequence of climate change. The mechanism, created in 2013, acknowledges that "loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change includes, and in some cases involves more than, that which can be reduced by adaptation." Mottley, however, said that the mechanism was "never given life or flesh, and, therefore, these are some of the real issues that we in the Caribbean Community have come to Nairobi to work and fight for on behalf of our people." For CARICOM, "this is not just an optional battle, this is the battle for our very survival as a region," Mottley said, noting the historic nature of the opening of the diplomatic office here. She said the event "carries with it a level of emotion that those who have gone before and who gave of their time, their blood, their energy to be able to have the fraternal embrace for a common fight for the betterment of the lives of our people after decades and, in some instances, centuries of exploitation would better appreciate the magnitude of the moment on which we meet today." Mottley said that the Caribbean and Africa have been separated not simply by the Atlantic Ocean but also by "centuries of division and exploitation." The ceremony was also attended by Monica K. Juma, cabinet secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya; Barbados' Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jerome X Walcott; his Belizean counterpart, Wilfred Peter Elrington, and other officials from CARICOM and Kenya. WI
caribbean now Reelected Dominica PM Sworn Into Office Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was sworn into office for a fourth consecutive term on Saturday, mere hours after leading the ruling Dominica Labour Party to a sweeping general elections victory. But even as he was being sworn in, the leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Lennox Linton, was hinting at "irregularities" in the polls that saw his party's seat count in the 21-member Parliament reduced from six to four, according to the preliminary results. In a speech after he was sworn into office, Skerrit extended a hand to Linton, urging him to get together for the benefit of the country, even while saying that he believes the "external forces" that sought to derail Friday's general election did not treat Linton right. "I have never seen so much external interest in our campaign," Skerrit said, adding that he is hopeful that now that the electorate had spoken, quite forcefully, that they would now channel their interest into rebuilding Dominica. He reminded Linton that the DLP, which, according to the preliminary figures, had won 17 of the 21 seats, had secured both the seats and the popular votes. WI
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December Greetings from DC Department of Aging and Community Living Laura Newland Director Department of Aging and Community Living Happy holidays! We’re looking forward to welcoming all of you to the Mayor’s 21st Annual Senior Holiday Celebration on December 19th at the DC Armory. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, you can reserve one online at www.dcseniorholiday.splashthat.com, visit a senior site, or give us a call at 202-724-5626. Our theme this year is also our agency’s new tagline—live boldly! Last month, I saw a news article about Ms. Willie Murphy, an 82-year-old bodybuilder who fought off a home intruder so hard that she sent him to the hospital! When police officers arrived, they asked to pose for a photo with her. When I read this story, I was glad that Ms. Murphy was unharmed, and I was a little irritated with the journalist and the police for perpetuating the stereotype that seniors are frail and helpless. Ms. Murphy found herself in a circumstance that no one should have to face, much less our seniors, but the intruder got more than he bargained for. Just like so many people in our society, he underestimated how bold, energetic, and deter-
mined seniors are. What’s so extraordinary about Ms. Murphy isn’t just that she beat off a home intruder—although that’s impressive! It’s that she didn’t let anyone tell her that she’s too old to lift weights or too frail to lift so much. Her age didn’t get in the way of her doing what she wanted to do every day. Now, not everyone is a competitive weight-lifter like Ms. Murphy. But in my time getting to know our District seniors, I’ve thought a lot about what makes someone extraordinary—about what makes an extraordinary life. What I’ve learned from you is that choosing kindness, love, and compassion—for yourselves and others—makes for an extraordinary life. Being extraordinary doesn’t always make the front-page news. Whether you choose to be a body builder, dancer, volunteer, advocate, friend, mom, grandma, neighbor, or the many other choices you make in your life, living boldly means treating each day as an opportunity to love more, learn more, and laugh more. During my time as director, I’ve met some extraordinary seniors. People like Mr. John Bassett who has volunteered at Oasis Senior Center for many years serving lunch daily to men experiencing homelessness. I’ve spo-
ken to residents at senior buildings who take time to knock on doors to remind their neighbors that lunch is being served downstairs. This is extraordinary. There are also people like Ms. Trayci Campbell who spends her free time visiting with homebound seniors, running errands, and checking in on them through her volunteer role with the Mary’s Center Senior Peer Support Program. Or Ms. Olivia O’Neal who works to create a safe space for LGBTQ seniors to openly talk about their unique challenges in her volunteer role as a peer facilitator. Then there’s also Ms. Olivia Chase, a grandparent who is serving as the primary caregiv-
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er for her 11-year-old grandson. This is extraordinary. In DC, we have the good fortune of having a vibrant senior community. We see it every day in you. You’re extraordinary, and you exemplify what it means to live boldly at every age. Our holiday celebration is for you. We’re celebrating all the ex-
traordinary things that you accomplish every single day. You may not make the front-page news, but we see you, we appreciate you, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to celebrate you! Thank you for showing us how to live boldly! I can’t wait to see you on December 19th. Aging is Living!
DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 19
HEALTH Md. Woman Advances HIV/AIDS Research Through Clinical Trials By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia In 1997, Gail Graham was diagnosed with HIV. Graham, who currently serves as director of HIV/AIDS Outreach Services and Ministry at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church in Maryland, said it was her church pastor's acceptance and support
20 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
that resulted in her taking an active role at the church. In 2014 she joined an HIV/ AIDS clinical trial group at Johns Hopkins Hospital and because she was motivated to do more, Graham joined a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health. Thanks to major advances in medical research, Graham said her disease is now undetectable
and un-transmittable. For those battling serious diseases, researchers say the opportunity to participate in a clinical trial can be a lifeline. But for many, deciding whether or not to participate in a clinical trial can be difficult. There are a lot of unknowns: Why should I do it? Are there side effects? Will participation disrupt my job and affect my health coverage? How far will I need to travel? Will I receive the results of my clinical trial? Those questions led Kenneth Getz, founder of CISCRP and deputy director and research professor at the Center for the Study of Drug Development at Tufts University School of Medicine, to write "The Gift of Participation: A Guide to Making Informed Decisions About Volunteering for a Clinical Trial." Many have called it the ultimate guidebook for patients and their network of support. The book, which is available at Amazon.com and other outlets, offers critical information on what to expect, where to find trials and what questions to ask. CISCRP, whose motto is Edu-
5 Gail Graham (Courtesy photo)
cation Before Participation, routinely celebrate research participants like Graham. They call the participants "medical heroes." "Today, nearly 4,000 new medical therapies are in active clinical trials," Getz said. "The success of these medical advances — ultimately measured by improvements in the quality of patients' lives and by the availability of new treatments and cures for unmet medical needs — depends on the millions of people who participate in clinical trials each year. "We call these brave individuals like Gail Graham 'medical heroes," he said. "Ordinary people like you and me who have chosen to give the extraordinary gift of participation in clinical research. Their decision to participate is a selfless act because participation always carries risk and will likely not provide any direct personal medical benefit. Future generations are the direct recipients of the gift of participation. "Medical heroes — through their participation and partnership with the clinical research enterprise — profoundly contribute to society's collective knowledge about the nature of disease, its progression and how and how not to treat it," Getz said. Graham said that clinical trials are vital and her journey has made her a believer. "On April 29, 1997, I found out at work that I was HIV positive. I was the supervisor of
admission for Kennedy Krieger Institute Neurobehavioral program, and my first thought was, 'God please, I just want to live long enough to see my kids graduate high school,'" Graham said. She wondered how she would tell her children. "I made a point of learning as much as I could and still can about this virus and the disease and I had a great boss who supported me," Graham said. "I was open with human resources and they worked with me and gave me all the exceptions to use regarding leave and sick days. My best friend learned with me and has continued to be by my side unconditionally." Now, in her role at the church, Graham said she remains busy assisting others. "For the last eight years we have had a World AIDS Day 'Testing for Turkey' event," she said. "The last Saturday of November, we provide free testing counseling gently used clothes blood pressure screening and any other services that we can obtain for the community. "HIV is no longer considered a death sentence," she said. "With proper treatment, you can become undetectable," the point where levels of the virus are so low it can't be detected. "If you keep taking your medication and maintain your undetectability, the risk of you passing it to others is zero," Graham said. WI
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5 Stephanie Hafiz, director of Member Engagement for AmeriHealth Caritas DC, Carl L. Champman, Sr., director, Provider Network Management for AmeriHealth Caritas, and LaSonya Ander, HR Business Partner Client Services for AmeriHealth Caritas during the Pathways to Work graduation program in Northwest on December 4. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
AmeriHealth Caritas Graduates Fifth Class in Workforce Readiness Program
Internships Support D.C. Residents Seeking Skills Leading to Successful Careers WI Staff Report AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, a mission-based Medicaid managed care plan serving more than 120,000 residents of D.C., celebrated the graduation of the sixth cohort of participants in their Pathways to Work workforce readiness program on Dec. 4 at 700 Pennsylvania Ave SE. The 12-week paid internship program paved the way for participants, selected from among residents in the District, to receive medical coding, billing and front desk professional training in a classroom environment to provide mar-
ketable skills in the healthcare sector and entry- level positions. Interns also received foundational trainings in financial literacy, work/life balance and emotional intelligence. “Pathways to Work represents our investment to increase economic inclusion,” said Karen Dale, market president for AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia. “Factors such as unemployment, exposure to violence and poverty prevent people from attaining their full health potential. For these reasons, we carefully designed the program to build career skills with the consistent support of
a mentor to provide guidance and serve as an aid in transitioning into the workforce.” Intern Gwen Swindall said she was surprised to learn valuable life skills like the importance of having a positive attitude and always keeping an open mind in finding solutions. Fellow Cohort VI Interns Prince Martin and Jakki Glover both agreed. Glover, when asked if the program prepared her for the workforce, said, “I feel confident and ready to be an asset to any medical office.” For more information, visit www. amerihealthcaritasdc.com. WI
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EDUCATION Third Graders Learn How to Navigate Waters
DCPS Program Expands East of the River By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Earlier this year, D.C. Public Schools expanded elementary-level swimming classes to Wards 7 and 8. Groups of third graders from those communities have since traveled to Ballou Senior High School and H.D. Woodson STEM High School for lessons designed to help them safely navigate the waters. For the more than a dozen young people in one cohort. the weekly trek from nearby Aiton Elementary School to H.D. Woodson has proven fruitful. During one recent lesson in particular, students practiced breathing and balancing techniques while their
instructors emphasized the importance of remaining calm in the water. Minutes after leaving the pool, some students such as De'kota French said they want to continue adding to their skill set. "If you don't know how to swim, you might drown when you get in the pool," said De'kota as she looked back on the hourlong class. "[In this class], I learned how to bob [breathe underwater while swimming]. This could help me save a life. I could also help out my siblings." On Friday, students sat along the edge of the pool with their goggles on top of their head and feet in the water as instructors Cosme Lantigua and Kendra Richards prepared them for a les-
5 Elementary school students from Aiton Elementary School receive swimming instructions from Cosme Lantigua. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
son that would require them to stretch their body in the water, kick their legs and breathe. Initially, they would carry out each step separately and later combine them during practice laps. Niamarah McKinnon, De'kota's classmate who recounted learning how to swim from a family member, said the class has revealed new possibilities. "I don't go swimming that often. I think I will go swimming in the summer now and tell my cousin about the class at H.D.
