Issuu

VOL. 53, NO. 16 • FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

We Honor the Jewish People and Victims of the Holocaust during International Remembrance Day

State of the Union: Trump Ramps up Mostly False Rhetoric

UNION Page 38

Pages 28-32

Blacks Boycott, Berate and Blast Trump’s Address

NAACP Joins Roland Martin, Others to Resist New Agenda

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address Tuesday night predictably contained a myriad of untruths, exaggerations and attacks on immigration. Trump addressed tax reform, strengthening the military, infrastructure, trade and national security. Naturally, immigration remains Trump’s mission. The New York businessman outlined “four pillars” of his administration’s immigration reform, claiming they include a path to citizenship for 1.8 million undocumented immigrations brought into

Black History Month

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir

Johnson to formally sign a memorandum of understanding for the two organizations to work closely on issues that affect African-American and minority communities. “Sometimes you have to take a step back and reconnect in order to move forward,” Russell said. “Signing this agreement is taking that step back and it says it’s time for us to recommit to each other and work together to move our people forward.” Chavis, who once served as president of the NAACP, called the partnership historic.

While Donald Trump presented his first State of the Union Speech on Tuesday, Jan. 26, the third-longest address given by any president in the modern day, several dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus [CBC], as well as civil rights groups like the NAACP, chose to stay home to display their discontent. Here in the Greater Washington Area, scores of citizens who stand in opposition to Trump’s agenda, as well as his words deemed by some as racist and exclusionary, viewed the president’s address from afar while participating in conversations that examined his words and message. Nationally-known journalist Roland Martin served as the moderator for a panel discussion at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest while Trump addressed members of Congress for an evening of frank conversation titled “The Real State of the Union” that drew a healthy crowd of dissenters including Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO. “We know what a racist nationalist agenda and president look like – we’ve had them before,” Johnson said. “It’s clear from his tax giveaways to the wealthy and subsequent $13 million takeaway from healthcare to his failure to protect the vote and civil rights,

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5 The NAACP held a counter State of the Union event on Tuesday, Jan. 30 at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest. A large audience gathered for a discussion on the plight of people of color under the Trump presidency moderated by TV One host Roland Martin with guest panelists (L-R) Elizabeth Copeland - president and founder of Urban Conservative Project, Inc., William Spriggs – Howard University economics professor, Derrick Johnson – NAACP President & CEO, Greg Carr – Howard University professor of Africana Studies, Kristen Clarke – president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Melanie Campbell - convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter

NNPA Conference Focuses on ESSA, State of Black America

5 (From left-right) Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP; Leon Russell, the chairman of the NAACP; Dorothy Leavell, the chairman of the NNPA, and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., president and CEO of the NNPA, sign a strategic partnership agreement to join forces in focusing on key issues that affect the Black community, during the 2018 NNPA Mid-Winter Conference in Las Vegas. /Photo courtesy of Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), special announcements by Ford and Nissan and comprehensive dialogue on the State of Black America were among the items that dominated the agenda at the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual Mid-Winter Conference in Las Vegas. Also, at the conference held from Wednesday, Jan. 24 through Saturday, Jan. 27, NNPA President Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. and Chair Dorothy Leavell joined NAACP Chair Leon Russell and President Derrick

Celebrating 53 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area

Now Published by Dr. Charles Vincent

Her Legacy Continues.

In memory of Mickey Thompson Vincent, Founder and Publisher.

Dr. Charles & “Mickey” Vincent

An Afternoon Tea Celebrating the Career of Dr. Vivian Pinn

Dr. Vivian Pinn being congratulated by Mayor Muriel Bowser

Dr. Vivian Pinn is an American physician, scientist, and pathologist known for her advocacy of women’s health issues and concerns. She has served as associate director for research on women’s health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has directed NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health. She has previously taught at Harvard University and Tufts University (where she also served as assistant dean of student and minority affairs) in Massachusetts, as well as Howard University College of Medicine (where she also chaired the Department of Pathology) in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Marilyn T Brown, Dr. Vivian Pinn, Allie Latimer, Atty., Claudia McKoin, Atty., Madeline Lawson, Executive Director of the Links, Inc.

Members of the Washington, DC Chapter of The Links, Inc.

photos to:

Rachel Williams

The Imperial Tatiana Debutante Ball at the Embassy of the Russian Federation

Lavern Chatman with Guest

Oleg Zhiganov, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the United States and Head of the Russian Cultural Centre with his daughter Ksenia.

Violin Performance by Julia Angelov, 11th Grade at the National Cathedral School for Girls performing at the Russian Cultural Centre

Board of Governors of the Russian Cultural Centre

The magnificent Fourth Annual Tatiana Debutante Ball was held at the Embassy of the Russian Federation. The Ball dates Guest of from the reign of Catherine the Ball the Great. The pomp and circumstance took place in the vaulted Amber Room, reminiscent of the Imperial Ballroom in Catherine’s Palace in St. Petersburg. The beautiful Debutantes, Dr. Clayton Lawrence (LEAP Foundation), the Russian cuisine, the Lavern Chatman, Dr. Charles Vincent, Julia champagne, and the Pollard, and Angela Moody (EDJAssoc.) at Russian Vodka made the the Russian Embassy Ball. evening unforgettable.

Social Sightings - THE MAGAZINE Subscribe www.SocialSightings.com Kendra Handy/Editor Dr. Charles Vincent/Photographer Brian Young/Graphic Designer l

Social Sightings-The Column is published in the Hill Rag, DC Mid-City, East of the River Journals, The Washington Informer Newspaper and in the Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlingnton, Loudoun Woman Magazines

2 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 PAGE

36 Around the Region.................. 4-11 PG County................................12-13 Montgomery County..................14 Business...........................................15 National.....................................16-17 International..................................18 Health ......................................20-21 Education ......................................23

PAGE

OpEd........................................25-27 Black History ........................28-32 Lifestyle.................................. 33-35 Sports...................................... 36-37 Religion...........................................39

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 3 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

around the region

W I HBreak O T the T OCycle P I C of S Women Domestic Violence

SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY

COMPILED BY D. KEVIN MCNEIR, WI EDITOR AND TATYANA HOPKINS, WI STAFF WRITER

DHCD Sites Progress on Vacant to Vibrant DC Initiative

By Tia Carol Jones

www.washingtoninformer.com

law enforcement. She said they threat,” she said. of Housing and Community Development [DHCD] announced progress to provide had come together to bring a recently Among the programs Marlow more workforce housing in the Districtsense with of theuniformity closing of aninauction of 33 properties through Mayor Muriel Bowsthe way wants to see implemented are er’s “Vacant ToMarlow's Vibrant DC” initiative. When L.Y. 23-year- domestic violence victims and stricter restraining order policies, one more we are gettingsurvivors Washingtonians in all eight wards on more pathways to for the middle Bowser old“[It’s] daughter told way her the father are treated. rights victim'sclass,” families said. “The outpouring of support for this initiative is a reflection of our community’s commitment to finding new of her daughter threatened her “She's using her own personal to intervene on behalf of a vic- and innovative ways to build more affordable housing, createpersonal new job opportunities and aensure that more residents are able life, and the life of their child, story, her own pain to tim, domestic violence assessto participate in our city’s prosperity.” she knew something had to be push forward,” Davis-Nickens ment unit coupled with further The five-day Alex Cooper Auctioneers closed January 23, withtraining all 33 sitesfor – inlaw neighborhoods such as done. Out of auction by her frustration said about Marlow. enforcement Bellvue 8), Carver/Langston 5), Deanwood (Ward and Park View (Ward receiving The winwith law(Ward enforcement's handling (Ward Davis-Nickens said 7) anyone agencies, a 1) Child's Lifebids. Protecwill beshe notified overto the next several to finalize the purchase agreement. ofning thebidder situation, decided who readsweeks Marlow's book will tion Act and mandatory counselstart“Those the Saving Promise who attended our caminformational represented a variety estate investors, real estate “get meetings it.” She said she “puts the of groups—real ing for batterers. paign. agents, community representatives, homeowners andafuture buyers,” said“If DHCD PollytoDonaldson. case in such way, home the average we areDirector ever going eradi“It matter seems what to betheir a vicious cycle “No category, attendees werecan most in the auction’s potential to provide more person getinterested it.” She said at the cate domestic violence, wehomeownmust that turn inmy family end of the day, the book will look at both sides of the coin. ershipwon't opportunities the District.” loose,” Marlow help people 2017 begintoto have a the dia-balance Weofneed to address boths Property the vic- AcVacantMarlow to Vibrantsaid. DC was launched in December transform inventory in DHCD’ shared with Division the audilogue about domestic violence. tim and the Marlow quisitionher andstory Disposition (PADD) into productive solutions using five action points. So far,batterer,” the Bowser Administraence atsparked the District present at the event units, was with said. tion has the creationHeights or preservationAlso of more than 9,600 affordable another 3,300 units in preconstruction. Domestic Violence Symposium Mildred Muhammad, the exMarlow would also like to see on May 7 at the District Heights wife of John Allen Muhammad, programs designed to raise WI Publisher Dozens of D.C. Leaders Honoredawareness for Community Outreach Municipal Center. Among The sympowho was sentenced to six consecamong children in sium was sponsored by the utive life terms without parole public and private schools. She At-Large D.C. Councilmember Anita Bonds has selected Denise Rolark Barnes, WashingFamily and Youth Services by a Maryland jury for his role in feels children need to be educatton Informer publisher, and her publication to be award recipients during the councilmember’s Center of the city of District the Beltway Sniper attacks in ed about domestic violence. Annual Community Cornerstone Awards and Reception for outstanding contributions Heights and the NationalThird Hook2002. Mildred Muhammad is “We have to stop being pasto the District of Columbia and her people. The ceremony took place on Thursday, Feb. 8 at Up of Black Women. the founder of After the Trauma, sive-aggressive with poor chilJohn Wilson District Building in Northwest. Rolark Barnes said she was honored to be Marlow has written athebook, an organization that helps the dren about domestic violence,” chosen the award, adding thatviolence her efforts to assist the residents of the District serves “Color Me Butterfly,” which is ato receive survivors of domestic Marlow said. as an extension of the example first set by her parents and stepmother. story about four generations of and their children. Marlow has worked to break Other award winners included: ANC Commissioner Betty Cannon; domestic violence. The book is “I lived in fear for six years. Six the cycle of Scippio; abuse inCorrine her family, DC Diaper Bank; inspired by her own experiences, years in fear is a long time. It is and is confident the policies she Gerald S.not Norde the Write Thing;out Metro-DC Chapterfor of National Congress and those of her grandmother, an Jr.; easydothing to come is pushing will start that of Black Women: Bernice Oden, Linda Jo Smith and Johnnie Scott Rice; Coach Gerson her mother and her daughter. of,” she said. process. 5Anita Bonds /Courtesy photo Scores; ANC Commissioner Frank Jones III;to Keena The Widow’s She said every time sheQuinteros, reads DCMildred Muhammad said “I plan take Trapps, these policies to Pantry; Franklyn 100still Fathers,people Inc.; who want to help a Congress and implore them to excerpts from herMalone, book, she Historic Mainviolence Streets; Kia Hayes, Esq.; Pastor Elijah Mark said. Pattison, canDail not Doucette, believe the words Dupont came Circle domestic victim must change our Sutton, laws,” Jr.; Marlow Shepherd Citizens Association and; Bryant Community Life Services. from her. Park “Color Me Butterfly” be Diane carefulCarter of how they go into Family “I will not stop until these poliwon the 2007founder National “BestThethe Malone, and CEO, 100victim's Fathers, life, Inc.,and dedicated his award to hisare parents, Franklyn A. and Annie S. understand cies passed.” Books” Malone,Award. Ward 4 residents, who recently celebrated 70 years that she may be of in marriage. “survival Tia Carol Jones can be reached “I was justfurther 16-years-old when Malone added, “No one person could have accomplished what our of ‘ordinary men doing extraormode”. atgroup tiacaroljones@sbcglobal.net my eye things’ first blackened my year. Truly dinary has during and the past thisyou is a collaboration of like-minded, compassionate folk dedicated to “Before get to 'I'm going lips bled,” Marlow said.and the lost into you,' it started a verbaland hopeful.” saving the last, the least ourkill community. We areashumbled WI Elaine Davis-Nickens, president of the National Hook-Up Mayor Bowser toisKick of Black Women, said there no off Black History Month with Economic Toolkit consistency in the way domestic D.C. Mayor Muriel will kick off Black History month by sharing resources aimed at assisting District violence issues are dealtBowser with by residents seeking to improve their economic status. On Thursday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. at the Howard Theater in Northwest, the mayor will announce the release of “A Fair Shot: A Toolkit for African-American Prosperity.” The toolkit provides an overview of DC government-funded programs and services that support African-American residents on their pathway to prosperity. The guide outlines services for individual residents, senior citizens, families and business owners. Bowser will be joined by Courtney Snowden, Deputy Mayor for Greater Economic Opportunity and Rahman Branch, director, Office on African American Affairs. WIThe StaffDepartment Writer

Email comments to: rburke@ washingtoninformer.com

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

The Washington Informer Newspaper THE WASHINGTON INFORMER InPUBLISHER Memoriam NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, Denise RolarkSr. Barnes published weekly on each Thursday. Wilhelmina J. Rolark Periodicals postage paid at Washington, THE D.C.WASHINGTON and additional mailing ofSTAFF INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published fices.weekly News on andThursday. advertising deadline postage Periodicals paid atMcNeir, Washington, D.C. and additional D. Kevin Editor is Monday to News publication. Anmailing prior offices. and advertising Monday prior to publication. Rondeadline Burke,isAdvertising/ Marketing Director nouncements must be received two two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2000 by The Announcements must be received Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016 Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POST MASTER: Send change of addressBarnes, Assistant Photo Editor by es The Washington Informer. to The Washington Informer,All3117Lafayette Martin Luther King, IV, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, rightsD.C. reserved. John E.be De Freitas, Sports Editor 20032.POSTMASTER: No part of thisSend publication may reproduced withoutPhoto written permischange addresses to TheThe Washsionoffrom the publisher. Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee Dorothy Rowley, Online Editorthe return of ington Informer, 3117 Martin rates Luther photographs. Subscription are $30 per year, two years $45. Papers be received ZebraDesigns.net, Design & will Layout King,notJr.more Ave.,than S.E.a Washington, D.C. week after publication. Make checks payable to: Mable Neville, Bookkeeper 20032. No part of this publication may Dr. Charles Vincent, Social Sightings columnist be reproduced without written permisTHE WASHINGTON INFORMER sion from the3117 publisher. The Informer Social Media Martin Luther King, Jr.Tatiana Ave., S.E.Moten, • Washington, D.C. Specialist 20032 Newspaper cannot guarantee the return Phone: 202 561-4100 202 574-3785 Angie• Fax: Johnson, Circulation of photographs. Subscription rates are E-mail: news@washingtoninformer.com $45 per year, two years $60. Papers will www.washingtoninformer.com REPORTERS be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to: Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, PUBLISHER Cox, Will Ford (Prince George’s Timothy THE WASHINGTON INFORMER Denise Rolark Barnes County Writer), Eve M. Ferguson, Hamil 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E STAFF REPORTERS Harris, Tatyana Hopkins, Jade James-Gist, Washington, D.C. 20032 Brooke N. Garner Managing Editor Tia C.Jr., Jones, Ed Laiscell, Daniel Kucin, D. Kevin McNeir, Lauren Phone: 202 561-4100 Carla Peay Assistant Managing Editor Odell B. Ruffin, Larry Saxton, Fax: 202 574-3785 Poteat, Dorothy Rowley, Ron Burke Advertising and Marketing Mary Wells, JosephBrenda Young Siler, Sarafina news@washingtoninformer.com Wright (General Assignment Writer) Mable Whittaker Bookkeeper www.washingtoninformer.com LaNita Wrenn Administration PHOTOGRAPHERS John E. De Freitas Sports Editor Lafayette Barnes, IV, PHOTOGRAPHERS Victor Holt Photo Editor John E. De Freitas, Maurice Fitzgerald, Zebra Designs, Inc. Layout & Graphic John DesignE. DeFreitas, Joanne Jackson, RoyLassiter, Lewis, Robert Shevry Ken Harris /www.scsworks.com Webmaster Ridley, Victor Holt

“

We have to stop being passive-aggressive with poor children about domestic violence. I plan to take these D.C. Lawmakers Will Not Pursue Investigation into UMC, for Now tointoCongress and Last week, D.C. lawmakers chose not to pursue a policies formal investigation United Medical Center [UMC] management and board. Councilmember Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) decided to table a resolution to subpoena witnesses and documentsto related implore them change our to the operation of the hospital and its closed-door decision to eliminate its obstetric unit. “The East End of our city is experiencing a health care crisis,” Gray said. “Obstetrical laws. I will not stop until services have ceased to exist at UMC and at Providence Hospital. At the same time, infant mortality, which was at record lows, is starting to increase. This is a crisis with life these policies and death consequences,. There is no comprehensive health care system on the East Endare passed.

“

Visit our updated Web site and give us your comments for a chance to win a gift from The Washington Informer

of the city.” L.Y. Marlow The director of the D.C. Office of Open Government said in a ruling issued last FriPaul Trantham day that the hospital’s board broke the law intended to ensure a transparent government 5Vincent Gray /Courtesy photo when it excluded the public from its discussion and vote to close its obstetrics ward. The board must provide an audio recording of its closed-door meeting and vote results to the public, as well as all documents reviewed during the meeting. The board will undergo voluntary training on the city’s open-meeting rules. 4 / May 15 - 21, 2008 The Washington Informer / www.washingtoninformer.com Roy Lewis, Demetrious Kinney, Daniel Kucin, Jr., Mark Mahonny, CIRCULATION Lateef Mangum

4 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

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Jesse Jackson Calls on Ebenezer AME to Continue Dr. King’s Work

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5 The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. challenges the audience. /Photo courtesy Hamil R. Harris

By Hamil R. Harris WI Contributing Writer The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. went on the offensive Sunday at the Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oxon Hill, Maryland, where he told a sanctuary full of millennials and others that the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is far from over. Belying his recent disclosure that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the civil rights icon looked and sounded strong while making the case that not even President Trump can reverse all the gains African Americans have made in this country. “When I saw the big bad football game between Georgia and Alabama, the press just mentioned who organized it and I said, ‘Dr. King organize that game,’” Jackson said. “[George] Wallace blocked the school door, he didn’t organize it. … It would have been illegal to play together or stay together. Our struggle made the new South possible. Michael Jordan couldn’t have gone to North Carolina. … Bo Jackson couldn’t have gone to Auburn. Our struggle made the new South possible.” Jackson was referring to June 11, 1963, when, as Alabama governor, Wallace blocked the entrance to a school to prevent it from being integrated. He later said that in Alabama

elected a Democratic senator in November because Blacks went to the polls and voted. “One our of every third person that voted was black,” he said. Jackson told Pastor Grainger Browning and his congregation that he isn’t worried about his health, saying that he takes medication several times a day and has increased his exercise routine, but “faith is the strongest medicine.” “I am not worried about the Parkinson’s situation is because I have seen a lot in my life,” he said. “I went to jail when I was 19. ... I saw Mandela come out of jail. I saw the Japanese rebound from being bombed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I saw the Great Wall of China. “I have seen a lot in my life and time and in all that I have seen, I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread,” said Jackson as his voice grew louder. “Job said, ‘Though you slay me yet when I trust you. I know that my redeemer liveth.’ There is nothing too hard for God.’” Jackson concluded his sermon by coming down to the altar where many young people had gathered and hugging each one of them. Following the service, Jackson met with the Howard University students and other children at a press conference. “Our challenge today is to deal

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with the Trump era,” Jackson said. “Trump has vowed to unravel everything that Dr. King bound and everything that Barack [Obama] bound. What would [King] do today? Number one, he would not exchange nastiness. put out fire with water, put out hate with love. It would not be a tweeting contest.” Jackson said exercising one’s right to vote remains of upmost importance. “We have seen God do so many marvelous things in the past when we didn’t have the right to vote. Now we have power,” he said. “In the Virginia race, one out of every votes was an African-American, in Alabama one out of every three votes was African-American ... and across the South there are 4 million Black voters unregistered. “People should vote their interest,” Jackson said. Ebenezer officials said the church sends a bus to Howard University every Sunday to bring the students back for worship and a meal. But this Sunday, they got a extra lesson from Jackson. “Dr. King would have us do mass nonviolent direct action — mass marchers as the women did last week, mass voting for children’s health, mass voting for the right to vote, mass voting to end violence,” Jackson said. “Mass voting to bring people together to end of the hatred and the bitterness.” WI

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 5 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

AROUND THE REGION

WEEK OF FEB 1 - 7, 2018

Source: Black America Web

FEB 1

1902 – African-American writer and social activist Langston Hughes is born in Joplin, Missouri. 1960 – The Greensboro sit-in, an act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., begins. 1965 – Alabama officials arrest 700 blacks as they demonstrate against the state’s voter registration requirements in Selma. 1976 – President Gerald Ford officially designates February as Black History Month in the United States. 1978 – The United States Postal Service issues the first stamp of the Black Heritage Series, honoring Harriet Tubman, abolitionist and Underground Railroad “conductor.”

