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A1 www.afro.com December 3, 2016 - December 3, 2016, The Afro-American $2.00 $1.00

Volume Volume 125 123 No. No.18 20–22

DECEMBER 3, 2016 - DECEMBER 9, 2016

Inside

Baltimore

• Alicia Wilson: A Port Covington Force

Jumping Up and Down about Issac Ryan Brown

#OurPresident

Commentary

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Testament to Fidel Castro By Gwen McKinney

President Barack Obama meets with the 2016 American Nobel Prize winners in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Nov. 30. With Obama are from left, Oliver Hart, Laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, from Harvard University, F. Duncan M. Haldane, Laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics from Princeton University, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart, Laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry from Northwestern University, and J. Michael Kosterlitz, Laureate of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics, from Brown University.

By Charles D. Ellison Special to the AFRO

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Among the many unclear policy messages emanating from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition effort, none has met as much guarded optimism as the plan to boost federal infrastructure investments. Similar to the “stimulus” policy chiseled in President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (an $831 billion package roundly

N.C. Police Shooting

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Your History • Your Community • Your News

Prosecutor Clears Black Officer in Keith Scott’s Death By Jeffrey Collins and Tom Foreman Jr., The Associated Press

Listen to Afro’s “First Edition” Join Host Sean Yoes Monday-Friday 5-7 p.m. on 88.9 WEAA FM, the Voice of the Community. 11

47105 21847

• Marion Barry’s

Legacy Honored

rejected by Republicans), this $1 trillion infrastructure enhancement is being touted as a “first-priority” centerpiece for the incoming Trump administration. Looking to revive the economy through revitalized bridges, roads, and airports, Trump seeks to align with Congressional Republicans

on a common ground issue. The infrastructure plan is unlikely to be contested as several Democrats seem to be on board with new infrastructure investments. Soon-to-be Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DNY) is signaling it’s an area of shared interest. There are currently no

specifics. Congressional aides expect wrangling over infrastructure dollars to commence as soon as Trump is sworn in, with some observers wondering how the new administration can progress on it while being potentially embroiled in a battle over making changes to

Continued on A3

AFRO Archives

Pearl Harbor

Navy Cross Awarded to Dorie Miller

By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO ssherman@afro.com

May 16, 1942

WASHINGTON

A prosecutor on Nov. 30 cleared a Black Charlotte police officer in the killing of a Black man whose death touched off civil unrest, and he presented detailed evidence to rebut assertions that the slain man was unarmed. Officer Brentley Vinson was justified in opening fire on Keith Scott and won’t face charges, CharlotteMecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray said. In a 40-minute news presentation to news reporters, Murray produced evidence that Keith Scott was armed with a handgun and the officer who killed him feared Scott would shoot. Continued on A3

Tony Yarber, mayor of Jackson, Miss., says that he isn’t sure if President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed infrastructure investments will benefit Blacks.

Push Resumes for Obama to Grant Clemency to Prisoners

Dorie Miller, a Black hero who after the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 1941 carried several Navy comrades to safety and then manned a machine gun against the Japanese, was awarded a Navy Cross for his efforts. There is a current campaign to have President Obama award him the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

The Navy Department announced Monday that President Roosevelt has awarded the Navy Cross to Dorie Miller, mess attendant, “for his distinguished devotion to duty, extraordinary courage and disregard for his own personal safety” during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Miller, a native Texan, with no opportunity for technical training in the navy, nevertheless manned a machine gun

Courtesy photo

How Will Blacks Fare in Trump’s Infrastructure Investment Plan?

Washington

during the attack on December 7 until his wounded commander ordered him to abandon the bridge of their stricken ship. Rating Advanced On April 1, Secretary of the Navy Knox commended the young hero in a letter and Miller who last week was in Continued on A4

President Barack Obama has reportedly used his clemency power more than any other U.S, president, since Woodrow Wilson – commuting more than 900 sentences. Still, as his administration enters a “midnight period” (a phase between November 21 and January 20 when executive branch legislation can be made without going through Congress) prominent Continued on A4

Blood Clots Impact Black Women in Record Numbers By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO ssherman@afro.com Tracy March, by all accounts, was in perfect health. A single mother of a college student, March was described as the life of the party, the point person for office volunteer activities, and a

“The first symptoms can be sudden death or collapse.”

– Gary Raskob

dedicated mother and employee. But like thousands of Americans each year, March fell victim recently to a blood

clot, which traveled to her lungs and burst, killing her almost instantly. While friends, family, and colleagues remain baffled by the sudden loss, they are steadfastly advocating blood clot awareness among District residents. “Soreness in one of her legs was the only symptom she had until she became Continued on A3

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Meet Cameron Clarke, Howard University’s Newest Rhodes Scholar By Sytonia Reid Special to the AFRO

In addition to loved son and brother, reliable friend, outstanding student, and published researcher, Howard University senior Cameron Davis Clarke can now add Rhodes Scholar to his list of great feats. (Facebook Photo) “I didn’t even really Howard University senior believe it the first time when they announced it,” Cameron Davis Clarke. Clarke said of the moment when he first heard of his achievement—only a few minutes after the Rhodes interview on the weekend of Nov. 19. The biology and community health double major seemed to be more surprised than his peers about the life-changing opportunity awarded to him. “It’s not that it’s not incredible, but Cameron is just as incredible you know?” said Ruby LeMorin, a Howard University senior political science major and one of Clarke’s good friends since their freshman year. “I feel like as a friendgroup, none of us ever have doubts that Cameron can get done all of the goals that he has in his life.” Clarke is one of the 32 American college students selected for the 2017 Rhodes Scholars program. He is among seven students representing the Washington region selected to study at Oxford University in fall 2017. “Cameron’s very ambitious and he struck me as a very mature young man who was focused in terms of what he wanted to do” said Krista Johnson, Clarke’s faculty adviser at the Howard chapter of Globemed. Globemed is a network of 58 university based chapters established in 2007 by students that aims to strengthen the movement for global health equity by empowering students and communities to work together to improve the health of people living in poverty around the world. Since coming to Howard from Jersey City in 2013, Clarke has spent his undergraduate career demonstrating his hunger for world solutions through extensive study and activism. Clarke’s interest in medicine led to experiences such as his time as a field researcher at Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar University and as an Amgen Scholar at the National Institute of Health. The 21 year-old currently serves on the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. “Community health was a choice because I realized that health isn’t just about the state of disease, you have to take a holistic standpoint when you want to address any type of health issue” said Clarke. “So biology was sort of like for when I want to go into practicing medicine and the community health is for prevention and working in policy.” While growing up in Jersey City, Clarke attended Dr. Ronald E. McNair High School, one of the top performing public high schools in the country. Though reluctant at first, he eventually joined his older brother Malcolm Clarke at Howard University, where he continued building his academic development and produced strong friendships. After graduating from Howard next summer, Clarke will pursue a master’s degree in primary health at the University of Oxford where he will study alongside 95 other world scholars for two years. “He’s like the friend that whenever you need something, he’s able to assist,” said Howard senior Kelan Kennedy. Kennedy and Clarke became friends their senior year at McNair and both came to Howard University as freshmen in fall 2013. “Like no matter what it is, which is kind of weird. He’s one of those people that’s kind of good at a lot of different things.” Clarke spoke of the importance of getting an early start in one’s educational development and not allowing fear to drive away opportunities. “I think a lot of times people tend to back out of things because they think it’s going to be overwhelming or it might be too much or they might not be able to handle it but the good thing about taking an opportunity is if it ends up being too much you can always drop out,” said Clarke. “If you never take it in the first place, then you never get the chance to see how much you’re able to do.” When he’s not studying, working or bicycling through Howard’s campus, Clarke said he enjoys writing. “I like to write. I think I’ve realized over the past seven semesters that writing is kind of therapeutic for me. I definitely like to write for myself and for audiences,” he said. Clarke joins prior Rhodes Scholars and Howard University alumni Mark Alleyne, Carla Peterman, and Marianna Ofosu.

Mos Def Leaves South Africa on a US Passport By The Associated Press

(AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam

In this March 24, 2016 photo, American actor and musician Yasiin Bey, also known as Mos Def, leaves the Bellville Magistrates’ Court in Bellville, South Africa.

Hip-hop star Yasiin Bey — also known as Mos Def — has left South Africa after making a deal with authorities who accused him of violating the country’s immigration laws. South Africa’s home affairs

department on Nov. 23 confirmed that Bey had left the country on Nov. 22 after apologizing to the government. In turn, authorities say, charges against him will be dropped. Earlier this year, Bey was arrested in Cape Town following an attempt to leave South Africa using a document called a “world passport,” which South Africa does not recognize as valid. The government says Bey had since applied for an American passport after using one in the past. Bey has announced he is retiring from the music business after farewell concerts in December in New York and Washington, D.C.

Drugs, Alcohol Not Involved in Chattanooga Bus Crash; 6th Child Dies By The Associated Press

A school bus driver had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he careened off a road and smashed into a tree, killing six elementary schoolchildren, police said Nov. 23. Chattanooga (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Police Sgt. Austin People release balloons outside Garrett said a New Monumental Baptist Church, toxicology test Nov. 22, in Chattanooga, Tenn. A was performed on service was held at the church for Johnthony Walker, victims of a school bus that crashed 24, the bus driver Nov. 21, killing several children now in jail on five vehicular homicide from Woodmore Elementary School. charges. Later, on Nov. 23, the police department sent a tweet saying a sixth child had died of injuries from the crash. Federal authorities said Walker left the designated bus route and had driven onto a curvy road while carrying 37 children on their way home from Woodmore Elementary School. Police said he was driving well over the posted 30 mph limit when he lost control of the bus and slammed into a tree. Several children remain in the hospital. National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher A. Hart says it’s unclear why driver Walker left the designated route and drove the bus down Talley Road. “One of the things we’re exploring is A, has he done it before, and B, if so, why?” Hart said. He said Walker, who has no criminal record in the state, had taken on a second job at an Amazon Fulfillment Center, and part of the agency’s investigation will look at whether fatigue played a role in the wreck. The NTSB will also bring in a specialist to analyze video and audio recordings from the bus’s interior cameras that were damaged in the Nov. 21 wreck. Police disputed one woman’s claim that the driver asked the children if they were “prepared to die” just before the wreck. Jasmine Mateen, whose 6-year-old daughter was among the dead, said one of her two surviving children who were on the bus told her about the driver’s remarks. Garrett, however, said at a Nov. 23 press conference: “I want to be very clear on this. No witness we have spoken with has that information or provided it directly to our investigators.” He added that investigators have not yet interviewed the children on the bus and asked anyone with additional information to bring it to police. Three of the children killed were in fourth grade, one in first grade and another in kindergarten, said Kirk Kelly, interim superintendent of Hamilton County schools. The age and identity of the sixth child wasn’t immediately released. A makeshift memorial to them grew up around a telephone pole, with stuffed bears, flowers and dozens of balloons. Their families remembered them as fun, happy children taken much too soon. D’Myunn Brown liked to play little tricks on grown-ups. The 6-year-old would snatch a cellphone, hide it, then giggle and bat his big brown eyes. “That’s what made him so pretty, and he was as sweet as he could be,” said his great-grandmother, Winifred Bray. “I’m still numb. I still can’t believe he’s gone.” LaFrederick Thirkill remembered his 9-year-old cousin, Cordayja Jones, as a girly-girl who liked dressing up and giving hugs. Thirkill is the principal at Orchard Knob Elementary, where Cordayja attended before changing schools to Woodmore Elementary. She was a polite little girl, he said. Even though he was her cousin, she called him “Mr. Thirkill” when she saw him in the hallways. “I remember her as just a kid who always smiles,” he said. School officials repeatedly declined to answer questions Nov. 23 about whether they received complaints about the driver. School Principal Brenda Adamson-Cothran said their focus is on “giving our families and students the support that they need in this tragedy.” Walker was involved in another bus accident only two months ago, police said. In September, he was driving the bus into a blind curve when he crossed over the center line and hit an SUV, according to a police report. No one was injured, and the damage to both vehicles was minor. He was not cited for any violations. Hamilton County School District spokeswoman Amy Katcher referred all questions about his performance and that of other drivers to the company that manages them, Durham School Services.

The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 3, 2016

December 3, 2016 -December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

Infrastructure Continued from A1

the Affordable Care Act. There is a sense that Trump will naturally shift attention to infrastructure investment where it’s needed most: America’s bustling cities. Should that be the case, many Black elected officials, particularly on the state and local level, are hoping new infrastructure stimulus translates into jobs and economic opportunities for Black communities clustered in densely populated urban areas. “Improving our nation’s transportation and infrastructure is equally critical, and it will be a top priority to work with the new administration to bring American infrastructure into the 21st century,” said Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Sly James in a statement Nov. 14. “Currently, American communities are facing crumbling roads, failing bridges, and lackluster broadband access. This is an unacceptable paradigm [at] a time when over 63 percent of the nation’s population lives in small and large cities.”

Infrastructure is the keyword. “Donald Trump has said he will make new investments in infrastructure one of his top priorities. We look forward to working with him to make that goal a reality,” added James. “We’re really anxious right now, we’re not really sure about [how] things are going to check out. We’re holding our fingers and our breath,” says Jackson, Miss. Mayor Tony Yarber (D-Jackson). Like many of his Black mayor peers, Yarber struggles with what’s on the horizon in an era of Trump “Still, infrastructure is something that raises quality of life in cities. We want to see economic empowerment and social empowerment. So, we welcome the infrastructure investment. Regular folks in our city are concerned about clean drinking water, flushing toilets that don’t back up into showers, and making sure people who are incarcerated, when they get out, have job opportunities.”

Still, the direct economic benefit to Black workers from infrastructure projects and investments is unclear. According to the Business Roundtable, a national trade group based in Washington, D.C., “up to $320 billion in economic output

Researcher Algernon Austin wrote, “Latinos would likely receive a relatively large share of jobs from infrastructure investments because they are well represented in construction and transportation occupations.”

