Afro PG County 2 16 17 by AFRO News

November 12, 2016 - November 12, 2016, The Afro-American

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION

Volume 125 No. 29

FEBURARY 18, 2017 - FEBRUARY 24, 2017

Inside

Prince George’s

Coretta Scott King’s ‘My Life, My Love, My Legacy’

• Black Engineer of the

Year Award Conference

Baltimore

Commentary A Lesson from Black History By Rep. Elijah Cummings

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After winning two Grammy’s on Feb. 12, Beyonce said during her acceptance speech, “It’s important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror — first through their own families, as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves.”

Educators: Maria Thompson, President of Coppin State University

DeVos’ Howard Visit Fuels Schmoke Looks to NY’s City University HBCU Executive Order Buzz HBCU ‘Equality Lawsuit’

Model as Solution to Disparity By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO The HBCU Equity Case has been on Kurt Schmoke’s radar long before he became a formal party to the case in his current role of President of the University of Baltimore (UB) in 2014. Schmoke, a Baltimore native, served as the first African American elected mayor of the city from 1987 through 1999, a city with two of the state’s four HBCU’s and several public and private

higher education institutions. Schmoke went on to a successful academic career as Dean of the Howard University Law School where he “authorized the participation of the Howard Law School Civil Rights Clinic to work on behalf of the HBCU’s involved in the case” Brenda Shum, director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and attorney for the plaintiffs, told the AFRO.

Foundation Works to Grow the Number of Black Teachers By Curtis Bunn Urban News Service

The axiom, “Those who cannot do, teach,” missed the point, as far as Blake Nathan is concerned. In fact, Nathan created the Educate Me Foundation on a wholly opposite premise:

To mentor and encourage African-American students, high school and college, to pursue careers in education, especially as teachers—and to help existing Black teachers find new opportunities. All with one goal, Nathan said: “To increase the number

Schmoke testified last week that he sought to prevent a collision course between the University of Baltimore and neighboring Coppin State University and Continued on A3

By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com

In her first official act, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited Howard University in the District of Columbia. On Feb. 9, DeVos accompanied by

Omarosa Manigault, director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, met with Howard University President Wayne A.I. Frederick and student leaders. Manigault is a Howard alum. DeVos described the Continued on A3

In 1957 nine Black students were denied entrance to Little Rock Central High School in defiance of the Supreme Court ruling in 1954 that schools must be integrated. Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, resisted integration forcing President Dwight D. Eisenhower to order federal troops to escort the students to school. AFRO writer Moses Newson, who turned 90 years-old this month, was at the school when the students were denied entrance and was removed from the scene because he was Black. He then wrote about the experience.

AFRO Archived History

AFRO Man Ousted; Other Writers Stay Sept. 21 1957 By Moses Newson I was put out of the Central High School area Tuesday morning by Gov. Orval Faubus’ National Guard. It must have been a little after 8 a.m. when Lt. Col. Marion E. Johnson crossed a street and announced courteously but firmly, “We are trying to avert trouble,” and provided me a four-man escort to my car. Continued on A4

Continued on A5

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The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

NATION & WORLD

‘The Rock’ & Misty Copeland Join Stephen Curry in Criticizing Under Armour Plank’s Trump Remark By The Associated Press

(AP Photo/File)

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (left) and professional ballerina Misty Copeland (center) have joined basketball star Stephen Curry (right) in criticizing the CEO of sports apparel company Under Armour for praising President Donald Trump. Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and professional ballerina Misty Copeland have joined basketball star Stephen Curry in criticizing the CEO of sports apparel company Under Armour for praising President Donald Trump. Kevin Plank, the CEO of Baltimore-based Under Armour, called Trump “an asset to the country” in an interview with CNBC this week. The company later issued a statement saying it engages in “policy, not politics.” Curry, who plays for the Golden State Warriors, was the first to respond to Plank’s comments about Trump but Johnson and Copeland soon followed. Johnson sent out a statement on social media on Feb. 9 saying Plank’s words “were divisive and lacking in perspective.” Copeland wrote in an Instagram post she was so concerned about Plank’s comments that she spoke to him directly. None of the three has reportedly severed ties with the company yet. MLK’s Niece Condemns Reading of Coretta Scott King’s Letter on Senate Floor By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent zprince@afro.com The niece of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is claiming U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren pulled the “race card” in denouncing Sen. Jeff Sessions, President Trump’s choice for the next U.S. attorney general. On Feb. 7, Warren took to the Senate floor to voice her opposition to the nominee, quoting from a 1986 letter written by Dr. King’s widow, Coretta Scott King in which she

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criticized Sessions, who was then running for a judge’s bench. But niece Alveda King said Sen. Warren, in citing her aunt’s letter, was playing into the nation’s bitter past to advance her ends. “It’s almost like a bait and switch, stir up their emotions, use the name King — and my name is Alveda King — stir up people’s emotions [and] play the race card, which she was attempting to do,” King said, speaking on Fox News’ “Your World With Neil Cavuto.” She added, “If you look at my aunt Coretta Scott King’s letter, you could tell she was a peacemaker. Her intentions were never to divide during her whole life.” Alveda King went on to say she believed while her aunt might have referenced some of Sessions’ questionable comments, she also would have acknowledged the senator’s previous efforts to end school segregation and prosecute members of the Ku Klux Klan. “Aunt Coretta was a very reasonable women and she, with integrity, would have noted that he had done some great work in fighting against discrimination,” she said. Warren’s decision to read Mrs. King’s letter made national headlines after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell censored her statements by invoking the obscure Rule XIX, which states that Senators should not “impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.”

(Armstrong Willams via AP)

This photo shows Senate Judiciary Chairman Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., posing for a photo with Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and then Thurmond staffer Armstrong Williams, right, in this undated photo. At issue was a line from King’s letter that read: “Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by Black citizens.” “I am surprised that the words of Coretta Scott King are not suitable for debate in the United States Senate,” Warren said after she was ruled in violation of the rule and disbarred from speaking. “Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech,” McConnell said of his reasons for silencing his colleague. “She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” Several Democratic senators stood in solidarity with Sen. Warren, reading portions of the same letter on the evening of Feb. 7 and on Feb. 8. “The idea that a letter and a statement made by Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King Jr. … could not be presented and spoken about here on the floor of the Senate is, to me, incomprehensible,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in his remarks from the Senate floor. According to reports, hundreds of protestors also gathered outside McConnell’s Kentucky home and read Mrs. King’s

letter in which she outlined her objections to Sessions. A similar protest was reportedly planned for outside his Washington, D.C. abode. Louisiana Sued for Violations of Black, Poor Defendants’ Rights By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent zprince@afro.com A class action suit has been filed in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court alleging that an overwhelming number of the Black, indigent defendants in the state are being systematically denied their constitutional right to adequate counsel. The complaint names as defendants Gov. John Bel Edwards, current members of the Louisiana Public Defender Board and the state’s chief public defender—the latter two are charged with overseeing and administering public defense services, respectively. “This suit seeks to bring long overdue relief to communities that have literally been left defenseless for far too long,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is representing the plaintiffs along with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC); Davis, Polk & Wardwell LLP and Jones Walker LLP. She added in her statement, “While incarcerating people at every turn, many for low-level, non-violent offenses, the state (Louisiana) fails to meet its constitutional obligation to provide counsel to the poor.” Clarke said Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the United States and jails people more than most countries. It also has the second-highest wrongful conviction rate among U.S. states. According to the complaint, a majority—85 percent—of defendants in Louisiana are indigent, and a disproportionate percentage of those incarcerated are Black Americans, who comprise 70 percent of the prison population. Many of those poorer defendants, however, often stagnate in jail while awaiting a public defender, the suit alleges. Due to Louisiana’s reliance on court fines and fees to finance the public defense office, it is often understaffed. And, public defenders are often so overwhelmed that they often simply advise their clients to take a plea agreement. “In just the last year, we have seen Louisiana’s refusal to address the catastrophic failings of its indigent defense system result in the near-closing of defender offices, the laying off of staff and the indefinite detention of poor people awaiting the assignment of an attorney,” said Lisa Graybill, deputy legal director at the Southern Poverty Center, in a statement. “State officials and politicians have looked the other way as the system has fallen further into crisis. They’ve had the chance to fix it and they have failed, time and again.” The lawsuit is not seeking monetary damages but an injunction prohibiting the named officials from maintaining a public defender system that fails to provide constitutionally guaranteed representation for poorer defendants. It also asks for the appointment of a monitor to oversee the implementation of statewide reforms to the public defender’s system. “The operation of a two-tiered system of justice degrades our state, violates our state and federal constitutions and simply cannot continue,” Graybill added. “We have asked the court to intervene because the poor in this state can wait no longer for justice.”

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 18, 2017

February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017, The Afro-American

Schmoke Continued from A1 Morgan State University when he became UB’s president in 2014. “I was asked what problems did I perceive in the future of higher education,” Schmoke said when he interviewed for his current job in early 2014. “I talked about this case. I thought it was an important matter. I thought we should start thinking about what we should do,” Schmoke said. Schmoke allowed the agreement creating the joint Towson State-UBMBA program to expire in 2015. The joint MBA was one of the many academic programs that Maryland HBCU’s said directly competed with HBCU attempts to broaden their business degree offerings. “The Towson-UB MBA decision needed to be revisited. In the interview [for UB president] I reviewed Judge Blake’s decision”

Schmoke said. During cross examination, Schmoke proposed that the court consider developing a commonly adopted academic market akin

is create in Baltimore a City University of Baltimore, which would be comprised of Morgan, Coppin, UB, and Baltimore City Community College,” said Schmoke.

“If done right, I think this could make the strong argument that it’s in the best interests of the State.”

– Kurt Schmoke

to a model in place at the City University of New York’s 24 colleges and graduate schools located across the city’s five boroughs. “I have talked to the regents and others before about adopting in Maryland the model of the City University of New York, and that

“It would, like CUNY, would not mean a merger, because they didn’t merge any of those institutions. They simply allow them to be distinct, but they collaborated on backoffice matters and helped in -- to increase collaboration among the institutions,”

Schmoke continued. “If done right, I think this could make the strong argument that it’s in the best interests of the State,” Schmoke said. Schmoke testified that the State had not sought his opinion on options to work with HBCU’s, but he has tried to connect with Towson and BCCC in the two years that he has served as President of UB. The HBCU Equity Trial is expected to conclude at the end of February. Judge Catherine E. Blake is charged with issuing a remedy to correct the historic pattern of discrimination against Maryland’s HBCU’s with a focus on ending state sponsored duplication of academic programs. The original ruling in Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education v. Maryland Higher Education Commission was decided on behalf of the plaintiffs in 2013.

DeVos Continued from A1

AP Photo/Maria Danilova

Protesters gather outside Jefferson Middle School in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 10 where Education Secretary Betsy DeVos paid her first visit as education secretary in a bid to mend fences with educators after a bruising confirmation T:7.73” battle. HBCUs in general.” DeVos said she will visit other schools across the country to discuss how the administration can increase access to affordable and quality higher education. The visit by DeVos occurred as the Trump administration is reportedly considering an executive order concerning HBCUs. President Trump reportedly expressed interest in the plight of HBCUs at a meeting of selected Black leaders on Feb. 1 at the White House. While many Black organizations have expressed concern about the Trump administration, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) issued a statement on Nov.10 “congratulating Trump and Vice President Pence “on their successful campaign.” “We look forward to working with the TrumpPence administration to create better futures for all Americans through education,” the statement said. “When only six percent of African American children graduate from high school college-ready, and only 21 percent of African American young adults have earned bachelor’s degrees, it is clear that our education system still struggles to provide access to a quality education for students of diverse

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discussion as vigorous in a statement. “It was a pleasure to meet with Howard University President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick and several student leaders,” the secretary said. “We had a robust discussion around the many challenges facing higher education and the importance of historically Black colleges and universities. Howard University plays a unique and valuable role in the fabric of our higher education system, and I am honored to help celebrate its 150th anniversary.” Howard University was founded in 1867 and is a private, research university comprised of 13 schools and colleges. It has long been considered the premier Black higher education institution in the world, with 10,300 students and graduates such as U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Senators Edward Brooke, Roland Burris, and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), actresses Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, and Taraji P. Henson and District of Columbia mayors Walter E. Washington, Sharon Pratt, and Adrian Fenty as well as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. As education secretary, DeVos is a member of Howard’s board of trustees as the patron ex-officio. Frederick, in a statement, said he had a meaningful conversation with the new secretary. “Howard University is pleased that Betsy DeVos, the new Secretary of Education, chose to visit our institution as her first official campus visit,” Frederick said. “We have a longstanding, successful relationship with the Department of Education and I look forward to advancing this relationship under the secretary’s leadership. Our conversation was a meaningful one and I welcome the opportunity to continue discussing the many ways we can work together to forward the work of higher education, specifically that of Howard University, Howard University Middle School of Mathematics & Science, and

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backgrounds, while the need for that education grows more essential each year.” The Thurgood Marshall College Fund went a step further and offered the Trump administration assistance in creating an HBCU-friendly executive order. Shortly after the November 8th election results, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund wrote the Trump administration and offered to assist them in drafting a new executive order for HBCUs that “A: transferred the White House Initiative on HBCUs back to the White House from the Education Department and B: directed federal agencies to target an aspirational goal of 10 percent spending on government contracts and grants with Black colleges,” Johnny C. Taylor Jr., president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said in a statement obtained by the AFRO.

