This Week's Edition : 3-19-26

After National Organizers’ Announcement, D.C. Target Boycott Organizers Plan a Pivot

Vision Includes Focus on Local Vendors, Negotiations for Direct Control of Investments from Target Corporation

By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. WI Senior Writer

More than a year into a nationwide boycott that decimated Target’s revenue, members of the “Mothership Three” made an announcement that has raised questions about the status of a movement to hold Target accountable for its capitulation to the Trump administration.

Though the Rev. Jamal Bryant has ended his “Target Fast,” his fellow Mothership members Tamika D. Mallory and former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner are still locked in on those who’ve sworn off the red bull’s eye. D.C.-based

KIPP DC’s New CEO, Shannon Hodge Stands Up for School Choice

KIPP Parent and Foundation CEO Commend Hodge for Engagement, Knowledge of Public Charter Sector

By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr.

WI Senior Writer

As District families gear up for the release of MySchool DC Lottery results, recently installed KIPP CEO Shannon Hodge is celebrating what she calls great enthusiasm for the local education agency (LEA) that controls nearly two dozen schools and programs across the city.

Hodge, a longtime fixture in the local public charter ecosystem, said she’s seen strong community interest in KIPP DC, and other public charter schools for that matter, during EdFest school fairs at Kraken Kourts & Skates and Eastern Senior High School last year.

EDUCATION Page 21

5 New KIPP DC CEO Shannon Hodge has experience that includes service as KIPP DC president, co-founder of Kingsman Academy Public Charter School in Northeast and founding executive director of the DC Charter Alliance. (Courtesy Photo)

Black Women, Allies, and Elected Officials Navigate HIV Prevention Landscape

D.C. Council Eases PrEP and PEP

Access, Nonprofits Weather Federal Funding Gaps

By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. WI Senior Writer

In recent years, local health officials have reported a significant decline in HIV prevalence. With new yearly cases dropping below the 200 mark, the lowest recorded since the 1990s, the District counts among the forerunners of national efforts to end HIV as a public health threat.

As Valerie Rochester explained, meeting that goal requires continuous focus on a population most at risk of contracting HIV.

“Black women still continue to be the highest, the fast-

Black Press Sunday Highlights Power of Truth-Telling Amid Nationwide Challenges

By Micha Green WI Managing Editor

As the nation navigates war, division, and recent threats to First Amendment protections, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Northwest, D.C. kicked off Black Press Week (March 16-20) and celebrated Women’s History Month with a service that honored barrier breakers in media, feted fearless reporting, and prayed to preserve truth-telling.

“Many of us have to start with prayer,” said Washington Inform-

5 Demonstrators hold signs during a March 11 press conference announcing plans to pivot for the Target boycott in the District and nationwide. (Ja'Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer)

Prince George's Spelling Bee! Pages 12 & 27

March 19 - 25, 2026

5 The Rev. William Lamar IV, pastor of Metropolitan A.M.E. Church in Northwest, D.C., preaches during Black Press Sunday on March 15, a second-annual celebration of uplifting African Americans through fearless journalism. (Micha Green/The Washington Informer)

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016 by The Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send change of addresses to The Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20032. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of photographs. Subscription rates are $96 per year, two years $168. Papers will be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to:

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wi hot topics

‘Sinners’

KREE ANDERSON ,

WI INTERN; STACY M. BROWN, WI SENIOR WRITER

Garners 4 Oscars, Michael B. Jordan Wins Best Actor

5 Michael B. Jordan is now an Academy Award-winner. He won the Best Actor award for “Sinners” at the Oscars on March 15. (Courtesy Photo)

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

PUBLISHER

Denise Rolark Barnes

STAFF

Micha Green, Managing Editor

Ron Burke, Advertising/Marketing Director

Shevry Lassiter, WIN-TV Producer

Ra-Jah Kelly, Digital Asset Manager

Lafayette Barnes, IV, Editor, WI Bridge DC

Desmond Barnes, WIN Daily Editor

Anthony Tilghman, Social Media Strategist

ZebraDesigns.net, Graphic Design

Mable Neville, Bookkeeper

Angie Johnson, Office/Circulation Manager

Jada Ingleton, Content Editor

REPORTERS

Stacy Brown, National Reporter

Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr., Political/Education Reporter

Brenda Siler, Lifestyle Reporter

Ed Hill, Sports Reporter

Richard Elliott, Reporter

Skylar Nelson, Sports Reporter

Mya Trujillo, Environmental and International Reporter

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor

Ja Mon Jackson, Asst. Photo Editor

Roy Lewis, Jr.

Robert R. Roberts

Anthony Tilghman

Abdullah Konte

Cleveland Nelson

INTERNS

Keith Golden Jr., Spring Intern

Kree Anderson, Spring Intern

Sumaya Abdel-Motagaly, Spring Intern

After a sweeping box office success, earning more than $365 million, and making Oscar history with 16 nominations, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” not only won four Academy Awards on March 15, but continues to break barriers and make cultural waves.

“When I look back at ‘Sinners,’ the cultural significance, representation, the way it brought people together, had people deter-

mined to go watch in different formats— that’s beautiful, that’s HISTORY,” one social media user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter after this year’s 98th Academy Awards show, televised on ABC. “That’s a win for Ryan [and] the cast that cannot be quantified or voted.”

The 2025, critically acclaimed vampire film scored four Oscars, including: Michael B. Jordan earning Best Actor in a lead role; director and writer Coogler winning Best Original Screenplay; Autumn Durald Arkapaw honored for Best Cinematography; and Ludwig Goransson garnering the award Best Original Score.

These wins made history. Arkapaw is the first SINNERS Page 29

Kiki Shepard, Longtime “Showtime at the Apollo” Co-Host, Dies at 74

Kiki Shepard, the longtime co-host of the legendary “Showtime at the Apollo” whose presence helped define one of Black entertainment’s most enduring stages, died Monday after suffering a heart attack. She was 74.

Her death was confirmed by her representative LaShirl Smith, who described it as sudden and unexpected in remarks to the Daily Mail.

For audiences across the country, Shepard’s journey carried a distinct local connection. Before becoming a national television fixture, she studied at Howard University, where she was a charter member of the D.C. Repertory Dance Company. Her time in the nation’s capital helped shape a career rooted in performance, discipline, and cultural expression that would later reach millions of homes.

“We all knew her from Showtime At The Apollo,” said media personality Roland Martin who said he had recently seen Shepard and recalled her warmth and energy, saying. “She was a legend! RIP, Kiki.”

Born Chiquita Renee Shepard in Tyler, Texas, in July 1951, she began her career as a professional dancer in the early 1970s, performing internationally and on prominent stages. Her early work included appearances at New York’s Delacourt Summer Shakespeare Festival in 1976, setting the stage

More

More than 250 advocacy organizations have sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to reject additional funding for the war in Iran, arguing that expanding the war would deepen both the humanitarian crisis and the economic strain facing Americans at home.

The coalition, led by Public Citizen, Win Without War, MoveOn, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), warned that the conflict could cost

for a decades-long run in theater, television, and film. Shepard became a household name during her 15-year tenure on “Showtime at the Apollo,” where she co-hosted from 1987 to 2002 alongside a rotating lineup that included Steve Harvey, Sinbad, Mo'Nique, Mark Curry, Rudy Rush, and Rick Aviles. Filmed at Harlem’s historic Apollo Theater, the program became a proving ground for emerging talent and a celebration of Black artistry.

On that stage, Shepard developed a reputation that extended beyond hosting. Known as the “Apollo Queen of Fashion,” she brought elegance and charisma to a show famous for its unforgiving audience and high-energy performances. Week after week, she stood at the center of a cultural institution that introduced new voices while showcasing established stars.

Her work extended far beyond the Apollo. Shepard appeared in television series including “A Different World,” “Baywatch,” “NYPD Blue,” “Family Law,” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” building a resume that reflected both versatility and longevity. Her film credits included “A Rage in Harlem,” “Miss Evers’ Boys,” “Dolls of Voodoo,” and “Blackjack Christmas.”

On stage, she was part of several Broadway productions during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” “Comin’ Uptown,”

roughly $1 billion per day and divert resources from domestic priorities such as housing, health care, and food assistance.

“By launching a war against Iran, Trump has violated the Constitution, defied international law, flouted the will of the American people, and has put millions of lives across the region at risk,” the orga-

SHEPARD Page 27

AROUND THE REGION

With Union Station as a Growing Hub, a Private Rail Company Pitches Amtrak on a New Generation of Overnight Trains

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

As Washington’s Union Station continues to rank as Amtrak’s second-busiest station in the country, serving 5,639,617 passengers in fiscal year 2024 and hosting more than 200 daily trains, a private rail company is pressing Amtrak to rethink how Americans travel overnight across the country.

AmeriStarRail has formally proposed replacing Amtrak’s aging long-distance rail cars with a new bi-level trainset designed to operate nationwide, including routes serving the District and running through the Northeast Corridor’s restrictive tunnel network.

“As described and updated in January 7th, May 1st and September 30th, 2025, letters to Amtrak, AmeriStarRail has been developing alternative concepts for Amtrak’s Long Distance Fleet Replacement to improve passenger safety, comfort and the economic viability of Amtrak’s future long distance fleet,” the company wrote in a letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris.

The proposal centers on a standardized trainset called the AmeriStarliner, a 12-car bi-level design, to replace both Superliner and single-level long-distance cars with a single fleet capable of operating on any Amtrak route nationwide. AmeriStarRail says the design would simplify manufacturing and maintenance by limiting the fleet to seven core car types while expanding passenger capacity and onboard amenities.

For D.C., where long-distance trains depart daily for Chicago, Florida, New Orleans, and beyond, the timing aligns with a rebound in ridership. Amtrak data show passenger counts at Union Station have climbed by an estimated 20%, even as much of the long-distance equipment in service dates back decades.

AmeriStarRail’s design targets those shortcomings directly.

SlumberCoach cars would feature lay-flat reclining seats arranged in private compartments. Sleeper cars would include bedrooms designed for up to four passengers and drawing rooms capable of accommodating six, allowing families to travel together overnight. Luggage would be stored in integrat-

ed floor space within compartments, reducing congestion and freeing aisle space.

Above the compartments, every upper level of the passenger cars would be enclosed by SkyViewDome glazing using electro-chromatic smart glass that adjusts automatically to light and temperature, eliminating the need for curtains. SkyView Observation Cars, at each end of the train, would include: two-story solarium lounges, café seating, private dining rooms, and dedicated children’s play areas designed as permanent features rather than retrofits.

Accessibility is built into the structure of the trainset. The AmeriStarliner would use low-level vestibules with fold-out ramps, allowing boarding at both high- and low-level platforms. Passage through the train would occur along a 36-inch-wide ADA-compliant lower-level corridor, connecting cars through full-width vestibules. The design also allows food service carts to move between cars without barriers.

AmeriStarRail says the trainsets are engineered to flex capacity from roughly 300 to 600 passengers depending on demand, with articulated sections that allow trains to be split for different destinations or reconfigured en route. One of the stated goals is generating at least 200 revenue passenger miles per train mile, a benchmark the company says is necessary to improve the financial performance of long-distance routes.

Behind the proposal is a nondisclosure agreement with a major international railcar manufacturer currently producing trains in the United States.

AmeriStarRail says the partnership could support construction of up to 1,020 cars using private financing. If Amtrak commits to the project before the end of 2026, delivery of the first trainset could begin by the fourth quarter of 2031, with production continuing at a rate of 204 cars per year over five years.

Amtrak Chairman Anthony Coscia reportedly has agreed to meet with AmeriStarRail to explore how private-sector investment and new train design could support the long-distance network. Officials said the proposal is also endorsed by Paul H. Reistrup, a former Amtrak president now serving as a senior advisor to AmeriStarRail.

“As America’s 250th birthday approaches, AmeriStarRail is proud to offer Amtrak a grand conveyance, the AmeriStarliner long distance trainset, to usher in a golden age of travel for Amtrak passengers with the finest way to travel across America,” AmeriStarRail Chief Operating Officer Scott R. Spencer wrote in an email to The Informer. WI

5 An Amtrak train at New York’s Penn Station, the company’s busiest station in the U.S.

As D.C.’s Union Station continues to rank as Amtrak’s second-busiest station in the country, AmeriStarRail wants the company to consider a new bi-level trainset designed to operate nationwide. (WI File Photo/Anthony Tilghman)

AROUND THE REGION

black facts

MAR. 19 - 25, 2026

SOURCE:

March 19

1894 – Loretta Mary Aiken, best known as famed comedian Moms Mabley, is born in Brevard, North Carolina.

March 20

1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" is published.

1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a seminal recording artist often referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the godmother of rock and roll," is born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas.

1916 – Ota Benga, a Congolese man once kept in a human zoo exhibit at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, commits suicide in Lynchburg, Virginia, at 32.

1936 – Legendary Jamaican music producer Lee "Scratch" Perry is born in Kendal, Jamaica.

1948 – Actor James Baskett receives an Honorary Academy Award for his performance as Uncle Remus in Disney's "Song of the South," becoming the first African American male actor to win an Academy Award.

1957 – Renowned filmmaker and actor Spike Lee is born in Atlanta.

March 21

1955 – Walter White, an African American civil rights activist who led the NAACP for almost a quarter-century, dies at 61 of a heart attack in his New York City home.

1960 – Police officers kill 69 and wound 180 during an anti-apartheid demonstration in Sharpesville, South Africa, known as the Sharpesville Massacre.

1965 – In the name of African American voting rights, 3,200 civil rights demonstrators, led by Martin Luther King Jr., begin the historic march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capitol at Montgomery.

March 22

1943 – Chart-topping singer and jazz guitarist George Benson is born in Pittsburgh.

March 23

1916 – Political leader and civil rights activist Marcus Garvey arrives in America from Jamaica.

1942 – Walter Rodney, a prominent Guyanese historian, political activist and scholar, is born in British Guiana. 1955 – Hall of Fame basketball player Moses Malone is born in Petersburg, Virginia.

1971 – The Rev. Walter Fauntroy was sworn in as the first delegate from the District of Columbia to the House of Representatives in nearly 100 years.

1985 – Patricia Roberts Harris, the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet, dies in Washington, D.C., of breast cancer at age 60.

March 24

1912 – Civil rights and women's rights activist Dorothy Height is born in Richmond, Virginia.

2002 – Halle Berry becomes the first Black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Monster's Ball."

March 25

1931 – African American journalist, suffragist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells dies of kidney failure in Chicago at age 68.

1931 – Nine Black teenagers are arrested in Scottsboro, Alabama, and accused of raping two white women on a train, a landmark case in the fight against racism and unfairness in the U.S. legal system.

1942 – Legendary singer Aretha Franklin, known as the "Queen of Soul," is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1965 – The Selma to Montgomery marches, held in protest of segregation and voter obstruction against Blacks in the South, end after 18 days.

2009 – Historian John Hope Franklin, author of "From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans," dies in Durham, North Carolina, at age 94.

WI

Halle Berry (left) George Benson (center) Aretha Franklin (right)

AROUND THE REGION view P INT

BY KEITH GOLDEN JR.

What does peace look like in 2026?

LEONARD MCNAB / DETROIT MICHIGAN

“In 2026, everybody is coming to a mutual agreement. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we don’t have to fight and go to war or beef because we disagree. We can disagree, but it doesn’t have to turn into a battle.”

TRAE STOCKS / SOUTHEAST D.C.

“Everyone to be happy, healthy, whole and have their needs met especially those within D.C.”

MAUDE HILLS / SOUTH CAROLINA

“My concept of peace is that everyone is believing in the same thing at the same time; there’s no fighting. In the context of living in D.C., because I’ve experienced homelessness off and on for 30 years, I would say services for the homeless, and those at risk of being homeless, be more supplied by D.C. There needs to be attention on what people will lose as a result of not having income.”

ROBERT ABNEY / SOUTHWEST D.C.

“[With President Donald Trump] I think that peace will not come anytime soon. He started a war that was not sanctioned by Congress, and he’s violating the Constitution in many ways, endangering our democracy.”

Our staff is made up of writers, just like you. We are dedicated to making publishing dreams come true. Trusted by authors for nearly 100 years, Dorrance has made countless authors’ dreams come true.

AROUND THE REGION

District of Columbia Among Nation’s Top Places for Women, New Report Shows

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

The District of Columbia is the second-best place in the nation for women in 2026, trailing only Massachusetts, according to a new WalletHub report released during Women’s History Month.