“We’re really anxious right now, we’re not really sure about [how] things are going to check out.”

– Tony Yarber

would be generated in 2020 if U.S. infrastructure investment were boosted by 1 percent of GDP per year.” That could mean 1.7 million jobs over the first three years and $3 in economic activity for every infrastructure investment dollar. Economists expect the infrastructure tide to lift all boats, particularly in underserved or unemploymentriddled communities needing that most.

“African Americans receive jobs from infrastructure investments, generally; however, they receive a larger share from public transit investments,” noted Austin in a 2013 Economic Policy Institute study examining the impact. “The right infrastructure investments can help reduce the Hispanic-White and Black-White unemployment gaps.” “Republicans are definitely primed to undermine the public

Blood Clots

Black Officer

Continued from A1

The announcement “profoundly disappointed” Scott’s family, but they haven’t decided whether to file a lawsuit, their lawyer said. Scott, 43, was killed Sept. 20 in the parking lot of an apartment complex. Much of Murray’s presentation centered on the gun and debunking witnesses who said Scott wasn’t armed. Murray displayed a store’s surveillance video taken shortly before the incident, showing the outline of what appeared to be a holstered gun on Scott’s ankle. He said Scott’s DNA was found on a Colt .380-caliber semiautomatic handgun recovered at the scene. He shared a Facebook conversation from the man who said he sold the stolen gun to Scott and recognized him from TV coverage after the shooting, and police radio traffic where officers talked about the gun before confronting Scott. He also released his report online and asked the public to review his findings before protesting again. Two nights of protests after the shooting resulted in looted stores near the scene and in downtown Charlotte, millions of dollars of damage, a fatal shooting and more than two dozen injuries to police officers and others. “The community should read the report. Digest the report. Please do not act viscerally on news snippets,” Murray said. Murray said his team of homicide prosecutors reviewed the evidence, along with other lawyers. He said the investigation relied on 63 State Bureau of Investigation agents working for 2,300 hours. Murray said every one of them agreed with his conclusion. “All of the credible, available and believable evidence supports the

good in terms of social insurance,” said Maya Rockeymoore, founding CEO of D.C.-based think tank Global Policy Solutions. “And any infrastructure done through a Trump administration would certainly bypass unions. While, for communities of color, who haven’t been included in unions historically, that’s not such a bad thing, there is a worry of a continued erosion of job opportunities for those populations.” Rockeymoore worries that implementation of any Trump infrastructure plan could be a trap. “What’s interesting is that the way this is done is going to matter,” Rockeymoore told the AFRO. “The plan is to finance it with international funders and hedge funds, but that’s done in such a way for companies to come in to charge tolls, fines, and fees as a form of ownership over this infrastructure. That’s predatory capitalism. It will be done in a way that squeezes individuals and families, but also the public sector.”

Davie Hinshaw/The Charlotte Observer via AP

The family of Keith Lamont Scott including his wife Rakeyia Scott, right, attend a news conference after finding out charges would not be filed against CMPD officer Brentley Vinson in the fatal shooting of her husband. conclusion that Scott was armed with a gun,” Murray said. Immediately after the shooting, a video of Scott’s final moments recorded by his wife, Rakeyia, was posted on social media. In it, she shouted to police that her husband “doesn’t have a gun.” She pleaded with officers not to shoot before a burst of gunfire could be heard. Minutes after Murray spoke to reporters, Scott family attorney Justin Bamberg said at a news conference that there still isn’t definitive proof Scott had a gun in his hand when he was shot. Scott’s family is

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profoundly disappointed at the decision not to charge Vinson, but thanked Murray for meeting with them for an hour to answer their questions, Bamberg said. Anyone who is upset should not get violent but should work on changing a system that lets officers shoot people without taking more steps to prevent confrontations from becoming deadly, Bamberg said. He added that he understood why prosecutors decided not to file charges. “That does not mean that this officer’s killing of Keith Scott was right. All that means is that under the view of the DA’s office, it wasn’t criminal. And those are two completely different things,” Bamberg said. Rakeyia Scott stood behind the lawyers with her sister, Rachel Dotch. They didn’t speak to reporters. The shooting happened after plainclothes officers went to the complex looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when two undercover officers saw Scott — not the suspect they were looking for — inside a car with a gun and marijuana, Murray said.

The officers said they would have ignored the marijuana, but the gun made the situation dangerous to others. They left to get backup, then returned to arrest Scott, Murray said. Officers said Scott exited the SUV with a gun, ignored at least 10 orders to drop the weapon and appeared to be in a trance, Murray said. As Scott locked eyes with him, Vinson told investigators, “I felt like if I didn’t do anything right then, at that point it’s like he was going to shoot me or he’s going to shoot one of my buddies, and it was going to happen right now,” Vinson told investigators the next day. Scott’s wife had told reporters and investigators her husband had no gun. But in August, the couple had argued on text messages about the weapon, with Rakeyia Scott reminding her husband he could get 25 years in prison because he was a felon who wasn’t supposed to have one. The case was among a series across the country since mid-2014 that spurred a national debate over race and policing. A murder trial is underway in Charleston, South Carolina, for a since-fired White patrolman, Michael Slager, in the 2015 death of a Black man, Walter Scott, who was shot while running from a traffic stop. A Minnesota police officer who shot and killed Philando Castile during a July traffic stop remains free as a manslaughter case against him proceeds. Deaths of other unarmed Black males at the hands of law enforcement officers have inspired protests under the “Black Lives Matter” moniker.

short of breath,” long-time friend Chuck Wise told the AFRO. “When physicians said it was a blood clot, we still couldn’t understand it because she exercised regularly, she ate well, and she lived a pretty upstanding life. Sitting too long, and maybe even, several longdistance flights she had recently taken, could be the blame. We may never know.” Each year in the U.S. nearly a million people suffer a venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Blacks have a 30 percent to 60 percent higher incidence of either or both than other groups. And while the culprit varies from genetic factors to inactivity, increasingly air travel, pregnancies, and sedentary work environments are being linked to the deadly blood clots. DVT is the reason airline passengers are encouraged to move their feet, to keep blood from pooling and triggering clot formation. Symptoms, if any, are leg swelling, unexpected bruises, or a stabbing pain in an arm, leg, or the chest. With PE, sudden death occurs when a clot, perhaps dislodged from a sleeping foot, gets stuck in an artery in a lung. Additionally, while uncommon, new mothers are at an increased risk for developing VTE blood clots for up to 12 weeks after giving birth, according to a recent study from Weill Cornell Medical College researchers. The study discovered that 22 clot-related strokes, heart attacks, and clots in the legs or lungs occur within six weeks postpartum in every 100,000 deliveries, and another three clots occur in the next six weeks. After 12

weeks, the risk goes back to normal. “The first symptoms can be sudden death or collapse. We can’t wait and watch. It’s truly a silent killer,” says lead study author Gary Raskob, PhD, dean of the College of Public Health and regents’ professor of epidemiology and medicine at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Symptoms of Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) include: Unilateral swelling in a leg or an arm, pain or tenderness in the leg when standing or walking, increased warmth in the area that’s swollen or hurts, redness of the skin; and noticeable enlargement of the veins in the leg or arm. Pulmonary embolism (PE) symptoms include: sudden shortness of breath, sharp chest pain aggravated by coughing or moving, back pain, cough with or without bloody sputum, excessive sweating, rapid pulse or rapid breathing, and lightheadedness or passing out. Once diagnosed, clotting issues can be addressed through anti-coagulants. Professionals and families impacted by clot-related deaths, insist Blacks be vigilant and persistent in having blood clots diagnosed. “Sometimes you must advocate for yourself and push your doctors to look for blood clots when your symptoms could read like asthma or other conditions that cause shortness of breath,” March told the AFRO. “Ask for a risk calculation of blood clots and if you are a caregiver to someone who is in hospital, insist risk management for blood clots be assessed. It is the difference between life and death.”

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December 3, 2016 - December 3, 2016, The Afro-American

Trump Federal Workforce Plans Don’t Bode Well for Black Workers By Charles D. Ellison Special to the AFRO In 2011 conservative commentator and failed Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan wrote in a blog post that President Obama created a federal workforce rife with a “race-based spoils system.” “Now, as White folks are twothirds of the U.S. population, and perhaps three-fourths of those in the 45 to 65 age group who would normally be at senior federal positions, why is this ‘a problem’?” wrote Buchanan arguing against the Obama administration’s executive order for more federal workforce diversity. “Why is the color of their skin a ‘problem’ for Barack Obama?” Fast forward five years and Buchanan’s racially-charged umbrage with federal agency diversity is more relevant in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. Trump plans sweeping changes to the federal workforce, which could have far-reaching and disproportionately negative consequences on Black federal employees and their communities. “We do have concerns over racial discrimination in reference to hiring, promotions and awards, and lack of accountability from agencies when EEO cases are won, in addition to the new tactics for removal of people of color (such as security clearance, time and attendance, and performance),” Blacks in Government National President Darlene Young and Vice President Doris Sartor told the AFRO in an email. “We believe the impact of downsizing the federal government will have a severe

AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to downsize the federal workforce, nearly 20 percent of which is Black. impact on Black Americans who are already struggling for economic stability and advancement against racism, disparate treatment, and favoritism.” Various proposals are on the table, with the President-elect vowing to enforce a campaign-trail promise to “drain the swamp” or to rid Washington, D.C. of rampant corruption as he sees it. While initial impressions of the statement focus on the national capitol’s unpopular circuit of lobbyists, full-time politicians, and influence-peddlers, Trump transition members, policy advisers, and loyal surrogates are actually working closely with Congressional Republicans on plans to actively downsize the broader 2.1 million employee federal workforce. That’s one of six key “measures

Dorie Miller Continued from A1 California, has been advanced in rating as a preliminary reward for his bravery. Last week the Senate voted down a bill introduced by Senators James M. Mead and Alben W. Barkley, both Democrats of New York and Kentucky, respectively, which would have authorized a Congressional Medal for Miller. Knox Disapproved Medal Secretary Knox, however, had

to clean up the corruption and special interest collusion in Washington, D.C.” including “a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health).” But, “attrition” could also entail a number of other dramatic proposals such as the end of automatic pay raises (or “step increases”), easier employee termination procedures, and a significant reduction of federal employee benefits. These measures present fresh rounds of uncertainty for Black federal workers. Nearly 20 percent of the federal workforce is Black. A number of large metropolitan areas and states with heavy Black population centers, including Black middle-

disapproved legislation to award a Congressional Medal to Miller. The views of Mr. Knox were made known in a letter to Senator David I. Walsh, chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, opposing this bill. Opposition to the award of the Congressional Medal to Miller is said to be based upon the fact that such an honor carries with it for life the privilege of the floor of the House of Representatives. Despite this opposition, plans are already being made to continue the request that the award be made. Edgar G. Brown, director of the National Negro Council in a statement Tuesday

class corridors in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and elsewhere, could find themselves in dire economic straits should Trump federal workforce policies go into full effect – with Congressional Republican blessing. Public sector work has long been relied upon as a pillar of Black upward mobility. For generations since Reconstruction, Blacks have viewed local, state and federal government work as a lesstroubled path to greater professional development and middle-class living standards. That’s never been an easy goal. Blacks file one out of every four workplace discrimination complaints, according to a 2015 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report. Constant racial harassment and barriers to promotional advancement are routine challenges.

federal government shutdown. “People of color are not only suffering the consequences of partisan gridlock in Washington but are also bearing the brunt of cuts in services,” wrote Center for American Progress policy analyst Farah Ahmad in an examination of the last shutdown. That’s “including delays in obtaining Federal Housing Administration homebuying loans, and economic losses to small businesses that rely on federal workers’ patronage, such as restaurants and lost access to Head Start programs for children.” Federal workforce hiring freezes and attrition would have immediate and rather visible financial effects on states with large Black populations and communities heavily reliant on the flow of federal dollars. Maryland and Virginia are the top two considering their

“We believe the impact of downsizing the federal government will have a severe impact on Black Americans . . .” – Darlene Young and Doris Sartor Massive budget cuts to state and local governments since 2009 have had a severe impact on Blacks, who bore the brunt of nearly 500,000 public sector job losses due to the Great Recession – 265,000 alone in 2011. That contributed to much higher Black unemployment rates through the recession. And the federal Office of Personnel Management found that more than 150,000 Black federal workers were furloughed during the last 2013

said, “Despite the action of Secretary Knox recommending against the award of a Congressional Medal to Miller, colored people of the nation are appealing to Congress to support the measure introduced by Senator Mead and Congressman John Dingell (Dem. Michigan) to accord the same honor to this colored American regardless of race, creed, or color as to other heros of the nation. “Secretary Knox also failed in the first release of the Navy Department to note even that Miller was in the engagement at Pearl Harbor, though he cited more than 200 others for bravery and heroism. “The favorable action of President

close proximity to Washington, D.C. Other states such as Georgia, California, Texas, and Florida – all states that rely on agencies such as the CDC, NASA, military bases, or military and federal support entities – are also major economic hubs for Black workers. The proposed downsizing comes, ironically, at a time when federal government agencies are warning of impending staffing shortages due to federal employee retirements.

Roosevelt is very acceptable. The National Negro Council, however, will continue to urge Congress to support efforts to see to it that Miller received a Congressional Medal and the privilege and right of the floor of Congress for the rest of his life which are accorded with such recipients.” The last holder of the Congressional Medal was Master Sergeant George H. Wanton, who died in 1940. Sergeant Wanton, a native of Paterson N.J., was a member of the Tenth Cavalry. During the Spanish-American War he distinguished himself by saving the lives of sixteen captured comrades at the risk of his own.