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

AFRO Man Continued from A1 (He later announced no colored person, reporter or otherwise; would be permitted in the area). Camera about my neck and ready to start shooting, I was about as close to getting on the spot pictures for AFRO readers as one could be. But a protest appeared useless, so I didn’t. However, two things, added to the feeling of frustrating futility of being so close yet so far away from those pictures: Scores of White reporters, photographers, TV men, radio broadcasters and what-have-you were able to remain at the scene, exercising their rights as members of a free press. Except for two men who followed me down the street, no one else said anything to me or appeared to be in any way threatening violence. Central High School takes up a two-block area between 14th and 16th Sts. The main entrance faces east on Park, and Jones is to the back. About two blocks down I parked. Before getting out of the car I checked my camera. At the first corner a friendly mannered uniformed city officer satisfied himself that I was a reporter.

February 18, 2017 - February 18, 2017, The Afro-American

He noted another colored reporter; the New York Amsterdam’s Alvin Nail, had been escorted out the day before and advised me to “take it easy up there.” Assuring him I would, I started up the hill to 14th St. corner of the school. A number of school children moving up the other sidewalk paid me little attention. At Park and 14th two white men tried to discourage, maybe to frighten me. One volunteered: “The only story you going to get is about yourself.” The other invited, “Maybe you want some of the burrs knocked off your head.” They silently fell in behind me as I walked on down Park toward the main school entrance area. Newsmen gathered all around. As far as I could tell, the only persons in the crowd about me not of the press were the two stragglers from the corner. Across the street on the school side Guardsmen lined the sidewalk. A reporter wanted to know if I’d checked in with the National Guard and I replied, “Not yet, just with the city police.” That’s when I saw the uniformed officer whom I knew was going to be Lt. Col. Johnson slip through the line of militiaman and move across the street at an angle that would cross my path. A probability and a possibility jumped into my mind.

Col. Johnson was going to put me out before I could get a single shot or he was going to pull the two stragglers off my tail. I hoped for the latter. This would both lose me my unwanted shadows and maybe discourage others. Lt. Johnson asked to see my credentials. I was carrying a press card from the last paper I worked for but was on the Little Rock assignment for the AFRO which I was joining on a regular basis Sept. 15. I explained this to the colonel. He told me, “We are trying to avert trouble and I think it would be better if you left. Which way is your car?” We started back along the way I had come. Among the newsmen I spotted Lloyd Dinkins, a Memphis Commercial Appeal photographer whom I knew. At the corner I again noticed Dinkins, now atop an Army truck. I told Col. Johnson I’d like to speak to the photographer. We went over. I asked him about chances of getting a few pictures from him. He said I could, to cotact him in the U.P. newsroom. Col. Johnson called to someone to “Give me three more men.” Four of them walked down the hill with me and stood by until I got in my car and drove off. Everybody packing a camera had some pictures – except me.

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Black Teachers Continued from A1 of African-American teachers in classrooms where they would have a cultural connection. That dynamic makes a huge difference for Black students.” Nathan, 27, speaks from his own experience. Growing up outside of Atlanta, he said he had just three Black teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade. An engineering major at the historically Black Tennessee State University, he said he had just five African-American professors. Then, as a middle school teacher of engineering and technology, in Indianapolis, Nathan said he was the only Black male teacher in his district. “There are hundreds of thousands of (Black) students who have the same story as me,” he told Urban News Service. “Having taught Black students, I know how important it is for them to have someone who has been where they are, someone who can relate to them on a personal level and have that cultural competency with them.” “There’s nothing like it. Teachers spend countless hours with students, and so it’s important that a student is able to express himself on a personal level at times and have teachers that have empathy for him, not sympathy. You also can give a kid tough love based on knowing the emotions that come with what he’s going through.” Understanding this, Nathan launched the Educate Me Foundation. “I could sit in my classroom and write my lesson plan or I could do something about this issue,” he said. “I decided to do something.” Four others followed Nathan’s “leap of faith” to make up his staff. Everyone works as a volunteer, even Nathan as C.E.O. The national statistics moved them. According to the U.S. Department of Education, African Americans make up just 9 per cent of teaching work force—2 per cent

male teachers. At the same time, a Project STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Ratio) study of 23,544 Black students showed that “having a Black teacher for a year influenced a significant 3 to 5 percentile-point increase in math scores. Reading test scores of Black students with Black teachers were 3 to 6 percentage points higher.” Additionally, a series of experiments

“I’m for anything that creates more Black teachers. Having a teacher, you can relate to helps you to connect and believe in yourself more.”

–Malik Williams

conducted at Stanford University found that African-American teachers “may be more generous with minority students, devoting more time to them and making more favorable assumptions about their capabilities.” Nathan developed the Educate Me Foundation to address those statistics. It is a multi-faceted organization that, in addition to its placement services, hosts an annual HBCU Tour that attracts more than 300 students and enlightens them on the value of a career in education. Operating in its first year, it has more than 60 would-be and current educators on its roster. It serves as a “teacher agent,” Nathan said, aiding prospects in finding jobs across the country. It has placed teachers in positions in Atlanta, Houston, New York, Miami and Nashville, among other cities. Last year, Educate ME partnered with eight school districts and charter school networks. “(Often) trainers have no clue on how to retain (Black) teachers in an urban school setting,” said Dixeen Tolliver, a sixth-grade teacher for 25 years in the Richmond, Virginia school system. “Many other teachers

Urban News Service

Students at the Educate Me Foundation’s HBCU Tour learn about what it takes to become a teacher. of different cultures lack the patience and understanding it takes to reach AfricanAmerican students. And many of the ones who try to have patience tend to limit the students’ ability instead of having empathy. . . Educate Me is a necessity.” Said Malik Williams, a freshman at Georgia State University in Atlanta: “I’m for anything that creates more Black teachers. I went to private schools and I had just three Black teachers. But I felt there was much more of a connection with the African-American teachers. Other students talked about it, too. Having a teacher, you can relate to helps you to connect and believe in yourself more.” The stigma that teaching is a low-paying, thankless job is a disconnect with Nathan. “A

doctor would take 10 years after graduating college to make good money,” he said. “But as a teacher, in 10 years, you can elevate up the ranks, to assistant principal or administrator and make six figures. “I made $40,000 last year, working just eight months. But I coached baseball and a step team that earned me more money. And while my friends who made $60,000 were working all summer, I was off and relaxing at home for four months. So, it’s a misconception. There’s money out there in education. “Every district in the country is looking for competent Black teachers to work with Black students, to resonate with them. We’re working to be that pipeline that brings it all together.”

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COMMENTARY

A Lesson from Black History

In asking America to focus upon the significance to African Americans of gaining an empowering public education, both historically and today, The Association for the Study of African-American Life and History has done our nation another important service. As the ASALH points out, the barriers and accomplishments that have defined our educational struggles call upon all Americans to recommit ourselves to overcoming the inequities in our society – disparities grounded both in inter-racial indifference and socio-economic class. During the last four decades, “the crisis in black education” has deepened, especially in those neighborhoods “where public schools lack resources, endure overcrowding, exhibit a racial achievement gap, and confront policies that fail to deliver substantive opportunities.” The urgency of this challenge is especially significant Elijah Cummings during a month when the United States Senate [by a razor-thin, 51-50 vote with Vice President Pence breaking the tie] has just consented to President Trump’s choice of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Department of Education Secretary. The new Education Secretary’s lack of background as an educator, her uneven grasp of federal education policy, and, especially, her ideological passion for public funding of private schools offer scant basis for optimism that the Trump Administration will adequately address the crisis that we are facing. In the Senate hearings, Ms. DeVos’ verbal commitment to lifting up our children seemed well rehearsed. Yet, to paraphrase Jonathan Kozol’s insight in Savage Inequalities – Children in America’s Schools: There was a sense that she was skating over ice, and that the issues that we must address were safely hidden underneath. When she was forced by the Senators to look beneath the ice, she started to stumble. The verbal competence she had acquired may have been gained by building walls around some regions of the heart. Hopefully, under the pressures of her new position, Secretary DeVos will learn something of the economic realities that exist beneath the ice for federal education policy. Toward that end, I can offer her – and the Congress – a lesson about successful public education that I have learned from my own moment in Black History. My parents moved to Baltimore after WWII seeking better lives for their young family - and, especially, a better education for their children. We initially lived in South Baltimore, where our poorly-equipped, 8-room elementary school didn’t even have a lunch room, an auditorium or a gymnasium. I was trying to learn in what was then called the “3rd Group,” what today, we call “special education,” and, one day, a counselor asked me what I wanted to become in my life. A NAACP lawyer named Juanita Jackson Mitchell had stood up for us children in our successful marches to integrate Riverside swimming pool. So, I told my counselor that I wanted to become a lawyer like Ms. Mitchell. I wanted to help other children like me. The counselor just looked at me, a poor kid in the “3rd Group,” and exclaimed: “You want to be a lawyer! Who do you think you are?” I almost lost faith in my dream that day, but here is the point of this history lesson that I have to offer. A great teacher named Mr. Hollis Posey listened to my dream, believed in my potential and taught to my strengths. Although our school had little in the way of the financial support available to more affluent children, librarians at our local Pratt Library branch helped me to get my academics up to speed. As a result, I kept working hard, and the day finally came when I made it out of the 3rd

group. I was able to attend one of Baltimore’s foremost academic high schools, graduate with honors from Howard University, and go on to earn my law degree. This personal lesson from our history is why I, for one, will never be convinced that we can assure every child an empowering education by diverting federal Title I funds to private schools. Great teachers and adequate funding may not be the total answer to the “Crisis is Black Education,” a crisis that also exists in impoverished communities, both urban and rural, that are not Black. Nevertheless, these are the essential components of success. Without minimizing the significance of racial disparities upon educational success, we know that a dominating factor in failing schools is the relative poverty of their students and their communities. We also must confront a second reality. We consistently have underestimated the levels of commitment by federal and state legislatures that are required to overcome these deficiencies. Local school systems that are working to educate large numbers of economically disadvantaged students need far more than they have received from the equal funding reforms of recent years. This underfunding is precisely why federal Title I funding exists: to lift up impoverished students, whatever their racial background may be. We need to increase, not decrease, the funds that we are investing in strengthening the public education of economically disadvantaged students. Hopefully, this is a lesson from Black History that the new Administration will soon learn. Congressman Elijah Cummings represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.

I Don’t Know Omarosa Manigault, But I Do Know April Ryan April Ryan, who has covered the White House for 20 years, has earned respect from colleagues in government and reporters across the country. She has journalistic integrity. But today, Ryan is defending her integrity after Omarosa Manigault, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, “physically intimidated” Ryan last week at the White House and wildly accused Ryan of being a paid mouthpiece for the Clinton campaign. Ryan has vehemently denied the accusations. Ryan, a veteran White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, said Manigault got so aggressive inside the White House that Ryan thought Manigault would hit her. She also said the altercation may have needed Secret Service intervention. “I’m ok now,” Ryan told me on Feb. 14. “My company is standing behind me. I’m at work; I’m doing my job and I’m not going anywhere. And I will not be bullied.” Ryan told The Washington Post that Manigault was faceto-face with her outside of press secretary Sean Spicer’s office last week.

Michael H. Cottman

Ryan said Manigault also told her that the White House has assembled “dossiers” of negative information on her and other African-American journalists. She said Manigault sent her an email in October accusing her of being “a paid Clinton surrogate.” Sources say Ryan’s company, American Urban Radio Networks, warned the White House they may consider suing Manigault for slander and defamation of character. “This could end up in court,” the source said. Ryan’s run-in with Manigault comes as the Trump administration is waging an all-out war on the media, or as the White House calls it, the “opposition party.” White House strategist Stephen Bannon has taken direct aim at journalists. “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while,” Bannon said in an interview with The New York Times last month. “I want you to quote this,” Bannon said. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.” This is an administration that lies and will not apologize;

they make up “alternative facts” and obscure the truth; they spread falsehoods about their perceived adversaries with no regard for how their fabrications will impact the people involved. The Trump administration spent its first full day in office arguing with the media about crowd sizes from Trump’s inauguration. “Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall,” Spicer claimed. I’ve known Ryan for more than 15 years and she is a fierce White House reporter and a mother of two young daughters. She commutes from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. every morning and she believes in the power of prayer. Asked if she believes that Trump’s aides will be fighting with the media over the next four years, Ryan said: “I don’t know, but I will certainly be here to cover this administration.” Michael H. Cottman an award-winning journalist and author, is a Senior Correspondent for BlackAmericaWeb. com, a division of Radio One/REACH Media. He is the former interim executive editor of the Baltimore AFRO-American.