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6 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

1897 – Inventor Alfred Cralle receives patent for the ice cream scooper. 1990 – South African President F. W. de Klerk lifts a 30-year ban on leading anti-apartheid group the African National Congress. 2009 – Eric Holder becomes the first Black person to be confirmed as United States attorney general.

FEB. 3

1870 – The 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which granted African-American men the right to vote, is ratified. 1920 – The Negro National League, one of several organized Black baseball leagues, is founded. 1989 – Bill White is named president of Major League Baseball’s National League, becoming the first Black to head a major professional sports league. 1956 – Autherine Lucy enrolls as a graduate student at the University of Alabama, becoming the first African-American ever admitted to a white public school or university in the state.

FEB. 4

1794 – The first Black Methodist Episcopal church in America is founded in Philadelphia. 1913 – Rosa Parks, the “first lady of civil rights,” is born in Tuskegee, Alabama. 1997 – Then-Rep. J.C. Watts becomes the first Black selected to respond to a State of the Union Address. 2006 – NFL great Warren Moon becomes the first Black quarterback inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 2007 – Tony Dungy becomes the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

FEB. 5

1869 – Educator Minnie Cox, one of the first Black female U.S. postmasters, is born in Lexington, Mississippi. 1884 – Inventor Willis Johnson patents the egg beater. 1934 – Baseball legend Hank Aaron is born in Mobile, Alabama. 1972 – Bob Douglas, “the father of Black professional basketball,” becomes the first African-American elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. 1990 – Barack Obama becomes the first Black elected to Head Harvard’s Law Review. 1994 – Avowed white supremacist Byron de la Beckwith is convicted of murdering civil rights activist Medgar Evers in 1963.

FEB. 6

1882 – Famed Black poet and civil rights activist Anne Spencer is born in Henry County, Virginia. 1933 – Walter E. Fauntroy, longtime former delegate to the U.S. Congress and former pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in the District, is born in D.C. 1945 – Reggae music icon Bob Marley is born in Jamaica’s Saint Ann Parish. 1993 – Tennis great Arthur Ashe dies in New York City from AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49.

FEB. 7

1887 – Famed pianist Eubie Blake is born in Baltimore. 1965 – Comedian and actor Chris Rock is born in Andrews, South Carolina. 1974 – The Caribbean country of Grenada declares its independence from the United Kingdom. 1991 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide takes the oath of office as Haiti’s first democratically elected president. WI

CHRIS ROCK

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VIEW P INT By Sarafina Wright

Actress and comedian Monique called for a boycott of streaming service Netflix for its race and gender pay gaps after receiving what she said was an insufficient offer for a standup special. What are your thoughts? AL PUNTER /

WASHINGTON, D.C.

This is my view on this: do we have a wage gap issue when it comes to women and minorities? Yes, we do and it needs to be addressed. However, in Monique’s situation, I think it has more to do with her not being a hot name in the present. Amy Schumer, while not the funniest, is one of the hottest comics right now, so she can command what she got paid from Netflix. What has Monique done lately, except bash Oprah, Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry? She hasn’t had a comedy special since 2006. Yes, she is an Oscar winner, but is Netflix going to make serious money off Monique? Nope. Now she has every right to turn down that offer but asking us, who wish we had $500,000, to boycott Netflix is a stretch.

LUCINDA PRINGLE /

SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA

What have any of them done for the Black community? When was the last time Monique was popular? When was the last time we’ve seen Wanda Sykes? We have more pressing issues in our community!

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The reaction to this by Black people is so sad. This is about more than Monique, it’s about the devaluation of women of color. The fact that so many of us can’t grasp that is why we have such a hard time moving ahead. Your opinion about a broad subject should not be defined by who is saying it.

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Bottom line: Not enough people will back Monique to make a difference. If she was going to be an activist, she should have started when the subject was not about her. This conversation will be over in two weeks. Move on, nothing more to see here.

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Monique Wants Us to Boycott Netflix – She Must be Crazy!

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The comedienne Monique has gone on the warpath with Netflix as her target and it seems that she has asked the Black community to join in by boycotting Netflix. I’m not sure if she’s lost her marbles but what I do know is I will not be joining in such an endeavor. I already have problems with the kinds of money that entertainers and athletes receive, particularly when compared to those who perform what I believe are much more important and essential tasks – like teachers, police officers and even journalists like me. The difference between the yearly incomes, not to mention the endorsements, are simply unbelievable. But in this U.S. economic model where supply and demand determine the final yield in pay, that’s just the way it is. Thus, while I would never pay a football player or a hip-hop rapper the kind of money they garner, sometimes for just one gridiron showdown or one concert,

I ain’t mad at them. Go get your money! Back to Monique who has spewing fire like a crazed dragon because Netflix made her an offer to do a special comedy show that she says was not commensurate to offers previously made and accepted by folks like Amy Schumer, Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle. Seems that Monique wasn’t feeling the $500,000 offer. Well, as Richard Pryor used to say, “That N is crazy.” Let someone offer me the same amount and you’ll see me cracking jokes, singing songs and even performing a juggling act with bowling pins. Word is Sister Monique isn’t the easiest person to work anyway – maybe she has some pent up anger that she can’t get rid of. Even more, while she can be funny, let’s keep it real – she does not have the punchlines, stage presence or delivery of Chappelle or Chris Rock. Never had it – never will. And while I am not a Schumer fan, anyone who can fill Madison Square Garden two nights in a row, clearly has a fan base that would attract millions of viewers to a Netflix special. Come on Monique, this is all about American competition and the quest for the almighty dollar and you have already benefited greatly from this system. My advice: either take the money or shut

“Come on Monique, this is all about American competition and the quest for the almighty dollar and you have already benefited greatly from this system.” your mouth. But I am NOT boycotting Netflix. They are my go to station these days, right behind CNN, MSNBC and SyFy. And for the record, I want to know what you’ve ever done for me or the Black press for whom I have dedicated the majority of my professional life in support of our endeavors. We haven’t even had the pleasure of being provided with an exclusive interview. Now you need us, huh? As my other half likes to say, “Girl, Bye!” WI

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AROUND THE REGION

BOYCOTT from Page 1 that his agenda represents nothing but pain and suffering for communities of color, the poor, women and immigrants.” “We know that what we do now on issues like protecting the vote and mobilizing for midterm elections will play a major role in what next year’s State of the Union will look like for us,” he said. Martin said many Americans have been left out of Trump’s plans for prosperity. “While Trump touts the stock market as an example of America prospering, all is not well with our Union,” he said. “Our discussion put a spotlight on a variety of issues that are vital to our community – many of which were overlooked in his address.” Johnson joined other panelists that included: Melanie Campbell, president and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable Public Policy Network; Dr. Greg Carr, professor of Africana Studies, Howard University; Kristen Clarke, president and executive director, National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Liz Copeland, president and Founder, Urban Conservative Project, Inc.; Joseline Garcia, president, United States Student Association; Tiffa-

5 (L-R) Marcia Pollard of Capitol Heights, Karen Devalera of Northwest, and Annie R. Mack of Upper Marlboro attend the counter State of the Union event held at Shiloh Baptist Church in Northwest on Tuesday, Jan. 30. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter

ny Loftin, senior program specialist in community advocacy and partnership engagement, National Education Association; and Dr. William Spriggs, professor of Economics, Howard University. The topics they discussed ranged from voter suppression, economics and jobs to judicial appointments, local elections and ballot initiatives. Meanwhile, plenty of people used social media to post their thoughts on Trump’s speech. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) posted at least eight tweets on Twitter that ended with #SOTU.

“Should he decide to pursue an agenda that puts working families first – on economic issues, on infrastructure investments, on protecting our #Dreamers—@SenateDems stand ready to work with him. But if he refuses to change his ways, we will fight him tooth and nail.” The CBC shared its message for Trump and inheritance. “Much like the money he inherited from his father to start his business, @realDonaldTrump inherited the low Black unemployment rate from @BarackObama.

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Scenes from the District 4 Mayor Muriel Bowser, Annual Council Breakfast hear testimony from government agencies, the main presentation from Eric Shaw, director of the Office of Planning, on Tuesday January 30 at the Wilson Building in Northwest. /Photo by Roy Lewis 3 Kim R. Ford (right) meets with residents during her official campaign launch and “Whistle Stop Tour,” Mon., Jan. 29. The launch event began at Minnesota Avenue in Ward 7, traveled through all eight wards and ended with a kick-off party inside Thunder Grill at Union Station. Ford, a registered Democrat, is campaigning to become the District’s congressional representative, a position currently held by Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is serving her 14th term as Congresswoman for the District. Ford and Norton are expected to face off in the District’s primary elections on June 19. /Photo by E Watson/EDI Photo

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“The citizenship of the Negro in this country is a fiction.” “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world and it stands in danger of being eliminated.” – Carter G. Woodson 1921, 1935, (respectively)

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AROUND THE REGION NNPA from Page 1 “This [signing] consummates a working relationship of two of the world’s largest organizations that’s dealing with the empowerment of Black people,” Chavis said. Leavell echoed her pleasure with the new partnership. “I attempted to do something similar in the 1990s and I’m very determined now,” she said. “We are going to set a precedent and I hope we will be able to repeat this with many other national organizations because if we solidify our strength, things will be different for all of us in the United States of America.” Johnson said one of the goals he and Russell have in common is maintaining the rich tradition of the NAACP. “Anytime we move away from that, we lose our way,” he said. In 2017, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave NNPA a $1.5 million grant to support a three-year, multimedia public awareness campaign focusing on the unique opportunities and challenges of ESSA. “It’s critical for our parents to be involved and the Black Press is strategically embedded in our communities so we have more opportunity to get the word out about ESSA,” Chavis said. Elizabeth V. Primas, project manager for the NNPA/ESSA grand and a longtime educator, said the ESSA law was established to help increase the effectiveness of public education in every state. Under ESSA, states must adhere to more flexible federal regulations that provide for improved elementary and secondary education in the nation’s public schools. The law also ensures that every child, regardless of race, income, background, or where they live have the opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. “Education is the pathway out of poverty,” Primas said. Ford, Nissan, Pfizer and Wells Fargo announced new commitments to strengthen their relationship with the Black Press and communities of color. During one workshop, top representatives in education, real estate and the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) reported robust growth and strong impact in their respective organizations. Lezli Baskerville, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity (NAFEO), spoke passionately about the state of higher education for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) while Julius Cartwright presented an encouraging report from

the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). And while the Rev. Tony Lee of AME argued passionately about the strong state of the Black church, it was a fiery, no-holds-barred speech from Amos C. Brown that brought the capacity crowd to its feet. Brown, a civil rights icon who serves as the senior pastor at the Third Baptist Church in San Francisco and president of the city’s branch of the NAACP, touted the virtues of the oldest civil rights organization in America and its importance today. In what amounted to a sermon worthy of any Sunday service, Brown said the Black Press must tell the story of African-Americans. “Let no one else tell it for us,” he said before providing a vivid picture of his foray into the civil rights movement as a teenager. “One of the problems with the Black community today is that we don’t have enough rituals of remembrance,” Brown said. “’The Man’ is doing today what he’s always done,” he said, alluding to the current administration and its policies. “They say to make sure if you’re Black, you get back. If you’re brown, you stick around and if you’re White, you’re always right. … They’re not any better than we are. We came from Mother Africa.” Baskerville, a 2014 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Fellow, said the state of HBCUs remains strong. “From my vantage point, HBCUs in 2018 are strong and getting stronger. In fact, it’s harvest time for HBCUs,” she said. The vitriol coming from the White House and its policies jeopardizing voting and other rights are reminiscent of the time when HBCUs were born, Baskerville warned. “The actions and words and legislation that’s taking place will turn back the clock if we let it happen,” she said. “But I say it’s harvest time for HBCUs because it’s the 50th anniversary of the sanitation workers’ march and the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and we are still going strong. “We are 106 strong and if you read fake news, HBCUs are closing,” Baskerville said. “We have lost just one and we are still struggling to get it back. I say its harvest time because while HBCUs are just 3 percent of schools, we graduate 20 percent of African-Americans across the country. Sixty-percent of graduates are African-American public health professionals, 50 percent of African-American public school teachers and more than 40 percent are STEM professionals.”

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Cartwright said NAREB — the oldest such African-American group — is working to help Black homebuyers. “Most African-Americans were stripped of their wealth with the housing decline with trillions of dollars lost,” he said. Cartwright cited a recent report that found the net worth of African Americans who don’t own real estate was $1,000, compared to $70,000 to $80,000 for Whites. While the net worth of White women is $41,000, it was a mere $5 for Black women, he said, citing the report. “Real estate is the cornerstone of wealth,” he said. “That’s the equity we need to pass onto the next generation.” Cartwright said that NAREB is committed to helping effect change. When it comes to the Black church, Lee cautioned African-Americans not to be dissuaded by megachurches and television evangelists. He said the AME is united and membership is on the rise, as are

5 Dorothy Leavell (2nd from right), the chairman of the NNPA, signs the strategic partnership agreement between the NNPA and the NAACP designed to jointly focus on key issues that affect the Black community, as (from left-right) Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP; Leon Russell, the chairman of the NAACP; and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA, look on during the 2018 NNPA Mid-Winter Conference in Las Vegas. /Photo courtesy of Freddie Allen/AMG/NNPA

mobilization efforts such as in Alabama recently during the contentious Senate race between Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore.

“The Black church isn’t seeing the type of radical drop-off in its membership that White churches see,” Lee said. WI

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 11 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY Gubernatorial Hopeful Madaleno Talks Budget and Transportation Issues By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Maryland state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. may not have high poll numbers in the gubernatorial Democratic primary so far, but he touts his nearly 16 years as a lawmaker to defeat Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. Madaleno helped lead the effort for same-sex marriage in Maryland when voters approved it in 2012. Last year, the 52-year-old lawmaker from Montgomery County sponsored legislation to eliminate the farebox recovery rule that allowed the state’s transportation administration to recover at least 35 percent of operating costs from fares and other revenues. The law now focuses on service efficiency and the administration must submit annual reports on mass transit services in the Baltimore region and comparison of others regionally and nationwide. If Madaleno is elected, he would become the state’s first openly gay governor. He and his husband, Mark Hodge, have two adopted children, Katie, 14, and Jackson, 10. Poll numbers show Madaleno posting single digits in the race for the Democratic nomination in the June 26 primary, trailing Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III; Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz; and former NAACP President Ben Jealous. However, Madaleno stood ahead of Krish Vignarajah, former policy adviser for first lady Michelle Obama; tech entrepreneur Alec Ross; and Baltimore attorney Jim Shea. Mileah Kromer, director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College in Towson, said Madaleno’s biggest asset comes from his progressive record such as his support of $15 minimum wage and experience in state politics, especially as vice chair of the Senate’s

12 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

Budget and Taxation Committee. She describes him “as a progressive policy wonk.” “He has an established track record. Rich has been there,” Kromer said. “Of all the candidates running, he has the deepest understanding of the state legislative budget. This legislative session will allow him to be able to highlight some of his direct accomplishments.” Madaleno talked about the state budget, housing and transportation during an interview Thursday, Jan. 25 in his office in Annapolis. Here’s some of his thoughts, in his own words:

STATE BUDGET

Hogan funds a variety of formulas in education as mandated by law, but he takes out planned increases for some of the organizations that provide services to people living with developmental disabilities and mental illness [such as] the Arc of Maryland [and] the Maryland Association of Community Services. We created a mechanism to try and make sure there was a pay differential between the minimum wage and what they were paying. If you are hiring someone to do direct care of a person with a disability, you should pay more than the minimum wage because you want them to try and stay around. Years ago, we had set up formula to make sure their reimbursement rate increased with the minimum wage. They were due a 3.5 percent increase this year, but the governor only put 1 percent. The governor has been playing games with Prince George’s Hospital Center. Last year, we all agreed to set aside a commitment of dollars for construction. The University of Maryland Medical System that’s going to be operating the hospital was anticipating this chunk of money. [Hogan] is delaying it by two years. I know people say it is not fair to compare him to Donald Trump. They’re

5 State Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. /File photo by William J. Ford

“Lack of

affordable housing is a huge problem for economic growth, certainly throughout the metropolitan areas throughout the state.” RICHARD MADALENO, JR both real estate developers. That was their profession immediately preceding their elections to office. Everything is always in negotiation. Haven’t we heard the exact same description of Donald Trump? When do you ever have a deal with Larry Hogan? Everyone thought they were at the table and made a deal on this and how much was going to come in for the hospital. Maybe the state doesn’t have to put up its full amount right now. Wouldn’t you sit down with them first, and talk about it? I find it hard to deal with him and his administration because everything is in negotiation. Could we ever just be straight and transparent about these things and talk?

HOUSING

Without a doubt, the lack of affordable housing is our biggest barrier to growth in this region. I grew up in Silver Spring. I bought my first house 20 years after my parents bought their first house in

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Montgomery County. I paid double the price for a house half the size. Now, that house is worth three times more. For a simple, suburban 1950s Cape Cod. Not to pick on a college student, but how are you going to afford to buy a house? How do you afford rent in this area? Lack of affordable housing is a huge problem for economic growth, certainly throughout the metropolitan areas throughout the state. It is a problem that is shared by all of the dynamic metropolitan areas of the country. Montgomery County has something called a moderately-priced dwelling unit provision in its zoning, which allows for a developer to have a greater number of units if [developer] dedicate a portion of those units to being moderately priced. You can build a 24-story building if you dedicated two of those floors to affordable housing. There is a requirement in the law if you don’t do it for certain projects, you either do it, or you pay into a fund that will produce affordable housing. For foreclosures, I would work very aggressively with our attorney general to see what we need to do now. We did a bunch of policy changes when the market collapsed in 2008. A decade on, are they still where we need and how do we make sure we don’t get back into that same environment? It seems like the federal government is rolling back some of the restrictions they put on financial institutions. Many of these financial institutions are chartered and regulated at the national level. There are so many things we could do on the state level. We regulate some state banks and I think we have been aggressive.

TRANSPORTATION

The biggest issue about transportation is we already have a robust dedicated funding source for transportation in the state of Maryland.