Clemency Continued from A1 Black leaders, including political commentator Van Jones and the Clemency Project are pushing Obama to ask the Justice Department to reduce prison stays for the nearly 4,000 federal prisoners who are believed to be wrongfully convicted. The Clemency Project, a probono effort of lawyers across the country working to file petitions, stood with Jones Nov. 15, outside the U.S. Department of Justice to publicly challenge Obama. Saying they had submitted more than 2,150 cases to the Office of the Pardon Attorney since 2014, of which only 469 had received clemency, Jones insisted more was required. “There is nothing more urgent than freedom,” Jones told the crowd of about 50 people, organized by the #ClemencyNow campaign. “The Obama administration has committed itself to more clemencies than any other administration in American history, and yet there is more work [that] needs to be done.” Approximately 46 percent of federal prisoners are serving time for drug-related crimes. Many were sentenced under outdated mandatory minimums established in the 1980s for crack and powder cocaine. Someone caught with one gram of crack cocaine went to jail

for the same amount of time as someone caught with 100 grams of powder cocaine. These sentences disproportionately penalized people of color – and helped lead to an explosion in America’s prison population.

In 2010, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act, or FSA, and narrowed the sentencing disparity between the two forms of the drug. However, the FSA did not apply to anyone already convicted under the older laws. As of 2013,

more than 17,000 federal prisoners were serving sentences for crack convictions. “Meaningful criminal justice reform is desperately needed in Congress – but leadership has failed to act this year. Meanwhile, thousands of drug offenders are languishing in prison under outdated and unduly harsh laws. Clemency from the president is their only hope

the #ClemencyNOW rally, told the AFRO that many Washingtonians currently incarcerated fell victim to heavy-handed drug sentences and ‘three strikes’ legislation that targeted Black families. “There were plenty of drugs being sold and consumed on Capitol Hill and in Georgetown, but enforcement efforts began and ended in predominantly poor, Black communities where the

“There were plenty of drugs being sold and consumed on Capitol Hill and in Georgetown, but enforcement efforts began and ended in predominantly poor, Black communities . . .” – William Berg

AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

President Barack Obama is being urged to grant clemency to the nearly 4,000 federal prisoners who are believed to be wrongfully convicted.

for freedom,” #ClemencyNOW Campaign Director Brittany Byrd told the crowd. “We urge the president to continue down this path, granting clemencies in a momentous and encouraging manner. He should leave no deserving individual behind bars when he leaves office.” William Berg, a returning citizen from Ward 7 who joined

drug trade was a matter of survival,” Berg said. “That type of selective enforcement, under mandatory 25year sentences requires a different level of restorative justice, especially since White people committing these same crimes today, are being pushed toward treatment and slaps on the wrists. There are people who deserve to come home,” Jones said.

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

AIDS Advocates Wary About Trump Administration’s Possible Handling of Disease By Hamil R. Harris Special to the AFRO President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Obamacare critic Rep. Tom Price is sparking worry among health care advocates, especially those on the front lines of the battle against HIV/AIDS. “Many of us are worried that the gains we have made might be stymied or worse we we might loose ground because President-elect Trump has talked about repealing the Affordable Healthcare Act and many people living with HIV/AIDS might lose their healthcare,”

Phil Wilson, CEO and founder of the Los Angeles-based Black AIDS Institute, told the AFRO. From Los Angeles to Washington D.C. there are many soldiers in the battle against HIV and AIDS who used World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, to remind people that this is a medical war that can only be won if everyone does their part. Guy Weston, executive director of the DC Cares Consortium said after decades of progress treatment options for people living with HIV or AIDS should not be politicized. “We have [made] so much progress in the

“Prevention and education are so important, and it’s just that simple.” – Mark Ridley-Thomas last 16 years, even President George W. Bush pushed programs,” said Weston, whose organization is one of the many District-based service providers for people living with HIV/AIDS. Herman Williams, a case manager with Us Helping Us, also sounded an optimistic tone on the eve of World AIDS Day, which started in 1988. “We have come to a point in the HIV/AIDS cycle where it is no longer a death sentence,” Williams said in an interview, referencing to preventative medications such as Truvada. “If you take your medicine you can live a regular life. We have come a super long way in the last 30 years but we have more work to do. To much money is being spent on the pharmaceutical side.” “Prevention and education are so important, and it’s just that simple,” Mark Ridley-Thomas, a Los Angeles County supervisor and a recipient of the Black AIDS Institutes “Heroes in the Struggle Award,” said in a statement. According to the Black AIDS institute, Blacks, disproportionately make up 44 percent of the new HIV diagnoses. But on World AIDS Day Wilson is clearly worried. “We are already getting calls from patients and clients worried that they are going to lose their health insurance. The Affordable Health Care Act is a very important prevention tool,” he said.

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The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

COMMENTARY

Testament to Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro’s death at the age of 90 is miraculous. While demonized and derided by 10 successive U.S. administrations, he outlived political prognoses, successfully beating back dictators, domination, U.S.-funded mercenaries – even exploding cigars. But truth was an unyielding casualty in the war against Castro. The news coverage marking his passing lives somewhere between U.S. government spin and simply outrageous. Much of the mainstream reporting is a study in “mixed facts” and surgical omissions. An honest Cuban observer can only ask: How does this pass for news? What country are they talking about? Travel 90 miles from the U.S. shores and you may as well be on another planet, transfixed by the extremes of strides and struggles that are etched in the life of the Cuban people and the history of an extraordinary revolution. Ruling Cuba for nearly 50 years, Fidel Castro is not without valid critique or contradictions. But in the face of a massive and unending U.S. propaganda machine, Fidel has been elevated to Biblical heights as David confronted Goliath. The romantics paint him as a cross between mythical crusader and savior. The detractors brand him a violent dictator. Defying myths and propaganda, the evidence shows that under Fidel’s leadership, Cuba was transformed from a despotic-ruled island, a haven for the Mafia, and a money sanctuary for U.S. corporations — they owned 60 percent of the sugar industry and controlled exports on 95 percent of the crops. Leading a band of bearded revolutionaries, he did create a bold socialist model that crashed against the odds to succeed. Despite adversities, from 1959 forward, Castro’s Cuba soared. By the mid-1960s, literacy rates climbed to nearly 100 percent among primary and secondary school children. Universal education (including college) and its health care for all became the envy of the world. On climate change, agrarian reform, peace and disarmament, food security and the norms of international sovereignty, this small island nation took its place among giants. As Fidel is excoriated in circles of U.S. power, he is also hailed as a hero on the world stage. From Argentina to Angola, Canada to Kenya, this tiny island country made a massive contribution, especially to progress for people – the poor, the Black, the forgotten – in his country and developing nations. Undeniably, he set in motion a model of self-determination not known anywhere in the world. Yet, news reports about Cuba’s disastrous economy make no reference to the huge price that was paid and exacted – not by any internal policies – as a result of a nearly impenetrable 55-year economic blockade designed by the U.S. as a stranglehold that would bring the Castro government and his socialist experiment to its knees. Until the thaw in Cuban policies by President Obama last year, trade, aide and travel were outlawed; even the importation of U.S. aspirins were prohibited. I was able to pass through the U.S. travel ban as a young, working journalist. My last visit to Cuba in 1988 was during a time of change and challenge. The Soviet Empire was being dissolved and Cuba was feeling the erosion of support solidified during the Cold War. But even in the face of the austerity period, what struck me more than anything was the Cuban sense of

Gwen McKinney

humor – a national treasure that never waned. Fiercely passionate, the Cuban resistance to the strongest power in the world was also a source of national pride that was exemplified by a comedic billboard. A fully-decked out Uncle Sam faces off against its island nemesis, a somewhat rag tag soldier. In Spanish, the message declares, “Mr. Imperialist, we have absolutely no fear!” That message personified Fidel Castro, a brazen reminder to its most powerful detractor to the north. Mounted opposite the United States Interest Section, America’s representatives faced this imagery every day for years. It is a fitting epitaph to Jefe Fidel, unbowed. Gwen McKinney heads McKinney & Associates, the first African American and womanowned firm in the nation’s capital expressly dedicated to social justice communications.

Jobenomics: Baltimore City’s Minority-Owned Business Plan Baltimore has a long history of creating minority-owned businesses and advocacy for minority and women owned businesses. Many of us remember the work of Samuel T. Daniels and the Council for Economic and Business Opportunity, Congressman Parren J. Mitchell and SBA’s 8(a) program, Dorothy Brunson and her radio station WEBB and Arnold Jolivet, whose advocacy for minority owned businesses propelled him into the forefront of Baltimore’s development community. There are others who have picked up the mantle including Stanley Tucker, Joseph Haskins, Wayne Frazier and Shina Parker. We have learned and we know that small business development is the stepladder to the middle class for minorities everywhere. The Jobenomics Baltimore City plan continues in that tradition. Advocating for and developing a plan for small businesses that are connected to what the Jobenomics National Grassroots Movement is trying to achieve with local communities makes good sense. Minority job and wealth creation are essential to American economic prosperity and social stability as the United States transitions from a White-majority nation to a minority-majority nation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2011 marked the first year in U.S. history that minority births exceeded White births. By 2020, more than 50% of all U.S. children are expected to be part of a minority race or ethnic group. By 2044, America will be a minoritymajority nation. California, Texas, New Mexico and Hawaii are already minority-majority states—not counting the multiracial population. Baltimore is one of the many minoritymajority cities in the United States. In West Baltimore, 13 of 14 neighborhoods are over 80% African-American The solution to enhancing minority labor force participation and increasing wealth in minority communities involves minority-owned business creation. Minority-owned businesses

Alvin C. Hathaway Sr.

are growing significantly faster than White-owned business, according to the 2015 U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners report. The Census Bureau Survey of Business Owners also provides detail on sales, receipts and shipment values for all firms. Minority firms did extremely well. In 2007, minority-owned firms contributed approximately $1 trillion to the U.S. economy. In 2012, this amount increased by 53% to $1.6 trillion. Asian-owned sales, receipts and shipment values increased during this period by 57%, followed by Hispanic-owned by 48% and Black-owned by 38%. The 2017 Survey is likely to show even greater minority-owned business growth now that the U.S. economy is in a growth mode, albeit slowly. Jobenomics sees tremendous future employment and revenue growth potential of minorityowned businesses given the significant rate of growth in minority populations and the rate of minority-owned business expansion over the last five years. Jobenomics believes that doubling minority-owned businesses from 8 million to 16 million is achievable within a decade, if communities implement initiatives to mass-produce highly-scalable small and self-employed minority-owned businesses. If only one-fifth of the 100,000 new jobs sought by Jobenomics Baltimore City, were part of a 10-person minority-owned business startup, 2,000 new small businesses would be created in West Baltimore alone. We have major anchor institutions, government purchasing power, and corporate allies. We have creative entrepreneurial talent. Focusing on new small business creation and development should be a goal we all can agree upon. The Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr. is the senior pastor of Union Baptist Church in West Baltimore, Md. He is also the Commissioner of the Maryland Governor’s Workforce Investment Board and is working with Jobenomics Baltimore City.

Clinton Lost the Popular Vote. So What?

John R. Hawkins III

The Electoral College, not the popular vote, elected Donald Trump as our 45th President. The question among many is, “Shouldn’t the popular vote decide who the next President and Vice-President are?” My question is, “So what?” Even given the electoral college deciding who becomes President, if African American voters had come out in large numbers in states such as Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and a few others, the president-elect would be Hillary Clinton. From my foxhole, the system did not fail us; rather, assuming the election was not “stolen” by illegal election activities making it impossible for a full accounting of African American votes, we failed us. The U.S. Electoral College was created by Article Two of the constitution. The reason was and is a guarantee that small states and the District of Columbia have a meaningful part to play in who will be the President and Vice-President. The College currently consists of 538 “electors.”

The number represents the number of U.S. Senators (100), the number of U.S. House of Representative (435) and 3 authorized for the District of Columbia. The states with the most electors are: California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and Pennsylvania. It is important to note that North Carolina and Virginia are not far behind. The seven states which authorized only three electors (the same number as D.C.) are: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. All states are winner takes all except Maine and Nebraska. From my foxhole, we must ensure we maximize our numbers in the swing states where we can make the difference. We must get out and vote and do all we can in areas that have large concentrations of African Americans where we can prove to be the voters who have an impact on the Electoral College, while ensuring we continue to carry the locations we already carry. Educate and empower those who are for your candidate elsewhere. The U.S. Army does not prepare for battle the day before the battle, it prepares constantly. Let’s roll. Maj Gen US Army (ret) John R. Hawkins III, JD, MPA is President and CEO of Hawkins Solutions Intl., a government relations and lobby company. His last military assignment as a “two star” was Dir., Human Resources Directorate for the Army world-wide and prior to that Deputy Chief Public Affairs for the Army, world-wide.

The opinions on this page are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the AFRO. Send letters to: The Afro-American Newspaper • 2519 N. Charles St. • Baltimore, MD 21218 or fax to 1-877-570-9297 or e-mail to editor@afro.com

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

One Year Later

Murder of Hampton University Student Still Unsolved By Jerica Deck Special to the AFRO It’s been one year since the murder of Hampton University student Joseph Bose, and police still have not found any updates surrounding the case. Last Halloween, Bose was shot in Norfolk, Va. at the corner of 35th Street and Killam Avenue after attending an off campus party near Old Dominion University. Police have not made any arrests nor do they have any new information concerning the case, according to a spokeswoman for the police department, leaving his friends and family without answers. The family originally offered a $10,000 (Facebook) reward for anyone who came forward with Hampton University student Joseph Bose was killed last information that could lead to an arrest in the case. year. His murder remains unsolved. However, after months without any leads, in April the Bose family doubled that reward to $20,000. was closed to the media. “We need witnesses to come forward and be “Most of the people, especially our class, willing to testify as to what led up to Joseph’s death, everybody generally knew of him. The fact that he and who killed him. We know there were plenty had such a familiar face especially with the class of people there that night, and we know there were plenty of witnesses to his death,” public information as a whole, that had such a strong impact,” said Jackson. officer for the Norfolk Police department Daniel Hampton University student Norman Wilkerson Hudson told the AFRO. has also befriended Bose since freshman year, and “The police need the community’s assistance, was with Bose the night of the shooting. Wilkerson just as much as the community needs the police. said that there was a verbal argument after Bose was When both powers join together, they become an unstoppable force in reducing crime,” said Hudson. followed by a group of men after leaving the party. “Five minutes into the fight, you just hear gun “It was hard when it happened at that moment, shots,” said Wilkerson. “Everybody started running. but now that a whole year has passed, sometimes I turned around to see Joe on the ground, so I ran it seems like it’s almost harder because there aren’t to Joe and started giving him mouth to mouth any questions or leads in the investigation or case,” resuscitation. Joe wasn’t Joe, and then he died. said close friend and Hampton University student Thirty minutes later, that’s when the police came. It Phillip Jackson. “It’s just strange that after a whole was a pretty horrible night.” year there really hasn’t been much of an update “It’s like an experience you never forget, to see about who was involved.” your friend get taken” Wilkerson added. Jackson had known Bose since their freshman Bose was a 20 year old journalism major from year after staying in the same dorm together. He Alexandria, Va. His friends described him as well also helped to put together a vigil to commemorate liked and well known in the Hampton University the anniversary of Bose’s death on Oct. 30. This vigil was held at Hampton University’s campus and community.