“Despite improvements the U.S. has made over the years, women still lag behind men when it comes to economic prospects, executive positions and political representation,” said WalletHub analyst Milvionne Chery Copeland. “On top of tackling these important issues, the best states for women also ensure that they have access to high-quality health care, receive the same educational opportunities as men, and live in safe communities.”

WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District across 25 metrics measuring women’s economic and social well-being as well as health care and safety. The study examined median earnings for female workers, job security, poverty rates, abortion policies, preventive health care access, homicide rates and other indicators.

Massachusetts ranked first overall with a total score of 73.66. The District followed closely behind at 71.48. Maine placed third, Minnesota fourth and Maryland fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Vermont, Connecticut, Hawaii, New York and Oregon.

Within the two major categories, D.C. ranked second in Women’s Economic and Social Well-Being and seventh in Women’s Health Care and Safety.

The report found that women in the District earn the highest median income in the country when adjusted for cost of living, at $52,569. D.C. also recorded the highest share of women who voted in the 2024 presidential election, at 80.5%.

Women in the nation’s capital also benefit from strong job stability. The study found that D.C. offers the best job security for women in the country, making them less susceptible to layoffs than in other states.

The District also ranks ninth in the share of women-owned businesses.

“Company policies that improve workplace conditions for women also improve workplace conditions for men,” said Elizabeth S. Smith, professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Furman University in South Carolina. “Such policies would include protection against discrimination and harassment, paid family leave, support for childcare and flexible work environments.”

Health measures were another bright spot. Nearly 88% of women in D.C. report being in good or better health – the highest percentage nationwide. The nation’s capital also has the second-lowest share of women lacking health insurance and ranks fourth for the quality of women’s hospitals.

However, the data also revealed

challenges. D.C. placed 28th in women’s life expectancy at birth and ranked near the bottom nationally in high school graduation rates for women.

“On other issues like reproductive rights, the Dobbs decision returned power to the states, which has resulted in more divergence between the states on reproductive policies,” Smith continued.

Massachusetts secured the top overall ranking in part because it has the lowest number of uninsured women at just 2%, and the second-best hospitals for women’s health care. The Bay State also ranks as the best place to have a baby and the best state for working moms. Maine, which finished third overall, performed strongly in job security and unemployment measures for women, along with preventive health care access. Minnesota, ranked fourth, and Maryland, ranked fifth, also posted strong economic and health indicators.

At the bottom of the list, Louisiana ranked last overall, preceded by Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Alabama.

“States are diverging severely on issues of importance to women. Take stock of who you are, what your goals are, and what you want to prioritize in terms of your safety or the safety of loved ones,” offered Laura Mattoon D’Amore, a professor of cultural studies at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. “Then research the different states to try to find one that has your interests as their priorities, too.” WI

5 A new WalletHub report reveals D.C. is the second-best place in the nation for women in 2026. (WI File Photo/Shevry Lassiter)

Travel Turmoil: D.C. Airport Ground Stop and Shutdown Push Security Lines to Hours

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Hundreds of flights across the Washington, D.C., region ground to a halt on March 13 and thousands of travelers faced long security lines and mounting delays after a disruption, when a strong chemical odor was detected at the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facility in Warrenton, Virginia.

This comes as the aviation system is already strained by the federal government shutdown that has left Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers without pay.

“The FAA has temporarily stopped traffic at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), and Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) because of a strong chemical smell at the Potomac TRACON that is impacting some air traffic controllers,” FAA officials stated.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, passengers encountered delays, rebooked flights, and security lines that stretched for hours.

With the issue at a key federal air traffic facility, the travel network struggled to absorb both the temporary ground stop and the nationwide staffing shortages tied to the shutdown.

Potomac TRACON oversees approach and departure traffic for much of the Washington region, meaning even a localized issue can quickly affect flights across the nation’s capital airspace.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said firefighters from Fauquier County and Prince William County responded to investigate the source of the odor. According to Duffy, the smell came from a circuit board that overheated and has since been replaced. He reported that there was no danger to air traffic controllers and that flight operations resumed after the equipment was repaired.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warren (D) also offered an update and well wishes after

5 Travelers at Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), where recently, passengers encountered delays, rebooked flights, and security lines that stretched for hours due to a disruption at a key federal aviation facility in Warrenton, Virginia. (WI File Photo/Robert R. Roberts)

learning about the concerning smell.

“I’m thinking of all workers impacted by this incident and praying for their health and safety,” Warner said. “Thank you to all first responders addressing the situation.”

Frustrated TSA, Travelers: ‘They Just Keep Delaying It’

Even after the ground stop ended, travelers continued to face delays as airlines worked to untangle flight schedules and security checkpoints struggled to keep up with passenger volume.

The delays in the D.C. region mirrored the chaos at airports across the country as the Department of Homeland Security shutdown stretches into another week. TSA officers, considered essential workers, have been required to remain on the job despite missing paychecks.

More than 300 TSA officers have reportedly resigned since the shutdown began on Feb. 14, according to agency figures, while other employees have called out or taken unscheduled leave.

Morgan Young, who was traveling back to Washington, said the disruptions have created additional stress for both travelers and TSA officers who continue reporting to work without pay.

“It’s stressful, honestly,” Young told NBC News. “I feel like Atlanta air-

port runs as smooth as possible, but it is stressful for sure. And more stressful for the people who aren’t getting paid and are at work.”

The staffing shortages have forced passengers to endure unusually long waits at airports nationwide. Flight tracking data from FlightAware showed 7,725 delays and 714 cancellations involving flights within, into, or out of the United States during the peak of the disruption.

For travelers in the Washington region, the delays were immediate.

“They just keep delaying it,” Maggy Osha, who was trying to return home to San Francisco, said in a broadcast interview. “I don’t know how long it will be delayed for...but it’s super frustrating that now it’s going to land at 3 a.m., so now I won’t get any sleep.”

Baltimore Washington International Airport felt the ripple effects particularly strongly because it serves as a key gateway for travelers heading to Florida destinations such as Miami and Orlando. When flights slowed dramatically during the ground stop, departures and arrivals backed up across airline schedules.

Passengers trying to reach spring break destinations reported missed connections, canceled hotel reservations, and flights pushed hours beyond their scheduled departure times as airlines attempted to reorganize

AROUND THE REGION

CAPTURE THE MOMENt

Nurgul Zhakupova, PNC Bank vice president of business strategy, reading The Washington Informer. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

Congratulations to Anthony Tilghman, Washington Informer photographer and digital media manager, and Shonice Griffin-Tilghman on getting married March 13. Anthony has long been dedicated to capturing powerful moments, telling community stories through his lens, and uplifting voices across our region. The Washington Informer family wishes the Tilghmans lifelong love and happiness. (Richard Elliot/The Washington Informer)

BLACK PRESS from Page 1

er Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes, during the Black Press Sunday service on March 15. “And then we go take some action.”

Igniting the 199th anniversary of the Black Press, officially on March 16, The Washington Informer, Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ), AFRO American Newspapers and Metropolitan A.M.E. Church teamed up for the second year to host the Sunday service, a celebration of history, resilience and legacy.

“Since [1827], the Black Press has been a voice for justice, a witness to our struggles, and a celebration of our triumphs. It has lifted the stories of our communities, challenged systems of injustice, and preserved the record of our resilience,” said the Rev. Cozette Thomas, who delivered the exhortation, which also acknowledged Women’s History Month. “We also lift up the powerful contributions of Black women in journalism. We remember Ida B. Wells, the fearless journalist and anti-lynching crusader.”

A historic church that has served as a spiritual home for people like abolitionist Frederick Douglass, publisher of The North Star, Metropolitan A.M.E. has long offered a platform for members of the Black Press, including Wells, who spoke there during the 1890s. To this day, the church is still home to African Americans me-

from Page 9

routes and consolidate travelers onto fewer aircraft.

The challenges in D.C. and Baltimore were duplicated at airports across the country.

At Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the nation’s busiest airport and a central hub for Delta Air Lines, travelers encountered security lines that wound through the domestic terminal. Digital signs showed wait times ranging from only a few minutes for TSA PreCheck passengers to more than an hour at standard checkpoints. Some locations reported wait times as much as four hours.

Laronda Monteiro, who arrived early for a flight to New Orleans, said the long lines were frustrating but understandable given the circumstances.

“I know we have to be secure, and I just appreciate those who are still with TSA, remaining on the job,” Monteiro told reporters. “I can wait for the safety and security.

dia makers, including Dorothy Butler Gilliam, the first Black woman reporter at The Washington Post.

“Today we acknowledge the Black Press… [and its] commitment to journalism and community engagement, sharing news, events and stories,” said the Rev. William Lamar IV, Metropolitan’s pastor. “And quoting our own Dorothy Gilliam, who has said, along with Gene Robinson, in much of their reporting, that ‘We cannot simply report and write from the standpoint of a white man's world… We tell a different and a truer story from the vantage point of our own lives.’”

For the pastor, hosting the commemorative service builds on what he calls the “symbiotic relationship between the Black Press and the Black Church.”

“At our highest and best, we exist to be, to speak, to embody and to build realities based upon truth,” Lamar told The Informer. “We have fought to bring truth when the nation has not been welcoming of all human beings. We continue to move in that direction. So we host, because hosting the Black Press is hosting the best of ourselves.”

Throughout the dynamic and uplifting service, featuring a powerhouse choir and jamming live band, faith leaders not only celebrated the history of the Black Press, but prayed to preserve it for posterity.

“Lord, we thank you for their cour-

Airports in Chicago, Austin, Fort Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Houston, and New Orleans have reported similar scenes as staffing shortages slow security screening. Videos circulating online showed security lines winding through terminals, with some travelers warning others to arrive several hours before departure times.

Anthony Riley, a TSA officer at Syracuse Hancock International Airport, said the shutdown has pushed his family toward financial crisis as paychecks remain stalled.

“The problem is that my credit rating was wrecked by the last government shutdown when I was working and not getting paid,” Riley said.

Riley said he worries that the continuing shutdown could leave his family without housing.

“But my lawyer told us to be prepared to leave in 30 days if it doesn’t work out,” Riley said. “Right now, I’m doing everything I can to keep my family from being kicked out on the street.” WI

AROUND THE REGION

age, their persistence, and their faith that truth spoken boldly could bend the art of history towards righteousness,” said the Rev. Geoffrey S. Tate in a prayer that incorporated the Black Press, women and those affected by war, particularly the current conflict in Iran. “Let truth continue to shine through the voices of the free press. Let the contributions of women be honored and remembered, let peace rise above conflict, and wisdom rise above ambition. May we, your people, want in unity, speak truth with courage, and pursue justice with compassion.”

Lamar said such supplication is powerful in working toward a better tomorrow.

and

5 Journalists gather for food

fellowship at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church after the Black Press Sunday service on March 15. (Courtesy of The Washington Informer)

BLACK PRESS Page 34

TRAVEL

Déjà Win for Zwe Spacetime, Returning to Scripps National Spelling Bee

Prince George’s 11th Annual Regional Bee Is A Show of Second Chances

By Jada Ingleton WI Content Editor

It’s safe to say Zwe Spacetime is making a habit of spelling his way to the top.

Outlasting six rounds, 31 students, and the winning word: “syntrophism,” the homeschooled student and winner of the 43rd Annual Washington Informer (WI) Citywide Bee is returning to the Scripps National stage in May, only this time representing Prince George’s County, Maryland.

“We are happy to have him on the team, representing The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities,” said Ron Burke, WI director of advertising and marketing. “I think that he’ll go very, very far in the finals.”

Held Friday, March 13, Zwe competed and was victorious in the 2026 Prince George’s County Spelling Bee, presented by The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities, boosting nothing but determination and positive energy regarding the challenge ahead.

Reflecting on what it would mean to take home the dub at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., May 26-28, the Fort Washington resident told The Informer: “[It would mean] a lot.”

“No Black boy, whether African American or non-African American…has won Scripps yet,” he continued.

In hopes of being the first, Zwe turned up the heat at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland on Friday, flying through six rounds that included spelling words like “singultient, dystopia and caudex,” among others.

After finishing in the top 10 during the 2025 National Bee, he considers this year especially pertinent to follow in the footsteps of his older sister and former National Scripps champion Zaila Avant-garde, whose historic win broke a barrier in 2021.

“The part of Black History, being the brother of Zaila Avant-garde, who was the first African American, second Black girl [after Jamaica’s Jody Anne-Maxwell in 1998], to win the Nationals,” he said, “it would be, for me, the [possibility] and historical significance of my win.”

Among the rows of the cultural center sat families, friends, principals, teachers, and members and representatives of the Prince George’s County Council and School Board of Education –– all of whom cheered and boosted words of encouragement for the courageous scholars.

More than that, the room illuminated in a mutual calling to advance literacy and education for DMV youth, matched by sponsorships from: Comcast, Pepco, Educational Systems Federal Credit Union, Washington Gas, FAME, Safeway Foundation, Wegmans, as well as the National Cherry Blossom Festival, Merriam Webster, Scripps National Spelling Bee, and the Silver Spring Signarama.

“The youngest residents in our county are the heart of what we do in your county government. They're the biggest investment in your tax dollars…but it's also so important to make sure our children are thriving,” said Prince George’s Councilmember Wanika Fisher (D-District 2) on March 13. “When you pour into your children, it's an endless love, and it's boundless, and it's forever.”

Wins, Losses, and Everything in Between

Atop the stage of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center stood a vast array of spellers who’d already bested dozens of others in individual school clusterbees.

While Zwe made his Prince George’s debut, competitors like Olivia

BEE Page 13

5 Prince George’s County Public Schools Spelling Bee 1st place winner Zwe Spacetime (left) with 2nd place winner Timothy Hudson at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland on Friday, March 13. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

BEE from Page 12

Beasley and 10-year-old Caleb Saunders described a longstanding journey of competing annually for a chance to represent Maryland on a national scale.

Caleb, a student at Whitehall Elementary School, says he even hit third place in last year’s cluster bees, making Friday a particularly pleasing advancement for the youngest speller of the night.

“I [won] the school spelling bee, and I wanted to see if I could get it again,” said Caleb, who stood among the final eight contestants on March 13. “If I win another [school bee], [I’d come back] for sure.”

By the time it reached five of six bouts, only three spellers remained.

Round Two saw the most eliminations, with the remaining lineup dwindling at the hands of words from “cognizant” and “phraseology,” to “annulment,” “genealogical,” and “gullibil-

ity,” to name a few.

Olivia demonstrated a class act in composure and patience, opting for meticulous thinking in moments where she was, admittedly, stumped by words like “disproportionate,” despite persevering all six rounds.

After going head-to-head for second place against 13-year-old Timothy Hudson, who would leave the bee as Prince George’s runner-up, Olivia touted her resilience with pride.

“I was kind of nervous that I was gonna lose in the second round, but I just did it,” the sixth grader told The Informer, jokingly adding, “and well, I was the only girl – that’s all I need.”

In his final year of qualifying to compete, Zwe said his claim to fame for May’s matchoff looks like consistently practicing the study sets – especially focusing on the trickier words – while also recognizing the benefit of the win beyond competition season.

“[If] you are the winner of National Scripps, people are more likely to actually take notice of you and give you opportunities that you probably [wouldn’t get] if you didn't have this significant accomplishment,” said Prince George’s Regional Bee winner. “It gives you a love of words, and [also shows you] how to study and to focus on specific tasks – we’re able to do that for hours at a time. It really helps open you to stuff.”

Meanwhile, Olivia says it’s all about having fun and a strong belief in oneself, regardless of the outcome.

“Just don’t stress about it, and try your hardest,” she told The Informer. “If you know that what you did is the best you could do, then there’s nothing more you can ask for.”

WI

5 Doug Hayes, Prince George’s County Spelling Bee coordinator, with winner Zwe Spacetime (center) and runner-up Timothy Hudson at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on Friday, March 13. (Robert R. Roberts/ The Washington Informer)

4 Olivia Beasley, a sixth grader at Samuel Ogle Middle School in Bowie, Maryland, spells a word as one of the final three students in the 2026 Prince George’s County Spelling Bee on March 13, presented by The Washington Informer and Washington Informer Charities. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

5 Ron Burke, Washington Informer (WI) director of advertising and marketing and WI Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes at the 11th Annual Prince George’s County Spelling Bee at the University of Maryland Clarice Smith Performing on Friday, March 13. The annual competition is presented by The Washington Informer and WI Charities. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

BUSINESS

Labor Market Weakens Nationwide While D.C. Tops U.S. Unemployment List

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Washington, D.C., recorded the highest unemployment rate in the

nation in 2025, a troubling sign of a weakening labor market that researchers say hit Black workers hardest across the country.