What we don’t have is leadership that is willing to prioritize that money should go where it’s going to have the most impact on congestion. Investments in public transit and into the multi-mobile network that serves the two metropolitan areas. What we need to do in the Washington region and Baltimore region is to create a regional revenue collection and decision-making body that gets to prioritize projects and support all of the projects that are occurring in the region. The more complicated thing in the Washington area is you have to do it with D.C. and Northern Virginia. The nice part in the Baltimore region, every jurisdiction is in the state of Maryland. D.C. maintains everything. In Virginia, the state maintains all roads. Transit is on the local governments [in Virginia]. In Maryland, transit is almost exclusively by the state government. The state maintains the major roads and local governments do all the local roads. There needs to be some harmonizing between the three jurisdictions, but we have to find a way to pull our revenues and keep them in the metropolitan areas. A lot of people are talking about a regional sales tax [to fund Metro]. All we would wind up doing is raising money from our area that would just supplant the money that we are already giving the state to pay for these projects. We raise more than enough money for our current transportation structure. We don’t need a new tax source. We need a mechanism that ensures our tax revenues are going to pay for Metro. The problem right now is our governor gets to decide every transportation project. That’s just our system. Having more local decision-making will make it easier for communities to buy into their future. This whole new structure would have to be created by the legislature. WI

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Alsobrooks Leads in Fundraising for County Executive Race By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks has stated she’s serious about her run for county executive. And judging by campaign finance reports filed last month, she wasn’t joking. In the past year, Alsobrooks raised $777,000 and has about $983,000 cash on hand. She had $508,000 in the bank before she began to raise money Jan. 12, 2017. “I often say, don’t judge me by my words but by the work I have done,” she said in a statement Jan. 17. “The same holds true here: don’t judge our support by a dollar amount, but by the work we did casting a wide net to earn the support of a broad base of county residents.” The campaign noted it received more than 2,200 contributions from at least 1,600 people, with 65 percent from Prince George’s County residents and businesses. The amounts from individuals and corporations range from $10 to $6,000. Those who contributed to the Alsobrooks campaign include: • $6,000 – Pamela Bundy of Bundy Development Corp. of Northwest • $4,400 – Enid Cruise, a chiropractor who runs Absolute Chiropractic Care in Oxon Hill • $3,000 – Sheila Curry of Upper Marlboro, widow of the late Prince George’s County Executive Wayne K. Curry • $1,740 – Plumbers & Gasfitters Union Local 5 of Camp Springs Alsobrooks has more than 12 times the amount of money as her closest opponent, state Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-District 26) of Accokeek. According to his campaign report, he raised about $123,000 with $86,000 cash on hand. The list of contributions on the Muse campaign report includes $2,500 from Holmes Mechanical Contractors of Capitol Heights, $1,000 from Hiligh Trucking Hauling of

Hyattsville and $300 from Prince George’s County National Coalition of 100 Black Women of Riverdale. Former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) raised almost $159,000 with $81,667 cash on hand. However, Edwards didn’t begin raising money until October with contributions from individuals and organizations such as $6,000 from Patricia Bauman, who runs her own foundation in Northwest; $6,000 from LiUNA! (Laborers’ International Union of North America); and more than three dozen donations of $5. “I’m running a campaign focused on the urgent needs of the people in Prince George’s County,” Edwards said in a statement. “It’s time for the next era of opportunity in Prince George’s County. One that is transparent, innovative and focused on expanding economic opportunities and fairness for all residents.” Campaign reports show Calvin Cafritz, who owns a real estate company and is president and CEO of the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation of Northwest, contributed at least $1,000 each last month to both Alsobrooks and Edwards. However, Cafritz has committed up to $6,000 for Alsobrooks. Although Cafrtiz donated money to two Democrats, he paid a $2,500 check to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s campaign, according to the governor’s campaign report. The other two Democratic candidates in the county executive primary race posted lower amounts. Paul Montiero, a former official with President Barack Obama’s administration, raised $60,000 with about $16,000 cash on hand, while Lewis S. Johnson,\ filed a form that shows he raised less $1,000 for the reporting period. Those interested in running for political office in Maryland have until Feb. 27 to file a certificate of candidacy. The next campaign finance reporting deadline is May 22. WI

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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

5 Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, seen here during the July 31 announcement of her bid for county executive, leads the way in money raised for the Democratic primary. /File photo by Lateef Mangum

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 13 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN THE NEWS

Compiled by Lauren Poteat WI Contributing Writer

MD. GOV. LARRY HOGAN FIGHTS FOR AMAZON HEADQUARTERS

The fight for Amazon’s new headquarters continues. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan released last week more details about the state’s $5 billion plan to lure the company to Montgomery County to

build its coveted second headquarters. Hogan’s legislative proposal would clear the way for more than $3 billion in tax incentives for the company and pledged to spend billions more in road, transit and infrastructure upgrades. Hogan said in an issued statement that the headquarters is “the single greatest economic development opportunity in a generation, and we’re committing all of the resources we have to bring it home to Maryland.”

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The “Promoting ext-Raordinary Innovation in Maryland’s Economy” (PRIME Act) provides state income tax credits equivalent to 5.75 percent of wages for each job created at the new Amazon headquarters. The credits would apply to jobs created within the first 17 years of the project and pay between $60,000 and $500,000, adding up to more than $3 billion in tax credits.

LEGGETT ENDORSES BAKER FOR GOVERNOR

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has endorsed Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker for governor. Leggett formally announced his endorsement Tuesday, Jan. 23 in a conference room at Houston Hall at Howard University School of Law. Baker is running for the Democratic nomination in hopes of taking on incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in November general election. Leggett, 73, and Baker, 59, have a close relationship and first met in the mid-1980s when Leggett was a professor and dean at Howard University School of Law and Baker was a student. Leggett said he was endorsing Baker not only because of their long relationship, but because Baker had led Prince George’s County out of the recent recession and through the

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5 Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett. /Courtesy of wtop.com

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5 Montgomery County is the only Maryland location still in contention as an option for Amazon’s second headquarters. /Courtesy of abc2news.com

scandal following former County Executive Jack Johnson’s bribery case. “He persisted,” Leggett said. “He persisted not once, but several times to obtain a job that many would not want. Not only has he obtained the job, but he served in excellent fashion. I could not be prouder.”

ROCKVILLE VOTED BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN MARYLAND

Money magazine, a subdivision of Time, recently named Rockville as the best place to live in Maryland. The annual list cited Rockville’s amenities, shops, restaurants and numerous parks that are within walking distance from most homes. It also noted the city’s low unemployment and crime rates. Money also said that Rockville has a projected job growth at 5.75 percent and its median household income at $100,158. Rockville Mayor Bridget Newton said Friday that she was thrilled that the city was recognized, calling it a testament to the hard work of city leaders, government employees and residents working to build a “vibrant, welcoming place.” “I’ve always said Rockville is like a small town in a big city,” she said. “We have all the benefits of the neigh-

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5 County Executive Isiah Leggett /Courtesy of bizjournals.com

LEGGETT DECRIES ELECTION TACTICS

County Executive Isiah Leggett took aim Thursday at incumbent state legislators in District 39, whom he said used “smoke-filled room” tactics to choose a non-incumbent candidate to join their slate in this year’s Democratic primary. Up against the chairs of the county’s Senate and House delegations, Sen. Nancy King and Del. Shane Robinson (both of Montgomery Village) and Del. Kirill Reznik (Germantown), King responded in outrage. “I think the county executive’s comments are out of line,” King said. “There’s sour grapes there because we didn’t go with the same candidate that Ike went with. ... He doesn’t dictate District 39.” Delegates passed over several contenders for the seat, now held by Del. Charles E. Barkley of Germantown, including Gabriel Acevero, a field representative for UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO who was endorsed by Leggett. WI

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BUSINESS Walmart Wage Increase Offset By Massive Layoffs Retail Giant Under Threat by Amazon By Sarafina Wright WI Staff Writer In January, Walmart announced that it would raise its minimum wage to $11 for employees, crediting the benefit of President Trump’s corporate tax cut — but on the same day they also issued thousands of layoffs and dozens of store closures. Reuters reported that the world’s largest retailer will cut 63 of its Sam’s Club discount warehouses, “or about one tenth of the chain overall,” according to an anonymous senior company official. Along with the upping of wages for U.S. employees, Walmart said it would also offer a one-time cash bonus, based on length of service, of up to $1,000 and expand maternity and parental leave benefits. In response to Walmart’s announcement on extending their paid parental leave policy, National Black Worker Center Project Executive Director Tanya Wallace-Gobern said it’s a start — but a start only. “Today’s news from Walmart about an increased minimum wage and extended parental leave policies is a step in the right direction for the nation’s largest private employer of African Americans in the United States,” she said. “Let’s not forget that our country and big corporations like Walmart still have a long way to go to before adequately addressing higher unemployment rates, workplace discrimination, and low-wages in Black communities where Walmart keeps families in poverty.” Wallace-Gobern said the steps that Walmart is taking are merely “breadcrumbs.” “Walmart is deemed a leading company but is far behind the curve in terms of worker rights,” she said. “Black workers, and especially Black women, are at a great disadvantage even with these improvements that still do not match the standard of living that is needed for any worker

with a family. “At Walmart, working full-time still means earning less than the 2016 federal poverty line, so this is not economic justice for Black workers who make up approximately 46 percent of Walmart’s 1.5 million U.S. workers,” Wallace-Gobern said. Walmart said the new tax law will create “some financial benefit for the company” and that it is looking at additional investments, according to Reuters. “We are in the early stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us,” President and Chief Executive Doug McMillon said in a statement. “The law is an opportunity to be more competitive globally and to accelerate investment plans for the United States.” Walmart’s announcement follows companies such as AT&T, Wells Fargo and Boeing that have all gleefully promised more pay for workers since the Republican-controlled Congress passed the biggest overhaul to the U.S. tax code in 30 years. On Jan. 25, Bloomberg reported that in another round of cuts, Walmart will lay off up to 500 employees from its headquarters in an effort to compete with amazon.com. The layoffs will hit the company’s marketing, human resources, merchandising, real estate, logistics and finance divisions, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain said. Walmart said most of those affected will have 60 days to find a new role. “We’ve been looking at our structure for some time as we explore ways to operate more effectively,” the company wrote in an emailed statement, Bloomberg reported. “Those efforts continue. We’re committed to handling every transition smoothly and ensuring everyone is treated as fairly and respectfully as possible.” WI

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5 A scene from a Walmart store. /Courtesy photo

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NATIONAL Music Star Akon Lights up Africa with Solar Company

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer

Last June, platinum-selling music artist Akon reportedly suggested that he might attempt to launch an IPO for his New York-based Solektra International solar company. The Senegal-raised singer’s company is said to have structured some $400 million worth of solar deals to date, including the massively successful launch of the Akon Lighting Africa initiative in February 2014, in which he has 200,000 small solar projects and provides lighting in 14 African countries. Those countries are Senegal, Ni-

ger, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leon, Benin, Guinea Equatorial, Gabon, Republic of Congo, Namibia, Madagascar, Kenya and Nigeria. As Akon toured abroad, he found that one of the biggest obstacles toward earning money was the lack of electricity — many of the countries where he wanted to tour simply didn’t have the infrastructure to support the sort of big concerts and festivals he was used to playing in the states, particularly after dark, according to Forbes Magazine. So about four years ago, he teamed up with fellow Senegalese-American Thione Niang and

5 Akon is continuing his mission of lighting Africa with his solar company. /Courtesy of Akon Lighting Africa

Malian entrepreneur Samba Bathily to create Akon Lighting Africa. The initiative now touts staggering progress in the movement to illuminate a country where millions remain without power: 100,000 solar street lamps installed across 480 communities in 15 countries, along with 1,200 solar micro-grids and 5,500 indirect jobs created. It’s been a novel approach compared to previous efforts in Africa, most of which focused on setting up 20th Century electric infra-

structure. “The majority of them was focused on the grid,” Akon told Forbes. He said he saw an opportunity for Africa to skip directly to localized solar power, just as much of the continent when from having no phone service at all to having cellphones. “Clearly our main focus was the rural areas outside the city,” he told the magazine. “The challenging part was really getting the leaders

Democratic Senators Question Census Leadership

Demand that Seats be Filled Ahead of 2020 By Sarafina Wright WI Staff Writer Democratic Sens. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.) and Gary Peters (Mich.), both members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, took issue with the Census Bureau’s vacant positions of director and deputy director ahead of the 2020 Census. The two senators released a letter in December to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross stressing the challenges the census will face without permanent leadership, especially with the impending decennial census, which the lawmakers called “the nation’s largest, most complex peacetime activity.” “The Census Bureau has been without a permanent director since former Director John Thompson resigned on June 30, 2017, and has been without a permanent deputy

16 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

director since former Deputy Director Nancy Potok resigned in January 2017,” the senators wrote. “This is a critical time for the 2020 Census. The Government Accountability Office has placed the upcoming decennial census on its High-Risk List because it faces a myriad challenges, including massive delays in implementing a complex information-technology infrastructure and historic lows in public trust in government.” The senators also expressed concern over a report that the Trump administration intends to appoint Thomas Brunell as the bureau’s deputy director, citing his support of a state law that would have significantly curtailed early voting in Ohio and disproportionately affected Black voters. “Dr. Brunell not only lacks the managerial experience needed as the Census Bureau faces critical manage-

ment challenges ahead of the 2020 Census, but has a partisan work history that conflicts with the traditionally non-partisan reputation of the Census Bureau,” they said. “[T]he American Community Survey — the ongoing part of the census — surveys 3.5 million addresses annually and produces data that guide trillions of dollars in public resource allocations and private sector investments. Dr. Brunell is a political science professor who has never managed a large organization before, with a partisan, political work-history that includes serving as a Republican witness in a number of redistricting and Voting Rights Act cases.” The lawmakers took particular umbrage with Brunell’s book, “Redistricting and Representation: Why Competitive Elections are Bad for America.” “In his book, Dr. Brunell

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argues that less-competitive congressional districts, an electoral model that results in gerrymandering and increased political polarization, is the most desirable outcome from a redistricting process,” the senators wrote. Harris previously questioned Ross at a committee hearing on the 2020 Census, where she pressed him on cuts to personnel and other issues. “The appointment of Dr. Brunell would be a significant departure from past practices and would further undermine the Census Bureau’s efforts to increase public trust in the Census,” the senators said. “It would also raise questions about the administration’s intent to comply with the constitutionally mandated requirement to complete an accurate count of the U.S. population.” WI

there to kind of understand what we were trying to do because solar, at that time, was fairly new and very expensive.” To foot the bill, ALA partnered with China Jiangsu International, which facilitated a $1 billion credit line for the project. Akon said Jiangsu became interested in the venture after tariffs in the U.S. and Europe made it prohibitively expensive to sell Chinese solar technology in the west. Under the agreement with ALA, Jiangsu provides solar arrays and bills African governments, allowing them to pay back the outlay in three to five years, according to Forbes. Last year, Akon told Bloomberg News that the lighting project has taken much of his time, but he’s thrilled by the results. Akon, whose full name is Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Bongo Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam, was born in St. Louis and raised in Senegal until the age of 7. He’s produced two multi-platinum albums, been nominated for five Grammy awards and collaborated with stars including Michael Jackson. His music videos have racked up hundreds of millions of views online, according to Bloomberg. Since releasing his last album seven years ago, Akon’s built his solar business with credit lines of $1 billion from Chinese backers. The venture has structured about $400 million of solar deals to date. “This project consumed so much of my time, I didn’t even realize that seven years went by,” said Akon, who lives in Los Angeles and visits family in Senegal. “I’ve been out of the loop, focusing on the Lighting Africa project.” WI

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BOYCOTT from Page 9 #ThanksObama.” Former Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) directed her response in a more than 12-minute message from the Working Families Party’s Facebook page. “We heard a promise from President Trump but don’t believe it,” said Edwards, a candidate for Prince George’s County executive. “We all have a role to play in ensuring our communities thrive, no matter what Trump throws at us.” Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Maryland), who replaced Edwards when she ran for the Senate seat and lost to Van Hollen, released a statement after Trump’s speech. “For the last year, President Trump has displayed no leadership, demonstrated an unwillingness to compromise, contested known facts, corroded the national discourse, emboldened violent extremist voices…” Brown said. “[Tuesday’s] speech does not change anything.”

LOCAL CITIZENS WEIGH IN AT SHILOH

Marcia Pollard of Capitol Heights and a member of Shiloh said she can’t utter the president’s name. “The only thing you can do is pray because that person living in the White House is a bad person,” she said. And while some millennials may not see racism as blatant in the country, Karen Devalera of Northwest said federal policies from the Trump administration are obviously racist. “With the way things are going now it’s really unhealthy, particularly for people of color,” said Devarley, a behavioral health specialist for the District. “When you see injustice and can’t do anything about it, it hurts.” Campbell emphasized the importance of Black women in the upcoming midterm elections, also criticizing the agenda of many candidates. “If you’re serious about what you say and we are your number one vote, then invest in Black women’s initiatives,” she said. Other comments included the following: Liz Copeland: “African Americans need greater access to job training. This administration is not doing that. As a Republican, I still don’t feel this State of the Union address will unify anyone.”

NATIONAL Duane Taylor, Alexandria, Virginia: “They’re breaking down how business is typically done in Washington and how to run the federal government and [messing] it up. These people are incompetent.” On the national front, Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from Florida, joined other members of Congress who refused to attend the State of the Union, including Reps. John Lewis, Maxine Waters Pramila Jayapal, Jan Schakowsky, Bobby Rush and Danny Davis. “I chose to boycott the address because I refuse to normalize President Donald Trump and his loathsome language and actions,” Wilson said earlier this week. “With every day that passes, a new tweet, breaking news story, or leaked quote sheds new light on his Trump’s twisted and prejudiced mind,’ she added. Rep. Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, held nothing back when asked why he would not attend the president’s address to the nation. “I cannot give this man, who does not respect me, the respect to be in that audience,” he said. Staff writer William J. Ford contributed to this report. WI

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5 Rep. John Lewis - 5th district, Georgia /Courtesy photo

5 Rep. Maxine Waters - 43rd district, California /Courtesy photo

5 Rep. Pramila Jayapal - 7th district, Washington /Courtesy photo

5 Rep. Danny Davis - 7th district, Illinois /Courtesy photo

/Courtesy photo district, Florida New York SU_Press AssoAD_SAU_2015_Layout 1 8/20/15 11:24 /Courtesy AM Page photo 1

5 Rep. Frederica Wilson - 24th

5 Rep. Gregory Meeks - 5th district,

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INTERNATIONAL Compiled by Lauren Poteat / WI Contributing Writer

Lil Jon Builds Schools in Africa

5 Lil Jon visits Ghana. /Courtesy of myjoyonline.com

Famed rap artist Lil Jon is using his celebrity power to build new schools in Africa. Last week the musician opened a new school in Ghana with the help of Pencils of Promise, an organization that provides educational tools for children around the world. “I’m all about helping children,” he told CNN. “Children are our future and every child deserves to have an environment where they can learn and flourish and gain knowledge.” Mafi Atitekpo DA Primary School will enroll 313 children and it is reportedly the second of two schools in the village of Mafi Atitekpo in Ghana. The first school, Abomayaw D.A. Kindergarten, opened in October, around the same time Lil Jon first visited the country, which inspired him to donate $70,000 to help get the two schools running. “When I saw the conditions where these children were trying to learn — one community they had a big mango tree and two classes were sitting under the mango tree — that’s not a condition conducive with learning,” he said. “Kids are going to get distracted, plus it’s extremely hot. It compelled me to want to do more.”

Natural Hair Movement Sweeps Africa

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The natural hair movement that proudly hit the U.S. is now sweeping African countries in a major way. This year in Nigeria, top hair experts predict that natural hair trends will dominate salons, according to premiumtimesng.com, a Nigerian media organization. As evidenced by red carpet trends and social media in the country, Afros are all the rage, alongside puffy crochet twists and “braid wigs” that help avoid damage from tightly braiding hair against the scalp. The hair care industry is also booming, as more women invest in shea butter, coconut oil, castor oil and deep conditioners.

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Trump Wishes Good Luck to African Union

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African heads of state and government officials convening in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last weekend for an important AU assembly received support from a surprising source: U.S. President Donald Trump A letter from Trump was sent to the heads of the organization three days earlier, expressing “best wishes for a successful summit.” “The United States profoundly respects the partnerships and values we share with the African Union, member states, and citizens across continent,” Trump wrote. “I want to underscore 5 President Trump sends well-wishes to that the United States deeply respects the people of Africa. and African Union. /Courtesy of theplanetnews- my commitment to strong and respectful relationships with Afpaper.com rica states as sovereign nations is firm.” Trump also offered a “salute” to the leadership of Chairperson Moussa Faki and congratulated Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whom he reportedly met with at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday, on his assumption of the chair of the AU Assembly. Trump’s letter came in the wake of an international uproar over his allegedly referring to Haiti and African nations as “s---hole countries” during a recent meeting with U.S. lawmakers on immigration.

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A Healthier Heart for a Healthier You Submitted by AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia (DC) Every part of your body has a purpose, but your heart is one of the most important organs you have. In fact, keeping your heart healthy is vital to living a long, healthy life. This February, celebrate American Heart Month by learning how to prevent heart disease and keep your heart pumping for years to come. Heart health basics You probably know generally how the heart works. It helps pump blood to all parts of your body through tiny arteries, sometimes called blood vessels. This provides your other organs with the right amounts of oxygen and nutrients. For some people, the arteries connected to the heart can become clogged with a fatty material called plaque. This is a sign of the most common type of heart disease, called coronary artery disease. Over time, the plaque that clogs the arteries can harden and cause the arteries to rupture. This can reduce or block blood flow and oxygen getting to your heart. This blockage can cause serious health issues, including a heart attack. For most people, plaque buildup happens over time. Certain factors can make this worse. These include: • High cholesterol • High blood pressure • Diabetes • Poor diet • Smoking Your heart health can affect many other parts of your body. Talk to your primary care provider (PCP) if you have: • A dry and hacking cough • Trouble catching your breath doing normal activities • Swelling of your legs, feet, or ankles • Quick weight gain • Discomfort and swelling in your stomach area • Trouble sleeping

KNOW THE SIGNS OF A HEART ATTACK

Some people with heart disease do not show any symptoms, but a heart attack can happen at any time. This is scary to think about, but knowing the signs of a heart attack can save a life. Signs of heart attack can include: • Chest pain or discomfort

• Feeling pressure or tightness in the upper body that doesn’t go away • Shortness of breath • Nausea or vomiting • Feeling lightheaded or fainting • Getting cold sweats If you think you or someone you know is having a heart attack, call 911 right away.

TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT HEART DISEASE

No one wants to have a heart attack, and it can be extra scary since heart disease often has no symptoms. The good news is there is plenty you can do to help prevent and control heart disease. Use these tips to help keep your heart healthy: • Eat a balanced diet of hearthealthy foods • Exercise for at least 30 minutes per day • Control your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels • Maintain a healthy weight • Quit smoking • Take your medicines as prescribed by your health care providers If you need support with any of the healthy tips listed here, AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia (DC) can help. • Visit our Member Wellness Center. We are located at 2027 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20020. This is the perfect place to start your hearthealthy journey. We have fitness programs, yoga, and cooking classes to help you cook healthier versions of your favorite foods. For a list of activities, visit www.amerihealthcaritasdc.com. Then click “Members” at the top of the website, followed by “Classes” on the left. • Sign up for care management. AmeriHealth Caritas DC has special programs for members with heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. One is our care management program. If you are interested, we will pair you with a Care Coach who can help you reach your health goals. To talk to a Care Coach for one-on-one help, call 1-877-7596224. • Talk to your PCP. Your PCP can help you manage your heart and other health conditions. He or she may even prescribe you medicines to help prevent heart complications. If you need help making an appointment with your PCP, call Member Services at 202-408-4720. • Call our 24/7 Nurse Call Line. If you have questions and want to speak with a health expert after hours, call 1-877-759-6279 (TTY

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1-202-216-9885). We can help you learn more about heart health and help you know if your symptoms need a doctor, urgent care, or hospital visit. If you are unsure, just call. Someone is available to take your call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Strive for a healthier heart today Heart disease can affect anyone. People of all ages, races, and sexes are at risk. That means everybody should take steps to lead healthier lives and prevent heart disease. Even making small changes to your lifestyle can make a big difference. Take a stand now and celebrate American Heart Month with a promise to live a healthier life. Your heart is worth it. Sources: American Heart Association and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. All images are used under license for illustrative purposes only. Any individual depicted is a model.

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 19 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

HEALTH D.C. Resident Refuses to be Slowed Down by Cancer and Amputation By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer Though her genes caused breast cancer and a medical tragedy led to her becoming an amputee, nothing stopped Donna Hopkins from living life to the fullest. Now, the District resident has released a new book that speaks volumes about her incredible journey of perseverance and positivity. The autobiography, “Getting to the Other Side of Victory,”

details Hopkins’ battle, one in which she’s met head on and has drawn inspiration from being an athlete, a fighter and, most of all, a believer in keeping everything in perspective and being positive. “When I went through the unforeseeable medical disaster of twice surviving cancer, a fibroid tumor and almost losing my life a few times, and then the amputation of my leg, [it] was tough,” Hopkins said. “I walked into the hospital and told my friends that it would be my last walk for a

minute, not thinking anything was wrong. Little did I know it would really be my last walk for a minute.” Doctors had given Hopkins a blood thinner which, ironically, caused her blood to clot. Then a staph infection was discovered which led to Hopkins being transferred to another hospital — a move she said probably saved her life. Ultimately the cancer had been discovered and she’d eventually have her leg amputated and undergo a hysterectomy. “Anything you deal with in life is tough,” Hopkins said. “I went through an unforeseeable medical disaster, twice surviving cancer but I decided that sometimes you go through things not just for yourself but for onlookers and I’m a fighter, a competitor and I don’t like to lose.” As noted in her biography, despite having to fight multiple life-threatening battles, Hopkins has a strikingly positive attitude that resonates with everyone she meets. In her new book, due out in time for Black History Month, Hopkins describes her experience and shares her guide to “living life to the fullest” and the importance of having a positive outlook on life, finding a purpose and her faith.

5 Donna Hopkins’ “Getting to the Other Side of Victory”/Courtesy photo

“It’s OK to cry about your circumstances, the devastation, destruction, and adversity sometimes,” she said. “The important

Gymaze App Makes Fitness Accessible, Affordable By Sarafina Wright WI Staff Writer D.C.-based startup Gymaze wants to help fitness users get into nearby gyms, classes and studios without any contracts or subscriptions.

20 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

The mobile app and web platform, which launched a few weeks ago, allows users in the D.C. metro area to find classes, personal trainers and fitness products for free. Users can explore studios and gyms, check reviews and prices, and purchase one, five,

10 or unlimited monthly passes to any participating location. “Gymaze is the first app that provides fitness users access to gyms, studios, and personal trainers around them without a membership or subscription,” said founder and CEO Hakan Yurt. “Working out should be as flexible as our schedules, no matter where we are or what time of day.” Yurt said that the idea for Gymaze came from his own difficulties of utilizing fitness centers. “I used to live in Falls Church, Virginia, and I worked in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I was a member of a gym in Falls Church, but I was spending most of my time in Gaithersburg,” he said. “There was a gym next to my work, but I was not able to use it. I thought why do I have to get stuck with one location and why can’t I use it for my own purpose whenever and where ever I want? “If I’m on travel, for example, in another state, why can’t I use gyms in other states?” he said. “So the idea was born out of that.” Another issue for Yurt was

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the two-year contract that came along with his gym membership. “Most of the time I’m not using it and still paying, so I came up with the idea that it has to be flexible with no contract,” he said. “If I don’t use it, I should not be charged in any way and I should be able to use any gym around me, wherever I am.” He also wanted to help with the apathy that many fitness users develop towards the gym throughout the year. “People have New Year’s resolutions and then by June almost all of the people who start the year with a New Year’s resolution to be healthy lose it,” he said. “They don’t go anymore but they keep paying for it. This is a $25 billion industry — $10 billion of that is money down the drain.” Originally from Turkey, Yurt, a 15-year veteran of the IT and consulting industry, has launched two startup apps before and he believes what separates Gymaze from other similar concepts like ClassPass is simply the motive. Yurt and company developed

GYMAZE Page 44

thing is to know that you are stronger than any pain that you must go through; tap into that hidden strength and find what lies at the bottom of your heart and beats life back into you.” The book encourages readers to tap into their “hidden strengths.” The founder and CEO of the nonprofit Hopkins Breast Cancer, Inc., Hopkins also counts as a public speaker, problem solver, sports personality and a beacon of positivity. “I understand why I’m as involved and why I have great passion and have always used sports to get me through no matter what life presented,” she said. “I played college basketball, ran track and you just have to find out what it is that gets you to the other side of victory and that’s the reason that I wrote this book.” Hopkins advises not to get stuck wasting time and lamenting a problem or issue that’s in the past. “It’s a process to getting to the other side of victory, just don’t get stuck,” she said. “So many times we waste time in life by saying, ‘I’m going to do this later, I don’t have money.’ Now, I look at life and I’m going on vacation every year. The amputation of my leg and the fact that I almost lost both hands taught me a lesson about living each day as if it is my last.” The book is available at Amazon. com and other booksellers, or at www.donnajhopkins.com. WI

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HEALTH

Neighbors Seek to Oust Commercial Tenants Using Drug Abatement Laws By Tatyana Hopkins WI Staff Reporter Greg Fernebok, a Bethesda resident and commercial property owner on Brentwood Road NE in Ward 5, installed lights, security cameras and fences to deter criminal activities on the property after he learned neighboring residents felt unsafe due to people committing illegal activities within and around the property’s businesses. Working with neighbors and the D.C. Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Ferebok worked to remedy allegations that a Chinese restaurant and 24-hour convenience store housed on his property aided and abetted criminal activity by allowing patrons to stash weapons and complete drug transitions on the premises. But the commercial tenants failed to turn the lights on and lock the fence when they left, making the fixes useless for concerned residents. “Very few of the neighbors, especially seniors, will dare to patronize those businesses or even walk on that block,” said Ward 5 resident Verna Clayborne, 69. Clayborne, who has lived in Brookland for nearly 50 years, said that for about a decade, her neighborhood on Brentwood Avenue has become an “active openair drug market.” She and neighbors blame some for aiding illegal

activity, saying the commercial strips near her home and in the area have left the community vulnerable to shootings, robberies and public drug use and sales. “Violence stemming from the activity on Brentwood Road often flows over the neighboring blocks and has been a cause of several neighbors selling their homes and moving away,” Clayborne said. “This past summer, one of the men who frequented the drug market every day died just a few feet from my driveway.” She and other neighborhood civic associations had been instrumental in the changes made on Ferebok’s property and inspired the proposed expansion of a law that could oust offending businesses with a moving speech at a March public safety meeting. The D.C. Council passed the Drug-, Firearm-, or Prostitution-Related Abatement Act in the late 1990s, allowing the city to bring civil actions against residential property owners and tenants who allow and maintain illegal activities related to drugs, guns and prostitution. Council member Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5), who said he has walked into businesses with his children and witnessed illegal activity that the owners were aware of, proposed an expansion of a bill to bring civil actions against commercial tenants who are complicit in illegal activity, as

well as establish a $10,000 civil penalty for such tenants. Three of the past four nuisance abatement cases undertaking by OAG has been against commercial properties, said Assistant Attorney General Argatonia Weatherington at a hearing about the legislation last week. “In many cases against commercial properties, the owner is complicit,” Weathington said. “However, its commercial tenants have greater autonomy than residential tenants, and it is often difficult to get commercial tenants to address the problem.” But advocates stand opposed to the amendment, calling the underlying bill a “relic of toughon-crime policing” that targets the city’s most vulnerable communities. In 2016, The Washington Post reported that about three dozen people whose landlords received drug nuisance abatements were evicted, even though they had no charges filed against them or were charged with misdemeanor possession offenses. “You can’t divorce the effects

“Violence stemming from the activity on Brentwood Road often flows over the neighboring blocks and has been a cause of several neighbors selling their homes and moving away.” VERNA CLAYBORNE of this bill from the effect on of the enforcement the current law,” Nassim Moshiree, policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. chapter, said of the latest nuisance abatement amendment. McDuffie admitted that the language of the bill could be

drafted more clearly to assure his amendment does not target residential tenants. “Perhaps in my zeal to work with the community to address these issues, I was unaware of what some people have alleged as abuses of the underlying statute,” he said. WI

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EDUCATION Local Organization Puts Books in Youth’s Hands By Lauren Poteat WI Contributing Writer A literacy advocacy organization in D.C. kicked the year off with a special community event, with the goal of bring fully stocked bookshelves and culturally relevant reading material to the homes of children of color. The Bookshelf Project, initiated by the Black Child Development Institute-DC Metropolitan (BCDI-DC Metro) in collaboration with the National Black Child Development Institutes (NBCDI) held the Jan. 27 event at the THEARC campus

in Southeast, where dozens of parents and young children were given access to new in-home libraries, free books, lunch and snacks. “What an exciting event,” said a mother of two in attendance. “I heard about this event through a friend and I am so thankful that I came. Literally, you come to the event and they present you with a bookshelf to take home. ... I have two children — Britney, who is 5, and Samantha, who is 7 — and they both love to read. Education is so important and the earlier they start reading, the better, espe-

5 A family that reads together learns together. /Courtesy photo

cially now that they have something new and nice to put nice new books on.” According to the State of Adult Literacy Report, nearly 36 percent, or 170,000, of the District’s children are functionally illiterate, compared with 21 percent nationwide. Of that 36

percent, the majority are Black and brown. Through the BCDI-DC Metro, which is part of the national resource agency NBCDI, children of color are given the opportunity to participate in publications, advocacy and trainings related to early child-

Advocates Push for School Choice in Prince George’s By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill A small but determined group of Prince George’s County residents want more opportunities for children to attend non-traditional schools based on the lack of improvement in traditional

settings. Delvin Champagne, president of the newly formed “PG County Parents for School Choice” group, organized a discussion Saturday, Jan. 27 to stress that parental choice is the best alternative. The town hall-style forum coincided with national School

Choice Week that ended Saturday. Inside the room at the Largo-Kettering library, yellow and white signs taped on the walls read “Let Me Learn!” “School Choice Now!” and “Parents Know Best!” In the back of the room, three tables provided attendees with information for Holy Redeem-

5 Former DC Ward 7 Councilman and current K-12 Inc. President of Academics, Policy & School Kevin P. Chavous talks to audience about the technology-based education and online programs at Prince George’s County Town Hall discussion in Largo-Kettering Library on January 27. /Photo by Demetrious B. Kinney

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er School in College Park; New Hope Academy in Hyattsville; and Woodstream Christian Academy in Mitchellville. Former D.C. Councilman Kevin Chavous, who lobbied for a voucher program in 2004, gave keynote remarks before the dozen or so people in attendance. Chavous now works as president of academics, policy and schools at K12 Inc, an online company that provides resources for students in public, private and charter schools and those homeschooled. “We should not put people into a position feeling like they’re forced to pick sides,” he said. “The value of school choice is it provides an opportunity for parent empowerment. When you have a robust menu of options for parents by what is best to choose for their children, I believe … that’s when the magic happens.” Proponents have their biggest school choice advocate: Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

SCHOOL Page 44

hood care and education; health and wellness; literacy and family engagement, and other varied educational programs, including “Raising A Reader,” which to date has helped NBCDI serve more than 100 pre-K children and their families. “I just think events like these help to foster healthy brain development and early literacy skills that are critical for children’s success in school,” one parent said. “So many of our students and children fall behind in school and the main factors are always math and reading. The Bible says ‘give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat forever.’ Too many times we as parents, myself included, rely on the teacher to teach our kids the ‘right’ way, but they’re just one person and we’re the parents. We have to make more time for our children and teach them the right way so that they don’t fall behind.” A repeat event will be held Feb. 24 from 1-4 p.m. WI

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 23 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

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1/16/18 5:57 PM

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL Let’s Make Black History Month a Year-long Celebration

Hopefully, most African Americans know that February is that month of the year when we formally recognize the achievements and sacrifices of Blacks, past and present – retelling stories, honoring an ever-growing litany of individuals and remembering historic events that should never be forgotten. Unfortunately, there are those within our community who tend to consider the month and its many scheduled programs to be more of a nuisance than a necessity. But just as the Jewish collective recounts the holocaust and renews and recounts essential moments and actions from their long history, Blacks should also be vigilant in telling and retelling our own story. This annual celebration serves as a time to recognize the central role of Blacks in U.S. history and should serve as a reminder to all that “we [African Americans] built this country with blood, sweat and tears.” The month, which evolved out of “Negro History Week” – the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and a cadre of other prominent Blacks – traces its roots to 1915, 50 years after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the U.S., when the Harvard-trained Woodson, and the Rev. Jesse E. Moorland, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. The group, now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, first began sponsoring a national Negro History week in 1926, selecting the second week of February so as to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month, with other countries, including Canada and England, also devoting a month to celebrate Black history. By the late 1960s, due in particular to the Civil Rights Movement and an increased awareness of and desire for Black identity, the week evolved into Black History Month. President Gerald Ford, in 1976, asked Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” That said, we believe that given the enormous contributions Blacks have made both to this country and to the world, it’s far time we extended our celebrations and remembrances to take place every day of the year. After all, we are still treated and viewed by the country’s dominant culture and organizations as second-class citizens. Over three hundred years of struggle for equality and true access to the so-called “American Dream,” we have not received full citizenship with all rights thereof. We need to affirm our own greatness so that, with God’s grace, we will finally overcome. WI

Remembering Simeon Booker: ‘The Man from Jet’ In 1955, when Mamie Till Mobley stood over the casket bearing the badly-beaten and mutilated body of her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, Simeon Booker stood by her side as she made the bold and daring decision to have an open casket funeral. Her decision would prompt a photographer to capture what remained of the murdered teenager – a photograph that would be shown around the world so that America could see what the evil of racism looked like. Emmett, who was visiting relatives in Mississippi during summer vacation, had been murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Booker covered Emmett’s story for Jet, a Black-owned magazine based in Chicago, including the trial of the two white men accused of murdering teen both of whom were acquitted by an all-white jury. It was this story that defined Booker as a civil rights reporter and launched his 50-year career as a journalist who broke the color barrier at The Washington Post. Booker died on December 10 at the age of 99. A native of Baltimore and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, Booker’s friends and colleagues gathered for a memorial service this week at the National Cathedral in Northwest. They remembered him as a man who took his craft deeply seriously, who kept his door open to everyone at his Johnson Publishing Company DC headquarters office on Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest and who opened doors for thousands of Black journalists, including family memWWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

TO THE EDITOR Young Love I checked out the latest WI Bridge, which was the Black Love issue and I was throughly impressed. Even though I am not a millennial, I enjoyed reading about what dating is like for the youth and what matters to them. I especially enjoyed the story of the young brothers in the story by Akil Wilson, “Talking Love at the Line.” I felt as if I was right there with them. The pictures were outstanding. The Informer and subsequently the Bridge continues to impress me. I can’t wait to see what you all do next. John Gee Fort Washington, Md.

Seeing the World Through the Editor’s Eyes Every week I look forward to reading your editor D. Kevin McNeir’s column. Every time I read it, I walk away with something to think about or reflect on. When I get to the end of the column, I must say I get disappointed, because it flows as if I’m listening to him versus reading and I want to keep going. I love how he tackles tough topics, even sharing his own personal experiences to show that issues such as sexual assault, racism and discrimination have touched everyone. I’ve also found myself laughing out loud at his commentary. Keep being authentic, editor, I look forward to it every week! Kaily Green Washington, D.C.

bers, who followed him into many of America’s newsrooms. “He integrated the newspaper industry,” said Donald Graham, former Washington Post publisher and owner, and the son of Philip Graham for whom Booker worked. “It was a tough time,” Graham said of the newspaper’s first Black employee. “He took insults from supposed colleagues and

from the people he was covering. But he wrote stories that made him proud and that made the newspaper proud.” Congressman John Lewis (DGa.), who said he often ran into Booker during his days in the Civil Rights Movement, referred to him as “The Man from Jet” and said, “few lives will more clearly embody the importance of a free press.”

“It was dangerous to be a reporter in the heart of the Deep South with just a pen, a pencil and a camera,” Lewis said. “He was brave and courageous. His work left an unbelievable mark on our nation.” We are proud of Simeon Booker’s contributions and achievements for which he will be remembered, praised and emulated for years to come. WI

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 25 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnist

By Marian Wright Edelman

Keeping Promises

“You promised.” Children learn the value and power of those words very early on as they begin to develop a sense of morality and trust. A preschooler will show deep outrage when an adult promise isn’t kept. The Continuing Resolution that ended this week’s government shutdown relied on a series of uncertain promises about meeting children’s needs and ensuring their futures. Congress did keep

one very critical promise by finally passing a long overdue extension of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), giving new hope to families after 114 days of partisan politicking with the lives and health of the 8.9 million children who benefit from CHIP’s high-quality, child-appropriate affordable health coverage. This will help ensure stability for CHIP, and parents of children who are sick or suffering from disabilities who rely on this crucial program can now breathe a sigh of relief. However, Congress should continue to do the right thing for children and ex-

Guest Columnist

tend CHIP for an additional four years, which according to the Congressional Budget Office would help children while saving $6 billion — an amount that could be used to fund other children’s priorities. In the meantime millions of other children are still waiting on Congress’s promises. At the front of the line are the nearly 800,000 Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants brought to this country by their parents as children and granted protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA) which President

Trump has set to end on March 5. Enormous pressures from Congress’s failure to act on DACA continue to grow. These young people, who in some cases now have their own children, have passed background checks, gone to school, met other requirements and contribute to their communities every day through work, study, and service but continue to be threatened with deportation and a return to countries they don’t know at all. One young man who came to America at age 5 and didn’t learn he was undocumented until he was 14 and tried to apply for a work

permit: “It was very hard dealing with that because I always saw myself to be an American. … It killed me inside.” He excelled in school and wants to become a lawyer or politician to help others. When DACA passed, it was a dream come true. “I felt happy. … I felt like I was finally being accepted,” he said. Now, without a work permit and DACA’s other protections, his entire bright future would be dimmed in an instant: “For me personally, my voice would be

EDELMAN Page 45

By Bill Fletcher Jr.

Republicans Will Ride with Trump Forever

After every Trump outrage, we go through a similar routine. Trump says or does something that most sane people believe to be over the top; he is roundly condemned; some Republicans shake their heads; masses of people ask that something be done … and then it all fades into the next news cycle.