“The best way I could describe Joe is Joe had compassion for a lot of people,” said Wilkerson. “He was honestly one of the most positive people that I knew,” said Jackson. “He was just a really good friend.” Bose was one of four shootings that night in the Norfolk area. Norfolk Police Chief Michael Goldsmith released a statement on Facebook after the shooting. “As a parent, I cannot fathom this inherent disregard for human life. As a Police Chief, I refuse to allow this mentality to become commonplace in our city,” said Goldsmith. “We all have a social responsibility to guide our youth and prevent these senseless acts from becoming a permanent fixture in our society.” Still desperate for answers, the family has encouraged others to step forward. Along with increasing the reward money, they also paid for a billboard that reads “Who has Joseph Bose’s blood on their hands?” to encourage witnesses to step forward. Hampton University released a statement asking that any witnesses help the investigation. “We encourage the entire Hampton Roads community who may have information that could assist authorities to come forward to the Norfolk City Police to assist with their investigation. Our heart continues to go out to the Bose family,” they wrote. Bose’s friends plan to honor his legacy by continuing to finish off their senior year. “We feel like he should have had the same opportunity to graduate and get a degree just like we do. It’s just about us staying on track” said Jackson. “Because if he were still here he’d still want us to finish.” “Our heart goes out to Joseph’s parents, family, and friends. Our investigators have worked countless hours attempting to solve this case, not only for the family, but the community and for the police department as well. We implore anyone with information regarding the circumstances surrounding his untimely death, to call the Norfolk Crime Line,” said Hudson.

The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

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December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

BALTIMORE-AREA 35 Years of Giving Thanks with Bea Gaddy

Alicia Wilson:

A Port Covington Force

Courtesy photo

Alicia Wilson, Sagamore Developmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vice president for community affairs, played a crucial role in the Port Covington deal. By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO Community leaders like Michael Middleton of the South Baltimore Six Coalition (SB6) proclaim Alicia Wilson is the â&#x20AC;&#x153;glueâ&#x20AC;? responsible for bringing and keeping community residents at the table during the long and arduous Port Covington negotiations that recently yielded an unprecedented agreement with more than 200 community organizations. Ultimately, this community agreement â&#x20AC;&#x201C;crafted and negotiated in large part by Sagamore Developmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wilson, resulted in the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision to award the company a $600 million TIF for the Port Covington Project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the largest TIF awarded by the city of Baltimore and one of the largest TIF deals nation-wide. The community agreement also brings millions of dollars of economic, housing, community infrastructure and small business benefits to residents from low and moderate wealth communities across the city; in the SB-6 communities, defined as Brooklyn, Cherry Hill, Curtis Bay, Lakeland, Mt. Winans and Westport, and in uptown

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Black Agenda for Baltimore City?

Around 1979-1980, as the Reagan era was being ushered in, I remember the Baltimore Sun beginning a series on the Sean Yoes paperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s front Senior AFRO page on the Contributor rise of hate groups in America, complete with a photo of a burning cross and a hooded Klansman. I remember as a young Black boy, despite the protection and love my family provided, feeling really unsafe. To be clear, Black people, people of African ancestry in America, have never been safe in this country. From

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Śno community, no matter how magnificently self-reliant has been impervious to structural racism.â&#x20AC;?

Kendall Weaver (pictured) helped serve food at the annual Bea Gaddy Thanksgiving Dinner. For more pictures turn to page B4.

Photo by Chanet Wallace

By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO

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Harbor Bank of Maryland received $70 million in tax credits last week from the Treasury Department under the New Market Tax Credit Program(NMTC), intended to spur revitalization efforts of low-income communities across the United States. The $70 million allocation to Harbor Bankshares Corporation, the holding company of Harbor Bank of Maryland, represents the largest award granted to a minority institution since the New Markets Tax Credit Program was enacted by Congress in 2000. Harbor Bank will use the award to further increase financing projects that create jobs, provide critical

Baltimore High School Football

Dunbar Poetsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Melvin Curbeam Averaged 47 Yards Per Game Over Season

community services and support the revitalization of impoverished communities, according to Joseph Haskins, Chairman, president and CEO of Harbor Bankshares Corporation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Harbor has established itself as an innovative financial institution that is passionate about supporting minority and low-income communities,â&#x20AC;? Haskins told the AFRO. The New Market Tax Credit

Joseph Haskins, CEO of Harbor Bank, says the tax credits the bank received will be used to provide critical community services.

By Michelle Richardson Special to the AFRO Police charged a suspect in the double shooting on Nov. 27 in the Federal Hill section of Baltimore. 24-year old Steven Perkins of Annapolis has been charged with attempted murder according to police.

Continued on B2

Third Morgan Student Killed This Year By AFRO Staff Charles M. McGee, a senior majoring in political science at Morgan State University, died on Nov. 23. He was shot

Welcome to the AFROâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weekly sports wrap-up.

" - *, ) ."

Courtesy photo

Continued on B2

By Jordan Hawkins Special to the AFRO

The Matchup Wrap-up: There were only two games to see this week. Dunbar versus Walkersville, and Fort Hill versus EdmonsonWestside. Both the Poets and the Red Storm were doing well this postseason. Unfortunately, both the Dunbar Poets and Edmonson-Westside Red Stormâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s season came to an end last week with both teams losing. The Poets were edged out in a close game 12-7 by the Walkersville Lions. Dunbar ended their season 9-4 overall. Continued on B2

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Black Wall Street,â&#x20AC;? in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Bronzeville in Chicago, to the golden age of Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore, no community, no matter how magnificently selfreliant has been impervious to structural racism. To be Black in America is to be generally imperiled in some measure, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. Continued on B2

Arrest Made in Federal Hill Double Shooting

Harbor Bank of Maryland Receives $70 Million in Federal Funding

Continued on B2

"1 %#$/ 1

Race and Politics

Courtesy photo

Morgan State University student Charles McGee died on Nov. 23.

on Nov. 20 and police are investigating his death as a homicide, according to an email sent to Morgan students by Morgan professor Kevin Banks. He was shot off-campus in the 5600 block of Albanene Place in Northeast Baltimore. McGee, 26, was a native of

Past Seven Days

Bel Air, in Howard County, Md, according to a spokesman for Morgan. McGee is the third Morgan student to be killed this year. Marcus Edwards was stabbed in the chest in Sept. and Gerald Williams was stabbed to death Continued on B2

287 2016 Total

Data as of Nov. 30

The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

Alicia Wilson Continued from B1

in neighborhoods like the East Baltimore and everybody,” Wilson said. neighborhood where Alicia Wilson was born She later discovered that and bred miles from the Port Covington the student was the school’s development. valedictorian. “I didn’t even Remembering Her Roots know what a valedictorian Wilson, currently Sagamore Development’s was, but I decided that day that vice president for community affairs and I wanted to be one and address legal advisor, is the baby sister of two older my classmates at graduation, brothers raised in a humble but close-knit East too,” Wilson said. Baltimore community. Wilson never forgets Indeed, in her graduating Courtesy photo year, Wilson led her the thousands in her city who have not yet Alicia Wilson speaks to community groups. classmates academically, nor have they ever, experienced the upside of America’s economic recovery. addressed them as school Wilson finds value in the truth that even valedictorian and began with the affirmation of the SB-6 communities and city-wide a trajectory of walking in and bringing together diverse groups like Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development worlds. Wilson has always maintained close community ties (BUILD), there are still legitimate community voices that and traditions and brings an authentic self-to her corporate disagree with the Port Covington Project. surroundings. She often greets co-workers and first time “It’s healthy to have a diversity of opinions. It’s healthy to encounters with a hug, and remains connected to community have criticism. It makes me think about things from a different concerns that reflect her East Baltimore upbringing. angle. I welcome people to have honest and frank respectful Wilson serves on the Executive Board of the College disagreement so we can see if there is common ground”, Bound Foundation, an organization committed to supporting Wilson told the AFRO. low-wealth Baltimore City high school students achieve Living the Intersection their dreams of attending and graduating from college. She Wilson has always understood the need to facilitate bringing remembers high school instructors and mentors pulling her together seemingly disparate concepts – like excellence and aside and placing her on Mervo’s college track. equity; community good and corporate growth. Her mentors Wilson understands the value of the full scholarship to say, Alicia has always been the glue between diverse concepts UMBC that made her own college education possible – and and people. facilitated her connection with lifelong mentors, UMBC At her older brother’s graduation from Baltimore’s President Freeman Hrabrowski and his wife, Jackie. Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School, Wilson “In fact, from my first-time meeting with her as a freshman said she was mesmerized while observing a young woman at UMBC, I knew she was destined for greatness. Since that eloquently addressing her classmates. first day, I have found her to be consistently excellent in every “I thought that was a pretty cool thing to see this student endeavor -- from her academic work, to the legal profession, standing before the whole graduating class, parents, teachers to community involvement. She has the rare combination

of strong analytical skills and rare emotional intelligence,” Hrabowski said. “I wholeheartedly agree,” Jackie affirmed. As a young attorney at Gordon Feinblatt LLC, Wilson said she learned much from observing the firm’s involvement in other Inner Harbor development work. “ I learned the negotiating skills needed to facilitate development but to do so in a way that brings benefit to the community,” Wilson said. Barry Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Gorden Feinblatt, concurs that Wilson has the rare gift of being able to find commonality with people from all walks of life. “ Alicia authentically connects with everyone she meets. In fact, a two or three block stroll anywhere in the City with Alicia takes an hour or two, because she knows everyone, and everyone she meets greets Alicia with genuine warmth and

“It’s healthy to have a diversity of opinions. It’s healthy to have criticism.” – Alicia Wilson affection,” Rosen said in a statement to the AFRO. Time Now To “Walk the Talk” Wilson understands that for the Port Covington Project to be a win-win for the entire city of Baltimore she and her colleagues at Sagamore Development must demonstrate to the community that they can follow through with their promises. “Baltimore has been through a lot in these past few years with the unrest and all that has followed. There are people in this city who are understandably wary about the project,” Wilson said. “It’s going to take time. Now is the time that we must come through on our promises to the community,” she said.

Race and Politics Continued from B1

The specter of a Donald Trump presidency gives few of us in Black communities comfort that our plight shall be improved, and for good reason. In Trump’s America, new dangers seem to be revealed everyday (and I argue all Americans are imperiled for various reasons, whether they realize it or not). So, what now? I’ve been suggesting publicly (on First Edition) and privately for a while now, our battles may be waged more effectively in our cities and local principalities, as opposed to a national campaign of some sort. Especially given the seemingly intractable legislative gridlock and dysfunction in Washington (although that could magically loosen given a Republican House and Senate and the nation’s first Black president moving out of the White House). As well as the fact our challenges are legion and vary by region among other circumstances; housing, public safety, health, public school education, environmental justice, just to name a few. But, on even a basic level, is there a discernible Black agenda for Baltimore City? And when I say a Black agenda, I mean an agenda inclusive of people of color, the marginalized and the poor. Recently, outgoing Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake suggested in media interviews she is leaving Baltimore in better condition than she found it. I suspect many in the communities

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named previously would disagree. However, on Dec. 6, Catherine Pugh will be sworn in as the next mayor. Has she been presented with an agenda representative of and specifically crafted for the majority population in the city? If such a document exists and has been presented to the new mayor, I don’t know about it and nobody I know, knows about it. What I do know is, in Baltimore, if you don’t ask, you don’t eat and if you ask for too much you’ll probably get ignored. Here’s a suggestion; perhaps we should be focused on the pursuit of equal protection under the law and law enforcement reform (especially in wake of the devastating DOJ report outlining routine civil rights violations of Blacks in Baltimore). The process of completing and implementing the “consent decree,” between the city, the Baltimore Police Department and the DOJ has been delayed. Given we almost assuredly are going to be confronted with U.S. Attorney General Jefferson

Beauregard Sessions, that process should be expedited, not sat upon. We should initiate a “truth and reparation commission,” focused on justice for the myriad victims of the zero tolerance policing policy implemented (officially) from 1999 to 2007. We should also begin exploration of a path towards the rehabilitation and repair of the city’s egregiously broken bail bond system. Perhaps, this can serve as the beginning of a series of conversations between communities and the city’s public servants that will lead to action and policies to help protect and relieve some of Baltimore’s most vulnerable residents in fundamental and sustainable ways. It’s a start. Sean Yoes is a senior contributor for the AFRO and host and executive producer of AFRO First Edition, which airs Monday through Friday, 5-7 pm on WEAA 88.9.