A new annual analysis of state

unemployment rates by race and ethnicity from the Economic Policy Institute found that the District posted an average unemployment rate of 5.9% last year, the highest among all states and jurisdictions. South Dakota recorded the lowest rate at 1.9%.

“There’s an old saying that when America catches a cold, Black people catch pneumonia,” said Avery Carr, a Howard University junior who majors in biology. “The job market is no different so, when white folks are out of work, we’re on government assistance.”

Across the nation, unemployment climbed modestly in 2025 as labor conditions weakened in many states. The national unemployment rate averaged 4.3% for the year based on available data, an increase from the previous year. Twenty-two states reported unem-

ployment rates of 4% or higher.

Black workers continued to experience the most difficult employment conditions.

The report found that the national Black unemployment rate averaged 6.8% in 2025, compared with 3.4% for white workers. That gap produced a Black to white unemployment ratio of two to one, meaning Black workers were twice as likely to be unemployed as white workers nationwide.

“We’ve always been taught that hard work would be rewarded, but it seems the way this system works today, there’s nowhere for people of color to find work,” said Joshua Hanks, who attends Howard University and studies biology alongside Carr.

Researchers noted that the slowdown in hiring occurred during a period marked by federal job cuts, policy changes affecting federal employees, and economic uncertainty tied to tariffs and other federal decisions.

The uneven impact of the labor market slowdown was evident in state data.

Every state except South Dakota recorded a Black unemployment rate above 4%. Michigan and Nevada posted the highest Black unemployment rates in the nation at 10.7% and 10.4% respectively. Six states and Washington, D.C., recorded Black unemployment rates above 8% during the year.

Sixteen states reported increases of at least one percentage point in Black unemployment compared with 2024. Nevada, Michigan, and Arkansas experienced the largest increases, each rising more than two percentage points.

Even in states where overall unemployment remained relatively

stable, racial disparities persisted.

Maryland recorded one of the largest Black-to-white unemployment gaps in the country with a ratio of 2.8 to one. Michigan followed at 2.7 to one while Wisconsin recorded a ratio of 2.9 to one, though researchers caution that Wisconsin’s Black workforce sample size is relatively small.

Across the nation there were no states where Black and white workers faced unemployment at the same rate.

Hispanic workers also experienced higher unemployment rates than white workers in most states. Nationwide, the Hispanic unemployment rate averaged 5.1% in 2025. That produced a Hispanic to white unemployment ratio of 1.5 to one.

Pennsylvania recorded the highest Hispanic unemployment rate in the country at 8.2% and the largest Hispanic to white unemployment gap at 2.6 to one.

Florida stood out as the only state where Hispanic workers were less likely to be unemployed than white workers. In Florida the Hispanic to white unemployment ratio was 0.8 to one.

Asian American and Pacific Islander workers experienced smaller changes in unemployment. The national AAPI unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.7%. Washington, D.C., recorded the highest AAPI unemployment rate at 5.1%.

Researchers said the data shows how changes in the broader economy often deepen long standing employment disparities.

“The aggregate increase in unemployment masks large differences in impact across racial groups,” researchers concluded.

WI

TARGET from Page 1

boycott organizers, who’ve paused their weekly pickets for the time being, are also planning a pivot that places them more in solidarity with the Black and brown entrepreneurs posted outside DC USA, the location of the District’s largest Target retailer.

“What we want to do is create space for those vendors to be able to have all that they need, and we will be redirecting people to them,” said the Rev. Patricia Hailes Fears, lead pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Northwest.

“The vendors are ready to receive us. It's been a year, and when we started out, it wasn't so friendly, but they’ve gotten us together.”

Last year, on the April 4 anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assasination, the local Target boycott coalition launched their movement under the direction of the late Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler. Each Saturday, Hagler, Fears, the Rev. Lewis T. Tait, Jr., Dante O’Hara, and several others picketed in front of DC USA in Columbia Heights. That’s where the collective educated passersby and consumers about their cause.

Over time, they also established relationships with local vendors, who, amid great efforts to overcome government-imposed hurdles, sold their wares along portions of 14th Street NW and Irving Street NW. As Fears recounted, the vendors soon aligned their business with the efforts of the D.C. Target boycott coalition.

“We treat them like they are the big box,” Fears told The Informer. “When we were out there on Saturdays, even

the vendors changed because they knew what we were doing. They started changing from the souvenir stuff to toothpaste, soap stuff because they knew that we were directing money to them.”

The Press Conference That’s Still Raising Questions

On the afternoon of March 11, Fears counted among more than a dozen organizers who attended a press conference that the “Mothership Three” organized at the National Press Club in Northwest.

By that time, Target lost at least $12 billion in valuation and reported three quarters of profit loss. Corporate leadership has yet to publicly apologize for its rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, despite acknowledging wrongdoing in a private meeting with employees.

As recently as last month, the “Mothership Three” had asked leadership to issue a clear-and-cut statement on the matter— all to no avail.

“As a billion dollar company, you cannot harm people in public and then apologize in private,” said Mallory, co-founder of the intersectional social justice organization known as Until Freedom. “If the harm was public, then the acknowledgement must be public as well. It must be clear and it must be heard by all of those impacted.”

As Bryant would later explain, Target followed through on the three other demands. He noted that the corpora-

Page 39

Groundbreaking “Diabetes in Color” Initiative Launches during National Nutrition Month (March 21) in Washington, D.C.

Through Artivism and Science, Social Art and Culture, and Whitman-Walker Health are Delivering Change

Social Art and Culture, a nonprofit advancing equity through artistic and creative practice announces the launch of Artivists for Health: Diabetes in Color (DIC), an art-based health prescription initiative focused on improving Type 2 diabetes outcomes in communities of color. Supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) East Arts Grant, DIC is a signature project of Social Art and Culture’s Artivists for Health (AFH) program. The initiative begins March 21 during National Nutrition Month and continues through Men’s Health Month (June). By integrating artistic expression and social prescribing into public health education, awareness, and disease management, DIC will focus programming on residents of Wards 5, 7, and 8 to engage people with type 2 diabetes in the programming and measure self-reported outcomes. Programs will take place at the Max Robinson Center, Whitman-Walker Health’s location in Congress Heights, and the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) Turkey Thicket Recreation and Deanwood Community Center, all located in Washington, D.C.

The initiative hosts free monthly Creative Care Sessions open to the public and to an identified cohort, developed in partnership with Whitman-Walker Health and the Georgetown University Stress, Health, and Development Lab. The focus is on adults ages 45–64 living with Type 2 diabetes in Wards 5, 7, and 8. The 60-90 minute sessions are led by D.C.-area artivists who connect health and justice to their practice. Sessions include cultural somatic dance, sound healing, sound bath, playback theater, mindful creative coloring, breathwork, and culinary arts.

Diabetes in Color addresses the increased number of those living with Type 2 diabetes in Washington, D.C., where non-Hispanic Black adults show significantly higher rates than the general population. The American Diabetes Association’s 2023 State Fact Sheet notes that adult diabetes prevalence in the District is estimated at 11.1%, and about 36,000 adults, or 14.3% of the adult population, have been diagnosed with diabetes. With an immediate need for culturally grounded interventions in public health, DIC plans to shift diabetes education from focusing solely on clinical tatistics to include creative care.

“Diabetes in Color positions art as a credible public health tool,” said Karen Baker, Board President, Social Art and Culture. “By centering community voices, culture, and creative practice, we aim to change how diabetes care is understood and delivered. DIC bridges artivism, health, and science to deliver impactful data under an unprecedented collaboration.”

living with diabetes through art and movement will help affirm their lived experiences and enable us to transform how we provide healthcare. We look forward to welcoming our neighbors to participate, learn, and enjoy the diverse DIC programming that also emphasizes the importance of achieving and maintaining good health.”

The initiative’s “Measuring Impact Through Art and Data” component is in partnership with Georgetown University’s Stress, Development, and Health Lab. The goal is to improve glucose management for at least 60% of the cohort and public study participants through integrating creative practice into health behavior change. Data collection includes illustrated health diaries, pictorial storytelling, community story circles, and narrative-based surveys. Beyond the pilot, Social Art and Culture sees Diabetes in Color as a replicable, effective social prescribing model for incorporating the arts and creative care practices into chronic disease care within the Mid-Atlantic.

For more information on the Artivists for Health: Diabetes in Color Creative Care Sessions dates, locations, and times: https://bit.ly/afhdiabetesincolor

Social Art and Culture

Founded in 2009 as a 501 (c) (3), Social Art and Culture proudly resides in Southeast Washington, DC's Historic Anacostia Arts and Culture District. Using the power of the arts to educate and advance marginalized and underserved communities, we strive to lead the new narrative around how we invest in the creative economy—a new, economically sustainable framework that invests in artisans and its culture. This framework continues to build our aperture for socially responsible artisans and artivists, where we collaboratively showcase their works' impact through exhibitions, media arts, fellowships, and curated experiences.

Whitman-Walker Health

of keeping our community informed! www. washingtoninformer .com

“Whitman-Walker Health is excited to be a partner with Social Art and Culture to open the doors of the Max Robinson Center and make the Diabetes in Color initiative possible,” said Naseema Shafi, CEO, Whitman-Walker Health. “The opportunity to engage people

Whitman-Walker Health envisions a society where all people are seen for who they are, treated with dignity and respect, and afforded equal opportunity to health and well-being. For over 50 years, we have provided comprehensive and inclusive primary medical care, behavioral health care, dental care, family support services, and a range of health-related legal and support services to more than 23,000 individuals and families annually in the greater Washington, DC region. Our care model is rooted in our legacy of service to the LGBTQ communities, people living with HIV, Black and Latino communities, and other people facing barriers to accessing health care. At Whitman-Walker Health, our motto “We See You” symbolizes that we see patients, but we see the person first. More info can be found at: www.whitman-walker.org.

TARGET

5 The Rev. Patricia Hailes Fears, lead pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Northwest, D.C., speaks at a March 11 press conference about plans for the Target boycott in the District and across the nation. (Ja’Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer)

Black Women in Media: Owning the Narrative and Leading the Conversation

Submitted by DC Black MBA

Media is a powerful tool, especially when used with intention. The way Black women are portrayed across news, film, television, radio and digital platforms requires a careful lens grounded in commitment, awareness and persistence. For decades, Black women have been at the center of culture, storytelling and influence. Yet many times, the stories about them have been told through someone else’s lens. While representation has improved, true power in media comes from being visible and having the authority to shape the story, influence the narrative and lead the conversation.

That focus on ownership and impact guided DC Black MBA’s Women’s History Month programming, Rewriting the Script: Black Women Redefining Voice, Visibility and Value in Media.

“As we thought about this year’s Women’s History Month program, we wanted to go beyond celebration and focus on impact, leadership and ownership in media,” said Chante Bender, event coordinator and Vice President of Membership for the DC Black MBA.

Bender emphasized the continued importance of elevating the voices of Black women in media.

“Black women have long been the storytellers, culture shapers and truth tellers behind some of the most influential moments in media,” she said. “Yet, despite their undeniable impact, they continue to face barriers to visibility, leadership and ownership across television, film, radio and emerging media platforms. At a time when the media shapes how the world understands culture, identity and power, the voices of Black women are more critical than ever.”

Today, a new wave of leaders in media is challenging outdated narratives while building platforms that influence audiences and create pathways for the next generation. Several media professionals shared their perspectives on how they are using their voices and platforms to expand the landscape.

Sports broadcaster Kelsey Nicole Nelson has built a multifaceted career through her KNN brand, which includes journalism, communications, academia and business.

“Building and owning my own brand has enabled me to work as a sports journalist that covers the intersection of sports, business, politics, race, culture and society,” Nelson explained. Her work includes launching a sports and entertainment podcast network, creating the first sports writing course at a local university and developing communications consulting that helps athletes with media training and nonprofit engagement.

Nelson also emphasizes the role of sports as a broader cultural lens. “It’s never just ‘stick to sports,’ but instead how sports can be used as a vehicle or tool to help propel societal norms and highlight disparities,” she said, noting her commitment to highlighting local talent and often referring to the region with the phrase “the DMV breeds ballers.”

Media influencer Moni, known to audiences as Media Moni through her platform The Media Sip, approaches storytelling with a focus on connection and cultural awareness.

“At The Media Sip, I’m rewriting the script by making media conversations feel more human, intentional and culturally aware,” she said. “Instead of just reporting on what’s trending, I focus on why the stories matter.”

Through film discussions, interviews and event coverage, her platform centers thoughtful dialogue around storytelling and shared cultural experiences. Producer Sarae-Flo is also working to expand opportunities behind the scenes. As owner and executive producer of Sarea-Flo Productions, she focuses on culturally grounded storytelling while mentoring emerging creatives.

“I’m rewriting the script by prioritizing ownership and authenticity in the stories being told,” she explained. Through initiatives like the Pretty Content Mentorship Program, she works to introduce new storytellers to the realities of the media business. “The decisions made in writers’ rooms, production meetings and editing rooms ultimately shape what audiences see and how stories are understood,” Sarae-Flo shared. “That realization pushed me to step into leadership as a producer.”

Award-winning media creator Folasade Ogunmokun is also reimagining how media functions within communities through her platform, Unskryted.

“I’m rewriting the script by shifting media from something we simply consume into something we participate in and benefit from,” Ogunmokun said. By integrating businesses directly into storytelling, her work aims to create economic opportunities alongside cultural visibility.

“For me, media isn’t just about entertainment, it’s about economic access and cultural visibility,” she said.

Across platforms and disciplines, these media professionals share a common vision: expanding who tells the story and ensuring that the narratives shaping culture reflect authentic voices and perspectives.

At its best, media does more than entertain. As these leaders demonstrate, it informs, challenges and connects communities while opening doors for the next generation of storytellers to take their place behind the microphone, the camera and the creative vision.

nizations wrote in a letter sent to Congress.

The Pentagon’s annual budget now exceeds $1 trillion after Congress approved an additional $150 billion in spending earlier this year. Advocacy groups say the administration is now seeking a supplemental package that could add another $50 billion to the military’s war funding.

Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, said additional funding would only prolong the conflict and divert resources from Americans facing economic pressure.

“More money for the Pentagon will serve to extend and escalate an illegal, unpopular, and devastating war,” Weissman said in a statement released with the coalition’s letter to Congress. “The money wasted on this war should instead be invested in meeting the economic squeeze felt by everyday Americans.”

Civil liberties advocates are also warning lawmakers that approving new funding could effectively authorize the continuation of the war without congressional approval.

“That’s exactly why it’s so crucial that the decision to go to war not rest on one person's impulses,” Christopher Anders, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Democracy Division, said in comments released by the coalition. “Congress must not fund the continuation of this unconstitutional

war.”

The coalition urging Congress to reject additional funding includes major labor unions, civil rights organizations, environmental groups, and policy advocates such as Oxfam America, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Nurses United, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greenpeace, Common Cause, Indivisible, and the National Organization for Women (NOW).

Advocates say the financial costs of the conflict are already being felt both overseas and at home.

“People across the U.S. already hate Trump’s illegal war in Iran, and they’re not going to like it any better if Congress wastes $50 billion more of their money on it,” Shayna Lewis, deputy director of Win Without War, said in a statement responding to the administration’s request for additional war funding. “It’s outrageous that Trump is even asking for more money to spend on bombs when his spiraling war is killing civilians abroad and driving up prices for everyone at home, all with no end in sight. Congress should tell Trump clearly: not one more penny for this foolish, destructive war.” WI

5 More than 250 advocacy organizations are urging Congress to reject additional funding for the war in Iran, arguing that expanding the war would deepen both the humanitarian crisis and the economic strain facing Americans at home. (WI File Photo)

5 Folasade Ogunmokun

5 Kelsey Nicole Nelson

5 Media Moni

5 Sarae-Flo

WAR FUNDING from Page 4

INTERNATIONAL

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War With Iran Widens Across Military Bases, Global Energy Markets

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

The War in Iran has already spread far beyond airstrikes and missile exchanges, rapidly expanding across multiple fronts, with military attacks, cyber operations, disruptions to global shipping.

Sharp declines in financial markets are converging into what analysts describe as a conflict with global economic and geopolitical consequences.

“The war in Iran is now a full blown war against the civilian population,” author Bruno Maçães wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on March 7. “Expect a deliberately created humanitarian catastrophe with food, water and energy shortages, hospitals destroyed or overwhelmed and massive internal and external displacement.”

U.S. stocks tumbled as the latest escalation in the Middle East intensified fears of prolonged instability in global energy markets and international trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also slid as investors rushed away from risk.