Trump’s Environmental Bold Picks and Plays

Bold Picks So far, Trump’s cabinet picks look like shelves of motor oil cans arranged from premium oil to mid-grade. This sludge is toxic, harmful, and dangerous. Trump’s Secretary of State pick is Rex Tillerson, chief executive of ExxonMobil. Tillerson has many ties with foreign leaders surrounding oil issues. His appointment might complicate and compromise any clean energy or climate change initiative support. The Energy Secretary pick is Rick Perry, former Texas governor. You might remember him running for president in 2011, where he stated on his campaign trail, he would abolish the U.S. Department of Energy. Perry also wrote that climate change was a “contrived, phony mess” in his book, Fed Up! For the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Trump nominated Scott Pruitt, former Attorney General of Oklahoma. Once in office as attorney general, Pruitt formed

the first federalism unit to combat his claims of unwarranted regulations from the federal government; in particular the EPA. Pruitt has sued the EPA 14 times to block clean air and water rules in the state of Oklahoma. Currently, Pruitt is drawing up plans to “get rid of” the agency by repealing climate change rules, cutting staff and closing regional offices. These bold moves of cutting the agency in half will permanently weaken its regulatory authority. Bold Plays Trump’s allies are in Congress and they’re playing along. So far, our Congress has passed bills under Trump’s administration to require significant federal regulations be approved by both houses of Congress before taking effect. Meaning, government rules on clean air can be held up by a handful of senators. More alarming, it opens the doors for radical new policies that replace expert analysis based on science and law with political unscientific views. Most disturbing, the House has endorsed a bill that allows leaks from natural gas wells to continue with federal and tribal laws. By cancelling the rule of law, it saves taxpayers $800 million over ten years, but will increasingly pollute our air and water over the next decade and beyond. In Congress, caught up in the excitement to play along with Trump’s approach to eliminate regulations, our lawmakers have placed their

common sense on the bench. Trump has only been in office for four weeks and he is making good on his campaign and election promises to dismiss environmental protection laws and remove regulations that protect the public, both it’s air and water. It’s time for all America to educate ourselves about current environmental issues, policies and laws. As you can see with this administration and Congress, public safety, clean air and water are not their priority. As the AFRO’s first Environmental Columnist, I would like to get to know my readers. Enter To Win: ‘30-Minutes with The Green Ambassador’. In 50 words or less describe your ‘Dream Garden’ or ‘Environmental Quest’. Email your name, contact info, and your 50 words description to: info@ thegreenambassador.org. Deadline is Feb. 28, 2017 by midnight. Cathy Allen is an award-winning Urban Environmentalist, the co-creator of G.R.A.S.S. (Growing Resources After Sowing Seed) as well as Chair of the “Grow-It Eat It” campaign. G.R.A.S.S. is an environmental entrepreneurial nonprofit program based on the fundamentals of gardening, agriculture and ecology. In conjunction with Baltimore City Public Schools, Allen’s campaign has planted over a half-million trees on the lawns of Baltimore City public schools.

February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017, The Afro-American

Maryland Lawmakers Expand Attorney General Powers to Resist Trump Republican Governor’s Permission to Sue Federal Government Eliminated by Dem. General Assembly

Chesapeake Bay,” said Del. Nic Kipke, an Anne Arundel County Republican Fearful of President Donald Trump’s who is the House minority leader. policies, the Maryland General Assembly “Our governor would be first in line to empowered the state’s Democratic Attorney defend the interests of Marylanders, I General on Feb. 15 to sue the federal believe.” government without permission from the Amelia Chasse, a spokeswoman state’s Republican Governor. for Gov. Larry Hogan, said too many The House of Delegates Voted 89-50 lawmakers are focusing on what might along party lines for a joint resolution happen in Washington and not enough already approved by the Senate. time focusing on Maryland. Hogan, Democrats, who control Maryland’s who did not support Trump and said he legislature, have noted concerns about didn’t vote for him, has avoided taking potential repeal of the Affordable Care positions on Trump’s actions, saying Act as reasons for expanding the Attorney he’s focused on Maryland. General’s powers. They also have cited “Marylanders don’t want concerns about lax enforcement of federal Washington-style party politics in their regulations to protect the Chesapeake state capital, and if the past two weeks Bay, the nation’s largest estuary, and how has taught us anything, we need a lot the Trump administration could affect fewer talking heads in Annapolis and a Maryland’s large federal workforce. lot more action,” Chasse said. Maryland’s highest court has ruled that The Senate approved the resolution unlike more than 40 other Attorneys General 29-17 last week, with all of the in the country, the state’s Attorney general chamber’s 14 Republicans opposing it. lacks the common-law authority to sue the Nine Senate Republicans walked out of (Courtesy photo) federal government without permission from the chamber in a rare show of protest either the General Assembly or the Governor. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh no longer needs the Governor’s permission during a debate, because a request to sue the federal government. The Maryland Defense Act of 2017 would to delay action on the fast-tracked enable the Attorney general to sue to protect resolution for a day was rejected. the health, public safety, civil liberties and Attorney General Brian Frosh sought economic security of Maryland residents, as well as the environment. to file his own lawsuit to protect Marylanders against Trump’s ban on travelers from “There is nothing unprecedented about this resolution,” said Del. Kirill Reznik, seven Muslim-majority countries, rather than an amicus brief that expressed support D-Montgomery. “There is nothing unique about this resolution. It simply gives the for states’ actions. Attorney general the same powers to be able to sue the federal government as 41 other He asked the Governor for permission on Feb. 1, but his office said he never Attorneys General. That’s it.” received a final response. Chasse said the Governor’s lawyers had follow-up questions But Republicans charged that Democrats were injecting the highly charged partisan about filing a separate Maryland lawsuit. She said the Attorney General then filed the politics of Washington into Maryland in an effort to bypass the Governor and disrupt amicus brief without telling the Governor’s office, which assumed he had decided to go checks and balances. that route in court. “No one wants the federal government steamrolling Marylanders, steamrolling the Unlike a regular bill, a joint resolution cannot be vetoed by the Governor. By The Associated Press

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The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

AN OP EN LET T ER FROM

Kevin Plank, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Under Armour Baltimore, In a business television interview last week, I answered a question with a

This past November in East Baltimore, in partnership with the Ravens and

to our hometown exactly the values for which Under Armour and I stand.

square foot multi-purpose community center for kids and families to learn,

choice of words that did not accurately reflect my intent. I want to clarify

Under Armour stands for opportunity. I believe one of the greatest

American attributes is entrepreneurship, and I am incredibly proud of how the Under Armour story reflects this. I moved Under Armour to

Living Classrooms, we opened the UA House at Fayette, a new 30,000 play, and grow. The UA House provides opportunities not only for sport but access to entrepreneurship programs, community event spaces and a stateof-the-art recording studio.

Baltimore in 1998 when it was a two-year-old company with two employees.

We have also created a Manufacturing Bootcamp at The Foundery in Port

Baltimore our home. In our city, we stand for entrepreneurship, job creation

trained in the skills they will need to build a good life. Every participant in

Today we have 14,000 teammates across the world, and are proud to call and opportunity.

We also represent our teammates and our city through our Values:

§ We stand firmly for equal rights. Through our investment, hiring, and in everything we do, we expect to be leaders in the advancement of all forms of diversity and gender equality.

§ We believe that immigration is a source of strength, diversity and innovation for global companies based in America like Under Armour. And I personally believe that immigration is the foundation of our country’s exceptionalism.

§ Once again, Under Armour stands for job creation. To that end, we believe in growing American manufacturing capability. We

think building should focus on much-needed education, transportation, technology and infrastructure investment in cities like Baltimore.

At Under Armour, our culture is strong, and that culture is built by our

Covington, where City residents with barriers to workforce entry are being

our small pilot class has been hired, and the second class is now working toward the same goal, with more classes to follow.

And in 2016 we opened the UA Lighthouse, an advanced manufacturing research facility that is a step toward bringing more good jobs to America

and making more of our products right here in Baltimore. These are just some of the initiatives we have undertaken on behalf of our community and those who call Baltimore home, and we are just getting started.

We are always mindful of the responsibility that we have to those who choose our Brand, especially the young people who represent the bold and bright future of a diverse and inclusive America.

people and by the values of how we operate our business. While stating our values is important, I also know that actions speak louder than words. So here is what we are doing:

§ We are publicly opposing the travel ban. With an anticipated

new executive order on immigration set to come out, we will join a coalition of companies in opposition to any new actions that negatively impact our team, their families or our community.

Our Brand mission is to make all athletes better through passion, design

and the relentless pursuit of innovation. Our passion also extends to our teammates, our consumers and our community. We are always mindful of

the responsibility that we have to those who choose our Brand, especially the young people who represent the bold and bright future of a diverse and inclusive America. While we will continue to engage with government to protect our teammates, our company and our city, I can promise you

§ We are taking other public positions on legislation around the country in support of the interests of our teammates whenever policy conflicts with human rights.

stand for equality, diversity and opportunity for all. In a time

Our team, like our country, is diverse by race, religion, nationality, gender,

optimism for our city and our country. I hope we will always

age, sexual orientation and point of view. In our city and at Under Armour,

our diversity is our strength.

In addition to what we are doing today, I believe that our values are

that we will never compromise these values. We will continue to

of division, we aspire to be a force of unity, growth and make Baltimore proud.

Respectfully,

also clearly demonstrated by what we have already done. First, we have made an extraordinary commitment to Baltimore, both by doubling

down on our company’s presence and our investment in this city, and by making unprecedented commitments to education, workforce development and local hiring.

Kevin Plank Founder, Chairman and CEO of Under Armour

For more information on Kevin Plank and Under Armour’s Philanthropy, visit underarmourglobalhq.com/news

February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017 The Afro-American

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY-AREA County Politics

Names Begin to Circulate for Next County Executive

While Prince George’s County Executive Rushern T. Baker IV counts down Bruce Branch his final days and Special to contemplates the AFRO his next political move, not many people have been paying attention to Maryland State Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-26) and State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks; the names that are being bandied about the most to replace him. Alsobrooks, with supporters among the influential Maryland Business Roundtable, has been making her rounds to local churches touting partnerships for domestic violence initiatives. The former Jack Johnson protégée and first woman to hold the position of State’s Attorney, has increased her public profile during the last six months with dozens of appearances and speaking engagements at community events. She has not hinted at when or if she will make a public announcement on her future political plans, but with the primary next June (2018), something could happen soon. The same can be said for Muse, who had a major fundraiser last month that drew a large gathering to a minority-owned hotel in Continued on B2

Spotlight on Black Educators: Bowie State University President Mickey Burnim By James Wright Special to the AFRO jwright@afro.com

Thousands of students and professionals gathered at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel in D.C. to network during the Black Engineer of the Year Awards conference. Photos by Rob Roberts

By Lenore T. Adkins Special to the AFRO The Black Engineer of the Year Awards’ (BEYA) 31st annual STEM Conference drew major corporations and organizations that are keen on recruiting Black engineers and with more than 10,000 registered participants – a record number – there were plenty to choose from. BEYA – which, according to a sign at the conference, could also stand for Becoming Everything You Are – is annually held in D.C., and offers support and leadership to Blacks in STEM fields. It brings in STEM students and professionals to explore academic and professional opportunities. Eugene DeLoatch, BEYA co-founder and dean emeritus and professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore, received the organization’s 2017 Black Engineer of the Year Award. The award honors outstanding leaders in STEM fields who work to close the racial digital divide. DeLoatch said he countered the perception that Black students couldn’t become engineers and arguably produced more of them than anyone else in higher education. He said he created a precollege transition program that helped prepare

“I don’t have to have a second thought in my mind that I’m limited in my skin.”

Prince George’s County

Possible FBI Headquarters Traffic Concern Greenbelt Residents By Hamil Harris Special to the AFRO The FBI is poised to announce the site for its new headquarters and Prince George’s County officials are hopeful that the facility, scheduled to be built in 2025, will be located in their backyard. However, Greenbelt residents question the level of congestion that would accompany the new building. Officials from the FBI and the General Services Administration met Feb. 13 with residents and locally elected leaders to unveil details of the facility should it be built in Greenbelt, Md.; Landover, Md. or Springfield, Va. “The hope is that we provide adequate parking for whatever site we go to and we want to be a good neighbor to make sure that our Continued on B3

students for the school’s engineering program and developed creative courses that focused on teaching introductory subjects. DeLoatch spent 24 years teaching at Howard University in D.C. before arriving at Morgan. As a testament to DeLoatch’s legacy, two of his former students from Howard – Albert Spencer Jr., chief engineer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service, and John H. James Jr., executive director of the Missile Defense Industry for DoD – thanked him in their remarks at the awards’ gala on Feb. 11. Spencer received a career achievement in government award while James presented the award for outstanding technical contribution in government. DeLoatch went on to become the first Black president of the American – Safir Monroe Society of Engineering Education. He currently chairs the Council of Engineering Deans of HBCUs. “We have so much work to do and we have so much more material to work with,” DeLoatch said in his acceptance speech. “Why don’t we just call it quits talking about these kids in the inner city that they cannot do it?” STEM jobs are growing faster than any other sector in the United States. The estimated size of the STEM workforce in the U.S. is expected to swell to more than 9 million jobs by 2022, Continued on B2

Even though Mickey Burnim will soon relinquish his position as president of Bowie State University (BSU), his passion and work

Photo by Hamil Harris

Greenbelt Mayor Emmett V. Jordan said he is excited that Greenbelt is among the top three sites to possibly house FBI headquarters.