Harbor Bank Continued from B1

program incentivizes business and real estate investment in lowincome communities, according to the Rev. Jerome Stephens, a field representative for Maryland Senator Ben Cardin. Harbor Bank is a Certified Community Development Financial Institution, a Treasury Department designation awarded to financial institutions that support inner-core communities across its service area. Harbor is also a certified Community Development Entity, a designation that allows the bank to serve as an intermediary vehicle for the provision of loans, investments, or financial counseling in low-income communities. “A Community Development Entity must have a primary mission of investing in low-income communities and persons,” Stephens told the AFRO. ‘We are proud that the [Community Development Financial Institution] Fund continues to recognize Harbor’s excellence in investing in underserved communities by providing vital capital to create jobs and housing solutions that strengthen communities,” said Haskins. Harbor has received six allocations of New Markets Tax Credit

funding, totaling $244 million, since the federal program began. Harbor’s NMTC investments in education-based community facilities have advanced the education of 1,940 low-income youth, and enabled workforce training and development to more than 500 unemployed/underemployed workers annually. Harbor’s NMTC investments have funded rehabilitation of 257 affordable housing units in low-income communities in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area, according to Haskins. 120 financial institutions in 36 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico were awarded $7 billion in tax credits by the Treasury Department in the program’s 2015-2016 funding round, announced Nov. 17. Historically, New Markets Tax Credit awards have generated $8 of private investment for every dollar invested by the federal government. Since 2001, NMTCs have generated more than $42 billion in investments in low-income communities and businesses, resulting in the creation or retention of more than 500,000 jobs, and the construction or rehabilitation of more than 164 million square feet of commercial real estate.

Arrest Made

Football

Continued from B1

Baltimore City Police were called to East Cross Street, around 2:00 a.m., where they found one male victim, a 24 year-old man who had been shot in the foot, and a second victim, a 23 year-old man suffering from a graze wound. According to police, both victims were unintended targets and were shot following a dispute the suspect had with another group of people who he intended to shoot. Both victims were transported to area hospitals. In a written statement to the media, investigators say they believe Perkins was involved in a verbal dispute that ended with him firing a gun at the people he was arguing with. None of those individuals were struck. Police were able to identify Perkins with the help of several witnesses and after attempting to run from the scene, Perkins was taken into custody and a handgun was recovered.

Morgan

Continued from B1 in Feb. Harry Malik Robinson, a former Morgan student, was charged with Williams’ death in April and is expected to go on trial in December. There have been no arrests in the Edwards or McGee cases. McGee’s wake will be held on Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. at Freedom Temple A.M.E. Zion Church, 2926 Hollins Ferry Rd., Baltimore, Md 21230. The funeral will take place at 10:30 a.m. at Freedom Temple A.M.E Zion Church.

Continued from B1 Meanwhile, the Red Storm were also soundly defeated by the Havre de Grace Warriors 31-14 on Nov. 25. The Red Storm ended their season 6-7 overall. With these two teams, out of the playoffs, the Baltimore City I region has no more teams in the 2016 Maryland High School Football Playoffs. Player(s) of the Week: The Final Player of the Week for the Baltimore City I region this 2016 season is Melvin Curbeam of The Dunbar Poets. Curbeam is a sophomore wide receiver and kickoff returner for the Poets. Melvin had over 600 yards this season while averaging 47 yards per game. Be sure to check out more from Melvin and the Dunbar Poets next football season.

Courtesy Photo

Melvin Curbeam, of the Dunbar Poets averaged 47 yards per game during the season.

The Games to Come: The final game to watch this season will be the Baltimore City East/West Showcase. The Showcase is an all-star football game and teams are comprised of seniors from across the city. The teams were announced on Nov. 27 and the game will be played on Dec. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mervo High School.

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

“Look at one another and remember this moment in time. Before this moment, you have been many things to one another; acquaintance, friend, companion, lover, dancing partner, even teacher, for you have learned much from one another these past few years. Shortly you shall say a few words that will take you across a threshold of life, and things between you will never quite be the same.” –Robert Fulghum The wedding of Marilyn Briggite Brookins and Karen Renee Waters was “a family affair” as the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren participated in this spectacular ceremony on the fifth floor of the Inner Harbor Renaissance Hotel. The delicious white gloved sitdown dinner and reception with a champagne toast including an open bar an hour before the 5 p.m. wedding ceremony continued throughout the evening until the reception ended at 11:00 p.m. The full serviced bar included specialty drinks and beer for one of their wedding guests. (Umm, I wonder who? LOL.) This beautiful couple embraced so many special touches including Ginza blocks for signing the wedding guest book and well wishes for the couple and the picture framed table settings representing city landmarks and points of interests to the couples was used seating chart. We were honored to sit at The Place table were the couple met. Other tables were City Hall, The Renaissance Hotel, Harbor Place, City Hall and Walters’ Art Galley to name a few. Guests in attendance were James Johnson, Denise Saulsbury, Teddy Coates, Robyn Clark, Reuben Lindsey, Ann Winder, Donel Warfield, Lenora and James Pearson, Rita Horsely Johnson and Tim Johnson. The bridal party included Tania Waters, Wanessa Culpepper, Tyquana Richards, Kim Lundy, Wade Allen, Rylee Jackson, Cindy Foster, Bryan Mason, Lindsay Snowden, Stephen Williams, Kevin Henderson, Alonzo Martin, Lauren Mason, Whitney Allen, Jay’Qwan Colvin, Shaashawn DialSnowden, Tyera Richards, Wanda Reed and 6-year-old Dallas Thomas was the ring

security guard looking the role with his tuxedo and sunglasses. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity; this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run; being in love was the explosion that started it.” –C. S. Lewis Happy anniversary to Tyres and Rosalyn Jones, and The Honorable Kurt and Dr. Pat Schmoke. “Stumbled on this photograph, it kinda made me laugh it took me back, back down memory lane. I see the happiness... I see the pain where am I...” – Minnie Riperton Miss Kitty was the guest of honor for Mildred Long Harper’s 75th birthday at the Longhorn Saloon (Martin’s West) were more than two hundred people showed up to celebrate Mildred’s alter ego Miss Kitty. The ballroom was reminiscent of Pennsylvania Avenue during its heyday with street signs and club names on the table. Places like Greenwillow Street, and McCullough Delicatessen evoked fond memories by taking guests “back down memory.” There were pictures throughout the ballroom depicting various stages of her life with family, friends and former coworkers. Guests in attendance were Miriam “Sissy” Nicholas, Karen “Candy” Lawrence, Herbert “Bill” Long, Randy ”Shing” Long, Selwyn Ray, Remy Ray, Dr. Levin West, Edward “Boo” West, Avon Bellamy, Laura Byrd, Roz Osborne, Michael Mitchell, Rose & Leonard Hamm, Clayton and Wanda Tucker, Walter and Queen Carr, Helen and Adolph McDonald, Lucy Miller, Barbara Banks, Gladys and Rob Rice, Rhonda Alexander, Judson Kerr III, David Hollingsworth, Jeffrey Yarborough, Ernestine Shepard, Peggy Caranda, Charmaine Dixon, and Donald Welling, Edward “Boo” West, Avon Bellamy, Roz Osborne, Mike Mitchell, Rose & Lenny Hamm, Clayton and Wanda Tucker, Walter and Queen Carr, Helen and Adolph McDonald,

Lucy Miller, Barbara Banks, Gladys and Rob Rice, Rhonda Alexander, Judson Kerr, David Hollingsworth, Jeffrey Yarborough, and artist Peggy Caranda,. In keeping with the old school days, the menu included Miss Kitty’s favorite late night fare, yat gaw mein and what’s the price? 30 twice. The John Lamkin ‘Favorites’ Jazz Quintet, featuring Bob Butta on piano, Herman Burney on bass, Jesse Moody on drums, Michael Hairston on saxophone and vocalist Eartha Lamkin will be performing Dec. 3 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Caton Castle. Join Tiger Lil on Saturday afternoons at the Wooden Nickel on Kirk Ave in Baltimore. I stopped in to see her last week and they served a full thanksgiving dinner to the customers. Say hello to Crab Foster. “…Now you understand just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing, it ought to make you proud. I say, it’s in the click of my heels, the bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, the need of my care, cause I’m a woman phenomenally…”-Maya Angelou Happy birthday to three phenomenal women reaching milestones in their lives. Phenomenal in their personal achievements, strangers to each other yet, bonded together because of their accomplishments and desires as women. “You bring me joy.” Happy birthday Lindsey Hill Eldridge on your 30th birthday, Andrea Evans Esq. on your 40th birthday and to my daughter Lisa Lee Packer on her 50th birthday. Continue to be a blessing to the people you encounter in this next phase. Phenomenal women stay young at heart because “the best is yet to come.” Happy birthday to James “Peck” Brogans, Lester Buster, Dr. Ruth Travis, Coretha Spears, Pat Thomas, Afro columnist Rosa Pryor Trusty and Laura Byrd. Sending get-well wishes to childhood friend Ronald Pickles Dillard, Alvin Jones, Dr. Marie Washington and

Ralph Wright as they continue to recuperate. Condolences to Sallie

“I’ll be seeing you.” – Valerie and the Friday Night Bunch

Ferguson on the death of her mother Sallie Ferguson.

AFRO BALTIMORE AREA

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Send your upcoming events to tips@afro.com. For more community events go to afro.com/ Baltimore-events AFRO Ms. Santa Christmas Toy Drive

The AFRO-American Newspaper Family is helping to grant a wish for the most vulnerable. Call 410-554-8243 to donate or send your donations to 2519 N. Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 21218.

Free HIV Testing

The Baltimore County Department of Health will hold five, free HIV testing clinics in observance of World AIDS Day starting Dec. 1 and going until Dec. 5. The clinics are open to all and no appointment is necessary. The testing will take place at 6401 York Road in Baltimore, Md. 21212. For more information call 410-887-2437 or visit baltimorecountymd.gov/go/gettested.

Baltimore City Public School’s ‘Our Communities, Our School’ Symposium

On Dec. 6 at 5:30 p.m. join Baltimore City Schools’ new CEO, Dr. Sonja Brookins Santelises, to share your ideas on what’s most important for our schools and

BALTIMORE/DC PREMIERE

DEC 7 thru JAN 8

neighborhoods. To submit your questions or ideas in advance visit baltimorecityschools. org/ceo.

John Wesley United Methodist Church’s Annual Caring and Sharing Program

John Wesley United Methodist Church is hosting its annual Caring and Sharing Program on Dec. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. For 35 years this project has provided hot meals, coats, gloves, hats and toys to needy children through community donations. Call 410-383-1525 to donate or send your donations to 3202 West North Avenue, Baltimore, Md. 21216. The event will be at the church.

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The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

Bea Gaddy held its 35th Thanksgiving Dinner at the Virginia S. Baker recreation center on Thanksgiving Day. Baltimoreans were greeted with free clothing, plenty of food and desserts, live music and performances. The doors opened a little after noon and the lines moved rapidly. As the lines moved, the attendees were seated and served by the volunteers, stuffing, turkey, string beans, cake pies, even food to take home. Along with the food were free coats for the kids, hats and gloves and winter clothing. The Bea Gaddy Family Center is a community based non-profit in Baltimore, Md.

Sharon Costello Joyce Hammond and Kenny Fields

Dawn Smith and Cassandra Irby Derrick Smith assist in giving out free clothing Poet Shelly Say So

Kendall Weaver

Tony Lee

Daughter of Bea Gaddy and director of Bea Gaddy Family Center Cynthia Brooksand Allison Duggan

Volunteers Kendall Weaver, Amari Willis, Kennedy Weaver, Kenneth Weaver and Alex Willis

Southwestern Alumni Photos by Chanet Wallace

The Kappa Silhouettes annual brunch was held on November 19th at the Forum Caterers in Baltimore, Md. The Baltimore Alumni Chapter Kappa Silhouettes, made up of wives

of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity members, was formed in 1947. Audrey Bennett is the Chapter President. This was a scholarship fund raising event. There was a silent auction and dancing to the music by D.J. Tanz. The Kappa Silhouettes also collected toys for the Afro’s Ms. Santa’s Toy Drive.

Cynthia Jordan, Melonie Garrett, Lora Tutman, Elaine Harris, Freddi Vaughn, Diane Hocker (Mrs. Santa), Deborah Ferguson, Kimberly Scott, Micki Smith and Audrey Bennett

Back Row: Charles Owens, Victor Green, Valerie Fraling, Denise Dobson-McDonald, Michael Stokes and Tarsha Fitzgerald, Seated: Alexia L. Boone, Ann Bryant, Jackie Brock and Freddi Vaughn

Susan Smallwood and Cereta Spencer

Deborah Ferguson, vice president and Audrey Bennett, president

Baltimore Alumni Chapter Kappa Silhouettes Photos by Anderson R. Ward

Project Evolved, a Baltimore-based non-profit, served food and entertainment to the homeless on Thanksgiving Day. The event was held at Club

Paparazzi in Baltimore, Md. Lil Black from 92Q Radio was the M.C. Baltimore rapper and star of the reality show, “The Rap Game,” Lil Key performed and signed autographs. Rapper Tha Prince also performed. People from many of the area shelters were invited to attend. Large numbers of young people volunteered to help serve. Kimberly Hemby is president Francois Pretto, Nyi’shay of Project Evolved.

Harry T. Spikes and Kimberly Hemby, president, Project Evolved

Volunteer servers

Pretto and Francois Pretto II

Photos by Anderson R. Ward

Volunteers Jaidan Coppadge, Julian Coppadge and Allen Johnson

Brookyn Howard, Nicole Howard, Leonard Howard and Jessica Howard

Lil Key, Lil Black, Kaniyah Myers, Kevin Myers, TaRhonika Myers and Catonya Lester

Yusuf White and Milton Tillman III, owner of Paparazzi Club

Sanaa Mason and Aisha Small Volunteers Tarai Robinson, Alexus Williams, Kayla Williams and Kirsten Williams

To purchase this digital photo page contact Takiea Hinton: thinton@afro.com or 410.554.8277.

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

Interview

ARTS & CULTURE

Jumping Up and Down about Issac Ryan Brown By Kam Williams Special to the AFRO

crumble and build in the film. Love, faith, hope and relationships are constant. .