The widening crisis, with reported attacks in Lebanon and the Lebanese political party Hezbollah now joining the war, has unsettled investors and governments alike.

“The disastrous chain of reckless escalations beginning with the U.S.-Israeli war of choice against Iran, followed by Hezbollah's tragic decision to join the war looks to be culminating in another Israeli ground invasion in Lebanon. Lebanese civilians are paying the ultimate price for tragic mistakes out of their control, with hundreds killed and nearly one million already displaced from their homes,” Virginia Rep. Don Beyer (D) wrote on X. “A broader, regional war engulfing all of Lebanon is in no one's interests.”

Further, on March 12 in Iraq, a British Special Forces base was targeted by a swarm of Iranian drones in one of the most dramatic attacks since the fighting began. American personnel suffered injuries in the strike while British forces avoided casualties.

5 Activists protest war in the U.S. and abroad in the 2023 MLK Peace Walk and Parade. Three years later, The War in Iran is leading to a conflict with global economic and geopolitical consequences. (WI File Photo/Ja’Mon Jackson)

Western defense officials say investigators are examining whether the drones used in the assault contained Russian components.

Military officials say the drone strike reflects Iran’s reliance on asymmetric warfare tactics that include drones, proxy militias, and missile attacks designed to pressure U.S. forces and their allies across the region.

“The United States may be winning on the battlefield, but strategically Iran is winning. Tehran’s asymmetric strategy strikes several precisely defined pressure points that the United States entered the war with only a crudely drawn plan to address,” said Middle East analyst Anatolli Maksymov of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Centre, according to Defence Blog.

Global Energy Crisis Due to Conflict Across Waterways

At sea, attacks on commercial shipping have turned the Persian Gulf into one of the most dangerous flashpoints of the war. Tankers have been struck in recent days, sending shockwaves through the global shipping industry and forcing insurers to raise risk premiums for vessels entering the region.

The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow shipping lane that sits between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula, has become the focal point of those tensions. The waterway serves as one of the most important chokepoints in the global energy system.

Oil prices surged above $100 per barrel as traders recalculated the risks tied to Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly one fifth of the world’s oil supply each day.

“Global energy markets are going through an extremely critical period due to developments in the Middle East,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said in remarks about the impact of the conflict on global energy supplies.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei signaled that Tehran intends to use the passage as leverage in the conflict.

“The Strait of Hormuz must stay closed,” Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on Iranian state television. “Iran will not refrain from avenging the blood of its martyrs.”

The statement came after U.S. and Israeli strikes killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and targeted Iranian military infrastructure in the early phase of the cam-

IRAN Page 20

HEALTH

est growing group of women who are being diagnosed with HIV as far as new infections,” said Rochester, executive director of The Women’s Collective. “We just have to keep doing what we're doing. Talking about it, informing the public about the importance of HIV testing, and knowing one's status.”

The Women’s Collective was founded in 1992 by Patricia Nalls, an HIV-positive woman who initially launched the organization as a phone support line for women and girls living with HIV and at risk of contracting the virus. More than three decades into its existence, The Women’s Collective continues to offer a variety of services, including: medical case management; street outreach and HIV/Hepatitis C

testing; connection to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) care; and provision of personal care products.

Rochester said that, every week, up to 40 women visit The Women’s Collective’s headquarters near New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road in Northeast in search of such services.

Amid the Trump administration’s decimation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HIV programming, and the D.C. Council’s recent efforts to knock down barriers to PrEP and PEP, The Women’s Collective is hosting weekly support groups where women between the ages of 18 and 80 inquire about ongoing developments.

“The women that we serve actually came to us with questions about how the prevention opportunities and pre-

vention services would be able to continue,” Rochester told The Informer. “We've had regular conversations with our clients in the support groups and others.”

Although Congress averted a crisis in February with the passage of a Fiscal Year 2026 budget that, despite Republicans’ best efforts, sustains funding for most federal HIV prevention programs, Rochester said she’s not keeping her eye off of the eight ball.

In recent months, The Women’s Collective has joined local and national advocacy groups in emphasizing the importance of HIV prevention. They’ve done so while case workers continue to maintain a presence in zip codes with high levels of HIV prevalence and substance use disorder. As Black women, and other at-risk populations, face hurdles in accessing PrEP and PEP, The Women’s Collective is also allaying concerns about medication and enrolling clients in its case management system.

Rochester said the work goes on, no matter what.

“We're all worried that if this attack on prevention funding continues and funding decreases, there's a very strong likelihood that we are going to start seeing the numbers start to creep back up,” she told The Informer. “That's one of the reasons why we and others are continuing with the education around the importance of PrEP, making sure people know it is still available [and] this is a critical tool in ensuring that those numbers continue to go down.”

PrEP reduces one’s risk of contracting HIV by 99% when taken regularly during a time span of one to three weeks. This ensures maximum protection against HIV after anal sex, receptive vaginal sex, and injection drug use. PEP, also known as Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, must be taken every day after potential HIV exposure. Physicians say

that patients have the best chance of circumventing HIV when their PEP regimen starts within 12 to 24 hours of the inciting moment, and continues regularly throughout a 28-day period.

Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved twice-yearly injectables. That advancement, the global rollout of which is hampered by Trump administration funding cuts, happened four years after the entry of once-every-two-month injectables into the market.

While generic brands of PrEP and PEP are usually easier to obtain from some physicians, Rochester said Black women who’ve attempted to access branded prescription medication face insurance hurdles via cost sharing and prior authorization. Despite requirements in the Affordable Care Act that private and public insurance plans cover PrEP medication related clinic visits, and lab tests without deductibles, insurers utilize prior authorization, perhaps to compel use of generic brands.

That’s why she extolled the D.C. Council for its passage of the PrEP DC Amendment Act.

“This is one of those things that holds a lot of potential as far as dismantling another one of those barriers that individuals may have as far as cost is concerned,” Rochester said. “It’s making sure that there is that enhanced or increased access available for PrEP services so that cost should never be a factor in anybody's ability to seek any kind of care or treatment.”

The Promise of Some Relief in 2027

On March 3, the D.C. Council unanimously approved the PrEP DC Amendment Act on its second reading. The legislation, introduced by D.C. Councilmember Zachary Park-

3 Whitman-Walker provides inclusive, community-based primary health care, including HIV testing, and has nearly 30 staff members who are prepared to provide Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) care. The clinic is one of eight organizations that testified before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Health in support of the PrEP DC Amendment Act. (WI File Photo)

er (D-Ward 5), includes elements of D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto’s bill, Removing Barriers and Reducing Stigma to Encourage HIV Prevention Amendment Act of 2025.

The PrEP DC Amendment Act prohibits health insurance companies from using prescription information for HIV prevention treatment to increase premiums for certain enrollees. It also stops insurers from imposing cost sharing, prior authorization and restrictions deemed medically unnecessary for coverage of HIV prevention services and federally-approved PEP and PrEP formulations.

“This bill is more than access to medicine,” Parker said during the council’s Feb. 3 legislative meeting. “It is also about affirming the humanity of LGBTQ people confronting stigma with action and embedding these protections that are now recorded in the Affordable Care Act in local law.”

During that legislative meeting, council members approved amendments that Parker and D.C. Councilmember Christina Henderson (I-At large) introduced to: ensure the District maintains coverage requirements in alignment with 2024 federal guidance while allowing for future formulas deemed safe by the FDA; clarify that insurers cannot impose cost sharing for either initial or follow-up appointments; and strike a redundantly prohibitive phrase from the definition of “medically unnecessary restrictions.”

“The reason why that is important,” Parker continued in his remarks, “is because we know there are routine efforts to undermine Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act at the federal level and we are safeguarding these protections here locally for District residents.”

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EARTH OUR

paign.

Despite weeks of bombing, intelligence assessments indicate the Iranian government remains intact and capable of sustaining the war effort. Classified reports reviewed by officials conclude that the country’s clerical leadership structure still controls the government and security forces.

The ripple effects of the war are extending beyond the battlefield and into the global economy.

Energy analysts report that Russia has earned billions of dollars in additional fossil fuel revenue since the conflict began because rising oil prices have boosted its export income. Researchers estimate Moscow has generated nearly $7 billion in oil and gas revenue during the early weeks of the war.

The United States has attempted to calm markets by announcing the release of 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, one of the largest emergency drawdowns in history.

Further, White House Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that President Donald Trump is soliciting support from ally countries in opening the critical waterway.

ing with our allies in Europe, and also many of our partners in the Gulf and Arab world, to encourage them to step up to do more, to open the Strait of Hormuz, and our NATO allies especially need to step up,” Leavitt told Fox News, touting Trump’s previous support of the intergovernmental military alliance. “The United States of America is leading the way, not just to support and protect our American assets and bases in the Middle East, but also to defend Europe in the Middle East and the rest of the world, from the rogue Iranian regime, from obtaining a nuclear bomb.”

Beyer criticized the president, noting the challenges Americans and people worldwide face are “completely self-inflicted.”

Presenting Sponsor: Lead Support: Estate of Toni A. Ritzenberg Essential Support: Martha R. Johnston | Dina and George Perry | Ednah Root Foundation

made possible by The Kristina and William Catto Foundation | John and Gina Despres | Robert and Debra Drumheller | The Marion F. Goldin Charitable Fund | Paul W. Killian and Carole Goodson | Susan Lee and Stephen Saltzburg | Reid Walker International tour supported by:

“So, yes, the president is speak-

“The Trump White House has continuously insulted and alienated our allies, including with indiscriminate tariffs. They failed to build a credible coalition that would support their reckless war of choice in Iran and clearly didn’t plan for the most predictable Iranian response in the Strait of Hormuz,” Beyer wrote on X.. “Now, they want those same allies to bail them out of an energy crisis of their own making.”

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IRAN from Page 17

EDUCATION

EDUCATION from Page 1

“There are still a number of families that are interested in learning about exercising choice across the city, whether it's just charters, whether it's choice within D.C. Public Schools (DCPS),” Hodge told The Informer. “D.C. has a choice-filled educational landscape, and that's not changing. I think part of that is a recognition and a commitment from city leaders to allow that kind of family choice.”

In February, Hodge succeeded KIPP DC founder Susan Schaeffler as CEO. Before entering that role, Hodge served as president of KIPP DC for nearly four years. Other roles in the public charter sector include co-founder of Kingsman Academy Public Charter School in Northeast and founding executive director of the DC Charter School Alliance.

As it relates to school choice, Hodge said she saw firsthand, as a member of the Common Lottery Board, District’s parents’ demands for public charter education. In her role, Hodge often received reports about school choice in the District, all while collaborating with DCPS officials, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education and the D.C. Public Charter School Board.

Amid criticism about what some advocates call KIPP and Friendship Public Charter School’s overwhelming presence east of the Anacostia River, Hodge said that she and her colleagues are fulfilling a need.

“No one is forced to come to a KIPP school. No one is forced to go to a Friendship school. They are making the choice and they have to actually take steps to choose to go into them,” Hodge said. “Any place where you see a charter school and that charter school is full, that means that there is a demand in the community. It might not be a demand that education advocates on this side or that side or this group or that group may understand, but those families are making an active choice to go there.”

Hodge to Engage Parents

schools,” Hodge told The Informer. “If you are not listening to your families, if you are not engaging them, if you're not being responsive to their needs or providing something that they want, they will just choose to go someplace else because every year they're making the choice to either come to you or come back to you.”

in Matters of Public Safety and Academic Programming

There are eight KIPP DC campuses across the District, under which 22 schools exist. In recent years, under the advice of its Parent Advisory Board, KIPP DC has addressed matters of public safety, food quality, extracurricular activities and provision of KIPP paraphernalia.

KIPP DC’s relationship with parents will continue with Hodge at the helm during meetings that run monthly or bi-weekly. For some Parent Advisory Board members, like Graciela Celada, it helps that KIPP DC hired from within its organiza tion.

“The most exciting part of work ing with Ms. Hodge is knowing that she already has a sense of the commu nity that we as KIPP are,” said Cel ada, a Ward 8 parent whose children attend KIPP DC - Pride Academy Public Charter School and KIPP DC - Inspire Academy Public Char ter School. “Just seeing her continue to merge her vision along with the KIPP vision, so that we can strengthen these relationships and continue to give our D.C. babies the best education that they can have.”

The newly minted CEO explained, at the moment, there are no plans to expand KIPP DC’s footprint. Her focus instead lies in further preparing young people for a college-and-career environment that’s constantly evolving.

“Part of our obligation is trying to see what's in the future,” Hodge told The Informer. “It's not just what they can see today and say, but it's also thinking about where the world is going. Where is the workforce going? Where are the colleges going? What will we understand that they will need to build choice-filled lives? It’s also about helping them see that.”

As the Class of 2026 prepare for the next chapter of their lives, Hodge is looking to expand upon that program, and other facets of the KIPP

DC experience, in collaboration with parent organizations operating on most campuses.

“The question I asked them was, ‘How can we engage you better? How can we learn more about what it is that you as families want?”

Hodge said as she recounted her February meeting with KIPP par-

RIP Albertina

ents. “They have great ideas and great recommendations that we'll certainly take in… So if there are particular extracurriculars that they want, if they want to give feedback to their school leader.”

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Celada, in her fifth year as a Parent Advisory Board member, joined the KIPP DC community as the aunt of a student who’s since graduated and matriculated to a college out of D.C. metropolitan area. When time came for her to enroll her children in school, Celada said she chose KIPP DC out of knowledge of what it offers Ward 8 residents.

“We are one of a kind. Our culture, our community looks very different from some of our counterparts -- and I say that in the most positive way,” Celada said. “We are serving some of the most underserved kids here in D.C., and to have somebody who already kind of has an understanding of what that looks like makes it really easy.”

Hodge said parent engagement counts among her top priorities.

“It's an existential issue for charter

Albertina Denise Lane — Following a brief illness, Albertina Denise Lane transitioned February 27, 2026, at her home in Mitchellville, MD, surrounded by family. She served Baltimore City Public Schools for 34 years, beginning as a teacher and later administrator at Southwestern Senior High School, and concluding her career as Assistant Principal at Frederick Douglass High School. After retiring in 2010, she continued teaching English at Sojourner-Douglass College and later served as an adjunct professor at Bowie State University until her most recent illness.

Homegoing services will be held Saturday, March 21, 2026, at Unity of Washington DC: 9:20 a.m. Drifters Memorial Service; 9:30 a.m. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Omega Omega Service; 10–11 a.m. Family Hour; 11 a.m. Homegoing Service. Interment 2 p.m. at Harmony Memorial Park.

Livestream: www.unityofwashingtondc.org. Radio tribute Wed., March 18, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. on WOL 1450 AM, 95.9 FM and the TuneIn Radio app (WOL1450). Call 800-450-7876 to share reflections.

5 KIPP Foundation CEO Shavar Jeffries commends Shannon Hodge for her experience as a charter leader. (Courtesy Photo)

Silence in the Face of Bigotry is Complicity

Elected Officials' Anti-Muslim Rhetoric Calls for Condemnation — Not Excuses — from American Leaders

At a time when responsible leadership is desperately needed, some Congress members are instead fueling division with ugly anti-Muslim rhetoric.

Recent comments from Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) demonstrate how much political discourse has declined.

Tuberville recently circulated a disturbing image online showing the newly elected Muslim mayor of New York City, Zorhan Mandami, standing next to the burning Twin Towers from the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The message was clear and offensive—linking a Muslim public official to one of the worst acts of terrorism in American history. Such imagery isn't just insensitive; it reinforces the damaging stereotype that Muslim Americans are somehow suspicious or disloyal.

Yet, what may be just as troubling as the comment itself is the silence that followed. Few Re-

publican leaders have spoken out strongly against this kind of rhetoric. House Speaker Mike Johnson offered only a mild rebuke, saying: “that is not language I would use.”

That is not leadership. When elected officials promote prejudice, vague disapproval is not enough. Bigotry requires clear, direct condemnation.

The tone set at the top only makes things worse. President Donald Trump has repeatedly used degrading language about people he disagrees with, calling some “animals” and using other dehumanizing insults. When such rhetoric becomes ordinary at the highest levels of government, it naturally affects the wider political culture.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pushed the United States toward an unnecessary and dangerous conflict with Iran, a Muslim-majority nation. When

tough foreign policy is paired with inflammatory language about Muslims within the country, it sends a deeply concerning message to millions of American citizens of that faith.

America’s strength has always come from its diversity and commitment to religious freedom. Muslim Americans proudly serve in the military, run businesses, educate our youth, and hold public office. They are not outsiders; they are a vital part of this nation’s fabric.