Courtesy photo

Transitioning Bowie State University President Mickey Burnim said he is proud of the accomplishments he made at the institution. Continued on B3

Prince George’s Police Plan to Roll out Body Camera Program By The Associated Press COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — At some point before April, 70 officers from the Prince George’s County Police Department will go to work with a new piece of gear: body cameras. Advocates hope the PGPD program — smaller in scope than similar efforts by police forces across the nation — will bring more accountability to a department with a long history of wrongdoing. “There is still a belief in the Prince George’s community that police officers are corrupt, hiding things and will lie to avoid responsibility for doing something improper,” Steven Vinick, a local defense attorney who handles police misconduct cases, told Capital News Service. The PGPD was last released from Justice Department monitoring in 2009 after “an alleged pattern or practice of excessive force throughout” the department. But concerns over police

misconduct persist. The PGPD, the 27th largest force in the nation, tallied more than 700 allegations of misconduct in 2015, according to County’s Citizen Complaint Oversight Panel. As police forces rush to implement body camera programs nationwide, it’s not clear if they will solve systemic policing issues like those identified by the Justice Department in New Orleans, Ferguson, Baltimore or Chicago. It’s an open question in Prince George’s County, too. The County Council provided significantly less support than

requested for the PGPD pilot program -- about $135,000 -- with the department itself

contributing $65,000 from its asset forfeiture program. The initial estimate from Carlos Acosta, the department’s inspector general and architect of the program, presented to the council was $3.5 to $5 million for three years to outfit a total of 1,000 officers. By comparison, Baltimore County, whose police force is only slightly larger than the 1,700 officers in Prince George’s, signed a $12.5 million, 8-year contract with Taser a year ago, in addition to kicking in $1.5 million in annual operating costs for a staff of 19 to administer the program. “This (body camera program) is a muchneeded reform,” said Cary Hansel, a civil rights attorney who won a landmark case against the PGPD for coercive interrogation practices in 2006, and again on appeal in 2011. “But before we applaud Continued on B2

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

County Politics Continued from B1

Largo. During that fundraiser, Muse made it a point to remind supporters he had been fighting for community issues: helping to get the power back on at Lynnhill Condominiums and calling for accountability from Prince George’s County School Superintendent Dr. Kevin Maxwell and school board members in the wake of losing Head Start funding and a series of abuse incidents involving school age children. Muse, in his third term, ran for county executive in 2002 where he was defeated by Jack Johnson. He said at the fundraiser that he would be making an announcement about his future in the “very near” future. Muse has also been meeting with small groups of loyal supporters around the county. Another interesting race will be that of state’s attorney, if Alsobrooks runs for county executive. Former Maryland State Delegate Aisha Braveboy, who finished second to Brian Frost in the race for Maryland State Attorney General, is expected to run along with Maryland Delegate Eric Barron (D-24th)

who is sure to have the backing of Sen. Joanne C. Benson (D-24th). Baker Aide Mike Lyles is also expected to challenge for the position. Council Rep. Mel Franklin (D-Upper Marlboro) was once counted as a serious contender for the county executive position, but some of the shine has come off the once promising political star after being charged last November with driving under the influence in a crash in a county-owned vehicle that injured two people. This incident has led to public outcry regarding the way the county allows public officials to use vehicles. Friends close to Franklin insist he plans to continue in public service and will likely run for one of the two recently created countywide seats. There are announced candidates, although District 7 Rep. Karen Toles is expected to throw her hat in the ring.

Another interesting race will be that of state’s attorney…

Maryland Senate Moving Fast on Metro Safety Bill By The Associated Press The Maryland Senate is moving fast on a measure for a Metro safety program, after the federal government has threatened to withhold millions of dollars. The Senate gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill for Maryland’s commitment to oversee Metro safety. A vote is set for Wednesday. Federal officials announced they would withhold funding from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia until they create a new Metro safety commission. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority extends in to Prince George’s County and Montgomery County in Maryland. The district already has approved a measure. The Virginia House and Senate have passed versions of the bill, but additional votes are needed. Officials said they would withhold about $8.9 million from the city and two states through April. That could grow to roughly $15 million through the end of fiscal year 2017, if the commission isn’t created by then.

Bruce Branch is the founder of Branch Communications, a small business dedicated to empowering and providing assistance to

minority business owners and faith-based organizations. He is best known as an awardwinning journalist, orator, author, community

activist, businessman, civic leader and spiritual leader for people who suffer from debilitating life controlling problems.

conference. “We’re hiring a lot of people at this event because there’s a lot of extremely intelligent young people,” Jorgensen said. “I don’t think there’s a slouch amongst them.” Safir Monroe, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering at Howard University, stopped by Lockheed Martin’s table to inquire about working in mechanical design after graduation. The 20-year-old said he designs different mechanical systems. In the future, Monroe hopes to design robotics and improve manufacturing processes, while doing some web development on the side. Monroe has been going to the conference for four years and said it has always been well organized and professional. He said his time at an HBCU taught him that if he fails to succeed

in his career, that race has nothing to do with it – it’s all about his work ethic and network. “I don’t have to have a second thought in my mind that I’m limited in my skin,” Monroe said. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army teamed up with BEYA this year to build awareness about the career opportunities it offers in STEM fields and dispel the notion that everyone in the Army is thrown into combat. “The military needs a lot of great minds and STEM majors are a place where we can find them and diversity is a big piece of this,” said Lt. Col. Joel Thomas, a professor of military science at Bowie State University, who also develops leaders within the school’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). ROTC cadets Jackie Berry and his twin

brother Eric, 19, are sophomores at Bowie who may be poised to carry on that torch. The Army ROTC awarded both of them with $68,300 scholarships at the conference. Eric is focusing on network security while Jackie is studying for a career in database management or electrical engineering. They were also at the conference to recruit high school and college students for the ROTC and say their time at Bowie has shown them what leadership is all about. “Because Bowie State doesn’t have the student body size as one of these big universities, lectures are more engaging and more tailored to our students,” Jackie said. “So if a student does not understand something, he or she doesn’t fall behind.”

Black Engineers Continued from B1

according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. White and Asian men comprise the bulk of those jobs, though the emerging workforce is mostly women and underrepresented minorities, according to a report from Wired, a digital technology publication. Mike Jorgensen, a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin, said he’s been going to the conference for eight years, and that its career fair is the perfect place to recruit top talent for internships and jobs. However, there was steep competition with other major corporations at the career fair, including The Boeing Company, Airbnb, and Chrysler Group. Diversity has become a crucial priority at Lockheed Martin and the company fielded nearly two-dozen representatives at the

Body Camera Program Continued from B1

it, we really need to see it implemented.” Acosta is well aware of the department’s past. He was raised in Langley Park and worked as a deputy state’s attorney in Prince George’s. He thinks the body camera program will help improve the relationship between the public and police. “I believe the person behind the camera and the person in front of it will behave better,” he said. For Prince George’s 900,000 residents — two-thirds of whom are black — the PGPD’s reform efforts are still a work in progress. But some residents share Acosta’s optimism. “Citizens of the county overwhelmingly view body cams as a step in the right direction,” said Rashawn Ray, a University of Maryland sociologist working with the PGPD on a range of studies, including community perceptions of body cameras. Change and the PGPD The 1999 Justice Department inquiry that led to a decade of federal monitoring began in the PGPD’s canine section. A Washington Post investigation that year cited 18 lawsuits involving assaults by PGPD dogs during a six-year stretch in the mid-1990s. According to the Post, “Prince George’s County police sometimes let dogs loose to attack whomever they encounter and, at other times, order them to bite suspects already subdued or handcuffed.” A number of recent high-profile incidents have not helped the department shed its reputation for brutality. In January 2016, former PGPD officer Jenchesky Santiago was sentenced to five years in prison for putting his gun to the head of a Maryland man in May 2014, claiming the victim was illegally parked in front of his own home. PGPD officer Juan Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury in December 2016 for using a police car to strike an unarmed suspect who was running away, according to John Erzen, a spokesman for the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office and court records. In 2012, PGPD officer Jerry Thomas was caught on video punching a handcuffed 15-year-old in the face twice after the teen jawed at Thomas in a county jail cell. Thomas received probation and was found guilty of misconduct, according to court records. Lastly, there was the on-campus beating of University of Maryland student John McKenna following a University of Maryland basketball victory, which led to a 2nd-degree-assault conviction for PGPD officer James J. Harrison. Would body cameras have prevented these incidents? Hansel cited the department’s experience with dashboard cameras, a 10-year-old program, as a reason for skepticism. “Unfortunately, what happens is when video helps the police, it’s readily available,” he said. “When it doesn’t help the police, the camera was broken that day, or not working or the data was

corrupted — I’ve heard it all.” A 2015 report from the Prince George’s Civilian Complaint Oversight Panel confirmed Hansel’s concerns: “Unfortunately, a pattern has continued over the past several years where many older police cruisers either have no audio-visual equipment; have obsolete or malfunctioning equipment; or officers have demonstrated a lack of training in properly deploying the equipment.” The county’s body camera program will go live against a backdrop of fluctuating complaint numbers over the last decade. Of the 746 allegations of misconduct against the PGPD reported by the County’s Citizen Complaint Oversight Panel in 2015, 185 — or one in four — were related to use-of-force. The department’s internal affairs division, which pursues investigations of misconduct, sustained 97 of the allegations and exonerated officers in 104 instances. In 179 cases, the allegations were determined to be “unfounded,” or not true, and 366 allegations were “non-sustained,” defined as: “The evidence fails to prove or disprove the alleged act(s) occurred,” according to the CCOP. The 2015 report from the CCOP also noted that the percentage of allegations sustained by the department’s internal affairs division in 2015 fell by 22 percent from the prior year and by 16 percent from 2013. A pilot program When the program launches, one squad of 10 – Rashawn Ray officers from each of the county’s seven districts will be outfitted with body cameras. A second squad from each district without cameras will serve as a control group, to facilitate a larger group of studies being done by the University of Maryland. The partnership, hatched almost two years ago by Acosta and Patricio Korzeniewicz, the University of Maryland’s sociology department chair, includes a number of initiatives designed to assess the PGPD’s body camera program. “Some officers don’t want them,” Ray said. “But the majority are in favor because they feel the body cams will reduce the number of complaints they receive.” Charles Wellford, former criminology department head at the University of Maryland, concurred. “Instituting body cameras almost always has an impact in reduced number of complaints,” he said. However, Wellford also pointed to a recent study by Cambridge University that revealed two surprising new findings: Rates of assault against police officers wearing body cameras increased 15 percent compared to those without them; and if officers have discretion about when to activate body cameras, use-of-force incidents rise by more than 70 percent. “We’re trying to engineer the decision process (for activating cameras),” said Acosta, who was only willing to

“Citizens of the county overwhelmingly view body cams as a step in the right direction.”

share parts of the PGPD body camera policy with Capital News Service because it was still being negotiated with the county’s lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. When the policy is finally released, it will be closely scrutinized by community and civil rights groups. “The policy must give enough direction to officers so the public can be assured,” said David Rocah, an attorney with the ACLU of Maryland. “But it must also be clear enough that it can be enforced when cops don’t follow it.” Rocah also knocked the PGPD for failing to offer the policy for public review and comment before it goes into effect, as Baltimore County did. Essentially PGPD officers must turn on their cameras when they are dispatched on a call or at “...the initiation of any proactive enforcement action.” Officers may also “.use BWCs to record initial interviews of victims, complainants and witnesses(,)” according to portions of the draft policy shared by Acosta. PGPD officers will also be able to review footage of incidents where their actions are under investigation before making statements or writing reports — an issue that was contentious when Baltimore County’s policy was negotiated. In Baltimore City, the working group assembled by then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to make recommendations for the city’s body camera policy did not favor officers reviewing their footage in “non-routine” incidents, though Baltimore’s policy ultimately allowed it. “(Officers reviewing footage) destroys the integrity of an investigation,” Rocah said. “It wouldn’t happen in almost any other context and is really a way police officers are treated different from others.” John “Zeek” Teletchea, president of the Prince George’s County Fraternal Order of Police, disagreed. “Our position is that officers should be able to review cam footage, especially in cases of criminal incidents,” he said. “It’s been proven that immediately after an incident, you don’t have the ability to recount it perfectly. It only helps the officer and agency to compile a complete account of what happened.” Teletchea is also concerned about protecting the privacy of police officers. “When not doing official functions as a police officer, that video should in no way, shape or form come back to them as discipline for behavior that may not be appropriate for the workplace,” he said. The Cost of transparency “At the end of the day, we’re going to spend X amount of dollars...What did we accomplish? Are we changing behavior?” Acosta asked, explaining how the PGPD program will be judged. “We know that complaints go down,” said Wellford, who has worked with more than 20 police departments, including the PGPD. “But we don’t know why. Is it the officer that changes or the citizen?” If Acosta is right, it’s both. If he’s wrong, the public and the department will find out soon enough.