Issac Ryan Brown is best known as Young Dre from the ABC Series “Blackish.” He was introduced to America on the television show “America’s Got Talent” at the tender age of 6, when he dazzled the audience and judges alike with his singing and dancing talents. Issac’s resume includes voicing recurring characters on the cartoons “Miles From Tomorrowland,” “Bubble Guppies” and “The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave.” He also has been on the Dreamworks series “OMG,” has enjoyed a recurring role on “How to Get Away with Murder,” and appeared on the big screen in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Here, Issac talks about co-starring in “Believe,” a faithbased, Christmas film about a homeless kid who comes to the aid of and inspires hope in a jaded businessman with money woes.

KW: You won America’s heart on “America’s Got Talent” when you were only 6. At what age did you start singing? IRB: I started at the age of 10 months when my mom and dad placed me in the choir. When I started speaking, it took off from there.

KW: What interested you in “Believe?” IRB: My real life parallels the character CJ and how his faith pulls him through the film.

KW: What projects do you have coming up next? IRB: A role in a great feature film I can’t talk about right now. And voiceover work for on the Disney animated series “Puppy Dog Pals” and on “The Stinky & Dirty Show.”

KW: How would you describe your character, CJ? IRB: CJ’s a kid at heart who never grew up and keeps his faith. He believes all things are possible, you will find that life is better. He finds a way to look at the bright side of everything even through his circumstances.

KW: What do you enjoy more, singing or acting? IRB: I love them both the same, but singing edges out acting because you can express your feelings and convey a message with songs. KW: Who is your favorite singer, and who is your favorite actor? IRB: Michael Jackson is my all-time favorite performer. Whitney Houston is my favorite singer. I don’t have a favorite actor right now.

(Courtesy photo)

Issac Ryan Brown is one of the stars of “Believe,” a faithbased, Christmas film. KW: What would you say was the message of “Believe?” IRB: Having faith and believing. We see relationships

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see? IRB: I see a child of God. No matter who I play on TV or what people say about me, I’ll always see a handsome, educated, sophisticated, young man named Isaac.

Hampton University Outraged over Threats to Emancipation Oak Tree

(Photo by Tyla Barnes)

Hampton University’s Emancipation Tree is where many slaves learned they were free in the 1800s. By Jerica Deck Special to the AFRO Following community backlash over a highway expansion plan that would jeopardize the historic Emancipation Oak tree on the campus of Hampton University, Virginia Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne announced on Nov. 17 that the Virginia Department of Transportation would not continue with those plans. The Emancipation Oak is culturally significant to the African American community because it is the place many slaves first learned they were emancipated in 1863. After learning that the highway expansion could jeopardize the air quality surrounding the historic tree, Hampton University officials fought back, speaking out with statements and protests. “Emancipation Oak was named one of the Ten Great Trees of the World, and that was by the National Geographic Society,” Hampton University President William Harvey said at a

press conference. “As stewards of this land, Hampton University will fight to protect it into perpetuity.” Emancipation Oak is where the first southern reading of the Emancipation Proclamation was held. According to Hampton University’s website, the area around it also served as one of the first classrooms for newly freed slaves. The Strawberry Banks area, which would have been affected by the highway expansion as well, also has significant historical significance to both the Native American and African American community. A study conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation claimed that the highway expansion would actually improve the air quality in the area. The tree is not on the National Register of Historic Places. However, it was not eligible for inclusion when the program began. “When the program was started trees were not nominated, but in recent years the meaning of ‘places’ has included traditional cultural places, which could include mountains or landscapes important to a people’s culture,” Rustin Quade, an archivist at the National Register told the AFRO in an e-mail. According to Joe Waldo, an attorney representing Hampton University, the school was prepared to go to the Supreme Court in order to protect the landmark. “Our plan from the very beginning was to tell the Virginia Department of Transportation that the constitution of Virginia protects this historic site,” Waldo told the AFRO. At a press conference he added that, “When you speak out for what is right, good people listen.” Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said she is now working with Harvey to protect the tree against the highway expansion project. “We’re looking at another tunnel,” Layne told the AFRO. “Maybe the construction costs a little more, but it impacts the community a little less.” Layne said the department hopes to expand I-64 within the state’s current right of way, using the median to expand from four lanes to six. Layne also said in the press conference that he is working to further protect Hampton University’s land. “Why would you build a road or any transportation project if it’s not going to improve someone’s life?” Layne said. “I’d rather have a construction problem then a political problem or a community problem.” Over 250 students attended a press conference on Nov. 18, protesting the expansion with signs. “I think people came out because they were genuinely worried that the representation of us as a community was devalued by the state,” Hampton student Bria Andrews told the AFRO. “If they were to try to actually cut it down, that would have showed us that the state or government officials don’t care about us or our legacy.” In the press conference, Harvey said that in addition to protecting Emancipation Oak, he also wants to invest in the Strawberry Banks area to provide scholarships for African American and Native American students. “I like to teach by example,” he said. “The example here is always stand up for what you think is best, no matter where the chips fall.”

Ron Glass, Co-Star of TV’s ‘Barney Miller’ Dead at 71 By John Rogers By The Associated Press Ron Glass, the handsome, prolific character actor best known for his role as the gregarious, sometimes sardonic detective Ron Harris in the long-running cop comedy “Barney Miller,” has died at age 71. Glass died Nov. 25 of respiratory failure, his agent, Jeffrey Leavett, told The Associated Press on Saturday. “Ron was a private, gentle and caring man,” said Leavett, a longtime friend of the actor. “He was an absolute delight to watch on screen. Words cannot adequately express my sorrow.” Although best known for “Barney Miller,” Glass appeared in dozens of other shows in a television and film career dating to the early 1970s. He portrayed Derrial Book, the spiritual shepherd with a cloudy past in the 2002 science-fiction series Firefly” and its 2005 film sequel “Serenity.” He was Felix Unger opposite Desmond Wilson’s Oscar Madison in “The New Odd Couple,” a 1980s reboot of the original Broadway show, film and television series that this time cast black actors in the lead roles of Unger’s prissy neat freak forced to share an apartment with slovenly friend Madison. Glass was also the voice of Randy Carmichael, the genial neighbor and father of four children in the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series “Rugrats” and its spinoff, “All

Grown Up.” He also made appearances in such shows as “Friends,” ‘’Star Trek: Voyager” and “Designing Women.” More recently he appeared in episodes of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Early credits included “All in the Family,” ‘’Maude,” ‘’Sanford and Son” and “Hawaii Five-0.” In “Barney Miller” his literate Detective Ron Harris was one of the few generally normal characters who populated a New York City police precinct filled with oddballs on both sides of the law. The ensemble cast included Hal Linden as precinct Capt. Barney Miller, Max Gail as Detective Stan ‘Wojo’ Wojciehowicz, and Abe Vigoda as Detective Phil Fish. The show aired from 1975 until 1982, winning two Golden Globes and two Emmy Awards for best comedy series. Glass was nominated for a supporting actor Emmy in 1982. Raised in Evansville, Indiana, Glass received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and literature from the University of Evansville. After graduation he moved to Minneapolis where he worked in regional theater before coming to Los Angeles to launch his TV and film career. He was also a member of the board of directors for Los Angeles’ AL Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, an organization named for a man murdered in a gang-initiation drive-by shooting and dedicated to helping inner-city youth stay safe and receive an education. Information on funeral services and survivors was not immediately available.

(ABC via AP)

In this photo provided by ABC in 1978, actor Ron Glass appears in character as detective Ron Harris in the comedy “Barney Miller.” Glass has died at age 71.

The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

Kweli.TV Wants to be What the African Diaspora is Watching Journalists for Diversity’s New U seed grant program and was able to build out the site’s prototype. Since then, funding has been sporadic. The journey as a Black woman entrepreneur in technology hasn’t been easy. In a three-part series entitled “Diary of a Mad Black Woman Without VC Funding” written on Medium. com, Spencer talks about her struggles with funding. After applying to various business pitch competitions and meeting with angel investors, some people didn’t understand the importance of focusing on a Black need. It wasn’t just the business model that was questioned.

By Nakia Brown Special to the AFRO From midnight to dawn, on Oct. 12th men and women gather in Bahia, Brazil with tambourines, traditional songs, and fervent prayers to celebrate Brazil’s patron saint, Our Lady Aparecida. As seen in the short documentary “Escravos E Santos (Of Slaves and Saints)”, the tradition dating back to the 19th century illustrates the connection between Brazilian spirituality and slavery through interviews with participants. This rare film is one of over 250+ titles available on a new video streaming platform, Kweli.TV. Since its soft launch last year, the platform has been increasing the number films, documentaries, web shows, and more dedicated to the untold stories of the African Diaspora it offers. “It’s 4 billion of us worldwide and we should be looking globally to make change,” CEO of Kweli.TV, Deshuna Spencer, told the AFRO. “I see Kweli.TV as a place to converse among each other and create change.” Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Spencer grew up as the middle child in a working class family. Her father was a truck driver and a preacher. Her mother worked as a teacher in the public school system. “I’m the rebellious middle child,”

Courtesy photos

Deshuna Spencer, CEO of Kewli.TV, is trying to ensure her D.C.-based business is heard worldwide. Spencer said. “I’m the dreamer.” After graduating with

dream. She worked for the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi and later moved

“It’s 4 billion of us worldwide and we should be looking globally to make change. I see Kweli.TV as a place to converse among each other and create change.”

–Deshuna Spencer

a journalism degree from Jackson State University, Spencer began shaping her

to California to work as a crime reporter at the Oakland Tribune. It should

Spencer attending a business accelerator, Diaspora Demos, in DC.

have been the perfect career advancement opportunity for a journalist, but for Spencer the newsroom felt mechanical and emotionally blank. Churning out matter-of-fact crime stories every day left her colleagues cynical and less emphatic. “It was more about the story, it wasn’t about the human being,” Spencer said of her time in journalism. Spencer spent some time moving around after leaving Oakland. She worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Buffalo, NY and then moved to her current residence in D.C. Three years after she moved to the District, Spencer started her first business venture, Empower Magazine, a quarterly business and entertainment publication in 2010. Empower struggled financially, Spencer said, because she wanted to focus on social justice issues and not create content for clicks and advertisement. While Empower Magazine was falling financially, other ideas came to fruition, “That’s where the idea of Kweli. TV came about. I really wanted to take the concept of Empowerbut use it for video, movies, and news.” Currently, Kweli.TV has 1,300+ subscribers and 90+ filmmakers using it worldwide. In 2015, Spencer won $20,000 from UNITY

Retired Dallas Police Chief Hired as Contributor by ABC News By The Associated Press

Former Dallas Police Chief David Brown retired in on Oct. He will contribute to ABC News on topics such as economic inequality, gun violence, race relations, policing and social justice.

AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

Retired Dallas Police Chief David Brown, who stepped into the national spotlight after a sniper killed five law enforcement officers at a July protest, will step back into the spotlight as a contributor for ABC News. A news release posted on ABC News’ website on Nov. 30 quotes a note to staff sent by company President James Goldston announcing Brown’s hiring. The note says Brown will start Jan. 1 as a contributor on topics such as economic inequality, gun violence, race relations, policing and social justice. A network spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for more information. Brown announced his retirement after 33 years on the force about two months after the attack. He officially retired on Oct. 4.

“For me as a Black woman is first trying to prove that I belong there,” Spencer said. Kweli in Swahili means truth and that’s what the multi-tiered video streaming platform strives to present. With stories from Brazil, Nigeria, England, and more, the platform shows the common and foreign experiences of the African Diaspora. While the entrepreneurial journey has been emotionally taxing for Spencer, the purpose of the platform has been worth it. “I want to change how we see ourselves in media,” Spencer said. To sign-up visit www. kweli.tv

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

AFRO Sports Desk Faceoff

SPORTS

Will the Warriors Pursue a Challenge for 70-Plus Wins Again? the previous year, I think Golden State got too cocky along the way and expected to one up their accomplishments of the prior year by adding a league record to another championship. After falling flat on their face against LeBron James and Cleveland, Kerr will make the necessary adjustments which may stop the team from reaching 70 wins. He could very well rest players intentionally with an eye on the bigger goal at the end of the season. If anybody stops the Warriors from reaching 70-plus wins again, it’ll be Kerr.

By Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley AFRO Sports Desk The Golden State Warriors are off to a 17-2 start this season, the exact same mark with which the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls began their season before finishing with a then-record 72-10 mark. Last year’s Warriors team exploded out of the gates with a 24-0 start before suffering their first loss on the way to a 73-9 record. This year’s Warriors team is in fine shape if reaching 70 wins is the mission again. But after bringing in Kevin Durant this summer, it’s clear Golden State has bigger plans in store. It’s all in, championship or bust for the Warriors after last summer’s Finals loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Still, Golden State has been so dominant in the early season that winning 70-plus games in the regular season might be inevitable anyway. Perry Green and Stephen D. Riley of the AFRO Sports Desk debate whether or not a 70-plus-game Golden State season is inevitable.

(AP Photo/D. Ross Cameron)

Green: Kerr is the complete definition of a players’ coach and he’ll run the team based on the pulse of his players. If the players jointly decide to chase another 70win season, then Kerr will let them. Winning 73 games last season wasn’t the reason that Golden State tripped up in the Finals—the reason was LeBron James. Chasing 73 wins was a heavy emotional investment, but once the playoffs started the Warriors were recharged and renewed. If anything, Golden State should be chasing 75 wins this year with a chance to cap things in better fashion compared to last year’s finish. Golden State is loaded with too much talent to play calculated and scared. I say they should let it rip and chase the 70 barrier again—and they’ll get it, again.

Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns (32) is Green: Golden State is so stacked with talent that sandwiched by Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) they’ll waltz to 70-plus wins with no problem. They might and Stephen Curry (30) during the fourth quarter of an NBA not be as deep as they’ve been over the last few seasons, but basketball game, Nov. 26, 2016 in Oakland, Calif. The Warriors their big guns at the top are an untouchable group. Durant, won 115-102. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green form a dynamic foursome because each player is unselfish and ready to share the glory. That free-loving nature makes them a balanced force that should run Riley: This team was assembled solely to win another ring. If chasing 70-plus wins was heavy for the rest of the regular season. Last year’s 73 wins was a goal that wore the team out the goal, then they could have just brought back the same team from last season and done that by the time the regular season was over. This time around the Warriors don’t have to plan for 70 again. It’s title time in the Bay Area now. NBA teams have a small window in which they can wins—they’ll sleepwalk to those heights with ease. capitalize on their talent. I think the Warriors will be a lot smarter this year in how they rest their players in-season, and save some of the wear and tear, similar to coach Gregg Popovich’s Riley: The year-long campaign to match or beat the Bulls’ record became a major story. methods with the San Antonio Spurs. Why play Curry and Durant in all 82 games when you But the exhausting 82-game schedule probably drained the best from the Warriors, and I don’t don’t have to? The 73 wins earned Golden State absolutely nothing last year, and they’ll refocus think head coach Steve Kerr will make the same mistake again. Coming off of a championship on what’s important.

Serena Williams: Women ‘Must Continue to Dream Big’

Morgan State University Football

Morgan State Ends Season with Win over Savannah State By Perry Green AFRO Sports Editor pgreen@afro.com

By The Associated Press Serena Williams has penned an open letter calling out what she sees as double standards faced by women in sports. The 22-time Grand Slam champion writes that women “are constantly reminded” they aren’t men. She says people call her one of the “world’s greatest female athletes,” but notes that male athletes such as LeBron James, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods aren’t described by their gender. Williams says the equal pay issue frustrates her because women “have done the same work and made the same sacrifices as our male counterparts.” She says women “must continue to dream big” to “empower the next generation of women to be just as bold in their pursuits.” The letter was published in Porter Magazine and republished by British newspaper The Guardian.

The Morgan State University Bears ended their season on a high note, knocking off the Savannah State University Tigers, 35-24, on Nov. 26 in Savannah, Ga. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Bears, who ended their season with a 3-8 overall record, and 3-5 against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). This matchup was initially supposed to be played on Oct. 8, but weather conditions forced it to be delayed for a month and a half. Savannah State took the first lead of the game after a 22-yard touchdown run by Cantrell Frazier with 11 minutes left in the first quarter. But the Tigers lead didn’t last long as Morgan State scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 20-7 lead in the second quarter; a Tigers field goal made it 20-10 at halftime. Morgan State pushed its lead to 27-10 early in the third quarter on a four-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback DeAndre Harris. The Tigers answered with a third quarter touchdown of their own to cut the lead to 27-17, but Bears senior running back Lamont Brown III closed out the quarter with a touchdown run to extend Morgan State’s lead to 33-17. The Bears’ defense earned a safety on Savannah State to push their margin to 3517 in the fourth quarter; the Tigers scored a late touchdown to set the final score at 35-24. Brown III finished the game with 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Senior quarterback Chris Andrews led the Bears in passing with 130 passing yards and two touchdown passes; Harris came off the bench for Andrews and added a third touchdown pass for Morgan State. Tigers quarterback Blake Dever had a game-high 226 passing yards and two touchdowns. Savannah State (3-7 overall, 3-5 MEAC) and Morgan State finished the season eighth and ninth, respectively, in the MEAC standings.

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Abdul-Jabbar, Brown, Russell to Receive SI Ali Legacy Award By The Associated Press Sports Illustrated magazine has chosen Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown and Bill Russell to receive its Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for their athletic careers and social activism. The Hall-of-Fame trio led notable African-American athletes in support of the late heavyweight great and Louisville native at the so-called “Ali Summit” in Cleveland in 1967. Ali fought induction into the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. Abdul-Jabbar and Brown were among celebrities and dignitaries at Ali’s memorial service following his death in June at age 74. The men will be honored Dec. 12 in New York. Abdul-Jabbar said on Nov. 30 in a release the award “means I am honoring his legacy as a man who defied conventions and courageously risked life and career to making America a land of freedom, equal opportunity and social justice.” The award, given since 2008, recognizes sportsmanship, leadership, philanthropy and social justice efforts. It was renamed for Ali last year.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Former basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in one of three people who will be honored with the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award.

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

WASHINGTON-AREA

D.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Invisible Political Mover

Barry Legacy Honored at Gravesite

fords.org

Giani Clarkson teaches at the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics & Science.

douglasjpatton.com

Doug J. Patton has written an inside account of how White men helped Black leaders get elected.

D.C. Educator Uses Ford Theatre Fellowship to Teach History

By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com Doug J. Patton, a behind the scenes political mover and shaker, has written an inside account of how White men helped Washington D.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Black leaders get elected. The book, The White Guy in the Room, outlines the role he and others of his race played in the development of the District of Columbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Black political leadership. Patton is

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We wanted to help Black elected officials in Washington to do well.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Doug Patton White. Patton, a deputy mayor in the administration of D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams (D), played integral roles in the inaugural elections of Walter Fauntroy as the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s delegate to the U.S. Congress and Marion Barry as the second elected mayor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was a backrooms guy,â&#x20AC;? Patton told the AFRO. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those of us who were White didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want the notoriety. We wanted to help Black elected officials in Washington to do well.â&#x20AC;? He helped Fauntroy Continued on D2

Photo by Rob Roberts

Cora Masters Barry (widow), Bishop Thomas A. Masters, New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Riviera Beach, Fla., Rev. Leah Daughtry, The House of the Lord Church in D.C. and others attended the unveiling ceremony of Marion Barryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renovated tombstone on Nov. 23. in Congressional Cemetery shortly after his funeral but Cora Barry wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t satisfied with a normal marker. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have been told that 15-20 people visit his gravesite a week,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With that, we needed to do something special On Nov. 23, the renovated tombstone of the late Marion S. for Marion.â&#x20AC;? Barry was unveiled at the Congressional Cemetery in Southeast Cora Barry worked with artist Andy DeGallo to construct D.C. Former District first lady Cora the black-stone tombstone that Masters Barry was joined by D.C. includes a quote from Barry, his Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and two of likeness, and his timeline as well as her predecessors, Vincent C. Gray and his son Marion C. Barryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s timeline, a Sharon Pratt, as well as D.C. Council Biblical quote, and a quote on Barry members and 150 friends and family from revered poetess-author Maya â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cora Masters Barry Angelou. for the event. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Refurbishing this tombstone was Bowser said that the new a labor of love,â&#x20AC;? Cora Barry said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It tombstone, as well as Barry, is an wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t easy.â&#x20AC;? inspiration to her. Barry, who served four terms as the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mayor and â&#x20AC;&#x153;I count myself among the lucky and the many friends of on the D.C. Council as an at-large member from 1975-1979, Marion Barry,â&#x20AC;? the mayor said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was a friend and a mentor. as a Ward 8 representative from 1993-1995 and 2005 until He was not a Washingtonian by birth but he was by choice and Continued on D2 his death, passed away on Nov. 23, 2014. Barry was buried By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Marion Barryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legacy is a fiber in this city.â&#x20AC;?

By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com A District educator has found an innovative way to teach students about history and has the support of a respected foundation to do so. Giani Clarkson, a teacher of social studies and history at the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics & Science, participated in the 2015-2016 Fordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Theater Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Oratory Fellowship. Clarkson, a selfadmitted history and theater arts buff, said it is a pleasure for him to enrich his students through the fellowship. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have been interested in the fine work that the Ford Theater Foundation has done for the longest,â&#x20AC;? Clarkson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I teach mainly 8th Continued on D2

D.C. Stylist Offers Tips to Avoid Southeast Woman Fatally Stabbed Winter Hair Loss

splitting and breaking. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sometimes with extensions and sew-ins, women forget to manage their hair beneath it, resulting in dry scalps, sores, and generally As the cold air sets in and the official unhealthy hair,â&#x20AC;? Dennis told the AFRO. start of Winter is only days away, area hair â&#x20AC;&#x153;Change extensions often to give hair a rest stylists have charted an increase and in the interim, give your hair hot oil in the number of Black clients treatments or hair masques to strengthen it.â&#x20AC;? experiencing hair loss and The average scalp has 100,000 hairs. Each breakage. While climate-sensitive follicle produces a single hair that grows at a Black hair is not uncommon, many rate of half an inch per month. After growing women are unaware of home for two to six years, hair rests awhile before remedies and precautions that ward falling out. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soon replaced with a new off damage. hair, and the cycle begins again. At any given Anacostia stylist Katrina time, 85 percent of hair is growing, and the $"& " Dennis, told the AFRO that remainder is resting. Nearly 70 percent of (#&",%!" ." & ' ." while many Black women have Black women have reported some irregular turned to natural hair styles, they hair loss, caused, according to the Centers " often mistake â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;naturalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;lowfor Disease Control and Prevention by stress,

!')(!,)( ." maintenanceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a mistake that often grooming techniques, and medications â&#x20AC;&#x201C; & lends itself $ to increased shedding including birth control pills. )( ,- +1 &&"(! &" and splintering. Davia Hurley, one of Dennisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; clients said â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of African-American she found that her scalp had dried out and was " " women fall in love with the actually matting beneath a sew-in that she had

! #

!')(!,)( ." concept of wash and go, or the worn, unchanged for more than 8 months. A

-$ -+""- added resilience of their hair once college athlete, Hurley said the neglect forced they go chemical free; however, in Dennis to cut the extensions out, leaving bald (#&",%!" ." some cases, natural styles require patches and a rash. even more " ' care,â&#x20AC;? Dennis â&#x20AC;&#x153;Daviaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case is pretty common in D.C., said. " â&#x20AC;&#x153;The idea, -)( ." for instance that sleep where women leave synthetic hair in too long. bonnets, or satin pillow cases are Because the kinds of hair used could include no longer needed, has forced a lot horse, dog, cat, hairs or those from unknown of ladies into my shop with heavy sources, it is unwise to ignore irritation,â&#x20AC;? breakage.â&#x20AC;? Dennis said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I cut all of it out, but had to send 0)( %&& ! Dennis recommends several her to a dermatologist.â&#x20AC;? )+- ,$%(#-)( ! tips for avoiding winter hair Hurleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hair is now worn in a short, " damage, including: ensuring hair cropped afro. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was gross, is the only way to " % " - *, ) ." is completely dry after washing; if explain it,â&#x20AC;? Hurley told the AFRO. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because %.%(#,-)( ! wearing hair weaves or extensions, it was getting cold outside last year, I decided )+- ,$%(#-)( !

& be sure to adhere to regular to just leave it in. My hair looked great to the

"1 %#$/ 1 grooming in between stylings; and eye, but was a funky, nasty mess underneath protect your ends when out in cold, the synthetic hair. Proper grooming is wet weather to keep them from essential.â&#x20AC;? By Shantella Y. Sherman Special to the AFRO ssherman@afro.com

By Briana Thomas Special to the AFRO The Metropolitan Police Department released video footage Nov. 18 of a person suspected in the Southeast homicide of a 40-year-old woman whose body was found in the woods. Police found the body at about 3 p.m. Nov. 8 when they were called to the 2600 block of Pomeroy Road, SE after receiving reports of a woman unconscious in the woods. According to police reports, Antina Cindette Pratt, a resident in Southeast D.C., was found in the wooded area near a highway and apartment buildings. Pratt had been stabbed multiple times and died on the scene. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There have not been any arrests made in this case and it is still under investigation, including motive,â&#x20AC;? Sean Hickman, an

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Homicides in Southeast are not unusual.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Paul Trantham MPD spokesperson, told the AFRO Nov. 27. The person of interest was captured by nearby surveillance cameras, showing the suspect walking in a parking lot near the apartment buildings. The suspect appears to be wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Another subject in the surveillance video can be seen walking with the suspect, but Hickman said this person has Continued on D2

Homicide Count 2016 Total

Past Seven Days

124 4

Data as of Nov. 30

The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

Political Mover Continued from D1

get elected with what were then groundbreaking political techniques such as door-to-door canvassing and using lists that showed residents who tended to vote. Patton said Fauntroy was not difficult to sell to D.C. residents. “During the campaign, we focused on Wards 4, 5, 6, and 7, particularly in the Black blue collar neighborhoods,” he said. “We didn’t go into [predominantly White] Ward 3 unless it was for money.” Fauntroy served in Congress until 1991. Patton used those same techniques several years later in Barry’s 1978 election as the District’s mayor. Patton was important to Barry’s win by getting Whites and working-class Blacks to vote for him, while the Democratic primary opponents, D.C. Council Chairman Sterling Tucker and D.C. Mayor Walter Washington fought over the middleclass Black vote. However, Patton recounts a particularly jarring moment in his relationship with Barry in the book. “Barry had different circles he kept separate,” he said. “There were his circle of Whites, a circle of Black professionals,

Courtesy Photo

Walter Fauntroy was elected to Congress with Doug Patton’s help.

and there was a circle that consisted of a bad element. He knew how to keep those separate.” Patton worked for the U.S. House of Representatives and did more political work before helping Barry to come back as mayor in 1994 and helping to elect Tony Williams as mayor in 1998. Patton said he, like many Whites who cross racial barriers, learned how to deal with Blacks. “Many White people don’t know Black people and are suspicious and even afraid of them,” he said.

Barry Legacy

Stabbed

Continued from D1

by passion.” Bowser said Barry “wasn’t perfect but he was perfect for us at the time we needed him most.” “He empowered people across the District and he worked to invest in small, local, and Black businesses,” she said. “I run into District residents who say all the time that ‘Marion Barry got me my first job’.” Bowser, in one of her first acts as mayor in early 2015, renamed the city’s youth jobs program in Barry’s honor. In March 2015, she created a commission with the task to come up with ways to honor Barry. In November 2015, the commission recommended a statute of Barry at the John A. Wilson Building, and the renaming of the student center at the University of the District of Columbia, Good Hope Road, S.E., and Ballou High School in his honor. Bowser publicly embraced the statute, “where people will see Marion Barry, Mayor for Life, all the time.” Gray agreed with Bowser on the statute. “That would be a wonderful, dignified, deserving monument to Barry,” Gray told the AFRO. The other recommendations are in the works, with the student center renaming considered non-controversial but the Good Hope Road and Ballou High School options are generating debate.