DCPS
BRIEFS Compiled by Dorothy Rowley WI Staff Writer
MILKEN AWARD WINNER
Art teacher Claire Smullen has taught students from first grade to 12th, but she loves middle school, a time when "students are trying to figure out how they fit into the world." Smullen recently won her Milken Award for her efforts at Stuart-Hobson Middle School. The following is excerpted from Connections/Milken Family Foundation: Milken Family Foundation:
22 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
5 Art teacher Claire Smullen won her Milken Award this fall for her efforts at Stuart-Hobson Middle School. (DCPS photo)
What made you decide to teach? Claire Smullen: My father was an amazing educator at Derry Area High School in Derry, Pennsylvania, where I graduated in 2004. As a senior I was in my father's history class and saw firsthand how many students' lives he touched. He has been retired for many years now, but he
still runs into students who greet him with such warmth and love. I've always loved art, but as I started my career in graphic design right out of college, I realized just how much I longed to make meaningful connections with students and develop the
DC BRIEFS Page 44
Data collected from YMCA branches nationwide suggests that two out of three African-American children in the United States cannot swim. In turn, Black youth die in water-related incidents at a rate three times that of their white peers. Woodson and how I learned to swim in the third grade," Niamarah told The Informer. Swimming has been found to build a child's strength, muscle tone, balance and coordination while improving language and speech development via breath control. However, some youth haven't been fortunate to learn how to swim. Data collected from YMCA branches nationwide suggests that two out of three African-American children in the United States cannot swim. In turn, Black youth die in water-related incidents at a rate three times that of their white peers. Nearly 90 percent of those who say they can't swim plan to go to the beach or pool this summer. Proponents of swimming often point to the generational fear and stereotypes of Black inability as the main precipitators of
these disparities. In the District, a history of racial tension, specifically a riot at a desegregated swimming pool in Anacostia in 1949, has also played a role. Though the pool would remain integrated with increased police presence, attendance significantly decreased. at that location. Today, the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation maintains nearly a dozen indoor pools across the District, each of which offers aquatic lessons for the entire family. At its 2017 inception, third graders from 10 schools participated in DCPS' elementary swimming program on the grounds of Marie Reed Elementary School in Northwest. By the end of this academic year, 1,400 third graders representing 27 public schools, more than half of which are based east of the Anacostia River, would've learned water and personal safety and foundational swimming skills. Lantigua said such an experience can expose students and their families to an entirely different world. "Students can be future professionals and get the skills in their bag for scholarships and access to swimming programs in the city regardless of race or neighborhood," said the DCPS swimming instructor and lifelong swimmer. "We want them to see [the swimming pool] as a safe space where they can deviate from emotional stress and social tension. This would be projected on their families and communities, and these young people could become leaders that fight against the segregation that has surrounded swimming." WI
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EDUCATION
Search for New Charter School Board Exec Begins By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins
As the search for the D.C. Public Charter School Board's next executive director gets underway, officials leading the process said they want to involve parents, teachers, and other stakeholders to weigh in on the board's final decision. A public roundtable scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12 at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School would allow community members to discuss the qualities of an executive director they're seeking in the person replacing Scott Pearson, a former Obama administration official wrapping up his nine-year tenure at the end of this academic year. "We're looking for the best candidate from a lot of different perspectives," said Rick Cruz, the board's chair. "We want folks who have strong relevant experience with charter schools." Cruz and Vice Chair Saba Bireda are leading the executive director selection committee that's collabo-
rating with the search firm brought last month in the wake of Pearson's announcement. "We've had success over the last few years inviting community members for feedback," Cruz said. "At our meeting at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School, we're getting [participants] to work in small groups and think through what they think is important" in the selection process. Under Pearson's stewardship, the board expanded enrollment, particularly that of special-needs students, by consolidating its process with D.C. Public Schools under the annual school lottery. Within that same time period, Pearson has gone toe-to-toe with D.C. Council members pressing for more accountability and transparency from charter schools, privately-ran institutions funded with taxpayer dollars. At the end of the selection process, the board's new executive director would enter a period of transition after which they will help facilitate the opening of five newly chartered schools in the 2020-2021
academic year. This spring, some schools will shutter as part a charter revocation process initiated by the board for poor academic performance. Five charter schools, most of which were located in the eastern part of the city, didn't reopen this year for similar reasons. Currently more than 120 charter schools operate in the District, with citywide student enrollment evenly split between the charter school system and D.C. Public Schools. Cruz, a board member of five years, told The Informer that half of the city's charter schools have maintained Tier 1 status, meaning that more than 60 percent of students enrolled meet standards of high performance. Even so, figures released earlier this year show a lessthan-one-percent decrease in public charter school enrollment, the reasons for which haven't quite been determined. For D.C. resident Ismael Vazquez Sr., the decision to pull his youngest daughter out of Meridian Public Charter School last spring represented the complete erosion of trust that started with a teacher's alleged
5 Art teacher Claire Smullen won her Milken Award this fall for her efforts at Stuart-Hobson Middle School. (DCPS photo)
verbal assault and bullying of her older siblings years prior. Efforts to hold administrators accountable fell on deaf ears, he said, particularly because of what he described as high teacher turnover. "If you told me my child was acting up, I would try to get some understanding so when I speak to them, I can explain [the teacher's] long-standing efforts," Vazquez
said. "At Meridian, there was never that connection. It was about my child being the best of the best, but they not having resources for her, [but] they did have the resources to discipline. When I showed up to the school, the people I wanted to press didn't work there anymore. People were scared of what I was going to do, but I was only going to expect you to do your job." WI
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DECEMBER 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT
Beating the Blahs A Quick Guide to Guarding Your Mental & Emotional Health During the Holidays
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I admit that I am one of the millions of Americans who does not relish the holiday season. Much of my humbug position for the jingling bells and red-nosed reindeer comes from the financial pressure I’ve watched people put themselves under from Black Friday through early January. More disheartening is the loss of meaning for the season – the birth of Jesus, the Christ, and benign neglect of the dispossessed, lonely, troubled, and suffering. Still, I’ve always gone through the rigamarole of family gatherings over lavish meals, Spades, film watching, and lots of laughter. Those things notwithstanding, this year posed a particularly emotional one, as the loss of two senior family members made the thought of gathering to celebrate nearly unbearable. For the first time, the absence of loved ones made the importance of the holidays, dull – and the most comforting thought for my immediate family was to retire to our respective homes, pull our duvets over our heads, and shelter in place. Fortunately, some much needed insight and counsel from Matthews Memorial Baptist churchgoers forced me into a lock-step pattern of remembering those who’d transitioned and how they would expect me to carry on. Live well, serve others, and remember those who have passed, fondly. So, this year, with the absence of my aunt, Henrietta Murry and father, McKinley Clark – both who lived abundant lives until their mid-80s, I took on the services of others by cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Now, those of you who know me understand the risks to both others and myself, which this involved. Still, my desire not to fail meant planning, prepping, creating, and hosting a full meal – without sending anyone to the emergency room. Fortunately, all are well, and I have passed the litmus test, giving me ongoing access to the kitchen for cooking purposes. (Yes, I am serious… I had been barred until recently.) This Christmas, we will all serve a local shelter to give and receive the care we need. While the grieving process is an ongoing one that will make holidays tender for years to come, others, like students already stressed by final exams and research papers unable to travel home for the holidays, elders living away from loved ones, those living in transitional housing or on the streets, and those feeling vulnerable due to financial or social pressures, need the support of the communities around them. Beating the Blahs, A Quick Guide to Guarding Your Mental & Emotional Health During the Holidays addresses a few of the concerns our readers may feel too vulnerable to discuss with family or friends. Feelings of loneliness during the holidays are increasingly common. Let’s work to serve others in order to heal. Please utilize this supplement as a lock-step to 1) know that what you’re feeling is normal, 2) you are not alone; and 3) support is available and plentiful. Read, Grow, Enjoy. Dr. S
www.washingtoninformer.com / DECEMBER 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT
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College Students Face Many Holiday Stressors By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer The period between November and January poses an additional amount of stress and emotional strain on college students, who in addition to facing holiday blahs, also juggle completing final exams and research papers before the semester closes. These issues are further exacerbated for students by their distance from home and the reality that they may have to spend the holidays on an empty campus – far from relatives. Alonzo Bynum, a senior marketing major from Chicago told the Informer, he has learned to get over the isolation and overwhelming stress he faced being stuck outof-town for the holidays, by simply filling his days with as many distractions as possible leading up to Christmas. When campuses all but shutter for holiday break, keeping busy proves vital to being emotionally healthy. “One year I was snowed out of Chicago and could not get home, and another year I made it home to Chicago and then was unable to get back in time for classes, so I’ve stopped trying,” the American University student said. “I had a few teary moments the first couple of years but came to the realization that I needed to focus on classwork and research, volunteering, and making use of the time. I still feel the stress, but not the sadness." Psychologist Juanita McDavid told the Informer that international students and those living far from home may experience isolation and loneliness during winter breaks, in much the way Bynum explained.
‘Students are working through the pressure of new academic and living environments, as well as the added pressure of being happy and jolly for the season; sometimes, this has an overwhelming impact on how they cope,” McDavid said during this year’s Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference. “I used to see this at one college in the Midwest a lot, where students gained weight from overeating or became truculent at the thought of traveling home for the holidays because there was too much pressure to succeed, and yet they were lonely for family.” The latter was the case this year for Trinity University junior Alicia Knight who said her family could not afford to pay for her trip home to Alabama for the holidays. She said the financial burden arose as her younger brother, a freshman enrolled at Grambling State in Louisiana, also wanted to come home. “He’s younger, he’s not coping well living away from home, and it’s his first year, so they chose to fly him home. If I’m honest, I feel some kind of way about it because he could drive or take a bus, so that we both could come home,” Knight said. “The sadness or loneliness may come, but right now, I’m more angry. Maybe the anger will get me through this because at this point, I don’t know if being around my family would be a positive thing.” For the break, Knight plans to spend a few days with a classmate’s family in New York, which she said will allow her to have some fun and get a break from both the isolation of the campus and her family.
McDavid said that the taking breaks from both school and family at the close of a semester and re-evaluating the season can be helpful in keeping back the blahs. “Young people can sometimes walk a tightrope between what they believe they can do and what they believe others expect of them. There are extreme adjustments to be made leaving home and – oddly enough, coming home during the holidays can make those adjustments more complicated because everyone wants to know about school when all the student wants to do is turn off.” she said. “Many students choose to take excursions with friends from school away from family to avoid the anxiety of home.” McDavid advised that students who experience accompanying symptoms such as sleep disturbance, poor appetite, difficulty concentrating and fatigue that become disruptive or cause intense subjective distress -- consult with a medical or mental health professional. HS
College students can face a myriad of stressors during the academic year that are exacerbated by the holiday season. / Courtesy photo]
The period between November
and January poses an additional amount of stress and emotional strain on college students, who in addition to facing holiday
blahs, also juggle completing
final exams and research papers
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before the semester closes.
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DECEMBER 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com
ty to recover emotionally and psychologically from challenges, like experiencing a loss or sickness. It’s our capacity to adapt and move on.
Thriving Under Stress
The holidays can bring a lot of stress. We may struggle to afford gifts, create fun gatherings for friends and family, or get around in wintry weather. But life can throw us a curveball at any time of the year. Why do some people become overwhelmed in stressful times, while others feel more at ease in them and even find fresh enthusiasm? How can we not just survive the stress, but thrive in it?
ENGAGE THE CHANGE
Here are three beliefs that can help you find and keep your health and happiness during life’s hassles:
Submitted by AmeriHealth Caritas District of ColumbiaSM We all want the resilience to bounce back quickly from difficult times. Even more than that, we’d like to do well while they’re happening. Resilience is our abili-
#BestMe
Rewards Program
• Commitment. You can think of this as your connection. When a crisis comes, you might feel an urge to avoid it. You might want to distract yourself with something else — anything to run from the feeling of stress. Instead, lean into the feeling. How can you become more involved in challenging events? Look for ways to be included, rather than becoming isolated. • Control. What can you do to help change events for the better? Focus on how you can be a force of
good for yourself and others, even in little ways. These little efforts to improve things can be enough to keep you from feeling powerless. And where you can’t change events, you might be able to change how you see them. • Challenge. Within a crisis hides an opportunity. This belief allows you to see change as a way to learn something new. Thinking back, you can probably remember a time when something that seemed bad at the time led to something good. If you can, simply accept that something good is possible from the current stress. The challenge of today can lead to something better later on. These beliefs can help you when you feel strained. They can reduce your sense of being overwhelmed. They can help you get a handle on any anxiety or depression you might feel. At the same time, they can boost your life satisfaction.
BACK TO BASICS
There’s no right or wrong way to feel about stress. Emotions can be hard to predict during these times, so, if you can, wait to make major life choices when you are feeling less stressed.
STRESS Page HS5
I got a gift card for getting my annual physical. You can too. You can get a $25 gift card if you: • Are an AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia member • Are 12 – 21 years old • Get an annual physical exam
Visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com/giftcard to learn more. Note: A member cannot get more than $50 in incentives each year.
ACDC-19433327-2
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All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model.
AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, at no cost, are available to you. Call 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 or 1-800-570-1190). Spanish: ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 o 1-800-570-1190). Amharic: ማሳሰቢያ፡ አማርኛ መናገር የሚችሉ ከሆነ፣ ከከፍያ ነጻ የሆነ የቋንቋ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ይቀርብልዎታል፡፡ በስልክ ቁጥር 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ወይም 1-800-570-1190) ይደውሉ. 1-800-408-7511 اﺗﺼﻞ ﺑﺮﻗﻢ.ﺎن ﻓﺈن ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﳌﺴﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﺗﺘﻮاﻓﺮ ﻟﻚ ﺑﺎ، إذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺘﺤﺪث اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ: ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ: Arabic .(1-800-570-1190 أوTTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 )رﻗﻢ ﻫﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺼﻢ واﻟﺒﻜﻢ
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STRESS from Page HS4
You can also: • Limit the amount of stressful news you watch or listen to • Create and keep to a routine
• Eat nutritious foods that will give you energy • Avoid drugs and alcohol
• Exercise most days, even if just taking a walk • Get enough sleep Above all, when you’re feeling the heat, be kind to yourself. When you can be a good friend to yourself, you know that you’re on your side. HS
We all want the resilience to bounce back quickly from difficult times. Even more than that, we’d like to do well while they’re happening. Resilience is our ability to recover emotionally and psychologically from challenges, like experiencing a loss or sickness. It’s our capacity to adapt and move on. Sources: 1. “Turning Lemons into Lemonade: Hardiness Helps People Turn Stressful Circumstances into Opportunities,” American Psychological Association, https:// www.apa.org/research/action/lemon. 2. “Coping Tips for Traumatic Events and Disasters,” Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline/coping-tips. 3. “Understanding and Overcoming Procrastination,” McGraw Center for Learning and Teaching, Princeton University, https://mcgraw.princeton.edu/understanding-and-overcoming-procrastination All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model
#BESTME CORNER
How to Get Things Done on Time Have you ever heard someone say they put off doing things because they “work better under pressure”? Or are they a little harder on themselves, and say it’s because they are “lazy”? It turns out that when we avoid doing things we don’t want to do, it’s not usually for either of these reasons. Putting things off is actually a way we try to protect ourselves from fear. We might fear not doing the job well, fear doing it so well that we are given too much work, fear losing control, or have some other fear. This emotional weight can keep us feeling bogged down. It also doesn’t leave us much wiggle room if something happens that we don’t expect. How to overcome a dread of doing? Try these tips to be your #BestMe: • Identify your own reasons for putting things off. You might have different reasons than someone else does. Finding your reasons may take some thought, but knowing why we really put things off is key to managing our time better. • Find your motivation. What can you learn or accomplish in a task that feels good to you? • Reduce the stress of how you manage your time. Try to avoid making huge lists of things to do and keeping strict schedules. These can overwhelm you. Instead, set reasonable goals. Break down big tasks into smaller ones. Pace yourself. Be gentle with yourself. • Use surroundings that help you. Try to find an area with few distractions. Set aside blocks of time for the job. • Reward yourself for finishing. Give yourself time for something you enjoy after you complete a job.
Find us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/amerihealthdc / Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmeriHealthCaritasDC
#BestMe
Rewards Program
I got a gift card for getting my prenatal checkup. You can too. You can get a $25 gift card if you: • Are pregnant and within your first trimester • Are an AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia member • See a midwife or OB/GYN for your first prenatal office visit
Visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com/giftcard to learn more. Note: A member cannot get more than $50 in incentives each year.
ACDC-19433327-1
www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. English: ATTENTION: If you speak English, language assistance services, at no cost, are available to you. Call 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 or 1-800-570-1190). Spanish: ATENCIÓN: si habla español, tiene a su disposición servicios gratuitos de asistencia lingüística. Llame al 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 o 1-800-570-1190). Amharic: ማሳሰቢያ፡ አማርኛ መናገር የሚችሉ ከሆነ፣ ከከፍያ ነጻ የሆነ የቋንቋ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ይቀርብልዎታል፡፡ በስልክ ቁጥር 1-800-408-7511 (TTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 ወይም 1-800-570-1190) ይደውሉ. 1-800-408-7511 اﺗﺼﻞ ﺑﺮﻗﻢ.ﺎن ﻓﺈن ﺧﺪﻣﺎت اﳌﺴﺎﻋﺪة اﻟﻠﻐﻮﻳﺔ ﺗﺘﻮاﻓﺮ ﻟﻚ ﺑﺎ، إذا ﻛﻨﺖ ﺗﺘﺤﺪث اﻟﻠﻐﺔ اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ: ﻣﻠﺤﻮﻇﺔ: Arabic .(1-800-570-1190 أوTTY/TDD: 202-216-9885 )رﻗﻢ ﻫﺎﺗﻒ اﻟﺼﻢ واﻟﺒﻜﻢ
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DECEMBER 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com
All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model.
Beating the Holiday Blahs
By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer With the first signs of the holiday season – usually the eve of Thanksgiving – millions of Americans enter a mental and emotional spiral termed the holiday blahs. One survey by the American Psychological Association concluded that while feelings of happiness, love, and gratitude are experienced by many, millions more wrestle with loneliness, stress, grief, and depression. Feelings of loneliness during the holidays are increasingly common, according to a 2017 AARP survey, which found that roughly one-in-ten (or 31 percent) adults reported having felt lonely during the holiday season in the past five years. Additionally, two-infive (or 41 percent) reported worrying about family members or friends feeling lonely or depressed during the holiday season. “Depression, grief and loneliness often take a toll on individuals and families – especially when there have been
Lee Ross By WI Staff Writer
deaths in the family. Especially among Black families, once loved one is buried and gone, the holidays tend to represent a particular type of loss because those who have transitioned are sorely missed,” psychologist Jeremy Roy told the Informer. “The holidays magnify loss, as well, because too often the grieving process is rushed and suddenly during Christmas dinner, when that person’s unique presence is missed, does the loss register.” Roy said that entire families have fallen apart after the loss of an elder who unified the family and made the holiday season enjoyable. Others, like Arlinda Grady, who grew up in foster care said the holidays represent a time when not having family makes her feel like a third-wheel or outsider among friends who welcome her into their homes. “I count it all a blessing to have co-workers invite me join their families, but it kind of makes me feel like I am always intruding… like an outsider watching someone else’s family scenes,” Grady told the
Too often those who do not have families or close friends feel isolated and depressed during the holidays. / Courtesy photo
Informer. “It is a time when I avoid social media and watching television where all I see are families enjoying meals and laughing.” So how does one go about guarding their emotions
during the holiday season? Grady volunteers to feed the homeless or deliver food to seniors without a care system. “I found that my loneliness wasn’t singular; others were also suffering the same feelings
of isolation and depression. I decided to be the family that others need – so that in turn, they could be the family I need. Now, holidays make me feel overwhelming joy.” HS
Tips to Beating the Holiday Blahs
Don’t Go It Alone The tendency is to isolate ourselves and seek the shelter of television and snack foods to beat back loneliness and depression; however, the best way to deal with loneliness is to call on friends to have small outings to the mall, to parks, or for coffee. By enjoying the company of friends, we place less focus of what we’re missing and more on what we’ve got.