February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017 The Afro-American

Greenbelt Continued from B1

employees are not parking in the neighborhoods,â&#x20AC;? said Doug Grant, FBI project executive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our goal is to get along with the community.â&#x20AC;? In addition to Greenbelt, officials from the FBI and the General Services Administration scheduled briefings in Landover on Feb. 15 and Springfield, Va. on Feb. 17. These sites are being considered for a massive new building to handle thousands of workers from 11 different locations. Greenbelt Mayor Emmett V. Jordan attended the meeting where residents voiced concerns over the impact of traffic congestion with the proposed project. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are excited. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not what we planned for but if it is Greenbelt we hope that they can mitigate some of the concerns over congestion, but we have the capacity with the Green Line,â&#x20AC;? said Jordan, adding that if the site adjacent to the Greenbelt Metro Station is selected it would be a tremendous impact in terms of â&#x20AC;&#x153;contractors and service workers,â&#x20AC;? that would be hired to support the facility. Prince Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s County Council member Todd Turner (D-District 4) said he is optimistic, because the odds are in the countyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favor to win the headquarters. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are excited too if the three sites are in the county.â&#x20AC;? But Judy Blumenthal, a resident of College Park, Md. who attended the meeting said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t handle â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Doug Grant any more traffic, the area is not meant for mega development.â&#x20AC;? On Feb. 16, federal officials are scheduled to bring their charts and graphs to the Kentland Community Center in Landover, Md. The meeting will take place from 6 - 7:30 p.m. Grant said federal officials will let the community know the proposed headquarters in March when they release the Environmental Impact Study regarding the project. Greenbelt officials said they are hopeful because the site is closer to Metro and MARC rail lines along with retail and office space.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our goal is to get along with the community.â&#x20AC;?

Mickey Burnim Continued from B1

for Black higher education will not cease. He said he will still keep fighting for HBCUs and continue educating African Americans and others who seek their campuses. Burnim will retire at the end of the academic year. A new president has yet to be named. He told the AFRO he is proud of what he has accomplished at the Prince

program with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is the ninth president of BSU, with his start in September 2006. He has also held high-level jobs at institutions such as Elizabeth City State University and North Carolina Central University. BSU is the oldest Black

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A good education is the surest passport to economic productivity, political efficacy, and social viability.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mickey Burnim Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s County-based institution. â&#x20AC;&#x153;God has blessed Bowie State University tremendously during my tenure,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have enjoyed reasonable funding from the state such that we have constructed two greatly needed academic buildings, made numerous improvements to the campus infrastructure, and we [were] able to avoid any personnel layoffs during the Great Recession. During this time, our enrollment has maintained a positive growth trend and we have dramatically increased the yearly number of graduates. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Though the work of my leadership team, faculty, staff, students and alumni, we have significantly enhanced the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation and visibility throughout the region and nation, established and maintained strong fiscal operations, and established a solid institutional advancement base for private fundraising. I believe that by all objective criteria, Bowie State University is a much stronger institution and is well-positioned for continued growth and success.â&#x20AC;? Burnim said he is working on creating an endowed chair for the university and expand its international program and complete a cybersecurity joint

higher education institution in Maryland and one of the 10 oldest in the country. It has 5,600 students and offers bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, and doctoral degrees. Burnim, like many Black college and university presidents, understands that Black education is in a defining moment or even in a crisis. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A good education is the surest passport to economic productivity, political efficacy, and social viability,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Diminishing access and poorer educational outcomes, at all levels, are leading to increasing gaps between the well-being of Black Americans and that of White Americans. In other words,

WASHINGTON AREA

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will host The Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s African Diaspora: Communities in Conversation, a panel discussion on Feb. 16 at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U Street, NW; at 6:30 p.m. Doors are scheduled to open at 6 p.m. The event will include performances by local artists, discussions by leading scholars and a presentation from the Poet Laureate of the District of Columbia, Dolores Kendrick. At 8 p.m. there will be a theatrical adaptation of the book â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Women of Plumsâ&#x20AC;? by Kendrick. The performance will feature poems written in the voices of slave women who relate lives of appalling deprivation in lyrical monologues, with dance, music and visual arts. Admission is free.

The Asbury United Methodist Church, 926 11th Street, will host a film screening and discussion of the movie â&#x20AC;&#x153;Southside with Youâ&#x20AC;? on Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There is also free parking.

Bowser Presents Black History Month Celebration at Lincoln Theatre Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U Street, NW

Fort Myer, Va.

Joint Base MyerHenderson Hall Courtesy Photo Gospel Service Dolores Kendrick, poet laureate, Celebrates Black will deliver a presentation at D.C.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s History African Diaspora conversation. Memorial Chapel, 101 McNair Rd

The Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Gospel Service is scheduled to host an annual Keeper of the Community Black History Month celebration on Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Memorial Chapel. Individuals and organizations recognized for their achievements and impact on the community. Rev. Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness will be the guest speaker. The event is open to the public. For more information, contact Edgar Brookins at 202-320-0939.

Homicide Count 2017 Total

fewer opportunities for Black Americans to get a quality education at primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels are causing them to learn less, graduate in lower percentages and, as a result, have relatively poorer job opportunities, lower incomes, and experience greater social distress.â&#x20AC;? Many African Americans are anxious about the new presidential administration in Washington and while Burnim understands that, he said seemingly unfriendly presidents are nothing new for Black institutions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;HBCUs have always faced seemingly insurmountable odds; most have persisted and some have

Past Seven Days

Data as of Feb. 15

even thrived,â&#x20AC;? Burnim said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those that have thrived have done so by operating within a sound and supportive governance structure,

Movies@ Asbury Presents â&#x20AC;&#x153;Southside with Youâ&#x20AC;?

Positive Black Folks in Action Commemorates Malcolm X Memorial Shaw Library â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1630 7th Street, NW

Positive Black Folks in Action is scheduled to commemorate the 52nd Memorial of Malcolm X at the Shaw Neighborhood Library, 1630 7th Street, NW; on Feb. 22 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Malcolm X was assassinated on Feb. 21. 1965. The event will include footage of the 1965 funeral procession of Malcolm X in New York; Audience testimonies; and Professor A. Peter Bailey, a founding member of The Organization of Afro-American Unity organized by Malcolm X, will display his memorabilia. The commemoration is free and open to the public.

Arlington, Va.

Northern Va. Delta Education and Community Service Now Accepting Scholarship Applications The Northern Virginia Delta Education and Community Service (NVDECS) Foundation announces that the organization is accepting applications for two 2017 Friends and Family of Northern Virginia Deltas Educational Scholarships. A $2000 scholarship will be awarded to a GED graduate or non-traditional adult learner returning to college who is planning to pursue a post-secondary education at either an accredited two-year or a four-year college or university. Also, a $2000 scholarship will be awarded to support a graduate student pursuing an advanced degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) and with an interest in the arts (STEaM). Applicants of the Northern Virginia area are encouraged to submit a completed application by March 18, 11:59 p.m. Applications are available online at www.nvdecs.org. Complete details about the criteria and requirements for these scholarships are available via nvdecs.org. The Scholarships will be awarded on May 6, at the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 5th Annual Scholarship Gala.

assuring the integrity of fiscal operations and attending to the relevance and quality of their degree programs. That is the basic formula for success no

matter what administration is in Washington. My advice is to pursue it while also working to influence the political process to our advantage.â&#x20AC;?

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

The 31st Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) conference, in partnership with the U.S. Army, was held in Washington D.C. from Feb. 9 to Feb. 11. The STEM networking conference included a student career fair, a Stars and Stripes dinner and a BEYA awards gala. The BEYA award was given to co-founder Eugene DeLoatch. The award is the highest honor given at the conference. More than 100 scientists and engineers received awards and special recognition honors in 31 categories at the 2017 Conference.

Dr. Everett Roper (left) recipient of The Professional Achievement in Government Award, Gen. Gustave Perna, deputy chief of staff, US Army

Lt. Gen. Stayce D. Harris, assistant vice chief of staff and director, Air Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force

Retired Military Generals and Tyrone D. Taborn, chairman and CEO of Career Communications Group

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Kip Ward and Joyce Ward

Brig. Gen.(Ret.) Velma Richardson and Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Belinda Pinckney

Jesse McCurdy, Us Navy (Ret.) Eugene DeLoatch, BEYA co-founder and dean emeritus and professor at Morgan State University in Baltimore received BEYA award

Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham is the assistant chief of staff for Installation Management

Col. Karen M. Wrancher and Maj. Yasmeen Neal Brig. Gen. Scott Dingle, Brig. Gen. Charles Hamilton, Brig. Gen. Richard B. Dix and Col. (R) E.W. Lilliewood

Chris Jones, president, Technology Services, Northrop Grumman Corporation

Gen. (Ret.) Lloyd James Austin, III; Gen. (Ret.) Johnnie E. Wilson and wife, and Charlene Austin

Shauntel Foster (holding mic) Huntington-Ingalls Industries

Malcolm J. Dixon, US Naval Academy cadet

Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, command of U.S. Forces Korea, combined Forces Command and United Nations Command speaks with cadet

Tyrone Taborn, Kim Butler and Derek McGowan

Friendship Academy of Engineering & Technology Students from Baltimore with their teacher Dennis Ndato

Arm y Surgeon General, U.S. Army Medical Command Lt. Gen. Nadja West and spouse Col. (Ret.) Donald West

Lt. Gen. Robert Ferrell, Army Chief Information Officer and Gen. (Ret) William â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kipâ&#x20AC;? Ward

West Point Military Academy cadets

Stars & Stripes Dinner

Students from Riverdale Baptist School in Upper Marlboro, Md. Morgan State University Choir Photos by Rob Roberts

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

Linda and Gen. (Ret.) Dennis Via

February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017, The Afro-American

Book Review

ARTS & CULTURE

Coretta Scott King’s ‘My Life, My Love, My Legacy’ By Kondwani Fidel Special to the AFRO The spouses of revolutionary leaders, celebrities, and famous athletes, tend to get overlooked. It’s rare that we get a vivid description of what life was like for the spouse. It’s even rarer that we get notable memoirs. My Life, My Love, My Legacy, by the late Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and co-writer the Rev. Dr. Barbara Reynolds, gives readers a vivid description of Coretta, not so much of Mrs. King, who the majority of the world knew her as. Coretta was at the forefront of a movement during one of the most pivotal eras in American history. Marrying King and becoming part of a movement were never part of her plans as child. The bombings, death threats, murders, and her husband’s assassination, are what made Coretta “identify with all suffering people around the world, no matter what color they were.” Coretta explains that her first love was singing. She takes us back to her debut in church, (the center of her social life) which was covered by several local papers. Becoming a pastor’s wife was the last thing she expected. Coretta was a scholar, becoming the first Black person to major in education and minor in voice at Antioch College, as well as an activist before becoming acquainted with King. She was part of the Antioch NAACP as well as the peace movement of the time. Coretta finds ways to reveal the racial language that usually gets overlooked, then, and now. Having White classmates

accept her, but not the rest of her race. “Well, you’re so different from the rest of them,” classmates would say. Not having any other Black friends, never getting to know “the rest of them.” Coretta and King both believed in many of the same things and the book makes clear Coretta was the female version of King. She details the night of January 30, 1956 in Alabama, when their house was bombed. “We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us,” King said. Long after Kings’s death in 1968, Coretta believed that non-violent warfare, was the quintessential tactic to fight for justice. “Surrendering your body to be put in chains while allowing your spirit, your soul, and your sense of right to reign free. Gandhi, Kwame Nkrumah Nelson Mandela, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Apostle Paul, and Jesus Christ Himself all surrendered their bodies to their jailers and, in many ways, large and small, forever changed the face of history through their suffering and sacrifices.” The book makes clear Coretta’s life as a mother, wife and activist. She writes how she continued to lead the movement after King’s death. Towards the end of her memoir, Coretta writes, “Once I found my purpose, I was ready to die to hold on to it.” And that’s exactly what she did. There is truth in finding a passion and pursing it until your casket closes. Coretta shows us how to do exactly that. Kondwani Fidel is a writer, speaker, and spoken word poet. Fidel is the author of Raw Wounds and is a member of Ivy Bookshop. He is from, and currently lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

D.C. Sparkplug Collective Artist Captures Black Culture through Selfies By Lenore T. Adkins Special to the AFRO The enigmatic selfies Maryland artist Michael Booker paints are more than skin deep -- they tell stories about Black culture and Black excellence. “It’s just something that feels so vain to me to just take pictures of yourself all the time,” Booker told the AFRO, explaining why there are not into traditional selfies. “It’s limiting and I feel like there are so many more ideas that we can discuss and get out there.” For example, in “Etch-A-Sketch Bust,” Booker painted a bust of his visage within a cracked “Etch-A-Sketch.” He said the cracks represent the idea of nothing lasting forever — busts are usually around for a very long time, but not when they’re drawn on an EtchA-Sketch. “As soon as you shake it, that image is gone and so I wanted to play with that idea of time and that temporary permanence,” Booker said. “It’s alluding to where we stand in time and how we’re remembered throughout time.” Booker, 31, a Mississippi native now living in Laurel, Md. will serve up his alternate takes on the selfie in a forthcoming exhibit with seven other local artists at Flashpoint Gallery in Northwest D.C. called “Selfie: Me, Myself and Us.” It is scheduled to run from Feb. 11 through March 11 and it looks at our obsession with selfies and the narcissistic desire to capture and alter those digital images. The exhibiting artists hail from the Sparkplug Collective, a group D.C. Arts Center created to foster a community that lets local artists meet, network with and lean on each other. Booker is the only Black artist showing work in the upcoming exhibition. The two-year program grooms participants to become even better artists. It gets participants together to critique their work, visit each other’s studios, talk about exhibits, and meet curators, collectors and established artists.

