August 2015 Health, Wellness, and Nutrition Issue inside
I N S I D E
I N S I D E
Fattah Maintains His Innocence, Pg. 10
Senate Cuts Housing Vouchers for Poor, Pg. 18
Donnie Simpson to Return to Radio, TV, Pg. 13
PGC’s Reesa Renee: Singing Sensation, Pg. 24
Vol. 50, No. 44 Aug 13 - Aug 19 , 2015
Comedian, actor Kevin Hart takes time out from his “What Now Tour” in D.C. on Friday, August 7 to share the gift of laughter with young patients at Children’s National Health System in Northwest. See the complete story on page 30. /Photo by Roy Lewis
Supporters gather during a “Shut it Down for Mike Brown” rally in Northwest on Sat., August 8 at the one-year anniversary of the youth’s police-involved slaying. /Photo by Roy Lewis
Rep. John Lewis (carrying a backpack) at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama during a civil rights march on March 7, 1965. /Photo Courtesy thegavoice.com
Obama, Officials Mark 50th Voting Rights Act Anniversary Obama to Congress, Senators and Governors: ‘Do the Right Thing’ By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer It was March 7, 1965, and the beaten, bloodied and often jailed but still resilient leaders of the civil rights movement had reached a crossroads. Something needed to be done and fast.
As many, including Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to the Alabama Capitol – the famous Selma-to-Montgomery march – no one knew what a fateful day that would turn out to be. Racist protesters and state
OBAMA Page 8
Violence Mars Michael Brown Anniversary By Stacy M. Brown WI Contributing Writer It wasn’t supposed to go this way. A march to observe the oneyear anniversary of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, turned into another police-involved shooting and a disruption of peace as some threw rocks and bottles at police officers who exchanged gunfire and wounded one man. Ferguson is now under a state of emergency. “The recent acts of violence will not be tolerated in a community that has worked so tire-
lessly over the last year to rebuild and become stronger,” St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said in a statement. The executive order put St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar in charge of police operations in Ferguson and the surrounding areas, Stenger said. During the day Monday, roughly 200 demonstrators marched from Christ Church Cathedral to the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Courthouse in St. Louis. The protesters carried signs, chanted and prayed and demanded the Justice Department take action, according to CNN.
At the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis, protesters hung a banner from two balloons. It read, “Racism still lives here #fightback.” Police arrested 56 people at the courthouse demonstration, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman Schron Jackson told CNN. Video posted to social media showed officers arresting several prominent protesters, including activist and intellectual Cornel West, who was also arrested during an October protest at the Ferguson Police Department.
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