Talk It Out We often believe that in the middle of celebrations, we don’t want to “bring others down” by sharing that we are lonely, depressed, or grieving. It is imperative that when we have these feelings, we let others that we trust know. For those who feel vulnerable telling friends their personal information, hotlines operate yearround, but go into overdrive to offer a helpful ear during the holidays. Use them. Focus on You Holiday blahs can cause many to overindulge in food, alcohol, and idleness. To avoid the complications of overindulging, work to get proper exercise, sleep, and hydration (water) during this period. For those who may also be experiencing anxiety, practice meditation or deep breathing exercises to calm yourself. Be the Blessing You Need Like Grady, volunteering your time to help others takes the focus off of what you are missing and redirects it into the things you are still capable of doing for others. Holidays are often called the season of giving, because there is always a way for you to help someone else and ease the pain associated with loneliness, grief, and depression. Give Yourself a Break Too often we are hyper-critical with ourselves and believe that our feelings are unjustified. Grief, depression, and loneliness are all parts of the normal human condition and each takes time to work through. In cases of grief, the holidays will most likely remain a time when loss is remembered – but can eventually become a time when family remember fondly and share stories of those missing members. The key is giving yourself time to grieve – however long that may be – and working to avoid isolating yourself from those who still love and need you. HS 3 Maneuvering the blahs means speaking up and getting out. / Courtesy
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America’s beverage companies are working together to bring you more choices with less sugar and smaller portion sizes. And we’re adding new signs to encourage you to consider these choices. See what else we’re doing at BALANCEUS.ORG.
SUPPORTING YOUR EFFORTS TO FIND BALANCE
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Secret Foods to Lower Blood Pressure By Elaine Magee, MPH, RD Albertsons Companies Wellness Corporate Dietitian and the author of 25 books, including “Tell Me What to Eat if I Suffer from Heart Disease”
creased pressure, which can lead to injury of the artery walls, atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Shockingly less than one-third of people with high blood pressure have it
About 73 million U.S. adults are walking around with high blood pressure or hypertension. It’s called “the silent killer” because there are absolutely no signs that you have it. When you have high blood pressure your heart has to pump harder and the arteries are under in-
under control and uncontrolled blood pressure significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The good news is new research reported a 10 mm Hg reduction of systolic blood pressure reduced the risk of major cardiovascular disease events, stroke, and heart failure by 2028%. Experts agree
that maintaining a healthy weight, staying active and not smoking are three of your best bets for managing blood pressure. But what you eat (or don’t eat) can also improve blood pressure. Most of us know that limiting sodium and salt to less than 2400 milligrams a day is recommended, but here are a few of the more secret food-related tips. The Tale of Two Minerals: Potassium and Sodium Americans tend to get too little potassium and too much sodium in their diet. While a high intake of sodium raises hypertension risk, people who meet the daily requirement for the electrolyte potassium, reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors.
Get more potassium every day by including a daily dose of dark green leafy veggies. Other potassium heavy hitters in the vegetable category include artichokes, Brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and potatoes with skin. In the fruit category look to bananas, oranges/orange juice, papayas, cherries, kiwi, tomatoes, avocado, and cantaloupe/watermelon for potassium. The Three Amigo Minerals: Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium We’ve just been reminded about the power of potassium, but potassium is also one of three minerals that are vital for improving blood pressure. And as luck or mother-nature would have it, at least two and sometimes all three are found together in foods. The big star in this list is dark green leafy veggies (which boasts all three minerals), other foods on this list include low fat dairy, nuts (almonds, peanuts, soy nuts, pistachios, sunflower seeds, etc.), beans and peas (esSECRET FOODS Page HS9
Fresh, fast, delivered to your door. Shop online and find deals, coupons and personalized offers.
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SECRET FOOD from Page HS8
pecially edamame/soybeans), seafood (especially shellfish and clams), and whole grains (especially oats and quinoa). Let the DASH Diet Inspire You The DASH eating plan, which features many of the foods we already noted in the first two tips, has lowered blood pressure similar to what is commonly achieved with medications. Along with a lower sodium intake, this tested eating plan encourages daily 8-10 servings of vegetables and whole fruit, 2-3 servings of low-fat dairy, whole grains over processed grains, nuts, seeds and beans (2-3 tablespoons), and no more than 6 ounces of lean meat, poultry or fish.
gin olive oil adds 30-plus plant compounds, many of which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action in the body. Dark Chocolate & Cocoa Helps Crush High Blood Pressure Dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa are loaded with antioxidants and improve blood pressure, blood lipids, and arterial flexibility and vascular health. The dose suggested to be helpful (and associated with lowering the risk of heart attack) is .33-ounce dark chocolate or 1.5 tablespoons of cocoa powder at least 3-4 times a week. HS
Dark chocolate and unsweetened cocoa are loaded with antioxidants and improve blood pressure, blood lipids, and arterial flexibility and vascular health.
Include Extra Virgin Olive Oil in your Daily Diet New research continues to suggest that there may be blood pressure-lowering benefits to including extra-virgin olive oil in your daily diet. Along with the more favorable monounsaturated fats, extra vir-
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Home at HSC, There’s No Place Like It
By Carolina Friser-Frederiksen
Home at HSC. Those are the first words residents see when they enter the doors of the area’s first pediatric and young adult long-term care residence - The HSC Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). The SNF is housed within The HSC Pediatric Center, a pediatric specialty hospital in Washington, DC, which for over 135 years has provided services for children from infancy through age 21. The HSC Pediatric Center provides easy access to a range of family-centered medical and therapy services to meet the care needs for children who are leaving a traditional hospital and aren’t quite ready to be cared for at home. The HSC Pediatric Center is where Christine Mesa, a Registered Nurse, has spent the majority of her career caring for the most vulnerable young people. The patients at The HSC Pediatric Center often require more specialized care, rehabilitative services and support for their complex and chronic conditions. Nurse Mesa thus was the perfect person to join the new HSC Skilled Nursing Facility as
the Director of Nursing when it opened in August 2019. At The HSC SNF, residents up to the age of 21 who are unable to live at home due to their medical condition (such as being technology-dependent or uninterrupted care is needed) can feel at home in a residential setting that offers continuous 24/7 nursing and medical care. Common examples of our residents’ conditions may include heart anomalies, chronic lung disease, digestive disorders, conditions associated with prematurity, seizure disorders, longterm parenteral nutrition (TPN), among other chronic disorders. Ms. Christine, as HSC patients and residents lovingly call her, started her journey into nursing when she volunteered in high school as a Candy Striper. She was proud to wear her red and white striped uniform, and used her gentle presence and smile to calm and assure patients and their families. Ms. Christine realized that being away from home and familiar settings created fear. Her biggest contribution was to do what she could to help her patients feel that no matter where they were, they were cared for as if they were at home.
Home is much more than just a place where one lives. For a child, it’s where their room is filled with their favorite toys, posters, and pictures. It’s where they feel safe and enjoy spending time with their family and friends. So, at The HSC SNF, nurses, doctors and therapists happily recreate this sense of “home”. Ms. Christine shared, “Not only is care and treatment personalized and family-centered, we also individualize our resident’s space. One of our current residents has her family photos and stuffed animals displayed in her semi-private room.” While caring for residents at The HSC SNF, staff also become family. Most recently, Ms. Christine remembers a moment during a ceremony to open The HSC SNF. A resident’s mother was asked to provide a few words to guests. In the audience were government officials, hospital executives, community partners, and staff. The mom became overwhelmed with emotion and found it difficult to deliver her prepared speech, nervously looking down at the paper, but finding her voice failing her. Ms. Christine knew how important this moment was to her and
when she saw her angst, knew she needed to join her by her side. The mom asked her to speak, entrusting her words to her. Ms. Christine recounts, “I wanted to make sure she knew I was there for her, we’re always here for her.” As Ms. Christine reminisces on her 25 years of work at HSC, she smiles and is reminded of her favorite quote from Maya Angelou, “At the end of the day people won't remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel.” She went on
to say, “And isn’t this just what home and family are? You won’t remember the specifics of what was said or when it was done, but you will always remember what home and family feel like.” HS
The First Pediatric & Young Adult Skilled Nursing Facility in the Area is Open! The HSC Pediatric Center Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) is a long-term care facility that provides comprehensive medical, therapeutic and nursing care for medically complex children from birth through age 21. Our team of specialists is dedicated to providing family-centered care for all residents in a supportive environment. 1731 Bunker Hill Road NE, Washington, DC 20017 To learn more, visit HSChealth.org SkilledNursingFacility_PrintAd_120519.indd 1
@HSCHealthCare
@HSCHealthCare
@HSCHealthCare The HSC Health Care System 12/5/19 9:24 AM
www.washingtoninformer.com / DECEMBER 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT
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Holiday Season Safety For You And Your Kids By Children’s National Hospital Winter holidays are a time for families and friends to get together. But the gatherings could put children and families at a greater risk for preventable injury and fire. Here are some holiday season safety tips. General Safety • Make sure guests are aware of children’s abilities – they may not have seen them lately. For example, the baby maybe pulling up or starting to walk and can reach things that were previously out of reach. • Avoid using candles with flames. Keep matches and lighters up high or locked up. • Make sure your smoke detector is working – have a carbon monoxide detector if you have gas appliances. • Guests should secure all their medications – no purses on the floor, etc. Cooking Safety • Stay in the kitchen when cooking on the stove top. • Cook with handles turned inward. • Keep sharp kitchen tools out of reach. • Keep children away from the stove, preferably out of the kitchen or in a highchair or behind a gate. • Stay home when cooking with the oven. Safe Home Decorations • Use flame resistant or retardant decorations. • Take care lights are used properly – indoor for indoor. • Turn lights out when going to bed. • Keep candles away from decorations and curtains. If you’re using candles with flames extinguish them when you leave the room. Safe Holiday Entertaining • Keep hot food in the center of the table, and cover or place lids on hot drinks. • Be mindful of your guests’ allergies or health issues. • Share your home’s escape plan with your guests. • Assign someone to watch the small children during gatherings or celebrations. Most of all, remember to have a wonderful time with family and friends! HS
The staff at Children’s National Hospital wish you and yours a healthy and happy new year. Our Primary Care offices have expanded and are accepting new patients in Columbia Heights, Shaw Metro and Shepherd Park! Call 888-884-BEAR for an appointment today. For more information on keeping your kids happy and healthy, visit RiseandShine.ChildrensNational.org, where you can get advice straight from the experts at Children’s National.
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DON’T TRAVEL FAR
FOR THE BEST PEDIATRICIAN. Children’s National Hospital is making access to the nation’s top pediatric primary care easier and more convenient. With locations all over the District, including new offices in Columbia Heights, Shaw Metro, and Shepherd Park, we’re accepting new patients right in your neighborhood. childrensnational.org/wheretogo
DECEMBER 2019 HEALTH WELLNESS & NUTRITION SUPPLEMENT / www.washingtoninformer.com
1-888-884-BEAR
Noteworthy & Important Works on Beating Seasonal Blahs
By Lee Ross Special to the Informer
The quickest way to ward off seasonal blahs is recognizing that you’re not alone. Here is a small sampling of the many great texts available through libraries, booksellers, and digital downloads on working through holiday anxiety, depression, grief, and loneliness. Surviving the Holidays Without You: Navigating Grief During Special Seasons By Gary Roe Multiple award-winning author, speaker, and grief specialist Gary Roe is a compassionate and trusted voice in grief recovery who has been bringing comfort, hope, encouragement, and healing to wounded hearts for more than 30 years. Surviving the Holidays Without You has helped thousands of grievers not only maintain their sanity, but turn days that they once dreaded into positive, healing times. Written with heartfelt compassion, this easy-to-read, practical book has been dubbed by many as a "Holiday Survival Kit." Texts include: Why holiday grief, Christmas Grief, and Special Day Sadness Are So Challenging, How to Handle Grief Triggers, Emotional Bursts, and Rollercoaster Emotions; and How to Face Feeling Emotional, Lonely, Misunderstood, and Overwhelmed.
Good Grief: A Companion for Every Loss By Granger E. Westberg For more than fifty years Good Grief has helped millions of readers, including NFL players and a former first lady, find comfort and rediscover hope after loss. This classic text includes a foreword by Dr. Timothy Johnson, a leading communicator of medical health care information. An afterword by the author's daughters tells how the book came to be. Good Grief identifies ten stages of grief--shock, emotion, depression, physical distress, panic, guilt, anger, resistance, hope, and acceptance--but, recognizing that grief is complex and deeply personal, defines no "right" way to grieve. Good Grief offers valuable insights on the emotional and physical responses persons may experience during the natural process of grieving. Reflection questions help readers explore their own experience with each stage.
A Decembered Grief: Living with Loss While Others are Celebrating By Harold Ivan Smith Vincent van Gogh's last words resonate with many grievers this holiday season: 'La tristesse durea--the sadness will never go away. 'No, it will not go away. But it will change. Grief can be overwhelming, and it is especially intense during the holidays--those weeks that have always been spent in preparation and anticipation with a loved one who has been lost. While the world seems to be moving forward and celebrating life, grievers face a season of darkness and loss. For you--or as gift for someone you know who is grieving--Harold Ivan Smith guides the reader beyond the darkness with illustrations and insights that emphasize God's ability to transform the holidays into a time of grace and healing.
Lead Me Home: An African American's Guide Through the Grief Journey By Carleen Brice When a loved one dies, we embark on a journey that is marked by anguish, confusion, fear, and loneliness. For African Americans, the grief journeys often includes more complicated and painful emotions: frustration with the knowledge that black men and women have a greater chance of dying from major common diseases than their white counterparts; anger at the frequency of drug- and violence-related deaths; and the collective grief of a community that has buried too many of its young people. Carleen Brice gently guides readers through the strange terrain of grief to the promise of home-a place where we have not only survived our losses but are wiser and stronger because of them. She shares her personal story of loss and recovery, as well as the stories of others, so that you will know you are not alone.
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Fighting Holiday Financial Blahs By Lee Ross WI Staff Writer One of the trickiest things to avoid when thinking of holiday blahs, is how our spending creates a minefield of unhappiness. Whether it’s spending to meet the ever-growing demands of our children or the belief that purchases make us good people, the resulting stress and bills usher in the type of blahs and bills that keep on giving! Here are few tips to pushing back those holiday financial blahs. Stick To A List – Like Glue Have you ever purchased gifts for everyone in the office, house, or club – and walked out after a gathering with a single item or empty-handed? Too often the financial blahs of the holidays are brought on by overextending ourselves. Consider giving cards to everyone – but gifts to only a few, select individuals. Also, if there are more than two people in a given household, practice giving a single household gift from which everyone in the house benefits, like a streaming subscription.