“Part of our mission is to support emerging or underrepresented artists in the area, and many of these artists are young or starting up a second career,” said Carolyn Law, program manager at D.C. Arts Center and Sparkplug’s manager. Sparkplug typically taps 10 people to join from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. There are nine total artists this time, and two, including Booker are Black. Booker joined the collective because he had just moved to the area from Mississippi and was looking to connect with other artists in the area. “I was attracted to the other members who came to be part of Sparkplug as well because we have very diverse members — Blacks, Mexicans, Native Americans,” Booker said. “People from all walks of life coming together to share ideas about art.” Booker said he uses the obscured faces in his selfies to draw larger lessons about American culture. In “Crown,” the other painting Booker will show at Flashpoint, a faceless Black person — the gender is open to interpretation — dons a brightly colored, Coogi hoodie. The hoodie has taken on a sinister meaning in American culture and it inspires fear when black men wear it. But Booker turns the hoodie into something more regal — a crown. “The hoodie has become a symbol for Black Lives Matter after Trayvon Martin,” Booker said. “I see it as a symbol of strength, of power. You don’t get to see the face — you see the power that’s enveloped by the hoodie. So it’s a concentration on people, not the person.” Selfies are nothing new. The concept of self-portraiture has been around for thousands of years, starting with cave wall paintings. The Sparkplug artists came up with the idea for the selfie show, seeing it as a subject that will resonate with audiences, Law said. The exhibit questions whether selfies represent the downfall of American culture and whether we’re drowning ourselves in our digital reflections. “Be careful to not be too vain with the selfie and it becomes something that’s about you alone and being too indulged in yourself,” Booker cautioned.

Longtime Marketer Conjures Online Social Buzz By Charise Wallace Special to the AFRO The amount of things to do in Washington, D.C. can be overwhelming. That’s why Nels Cephas founded DC Now Events. After being part of the social scene for over 10 years, the West African native knows what’s going on and how to get to into the most interesting events in the city. Raised in Silver Spring, Md., Cephas has been promoting clubs for more than 10 years. Cephas attended Prince Georges County Community College in Largo, Md. in 2006 before transferring in 2010 to Bowie State University in Bowie, Md. “I was exposed to a whole new world,” Cephas told the AFRO. “Living in the Montgomery County area was like day and night compared to P.G. County.” Ironically Cephas did not like attending clubs at the time but enjoyed going out to GoGo’s, D.C.’s popular music sub-genre. But a high school friend, who is now his business partner, Dauda Kondeh Jr., turned his distaste into a potential hustle once he noticed how profitable it was to get people to come out for

a good time. “He brought me on,” said Cephas. “Without him, I wouldn’t know how to market…I wouldn’t have the mindset to know how to be the entrepreneur that I am now. We learned so much marketing skills at that time because back then online marketing wasn’t as heavy.” For seven years, Cephas worked for a promotions team called Mass Movement Entertainment, which focused on the D.C. nightclub scene. In 2012 he and Kondeh founded a marketing agency called ItsMcube. In 2016 he expanded his portfolio by starting DC Now Events, an events platform. “One thing that I’ve noticed that was missing in the area was you have a lot of locals who feel like where they are currently at is taken by a new group of people,” Cephas said. “Gentrification is at an all-time high.” On the other hand, “Tourists feel very boxed in because all they know is the typical touring spot. As a tourist, you want to maximize your time spent to come out here. So why not create a platform where tourists can feel like locals and locals can feel like tourists?” Cephas uses his Snapchat and Instagram KingofKingz17 to market DC Now Events.

Primarily on the weekends he promotes events unless a major celebrity is in town during the week. He provides a list of events that will occur before the weekend starts or early that morning. Not only will he keep his followers on high alert on what events are happening, but he also attends at least three of the events that he promotes. Therefore, his viewers on social media can see what exactly the event is like before they go. Later this year Cephas plans to launch a DC Now Events website that focuses on areas such as art, music, restaurants, day parties and family fun activities. In the spring, Cephas will start broadcasting interviews with event planners and behind the scenes antics from his events. “What separates me from other event platforms is I’ve been a part of every niche,” he said. “I’m not just showcasing it from one point of view…I’ve experienced multicultural, Caucasian, Hispanic and urban events, concerts, festivals, you name it. I’ve had the luxury to be able to attend, be a part of and do business with many events to now be able to showcase it on one platform.”

(Courtesy photo)

Maryland local Nels Cephas uses social media build interest in D.C. event.

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

Belichick’s ‘Patriots Way’ Drives Players Success During and After Careers doing your job and studying relentlessly so that when championship moments present themselves at the intersection of preparation and opportunity they are not Facing the largest deficit in history the New England overwhelming. Pressure situations are the norm rather Patriots never wavered against the Atlanta Falcons in than the exception under Belichick but the attention Super Bowl 51. There was a calm resolute confidence to detail is so engrained that is carries over for most known as “the Patriot way” that propelled them to the players in their personal lives. greatest comeback in the championship game which “The Patriot Way is about adaptability,” Poole earned a fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy in seven tries told the AFRO. “What makes Belichick so unique is cementing their unprecedented era of NFL excellence. that he puts players, coaches, and everybody in the From those who spent most of their playing careers organization in position to be successful. He lets the with the team to others who were passing through New coaches coach and allows the players to play but he England anyone who has played for Bill Belichick isn’t afraid to make changes and when to adapt to understands the simple principles of “the Patriot way.” certain situations”. The standards of responsibility and being accountable During his career in New England, Poole was an have shaped and molded the lives of those who have understated low key contributor to their success. He been influenced by their culture of championship was never outspoken and maintained an under the success. radar persona that renders him as a footnote status in “Even though I spent only one season there I left the pantheon of Patriots lore. Aside from Tom Brady, feeling that anytime they lost it was never about however, most players fall into that same category no coaching,” former Maryland running back LaMont matter what impact they had on the field. Jordan told the AFRO. “It’s about the players doing what However, in the second act of his professional life they were supposed to. I’ve never been more prepared Poole has become an accomplished speaker and author for anything than I was when I took the field playing for using much of what he gained in life traveling the Coach Belichick. I still apply those lessons I learned in backroads from rural Georgia to Super Bowl champion. that short time into my daily life.” The metaphors of life gained through the experiences While Jordan made a cameo appearance for the NFL’s of being a part of “the Patriot way” currently serve him signature franchise, former defensive back Tyrone Poole well, as they do Jordan, now that the final whistle has (Courtesy photo) won two championships as part of their secondary in blown on their NFL careers. Tyrone Poole was a two time Super Bowl winner Super Bowls 38 ad 39. Poole didn’t have major college In his book: The Ultimate Success in the Game of during a 14 year NFL career. pedigree, having played at tiny Fort Valley State – a Life, Poole outlines 12 principles from “the Patriot way” Division II HBCU program - in central Georgia. His that form a pattern of success which can be applied to workman like approach served him well as a vital contributor on teams that didn’t reaching major accomplishments in corporate America and personal business. boast too many players who will be candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “Most companies would love to have had the success of the Patriots,’ said Poole. Poole personifies the type of player that excels under “the Patriot way.” He “Playing for Coach Belichick is why I’ve been so successful.” embodies what the mantra stands for on and off the field. The simple concept of By Mark F. Gray Special to the AFRO

from the Port of Baltimore

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INVITES YOU AND A GUEST TO AN ADVANCE SCREENING OF

EMAIL: CUSTOMERSERVICE@AFRO.COM TO REGISTER TO WIN TICKETS! NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Supplies are limited. One pass per winner. Each pass admits two. Seating is not guaranteed and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Employees of all promotional partners and The Afro American are not eligible. All decisions are final.

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LEGAL NOTICES St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission Invitation for Bids St. Clement Shores Water System Replacement - Phase 1 Contract #2101WR The St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission is currently soliciting for bids for the replacement of the St. Clement Shores Water System – Phase 1. The water system within the St. Clements Shores subdivision was originally constructed in the 1950s and requires replacement. The project will include the replacement of approximately 10,400 linear feet of water line with a new water system comprised of 12-inch, 8-inch, and 4-inch water mains. Increased depth of pipe burial, ample isolation valves, sixteen (16) fire hydrants, appurtenances and associated restoration are also included in the design to provide a more reliable system. This project is fully funded by the Maryland Water Quality and Drinking Water Funding Programs; therefore, Davis Bacon Act, MBE/WBE and American Iron and Steel requirements must be met. Bidders must perform and document their performance of all affirmative steps required by the Maryland Department of the Environment Minority and Women’s Business Enterprise program to be considered for the Contract. Bidders are encouraged to break down the work into smaller segments and tasks in order to increase minority subcontractor participation. Documentation must be included in the proposal package and submitted on the date provided herein. Failure to provide documentation with the bid package could result in the bid being declared non-responsive. One original and one copy of all bids must be submitted in sealed envelopes bearing the company name, legal address, the project title for which the bid is submitted and the date advertised for opening bids. Sealed bids must be addressed to Joy Potter, Procurement Agent, and clearly marked “SEALED BID FOR ST. CLEMENT SHORES WATER SYSTEM REPLACEMENT – PHASE 1 (2101WR)” and will be received at the Commission’s Administrative Office, 23121 Camden Way, California, Maryland 20619, until 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read. A Pre-Bid conference will be held on Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time at the Commission’s Administrative Office to answer any questions concerning the Bid Documents. A site visit will follow immediately after the Pre-Bid conference. All potential bidders are encouraged, but not required to attend. This will be the only opportunity for a site visit, unless otherwise warranted by the Project Manager. Cost of the bid packages not including shipping: • CD format only: $20.00 • Hard copy only: $50.00 • CD and hard copy:$60.00 Bid packages will be available for purchase and review at the Administrative Office beginning Monday, February 13, 2017 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Bid Packages may be purchased by cash, check, money order, Visa or MasterCard. Checks should be made payable to “St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission”. Bid packages may also be mailed upon receipt of payment plus an additional mailing fee of $30.00, or by providing their company’s UPS or Federal Express account number. Inquiries concerning Contract Documents should be directed to Joy Potter, Procurement Agent at 301-737-7400, Extension 222 or jpotter@ metcom.org or Ralph Moore, Purchasing Assistant at Extension 215 or rmoore@metcom.org.

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AFRO Sports Analysis

Calling Brady the Greatest Is Disrespectful to Football Legends By Perry Green AFRO Sports Editor Since the New England Patriots won Super Bowl LI, it’s been a non-stop debate over who’s the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Many pundits have argued that Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady has now earned the “G.O.A.T.” moniker after winning his fifth Super Bowl ring in seven tries, a feat no other quarterback has accomplished in the 97-year C(AP Photos/David J. Phillip and Tony Avelar) history of the league. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (left) poses with But as a longtime NFL the MVP trophy during a news conference after the NFL Super reporter and historian of the Bowl 51 football game on Feb. 6 in Houston; (right) Dec. 20, game, I’m here to tell you that 2015, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana not only is Brady not the greatest (16) carries a Super Bowl trophy as he and other former players ever, but that it’s downright are introduced for a halftime ceremony during an NFL football disrespectful to the legends of game between the 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals in Santa a past NFL era to make such a Clara, Calif. claim. Tom Brady had just come off leading the Patriots to a illegal. That rule was enforced to help protect 25-point comeback, overcoming the largest deficit offensive players, particularity quarterbacks. By in Super Bowl history. That gave him his fifth world then, Montana had already been retired for two championship and fourth Super Bowl MVP honor. years and perhaps his biggest rival, three-time Super No other quarterback can say that – not even the Bowl champ Troy Aikman had already suffered legendary Joe Montana, who won four Super Bowls several concussions in his career. with three Super Bowl MVP awards while with the Unfortunately for legends like Montana, they San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s. didn’t get to benefit from any of these rules that So by theory, if Brady has five rings and have obviously played a major role in not only Montana (who was widely considered the G.O.A.T. extending Brady’s 17-year career, but also in pre-Super Bowl 51) has four, clearly Brady has making it a lot easier to play the position at a high surpassed Montana in the all-time rankings—right? level. The legends of old simply got beat to a pulp Wrong. Dead wrong. and just had to deal with it. If they didn’t want to Somewhere amongst the cheers and celebration get hit, they had to call better plays and hand the of Brady’s latest achievement, we forgot just how ball off. much the NFL has changed over the last 22 years. Suddenly, it’s starting to make sense why teams That’s how many years it’s been since Montana last ran the ball so much during the ’80s and ‘90s. Oh played a game, after all. And over that time span, yeah, that’s right: Running the ball was how you the NFL has morphed from being one of the most protected your quarterback before the rules were brutally violent sporting leagues to offering much changed. We forget that sometimes, don’t we? safer sport to play and watch. Tom Brady has gone on record saying he Some of the younger NFL fans may not be wants to play until he’s 45. He’ll be 40-years-old old enough to know or remember, but there are a in August, so that’s giving him at least five more ton of safety rules enforced by the NFL now that seasons to stack up as many Super Bowl rings as weren’t in place when Montana or other legendary he possibly can. But I bet my bottom dollar, he quarterbacks like Dan Marino, John Elway, Troy wouldn’t dare consider playing into his 40s if he Aikman or Jim Kelly played. was getting hit in the head and legs like the greats For example, it wasn’t until 1996 that the league that came before him. He’d probably be retired made “helmet-to-helmet” or hits to the head area years ago by now.