Our elected leaders take an oath to serve all Americans. That oath requires courage, decency, and moral clarity. Silence, excuses, and half-hearted criticism only foster prejudice.

If Congress truly upholds the values it claims to defend, it must show this by loudly, clearly, and without hesitation rejecting bigotry. WI

Americans to Pay the Cost of War, With Fewer Dollars to Pay Bills

Neither members of Congress nor the wider American citizenry truly understands what’s in the mind of the president and why he decided to join forces with Israel in a war against Iran.

Meanwhile, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, singularly concerned with Iran’s attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, has justified his decision saying it was “to thwart existential threats to Israel and the U.S.”

For President Donald Trump,

“Make

the Israeli leaders’words appeared to be enough, apparently swallowing Netanyahu’s rhetorical quip, hook, line and sinker.

But as the war moves from days to weeks, more Americans are asking, perhaps in hindsight, what happened to the president’s 2024 election campaign promises that he touted with his usual bravado? Where’s the immediate end to inflation, the slashed energy prices to the tune of 50%, or the reassurance that American soldiers would

America Great Again” might have had a nice ring to some. However, most Americans would prefer the president focus on simply making things in America “affordable again,” particularly amid a partial government shutdown.

never be faced with “boots on the ground” orders in wars overseas?

“Make America Great Again” might have had a nice ring to some. However, most Americans would prefer the president focus on simply making things in America “affordable again,” particularly amid a partial government shutdown.

Surely, if we can afford a six-day, war-related price tag to the tune of $11.3 billion, then our leaders should find it simple to settle their differences so TSA workers and other Department of Homeland Security employees can finally be paid.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon says to expect additional costs to hit Americans’ wallets, including: deploying troops to the Middle East, medical expenses, the replacement of military aircraft lost in war, and the cost of munitions. Who knew that bullets and bombs cost $1 billion each day?

But there’s another issue that’s even more disconcerting: the cost in human lives and severe injuries to our armed forces in numbers

TO THE EDITOR

“Great work. Now what are they doing about Amazon/Washington Post? Pepco? The 400 other companies that routinely disadvantage black citizens in DC? I understand Target had a national movement that started years ago, but this singular focus on one company (that never seemed to actually do anything specifically harming people?) is getting ridiculous when everyone out here is struggling at the hands of the non-Target corporations. This group just sounds out of touch.”

-Alex (In reference to the article: “After National Organizers’ Announcement, D.C. Target Boycott Organizers Plan a Pivot.”

“I was in one of the bands that Bobby Felder started at Kelly Miller Junior High school. He believed in the students and encouraged their ability. The school had received new instruments like a bassoon, French horn and oboe… We all appreciated the opportunity to do what we enjoyed and the support and encouragement we received from Mr. Felder. I played the French Horn from that time through my freshman year at Howard University.”

- Gwendylon Johnson Daniel (In reference to the article: “Letters to the Editor: Ode to Bobby Felder.”)

that are already beginning to surge.

Americans deserve the truth from Congress and the president about the game plan behind this war. And in the absence of clearly delineated objectives from the president, requests for additional funds shouldn’t even be considered.

For now, as leaders continue to keep U.S. citizens in the dark and

meander blindly behind Israel into a war born out of choice and not necessity, Americans can expect to see more soldiers hurt or killed, fewer families able to keep up with unprecedented rising costs, and overall human suffering.

If Trump truly is considering “America First,” then he truly needs to start prioritizing the wellbeing of all Americans. WI

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

When Amazon cuts 30,000 jobs and Black workers hold nearly 20% of the roles being eliminated while making up just 13% of the workforce, that is not a coincidence. That is a pattern. And it is accelerating.

The layoffs are part of a broader AI-driven economic shift that is already reshaping who works, who advances, and who is left behind. And by

Guest Columnists

Kevin Harris and Richard McDaniel

Wes Moore's AI Warning to Black America

every measurable indicator, African American workers are among the most exposed.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data show Black workers account for nearly 20% of clerical and administrative support roles despite being just 13% of the workforce. This matters because African Americans remain overrepresented in the exact job categories AI is replacing. Amazon diversity reports show Black employees make up a large share of fulfillment and support roles but less than 8% of technical positions.

Across many of Amazon's core busi-

Guest Columnist

ness units — including warehousing, logistics and transportation — Black workers are overrepresented by as much as 30%-40% in certain metro areas, while remaining significantly underrepresented in software, data science and AI engineering roles.

The economic consequences of such disparities are severe. The median Black household has $44,900 in wealth, compared with $285,000 for white households, according to the Federal Reserve's latest Survey of Consumer Finances. And Black workers who experience layoffs take longer to

Black America Is Already In a Recession

"Policy rollbacks that have removed protections and investments designed to support Black communities … is the regression, combined with economic indicators, particularly unemployment, that would qualify as recessionary if they were applied to the national economy." — Monica Mitchell, chief of staff, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

In the weeks after U.S. and Israeli strikes began in Iran, the Trump administration continues to give Americans reasons to be alarmed about the leadership and direction of our nation. I was unfamiliar with the military's use of the term "no quarter" until Defense Secretary Hegseth recently used it during a Pentagon press briefing about the ongoing war. Hegseth vowed, "We

The revelation that the U.S. economy shed 92,000 jobs in February and now faces its highest unemployment rate in years has rattled economists, many of whom warn that the country may be on the brink of a recession.

For Black America, the recession has already arrived.

Even worse, the Black recession isn't driven by natural market cycles alone. It is the predictable outcome of deliberate policy choices by the Trump administration — choices

that have aggressively dismantled the very protections meant to advance equity and stabilize communities historically shut out of opportunity. Not only did the administration take a sledgehammer to federal diversity, equity and inclusion programs on Day One, it has spent the last year slashing agencies that have long served as engines of mobility for Black workers, including the federal civil service. More than 327,000 federal jobs have been eliminated — not through attrition or organizational modernization,

find new jobs and face larger post-layoff wage penalties than white workers with similar credentials.

AI-driven displacement threatens to widen these gaps. A 2024 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research found workers displaced by automation experience earnings losses of 20%-30% lasting more than a decade, with the steepest losses concentrated among Black workers without access to retraining or internal mobility.

Meanwhile, corporate investment in reskilling lags far behind automation spending. The World Econom-

ic Forum reports that while 60% of companies expect AI to eliminate roles, fewer than 25% have retraining pipelines tied to guaranteed job placement. Amazon's own upskilling programs reach only a fraction of the workers most at risk.

Lawmakers should respond aggressively to reduce harm to Black workers. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, currently the nation's only Black governor, understands the threats AI can pose for African American workers.

Page 41

but through deliberate cuts that have eroded pathways to the middle class built through generations of civil rights gains.

At the same time, the administration has abandoned federal support for disadvantaged businesses. Critical institutions — among them the Community Development Financial Institution Fund and the Minority Business Development Agency — have been targeted for defunding or dismantling altogether. These programs have been lifelines, offering capital and technical

assistance to Black entrepreneurs who face entrenched discrimination from traditional lenders. Removing them does not create a level playing field; it cements an unequal one. The consequences are measurable and immediate. After reaching an all-time low during the Biden administration, the Black unemployment rate surged to 8.3% by November 2025 — the highest level since the pandemic — and remains more than twice the rate for

will keep pressing. We will keep pushing, keep advancing, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies." The term "no quarter" means showing absolutely no mercy, pity or leniency toward an enemy. It implies killing combatants even if they surrender rather than taking them as prisoners. It is a phrase rooted in military history.

Most frameworks of international humanitarian law — the Hague and Geneva Conventions — forbid this tactic. In international law, declaring or ordering "no quarter" is recognized as a war crime. The "no quarter" vow

may have been just tough talk for the moment, but the mention of it in that context remains a sign of a nation once described as a shining city on a hill becoming ruthless on the world stage. American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently unique, distinct or superior to other nations due to its specific history, democratic ideals and political institutions. It suggests that America's superiority stems not from arrogance but from being the moral and ethical leader for others to follow. The idea of American exceptionalism, since the rise of the

MAGA movement, is open to wide interpretation.

For people in the MAGA movement, patriotism and American exceptionalism entail a strong national identity and an "America First" foreign policy, with less emphasis on international institutions and alliances. When Ronald Reagan, in his Farewell Address, defined his vision of the shining city upon a hill, I do not believe he had war crimes and distancing ourselves from our closest allies in mind as part of America's strength and global example.

We find ourselves in another war after President Trump campaigned on ending wars. What, then, is the U.S.'s Iran policy and exit strategy for this American-led conflict? President Trump told Fox News Radio that he didn't think the war "would be long." But he suggested that only he would know when it would be over, saying the conflict would end "when I feel it, feel it in my bones." Wars are expensive not just in dollars but in human toll. The deaths of Americans in this conflict are

MARSHALL Page 41

Marc H. Morial

HARRIS/MCDANIEL

David W. Marshall

Guest Columnist

Guest Columnist

From Felton to Alsobrooks: The Uneven Rise of Women in the U.S. Senate

In the more than two-century history of the United States Senate, Black women have been almost entirely absent. Today, for the first time, two are serving simultaneously. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware now occupy seats in a chamber that, for most of its existence, excluded both women and people of color.

The Senate began operating in 1789. In more than two centuries, roughly 2,000 people have served in that chamber. Only about 60 have been women — barely 3% — and only five have been Black women.

The struggle for women's political equality has long carried its own contradictions. At the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, Black women — including members of the newly formed Delta Sigma Theta — were asked to march at the back of the procession so as not to offend southern white supporters of the movement.

The Cost of War

On Saturday, Feb. 28, Americans woke up to find their country at war with Iran. Breaking news alerts carried word that the United States had joined Israel in an unprecedented joint military operation aimed at overturning the Iranian government. The human cost is already jarring: one week in, Al Jazeera's live tracker counts over 1,300 dead in Iran, at

For many years we have heard about the Tuskegee Airmen. More than a decade ago, we had the opportunity to see the movie "Red Tails." We were delighted by the fact that they were Black as they performed seemingly impossible feats. Now may be a time for people wanting to be involved in the aviation industry to shine again. The

Many refused to accept that relegation, insisting that the fight for women's political rights must include Black women as well.

Proud as I am to see Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester serving in the Senate, I cannot help reflecting on the complicated lineage they inherit. The first woman ever sworn into the United States Senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia, who took the oath in 1922 — just two years after women won the right to vote nationally. Felton was 87 years old and served only one day, appointed largely as a

ceremonial gesture before the newly elected senator took office. Yet the first woman senator was also a defender of lynching.

In the 1890s, Felton declared that if lynching were necessary to protect white womanhood from what she described as "human beasts," then it should occur "a thousand times a week." Her words were spoken during the decade when mob violence against Black Americans was reaching its peak.

At the very same moment, journalist and anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells was risking her life document-

ing the truth about mob violence after three of her friends were murdered in Memphis in 1892 for operating a successful Black-owned grocery store that competed with a white merchant. Wells's investigation revealed that many lynchings were not responses to crimes at all but acts of terror directed at Black people who were economically successful or unwilling to submit to white dominance. She spent decades demanding federal anti-lynching legislation. Yet the Senate where Felton

Page 42

least 11 in Israel, nine in Gulf states, and six American soldiers. But for millions of Americans already struggling through an affordability crisis, a different and urgent question is forming: what will this war cost their families at the pump, in the store, and in their economic futures?

We know that wars are costly. Having extricated ourselves from protracted Middle East conflicts just three years ago, we have clear reference points — which are not reassuring. The Costs of War Project at Brown University's Watson Institute

estimates that from late 2001 through fiscal year 2022, the U.S. spent or obligated $8 trillion on post-9/11 wars: $5.8 trillion in direct costs and at least $2.2 trillion in future veterans' care through 2050. Every dollar in that accounting was a dollar that did not go toward schools, bridges, or health care.

These numbers reflect a long campaign, advocates of this war will say. President Trump has promised resolution in weeks, perhaps months — not years. His supporters point to Venezuela, where a targeted strike de-

posed a dictator, or to the June 2025 strikes on Iran's nuclear program, as models of swift, decisive action. The math tells a different story.

Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 Iran strikes, alone cost an estimated $2.04 billion to $2.26 billion, according to the Costs of War Project. The regional operations — Yemen, sustainment, Israel support — cost $4.8 billion to $7.2 billion.

The January-February 2026 naval buildup added another $450 million to $650 million. In total, from October 2023 through September 2025,

the U.S. spent between $9.65 billion and $12.07 billion on military activities across the wider Middle East. These costs came before a single shot was fired in this new war. These are dollars not spent on health care, child care, or the rising prices Americans keep asking policymakers to address. There is a cost beyond the spending that comes from buying bombs, and Americans are already paying it. Over the course of about a week, oil prices surged 43% to over $100 a

ones we saw in the movie were masters of their trade. Now, as we face another problem — TSA suffering from massive issues that are heavily complicating air travel — it's time for new blood in the field of aviation. Tuskegee University has a new training program.

Over the years, there has been an increase in the demand for skilled airline personnel. Many current pilots are reaching retirement age, so replacements are in high demand. Tuskegee has an opportunity

to meet that need. The new aviation program prepares students for high-demand, high-paying careers in commercial, airline transport and military aviation. Tuskegee graduates enter the workforce with both technical skills and a legacy of excellence, positioning them for success and upward mobility in the field. With the aviation industry facing pilot shortages and rising demand, pilots from Tuskegee are well-prepared to seize these and other career opportunities and achieve their professional goals across different aviation sectors.

Tuskegee University's Aviation Science Program is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of aviation professionals through innovative education, cutting-edge technology and a commitment to excellence. Rooted in the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, the program strives to foster diversity, leadership and integrity within the aviation industry. It aims to provide students with the knowledge, skills and ethical foundation necessary to excel in all facets of aviation, while

empowering them to be pioneers in an ever-evolving global aerospace landscape. The program is committed to preparing graduates who will succeed professionally and inspire positive change in their communities and beyond. The goal is to become a leader in producing the next generation of aerospace professionals guiding innovation in our community and nation.

There was a time when young MORRISSETTE Page 42 WILLIAMS Page 42

Eric Morrissette

MALVEAUX

Tuskegee Airmen's Legacy Takes Flight Again

Guest Columnist

Julianne Malveaux

E. Faye Williams

Guest Columnist

LIFESTYLE Things To Do, DMV!

By Kree Anderson WI Intern

This weekend enjoy fun-filled events throughout the DMV.

From “Beauty and the Beast” at the National Theatre to cherry blossom sightseeing cruises, this weekend’s lineup features entertainment, education, and community engagement.

Plus, don’t forget to check out the Washington Informer Calen-

dar for more fun!

Thursday, Mar. 19

Beauty And The Beast

1:30 p.m. | $139.70+

The National Theatre | 1321 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., 20004

Head to the National Theatre to see a “Beauty and the Beast,” “tale as old as time,” Broadway musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice

and a book by Linda

EmpowHER: Building Bold Businesses in a Changing Economy

9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. | $44.52

The Universities at Shady Grove | 9630 Gudelsky Drive Building II Rockville, MD, 20850

and avoid the foot traffic of the tidal basin.

Saturday, Mar. 21

Good Morning, Good Night 10 a.m. | $27.00+ Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Avenue, Bethesda, MD, 20814

3 Reston Community Center is home to premium quality arts and recreation activities. The community center will host a free Health and Wellness fair, an event dedicated to encouraging health, fitness, and nutrition on March 22. (Courtesy Photo)

ter of The Links, Incorporated invites attendees to their Black Family Wellness Expo, an effort to reduce health and economic disparities, and save and improve the lives of members of the Black community.

Sunday, Mar. 22

Health & Wellness Fair

2 p.m. - 5 p.m. | Free Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston, VA, 20191

Connect with local experts and businesses to explore holistic health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness resources. Discover new ways to live healthier in Reston.

The Tony Award-winner in an intimate setting

BY BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS DIRECTED BY JASON LOEWITH

MARCH 18–APRIL 19

Join this small business conference and resource fair to connect, share strategies, and access resources to succeed in today’s business landscape.

Friday, Mar. 20

PASSION PLAYS | A FESTI-

VAL: For Women Serving Time

7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | $35.00+

Dupont Underground | 9 Dupont Cir NW, Washington, D.C., 20036

Persian-American poet and scholar Fatemeh Keshavarz joins jazz pianist and composer Adrienne Torf to make a new piece of opera-theater that fuses Faure’s Requiem, jazz elements, and Brechtian theatrical traditions in a powerful contemplation of the human experiences contained in “female incarceration in America.”