Give What You Do Have Several years ago, a colleague who constantly bragged of over-shopping suddenly lost his job. With a monthly budget spent on luxury items – including watches, silk ties, and fragrances – in the thousands, he reached the end of the year depressed that he would not be able to dazzle Christmas parties as he had in the past. To break the blahs, he selected items he believed would serve as great gifts for others and gave them to friends that year. Consider wrapping new or unused clothing, books, or other items from your own home and giving them as gifts to others. Coupons For Your Time At a recent dinner party, I noticed that most of the diners who were together sat with their mobile phone in hand, chatting, texting or live-streaming portions of the meal, rather than engaging with each other. The greatest and most enduring gift of all, I surmised, was the gift of uninterrupted time with another person. Consider giving handmade gift coupons to friends and family
for a bit of one-on-one time with you to chat, have coffee, or take a spin through a local museum. Not only is it a practical and free gift, but it also builds lasting memories.
and promotions – including Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO) and buy now-pay later enticements will abound. Avoid this at all costs by remembering how
quickly the items you purchased last year went into the basement, sock drawer, back of the closet, attic, garage, or garbage. HS
Balance Holiday Spending Consolidated Credit, a credit counseling and debt relief agency, found that the average American family can expect to spend approximately $970 this year on Christmas gifts – even though a large percentage may be cash-strapped and forced to use credit cards to meet the wants of those around them. Holiday spending includes decorations, Christmas trees, (including increased an electric bill for outside lighting half the night), as well as the meals and gifts of the season. Consider cutting back on the decorations, going potluck for meals, and eliminating some gifts. Resist Impulse & Last-Minute Purchases In the days leading up to Christma and New Year’s Day, advertisers will do their best to part you and your money. Every manner of “last minute" sales
Sometimes the greatest barriers to holiday cheer come from financial stress. (Courtesy photo)
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Compiled by Lee Ross WI Staff Writer The Access HelpLine at 1(888)7WE-HELP or 1-888-7934357 is the easiest way to get connected to services provided by the Department of Behavioral Health and its certified behavioral health care providers. This 24-hour, seven-day-a-week telephone line is staffed by behavioral health professionals who can refer a caller to immediate help or ongoing care. The Access Helpline can activate mobile crisis teams to respond to adults and children who are experiencing a psychiatric or emotional crisis and are unable or unwilling to travel to receive behavioral health services.
Getting Necessary Support
Maryland's Helpline is available 24/7 to provide support, guidance, and assistance. Please call 211 and select option 1, text your zip code 898-211, or visit 211MD.org For help in Northern Virginia: Emergency - 703-573-5679 Detox - 703-502-7000 (24/7) or to find a Virginia Mental Health Service provider, or to inquire about accessing CSB non-emergency services, call CSB Entry and Referral Services (available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) –
703-383-8500, TTY 711. Youth and adults can also come in person, without prior appointment, to Entry & Referral Services at the CSB's Merrifield Center Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to be screened for services. [Learn what happens during an assessment.] Specialists at the National Alliance on Mental Illness can refer people to services a person might not know about for treatment and community support. The free hotline runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday at 800-950-6264 and by email at info@nami.org. It's unclear if the hotline would be unavailable on holidays. Emergency services available 24/7 A 24/7 toll-free number is 1-800273-8255. Known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, it connects people to local crisis centers and has national backup centers to answer calls. Another 24/7 free service, Crisis Text Line, connects people with a real-life crisis counselor to help in the moment. Text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the U.S. for support. HS
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New Better Sleep Council Research Helps Americans Navigate the Holiday Blues
WI Staff Report / The Better Sleep Council
While the holidays are a very social time of year, they can also be a very lonely time for many people. The Better Sleep Council (BSC), the consumer education arm of the International Sleep Products Association (ISPA), released its latest research findings from The State of America’s Sleep study. These findings can help Americans identify how isolation and sleep may further impact their holiday pressures. This new wave of research analyzed the relationship between quality of sleep and loneliness. For instance, over half of those who are isolated are more likely to be female (55 percent), compared to over half of men who are not isolated (53 percent). When looking at the different generations, people between the ages of 18 and 34 were the most isolated group and were more likely to sleep poorly, compared to their older counterparts. The top three findings from the research were that the worst sleepers tend to have difficult interpersonal relationships, have financial challenges or are heavy social media users. These
individuals may struggle with holiday gatherings with family and friends: The holidays are a time of year where family and friends get together, but high expectations – such as having the perfect gifts, trees or decorations – may be stressful and overwhelming for some. Additionally, not having anyone around to celebrate with during the joyous time of year may make people feel isolated and lonely. Based on the BSC’s research: Adults who agree (completely or somewhat) that they wish they had more friends represent almost half of poor sleepers (46 percent). Poor sleepers are nearly twice as likely (1.77 times) to have difficulty in social situations. Additionally, those who are isolated are more likely (37 percent) to be single (never married), compared to those who are not isolated (27 percent). Struggling with holiday budgets: The National Retail Federation found that consumers spent $1,007 on average for items such as gifts, decorations and candy, as well as other purchases for their family and themselves during last year’s holiday season – and that didn’t even include spending for holiday travel. The holidays may pos-
sibly bring up financial concerns from unreasonable spending on gifts or from not having the means to pay for certain gifts, which may trigger stress. According to the BSC’s study: Those who are isolated agree (somewhat or completely) that for the most part they live paycheck to paycheck (55 percent), compared to those who are not isolated (44 percent). Those who are isolated agree (somewhat or completely) that they generally have enough money to pay only for necessities (54 percent), compared to those not isolated (42 percent). Seasonal social media usage: It’s easy to use social media to check in on family and friends, especially if they live far away and you’re unable to visit them. It might even be so easy to get caught up in their posts about family gatherings and parties with significant others that it leads to excessive social media usage throughout the day – even before bed. The research found that those who are isolated are more likely to check social media before bed (39 percent), compared to those not isolated (27 percent). Going on social media right before bed is more likely to negatively impact quality of sleep.
“We all know that the holiday season is supposed to be 'the most wonderful time of the year,' but it actually could be one of the loneliest times of the year for many people,” said Mary Helen Rogers, vice president of marketing and communications for the Better Sleep Council. “Not only do these people feel isolated, but they’re
also having trouble getting back to sleep and are frequently waking up tired in the morning. Holiday pressures are often to blame. If we can provide these people with tips on how to improve their sleep habits as we approach the holidays, then hopefully we can help them feel less isolated.” HS
The relationship between quality of sleep and loneliness – especially during the holidays – has unlocked a new wave of research into depression, loneliness, and anxiety. (Courtesy photo)
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS
EDITORIAL
HBCU’s
While the U.S. House of Representatives spent much of this week focused on the impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump for alleged acts of self-promotion and obstruction, the Senate moved on a piece of historic legislation that will provide a sigh of relief and sustainability for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). On Tuesday, the Senate approved passage of the FUTURE Act, a bipartisan bill that will provide $255 million annually to HBCU’s and other minority-serving institutions. The Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act not only provides for funding to HBCU’s but includes other benefits. The bill will also simplify the process for applying for financial aid by reducing the paperwork that accompanies the FAFSA by eliminating 22 questions from the 108 questions which it currently includes. The bill will also eliminate paperwork for the 7.7 million federal student loan borrowers currently on income-driven repayment plans by automating income recertification. It was almost hit or miss beginning in September when federal funding for HBCU’s expired. The four HBCU’s in Maryland are already embroiled in a 13-year battle with lawmakers claiming the four universities have not been funded fairly or at the same level of the white institutions. So, while the battle in Maryland still continues, HBCUs across the country are applauding the Senate, led by Senate Education Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) for pushing this bill forward. “It’s hard to think of a piece of legislation that would have more of a lasting impact on minority students and their families than this bill,” Alexander said in a statement. “First, it provides permanent funding for HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions attended by over two million minority students. Second, it takes a big first step in simplifying the FAFSA for 20 million American families, including eight million minority students, and eliminating the bureaucratic nightmare created by requiring students to give the federal government the same information twice.” It’s good to know that the work of Congress is not at a standstill and that the FUTURE Act also passed in the House. It is clear that the needs of Americans who can have a positive impact on the future of education, the workforce and this country are not being ignored. It’s also good news that bipartisanship still exists. The final step for authorization of this bill rests in the hands of President Trump. WI
America’s Obsession with Gun Rights President Donald Trump shared another of his lackluster tweets earlier this week, this time extending his prayers for victims of the latest “horrific shootout” in Jersey City. But for the six people killed, including a police officer, in a gun battle Tuesday at a New Jersey cemetery and a kosher supermarket, forcing officials to lockdown the Jersey City schools, a friendly tweet just doesn’t cut it. As the investigation continues, it’s still unclear whether this is just another act of terrorism, an example of irrational outrage or an incident where victims were targeted. But we’re unconvinced that anything will change related to gun policies in the U.S., no matter what law enforcement learns about the shooter or shooters and what motivated them to act. After all, just days before in Pensacola, after a Saudi military pilot killed three and wounded several others at a naval air station, Florida Governor Ron De Santis pointed to a loophole for foreign nationals while remaining adamant in his support of the Second Amendment . . . for Americans, of course. Back in Jersey City, leaders celebrate the fact that no students or staff were harmed in the School District of Jersey City or from the Catholic school also placed on lockdown in the midst of the melee. However, the mental harm has yet to be assessed. And that’s what will be even more difficult to determine for many years to come. America must one day come to terms with its obsession with the right to bear arms which does little or nothing to protect the innocent. WI
America must one
day come to terms with its obsession
TO THE EDITOR Hoyas Losing Bite?
Rosa Parks Statue Long Overdue Nice to read that Alabama is memorializing Rosa Parks, 64 years after she refused to give up her seat to a white man, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Now I could be wrong, and it wasn't said in the story, but was this the first statue in Mrs. Parks' honor? That would be a shame. Anywho, I'm glad the state is honoring her and reminding everyone there and abroad about her courageous act.
"UNC Greensboro Nips Georgetown Hoyas." Wow, Georgetown basketball has fallen all the way off! What's going on over there? Anyway, nice pictures. James Billingsley Washington, D.C.
Phyllis Breaux Washington, D.C.
with the right to
bear arms which
does little or nothing to protect the
innocent.
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Readers' Mailbox
The Washington Informer welcomes letters to the editor about articles we publish or issues affecting the community. Write to: lsaxton@washingtoninformer. com or send to: 3117 Martin Luther King Jr Ave., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032. Please note that we are unable to publish letters that do not include a full name, address and phone number. We look forward to hearing from you. DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 25
OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By Julianne Malveaux
Kamala Harris Still a Winner
California Sen. Kamala Harris (D) threw her hat in the ring for the Democratic presidential nomination before more than 20,000 people in Oakland, California. She made the announcement on the official Dr. Martin Luther King holiday, Jan. 21, 2019. She jumped into the race with enthusiasm, and many had high hopes for her. Unfortunately, she suspended her race basically because she lacked resources. Negative media coverage,
perhaps informed by race and gender bias, along with rumors of discord in her campaign were being circulated widely. While I was sorry to see Sen. Harris exit the field, I'm still a fan, and I think she is still a winner. Harris has three more years in her Senate term. Until 2022, she can continue to slice and dice witnesses in the Senate, advance legislation "for the people," as her campaign slogan suggests, and solidify her base in California. Hopefully, then, she can be reelected and look at Presidential possibilities in 2024 or 2028. And she can use her most recent experience to guide her in
Guest Columnist
her next national campaign. Few candidates for president collect the nomination on their first time out. President Barack Obama was an exception, but this is Vice President Joe Biden's third bite at the apple, and many tried at least once before winning. Kamala was the third Black woman to vie for the Democratic nomination. Shirley Chisholm's historic run in 1972 inspired Black women all over the country. She was the first Black woman to sit in the United States Congress, and is well known for her motto, "unbought and unbossed." She made it to the convention floor with 152 delegates,
some who had been pledged to Hubert Humphrey until he released them. Chisholm said she ran because she had the "sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo." Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman to serve in the United States Senate, attempted a presidential run in 2003 and dropped out in early 2004. John Kerry ended up with the Democratic nomination that year, but thanks to Republican dirty tricks, the electoral count wasn't even close. Moseley Braun had a handle on the issues, especially issues about women's financial security. But she had neither the resources
nor the support to make it to the convention. Now we have Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor and California attorney general who burst onto the Senate scene with skills and focus. Few will forget the way she made Attorney General Jeff Sessions look like a bumbling fool. And her cross-examination of Brett Kavanaugh was masterful. As she crisscrossed the country, she inspired Black women and girls, and others. Indeed, she garnered the support of Higher Heights, a Black women's PAC that endorsed her in early No-
MALVEAUX Page 45
By Marc H. Morial
Black Communities Making a Difference in Fight Against AIDS
"The fact that there's a conversation that occurs on an annual basis on World AIDS Day is significant. The fact that the president of the United States, on an annual basis, now, comments and discusses AIDS, keeps it on the agenda. I think a very, very concrete outcome of that discussion is that President Bush put forward billions of dollars toward the AIDS prevention and education effort for the Unit-
ed Nations. I don't think that would've happened had it not been for World AIDS Day ..." — Jim Block, co-founder of World AIDS Day The theme of World AIDS Day 2019, which took place this month, is "Communities make the difference." As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Partnering and Communicating Together to Act Against AIDS (PACT), the Urban League community is making the difference for nearly 300,000 people annually through outreach awareness, testing and ed-
Guest Columnist
ucation. Worldwide, there are 37.9 people living with HIV, 1.1 million of whom are in the United States. A shocking 42 percent of those — 468,800 — are Black. Sadly, Black Americans remain the racial group most affected by HIV in the United States, accounting for 42 percent of new diagnoses last year. The rate of new diagnoses for African Americans was eight times the rate for whites and twice the rate of Latinos. According to the CDC, one in seven African Americans living with HIV don't even know they
have it and therefore can't take advantage of HIV care and treatments and are more likely to pass HIV to others unknowingly. Even after diagnosis, only about two-thirds of Black gay and bisexual men with newly diagnosed HIV, and 58% with previously diagnosed HIV, were linked to HIV medical care within 90 days of the diagnosis, when the virus is easier to suppress. Further compounding the problem is the higher poverty rate among Black Americans. Limited access to high-quality health care, housing, and HIV pre-
vention education increase the risk for infection and make worse outcomes more likely. Through PACT, the Urban League Movement — along with groups like the National Black Justice Coalition, and the Black Men's Xchange — is raising awareness about testing, prevention, and retention in care among African Americans. UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, the international agencies charged with confronting with the AIDS epidemic, have set
MORIAL Page 45
By Marian Wright Edelman
Books All Children Should Read
What's on your shopping list for the children you love this very special season? I encourage parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and adults everywhere to give children the gift of books. The right book can spark a lifelong love of reading and open up a whole new world for a child or teenager that will last far longer than a toy. The Children's De-
26 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
fense Fund (CDF) has a special list to share of books every Black child and, in fact, every child should read. We want to share wonderful books about all the children who make up our beautiful rainbow human species and hear from you about books that transformed your life as a child. The CDF Freedom Schools program is built around a superb collection of diverse books that reflect a wide variety of cultures and experiences. For some children the Freedom Schools curric-
ulum is the first time they've seen books with characters who look like them. For others the storylines draw them in, teach them about moments in history they may not have studied in school, and make them fall in love with reading in ways they've never experienced. Children of color and children born with a rich diversity of special characteristics and needs must be able to see themselves in the books they read and be exposed to a wide range of books reflective of the nation and world we all share.