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Supporting our city’s young people is crucial to the future of Baltimore. The Film and Media Studies Program at Johns Hopkins gives young artists a chance to express themselves creatively and build their résumés through the Baltimore Youth Film Arts Program. Students and young adults ages 16 to 29 document their world on film through workshops on moviemaking and photography, creating art while they gain professional experience that could lead to long-term jobs. Their work is shared at screenings and exhibits, and on the program’s website, www.filmartsbaltimore.org/.

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Race and Politics

Baldwin Resonates Now More Than Ever â&#x20AC;&#x153;The story of the Negro in America, is the story of America and it is not a pretty Sean Yoes story,â&#x20AC;? James Senior AFRO Baldwin Contributor once wrote. Thirty years since his death in 1987, there have been just a few times in our countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history the story has been uglier than the narrative of Trumpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s America. I saw a new documentary this week that reminded me just how badly we need Baldwin (a personal hero of mine) right now; we need his honesty and courage and intellectual ferocity to help us navigate this strange new world, a world of fake news and so-called alternative facts, we find ourselves in. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Am Not Your Negro,â&#x20AC;? (currently playing at the Charles Theater in Baltimore) which was recently nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, depicts integral swaths of Baldwinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mythic life. Director Raoul Peck illuminates a story Baldwin was working on at the time of his death, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Remember This House,â&#x20AC;? which focused on the writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s friendship with three martyred American heroes: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. The filmmaker weaves footage from the 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s with images from the ongoing 21st century saga of Black Lives

Continued on D2

AFROâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 125th Anniversary

Spotlight on Black Educators: Maria Thompson, President of Coppin State University

Dr. Maria Thompson, president of Coppin State University, said the university creates opportunities for â&#x20AC;&#x153;underrepresentedâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;differently prepared populations.â&#x20AC;?

University of Tennessee, and went on to receive specialized training in leadership from several entities, including the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University in 2011. For Dr. Maria Thompson, president of Coppin State University, She spent 13 years of her career as a leading research education is a family business. administrator at Tennessee State University where she orchestrated Her paternal grandmother, both of her parents, and her two a plan that increased externally-funded research projects and the older sisters were all educators, so it seemed only right that she construction of several research facilities. In 2011, she went on would follow suit. Thompson became Coppinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s seventh president to serve as provost and vice president for academic affairs at the in 2015, making her the first woman State University of New York (SUNY) to hold the position at the university Oneonta where she initiated the first named for a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Fanny Jackson academic master plan for the campus Coppin, the first African American and solidified the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longwoman in the country to become a head term strategic position. principal. In 2015, Thompson replaced â&#x20AC;&#x153;To work at one of the few interim President Mortimer H. universities thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s named after a woman, Neufville at Coppin, who was after an African-American woman, to a two-year term while the â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dr. Maria Thompson appointed after an African American woman University System of Maryland (USM) educatorâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard for me to describe,â&#x20AC;? Board of Regentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Special Review Thompson told the AFRO. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I couldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never dreamed that I Committee established a plan to increase student retention and would be president of a campus that carries her legacy.â&#x20AC;? graduation after the faculty at Coppin took a vote of no-confidence Thompson studied at Tennessee State University before in former President Reginald Avery in early 2012, citing financial earning a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in textiles from Ohio State University. She mismanagement and one of the lowest six-year completion rates earned a doctorate in textile science and economics from the Continued on D2 By Briahnna Brown Special to the AFRO

â&#x20AC;&#x153;To work at one of the few universities thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s named after a womanâ&#x20AC;Śitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard for me to describe.â&#x20AC;?

AFRO Honors Black Leadership in Education By AFRO Staff

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On Feb. 23, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, the AFRO will host an event to celebrate leaders in education in the Maryland/D.C. area making a positive impact on the community. The theme for this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Black History Month, by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, is â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Crisis in Black Education.â&#x20AC;? In keeping with the theme, for this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Black History Month, the AFRO-American Newspaper, the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest, continuously running, family owned Black newspaper, is running weekly profiles of local and national educators who are making a difference in educating our youth. At the event, the AFRO will honor: Dr. Gregory Bell, deputy superintendent of school support and improvement, Montgomery County Public Schools, Dr. Juliette B. Bell, president, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Dr. Mickey L. Burnim, president, Bowie State University, Dr. Alvin L. Crawley, superintendent, Alexandria City Public Schools, Dr. S. Dallas Dance, superintendent, Baltimore County Public Schools, Dr. Charlene Dukes, president, Prince Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Community College, Dr. Wayne A. I.

Continued on D2

BCCC Braces for Impact of Trump Travel Ban By Deborah Bailey Special to the AFRO Baltimore City Community College(BCCC) is one of the many local Baltimore institutions carefully assessing developments surrounding the Trump administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s late January executive order travel ban blocking entry of individuals from seven predominately Muslim countries as well as the administrationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s order expanding the scope of federal raids targeting illegal immigrants conducted by ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) agents this past week. â&#x20AC;&#x153;During this period of uncertainty for our students,

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Śstaff and instructors will continue to provide for the educational stability of each student we touchâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Douglas Weimer our staff and instructors will continue to provide for the educational stability of each student we touch, whether they are seeking to improve English language proficiency, become naturalized citizens or progress along their career pathway,â&#x20AC;? Douglas Weimer, director of the English Language Services and Basic Skills Program at BCCC, told the AFRO. The campusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; nationally Continued on D2

Reward Upped by $20,000 In Cold Case Murder of Morgan State Student By Michelle Richardson Special to the AFRO The murder of a Morgan State University student last year remains unsolved and now the FBI is getting involved. Marcus Edwards, 21, was stabbed to death in September of 2016 walking to his girlfriendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house. Police have ruled out robbery as a motive and do not believe the stabbing came as the result of a fight. So far there are no leads in the case and now the FBI is getting involved. Edwards, a Washington D.C. native was looking forward to becoming a police officer after graduation. He was already a graduate of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Junior Police Academy. Why the murder happened remains a mystery. On Feb. 8 Baltimore Police, FBI, family, and friends gathered at the 5400 block of Loch Raven Boulevard. A red cross marks the spot where Marcus was killed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are here today to offer a $20,000 reward for any

Courtesy photo

Marcus Edwards was killed last September and police are seeking his killer.

Continued on D2

Past Seven Days

45 2017 Total

Data as of Feb. 15

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

Race and Politics Continued from D1

Matter, to explicitly demonstrate just how little progress we’ve made as a country regarding our ubiquitous racial polemic. During one of myriad volatile excerpts from the documentary, Baldwin, one of the original prophets of rage from the 1960’s, is scathing in his analysis of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s (gunned down two short months after the King assassination in 1968) prediction about the ascension of a Black president. Samuel L. Jackson’s narration brought Baldwin’s thoughts to life from his 1965 essay, “The American Dream and the American Negro.” “I remember when the ex-Attorney General, Mr. Robert Kennedy, said it was conceivable that in 40 years in America we might have a Negro President,” Baldwin said. “That sounded like a very emancipated statement to White people. They were not in Harlem when his statement was first heard. They did not hear the laughter and bitterness and scorn with which this statement was greeted. From the point of view of the man in the Harlem barber shop, Bobby Kennedy only got here yesterday and now he is already on his way to the Presidency,” Baldwin observed. “We were here for 400 years and now he tells us that maybe in 40 years, if you are good, we may let you

become President.” In wake of the historic presidency of Barack Obama, who was followed by Trump (manifestly unqualified to be president in the minds of many), who zealously attempted to delegitimize his presidency, Baldwin’s disparagement of Kennedy’s

“We were here for 400 years and now he tells us that maybe in 40 years, if you are good, we may let you become President.” – James Baldwin prediction, propped upon White entitlement seems even more relevant in 2017 and infinitely more damning. God, what would James Baldwin think of Donald Trump and his ascension to the White House? Baldwin’s voice (avuncular and menacing all at once

Sean Yoes is a senior contributor for the AFRO and host and executive producer of, AFRO First Edition, which airs Monday through Friday, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. on WEAA, 88.9.

Travel Ban

Maria Thompson

Continued from D1

in the state. Avery resigned in 2013, and Neufville helped balance the budget and raised graduation rates. Thompson plans to continue the commitment to removing barriers toward college completion. “Dr. Thompson has had such an impressive career in higher education,” said USM Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan in a 2015 statement announcing Thompson’s appointment. He praised her work at SUNY Oneonta and her leadership at Tennessee State, noting that both Tennessee and Coppin are HBCUs in urban areas. Thompson said that she sees the urban location as an asset because most Americans live in or near urban areas and it affords the university the opportunity to find solutions to problems most of the country’s population faces. She also said that the “community-engaged teaching and learning,” where the faculty and students utilize the university’s West Baltimore location as a living lab for the community projects and related data that are embedded in many of Coppin’s courses. To grow and graduate a greater number

to my ear) and his words embodied in Jackson’s narration, serves as a salve for so many of us who are struggling with the seemingly burgeoning madness of Trumpism. Baldwin’s incisive observations, his relentless and searing prosecution of America is a comforting reminder for so many of us, that we are not crazy. Our rage is real and justified. During one of the excerpts heard in “I Am Not Your Negro” Baldwin speaks to us from his 1963 interview with famed Black psychologist Dr. Kenneth Clark. “I am terrified at the moral apathy, the death of the heart that is happening in my country,” Baldwin said. “These people have deluded themselves for so long, they really don’t think I’m human. I base this on their conduct, not what they say. And this means they have become in themselves moral monsters,” Baldwin added. “It’s a terrible indictment, I mean every word I say.” Indeed, we need Baldwin now more than ever.

of minority students educated in STEM fields, Thompson said, the university formally opened their $83 million STEM center in October 2015, which serves both Coppin and the University of Baltimore as a “mecca of research.” The university is currently working on several research projects, including the development of a specially-designed contact lens to detect glaucoma and work in nanotechnology with the use of pomegranates and pomegranate juice to extend cell life. There is also a student research team working with a hospital in Arkansas to develop biomarkers, or disease indicators, for children. Additionally, the university now offers a doctorate in nursing practice as its first doctorate program. It joins the 33 majors and 12 graduate degree programs that Coppin has offered in nursing, business, teacher education and STEM among others. Thompson also said that Coppin is the first in the state to award micro credentials, or badges, to students who demonstrate proficiency in specific skills like problem

solving, leadership and critical thinking. Over time, Thompson added, if a student were to acquire a certain number of these micro credentials, they could earn a full bachelor’s degree. “This is a nontraditional path to education,” Thompson said. “It opens up education to more working people who may not have time to sit through a whole semester…If they can get a credential within a specific competency skillset, this opens the door to them to further their education while they continue to work.” As president of a campus that focuses on creating opportunity for “underrepresented” and “differently prepared populations,” Thompson said she plans to continue building on the assets that she said makes for a rich learning environment. “I consider our faculty and their expertise a gift that we give to our students that challenges them to think outside the box, help them obtain a 21st century education and be prepared to successfully compete in a global economy,” Thompson said.

AFRO

Reward

Frederick, president, Howard University, Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, president, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Lillie Jessie, vice chairman, Prince William County School Board, Dr. Tuajuanda Jordan, president, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Ronald Mason, president, University of the District of Columbia, Dr. Gordon F. May, president, Baltimore City Community College, Dr. Sonja B. Santelises, chief executive officer, Baltimore City Public Schools, the Honorable Kurt L. Schmoke, former Baltimore City Mayor and current president, University of Baltimore, Dr. Maria Thompson, president, Coppin State University, Antwan Wilson, chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools and Dr. David Wilson, president, Morgan State University.

information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this senseless act and tragic killing,” said Scott Hinkley, of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. The FBI reward is in addition to the one the Baltimore Police initially offered, bringing the total to $22,000. Law enforcement are hoping this new reward will bring in new leads. Edwards mother spoke at the press conference through tears. “Knowing that someone who did this to your child is still out there living life as if nothing has happened, it’s agonizing,’ said Nicole Ausberry-Brooks. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.” For a young man that was never in trouble, authorities do not understand why this happened. Edwards was walking to his girlfriend’s house and talking to her on the phone. “And the last word that she heard from Marcus was ‘someone just stabbed me,’” Baltimore City Police Col. Stanley Brandford said at the press conference. Edwards became an honorary officer of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department posthumously. The Metropolitan Police Department and the District of Columbia declared September 27, 2016 as Marcus Edwards day in D.C. Edwards was one of three Morgan students killed in 2016. Gerald Williams was stabbed to death in Feb. and Charles M. McGee died after being shot in November. All three killings remain unsolved. If you think you can help in this case, you are urged to call the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office or Baltimore Police. Those numbers are: 410-265-8080 and 410-396-2100, respectively.