Continued from D1 D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) spoke on behalf of the city’s legislative body, with D.C. Council members Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), Elissa Silverman (I-At Large), LaRuby May (D-Ward 8), Robert White (D-At Large), Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), and D.C. Council member-elect Trayon White (D-Ward 8) attending. “He helped change Washington, D.C. from a Southern White-ruled city to an African-American ruled city,” Mendelson, council chairman, said. “On the council, he helped establish the homestead exemption and pushed for D.C. statehood.” The Rev. Willie Wilson, senior pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church in Southeast D.C., performed a libation ceremony, spiritually anointing the tombstone in an African tradition and Cora Barry’s brother, Bishop Thomas Masters, quoted and preached on Mark 9:35, the Biblical verse on serving others. The Rev. Leah Daughtry, who served as the CEO of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this past summer, was the mistress of ceremonies. “A reporter said to me that some newer people are moving into the city and may not know anything about Marion Barry,” Cora Barry said. “I told that reporter that’s not true and people will remember Marion 30 or even 100 years from now. Marion Barry’s legacy is a fiber in this city.”

Educator

been blurred out and is not the subject of interest. Members of the community such as Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Paul Trantham said violent crimes like the murder of Pratt happen too often in Southeast. “Homicides in Southeast are not unusual. As a matter fact you can believe you are going to have at least two to three homicides a week,” Trantham told the AFRO on Nov. 28. He said the crime is continuous, “killing and stealing, and taking people’s money.” Trantham, a two-term councilmember of the 8B02 region in Ward 8, was on the scene the day of the slaying. He said the family of the victim had been called to the crime scene and were able to identify Pratt by what she was wearing. “They were upset,” he said repeatedly, describing the emotions of Pratt’s family. Police on the scene told Trantham the victim was married and lived nearby in the Barry Farms neighborhood. Trantham said a lot of the crime stems from guns being

“Until the city can get a handle on all these guns coming into the city we will keep revisiting this kind of violence.” –Paul Trantham

Continued from D1 graders and it has been a wonderful aid in teaching students about history through great American speeches.” President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1965, and died a day later. Since that time, the venue has been used partially as a tribute to the late president and his work. The fellowship was created by the Ford’s Theatre Foundation based on the inspiration of Lincoln’s oratory skills. It is a national professional learning community for 5th-8th grade educators and the fellows work with the foundation’s education staff and teaching artists to learn how to integrate oratory and performance teaching and learning strategies into their classroom space. Fellows work with a foundation artist who visits the classroom through video conferencing or Skype, participate in group development sessions and come to the District in May each year for a conference retreat culminating at an event at the theatre. The fellowship is in its sixth year serving 26 teachers in 15 states and Clarkson is the only Black teacher in the program at this time. “Lincoln knew that ending slavery, which was a brutal yet profitable system wasn’t going to be easy but he was able to do that and weave people of color into our flag,” he said. Clarkson holds a bachelor’s degree in theater arts from Dillard University and a master’s degree in programs and curricula from Concordia University-Portland and is pursuing a doctorate in education from Concordia also. He has served

Former D.C. Council member William Lightfoot, who served on the council from 1988-1997, knew Patton and his work. “He provided advice to politicians behind the scenes,” Lightfoot said. “He helped to bring about meaningful change in economic development, particularly in downtown.” D.C. Council member-elect Vincent Gray, District mayor from 2011-2015, told the AFRO he agreed with Lightfoot. “He served on a lot of political campaigns and he was very involved with Tony Williams,” Gray said. “He respected the culture and history of the city.” The Oct. 6 edition of the Kirkus Review praised Patton’s book but said some of the statements were patronizing. Tucker disagreed with that assessment. “I didn’t view him as being patronizing,” he told the AFRO. “While that is often the case with Whites who get involved in Black causes or with Black candidates, that wasn’t the case with Doug. He was involved in the civil rights struggle and he is a good, solid man.”

as an Actor in Residence at Dillard and a Resident Artist at Coppin State University in Baltimore and the Baltimore Children’s Theatre Association. Clarkson has also taught at the William E. Doar Performing Arts Charter School, Kramer Middle School and in the summer as an instructor with the College Success Foundation – all three are in the District. He said his methods of teaching history through oratory are appealing to middle school students.

“He is an incredibly enthusiastic, passionate and dedicated educator…” -Cynthia Gertsen “You have to let them develop a strong perspective on history and that will influence their life,” Clarkson said. “It makes me happy to have some of my former students say to me that my class helped them in their high school studies.” Clarkson will have a student deliver a speech by Lincoln or some other orator and explain what it means in context of the times. In addition to Lincoln, he has used speeches from Frederick Douglass, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr. to teach about the times these orators lived in. “He is an incredibly enthusiastic, passionate and dedicated

easily accessible in the neighborhood. “Until the city can get a handle on all these guns coming into the city we will keep revisiting this kind of violence,” he said. Trantham also blames drugs for a majority of the robberies and murders. “For drugs they will rob their friend, their mother, just to support a habit.” According to Trantham, who also works as a private investigator, there are more than 200 unsolved murders in Southeast D.C. According to the MPD website, there are 59 unsolved major case homicides and six unsolved transgender homicides in 2016. Trantham explained district officers are understaffed and residents are afraid to come forward about crimes. “It’s the lack of visibility and presence of police officers,” he said. However, poverty and a lack of resources is not an excuse for the amount of violence in the area, according to Trantham. He said young people need to apply themselves more, “It is poverty in our area, but I will no longer buy into they have no jobs available.” He said there are more than 30 new recreational centers in the district, “A lot of local leaders should stop saying they don’t have opportunities.” educator who truly understands what it takes to educate a child,” said Cynthia Gertsen, associate director of arts education at the Ford’s Theatre. “He is able to put curriculum into the conventions and language his students understand. This inspires them to work hard and always strive for excellence.”

Hunters Woods Fellowship House Waiting List Closing Hunters Woods Fellowship House (HWFH) is a government-assisted apartment complex located in Reston, Va., designed for low-income individuals who are over age 62 or are disabled. The estimated waiting period for most current applicants has reached more than 24 months. Therefore, effective 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 29, 2016, HWFH will suspend the acceptance of applications for the Section 8 Housing Program. The current waiting list will remain closed until further notice. A Public Notice will be posted when the waiting list is reopened in compliance with federal guidelines. We do not anticipate that this will occur within the next 18 months. For additional information, or if you have special needs to be accommodated, or have Limited English Proficiency, please call 703-620-4450, TDD 1-800-828-1120, or visit our website at www.fellowshipsquare.org.

December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016, The Afro-American

Africare: Improving Africa’s Health

is uniquely qualified for this challenge.” Africare was founded in 1970 by former Peace Corps volunteers Joseph Kennedy, PhD, and C. Payne Lucas to focus on meeting the needs of Africans in the areas of agriculture, In November 2015, Robert L. Mallett took the reins of food security, healthcare, maternal and child health, HIV and Africare, the largest and oldest African-American founded, AIDS, access to portable water, and women’s employment. non-governmental organization. Africare has invested over $1 billion in more than 35 countries Since then, he has led the organization to merge with in sub-Saharan Africa with partnerships from local, indigenous Accordia Global Health Foundation, an organization that communities, non-governmental organizations, and the private focuses on sustained health aid for countries in Africa; the sector. launch of the Institute for Child Wellness in Africa (TICWA), Mallett is a 1979 Morehouse College a programmatic collaboration with the University of Malawi to graduate and a 1982 alumnus of the test and demonstrate new approaches to ensuring child health Harvard University School of Law. and wellness; becoming the prime contractor of the Mwanzo He served as a deputy corporation Bora Nutrition Program that aims to improve the nutrition counsel, an aide to U.S. Sen. Lloyd of children and pregnant and nursing women in Tanzania; Bentsen (D-Texas), the District’s city renewed focus on operational excellence and management; and administrator from 1991-1995, and upgraded the organization’s internal systems and procedures at the Commerce Department from among other accomplishments. 1997-2001. “We are confident Robert is the right leader at the right time In the private sector non-legal for Africare,” said Stephen D. Cashin, Africare’s chairman of arena, he has served as the executive the board. “At this time of fierce competition vice president and general counsel for for resources, Africare requires a leader public and senior markets at United who can clearly communicate and Healthcare; worked as the senior demonstrate the organization’s vice president of Worldwide leadership and knowledge of Africa’s Public Affairs and Policy complex issues to partners and at Pfizer, and as president Robert Mallett is the donors in both the public and of the Pfizer Foundation. president and CEO of Africare. Courtesy Photo-Africare private sectors. We believe Robert He also served on the By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com

WASHINGTON AREA

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Arlington, Va.

Arlington County Child and Family Services’ ‘I’m With Dad Dinner & Movie Night’ 909 South Dinwiddie Street On Dec. 2, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Arlington County Child and Family Services are calling all dads and their children to the “I’m With Dad Dinner & Movie Night” event. The movie night will take place at 909 South Dinwiddie Street and is open to the community. From 6 -7 p.m., the Arlington County Child and Family Services is scheduled to invite dads to bring a dish of food to share for dinner; then, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., all the families will hop on pillows and blankets to enjoy “The Polar Express” movie. Families will enjoy the movie on the big screen, with a few surprises along the way. The event is free of charge. For more information, visit eventbrite.com.

the showcase will be able to meet new people, reconnect with friends, and celebrate DIW’s atmosphere as both a cultural arts hub and launchpad for diverse talent. Guests will also be dazzled with ballet and diverse genre dance works. The event is free to the public and is open to all ages. For more information, visit danceinstituteofwashington. org.

Greenbelt, Md.

National Park Service Hosts Greenbelt Park Plant Removal 6565 Greenbelt Road On Dec. 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the National Park Service and the University of Maryland are partnering to host their Greenbelt Park Invasive Plant Removal event. The event will also take place on the first Sunday of the

WHAT MATTERS MOST TO

board of directors for seven years, and as president and CEO of Accordia Global Health Foundation. As president, Mallett working to modernize Africare’s management structure and operations, and developing a strategic vision for the organization in the wake of new challenges for non-profits, particularly in the areas of fundraising. He is also coming up with new strategies in the fluid environment of development assistance while maintaining Africare’s unique mission. “I have worked many years in the public sector and for

“We believe Robert is uniquely qualified for this challenge.” – Stephen D. Cashin private law firms and companies but not in the non-profit sector,” he told the AFRO. “I joined the board of directors of Africare in early 2003 and have maintained an interest in the organization throughout the years.” Mallett said he will focus on financial stability and increasing the organization’s reach in Africa. “We have to make critical decisions on how we spend our money and foster growth to help African countries,” he said. “As a result, we have recently partnered with the Accordia Global Health Foundation and we are focusing on adding to our talent base.” The results of the 2016 presidential election may be a problem to some people but not to Mallett. “During the campaign, Africa wasn’t mentioned very much by either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton,” he said. “Nevertheless, I will be actively engaging the Trump administration.” Mallett noted that legislation on Capitol Hill regarding Africa, such as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act that is designed to spur investment in countries on the continent, is supported by Democrats and Republicans. “It was a smart choice for the board to select Robert as CEO with his experience as deputy secretary of commerce and the president of the Pfizer Foundation,” Pratt told the AFRO.

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WHCH-017 Marjorie5.4x10-4.indd 1

The Dance Institute of Washington Hosts ‘A Glimpse of Kwanzaa Spirit’ 3400 14th Street, NW For their Winter Preview Showcase, The Dance Institute of Washington (DIW) is scheduled to host “A Glimpse of Kwanzaa Spirit” performance on Dec. 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 3400 14th Street, NW. Attendees of

month. In order to preserve the health of Greenbelt’s park, for future generations, volunteers will work together to remove weeds and other harmful plants that disturb the nutrients of the natural soil. The event will take place at 6565 Greenbelt Road. Volunteers of all ages are welcomed. For more information, visit eventbrite. com.

2/27/15 10:51 AM

The Afro-American, December 3, 2016 - December 9, 2016

Chapter president Alice H. Howard

Chapter officers and gala committee members

R&B singer Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ngela Winbush

Chapter members

Tanya Herman, AFRO D.C. General Manager Edgar Brookins and Lisa Stroud

James, Maxine, Connie and Randy Andrews

Reginald and Jacquely Patterson; Carolyn and Roger Custard and Jimmy Bowden

Photos by Rob Roberts

Chapter president family members

Leah Andrews, co-chair, fundraising and Anna Carter, chair, fundraising Kevin Benfors(standing), Shelly Brayboy, Jaylae Dawson and Leanard Dawson; Felecia Patterson(seated) and Augustus Patterson

Tameka Tunsil, chapter president, Melanie Carter, 2nd vice president and Joyce Willoughby, assistant chaplain

The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Prince William County, held their 4th Annual Gala fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va. on Nov. 12. Funds raised will go towards community programs and towards scholarships for graduating seniors in Prince William County and surrounding jurisdictions.

Mary Lively, 2nd vice president of Fund Development

Shelia Coleman, 1st vice president of programs

Gala Emcee Cliff Crosby, former NFL Super Bowl Champion

The Northern Virginia Alumna Chapter (NOVAC) of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in affiliation with The Northern Virginia Delta Education and Community Service Foundation hosted its 6th Annual Sisters Called to Serve Jazz Brunch on Nov. 12 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va. Funds raised will benefit NOVACâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scholarship and community service programs.

Cheron Reed, Michelle Robinson and Shana Broussard Former chapter presidents: Beverly Nance (1998-2000); Linda Byrd-Johnson (20002002); Linda Hitchens Gibson(2002-2004); Rae Chambers Martel(20042006) and Deborah Foster(2008-2010)

Chapter officers: Cheryl Lawrence, treasurer; Karen Rosser, financial secretary; Cynthia Boston, recording secretary; Tameka Tunsil, president; Melanie Carter, 2nd vice president and Christi Johnson, secretary Phaze II Jazz & Erica Scott and guest saxophonist, Rob Maletick (left)

Michael Willis and Pam Harris-Straughn

Geneva Taylor and Luchelle Smith

Photos by Rob Roberts