The reflection of the Black experience through books on the list below represents just one of many paths towards ensuring all children read books reflecting the full rainbow of our children's faces, cultures, and needs, including the history that still shapes the present. CDF Freedom Schools programs share stories by diverse authors and illustrators featuring Latino, Native American, Asian American and white characters, those from other countries and cultures and all mixes in between. Giving a book can give a
child a chance to understand and step into the shoes of those who share our nation and world. Theresa Venable, librarian at the Langston Hughes Library at CDF Haley Farm Servant Leadership Development School, assembled this list with the help of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, past chair of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury and professor emerita of The Ohio State University; Dr. Cynthia Tyson, professor of education at The Ohio
EDELMAN Page 45
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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist
By E. Faye Williams
GOP Disappoints at Impeachment Hearing
A few days ago brilliant constitutional law professors testified in Congress on the grounds for impeachment after hearing the facts coming from the Intelligence Committee under the direction of Chairman Adam Schiff. If anyone had told me before this hearing that professor Jonathan Turley would have taken the positions he took, I
would have argued against that possibility. He was such a disappointment after hearing him for years. I expected the usual craziness from Reps. Jim Jordan, Mike Johnson, Doug Collins, Matt Gaetz and several others, but not from Mr. Turley for whom I'd held in high regard for years. I can't imagine what his current and former law students are thinking about him after such a performance. Several of the Republican
Guest Columnist
members of Congress must've had earplugs or been out of the room during the impeachment hearings when so many witnesses presented the facts as to why Donald Trump should not only be impeached but also convicted. I would be willing to bet that if any high school student heard the facts and these constitutional experts discuss the laws of our country and what it takes to impeach a government official, that student would both impeach and convict the president.
I suppose many Republicans don't understand the laws of our country and don't understand high crimes and misdemeanors. It's scary to see the behavior of these mostly white men and few white women who are responsible for creating the laws for all of us to live by! If those of us who successfully went through law school are having trouble understanding these Republicans' lack of understanding of the meaning of abuse of power by advancing personal interest,
betrayal of the American people by enlisting the help of another nation to interfere in our elections for personal benefit, of obstruction of justice by thinking that he can do whatever he wants to do and that he can even shoot someone on 5th Avenue and nothing could be done to him, what is the average person thinking? Thank God for professors Pamela S. Karlan, Noah Feldman
WILLIAMS Page 46
By Lauren Victoria Burke
King of Stop and Frisk Tries to Make Everyone Forget
In 2010 in New York City, 601,285 people were stopped and frisked by the New York City Police and 315,083 of them were Black. In 2011, 685,724 individuals were stopped and 350,743 were Black. Over 90 percent of those stopped by police where African American or Hispanic. Michael Bloomberg was mayor in New York from 2002 to 2013. When new Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014, and
after an ACLU lawsuit against New York City, the stop-andfrisk program was greatly reduced. All the theories that stop-and-frisk reduced crime were disproven by crime stats going down along with the use of the policy. Now Bloomberg is running for president and his use and endorsement of a policy targeted to minorities and members of the Muslim faith is again under discussion. This week, Bloomberg lied and said he hadn't been asked about stop-and-frisk until his run for The White House. Bloomberg's money has allowed him a place on the national
Askia-At-Large
debate stage at a time when a creeping sense of doubt remains regarding the Democratic candidates currently competing. There are now "more billionaires than Black people in the 2020 race," said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) after Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) dropped out of the presidential race on Dec. 3. "Stop and frisk was an outdated and unfounded law enforcement policy of racial harassment. It harmed Black communities and communities of color and did not make us any safer," said Monifa Bandele, vice president of MomsRising who is
a longtime New York City resident and an expert on criminal justice. "Police officers regularly violated rights by stopping a disproportionate number of Black and Latino New Yorkers who they often threatened or physically harmed. These stops rarely ended in an arrest and mostly served to terrorize and criminalize our communities "The effects of this destructive policy had a profound psychological impact, too," Bandele told NNPA. "It affected how young Black and Latino men lived their lives in their own neighborhoods, it increased feelings of stress, anxiety and trau-
ma, increased racial discrimination in a city already struggling with massive inequality." But Bloomberg continues to attempt to minimize the impact of a policy that impacted thousands of New Yorkers over 10 years during his time as mayor. Even though the current presidential race just lost a candidate, Sen. Harris, who repeated the line "justice is one the ballot," another candidate who is likely to bring up Bloomberg's Achilles' heel will be on the stage. Sen. Booker is likely to bring up justice reform and stop-and-frisk if he is on stage with Bloomberg. WI
By Askia Muhammad
Sorry Governor, the Confederate 'Heritage' is Hatred
The Honorable Nimrata Randhwa Haley—better known as Nikki Haley—is a diplomat and politician who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations for nearly two years. A Republican, she served as governor of South Carolina for six years and three terms as a representative in the state legislature. But when it comes to America's racial history, she is also as dumb as a box of rocks. You see, Nimrata Randhwa,
proud daughter of Sikh immigrants from India, should know better, if only from personal observation, that her nostalgic and grossly inaccurate notions about the Confederacy and the bloody U.S. Civil War are simply, feelgood, wishful thinking from a wannabe white person, who has denied her own heritage of suffering at the hands of white people in her fatherland, in order to be viewed as a loyal native of the state where the bloodiest U.S. war ever, was declared at Ft. Sumter in 1861. Even though she graduated from Clemson University in the
Palmetto State, she mindlessly declared that the Confederate flag had been "hijacked" by the racism of a single white supremacist terrorist — Charleston murderer Dylann Roof, who killed nine Black worshipers as they prayed in 2015 — and that before then, "people saw it as service, sacrifice and heritage." She got that all wrong. She should really know better. After its record as the battle flag for the war to preserve the enslavement of millions of people stolen from Africa, the Confederate flag was the favorite symbol of those resisting the civil rights
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movement, including the government of South Carolina that she eventually led. For example, in 1948, the pro-segregation Dixiecrat party flew the Confederate flag as part of its openly racist campaign. Their platform declared: "We stand for the segregation of the races and the racial integrity of each race." They opposed "the elimination of segregation," "social equality" or "the repeal of miscegenation statutes." At the Dixiecrats' 1948 convention, supporters of Strom Thurmond — then governor of the state — held up Confederate flags and
pictures of Robert E. Lee. Don't be confused. The Dixiecrat and the Democrat parties were segregationist parties until Lyndon B. Johnson's successful push for civil rights legislation under the Democratic banner in the 1960s, and Richard M. Nixon's "Southern Strategy" converted the party of Abraham Lincoln and abolition, into the new party of white supremacy with his 1972 reelection campaign. Indeed, Thurmond, the un-reconstructed Dixiecrat, eventually became a Republican, while serv-
ASKIA Page 46 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 27
LIFESTYLE Garth Reeves, Sr. Visions of the past REEVES from Page 1 from friends and family continue to bare credence to the committed life he led for 100 years. The Bahamian-born Reeves whose family emigrated to Miami shortly after his birth in 1919, would eventually follow in his father’s footsteps upon the death of family patriarch and founder of The Miami Times, Henry Ethelbert Sigismund Reeves in 1970, taking over as publisher and chief executive officer of the oldest Black-owned publication in the South. And while he enthusiastically embraced his role as a newspaperman, he wore other hats as well including business owner, activist and community leader. As stated in his obituary and in
his own words, Reeves willingly took on the role as an advocate for social change, using the landmark publication as his primary means of communication. “I believe in bringing the news of [our] community every week in an unbiased sort of way from a Black perspective.” Certainly, as T. Willard Fair, president and CEO, Urban League Greater Miami, Inc., shared during the funeral service for Reeves on Dec. 6 at The Historic St. Agnes Episcopal Church in Miami, “he made the most of the dash – the 100 years of life granted to him while on this earth from his birth to his death.” Consider that in the year of his birth, 1919, the world and its people would face unprecedented
challenges and fears – from the sudden death of President Theodore Roosevelt to race riots in Charleston, South Carolina, Chicago and other parts of the Nation, marking what would later be known as Red Summer. David Lawrence, retired publisher of the Miami Herald, chairman of the Children’s Movement, Florida and longtime close colleague of Reeves, reflected on the unforgettable events that transpired during 1919, including the birth of his dear friend. And while he celebrated the year and the birth, he also expressed disappointment. “It’s been 100 years since Garth Reeves was born,” he said. “He witnessed so much during his lifetime – so much that we should celebrate. And yet, he also experienced some of the worst parts of the human family – things that should have changed and yet continue. And so, we pick up where he left off. We must follow his example and commitment to making ours a better place to live.” For reflections from those who knew Reeves well, see the complete story on the NNPA website, nnpa. org or BlackPressUSA.com WI
5 WI Editor D. Kevin McNeir spoke during the wake for Reeves. (Photo courtesy Gregory Reed, MFA)
5 The final "steps" of Garth Reeves, Sr. (Photo courtesy Gregory Reed, MFA)
28 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
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LIFESTYLE
Gospel Legend Clay Evans Dead at 94 By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer Rev. Clay Evans, a gospel preacher and musical legend who inspired souls for decades, was eulogized Dec. 7 during a six-hour celebration in Chicago that featured many of the spiritual and political titans of Black America. Together, people from many walks of life sang "To God Be The Glory," in honor of a singer and preacher born in Brownsville, Tennessee, who moved to Chicago and, through intellect and faith, brought people in a racially torn city together. Bishop TD Jakes noted this point in a video message shown at the service. Evans, who died Nov. 27 at the age of 94, was the founder of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago. But he was more than ministry and pews. He became a powerful voice in the civil rights movement, during a time when generations of African Americans flocked from the cotton fields of the South to big cities in the industrial North that
became the mecca of Black pride and economic opportunity. The service at Mt. Calvary Word of Faith Church brought together dignitaries such as former Chicago Mayor Richard Daly, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Minister Louis Farrakhan and a big choir loft filled with gospel legends from Rev. Shirley Caesar to Pastor Milton Biggham. "Over the course of his incredible, five-decade career leading the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Evans tirelessly sought to uplift the lives of his parishioners and fellow residents through service and support," said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in a statement. Evans was so much more than a pastor of more than 50 years, he was a conductor on a gospel train that ran from the South to North picking up weary pilgrims who used his music to find joy and encouragement. He released his first musical project in 1984, "What He's Done For Me" on Savoy Records. While he would continue to record albums in his later years, he
was best known for selections in which he sang and ministered in a troubled city that considered him as an elder. Caesar stirred up people at the service with a searing rendition of the hymnal "Never Grow Old," but not before paying tribute to Evans. "I wanted to be here. I just had to be here," the 12-time Grammy winner said before singing. "I met Rev. Clay Evans when I was 19 years old. He was my friend." Jackson, whom Evans ordained at Fellowship in 1968, said his death was heartbreaking. In the 1960s, Evans provided much of the support for Jackson to launch Operation Breadbasket and the Rainbow Push Coalition. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) called Evans "a prophet, a priest, and a pastor," while former Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, "When he spoke, his voice was heard in Chicago and echoed across America, and we are a better city and nation for it." Dr. Lou Dela Evans Reid directed a large choir dressed in white during the funeral, at
5 Clay Evans (Courtesy photo)
which a number of ministers preached and sang under the Rev. Charles Jenkins, who became the pastor of Fellowship after Evans grew ill. Farrakhan sounded more like a Baptist preacher than the leader of the Nation of Islam as he talked about Evans and Jesus Christ in the same tribute. In addition
to Farrakhan and political speakers, there were musical legends such as Bishop Paul S. Morton, who all came with a song. During the funeral, Jackson made a few comments before he allowed his son Jonathan Jackson to speak. But before he sat down Jackson said, "If he can give us 94 years, we can give him a day." WI
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LIFESTYLE
Carter G. Woodson Commemoration Dec. 15 at Seaton Elementary School WI Staff Report “If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. Carter Godwin Woodson, “The Mis-Education of the Negro” Prior to the presence of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, very little accurate history was documented regarding the lives and experiences of African Americans in this country. Yet, as the 144th anniversary of Woodson’s birth is set for commemoration this weekend in the District, the “Father of Black History Month” and founder of the DC-based Association for the Study of African American Life and History [ASALH], continues to be revered for his many contributions and works for transformation and change in the Black community. Listed from among more than 30 of his books, Woodson’s “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” originally published in 1933, still remains relevant today. And, while Woodson died in 1950 at age 74, his scholarly legacy continues. Born in 1875, Woodson a na-
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5 Dr. Carter G. Woodson continues to be revered for his many contributions and works transforming the Black community -- including his best-known publication, “The Mis-Education of the Negro.." (Photo courtesy ASALH)
tive of Virginia and the son of former slaves, obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, he became the second African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University. Woodson, a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc., directed ASALH’s operations from his home, located at 1538 Ninth Street in Northwest from 1915 until his death. ASALH continued to use the home as its headquarters until 1970. In 1926, Woodson launched the annual observance in February of “Negro History Week,” which in 1976, was mandated as “Black History Month” by President Gerald Ford. Some 90 years later, President Barack Obama made his final proclamation in honor of Woodson’s initiative, stating that “as we mark the 40th year of National African American History Month, let us reflect on the sacrifices and contributions made by generations of African Americans, and let us resolve to continue our march toward a day when every person knows the unalien-
able rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Dr. Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, later the following: “Black History Month continues to serve us well. In part because Woodson’s creation is as much about today as it is about the past. Experiencing Black History Month every year reminds us that history is not dead or distant from our lives . . . Ultimately, African American History — and its celebration throughout February — is just as vibrant today as it was when Woodson created it 85 years ago.” The National Park Service and ASALH will celebrate the 144th anniversary of the birth of Woodson at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15 at Seaton Elementary School, 1503 10th St., NW. The event will include a special preview of draft plans for permanent exhibits, as well as a portrayal by actor Phil Darius Wallace and a musical tribute marking 400 years of African Americans in America by the D.C. Strings Workshop. WI
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LIFESTYLE
Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum: Extended Hours Twilight Tuesday to Commence January 7, 2020 By Melanie Adams, Director, Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum
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I have some exciting news to share with Washington Informer readers. In previous columns, you read about me joining the museum as the new director, our new mission and vision, and our newly refreshed spaces (both indoors and outside). Now, I am pleased to announce a new program series, Twilight Tuesday, designed to welcome you to enjoy the museum during extended hours every Tuesday evening until 8pm starting on January 7th. In order to truly be a community focused museum, we have to look at everything from our program offerings to our open hours. Our current hours of 10am to 5pm are not convenient for everyone to take advantage of the wonderful programs and exhibits we offer during the week. I want to make sure the people who live and work near the museum have the opportunity to enjoy a cultural gem right in their backyard. Extended hours will allow you, our guests, to view our current exhibit, A Right to the City, and to participate in special programs each Tuesday evening starting at 6:30pm. Future programs will provide a sneak peek into museum collections, a fun and friendly challenge on community game night, and an opportunity to access to your inner creative through a guided art activity. Programs will run between 30 and 60 minutes and will be offered free to the public. We’ll kick things off in January with the programs below. Visit our website at anacostia.si.edu for additional information on upcoming programs. January 7 – Healthy Eats. Founder of Fresh Food Factory, Amanda Stephenson provides a food demo/tasting using ingredients from her Anacostia Arts Center store. Jan 14 – Bust a Move. Hip Hop Dance demo and audience participation from Culture Shock, a DC-based dance organization. Jan 21 – Highlight on the Collection. Champion boxer and Boxing Hall of Fame inductee,
5 Melanie Adams, Director, Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museu
I want to make sure the people who live and work near the museum have the opportunity to enjoy a cultural gem right in their backyard. Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson discusses his career and shows his boxing gear. Jan 28 – The Art of Slam. What do you know about slam poetry? Jonathan Tucker from Poetry Teaching Artists introduces the art of slam for beginners based around themes of gentrification, displacement, and personal identity. Can’t wait until January? Then bring the entire family on Friday, December 27th for the museum’s annual Kwanzaa celebration, taking place at the Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Cam-
pus (THEARC) located at 1901 Mississippi Ave SE. Enjoy an energetic and interactive introduction to Kwanzaa with Melvin Deal African Heritage Dancers & Drummers. Kids can also make mixed-media, Kwanzaa-inspired arts and crafts through art workshops led by artist educators Brian Barber and Alma Robinson. Enjoy free admission and fun for the entire family! As you move into a New Year, do be sure to plan a visit to the Anacostia Community Museum. We are working hard to develop and implement programs and exhibits that resonate with the community and allow us to work collaboratively with wonderful partners across the DC region. We seek to live our mission “to illuminate and amplify our collective power.” Also, future columns will look just a little different as they will be authored by various members of the museum staff to offer you an insider’s look at what we do. I, my staff and the advisory board of the Anacostia Community Museum wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and joyous New Year! WI
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BEAUTIES from Page 1 judge at a law conference told her to wear a skirt instead of pants because judges prefer skirts. Kryst said she had a message for that judge after she won the competition where the three finalists were all women of color. "Glass ceilings can be broken wearing either a skirt or pants," she said. "Don't tell females to wear different clothes while you give the men substantive feedback on their legal arguments." Garris, who studied theater, founded an organization called We Are People 1st to assist individuals with disabilities. She's trained in several forms of dance, including contemporary, jazz, pointe, hip-hop and tap. Garris also has served as a hiking tour guide in the New Haven Parks and Recreation Department's Eco Camps. "During the contest you know you have self-doubt because there are so many great people," Garris said in a release. "I am just happy, proud and grateful for the support system I have." An opera singer, Franklin earned her master's degree in music composition from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Later, she moved to New York after being accepted at the Kenan Fellow program at Lincoln Center Education. During the competition, Franklin described how music helped her find her identity. "I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school and there was only five percent minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin," Franklin said. "But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was." Tunzi, who on Sunday earned the Miss Universe crown, said she no longer wants to hear that Black women aren't beautiful. "I grew up in a world where a woman who looks like me, with my kind of skin and my kind of hair, was never considered beautiful," she said. "I think it is time that that stops today. I want children to look at me and see my face, and I want them to see their faces reflected in mine." The 26-year-old from Tsolo, South Africa, speaks English and Isixhosa. Her official biography notes that she's a passionate activist and engaged in the fight against gender-based violence. Tunzi has devoted her social
LIFESTYLE media campaign to changing the narrative around gender stereotypes, and she said she's a proud advocate for natural beauty. She also works to encourage women to "love themselves the way they are," she said. "Tonight, a door was opened, and I could not be more grateful to have been the one to have walked through it," Tunzi wrote on Twitter after being crowned Miss Universe 2019. "May every little girl who witnessed this moment forever believe in the power of her dreams, and may they see their faces reflected in mine. I am Miss Universe 2019." Sofia Aragón of Mexico and Madison Anderson of Puerto Rico were the two runners-up in the pageant. WI
"May every little girl who witnessed this moment forever believe in the power of her dreams, and may they see their faces reflected in mine. I am Miss Universe 2019." – Zozibini Tunzi
3 Zozibini Tunzi (Courtesy photo)
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LIFESTYLE
Rosa Parks Library of Congress Exhibition Pays Tribute to ‘Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words’
By Denise R. Barnes Contributing Writer “I want to be remembered as a person who stood up to injustice… and most of all, I want to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted others to be free.” Rosa Parks Rosa Parks is the civil rights icon whose legendary refusal to give up her seat for a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 sparked the beginning of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement. As her story is retold, there is so much more to learn about Parks whose anger led her to defy Jim Crow segregation that ruled the lives of Black people. Parks was not the demur seamstress as she was often characterized; she was an activist who faced and fought inequality and injustice her entire life.