What was different in connection with Trump’s recent alleged remarks against Africa, Haiti and Latin America—the notorious “s---hole” remarks—was that some Republicans who were in the room at the time of the alleged remarks first played dumb and then claimed that the remarks had not been verbalized. At that point, there was laughter in the audience. Yet, in talk show after talk show there is a question that keeps getting asked: why isn’t

Guest Columnist

something being done about this situation? Why can’t Trump be brought back to the standard of a respectable politician? The answer is not very difficult, but has several parts. Here goes: First, he is not now nor has he ever been a “respectable” politician. Whether as a reality show celebrity or candidate for office or now as president, he has insisted on being provocative. He believes in stirring things up. It is this modus operandi that inspired his right-wing populist

base. They were not looking for what they believed as more of the same. On top of that it remains far from clear that Trump would understand how to be a respectable politician in either case. It seems to run against his nature. Second, who will do anything about Trump? The Republicans control both houses of Congress, the White House and the U.S. Supreme Court. They look at Trump as a blunt force object that serves the interests of their agenda. Many of them may be

personally uncomfortable with him, but they know that if they move to take him down, they may provide momentum for the Democrats. They would rather that the United States become and remain a global laughingstock than lose the political edge. Third, the so-called moderate Republicans who are deeply uncomfortable with the crudeness of Trump worry that they will be challenged in Republican prima-

FLETCHER Page 45

By Julianne Malveaux

S---hole Countries Not a Priority for Trump Our 45th president has traipsed over to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, planning to rub elbows with world leaders, repair some relationships, and possibly shred even more. He had hardly landed before he started threatening to cut off aid to the Palestinians unless they participate in peace talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian leaders are justifiably angry that 45, without a conversation with them, said he would move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem,

26 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

the city that both Palestinian and Israelis consider their capital. Since 45 has been president, the world has been losing respect for us. According to a November Gallup poll, approval of U.S. leaders among 134 countries has hit a new low of 30 percent, down 18 percent from the 48 percent approval rate in President Obama’s last year, and even lower than the previous low of 34 percent in George W. Bush’s last year. Only Liberia, Macedonia, Israel and Belarus increased their approval rating of the US, while Portugal, Norway, Belgium and Canada saw approval ratings plunge by 40 points or more. 45 has been currying Israel’s favor,

so it is no wonder that they are more approving of him. But U.S. leadership lags behind support for leadership in both Germany and China. Only Russia has a lower approval rating than we do. Meanwhile, 45 is ignoring most of the rest of the world. A year into his Presidency, he has not appointed ambassadors for fully half of the world. The Bureau of African Affairs, part of the State Department, has no leader. There is an “acting” Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Donald Yamamoto, a career foreign policy professional who has worked for both Presidents Bush and Obama. Yamamoto has some responsibility for the

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Bureau of African Affairs, but it is not his priority. There is no ambassador to the African Union, which is perhaps a blessing because that person may have had to defend 45’s ignorant remark about s---hole countries. But 45 didn’t have to make such an ignorant statement in order for us to know how he felt about people of African descent. He illustrates his disdain every time he opens his mouth. He did not have to compare Haiti to Norway, all he had to do was fail to appoint an ambassador to Brazil, which is home to the largest population of Afrodescendents outside the African continent.

There is no U.S. ambassador to Belize, Bolivia, Burkina Faso or Cape Verde. No ambassador to Cote D’Ivorie or Cuba, Guinea or Ghana, Jamaica or Kenya. Neither Madagascar nor Mali, Mozambique nor Nigeria, South Africa nor Tanzania, Togo nor Trinidad have U.S. Ambassadors. Blessedly, 40 percent of 45’s appointees are career foreign policy experts. Some, like Calista Gingrich’s appointment as Ambassador to the Vatican, are clearly political plums. But how can 45 justify having no ambassadors to two of the most important countries on the African conti-

MALVEAUX Page 45

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OPINIONS/EDITORIALS Guest Columnists

By Rep. Karen Bass

What We’ve Lost During Trump’s First Year The year leading up to his inauguration in 2017, as the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump espoused senseless, baseless and ultimately empty assertions about the state of Black Americans and our communities. “What the hell do you have to lose?” he screamed in front of a predominantly White crowd in a small, predominantly White suburb of Lansing, Michigan. After Trump was inaugurated,

the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) found it prudent to answer his question. In March, the CBC Executive Committee, led by our Chairman Cedric L. Richmond (DLa.), presented Trump with a 130page policy document titled, “We Have A Lot To Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century.” The document, which was compiled by the entire 49-member Caucus, outlined policy solutions down to the bill text for issues facing our communities. Voting rights, criminal justice reform, economic justice, education, health care, immigration

Guest Columnists

— these were just some of the topics we presented to continue our progress. Unfortunately, these are the issues that Trump and his administration have chosen to ignore. The President, who has not commented on the document since we presented it to him, obviously has had other ideas, almost as if he wanted to answer his own question in his first year, to show us what we can lose. The truth is that in this first year, we’ve lost a lot. Almost immediately after being elected, Trump established the Presidential Advisory Commission

on Election Integrity and appointed a known vote suppressor to lead it. The commission was designed to intimidate voters and Trump— because of political and legal pressure—recently decided to dissolve it into the Department of Homeland Security. Throughout the past year, Trump has stacked the federal courts with judges with nothing short of scandalous records when it comes to voting rights. Among his nominee group was Thomas Farr, who helped lawmakers draft and defend a 2013 law that the Fourth Circuit Court of North Carolina ruled targeted Af-

rican American voters “with almost surgical precision.” On the criminal justice front, Trump has used the Department of Justice to embrace mass incarceration and shy away from transparent policing. One example of this is an FBI report published last August titled, “Black Identity Extremists Likely Motivated to Target Law Enforcement Officers.” One problem with the report is that the term “Black Identity Extremists” is an invented group that does not ex-

BASS Page 46

By William Reed

Help Entrepreneurs Return Essence to Glory

Essence has a new home. Essence Ventures, an African-American-owned company founded last year by Sundial Brands founder Richelieu Dennis, has acquired Essence Communications. The deal the Liberian-born entrepreneur engineered reestablishes Essence magazine as a totally Black and independent-

ly owned entity. Blacks should get to know Richelieu Dennis. The new “Renaissance Man” is catapulting based on successes he pulled off at Sundial, a hair care and skin care company that pulled in an estimated $200 million in revenue in 2015 and is currently worth $33 billion globally. Such corporate growth caught the attention of Bain Capital, which in September 2015 acquired a minority stake in the family-owned company for an estimated $700

Askia-At-Large

million. The Sundial Brand came from the Nubian Heritage brand co-founded by Richelieu Dennis, Nyema Tubman and Mary Dennis. Richelieu Dennis is an enterprising black businessman. He says: “But both my grandmothers were entrepreneurs in rural West Africa. I learned from them early on that business could impact the future of generations, just based on your ideas and your willingness to drive those ideas to fruition.

Dennis can shape black’s history. The brand he’s acquired occupies a special place in the hearts of millions of Black women-it’s not just a magazine but her most trusted confidante. Essence has become a cultural institution in the African-American community. Founded in 1968, Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) launched Essence, the as a magazine created exclusively for African-American women in 1970. For 42 years, the company has flourished and expanded

beyond magazine pages. Edward Lewis, Clarence O. Smith, Cecil Hollingsworth and Jonathan Blount founded ECI. Its initial circulation was approximately 50,000 copies per month, subsequently growing to roughly 1.6 million. In 2000, Time purchased 49 percent of Essence Communication. Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and

REED Page 46

By Askia Muhammad

I’m Glad I Got to Know Simeon Booker

I’m glad I was able to make the acquaintance of one Simeon Saunders Booker Jr. All the “old heads” and political pros I learned from — Louis E. Martin, Ofield Dukes, Rep. Parren J. Mitchell — called him “Simeon.” I usually addressed him as “Booker,” and referred to him to others as “Mr. Booker.” For nearly half a century, if you were a Black politician or a political wannabe in Washington, you knew Simeon Booker. His full-page “Ticker Tape”

column in Jet magazine was mustread material, second only to the magazine’s “Beauty of the Week” photo. Booker joined his ancestors on Dec. 10, 2017, at the ripe old age of 99. The Washington Ticker Tapephase of Booker’s career, when he was the “capo di tutti capi” — the boss of all bosses — of Black politics, came after a stellar role as a journalist without peer. He was the first Black reporter hired by one of the major corporate-owned newspapers, The Washington Post. At his memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral, Donald Graham, former publisher

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of The Post, told the memorial service that in 1951, after he became the second recipient of a prestigious Nieman Fellowship, Booker wrote letters to 40 of what he described as “White newspapers,” asking for a job. Only one publisher, Phillip Graham — Donald’s father — even interviewed the Black candidate, and his career as a trailblazer continued and soared when he agreed to work for the newspaper, even though it meant that he had to endure abuse and disrespect on a daily basis from his colleagues in the newsroom. He flew on, becoming a chronicler of the civil rights movement. For Johnson Publishing Co.’s Jet and Ebony magazines, he covered

the Deep South, often conspicuously carrying a Bible, so some would-be hostile White officials would think he was a pastor. His biggest story, and one that is emblazoned in our collective consciousness among the horrors which befell Black people in the middle of the 20th century, was the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-yearold black boy from Chicago who was lynched and disfigured because he allegedly wolf-whistled at a White woman. Booker’s access to Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, made for one of the most spectacular incidents in the shocking cruelty visited on the race. Till-Mobley decided to have no cosmetic changes

to her son’s mutilated corpse, and the pictures of his disfigured body in the open casket at the funeral, are iconic. After a spectacular history covering the civil rights movement in the South, John H. Johnson had the wisdom to want a Washington bureau for his news magazines. His choice was perfect for the job: Simeon Booker, a seasoned Washington reporter. But Booker came with a price-tag attached, and the negotiation was not over his salary. He told me once, that before he agreed to take the job as Washington Bureau Chief, he had to have “first class everything,” as far as

ASKIA Page 46

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 27 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Wrapping Up the Obama Presidency in ‘The Final Year’ Documents Race Against Time for Foreign Policy Team

Black History Month Begins – ‘Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud’

The month of February is once more upon us and with it the annual observance and remembrance of the significant stories of Black survival, Black struggle, Black sacrifice and Black success in America, despite overwhelming odds. For the next four weeks, the Washington Informer will focus on themes that include this week’s “Say it Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud,” a phrase made popular by James Brown and thoroughly embraced by African Americans during the 1960s; The Artistry of Dance and Music: ‘Soul-sational’; Africa: Birthplace of Civilization; and History, Herstory, Our Story in America. We’re excited to consider these themes as we develop related stories which we hope will educate, enlighten and empower our readers. The two images pictured here are a reminder of the millions of men, women and children who lost their lives in the inhumane American system of slavery that remained in force for over 200 years – and whose influence remains even today. On Saturday, Feb. 3 at 5:15 p.m., The Archdiocese of Washington will hold a mass and blessing of memorial markers (one pictured here) honoring enslaved men and women at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast. The markers will be placed at several Catholic cemeteries in the archdiocese. One of them, Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, founded in 1858, serves as the only final resting place with known graves of enslaved peoples. The mass and blessing service will serve as part of the archdiocese’s ongoing dialogue and reconciliation efforts to serve as witnesses to the unity of God’s family and to acknowledge the sin of enslavement in the D.C. region. It will be a day of healing. We’ll share more about this historic event in our next edition. But we believe it represents the kinds of unique opportunities and explorations that will continue throughout Black History Month. It’s time to reflect in solitude and community, to celebrate, to look back and see how far we have come and to lock arms in unity as we go about the work that remains undone. D. Kevin McNeir, Editor, The Washington Informer

28 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

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5 An advertisement for’The Final Year’. /Courtesy photo

Brenda C. Siler WI Contributing Writer There may have been only nine months left in the Obama administration, but the hard work continued. That’s the focus of the documentary “The Final Year,” now playing at the E Street Cinema in Northwest. Directed by Greg Barker, the documentary follows President Obama’s foreign policy team as they focus on work that will continue long after they leave the West Wing. The film spotlights Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes. The standout in this ninemonth exploration is Rhodes, a 29-year-old speechwriter with no foreign policy experience when he joined the administration in early 2009. He became a quick study and figured out how to frame the administration’s foreign policy positions. The administration’s foreign policy team is followed through an astounding schedule of travel, meetings and negotiations. Power’s U.N. ambassador skills come in handy when, while en route to work, she negotiates whether one of her children can have a doughnut. A composite segment of Kerry getting on and off his plane, then going into closeddoor meetings in different countries, was exhausting. Rhodes is intense and a little “gun-shy” after a negative profile in the New Yorker magazine. Rice was shown as a focused observer weighing in with necessary input, but her role is not prominently featured in the film.

Barker’s access to the team only offers the good side, the collegiality. Minor disagreements caught on camera are just that. You know there were blowups, but the audience is not privy to those moments. The movie shows the passion and sensitivity the team has for the work and the important role the United States has in managing global conflicts. The steady calm in this final few months whirlwind is President Obama. Scenes of the president — consulting with the group, preparing for a speech, speaking to young admirers, etc. — showed a prepared leader who often made sure his staff stayed “pumped.” One of Power’s key issue is the terror spread by Boko Haram. Her meeting with families of girls kidnapped in Nigeria takes its toll. Kerry is working through the Paris climate agreement. Rhodes asks to work on normalizing relationships with Cuba. All while the clock ticks toward the 2016 Election Night. Of course, the White House staff and supporters are stunned by the results. Rhodes, the White House speechwriter, is speechless. But the team must keep rolling. Near the end of the documentary, Obama sums up the never-ending challenge: “History really doesn’t follow a straight line. It zigs and zags, but the trend lines ultimately will be in the direction of a less violent, more empathetic, more generous world. And that requires individuals fighting for that future.” “The Final Year,” an HBO Documentary Films production, is currently in theaters and available on select streaming services. It will air on HBO later this year. WI

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 29 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

6 Author Danielle L. McGuire /Courtesy photo

Author Recounts Recy Taylor’s Assault and Walk through Black History By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer Years before Oprah Winfrey’s stirring speech at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards in which the talk-show queen spoke about the tribulations of Recy Taylor, historian and author Danielle L. McGuire had already uncovered the story of the 24-year-old Black sharecropper who was raped by six White men in 1944 as she walked home from a latenight church service. McGuire had researched her

5 Recy Taylor /Courtesy photo

book for more than seven years and learned that the NAACP office in Montgomery, Ala., sent Rosa Parks to investigate the case. And while Taylor’s tragic plight is detailed extensively in the book, “At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape and Resistance — a New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power,” McGuire delves deep into the history of violence against Black women in America.

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5 Book cover /Courtesy of Danielle L. McGuire

“I started with a woman named Betty Jean Owens of Tallahassee, Fla., who was raped by four White men,” McGuire said. “Her friends went to the police, and normally White Southern police officers wouldn’t believe a group of Black women, but [eventually] Betty Jean Owens’ testimony in a Jim Crow courtroom helped to secure life sentences for the crime. “It was the first time that I found that White men were convicted for the rape of a Black woman,” she said. McGuire’s book notes that the protests of Black women against rape fueled major civil rights campaigns across the south, including the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott, the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer and the 1965 Selma campaign. “I knew that rape was common during slavery and I wanted to know if the practices that were so common during slavery continued after emancipation so I was researching sexual violence against Black women by White men,” McGuire said. “In one of the archives that I was in, I found a pamphlet from the Civil Rights Congress, which was kind of a leftist northern civil rights organization. The pamphlet was a listing of all the crimes that had been committed against African-Americans. It said something like the Committee for Equal Justice for Mrs. Recy Taylor petitioned Gov. Chauncey Sparks for justice in her case.” McGuire discerned that if governors had archives, there has to be some pertinent details in them. “I went to Alabama and I ordered Gov. Chauncey Sparks’ papers and he had four boxes of material on Recy Taylor,” she said. “It was absolutely astounding. It was like an archival gold mine in the sense that you never find those kind of detailed documents on women. You also

never find investigations in that era, where it’s sort of proven that the state is trying to cover up and protect assailants in a crime.” She also realized the significance of the history she’d dug up. “Locally, if you laid out the petitions and postcards by cities, what you saw was a map of the civil rights movement,” McGuire said. Additionally, McGuire discovered petitions that came from Black women’s organizations, organized labor unions, Black workers and individuals including Rosa Parks. “It was the building blocks, the network, the highways and the roads of the freedom movement,” McGuire said of those findings. “At the Dark End of the Street …” centers Black women’s experiences and leadership in the civil rights movement, such as Betty Jean Owens’ historic testimony in 1959 and Joan Little’s bold resistance to sexual assault while incarcerated in North Carolina in the 1970s. But since Winfrey’s Golden Globes speech about Taylor, who died Dec. 28 at the age of 97, more attention has been given to the assault case that never went to trial as two all-White, all-male grand juries refused to indict the men. “Some on the grand jury were neighbors of the assailants,” McGuire said. “When I first started doing research into her case, there was absolutely nothing written. It’s incredible that her story has been carried by so many people. I only wish that Oprah could have met her because I think she would have been as inspired by her as I am. Clearly it sparked something in her to make her talk about [Taylor] at the Golden Globes.” “At The Dark End of the Street” can be purchased at Amazon and at other book sellers. WI

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BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Bill Cosby Reminisces About Black Art’s Power

5 A scene from the Cosby Show. /Courtesy photo

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer In season 2 of “The Cosby Show,” Clair Huxtable finds out about a Sotheby’s auction that features a painting by her Great-Uncle Ellis that her grandmother once owned. As noted by Dr. Kamasi C. Hill, the episode highlights a conversation between Cliff Huxtable and an African-American art bidder, who notices Cliff’s interest in the Ellis Wilson painting and decides to feel him out. In the exchange, the two state the painting is a “very important work from a very important artist.” Further, the artist says the aesthetic depth of the work demonstrates Wilson’s “mastery of light, form and simplicity of composition,” and then claims because of this the initial bid of $7,000, it’s a “steal.” Clair ends up with the winning bid and takes the painting home and proudly hangs it over the fireplace. “That actually happened in real life,” Bill Cosby said in a new interview with The Washington Informer for Black History Month. “[Cosby’s wife] Camille was actually bidding against me and I didn’t know it,” he said. For Cosby, the fact that his groundbreaking show was vital in the renaissance of the African-American artist and Black art was organic, as his love of the genre began early. “I was born in 1937 and, as we go through the 1940s as a boy

in the Richard Allen Projects in North Philadelphia, there was art in the homes that were either done by the people who lived in the house such as maybe the children who had drawings from school that they were proud of, or maybe they were from an artist,” Cosby said. “But mostly things purchased were like Jesus on some form of cloth with the heart bleeding. That was the art.” In the projects and in many African-American homes, art was Scotch-taped to the walls and included pictures out of Ebony and other magazines, the comedian recalled. Now 80, Cosby reminisced about the time he was 23 and went on vacation in Los Angeles. “I had to get a job to earn money to go back to Philadelphia for my sophomore year,” he said. “I was a canvasser for a furniture store and I would knock on the doors of people who were considered lower-income. “You only have to put down 10 percent and you could get a sofa and two arm chairs and if you signed, you would get this clock that had a cat in the middle and you could rub your hands over it and chalk would come off,” Cosby said, noting that the clock had eyeballs that moved to the tick. The superstar of such bigscreen hits as “Let’s Do it Again” and “Uptown Saturday Night” also recalled his love of art while filming the iconic series “I Spy,” in the 1960s. “When I did ‘I Spy,’ my wife and I lived in at least three differ-

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LIFESTYLE ‘Jefferson’s Garden’ Connects Past to Present By Brenda Siler WI Contributing Writer It is a play about immigrants, dreams deferred, questioning power, race relations, sacrifice, conflicting principles — topics that many people deal with today. The backdrop for a new production at Ford’s Theatre happens to be the American Revolution. The themes have been with us since the founding fathers embarked on a life of freedom. “Jefferson’s Garden,” authored by Timberlake Wertenbaker, features a nine-member cast portraying historical figures who struggle with their faith and the definition of liberty while wrestling with the idea of freedom in America. The actors take on dual roles, changing costumes and moving stage props in front of the audience. Perhaps this approach to scene changes is a subtle statement about playing different roles in life to survive. The actors also break the fourth wall and address the audience directly to the audience. They set up scene changes bringing in contemporary references with sarcasm. The play begins with a Quaker family seeking peace and quiet in a new land. Quiet time in the lives of Quakers is an ongoing theme that provides comic relief. It also another key mes-

sage about survival: “don’t make waves, keep your head down.” But there is always one who has a “revolutionary” mindset. That would be Christian, the grandson in the Quaker family. Christian questions everything and ends up leaving the family on a life journey to “fight for the cause” ending up in Virginia. He meets Susannah, a slave, who he naively thinks they can be together, not as master and slave. Throughout his travels, Christian also meets George Mason and Thomas Jefferson. Again, gullible Christian believes that Jefferson true advocates that all people are equal. Through thought-provoking dialogue, “Jefferson’s Garden” gives the audience a lot of “ahha” moments. When slaves were considered three-fifths of a human and denied the right to vote, the parallels to gerrymandering and voter suppression are evident. When Christian and Susannah admit their love for each other, it is against the backdrop of Jefferson fathering several children with Sally Hemmings, one of his house slaves. When the actors announce to the audience they will not see the harsher realities of slavery like beatings and rapes, it is while the song “Wade in the Water” is playing. Then the cast educates the audience that the “slave song” is really about es-

5 The cast of ‘Jefferson’s Garden’. /Photo courtesy of Ford’s Theatre

caping and finding freedom. Playwright Wertenbaker and director Nataki Garrett have collaborated on a production that does not hold back on delivering a message of the more things change, maybe not so much. The cast transitions through character changes with ease, not losing intensity. One of the closing lines in “Jefferson’s Garden” helps to explain how life trips you up when searching for honesty, equality and love. “My life was a quest for freedom, but I seem to have lost it along the way,” Christian said. “Jefferson’s Garden” runs through Feb. 8 at Ford’s Theatre. The production is part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, featuring plays written by women at theaters in the D.C. region. WI

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 33 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

LIFESTYLE

Black Lightning: A Superhero for ‘the Hood’ from ‘the Hood’

CW Series Showcases a Brother who Brings His Community Hope

By D. Kevin McNeir WI Editor @dkevinmcneir Black boys and girls have long dreamed of a superhero with amazing powers who looked like them, lived in their world of racial injustices and fought on their behalf to change their world, even the world of all humankind, for the better – but forced to make do with the likes of “white-male wonders,” from Superman and Thor to Mr. Fantastic from his team of four and X-Men leader Wolverine. But can children of color ever hope to see a role model, a protector of the innocent and one imbued with special powers – one who hails from African-American lineage? Said another way, do childhood dreams ever come true? Well, here’s a newsflash. It appears that sometimes they do after the highly-anticipated TV series “Black Lightning” recently debuted on the CW – a television station that has already developed significant fan bases with action heroes who include Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl.