Potomac Water Taxi S ightseeing Cruises

*Time and location depend on Cruise Selection* | $31+

Want to experience the cherry blossoms but only have time for a quick trip? The popular Cherry Blossom Water Taxi tour offers stunning, up-close views of the blooms along the Potomac River shoreline. Ride between D.C.’s hottest waterfront destinations

In this brand-new show, children will discover the beauty of the world during daytime and nighttime. This event is best for ages 1-4.

The Black Family Wellness Expo 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.| Free Kenilworth Recreation Center, 4321 Ord St NE, Washington, D.C., 20019

The Metropolitan (DC) Chap-

Blue Notes and Brunch 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. | $20

Mr. Henry’s Restaurant, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, D.C., 20003

Join Time II Eternity Band for Blue Notes and Brunch – where smooth jazz meets soulful flavors and your weekend slows down just right!

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Woolverton.

5 Mr. Henry’s Restaurant, a cornerstone of the Capital Hill neighborhood for over 60 years, will feature Time II Eternity Band for their “Blue Notes and Brunch” (the fourth Sunday of each month) event on March 22. (Courtesy Photo)

4 Prince George’s County Councilmember Wanika Fisher speaks during the Prince George’s County Spelling Bee held on March 13 at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. (Robert Roberts/The Washington Informer)

4 Washington Informer

Publisher Denise Rolark

Barnes and Prince George’s County Spelling Bee coordinator David Hayes hand out swag bags to children participating in the Bee on March 13, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. (Robert Roberts/The Washington Informer)

3 Prince George’s County 1st Place Spelling Bee

Winner Zwe with his family at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland on Friday, March 13. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)

SHEPARD from Page 4

“Reggae,” “Your Arms Too Short to Box With God,” and “Porgy and Bess.” Those performances helped establish her as a multifaceted artist long before television made her a familiar face.

As news of her death spread, tributes poured in from across the entertainment world and beyond.

Television personality Elgin Charles remembered her as both a cultural figure and a close friend, writing, “Kiki was more than a cultural icon and the soul of Showtime at the Apollo; she was my sister in spirit.”

Others echoed similar sentiments about her influence and presence. One tribute described her as “a piece of Black entertainment history,” while another called her “a true icon of Showtime at the Apollo.”

Prince George’s 11th Annual Regional Bee

For many in the District, Shepard’s legacy carries added meaning. Her roots at Howard University and her early work with the D.C. Repertory Dance Company placed her within a long tradition of artists shaped in the city before carrying that influence onto national stages.

Her career, spanning dance, theater, television, and film, left an imprint on generations of performers and audiences alike. And for those who watched her command the Apollo stage with poise and style, Shepard’s presence became inseparable from the show itself.

“Kiki represented the very best of us,” Charles remarked. “And, while her physical presence is gone, her legacy as a champion for our people and a loyal friend will never fade.”

WI

5 Prince George’s County students ranging from grades 5 through 8 participate in the Spelling Bee held on March 13, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. (Robert Roberts/The Washington Informer)

LIFESTYLE

National Cherry Blossom Festival Pink Tie Party Showcases District Culture, Black Businesses

By Micha Green WI Managing Editor

The National Cherry Blossom Festival transformed parts of D.C.’s Union Station into a floral, fashion-filled and blush-colored wonderland that highlighted the power of District culture, local businesses and cross-cultural connections at the third-annual Pink Tie Party on March 15.

“We are here tonight to kick off spring in Washington, D.C. with style,” Diana Mayhew, National Cherry Blossom Festival president and CEO told The Informer during the event, hosted exactly one week ahead of the spring equinox. “[National Cherry Blossom Festival], with our partners Design Cuisine and 22 other restaurants and sponsors, bring this night— actually this fundraiser— to help keep festival programming free and accessible.”

Hope Cousin, who has been volunteering with the festival since March 2017, looks forward to the annual party with a purpose, because it allows Washingtonians a creative way to not only give back to the community, but express themselves.

“Seeing people dressed to the nines, seeing people dressed in the craziest outfits and giving pink a whole name, it’s just fun,” she said. “I love working the silent auction… and it’s so much fun to see the cool things.”

For Cousin, the festival, which she calls a “happy place,” not only brings joy, but also highlights the beauty and breadth of District culture and beyond.

“It’s nice to see more diversification coming, because it wasn’t always like this,” Cousin continued, “and it’s refreshing to see that it’s trying to be a reflection of what America is becoming.”

Black Businesses, Talent Shine Bright During Pink Tie Party

From the fabulous models, talented artists, and guests wearing head-turning fashions, to the food flowing and drinks pouring, the beauty and power of Black culture and businesses beamed brightly throughout the fun-filled, pinkthemed event.

5 National Cherry Blossom Festival President and CEO Diana Mayhew (second from left) with staff from All Nippon Airways, which sponsors the annual festival and supports a raffle for a round trip ticket to Japan. Mayhew said this year’s programming is filled with traditional events and a lot of innovations. (Micha Green/ The Washington Informer)

PINK TIE from Page 28

Throughout the night, people stopped to take pictures with designer Aquila Benjamin and her model, who were donning large crown-like hats, inspired by African culture, with matching = blush gowns that stunningly sparkled even in the dark party room.

A native Washingtonian, Benjamin’s designs for the Pink Tie Party furthered her mission to celebrate her grandmother, who used to take her to the National Cherry Blossom Festival when she was young.

“The Cherry Blossom Festival is near and dear to my heart. My whole line, my dress, is dedicated to my Umi, which means ‘grandmother in Swahili,” she told The Informer. “I am a literal princess and that’s how I felt when I used to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival. I said, ‘I got to make sure that I represent. I’ve got to make sure my grandmother is happy and sees that I’m still honoring that softness, that beauty of the beautiful Cherry Blossom Festival,’ and that’s what I did. I made a literal real life princess.”

For Lesley Riley, founder of Mama’s Biscuits, based in Germantown, Maryland, attending the Pink Tie Party realized a longtime goal.

“I’m here because we are all things cherry blossoms. We love [the National Cherry Blossom Festival] and it has been a desire [to participate] since I started my business,” she said. “I did a cherry blossom biscuit back in 2016 and I always wanted to attend or be a vendor at one of these events so I am so excited and honored to be here tonight.”

SINNERS from Page 4

woman to earn an Oscar for cinematography, Coogler is the second Black man to win for original screenplay, and Jordan is only the sixth African American to win in his category at the Academy Awards.

Jordan, who played both the roles of identical twins Smoke and Stack in “Sinners,” thanked Warner Brothers, the producers and creative team for believing in Coogler’s vision. He also expressed deep gratitude to the film’s director, who has been a longtime collaborator and friend since Coogler cast Jordan as the lead in his 2013 directorial debut “Frutivale Sta-

Mama’s Biscuits was among more than 20 local establishments, including Sequoia, Fish Shop, Dos Toros, Estuary, and Dirty Habit, highlighted during the evening. Plus budding businesses, like beverage company Imperial 202– which is celebrating two years– helped keep spirits high throughout the night.

“All the amazing restaurants and spirits are here. Imperial 202 is here as a sponsor for the second year, and we couldn’t be more excited,” said Jamie Tyler of OWN’s “Love Mar-

riage & DC,” who serves as a brand partner for the company along with his wife Erana Tyler. “Imperial 202 is an amazing brand that celebrates D.C. culture.”

This is the Tylers’ second year representing Imperial 202, at the Pink Tie Party, which featured the company’s rosé, demi-sec and brut.

“I love coming out, seeing everyone in their pink,” said Erana Tyler. “I love all the networking, meeting people and enjoying all the wonderful, amazing food, and, of course, the drinks.”

5 Aquila Benjamin of Roots of Fatima honors her grandmother with her designs. She said attending the National Cherry Blossom Festival with her grandmother as a child made her feel like a princess, which she hoped to relay in her designs at the annual Pink Tie Party on March 15 at Union Station. (Micha Green/The Washington Informer)

tion” (2013).

He also celebrated the Black Oscar-winning actors who paved the way for his Sunday evening achievement.

“I stand here because of the people that came before me: Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith,” said Jordan. “To be amongst those giants, amongst those great greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys, thank you everybody in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career.”

Further, “Sinners” took center stage during the Academy Awards, as the film’s star Miles Caton per-

formed the song “I Lied to You,” alongside other cast members and celebrated artists, such as Raphael Saadiq and D.C.’s own Shaboozey.

“I sobbed watching this,” said Riana MP on X, referencing the exciting performance, which pulls from the film and highlights the depth and breadth of Black culture. “The significance of the performance (and its existence) aside, seeing Alice Smith, Brittany Howard, and Misty Copeland (retired, and fresh off of hip surgery!!!) among the guest performers, recreating the very scene representing how culturally connected we all are, truly shook something inside of me." WI

LIFESTYLE

With Imperial 202 made in Argentina and found in local stores such as Costco and Total Wine, the company founder Pierre Lako hopes to share the beauty of D.C. across the nation and world.

“I love D.C.,” Lako told The Informer, “ and I cannot put something better than D.C. on this product.”

Like Lako, the National Cherry Blossom Festival works to highlight the District, while celebrating District culture as the cherry blossoms were gifted from Japan in March 1912. This year will continue the legacy of celebrating

the cherry blossoms since the festival started in 1935, while bringing fresh additions to the 2026 lineup.

“We always have our wonderful, traditional events, with a lot of innovation woven in between,” Mayhew said, teasing more programming as part of this year’s festival. “New performances, new artists, new experiences, fireworks, the parade, anything that you would want to just celebrate spring.”

For more information on festival programming visit nationalcherryblossomfestival.org. WI

Emmet Cohen Presents: Miles and Coltrane at 100 Sat, March 21— Limited availability!

Ladysmith Black Mambazo Thu, March 26

Meshell Ndegeocello Fri, March 27

Angélique Kidjo Thu, April 9

W. Kamau Bell Who’s With Me? Fri, April 17

Cécile McLorin Salvant Book of Ayres with the Brandee Younger Trio Thu, June 11

From

the top: Meshell Ndegeocello by Andre Wagner, Angélique Kidjo by Patrick Fouque, W. Kamau Bell

review wi book

Business Books on Diversity by Various Authors

c.2026, Various publishers

$24-$30

Various page counts

Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer

You do it with your stocks.

Your entire investment portfolio, in fact, is diversified. As an investor and a businessperson, you know how important that is for your bottom line; you also know what a benefit diversity is in your customer base and your workforce, and how homogeneity isn't necessarily a good thing in the long run. So now read more, and get ready to grow …

Start out by understanding how the banking and finance industries have worked against African Americans and other minorities by reading "The Racial Wealth Gap: A Brief History" by Mehrsa Baradaran (WW Norton, $24).

Did you know that, on average, a white household in America has around six times more wealth than a Black household has? This obviously affects African Americans, but it also affects businesses at large and the future of society in general. Baradaran shows how this inequality in everything financial has been in place for decades, how it has roots in Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement, and what can be done to fix these nefarious issues of poverty brought by financial disparity.

Along the same lines, reading "The Real Ones: How to Disrupt the Hidden Ways Racism Makes Us Less Authentic" by Maya Rupert (Dutton, $30), can help you learn to recognize the need for people of color to be true to themselves. A lack of authenticity, or a perceived need to change to fit in, can lead to problems, and Rupert explains why and how this is detrimental at work and in simple everyday getting-by.

Readers' eyes will be opened wide here, because she also shares personal stories of learning to be inauthentic, how it affects everyday life, she offers behindthe-scenes peeks at politics, and she gives plenty of advice for open-minded business people.

And finally, just when you think you know a lot about a tool you use every day, along comes a book like "The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet" by Lisa Nakamura (University of Minnesota Press, $24.95).

Chances are, you've been online for at least a couple decades – so long, that you barely think about it when you successfully log in. Read this book, though, and you'll learn a few surprising stories about the women behind your computer's parts, the queer woman who launched an influential social media page, as well as women who worked in Silicon Valley, those who toiled behind-thescenes in tech fields, and the women who otherwise contributed to the equipment you couldn't do your job without. The story is a little on the technical side, so beware, but it's also pretty astonishing.

If these books about diversity, racial gaps, and inequality in the workplace aren't enough for you, then head to your favorite bookstore or library and ask for help. The staff there know how to figure out what you want, and they can put books directly in your hands. As for these three books, above, they're interesting for work or for fun, and they make great all-staff reads. So go ahead, stock up. WI

horoscopes

LIFESTYLE

MAR. 19 - 25 2026

ARIES The pace you've been keeping was never meant to be permanent, and your body is now sending the memo your mind refused to open. An old disagreement loses its charge not because anyone apologized but because both parties finally grew past it. Someone in your circle is watching how you handle a setback, and what they see will matter more than you know. Lucky Numbers: 7, 29, 54

TAURUS Patience has been your practice for longer than most people could manage, and this week you begin to understand why. A financial picture that looked murky starts to clarify — not all at once, enough. You've been carrying someone else's anxiety as though it were your own responsibility; it isn't, and setting it down doesn't make you cold. Lucky Numbers: 2, 38, 67

GEMINI Two competing versions of your life are asking for a verdict, and the longer you delay the louder they both get. The answer isn't a compromise — it's a choice. A conversation you've been rehearsing in your head goes better in real life, mostly because the other person surprises you. Someone underestimates your depth and you let them; that restraint is wiser than it looks. Lucky Numbers: 9, 34, 61

CANCER The emotional labor you've invested in a particular relationship begins to yield something real — not a dramatic return, but a steady one, which is ultimately what you wanted. A home matter finds resolution through a conversation easier than anticipated. Your intuition about your own needs has improved; act on it rather than apologizing for it. Lucky Numbers: 4, 44, 72

LEO Recognition arrives this week in a form you didn't plan for, and your genuine reaction — unguarded, unpolished — is what lands with people. Let yourself be seen without the rehearsal. A goal you've been chasing asks you to consider whether it still fits who you've become. It may not. A younger person in your orbit needs your candor more than your encouragement right now; give them the real thing. The stage is set, and you already know your lines. Lucky Numbers: 16, 42, 68

VIRGO The system you've quietly built is more sophisticated than anyone around you realizes, and this week it handles something unexpected without missing a beat. A health routine that's slipped deserves reinstatement — not an overhaul, just a return to what works. Someone asks for your advice and actually means it; don't sand down your answer to spare their feelings. Lucky Numbers: 13, 40, 65

LIBRA The decision you've been rotating in your hands is not going to polish itself into an answer. This week demands you put it down as a choice rather than pick it up as a question. A relationship renegotiation that felt impossible last month now has room to breathe — enter it. Your aesthetic sensibility solves a practical problem in a way that impresses the skeptics. Lucky Numbers: 8, 36, 60

SCORPIO The truth you've been sitting on reveals itself this week with or without your cooperation, so you may as well be the one holding it. A power dynamic that's felt lopsided begins to level as the other party realizes what they've been working with. Intimacy you pulled back from out of self-protection is available again — and you might be surprised to find that you're willing. Lucky Numbers: 6, 32, 57

SAGITTARIUS Adventure this week isn't geographic — it's intellectual, and the territory is just as unfamiliar. A subject you've casually dismissed earns a second look when the right person frames it. Your natural enthusiasm recruits someone to a cause they didn't know they believed in. A plan that seemed fixed reveals unexpected flexibility. Lucky Numbers: 21, 47, 73

CAPRICORN The groundwork laid in cold, unglamorous months is now visible, and the people who watched you lay it are nodding in a way that matters more than applause. You've been rationing your warmth as though it were a limited resource; it isn't, and the people close to you are feeling the shortage. A career pivot you've been researching in private is closer to viable than your caution will admit. Trust the ledger. The numbers check out. Lucky Numbers: 15, 45, 70

AQUARIUS The idea living rent-free in your head is ready for the world, or at least for one trusted person — start there. This week challenges your habit of intellectualizing emotion; something you feel deserves to stay a feeling a little longer before you diagram it. A group dynamic shifts in your favor not through maneuvering but through your consistency finally being recognized. Someone you've written off still has something to offer. The signal is getting clearer. Lucky Numbers: 25, 49, 78

PISCES Clarity arrives this week not as a lightning bolt but as a slow brightening — you'll look up and realize you can see further than before. A creative block dissolves once you stop treating it as an obstacle and start treating it as information. Someone from your past returns with better intentions than their history warrants; measure them by the present. The boundary you've been soft about needs a firmer edge. The current still carries you. Let it. Lucky Numbers: 18, 51, 79

SPORTS

From MEAC Champions to the NCAA March Madness Stage, Howard’s

Men’s

And Women’s Basketball Teams Reach Historic Milestones

By Skylar Nelson WI Contributing Writer

The third month has arrived, and with it comes one of college basketball’s most beloved traditions: March Madness.