A new exhibition at the Library of Congress is titled and reveals the real “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words.” It includes photographs and letters, along with personal reflections in her own perfectly-styled, right-leaning cursive writing with which she shares her innermost feelings and thoughts about her life and times fighting for civil rights. “Rosa Parks lived a life dedicated to equal rights and social justice, and she helped change the country with the example she set,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Hayden is the first African American and the first woman to serve in this post, and this exhibit, she says, is an honor and a privilege to have come during her tenure. “Our new exhibition is an important milestone for Rosa Parks to tell her story for new genera-
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5 "Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words" photo was taken by Detroit News photographer Donna Terek.
tions through her own words and pictures now preserved at the Library of Congress,” Hayden said. The Rosa Parks collection, the first-ever exhibition dedicated to Rosa Parks, displays 90 items, including the Parks family bible and a manuscript in which Parks recalls a childhood encounter with a boy who threatened to hit her and how she responded. Also on display are political buttons, brochures, photographs and a handmade blue dress from Park’s wardrobe on loan from the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, to name a few. Parks died of natural causes on October 24, 2005 at the age of 92. She was the first woman and the second Black person to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol, where an estimated 50,000 walked by to view her casket. She is buried in a cemetery in Detroit between her mother and her husband, Raymond Parks, whom she described as a mild-mannered man who became intensely angry with her and the civil rights leaders following
“I want to be remembered as a person who stood up to injustice…and most of all, I want to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free and wanted others to be free.”
– Rosa Parks
her arrest on that bus in Montgomery. A 96-page companion book written by Susan Reyburn of the Library of Congress also contains private manuscripts and hand-
written notes that “bring to light Park’s inner thoughts and struggles throughout her life and activism. “These writings reveal her keen observations, youthful rage, strong faith, and ongoing hope, as well as an abiding love for those closest to her,” observed Hayden. Fred Gray, Parks’ attorney and longtime friend, was among the special guests attending the opening of the exhibition, along with Jane Gunther, the white female passenger who offered Parks a bus seat. Gray, 88, is a renowned civil rights attorney and preacher who continues to practice law in Tuskegee, Alabama. He represented and won Parks’ case when she was arrested and he won an acquittal from an all-white jury for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who faced charges for tax evasion. Gray said the Parks exhibit should remind young people that the fight against racism and inequality is far from over. “The question now is what are you going to do about it,” Gray said. The Library of Congress officially opened the exhibit on December 5; it remains on display through August 2020. Visit Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, South Gallery, Second Floor, 10 First Street, S.E. Mon.Sat. from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. For questions about reserved group tours call (202) 707-0919. WI 3 Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words photo was taken by Detroit News photographer Donna Terek.
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LIFESTYLE
wi book review "Santa's Secret"
By Denise Brennan-Nelson, illustrated by Deborah Melmon c.2019, Sleeping Bear Press / $16.99 / 32 pages
"The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood"
By Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Ellen Beier c.2019, South Dakota Historical Society Press $9.95 / 32 pages
"A Very Fiona Christmas"
By Richard Cowdrey c.2019, ZonderKids / $17.99 / 32 pages
"How Winston Delivered Christmas"
horoscopes
DEC 12 - 18, 2019
ARIES Life may have been intense lately, but as chatty Mercury enters Sagittarius, you can feel lighter and brighter. It joins the sun in your travel zone, so you may find that getting away from it all boosts your energy and allows you to recharge. Even so, with a full moon in your sector of communication midweek, feelings could run high, so beware of making any promises you can't keep. Lucky Numbers: 17, 28, 46 TAURUS You're still very much in the mindset to reach for new opportunities and work hard to do so. As lively Mercury moves into Sagittarius and a more intense zone, there's an opportunity to look at what may be holding you back. What do you need to do to clear away blocks to progress? Talking things over can help. Lucky Numbers: 6, 10, 18 GEMINI If life seems intense, that might be because there's a lot going on in your sector of finances, deep soul bonds, and powerful emotions. Even so, as lively Mercury moves into Sagittarius and your sector of relating, getting out and about can recharge you. Time spent in good company can uplift you so you're ready to face any challenges. Lucky Numbers: 7, 17, 35 CANCER Relationships may have been an issue for some while now, and tensions could be ratcheting up in one bond as luscious Venus moves between sobering Saturn and powerful Pluto this week. If you have a choice to make, it could be easier to put your feelings to one side and see things more objectively. This would be a wise thing to do. Lucky Numbers: 21, 34, 36 LEO Your leisure zone becomes more buoyant this week as lively Mercury moves in and joins the sun. There is no doubt that you may have a lot of work to do, especially as this holiday season gets underway. Nevertheless, it's important to get out, enjoy life, do those things you love to do, and find ways to unwind. Lucky Numbers: 6, 38, 46
By Alex T. Smith c.2019, Silver Dolphin / $17.99 / 176 pages
VIRGO Convivial energies in your home zone can get this holiday season off to a pleasant start. If you've been busy getting your place shipshape in recent weeks, this can be the start of a more sociable phase. Still, there is a strong emphasis on your sector of creativity, enterprise, and leisure, and if you have a lot of work to do, it could override other plans. Lucky Numbers: 29, 33, 57
By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer You better watch out. By now, you know why. You need to be especially good because it's Christmas and because it's also a time to be kind and generous. So why not share these great holiday books with someone you love? You might have noticed that there are a lot of Santas! In "Santa's Secret" by Denise Brennan-Nelson, illustrated by Deborah Melmon, a "sleuth" notices, and she aims to get to the bottom of why. With help from Grandma and a little magic, she learns that even Santa needs his helpers this time of year. You know what you want for Christmas, but what do you need? Is it still fun to open presents when you know they're full of clothes? If it was cold outside and you'd outgrown your things — as in "The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood" by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Ellen Beier — you know which you'd choose. Eddie needed new boots. Virginia needed a new coat, too, but they knew the rules: as the children of the village's Episcopal priest, they got last pick when the boxes came from the folks back east to the children on South Dakota's Rosebud Indian Reservation. In this classic book, rereleased for a new audience, it was time for a little Christmas magic... Chances are, you know what Christmas is — or do you? In "A Very Fiona Christmas" by Richard Cowdrey, the Cincinnati Zoo's most famous hippo is celebrating her first Christmas season. Fiona's ready to have fun in the snow with her friends; she absolutely loves seeing shiny, flashy, decorations; and she's eager to learn about Christmas but she doesn't quite understand it. What is Christmas, anyhow? Where can she learn the answer? If you love seeing Fiona online, this is a book you're going to love, too. Finally, if your family observes Advent, then make a new tradition with "How Winston Delivered Christmas" by Alex Smith. When Oliver puts his letter to Santa in the mailbox, he hopes that Santa will pay close attention to what's in it. But the letter escapes,
BOOK REVIEW Page 46
LIBRA There's a lot going on in an intensely personal sector of your chart, with four planets in Capricorn and your home zone. However, since upbeat Jupiter moved in last week, you may begin to feel more confident about finding solutions to any issues you're facing. As this expansive planet links with energizing Uranus, with the aspect peaking over the weekend, this is an excellent opportunity to get advice, because it can bring valuable insights. Lucky Numbers: 11, 20, 28 SCORPIO As lively Mercury moves into your money zone early in the week, it can encourage you to get organized, and this could be the best way to avoid overspending, especially around the time of the midweek full moon. Try not to micromanage everything. Just allow life to flow. Lucky Numbers: 10, 38, 41 SAGITTARIUS As Mercury glides into your sign early in the week, its presence here can encourage you to enjoy the chance to socialize and connect. If there are people you haven't linked up with in a while, this might be a good time to do so. The full moon in your sector of relating could bring feelings out into the open, though, and this could make for some volatile conversations. However, if you have feelings for someone and find it hard to share, it could be easier during this lunar phase. Lucky Numbers: 15, 22, 42 CAPRICORN The emphasis on your sign could put you under pressure, and you might be doing it to yourself. While upbeat Jupiter's presence in Capricorn can help you to feel more confident of success, it pays to understand your motives for taking on certain goals. Lucky Numbers: 2, 8, 39 AQUARIUS The focus on your inner life continues for some time, and it could also redefine you. As you change inside, you may notice that your outer life begins to shift, too, and this can be a revelation. Your social life is active, and you might find that attending events helps you feel more grounded, which can be important at this time. And with chatty Mercury moving into Sagittarius, this is very much a time to be adventurous and move in new circles. Lucky Numbers: 3, 14, 17 PISCES Your social life is very busy, and you seem to have a lot of commitments and responsibilities associated with it. This week, as sweet Venus aligns with prudent Saturn and radical Pluto, you might be ready to set firmer boundaries and draw the line concerning your part in key activities. If you've been doing too much, it might be time to encourage others to do their share. Lucky Numbers: 4, 22, 25
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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 35
SPORTS For more photos, visit www.washingtoninformer.com
Go-Go Defeat Charge at Home 4 Capital City Go-Go guard Jerian Grant drives against Canton Charge forward Dean Wade during the Go-Go's 113-108 win at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast on Saturday, Dec. 7. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 6 Capital City Go-Go center Anzejs Pasecniks shoots a jump hook over Canton Charge forward Dean Wade during the Go-Go's 113-108 win at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast on Saturday, Dec. 7. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
5 Capital City Go-Go guard Admiral Schofield pump-fakes against Canton Charge forward Sir'Dominic Pointer during the Go-Go's 113-108 win at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast on Saturday, Dec. 7. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer) 3 Capital City Go-Go guard Ike Iroegbu attempts a layup against Canton Charge forward Sir'Dominic Pointer during the Go-Go's 113-108 win at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast on Saturday, Dec. 7. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
36 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
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SPORTS
Clippers Outlast Wizards
5 Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal drives for a layup as Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George looks on during the Clippers' 135-119 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, Dec. 8. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
5 Washington Wizards guard Ish Smith drives past Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley during the Clippers' 135-119 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, Dec. 8. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
5 Washington Wizards guard Troy Brown Jr. drives past Los Angeles Clippers guard Lou Williams during the Clippers' 135-119 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, Dec. 8. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)w
5 Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George presses Washington Wizards forward Moritz Wagner during the Clippers' 135-119 win at Capital One Arena in Northwest on Sunday, Dec. 8. (John E. De Freitas/The Washington Informer)
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38 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
somewhat of a father figure to my students," said Banks, a teacher of five years who started at Ketcham Elementary School earlier this year at the request of administrators seeking a relatable Black-male adult presence at the Southeast school. Banks, a former Enterprise branch manager, made a career change when he entered the Capital Teaching Residency, through which he taught pre-kindergarten in the KIPP DC system. Later, he sharpened his style of math instruction at one of the DC Prep campuses. In his latest move to Ketcham, Banks has pursued his science interests and expanded the presence of Competitive by Nature, his fitness and community-service oriented nonprofit, now in its third year. Banks' community work highlights a jarring reality often highlighted in his dialogue with students. "We have real conversations about statistics — how some people aren't going to make it because of bad decisions," said Banks, a 2004 graduate of Wilson Senior High School in Northwest. "We're having real impactful conversations about how they're viewed in the world. It's a great age. They listen and sometimes I go off on a tangent." Nearly half of the teachers in D.C. Public Schools — a school system with six out of 10 Black students — identify as Black. Banks counts among a contingent of Black DCPS teachers coming into the profession who spent a significant portion of their childhood in the District and graduated from a D.C. public or public charter school. While representatives of the DCPS Central Office said 1,100 employees hail from the District, the positions they serve remains unclear, as does the number of teachers fitting the profile of Banks and other millennials teaching in the public school system. Given the position of Teach for America, Urban Teachers, and other nationally recognized teaching programs as conduits for talent in the D.C. public and public charter schools, some DCPS alumni from the millennial generation, like Banks, may have used those means to enter the profession. Members of this group, for the most part, received their D.C. Public Schools education in the years up until mayoral control and during Michelle Rhee's short and polarizing tenure as chancellor. In 2009, the IMPACT eval-
5 Nubia Gerima, an African-American literature teacher at Dunbar High School in Northwest, launched the school's Black Studies Department, its second-most popular academy with more than 120 students. (Rob Roberts/The Washington Informer)
This year, the second graders in Eugene Banks' math class have not only learned addition, subtraction and value placement, but often walked out of class with words of wisdom, inspired by Banks' upbringing in the District, that he gave between games, physical movement and call-and-response chants. uation, mostly contingent on students' academic performance, become a key determinant of a teacher's career trajectory within D.C. Public Schools. While Rhee, who has since moved on to other roles in the education realm, painted herself as a reformer and pioneer, critics pointed to the influx of young, non-Black teachers from other parts of the country in the public and charter school systems as an unfortunate sign of
imminent change in a city losing its Black majority. In the years after Rhee's resignation, and that of her successors, officials from the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) criticized IMPACT as a key tool in punishing teacher dissent. In November, as IMPACT entered its 10th year, DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee launched a committee, comprised of teachers and administrators, that would review and recommend changes to the evaluation. He made this announcement amid contract negotiations with WTU that stalled around a stipulation preventing teachers from challenging their IMPACT scores. For years, the District's teacher turnover rate stood at nearly 10 percent higher than the national average, inciting inquiries from the D.C. State Board of Education and D.C. Council on the matter. In October, Ferebee reported a deviation from the norm: three out of four DCPS teachers returned to their school of employment at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. That group included 84 percent of the teachers deemed "effective" and "highly effective" in their IMPACT evaluation. Additionally, some public school Wards 7 and 8 experienced teacher retention rates of 90 percent. Within the District's public schools, students' demands have equally centered on curricula reflective of their experiences and their ancestor's history in the United States and around the world. Nubia Gerima, a native Washingtonian who teaches at Paul Laurence Dunbar Senior
NATIVES Page 46
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RELIGION the religion corner WITH LYNDIA GRANT
Saul Became Paul — You Can Turn Your Life Around, Too!