However, a significant difference exists. After generations of popular, super-powered heroes and a few heroines, all with lilywhite skin, found their way from comic book pages to television or the big screen, a brown-skinned brother born and raised in an African-American community similar to thousands of others across the U.S. has finally emerged. Created and produced by the highly-sought after two successful Black producers – the husband-wife duo of Salim and Mara Brock Akil, whose collective television and film credits include “Jumping the Broom,” “Girlfriends,” “Being Mary Jane” and “The Game,” their “Black Lightning,” based on the short-lived DC comic book hero who first appeared in the 70s, reaches for new horizons. Black Lightning, aka Jefferson Pierce (portrayed by Cress Williams), serves as today’s superhero of epic, and inspiring proportions. Meanwhile, Williams takes on a role that practically fits him like a glove.

For the husband-wife couple and industry leaders who in 2015, finally brought to fruition a TV deal with Warner Brothers, the parent company of DC Comics, fascination with superheroes has been part of their lives since childhood. Mara says she had an affection for Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman while Salim admits he loved comic books so much that he once wore a Batman costume to school for Halloween until one day drifting away from the medium. “It just got boring, reading about all these really powerful and heroic white guys,” he said. That, he says, is why their “Black Lightning” series has even more significance for him. As for the new and improved Black Lightning who, early in season one, returns to action after an extensive hiatus, using his ability to harness electricity at will and employing his unique, collective skills in order to combat rampant racism and crime that have all but paralyzed his community, many fans have already shared their ex-

5 Cress Williams stars as Black Lightning. /Courtesy photo

citement about the existence of a Black superhero – one to whom Blacks of all ages can relate. As for diehard fans who may have followed the heroic actions of Black Lightning in the same-titled comic book on which the TV show is based, you’ll probably see both similarities to and differences from the original story. But new milestones have been made on the hit television network. Serving as the first African-American superhero on the CW, the show’s star brings a much different background from other

network heroes. He’s a mature, father man of two daughters, routinely referred to as “Jesus,” who has already achieved success and created a safe zone for youth in his daytime role as principal of a charter high school located in the violence-riddled community in which he grew up. What’s more, he’s the father of two daughters who has felt compelled to return to action after a nine-year hiatus – one taken in order to redirect his attentions to his

LIGHTNING Page 44

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LIFESTYLE

wi A book review

Horoscopes

ARIES The lunar eclipse in your leisure sector could dominate events, so this could be quite an emotional week. This eclipse can be like a turbocharged full moon, so you could see changes occurring in your social life and in the way you spend your leisure time. If you find yourself falling in love, it might be helpful to step back. Relationships begun at this time can have a fated quality and may not work out as you hope. In general, though, your social life looks pleasantly spicy. Lucky Numbers: 11, 12, 26

“Jefferson’s Daughters”

TAURUS If you find it difficult to see eye to eye with a family member, this could be due to the lunar eclipse. You may feel strongly about an issue and not want to back down. If you can put yourself in his or her shoes, you might see things differently. You don’t have to completely agree, but making an effort can encourage a compromise. Later in the week, chatty Mercury enters your sector of ambition, so it might be time to discuss your plans with someone who can help you. Lucky Numbers: 3, 30, 38

by Catherine Kerrison c.2018, Ballantine Books $28 ($37 Canada) 448 pages

GEMINI Be careful about what you commit to or promise this week, because the lunar eclipse in your sector of talk and thought could make it hard to follow through. You might have one plan, but the cosmos might have another, so you could have no option but to go with the flow. This eclipse can bring an unexpected opportunity your way or news out of the blue. It’s also possible that a door may close. If so, know that another one will open for you very soon. Lucky Numbers: 11, 16, 31

Jefferson’s Daughter

CANCER Money matters might need extra care at this time. If this is something you’ve tried to ignore, you may no longer be able to do so. Events could encourage you out into the open where you might be forced to deal with it. As difficult as this may be, it could also be a tremendous release and relief for you. Lucky Numbers: 2, 9, 29

By Terri Schlichenmeyer WI Contributing Writer Which one is your favorite? That’s a question heavy with danger, as any parent knows. You might be asked, but you can’t choose one child over another. Parents are supposed to love each of their children differently but equally though, in the new book “Jefferson’s Daughters” by Catherine Kerrison, history sometimes shows otherwise… When young Thomas Jefferson married the widow Martha Wayles Skelton, their first nights were spent inside a promise: Monticello, on the grounds he’d received from his father, was only partially completed. Martha Jefferson would spend just “a little over half of her married life” and much heartbreak there. After having birthed several children, most of whom didn’t live, Martha sickened and died in the fall of 1782; perhaps compassionately, Thomas Jefferson was sent by the U.S. Congress to Europe. With him, he took his daughter, 11-year-old Martha; and James, the son of Elizabeth Hemings, Jefferson’s late wife’s slave and her half-sister. Jefferson sent his youngest two daughters, along with Elizabeth’s youngest daughter, Sally, to his sister-in-law’s home. Known as a lively, intelligent girl, young Martha was quick with languages, could sing and dance, and had become her father’s best support after her mother’s death. Shortly after she arrived in Paris, she was sent to a convent school, and considered the idea of becoming a nun. In 1787, Jefferson sent for his second daughter, then-9-year-old Maria, who arrived in Paris with 14-year-old “companion-maid” Sally Hemings. Maria must have been rather used to being uprooted: over the years, her father had sent her to several homes to be raised and educated. Paris was just another in a long line. No record was made of Sally’s feelings, although Kerrison imagines she was unhappy. Just two years later, Thomas Jefferson, his daughters, and his slaves returned home to Virginia, reportedly to great fanfare. Martha, 17, wishing to avoid being suddenly “supervised,” quickly became betrothed. Maria, a sweet 11-yearold child, was soon sent to Philadelphia for boarding school. Sally, 16 and pregnant with her master’s child, didn’t have to come home to Virginia at all; in France, she was legally free, but she chose to return after negotiating with Jefferson. She’d be, after all, “a mother of children destined for freedom.” For the casual reader, “Jefferson’s Daughters” may be a challenge but that’s not author Catherine Kerrison’s fault; it’s because of naming habits of 18th-century people. For instance, there are several Marthas in this book, so beware. There’s also a lot of backstory here, too, but it’s necessary. Kerrison reaches well back into time to explain several points that she makes later, especially when it comes to Sally Hemings, her actions, and her decisions that showed eye-popping strength. There — once we get more into Hemings’ life and that of her eldest daughter, Harriet — is where this book becomes totally compelling and can’t-put-down irresistible. Of course, it’s perfect for historians, but anyone who’s interested in women’s issues and Black history will be happy reading this book, too. Once you settle into “Jefferson’s Daughters,” it may become one of your favorites. WI WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

FEB 1 - 7, 2018

LEO The week ahead could be a turning point for you, because the lunar eclipse in your sign could ring in changes regarding certain relationships. Feelings may intensify over the days ahead, with the midweek eclipse perhaps coinciding with a decision that affects the future of a key bond. If your relationship is strong, this can be a positive change. However, if things have been going downhill for you, you might decide to move on. If so, don’t feel guilty. Lucky Numbers: 5, 12, 20 VIRGO An issue that has been buried could come to the surface around midweek as the lunar eclipse stirs up your feelings. It might show itself in your dreams or perhaps in a general unease that you want to investigate. It might help to take some time out and lighten your schedule. Doing so could allow you to connect more deeply with this matter, understand where it comes from, and figure out what you can do about it. You might feel much better as result. Lucky Numbers: 16, 26, 37 LIBRA There could be a few alterations to your social life, because the lunar eclipse in your friendship zone could ring in key changes. A friend could move out of your social circle, or you might have to make new friends, perhaps because of a move. It’s also possible that your time with a certain group or club has come to an end and it’s time to move on. If so, this is all part of the rich tapestry of life. New developments will follow shortly. Lucky Numbers: 10, 33, 56 SCORPIO You could find yourself in the spotlight this week, so it would be just as well to showcase your skills and be seen in the best possible light. However, with a lunar eclipse in your sector of goals and ambitions, this might be easier said than done. A goal or opportunity that you’d counted on may not come to fruition. If you handle this with grace, others will be inspired by your example. Stay calm and confident, though, as something better may be on its way. Lucky Numbers: 7, 8, 10 SAGITTARIUS Travel or study plans could be thrown into jeopardy, because this week’s lunar eclipse in your sector of far horizons could put your schedule in doubt. It’s even possible that you might have to postpone your plans until another time. However, this could work in your favor. You could find that an even better opportunity shows up and that you’re glad you were delayed. The weekend looks particularly buoyant and delightful, so make the most of it. Lucky Numbers: 11, 28, 58 CAPRICORN This could be a week of radical change, because the lunar eclipse in your sector of transformation is encouraging you to let go of the past. Your instincts may be telling you that if you want to move ahead, you’ll need to release any conditions and situations in your life that no longer serve your best interests. It’s also likely that you know exactly what these are but are reluctant to let them go. This is natural. There’s no hurry. The intention to act can be a positive start. Lucky Numbers: 6, 25, 35 AQUARIUS Key bonds could go through some changes this week. An issue that has been bugging you could come to the surface for resolution. If your relationship is strong, this turbocharged full moon will allow you to clear the air and restore harmony. However, if you haven’t been getting on very well with someone, the coming days could bring the realization that perhaps it’s time to let go. Lucky Numbers: 4, 10, 19 PISCES Try to lighten your schedule this week if you can. This is because the lunar eclipse in your sector of lifestyle and wellness could see your energy level dip. You might reach a point where you need to make decisions about your overall health and how to ensure that you stay fit going forward. The focus on a more secluded sector of your chart suggests making time for reflection, because deeper patterns may be at work. Acknowledging these can allow you to feel revitalized. Lucky Numbers: 7, 15, 18

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 35 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

SPORTS Queens College Nips Lady Firebirds

5 Queens College guard Taliyah Hopkins gains possession of a loose ball in front of University of the District of Columbia guard Danielle Harrington during Queens’ 61-60 win at UDC Gymnasium in Northwest on Jan. 27. /Photo by John E. De Freitas 3 Queens College guard Lucy Tougas is defended by University of the District of Columbia guard Tyra Coombs during Queens’ 61-60 win at UDC Gymnasium in Northwest on Jan. 27. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

UDC Men Edge Queens College

5 Queens College guard Dwayne Henry bodies up against University of the District of Columbia guard Anthony Matthews during UDC’s 63-60 win at UDC Gymnasium in Northwest on Jan. 27. /Photo by John E. De Freitas 4 University of the District of Columbia guard Khalil Jackson is defended by Queens College forward Jordan Curtis during UDC’s 63-60 win at UDC Gymnasium in Northwest on Jan. 27. /Photo by John E. De Freitas

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SPORTS

Archbishop Carroll’s Harrison Has Coming-Out Party in Winter Classic By Daniel Kucin, Jr. WI Contributing Writer @danielkucin88 Anton Harrison was more known for playing football, and he was only two weeks removed from playing on junior varsity basketball team at Archbishop Carroll High School. But that didn’t stop the sixfoot-five Harrison from having a breakout performance in the team’s 82-68 win over Friendship Tech High Prep Academy in the DMV Winter Classic at Parkdale High School last weekend. Carroll head coach Michael Powell said he knew that the sophomore forward was ready to make the transition from playing football to taking over a game with the basketball in his hands. “He is a big-time football recruit for us, but after having a conversation with him to see if he wanted to move up to varsity must have worked well,” Powell said of Harrison. “We knew he could do it being a tremendous athlete, so it was just giving him the opportunity to convince him that he could do it. He started to believe in himself, and when he

came out he showed what could do; he can play.” Despite holding five football recruitment offers from the likes of Penn State University and the University of Maryland, Harrison said that he’d have to consider playing basketball at the collegiate level now after his dominant performance. He said UM and Morgan State University have each since reached out to him to see if he’d be interested in playing both sports for their respective programs in the future. Harrison was named the MVP in Saturday’s win after scoring 24 points and snaring 15 rebounds. “It felt good,” he said. “Working with junior varsity before, I wasn’t taking basketball as serious, but now I can see what I can do finally. It’s been great, everyone thinks we are heading for the bottom, but we are going to the top.” However, Friendship Tech (15-3) looked like the team to beat early, leading for the majority of the first quarter. But Carroll would eventually take control of the game before the half behind Harrison, who backed down and muscled his way through

5 Archbishop Carroll High School sophomore forward Anton Harrison wins MVP honors at the DMV Winter Classic after scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds against Friendship Tech Prep Academy on Jan. 27. /Photo by Daniel Kucin, Jr.

would-be defenders en route to 12 first-half points, including a circus shot in the final seconds of the second quarter as the Lions went into the locker room with an 11-point lead. Friendship Tech attempted to make a game of it in the second half, led by senior guard Kenneth Tyree, who finished the game

with 31 points, but the Lions pulled away and never looked back. Carroll finished the third period with a 12-point lead and a monster dunk by Harrison in the waning seconds of the game put an exclamation point on the team’s 11th win of the season. “Defense is the foundation of what we do,” Powell said of his

team’s success as of late. “Guarding people and stopping people is the staple of Carroll basketball. We are in the middle of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference now, we’ve been playing everyone tough, but we are young. My goal is to play our best basketball in February.” WI

ference), for their efforts based upon win/loss record, strength of schedule and winning streak:

School (Riverdale, Md.) 75-31 on Jan. 27. Senior guard Savion Gallion was nearly unstoppable with 31 points, eight rebounds and three assists, while senior small forward Darius Richardson scored 14 points and cleaned the glass with 10 rebounds.

ticultural High School (Washington, DC) 71-52 on Jan. 26. Senior point guard Rasheed Gatling led the way for the Crimson Tide with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Gatling still leads the Crimson Tide in scoring averaging over 15 points per game.

3. Gonzaga (19-1) (WCAC)

5. Woodrow Wilson (19-7) (DCSAA)

1. Theodore Roosevelt (22-3) (DCSAA)

D.C. High School Basketball By Daniel Kucin Jr. WI Contributing Writer @danielkucin88 Each week and for the duration of the season, The Washington Informer will feature our choices

for the top five high school basketball programs in the greater Washington area, specifically the DCIAA (District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association) and the WCAC (Washington Catholic Athletic Con-

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The Roughriders are on a fivegame win streak after defeating H.D. Woodson High School (Washington, D.C.) 88-68 on Jan. 26. Junior center Darius Buchanan led the team in scoring with 21 points while notching eight rebounds and four assists in the victory. Sophomore point guard Marcus Dockery, who leads the Roughriders in scoring this season with over 11 points per game, scored 15 points, pulled down two rebounds and had two assists in the win.

2. Thurgood Marshall Academy (18-6) (DCSAA)

Thurgood Marshall Academy has reeled off nine straight wins, the most recent a complete dismantling of Parkdale High

Gonzaga secured its eighth consecutive win by topping Immaculate Conception High School (Montclair, New Jersey) 68-57 on Jan. 27. Eagles senior forward Myles Dread posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, as well as five assists. Gonzaga sophomore forward Terrance Williams currently leads the Eagles in scoring this season (19 ppg).

4. Dunbar High (16-7) (DCSAA)

Dunbar took down Bell Mul-

Woodrow Wilson fell to Bowie High, 85-82, on Jan. 27. Four Bulldogs players scored in double figures, including junior guard Jordan Harris, who led his team in scoring with 26 points. Despite the loss, Wilson still has enough firepower to rebound and get back to their winning ways. The Washington Informer Top 5 is strictly based upon the opinions of The Informer sports division and will run throughout the duration of the DCIAA and WCAC basketball seasons. WI

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 37 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

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the country in their youth. Trump spoke of building a wall on the south border and employing more ICE agents. He did not repeat his campaign pledge that Mexico would pay for that wall. He also said he would end the visa lottery and claimed that it “randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit or the safety” of Americans. In his continued assault on immigrants, Trump said he will end chain migration that allows immigrants to bring to the U.S. “virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives.” As Democrats sat and watched the address in the Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, it was little doubt they were mindful of Trump’s alleged “s---hole” remarks about Haiti and some African countries. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus boycotted the address, while those who attended sat close together and wore Kente cloth, a tradition African attire to show their solidarity with those from Haiti and Africa. CBC Chair Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-Louisiana) said earlier that some members would “stare racism in the face” by attending the speech. The address also predictably was punctuated by false claims and exaggerations from the president. “Just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history,” Trump said. Independent fact-checking found that Trump’s cuts amounted to just the eighth-largest in history. Trump suggested that Apple is investing $350 billion in the United States over five years because of a tax package he signed into law in December. Seattle Times’ fact-checking team concluded that’s a stretch. Apple did say it would be making a $38 billion tax payment to repatriate overseas profit under a provision of Trump’s tax law. And like other big U.S. companies, Apple responded to the tax legislation by handing out bonuses to its employees. It’s not clear from Apple’s announcement that it is dialing up U.S. investment levels. The tech giant spent “between $12 billion and $15 billion on projects such as facilities or land globally in the past few years, though it has not said how much of that went to U.S. projects.” Trump also said unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. However, the number of people who filed unemployment claims hit

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CBC Chair Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-Louisiana) said earlier that some members would “stare racism in the face” by attending the speech. 216,000 for week that ended Jan. 13, the lowest level since January 1973. However, data for the week that ended Jan. 20 revealed that new jobless claims rose to 233,000, the lowest since December, making it a six-week low, not a 45-year low. Perhaps one of Trump’s more controversial and grand-standing claims is about Black and minority unemployment. “African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history,” Trump said. As one report noted, this is a flipflop by Trump. During the 2016 campaign, Trump used to claim a four-Pinocchio statistic that 58 percent of African-American youth was unemployed. The official Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rate for black youth at the time was 19.2 percent — about one-third of the rate used by Trump. Now that he’s president, Trump appears all too happy to cite the unemployment rate for African Americans, bragging that it’s the best since the turn of the century. The African-American unemployment rate has been on a relatively steady decline since it hit a peak of 16.8 percent in March

2010 during the Great Recession, according to the Seattle Times’ fact-checking team. The rate had already fallen to 7.7 percent when Trump took the oath of office, so Trump taking credit for this is like “a rooster thinking the sun came up because he crowed,” the Times reported. “Since the election, we have created 2.4 million new jobs, including 200,000 new jobs in manufacturing alone,” the president claimed. However, fact-checkers pointed out that Trump often inflates the number of jobs created under his presidency by counting from Election Day rather than from when he took the oath of office. There have been about 1.8 million jobs created since January 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the slowest gain in jobs since 2010, which indicates how well job growth was going before Trump took office. There were 184,000 manufacturing jobs created in the 11 months since Trump took the oath of office, compared to a loss of 16,000 in 2016, according to the BLS. This is a substantial one-year gain, but it’s still more than 1 million manufacturing jobs below the level at the start of the Great Recession. Finally, the president claimed that “we have ended the war on American energy — and we have ended the war on clean coal. We are now an exporter of energy to the world.” It should be noted that there’s no such thing as “clean coal” and the U.S. has long been an energy exporter. Further, fact-checkers noted Trump’s pledge during his campaign to turn the country into a net energy exporter, meaning it sells more energy to other countries than it buys from them. But that hasn’t happened and the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates it won’t happen until sometime between 2020 and 2030. “Donald Trump’s presidency has been a series of broken promises to the middle class and workers, a fact which tonight’s address did not change,” said Sen. Bob Casey (DPa.). “This administration talks about helping workers and middle class families, but when it comes to actions it’s all extreme right economics and decimating health care,” Casey said. “After passing into law massive tax giveaways to the wealthiest and biggest corporations, Republicans in Congress now want to tackle entitlement reform, which is nothing more than the clever phrasing of a scheme to cut Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.” WI

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RELIGION THE RELIGION CORNER