As teams from across the country compete for eternal basketball glory, this year, the spotlight is shining brightly on the Bison of Howard University.

For the first time in school history, both Howard’s men’s and women’s basketball programs celebrate championship seasons and prepare to represent the university on the national stage in the same year.

“It’s amazing,” said Coach Ty Grace, head coach of the Lady Bison. “It’s a historic time at the university and to be able to have both teams be champions, I mean you couldn’t ask for a better story.”

From cutting down nets in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tournament to stepping onto the national stage, the Bison are carrying the conference and university pride into March Madness.

“Very few teams in the country have done what we’ve done,” said Howard University’s Athletic Director Kery Davis. “So tonight we celebrate, we prepare to get on the road and then we’ll do what we have to do. Let’s be greedy, let’s win when we get to the tournament, let’s get some [wins] behind us so they’ll respect us all around the country.”

Howard Men’s Basketball

Win MEAC Men’s Championship, Bison Face a

the NCAA Division I Tournament, returning to college basketball’s biggest stage for the fifth time in program history.

“It’s such a testament to [the players] and it’s such a big thing for their student experience,” said Howard Men’s Basketball head coach Kenneth Blakeney. “I want these young men to have Howard in their DNA and in their fibers because I know our alums do and our community does as well. For our young men to go to three NCAA tournaments in four years is incredible.”

Familiar to Start March Madness Run

The Howard Bison men’s basketball team capped off a dominant season by capturing the 2026 MEAC Championship, defeating the North Carolina Central University Eagles 70-63 at Norfolk Scope Arena on Saturday, March 14.

The victory marked Howard’s third MEAC championship win in the last four years and the sixth conference tournament title in program history.

With the victory, the Bison secured the MEAC’s automatic bid to

Howard enters the tournament with a 23-10 record, an eight-game winning streak, and MEAC Player of the Year Bryce Harris, whose leadership and scoring have powered the team throughout the season. In addition, Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year Cedric Taylor III is a key anchor on the pressuring end.

Guiding the Bison Dream Factory program is Blakeney, now in his seventh season with Howard.

“[Coach Blakeney] brings toughness, he brings the passion to the game that is infectious, and contagious for the rest of the players,” said Harris, a graduate student guard. “I feel like once we just kind of carry that on and we can put that into basketball, that’s when we start to have success.”

Howard is set to begin their tournament run in the First Four, sharing a No. 16 seed with the University of Maryland Baltimore College

Championship game on March 14. (Skylar Nelson/The Washington Informer)

(UMBC) Retrievers of the America East Conference. In the thrilling Tuesday play-in game, the Howard Bison defeated the UMBC Retrievers 86-83. The Bison were in control for most of the game, but had to withstand a furious UMBC rally that ended in a three-point game. UMBC’s graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. had a chance to force overtime with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, but his shot fell short.

This marks Howard’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, which was led by senior guard Ose Okojie, who recorded 23 points (9-of-15 FG and 3-of-3 3FG). In men’s NCAA Tournament history, only two No. 16 seed teams have ever upset a No. 1 seed: UMBC’s historic win over Virginia in 2018, and Fairleigh Dickinson’s shocking win against Purdue in 2023. Howard looks to become the third when they take on Michigan on Thursday, March 19 at 7:10 p.m. at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The game will be televised on CBS.

Howard Women’s Basketball Captures MEAC Tournament, Lady Bison Set to Face a New Opponent in First Round

The Howard Lady Bison defeated the Norfolk State Spartans 53-46, securing the 2025 MEAC Women’s Basketball Championship, marking the program’s record 12th conference title and its first since 2022.

The championship run earned the Lady Bison a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Division I Tournament, the

highest seed in program history.

“I’m speechless,” said Ty Grace, Howard Women’s Basketball head coach. “I’m very excited and happy for this program and the university. This is just an amazing day. I was not expecting [the No. 14 seed] but I’m glad. We earned it, we worked for it, the committee saw that, and I’m just proud. I’m happy to be coaching this program.”

Howard enters the tournament making its seventh NCAA appearance, led by MEAC Player of the Year Zennia Thomas, a senior forward from Cleveland whose presence has been pivotal all season. She is joined by standout freshman Ariella Henigan, the MEAC Rookie of the Year from Chicago.

Players lauded Grace, the MEAC Coach of the Year who is now in her 11th season leading the Lady Bison.

“She’s an amazing coach,” said senior forward Nile Miller. “I’ve been here for four years and I haven’t left yet for a reason and she’s just an amazing leader. Just guiding us to the championship and being able to play for her, and now playing against Ohio State is an amazing feeling.”

Howard will open the tournament play against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, March 21 in Columbus, Ohio. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on ESPN2. The matchup will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

“I mean we’re going to do what we’ve been doing,” said Grace. “We’re going to believe in who we are. We’re going to stick to our plan and our strategy and we’re going to enjoy this experience.”

WI

5 Howard University celebrates with the championship trophy after defeating the Norfolk State Spartans 53-46 in the 2026 MEAC Women’s Basketball

5 Howard University guard Bryce Harris makes a layup against North Carolina Central University Gage Lattimore in the 2026 MEAC Men’s Basketball Championship game on Saturday, March 14. (Skylar Nelson/The Washington Informer)

CAPTURE the moment

Spring officially kicked off with the 2026 National Cherry Blossom Festival Pink Tie Party on Friday, March 13, held at Union Station in Northeast, D.C. The third-annual stylish soirée offered a taste of the season through a celebration of food, fashion, and philanthropy.

(Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)

RELIGION

“When we pray for the Black Press, our prayer is that our desire becomes the desire of God for humanity, for this nation, and for creation,” he explained in an interview the day after the service. “It is not asking God to give us money, it is not asking God to give us power, it is asking God to give us God's spirit so that we will align with God's purposes for us. And those purposes are diametrically opposed to what we see currently, geopolitically and domestically, often in America.

‘Somebody Else is Coming After You:’ Honoring History, Offering Hope for the Future

For the second year, Black Press Sunday has served as a source of encouragement despite challenges for the District, nation and world.

During the fourth Sunday in Lent,

Pastor Lamar framed his sermon around Matthew 17, examining the biblical story of Jesus’ transfiguration, where prophets Moses and Elijah appear with him in front of a few of the disciples.

“Elijah starts talking with Jesus,” Lamar told the congregation. “What I imagine, is that Elijah takes Jesus back to a story he would have learned as a young boy, when the tales of his people's history would have been revealed to him, and Elijah says to Jesus, ‘I was doing my work when Ahab was the king.’”

Considering the threats from King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, the pastor likened what the prophet Elijah– a truth-teller– had to navigate, to the challenges journalists face today.

“Ahab had to harass journalists to keep them from telling the truth. Ahab had to send FBI agents and federal agents into the homes of some journals to confiscate sources and methods so the truth cannot be told,”

5 With 199 years since the founding of “Freedom’s Journal,” the ffirst African American-owned publication, Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer emphasizes that the Black Press still works to uplift through storytelling. (Micha Green/The Washington Informer) ary Washington Post writer Colbert Gilbert, and former D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt sitting in the pews— Lamar relayed realities of life and legacy.

he said. “What Ahab had had to do was to install over his version of the Federal Communications Commission, someone who would keep the truth from going out on the airwaves.”

While the Bible tells of Elijah fleeing to Mt. Horeb (Sinai) for 40 days and staying in a cave after pressure from the king, Lamar said that God offered the prophet hope even in the time of darkness.

“Some of the journalists have found themselves in the cave, but you've been telling the truth trying to do what God has called you to do.

You very much are in a cave, and you wonder, ‘How am I gonna survive the game? Cave?’

Let me tell you what God did. God sent Elijah ravens with bread in their beaks to feed him,” Lamar explained. “Yes, wherever you are, God will take a symbol of death and turn it into a gift of life.”

Lamar also emphasized that while

Elijah’s journey on earth ends, he had been preparing his apprentice Elisha as his successor. He suggested leaders of today be inspired by Elijah’s mentorship of Elisha in order to properly support the next generation of changemakers.

As the biblical story goes, when Elijah is being whisked away in his chariot, Elisha asks his mentor for a “double portion of his spirit,” emphasized Lamar, author of the recent book “Ancestors:Those Who Bless Us, Curse Us, and Hold Us.”

The pastor invoked the Black Press ancestors, to guide the journalists— and all people filling the church and viewing online— as they continue their work despite trials of today.

“Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. [DuBois],” he said, “give me a double portion of your spirit.”

Reflecting on the past, present and future of politics and journalism— with people such as Gilliam, legend-

“Someobody else is coming after you,” he declared, highlighting the importance and power of pouring into younger generations. “I want the ones to come after me to be more dedicated, stronger, wiser and fearless.”

A second-generation publisher, Rolark Barnes knows a lot about receiving the proverbial torch, and continuing a legacy, having run the paper for more than 32 years, since her father’s death in 1994.

While she is still working to further the 61-year-old Washington Informer, Rolark Barnes, celebrates the history, strength, and resilience of the local media outlet and Black Press overall.

“We are still here,” she declared, holding an edition of The Washington Informer, “and the Black Press is still here.” WI

BLACK PRESS from Page 11

Here in The Religion Corner of The Washington Informer, over the past 20 years, it has been my extreme pleasure to share my mother's 12-year struggle with Type 2 diabetes before her death in 2000. This personal tragedy has been shared with readers around the world, to the broader, historical context of African American dietary habits and lifestyle, urging the community to reverse the diabetes epidemic by honoring their bodies and changing nutritional habits. My family's struggle was due to our lack of knowledge. We never knew that a change in diet to less carbs and less sweets, and increasing green leafy vegetables, coupled with daily exercise made all of the difference.

Let's get real: Type 2 diabetes can be stopped. When we peel back the layers of why and how this disease takes hold, we empower our community to heal. This week, I want to discuss how we prevent and reverse this epidemic, but first, I must share why this mission is my life's calling.

My mother, Fannie Estelle HillGrant, lived only 12 years after her diagnosis. Those years were a gauntlet of agony: double amputations, dialysis several times a week, and multiple strokes. Our family watched, devastated and unaware of how much power we actually had to change the outcome.

Since her passing on Christmas Day in 2000, I have spent 25 years teaching the lessons we learned too late. We could have changed everything by simply honoring our bodies as temples, by reducing sweets, cutting processed carbs, and embracing the life-giving power of fresh, raw vegetables. Just 30 minutes of movement, five days a week, could have rewritten her story.

The roots of the struggle began with

WITH LYNDIA GRANT

From Mourning to Movement: A Spiritual Call to Heal Our Community the religion corner

seeds of this crisis that were planted long ago. Starting around 1790, enslaved Africans survived on meager rations. Historical records from the National Archives reveal a grim reality: Livestock were often fed better than the people working the fields.

Our ancestors were given the "scraps" — pig tails, pig feet, chitterlings and hog maws. Out of necessity and sheer brilliance, Black women transformed these remnants into "soul food." These dishes — which included collard greens simmered in fatback, candied yams and cornbread — became symbols of comfort and survival. Though I, myself, Lyndia Grant, was born on a North Carolina farm in 1951, I remember those flavors well; they are the taste of home. However, there was a biological balance at play back then. Enslaved people worked grueling 12-to-16hour days. That intense physical labor counteracted the high-fat, high-sugar diet. They burned off the fuel they consumed. According to the National Institutes of Health, their bodies, equipped with "thrifty genes" designed to store energy during times of scarcity, stayed in balance because of that constant movement.

The modern crisis today is that those fields are gone, but the recipes remain. Many of us are still eating like our ancestors without moving the way they had to. The result is a sedentary lifestyle that has turned our "thrifty genes" against us. Obesity is now the leading

driver of Type 2 diabetes. Extra body fat leads to insulin resistance, where the body can no longer process energy effectively. The statistics from the Office of Minority Health are sobering. Let's take a look at some of their studies:

• Black Americans are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than white adults.

• Complications like end-stage renal disease hit our community the hardest.

• Globally, 1 in 9 adults now live with diabetes, and 4 in 10 don't even know they have it.

• In 2025, the cost of diagnosed diabetes reached a staggering $413 billion annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The American Diabetes Association reports that this figure includes approximately $307 billion in direct medical expenses and $106 billion in lost productivity due to the disease. This financial burden is a direct reflection of the physical toll diabetes takes on our community, where $1 out of every $4 spent on health care in the U.S. is dedicated to caring for those with diabetes.

We cannot let "lack of knowledge" continue to destroy our families. We must bridge the gap between the traditions of our past and the health requirements of our present. Next week, I'll dive deeper into how we can break this cycle and start making real, lasting changes, including the newest GLP-1 treatment Ozempic. Stay tuned!

WI

Person Worship:  Sunday @ 9:30 A.M.

Sunday @ 9:30 A.M.  www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org

& Study:  Wednesday @ 12 Noon and 7:00

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

Mount Carmel

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

Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org

Rev Kevin A. O'Bryant

401 Van Buren St., NW, Washington D.C. 20012 Office (202)-882-8331

Service and Times Sunday Worship 10:30 am Zoom: zoom.us/;/2028828331 Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00pm Communion Every First Sunday "Serve, teach and Live by precept and example the saving grace of Jesus Christ."

Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “ The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson

All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.

Website: Theplbc.org Email: churchclerk@theplbc.org

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church

Rehoboth Baptist Church

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

Promised Land Baptist Church

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2026 ADM 000129

Benjamin Darrell McKenzie Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Autumn Jackson, whose address is 7832 Tilghman St., Fulton, MD 20759, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Benjamin Darrell McKenzie who died on 11/19/2025 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/5/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/5/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/5/2026

Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 2026 ADM 000152

Alfredia M. Bigesby Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Yvette B. Stephens, whose address is 3105 Apple Rd., NE, Washington, DC 20018, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Alfredia M. Bigesby who died on 10/24/2025 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/12/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/12/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/12/2026

Yvette B. Stephens Personal Representative

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2026 ADM 000132

Paul Lawrence Bascomb, Jr. Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Darnetta M. Bascomb, whose address is 8109 Rydal Rd., District Heights, MD 20747, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Paul Lawrence Bascomb, Jr. who died on December 23, 2025 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/5/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/5/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/5/2026

Darnetta M. Bascomb 8109 Rydal Rd. District Heights, MD 20747 Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

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

2026 ADM 000198

Katherine Alice Koffman Decedent

Graner S. Ghevarghese 600 14th Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Ann Elizabeth Koffman, whose address is 5849 Walnut Springs Blvd, Sylvania, OH 43560, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Katherine Alice Koffman who died on 3/9/2023 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision.

All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred.

Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Ann Elizabeth Koffman Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

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

2026 ADM 000081

Jamar De’Andre Jackson Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Mesha Jackson, whose address is 4215 1st Street SE, Apt 303, Washington DC 20032, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Jamar De’Andre Jackson who died on May 23, 2025 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/5/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/5/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/5/2026

Mesha Jackson

Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens

Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2026 ADM 000203

Isaac C. Payne Decedent

Deborah D. Boddie, Esq. PROBATELAWDC

1308 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington DC, 20001 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Carla V. Payne-Raindrop, whose address is 115 Cavenrock Court, Frederick, Maryland 21702-5118, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Isaac C. Payne who died on May 17, 1999 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Carla V. Payne-Raindrop Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GENERAL COURT OF JUSTICE COUNTY OF LEE DISTRICT COURT DIVISION FILE NO: 25CV001792-520

WAN D. HILL, ) Plaintiff, ) ) NOTICE OF SERVICE BY vs. ) PUBLICATION )

TEAIRRA A. BARNES, ) Defendant. ) )

To: Teairra A. Barnes

Take notice that a pleading seeking relief against you has been filed in the above entitled action. The nature of the relief being sought is as follows: Disestablishment of Paternity in Lee County, North Carolina

You are required to make defense to such pleading 40 days following the first date of this notice, no later than the 14th day of April, 2026. And upon your failure to do so, the party seeking service against you will apply to the court for relief sought.

This the 26th day of February, 2026 WILSON, REIVES & DORAN, PLLC

Nathalie M. Doran Attorney for Plaintiff 1502 Woodland Avenue Sanford, North Carolina 27330

Publish March 5, March 12 and March 19, 2026.

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2026 FEP 000022

1/8/2025

Date of Death

Megan Elizabeth O’Donnell (all names in appendix hereto) Name of Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Pia Tamm whose address is 43 Grand Street, Apt 2, Brooklyn, New York 11249 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Megan Elizabeth O’Donnell (all names in appendix hereto), deceased, by the Surrogate’s Court for Kings County, State of New York, on March 3, 2025.