In preparing for the new year, be encouraged by the biblical story of how God changed Saul to become Paul. The historian Luke tells us that executioners laid their garments at the feet of Saul (Acts 7:58), who was in full approval of the mob's murderous actions (Acts 8:1). Saul later ravaged the church, entering the homes of believers and committing them to prison. Saul's anti-Christian zeal motivated him not only to arrest and imprison male Christians but to lock up female believers as well (Acts 8:3). Paul's post-conversion experience reveals even more about his background. In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul describes himself as a Hebrew, an Israelite, and a descendant of Abraham (2 Corinthians 11:22). In his letter to the Philippian church, Paul says he was a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5). While on his way to Damascus to arrest and extradite Christians back to Jerusalem, Saul was confronted by the very One whom he was persecuting (Acts 9:3–9; 22:6–11; 26:12–18). What folMt. Zion Baptist Church 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”
lowed was one of the most dramatic conversions in church history. Saul of Tarsus became the apostle Paul, an ardent missionary to an unbelieving world and a fine example of faithful service in the face of fierce persecution (Acts 14:19; 16:22–24; 2 Corinthians 11:25– 26). Saul's education, his background as a Pharisee, his Roman citizenship, and his unflagging zeal all contributed to his success as a missionary, once those credentials and traits had been subjugated to the lordship of Christ. In contrast, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, I pray for the president! To save America we must all pray for him, too. We can only hope that someday, that change in the twinkling of an eye will come. Nothing is too hard for God! USA Today shared research that proves the president of the United States of America has gone through his life taking advantage of workers, small business owners, most of whom were excited to get hired by a man they admired as a billionaire. They were wrong! A USA Today analysis of legal filings across the United States found that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions in federal and state courts during the past three decades. They range from skirmishes with casino patrons to million-dollar real estate suits to personal defamation lawsuits.
See how what felt like a dream come true turned into a nightmare, time after time! The sheer volume of lawsuits is unprecedented for a presidential nominee. See the contrast? Saul lived his life as a non-caring, cold-blooded murderer, yet God chose him to use for the good deeds He had in mind. Someone with the worse character can be switched in the twinkling of an eye, into someone who is the total opposite. Let's take a look at Walt Disney, for example. Early in his career, he proved to be a sputtering, crashing business dud. In 1923, at age 20, Disney started the Laugh-o-Grams company, an animation studio supplying shorts to Kansas City movie theaters. Always the visionary, he embarked on groundbreaking and vastly expensive projects like a combo live-action and cartoon flick called "Alice's Wonderland." (Spoiler: It was no wonderland.) Big Walt lacked the financial acumen to back up his high-octane creativity. He soon found himself virtually homeless, sleeping in his office (where he befriended a tame mouse) and taking showers at the train station. Just a year after opening his doors, he was forced to declare bankruptcy. Obviously, Disney didn't let the setback knock him down. He spent his last dollars on a bus ticket, headed out to Hollywood and started the company that bears his name. WI
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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church
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
www.mtzbcdc.org
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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 39
RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church
Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor
Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724
Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 AM 7 10:00 AM Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 PM Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”
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 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30 PM www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org
Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ
Blessed Word of Life Church
Church of Living Waters
Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor
Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor
Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor
Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor
2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org
800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703
4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00 AM Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study 10:30 AM 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00 AM Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30 PM Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30 PM Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30 PM Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30 PM Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00 AM “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”
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
1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661
Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org
St. Stephen Baptist Church
Third Street Church of God
Dr. Dekontee L. & Dr. Ayele A. Johnson Pastors
Rev. Dr. Alice Greene Interim Pastor
Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor
Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor
4001 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 (202) 265-6147 Office 1-800 576-1047 Voicemail/Fax
3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax)
1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office 202-638-1803 fax
Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30 PM
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
5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555 Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45 AM Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45 AM Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday , 12:30 PM Mid-Day Bible Study Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 PM Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30 AM
www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org
“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantdc.org
Campbell AME Church Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 AM Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 PM Thursday: 7:00 PM “Reaching Up To Reach Out” Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020
www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org
Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor 610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax
Sunday Worship Service: 8:00 AM and 10:45 AM Sunday Youth Worship Services: 1st & 4th 10:45 AM; 804 R.I. Ave., NE 5th 8 AM & 10:45 AM; Main Church Prayer Services Tuesday – Noon, Wednesday 6:00 AM & 6:30 PM Calvary Bible Institute: Year-Round Contact Church Communion Every 3rd Sunday The Church in The Hood that will do you Good! www.gmchc.org emailus@gmchc.org
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 AM and 10:30 AM Sunday Church School: 9:20 AM Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 AM Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 PM Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net
St Marks Baptist Come Worship with us... Dr. Raymond T. Matthews Pastor and First Lady Marcia Matthews St. Mark's Baptist Church 624 Underwood Street, NW Washington, dc 20011 Services and Times Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wed. Noon Day prayer service Thur. Prayer service: 6:45 PM Thur. Bible Study: 7:15 PM
Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Communion every Sunday: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 10:00 AM Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 PM Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com
Mount Carmel Baptist Church
Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher
Service and Times Sunday School: 10:15 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11;15 AM Children’s Church: 11:15 AM Tuesday Bible Study: 6:30 PM Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: gr8luv4u2@gmail.com
“Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital”
E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org “God is Love”
Isle of Patmos Baptist Church
Twelfth Street Christian Church
Turning Hearts Church
421 Alabama Ave. SE Washington, DC 20032 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445
“We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net
Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 AM
Crusader Baptist Church
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
40 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
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RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church
All Nations Baptist Church
King Emmanuel Baptist Church
Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor
Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor
Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor
7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471
2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591
2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730
Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 AM Service 11:00 AM Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.” Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com
Zion Baptist Church Rev. Keith W. Byrd, Sr. Pastor 4850 Blagdon Ave, NW - Washington D.C 20011 Phone (202) 722-4940 - Fax (202) 291-3773 Service and Times 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School 10:15 a.m. – Worship Service Wed. Noon: Dea. Robert Owens Bible Study 7 PM Pastor’s Bible Study Ordinance of Baptism 2nd Sunday, Holy Communion 4th Sunday Mission: Zion shall: Enlist Sinners, Educate Students, Empower the Suffering, Encourage the Saints, And Exalt our Savior. (Acts 2: 41-47) www.zionbaptistchurchdc.org
St. Luke Baptist Church Rev. Aubrey C. Lewis Pastor 1415 Gallatin Street, NW Washington, DC 20011-3851 P: (202) 726-5940 Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11:00 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion: 11:00 a.m., 3rd Sun. Bible Institute: Wednesday - 1:30 PM Prayer Meeting: Wednesday - 12:00 Noon
Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards
Israel Baptist Church
Reverend Peter R. Blue Sr. Pastor St. Matthews Baptist Church 2001 Brooks Drive District Heights MD. 20744 240.838.7074 Service and Times Sunday Worship Experience: 10:15am Sunday School: 9:00am Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday Morning Noontime Bible Study: Tuesday @ 12:00pm Prayer Meeting/Bible Study: Tuesday @7:00pm Theme: "Building On A Firm Foundation" Email: revprbstmbc@gmail.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org
Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor
2409 Ainger Pl.,SE – WDC 20020 (202) 678-0884 – Office • (202) 678-0885 – Fax “Moving Faith Forward” 0% Perfect . . . 100% Forgiven!
623 Florida Ave.. NW - WDC. 20001 Church (202) 667-3409 Study (202) 265-0836 Home Study (301) 464-8211 Fax (202) 483-4009
4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184
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
“Where Jesus is the King”
Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith
Lincoln Park United Methodist Church Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor
Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor
1251 Saratoga Ave., NE Washington, DC 20018 (202) 269-0288
1301 North Carolina Ave. N E Washington, D C 20002 202 543 1318 - lincolnpark@lpumcdc.org www.lpumcdc.org
5606 Marlboro Pike District Heights, MD 20747 301-735-6005
Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:15 AM Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:45 AM Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 PM Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 PM Bible Study: Tuesday at 10:30 AM
Mount Moriah Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Holy Communion: First Sunday 10:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Bible Study: Wednesday @ 12 noon and 6:30 PM Motto: "Faith On The Hill"
Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 PM Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 PM Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 PM Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged. The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42
New Commandment Baptist Church
Eastern Community Baptist Church
Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor
Damion M. Briggs Pastor
1636 East Capitol Street, NE Washington, DC 20003 Telephone: 202-544-5588 - Fax: 202-544-2964
8213 Manson Street Landover, MD 20785 Tel: (301) 322-9787 Fax: (301) 322-9240
13701 Old Jericho Park Road Bowie, MD. 20720 (301) 262-0560
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:45 AM and 10:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sundays at 7:45 AM & 10:45 AM Sunday School: 9:30 AM Prayer & Praise Service: Tuesdays at 12 noon & 6:30 PM Bible Study: Tuesdays at 1 pm and 7 PM Youth Bible Study: Fridays at 7 PM
Service and Times Early Morning Message: 7:30 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 9:00 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday 7:30 AM & 10:00 AM Prayer, Praise and Testimony: Wednesday 7:00 PM Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 PM
Service and Times Sunday Worship: 11 AM Sunday School: 10 AM Wednesday Mid-Week Worship, Prayer & Bible Study: Wed. 7 PM
Rehoboth Baptist Church Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor 621 Alabama Ave., S.E.- Washington, D.C. 20032 P: (202) 561-1111 - F: (202) 561-1112 Service and Times Sunday Service: 10:00 AM Sunday School for all ages: 8:30 AM 1st Sunday Baptism: 10:00 AM 2nd Sunday Holy Communion:10:00 AM Tuesday: Bible Study: 6:30 PM Prayer Meeting: 7:45 PM Motto: “Where God is First and Where Friendly People Worship”
“Real Worship for Real People” Website: www.easterncommunity.org Email: ecc@easterncommunity.org
Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor
“A Church Where Love Is Essential and Praise is Intentional”
Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958
Shiloh Baptist Church
Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Dr. Joseph D. Turner Senior Pastor 2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304 Service and Times Early Worship Service: 8:00 AM Worship Service: 11:00 AM New Member’s Class: 9:45 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00 AM Church School: 9:45 AM Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00 PM Saturday Bible Study: 11:00 AM Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00 AM
Christ Embassy DC
Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator 6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 PM Friday Evening Service: 7:00 PM ; Last Friday “…Giving Your Life a Meaning” www.Christembassydc.org Christ.embassy.dc@hotmail.com
“Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”
Peace Baptist Church
Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Early Morning Prayer & Bible Study Class: 8:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Sunday Morning Worship Service: 10:00 AM Wednesday Service: 12:00 PM
Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor 3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 PM Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 PM Prayer Service Bible Study
“The Loving Church of the living lord “
First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church
Mt. Horeb Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor
Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor
Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor
9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288
602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595
2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Worship Service: 10:30 AM Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30AM & 10:30 AM Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 PM. Wednesday 12 Noon
www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org
Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 AM Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 AM and 10:55 AM Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 AM Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 PM
All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.
Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org
Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist
Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 AM Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 AM Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 PM Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 PM Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 PM Noonday Prayer Every Thursday
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
Email Address: admin@pbc712.org
Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest
Holy Trinity United Baptist Church
Florida Avenue Baptist Church
Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor
Rev. Reginald M. Green Interim Pastor
Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org
St. Matthews Baptist Church
Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 AM Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 AM Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 AM Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 PM
Emmanuel Baptist Church
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 AM Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 AM Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30AM Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 PM Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 PM Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “
Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.
DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 41
LEGAL NOTICES Legal Notice William W. Crocker Decedent NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Rosemary Tate, whose address is 761 Quebec Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20010, is the personal representative of the estate of William W. Crocker who died April 15, 2002 without a will and will serve without court supervision. All unknown heirs and whose whereabouts are unknown. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned on or before 12/19/2019 or forever be barred. Persons believed to be heirs to the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: 10/3/2019 Rosemary Tate Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Register of Wills
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
2019 ADM 001024
2019 ADM 001175
Shelley Evelyn Sloan Decedent
Rhonda Denise Thomas Quander Decedent
Edward G. Varrone, Esq. 1825 K Street, NW Suite 1150 Washington, DC 20006 Attorney
Joan M. Wilbon 1120 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 1020 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney
Rhonda M. Dewey, whose address is 4617 Navassa Lane, Naples, FL 34119 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Willie Mae Smith Giles, deceased, by the Orphans Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland, on 11/19/2019 Service of process may be made upon Sylvia J. Rolinski, Esq. 1615 L Street, NW, Suite 440, Washington, DC 20036 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: 2405 Rand Place, NE, Washington, DC 20002 The decedent owned District of Columbia personal property. 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.
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
George C. Strickland III, whose address is 1416 Florida Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Shelley Evelyn Sloan who died on March 11, 2019 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/5/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/5/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Anthony Quander, whose address is 5229 5th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Rhonda Denise Thomas Quander who died on June 30, 2019 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/5/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/5/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
Date of first publication: 12/5/2019
Date of first publication: 12/5/2019
2019 FEP 000138 12/10/2003 Date of Death Willie Mae Smith Giles Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Rhonda M. Dewey Personal Representative Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer
George C. Stickland III Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131
2019 FEP 000139
2019 ADM 001194
1998 ADM 1348
May 16, 2019 Date of Death
Dorothy E. Jefferson aka Dorothy Elizabeth Jefferson Decedent
Ingrid J. Monkiewicz Decedent
Rubye Williams aka Rubye Jane Williams aka Rubye J. Williams Name of Decedent
Nakia V. Gray, Esq. 800 Maine Ave. SW, Suite 200 Washington, DC 20024 Attorney
Tina Smith Nelson Legal Counsel for the Elderly 601 E Street Washington, DC 20049 Attorney
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
LEGAL NOTICES
Arthur W. Williams, whose address is 27 Baker Ave. #923, White Plains, NY 10601, was appointed personal representative of the estate of Rubye Williams aka Rubye Jane Williams aka Rubye J. Williams, deceased, by the Surrogate’s Court for New York County, State of New York, on July 18, 2019. Service of process may be made upon Stephanie Y. Bradley 1417 Nicholson Street, NW, 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: 724 8th St., NW, Washington, DC 20002 and 1917 I St., NW, Washington, DC 20036 The decedent owned District of Columbia personal property. 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.