Become More Valuable!

with Lyndia Grant Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men — Colossians 3:23 Do you read this title and wonder how in the world anything better will happen for you? Do whatever it is you need to do to become more valuable, as you repeat daily, “The best is yet to come!” In life, you get paid for the value you put in to time. Become twice as valuable and make twice as much; it is also possible to make three times the amount that you are making now as well. All you have to do to earn more is to become more valuable by specific plans, as you repeat daily, “The best is yet to come!” When you work hard on your job, you can make a living, you only make steps up a ladder, one step at a time. Become more valuable by working harder for yourself. Become more valuable rather than wait. Some make $400 an hour. How? They have become more valuable to the marketplace. Some receive telephone calls with offers of hundreds of thousands of dollars; others, millions of dollars. Mt. Zion Baptist Church Reverend John W. Davis Pastor 5101 14th Street, NW Washington, DC 20011 Phone: 202-726-2220 Fax: 202-726-9089 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service - 8:00 a.m. & 11:00 a.m. Children’s Church - 11:00 a.m. (1st & 3rd Sundays) Communion - 10 a.m. 4th Sunday Sunday School - 9:15 a.m. (4th Sunday 8:15 a.m.) Prayer Meeting & Bible Study - Wednesday 7:00 p.m. “A Church with a past to remember – and a future to mold”

Why them? They worked hard on themselves, improving, becoming the best possible self. It is called personal value — become more valuable to the marketplace. Scriptures reminds us this way: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9. Work hard and develop the skill; develop your graces; work on the right thing. Life is like the seasons. Learn how to handle the winters. Winters come right after fall, every year for millions of years. Winters are the down times when it all goes wrong; political winters; when your hearts are smashed into a million pieces; divorces; loss of jobs, eviction from the home you have loved so dearly. These are winter scenarios, we’ve all been through them. We can’t get rid of the month of January by tearing it off the calendar. Just put your hands in God’s hands; and do your part. Follow the voice of the Holy Spirit, and become wiser, stronger and better; read more, pick up cassettes, CDs, watch videos, and work to get wiser so you can make it through the winter, because you were smarter during spring, summer and fall. Get your body stronger by doing pushups; practice and practice to get stronger. No one else can help you get stronger — that one is on you alone. Finally, you must get better, it won’t happen immediately. Do your work. You will feel nervous all along the way, afraid like I did when I first went on the radio, wrote my first newspaper column. But I got through it, and I did it again, and I did it every Friday, and I’ve gotten better. You will too. Anybody can

improve your skills, but you must keep going. Life is like the seasons. Learn how to take advantage of the spring. Spring comes right after winter; it will come every year, it doesn’t switch places. Spring is called the opportunity time. Take advantage of spring time, you must do something with it. Learn what must be done during the spring time of your life. You must plant in the spring or beg in the fall when it is time to harvest, plant in the spring, because winter is sure to come again. Life is short — don’t let days and seasons past. During summer time, you must nourish what’s good and defend yourself against what’s bad. Summer is interesting, it has possibility of threats, and bugs will come to take over your crop if you don’t prevent them. Deal with the weeds, kill them, do your work. You cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself. WI Historic St. Mary’s Episcopal Church The Rev. E. Bernard Anderson Priest Foggy Bottom - Founded in 1867 728 23rd Street, NW - Washington, DC 20037 Church office: 202-333-3985 - Fax : 202-338-4958 Service and Times Sundays: 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist with Music and Hymns Wednesdays: 12:10 p.m. - Holy Eucharist www.stmarysfoggybottom.org Email: stmarysoffice@stmarysfoggybottom.org All are welcome to St. Mary’s to Learn, Worship, and Grow.

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Mount Olivet Lutheran Church

John F. Johnson Reverend Dr. 1306 Vermont Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20005 Service and Times Divine Worship, Sunday 10:00 a.m. Communion 1st and 3rd Sunday “Friendliest Church in the City” Website: mountolivetdc.org Email: mtolivedc@gmail.com

www.mtzbcdc.org

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FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 39 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

RELIGION The Miracle Center of Faith Missionary Baptist Church

Pilgrim Baptist Church Rev. Louis B. Jones II Pastor

Bishop Michael C. Turner, Sr. Senior Pastor 9161 Hampton Overlook Capitol Heights, MD 20743 Phone: 301-350-2200 Fax: 301-499-8724

700 I Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 547-8849 Service and Times Worship Sundays: 7:30 & 11:00am 5th Sundays: 9:30am 3rd Sundays: Baptism & Holy Communion Prayer & Praise: Wednesdays @ Noon & 6:30pm

Service and Times Sunday Worship Times : 7:30 a.m. 7 10:00 a.m. Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Bible Study: Wednesday, 12 Noon Bible Study in homes: Tuesday 7:00 p.m. Website: www.themiraclecenterFMBC.com Email: Miraclecenterfmbs@gmail.com Motto: “We Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”

www.pilgrimbaptistdc.org

Church of Living Waters

Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church

Crusader Baptist Church

Rev. Paul Carrette Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor

Rev. Dr. Alton W. Jordan Pastor

Reverend Dr. Calvin L. Matthews Senior Pastor

Harold Andrew Assistant Pastor

2498 Alabama Ave., SE - Washington D.C. 20020 Office: (202) 889-7296 Fax: (202) 889-2198 - www.acamec.org

800 I Street, NE - Washington, DC 20002 202-548-0707 - Fax No. 202-548-0703

4915 Wheeler Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-894-6464

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 8:00am and 11:00am Sunday Church School - 9:15am & Sunday Adult Forum Bible Study - 10:30am 2nd & 4th Monday Women’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday Jr./Sr. Bible Study: 10:00am Tuesday Topical Bible Study: 6:30pm Tuesday New Beginnings Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Pastoral Bible Study: 6:30pm Wednesday Children’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Thursday Men’s Bible Study: 6:30pm Friday before 1st Sunday Praise & Worship Service: 6:30pm Saturday Adult Bible Study: 10:00am “The Amazing, Awesome, Audacious Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church”

Service and Times Sunday Morning Worship: 11:00am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday Sunday School: 9:45am Men’s Monday Bible Study: 7:00pm Wednesday Night Bible Study: 7:00pm Women’s Ministry Bible Study: 3rd Friday -7:00pm Computer Classes: Announced Family and Marital Counseling by appointment

1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, Northeast Washington, DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-6767 - Fax: (202) 526-1661

Service and Times Sunday Service: 8:30am& 11:00am Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30pm Communion Service: First Sunday www.livingwatersmd.org

E-mail: Crusadersbaptistchurch@verizon.net www.CrusadersBaptistChurch.org “God is Love”

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ

St. Stephen Baptist Church

Third Street Church of God

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

Drs. Dennis W. & Christine Y. Wiley Pastors

Bishop Lanier C. Twyman, Sr. Senior Pastor

Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D. Senior Pastor

Bishop Alfred A. Owens, Jr.; Senior Bishop & Evangelist Susie C. Owens – Co-Pastor

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

3845 South Capitol Street Washington, DC 20032 (202) 562-5576 (Office) (202) 562-4219 (Fax)

5757 Temple Hill Road, Temple Hills, MD 20748 Office 301-899-8885 – fax 301-899-2555

1204 Third Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202-347-5889 office 202-638-1803 fax

610 Rhode Island Avenue, NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 529-4547 office • (202) 529-4495 fax

Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship Service: 11:00am Communion Service: First Sunday Prayer Service/Bible Study: Tuesday, 6:30pm

Services and Times Sundays: 10:00am Worship Services Bible Study: Wonderful Wednesdays in Worship and the Word Bible Study Wednesdays 12:00 Noon; 6:30pm (dinner @ 5:30pm) Sunday School: 9:00am – Hour of Power

Blessed Word of Life Church

www.blessedwordoflifechurch.org E-mail: church@blessedwordoflifechurch.org

“An inclusive ministry where all are welcomed and affirmed.” www.covenantbaptistdc.org

Campbell AME Church

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 am Sunday Church School: 8:45 am Bible Study Wednesday: 12:00 Noon Wednesday: 7:00 pm Thursday: 7: pm “Reaching Up To Reach Out”

Services and Times Sunday Early Morning Worship: 7:45am Church School: 9:30am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:45am Tuesday: 7:00pm/Kingdom Building Bible Institute Wednesday: Prayer/Praise/Bible Study-7:30 pm Baptism & Communion Service: 4th Sunday – 10:30am “We are one in the Spirit” www.ssbc5757.org E-mail: ssbc5757@verizon.net

Services and Times Sunday School: 9:30am Sunday Worship: 11:00am Sunday Community Worship Service: 8:30 am “Ambassadors for Christ to the Nation’s Capital” www.thirdstreet.org Live Stream Sunday Worship Service begins @ 12:00 noon www.thirdstreet.org

Greater Mt. Calvary Holy Church

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 2nd Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:20 a.m. Seniors Bible Study: Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. Noon Day Prayer Service: Tuesdays at Noon Bible Study: Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Motto: “A Ministry of Reconciliation Where Everybody is Somebody!” Website: http://isleofpatmosbc.org Church Email: ipbcsecretary@verizon.net

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

Twelfth Street Christian Church

Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White 2562 MLK Jr. Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Adm. Office 202-678-2263 Email: Campbell@mycame.org

Isle of Patmos Baptist Church

Reverend Dr. Paul H. Saddler Senior Pastor (Disciples of Christ) 1812 12th Street, NW - Washington, DC 20009 Phone: 202-265-4494 Fax: 202 265 4340

Mailing Address Campbell AME Church 2502 Stanton Road SE - Washington, DC 20020

Turning Hearts Church Virgil K. Thomas, Sr. Senior Pastor/ Teacher 4275 4th Street, S.E. Washington, DC 20034 Phone: 202-746-0113 Fax: 301-843-2445 Service and Times Sunday School 8 – 9 AM Worship Service 9 – 11 AM Tuesday Night Bible Study 6:30 – 8:00 PM Wednesday Daytime Bible Study 11 AM – 12:30 PM Motto : “A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment” Website: www.turningheartschurchdc.org Email: faithdefender@verizon.net

40 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 am Communion every Sunday: 11:00 am Sunday School: 10:00 am Bible Study Tuesday: 12 Noon Pastor’s Bible Study Tuesday: 6:30 pm Motto: “Discover Something Wonderful” Website: 12thscc.org Email: Twelfthstcc@aol.com

Mount Carmel Baptist Church Joseph N. Evans, Ph.D Senior Pastor 901 Third Street N.W. Washington, DC. 20001 Phone (202) 842-3411 Fax (202) 682-9423 Service and Times Sunday Church School : 9:00am Sunday Morning Worship: 10:10am Bible Study Tuesday: 6: 00pm Prayer Service Tuesday: 7:00pm Holy Communion: 3rd Sunday 10:10am themcbc.org

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RELIGION Shabbath Commandment Church

All Nations Baptist Church

King Emmanuel Baptist Church

Bishop Adrian A. Taylor, Sr. Pastor

Rev. Dr. James Coleman Pastor

Rev. Daryl F. Bell Pastor

7801 Livingston Road Oxon Hill, MD 20745 301-534-5471

2001 North Capitol St, N.E. - Washington, DC 20002 Phone (202) 832-9591

2324 Ontario Road, NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 232-1730

Service and Times Sabbath School 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Service 11:00 a.m. Praise & Worship Preaching 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Motto: “A Church Keeping It Real for Real.” Website: Shabbathcommandmentchruch.org Email: Praisebetoyhwh@gmail.com

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

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

Service and Times Sunday Church School – 9:30 AM Sunday Worship Service – 11:00 AM Holy Communion – 1st Sunday at 11:00 AM Prayer – Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Bible Study – Wednesdays, 7:00 PM Christian Education School of Biblical Knowledge Saturdays, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM, Call for Registration Website: www.allnationsbaptistchurch.com All Nations Baptist Church – A Church of Standards

Israel Baptist Church

Dr. Earl D. Trent Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. George C. Gilbert Senior Pastor

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

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

4504 Gault Place, N.E. Washington, D.C 20019 202-397-7775 – 7184

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

“Where Jesus is the King”

Lincoln Park United Methodist Church

Sermon On The Mount Temple Of Joy Apostolic Faith

Rev. Richard B. Black Pastor

Elder Herman L. Simms Pastor

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

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

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Sunday School: 8:30 A.M. Holy Communion1st Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Prayer Service: Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. Bible Study: Wednesday at 7:00 P.M.

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

Mount Moriah Baptist Church

Eastern Community Baptist Church

Service and Times Sunday Apostolic Worship Services 11:00 A.M and 5:00 P.M Communion and Feet Wash 4th Sunday at 5:00 P.M Prayer/Seeking: Wednesday at 8:00 P.M. Apostolic in Doctrine, Pentecostal in Experience, Holiness in Living, Uncompromised and Unchanged. The Apostolic Faith is still alive –Acts 2:42

New Commandment Baptist Church

Dr. Lucius M. Dalton Senior Pastor

Damion M. Briggs Pastor

Rev. Stephen E. Tucker Senior Pastor

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rehoboth Baptist Church

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

Salem Baptist Church

Holy Trinity United Baptist Church

Florida Avenue Baptist Church

Reverend Christopher L. Nichols Pastor

Rev. Dr. Morris L Shearin, Sr. Pastor

Web: www.mountmoriahchurch.org Email: mtmoriah@mountmoriahchurch.org

St. Matthews Baptist Church

Service and Times Sunday School: 9:30 am Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 am Baptismal Service: 1st Sunday – 9:30 am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday – 11:00 am Prayer Meeting & Bible Study: Wednesday -7:30 pm

Emmanuel Baptist Church

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

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Holy Communion: Every First Sunday Intercessory Prayer: Monday – 7:00-8:00 p.m. Pastor’s Bible Study: Wednesday –7:45 p.m. Midweek Prayer: Wednesday – 7:00 p.m. Noonday Prayer Every Thursday

Matthews Memorial Baptist Church Rev. Joan E. Buchanan Executive Pastor 2616 MLK Ave., SE - Washington, DC 20020 Office 202-889-3709 - Fax 202-678-3304 Service and Times Early Worship Service: 7:30am Worship Service: 11:00am New Member’s Class: 9:45am Holy Communion: 1st Sunday, 11:00am Church School: 9:45am Wednesday 12:00pm Bible Study Prayer, Praise and Bible Study: 7:00pm Saturday Bible Study: 11:00am Baptism 4th Sunday: 11:00am

Service and Times 9:30AM. Sunday Church School 11:00 Am. Sunday Worship Service The Lord’s Supper 1st Sunday Wednesday 7:00pm Prayer & Praise Services 7:30pm. Bible Study Saturday before 4th Sunday Men, Women, Youth Discipleship Ministries 10:30am A Christ Centered Church htubc@comcast.net

Christ Embassy DC

Kelechi Ajieren Coordinator 6839 Eastern Avenue, R1 Takoma Park, MD 20912 (202) 556-7065 Service and Times Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 A.M. Wednesday Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Friday Evening Service: 7:00 P.M. ; Last Friday “…Giving Your Life a Meaning” www.Christembassydc.org Christ.embassy.dc@hotmail.com

“Empowered to love and Challenged to Lead a Multitude of Souls to Christ”

Peace Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Michael T. Bell 712 18th Street, NE Washington, DC 20002 Phone 202-399-3450/ Fax 202-398-8836 Service and Times Sunday Early Morning Prayer & Bible Study Class 8:00 am Sunday School 9:00 am Sunday Morning Worship Service 10:00 am Wednesday Service 12:00 pm

Pennsylvania Ave. Baptist Church Rev. Dr. Kendrick E. Curry Pastor 3000 Pennsylvania Ave.. S.E Washington, DC 20020 202 581-1500 Service and Times Sunday Church School: 9:30 A.M. Sunday Worship Service: 11:00 A.M. Monday Adult Bible Study: 7:00 P.M. Wednesday Youth & Adult Activities: 6:30 P.M. Prayer Service Bible Study

“The Loving Church of the living lord “ Email Address: admin@pbc712.org

Shiloh Baptist Church

First Rising Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church

Rev. Dr. Maxwell M. Washington Pastor

Rev. Curtis l. Staley Pastor

Rev. Alonzo Hart Pastor

Rev. Dr. Wallace Charles Smith Pastor

Rev. Oran W. Young Pastor

Rev. Dr. H. B. Sampson, III Pastor

Worshiping Location Knights of Columbus - 1633 Tucker Road Fort Washington, MD 20744 (240) 838-7074

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

917 N St. NW - Washington, DC 20001 (202) 232-4294

9th & P Street, N.W. - W. D.C. 20001 (202) 232-4288

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

Service and Times Sunday Morning Prayer Service: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Church School: 9:15 a.m. Sunday Morning Worship: 10:40 a.m. Third Sunday Baptismal & Holy Communion:10:30 a.m. Tuesday Church At Study Prayer & Praise: 6:30 p.m.

Service and Times First Sunday Worship Service (one service): 10:00 a.m. Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sunday Worship service: 7:45 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. Sunday Church School/Bible Study: 9:30 a.m. Thursday Prayer Service: 6:30 p.m.

602 N Street NW - Washington, D.C. 20001 Office:(202) 289-4480 Fax: (202) 289-4595

2914 Bladensburg Road, NE Wash., DC 20018 Office: (202) 529-3180 - Fax: (202) 529-7738 Service and Times Worship Service: 7:30 a.m. Sunday School: 9:00 a.m. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. Holy Communion: 4th Sunday 7:30 a.m. & 10:30a.m. Prayer Services:Tuesday 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 12 Noon

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

The Church Where GOD Is Working.... And We Are Working With GOD

Service and Times Sunday Worship Services: 10:00 am Sunday School: 9:00 am Holy Communion 3rd Sunday Morning Prayer / Bible Study: 6:15 pm - 7:20 pm (Tuesday) Theme: “The Kingdom Focused Church” Matthew 6:33 and Mathew 28:18-20, KJV Email: stmatthewsbaptist@msn.com Website: www.stmatthewsbaptist.org

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

Email: sbc@shilohbaptist.org Website: shilohbaptist.org

Service and Times Sunday School for All Ages: 8:00 a.m. Sunday Worship Services: 9:30 a.m. Midday Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 11:30 a.m. Evening Prayer & Bible Study: Wednesday 7:00 p.m. Laymen's League: Thursday 7:00 p.m. Email: Froffice@firstrising.org Website: www.firstrising.org “Changing Lives On Purpose “

Email:mthoreb@mthoreb.org Website:www.mthoreb.org For further information, please contact me at (202) 529-3180.

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 41 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

LEGAL NOTICES

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PROBATE DIVISION Washington, D.C. 20001-2131

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

Foreign No. 2017 FEP 000138

Administration No. 2018 ADM 000002

Administration No. 2017 ADM 001485

Administration No. 2017 ADM 001494

Administration No. 2017 ADM 001484

7/6/16 Date of Death

Janie L. Gilchrist Decedent

Luvenia Best Nash Decedent

Norris E. Jones aka Norris Jones aka Norris E. Jones, Sr. Decedent

Robert E. Lee aka Robert Earl Lee Sr. Decedent

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

Anita L. Robinson Name of Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF FOREIGN PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS Michele R. Proctor whose address is 4610 Blaine Street, NE, Washington, DC 20019 was appointed personal representative of the estate of Anita L. Robinson, deceased, by the Orphans Court for Prince Georges County, State of Maryland, on July 6, 2016 Service of process may be made upon Michele R. Proctor, 4610 Blaine Street, NE, Washington, DC 20019 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 property: 4610 Blaine Street, NE, Washington, DC 20019 Claims against the decedent may be presented to the undersigned and filed with the Register of Wills of the District of Columbia, 515 5th Street, NW, Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001 within 6 months from the date of first publication of this notice. Date of first publication: 1/18/2018 Michele R. Proctor Personal Representative Anne Meister Register of Wills Washington Informer

Sallie G. Williams whose address is 2410 Alabama Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Janie L. Gilchrist who died on 8/14/2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/25/2018. 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 7/25/2018, 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: 1/25/2018

Magalene Best McKay aka Magaline Best McKay whose address is 10911 Dubs Court, Largo, MD 20774, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Luvenia Best Nash who died on November 1, 2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/25/2018. 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 7/25/2018, 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: 1/25/2018 Luvenia Best Nash Personal Representative

Sallie G. Williams Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

Nicole Pennington, whose address is 2881 Falkirk Alley, Bryans Road, MD 20616, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Norris E. Jones aka Norris Jones aka Norris E. Jones Sr. who died on October 9, 2017 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/25/2018. 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 7/25/2018, 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.

