VOL. 52, NO. 41 • JULY 27 - AUGUST 2, 2017
Don't Miss This Month's Issue of WI Bridge s u e Center Section Food Is
The Detroit Riot 50 Years Later Page 16
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DC Council Bill Puts Homeless on Path to Housing
NAACP Pushes to Fight Trump-Led Policies By William J. Ford WI Staff Writer @jabariwill
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer
Three years after the disappearance of 8-year-old Relisha Rudd shed light on the terrible conditions inside the District’s largest homeless shelter for families, the city took the first concrete step toward closing the dilapidated facility. A groundbreaking earlier this month for the Petworth Homeless Shelter in Northwest represents what District officials want to do to across the District to prevent and end homelessness. The new
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and Interruption Town Hall meeting at THEARC in Southeast, Racine said elected officials, public servants and others in the community must come together in understanding what they need to do to reduce violence. “Sadly, all too often in our city we hear about stories like this all the time,” he said July 19. “My colleague talked to this grandmother the other day
The NAACP held its 108th annual convention and this year’s theme, ‘Strong and Immovable,’ highlighted how President Donald Trump’s policies will ruin communities of color. Since the convention officially began Saturday, July 22, members and supporters of the civil rights organization passionately and unapologetically slammed Trump’s proposals on criminal justice, education and voting. The Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the NAACP Detroit branch, called Trump’s voter fraud commission “a scam.” “If you want to fix something, Mr. Trump, about our election [process], let’s start with the people on your own commission,” Anthony said while hundreds in the audience clapped and yelled inside the Baltimore Convention Center on Monday, July 24. “And above all, get the Russians the Hell out of our national election. I apologize. I’m from the city of Detroit and sometimes when I think about all this stuff, I get the inner-city blues.” The NAACP also took care of its own business this week by appointing Derrick Johnson as interim CEO and president of the organization. Johnson, of Jackson, Mississippi, served as the vice chairman on the group’s national board of directors and president
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A homeless woman sleeps on a bench in front of the Canadian Embassy in Northwest. /Photo by Shevry Lassiter
Another Violence Prevention Town Hall
Community Wants More Action, Less Talking By Sarafina Wright WI Staff Writer
5 Ward 8 Patrol Chief Robert Contee and Ward 8 Council member Trayon
White during the Violence Prevention Town Hall held at THEARC auditorium in Southeast on July 19. /Photo by Mark Mahoney
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine told a story about a grandmother in Ward 8 who wants for her grandson to be safe, but when that 8-year-old tells his grandmother that she needs to hit the ground as soon as possible when she hears noise to avoid being hurt, the city has work to do. At the Violence Prevention
Celebrating 52 Years of Service / Serving More Than 50,000 African American Readers Throughout The Metropolitan Area