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS
Date of first publication: 12/5/2019
Date of first publication: 12/5/2019
Arthur W. Williams Personal Representative
Dorothy Zelda Jefferson Personal Representative
Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills
TRUE TEST COPY
TRUE TEST COPY
Washington Informer
Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills
Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills
Washington Informer
Washington Informer
Dorothy Zelda Jefferson, whose address is 5200 North Capitol St., #303, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Dorothy E. Jefferson aka Dorothy Elizabeth Jefferson who died on January 6, 2011 with a Will, and will serve with Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before June 5, 2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before June 5, 2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.
NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Ingrid A. Monkiewicz, whose address is 5834 Sherier Place, NW, Washington, DC 20016, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Ingrid J. Monkiewicz who died on November 7, 1997 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 6/12/2020. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 6/12/2020, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship. Date of first publication: 12/12/2019 Ingrid A. Monkiewicz Personal Representative
Date of first publication: 12/5/2019 Anthony Quander Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY Nicole Stevens Acting Register of Wills Washington Informer SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Civil Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Case Number 19-0007712
Order and Notice of Final Hearing Upon consideration of the Application for Change of Name of an Adult, filed by Anthony Verdell Rivers on 11/20/2019 requesting an order changing Applicant’s name to Abdul Khadir Muhammad, it is by the Court this 20th day of November, 2019 hereby ORDERED, that the Final Hearing on this Application for Change of Name of an Adult will be held in Judge-in-Chambers, Superior Court of the District of Columbia, 500 Indiana Ave., NW, Room 4103 Washington, DC 20001, on the 27th day of December, 2019, at 9:45 am. If any person desires to oppose this Application, that person or their attorney must be present at the Final Hearing, or file written detailed objection five (5) days in advance of the hearing with Judge-in-Chambers and serve a copy on the Applicant or Applicant’s counsel; and it is further ORDERED, that within ten (10) days of filing, Applicant must serve the Application for Change of Name of an Adult and this Order and Notice of Final Hearing personally or by registered/certified mail (return receipt requested) on:
o
Applicant’s creditors
Date of first publication: 12/12/2019 Leonard GP Muhammad, Esq. 7306 Georgia Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20012 Petitioner/Attorney
Washington Informer Name of Newspaper and/or periodical:
42 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
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NAACP from Page 12 says financial institutions continue to harm Black homeowners in Prince George's and other minority communities. "I want to help people get through this housing crisis." Meanwhile, Prince George's branch president Bob Ross said
KIRWAN from Page 13 context. He said "educational justice" began with the late Baltimore native Thurgood Marshall, who achieved victory as a civil rights lawyer in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case to end segregation in public schools. In 2002, Thornton led a commission named after him to create a funding formula for the constitutional requirement every child receive a quality education. Thornton admitted Saturday some of the recommendations not achieved at that time can be fulfilled through the Kirwan Commission, such as expansion early childhood education. Although there's been plenty
more grassroots efforts will be made in 2020. For instance, he said leaders and branch members plan to greet people at Metro stations and visit various neighborhoods to explain the organization's advocacy "needed more than ever in this political climate." One major objective will be
to gain up to 10,000 new members. "We should have a third of the 900,000 residents to be members of the NAACP," Ross said. "If you don't ask, you don't get. We are going to start asking. We always want to help, but we need the community's help as well." WI
of public support, some jurisdictions would be asked to pay more. Prince George's taxpayers would need to chip in almost $361 million, a 38 percent increase, by 2030, the highest amount proposed in the state. That's because the majority-Black jurisdiction is among the most-aided by the state regarding education. "There are ways that you can reduce the cost if you have to, but cost should not be the deciding factor," Thornton said. "We must turn to each other on behalf of our children. Share our wealth with them." Meanwhile, those who attended support the commission
recommendations, but Montgomery wants to ensure certain money get used for other means such as "more appetizing meals." "You can clearly tell [students are] getting frozen food. It's not appetizing and therefore, kids won't eat it," said Montgomery, a business entrepreneurship teacher at Oxon Hill High School who also runs a nonprofit called Mentoring Through Athletics, which provides school uniforms and conducts other programs for students throughout the county. "I think [the commission recommendations] are great, but if we can't meet children right where they are, there will always be a deficit." WI
(Photo courtesy of Babble.com)
CHARITY from Page 14 director of the Cary Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies and Women's Philanthropy Board at Auburn University College of Human Sciences. "When donating to a charity, think long and hard about your personal goals and ask yourself if your vision for helping others aligns with the organization or charity you are considering. "Further, ask how or if your gift will advance the mission, work and impact of the organization" Nakhjavan said. "Giving strategically requires that donors have a very clear understanding of their personal values and goals, and then mindfully investing and supporting organizations whose goals are a good fit." There also are red flags to consid-
DC BRIEFS from Page 22 relationships that I saw my father foster as a teacher. It was soon after moving to D.C. that I shifted careers and began teaching. MFF: What memories stand out from your first year in the classroom? Claire Smullen: My first year was very challenging. I taught in a joint middle/high school that was slated for closure. I was a member of a cohort hired to try to turn the school around. The middle school was especially challenging. I remember one class where I had tried every tool in my toolbox — although admittedly at the time I didn't have many — to engage the students and get us back on task, but I felt like I was failing in every regard. I remember thinking "only 10 more minutes" and standing at the front of the room hoping no one would get into too much trouble in that time.
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44 DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019
er, said WalletHub expert Ram A. Cnaan, a professor and faculty director of the Goldring Reentry Initiative in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. "Aggressive phone solicitation, even for worthy causes, is the number one red flag," Cnaan said. "I got a call from an organization I support. The person on the line introduced herself very professionally and asked for my donation. It was weird, as I just sent a check. "So, I asked her, 'Are you a volunteer?' She said no. 'Who are you working for?' She named a company that seemed legit," he said. "I then found out that the company charges a huge percentage of what they collect." For the full survey, go to wallethub. com. WI a.m., to 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 14 at the DC Armory. Stop by to meet representatives from across DCPS and find the right school for your child. Parking and admission is free. The My School DC lottery application also launches on Monday, Dec. 16. Visit the festival to learn more.
JEREMIAH LOVES POLICE OFFICERS
Gianni Childs, an academic intervention Fellow at DC Prep Public Charter School, enjoys creating lesson plans based on her student's interests. Jeremiah is one of her students who loves police officers. Childs, who uses token boards to track Jeremiah's academic progress and reinforce positive behavior, sets up his token board to catch bad guys. As a result, he receives a police officer for every task he successfully completes. Jeremiah ends most of his school days with a token board filled with police officers. WI
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MALVEAUX from Page 26
PRIMARY FICTION
"Aunt Flossie's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later)" by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard
"Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans" by Kadir Nelson "Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters" by Andrea Davis Pinkney "Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement" by Carole Boston Weatherford
PRIMARY NONFICTION
"Duke Ellington" by Andrea Davis Pinkney
PRIMARY POETRY
"Meet Danitra Brown" by Nikki Grimes "In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall" illustrated by Javaka Steptoe
PRIMARY SING-ALONG
"Let It Shine" by Ashley Bryan
INTERMEDIATE FICTION
"TheWatsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis "Zeely" by Virginia Hamilton "M.C. Higgins, the Great" by Virginia Hamilton "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred D. Taylor "Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World" by Mildred Pitts Walter "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
INTERMEDIATE NONFICTION
"We Are the Ship: The Story
"Mirandy and Brother Wind" by Patricia C. McKissack
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YOUNG ADULT FICTION
"The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander "Like Sisters on the Homefront" by Rita Williams-Garcia "Toning the Sweep" by Angela Johnson
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State University; and Dr. Jonda C. McNair, professor of education at Clemson University, who believe these books: • Exemplify literary excellence. • Give children a sense of "self." • Encourage children to develop positive attitudes about themselves and others. • Reinforce a sense of Black heritage and Black history. • Provide a platform by which children can learn about and fall in love with characters that look like themselves. • Inspire children to be the best they can be. • Assist children in seeing the beauty, humor, and strength in their families and in others around them. • Inspire children to seek new ways of problem solving • Encourage pride in African Heritage. The list is divided into suggestions for primary (grades K-3), intermediate (grades 4-6) and young adult (grades 7-12) readers and CDF offers many of these books for purchase through the CDF Bookstore. Choose titles today to give as gifts for the holidays or celebrate a birthday or the birth of a new child at any time of year by giving and sharing a wonderful book from this list:
"Uncle Jed's Barbershop" by Margaree King Mitchell "Tar Beach" by Faith Ringgold "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale" by John Steptoe "I Love My Hair!" by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
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EDELMAN from Page 26
HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. By raising awareness, and connecting high-risk populations to testing and health care, the Urban League Movement is helping to move African Americans toward both the 90-90-90 goal and the HHS Plan for America. WI
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a target for 2020 known as 90-9090. By the end of next year, 90 percent of all those infected will know they are infected; 90 percent of those infected will be receiving antiretroviral therapy, and 90 percent of those receiving therapy will have had the virus effectively suppressed.
In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services has set a goal of reducing the number of new HIV infections by 75 percent within five years, and then by at least 90 percent within 10 years, for an estimated 250,000 total HIV infections averted. This initiative is known as Ending the
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Black women have been loyal to the Democratic Party, but the party has not been faithful to us. Kamala Harris is still a winner. Like Shirley Chisholm and Carol Moseley Braun, she refused to accept the status quo. Her withdrawal from this race is not the end, it is a new beginning for the tenacious senator who will undoubtedly continue to fight "for the people." WI
Photo
vember, despite her low polling numbers. I was saddened to see Kamala leave the race. I would love to have seen her debating 45. I bet he wouldn't have rattled her the way he pushed Hillary off her game. I'd like to have seen her with a smaller group of Democrats so that everything didn't seem so rushed, and people could answer questions more expan-
sively. Kamala's withdrawal from the race is not her loss but the nation's. The way we are going, the next debate will be a whites-only affair unless Tulsi Gabbard or Andrew Yang qualify. In the last debate, Kamala Harris talked about the fact that Black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party. You wouldn't know that from the representation on the debate stage, or in party leadership.
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YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION
"March: Book One" by John Lewis "March: Book Two" by John Lewis "March: Book Three" by John Lewis "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
ALL AGES
"Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom" by Virginia Hamilton "The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales" told by Virginia Hamilton WI
of Negro League Baseball" by Kadir Nelson
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DECEMBER 12 - 18, 2019 45
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WILLIAMS from Page 27 and Michael Gerhardt, who are giving both the Republicans and the American people an explanation of our laws. They explained that even Trump is not above the law. Democrats have voted with Republicans on far less egregious offenses by a president. Where are the sensible Republicans who know the current president has torn our country apart by refusing to acknowledge stacks of shameful impeachable behavior? If we can't impeach this president with the repeated
ASKIA from Page 27 ing in the U.S. Senate. Haley has obviously become intoxicated drinking white supremacy Kool-Aid. When she says South Carolina doesn't have "hateful" people, she is clearly delusional about the flag and its history there. In Charleston in 1875 — 140 years before murderous Dylann Roof traveled across the state to intentionally kill people in a Black church — armed members of the Carolina Rifle Club of Charleston marched through town behind a Confederate flag in an effort to intimidate Black voters as part of a statewide white-supremacist campaign that included voter intimidation, ballot box stuffing and terrorism. Maybe that story was edited
NATIVES from Page 38
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High School in Northwest, has been instrumental in meeting that need for more than 100 students this year with the launch of a Black Studies Department. Since its inception, Dunbar's Black Studies Department, the second of its kind in the United States, has ranked second among the five academies offered at Dunbar. Earlier in the school year, Gerima's students visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Last month, they sat at the feet of Black scuba divers who excavate slave ship ruins. A "black shirt" ceremony this month commemorated students' membership in the academy. Gerima and her colleagues have also set plans forth for a tour of historically Black colleges and universities, scheduled for next spring. In between those field trips and marquee events, Gerima and her students closely read popular Reconstruction Era and Harlem Renaissance texts, making connections in a manner similar to what would be expected of them at the
impeachable behavior that is so shameful and so clear, when can we stop any harmful behavior by any government official? If our laws mean nothing for the person charged with executing our laws, why should any American be expected to follow them? There are people who've done far less harmful things than our current president and so many of his staff, his personal lawyers and friends yet they languish in prisons for very long periods of time. Why should our so-called leaders be above the law? Rep. Val Demings said, "The rule of law is the strength
of our democracy." Why should someone who's violated so many of our laws get away without punishment? Shame on Rep. Ben Cline for belittling the constitutional scholars who're so brilliantly helping us to understand the laws of our nation that people like him are charged with making but can't stand to uphold because it's so obvious they're little more than lapdogs for their party. We must insist that we the people have the right to elect our leaders in 2020, not the Russians. WI
out of the social studies books the governor studied when she grew up there in the 1980s. I can see how someone like her, wanting to fit in, wanting to be like every other South Carolinian who wasn't a Black person, how she could overlook the reason even Confederates themselves referred to the wicked, racist behavior they were defending as "The Lost Cause," "The Peculiar Institution." The hateful white supremacy movement did not hijack the memory of anybody's Confederacy, Gov. Haley, unless that is you don't remember Julian Carr, who led the United Confederate Veterans. He campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 1900 under the slogan "The White Man Must Rule or Die."
Haley is supposed to be a smart cookie. How could she not know what most all Confederates know and understand about their cause and its symbols. The Confederate battle flag was often called the "stainless banner." And there was never any ambiguity about what it stood for: white pride. "[A]s a people we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race," is how one 1863 newspaper editorial put it. But Haley says — with a straight face yet — that those who criticize her shameless comments are nothing more than "outrage peddlers." Well … you want some mumbo sauce with that outrage, Governor? WI
college level. Along the way, she's encouraging her readers of various levels to increase their reading stamina and improve their study skills. "For any youth, it's important that we pour into them by teaching them their history so they love themselves and are proud of where they come from. We look at Black Studies as a protective factor for students [that will help them] navigate those spaces," said Gerima, an African-American Literature teacher and 2006 graduate of Friendship Public Charter School hailing from Brookland in Northeast. "I'm intentional about making connections; in African-American Literature, we talked about rebellion before we read 'Their Eyes Were Watching God,'" Gerima said. "We also learned about rebellion by watching a clip on YouTube about the Maroons and their town in Jamaica. I was able to make the connection between the drums and dancing in that clip and go-go, our official mu-
BOOK REVIEW from Page 35 and it's found by a small mouse named Winston, who knows that if it doesn't get to Santa on time, one little boy will be disappointed on Christmas morning. That can't happen, so Winston decides to go to the North Pole, where he can personally give Oliver's letter to the Jolly Old Elf himself. This book makes a perfect countdown to Christmas, with stories for every day of Advent as well as activities your child can enjoy. Also included: end pages with more classic Christmas favorites, songs, poems, and reminders for next year. "Santa's Secret" and "A Very Fiona Christmas" are both excellent new holiday books for preschoolers ages 2 to 6. "How Winston Delivered Christmas" is good for kids up to age 9, especially if they're still believers. Children up to age 12 will enjoy "The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood." And parents will love all these holiday books, so watch out for them. WI
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