Lois L. S. Lee, whose address is 4033 South Capital Terrace, SW, Washington, DC 20032, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Robert E. Lee aka Robert Earl Lee Sr. who died on December 1, 2017 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7/25/2018. 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 7/25/2018, 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: 1/25/2018

Nicole Pennington Personal Representative

Lois Lee Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

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

Administration No. 2017 ADM 620

Administration No. 2017 ADM 001493

Administration No. 2018 ADM 000012

Administration No. 2017 ADM 1043

Administration No. 2018 ADM 000022

Willie A. Anderson Jr. Decedent

Stewart G. Nevers Decedent

Otis J. Collins Decedent

Odessa E. Williams Decedent

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

Sheila Gladys Dawson, whose address is 6039 Cipirano Road, Lanham, MD, 20706, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Otis J. Collins who died on May 23, 2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 8/1/2018. 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 8/1/2018, 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.

Delores Powers, whose address is 5381 Chillum Place, NE, Washington, DC 20011 was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Odessa E. Williams who died on December 17, 2017 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 8/1/2018. 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 8/1/2018, 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: 2/1/2018

Sheila G. Dawson Personal Representative

Delores Powers Personal Representative

Joseph Dawson, Jr. Decedent Valerie Edwards, Esq. Antonoplos & Associates, Attorney At Law 1724 DeSales Street, NW, #600 Washington, DC 20036 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Karen D. Dawson and Sherry L. Dawson, whose addresses are 7959 Riggs Rd. #10, Adelphi, MD 20783 & 10810 Blackstone Ave., Cheltenham, MD 20623, were appointed Personal Representatives of the estate of Joseph Dawson, Jr. who died on May 6th, 2017 with a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment (or to the probate of decedent’s Will) shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 7-18-2018. 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 7-18-2018, 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: 1-18-2018 Karen D. Dawson Sherry L. Dawson Personal Representative

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Maureen E. Anderson, whose address is 5532 Hunt Place NE, Washington, DC 20019, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Willie A. Anderson Jr. who died on March 3, 2014 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 8/1/2018. 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 8/1/2018, 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: 2/1/2018 Maureen E. Anderson Personal Representative

Aimee D. Griffin, Esq. 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 440 Washington, DC 20015 Attorney NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Sherol Nevers, whose address is 5409 19th Ave., Hyattsville MD 20782, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Stewart G. Nevers who died on 8/19/17 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 8/1/2018. 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 8/1/2018, 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: 2/1/2018 Sherol Nevers Personal Representative

TRUE TEST COPY

Anne Meister Register of Wills

Washington Informer

Washington Informerw

42 FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

LEGAL NOTICES SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration No. 2018 ADM 000021 Joshua Cook Jr. Decedent NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT, NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND NOTICE TO UNKNOWN HEIRS Evelyn V. Cook, whose address is 2216 Good Hope Rd. SE Washington, DC 20020, was appointed Personal Representative of the estate of Joshua Cook Jr. who died on 10/8/2017 without a Will, and will serve without Court supervision. All unknown heirs and heirs whose whereabouts are unknown shall enter their appearance in this proceeding. Objections to such appointment shall be filed with the Register of Wills, D.C., Building A, 515 5th Street, N.W., Third Floor, Washington, D.C. 20001, on or before 08/01/2018. 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 08/01/2018, 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.

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Evelyn V. Cook Personal Representative TRUE TEST COPY

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SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Probate Division Washington, D.C. 20001-2131 Administration Number 2018 ADM 66

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Estate of Carolyn J. Starkey

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Notice is hereby given that a petition has been filed in this Court by Lisa L. T. Chopey for standard probate, including the appointment of one or more personal representative. Unless a complaint or an objection in accordance with Superior Court Probate Division Rule 407 is filed in this Court within 30 days from the date of first publication of this notice, the Court may take the action hereinafter set forth. In the absence of a will or proof satisfactory to the Court of due execution, enter an order determining that the decedent died intestate Appoint an unsupervised personal representative

Date of first publication: 2/1/2018 Carolyn J. Starkey Personal Representative:

TRUE TEST COPY

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COSBY from Page 31 ent homes and we went around in Southern California where they had these art fairs,” he said. “You’d go up and down and look at things and you’d come home with something. But, these two brothers ... when I got my TV show [and portrayed Chet Kincaid], I made sure that I went to these brothers and looked at their work and made sure that I bought some and then, later, I put them on the set of ‘The Cosby Show.’ It was all over the walls because I wanted people to see these brothers.” The “brothers” Cosby referred to are Alonzo and Dale Davis, owners of the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park. In 1967, two years after the Watts uprising in Los Angeles, the brothers founded the gallery at a time many considered as the Black Arts Movement. Though numerous galleries opened in Los Angeles and across the country in the 1960s and 1970s with the aim of advancing the notion of a black art form, KCET noted that the Brockman Gallery — a commercial gallery in the midst of community focused ventures — was unique for the time period. The brothers provided early exposure to a number of artists who today are widely acclaimed, including Betye Saar, David Hammons and John Outterbridge. “None of the art from the Brockman Gallery was [expensive],” Cosby said. “The price had nothing to do with the quality and Camille and I started to buy and, what I noticed in those days was that going through the late 1950s and 1960s to the 1970s, that there’s this fight for racial equality. “It was about the system and the people being treated badly and the anger and the violence that goes on, and I said to my wife, ‘You know, I really don’t want to come home and see what I’ve been seeing out here on where I’m working whether it’s a script or whether looking at some union that were working ... all of this racism that we’re looking at,’” he said. “I don’t want to see that on my walls when I get home. You had the angry Black male in the dashiki and the woman and the child or the young Black man in the street with his fist or the picture with the water hose.” The Brockman Gallery featured work from artists who painted with colors and various figures, Cosby said. The Cosbys would commission various pieces of art that he said

COSBY Page 44

FEBRUARY 1 - 7, 2018 43 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

GYMAZE from Page 20

SCHOOL from Page 23

a program called “Transform Yourself, Transform the World,” aiming to partner with local nonprofits and share Gymaze’s profits. Every time a user completes a transaction, the portion of the profit will be donated to the nonprofit organization of their choice. “With this program, users will not only help themselves to reach their fitness goals and promote their own healthy life, they will also help increase the quality of their community,” Yurt said. “We are trying to keep the fitness users motivated by giving them a way to exercise for a cause and promote the healthy life in our communities. “Gymaze is going to donate from our profit, with no fee to the user or gym,” he said. “It might give them another reason to work out. We are not here purely for business, but we are also trying to make a contribution and to do something good, something meaningful.” WI

During a speech last month at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute in northwest D.C., she not only criticized federal educational mandates, but also said that Common Core “is dead.” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has similarly pushed to incorporate a BOOST (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) program in the state. Although the state legislature remains under Democratic control, the program approved two years ago permits state money for students eligible for free or reduced lunch to attend eligible private or charter schools. The Republican governor requested $8.5 million for the program in the fiscal 2019 budget, a $3.3 million increase from this year. Maryland State Education Association President Betty Weller said in a statement Hogan’s “private school vouchers plan … overwhelmingly benefits students already in private schools.”

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Meanwhile, preliminary recommendations from the Kirwan Commission report suggests it may cost the state an additional $2 billion to expand early childhood education for all 4-yearolds, increase teacher salaries over the next four to five years, but raise certain benchmarks such as professional development and other initiatives. School choice advocates say the current status quo isn’t working. “It’s about giving the parents the right to do what they feel is best for their kids,” said Everett Browning Sr., a Democrat running for state Senate in District 24. “We love our community. We love our schools, but our first obligation is to our own kids.”

A NEW IDEA

Champagne, whose son attends Dora Kennedy French Immersion school in Greenbelt, presented a “hypothetical scenario” at Saturday’s talk to decrease class size and save the county school system money: Allow parents with at least 10 children from six classes in grades kindergarten through second grade choose to send their children to a private, charter, or magnet school. The county school system saves nearly $8,000 per pupil, totaling $480,000, with the money reinvested into the elementary school for new computers and the hiring of teacher assistants, according to Champagne’s plan. The proposed cost per pupil in kindergarten through 12th grade in next year’s county school budget stands at $15,785. Champagne used his zoned school, Cooper Lane Elementary in Landover Hills, to provide the example. “My approach is class size reduction,” he said. “In a class of 30 [students], you can reduce it down to 20. You can save a school money by outsourcing a portion of kids to reduce the class size. That’s just simple economics.” Therese Dudley Mitchell, president of the county’s teacher’s union, said school choice supporters are “a bit misguided about school funding.” “We have different needs in the public school system,” said Dudley Mitchell, who attended Saturday’s forum. “We have different levels of accountability. [Private schools] don’t have the special education requirements. The private schools can put kids out and choose who they want. We have to raise the bar in our public school system for all of our children.” WI

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COSBY from Page 43 represented his own thoughts, particularly those that highlighted the beauty and strength of Camille. “There are some pieces that Elizabeth Catlett really enjoyed doing and I’d call her and say it’s going to be an anniversary and I’d like to do this or that,” Cosby said, joking that the reason he and his wife have so many homes is because they keep running out of wall space for art. When artists such as Larry “Poncho” Brown and Charles Bibbs credit “The Cosby Show” with the renaissance of Black art, Cosby said that wasn’t a mistake. “That’s why we put it up there,” he said. “Look, you go into the home of a sitcom and there you are and maybe you didn’t pay attention to Chet Kincaid and maybe they didn’t know. But, then those Black figures showed up; that’s what did it, that funeral procession over the fireplace,” he said of the famous piece from “The Cosby Show.” Cosby then waxed poetic about the evolution of Black art: “[Black artists] were saying, ‘This is what we do; we bathe you and there’s a tin tub; this is what we do; we do your hair and some-

LIGHTNING from Page 34 then teenaged daughters and wife. Another revision of note in the TV version – Jefferson’s oldest daughter Anissa, while following the comic book series where she soon realizes that she has super powers of her own, on the Akil’s reimaging, she’s also an out-ofthe-closet lesbian – therefore a potential role model for many of today’s youth from the LGBTQ community. Executive producer and developer Akil Salim said one of his goals has been to include scenes where her sexual orientation appears natural as opposed to revolutionary. And, he adds, there’s a whole lot more he wants to explore. “Fans should understand that [the show] is a journey – it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” said Akil who bases many of the episodes on personally-experienced situations from his formative years in Richmond, Calif., including one of the early scenes from the series premier when he fears for his life during a police traffic stop. “I wanted to do a show [where] when violence happened, you felt it,” he said during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, referring to the show’s setting, the fictitious town of Freeland that, since Black Lightning’s retirement,

times it hurts to comb it; this is what we do.’ Sometimes we’re sitting there having fun and then you look at Varnette Honeywood and she’s nailing things that had to do with the sweet part of life, the sweet part of our dreams and memories and she was on it and I said, that’s what I want on the walls and when you look at ‘A Different World,’ they also had no problem putting stuff on the walls.” The Cosbys have been linked to some of the more precious collections in the world, theirs being featured prominently at Smithsonian and other museums. “The beauty of this is that you can talk about music, but they don’t even know it or didn’t know it, but you take Blue Note Records or Columbia Records and when [recording artists] put out their album covers, that was art,” Cosby said. “When I was in high school, I used to take my LP and I would put it up on my wall because those people were cool. You could just pull out the LP and put it on the wall with scotch tape and you’ve got yourself a picture, art of icons like Miles Davis smoking a cigarette and Ella Fitzgerald singing. They went up on the wall. That was also a form of art.” WI has found its neighborhoods overcome by skyrocketing crime and the potential takeover by a violent gang, the 100. “Oakland, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago – you name the city, it starts there,” he noted during a recent interview with Joshua Johnson on the NPR-produced weekly broadcast 1A on which Johnson serves as host. “I think I’m intended to use my gift – to talk about the things I feel people need to talk about,” said Akil, who added the show will explore the ramifications of life faced almost daily by Blacks in many of America’s urban cities. With just three episodes having been aired, the show’s fan base continues to grow by leaps and bounds with Williams easily moving between his heroic, neon-lit costumed persona and his alter ego as his community’s native son – an educated, suit-wearing, smooth-talking former standout athlete and Olympic star. Skye P. Marshall, Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, Marvin Jones III and James Remar, the show’s only white character, join Williams as the primary characters. And each has a significant role to play. But Black Lightning brings the real juice to the show. In fact, he’s “electric.” WI

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Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands still without electricity or water. As always, such omissions in funding are not a question of resources but priorities and common decency of some of our members of Congress. Congress managed to make room in the Continuing Resolution that passed earlier this week to delay a trio of health-related taxes without finding a way to pay for them, benefitting wealthy corporations and individuals at a cost to the Treasury of about $31 billion over the next few years. But it failed to make other crucial cost-effective health and life saving investments in children and young adults. We must insist on different Congressional priorities. While many of these children’s priorities remain on the Congressional agenda, opportunities for timely action are limited. Children’s futures and well-being will remain at risk until definitive action is taken. Legislative leaders made a series of promises to end the government shutdown and fund the government through February 8th and the clock is ticking. Millions of children and young adults are depending on adults who will stand up and raise a ruckus for them and remind members of Congress and the president over and over again: you promised. WI

Photo

taken away. My dreams would be shattered.” The DACA protections must be preserved and extended to others along with a path to citizenship and without other provisions harmful to immigrants. Each day Congress fails to act an average of 122 additional DACA recipients lose protections and starting March 5, 1,000 Dreamers will lose protection every day. Young children and their families who benefit from the Maternal and Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) and Community Health Center Program also are still waiting for Congress to extend funding for their critical services. Pregnant women and children under five benefit from MIECHV in every state and territory as the program helps improve maternal and newborn health, school readiness, and family economic self-sufficiency and helps reduce child abuse and neglect, crime, and domestic violence. One in 10 children use Community Health Centers (CHCs) for care and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has projected that loss of funding for CHCs would result in closing 2,800

health centers, eliminating more than 50,000 jobs, and more than 9 million patients losing access to care. This would even threaten the good news of stabilizing CHIP. For example, the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association, which oversees community health centers that serve nearly 300,000 Mississippians, reports one in every 14 children who receive CHIP in Mississippi gets their care in one of Mississippi’s CHCs. By continuing funding for CHIP, but not for the Community Health Center Fund, parents have CHIP for their children but if CHCs close they will no longer have access to the exams, eyeglasses, pediatric dental services and other care their children need. Many centers already have a hiring freeze due to anticipated funding shortages, a large setback for Mississippi, which already ranks #1 nationally in physician shortages. Congress also has not yet committed to long-term funding needs for addressing the opioid crisis and other critical measures affecting child and family health. And children in Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands still suffering from the horrific effects of devastating hurricanes are desperately waiting for more emergency funding, especially in the many homes and communities in

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FLETCHER from Page 26 ries by the extreme right should they move against Trump. Perhaps they wonder and hope that there will be deeper revelations in the Mueller investigation of alleged Trump/Russia ties, but for now they will do nothing. Thus, holding Trump accountable is a matter of political pow-

MALVEAUX from Page 26 nent, oil-producing Nigeria, and economically advanced South Africa? I guess he will be forced to pay attention to these s---hole countries if there is an oil crisis and we need some Nigerian oil! Africa and the Caribbean are not the only parts of the world that have been ignored by this administration. Highly desirable appointments, like those to Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany have been filled. Even as 45 has squabbled with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, he has appointed no ambassador to South Korea. This could have been completely avoided if 45 had allowed Obama appointees to stay in place until he found people to replace them. Instead, people had to come home in the middle of

er. It is not a matter of morality and good will. If those who see the Trump regime as a threat to humanity do not engage in mass political action, including, but not limited to, electoral politics, the situation will go from bad to worse. By worse, I mean growing authoritarianism. And here we must all be clear that Trump’s infatuation with authoritarianism

is not a simple rhetorical device to increase the ratings. It seems to reflect the centerpiece of his worldview: Life is about Trump; Trump is the savior of the U.S.; Trump’s ideas are the greatest that humankind has every experienced. Those who get in the way of Trump’s truth, therefore, are enemies who must be removed. The challenge is now ours. WI

the school year, hurriedly making arrangements for new schools, new housing (some had rented their homes), and more. Why did 45 demand resignations so abruptly when he had few replacements, breaking precedent and also thumbing his nose at the world? Our NATO allies look askance at him because of his obnoxious and belligerent behavior. He has made strange remarks about terrorism in the UK, taken swipes at France and Germany, and generally behaved like an overgrown child when gathering with other world leaders, pushing the Prime Minister of Montenegro aside so he could get in front of a group photo at a NATO summit in May. Incidentally, there is no U.S. Ambassador to Montenegro. Actually, staffing the government is not a priority of this ad-

ministration. When he was elected, he indicated that he thought some agencies were “huuuuge,” and there were positions he would not fill. He has been much slower than his predecessors in staffing up every agency, but especially the State Department. By the end of their first calendar year (2001 for Bush, 2009 for Obama), Bush had 139 State Department confirmations, with 14 pending. Obama had 119 confirmed and 18 pending. 45 has 61 confirmed and 28 pending! We who are connected to s--hole countries can rest assured that foreign policy is not this administration’s strong suit. 45’s failure to appoint ambassadors to African countries perhaps reflects the disdain he feels for us. But his disdain is yet another reflection of his ignorance. WI

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ist. There are no Black people organized to kill law enforcement officers. When I asked Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray about the origins of this report, none of them could tell me what the report was even based on or how the term was created. Economically, Trump has gone after our consumer protections. Congress is working to repeal Dodd-Frank, a landmark piece of legislation designed to protect consumers from the wreck of the 2009 recession. Trump’s favoring of big banks will ultimately leave consumers in the same spot they were during the recession, or worse. The education of our children is also under attack. In 2014, for the first time ever, the majority of public school students in the United States were non-White. Secretary DeVos has been less than helpful to these institutions, ignoring grave disparities in how students of color are disciplined compared to White students, and supporting a budget that would

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49. It is the only magazine that focuses on reaching black women and has a monthly circulation of 1,050,000. Essence President Michelle Banks will maintain a leadership role in the company. Banks and Essence’s all-black female executive team will also have an equity stake in the company moving forward.

ASKIA from Page 27 news offices were concerned. He insisted that Mr. Johnson hire a supporting staff, and that the office be centrally located in Washington’s federal corridor, and so it was: at 1776 Pennsylvania Avenue,

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further attack services that public schools provide. Trump has also gone after our healthcare by actively sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, continually issuing statements citing death spirals and other doomsday prophesies in addition to cutting funding for advertisements and allowing health insurance companies to sell short-term plans with inadequate coverage. Trump and other Republican leaders have already openly discussed cuts to the social safety net, meaning Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, as justification for their deficit-exploding tax plan. Trump has spent a considerable amount of time attacking Black immigrants and their countries with both his racist words and policies. In addition to referring to Haiti and African countries as “s---holes,” he’s attacked recipients of the Diversity Visa Program, rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and scheduled the elimination of Temporary Protective Status for many countries like Haiti and El Salvador. The entire reason we have this

program is to help protect immigrants from ills in their home country, which can range from famine to civil war. To deport hundreds of thousands after opening our borders to them is unconscionable. When we look at the issue holistically and see that tens of thousands of DACA enrollees are Black and that the plurality of diversity visa recipients are also Black, it contextualizes the president’s assault on these programs. Unfortunately, these assaults on our criminal justice system, our consumer protections, our education and our health, will continue through 2018. What Trump’s first year showed is that hard-earned progress will never be safe so long as his bigotry, hatred and racism hold power. But what we showed this year in Alabama and Virginia, to not just our community, but to our country and the rest of the world, is that even in the face of opposition, our activism will continue and will prevail. We must be organized and we will be organized. This year, Trump has answered his own question about what Black Americans have to lose. But it’s an answer we don’t plan to accept. WI

The new Essence will need subscribers. The media business will focus on expanding its digital businesses and international growth “by planting its rich content ecosystem, including digital properties and successful live event franchises, in more global markets.” In addition to the annual Essence Festival in New Orleans, Essence platforms include the Grammy Week

event Black Women in Music, the Black Women in Hollywood Awards and the Essence Festival in Durban, South Africa. Blacks should make it a point to buy the publication. The Black community owes allegiance and support to people like Dennis and should go out of their way to patronize black-owned businesses. WI

just a block or so from The White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So, through the Johnson, Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations, Booker’s career blossomed anew. He became a “go-to-guy” for black politics, and he was a mentor

to journalists young and old. In the Johnson Publishing office, when I came to town during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, Booker’s staff included E. Fannie Granton, journalist, and the office glue; Maurice Sorrell, a steady photographer, and social force in his own right; and “cub reporter” Roy Betts, fresh out of college. Booker was also mentor to journalists and politicians far from those in his employ. He advised me on many things. One piece of advice stuck with me. “Get into radio young man,” he told me more than once. “Get into radio young man. It’s the medium of the future. It’s the medium of Africa.” He was correct of course, and I’ve never regretted, not one moment I’ve spent following his advice, stumbling around the airwaves of non-commercial Pacifica Radio, NPR, Christian Science Monitor Radio, Soundprint, and others. Thank you Simeon Booker, for all you did for everybody, and for the tiny bit you did just for me. WI

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