WINNER OF THREE SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS D.C. AWARDS Don't Miss the WI Financial Literacy Supplement Center Section Vol. 56, No. 52 • October 14 - 20, 2021
Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March It was Saturday, October 16, 1995, when an estimated 400,000 people, mostly Black men and boys, swarmed the National Mall in the District to illustrate the true character of African-American men. It was a day without incident, a day when Black men, as well as little Black boys and Black women, recommitted themselves to their families and their communities across the U.S. It was a day we should never forget. Meanwhile, the quest for civil rights and the human right of self-determination continues. We shall not be moved! (Courtesy photo)
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‘Blackburn Takeover’ Highlights Students’ Problems with HU Administration Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer On Wed Oct. 13, a student-led protest at Howard University [HU]’s Blackburn University Center entered its first full day as more than 50 young people continued to demand a meeting with HU President Wayne A.I. Frederick and the fulfillment of other requests. At the culmination of a student-led town hall the night before, several dozen students stayed in Blackburn well past closing hours as part of what’s been called “The Blackburn Takeover.” Administrators have since shut down the building. Though a university official reportedly attempted to quell the protest, students remained inside, sporting their pajamas, planting their sleeping bags on the floor and circulating calls for supplies on social media. By Wednesday morning, protesters circumvented security guards stationed outside of Blackburn to pass out donuts to their peers who couldn’t enter the building for breakfast.
TAKEOVER Page 18
Virtual Learning Expansion Sparks Both Hope and Skepticism
Vision Zero Not Working, Commissioner Says
Hit in a Crosswalk, Father, Daughters Need GoFundMe Aid
Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer Since the D.C. Council’s unanimous passage of emergency legislation increasing virtual learning slots in District public and public charter schools, parents whose children had been denied that option must now consider taking advantage of the highly-coveted opportunity. Even with a greater chance of approval, there’s some skepticism among parents, including Latrice Harris, about whether schools will approve their applications and allow their children to learn from within the safe confines of their home. “My child has done okay since school started [but] she’s had a lot of colds and coughs that I had to monitor,” said Harris, a COVID-19 survivor and mother of a second grade public
Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
(Courtesy photo)
charter school student who suffers from asthma. The legislation, titled Protecting Our Children Emergency Declaration Resolution, applies to children like Harris’ daughter who live with people posing a high risk of illness from a COVID-19 infection.
VIRTUAL Page 44
As community members rally around a father and his two daughters severely injured after being hit in a crosswalk while on their way to school, the D.C. Department of Transportation [DDOT] continues to receive criticism for its inadequate response to concerns about traffic safety along the southeast corridor. ANC Commissioner Salim Adofo, whose single-member district includes the site of the incident, recounted sending DDOT a transportation safety assessment request nearly a month before a car recently struck Tyrone Belton and his two daughters at Wheeler Road and Mississippi Avenue in Southeast.
SAFETY Page 40
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