Service of process may be made upon John O’Donnell, 1905 S Street NW, Washington DC 20009 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.

1727 P Street, NW #B, Washington, DC 20036. Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice.

Date of first publication: March 12, 2026

Pia Tamm Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2026 ADM 000193

Shanti Cole Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Beverley Bailey, whose address is 132 Jefferson Street, NW, Washington DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Shanti Cole who died on 1/12/2026 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Beverley Bailey Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

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

2026 ADM 000185

Robert Henry Kubal Decedent

Valerie B. Geiger, Esq. 4084 University Drive, Suite 202A Fairfax, VA 22030 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Edwin Robert Kubal, whose address is 1433 Decatur Street, NW, Washington DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Robert Henry Kubal who died on 2/2/2024 with a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Edwin Robert Kubal Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES LEGAL NOTICES

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

2026 ADM 000155

Yola DePenaloza aka Yolanda Ortiz Mattos Decedent

Murray D. Scheel

DC Bar Pro Bono Center

901 4th Street NW Washington, DC 20001 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Maria Vania Fenner, whose address is 11850 NE Chateau Dr. Woodburn, OR 97071, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Yola DePenaloza aka Yolanda Ortiz Mattos who died on 7/19/2020 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Maria Vania Fenner Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2025 ADM 000713

Fletcher Joseph Cambell

Decedent

Alecia R. Watson 3682 King Street, #3233 Alexandria VA, 22302

Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Alecia R. Watson, whose address is 3682 King Street, #3233, Alexandria, VA 22302, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Fletcher Joseph Cambell who died on March 17, 2025 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Alecia R. Watson Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

PROBATE DIVISION

Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

2026 FEP 000028

2/10/2025

Date of Death

Daphne Dulce Minott Name of Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS

Franklin E. White, Jr., whose address is 14433 Jaystone Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20905 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Daphne Dulce Minott, deceased, by the Orphans Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland on November 17, 2025.

Service of process may be made upon Registered Agents, Inc. 1717 N Street NW, Suite 1, Washington, DC 20036 whose designation as District of Columbia agent has been filed with the Register of Wills, D.C.

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.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Franklin E. White, Jr. Personal Representative

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2025 ADM 000683

Raleigh Lipford Decedent

Andrew T. Richardson, III 1629 K Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20006 Attorney

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Yvonne Hayes-Lipford, whose address is 5539 5th Street, NE, Washington, DC 20011, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Raleigh Lipford who died on May 3, 2024 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Yvonne Hayes-Lipford Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

2026 ADM 000216

Daryl Franchot Bell Decedent

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS

Carolyn Virginia Jackson-Bell, whose address is 1735 33rd Place SE, Apt 204, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Daryl Franchot Bell who died on 12/13/2025 without a Will and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., 515 5th Street, N.W., Building A, Third Floor Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 9/19/2026. Claims against the decedent shall be presented to the undersigned with a copy to the Register of Wills or filed with the Register of Wills with a copy to the undersigned, on or before 9/19/2026, or be forever barred. Persons believed to be heirs or legatees of the decedent who do not receive a copy of this notice by mail within 25 days of its first publication shall so inform the Register of Wills, including name, address, and relationship.

Date of first publication: 3/19/2026

Carolyn Virginia Jackson-Bell Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Nicole Stevens Register of Wills

Washington Informer

TARGET from Page 15 tion would’ve doled out $2 billion via partnerships with Black-owned brands, Black-owned media and Black-owned suppliers by Easter. Other developments included another $100 million from Target that would go to grants and scholarships to Black-led community organizations.

Pencil Lewis College of Design, a Detroit-based historically Black institution of higher learning, has received another $10 million. Target, according to Bryant, has also pledged $18 million to UNCF, and $8 million toward a Target Scholars program through which business students at a historically Black college or university (HBCU) learn how to navigate the corporate workspace.

“Nelson Mandela, in his autobiography, ‘The Long Walk to Freedom,’ said that the long walk to freedom begins with the first step,” Bryant said. “And I believe, ladies and gentlemen, history will record this was the first step to the new civil rights movement. And so I am grateful for those who walked alongside us, those who partnered with us, and I am thankful that we can claim in this hour that victory is ours.”

In the absence of a newly revitalized DEI program, Target has launched the Belonging Program, aimed at attracting women and other marginalized populations into entry-level roles with the potential for promotions.

On March 11, Bryant noted that Target’s board has at least 13% nonwhite board membership, and took the steps, in partnership with Atlanta’s Citizen Trust Bank, to seek out Blackowned banks for a collaboration aimed at expanding Black home ownership and Black business capacity.

“We are prayerful that Target will be able to align itself with a Black bank…. It is so necessary that our banks have equal and strong footing because home ownership is the entry point for generational wealth. And we've got to move our people from a renting mindset to an owning mindset,” Bryant said. “We cannot talk about Black businesses without talking about Black entrepreneurship. An overwhelming majority of our Black businesses only have one employee, which is the owner, and they are not able to go to scale because they don't have access to capital.”

The Power of Collaboration

Last year, civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, Jaylani Hussein, and Black Lives Matter Minnesota co-founder Monique Cullors-Doty kicked off Black History Month with

their Target boycott. Soon after Mallory and Turner, former Ohio state senator, collaborated around a national boycott, aligning their efforts with Bryant’s Target Fast.

During their Wednesday afternoon press conference, Mallory basked in what she called a victory of everyone’s making.

“People changed where they spent their money. Small businesses and families made difficult decisions. I think about the authors who asked people not to purchase their books from Target,” Mallory said. “I think about those vendors who redirected sales to their own websites, and also some of them showed up at community events to sell their products directly to consumers. It's not easy to do that when you've already worked so hard to become a vendor in a place like Target. And they should be celebrated.”

Despite what Turner described as Target’s attempt to divide and conquer, she said that the “Mothership Three” found great success. On March 11, she shouted out veteran labor leader Delores Huerta and the Latino Freeze Movement, both of whom expressed solidarity throughout the course of a national movement that surpassed the Montgomery Bus Boycott in longevity.

Turner later reflected on the power of collaboration that started after unsuccessful attempts, shortly after the start of the second Trump presidency, to convince Target to continue its DEI initiatives.

“It’s not just the Mothership 3, but to see the incredible outpouring of love and support of tens of thousands into millions of people,” she told The Informer. “Because it takes many, many people to impact stock shares, foot traffic in stores. That's the human element of really, you know, how all of this started.” No memorandum of understanding between the “Mothership Three” and Target has been signed. Bryant did mention however that they confirmed Target's assertions.

“I'll put in hood terms,” Bryant told The Informer. “We had to check the receipts. We checked the receipts on all of the 97% of the $2 billion that was given. We called the HBCUs to verify those partnerships. We didn't take people's word for it at all, but we verified everything before we came to this room.”

WI

Readmore on washingtoninformer.com.

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HARRIS/MCDANIEL from Page 24

In his recent State of the State address, Gov. Moore pointed directly to artificial intelligence as one of the defining forces reshaping the economy, arguing that AI will determine who has access to opportunity in the next generation and who is left behind. Moore framed AI not simply as a technological breakthrough but as a workforce challenge that demands intentional public investment, emphasizing that states must prepare workers for AI-driven change rather than react after jobs disappear. He stressed that innovation without inclusion will deepen inequality, and that the government has a responsibility to ensure emerging technologies expand opportunity rather than concentrate it.

Moore's remarks underscore the stakes for Black America. If AI policy focuses only on productivity gains while ignoring who occupies the jobs

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white Americans. The Black homeownership rate fell to 43.9% in the first half of 2025, wiping out years of fragile progress and deepening a racial wealth gap that already stood among the most persistent in the country.

Even before the latest dismal jobs report, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies had already declared 2025 a "regression and recession" for Black Americans. In its State of the Dream 2026 report, the authors wrote that rather than

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hard to accept when we have a leader who has failed to clearly explain why he started a war with an unpredictable path. True American exceptionalism relies on the nation's political institutions fully demonstrating democracy and the separation of powers.

Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie were correct when they co-sponsored a war powers resolution that would have placed limits on President Trump's authority as he relies on his personal feelings and judgment in continuing this war with Iran. The House voted 219-212 to allow the Trump administration to go unchecked. The Senate voted against a similar measure. Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution. Sen. Rand Paul was the only Republican to do so. We no longer have a functioning system of checks and balances or true separation of pow-

being automated, displacement will fall hardest on Black communities already facing structural barriers to wealth and mobility. His call to align education, workforce development and economic growth around emerging technologies underscores the need for targeted investment in institutions that serve Black workers at scale — particularly HBCUs.

HBCUs produce nearly 25% of Black STEM graduates despite receiving a fraction of the funding of predominantly white institutions, and they already serve as trusted on-ramps for first-generation and working-class students into high-demand fields. With targeted investment, HBCUs can rapidly expand programs in data analytics, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud engineering and applied AI.

HBCU partnerships can build paid apprenticeships, AI co-ops and credential pathways that move Black workers from declining roles into growing

aggressive leadership in dismantling structures of racial inequality, the country is witnessing regressive leadership that is slashing government employment and agencies designed to address predatory economic practices that disproportionately harm Black communities. The report further notes that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act entrenched permanent tax cuts for high-income households and corporations while reducing investment in poverty-alleviating programs and leaving support for working families stagnant or shrinking.

Policy experts often refer to Black

ers. Every Republican and Democratic lawmaker should maintain the best interest of the nation and honor their sworn oath, regardless of who occupies the executive branch. The vote shows how the Democratic caucus cannot count on Fetterman to hold the line of accountability against an administration that speaks openly and boldly of committing war crimes. The House and Senate votes show that America, as a beacon of light to the world, is growing dimmer. Being seen and respected as the shining city on the hill comes from America's humanitarian might, not its military might. Our light around the world grew much dimmer with the Trump administration's cuts to lifesaving aid worldwide through the U.S. Agency for International Development. USAID has facilitated much of the U.S. government's humanitarian and foreign development assistance since its establishment in 1961.

ones, rather than leaving them to compete in an unequal labor market after displacement.

Every dollar invested in AI labs, faculty, research partnerships and employer-linked training at HBCUs reduces the risk that Black workers will be permanently locked out of the next economy.

And we must remember that Black representation matters in AI. Currently, less than 5% of American AI professionals are Black. This lack of representation shapes which jobs are automated and which are protected. If African Americans are excluded from AI design, they will be disproportionately left out of its benefits.

Amazon's layoffs are already history. The question now is whether our policy response moves as fast as the technology did — or whether Black workers are still waiting for help when the next round of cuts comes. WI

Americans as the "canary in the coal mine" — the first to feel the impact of economic stress. If that analogy holds, the warning is clear: a broader national recession is not far behind. But acknowledging that Black America is already in recession is not merely a prediction about the future; it is a call to confront what is unfolding in the present. The question now is whether policymakers will heed that warning — or continue to ignore the communities already bearing the brunt of the nation's economic retreat.

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USAID brought lifesaving medicines, food, clean water and assistance for farmers — all for less than 1% of the federal budget. When justifying the end of humanitarian aid to the poor, the Trump administration argued that the "foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values," and therefore should be reduced or dismantled. In short, we are cutting humanitarian aid while funding a questionable war. The same America First framework that led the Trump administration to cut humanitarian and developmental programs is quick to pour money into a military confrontation with Iran. National interest is now more narrowly defined in military terms, without balancing the critical need to reduce poverty and improve basic quality of life. We know that Trump will never feel it in his bones to help the poor, here or abroad. WI

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MORIAL

MARSHALL

MALVEAUX from Page 25

would briefly serve blocked such laws for more than a century, finally passing the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022.

Nearly a century later, a similar contradiction surfaced in Mississippi. When Cindy Hyde-Smith became the first woman elected to the Senate from that state in 2018, the milestone might have been celebrated as uncomplicated progress. Instead, her campaign was overshadowed by a remark that she would sit in the front row of a "public hanging." Hyde-Smith had first entered the Senate earlier that year by appointment after Sen. Thad Cochran resigned. She then faced voters in a special election runoff against former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, who was seeking to become Mississippi's first Black senator since Reconstruction. Hyde-Smith won the runoff and later secured a full six-year term.

Hyde-Smith stands in the political

MORRISSETTE

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barrel — their highest in years. As of March 9, gas hit a nationwide average of $3.48 per gallon. When President Trump delivered his State of the Union two weeks ago, gas stood at $2.92, down from $3.11 at his January 2025 inauguration, a benchmark he routinely cited as proof of his economic stewardship. That ground was surrendered in under seven days. Economists estimate that every $10 rise in crude translates to roughly 25 cents at the pump. And gas pricing is not simply about commutes to school and work. It is about getting goods to consumers, which multiplies inflationary pressure across the entire economy.

Transportation disruption along the Strait of Hormuz is no incidental detail. Nearly 20% of the world's oil

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Black people were extremely limited in the kinds of work they could pursue. We then went through a period when new opportunities opened to them. Each time I look at historically Black colleges and universities, I am amazed by the new subjects being offered. Students began having opportunities my generation had never heard of. However, with a return to much of the racism we faced in the past under the current administration, it's important for HBCUs to expand and provide offerings such as the one Tuskegee is offering. Once

lineage of a senator who defended lynching, echoing that history when she said she would sit in the front row of a "public hanging." The parallel is unsettling: the expansion of political opportunity for women has not always coincided with progress on race.

That history helps explain why the election of Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois in 1992 was so significant. For nearly two centuries after the founding of the Senate, no Black woman had ever served in the chamber. Moseley Braun's victory shattered a barrier that had stood since the founding of the republic.

A generation later, Kamala Harris of California followed that path when she was elected to the Senate in 2016 before becoming vice president of the United States. Another Black woman, Laphonza Butler of California, served briefly after being appointed to fill a vacancy.

The Senate has diversified in other ways as well. Women of color such as Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Tammy

passes through that narrow chokepoint, which abuts Iran directly. Iran does not need to win a war to impose economic pain on the United States and its allies — it merely needs to threaten that passage credibly. That is what we are seeing in recent fuel price fluctuation.

Critically, this war does not arrive in a vacuum. Before the first bomb dropped, American consumers were already absorbing the most significant tariff increases as a share of GDP since 1993 — an estimated average cost of $600 to $800 per household in 2026, with that figure rising toward $1,000 should remaining tariffs be made permanent, according to Yale Budget Lab's analysis following the Supreme Court's Feb. 20 ruling on emergency tariffs. Inflation had cooled to 2.4% in January but remained above the Fed's 2% target,

trained, their students will be ready to meet new opportunities they can use not just in the United States but around the world.

Aviation is a field that allows them to open their own businesses — not only as pilots, but in other aspects of aviation. They can be aircraft electrical mechanics or technicians, aircraft engineers and much more, including design, maintenance and operation of aircraft. All of this is necessary to ensure safety and efficiency, applying scientific and technological principles to research, develop and design aircraft and their components, as well as

Duckworth of Illinois and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada have joined the chamber in recent years — signs that an institution once dominated by white men is slowly beginning to reflect the nation it governs.

The presence of Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester is therefore both historic and instructive. Their election reflects genuine change in an institution that long resisted it. At the same time, the path that brought them there — from Felton's defense of lynching to the slow emergence of women and people of color in national office — reminds us that the expansion of American democracy has rarely been smooth, and almost never evenly shared.

From the Black women who insisted on marching in Washington's suffrage parade in 1913 to the election of two Black women to the United States Senate, the arc of political inclusion has been long, uneven and hard-won.

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limiting its ability to respond to new economic shocks. Businesses that in 2025 absorbed tariff costs rather than passing them to customers are now widely reported to be making that shift. The war's oil shock lands directly on top of all of it. The war did not create this affordability crisis. It accelerates one already well underway. Beyond the debt this war will accumulate, there is the inflation it will drive into everyday goods and the fuel costs it will impose on everyone who drives to work, drops children at school, or simply needs to get somewhere. Things are going to cost more. In good times, that would be frustrating. During an affordability crisis, it is what millions can least afford — literally and figuratively.

WI

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overseeing maintenance and performance testing. They don't all have to be pilots once they go through aviation training.

In summary, there is potential to be involved in aircraft design, aircraft maintenance and avionics — the electronic systems of an aircraft. This training opens many new opportunities for those trained to go into business not only as a pilot but as a flight instructor, mechanic, aircraft designer, air traffic controller, aviation safety inspector, airport manager and more. For more information about the Tuskegee Aviation Science Program, call 334-727-8011. WI

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