Continued from D1

The “AFRO Honors Black Leadership in Education” event is just one of many to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the AFRO this year including: the Clean/Green Block Initiative, the AFRO Honors Murphy Women and it will all culminate with a 125th Anniversary Gala in August. The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture is located at 830 E. Pratt St. in Baltimore. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Diane Hocker, AFRO director, Community & Public Relations at 410-554-8243.

Continued from D1

recognized Refugee Youth Project serves close to 100 K-12 youth from the seven Middle Eastern and North African countries included in the President’s Executive Order. The campus serves another 3,900 students each year, from both immigrant and refugee backgrounds in its English Language Services and Basic Skills program. Kursten Pickup, coordinator of the Refugee Youth Project told the AFRO she is encouraging all her students, especially her Muslim students, to report hate crimes. Several of the program’s students are engaged in play therapy. “A sand therapist is working with 5 [of our] Syrian youth,” Pickup said. “This type of play therapy is meant to provide a safe place where our students can express their feelings, fears and stories by arranging miniature figures in the sand,” she said. Trump’s executive order was signed on Jan. 27. The same week, the President expanded the capacity of the Department of Homeland Security to target illegal immigrant beyond those with major criminal offenses. “We continue our commitment to working closely with our neighboring colleges and universities, our elected representatives and interested parties to understand these executive orders and to make clear the value we place on allowing students, faculty and staff from all countries to learn and work with us,” BCCC President Gordon F. May said in a statement. Catalina Rodriguez-Lima, director of the Mayor’s Office of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, told the AFRO the Mayor plans to host a town hall meeting in collaboration with her office to ensure residents are abreast of recent federal actions and their impact on Baltimoreans. “There’s a lot going on,” said Rodriquez-Lima. “We know that people have many questions about the travel ban and immigration enforcement and want to know the city’s position on these issues.” More than 2,000 refugees were resettled in Maryland in 2016, according to World Relief, an International refugee resettlement organization headquartered in Baltimore. Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Democratic Republic of Congo represented the largest populations. On Feb. 9, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit denied the Federal Government’s request to lift the temporary restraining order. New York, Massachusetts and Virginia have joined Washington State in taking legal action against the President’s travel ban. Maryland attorney general Brian E. Frosh (D) has also gone on record opposing the Travel Ban. “I condemn the President’s executive orders and commit to use my authority to fight discrimination and hate,” Frosh posted on Twitter. Amelia Chassé, deputy communications director for Maryland Governor Hogan, expressed the Governor’s concern about the alarming manner in which travel ban enforcements and immigrant sweeps have been carried out. “The governor appreciates and supports actions to make America safer, but it must be done in a manner consistent with American values,” Chasse said in a statement. The Department of Homeland Security indicated recent raids were authorized in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, the Los Angeles area, North Carolina and South Carolina. However, advocates for illegal immigrants claim the stepped-up enforcement extends to scores of communities outside of these targeted regions and have caused apprehension and fear in immigrant communities. “We know people are concerned and we will respond,” said Rodriguez-Lima.

YOUR CITY, YOUR BUDGET

April 12, 2017; 6 to 8PM War Memorial Bulding (101 N Gay St) You’re invited to the annual Board of Estimate’s Taxpayer’s Night Hearing. Come share your input on the proposed Fiscal 2018 budget. Stop by early to join the Bureau of the Budget and Management Research for the City’s third-annual Budget Pop-Up. Engage with staff to learn how the budget for each of the City’s priority outcomes invests in a better Baltimore in Fiscal 2018. Limited parking is available in front of City Hall; paid parking is available in the Lexington and Fayette Street garages. The venue is located on MTA routes 5, 20, 23, 40 and 91. It is also accessible via the Metro’s Shot Tower/Market Place stop. Contact Jeanine.Murphy-Baumgardner@baltimorecity.gov; 410-396-3652 for more information.

February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017, The Afro-American

23 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt Street in Baltimore for 6-9 p.m. For ticket information, call 410-554-8243. Charm City Jazz will host a concert remembering Marvin Gaye and Teddy Pendergrass featuring soul vocalist, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Freshâ&#x20AC;? with special guest Mark Wade backed by Fahrenheit on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. at the Magoobyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Joke House & Soundstage, 9603 Deereco Road, Timonium, Md. For ticket information, call 443958-9781. The Avenue Bakery is also celebrating Black History Month with the unveiling of a photomontage featuring the life and impact of Thurgood Marshall, created by Stuart Hudgins. It will take place on the grounds of the Avenue Bakery located 2229 Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore in the Royal Theater Garden on Feb. 24 at 11 a.m. All are invited. For more

Black History Month Still Going Strong in Baltimore

Hello my dear friends, top of the day to you. Mannnnnnnnnnn, how are you enjoying this crazy weather? I am telling you girlfriend, I am loving all of it. If this keeps up, by next week, we will see flowers blooming, leaves on trees turning green, swimming pools opening and summer attire. Terrible situation. But, I promise you I am not complaining. In this wonderful weather, Baltimore continues to celebrate Black History Month in a big way. I sure hope you all are participating and going to some of these events and showing your support. DJ Mike Jones and his One of the things you can do partner, Vanessa, are is spend an evening listening to hosting a Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day the sweet classic soul of Luther party celebrating the Vandross, Phyllis Hyman, legacy of Barack Obama Anita Baker and Stevie Wonder on Feb. 20 from 1 p.m.-5 performed by the Eubie Blake p.m. at Diamondz Hall, Cabaret Company under the 9980 Liberty Road in direction of Troy Burton at the Randallstown, Md. It is Eubie Blake Culture Center, full cabaret style; BYOB 847 North Howard Street. This and BYOF, free set-ups performance, I understand, is food for the soul. The artists are: and door prizes. For ticket Tevin Brown, Tierra Strickland, information, call 410-2273123 or 443-525-5016. Britt Bradley, Christian Harris and Justin Burley on Feb. 18. Justin Burley performing For more information, call 410-225-3130. at the Eubie Blake Center, The Harlem Gardens Apartments, 1700 Edmondson 847 N. Howard Street for Avenue is celebrating Black History Month by showcasing their Black History Month live entertainment by Sister Drummers, storytelling by Griots, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lovingly Soulful: An Angela Dobson and a book Signing and talk by yours truly, Evening of Luther, Phyllis, Rambling Rose, on Feb. 24, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. For more Anita and Stevieâ&#x20AC;? on Feb. information, call Allen Jones at 442-527-0072. 18. For more information, Caton Castle Lounge, 20 South Caton Avenue will celebrate call 410-225-3130. Black History Month by featuring â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Jazz Concertâ&#x20AC;? featuring Dr. Phil Butts Sunset Jazz Quartet with vocalist Denyse Pearson and Reggie Jackson on Feb. 25 from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. Kitchen is open. For tickets, In its February 11, 2017 edition, The AFRO call 443-859-0124. reprinted an advertisement for Rosedale Federal The Afro-American which listed incorrect mortgage rates. This Newspaper â&#x20AC;&#x153;Honors Black misprint was The AFROâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s error and not that of Leadership in Educationâ&#x20AC;? as a Rosedale Federal or its agency representative. part of Black History Month, they will be honoring Black The AFRO sincerely regrets the error and any educators in the Maryland and inconvenience it may have caused. Washington, D.C. area on Feb.

AFRO BALTIMORE AREA

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Send your upcoming events to tips@ afro.com. For more community events go to afro.com/Baltimore-events National Great Blacks in Wax Museum Screens Black Panther Film On Feb. 17 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum is hosting a screening of the documentary, The Black Panthers: Vanguard of The Revolution. The film is the first feature-length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. The screening will be followed by a discussion with a guest speaker. RSVP via Eventbrite at eventbrite.com/e/the-black-panthersvanguard-of-the-revolution-tickets-31499296243 . The museum is located at 1601 East North Avenue, Baltimore, Md.

Paul Coates founded BCP Digital Printing (Baltimore Classic Press) in 1978, in Baltimore, working from the basement of his house. It is now one of the oldest independently owned Black publishers in operation in the U.S. located at 3921 Vero Road, Suite F, Baltimore, Md. The company is hosting an Authors Book Fair on Feb. 18 at Mondawmin Mall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

information, call Jim Hamlin at 443-280-2702. Well, my dear friends, I have to go. I am out of space. Please enjoy your weekend and remember if you need me, call me at 410-833-9474 or email me at rosapryor@aol.com. Until the next time, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m musically yours.

Legends & Legacies Jubilee at the Inner Harbor In Honor of Black History Month, join many of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top cultural attractions under one roof for an afternoon of free interactive and family-friendly activities on Feb. 18 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Baltimore Visitor Center, Inner Harbor. Baltimoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Legends & Legacies Jubilee invites everyone to embrace the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rich African American heritage and culture while encouraging inclusivity and community engagement. For more information go to: baltimore.org/article/baltimores-legends-legacies-jubilee. Balti Gurls Screen â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Brown Girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Join the Balti Gurls for a screening of the highly anticipated web series â&#x20AC;&#x153;Brown Girl,â&#x20AC;? written by Fatimah Asghar and produced and directed by Sam Bailey. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Brown Girlsâ&#x20AC;? tells the story of two women of color whose friendship gets them through the messiness of their mid-twenties. The screening is on Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. at the Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore, Md. 21218. Admission is free.

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Visit us at rosedalefederal.com or call 410-668-4400. Rates are effective as of 2/1/2017 and are based on a 15-year fixed primary residence mortgage up to $500,000 with a 20% down payment and zero points, and result in 180 monthly payments of $6.97 per $1,000 borrowed. Estimated monthly payment does not include amounts for taxes and insurance, as applicable, which will result in a higher monthly payment. Maximum Loan to Value (LTV) is 97% for purchase money loans and 85% for refinances with no cash out. For borrowers with an LTV greater than 80%, mortgage insurance is required, which will increase the monthly payment. Closing costs apply. For loans over $500,000, please call for terms and conditions. APR means Annual Percentage Rate. This advertisement does not constitute a commitment to lend, and all applications are subject to credit approval. Terms and conditions apply. See branch for complete details. This is a limited time offer and may be withdrawn at any time without prior notice. NMLS #413320

The Afro-American, February 18, 2017 - February 24, 2017

Chris Hoelzl, Bernard C.”Jack”Young, Janice Janik, Kimberly R. Moffitt, E. Claire Jerry, Donna Rattley Washington, Wanda Q. Draper and J. Howard Henderson

Robert Dukes and Anthony Williams

Larry and Dianna Gibson

Brandon Bryant, Anthony Johnson and Brandon Hurst

Dr. Anne Emery, Phyllis Reese, Cori Ramos, Mary Demory, Landa Mclaurin and Bernice Beaird

Dr. Anne Emery former Assistant Baltimore City Schools Superintendent

Wanda Q. Draper, executive director, Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture

Chris Hoelzl, SVP, Research and Development, Smithsonian Channel

Comcast, Smithsonian Channel and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland and African American History & Culture partnered to host a private screening of “The Obama Years: The Power of Words” at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum on Feb. 9. The film featured iconic speeches made by President Barack as well as interviews with historians and accounts from key figures in his writings.

Photos by James Fields Sr.

Photos by Dr. A. Lois De Laine

Tevin Green, Admissions Counselor, Lisa Pasteur Simmons,’2001, Trinity Washington University, School of Nursing and Health Programs

Honorees Michael E. Cryor, Delegate Adrienne Jones, A. Dwight Pettit with Dr. Brian Johnson, president, Tuskegee University

Students received Scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $5,000

Flutist Arte’ Warren, a junior at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute

Se’Anti Wilson, Tyshea Pratt, Jemyri Jones, Lakiaya Ames, members of the Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts

One of America’s oldest Historically Black Institutions, the Baltimore Tuskegee Alumni Association, in partnership with the Baltimore Tuskegee Alumni Foundation sponsored their 35th Carver-Washington Scholarship Awards Breakfast on Feb. 11 at the Forum Caterers on Primrose Avenue. Among the honorees were: Delegate Adrienne A. Jones, Maryland House of Delegates, Michael E. Cryor, president of The Cryor Group, A. Dwight Pettit, civil rights attorney and author. Tevin Green, admission counselor and recruiter from Tuskegee, along with the President, Dr. Brian Johnson awarded students from the Baltimore area with scholarships and Tuskegee alumni grants. are Dr. Mildred Huff Ofosu, John Hicks, Vivian Jones, Minnie Smoot, Dolores Street

Wilbert and Dr. Doris Starks, first honoree (35 years ago), Tuskegee University Breakfast

Gregory Dash, president, Baltimore Tuskegee Alumni Association and Dr. Anne O. Emery, chair, Scholarship

Irving McConnell, member, Board of Trustees, Delegate Pamela Queen, Maryland House of Delegates, Calvin Austin, past president, Baltimore Tuskegee Alumni

Morgan State College 1949 graduate, Brown Pinkney Sr. celebrates 99 years and turns 100 yrs old in October pictured with wife, Oglatha of 68 years, and daughter Anita Pinkney

Waqiba Strother, treasurer, Walter Jackson, past president, Baltimore Tuskegee Alumni, Wyndolyn Alexander, Breakfast co-chair